Though the bright emanations of his power hide him in created glory; For if, on the sea of knowledge, thou regardest not the pole-star of reli gion, Thy bark will miss her port, and run upon the sandbar of folly : And if, enamoured of the means, thou considerest not the scope to which they tend, Wherein art thou wiser than the child, that is pleased with toys and baubles ? Verily, a trifling scholar, thou heedest but the letter of instruction: For as motive is spirit unto action, as memory endeareth place, Man hath found out inventions, to cheat him of the weariness of life, And hand joineth hand to help in the toil of amusement, While the secret aching heart is vacant of all but disappointment. The cheapest pleasures are the best; and nothing is more costly than sin; Yet we mortgage futurity, counting it but little loss; Neither can a man delight in that which breedeth sorrow, Yet do we hunt for joy even in the fires that consume it. Whoso would find gladness may meet her in the hovel of poverty, Where benevolence hath scattered around the gleanings of the horn of plenty ; Whoso would sun himself in peace, may be seen of her in deeds of mercy, THE TRAIN OF RELIGION. STAY awhile, thou blessed band, be entreated, daughters of heaven! Who among flowers of loveliness is she, thy seeming herald, Yet she boasteth not thee nor herself, and her garments are plain in their neatness? Wherefore is there one among the train, whose eyes are red with weeping, Yet is her open forehead beaming with the sun of ecstasy ? And who is that blood-stained warrior, with glory sitting on his crest? Also, in the lengthening troop see I some clad in robes of triumph, Welcome, for verily I knew, ye could not but be children of the light, That rejoicedst in tracking wisdom where the eye was too dull to note it; And who that mighty warrior, and who that solemn sage? Son, happy art thou that Wisdom hath led thee hitherward; For, otherwise never hadst thou known the joy-giving name of our Queen. Behold her, the life of men, the anchor of their shipwrecked hopes: Behold her, the shepherdess of souls, who bringeth back the wanderers to God. And for that modest herald, she is named on earth, Humility: And hast thou not known, my son, the tearful face of Repentance ? Yet will I comfort thee, my son, for the love wherewith thou hast loved me, And thou shalt touch for thyself the golden sceptre of Religion. So that blessed train passed by me; but the vision was sealed upon my soul; And its memory is shrined in fragrance, for the promise of the Spirit was true: I learn from the silent poem of all creation round me, OF A TRINITY. (19) DESPISE not, shrewd reckoner, the God of a good man's worship, And the height of unbelieving wisdom is to question all things. When there is marvel in a doctrine, faith is joyful and adoreth; Tell me the sum of thy knowledge,-is it yet assured of any thing? Despise not what is wonderful, when all things are wonderful around thee. From the multitude of like effects, thou sayest, behold a law: And the matter thou art baffled in unmaking, is to thy mind an element. Then look abroad, I pray thee, for analogy holdeth every where, And the Maker hath stamped his name on every creature of his hand : I know not of a matter or a spirit, that is not three in one, And truly should account it for a marvel, a coin without the image of its Cæsar. Man talketh of himself as ignorant, but judgeth by himself as wise : His own guess counteth he truth, but the notions of another are his scorn. But bear thou yet with a brother, whose thought may be less subtle than thine own, And suffer the passing speculation suggested by analogies to faith. Like begetteth like, and the great sea of Existence In each of its uncounted waves holdeth up a mirror to its Maker : Like begetteth like, and the spreading tree of being With each of its trefoil leaves pointeth at the trinity of God. Let him whose eyes have been unfilmed, read this homily in all things, There be three grand principles; life, generation, and obedience; Three catholic divisors of the million sums of matter : Yea, though science hath not seen it, climbing the ladder of experiment, The pine, and the rock to which it clingeth, and the eagle sailing around it: Matter, and breath, and instinct, unite in all beas. of the field; The stem, the leaf, and the flower; beginning, middle, and end; Cause, circumstance, consequent; and every three is one. Yea, the very breath of man's life consisteth of a trinity of vapours, Shall all things else be in mystery, and God alone be understood? Or time teach the lesson that eternity cannot master ? If God be nothing more than one, a child can compass the thought; Helplessly craveth of its God, himself for three salvations: And if indeed for us all the costly ransom hath been paid, Bethink thee, could less than Deity have owned so vast a treasure? Could a man contend with God, and stand against the bosses of His buckler, Rendering the balance for guilt, atonement to the uttermost? Thou art subtle to thine own thinking, but wisdom judgeth thee a fool, Resolving thou wilt not bow the knee to a Being thou canst not compre hend: The mind that could compass perfection were itself perfection's equal ; And reason refuseth its homage to a God who can be fully understood. Thou that despisest mystery, yet canst expound nothing, Wherefore rejectest thou the fact that solveth the enigma of all things? |