Page images
PDF
EPUB

And there is subordination of his Persons, in due procession of

dignity;

For the Son, as a son, is subject; and to him doth the Spirit minister; But these things be mysteries to man; he cannot reach nor fathom

them,

And ever must he speak in paradox, when laboring to expound his

God;

For, behold, God is Alone, mighty in unshackled freedom;

And with those wondrous Persons abideth eternal equality.

So then, start ye from the fountain, and follow the river of exist

ence,

For its current is bounded throughout by the banks of just subor

dination;

Thrones, and dominions, and powers, Archangels, Cherubim, and

Seraphim,

Angels, and flaming ministers, and breathing chariots and harps. For there are degrees in heaven, and varied capabilities of bliss, And steps in the ladder of Intelligence, and ranks in approaches to

Perfection;

Doubtless, reverence is given, as their due, to the masters in wisdom;

Doubtless, there are who serve; or a throne would have small glory. Regard now the universe of matter, the substance of visible crea

tion,

Which of old, with well-observing truth, the Greek hath surnamed ORDER: (9)

Where is there an atom out of place? or a particle that yieldeth not obedience?

Where is there a fragment that is free? or one thing the equal of another?

The chain is unbroken down to man, and beyond him the links are

perfect:

But he standeth solitary sin, a marvel of permitted chaos.

AND shall this seeming error in the scale of due subordination

Be a spot of desert unreclaimed, in the midst of the vineyard of the Lord?

Shall his presumptuous pride snap the safe tether of connection,
And his blind, selfish folly refuse the burden of maintenance?
O man, thou art a creature; boast not thyself above the law :

Think not of thyself as free: thou art bound in the trammels of

dependence.

What is the sum of thy duty but obedience to righteous rule,
To the great commanding oracle, uttered by delegated organs?
Thou canst not render homage to abstract Omnipresent power,
Save through the concrete symbol of visible ordained authority.
Those who obey not man, are oftenest found rebels against God;
And seldom is the delegate so bold, as to order what he knoweth to

be wrong.

Yet mark me, proud gainsayer! I say not, obey unto sin;

But, where the Principal is silent, take heed that thou despise not

the Deputy:

And he that loveth order will bless thee for thy faith,

If thou recognize his sanction in the powers that fashion human laws.

THOU, the vicegerent of the Lord, his high anointed image,

Toward whom a good man's loyalty floweth from the hearts of his

religion,

Thou, whose deep responsibilities are fathomed by a nation's

prayers,

Whom wise men fear for while they live, and envy thee nothing but thy virtues,

From thy dizzy pinnacle of greatness, remember thou also art a

subject,

And the throne of thine earthly glory is itself but the footstool of

thy God.

The homage thy kingdoms yield thee, regard thou as yielded unto

Him;

And while girt with all the majesty of state, consider thee the Lord's chief servant;

So shalt thou prosper, and be strong, grafted on the strength of

another;

So shall thy virgin heart be happy, in being humble.

And thou shalt flourish as an oak, the monarch of thine island

forests,

Whose deep-dug roots are twisted around the stout ribs of the globe,

That mocketh at the fury of the storm, and rejoiceth in summer

sunshine,

Glad in the smiles of heaven, and great in the stability of earth.

A RULER hath not power for himself, neither is his pomp for his pride; But beneath the ermine of his office should he wear the rough hair

cloth of humility.

Nevertheless, every way obey him, so thou break not a higher commandment;

For Nero was an evil king, yet Paul prescribeth subjection.

If the rulers of a nation be holy, the Lord hath blessed that nation; If they be lewd and impious, chastisement hath come upon that people;

For the bitterest scourge of a land is ungodliness in them that govern it,

And the guilt of the sons of Josiah drove Israel weeping into

Babylon.

Yet be thou resolute against them, if they change the mandates of

thy God,

If they touch the ark of his covenant, wherein all his mercies are

enshrined;

Be resolute, but not rebellious; lest thou be of the company of

Korah:

Set thy face against them as a flint; but be not numbered with

Abiram.

Daniel nobly disobeyed; but not from a spirit of sedition;

And Azarias shouted from the furnace,-I will not bow down,

O KING.

If truth must be sacrificed to unity, then faithfulness were folly;
If man must be obeyed before God, the martyrs have bled in vain :
Yet none of that blessed army reviled the rulers of the land;
They were loud and bold against the sin, but bent before the ensign
of authority.

Honesty, scorning compromise, walketh most suitably with Rever

ence;

Otherwise righteous daring may show but as obstinate rebellion:
Therefore suffer not thy censure to lack the savor of courtesy,

And remember the mortal sinneth, but the staff of his power is from
God.

MAN, thou hast a social spirit, and art deeply indebted to thy kind: Therefore claim not all thy rights; but yield, for thine own advan

tage.

Society is a chain of obligations, and its links must support each other:

The branch cannot but wither, that is cut from the parent vine. Wouldst thou be a dweller in the woods, and cast away the cords that bind thee,

Seeking, in thy bitterness or pride, to be exiled from thy fellows? Behold, the beasts shall hunt thee, weak, naked, houseless outcast, Disease and I th shall track thee out, as bloodhounds, in the wilderne.

Better to be vilest of the vile, in the hated company of men,

Than to live, a solitary wretch, dreading and wanting all things; Better to be chained to thy labor, in the dusky thoroughfares of life, Than to reign monarch of Sloth, in lonesome, savage freedom.

WHENCE, then, cometh the doctrine, that all should be equal and free?

It is the lie that crowded hell, when Seraphs flung away subjection.
No man is his neighbor's equal, for no two minds are similar,
And accidents, alike with qualities, have every shade but sameness:
The lightest atom of difference shall destroy the nice balance of

equality,

And all things, from without and from within, make one man to differ from another.

We are equal and free! was the watchword that spirited the legions

of Satan,

We are equal and free! is the double lie that entrappeth to him conscripts from earth:

The messengers of that dark despot will pander to thy license and thy pride,

And draw thee from the crowd where thou art safe, to seize thee in the solitary desert.

Woe unto him whose heart the siren song of Liberty hath charmed;

Woe unto him whose mind is bewitched by her treacherous beauty;
In mad zeal flingeth he away the fetters of duty and restraint,
And yieldeth up the holocaust of self to that fair idol of the
damned.

No man hath freedom in aught save in that from which the wicked would be hindered;

He is free toward God and good; but to all else a bondman.

THOU art in a middle sphere, to render and receive honor;

If thy king commandeth, obey; and stand not in the way with

rebels;

But if need be, lay thy hand upon thy sword, and fear not to smite

a traitor,

For the universe acquitteth thee with honor, fighting in defence of

thy king.

If a thief break thy dwelling, and thou take him, it were sin in thee to let him go;

Yea, though he pleadeth to thy mercy, thou canst not spare him and be blameless :

For his guilt is not only against thee, it is not thy moneys or thy merchandise,

But he hath done damage to the law, which duty constraineth thee to sanction.

Feast not thine appetite of vengeance, remembering thou also art a

man,

But weep for the sad compulsion, in which the chain of Providence hath bound thee:

Mercy is not thine to give; wilt thou steal another's privilege? Or send abroad among thy neighbors a felon whom impunity hath hardened?

Remember the Roman father, strong in his stern integrity,

And let not thy slothful self-indulgence make thee a conniver at the

crime,

Also, if the knife of the murderer be raised against thee or thine, And through good Providence and courage, thou slay him that would have slain thee,

Thou losest not a tittle of thy rectitude, having executed sudden justice;

Still mayst thou walk among the blessed, though thy hands be red with blood.

For thyself, thou art neither worse nor better; but thy fellows should count thee their creditor:

Thou hast manfully protected the right, and the right is stronger for thy deed.

Also, in the rescuing of innocence, fear not to smite the ravisher; What though he die at thy hand? for a good name is better than

the life:

And if Phineas had everlasting praise in the matter of Salu's son, With how much greater honor standeth such a rescuer acquitted! Uphold the laws of thy country, and fear not to fight in their defence;

But first be convinced in thy mind; for herein the doubter sinneth.

« PreviousContinue »