Not one hour merely, but till evening's close, The simple pastimes of the day and place. By the fleet Racers, ere the Sun be set, The turf of yon large pasture will be skimmed; There, too, the lusty Wrestlers shall contend; But know we not that he, who intermits The appointed task and duties of the day, Untunes full oft the pleasures of the day; Checking the finer spirits that refuse
To flow, when purposes are lightly changed? We must proceed a length of journey yet Remains untraced." Then, pointing with his staff Raised toward those craggy summits, his intent He thus imparted.
"In a spot that lies Among yon mountain fastnesses concealed, You will receive, before the hour of noon, Good recompense, I hope, for this day's toil From sight of One who lives secluded there, Lonesome and lost: of whom, and whose past life, (Not to forestall such knowledge as may be More faithfully collected from himself,)
This brief communication shall suffice.
"Though now sojourning there, he, like myself, Sprang from a stock of lowly parentage
Among the wilds of Scotland, in a tract
Where many a sheltered and well-tended plant Bears, on the humblest ground of social life, Blossoms of piety and innocence.
Such grateful promises his youth displayed, And, having shown in study forward zeal, He to the Ministry was duly called; And straight, incited by a curious mind
Filled with vague hopes, he undertook the charge Of Chaplain to a Military Troop,
Cheered by the Highland Bagpipe, as they marched In plaided vest - his Fellow-countrymen. This Office filling, yet by native power, And force of native inclination, made An intellectual Ruler in the haunts Of social vanity he walked the World,
Gay, and affecting graceful gayety:
Lax, buoyant less a Pastor with his Flock
Than a Soldier among Soldiers lived and roamed Where fortune led:- and Fortune, who oft proves The careless Wanderer's Friend, to him made known A blooming Lady a conspicuous Flower, Admired for beauty, for her sweetness praised; Whom he had sensibility to love,
Ambition to attempt, and skill to win.
"For this fair Bride, most rich in gifts of mind, Nor sparingly endowed with worldly wealth, His Office he relinquished; and retired From the world's notice to a rural Home. Youth's season yet with him was scarcely past,
And she was in youth's prime. How full their joy、、 How free their love! nor did that love decay, Nor joy abate, till-pitiable doom!
In the short course of one undreaded year, Death blasted all. Death suddenly o'erthrew Two lovely Children all that they possessed! The Mother followed:- miserably bare
The one Survivor stood he wept, he prayed For his dismissal; day and night, compelled By pain to turn his thoughts towards the grave, And face the regions of Eternity. An uncomplaining apathy displaced
This anguish; and, indifferent to delight, To aim and purpose, he consumed his days, To private interest dead, and public care. So lived he; so he might have died.
To the wide world's astonishment, appeared A glorious opening, the unlooked-for dawn, That promised everlasting joy to France! Her voice of social transport reached even him! He broke from his contracted bounds, repaired To the great City, an Emporium then Of golden expectations, and receiving Freights every day from a new world of hope. Thither his popular talents he transferred; And, from the Pulpit, zealously maintained The cause of Christ and civil liberty, As one, and moving to one glorious end. Intoxicating service! I might say
A happy service; for he was sincere
As vanity and fondness for applause,
And new and shapeless wishes, would allow.
"That righteous Cause (such power hath Freedom}
For one hostility, in friendly league
Ethereal Natures and the worst of Slaves ; Was served by rival Advocates that came From regions opposite as heaven and hell. One courage seemed to animate them all: And, from the dazzling conquests daily gained By their united efforts, there arɔse
A proud and most presumptuous confidence In the transcendent wisdom of tne age,
And her discernment; not alone in rights,
And in the origin and bounds of power Social and temporal; but in laws divine, Deduced by reason, or to faith revealed, An overweening trust was raised; and fear Cast out, alike of person and of thing.
Plague from this union spread, whose subtle bane The strongest did not easily escape;
And He, what wonder! took a mortal taint. How shall I trace the change, how bear to tell That he broke faith with them whom he had laid In earth's dark chambers, with a Christian's hope! An infidel contempt of holy writ
Stole by degrees upon his mind; and hence Life, like that Roman Janus, doubled-faced; Vilest hypocrisy, the laughing, gay
Hypocrisy, not leagued with fear, but pride. Smooth words he had to wheedle simple souls; But, for disciples of the inner school,
Old freedom was old servitude, and they The wisest whose opinions stooped the least To known restraints: and who most boldly drew Hopeful prognostications from a creed,
That, in the light of false philosophy, Spread like a halo round a misty moon, Widening its circle as the storms advance.
"His sacred function was at length renounced · And every day and every place enjoyed The unshackled Layman's natural liberty; Speech, manners, morals, all without disguise.
I do not wish to wrong him; - though the course Of private life licentiously displayed
Unhallowed actions - planted like a crown Upon the insolent aspiring brow
Of spurious notions worn as open signs
Of prejudice subdued - he still retained 'Mid such abasement, what he had received From nature an intense and glowing mind. Wherefore, when humbled Liberty grew weak, And mortal sickness on her face appeared, He colored objects to his own desire As with a Lover's passion. Yet his moods Of pain were keen as those of better men, Nay, keener as his fortitude was less. And he continued, when worse days were come, To deal about his sparkling eloquence, Struggling against the strange reverse with zeal That showed like happiness; but, in despite
Of all this outside bravery, within, He neither felt encouragement nor hope: For moral dignity, and strength of mind, Were wanting; and simplicity of Life; And reverence for himself; and, last and best, Confiding thoughts, through love and fear of Him Before whose sight the troubles of this world Are vain as billows in a tossing sea.
"The glory of the times fading away, The splendor which had given a festal air To self-importance, hallowed it, and veiled From his own sight, — this gone, he forfeited All joy in human nature; was consumed, And vexed, and chafed, by levity and scorn, And fruitless indignation; galled by pride; Made desperate by contempt of Men who throve Before his sight in power or fame, and won, Without desert, what he desired; weak men, Too weak even for his envy or his hate! Tormented thus, after a wandering course Of discontent, and inwardly opprest
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