J^ o % V] /: ^J^? "^14 -^> ^ ^ V /A IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■10 ■M 112.2 s«.ll 1^ IIIIIM 1.8 U IIIIII.6 // 7i CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. D D D n Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dicolordes, tacheties ou piquies Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serrd (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion ie long de la marge intdrieure) L'Instltut a microfilmd Ie meilleur exempiaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. 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Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques D D Only edition available/ Seule Mition disponible Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents D D Pagination Incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent D Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque D Maps missing/ Des cartes g6ographiques manquent D Plates missing/ Des planches manquent D Additional comments/ Commentaires supplAmentalra* The images appearing here are tho best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de I'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —► (meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: National Library of Canada L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de I'dtablissement prdteur suivant : Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul clich6 sont filmdes d partir de Tangle supdrieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mdthode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^^- ^L.^^ ■^, ^\/ /r-*. ,iiet h /J//C A ^'^h^ U tP&f}V:fC(i~.->i;:i_ .-: ■■■'.■if /^/ ;*; ■>,, jjn>. il^ ^^^ ..>- ^ BEHIND THE VEIL A POEM BY JAMES DE MILLE AUTHOR OF "THE DODGE CLUB," "THE AMERICAN BARON," " A STRANGE MANUSCRIPT I'OUND IN A COPPER CYLINDER," "ELEMENTS OF RHETORIC," ETC., ETC. i'yvwv ovv H»i n-ept re5(' rcoirjTwy f.v oXiyco rnvro, on ov aotplj noioiEv a nowiev, aXla (pvaei rivl jiai ivdovaiaZovrss, wanep oi ^£0/.iiivTei5 xai oi xpi/ff/JmSol Hal yapovroi Xeyovai fxtv TtoXXa nal haXd, i'anffi 6t uvdii^ ojy Xiyovai. — Apologia Socratis. HALU'AX, N.S.: T. C. ALLEN & CO. 1893. C'> a2-. 166S39 One hundred copies only of this edition have been printed. This copy is Nu. ^' C^ t^.^la^,f) C^t A^c/?r-<^olv^y, the words "Given to the World by A.K.D.N.', which I have judged better to omit. A. M. DalhoHsie College, Halifax, May 241/1, i around him by a new f n c u 1 1 y — Ahsoiufc And there came amazement o'er me In that infinite career, For the scenes that rushed before me. Long removed, but long remembered, brought me memories old and dear, Bearing sweet familiar faces from that far terrestrial sphere. For the spell of Earth had bound me, And each quickly gliding scene Brought the shapes of Earth around me ; — Vales of bright unclouded verdure ; hills arrayed in living green ; Limpid lakes in dim recesses overarched by skies serene ; But the spell of Earth is around him: Cooling rill and sparkling fountain. Purple peak, and headland bold. Precipice and snow-clad mountain ; Lofty summits rising grandly into regions clear and cold, And innumerable rivers that majestically rolled ; He setis nothing hut earthly scenes ; Endless wastes of wildernesses Where no creature might abide, Which deep solitude possesses ; And the giant palm tree waving ; and the Ocean rolling wide. Gemmed with many a foam-set island glancing from the golden tide. /'Jiii By such wondrous scenes surrounded, O'er them all mine eyes I ran, All bewildered and confounded; Yet I sought amid that wonder all its mystery to scan. Till amid the forms of Nature I beheld the face of Man. I beheld fair cities gleaming White on many a distant shore, And the battle banners streaming, And the pomp of mighty armies in the panoply of War, And the navies of the nations speeding all the Ocean o'er. But these human form and faces Older still and older grew, Races followed fast on races. Vanished peoples seemed to rise again and robe themselves anew, And the life and acts of all the ages passed in swift review. Representations of earthly things ever going farther back into the past ; Olden populations swarming In an onward rushing tide. Scattering o'er the earth and forming Lines of march o'er lofty mountains, over deserts wild and wide, Seeking evermore a country where they might in peace abide. All past liistorj' seems to live before him ; Then there came unpeopled spaces Which no human token bore, And the pathway of the races Lessened slowly and diminished on the plain and on the shore, Till at last amid the Vision came the form of Man no more. —7- !M I II And bereaved of man and lonely Nature showed her aspect fair, And the brute creation only Peopled all her wilds and woodlands ; lurked tiie tiger in his lair ; Coiled the serpent ; sprang the lion ; sped the bird athwnrt the air. Myriad scenes in swift succes^;ion Slill w^th earnest gaze I viewed ; But in rapid retrogression Nature faded ; — forms of beauty followed fast by figures rude, Ending in the dismal prospect of a world-wide solitude But my soul the vast procession Of those countless vistas bore With a. marvellous impression, Like the picture on the tablet by the sunbeam painted o'er Instantaneous ; all embracing; with a power unknown before. He is cognizant of everything instanta- neously ; Then my Heavenly Guide addressing — For a wondrous power had birth In my nature ; all expressing — " What are these, and where belong they ? "—and my Guide responded— " Earth— For thy spirit turns spontaneous to its own domestic hearth." And has power of communicating or interchan:;ing ideas. " Where am I, O Radiant Spirit ? Where amid the realms of space ? Distant from the Earth, ornear it ? — " " Where the rays projected from it at the birthtime of thy race Have not yet attained ;— a distance more than mortal thought may trace." —8— V-J )l I! il — " Whence these shapes of things terrestrial ? " " Shadows from the Earth that fall, Gliding into space celestial. "-- " Does the Earth thus tell her story; -thus are all things imaged ?"-"All. Forms and actions all are imaged ; naught is hidden, great or small." He learns thai tlieie scenes are images of earthly thinRs ihrAwn off into spaci*. — " They at last are dissipated,"— I exclaimed in sorrow sore, — " At the brink of things created ? "— — " Things created know no limit ; infinite space they traverse o'er ; Still the starry vistas open and recede for evermore."— Once thrown off they pass on for ever. Then a mighty woe came o'er me. Deep despair arose within, And a thought stood black before me— —Shall Infinity for ever write the records of my sin ? Is it thus that space shall treasure proofs of all that I have been ? A miKhty Woe comes over him. — " Tell me, Son of Light, I pray thee. Am I bound to scenes like these ? " — " No ; Desire alone can sway thee, For the motion of the Spirit with its Will alone agrees. And the Soul may seek a journey or a refuge where it please." He is in despair ; but he learns that he is absolutely free, and can go wherever he may be drawn by his own Will. ♦ * ♦ ♦ * * ♦ * * * * * * * * * —9- Iii II I uu Then a new desire came o'er me Other wonders to behold, And a might}' impulse bore me Where the fiery Suns and Systems through the realms of Ether rolled, Where the Stars and Constellations flamed from out their ih tones of gold. HerrrUa ilesire to traverse the mnterial univerM. Then with mystical vibrations Came a deep and solemn sound, All its measureless undulations Penetrating the abyss of Space, and filling the Profound. — " What is this ? "— " It is the murmur of the Life that lives around." The murmtir of uiiiverKal Life. Golden gleams on fields of azure. Worlds on worlds arose in Space, Numbers more than thought or measure ; There each Sun careering onward held its planets in their place ; Flashed the meteor ; flared the comet ; speeding on its headlong race. Systems evermore increasing, Still succeeding, rose anew, Vast assemblages unceasing, — Syst; ms, — clustered Systems,— congregated Clusters rose to view, Blending nebulous forms, and starry orbs of every shape and hue. Over space illimital.)le Still with speed of thought I passed. Over voids immeasurable. Still new Systems thronged before us ;— still new Suns their radiance cast ; Forward ;— backward ;— upward ;— downward ; —rose Creation wide and vast. He is borne on tlitough conntltss systems of worlds. -10 — !, I m III! lif On in one long straight progression Still we sped along the skies, Still there came in swilt succession Vaster forms, in vaster groups, with mightier accessories ;— Grander worlds in larger numbers still arose before mine eyes. But that rapid onset ending Rose a barrier at last, Inconceivably extending. Like a barrier eternal spreading its dimensions vast. Which exceeded the combined extent of all that I had passed. He reaches a vast barrier. Then in swift examination Far along its face we went, But it was as though Creation Here in one stupendous object all remaining forms had blent, And my Spirit's feeble vision faltered at the vast extent. Then this endless bound discerning All my sorrow was renewed. And to my Companion turning — "Say—" I cried—" Thou Son of Glory, what is this that I have viewed ? " Crymg— " Oh, my Guide and Guardian ! Is not this Infinitude ? "— — " Mortal, thou but little knowest Of the things that lie before. This is but the least and lowest 'Mid innumerable others, cumulated o'er and o'er. Systems,— congregated Systems,— rolling on for evermore ;— Worlds on worlds for evermore ! " He learns thai ihis IS a world of Jimtn- sions so vast that all which he has seen before are as nothing. -II — :!i .1^ — '• What, then, is that wide Creation Through whose centre I have gone ; — What that countless congregation ? " — — " Dust and nothingness to this when brought into comparison, — Like the motes that float in sunbeams ; — atoms passing idly on." — " Then "— I cried—" these worlds of wonder Are the end of Nature?" — " Nay, In the deep abysses yonder Others measurelessly grander lie before thee far away ; These which thou hast deemed the greatest are but motes to such as they. And beyond this are others propor- tionally greater. — " So this thought throws terror o'er thee ! Dost thou falter ? This is naught. Know that all behind, before thee, All beyond of which I tell thee, when in one grand unit wrought. Sink to nothingness compared to other worlds beyond thy thought." Then he breathed new courage through me, And my suffering was gone. And I asked as strength came to me, —"Who can comprehend Creation?"— "One— " he said— "and One alone,— The All-Wise, and the All-Knowing ; the All-Dominating One,— The Unutterable One ! " He falters ; but is sustained by his Guide. " Can no soul in all the Heaven All the works of God survey ? " — • — " No ; to none that power is given ; Though their life has been coeval with Creation's earliest day. That Creation's mighty progress moves beyond them far away ; Moves for evermore away — 'IH!! ii^iiHIlM } 1 hi — " For in infinite; gradations Larger luminaries burn, — Vaster spheres and constellations." — — "Are there bounds to things created ?" — " None, that finite minds discern." — " Was there ever a beginning ? " — " None, that finite minds may learn ; — None for evermore may learn." — — " Will Creation thus for ever, Through the ages yet in store, , Baffle all the mind's endeavor ? " — — " Yes; Creation, new arising, foils the Spirit o'er and o'tT, And its progress ever onward passes thought for evermore ; — Mind and thought for evermore." — Then that grief of mine grew stronger. And my spiritual sight Could endure these scenes no longer ; And Desire impelled me on to where Intelligences bright People all the abysmal spaces of the soundless Infinite. He grieves ; and then his Will leads him to seek the Liv- ing_ Beings of the Universe. Life eternal, — Life all-glowing. Burst to light before my gaze, — Spirit forms in splendor flowing. Thronging myriads rose around me speeding on their starry ways, And the sun-bright hosts of glory flamed in radiant arrays. —13— ■ f 1 J i \ I 1 , HI All the light of life eternal Rose before my vision there, All the gloom of grief infernal, Endless forms of joy and sorrow ; good and evil ; foul and fair ;— Souls of blessedness and glory ; souls of anguish and despair. ' And like thoughts came onward darting Soaring soul ; despairing ghost ; — Quick arriving; quick departing;— All the worldless void was peopled by that spiritual host, But the rolling stars were centres where they congregated most Fie views (he onlers of Heine;— their ranks and gradations. Souls there were of low gradation. Thronging forth before me then. Souls so lowly in creation, That they hardly were apparent to my spiritual ken. Like the lowest earthborn species which elude the eyes of men ; Souls whose kindred form and feeling With my own might well agree, Sympathetic power revealing. With capacitic: that placed them on an even plane with me. With desires and hopes resembling what my own desires might be ; Souls of nature more capacious Moved amid the others here. With an air benign and gracious. Whose serene, impressive presence I might lovingly revere. Childlike wait upon their utterance, and their wo"-ds of wisdom hear ; -14- l!(i I! i Ml!' il li Souls of nature all transcendent Unto whom all these were nought, Robed in majesty resplendent, Into whose sublime communion I might nevermore be brought, With ideas beyord conception, and desires surpassing thought. And I was moved, as moves some friendless Stranger in some city cast, Where, in countless throngs and endless, All the multitudinous hosts of people hurry swiftly past, And he moves along unnoticed 'mid that concourse wide and vast. And I stopped, as stops some trembling Youth who first his eloquence tries, When the multitude assembling r^ank on rank, a sea of faces, o'er his faltering senses rise. And he stands to dumbness stricken by the spell of steadfast eyes. And I mourned, as mourns some straying Child on public pathway thrown. Who, all passers-by surveying. Through his tears, beholds no visage which unto his sight is known,- So I mourned, in that vast concourse, feeling desolate and loner- Till, all other forms unheeding. One my spirit's vision caught, — ■ One all others far exceeding, — One to whom the grandest spirits seen before were all as nought, — Strong, and Wise, and Pure, and Holy, in degrees surpassing thought. A Wondrous One comes upon his spirit- ual view. Then, in solemn adoration, I beheld this wondrous One Moving in his exaltation, Soaring in his lofty nature all surrounding forms beyond, As a sage with lisping children passing all comparison. —" Oh, thou Guardian and Attendant !" Then I cried— "Oh, Spirit Bright ! Knowest thou, then, this form resplendent? This who comes across my vision, robed in majesty and mi-ht, Is not this the Lord of Glory?— Is not this the Infinite ?"— — " Lightly thou the Infinite seekest, He who moves thy thought before Ranks among the least and weakest, And looks humbly up to others, who, his vision passing o'er, In degrees ascending endlessly, advance for evermore ; - Souls on souls for evermore. " Then a mortal weakness filled me. And despair my spirit stirred. And H nameless terror thrilled me ; But my Guide restored my courage with a sweet and mystic word And again my strengthened Spirit wandered onward undeterred. The iiifiniteijraHa- lions of Heing appall him. He again fal- ters, but is restored by his Guide. — 16- 'llii'ii, unto luysi'ir irtmninif, I for^^'ot all thin{:,'.s hut one, And desire intensely burnini:,' With a swift resistless impulse, all absorbing, bore me on, — Bore my sad and longing Spirit to the place where she had gone. f.MM' (-..(Hitirr^ I u rinsiiv. Allliis |)L•^irl: now turns to the Otm wlitini he has lust. And my yearning and my longing Came, as ne'er they came of old. All m\' olden memories thronging Filled my soul, and fired its impulse to a passion uncontrolled, That the Loved One and the Lost One I might once again behold ; Over him comes nil Ihe recollection of the I'nst. See her, as in seasons olden. When with souls together blent. Under skies serene and golden, Childish hands together clasping, all the morn of life we spent, And with Love's sweet sunshine o'er us up to life maturcr went. He iicalls the life anil death of that nameless one whom he seeks. Speaking oft in that communion Voiceless words by touch or glance. With such sympathetic union That each soul could read the other in the eloquent countenance, And the thought of each burst forth to simultaneous utterance. Nature took the cup of plcasur'^. And a thousand charms distilled In illimitable measure, — Nature held that cup before us with unnuml)ercd transport.s filled. And we quaffed that cup of rapture till our blend-d being thrilled. -17— I With one common heart adorinp;, With one common soul in prayer, And in thought sublimely soaring Through the Universe, while Fancy framed our future dwelling there, And in rapture sought communion with the All-Perfect and All-Fair. But, with larger love and patience, She attained a loftier height, And with grander aspirations She outsped my feebler strivings, entering into purer light. Joined in a divine communion with Intelligences bright. Then I saw her slowly languish, Slowly from my aching eyes, And I stood in all my anguish Through the long month of that summer, watching under leaden skies, While the darkened face of Nature seemed with me to sympathize : For the surf in thunderous motion Beat with melancholy roar. And a heavy mist from Ocean, Drear and dark, for ever rolling, swept along the sombre shore. And those thick clouds never lessened till the night, when all was o\i: Till that hour, when crushed and riven By that life-destroying blow, Forth amid the tempest driven, 'Mid the Ocean crags I wandered, where the tide was rolling low. And my reason reeled and quivered in that grief's great ove'i-flow'. That sorrow once destroyed his reason. -18- I And the Ocean with its surges Sounded out a monotone, — Sounding melancholy dirges, Which the wailing winds repeated through the cliffs' deep caverns blown. And the voice of" Wind and Ocean murmured Death, and Death alone. Then I thought, with stern persistence. It were better far to die Than prolong a wrecked existence With a yearning deep and sleepless, and a grief without a cry. With the longing and the craving of a voiceless agony. — Oh ! to bid farewe'l for ever To a life now lost in gloom ; By a single stroke to sever All that binds me here, to leap beyond the borders of the tomb !- — But a wiser thought recurring stayed that self-inflicted doom. What i.s Death ? 'Tis but the portal Unto Life, and Death is nought ; — Dead she is not, but Immortal ; — And she lives ; and in lier presence I shall 3et again be brought :- Soft amid the storm of sorrow came this still consolin"; thou-iht. So I chose to live; and found me A remote and lonely shore. With the wilderness around me, Crying — " Love, through h'fe I seek thee, and, when earthly life is o'er, I will seek thee till I find thee, though I seek for evermore — " ■19- Then I lived apart and lonely, And I lived a life of tears, With a single passion only. Wearing down my mortal nature 'mid a thousand doubts and fears, That I so might find communion with the Spirits of the Spheres. He sought and found conininnion with the Spirits. And the pitying souls descended, When I sought their circles bright, And revealed their presence splendid, Till my soul became accustomed to their forms of glorious light, Till the Invisible was unfolded to my spiritual sight. — " Lo, thy search at hist is ended. Thou hast gained thy .spirit's quest,— Lo, before thee, bright and splendid, Moves thy Loved One and thy Lost One through the Regions of the Blest,"- So he spake ; but all my being sank by sudden fear oppressed. I beheld a radiant Spirit In sublime seclusion go, With no kindred being near it. Throwing out long floods of glory in a rare and luminous flow. And bewildering all my vision with a pure celestial glow : He finds lier in Glory. — 20- I With no thought or contemplation Of so poor a thing as I, Lost in holy meditation, All her nature soaring upward to the Holiest One on high, In the fervor and the rapture of a solemn ecstasy. But she is beyond his reach. For that high-aspiring nature Found a fair, congenial clime. Where her spiritual stature Had advanced in swift progression, and attained that height sublime. Though our separation measured but a year of earthly time. Like twin children dedicated, One to toil, and one to thought, — Each through life with equals mated, At the close of life-long labor if together they are brought, By the Sage and by the Peasant no communion may be sought ; So her grandeur placed before me An insuperable bar. For I saw her rising o'er me Inaccessible in glory ; she appeared remote and far. As to some poor earthborn mortal glows the radiant Morning Star. But I sought her, and I prayed her, Moving o'er her presence there. By her love for Him who made her, By the olden love she showed me, by its memories sweet and fair. That my love might not be driven to a measureless despair. He cannot make himself known. -21 — And a thousand times I crossed her Moving on her Heavenly way, Vainly striving to accost her, Crying— "Oh, thou Loved and Lost One, wilt thou not one moment stay ?"- But she knew not of my presence, for beneath her thought I la)-. So I strove to stop and stay her, And with vehement sorrow torn — Shaped all thought to one strong prayer — I'orcing all that thought Ijefore her, by a passionate force upborne ; But 'twas all as though some night-bird strove: to stay the march of Morn. Then my spirit sank despairing In a nameless agony ; 'Twas for this, all terrors daring, I had forced the earthly barriers, with no end but to descry How exalted was her station, and how mean a creature I ! For my soul from Earth departing Keener sensitiveness bore, — And I found a grief upstarting Deeper than the deepest anguish that I e'er had known before. Seeing how the Loved and Lost One thus was lost for evermore. Stronger grew my grief and fuller. And I cried — " Why came I here ! Better far to bear the duller, And the feebler, and the coarser sorrows of that earthly sphere. Than to feel these pangs of anguish which my spirit cannot bear- Dreading in that desolation So to live and linger on, And amid my soul's prostration Crying — " Oh, that souls might perish, so that mine might now be gone ; Pass into eternal night, and sink into oblivion ! " — (irief and Despair overwhelm him ul- terly. As some fear-bewildered stranger, Scaling some great precipice. Shrinking from the sight of danger, Reeling o'er the marge of ruin, will his trembling foothold miss, — So I reeled, and seemed descending to a fathomless abyss. But a potent force restrained me, Overmastering all my will, And a gentle power sustained me ; 'Twas as though a touch had changed me with a quick electric thrill, And a voice had hushed my passion, calmly saying — " Peace, be still, "- Hii Guid* sustainl him. Till a soothing influence stealing O'er, my spirit slowly rose. And a soft and gentle feeling Penetrated all my being, bringing a serene repose. Bringing peacefulness and respite from the torment of my woes. —23- •> (■■■ m Then a sad and homesick longing All my mournful soul possessed, And the thoughts of Earth came thronging,— There a home might yet receive me, smitten, stricken, and oppressed,- There the soul might cease from trouble, and the weary be at rest. Hf lon(t» to go back to Earth. So the traveller, fever-stricken, Who in foreign lands may roam. When the powers of nature sicken, Casts his eyes, with wistful gazing, ever o'er the Ocean's foam. And the one thought ever present is the yearning thought of home. Oh ! once more that home attaining. On that melancholy steep. And that mortal form regaining. E'en its frailties might bring solace ;— in my anguish I could weep ; And, since Death was all denied me, I might know the bliss of Sleep. But that Will again restraining, All its force my Guide removed, All my feeble soul sustaining ; — — " Easily Despair assails thee, since thy trust has weakness proved ; Yet all Heaven is filled for ever with the Loving and the Loved. His Guide restrains his Will and retains his spirit for a time. " Seest thou not, in long procession, Soul with soul in union wrought, Move in infinite progression ? Seest thou not from that communion what an ecstasy is caught ? Yet the love of the All-Loving is a love surpassing thought. Souls blended in affinity areallaround. Joy arises, but the niithest joy is union with the Infinite. —24— — " So that love of thine has left thee, Soaring to the Infinite, And of thy sweet hope bereft thee ; That new bliss all else expelleth, as the day expels the night. And she knows alone the abstraction of a rapturous delight." - — "Other souls may seek communion, Mine is desolate and destroyed ; Neither kin it seeks, nor union : I will move alone for ever with my loneliness oppressed. Wandering in my grief for ever, with no hope of peace or rest."- The Seer i> in despair, aiul i-* over- whelmed by bi^ little- ness. — " Mortal ! One before thee liveth, One there is, and One alone ; To created souls He giveth Joy and peace in infinite measure where His wondrous love is known,- The All-Pitying,— the All-Loving, — the All-Sympathizing One, — The Unutterable One ! "— — " Pity, for the souls adoring, For the loftier spirits, — yes ; — Those high natures, upward soaring. Far above my thought arising. He may condescend to bless ;- But for me, in that bright presence I descend to nothingness. Son of Heaven, full well thou knowest What a thing of nought am I, — 'Mid created beings lowest, — I, most humble, far beneath the thoughts of loftier spirits lie; I, most lowly, am excluded from the glance of the Most High."- —25— •mmi'^ ; ! ■i' I t I ! : I !! 1 1 i i — "Ah, unthinking, and unseeing ! Life lies infinite below. And unnumbered forms of being In a viewless, never-ending series ever downward flow, In gradations far descending all those forms of being go. nut his Guiile teacltes liiin ih.il be- neath him are iiiHtiitc gradations iriferiur to himself. Thine own Earth holds forms of wonder Deep within its substance wrought, Thought immeasurably under, Lesser than the ultimate atoms forth from which that Earth is broufrht : Systems evermore descending down to depths beneath thy thought, — Worlds on worlds beneath thy thought. Thou dost stand between two Oceans, Each a sea without a shore. Moving on to different motions ; And while wonders lie around thee, and above thee, and before. Far beneath lie worlds of wonder lessening downward evermore — Worlds on worlds for evermore ; And for ever and for ever All the Universe is rife , With perpetual endeavor. Made by souls of all gradations, in a stern persistent strife, To ascend to higher stages and to grander planes of life : — And for ever and for ever The Eternal One comes down, And in love Me ceaseth never To assist eacn aspiration, and to make Mis presence known, — The All-Pitying, the All-Loving, the All-Sympathizing One, — The Unutterable One ! "— — a6— ; 1 :f' 1 — " Glorious Spirit ! Radiant Angel ! There is Heaven upon thy brow, From that fair, divine Evangel : — Unto thee, above all others, all my soul is clinging now; By the love that thou hast shown me; — tell me: — Who, and what art thou ?" — He is chcereO, and wishes to know his Guide, — " Be it so ; that wish is granted, All my nature I unfold ; — But, that thou may'st gaze undaunted, I will strengthen and sustain thee for the ordeal : — Behold ! " — And at once a solemn wonder over all my being rolled. For his nature all unveiling. Rose a soul of majesty, Towering up with force unfailing. Till all else seemed far beneath him in dark nothingness to lie; Till, to my bewildered soul, he seemed to equal the Most High. His Guide unfolds his Glory. By that mighty revelation All surrounding life grew nought. Fading out of observation ; 'Twas as though some planet rolling onward o'er my head was brought As the one surpasses vision, so the other baffles thought. Like the bright Aurora flashes Darting from a single beam, Which from out the darkness dashes, Till innumerable others in a blended splendor stream, And the whole broad Heaven o'erarching reddens in that luminous gleam. —a;— m i!'-i Yet, amid that might and splendor Which my spirit overawed, Pity, Truth, and Mercy tender, And the Love that passeth knowledge, shed their radiance all abroad ;- So I faltered, and I trembled, and my only thought was— GOD ! Hethinks hisGtude is Deity. — " Mortal, by thy feeble nature Thou hast thought a thought of sin; I am but thy fellow-creature, Though from out a past eternity I draw my origin. Though among the first created of the Spirits I have been."- Hut learns that he is a created being only, — " Ho O Wondrous One, forsaking Thine original majesty, iOd the countless barriers breaking That divide the lowest Spirits from the loftiest ones on high. Hast thou thus so far descended as to stoop to such as I ? " — " Mortal, by long aspirations It was once my thought to go Upward through the long gradations. But the acts of the All-Loving in a downward motion flow, And I turned with my Creator to the infinite worlds below,- Who lia-i left Great- ness to seek the world of Man. " There, 'mid lesser forms of being. To alleviate distress ; — There, from selfish purpose fleeing. While I sought increase of wisdom, others could gain happiness ; While advancing, I could comfort; while I labored, I could bless,"- -^8— f saaaM — " How, O Wondrous One, descending From that fair original height. Downward through degrees unending, Couldst thou for as dark a thing as Earth forsake thy glorious light. And bestow thine holy commune on the children of the night ? " — — " Oh, unthinking and unknowing, — Earth is dark to thee alone, — For its glories, ever flowing. Through the hosts of Spirits living far beyond thy thought are known. And the bright rays of its splendor through the farthest worlds have flown ; For thy Earth its rays of glory O'er the Universe hath flung; With its sad, mysterious story Worlds on Worlds innumerable through the Universe have rung. And the song of man's Redemption all the angelic hosts have sung ; The Earth has great fame and glory on the Universe. For the All-Loving, once descending. On its hallowed surface trod. And the Souls, in hosts unending, Gazed upon that scene in wonder, while He made it His abode, And its name for ever blendeth with the awful name of God. So the All-Loving His creation Loves, and pities, and befriends. Helping every aspiration ; And the glory of the Highest with the lowest ever blends,— As the soul soars up for ever, God for evermore descends."- -29— f — " Now, oh, mortal, I release thee, • Back to Earth, if thou consent ; Take thy flight where'er it please thee : Moments few of Earthly time upon thy journey thou hast spent, And thy heart still feebly flutters in its soulless tenement." — TheSeerisreltased- H is journey has occu- pied but a moment. I'herc is no Time in ihe Spirit world. Then, alone of refuge thinking. At this hope of home I caught. And my spirit, faint and shrinking. Borne through measureless abysses, hurried backward like a thought, And the immortal to the mortal by its own quick Will was brought. »♦*♦♦♦ ««♦♦♦♦ »#♦«♦* The End. —30—