THE TWO WORLDS; 
 
 OB, 
 
 HERE AND HEREAFTER, 
 
 AN EPIC IN FIVE BOOKS, 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM HOWELL, 
 
 Of the Bristol Grammar School 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. 
 
 grbtol : 
 W. MACK, 38, PARK STREET. 
 
 1865. 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
 PRINTED BT WILLIAM MACK, PARK STREET, BRISTOL. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 COURTEOUS READEE, 
 
 Sometimes when more than, enough is given it is 
 discourteous to the receiver. There is an apparent instance 
 of this in our title-page, at least to subscribers. The expla- 
 nation conveys an apology. " Here and Hereafter" was the 
 advertised title of this work, but when the letter-press was 
 far advanced, we learnt that a work not a poem was al- 
 ready in existence bearing the same title. Hence the change 
 to the present title. 
 
 Commenced as a pastime, there was not at first a remote 
 idea of ever publishing what at length became a volume. Its 
 existence at all is owing to my kind and humble -minded 
 friend Dr. BELL asking my supervision of some manuscript 
 poetry of his; this cut into a vein that had been overlain by 
 the cares and business of life the public will assay the metal. 
 I am not in any way deprecating criticism : no one has a right 
 to trouble others with thriftless diligence or aimless effort, 
 neither of which is the vice of the following pages. 
 
 A grateful spirit demands that another dear and valued 
 friend should be mentioned here, the Rev. W. LEASK, D.D. 
 It is from his kind and encomiastic notice of the MS. that 
 
 115 
 
iv. PEEFACE. 
 
 the public are challenged for their opinion. Dr. L. took the 
 trouble to read which he is pleased to call "a rare pleasure" 
 and then pronounced a judgment which, however sustained 
 by those who read, characterizes a heart devoid of disparaging 
 thoughts towards others, as it is filled with warmth and sym- 
 pathy for one " unknown to fame." 
 
 If the author seems to have a low opinion of his race, he 
 forgets not that he is a unit of the same " tua res agitur, 
 paries cum proximus ardet." His regard for mankind, how- 
 ever, is deep, remembering that for them the Eternal God has 
 given His all; "He that spared not His own Son, but 
 delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also 
 freely give us all things ? " 
 
 If man's follies have been laughed at, his sorrows have 
 been pitied; and the remedy is set forth in no vain manner, 
 nor doth " the trumpet give an uncertain sound." 
 
 One prevailing thought has energized throughout the 
 whole exercise that God may be glorified, being vindicated, 
 feebly but earnestly, in all His dealings with man, and from 
 man's aspersions of His governmental character. 
 
 The work is entrusted to the public, which always values 
 what it esteems, by one who desires to have nothing better 
 said of him than, " after he had served his own generation by 
 the will of God, he fell on sleep." 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Clifton, May 24, 1865. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PROEM ... ... ... ... ... ... page 1. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 AN excursion of thought into ethereal space. The heavenly bodies 
 the Sun, the Planets and Comets. Apostrophe. The Earth and 
 its concerns, spiritual and temporal. The Seasons. Apostrophe. 
 The miser. The rich^man. The successful tradesman. Our neigh- 
 bour. The drunkard. The adulterer. Lovers of pleasures. Fashion. 
 The garden. The farm. A coal mine. Geology. England's capital. 
 Self -Will. Diseases. Theft. Charity. The harlot. Attempt of 
 human wisdom to account for the present state of man and 
 things. ... ... ... ... ... ... page 8. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 WISDOM stays the rash surmisings of an enquirer with some unfolding 
 of God's ways : commits to Revelation the work thus begun. The 
 enquirer is sent in retrogression of thought to Eden to see man in 
 his primal state, and make a record of what he sees and hears. 
 Revelation resumes for a while, and sends the enquirer again to 
 hear Adam and Eve's colloquy. On his return Revelation commits 
 to the enquirer the written Word of God for the full unfolding of 
 God's will and ways. Its reception and use. Cain and Abel. 
 Adam and Eve's lamentations. Discourse on Death and Life. 
 Progress of sin. The flood. ... ... ... page 61. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 EGRESS from the Ark. Noah's drunkenness and curse. Slavery. 
 Noachic laws. Nimrod and Babylonish idolatry. A fancy sketch. 
 Abrahamic covenant and history. Israel in Egypt, and deliverance. 
 A glance at the progress of the nation of Israel. Babylonish cap- 
 tivity. The four kingdoms of Daniel: the fourth identified with 
 the last great foe of God and man : his doings : his end. The final 
 consummation. ... ... ... ... page 125. 
 
vi. CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 CHAPTER I. REDEMPTION. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 I. THE PBIMAL CAUSE THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 i. Irrespective of the creature, 
 ii. Therefore not afterwards affected by it 
 
 a. By the creature's goodness. 
 
 b. By the creature's naughtiness. 
 
 II. THIS LOVE, AS FAR AS WE KNOW, WAS SIMPLY WILLED, OB 
 
 SELF-EXISTENT, FOB THE FOLLOWING BEASONS : 
 
 i. Because God is not the subject of emotions, though anthro- 
 
 popathically said to be so. 
 ii. Allowing that He is, there was nothing existing to effect 
 
 this love. 
 
 iii. Nor could it be called forth by foreseen things, for these 
 were antagonistic. 
 
 III. THIS LOVE is IBBEVERSIBLE. 
 
 i. Because God is unchangeable, though 
 ii. This love has sometimes this appearance, 
 iii. It was unconditional; though 
 
 a. A condition is laid down, but 
 
 b. This condition is secured by God's purpose. 
 
 IV. THE TEBMS OF GBACE IN PBOMULGATION ABE LIMITED TO NONE; 
 BUT THE BESULT IS A PABTIAL ACCEPTANCE, BECAUSE 
 
 i. The present condition of man is hostile, and an enemy can 
 
 only resist. 
 ii. God has not met this by an express intimation that He will 
 
 use more than a reasonable and natural appeal to all. 
 iii, A partial reception is secured by a supernatural influence. 
 
 V. THE BEASONS FOB THIS DIVEBSITY OF BECEPTION. 
 i. Two diverse races exist, 
 
 a. The seed of the Evil one. b, The seed of the Holy One. 
 ii. The limit designed. 
 
 VI. GOD'S PABTIALITY IS NOT UNJUST, FOB 
 
 i. Man is dealt with according to his demands, as a reasonable 
 
 being. 
 ii. Justice has its due in all every sin is expiated. 
 
 page 189. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. THE REDEEMER AND THE REDEEMED. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 I. THE INCARNATION. 
 
 i. Its nature. ii. Its prophetical indication, 
 
 iii. Its fulfilment, iv. Its purpose. 
 
 II. THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 i. How available, not in the sense of a human substitute 
 
 merely. 
 
 ii. The extent of its application, 
 iii. Its results, different 
 
 a. On those who receive, b. On those who reject. 
 
 III. THE OBJECT OF THE ATONEMENT THE CHURCH. 
 
 i. In time, 
 ii. In eternity. ... ... ... ... page 208. 
 
 CHAPTER III. THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 I. THE NEW BIRTH. 
 
 i. What is it ? ii. What is its design ? 
 
 II. THE NEW LIFE. 
 
 i. In what does it consist ? 
 ii. How does it bear on its counterpart the life which is to 
 
 come? 
 iii. How does it exist Godward ? 
 
 HI. THE GRACES OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 i. Faith, Hope, Love. 
 
 ii. The results of Faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, 
 
 patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness, love, 
 iii. Of Hope patient waiting. 
 
 iv. Of Love an abiding in light, self-denial toward God and 
 man, freedom from fear, with perfect confidence and 
 boldness before God. ... ... page 227. 
 
CONTENTS. viii. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 THE MILLENIUM. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 Introduction. The King of nations, Character of the Millenium. 
 .Relation of man to man. The walk of Pleasure. Duration of 
 life. Natural changes. The arch of Heaven. Regions of the air. 
 The regions under the earth. Inhabitants thereof. . A conclave 
 there Satan, Beelzebub, Apollyon, and others. Despair breaks 
 it up. A subsequent meeting. Results. Final committal of evil 
 spirits. Time's close. ... ... ... ... page 251. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 THE ETERNAL STATE. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 Introduction. Tho New Jerusalem. The earthly Jerusalem. 
 Jacob's dream fulfilled. Heaven's harmony. God all in all. 
 Hymn. ... ... ... ... ... page 299. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 PROEM. 
 
 NAY, tuneful Nymph Pierian, cease thy claim 
 
 To lead, as rightful guide, our measured thoughts : 
 
 Go, hie thee to thy own unchallenged haunts. 
 
 Soft-nursed in shady groves, or bred in glades 
 
 Of sunny warmth Parnassian habitudes : 
 
 There let thy modest limbs, but loosely draped, 
 
 Press at their careless length sweet Nature's couch; 
 
 With coverlet of green, arched in by boughs 
 
 Of intertwining growth, where zephyrs sport. 
 
 Or, visiting Aonia's favored climes, 
 
 Or Pindus' sacred heights, or gushing springs 
 
 Of Helicon; or, sipping daintily 
 
 Castalian dew, thy mission fill. There strike, 
 
 Ye bright Enneades, the mythic lyre; 
 
 There gaily sing of unsubstantial things; 
 
 Provoke and, graceful, lead the airy strain 
 
 That dreamily recites heroic deeds, 
 
 Brought on the stage of life by vagrant thought. 
 
 Gay nymphs whom Fancy, always teeming, bore 
 
 To brisk Invention at the limpid font, 
 
 Where leaps inspiringly the crystal lymph : 
 
 And in its flood immersed, were there surnamed, 
 
 B 
 
2 PKOEM. 
 
 As each had presidence of science, art, 
 
 Or poetry, or roll historical. 
 
 So Clio, laurel-crowned, a trumpet holds, 
 
 A lute as -well, and plectrum, trilling sweet 
 
 Historic lays, recording men and things. 
 
 Euterpe, chiding melancholic mood, 
 
 Her open brow, with flow'ry chaplet wreathed, 
 
 Breathes in the liquid flute her magic art. 
 
 Thalia too, enrobed in simple dress, 
 
 All unadorned, with shepherd's crook appears, 
 
 In careless, leaning attitude; a mask 
 
 Her right hand holds : she iterates her name 
 
 In pastoral lays, light-hearted comic strains. 
 
 Melpomene, arrayed in glittering garb, 
 
 Advances buskined leg, with dagger poised, 
 
 In solemn state, and meditative air, 
 
 Premising awful, bloody tragedy : 
 
 Her sceptred hands grasp crowns as well. 
 
 Terpsichore moves trippingly along 
 
 To tuneful cadences and lyric strains; 
 
 Her head surmounted with a laurel crown. 
 
 Voluptuous Erato, the tender muse, 
 
 With roses crowned, and myrtle intertwined; 
 
 Her right hand grasps a lyre, a lute her left; 
 
 And, lighted at the glowing shrine of Love, 
 
 The marital flambeau. 
 
 And Polyhymnia too, her right hand raised 
 
 With grave, impassioned air rhetorical. 
 
 Veiled Nymph, in purest white, harmonious Muse I 
 
 Her left hand with a queenly sceptre filled, 
 
 Her classic head a jeweled crown adorns. 
 
 Calliope ', her brow embayed with wreaths 
 
 Of laurel twigs; her hand a trumpet holds, 
 
PROEM. 
 
 And books, significant of deathless fame, 
 
 Heroic deeds, and earnest eloquence. 
 
 Urania, rapt in meditative mood, 
 
 Surveys the dome of heaven, the concave heights. 
 
 An azure robe falls o'er her graceful limbs, 
 
 And stars begem her crown. 
 
 Not such as these we now invoke vain myths I 
 For plain reality, severe, forbids 
 The classic muse to celebrate her song. 
 But if ye will intrude, ye gentle Nine, 
 Our courteous ear shall catch your dulcet strains, 
 And give them note and currency; and they 
 Shall plead your cause ; invalidate your claims, 
 Or otherwise. Forced company sustains 
 The host's immunity; be this our plea. 
 If in our theme ascriptive speech occur, 
 Let words correlative to him who speaks 
 Define his thoughts, nor thread dim mazy lengths, 
 And picture aught abrupt from things that are. 
 Far more seductive winds the invious path 
 Of Fancy, leading through her charmed abode, 
 Laid out by cunning skill and subtile craft ; 
 Where spring indigenous, balm-yielding plants, 
 Shrubs odoriferous, with gorgeous bloom, 
 The air all redolent with spicy yield, 
 Released mature from pregnant nectaries. 
 Where vaulted groves, alive with choral mirth, 
 Invite prone limbs, supine on grassy pile 
 Nature's soft velvet, well inwrought with skill 
 Of master hand ; king-cup and daisy interspersed : 
 Where streams, meand'ring imminent, impose 
 A spell of drowsy power. There amorous lays, 
 Illusive songs, and deeds of heroes, join 
 
4 PROEM. 
 
 With feathered songsters' notes outbursting joy 
 
 And melody. There Naiads visit; there 
 
 The fav'rite haunt of Hamadryades, 
 
 And sylvan gods : celestials too found there 
 
 Attractive charms, and gave a countenance 
 
 To errant love, voluptuous ease, and mirth. 
 
 Let such as list survey th' enchanted ground, 
 
 Invoke Mnemosyne and all her choir; 
 
 And Phantasy invite to lead the song. 
 
 Our way is in the beaten track of Life, 
 
 That now is strangely circumstanced; awry 
 
 With Time's endowments, varied and profuse. 
 
 There trav'lers throng, there perils crowd; there youth, 
 
 With eager hearts, brunt dangers, covet more. 
 
 There manhood smiles, with confident resource 
 
 Of ways and means. Old age, with broken heart, 
 
 Or hopes forlorn, creeps on. There wailing babes, 
 
 Just introduced as wards of Time, send forth, 
 
 To those advanced along life's varying course, 
 
 Complaints of helplessness, solicit needed care. 
 
 How long the time of pupilage, ere man 
 Has learnt the art of caring for himself ! 
 Trite observation; not on that account 
 Less weighty. Is it not designed to teach 
 Man's mutual need, and check the foolish thought 
 Of self-dependence? Not as brutes, that soon 
 Have learnt their needed lessons, and at once 
 Appear well furnished for their term of life. 
 JsTor as so many gemmules, severed from 
 The parent bulk, that claim no further care. 
 Each needing each, so each should minister 
 His meed of common good, his part enact. 
 This life is limited by thought, a wide expanse, 
 
PROEM. fi 
 
 An opening vista of projection vast. 
 
 Material things man scans, and lengthens out, 
 
 In mental range, their probable extent. 
 
 Analogy he frames, and so infers 
 
 Laws of a sim'lar kind to those of sight : 
 
 As thus, the Earth and Moon, analogous 
 
 In many things, may be analogous in all. 
 
 If both have mountains, dells, and outstretched plains, 
 
 If both an atmosphere denied by some 
 
 May not the both then be inhabited 1 ? 
 
 E'en thought is limited; but yet it breaks, 
 
 At times, its narrow bounds, and spurns amain 
 
 Prescription's law; mere fancy then prevails, 
 
 And wild conjecture conjures up, at will, 
 
 What ne'er exists, that cannot rightly claim 
 
 Affinity to thought legitimate. 
 
 Fair field of thought is found in all the eye, 
 
 Unaided, searches out; or telescope, 
 
 Or microscope detects ; deductions thence. 
 
 Thus Science springs, and makes alert advance, 
 
 By aid of subtile Art; each aiding each. 
 
 The mind instructs the hand; the hand the mind. 
 
 The simplest thought conceived, the hand is prompt; 
 
 An instrument is formed the Telescope. 
 
 The eye now traverses its range : how much 
 
 Is learnt through this artistic scheme ! 
 
 The mind makes fresh demands ; the hand replies : 
 
 An instrument appears, surpassing far 
 
 The first, as that the naked eye surpassed. 
 
 Twin helps throughout God's marv'lous scheme appear : 
 
 The Brain impregns the Blood with vital power, 
 
 And vigor for its ever circling course : 
 
 The Blood, in turn, supplies with nourishment 
 
6 PROEM. 
 
 The wasted Brain, recruits its languid strength. 
 
 Mysterious links exist, enyoking mind 
 
 With matter; yet the strictest search is foiled. 
 
 So intimate the bond, that ablest men 
 
 Declare their ignorance, and fain admit 
 
 The cause, effect; th' effect, in turn, a cause. 
 
 The stomach feeds and strengthens all the frame ; 
 
 Itself must be sustained for healthy work ; 
 
 And so requires nice care from other parts, 
 
 In just secretion; lest its roomy cell, 
 
 Eroded, cease to act its proper part. 
 
 The Rain descends, and percolates the ground, 
 
 Again appears in springs; hence rivers rise, 
 
 Their flow the sea receives; again it mounts, 
 
 Through exhalation; clouds ensue therefrom, 
 
 And rain again : which cause, and which effect 1 
 
 A circling immortality endures 
 
 Till the Almighty word shall stay its course. 
 
 So man himself, in species thus designed, 
 
 Continuous lives; the individual dies, 
 
 Bequeaths his life to others like himself. 
 
 So herbs and grasses yield their fragile life, 
 
 When they have perfected the future germ. 
 
 In morals too the same set law appears : 
 
 The kindly act increases in the heart 
 
 The kindling glow soft kindness there ; and then 
 
 This kindness warms to multiply the act. 
 
 Sin and Remorse the same: Sin breeds Remorse; 
 
 Remorse re-acts and fouler Sin repeats. 
 
 So Hatred and Revenge : the former broods, 
 
 Warms with the fire of Hell, with which it glows; 
 
 Revenge is hatched augmented Hatred thence. 
 
 So offices of life: the Husband, Wife; 
 
PKOEM. 
 
 The Parent, Child ; the Master, Servant ; each 
 The other sways for good or ill ; and all, 
 In just return, receive the same : if each, 
 Considerate of each, the other serves, 
 Then happiness results : so each a cause, 
 And each shews in himself a glad effect. 
 
 But is man satisfied with all Time's gifts, 
 However great or does he long for more 1 
 Unless the intellect, debased, ignores 
 The creed of after state, man cherishes 
 The thought that he shall live again. 
 Of old sages have told their tales of hopes 
 And aspirations of a mind, conformed 
 To brighter issues of a world to come. 
 They speak of future disembodied joys, 
 In sweet companionship with those they knew 
 And loved below. Yet none had told them aught 
 Of other state, of resurrection life. 
 They fondly mused of spirit intercourse; 
 And robed their thoughts in ardent words, but based 
 On nought beyond the longings of their hearts. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 AN excursion of thought into ethereal space. The heavenly 
 bodies the Sun, the Planets and Comets. Apostrophe. The 
 Earth and its concerns, spiritual and temporal. The Seasons. 
 Apostrophe. The miser. The rich man. The successful 
 tradesman. Our neighbour. The drunkard. The adulterer. 
 Lovers of pleasures. Fashion. The garden. The farm. A 
 coal mine. Geology. England's capital. Self-Will. Diseases. 
 Theft. Charity. The harlot. Attempt of human wisdom to 
 account for the present state of man and things. 
 
 WARY, yet bold, the spirit makes attempt 
 To soar, and pierce the blue expanse; to grasp 
 Enquiringly heaven's portals, look within, 
 Then enter there, desire its wondrous stores. 
 Bold, but not rash, intrusive Thought repairs 
 To distant worlds ; holds firmly on, and thence 
 Projects some further flight adventurous. 
 Alighting there unsatisfied, still plans, 
 Devises still some spot unvisited; 
 Unchecked by aught, unless prohibited. 
 Daring, but not profane, where diligence 
 Meets great encouragement; for o'er our heads 
 God has enrolled His attributes of power 
 And wisdom infinite. So Thought mounts up 
 To things beyond the unsubstantial line 
 That bounds the peering gaze; relayed afresh, 
 Enwrapt in contemplation, now it aims 
 
HERB AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Beyond the reach of telescopic power : 
 
 Thence pushes on 'mid worlds of Solar light; 
 
 Looks back amazed; for, from the starting point, 
 
 And in direction opposite from that, 
 
 'Tis measureless as this. The sum of all 
 
 Is found: what then? The trav'ler starts afresh, 
 
 And, in unwearied toil, measures a track, 
 
 In onward course, as far as that he leaves 
 
 From where he stood at first. He multiplies 
 
 This line a million fold, and with it sweeps 
 
 The vast expanse; projects a hollow sphere, 
 
 Whose bound'ry line, so vast, slightly disowns 
 
 Undeviating course. He peoples this 
 
 With countless worlds. His Sun, a rolling Orb, 
 
 And other Suns as large, or larger still, 
 
 To sight untutored, scattered thick as dust, 
 
 Are stepping stones to Him, who framed them thus, 
 
 Though severed by unmeasurable space. 
 
 A central sun he finds, imposing laws 
 
 On circling systems; one rotation yet 
 
 Unfinished since it first began its course. 
 
 Procession grand array imposing, vast ! 
 
 Its place each knows and keeps : no jostling foul, 
 
 No fatal smiting there ; nor ling'ring course, 
 
 Nor immature approach: each in its path 
 
 Imprints its Maker's law, unswayed. Should one 
 
 A little later stay, or earlier urge 
 
 Its ordered course, destruction might ensue: 
 
 It never comes. Man speaks of one so smashed; 
 
 But in itself the evil ruled if e'er 
 
 Fragmentary worlds, so deemed, had origin 
 
 In this abnormal way; it may be, not: 
 
 No false conjunction marred; no quickened pace, 
 
10 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Or tardy step, such, rude disruption brought. 
 
 Or did some cause malevolent provoke 
 
 The hand of Him who made it to descend 
 
 In vengeful mood, and so its place was left, 
 
 As though not fitly filled ? Still make advance ; 
 
 On on, farther and farther yet press on : 
 
 Thought is not satisfied, nor aught repressed. 
 
 Remoter worlds are beaming far beyond, 
 
 Whose rays have never reached our nether sphere, 
 
 Though trav'ling on through space, with matchless speed. 
 
 And farther yet, th' ethereal vault enshrouds, 
 
 Through mere remoteness, blazing worlds on worlds. 
 
 Now thought, so stretched, forbears, and, in design, 
 
 Erects a barrier, circling this domain. 
 
 Outside this, what 1 Amazement culminates 
 
 At this vast bound. Thought aches silence profound 
 
 Becalms the mind reason resumes her place 
 
 It cannot be the phantom masonry 
 
 It tumbles down. Though vast the former scheme, 
 
 Of space interminate, this vaster still : 
 
 The wond'ring, pregnant mind yet labors more 
 
 With this abortive progeny than that. 
 
 Outrageous limit ! Who its Architect 1 
 
 The Infinite ! thus limiting Himself ! 
 
 Nay; vagrant, startled Thought had reared, confused, 
 
 This adamantine circlet, immature, 
 
 Bounding its curious search unsatisfied. 
 
 But why not wander farther, if so far ? 
 This mighty, hollow sphere, in wisdom stored 
 With rolling Orbs, defined and limited 
 By immaterial walls, an aggregate 
 Of units, round th' Eternal rolls but one 
 Of countless such; all these His ceaseless care 
 
HERE AND HEKEAFTER. 11 
 
 Care without labor, watching without toil. 
 
 One Sage has forged a sounding-line, with which 
 
 He plumbs the heaven's depths; skirting along 
 
 Ethereal sands, raised high amidst; or else 
 
 If in its course pervading them : at length, 
 
 He finds a limit to the crowding worlds. 
 
 And is it convex there 1 a bound'ry line 
 
 To Orbs in spherical array 1 How vast ! 
 
 What radius swept the main ? what centre bore 
 
 The steadfast point beneath the mighty hand 
 
 That guided, through its course, the tracing point 1 
 
 Or is it concave there, incurving on 
 
 The heaven of heavens, where high enthroned He sits 
 
 Who made the whole, disposed the same, each one 
 
 In safe proximity to each ; order 
 
 Conserving, where, to rustic sight, confusion rules ] 
 
 This limit reached, beyond deep darkness holds, 
 
 Impenetrate. Is this th' effect of light 
 
 Of uncreated light, God's dwelling place ? 
 
 Light unapproachable, to creature sight, 
 
 Through telescopic aid, seems solid night. 
 
 Dread throne of God, centre of all His works ! 
 
 Infinity around, peopled with worlds, 
 
 Swells out from thence; mute courtiers there attend, 
 
 Some luminous, and some opaque; these fill 
 
 The limitless expanse; recipients all 
 
 Of God's created light. 
 
 Ancient of Days ! thought labors now in vain, 
 
 Parturient not; for how shall words describe s 
 
 The Indescribable ? whose floor is paved 
 
 With Stellar worlds; the Earth His footstool, Heaven 
 
 His radiant throne. Thought, now restrained, bows low 
 
 Before th' Omnipotent; returns, and longs 
 
12 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 To penetrate, with chastened eagerness, 
 Things less remote, her handmaid Sight, the Sun, 
 And his attendant worlds; revolving Moons, 
 That rule the night; Earth and its accidents, 
 In Science, Art, and all their abstract lore. 
 Things manifest, and things obscurely known; 
 Things seen and things unseen, felt and unfelt. 
 Sight seeks assistance, Thought enyokes its aid : 
 They summon Handicraft, and weld their skill; 
 Heavenward direct a tube; th' astonished gaze 
 Beholds new worlds of planetary mould : 
 They move at His command; their measured race 
 Nor hasten, nor retard their destined speed. 
 On nothing hung, they run their onward course ; 
 His bidding do, who planned and made them all. 
 His skill devised, His plastic hand produced 
 Their being out of nought. His sovereign will 
 Confirmed their place, His law immutable. 
 Around they roll, with subject varying speed, 
 The greater light. From this, the central Orb, 
 They borrow lustre, shed on them, as they, 
 Revolving on their Axes, turn to Him 
 Successively their poles' incline. 
 Yet other"bccupants of errant kind, 
 As strangers o'er this field of vision skim ; 
 Their mission, destiny, and kind, as yet 
 Have not transpired; they fill a sphere unique. 
 Is disobedience here rebellion foul 1 
 Insensate, cumbrous matter ! has it owned 
 Influence malign broke loose from first control 
 Outraged the law of orbM kind ? for this 
 Condemned to wander in unusual track 1 
 Some seek th' Ellipse of longitude immense; 
 
HERB AND HEREAFTER. 13 
 
 The Parabolic curve is wrought by some ; 
 
 Others th' Hyperbola their course abstruse. 
 
 Whence come they 1 whither tend in dreary course 1 
 
 Close to the Sun they move; away they roam 
 
 In dread remoteness : fiercest heat now swelts ; 
 
 Anon, intensest cold locks up their frames. 
 
 Across the track of planetary Orbs 
 
 They fling themselves proclivous; still watched o'er 
 
 By Him who planned; lest, in abnormal course, 
 
 They dash, with headlong speed, on other worlds. 
 
 While some, of subtile being, have impinged 
 
 On worlds of solid make, and so received 
 
 Meet recompence disorder in themselves. 
 
 Some faint, persistent clouds heaven's brow reveals 
 
 Through telescopic means; these Nebulae are named. 
 
 Another tube, of build immense, explores, 
 
 Detects, and shews them stars appointed close. 
 
 Like curious scroll are some; and filament, 
 
 As though, like golden sands, they stream along 
 
 Heaven's azure vault; or pendent, as a chain 
 
 Let down of golden links, joined by their severance. 
 
 Some gleam in lurid conflagration dread; 
 
 Incension fierce consumes the doomed worlds. 
 
 Why this ? Do Heaven's archives register 
 
 The cause 1 Evil occurrent in themselves ? 
 
 Malignant plotting from without 1 or fire 
 
 Engendered, always there, now profluent ? 
 
 Or foe implacable, presumptive, dread 3 
 
 Deep myst'ry shrouds the empyrean tale. 
 
 Others again appeared in ages past, 
 
 And had a name in human catalogues, 
 
 Kecord of sites once held in concave heaven : 
 
 Their place is known no more. No fame has reached 
 
14 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of sad catastrophe, if burnt or rent. 
 
 Perhaps some distant mission called them hence ; 
 
 Or fiat of th' Almighty, ceding them 
 
 To nothingness whence they were drawn at first. 
 
 Others twin Orbs, in revolution fond, 
 
 As if in coy embrace; their distance great, 
 
 Yet intimate appears to mortal ken. 
 
 The greater and the less seek fellowship ; 
 
 And intertwined, by some mute law constrained, 
 
 In free obedience run. There too are set 
 
 Some Stellar systems, ranged in clustered groups 
 
 Of three, or four, or more ; to mortal eye, 
 
 So little .space they hold, as though a man 
 
 Might in the hollow of his fist hide all. 
 
 Amid all these the Solar disc revolves, 
 Resplendent, throws his rays of light and heat, 
 On worlds of his domain, as o'er them King. 
 'Mid those rejoicing, from his heat benign 
 There's nothing hid : heaven's end his starting goal, 
 His destiny the same; his ample course 
 Begins at every step beginning, end. 
 And now thy glitt'ring pendants, glorious Sun ! 
 Hid in effulgence bright, lo ! one revolves, 
 But little scanned, fast locked in warm embrace 
 E'en to consuming; but that He who framed 
 And placed it there, has wise provision made, 
 Temp'ring the fervent ray to it supine. 
 Man's peering eye, by telescopic aid, 
 Hath late divulged one venturing nearer still; 
 Suspicion too affirms another there; 
 But whether nearer still the torrid heat 
 Of ardent Sol, is not premised. Fair Science 
 Has avouched th' existence of this stranger twin 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 15 
 
 To keep the perfect balance of her laws. 
 
 The next for beauty famed, the Matin rules, 
 Refulgent 'mid the brightest; bright her show 
 Beyond compeers: the Solar ray e'en fails, 
 At times, to quench entire her queenly light : 
 From him indeed the chastened ray serene. 
 Bright in his brightness; without whom, obscured, 
 A darkened disc obtains, dreary and cold. 
 She in his glory walks, a queen confessed, 
 And Vesper owns the gift. But when anon 
 Dark midnight folds the earth, the beauteous form 
 Has fled; severed from him, no light reveals 
 Her heavenly state, her peerless form. 
 His neighborhood she keeps. 
 
 The third our Earth its theme awhile defer : 
 Now those hung up aloft. 
 
 The next, supernal Orb, adjacent rolls 
 In fiery guise : in solitude he glides. 
 No moon attends, his gloomy nights to cheer, 
 Alone he wends his way. In mythic lore 
 His place is found 'rnong deeds of blood, and clang 
 Of murd'rous arms; stern guide of marshaled hosts. 
 Sword, spear, and plumed helm his savage care; 
 War his delight and gory plains indrenched. 
 The orphan's plaint, the widow's shriek emboss 
 His madly rushing car. ^ The same elsewhere 
 Is named the mighty hunter, he who built 
 Proud Babel's walls, and reared his temple there. 
 
 Next roll, as men suppose, in thick array, 
 The scattered fragments of a world disrupt, 
 In many parts ; with paths dissimilar : 
 Commingling, just as though in judgment left 
 To choose and order pathways for themselves. 
 
16 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Each other's course they cross intent, with risk 
 Of rash affray. What calculation nice 
 This risk to shun ! how deep with wisdom fraught 
 The counsels of Omnipotence ! 
 
 Next, he moves on, whom men of pagan creed 
 Once worshiped King of gods, father of men : 
 In bulk supreme, in majesty confessed. 
 His light serene from belted disc, illumed 
 By distant rays; four moons relieve his gloom. 
 Magnificent he rolls : and whilst our Earth 
 Once fills her path, he part fulfils his course. 
 Twelve times the Earth completes her constant round, 
 Ere he has finished his. 
 
 What grand attire ! words fail to chronicle 
 The beauty of this Orb that now rides past. 
 Around him flung a threefold spacious dome 
 Of circled sheen, glory resplendent beams; 
 Far distant from the Solar ray, as though, 
 In regal state, he weened imperial light. 
 What gorgeous furniture of minor spheres ! 
 Eight satellites, orbicular, arranged 
 In crescent, gibbous, rounded form they shine ; 
 Some this, some that : in bulk they rival Earth. 
 Saturnine globe ! perfect in beauty thou ! 
 Empyrean heraldry emblazons thee 
 The sire of him last sung. And art thou he, 
 Th' embodiment of spirit unconfined, 
 Throned orb of greatness fallen, estate long lost - 
 He, whom deep myst'ry shrouds, but darkness claims ? 
 Thy name suggestive, Babylon its source; 
 Saturn, in Chaldee Stur, her mystic god, 
 Which name, in num'rals read, makes up in full 
 That fated score, six hundred sixty six. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 17 
 
 Sitt'st them a god ? 'mong stones of fire thy throne 1 
 
 All secrets thine; in understanding, clear; 
 
 Endowments bright and wonderful. 
 
 Thy seraph-covering ev'ry precious stone 
 
 Sardius and topaz, diamond and beryl, 
 
 Onyx set with gold, jasper and sapphire, 
 
 Em'rald of softest green, with carbuncle 
 
 Lustrous in sabled night earth's glory these. 
 
 Tabrets and pipes thy dulcet minstrelsy 
 
 In th' holy mount of God. 
 
 Thy beauty snared thee, brightness cast thee down. 
 
 Anointed cherub ! fatal gift was thine ! 
 
 Thy ways were perfect ; wisdom sat enthroned 
 
 Within the precincts of thy ample brow. 
 
 Ah ! woe the day ! corrupted by thy gifts, 
 
 Thy wisdom fell, iniquity was there. 
 
 Eden, garden of God, thy presence owned, 
 
 Irrupt by thee, broached with malign intent. 
 
 Still brooding mischief, and still coveting 
 
 The forfeit arch of heaven ; say'st thou yet 
 
 I will ascend above the stars of God; 
 
 In heaven I yet will manifest and prove 
 
 Vigor regen'rate; o'er the heights of clouds 
 
 My throne I'll set] Thy Judge will dash thee down, 
 
 In ashes lay thee low; by thine own fires, 
 
 From thine own midst, consumed. * 
 
 Next, him whom poets feigned the primal Sire ; 
 Saturn his son, and Uranus his name; 
 Which name,' interpreted, is Heaven. 
 Six moons attend and cheer his distant path, 
 Bound him assiduous move, in adverse course; 
 
 *Ezekiel. xxvii, 12, &c. 
 c 
 
18 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 His west to east, theirs east to west; motion unique. 
 
 Dark deeds of shameful violence are sung 
 
 By bards of old; their pages teeming gross 
 
 With records of this ancient god; his sons 
 
 And their unfilial deeds. Poets have told 
 
 How Saturn, with his crew, opposed his Sire, 
 
 Foul deeds of wickedness contrived and wrought 
 
 With rage prepense : his father cursed him deep, 
 
 Denouncing woe on him and his his, made 
 
 By compact dire, and sympathy malign ; 
 
 Cast down to hell, they say, and bound in chains 
 
 Of darkness drear and merciless. Teitans 
 
 He called them foul, opprobious epithet, 
 
 As marking shame and blackest infamy. 
 
 Hence Satan, name bestowed on him, who works 
 
 Adverse to God and man. 
 
 Now last of all, stretched far away beyond 
 His Grandsire's route, moves on the fabled god 
 Of Ocean's depths. Two moons alone attend 
 His path remote; if more, not yet confessed. 
 Here pause, and grateful tribute pay to them 
 Who labored much, and urged their patient search 
 With abstruse symbols, formulas of art, 
 And transcendental algebraic skill. 
 Some sweep the heavens, survey the spangled dome, 
 And map the outspread empyrean plains. 
 Such had not found, at least not marked, the track 
 Of Neptune's march : the eye had seen his disc, 
 But, unsuspecting, gave him common place 
 Among the crowding stars, as one of them. 
 Two men,* whom Science owns among her sons 
 
 * Leverrier and Adams. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTEK. 19 
 
 Of brightest fame, had, independently 
 
 Of each, resolved to reconcile, what they 
 
 And others had observed of perturbation 
 
 In the path which Uranus had trod. 
 
 What data had they for this arduous work 1 
 
 Disturbances themselves as to amount 
 
 And character; these screened them from 
 
 A dreary, hopeless search. Behold these men, 
 
 Keclused from outward things of joy and grief, 
 
 Committed to the toil of many days, 
 
 Immersed in deep analysis, surcharge, 
 
 With confidence, the heavens with one world more 
 
 Than they had yet made known. 
 
 Sagacious men ! their calculations nice 
 
 Sustained their theory; and these, in turn, 
 
 Were justified by others, who observed 
 
 The parvenu, through telescopic aid, 
 
 Just where directed by the keen pursuit 
 
 Of Calculus refined. There now he rolls 
 
 And adds his meed of balanced order, fixed 
 
 By Him who placed him there and all besides 
 
 Which deck the ceiling of this world of ours. 
 
 So distant is this last discovered world, 
 
 Far in th' unfathomed depths of space, that sight 
 
 Seems yet defective to descry its train 
 
 Of worlds attendant, or of other things, 
 
 Adornment serving, or more solid law, 
 
 O grand entablature ! writ underneath 
 With skill divine, punctured by glyphic art 
 In Heaven's mute signs lay bare the head ! 
 A God we see; invisible Himself, 
 But in His works th' Almighty Godhead speaks, 
 And His eternal power. Here He appears; 
 
20 HERE AND HEREAFTEE. 
 
 His temple Nature's range. No speech is heard, 
 
 Nor language framed in mortal tongue ; yet deep, 
 
 Impressive utt'rances are on their way 
 
 Unceasingly; symbols in silence print 
 
 The lesson, so that all may read, whose eyes 
 
 Admit no prejudice from hearts debased. 
 
 There God hath set the warrant of His power, 
 
 His wisdom, goodness irreproachable. 
 
 Man has deciphered this; in ignorance 
 
 Has framed a nomenclature for a creed 
 
 Of pagan vanity, and symbolized 
 
 His monstrous deities by planets, stars, 
 
 And all the host of heaven pantheon foul 
 
 Of gods and goddesses, frail like himself. 
 
 Ah ! shame on thee, thou creature of a God, 
 
 Who framed sweet Nature for thy residence ! 
 
 Things huge and things minute; things far and near; 
 That which no sight could reach; and that which near, 
 Yet hides itself in very littleness, 
 Reveal to man their hidden habitats. 
 Size, distance, and presumed design of those; 
 Of these, their size contemptible, but that 
 Perfection buds and blooms in them, as in 
 The monarch of the woods, fowl of the air, 
 Or man himself. Though microscopic these, 
 Yet God has fitted them with heart and lungs; 
 And veins wherein the circling blood fulfils 
 Its ordered course. A point's a world to them; 
 In this they roam, disport, with ample range, 
 In teeming myriads. Earth's subjects these; 
 To this we turn, contemplate what it yields 
 Its occupants, its products, varied ways 
 Of man, its wayward lord; pry into things 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 21 
 
 Of time; attempt Eternity its state, 
 Award, and occupation there, where it 
 Unfolds its secrets to the wond'ring gaze 
 Of those who go to dwell where Light prevails, 
 Or where dread Darkness shuts light out. 
 
 Earth takes its place, assigned in path prescribed; 
 And there maintained by law centrifugal; 
 Oppugned, but not delayed, nor pushed aside 
 By force centripetal. In concert, these, 
 By law immutable, construe the course 
 Designed. Its pond'rous swing would bear it off 
 In course disastrous, risk collision foul 
 With other spheres; but, checked by gravity, 
 No broil ensues; no discord, but acclaim 
 Of Him Heaven's glorious Architect. 
 Again, this latter course centripetal 
 Convergent bias gives; and prone, would make 
 All others seek with speed precipitate 
 The central sphere. Harmonious discord here ! 
 This fatal haste is shunned; adjustment nice 
 Unites opposing laws in bland accord, 
 And medium state resolves. The greater light 
 By day illumes; the lesser light by night. 
 Sun, Moon, and Stars perform their part assigned; 
 Obedient fill their place ; their destiny await. 
 
 The year take up when Spring is young : the Sun 
 In Aries found, gives equal day and night. 
 The pregnant bud, advised by vernal warmth, 
 Puts forth its strength and, lab'ring, strains its husk, 
 Which, hauberk like, had sheltered it secure 
 From rude assaults of stormy wind and cold. 
 The verdant leaf unfolds; the meadows smile 
 All carpeted with grateful green; inlaid 
 
22 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 With burnished gold. God maketh small the drops; 
 
 Water in tardy mood descends thereon. 
 
 Distilled in Heaven's alembic, tender herbs 
 
 Receive His dew in beads of crystal wealth; 
 
 Refreshed thereby, revive in close of days 
 
 Oppressed with heat; the greater this, the greater that. 
 
 God's fiat was, Let earth bring forth its grass : 
 
 Its bosom, heaving warm with teeming growth, 
 
 Anon is redolent with leveled sweets; 
 
 Reft by the keen attack of sharpened scythes, 
 
 The field has yielded up its spoil : now boys 
 
 And merry girls delight to toss about 
 
 The new-made hay; but better still to play 
 
 At hide and seek, ainid the heaps made there 
 
 By older hands and graver skill. 
 
 The welkin rings with joyous caroled praise; 
 
 Now on the bough, now soaring up aloft, 
 
 Fowl of the air give out their simple joy. 
 
 Meanwhile maternal cares detain the mate 
 
 At home, not loath; she, filled with quiet hope 
 
 And happy instinct, patiently awaits 
 
 Young strangers there; or else, already come, 
 
 She seeks their food, with busy, happy toil. 
 
 Purveying for their infant household now, 
 
 With joyous heed, assiduous they combine : 
 
 He stays his song to cater for his brood ; 
 
 Yet interfluent notes of cheering strain 
 
 Beguile the time; she, in mute joy refrains, 
 
 Her thankful task fulfils. 
 
 Summer succeeds. The Sun, in Cancer now, 
 Glows with impulsive heat; and ripening gifts 
 Confess his genial power in glowing tints. 
 God visits oft the earth and waters it; 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 23 
 
 Prepares it waving corn, when place, and time, 
 
 And circumstance replete, provided, wait 
 
 His time. No measure scant He gives, but makes 
 
 The ridges drink abundantly His rain : 
 
 The furrows settled by His care benign, 
 
 Softened with showers, the tender blade shoots forth, 
 
 In springing blessed by Him. 
 
 Anon the spike appears; and, in right time, 
 
 Full ear of mellow corn. The sickle now 
 
 Is charged with prostrate spoil; th' advancing year 
 
 With goodness crowned; His paths with fatness drop: 
 
 His blessings thickly strew the way He takes; 
 
 Handfuls of purpose dropt benign for us. 
 
 The pastures too, and little hills rejoice 
 
 On every side ; flocks dot their verdant sward, 
 
 Cared for by Him, whose constant smile is life ; 
 
 They shout for joy, they also sing.* 
 
 The Balance now receives the sloping Sun; 
 And Autumn yields its complement of fruits, 
 Congeners of the Summer store. The stream 
 Of bounty then was full and overflowed: 
 The stack was reared, and barns with plenty filled : 
 Full presses bursting with new wine. And now 
 The stream, not dry, still flows with normal tide. 
 His hand is open wide, ne'er shut, but prompt; 
 He hears the bleat of patient sheep, the moan 
 Of lab 'ring beasts and fowl of every kind; 
 The crawling worm ; the savage, prowling beast, 
 Instinct with sanguine rage ; the timid herd ; 
 Fierce lions roaring for their frightened prey; 
 The loving hind, and pleasant, gentle roe; 
 The slayer and the slain. 
 
 * Psalin Ixv. 
 
24 HERE AND HEREAFTEE. 
 
 Now hoary Winter, grim and ruthless, lays 
 His icy hand on Nature's head; her blood 
 Runs cold through all her veins; her pliant limbs 
 Recoil and rigid grow; her shudd'ring frame 
 Shrinks from his gelid touch, as though appalled. 
 Zephyr, rebuked, no longer gently woos 
 His Flora, now assailed with rough embrace : 
 Her tresses fanned before with ardent breath, 
 Dishonored grossly by the trenchant blast, 
 Lie prone inglorious spoil. 
 
 Her smiles are changed to tears; she mourns her loss 
 Her exiled friend, her gems, her rifled sweets, 
 Her many colored robe, from Nature's loom ; 
 These strew her tomb, and mingle with its dust, 
 And thence, in resurrection's hour she springs. 
 New life and vigor reproduce her form j 
 Perennial, not immortal, she exists. 
 Birds sing her requiem, leaves form her pall, 
 Soft snow her winding sheet. 
 
 Now streamlets pause, or stubborn, hide their spleen 
 In under flow. The Sun too slants his beams, 
 His heat assuaged t' excess: fierce storms arise; 
 The Sailor scans his nautic lore, and finds 
 This sign tempestuous, yet he tarries not; 
 The love of gain subdues the dread of death. 
 Aquarius next receives the fervid guest ; 
 Then Pisces fond so ends the year. 
 
 The Earth has filled its course. Meanwhile, man's life 
 Is hastening on to Nature's final goal : 
 Brief space ! in which are crowding entries made 
 Of Science, commerce, guilt and shame; of these 
 Discourse awhile. 
 
 Jehovah's praise, ye circling Sun and Moon, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 25 
 
 Ye stars of light, ye heavens of heavens ; and you, 
 
 Ye monsters of the sea, all deeps; and fire, 
 
 And hail, and snow, and vapors, stormy wind 
 
 His word fulfilling ; mountains and all hills ; 
 
 Trees yielding fruit, cedars of stately growth ; 
 
 Beasts, cattle, creeping things and flying fowl ; 
 
 Kings of the earth, and all with one accord, 
 
 His praise give forth.* Fierce lightnings hurl their fires; 
 
 Loud thunders roll, heaven's ordnance peals; the air 
 
 Is resonant with Echo's strain. God speaks : 
 
 Earth's pillars shake, they tremble to their base. 
 
 God speaks to man, His awful voice He gives 
 
 In stress profound and terrible : man hears 
 
 The voice, and questions it; God's dreadful sign 
 
 He reads interprets not its nature, not intent. 
 
 This subtle thing man gathers, curbs, confines; 
 
 Quiescent then, till cause exciting gives 
 
 It energy. First Science claimed it, and, 
 
 To minds untaught, made it her leisure toy; 
 
 Now man's fleet messenger, outstripping time, 
 
 His need subserves; he, grossly ignorant 
 
 Of God's considerate goodness, knoweth not 
 
 His God instructeth him. With conscious power, 
 
 He opens Nature's book; her bowels rives, 
 
 Seeks there and finds hard questions solved. 
 
 With power and will commensurate, his heart 
 
 Devising, nought would be restrained of all 
 
 His deep imaginings. His curious search 
 
 The awful secrets of the spirit world allure; 
 
 And thought intrusive wrests unclean response 
 
 Forbidden, therefore foul and perilous 
 
 And so educing lies. A true reply 
 
 * Psalm cxlviii. 
 
26 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Is oft obtained to rash demands ; and thus 
 
 Deception grows yet still more positive. 
 
 The victim, snared by truth's resemblance, speeds 
 
 Along his self-willed course; nor stays to think; 
 
 Nor hesitates to scan the roll of Fate : 
 
 He hurries on till darkness shrouds his day. 
 
 Not Science is this named, but Devilry. 
 
 And whence this dark communing 1 ? whence this thirst 
 
 For knowledge sealed up ? And why is man 
 
 So circumstanced ] Frail man, of woman born, 
 
 Is full of toil; his days are few, as grass 
 
 He groweth up ; or as the flower of grass, 
 
 Cut down as that, continueth not. 
 
 A helpless babe, embryo of future strength, 
 
 He enters on life's stage, and there .he brings 
 
 Unconscious intellect a slumb'ring germ 
 
 Of future good or ill. Time passes on, 
 
 He takes his place, intent on his own will : 
 
 One clouds his path, on errand bent as he; 
 
 They, wrathful, pause, and each demands his right: 
 
 Fierce words ensue, rage nerves th' uplifted arm, 
 
 Wrath fires th' embittered heart. Self-will requires 
 
 The prostrate form to tread upon of him 
 
 Who claims his right of way, denies all else. 
 
 Hence wars and fightings, bred of wars within, 
 
 And lust of power. Man is man's enemy, 
 
 Insatiate of spoil, on gain intent; 
 
 He thirsts and craves the blood of him who thwarts. 
 
 Thus empires grow and wane; some petty feud 
 
 Gives fair occasion, vengeful war ensues. 
 
 Embattled hosts, arrayed for bloody fray, 
 
 Lose fear in savage strife. 
 
 Now see that hard, keen-visaged, wretched man, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 27 
 
 Whose bony fingers clutch his hoarded wealth; 
 
 His gloating eyes ne'er tire by day : by night, 
 
 Visions of gold illude. Has man a sense 
 
 Not yet descried metallic 1 seen in some 
 
 Intense; in others, not developed quite 1 ? 
 
 Does this, in some, o'erride all else, and quench, 
 
 In them, the natural appetence almost 
 
 For daily bread ? One wise in common things, 
 
 As well as in our deep philosophy, 
 
 Has said, " there's nothing better than to eat 
 
 And drink;" and so men think, and justify 
 
 This maxim to excess : but here is one 
 
 Who finds a better thing to him; and gold 
 
 He values for itself ; while others seek 
 
 The glittering dust, to pander to their lusts, 
 
 Or serve the needful purposes of life. 
 
 But why this heaping up 1 why not increase 
 
 By putting out to usury 1 Some do; 
 
 Both he and they the same incitement own ; 
 
 One increase loves, the other charneled gold. 
 
 Their god the same, though sought with diff'rent names : 
 
 One Mammon's serf, the other Commerce serves : 
 
 Both covetous; the one -by all confessed 
 
 The senseless worshiper; the other plumed 
 
 And praised for early care, for sitting late 
 
 At ledger craft; a thorough business man, 
 
 He covers sins, enough to sink a poorer man, 
 
 Though just. Decry a man for diligence ? 
 
 Nay, Sir; the motive, not the deed, is blamed. 
 
 Success ensures esteem; and men will praise 
 
 When to thyself thou doest well. 
 
 Failure entails disgrace; hence grossest frauds; 
 
 Hence circumvention keen ; hence that wise saw, 
 
28 HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Much praised " Buy in the cheapest mart 
 And in the dearest sell." 
 Not half a century past, a rich man died. 
 " He must be good, aye sure he must," said one, 
 Who slept and ate, and worked, and slept again 
 " He must be good : for when he died, there stood 
 A barrel, cushioned well arm-chair 'twas thought, 
 As being fashioned so with back and sides 
 Hard by his bed, with guineas filled," and thus 
 So stedfast that 'twas thought some carpenter 
 Had screwed it to the floor. When he was gone 
 Why it remained so long unmoved was known, 
 'Twas heavy with his gold. 
 
 The portly burgher, too, with deep ahem 
 Membraneous resonance intones his thoughts. 
 He walks with conscious might ; with air profound 
 He asks you know my name ? and if that name 
 Plebeian sounds ; or lacks anointment from 
 Some mitred head ; or bar sinister mars 
 The line of coronet in him denied ; 
 Nor warrior, statesman, patriot, sheds a ray 
 On him derived \ he, confident, demands, 
 Will not my bags of gold atonement make, 
 For all deficiencies of pedigree ? 
 What if no ducal ancestor appear, 
 Or lord, or bishop ; sure, I've made amends. 
 My country house might entertain our queen, 
 And retinue ; replete with all that heart 
 Could wish or skill devise. My spacious grounds 
 Were bought with gains of honest trade. 
 No groans of slaughtered hosts betide my ears, 
 As, closeted with ledger, I recount 
 My quick returns. Most true, the prison walls 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 29 
 
 Re-echo with the curse of him immured 
 
 By my command : but then he owed me cash. 
 
 He couldn't pay 1 "What's that to me 1 He bought, I sold ; 
 
 Money's fair answer for delivered goods ; 
 
 He fails to pay, I take himself as check : 
 
 That's good in law ; I have undoubted right. 
 
 He hadn't power, d'ye say would if he could ] 
 
 Well that's not my concern, he had the goods. 
 
 Not diff'ring much from him who dyes the plain 
 
 With blood 1 you lie j this murder is, I no one kill. 
 
 He pined in gaol, who figured in your books 
 
 The debtor side. Piece-meal despatch as this 
 
 Is scarce to be preferred to speedy death. 
 
 Give him the chance of running free through lines 
 
 Of flagellating fiends, who take delight 
 
 In cutting strips of flesh from off the bones 
 
 This, or be charged with balance of account, 
 
 When struck between arrears and discount full 
 
 Of thy much vaunted charity ; he'll run 
 
 The dreary risk of knotted whip, laid on 
 
 With heavy hand, and hearty will of men, 
 
 Delighted with the curl and writhings of 
 
 The tortured flesh ; yea rather this than trust 
 
 The hand of him, who smooths the lordly brow 
 
 With cringing smiles and bows ; but frowns away 
 
 The stricken sons of sorrow from his door: 
 
 Who will be rich, though broken hearts upbraid, 
 
 Sigh from his coffers; and his curtains shake 
 
 With threat'ning coil, as bony fingers point, 
 
 And famine struck, the costly drapery clutch 
 
 In visions of the night. 
 
 He's pledged, and nought can turn him : hearts may break, 
 
 And hearths their embers miss : the happy wife 
 
30 HEBE AND HEEEAFTEE. 
 
 Be widowed ; smiling children pine away. 
 
 In vain their mute appeal of sunken cheeks, 
 
 Or words importunate, by famine taught ; 
 
 His heart remains unmoved. 
 
 One point alone he sees ; all others too 
 
 Whose lines, subordinate, converge in this, 
 
 And so conveyance make in cordial trim. 
 
 O how he loves the chink of legal coin ! 
 
 No music charms like this. When somewhat fagged, 
 
 With hot pursuit of golden scheme ; or books 
 
 Examined long, yield, to his eager search, 
 
 Much satisfaction, then he seeks and finds 
 
 Some relaxation in his filliped gold, 
 
 Or rustle of bank-leaves. Faugh ! let him be ; 
 
 If soul he have, it may be asked of him 
 
 When he is loath to give : when eager looks 
 
 And ready hand combine to seize- more spoil. 
 
 It may distract him in the very midst 
 
 Of rearing warehouse rooms of storied height, 
 
 To meet increasing goods. He disavows 
 
 Expensive routs, subtracting from his gains ; 
 
 All such he views with angry, honest scorn. 
 
 Unthrifty souls are all who barter wealth, 
 
 His greatest good, for pleasures such as these. 
 
 All men speak well of him a fatal mark 
 
 And count him happy ; so he thinks himself, 
 
 And so deceives himself, till conscience wakes, 
 
 When he is stricken by the hand of death. 
 
 Then victims of his greed stand by, look in 
 
 Upon him as he writhes in pain of mind 
 
 And body too : their spectral forms illude, 
 
 And mock attempts to fix them in a spot : 
 
 They glide, with cunning speed, from head to foot ; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 31 
 
 They fill the room ; inconstant, flit about, 
 And seem to mutter curses deep. Poor wretch ! 
 My bags of gold, cries he, now bring them here, 
 I'll handle them again ; they'll comfort me. 
 No, take them hence, my ears are filled with groans. 
 These bags once charmed me with their cheerful look, 
 Quite healthy, full, and fair : but now, alas ! 
 Their well filled sides are fallen in : and so, 
 Confused, he wanders on. Death presses hard. 
 I cannot die, he shouts, in wild dismay ; 
 I never thought of death not yet prepared. 
 Great gulf I see all dark this side; beyond, 
 All bright and beautiful. How shall I cross ? 
 No bridge ! Is this my future residence 1 
 Cold shudd'ring thrills the frame ; unpitying, 
 Death sends his dart home to life's centre, and 
 Thus rudely struck, the wheel of life stands still. 
 
 In place conspicuous stands the social law, 
 "Thou shalt thy neighbour love e'en as thyself:" 
 A pilloried command ! the butt of jeers; 
 Curled lip of scorn, impatient, hastes to hurl 
 Defiance at the strange behest : himself 
 The god of gods with man; to this he bends 
 A willing slave, a toiling devotee. 
 Divergent paths 2 innumerous, men take ; 
 Concentric, at the very source take leave 
 Of brotherhood, or else the name defile 
 With social bonds, of aim iniquitous; 
 Or, at the best, of dubious end. 
 O strange, fierce lust of gold ! accursed pelf ! 
 Earth has, of late, revealed large store; and men, 
 With headlong haste, have run to catch the prey. 
 They will be rich, and so have snared their feet, 
 
32 HEKE AND HEKEAFTER. 
 
 And plunged their souls in crimes of deepest dye 
 One finds, another fails; this murders that, 
 And steals his glittering trash. 
 
 Yon reeling brute, prefaced with form of man, 
 Presents another phase of self, despised 
 By him who toils in decent serfdom long, 
 And leaves at last, worn out in servitude, 
 A warning cenotaph. This muddled thing, 
 Finds food for self in quaffing bowls of wine; 
 A good abused : a little cheers the heart, 
 While much dethrones the intellect. 
 Yet what's the difference 1 Is he who walks 
 With balanced step, in eager search for wealth, 
 A whit the more in his right mind than he 
 Who rambles to his lair 1 surely not ! 
 One is a prodigal in lust of wine; 
 The other drowns his soul in lust of gold. 
 
 Another loves uncleanness, filthy brute ! 
 Eyes, full of an adult'ress, cannot cease 
 From sin and sensual leer, and snaring arts. 
 Seductive, on his victim smiles, and lures 
 In guise of honest love, with fair pretence, 
 And fervid show of guileless amity. 
 He not alone entraps; for, in his turn, 
 He falls unwept an easy prey. 
 Just retribution ! matched in craft by one, 
 Yet still more fully versed in lech'rous wiles, 
 Subtle of heart, bitter as death; fair speech 
 And flatt'ring words beguile the willing fool; 
 He follows, as an ox to slaughter goes; 
 Or as a hart bounding into the net; 
 Or bird, unwary, hasteth to the snare : 
 So, prone, he madly takes the way of death ; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 33 
 
 Not knowing, till too late, the dead are there. 
 
 What prompts the wary burglar to invade 
 His neighbor's house 1 With misdirected skill 
 To make abortive, locks, and bolts, and chains 1 
 His trade is robbery and spoil his gain. 
 And what his plea 1 My neighbor has too much, 
 And I have not enough another shift of self. 
 Impatient too, he spurns the tardy pace 
 Of slow foot trade; greedy of gain, he seeks 
 Another's store; resisted, takes the life 
 Of him who owns it. Might is right with him, 
 But not with him alone; he drinks indeed 
 The wine of violence; brute force, in league 
 With errant skill, combined, effect his aim: 
 He plays the game of chance ; demented quite, 
 He throws the dice, his life the stake. 
 Another seeks a safer, smoother road 
 To sudden wealth ; finesse, his castellan ; 
 His stronghold, creeks and crannies of the law; 
 His victims various : the rich; the poor; 
 He who, with rake of bone and sinew framed, 
 Has scraped a pittance for declining years ; 
 Make him their trust : their loss his fiendish gain. 
 The ward, a godsend deemed, a legal prey, 
 With harpy claws he fastens on, devours ; 
 Or, vampire-like, the very blood he .sucks, 
 And lulls, with smirking face, the trusting heart. 
 
 Lovers of pleasure some, in dubious guise, 
 Which men call innocent; the dog and gun 
 Administer to such : the faithful brute 
 And deadly tube help bag the favored game 
 By law reserved the timid hare, the startled bird; 
 In days prescribed by law these multiply, 
 
34 HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Protected for the privileged battue 
 
 A yearly slaughter, justified and palmed 
 
 By fair opinion, and by fairer spoil 
 
 For dainty tastes. The rod and line, with bait 
 
 And treach'rous hook, concealed with subtle skill 
 
 By fair resemblance to their proper food, 
 
 Fishes entrap; they, unsuspecting, snatch 
 
 The cruel bait; in mute surprise recoil. 
 
 The cunning barb defies release; secured, 
 
 They writhe, mute suff 'rers on a hostile shore : 
 
 The hook is needed for another throw ; 
 
 With stubborn hold, it spurns all tender care, 
 
 In disentanglement; the jaw is rived; 
 
 Necessity, the specious plea, is urged : 
 
 Which has the colder blood, the fish or man 1 
 
 But fish is food ; fair plea for netted prey, 
 
 And sport the torture gilds. On willing steed, 
 
 Some seek the dappled game, in eager chase 
 
 With kenneled crowd. O'er hill and dale too slow ! 
 
 The victim scours along with urgent speed. 
 
 The deep-mouthed dog pursues; discovering trail, 
 
 Yells dread intelligence of death. Men love, 
 
 And revel in this mortal cry, to them 
 
 Most musical; they add their own halloos. 
 
 Or hare, while domiciled in quiet form, 
 
 Is suddenly presageoVwith scent of foes. 
 
 And now, up hill she seeks avoidance prompt 
 
 Of silent eoursers; distances awhile 
 
 Their utmost speed; for, long of limbs behind, 
 
 The ground, declivous, favors her ascent : 
 
 Thus circumstanced, secure she scuds along, 
 
 In easy flight : too soon the balance turns ; 
 
 With headlong haste, but bootless speed, alas ! 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 35 
 
 She rushes down the glebe; the distance shrinks; 
 
 Pursuer and pursued soon meet. 
 
 Has man a plea for this most cruel sport 1 
 
 Oh ! yes; excitement of the chase; and then, 
 
 He eats, at licensed ease, an oligarchic dish. 
 
 Some on the race-course speed their earnest search; 
 Self craves strange things, by law conventional. 
 Good is imbruted; ill, provisioned high. 
 So food for one, rank poison proves to him 
 Whose nature is the same, with adverse taste. 
 This has been registered 'mong saws profound : 
 One surely finds its illustration here. 
 Horses are trained to run, and men to ride : 
 Sleek coat in one, and fair conditioned flesh, 
 Not full, nor spare with jutting bones amiss. 
 The other, temperate in all things, shews 
 A thrifty care, worthy of nobler aim, 
 To keep his jockey frame in racing trim. 
 Th' impatient horses start, their sinews strain, 
 Warm emulation feel; and, stretching on, 
 They grudge their neighbor half a head beyond. 
 Away they speed, as though themselves they please, 
 So eager is their zeal to reach the goal. 
 'Tis gained. Not sport alone attracts the crowd : 
 Mammon is there. And now the race is run, 
 They count their spoil a losing game to some; 
 Others, the loss befriends. Some yield their store, 
 Of gold or meaner coin, to nimble skill; 
 Fingers intrusive find their quiet prey, 
 In spite of all precautionary care. 
 
 Gay Fashion sways a num'rous, glitt'ring race 
 Of devotees. All classes own her rule; 
 Varied in kind and mutable her laws; 
 
36 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Her claims imperious; rigid too her bonds, 
 
 Silken indeed, but cabled silk is strong, 
 
 The more so, woven by self-will and pride. 
 
 Oh ! what a sphere is here for vain display ! 
 
 Fashion parades her court in dress superb 
 
 The jeweled, proud tiara ; pendents, gemmed 
 
 With pearls and precious stones ; circlets for neck 
 
 And wrist, of cunning workmanship, and wrought 
 
 With curious art, urged by the magic touch 
 
 Of Mammon's wand : the bosom sighs, surcharged 
 
 With load of ornament ! Nature is racked 
 
 To fill the mart of this voluptuous queen. 
 
 Her loom is ever weaving, helped by art, 
 
 Exhaustless patterns of her wealth and skill. 
 
 Plumes nod on heads of beauteous front; or wave 
 
 With lowered state. The sea gives up its spoil; 
 
 Whilst lands of sunny fame, and arctic realms 
 
 Disrobe their denizens to clothe profuse 
 
 The dainty limbs of ornate luxury. 
 
 At home, abroad, gaunt toil, well-pleased, remits 
 
 No labor to supply the vast demand ; 
 
 To fill the maw of luxury and need. 
 
 And yet the cry goes forth amain, Give, give; 
 
 However boundless in supply, not less 
 
 Demand enlarges, gorged but not content. 
 
 And not the form alone is decked with art ; 
 
 Its complements are great, its need is small, 
 
 It covets much. Men have their varied show, 
 
 And women theirs : some shared by both ; others, 
 
 Prescriptive laws enforce, and shine apart. 
 
 Palatial domes, the rolling equipage ; 
 
 The prancing steed; the stage vicarious show; 
 
 The giddy, whirling dance. All sights and sounds 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 37 
 
 Are quarried for their sweets : the hearing ear, 
 The seeing eye, nor palls, nor ever tires. 
 Music, in dulcet strain, or martial clang, 
 In stirring chord or am'rous lay contrived, 
 Advenient joy supplies a good entombed. 
 
 The Garden some delights ; its varied sweets 
 And native hues bespeak exhaustless skill, 
 Goodness benign, wisdom with silent tongue. 
 The rich Provider cares for more than need; 
 The eye is pleased, the air is redolent 
 With fragrant wealth. Art lends its cunning aid : 
 Arranged in figured beds, in tasteful groups, 
 Accordant tints are placed; dwarf plants demand 
 And find the foremost rank in bordered widths; 
 Those of more stately growth fill up the rear. 
 A house of glass of fairy build, with care 
 Conserves the tender blooms of tropic climes. 
 There cold oppresses not; perennial warmth 
 Makes them forget their genial, native glades, 
 The robbery condone. When Winter stalks 
 With rigid gait, the out-door residents retire; 
 Some under ground th' unequal conflict shun ; 
 Some to the friendly tenement betake; 
 A few the chilly blast and frost withstand. 
 Behold the moss, that humble growth ! it dares 
 The torrid heat, nor shuns the polar cold : 
 Yea more, when Winter throws his icy pall 
 O'er Nature's limbs, the mosses bloom and fruit. 
 The dark and noisome cave, where sullen gloom 
 Rejects the solar ray; the barren rock 
 Or barren but for this on which pour down 
 Unmitigated, scorching rays, gives these 
 A residence; they too fulfil their part, 
 
38 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 As furnished lodgings for the myriad tribes 
 Of insect life a sheltered home, when blasts 
 Of angry wind, with icy morsels charged, 
 Howl round; their yielding, clustering growth 
 Kepels the fierce attack : food too they yield 
 In Lapland's dreary waste, for those who serve 
 Man's exigencies there. 
 
 Others the Farm enjoy, endure the care 
 Of green and cereal crops, and lowing herds, 
 And bleating sheep. In former husbandry 
 The land enjoyed its rest ; awhile in tilth, 
 Then undisturbed in unproductive ease : 
 Meanwhile recov'ring strength for future yield. 
 But now the ground, if arable, is racked 
 With teeming crops ; the weeds no leisure find 
 To ripe their seed in undisputed sway. 
 Some crops exhaust the soil, others renew ; 
 Only observe that goodly law whate'er 
 Is taken thence, return. 
 But let us o'er the farm awhile ; and note 
 God's bounteous hand, lib'ral, upbraiding not. 
 'Tis Summer eve : and now the waving corn 
 Is whitening, and inviting thankful hearts 
 To gather in its good the staff of life. 
 The hay already housed, sweet-smelling still, 
 Impregns the air tenacious, with the charge 
 To give delight to nerves olfactory. 
 Bucolic charms around invite our meed 
 Of earnest praise. Mark now the browsing herd, 
 Intent to feed; they have no thought how thus 
 They minister to man : yet so it is ; 
 All that they have, and are, and do, are his. 
 The nibbling sheep contribute too their stock, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 39 
 
 To swell man's merchandize, supply his need, 
 
 His comforts multiply a quiet folk. 
 
 The burly porker too, obtrusive guest, 
 
 No law polite subsigns. The trough is filled 
 
 With medly fare : he, with keen relish, grunts 
 
 His satisfaction full; scant welcome needs. 
 
 With eager haste he plunges feet unwashed 
 
 And muzzled snout together in his food. 
 
 A household scavenger, he fills a niche 
 
 Quite vacant else. Unruminant, his name 
 
 Is struck unhonored from the list of those 
 
 That cleave the hoof and chew the cud, and so 
 
 Were privileged to bleed for man's cuisine. 
 
 The barn-door fowl, with shrill clear ringing voice, 
 
 Or Cochin's bass, or Bantam's piping cry, 
 
 Reminds us of their birth prevenient, 
 
 Whilst yet inclosed within th' elliptic cell, 
 
 A food most delicate : their feathered selves, 
 
 Of varying age become man's prey refined. 
 
 The dairy yields its good: butter of kine, 
 
 And milk, and cream, and cheese, supply a need 
 
 Created by the rich supply itself. 
 
 Thus God doth multiply our wants, and so 
 
 He multiplies our joys : the need provokes 
 
 Our healthy efforts, and from these results 
 
 Healthy indulgence too, if not defiled 
 
 With gross excess. Bare necessaries keep 
 
 The life bestowed; comforts add to that life 
 
 Gregarious, social joys, that give a sum 
 
 Of happiness : abstract these from our store 
 
 And we begin the backward move, that strands 
 
 Life civilized on barbarous shores, where lurk 
 
 Grim wreckers of life's choicest, best designs. 
 
40 HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The earliest state of man was one refined 
 
 With more than need demands; our walks still shew 
 
 This excellence. Drawbacks indeed abound 
 
 In all that heart enjoys; but then abound 
 
 Proofs of arrangement for response 
 
 To man's deep cry for good, to supplement 
 
 The merest cravings of his mortal state. 
 
 Soft beauties all around seem framed to charm 
 
 The natural sense : in vain they lay their claims 
 
 On those who daily plod their way in lanes, 
 
 Or o'er the sward, or through the plough-cut lea. 
 
 But do they not enjoy 1 does commonness 
 
 Do more than blunt current perceptiveness 1 
 
 Is there not still a good derived, although 
 
 Unconsciously to him who labors on 
 
 Intent on daily bread 1 For this he strives, 
 
 For this he thinks, for this he always cares; 
 
 And misses much, through lack of leisure time, 
 
 To mark what others long and pine to view. 
 
 But take him, coop him up within the bounds 
 
 That towns and cities make; his heart recalls 
 
 The country's sunny glades, the friendly shade, 
 
 The air unpoisoned by the mingled fumes 
 
 That art and commerce breed : thus does he prove 
 
 That, unacknowledged, he derived much good 
 
 From sources hid to him, in that his sense 
 
 For this was drowned in over carefulness. 
 
 Now underground awhile, and to th' emboweled earth 
 A hasty visit pay; glance at its tunneled depths. 
 There men endure an exile from the light of heaven; 
 There dig and disengage most precious freights, 
 For exportation to the realms above. 
 Let one suffice a coalpit near, prefers 
 
v HERE AND HEREAFTER. 41 
 
 Superior claims; emerging thence we see 
 
 Men so begrimed, examination keen 
 
 Alone can say what fathers' sons they are. 
 
 The Arts and Sciences, our hearths as well, 
 
 Make large demands on these most ancient beds; 
 
 So ancient thought by some, that this our world 
 
 Is but a stripling, in its present phase, 
 
 Compared with this transformed concrete. 
 
 Some, twenty thousand years assign; and some, 
 
 Millions t' effect this ligneo-mineralgic change. 
 
 So deep has Science searched, enquiry urged, 
 
 Made observations and deductions thence. 
 
 Thus woods have fallen, laid by the ruthless tide, 
 
 Encroaching on the hoar preserves; the foe, 
 
 Ketiring, gives the needed time for seeds 
 
 To germinate; thence spring herbaceous plants 
 
 Soon numbered with the past; inherent law 
 
 Makes this demand : trees spring again, and grow, 
 
 And flourish through succeeding years; and then 
 
 The foe again returns, and fells the growth 
 
 Which hoary time has reared. So patient years 
 
 Roll on, witness the rise and fall of woods 
 
 And forests, devastation great, to form 
 
 These seams exhaustless, carboniferous. 
 
 Others perversely urge some adverse facts 
 
 To this elaborated theory. 
 
 They urge deposits made of trees brought there 
 
 By rolling action; and not placed, as if 
 
 Laid prostrate where they grew : or, buoyed by floods, 
 
 At length, when water-logged, subside, and find 
 
 A resting place in sunken depths; and there, 
 
 Amassed, form beds of future coal. 
 
 They further urge alas ! for him who goes 
 
42 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Before the crowd, with well-wrought theory : 
 
 One follows, searches out relentlessly 
 
 Some flaw, drives in the wedge and splits the whole 
 
 They mark the absence of a soil, wherein 
 
 Might grow, in situ, trees found there. 
 
 He, learned in geology, replies, 
 
 Denuding currents bore the soil away. 
 
 What, such as leveled forests where they grew, 
 
 And snapped the trees, but left them there to lie 
 
 In quiet bed 1 what nice discrimination 
 
 So to spare the floating freight, but take 
 
 And bear away the strata thus o'erlaid ! 
 
 But then, the fond geologist replies, 
 
 Behold the stumps with roots; beside them there 
 
 The trunks o'erthrown. It is unfortunate, 
 
 The other says, that you forgot to fit 
 
 The trunks and stumps; moreover make your count 
 
 Of number too : and then, these roots present 
 
 A rounded form, as though, in transitu, 
 
 Abraded; and so short ! impossible 
 
 To fix those trunks by such a length; whereas 
 
 They may have left their lengths elsewhere, and brought 
 
 Their remnants here. The Portland dirt bed forms 
 
 A grave, pet theme of savans who have searched 
 
 The geologic world. Persistent too, 
 
 The stern objector follows here as well, 
 
 And searches for himself ; he finds the soil 
 
 Inadequate for trees of larger growth : 
 
 And though the parts of trunks have been applied, 
 
 And give continuous lengths; the stools won't stand, 
 
 In corresponding size, beneath these lengths. 
 
 And then -provoking coolness ! he demands 
 
 Why this elaborated scheme t' account 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 43 
 
 For such phenomena as earnest search 
 
 And geologic hammer bring to light 1 
 
 My scheme is simpler, adequate, it finds 
 
 No problem having dislocating power; 
 
 But this is solved by that; whereas your scheme 
 
 Is wrenched continuously; for call to mind 
 
 How first the Permian strata claimed the right 
 
 To bound your search for quadrupedal bones : 
 
 On this you framed a geologic law; 
 
 This soon was broken by the group below 
 
 The Carboniferous : and, later still, 
 
 The deep Devonian strata yields its store, 
 
 And sorely puzzles learned heads; for they, 
 
 With patient thought, had ruled that every bed 
 
 Had just its own peculiar occupants, 
 
 And nowhere else might these be found. 
 
 Then Man had no existence in these rocks, 
 
 Laid down, as they affirm, successively, 
 
 At periods severed by a lengthened space. 
 
 Th' Azoic term is first expended; then 
 
 Silurian rocks; Eed Sandstone too, hold on 
 
 Their dreary course : to these succeed, in turn, 
 
 A gorgeous flora, source of coal, amassed 
 
 Through many thousand years. Then next ensues 
 
 The Permian, the Triassic age : to these 
 
 Next follow monsters of the deep, and fowl 
 
 Of monstrous size huge denizens of sea, 
 
 And air, and earth. These spend some ages here, 
 
 Then pass away; to yield their tenement, 
 
 Without disruption, to enormous beasts : 
 
 These too have gone to bed, their coverlet 
 
 Superincumbent rocks of proper kind, 
 
 To tell their age. But man was nowhere found 
 
44 HEBE AND HEBEAFTEK. 
 
 Among the living creatures, ere entombed, 
 
 Because not with them there; rash theory ! 
 
 For if some human fossils come to light, 
 
 How fares it then ? Since then they have been found 
 
 Mingling with other bones. Man's bones are found 
 
 In caves; and deep in strata too; his feet 
 
 Have left their impress in the sand the Old 
 
 Eed Sandstone; thought how fondly thought by some ! 
 
 A repertory undisputed quite 
 
 By man's intrusive form. 
 
 'Tis fair to say that others have proposed 
 
 Their geologic schemes; but all agree 
 
 To overturn the rocks, and bury there 
 
 The great Creator's works, in earlier times 
 
 Than Eden's woe; and by a greater force 
 
 Than urged the watery waste in Noah's day. 
 
 They view a tranquil sweep and gentle rise 
 
 Of creeping tide; which, though prevailing o'er 
 
 The earth, destroying every living thing, 
 
 Had no dislodging power on solid rocks. 
 
 But others see th' impetuous rush in words 
 
 Of Holy Writ; they parallel effects 
 
 To cause there named; and instance lesser floods 
 
 As bringing great disruptions in our day. 
 
 Ruthless Iconoclasts ! could ye not spare 
 
 The Geologic idol, reared, by earnest hands, 
 
 On rocky pedestal ] And is it so 1 
 
 Is the whole temple doomed ? What will ye do 
 
 With all its furniture and hard-earned spoils 
 
 Azoic monuments; Silurian beds; 
 
 Old Red Sandstone slabs; and concrete Oolite? 
 
 Henceforth must all the Eras merge in one, 
 
 And Primary denote the place, but not the age ] 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 45 
 
 If Truth demands, so must it be; though loath 
 
 To futilize untiring efforts, made 
 
 By men, who, lab'ring, sought th' advance of truth. 
 
 The mere o'erturning is no sport to us; 
 
 Still less a charming work to hint a thought 
 
 That venerable Palaeozoic bones 
 
 Are not pre- Adamite. One cannot see 
 
 The tottering pillars of an edifice 
 
 With unconcern : men seem to gather round, 
 
 Admiringly exclaim; "What goodly stones ! 
 
 Still our prophetic spirit views the whole 
 
 With pitying gaze ; foretells its certain doom ; 
 
 That not a stone of all this noble pile 
 
 Shall stay its fellow, or itself remain. 
 
 The records of the past give evidence 
 
 How one may rear a fane, magnificent, 
 
 With well-wrought stones, polished with labored skill, 
 
 Adorned profusely with the schemes of art ; 
 
 And all in nice proportion framed ; so wrought 
 
 That not a flaw appears. All bow the head, 
 
 And worship there, with captive minds and hearts. 
 
 At length, in rear of many years, appears 
 
 A bold Heresiarch, who gravely asks 
 
 On what the building rests ; for he had marked 
 
 A sinking in the walls ; expressed his fears 
 
 That weakness at the base imperiled all. 
 
 He searched and found it so : great stir arose, 
 
 Some still admired and worshiped there; others 
 
 Retired, began, de novo, philosophic search. 
 
 Is this just paralleled by modern zeal 
 
 The rash erection, and th' unsparing smash; 
 
 As well reluctance to forsake what they, 
 
 And numbers ere their day, have fondly dreamed 
 
46 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Perfection of an art ? This difference 
 
 We see indeed and readily record 
 
 That he of ancient date enthroned himself, 
 
 Brought Nature to his feet, and made her there 
 
 Arrange her facts, subordinate to laws 
 
 Which he had framed at philosophic ease. 
 
 Not so in modern times : our Architects 
 
 Have sought a good foundation, but have built 
 
 Too hastily; nor have they wholly shunned 
 
 To theorize on unsufficient grounds. 
 
 To adverse facts they shut their eyes and ears ; 
 
 Ignored Dissent and all its claims; denied 
 
 Its allegations based on things that are; 
 
 Averred that human fossils had no place 
 
 In Palaeontologic lore. 
 
 The times are changed. Man was at first shut out 
 
 Most jealously from hoar apartments, where 
 
 The Mammoth and the Mastodon appear. 
 
 The fossil man would clash with theories 
 
 Which antedate existences, that men 
 
 Of sober thought and simple faith had deemed 
 
 Sufficiently remote six thousand years ago. 
 
 But man would shew himself at least his bones 
 
 In the rude company of guests pre- Adamite. 
 
 Tables are turned. What shall be done with facts ? 
 
 O modify our views, and make the best 
 
 Of awkward contretemps; abandon ground 
 
 No longer tenable; pull down old fanes 
 
 And build afresh; subject the Genesis 
 
 To further search stricter analysis; 
 
 Ignore its claims to credibility, 
 
 If that must be ; or that must fall, or we. 
 
 The Mammoth lived back in the range of time 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 47 
 
 A hundred thousand years ago, no doubt; 
 
 This we have ruled after much patient thought, 
 
 And cannot, will not now retract: since then 
 
 Some anthropoidal bones have come to light, 
 
 Mixed with remains of animals extinct. 
 
 Hence we resolve they lived together, and 
 
 Together died a thousand centuries back. 
 
 But why, says one, must these be thrust so far 
 
 Back in th' impalpable obscure, and so 
 
 Deride our grasp 1 Our theory demands : 
 
 If compromise were possible, we would 
 
 Just strain a point; as thus, we might advance 
 
 Th' historic Adam, say a thousand years ; 
 
 Subtract as much from what we have pronounced 
 
 The fossil term; a thousand more or less 
 
 Is no amount; but really man would still 
 
 Appear a myth; and if we bring him on 
 
 Some thousand years, then we are very sure 
 
 He had some predecessors in the line. 
 
 Unwillingly, believe me, we are now 
 
 Constrained to think Genesis a romance. 
 
 May not your theory be incomplete, 
 
 Defective through defect of evidence ] 
 
 May not some future revelation made 
 
 Urge to despair, and breed rash theorists 1 
 
 Are you quite sure that if we learn your scheme 
 
 We may not soon be forced t' unlearn it all 7 
 
 We much admire your castles in the rocks ; 
 
 They have a solid look, but yet suspect 
 
 That in the Old Red Sandstone and elsewhere 
 
 Foundations are a little mutable. 
 
 The world is now in hot pursuit of men 
 
 In fossil guise, under huge glaciers, drifts, 
 
48 , HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Erratic blocks, in caves, alluviums, sand, 
 
 And under stalagmite. The Natchez man 
 
 Has had great honor paid; four cypress woods 
 
 Successional have mourned his early death. 
 
 The Mississipian delta too has claims 
 
 On your regard; a hundred thousand years 
 
 You lavishly assign to that; 'tis like, 
 
 'Tis very like the man who gives away 
 
 Another's rights. You're lib'ral to excess 
 
 With man's antiquity; if right in one 
 
 You're right in both; if fossil fauna claim 
 
 This high antiquity, so fossil man. 
 
 But what, if proofs turn up that man looks back 
 
 No further than six thousand years too short 
 
 On which to write a geologic tale 
 
 Will you revise your fossil code, confess 
 
 Your hastiness, and reconstruct your laws, 
 
 Delete your axioms and cotemporize 
 
 The fossil monsters with the modern man 1 
 
 That would present a circulate indeed. 
 
 Oh ! you have labored heartily to shew 
 
 Th' existence of a myth, to come at last 
 
 To simple verities, which one may read 
 
 Without the learned capability 
 
 Geology demands. Facts we admit, 
 
 But to the theory we must demur. 
 
 A ling'ring fondness for the fossil chair 
 
 Will still prevail ; and still will issue thence 
 
 Prelections of the mighty past : ages 
 
 Receding from admiring gaze, will yet 
 
 Reveal their tortured guests to devotees. 
 
 Did he, almost the Great High Priest, fitted 
 
 T' expound the myst'ries of the creed, or fill 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 49 
 
 The lithic throne, sit mute when tidings bore 
 
 The sad discovery of man's remains 
 
 No more recover from chagrin ? Did he, 
 
 Too honest to reject the truth, yield up 
 
 His earnest life an early sacrifice *? 
 
 No marvel if on rocks fond man engrave 
 
 A mythic science ; so the stars were forced 
 
 To lend their name to crude Astrology; 
 
 And Alchemy arose, a shade of that 
 
 Which now is Chemistry. Great names hold high 
 
 The bannarol of geologic deeds. 
 
 Is there a day to come when men shall smile 
 
 And wonder at the scientific scheme, 
 
 Which long enthralled the mightiest minds 1 
 
 So long have fared Astrology and Alchemy j 
 
 And so, ere long, the splendid Lithograph. 
 
 Awhile the City roam -the Capital, 
 Proud Britain's boast. No lack of subjects here 
 Its wealth, its poverty; its -courtly show, 
 Its abject wretchedness; its large supply, 
 Jts pinching need; plebeian sickness, nursed 
 By pitying charity in princely wards; 
 The haughty peer, defiant commoner; 
 Riches ill got, spent in no better way; 
 Here lordly mansions, squalid huts hard by, 
 In close attachment, much as if they clung 
 Jn bitter taunt and mute derisive scorn. 
 Ill-balanced state ! ill-omened mien ! yet not; 
 Because that one is high, another low; 
 That one is rich, another poor; not so, 
 Nature displays diversity throughout, 
 Disparity as well; yet harmony, 
 Except where discord flings its madd'ning gage. 
 
50 HEKE AND HEEEAFTEE. 
 
 The scavenger is intimate with that 
 Which would defile the man of gentle birth, 
 Did he but touch. The honest artisan 
 Dons a frieze coat as most appropriate; 
 The king his purple robe and royal crown; 
 The judge his ermine and his flowing wig; 
 The peer his coronet and robes of state; 
 The beggar too is most at home in rags. 
 Let some mischance this order disarrange, 
 What ludicrous wry looks would peer beneath 
 Th' averted eyes ! The cottage room would blush 
 To own the tapestry of courtly halls. 
 He argues ill who claims equality : 
 This cannot be; effort and strength of mind 
 Subserve advancement; yawning indolence 
 And minds of weak intent are retrograde : 
 The one to rule succeeds, the other serves. 
 Abuse of good will taint the issuing stream, 
 The fountain still conserves its primal good. 
 Yet not that rule is ill, or service shame; 
 He serves who rules, if justice yields its due; 
 He benefits who serves, if faithful found. 
 There is a service hard, and grim its lord; 
 Not servants simply, galley-slaves he holds 
 In galling chains, and loathsome servitude. 
 Self- Will his name proud, domineering, harsh, 
 Exacting, fierce, and vain : his prison doors 
 Are ever shut; glad liberty denies 
 To all his slaves. No neighbor clouds his hearth, 
 Nor warms his heart; pretentious, in his den 
 He lurks, and plots, and circumvents; too soon 
 He drags his victim to his net. Such owns 
 His country seat or house in town : sometimes 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 51 
 
 In lordly guise; sometimes in fustian found. 
 Both high and low, both rich and poor; he roams 
 Quite multiform. Not Moloch's fires, nor car 
 Of Juggernaut, such numerous victims boast. 
 
 The tolling bell peals out its solemn sounds, 
 The sable hearse with nodding plumes plods on. 
 The King of Terrors here holds much his court ; 
 A grisly band attends and courtiers grim. 
 Hot Fever wasting slow, or raging fierce; 
 Of Proteus' form, as yellow, bilious, black, 
 Or scarlet, typhus, intermittent; wide 
 Its cruel range: no age exempt; or youth, 
 Or bending age his ruthless torch inflames. 
 Consumption, blighting sad the hopes of all, 
 Except the victims of its cruel scourge : 
 Sometimes the very day of the last sigh 
 Is mapped with schemes of earthly good. 
 Paralysis, that subtle foe Palsy, 
 Its trembling form. Impatient Gout, and Rheum : 
 Spasmodic Cholera with horrid Cramp. 
 
 Here thousands roam, profess no trade but theft; 
 In this proficient, they instruct the young 
 To filch in quiet way; and, wary, plumb 
 The depth of pockets fondly deemed secure. 
 In whining plaint, with tale of sore distress, 
 The streets abound with pleaders, who exact 
 Soft hearts' most willing toll; for, true it is, 
 Midst all the hard pursuits of struggling life, 
 Much tenderness remains, and sympathy 
 For woe-struck forms ; not caring to enquire 
 If real need, or feigned want, prefers 
 The urgent suit : the heart believes the eye. 
 Of all the monuments this country boasts, 
 
52 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Not one aspires so high; nor sinks so low 
 
 Its strong foundations in the masonry 
 
 Of poor men's hearts, as that now nobly reared 
 
 By hands of charity. Yes, charity 
 
 Say not that this degrades both them who give, 
 
 And who receive. It is the brightest gem 
 
 In every crown, the goodliest jewel hung 
 
 O'er every hearth. This grace imposes not 
 
 A tax repugnant to the generous heart; 
 
 But, as a priv'lege, claims to drop a tear 
 
 At sorrow's moan; nor ceases then, but throws 
 
 Its portals wide to crowding visitants; 
 
 Nor obligation lays on them, but counts 
 
 Itself obliged that they should take its dole. 
 
 The Harlot walks poor blighted, short-lived thing 
 In gloomy prowl to search for willing prey. 
 Full fifty thousand wand'rers swarm the streets : 
 There, shameless, flaunt their meretricious charms: 
 Thus lure the simple to their unclean haunts. 
 Of all this tainted host, how many lured, 
 How many lure how many pand'rers snare, 
 And barter others in this loathsome trade 1 
 How many neither lure nor lured, but trapped, 
 Their prison first the lap of luxury, 
 With gay attire and careful tendance served ? 
 Atrocious care ! Oh ! doubly damned the wretch 
 Who panders to base lust, and makes a gain 
 Of others' woe and foul pollution too ! 
 Oh ! let their chilly hearth be never warmed 
 With cneerful fire ! their table never spread 
 With wholesome fare ! No medicine assuage 
 Their pains, till bitter tears repentance tell ! 
 Is murder there ? Who knows 1 The Begistrar 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 53 
 
 Nor birth nor death records of these abodes, 
 When so it suits the inmates to conceal. 
 The snared and snarer sometimes fall a prey 
 To sanguine rage. The gloomy suicide, 
 Despairing, seeks the murm'ring surge to close 
 A loathed life; or courts the fatal noose 
 With desperate hands. O deadly fatal haste, 
 To take a hurried leave of all that heart 
 Once fondly grasped ! And whence this frenzied rush 
 To Death's embrace ^ and why this shrieking plunge 
 In unknown depths beyond ? this blind assault 
 On future's secrecy 1 Is it t' escape 
 A burdened life; or, maddened, quench the smart 
 Of conscience' venomed sting 1 Poor bruted wretch J 
 Sure Retribution's scourge awaits its time. 
 Thy wrongs shall tell their tale: not thine alone; 
 All their account must give : conscience shall wake 
 With fearful strength, and mem'ry's lines, deep cut, 
 But now o'ergrown with Time's effect, retouched, 
 Shall then disclose, to shrinking, frightened gaze, 
 Deep damning guilt. Hell's depths themselves will seem 
 A refuge to unshriven souls a welcome screen 
 From Heaven's high Judge His awful frown. 
 Can man no measure frame for man's estate, 
 No remedy for patent ills deplored ] 
 Are all his varied plans abjected quite- 
 None meetened for the stress of social need ? 
 One presses Education; confident, 
 Proposes schemes to elevate the mass, 
 So deeply sunk in ignorance and crime. 
 Knowledge is good, and ignorance the source 
 Of sorrow, guilt, and shame. Fair premises; 
 But ignorance of what ? What knowledge helps 
 
54 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 To work this happy change 1 Shall we redeem 
 
 The intellect alone from sterile grade ? 
 
 We have convincing proof of failure here : 
 
 Nay, more than failure shames this vaunted cure. 
 
 The more man knows, the greater power he wields 
 
 The heart untaught to work the greater ill. 
 
 Who plans the largest schemes t' accomplish good ? 
 
 That man -who moves appliances of skill, 
 
 Of learning, and of morals framed and wrought 
 
 By wisdom's code. Who brands his caitiff name 
 
 With lasting infamy, by treacherous wiles, 
 
 And lies, and monstrous fraud 1 He, who has sat 
 
 In learning's hall, and stored his ample mind, 
 
 But left his heart untaught. 
 
 Another boasts that he has found a cure ; 
 
 Imperative enjoins Touch not, taste not. 
 
 But is not God's great law imprinted deep 
 
 On all created things, that He has made 
 
 A gift of all to man 1 not for excess, 
 
 But use : excess entails mad drunkenness 
 
 And other ills; a thankful use secures 
 
 The greatest good. But it is manifest 
 
 That man is ill; a deadly sickness racks, 
 
 Enervates all his frame; yea, mentally 
 
 He pines, desiderates some better state. 
 
 The problem yet remains unsolved, how he, 
 
 A guilty, ruined man may be restored. 
 
 But stay : how came man so ? was he at first 
 
 This sickly thing ? How came he here at all, 
 
 How introduced into this world of throes, 
 
 This dreary tenement of blighted hopes ? 
 
 Or has he changed from good estate to bad ? 
 
 If so, how brought about himself the cause, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Or did some other rule his destiny ? 
 
 Or was his Maker baulked 1 Could He not keep 
 
 The thing He made 1 Endowments wonderful ! 
 
 Were they for ill designed, or did some foe 
 
 Of both, ruin devise ? And if a foe, 
 
 Whence he, and whence his power to work for man 
 
 Such potent mischief and such utter wreck ? 
 
 O hapless man ! the dreadful truth remains ; 
 
 Whether some foe without, or traitorous scheme 
 
 Of thine own heart, thy early ruin planned, 
 
 Thou art not what thou wert; nor can thy heart 
 
 Devise a remedy, so that the source 
 
 May no more pour its poisoned stream. 
 
 Is there no clue to this 1 no influence 
 
 To clear all mists away 1 unravel threads 
 
 Of this dark rnyst'ry 1 must he wander on 
 
 Forlorn, through this dark, dismal labyrinth, 
 
 And close at last the very best of lives, 
 
 It may be, with the very worst of deaths 
 
 A forward, downward plunge, in depths unknown, 
 
 Of darkness, thick, impenetrate 1 
 
 Man has indeed essayed t' investigate 
 
 These shrouded secrets, seek his origin, 
 
 His state at first; why now so obdurate? 
 
 To break the seal of hidden things : as thus 
 
 Creation's source eternal or derived; 
 
 And how as formed, or in a shapeless mass ? 
 
 Inert or self -impelled ? devoid of sense, 
 
 Or self -endowed with sentient powers 1 stubborn, 
 
 Intractable and wild, resulting hence 
 
 The product Man; divulging plain his source? 
 
 Or else putrescent, and thence springing Man, 
 
 As if by exhalation foul, inept ? 
 
56, HERE AXD. HEUE AFTER 
 
 Or matter good at first, but mutable, 
 
 And variable, and prone thereto, and thus 
 
 Man has a base inheritance of lusts, 
 
 And broils, and appetites of base intent i 
 
 Or matter not derived; a Demiurge 
 
 Sprung from the Deity supreme met this j- 
 
 And by inferior skill moulded and wrought 
 
 Its present form 1 This ^Eon, weak in power;- 
 
 And necessary knowledge for the work; 
 
 Or wanting goodness, fatal mischief framed, 
 
 And evil indiscreet; whence sprang profuse, 
 
 Intensive malady and detriment ? 
 
 Or water, source of denser form, or air, 
 
 Or fire, by revolution in itself^ 
 
 Or fiat of th' Almighty will I 
 
 Or Spirit underived, unchangeable; 
 
 Parent and Author of all good, supreme} 
 
 Efficient cause of all we see and hear; 
 
 Of all imagined things, objects of thought;. 
 
 And mind with all its store of subtle gift 1 
 
 Or else, from matter crude and void, arose 
 
 The heavens and earth, organic residence 
 
 Of Goda and men; displaying skill in plan ; 
 
 With soul infused, instinct and rational, 
 
 Pervading all the universal scheme : 
 
 This universal soul at first secerned 
 
 Demons and gods invisible; thence too 
 
 Man had his individual soul from what was left ] 
 
 Or one of subtle craft took plastic clay, 
 
 And with it formed a man and woman too, 
 
 Stole fire from Heaven and gave it life 1 
 
 All this and more man, in his lab'ring mind 
 
 Revolving, has proposed. How manifest 
 
HE.KE AND HEREAFTER. 57 
 
 That man, left to himself, must ever fail 
 
 To find out God, or how He works J 
 
 A man of subtle mind, with giant grasp 
 
 Of intellect, and conversant with creeds 
 
 Of men; and mighty power to search and make 
 
 Deep inquisition of all Nature's state,. 
 
 Sent up this wail at last 
 
 *' Into the world I foully came ; anxious my life : 
 
 Troubled I leave it, Cause of causes pity me." * 
 
 Though such, with curious skill, have made deep search 
 
 And fathomed all the depths of mortal mind, 
 
 Yet still the cry ascends Who will resolve 
 
 This lengthened doubt; dispel this thickening gloom, 
 
 This burdening weight 1 Still the demand recurs 
 
 Who gave to man his being, who conferred: 
 
 His furniture of thought and skill; his power 
 
 To work, to meditate and plan vast schemes; 
 
 To be awhile, for ever pass away 
 
 Then whither gone, and does he still exist, 
 
 And how ? his fellows see his body droop ; 
 
 Like beasts he lieth down, dust to the dust; 
 
 O'er them has no pre-eminence at last; 
 
 They die, so dieth he; together drop 
 
 Into the grave, commingling dust with dust. 
 
 Is there no diff'renee then 1 do wise and fools 
 
 Depart alike the virtuous and the vile 1 
 
 Must he who, living, sought his country's good, 
 
 Imperiled life; forgot to build his house 
 
 With public spoil ; sank under weight of care 
 
 For others, riot himself, rot in his cell, 
 
 * Aristotle. As he expired he is said to have exclaimed 
 " Fcede hunc munium intravi, anxius vixi, perturbatus egre- 
 dior, causa cauaarum miserere mei." 
 
58 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 As he who forges chains of slavery 
 
 To load the limbs of fellow men; or he 
 
 Who liberty defiles, tramples her fires, 
 
 And rears a monument of wrong ? 
 
 Is the reward alike ? and do they lie 
 
 Mingling forgotten dust in Fate's embrace ? 
 
 Not quite : their ashes rest in common state, 
 
 But Fame enrols respectively their deeds. 
 
 Their generation speaks the praise of those 
 
 Who loved their race, and sought their country's good; 
 
 And makes fair record of their patriot worth, 
 
 With registry of honor's rightful meed. 
 
 Impartial Hist'ry notes the course of him 
 
 Who marshaled hosts with guilty zest of power; 
 
 Her pen, with faithful stroke, records the spread 
 
 Of ruin, famine, death dread visitors, 
 
 Attendant on the steps of him, who scorns 
 
 To stay his route, because of others' woes. 
 
 And is this all 1 is man used up ? the grave 
 His final bourne 1 no immortality 1 
 His fervid hopes closed with the mortal touch 
 Of Death's foul sting 1 No after state of thought 1 
 Has he thus sped a life of cheerless toil 
 In fruitless search 1 Did such his heart append 
 To daily toil ? No future no hereafter ! 
 But if there be, must wild conjecture frame 
 Its normal state and occupation there 1 
 Are all his ties rough severed and for aye ? 
 Is Time a fragment -does a counterpart, 
 Sundered afar by Death's cold flood, exist 1 
 Or hath this cheerless coast, washed by its waves, 
 No view of realms beyond the narrow belt; 
 No hopeful sight of happy plains, where roam 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 59 
 
 Enfranchised souls in disembodied state 1 
 Hath Hope, so rudely stayed, no sequel there 
 Of brighter days ? has Joy no fond appeal 
 To future spheres of boundless, rapturous life; 
 And not the risk again of breaking up ? 
 
 Oh ! why these longings 1 why this f ev'rish grasp 
 This fastened hold on things unknown, unseen 1 
 May one retain, with sure and certain hope, 
 His fond attachment ? know that now expends 
 A moment in his course ? that Time is short, 
 Though lengthened out e'en to a thousand years 1 
 That God will gather up and bring to light 
 All works, all words, all creeds, all thoughts of men 1 
 Shed light on all, and manifest, at length, 
 His Godhead underived; man's marv'lous frame 
 By Him devised, endowed with living soul ? 
 Yea, God o'er all, most blessed evermore, 
 And close this Time in dread Eternity ? 
 
 O for some heavenly gifted Visitant, 
 Some guest awhile to silence doubts; to shew 
 What man can only think : to lift the veil 
 And give a glance of things beyond; and shew, 
 In part, what heart, and mind, and spirit seek, 
 With earnest toil ! Must all await Death's overture 1 
 And not till then the awful myst'ry pierce 1 
 Is this God's way 1 The Just and Holy One, 
 Has He 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 WISDOM stays the rash sunnisings of an enquirer with some 
 unfolding of God's ways : commits to Revelation the work 
 thus begun. The enquirer is sent in retrogression of thought 
 to Eden to see man in his primal state, and make a record of 
 what he sees and hears. Revelation resumes for a while, and 
 sends the enquirer again to hear Adam and Eve's colloquy. 
 On his return Revelation commits to the enquirer the written 
 Word of God for the full unfolding of God's will and ways. 
 Its reception and use. Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve's 
 lamentations. Discourse on Death and Life. Progress of sin, 
 The flood, 
 
 , sinner, stay thy madly rash demands; 
 Thy God is just. Couldst thou but comprehend 
 All He has done, silence would seal thy lips; 
 Or thou wouldst speak admiringly of Him, 
 Of all His works. I, Wisdom, will make known 
 All that thou seek'st, more than just satisfy 
 All thy conceits; unfold deep mysteries; 
 Divulge God's thoughts, so great, so marvelous, 
 That man, or brightest seraph, durst not give 
 Such thoughts, if formed, encouragement of birth, 
 
 From everlasting, when as yet the heavens 
 Were not, nor earth, nor fountains of the deep; 
 Before His works of old, me He possessed; 
 Then I was with Him, daily His delight. 
 Now therefore hearken and rebuke thy heart; 
 For life and favor wait for him who hears 
 My words. To Revelation I commit 
 This work of grace. See, God has reared on high 
 
62 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 His glorious tablet; there things visible 
 
 Declare the things invisible of Him, 
 
 E'en His eternal power and Godhead underived. 
 
 But this suffices not for more or less 
 
 Than unf alien man; for thou art not 
 
 What first thou wert; then holy, innocent, 
 
 Well satisfied; now guilty, vile and lost: 
 
 As craving more than need requires, not just; 
 
 Thus needing more than nature gives or can assign. 
 
 And now, with ear attent, and heart disposed; 
 
 Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, man's heart 
 
 Hath not conceived the things prepared of God. 
 
 Thy ardent thoughts restrain, but not repress ; 
 
 As learner seek, awaiting daily at my gate; 
 
 Presuming nought; but, humble, hear my voice. 
 
 Counsel is mine and strength; by me kings reign, 
 
 And princes rule, justice decree by me. 
 
 My ways are pleasantness, my paths are peace. 
 
 In the beginning God, th' Almighty, made 
 The Heavens and Earth : formless and void appeared 
 The Earth at first, and darkness brooded there 
 Drear on the deep. Unfurnished then it rolled, 
 Upheld by Sovereign power: He laid deep down 
 The Earth's foundations firm, and covered them 
 With hoary depths, as yet sealed up, congealed 
 In thick-set ice, no warmth as yet had thawed. 
 On these the Spirit moved, and energized, 
 Resolving thus a normal fluid state. 
 God said Light be, and there was Light. 
 God saw the light, pronounced it good; and while, 
 As yet, no Sun appeared, glad harbinger 
 Of day; nor did the Moon, reflective, shine; 
 The Day and Night were there God's first day's work. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 63 
 
 Then Let a firmament appear, and clothe 
 
 The Earth as with a garment ; in its folds 
 
 Suspended floods, severed from floods below; 
 
 And so it was : God called this Heavens, the work 
 
 Accomplished on the second day. 
 
 Now Let the waters under the whole Heavens 
 
 Be confluent, and let dry land appear; 
 
 And so it was : this He called Earth, that Sea. 
 
 And this was good. God said, Now let the Earth 
 
 Bring forth her tender grass; the herb yielding 
 
 Its seed ; the fruit tree yielding fruit : God spake, 
 
 And it was done ; He saw that this was good : 
 
 And hence the third day's work. 
 
 Then in the Firmament He placed great lights 
 
 The Sun to rule by day, the Moon by night : 
 
 These seasons serve, and signs, and days, and years. 
 
 Likewise the Stars He made the fourth day's work; 
 
 And this was also good. And next God said, 
 
 Now let the waters teem abundantly 
 
 With moving creatures having life great whales, 
 
 And other monsters of the deep, and fish : 
 
 And in the firmament, the Heavens, He caused 
 
 The fowl to fly; and God endowed them both, 
 
 And bade them multiply the fish to fill 
 
 The waters of the sea; the fowl, the earth. 
 
 All these were good : and such the fifth day's work. 
 
 Then the command Now let the Earth bring forth 
 
 Cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of every kind ; 
 
 And so it was ; God saw that it was good : 
 
 But God would yet appoint a head o'er all 
 
 That He had made o'er all His handy work. 
 
 Let us make Man, God said, bearing the stamp 
 
 Of our divinity our image wear, 
 
64 SERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And in our likeness rule o'er all our works 
 
 O'er fish and fowl and cattle, creeping thing, 
 
 O'er all the earth, and all that moves thereon. 
 
 So God made Man, and Woman out of him; 
 
 And gave to them viceregal power on earth. 
 
 For food, seed-bearing herbs, fruit-bearing trees; 
 
 To other living things, every green herb. 
 
 This was the sixth day's work, and very good : 
 
 The seventh God rested on, and blessed, and sanctified. 
 
 Thyself, O Man, Jehovah formed of dust, 
 Dust of the ground; into thy nostrils breathed 
 The breath of life, and thou becamest hence 
 A living soul. God found thee work to do, 
 To occupy thy time, and exercise thy limbs. 
 A garden, planted by His hands, was placed 
 Eastward in Eden, there He put the man 
 To dress and keep this blooming ward ; and there 
 He put trees of all kinds; the trees of Life, 
 Of knowledge good and ill peculiar growth 
 Were there. One tree alone man might not touch, 
 Or touching it he died dread penalty ! 
 Yet no way disproportioned to the breach 
 Of God's command. God saw man's lonely state; 
 JsTo mate for him throughout creation's bounds 
 Had yet been found : so God induced deep sleep 
 To fall on him, took from his riven side 
 A rib and closed the flesh instead thereof, 
 Jehoyah moulded this, a Woman made, 
 And brought her to the man these two are one. 
 
 O man ! in thought revert to this glad time ; 
 Away, and mark this pair from God's own hand ; 
 Record thy estimation of His skill, 
 And goodness too : for man is not built up 
 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 65 
 
 To live awhile, then cease, and pass away, 
 
 And not again exist. Here is his state 
 
 If he observe the tenure of his fief ; 
 
 If not some change impends, provided for 
 
 By Him for whom no casualty awaits; 
 
 And no calamity alarms : His mind, 
 
 Surprised by no event as unforeseen, 
 
 Has met all consequents of this His act : 
 
 Yea, all is His, since He has planned tjie whole. 
 
 Framer of agents, He encircles all; 
 
 Since He upholds while they perform; since He, 
 
 With antecedent cognizance has cast 
 
 The myriad wheels, which ceaseless work 
 
 The vast machinery; since He imparts 
 
 All energy the power of thought, the will 
 
 To do or not to do; whate'er is done 
 
 Converges in His will. But not less true 
 
 It is that man is held responsible 
 
 For all his thoughts, his words, his ways. 
 
 Forbear to judge, thou understandest not; 
 
 Thou art not capable; but if thou wait, 
 
 God will unravel all; in His own time 
 
 Give thee to know what now thou knowest not. 
 
 One like myself I see, in feature, limb, 
 And general frame; but larger, happier, seems; 
 And one of womankind, some space apart. 
 Soon they each other find, with wondering eyes, 
 Without delay each other seek in near approach. 
 He, not with stealthy step of guileful plot, 
 Or spring of latent ill designed; no speed 
 Of hasty feet, shod for some mazy road, 
 Some errand of self-will, or rash intent. 
 With impulse soft, he onward frames his course, 
 
06 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Most willingly the subject of his willing heart. 
 
 Attraction strange he feels, and yet not strange 
 
 When estimated by the wondrous cause 
 
 A cause efficient, answering well the end. 
 
 Beauty of form is hers, and graceful mien, 
 
 And moulded limb, bespeaking skill divine; 
 
 Glowing with youthful vigor, just emerged, 
 
 With ample dowry, from her Maker's hands ; 
 
 A speculum, in which he views combined 
 
 God's wisdom most profound, and goodness couched 
 
 Under provoking charms. 
 
 No tardy pace is hers, nor dubious haste; 
 
 Yet willing feet obey the willing mind; 
 
 Gazing with pleased surprise on him, from whom 
 
 She had so lately sprung. Limbs like her own, 
 
 But cast in larger mould, attract her gaze ; 
 
 Features the same, yet differing, annealed 
 
 With perfect skill : both very beautiful, 
 
 This Man, and Woman that. 
 
 He, muscular; she, lithe, of airy build; 
 
 Swart-featured he; she, fair with glowing tint; 
 
 He, of large stature, tow'ring high, robust, 
 
 Of loftier reach than sin has left to man; 
 
 She less, becomingly; her head attains 
 
 His shoulders' height whence now we often see 
 
 The eye, in melting love, upturned to gaze 
 
 On him much prized; whilst he looks down, entranced- 
 
 Her radiant tresses hang in lavish length, 
 
 In playful curl bespread her snowy neck, 
 
 Her shoulders clothe, stray o'er the swelling bust, 
 
 Nor stay their course, but wander gaily on, 
 
 The body half conceal. 
 
 He too, in graceful length and bushy growth, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 67 
 
 Displays a front of raven locks, resting 
 Profusely on his brawny chest, and there 
 Delayed, and clustering with the fertile growth 
 Depending from his chin, continuing on 
 The loins embrace. A pair of noble kind, 
 Unlike, and yet how like ! God's praise proclaim. 
 And now, at length, in sweet assailment met, 
 Both own the sanguine bond, and both conceive 
 The genial law of mated kind; entwined, 
 Together walk, discoursing fond awhile 
 Of mutual ties, and God's design. 
 
 First Adam spoke, assayed the wondrous gift. 
 What tones of voice, sonorous, musical ! 
 Majestic swell, or cadence soft prevailed, 
 As varied theme, or avenue of thought 
 Occasion wrought. No huskiness, as now, 
 Impeded harsh the full clear sound, which flowed 
 Impressive of itself ; but when surcharged 
 With earnest, weighty truth, how eloquent ! 
 His other self, all ear, deeply impressed; 
 Her eyes, in liquid softness, yield assent 
 To his inspired discourse : and thus at first 
 His Maker's praise his tongue engaged : 
 
 Praise Him above, ye host of heaven ye Sun 
 And Moon; ye Stars of light; ye heavens of heavens ! 
 All here below your Maker praise; His praise 
 Exalt, cedars and fir of towering height; 
 Ye oaks and chestnuts wide, with multitude 
 Of pregnant boughs; far-spreading banyan, filled 
 With occupants of agile limb, and tribes 
 Of nimble wing; rooting thy progeny, 
 They yet appended to their parent frame; 
 A parent each, yet each descended from 
 
68 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 A common stock, so nourishment supplies 
 
 Through veins not severed, bearing sap to all. 
 
 A type of all our race, from me to spring 
 
 And thee, fair Eve, progenitors. 
 
 Obedience, claimed from us and them, ensures 
 
 Resulting happiness to all, in bonds 
 
 Of love, and joy, and peace. For us and ours 
 
 No measured gift, no pittance from His store, 
 
 Gives thought of grudging on the part of Him 
 
 Who gave this present life; and with this life 
 
 All other things to satisfy our need . 
 
 Herbs, bearing seed; trees, bearing fruit, for food: 
 
 Sweet-scented flowers our ravished eyes delight, 
 
 In trailing form; or climbing, they adorn 
 
 The highest trees, or spread the verdant ground 
 
 With varied tint. One tree we may not touch : 
 
 This is no bar to perfect bliss ; in this 
 
 We see how little God exacts from us 
 
 No code of laws that, having many parts, 
 
 Might be forgot; no worship stiff with forms; 
 
 No service hard, conditioned with mere will, 
 
 Apart from good. See thy assignment, Eve ! 
 
 It is my part ta dress and keep the ground; 
 
 Refreshing labor ! yet monotony 
 
 Might dull perceptiveness of good; so thou 
 
 Dost add a charm. I look on thee, and breathe 
 
 More joy. It is thy part to help; meet place 
 
 For thee, so slightly framed. For though we dread 
 
 No harm from occupation such as ours, 
 
 Yet strength is mine; so trees of larger growth 
 
 My hand shall trim; thy gentler skill and taste 
 
 The creepers guide, the varied flowers arrange : 
 
 Near me thy place maintain, and both near God. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Thus worship, not so much an act, as state 
 Of mind and heart, pervading every act, 
 And word, and thought, will make us intimate 
 With Him who gave us common life and joy. 
 
 Then Eve her ears delighted with the tones 
 Of Adam's rich full voice, her buoyant heart 
 With glad accord, and understanding clear, 
 In silvery voice, and joyous accents sweet, 
 Of higher key, mellifluous, her tongue 
 First found. O how attuned my heart 
 To speak my Maker's praise, that He, benign, 
 Hath made me what I am, thy joyous help ! 
 Meet for occasion, linked to thee, my life, 
 By a mysterious bond, well recognized, 
 But not advised in understanding yet. 
 Nor need I know more than the will of Him 
 Who made us both thee out of dust, and me 
 From thee ; bone of thy bone, flesh of thy flesh : 
 The same as thee inwrought, the same in me. 
 Though two, in form distinct, and body framed; 
 In spirit one, and in intent of mind : 
 Pursuits and aim the same. To be employed 
 Is well; and to be near thee, my delight. 
 Whilst we, rejoicing, do our Maker's work, 
 Accepted worship occupies our hearts. 
 How large our Maker's gift ! One tree alone 
 Of knowledge good and ill we may not touch . 
 In Him we live, and move, and being have. 
 
 To whom, with gladsome heart of love, to her 
 Whom God had made out of himself, and clothed 
 With flesh like his, but softer, delicate, 
 And rounded into shape of smaller size ; 
 From jutting lines, robust, of muscle free 
 
70 HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 To her, admiring, Adam made response : 
 
 For thee, fair Eve, my bounteous Maker's gift, 
 
 My heart gives thanks to Him, and cleaves to thee. 
 
 Unsought, unthought of, undesired, because 
 
 The mind, with conscious void, could entertain 
 
 No faint conception of so rich a prize ; 
 
 But now my joy, my life. 
 
 No lack of due allegiance to my God, 
 
 My Maker, institutes these love-born words, 
 
 Objective epithets, so duly His : 
 
 For His indeed we are, and all we have; 
 
 Well said by thee at first, by me rejoined. 
 
 With full intent nought to withhold; and nought 
 
 To thee apportion which to Him belongs; 
 
 Nought to abstract, nor faintest thought project 
 
 Of aim apart from Him, who thee endowed 
 
 With beauty, me with strength; whilst each, in these 
 
 Surpassing each, has yet his proper share 
 
 Of that which eminently the other has. 
 
 Thus then, a due admeasurement of strength 
 
 According to thy slight conditioned frame 
 
 Is thine : I beauty have, of other kind, 
 
 But answering well th' intent of Him who gave. 
 
 Enough for thee to view well-satisfied 
 
 Is mine : but this is not the secret power 
 
 Attracting thee to me; nor does thy charm 
 
 Lie in thy strength. Whilst I behold and gaze 
 
 With wonder on the lovely, loving gift, 
 
 My heart grows warmer; bounding joy prevails 
 
 Through all my frame. Thee other power assails, 
 
 Assured to thee by God's creative mind : 
 
 I love the lovely, thou the lover lov'st. 
 
 O subtle, gentle force ! my heart from thee 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 71 
 
 No sev'rance bears ; and thine with mine is twined 
 In fond desire; impulsive, yet not rude, 
 Intensive, yet not fierce. 
 
 Again, with swelling bosom, Eve replied : 
 Within I feel responsive to thy words; 
 My heart makes glad assent, and praise I give 
 To Him who made me thus, my joy fulfils. 
 No votive seasons call away my heart 
 Divided, caring how to please the one, 
 The other leave in short abandonment. 
 The spirit, framed by faultless skill, admits 
 No adverse claim; but loving both, and both 
 Attending, sweetest care my spirit fills, 
 My time employs. No idle moments craved : 
 No such demand can rise, where every wish, 
 Ere yet expressed, is met. No future good, 
 Amerced by fond anticipation now, 
 Affects the balance of our daily joy : 
 Sufficient for the day the present good avails. 
 Enough to know that He, who portioned us 
 On this our bridal day, has for each day 
 Its goijj} supplied. That tree alone, profuse 
 With luscious, mellow fruit, He has denied. 
 
 Then Adam spoke, in happy mood, and yet 
 With quickened glance, from Eve to tree just named. 
 I mark the glowing tints of that fair fruit ; 
 I own its power to please. My God, and thou, 
 Fair Eve, His gift, my heart engage; His work, 
 My hands : for though this work is mine to do ; 
 His to expect ; and thine, as gladdening help ; 
 Toil He prevenes, by gracious deed of gift, 
 Made in creative power, considerate skill, 
 And goodness all combined. Labor is good 
 
72 HERE AND HEREAFTER, 
 
 For thee and me : no weary limbs recline 
 When day its evening brings; no yielding couch 
 Awaits their stretch. My mind, prophetic, looks 
 Through time's appointed course : our progeny, 
 Bending with toil, crowd through the varied ways 
 Of life : labor, still good but deeply soiled 
 With disaffection, wears the garb of ill, 
 Its aspect wasting, wan; and not as now y 
 Medium of quiet praise, our Maker's claim. 
 I see diverging int'rests too, set up 
 By adverse claims, in ignorance of Him 
 Whose claim they, impious, disavow. 
 I see the consequence; embroilment, wrath, 
 And strife, and bitter fray : factions arise ; 
 The weaker fail, the stronger rule; at first 
 In small domain, till clashing claims renew 
 The contest faintly hushed : oppression's hand 
 Laid heavily, provokes; and, as before,, 
 The weaker rise, resist, the lower fall, 
 Succumb, and yield their portion to the grasp 
 Of mightier strength. Again, dissatisfied, 
 New quarrels spring, again their strength they 
 One sinks, the other triumphs and forgets, 
 Demented quite, his brother's loss is his. 
 Thus kingdoms rise, thus empires aggregate. 
 My spirit makes essay, but fails to find 
 The cause of this. Nor can I now feel aught 
 Of sorrow or of burd'ning dread; for nought 
 Of kindred cause with them my spirit pleads : 
 Yet let us both His gifts enjoy: thankful, 
 His will perform, His presence keep; and both, 
 In loving concert, occupy our time. 
 That tree avoid: no good comes out of ill; 
 
HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 73 
 
 The spring corrupt, so is its flow : that day 
 We taste its fruit, that day we taste of death. 
 No doubt this is some fearful punishment; 
 But meet award for disobedience foul. 
 I have no wish to know the full extent 
 Of evil lurking there; not in itself, 
 But in conjunction with some sentient thing. 
 Our Maker's single law this matter clears; 
 When I, or thou, or both, outrage that law, 
 Then grievous ruin falls on us and ours. 
 Is this the prelude of my lengthened gaze, 
 Extended through the onward course of time ? 
 Almost it troubles me to think, that we, 
 Now happy, may ourselves initiate, 
 Somehow, this woe-commissioned state. 
 Keep near, for thee I need, thou needest me ; 
 Complete with thee I move, and thou with me : 
 Apart we miss each complement, and risk 
 We know not what. Suspicion may not work; 
 No guilt, as yet, affords it proper sphere : 
 But caution well becomes, th' occasion craves 
 Avoidance of this tree. Ere God had framed 
 Thee out of me, He gave me solemn charge 
 " But of the tree of knowledge, good and ill, 
 Thou shalt not eat, for in the very day 
 Thou eatest it, then dying thou shalt die." 
 
 He ceased ; then Eve replied : Oh ! could I slight 
 This loving care, this fond solicitude ! 
 My heart is thine ; yet not the less I give 
 Due reverence to Him, who gave thee me. 
 My all is His, my Maker, Sovereign, God ; 
 Yet not the less entirely thine, by gift 
 Unasked: abounding goodness, that demands 
 
74 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 A subject heart in thee and me. 
 That tree is fair to look upon ; to me 
 
 It seemeth good for food 
 
 Thee I believe, and thou belie vest God; I both. 
 Now let us to our welcome task, to dress 
 And keep this Eden, garden of our God. 
 Thine the direct assignment, made by Him; 
 And I thy steps attend. One law alone 
 Our gracious God enjoins, of light demand. 
 To shape our course, one law pervades our life 
 For thee I live, and thou for me. 
 
 Thus they discoursed, rejoicing in themselves. 
 And finding each in one another all 
 That each could wish or fondest heart devise. 
 No fading leaf was there; no lurking snake 
 Prefaced with horrid hiss its fatal coil; 
 No roar of rav'ning beast; nor, hov'ring o'er, 
 Fierce bird of prey, with cruel scream, induced 
 Its victim's dread. No rending thorn was there, 
 Nor thistle, marking nature's saddest curse; 
 No blighting wind ; nor insect, injuring foul 
 The tender plant; nor sudden, biting frost, 
 Destroying quite last evening's budding hopes. 
 No ruin marked the track of stormy wind. 
 The keeper and his help no weary toil 
 Their frame sustained ; though nude, no conscious blush ; 
 No mauve or fuschia tint; no color rare, 
 Or gaudy dye, waved in the playful breeze, 
 Or decked the tainted limb. 
 O happy pair ! no need but every tree 
 Or plant supplied, because no adverse will 
 To your Creator's had as yet a place 
 In this fair realm. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 75 
 
 But what ? what was that which so appalled ? 
 Deep darkness fell at once, as if to hide 
 Some fearful thing. Whilst I in spirit viewed 
 The primal scene of bliss, where beauty smiled 
 In earliest youth man's state of innocence, 
 And all th' attendant joys of that sweet time; 
 A ghastly shroud fell over all the scene. 
 
 To thee, O Revelation, I return; 
 Wisdom gave thee t' unfold these mysteries; 
 In part made known ere, wrapt in reverie, 
 I strayed to that fair spot, and listened there 
 To tones and speech, of more than mortal kind, 
 Judged by our rarest, sweetest sounds. 
 My ear attent, my heart disposed, thy words 
 May clear the awful gloom that lowering hides 
 The deed in drear uncertainty. 
 I fear the worst; some dreadful act, perhaps, 
 Whence springs the woe of all our race. 
 Earth felt the deed; trembled, and shudd'ring, paused, 
 And to its centre shook; the poison coursed 
 Throughout its frame; its ruin owned. 
 The heavens, astonished, trembled, as it seemed, 
 At God's reproof ; and, horribly afraid, 
 Sad mourning wore. 
 
 I, Revelation, now resume my place, 
 As thy instructor; sorrowful indeed 
 The tale of Eden's woe, and man's sad loss. 
 The guileful serpent, subtle beast, was there 
 Let not thy heart prejudge this single fact: 
 What could his subtilty avail, unless 
 A corresponding subtilty gave tone 
 To his address 1 I thus anticipate 
 Communications thou hast sought; nor rash 
 
76 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Is thy request : for man in ignorance of God, 
 
 And of his own intemperate desires, 
 
 Has charged God foolishly; himself discharged 
 
 From proximate reproach. This subtle beast, 
 
 By God's decree, was subject to the man, 
 
 As federal head : he broke from this, received 
 
 A foe more subtle still, who wrought, through him, 
 
 Most fatal mischief for thy race. 
 
 Here thou mightst urge objections, seeming fair. 
 
 To this precursory step in man's decline. 
 
 Thus, thou mightst ask whence flowed the ill, 
 
 Which, mediate, wrought on man; and whence, at first, 
 
 That bitterness which sought his overthrow ? 
 
 Why was God's, creature turned to be God's foe; 
 
 And what gave him his potency 1 Forbear; 
 
 Satan, urged on by his own will, devised; 
 
 The serpent wrought, met by a kindred thing ; 
 
 By that inspired, seduced th' unwary one. 
 
 And thus the serpent, " Yea, hath God so said, 
 Ye shall not eat of every tree that grows 1 " 
 This to the woman, and she, answering, said, 
 " We may most freely eat of all the trees, 
 Their fruit enjoy; one tree alone is marked 
 By God's express command; we may not eat 
 Of this, nor touch it, lest we die." 
 " Ye shall not die," he said, "for God doth know 
 That in the day ye eat thereof your eyes, 
 Now dim, discerning nought, shall be relieved; 
 Then ye, as gods, shall know evil and good." 
 And when she saw that it was good for food, 
 And pleasant to the eyes, and also much 
 To be desired to make one wise, she took 
 And ate; and gave her husband, and he ate. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 77 
 
 And now indeed their eyes were opened wide ; 
 
 They saw their nakedness, and were ashamed, 
 
 And sought to clothe themselves, and hide from God : 
 
 Thus Adam fell through Eve, God's choicest gift. 
 
 The man was not deceived, the woman was; 
 
 She, blinded, took; but he, with uncered eyes, 
 
 Preferred his Eve to keeping with his God. 
 
 With him the whole creation also fell 
 
 Fell with its lord; unf alien, supreme; supreme 
 
 Now fallen; then in his happiness, now woe 
 
 Enrols him first: for, sentient, he has power 
 
 To know and taste; and, as a connoisseur, 
 
 To judge, expatiate on the depth of guilt 
 
 He wrought; the woe his guilt entailed on all. 
 
 With him sank down, in vanity, his fief ; 
 
 Creation's groans, attesting this, break forth, 
 
 A sore expression of her pain till now. 
 
 Thus entered Sin by one, and Death by sin ; 
 
 And so on all men penal death has passed. 
 
 F.rom Adam death has reigned; e'en over them 
 
 Who have not sinned in Adam's type, but born 
 
 Corrupt; for how can any thing unclean 
 
 Conceive a clean and holy thing ? 
 
 Thus is the problem solved of man's estate. 
 
 Go, seek them not where Nature dropt her veil 
 
 O'er that sad scene of disobedience foul; 
 
 Bifarious too, for she who took the fruit, 
 
 Beheld it through beclouded eyes; her mind, 
 
 O'erwrought by subtle art, gave glad assent 
 
 As to a greater good than she had known: 
 
 But he, who took from her was well advised 
 
 Of all the bitter issues of his act, yet took; 
 
 Received it from her hands, a fatal gift, 
 
78 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Well knowing how his conscious act would work. 
 
 Thus Eve : O Adam, had I heeded well 
 The warning of thy words, this ne'er had been. 
 Had I repressed at first the weak desire 
 To gaze on what was fair, and checked the wish 
 To know its fatal power, we still had been, 
 As then happy in each, and each in God. 
 Oh ! must I leave thee ! happy, happy scene 
 Of innocence, of joy, of fond employ 1 
 And blissful, no more reap the glad award 
 Of thy kind smile, O Adam 1 for through me 
 Thy ruin came : for thou wert not deceived, 
 But I, th' enchanted listener, gave ear; 
 And in that moment lost my rectitude, 
 And set the snare, unwittingly, for thee. 
 Had I but thought and Oh ! why not ? that thou, 
 As lord of all, hadst more the mind of God 
 Than all created things not ignorant, 
 But too oblivious, when I needed most 
 Heaven's panoply Oh ! had I this recalled 
 I had escaped. Deep sorrows now recoil 
 On thee and me on me, for my esteem 
 Of that foul tongue; on thee, through thy fond heart 
 For me : alas ! such pref 'ren<?e was thy guilt. 
 Thy fall was not as mine, in ignorance : 
 I knew not; or, imprudent, I discharged 
 All wariness; or, self-confirmed, I left 
 Thy watchful care. Thy sin this I avow 
 For thee and all our future progeny 
 Thy sin it was to hearken to my voice. 
 Seduced by me or rather by thy choice 
 To be with, me, in saddest banishment 
 And wreck of all our hopes thou didst receive 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 79 
 
 The offered spoil : thus thou didst leap, whilst I, 
 Led on, slipped o'er and fell. But whence is this ? 
 How could this creature speak ? how find a tongue 
 For language framed in our vernacular 1 
 How did he learn at all our God's command 1 
 How dare he raise a doubt that aught but truth 
 Could issue from his Maker's lips 1 
 
 To whom thus Adam not as in life's morn ; 
 Alas ! his Sun had now gone down at noon 
 Thy questions, Eve, are sad remembrancers 
 Of our bad exigence thy fall and mine. 
 Was he, our enemy, the only one 
 Who entertained a doubt that aught but truth 
 Could issue from our Maker's lips 1 
 Two are required to give a lie its strength. 
 If he, in open taunt, gave God the lie, 
 Who listened to that lie; and parleying, closed 
 With evil when presented speciously, 
 In fullest contravention of our Maker's law 1 
 God made us upright both, and free from taint; 
 No poison wrought, nor evil from within; 
 Yet evil came, but whence a mystery. 
 Not we alone stood fair, but all was good 
 That God had made : the firmament alone 
 Had not this eminence. And was it thence ? 
 Did our Creator's silence this portend, 
 When He refrained to call that good where now 
 The feathered tribes disport the great expanse ? 
 Did He then first call thither evil ones, 
 Ere this located somewhere else *? if not, 
 Were they there pre-existent fallen ones, 
 Inhabiting their place assigned 1 perhaps, 
 Malign inherently, infuriate more 
 
80 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Through happiness beheld in us, brought near 
 
 And settled in proximity to them, 
 
 They hence, with cruel promptitude, resolved 
 
 To plot against our Maker and ourselves. 
 
 The evil came, and sought, and found in one, 
 
 Inhabiting with us this earth, called good, 
 
 A fitting instrument, a mediate thing, 
 
 Of deadly woe to us. Didst thou not mark 
 
 Our Maker's grace 1 ? He cursed not thee or me; 
 
 Sadly contiguous indeed we stand 
 
 To that which is accursed, and for our sakes; 
 
 Now toil is ours, and weariness, and pain : 
 
 God's heaviest curse fell on that wily thing 
 
 Which brought us harm; in cursing that He blessed 
 
 Both thee and me, the guiltiest agents there. 
 
 He gave no stringent law, as at the first, 
 
 And with that law, unmitigated curse; 
 
 But now, in ruin's hour, His goodness shines 
 
 Ineffable : good at the first, when He, 
 
 From me took thee, bone of my bone, and brought 
 
 Thy form, resplendent from His hands, to me : 
 
 Then goodness flowed to sinless ones, but now 
 
 To those who no excuse could plead, but such 
 
 As fear and conscious shame propose 
 
 To me, who blamed His gift, irreverent; to thee 
 
 WTio blamed the subtle snake to us God made 
 
 An indirect disclosure of His grace. 
 
 Ah, fallen indeed ! for each has minished power 
 
 To fill the other's heart less in ourselves, 
 
 And less through all around, languor invades 
 
 The sated mind; the toiling limbs seek rest : 
 
 Sated, not satisfied, but craving still 
 
 What we have lost. Regret now fills my mind 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 81 
 
 That I received thy gift, thy fatal gift : 
 
 And yet what could I but thy ruin share 1 
 
 Together fall 1 so we together rise. 
 
 This hope our Maker's words convey " Her seed 
 
 Shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." 
 
 This to the serpent, not to thee or me ; 
 
 Becoming reservation, inasmuch 
 
 As we, intelligent, had closed the door 
 
 Of happy fellowship; estranged our hearts 
 
 From Him who, though displeased, retained His grace. 
 
 Then Eve, in sorrow's plaint, replied : Thy words, 
 Still kind, are not embossed with early love; 
 Why not 1 The answer none can give as I. 
 Then no effect of sin's foul taint could mar; 
 Nor leave its slimy trail, nor love efface ; 
 Nor stamp, with bitterness, the heart, the ways, 
 The words, the" thoughts. I the effect now prove; 
 Yet no reproach do I advance on thee, 
 Though thou art changed thy aspect, words and tones; 
 All, all are changed. A cloud hangs o'er thy brow; 
 Thy speech is thickened, and thy words have lost 
 Th' impress of God; thy stature, nothing less, 
 Is weakened in its port; thy step, less firm, 
 Not tott'ring, yet avouches weak intent; 
 As if the mind and body schism made, 
 Or wrought apart. O Sin, thy bitter fruit ! 
 Is it perennial 1 has it firmly fixed 
 Its poisoned roots in this sad, darkened world 1 
 And has it reached the Sun 1 for that seems dull, 
 As if that too had shared in our decline. 
 All nature droops and sighs : the lion stalks 
 Away in sulky mood : the eagle soars 
 With hasty flight, as if to shun the guilty pair. 
 
82 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And is it so ? doth Death already move 1 
 
 Is this poor quiv'ring dove its first essay 1 
 
 Struck by the falcon's swoop, its fall close by, 
 
 Yea, in our very front, premonishes 
 
 Our own sad doom, and in the very guise 
 
 Of Death's affront on us mute sufferer ! 
 
 Again, the lion's roar, the eagle's scream : 
 
 O dread remembrancers ! no voice of joy; 
 
 No utt'rance of delight. That horrid hiss ! 
 
 My tempter's altered speech; in sinuous path 
 
 His way he takes. No long delay occurs; 
 
 The bitter curse its sorrow heaps on all. 
 
 Not I alone who, maddened, made the breach; 
 
 And that slim, subtle snake that lied to me; 
 
 And thou, who, conscious, took th' avenging spoil :. 
 
 Creation sinks, dragged by its failing lord. 
 
 Already groans fall on our burdened ears; 
 
 Our sorrowing eyes their tribute pay. 
 
 True, Eve, our sin has fallen, with reflex power, 
 On all Creation's frame : not we alone 
 Who, sentient, fell; but all around with me, 
 Th' appointed head, henceforth my sorrow share. 
 Beast, bird and fish, and creeping thing; yea, all 
 That God has made, insensate matter too, 
 Gives forth its piteous groans, assailed, oppressed 
 By sin's foul blight. No longer nature wears 
 Its proper robe; no longer swells its veins 
 With native blood; its visage now is marred. 
 Unnatural now are all relationships; 
 E'en ours are changed our speech bewrayeth this. 
 The threat'ning roar, the startled, urgent spring; 
 The worrying pounce, the scream of prey escaped; 
 Are sad mementoes of our hasty crime. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 83 
 
 This has its term: again a vista clears; 
 
 In time's far onward flight I see restored 
 
 This tarnished thing: its mute appeal ascends. 
 
 Ages shall roll away, its sorrows grow; 
 
 But one at length, thy seed, shall bruise 
 
 The serpent's head. Six days creation's work 
 
 Was on our Maker's hands symbolic time. 
 
 Six thousand years God's mystery shall work. 
 
 Then more than primal bliss shall be restored: 
 
 The head at first, man shall be head at last. 
 
 Not then, as now, one fallible ; but power 
 
 Innate, and wisdom underived are his, 
 
 In whom incarnate dwells the mighty God, 
 
 Our enemy shall sway our mortal race, 
 
 And rule this ruined world, its tyrant god. 
 
 These things I see, and more, less manifest, 
 
 But understand them not : yet do I think 
 
 That with this glorious one, many shall rise 
 
 Above all earthly good, and wear with him 
 
 Some other nature than the one now lost; 
 
 Becov'ring that, but made intact by Him 
 
 Who, in due time, shall come, and as thy seed 
 
 Shall here fulfil all God's decrees. 
 
 My altered mien, fair Eve, which thou hast marked, 
 
 Has parallel in thee. No longer graced 
 
 With innocence, thy charms have other power; 
 
 Weakened, but not effaced, in thee they shine, 
 
 On me they work, infuse within my veins 
 
 A stranger guest a passion unadvised. 
 
 Conscious that thou art less than in the morn 
 
 Of our sad loss, to me thou seemest more. 
 
 Dissatisfied, I crave I know not what; 
 
 Yet drawn to thee, I seek my need with thee, 
 
84 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And, doubtless, thou with me : a mutual charm. 
 
 Our Maker's image now is gone; our own 
 
 Usurps the place, with sin's own impress there. 
 
 These charms well praised, when they, so praised, educed 
 
 Our Maker's praise as well will prove, alas ! 
 
 A fatal gift to those who spring from thee : 
 
 For sons of God will seek daughters of men, 
 
 Will leave their principates, repeat thy sin ; 
 
 Take a forbidden thing, because 'tis fair, 
 
 And introduce a mightier power of ill. 
 
 Hence giants spring, men of abnormal race, 
 
 Bold sinners steeped in guilt, these God will judge. 
 
 Now to our toil; first let our search obtain 
 
 A resting place, where we may lay our limbs. 
 
 The poison works; and from my face now drops 
 
 The sweat of toil; sad nature's tears obtrude: 
 
 And thus we earn and eat our daily bread. 
 
 As at the first, thy part is still the same : 
 
 Relationships are changed; but not annulled; 
 
 Changed, inasmuch as each that holds a place 
 
 Is changed; for sin, pervading all, has wrought 
 
 In every one mischief most foul; and thus, 
 
 In time to come, rebellious hearts and words 
 
 Of jarring sound will challenge right of place. 
 
 We still have need to watch our constant foe; 
 
 Within he works, invisible; he needs 
 
 No form of beast; our ingrate hearts now give 
 
 The centre where he plots dread vantage ground ! 
 
 'Gainst thee he moves me, as the heedless cause 
 
 Of all my ills; thee he will urge and tempt 
 
 To spurn me as thy head. Thus pride, and rage, 
 
 And envy strike their roots in venomed soil : 
 
 No place had they sin's brood till hearts attaint 
 
- 
 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 85 
 
 Gave entrance there; now there they work malign. 
 Their end I see : Creation yet, renewed, 
 Shall send her praises up, in Him embraced, 
 Who, KING of kings, and LORD of lords, shall reign. 
 
 Not joyous, as my wont, then Eve replied, 
 For all my frame bespeaks the latent taint; 
 Yet surely still I know my place; that place 
 I mean to keep. Can I forget thy woe 
 By me procured, and fail to minister 
 To all thy need, my own pass by, at least 
 Defer till thine is met 1 Now let us seek 
 To meet our common wants; intent to place 
 Each other first, and each prefer in care : 
 Our Maker still our grateful worship claims. 
 Here is a spot of circling, branchy trees 
 Arched by our Maker's hand; and underwood 
 To intertwine; thus fenced, our weary limbs 
 May seek repose; or in the day retire, 
 When fervent heat constrains to seek the shade. 
 Hither my hands shall bring for pleasant food, 
 Or gay delight, seed-bearing plants, and trees 
 Of smaller growth, such yielding flowers and fruit, 
 Laden with goodness provident and kind. 
 
 This do, her husband said, whilst I repair 
 To harder work. Our cares will multiply : 
 Our sorrows spring not from ourselves alone, 
 But those whom God shall give will bring their meed; 
 Our image they will bear; and some our shame, 
 In more intensive force, will reproduce. 
 
 Then Eve rejoined: I dread that hideous snake, 
 He, as a beast, no longer moves, but crawls, 
 A reptile, or ascends the trees, and thence 
 His voice he sends to scare me, and remind 
 
86 , HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of joys now gone. I must devise some means 
 Of guard and safe defence. I feel deep hate, 
 And long to crush the foe. He hates me too; 
 I know this, from his deadly lurid glare 
 And threat'ning hiss : time will intensify 
 All hostile purposes both his and mine. 
 
 Again, O Revelation, now I seek 
 Thy further aid. Man's present evil state 
 Is well explained : such cause might well produce 
 Such sad effects. But did he see aright ] 
 Is there yet hope for any of his race 1 
 Or did mere phantoms of the sense illude ] 
 
 He saw aright; but indistinctly mapped 
 The course of time. Man's day suffices not, 
 Its light is dimmed, discernment thus is weak. 
 Now take this book, God's gift, wherein is found 
 All yet made known, far more for thee to learn. 
 Thy questions all are met : the past is there ; 
 A faithful chronicle records man's ways, 
 And how grace meets the rebel in his guilt : 
 God there unfolds to man what He will do. 
 Eead and record thy thoughts if so thou wilt ; 
 But, subject, let no thought or word of thine 
 Betray elate self-will, and glorying vain; 
 As though thy own presuming mind had found 
 Something original, not thine by gift. 
 There depths exist profound, which none can plumb; 
 Unsearchable His ways, past finding out, 
 Yet off'ring free research, and great success 
 To minds intelligent and humbled hearts. 
 If thou art well assured that man is now 
 An utter wreck, lodged in a ruined state; 
 Yea, all creation sunk with him, and dragged 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 87 
 
 A helpless train ; corruption intimate 
 
 Embittering all with groans, and pain, and grief, 
 
 And travail e'en till now : if thou assent 
 
 And search with chastened heart, then thou wilt find. 
 
 If further, knowing well thy state corrupt, 
 
 Thy lost condition, as derived from them 
 
 Who, in their wilfulness, preferred their will 
 
 To His, who formed them and their lot contrived ; 
 
 Then search most confident, God wills it thus. 
 
 This book, the Bible, clears away all doubts, 
 
 All exhalations of a mind diseased : 
 
 For it is framed to meet the need of man. 
 
 There he may scan the past, and gather hence 
 
 His future doom; deliverance as well: 
 
 And more than this, intelligence of that 
 
 Which Wisdom infinite alone could plan 
 
 Man's introduction to a higher sphere 
 
 Than he has lost, for ever and for ever blest. 
 
 Go search : the gift is great, and great the grace : 
 
 Beware lest, confident, thy search is vain. 
 
 O wondrous Book ! my longing soul will gaze, 
 My earnest mind, delighted, con it well; 
 Deep inquisition make ; its sacred store 
 Subject to careful search; deep study give 
 And meditation grave. 
 
 Now Cain appears, the eldest born of man, 
 A tiller of the ground the ground accursed. 
 Of this Cain brings an off ring to the Lord, 
 The labor of his hands his own device. 
 Jehovah frowns on this, respects it not. 
 But how is this 1 Was not Cain's industry 
 Acceptable to God ? Or were these fruits 
 Intrinsically bad ? Observe the curse 
 
88 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 " For thy sake cursed is the ground" : this bars 
 
 Acceptedness. The curse must be removed 
 
 From man and all created things. On all 
 
 That God first made the blight of sin has fallen 
 
 On beasts, on birds, on fish, on creeping things; 
 
 But indirectly these sustain the curse 
 
 Unless the sentence on the tempting snake 
 
 Included them. Not so; their curse results 
 
 From Adam fed'rally; the serpent holds 
 
 A bad pre-eminence; as such, is cursed 
 
 Especially, and so above the rest. 
 
 Not theirs, through it, but by a common fall; 
 
 A fall not theirs, as willing actors in 
 
 A common act ; unwillingly they fell, 
 
 Depressed through others' guilt; hence, as uncurst 
 
 And sinless, they might furnish from their ranks 
 
 A sacrifice, correctly typical 
 
 Of Him, the sinless One. In very deed 
 
 The lamb sins not, yet bears sin's penalty, 
 
 That all creation travails with till now : 
 
 In death, no moan rebukes the violent hand 
 
 That takes its life "it openeth not its mouth." 
 
 Thus Cain imperiled all by this one act 
 Not as a sin, but as a sacrifice. 
 He brought a thing accurst, to satisfy 
 God's claim ; that is, to have the curse removed : 
 A monstrous act, bred by a monstrous thought. 
 Abel, the second son, brings to his God 
 The firstlings of his flock: Jehovah smiles. 
 Was Abel's too a bloodless sacrifice ? 
 Nay, mark these words " and of the fat thereof." 
 Then must a life be given, and blood be shed, 
 To meet man's need, to rectify his state 1 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 89 
 
 Yes, Abel sheds the blood; blood is the life. 
 The type prefigures One to come; by faith 
 A sacrifice more excellent than Cain's 
 Was offered; and by which Abel obtained 
 Witness from God of righteousness : and he, 
 Though dead, yet speaks to all the power of faith. 
 Thus sad occasion sprang for bitter words 
 And fatal strife; for nature spurns the rite. 
 Here let imagination stray, and give 
 The substance of their then presumed discourse. 
 But yet, demure, let Fancy dip her pen 
 In the deep well of truth, pourtraying each 
 As each might be one in fallen nature's garb, 
 The other clothed in righteousness obtained. 
 
 Thus Cain irate, with clouded brow, and glance 
 Of scorn, fallen countenance, and taunting sneers : 
 Abel, thy bloody hands bespeak no gentle work. 
 Could the poor bleating lamb not move thy heart 
 To spare its life % See ! hither trots the dam 
 Upbraiding thee as murderer of her joys. 
 Religion sure demands no cruel rites. 
 Has God delight in blood 1 does He thus claim 
 An outrage at our hands, to take a life He gave ? 
 I do not doubt our severance from God; 
 Our parents tell us this, and shew it too, 
 In them; in us, as sprung from them; through them, 
 In all around the dismal work appears. 
 Our God requires, no doubt, some sacrifice, 
 Acknowledgment becoming, of our state : 
 And as He gives all we require; so we, 
 In thankfulness, should make return to Him : 
 Confessing thus that we exist in Him, 
 And by Him are upheld in life. 
 
90 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 What more can we perform 1 how satisfy, 
 
 If He demands all He might claim from us ? 
 
 Impossible ! for this would be to make 
 
 Return equivalent to all His gifts : 
 
 And nought can equal these but these themselves. 
 
 God claims, and well, to be our creditor; 
 
 I am content, so let it be : I brought 
 
 Fruit of the ground, an off'ring to the Lord, 
 
 The best expression of my loyalty. 
 
 What could I more ? yet it was not received. 
 
 No groan of beast oppressed, or plaintive moan, 
 
 Their pain bespeaks. My heart rejects the thought 
 
 That blood of beasts must flow to meet my sin. 
 
 I own that sin : our parents' sin is ours, 
 
 As sprung from them; to this we add our own. 
 
 No disobedient hand, my brother, wrought 
 To take away the life of lamb or kid. 
 Blood is the life thereof, and blood alone, 
 As life, can meet our need, our life redeem. 
 Thy tenderness of heart becomes thee well; 
 And I woulcT learn of thee, as elder born. 
 In this, and other things, I arrogate 
 No place of teaching thee by word or deed ; 
 But rather, as thy younger brother, learn ; 
 And subject, yield thee def'rence, as is meet: 
 Both subject to our God, who gave us life. 
 I may not learn; nor wouldst thou, conscious, teach 
 The thing that's adverse to His Sovereign will. 
 Not suffering merely though that too must be 
 But death for forfeit life He justly claims. 
 Our life is forfeited; and in His grace 
 God substitutes some other in our stead. 
 No lamb or kid can satisfy the claim, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 91 
 
 Or reconcile the sinner to his God ; 
 
 But typical, a shadowy lesson give 
 
 To humble learners what, but dimly taught, 
 
 They yet believe. Thus is God's justice met; 
 
 Not by this bloody rite, but as it points 
 
 Onward to One, the woman's seed; a man, 
 
 But more than man, who, yet to be revealed, 
 
 Shall bruise the serpent's head. My act is nought 
 
 But as through faith in Him who cannot lie. 
 
 Faint glimmer only meets my eager gaze; 
 
 Enough for faith, which deals with things unseen, 
 
 As visible; unfelt, as palpable. 
 
 Faith saves not, but attaches us to Him 
 
 Who saves, with this condition, all our race. 
 
 Right eloquent, my brother, is thy tongue; 
 No teacher thou, but learner, well confessed. 
 My place I take, in humble guise; abased, 
 Sit at thy feet, and learn of thee ; for thou, 
 Spite of thy modest disavowal now, 
 Hast store of learning, gained in gentle mood, 
 And occupation scant. My hardy- toil 
 No leisure leaves for meditation grave. 
 Such themes become thee well; thy way pursue; 
 Another time I'll prove more apt to learn. 
 Briars and thorns their wholesome lesson teach ; 
 They teach my flesh; my docile spirit, thou. 
 So still go on, more knowledge glean : 
 When next we meet, may I, with readier mind, 
 Avail myself of thy divinity. 
 
 His scowling face no answer sought; and, stern, 
 Forbade the soothing word in Abel's heart, 
 To find its utterance. In gloomy state 
 He moved away, a prey to jealous thoughts. 
 
92 HERE AND HEKEAFTEK. 
 
 Again they meet; Cain, wrathful, makes pretence 
 In subtle mood, and feigns the lowly mind; 
 As list'ner waits, invites his brother's words 
 Of guidance for his future course ; as if 
 He saw the cause of failure in himself. 
 Such place Abel disclaims, attempts no more 
 Than, unobtrusive, state what he had learnt. 
 He knew his Maker's will; let this define 
 His proper course : obedient, he receives 
 More light as he proceeds. God's full intent 
 He may not know, nor does faith crave so much. 
 Content, he waits till God's appointed time, 
 For Grace t' unfold this deepest mystery. 
 Thus, diffident, he still beseeches Cain 
 To yield Jehovah's claim; and sets his flock 
 To furnish victims for the sacrifice. 
 As when a sudden cloud obscures the sun, 
 And checks the light; so, omened darkness fell 
 On Cain's bleak face : his brow betokened ill. 
 No warning words escaped, but swift of arm, 
 With murderous aim, the frenzied blow descends. 
 What is it there, prone at his trembling feet 1 
 A brother's corpse t Dead ! Abel, art thou dead ? 
 Am I the primal murderer *? My blow, 
 Though weighted with fierce rage, was not thus meant. 
 Yes, lifeless there thou liest; no more to urge 
 My blackened blood through fevered, bursting veins. 
 No stranger blood defiles the ground : a brother's 
 By a brother's hand thus shed. hapless wretch ! 
 I flee; but in my flight bear shame and grief 
 Not grief, I cannot grieve : nought relevant 
 Will go with me accurst. Ah ! what is this ? 
 What girds my brow ? a cinctured brand of guilt, 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 93 
 
 Of infamy, of pain. I'll tear it thence : no, no, 
 
 The pain is greater to detach than leave 
 
 Where it is put is put ! who put it 1 He, 
 
 Who made me what I am a murderer 1 
 
 If He made me at all, or caused me live, 
 
 Then He is chargeable with what I do. 
 
 But this, if true, should free me from this load, 
 
 Which presses from my consciousness of guilt. 
 
 I would I could exist apart from Him. 
 
 Could I estrange my heart from such a creed 
 
 As that He holds my soul in life; requires 
 
 Whene'er I quit this life, account from me 
 
 How I have used this life, His providence, 
 
 His care : could I shut out this latest act 
 
 From memory's fount, erase the record there, 
 
 Or give it color of excuse, as not prepense, 
 
 I might forget my misery too I'll try. 
 
 " Cain, whither fleest thou? thy brother, where is he?" 
 
 " Am I my brother's keeper ] why dost thou 
 
 Arrest my steps, and make this strange demand 1 ?" 
 
 " And is thy memory, O Cain, so false 1 
 
 Hast thou washed out the blood thy conscience rued ? 
 
 It cries to me : vengeance is mine, I will repay. 
 
 Cursed art thou; the earth itself will spurn 
 
 Thy selfish care; vengeful, withhold her strength. 
 
 Henceforward thou shalt roam a fugitive, 
 
 A vagabond throughout the sterile earth." 
 
 " I know my sin is greater than thy grace, 
 
 It may not be forgiven; for thou thyself 
 
 Hast sent me forth, and hid me from thy face. 
 
 Who but will slay me, as a fratricide 1" 
 
 " Behold a mark I set," Jehovah said, 
 
 " Lest any finding thee, should take thy life." 
 
94 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Cain hastens on and seeks the land of Nod, 
 Goes from the presence of His God, nor stays 
 To reconcile his truant heart with Him. 
 
 O damning sin, to limit thus God's grace ! 
 Greater by far than shedding others' blood. 
 Blood may for blood atone; but what can save 
 The. man that makes God's living truth a lie 1 
 
 That shriek of woe ! has Eve now stumbled o'er 
 Her murdered son 1 Ho ! hither ! Adam, Cain, 
 My daughters too what, what is this ] 
 My son, my Abel ! has that fearful beast 
 Assailed thee too ? is this his first attempt 
 To bruise the heel ? What, blood ! and is this death ? 
 Abel ! my son, my son ..... 
 Adam stands by; his lab'ring breast betrays 
 Deep agony of soul. Two like as dead 
 Are at his trembling feet his son, his wife. 
 His grief is great; amazement seals his lips, 
 His utt'rance choked. Rigid with dread, he fears 
 That what he sees mere death a preface wears 
 To gloomier type. The frightful thought prevails 
 That violence has wrought this tragedy 
 The violence of one who summoned death 
 With hasty hand and envious heart; of one 
 Who often had surcharged his ears with words 
 Of bitter wrath, and curses loud and deep. 
 There Adam, riveted with stiffened gaze, 
 Beholds the scene, accepts death's mockery. 
 Death mocks him in his son, upbraiding him 
 The cause of this: it mocks him in his wife, 
 With dread similitude a long drawn swoon. 
 She moves; the spell is loosed, he too now moves 
 And first essays to help his prostrate wife. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 95 
 
 Her mind, restored, reverts to where it failed; 
 
 That fearful sight is 't true 1 is Abel slain 1 
 
 Am I bereft of him my son, so good 1 
 
 And Cain why, where is he; our daughters tool 
 
 Our latest born I see approaching now, 
 
 Borne on with hurried step and frightened look. 
 
 thickening storm of woe ! our Abel dead, 
 Our daughter near, perchance with further tale 
 Of some dark deed and black effect of sin. 
 
 My parents, give me breath 
 Our Cain is fled, his eldest sister too. 
 
 1 knew him not; so changed a look he bore. 
 A fearful mark gives him an aspect strange 
 And terrible. His sister wife alone 
 Could" bear his awful look. He, ere he fled, 
 Revealed his monstrous deed, that he had slain 
 Our best beloved, Abel, our gentle one : 
 
 And God has branded him, impressed his brow 
 With such a stamp, that, as he walked along, 
 The very lambs and kids, in blank amaze 
 And headlong terror, sought their dams. 
 But I, what shall I do, my Abel dead ! 
 My brother, best beloved ! 
 
 Bereft of both my sons, a daughter too, 
 My mother's heart must break : thus Eve complained 
 As she perceived her woe. Forlorn I stand : 
 Our enemy was not commissioned thus 
 To bruise our head : but he has gone beyond, 
 And left us nought. One son lies there a corpse : 
 Another fled ; an outcast now, disseized 
 Of all appurtenance of good, he fails. 
 I thought that I had borne a son, through whom 
 That promised seed might come ; all hope is wrecked. 
 
96 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 What fruit 'of sin have we already plucked 
 Since I, in disregard of God's command, 
 Presumed to know the power and consequence 
 Of a forbidden act. I look at thee, 
 
 Adam ! and behold thy furrowed brow 
 
 Of care and sorrow, carved by sin's own hand, 
 But my device : indented lines of grief, 
 Sunk to the very bone they seem ; thy cause 
 They plead : thy daily sighs, thy heaving breast, 
 Avengers prove on me ; sad monitors 
 Of wrong inflicted by my hand. 
 
 1 fondly hoped that Abel might have proved 
 Our solace and our joy through this dark vale. 
 For Cain was ever wayward, gloomy, fierce, 
 Morose, prone to resent a rated wrong. 
 
 But Abel, O my precious one ! was all 
 That heart could wish; in gentleness, in love, 
 A pattern to us all: forgiving, kind, 
 And self-denying, seeking others' good, 
 His own deferring; thus securing more. 
 
 Three children gone at once then Adam groaned- 
 Oh ! what a fearful complication here 
 Of God's most just decree ! My slaughtered son ! 
 Art thou the first to yield thy subject frame 
 To nature's last embrace ? my eldest son 
 Madly to summon thus the winding sheet, 
 The noisome grave ! My son, my son ! thy dust 
 Must to the dust return. Thy gentleness, 
 Thy works approved of God, by Him received, 
 Provoked foul hatred and the murd'rous hand. 
 This was th' immediate cause; the more remote, 
 And procreant of this, thy parents' sin. 
 The ground, already soaked with blood thy life, 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 97 
 
 Must shroud, ere long, thy body too. Much loved, 
 Much prized, much valued for thy gentle ways; 
 Must we no more entwine our love with thine ? 
 Our toil, beguiled by thee, must now assume 
 A cheerless guise. These hands, already hard 
 With daily work, must other now perform. 
 
 Then Eve again her doleful plaint renewed : 
 My son, my son ! Oh ! had I died for thee ! 
 Thy piety, thy love, my heart recalls. 
 Thy gentle spirit fled, no more wilt thou 
 Another's toil by ready help prevent ; 
 Or strife avert by loving smile, and speech. 
 How many bitter wrongs didst thou endure ! 
 How many angry words thy spirit bruise ! 
 Yet no return in kind didst thou e'er make. 
 And must we lose thee hide thee from our sight 1 
 Is there no way by which thy loved remains 
 May be reserved close by, that we may come 
 And bear some sad remembrance of thy form, 
 And speak to thee though, mute, thou hear us not 1 
 No, death is there, alas ! corruption works; 
 We know it, though of human kind he first, 
 Touched by the venomed dart of death, has fallen. 
 Oh ! harrowing thought, that we must lose thee thus ! 
 That open, lofty brow ! no guile was there : 
 Ensanguined now; befouled, but not debased. 
 Those hands ne'er grasped a weapon to induce 
 Another's woe; but, ministers of help, 
 Supplied our need : and now they helpless hang. 
 That tongue, so eloquent to praise our God 
 In thrilling song, or converse sweet, now still, 
 Now silent, cheers no more. That manly breast 
 Will heave no more, burdened with others' griefs. 
 
98 HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 No more the sigh of sympathy will break 
 For sorrow not his own. Oh ! can I live ? 
 Can trouble such as mine wish to outlive 
 The gloomy tomb's sad victory, and this 
 Death's first attempt on us and foulest blot 1 
 O Death ! now try thy new-fledged strength on me : 
 No power hadst thou possessed but for my guilt. 
 Sin gave thee birth, and I conceived that sin. 
 Thy power exert; rid me of life and grief at once. 
 Then Adam checked these fond but sinful words. 
 He saw her grief was great, and knew indeed 
 That sorrow in a woman's heart, impelled, 
 Yea, other passions too a channel wears 
 With flow of words; and well conditioned so. 
 Sometimes we see the bloodless lips compressed 
 By stress of grief ; the eye, with rigid glaze, 
 Unmoistened by the friendly tear; pent up, 
 The sorrow works, frets in the lab'ring heart, 
 So that it breaks, and sets the spirit free. 
 Or else, dethroned, the mind in fancy roams, 
 Invents a life of errant ways and means, 
 At variance with the calm that reason gives. 
 Eve, I respect thy grief ; thy husband knows 
 Its bitter kind : my heart makes full response 
 To all thy moans, thy anguished tears, thy words, 
 Except the last; wherein impatience seeks 
 To break the bonds awhile imposed on thee. 
 Shall we make our complaint of God's just law, 
 And all its consequents'? Did He enforce; 
 Or did we act from our own wills unbound ? 
 Had Satan power to move us to the act, 
 Beyond his power to tempt ? He still is near, 
 Unfelt in apprehension, save when we, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 99 
 
 With subject mind, our Maker's will adopt. 
 More sorrows yet are thine, but greater joys : 
 God's word must stand. Cain's impious race shut out; 
 Another, God will give in Abel's stead : 
 And thou shalt yet rejoice. Not he alone 
 Shall greet thy gladdened eyes; but after him 
 If thou art spared with me to tread this earth 
 Seven generations of our race will rise 
 And cheer thy longing heart. One man of these 
 Will stay his course midway; translated, soar 
 To other worlds, death's agency decline. 
 The seventh from us, a prophet, he will warn 
 Unheeding ears; denounce ungodly ways 
 And hard-set speech against his God and ours: 
 So rife, e'en then, will rank rebellion rage. 
 And now my wife, my daughter, let your care 
 Bespeak a decent shroud which nature yields. 
 Our Abel, when alive, was wont to place 
 A victim on the altar of his God : 
 The skin is left; this take, enclose our dead 
 In such; or other, as your loving hearts 
 And care assiduous may provide. 
 I go to find a place, a tomb prepare. 
 O fearful task ! a father's hand to dig 
 His offspring's grave ! My heart, my heart revolts; 
 My wounded spirit shrinks. Oh ! must it be ? 
 No other hands are near. Now let me go, 
 Lest weak delay work further ill to us. 
 The sun is hot ..... 
 O Adam, can we bear thy absence now, 
 E'en for this dread, this sore necessity 1 
 Shall we not go and share thy desperate toil ? 
 First let our hands their dismal task perform, 
 
100 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Then bear thee company. Apart from thee 
 How can we live ! how bear the throbbing heart, 
 That beats importunate by every sight 
 Of him we loved, love still, and still bewail ! 
 
 Enough, my only ones, your plea is strong, 
 I feel response. My shrinking spirit shuns 
 The lone employ. And ye too must behold 
 My hideous work; and, weeping, mar my strength. 
 To be without you is most sad; most sad 
 To have you there. hapless sire ! no way 
 For thy escape; no friendly hand intrudes 
 To excavate for me a resting place 
 For all that now is left of him we loved; 
 Snatched off ere life had opened wide her strength 
 To maturate her plans. Oh ! he was ripe 
 Before the normal time, and taken home, 
 Where hate, nor jealousy, nor rage avail. 
 I do not blame, complain I must; my heart, 
 Repining not, seeks this some slight relief. 
 Those fleeting years since thou didst first embrace 
 Thy eldest-born what shadowy joys, what griefs 
 Have crowded in their span ! the contrast holds, 
 Most sad to us, between our Eden lost 
 And these abodes of sin, and sorrow hence. 
 Now let us haste fearful haste ! to hide 
 And bury from our longing sight the dust 
 Of him whom we henceforth may see no more ! 
 
 The mournful task performed, they now retreat 
 Within a sheltered grove; there seek their God, 
 Pour out their hearts, and find His promise true, 
 To comfort them that mourn. 
 
 Discourse awhile of Death its origin, 
 Its nature, how it wrought at first, its course; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 101 
 
 If varied, how ? Life forfeited is death ; 
 
 By sin that came, a penal settlement 
 
 Of righteous claims. But other may exist 
 
 Apart from sin, not penal, not educed 
 
 Through aught enacted by such agency 
 
 As may have wrought in this our distant sphere. 
 
 The will of Him, who made all things from nought, 
 
 Suffices, if in any way He would unmake 
 
 What He had made. That is not wrong, which He, 
 
 So willing, does; though wrong in other hands 
 
 Not so enjoined. Though pain, and sorrow, death, 
 
 Acutest sufferings result from guilt; 
 
 These relatives do not necessitate 
 
 The antecedent, sin: two diverse laws 
 
 May have some not dissimilar effects. 
 
 Geology may have its claims, nor clash 
 
 With aught of Scripture truth; but still may ask 
 
 Too much, and not be palpably absurd; 
 
 For it preserves most pleasing parts; presents, 
 
 So far, magnificent conceits, well drawn 
 
 From facts well registered. But may not these, 
 
 Without this labored art, be ranged as well, 
 
 Within the limits of six thousand years, 
 
 Yet not inflict an outrage on philosophy ? 
 
 Huge pachyderms lie deeply crushed; mailed form* 
 
 Of prisoned monsters twist beneath the weight 
 
 Of pond'rous rocks; but these do not demand 
 
 Eras of misty age to calendar 
 
 Their doings, as they moved at Terror's beck 
 
 Among th' affrighted crowds : there is no need 
 
 To place them back, make them expound the age 
 
 Of rocks embedding them the flood does this. 
 
 But might not death precede the fall of man ? 
 
102 HERE AND HEEEAFTEK. 
 
 It might, only not penal; painless too 
 
 It might exist, if pain necessitates, 
 
 In all its services, a penalty. 
 
 If this be crooked logic, let it pass 
 
 As not insisted on. Yet death of things 
 
 That God had made did surely come to pass, 
 
 Ere man had proved the fatal power of sin ; 
 
 Ere he had known this foe, fair to the sight, 
 
 Alluring to the sense, but in th' embrace 
 
 Most fatal to the smitten debauchee. 
 
 God gave the herb for beasts to feed thereon; 
 
 The ruminants would crop the grass; had that 
 
 No insect feeding there 1 or was that too 
 
 Seeking its sustenance upon that leaf, 
 
 Just gathered and consigned as daily food 1 
 
 Did it still live in paunch herbivorous 1 
 
 And so with myriads else *? Or did they die 
 
 When thus absorbed by grazing flocks and herds ? 
 
 What food had birds 1 granivorous we know 
 
 In part; some on the wing obtained their food, 
 
 So, insectivorous, sustained their life 
 
 By others' death. Did heedless flies alight 
 
 On viscous juice; thus made unwilling guests, 
 
 Rejoice in useless wings, and live on air 1 
 
 And what when Adam quenched his usual thirst 1 
 
 Was water then conditioned not as now, 
 
 With myriads, in a drop, of living things "? 
 
 Was life continued to them when entombed; 
 
 And so the law digestive turned aside 
 
 To meet their fated change 1 And how again 
 
 With food itself ? how may we name the change 
 
 That passed on all the appetite desired ? 
 
 Assimilation 1 what is that, but change 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 103 
 
 Analogous to decomposing law 1 
 
 And what is that but death indigenous 1 
 
 And fruit again, when ripe what next ensues ? 
 
 Not renovation, but through its decline. 
 
 The seed, cast in the ground, no produce yields 
 
 Except it die. No sinful cause is here, 
 
 And no effect of sin, yet death appears. 
 
 Did Adam bury living turf, while yet 
 
 No will had wrought but God's what then ensued 1 
 
 Decay 1 and what is that but corp'ral death 1 
 
 Decay is decomposed elements. 
 
 And why may not the flesh of animals 
 
 Fulfil this law, when that no soul sustains ] 
 
 No doubt all fell with man as lord of all : 
 
 But fell from what, and into what 1 
 
 Not from a state of primal innocence 
 
 To one of guilt; that were to make the brute, 
 
 Insensate matter too, accountable. 
 
 Not from a state of immortality; 
 
 Absurd the thought, already seen, for some; 
 
 And if for some, why not indeed for all 1 
 
 The living soul alone could thus sustain 
 
 A living frame. Decadence lays its stress 
 
 On all created things : but man alone 
 
 Controlled this law through his peculiar gift 
 
 A living soul; death there, the body yields, 
 
 And meets the general law : he, first exempt, 
 
 In God's own image formed, now takes his place, 
 
 Corruption's bondage proves, and all with him : 
 
 He adds more bonds, perversely forges such 
 
 For nature's thrall. Unwilling vanity 
 
 Now stamped on all, therewith continuous pain, 
 
 Are witnessed till now : creation's groans, 
 
104 HERB AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Her bitter travail, utter this reproach. 
 
 The ear, attuned to nice observance, notes 
 
 The groans, not loud but deep, of nature's throes : 
 
 The eye, with close regard, detects the tear: 
 
 Her piteous wail ascends; distress is there. 
 
 'Tis aggravation then; a former law 
 
 Intensified; something appended now 
 
 To what was there before an ill, fresh-coined. 
 
 Sin stretched her ghastly wings o'er all man's realm, 
 
 And brooded ill : cohabitation foul 
 
 Impregned sweet nature's womb, and fouled her germ; 
 
 Unnature thence prevails, a wretched parody. 
 
 Man, lord of all, in righteous rule would reign; 
 
 Affect his subjects all with glad results: 
 
 Himself, declined, would likewise burden all 
 
 With sin, and sin's default, and penalty. 
 
 So death of matter then, as mere decay, 
 
 Prevailed, ere man gave his peculiar taint. 
 
 Henceforward virulence attached; no more 
 
 Was death an ill unshunned ; instinct forewarned 
 
 The fatal snare; the very leaf shrank up 
 
 From blighting touch. But of the soul, its death 
 
 Could only be a penalty; and this 
 
 The consequence of something not conjunct, 
 
 Not proper to its first conditioned state. 
 
 Freedom of choice was giv'n of good or ill ; 
 
 Not wise enough to know the good from ill, 
 
 The man might choose the ill, reject the good. 
 
 Transgression is not where there is no law : 
 
 But Adam had a law; with power to stand, 
 
 He fell; for he, not ignorant, transgressed; 
 
 And, in transmission of his race, he made 
 
 Conveyance of his fallen state; and so 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 105 
 
 By law entailed, they fell who spring from him. 
 
 Self-love and vain conceit object to this. 
 
 Men plume themselves on man's nobility: 
 
 Faint observation soon dispels this weak, 
 
 This fond credulity. Where is it found 
 
 In gaols, asylums, brothels, or the like ] 
 
 Poor human nature is, at best, a wreck, 
 
 Stranded on Time's bleak coast, where wreckers roam 
 
 To foil recovery of the fragments there. 
 
 No re-construction meets the pitying gaze 
 
 On that dark shore : there the disparted whole 
 
 Its schism keeps; it may not be rebuilt. 
 
 Ah ! cheerless waste ! no shelter near, nor help 
 
 From threat'ning death. What shifts and projects, framed 
 
 To meet this exigence, are daily made ! 
 
 Death is not baulked; he claims his shrinking prey 
 
 The beautiful, the gay, the well-to-do, 
 
 While yet immersed, each in his heart's employ, 
 
 No soft'ning pity find, no longed reprieve. 
 
 The disappointed, fortune's cruel sport 
 
 As men would say forlorn, and weary too 
 
 Of this cold world, no pity seek : the one, 
 
 Dissatisfied, would crave some short delay; 
 
 The other hastens on Time's final step, 
 
 And chides the tardy pace of friendly death, 
 
 To shroud him, fainting, from the storm of life, 
 
 As, pitiless, it beats incontinent 
 
 Upon his head, unshielded by wise care 
 
 And panoply divine. The closing act 
 
 Of hoary Time the breaking up of life, 
 
 Appals him not, who, strong in faith, views death 
 
 As slain. Death is no death to him, but sleep : 
 
 Glad harbinger of everlasting life, 
 
106 HEEE AND HEKEAFTER. 
 
 Beyond this murky vale of shadowing death. 
 
 This fearful ill proves but a good to him; 
 
 This sorrow, joy; a change not sought, not shunned. 
 
 And what is Life 1 is it the same in all 1 
 Does it set forth an intimate resort 
 Of soul and body, linked we know not how 1 
 And has the brute a soul ? The scalpel yet 
 Has not discovered its retreat : and does 
 The presence of the soul retain the life ? 
 Or does what we call life retain the soul 1 
 Or does a difference exist; a soul 
 Assigned to man, but to the brute mere life ? 
 Or has man life in common with the brute, 
 A link between the body and the soul 
 A union severed when that link is snapped 1 
 Who shall resolve this most perplexing theme ? 
 But is it needful ? Curious search has failed. 
 One sage * avowed that he had found the soul 
 In what is named the pineal gland. 
 How did his search avail 1 Did he indeed 
 Inspect the living head ? Or did he search 
 The tenement when tenantless 1 Vain man ! 
 How slow, how loath t' admit his helpless case ! 
 He fondly dreams that he has power to search, 
 And rifle all the secrets of his state, 
 And broach the book of laws inscrutable. 
 Some in their prurient fancy have endowed 
 Brute matter with set law, producing life. 
 Some say that matter has inherent life, 
 And, leaven-like, communicates throughout 
 Its vital power to matter organized 
 
 * Descartes. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 107 
 
 As for that life. Others on this improve; 
 
 To cumbrous matter give maternity, 
 
 On Electricity affiliate life. 
 
 The fundamental form this union gives 
 
 To that which issues from the senseless womb, 
 
 Is a mere globule, and inclosed in this 
 
 Another globule warms the germ of life. 
 
 The favorite matter for maternal use 
 
 Is albumen. And now, the learned say, 
 
 We know the whole, had Nature only said 
 
 How she produces albumen at first. 
 
 And then we have a problem yet unsolved 
 
 What is this procreant electricity 1 
 
 Did we but know these two, the whole were clear 
 
 Of living organisms how they spring. 
 
 Now this is good ! father and mother too 
 
 Are strangers quite; and these are sought from that 
 
 Which sprang from them a greater stranger still. 
 
 Others have said that Nature has a power 
 
 And some have named this Deity, but blind 
 
 A power to multiply rough drafts of plants 
 
 And animals, of matter merely; these 
 
 Are monads : some are vitally instinct, 
 
 And with inherent tendency t' advance. 
 
 This albumen, this jelly form would have 
 
 Its varied wants, as hands, and feet, and mouth; 
 
 And these would spring. Had one a want to fly ] 
 
 Behold its wings ! Did other want to swim 1 
 
 Behold its fins, with apparatus framed 
 
 For water life ! Another needed legs 
 
 And feet; without delay they come ! 
 
 Such organs were not framed to meet these wants 
 
 By some superior power creative Mind; 
 
108 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 But by these wants themselves :- Oh ! how profound f 
 
 Man was a monad once; well that we grant 
 
 To those who will insist and what its kind ? 
 
 The monas termo ? littlest of the least, 
 
 So Ehrenberg declares. 'Tis well to take 
 
 The lowest place, we have authority 
 
 To countenance this step and thence attempt 
 
 Some higher evolutions of this life 
 
 That man is born into : attempt ? not that 
 
 Submit to what is yet to be evolved 
 
 A fated process, much at variance 
 
 With man's free-will to do or not to do. 
 
 But here we rudely shake philosophy : 
 
 One says that, " Science is prevision, and 
 
 Prevision it is power." If this be true, 
 
 Then by the help of strict analysis 
 
 Of antecedent histories; sustained, 
 
 By wise synthetic processes, we ought 
 
 To prophesy about man's next developed form. 
 
 Let us go back a step. Man's ancestor, 
 
 Immediately we speak of man as man, 
 
 The creature, not a specimen of such 
 
 Man's ancestor, we say no; others say, 
 
 A Monkey walked : how long, no record states : 
 
 At length it introduces Man. How strange ! 
 
 For one not in the mystery would think 
 
 That in this process it would disappear : 
 
 But no, it lives; as if to disavow 
 
 All anthropoidal claims. We're further told 
 
 That, in disrobing, monkeyism still 
 
 Retained the caudal limb: to meet the case, 
 
 The law, that need ensured supply, must be 
 
 At once reversed; he wants no tail; when, lo ! 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 109 
 
 No tail appears. But some one else asserts 
 That this was through effect mechanical : 
 This vertebrate continuance, says he, 
 Through sitting disappeared. These learned men ! 
 How gravely they resolve such points abstruse ! 
 Who is not pleased with such hypothesis 
 Of his own origin 1 A jelly germ ! 
 And is not this far better than red earth, 
 To claim our common source of being from 1 
 And leav'ning life innate, than life inspired 
 By Him who formed the body and the soul ] 
 Or is man's pride the haughty advocate, 
 Removing cause without to cause within 1 
 This pride ! what garbage it will feed upon ! 
 Efficiency deny, and substitute, 
 Instead thereof, blank inefficiency ! 
 Enough of this. We have a wholesome fear 
 Of being charged with answering a fool 
 According to the folly of that fool. 
 In spite of this, we'll run a tilt again 
 With one or two yet more. 
 
 Some very learned men avow that man 
 Is God; yea, God evolved in highest grade; 
 For everything is God, they say, and man 
 The chief of all. Now mark this rival god, 
 As seen in this precocious, potent form. 
 He thirsts and cries for drink, sometimes in vain; 
 The desert hears his moans, and there he falls, 
 His bones remain, mute tell-tale of his fate. 
 Gaunt famine too his hapless victims claims; 
 Nor can they hope to shun his sinewy grip, 
 With all their vaunted god-like powers. 
 Disease invades the frame; the languid limbs 
 
110 HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Confess some foreign power, exorcised not 
 
 By this presumed anthropomorphic god. 
 
 He breaks a limb 'twas accident, he says : 
 
 And what is accident 1 The learned man 
 
 Becomes a fool, forgets all he had learnt, 
 
 Through injury without, or other cause; 
 
 It may be through the more than prudent stretch 
 
 Of these consummate powers of mind. 
 
 Hallucination queer conceits this god 
 
 A tripod j or some kindred thing become. 
 
 Now all dread death : why not dispute his power ? 
 
 Why not evade his dart 1 Why not evolve 
 
 By law of higher organism wrought 
 
 By steps consecutive yet one step more 
 
 Above the King of Terrors, and educe 
 
 Not safety merely, but high vantage ground 
 
 Whence man may issue terms; or rectify 
 
 The present adverse laws, subjecting him, 
 
 Unwilling, to the many ills of life 1 
 
 Now if advancement mark the course of man, 
 
 How do these very learned men account 
 
 For such abeyance as this progress owns 
 
 In man's development ] He died at first, 
 
 He still is subject to this mortal law. 
 
 Does genius here, astute, detect no flaw ? 
 
 If this development, so much avowed, 
 
 Be law primordial, who has registered 
 
 Its course, or chronicled its steps till now ? 
 
 Or are six thousand dreary years, or more, 
 
 The term for this subaltern god, ere he 
 
 Emerges into yet a higher sphere ? 
 
 But if no chronicle exists ? then whence 
 
 This fatuous scheme ? and how can one assert 
 
HEKE AND HEREAFTER. Ill 
 
 That he at first was other than he is 1 
 Empedocles that most veracious man 
 Was first a girl, and then a boy, a shrub, 
 A bird, a fish, and then Empedocles ! 
 As such he lived awhile, and then desired 
 To know the future domicile of that 
 Which once had energized the bird to fly, 
 The fish to swim, the shrub in situ grow. 
 This vagrant thing led on Empedocles 
 To seek th' Etnean fires, and headlong plunge 
 His most accommodating frame therein; 
 'Twas all consumed : a sandle re-appeared, 
 Which told how he, a spruce philosopher, 
 A poet much admired, had closed a life 
 Most foolish, by a death more foolish still. 
 Perhaps he thought his next developed form 
 Might possibly enshrine a god; or that, 
 At least, some might suppose him deified. 
 How was development here marked? the boy 
 Is that a step beyond the girl ? the shrub- 
 Is that a well-developed boy ? the bird 
 Does Botany explain this curious step ? 
 And is the fish still higher in the scale 1 
 But last of all Empedocles himself ! 
 Might one be free to judge allowing now 
 The truth of this metempsychosis strange, 
 And of development as well our thought 
 Is that the last was first; the rest, like dice, 
 Are thrown at random in to fill the list. 
 Pythagoras again, the Samian sage, 
 Was first ^Ethalides, who, quick and dead 
 By turns, for such th' Olympian grant explored 
 The upper and the nether worlds, and made 
 
112 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Conveyance of his stock in hand to him 
 
 Who followed next Euphorbtts, he who warred 
 
 At Troy, and fell by Menelaus' hand. 
 
 Then Hermotimus wrapt the lonely soul 
 
 In mortal bonds; impatient here, it sought 
 
 All corners of the earth, to exercise 
 
 Its rare prophetic skill, t' unfold to all 
 
 The dark futurity its secrets broach. 
 
 Meanwhile the wife of that which lay at home 
 
 As lumbering clay, in spleen burnt it all up. 
 
 The wandering spirit rudely thus turned out, 
 
 Now found a fisherman, who lodged the soul 
 
 Through storms of land and sea, and then resigned 
 
 The fitful guest to wise Pythagoras. 
 
 Will some apologist object that these 
 
 Empedocles and sage Pythagoras 
 
 Held not development 1 But then, 
 
 If true in this our day, 'twas true in theirs; 
 
 And they have fixed the thesis on our doors, 
 
 With illustrations of the law, prepense, 
 
 Anticipative of the law itself. 
 
 It has been said that facts are stubborn things; 
 
 Now here they are, more cogent since that they 
 
 Illustrate unawares the latent law : 
 
 A law of wild vagaries as we think; 
 
 The more befitting those who now enforce 
 
 Its maudlin claims. Learning is no defence; 
 
 Much learning now makes some men mad; not that 
 
 It has perforce this tendency; knowledge 
 
 Avails for good or ill, as it is used. 
 
 The learned fool is found, a fervid growth 
 
 Of teeming sentiment, not wisely ruled. 
 
 The wise man, ignorant of science, art, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. US 
 
 Amenities of high-born life, yet fills his place 
 Of usefulness, his generation serves. * 
 Where is th' Assyrian found, where Egypt's race, 
 Where dwells the Greek, or Elam's favored sons 1 
 Have they put off, in their development, 
 Barbaric pomp and childish show ? Have they, 
 In onward speed, disrobed themselves of that 
 Which earlier years paraded with a zeal 
 Intemperate ] When did conviction seize 
 The Ninevite, or Babel's elans, that gods 
 Of wood and stone were powerless to avert 
 Their dreaded ills ? Did Mizraim struggle forth, 
 And gain a higher eminence than when 
 The Persian braved the wrath of all her gods ] 
 Or is she now among the kingdoms, base ? 
 Her pyramids, her sphinxes, gloomy men 
 Of stone, which sit as warders of the past, 
 Do they espouse this fond development, 
 Or is it retrogression they suggest ? 
 Where is the savage in this line 1 does he 
 Inaugurate his course with horrid feasts 
 On human flesh of scalped and tortured foes ? 
 Or is he fallen to that ? Once civilized, 
 And bred to finer thoughts and higher aims, 
 Has he now reached the hither end, debased, 
 Sunk down, a sorry wreck of what he was $ 
 Such is the Aztec, such th' Assyrian too; 
 Whose monuments require a stranger's skill. 
 
 * The mantle of the ancients has fallen on the moderns. Let 
 Emanuel Filopanti be immortalized : he modestly tells us that 
 he is the fortieth and last Emanuel ; his spirit having previously 
 illuminated the dust of the illustrious Newton, Galileo, and 
 others. He practically utters again the royal mot, "Aprfca moi, 
 la fin." We should like to see Emanuel' s register. 
 
114 HERE AND HEEEAFTEE. 
 
 Inscriptions graven by their ancestors 
 
 Are hid from them, a hopeless monograph. 
 
 Yea, so it is; the mighty pyramids, 
 
 Though mute, yet speak in pond'rous tones to those 
 
 Who advocate development ? 'Tis not enough 
 
 That theorists elaborate some facts, 
 
 And call them evidence; it may be more, 
 
 Far more run counter to these hasty claims. 
 
 No mad assertion lacks some countenance 
 
 From things that are : illusive, these sustain 
 
 The careless searcher, or deceive the man 
 
 Who knows no god but his own rebel will. 
 
 It needs a patient mind to gather, sift, 
 
 And strain facts for, and facts against; e'en then 
 
 Much danger holds, lest an inverted mode 
 
 Should bring perverted views : a theory 
 
 Should follow, not precede discovered facts. 
 
 Forbear now; press not so the impious search: 
 
 Read in God's book of nature how He cares 
 
 For every creature of His vast domain. 
 
 See how the hugest thing disports, and feeds 
 
 Out of His hand e'er opened wide; there too 
 
 The smallest gathers daily food; yea, see 
 
 The Godhead in the mighty frame, the same 
 
 In what the microscopic lens detects. 
 
 Man is religious and continues so, 
 
 Unless imbruted by his wilful lusts. 
 
 A God he sees above, around, within; 
 
 Excess of learning may benight his mind : 
 
 Extremes join issue; so his intellect, 
 
 With flick'ring glare, the grossest darkness meets. 
 
 The simple Christian has a simple rule, 
 
 He'll understand where that is feasible; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 115 
 
 When it is not he'll just believe. 
 
 But is this reason common sense 1 It is ; 
 
 For who can understand Infinity ] 
 
 Man's place is not to judge, but to admire, 
 
 And learn what God has wrought : much He has placed 
 
 Before our eyes most manifest; but much 
 
 Is hid by light ineffable; and much lies hid 
 
 As not revealed; or if revealed, beyond 
 
 The reach of minds debased, or immature. 
 
 God's foolish things confound the wise; the strong 
 
 His weak things foil; whilst to the lowly mind 
 
 He makes His deep things known, His counsel shews. 
 
 Learn then, erring man, to doubt thy skill 
 
 T' unravel all God's deep designs; He yet 
 
 Retains His great prerogative to hide, 
 
 From wise and prudent men, His purposes, 
 
 And make them fully known to babes to those 
 
 Who meekly, diffidently, learn His ways. 
 
 Pass on some hundred years ; a visit pay 
 To Cain's metropolis, Enoch its name, 
 And of his first-born too. Cain reigns -supreme, 
 And Enoch ministers vice-regal power. 
 Cities have multiplied, and works of art; 
 Vast piles of masonry ascend; and pride 
 Finds great development. A common bond 
 Unites the growing towns; diverging views 
 Had yet no sanctioned channel for their flow 
 Political, yet individual claims 
 Would clash; thus love for one would seize 
 The heart of more than one, and hatred thence. 
 Some building site, much coveted by one, 
 Would be desired by more : contentions spring 
 And litigations keen; tribunals mock 
 
116 HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The sanguine hopes of all; for policy 
 
 Forbids divided int'rests, and suggests 
 
 Some other cautionary mode, by which 
 
 To shun the certain hate a lawsuit breeds. 
 
 A brotherhood is sought, its bonds are knit 
 
 By social laws preventive of the ill, 
 
 If this be possible; repressing choice 
 
 By laws anticipative of that choice. 
 
 No idlers roam and breed disquietude, 
 
 Suggested by loose hands and unemployed. 
 
 A communism holds for common good, 
 
 The individual merges in the mass; 
 
 Not lost, forgotten not, he finds his good 
 
 Just as the aggregate attains that end. 
 
 The adventitious claims of modern times 
 
 Had there no countenance : a rising man 
 
 Necessitates some bonds on those around. 
 
 One gathers riches from the common stock, 
 
 Not culpable, still others feel the drain. 
 
 A mansion springs, hard by a hovel sneers, 
 
 And brotherhood is rived. Look on the sea, 
 
 Behold its level rest; a storm disturbs 
 
 The placid show; a heaping up takes place, 
 
 Elsewhere depression rules the bulk remains. 
 
 So with society; upheavings here and there, 
 
 And hence some sinkings down; if one mounts up 
 
 Another sinks; and unavoidably, 
 
 Where each is left to frame at will the mode 
 
 And measure of his ways a liberty much prized. 
 
 We may not shut our eyes, and so ignore 
 
 The issue of the thing, for here in truth 
 
 Development is found : man's very self, 
 
 Thus unimpeded, opens out, and blooms, 
 
HEEE AND HEEEAFTEB. H7 
 
 And in due time bears ripened fruit. 
 Each generation shews advance on that 
 Which just preceded it; restraint delays 
 The culminating point, until the time : 
 E'en now it looms, and with increasing power 
 Of size and brilliancy, arrests the gaze 
 Of all, but not of all alike : some view, 
 Admiringly, the blazing meteor near, 
 Foretell a joyous advent soon; some look 
 And shudder at the lurid glare, premise 
 A portent adverse to the sons of men. 
 
 At first, and for some hundred years men sought 
 How they might best enjoy their good. 
 No goodlier way is found for this than when 
 Subjection rules : that liberty, for which 
 Men pine, and risk their lives and all they have, 
 Is most assuredly but one step short 
 Of slavery. Yes, take a model state, 
 Where all are free not free to break the laws, 
 The laws political, municipal 
 But where one may be idle if he will; 
 He may seduce his neighbor if he will, 
 And pay a penalty; he may blaspheme, 
 May swear, may lie, may cheat, if he but fling 
 The aegis of some law conventional 
 O'er all observe the quietude of trade. 
 That liberty is foul, false-hearted, seared; 
 Unfeeling, makes full claim, yields none. 
 That man is free indeed who rules himself, 
 His conscience guiding him, but not as though 
 Infallible; for that needs much 
 To be enlightened from some brighter source. 
 He is a slave who listens to his heart; 
 
118 HERE AND HEKEAFTER. 
 
 Unless his heart is rightly disciplined, 
 
 Not by his native will, for that is leagued 
 
 To meet the inbred cravings of that heart. 
 
 Motives induce the act ; the strongest rule 
 
 And dominate, though others may surpass 
 
 In urgency of call: but ears, not set 
 
 To catch unwelcome sounds, are deaf to all 
 
 That atrict propriety may safely teach. 
 
 It cannot be that man is wrought upon 
 
 By that which is the weaker power, so that 
 
 The stronger is annulled by it; though some, 
 
 Discriminating not, have so affirmed; 
 
 For what is power ? not that which makes address 
 
 To hearts pre-oeeupied and disinclined. 
 
 The law was weak, though not inherently, 
 
 But through the native virulence of that 
 
 To which it was addressed the human heart. 
 
 If motives are without and work from thence, 
 
 So influence the will, we might admit 
 
 That oft the weak prevails against the strong. 
 
 But motives are within, and there alone 
 
 True power exists : inducements work without 
 
 Effectively on some, though they are bad : 
 
 Others reject th' alluring promised good. 
 
 Power is in each, for each has had his way; 
 
 Diverse indeed, and this proves power in each; 
 
 Therefore responsibility ensues. 
 
 The patriarchal rule of Cain endured, 
 A despotism not distraught with power : 
 For though his will was law, experience led 
 The fratricide to curb the budding ill. 
 The aim the same as ours the greatest good 
 Was there by prompt repression much enforced; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 119 
 
 With us development is much educed. 
 
 It is a problem for the age to solve 
 
 If ill is not developed more than good. 
 
 So ages roll; men multiply apace. 
 
 Anon some strangers visit there; in mien, 
 
 Most noble; in their carriage, elegant; 
 
 Of stature, large; in manners, most refined; 
 
 Beauty was theirs, as well, of dazzling kind; 
 
 Beauty they sought; for they had set their eyes 
 
 On Eve's fair daughters, and with them desired 
 
 The marriage bond. Some myst'ry clouds this act, 
 
 For they were sons of God, desired strange flesh, * 
 
 Having assumed the same. Did they assume 
 
 Because of this desire ? Could spirits feel 
 
 As men : or reason from the evidence 
 
 Adduced by men 1 Did they behold man's joy, 
 
 The pleasure beauty gave, and lustrous form ? 
 
 Desiderate the same ? Or did they first assume, 
 
 Mix freely 'mong the sons of men ; partake 
 
 With them their liability to catch 
 
 The warm appeal of beauty's charming glance ? 
 
 Impassive not, somehow they felt the power, 
 
 "Then took them wives of all they chose;" and hence 
 
 A race of giants sprang, huge-statured men. 
 
 An impetus was thus supplied, and soon 
 
 The quiet good was shelved; instead thereof 
 
 Great energy infused. The mortal womb 
 
 Was pregnant with immortal seed; hence sprang 
 
 A progeny, immortal but for this 
 
 They took the mortal element, succumbed 
 
 * See Jude 6, 7, in connection with Gen. vi. 2 4. In the 
 former passage the translation should be "Even as Sodom and 
 Gomorrha, and the cities about them, in like manner to these;" 
 viz. to the angels. 
 
120 HERE AND HEREAFTEIL 
 
 X 
 
 To that and fell, as mortal men around, 
 
 Before the scythe of death; and so were judged 
 
 As men. In chains of darkness bound, they wait 
 
 The judgment day; but mercy had an ear 
 
 Even for these, who, disobedient, left 
 
 Their principates, and with fair womanhood 
 
 Wedded foul sin : the Savior, pitying, went 
 
 And preached to them, in spirit, there. 
 
 Some streams are broad, but, shortened in their course, 
 
 Soon reach the ocean's depths, and there are lost. 
 
 So with the stream of wickedness; in depth, 
 
 Unequalled since; in breadth, commensurate 
 
 With man's estate. Then teeming millions trod 
 
 Earth's plains a million millions some suppose. 
 
 God's primal curse maintained its sterile power, 
 
 So culture of the soil had no regard, 
 
 Much less pre-eminence; hence men had left 
 
 Great leisure on their hands. Inventions grew, 
 
 And works of art : devices framed t' evade 
 
 The curse of sin to plant a paradise around, 
 
 A paradise of sensual joys; to deck 
 
 And plume humanity with courtly show; 
 
 To compromise some self-denial with 
 
 Indulgence great; the former needed much 
 
 To counteract the passions' onward course. 
 
 Wise in their day; they knew the peril great 
 
 Of bankless streams, of misdirected wills, 
 
 Uncurbed licentiousness; a barrier here 
 
 Enclosed a safer sphere of bridled lust. 
 
 But sin is sin whatever mask it wears : 
 
 The careful debauchee as surely lands 
 
 On shores forlorn, as he who gives the rein 
 
 To all his lusts : the epicure at last 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 121 
 
 Exhausts from viands all their power to please, 
 
 Still more than appetites most gluttonous. 
 
 This foul apostacy had filled the earth; 
 
 The race of Seth were not exempt, they too 
 
 Had fallen away : one man alone retained 
 
 The fear of God ; before him seven had preached 
 
 The righteousness of God; and he, the eighth, 
 
 More definite, proclaimed His vengeance near. 
 
 Nor did mere words appeal to hearts suffused 
 
 With earthly good. Make thee an ark, God said; 
 
 So Noah built, and hereby testified : 
 
 For did he fail to tell them why he built 1 
 
 His very workmanship announced a text ; 
 
 His perseverance, sermon lengthened out. 
 
 They, disobedient, scorned his warning voice ; 
 
 His long preparing, God's long suffering, 
 
 Had no effect. Their hearts they hardened more ; 
 
 They scoffed and ridiculed the preacher's text 
 
 And sermon too. The end draws near : they ate, 
 
 They drank, they married wives, they built; yea all 
 
 Their hearts delighted in, they did the same. 
 
 The ark is built, the world hereby condemned. 
 
 The builder now retires, with him his wife, 
 
 His sons, their wives: of unclean beasts, by twos; 
 
 Of clean by sevens; of birds the same, and creeping things. 
 
 Now rain descends; imprisoned waters burst 
 Their straining bars, and, swelling, flood the land. 
 Men view the preacher's work of gopher wood, 
 But they, infatuate still, no warning heed. 
 The door is shut by God Himself: too late 
 For any startled from their fatal ease 
 By patt'ring drops. Were they now first advised, 
 By rain, of God's great reservoir above ? 
 
122 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 A new phenomenon, how dread to them 
 
 This stranger visitant ! What means this thing 1 
 
 Is this the old man's threat 1 It ceaseth not : 
 
 All day the pelting storm; throughout the night, 
 
 The pouring flood. The second day, at dawn, 
 
 Hope set for them : encroaching waves invade 
 
 Their very hearths ; and hasty rafts afford 
 
 A floundering passage to some neighboring hill. 
 
 They flee, the foe pursues; as they ascend, 
 
 So, pitiless, the water creeps; sweeps off 
 
 Relentless, with its curve, the shrieking child; 
 
 The mother's instinct grasps the floating charge, 
 
 Together swept away, together close, 
 
 In desperate embrace, their forfeit lives. 
 
 Some, in full strength, the battle wage, and beat 
 
 The foaming surf ; in vain, no power it owns 
 
 But His, who signed its warrant for these deaths. 
 
 The brawny arm, in efforts to escape, 
 
 And reach the ark afloat, but still in sight 
 
 Sinks helpless when upraised, in frantic haste, 
 
 To clutch the closed door too late ! 
 
 Sick beds no favor find; the frightened guest 
 
 There shrieks for help ; no pitying help is near. 
 
 Hadst thou, poor suff'rer, in thy days of strength 
 
 Despised the warning voice 1 Did ribald jests 
 
 Pollute thy lips ? Did Noah's earnest words, 
 
 And solemn look, and daily work, provoke 
 
 Thy laughter, and tirade of heartless mirth ? 
 
 How changed ! that spectral form more pale becomes; 
 
 For death, with cruel creep, has now just reached 
 
 The bed-room floor: at length its force prevails. 
 
 The room is filled, the vengeful tide intrudes; 
 
 And, rising, bursts the tenement, and floats 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 123 
 
 The couch, and its frail suffering occupant, 
 
 On to the watery waste of death without. 
 
 A pleasure party plans the morrow's joy; 
 
 A bridal pair the nucleus of their mirth. 
 
 The setting sun no threat'ning cloud obscures; 
 
 Promise of future day, and harbinger 
 
 Of dawning good, propitious to their hopes. 
 
 Baskets, well stored with thrifty care, their need 
 
 Anticipate : their hearts, elate, dread not 
 
 Some counter summons calling them away. 
 
 Death a strange visitant where lives prevail 
 
 To near a thousand years they dream not of. 
 
 They seek and press their couch with merry hearts, 
 
 In promise of more joy with early dawn. 
 
 Not death, a stranger visitant than he 
 
 Arrests their lightsome steps. The blackened heavens, 
 
 The lightning's lurid glare, the thunder's roar, 
 
 Appal their hearts, their rebel spirits quell. 
 
 The daring bold blasphemer stays his oath, 
 
 Remembers Noah's words, his rash affront. 
 
 High scaffoldings bespeak the builder's hopes 
 
 Of some great mansion, very soon to vie 
 
 With that his neighbor builds : envious to rear 
 
 Its boastful front, o'ertop the former pride. 
 
 He passes by, contemptuous, notes the bulk 
 
 Of Noah's ark, finds fault with its design; 
 
 Its length, and breadth, and height, not rightly framed; 
 
 Its tonnage tells so jokes his life away. 
 
 He hears the warning voice; looks hard, regrets 
 
 So fine a man should near to Bedlam dwell, 
 
 And not partake its cheer. 
 
 The man of pleasure scans th' enormous ship, 
 
 And counts it far too large for cruising glee. 
 
124 HERE AND HEREAFTEB. 
 
 Who steers the course ? No rudder hast thou put, 
 The helmsman's toy. Wilt take the ship to sea, 
 Or bring the sea to ship 1 A grand device 
 To frighten foolish men : but foolish work 
 Bespeaks a fool. So he, and passes on. 
 
 Rain, rain, the beating rain, the foaming surge, 
 No parley give : for forty days and nights 
 Their terror pour. The fountains of the deep 
 Their cerements burst, and overflow the hills. 
 The buoyant ark upheld, in safety rides, 
 Its steersman, God; its freight, sweet mercy's charge. 
 Soon, very soon, a gloomy stillness holds 
 High empire over all the scene, save where 
 The plashing waves join chorus with the song 
 Of those within, safe from the storm without. 
 All, all is hushed; a dreary wide-spread waste 
 Conceals the earth. The drunkard's fumy song, 
 Embattled strife, the fell seducer's wiles, 
 Ambition's aims, gay pleasure's schemes entombed, 
 Await to prove their seeds yet competent 
 To germinate, and yield more bitter fruit, 
 When lengthened time, and all appliances 
 Of man's maturer skill, and Satan's craft, 
 Shall find them place and exercise. 
 Another deluge of another kind 
 Will then invade the deep-laid plot, lay bare 
 The impious schemes imparadised by man, 
 With much pretence of good, and arrogance 
 Of comely show : then will sin's coverlet 
 Be torn away; and then will beauty find 
 No service forced by guile; but, free to range, 
 Her skill will multiply the joys of all. 
 
125 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 EGRESS from the Ark. Noah's drunkenness and curse. Slavery. 
 Noachic laws. Nimrod and Babylonish idolatry. A fancy 
 sketch. Abrahamic covenant and history. Israel in Egypt, 
 and deliverance. A glance at the progress of the nation of 
 Israel. Babylonish captivity. The four kingdoms of Daniel: 
 the fourth identified with the last great foe of God and man : 
 his doings: his end. The final consummation. 
 
 THE World is young again : fresh cast, it floats 
 Buoyant, and weighted less; for guilt and sin 
 Have narrowed exercise : the ark alone 
 Exhibits actors on the waste-wide stage : 
 It finds, at length, firm anchorage, high up 
 On Ararat; its inmates issue forth, 
 And seek again the perils of their state. 
 Their sustenance miraculous has ceased. 
 The thirst for blood once more sets in : again 
 The Lion's roar bestirs the quiet herd; 
 And querulous, the interrupted song 
 Is supplemented in the sheltering nook. 
 Man's works are buried deep; incumbent rocks 
 Conceal deep down all they have done; themselves 
 Float on the angry deep, and furnish food 
 For tenants there. Disruptions vast have torn 
 The solid rocks apart, laid them athwart 
 Tables unrent; constructing there huge books; 
 Depositing, between their leaves collapsed, 
 Crushed spoils of many forms ; inanimate, 
 As trees and plants; and animate, as beasts, 
 
126 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And birds, and fishes j there, as specimens, 
 
 Preserved by careful skill, they lie to shew 
 
 Their great Creator's awful ways, when He, 
 
 In wrathful mood, o'erthrew His earlier works. 
 
 Men have, at length, discovered these, laid bare 
 
 Impressures there, deduced a science thence, 
 
 Unwarily denied God's great design 
 
 To chronicle man's sin, its power t' effect 
 
 This overthrow, provoking by its kind 
 
 And prevalence God's justice; wearing out 
 
 His patience to the uttermost. 
 
 Had God a quarrel with the beasts, the birds, 
 
 The monsters of the deep, the mountain tops ? 
 
 Did He in wrath scatter th' enduring hills 
 
 And make them bow 1 As when a King comes down, 
 
 Sits in the dust and mourns; his subjects too 
 
 Assume his state; his grief is theirs, his joy 
 
 Theirs too; so man, creation's lord, brought death 
 
 On all that lived, and dismal overthrow 
 
 Throughout his realm. An immolation great 
 
 Attended man's great death : the loftiest hills 
 
 Depress their heads, sink down as if amazed, 
 
 Conscious of woe : incarcerated depths 
 
 Pierce through their prison-house, and in their stress 
 
 Force upwards bounds imposed. Thus sites are moved; 
 
 The ocean beds exchange their place; valleys, 
 
 Submerged, receive the eager tide ; and hills, 
 
 Hurled from their heights, bear, in their headlong flight, 
 
 Their mighty base, and madly fling themselves 
 
 Into the frightened sea : there uproar reigns, 
 
 For from below commotion springs; upheavings thence 
 
 Displace the yielding flood; the mountains' plunge 
 
 Adds terror to the scene. The waters flee, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 127 
 
 And seek in haste the frightful chasms left 
 
 Where late the mountains stood : all nature groans, 
 
 Bursts with her throes. But now the crisis comes : 
 
 The Architect of all, who built the hills 
 
 And sunk them low, and made the sea repose 
 
 In ordered depths, now interferes, and stays 
 
 The dreadful rout. Vengeance had done its work ; 
 
 Order returns : the overflowing rain 
 
 No more descends ; the fountains of the deep 
 
 Restrained, are sealed up, no more to wreak 
 
 Their fury on mankind. Noah steps forth, 
 
 Becomes a husbandman, a vineyard plants, 
 
 Lies drunken in his tent, the sport of Ham. 
 
 Paternal wrath is roused, the curse descends 
 
 The curse of slavery no doubt, but did this give 
 
 Licence to trade in man 1 Here men have erred, 
 
 And outraged much th' inflexible decree. 
 
 The curse must be sustained; but why should man 
 
 Add chains to those already forged ? 
 
 "Servant of servants thou shalt be:" this law, 
 
 Severely just, needs no severity 
 
 From them who claim the hapless race of Ham. 
 
 Nay, God would have them mitigate and smooth 
 
 The rugged path they tread ; mercy prefer 
 
 To sacrifice. But men, who wear a skin 
 
 That gives predominance, anticipate 
 
 The bondage term; make cruel raids, and steal 
 
 The husband from his wife; the father snatch 
 
 From those who need his care; and disregard 
 
 The lover's frantic grief, the maiden's broken heart. 
 
 Then they a household build, give time to raise 
 
 A doomed progeny, and buy and sell, 
 
 Maltreat and mutilate, and kill; yea, worse, 
 
128 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Debase themselves and them in shameful lust, 
 
 And abnegate the claims of decency. 
 
 Is this God's institute, just as it stands 1 
 
 He will avenge, is now avenging much, 
 
 The cry of those oppressed; yea, even now 
 
 His inquisition sits, and search is made 
 
 For blood, for rifled homes, for outraged hearths. 
 
 The mother's cry ascends ; her wailing babes, 
 
 Her blooming sons, her daughters fair to her, 
 
 Lift up their voice for vengeance to that God, 
 
 Who treasures up their wrongs. " Vengeance is mine, 
 
 I will repay." Does God excuse the theft, 
 
 The middle passage woe, the sales, and all 
 
 The horrors of the whip, and manacles, 
 
 And gyves, and brutal lust, and murder foul ? 
 
 " Prepare to meet thy God !" see even now 
 
 He meets thee, He confronts thee there where thou 
 
 A specious, bad immunity hast claimed. 
 
 There face to face He charges thee with crimes 
 
 Not to be named for turpitude ; the soul, 
 
 With shudd'ring, hears the wrong, the filthinesa 
 
 Abhors. Thy iron heart must quail before 
 
 The horrors of the cup He fills to thee. 
 
 Take, see, 'tis blood; for thou hast shed much blood. 
 
 Thy homes are rifled now ; thy father's heart 
 
 Is stricken in thy son; thy daughter's form, 
 
 Now outraged, sketches out some by-gone scenes ; 
 
 Thy tender wife lies at thy feet abused. 
 
 These are but samples of His holy wrath; 
 
 Be wise, and read, and learn that He is not 
 
 An unconcerned spectator of thy sin. 
 
 A fast do ye proclaim ! What is its kind 1 
 
 How will ye order it ] Have blows enforced 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 129 
 
 Their logic on your heart 1 Have they supplied 
 
 The needed euphrasy to clear your sight, 
 
 That you may see your negro is a man, 
 
 Whose liberty is dear to him a sacred right 
 
 Defiled by you ? Now is it your resolve 
 
 To make a restitution just, of this 
 
 That first you took away, and then denied ? 
 
 Hear how the Judge of all the earth defines 
 
 The fast that He accepts " To loose the bands 
 
 Of wickedness, to let th' oppressed go free, 
 
 T' undo the heavy burdens, and to break the yoke." 
 
 The inward fast from that, the heart debased 
 
 Delights to revel in, is God's demand : 
 
 And not to bow the head, just for a day 
 
 Afflict the soul, refusing daily bread. 
 
 Hear God's rebuke as well " Behold the day 
 
 Whereon ye fast, your pleasure still ye seek, 
 
 And all your labors still exact. Behold, 
 
 Ye fast for strife, debate, and eke to smite 
 
 Yet with the fist of wickedness, and make 
 
 Your loud pretentious voice be heard on high." 
 
 Have ye forgot the law " Thou shalt not steal ? " 
 
 And that to steal a man was death ? How then 
 
 Can ye expect that God will smile upon 
 
 Your valorous exploits whilst yet you grasp 
 
 Your cruel whip, your chains that gall the limbs 
 
 Of crushed humanity ? First leave your sins, 
 
 Then God may listen to your humbled suit. 
 
 A great calamity sometimes preludes 
 A patent good. The flood sweeps off the curse. 
 Such is the power of faith; for Noah builds 
 An altar to the Lord. Jehovah owns 
 His servant's act; with him re-institutes 
 
 j 
 
130 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The primal good. This might be brought about 
 
 By that which hurried to their doom mankind 
 
 And all that lived : or it might be set up 
 
 Miraculous; either by fresh assay 
 
 And complication of the soil, attained 
 
 By intellective skill; or else, removal thence 
 
 Of disability imposed by sin, 
 
 And its sore advent; thus accomplishing 
 
 The resurrection of the good interred. 
 
 A grant is made to Noah, and a law 
 
 Is passed interminate : all that had life 
 
 Was sanctified for food, by God's entail, 
 
 Except the blood. This law is not repealed, 
 
 Th' exception too is unrescinded yet. 
 
 God gave a valid reason for this clause 
 
 Restrictive "blood is the life thereof :" 
 
 A fact not altered since that day. 
 
 Again " if any shed man's blood, by man 
 
 Shall then his blood be shed." Is this repealed, 
 
 Or can it be 1 for man was made by God, 
 
 In God's own image; and, although indeed 
 
 This image has been marred, the fact remains 
 
 That gives this early law its cogency. 
 
 Man strives t' invalidate this law 
 
 As barbarous, unsuited to the light 
 
 Of these our gentle times : where fits the act, 
 
 And how, of him who, lawless, takes a life ? 
 
 The light that dissipates this gloomy deed, 
 
 Will negative the vengeance too. 
 
 Again men multiply, and soon forget 
 God's awful check, when He submerged the earth, 
 And all therein. Fresh claims anon arise; 
 Fresh disputants enforce their adverse claims: 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 131 
 
 The right of might prevails. One man appears 
 Who quells these petty feuds; and he began 
 To be a mighty one, Mmrod his name : 
 A rebel so his name imports before the Lord. 
 Hereafter, when from Heaven's eternal heights 
 The spirit scans the past; as in a glass, 
 Beholds ages now rolled away; reviews 
 Receding scenes; then Nimrod's rule will rise, 
 Despotic, stern yet welcomed, sovereign sway. 
 His name, suggestive, speaks of adverse ways 
 Molk Gheber, mighty king, in earliest times 
 Great Nimrod's name, assumes the later form 
 Of Mulciber, Rome's god of fire; and Molech, 
 King of men, whose rites the fire performed. 
 Bol-cahn, hence Vulcan too, a name he took, 
 That is, interpreted, great Baal's priest : 
 Accepted such, nor did he seek aught more, 
 Yet at his death was deified, and filled 
 Great Baal's throne, the Only One, * denounced, 
 He and his rites, by rapt Isaiah's zeal: 
 And, as th' eternal Father, swayed the heart, 
 The idol heart, of Babylon. Ere long his son, 
 Adon, Adonis, or El-Bar Tamrnuz f 
 His name in Holy Writ, whose fate they wept, 
 And Israel's daughters too repeat the shame 
 As Phaeton, by his rash request, went nigh 
 To set the world on fire. The God of Heaven 
 The crisis viewed, and dashed him headlong thence 
 A lifeless corpse. This tale, stripped of its dress 
 That classic taste has wrought, reveals that man 
 
 * The original term is Acliad, admitted by the best scholars 
 as meaning "the Only One," idolatrously worshiped in Baby- 
 lon : this Israel copied. 
 
 f Ezekiel viii. 14. 
 
132 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Who taught the world to worship in the heavens 
 
 The glowing Sun, and on the earth enshrine 
 
 Perpetual fire. Large statured, graceful, strong, 
 
 Excelling in the arts of peace, and good 
 
 That men prefer, he taught mankind t' enjoy 
 
 The passing hour. So revelry and rout, 
 
 And decent sin with gorgeous pageantry, 
 
 Enrolled all suffrages, lulled every heart 
 
 In soft repose : as Bacchus here he shone. 
 
 As Zero-ashta too, the woman's seed : 
 
 And Zero-ades, only seed, he won 
 
 The Babylonish faith. * The woman first 
 
 Received a halo from the son's renown; 
 
 But in the lapse of time eclipsed his fame, 
 
 And higher worship craved : the heathen mind 
 
 Accredited the same. Has Christendom 
 
 No counterpart ? Mark now the harlot dam ! 
 
 Well is she Babylon the Great, though yet 
 
 An undeveloped germ in full, that bears 
 
 Offensive thought the keys of heaven and hell : 
 
 Whose fasts, whose festivals, whose monks, whose nuns, 
 
 Whose shaven crowns, whose celibate, were found 
 
 In Euphratean Babylon, and thence they came. 
 
 Thus far historic fame; a sample, gleaned 
 
 From stores most ample, verifying much 
 
 The wide-spread, diabolic scheme, set up 
 
 In many lands in Babylon, in Greece, 
 
 In Egypt, China, India, and in Borne; 
 
 Whence, in Rome's latter phase, the papacy. 
 
 * In the matter of names also, it seems the arch-enemy anti- 
 cipated this feature in the Messiah's history. Only a few of the 
 names of Bacchus, the Babylonian Messiah, have been given: 
 he is called by Plutarch, Myrionymus he with ten thousand 
 names. 
 
HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 133 
 
 Here mark the aim; not just a copy set, 
 
 And imitations thence; but a fell scheme. 
 
 Anticipative of that marv'lous plan 
 
 Redemptive; first revealed to him who wrought 
 
 Man's first great overthrow : and what to man 
 
 Was dark, was to his great intelligence 
 
 Most clear. The woman's seed but not the man's 
 
 Must have an origin divine ; and hence appeared 
 
 These abstract truths in Babylon of old 
 
 Th' eternal Father, Spirit, and the Son, 
 
 The mortal mother too, Semiramis. 
 
 But he, the great deceiver, had to please 
 
 Man's idol heart, humor its gross desires, 
 
 Hide from the view, what none desire rebuke 
 
 Of natural appetites, of pleasures free 
 
 From all restraint; and hence Bar-Cush, the same 
 
 As Bacchus, lord of all misrule appears. 
 
 His scheme was mirth and happiness for all : 
 
 All care and apprehension banished far. 
 
 A violent death cut short his errant life ; 
 
 But this was met, provided for, his death 
 
 Fulfilled the bruising of the heel, and hence 
 
 The bruising of the serpent's head. Most strange, 
 
 But not less true, that in old Babylon 
 
 These things were known, and thence conveyed 
 
 To other and far distant lands. 
 
 Bar-Cush has died, where will he rise again 1 
 
 The world has waited long, the time draws near 
 
 When he, who had the deadly wound, will live; 
 
 Again take up his wondrous power to harmonize 
 
 The jarring elements of human kind; 
 
 Afresh propose his schemes to utilize 
 
 The ills of life; commingle poisons, hence 
 
134 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Produce a cup of generous wine, intoxicate 
 With happy madness all the eager crowd 
 Of aspirants for earthly good. 
 
 Here now imagination importunes 
 To paint her picture of those ancient times, 
 When Mmred ministered as Baal's priest. 
 A shepherd boy is seen, daring, and bold, 
 And venturesome, and skilled to throw the lanee y 
 To twang the bow: the wolf he holds at bay, 
 And makes the lion hesitate, the bear 
 To quit its prey. Ere long he drops his -crook ^ 
 The man is grafted on the boy : mere youth, 
 Ambitious much, leads bearded manhood on,. 
 They brave the lion in his den; assail, 
 In turn, the shaggy bear. The monster's roar 
 Affrights the full-grown man; the beardless youth 
 Withstands alone, confronts the angry beast, 
 Prevails and wears the spoil. Years glide along, 
 Honors profuse adorn the brow mature : 
 Now paramount, he leaves the tented field,, 
 Mmrod, as King; Bol-cahn, as Baal's priest. 
 Babel, his capital, on Shinar's plain, 
 Avows Chaldean excellence; his skill, 
 His energy, here shone magnificent. 
 A city and a tower, whose top might reach 
 The heavens above, proudly exalt their prida 
 Did he, as Baal's haughty priest, design 
 A temple for the Sun, so high, the top 
 Might seem to reach the very Sun itself ? 
 A gorgeous palace too, of lofty height, 
 Surmounts a hill, by all the city viewed. 
 High over all, a glittering disc, the same 
 Wherever seen, bright image of the Sun; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 135 
 
 Illumed by night so magic art devised 
 
 Th' embodiment of him, that now had gone 
 
 To nether realms: thus always seen, himself, 
 
 Or brilliant likeness, coined by devilish art, 
 
 A sensual worship served. 
 
 Steps of continuous flight wind round the hill, 
 
 Wrought marble, polished smooth; so high th' ascent, 
 
 That dizziness was wrought in them who viewed, 
 
 And pride in all. The roof, projecting much, 
 
 Rested on lofty styles, of height immense, 
 
 Skirting a terraced walk. At even-tide 
 
 Each pillar shone with skill occult; profuse, 
 
 They shed their demon-light with that above. 
 
 Around the brilliant show, in dreamy joy, 
 
 The underlying city sings its song 
 
 Of earnest praise : beholds its god by day, 
 
 By night his delegated presence views. 
 
 The palace gleams with more than human art 
 
 Within : here too bright evidence exists 
 
 Of solar occupance, and astral glow. 
 
 Pass through a suite of rooms, the inmost seek : 
 
 There, high enthroned, Molk Gheber sits in state; 
 
 His throne of gold, by steps of marble reached, 
 
 Of glittering white; unearthly glory sheds 
 
 Its dazzling rays, the courtiers own its power. 
 
 Unwonted guests evince th' effect, in look, 
 
 In manner, not in dread of aught malign; 
 
 For they were confident of good the good 
 
 That circles round the heart of man, delights 
 
 And feeds its cravings irrepressible. 
 
 It was a tyranny most absolute, 
 
 But welcomed much, for all had gladly made 
 
 Consignment of their all to him who wrought, 
 
136 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And unremittingly procured their joy. 
 Behind the throne a door led to the shrine, 
 Occluse from mortal gaze of all, save him, 
 The great High Priest, who sought response. 
 Thence issuing, on his throne he sat; his face 
 Shone bright from converse intimate within, 
 And with that god invisible who framed 
 This idol scheme the god of this our world. 
 In weighty tones, which of themselves entranced 
 The spell-bound soul, and freighted with more good, 
 Infused complacent joy prospective mirth 
 He gave the order of the day. 
 
 The city traverse now. Surpassing all 
 Preceding or succeeding monuments 
 Of peopled sites, devised by wondrous skill ; 
 Behold its lofty walls, its massive gates, 
 For pleasure formed, protection too from foes 
 That might arise. A noble river runs 
 Quite through the midst, where gallant ship 
 And swift gondola glide. Along its banks, 
 But terraced high, the noble mansions rise. 
 Thus Ham and his descendants nullify 
 Their Father's bitter curse : not slavery 
 But dominance is theirs; awhile they rule; 
 All things premise inverted prophecy. 
 And not the race of Ham alone bow down 
 To idol shrines : the progeny of Shem, 
 And Japhet too, are serving other gods. 
 
 So flows the stream of time, but on its banks 
 A tent is pitched by one who on the plains 
 Of Ur, hard by the Chaldee pride, bowed down 
 To gods acknowledged there, Abram his name. 
 Jehovah visits there, reveals Himself, the True, 
 
HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 137 
 
 The Only One. Abram responds, obeys 
 
 The call to leave his gods, his native land, 
 
 To go whither he knew not then, content 
 
 To walk in that new light; in God's own time 
 
 To find the land that He would tell him of. 
 
 In Haran next he dwells, there sojourns long. 
 
 Has God forgotten him 1 Has he lost all 1 
 
 Abandoned gods and kindred, wealth and friends, 
 
 To grasp some phantom good 1 has he resigned 
 
 Substantial things for vain uncertainties ] 
 
 The father of the faithful must be tried; 
 
 The friend of God must shew himself a friend, 
 
 And trust, when trust seems vain and foolish too. 
 
 He knew God could not lie; the sterile womb 
 
 Dismayed him not. Faith deals with unseen things 
 
 As great realities; God's word alone 
 
 Suffices for impossibilities. 
 
 So Abram knew; and though Time in its flight 
 
 Bore on not only youth, but manhood in its prime, 
 
 And left a sere old age, God said, / will. 
 
 That was enough. Could Faith ask more than this 1 
 
 But nature speaks " How shall I know that I 
 
 Shall yet inherit this Thou speakest of?" 
 
 God condescends; a marv'lous scene occurs. 
 
 God's word is pledged, and now He adds His oath 
 
 Two things immutable, God cannot lie. 
 
 When God's full time is come, Isaac appears, 
 
 The promised seed. The helpless babe now fills 
 
 Glad Sarah's arms, expatriates fears that thrive 
 
 In soil conditioned for their great increase. 
 
 The womb re-energized has warmed the babe; 
 
 Its burden posthumous for it was dead 
 
 Rebukes her unbelief, for she had laughed 
 
138 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Incredulous. The prattling boy recalls 
 
 The woman's fading joys : maternal blood 
 
 Flows vig'rous through her veins, with youthful strength. 
 
 The boy bounds o'er the plain, the father's hope : 
 
 The youth begins to understand the sire, 
 
 Commune with him of faith and faith's award. 
 
 " Take now thy only son, and offer him 
 
 On mount Moriah, as a sacrifice." 
 
 What words are these ? and does the father hear 
 
 And live, and not expostulate, protest, 
 
 Recall to mind the word, the oath, as though 
 
 God had forgotten both; or worse, about 
 
 To break them both 1 Not so, his heart is fixed, 
 
 God cannot lie. The everlasting hills 
 
 May melt away, the earth dissolve, the Sun 
 
 Forbear to shine, but Isaac must endure. 
 
 How shall he reconcile th' apparent breach 1 
 
 He walks by faith j faith does not reconcile 
 
 Things seen with things that do not yet appear; 
 
 Cares not to understand : yea, more than this, 
 
 Has learnt much to mistrust things visible; 
 
 And look at things unseen with sure regard. 
 
 So Abraham takes the wood, and fire, and knife : 
 
 On Isaac lays the wood: they journey on. 
 
 The father's bosom heaves with weighty thoughts, 
 
 Silent, communes with God. 
 
 " My father," Isaac said, " behold the fire 
 And wood, but where's the lamb 1" The father's heart 
 Is musing sad; for though he falters not, 
 Nor doubts the issue of his act, he dreads 
 The act itself. One greater far than he, 
 Whose faith had no eclipse, could not endure, 
 Unmoved, the presentation of that cup 
 
HEBE AND HEKEAFTEK. 139 
 
 Which He must drink " If it be possible 
 
 Let this cup pass from me, yet not my will 
 
 But Thine be done:" the flesh was weak with Him, 
 
 That He might sympathize with mortal man. 
 
 So Abraham shrank, but stayed not hence his course. 
 
 "My son, God will Himself provide a lamb:" 
 
 And so they journeyed on. Three days they went 
 
 And then beheld the mount of sacrifice. 
 
 " My son, God will provide Himself a lamb, 
 
 I said; how, if thyself that lamb must be]" 
 
 " My father, thou hast taught me trust in God; 
 
 And not by word alone, thy ways sustain 
 
 All thou hast said. Thou hast made known to me 
 
 That I, thy promised seed, shall be thy heir. 
 
 God cannot lie. Thy path is clear, and mine : 
 
 Thine to obey, and mine to yield my will." 
 
 "My son; God's will, not mine, or thine, be done; 
 
 That will is good, though I should seem to mar 
 
 My own inheritance : though grief, and shame, 
 
 Dishonor too, and death, result; and hope, 
 
 With all her pleasant themes, withdraw her smile, 
 
 Faith still retains her hold on God's own word; 
 
 And hence hope too maintains her stable place. 
 
 Our act goes far indeed to quench my name; 
 
 But though my eyes behold thy ashes lie 
 
 There on the altar, raised by my own hand, 
 
 Those ashes scattered by the winds of heaven, 
 
 I reckon still that God has power to raise, 
 
 And give me yet to bear, in aged arms, 
 
 Thy seed that God shall give. It must be so : 
 
 These hills, though rooted in the earth's firm base, 
 
 May be o'erturned; the mighty sea dried up; 
 
 The very heavens remove and pass away : 
 
140 HERE AND HEREAFTEK. 
 
 But God's own word remains. In all these things, 
 I make my boast in God : my faith delights 
 To put before my God some rigorous test, 
 And see His solvent power reduce that test : 
 With God all things are possible. 
 Thou art thyself a miracle, my son. 
 Thy mother's womb was dead; thy father too 
 As good as dead. Conception's limit past; 
 Nor she, nor I, could hope t' embrace a son ; 
 But, lo ! the word ' thy wife shall have a son.' 
 Due time elapsed, and thou wast born : my age 
 Was then a hundred years, and ninety hers. 
 Some years had passed since God at first appeared, 
 And spake of blessing me in terms so plain, 
 That even natural sense could not mistake. 
 Again the Lord appeared, and with an oath 
 Both sealed His promise, and confirmed my faith. 
 Impatience ever plucks the unripe fruit; 
 And hence was Ishmael born, a bond-slave's son. 
 God changed my name, Abram to Abraham; 
 Thy mother's too, Sarai is Sarah now. 
 1 Kings shall arise from thee,' God said; 'from thee 
 And Sarah too, thy wife.' Ere thou wast borp. 
 The Lord appeared in Mamre's plain : one day, 
 When sultry heat and painful stillness reigned, 
 Three men stood by me, sitting in my tent, 
 In human guise, but heav'nly visitants; 
 Jehovah one. Besides the promise made 
 Once more thy mother being near this time 
 The Lord communed with me of other things. 
 Towards Sodom now we bent our steps ; I went 
 To bring them on their way; not knowing yet 
 That, unawares, angels had been my guests. 
 
HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 141 
 
 We paused between my tent and Sodom's gate: 
 Two went and entered there. Thy cousin Lot 
 Had pitched his tent in Jordan's fertile plain, 
 Towards Sodom first; at length he dwelt therein. 
 The Lord made known to me His awful mind 
 And purpose to destroy the cities of the plain. 
 Zoar was spared at Lot's request; I too 
 Made intercession, and had ten been found 
 Ten righteous ones Sodom had then escaped. 
 The night closed in on merry-making crowds, 
 And guilty revelers; the morning dawned 
 On embers of the fire from heaven; their smoke 
 Went up, a fearful token of their end. 
 Ere this, thy cousin Lot had made escape : 
 He would be rich, and honored too; so sat 
 In Sodom's gate. Two angels met him there, 
 The same that left me on the plain : Lot saw, 
 And bowed himself, and sought of them 
 To sojourn in his house; they entered there, 
 Immortal guests. The Sodomites soon swarm, 
 And make demands intensely bad, most foul. 
 Infatuate, they had no presentiment 
 Of further ill, when blindness fell on them; 
 For God had blinded first their minds, imbued 
 With most debasing lusts : they madly sought 
 Forgetfulness of God and all His claims : 
 Success was theirs; so all restraint was gone. 
 Lot held Sodoma's doom : whilst he remained 
 Within its walls, vengeance retributive 
 Forbore to strike. But wickedness o'erflows; 
 Hence Lot is urged: he seeks his sons-in-law; 
 Derisive, they decline t' avail themselves 
 Of his safe escort, for they could not leave 
 
142 HERE AND HEREAFTER, 
 
 Their joys behind : he seemed as one who mocked. 
 So Lot departs : his wife and daughters, steeped 
 In Sodom's guile, accompany, but bear 
 Degenerate hearts away; still coveting 
 The luxe of Sodom's state; discrediting, 
 Or else commiserating Sodom's fate, 
 They, ling'ring much, withdraw. While on the way, 
 Lot's wife, with guilty zest and sad regret, 
 Looks back, and thence becomes a monument 
 Of pillared salt. The rest press on and gain 
 First Zoar, where Lot feared to dwell; then seek 
 The mountain's drear retreat, sad home for them." 
 
 " My father, does it not appear that more, 
 Than faith's assay is meant, and shadowed forth 
 By this our act 1 No murm'ring spirit prompts, 
 No recreant dread of pain, or vain regret 
 Of life so early closed, tempts me to ask. 
 But that my spirit teems with sentiments 
 Of good to thee and thine; that this precedes, 
 And typifies some greater sacrifice." 
 
 "It does, my son; God in His grace vouchsafes 
 An outline of His plan. When Adam fell, 
 And all in him, God first made known that one 
 Should bruise the serpent's head : now, couple this 
 With great Jehovah's words f thee and thy seed.' 
 Thou art my promised seed; as such, a type 
 Of Him who, yet to come, shall all fulfil. 
 I see the day, for distant ages fixed, 
 When He, the woman's promised seed, shall come. 
 His day now dawns on my prophetic sight; 
 Kingdoms will rise and fall ere He appears. 
 God hath made known the bondage of my race; 
 Four hundred years to serve in some strange land; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 143 
 
 As strangers there to know affliction's yoke : 
 
 At length t' emerge with substance, spoil of them 
 
 Who spoil. That nation God will judge; and they, 
 
 In haste, will urge them thence. 
 
 Both I and thou, my son, shall rest in peace. 
 
 This country, mine by word immutable, 
 
 Has no escheat, for no conditions clog 
 
 The covenant then made, and irreversible. 
 
 Heirs, not inheritors, we sojourn here : 
 
 The land is ours in perpetuity. 
 
 But now, as strangers here, we spend a short 
 
 Fragment'ry course of our eternal lives. 
 
 Hence thou and I must rise again, and here 
 
 Reside in youthful immortality, 
 
 That God may verify His word to me. 
 
 Ages must roll away, then he must come, 
 
 The woman's seed. Deep myst'ry here I see, 
 
 More than I can express. Thou, as His type; 
 
 And I, as bruising thee, assume the place 
 
 Of God, who bruises Him. Not man alone, 
 
 As thou; not God alone, as God. 
 
 Much I desire to know, deeply I search; 
 
 But fail to see, with apprehension clear, 
 
 The deep communings of my soul with times 
 
 Whose fulness will reveal thy antitype. 
 
 The woman 1 s seed ! mark well those words, for thou 
 
 Art seed of mine; an import deep lies here: 
 
 Sufferings are His of more than mortal kind, 
 
 And His are glories too, resultant thence. 
 
 Yet more I see. My seed will for awhile 
 
 Retain the land, but after many years 
 
 Will fail to hold their fief. Vain-glorious, they 
 
 Will first assume a covenant of works; 
 
144 HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Failing in this, then God will drive them hence. 
 A cruel bondage they will serve awhile, 
 Longer and fiercer than at first; then He, 
 Whose right it is, shall come : He will redeem 
 Th' enslaved race. Then thou and I shall prove 
 God's words ' To thee, and after thee thy seed, 
 I give this land, an everlasting gift.' 
 I see the promises, afar, and now 
 Confess myself a stranger in the land." 
 
 Thus they beguile the way. A goodly sight ! 
 Father and son alike their way pursue 
 With solemn mind, concordant hearts and thoughts. 
 No talk of flocks and herds, investment rare 
 T' increase their store. True, God had given much; 
 But he a man of faith, the friend of God, 
 Had not reliance on these worldly gifts, 
 But on his God, who richly gave them all. 
 And now the tragic scene assails their hearts : 
 The flesh is weak, they seek for strength in God; 
 God hears, and both confess their weakness gone. 
 
 The father binds his son how tenderly ! 
 With gentle hands, and throbbing, fainting heart, 
 He lifts and lays the unresisting one 
 There on the altar, which consentient hands 
 And hearts have built. And now he takes the knife 
 To slay his son. Enough : his God demands 
 No more, and stays his hand: "for now," said He, 
 " I know thou f earest God, for thou hast not 
 Withheld thy son, thy only son, from Me. 
 Thy seed shall be e'en as the stars of Heaven, 
 And as the sand upon the ocean's shore." 
 
 "My thoughts are not as yours," says God, "my ways 
 Not yours." At forty Isaac finds a wife, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 145 
 
 But not a son. Years glide along, and hope 
 Forbears to smile. When twenty years have sped, 
 And hope deferred feels sick'ning at the heart 
 For nature's limit is just reached behold ! 
 The quick'ning womb conceives th' expected birth, 
 And in due time the twins appear. With joy, 
 The grandsire's arms receive the precious freight; 
 His long-tried faith gives place to sight; so all 
 The objects of his life are met: he still survives 
 For fifteen years, and then departs in faith. 
 
 Now Isaac's hope through Jacob flows : his faith 
 Rests firm in God, and much he needs His grace; 
 For eighty years elapse ere Jacob gives 
 A sign of hope fulfilled. In foreign lands 
 He sojourned twenty years, and then returned 
 With many sons; eleven in exile born, 
 One on the way, a daughter too : with these 
 He gladdens Isaac's heart, who thence enjoys, 
 For thirty years, the travail of his soul, 
 And then departs in peace. But ere he dies, 
 Full thirteen years, the charm of Jacob's life, 
 His Rachel's son is snatched away by stealth, 
 And sold, a bond-slave; first to serve as such, 
 And then to rule the land. Now here behold 
 God's will and man's self-will combined God's will, 
 As seen in kind prevenient care; and man's, 
 As seen in mood and act, intolerant, 
 Of patriarchal spite. Thus man's self-will 
 God's purpose served, and wrought His will ; while they, 
 With envy moved, evolved their guilt in vain. 
 As man 'gainst man stands up, his ruin plots ; 
 By schemes and circumvention keen outwits, 
 And glories in his shame of deep-laid craft 
 
146 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And subtle guile, secures ofttimes defeat 
 
 Of his own plans; with this th' accomplishment 
 
 Of all he dreads and shuns; so Joseph foils, 
 
 Unwittingly, their maddened aim ; and "they, 
 
 Unwittingly, secure the thing they fear. 
 
 Their guilt remains, though they have wrought God's will. 
 
 God makes the wrath of man educe His praise, 
 
 Restrains it too; makes record of his act, 
 
 And writes him rebel to His righteous will. 
 
 Must he who ruled almost with regal power 
 Be first a bond-slave; falsely charged, then pine, 
 And waste his youth in penal cells ? Just so. 
 How inaccessible is God to man, 
 If he draws near in human excellence ! 
 Wisdom is folly then, God's ways appear 
 Outrageous quite; and so indeed they are, 
 Judged in the light of this our prurient day. 
 But would man humbly learn and lowly seek, 
 This would he find humility precedes 
 The honor God bestows; and trials lead 
 To safe prosperity. The time is come : 
 Now Pharaoh has recourse to one unknown 
 In courtly halls; yet in the courts above 
 Renowned, as one Jehovah has delight 
 To own and much distinguish by His grace. 
 Pharaoh has visions of the night; he seeks 
 The aid of those who claim not wholly false 
 The power to penetrate the future's gloom. 
 But One has crossed their path, who blights their power, 
 Arrests their wizard gaze, divests them quite 
 Of skill oracular, suffered by Him 
 To serve awhile His purposes; immediately 
 Dispensed by one who ruled at Delphi, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 147 
 
 Delos, and elsewhere : imposing much 
 
 His tolerated craft, to blind the minds 
 
 Of those who willingly believed his lies; 
 
 Lies in the main, not always such, for when 
 
 Truth served him better to illude and fix 
 
 More duringly his bonds, th' unwonted shift 
 
 Had favor at his hands he spoke the truth. 
 
 Time speeds along; Israel have served their term, 
 
 They must be free; so Israel's God demands. 
 
 Pharaoh demurs Who is Jehovah then 
 
 That I should let the people go 1 
 
 Nay, let the bonds press tighter yet ; forbear 
 
 To give them straw, exact the same amount 
 
 Of labor at their hands. Will he provoke 
 
 Jehovah's power, th' unequal contest wage, 
 
 Measure his strength with Israel's God 1 
 
 Demented quite, defiant rage invites 
 
 God's outstretched arm. Blood mocks the craving throat; 
 
 Frogs croak and everywhere prevail; the dust 
 
 Supplies, in turn, a scourge, hence lice abound; 
 
 Then swarms of flying things invade the land; 
 
 The favored race alone exempt, so fenced 
 
 By God Himself ; a murrain next appears, 
 
 And desolates their herds ; not one succumbs 
 
 Of Israel's stock; then boils and putrid sores 
 
 Afflict both man and beast; and grievous hail, 
 
 Surpassing all since Egypt had a name; 
 
 Fire mingled with the hail smote every tree, 
 
 And herb, and man, and beast throughout the land ; 
 
 Goshen again was spared, where Israel dwelt. 
 
 Then in the air is heard a rustling sound, 
 
 Portentous, troubling much their frighted hearts; 
 
 Squadrons detached reveal a sudden gleam 
 
148 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of intercepted light, and by that light 
 
 Intelligence is borne to them appalled; 
 
 A locust band unparalleled is there. 
 
 And has .the sun forgot to shine 1 'Tis morn, 
 
 And yet no light; a solid darkness seems 
 
 To shut them in; deep preternatural gloom 
 
 Prevails three days. Does Pharaoh yet persist, 
 
 An unconvinced spectator of these things 1 
 
 No; "I have sinned against the Lord and you." 
 
 Respite begets presumptuousness : again, 
 
 The heart, elate with pride, repudiates 
 
 All conference; with surly threats, he drives 
 
 The man of God away " Now see my face no more." 
 
 Felt darkness shrouds the land; 'tis midnight now, 
 
 A wail is heard, a bitter cry is raised 
 
 "My child is dead, my first-born child is dead !" 
 
 Does echo mock the wail a thousand fold 1 
 
 Does Egypt's heir lie stiff, a lifeless hope 1 
 
 In every house death thus discriminates. 
 
 Enough; e'en Pharaoh's heart nay, not his heart 
 
 His spirit yields. God's people gather spoil; 
 
 Reprisal just, not robbery, but such repaired : 
 
 They take their final leave. But how is this, 
 
 Eor they have sojourned there just half the time 
 
 Proposed by God at first 1 Art thou disposed 
 
 To understand or cavil at the seeming mark 
 
 Of incongruity ? The Scriptures shew 
 
 How thou may'st understand, but leave thee still 
 
 An avenue of doubt. The learned man 
 
 Has found much trouble, much ado to rein 
 
 And curb his exegesis by the laws 
 
 Which there prevail. This point, though clear to some, 
 
 To him is cloudy still; for, truth to say, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 149 
 
 The terms are strong and positive; not so, 
 
 Except to faith, the explication made. 
 
 When God announced to Abraham His will 
 
 That his posterity should sojourn in a land 
 
 That was not theirs, He reckoned from this time 
 
 In which He spake; and so one half had passed 
 
 When Jacob went to see his son. That the whole time 
 
 Is braced between the covenant at first 
 
 And Israel's exodus, is plainly taught; 
 
 " For this I say, the covenant confirmed 
 
 Of God in Christ before, the law has not 
 
 The power to disannul the law announced 
 
 Four hundred years and thirty afterwards." 
 
 Behold th' enfranchised hosts near Egypt's sea, 
 Hemmed in by mountains on their right and left, 
 And Migdol in their rear, Baal-zephon too. 
 " How now *? Is this the way to take 1 Is time 
 So lavish, that we're come to view the coast, 
 Disport awhile, and then turn back again 1 
 Is food so plentiful that we may eat and drink, 
 And gather at our ease indefinite ? 
 Is Pharaoh so oblivious of the use 
 He made of these our limbs, to let us go 
 And roam at leisure where we will, and not, 
 In much regret, our re-commitment try?" 
 " Be not afraid," said Moses, " and forbear 
 To judge your God : nor shortened is His arm, 
 Nor dull His ear. Do you so soon forget 
 His mighty works 1 Is aught too hard for Him 1 
 He works by rule above our skill to read." 
 
 Alarm invades the host, for tidings spread 
 Of Pharaoh's blast and eager shout, as he 
 Beholds them now entangled near the sea. 
 
150 HEKE AND HEREAFTEK 
 
 " The wilderness has hemmed them in," said he, 
 "Not yet escaped, they'll serve us yet." 
 
 Now faith can calmly gaze, can ponder well, 
 And weigh the accidents, and yet rejoice. 
 Who made the sea ? Who made the lofty rocks 1 
 Jehovah, who has brought His people there. 
 Faith walks the sea, or cleaves it for a path, 
 Or wrenches from their base the mighty hills. 
 The murm'ring host upbraid " so did we say, 
 And tell thee, Moses, ere we left; and urged: 
 * We know the worst, now let us perish here, 
 And not provoke the wilderness to bleach our bones.' " 
 "Fear not," then Moses said, "but stand ye still; 
 Jehovah sees, and ye shall see as well, 
 How He can work. The Lord shall fight, and ye 
 Shall hold your peace." 
 
 " Now lift thy rod," said God, " stretch out thy hand, 
 Divide the sea; My people then shall pass 
 Dry shod, quite through its very midst." 
 Faith lifts the rod, the conscious sea divides, 
 Glad Israel presses on th' unwonted path. 
 Pharaoh, insensate, slackens not, nor stays 
 His keen pursuit. Faith lifts the rod again, 
 The sea beheld and fled : in heaps congealed, 
 Now to its strength returns. Can Israel doubt; 
 Or any more withhold credence entire ? 
 Alas ! the flesh has just begun to give 
 Its evidence; to serve its term at large'; 
 Conditioned with a law, statutes not good, 
 But in themselves; weak, through the flesh, to which 
 They minister : results of this appear 
 Throughout the history of Abraham's seed. 
 Bad, wholly bad, and utterly undone; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 151 
 
 And so God wills a way more excellent, 
 And which indeed it dimly predicates. 
 
 And where is Pharaoh now, his chivalry, 
 His crowding hosts, his haughty tramp, his might, 
 His excellence 1 The depths have covered them, 
 Sunk to the bottom as a stone : Jehovah's blast 
 Prevailed; they sank as lead, no more to rise. 
 Now take the timbrel, dance with ecstasy. 
 Israel, behold your foes there on the shore : 
 See, handle them; no more your dread; dead, dead. 
 Now shout again; ye're free, and can ye doubt, 
 Now lifeless bodies strew the shore for you 1 
 Within three days they, faithless, doubt again. 
 No miracles persuade man's heart of truth: 
 A lie needs scant support; and why is this? 
 If man is true at heart, as some aver, 
 Then surely all would much prefer the truth. 
 As fallen, all good is lost and evil reigns. 
 If Israel needed more than desert food, 
 Then why not ask 1 God loves our confidence, 
 Delights to grant the much assured request; 
 Encourages the timid suppliant, 
 Approves the bold approach when wisely made. 
 The evils we most shun are those most near; 
 The good we most desire is further off. 
 So Israel calls to mind Egyptian fare, 
 Compares it with the wilderness' supply; 
 Despises this, desiderates the same 
 That bondage soured. What made the wilderness 
 Less than a home to them ] What moved their hearts 
 T' appoint a captain who might lead them back 1 * 
 What made their present good an ill; their ills, 
 
 * Nehemiah ix. 17. 
 
152 HERE AND HEREAFTEK. 
 
 Which they had left, unthought of 1 Unbelief. 
 
 Consider now their case; for they are set 
 
 For our example, lest we lust as they. 
 
 We underrate the desert life these led : 
 
 Privations great were theirs; no water near 
 
 To satisfy their thirst; no bread to eat. 
 
 Their flocks and herds alone remained as food ; 
 
 And these would not suffice a lengthened time. 
 
 How should they do 1 The manna could not meet 
 
 The cravings of the host. One article of food 
 
 Their constant fare, water their only drink ! 
 
 Consider this, ye epicures, whom dainty bits, 
 
 Culled from the num'rous viands of your lot, 
 
 Alone can satisfy, nor always these. 
 
 Contrast your case with theirs : their sin and yours 
 
 Are much coincident; indulgence yours 
 
 Denied to them ; but discontent was theirs 
 
 With some apology, and yours with none. 
 
 Who claims contentment, who the quiet mind ? 
 
 The millionaire ] His zest gains by success : 
 
 His need of daily bread at first is changed 
 
 To need of daily gain; on this he lives: 
 
 A mind diseased craves this of him. 
 
 Content is not supineness, though alike 
 
 In freedom from sharp-visaged care : 
 
 The one desires no more than what it has ; 
 
 The other dreads exertion, so puts up 
 
 With meagre fare. Well then, are none content ? 
 
 Is it a phantom name ? And does it tell 
 
 Only of what should be, and not what is ] 
 
 Was Moses not content, and Aaron too, 
 
 Were Miriam and others of that host ? 
 
 A few, a very few. And are there not, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 153 
 
 In this our day, great multitudes who own 
 Jehovah, God, and call Him Father too, 
 Content with what they have ? A very few. 
 Not all who trust a Savior's blood, can trust 
 A Father's love, His wisdom, and His care. 
 But as of old, when money fails, and bread 
 Is getting low, the murm'ring heart complains. 
 The nice observer of God's ways can see 
 His ordering in the deepest poverty, 
 In stern adversity; and apprehend 
 How abject need may sing its quiet song, 
 And gross abundance sigh its good away. 
 The one, who every comfort owns, shudders 
 To think how he should do with frugal board, 
 And straitened means; and wonders much to find 
 His neighbor lives on half as much as he. 
 This reas'ning man but half believes God's word; 
 He wholly trusts himself, that he can tell 
 What suits him best; but missing this, he frets. 
 For is it not a law conventional 
 That poverty's a crime, and wealth a sign 
 Of excellence 1 He truly is content, 
 Who always trusts in God that He knows best 
 To portion him good things ; and who has learnt 
 How to abound, and how to suffer need. 
 Israel profane had perished to a man, 
 But Moses prays the prayer of faith, and pleads 
 God's holy name. No selfish heart preferred 
 That prayer, or he had failed. He passes by, 
 Unnoticed, God's design, to make of him 
 A nation greater, mightier than they. 
 God's honor only could he see, and hence 
 His power with God. They, ingrate, reap 
 
154 HERE AND HEREAFTEE. 
 
 The fruit of murm'ring lips: "would God," said they, 
 
 " We in this wilderness had died !" God heard 
 
 And judged them so, for there they fell all they 
 
 Who, having seen God's ways, believed Him not. 
 
 Moses as well; he, through their sin, provoked 
 
 The wrath of God. " Ye rebels, must we bring 
 
 More water from the rock?" he smote it twice, 
 
 And so he damaged then the sacred type; 
 
 That rock was Christ. The law had smitten once, 
 
 That law impersonate now smites again : 
 
 So Moses mars his title to the land. 
 
 Could he the law personified possess 
 
 The promised land 1 The law no promise gives, 
 
 But grace secures the good. Moses, as law, 
 
 Is barred; for "if the law be heir, then faith 
 
 Is void, the promise made of no effect." 
 
 Moses was thus disqualified; but yet 
 
 His sin excluded him; and so he dies 
 
 On Pisgah's top; thence views the promised land, 
 
 And then departs in confidence of hope. 
 
 Now Joshua, Savior, leads the people on; 
 
 Faith cleaves the interposing stream ; they pass 
 
 Dry shod, and enter into promised rest. 
 
 And is it rest that Israel finds 1- Ere this, 
 The warrior's cry, the tocsin's shrilly sound, 
 The flashing sword, the ambuscade, the siege, 
 The breach, the sanguine strife, the wail of woe, 
 The victor's shout, deep streams of blood, the moan, 
 The shudd'ring gasp of death, must be. 
 Why must it be 1 God wills it so. Now hear, 
 Ye advocates of peace, for what have you 
 To do with peace 1 For such as you who hold, 
 With fervid grasp, your sins, your worldly aims, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 155 
 
 Your rank concupiscence, peace is not yours ; 
 
 But war war to the death. Your chief is he 
 
 Who is a murderer; nor can he frame, 
 
 Nor can you advocate true peace : he has 
 
 The power of death, and when he most parades 
 
 The show of peace, then grows the deadliest war. 
 
 Peace there will be; but He who has His name 
 
 The Prince of Peace, rides forth A MAN of war. 
 
 Just so ; as Captain of their host He came, 
 
 Marshaled their ranks, detailed the plan of siege, 
 
 Foretold the issue of th' assault, forbad 
 
 Appropriation of the spoil, and saved 
 
 The harlot Rahab through her faith. 
 
 Alas, for them ! the wedge of gold was there, 
 
 The Babylonish garment, silver too 
 
 Of glitt'ring white; for man's cupidity 
 
 Too much ! the secret spoil of one all rued, 
 
 For all had sinned; not in the act perhaps, 
 
 But in the heart; and they now stood on ground 
 
 E'er imminent, for they had late engaged 
 
 To serve the Lord. Time speeds its early course, 
 
 And judges rule till Samuel's ministry. 
 
 The rule was not republican, nor democrat, 
 
 But theocratic, God Himself their King. 
 
 Of this they tired, from Samuel sought a change, 
 
 " That we may be like all the nations round." 
 
 What will not Fashion do ! Jehovah spurn, 
 
 Dethrone Him for some mortal man some man 
 
 To lead them to their wars, their battles fight. 
 
 Had Jericho and Ai, Bethel, Dor, 
 
 And Makkedah, the Hittites, Amorites, 
 
 The Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, 
 
 And Hivites with their kings, thirty and one, 
 
156 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Giv'n this advice *? What prompted them to this ? 
 
 Oh ! it was Fashion, and the present smart 
 
 Of Samuel's sons. What folly that an ill 
 
 Of momentary date a passing grief 
 
 Should urge us to an ill most permanent ! 
 
 Yet so it is; we natter much our hearts 
 
 That good is yet attainable, and seek 
 
 The good without alloy : to our chagrin 
 
 We find an evil unassayed, that galls much more. 
 
 God in His anger gave a king, in wrath 
 
 He took their king away. The time would fail 
 
 To speak of David, Solomon, their line 
 
 Illustrious. Eight hundred years, or more, 
 
 They weary God, until at length He turned 
 
 To be their enemy. In Babylon 
 
 They serve for seventy years. Short-sighted man ! 
 
 And dost thou think, because thy righteous God, 
 
 In much long suff'ring, seems to tolerate 
 
 Thy foul neglect of His most stringent law, 
 
 He will not yet exact the utmost doit 1 
 
 He will. Hundreds of years' contumely 
 
 Must be atoned for in proud Babylon. 
 
 Here they had crowding leisure to adore 
 
 Idolatry. Were they confirmed by this 
 
 Close-sighted view ? Oh no ! see Rome at Rome, 
 
 If you would see the very thing; and then 
 
 Pronounce your preference. A hideous form, 
 
 Foreshortened, may conceal its hideousness. 
 
 A brilliant ground may even recommend 
 
 Some gloomy shade. A casual dalliance 
 
 Commends the harlot's charms; to dwell with her 
 
 Is hell itself. The quiet of a home 
 
 Is varied charmingly by childish noise. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 157 
 
 An acid makes a sweet a sweeter still. 
 
 Among these sickened captives Daniel shines, 
 
 Greatly beloved of God, admired by men. 
 
 In visions of the night, God shews to him 
 
 Things yet to come, unveils the future to his gaze. 
 
 Israel had ceased to be God's sceptred race; 
 
 The first dominion rules at Babylon. 
 
 The royal despot has a dream ; he sees 
 
 An image great and terrible ; its head 
 
 Of gold; silver its breast and arms; and brass 
 
 Its belly and its thighs; its legs were iron; 
 
 Its feet a part of iron, a part of clay. 
 
 A stone assails it in its complex strength, 
 
 Aims at the feet, and thus predicts the blow 
 
 At some yet future monarchy some one, 
 
 Uniting in a whole, the head of gold, 
 
 The silvery breast, the brazen paunch and thighs, 
 
 The feet of iron and clay. What is that stone ? 
 
 Is it, as most suppose, Messiah's self, 
 
 Or Ephraim, as Israel's synonym, 
 
 God's battle-axe, to rend the nations' crown ? 
 
 This phantom image had an import deep 
 
 In man's affairs; and God's, through man. 
 
 Four empires were prefigured by its parts; 
 
 Its substance, products of earth's chemistry, 
 
 Of common origin, a common fate partake. 
 
 The Babylonish, Medo-Persian, Greek, 
 
 All owned of God, as having sovereign sway, 
 
 Have spent their terms and waned yea, they have waned, 
 
 But not entirely sunk in Time's great sea, 
 
 No more to come to land. The chol'ric goat, 
 
 Great Grecia's king, the great horn notable, 
 
 Had four horns notable as well, in place 
 
158 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of that which hurled the ram, the Persian king, 
 
 Prone on the ground : these indicate a power 
 
 Quadripartite ; and in its latter time, 
 
 And in the line of one of these, shall rise 
 
 A king fierce countenanced, and skilled to know 
 
 And understand speech enigmatical; 
 
 Self-willed, vain-glorious, high above all else, 
 
 And aiming e'en above the God of gods. 
 
 Fierce dinotherium, strong exceedingly, 
 
 With iron teeth symbolical, diverse 
 
 From all before. Rome does not ratify 
 
 This symbol now, though it may yet fulfil 
 
 The more than mortal type. rampant beast, 
 
 With semblance nondescript ! no peer of thee 
 
 Has yet appeared. But does th' horizon gleam 
 
 With thy still distant ray, thy lurid glare ] 
 
 E'en now the nations pale, as they surmise 
 
 They know not what. Thy glorious reign is short, 
 
 But terrible : thy rule most absolute. 
 
 Wide thy domain, beyond all former rule. 
 
 As king of kings, thy blazonry puts out 
 
 All minor spheres of power, beside thy own. 
 
 The dragon's time is near; when that is come, 
 
 No longer will restraint by him, as now, 
 
 Conceal thy full proportions, well-endowed 
 
 And meted for his need. He occupies, 
 
 As yet, his place, the very midst, th' highway 
 
 Betwixt the heaven and earth, by him defiled. 
 
 The time is imminent when he will dare 
 
 The might of Michael's arm, His prowess prove, 
 
 Confront th' Archangel's host with his, 
 
 Discomfited, in shameful rout will seek 
 
 Earth's woeful plains, with deep malicious rage; 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 159 
 
 There, standing on the sea's great troubled sands, 
 
 He calls up thence, and from th' abyss of Hell, 
 
 The agent of his will, till now restrained by him. 
 
 This man, the Antichrist, his protege, 
 
 Combines, with subtle art and royal state, 
 
 The Leopard's beauteous symmetry and guile; 
 
 Leonine majesty; as well the grasp 
 
 Of ursine strength. To such the Dragon gives 
 
 His throne, his power and great authority. 
 
 Here Greece predominates : the lion's head 
 
 Predicts great Babylon; the ursine paws 
 
 Assert the Medo-Persian dynasty. 
 
 To him, as Satan's delegate, the world 
 
 Will gladly turn; prostrate, adore their King. 
 
 Yet more he claims to be; nor claims amiss, 
 
 If more than human power substantiates 
 
 This more than human right ; for he, a man, 
 
 In Satan's energy, with marv'lous signs 
 
 And wonders of a lie, confirms his claims; 
 
 He calls the heavens to witness, and they give 
 
 Tokens confirmative, ethereal fire. 
 
 The earth attestive sings his praise; for God, 
 
 Retributive, hath put it in the hearts 
 
 Of kings decemviral to own his sway. 
 
 So peace prevails, and all has promise now 
 Of joy unchecked, and happiest times for all. 
 The lie is much accredited that he, 
 Who in the earliest times assayed to give 
 The World, bereft of good, its joyous night, 
 Cut short in his career by one who had, 
 At first, brought desperate evil on his race; 
 Now in due time should, by the potent help 
 Of one opposed to their great enemy, 
 
160 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Return from exile, ill-endured, to those 
 
 Whose earthly good his heart is set upon. 
 
 His deadly wound is healed great evidence 
 
 Of what he suffered at the hostile hands 
 
 Of him who viewed, with jealousy, his aim 
 
 T' emancipate mankind ; an evidence 
 
 That he had died on their behalf, and now 
 
 Has burst the bands of death. The scar remains 
 
 Demonstrative : to this, God adds His power, 
 
 By sending strong delusion, so that they, 
 
 Blinded judicially, believe the lie. 
 
 Who, unadvised, when looking at the form, 
 
 Quiescent, of the Leopard, could premise 
 
 Its awful deadly spring, its fatal guile 1 
 
 So th' antitype of this rapacious beast 
 
 Will charm and lull all fears. His calm repose 
 
 Amidst the strife of elemental war; 
 
 His disavowal of malevolence; 
 
 His elegance in arts of peace, yet competence 
 
 In warlike schemes where these, in fair pretence, 
 
 Subserve the general good will gain him trust, 
 
 And time to maturate his deep-laid plot 
 
 Of universal power and sovereign rule. 
 
 Let busy thought anticipate, and shew 
 The revelation of this lawless one. 
 Behold him then a king. Endowments rare, 
 Unparalleled, are his. All that can charm 
 Yet subjugate: a despot in intent; 
 In mode and circumstance gentle to all. 
 Adept in plotting, wary, solving well 
 The problem how to reconcile a rule 
 Most tyrannous, with freedom unrestrained. 
 Proficient in the art of seeming fair, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER, 1G1 
 
 Th' exterior guise.conceals the fires within. 
 
 Ambition there has reared its glowing shrine, 
 
 Acknowledges a god, who ere this sought 
 
 A man of Galilee, placed at his feet 
 
 The glories of this world, but worship claimed. 
 
 Resplendent terms, dazzling to human sight, 
 
 But insufficient for one more than man. 
 
 Confounded thus he fled, quelled by the word, 
 
 The written word of God, the Spirit's sword. 
 
 Now circumstances favor his attempt; 
 
 The times beget the man; his element, 
 
 The mystery of iniquity, abounds 
 
 Intensive, teems with reeking, rank, foul growth, 
 
 Conducive to his full development; 
 
 And so the seeker seeks not now in vain. 
 
 This latter name now reprobate ere long 
 
 Will change the current of men's thoughts : though once 
 
 The cruel plotter of the primal fall, 
 
 A branded liar, murderer, and foe 
 
 Of God and man; this very ill will seem 
 
 Only defeated good, and all man's good 
 
 The veriest ill; and he himself confessed 
 
 The principle of good. * Thus recognized, 
 
 He manifests himself incarned in him, 
 
 * This is no fancy. The Gnostics taught that the God of 
 the Jews is an evil being this is one step. Teitan, or Satan 
 was the supreme object of worship in the Chaldean mysteries. 
 Tatan-en, that is "Tatan incarnate," was the pre-eminent 
 divinity in Egypt. Some heretics in the early church worshiped 
 Satan, as the benefactor of mankind. Lastly ; the Dragon, the 
 symbol of Satan, was worshiped to comparatively recent times, 
 by the Romanists of Poictiers, under the name of "The good 
 St. Vermine." So too St. Swithin is just St. Satan, for another 
 form Sythan became in Anglo-Saxon hands Swythan and 
 Swithin ; and the forty days' rain has a traditional connection 
 with the flood ; Noah being identified with Tanunnz, and 
 Tammuz as Satan incarnate. 
 
162 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Who has already well sustained some claims 
 
 Of more than usual magnitude; and him, 
 
 Not a mere man, he now inaugurates 
 
 Him and his rule, with prodigies, portents 
 
 Of power; conclusive, damning evidence. 
 
 All nations own him arbiter; yea, kings 
 
 Refer their strength and power to him. 
 
 What majesty ! all own his gifts supreme. 
 
 What dignity ! he walks a king confest. 
 
 What suavity ! he heeds the lowliest cause. 
 
 What graceful bend to those of low estate ! 
 
 Though high, surpassing all, the lowliest one 
 
 Feels not his low estate; no jealousy 
 
 Of favored names, of courtier garb, of rank, 
 
 Sours e'en the meanest satellite, that he, 
 
 Recalcitrant, should plot rebelliously. 
 
 Nations, oppressed by despot rule, in him 
 
 Find refuge, and bespeak his powerful aid : 
 
 He rends the iron chain, the captive frees. 
 
 To patriots, rotting in the loathsome keep, 
 
 He brings glad liberty : a despot, yet, 
 
 By subtle art, making much show of good : 
 
 And good it is, did no reserve exist 
 
 In plots, not yet revealed, of ultimate designs. 
 
 War is not countenanced but as a means, 
 
 A via recta, to an end. Tyrants before 
 
 Have based their tyranny on sighs, on tears, 
 
 On prison bars, on cruelly crushed hopes, 
 
 On seared hearts, on fortunes wrecked, on crimes 
 
 Which minions only could abet, and troops defend. 
 
 This man, the idol of all hearts, prevails 
 
 To meet the need of man : a god professed, 
 
 Acknowledged, he has power, or real, or feigned; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 163 
 
 And not the less allowed by men bewitched, 
 
 Because pretentious claims enforce demands. 
 
 Behold his retinue ! himself a god 
 
 Incarnate, fiends incarnate form his train. 
 
 One Lord; for all have now withdrawn their claims. 
 
 One faith; for he has now propounded laws 
 
 And doctrines suited to the taste of all. 
 
 " As many men, so many creeds," has ceased 
 
 To be a liberal boast. Divisions, strifes, 
 
 Religious feuds, are brands to stigmatize 
 
 The faith once held. Religion of the heart 
 
 Man's heart absorbs all creeds; a crucible, 
 
 Heated with hell's own fire, resolves the whole. 
 
 No jarring dogma perils unity; 
 
 No rival claims of uncorrupted truth; 
 
 No fussy sects professing jealous care, 
 
 And watchful guardianship of doctrines pure ; 
 
 But unity in name, in spirit, sways 
 
 The leavened mass. The golden age is come; 
 
 Joy fills man's heart, for He appears, God-man, 
 
 So long predicted, wise, and having power 
 
 To banish discord; things that differ frame 
 
 In reconcilement; order fix; proclaim 
 
 A brotherhood; acknowledged ills remove; 
 
 Deep wrongs redress; transmute the face of things. 
 
 Thus wine may still exhilarate, but not debase; 
 
 Beauty may still allure, man own its sway, 
 
 Indulgence give, but not th' excess that breeds 
 
 Sheer infamy and hopeless downwardness. 
 
 Foul slavery is changed, the manifest 
 
 For that not seen nor felt. And why not have 
 
 What nature craves; so self-denial spura 
 
 And thus avoid an obloquy, that brought 
 
164 HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Hate and rejection of the former faith ? 
 
 One seat of government, one code of laws. 
 
 One badge for high and low, for rich and poor, 
 
 The forehead or the dexter hand receives; 
 
 Attesting joyous servitude in all. 
 
 Churches and chapels still receive their crowds, 
 
 Of earnest worshipers; the pulpit still 
 
 Shuts in a staunch declamatist, who paints 
 
 The glories of the present state foretold. 
 
 But many vacant seats await in vain 
 
 Their wonted occupants : enquiries made 
 
 Elicit no response of truth; though some can tell 
 
 For they had heard the hope expressed none say : 
 
 The vacancy is ominous a knell, 
 
 A muffled whisper of their settled doom. 
 
 A city worthy of the king is reared, 
 Metropolis unique; its splendor shines, 
 Through adamantine walls of tow'ring height, 
 Translucent. Nature sometimes shews her skill 
 In forming this material for her use; 
 Now, art elaborate and spirit-craft 
 Survey elate their rising monument. 
 Twelve gates the glitt'ring sameness breaks, 
 Each honored by a name of royal fame; 
 But one, with more than common regal pomp, 
 Admits the pseudo-prophet of the king. 
 Ten kings their honor bring and enter there, 
 Each at his gate appropriate : gold forms 
 Their substance, rich inlaid with precious stones. 
 One gate surpasses all; a single pearl 
 Enchased in gold, subtends a lofty arch 
 Of roomy span. Nature has not supplied 
 This peerless gem, but alchymy occult 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 165 
 
 And demon-forge. This gorgeous gate is reached 
 
 By masonry of marble steps prolonged; 
 
 And on the obverse side the same decline. 
 
 A plinth of gold surmounts the arch; on this 
 
 An image stands of him who enters there, 
 
 The world's great king. Mysterious skill has wrought 
 
 This faithful semblance of the city's lord. 
 
 In startling tones the image speaks, gives forth 
 
 Amazing utt'rances; avows its claims, 
 
 Commands the bended knee, th' uncovered head, 
 
 Or death's sore penalty. Imbruted man 
 
 This tribute pays; and yet not all: some few 
 
 Are faithful found; refrain, midst faithless crowds, 
 
 This fatal step : swift death their recompence. 
 
 No schism here is borne; intolerant, 
 
 The falchion smites with keen-set promptitude. 
 
 Within unearthly glory shines; a glow 
 
 Unearthly there pervades all breasts, surcharged 
 
 With ardor unrepressed by any law 
 
 Adversative. Their native passions speed 
 
 A normal course. Restraints, imposed by God, 
 
 And ratified by man, no longer owned, 
 
 Withdraw their claim. Mad revels now delight 
 
 The giddy herd, inflamed by devils who, 
 
 Unchecked, have found welcome and clear access 
 
 To all the chambers of the heart prepared. 
 
 But where is he who reigns lord paramount 1 
 By magic power his throne is now advanced 
 Above the clouds, above the stars of God 
 In seeming height, as if these lamps of night 
 Had hastened down to meet his royal state : 
 Like the Most High he makes supernal show. 
 The gazing crowd, admiring, fondly hail 
 
166 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The coming man, now come, to give glad rest, 
 
 And full release from pressing ills ; confer 
 
 A lasting peace, perennial flow of joy, 
 
 To interweave their good in every realm. 
 
 No adverse tide repels this prosperous flow; 
 
 Awhile it holds its course, and amplifies 
 
 The sun-clad day. One like themselves men hail, 
 
 But more than man, as energized by power 
 
 Survening his, with damning evidence 
 
 Of rightful place in him who claims; and them 
 
 Who, worshiping, confirm all he demands. 
 
 So speeds the time ; by day the revel holds, 
 
 By night repose avails to gather strength 
 
 For repetition foul of orgies gross; 
 
 Or gorgeous show, and pomp, and revelry. 
 
 The glitt'ring mask maintains its pleasing power, 
 
 With promise ever fair of lengthened bout. 
 
 E'en Death has signed a covenant to spare, 
 
 Awhile forego his claim, withdraw his dread : 
 
 In league with him who has the power of death, 
 
 And them who break the covenant of life. 
 
 No dread of disannulling power invades 
 
 Their madly merry hearts; they gather now 
 
 The joys of ages past, distilled by him 
 
 Who cares to satisfy their carnal taste. 
 
 So linger on the days of heedless joy 
 And pleasure unrebuked : the king above 
 Beholds the abject city right beneath, 
 Rejoicing in his rule: they, cased within 
 The adamantine walls, behold their king 
 And shout his praise. A lengthened vista lies 
 Outstretched, devised by fancy's power sustained 
 By all that eye beholds, that ear receives 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 167 
 
 Of life composed and furnished with all good. 
 
 Did miracles attest the mission from above 
 
 Of Him of Nazareth ? To unchanged hearts 
 
 His holy life and stern rebuke supplied 
 
 A bitter negative. Not so this man ; 
 
 Both Jew and Gentile bow the knee to Him, 
 
 Messiah's claims award; and he, in turn, 
 
 Administers no curb to all their lusts. 
 
 Their cup is filled; at leisure they repose 
 
 And quaff its luscious wine, the wine expressed 
 
 From clusters of the vine, now fully ripe. 
 
 Is he deceived who sits above this rout 1 
 
 The summit thus is gained; awhile he rests 
 
 Well satisfied; ambition's aim is reached. 
 
 Man's day now beams with all its light; his sun, 
 
 Resplendent, gains meridian height, reveals 
 
 Resources hid till now; and all believe 
 
 The golden age has come; not now, as once, 
 
 A fleeting good, just shewn, then snatched away. 
 
 Alas, poor man ! thou art the piteous sport 
 
 Of tyranny and hate. The show is good, 
 
 But Death grins harshly at thy side : e'en now, 
 
 When joy, hilarity, and health robust, 
 
 Course through thy veins, Death shakes his cruel dart; 
 
 Forbears to strike, not pitying, nor loath : 
 
 But when thy flutt'ring heart is confident 
 
 Of pleasure unassailable, and ill, 
 
 Transmuted, is installed a good, 
 
 Then will his ruthless aim transfix thy hopes. 
 
 Peace, peace ! thronged halls and avenues, 
 
 And crowded streets, highways, and theatres, 
 
 And concert-rooms, the ploughman's whistled glee, 
 
 The sower's hymn of praise, the reaper's song, 
 
168 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Have for their joyous key-note PEACE. 
 Peace is their melody, Peace their refrain : 
 Peace flutters in the breeze, Peace sails the main. 
 Peace, peace reverberates, and Echo swells 
 The lo Paean of the times. 
 
 O fearful interruption of these joys ! 
 A light, surpassing far the mid-day sun 
 In more than seven-fold splendor, lights the scene. 
 The hearts of all are chilled, they eye their chief ; 
 He quails not, but descends in graceful mood, 
 For gravity suspends its law for him, 
 Through magic art. He greets the trembling crowd. 
 Assures their hearts ; assuages fears and dread 
 Of unknown ills. Now he in royal state 
 His palace seeks; a gorgeous spectacle 
 A massive pile, and yet proportioned fair; 
 Of height so vast, that to the wond'ring eye, 
 It seems of airy build. Vast colonnades, 
 Of dizzy height, sustain the shelving roof 
 Of virgin gold; a promenade projects 
 Its crystal floor, and tops th' imposing flight 
 Of pure white steps a graduate pyramid, 
 Crowned with the wonder of the world. 
 Within, a throne not readily described ; 
 Earth has not yet revealed, nor art conceived, 
 Its substance and its form. The eye is pleased, 
 The ear is filled with sounds forth issuing thence, 
 Low dulcet strains, susurrus soft, as though 
 Spirits there find, commercing intimate, 
 More than mute interchange of thought. 
 A perfume too, as though of condiment 
 Prepared by cunning art, pervading thence 
 The edifice immense. Of varying form, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 169 
 
 As if of spirit mould, the throne assumes 
 Successive change, as though not permanent; 
 Yet firmly fixed, held by demoniac power. 
 Fresh -marvels wrought compose the public mind ; 
 And artful imitation there within 
 Of that which glares without, dispels all fear. 
 Day after day this light remains : at length 
 They view it as a common thing; relapse, 
 With all its aggravated ills, succeeds; 
 Light-heartedness returns; fatal repose. 
 The phantom throne above has disappeared; 
 This too the arch-deceiver reconciles 
 With future purposes : his fertile skill 
 Turns to account this first of overthrows. 
 Again the pleasure-seeking crowd, immersed, 
 Enjoy the passing hour. All care is hushed : 
 Gay revelry abounds the whirling dance, 
 The showy train with pompous pageantry, 
 Voluptuous chords attuned to charmed ears; 
 A fated gladness wraps the sodden heart, 
 And pleased oblivion's dream holds on its course. 
 A shout now rends the sky; th' Archangel's voice 
 Appals all hearts; the city shakes; the frightened crowd 
 Demand the cause. Again their wily chief, 
 With air composed, but much misgiving heart, 
 Ascribes it to his god and theirs; to test 
 Their trusting hearts, and make some further show 
 Of what must come his contest with their foe. 
 E'en while he speaks, the trump of God removes 
 All doubt; for, with the lengthened blast, 
 Bright, in the clouds of heaven, with flaming fire, 
 Appears that MAN, who owns the throne of heaven. 
 But stay : look back ; another aspect view 
 
170 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of this most wilful king's misgovernment. 
 
 Gentiles admit his claim, all bow the knee; 
 
 The Jewish nation too receive as King, 
 
 This " idol shepherd," * who was once foretold 
 
 By that rejected One, their lawful Prince, 
 
 As he who yet should come in his own name ; 
 
 "And him," said He, " ye will receive." 
 
 A few are faithful found, a little band; 
 
 All else are ardent partisans; forsake, 
 
 For him, the ancient covenant, remit 
 
 The sacrifice, and in the temple set 
 
 The foul abomination that the king suggests. 
 
 Others " do valiantly," reject his claims, 
 
 Defy his power, oppose his impious lies. 
 
 Nb parleying here; yet does he still conserve 
 
 His courtly guise and show of gentleness; 
 
 He needs no more : the brethren of the few 
 
 Who brave his rage, display a deadly hate; 
 
 Apostates, persecute : and who, as they, 
 
 Vile renegades, can frame the cruel death 1 
 
 The vengeful sword, slow torturing fires, lone chains 
 
 Clanking across the dank cold dungeon's floor, 
 
 Whose walls drip as though weeping sympathy 
 
 With captive sighs. The furnace, heated not 
 
 In hasty rage, but by deliberate hate, 
 
 Ensures a ling'ring residence. The stake, 
 
 With all appliances for speedy death, 
 
 Is duly shunned; the ring and bolt secure 
 
 The hapless victim; and the fires around 
 
 Glaring with cruel leisure, scorching, breathe 
 
 Remorseless on the fainting victim there. 
 
 A writhing form bristles with poisoned barbs, 
 
 Zech. XL 17. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 171 
 
 Venomed with subtile power to fire the veins, 
 
 Pollute the fountain, slowly permeate 
 
 The burning frame; conduct grim, ruthless Death 
 
 Through avenues remotely to the goal, 
 
 Which he would reach much sooner, but that they 
 
 Retard his more commiserating aim. 
 
 The head, compressed, throbs in a metal sphere : 
 
 With cool precision nice, its power is watched 
 
 T' adjust the finest mark; to agonize, 
 
 Yet shun excess, in which the soul might find 
 
 Unmeant deliverance; the body rest. 
 
 Seek now Jerusalem, the holy place 
 In God's intent, the city of the King, 
 The great I AM. Sodom and Egypt now 
 Habilitate their names in that fair place $ft 
 
 Debased at this set time with bitter wrong, 
 Unprecedented ill. There spirits lost, 
 There unclean rites, there crimes yet unannounced, 
 Abound with loathsome virulence; the times, 
 In kind and measure, once foretold by Him 
 Who wept o'er Salem's doom, now culminate. 
 Another there usurps His place; disciples foul 
 Mimic His state, but not in lowliness 
 As He once held. Follow the drunken crowd, 
 Inebriate with Sodom's wine. Great Babylon 
 Has filled her cup; the nations of the earth 
 Have drunk; Jerusalem as well is steeped 
 In filthiness. Praises resound, and shouts 
 Of revelry, the noise of them that sing. 
 Mad Bacchanals, voluptuous forms, leap high; 
 Actors entranced, enchanted crowds, sweep by. 
 The temple now is gained : there high enthroned 
 Is he who, baited with the promise of all good, 
 
172 HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Ensnares unwary ones; and he himself 
 Is netted in the hellish gossamer 
 Of pride and worldly glare. There now he sits 
 In courteous state : the summit reached, smiling, 
 He welcomes all; receives their eager vows 
 Of loyalty, of faithfulness, of love: 
 Yea, love; the world will love its own; a kind 
 Dissimilar to that which warms the heart 
 Of patriots, parents, children, husbands, wives; 
 But yet most potent, for it welds the whole, 
 And of discordance makes accord. 
 Meanwhile, as hitherto, two witnesses 
 Protest against these things, and testify 
 God's righteousness, and His award for such, 
 jllfheir term twelve hundred threescore days 
 Has run its course. Till now invulnerable, 
 They fall before the might of him who boasts 
 Power irresistible. Who shall make war, 
 The people say, with him who quells all rise, 
 All turbulence; w r ho greets all appetence 
 Adverse to his, with secular affront; 
 All opposition to his despot will, 
 With speedy death. Now in the street are thrown 
 The bodies of these two, who in their days 
 Of testimony held their enemies at bay. 
 Fire waited on their word to scorch; the heavens 
 Were shut at their command, rain was restrained ; 
 Waters were turned to blood; and other plagues 
 As they might will, burst forth. Their sackcloth garb 
 Provoked derision first, hatred ensued, and fear: 
 Now merry-making takes their place, for they 
 Are still in death. As many years as bore 
 The loathed freight of protestation urged 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 173 
 
 With holy zeal, so many days they lie, 
 The scorn of all, in that great city where 
 The Lord was crucified : but after that, 
 They stand upon their feet ; life animates 
 The martyred forms; they scale the heights of heaven; 
 Their enemies behold. An earthquake decimates 
 The city's frame; engulphs seven thousand men; 
 The rest give glory to the God of Heaven. 
 Another aspect of these times observe 
 The opening of the seals. No man was found 
 Worthy of this. The Lion-Lamb prevailed. 
 The first is broached; then a white horse goes forth, 
 His rider crowned, and in his hand a bow; 
 Almighty conqu'ror yet to wear the crowns 
 Of those despoiled. The second seal reveals 
 A horse of sanguine hue, precursor sad 
 Of rest disturbed : the rider wears a sword, 
 An emblem of his work. The third presents 
 An ebon steed : there follow in his track 
 Gaunt famine, lamentation, woe : the hands 
 Of him who rides hold balances ; and these 
 Premise God's righteousness : although He smites 
 The nations with his rod, He yet preserves 
 The wine and oil for those who fear His name. 
 " The wine that maketh glad man's heart, and oil 
 That makes his face to shine." 
 The fourth seal shews a horse of sickly hue, 
 His rider Death. A horrid train attends 
 The monarch of the tomb. There Hades spumes 
 Its loathsome guests scorpions of hideous form, 
 Subhuman; dragon-shapes, engendered where 
 Hot darkness broods, and rears a progeny 
 Of livid things, abhorrent spectacles, 
 
174 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 To greet th' avertent view of men men who, 
 
 Ere this, preferred the darkness of the pit, 
 
 When modified with Satan's potent skill. 
 
 The fifth seal manifests expectant souls 
 
 Awaiting God's full time, retributive; 
 
 Hence they are Jewish martyrs manifest. 
 
 The sixth seal introduces woe to man, 
 
 The day of God. Heaven weeps its glist'ning tears, 
 
 Then rolls away as if in dread amaze; 
 
 The Sun wears mourning, and the Moon puts on 
 
 A bloody suit. All nature now complains : 
 
 The lab'ring earth, in throes, is rived with pangs ; 
 
 Gapes with affright : demented crowds rush there, 
 
 Where chasms yawn, and shew poor nature's grief, 
 
 To hide from Him who sits upon the throne, 
 
 Whose day of wrath is come. And who is He, 
 
 Whose frown confounds all hearts 1 an angry Lamb ! 
 
 A sight without a precedent, portending ill 
 
 Strange, inconceivable. The seventh seal brings 
 
 The awful crisis on : a doom impends 
 
 So drear, that God's right arm, when raised to strike, 
 
 Arrested seems; for silence holds the front, * 
 
 Suspending in its course th' avenging bolt. 
 
 Now the strange work is stayed; mercy delights 
 
 To view the ceasing of the tramp of Death; 
 
 Some respite for the guilty ones. Justice resumes, 
 
 For they are gathered in who caused this lull; 
 
 As Lot, who by his lingering held the hand 
 
 That rained Sodoma's fires, and raised her mound. 
 
 * Silence, in Scripture usage means a suspension of judg- 
 ment or contention, as in Psalm xxii. 2, "0 my God, I cry in 
 the day-time, but thou nearest not ; and in the night season, 
 but there is no silence to me " (marg. ) viz. Thou ceasest not to 
 contend against me. Here is a forcible antithesis lost in the 
 text. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 175 
 
 The prayers of saints have ceased, the smoke ascends 
 
 The smoke of incense offered there to God, 
 
 There on the golden altar; and its glowing fires 
 
 Fill now the emptied censer pans, and these 
 
 Are poured down on the earth. That which consumes 
 
 Acceptedly the offerings of the saints, consumes 
 
 Avengingly their enemies and God's. 
 
 Ill-omened voices fill the air; thund'rings 
 
 And lightnings crash, and rend nature and art; 
 
 Light up the scene now horrible : and last, 
 
 Not least, an earthquake duplicates the woe. 
 
 Seven angels then prepare themselves to sound 
 
 Their trumpet blast. The first sounds his alarm; 
 
 And hail, and fire, and blood commingled pour 
 
 Destruction on the products of the earth : 
 
 A third thereof is smitten with the storm. 
 
 The second sounds, and hurls a mount of fire, 
 
 And drops it hissing in the sea : blood curls 
 
 Around its plunge, the circumambient tide. 
 
 The third thereof, is thus defiled : the ships 
 
 And tenants of the deep, so far succumb. 
 
 The third utters his note : forthwith there falls 
 
 A star absinthian to the earth; rivers 
 
 And fountains of the same, embittered, give 
 
 A bitter death to men. The fourth is heard; 
 
 Sun, Moon, and Stars confess his mighty power, 
 
 And in the third thereof forbear to shine. 
 
 Woe, woe, woe. Oh ! words calamitous ! 
 
 And must it be? Man's sins have countersigned 
 
 The bond of life and death. Persistent, he, 
 
 In lax effront'ry, risks the fatal strife; 
 
 Hardens his heart, rejects most patent signs, 
 
 Wraps up his soul in expectation fond 
 
176 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of good to be. The heavens and earth till now 
 
 Have furnished weapons for th' avenging arm; 
 
 But now the regions subterrene are broached. 
 
 Another angel sounds the fifth : a star, 
 
 Already fallen Abaddon, Hebrew name, 
 
 Apollyon in the Greek unlocks th' abyss ; 
 
 Thence issues smoke, a noisome pest, dark'ning 
 
 The Sun and all the regions of the air. 
 
 Locusts emerge, discriminating how 
 
 And where they strike, so as t' avoid a wound 
 
 Inducing death; yea, rather they prolong 
 
 Men's bitter lives a loathed continuance. 
 
 Of equine shape, they wear a man-like face, 
 
 And woman's tresses trail beneath their crowns 
 
 Of golden cast, with teeth as lions' teeth, 
 
 Their breastplates as of iron, and scorpion-tails. 
 
 Earth has no like of these, hence they are ranked 
 
 Symbolical : outrageous utt'rances 
 
 Have gone from learned lips; and pens, dipped low 
 
 In theologic ink, have made large drafts 
 
 On credences; as thus, the Saracens 
 
 Have been advanced to notoriety as such; 
 
 The Arab hordes were locusts in their day; 
 
 And, later still, the pealing cannon holds 
 
 This dark celebrity. Most clever tricks 
 
 Are played with some anomalies, which all 
 
 May see if they will look : the common ruse, 
 
 That this and that are entered to complete 
 
 The filling up, surely had origin 
 
 Where these fell locusts issued from the pit. 
 
 By this ingenious sophistry, something 
 
 Is changed to nothing; notabilities 
 
 Become nonentities; and much is little soon. . 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 177 
 
 The sixth now winds his awful blast; at which 
 A voice speaks to the angel, bids him loose 
 Four angel fiends; these marshal close their ranks, 
 Two hundred million combatants on steeds 
 Of hellish breed. The horsemen nondescript 
 Wear breastplates as of fire, of jacinth hue, 
 Candent with brimstone from the reeking bed 
 Beneath the mystic Euphratean flood. 
 These to an hour abide th' appointed time; 
 Then issue forth to do their hideous work. 
 The hybrid horses ramp with lion heads; 
 And serpent tails that, hydra-headed, wave 
 With cruel hiss : fire, smoke, and brimstone, pour 
 Their fetid death on men a third thereof. 
 One woe remains, one trumpet yet to sound; 
 Consociate % these : whene'er the blast is heard, 
 The woe begins, God's deep-set mystery ends. 
 Meanwhile a mighty Angel, cloud-enrobed, 
 Graced with a rainbow diadem, descends 
 From heaven; his face refulgent as the Sun; 
 And in his hand a little open book; 
 His feet like fiery pedestals : he stands 
 Imposing attitude 1 his right foot placed 
 Upon the sea, his left upon the earth. 
 Then with a mighty voice he cries, as when 
 A lion roars, and spreads dismay around. 
 Seven thunders give response, and utter things 
 As yet sealed up. The Angel lifts his hand 
 And swears by Him who made the heavens 
 And all therein ; the earth and sea, with all 
 Their varied store, that time is now run out 
 The time of mystery. Such has it been ; 
 For God has seemed incompetent, unjust, 
 
 M 
 
178 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Intemperately kind, unreasonably severe, 
 
 Unwisely taking from the child those whom 
 
 He constituted guardians of the same, 
 
 Stripping the house of its best ornaments, , 
 
 And leaving others, whom we think He might, 
 
 With better reason, have removed instead. 
 
 The villain oft escapes; the honest man 
 
 Is troubled with the obloquy of shame. 
 
 The murderer avoids the penal noose; 
 
 The innocent, protesting, takes his place. 
 
 Mistakes occur, so men, in witless haste, 
 
 Have oft averred as when continued rains 
 
 Have flooded lands, all nature, over drenched, 
 
 Calls loudly for the genial Sun; and drought, 
 
 When thirsty fields and sickly-looking plants 
 
 Pant for the shade and cool refreshing shower. 
 
 All these are mysteries, and thousands more. 
 
 Antagonism works, avails to mar 
 
 The goodly show of order, wisely planned; 
 
 Subverted oft, but not destroyed; the mode, 
 
 The medium, all are set awry; suffered 
 
 By Him who watches over all; who will, 
 
 At length, gather all up and manifest 
 
 His end, though interfered with, yet secured; 
 
 Not less complete because of adverse powers. 
 
 Under this woe the witnesses appear, 
 
 The crisis dawns : the Angel sounds his trump. 
 
 Portentous voices high above proclaim 
 
 " The kingdoms of the world have now become 
 
 The kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." 
 
 The heavens impend with death the vivid flash, 
 
 The thunders' deaf ning boom, artillery 
 
 Forged in the heights above; the earth responds; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 179 
 
 Disparted, shews deep down a frightful gap ; 
 
 So nature pleads her sympathies with righteousness. 
 
 Mid-heaven another angel wings his way, 
 Having a Gospel to proclaim : the first, 
 The one of grace, has held its term; and all, 
 Who gave it welcome and enrolled their names, 
 Are gathered in. But, everlasting, this 
 Will still enforce its terms, when time has ceased, 
 And God has framed the everlasting state. 
 Another angel cries that Babylon has fallen; 
 That Harlot dam, drunk with the blood of saints, 
 And martyrs who have spurned her poisoned cup. 
 The nations that have shared her impious joys 
 Will share, with respite short, her awful doom. 
 A gorgeous spectacle this woman shews : 
 Arrayed in purple, decked with glitt'ring gold, 
 And precious stones, and gems, she vaunts herself 
 The arbitress of earth's best joys; she holds 
 A golden cup, symbolic of her drunken rage. 
 Awhile she rides the beast; awhile he bears 
 Th' imperious harridan, ere long to be, 
 With ten confederate Kings, her bane. 
 This many-headed beast a symbol serves, 
 And somewhat complicate. The heads and horns, 
 In number as the dragon's seen before, 
 Have yet one point dissimilar; and this 
 Is most significant. " The dragon gives 
 His power, his throne, and great authority." 
 To this inservient, this intensive man : 
 The horns are crowned in. this; the heads, in that. 
 " The heads denote seven mountains where in state 
 The woman sitteth on them;" * kings as well 
 
 * Such is the translation of Rev. xvii. 9. 
 
180 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Are notified : and thus the very site 
 
 Of this symbolic whore is pointed out, 
 
 The city reigning over subject kings : 
 
 Rome unmistakeably revealed, although 
 
 Transferences may yet take place, conserve 
 
 Her character but not her site : as yet 
 
 The mystery holds, the veil is not removed. 
 
 Five kings had fallen, one held th' imperial reins 
 
 At that set time; the seventh must briefly hold 
 
 The regal power; to him the eighth succeeds 
 
 This lawless one. The dragon's heads were crowned, 
 
 Denoting power immediate in his hands. 
 
 The horns are crowned, when in his delegate 
 
 He vests this power: the heads remain; crownless, 
 
 For they have passed away as kings, but shew 
 
 A power resuscitated, confluent 
 
 In this eighth king. His crowned horns denote 
 
 Ten kings confed'rate, having pledged their power, 
 
 Consonantly, to him : they spring from him 
 
 As do his horns; he gives them prominence, 
 
 And they sustain th' accursed unity 
 
 Of Hell's great chief. 
 
 Seven angels, woe-commissioned, do their work. 
 The first pours out his vial on the earth ; 
 A grievous sore results on those who bear 
 The mystic mark, and number of the name. * 
 
 * Much controversy has arisen on this subject the number 
 of the name of the beast. Many names have been proposed 
 which in some way apply to the Papacy ; these are well known 
 to students of prophecy. This solution is adopted by such as 
 fix the Savior's advent at the close of the Millenium. Another 
 has been proposed, claiming a living monarch as fulfilling in his 
 name the conditions of the problem: he must doubtless feel 
 complimented, if aware of the honor, for the prospect is a glo- 
 rious one to be " cast alive into a lake of fire burning with 
 
HERE AND HEKEAFTER. 181 
 
 The second vial turns the sea to blood. 
 
 The third effects the same on fountain heads, 
 
 And rivers of the earth; retributive, 
 
 For men had shed much righteous blood, 
 
 And it is fitting they should drink the same. 
 
 The Sun receives the fourth; he lends his rays 
 
 To smite with scorching heat. O righteous ways ! 
 
 In this is deep significance. Man, friv'lous man, 
 
 Is now concerned to shew that in the Sun 
 
 We live and move and being have ; depose 
 
 Him who has power to cause His Sun to shine 
 
 And -give us genial light and heat; or hide, 
 
 Behind th' arresting cloud, his quick'ning beams; 
 
 Or give it force to scorch; or negative, 
 
 With thick-ribbed ice, the regions of the deep. 
 
 The creature which man views with reverence, 
 
 That to the Maker and His might belongs, 
 
 Is made the cause of wretchedness and woe. 
 
 The fifth pours out his vial on the throne 
 
 Of this infuriate beast the wilful king. 
 
 The darkness of the noisome pit precedes 
 
 Th' experience of the pit itself : in rage 
 
 Men gnaw their tongues for pain ; nor glory give 
 
 brimstone." Those acquainted with this latter theory are 
 aware of a disturbance in the quantity of the vowels, and other 
 nodosities of no trifling nature. An accomplished analyst has 
 proposed the name Nero Caesar, as making up the number; and 
 also answering other terms of the description : the only confir- 
 mation yet to be given seems the actual resurrection. This is 
 not so baseless an expectation as some might suppose: besides 
 the plain declarations of the Apocalypse; we may adduce the 
 fact that from the remotest ages such a belief has been cherished. 
 This resuscitation was fondly entertained for Bacchus, for Nero, 
 for Napoleon I. Other names answer to the number 666 ; thus 
 Teitan or Satan, the invisible head of the Chaldee worship ; and 
 Saturn or Bacchus, the visible head, both make the mystic 
 number the former by the Greek computation: the latter by 
 the Chaldee. 
 
182 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 To God, nor does repentance &tir their hearts. 
 The sixth Euphrates seeks; its rolling tide 
 Is checked; a way is framed right through its midst, 
 By which the thronging hosts of Eastern kings 
 Press eager for the fray of God. 
 
 Madness prevails. Nations are roused; they sound 
 With energy, the battle cry; sullen, 
 Morose, with angry haste, accoutred grim 
 In war habiliments, they pant to face 
 Their great relentless foe ; blaspheming, dare 
 The further prowess of His might : inflate 
 With pride and obduracy, blind with rage, 
 Deluded by the miracles of him 
 Who heads their host, and righteously bereft 
 Of heavenly light, they rave impatiently 
 To rush upon their doom. The gathered hosts 
 Are viewed with fateful pride by him who leads : 
 Complacency sits on his brow, and breeds 
 A kingly smile. Has he not told them oft 
 That they are gods, and they responding, say 
 That of all gods he is the chief? 
 Yes; man is now supreme that puny thing 
 That shrinks spasmodic from the nettle's touch; 
 That blanches at some sudden news; that bows 
 Before the wintry blast; that faints beneath 
 The sultry ray; at last, with all his means 
 And wise appliances, sinks down a wreck. 
 Aghast they stand awhile : an angel pours 
 His vial out, the seventh; the air receives 
 The weighty ill. Thunders and lightnings fill 
 The mighty void; and from the temple rings 
 That awful utt' ranee It is done. 
 Yes; now the myst'ry clears; God's wrath is come, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 183 
 
 The time to judge the dead, to give reward 
 
 To those who, for His sake, have served and died; 
 
 And those destroy who have destroyed the earth. 
 
 A fearful earthquake, such as ages past 
 
 Ne'er witnessed, rives great Babylon in three : 
 
 The cities of the nations too fall down. 
 
 Heaven's ordnance peals; and, charged with heavy deaths, 
 
 Pours a continuous stream of monstrous hail. 
 
 Nought can uncere men's eyes and hearts : they rave, 
 
 Tumultuate, still heap up blasphemy. 
 
 Confed'rate hosts ten here parade their strength 
 
 Arrange in phalanx deep, in solid square, 
 
 With hellish implements, compared with which 
 
 Our longest range and best projectiles seem 
 
 But serious toys. The monarch's practised eye 
 
 Well weighs his work: some thought of untried strife, 
 
 Of powers unknown, may occupy his mind, 
 
 Do not arrest his stern resolve : he eyes, 
 
 With desperate bent, his rival in the air. 
 
 He, KING OF KINGS and LOUD OF LORDS, holds high 
 
 His blazonry. Faithful and True, He rides ; 
 
 In righteousness He^maketh war. 
 
 He reins a horse of purest white; His eyes 
 
 Shed streams of fire; His head hath many crowns; 
 
 He hath His vesture dipped in blood; His name, 
 
 THE WORD OF GOD; proceeding from His mouth, 
 
 A sword of empyrean temper gleams, 
 
 The nations' scourge. On horses like their chief's, 
 
 Armies attend, in linen white and clean ; 
 
 For such attests their righteousness. 
 
 The trump of God prolongs its awful roll 
 Of startling echoes through the vault of heaven. 
 The hosts below return their mocking shouts 
 
184 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And mimicry of heaven's loud clarion; 
 Led on by him who knows his time is come, 
 Incarnate, whom the heavenly powers detect 
 As Satan, Devil, that Old Serpent which 
 Six thousand years ago projected then 
 His frightful homicide, and laid the train 
 Which now is fired. The very horses snort 
 And champ their bits, impatient for the fray : 
 Vain chivalry, yet adding to th' imposing sight. 
 Not long they wait : they level high their tubes, 
 Not by the law of tactics exercised 
 On gory fields of earth's reluctant plains, 
 But much obtused. How confident the front 
 Of these misguided men ! assured that he, 
 Who marshals them, leads on to victory. 
 Impellent confidence ! no joyous show 
 Of peace within; no righteous cause upholds. 
 What contrast to the fulgent hosts above, 
 Attendant on their Chief, a MAN OF WAR ! 
 No weapon in their hands, cuirass, nor shield, 
 Not coat of mail : one sword throughout the host, 
 But this with vengeance gleams, surcharged 
 With wrath and fierceness of Almighty God. 
 Again the trumpet with an awful crash 
 Forbodes impending ill. A hurtling storm 
 Of missiles, forged by devilish art, attests 
 Their mad expectancy and rash pretence. 
 Each missile, fiend upborne, invades the ranks, 
 The serried ranks above. No horrid gap, 
 Nor sanguine track occurs; for, spiritual, 
 These warriors own no law corporeal; 
 So readily admit the hissing orb. 
 Beyond it speeds its course; outside their ranks 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 185 
 
 It spends its force; recurrent, drops; 
 The shower descends, assails the ranks below. 
 In blank amaze they view the vain assault : 
 With fruitless haste, they shun descending deaths. 
 Among them now th' infernal bombs evince 
 Their hideous power : abortive when they meet 
 With unsubstantial things, but when they clash 
 With corp'rate forms, infolded deaths escape. 
 Confusion roams; dismay and rout prevail. 
 The leader, where is he ? The prophet too 1 
 The both are seized alive, bound hand and foot, 
 Committed to their foul abode, the lake of fire. 
 How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer ! 
 Son of the morning ! how art thou cut down ! 
 Hell from beneath is moved for thee for thee 
 Great Potentate ! Thy coming signals it 
 To stir the dead for thee. Earth's mighty ones, 
 In glory laid, in marbled sepulchres, 
 In mausoleums, royal tombs, are roused 
 To greet thy low descent from loftiness. 
 " Art thou become," say they, " like unto us, 
 Weak like ourselves 1 The grave defiles thy pomp, 
 Thy minstrelsy; the worm thy covering, 
 Thy loathsome bed." No feller now distrains 
 The cedared Lebanon: the earth now rests; 
 And, singing, celebrates at once thy fall 
 And her release thy ruined state, her joy. 
 " Is this the man," shall thy observers say, 
 " That made the earth to tremble, kingdoms shake, 
 That made the world a wilderness, destroyed 
 Its cities, and that opened not the house 
 Of those imprisoned by his cruel wrath?" * 
 * Isaiah xiv. 12, &c. 
 
186 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Light-bearing prince ! thy rapt credulity 
 Has entertained immortal certainties 
 To scale the heavens, exalt thy throne above 
 The stars of God; above the cloud-piled heights 
 Assume imperial state, like the Most High. 
 On earth as well, whither the tribes go up, 
 To worship there there thou wouldst arrogate 
 A kingly state, and sit enthroned upon 
 The sacred mount hill congregational; 
 The northern slopes Jerusalem's bright cliffs. 
 No; all is lost to thee. Thy caitiff hope 
 Is ruptured at a blow; thy destiny 
 Is not above; but far below, in depths 
 Of infamy, of death; eternal fires 
 Await thy overthrow, complete thy shame. 
 No more will nations tremble at thy frown, 
 Nor trust thy vain pretence. Self-gratulant, 
 O Lucifer -! thy pseudonym records 
 Thy rash temerity, thy false conceit. 
 Lie low no more invite such mightiness. 
 Thyself deceived, and others by thy means ; 
 Rest thee content with proofs that thou art man, 
 And not a god invuln'rable to death 
 That men do dread. Henceforth Hell's travesty 
 Shall complicate thy woe : " Thou too art come," 
 The fretting crew shall say, " to bear thy part 
 In this dark world. Chief wilt thou be of us 1 
 What is our war ? and what our battle cry ? 
 Who are our enemies ? Now bear thee well : 
 Cuirass, and shield, and spear, and glitt'ring blade, 
 Assume again; and let Hell's wide domain 
 Resound with thy exploits and chivalry." 
 
 The war above has ceased its cry is hushed. 
 
HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 187 
 
 The armies remanent are slain by Him 
 
 Who rides triumphant now THE WOKD OF GOD. 
 
 An angel then descends, and in his hand 
 A chain and key the symbols of his power, 
 Binds the arch-fiend, commits him to th' abyss, 
 And shuts him in; no more to be at large 
 Until a thousand years have sped their course. 
 Thus ends man's day till then. This time run out 
 Millenium 's happy course he must be loosed 
 A little while. The nations lie to Him 
 THE KING OF KINGS : * their hearts are still estranged 
 Though outwardly submiss; unconsciously, 
 They bear a heart unchanged; hence his success 
 Who then will tempt afresh, and circumvent, 
 And lead them up once more against heaven's King; 
 Besiege the city, well beloved of God. 
 God's fire descends, invades beleag'ring hosts, 
 And burns them up. The arch deceiver then 
 Is cast into the lake of fire, his final bourne. 
 
 And now behold a great white throne; 
 One sits, of everlasting ages, Sire. 
 He frowns earth flies amain Heaven rolls away 
 Their noise is great their bruit is spread. 
 The mighty Gabriel hears, and humbly bows; 
 In solemn adoration shrouds his head 
 With seraph wings, and worships God. 
 A vast array is there of those once dead, 
 And now recalled to resurrection life : 
 Grim Death gives up his dead; the sea and Hell 
 Regorge their slain. The books are opened; each 
 Beholds his own, writ by himself, when he, 
 Unconscious, in his mortal state, deposed 
 
 * See Psalm xviii. 44. 
 
188 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 His evidence. Things done are written there : 
 
 Men's words are graven deep; their very thoughts, 
 
 Their fleeting looks, have impress made; and thence 
 
 Their judgment comes. 
 
 Another book is seen the Book of Life. 
 
 Records of grace are there; and there are found 
 
 The names of ransomed ones : there shine their gold, 
 
 Their silver, precious stones asbestine works, 
 
 Constructed while they sojourned here below. 
 
 These are not works of drear incertitude, 
 
 Nor procreative of eternal life. 
 
 This life inwrought at first, these works result 
 
 A normal flow : the fountain Grace, and Grace the stream. 
 
 Insatiate Death and gloomy Hell are judged, 
 
 And doomed confinement in the lake of fire 
 
 The second death; th' eternal ward of those 
 
 Not written in the Book of Life. 
 
 New Heavens appear; the earth is cast afresh. 
 For those which heretofore admitted sin 
 And foul rebellion, are no longer found. 
 All things are new : the sea has disappeared, 
 For as a type of death, it finds no place. 
 And now true life and immortality 
 Are brought to light : ere this to faith, but now 
 T' unclouded sight. O Death ! where is thy sting ? 
 O Grave ! where is thy victory ? 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 CHAPTER I. REDEMPTION. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 I. THE PRIMAL CAUSE THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 i. Irrespective of the creature. 
 ii. Therefore not afterwards affected by it 
 a. By the creature's goodness. 
 6. By the creature's naughtiness. 
 
 II. THIS LOVE, AS FAR AS WE KNOW, WAS SIMPLY WILLED, 
 
 OR SELF-EXISTENT, FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS: 
 
 i. Because God is not the subject of emotions, though 
 
 anthropopathically said to be so, 
 ii. Allowing that He is, there was nothing existing to 
 
 effect this love. 
 
 iii. Nor could it be called forth by foreseen things, for 
 these were antagonistic. 
 
 III. THIS LOVE is IRREVERSIBLE. 
 
 i. Because God is unchangeable, though 
 ii. This love has sometimes this appearance, 
 iii. It was unconditional ; though 
 
 a. A condition is laid down, but 
 
 6. This condition is secured by God's purpose. 
 
 IV. THE TERMS OF GRACE IN PROMULGATION ARE LIMITED 
 
 TO NONE; BUT THE RESULT IS A PARTIAL ACCEPTANCE, 
 BECAUSE 
 
 i. The present condition of man is hostile, and an enemy 
 can only resist. 
 
 ii. God has not met this by an express intimation that 
 He will use more than a reasonable and natural 
 appeal to all. 
 
 iii. A partial reception is secured by a supernatural in- 
 fluence. 
 
190 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 V. THE REASONS FOR THIS DIVERSITY or RECEPTION. 
 
 i. Two diverse races exist, 
 
 a. The seed of the Evil one. 
 6. The seed of the Holy One. 
 ii. The limit designed. 
 
 VI. GOD'S PARTIALITY IS NOT UNJUST, FOR 
 
 i. Man is dealt with according to his demands, as a 
 
 reasonable being. 
 ii. Justice has its due in all every sin is expiated. 
 
 REDEMPTION'S song now sing. The praise of Him, 
 
 Almighty KING of kings, and LORD of lords, 
 
 Jehovah's equal Son; Him who became 
 
 A man, and wrought for man Redemption's work. 
 
 Angels the song began. The favored plains 
 
 Of Bethlehem first heard the joyous strain, 
 
 " Glory to God, good will to man;" this strain 
 
 Let man take up : to mortal ears most sweet ; 
 
 In God's esteem the greatest of His works, 
 
 If estimated by the great account. 
 
 Man and his history have been our themes; 
 How man devised more good than God conferred : 
 How that became an evil in his hands, 
 Because he sought it disobediently. 
 How man that complex thing, both good and bad, 
 The good o'ermastered by the bad; the bad 
 So bad, that wreck and misery succeed 
 A stormy life ; or, should life be a calm, 
 How death furls up the sails, and sinks the bark. 
 How man, in conscious need, has made attempts, 
 By many shifts, evasions, toils, and plans, 
 To supplement mere life with joyousness. 
 In measure we have searched and notified 
 Man's barrenness of thought, or foolery, 
 In tracing out his origin, his kind, 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 191 
 
 His destiny; his complicate estate 
 
 Of being, offices, endowments, ways; 
 
 His capabilities, his waywardness, 
 
 Abuse of good, necessity of ill, 
 
 To meet existing ill : and with all these 
 
 Some glances at a good to countermine 
 
 The deadly breach at first ; yea too, the train 
 
 Of fatal consequents all these, and more 
 
 We have essayed. Man's great necessity 
 
 Is God's great opportunity; foreseen, 
 
 Provided for, He meets man's rebel act 
 
 With graciousness, announcing then a plan 
 
 More than restorative : this now unfold 
 
 O heav'nly muse ! Kedemption predicate 
 
 In strains oracular; and not as sense, 
 
 Or reason might suggest, and so pervert. 
 
 Imagination curb; or give the rein 
 
 Over the empyrean track that leads 
 
 Up to the throne of God. Let reverence hold 
 
 The spirit back from rash intrusiveness : 
 
 Whilst yet a holy boldness ventures near, 
 
 To catch great utt'rances of heav'nly truth. 
 
 All arrogance rebuke : let no pretence 
 
 Induce unwariness, nor vanity, 
 
 So that a snare be set successfully 
 
 For wand'ring feet; or that some sore rebuke 
 
 Should meet self-confidence, and hurl it down 
 
 To painful depths, that meek Humility 
 
 Might fence securely for the passers by. 
 
 Now turn we to redemption's glorious theme. 
 
 I. The primal cause was Love Love, sovereignly 
 In thought, in purpose; so in exercise, 
 When, in the lapse of time, occasion brought 
 
192 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The opportunity: then Love appeared 
 
 In all its power and grace. The curse fell not 
 
 Where Justice might have launched its flaming bolt. 
 
 There, in the very track of sin, Love set 
 
 The woman's seed, which in due time should be 
 
 A counterpart of that humanity 
 
 That man defiled; but sinless, pure, 
 
 And undefiled, and so dissimilar. 
 
 God's everlasting love desired, His wisdom planned, 
 
 Deliverance for the race whom He had loved, 
 
 Without a cause beyond Himself: He loved, 
 
 He willed to save, ere good or evil wrought ; 
 
 Ere He had given being to that race. 
 
 Man seeks an object for his love, educing it; 
 
 Nor then endures, unless that object serves 
 
 His heart with loving ways; his longing eyes 
 
 With winning sights; his ears with dulcet sounds. 
 
 i. In this the creature had no part assigned, 
 In counsel or in deed. Had man's estate 
 Moved God, as man moves man, by what he does, 
 Then must the outrage on the fenced tree 
 Have caused abhorrency : no curse on man 
 Evinced God's wrath, although displeasure fixed 
 A mark continuous on man was his, 
 On woman hers : yet such is God's deep love, 
 That these administer much joy to all 
 Who, sorrowing, endure the penalty. 
 
 ii. Here is security. God is not moved, 
 By what man does, to alter His set plans, 
 His plans determinate : these, in due time, 
 Are all unrolled; nor does the creature stay 
 Th' accomplishment thereof, nor expedite. 
 
 a. E'en as at first man's goodness had no claim 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 193 
 
 For that had fallen; so neither has it now 
 
 If such exist. The gift was not to help 
 
 The failing strength; but for those dead in sin 
 
 To furnish and secure eternal life. 
 
 Now as at first the fashioned mould remained 
 
 A lifeless shape, but lived when breathed into 
 
 By God Himself ; so in the death of this 
 
 A perpetuity would hold, did not 
 
 The same Almighty Maker breathe again 
 
 The breath of life. Then there is holiness 
 
 The holiness of God, conservative. 
 
 6. But evil still is there, and all around 
 The same is prevalent. The Evil one 
 Is unremittingly at work; provokes 
 Man's enmity; and, in default to crush, 
 Defiles the work of God some, clean escaped, 
 Entrapped once more, bring obloquy 
 On God's sweet grace. If these blaspheme, it proves 
 A spurious work at first, and so they fall 
 From simulated grace. But genuineness 
 Sometimes puts on a foreign garb, consorts 
 With glib pretence, or open worldliness; 
 Forsakes its wonted haunts, and oft frequents 
 Conclaves of enemies; with these allied 
 It entertains some schemes of double guise : 
 One view presents the world a partisan 
 Of virgin good; another shews a mask 
 Concealing rottenness, known to be there 
 By those to whom experience has conveyed 
 Intelligence. Yet, notwithstanding all, 
 God knows no change. No creature loveliness 
 Had charms for Him, and no deformity 
 Can mar His love. It suffers reticence 
 
194 HEBE AND HEEEAFTEE. 
 
 Through faithlessness in those redeemed : 
 
 Thus though the love of God always remains 
 
 A constant quantity, man apprehends 
 
 A vanishing. As food most nourishing 
 
 Assails our palate with some foreign taste, 
 
 Still nourishing, yet gives us gastric pains; 
 
 The cause is in ourselves : just so God's love 
 
 Seems variable, but truly not, since He 
 
 Has not the shadow of a change. Our fears, 
 
 Arising from our conscious low estate, 
 
 As children of His love; our wretched doubts 
 
 Engendered by self-contemplation, hence 
 
 Deducing sheer unfitness, just as if 
 
 Our best condition could e'er justify 
 
 A confidence our fears, our doubts, beget 
 
 A questioning. Oh ! fear Him; fear the rod, 
 
 He spares it not when worldliness demands; 
 
 When disobedience mocks the Father's voice. 
 
 He loves His child, not for his loving ways; 
 
 Nay, but because he is His child, and needs 
 
 The rod corrective, not retributive. 
 
 If love in God's own heart had origin 
 
 From something found in man, then man, 
 
 So mutable, might next present some form 
 
 Of stubbornness, self-will, brute appetites, 
 
 And sundry ways, to peril love in God. 
 
 This love might be regained : well, granted, yet 
 
 Again it may be lost; regained once more, 
 
 Once more prevened; at length, this random game 
 
 Is played quite out, the suit foreclosed. 
 
 And what prevents 1 Does man at last secure 
 
 The costly prize eternal Life ; or lose 
 
 Just as he will; or is it Fate decides ? 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 195 
 
 If he secures, how so ? Does he resolve 
 The issue of his will, and play at I and Thou 
 So wittingly, as that his mood of grace 
 And Death's last summons move coincident ? 
 Can he determine that just one turn more 
 May not adversely plunge him into Hell ? 
 Is God thus weak He who devised the plan ? 
 Was He constrained to steep it in uncertainty ? 
 Or had He power, but chose to abdicate, 
 Write may instead of shall; Himself remain 
 In ignorance of that about to be ? 
 
 II. -God willed His love, He willed its exercise. 
 We cannot frame a reason for this love, 
 Which had existence ere its objects had, 
 Except that " God is love." 
 
 i. God unimpressible, devises things, 
 Their means and end. Emotions flow outfrom, 
 Tend to an object causing them : as love 
 Beams brightly on one loveable; hatred 
 Scowls bitterly on some inflicting wrong, 
 And still more bitterly on some one wronged. 
 Pity weeps over suffering need, or pain, 
 Or sickness, or distress; and all the more 
 Do these emotions grow, because restrained 
 By creature weakness and infirmity. 
 With God no admiration fondly scans 
 Some beauteous form, invading suddenly 
 The wondering eyes; no bitterness surveys 
 The unexpected foe; no pity warms 
 
 O'er sorrow irremediable : He knew 
 
 ML 
 He caused the whole^lways conserving guilt 
 
 For all th' opponents of His sovereign will. 
 
 ii. But granting that th' Immutable may feel; 
 
196 HEBE AND HEREAFTEE. 
 
 May love as man, may hate, may meditate 
 Revenge for wrong, and pity sorrowing ones; 
 These had no exercise, for they were not 
 Who might call forth these streamings of His heart. 
 
 iii. And had they been ; the best and at his best, 
 Would breed but loathing in the heart of God. 
 Man at his best estate is failing, naught, 
 And altogether vanity; and dead 
 To all appliances of good : the good 
 He loves not; and his heart makes great demand 
 For that which only grieves the mind of God. 
 This God foreknew, for all was plainly graved 
 On unwrought tablets where, dispassionate, 
 He read the whole. Did He not write it there 1 
 And had He not full prescience of all, 
 Ere He built up man's form magnificent, 
 And gave that form a great life principle, 
 A soul of wondrous power 1 It will not do 
 To glance from man to God, and say our state 
 Moved His compassion and induced His love. 
 We strive to apprehend God's love by man's : 
 And so His light ineffable, by that 
 Which cheers our world; inadequate the both. 
 Approximation only can educe 
 Some premonition of those peerless things, 
 Which God avers are ours ours, if by faith 
 We claim these glorious gifts, yet to be given, 
 But purposed long ere Time began his flight, 
 And in his course confirmed and sealed with blood. 
 
 III. God's love is irreversible. - Man's love may fail : 
 The object of that love, provoking ifg*- 
 May wear another phase, the opposite 
 A facile change and thus provoke his hate. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 197 
 
 Or death may intervene; forgetfulness 
 
 Succeed, and wither quite the goodly flower, 
 
 Leaving a quiet saddened memory. 
 
 A hundred things may interfere, and stay 
 
 The current of man's love ; for all around 
 
 Is changeable, as well as he himself. 
 
 Eden received this law, and ministered 
 
 This change in all its hues, in perfumed bowers, 
 
 In lights and shades; the open sunny walk, 
 
 The glen retired, the glorious mid-day sun, 
 
 Its morning rise, its evening chastened glow ; 
 
 The river's noble swell, the little rill, 
 
 The gorgeous bloom on trees, aspiring flowers, 
 
 Or the meek daisy, or the violet; 
 
 The rush of fragrance, or the faintest flow 
 
 Of scented wealth. There man and woman walked : 
 
 The varied same, a like diversified; 
 
 A parted whole, each part an integer; 
 
 Complete apart, yet separate incomplete; 
 
 Two hearts, each competent to throb alone, 
 
 Yet joined, made up a better whole. 
 
 In all this great diversity and change 
 
 No consternation crept, no sere decay, 
 
 Or not, at most, offensively: the leaf 
 
 Was not immortal, so it fell; not till 
 
 Its purposes were served : the constant change 
 
 Was seen rather than felt ; or felt, to praise 
 
 The great Creator, and His law enjoy. 
 
 Sin has defiled this law, and introduced 
 
 A pungency for all. The noble stream 
 
 Delights us still, bul death is there; how oft 
 
 It bears its argosies of wealth awhile 
 
 In graceful friendliness; but, treacherous, strands 
 
198 HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The trusting guest upon its foreign shore ! 
 The murm'ring rill has yet attractiveness; 
 But some lone pool along its course upbraids 
 The gloomy suicide. The flowers alone 
 Seem not defiled; and yet they too, at times, 
 Moan, as in pain, a mute complaint; the head 
 Droops low while in the prime; a worm 
 Is at the root, or revels in the bloom. 
 
 i. God is not so; He changes not : the Sim 
 Brings back no day to Him; the night no gloom: 
 The seasons nor relax, nor brace His frame; 
 The thunder's awful roll, the lightning's flash 
 He marks unmoved, for all are His, and He 
 Has ordered all. His hands grasp all His works, 
 Intact but by His will : He comprehends 
 Things seen, unseen, unknown; nor e'er entrusts, 
 To agencies beyond His reach, aught of His plans. 
 And so because He, changeless, changes not, 
 His love wears ever an unvarying garb. 
 Much like an evergreen : the summer heat, 
 The winter's nipping cold, denude it not 
 Of verdancy. Or, as the constant Sun 
 Gives forth its beams, and shines uncompromised, 
 Though clouds forefend; so God preserves His love, 
 In spite of all the ways of wilful men; 
 And all th' ingratitude of those He loves. 
 
 ii. This last suggests God's love as variable. 
 But as on some bright day, the Sun above 
 Gives light and warmth, and gladdens nature's heart; 
 All evidence their joy the skimming bird, 
 With joyous twitter, takes what God provides; 
 The grazing ox; the nibbling sheep; all rest 
 In busy quietude, or thoughtless glee : 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 199 
 
 Then gloom obtrudes; clouds thicken o'er the Sun, 
 
 Arrest his rays; winds moan and mutter threats; 
 
 Sounds ominous appal; and other light 
 
 Suspends the cloudy dimness all around. 
 
 The face of things is changed; then confidence 
 
 Is changed to fear; joy to alarm; and all 
 
 Seems hushed, save nature's strife : yet all this rout 
 
 Is from below ; for one beyond the clouds 
 
 Might look above, and see the Sun unchanged, 
 
 Unshorn of beams; look downward and behold 
 
 The ill beneath his feet. So God persists; 
 
 He loves e'en though the less He's loved : His thoughts 
 
 Are not as ours : He loves because He will. 
 
 iii. Not only is God's love immutable, 
 But unconditional. Not so the Law- 
 The law of Sinai; that had a clause 
 Of shudd'ring import to the heart of man 
 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die:" this was 
 A dismal comment on some stringent laws 
 Without redress of hope, but sad reserve. 
 This institute of God appealed to man, 
 Demanding strict obedience or his death. 
 True, grace had exercise; but this obtains 
 With all to whom is yet the term of natural life. 
 Love is diversified the love of God 
 As well as that of man. He sends His rain 
 Both on the unjust and the just; His sun 
 He makes to shine on all alike; He feeds 
 Young ravens when they cry; the bleating lamb 
 Knows where to find its nourishment, placed there 
 By hands all-provident : and this is love. 
 But such must fail, because the objects fail, 
 Th' occasion temporal must pass away. 
 
200 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 But love redemptive has eternity 
 
 Its ample range; and wise, makes no demand 
 
 That might imperil much its gracious aim. 
 
 We must exalt man very much; or else 
 
 Depress the Godhead, ere we tolerate 
 
 The thought that merit can assign its rights; 
 
 Or He, who gives, acknowledge such. 
 
 A distance infinite suggests no ground 
 
 On which to stand and pre-arrange some terms 
 
 For future fellowship. There was a time 
 
 When fellowship prevailed; one party broke 
 
 And canceled every bond; thenceforth he walked 
 
 Apart from Him he wronged, and lengthened out 
 
 His wand'ring course; nor ever could he frame 
 
 Return to Him he left, for he had left 
 
 As enemy to Him and all His ways. 
 
 Love is not baulked; it takes the lead, brings near 
 
 The wand'ring foe; tells out its wondrous tale, 
 
 Unburdened by This do and live; but speaks 
 
 Of all the paid-up debt, the canceled bond 
 
 Of life and death, redrawn, and signed afresh 
 
 By One who dipped His pen in blood His own. 
 
 a. Believest thou 1 This one condition binds 
 The roll of life, but such has no constraint; 
 
 6. For He who made it, made provision too 
 For its full exercise; uncertainty 
 Is banished from the scheme that frames for man 
 Eternal life. Faith is "the gift of God:" * 
 He gives to whom He will, and " not of works, 
 Lest any man should boast." 
 
 * Ephes. ii. 8. We acknowledge the difficulty which the 
 Greek text sets up here, in identifying this gift with Faith : a 
 question that may not now be discussed. The position, how- 
 ever, is proved by other texts, especially 1 Cor. xii. 9, unless, 
 in this text, one would claim the assertion on behalf of the gift, 
 as distinguished from the grace of faith. 
 
HEEE AND HEREAFTER. 201 
 
 IV. God limits not His word. " Ho ! every one," 
 Is the life-cry to all. As when of old 
 The serpent-bitten murmurers were told 
 To look and live, some turned away, perhaps, 
 In hopeless pangs; and unbelieving, some 
 Refused the way of God; or, wise, despised 
 The foolish means : so still, a num'rous class 
 Hear the same words, the invitation mock; 
 Unmoved, they hear the tale of marv'lous love, 
 Misread its terms, or doubt its power for good. 
 
 i. Only a few receive the joyful news 
 Of intercourse renewed, of hope revived. 
 The hostile mind shuts out the friendliness 
 By this proposed; turns, sick'ning, sheer away; 
 Prefers the doubtful game of life-long works, 
 Determined at the close; if e'er at all 
 They give hereafter any room 'mong things 
 Which occupy their hearts' affection here. 
 
 ii. The means employed are not intrenched by terms 
 Exclusive, but the same to all alike. 
 Men hear one like themselves proclaim to all, 
 What he himself has found the way of life. 
 He tells them how they stand : if faithful, warns ; 
 He speaks of danger now; the judgment-seat; 
 The hopeless prison-house; the grace of God; 
 Of justice satisfied; the Father's love; 
 How He beseeches "Be ye reconciled;" 
 Commands " Repent." All nations stand around, 
 Invited by the sovereign voice to hear 
 What it may say. Some marvel, some deride; 
 Some cleave thereto, some walk away; yet all, 
 In the free exercise of God's great gifts, 
 Have heard alike; and all have made their choice. 
 
202 HEBE AND HEKEAFTER. 
 
 Deliberative some, impulsive" some; 
 
 And some of this have spurned, and some, of that; 
 
 Of that, some gladly take ; and some, of this. 
 
 What is the diff'rence then ] Why should one spurn, 
 
 Another take 1 The former loathes the way, 
 
 Esteems it gloomy, and the end not worth 
 
 The irksome means; the latter sees the road 
 
 Is narrow, but beyond it widens out 
 
 In heavenly plains. It may be that he sees 
 
 No more than that he has at length resolved 
 
 To choose the better part : this is most true, 
 
 But more he has to learn. 
 
 iii. Now all God's means had failed, had He not willed 
 Effectual calling too : all had refused, 
 But that He moves unknown to us, unfelt, 
 Unrecognized, but by intelligence 
 Of after growth. The child has cognizance 
 That he has life, not how he lives, nor when 
 He drew his entrance breath : his opening mind 
 Some information gains. Much like to this 
 Is he who, born again, just knows he lives : 
 The time of birth he may define, but how 
 He entered life is not so clear, till years 
 Have rolled away; and then he rather knows 
 Than understands. That which we know, and hear, 
 And feel the breeze, the stormy wind, has points 
 Not clear, though not allied to doubt; just so 
 With all born from above. 
 
 V. i. Again; the Gospel deals with diverse kinds; 
 All have a common human parentage, 
 But some have also antecedently 
 A darker type : so One premised of old, 
 T' account for blank rejection of His words. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 203 
 
 a. "Ye therefore hear them not, because ye're not 
 Of God, but of the Devil, and his lusts 
 Ye do; ye cannot understand my speech, 
 Because ye cannot hear my words." 
 Now this would be illogical and gross 
 With reverence we speak, as fallible 
 If such condition were th' effect, and not 
 The cause : it was their parentage that caused 
 Their opposition to the truth, and made 
 Their minds incapable to entertain. 
 Said Jesus " I do that which I have seen, 
 And ye do also that which ye have seen ; 
 I in my Father's house, and ye in yours." 
 Mysterious, yet most true; diversity 
 Is stamped most legible : hatred and scorn, 
 Contempt and wrath, fire up their fiendish hearts 
 E'en to the last, or black despair, or else 
 Most fatal quietude. Though it be true 
 That some display the same conformity, 
 Who yet forsake their evil ways and live; 
 Here's no disproof : their earthly parentage 
 Accounts for this. Ofttiines indeed we find 
 A foreigner begets a citizen, 
 Who in due time forsakes his father's house, 
 His father, mother, kindred, all; and takes 
 The name and freedom of another state. 
 An heir of grace lies in a mortal womb 
 With one who is a scion of another stock. 
 The pen with trembling writes this solemn truth; 
 The heart has sad remembrance of its joys 
 With some who since have shewn hostility, 
 Despised, reviled, and died impenitent. 
 
 6. With some their heavenly destiny awaits 
 
204 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Development. Ere the Creation's dawn, 
 
 When blithe the morning stars sang silently, 
 
 And all the sons of God shouted for joy; 
 
 They were the joy of God, His well-beloved: 
 
 It pleased Him in the myst'ry of the fall 
 
 To fold them up, and complicate their state; 
 
 And by their means unfold His wisdom, grace, 
 
 And justice unrebuked; though sinners, share 
 
 The glories of His state; for He has made 
 
 These sinning ones His heirs, joint-heirs with Him, 
 
 God's equal Son. The theme is wonderful; 
 
 For they were first children of wrath; as such 
 
 Bore condemnation on their front, and lived 
 
 As others in th' indulgence of their lusts; 
 
 Thieves, covetous, idolaters, unclean, 
 
 Effeminate, extortioners, unjust, 
 
 As any in the human roll : estranged 
 
 In heart and life, yet certainly reclaimed 
 
 Ere Death could seize his prey; yea he refrains 
 
 If yet no change has taken place in them 
 
 A change necessitous; for, unrenewed, 
 
 Their death would be an everlasting ill, 
 
 And yet such cannot be : th' eternal plan 
 
 Braces the two hereafter endless life, 
 
 And here that life begun, regenerate. 
 
 ii. Hence the restricted force of common terms : 
 Their import meets the case of God and man. 
 God had a purpose hid in mystery; 
 Man had a need coincident with man. 
 Wherever man is found, there he requires 
 Some palliative scheme for current ills. 
 Sooner or later man finds out his sore. 
 Varied opinions bear on this; some think 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 205 
 
 That God is merciful, and will not judge, 
 
 Too strictly, erring ones : some think Him kind, 
 
 Too good to ill-effect the future state : 
 
 Now this is anthropopathy run mad. 
 
 But some suppose and 'tis a growing thought 
 
 That man is as a sort of chrysalis, 
 
 Struggling to disinter himself ; that he 
 
 Has made advance, and has in view a state 
 
 Exemptive from the ills he here endures. 
 
 Not for himself he plans development 
 
 For this is all, some metamorphosis 
 
 It is the race that he exalts; he thinks 
 
 Instinctive energy is close at work, 
 
 And will at length present a perfect type. 
 
 But for himself, who lauds this theory, 
 
 "What does he hope 1 that he shall live again, 
 
 Again revisit scenes of present ill, 
 
 For ever flourish in the good set up 1 
 
 This is philanthropy grown imbecile. 
 
 VI. But God is not unjust, although He make 
 A difference manifest : although He claim 
 And exercise a right to cut, rough-hew, 
 And polish stones, with which He purposes 
 To build, to beautify them for His work. 
 
 i. For man prefers the ground God takes with him; 
 His reason justifies the mode : he scans, 
 Examines every point; if he detects, 
 As he conceives, some lurking weakness there, 
 He challenges that part, though as a whole 
 He gives it currency. "This do and live," 
 Is not objected to; man has no doubt 
 Of his efficiency: "incline our hearts 
 To keep this law," is orthodox ; but yet 
 
206 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 His mind misgives him not, although the law 
 
 He asks the power to keep, he spends his life to break. 
 
 ii. Nor can it be alleged that one escapes 
 The dread award of sin, while others bear 
 The penalty, and so justice foreshame. 
 If man will own himself incapable, 
 Another takes his place, suffers instead : 
 Yea, this is done, though that remain undone. 
 Those who escape avail themselves betimes 
 Of this provision for their need ; believe 
 What God avers, that He has found a way 
 Still to be just, and yet to justify 
 The guilty ones, without their righteous deeds. 
 This to the Greeks is foolishness ; to Jews 
 A stumbling-block : both try it by their skill, 
 Decide against its verity, in that 
 It shelters ignorance and folly too. 
 The dupes alone are safe : for if the tale 
 They have believed is not quite genuine, 
 They are at least a courteous race, and stand 
 Where others stand at last, before their Judge ; 
 There at His judgment-seat advantaged thus, 
 That they believed what they supposed God's word, 
 Coupled with disavowal of all claim 
 As compensation for their loss of time ; 
 Of character as fools, for letting slip 
 Good opportunities for worldly gain j 
 For works of charity and faith, which cause 
 Unmeaning sacrifice and wretched waste, 
 If in this life alone they fix their hope. 
 They're safe as others, but with prestige great; 
 And if words bear a natural sense in God's, 
 As well as other books, what they now sow 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 207 
 
 Will ripen on eternal plains; and there 
 
 They, confident, will reap. 
 
 God's plan provides for all demands made by 
 
 His justice e'er inexorable; for that 
 
 No pity knows, the utmost doit is claimed. 
 
 Man pardons as he will, without regard 
 
 To turpitude; the only way for him 
 
 To imitate God's mode of grace to him, 
 
 In his deportment to his fellow men. 
 
 He may condone without regard to guilt 
 
 Or innocence : yea he may treat a foe 
 
 As though he ne'er had wronged him, or provoked 
 
 Hostility, and thus commend himself 
 
 To God and man : the holy God can not. 
 
 He pardons not whom He receives, as though 
 
 They ne'er had sinned : or they must expiate, 
 
 Or other in their stead, their every sin. 
 
 Sweet mercy prompted in the mode devised; 
 
 With that the heart of God was filled; with that 
 
 He purposed to clelight the sons of men. 
 
 But justice smiles when one who, steeped in sin, 
 
 Seeks refuge in the arms of God, just as he is. 
 
 Some men of God such men of science too 
 
 Object to terms asserting God's great power 
 
 As infinite; as thus He cannot lie, 
 
 He cannot pardon sin; but this is gross, 
 
 A pass at words : He cannot will to do 
 
 What he wills not to do : God cannot sin, 
 
 For that He cannot disobey Himself. 
 
 So if to will and not to will; to do 
 
 And not to do, contemporaneously, 
 
 Involve some limitation, then we grant 
 
 That God is limited. Nay, God conserves 
 
208 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 His attributes; Justice is satisfied; 
 
 Mercy, large-hearted, x;alls to erring men, 
 
 " Why will ye die 1 n And Love, warm-hearted love, 
 
 Beseeches, "Be ye reconciled to God." 
 
 Oh ! the rich grace, and Oh ! the depth thereof ! 
 His wisdom and His knowledge, Oh ! how great ! 
 Unsearchable His judgments, and His ways 
 Past finding out; for who hath known His mind, 
 Or who hath been His counselor ? 
 For of Him, through Him, to Him, are all things; 
 To Him be glory evermore, Amen. 
 
 CHAPTER II. THE REDEEMER AND THE 
 REDEEMED. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 I. THE INCARNATION. 
 
 i. Its nature. ii. Its prophetical indication, 
 
 iii. Its fulfihnent. iv. Its purpose. 
 II. THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 i. How available, not in the sense of a human substitute 
 
 merely. 
 
 ii. The extent of its application, 
 iii. Its results, different 
 
 a. On those who receive. 6. On those who reject. 
 
 III. THE OBJECT OF THE ATONEMENT THE CHURCH, 
 i. In time. 
 ii. In eternity. 
 
 I. THE great Redeemer and His glorious Spouse 
 Be now the burden of our grateful song. 
 Say how the Son of God, moved by His love, 
 Laid by the glory of His heavenly state. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 209 
 
 Stooped to become a man, in mortal guise, 
 
 Though not in verity : for, though He took 
 
 Our likeness and infirmities, He shunned 
 
 He could not otherwise our lapsed estate, 
 
 With all its mortal consequents : as thus, 
 
 He knew the frailties of our state; He slept, 
 
 He felt the need of bread; and, thirsty, sought 
 
 The ministry of one who came to draw 
 
 At Jacob's well, where He then, wearied, sat; 
 
 Was tempted much to sin; but, sinless, spent 
 
 His sorrowing pilgrimage; He sympathized 
 
 With those who wept; He pitied those who sinned; 
 
 He wept Himself o'er sin's sore mastery, 
 
 And blind indifference to offered good. 
 
 The cup of carnal good He never sipped, 
 
 So Death had no authority o'er Him; 
 
 But waited His permission e'er He struck 
 
 The sorrowing heart, and drew the life-blood forth. 
 
 i. Incarnate God ! The theme is wonderful. 
 No mortal mind could frame ; and if it could, 
 No heart could dare to entertain the thought, 
 At first, that God should be a man and die. 
 No pen, tipped with enduring adamant, 
 Could last to chronicle the mighty theme. 
 The virgin womb must bear th' immortal fruit; 
 The virgin breast must yield the aliment 
 Of infant life : so truly man was He, 
 Yet not man's seed, though his reputed son; 
 His line traced farther back than when man first 
 Appeared in innocence in Eden's clime. 
 Yet though th' Eternal, He began to be, 
 A helpless babe in Bethlehem : His bones 
 Had not consistency to bear His frame; 
 
 o 
 
210 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 That frame evinced its power progressively 
 To grow as those around, for He increased 
 In stature; and His mind gave evidence 
 Of power to open out and learn ; as thus, 
 He learnt obedience by the things He bore; 
 Not how t' obey, but what obedience is 
 What it entails upon obedient ones. 
 His human soul for such He had, as well 
 Th' Eternal Mind this soul observed 
 The proper guise of listless infancy; 
 Of childhood waking up to things around ; 
 Of early youth; of manhood in its prime. 
 No rare precocity, nor senile ways 
 Disfigured youth in Him; yet He was wise 
 Above His years; surpassed His teachers all, 
 For He had made the honored word of God 
 His meditation all the day; the night 
 He often spent in prayer. He daily grew 
 As men whene'er they do in wisdom, grace, 
 And favor both with God and man. 
 His was a soul most capable, but not 
 Replete at first : endowed with wondrous power 
 To germinate, to ripen in a varied soil 
 Of good and ill; the good He chose, refused 
 Th' abounding ill. Not as the first-made man, 
 In charge at once of ripened intellect; 
 The second Adam, He fulfilled His course, 
 Acquiring sympathy for old and young. 
 And still wondrous perpetuity ! 
 He can be touched with our infirmities. 
 Though presciently He knew, yet in His grace 
 He would become most conversant with men, 
 And so became as man; not raised above 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 211 
 
 By clear immunity from all the ills 
 
 Which crowd man's state, but made most capable 
 
 To taste them all : and not the ills alone 
 
 Which man, unfall'n, might have as such not ills, 
 
 He was in all points tempted just as man, 
 
 But yet a sinless one, for He had nought 
 
 Corroborative of the dark assault 
 
 Of Satan's power; and so the tempter fled, 
 
 Before the two-edged sword, the word of God, 
 
 Wielded so mightily by him, the Son of God. 
 
 A man of sorrows, in the plenitude of grief 
 
 He wore an aspect much beyond His years. 
 
 The drunkard's song, the bye-word of His race; 
 
 Yet He despised the shame for joys to come. 
 
 ii. First God Himself proposed the remedy 
 For Eden's grief, a yet incipient ill. 
 The germ He planted there in memory's soil, 
 To spring and bud and bloom; but bear its fruit 
 When suns have ceased. The prophets since have told 
 What they were moved to speak of by the power 
 That wrought in them : not knowing then themselves 
 The import of their words; yet, diligent, 
 They searched, and made enquiry resolute, 
 To find what things, also what kind of times, 
 The Spirit signified; for It foretold 
 Great suff'rings, but far greater glories thence. 
 Moreover, they were told of some to come, 
 To whom they ministered this mystery; 
 Not to themselves, wards of an earlier grace. 
 
 iii. Ages had rolled away; still God forbears 
 And hides yet in Himself His purposed graoe, 
 Not suff'ring by delay : but in due time 
 He sends His Son to test the reverence 
 
212 HERE AND HEREAFTEE. 
 
 Of those who claimed to be God's favored race. 
 
 Yea, so they were, but nothing takes the place 
 
 Of holiness. The temple blazed with gold; 
 
 Silver, and costly brass, and almug trees, 
 
 Cedar of Lebanon, and all that art 
 
 Could cull from nature's store, and cunning skill 
 
 Devise to frame, were there; there God Himself 
 
 Deigned to respond, and there was pleased to set 
 
 The symbol of His presence too. Alas ! 
 
 Defilement came : then came an enemy 
 
 Who spoiled the treasures of His house. 
 
 When Christ appeared, those who professed to build 
 
 Rejected Him, the Corner Stone; for He, 
 
 In their esteem, was without comeliness, 
 
 Unsuited to their need. This recusance 
 
 Fulfilled the word of God; inimical, 
 
 Yet most conducive to the very point 
 
 They shunned, with deep malignant scorn. 
 
 They could not otherwise : instinctive hate 
 
 Plotted abortive schemes; but He who fell 
 
 A victim to their rage, arose again 
 
 Triumphant over all. Some, malice led; 
 
 Some, ignorant; and all by wicked hands 
 
 Fulfilled the counsel, deep, determinate 
 
 Of God; not only in the penal death, 
 
 But in the very mode of prophecy. 
 
 iv. Thus God would carry out His gracious plan 
 To rescue from her lost estate His Church; 
 That Church so implex that no seraph mind 
 Could frame to disentagle it, or find 
 A mitigation of the penalty. 
 God ordered so that in the course of time 
 Not only should the object of His love 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 213 
 
 His special love find full deliverance, 
 And all th' abundant treasures of His house; 
 But Jews and Gentiles, nations all around, 
 Should share His grace. The mystery of His will 
 Is such, that He will gather into one, 
 Under the headship of His Christ, all things 
 In heaven and in the earth ; and this He calls 
 The dispensation of the fulness of the times. 
 God's wisdom manifold is thus made known. 
 Angels, and principates, and powers desire 
 To learn from this, and this contemplate deep. 
 
 II. God would reverse estrangement; rectify 
 The mischief sin had wrought; and reconcile 
 Those who, though His in love, both hated Him, 
 And mocked the whole provision of His grace. 
 How He might still conserve His rectitude, 
 By granting Justice all its proper claims, 
 And make these claims exponents of His love, 
 Was a great problem only to be solved 
 By wisdom Infinite : precisive terms 
 Restrained mere mercy in its human phase. 
 Justice relaxes not; persistent, seeks 
 Full satisfaction for its mangled code. 
 While Love, unquenchable, seeks nothing less 
 Than full enfranchisement; yea, more than this. 
 Scant pleasure would the heart of man enjoy 
 To see a much loved one at liberty ; 
 This would not satisfy; he seeks for such 
 An honored place. One near his heart must be 
 Most near him too; partake with him his joys, 
 And share all that is his. Could God do less 1 
 He longs to pour His love in a full tide 
 Upon His Church, in distant solitude. 
 
214 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 i. He has a Son, an only One : to Him 
 The Father makes proposals of His grace : 
 " Wilt thou assume man's likeness, and with him 
 Experience such proclivities as he, 
 In sinlessness sustained; as hunger, thirst, 
 A need for sleep, and all th' infirmities 
 Of unf alien man to him unfalleii, a good; 
 But, in th' event of sin, with sin enyoked, 
 Become an ill wilt thou partake 
 And know their sorrowing power ? Wilt thou accept 
 The place of tempted ones; subject Thy state 
 To Satan's wiles, and know his potency 
 For ill; the more effectually to curb 
 His range not undefined 1 thus being touched 
 With all the feelings of man's race Ms grief, 
 His tendencies, his imminent distress, 
 Thou may'st acquire efficiency to meet 
 And succor in temptation's hour ? 
 And further; wilt thou satisfy thou canst, 
 And thou alone My righteous claims, My law 
 Outraged by man; endure My outpoured wrath 
 For man the vengeance of My holiness 1 
 If thou wilt so, I further state My terms. 
 Thou knowest well that 'mong the race of men 
 A people dwell, now earthly, but by Me 
 Destined to higher things than they can frame. 
 I give them Thee. They are not of the world; 
 The world has not for them sufficiency 
 Of sphere or destiny. If Thou assume 
 Their form and state, then Thou mayst give to them 
 Thy form and state : the glory which is Thine, 
 By such redeeming right let that be theirs : 
 And where Thy presence is, there too let them 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 215 
 
 In personal conformity be found. 
 
 As I and Thou are one; so Thou and they. 
 
 Be Thou the Bridegroom of My love; and they 
 
 The Bride. Th' adornment of Thy grace be hers; 
 
 And hers, th' endowment of my love, be Thine. 
 
 Much beauty hers, Thy great delight, Thy joy; 
 
 And Thou th' eternal object of her love." 
 
 " holy Father ! terms like these forestall 
 The deep desire ; and, prepossessed, My heart 
 Makes quick response. Most joyfully I take 
 The sinner's place; despise the shame; endure, 
 Not listlessly, not unimpressed, Thy wrath, 
 Which none, if unsustained, could bear: whilst I, 
 By righteousness upheld, might underived, 
 And Justice satisfied; others will bear 
 Upheld by none of these, but by Thy power 
 Creative, so inalienate; and thus ensure 
 A penalty as endless as the joy 
 Of those who welcome Me with trusting hearts. 
 Not a mere substitute I go; for that 
 Would be a bleak reward of sorrows deep, 
 Unparalleled : not just set free, no more ; 
 For that were incomplete : beyond all this 
 I give eternal life, and put on them 
 The glories of My state. Father, I will 
 That where I am, there likewise they may be; 
 And see the glory which I had with Thee 
 Ere yet the worlds were framed." 
 
 ii. " Son ! well-pleased, I give Thee more than this. 
 In the first place, the primest seat of love, 
 I set My Church, Thy Bride. I lavish much 
 On her My richest gifts, so to endow 
 And make her worthy of Thy peerless grace. 
 
216 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Thy throne is set above all other thrones : 
 
 Her dowry is proportioned to Thy state. 
 
 But while the heavenly heights shall be adorned 
 
 By Thee and Thine, I would retain below 
 
 A holy race, and make them too ascribe 
 
 Their holiness to Thee. Abram, My friend, 
 
 Holds still the title-deeds : I gave to him 
 
 And to his seed his seed supremely Thou, 
 
 But not exclusively to him and his 
 
 I gave the holy land holy for that 
 
 My eyes and heart are there perpetually. 
 
 An oath I gave in pity to My friend 
 
 And his infirmity; that he might give 
 
 Full credence to My plan t' establish there 
 
 The chosen race. Thou knowest all their state, 
 
 Their contrariety, their great defect; 
 
 How they preferred their lusts, sought other gods, 
 
 And sad affinity with nations round. 
 
 How I assigned them lessons in the land 
 
 Where they in exile served, the land of Ham. 
 
 Delivered thence, they murmured, caused a breach 
 
 Of confidence; at length I scattered them, 
 
 And made them strangers in their own loved land. 
 
 These shall be Thine, and Thou shalt be their king, 
 
 When I have purged their rebels out ; and these 
 
 Shall leave their name a curse : the faithful few 
 
 Shall be Thy heritage, and Thou shalt reign 
 
 Accepted for Thy rule. Yet more I give : 
 
 The nations of the earth shall all be Thine, 
 
 As Thy inheritance; the utmost parts 
 
 Under the whole heavens Thine too. 
 
 Rule Thou, and gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, 
 
 And in Thy majesty ride prosp'rously : 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 217 
 
 Suppress the risings of opposing crowds. 
 Thou lovest righteousness and hatest guile ; 
 Therefore Thy God anointeth Thee, O God, 
 Upon My holy hill; and Thou shalt judge 
 In righteousness. From sea to sea Thy rule, 
 And peace shall meditate her constant good. 
 A thousand years shall spend their happy course, 
 Ere yet again the foe disturbs the rest 
 Which subject hearts alojie can quite secure. 
 Afresh will he deceive; effect his aims, 
 Thus most effectively: yet, spite of this 
 Yea, by such means shall all My will be done." 
 
 Thus has the mind devised fragment'ry speech. 
 The theme is infinite : the gracious terms 
 Most recondite the unbought love of God 
 Who owned the Bride, who gave her to His Son : 
 The love of Him who in His jealousy 
 For love is jealous of the least assault 
 Devised and, all alone, wrought her release. 
 This love burns as a most vehement flame, 
 That many waters cannot quench waters 
 Cold, trickling, slow, a slight recurrence oft; 
 Or rushing floods of worldliness or doubts. 
 
 iii. Th' effect is disproportioned to the cause 
 So reasoning man would urge against God's plan. 
 This estimate is formed amiss; a view 
 Inadequate is taken of the whole. 
 The range of time suffices not to shew 
 Its great efficiency : it bears on all 
 But not on all alike. Whilst some aspire 
 To mansions in the Father's house, above 
 Sublunar things, and there behold His face; 
 Others bejow, all holy, sing His praise; 
 
218 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Outlying nations chant Millenial rest; 
 And all creation joins in great Amens. 
 a. Ere this a life is spent diversified, 
 A mingled, troubled course of good and ill. 
 Some choose the better part; a genuine good 
 Accrues to them, though plenteous ills remain. 
 They have a remedy for grief, for care, 
 For all things critical which oft recur; 
 Not to prevent; nor, present, stay their course; 
 But modify, assuage, sometimes remove; 
 Or, what is better still, increase their strength 
 To bear, if God so wills, increasing ills. 
 A burden is but relative; heavy 
 Or light as it may be; that is, if one, 
 With lightsomeness of heart, proportioned strength, 
 And willingness, bears wittingly, 'tis light; 
 But if he frets, nor balances his load, 
 So bears it much awry, he wastes his strength 
 And then a feather added makes him groan. 
 Some understand their joy, and seem as if 
 Smiles in their face had found a proper soil 
 To germinate and hold perennial life. 
 In others, tears wash out the joyous bloom, 
 And thick'ning furrows carve the early face. 
 How should it be ? Is man man's arbiter *? 
 Shall one man smile, another weep, a third 
 Condemn the both; and all be orthodox 1 ? 
 It cannot be; there's ample cause for both, 
 The child may smile, because he knows that love 
 Dwells in his Father's heart inviolate; 
 And he may weep because he is aware 
 That in his natural heart all evil lurks, 
 And in. Ms life some episodes of wrong 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 219 
 
 Against this Father's love defile the way. 
 
 But weep not for a Father's love estranged : 
 
 It is not so. With tears confess thy sin. 
 
 " I love thee not the less," the Father says, 
 
 " But I am grieved : thy sins dishonor Me, 
 
 Procure thee grief, and shame, and wretchedness. 
 
 I cannot, if I would, disown thee now; 
 
 I would not, if I could, forego My love. 
 
 Tis not thyself to lose that thou shouldst fear, 
 
 But loss to thee here and hereafter too. 
 
 Reward I promise thee, not merited, 
 
 But yet obtained whilst in My house below." 
 
 b. Some check all overtures, despise the grace 
 Which beckons man away from earthly joys, 
 And substitutes a solid heritage 
 Of heavenly good: their eyes are closed; their ears 
 Prefer the soothing tones of him who gained 
 The ear of Eve ; their hearts are occupied 
 With present things. Objections vary much : 
 Some Jews of old objected to the place 
 " Can any good thing come from Galilee?" 
 Some saw objection in the parentage 
 Of Him who urged Messiah's claims; and scorned 
 The carpenter, that from his line should rise 
 A king for them. Some reason on the mode, 
 And some despise; some shew its fallacy, 
 And some take credit for their ready faith 
 In all the priest declares, leaving to him 
 The weightier things, whilst they to passing cares 
 Give all their time; a moiety to joys 
 Which, though they leave a sting, have sweets 
 Which they must cull. Yes, time is bandied so 
 By reckless hands, and so insulted by 
 
220 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Defilement gross, no marvel that at length 
 
 It takes offence and suddenly forsakes 
 
 The witless, foul wrong-doer in the midst 
 
 Of pleasure's plans, or business well arranged. 
 
 Time is not all the gift that God has made, 
 
 Not all the sphere of life's continuance: 
 
 And yet men live as if no sequel met 
 
 Its last forged link. Here let man crowd his joys; 
 
 Let him determine that to-morrow's good 
 
 Shall be as this day's cheer, and even more. 
 
 Go on; add house to house, and land to land: 
 
 But God will bring thee to account at last. 
 
 III. Great sacrifices made bespeak great worth. 
 Worth may reside where worthiness is not. 
 The diamond sparkles with a radiance pure, 
 Unique; hence worth and excellent regard. 
 The rarest gem but rarely finds a purchaser. 
 Nature may yet reveal one so supreme 
 That size and brilliancy may disappoint 
 All purchasers, because of worth unmatched. 
 But worthiness must have a residence 
 Where claims unquestioned meet. The Son of God 
 Saw worth, and competence to give Him joy, 
 Wrapped up in that much tarnished thing the Church. 
 No worthiness was there; no beauty shone; 
 For it was then unwrought. First He redeems 
 By paying all that Justice stern demands : 
 Then extricates, and then adorns, brings out 
 The beauty of this costly gem; imparts 
 Power to reflect His light, reveals in it 
 The glory of His state; and on His throne 
 Will blazon forth in fond parade that which, 
 Judged by the price paid down, were priceless else. 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 221 
 
 The royal treasures suffer no decrease 
 
 Through this profuse expenditure; they grow 
 
 The more : He who before was infinite 
 
 In each department of His realm, in this 
 
 Makes increase; or, at least, brings forth what else 
 
 Must have remained shut up inextricate. 
 
 i. The Church holds here no prestige of the joy 
 And glory yet to come. Time has no power 
 To manifest her charms, nor her delight. 
 Just so her Lord declared "ye shall lament 
 And weep; the world rejoice." Contempt and shame 
 Are here the proper lot of those who wear 
 A foreign garb, and speak another tongue, 
 Most strange to those around: a certain mark 
 Of gross fanaticism, weak intent, 
 If not of stark insanity; hence hate, 
 Or pity, or the meaning shrug^ makes light 
 Of former friends; dismisses with a stare; 
 Or shuns, with studied courtesy, the changed, 
 Frail being of their former love. 
 The world will love its own : break from its bonds 
 Its theatres, its balls, its concert-rooms, 
 Its innocent relays; assign your cause 
 Their insufficiency to fill your heart ; 
 That heart's preoccupance with other joys, 
 Antagonistic to these same, which once 
 Gave you their charms; with much significance, 
 They touch their head, and wonder at the change ; 
 For they had thought that Mr. So and So 
 Had firm good sense, and strength of intellect. 
 True; persecution is the proper mark 
 Of godliness : now in our day 'tis rare, 
 For godliness is rare. Conformity abounds; 
 
222 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Though non-conformity, with blatent speech, 
 
 Asserts existence strong. Tis not to creeds, 
 
 Endowments, and the like, nor regnant smiles, 
 
 That Christ denounced conformity; these all, 
 
 And many more, are bad; too bad indeed 
 
 For some who yet enjoy life's luxuries, 
 
 Oblivious of the suffering poor around. 
 
 Nor is it merely non-conformity, 
 
 However closely urged, that satisfies 
 
 The law of Christ. The law of Moses made 
 
 Demands imperative, but never aimed 
 
 To renovate the heart. The Christian's law 
 
 Applies to hearts renewed; on such enjoins, 
 
 "Be ye transformed;" and, "Be ye holy, for 
 
 That I am holy, saith your God." 
 
 Faith is a lawyer studying deep; immersed 
 
 In meditation grave; searching, with zeal, 
 
 The pandects of his ancient creed; that he 
 
 May plead with more efficiency, approved 
 
 By God and man. An operative too, 
 
 And not a thing of lordly ease at home. 
 
 Most practical, he is not satisfied 
 
 That he has knowledge of his art; he seeks 
 
 Some application of his skill : such finds 
 
 Ever some work to do. Life is made up 
 
 Of woof and warp; man is the artisan, 
 
 But God gives all the power the skill to plan, 
 
 The art to execute, the taste t' adorn, 
 
 And finish with the grace of perfectness. 
 
 " Hast thou beheld," said God, " My servant Job, 
 
 A man perfect and upright, fearing God, 
 
 Eschewing evil, and none like him in the earth?" 
 
 This grew not as a weed, that needs no care, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 223 
 
 That springs spontaneously: much care had wrought 
 
 Such great consistency; and faith in God 
 
 Had knit the whole. If you would see a man 
 
 Most noble, you must search, with diligence, 
 
 The rolls of heavenly fame : there you will find 
 
 A ruined thing restored. That which was good 
 
 Is better now; the second Adam shews 
 
 His likeness there. And yet not all who own 
 
 A change of heart, construct a change of life : 
 
 They're weak in faith; and this, in ignorance, 
 
 They plead as their excuse : let such confess 
 
 That they sin much ; self -judgment suits them best, 
 
 Not pity for themselves. If we lay claim 
 
 To be esteemed God's pensioners, then let 
 
 His bounty raise our aim to use His gifts, 
 
 And so increase their power : let thriftless moans 
 
 Cease quite their senseless waste of strength, 
 
 And godly sorrow take their place; confess 
 
 That weakness is our own; acknowledge too 
 
 That though it is our sin to fail in faith, 
 
 Yet in our desperateness we look to God. 
 
 Some, self-condolent, cry a lowly band I 
 
 Lonely we grant, but lowliness is scant; 
 
 And lordliness is not monopolized 
 
 Entirely 'by the mitred head; lawn sleeves 
 
 Are coveted increasingly; and silver cups 
 
 And goblets grace the sacramental board, 
 
 Where once plain earthenware presumed on much 
 
 Now scandalized as primitive. 
 
 Chapels are Churches now a higher mark : 
 
 And those who once, in much simplicity, * 
 
 Put up with intramural exercise, 
 
 Must now be comforted, and at their ease, 
 
224 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 'Mid labored ornament. Outside appears 
 
 The architect's great skill, the builder's art : 
 
 Coined buttresses; the Gothic arch, single 
 
 Or interlaced; the carver's monument 
 
 Of his ecclesiastic zeal. A gabled arch 
 
 Sometimes parades the entrance way, pointing 
 
 To heaven, as if its treasures there, not here, 
 
 Were rioting; a steeple crowns the whole. 
 
 Inside as well, the architect has left 
 
 Some traces of his talent formative: 
 
 But here the decorator reigns supreme. 
 
 Mouldings and bas-reliefs, and jutting coigns 
 
 Do here and there appear as ormolu. 
 
 We know th' apology that God is pleased 
 
 And honored thus. Oh ! say not so ! forbear 
 
 Such sland'rous advocacy, nor assert 
 
 The lowly One as honored; nor presume 
 
 Thus to rejuvenize the temple form : 
 
 When that is done, then will God's people too 
 
 Sip of the dew of youth. Again, you claim 
 
 Credit for giving to our artisans 
 
 Labor for bread : this plea is always good 
 
 If too the object of that labor is. 
 
 Redemption's song gives forth a jarring sound 
 
 As sung by voices half attuned on earth. 
 
 For though love is the key-note and refrain, 
 
 The harps are oft unstrung; and, hastily 
 
 Set up, send forth discordant notes, harsh sounds 
 
 Most dissonant; incongruous passages. 
 
 Another cause is manifest : some have declared 
 
 As masters in the art of song, who are indeed 
 
 But driv'lers in the gentle craft; silence 
 
 Becomes them best : their variations grate 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 225 
 
 On ears refined, that much prefer the strains 
 
 Of old church music, grand, magnificent. 
 
 But yet they have admirers who aver, 
 
 Each for his chief, that he is the great man. 
 
 "I am of Paul," says one; another cries, 
 
 " Apollos is the model of my thoughts;" a third 
 
 Claims Cephas for a faultless type. 
 
 ii. Come, flee away ! anticipate that time 
 When, in the realms above, beauty shall reign, 
 And ornament abound, without relapse 
 Into unmeaning use. There countless hosts 
 Raise loud, and clear, and firm decisive notes, 
 In diapason sweet : there melody asserts 
 Its power to ravish even angel ears. 
 There then will Gabriel stay his rapid flight 
 To catch the dulcet strains, unparalleled 
 Since he began to be: creation's song 
 Was meagre though grand harmony was there 
 Compared with the rich song of those redeemed, 
 Translated to the music halls above. 
 There the Chief Singer raises in their midst 
 A song of love most sweet; its title runs 
 "The Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Vale;" 
 With symphony, " Thou, Thou art worthy, Thou alone." 
 The Leader guides the choir as of one heart; 
 One channel takes the flow of living praise; 
 A mighty chorus swells th' immortal strain. 
 One word acquires a solemn emphasis 
 BLOOD has a thrilling power; e'en heavenly ears 
 Acquaint the heart with something deep, untold, 
 In all its magnitude; its eminence 
 To cleanse, transform, create anew at least 
 Enact a part in this great agency, 
 
226 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Which else were not available. 
 
 There, clothed in white, the righteousness of saints, 
 
 Put on them by their righteous Head and Lord, 
 
 The heavenly hosts handle, with dignity, 
 
 And graceful bearing, harps of God; raise high 
 
 The strain " Thou hast redeemed us with Thy blood, 
 
 And we have washed our robes and made them clean." 
 
 Deep stirring chords burst from the countless throng; 
 
 Praise never ending, never wearying praise : 
 
 Eternity its stretch, and space its bound. 
 
 The fabled music of the spheres is now 
 
 A grand reality. All in their course 
 
 Abound with interludes of wondrous sounds; 
 
 Responsive, greet the joyous choristers, 
 
 Who need no pealing organ to affect 
 
 Their ardent song : th' immortal harps trill sweet 
 
 In rich accord; and these revolving orbs 
 
 Boom with harmonious mirth. 
 
 Thus, Almighty Architect ! Thy works 
 Shall praise and celebrate Thy skill. 
 Insensate things shall find a tongue, 
 Give forth their melodies, descant upon 
 Thy grace, Thy wisdom; and, with great acclaim, 
 Still furnish in themselves Thy sphere of good. 
 All things redeemed all in the heavens and earth 
 Shall praise the great Redeemer and their head. 
 For this hast Thou made known, O righteous God ! 
 The pleasure of Thy will. A ruined world, 
 By Him restored, shall ever chant Thy praise 
 In praising Him : such is Thy will, avowed 
 By that command, " Him worship, all ye gods." 
 The great redeemed who sing redeeming love 
 Shall in the heavens perpetuate their song : 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 227 
 
 On earth, as well, redeemed ones will swell 
 The glory of earth's King Israel restored 
 The first dominion hold : the nations too, 
 Outlying pensioners of God's great good, 
 Complete the universal hymn. 
 
 Praise to the Highest, praise and glory give ; 
 In whom we move, and being have, and live ; 
 Praise for redeeming love when all was lost; 
 Praise Him who died, not shrinking from the cost. 
 Praise Him above who hold the highest place, 
 Praise Him on earth, ye greatly favored race: 
 Ye in the heights of heaven who see His face, 
 And ye who on the earth partake His grace. 
 All in one bright and glorious song unite, 
 For life and immortality are brought to light. 
 
 CHAPTER III. THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 I. THE NEW BIRTH. 
 i. What is it? 
 ii. What is its design ? 
 
 II. THE NEW LIFE. 
 
 i. In what does it consist ? 
 ii. How does it bear on its counterpart the life which 
 
 is to come ? 
 iii. How does it exist Godward ? 
 
 III. THE GRACES OF THE SPIRIT. 
 i. Faith, Hope, Love, 
 ii. The results of Faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, 
 
 patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness, love, 
 iii. Of Hope patient waiting. 
 
 iv. Of Love an abiding in light, self- denial toward God 
 and man, freedom from fear, with perfect confi- 
 dence and boldness before God. 
 
228 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 THOU ! who in Thy all-creative power 
 O'ershadowed first the mortal womb, and there 
 In embryo placed the woman's Seed; there made 
 His bones and uninfected flesh to grow; 
 Mortal conformity assume, but not 
 Subjectedness to sin's harsh terms ! do Thou 
 Inspire; not with inventive excellence 
 Of doubtful kind, but with a truthful view 
 Of all Thy work; a recollection clear 
 Of knowledge gained, amassed, approved by Thee 
 These many years : alas ! what scanty fruit 
 Has fed the needy soul, through little skill, 
 Abounding waywardness, and sloth, and thought 
 Of self-sufficiency ! Do thou secern 
 The evil and the good that in the soul 
 Of one who owns Thy ministry, are found. 
 Winnow the chaff, nor let its husky motes 
 Darken the air of thought, so intercept 
 Thy heavenly light. Give earnestness, give zeal, 
 Give tenderness of heart, give love; nor let 
 Discreetness suffer in the somewhat bold, 
 Adventurous meddling of the mortal muse 
 With heavenly and immortal lore. 
 
 I. The living oracles declare, in finished type, 
 " Ye must be born again." Uncertain sounds 
 But beat the air: here no uncertainty 
 Beguiles the craving heart. Does it resolve 
 Its wretchedness, and has it found, at length, 
 Its need of other agency ] Has it, 
 Despairing, yielded all its fondest claims 
 And great expectancy of future good 
 Through nature's help 1 Here is the remedy, 
 Here a glad overture of grace. 
 
HERB AND HEREAFTER. 229 
 
 i. And what is it 1 how is it brought about 1 
 How did the natural child bespeak its cast, 
 Its origin 1 Did its own act project 
 And fashion being, corporance, and thought ? 
 Or was it wrought unconscious, framed and knit 
 Through others' agency mature; such agency 
 Devised by Him whose infinite resource 
 Meets all His infinite designs ? 
 He gives the germ, He shelters in the womb, 
 He brings to birth, He gives the needed strength, 
 And parturition shews the mortal fruit. 
 And so again; the wind blows where it lists, 
 The sound is heard, but who can predicate 
 The very spot it sprang, or where its blasts 
 Smite sullenly aspiring things 1 the trees 
 Stoop petulant, stiffly resume; beyond, 
 There still they bend graceful, but moodily. 
 Here it has passed, there still it shews its place. 
 Men have devised set laws, defined the range 
 Of stormy winds, death-dealing hurricanes; 
 They laugh at him; careering, baulk his pride. 
 The unchained child of death, the awful rush 
 Of air displaced, puts out man's reckoning. 
 Sometimes, as if in playful mood, it curls 
 The product of his mead, lands it elsewhere; 
 Upsets his fragile corn-field stacks, and whirls 
 The covering from th' astonished heads of those 
 Who labor there. Again, with roaring soughs, 
 The tempest strews wrecks all around, as if 
 An angry ministry were much at work. 
 Anon the zephyr fans with gentle breath, 
 And scarcely woos the glowing face. 
 Just so the heavenly birth : so every one 
 
230 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Who, of the Spirit born, emerges from 
 
 The realms of death and enters into life. 
 
 Some tell the very day, the hour, and some 
 
 The minute too, when they were born again. 
 
 It may be so; but gravest doubts may rise 
 
 Of misconception here : their consciousness, 
 
 It may be, is with them the turning point, 
 
 And misconstrued. Some strangely linger near 
 
 The threshold of their former godless home; 
 
 Do not desiderate re-entrance there, 
 
 But breathing much the fetid air, cannot 
 
 So readily throw off old nature's scum, 
 
 As those who wander farther off, lured by 
 
 The rose of Sharon's bloom, the citron grove, 
 
 The myrrh and camphire balm, the asphodel, 
 
 The singing birds, the turtle's loving coo. 
 
 The mind obtused, the head with fumes oppressed, 
 
 Find relevance in rural air and sounds. 
 
 The child is long a child in actual state, 
 
 Ere he has drawn supernal air; wrapt up 
 
 In yet unconsciousness, he waits the time 
 
 Of entrance on his mortal course; passive, 
 
 He gains the outer world; and all the strife 
 
 Is with the bearing womb : an occupant 
 
 Of time's brief lot, the child has not progressed 
 
 To consciousness, till months have sped along. 
 
 Just so the family of God : the first faint move 
 
 Portends the pregnant change. The birth-throe past, 
 
 The heir of light then enters into life. 
 
 Not to the detriment of others who 
 
 Are later born; joint-heirs are all; and all 
 
 With like propinquity, will share alike. 
 
 If one would judge aright, let him not seek 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 231 
 
 To fix the era of his birth, but search 
 His title deeds; if he believe in Christ 
 Then is he born of God : a present life 
 Proves incontestibly a previous birth. 
 As with the natural, so the spiritual. 
 
 ii. Is it proposed Whence this necessity 
 Of being born again 1 Why must it be 
 That one who craves an entrance there above, 
 Must here below endure an utter change, 
 So radical, that he, who once was dead, 
 Is made alive again; who blind, receives 
 His sight; whose ears must be unstopped, ere he 
 Can listen to th' account of verities, 
 Of such a kind that eye had not yet seen, 
 Nor ear had heard, nor had man's heart conceived 
 Their character ? The question indicates 
 A fair response ; an answer to the point. 
 Stark imbecility requires new strength 
 For other exercise than it can make. 
 The tree, denuded of its foliage 
 By nipping cold, would so remain, unless 
 Some much restoring agency gave back 
 Th' arrested powers, and so its rifled dress. 
 The palate lost must he regained, ere that 
 Can revel in the savory dish : the broken limb 
 Reset, consolidate, ere it can find 
 Its usual occupance. So he, whose heart 
 Makes its appeal to things inimical, 
 Whose earnestness is spent in foreign climes, 
 Whose thoughts, whose words, whose ways, are all inclined 
 In adverse mood, is utterly unfit 
 To change his residence, himself unchanged, 
 For that where dwell the very opposite. 
 
232 HEKE AND HEBEAFTER. 
 
 Persistent in his course, he may, he must 
 
 Accept the gloomy sequel of his life. 
 
 An unchanged heart and life predict 
 
 A frightful counterpart : a life renewed 
 
 Eeceives the promise of the life to come. 
 
 Thus it is not an arbitrary will, 
 
 Intolerant alone though this is true, 
 
 For it can not endure the evil thing 
 
 But strong necessity makes this demand. 
 
 The dead would wear his grave-clothes still ; 
 
 The filthy revel in his filthiness; 
 
 The hating heart would hate; the scowl would grow 
 
 And furrow deep; and all the pride of life, 
 
 Immortalized, would blaze with horrid glare. 
 
 These have their place, not where th' Eternal reigns, 
 
 But where darkness supreme shuts out the light. 
 
 A new creation then alone can meet 
 
 A state entirely new. While man remains 
 
 A denizen of this old world, in him 
 
 The old man lives, a tenant much at home ; 
 
 But here he dies : a struggling exigence 
 
 Defers the sentence passed, that nullifies 
 
 All future ill. The new man pants, aspires, 
 
 To realms above, his happy portion there; 
 
 Awaits the time of change : meanwhile attempts 
 
 To frame his character, and ways, and thoughts, 
 
 By that new code of laws which God has called 
 
 A covenant of grace, and not of works; 
 
 And new, for He hath made the first one old. 
 
 II. And does the old man crucified, no more 
 Complain of outraged plans, of hopes deferred, 
 Of disappointments, losses, and the like ? 
 
 i. Oh ! these have just begun an endless course, 
 
HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 233 
 
 Or ending but with death the tomb's relief. 
 
 Uncompromising now, the new man fronts 
 
 His unrelenting foe. They both reside 
 
 "Within the precincts of the earthly house : 
 
 There in the council-room they fence; the one, 
 
 In open warfare, smites his wary foe ; 
 
 The other lurks, trepans, and circumvents; 
 
 Nor risks a stand-up fight on equal terms. 
 
 Both have abettors, able seconders, 
 
 Who watch th' eventful strife: both. lend their aid, 
 
 But do not disengage the combatants. 
 
 Sometimes the new man trips, and wails his fall ; 
 
 His enemy exults, redoubles blows, 
 
 Arid by the might of him who aids, would quell 
 
 And conquer utterly, but that the friend, 
 
 Who never leaves him nor forsakes, takes up 
 
 The prostrate one, from whom all comeliness 
 
 Seems gone, corruption seemingly restored. 
 
 His touch is strength; erewhile the stricken one 
 
 Regains his knees; and on his palms, his mouth 
 
 Sheer in the dust, he grasps his sword again. 
 
 His shield is raised, his helm adjusted fresh, 
 
 His tarnished breastplate burnished.yet once more. 
 
 Ah ! he is valiant now, for he is armed 
 
 From head to foot, needs but the watchful eye, 
 
 All prayer besides, and strict conformity 
 
 To tactics of the fight : he lays about, 
 
 Makes earnest use of strength obtained, 
 
 Anji shouts his battle cry Christ and His cross. 
 
 The foe shrinks back, forbears, assumes a front 
 
 Of peacefulness, as if he wearied of 
 
 The mortal strife; or else, in feignedness, 
 
 Lies low, as though in death. Beware, new man ! 
 
234 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 The ancient fable here has much approach 
 To verity : that spoke of one who, felled, 
 Found strength as he embraced his mother earth. 
 Here is a foe more dangerous oft, as he 
 Is vanquished, not destroyed : he, grov'ling, leers 
 With vengeful hate, his second urges on. 
 Th^ unwary lounge, the drooping lid, 
 The grounded sword or shield, the unlaced helm, 
 The self-complacent smile, invite amain 
 The well-poised shaft, the deep malicious thrust. 
 Or should the new man shun by vigilance 
 The open fight; then as the wolf is said 
 To fawn and imitate the faithful dog 
 Where he has learnt to fear the vengeful horn, 
 That, fond, protects the threatened calf until 
 The guardian's fears are lulled, then bears away 
 The bellowing prey; so much the old man acts: 
 Allurements gain when fierce attacks might fail. 
 A golden cup is held with dainty hands, 
 A smiling aspect lends its winning aid, 
 A syren voice invites " Come, let us take our fill." 
 There deadly poison lurks : no compromise 
 Is safe for thee, new man. Be vigorous, 
 Be stern; dash down the proffered good; suspect 
 All that thine enemy may do ; he smiles 
 But to entrap; he frowns and threatens war, 
 But when his smiles are understood, for these 
 Do serve his purpose best; he. much prefers 
 Thy quietness. But when thou rousest up, 
 And shak'st thyself from earthly dust, he too 
 Assumes th' arbitrement of strife and war; 
 Thou'rt safer in the strife than in the lull, 
 ii. Life is a fragment here : its counterpart 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 235 
 
 Blooms in another soil; there it expands. 
 
 A seedling here, transplanted, there at home 
 
 Becomes a noble tree : no fading leaf 
 
 Distrains its verdancy; an evergreen, 
 
 It bears perennial fruit. A royal stream 
 
 Flows from the throne of God; water of life 
 
 Its channel fills, sustains the bordering trees; 
 
 Yet is their vigor there dependent on, 
 
 And measured by their growth on earthly plains ; 
 
 If stunted here, retarded by neglect, 
 
 Or forced unduly, so advanced in haste, 
 
 To sickly growth, thence some delay ensues, 
 
 Just to regain its proper thriving point, 
 
 Whence it may make uninterrupted way. 
 
 Time breeds th' eternity of mortal man : 
 
 His every act is generative of 
 
 Immortal issues in th' eternal state. 
 
 Both positive and negative effects 
 
 Result to those who sing and those who wail : 
 
 The last will lose all good they may have done, 
 
 Through gross neglect of terms exemptive of 
 
 All future ill; besides woe positive 
 
 Through their abounding sin ; the others lose 
 
 Through their neglect, whilst yet in pilgrimage, 
 
 Of ordinances there. These may have built, 
 
 But unenduringly; and so the fire, 
 
 In trying all, consumes, retributive, 
 
 Their works; leaves them untouched. The state is fixed 
 
 By God's decree; connatural with that 
 
 Borne by th' eternal immigrant from realms 
 
 He first inhabited. The unreclaimed 
 
 Remains a stranger still : the prodigal, 
 
 Returned, stays ever in his Father's house. 
 
236 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Eventualities are influenced there 
 
 By antecedents of an earthly type. 
 
 Nor is the record lost of good and ill. 
 
 The act, the word, the passing look, the thought, 
 
 Spontaneous, or unrecognized, compose 
 
 A registry, on nature's tissues set 
 
 And photographed. The heedless youth that flings 
 
 A pebble on the surface of a pool 
 
 Takes no account of lasting consequence : 
 
 He sees the circling eddies coursing on, 
 
 Concentric from the spot where he had plunged 
 
 His missile plaything; but he ne'er suspects 
 
 What he has done beyond the idle throw, 
 
 The impulse of unthinking boyishness. 
 
 No thought employs his mind of earth, and air, 
 
 And water matter all affected by 
 
 His vagrant act; yet so it is: nor do 
 
 The precincts of this world limit th' effects; 
 
 All space, impinged by waves too delicate 
 
 For mortal nerves t' appreciate, record 
 
 Th' effects of causes small in man's esteem. 
 
 But who shall weigh or measure time's amount 
 
 Of units aggregate; and tell the sum 
 
 Of sighs, of heaving breasts, of gentle hearts 
 
 Profuse in sympathy; the look of love, 
 
 The glare of hate, defiant rage 1 these all 
 
 Make increase always; and unceasing growth 
 
 Will strew eternal plains with lavish fruits 
 
 Of happiness or woe. Not only minds 
 
 With conscious registry, but matter too 
 
 Will at the judgment day its tablets rear; 
 
 Then judgments framed shall need no witnesses, 
 
 No formal sentence of award; but each, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 237 
 
 Self-judging, will assign himself his place 
 
 Of habitude, in endless joy, or ceaseless woe : 
 
 The former grace, the latter justice owns. 
 
 Of sounds, kind multiplex the note of praise, 
 
 The voice of prayer, the song of mirth, the shout 
 
 Of fierce embattled hosts, the groan of pain, 
 
 The victor's clarion, retreating hoofs 
 
 Of vanquished steeds, the thunder's roar, 
 
 Tbe bellowing of Vulcan's fires, uproar 
 
 Of wasting storms, the atmosphere conveys, 
 
 Pulsating each, in proper kind, to ears 
 
 Attuned most fine, with apprehension keen. 
 
 Light too, celestial, or of other spheres 
 
 Intact from sin's foul touch, has cognizance 
 
 Of acts terrene evading grosser sense. 
 
 Effects, interminate in space and time, 
 
 Their record make : e'en darkness has its cast 
 
 Of special type, its duplicate secures. 
 
 Light for the righteous sown will yet reveal 
 
 Its broadcast seed of thought, of word, of deed, 
 
 Matured to an all bounteous crop of joy, 
 
 When God shall manifest His scheme of grace. 
 
 Darkness appalling thought ! is graven deep 
 
 With lines of guilt, a horrid chronicle 
 
 For hopeless, shrieking, shudd'ring woe to read; 
 
 First at the judgment seat of Heaven's high Judge, 
 
 Then at its frightful leisure, through the lapse 
 
 Of countless years. No hoped for end consumes 
 
 The hateful task: the lesson deepens much; 
 
 Each look its sequel breeds more evil still. 
 
 Commencing lines are formed each moment there ; 
 
 The ebon palette occupies its place : 
 
 To write and read supplies a dismal work. 
 
238 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Unnumbered ages roll away; the work 
 
 Has hugely grown; the woe expansive spreads, 
 
 And deep'ning still, prevails; the guilt keeps pace; 
 
 Each paralleled by each. 
 
 And when the lustral fires their part assume, 
 
 Will they destroy th' effect of time 1 blot out 
 
 All traces of man's agency, and use 
 
 Of sensual gifts 1 Or will they only purge 
 
 All sequent cause of ill; and introduce 
 
 An age of glad effect from gladd'ning cause ? 
 
 Nature is full of causes and effects, 
 
 Which from their commonness escape our ken; 
 
 Yet do they send their consequence afar. 
 
 An acorn drops the oak less bend assumes, 
 
 From minished weight. The bee, on business bent, 
 
 Impends its weight on some inviting flower; 
 
 The air is cleft by its slow-nodding bloom; 
 
 The busy pilferer abandons this, 
 
 And this, resilient, cleaves the air again. 
 
 Intelligence is borne away to those 
 
 Who occupy far distant spheres; they feel 
 
 The busy throw of nature's shuttle, true 
 
 Throughout her loom. 
 
 And should a fiat of th' Almighty Will 
 
 Consign a sphere to primal nothingness, 
 
 The whole creation starts as if amazed; 
 
 Each orb assumes an altered course, traced out 
 
 By that set law, which the Almighty framed, 
 
 And watches o'er intent; for space is left 
 
 To be accounted for, and influence is now 
 
 To be re-balanced in the vast array, 
 
 For each attracts, each one repels; and all 
 
 Unite harmoniously in nature's hymn. 
 
HERE AND HEEEAFTEE. 239 
 
 And who shall calculate; unerring, fix 
 The site of each; and mark the foci of ellipse 
 Peculiar for each orb; or other form 
 Impress on tracks pursued by errant worlds ? 
 Who but the Architect of all can sum 
 The series infinite abstruse, and tell 
 The number of the stars; their residence 
 
 Most apposite 1 - 
 
 If we have here digressed 
 And we admit some small discursiveness 
 A kindred theme has lured us on : our mind 
 Has been impressed with what the crowd deride, 
 Or fail t' observe. Nature and grace prevail 
 To give to every cause its own effect : 
 And we have strayed, not vainly, to adduce 
 Some causes, trivial as they seem to some 
 With minds illogical, because these things 
 May almost rank with things impond'rable. 
 We would deduce a warning from it all, 
 And say Beware, man ! how thou dost feel, 
 Or think, or speak, or act; for neither thou, 
 Nor this, nor that, did at the time take leave 
 Of all effect beyond the moment of the deed. 
 Hereafter, when the summons shall be served 
 That cites thee to the awful judgment-seat, 
 All that proceeded from thee here shall seem 
 Fresh carved to meet thy gaze. None may avoid 
 To be arraigned; or to rehearse the lines 
 That each his own accountant then transcribed, 
 A faithful entry of his stewardship. 
 
 iii. In God's esteem, His Church is free from taint. 
 No spot of damning sin, or guilt, or aught 
 To move God from His grace can here exist. 
 
240 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 " Clean every whit," was said by Him who sees 
 
 Whate'er is done, and knows whate'er is thought. 
 
 Such is His estimate, He cannot err. 
 
 First sanctified, then justified,* as such 
 
 God views with admiration this fair thing; 
 
 Her garments wrought with gold : the king is pleased ; 
 
 Her beauty, His desire. Uncomeliness, 
 
 Which in her natural state was loathsomeness, 
 
 Is turned to great attractiveness and grace. 
 
 Hers, not for vanity, but love, and joy, 
 
 And glory to her Lord; a mirrored show 
 
 Of His great majesty, and moulding taste, 
 
 And constitutive skill. Fair as the moon, 
 
 And terrible as bannered hosts, she shines 
 
 With pure reflected light, light that is His 
 
 Who weds the heavenly bride. Her Lord He is ; 
 
 In Him, her Head, she holds all power that she, 
 
 Herself in subject might, will exercise. 
 
 With all this dignity, how could a flaw, 
 
 Or aught divergent from her purity, 
 
 Obtain a place 1 God is well pleased with her, 
 
 The Bride of His beloved Son; and, rich 
 
 In all th' adornments of His grace, she fills 
 
 The highest place in heaven most worthily, 
 
 With Him who shares with her His goodliness. 
 
 But in their Father's house the wards of grace 
 
 Are fashioned for the courts above ; and trained, 
 
 By time's vicissitudes, for heaven's great joy. 
 
 III. Faith, Hope, and Love have great ability 
 To build the Christian fane. These give much strength, 
 
 * Such seems to be the logical, as well as the Scriptural order 
 "but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified." Heavenly 
 wisdom, will not confound this with practical sanctification, viz. 
 holiness of life. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 241 
 
 Consistency, and gracefulness, and show 
 Of well-proportioned parts. Great architects 
 And builders too, they furnish plans ornate, 
 And execute the same in skilful work, 
 Elaborate. Time-proof materials glow, 
 Wrought by their skill, with living semblances 
 To one all-comprehensive type unique. 
 Life actuates all. The Corner-Stone has life 
 Essential life; and all, as living stones, 
 Are knit by this; each wrought and polished here, 
 Hewn in time's quarry, fashioned in the mode 
 Of heavenly workmanship. The artisans, 
 Conforming to the plan, much beautify 
 The temple residence of Him who dwells 
 Vice-regal there, there gives His utt'rance*. 
 Faith is an honored name; its drafts are good 
 On all the treasures of the unseen world, 
 As well as earthly stores; yet it would draw 
 But sparingly from these, for they maintain 
 A doubtful character at Heaven's high court. 
 Faith's view of incidental things of time 
 Receives a coloring from time's effects. 
 A good becomes an ill, an ill a good, 
 As it may be from corresponding ill, 
 Or some attendant good ; thus health is good, 
 But much an ill when in confederacy 
 With schemes of wrong, that else were left undone. 
 And sickness is a good, when such arrests 
 The steps of waywardness : a broken limb 
 Has saved a life; and even death itself 
 Has met a welcome as delivering from 
 A greater ill. So ills compose a good, 
 When wisely mixed; projections angular 
 
 Q 
 
242 HEBE AND HEEE AFTER. 
 
 Accommodate themselves and form a plane. 
 
 Some acids complicated make a sweet, 
 
 And poisons due equivalents observed 
 
 Give wholesome food, or drinks, or condiments. 
 
 Faith is a master hand at things of note. 
 
 It closes lions' mouths; denies to fire 
 
 Its scorching power; says to the Sun, stand still. 
 
 Great depths recede, and form a walled pathway 
 
 For those who flee; for those who seek their ill, 
 
 A fatal snare. The heavens withhold their rain 
 
 At Faith's command; again pour down their wealth 
 
 When Faith renews its suit. The dead are raised, 
 
 Deaf ears unstopped, the closed eye uncered 
 
 But time would fail to chronicle the power, 
 
 The deeds of Eaith. Based in eternity, 
 
 Its rock is Christ; its permanence, God's word. 
 
 Hope smiles expectingly : e'er confident, 
 It has no fears, lest it should haply miss 
 The promised good to come : the joy thereof 
 Lights up the present darksome scene ; where sights 
 And sounds oft fill with instant dread of ill. 
 With men 'tis but a baseless thing; it may, 
 Or it may not embrace some verity : 
 It is confessedly a dubious state 
 Of longing hearts for some outstanding good, 
 That may at last eventuate in loss, 
 In ruin, or in death. This is not hope, 
 But something like it, that has filched its name; 
 A mongrel and a sorry counterfeit; 
 For Hope has no uncertainty; no ebb 
 Nor flow. It is a broad expanse, where storms 
 Wreck not, where hapless barks ne'er strand ; whose waves 
 Spread not their terror on the shore, nor roar 
 
HERB AND HEREAFTER. 243 
 
 With presages of death. But time, most frail, 
 
 Can breed only loose frailties, and things 
 
 Which imitate, at best, immortal types. 
 
 The earthly hope bears disappointment oft; 
 
 And when it gains, sometimes the promised good 
 
 Is but an evil in disguise : thus sudden wealth 
 
 Is oft allied with great embarrassment; 
 
 The man who gains a hundred thousand pounds 
 
 Loses his intellect, and labors much, 
 
 With strange obliquity, to reconcile 
 
 The being of to-day and yesterday 
 
 In his own self. Another gains his suit 
 
 In courts of law : his being seemed wrapt up 
 
 In intricacies there; excitement ruled 
 
 The tenor of his life : that ceases now, 
 
 And he has lost as much as he has won; 
 
 And what he wins fails to supply his need, 
 
 For he has need of more than wealth can buy. 
 
 But genuine hope lays hold of unseen things, 
 
 And deems them certainties; well-pleased, awaits 
 
 The time most congruous to its ardent state. 
 
 Warm Love I who shall pourtray expressively 
 Its grace most sweet 1 Love is the elder grace, 
 Though in man's apprehension it has place 
 Sequent to Faith and Hope. She is from God : 
 His heart the spring, His grace the channeled course 
 From Heaven to earth, from earth to Heaven; on earth 
 The peaceful arbitress of diff' ring claims. 
 
 FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE ! meek triad intertwined ! 
 Of heavenly stature, Love, with circling arms, 
 Embraces her bright twins for she conceived 
 The sister pair they walk in wisdom's ways. 
 Eternal joy illumes, sweet fellowship 
 
244 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Delights. Now Faith and Hope hold tenure here, 
 
 Endure time's course, and then give place to sight; 
 
 But Love remains : her offspring have respect 
 
 To unseen verities; deep-musing, search 
 
 All evidence of that not yet revealed; 
 
 Not prompted by suspicion of its kind, 
 
 But much to serve their growth and healthiness. 
 
 They have no part in things that do appear, 
 
 But things not seen engage their earnestness, 
 
 Whilst Love combines the both : she longs to see 
 
 Her absent Lord, rejoices in His grace, 
 
 As shewn in tokens of His deep regard : 
 
 She well appreciates His long delay. 
 
 Eternal growth is hers, expanding heart 
 
 And limbs of heavenly mould. 
 
 Love had not been exhibited to man 
 
 In its most brilliant form, but for man's fall. 
 
 Such is God's way; an evil imminent 
 
 May traverse plans, and seem to mar them all; 
 
 They issue in th' accomplishment ; either 
 
 By infinite subjection of their ill, 
 
 Or that they form designedly a woof 
 
 In that great chequered fabric Time has wrought. 
 
 ii. Courage proceeds from Faith, the soldier's mark 
 Of excellence; and knowledge, skilled to use 
 The weapons of his art, and to evolve 
 The treasures of the military store : 
 And temperance that conserves efficiency: 
 And patience under toil, and weariness, 
 And watchings, perils, hunger, thirst, and cold, 
 And heat, and evils multitudinous. 
 And godliness, which shews peculiar ways, 
 Provoking much hostility from those 
 
HERE AND HEKEAFTER. 245 
 
 Who count it righteous overmuch. 
 
 And kindness brotherly springs from the bond 
 
 Uniting all in close relationship. 
 
 Love crowns the whole; love first, love last. 
 
 iii. Hope, ever bright, waits patiently till Time 
 Has merged in glad eternity; her term 
 Is just coincident with that: when Time 
 Has ceased to roam amid our monuments, 
 Cathedrals, art repositaries, all 
 That art, yea all that nature's hand has raised 
 When Time has ceased to lay his withering hand 
 On all these things, Hope's mission then has closed. 
 Then she and Faith mount up to whence they came; 
 There, by a heavenly alchemy, they change to Sight. 
 
 iv. Love in its earthly form has many things 
 Which, integrant, give her a heavenly guise. 
 Thus Light, e'en here below, has her esteem 
 In which to dwell, her constant habitat. 
 Not of man's day, for that is gross, contrived 
 For earthly need, material, suited well 
 To man's estate: but Love has other need; 
 With heavenly tendency and heavenly joys, 
 The light of life alone could satisfy 
 Conditions of her state. 
 
 " A friend at all times loves : " this love would lead 
 A man sometimes e'en to deny himself 
 What he desires, that he may thus consult 
 The good or pleasure of the one he loves; 
 And thus he proves his love. Did he persist, 
 Although he knows the loved one would be grieved, 
 His love would thus be tarnished with the breath 
 Of selfishness. Self is most surely served 
 In serving others first: the number One 
 
246 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of which men speak, and boast their care of it 
 In precedency of all other cares, 
 Is truly not our Self : this number One 
 Is Christ who once, when with the towel girt, 
 Washed His disciples' feet our Master, Lord. 
 This Self-Denial, which directly shews our love, 
 Doth indirectly best secure our good. 
 Indulgence gross, even of lawful things, 
 Blunts the keen edge of appetite refined. 
 A sting accompanies the sweet, and when 
 The latter fails to satisfy, the sting 
 Increasingly annoys. Of that which helps 
 To build and constitute the frame of life 
 A little cheers, invigorates; excess 
 Breeds wantonness and much satiety, 
 And loathing of the joy, or spent control, 
 Or incapacity to pluck the wholesome fruit. 
 Self-judgment may renew the terms, 
 And give fresh excellence; but errors made 
 Deduct a little from the sum; not hence 
 Unmitigated ill; nay, rather good 
 Results from penitent resolves, if made 
 With solemn rectitude, and quick retreat 
 From inadvertent or deliberate wrong. 
 God is well-pleased if we confess the sin 
 And, prompt, forsake it too; and even men 
 Admit the gracefulness of such a course. 
 Anger is thus disarmed, and in its stead 
 Forgiveness qualifies for intercourse, 
 Renewed and welcomed cordially : the heart, 
 Estranged from God or man by selfish ways, 
 Is much corrected, and prepared indeed 
 For future exigence, by lowliness 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 247 
 
 Through apprehension of its waywardness. 
 
 Next to the man who never sins stands he, 
 
 In excellence and imminence of love, 
 
 Who owns a fault : save me from him who hides 
 
 In furious blame, or wounded pride, or shame, 
 
 The pressing claims that consciousness must make, 
 
 Unless indeed the conscience is debased. 
 
 I love my race, I do not love their ways, 
 
 Their guilt, their folly; these are mine as well. 
 
 Why should we add to incidental ills, 
 
 Which spring from intercourse of diff 'ring minds, 
 
 Th' injustice of persistence in a wrong; 
 
 And irritate yet more a wounded heart 
 
 By harsh continuance in th' unfriendly state 1 
 
 Oh ! cultivate the wholesome, earnest work, 
 
 Distasteful though it be, of finding fault 
 
 With self ; much diligence will give success : 
 
 And dropping self-esteem awhile, ere long 
 
 Great restitution will repair the loss. 
 
 The child that disobeys does somewhat fear 
 
 That he imperils thus a father's love; 
 
 It may be so; the mother may forsake 
 
 Her helpless babe, the sire forget his love : 
 
 Not so with God. The child of God will fear; 
 
 And if he fears the rod for naughtiness 
 
 'Tis well : his love, though not destroyed, yet lacks 
 
 The freshness of his early days, obscured 
 
 By injury done to One who claims from him 
 
 The best that he can give his heart, his love. 
 
 Such a return is not determinate, 
 
 And so is fallible; in charge of man 
 
 It has his tendency. " Love perfected 
 
 Removes all fear:" a sense of guiltiness 
 
248 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Obtrudes unfriendliness, a shy retreat 
 
 From wonted intercourse. This state of things 
 
 Would but intensify, if left to him 
 
 Who wanders in his course; but He who claims 
 
 The loving heart provokes it ever with 
 
 His own most loving ways, and suffers not 
 
 The natural bent t' obtain maturity. 
 
 Love does not change its character, its phase 
 
 Is varied much: just as the Moon is fair 
 
 And clear, if but the medium of our view 
 
 Does represent it so; if dulled with mists 
 
 We see a murky thing : or, as our sight, 
 
 If inefficient, crowds a landscape thick 
 
 With forms obscure, and fails to classify, 
 
 Or individualize; a lens gives power: 
 
 So we have need of euphrasy divine 
 
 To purge the humors of the mental eye, 
 
 That we may see what exhalations gross 
 
 Have much belied; and seeing what is not, 
 
 We fear a natural sequence to the phantasy. 
 
 God changes not is writ indelibly 
 
 For them who have the eyes to see, and ears 
 
 To hear: then let our fears be not that God 
 
 Can ever change, but that our waywardness 
 
 May challenge some mutation of His mode 
 
 Of discipline : yet even this, if weighed 
 
 And judged with cool constraint, will much induce 
 
 A perfect confidence, for wisdom guides. 
 
 This is most manifest; for he who wrote 
 
 Sententious wisdom tells us that " a child 
 
 Left to himself will bring to shame the one 
 
 Who gave him birth." If God then so disrobes 
 
 His tenderness, and for our good assumes 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 249 
 
 A sternness foreign to His heart, He claims 
 The more our confidence. Thus boldness grows:* 
 And, if our hearts condemn us not, we ask, 
 Assured that we shall have all our requests ; 
 As they are framed not by our natural sense, 
 But sanctified by prayer and the Word. 
 
 Thus has the Spirit's work been faintly traced, 
 And more is left unsaid than has been said. 
 Some may denounce the measure, some the kind : 
 Dry doctrines may amuse some minds; and some 
 Delight in works a priori; some few 
 A due admixture of the both approve, 
 The works posterior to the faith; for such 
 Our pages may afford some hints. 
 
 Press Education much, this first, this last; 
 But base it on the text book of our faith: 
 Then it will lend a powerful aid to stem 
 The current of those generative ills 
 That roll in frightful rapids down our streets. 
 Ah no ! it suits not man's estate; he owns 
 Another guide, the spirit of the world. 
 Progress, the watchword of the times, ignores 
 Divine expediency, adopts man's law 
 And man's development; whereas 'twere best 
 That wise repression ruled in his affairs. 
 If ignorance is fruitful in dark crimes, 
 Knowledge is readier still to plot, and guide 
 Some meaner hand to execute; so mar 
 The little social good now left. 
 But shall we dignify this craftiness, 
 Give it relationship to knowledge; or, 
 In stricter justice own that ignorance 
 
250 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Induces crime the ignorance of that 
 Which might prevent? or rather more; may not, 
 In spite of knowledge of a moral kind, 
 The heart depraved sum up the consequence, 
 And yet resolve to have its horrid feast, 
 By unclean courses fed adultery, 
 Lasciviousness, seditions, murders, strifes, 
 Led on and stimulated by the craft of hell ? 
 Conservative, the Spirit wisely draws 
 His lessons from the written Word of God. 
 That men, as they have handled this, have left 
 Some f oulings there, is not to be denied : 
 But He who framed the institutes at first, 
 Knows how to sift the precious from the vile. 
 The natural man would rudely deal with this, 
 And treat it as a common thing, whilst yet 
 The Deity is there. If one will use, 
 And safely exercise his mind and heart 
 With God's most holy book, then let him seek 
 The Spirit's guidance there : self-confident, 
 He but ensures discrepancy, and toil 
 Disheartening and drear. 
 
 Now to the Triune God the Father, Son, 
 And Holy Spirit, three in One, be praise, 
 Here and hereafter here where evil reigns, 
 And there where angel hosts and ransomed ones 
 Shall ever raise their tuneful songs ; Amen. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 THE MILLENIUM, 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 Introduction. The King of nations. Character of the Millenium. 
 Relation of man to man. The walk of Pleasure. Duration 
 of life. Natural changes. The arch of Heaven. Regions of 
 the air. The regions under the earth. Inhabitants thereof. 
 A conclave there Satan, Beelzebub, Apollyon, and others. 
 Despair breaks it up. A subsequent meeting. Results. 
 Final committal of evil spirits. Time's close. 
 
 MILLENIAL rest now sing. Awhile presume 
 
 To look beyond this age : and in advance 
 
 Contemplate meek the glories of that state. 
 
 Visit the unseen world; let Fancy sketch 
 
 But not uncurbed the doings of that place. 
 
 Consistency observe in portraiture, 
 
 In converse representative; sweet truth 
 
 Maintain, albeit lies should importune 
 
 As urged by wounded pride and thwarted views. 
 
 If aught is hazarded, depicting means 
 
 To gain an end that end not unrevealed 
 
 Let strict sobriety define its terms, 
 
 Nor let the understanding shun its laws. 
 
 God uses means, as oft what others plan, 
 
 As those which He Himself may plan; and all 
 
 To bring about His sundry purposes. 
 
 Time, space, and matter all are conversant 
 
252 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 With this decree; and all are building up 
 
 This universal frame. The many work 
 
 They know not why; nor do they stay t' enquire, 
 
 If rational, how tends their endless course. 
 
 The issues they propose, it may be, stretch 
 
 No further than their present need; content 
 
 To find their exigencies met ; or if 
 
 They go beyond, and tax their current strength, 
 
 It is to meet some further, later need. 
 
 Their insight does not compliment their skill 
 
 To penetrate arcana of the unseen world : 
 
 Or how, or why, the Architect thereof, 
 
 As well as of this world and its concerns, 
 
 Doth work unceasingly. We might conceive 
 
 A sole Divinity, a Three in One, 
 
 An awful Monos, self-involved, implex 
 
 In dread infinity, eternity, 
 
 That give no rest to finite minds, if they 
 
 Attempt their gauge : we might conceive of such, 
 
 For such there must have been how long such held 
 
 The solitary reign, thought shrinks amazed 
 
 From dwelling on : but with the due constraint 
 
 Of Sovereign will, the teeming worlds appeared, 
 
 From nothing sprang to being at the word 
 
 Of Him, with whom to will is as to do. 
 
 Then agencies began : insentient, some 
 
 His bidding do unerringly; and some, 
 
 With mind endowed, rebellion perpetrate. 
 
 What may have been ere God revealed Himself 
 
 First in the spot where, as His archives shew, 
 
 Our common Sire, not ignorant, presumed 
 
 To dare His frown, God has not chronicled. 
 
 The period is not distant far, when Sight 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 253 
 
 Shall gaze, and travel unrebuked look back 
 And view the past, in earnest retrospect; 
 Or, unrestrained, investigate the whole, 
 Both causes and effects, that circle round 
 Its being and its state. Then will the heart 
 Delight and revel in no dangerous joys, 
 No hazardous employ. Th' Almighty hand 
 Will firmly grasp all it has made : and should 
 The great Contriver e'er again project 
 Some other state original; its laws 
 Will e'er prospect eternity : no flaw 
 Will weaken their extent, or damage aught 
 Of their design, should post-eternity 
 Protract their hoar continuance. 
 
 The King of nations now we celebrate; 
 Who, God and man, unites the claims of both. 
 Shall it be deemed incredible that He, 
 Who came the King of Glory, and avowed 
 His royalty, His heavenly parentage, 
 His princely line of birth, should suffer men 
 And devils, in their rage, to work their will, 
 To banish Him from His domains on earth, 
 And not successfully appeal at last ] 
 It does not meet the case to say that He 
 Wrought out Redemption's scheme, the more prevailed 
 That they so madly sought to nullify 
 His righteous claims. Most true, but not the less 
 They triumphed and suppressed His sovereign state : 
 For hear His words, "I am a King:" they mocked, 
 Invested Him with marks of royalty 
 In rude contempt, as giving Him His rights. 
 Again admire and wonder, but forbear 
 To reconcile what human thought may cloud, 
 
254 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Not harmonize. Christ came into the world, 
 
 " Was born to be a King," with might t' enforce, 
 
 And wisdom to ensure this cherished aim, 
 
 This purpose of His will; and yet He dies, 
 
 The King of Israel dies; thrust out, He leaves 
 
 His heritage to foes, retires amidst 
 
 Derisive plaudits, shouts, and bitter taunts, 
 
 And challenges to prove what He avers. 
 
 Man has his way, and prospers in his course ; 
 
 Rejects God's present good, but He evolves 
 
 A greater good thereby, victorious in 
 
 A seeming overthrow. And shall He not 
 
 Take up the broken chain, united by 
 
 The link of grace, and here much eulogize 
 
 His sovereign rule 1 He will. The day of grace 
 
 Endures a little while; its complement 
 
 Is short; when that is filled, a thousand years 
 
 Will run their course, then Time will close. 
 
 A greater good than man has yet enjoyed 
 
 Shall fill the earth; and peace and righteousness 
 
 Shall meet in amity, the both conserved. 
 
 Yet grace will not, as now, allow the mind 
 
 To plot, the hand to execute man's will: 
 
 All wrong will meet a speedy, strict award. 
 
 Excision, holy, just, wil! 4 vindicate 
 
 The righteous King's esteem of righteousness, 
 
 And strict subjection to His kingly will. 
 
 Then sin will hide its head, lurk in the heart, 
 
 And seldom dare to shew its front : not urged 
 
 By Hell's great chief, with legionary aid 
 
 Of trooping fiends, sin lies a buried seed 
 
 Deep in its genial soil, the human heart. 
 
 As in the natural mould, seed deeply sunk, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 255 
 
 Denied the stimulant of light, remains 
 In germinating power obtused; but when 
 Released, and circumstanced with fav'ring help, 
 It thrusts its rootlet down for nourishment; 
 Obtrudes its style and leaves, and fructifies 
 And bears yet other seed, and multiplies. 
 So usually the heart in this glad time, 
 Will hold subsidence of its turbid state ; 
 Provocatives awanting, seldom then 
 Will consciousness of aught malevolent, 
 Or adverse to the righteous rale, exist. 
 
 Set free from certain dogmas, so esteemed 
 That to impeach their soundness were to risk 
 Impeachment of one's sanity, but which indeed 
 Are fruitful sources of abounding ill; 
 Set free from these so tyrannous, because 
 So self-imposed the world will freely breathe, 
 And prove the wisdom of that social law, 
 " Thou shalt thy neighbor love e'en as thyself." 
 The good will be interpreted aright. 
 No coffers crammed with gold, and intersticed 
 With groans and curses of the suff ring poor. 
 No vineyard reft by kingly hands, to swell 
 The royal lot, because contiguous. 
 No hoarding of the cereal crops, until 
 The owner reads of high quotations, raised 
 Up to the point that justifies delay. 
 No sleekened coat of worn-out steed, worked up 
 To take the eye, and hide the ruin there. 
 Content abounds, for need is simplified, 
 Diminished much; and so demands are met 
 Most readily. Labor, still good, but free 
 From bending toil, supplies the daily bread. 
 
256 HERE AND HEREAFTER 
 
 War in his gory shroud, lies buried low, 
 Deep in the battle field; and gentle Peace, 
 So long o'ercome, o'ercomes at last; and there 
 A mound is raised of broken shields, and swords, 
 And shivered spears, and balls, and empty shells. 
 Hatred has fled, prime minister of Strife, 
 And sought and found a residence below. 
 Ambition lowers now her haughty front; 
 And Envy shrinks despised. Malice and Rage, 
 Ashamed, retire, as not enduring smiles 
 And offices of love. Impatient Spite delays 
 Its fretfulness, and surreptitious clutch. 
 Its mannered Obloquy has quite forgot 
 Its busy ways and thriftless diligence. 
 Commerce still lives and thrives, but not as once, 
 Purveying for insatiate lusts. It serves 
 For happy intercourse, and interchange 
 Of what each nation yields profuse, and thus 
 A balance keeps. Nor does it register 
 In golden characters, on ledger graved, 
 And on subsidiary books as well 
 " In cheapest markets buy, in dearest sell." 
 This fairest maxim of our days has grown 
 In disrepute; for when examined well 
 It makes disclosure of a selfish flaw; 
 Of base attempts to lower or to raise 
 The market price as suits the business man. 
 " He will be rich;" this is most popular; 
 This great first rule is unimpeachable 
 In days precedent of millenial joy, 
 When man declares another's honesty 
 Imperative; his own desirable, 
 If so his coffers may be quickly filled. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 257 
 
 But when the days of godless rule have passed, 
 No longer fearing lest his neighbor wins 
 As well as he, the man of business knows 
 And occupies his place ; and gladly finds 
 That occupation in itself is good. 
 
 Pleasure still trips along the sunny glades, 
 Or traverses the streets of busy towns, 
 Or smiles in warehouse rooms; her garland throws 
 Around the well-set limbs of laboring swains. 
 She claims affinity in every house ; 
 And, welcome, joins their cares, excluding gloom 
 And anxious thoughts; their sports, securing good. 
 The ox, when at the plough, her visits shares, 
 And, cheerful, leaves the furrow in his track. 
 The horse receives her as his charge, and trots 
 The lighter for his load : the ass its welcome gives. 
 Nature no longer sighs, her groans are hushed : 
 This genial visitant, with subtile power, 
 Has sought all avenues; through all her veins 
 Infused a joyous thrill. The heavens rejoice; 
 The earth is glad ; the sea its roar keeps up, 
 Its fulness brings, in happy industry : 
 There Pleasure trills her lays, instils sweet joy. 
 The fields, and all therein, trees of the wood, 
 And hill and dale rejoice; give forth their praise 
 In living strains : relieved from pilfering hands, 
 And many foes, fowls of the air recite 
 Their merry song, and warble out their thanks. 
 There Pleasure keeps high court; detraction's spleen 
 Assails her not, though decked in gay attire. 
 But chiefly in the courts of God's own house 
 Is pleasure found; there she delights in song, 
 And minstrelsy; there she presides, intones 
 
 B 
 
258 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Its services; prolongs the organ's swell, 
 And leads the choral symphonies; and there 
 The harps of God owe much their excellence 
 Of heart-felt tone to her inspiring power. 
 
 Ere childhood merges into youth, its term 
 Has reached a hundred years; and virile strength 
 Endures to seven-fold this. A thousand years 
 Will scarce exhaust th' extended span of life. 
 Trees will their vigor lose and die, ere man, 
 Who in his childhood set the tender twig, 
 Initiates the downward path of life. 
 The vineyard, planted by the owner's hand, 
 Exhausted, fails ere he himself declines. 
 The builder sees the stately house he reared 
 In mouldering state, ere he himself departs. * 
 
 The mount of God presents a wondrous change. 
 The lion's nature fails, his sanguine thirst 
 Is quenched : no longer does the calf provoke 
 Fell, ravening jaws; the fatling's tender flesh 
 Invites no more; now herding with the ox 
 The lion stretches out his massive limbs; 
 The leopard and the kid, in playful mood, 
 Display disparity; the cow and bear 
 Greet with soft friendliness : no violence 
 Can happen there in Zion's favored spot. 
 The nations all around recline at ease, 
 Not fearing warlike din, or clash of arms, 
 Or martial shout; the cause of war has ceased. 
 Nor does the husbandman in vain pursue 
 His daily toil; he reaps a full reward 
 Of corn, and wine, and oil; and harvest home 
 A grateful offering yields to Him who gives 
 
 * Isaiah Ixv. 20, &c. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 259 
 
 The springing blade and ripening ear : milk flows 
 
 In copious streams; rich apian stores abound 
 
 In hives, or crannied rocks, or hollow trees. 
 
 The Sun has ceased to scorch, the moon to blight. 
 
 The lightning's vivid flash, the thunder's roar, 
 
 Forbear to terrify. Nor drenching rain, 
 
 Nor drought, nor blight, nor adverse wind, 
 
 Nor fouling insect any more oppress. 
 
 All nature blooms: springs in the desert rise; 
 
 The wilderness, reclaimed, spurns barrenness, 
 
 And yields its floral meed. 
 
 Now look above. The arch of Heaven presents 
 A spacious race-course where the glorious Sun 
 His journey runs : at night the same is seen 
 By native light, one vast continuous block 
 Of granite, quarried by Almighty hands, 
 And wrought illusive show in concave form; 
 Thus meeting by its span the earth's outstretched 
 And green convexity; contrives with that 
 A spheric lune, shifting as oft the foot 
 Alights on other track. Above, below, 
 Within, what marvels there abound ! 
 The arch above suggests empyrean light; 
 Magnificent avowal of the throne of God. 
 A wondrous screen, dissevering mortal gaze 
 From uncreated things; glory prevails 
 Ineffable, and all its ways and means 
 Of manifesting God supremely there. 
 
 The lune itself survey. Ere now th' abode 
 Of spirits foul, dark plotters of all ill; 
 There they have reared their schemes, there counter- wrought 
 To all God's plans of good, thence poured th' effects 
 Of malice, rage, and baffled aim, and drenched 
 
260 HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Terrestrial plains. Sin, pioneer of Death, 
 
 Was their device, to imbricate man's state 
 
 With woe continuous, so in its track 
 
 Are found griefs wasting, multitudinous. 
 
 All life, through them, is burdened with complaints. 
 
 The laboring soul is pressed with many cares, 
 
 The body with sad complicate distress; 
 
 In that are passions raging fatally, 
 
 And pale-faced Malady in this contrives 
 
 A sore amount of pain. The end is near 
 
 The end of power thus rancorously abused; 
 
 Power used oppressively, and ruinous 
 
 For all the subjects of its rule a rule 
 
 Not always harsh, but always false : at times 
 
 It takes a guise most tyrannous, usurps 
 
 The mental state of man, controls the will, 
 
 Subjects the mortal part to servitude, 
 
 Or throws it helpless on the strand of Time. 
 
 But worse than all is that dread power that blinds 
 
 Men's hearts, and shuts them up in ignorance 
 
 Of that about to be the judgment-seat, 
 
 The great Assize for guilt, the awful drop 
 
 That launches into woe, the endless grief, 
 
 The sovereign grace that saves. 
 
 The sound of war is heard: heaven's legions move 
 
 Against the rebel host those Michael leads, 
 
 And Satan these. No foaming steeds are there, 
 
 No armaments, or mortal weapons framed 
 
 For mortal strife. Impalpable, they meet; 
 
 In dread encounter urge their might; the one, 
 
 In fateful lunacy, to keep their place, 
 
 So long usurped: the other, light-sustained, 
 
 In heavenly confidence, to vindicate 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 261 
 
 God's righteous wrath, and execute His will. 
 
 Short is the contest, short the pass at arms 
 
 Of those well-ordered combatants : though they, 
 
 As spiritual, utter no sounds, yet he 
 
 Who 'gainst the man of Uz aroused the powers 
 
 Of nature's elements the fire of heaven 
 
 That burnt his flocks; the desolating storm 
 
 That overthrew his house, and those therein 
 
 Gave to a sudden death; now with his host 
 
 Calls up a din and war of sounds that strike 
 
 Old Time with great amazement, and premise 
 
 Some era in his flight of solemn kind. 
 
 Yea, such it is. The day of evil wanes 
 
 Its sun has set 'tis dusk. An omened peace 
 
 A lull unnatural has introduced 
 
 Its evening's short repose; a brief suspense 
 
 Derides men's hope, which they have registered 
 
 Sententiously "a good time coming yet." 
 
 A glare lights up the sce~ne all seems on fire 
 
 The lightning's zigzag course, and sheety form, 
 
 Express, in deaf ning tones, their fearful power. 
 
 The mountain tops, aspiring domes, cities 
 
 That pierce the clouds with pinnacles of pride, 
 
 Receive th' electric shock confess their grief 
 
 In bursting throes, and toppled eminence. 
 
 The frightened earth quakes with the awful noise, 
 
 The heavens themselves are trembling with dismay. 
 
 The winds seem marshaled for a tournament; 
 
 Adverse they rush, and meet with angry roar; 
 
 Then prone descend, dispart the stubborn rocks, 
 
 And strew them helplessly. All nature owns 
 
 A crisis in her malady Woe, woe ! 
 
 Ah ! woe to thee by reason of the trumps 
 
262 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of angels yet to sound. An angel fallen 
 Removes the hideous cause from heaven to earth. 
 His power is circumscribed; but more enraged, 
 That he and his, so long the tenants there 
 Where He who is as God has foiled their might, 
 Are exiled now for an eternal term. 
 Yes, Michael's arm prevails : although his foe 
 Has gathered all his host, and urged the Powers 
 With subtle arguments; reminding them 
 How great the stake for which they fight; how great 
 The shame defeat will bring; how deep the gulf 
 Awaiting them. Prudence restrains the pen , 
 Lest it attempt that which would bring contempt. 
 A contest is involved two armies meet 
 And one at least is yet to be convinced 
 Of might superior to its own, else why 
 The issue try 1 ? The fact is evident; the mode, 
 A mystery. If men meet men in fight 
 Their blows give pain and death; and these 
 May cause defeat and flight : but spirits war 
 Exempt from these sore disabilities. 
 Sheer might prevails to hurl defeated might 
 Down from the airy heights the means are hid. 
 Imagination might invent some scene 
 Where warriors of colossal bulk are matched 
 With foes of kindred height, whose force tears up 
 Firm-rooted rocks mere missiles in their hands: 
 Whose strength drives far the vengeful blade within 
 The riven side, that gapes with deathless pain. 
 But such would need deep coloring and skill 
 To hide the monstrous flaws; art would enlarge 
 Her claims to that degree which few could meet. 
 Satan is now cast down great is his rage 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 263 
 
 His time on earth is short : this he will crowd 
 With schemes malevolent; in it condense 
 The wonders of an age releasing bands 
 Intelligent, from regions subterrene. 
 With this infernal agency he will evoke 
 Unheard of ills : by other means, evolve 
 Great intellectual stores. Frail man is placed 
 Between these two their forces play on him : 
 By one he is induced to hail that time 
 Predicted by man's fond solicitude; 
 When good that he desires shall be confirmed 
 Through man's development : the other mocks 
 His cherished hope with adverse evidence 
 Of damnatory power one nurtures hope; 
 The other breeds despair. Deluded much, 
 Men trust the lie attested by great signs 
 Which God Himself confirms; retributive, 
 For they have had delight in wickedness. 
 Now Satan's scheme is ripe to give the world 
 A risen one, so blend God's plan and his, 
 That all must be deceived except the few 
 Who, in the love of truth, that truth conserve. 
 Now look again, and with the eye of faith. 
 Ethereal space is occupied with hosts 
 That hitherto could not inhabit there, 
 For there impurity was found; unclean 
 In God's esteem, it was no fitting place 
 Wherein to bring the objects of His love 
 The Bride* and Bridegroom of His grace. 
 Now He, the Son of God, has purified 
 The many mansions of His Father's house; 
 Behold the meeting in the air foretold 
 In early time, and thus fulfilled. 
 
264 HERE AND HEKEAFTEK 
 
 The nether arc, earth's crust, conglomerate 
 Of rocks, and sand, and clay, and shells, debris 
 Of former occupants, and skeletons 
 Of tribes that trod the plains, or cleft the air, 
 Or peopled ocean's depths, abuts far down 
 A hundred miles as some assert on fire, 
 On liquid fire, a bottomless abyss : 
 Roofed in secure, it foils e'en spirit power 
 To broach, when by a stronger arm immured ; 
 And corporate forms, judicially condemned 
 To roam the spacious sphere, find nought throughout 
 Correlative, but to the central point 
 They tend; yet buoyant, so that in despair 
 They seek and find the horrid roof, jutting 
 With crags, and caverns drear scooped by the surf; 
 Where lurk unearthly monsters, hideous shapes 
 Of hell begot. All these a welcome hiss 
 To those who enter there, deep-loathing guests: 
 Infernal baying too, and echoing roar, 
 Surprise their ears : again they, shudd'ring, trace 
 In fiery depths a headlong shrieking course : 
 Again ascend and find an outlet, tunneled up 
 To realms above, through which the molten mass 
 Euns bellowing with a frightful surge. 
 Sometimes a flaming jet is seen, which once 
 Mere fancy deemed the vent of Vulcan's forge 
 A near approach to stern reality 
 This belches out its cumbrous, scorching freight, 
 Encrusts earth's plains and clambers city walls 
 With cruel creep a slow resistless course, 
 O'erwhelms the fated town, or else it shakes 
 Its dust of death o'er all, and so entombs 
 The busy crowd surprised in life's great game. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 265 
 
 The Worm is there that never dies, swarming 
 
 In countless myriads through the vast abyss. 
 
 This tortuous thing, with entozoic power, 
 
 Inhabits all who dwell in that dark world; 
 
 For ever feeding on consumeless things. 
 
 There Death prevails, dread King of all the place, 
 
 Cold, passionless, unmoved; with subtile power 
 
 To hold his sway; impassive, occupies 
 
 All other occupants. Satan himself, 
 
 Who had the power of death, his subject now 
 
 Is powerless 'gainst his introvenient might. 
 
 In him Death holds high court; his ruthless grasp, 
 
 Relaxing not, holds him pre-eminent. 
 
 Fit usurpation this, that he, who framed, 
 
 And introduced, and gave encouragement 
 
 To such a cruel lord, should, in his turn, 
 
 A forced allegiance give. So Death, immortal, reigns. 
 
 There rolls, in sinuous folds, the wily Snake, 
 
 Th' old Serpent named; voluminous, his length 
 
 A frightful coil; outstretched, pervading far 
 
 The sweltering sphere. There the red Dragon too 
 
 Parades his scaly pride; with hideous jaws 
 
 Still ravening, but restrained; his hapless prey 
 
 Is with him there : by him and them these halls 
 
 Are traversed as their endless prison-house. 
 
 Huge length of tail is his, with which he swept 
 
 Heaven's canopy, assayed the stars, and drew 
 
 Out of their spheres a third, hurled to the earth. 
 
 A foiled antagonist, he still retains 
 
 In dread remembrance Michael's potent arm. 
 
 The earth received him first smarting with wounds, 
 
 And there awhile he urged his hate; but now 
 
 The lake of fire re-bellows with his maimed pride. 
 
266 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Here now he roams with all his vanquished hosts, 
 
 A spirit-army, quelled by Him whose wrath they dared. 
 
 There Moloch raves, and in a horrid gorge 
 
 Awaits, as if expecting victims still: 
 
 Eternal vigils meet eternal shame. 
 
 There Dagon's truncate form, Jehovah's scorn, 
 
 Surmounts a pedestal of jutting rock, 
 
 Laved by the fretting tide with ceaseless roll. 
 
 There Ashtaroth attempts a winning smile, 
 
 That issues in a grin preposterous. 
 
 And Tammuz shews his wound, and still invites 
 
 The pitying wail ; but sobs are bowlings now. 
 
 Remphan is there, his star sulphureous burns. 
 
 Infernal locusts swarm in hellish mail, 
 
 And scorpions dire enact their cruel part, 
 
 In that dread scheme of everlasting pain. 
 
 What drear abodes ! what hideous company 
 
 For men whom God besought; who, heedless, spurned 
 
 Eternal life ! who once on earth partook 
 
 God's bounty, and despised his grace; who soiled, 
 
 With impious feet, that blood which, flowing, met 
 
 The tide of hell, and stayed its hissing course; 
 
 But which, dishonored foul with gross attempts 
 
 To supplement its claims, leaves to the foe 
 
 The rash detractor of its worth. Engulphed 
 
 And buried in the sea of death, no more 
 
 Does Hope relieve; no more are terms proposed; 
 
 Nor aught residual of Redemption's scheme 
 
 Avails, for that makes no account of Hell. 
 
 Each there repeats his contumacious course 
 
 That he initiated in the plains above, 
 
 In all its purposes, but lacks the power 
 
 T' indulge and quench the raging lust within. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 267 
 
 The murderer with cruel nerve and cheek 
 
 Unblanched; the suicide, with weary heart; 
 
 The covetous, with eager greed; th' adulterer, 
 
 With burning veins; the liar, face to face 
 
 With him that first the subterfuge employed. 
 
 And there the fierce oppressor clanks the chain 
 
 He welded for his hapless victim's thrall : 
 
 Death oft enfranchised such, foully immured 
 
 In cheerless vaults, denied the light of life; 
 
 He now assumes th' unpitying tyrant's place, 
 
 Nor has he relevance of hope : though once 
 
 He gave dismissal to the burdened soul, 
 
 That cared not to enquire with what intent; 
 
 Now in his second sphere of rule, he flings 
 
 The suppliant back, mocks the great agony, 
 
 And spurns the frantic prayer. Advance of night 
 
 Makes no approach of day; for Darkness grim, 
 
 Morose, and vigilant, keeps watch, and bars 
 
 Th' access of light. There Memory fertile grows, 
 
 And reproduces all her teeming store 
 
 Of thoughts, of words, of deeds, of vows unkept, 
 
 Of broken oaths, of pledges unredeemed, 
 
 Of outraged confidence, polluted beds, 
 
 Wrecked faith, and all the nameless wrongs 
 
 That load the breast with sighs, the heart with grief. 
 
 Oblivion has beguilement none in these abodes. 
 
 Th' imprisoned sluggish tide partakes the whirl 
 Of all th' imposed and ponderous weight without; 
 But, where the pole impends, there this is small, 
 And hence recession of the flood which frets 
 Th' incumbent roof. A cavern hence results 
 Lugubrious, serving well hell's purposes. 
 Here then, both roaming fiends and corp'rate forms 
 
268 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Are met; a partial resurrection serves 
 Satanic schemes. Cain with his savage front 
 And mark indelible, and murderous club. 
 There, tow'ring high, the hybrid progeny 
 Of sons of God and daughters fair of men. 
 There Nimrod lifts pre-eminent his head, 
 That barely tolerates the lofty roof. 
 There Esau mourns his birth-right once despised; 
 And there the Pharoah drives his vengeful car. 
 There Anak's lofty brow defiance scowls. 
 Goliath too, his gory sword unsheaths, 
 A phantom duplicate of that huge brand 
 Wherewith he thought to slay the shepherd youth. 
 There Rapha's brood parade columnar bulk. 
 Og, Bashan's king, maintains his stalwart height 
 'Mid kindred forms. Belshazzar there conceits 
 Proud Babel's mimic state. Assyria's pomp 
 In Sardan gleams. Black visaged Haman glares. 
 Antiochus is there, God's raging foe. 
 There Herod, famous for his mad attempt 
 To slay the babe of Bethlehem : and there 
 Iscariot too, the traitorous friend, still plots. 
 Additions yet arrive, for they have learnt 
 That mighty projects occupy the powers. 
 These all have lost their jargon, and assume 
 Hell's intercourse of thought. 
 Despair, sometimes a visitant elsewhere, 
 Has here her proper home, in Hell's wide range. 
 A shapeless sprite, apprpaching human form; 
 With eyes, whose wolfish sockets roll fierce balls 
 Of scorching fire; her mouth, a frightful gap 
 Protruding boarish tusks; within, a crop 
 Of bristling cruel teeth, and oblique fangs, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 With deadly poison charged. Around her neck 
 Or where such might be sought a sick'ning coil 
 Of nameless things, or Furies hell begot, 
 Engendered by the loathsome hag; their home 
 Is there, and all the tenants of that place 
 The objects of their spite. The monster's hands 
 Or what appear as such grasp poisoned barbs, 
 And writhing snakes with pliant power to twine, 
 And bury in their victim's form, their cruel fangs. 
 No ears relieve the matted hair, profuse 
 With snaky forms, Gorgonic brood; they wave 
 Their hissing heads, erect their grisly crest, 
 And shoot a threat'ning glare. No feet appear: 
 Impellent rage gives energy of flight, 
 In hot pursuit of bootless speed. 
 Hell's terror ! none but Death himself can view 
 The hateful, withering sight, and keep his place ; 
 All seek, in flight, to shun the dreaded thing: 
 In vain ! the victim's speed no refuge finds; 
 The curling snakes retain their fastened hold. 
 Now Hatred takes her place, fell arbitress 
 Of wayward plots, her counsels here prevail. 
 Consentaneity prevails, and growth 
 Of energy to frame and execute. 
 
 But who is he that, rising, quells and stills 
 Tumultuous din, unites divided groups, 
 Silence obtains, and ears strictly intent 
 On his address ? He holds all suffrages; 
 Both spirit-power and corp'rate might have made 
 Consignment of their all, their subject wills, 
 To him; the same, as that on earth prevailed 
 To occupy the foremost place ; Satan 
 Incarnate then, and still th' embodiment 
 
270 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of him below. His haughty form dilates 
 
 With conscious majesty and lustrous glow. 
 
 Infernal emanation with sulphureous stench, 
 
 Emitting light beseeming to the place, 
 
 Relieves the utter gloom. His fame above, 
 
 As Satan's archetype, has reached below; 
 
 All know him now as Satan's choice; by him 
 
 Elect as medium of his direst works, 
 
 As fittest for his deepest schemes : they bow 
 
 Expectant, still their fatal trust repeat; 
 
 And he, deceiving and deceived, confirms 
 
 Their ardent wills. Hate doggedly persists, 
 
 And presses on, when all seems lost on which 
 
 To hang expectancy. A lambent flame 
 
 Distinguishes the head of hell's great chief ; 
 
 His kingly mien, above th' assembled crowd; 
 
 A fiery cincture girds his glowing brow; 
 
 O'er all pre-eminent except in height, 
 
 Of this beseemingly; for not so low 
 
 That some, who frame their notions from that which 
 
 The eye can measure, might deduce his worth, 
 
 And so might hold him lightly in esteem : 
 
 Nor lofty, so that envy might traduce. 
 
 But deep intelligence is there; those eyes, 
 
 That pierce the gloomy depths where they have met, 
 
 Shoot rays of searching light; each glance projects 
 
 Illuminating power, as if in quest 
 
 Of untold thoughts. No undue haste appears 
 
 Prelusive of his thoughts; nor, dominant, 
 
 Conveys his words; no hesitancy mars 
 
 The urgency of his appeal. Yet, though supreme 
 
 In mightiness, as so endowed at first, 
 
 And hence continually advancing more 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 271 
 
 By greater increments; he frames his thoughts 
 In glozing words, cementing further still 
 The black fraternity. But when his theme 
 Involves the great Eternal, deep-set hate 
 Is seen in furious gestures, heard in tones 
 Of concentrated hiss. 
 
 " Compeers !" he thus began, " your help is sought 
 In counsel and effect. Not now do I, 
 As untried chief of untried hosts, begin 
 To prove your wisdom and deep prevalence 
 Of insight into things. Ages untold 
 Have passed, in which your aidance has advanced 
 Our deep-laid schemes and efforts to dethrone 
 Him whom men, flatt'ring, call th' Omnipotent. 
 Ye know how oft success has met our aim. 
 I will not now recount your energies, 
 Your mightiness suggestive of your deeds, 
 These deeds themselves; nor will I mention how 
 For Eden's pair, I planned and sought release; 
 So gendering then, in them and theirs, a breach 
 Continuous; but rather bid you think 
 And ruminate on all the past events 
 And issues of your part therein. What skill 
 In deep contrivance ! Wary, how ye shunned 
 The traverse lines ! How plots with counterplots 
 Ye made abortive ; and defiled set plans 
 Innumerous ! Six thousand years have passed 
 In which ye have prevailed and held your way : 
 Sudden surprise has wrought mishap at length. 
 Ye have o'ercome, and may, yea must again. 
 Say peers, shall we remain supine, cooped up 
 In this abode? Have we no quarrels now, 
 No great affronts t' avenge 1 Have we no plans 
 
272 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 To be renewed ? Shall we, decumbent here, 
 
 Yield up our rights of freedom to the will 
 
 And random fortune of the God of Heaven ? 
 
 He exercises there high power ; so let it be. 
 
 But then shall we consent to wander here 
 
 Inglorious pris'ners and avow defeat 
 
 As irretrievable ? Ye well remember how 
 
 In distant ages I upheld the throne 
 
 Of Him who now has dealt us this reverse. 
 
 Heaven's highest pinnacle I scaled, and there 
 
 Confronted, and ne'er quailed before intensest light 
 
 Now darkness shrouds my gaze. 
 
 On in the lapse of time the rumor spread, 
 
 And reached my ears, that other beings framed 
 
 Not of pure spirit kind, would be endowed 
 
 With residence, some settlement remote, 
 
 Yet in the universe in which I moved 
 
 In undisputed sway, accepted for 
 
 My genial rule. I owned indeed the rule 
 
 And lordship of another in my sphere : 
 
 Some inadvertency of mine induced 
 
 His superescent power, not permanent; 
 
 And but for mine, would not be what it is : 
 
 Just as the light illumes nocturnal plains, 
 
 Which, if the Moon refuse, would come to nought. 
 
 Not always he who rules surpasses him 
 
 Who suffers rule. Oft had I made essay 
 
 To stem the current of another's will, 
 
 Deemed unassailable, and not in vain; 
 
 Whether as in effect of plans reversed, 
 
 Or effort, as precisive of the claims 
 
 Of one who would subject all others, curb 
 
 And, stern, repress all rightful liberty. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 273 
 
 How could we, you and I, coadjuvant, 
 Sustaining, as we did, the solid spheres, 
 In wisdom, guiding; prompt, repressing bent 
 And tendency to oblique course; ofttimes 
 Evolving good, where fatal ill had grown 
 But for our prudent care and watchful eye : 
 How could we tolerate the weak intent 
 Apart from agency of such as yours 
 Of him who could not slight, and scarcely dared, 
 The effort of your wills, your powerful might. 
 This creature man, our lordly foe designed 
 To have a residence among the spheres 
 By us upheld, in some conglobate world 
 Remote from usual habitudes, prepared 
 For him with special reference to his need, 
 And appetites of grosser kind than ours; 
 Disparted from the spirit world by form, 
 And brute endowments, sentient powers 
 By organism wrought, and passions such 
 As we despise, but earnest welcome gave, 
 As fittest for our need far-sighted skill ! 
 Ye know that no design of ill we planned 
 When we contrived th' occasion to disprove 
 The hollow show the wisdom, goodness, skill, 
 Much vaunted of their God. But knowing well 
 The irksomeness of needless laws, restraints 
 Illiberal, and harsh requirements, fraught 
 With peril imminent, then I essayed, 
 Sustained by your approval good, to stem 
 The ripening of this pregnant ill : yea more, 
 I moved therein because of your desire, 
 And solemn conclave held in other place 
 Than this; and this the general voice upheld : 
 
 8 
 
274 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 No honor do I claim, beyond th' award 
 Of skill executive, devised by powers 
 Consentient and unanimous. 
 
 " Ye have remembrance of the primal curse, 
 Couched in imperious tones and words devised 
 To wound becoming pride 1 How has it wrought ? 
 The serpent's head is not yet bruised; nor yet 
 Is dust its food. The curse in part has told; 
 In part has failed. What does this argue then I 
 Infallibility in him who cursed; 
 Or utter weakness in some adverse power 1 
 Our might is not debased since then, though shocked ; 
 The last foul blow will arm our powers afresh 
 With wariness ; experience rectify. 
 We know the great resources of our foe, 
 In part our own; our capability 
 Will strengthen with our need; occasions serve 
 Development; our next attempt will shew 
 Improved acquaintance with our enemy : 
 Defeat gives lessons good for victory. 
 Our foe has taught us much; and we do well 
 To learn e'en from an enemy. 
 If for six thousand years I have prevailed 
 To distance him, t' avert the sentence passed, 
 Unjustly so, upon the thing I used, 
 That had no power but do my bidding, so 
 Was innocent of rebel will : have we 
 No just expectancy of furthe.r shift, 
 Further evasion of this dominance 1 
 Our failure now has been from quietude 
 And inference of calm immunity, 
 Forejudged by unsuspecting ones at ease. 
 When, unawares, and unprepared, harm came; 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 275 
 
 The storm alighted on unshielded heads. 
 
 Ye have remembrance of the feint, the tree 
 
 Of knowledge good and ill; to give desires 
 
 And join forbiddance of the fairest fruit 
 
 Of Eden's growth. Did this his goodness prove, 
 
 Which of itself would surely work in time, 
 
 Apart from us, what he indeed designed 
 
 The ruin of the race. Foresight in us 
 
 Induced our effort to transfer the fief ; 
 
 Give them to hold it from ourselves, and so 
 
 Avert the evil that might else arise 
 
 From accidental breach of law inopportune. 
 
 Continuance, hinged on strict obedience to 
 
 This arbitrary law, must be abridged; 
 
 And hence absolved by all tribunals, save 
 
 The one that framed such an imparity. 
 
 Now say, could creature appetite endure 
 
 The luscious thing, so pleasing to the sight, 
 
 And not desire its sweets 1 If good for food, 
 
 Then why deny its use 1 And if deny, 
 
 Then why endow it with inviting show ] 
 
 Mere gloss was all the liberty conferred, 
 
 Since this must peril all an imperate excuse 
 
 For covert purpose of subjacent ill. 
 
 Our part in this has been traduced; as yet 
 
 We cannot boast the issue of our scheme: 
 
 Not all who aim the highest always hit 
 
 The highest mark. We cannot hide the fact 
 
 That we have failed, for thence our meeting springs; 
 
 How we may rectify the adverse thrust, 
 
 And make appearance of unvanquished might. 
 
 One of our subtlest schemes ye know has been 
 
 To throw discredit on man's origin, 
 
276 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Keputed of the dust. It suited not 
 That we should countenance such theory : 
 As long as that was held, our foe maintained 
 A hold on man for his subjectedness. 
 Aught else would serve much better for our views- 
 Chance atoms, spontaneity, matter 
 Eternal, electricity, and last 
 Variety and incidence of form, 
 Marking development. 
 
 " One other point, my lords. When man was formed, 
 It was announced that one of kindred kind, 
 As having moulded limbs and sympathies 
 In common with man's race, would occupy 
 The place viceregal due to me; not one 
 Of man begot, but surreptitious, made 
 And gendered in abnormal way; and yet 
 A claimant for the full regard of men 
 As one of them. He was to plant his throne 
 Above all principalities and powers, 
 And fill forsooth the highest throne on earth : 
 Moreover gain deliv'rance from our hands 
 Of men, by conquest ours, ere we had proved 
 Our purpose, and design to remedy 
 The patent ills defeated aim has wrought. 
 I dared to question this new thing; I dared 
 Dispute th' inauguration of this thing, 
 This novice in the art of rule. 
 Estrangement had sprung up; and then I left 
 Th' abode and objects of my earnest care 
 To foreign rule : reluctant, for I held 
 In clear remembrance long retreating lines 
 Of great activities of mutual good, 
 To ruled and ruler in my sphere. I sought 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 277 
 
 Th' earth's orbit, and descried the rolling thing; 
 
 At that set time, it may be, in its course, 
 
 Upheld by some of you. Soon I obtained 
 
 The pleased ear of Eve, her thoughtful mind 
 
 Quicksighted to detect the flagrant law 
 
 Unjust, that barred the hand from touching that 
 
 The heart desired. She took, and Adam too; 
 
 Ye know results. The swift not always win 
 
 The well-contested race; nor do the strong 
 
 Always the battle gain : the swift to-day, 
 
 To-morrow may defer to him now weak. 
 
 The advent of this minion to earth's plains 
 
 I could not bar. I not alone have failed 
 
 In best concerted plans : He too who rules 
 
 The heights of heaven and vaunts His greater power 
 
 Has often viewed His will arraigned, thwarted, 
 
 And made abortive in its exercise. 
 
 But still I wrought, and urgent on the steps 
 
 Of this supplanter, I embayed Him in 
 
 A narrow pass. He, moved by me, at length 
 
 Declared Himself a King; and thus provoked 
 
 Both Jew and Gentile; raised the fears of this, 
 
 In that inspired contempt; or worse, enraged; 
 
 For they expected other than this low-born man. 
 
 You know how I succeeded and prevailed 
 
 To have Him die a malefactor's death. 
 
 I might revert to some success of those 
 
 Who followed Him, disciples of His creed, 
 
 In forced ejectments of some valiant ones 
 
 'Mong you who, strong in purpose, failed to hold 
 
 Through stress of adverse power. I then came down 
 
 Swift on the lightning's train, that I had caught 
 
 And made subservient to my will : no more 
 
278 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Were heard the boastings of the Nazarenes. 
 We now deliberate some speedy means 
 Of egress from this foul commitment, and 
 Do you your counsel give." 
 
 Thus the Arch Fiend essayed by any means 
 To move ; and whilst he used mere words of truth 
 When they availed, yet lies availed him most, 
 And these he lavished much. 
 Malicious, full of deadly hate, he strove 
 To urge them on. Though confident that he 
 Could best originate, and specify; 
 Yet strength is added both in counsel and 
 Reserve of means, by those to whom he makes 
 Crafty appeal through specious reasonings. 
 
 Beelzebub then rose : his mighty bulk 
 Upheaved, for he had sought among the crowd 
 The hugest stature of great Anak's sons : 
 So high, it seemed delay of weighty things 
 T' elongate all his height. His princely head 
 Appeared to penetrate the cavern's roof ; 
 His roaring voice sepulchral seemed to shake 
 The solid masonry, to startle all around. 
 A spear and shield he bore, much loved reserve 
 Of giant form, that trod embattled fields. 
 The shield a spacious orb of weight immense, 
 By bare impressure crushing common foes; 
 His spear finds stinted room throughout the cave. 
 His fetid breath, to merely human kind 
 A fatal stench, and in a hundred fights 
 Of deadly power; now in the courts of hell 
 A rank endowment fixed. 
 
 " Ye powers ! " he said and more intensive sat 
 Silence on all " we are not wont to prate 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 279 
 
 Of purposed deeds, and shrink when in our way 
 
 Great obstacles obvene. Ye know my might, 
 
 The prowess of my arm : not mated in 
 
 The adverse ranks; whole squadrons shrank dismayed, 
 
 Nor dared dispute with me the victor's palm. 
 
 But not in daring deeds alone I claim 
 
 A foremost rank; for side by side with him 
 
 Who first obtained your ear I fought, and now 
 
 As heretofore, in conference move." 
 
 Thus he, huge demigod, in arrogance 
 Assumed co-equal fame with him, whom all 
 Acknowledge now their head and president. 
 Whilst he, unmoved, maintained his lofty place; 
 And, conscious, made no protest of mere words, 
 But looked expressively, as though he sought 
 Some proof of boasted skill and wise debate. 
 
 So he continued " Here have we avail 
 Of room and good occasion for the show 
 And exercise of skill and strength ; behold ! 
 This refuge have we, left by oversight amiss. 
 Not refuge only does it now afford, 
 But vantage ground whence we may surely work, 
 At length effect release from this foul place : 
 For this our first great overthrow need not 
 Extinguish all attempts to gain yet more 
 Than we have lost. Skill to devise is here; 
 Arms used to effort ; mighty strength ; ner now 
 Is interruption here from errant tide. 
 Should we have left, prepared for adverse hosts, 
 This meeting place, so suited to the need 1 
 Deduce from this him fallible, whose might 
 We know indeed, and make acknowledgment 
 That he has now the upper hand : but he 
 
280 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Who now is high may next fall very low. 
 
 First let us make this place yet more secure 
 
 With walls and bulwarks fitted to resist 
 
 A sudden lurch of this revolving globe, 
 
 Which yet might render tenantless, henceforth 
 
 Untenable, this vasty cave : this do, 
 
 Then other projects may obtain our time, 
 
 And energy, and strength. We have not closed 
 
 Our efforts to confuse our wary foe. 
 
 Our purpose is maligned ; as though its aim 
 
 And agency were adverse to all good. 
 
 Now what is good ] That which our foe has done 
 
 And labeled with this term convertible ! 
 
 And evil what is that] a converse mode; 
 
 Good, but for this that he, who had a date 
 
 Anterior to our race ; an earlier sphere 
 
 Of exercise; an opportunity, 
 
 With no opponent to delay his plans, 
 
 Of working undisturbed, resolved his laws 
 
 By self-aggrandisement these he called good. 
 
 Had he resolved our plan, that had been good; 
 
 And his, so cavalierly flounced, had been 
 
 The evil then : so circumstantial is 
 
 The guise an action takes. My lords, ye know 
 
 No language is occult to us, nor prescience 
 
 Confined to him, who arrogates so much 
 
 Ye know, I say, the record of the ways 
 
 Of him who now bestrides our prostrate power; 
 
 How he denounces him who takes a life 
 
 With violent hands, and brands the fatal act 
 
 With obloquy of name; and heaps deep shame 
 
 Ulteriorly on all who stay life's course : 
 
 Yet Jael won his praise if not direct, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 281 
 
 Yet by an advocate of his; one who, 
 As prophetess, delivered all his mind. 
 And what was Jael's act 1 A murder foul, 
 Foul treachery, consummate tact in guile : 
 All reprobate 'mong men; commended by 
 This god, who ranges in his scheme all good. 
 Again; an enemy will sometimes serve 
 An enemy; so when it suited him 
 To seek our aid it suited us as well 
 One from our ranks became a volunteer 
 To do his will : the more so as we deemed 
 "Th' occasion fitting to besmear his name 
 With great reproach. If any attribute, 
 That he doth claim exclusively, is more 
 Insisted on than others in the list, 
 It is that he is true. Observe him now 
 * Who shall deceive the King, that he may go 
 And fall at Ramoth-gilead 1 ' One said this, 
 Another that : then one of us, astute, 
 Took up the challenge, and supplied a lack 
 In all the multiplied machinery. 
 ' Thou shalt persuade him and prevail : go forth, 
 So do.' We needed not the prophecy 
 To tell us of success : we undertake, 
 And we perform. One arm alone one will, 
 Of all existencies, has e'er prevailed 
 To circumvent our aim; that turned aside 
 Whate'er th' intent we walk the course unclogged. 
 Again ; adultery is denounced by him, 
 In laws which, penally confirmed, announced 
 His great abhorrence of th' alluring crime ; 
 And yet he issues his command : ' Go, take . 
 A wife of whoredoms, children of whoredoms too 
 
282 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Thou shalt beget : ' and this a second time 
 
 Hosea was compelled to do. We know 
 
 The plea that complicate resource has urged 
 
 The prophet was a sign : what ! must he break 
 
 The laws which he had made, to find a mode 
 
 Symbolical 1 And is his vaunted rule 
 
 So pregnant with this good, that happiness 
 
 Outstrips the race of ill ? Does it abound 
 
 So as to claim a balance on its side 
 
 If weighed against the ill 1 If so, then whence 
 
 The suicides, the anguished cries, the moans 
 
 Of pain, the catenation death has forged 
 
 From man down to the lowest link of life 1 
 
 Did Hezekiah wrong his god when he 
 
 Desired a longer term of life ? Or was 
 
 That life prolonged that he might propagate 
 
 Manasseh, he who drenched the streets with blood : 
 
 Thus furnishing transparent though it be 
 
 A reason for estrangement of the race 
 
 From Judah sprung. Perfection is an art 
 
 We see not yet : our sun has been eclipsed, 
 
 Or we had early proved with certainty 
 
 The good we planned. The germ was in its place, 
 
 But time had not supplied the needed warmth 
 
 That it might germinate : or, shall I say, 
 
 The spore had burst its case, begun to shew 
 
 Its vigorous powers aspiringly, when trouble came. 
 
 With sudden blast the tempest swept amain 
 
 Throughout our sphere, where we revolved 
 
 Our weighty thoughts : crushed by the sudden bolt, 
 
 The effort fair retreated, not to die, 
 
 But to be nurtured for another throe. 
 
 We will believe the utter uselessness 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 283 
 
 Of all we may project, when all resource 
 
 Is hid from us when all our power to plan, 
 
 All means to execute, alike sink down 
 
 In piteous helplessness. When thought is gagged, 
 
 When speech is hushed, when agencies decline, 
 
 Then may we own a greater than ourselves 
 
 Is at the helm. Till then farewell to gloom, 
 
 To apprehension of results, to fears; 
 
 Till then, as well, let all devices swell 
 
 Our store of competence. No mean amount 
 
 Of generalship, and wise avail of means 
 
 Sustain our foe : these must be met by us 
 
 His mines, with counter-mines; his open force, 
 
 With subtlety. Our aim is to retrieve, 
 
 Ee-institute all that we lost at first, 
 
 And more set up. Word-master I am not : 
 
 But when the time is come, debate in arms 
 
 Will find for me the foremost rank." 
 
 Mis-representative of good ! This fiend 
 Has many repetitions of himself 
 Among the sons of men. They scan God's word, 
 His ways, His works; they understand Him not: 
 Yet wilfully pronounce Him fallible. 
 If powerful, yet amiss in kindliness; 
 Or, in His goodness, intricate, infirm. 
 Malicious, some traduce; some implicate, 
 In their esteem, the wisdom of His rule. 
 All who attempt t' unrol His policy 
 Make havoc and disfranchise common sense. 
 The compound, fiend and man, surpasses far 
 In gross default, the undiluted fiend; 
 For this has not a good to negative, 
 Whilst that alone has made His good an ill. 
 
284 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Apollyon then arose, a subtle fiend : 
 He Nimrod's frame dilates; in stature matched, 
 And in presuming might, with him last named : 
 Inferior not, in counsel deeper far ; 
 Second to none but Satan's fatal eminence. 
 In heavenly rolls his name is registered 
 The angel of the bottomless abyss. 
 Fallen winged cherub ! Nimrod's graceful height 
 Maintains his volant fame. Vast pinions hang 
 By diabolic art contrived and hellish skill. 
 His hands grasp fiery darts of dreadful power, 
 Well known to those who have forsworn his right, 
 Revolted from allegiance to his rule. 
 Nought but the shield of faith can intercept 
 Their spiteful flight, their burning quench. 
 And nought, when wounds occur, can e'er avail 
 But blood the blood of Christ, to counteract 
 The sore effect, and heal the pierced heart. 
 This mighty prince no weapon fears, but such 
 As, forged by heavenly art, are tempered so 
 That use blunts not; but, sharpened by the fray, 
 Acquire more competence. The Spirit's sword 
 Makes earnest work; Apollyon dreads its power: 
 The weakest makes with this effective thrusts, 
 And parries blow with blow behind his shield. 
 Apollyon or Abaddon, such his name 
 In th' Hebrew tongue king of the locust band, 
 In conscious might and majesty, uprears 
 His courtly frame. Felt silence now prevails, 
 Waits on his well-tried powers in skilled debate, 
 Not shrill, nor hoarse, but thrilling tenor notes 
 Convey his thoughts, impress his influence. 
 " My lords ! it argues great deficiency 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 285 
 
 Of forethought and ulterior means in one 
 
 Who arrogates supremacy, that we, 
 
 In spirit power and sinewy strength should here 
 
 Amass our force, here congregate where both, 
 
 Concurrent, may effect so very much 
 
 Against contrivance hasty and precipitate. 
 
 Our foremost step has been premised ; well said, 
 
 Nor let delay endanger aught our plans. 
 
 Then, well secured, consentient, let us work 
 
 A passage to the realms above. 
 
 Ye know how ye have counseled heretofore, 
 
 Suggesting instruments of curious kind 
 
 In various arts; of deadly power in war; 
 
 Which, worked by skill and stalwart frames, produced 
 
 Effects ne'er dreamt of in preceding times. 
 
 My lords ! ye have not yet your limit reached 
 
 Of deep device and cunning skill, e'er prompt, 
 
 To frame from means abortive in the hands 
 
 Of grosser kind, fit instruments to work our will. 
 
 My unremitting care has been to thwart 
 
 The will of him who, in the wantonness 
 
 Of adventitious power, has set us down 
 
 As rebels to his rule and government : 
 
 Debarred approach to explicate our ways 
 
 To supplement his governmental laws. 
 
 These had defect, as we had long foreseen, 
 
 Prospecting them through far futurity ; 
 
 As burdened with detail, involved, confused, 
 
 Injurious to the subjects of his rule. 
 
 This gave offence; and, unforgiving, he 
 
 Implacable pursues relentlessly 
 
 Well meaning helps and favorers of his plans. 
 
 Far-seeing, we anticipated ill, 
 
286 HERE AND -HEREAFTER. 
 
 And interposed counsel unsought; for this 
 
 Unthankful, he occasion took to wreak, 
 
 On unsuspecting ones, bitterest revenge. 
 
 Hostile, he yet pursues with deadly hate; 
 
 And we, committed to the same set course, 
 
 Make sheer avowal of our firm resolve 
 
 To persevere and work our adverse will. 
 
 We have prevailed, as ye have heard; and may, . 
 
 Yea, must again, for that our lordly wills 
 
 Know no restraint that we can tolerate. 
 
 'Tis bruited that he is Omnipotent : 
 
 Not yet we own this overweening claim. 
 
 And Omnipresent too ; now is he here ] 
 
 Why not suppress our thoughts, our words, our ways, 
 
 Our measures for the still projected change, 
 
 Th' establishment of other, better rule *? 
 
 Do ye consent to fret your time away, 
 
 Exclude all means by unavailing grief, 
 
 And low despondency ? Regret is vain; 
 
 Leave that to fools and minds of weak intent. 
 
 Let resolution firm, congenerous means 
 
 And measures prompt, employ our agencies. 
 
 If schism enters, then rude mockery 
 
 Will shame our host. Ye all assign to me 
 
 No common rank, but readily I yield 
 
 The foremost place ; and this another fills. 
 
 Yet not another, for the three who claim 
 
 Your audience first are one a three-fold one ! 
 
 But paralleled by other instances 
 
 In things of common kind; yea, man himself 
 
 Is one in spirit, body and a soul. 
 
 Give counsel now, ye peers; if aught occurs 
 
 To any, diverse from our utterances. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 287 
 
 We claim and advocate your skill, and seek 
 
 Your operative aid as well, to plan 
 
 And execute. Outlets there are from hence, 
 
 But not available : more than myself 
 
 Have made attempts, but adverse tendency 
 
 Of liquid, ponderous matter, filling up 
 
 Those chambered ways, has foiled us hitherto. 
 
 Here no such bar exists, unless ye shrink 
 
 In timid fear, and quail before the task : 
 
 Or dread the boasted might that oft has failed, 
 
 In contest with your schemes adversative : 
 
 Unless ye suffer pride to thrust you down ; 
 
 And, dominant, suppress all liberty, 
 
 All longings to avow your conscious claim 
 
 To take a part in rule and agency; 
 
 Arouse and shake this fest'ring coil away 
 
 That fetters mind and limbs is't cowardice 1 
 
 Is it your liking thus to be confined, 
 
 And cabined with no exercise of powers 
 
 Fitted to rule and guide aright the spheres ? 
 
 All stratagems are lawful with a foe. 
 
 In ages past we have prevailed to stay 
 
 And implicate some well-planned schemes, yet not 
 
 In our esteem the best that might be wrought. 
 
 Such we have sought to rectify; and some, 
 
 'Gainst which we have no damnatory views, 
 
 Except as helping to advance the claims 
 
 To sovereignty, we have defiled with gross 
 
 A nd adverse ridicule : as thus, I moved 
 
 Some men to read the record of the rocks 
 
 By wary promptings, not at first with show 
 
 Antagonistic to the early creed; 
 
 But S!QW and sure, I caused a line to spring 
 
288 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Small angled from the orthodox; alarm 
 
 Was thus forestalled; divergence was so small 
 
 That even great divines adherence gave, 
 
 And advocated what appeared to them 
 
 A help to their divinity; Aha ! 
 
 At length some took alarm, and raised a cry; 
 
 Too late ! the ruse had great success ; the twig 
 
 Was limed auspiciously; the greatest minds 
 
 Were charmed with rich discov'ries made, and these 
 
 Were facts we could not hide; but well we knew 
 
 That some new law would be as charming too. 
 
 We knew the facts, and knew as well that they 
 
 Would in the course of time be brought to bear 
 
 On man's belief ; and so, being thus forewarned, 
 
 We were forearmed, and well prepared to meet 
 
 The evolution of events that time must bring. 
 
 Our present aim is to emancipate 
 
 This great assembly, now inglorious here, 
 
 Eager to exercise their powers for good; 
 
 Assured that our designs for liberty 
 
 Are more contributive than harsh restraint. 
 
 Give us, ye powers, th' advantage of your thoughts." 
 
 Thus with deep sophistry, a spice of truth, 
 And keen provocatives, the graceful fiend 
 If gracefulness may be, where all is lost 
 Of excellence; ruined irrep'rably, 
 And yet magnificent; for God's great work 
 Retains the proof of greatness in the wreck 
 Thus having spoke, his massive pinions move 
 In easy curvature : no grateful breeze 
 Responds; a reeky vapor fills the cave, 
 Pestiferous, intensely hot, more hot 
 Through motion thus impressed. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 289 
 
 Response of murmuring applause ensued, 
 The cavern filled. Fell Hatred much inspired, 
 And urged them on to shame in fruitless toil. 
 One craven spirit then availed himself 
 Of Sardan's form, who rose and hazarded 
 A faint suggestion of contingency. 
 
 " How then," he urged, " shall we hereby ensure 
 Remission of our woe, or aggravate 
 The penalty already laid 1 Suppose we gain 
 The object now proposed our freedom, rights, 
 And glad egression hence; an after part 
 Belongs to us; pre-meditation now befits 
 How we may meet the further exercise 
 Of power which we indeed might deprecate, 
 But that we are as well assured that he, 
 Who lodged us here, will utterly reject, 
 As that we rue our part in strife bygone." 
 
 Then Discord, pettish sprite with spleeny voice, 
 Appeared; almost prevailed to spoil th' effect 
 Of plans, with subtle sophistry enforced, 
 And impious lies. Her entry wrought in some 
 Dismay; in others, rage; some, hasty, claimed 
 At once t' initiate their schemes. 
 But why do all together cease their din 1 
 And why does silence ominous ensue ? 
 Despair has entered now, that frightful thing. 
 Close pressing on the steps of Discord, she 
 Has found the meeting place : all see, nor stay 
 To face; nor seek to shun the waste of fire: 
 A rush of hopeless fugitives ensues. 
 One word from Satan as they madly court 
 The seething covert which of late they shunned 
 " We meet again." He said, and coursed along, 
 
 T 
 
290 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Not caring to confront th' avenger dread 
 
 Of Him, who knows the way to take with those 
 
 Who slight His word, as well as those who know 
 
 And do the just enactments of His will. 
 
 Her numerous agents know and do their work, 
 
 No bidding wait : instinct with burning rage, 
 
 Their victims seek. Her hundred hands discharge, 
 
 With lightning speed, their venomed shafts ; and she, 
 
 The chief avenger, seeks the chief ; in guilt 
 
 Pre-eminent, pre-eminent in woe. 
 
 He, swift in flight, retreats; she equals him, 
 
 And fastens on him with her cruel fangs : 
 
 The spirit and corporeal power alike 
 
 Partake their virulence. Does it seem strange 
 
 That they should take this dread alternative ] 
 
 For see, they plunge beneath the fiery tide, 
 
 Invite the horrors of that lake so late escaped, 
 
 As they, emerging, sought the cavern's mouth 
 
 And respite from their woe; and with th' intent 
 
 Of resting there. No rest for such; no rest 
 
 For any that deny God's sovereign right and will. 
 
 This maddened course is not dissimilar 
 
 To numerous instances in earthly things. 
 
 The pining inmate of bleak prison walls 
 
 Seeks hasty riddance of his burdened life 
 
 From these same gloomy limits of his cell; 
 
 Against their buttressed strength he rushes, mad 
 
 With cruelty and sickly hope deferred. 
 
 The disappointed suitor courts the gurge 
 
 That murmurs o'er the frenzied guilty plunge. 
 
 The broken merchant stems the tide of life, 
 
 The fatal noose his rash resort; some seek 
 
 The battle field, to close their wearied life, 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 291 
 
 How many summon death, with helpless hands, 
 By oaths, demented ravings, and the stings 
 Of conscience bruted by self-will ! and some, 
 Not few, the demon Alcohol herds on. 
 
 They meet again, and make attempts to work, 
 Elaborate their plans. Huge blocks, dislodged 
 By giant strength, rest in a bed prepared 
 By ready might and readier wills : apace 
 The fabric grows, bitumen near supplies 
 Strength for the massive joints. 
 Elate they view the rising walls, well coined 
 And buttressed, so that space may be retained, 
 While yet approach is made throughout the void 
 To solid masonry, as though one block. 
 A void is left for entry, fitted close 
 With one vast rock prepared by hands expert. 
 Vain work, but that the God whom they malign, 
 Had willed success. Sometimes the means alone, 
 Sometimes the end as well, are used by Him, 
 If by that means or end a greater end 
 Is thus obtained : He suffers progress, then 
 Avails Himself of foes to work His will. 
 What great amazement and perplexity 
 Await for those who take great pains to plan 
 And expedite, and find another's will the end ! 
 Chagrin and rage succeed; then other means 
 And other objects are proposed; the same results. 
 Eternity will e'er repeat the endless tale, 
 And disappointment's garb assume, if foes 
 Still work against : no faculty abeyed ; 
 But unremitting exercise will strengthen each. 
 Nor men nor devils carry with them hence 
 Augjit to relieve their utter wreck; evil alone, 
 
292 HERE AND HEREAFTEK. 
 
 Most capable of frightful growth, they bring. 
 
 Sin, ceaseless, heaps intensity of pain; 
 
 And pain evolves more sin. They cannot stay 
 
 The hateful dualism; nor could they, 
 
 If willing, stay the cause producing it ; 
 
 Nor, had they power, would inclination yield. 
 
 Eternity ! dread immeasurable word ! 
 Girdle of God, without beginning, end ! 
 No spring nor issue of its course : the past 
 Is lost in thought interminate; obscured 
 The more by all attempts to penetrate 
 The dim recess. The ever-shifting now 
 Indents a central point, between the past 
 And that to come; this intricate as that; 
 And saturant with marvelous things that He, 
 Great occupant, has set, each in its place. 
 Let thought excursive range, and backward rove; 
 Ketrace the past, the hoary past; adopt 
 A unit of a million years; make Time 
 Its increment, and by a fiction let 
 Time spend a moment in its course; and let 
 These moments occupy that million years. 
 How far has thought receded 1 But a step. 
 Go on, a million times repeat this step; 
 The bourne makes no approach, the route 
 Unshortened, yet extends. Then duplicate 
 Thought's traversed line, with now, th' accepted time 
 Whence to initiate a forward course : 
 The goal is reached; heaven echoes with the shout 
 That marks th' expiry of this little term, 
 Crowded with marvels of the grace, the power, 
 And wisdom of that God invisible, 
 Who filleth all th' interminate expanse 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Of space and time. But listen to the sad response 
 In curtained depths below. The shriek of woe, 
 The wail of mad despair, there still abound, 
 There still are heaping up. No beam of Hope 
 E'er penetrates the prison walls; no joyous sport 
 Of Spring makes slow expiring Winter smile; 
 No grateful shade gives e'er a refuge glad 
 From scorching Summer's heat. No dated lease 
 Assigns a def nite term, or gives a thought 
 Of quittance at some period, though removed 
 Far into dim Eternity. And do they keep 
 A reckoning there of ages flitting by 1 
 Do they essay a livid chronicle 
 Of passing years 1 Do they a measure keep 
 Of threescore years and ten 1 And do they there 
 A drear rehearsal make of ways, and words, 
 And thoughts they registered above ? 
 And do they there impeach God's judgment seat; 
 Or do they justify ] Yea, do they not 
 Inscribe continuously on every wave 
 Which rolls its sluggish weight, that God is just ? 
 Stay man, forbear thy madly impious ways : 
 Thy reasonings frail will never satisfy 
 The contradictions which thy finite mind, 
 Thy bad declivities, extemporize. 
 Thou canst not reconcile; but thou canst yield 
 Thy erring judgment to a greater mind 
 An infinite, that offers thee a good 
 For that which, at its best, provides an ill. 
 Pass on a thousand years, a period since 
 The first commitment to these foul abodes, 
 By Justice stern, but irreproachable. 
 From time to time the work had made advance; 
 
294 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Oft interrupted by Despair, resumed 
 
 When appetence had grown again. 
 
 At length they view the work complete, fitted 
 
 For all their purposes. The breach is made, 
 
 And all had now escaped, but One kept watch 
 
 Secerning ways and means; suppressing some 
 
 Intrinsically ill; and suffering some 
 
 As apposite. Uncarnate, three escape, 
 
 Spirits unclean, and gain the upper world : 
 
 A sad proruption for the sons of men. 
 
 A slumb'ring advocacy now starts up. 
 
 The human heart is no way changed, although 
 
 Consummate training for a thousand years 
 
 Has wrought effectually to meliorate 
 
 The badness there indigenous to all. 
 
 The root, the tree, the branches all retain 
 
 Their native tendency; the fruit alone 
 
 Has much improved, through careful husbandry 
 
 And pruning freely, made imperative 
 
 By rank luxuriancy. A spark will fall 
 
 Harmless on matter incombustible; 
 
 But where a substance fulminant resides 
 
 In safest quietude, a brand applied 
 
 Wakes up a fearful power, whose candent breath 
 
 And detonance spread death and mad dismay. 
 
 Or when a foul miasma fills the air, 
 
 It takes effect where some affinity 
 
 Invites its outrages. So in the last sad time 
 
 Of this world's history; when God has made 
 
 Most manifest the blessings of His rule, 
 
 In full subjectedness to earth's great King, 
 
 A last probation He will make, so prove 
 
 The dangerous tolerance of hearts corrupt, 
 
HEKE AND HEREAFTER. 295 
 
 A nature prone to germinate, and bud, 
 
 And fructify, and yield a poisonous fruit. 
 
 Hell's trinity, Satanic triad, roams 
 
 About earth's plains again : still more inspired 
 
 With hatred, malice, and determined spite, 
 
 T' insure the overthrow of God's set plans. 
 
 The power is great : and soon, by specious wiles, 
 
 Are lured, around the standard, countless hosts. 
 
 Then Gog, confed'rate prince of various clans; 
 
 Togarmah of the north, and Ethiop, 
 
 And Persia, Libya, Gomer and his bands, 
 
 And all their glitt'ring train, will move their strength 
 
 Against the undefended camp, the land 
 
 Of unwalled villages, that neither gates 
 
 Nor bars defend : whose quiet rest in God 
 
 Provokes Satanic rage; whose natural ease 
 
 And plenitude, and wealth now not a snare 
 
 Except to envious hearts without entice 
 
 Marauding hordes. The end is not as when 
 
 The Gog of earlier times came as a cloud, 
 
 And covered all the land: then jealousy, 
 
 Diversity of creed, and fancied wrongs, 
 
 Bred mad asperity; the spear reversed, 
 
 And gleaming falchion, drank a brother's blood : 
 
 Whilst from above, heaven's great artillery poured 
 
 Their mingled storm of death. Now fire alone 
 
 Performs the dreadful work avenges God 
 
 And those who trust in Him. 
 
 Satan is bound in everlasting chains 
 
 With no conditioned clause; no respite breaks 
 
 The drear monotony. The ceaseless tide 
 
 Of cumulative woe rolls on : Despair 
 
 Surceases not as heretofore; ruthless, 
 
296 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Pursues her work; fetters and torturing coils 
 
 Her bidding do ; vindictive, she pursues. 
 
 Her aim is one, all share her spleen ; yet all 
 
 Do not alike partake the grievous pain. 
 
 As with a poison coursing through the veins; 
 
 In one immunity is found, as in the king 
 
 Of ancient times who ruled the Pontic plains : 
 
 Or as the brute, with antidotal blood, 
 
 Partakes the rankest venom, yet escapes : * 
 
 Another dies; something correlative 
 
 Gives potency, and so the poison works. 
 
 So though the sentence be the same, the same 
 
 Is not endured by prisoners in their cell; 
 
 One suffers more, because his memory works 
 
 In gloomy solitude; unbidden, crowds 
 
 His past life's incidents, calls up its sins 
 
 In thought, in word, in deed. Select 
 
 The merest sinner in the courts of hell, 
 
 He suffers least. So in the realms above ; 
 
 The highest in th' enjoyment of their sweets 
 
 Is he, who made God's sovereign will and work 
 
 His highest aim. On earth, in heaven, in hell 
 
 A sentence has its complements : th' award 
 
 Of future good is not the mere entail 
 
 Of endless life, an arbitrary mode 
 
 Of balancing accounts : nor does the clause 
 
 Condemnatory fix th' amount of pain. 
 
 But man himself is building up for aye 
 
 His torture-room; or else is treasuring up 
 
 Great stores of supplemental joy. 
 
 Th' initial course its proper sequel finds, 
 
 Through all eternity, in its award. 
 
 * The hedge-hog; the deadliest poisons do not affect it. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 297 
 
 Grim Death, the earliest, latest foe, is seized, 
 Committed to the lake of fire; and there 
 Dark sin expresses still the fatal ill 
 That gives his sting its lasting virulence. 
 Now deadlier certitude attends his work; 
 Not one evades its power; all avenues 
 Of thought and being own the loathed guest. 
 
 Eternal Justice shuts the door of Hell: 
 Nought but eternal Wisdom can throw back 
 The ponderous bars, or burst its casemates, proof 
 Against the cries of woe. He who has framed 
 The concrete mass, arching the prison house, 
 And He alone can broach its thick-set ribs. 
 
 Here Time refrains a longer course : his roll 
 He tenders to the great Accountant : He 
 Unfolds the vast array of all; hands each 
 What each has writ on Time's great book : here each 
 His writing knows, is cognizant of words 
 Of hasty wrath, of viperous speech that stings 
 The guilty and the innocent alike; 
 Lewd thoughts in vivid truthfulness 
 Transcribed; the murderer's look of hate; 
 The miser's gloating gaze; ambition's wrong. 
 
 But blood is there. Deep dyed, some tissues shew 
 No record left : suffused with that, they yield 
 The entry of the damning catalogue 
 The autographs of countless multitudes. 
 Of these, a period happened in their course 
 When they forbore to write in Time's account : 
 This blood then blotted out all they had writ. 
 Henceforth the Book of Life, record of grace, 
 Keceives all minutes of their earthly course. 
 Grace enters there the names of these, their faith 
 
298 
 
 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 And works of faith wrought by the God of heaven, 
 And by Him placed to their account. 
 Marvels of Grace ! 
 
 Now to th' Eternal King, invisible, 
 Immortal, only wise, be endless praise, 
 And honor, glory, evermore. Amen. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 THE ETEKNAL STATE. 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 Introduction. The New Jerusalem. The earthly Jerusalem. 
 Jacob's dream fulfilled. Heaven's harmony. God all in all. 
 Hymn. 
 
 MILLENIAL Suns have set. New heavens appear, 
 
 In which no Sun has place; the Moon has ceased 
 
 To shed recurrent light ; the Stars have failed, 
 
 Hid in effulgence greater than the Sun. 
 
 Fire has performed its work, and ceased to rage 
 
 In righteous vehemence; its lustral power 
 
 Has justified the holiness of God. 
 
 Sin has retired before its wrath; escaped 
 
 To where its revels shall endure for aye : 
 
 Not unrebuked; yet unrestrained, its strength 
 
 Will forge enduring chains to gird itself. 
 
 Not less perverse than in the earthly sphere; 
 
 But more intense, its virulence will pace 
 
 With onward time; its power increase to bind 
 
 Th' original decree of banishment 
 
 From where it might defile, to other realms 
 
 Where it shall ever heap remorseless guilt, 
 
 Accumulative woe. Most beautiful 
 
 Within its mask, it swayed the heart of man 
 
300 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Six thousand years a time of mystery. 
 A heavenly lens alone could penetrate 
 That mask, reveal th' intrinsic hideousness. 
 Its history terrene we have essayed, 
 Exhausted not; then it had power to draw 
 Immortals down, who saw the mask alone, 
 Nor cared to look within : men reveled in 
 Its fatal charms; and in their mad delight 
 Provided denizens for that dark world 
 Where woe intensive rolls, despair abides. 
 But now berid of this impetuous guest, 
 The Earth, in fearless joy, has spread her feast, 
 In graceful loveliness, to cheer all hearts. 
 Excess breeds no disgust; defect, no dread. 
 Anticipation cowers not before 
 Some future ill. The eye drops not its veil 
 To shun some piteous sight; the ear receives 
 No tidings with regret. The senses all, 
 Celestially refined, express great joy 
 Through every avenue, discover sweets 
 In every exercise, range unrebuked 
 To distant spheres, investigate their store, 
 Evoke much good, and minister the same. 
 The heavens above present a planisphere 
 Of glory there in typed; the earth responds 
 A faithful photograph. Man has not ceased 
 As representative of God supreme. 
 Deformity that sin had wrought has fled 
 With that which gave it countenance; but still 
 Diversity prevails; creative skill 
 Infused this elegance in all its works. 
 A diverse similarity still prints 
 The needed individuality: 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER. 301 
 
 But no misgrowth impedes immortal limbs ; 
 
 No fumes corporeal dull the god-like mind. 
 
 Time has no residence on earth, his place 
 
 Eternity now fills. Age makes no dents 
 
 Of years elapsed; no furrows trace their length: 
 
 Perennial youth delights the teeming crowds. 
 
 No weariness distracts the purposed flight 
 
 To distant worlds. Satiety refrains 
 
 T' accompany the good of life, nor clogs 
 
 Th' enjoyment of its sweets. A brotherhood 
 
 Is now set up that makes no hollow show, 
 
 That lays no claim it cannot verify. 
 
 Love wanders unrebuked, nor fears to shew 
 
 Its tenderness, lest it should weep when those 
 
 To whom it ministers may misconstrue 
 
 He who is Love has framed a state of love. 
 
 A bright cosmogony elucidates 
 
 Creative excellence, Almighty skill, 
 
 Administrative power, consummate good. 
 
 The senses all refined do not reject 
 
 What, not recuperative from decay, 
 
 Delights: food there is none, if by such food ^ 
 
 Growth is maintained; but entertainment finds 
 
 Provision for its claims. Sweet Pleasure roams 
 
 Unqualified by etiquette, or laws 
 
 Conservative : abandonment prevails ; 
 
 For stiff restraint commingles not 
 
 Its awkward forms; and in th' eternal state 
 
 This law is prevalent. Deep consciousness 
 
 Of full security does not beget 
 
 A lawlessness, or blind indifference. 
 
 Existing evil none ignore; but all 
 
 Are cognizant how it has wrought its part 
 
302 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 In one great whole; not accidentally 
 
 As though a weaker party had prevailed 
 
 To negative a Great First Cause, or clog 
 
 His laws with hostile ways, that deep resource 
 
 Must plan to meet not unforseen indeed, 
 
 But which the Arbiter of all could not, 
 
 Or would not exercise Himself to stay. 
 
 Poor sterile logic this ! rash compliment 
 
 To Him who, self-possessed, e'er balances 
 
 The two eternities; between the past 
 
 And that to come, discrepancy is not. 
 
 God does not subsequently counterplot 
 
 What has sprung up; He is not pressed with fear 
 
 Lest it should mar or interrupt His plans : 
 
 Th' eternal scheme embraces good and ill. 
 
 The grandest harmony is best obtained 
 
 With sounds dissimilar, selected by 
 
 The minstrel's art, and wrought consummately 
 
 In unison. Two living hearts, alike 
 
 In mould, in instinct, sensibility, 
 
 In tenderness, in readiness to weep 
 
 For sorrow not their own, are not the best 
 
 To mingle joys, secure the happiest lot. 
 
 All nature testifies this principle 
 
 Of all God's ways inscrutable indeed, 
 
 But manifest that He, all-wise, designed 
 
 A varied whole; not merely of the same, 
 
 Which might evince extensive skill and art, 
 
 But deep and complicate diversity, 
 
 Demanding calculation nice, to curb 
 
 Each agency from undue prevalence, 
 
 From interference irretrievable, 
 
 Or from excess minute, minute defect. 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 303 
 
 Th' eternal state presents th' abstruse results, 
 
 Not clear to our intelligence; but when 
 
 This mortal puts on immortality, 
 
 And death is swallowed up in life, then too 
 
 Shall sense give way to sight, to clear 
 
 Unclouded apprehension of that scheme 
 
 Which Time, yet young, had mystified with sin. 
 
 Some things inevident we yet allow; 
 
 Yea, more; things contradictory we grant, 
 
 Because of evidence beyond themselves. 
 
 A long continued creed acquires respect, 
 
 More reverent than wise, if for its age 
 
 It gains esteem : it may be, honored names 
 
 Add weight. We would not lightly controvert 
 
 Established laws, or doctrines manacled 
 
 With theologic bonds; and if our mind 
 
 Is prone t' investigate an ancient chart 
 
 And finds some new discovered isles not there, 
 
 Results will justify th' invet'racy; 
 
 For good, not evil, is the purposed end, 
 
 That some unconscious bark may not be wrecked 
 
 Where heretofore no waves dashed on the shore. 
 
 All things are new. All that was once has passed; 
 And, with the earth, are classed 'mong things that were. 
 See first, nobly resplendent over all, 
 The holy city, new Jerusalem, where reigns 
 Supremely there, the world's Almighty King. 
 There is His throne, and there His wondrous Bride, 
 On whom is lavished royal love and grace, 
 Beyond descriptive powers. The place is built 
 For her delight ; and ornaments profuse 
 Adorn this royal residence, this bridal gift : 
 Prescriptive not for her alone; He dwells 
 
304 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Much in her company. Foundations deep 
 
 Receive the lofty walls, profusely wrought 
 
 With skilful garniture, and planted by 
 
 Almighty hands. A mountain great and high, 
 
 Reared by the Architect of heaven and earth, 
 
 Springing from plains below, a basement gives. 
 
 God's glory there prevails; the Lamb of God 
 
 Lights up the beauteous scene; His glory shines 
 
 Through pure translucent walls, speeds on its course 
 
 In genial prevalence, the light of life. 
 
 Not as a creature light that may be dimmed; 
 
 Or, in excess, may scorch; or, in defect, 
 
 May suffer cold to nip: this carries joy; 
 
 Perennial gladness sings its constant song. 
 
 Th' immediate vicinage below presents 
 
 The earthly relative, beloved of God, 
 
 Jerusalem, the earth's metropolis, 
 
 Joy of the earth. The nations now rejoice, 
 
 Their kings for kings there are who reign, and rule 
 
 In righteousness do bring their glory there. 
 
 Behold the holy mount : here Jacob's dream 
 
 Is more than verified; angels ascend, 
 
 And some the while descend; but crowned heads, 
 
 Ascending and descending, visit there, 
 
 And bring the glory of their state; return 
 
 With messages of love. The slope is filled 
 
 With happy visitants, who seek and find 
 
 An entrance there; whom gates of pearl receive, 
 
 To view the wonders of that glorious place. 
 
 No night is there, nor gorgeous temple reared 
 
 With costly stones; the Lord, Almighty God, 
 
 The Lamb as well, its temple are; and praise 
 
 The ritual service of the thronging crowds. 
 
HERE AND HEREAFTER, 305 
 
 Now God fulfils His word to dwell with men. 
 
 All tears are wiped away; nor sorrow, death, 
 
 Nor crying e'er intrudes ; for former things 
 
 Are passed away. No more does creature strength 
 
 Essay its powers; no more is happiness 
 
 In peril found. All things are new; no sea 
 
 With boisterous waves and roar, invades the land; 
 
 No gallant ship is seen. Eternal day 
 
 Has dawned, and night has fled away. 
 
 Within the walls one street pervades its length 
 A noble river courses through its midst; 
 On either side the tree of life, with fruits 
 Of different kinds, one kind for every month. 
 Its leaves medicinal, not curative, 
 But by anticipation, warding off 
 For God will yet use means ill that might else 
 Invade all but Himself, and those whom He 
 Has made one with Himself and His great Son. 
 That "there shall be no curse" gives evidence 
 That sickness will not call for medicine; 
 But health will seek benign constituents, 
 Ensuring thus a fair continuance. 
 God's servants serve a joyous service too. 
 They see His face, and in their foreheads wear 
 His glorious name; they reign for evermore. 
 Now trace the river's source the throne of God 1 
 Water of life it bears ; onward it flows ; 
 It gains the hills' fair brow, leaps gently down 
 Its gradual slope; the nations freely drink; 
 Its myriad channels glide, meand'ring slow; 
 God's wondrous gift of grace and love to all. 
 
 Now hark ! How ravishing ! What heav'nly strains I 
 Lo ! Harps of God, ne'er out of tune; their strings 
 
 IT 
 
306 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 Are fingered by immortal hands, and chord 
 Well with the trump of God, and voices tuned 
 For heavenly lays; the burden of their song, 
 Set for Eternity the blood of Christ. 
 It circles still; and, as the ages roll, 
 Illuminates the records of the blest. 
 Space infinite resounds the name of Him 
 Who on the throne, chief singer there, gives forth 
 The note of praise; for He alone can sing 
 Without reproach, Himself, and celebrate 
 What He has done; for He, and He alone 
 No blemish owns in all that He has done, 
 For all is well. Yet not Himself alone 
 He sings, for He and His beloved are one. 
 His Bride, joy of His heart, is there; equal, 
 But not in might, nor primogeniture, 
 But in the heart of God, and near His own. 
 She sings His praise, among ten thousand chief ; 
 And He responds, her beauty celebrates, 
 Her peerless majesty admires. 
 
 Now God is ALL IN ALL, Heaven's Trinity, 
 The Father, Word, and Spirit, Three in One. 
 The MAN, God's fellow, has sustained God's throne 
 A thousand years on earth. Mysterious One ! 
 Not less a man than God; not less the God 
 Than man : the sorrowing man, the mighty God. 
 Days of eternity were His, but yet He died 
 Ere He had reached His early prime. 
 Without an origin, yet born a babe 
 In lowly Bethlehem : the source of strength, 
 Yet helped by angel ministry : He fed 
 A multitude, yet He had need of bread : 
 All power in heaven and earth are His, and yet 
 
HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 307 
 
 He yields His early life to murderers. 
 
 So He prevails, and now for evermore 
 
 He shines the light of life, and has Himself 
 
 His bright reward. Yea, for this very joy 
 
 He sped His course, endured the awful Cross, 
 
 Despised the shame. Eternal joy was His, 
 
 Yet by a heavenly paralogue, this bears 
 
 An increase, for another's joy is His; 
 
 And His another shares : increase is made, 
 
 The two are greater than the one. Here too 
 
 Deep mystery hangs her veil; and thought, 
 
 Laboring, can but approximate, and not 
 
 Lift up the veil : the longed for time is near, 
 
 And immortality shall raise the screen : 
 
 Then holy gaze shall penetrate the range 
 
 Of Wisdom Infinite; though never sound 
 
 Its utmost depths. Whilst making swift approach, 
 
 The distance still maintains its primal length: 
 
 Infinity has no admeasurement. 
 
 Yet one look more. The regions round are filled 
 With occupants that breathe empyrean air, 
 Pure emanation from the throne of God. 
 Angelic beings, messengers of Him 
 Who has delight in all that He has made. 
 These still are ministers to do His will; 
 Still learn His grace by marking well the Bride, 
 As nearer still; and still more intimate 
 With Him her heart adores Him who sets forth 
 The image of th' Eternal God; His Father, hers. 
 
308 HEBE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 O glorious vista ! when shall be revealed 
 The beauties of that state so long concealed ? 
 When shall Thy ransomed ones, O Lord, behold 
 That world, the half of which has not been told 1 
 Shall longing hearts restrain their earnestness; 
 And wearied hearts rebuke their weariness 1 
 Or hope deferred renew its hopefulness; 
 And joy still cultivate its joyfulness ? 
 Thy faithful ones, O Lord, still trust in Thee; 
 Thy prisoners of hope still hope in Thee : 
 The fondest hearts increase their fondness still; 
 Their weariness of earthly joy fulfils Thy will. 
 The Day Star is not far, its rising nears, 
 First in our hearts, whilst yet we shed our tears; 
 For sorrow still abides, and wrings our hearts, 
 And well we know the sore of fiery darts. 
 But midnight sure is past, the dawn is near, 
 Yea, see the morning breaks; we'll chide our fear; 
 For He who said, " Behold I quickly come," 
 Is not far off, Our hearts respond, Oh ! come ! 
 The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; 
 Lord Jesus, come. 
 
 THE END. 
 
PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST 
 
 RESPECTING THE 
 
 NEW ORPHAN HOUSES, ASHLEY DOWN, BRISTOL, 
 
 Where 1,150 Orphans are maintained ; with a contemplated enlargement 
 to accommodate 2,000 Orphans. 
 
 ASHLEY DOWN ; or, Living Faith in a Living God. 
 
 A Memorial of the first Quarter of a Century of the New Orphan Houses on 
 Ashley Down. By W. ELFE TAYLER. Price 3s. 6d. (Post free.) 
 
 MIGHTY THEOU&H GOD. Some Account of the 
 
 Extraordinary Labours of the Rev. George Muller, of Bristol, as Founder and 
 Director of an Institution for Missionary Work at Home and Abroad, and 
 other operations. By W. ELFE TAYLER. Neatly bound in cloth. Price 
 Is. 6cL (Post free.) 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTUEE OP ELEVEN HUN- 
 DRED ORPHANS from the Ashley Down Orphan Houses, Bristol ; taken at 
 an excursion of the children to Shirehampton Park. Price 2s. 
 
 STEEEOSCOPIC - SLIDE VIEWS OP OEPHAN 
 
 HOUSES AND CHILDREN, Is. 6d. each ; Part of Grounds with Group of 
 Boys; House No. 1, with Group of Boys; House No. 1, with two Masters ; 
 House No. 1, with Group of Infants ; House No. 1, with Group of Girls ; House 
 No. 2, with Group of Girls ; House No. 3. 
 
 FAITH, HOPE, AND CHAEITY EXEMPLIFIED: 
 
 Lines on the New Orphan Houses, Ashley Down, with View of the Orphan 
 Houses. Price 2d., or Is. 9d. per dozen. 
 
 VIEW OF OEPHAN HOUSES, with Printed Ex- 
 
 tracts from Mr. Miiller's Reports. Price l%d., or Is. M. per dozen. 
 Useful for inclosing in letters to friends, to give an idea of the magnitude 
 of the work, and the principles on which it is conducted. 
 
 VIEWS OF OEPHAN HOUSES ON LETTEE PAPEB 
 
 OR CARDS. One Penny each. 
 
 BEIEF NAEEATIVE OF FACTS EELATIVE TO 
 
 THE NEW ORPHAN HOUSES for 1,150 Children, on Ashley Down. By 
 GEORGE MULLER. Price Qd. 
 
 A VISIT TO THE NEW OEPHAN HOUSE, 
 
 Ashley Down, Price 2cZ. 
 
 THE LOED'S DEALINGS WITH GEO. MULLEE. 
 
 Written by himself. 2 volumes. Price 6s. 
 
 FAITH AND PEAYEE EXEMPLIFIED IN THE 
 
 SUPPORT OF 1,150 ORPHANS. A Four-page Tract. Price 3d!, per dozen, 
 or Is. 3d. per 100. 
 
 SOLD BY W. MACK, BOOKSELLER AND PRINTER, 
 38, PARK STREET, BRISTOL. 
 
Advertisements. 
 
 THE BELIEYEE'S STANDING IN CHEIST, AND 
 
 HIS CONSEQUENT RELATION TO THE WORLD. By the Rev. S. 
 WILKINSON, Taunton. Price Id. 
 
 PEEPAEATOEY DISCIPLINE; OB, FORTY TEARS IN 
 
 MIDIAN. By the Rev. M. DICKIE. Price 3d. 
 
 THE GOOD WOMAN ; OR, THE MODEL WIFE, MOTHER, 
 
 AND MISTRESS, OP THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. By the Rev. H. I. ROPER. 
 Price 4d. 
 
 G-O TO JESUS. A little book that should have a large 
 
 circulation. Price IJeZ. 
 
 HAPPY JOHN, THE DYING POLICEMAN. By the 
 
 Rev. D. A. DOUDNEY. Third Edition. Price 2d. 
 
 CHEIST THE ONLY SAYIOUE. Price 2d. 
 
 A SCEIPTUEE CALENDAE FOE EEADING THE 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT ONCE, AND THE NEW TESTAMENT AND PSALMS 
 TWICE, DURING- THE YEAR. By the late Rev. JAMES SHERMAN. Price 3d. 
 
 DOES MASSA LOYE MY JESUS ? By the Eev. S. A. 
 
 WALKER. Fourth Thousand. Price M. 
 
 OUE TIMES AND OUE CHUECHES. By Eev. S. 
 
 HEBDITCH. Price 2d. 
 
 CHUECH EFFICIENCY; OR, CHURCH PRINCIPLES 
 
 CONDUCIVE TO CHURCH PROSPERITY. By Rev. H. M. GUNN, Warminster. 
 Price 3d. 
 
 OLIYEE CEOMWELL. By Eev. N. HATCROFT, M.A. 
 
 Second Edition. Price Qd. 
 
 HEEOES & LESSONS OF ST. BAETHOLOMEW'S 
 
 DAY, A.D. 1662. By Rev. N. HAYCROFT. Second Edition. Price 6d. 
 
 EEGENEEATION BY WATEE AND THE SPIEIT : 
 
 a Sermon. By Rev. S. A. WALKER, Rector of St. Mary-le-Port, Bristol. 
 " Showing Scriptural authority for the use of the Baptismal Service by the 
 Evangelical Clergy." Price 2d. 
 
 BAPTISMAL EEGENEEATION, ACCORDING TO THE 
 
 BIBLE, THE PRAYER-BOOK, AND THE EVANGELICAL CLERGY. By Rev. N. 
 HAYCROFT. Price 2d. 
 
 HOW LONG WILL THE LAITY BEAE IT? A 
 
 Question for the Sheep against the Shepherds. By Rev. S. A. WALKER, M.A., 
 Incumbent of St. Mary-le-Port, Bristol. Second Edition. Price Is. (" The 
 design of this Pamphlet is to bring before the Christian Laity the character 
 and aim of that party in the National Church known as Anglo-Catholics.") 
 
 BAPTISM IN OLD AGE ; OR, OBEDIENCE AND HAPPI- 
 NESS. By Rev. T. POTTENGER. Price id. 
 
 THE GEEAT INSUEANCE. By Eev. H. QUICJT. 
 
 Price Id. 
 
 W. MACK, 38, PARK STREET, BRISTOL. 
 
Advertisements. 
 
 By the Eev. HENBY GEAIK. 
 THE HEBEEW LANGUAGE : ITS HISTOEY AND 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS ; INCLUDING- IMPROVED RENDERINGS OF SELECT 
 PASSAGES IN OUR AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION OP THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 Price 3s. 6d. 
 
 HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS ON THE PEOPOSED 
 
 REVISION OF OUR ENGLISH BIBLE, a Reprint from Mr. Craik's larger 
 work. Can be had separately. Price 6d. 
 
 THE DISTINGUISHING- CHAEACTEEISTICS AND 
 
 ESSENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE LEADING LANGUAGES OF 
 ASIA AND EUROPE. Stitched in a neat wrapper, price Sd. ; or, bound in 
 
 Cloth, Is. 
 
 PRINCIPIA HEBRAICA; an Easy Introduction to the 
 
 Hebrew Language. Price 10s. Gd. 
 W. MACK, BRISTOL; BAGSTER & SONS, LONDON. 
 
 By Eev. M. BBOCK, MA., of Christ Church, Clifton. 
 
 SHOET CHAPTERS ON THE COVENANT OF 
 
 GRACE. Price 2s. Bd. 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM. Price 
 
 THE SACRAMENT OF THE LOED'S SUPPEE. 
 
 Price 3d. 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE TEANSFIGUEATION. Price 
 
 2(2. 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT CONFIEMED BY THE 
 
 NEW, IN THE WORDS OF JESUS AND OF HIS APOSTLES. Price 2d. 
 
 DOCTEINES FOE THE CHUECH. Containing 
 
 "JUSTIFICATION," " SANCTIPICATION," "GLORIFICATION," and "THE 
 
 LORD'S COMING." Price 2s. 
 
 The above may be had in Separate Tracts : 
 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ONLY. Price I%d. 
 SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIE1T. Price \\d. 
 GLOEIFICATION. Price IJrf. * 
 THE LOED'S COMING: A GEEAT PEACTICAL 
 
 DOCTRINE. Price IJd. 
 
 W. MACK, 38, PARK STREET, BRISTOL. 
 
Advertisements. 
 
 By W. ELFE TAYLEE. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE TEMPORAL POWEE OF THE 
 
 POPES ; SHOWING THE CRIMES BY WHICH IT WAS ORIGINALLY ACQUIRED, 
 AND AFTERWARDS ENLARGED ; WITH AN APPENDIX OF SCARCE AND CU- 
 RIOUS DOCUMENTS, AND A COLOURED MAP, POINTING OUT THE POSITION 
 OF THE REVOLTED STATES OF THE CHURCH. Price 2s. 6$. 
 
 THE END NOT YET. Price Is. 6d. 
 
 The object of this work is to show that the word of GOD affords no ground 
 for the extraordinary theory of Dr. GUMMING, that the Coming of Christ 
 and the commencement of the Millennium will take place in the year 1867. 
 The Author goes on to show, however, that there is good ground in Scripture 
 for believing that the year above specified will prove the era of a great Crisis 
 in the History of Europe. 
 
 By Eev. S. A. WALKER, M.A. 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER READY: TWELVE LEO- 
 
 TURES, FORMING PART OF A SERIES OF WEDNESDAY EVENING LECTURES 
 
 ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 The contents of this handsome volume are as follow : The Source of 
 Readiness Necessity of Readiness Character of Readiness Difficulties of 
 Readiness The Girdle of Keadiness The Breastplate of Readiness The 
 Sandals of Readiness The Shield of Readiness The Helmet of Readiness 
 The Sword of Readiness Readiness in Prayer Ministerial Readiness 
 
 W. MACK, 38, PARK STREET, BRISTOL. 
 MACINTOSH & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 
 Now ready, an edition of 10,000 copies, royal 32mo, neat cover, price 2d. ; in 
 quantities, 12s. 6d. per 100. 
 
 CHEIST THE ONLY SAVIOUR, 
 
 A Christian minister well versed in tract literature, and who gratuitously cir- 
 culates thousands of small religious publications every year, thus writes : " Your 
 little work, ' Christ the Only Saviour,' is well calculated for usefulness. When 
 there is so much teaching in pur day whose tendency is rather to conceal than ex- 
 hibit Christ, one welcomes any publication, large or small, whose aim is to give 
 the Saviour, both as to His person and His work, that prominence to which He is 
 justly entitled, and which is universally afforded Him in the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 " I have already commenced the purchase of ' Christ the Only Saviour,' and 
 intend to give it as wide a circulation as my circumstances permit." 
 
 THE BOOK SOCIETY, 19, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 W. MACK, 38, PARK STREET, BRISTOL.