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 Gethsemane
 
 C. K. OGDEN ; 
 
 Vi 
 
 i 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 i 
 
 gethsema;se; 
 
 
 A SACRED POEM. 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^K 
 
 • 
 
 BY 
 
 
 LAICUS ANGLICANUS, M.A. 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 
 FEINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, 
 
 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARLXG CROSS. 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 1891.
 
 GETHSEMANE: 
 
 A SACKED POEM. 
 
 BY 
 
 LAICUS ANGLICANUS, M.A 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PiaXTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, 
 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARIXG CROSS. 
 
 1801.
 
 LOXDON : 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 
 fcTAMlORD STREET AND CHABIXG CUOS9.
 
 
 TO MY FRIEXD 
 
 CHARLES C. RHYS, 
 
 POET AND SCHOLAR, 
 THIS POEM IS DEDICATED. 
 
 r\r^r*<<r> -w- CI
 
 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 Bkfore mine eyes, from near the Golden Gate, 
 
 The rugged Valley of Jehoshaphat 
 
 Lies in its stony nakedness. Across 
 
 That gaunt defile the Mount of Olivet 
 
 Rises in simple beauty, clearly limned 5 
 
 Against the Eastern blue, which makes each stone 
 
 Stand out as though a hand's breadth from the eye ; 
 
 So that, in truth, to pilgrims from a land 
 
 Where Heaven grants not so divine an air. 
 
 The scene appears to be a fairyland, 10 
 
 Or dream, that presently will fade away 
 
 " And leave us all the poorer when we wake " — ■ 
 
 Poorer in what we see, yet richer too 
 
 For what we have imagined. Painter's brush 
 
 May strive to teach us what the scene is like ; 1 5 
 
 But, great as is the talent God has given 
 
 To noble-minded men who live for art. 
 
 They bring not home the great reality. 
 
 The painter shows us what he sees himself ; 
 
 But this blest Land is different to eacli, 20
 
 GETHSEMAXE. 
 
 A(fordiiig to his needs, his life, his aims. 
 
 His troubles, his temptations, loves and hates ; 
 
 And thus each needs a six^cial help. This Land 
 
 (lives help to all ; for all who hither come, 
 
 I r 1 >ut so be they come with humble hearts, 25 
 
 Will find the comfort that they most desire — 
 
 Wn\ youi's, I mine, the painter his ; nor his 
 
 The same as yours or mine. Poor mortals we, 
 
 And many-sorrowing, and each of us 
 
 Xeeds much — nay, all — of Christ, yet not the same. 30 
 
 For some need Hope, some Peace, and othei-s Fire 
 
 'J'o warm them ; Peace, the weary, Hope, the sad, 
 
 Ami Fire, the timid. Come then here and pray, 
 
 And He with Whom a prayer availeth much 
 
 AVill give to each that which he prayeth for. :>") 
 
 Aye, those who come to Palestine with Fear 
 
 And Love and Reverence and Faith, may trust 
 
 That He Whose feet have trod the self -same ground 
 
 Their feet are treading. He AVhose mouth hath breathed 
 
 I'he self-same air, will not forget them when 40 
 
 III [iove and Reverence they seek His Land. 
 
 But see ! Upon the top of Olivet 
 Rises a Mosque, which the Osmanlicall 
 " The Mosque of the Ascension ; " kind indeed. 
 And courteous withal, to call it so ; 4o 
 
 Strange, too, that thus the proud Mahommedans 
 Should notice that Ascension, when to them. 
 In sooth, the greater place is where from earth 
 Their prophet rose to Heaven, just behind
 
 GETHSEMANF.. 
 
 Where now I sit, rose from the threshiiii,'-fioor i)(i 
 
 Araunah gave to David ! Why, Lord, 
 
 Are these men here ? AVhy does the Crescent shine 
 
 Where once Thy Temple in its Beauty stood. 
 
 Planted in Strength, by Wisdom made sublime ? 
 
 I cannot tell : if answer come from Thee 55 
 
 Before I sleep to-night, or if, indeed, 
 
 There should arise within me, as I rest 
 
 Upon this Sacred Hill, some monitor 
 
 Seeming to guide me, or some still small voice 
 
 Speaking within my heart, then let me, Lord, (»0 
 
 Tell to the world what it shall tell to me ! 
 
 The Eastern sun is strong and bright and clear, 
 And lights the path that winds around the Blount 
 To Bethany, which, hidden from the view, 
 Lies nestling in a dell among the heights. ()5 
 
 'Twas but this morning that I saw the house 
 That legend tells us was of old the home 
 Of Mary, she who " chose the better part," 
 And Martha, kindly, bustling, loving soul, 
 God bless her with her sister I 'Twas from there 70 
 
 That greatest of all pomps wended its way 
 Round the sharp corner of the Mount, to where 
 Our Saviour saw the City. As I think 
 Of this, there comes a little party round 
 That very path, and, halting at the spot 7o 
 
 Where He Himself once stayed, gaze at the City. 
 Of what can they be thinking, l)ut of Him ? 
 Wiiat brings folks here from Xorth, South, E.ist and West
 
 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 Kxcepi to think of llini who saved their souls 
 
 liOiiu", long ago ? But, A\ hen they homeward go, ku 
 
 And start again the business of their lives. 
 
 And see once more their offices, their homes. 
 
 Their friends, and all that makes their daily lives, 
 
 Do they remember how on Olivet 
 
 Thev waited, looking at the Mount of Sion ? i<:^ 
 
 The Eastern sun is sinking to its rest, 
 And still I feel 1 cannot leave tliis spot, 
 For on the moiTow I must ride away 
 To Jaffa, whence my ship will bear me home. 
 Let me then wait, until the night comes on, 'M) 
 
 Ere to the sacred City I return. 
 'Twill not lie long : the twiUghts of the North, 
 That cast their silver sheen o'er English grass, 
 Belong not to a latitude where day 
 
 l>^ day and night is night. But the bright stars 1)5 
 
 Shine with a lustre that we do not know 
 Who only see therii gently peeping down 
 l''i-om English skies. Yes, the sun's disc is gone, 
 And from the minarets around I hear 
 
 The shrill muezzin's voice, calling aloud 1()(» 
 
 " There are no Gods but God." If that were all, 
 \W would re-echo back a loud Amen, 
 Jiut Whom alone can we in truth acclaim 
 " His prophet " ? Who alone is more than that — 
 His equal, nay Himself, made flesh for us ? 105 
 
 Can it be that the sun is standing still
 
 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 As erst on Ajalon ? Or do mine eyes, 
 
 Weakened by too much gloiy, play some trick 
 
 With my excited brain ? It is indeed 
 
 An honour that mi<(ht make the human eye IK' 
 
 Grow blind with awe, to see the Holy Land ! 
 
 But things rise up before me ; whether 'tis 
 
 Mine eye that errs, or whether something more 
 
 Than human, more than natm'al, is here 
 
 Vouchsafed to seeking hearts, I cannot tell : 115 
 
 But true it is that there, across the vale. 
 
 The little band of pilgrims is transformed 
 
 And glorified until it seems to be 
 
 That pomp of pomps ; and hark, I hear the cries 
 
 Of Alleluia ! as the attendant throng 120 
 
 Crowd round the Man they worship. Yes, 'tis He, 
 
 Riding upon His ass, while " all the tribes 
 
 Hosaima cry," But in a moment all 
 
 Is gone, and, in its stead Mount Calvary 
 
 Swarms ^vith a motley crowd, who cry in rage 125 
 
 " Crucify Him." And yet these are the men 
 
 Who cried Hosanna ! There they stand, and there 
 
 Are set three crosses. Wherefore three .'' At least, 
 
 Methinks, they might have let Him die alone ! 
 
 Yet no, for thus our common nature showed 130 
 
 Nobly, for He Who took our nature on 
 
 Died with a man each side of Him, to show 
 
 That he was man as they ; living wich men 
 
 He died with men ; so we, living for Him 
 
 Shall die for Him and in Him, and our flesh, lo5 
 
 Being as His then was, shall rise again
 
 10 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 And be with Iliui in Heaven. Aye this form 
 
 Of GUI'S was fashioned in the very image 
 
 Of God Himself, and by that Purity 
 
 Which we may reach by prayer, we may indeed 140 
 
 So cleanse ourselves, even as He is pure, 
 
 That, as His blessing saith, we " shall see God." 
 
 Let it be, then, our aim so to live through 
 
 Our mortal lives, as to come near to Him 
 
 "Who lived that one and only perfect life ; 14.5 
 
 And what that life was we should ponder well. 
 
 For thirty-three short years He walked this earth, 
 
 Yet in those years enough example left 
 
 For us to walk by till the end of time 
 
 And feel our lives a void compared with it. 150 
 
 The cries I seemed to hear o'er Calvary 
 Are silent, and the stars are shinino: brisrht 
 And beautiful, but cold, as though they looked 
 On earth with naught of sympathy ; but see, 
 Among those clear, cold stars, one seems to move 155 
 
 As though some Unseen Monarch bade it stir 
 And do His will. The star is, sure, alive 
 With Spirit, not of this cold Universe 
 But guided by a loving Hand. It moves 
 Towards Bethlehem ! Oh, do I sleep or wake ? 160 
 
 IMethinks I see the shepherds follow it, 
 Until it halts above that sacred spot 
 Where He, the Holy Child, lies newly born. 
 Twelve years He lives in fiuiet obedience ; 
 And then a call within Him, higher still 165
 
 GETHSEMANE. H 
 
 Thau that of earthly parents, calls Him forth 
 
 To where the Rabbis in the Temple sit 
 
 Teiiching the Sacred Law. A striking scene 
 
 Is this, and one the Christian well may love 
 
 To contemplate. A boy of twelve yeare old, 17(» 
 
 Fair-haired, if pictures err not, and with mien 
 
 Gentle and sad, among these Rabbis sits. 
 
 Asking them questions. Could those Rabbis tell 
 
 Who 'twas that questioned them ? Maybe some flash 
 
 Lit up their mind and showed them Whom they saw ; 175 
 
 Maybe their eyes were darkened. Presently 
 
 His Mother comes. His Virgin Mother : she 
 
 (Perceiving not that One had called to Him 
 
 Who called of old to Samuel), sui-prised 
 
 To see Him there, called to Him to come home. ] 80 
 
 But He, w^ho knew that now He must begin 
 
 That work that was to end upon the cross, 
 
 Stood still, and, looking at her with that love 
 
 A son must bear his Mother, said those words 
 
 Which told her that His mission had begun : 185 
 
 And then she knew that He must be about 
 
 His Father's business. Then the scene again 
 
 Is- changed, and wdiere the stately fair-haired l)oy 
 
 Once stood, a man of thirty summers stands. 
 
 And I, who know, throughout my dream, how He 190 
 
 Will be before me, even to His death, 
 
 Recognise Him, Who died for you, for me. 
 
 For all ; I see Him Perfect Man, AVho yet 
 
 Is Perfect God ; and, seeing Him, I know 
 
 That all I have is His, and His alone. 195
 
 12 GETIISEMASE. 
 
 Aye, all I have is His, as Perfect Man ; 
 
 Even if we, in our Theol(\u:y, 
 
 Are using words while knowing not the sense, 
 
 In saying He is Perfect God ; yet I 
 
 Know Him to be that Perfect God. But those ^I'tO 
 
 AVhose minds are different to mine, can know 
 
 How I feel, if they think of how one loves 
 
 One's monarch whom one serves, whom one asks not 
 
 Wliy this war is declared, and why not that. 
 
 But merely follows, as a child the sire 205 
 
 Whom he reveres. So those to whom Our Lord 
 
 Is Man alone (God help them in the hour 
 
 Of death and day of Judgment), yet can tell 
 
 How Loyalty can make me love Him. Yes, 
 
 What soldier does for king, I do for Him 210 
 
 As ^lan ; but, as He stands before me here, 
 
 I know, as Peter knew, that here I see 
 
 My Lord, my God. 
 
 And now begins that holy ministry 
 Which for three years, throughout this Sacred Land, 215 
 i\Iade wide His name. Who cured the maniacs. 
 The paralytic, and the blind and deaf 
 Who sought Him, so that pen could never write 
 All that He did, if all were set straight down, 
 Wondere and miracles. Aye, God forbid 220 
 
 That I should so presume upon the light 
 This dream affords me as to try to tell 
 What He has let me fancy. Let it be 
 Enough to say that here, before mine eyes
 
 GETHSEMANE. Vi 
 
 (Tliose eyes wliicli God has given to the mind 225 
 
 Of those who love Him), stands one thing at least : — 
 
 His Life ; that all should follow, though all know 
 
 They cannot reach it. First, then, at the feast 
 
 Of Cana, when the water in the pots 
 
 Was tm-ned to wine, we see Him as a Man 230 
 
 Who fled not, like a hermit, from the scenes 
 
 Of human happiness and earthly joy ; 
 
 Nay, more, He did not only join as guest 
 
 In Cana's wedding-feast, but here He wrought 
 
 The miracle that we record as first 235 
 
 Of all His miracles, to make that feast 
 
 Comi)lete and happy. Thus, if one shall say 
 
 That wine, " which maketh glad the heart of man," 
 
 Is of the Devil, or should be accursed. 
 
 We point to Him, and to that water which 2-iO 
 
 " Blushed crimson as it saw its God." Again 
 
 The scene is changed, and now I see those cures 
 
 He wrought on lame and dumb and blind, and those 
 
 Possessed by devils — cures so many that. 
 
 If all were written down, this world of ours 245 
 
 Would not contain the books that should be writ. 
 
 Miracle after miracle is wrought, 
 
 But not by miracles shall He be Loved ; 
 
 The miracles show forth His mighty power, 
 
 AVhich, working for the Good is honoured, 250 
 
 But, if His mu-acles compel our Faith 
 
 That He was more than Man, 'tis not for them 
 
 We love Him, 'tis because His life was all 
 
 One loner-continued deed of Mercy, done
 
 U GETHSEMAN^. 
 
 For lis for that great Love He bore us, so 255 
 
 That we, remembering what He has done 
 
 May do to one another, if we can, 
 
 And in our feeble, mortal way, the same. 
 
 For three long years — ^long and yet short withal. 
 Long in events, yet short in time— He walked 260 
 
 This earth, and did these things ; and some believed, 
 But most believed' not. They rather burned 
 With jealousy, seeing the things He did 
 And yet mistrusting Him ; for, seeing, they 
 Did not perceive ; nay, wondering, they sought 265 
 
 Some cause of blame against Him, but found none. 
 
 "Why doubted they that Lord who called to them 
 So lovingly ? Perchance His life was not 
 The life that they supposed to be foretold 
 By them of olden time ; for that strait sect 270 
 
 To whom 'twas given to explain the Books 
 Written by Moses and those holy men 
 Whose mouths the Lord had filled with the Truth, 
 Had made the Word of God of no account 
 By their traditions ; thus Isaiah's words 275 
 
 Had, by interpretation's aid, been turned 
 So as to darken rather than bring light. 
 Thus He, Whom all the Prophets, had they lived 
 To see Him, would have worshipped as their King, 
 Their long-looked-for Messiah — nay, their God — 280 
 
 Was doubted, sneered at, hated, done to death 
 (Against the Roman raler's wish), by those
 
 GETHSEMANE. 15 
 
 Who should have been the first to welcome Him, 
 
 And see in Him the One of Whom they taught 
 
 The coming. Thus it is, when simple Trath 285 
 
 Is given over to the custody 
 
 Of any school of men, we find those men 
 
 Will turn it as they will, and order us 
 
 To hold it as they turn it. Can we blame 
 
 The Jews, if they believed their learned guides 290 
 
 Rather than Christ ? Had we been living then, 
 
 Brought up by Pharisees, learning with care 
 
 Their subtle readings of the Prophets' words. 
 
 Should we at once have turned to follow Him, 
 
 Who, meek and poor, dwelt in our midst, and did 295 
 
 These works amongst us ? No, like those who sought 
 
 To kill Him, so should we ourselves have done. 
 
 But all He did on earth is written down 
 By those whose pens have felt the Holy hand 
 Shaping the letters as they wrote them down. 300 
 
 I turn to those last days He spent on earth. 
 Those days which, after the triumphant song 
 " Hosanna in the highest " had been sung, 
 Passed over Him with slow and heavy hours. 
 Just at the foot of Olivet there lies 305 
 
 The Garden of Gethsemane, the place 
 Most dear to aU who love our Saviour Christ 
 Of aU the spots in Palestine, for here. 
 In this sAveet Garden we can see Him Man, 
 Bearing with pain and grief His weight of woe, 310 
 
 Praying to God that, if 'twere possible
 
 16 GETffSL'MAXE. 
 
 The cup miglit pass from Him, yet willing too 
 
 To drink it drv, doiutr His Fatlier's will 
 
 And not His own. And in that noble prayer • 
 
 He summed up all reliffiou in one breath — 31 o 
 
 For, while we pray for health and strength and all 
 
 For which we live, we know that God above 
 
 Knows what we need better than we ourselves 
 
 Can tell Him. Even if, upon our knees 
 
 In all humilitv, Ave ask the life 320 
 
 Of some one dear to us, a wife, a son, 
 
 Or daughter, still we ought to say, with Christ, 
 
 " Not my will, Lord, but Thine be done," and then 
 
 Bow with content to what He wills shall be. 
 
 He Who, at Cana's wedding-feast, rejoiced 325 
 
 "With those who joyed, now shows that He can mourn 
 
 "With those who mourn — a nearer, dearer tie. 
 
 To paint the scene within those garden walls 
 Is more, I fear, than mortal's pen should try ; 
 Yet, just as mortal paintei-s have essayed 330 
 
 To paint His face, so pen of man may hope 
 Not to offend, if, after thought and prayer, 
 It strive to tell what picture was retained 
 Upon my mind, as, sitting here, I saw, 
 As in a vision, what this Gai'den held 335 
 
 That evening. There, beneath that oHve tree 
 (Which, legend tells us, is the same we see 
 To-day), our Saviour knelt, and there He prayed 
 That, if 'twere possil>Ie, the cup might pass 
 From Him, yet would not thwart His Father's will. 3-Kt
 
 GETHSEMAKE. 17 
 
 And whom of His apostles do we see 
 
 With Him ? First Peter, he to whom onr Lord 
 
 Revealed Himself as God, to whom w<is made 
 
 The glorious promise that upon that Rock 
 
 Should rest the Christian Church. 'Twas he who first ;-)45 
 
 Acclaimed his Master as his Lord and (iod, 
 
 'Twas he who tirst denied Him. Passing strange 
 
 These characters of oure, that sometimes rise 
 
 Almost to Heaven, and then sink again 
 
 Below the earth ; one moment communing 850 
 
 With thoughts inspired by God, and then, alas ! 
 
 Falling to earth, forgetting all that He 
 
 Has taught us ; so it was with Peter, here 
 
 He sleeps, but not alone, for, by his side 
 
 Two others lie, — oh, is it possible 355 
 
 That while He prays, they sleep ? Yes, there they lie 
 
 Peter and James and John ; and there He found 
 
 Them lying when He turned for sympathy 
 
 From human hearts, after the awful houi-s 
 
 Of agony. 'Twas cruelty enough 3CiO 
 
 In all the three, but most of all in him 
 
 " Whom Jesus loved," and whom all Christian men 
 
 Love also ; that St. John who afterwards 
 
 Left us his noble gospel, he who taught 
 
 All nations that the Word was God. How then 365 
 
 Could he, within whose heart such seed had ta'en 
 
 Deep root, whose very being was imbued 
 
 With that great inspiration that has made 
 
 His words so dear, have gone to sleep that eve 'f
 
 18 GUTHSEMANE. 
 
 In this, mcthiuks we have our answer. He 370 
 
 A\';is man as I am ; and his love for Christ, 
 'IMiou^U-h high and pure, higher than most of us 
 Perhaps can reach, yet did not fill his life 
 Si) as to drive away all other thoughts ; 
 I'hus, boylike — for he was a boy — St. John 375 
 
 (As now we call him in the Catholic 
 And Apostolic Chm'ch) forgot his Lord 
 In other thoughts and fancies, such as might 
 At any time have seized upon his brain, 
 And led his thoughts away as prisoners. 380 
 
 How could his youthful mind, his wayward thoughts, 
 Take in the awfulness of that dread hour ? 
 1 k' knew not that the servants of the Priest 
 >Vere seeking for the Master Whom he loved 
 To seize Him, and to lead Him to His death. 385 
 
 Tlius with St. Peter and St. James he slept, 
 Tiitil the Master came, and gently said, 
 '• Could ye not wait one hour ? " And then there came 
 The servants of the Priest, to take our Lord, 
 Coming as though against a thief, with swords 390 
 
 And staves. When Peter saw them, in liis shame 
 At his forgetfulness, he once again 
 Forgot himself, and in impulsive mood 
 Scarce knowing what he did, seizing a sword 
 He smote a servant of the Jewish Priest, 395 
 
 Not killing him, but cutting off his ear. 
 Again our Lord rebuked him, telling him 
 Tliat those who took the sword, should bv the sword 
 Perish. Thus twice within a brief half-hour
 
 GETHSEMANE. 19 
 
 He upon whom the GMuu'ch was to be l)uilt -400 
 
 Gave ])roof of mortal frailty ! Should not this 
 
 Make brave our hearts to sink not when we fail 
 
 From weakness or forgetfuhiess ; for we, 
 
 Failing, may feel the spirit willing, though 
 
 The flesh is weak ? 'Tis the greatest souls, 405 
 
 Sometimes, who fail the oftenest ; for those 
 
 Whose cautious steps are but the messengers 
 
 Of sluggish minds and feeble hearts, may tread 
 
 More carefully, and thus with fewer slij)s. 
 
 And with less pain and labour, wend their way : 410 
 
 But these mount not so high as those who climb 
 
 And fall, and climb again, and fall again 
 
 And climb once more. Indeed, each time they fall 
 
 They learn how 'twas they fell, and thus, from shame. 
 
 From pride, but most of all from love of Hhn 415 
 
 "Who beckons to them still, forgiving them 
 
 As Peter was forgiven, they rise at last 
 
 Higher than those who, on a lower path 
 
 Do little harm and little good, and crawl 
 
 Where others walk, and walk where others fly : 420 
 
 Peter could climb and fall ; to-day he fall-, 
 
 But afterwards ! — Ah, let the Christian world 
 
 Tell us how high he climbed ! how, but for him. 
 
 The Church of Christ could not have shone so bright ! 
 
 But while St. Peter in his rage struck off 425 
 
 The chief Priest's servant's ear, what did St. John r 
 Ah, could we i)enetrate that gentle bieast 
 And see the wounds that tore that noble heart, 
 
 c 2
 
 20 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 We might behold the fixed and deep resolve 
 To live and die for Christ and Him alone 430 
 
 Planting itself within him ; we might trace 
 The first true kindling of that flame of love 
 So soon to turn the boy into a saint, 
 The youth whom Jesus loved into the Knight 
 "Who fought foi- Him ! But thoughts like those which 
 stirred 435 
 
 His soul that moment cannot be expressed 
 liy those in whom the dross of this world's thoughts 
 Is not so purged away and purified 
 As to enable them to see the bright 
 
 But steady flame his heart contained that day. 440 
 
 We turn to those sad scenes that happened next, 
 ^Vhen He who saved the world, was by the world 
 Alocked, evilly entreated, scourged and slain. 
 Could not the men who did these awful deeds 
 l[ave read their prophecies ? And did they think 445 
 
 That some impostor rode around that Mount 
 Jiito the City through the Golden Gate, 
 ( >r did their consciences, throughout it all, 
 I'rick them with some dim sense of what they did ? 
 Wii have His words " They know not what they do ; " 450 
 Yet Pilate, lie who sat above the crowd 
 Of shouting Jews, wielded with his arms 
 The Majesty of Rome ; who only wished 
 To do his duty as a Roman should 
 
 AVho rules a province ; he who should have done 455 
 
 •liistice alone, nor more, nor less, did naught. 
 But let the grim fanatics have their way.
 
 GETHSEMANE. 21 
 
 1 1 was the custom at the yearly feast 
 
 That one of those in prison for their crimes 
 
 Should he released ; and Pilate, wishing still 4 (Hi 
 
 To help the Christ he knew to he a man 
 
 Innocent of all WTong, asked of the Jews 
 
 Whom they would have ; hoping that very shame 
 
 Would make them seize this "place of penitence " 
 
 ( )ffered so freely. They, who knew not shame, 405 
 
 Asked for a robher, one Barabbas, who, 
 
 Traitor, as well as robber, yet appeared 
 
 ]\Iore honourable in their eyes than Christ ! 
 
 Then Pilate, who, though wishing to do right, 
 
 Yet " feared the people," let Barabbas go ; 470 
 
 And thus the might and majesty of Rome 
 
 Were prostituted to the Rabbis' rage. 
 
 Now in the watches of the silent night. 
 
 Before that awful morning, Pilate's wife 
 
 Had seen, as in a vision, many things 475 
 
 About this Christ ; and in this wondrous dream. 
 
 Or vision, she had " suffered." Ah, what things 
 
 She saw we cannot tell. Perchance some ray 
 
 Of prophecy, like those which erstwhile touched 
 
 Isaiah and Ezekiel, may have been 480 
 
 Vouchsafed to her ; she may have seen the days 
 
 To come, when He, who then was to appear 
 
 Before her husband's judgment-seat, would be 
 
 Worshipped by mighty millions as their Lord ! 
 
 If this were so, she may have seen before 48.') 
 
 Her slumbering eyes the march of centuries ; 
 
 She may have seen how that Imperial Rome,
 
 GETHSEMAXE. 
 
 Whose eag:les floated o'er her husband's chair. 
 
 Would in the days to come be tenanted 
 
 By one whose proudest title would be writ 400 
 
 *' The servant of the servants of the Lord 1 " 
 
 () let us think nj on her dream that night, 
 AVhile Pilate slumbered calmly, free from care. 
 To little children it is sometimes given 
 To vaguely dream of God — that God of Avhom 495 
 
 They learn at mother's knee ; but children's dreams, 
 Though sweet as faiiyland, have not that Light 
 Of truth, as well as truthfulness, which God 
 Vouchsafed to her ; nor even are the dreams 
 The merciful Almighty sometimes grants oOO 
 
 To older people, whose world-weary minds 
 Cannot bring Him before them when awake, 
 l>ut who may get a little glimpse in sleep 
 Of Him Who bears their sorrows, like to hers 
 To whom 'twas given to l)ehold the truth 505 
 
 That wondrous night. "What was it that she saw ? 
 If to those eyes within, which see the l>est 
 When those pink lids are shut, which guard in rest 
 The eyes that look without, there came tliat night 
 Such knowledge as no other can have learnt ; 5 1 o 
 
 If to her mind, on waking, there remained 
 That deep impression that we may suppose 
 Was printed there that night, she might have told 
 All to the end that on this world should be ; 
 And we, who struggle in a cloud of doubt, 5L5 
 
 Asking why after eighteen centuries
 
 aETHSEMAXE. 2.J 
 
 So many problems should eiicoiii])ass us, 
 
 May envy her I Let us consider well 
 
 What, throuiili tlie \eil that covers us, she saw. 
 
 First, it may he, appeared the awful scene ">2(» 
 
 On Calvary; then, mid the cruel men 
 Who would have pereecuted to the death 
 Those who remained His faithful followers. 
 There rose the figure of one named Saul, 
 A Roman citizen, and yet broug'ht up -"i^r* 
 
 A Pharisee of Pharisees. 8t. Paul, 
 As now we call him, was the chief of those, 
 Who (blinded by that hate that sometimes fills 
 The best of minds, the very minds that soon 
 Will love those things they tried to hate), was first h'M) 
 
 Of those who tried to kill the Cliristian Church. 
 But, just as minds that most reject and spurn 
 A new idea as dangerous or false, 
 May yet in time come round and see the WTong 
 That they have heedless wrought, so did that mind 'y^iT) 
 
 Receive in full what weaker men receive 
 More easily but less abundantly. 
 One night St, Peter lay on Jaffa's shore, 
 That rocky coast where still all ships must halt 
 A full half-mile from shore ; and as he lay 040 
 
 It seemed that from above there came a net 
 Filled full of divers animals, unclean 
 As well as clean. He, as a pious Jew, 
 Liked not to eat those beasts which Jewish law 
 Regarded as unclean, but from above '^\'^
 
 24 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 There c.iinc a voice, saying, " What God hath cleansed 
 
 That call thou not unclean ! " Then Peter rose 
 
 And eat. Alwut this time, ^\•llat we call chance, 
 
 V>\\i rather ought to call the hand of God, 
 
 Direcrted Siuil, when he was journeying 550 
 
 Unto Daniitscus, there to persecute 
 
 The followei-s of Christ ; and, as he went 
 
 Struck him with sudden blindness. Then there came 
 
 That great awakening, that greatest fact 
 
 < )f histoiy, xcept the Life of Christ ; 555 
 That which, except His life, most brought about 
 
 The life, and early growth, and lovely health 
 
 < )f Early Christianity ; that night 
 The Persecutor left his fonuer life, 
 
 Aud changed Ms mind, his heart, his blood, his all ! 560 
 
 Strange that the very man who, as a Jew, 
 
 A Pharisee of Pharisees, imbued 
 
 With all the law taught by Gamaliel, 
 
 Spurned Avith disgust that very law's fulfilment, — 
 
 Yet, once convinced that Christ was God indeed, 565 
 
 Turned to Him, and thereafter served Him well ; 
 
 III ])rison oft, and oft in stripes ; indeed, 
 
 J le dietl a prisoner, and thus prejKU-ed, 
 
 Together with St. Peter, the strait path 
 
 ( )f Christianity ; but where St. Paul might plant, 570 
 
 Or might Apollos water, yet 'twas God 
 
 AVlio gave the increase ! 
 
 As years roll on, the Chm-ch, like some young child, 
 Grows taller day by day ; through perils dire
 
 GETHSEMANE. 25 
 
 .»( •• 
 
 And persecutions cruel she struggled on, 
 
 Until, from being persecuted by 
 
 The other creeds, she then in turn became 
 
 A persecutor ! Oh, my God, my God, 
 
 Could it be this that Pilate's wife beheld 
 
 When she lay dreaming through that wondrous night r TiKO 
 
 Can it be this from which she " suffered " ? Aye, 
 
 If 'twas, we cannot wonder ! Mortal words 
 
 Are weak to tell the horror, the disgrace. 
 
 The awful infamy, the utter shame 
 
 That stained the noble creed of Jesus Christ I ;"»«;"» 
 
 Up to this very day, what Englishman 
 
 Can speak the name of Spain without a thought 
 
 Of horrors so ineffable, so dire, 
 
 That on them rests that strong resentment which 
 
 Has made us Protestants ? These deeds of shame aiXi 
 
 Have now died out in Europe, but the thoughts 
 
 From which they sprang are living still ; and men 
 
 Who bear the name of Christ, — upon whose brows 
 
 His sign has been imprinted, — think they do 
 
 Their God a service when they persecute alia 
 
 Those who interpret Christianity 
 
 In methods other than their own ! But not 
 
 At first did this grim horror rear its head 
 
 Like some fell nightmare o'er her tortured brain, 
 
 For many ages first had passed ; the age GUU 
 
 Of Cyril, of Angustine, Hippo's saint ; 
 
 And that Augustine who, in later years, 
 
 Was sent to Albion, to plant therein 
 
 A Saxon Church. How beautiful the tale
 
 26 GETnSEMANE. 
 
 We hear of liow liis mission came to pass I 005 
 
 The early Britisli Church had been o'erthrown 
 By Teuton pagans from the forest lands 
 Of Germany and Denmark ; and it chanced 
 That two young boys from Pagan England's shores 
 "Were lying prisoners in miglity Rome. <j10 
 
 The Pontiff Gregory, in robes of white, 
 Chanced to be passing by, and at his side 
 There walked Augustine. When the Pontiff saw 
 The English boys, whose curly, flaxen hair 
 And light blue eyes betokened Xorthern birth, 01.5 
 
 He asked the dealer wlio had charge of them 
 From whence they came, and what the boys were called. 
 " .4/*////," replied the man ; and, with a smile, 
 " Xon Anz/I/,'" cried the Pope, " sed Aiif/eli,'" 
 And then more sadly added ^^forent si 020 
 
 Fuissent Christiani ! " Then outspoke 
 Augustine, and that mission was begun 
 That Itrought the Saxons to the Fold of Christ. 
 
 But see ! What now appears upon the scene ? 
 ^larauding hosts from Eastern lands press on, 025 
 
 And on the banners o'er their armies waves 
 A Golden Crescent ! Can it be that these 
 Will take and sack the City of our King ? 
 Aye, that indeed they will ; but, through the length 
 And breadth of Europe runs a flame of fire, 030 
 
 And Kings and Princes with their gallant knights 
 Struggle in noble rivalry to free
 
 GETJISEIfAXE. 27 
 
 The land of Christ from Payiiim's bloody hand. 
 
 For ill those days of Faith mm did not count 
 
 The cost of what they did for Jesws Christ, D:-?". 
 
 But left their homes, their lands, theii* wives, their all, 
 
 To free His country from the Paynim yoke. 
 
 And for a while — 'twas only eighty years — 
 
 Jerusjilem was held again by those 
 
 Whose sword-hilts bore the Cross, and then the wave 640 
 
 Of Moslem victory rushed on again ; 
 
 For countless hordes poured on and on, until 
 
 The little band that held the Sacred Monnt 
 
 Was overwhelmed, and thus a second time 
 
 The Crescent floated o'er Jerusalem. 645 
 
 For many years the Cliristians tried in vain 
 
 To win it back, nor was it e'er regained ; 
 
 But though the Moslem arms swept back the Knights 
 
 Who fought for Christ, and though the Crescent stands 
 
 Over the Mosque of Omar to this day — GoO 
 
 Yet those same quaUties of heart and mind 
 
 That led the Knights of old to Palestine 
 
 Were not crushed out by Moslem nor by Fiend, 
 
 But grew and flourished and were handed dowu 
 
 From sire to son ; and many a valiant deed 655 
 
 Of true, unselfish heroism tells 
 
 That our Crusading spirit is not dead. 
 
 First of the qualities that then shone forth 
 
 Was loyalty ; not, as of yore, to King 
 
 Or country only, but besides all this, 660 
 
 Besides this ancient loyalty, 'twas now 
 
 Felt for a high ideal — such as was
 
 28 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 The ficrlit for Palestine. And from this age 
 
 Of Chivah-y, as now we call it, sprunj^ 
 
 Another noble virtue, reverence 665 
 
 For holy things, aud pity for the weak, 
 
 Aud much beside, though Palestine itself 
 
 "Was lost, perchance for ever, or perchance 
 
 Till the Lost Children shall be gathered in 
 
 By Christ, and then sent back to Canaan's shore. 670 
 
 Ah ! those Lost Children ! Terrible it is 
 That still some Christian nations should be found 
 To persecute with crnel penal laws, 
 And yet more ei'ucl insults, that same race 
 Of which was bom their Saviour ! Even Spain 675 
 
 No longer does so, though there was a time 
 AVhen she was worst among the worst ; but now 
 'Tis from the ice-bound North we hear the cry 
 Of Judah's suffering ; that North where reigns. 
 In sombre Majesty, the " Great White Czar." 680 
 
 He, terrified if left an hour alone, 
 Afraid to walk the streets without a guard. 
 Trembling amid his crowd of courtiers 
 Lest one should be a traitor, yet presumes 
 To pereecute the seed of Abraham, 685 
 
 Hounding them to the- death ! And yet perhaps 
 It is not he himself who wishes this ; 
 But rather, terrified and half insane 
 From agonising fright, he has to loose 
 The dogs that otherwise might turn and rend 690 
 
 Their master, so that they may turn their fangs
 
 GETIISEMANE. 29 
 
 Against defenceless citizens. Bnt why 
 
 Does Russia thus detest and persecute 
 
 The sons of Israel ? Do not the priests, 
 
 Who stir this hatred up, ponder the words Onr> 
 
 Of Balaam, when he looked upon the tents 
 
 Of Israel, commanded by the King 
 
 To curse ! Have they forgotten how the seer, 
 
 " The man whose eyes are opened," spoke that day ? 
 
 Let them think well of how he blessed the race 70o 
 
 Balak had brought him there to curse, and how 
 
 He spoke the wondrous words, " Blessed is he 
 
 Who blesseth thee," and eke " Cursed is he 
 
 Who curseth thee." Is Russia blest or cursed ? 
 
 Let Russians answer I If it be blest to be 705 
 
 Corroded by corruption, they are blest ! 
 
 If it be blest to hold within themselves, 
 
 As marks that cannot change, the seeds of war 
 
 Against their fellows and against their King, 
 
 Wherein th' assassin's dagger meets the sword 710 
 
 Of stern authority, while dynamite 
 
 Destroys the Palaces that serfs have built 
 
 For tyrants — if all this be blessing, then 
 
 Is Russia blest who persecutes the Jews. 
 
 But there is one more vista, one more scene 715 
 
 That may have been unfolded in the dream 
 Of Pilate's wife that wondrous night. The foes 
 Of Christianity no longer fight 
 With armour and with sword, but from within 
 Her fold there come some secret enemies, 720
 
 30 GETHSEMANE. 
 
 AV'ho, calling themselves by the Name of Christ 
 
 Yet care uot for His dootriues. Worse again 
 
 Are those who, having been indeed brought up 
 
 In faith, yet, losing it themselves, attack 
 
 The faith of others, and proclaim aloud 725 
 
 That which the fool said only in his heart, 
 
 " There is no God." For e'en the fool had sense 
 
 To keep locked up within his foolish breast 
 
 A sentiment so worthy of " the bea&ts 
 
 That perish ; " but these men of modern times I'M) 
 
 Proclaim as from the housetops their new creed, 
 
 That we are apes, that God is not, that, when 
 
 Our bodies die, no more is left of us ! 
 
 And some there are who say they do not know 
 
 If God is or is not, and choose a new 735 
 
 Greek name, " Agnostic,"— sounding better far 
 
 Than Latin " ignoramus," though it means 
 
 The same — and then look down with calm contempt 
 
 Upon the followers of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Om* young are poisoned by the specious words 74n 
 
 Of men like these ; but we are comforted 
 
 "When we remember how the promise runs 
 
 Whicli tells us how the yawning gates of Hell 
 
 SiuiU not prevail against the Christian Church I 
 
 Aye, wiien Our Lord returned to Heaven above 745 
 
 He did not leave His children comfortless. 
 
 But sent to comfort us -that Holy Ghost 
 
 Wiio watches o'er the Apostolic Church ; 
 
 And He, Who doth His seven-fold gifts impart, 
 
 Is alwavs with the Church.- A little child 75u
 
 GETHSEMANE. 31 
 
 Receives a drop of water on bis brow, 
 
 And in tbat water is tbe grace bestowel 
 
 By God tbe Uoly Spirit. Later on 
 
 Tlie cbild is edified and grows in faitli 
 
 Till from tbe Bisbop's bands be takes again 755 
 
 The quickening grace, and then is free to seek 
 
 Tbe Table of our Lord, thereat to taste 
 
 The gifts unspeakable tbat Christ provides 
 
 For those who truly love Him, Then, to those 
 
 Who wish to take upon themselves the vows 7(><> 
 
 Of ordination as Christ's ministers 
 
 Tbe Spirit gives yet higher things ; but all 
 
 JMay be confirmed, and seek the altar rails. 
 
 For though our Saviour is no more on earth 
 
 As Man, He still comes near us in our prayere 765 
 
 And in our Sacraments ; near as He was 
 
 Wlien erst as Man He trod yon holy Mount 
 
 Of Olives, and the shouting throng of Jews 
 
 Cried out Hosanna ! Nor until He comes 
 
 Again in clouds of glory, ^vill the Church 77U 
 
 Bd left without these gifts, which make, indeed, 
 
 The essence of an Apostolic Church ; 
 
 For we below, who wait His coming, know 
 
 That He is near in Spirit, helping us 
 
 To worship God in Spirit and in Truth. 775
 
 LOKDOX : 
 
 PKISTKU BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIJUTED, 
 
 STAMFuRD STEEET ANT CHARING CR093.
 
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