"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another." St. John, xiii. 34.
MEN do indeed paint Human Justice blind,
Through bandaged sight; and truly. But the day
Is coming, when the fillet snatched away
Shall give her eyes with equitable mind
On her own scales to gaze, and for mankind
To poise them rightly. Then by clearer ray
Will she her study-book-man's soul
And Christ's great law upon her frontlet bind.
Now, ignorant of Nature as of God,
Not yet we learn that terrors ne'er deter,
But harden and attract. That the brute rod
Makes rebels, but not children. That all fear
Instruction mars. That mortals to amend,
First we must show ourselves indeed their friend.
"Therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you." Isaiah, xxx. 18.
WHY through the scheme of God doth vengeance
Because, alas, men know too well the word!
Because it like a trumpet's note is heard,
Waking no doubtful echo in the soul! —
Because we are, in truth, most apt to stroll
In doubtful ways:- and to the common herd
The scourge is needful! — Nor, indeed, were stirred
Longings within us for a heavenly goal,
Without opposing shades of pain and fear.
Yet in the Bible are there sayings dear,
Where God's great love, as if to make a path
Direct unto our apprehensions dull,
Dropping the garment of a dusky wrath,
Stands forth in naked mercy beautiful.
"O, speak good of the Lord, all ye works of his, in all places of his dominions."
ANSWER, with all thy pulses, throb and speak,
Thou tender, palpitating heart of God!
Through earth, through air, and caves of ocean broad,
All thronged with myriad beings, strong or weak
In terror, or deep love! Flush on the cheek
Of morn, breathe sweet from evening's dewy sod!
Tremble in music, 'mid the choral ode
That from the soft vale to the mountain peak
Whispers or thunders! Art Thou cold, or dead,
Or vengeful? - Hush! A holy silence reigns:
That our own heart, stilling our throbbing veins,
And only with its own assurance fed,
May be itself Thy answer and abode,
O tender, palpitating heart of God!
"In my Father's house are many mansions." St. John, xiv. 2.
YE orbs that tremble through infinity,
And are ye, then, linked only with our eyes,
Dissevered from our thoughts, our smiles, our sighs, -
Our hopes and dreams of being, yet to be?
Oh, if all nature be a harmony
(As sure it is), why in those solemn skies
Should ye our vision mock, like glittering lies
To man all unrelated? Must I see
Your glories only as a tinselled waste?
If so, I half despise your spectacle!
But, if I deem that ye form æras vast,
And do, by mighty revolution, tell
Time to intelligent existences;
Awe-struck, I do assist at your solemnities!
"All things serve thee." Psalm cxix. 91.
THEE all things serve. Then even the spirits bad
Which, felt or feigned, are round us. They too serve
Thy high behests, and work on brain or nerve,
Only as Thou decreest. Tidings how glad
To those whom unseen influences make mad
With ignorance! Whom images of fear,
And terrors whispered into childhood's ear,
Distract with gloom that Nature ne'er had had
Unspoiled by man. Oh, blest it is to hear
That there is purpose in our every pain ;
That we are not a sport and mockery,
Whereon an evil host their skill may try
For base experiment; but children dear
Of a wise God, whose very frowns are gain.
"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died." Romans, viii. 24.
PERCHANCE I whisper to my happy soul,
Thought of past sin should burthens on thee lay, And send thee weeping on a dreary way,
And self-abased.". But then, beyond control
Of such mistrust, new pleasures still unroll
Their calm sweet glories to the visual ray
Of inward faith; and heavenly voices say
Unto my spirit," Joy is the great pole
Of thy existence. Not as mortals do
The Saviour doth: He raiseth from the ground
The crushed one, and restores from every wound'
The self-respect of man. No friend untrue
Is He, with past offence to make thee sad.
Smiles He? Thou canst not choose but to be glad."
"The poor shall never cease out of the land." Deuteronomy, xv. 11.
HAD all a joy within, what outward ill
Could touch? This, this alone, the cure
Of all the pangs that mortals must endure;
Not in the dreams of bliss impossible
To our condition. 'Tis the evil Will
That forms an inward hideous portraiture
Of God. And while our darkened breasts immure
This falsehood, all the riches, that could fill
The world with blessings equal as the day,
Were vain to clear one discontented brow,
Or dignify one sorrow.
Thy very cloak
'tis well! - but think not thou
Aught less than Christ acknowledged can absorb
The wants, the tears, of this distracted orb.
"God gave Solomon largeness of heart." 1 Kings, iv. 29.
LARGENESS of heart! Inestimable gift!
Sure all that trust in Christ - Creation's Morn -
Must unto thee expand and be reborn,
However stinted by their nature's thrift.
For God's great Spirit doth exalt, and lift
The soul out of itself; far from forlorn
And personal narrowness, and all weak scorn
Of any who along life's current drift.
Thus much is sure. - He, who conceived the thought,
For angels-men — ay, even worms
That all Creation might be raised and brought
Out of its own inherent frailty,
Dwells not in bosoms that would Heaven repress
Unto their own exclusive narrowness.
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