^^B 111111111 ilMl H I «B 'MM WmWm€m^f^c& IiiHfii^ k\' AN EPIC POEM. GOD IN CREATION AND EVOLUTION, THE CHURCH OF EVERY AGE IN LIGHT AND SHADE. Non vox sed votum, non chordula musica sed cor, Non clamans sed amans, cantat in aure Dei. Gloss, in Cap. Cantantes. NEW YORK: J. S. BEEKMAN, PUBLISHER, 201-213 East Twelfth Street, 1883. 3- Copyright, 1883, BY J. S. BEEKMAN. PREFACE AGNOSTICISM and the denial of God's agency in nature is a growing tendency of the times. The boast of scepticism is, That all things can be explained by natural laws. This arises mainly from the fact, that the earth, as a whole, is a system, an organism, and a de- velopment from one stage to a higher until Creation was finished. But in this development Spirit Power is ever manifest. The purpose for which the world and all it contains, and the heavens were made, was to re- veal the glory of this Infinite Intelligence. The finish- ing work is Redemption and. man glorified. This is ex- hibited on the Seventh day, not yet ended : hence no evening or morning for this day or period is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. To discourse upon this grand system in its order and symmetry, and show the creating, superintending, all- iv Preface. pervading agency of Spirit, this Spirit God, is the ob- ject of this work. Hence the author has not stopped for detail in any part, but has carried the one idea briefly through each successive stage of development. Both holy and fallen angels belong to the theme, since they are a part of creation and sustain a prominent relation- ship to the earth and man. The work is an epic poem, without rhyme, as the most fitting channel to treat the great theme with brev- ity and force, and more especially to allow a liberty to imagination where truth is not absolutely known. Thus leading truths are given and the popular mind may receive them without the labor of hard logic. Author. CONTENTS. BOOK I. The Creation of the Heavens and Angels. PAGE Scepticism fruitless 2 God in solitude , 3 Inspiration , 7 Creation of matter 11 " angels 13 Satan holy 15 The angel Paradise 16 The stars formed 21 The solar planets and earth formed 25 Rest in God because he is infinite 29 BOOK II The Angels' Fall. The origin of sin 31 Sin progressive 34 Multitudes involved in Satan's fall 37 How to detect the fallen. First, by scandal 38 The same in earth 39 Second, by advocating persecution 41 vi Contents. PAGE The modern Church surpasses the worldly in this sin 42 Third, by lust of power .... 44 Effect of the same spirit in the Church 46 Repulsion and affinity 46 The battle in Heaven and the result 47 BOOK III. The Creation of the Earth. Hell a literal place 51 The earth a solid 53 Satan instructs the fallen angels 56 Sceptics have like views 57 Evil spirits claim earth as theirs 58 Their power curtailed by the Cross alone 60 BOOK IV. The Creation of Plants. What is life ? 64 First plants of earth 66 The murky atmosphere 70 The fiends in it, but on the alert from fear 70 BOOK V. A Solar Day and Year Begun. The first day of sunshine 73 The first year 76 The starry heavens allure us to God 79 The evil spirits resume their office 81 Contents. vii PAGE Satan calls a Council 82 His speech to render all things hurtful 84 Pastors bad and good contrasted 87 BOOK VI. Creation of Animals. Enjoyment added to life 94 Fools deny God's agency 96 The waters produce abundantly 103 Coral animals produced 104 Satan rendered animals malintent 107 Satan gives death its sting no Devils produce imperfect taints, animosities, etc 113 Reptiles produced 114 Gigantic fowl appear 118 Force solely originates from spirit 119 Colossal mammoths appear 120 A new race of fish and flowers appear 124 Pleasure succeeds pain as light darkness 125 BOOK VII. Creation of Man. First a babe 127 Man's endowments 132 Eden 135 Eve created 141 The bliss of Adam and Eve while holy 143 Without Eden the powers of evil reigned as before 145 Eden a dwelling-place too for the holy angels 146 viii Contents. BOOK VIII. Man's Fall. PAGE The temptation 150 Immaterial, what form of matter spirit uses ■ 152 Eve's fall 153 Its effect upon angels 155 Adam's fall ■. 156 The soul increases power in sinning 159 Sentimentalism in the modern Church 161 Justice and conscience 165 Hell's jubilee over man fallen 167 Christ's descent into hell 171 Evil spirits active where good is being done 176 BOOK IX. Man Redeemed. This period divided in six distinct eras 179 The first era from Adam to the Flood 185 Adam and Eve sentenced 186 Redemption announced in Heaven 192 The summary of the whole theme stated 194 The conscience 195 The human pair driven from Eden 196 The modern Church secularized 200 The sons of Seth marrying daughters of Cain closes the first era 203 The second era begins with Noah saved 205 Ministerial success, as estimated by men, does not determine worth 205 Evil, even in the Church, should be rebuked 212 Seminaries and colleges for good or evil 216 Contents. ix PAGE The second era ends when the Church and world amalgamated 224 The third era begins with Abraham and ends with Israel's Captivity in Egypt — the Church again absorbed by the world 225 The Church, like Lot, may be ensnared by covetousness 228 Pastors who cater to wealth 229 Pastors' vacations 231 The fourth era begins with Moses and ends with Saul made king 237 God's personal omnipresence 241 Soon death comes and then we will long for God 243 God in person near the leading feature of this era 244 Losing sight of this fact ministers preach a jargon 245 Theological seminaries 247 Ministers patronized by honorary titles 248 A place is what the spirit in it is 249 How to teach sacred truths 252 The death of Moses, and Satan claiming his body 255 The Church ought to look for sins within herself rather than and before looking without 258 The persons of the Trinity 261 Moses in person enters Heaven 264 The fifth era, monarchy , 265 Begins with David 266 The clergy should introspect for sin, and not be so ready to assail others and the world 267 From suffering to glory 270 The effects of monarchy 270 David anointed king '. 271 Vacant churches selecting pastors 272 David loved and hated, his grace and power over men 274 David a type of Christ providing Heaven for us — Solomon's kingdom typifying the latter 277 The church in its purity . , . , , 278 x Contents. PAGE Man nearing blissful homes 280 Solomon king and his personal excellences 281 The glory of his kingdom 282 Moloch worship permitted by Solomon 287 Church persecutions, origin and antidote 288 The world beautiful, man vile, but Heaven pure 291 Ashtareth worship also permitted by Solomon 292 The Church should rule by love 293 The sixth era, Christ born 294 The path to Heaven 296 Millennium 293 Why ungodly men are suffered to act wickedly, or are even permitted to prosper 298 Our union with God 300 The seventh era yet to come, revealed to John, of which our Sabbath is a type 3 QI John in Patmos was given a vision of this coming era 302 The beauty of Saints .- 3°5 Sin incidental to good 3°5 The possibilities of our future development 307 A glimpse of our future home 308 The exchange of this life for future felicities the price of Calvary 311 SPIRIT POWER. BOOK I. THE CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND ANGELS. AWAKE, O Muse ! and sweep the sounding lyre With skill divine, and hymn the noblest theme Which can the mind of man or angel thrill, Both now and evermore : awake and sing In Heaven's harmony, of worlds evolved ; Of plants and flowers new born ; of angel life Began in bliss, with power to will and act ; Of man dethroned, by sin plunged deep in hell, — - But now redeemed by God, to glory raised High o'er the azure dome of heaven above ! 2 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. Let Nature with ten thousand tongues awake And hail the auspicious hour to sing and praise Our Maker's grace in music of the spheres ; Let Heaven and Earth their choicest gifts employ And chant a melody, so rich and rare, That angels, coming near, will stay their flight And fold their pinions, glad to tarry long ! 'Tis holy knowledge, golden fruit in rich Abundance gives, which keeps forevermore The wealth which neither thieves nor tyrants steal, Which e'en in gloomy death with us abides. Like empty, barren clouds in times of drought, And trees uprooted, fruitless evermore Is knowledge foolishly disclaiming God Supreme — the Spirit Power primordial. His presence personal pervading space To see in every thing, is thought advanced. For infancy, not less maturity Of science, knowledge and intelligence, Begin and end with Spirit Power Supreme. Science, falsely so called, is dangerous, Abortive and destructive otherwise. Creation of the Heavens and Angels. Oh, Thou Eternal and immediate In time, to Whom unnumbered ages gone Or ages yet to come are moments length, Instruct the finite mind to view Thy power And majesty in forming act the same Whether wrought through successive cycles past, Beyond compute, or formed in perfect state As soon as willed. Impressed with reverence We'll then begin the noble, glorious theme, A theme aglow with more than fancy's light, Which thought in measure sweet ne'er reached before, And feel the plenitude of infinite Power in this richly varied universe. To worship Thee the darkest night illumes With rays of light which blind the commoner sense ! The Mighty God, enthroned in solitude, The Blessed, uncreated Trinity, Fountain of good, the Godhead in repose, — Had yet displayed no attribute of Being, Save with the co-eternal Son and Spirit He Abode,— one Spirit like, and each to each 4 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. Glorious, infinite, alone, — and each To work in His own proper sphere, revealing Perfections of the one and only God ; Nor yet had spoken either world or seraph Into Being throughout immensity ; His beauty, grace and loveliness beyond What creature mind has e'er conceived or known Were yet hid in the abyss of Deity, And all that matter and spirit life reveal Known only to Himself, God infinite ! In solitude — a dreadful Deity ! Our spirit faints beneath the awful thought, Too ponderous for human, finite strength ! His realm was infinity, with nought Else but pure spirit, personal, enthroned In light ineffable and glorious. For in the ether blue no star in light Of amber shone and twinkled 'mid the gloom ; No creature having life adored the throne, Nor ranged joyously through the heavenly realms ; Nor was there tree or flower, beast or bird Yet born to render nature beautiful, — Creation of the Heavens and Angels. But God alone, in thought inscrutable, Profound, possessed of possibilities Beyond what Heaven yet knows in solitude ! No marvel hence that graciously He pleased To break eternal silence and reveal Himself in worlds, and other spirit life ; To share with myriads bliss ineffable ; And hence to will and cast a universe And mould it into being, in which to act Himself, best illustrated, but far short Of all the vast and awful truth involved, By human soul within controlling body, — Within and yet above whate'er's controlled ! Oh God, too good Thou art to keep unshared Thy goodness and too great to live alone ! Beyond, in timeless past, when time and space Were not, Thy light, O, dreadful thought ! alone Did shine, — immensity alone Thy throne ! As Son and Holy Ghost, co-equal dwelt Ever with Thee in bliss ineffable, So in Thy bosom sweetly nurtured may We rest, and nestle folded in Thy arms 6 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. Live always in Thy Person dread but dear, And thrilled with ecstacy and love, enjoy Thy gorgeous face in beauty and caress ! We tremble at the near approach we make To Thee — at our request so seeming bold ! Our sight will dazzle by Eternal rays Which in Thy Person shine, — and yet we come O God ! to Thee, — to perish in Thy arms Content if needful, ravished by Thy love ! But vain it is to tremble or to fear, For tenderness and love forever beam From Thy sweet face — more readily Thou seekest Us than we seek Thee, — only seemingly Thou art remote — nor wilt repel our love. Thou'rt hidden now in part to be revealed More fully upon the hills of Paradise, Where better we shall love and bear Thy light ! Oh Fountain inexhaustible, we drink In Ocean's bliss in seeing, loving Thee ! Come ! pilgrim through the vale of life with me, From life to death upon the shores of time — Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 7 * From death to life upon the shores of bliss, Come, learn with me the mystery of Heaven — Within the soul, of happiness complete, Of spirit power divine in gorgeous light. We'll tarry in the shades of night at times The better to discern the pure and true : We'll traverse plains and heights ne'er reached before, Be dazzled too, at times, by rays divine, And views obtain appalling human sense : Into the depths we'll revel seeking God — But ever is He near and manifest, And in the end reach home — Elysian fields ! Prophets are given of God, and solely, "vision Of past or prophecy of things to come — Eyes spiritual, vision answering To bodily, from time and sense divorced, — Now Heavenly and divine, the Vision God's : As instinct exercised unerringly Is Wisdom God's, whereby the brutes surpass And shame and put to blush the powers of man. 'Tis not of man or angel, creature born, To look into the dark profound of ages 8 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. Since, ere he came to Being or the earth Or Heavens were lighted in the firmament ; Nor into future times, as yet unborn — Against our nature and beyond our powers. God moves with Hand Divine the mists away, Throws light upon a scene — and tells us look ! — Behold ! through Spirit Infinite we see — Through eyes Divine : and Vision God's a scene Impresses upon our souls, infallible Then and alone, thus helped by Spirit Power Above, outside ourselves and infinite ! 'Tis Blessed Spirit here, companionating With finite in gracious intimacy — Heaven's Wisdom, Glory, Love or Power disclosed Long since or yet reserved, revealed to earth And man, or angels in empyrean heights ! To say we're helped, as helmsmen are to guide A bark unerringly o'er stormy seas, Are supervised to keep from error free — Called Inspiration, given of God to men Who wrote the Sacred Word, is short of truth, Or stated but in part by half at least ! — Creation of the Heavens and A ngels. The word is good and orthodox, retained — But as interpreted as well expunged : Called Supervision would disclose the view As taken and clear of all entanglements. But there's a vision given above our powers Of brilliant gems upon the ocean's bed And golden palaces with crystal halls, Of hidden rocks and shoals, blind rocks and shoals Beneath dark inky waves ; there is a Hand Removing shades, imposing light, and God Is eye who casts a vision upon the soul, The spirit born, finite and limited. Thus more than helped, or merely supervised, — God's Vision, infallible, an image casts Within our soul, and spirit sees the truth, To speak or write, unerringly, each word, As given original, by Power Divine. We're helped as human eyes are instruments Of spirit : thus is God pre-requisite, And not a mere adjunct or accident ! Thus only man the future or the past Discerns, as Moses, prophet of the Lord io Creation of the Heavens and Angels. Discerned Beginning of the Universe, Angels as yet unborn, and through all time Into the abyss and shades of night delved deep And saw the past and future's history. As human eyes perceive a flower and know The fact, requiring evidence no further, And laughs to scorn a sceptic asking proof And further demonstration of the fact, So God's Vision, imparting truth for thought, Pleasure and help throughout life's pilgrimage To spirits born, impressing scenes beyond What mortals otherwise could know, cries halt ! — To every doubt and sceptic scheme which steals A march within the lines of truth's strong citadels ! When souls discern through Vision God's, the past Or future mysteries, 'tis gross to cavil, — For further evidence none need to ask. To Heaven ! let earth's incense most sweet ascend For Inspiration given to sinful man ; For mysteries disclosed and treasuries Unsealed where richest gems with lustre glow ! Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 1 1 O ! fellow pilgrim, mark the birth of dust Whence stars were made, and man and angel form, And marvelling adore the first display Of Power Divine — Almighty God revealed ! Born by the word omnific God declared There sprang a universe, a gaseous realm Of matter into Being, rarified Like air from centre to circumference. Whence issued suns in multitude like pearls And crystal sands which deck the ocean's floor, Whose heat and brightness far exceed our own, And all the worlds which plough the ether main. Whate'er material is, from gaseous state Arose, and into its original Returns when it its destiny fulfils. Combined harmoniously are clustered suns, The system one, where peace and happiness Have held their reign supremely sweet since first It rolled a formless airy mass in space : And wondrous suns which gyre around and round, As if in passionate pursuit, with joy Each eyeing the other's changing beauty's hue : 12 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. And glimmering clouds of worlds o'er many a rood So far and wide a shooting beam of light E'en tires on wing ere it their limits gains. The worlds, suns, systems filling space evolved, Moulded by hand divine all beautiful, From elements, the dust original, — As rude and blackened coal when pierced by heaven's Lustre becomes a diamond bright and chaste ; Or like as crystalline formed from the crude And shapeless dust of earth. Here then we look As upon a forest growth in every stage Of germs developed from the tiny sprout Just peeping out the soil its tender head To the exalted tree that rears its trunk Against the sky and proudly spreads its boughs Of perfect beauty which reflect the light. The elements original of matter Are few — or possibly there's only one — But O ! how endless the variety Of body and of substance they assume, And marvellous their beauty to attract The eye, or ugliness repelling thought : Creation of the Heavens and Angels. As flesh of gases elementary Is formed the same and like in animal kind : — But mark the maiden, fair and sweet, compared With serpent flesh, repulsive, hard and cold ! So diamond beautiful and lustrous Is carbon, and an elementary- Gas, and likewise coal which is lustreless. So bodies there are, tenements of spirit, Celestial and terrestrial, whether seen Or not by us, alike composed of substance According to their kind and sphere and realm, Of matter simple and original, Born by omnific word, the Spirit Power Who was ere man or angel breathed, the light That solely shone throughout immensity ! O, pilgrim in the shades of solitude, Reclused from things of sense and time, Behold ! An order of Creation in advance Of matter far and incomparable Now appear, — finite spirit, — angel life, — Intelligences pure and holy, like 14 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. To God, with thought and sentiment and heart And faculties and conscious will endowed ; And tenements superadded to spirit, Called bodies, like pure ether, richly formed Of elements from which the universe Is made, — an airy substance, not discerned By carnal sense, save otherwise they will To manifest themselves in earth or heaven. So animalculae, perceptible To none, are yet organic substances With functions requisite to life and pleasure. For bodies are adapted to the sphere In which each spirit acts, expands and thinks. Whether the tenements of soul are formed In solids, flesh and bone, or gaseous, like Thin air, but having beauty, shape and form Discerned by angel spirits and our souls When disembodied, is quite immaterial. Our bodies earthy take the form of earth ; But angel bodies heavenly in form, A light and gaseous substance like to Heaven. The great Apostle of the Gentiles hence Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 15 Denominates the mass of men as fools, — Because, forsooth, they foolishly inquire Respecting resurrection — with what bodies Do they come ? seemingly a question great, Important — really immaterial. To culture soul, and to prepare for high And spiritual work should be- the end Of body, whether gaseous or in flesh. Then Satan, towering pre-eminent O'er all the myriads which there into Being Came, was archangel 'mong the mighty hosts, — With attributes and powers transcendent, — fresh In youth and beauty as the morning light, — With intellectual faculties ne'er since Surpassed, — with dignity befitting him, Having no peer around the throne of God ; Whose character was lovely and adorned With virtue, as a halo of pure light Illumes a person unalloyed with sin ; His body of so fine a mould it shone In air or ether or at heaven's throne Like to a transparent luminary, 16 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. But yet organic, linking him to matter And spirit, substance having suitable To his employments, nature and desire To range the universe of God's domain. His honored name by which while pure and holy He was known, is forgotten since his fall ! For Satan and the countless angels great Or small, all holy in ecstatic bliss, A lofty habitation God prepared, Adapted to their nature, labors, tastes And all acquirements destined to engage Their powers superior eternally. From centre to circumference entire, The universe of matter was one Globe, An elemental mass unformed as yet In either suns or worlds, — a chaos crude And marvellously dark, — a wonderful Expanse whose limits e'en an angel swift As light for centuries could scarcely reach : Where now glow worlds upon worlds, suns and stars Illuminating heaven's vast expanse. The angels' Eden was the centre, whence Creation of the Heavens and Angels. ij Every way they could view alike the works Of God, no east or west or north or south, — Alike above, below, to right or left, So that where'er they looked a wonderful Display of Spirit Power was manifest. Here was prepared an angel Paradise. Like phosphorescent light upon a sea Which storms have broken into million caps Of foam and spray, now calm, the gale allayed ; So God's command illumed the angel world, And carefully the cradle of their birth, The home of their maturity adorned. Darkness now ceased to reign ! with light the first Created power, the fountain head of all The streams of life was ended first of days. From centre to circumference light shot Darting throughout the elements like tongues Of flame : the dazzled universe was thrilled ! Thus northern lights illume the firmament When winter has thick ribbed the earth with ice, And while the sun's benign rays are withheld. The angels now in wonder rapt, amazed 1 8 Creation of the Heave?is and Angels. Beheld themselves, their forms, alike illumed, — The beauty of the heavens theirs concrete, — Their bodies shedding color, lustre, hue And shade such as adorned the heavenly realms. Whichever way they looked some new display Dazzled their senses and restrained their breath, Inured not yet to glory now revealed. This heaven, centre of the mighty Globe, Was like a molten sea of glittering gems : Where districts seemed of massive silver, bright But mellow brilliants, others yellow gold, With varied tints like clouds at setting sun. Heaven aflame with more than rainbow hues' Scattered her myriad diamonds, emeralds And every precious gem like autumn leaves, To light and beautify her mighty realm. For beauty, pleasure and utility Nature has possibilities unthought Or dreamed, — as dark seeds open into flowers, And tiny acorns into monarch oaks, And pearly shell removed an eagle mounts Above storm-clouds and soars imperial, Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 19 And gorgeous butterflies from worms adorn The earth and air and range from flower to flower. The legions of pure angels soon became Enamored with their home. And every new Display of beauty, power, intelligence Enrapt their thought and formed a fitting theme For social converse sweet, which never soured Their appetite or tired their intercourse. Here spirit finite shared the joy and bliss Of Deity, and were employed in all That elevates and renders soul ecstatic, — Shedding the light of Spirit Infinite. How beautiful, how bright the angels were — How blessed to share the bliss of Deity ! The elements primordial, the Globe Of matter, ever in its gaseous state Might have remained except for Spirit Power. For solids by laws natural return Into their elements original, When they've fulfilled their office, once ordained. The archangels noting some great change near, Thereupon held converse apart and deemed 20 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. It prudent to assemble every angel Within their heavenly precincts secure. The myriads were scattered everywhere : In fields of oxygen a multitude Discoursed upon its affinity in less Or great proportion with the gases, Which they from near or from distant fields brought ; Illuminating parts with phosphorous, With sulphur others into splendor such As mortal eye or sense could not endure : Some in districts of Hydrogen, or Carbon, Or other elements all pleasurably Employed. Some journeyed upon the points of light, The darting beams, to reach the bounds of space. Some gathered gems, both diamonds, emeralds, Rubies from fields where beauty glowed intense. Nature was lavish now of beauty only ! Far in the sphere of heaven's universe, The marvellous dome all around from where He stood, a trumpet voice in thunder tones Was heard, which echoed and re-echoed till Every angel stood mute and motionless. Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 2 'Twas Satan calling them and anxiously To annul the intervening space between Them and him in their quick returning flight ! None questioned — all obeyed — no time was lost ! Their pinions cleaving elemental air Like arrows from a bow, an army dense, A tempest raised, such as excite the ocean When whirlwinds sweep through her utmost depths. Their speed was timely. Moanings deep and dire, And thunderings throughout the gaseous Globe Gave evidence of some new wonder near. Already heaven's centre separate Became, and other globes of million leagues Twice told diameter of liquid fire, And millions, — all like evenly balanced, — hung Ton nothing, — mutually co-acting, — self-poised ; — : And vast and deep the' mighty chasm between — An empty space and void which we call ether. For 'twas God's voice that thundered, Spirit Power, Who in the majesty of might appeared And said, Be there a firmament between The waters and let it divide the waters 22 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. From the waters ! And God made the firmament, The ether's wide expanse, transparent blue, Dividing chaos elementary Above, beneath : the firmament called heaven. Pilgrim of earth and time from lofty heights We've retrospected ancient night, ere light Appeared, and have conceived that matter void, Inert was spread about the central power, When into systems formed, they all revolve. E'en though untrue in each particular, Conceit o'erdrawn, a vision limited And circumscribed, 'tis yet a pleasing thought And may be true, conceived as probable. From out infinity's waste Spirit Power Thence called them forth to life. Before there reigned A solitude akin to Egypt's night, A death we'd shun above what reigns in tombs ! No music of the spheres, now full of life, No ether wave to lash the worlds as water A vessel ploughing ocean's mighty main. Not thus forever could the universe Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 23 Remain, for power filling immensity Was felt to energize with quickening life. As parent bird the glow of life imparts, So God's breath moved upon the water's surface From which the universe evolved, — the pulse Of life then throbbed throughout chaotic void, — Impelled by Spirit Power the atoms moved And systems formed about the central Power, Which light and beautify the firmament : Centaur, and Cygnus robed in lilac blue, And brilliant Sirius, and all that shine, In anthems sing the music of the spheres, The solar too whence earth and planets grew. The immensity of power and harmony, Number and beauty of celestial worlds As suns, astonish the wise of every age. The mighty suns, the clusters; double worlds • Of light, and nebulae as islands vast Are seen to float upon an ocean's depth, Whose limits thought can scarcely reach, whose height, Whose abyss is beyond — and deeper still Though we descend eternally their depths 24 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. With finite powers excursive in their range. Here calmly undisturbed by storms they shine More beauteous than the flowers of joyous spring, Or tinted leaves of autumn's long decline. A lustre of their own they shed as gems Of earth, but varied more in brightened hues. Andromeda appears as robed in green Like earth, and Argus flashing yellow flames As topaz, for which misers barter Heaven ; And some of amethyst, a purple tinge As clouds of evening when the sun has set. Some shine a sapphire of cerulean hue, Others in ruby's red, some in the mild And chastened glow of diamonds polished bright. O, wonderful the omnipotence divine Which throughout space directs in harmony Vast myriads of creature worlds and keeps Their massive globes from dashing one against Another, whose confusion then would drive The ether waves with heinous booming shrieks Into the very gates of hell to arouse The reigning powers of death and set them free ! Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 25 These myriad suns and archipelago Of suns controlling vassal spheres unseen, Planets and worlds of systems complicate Move in a circling orbit, as the earth About the sun, around one central power. O ! where does the eternal Majesty Reside round which our system, sun and worlds, Revolves with giddy speed, which is in bonds As are the solar worlds joined close to all The clusters vast of creature stars and systems In heaven's dome, which nightly shed their rays ? God sways His potent sceptre through this space Powdered with myriad systems densely strewn ! Pilgrim, we've ranged in quick excursive flight The universe, the heavens and angel homes, And limit now our vision and our thought To earth and solar planets, glad to see Them into Being come, all orderly, Governed by laws ordained eternally. As Solar from the universal Globe, One sole united mass, was rent and torn, 26 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. So Neptune separate became and moved Within its orbit, and Uranus next Her train six satellites, then Saturn bright With moons and arch of heaven's pure lustre formed As if designed to welcome spirits blessed, And dreary Jupiter and glowing Mars. All these as watchful sentinels parade In ceaseless march beyond our little orb, . Which like them was delivered from the same Chaotic womb. Within our globe's embrace Fair Venus grew in chastened modesty, And now in twinkling beauty shines the queen Of all the starry hosts, — first heralding The early morn, and in the dusky eve Glances one charming look upon the earth And disappears. Thus the fair eastern nymph Unveils her face to our enchanted gaze, Then playful hides her charms and glides away. And last of all the sun's bright retinue, Almost hid by the splendor of her beams, Was Mercury formed into globe opaque. These all attend upon her Majesty, Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 27 The attractive power that keeps in harmony Their orbs as subjects to her ruling sway. Thus as a mighty screen the firmament Divided the waters and formed heaven's vault. Thus closed the morning of the second day. The tuneful planets roll with music sweet, Singing, — Almighty God, eternal King, Thou'rt holy, holy, holy evermore ! — With thrilling voice they hymn creative praise — The choirs like cherubim with harps of gold To which the angels listen, and God, well pleased, Delights to hear — His works attuned to song ! Tired pilgrim ! we'll here retrospect the road We've travelled o'er, and rest our weary feet, — Having seen power omnipotent displayed, Which won from formless chaos, first of things, Our solar sphere, — and how displayed conceived : — The moon a formless waste once round the earth, With it the earth and planets round the sun, The solar with the other systems one Globe entire, undivided mass. When broken 28 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. And separate into spheres, systems, suns, Then all revolved each one as now around A central power, joined by all the other suns And worlds unseen throughout the universe : — All wheels, within a wheel of- dreadful height, Whose vast circumference is far as space Is found and resting upon shores infinite, And full of eyes, — the Spirit Power, Supreme, And finite power, for spirit is the eye : — All which Ezekiel, seer divine, perceived, — A vision of the universe and earth And Heaven, and God enthroned Supreme o'er all ! Earth is an organism ; our solar sphere Likewise ; and so the universe with each And all systems, stars and suns and worlds ; Governed in whole by simple laws, — none greater Than are repulsion and affinity. So are great truths surprisingly most simple, While error is complex, confusing thought. ! 'Tis foolish to ignore a pilot hand To guide the helm of worlds and suns and systems Through ether's wide expanse immeasurable ! Creation of the Heavens and Angels. 29 With fear and reverence we may indulge. The happy thought, that all these glorious stars, Together with the suns now beauteous, Roll round the throne of heaven's Almighty King, — The place robed in light incomparable ! Thus far has Spirit Power in light alone Been seen, revealed in beauty and in might. Oh, Greatness infinite ! there's room for all That is in Thee — and yet the universe A very little thing exists, — compared, A mote that glitters in the light, a leaf That floats upon the ocean's bosom vast : Yet less than infinite, less great. and high, Thou'd crush our fragile powers, our feeble sense ! In Thee is home, a shelter for the soul, Because Thou'rt Infinite, and Great, and Good, Where poorest mortals struggling find their rest Amid the strifes of life — in Thee alone ! In Thee, no sense or fear of rivalry Will quench our ardor, love or reverence ! In thee, we share a part of infinite, 30 Creation of the Heavens and Angels. A part of glory which pertains to Thee, Of beauty and of grandeur filling heaven, — Advance and glory in Thy might, which ne'er We'll reach or rival, but will always love ! Upon a boundless bosom we're sustained In Thee, and everywhere and place is home ! — From Thee, we ne'er can drift or hide ourselves. O ! Grandeur rendering us grand ; and Wealth That makes us rich ; and Goodness that makes good, Within Thy light communicate to us While resting in the bosom of Thy love ! — And cradled there we'll rest, nor dream of harm. BOOK II. THE ANGELS' FALL. As God the parents of our race instructed To dress and keep and render beautiful Paradise, so angel powers were employed To render heaven redolent with sweets, — With wealth the rarest universe could furnish,- With glory ravishing to every soul. 'Twas spirit finite power in exercise. Peerless was Satan, intellect profound, Who shone among the countless legions fair As though he were Supreme — a very God. Clearly whatever was within the reach Of finite powers he saw with accuracy, As though all eyes or ears or intellect. An alchemist profound, constructing gold 32 The Angels Fall. And every precious metal to adorn The place of his abode, and precious gems From elements whence worlds and suns are made,- An ocean's wealth within his easy reach. The universe was levied upon to yield Her choicest treasure heaven to beautify. Each angel praised the Prince, and multitudes Adoring prostrate at his feet revered Their chief — to worship and sin near allied ! Worship and sin is always near akin ! Satan now thought upon Himself — reflex Of sin, and gave not God all praise, — declined Not to receive a form of worship heaven Forbids to any save to God Supreme. The angel which to John in Patmos came Declined such honor from the aged seer, — Saying, See thou do it not — worship God ! Doubtless 'twas love and reverence in John, A sense of gratitude and love which moved His quick obeisance at the angel's feet, His head bowed low : but 'twas a form of sin About to be conceived in embryo, The Angels Fall. $3 Deceptive and like to mislead the heart Both of the worshipper and worshipped, man And angel : hence quickly he was rebuked. 'Twould have been sin conceived in worshipper And worshipped, in effect a prodigy Of ill full born, had not the angel checked The tendency seen in the prophet's heart: — In angel for receiving, in the seer For giving what to God alone belongs. Thus sin originates in misdirected Worship, where God is quenched in self or others. Hence solemnly God warns, — " Quench not the Spirit ! " The angel's name is not revealed, but doubtless 'Twas Gabriel, who ever bore good news To men. He lovely in attire and mien, Holy and wise, would not fail to recall The like temptation Satan failed to endure In Heaven, by angels loved, revered and served ! Thus daily, men accounted righteous, sin, Reflecting upon themselves, — and homage due To God alone receiving gratefully And with delight ; — both looking for and lusting 2* 34 The Angels Fall. After man's praise, instead of being zealous For God. And clergymen at altars holy- Are first to sin in this particular, As Satan was, archangel once in heaven ! Sin is progressive, scarcely recognized As sin at first, like germs whence reptiles spring. Sin born in thought of self, with subtlety Waxed strong in Satan, and sad havoc made ! His own sublimity he now admired ; Was zealous for self-honor ; and conceit Quenched thought of God, and all dependency Upon a Higher Power, subordinate. Inflated now with pride, he fell — and great His fall ! Heaven seemed a chamber charged with death ! 'Twas like a cloud obscuring Heaven's light, The first of such the universe had seen. Clouds intervene to hide the sun's bright rays, But still the sun beyond, above, is just As bright and beautiful and pure in light. So sin is moral shade, and densely dark At times, obscuring heaven's glorious rays, But uncorrupted thereby is God's light The Angels Fall. 35 And blissful purity, immaculate. Now sin casts heavy clouds upon the world Of spirits — realms of bliss whose light's obscured ! Grandeur magnificent defouled and fallen ! 'Twas new, and born of finite spirit power Acted upon and acting selfishly. So even if insects or birds or beasts Are purely selfish, they impair instinct, And compass their own death, not long delayed. Danger is always near if acts are done, Or thoughts conceived without there's God in them, For either man or angel, insect, beast, Or any creature having finite spirit. For instinct even is God's wisdom solely, To govern creature kind unerringly. Earth's greatest Teacher, Christ divine from Heaven, His followers forewarned, Beware of men : And when betrayed, for their defence to take No thought, — since God through and in them would speak. Hence acting independently of God, Ignoring spirit Power Supreme, unmoors 36 The Angels' Fall. The soul from her sure anchorage, unbars The gates of evil passions, pride and lust, — And finite spirit- will most surely fall, Acting against herself and nature's God, And journey on the highway paved for hell,— Like worlds adrift without an end or aim Unmoored from genial power to guide their course, Or with'ring flowers deprived of Parent Sun — Save that these die and must dissolve, but soul Increases power by that upon which it feeds For either good or evil, pain or pleasure. Hence Babylon's profane and haughty king In pride of heart exulting said, To heaven I'll ascend, and my throne exalt above The stars of God, in heights above the clouds : For is not this great Babylon which I Have built ? The word had scarcely passed his lips Ere thunderbolts from heaven struck down the Prince, Son of the morning, and like Lucifer He fell, and lost his kingdom and his pride. So too a miserable King of Tyre, Spoken of in Ezekiel's prophecy, The Angels Fall. 37 Brought shame, dishonor, ruin upon himself, And lost his pleasure in a paradise Of sweets, his beauty too like morning, mists. Scripture makes each a type of Satan fallen Through pride and self-conceit from heaven and glory. A multitude of angels vast and dense In Satan's snare were taken, and began Their fall in creature admiration, since Prolific in a progeny of devils Among the human kind. 'Twas not a sin To admire a creature, but unguarded led Thereto ; a rose which had a thorn concealed. In knowledge, power and splendor all excelled ; In happiness and honor unsurpassed ; In virtue, favor with God, dignity Unrivalled, — yet rebelling they sank deep Into the depths of shame and misery, — Incurred contempt of all the holy angels, And endless wrath of Heaven and God Supreme ! Against a most beneficent Creator And Sovereign they wickedly rebelled. Except obedience to natural J 8 The Angels Fall. Laws, regulating purity of life, They unrestrained were, — no restraint was felt. 'Twas hard for holy angels to detect At times the lapsed, for lineaments of light And purity long with the lost remained ; And God for wise ends, known best to Himself, Suffered a war long and continuous Between the evil angels and the good, Akin to what is re-enacted here. Archangel Michael led heaven's hierarchies, . And Satan marshalled heaven's malcontents, Each watchful to discriminate between Their friends or foes, the righteous and the wicked. Evil reports were rife in heaven now. The sinning angels anxiously gave willing Ear to their fellows who had hurtful tales To tell, and gave them wing, and circulated Bad news and gossip, stopping not to inquire The truth, — their tongues aflame with evil speech : Angels among the worst, to mischief given. Such patronize and pity and condole While secretly they say hard things, — and feign The Angels Fall. 39 Sorrow for victims whom they victimize ! This fixed their place as scavengers in Satan's Armies ; cowards who follow in the wake ; Like graveyard Ghouls which feed upon putrid flesh, — Of Satan even judged of little worth ! Alas ! that men should act the same at times, As terriers on scent to catch a hare, Whose business 'tis to watch their Master's house. Corrupted, such do lack the charity That sweetens life, are cruel 'gainst their kind With no purpose to help themselves thereby, But simply sport in ills and strifes produced — Hardhearted, feasting upon the pains of others! There's one apology in their behalf Which charity bids speak with bated breath, — That Nature's been too sparing of her gifts Perhaps, and thus incompetent for good They range and hunt and hound and rend alone ! If each would probe his heart himself he'd find The worst of men — a Devil in disguise — Save for the grace of God, and arms Divine 4-0 The Angels Fall. About him thrown in love — love marvellous ! The light which renders clear to self self-guilt And shame, obscures or hides the faults of others. Then other men seem great, ourselves but mean ; Others good, but ourselves too vile to live ; ■ Others noble, but ourselves base, ill born ; Others righteous, but ourselves a sepulture Whited without but full of dead men's bones. Heaven's light will blind the eyes to others' faults, Hell's darkness quicken sight to all but self! Dark are the souls which flit from flower to flower And cull but poison, where honey too abides ! — Which only scent the rank and fetid air, Where much of sweetness too predominates ! Man's image photographs itself as good Or vile, and paints from self the evils talked To prejudice or do a harm to others ! In others innocent, adulterers Will see self-guilt conceived or done ! Hence talk and scandal best betray a guilt At home, within the scavengers themselves. The ways of God obscure or bury faults, — The Angels Fall. 41 Which men unearth to shame their kind — themselves ! Each soul should be an orb of light, attracting, Alluring other souls, imparting light Alone to each, like suns in ether pure — Be Heaven, bestowing beauty, grace and love Upon other spirits favored less, as worlds About the sun, each having excellence Which none but God, their Maker, fully knows ! How sweet to dwell within the light of souls Most pure and drink the nectar they distil ! Tis Heaven below and we in love with Heaven ! Apollyon advocated zealously To roast with fire all heretics, or such As differed from him in views entertained — An appetizer to a hungry maw ; A fierce spirit, who feigned a zeal for God, And advocated learnedly with power To expel from the army militant There, every angel not employed as he And Michael were, though such might ardently Desire to battle for the Lord's elect 42 The Angels Fall. In mean and humble stations when their chiefs Will should be indicated, — humble angels, — Misfortune and sin lying at others' door their crime ! Thus Michael saw in him and others like In views, his foes in heaven's livery. Thus many in the earth and in the church Religion from e'en equity divorce, — Or yoked with sin in hell's triumphal car Adopt and advocate views, and crimes commit 'Gainst e'en morality. Hence history, Alas ! records against the church deeds done By ministers in priestly robes adorned So horrible, cold, cruel, that the heart Of even wicked men disgusted turns With sickened pallor from the horrid sight. For purity when prostituted sinks Into vile depths proportioned by the heights Whence fallen, as virgins sweet become the worst Abjects, outcasts and blind to shame when lost, And readily will perpetrate a crime Without a blush which hardened men will shun ! The Angels Fall. 43 Cruelly keen are shafts, and poisoned too, The clergy use when they begin attack Without divine authority, beneath Their office, 'gainst another of their order, — More dangerous become than wicked men, In using Heaven's artillery against The saints, a war in Heaven's sacred place ! Religion is not justly charged therewith, But lack of it, perversity of heart. 'Tis Satan clothed in heaven's vestments pure And clean, and these the eye of sense discerns. Alas ! the deeds disrobe an ugly devil ! But superficial thinkers hence infer That Scripture faith and all religions are Inimical, unfriendly to the race, And scoff, blaspheme and rail against the church, Whose virgin purity by sin is soiled — The sin their kind entail and propagate, Appearing like dead flies in ointment pure, Where best its rankest scent may be discerned. Their sins in ministers, where purity Is claimed and hoped for by e'en worldly men, 44 The Angels Fall. Are ranker than the flames of sulph'rous hell, And smell to the utmost verge of heaven's vault — There most confound and shame the profligate ! No wonder hence they howl against the church Combined, without discriminating good And bad, and all religion in the world, When ministers lapsed best condemn their crimes, And tortured leer and whine for very pain ! If all the race were like involved in ruin, One common hell, and none were true and pure, They'd shout and dance Satanic jubilees ! While war progressed in Heaven and sides were taken Azrael assumed pre-eminence above The rest, disputed with Michael the right Of leadership, and thought himself the best Fitted by far to conquer and subdue The enemy. His sacrilegious claims And bold effrontery resisted, sharp Practices subtly were then devised, And agents predisposed unto deceit The Angels Fall. 45 Most actively obeyed their petty chief And raised the standard of a new revolt, A sub-rebellion 'mong the holy angels. One Israfil his master's trumpet blew Loud and strong, obedient to any work Imposed — a servile, dirty, cringing slave, Became a herald zealous to create Alarm and raise a tumult, planned in secret. Satan, pleased, took no part in such revolts : No need : such agents do effective work, Resembling closely their great prototype. Without delay or parley such were driven Among the enemy, eternally, (For Michael and his helpers were above The servile fear for discipline in Heaven,) Their character revealed — and self-deceived They seemed to wonder why heaven's wrath was kindled Against them so innocent and devout ! 'Twas thus with Korah's company, who strove With Moses, lusting for the leadership, Whom quickly yawning earth's abyss devoured. 46 The Angels Fall. 'Tis thus with churches often in the world, Too commonly, alas ! in modern times, Whose condemnation cannot slumber long, Though mercy lingereth and God forbears To execute His wrath upon such sin Forewarned in Dathan and Abiram's fate, Who famous were in the great congregation. Any who lust for office in the church Endanger and defile the beautiful Zion, akin to Heaven, which God has loved And founded for the saving of our race, And prove a carnal heart and moral death — For even membership unfit — debarred By lust of power, — the origin of sin ! None save the meek, devout and lovable, Who shrink from having power, should office hold. Shocking for man to lord God's heritage, Which done will always blight and shame the church. Where Satan works let pastors guard with care ! Repulsion and affinity prevail Through nature's wide domain : so morally The Angels Fall. 47 And socially one creature to another Is drawn or otherwise repelled without Knowing or caring for the reason why. A sinner is repelled by holiness, The righteous an affinity for each Other have, both here and eternally. Sin having entered heaven, unholy angels Felt a repulsion from the holy ones, And vice versa ; but each class were closer Drawn by an influence whose force they never Hitherto had experienced, binding them As one in unity and interest, — The first beneficent effect of sin Having entered Heaven's sacred precincts — A light which shines intensely 'mid the gloom, Rendering bliss more blissful e'en in Heaven ! A perfect sifting having been secured, Michael in solid phalanx marched against Satan, alike prepared, his marshalled hosts Of myriads drawn up, arrayed for battle, Who fiercely frowned, malignant, upon his foe. Heaven quaked from centre to circumference ! 48 The Angels Fall. 'Twas finite spirit power in close conflict, Which earth reveals in every phase of life, And seen in all society, among The rich and poor, the wise and ignorant Alike, in every place about the globe Wherever man sojourns, to bless or curse His home, conditioned upon the spirit nourished : Where evil is opposed to good, and good To evil ; sinners are arrayed, malign, In hell's panoply to subvert the good, And saints in heaven's vestments to subdue The bad and bring the reign of glory back Again, — in love for all the race and world — Divine their spirit, near akin to God. Their danger lies in using weapons forged By evil men, or Satan, or his angels. 'Tis Satan's method to subdue the good To use the weapons from heaven's arsenal. This much, and valuable for sons of earth To know, was learned by Satan in the war With Michael and all Heaven's holy angels, Whose issue might have doubtful been : but God The Angels Fall. 49 Appeared, and exercising infinite Power, Satan and his crew discomfited Became at once, were routed, put to flight, And fell headlong like lightning into hell's Abyss of liquid fire, — prepared long ere The issue had been reached by Spirit Power. Rebellion terminated now in Heaven Eternally, and s,weet peace reigned supreme. Earth speeds her journey to an issue like To what in Heaven has been, — nor long delays, — Compared to years eternal — nigh at hand ! Their fall and rout from heaven's empyrean Heights, lighted the universe like meteors, — So numerous and swift was their descent. A hand omnipotent controlled their flight And guided them, none knowing whither led, Or what their fate, — a secret, hidden hand, Revealed alone to them in power and wrath ! For God in shape and form, or bodily, Is seen by angels no more manifest 3 50 The Afigeti Fall. Than by man's finite powers, — in earth no less Certainly than in Heaven's crystal plains. Ere long they reached their place, nor long they fell Though their descent was almost infinite, — And lighted in our solar sphere, assigned To them their prison of captivity ! BOOK III. THE CREATION OF THE EARTH. We bid farewell to sister planets, suns And systems complicate through vast expanse Of space, and come to learn how grew the earth Into the perfect state which time reveals. From chaos void to morning light, and earth Severed from other worlds, the firmament Between, from gaseous state became a globe Of fire, whose liquid waves hissed direfully For thousands and ten thousand ages through The abyss of space, borne on its giddy speed As swift as since it's travelled, till cooled, brought To solid state prepared for something new. Here was confusion, — burnings most intense Befitting Satan and his angels lost 52 The Creation of the Earth. Since their sad banishment from heaven and bliss, A literal hell-fire and brimstone, named In Scripture upon which so many cavil, nay ! Wrest, alas ! to their own dismay in future, Counting it language simply figurative. Let none delude themselves. There is a hell Literal in fact as an earth and Heaven : Also remorse of soul which hell may figure ! Bodies are circumscribed and must have place, And finite spirit bodies through which to act, Whether they're carnal or are spiritual. Otherwise pantheists have views correct, And spirits finite are but parts of God To be again absorbed by Deity, Like mists which to wide ocean depths return. Thus personality is lost, destroyed, And men like brutes will be annihilated, — And none will venture proof that thus 'twill be With e'en them, that they never reappear. Angels who lost their first estate, against A bountiful Creator sinned, rebelled Unprovoked, having no cause nor pretext. The Creation of the Earth. 53 'Twas crime atrocious, meriting no less Judgment than banishment eternally From God, and all the punishments endured ! Having for ages suffered for their sins, And waking as from a dream, they beheld The molten earth congealed to globe opaque, And now engirdled by a shoreless sea Whose boiling waves were driven from pole to pole Like hissing serpents, horrid, venomous, Innumerable, ploughing through the waste : At times lifted high 'gainst the canopy Of heaven, followed by the angry fire Which warred beneath like hell's artillery. This was the eve when all the frightful powers Of dark commotion held the reins of death. The ocean's tides then murmured not in notes So soothing sweet as now unceasing heard, Nor glowed in varied colors as the glad Waves lift their crests on high, some glistening white, Others in purple, some in azure tinge, Or undulating green, the garb of spring ; 54 The Creation of the Earth. For still the glorious rays of parent sun Shone not through dense mists girdling all the earth. The angels coming from the depths of fire, The abyss where long they'd lain in agony, Beheld the change. Amazed each mutely stood And eyed the other in blank astonishment. 'Twas Heaven compared to what they'd suffered long. But consternation seized them, fearing some New display of omnipotence, and worse Fate possibly than yet endured. Hence each And simultaneously dove into hell's Abyss of liquid fire, to hide in earth's Centre from God, — whose face and power they feared More than the waves of liquid fire — their home, With which long since they had become familiar ! Thus we've seen turtles in spring- time beneath The water quickly dart and hide from fear. Still earth advanced — a brighter morning dawned — A glimm'ring star that twinkled now amid The suns and other worlds, a thing of life That hung upon nothing in creation's morn, Appeared the earth amid the other worlds, — The Creation of the Earth. 55 'Floating through ether sea most beauteously, — Where splendors upon splendors beamed and shone Translucent, glories upon glories streamed From each, contributing a universe Of wonder, beauty, blessings, and of praise To Heaven's Great King, enthroned above the worlds ! The proud waves were conquered by laws ordained And gathered in one place, their bounds assigned. The dry land quivering rose from the abyss And held their universal tide at bay. The vanquished waves of liquid fire roared loud And hideously in death's agonies strong, And one effort more made to break their chains. Their gathering strength the earth and sea beheld, Trembling. Ere long they came with thunder's, roll And grew intensely fierce with moanings dire. The ocean heard, and fainting sunk away : The feeble earth threw wide apart its gates, And quick an o'erwhelming flood possessed its walls. Then rushing from beneath, their dread abode, They labored hard to win the heaven's heights To bring the reign of chaos back again ; 56 The Creation of the Earth. From thence returned they rolled their molten waves Upon the land, which gave an icy chill That stayed their course. Hence wave upon wave was piled Congealed to solid stone which mountains formed, The granite chains to bind secure the earth's Framework. Thus valleys, hills and mountains rose. Now Satan's voice resounded through the bowels Of earth amid the roar of liquid fire. Aroused was every spirit and intent To hear, each welcoming a sound so long Silent, familiar once and sweet to all. Nor all its former sweetness yet was lost, But harshly corresponding to the place It roared compared to what in heaven erst It was : Up, friends, assert again your rights. Why longer here in abject bondage lie ! We thus abase ourselves below this hell Infernal, where too long we've lain submiss As though deserving worse, should heaven elect To inflict. The earth and all the solar sphere, The Creation of the Earth. 57 The planets, sun and every satellite Are ours. No longer in this prison hell And writhe in torture we'll remain, as though Meek slaves content to bear all heaven wills ! We have the power which guarantees the right. Let each and all repair to solid earth, The surface habitable now and ours. 'Tis ours to reign in kingdoms here o'er earth And every solar sphere, excepting none, Now perfecting by laws in matter solely : With which our enemy, who from the heights Of heaven expelled us long ago, has naught To do. We're masters here and this our heaven. With Satan infidels agree, denying That God controls development ; who claim That laws explain, account for all that is ; And wish to banish thought of God ; have license To act their pleasure, irresponsible — And die like brutes, become annihilate ! Yet Satan is more reverent than they And more devout, — in that he ne'er denies 3* 58 The Creation of the Earth. That God exists — though base he's not a fool. If laws account for nature, what accounts For laws — whence born — whose womb maternal gave Them birth ? Thus sceptics and false logic well Agree, are plausible to compass bad Design. But truth is better felt than known By men who follow Satan's wake : abject They make a show of wisdom which betrays Them fools : and like to evil spirits are, — Submiss to thus abuse their spirit power. When called by Satan, towering above All, high and eminent among the hosts, None hesitated : all at once arose Gladly, like convicts from their prison cells And chains released, intent upon Satan's lead. And roamed throughout the earth or visited The neighboring moon or planets, or the sun. Through all the ages subsequent the power Of Satan dominant has been in earth. Its wealth and honors he has claimed to give The Creation of the Earth. 59 To votaries who worship at his shrine. Even our Lord, divine, who came from heaven With power infinite to save earth and man And elevate us to heaven's heights of glory, Was impiously tempted, Scriptures teach, By Satan, who the kingdoms of the earth, Their grandeur, glory, power and wealth displayed Before the Saviour's eye, a moment's time Simply required, to whom the Tempter said, — All these are thine, for mine they are to give, And more, if thou wilt simply worship me ! O ! sad the fact, too manifest, that still The earth belongs to Satan's votaries, Who mainly hold its wealth and proudly reign And riot, subject to their Mighty Chief ! Hence shade and darkness cover earth and sea And pall the heart of man with gloom intense ! The beasts complain, and day is turned to night ; Groans follow shrieks where strifes successful reigi* ; Man's scent for blood scares creatures fierce, untamed ; The winds but wail ; the waters voice but moans ; The mountains seem to cry and waterfalls 60 The Creation of the Earth. To rage ; the clouds o'erspread the sky and mourn Like houses for the dead, — all in despair ! Thus spirit power, in league with death, appals The earth inanimate and man and beast ! But light illumes the clouds if we'll but see — And every cloud that casts a shadow o'er Our life or earth or sea or universe ! The spirit power that casts a gloom excites But moans, or crushes hearts and causes shrieks, — Is under Power Supreme, which dominates ! For us there's need of sorrow and of shade ; For us earth moans, and clouds of heaven weep, — Directing thought and heart to God and Heaven ! For us lambs bleed and creatures die, with looks Of patience in their face, reproachfully ! — Directing thought and heart to Christ, the Lamb Of Heaven, displaying attributes of love And mercy new to angels — upon the Cross ! For us are these alarms, and men unkind Give angry glare and looks of hate, and Satan Too, tempting with hell's blandishments and arts, — The Creation of the Earth. 61 For then we fly into the arms of love, Where safety is assured by Power Supreme ! Thus in its light and shade is spirit power Discerned for good and ill — but good prevails, Subdues and uses ill for greater good ! BOOK IV. THE CREATION OF PLANTS. Now from the dreary past of fire and gloom We come to sing of spring's engendering growth Not beauteous as now, but as each new stage Developed more and more in higher life. An omnipresent power superintends The whole to accomplish the end first designed,- An energy we cannot understand, Hid deep within the veil of mystery. The Spirit absolute to us revealed In works and ways which now we humbly sing, Whom reverently we worship, is self Dependent, penetrating everything, Himself controlling all development Unto a destiny which he has willed : 64 The Creation of Plants. • The Spirit independent, yet within All things as souls inhabit flesh and form, And still without, above and infinite. He now his power exerts and life appears. The peaks that look above the misty clouds, The barren hills below and ocean's depths Teem with organic life, now first produced. 'Tis here in vegetation, trees and flowers That God in beauty best is seen, the only Spirit Power that abides therein ; where each Is perfect in itself; where Spirit less Than God abides not, nor destroys, nor mars ; Where God abides alone, the life and power To build, construct, mature and beautify. O, wonderful creation, body of The Deity, how beautiful, how bright ! Oh ! then what is Eternal Loveliness, The Spirit infinite which is the Life, The Fount of all, revealed in all that is — Himself alone without a fount, unborn ! Life's called a vital something undefined, Subjecting nature's pre-existing laws : The Creation of Plants. 65 Which lifts the drooping flower to taste the breeze, And rears the cedar's giant form to brave The tempest's force : a subtle, mighty power Whose strange complexity none has resolved : A centre round which nature's laws and all The elements revolve to minister While it develops. Beautiful is life ! When gone, how changed the form in which it dwelt ! The giant oak with leaves and branches, trunk And all as perfect as when life was there, — But dead, — how changed and still ! The powers that erst Were subject now assume their right to prey And feed upon the ruins undisturbed. Oh ! what a world of wonder in each flower That lifts its shining head to see the sun. O ! who can comprehend the vital power That rests within the seed that germinates Beneath the earth ! A wisdom infinite Alone could guide the hidden mystery In matter inorganic, and continue Developing it, age rolling o'er age ! 66 The Creation of Plants. O, pilgrim, fellow of the toils of search Through ages dark, and lone and patiently We've travelled ages long o'er dreary seas, If possible to reckon time ere life Appeared, and seen the elements at war To form the earth. As mariners we joy To see the mountain tops and landscapes grow Upon our gaze. But rest is distant far. Still patiently and long we'll beat the waves Of time to bring the distant shores in full And perfect beauty clearly to our sight. We now descend into the labyrinth Of earth, deep in the darksome cells of death, And leave the world above in glittering pomp, Pleasure and pride, pursuing its own course ; While we below in solitude, a place For thought, read the archives of nature past. Recorded here is earth historic as When first it wore its robes of emerald green. We note first thallogens as seen beneath The water ere the land had come to view, With no ranunculi which glow in red, The Creation of Plants. 67 Or lilies white which deck our placid pools ; But stript of flowers and leaves they gloomily Appear. Behold far, far above this stage Of things and see the acrogens, with stems And leaves, a growth luxuriant, varied, rich. Some shallow banks with verdant mosses decked, And plants most like those of Pacific isles •Where through the earth's diurnal course the spring Glows warm, unvaried by cold northern blasts ; And some low pools with ferns whose broad leaves once Clothed green the Emerald isle, and now enrich The hills and plains warmed by the tropic sun. For then from northern chambers unexplored, Eveloped then and still in mystery, No winds cold like an avalanche of ice Carried dire destruction in their train. The earth, warmed by its own enveloping Light above and internal fires beneath, Felt a uniform glow through all its veins. Then too the gorgeous forests waved in strength Denser, mightier than the world since has seen. Then grew in perfect strength the calamites, 68 The Creation of Plants. The equiseta, lepidodendra tall And beautiful, and arborescent trees As stately as the Norfolk Island pines And noble as the cedars, prince among The trees, which grow upon Mount Lebanon. Perfumes were not exhaled by flowers in spring, The rose unborn was yet beneath the earth : Nor had the polyanthos, nor the white Violet so modest in its speaking worth, Nor the anemone pale which loves the shade Of groves, or any sweet flower yet appeared. Nor were there birds to sing a lullaby Rejoicing in the ever-shining day, Nor beasts to roam the shady forests through. How sombre, yet imposing was the scene ! Now rising in the scale the conifers, Which darkened Scotland's moors and bare hillsides, Lift their giant trunks proudly to the skies ; And sigillaria spreading undisturbed By other growth their mighty reign, their stems With sculptures variously decked, fluted like The Doric columns carved by Grecian hand. The Creation of Plants. 69 These monuments of ancient grandeur all Have passed away, their ruins only left. As empires rise obscurely into strength And flourish while the morning lasts, then sink Gradual into decay, their ruins left As legacies bequeathed to after-powers To build a structure more advanced in might And beauty, so the eve of day the third Grew slowly into morn and brilliant shone Until the light waned for the evening's shades. With such a gorgeous growth the ancient world For myriad ages shone among the stars, A mellow light. From north to south, from east To west, where'er the land appeared above The sea, the globe around, umbrageous trees Gigantic sprang and grew vigorously From tepid soil : the same that's buried now Beneath our feet, compressed to crystal coal, The mines of treasures inexhaustible For the use of man. O, could ingratitude Withhold our praise from the creative power Who thus provided for our wants ere man /O The Creation of Plants. Created trod this paradise of earth ? Oh, let all who would magnify the Lord Pursue with patient thought His mighty works ! Sceptic ! why close your eyes to sink your soul, So nobly formed for aspirations high, Beneath the instinct of animal kind ! In such a murky atmosphere, and light Continuous enveloping the earth By fires volcanic, in dense fogs and shade The fallen angels walked or councils held, And noted each progressive step from lower To higher life, and talked of future plans To make and hold the earth their Paradise. Whene'er a new display of power Supreme For further progress and advance in earth's Construction, independent of all law, Was felt or seen, then fearing and in awe Of heaven's power invisible, which once They'd felt, in abject terror each would flee Seeking dense darkness, impenetrable, In dens and caves, or through volcanic fires The Creation of Plants. ji And craters dive headlong into the bowels Of earth to hide themselves ! What next decreed Ignorant of; hence always on the alert To fly, — yet knowing not where to escape From power and presence personal around Them evermore to punish or refrain ! But Spirit Infinite withholding during Long intervals His intervening power Rendered the fiends bold, and reassured They'd appear and presume their right to reign. Thus creature powers, malign, their shadows cast Upon earth, which in both light and shade progressed. Power infinite to bless is always light, — - But power finite, intent upon ill, is dark And lowering, big with curSe, surcharged with death ! BOOK V. A SOLAR DAY AND YEAR BEGUN. Another day now dawns upon the world. The light that floated on the misty sea Around the earth against the ethereal vault, In silence gathered into waves and rolled Within the tabernacle of the sun. The murky vapor, screening every isle And continent, so richly robed, from sight, Felt northern blasts and gathered into clouds And rain. The curtain drawn, the parent sun Now first beheld to bless the blooming world. How rapturous must every pulse have throbbed When first it felt that gentle, bounteous hand ! The clouds arrayed themselves in azure tints ; The mountains seemed adorned with burnished gold ; 74 A Solar Day and Year Begun. The hills and plains looked up serenely sweet, And smiled with more than lover's pride when first The idol of his soul with fluttering heart Bestows the long-delayed first kiss of love ; The breeze in music's wild, subduing notes Played wantonly among the glistening leaves ; The streams enchanted sang their lullaby ; The slumbering, lazy waves awaked to life And rolled with noiseless flow to kiss the beach ; The clouds, the mountains, and the hills and plains, The oceans slumbering in the land's embrace, And all the fulness of the earth rejoiced To feel the thrilling light and heat of day. Oh ! thou majestic sun, what beauty, power And life thy every glorious beam displays : How great, stupendous is thy potent reign ! The day declined ; the sun had travelled o'er The ecliptic path ; then gathering his robes Of state and beauty of vermilion tints, Retired within the chambers of the west. The first night shone in light of silvery glow : A light so calm that nature sinks within A Sola}' Day and Year Begun. 75 Its folds and falls away in sweet repose, Unconscious as a babe that sleeps upon Its mother's breast. For while the mellow light Of eve was lingering with its soothing touch, Up rose the moon to rule as queen of night, And rolled with steadfast splendor through the heavens. Calm was her face unveiled, a beauty mild, Serene, that melts night into seeming day ; As innocence and virgin purity The heart intent upon a dark design. Then followed on, the silent starry train Attendant, waiting on her Majesty Whose lustrous splendor scarce excels their own. They decked the firmament of ether blue, The robe of heaven, as gems of every shade. Thus reigned successively the sun by day, The moon and stars by night, — a solar day, The first that dawned upon the earth, and still Revolves the same to bless the race of man. Then first began the seasons to assume Their round of changes, each in beauteous robes Distinct and varied through the rolling year. 76 A Solar Day and Year Begun. Aries, the leader of the train, received The now reviving sun of spring, when cold And dreary winter, softened by the touch, Withdrew reluctant from the land and sea. Taurus, rejoicing in his seven stars And Hyades which brightly radiate His face,- next followed in the starry host, Accompanied by valiant Perseus, son Of Jupiter, and Eridanus, king Of rivers coursing serpentine through the heavens. The embryo buds felt the mild influence, And fearless of the biting frost unfolded Their hidden treasure to perfume the breeze. The tender grass began to spring and grow In wild luxuriance, carpeting the earth. All vegetation felt the new impulse Propelling hidden life's development. Following on the Ledean pair arose Heralded by Auriga, charioteer, And bright Orion, to receiveithe sun And lead him through the closing months of spring. The clouds charged heavily dropt down their showers A Solar Day and Year Begun. jy Of melting rain ; the rivers flooded full Discharged their wealth into the spacious seas ; The winds invigorating nature's growth Blew calm and mild, a warm and pleasant breath. From Gemini the sun munificent Rolls into Cancer, then as now betwixt The Lynx and Hydra's sparkling eyes, whose folds Are trailed along the sky full many a league. And now while driving through this measured space With equal speed, began to glow with more Than its accustomed fire, and pour its rays As liquid streams to deluge earth and sky. The drifting clouds now intervene and pour Their cooling rain upon the thirsting soil That else would lose its verdure and become A waste, a desert drear as Afric's sands. Leo next followed in the bright array, Courageous Judah's sign for victory. While in this province tarrying the sun Glows hot, and nature coils beneath its power, The blaze intenser than through the long year. y8 A Solar Day and Year Begun. Then Astrea gracefully escorts the king- Through her domains and ends the silver months. Summer closed, yellow autumn 'gins to smile, Combining all the varied beauty, strength And luxury advancing through the signs ; Evenly weighed when the Golden Scales are seen To hold the sun, whose journey 'mong the stars Then half accomplished sheds the light of day Of equal length with night upon the earth. Next baleful Scorpis, rising with the sun, And Sagittarius refulgent ends The season for the coming winter months. When Capricorn is reached and seen among The stars, clouds darken earth and storms begin And vegetation's beauty fades and dies. Aquarius rising next consigns the earth To barren winter's cold and rigid reign. Then Pisces closing up the starry train Brings milder rays upon the frozen earth, And soon it feels reviving spring again. Thus in successive order placed, the stars Became the signs for seasons equally A Solar Day and Year Begun. 79 Balanced, and closed the fourth and lovely day, When in the firmament the sun became Earth's light by day, the moon and stars by night, Combined each year the same harmoniously. By bright dissevered worlds and suns which shine Nightly we're lured from earth to crystal plains And purple fields and amber hills and mounts Of gold, as if our home's beyond, above ! We yearn to soar outside of space, to climb The highest peaks on which a Paradise We dream and feel and hope may be enjoyed. Earth does not feed enough, nor satisfy, More than a nest a bird with wings full fledged. In God is home, and He's somewhere concealed, We feel, in sweeter vision than the earth Affords, within the starry realms which nightly Twinkle in myriad lights of diamond lustre, But noiselessly — in silence from the sky. But God is near, as well in earth as stars Beyond, and we're inclined for Him to look Above, and dream and pray to come where He 80 A Solar Day and Year Begun. Abides, — when He's in Person at our side ! But many see Him not, and know not where To look : — in mountain caves where pilgrims pray ; In hovels of the poor where poverty's Unfelt in daily praise for bounties given ; In chambers where meek sufferers lie with Heaven's Halo upon their brow, in patient waiting The appointed hour of dissolution's touch — For golden chariots, whose wheels they hear Afar, and angel messengers to bear Them hence, — oh ! there in Person God abides, And there is seen, and felt, and touched, and loved, — Which every craving of the soul doth meet ! Through our tears we often see Him drawing near ! He rather seeks for us, a home within Our hearts — is more inclined thereto than we To seek a home, a heavenly rest, in Him ! We are in Him and He in us if helped And comforted upon our way to Zion ! Oh ! then our vision will be unobscured In starry ether blue, where worlds do shine Without a cloud, without the blight of sin ! A Solar Day and Year Begun. Ah ! hence our souls, when yearning for the stars, Are true to nature, and but speak the speech Of spirit dialect for purity ! The evil spirits had resumed their office, And busily had every spot explored Upon earth's surface, every continent And isle and sea, and every grove and forest. The beauty of the day and night, illumed With rays of heavenly light, admiringly They revelled in, forgetful of their lost Estate and liability to worse Punishment than yet they'd endured in hell If aggravated crimes should be enacted. Their nature now was sinfully inclined. As man's unless restrained by power divine. The dazzling splendor of the heaven's light, Or earth's beneficence, or their release From lakes of fire, excited no pure thought Or sense of gratitude. Their hearts, inured To woe, had hardened more and more, and cold Had grown as icebergs, heaven's sweet rays withheld. 82 A Solar Day and Year Begun. The fact of earth's developing as seen By them from molten waves to solid earth ; From liquid fires into cool lakes and seas, And mountains, hills and plains, — more beauteous As time rolled on — a happy dwelling-place, Had more than fires infernal rendered hard And stubborn and defiant their wills fallen. As centuries rolled over centuries And time interminable seemed, their state And place becoming better and not worse, Their nature more defiant grew against Authority, as when dethroned from Heaven. So man, the more abject his poverty, If raised to independence, wealth or fame, Is arrogant, intolerant, self-poised, Except restrained by God mercifully. Satan, who gloried now in being called Beelzebub, deemed this a fitting time To hold a council and inaugurate A new rebellion, and devise what plans Were best to overcome whate'er is good Or pure or holy in the earth or heaven. A Solar Day and Year Begun. 83 Great was the convocation now convened, Which seemed a forest newly sprung to life Upon a continent interminable. And still from regions far in companies They came, like clouds obscuring heaven's light. Their voices multitudinous were like The ocean, storm-tossed, rolling on the beach. Satan at last arose and carefully The heights empyrean intently scanned, And seeing no more on the wing, enjoined Silence. The roll called, — none failed to respond. Satan, well pleased, in grandeur rose and stood Before the multitude as formerly In heaven, a mighty prince adored by all. A shout spontaneous was given which crashed Upon the heavens as though colliding worlds Had brought the reign of chaos back again ! Each visage dark was now intent to hear The counsel and command of their great chief. As once Elijah upon Mount Carmel stood Before all Israel, king and councillors, So Satan now, the mighty chief of fallen 84 A Solar Day and Year Begun. Angels, and thus addressed the multitude : — Friends, each a prince in this realm, patiently Hear mysteries which Spirit Power reveals, And hearing act for safety and defence, For sovereignty, renown and victory. Nature with capabilities for good Or evil is endowed : — two powers contend For mastery, — the evil with the good, The impure with the pure, and hell with heaven. Hence light and darkness, calm and tempest, fire And smoke, and Heaven and Hell. As spirits fallen We are esteemed by Michael and his hosts, The antipodes. Against his kingdom war Eternally we must declare and wage. Creation's work is going on, and earth Developing, as each may easily Perceive, and doubtless will continue long, — Earth will become a paradise of sweets, Growing more perfect finally reach Heaven. Then we'll be driven to another hell, Doubtless worse than the one we've here escaped. Our work hence is clear, to promote the evil A Solar Day and Year Begun. 85 And overthrow the good, and make the earth Instead of Heaven a hell. Whatever comes From the Creator's hand is always good. We're fools and blind if we cannot perceive— Our work must be to render morally And physically hurtful everything ; — To make our kingdom stronger than the angels', More potent than the heavenly ; — to spread Barrenness, droughts and storms ; — to multiply Whate'er is noxious in both plants and beasts — And germs already are developing, If I divine aright, the germs just formed, Such as the universe has never seen, — An animal creation above the plants. Exert your spirit power,— become as Gods And each a God and reign, subduing good ! These germs possess ; — their bodies shape and form Into the most repulsive creatures e'er Conceived ; — their spirit power excite to hate, And render greedy to devour, corrupt, Malignant, and inaugurate in earth Among the animal tribes bloody wars. 86 A Solar Day and Year Begun. We'll feast our souls continual thus in strifes, And Heaven's spirits will desert the place. All finite spirit, rule and render foul, — Possess, corrupt and render powerful Their bodies to destroy their enemies, And even malintent against their kind ! Excite in all a spirit to destroy ! With putrefying carcasses fill earth And sea ! Thus every form of good subdue, And enter eagerly upon the task, — A happy one to vanquish every foe ! Our interest demands, our pleasure prompts To keep the earth from reaching perfect bliss And make it more and more the antipode ! Ne'er was war declaration given which so Amazed and silenced every beating heart. 'Twas admiration and consent so free And full that happiness in every bosom Reigned — a kind natural to fallen angels — So new since long their banishment from Heaven And in accord with their impulse for evil, That every one stood as though fettered strong A Solar Day aiid Year Begun. 87 In gloom, where darkness reigns and holds supreme Control throughout their universal realm ! Their sentiments at last expressed themselves. Shout followed shout continuous, so long And loud it seemed a carnival of blood. All hell's discordant moan and wail were sweet, Confusion order and gloom light compared ! Most modern preaching and beliefs, too much We fear, the devil's agency in earth And man ignore, forgetful of what Christ Our Saviour taught and did with them while here ! — Forgetfulness that pleases Satan well, And mightily his kingdom helps 'mong men ! Many apologists has Satan here ! Some, e'en the watchmen who on Zion's walls Claim faithfully that they fulfil their office, To blow the trump and warn against surprise, Fail to discern Satan's foul agency In gross and heinous crimes by men committed, Deeming that human nature fallen, to sin Inclined, for all sufficiently accounts. 88 A Solar Day and Year Begun. Thus men arc fooled and devils helped to reign ! 0, watchmen ! dangers are abroad and death ! Be vigilant and faithful, true and bold ! Soft words and speeches may deceive, betray, — And cost a soul its death — yourselves the guilt ! Dark earth has rays divine from Heaven's throne. Her vale of tears responds to soothing touch When pastors, heaven-commissioned saints, stand forth Betwixt the living and the dead, to speak For God and purity and bliss divine. Solemn and sacred is the trust, and rich Will be their crown if faithful to the end. They stand where cherub angels fain would serve To plead in sympathy with common guilt And show the way from sorrow, sin and death, To joy and holiness and bliss and Heaven. Their virtues hath a tongue which checks earth's pride, Their dignity a power subduing men, Their independence of the world a voice Proclaiming them the legates of high Heaven. To God and not to men subordinate, And ne'er obsequious for worldly ends ; A Solar Day and Year Begun. 89 Willing to bear reproach, privation, pain Or death to help and bless and save mankind ; The messengers of mercy to the lost ; Solicitous to plead with angel power, And feel and weep like babes where sorrow reigns, They're guardian angels clothed with power sublime To execute, ne'er legislate, the laws Which Heaven legislates for guilty earth, — ' Intent alone that their commission holy And their credentials clear shall be from God. In right inflexible. When cares invade Or wrongs assail, with strength divine they're spurned. To be enthralled too lofty is the soul, And absolute God's word to be annulled. Hence pastors plead that life and liberty, That glorious release from human chains May be awarded rightly to the slave Which guilty man has bound and caused to bleed ! Profoundly penetrated by the truth, Born in the bosom of the Infinite, A pastor stands before the world a guide With trembling finger pointing to the skies, 90 A Solar Day and Year Begun. Aglow with zeal, intensely moved to save, — A zeal proportioned by the years to come And possibilities of spirit here And evermore in realms beyond the grave ! In love with Christ, constrained and purified Thereby, like Him they love the sons of men. The darkest spot where sin and sorrow cry, Where human nature bleeds in agony, A faithful pastor's presence renders bright, — Upon whom e'en dying eyes will turn and smile, Responsive to a loving hand, and words Of sympathy which drop from tender lips ! . A pastor's heart throbs lovingly for men In all the ills of life, and yearns to help, As Jesus wept and dried the tears of grief In other eyes at mourning Bethany ! Sorrowing souls, struggling for release from bonds And tendencies, desires impelling them To sin, to which their natures bend as trees Before a gale, or from the Tempter's power, O ! Spirit, Paraclete, our Living God, Help such to overcome their deadly foes, A Solar Day and Year Begun. 91 That earth may be a thing of beauty, place Surpassing sweet, while they sojourn below ! O, Fountain ! source of unction — holy love, Give strength for weakness, fortitude for fear, And wisdom for their creature ignorance ! May they in spirit soar where angels dwell And revel in Elysian fields of light, By help of Thee vouchsafed, above "these ills, Beyond the Tempter's wiles, where Thou dost reign Alone, in regions far removed from night — Where distant far are seen the realms of shade, Like clouds that hang upon the brow of space ! Thus rule, Almighty One ! reveal Thy power In light, as fallen spirits do in shade ! Surely our struggling race is helped of Thee When light from darkness dawns within the soul ! BOOK VI. CREATION OF ANIMALS. In lands of mystery thus far we've travelled, And realms of wonder new and strange disclosed From dark chaotic void to light and heat Which flood the earth with blessings marvellous, And near our native shores with gladdened heart. We'll travel, pilgrim, still o'er stony paths ; Through desert sands, both barren, hot and drear ; And mountain glens, where dangers seem to warn At every step, where much will pain the heart And sicken sight, from which we'll turn away In horror or disgust, and seek a place To hide or rest our weary, troubled souls : But here and there we'll meet, as in the past, — Upon a turn and unexpectedly, — 94 Creation of Animals. A bright oasis ; or a grateful shade ; Or some clear sparkling fount, with music sweet ; Or limpid streams, refreshing weary limbs And cooling heated brows, and cleansing too ; Or meads where sportive flocks in safety graze ! From darkness, light will break ; from ills when all Seems lost, will good appear ; so shade and light, And good and ill will alternate in time To come as in the past, — for thus is life,— For thus is earth, — for thus is pilgrimage Below — to dawn in one eternal day, Where all is bright and fair, a fountain full Ot light, reflecting shades of myriad hues— To end in Heaven, without a cloud, where pains And trials, weariness and deaths are o'er ! As mists before the rising sun withdraw We see the wonders of mysterious power Enlarged — enjoyment added now to life. Sensation marks the new created world. From regions where the glistening Polar ice As mountains rise into the central zone. Creation of Animals. 95 To where the equator's ring volcanic runs The round of earth, the oceans from their deep And silent tomb up to their restless waves, The land from level undulating plains To where are regions of eternal snow, An animal life joyous moves through the whole. The forests dense possessed by creatures huge, Voracious beasts ; the waters luminous With their unnumbered hosts ; the burdened air Scarce holds the clouds of life ; the myriad flocks Of fowl of every shape and size eclipse The light of heaven and darken land and sea, Depending upon the Spirit Power, whose hand Bountiful gives the blessings which each needs. We here behold benevolence displayed Through every channel of created life, A goodness seen to grow through every stage, — Advancing like the unassuming rill Into vast streams, impetuous, uncontrolled : Goodness embracing power omnific, first Displayed, omniscient wisdom next revealed ! The o'erwhelming tide of bliss which swells within g6 Creation of Animals. The mighty worlds and quivers through the veins Of breathing life, creative good reveal And Spirit Power, which all the wise discern. Grovelling and sluggish are the pigmy souls Which in a drowsy, dreamy state delude Their better sense and turn their eyes away From light, refuse to see the agency Divine pervading nature's laws, the mode In which the Spirit Power constructs the earth For man to inhabit ! Man, impertinent, Excuses Heaven's Majesty, whose mind Pervades immensity, from all concern Of things below, — eliminates the God Of nature from all nature's laws, ordained Of Him ! Absurd, — for infinite, no more Is He in Heaven above than in the earth Beneath. The infant at the mother's breast Shames while we pity these perverted souls ! Revolting and sad is the state of those Who glory in their shame ; who light a torch That men may clearly see their nakedness ! Such independent glory in themselves Creation of Animals. 97 And thus too sink below the grade of fools. If God did not control the forming world And energize the whole, how first appeared The breathing animal in perfect type, Each species beautifully formed, developed, When first it saw the light or breathed the air ? Reason, aside from Scripture, ne'er concedes To subtle laws of plants inhering power To generate the beasts which roam the fields Or fish inhabiting the sea's domain. Yet fancies are conceived no less grotesque Than they're absurd, irreverent, which teach Us so, — and further trench upon a weak Credulity by laboring hard to prove — Their theory and selves consistent here — That monkeys are progenitors of men By law aside from Spirit. Power Supreme. The law, intelligent, they never name. If sceptics, in form men, have origin With such a vulgar type of animals, Ever most deftly do they conceal their tails ; Yet such appendage needs become their kind": — 98 Creation of Animals. Nor thus were they by their ancestors taught — Scarcely consistent with the theory, To ignore their parentage by such concealment ! O ! shame to mortal men responsible Who thus degrade their powers and fail to see Design and unity in every thing. Away with fancies so absurd and base Which thus construe the laws of God, enforced That we may exercise intelligence. Can insignificant devils entomb The Mighty God, Creator of the heavens And earth ? or banish Him from earth's domain, — Whose terrible word called it into space And sent it forth to plough the azure deep ? If He, the Ever-Present, superintends The work, this great theatre's wondrous life Rises with steady tread, magnificent, Into a perfect whole, — all harmony. For breathing life distinguished is this fifth, A new day, thus distinct from all the rest. We recognize the generative word Which spoke life into being multiform, Creation of Animals. 99 And rendered each a perfect organism, Each one a world of wisdom by itself, Each kind distinct from germs originated Solely by Spirit Power, the God of heaven. And now to read the world's past history Again we tread the universe of death, Descend again into the sepulchre And there investigate a life extinct. In strata buried for long ages past Are written living truths which God, Supreme Architect, there records ; each page and word Reveals transcendent thought and mighty power. 'Tis ours most patiently to interpret all, And thus ourselves advance in spirit power, One end designed in the stupendous works. Not done in a moment as we, prescribed To time, are with childlike simplicity Accustomed to look upon the display Of power, but in ten thousand ages past : — For what is time to the eternal King ! How short the intervening ages since ioo Creation of Animals. The solar wheel began to turn till now, If multiplied succe'ssively by all The years consumed by the age of every star, To God's eternal years in darkness hid, Pavilioned in the shades of mystery ! How small the space from earth to sun compared With that betwixt the luminary globe Without the milky-way upon the outskirts Of space : and what this to infinity ! Shall finite mind prescribe the Infinite ? Can mortal thought dictate the time that God Should do His work ? Did He, the Architect Of this earth habitable, when employed In forming it, regard man's finite powers To judge how His Might should best be displayed ? As children let us view our Maker's works, And stand in dread awe of the mystery That's hid behind the veil impenetrable ! Our souls which only here begin to glow May thus grow brighter with ascriptions high. Enough we have to learn within our scope Of vision, ordered thus of God to employ Creation of Animals. 101 Our minds immortal, destined to expand Throughout eternity, though now confined To earth and body so symmetrical. E'en in the cradle of our birth we plume Our wings to soar throughout the vast profound Of the universe to learn the wisdom, far Beyond our mortal ken, displayed in orbs Which nightly light the firmament of heaven, And shed influence far, both sweet and mild. E'en already ere our sojournment ends, Impatient we discourse their magnitude, The beaten paths they tread, their distance great Or small compared, and weight, — which more inflames Our souls than savory meats the hungry palate. But here we ne'er can learn with certainty Whether each is palatial rich, adorned With clouds luxurious, mountains, hills and plains As earth ; or souls immortal there inhabit, With bodies clad, adapted to their spheres. The future life these truths will render clear ! Earth is a laboratory to employ The powers of each succeeding race of men, 102 Creation of Animals. And each discover something new ; a mine Of wealth which never fails to yield its ores, So precious to the soul, to those who dig Untiring, undistracted by the sight Of tinsel toys, and ply their noble work, Both night and day, through sunshine and in storm ; A book whose leaves support the present world Of beauty : the unfolding leaf by leaf Of which to read shall still engage our thought. The mother earth in her bliss conjugal But briefly slumbered with the parent sun • Inactive. God's command again compelled Her fruitful womb to yield the wondrous life Implanted by His power in hidden germs, Which Satan had discovered long ago, Both male and female, to which the command Was given to be fruitful, multiply And fill the land and seas, each of their kind. Few traces of the life which then arose In living species at this day exist : Ere man was born their sun in darkness set. Creation of Animals. 103 But now enshrined in stone their petrified Remains exist entire, — they mute mementoes Of empires whose beauty, pride and strength, once — Ah, once ! how solemn is this tolling word- Flourished ; every empire of life a world As seen emerging from the old that's past. The eaglet's drooping wings the parent bird Perceives, and darts beneath her young to bear Them on her own, lest overcome they faint And fall : thus the accompanying Spirit's voice, Which nightly holds me intercourse, inspires My heart with courage to portray this world Of life, the fifth from the Creator's hand. O, pilgrim ! follow, nor sustain a fear To travel where God's hand hath wrought with power, And where His steps have been in majesty ! And God said, Let the waters in the seas And on the land produce abundantly The creatures having life to move and breathe Within their element. And fowl were made To fly in the air and open firmament 104 Creation of Animals. Of heaven. By monstrous whales the seas were swollen. Dragons became unsightly in the deep. And every living creature smali and great, And every winged fowl after his kind Into active life and full being came. And God saw everything He made was good, — Whate'er from infinite beneficence Comes, when not misapplied by creature power, Is always good or beautiful or holy, — And blessing said, Be fruitful, multiply : For God, divine, to say or will is one. Scripture addresses man in human speech. The germs created are but once, develop And propagate thereafter by the laws Ordained : nor re-created if destroyed. Straightway the seas were swollen with animals And animalculas, each one distinct, And in inconceivable multitudes So dense the waters turned as into blood, As anciently the Nile when cursed of God : And each though so minute enjoys its life. The coral animals begin to build Creation of Animals. 105 Their paradise of beauty deep beneath The roaring, rolling waves ; the barren shoals Of sand and solid rock were thus transformed As into a garden of verdure, rich In palaces, whose walls and corridors Seem curtained with the richest drapery ; Whose floors of white sand are bespangled o'er With shells ; and through whose branching columns play Little fish radiant in their crimson scales — A habitation where the Nereids dwell. These marvellous structures when complete appear Above the waves as floating fairy isles, Whose beach is strewn with sands of snowy white, The surface clothed in green perpetual Of tropic growth luxuriant; while within • The centre basks clear lakes or seas : above No less enchanting than the crystal deep. The Polynesian Archipelago Thus is formed, islands which Pacific's waves Ne'er can rend from their base, constructed e'en By the least creatures which the human eye 5* 106 Creation of Ani?)ials. Discerns. The seas primeval not alone Remarkable for such feeble architects, For fish innumerable, both small and great, In shoals move through the yielding element. They congregate according to their kind And spurn to associate with other tribes. As clouds of different hues at setting sun, So seem their shining scales upon the sea, — Some shoals of burnished gold, some silvery tinged, Or green or purple colored every shade. Together they repel the foe or make Attack, mailed thick with massive armor strong, And weapons for defence, or else to o'erpower And torture their conquered prey : far unlike The species, harmless when compared, that now Exist. But some with bright enamelled scales And graceful fins, of gentle habits, play Together happily among the groves Luxuriant on the ocean's floor, and feed Upon the sweet tender herbs undisturbed. The waters being warm and sluggish, most Needed scales thick to endure their element. Creation of Animals. 107 Some single, of prodigious bulk and length, When lying still as towering rocks beat back The sullen waves ; or moving speedily The waters boil discordant in their wake ; Or when hungering, they give chase and raise A tempest, their red jaws distended wide To enclose their prey with a thunder crash ! Carnage when once begun is not allayed Till every gory wave has been engorged. Thus ocean's wide domain has been a dread Theatre of bloodshed from first possessed By animal life : not as fabled myths Conceived, that prior to the fall of man Unknown was strife and death to earth's creatures, — For their fangs to kill also tortured too ! To man when pure exemption from the pangs Of death was promised, while obedient. Without man's quick assent the devil ne'er Would have had power to reign in human souls ! Every creature having simply life And instinct, to preserve, perpetuate io8 Creation of Animals. And enjoy being, was an easy prey Or tool to govern in evil angel hands. Devoid of conscience, even when mature Subject to Satan's will and powerless. Of conscience unpossessed as yet was life, And hence the way for Satan's victory O'er them was sure unless restrained by God. So Christ, the world's great Teacher, taught our race While in the country of the Gergesenes, By giving heed to earnest prayer by devils Made, suffering them to possess a herd Of swine when cast from lunatics by power In Him inhering, Son of God, divine. The swine, controlled by devils now, their own Destruction sought, and madly rushed with one Accord into the sea and perished in The wat'ry deep. 'Twas also possible Alike and credible, if during earth's Formation, spirits, powers and potentates, Intent upon making here a struggle fierce For victory over whate'er is good, Possessed the different kinds and types, new germs Creation of Animals. 109 Of creature life, when found developing, To mould and fashion into noxious beasts. From elements, since angels power possess To form and move in bodies like to men, As two, ere Sodom was destroyed, sojourned With Lot and in the city doomed to fire, 'Tis not incredible should evil spirits Form noxious beasts to desolate the earth. 'Twas wisdom hell conceived, to overcome, Subvert and vanquish all the powers of heaven, — Befitting Satan — worthy of his powers! Many of gentle, timid nature, lovely In form and spirit, 'scaped the watchful eye, Though ever on the alert, of evil angels, And now are cherished by the race of man. Satan nor angel is ubiquitous : Either directly or through other spirits They operate to compass their designs. If individuals are rendered fierce, When otherwise the nature of their kind, Separately they are possessed and governed By spirit independent of themselves. iio Creation of Animals. 'Gainst these the venom and malignity Of devils from the dark abyss of hell Is gratified and fed by having beasts Voracious prey upon and gorge their blood — The latter creatures of Satanic power From the infancy of their kind in earth — To Satan like in spirit and employ. Also against the purest sons of men They ever hurl their keenest darts, and ne'er Relent when agonies endured by them Both pall and sicken even earth with gloom ! Though death reigns over innocent and fierce Alike, yet Satan solely renders it Calamitous. 'Tis bliss to live or die, In either case depending upon the use Of normal powers in healthy exercise : Doubtless their dying happier than their birth If uncorrupted by Satanic powers, — Truth illustrated by chrysalides Developing into bright butterflies. Within our casket, when unsightly, old, Creation of Animals. in Decrepit it becomes, the body worn And feeble, there exists a spirit form — A body like the angels beautiful — The old, like husk enclosing precious fruit, — Vast possibilities to be developed, When from the flesh and clay by death released, Which to a wondering world will be revealed : A stage advanced above our present life. But Spirit Power is requisite. No force In matter lurks to render butterflies Other than worms if reproduced by law Inherent. So man shuffling off this form Assumes a higher life, which if sustained In future life, becoming cherub-like, In beauty gorgeous will give God the glory ! Hence shocking is the theory, that man, Because related to the animal World, is developed from and for the earth Alone and by laws purely natural, — Subverting Scripture, reason, sentiment Common and universal 'mong our kind. Such science, falsely so called, vitiates 112 Creaiio7i of Animals. Itself and violates the laws of thought. The more a creature lives in sense alone The farther he withdraws himself from God, Who's Spirit pure enthroned above the known, — Yea ! from self-spirit power, our only source Of bliss inhering in our nature fallen. Hence creatures born by power divine to die Ultimately, in no degree or sense Proves God the author of calamity. Himself pure spirit, holy, infinite Alone in every attribute of Being, Is lovely far above what heart conceives, — And nothing does but what is good and pure, — Which heaven to reveal holds in reserve. Here sin and Satan render death a sting ! But thanks to God who giveth even us, Who've sinned, a victory through Christ our Lord ! Much more if pure and holy, born to die, Would death have been our blissful hour on earth,— Unfolding life in higher, happier stage, — Developing from bud into the flower, — From mortal body into spirit form, Creation of Animals. 113 Immortal, like to Christ our Lord, in Heaven, — Whose beauty on the Throne in Spirit body, From flesh and clay assumed when death released Him from the world, the eye of sense obscured And rendered John as dead beneath its rays ! Whatever creature, plant or beast or man, In kind or types distinct, imperfect taints Possess — are noxious, evil, hateful — this Is not the work of God, in spirit pure, But of the devils from the dark abyss, And bear the mark of Satan and his angels.* Our Saviour in His teachings once alone To unbelieving hearts imparts this truth, When healing by His touch a woman bound Of Satan, lo, for eighteen years. Strange words Were these from loving lips to Jewish ears. And strange they may appear in modern times To many little disciplined in thought — Assured of everything save ignorance. * Victor Hugo describes the Devil Fish as " a huge glutinous mass, with a demoniac will." 1 14 Creation of Animals. The hypocrite addressed by Him assumed To teach the Master and the synagogue, Was ruler in the church and first opposed The work of Spirit Power in vanquishing The devil and his agency on earth. So too the devils-rendered lunatic Often, exceeding fierce and dangerous, Those they possessed among men : how much more Their power and certain over beasts or birds Or whate'er else they please to mould and rule ! The devils are in animosities, In wraths, iniquities, in tempests, storms And clouds which threaten earth or heaven, — not God In exercise of power, who's lovely, good And glorious, the light of spirit worlds Which sport and move throughout the universe In blissful freedom, God therein best known By e'en the angels gathered at His throne. The unstable continents and islands, washed By warm and tropic waves from pole to pole, And fanned by sickening torrid winds, are varied Creation of Animals. 115 With valleys, irrigated by warm streams And murky lakes, enclosed by hills or plains With forests of the cypress, yew or fir : An even temperature from north to south. A hideous reptile, race with labor writhe And crawl, as if just oozing into life From out the filthy mire. Appalling is Their magnitude. When each successive coil Evolves, and stretched they lie full many a rood Along the marshes, if seen human sense Would faint and sicken at the horrid sight. 'Twere black and ugly fiends, fond of filth, The lowest, most malignant which possessed And formed and ruled the horrid reptile race — Fact attested clearly by Mother Eve. Such massive lizards either walk the land Or swim the deep ; while some bask leisurely Upon the sandy shores, deposit eggs Abundant to fill earth with their huge tribes. Enormous crocodiles also here show Their frightful bulk upon the gloomy bays. Their eyes, impatient for an enemy n6 Creation of Animals. And battle fierce and carnage, strife and blood, Glare in the open space with angry fire, Like fiends, — when engaged in deadly strife Most happy, only intent to destroy : As armies hostile, pressed on by the rear, In strife continue till they lifeless lie Upon the plain : or as electric clouds With heaven's artillery charge, till all their force Is spent, then vanish : thus, an enemy Engaged, in mingled gore together bound They writhe and twine about in horrid coils For agony, as limb from limb is torn, Their panoply of horny scales is broken, Their armor torn away, but ne'er give o'er Till each the other's entrails find and tear, And each carcass lies strewn upon the plains. The iguanodon in tangled jungles Is seen, the largest reptile yet produced, Upon the land king as leviathan Is of the deep. Among the bogs and rank Weeds megalosauri lurk to secretly Spring and secure gigantic tortoises Creation of Animals. nj Or frogs, whatever unaware approach Within their reach : and scorpions hid beneath The fallen trees or rocks, from -whence their black Claws quick extend to seize their frightened prey. Such horrid lizards fierce inhabited The groves and swamps and lakes of continents, Now high above the then encroaching sea. Some such of size diminished still exist In Galapagos Archipelago, Under the equator, a pre-Adamite World. But to some of this reptilian race Were added wings to soar the air and pierce The clouds sublime ; to perch upon the high And snowy peaks, and glare their brazen eyes Into the azure sky. These dragon forms Colossal, stranger than in ancient myths, And more grotesque than poets ever dreamed, Seem fiends from the Stygian lake escaped And come to view the earth and see how near It reaches Paradise and blissful realms From whence they'd been expelled, — intent to rule The world. But these huge monarchs of the air, n8 Creation of Animals. So marvellous, began to vanish when Another tribe assumed their element. The fiends luxuriated to possess And fashion, mould and govern a higher kind, Like hideous harpies, bodies like to birds With feet and claws, but faces nearly human, Such as the ancients in their myths conceived. Gigantic fowl in myriads filled the air Like clouds, or swam in flocks upon the shoals, Or moved with oary feet upon the clear Bosom of lakes and seas, or filled dense groves Of pine and arborescent and tall fern When night began to draw her darkening cloud Around the perfecting earth, whose guttural clang, As lulling each his mate into repose, A harsh clang from unnumbered throats combined Inharmonious, rendered eve's stillness wild. The busy bee, but few as yet, now first Began to murmur in prophetic tones, — The future world of flowers is drawing nigh. The beautiful palm, the harbinger of peace, Arose meekly from out the humid soil, Creation of Animals. 119 The crowned king of the vegetable world. Thus ended bright the morn of day the fifth, Against devices devils used to hinder God's work, to perfectness advancing still ; Whose evening and noon were characterized By monsters unsightly, their natures fierce ; And vegetation suited to an air And soil both warm and damp, — where frogs pre- vailed, — A paradise reptilian — not for man Adapted — still a charnel-house of death. The finishing touch from the Architect Omnipotent now earth receives, and teaches That power originates in spirit solely. The natural from the spiritual subsists, Without excepting aught that's seen or felt. No substance has power other than bestowed, Incorporate, by spirit pre-existent. Hence force in matter latent may exist For centuries and evermore, unless By spirit liberated in the use 120 Creation of Animals. Of means : thus coal if kindled liberates Force, as also water turned into steam ; — But spirit acts to liberate the force : The self-same pre-existent force evolves, Is liberated, which at first was used To give it form, but acts otherwise simply Than that which formed the coal or element : Simply reversed, like wire springs uncoiled Evolve like force, the same which gave them tension. Matter is inert. Spirit solely gives Or liberates the force or power bestowed Originally by Omnipotence. The different stages of creative work Are drawing to a close. How rich the field For thought we've travelled o'er — how full of praise ! We enter now as in a cool retreat, A safe lagoon of fairy coral isles, And view with joy the prospect beautiful. And God said, Let the earth bring forth, each after His kind, the cattle, creeping things and beasts Of the earth after their kind : and it was so. Creation of Animals. 121 A new and higher world of life appeared. Creatures innumerable by Spirit Power, Created was each germ, and now developed Lay half unconscious, and awoke to life As from a dream, and looked upon the ground And trees, and quaffed the fragrant air with strange Delight. Instinctively they then began To move their limbs ; discovered power to rise. Each sought his mate to multiply their kind, For such their nature was : and some in pairs Or herds, while others singly scoured the plains : While flocks of birds and insects spread abroad Their wings and sailed upon the ambient air. Now all the beasts and everything that creepeth The earth, were made, — their nature formed to enjoy A mode of life distinct in every kind. Most still exist, but some have passed away. Behemoth sluggishly then lay concealed In reeds and fens, or walked the mountain sides ; The dinotherium and the mastodon Colossal, and the mammoth shaggy-haired, Through forests dense and wide devoured the shrubs 122 Creation of Animals. And trees, together with the elephant, Most gentle, noble in his mighty strength When unmolested, terrible when roused By foes, which scarce 'scape his sagacious tact ; The untractable rhinoceros, against Whose thick skin, as coat-of-mail, weapons sharp Rebound, wallowed unwieldy in the marsh ; Or river-horse, amphibious, among Stately grown reeds walked, or with sullen tread Plunged into the lakes, sank or swam at will. Not all quietly fed upon the shrubs And undisturbed lived peaceably, — for some Of nature fierce, ferocious, when the night Descended, from the brakes or dens came forth, And walked the plains with glaring eyes, or crouched Amid the thickets, or behind a ledge Of rocks and suddenly devoured their prey. The mighty lion, conscious of his strength, Proudly majestic, either walks or leaps And shakes the hills. Betimes with head uplift His roar re-echoes from the mountain sides. These and like, princes 'mong the evil spirits Creation of Animals. 123 Possessed and governed, taking pride in them, Their strength and power to overcome their foes. The spirits now in strifes were frequent, one Against another through the beasts possessed, Inciting one another to devour. The bear, the tiger and the leopard fierce, Whose eyes ever roll restless for attack, Gnash their teeth upon their victims when afar, And lurking in the tangled brush their near Approach await. New insects numberless Of every size and color crawled the earth. The crafty serpent, noxious, now first seen, Moved his repulsive length upon the ground, The last to represent the reptile kind Before produced, but more degraded still. Some small and harmless, others venomous And huge with many a labyrinthine fold. Leviathan, sea monster huge lay writhed In many folds, involved among the waves, Unsightly, fierce, which voyagers desist To look upon for dread and change their course, Fearing more than the hidden shoals or rocks. 124 Creation of Animals. A new race of fish swam the running streams And peopled every sea, luxurious food, And beautiful to the eye their delicate Fins and scales. Birds appeared now first Produced, an order higher than the fowl As seen the previous day : — the eagle, hawk, And vulture keen of sight, most like the kind Previous. But most were smaller, plumaged rich, Of nature gentle, timid, voiced to charm With melody the day and tedious night, Destined as sweet companions for the good. The earth replenished with whatever walked, Or crawled or swam or flew all lovely smiled, Containing all the fruit of past and germ Of what would future come, creation's crown. The green that once the hill slopes and dales clothed Gave place to trees and charming flowers and fruits. Club mosses, rank and bristly, yielded place To goodly trees expanding gracefully Their foliaged boughs : for fern and calamite Fruitless, which grew in thickets dense beside The waters, lakes and in the marshy pools, Creation of Animals. 125 Sprang cereals and orchards flushed with fruit, Which bounteously now our tables load, And satisfy the heart of man and beast. Thus clearly spirit power in shade and light During the epoch travelled o'er appears ; Where day succeeds the night when all seems lost ; And beauty dawns from dense deformity ; And pleasures pains succeed as life from death ! For Spirit Infinite in light prevails, And blindly evil feeds and ministers To good, as clouds give beauty to the light, Reflect, and too make lovely setting sun ! O God ! our God ! how wonderful Thy power, Thy holiness, Thy glory, O ! how bright, Thy perfect wisdom deep, unfathomable, Thou dost alone the cravings of the mind — The creature mind and heart fulfil and meet And satisfy, — aught else creates unrest And leaves a void which nature never fills ! BOOK VII CREATION OF MAN. Almighty Elohim looked upon the world And said, Let us now make man in our image, In our own likeness : and let them have rule Over the fish of sea and fowl of the air And over cattle, every creeping thing That creepeth on the ground and all the earth. Then God created man both beautiful And lovely : in the image like Himself Him He made ; male and female them created. Then blessing by conferring blessings, said, Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth And subdue it : and have dominion over Fish of the sea and fowl whose element Is air and over every living thing That moveth upon the face of all the earth. 128 Creation of Man. Not necessarily full-grown when first He came from the Almighty Maker's hand : — A mammoth infant, ignorant, mature, — With instinct less than brutes', — with senses, limbs Entire, but knowing not the function, use Or office of a single one, — an infant In intellect and in his moral powers — His smile e'en would betray an idiot — With body full-grown coming into the world And powerless ! — this theory accepted Is sheer credulity, unauthorized By science, nor revealed by God to man. Religious faith by fancies mythical Is not sustained, but by the light of truth. Science and nature see a prodigy, — A monster birth, disrupting nature's womb Maternal, violating sense and reason In man mature, and born to earth full-grown ! Thus scepticism is helped, not overcome, By faith more honest than intelligent. Earth offers nothing sweeter than a babe, — So innocent and tender, chaste and pure Creation of Man. 129 That scarcely we'll believe but heaven is robbed Of cherubs from Elysian fields of bliss, When they in earth appear and smile with love : And angel pinions seem to fan the air ; And multitudes who guard their bed with care, While gently sleeps the babe in arms of peace. In feeble infancy the Living God Unfolds in history His mighty plans. Moses a lovely babe upon the Nile And Christ a manger babe in Bethlehem Of subsequent events are living germs. 'Tis thinkable that from a human germ, Created new as other germs before, Impregned in what is nearest kin to man By Spirit Infinite, miraculous, By God intervening, a lovely babe At first was Adam ; nurtured till mature ; Of God provided for : — for matter ne'er Advanced one species higher than its kind ; And spirit finite knows no law, — desire Has none a higher type to propagate Other than its own. This is nature's law 6* 130 Creation of Man. By revelation and experience known. The highest type of life is powerless Save only to use and in its normal use To strengthen that with which it is endowed. To advance from lower to a higher type Is suicidal as the phcenix bird Upon her nest in flames, her funeral pyre. For man's regeneration spiritual God's agency alone the Scriptures teach Us is required — truth made prominent In God's word : much more then for physical, Since force in matter is through spirit solely, And independent of the Infinite At times, indeed, our spirit wills and acts. E'en spirit ne'er regenerates itself: Much more where matter is advanced above Its kind, must Spirit act and do the work, And Spirit Infinite, whose dwelling-place And awful throne are hid from mortal view. Thus Jesus in the virgin womb of Mary By Spirit Power Divine, the Holy Ghost O'ershadowing mortal flesh, became God's Son- Creation of Man. 131 Beyond conception higher than earth's sons, Yet of His mother nursed and taught, a babe Helpless, subject to parents till mature ! — The highest revelation history Records of earth and man. O ! holy thought, That Christ not only paves the way to Heaven, But also rends the veil of mystery Dividing past and future, showing how Higher types of life into Being came, — Not by laws natural, but Spirit Power ! His birth and death alike the mysteries Of ages lay bare to intelligence. God intervenes where nature's laws, ordained Of Him, fail to accomplish His designs. O ! multiform the expression of Himself He gives, infinite, in heaven and in earth ! Proud Rome, arraying lineage divine, Claims for its founders Romulus and Remus, Silvia's offspring by the god of war, Their mother mortal, but their sire divine. The legend also tells us that the babes Weeping at the foot of Palatine Hill 12,2 Creation of Man. The savage nature of a female wolf Softened and moved to give them suck and rear In her own cave, together with her young. Not improbable, for in modern times, Of recent date in Ind, in tropic climes Two babes thus nurtured were until mature. Thus legends, fables, myths of ancient lore Become oftentimes the shadows of the truth. Adam of dust made, having life, became With soul divine God's image manifest : The lord of earth's domain, whose sovereign eye Ferocious beasts induced to fawn beneath His feet, subject to his will when mature. So nobly formed, with limbs symmetrical, Erect he moved majestic. Earth with pride And swelling bosom heaved to feel his tread ; As throbs a maiden's guileless heart when first She hears the voice of love from him for whom Impatiently she yearns. His countenance beamed Radiant and heavenly pure with smiles of bliss. Thus perfect formed, the noble flower of earth Appeared, — last-born : the summary of all Creation of Man. 133 Perfections of the previous life ; in whom The types prefiguring his coming were Fulfilled and culminate : the end and aim For which this temple grand, magnificent Was building through unreckoned ages past. With man creation ceased — the finished work. The mountains, continents and isles were fixed, Immovable ; their end and office knew ; The restless waters measured and their bounds Assigned. All progress ceased and staid its march In wondrous man, creation's perfect work So far as earth was destined to reveal, As flow the lucid streams of ruddy dawn Into the splendors of meridian day. How beautiful is man ! who apprehends, In measure knows God as revealed in all His works, where manifest His glory shines, — In studying which his intellectual powers Expand, and he becomes in brilliant thought And high resolve and lofty flight more like Divinity. A child of heaven, who looks With longing hope for immortality ; 134 Creation of Man. Whose soul may break away from chains of sense, Weigh anchor and exulting bear away Into the ocean of immensity ; Whose fancy paints the rosy skies and flowers In brighter tints, the verdant vales and hills In richer green, and beautifies the real : With reason too endowed, the highest gift In exercise his spirit power possessed : Whose sympathetic heart responds to all The world without. The thunders deep and harsh, And echoes of soft zephyrs 'mong the trees ; The music of the groves, the fountains, streams And dales ; the gloomy night and brilliant day All find within the breast of man a chord Responsive. Man accountable and free Was too with will intelligent endowed ; A power to sink his soul in endless woe, Or move beneath the rays of majesty Divine, unveiled, and ever contemplate God's glory and ethereal purity. O ! grave and awfully sacred was the trust ! With this no finite power in heaven or earth Creation of Man. 135 Compares : a human gulf, both fathomless Deep and wide — infinite to separate Mankind and isolate him from the world ! Endless would be the task recounting all The excellence and glory in which man Upon creation shone, — transcending thought. To man thus formed was given every herb Bearing seed upon the face of all the earth, And every tree which yielded fruit for food. And God complacently surveyed His work And satisfied pronounced it very good. In the East, where blooming nature sweets pro- duce Of choicest kind for luxury to sense Of sight and smell and taste, there Paradise Was planted. And out of the ground God caused To grow every tree pleasant to the sight And good for food, — while in the midst the tree Of life, whose fruit infused the soul with love Of holiness and gave a heavenly joy Which angels feel : and near by stood the tree 136 Creation of Man. Bearing fruit of knowledge of good and evil, As beautiful and proudly eminent. Eden high elevated, to view earth's Expanse as lying at her feet and feel The heavenly warmth of genial air, was rich In scenery such as the eye ne'er since Beheld : the mountain chains abrupt and high In grand magnificence, and hills and plains And valleys cool in shade meandered wild And richly beautiful, as nature here Was prodigal of her exhaustless wealth. From Eden's blissful plains, as from a throne Of bliss, a river flowed to irrigate The fertile soil and parted into four Streams ; the first Pison whose impetuous flow Cut gorges deep and rushed in headlong speed Around the land of Havilah, where gold And palms and fragrant gum and onyx stone Abound, thence lost into the Caspian Sea ; The second Gihon foamed with angry roar Through narrow mountain gorges and down steep Precipices, and encompassed the whole Creation of Man. , 137 Land of Cush ; next is Hiddekel which goeth Toward the east of Assyria and now joins The fourth, Euphrates, which together flow Into the Persian Gulf far at the south. There might be heard the low and sullen moan Of waves upon the north and east and south, Contrasting with their own sweet melody Of sparkling rills and fountains, and there seen The tranquil plains and smooth unbroken downs Extended far in the west, in glory crowned Pre-eminent : — a throne that reached the clouds Whence came the crystal streams, diverse their course, And watered ridges, terraces and plains Till where the horizon drew its curtain round The earth — a habitation where the Lord Appeared at times and angels loved to linger. Beneath the shade of cedars, towering oaks And branching elms, and all the sylvan trees Of goodly growth, flocks sportive played in wild And happy glee without the thought of harm. Gentle lambs skipped upon the meadows green, And kid upon the steep and rugged rocks, 138 Creation of Man. While sweet gazelles about the fountains clear Frisking romped in their modest kindly way. Here animals of nature fierce and wild Dared not intrude ; or if an entrance found Their vengeful eye to soft expression changed. Among the thickly woven branches, close Entwined, in happy unison all kind Of animals of gleesome nature played. In the waters 'mong the golden sand and pearl, And from beneath and round green mossy rocks Darted fish, whose scales colored rich and rare Gave forth a lustre changed at every turn. How sweetly reigned repose and peace and joy Within this pleasant garden — Heaven on earth ! This happy seat was given into the hands Of man to dress and keep and beautify, — Worthy his care and he a worthy lord. His princely form, his full reflective eye, His high and noble brow with thought profound, His every move and look, an energy — A conquering power which nature dreads to dare, Sincerity and truth and faith combined Creation of Man. 139 With holiness and other qualities Revealed the image of his Maker, God. Yet independence absolute, to act His will with sovereign pleasure, was withheld By God who formed him from the dust, — whose voice Declared His own supremacy in tones Of thunder as devouring fire, which shook The earth and heaven : — Of every tree thou mayest Freely eat save the fruit borne by the tree Of knowledge of both good and evil, which Shall not be eaten : for in the day thou eatest Thereof thou'lt surely die. The sole command Thus given resounded through the heavenly courts And angels heard ; and darkness covered all The earth, which sank beneath the penalty As when an earthquake rocks a continent : So nature long after gave signs of woe When Christ in agony cried upon the cross ! — Eli, eli, lama sabachthani ! And Israel at Mount Sinai, hearing God's Voice, saw the mountain quake and flames burst forth And the earth tremble at their feet, as waves 140 Creation of Ma7i. Of troubled ocean when by tempests riven, — And Israel greatly fearing sought the feet Of Moses and entreated that the voice Should not again address them, le'st they die ! Adam with reverence heard and resolved To keep the solemn trust inviolate. 'Twas fitting Adam's body made of dust, Or elements which constitute the earth, Should subject be to Spirit Power, Supreme — Like earth itself; his spirit too submiss, And recognize Creative glory — high Enthroned above himself and all the earth. The interdicted tree thenceforth became A voice proclaiming to him — reverence ! — • A heavenly voice ; its solemn accents love ; Obeyed — the cadences were alway sweet, Like nature's laws when madly not infringed. Then before Adam were brought every beast Of the field and all cattle and the fowl Of heaven ; and Adam named them as they passed According to their nature and their kind. When angels pure, in human form, were absent Creation of Man. 141 He lonely seemed : no sweet communion found With any living form that met his eye. To his voice no response in answer came From kindred heart. Alone in revery He'd wander happy in his innocence. During the day beside the fountains sit And muse upon their beauty and the life Within, or ramble through the fragrant bowers Reflecting how perfect was every plant And flower : by night beneath the canopy Of heaven, in silent awe he'd contemplate The eternal splendor of the starry hosts. The soothing glow of love unkindled lay Dormant within his breast. 'Twas thus not long. Heaven loved too well earth's perfect, chosen son. Upon a time as was his wont, embowered By asphodels and hyacinths, and fanned By the cool, fragrant gale of sweets in Eden, And asleep, God from his throbbing side took Wherewith to form a woman for his love, — To kindle in his nature passions new, Ecstatic, most akin to those of heaven. 142 Creation of Alan. Long nursed by angels, hid from man or beast Or fiend, fed upon ambrosial meats, She grew in beauty, grace and charm akin To cherub angels from elysian plains, Who lovingly protected her from ill. Ere long mature she was to Adam brought. Her fair skin like the lilies in the streams Of Paradise shed forth a lustre soft As the first blush of morn ; her tresses hung In wild luxuriance round her shoulders, decked With choicest flowers, which winds in dalliance moved And whispered in their happy sportful play The while as fairies 'mong the tender herbs ; With head reclining, in her heaving breast Humility was marked in every move And look, submission and a sweet reserve, — Veiling but most revealed the hidden worth ; Naked though not ashamed, for innocent. Adam embraced his tender bride and felt Himself a gushing fountain full of love — A new delight which rendered Eden Heaven. Now heaven's best sift was first revealed to earth. Creation of Man. 143 Love ! heaven's light ; an attribute of God ; More sweet than aught else ; pure, immortal fire ; Which angels share and have in eminence, — Exceeding beautiful, undimmed by sin ; Which lights this gloomy vale — this vale of tears, Transforming earth to heaven, when bright it shines And pure within our sacred shrine, the heart ! Paradise seemed a desert waste apart From her whose tenderness, simplicity And every womanly charm, radiant shed Peculiar lustre and grace in their sweet Abode. Naught here was wanting to complete Their bliss unalloyed, overflowing full. The lovely pair at times walked 'mong the fig, Citron and almond trees, and plucked the fruit Delicious hanging upon the bended boughs Inviting them indulgent to repast ; Or half reclined upon a downy bed Of violets beside the streams of Eden And talked of love. While swans before them played Upon the glassy waters ; and birds sang In chorus songs of thrilling ecstasy ; 144 Creation of Man. And bees in myriads hummed among the flowers And blossomed fruit trees, diligently sipped Their nectar sweet ; and butterflies, whose wings With iris tinged and dust of gold, begemmed The air. Then all creation echoed love Within the gates of Eden, their sweet realm. When glowed the West with red, and evening shades Drew on, retired within their garnished bower, The nightingales enchanting notes of soft And wild and warbling melody would lull Them to repose : a rest, which innocent, They only knew — to mankind since denied ! Undisturbed by dire grief, which oft in sleep Beat us as waves upon a rocky coast, The happy pair reposed in quietude, As lakes of Paradise translucent slept In the arms of their smiling shores. Their bed, Of violet flowers perfumed with spikenard, myrrh And frankincense ; their canopy, the vault Cerulean, as 'twere curtains scarlet rich, Adorned with stars, seemed stooping low to hide Creation of Man. 145 And shield them from the world, whose diadem They were, creation's crown and set with gems. All nature, every animal and man Within the gates of Eden's realm., were good And true and beautiful — for former things Had passed away, — by Spirit Power subdued : A prophecy of heaven and earth reclaimed When this our present period shall end. Without the realm of happy Eden all The powers of darkness were as fierce, malign And evil as before : a truth adverse, A prophecy against the theories Which claim that sin will be in time extinct, Like reptiles of a pre-historic age ; That God cannot, in virtue of His love, Forbear to save all, both in earth and hell ! Fain we'd endorse did Scripture teach the view, Or reason even, divorced from sentiment. Vain trust for license to indulge in sin ! Sin ne'er extinguishes the spirit life, Like luminaries once in heaven whose fires 7 146 Creation of Man. Are quenched ; and God nowhere encourages Belief, that hell shall ultimately cease, But solemnly we're taught the opposite. Like wanton boys in chase of baubles, bright To eye of sense, men trifle thus with God Or heaven or hell, for all eternity ! From heaven to Eden in shining myriads The angels pure and sweet now visited The happy human pair : for harmony Prevailed — peace reigned in blissful Paradise Subject to heaven's light and purity. A beauteous halo of the heavenly world Illumed their brow ; a smile so gentle, meek And kind that every hidden spring of love In man or angel was unsealed thereby: Untarnished by the blighting touch of sin : Whose beauty shone with lustre unimpaired By years, and virtue with no weakness charged. Adoring worshippers, who contemplate The Deity's perfections as revealed, — Who've ever dwelt where truth and beauty reigns,- Creation of Man. 147 Where universal knowledge is disclosed, — Where mysteries for ages hid are searched Out and continually are unsealed. Most beauteously they reflect the grace Of love, which in an infinite degree Abides within the heart of Deity, — A feature that endears, pre-eminent In heaven — the virtue of their spirit pure. Tis here spirit finite, in normal state, Its highest excellence and grace attains, — Is lovely as the glowing light of heaven, — As beautiful as glows a maiden's cheek, — As sweet as flowers when wet with morning dews, — And ravishing in all that reader heaven A Paradise for joy and bliss ecstatic : Attains to power for thought as days give place To years, and years to all eternity, Becoming nigher like God, infinite — But ever humble, ne'er in lust for power, Unconscious, seemingly, of excellence ! From lofty eminences in their realm Angels viewed earth and Paradise and man. 148 Creation of Man. As ne'er before the fountain of their love Was moved for man ; with them co-heir of heaven And bliss and glory. Paradise revealed A glory new and unsurpassed in heaven — Evil subdued and life produced from death. From heaven solely came such wealth of love As now in angel bosoms yearned for man. Nor unrequited were the angels ; Adam And Eve gave quick response in sympathy And accord with their heavenly visitants. Such harmony as quivered through the realm Of Eden, and love that moved the human soul And angels, earth ne'er since has known or felt. BOOK VIII. MAN'S FALL. Alas ! that man should barter Paradise For woe and death : and not he suffer solely, But should entail the same upon the race, — Else holy, innocent and happy still. The human pair could eat the fruit of life, And thus preclude the withering and cold chill Of death, and live in holiness forever, — Had they withstood temptation as did Christ, Our Lord, for forty days and nights assailed : For of the tree of knowledge of both good And evil God forbade them taste or touch. Thus narrow is the road dividing life From death : the way enticing too. All seems Pleasant and fair along that highway, paved 150 Maizs Fall. With flowers and cooled with arborescent trees, — But 'tis the way of death ! Upon this tree Grew fruit whose touch both soul and body poisoned, Though good for food and pleasant to behold, — Because forbidden them of God, Supreme. In Eden it grew nigh the tree of life. The way dividing life from death's abyss Is easily crossed by man's or hell's device. The serpent subtily an entrance found In Eden, unbeknown to man or angel, Guided by Satan, a fit habitat For the hostile enemy of God and man, Which the Devil led to tempt with fair words The destined mother of the human race ; And taught its forked and fiery tongue to speak His hellish thoughts respecting God's command In words of scorn, which led Eve to transgress. For scorn disarms the soul of fear and love, Subjects the tempted to the tempter's wiles. With such infernal art the Devil, Eve Addressed, his suit won, the end of which was death. Yea ! hath God said, ye shall not eat the fruit Mans Fall. 151 Of every tree that in the garden grows ? — The subtle serpent scornfully inquired. The woman meekly answering said, The fruit Of every tree we may with freedom eat, Save that of good and evil, which alone God forbade us eat or touch lest we die. The artful tempter, knowing well the heart Of woman, innocent and credulous, Filled her breast with ambitious themes, unthought Before, the source of woe, from whence have flown The streams which deluge earth with woe and death ! Ye shall not surely die : for God doth know That in the day ye eat thereof your eyes Shall open and ye shall with clearness see Both good and evil, then shall be as gods, Exalted 'bove your present state, and range The heavens whence angels come as swift as light, — The Devil answered, charging first a lie Upon the Infinite and holy God, And after, with ambitious schemes he filled The breast, as pure as snow, of lovely Eve ! 152 Mans Fall. The heartless Tempter, bent on naught but ill, The Serpent, now had done his wicked work. ■Modern philosophy when questioning Whether it was an actual reptile used Nothing gains. Scriptures simplify the truth. 'Tis not improbable the beast by Satan Was fashioned, — certainly 'twas suitable For him to lead and compass his designs. An ass a wicked prophet once rebuked Through spirit not her own, controlled thereby. Our tongues are mute not moved by spirit power, Which may another's be and not our own. Christ His disciples taught dependence upon Himself, when they to answer cavilling kings Were called, instructing them, 'Tis I that speak. The form of matter used by spirit power To act for good or evil signifies Little and is quite immaterial. Philosophy is rendering itself Ridiculous, is pusillanimous, Is in her dotage state, or run to seed, Mans Fall. 153 When cavilling about a serpent used For speech by spirit power. Will please the savans Answer, How comes their tongues, of matter pure, To speak their cavilling thoughts and vain conceits ? Ambitious, lofty aims then first possessed Eve's mind, made discontented with her lot Of meek subjection to the higher powers : Forgetting that her sphere was that of love And purity, — a sweet ethereal power Of equal weight against a conquering grasp Of thought, subjecting elemental force, And delving deep in hidden mystery. Oft had she drank of wisdom's fount which flowed All pure and lucid from the noble soul Of Adam, while she in his bosom lay, And nestled there a gentle dove, and cooled His brow with her hand delicately white As lilies which in Eden's fountains grew. Oft had she all lovingly watched the glow Of ardent zeal that burned his cheek and fired His eye, and listened to his words of power 7* 154 Mans Fall. Refreshing to her soul like summer showers Upon a thirsty soil. She to inquire, — He to instruct, — and amply paid his zeal If but he heard her music voice approve, — She to react and soften his manly powers, Were formed — each noble in their sphere alike. The tempter by his artful words induced Lovely Eve to forego her sweet dominion Over man and filled her soul with new thoughts, Ambitious aspirations, far beyond The appointed end for which made by the hand Divine. So now with other eyes than erst She looked upon the fatal tree, her soul Already poisoned by the serpent's guile. Behold the fruit was luscious, good for food, Of scent that sharpened keen the appetite ; And pleasant to the eye, of yellow tint And reddish glow ; but last of all, a fruit Desirable to make one wise. This thought Prevailed ; the moving cause her love for Adam Possibly ; — thinking she'd to him impart Surprising wisdom, hidden hitherto, Mans Fall. 155 And please and emulate her noble lord. In her simplicity she credited The subtle, lying words by Satan spoken, Or else forgetful of the doom imposed, Or drowning for the time the warning voice Within, most rashly plucked the fruit and ate ! The angels one and all from Paradise Took flight at once, amazed but sorrowful As ne'er before, and entering heaven's realm, A mighty host, with faces veiled beneath Their wings, in broken sighs the news conveyed ! The deed was done — that chilled the universe Like death ! in heaven the angels' countenances fell : They dropt their golden harps, — all music ceased — And silence reigned : for there the spirits pure Who kept their first estate, watched long in dread Suspense God's new created work, upright Man, wondering if he'd stand or grossly fall. They knew that God offended was a fire Devouring : saw the awful penalty Inflicted upon the rebel spirits, once 156 Mans Fall. As pure as they, their brethren and their kin. Was man so lovely, for whom their souls yearned With pure affection, strong as angels feel, Destined to undergo like doom ; to be Transformed to devils vile, and chained with chains Of adamant, confined to sulphurous waves Which bellow harshly and shriek through the depths Infernal ; earth lose its sweetness, formed In vain, — the charnel-house of woe in place Of joy ? One cherished hope alone was left : Adam was uninformed as yet by Eve Of the crime she'd done, and untempted stood Alone in holiness. The angels paused Expectant, hopeful that all was not lost. Not long uncertain : Eve was tempter now, Divinely formed with every winning grace, And no marvel if Adam was her slave, Devoted, alway yielding to her suit With quick assent. Not easy to entice Would Adam pure have been in Satan's hands. But Eve the tempter, though his judgment, heart And conscience disapproved, her loving smile Mans Fall. 157 And plea and sweet caresses to resist Was humanly, though pure, beyond his power. With her to suffer all the penalty And die, if die they must, was preferable To having Eve endure alone the sting ! Thus reasoned love, and from her hand he took The baneful fruit, all fair without, and he With her did eat. All now was over. Hell's Discordant jubilee rolled grimly round The throne of light and power where sat the King Eternal. Heaven was mournful sad — in gloom ! The angels closed their eyes, and bowing hid Their radiant faces in their hands — and wept ! So closed the solemn drama, whose sad gloom Invaded for a second time heaven's light, And palled the universe. The eyes of both Were opened and they saw — their nakedness. Eve erst, all happy, holy, innocent, Pure as the lily white was now condemned, Both soul and body to death temporal And death eternal ere the voice of God 158 Maris Fall. Was heard : and Adam of unrivalled power And excellence with her like doomed. Their crown They forfeited by sin ; the deed their own. Tempted they aimed at independence, wished Like Satan, who first against heaven conspired, To be like gods, and vile like Satan grew, — With hell's fierce fire just kindled in the soul. Alas ! how changed the temple, so adorned And brilliant, noble, perfect to reflect Divinely the image of their Maker God ! But desolate its ruins — by sin laid waste, Which solely mars or utterly destroys, And since has filled the earth with groans and blood ! Now gloom, palled of hell, settled heavily Upon the world ; and sepulchres of death And horrid powers were opened and laid bare In earth. An ancient night of chaos seemed About to add a realm to hell's domain. Separate by transgression from the source Of life, the spirit shattered drifts away From God, His hand not on the helm, with sails Mans Fall. 159 Full spread before the ever-veering gale. The evil passions, selfishness, deceit, Resentment, hate and all that from corrupt Nature flow gain firm hold upon the soul Debased, depraved, — the understanding dark, — Blind to the beauteous light of holiness : Bound firmly in bonds of iniquity, The chains of more than adamantine strength : The conscience overpowered by evil lusts, Impaired by every new offence, until Its tender, sweetest tones, are indistinct : Its spirit power impaired for good ; — for evil Rendered more vigorous by length of time And practice in the ways of sin. No power Annihilates the soul, or can except Omnific and Divine, which gave it being. No suicide of soul in earth or hell By any seeking death is possible. O ! could the dense, dark veil of mystery Be lifted from the spirit world, and light From the empyrean heights shine upon the depths And for a moment fallen spirit self 160 Mans Fall. Behold, debased in all its moral power, Its true estate compared to holiness Conceive, — aghast and shrieking it would seek Sulphurous hell congenial for relief! To charge the holy God with sin, because • Forsooth the human pair and angels fell, Is sacrilege by fools without the worth Of effort to reclaim, — who're past the power Of thought, the light of reason or of truth ! The guilt was man's. A covenant for life He broke, which for his happiness heaven made. Rash man perverted what was done in love: If God His creatures with a silken cord Thus chose to bind for good, to quicken faith In Him, their highest good, who can dispute His love ; and to condemn, as lawful judge, If man from unbelief transgressed ? For faith Absent, man is in league with hell no less When first he fell in Eden than now ! The dread Fiend death firmly on the soul had seized, Which with his horrid rule he swayed, as God Forewarned, the moment man partook the fruit Mans Fall. 161 Forbidden : for all communion with the source Of moral excellence ceased, which is life. Immortal man by disobedience steeped In moral guilt and vile impurity- Was lost alas ! for all eternity ! In novelistic attitude and mien Some modern churches cry for charity, For sentimentalism and fictious tales ; For soft and sweet words to state startling truths ; For lavender religion oiled with sweets To gratify the sense, though spirit starve And die, — in soporific state prefer To dream rather than be brought into action By statements clear of what the Scriptures teach : And thus awake, alas ! as Dives waked In hell, confused, amazed, from torpor self Imposed, to face an awful doom eternal ! Their clergy yield for bread, and meekly ask In pious accents, Why the lethargy In church and evil rampant in the world ? If any nobly stand to vindicate 1 62 Ma?is Fall. The truth — less keen to what is popular Than honest in what Heaven ordains to teach, — They're deemed imprudent, reckless and unwise By patronage men, who're wise weathercocks To steepled churches, falsely pastors called. Such pastors not alone at fault, though shame, Confusion and remorse belong to them For cowardice and sacred trust betrayed ; But clamorous for sentiment their churches Crave novelty, and light and frivolous Antics to please imaginative sense, ' The eye or ear ; prefer the sacred desk Adorned with blossom-youth, and tender, bright And jovial, upon the fashions posted — Not over-freighted with theology, And loathe* the fruit which long experience Has well matured in beauty, age and grace ! By elders e'en the inexperienced Are placed above the aged, wise and good, And deemed both eminent and fit to lead — And so the youths esteem and think themselves ! 'Tis then that every boy or boor prefers Mans Fall. 163 Himself a candidate for churchly office — Where ignorance is equal to conceit, — Good cobblers spoiled in making poor divines ! Such churches blossom ask, on blossom starve, — And shame the blessed cause espoused by them, — Forgetting God Supreme, relying most Upon fertility untried of genius Supposed or claimed, which may produce pure grain, Or may but yield prolific noxious weeds. Religious thought, discourse mature, condensed Is deemed infliction rude, unkind by brain Too giddy save to be adorned with flowers, With heart insensible and dull and cold — Spirit power, alas ! quenched in opiates, — For neither good nor evil capable To any great or serious extent. Themselves they wrong more than afflict their kind. Alas ! that spirits like to God should sport Themselves— -mere birds or butterflies adorned With gaudy wings to glitter for a day, — And die for lack of food where plenty reigns ! Jesus ! who to the infant Church didst send 164 Mans Fall. Thy blessed Spirit, Comforter Divine, To fire with heat celestial and revive Its drooping faith, oh, lead our wandering feet From haunts of gayety and stifling airs And worldly indolence, in pastures green, Amid the olive groves with Thee to watch And pray, or in the mountain solitudes — In spirit to behold Thee in Thy home From clear and heavenly atmospheres, most blessed ! 'Twas wrath Divine against appalling sins That agonize the world, which caused Thy soul, O, dearest Lord ! to agonize for us, With prayers and burning words in Olive's shade ; Which bowed Thee as a feeble thing to earth ; Which sickened Thee to bleed at every pore ; Which forced dark waters, supernatural gloom, And dread of death and fear of wrath Divine To overwhelm Thy pure, transparent soul ; Which caused beneath the heavy load Thy head To droop and sink, deathlike upon Thy breast ! And now, O ! horrible to think ! shall man — For whom such sacrifice is made, deem sin Mans Fall. 165 But light and trivial, a little cloud Perchance that will soon disappear, a web That can but easily be brushed away ? Shall man deem service in the church a light And easy thing, and smile a sunshine day And night, and breathe an air perfumed, and walk With head upon one shoulder set, — nor heed Gethsemane, nor God's blood, shed for sin ! Oh, that with holy fear, and conscience cleansed, Beneath the shade and in the midnight hours, Oh, Saviour dear, Thy servants might abide With Thee, and see the load which Thou didst bear, — And weep in sorrow, pain and grief with Thee ! Justice exacts the penalty of sin, . Rendered imperative by holiness. And pleading ne'er can purify a soul ! God being just and holy must inflict Sin's penalty upon a soul corrupt. Nay, too ! the conscience stings aside from God And unrelentingly, eternally ! 1 66 Mans Fall. Our conscience ne'er relents e'en when it feels The victim nigh the gates of hell shrink back With horror, cold with dread remorse ; nor when The eager fiends seize upon the soul, Which struggles fruitlessly within their grasp ! A guilty soul could not inhabit heaven, Where purity and sweets alone abide ! In earth the conscience unrelentingly Inflicts the penalty which sin exacts, — Much more when earth's attractions are removed. To cavil and demand a milder sentence Is quarrelling with what is natural, Ourselves as made, our soul, our native powers, Aside from judgment visited by heaven And holy God direct and merited. Yet God is not in suffering we endure, Nor we in God when cut adrift by sin. Tremendous deed ! man broke the golden link That bound him to the throne of bliss and heaven. No sadder thought than from an amplitude Of bliss man plunged into a fathomless Abyss of woe ! No human grasp of thought Mans Fall. 167 Or sense or feeling can portray the deep, Enormous guilt of moral turpitude ! Thus earth's exquisite temple was in ruins ; And strife in eminence enthroned ; and man In whom all nature's treasured gems shone forth, The focus where converged was all the light Of bygone ages, was now ruined, fallen And shattered in his overthrow — all waste. He wronged his own soul, God-like and divine ! The Dragon and his black ferocious brood Had now a subject worthy of their skill, Upon whom to practice cunning subtlety And hellish arts, far in advance of beasts Noxious which pre-historic they'd possessed, — And capable of studied arts, refined To agonize with torture most intense And varied victims whom they'd undertake To follow were it possible beyond The grave, and render hell aglee by deeds Beyond its daring heaven's wrath hitherto ! When man was made in image like to God 1 68 Mans Fall. And Eden planted, heaven then raised her throne Upon the earth and hell had lost her realm, — Within the province of Beelzebub War had been carried and a victory Gained. But now hell is victor, heaven in gloom — The first victory gained by Satan's wiles. No heavenly messenger on earth, it seemed Consigned to him alone, and solely hell's Domain. No wonder courage now resumed Its potent sway in every fiend breast ; And a grand jubilee, discordant, fierce, Malign, in honor of the event was held. The evil spirits had increased in lust Of horrid sins, had mostly lost the marks Of their once holy state of purity, — But no decrease of power though misapplied. 'Twas now their pleasure to defy the powers Of heaven ; to wallow in the sinks of sin ; To relish seeing others' misery ; To do whate'er is foul, the antipodes Of all that's good and pleasing to the pure, — Mans Fall. 169 The heights whence fallen, determining the depths They'd reached and active power in doing evil. Their jubilee ! was hell resuming sway More potent over elemental powers, The earth and sea and air, the winds and clouds. Long- chained in hell's abyss they'd been, because Evil had been in measure limited By Eden's peaceful reign and man created Holy — in place of death life substituted. Now unchained, being free to range the earth, Inflated by success, they recognized The power of evil, vainly thought themselves Sufficient to assault and conquer heaven ! Nothing gives promise of success more than Success ; and lifts the head, and air imparts Of self-conceit and conscious self-importance, Gaited in moves and patronizing words, — • E'en when success is gained unmerited. This weakness renders Devils ludicrous, — But earth out-herods Herod's vanity. When men strut with face lifted to the stars, And tread the ground with dainty feet and legs i/O Mail's Fall. As springs, then hell is filled with merriment, And shouts of laughter ring through her dun air ! The Scriptures tell us that Elisha's servant, Fearing the Syrian enemies surrounding Dothan, was given, through Elisha's prayer, To see the mountains full of heaven's heroes, With fire and horse, to guard and shield and save The prophet; company innumerable, A strong celestial host, then thousand times Ten thousand, forces called God's chariots. Thus were earth's mountains, plains, and seas and air, Now filled with fiends foul, apostates freed From Stygian lakes. Black clouds obscured the earth, Except when lurid lightnings warred with heaven's Artillery ; the waves of every sea Dashed angrily and high upon the shores ; Earthquakes rocked and rent every continent ; Volcanoes heaved their liquid fires above The clouds ; earth quivered to her central zones ! Fear palled and trembling shook the human pair. Tumult on earth whichever way they looked, And ruin everywhere — th' empyrean heights Mans Fall. 171 Of heaven above the clouds alone serene. Reptiles and crocodiles their native streams And ponds deserted for the lands and groves, And serpents huge of seas in terror sought The shores. No creature having life and breath But sought to hide, not knowing where to flee ! * When subsequently, after centuries, Jesus, earth's Lord and Saviour, conquered hell Upon the Cross, and yielded up the ghost, Then also in like manner earth gave signs Of woe in sympathy with heaven foiled And conquered, as to it appeared, by hell A second time. Then holy angels too * The traveller Humboldt tells us, after witnessing an earthquake in South America, even the crocodiles ran from the River Orinoco, howling into the woods, the dogs and pigs were powerless with fear. The whole city seemed " the hearth of destruction." The houses could not shelter, for they were falling in ruins. He turned to the trees, but they were over- thrown. His next thought was to run to the mountains, but they were reeling like drunken men. He then looked toward the sea. Lo ! it had fled ; and the ships, which a few moments before were in deep water, were rocking on the bare sand. He tells us that being then at his wits' end, he looked up and observed that heaven alone was calm and unshaken. 172 Mans Fall. In air with groans and sighs from clouds above, Addressed a navigator sailing through The Adrian seas, alarming all the crew, In words they little understood, in tones Of thunder : — When Palodes is reached, publish, — /jieyas Uav reOvrjice ! * Calm upon The sea their purpose foiled to disobey The heavenly voice when Palodes was reached. Then Thamus seeing heaven's intent again, Announced what sounded strange to every ear, Nor understood. When Jesus suffered death Hell victor seemed as first when man transgressed. Hence Heaven to vindicate, He in a body Spiritual entered Hades from the Cross At once ; subdued the armaments prepared To overrun the earth and crush the race Of man ; in spirit-body preached to spirits Which were before the flood in prison chained ; Confirming prophecy to their remorse ; Showing in flesh He had to do with man, In spirit with the spirits of the dead — * " The great God Pan is dead ! " Plutarch* s Defect of Oracles. Mans Fall. 173 Was still Supreme in heaven and earth and hell ; Showing that hell's apparent victory Was its most fatal and inglorious Defeat ; that, though His flesh might be destroyed His Godhead spirit would assert itself, Its power, in spirit-body like their own — Save that with light He shone, they like the night, — To vex and punish them if not submiss To will divine, more potent than in flesh. 'Twas needful, — hell was jubilant, — its powers Infernal, having failed to tempt, had moved Vile men to crucify the Son of God ! Their power, if not restrained, would render earth A hell in fact and sinful man more vile Than they, more dangerous, corrupt and cruel. 'Twas seen in their possessing man and beast When given liberty, while Christ sojourned Below, then wholly subject to His power. Since God atoned for sin to save the earth, E'en through infernal powers, the instruments — The schemes of hell recoiling 'gainst itself, 'Twas fitting now that Christ should enter hell 174 Mans Fall. In might divine and chain the powers of evil, Restrain their liberty in large degree, And close the gates of their deep, dark abyss Upon a multitude which hitherto Had ranged the earth, tormented men, and sought To overcome God manifest in flesh. Hence while reflecting upon His death and near The Cross and finished work, He clearly said : — Now is the world judged and its prince cast out. Yet liberty to many Heaven allows, For wise and righteous ends to be revealed. Hell breathless feared beneath His righteous tread ; And shrank aghast before His searching eye ; And shook and trembled like a mighty oak Before a blast, when listening to His voice. They'd never seen the form of God in spirit Nature, as theirs, whose power they'd always felt ! He went to them, — He showed Himself alive, — He preached — but not the gospel news of peace, — Appeared their victor and their righteous Lord. As Noah's preaching, tears and warning voice Had been despised, and his despisers perished, — Mails Fall. 175 'Twas fitting Christ despised and put to death Should go to them, and teach through them the powers Of hell, that judgment surely follows sin. His entering hell was judgment in itself Upon the fiends who'd battled for the world. As righteous Noah judgment prophesied, So Christ, the antitype, in Hades preached A second judgment upon the spirits foul, Who'd their own selves defeated more than Heaven By compassing through man His cruel death, — As always guilty men afflict themselves By crimes their own, which never fail to sting Themselves, more than the righteous innocent — For sinners are unconscious suicides ; — The second judgment in severity To be determined by their future guilt ! Then doubtless spirits obdurate and fierce From His own lips heard and expect the day, When earth will be a paradise reclaimed, And peace be conquered here by Spirit Power. Hence Christ in Hades preaching, no hope gives That finally hell's lost will be reclaimed 176 Mans Fall. By satisfaction made for sin on earth. For simply heaven's Son asserted power Immaculate, and reaped the precious fruits Of victory for earth and sons redeemed. Upon the fall of man they little knew The mind or purpose of the Invisible. Hence were the fiends at the time of Christ, And more especially before, and most Before the flood malignant, active, vile — But alway wicked, active and malign Enough to fill the earth with groans, and sink Unwary, yielding souls into perdition ; — But active most where good is being done — No need where wickedness prevails, and men Already are their willing votaries. The evil spirit feast of jubilee And revelry had every fallen angel Convoked from every prison cell or cave Or grotto, cavern or abyss throughout Their habitations far and near, in earth Mans Fall. 177 Or planets in the universe entire. Long time they gloated in confusion's reign ; In seething fires, or lurid flames, or earth's Dun air held carnival ; till 'gain aroused By Spirit Power, displayed anew and strange. This last, the seventh day, remains unsung, Which with alternate light and shade appears, In gloom and light, in pain and happiness, — Which dawned with man's appearing on the earth And ends with paradise, more beauteous, Restored to man, with bliss unknown before, And Man exalted to the throne of heaven ! BOOK IX. MAN REDEEMED. In Genesis the days commence with evening And end with morning, with some new advance, Given of Spirit Power in exercise — Development from lower to the higher Stages, which we've endeavored to portray •„ Each day a period whose length of time We neither know nor need to care to know, A fact in abstract quite immaterial : Notable, too, that- Scripture language all The days, in number six, embraced in one In words thus, — These the generations are Of heavens and earth created, in the day The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. The Scriptures for the seventh day — a fact i8o Man Redeemed. To be observed — records no evening to Commence the day, as for the others all, Nor morning terminating it as others. The order of the past is now reversed For this the seventh day or period, Commenced when morning dawned most beauteous With man and ends with earth destroyed by fire — A fact revealed to us by prophecy : A period continuous until The heavens shall roll together as a scroll, The elements shall melt with fervent heat, The sun be turned to darkness and the moori Into blood, and a new heaven and new earth Appear, and spiritual like the body Renewed, — when time shall pass away, be lost Into eternity. In confirmation Of prophecy astounded we've beheld Other worlds blaze with more than wonted light, Then slowly disappear — ranked 'mong lost stars : As that nigh Cassiopia which kindled bright As Sirius, then began to fade and soon Totally vanished, lost to the universe Man Redeemed. 181 Of worlds ; or that nigh Altair rivalling In brilliancy e'en our sweet evening star ; Or one that decked Orion's lustrous group ; Or Scorpion's no longer lighting heaven. Significant fact ! winged messengers Of death and dissolution from the depths Of space confirming God's inspired word. To such a final doom the earth through time Immeasurable has steadily progressed. When finally shall end the era sixth, The last of earth, now reached and far advanced, Then shall begin the seventh period : — From conflicting elements will appear The earth anew and heavens luminous With light : — creation from the curse released Will then rejoice in winter past and gone ; In storms then o'er, the chilling blasts, the snow, The hail ; no thunder peals to rend the sky Serene, nor dense clouds to o'ershadow heaven : For spring forever fresh will never cease. The nightingale and cooing turtle-dove Will sing as ne'er before their notes of love. 1 82 Man Redeemed. The vale of tears, bereavements, deaths belong To earth as once, but ne'er to reappear ! 'Tis marvellous how history repeats Itself; how simple truths original Are, found when correspondence is observed Between the facts past, present and to come. As there are six distinct creative days Embraced in one creative period, — So we'll observe, and wondering adore Omniscience, that there are redemptive days, Notable by some - epoch or event Commencing and ending a period : The number six of eras most distinct, And all embraced in one redemptive day, The day for gladdened jubilee, when God Had ended all His works which He had made. In it embraced are all the previous germs Which in their day developed and decayed ; But far advanced is this since conscience reigns, - Superinduced supreme in spirit life. This the hallowed Sabbath for man to advance In holiness, attain a happier seat, Man Redeemed. 18 Drink fuller than the joys of Paradise. Fallen man redeemed and glorified to sit In heavenly places with the atoning Lamb Of God, oh, who'd dare venture such a thought, Were't not revealed to man in Holy Writ — A vision beatific of heaven's rest ! Hence unity organic here prevails, Development controlled by Spirit Power, And energized as in creative work : One thought and purpose running through the whole ; One scarlet thread that binds the epochs, each To each ; one chain, the links indissoluble, Which binds the earth to heaven and the universe ; One hand, discerned by only those who'll see, That ever points unwavering to — The Cross, As every new development in six Creative days, prepare and render better Fitted the earth for man, to whom they point. This simplifies and gives a mighty grasp Upon all truth whate'er is worth our pains To learn or know ; takes elevated points Of view, and gives a range of vision vast, — 184 Man Redeemed. Far in extent as is the universe, — The past and future, — all that was and is And is to come for earth, and man and angel — The finite most allies to infinite : As from a mountain peak, exceeding great And high, we see a landscape beautiful And large, extending far, but seen in one View, panoramic, lying at our feet. To render truth complex, misty, confused Requires but little brain, or none at all, And error oftener indicates than truth. To simplify and render few the truths Revealed in life, the world and universe Is the office of mind both of man and angel. One theme by angel tongues was now discussed : — Will God abandon to the powers of hell This new created world, one empire more Added to increase their strength where they may range And rule, insulting His omnipotence ? Will He endure to have the fiends obscure His glory, sole end and aim of all His works, — Man Redeemed. 185 And thus be thwarted by the powers of hell ? His all-sufficiency is adequate To meet whatever crisis may occur In His vast realms, in earth or heaven or hell. E'en warring fiends' wrath, from the abyss, He mabes to praise His Majesty, and more Firmly to establish His eternal throne. The end He seeth of all the universe Of matter and intelligence, ere first Beginning was to e'en a star in space. Alone in the awful silence of the past Eternity, appalling His abode, He all nature contemplated synthetic And co-existent. When He ordered time Began to every world throughout the vast Immensity, the arena where He works Progressively, that creature minds may grow, Expand, be glorified in apprehending The mighty God, Creator of all things. The era which began with man created Holy, dawned luminously upon the earth, i86 Man Redeemed. And was the first of this redemptive day. His fall commenced to draw the evening shades ■ Around the world and mantled all in gloom, Which darker grew until the era ends. Amid each era's darkest hour light breaks Forth in meridian day — in noonday splendor, • By Power Supreme, advancing something new, More perfect, looking to maturity, — To issue ultimately in the glow Of Heaven, when clouds shall 'all have passed away. 'Tis thus with every Christian life upon earth : Day dawns when darkest clouds eclipse our path — In hours of sorrow, pain or death — when all Seems dark, the heart faint, sinking in despair ! Then oftenest power divine relief bestows. They're wheels within a wheel, which illustrate, Shed light upon, make clear a mighty truth ! Adam and Eve reclining in the cool Of day out in the open firmament, Now heard Jehovah's voice, as from a dream Awaked, and fearing hid among the Garden's Man Redeemed. 187 Foliage, hoping thus their guilt to hide. Thus guilty conscience ever since has done- In efforts to conceal reveals her guilt. What wing so swift as to elude the eye Of God and lurk unknown beyond the sky ? For all within the air or heaven abides, Or even if beyond the bounds of space, Are nigh and open to His piercing sight ! The voice called, and they came, — not blithe, Joyful and gay as wont to meet their Lord, But sad, reluctant and with faltering step, And began to excuse their nakedness In plea for hiding. Then their Lord inquired, How they'd obtained this knowledge, — whether they'd Transgressed and tasted the forbidden fruit ? Adam confessed his guilt — too evident ; A guilt which bore already fruit of shame, — For coward he'd become — accused his wife — The lovely Eve, heaven's gift, — for whom before He'd suffer death : and she the serpent's guile. Whereupon hearing this, the Lord pronounced The serpent cursed above all beasts, because 1 88 Man Redeemed. The instrument of Satan's wiles, and added : Between thee and the woman enmity- Exists henceforth, and between thine and her seed It thy head shall bruise, thou shalt bruise his heel. Thus was announced a prophecy, the germ And sum developed since in history : So is the oak entire in the acorn hid. God's purpose to redeem the world was thus And now revealed — the first display of grace The universe had known— the advance of force And penalty which devils had endured, And will endure eternally, so far As known. Without renouncing royalty Divine, nor silencing the thunder peals Of wrath 'gainst sin, revealed in law enforced — ■ Exhibited in might and fittingly Upon Sinai when to Israel law was given — God's voice in love and mercy spake in words Of cheer, and lighted all the gloom of Eden, And echoed sweetly in man's heart depraved. In meekness suffering wrong, while love illumes The countenance, and with forgiving grace Man Redeemed. 189 Beams sweetly upon the hands which cruelly Afflict, malignant spirits least endure, Whether they're wicked men or ugly devils. The letter kills, but spirit giveth life — A maxim having application far And wide, not simply to the spiritual, — But natural, for sweetest earthly life Is love unfeigned in all its purity : — The law enforced destroys, but love redeems. This to the human pair was cheering news, Like the anchor to mariners tempest-tossed Nearing rocks and shoals, and grim death at hand. This still small voice of love Elijah heard When hunted by the wicked Jezebel. In Horeb's deep recesses hidden, neither A blast of wind that rent and brake the rocks, Nor an earthquake that rocked the mount as waves A vessel in a storm, nor liquid fire That glowed and ran in streams throughout the mount Moved him. But when the voice of God was heard, With mantle wrapped about his face, he went And reverent stood to learn and heed heaven's message. 190 Man Redeemed. Oh, sweet still voice ! Here is Jehovah's mild And radiant presence felt more than His power Or wisdom or benevolence. 'Tis love Revealed to guilty man, a voice that grew In accents clear and more distinct since first Both Adam and Eve heard the promise given Until Immanuel came, the Second Adam, To restore our fallen and rebellious race. When 'gainst the serpent was pronounced the curse, The Lord turned to the human pair. First Eve, Because the first in sin, and through the mother Her daughters since were sentenced to endure Great pains in childbearing, and her desire Subject to the husband's, who should o'er her rule. The ruling savors of our fallen state : The more a husband rules, makes manifest Authority over his loving wife, The more he proves himself an imbecile, Or Satan's kin, allied to him in fact, Applying to his kind the curse imposed Too readily, who ought himself be ruled ! For Adam's sake the ground was cursed : with toil, Man Redeemed. 191 Sorrow and in pain bread should be produced. Though so symmetrical in beauty, death's Warrant was added, — doomed like noxious beasts His body must die and return to dust. Anticipating death, which none can know But once, how terrible must it have seemed, Which daily met his eye on every side ; And fear must have possessed his soul ! The life However of the soul could ne'er become ■Extinct, though all the chilling waves of sin From hell should roll their hideous billows o'er it. Hence doubtless Enoch from the pains of death Was saved, because in purity of heart He walked with God : occurring in this era, Which does not terminate until the flood. The Judge and Saviour of mankind thus brought His present mission to a close, and quick As thought the farthest stars were reached, His time Of flight unmeasured, distance great or small Alike to Him, for infinite Himself, — And only known when He Himself reveals 192 Man Redeemed. To heaven or earth or hell, or man or angel — Without a body limited to space, As yet, of either flesh or spirit form,— Except assumed for temporary use, A form in semblance like to man or angel, — • From elements, which the Almighty power Can fashion into any image willed. Hence often He appeared in human form, And just as quickly vanished as thin air. Not marvellous if Spirit Power who gave The elements their Being and who forms Them into everything we see and know, Should take therefrom and fashion any form In which to act and compass His designs. To angels now 'twas known that man was saved. To earth with one accord they turned their gaze. In Paradise the human pair there still •They saw, and breathless admiration, love And wonder stilled each throbbing heart, and heaven Was still as when man's sad fall was announced. No sound save streams pellucid rolling through Man Redeemed. 193 .The ivory palaces in murmurings sweet Was heard : such silence brought from sudden joy, And inexpressible, hearts cannot long Endure in quietude. Their gushing souls O'erflowing with love soon found vent in tears. Unlike before when man fell, they now wept For very joy— as angels weep — a joy Such as alone heaven feels, all peaceful, mild, Serene. Oh ! the consummate joy of Heaven ! Comparatively we are ignorant As yet of the redeemed and Holy City, Though prophets wrote inspired. Nor Seraph's tongue Can Heaven portray to man : — a language spoken There unintelligible below the skies. Oh, Holy City, everlasting realms Of bliss, our paradise of love restored, Beautified, how thy glorious beams enwrap Our minds when nearing thy celestial heights ; When zephyrs odoriferous fan our brow Sweating from weary toil ; when songs are heard Produced by angels joining saints in praise ! There our beloved departed, thrilled with joy, 194 Man Redeemed; Shall our first entrance see and rush to meet Our fond embrace — our coming long delayed To eager eyes upon heaven's battlements ! How wonderful is power Omnipotent In matter first revealed — the elements, The frame and body of the earth and stars ; In life, succeeding next, of trees and plants And flowers — which moulds and beautifies the first, To utilize and to adorn the earth ; In spirit, next succeeding, which discerns Itself, enjoys its life and acts at will ; In conscience next, engraft in spirit life, Which ministers supreme a heavenly bliss ; In sin, — which dares the conscience to inflict Its penalties and violates its laws, The laws of spirit when advanced to know The right from wrong, and independent acts. The conscience when inviolate is day, And sinned against is night in spirit worlds ! Redemption next, the power and grace of God — Power infinite, grace marvellous and new, Man Redeemed. 195 Of Heaven's King to save a creature in His image made, from spirit shades and death ; Then glory follows next and last, as day The rising sun, the seventh wonder in The galaxy, both grand and luminous, For time, eternity, the world and Heaven ! To learn this new thing in the universe Of wonders, how God though just can redeem A creature fallen, now hence employs the minds Angelic, from the bud of promise given Until mature : upon each development They sweetly talk together face to face By twos or companies in heaven's vast plains, A mighty host, and wonder and adore. How conscience waked, illumed both here and more Hereafter by heaven's light and purity, Can cease to torture is a mystery — Sleeping for future ages to reveal ! 'Tis easier to understand how God Forgives and saves, than that the soul can cease To chide, afflict and torture its own self 196 Man Redeemed. For violence against itself in sin ! The conscience knows no mercy ; hears no voice Of grief; is like the adder closing the ear Against the charmers charming ne'er so wisely. Heaven fain would heed the prayer which conscience spurns. Thus light is shed upon the affecting scene Of Jesus weeping o'er Jerusalem — Heaven weeping o'er the nature that repels Its proffered love and touching sympathy ! A further work remained. Man could not long In Eden nigh the tree of life remain : For now the interdicted tree ; its fruit For holiness and life was forfeited. Death follows sin by nature's laws and will Divine. Man's readiness his Maker's voice To disobey foreseen. Now lest he also Take of the tree of life and eat and live Forever — vile, corrupt, depraved and foul, Body and soul — God in love intervened. From all intelligences, cherubim Man Redeemed. 197 And seraphim, and angels both of death And life, and from a host innumerable God chose His ministers ; to each a work Assigned. Their mission known, equipped with power Derived, they with their King descended straight To earth, an armament imposing, grand And irresistible. The Lord then drave The man from Paradise, and at the east Of Eden in the garden placed the dire Cherubim with a flaming sword, which all Approach cut off and guarded every way Direct or winding to the tree of life. Thus Adam was denied the taste or touch Of what was once his food ambrosial — such As heaven ministers to spirit life. The angels clothed with terror's ghastly robe, And having in their hands the arrows barbed With death, their stand resumed upon the earth. These angels evil have power over man To torment him with storms and chilling winds, Producing sickness, pain and dire distress. 198 Man Redeemed. Thus Satan was given power over Job 1 To sweep away his princely wealth and leave Him poor as when he came into the world, To afflict and destroy his family, And render sick and sore and vile his flesh. Thus chastened often are we for rest when storms Are o'er and shadows shall have fled away. Thus evil angels, alway unconsciously, Are heaven's messengers for final good. Afflictions thus are blessings in disguise. The soul sustained by Hand imperial Reposes childlike in the arms divine, Which ever round His sons beloved are thrown, Though sore emotions struggle in the breast. The angels with sweet cordial from the fount Of life then too assumed their ministry : O'erburdened hearts allaying with the oil Of gladness ; carrying the stream of life Unbroken, clearer, brighter through the wreck Of our fallen race with types and prophecies — Though not then fully understood — and giving Hope, cheer and gladness ; oft a human form Man Redeemed. 199 Assuming radiant in their holiness, To speak with man and utter words of peace And comfort, and the future joy reveal. With tender wakefulness they bend their gaze, Their wings outstretched, upon the earth and man, Hovering always near, solicitous For those committed to their sacred trust. Undazzled by the scenery of heaven, Its grandeur, beauty or its wealth, they cast Benignant, loving looks upon the sons And daughters of the earth to bless and save. From Paradise the human pair were driven In order to effect a good : — to save The pure from harlotry with the impure, The good from coalescing with the evil. Heaven for hell has no affinity : Yet hell's design and effort is to get Within the gates of heaven and subdue The good and pure to her foul purposes. 'Tis hell's most artful and successful mode Of warfare 'gainst what's good in earth and heaven. 200 Man Redeemed. When done the knell to peace and happiness Is tolled, as when the serpent entered Eden. Disaster comes and never fails to come When Satan makes inroads into the church : The church becoming then so dangerous And foul and cruel as to shock the world. Nor does a shock e'er fail in such a case Less than earthquake fires warring fiercely 'neath The surface of our globe to toss and rend A continent and trouble isles and seas. A vessel rides securely every sea, — Until the waters get within — then sinks O'erpowered by that which erst she tossed aside, Or proudly used to reach a distant haven. 'Tis Satan's pleasing argument which fools And knaves employ, too often in God's name, — The world must be impressed and won, and sin Subdued and sinners saved by coalescing Therewith in some degree, conformity A trifle, innocent to patronize, Propitiate and take the world by guile ! Man Redeemed. 201 The church, thus duped and self-deceived, is like A silly toad that gives itself away And hops into a hungry serpent's maw. A church, God's children using subtlety, Unskilled in handling weapons of the pit, Deserve and surely come to woful grief! In modern times church fairs and festivals And concerts, feasts and lotteries devised 'Tis said to run the church — but to the Devil / A sin substantially which brought the flood And every overthrow the world has seen. But 'tis the sure road to prosperity — Short-lived, but this is seen, alas ! too late; To wealth and rich adornments such as please The world — and Satan too : he helps the church More than his devotees allied to him In faith and works belonging to the world — In evil faith and works are ne'er divorced, When pious frauds, concerts, theatricals Are introduced in houses consecrated — O mockery ! to God for prayer and praise ; And hinders not the battle, only seeming 202 Man Redeemed. Against his kingdom, and the while deludes. 'Tis then like Samson in Delilah's lap, Shorn of its strength while dandled into dreams : — Then Satan laughs and hell is all aglee : For churches spirit power possess for good In naught but what is holy, right and true. The Upper Room, but poor and lone and drear 'Mid Salem's palaces of wealth and towers Of strength, where sorrowing disciples prayed In solitude, is to. the church a Fount Of blessing, a well-spring of light to each Succeeding age, to teach how best — nay ! how Alone to reach the heights of heavenly bliss, The source of every good — unfailing power, And bring a blessing down to barren earth ! The earth still feels the power whjch emanates Therefrom, still cherishes the gifts bestowed Upon that most eventful night the world Has seen or felt, still hears as every age Has heard the tongues which there became inspired. Oh, Mighty Spirit, Presence Infinite, All Heaven is illumed and brightly glows Man Redeemed. 203 With Thy most tranquil beauty, grace and love, Oh ! come to earth again, to praying saints As in the Upper Room, renowned, and show From heaven's ethereal shores Thy wealth of love ; Make guilty earth to tremble with Thy blasts, And with Thy tempest power brake stony hearts ! O Spirit ! hover o'er us — dead to Thee, And suddenly brake cloven tongues of flame Upon our heads — a light from Heaven to earth — A flame from holy altars given to man, And quicken us into a life and power Akin to Thine — the only power that saves, Either the church, the world, or human souls ! Oh, tender Spirit ! live and breathe within The church ; oh, loving Presence, sweet beyond Our thought, abide with us, and let us see Thy glance of love and Heaven in that glance ! The Upper Room reveals a church in shade Or light, with spirit power for ill or good ! After man's fall the righteous coalesced With the wicked, dissolute and carnal, — looked 204 Man Redeemed. Upon the daughters of the world and took Them wives of all the fair and beautiful : The sons of Seth with daughters fair of Cain ! Dark clouds conceal from view this period, And little can we penetrate behind The scenes. But this much clearly we discern From Scripture, that the church in harlotry With man and devils, fused the good and evil, — Became thus secularized and corrupt. The good amalgamated with the bad. Hence lust soon soiled, befouled and sank the church In sin which God not long could tolerate, Inducing Him to bring the flood upon The earth : which ends this era of the world's History on the first redemptive day. In gloom and night and death each era ends Because the church joins sacrilegiously And is at one with schemes and wickedness Resorted to and practised by the world ! No sin more grieves the loving heart of God And surely brings disaster, pain and death. Man . Redeemed. 205 While Noah safely sailed the one vast sea Above the deluged world and sleeping dead, Alone saved with his family, then dawned The second era of man's history. The righteous preacher, faithful, true, devout, Who for more than a century withstood The taunts of dissolute and wicked men ; Undaunted by their threats ; unmoved by jeers ; And undiscouraged labored on, though all A deaf ear to his faithful message gave, Was reaping now his rich well-earned reward. Not less a lesson here than a rebuke Is given to all who estimate the worth, Capacity and fitness for the task Of preaching by the measure of success, So called, to be reported and extolled — But piously in tone befitting saints, Each year in presbytery and in print. David's great sin of numbering the people, Through pride, and suffering in consequence 206 Man Redeemed. A plague, some pastors reckless, false to trust, Forget, — or else expound to suit the times. Tis called, Reports upon religious state Of churches.* The intent is doubtless good, * Withheld Statistics. — How it would startle some of our congre- gations to have the pastor follow the reading of the annual report of his church with a few of the withheld statistics, somewhat after this sort : — " Of the thirty-two who have joined our church the past year I find that five of those who came in on profession have unmistakably fallen into for- mer evil ways, while of those who were received by letter three were cer- tainly lacking in good character in the churches they left, although by the record they were in 'good and regular standing.' One of our elders is popularly reported to have swindled a neighbor outrageously in a notorious business transaction. We have lost one of our more prominent members by his transfer to the county jail on conviction of crime. A careful exami- nation of our record has convinced me that fully one- third of our members can be counted on the ' dead-head ' list. They do nothing in the line of Christian activity. As to their example, they are not bad enough to be a warning to the outside world, nor good enough to be taken as an example by anybody — in or out. Our benevolent contributions look pretty well for our numbers, but I learn that nearly one-third of their full amount has been given by four persons ; and that of the other members of the church more than one-half gave less to religious causes than they pay toward public amusements, while there are not a few families which gave more for peanuts during the year than they put in the contribution box. A fair estimate of the tobacco bills of the congregation is twice and three-eighths the amount given by the church to home and foreign missions combined." Such a supple- ment as this, in kind and in degree according to the particular community, could be truthfully made in many a church where the annual report last pre- sented is spoken of as " every way encouraging." — Sunday- School Times. Man Redeemed. * 207 But many, snared thereby, report themselves, Relate too often only partial facts, Adroitly hide whate'er is damaging, And brethren praise who'll in return praise them — A mutual admiration feast, in love Each one with self, absorbed in greed of praise ; A vanity fair — bart'ring each the others — And silly they fail to discern when sold, For spirit power just then is stupefied By glittering bombast and flattery. While scepticism abounds and churches die, And piety is low and at discount Is this for puerile compliments the time, — Not less obsequious than footmen serve? Itching ears listen while proud hearts relate The numbers added to their church, converted The pastors say, for which they're truly thankful — To build themselves upon the work they've done ! They err who judge the Lord by feeble saints ! And much, alas ! the issue proves is only Man's work : but what's the odds ? Conventions hear, Applaud, assign to fat and wealthy fields 208 Man Redeemed. The boasters lusting for the loaves and fishes. Hypocrisy ! that's robed in pious terms ! The bravest, best and faithful witnesses Who're either modest or unfortunately Too good and conscientious to conform To tendencies that both corrupt the church And shame its true ambassadors, are either Silenced or given places poor and lone — Good for the churches served, but bad for them ! They're failures in ecclesiastical Politics, have demurred upon artifice : They've not exalted self, nor sought for place In lines of sure promotion, seeking fame, And wealth and ease and elegance, and none Will do it for them, — nor discern their worth ! By them a pyrotechnical display Has not been given — in religious news, Weekly ; nor have they editors cajoled To keep their names with puffs before the churches. Hence forest parishes, or any place Is deemed by brethren (!) good enough for them :- And then the while each one is estimated Man Redeemed. 209 By places occupied — gauged by their wealth : No matter how obtained — 'tis immaterial, And none would venture rashly to inquire — Of course 'tis Providence, whose guidance each Has sought, 'tis said, to indicate their duty. Hypocrisy will hide her face for once And blush, and know and feel herself outdone ! Hence many a pure and faithful minister Unknown, uncared for, soon forgotten dies In poverty, of whom the world's unworthy : — Their cries and moans voiced by the plaintive winds ; And solitudes and glens and caves alone In sympathy give ear and weep responsive ! They're blessed, passive, patient poor, who're loved^ Of Heaven, despised of earth, — whose secret lives Are deep and understood by few, — who stoop Beneath the cares of life with fettered feet And listless, wrapped in deep, but silent thought ; And homeless, shuffled here and there, alone Within a world which has no love for them, No sympathy — and deemed but in the way : — Perhaps the meek and chastened smile that comes 210 Man Redeemed. And goes, is God within the friendless soul ; — Perhaps the light which now and then illumes Their brow, and shines from wan and wasted cheeks Is from the angels hovering both near And o'er their heads, which baffle mortal sight, But waiting, wings outspread, to waft their charge To blissful realms when death appears and severs Gently their spirit from the earth and clay ! The soul by sorrow's chastening touch becomes Too pure for earth to know or see or love ; So lovely shines, so sweetly beams, that earth And sin their face avert and turn aside ! - Perhaps ! alone in barren Patmos isle, Exiled in place and state, there's vision given As glorious as but once beheld, — hence sight Becomes impaired to earthly things and dim, While spirit is absorbed by bliss revealed, — Which earth esteems defects, and riots o'er, And quickly shuffles them to solitudes And barrenness, as was the Apostle John ! Such prophets, learned in theologic lore, — Such Christians, mellowed meek in love with God, — Man Redeemed. 2 1 1 Such servants, freighted with experience, — The church too often deems superannuated : And lusts and lisps for sophomoric lore, — For brazen declamation, loud in cry And boisterous as infantile in thought, — For lightly freighted crafts to sail smooth seas — From parent's tutelage removed too soon, Which wreck themselves and crew ere port is reached ! Soul ne'er becomes impaired by age, and ne'er Loses what's once been learned, nor ever less Of power or force exerts when circumstanced To act in normal strength, though brain may palsy, Become impaired and feeble like the body. The spirit form assumed in blissful realms, Rejuvenated, it will act with more Than wonted strength, and have an instrument Through which to act which never will impair. The young divines who're humble and sincere, Without ambition to exalt themselves, Who pray to serve the poor and sorrowing, Who're learned and well equipped to serve the church, Are heaven's best gift, a legacy of love 212 Man Redeemed. To earth and churches seeking help from God, — Noble men, reaping precious fruit for Heaven — Who'll nobler be when bending 'neath the weight Of years of toil while grace illumes their brow. Severe denunciations hurled against Any who serve at sacred altars, holy, Howe'er just, modern thinkers deem unkind, — Unfriendly to the church our Saviour bought. But what if they're against the evils, rank And sore, which left unchecked would soon destroy The church and world, blood bought by love divine ? The surgeon's knife will sever quivering limbs Diseased, regardless of the patient's cries And tears, and yet in love his task perform ! The church can ne'er with safety to the world, Herself or men in witness-bearing fail, In equity and truth come short in service, Through fear or policy ignore a wrong, And hence herself must be and keep most pure ; As salt kept savory and light unquenched ; Be vigilant and more concerned to quench Man Redeemed. 213 Evils which are within than those without. Hereby are known Earth's righteous noblemen. 'Tis hatred of impurity that hurls And renders true the darts to pierce the shields. Whate'er is human may become impure, Or err or fail in duty that's imposed. Darts damage not through human agency The spirit pure, what's holy or divine. The church which God has saved, protects and loves Is not a bauble gilded for the eye Of sense and glittering in borrowed light, A toy of every wanton breeze in air And ready momentarily by touch Or rank breath to collapse- and disappear ! The world detracts where saints conceal a guilt. But honesty in churches strength imparts, Though many for fidelity endure And suffer patiently for years in quiet. If we would judge ourselves, we'd not be judged. But all can see where much applies, applaud And guilt adjudge to others, not to self. Alas ! there's guilt attached to not a few . 214 Man Redeemed. Where churches wane and guilt supinely yawns With folded hands and groans and ask the cause ! The question paramount is, whether good Or evil dominates. Tis not against The good and pure and holy in the church To hear that many learned and noble men, Servants of God, are in obscurity Suffering from neglect and wrong of which The church is chargeable and piety Is made to blush ! Should Truth with visage bright Sublimely stand with eyes ot fire and speak In plainness, multitudes in places rich And well intrenched would howl against the rash Intruder 'pon their realm of elegance — Bereft of Spirit Power and shorn of strength — And count him sore ; one who has failed to please — A worldly church and young effeminates ; One who has enemies — a sycophant Would be preferred by such who're worldly wise ; A churlish fellow — published such as by A dunghill feathered tribe, because forsooth He treads too near a setting hen, alarms Man Redeemed. 215 Her henship and awakes her cackling ire, — In which the harem join and sympathize. The temper of our speech is moderate. Zion, her daughters, sons and citizens Should lovingly protect, adorn and bless, And spread a halo glory round the earth, Encompassing and filling every place And heart — than Saturn's rings more beauteous. Unseemly hence for her to maledict, Or taunt or curse when evils are exposed That tarnish, dim or hide her glory fair ; Detract or anger, goad or persecute When called upon to heal her blemishes — But thus unwittingly proclaims abroad, Aloud, then evident if not before, Her conscious guilt and shame, through pride concealed ! Her face so beautiful in purity Henceforth and then becomes repulsive, dark And low'ring, ugly, wrathful, dangerous, — Like maidens fair defloured by hateful ire. 'Tis Zion's loving office tenderly To soothe and heal a burdened, broken heart ; 216 Man Redeemed. To lift the fallen, cheer the faint and help Our sinful race to realms of bliss and Heaven. A church and clergy arrogant are base. A fellow pilgrim, with averted face To pass disdainfully and mock his cries, Is spirit finite power in exercise For ill and hateful to the good and pure, — Is spirit fiendish and not of Zion ! To plead the cause and battle for the poor And sorrowing in need is Zion's office, Whereby spirit power best promotes earth's glory. 'Tis feared and felt that Agencies are too Solicitous to credit with success Their schemes, sustain fat salaries and chairs, And build themselves upon their enterprises. We've advertised a dearth of ministers, — While multitudes are unemployed, prepared And willing, nay ! solicitous for work ; And seminaries to theology Sacred, with others like employed compete — Unseemly and unchurchly is the strife, Man Redeemed. 217 Each for itself alluring aspirants For ministerial robes within their walls, By scholarships and money to entice Proportioned by the wealth that each controls ; And men renowned and usefully employed In other less inviting fields, are called To chairs regardless of the hurt inflicted, — For called, the voice — of God, 'tis said — of self Aggrandizement, 'tis feared — determines choice Too often not less in church than in the State ; — ■ Who may the proper sentiments possess, In charity to their intelligence We'll urge, but simply their expression hide, Repress, as sorrow's hid at times by some When keenly, pungently 'tis felt and weeps Within, behind the scenes in solitude : Some will presume to think, sometimes aloud, — And for themselves without the aid of others. We're told 'tis all to glorify the church. Alas ! the glory of the Agencies Are neither modestly concealed nor named ! Their spirit power is thus concealed or lost. 2 1 8* Man Redeemed. And Colleges too founded for the church By righteous men of old, in prayer and tears, A worthy ministry to educate, — Not little puerile vanity display In graduating sons with great eclat, With sound of cornet, flute and psaltery, And sackbut, harp and dulcimer, — inviting All to adore the Image that's set up ! — And cringe and fawn beneath the feet of wealth, And kiss the hands whence rich endowments come ! Too often sceptics, who're called scientists, Are given chairs, and clergymen who're good And wise refused, when to the church they owe Life and prosperity — waxed gross by wealth, In foreign arrogance — to Satan sold ! — And innocently inquire, — why now so few The ministry, the sacred office enter? Their understanding or the sacred word If they'd consult, and turn aside one brief Moment from vain imaginings, they'd know The truth and render service to the world. A wonder justly ought to be expressed Man Redeemed. 219 If any should religiously inclined Become, and enter e'en the sacred church In fellowship with saints from Satan saved ! In culture intellectual history * Records no ministry the world has seen So learned, eloquent and strong for great Achievements. Danger lurks in pride of heart. The baser metals burnishing will ne'er Transform to precious : culture exercised With zeal will only help, can ne'er produce A man of God, or render pure the heart. * " It is the sure indication of a living Christianity that so many of its preachers are drawn from the most successful men in other walks of life. They could not be at peace or feel themselves to be obedient to the heav- enly vision until they had accepted the sacred vow and ordination. An elect ministry like this, called to be apostles by the will of God and by the resistless yearnings of the Spirit of God within them, were never more needed than to-day, and all others were never more out of place. Of good men, and good lives, and good service the church and the world can never have too many. But there is nothing gained and much lost in thrusting men merely because they are good, or accepting them merely because they are willing, into this high calling of God. God wants something more than pegs to fill 'vacancies.' He demands projectiles, with His own Divine Forces behind them, mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." 2 20 Man Redeemed. Their learning rightly guided, humble, pure, Beneath their strokes would Satan's kingdom totter And doubtless fall. Among them found are men Who're great and good and pure in heart, who love The church, and cheerfully would sacrifice Their all and life itself to testify Their faith, if 'twere required for the truth. Hence tendencies which render insecure, The weaknesses endangering the church Most readily the church will rectify When clearly by the wise and good exposed, If purity therein predominates. A bridge no stronger is than the weakest link Which with the others holds its ponderous weight. Where'er a danger is, fidelity, Learning, experience or art detect, Expose and deem both the security Of structure and the lives of multitudes Of greater moment, incomparable, Than shielding men in charge from merited Censure, displacement, or e'en sacrifice. Thus is the glory of the church by clouds Man Redeemed. 221 Often o'ercast, as evening follows morn, As shade succeeds the light in every era, Showing that perfect happiness the earth Forbids to man, and perfect beauty too. But greater light has always followed gloom, And brighter eras from those more obscure, — Developed from imperfect traits — for nought Is perfect here, as clouds obscuring light Collect and part to let the sun shine through — Brighter than had the clouds not intervened. Man's duty hence is clear, — to labor on In faith and prayer and love, and ne'er forget That Spirit Power is high enthroned above The petty powers, unfriendly to the church, Or ills which unawares do creep therein ; That earth is moving to elysian fields, And gloom or death is but transition state. By battling for what's pure we best promote Our strength — prepare the soul for higher life. Happy the men who're foremost in the strife, And recognize beneficence in ills Which call in exercise their spirit power, — 222 Man Redeemed. Who scorn to cringe, prefer to die than yield To wealth and arrogance, which adder like, Possess the fang and poison too that kills ! We need not only desolation see ; We need not wander walled in darkness round, — And ne'er within and ne'er without see light, As bondsmen boast their chains, and scoff at love That fain would scatter clouds or set them free. Who have the light should make it brighter glow ; And faith make greater — cultivate to sight, To sweetest worship — into splendors hide ; In plainness chide where wrongs are known, but love- The glow of Heaven, illuming every word ! As Noah reaped a harvest long delayed, So faithful labor ultimately brings Reward in this — or in the world to come. Many are true and faithful, mourning o'er Evils they're powerless to eradicate, — Nay ! multitudes to duty as discerned, According to the light possessed are true. Pastors, in being too solicitous Man Redeemed. 223 About success or seeming failure, err. With measured step and stooping low in grief And sorrow, judgment Noah preached, without Design or ill intent, and none would hear Or turn to God and seek the peace of Heaven. Yet he and family were blessed and saved. Man e'en the judge and churches carnalized, Fidelity is better than success. This era dawns as did the first with promise. The beautiful rainbow arching the heavens Over the sweet but lately deluged earth, Of Heaven's covenant a fitting sign, Which often Noah had admired before, Was now of God designed and pointed out The sign of promise for all future time, That every generation following When looking 'pon the bow within the clouds Might realize that God is merciful, — That it encircles too His great white throne ! The era wanes when Noah's family Had multiplied upon the plains as rich 224 Man Redeemed. As Eden on the river banks along Euphrates, and were one in speech and aim. The church again drawn in the strong whirlpool Of lust and worldly schemes was nearly lost. To recognize its visage fair 'twas hard, Or to distinguish it amid the world Of lust and vanity, in greed of power. With one accord they reasoned to erect A tower to defy the powers of heaven, And render it a city of refuge And defence, whose top should reach 'bove the clouds, — ■ A city of renown throughout the earth. Confusion then of speech by Spirit Power, To save the church and render her distinct And known, the second era terminates : That separate, a church and people, set Apart for God, elected from the world, For service might be kept, both true and holy. Contamination with the world, the church In league with Satan, God ne'er long endures. For wrath begins and soon, and judgment too, Man Redeemed. 225 When God's elect have oneness with the world. Nations and men into the lowest hells Of vile iniquity may sink and sport Themselves, and God forbear to punish long, For even generations let continue And suffer them to prosper in the world : But when the church denies herself, becomes With sin most foul, then judgment is at hand. The era third with Abraham begins, A patriarchal age in history, And ends with Israel's sad captivity In Egypt's garden of delights along The Nile. The promise of deliverance, Vouchsafed of heaven, more clearly now appears : — In him should all the families of earth Be blessed. His promised seed should multiply, Subdue, redeem and save the earth from sin's Sad blight by means of one, a Saviour yet To come. With faith. he heard the gospel news In glad delight, and henceforth was the friend Of God, accredited and true, the son 226 Mci7i Redeemed. Of heaven and righteous in the sight of angels. His piety and faith were prominent, Guilty of but few lapses, honestly Recorded, showing his mortality ; Refusing to ally his son and heir, Isaac, with the polluted Canaanites ; Who talked familiarly as friend to friend With God in human form, — persistently Used forceful speech to turn Him from His purpose To destroy wicked Sodom and Gomorrah ; Who reverenced Melchisedek, because A priest and consecrated to the Lord. A mighty prince ; renowned and valiant ; strong Enough to conquer kings, and generously Refusing to take any part of spoil ; Of courteous, modest, meek and dignified Demeanor, truly one of royal blood. In generosity few men before Or since his time have equalled Abraham. Though having prior right because of age, Kinship and wealth to choose himself the place, And fattest of the land in which to dwell Man Redeemed. 227 And feed vast multitudes of flocks and herds Which had accumulated upon his hands, He generously suffered Lot to choose While from a mountain peak, exceeding high, Together they viewed and discussed the whole Of Palestine. The valley lying low, Guarded by mountains, through which Jordan flows And renders rich and fragrant all the plane, Lot coveted for its wealth, and remarked Upon its being rich and beautiful As Eden in its wealth of luxury Original. Hence there he went with all His flocks, dependents, families and wealth, And dwelt with wicked Sodomites, a prince Himself, and so esteemed throughout the plane. But Abraham was still content to dwell In tents at Hebron, 'mong the sterile hills, For prayer and meditation, hid almost From the world's view in close obscurity, And loved his quiet peaceful home above Beersheba or all of Palestine. Thus Lot was snared and suffered poverty 228 Man Redeemed. And final overthrow in punishment For covetousness, while Abraham grew Stronger, increased in wealth and in esteem Of all the land in which he dwelt a prince. A prophecy the church has never learned, And warning ever since unheeded, are Here taught — unwelcome truth, but salutary. The church too often, like Lot, has coveted The world, its wealth and luxury ; has grown Carnal in consequence ; is tottering Upon the brink of ruin, then near its fall. Unlike the Master when by Satan tempted And offered all the kingdoms of the world, Their wealth and glory, if He'd homage pay To him, the prince and power of earth and air. In England when the church was founded, cities And valleys rich were chosen ; while the men Of prayer, the Culdees, retirement sought, Content with poverty, and preached the truth With power and grace, and laid foundations strong For all the future of the church of God, — Man Redeemed. 229 Safe while depending on Heaven's grace, divine, And humbly laboring for the poor and lone, And for the rich who've poverty of spirit, Who're seeking God in deep humility. But modern times have sadly lapsed, look awry, And tread with delicate feet the old paths. There are within the church, 'tis said a few, Divines who scheme and lust for wealth and power, Applause and glitter of the world ; and seek, Unseemly oftentimes, the fattest fields Which seemingly offer to gratify Unholy greed — ambition in the church ! Their Master, owning all the spacious world, Scarce room He found or sought to lay His head ! And O ! shall sinful man, bought by His blood, On pleasure, self and greatness be intent ? Such patronizingly esteem the less Favored — but call them, brethren, — tolerate Their presence, oftentimes with seeming grace — But courtly restiveness pronouncing them The while intruders in their precious realms ; 230 Man Redeemed. Concerned for little in the church — except 'Twill minister to their luxuriant fields ; Caring for few — except the prominent ! Their Master's mission was to address the poor. Alas ! that wealth and pleasure, speaking fair, Should steal the heart from grace and love away ! So did the Jewish priests Barabbas choose Instead of Christ the meek, poor Nazarene ! Not to the world and flesh quite dead enough, Nor hid enough in spirit life with God ! Prosperity and wealth than poverty And grief and pain 'tis harder much to bear. We'll pity more than blame where fault is found ! But teachers, prominent in schools, tell us : — * The ministry is overstocked, such as The clergy are ! True doubtless, boldly said, And honest if they themselves photograph ! * " Just now I am convinced," says one, " we are making too many doc- tors, such as they are ; too many lawyers, such as they are ; too many min- isters, such as they are." We judge from some articles which we have seen lately that some persons would be ready to extend the catalogue, and say " too many professors, such as they are ; too many theological schools, such as they are." Man Redeemed. 231 Will they forgive if one who's meek and poor And insignificant insinuates, — The prominent may be the effervescence, And likely are, because the most exposed To tendencies defacing purity. The violets, though modest, yet have worth And beauty, fragrance — more esteemed and sought Than sunflowers which stand stiffly eminent* Pastors who're shepherds of the flock, and such In truth, and not accrediting themselves * " There is no class of men for whom I have so much respect and affec- tion as for average ministers of the Gospel," says Dr. Babb. " They are not sustained in their labors by popular applause and newspaper puffs, but by the love of Christ and the souls of men. They are patient, persevering, self-denying. They endure as seeing Him who is invisible. They lay the foundations for others to build upon. They do not estimate themselves at so many thousands a year, but are willing to work even though poorly paid and riot highly esteemed of men, knowing that their reward is in Heaven. It is these average ministers who have extended the Church over this broad continent and established missionary stations around the world. Let us honor them as God does. Let us not provoke Him to anger by treating them with indifference or contempt. And if we ourselves are but average ministers in the estimation of the world, let us rejoice that God has counted us worthy ; for to be His ambassador in some frontier settlement is nobler than to wear the crown of an emperor." 232 Man Redeemed. The wiser leaders of their silly sheep ; Pastors who supervise the church of God, — Not Sabbath clubs, composed of fash'nables, Ignoring law and all authority, Divine or human — license rampant in God's house ; but pastors of the Master taught Will shun, not seek, resorts of fashion, wealth And pleasure, watering-places lewd with games, Horse-racing, frolics which allure the world : In virtues such not erudite and learned — Defective education here will never Virtue's fair face in light of day make blusji. There are who'll censure eloquently priests Of Rome for hawking, fox-hunts and the like In feudal times, long since, and deem them base Because they catered to the sports of nobles, — Compared, the modern more effeminate, In which with zest and pleasure they'll engage, Or else by mingling with the multitudes Without protest give countenance thereto, And in extenuation of their guilt Claim need of rest — vacation ! is the term. Man Redeemed. 233 From active duties of the ministry — Vacate themselves the while of Spirit Power ! The rest, forsooth, which fashionables enjoy Is mockery to common sense, and more Than mockery to need of rest alleged, And to intelligence, of which the world's Not quite bereft, but specious terms their true Meaning, intent and force discerns, though silent. 'Twas. doubtless pleasant with the Sodomites Upon the banks of Jordan beautiful, And dull and dreary 'mong the sterile hills Of Hebron, yet the safer place for men Of prayer to gather strength and rest the brain, Without intoxicants which enervate Body and mind, and quench all unction in The heart. Our churches languish — reason why ! Let many seek the cause within themselves. Indeed not long nor far we'll need to search ! The world perceives — is silent, or assents With pleasure ill concealed, and winks and leers If clergy do but dance the dance of death ! Some people will indulge the damaging 234 Man Redeemed. Conceit, that ministers may make mistakes, That clergymen may wrong themselves, their cause Betray, or indirectly shame their trust ! Divines who're eloquent to crimson pews, If like their Master, angel eloquence Would reach, enjoy a wholesome rest, gain much In spirit power and vigor physical By searching mountain glens and barren haunts To help the poor and lone and sorrowing — Who're perishing for lack of food, the bread Of life ; and churches found for prayer and praise — Where hitherto the air but voiced a curse ■ Or wail ; and bless eternally the homes Which ne'er before have seen the light of Heaven ! 'Tis loss to places needing help and home And clergymen themselves, to delegate The work to brethren, poor in speech and purse — ■ But well would serve the churches founded by The strong, while being nurtured into strength By noble pastors of more wealthy fields. Pastors too delicate and nice to serve The Master thus, to touch with hands ungloved Man Redeemed. 235 The hardy poor — prefer a foreign tour, Or dandling luxury upon the lap Of wealth and fashion, ease and elegance, — Are too remiss and lewd to serve at all ! The pastors who subdue the hearts of others Must o'er themselves gain noble victory. Torpidity nor cowardice e'er helps But enervates, especially in Zion Which ought to know the truth and rectify A wrong, and crushes hope in human hearts. Alas ! that aristocracy should yawn And snore, or ever dominate in Zion, Greatly imperilling her high intent To feed the hungry, cheer the faint and help The poor against a world's enslaving power ! Jesus ! Thy blessed feet did hallow hill And dale, and stony paths — all earth too Thine ; Were swift to run in quest of need, and didst Disdain to tread the halls of kingly courts ! To poor outcasts, to wretched souls — despised Of men, how amiable Thou wert, to cheer And help and lift them from their fallen state ! — 2 t,6 Man Redeemed. Didst feed the hungry with miraculous Food, bread from heaven ; and heal the sick, and soothe The sorrowing, and raise the dead to life ! Disciples' feet by Thee were washed, though Lord Of all the earth, to teach humility. If self-abased we'll never fear a fall ! O ! that like-minded we might be, to bless Our race, not envy man's estate, but crown Our life and death with blessings of the poor ! Then we'd upon the holy mountain feed, Where Christ and His, in loving converse are, Around eternal fountains and the streams - Of Paradise, transfigured each, and shine As Jesus shone on Tabor's heights, sublime ! He wept o'er Salem's gross impiety And consequent fall drawing near — the groans And tears and blood and total overthrow Which He foresaw ; and at the grave with friends In sympathy ! O lovely Jesus, grant Our spirit grace and beauty such as Thine, — To serve our race as Thou hast done — from love — As though no crown awaits our journey's end ! Man Redeemed. 237 Thus service in its light and shade appears. Let each discern that lives are most o'ercast Which glitter seemingly — in borrowed light ! The day grows brighter upon each era's dawn. The fourth begins with Moses, signally Prepared by Providence for his great work, And ends with Saul made king, which terminated The theocratic government that God Ordained and regulated for man's best Interests. Ne'er had there been prosperity And safety better guaranteed since man Had lost his purity. God's personal Presence in might and love assured the good Of every blessing human nature needs. In Israel's long captivity in Egypt The patriarchal prophecy seemed null And void : The sceptre ne'er from Judah shall Depart, nor a lawgiver from between His feet, till Shiloh come. But Spirit Power Reigned in the fiery furnace which tried Israel, His chosen seed, the church upon the earth, ~o< Man Redeemed. As in the burning bush which Moses saw, Near Horeb unconsumed, or even singed. The present era partially fulfils The prophecy : for Moses qualified And trained of Providence with marvellous Care in the valley of the Nile, excelled In learning by none other ancient land, And in the Midian desert undistracted By aught without with Jethro for his priest, Became lawgiver to the church and world. Also himself a prophet and a type Became of Shiloh, the Messiah, yet To come ; and gave the church and was himself The promise of deliverance from sin, Which more enslaves than Egypt's despotism. The beauteous redemptive day drew nigh When Moses, lovely babe, was claimed a prince By one of Pharaoh's line of princesses. Raised delicately, loved for personal Beauty, admired by all he grew to man's Estate with courtly manners, and possessed Of all the learning Egypt had, — but chose Man Redeemed. 239 To suffer with the people whom God loved, Rather than for a season to enjoy The pleasures sin affords its votaries. Wise, nevertheless a marvellous choice For one with cultured gifts, pre-eminent, And nigh the throne : aside from power divine To prompt and guide and lovingly impel The choice, he ne'er could have released himself From sin's maelstrom, engulfing multitudes ! God's presence personal, His agency Immediate or mediate in all Pertaining to His people, is the one Great leading truth that underlies this era. Hence came disaster, and the era waned Into the shades of night and gloom intense When Israel lusted for a king like other Nations ; despised their birthright like Esau, Who ne'er recovered it, though sought for long And diligently with tears ; lost the favor Of heaven, and were given a king in Saul To satisfy and judge unholy lust And their contemning heaven's gracious reign. 240 Man Redeemed. That they should recognize the agency Of heaven, from bondage their release was wrought By power alone divine ; their passage through The Red Sea on dry ground miraculous ; A cloud their guide and shield from heat by day ; A fiery pillar, luminous with heaven's Splendor, to light them during tedious nights And ever reassure a drooping faith. The presence personal of God addressed Their sight and hearing, — since their time no less True than then, but addressing now our faith And intellect : the presence then discerned In clouds and fire and smoke, — in Sinai's mount Which thundered words of terror in their ears, — In Spirit Power which brake the flinty rock And gave them drink, and gave them angels' food : A presence all the same in modern times, But differently revealed in consciences And hearts of men, in love, the Holy Ghost The agent, working upon and in man's spirit. 'Twas often then in wrath that God appeared, The age of law given and enforced that kills, Man Redeemed. 241 Condemns the sinner ; now the age of love, Law having been enforced upon the Cross ! How little understood, e'en in the church Alas ! is God, divine and infinite. Through spirit finite beauty is discerned In earth and taste in food and smell in flowers And brilliancy in stars and beauty known, Enjoyed and loved in nature everywhere. Without it all is dead to the universe, And nothing is discerned or happiness Affords, — for matter is inert and gross. The blush upon the maiden's cheek, the glance Given by the eye, the smile that sweetly comes And goes, the words which fall from honeyed tongues Are solely spirit giving through the flesh Expression of itself. The instrument Of the soul, or spirit finite is the body. But oh ! the difference between created Spirits, — a chasm nearly infinite Dividing each from others near akin. Gorillas in the wilds of Africa 242 Man Redeemed. Have throats and tongues and voice, but only whine And howl ; a scavenger too has the same, But speaks a jargon kindred to his work : Beside them place a Jenny Lind, with organs Of speech no different, but having great Themes struggling in her soul and moved to find Expression, she begins a melody, So ravishing in sweetness, multitudes Hearken enraptured — worship and applaud ! The universe is less to God than body To soul — He infinite, the soul finite. He actuates as certainly each part As soul the body while it dwells therein. Hence darkness is His frown and light His smile, The tempests sweeping earth and sea His rod, And gentle winds that softly fan the cheek His loving touch, the hand to cheer and bless. Old Paganism discerned the Deity In everything, in nature everywhere Traced agency divine, and peopled earth And sea, the mountains, plains and groves with gods- Religiously wiser and more devout Man Redeemed. 243 Than we, though they erred scientifically. 'Tis shame upon philosophy to give The less and needlessly withhold the greater. God is within development of all And everything, and also is above To guide in whole or part the universe — Ubiquitous, supreme and infinite ! Each aspect of the myriad forms of nature, His nature holy and divine reveals And gives His own expression to pure spirit. O ! multiform and marvellous beyond The thought of man or angel, e'en in earth Endless variety in everything, — In each we see the face of Deity, — And all express the mind and thought of God ! Now we're content with gaudy toys, — but soon Earth seemingly will slide beneath our feet And vanish, leaving us in ether space Alone in full view of the spirit worlds ! Then all the little thoughts and cares of life, Our gold or honor, station or estate 244 Man Redeemed. Will seem as trivial as dust beneath Our feet, — and longingly we'll yearn and cry For thoughts befitting immortality, — And seek to know the dwelling place of God, And realize His near and loving hand To guide us through the vale and shades of night ! Alone in light divine we see the light. Alone to drink from fountains pure, which flow From spirit source, will satisfy the soul. Apart from God, created spirit droops And mourns, and shorn of all its beauty roams And writhes in agonies of conscious guilt, : — A star aflame beyond the realms of bliss, The sport of chance, beyond the sweet restraints Of moral law, — upon which to look e'en pales The face of heaven's light and casts a gloom Like death within the realms elysium ! Unspeakable the. advantage, and renowned Moses became, when always he discoursed Upon God's presence personal : within The veil Shekinah's glory manifest Man Redeemed. 245 Was seen : upon Sinai His lightnings fierce ; Thence too the thunders of His voice were heard In words distinct and clear, which terrified The multitudes. Then Moses stood to them In place of God, because the people feared To hear the voice which thundered from the mount. No clergyman his office properly Administers who fails in this respect. Alas ! how many fail and preach a jargon, Pronounce their sibboleths, and ventilate A little science, less theology, And strive to please the ear and tickle fancy Into profane uproarious applause, Or stifling flattery, effeminate. 'Tis called professional, a science, art, — And such it really is — an art to slay The soul with opiates, when wickedly Deflected from its true, divine intent ! O God ! remove the cloud obscuring earth And sea, that servants filling sacred desks, May look beyond and far into the heights, — 246 Man Redeemed. Discern Thy glory and Thy wrath and power, And realize the great and good intent Of their commission to a sacred work ! O ! give them vision of the Cross, suffused With Blood, and melt their hearts, and fire their tongues To preach of Christ and Precious Blood alone ! O Precious Blood ! whose price can purchase worlds From wrath and sin, whose stream can cleanse the soul, Can Heaven restore to blighted, darkened earth, Can bring the highest bliss from ether realms, — Subdue the ministers of evil, quench The fires of Hell, and conscience stings restrain, — O Heavens ! in mercy pour its flood, as rain Copious, upon our parched and barren souls, — That life may quick return, and graces grow, Flourish and render beautiful our lives ! In front of Pilate's hall beneath a crown Of thorns, the fountain issues — crimson tides To shame, confuse, appal the guilty earth ; On Calvary the Fount becomes an Ocean Without a shore — which throbs the love of Heaven ! Man Redeemed. 247 Thus service in the church in sombre shades And dark and lowering clouds, or light appears ! The desert training Moses had, was deemed Of Heaven as necessary as the course Afforded him in Egypt's schools renowned. The culture of the ministry with care And diligence, the human element, In modern times is liable to quench And supersede the higher spiritual, Through institutions set apart, endowed Richly, establishments where danger lies To foster clergy aristocracy : Called schools of prophets, artlessly esteemed Such in good faith, — whence 'tis thought incense sweet Ascends hourly, propitiating Heaven, Like that behind the veil upon the altar Holy within the sacred tent — the prayers Of saints, which render venerable and holy The very ground where stand the monuments Munificence and piety have built. Such ought to be a fact pre-eminent ! 248 Man Redeemed. Lo, Bethels ! but endowed and rich — ambitious And proud, they're corporations corpulent ; In danger imminent to pedagogue The weak to worship them in servitude Abject ; and then, alas ! they'll God dethrone Where scientifically He's ably taught : Then spirit power, apostatised, becomes Parent prolific of gross ills, which quench Humility, the lamp of holiness — Her light obscured where most it needs to glow ; — And Heaven becomes o'ercast, and clouds draw near, With lurid flames and thunder peals surcharged ! Titles for patronage, most plethoric Are in the church and schools and agencies, And foster aristocracy and caste Where most humility ought to prevail And crown a sacred ministry, adorned And honored most by love to God and man, — Where parity is claimed, but least exists ! If Christ, our Lord, were titled Doctor, Pope Or Cardinal, 'twould seem and be profane ! The Shepherd of the sheep, our Saviour meek, Man Redeemed. 249 The Pastor of the flock, is title quite Enough for Him, and ought to satisfy His servants too, who're called of Him to serve. Had apostolic times addressed the four Illustrious Divines, as, Doctor Paul Or Peter, James or John, our ears would stand Askew — we'd judge their hearing quite impaired. Now schools inflict, and modest names are made To glow like comets by the tail they sweep Athwart the heavens, — and long as they are light, Or rarified proportioned to their length, — And too like consternation may create, As comets do, of some disaster near ! There is a spirit power in Agencies, In seminaries, boards and colleges, In churches, neighborhoods and families — 'Tis recognized by whate'er dominates ; Controlling, giving gait and character, — As spirit dominates in man and gives Complexion to whate'er he is and does- Renders him angel-like in beauty, grace And mien ; or ugly, vile, repulsive like 250 Man Redeemed. The fiends in nethermost abyss of hell ! As man both thought and character impresses Upon whate'er and all he has to do, — So God or angels, good or bad, the soul May rule. Hence Scriptures teach that man should pray, And alway strive to have the Holy Ghost His Helper — only safe and blessed then ! When He the soul controls, His lineaments — Most tender, loving, beautiful, are* seen In us in acts and words and character — Heaven stooping to the earth, and man to God Conformed in image, beauty and in thought, As seal to wax impressed by hand divine. Though Spirit Infinite all space pervades, Each atom and the universe entire, Yet spirit finite independent acts At times, responsible, for thus it may, Though living in a spirit atmosphere Encircling all, — and it in Person God, — Ye.t He, Supreme, in love may not control Direct or indirect, for reasons best Man Redeemed. 251 Known to Himself, which finite mind in Heaven May understand and fathom, but not here. - And ne'er against our will does He constrain. Alas ! we're often left to act alone, To plume our wings and soar abroad without The Parent's help, and ne'er from danger then Are free. In sinning we're unhelped of God, Act wantonly and may destroy the soul ! If happiness our life adorns, our soul Must exercise itself in things most pure, — Must bask in heaven's atmosphere, where love Supremely reigns without corroding wraths, — Be strong and valiant for the truth and God : And on the other hand must shun whate'er Corrupts, degrades or renders gross the soul. In either case 'tis spirit power enlarged, Matured by what it feeds upon, for good Or evil, for this and the future life. The world is what the spirit in it is ! Where'er an evil tendency exists, 'Tis more than martial glory won in arms To fearlessly forewarn, denounce in love 252 Man Redeemed. That's true, — which has an air and grace angelic, - Which neither begs nor fawns, palav'ring sweet With words effeminate in elegance — Base sycophancy ; genuflected — slave To power and tinsel popularity ! 'Tis true that many in the chairs of schools For sacred learning are heaven's noblemen, And so are very many whom they teach. For such in quiet parishes to teach And learn, and fast and pray, — or Christian life, Humility and Spirit Power divine In light and grace cause to pervade, control And saturate, and thoroughly, with glow Of love the sacred schools, this paramount To precious lore there taught, would educate A ministry to revolutionize The times and bring millennial glory near ; And make the tongue aflame with eloquence, Because of love intense for God and man, — With ne'er a thought of introducing self For honor, praise or gratulation vain ; And kindle in their place a heavenly light ! Man Redeemed. 25, Jesus ! who left His throne, earth's Teacher great, In solitudes His heavenly thoughts conveyed To His disciples, chosen from the poor, And hallowed every place, where sorrow's wail Invoked the gracious help divine of Heaven. He taught and loved as man has never done, And left a legacy for future times Of wisdom, grace and power to save the earth From sin's sad blight, and disenthrall her sons From Satan's power and give them realms of bliss ! Dear Lord ! how sweet it were to sit beneath Thy feet and have Thy ruby lips distil The dew of heavenly wisdom in our soul Enraptured, whether on the mountain peak, In vales, upon the sea, or by the way ; How great the privilege vouchsafed to man To journey at Thy side, endure the ills Of poverty as though possessed of worlds ; To rest in hovels poor, or palaces, Alike content with Thee in every place ; To see no good except with Thee, dear Lord ! To gather treasures of the heavenly realms 254 Man Redeemed. Of Thee, oh Saviour ! every place alike Is Heaven, — Thy presence renders nothing hard, Nay ! renders sweet what otherwise is ill ! A mission holy sanctifies a place ; No place can sanctify a worldly heart. Where'er the blessed feet of Jesus trod, Where'er He taught beneath the canopy Of heaven, where'er He prayed in midnight hours, Or rested by the way, 'twas holy ground. The chairs of doctorates in synagogues, And rich preferments in Jerusalem's Great Temple, honors which the world bestows, And multitudes with eyes distended wide And open mouth pursue, He justly scorned. His followers alike can bless the world, And sanctify the place their feet abide, However poor, howe'er distressed or lone, And soon convert the world to Him, shed light In every heart, if they'll His lesson heed — In love with Him — His smiling radiance, The beauty of their Lord, their highest joy — His presence bliss — His service their delight, — To serve as He has served our blighted earth ! Man Redeemed. 255 Moses, a man of God illustrious, And mighty both in words and deeds, drew nearer To things invisible to human sense And spirit world, than any man before Or since his time. God's love his pious wish Indulged while hid within a rocky cleft, Displaying to him His similitude, Restraining him the while from drawing near. To see His face we'd die of love for God ; To see His glory there, would kindle flames Within our breast which nature could not bear, Insufferable, so bright and beautiful ! Hence are His features veiled from mortal sight, — And Moses e'en was lovingly restrained From looking in the face of Deity ! Though almost idolized, because so noble, Erect in body, beautiful in soul, Yet mortal, having flesh and bone, the time Drew near that he must die, e'en while his strength And force were unabated, and his sight Undimmed. He died in Moab and was buried There by the Lord Himself, who carefully 256 Man Redeemed. Concealed his sepulchre from mourning Israel, And gave archangel Michael charge thereof, As cherubim guarded the gates of Eden To prevent a worse evil than the fall. 'Twas doubtless merciful, and heaven's intent To save all Israel from idolatry, The worshipping the dead or relics — called Sacred and venerated by the Church Of Rome, as Israel doubtless would have done. But Satan claimed the right of tempting Israel, As he'd before tried Job by grant of heaven. Too often had His people Israel fallen For God to trust them thus in Satan's hands. Upon one occasion Joshua, the high Priest, side by side with the angel of the Lord Stood, and lo ! there was Satan to resist, — Whom sternly then at once the Lord rebuked. Iniquity is bold, and Satan none The less ! Now Michael strong and pure pre- vails Against the arrogant and subtle Tempter. But Michael railed nor cursed, but mildly said, Man Redeemed. 257 The Lord rebuke thee, Satan. For pure spirits To maledict would compromise themselves. Michael did not refrain from using harsh Words because impotent, or from a fear Of law divine, but patience marvellous And moderation characterized him In that most notable, but not the only Contest with the archfiend : example for all And each of patience even with the bad. For heaven even with the obdurate And flagrantly corrupt is loving, mild And tender, always using gentle speech And moving words of sympathy and love, — Except for hypocrites within the church, The whited sepulchres of mere pretence To piety and love for God and heaven. Language fails to express for such heaven's scorn ! To maledict the hopelessly corrupt, Without intent or possibility Of doing good to them or others, betrays A spirit like the maledicted angels. If lost, 'tis fitting that we pity them, 258 Man Redeemed. In heart feel sorrow and inwardly weep, E'en as o'er Jerusalem Jesus wept ! Michael with Satan fought to render heaven Pure, and expelled him from the sacred place : No contest otherwise in church or heaven. The stream which most adorns to bless the world, Is never dry like cisterns made by man, Is always at its fountain head most pure, Nor fearing in its source the summer droughts Is God's beloved church, the greatest gift Which heaven bestows upon the world and angels. More than in aught else earth possesses, heaven's Beatitudes and glory reappear In her — its source and Head forever sweet And fragrant, sparkling pure and lovable. However pure the source, the stream by man, In acts overt or by neglect of duty Which God enjoins, may foul become, impure To some extent, which carefully the saints, Redeemed by blood Divine, and ministers, Appointed watchmen in the church, should guard Man Redeemed. 259 With jealous care and great solicitude, — And smile at laurels, gaudy, puerile toys Which lure the vain, the wise degrade to fools, — And only long for service worthy high Ambition, to exalt the lowly, help The poor and raise the race to eminence. Always the church has more to do with evils And sins and tendencies thereto, within Than those without. To rail, as many do, — Making it a pastime professional — A service cheap and easily performed, Against the infidel, the flagrantly Wicked, the sceptic, Satan and his angels Is shooting at too long a range, and wastes Missiles, the enemy not usually Just then within their sight. They'd doubtless flee In case he were. But it's the popular Preaching, and safe for any seeking help And commendation, patronal regard — Whose fingers always feel the people's pulse. Thus none are hurt, and evils in the church Are winked at, and remain untouched and grow 260 Man Redeemed. Apace — whose pastors, false to sacred trust, Are dormant, feasting while their churches die ! — And doubtless popular, of whom all men Speak well, — but possibly too in accord With flesh and world, against whom Christ pronounced Solemnly woes, — for thus the prophets false, Said He, were in regard. For Satan ne'er Molests the faithless, fearful, politic Divines, who covet more the praise of men, Whom daily they commingle with and know, Than fear the frown of heaven which they fail To see. The clergy have to do with sin.' Enough they'll find within the church and heart At hand — if not too fearful to institute A search. To render pure the church redeems The world, saves sinners, preaches gospel truth In every land, — gives joy where sorrow reigns ! Let men not fear to own the truth, — the fount, The human heart is foul, and none's exempt. All liable to err should watch themselves ! We've God alone the Fount of purity For all that is, which live and move and think. Man Redeemed. 261 The streams the feet of sinning men and angels Have rendered foul, — but all the while the Fount Is pure and sweet, and sparkles ever bright ! The last conflict will doubtless be with demons In hearts professing zeal for God, deceived Deceivers 'mong the saints, malignant foes Of righteous men and enemies of truth, Unholy men within the church — as Satan With Michael when he strove for Moses' body — Not infidelity and all without. The world to harm the church is powerless While Zion's sons are true and pure themselves. And victory will ever crown the church, Never uncertain, when in faith and prayer She fights the sins that are within Herself, — And trusts to God for victory o'er the world And every form of unbelief without. Alas ! that faith should not enlarge and glow E'en here, by knowing, fearing, loving Thee, O God ! w T ho art revealed so lovingly And bright to earth and heaven, to man and angel ! With naked eye we never see, but souls 262 Man Redeemed. Discern in Thee, O God, an Ocean, o'er Its lucid bosom e'er a calm, with ne'er A ripple, ne'er divided into streams, In essence One, in glory One and power The same— yet never Father, Son, and Spirit Holy have seemed eternally but One Since worlds and spirits into Being came ! What countless lustres gleam and radiate And glow in varied shades eternally Therefrom, the heavens ne'er fully will reveal ! The Father reigns and dwells alone, in Him The self-existent Son forever lives, From Them the Holy Ghost, a Person each, In deepest depths of love forever reign ! The Spirit Dove abides where Christ is loved ! The like is unrevealed, surpassing thought ! No shadow e'er obscures that intercourse, That blissful life, that dreadful Trinity ! What power, finite, can cope with Infinite ? But wondrous love is Theirs, and wisdom just As bright, and mercy to the sons of earth. We think of Thee beyond our little space — Man Redeemed. 263 And present too ; we think of Thee above, Below, and near — and also hope, within ! Beneath Thy shade we lie ; the fleecy clouds O'erhead we watch — nor fear their wraths the while ! A soft and glowing light their borders fringe, And darkness is suffused with golden rays, Which symbolize our lives and sorrows here, — For God is light, whose beams illume our homes And hearts and shrines, e'en when the darkness hides Whate'er is bright and beautiful from view ! 'Mid showers of tears love ne'er more sweetly beams, Nor smiles more radiant glow, in trust and love. In thought of Thee, our littleness we feel, And tread with modesty earth's sacred paths, — But conscious of Thy love, without a fear Of Satan, man, or beast, or storms abroad ! The ills which from within beset our way Are harder far to bear and overcome Than like in others seen, or in the world. When self is overcome, subdued and rests In God, there's victory, a rout, triumph Where battle must begin, to issue well ! 264 Man Redeemed. Oh, God ! unveil Thy sweet face, Heaven illumed, That we may know and fear and love Thee more, And flee the sins which turn Thy face aside, Thy beauteous face, or hide Thee from our view ! Fidelity of spirit power appears In lovely light when self is first subdued, A harder task than fighting other men — And more distasteful to a nature fallen. But Moses, though his body died, did not As to his person sleep in the dark grave. - For person is not body which we see, — Invisible forever it remains Except so far as 'tis revealed by substance Material, of earth or ether pure. The person of the prophet had escaped The soul's casket dead, for which Satan strove. A body spiritual was doubtless given, Of heavenly origin, of flesh and blood Divested. And let us indulge the thought, That chariot and horses all ablaze Man Redeemed. 265 With fire of dazzling beauty, heavenly, Transported earth's chief prophet, loved of God, Triumphant, up-borne, swift as tongues of flame. The glowing wheels dashed o'er the firmament From star to star, in seeming scorn of space Which intervenes between the earth and Heaven. Angels upon the battlements of heaven Assembled, welcomed his approach with joy. The city, ere gained, opened wide its gates, To let the chariot triumphal enter. With gladness seraphim and cherubim Became escorts through heaven's streets to thrones Where Jesus welcomed him, amid heaven's shouts, And melody produced by angels' skill On instruments tuned to heaven's harmony. No previous era brighter dawned and shone In earthly splendor more than did the fifth ; Which engages now in brief space our thought. 'Tis monarchy, high eminent in earth, Enthroned, to see by grant of heaven what man Can physically do, by using earth's 266 Ma?i Redeemed. Best gifts, to render happiness and peace Supreme, to conquer all the reigning powers Of evil and afford security. That man's a failure history records ! This era dawned in David, and its bright Meridian attained in Solomon, And closed with monarchy enslaving Israel, Depository of the church of God. Repeated futile efforts monarchy Made to regain its place and power and throne, — Lost by arraying power against the church. Imperial Rome the last enslavement made And sadly closed this most eventful era ; She in turn broken, destroyed by Spirit Power : The same as Pharaoh's kingdom and his throne, And Babylon the great of lesser guilt. A solemn truth the past and present teaches, — That churches are destroyed whene'er in league With carnal powers in every overthrow, Like gold refined what's pure alone preserved ; Or when enslaved by them the powers themselves Soon cease, expire and come to bloody end !- — Man Redeemed. 267 But ne'er can be enslaved except untrue And base and faithless to her solemn trust ! Same truth again, appearing manifest, — Disaster comes and eras end, when God's Church lapses into sins which quench His Spirit. This only revolutionizes earth And man, and never fails in speedy change, And judgment great or light gauged by the sins. Hence earth gives signs of woe when churches fall — And well she may, for judgment is at hand, — E'en while the church is busily engaged And exercised about the sins in others And in the world, and everywhere except Within herself: as did self-righteous Jews, Who railed against, maligned and crucified The Lord Himself! To introspect would harm Entail upon none, but good alone convey ; But actual harm, or little good is done By most prospecting telescopically. In keeping with the common themes discoursed Upon sins keenly searched for in the world, 268 Man Redeemed. Or hell, or ancient times, to moderate Excuse or quiet pangs of conscious' guilt, — Not a few readily too often detect, With seeming pleasure, sins in others, make So fierce assaults upon them, you'd suppose They'd set themselves to guard the lives of States, Or that the world were all ablaze, — who least Of any class, e'en by mistake will act With common sense, intelligence, or wisely Discern their own, and introspect themselves ; Who more should fear the treachery of sin And wrong and ills within their bosom nursed, Than e'en malevolence in others' breasts ! Many are those who wish and work us ill, Like cruel wolves that howl afar for blood, — For sin abounds — but grace much more, in hearts Allied to God and saved through love Divine ! Jesus, the accusations priests alleged In envy and in hate, He meekly bore, And silent faced accusing multitudes. Oh, blessed Jesus ! Thou hast taught us how Best to endure and conquer spleen and wraths, Man Redeemed. 269 Or scandals vile, malicious, evil speech, Or accusations false, — by setting seals Upon our lips, where words but feed the flame, — By calm, angelic dignity — the mien Of Heaven — too high to stoop to men inflamed By demons, kindred spirits of their own, Who're harbored, and to whom a willing ear Is given seductive speech and harmful schemes ! O come, let us each stand beneath the Cross, And see ourself the guilty wretch who costs The patient Saviour, groans and tears and blood ! Oh, Jesus ! give us light which shines most clear From Calvary's Cross, illume our guilty selves, And break our hearts, and open founts of tears From seeing sins within, from learning more Of self, and hating sins that made Thee mourn And die upon the tree which man matured ! Then service in the church a light will shed The world will scarcely fail to recognize, — Discerning purity to emulate ! The church from shade to light will then arise And shine in beauty's Spirit Power, Divine ! 270 Man Redeemed. The shrub that yields the sweetest flower has thorns, The road that leads to eminence is rough, And dark the night that yields to clearest day, — So man is crucified to enter Heaven ! — But woe to them who perpetrate the crime ! Within the vales and quiet solitudes Of earth may pleasures reign, but glory comes In crowning radiance through suffering ! Since Israel asked a king, contemned the reign Of heaven, the Lord ordained that man should see The phases good and bad of monarchy, In all its varied aspects : — man enthroned Upon the earth to reign in Sovereignty ; And man enslaved by man in greed of power ; Man crueller than fiercest reptiles seen Ages ago in earth's dark history ; Whole nations slaughtered, streams with blood o'er- fiowed, Human gore steaming soils of every land, Corrupting air and bringing pestilence So rank and dire the beasts and birds escape ; Man Redeemed. 271 The groans of innocents, of maidens, babes And aged sires, and writhing agonies Rendered the themes for sportive glee, comment, Hilarity, and O ! discordance, — hell's Malignant mirth excelled and made to blush On earth by men — by kings enthroned in power! With David, faithful, true to pastorate The ewes with young and guard with vigilance The flocks committed to his care, this era Begins in seeming promise of most blessed Results. In Bethlehem secure, content And happy 'mong its hills to range, where born ; And in its plains to meditate and sing - Along its tranquil rills the livelong day — His life melodious with harp and song, Without a thought or care for luxury Aside from that enjoyed, which ministered Then to his soul, the highest known in gift Of heaven to man, — there Samuel, the great Prophet of Israel unannounced appeared At Jesse's feast and found the Shepherd boy ; 272 Man Redeemed. Discerned, through Spirit Power, the qualities In him of royalty, and there anointed David with holy oil the future king Of Israel ; that with skill, integrity And purity of heart the chosen people Of God might be fed by a pastor's hand. Samuel, unhelped by Spirit Power,- would not Have chosen the rustic, who before him stood Unsandled and unwashed, with naught about His loins except his shepherd frock, with staff And sling in hand, uncouth and innocent, ' Without a thought beyond his father's flocks : The beauty of his character, his power And worth, were by the seer yet undiscerned. A lesson here is given that all may learn. The modern church her pastors choose — a trust Freighted with good or ill in spirit life. Alas ! if lacking piety and grace, Committees, deacons, eiders magnify Their office and judge captiously the force, The depth, the orthodoxy and the logic Man Redeemed. 2j y Of candidates — weighed in their balances — Whether too they have wealth or titled sires ; And aged matrons over spectacles Look sharp, and eye their manner, tone and gait — Their office to detect and note each flaw, And learn if they're of children innocent ; While maidens gay, both young and old, discuss Their smiles, complexion, figure, and the cloth They wear, the set of their cravats, the kind Of perfumes used, and whether young and sweet !— If candidates for matrimony too — A mormon priest would scarcely fail a call, — - Then are of Spirit Power Divine such churches Bereft, unhelped of God and carnally Inclined, and look as Samuel did at first Upon Eliab, ere God announced His choice. But churches seeking Spirit Power and help Divine, in faith and prayer, which pastors choose Who're able to instruct, and wise to lead A flock in pastures green, along the stream Of life, and bring them safely to the fold Upon the plains of Eden, are blessed indeed ! 12* 274 Man Redeemed. The spirit power of churches alternates Between both good and evil, light and shade, Where light and good alone should sweetly reign — Sole atmosphere where reigns the Holy Ghost. Blessed indwelling Spirit, Comforter Divine, alas ! that any should restrain Thy power and glory which relieves the Curse, — To bear their pains and griefs without Thy help, Without Thy healing touch to soothe their ills, To calm their fears and dry their tearful eyes ! A blessed gift to Israel, — but for David, Sad, inauspicious was the day when taken From sheepcotes and his native hills and vales To occupy a throne and wield a sceptre. His solitary, happy, gleeful life And innocent peace bid adieu forever ! Great was his power to win the hearts of men, Developed in after years when called to rule : With ruddy face ; clear open countenance ; Comely, but goodly person ; with eyes bright And fair and mild, — but flames when passions kindled Man Redeemed. 275 In his breast through wrongs done himself or others ; Swift as a wild gazelle upon mountain crags ; With strength of arm to break a bow of steel ; Agility to leap a wall, as wild Deer scorn a hedge which intercepts their path ; And courage to assail a lion and bear, Moved by a bleating lamb within their jaws, Or giant from Philistia defying Israel, and slew the lion and bear, and bore Away the giant's head and sword in triumph, Qualities winning and admired by all. Though rival, Jonathan loved more the son Of Jesse than man does a lovely maid, Caring not though supplanted in the throne; The virgins too of Israel, songs of praise With harp and timbrel sang to him, the prince With every manly quality to win Or conquer every heart with ease and grace ; And Judah jealously, with love intense, Watched o'er the youngest son of Jesse, claiming Him their own darling prince, of their own tribe Born to high destiny, as they discerned, 276 Man Redeemed. And tremulously watched his steps, pursued Upon the mountains like a partridge wild, Through forests, wildernesses, and in caves By envious Saul, jealous of his power. Thus disciplined he rose superior To every foe, became imperial, A conqueror, whom none successfully Withstood, the Lion of Judah and of Israel. His prudence and sagacity in war And peace were ever manifest ; along With simple trust in God, childlike, devout Dependence on Divine and Spirit help. Seldom such qualities combine in one : But combined nothing surer than success. A sterling character and marvellous David was, combining opposite traits In harmony, — with passion, tenderness ; With fierceness, generosity enthroned In sweet munificence within his breast ; A soldier and statesman equally great ; His hands red with blood, yet a shepherd king, Whose wanderings and wars and sufferings Man Redeemed. 277 Better instruct our race than the after reign, Magnificent, of Solomon, the son ; Often betrayed he fell into gross sin, But just as quickly heaven's throne in tears He sought, and always fought for mastery O'er all that was impure in human hearts. He illustrates in truth the poverty Of poor, fallen human nature's best powers To overcome the tendency of all And each to sin, and its impotency To reinstate itself in holiness. Thus more than any man before his time He was a type and prophecy of Jesus Of Nazareth, and antedated Him One era, the ancestor of Messiah. And David was His likeness, portraiture As near as sinful human nature can Portray the Lord, Divine, a Sufferer ! Was prophet, priest and king, and shepherd dearly Beloved ; who left his native hills and home Upon the call of heaven, his peaceful life Abandoning, foregoing happiness, 278 Man Redeemed. To pastorate God's flock with jealous care. He raised a throne illustrious throughout The earth, a legacy of zeal and love To Solomon, his youngest son, who ate The fruits, enjoyed the luxury, his father David had purchased dearly with groans, tears And blood throughout his most eventful life. Hence Solomon's reign becomes typical Of what our Lord has purchased for the world, Redeemed and saved by tears and blood divine : But no more fully typifies this truth Than sinful David does the Lord of glory. The after glory follows the Messiah As Solomon was type ideally Of glory heaven will reveal to saints When each a daughter, decked in Heaven's jewels And crowned with diadems, will sit upon thrones In heaven's New Jerusalem, redeemed ! The House of God, the church in purity, Alone of earth is man's asylum tranquil, A refuge from the tempests, wrecks and deaths Man Redeemed. 279 In earth ! We drop our sandals at the door — The place is holy — reverently bow The head uncovered in the sacred shrine. Though not a burning mount with thunders fierce, But peaceful, still as conscience cleansed of guilt, Yet fervent reverence the worshippers Becomes, for holy is the Lord presiding, Above the heavens venerable, Majestic ! Earth trains, but perfects neither saint elect Nor church : hence neither finds a home on earth — But do in fields elysian in the heavens ! The seen and natural reveal to earth And man a spiritual house, unseen Save by the spirit power inhering in The soul, revealed as vast and glorious, A spiritual universe to come, Imperishable, — happiness without Alloy, advanced above the present state Beyond compare, to reign forever then, — Of which the present church is emblematic, Or like the husk enfolding grain with care Till ready for the harvest, reaped by angels. 280 Man Redeemed. The chief foundation-stone in Zion laid, Precious, elect is Christ the world's great King ; After whose image every stone is fashioned ; Whose virtue energizes and pervades The whole, by Spirit Power adorned for heaven. The reign of Solomon best typifies The church millennial, known through prophecy, When Zion's daughters will awake the harp And lyre to sing the glory of the Lamb With melody more marvellous than earth Has ever known ; when sons redeemed by blood And agony which Calvary reveal, Will reign as prophets, priests and kings in earth, Magnificent, excelling Solomon. Thus man with measured tread and steadily Is ever nearing blissful homes beyond The skies. Though pilgrim here and hard the road Each hour adorns and beautifies the soul For heavenly courts, not far removed, ecstatic. The darkness, sorrow, pain and deaths of earth In contrast render heaven sweeter far And beautiful beyond what angels know. Man Redeemed. 281 Born to the purple, Solomon was cradled In luxuries and had a peaceful reign. Of noble presence, he adorned a throne And held the sceptre gracefully, and reigned With fascination, idolized by nations. The fairest son of earth maternal, — face Ruddy, and locks dark mixed with golden threads, With eyes like dove's, and countenance as bright As Lebanon and excellent as cedars, The chief among ten thousand, perfectly And altogether lovely— cherished prince Adored and madly loved by tender queens ; Who won the daughters of Jerusalem And every heart throughout his royal realm. Above this beauty physical were charms Of spirit gifts and power so marvellous, The casket of the soul, the body's charms Were lost to view, eclipsed by brilliancy Of intellectual force ; of wisdom far Reaching, minute and accurate, and skilled To range the universe or humble realms Where plants and beasts teach men of Spirit Power ; 282 Man Redeemed. Of ready sympathies with sufferers — , A noble spirit quality in princes ; Of genial humor, playful, giving life And charm to every place his presence filled — Society with him a luxury Rarely vouchsafed to men in gloomy earth ! ■ Thus dawned the splendid reign of Solomon. The world as far as known contributed Its choicest treasures to Jerusalem Which then became a vast emporium For riches, — gold of Ophir so lavished, That servants in the court of Solomon Glittered therewith in coats of mail and shields, Their hair too powdered daily with its dust ; And silver like the stones that paved the streets ; Cedars from Lebanon like sycamore Trees in the vales ; and Tyrian purple lavished Upon princes of the imperial household. Truly the golden reign of Solomon In grandeur was colossal, ravishing, And great and rich in all earth's luxuries. His vessels navigated every sea, Man Redeemed. 283 Exacting contributions from all lands To render him earth's most glorious prince : Of Ophir gold, of Sheba precious stones, Spices and perfumes from Arabia, While India and Ceylon furnished trees And flow'ring plants, both beautiful and rare, And animals, and birds of plumage rich For parks and sylvan vales, which Solomon Planted and nursed for his luxurious Abandonment feo all the sweets of love With female beauties, glittering about His steps whichever way he turned, with grace And blandishments, each one displaying charms Possessed by each, and jealous of his smile. His palaces excelled whate'er in earth Had been effected by the hand of man Before or since his time : upon Lebanon, High eminent for prospect, cool retreat, And in Jerusalem with ivory And cedar, and adorned with silver, gold And gems, he built without regard to cost And lavishly his habitations, marvels 284 Man Redeemed. Of beauty, grandeur, elegance and taste. A Paradise to rival ancient Eden He planted too at Etham with rare trees And tropic fruits and flowers and fragrant herbs Of varied scent, and gathered there both male And female singers, rendering the air So redolent with sweets that heaven seemed To have resumed her reign once more in earth ! His glorious sovereignty was world renowned. Fair Queen of Sheba in the far-off south Moved by his fame for wisdom, love and wealth, Journeyed in state befitting queens, with trains Of camels bearing gold and spice and gems, To Palestine to see and hear the prince. The calendar contained no brighter day For Solomon than that when Sheba's Queen Arrived and was received in grand triumph By all Jerusalem and Palestine. She seated at his side upon his throne Of ivory and gold, arrayed before Her was the splendor of his court and state, His wealth and lavish prodigality Man Redeemed. 285 Upon his servants, messengers and maids — Each one a noble prince or princess seemed : And spake to her of nature animate, Inanimate, of life and character : Communed with her upon the universe, The world, their glories and their mysteries : And let us hope, upon redeeming grace. Seeing and hearing all the Queen's heart sank In admiration, and beneath the splendor, The wisdom and the beauty of the prince, Confessing that the half had not been told Her by her courtiers in her princely halls ; That servants at the feet of Solomon, Seeing his face, receiving from his lips Wisdom distilled like early morning dew, Were happier, more blessed, than reigning kings. How different the Son of God esteemed All earthly wisdom and this kingly pomp, Who in the after era judged it less And not to be compared in beauty, grace Or sweetness with the lily of the field, Modest and unpretending in its worth, 286 Man Redeemed. Hidden, but none the less to be esteemed — Indeed the more if shrinking from display. When Solomon began his reign he seemed Devout and zealous for the God of Israel ; And built a Temple seemingly a gift Of heaven to Jerusalem, — so grand And beautiful that mortal sense confused Was dumb and blind beneath its dazzling wealth. He prayed for wisdom, not for holiness Also ; alas ! that simply he might rule. Hence passion for the glory and renown Of earth absorbed his noble powers and quenched The better qualities which marked his youth, And doubtless grieved the Spirit Power, Supreme, Selfish became, conceited, arrogant And proud — terrible self idolatry ! The golden era then began to wane, And unresisting Solomon allowed His heathen wives to build and sacrifice In temples dedicated to their gods, And introduce in Israel heathen rites. Known evils once allowed ne'er of themselves Man Redeemed. 287 Die out, or loose their hold in earth or hell, But grow, accelerated and increased In power and virulence by length of years, Unless subdued by good and faithful men, Or if the church lack grace, by Spirit Power. The Moloch worship introduced became In after years an awful blight to Israel. Young men and helpless babes were sacrificed With maidens to the Cretan Monster, vile E'en as an image with bull's head and horns And body like the human ; Israelites E'en, prompted by their love of gain and fear Of reigning powers and kings — a potent force Working death in all times — engaged in rites Both cruel and atrocious, causing sons And daughters to deliver up themselves To death, to pass through fire, — and shed the blood Of innocents — were deaf to pleading babes, To piteous hands and cries in vain addressed To adamantine hearts, — who were parents once, — But now bereft of feeling rendered fiends ! 288 Man Redeemed. Depraved, none know themselves, the human heart, How foul and venomous it may become, How despicable, wicked, — an abyss Whose reigning passions, like a liquid fire, May burn and rage till every good impulse And noble sentiment of innocence And purity, so sweet in childhood days, Will be consumed and vanish like the mist, — For evil stronger — impotent for good, — An angel babyhood which ravishes A mother's heart because so passing sweet, Matured into Satanic lineaments ! None realize what crimes they'll cheerfully Perpetrate, lest restrained and helped of heaven ; What monsters they'll become, mature in guilt ; Make evil angels weep or skulk away . In solitudes, repenting of their work ! Upon a grander scale a church corrupt, Allied to flesh and world the following Era — apostates foul of hell let loose — Practised the most refined barbarities ; Man Redeemed. 289 And slaughtered hecatombs of human saints ; And plotted 'gainst a remnant pure in heart, Whose blood- beneath God's altar ever cries For judgment yet reserved for cruel men, Now chained in hell, reserved for awful fate ! And so may any church at any time Become corrupt, then cruel, e'en the church Called Protestant, if evils are allowed To grow, and ministers fear to rebuke, Or study ease and popularity. — And churches estimate their .worth thereby, Inquiring not as to fidelity ! Earth is a battle-field where right will win, Though saints lose heart when God Himself seems hid, When enemies abound, when victory Seems theirs, when vile and godless men bear rule. That God's beyond the reason's height, beyond Our thoughts and fears, too often we forget. But faith in God ne'er loses heart, nor hope Nor courage,— e'en in darkest hours will strike For victory, the issue leave to God, And dare to side with what is pure or right, — 13 290 Man Redeemed. Which scorns the praise of men, the world, its wealt. And luxury, if Jesus leads the way ! Hence back into the field of strife we'll go, — With God, for God, to bravely do our part, Nor falter in the ranks, where saints may fall — They lose but earth and win a royal crown ! For this is God's command to every saint. A calm obedience is sweeter far, And loyalty more dear than sacrifice : For sacrifice may measured be, but love Is measureless and hungers more when fed, And feeding, more enjoys the heavenly feast. When evils reign and wrathful men afflict, Oh ! hear the music voice that ne'er deceives, And see the tender eyes all moist with love — A beacon light upon a stormy sea To guide us safely home to Heaven and bliss. 'Tis Jesus, tender Shepherd, hunting lost And silly ones, who've scattered from the fold Because of wolves which render hideous The night with howls — and feared though they're afar ! Man Redeemed. 291 The world is bright and fair and beautiful, The woods, the flowers, the bubbling rivulets, — But man is treacherous and cruel, false And vile, and renders dangerous our way, Entangles us in snares, afflicts and gloats O'er miseries produced by hellish arts ! Ah ! then a voice from Heaven, as zephyrs soft, Enchants our ears, fresh courage gives, a light Imparts like pearly morning's struggling rays Which dawns upon eternal, heavenly day ! Our tears are dried, our fears give place to hope, Our lamentations, cries and wails to smiles ! Now light grows brighter, flashing from the Throne, And fears of hell, and minions coursing earth And sea therefrom, take flight like shades of night Before the flaming coursers of the Sun ! Divinely sweet and glad, the heart then rests In God and God in it, nor fears nor sees, Oblivious, the wraths of earth or hell ! Thus spirit power in cruel persecutions Is seen, and dark, or lurid red with blood, — In moans of agony outdoing earth's 292 . Man Redeemed. Liquid fires or the Ocean's fiercest storms : In contrast light appears in power where faith Abides and lovingly reclines in God ! Not solely Moloch's cruel rites of worship Did Solomon permit and foist upon Israel : For also then commenced the worship lewd And shameful, too abhorrent for detail, Of Ashtareth, the Hieropolis Goddess of Syria — most popular,— For human nature fallen loves whate'er In church or world is most intensely human, Though shocking low, lewd, debased and foul. Legend tells us the goddess Ashtareth For ten years in Tyre lived a prostitute. Hence maidens beautiful and young in years, And women to her in unchastity Consecrated themselves as acts of worship, In temples too and built to her for lust, Religion, so called, used to cloak their crimes. Such were the rites and others sacred called — Rendered to devils, which great Solomon Man Redeemed. 293 Allowed his wives from foreign lands to graft Upon Israel's worship pure, ordained of heaven. A dreadful warning, loud and easily learned, Against whate'er corrupts to be allowed, Though seemingly a trifle, in the church. 'Tis here that Satan and his sons begin Attack and quench the light in human hearts. Thus great was Solomon's fall from the heights Of glory, ne'er attained by sinful man Before, into idolatry and depths Of sin involving nations in his guilt ! And thus he proved, as David had before, Humanity and sinful frailty. 'Tis right the church should rule in earth by love, Rebuke with tenderness, a haughty throne Assail, defend the poor and suffering, — As David seized a lamb from cruel jaws. For thus her moral light illumes the heart, And glorious her reign, excelling kings, Whose splendor pales, is insignificant Compared with hers which sheds a mellow light. 294 Man Redeemed. If true to missionate our fallen race And cheer with light the hovels of the poor — Which never fails in rich returns for labor, We'll then upon her face prismatic hues Of holy light discern, and she'll fulfil Her office, first in order : — ne'er to render Herself a thing to be despised by man. Apostatized she is apostemate ! If arrogant, inflated, self-content The curtain falls, and gloom and night hang o'er Her future, totally her lineaments, So fair in light, concealing from the world: Tis then dense shades assume the place of light ! As man was made by special act of heaven, By Spirit Power, the sixth creative day, So Christ assumed our flesh and bone the sixth Era of the redemptive period, Which now we've reached in progress of the theme. At evening's hour, God said, Let there be light, As in the eras past when each began ! Developments and then decadences Man Redeemed. 295 Are seen in eras of the period As in creative days. If each were called A day, no damage done. Our era ends When churches fall, when Satan rules in hearts Professing love to God and in the church, As in each era of the past as seen, Like Israel lapsed into idolatry. Our era with the Saviour of our race Began, who layed aside His robes of glory, For so decreed, and took upon Himself The form of man to suffer in his stead. In plants and flowers and all material things The sun's light is reflected, else our eyes Would fail their office in the dazzling rays : So in the Son, God's image glorious, The true Jedid-jah, well beloved of God, Of melting, overpow'ring lustre shines. Indeed an ocean of light floods all space, And beauty new, reflected from the throne Of God, when thus is lifted the dark veil From Spirit Power, majestic, filling earth And heaven and the universe entire ! 296 Man Redeemed. In Bethlehem, incarnate Deity- Was born a babe divinely sweet and fair, — Whose name is precious, and refreshing more The soul in every age than aught of earth. The Saviour's advent God's eternal love Displayed, — a light to beam within the soul. Of purity immaculate Himself, Yet He our sins assumed and bore their curse. The sacrifice of victims, unresolved Through ages, reached its goal, resolved in Him The victim, slain for sin, though Heaven's Son, The Lamb of Calvary while earth gave signs Of woe in terror and in sympathy, — While men, for whom the sacrifice was made, Were instruments or else insensible. Unparalleled, unspeakable display Of love divine and power to vanquish hell ! Christ was the true Shelomoh, prince of peace, A prophet, priest and king ; in spirit filling Immensity ; as Saviour of the world Assumed humanity and suffered death ! He bridged the mighty gulf and paved the way Man Redeemed. 297 Which men e'er since in long procession trace To the sublime and heavenly abode. Our fathers dear and friends have trod the path Which we, when death shall come, shall also tread. Escorted by the angels we'll from earth Hasten our steps above to higher birth — Our spirit-form ethereal like the sky, For all that's earthy shall the earth absorb. The way's illumed through all the trackless gloom By yonder sphere of bliss whose golden light Bathes brightly all the way from earth to Heaven. The beaming Fountain is the Throne of God Whence springs the light to guide through sorrow's dark And thorny road to pleasure's endless day. Oh ! then with heavenly glory crowned we'll see, Embrace and weep the tears of glad delight Upon the bosoms pure, once loved below, Of parents, wife or children gone before — But thrilled by joy and love beyond degree By seeing Jesus crowned, once crucified ! Malignant spirit burst with violence In storms of deadly wrath against His person. 13* 298 Man Redeemed. But when with lamb-like patience Christ endured And bore malignancy, hell ne'er before So felt its impotency. Love subdues, Where hate and opposition stir the fires Of evil, gratifies the powers of earth And hell,— and sinful man's alike inclined. This era in millennium attains Its acme ; its decadence in the reign Of Satan, when unbound he'll range the earth, Be given liberty to tempt the race As ne'er before. But only when the church Becomes corrupt and falls, submiss to him-, Guilty of sins exceeding other eras, Will earth be burned and utterly consumed, As in Lot's time were Sodom and Gomorrah, — A prophecy of what's reserved for earth ! Each thoughtfu. pilgrim through this vale of light And shade in earth, from infancy to death, Is often perplexed in seeing multitudes Without apparent thought of God or Heaven Or Hell, of blood and bone to us akin, Man Redeemed. 299 And who in earth are prosperous, have wealth And luxury and ease and elegance ; Some revelling in sins and wickedness Without restraint or punishment divine, Shocking a spirit keen and delicate ! While lovely is the world, yet sin prevails, And ills and trials darken many a home ! Apparent only is the mystery. Wherever sin prevails the heart is dark, Because the Spirit light Divine's withheld : Wherever Zion's graces meekly reign There's light and joy and peace akin to Heaven, — As 'twas in Egypt night, while Israel sang Sweet songs of praise beneath the shining sun. Where God abides, makes manifest His power In love there's light that gladdens every heart ; Where He withholds His loving Self, the realms Are dark, and men are suffered to disport Themselves and revel in the sinks of vile Impurities, and stain their hands with blood, Inaugurate the reign of Hell at will — Without the living- God without restraint ! 300 Man Redeenied. For men, inclined to sin become as beasts — And worse, without the Spirit Power, Supreme, To lovingly restrain and guide the soul, Co-act and bless and dwell therein, — in type Prefigured by the Blessed Trinity ! In union with the Living God there's life, — Especially to souls so heavenly blessed. Communities where such abide have peace : — And men who're there and covetous of gain Are helped, not hindered to amass their wealth, And here enjoy unconsciously the light And gifts and peace of Heaven — their only Heaven! Alone ! dissevered, — souls adrift and left To act their own perverted thoughts and wills, Like wand'ring stars and comets glow with light Baneful, portend and bring a reign of blood, Confusion, fear and death — where God is not ! — So far as known, to manifest His grace ! Eternity is short by half for praise, — Infinity is short by half for place And altar for the worship due our God If union does subsist betwixt us both, — Man Redeemed. 301 And He's our Guide through all this wilderness, — Our Dove who hovers o'er our heads to bless, — Our Father waiting in the heavenly courts, Expectant upon our steps, and waiting long, As though impatient to embrace His own — Enfold us in His cloud of light and grace, As Moses was upon Sinai's holy mount, To cause to glow with beauty all divine Our every feature of the soul and face And body spiritual, of ether pure ; And give beatitudes, to those akin Enjoyed by Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! The seventh era was revealed to John, A Sabbath rest, when earth and heaven, new And saved from fire, will glorious appear, — Our Sabbath of the period a type, Recurring every week and teaching man, That rest, a holy, blissful rest is near ; When darkness, sorrow, pain and sin are o'er ; When all the shades, obscuring moral light And quenching joy, shall never more appear ! 302 Man Redeemed. Then shall the church in glory shine, complete, Symmetrical before a universe, A star alone in ether, beauteous, Upon nothing hung, twinkling in amber light, The most adored of all the hosts of heaven. Each son and daughter perfect, glorious, Emitting heavenly light, ethereal, Among whom and where God shall dwell and reign More manifest in beauty and in power Than earth or stars or Heaven hath yet revealed ! Within the barren isle of Patmos lone, The aged prophet sat disconsolate; No sound of kindred voice to lull his soul, Harassed and suft'ring wrongs for witnessing For Jesus and the truth ; all still save winds From the ^Egean Sea which breathed their soothing notes Within his soul. There suddenly, while wrapt In thought and mourning o'er earth's wickedness, The last seer given to the world saw gates Celestial open wide, and then appear Visions so glorious, that, o'erpowered Man Redeemed. 303 By heaven's splendor, he became as dead ! The New Jerusalem, the Holy City Adorned, his spirit saw : whose splendid light Was crystal clear like jasper stone ; whose walls Were great and high, and placed at each pearl gate An angel guard ; and the foundation walls Garnished compact with precious stones and pearls ; The streets like glass transparent, paved with gold. And voices, with ten thousand harps, were heard Commingling harmony with shouts of praise. The glory of the Lamb they sang, His works Marvellous and His judgments manifest. One multitudinous voice like the roar Of thunder or of waters many, sang With love the praise of God, omnipotent. The symphony of voice and harp, the praise Of Heaven, no tongue can speak. The prophet mute, Awe-stricken, paralyzed, was dumb with fear ! The saints redeemed he saw in shining ranks By myriads ; clothed in linen white ; washed clean • By blood divine, saved from pollution's stain By Gilead's balm, — -who, joined by seraphs bright, 304 Man Redeemed. Sang too the praise and glory of the Lamb Slain — song more rapturous than that which angels Gave when earth first appeared among the stars. There from beneath the throne he saw a river Issue like crystal clear, which o'er rich beds Of amber, luminous stones, gems and gold Flowed through this Paradise of God. The meads On either side with roses damasked, tinged Like Sharon's and with many a varied shade ; And lilies, which there flourished blushing meek, Immortal ; there the palm, the cedar grander Far than on Lebanon's mount, and the olive, More beautiful all than in Eden grew. The citron there full-grown with foliage green, On whose full boughs hung golden luscious fruit Of pleasant taste, reviving sight and smell. There grew the tree of life on either side The river, transplanted from Eden's plains, Whose fruit the blessed may eat — the angels' food — And drink of the waters pure. Beneath this shade Refreshing, o'er the diamond sands and paths Of burnished gold, the blessed redeemed may walk, Man Redeemed. 305 Accompanied by their Lord, whose countenance beams With love intense upon His precious flock Which gather at His feet to hear His words, — As erst in Galilee when journeying To bear the Cross and suffer Calvary ! The Saints how beautiful they are, how bright In bliss their glories shine : but brighter far In beauty is the Lord ! compared their light Is dim and paled, or totally eclipsed ! No marvel saints have died of love for Him ; Have borne imprisonment and torture, fire And sword for Him ; His beauty broken hearts When once He's been seen all aglow with light ! Pure saints how happy in their love of God, Their hearts kindled into a brilliant flame — Sweet unction — by his excellence alone, When seen or felt — loved for His own dear Self ! May we indulge the happy thought, that God Permitted Satan man to tempt and sin To enter Eden that He might effect o6 Man Redeemed. A greater good, subdue the Powers of darkness, Show Spirit Glory in a manner new To heaven, and save and raise our fallen race To eminence ; that man upon a throne Might sit, be crowned with Heaven's diadems — Above the angels, who ere man was born Were made and entered Heaven ; sublimer good, Both manifold and wondrous in extent, In human nature honored, dignified, And now invested with divinity ! Thus man in truth redeemed is upon a throne, With emerald light encircled nighest heaven's Great King ! The mystery of creature sin Through Spirit Power evolves thus partially And pleasantly, promoting thought or love To God and Heaven and every creature made. For sin is incidental to a good Through love and mercy ; God revealed in light Which ne'er before beamed from beneath the veil ! Thus Job was tempted by permit of Heaven, Covered with boils by Satan's agency, His property destroyed and children slain : Man Redeemed. 307 And unadvisedly he spake at times ; — But ultimately was exalted higher, Made richer, happier, more prosperous And blessed of God above his former state, To such degree, the former was almost Forgotten and eclipsed by heaven's bounty. In light and shade is Spirit Power revealed : 'Gainst darkest clouds the purest light is seen : Without the shade the light is less discerned. Yet 'tis the province of the meanest souls To struggle always for the purest light ; To be within the glow of light Divine ; To think and do naught bringing shade and night Upon, within the soul — remorse begun ! Ne'er will eternal years divinity Exhaust, — for there's always some new display Of God's deep, fathomless immensity, Of spirit pure and infinite, above, And' yet pervading all and every thing ! The possibilities of Spirit Power Are only faintly seen below the skies 308 Man Redeemed. By what already perfect has been done : By marvels, beautiful and gorgeous, like The wings of butterflies from crawling worms. For Spirit Infinite the elements Willed into Being, and the chaos spoke Into light, beauty, wealth material So marvellous throughout the universe, And beauteous in plants and beasts and birds — Too multiform, complex for mind to grasp, And varied infinitely — ravishing With joy the heart of spirit lovable! He too our souls, felicitous can cause To sparkle in variety and scope Endless and marvellous. By what He's done A prophecy of what is yet to come, For earth material and spirit life ! Hark ! songs angelic swell o'er earth and sea : How sweet, oh, blessed sweet ! the strains that tell Of life anew, and sin and sorrow o'er, Of shadows fled, of death and night all past ! Oh, how their echoes sweetly ring from crag Man Redeemed. 309 And mountain top, o'er hills and through earth's vales : For rest has come at length, — the day has dawned, The beauteous day which prophecy foretells, — In welcome home at last at journey's end Upon the breast of life's untroubled sea. Sweet songs — but from above a chorus rings From angel lips aglow with bliss and love, Where multitudes are hovering o'er and near Man blessed, redeemed, and Paradise restored ! Transporting glimpse of home, the heritage Of angels and of man redeemed, who'll be Whate'er they think and know and feel and hope ; With power commensurate with will, where Christ Bears rule and holds the keys of life or death. So erst His blessed feet to calm repose Thrilled stormy Galilee's tempestuous sea, While wond'ririg marines beheld themselves Transported to the shore without the aid Of hands, at once as through the air — all space Annulled — all fears allayed and hopes fulfilled. The home beyond, the soft blue shore across The stream, the narrow stream dividing death 3io Man Redeemed. And life, how near at hand it often seems, Within our vision, nay, beneath our feet, While wistful hearts look o'er and long for rest, Release from pain that dims the sight for earth ! When dreary, dull and dark our present home. Often then sunbeams aslant to earth seem ways Inviting, shining paths which lead to Thee — Oh, Heaven ! oh, fragrant shore with flowers of bliss, Into, the golden light beyond the sea ! Oh, sweetest thought ! within that home to lean Upon the breast of Jesus evermore ! Alone ! within some unfamiliar place, And strangers lost, without the right to walk The royal realms, and trembling pale with fear We'd be without the blessed Jesus there, To wait and watch and welcome us within ; And teach us how to lisp in angel tongues ; Endure, enjoy the sights ne'er seen before, The fragrance heavenly, taintless pure and sweet ; To bask in angel loves forevermore ! Ah, then ! far off, below will lie the sea, The earth a star, a gloomy star appear, Man Redeemed. 311 Veiled as in shades, in shadows dimly seen, — While in the splendors of the beams of Heaven We'll walk, or upon the orbed and golden clouds Without, above the City's jewelled shrines, Look out upon a universe beyond ! My God i is this the exchange for sickness, pain And death, anxiety and earth and woe ? O chariot ! to bear us into realms Of bliss, thy wheels delay their coming long, While notes astray from Heaven reach us here, And beams from Zion's gates ajar are seen ! And all unmerited, a gift of grace, — The price of blood Divine, of Calvary ! FINIS. HHR& ^ 4MK1b ■B it* ■■ ■;:. is >■ ■BBS HURT KMBm ■