UiillHIiltllHilllllllllHHIHIIIHtitili
 
 i 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 c ^. 

 
 NATURE A PARABLE.
 
 LONDON : 
 GII.nF.UT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 
 ST. John's square.
 
 r -^^ NATURE A PARABLE : 
 
 A POEM, 
 
 IN SEVEN BOOKS. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JOHN BRANDE MORRIS, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 Like is nature unto Scripture, 
 
 Like too are things witliin to things without. 
 
 S. Ephrem. adv. Scrut. xxxv. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, 
 
 ST. Paul's church yard, 
 
 AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 
 
 1842.
 
 TK 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The present work was originally undertaken as a relief 
 fi-om engagements of a more laborious kind. It struck 
 me that in all writers not of the very driest class, there 
 are some things of an imaginative hue, and that I might 
 therefore not disadvantageously employ my leisure 
 hours in correcting and chastening whatever amount 
 of imaginative tendencies I had myself, by noticing 
 things of the kind in the works of the Fathers. I went 
 to them in this as in other respects with a desire to 
 consult them as oracles, not to judge of them as authors. 
 As for a blind reverence for them, I cannot believe that 
 such a thing exists, or was ever even talked of except 
 by such as were either ignorant of their writings, or, 
 with some knowledge of these, made no effort to follow 
 
 H5>rA2A
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 their stern holiness and patient gentleness. The gracious- 
 ness of our Lord's promise reaches even to the effort to 
 do His Father's Will '. 
 
 I hope that vvhatever defects of style, or judg- 
 ment, or doctrine, there may be in this work, I have 
 throughout it expressed a conviction that stern living 
 is the way to understand the subjects of which it 
 makes a feeble attempt to treat. If in expressing 
 that conviction I have any where seemed deficient in 
 gentleness, I have little doubt myself that it is to be 
 attributed to my own want of sternness to myself. Still 
 any one may make an effort to attain the two, though 
 he succeed but ill in attaining them. 
 
 Of the seeming childishness, then, of some of the 
 interpretations of Scripture, or other things contained 
 in this book, (if they are taken from the Fathers,) tve 
 have no right to form opinions until we live the strict 
 lives of the Fathers. And as there are people about 
 England who one trusts are moving in that direction, 
 I humbly hope that the book may not be unacceptable 
 to such persons. It is addressed to them, and not to 
 other people : and the possession of leisure for studying 
 
 ' St. John vii. I7, 'Eav tiq Oi\)j rb 9i\i]fui Avrov tvoiuv, &c.
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 the Fathers, or the liability to do it as a duty, seems in 
 some measure a call upon one to venture, in spite of one's 
 own great deficiencies, the attempt so to direct one's 
 studies as to supply the wants of people of that descrip- 
 tion. I have endeavoured, therefore, throughout the 
 notes, to put together such passages as I thought would 
 be acceptable to them : with them I have wished to 
 sympathize, even when they are less hopeful about our 
 prospects, than, at present, whether rightly or wrongly, 
 I feel myself. But I have said enough of the general 
 object of the book : I will only add to this, that it will 
 bear marks in the structure of it of having been written 
 at different ecclesiastical seasons, as having been my 
 relief on Sundays and Saints Days from more laborious 
 occupations. I may also do well to say, that as I had 
 an ulterior purpose in attending to typology, that pur- 
 pose has been the reason why I have not consulted 
 modern works upon the subject, but almost exclusively 
 ancient ones. 
 
 This premised, it may perhaps be not undesirable 
 to say somewhat as to the subject-matter of the book, 
 what it attempts to do, and upon what suppositions it is 
 founded and regulated.
 
 vill PRKFACE. 
 
 The whole subject, then, of the typical meaning of 
 Nature, is but a continuation, or rather an instance 
 and illustration, of the subject of Bp. Butler's Analogy. 
 For assuming that the Church system and the system of 
 Nature proceed from the same Author, there arises, upon 
 the principles of that great divine, an immediate pro- 
 l)ability that there will be a similarity in the two. Thus 
 the cleansing, and refreshing, and invigorating powers 
 of water, are analogous to correlative powers of Baptism. 
 For the other Sacrament we need no further statement 
 of the analogy than that which we are familiar with in 
 the Catechism. And the thing assumed in this book is, 
 that such analogies are not accidental, but designed ; 
 and that the Church system will clear up the meaning of 
 Nature in the same way that Christianity clears up the 
 meaning of Prophecy. " Facilius Prophetise credas dis- 
 cipulus natura;," said Tertullian. 
 
 But as a rude and imperfect Christianity will not fully 
 explain many of the minutia; of Prophecy, so neither will 
 an imperfect Church clear up the minuter meaning of 
 nature. Whether all branches of the Church have or have 
 not their imperfections, it would not be my business to 
 discuss : but that our own has its imperfections, is what
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 Bp. Andrewes allowed, and what aU acquainted with 
 the ancient Catholic system must feel, and some, very 
 distressingly. Hence I have been sometimes led to 
 reo-ret the loss of those rites and ceremonies which 
 served as antitypes to the types of nature. And some 
 people will, I am afraid, think this undutiful : it may 
 to these last be some palliation of what perhaps they 
 judge too hastily of, to know that I have endea- 
 voured in all cases to discourage seeking for a re- 
 covery of them, except by improving our own hearts 
 by discipline, and so looking for a blessing upon our 
 prayers. Still it seems desirable to make people long 
 for things, that they may so seek them. It is well 
 also to show others, if so be we may, that there 
 are those who sympathize with them, and feel those 
 losses which, perhaps, sometimes lead them to mis- 
 trust their present position. And let me venture again 
 to suggest, what has been suggested by others, to such 
 as complain of their feelings being shocked at start- 
 ling positions and statements, that others are often 
 shocked by them in another way, and yet try to bear 
 in silence their brother's burdens — a duty which all 
 ought to aim at performing, however hard it may be
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 sometimes to perceive the occasions where there is call 
 for it. 
 
 Such, then, are the objects of this volume, and such 
 seem to be the author's liabilities to be mistaken or 
 objected to, in trying to execute them. 
 
 It niav be further objected, that the great divine 
 above referred to would by no means sanction the ex- 
 tension of the principle of analogy to the degree here 
 assumed allowable; that, on the contrary, he discourages 
 the use of imagination in religion, and calls it ' the author 
 of all error.' Let me then proceed to consider this 
 objection, with a view to show what has been my idea of 
 the way in which that ' forward and delusive faculty ' 
 was to be regulated in treating of matters of so serious 
 a kind. 
 
 Of course there are some things which come from 
 one's own imagination in a work like the present ; and 
 it would be idle to pretend that one's own mind gave 
 no colouring to what it took from other sources. The 
 very notion of carrying out suggestions and filling up 
 outhnes would imply as much; and this has been done 
 in several cases, only with a wish that they might be 
 agreeable to the analogy of the faith. And the vei-y
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 reference to such a rule will imply that there are some 
 things which imagination may not deal with, as well as 
 some with which it may. Now if we avail ourselves of 
 an ancient division of all theological suhjects into two 
 classes, one comprising those which answer to the sub- 
 jects of the aofpia of Aristotle, such as truths relating to 
 eternal and immutable things, the doctrine of the Trinity 
 or the like; the other, that which comprises subjects 
 answering to those of (j)p6i'r]<TiQ, such as truths flowing 
 from the economy of our salvation, through the Incarna- 
 tion, and other things which take place in time ; we may 
 find this division not unserviceable for the present pur- 
 pose. Imagination has no permission to meddle with the 
 former, it would seem to me ; for it deals with the 'forms 
 of thingsunknown,'and'bodiesthem forth' and ' localizes ' 
 them; which, of course, such eternal Truths do not allow 
 of without blasphemv. It is concerned, in my humble 
 estimate, with things of time, such as the dealings of 
 God towards us creatures of time are, the Sacraments 
 for instance, or the miracles, which are both performed 
 in time. Natural symbols, too, of eternal things, as 
 being creatures of time, would come under its legitimate 
 dominion. Thus I may by imagination help myself to
 
 XII PREFACE. 
 
 conceive processes in the mind of man, which is an 
 image of the Ever-blessed Trinity, lawfully enough : but 
 then tlir Truths relating to the Trinity are themselves 
 fixed and tied to certain prescribed forms of words by 
 the Church ; they are the things assumed to be true, 
 and I may not argue from the processes of the mind to 
 arrive at them. Imagination may help in illustrating 
 them, but it is faith and not imagination which appre- 
 hends them. And I think it will be found that the 
 cautions to be met with in antiquity against the use of 
 imagination, are directed against its interference with 
 things which are de fide. While it leaves them to faith, 
 it may be lawfully used in illustrating them from the 
 things of time. It must keep to images, not pry into 
 the realities of which they are the images. As, how- 
 ever, other things, e. g. the Sacraments, run up very 
 much into these eternal verities, they will, of course, not 
 allow of an unlimited use of imagination in regard to 
 them. Nothing but an instinct, the result of long 
 acquaintance with theology, can perhaps secure one per- 
 fectly from abuse of imagination in these cases also. 
 Still there are certain recognised svmbols of these and 
 of other of God's dealings in time, with us beings of
 
 PREFACE. Xiii 
 
 time, which seem to be ground open to imagination. 
 Thus if wheat be a type of the Eucharist, the secrecy 
 and mysteriousness of the way in which it transmutes 
 the soil into itself, might legitimately be dwelt upon, 
 even though such dwelling upon it had not occurred in 
 antiquity. And in some cases I am conscious that I 
 have so dwelt upon the particulars of types, acknow- 
 ledged to have a general resemblance to the antitype : 
 but for the most part I have wished to repeat rather 
 than to invent ; to give the imaginations of holy men, 
 not to frame any of my own. Whether or not I have 
 succeeded in this wish, those more learned than I am, 
 or ever hope to be, will be the best judges. My office 
 is a humble one by this showing, and is, I fear, but 
 poorly executed after all. All that I aim at is the excel- 
 lence of him oe (.V tnrovTL iridrjrai. If, however, I shall 
 have been so fortunate as to sow from those holy men 
 seed not sown originally in this land, great indeed will be 
 the reward that I shall reap, if, in the words of the great 
 Butler, ' those virtuous beings interpose in any way in 
 my behalf in any part of my duration.' 
 
 There are many remarks borrowed from friends, and 
 much else in the course of the work, for which I am 
 
 2
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 indebted to them. I trust I am neither misjudging, in 
 refraining from a more particular acknowledgment of 
 them, nor selfish in hoping for a continuance of the 
 kindness which prompted them. 
 
 Exeter College, i 
 
 St. Bartholomew's Eve. i 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 66, line 504, /or Winchester read Westminster 
 
 67, line 520, /or eye read eyes 
 
 [)',i, lino \2T],/ur liretlu-en read Brotherhood 
 104, note ',i4,Jhr iti read if 
 l.jO, line 2I{, /i/r wliosf read and whose 
 174, line 556, read Fell audible, by wider faculty
 
 r -i 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Introduction I 
 
 BOOK II. 
 The Greater Light 47 
 
 BOOK III. 
 The Stars and Light 107 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 The Waters and the Winds 153 
 
 BOOK V. 
 The Trees and Green Things 203 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 Beasts and all Cattle 259 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 Man, in Soul and Body 313
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 INTRODUCTION,
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Prayer for aid from above through the minislr)- of good Angels. 
 The meaning of nature plainest to the stern and lowly, and to 
 such consoling and cheering : explained in some degree by Pagan 
 rites, which, in spite of their bemg doctrmes of devils, were yet 
 overruled fof good ; and had mmisters to tend them not wholly 
 uninspired. Exceeding importance of regarding our knowledge 
 of natural thuigs as very partial. These natural things as well 
 as the Law nimistercd by Angels, and a sort of succession. Re- 
 serve and mysteriousness of this dispensation. Knowledge, 
 whether slowly or suddenly given, appears, from analogies be- 
 tween it and vii'tue, to be a Divine gift, and, as such, the refusal 
 to live up to it visited upon heathens at their death with fore- 
 bodings of punishment. Nature the Bible whence the minis- 
 ters of Paganism might have proved their oral traditions. 
 Means of reading and understanding that book to be found in 
 tradition. Instances of this. Conclusion.
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Lord God Omnipotent, whose Throne is set 
 Amid the voices of unending song, 
 Known unto Thee are all Thy glorious works 
 From the Beginning, in Thy Bosom seen 
 Reflected by Thine Image, Thy dear Son, 5 
 
 Himself the measure ' of Thee, creating all 
 In measure ; by the Co- eternal Spirit 
 Search'd into from of old ; Thou Triune God 
 Who, in the time of this Economy 
 Of visual image and frail substances, 10 
 
 Full often winnest man by deep surprise 
 To yearning struggles for a clearer glimpse 
 Of nature's mysteries, and at such an hour 
 Dost teach his spirit how th' encumbering chains 
 Of sense ere long shall clasp his frame no more : 1 5 
 To Thee, though fear-struck, yet in Thy mere Name 
 Finding a Tower of strong defence, I yield 
 The lowly thanksgiving of such poor love 
 
 B 2
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 As I may have, to consecrate weak powers 
 
 To Thv unwearying service and free yoke. 20 
 
 If any purity remain in me. 
 
 If aught of Thine be dwelling in me still. 
 
 Oil, with Thy Fire all-hallowing deign to light 
 
 The meagre offering, let its lambent flame 
 
 Wear out the stains contracted in this scene 
 
 Of lifelong struggling, while, by Angels view'd, 
 
 We in this lower world our warfare wage. 
 
 And mav th' empyreal legions not unseen, 
 (For seen by signs alone can any spirit 
 Of man or Angel be, and sight to faith 
 Can only beckon,) whose unwearied love 
 May wneld the host of Heaven ^ until man's heart, 
 Used to behold rebellion in himself 
 And creatures like himself, hath disbelieved 
 That aught but matter dead is seen to roll ?5 
 
 In that harmonious order — lend their aid. 
 And if their ministry shall waft our souls 
 From this faint tracery of heavenly things 
 To scenes of holier rest, if not in vain 
 Antiquity hath hoarded a belief 40 
 
 In such like guidance, when it dream'd the stars 
 Were wisdom's treasurers, and instinct with life 
 As human bodies are, oh, may they help 
 To read and understand the writings strange 
 Upon the walls of this our dread abode ; 45 
 
 Tf it be not unlawful to desire 
 A portion of the sight which may belong
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 To spiritual bodies e'en already sown 
 
 In this corruptible, and to retain 
 
 The scene, these ghmpses flash about the soul ! 50 
 
 But chiefly may I imitate their love 
 
 In speediest obedience unto God ! 
 
 Man is then meet for revelations high 
 
 When most he hath obey'd ; or when with awe 
 
 Most holy, most inspiring, he hath fed 55 
 
 On Angels' Food, or in its absence sad 
 
 Hath hunger'd long, until he seem to win 
 
 The blessing sever'd from its wonted Form ; 
 
 Or if through God's high grace he hath prevail'd 
 
 On some neglectful soul due heed to give, 60 
 
 And hear in him his Lord, or touch'd a heart 
 
 Worn down with sorrow, by the influence soft 
 
 Of almsgiving or admonition stern. 
 
 Yet sympathizing, breathed thereon by Christ, 
 
 Through him unworthiest, thus to stir their joy ; 65 
 
 Or if in sleepless nights of penitence. 
 
 And intercessions strong to imitate 
 
 Their secret office^, he hath e'er prevail'd 
 
 To help the building of the spiritual House, 
 
 With increments to their blest vision known : 70 
 
 If aught that distant semblance bears to these 
 
 E'er cleanse a stain from off" my feebler soul, 
 
 Then be the hour, when unto me may come 
 
 By Angel whisperings, tidings of hid things. 
 
 Which to our faith this world would gladly show, 75 
 
 Unless her sight wax'd dim amid the soils
 
 6 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Of this life's pilgrimage ! 
 
 Yet, thanks to God, 
 That Penance oft hath given a tender heart. 
 Apt to receive, though not in glory full, 80 
 
 That impress of angelic joy, which thrills 
 By mystic sympathy from outward things. 
 The while the Ministers that do His Will 
 Sustain, in order'd courses, each their rites 
 And natural ceremonial, through sense 85 
 
 By such a heart beheld — as children see. 
 When from some wayward passion they recoil. 
 Their father's arms outstretch'd, and to th' embrace, 
 Half-trembling and half-daring, with faint smiles 
 Beaming through tears, with glances indirect, 90 
 
 Drawn from them by his distant looks of love. 
 Approach with slow and shame-retarded gait. 
 Nor was't without ordain'd coincidence 
 The Church, our watchful Mother, seal'd the Spring 
 For the ' dear feast of Lent,' that souls refined 95 
 
 By fast and almsgiving, might catch the signs 
 Of life returning o'er bland Nature's face 
 With humbled look, and in contrition's ear 
 Receive the gentle bidding of her sounds. 
 To rise through mourning to a wiser joy. 100 
 
 Yet will not Nature soothe a murmuring spirit 
 That seeks to find a pettish pleasantness 
 In a dislike of comfort ; but to him. 
 Who with contrition sues it, is she near 
 With arguments of love, that may supply, 105
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 Thousrh thev create not, a contented heart. 
 
 Yea, if there be who hath with toil and pain 
 
 Earn'd him a way to hopes of working good, 
 
 And, on this close approach, hath hail'd the hour 
 
 As though within his hearing, when for him 110 
 
 A door effectual should open wide, 
 
 Where he, as bondsman in the House of God, 
 
 Should others lead along the narrow path 
 
 Of sterner living, showing in himself 
 
 What fragrant savour of a patient spirit 115 
 
 Blooms on the hidden Cross's thorn-set stem; — 
 
 Hath such an one beheld his hopes mow'd down 
 
 By unforeseen surprise and sudden gloom 
 
 Of accident — say, some unwitting child. 
 
 Or petty idiot, hath been the trumpeter 120 
 
 That sounded to his by-gone sins to arms ; 
 
 So that, it seem'd, their host drave hotly on. 
 
 And fell'd the bravest of his hopes and joys ; 
 
 Leaving his soul a dreary carnage-field, 
 
 Fill'd with the waihngs of expiring bliss ? 125 
 
 Meanwhile the bustling world still rudely holds 
 
 Its selfish course, and, harden'd in itself. 
 
 Sees not the beauty of his outward form 
 
 Consume away ! as some dear friend would see, 
 
 And marvel, while as yet th' unselfish spirit 1 30 
 
 Hath shrunk from burdening friendship with the task 
 
 Of sharing ills 'tis powerless to assuage. 
 
 Hath any pain like this ? Or hath he seen 
 
 His remnant hopes by thoughtless calumny
 
 8 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Laid low, and yet embolden'd his whole man 135 
 
 To kneel, at this defrauding of his rights, 
 
 In prayer for those from whom he takes the wrong ? 
 
 E'en in this desolation of the soul 
 
 Nature is not untongued with accents meek, 
 
 What time, escaping from the unseason'd mirth 140 
 
 Of this world's drunkards, he in sadness roams 
 
 Along some lonelier path ; about are strew'd 
 
 Gentle forget-me-nots, to call to mind 
 
 The countless spirits who may interpose 
 
 In his behalf, and claim return of love : 145 
 
 The wild rose breathes its fragrancy abroad 
 
 As if 'twas made to cheer him, and the bell 
 
 That bows its head beneath the hawthorn row 
 
 Hath semblance of a brotherhood with him 
 
 Who under sorrow kneels in hidden prayer. 150 
 
 In every thing is nature, like a home 
 
 Fraught with the offices of sisters' ready love. 
 
 For me, I own that in a joyless time, 
 Bereft of holiest privileges, torn 
 
 From friends and teachers, distant from the sound 155 
 Of daily Chapel-bell, or frequent Feast, 
 I learnt to summon forth from nature's stores 
 Remembrances of soothing mournfulness ; 
 To aid my resignation at the loss 
 
 Of blessings now removed ; to turn aside 1 60 
 
 From speculations vague, upon the cause 
 And motive of God's Providence with me. 
 At this new bending of the stream of life.
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 And cull the sweets that memory evermore 
 
 Doth plant upon its banks, and use the signs 163 
 
 The present gives for her to lean upon ; 
 
 While she, as when a sister music plays. 
 
 Long intermitted, with the effect bestow'd 
 
 Upon the senses, blends accompaniment 
 
 Of joys, that now have moved themselves away. 170 
 
 Yet of a cheerful temperament possest, 
 
 i learnt to foster seeds of quiet love 
 
 For nature's beauties, by good Wordsworth first 
 
 Sown in me, which to water from the fount 
 
 Of ancient Christian wisdom 1 design'd ; 175 
 
 Hoping, that what in him to disapprove 
 
 I was not forward, bv that sacred lore 
 
 Might be amended ; and with thoughts of one 
 
 Whose oral teaching touch'd me deeper far 
 
 With the unutterable thrill of gratitude. 180 
 
 Though others, then, may angrily arraign 
 At understanding's GalHo-judgment-seat 
 The choicest feelings, and in scorn condemn 
 Of fancifulness gladdest impulses. 
 
 Not, therefore, with a mind devoid of hope 185 
 
 To find some few who kindred use would make 
 Of this world's symbols, write I of the smiles 
 Which nature yields, responsive to the rays 
 Of the great bridegroom, when the heavenly powers 
 Seem vying, who shall look most gladsomely 190 
 
 On man ; the while the forest-trees rejoice 
 Before their Lord, and every field and grove,
 
 10 NATURE A. PARABLE. 
 
 As doth a bride, their dewy pearls put on. 
 
 Then may the heart feel restless, till it find 
 
 Some object for its love, some sickly poor 195 
 
 To comfort or relieve : lone joy is sad. 
 
 It lacks the mirror of the grateful eye. 
 
 Might this have aught of sympathy with powers 
 Celestial, who the gladdening scene sustain 
 Unseen ? Hath nature nothing like the smiles 200 
 
 Upon a dear friend's face with joy instinct, — 
 Joy that would call to kindred happiness 
 By such external signs of what within 
 The spirit feels and faintly prints thereon ? 
 Or must we hold such impulses to be 205 
 
 Bare agitations of the bodily frame. 
 That through the animal spirits wend their way 
 By a circuitous conduit to the soul 
 That sits enthroned as did the Magian old. 
 Guarded by labyrinthine passages 210 
 
 Of intricate access from all without. 
 Who with tyrannic cautions hemm'd him in 
 From whatsoever cry the voice of woe. 
 Or the loud throbbings of a nation's heart 
 Would bring to loving monarchs, bent to watch 2 1 5 
 With a parental eye half-utter'd wants. 
 Prompt to concede, or resolute to nod 
 The anointed brow of kingly Majesty. 
 Say, rather, thrills of joy, through nature stamp'd 
 At once upon the soul, give sudden might 220 
 
 To feel some legion of the Seraph host
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 That serve our common Father marching by : 
 
 Methinks Aristo's son some deed had wrought 
 
 Of nobler virtue, such as struggles win 
 
 With trial or temptation, when he writ 225 
 
 Of that gi-eat host "* which fabled Jupiter 
 
 Behind him drew : and purer minds alone 
 
 In nature always feel the presences 
 
 Of better Beings, who, kindling with the flame 
 
 That burst from Angel tongues when morning stars 230 
 
 The new Creation hail'd with shouts of joy. 
 
 Still order nature's blessings ; such with love 
 
 For Him who made them have th' attendant love 
 
 For all His offspring, all the sons of God, 
 
 Angelic or baptized, and mix with joy 235 
 
 From natural blessings thoughts of love for these. 
 
 Or if such musings are to be reproved. 
 Must we not think that Hell its wish attain'd 
 E'en to the full, that they who cozen'd men 
 In divers regions of the world to serve 240 
 
 The goods of nature with devout regards, 
 Taught men an utter lie ? Should we not deem 
 That as the moral faculty remains 
 Incapable of mere depravity. 
 
 Forced for a while some mite of good to hold, 245 
 
 So never doth the intellect, on it 
 Depending for the sight of truth, embrace 
 Unmingled error, but with truth combined ? 
 Through truth * alone hath error's self its being ; 
 Truth is the vital spark which holds it still 250
 
 12 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Ill life, diseased, encumber'd, not extinct, 
 
 For then would error die and cease to be; 
 
 But as a branch, when sever'd from the Tree, 
 
 Still buds, retaining fragments of the life 
 
 It once enjoy'd, though now ordain'd to die ; 255 
 
 So error, though to perish soon or live 
 
 In records only, still is stay'd by truth 
 
 The while it mingles with the crowds of men. 
 
 Though in the heathen's ceremonial 
 Satanic foresight studded ^ many a gem 260 
 
 From Prophecy's abundant treasury. 
 Yet over this Another's Foresight ruled, 
 And turn'd those gems, on Gentile men bestow'd. 
 As meed for worship done him, to a glass 
 Wherein, though shatter'd, shone the Love of God 265 
 To wiser hearts, expectant of a Light, 
 Who, in his own conceits, already took 
 The serpent, when his oracles, from caves 
 And murky snake-like hiding-holes, by God 
 W^ere quell'd, and all his kingdom made to shake 270 
 With sudden fall ; whence, even in his fall. 
 He had the form of lightning sent from Heaven. 
 
 Mine be it, then, in heathen lore to trace 
 The lingering steps of Truth, and loathe the skill 
 Which, with disdainful arguing, shrewdly shows 275 
 Where man hath err'd, not where th' abiding force 
 Of innate good still won his soul to truth ; 
 Amid the clouds of error, mine to find 
 Light's remanent conversings with the soul,
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 Not Satan's darkeiiings ; to rejoice, indeed, 280 
 
 O'er every little tinge, whose flickering ray 
 
 Still gives its glistening to the thickening cloud, 
 
 As loath to leave a single mind unfed 
 
 By some soft influence of the quickening Beam. 
 
 Alas ! to think in hours of sober awe, 285 
 
 By the dread Judgment's presence on us shed. 
 How this keen eye of love is waxing dim ! 
 It is not in regard to heathen lay, 
 Or high philosophy alone, we wail 
 The absence of a willingness to see 290 
 
 Such signs of heavenly influence un- withdrawn ; 
 But against Christians, who, alike with us. 
 Have the Succession and the Sacraments, 
 Proud have we been the ills alone to see. 
 Not loving to remember what remain'd 295 
 
 Of those true signs of purity within, 
 Of faith and holy deeds, and love retired. 
 
 Yes, O my brethren, we have been the Church 
 That boast ourselves far purer than the rest, 
 Yet have not that first principle — of love 300 
 
 Towards our enemies, if the name indeed 
 Does suit our brother Christians. Oh ! sad thought 
 Of a religion which hath cast out love. 
 And with it godly fear, whose boasted faith 
 Doth nought but gainsay things invisible, 305 
 
 The Sacraments, and, that which gives them force. 
 The orders in Melchizedek's high line I 
 Well would it learn from even heathen page
 
 14 NATURE A I'ARABLE. 
 
 To have firm faith, that even when unseen 
 
 Much truth must dwell within, and love and faith 3 1 
 
 Where'er the holy Sacraments abide. 
 
 Tliou Mighty Sun of Truth, that hast of old 
 Thy rays untiring pour'd on each recess 
 Of heathen night, the human soul hast made, 
 Despite of Hell, the place where yet were heard 315 
 Some whisperings of Thee, constraining rites 
 Of Pagan worship, not to stray so far 
 Into the realms of darkness, hut they caught 
 And handed down from earliest forefathers. 
 By secret lore, the waning lamp of Truth ; 320 
 
 E'en as upon a day with gloomy clouds. 
 Pregnant with storms, in some Cathedral Church 
 The sinuous light will wrap with fainter beams 
 Shy oratories, or saints in niche retired, 
 (With haste that would befit the frighten'd wind, 325 
 When, with low howl, it skulks to mountain crags,) 
 And give to things a questionable air. 
 As though they were creations of a mist. 
 And not realities ; so was it with those rites. 
 Solemnities which Nature's witness join'd 330 
 
 With hoar tradition to proclaim Divine, 
 Howe'er obscured. — Oh ! Thou who, bursting forth 
 Amid the haze of legal ordinance. 
 Didst, by Thy word, besprinkle gleams of light 
 On things by Thee create ; and ere the fall 335 
 
 Entail'd its full forgetfulness on man. 
 Didst speak \into the higher sense, the eye, 
 
 1
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 O? things invisible, by tainted souls 
 
 Unkenn'd, vouchsafe in pity to receive 
 
 My task for Thee, and for Thy praise design'd. 340 
 
 On me with Warmth and Light, oh I deign to come 
 
 With Warmth of that abiding Love, which skills 
 
 Alone, with priestly hand, to offer up 
 
 Whate'er of Light we have to bring to Thee. 
 
 Of Thee I sue for strength, too weak to ask 345 
 
 In such sort as were fit, of Thee the art 
 
 Of tracing Thee, and mysteries wrought by Thee 
 
 In nature's travails, and the secret ways 
 
 They whisper of beyond to faithful ears ! 
 
 If Thou wilt cleanse my visual powers, Thou canst. 350 
 
 Much have I labour'd, yet am much unskill'd 
 
 In reverend stores, which, with chaste industry. 
 
 Should be explored, and by still thought review'd 
 
 Through daybreak's silence, or calm vigil seen. 
 
 Rabbinic lore, or Christian legend sweet, 355 
 
 Or history, with the lamp of prophecy 
 
 Survey'd intently, or the scholiast's tale. 
 
 For through them all the jealous stream of Truth 
 
 Hath carved its channel, and on dank-leaved shores 
 
 Left many a stealthy drop, that may remind 360 
 
 The wary downcast eye of that pure flood 
 
 Which gave them these for pearls and ornaments. 
 
 Moreover, (if the thought be not forbidden,) 
 To me the Almighty seemeth at ail times, 
 In every clime and region of the world, 365 
 
 To have iiad inspired men, who, kindling bright
 
 \6 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 In fire enthusiastic, and strong love 
 
 For Truth's pure flame, drunk up the Light infused, 
 
 And salhed undismay'd into the camp 
 
 Of oldest secrecies, and bolder wax'd 370 
 
 I3v their own darinG;, and return'd to tell 
 
 Reports of prospects dimly seen from far. 
 
 In language dark and mystic, sheltering truth 
 
 From the unworthy gaze, and summoning powers 
 
 Of allegory planted in the mind 375 
 
 Forth from th' unconscious listener, powers these 
 
 Such as would open from the Sacred Law 
 
 To guileless Israelite new things to come, 
 
 And show'd to certain prophets of their own, 
 
 That Gentile rites had vestitures by Truth 380 
 
 Embroider'd, and had lips to speak of Him. 
 
 Such haply Plato was, who, in each stone. 
 
 And tree, and glistening herb, and modest flower. 
 
 Beheld Eternal Thoughts, which had devised 
 
 Tlieir limber filaments and varied shapes 38.5 
 
 E'en from Eternity ; in works of art 
 
 By men contrived, perceived a power that wrought 
 
 By order'd communings with Light Divine. 
 
 His was th' imagination undismay'd, 
 
 That having seen on its bold wanderings 390 
 
 Some ghostlike shape of truth, would dare to stand 
 
 And wrestle with it, till it yielded up 
 
 To reason's ear what message it was charged 
 
 To bear to other Beings, and compell'd 
 
 The struggling form to tell him somewhat more 395
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 Of things it knew but half and fear'd to speak. 
 Then, as it stalk'd away upon the surge 
 Of mystery, whose inarticulate wave 
 Foam'd round about it, he in scorn of self 
 Deteniiinate plunged in, and long bore up 400 
 
 Upon the sapphire tide, till it retired 
 With murmurings shrill and long, that clearly told 
 That highest truth, the ignorance of man. 
 
 O blessed thought ! that man, though he hath found 
 Inventions many, yet was not so form'd 405 
 
 As to behold, perforce, the things of sense 
 In boundaries imprisoning pent up, 
 Unlink'd to aught beyond, or worship self 
 With mind half-open'd, but with wider range 
 Can move, and find within the tear-watch'd flower 410 
 A pulse that throbs with mystery, and belongs 
 To some far-spreading system, bodied forth 
 In her own dark conceptions, and be glad. 
 For spite of science, pleased with what it knows. 
 The soul still pants for largeness unattain'd ; 415 
 
 A pupil oft-times treatable to those 
 Who teach her how in humbleness to muse 
 On the chaste thought of conscious ignorance. 
 Not that the thirst for system in itself^ 
 Hath not a colouring, to humanity 420 
 
 In Paradise first given : 'tis a sign 
 Of longing to regain the plenitude 
 Of vision, which alone can satisfy 
 Man's vast capacities and nobler hopes. 
 

 
 18 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Yet is there dignity in Childhood's faith, 425 
 
 Which Manhood's wisdom needs to keep alive, 
 
 A spirit of wondering simplicity, 
 
 That is delighted with a giant tale, 
 
 Or story of dwarf innocent, and lists 
 
 In a contented silence and deep awe. . 430 
 
 He that hath lost the antitype of this 
 
 Needs teach his manhood lessons from a child. 
 
 But torturing nature's fairest gifts ourselves 
 To coarse utilities, and having lost 
 That spirit which Childhood typifies, we find 435 
 
 No types on earth of Heaven, and then admire 
 Ourselves, as though forsooth we were the age 
 Where wisdom took its birth with us to die. 
 But are there not on nature's glowing page 
 Some things reveal'd for man to marvel at, 440 
 
 As also in the scroll of heavenly lore 
 Which in the written word is treasured up ? 
 Haply in each there lies full many a root 
 Which the small light in this estate vouchsafed 
 Mav keep alive, which from the Well of Light 445 
 
 In bright Eternity must water'd be, 
 And so unfold itself to man above. 
 As in those courts he grows, for ever grows 
 Towards the Infinity he cannot reach, 
 Which hides Itself the more it doth disclose 450 
 
 The treasures of all Wisdom in Itself *. 
 
 Sweet then the days when Childhood's faith discern'd 
 That Heaven and earth at yonder hill were blent.
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 Prophetic intuition of the faith 
 
 Of him who hath indeed become a child, 455 
 
 And thus with open'd eye can reahze 
 
 Those that be with him, all the witnesses, 
 
 Or saints departed, or the angel host. 
 
 Oh, blest be such ! These Israelites indeed 
 
 Have in their dwellings light, while carnal men 460 
 
 Grope in the darkness of hard reasonings 
 
 On lifeless matter and extended space. 
 
 O Thou Incomprehensible ! shall man 
 Presume to comprehend and understand 
 Thy glorious works, forgetful Whose they are, 465 
 
 Of Whom they speak ? Oh, rather would I hold 
 That not Jerusalem alone, but all 
 On earth hath antitypes above in Heaven, 
 And all, the fruits of one wide-reaching Law. 
 The first Creation was a prophecy 470 
 
 Of that to come. Hence all created speaks 
 Of Thy beloved Bride, and all her ways. 
 Hence also is it, that hints sown up and down 
 Thv Spirit-inspired word, a little here. 
 And there a little, {that the blind may fall 475 
 
 And stumble, and be snared,) yet entrance 
 The soul that museth on that other book 
 Which men have nature named, and there can read 
 The creature's heaving groans and travailing hopes ; 
 Yea, and from these as her apt standing-place 480 
 
 Shall hear a music for the inward ear, 
 And though the sound be transient, it shall leave ^ 
 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 A lasting impress in the memory 
 
 Which he one day shall feel of ruling power 
 
 To chasten and subdue unsteady thoughts. 485 
 
 For hints like these admit him to a shrine 
 
 Which those upon obedience seldom set 
 
 Have never enter'd ; and within that shrine 
 
 He hears a voice that echo often finds 
 
 On earth : as one who in a darksome grove 490 
 
 Beholds through openings, by a skilful hand 
 
 Laid bare, a vista of some spreading scene 
 
 Glowing and quivering in the fondling sun ; 
 
 And as he gazes, haply kens his home, 
 
 With many a tree, the favourite of his youth, 495 
 
 By him distinguish'd gladly from afar. 
 
 So yearns the soul to list to nature's plaint, 
 
 Until she understand such mysteries 
 
 As once were swiftly learnt, ere man had left 
 
 His native Paradise, were minister'd 500 
 
 By herbs or beasts, in place of written words, 
 
 That Alphabet of Adam, whence perchance 
 
 Primeval hieroglyphics were derived, — 
 
 An art that, from the wreck of things preserved, 
 
 Taught late posterity symbolic signs '", 505 
 
 Which as the vivid feeling for the drift 
 
 Of nature's whisperings died and died away. 
 
 At length from ancient shapes were rounded off. 
 
 And wore the carved appearance of trim art. 
 
 And though in handling nature's beauteous gifts, 510 
 
 The light, or heat, or stream, or waving tree,
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 A 3^11] ness like to this be now abroad ; 
 
 Yet even now the company of Heaven 
 
 Seems not removed entirely from the sphere 
 
 Which sight is mistress of, but ready still 515 
 
 To greet that sight, were we but bold to live 
 
 In more congenial holiness with those 
 
 Commended as of imitable life 
 
 In each day's hallowed Prayer, to view 
 
 Their ritual of nature here on earth, 520 
 
 As counterpart of that in Heaven perform'd, 
 
 And so the Church's counterpart, to rise 
 
 Each morn with sterner thoughts, each night lie down 
 
 With the sweet sense that they had holy deeds 
 
 Become, to help us at the dreadful Day ! 525 
 
 Oh slumber calm ! that would such days succeed, 
 
 Meet for some vision of the night, some trance 
 
 Wherein the soul untainted by the sense 
 
 Should live and feel its tranquil energies 
 
 Commune with nature's Lord in secrecy ! 530 
 
 Visions in ancient days a channel were 
 For powers of intuition into things 
 From sight removed, and this among the ways 
 Of Revelation foremost Job hath placed. 
 This gift of dreams. These too, in Christian times. 
 Were promised, and to holy men vouchsafed : 536 
 
 And if the chief prophetic history 
 Of the world's destinies, through Pagan king. 
 First shaped itself in dream, by Daniel 
 Interpreted, may not in heathen books 540
 
 00 
 
 NATURE A I'ARABLE. 
 
 Full many a dream recorded dwell, which waits 
 
 For Christian Church, and those prophetic powers 
 
 She ever hears, hcfore, in clearer phrase, 
 
 It shall disclose the meaning by it held ? 
 
 When Xerxes loiter'd 'twixt resolve and doubt 545 
 
 Still unresolved, the honest courtier strove 
 
 To fix his judgment, and was fain to scorn 
 
 The dream which Christians easily believe 
 
 An interference swaying mightily 
 
 The doom of empires, though they fear to say 550 
 
 What place it takes in things divinely view'd. 
 
 And seen no more on human side alone. 
 
 As then the ways of nature dimly show 
 The ways of grace, as dreams are Prophecy, 
 In outline rough and awful, as the day 555 
 
 Of Christian Light gives each the colouring due, 
 And makes things apt for having shade or tinge 
 Significant, to have the shade indeed^'. 
 Soon as the Church, with Prophet's oflSce charged, 
 By words of light from common things evokes 560 
 
 Power or bestow'd or latent ; so for each 
 There is a Prophet (thus the poet's name 
 In holy writ appears) : and as to all 
 All blessings come attracted by the Church 
 Towards our earth, so Wisdom through the Church 
 Descended into Pagan lore at first. 566 
 
 Moses from Egypt learnt, but Egypt's self 
 Was taught by him who with celestial wealth 
 Enrich'd the Egyptian senators, — himself
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 The type of Christ and Christian ministry. .570 
 
 And as the clearer light of Christian days 
 
 Is tended by Succession clearly known. 
 
 So the dim light of heathen mystery 
 
 Had poets for its prophets, not with oil 
 
 And hands imposed, (as were the Jewish seers 575 
 
 Created, who on Gibeah's balmy hill 
 
 Sang healing ' charms and knots ' for humble hearts,) 
 
 Agglomerated into hallow'd guild, 
 
 And held of old to be th' interpreters 
 
 Who might decipher language now unknown, 580 
 
 Whereby th' inhabitants of Heaven's court 
 
 With men of earlier days more closely talk'd. 
 
 Hence was it that they spake in all their lays 
 I Of Human Nature's intimations felt. 
 
 Which told a fallen state, a higher hoped. 585 
 
 And they as oft as in the general plaint 
 
 They sung their part, seem'd witness of a time 
 ' When joyous birds, whose movements with their own 
 They hken'd oft-times, and the other brutes 
 Whose passions they with gaze inquisitive 590 
 
 Observed and wielded deftly, not alone 
 Enjoy'd the privilege of world-wide speech ", 
 And language unconfounded, but when men 
 Each other understood, and as the sons 
 Of one great household, knew each other's signs. 595 
 
 Oh, sorrow for the change in Babel wrought. 
 The sin that weaken'd old Tradition's ties, 
 And made it hard of access, e'en in climes
 
 24 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 But slightly separate, and rent the clue 
 
 Which it had given man wherewith to spell 600 
 
 The characters in nature's book of Love ! 
 
 Sweet was the thought (if on its happier side 
 
 It be survey'd) which moved great Gregory 
 
 To teach the Church one tongue again to speak ! 
 
 And strange that now that seems not possible ! 605 
 
 Doubtless there is a Providence that sways 
 
 Men's wilful studies, and the linguist's skill 
 
 In new analyses of kindred tongues 
 
 Display 'd, may haply pave the way for that 
 
 Its atheistic principles despise ! - 610 
 
 How oft in other climes the sacred tongue 
 
 For hallowing office is by those unknown 
 
 Who use its words ! Oh, let us not be bold. 
 
 While thankful for our privilege, to deny 
 
 That this can be a dispensation wise 615 
 
 That hides from vulgar eyes the hallowing lore. 
 
 For not from Christians onlv that have fallen, 
 
 Whether in Asia, Rome, or Africa, 
 
 Was this so hidden ; but in Persia's fanes. 
 
 In Italy and India, holy books 620 
 
 Call'd on the votary to take the yoke 
 
 Of toilsome, long endurance, ere they show'd 
 
 What now had grown too sacred to disclose 
 
 To those who cared not holy skill to buy 
 
 At cost of trouble. And though lore corrupt 625 
 
 It often was, yet still in part 'twas good. 
 
 And thus far circled in by shy reserve '■\
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 And from such treasuries of holier things, 
 
 Whether direct themselves they ask'd the seer, 
 
 Or through philosophers that skill ohtain'd, 630 
 
 Tlie poets drew of old and open'd out 
 
 " Somewhat of nature's depth and mysteries." 
 
 Yea, even as the ancient Prophecies, 
 
 Through fresh Tradition given on Sinai's hill. 
 
 The Gospel lay, on fallen man at first 635 
 
 Bestow'd, expanded, and in Love Divine 
 
 L'ncoil'd the leaves of Mercy from the hud. 
 
 At Adam's sin upheaved, which from new sins 
 
 Drew nourishment, until the stem came up. 
 
 Like to that eastern flower which fathers plant 640 
 
 That children's children may hehold the bloom. 
 
 Which drops its fragrant honey to the earth ; 
 
 Even so the poets often touch a fount 
 
 Of heavenly lore, which future bards rejoice 
 
 To channel through such lovely scenes as suit 645 
 
 Their tasteful fancy, precious images 
 
 Which they from earlier sources carry on. 
 
 Some great economy, some blended whole 
 
 Of parts compact, to their fidelity 
 
 Entrusted seems, and minds, for mystery 650 
 
 Disposed, its gain or failures view with awe. 
 
 Knowing that they were prophets of their own 
 
 Who lighten'd Gentiles with such flakes of Light 
 
 As Israel's Glory might to them impart. 
 
 Such thoughts as these might cross the mind of him. 
 Whoe'er amid staid contemplation's mood 656
 
 26 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Weigh 'd in his heart the scheme (it is a scheme) 
 Of Pagan darkness, wink'd at by our God. 
 For though perhaps he deem it safest course 
 To shorten overprying eagerness 6 GO 
 
 Upon such scheme incomprehensible. 
 Still thoughts like these may come amid the awe 
 Of this still contemplation unreproved '*. 
 Even as the Heavens on a starry night 
 Seem brooding, with the wings of mighty love, 665 
 Upon the silent darkness of the earth. 
 When suddenly a meteor passes on 
 Through half the firmament, and disappears 
 As though it pass'd again into the depth, 
 Th' unfathora'd depth of inner Heaven's courts. 670 
 Such are those musings upon heathen night, 
 Which leave upon the calm and placid thought 
 Dim apprehension that some Angel sped 
 Before the mind subdued, with high behest 
 From inmost Heaven, telling of God's ways, 675 
 
 And sowing as he pass'd, in looks devout. 
 Unquestioning wonder and obedient awe. 
 Yet, since our age, untutor'd to explore 
 The vestiges of God upon the waves 
 Of heathenism, big of speech to admire 680 
 
 The noble works of reason uninspired. 
 Perverse to heathenize the word of Life 
 By rude comparisons with Pagan saws, 
 (The depth whereof that word alone can sound,) 
 Forgetful of the Light that lighteneth all, 685
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 2/ 
 
 (Plato shall rise against them m the day 
 
 Of judgment,) hears with peevish jealousy 
 
 Of inspiration claim' d for holy bards. 
 
 Me it befits (ere passing to declare 
 
 What thoughtful music nature hath within, 690 
 
 When tremblingly invited by the touch 
 
 Of those, who led by Revelation strive 
 
 To hear her speak) to hope that T may win 
 
 A hearing from the kindred few that find 
 
 Their God still present, and inspiring still 695 
 
 Whate'er of Truth to ancient times remain'd. 
 
 His is the right undoubted, when He wills, 
 
 To break upon the mind at once, and pierce 
 
 The clouds with sunbeams of immediate day ! 
 
 His to rejoice the soul, embalm'd in death 700 
 
 Bv whoredom's aloes, myrrh, and cinnamon. 
 
 With sudden pardon, sudden strength to obey. 
 
 Yet these be not His wonted ways : He comes 
 
 Back into man by slow and soft access. 
 
 And trickles on the stony heart by drops, 705 
 
 And wears it down by sacred penance-tears. — 
 
 Such are His wonted courses ; and could man 
 
 See at a glance the secrets of all hearts, 
 
 They might to such an one a rule become 
 
 Of universal prevalence. — Even souls 710 
 
 That, being wash'd, are hitherto unsoil'd. 
 
 He bringeth not at once to brightness /m//. 
 
 Without their toil and self-denial stern. 
 
 Poorness of spirit, by bold chastisement
 
 28 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Of self, in vigils and spare diet wrought, 7 1 5 
 
 Until desire perfection work at last, 
 
 Perfection yet securer than the joy 
 
 Baptismal perfectness to man conveys. 
 
 So also in the paths which Wisdom opes. 
 
 He helps us by degrees of prayer-won gains, 720 
 
 In the laborious track, while many a thought 
 
 Of noble depth from memory's tablet fades. 
 
 Which elsewhere consciousness may re-salute. 
 
 And though His aid in intellectual gifts 
 
 Steal on us (may I reverently say) 725 
 
 As in the moral sense. He could impart 
 
 At once His gifts, as sometime that of tongues, 
 
 Which now is won by patient industry. 
 
 The fruit of Babel's sin. Yet doubtless he 
 
 Who from his Mother Church to nations yet 730 
 
 In darkness sitting, Gospel tidings seeks 
 
 To publish, in the intellectual task 
 
 Of printing on his heart another's tongue, 
 
 Hath aidance slow from Him who at the first 
 
 Gave the Apostles utterance suddenly. 735 
 
 Oh, 'tis a fearful and a humbling thought 
 
 For those who pride themselves on learned stores. 
 
 If learning verily in every mind 
 
 Advanceth not without His silent aid, 
 
 Howe'er by man misused ! and holiness 740 
 
 May minister to pride, and virtue's pile. 
 
 Built without hands, mav crumble into sin 
 
 Through inattentive slackening of chaste fear.
 
 THE INTROEUCTIOX. 29 
 
 In wisdom as in virtue He inspires 
 
 By His just measures. Sift thy rising doubts, 745 
 
 Find, if thou canst, a reason which shall prove 
 
 Th9.t knowledge is not leaning on His Staft" 
 
 At every step she takes ; and when thou seem'st 
 
 To have grasp'd objection suitable to wield 
 
 With ruinous might on this neglected truth, 750 
 
 Then try its edge on virtue, and be taught 
 
 How^ that which severs knowledge, if it could 
 
 Would sever virtue also from its Root ; 
 
 A weapon powerless against them both. 
 
 Meet to be hung amid th' heretic arms 755 
 
 Of proud Pelagius : the shield alike 
 
 Of knowledge and of virtue he anoints : 
 
 Both lean on one Foundation — upon God. 
 
 What if the vigorous soul, whose energies 
 Are concentrated upon serving Him, 760 
 
 Enjoy at times a loftier flight of love. 
 And, borne upon the silver-feather'd wings 
 Of the mysterious Dove, a glimpse should catch 
 Of God's Almighty Mercy, and descend 
 To imitate towards his brother men 765 
 
 That mercy, which from strictest holiness 
 Flows ever fullest, not believed before 
 To kiss each other, till Almighty Truth 
 Wrought deeds of love, which he should imitate 
 By deeds of his, that pass the beaten track 770 
 
 In which the drudging worship of the world 
 Keeps such as heed not self-denial's calls
 
 30 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To take a wider range, inspiring deeds 
 
 Of an ungrudging hospitality, 
 
 Such as hath fitted Abraham to be host 775 
 
 Of all the spirits in the middle state, 
 
 Or charity's profusions strong to pay 
 
 The debt by sin incurr'd, or hunger bold, 
 
 To exchange for necessary rest in sleep 
 
 The Christian sabbath of unceasing prayer? 780 
 
 Doth not the intellect alike that dwells 
 
 'Mid patient study find her faculties 
 
 Are oft rewarded with surprising sights. 
 
 Discovery that suddenly illumes, 
 
 As if by chance, the spot whereon they fix'd 785 
 
 Their hardy gaze ? And if a humble joy 
 
 Be aught of evidence that He was there, 
 
 The illuminating Spirit, then 'tis well, 
 
 Methinks, to give the honour unto Him 
 
 Who filled the son of Hur with Wisdom deep, 790 
 
 And on his workmanship engraved the lines 
 
 Whose awe by Prophets afterwards was loved. 
 
 Or when upon the sages' soaring mind 
 
 Light gush'd, and utterance gave of Gospel truths. 
 
 Though darkly gather'd from the store confused 795 
 
 Of hoar Tradition ; or when Poets dear 
 
 Our bosoms rifle of their inward thoughts. 
 
 And throw before our very eyes the Truth 
 
 We only feel, or raise our weary souls 
 
 By balmy Music breathing purest scent 800 
 
 Of pleasure-grounds, wherein themselves have roam'd
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 For flowers of ancient Paradise, and man 
 
 Remind of higher state and ruin'd powers 
 
 That strive within towards recovery ; 
 
 Did dingy chance present the poet's mind 805 
 
 With this unwonted thought ? or was it not 
 
 Some inspiration, whose faint voice from far 
 
 Could touch a heart framed haply from the womb 
 
 On purer heathens heavenly dews to shed, 
 
 Imagination's gales of holier joy, 810 
 
 And scents which seem to unsubstantialize 
 
 The fi-ame that from their freshening influence takes 
 
 Prophetic intimations of a life 
 
 Whose birth is after death, whose living powers. 
 
 In pre-existence now, first notions take, 815 
 
 Vague apprehensions and ideas of things. 
 
 Which the new Heavens and new Earth may call 
 
 To full-grown consciousness in clearer Light ? 
 
 Such may have been the prophets, who of old 
 In heathen realms were raised to help the just 820 
 
 Of every nation onwards to the world 
 Unseen, and if their lessons were uncouth 
 And hard to understand, from cumbrous tale. 
 Or ludicrous appendage, apt to invite 
 The mocker's sneer, unmindful of the truth 825 
 
 That lurk'd among them, still their fabled hell 
 Could not be scorn'd at leisure '^ when the grave 
 Gaped close at hand, and when th' all-anxious soul 
 Look'd back upon a life of wicked deeds, 
 And felt them all too true : nor did thev fail 830
 
 32 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To administer the peace that innocence 
 
 Can bring at last to those who heard their words. 
 
 And chose the safer side. E'en Judah's seers 
 
 Would seem to use ridiculous adages 
 
 To hearts that had the strength of guilt to say 835 
 
 What the irreverent and scoffing tongue 
 
 Might utter in consistence with itself. 
 
 Such haply were their prophets ! and to them 
 
 Trutli was as Sarah to Abimelech : 
 
 They wish'd to love it as a wedded bride, 840 
 
 But God upon such times of ignorance 
 
 Yet wink'd, with awful and abiding sense. 
 
 Which, like appalling dream, forced from their hearts 
 
 Confession that they lack'd the bridal tie. 
 
 And could not make their spirits yield the fruit 84.) 
 
 Inwomb'd within them, 'till true Abraham's prayer 
 
 At last prevail'd, and from their barren souls 
 
 True Prophets drew the latent tendency 
 
 They had to speak of His beloved Church '", 
 
 The sister, wife, and mother to Her Lord. 850 
 
 And like as they had prophets of their own, 
 So, too, they had a Bible in the world ; 
 For as that Spirit garnished the world, 
 And with Life-giving Power (Tradition lisps 
 In heathen legend of such deeds of Love) 855 
 
 He brooded o'er the " callow principles," 
 And is the Life that stays the Universe ; 
 And therefore must the world, as clothed by Him 
 With life, address such accents to the eye
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 That looks with adoration towards Him, 860 
 
 The Maker and Sustainer of His Work, 
 
 As harmonize with what He doth reveal 
 
 In the inspired volume, since the world 
 
 Were likest to its Maker, very good 
 
 From very Good, and sin alone could dream 865 
 
 Of unimparting envy " holding back 
 
 Perfections in itself, which Law Divine, 
 
 In measure such as creatures could enjoy. 
 
 Forbad not to impart. But since the sight, 
 
 Though still possest of wider far domain 870 
 
 Than to the other senses is allow'd. 
 
 By Adam's fall impair'd, no more can read 
 
 The looks of nature, gladly must we now 
 
 Those lights regard, which in the firmament 
 
 Of holy Scripture set, shall steer our course 875 
 
 Through that more ancient record of His Love, 
 
 The spacious heaven, with legions vast of light, 
 
 If only through Tradition's telescope 
 
 We view what trespasses had else removed 
 
 From the scant field of man's still weaker sight 880 
 
 When at that firmament he looks with pride. 
 
 And of this loss of power to unlock the signs 
 Of nature, doth that Eastern fable tell. 
 Which to an evil spirit would ascribe 
 The being of matter, picturing thus the change 885 
 
 Wrought in the mind by Satan, who hath been 
 The father of this lie, wherein were sown 
 The tares of many a blighting heresy.
 
 34 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which late and early grew among the wheat. 
 
 In Manichean or in Luther's days, 890 
 
 To manifest the approved. Nor lacks there trace 
 
 Of power to read the hieroglyphic book 
 
 Of nature even now. In furthest East 
 
 Its clearest footsteps may remain with those 
 
 Who by strange symbols long were separate, 895 
 
 Like a peculiar people, from the trade 
 
 And intercourse of thought with other lands. 
 
 And feebler vestiges among the race 
 
 Of uninventive Greeks, who borrow'd all 
 
 From Oriental wisdom, may be seen 900 
 
 By him who searches with the eye of love 
 
 For truth, among their grosser mysteries. 
 
 For what is nectar, or ambrosia. 
 
 Save a prophetic name of things to come 
 
 In Christian Feast, by great Melchizedek, 905 
 
 Himself unnumber'd in the chosen race. 
 
 Unto the Pagan world bequeath' d of yore ? 
 
 What are the bodies of the gods, in whom 
 
 Celestial blood^was running, but a glimpse 
 
 Of those who, being heirs of Heaven, are made 910 
 
 Partakers of the Godhead, by His Blood 
 
 Pour'd in their veins and quickening their flesh .'' 
 
 The eye of man read glancingly of old 
 (This is my faith, if this be not forbidden 
 By aught that Holy Church of me requires,) 915 
 
 God's Will, upon Creation plainly writ. 
 On every flower as clearly as was seen
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. OO 
 
 Upon the hyacinth the hero's name, 
 
 Or speaking from the rill, or uttering truth 
 
 By the bass ocean's awe-inspiring wave, 920 
 
 Or bv the firmament with nightly voice 
 
 Declared, or in the wind, by Angel moved 
 
 Where'er he listeth, uttering mystic sounds. 
 
 Whether that sense of sight shall once belong 
 
 To th' incorruptible already sown 925 
 
 Within corruption, or more fitly suit 
 
 i With creatures such as bow the knee above, 
 Still somewhat may survive, if it be nursed 
 By prayer, and deeds of love, and fastings stern. 
 Or night-long vigils, yearning for the time 930 
 
 When Jacob saw the Angel, or the Lord 
 
 I Made by a look the hour of cock- crowing 
 Of hallow'd might lost vision to restore. 
 For now that man hath fallen, the moral powers 
 And intellectual energies required 935 
 
 Ere he can drink Tradition's holy stream. 
 Need rigorous bracing by severe degrees 
 Of discipline alone to be restored. 
 And whereas sight was once a sense which read 
 By intuition the Almighty's works, 940 
 
 It too in this dark age from faith to faith 
 By slow repulsive discipline must climb 
 The height of mental vision whence it fell : 
 Faith and deep thought both live on things unseen. 
 What are the seeds of knowledge, whether sown 
 Tn pre-existence, whether each that brought 946 
 
 D 2
 
 36 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Some new discovery (should I rather say 
 
 New revelation ?) to the eyes of men 
 
 To make life easier, had it stamp'd within 
 
 At birth, to be awaken'd in fit time 950 
 
 We know not, nor how much that miglit appear 
 
 Of human knowledge born, its cradle had 
 
 In primitive Tradition's stores reveal'd 
 
 At the Creation, stores which prophets knew. 
 
 And part bequeath'd us in the holy page 955 
 
 From mouth to mouth convey'd to each of these 
 
 From when the world began, and deeply drunk 
 
 By Eastern sages ; but in other climes 
 
 By justest measure given for man to tend 
 
 And foster, or to leave in want of care 9G0 
 
 And anxiously renew'd attentiveness. 
 
 Such care as mother on a child bestows, 
 
 Watching awhile, and coming back to watch. 
 
 Till it awakens into little smiles. 
 
 And tells its secret cravings with its eye. 965 
 
 If this be so, then even on the page 
 Of learned Pagan may we chance to find 
 Inspired fragments of the ancient Truth, 
 Which, if adroitly handled, soon would yield 
 A surface bright, from whence we may behold 970 
 
 Reflected Light gleam over nature's works, — 
 Fragments to which no place hath been assign'd 
 Among the treasured jewels, new and old, 
 Which in the Cabinet of Heavenly Truth, 
 For Christ's own Bride to open, have been stored. 975
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 "^ForHrall Wisdom emanate from Him 
 
 Who is the Word, who, moving'^ the whole world, 
 
 By it the Father's glory doth declare. 
 
 They haply may unwittingly have been 
 
 By Him commission'd treasurers of rays 980 
 
 Else unreflected, ministering to us, 
 
 Not to themselves, and glorifying Him, 
 
 Whose Providential Love from heathen writ 
 
 Chose what should rescued be, and what be lost. 
 
 Or buried in some tranquil monastery, 985 
 
 In His own time to be recall'd to light. 
 
 When as the children of His Church should need 
 
 Provoking by no-people to due rites. 
 
 Or prophecv expecting history's aid. 
 
 Such as perchance the Arab shall supply, 990 
 
 Should from its womb of symbols bring to birth 
 
 The destinies of kingdoms near their doom. 
 
 'Twas thus the Persian, turning toward the East'^, 
 
 Foreshadow'd worship due unto the Sun 
 
 Of Righteousness, observed by Christ's elect 995 
 
 Expectant of His Advent, and was charged 
 
 With mission to the Jewish race denied. 
 
 And why should light be unexpected now 
 
 Among the heathen, nurtured as they were 
 
 By Him ? or why should Christians fail to see, 1000 
 
 When aided by their bright Tradition's beams, 
 
 Some clue to nature's mysteries, found alone 
 
 In Pagan rites, if even among them 
 
 Types of the High Redeemer's deeds were set.
 
 38 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Cyrus, or him for whom all Athens mourn'd ? 1005 
 
 Indeed, had history's earlier annals kept 
 
 Traditions undcfilcd, these types had been 
 
 Gifted with speech less inarticulate 
 
 To herald His first advent : what remains 
 
 We gladly use, and seeds of earlier Truth lOiO 
 
 May be from darker rites of Pagan days 
 
 By spirits, illumined of the Word j-eveal'd. 
 
 Elicited, too excellent for them. 
 
 For us not uninstructive, rites replete 
 
 With promises unearthly after death. 1015 
 
 Far less their wisdom, who would lore despise 
 
 Bv rabbins drawn from old prophetic schools. 
 
 That chose the balmy Gibeah for their home, 
 
 Where healing flowers typified themselves. 
 
 Or dwelt in Bethel's height, where grew of old 1020 
 
 The Almond-tree, that sign of watchfulness ; 
 
 Seeing that lore a holy lamp may tend 
 
 By Moses brought for minds to oral Law 
 
 Not obstinate, and handed on by those 
 
 In Moses' seat, and still not wholly dead, — 1025 
 
 Lore, such as Anna heard and Simeon sought 
 
 To guide their footsteps to the Lord of all : 
 
 Such as in Christian page of holy saints 
 
 Was handed onward still, that humble hearts 
 
 Might, in the labyrinth of nature's types, 1030 
 
 Be gladsome travellers, not without a clue. 
 
 Here then we pause : and willing would we learn 
 The voice of Wisdom, howsoe'er reveal'd.
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 Tliough chiefly seeking in the Christian sage 
 
 What she unto Tradition hath consign'd, 1035 
 
 Wliether from earliest time it have survived, 
 
 Or by the counterworking of the Church 
 
 In Heaven on that in Earth hath been reveal'd 
 
 More clearly, as her present storms required ; 
 
 Whether it find a sanction in the page 1040 
 
 Of holy Writ, or be for humbler hearts 
 
 In oral doctrine's lively treasury stored. 
 
 Should Heaven's blessing rest upon my work, 
 
 Then might a mind not undistinguishing 
 
 'Twixt truth and falsehood's colourings, be mine. 1045 
 
 Meantime, amid the time which Heaven bestows 
 
 For self-denying toil, (and other cast 
 
 Of study cannot prosper,) hke the bee 
 
 In industry from childhood taught to live. 
 
 It may be that I also, through my toil, 1050 
 
 May gather sweets, to store for time to come. 
 
 Upon the Hills of sweetness : from the Hills 
 
 I look for help, from Doctors of the Church, 
 
 That House which is on seven pillars built. 
 
 Or Angels seven, by whom are marshall'd still 1055 
 
 The Hosts that sway the powers which David saw 
 
 And call'd upon in sacred melody. 
 
 O, may Thy Light, whence help unto those Hills '" 
 Doth only come, for me unclean of lips. 
 So gush upon Thy works. Thou Holy Sun, 1060 
 
 As on some passage dark, as yet unsolved 
 By prayer and fasting, sacred music falls,
 
 40 NATURK A PARABLE. 
 
 (With spell of power to end what they began,) 
 
 Inviting haply to the courts of God 
 
 Spirits that gather to the Saints on earth, 1065 
 
 Such as the man who wist not where he was. 
 
 These, present, in communion mystical. 
 
 May, whispering to the soul in anthems high 
 
 Entranced, unriddle what before appear'd 
 
 Too hard, and knit with freshmade joints and bands 
 
 Our spirits, in sweet forgctfulness of life, 107 1 
 
 To dead relations living still to God.
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Note 1. p. 1. 
 
 Allusion is here made to a famous passage in Bp. Bull's De- 
 fensio Fidei Nicaenfe. "A particulai'i ad universale transiens 
 (S. Irenseus) obiter docet omnia universim mensura et ordine 
 Deum fecisse, et nihil non mensum apud Deum esse. Hsec autem 
 dum cogitat vii- sanctus, mente subito quasi volatu in sublime 
 evecta (quod hujusmodi seriptoribus alias non raro aceidit) 
 videt Deum mensurse et proportionis adeo amantem esse, ut 
 neque Sibi Ipsi deesse Mensuram voluerit, qua veluti circum- 
 seriberetur et contineretur Infinitas sua atque Immensitas. 
 Quod confirraat hoe insigni et egregio Catholici cujusdam scrip- 
 toris dicto, Ipsum Immensum Patrera in Filio mensuratura : 
 Mensura enim Patris Filius, quoniam et capit Euui." ii. 5. 34. 
 p. 217j ed. Burton. 
 
 Note 2. p. 2. 
 
 It may be as well to state, in case such an impression should 
 anywhere be created, that there has been no intention of adopt- 
 ing the theory of the unreality of matter, as held by some pan- 
 theists : any expressions which may seem to favour this theory 
 must be taken as levelled at the assumption, so common among 
 us, that we understand the nature of matter, and the consequent 
 implicit rejection of such an idea as is contained in the words
 
 42 
 
 NOTES 
 
 " spiritual body." Soo Johnson's Unbloody Sacrifice, vol. i. p. 25. 
 Nor again is it amiss, perhapsj with a view to being clear of 
 countenancing tlie notion that Angels are the souls of the objects 
 of nature, (and not the ministcrmg spirits who go where they 
 list, because their will never thwarts God's will,) to produce a 
 passage of Licinianus in his letter to St. Gregory the Great : — 
 " Satis niiror (Hilariuni) hommem doetissimura et sanctum, ut 
 de stellis luenias Origenis transferret. Milii, Sanctissime Pater, 
 nullo pacto suaderi potest, ut credam astra cceli spiritus rationales 
 quu' neque cum Angelis neque cum hominibus facta esse Scrip- 
 tura Sancta dcchu'et." In Grabe on the Clementines, v. § 10, 
 who says, " astra animata esse panci Patrum existimaverunt.'" 
 There is a similar caution in Athanasius, dc Incarn. cap. ii. v. fin.; 
 and see Basil, Hex. iii. 9, and the Pref. of the Benedictine 
 editor, § 23. 
 
 Note 3. p. 5. 
 
 Clemens Alex. P.ied. ii. § 79. Ma/ca'piot o'l iypriyoponc I'u 
 avTov (T<paQ axjTOVc cnniKd^ovTtQ ayykXoiQ ovq 'Eypj/yopoVat 
 
 Note 4. p. 11. 
 In the Ph^drus, § 5G. 
 
 Note 5. p. II. 
 
 Plato, Phileb. § 153. ^ /x»} /ui'^ojuti' dXrfittav ovk di' ttoti tovt 
 aXifQuiQ y'lyvoiTO ovS' av ysvofitvov iirj. 
 
 Note 6. p. 12. 
 
 See the note ^ on Tertullian's Apology, cap. 22. Oxf. Ti-ans- 
 lation. 
 
 Note 7. p. 17. 
 
 Not that tlie thirst for system, S(c. This thought is taken from 
 Moehler's Symbolik, p. 68. I. ii. 35. This way of finding in child- 
 hood's faith types of higher things, seems also to have struck an
 
 ON BOOK I. 43 
 
 autlioress whom I value myself too highly not to notice the 
 coincidence — Lady Flora Hastings, Poems, 12mo, p. 191. 
 
 Note 8. p. 18. 
 
 Grows, for ever (jroics. St. Irenseus has the following remark- 
 able words, ii. 28. § 3. vol. i. p. 156, Massuet., which I give at 
 length, because they anticipate that passage of Origen, which is 
 cited by Bishop Butler (An. p. G), and contains the sxun and 
 substance of his Analogy. Ei Se iivi Ttjg kt'ktsojq tvia fiiv dvd- 
 KHTai Tip G£(pi, ivia Ve Kal £t(; yvoJnn' iXi'jXvOe ti)i' y^HTipav, ri 
 )(dXt7rov ti Kal twv tv raig ypafaXQ Zu'^'ovixeviov, o\wv tojv ypa- 
 (pwv irvtvuaTiKUJV ohawv 'Ivia fiiv hTTiXvoftev Kara xdpiv Qtov, 
 tvia ck avctKeiatTcn tc^ ©f^, x^c^f^ ov fiovoi' aiiJvi iv ri^ vvvi, dXXu 
 Koi iv T({i niXXovTi ; 'iva 'AEI n'tv 6 Qtbg OiSdcKy, dvOpwiroQ di 
 Old iravTOQ /lavOdvy Trapd Qeov. And in a like way St. Ephrem, 
 adv. Scrutat. vol. iii. p. 9, speaks of the Angels as progressing 
 in knowledge, in conformity with what St. Peter implies, 1 Ep. 
 i. 12. 
 
 Note 9. [>. 19. 
 
 Two passages of St. Austin, the one in his book de Trinitate, 
 lib. xii. § 23, and the other in his Enarration on Ps. xli. § 9, were 
 in my mind here. They are too long to be given so fully as to 
 make them intelligible, but will amply repay perusal. 
 
 Note 10. p. 20. 
 
 The Bible speaks of Tubal-Cain and others as inventors of 
 sundry arts before the flood, and Plato (de Legg. iii. 1) is fol- 
 lowed by Aristotle (Metaph. lib. xi. 8.) in holding that many 
 discoveries in the arts were relics of primeval discoveries brought 
 again to light. Hence the supposition in the text may not be a 
 mere fancy. It may be worth adding, that the names of the 
 Hebrew letters are all significant of thuigs which the forms of 
 them more or less closely represent. See Ewald's Grammar. 
 
 Note 11. p. 22. 
 These words allude to a passage in Aristotle, do Anuna, lib. iii.
 
 44 NOTES 
 
 c. 5, TpuTTov riva to ipiSJQ iroul ra cvvdfjtn vvra xf"«'/tai'rt tpip- 
 yi't<ji xpf^fiaTa. 
 
 Note 12. p. 23. 
 
 Allusion is here made to a curious passage from a Chinese 
 author, given by a writer to wliom T feel great obligations, Win- 
 dischmaii, rhilosoj)hie im Fortgang der Weltgcschichte, vol. i. 
 p. 224. "The voices of beasts are everywhere the same : the song 
 of the birds is as it was in the first ages : man then must have 
 deviated from the oneness of his language, seeing that each king- 
 dom has its own, each province has a peculiar way of expression. 
 Nature is one, reason is one, the beautiful is one [to all], so 
 strange a confusion (Unordnung) is only deducible from some 
 still greater confusion." This is perhaps the most striking piece 
 of reasoning I am acquainted with in any heathen writer. The 
 thoughts presently following are taken from St. Ephrem's com- 
 mentary upon the passage in Genesis x-elating to the confusion of 
 tongues. 
 
 Note 13. p. 24. 
 
 " Metaphors," says Lo-pie, " were not used by the ancients 
 merely to adorn the style, but also by the dark, the deep, the 
 concealed, to fix the earnest spirit upon the exalted doctrines 
 whereof they discoursed, and on the other hand to scare away 
 the superficial." Windischman, ibid. p. 358. This is what seems 
 to have been effected in Christian and pagan times too by the 
 language in which the holy books were, becoming an unknown 
 tongue. One does not see how this marvellous dispensation of 
 Providence can be made the subject of such reckless abuse as it 
 often is, consistently with any belief that He orders all things, 
 although it would also appear to be a manifest duty in Christian 
 ministers to explain, to all willing to learn, the language of the 
 ritual, otherwise it would not be understanded of tlie people who 
 join in the service. I may refer the reader to Bp. Walton's 
 Prol. p. 25, 26 (Datlie) ; Quatremere, Recherches sur I'Egypte, 
 p. 38 ; Hoffman, Syr. Gramm. p. 88 ; Windisch. p. 608, for some 
 proofs of the frequency of this dispensation in diverse nations.
 
 ON BOOK I. 45 
 
 Note 14. p. 26. 
 
 Unrcprored. St. Clement of Alexandria, throughout his Stro- 
 maties, gives this view, as do several other Fathers. Hence 1 
 have said it may be held imreproved. See particularly Strom. 
 v. 4. § 19. 
 
 Note 15. p. 31. 
 
 See a most instructive passage in Plato's Republic, i. § 5, 
 beautifully ti-anslated by the editor of my translation of St. Chry- 
 sostom on the Romans, p. 140. 
 
 Note 16. p. 32. 
 
 " Videtur mihi quod Abimelech iste formam teneat studiosorum 
 et sapientum inundi, qui philosophiaj operam dantes, tamen non 
 intelligunt regulam pietatis, ut attingant ; senserunt tamen Deum 
 et Regem omnium. Isti ergo, quantum ad moralem philosopliiam 
 spectat, etiam purifieato corde operam dedisse comprobantur ; 
 sed banc non permisit Deus illos contingere, hsec enira gratia 
 non per Abraham sed per Christum tradi gentibus parabatur." 
 V. Bede in Gen. xxi., and see also St. Austin, c. Faust, xxii. 39, 
 seqq. 
 
 Note "17. p. 33. 
 This is taken from Plato's Timseus, § 10. 
 
 Note 18. p. 37. 
 
 S. Athan. de Incarn. vi. § 24. Tov Yiou to, oka twv tv ry 
 kt'kjh KivovvTuQ Kal li avTOL ■■^viij^iZ.ovroQ rbv TlaTti^a. 
 
 Note 19. p. 37. 
 
 See the note on Tertullian's Apology, p. 16, and Abp. Potter 
 on St. Clement, p. 857. It is worth remarking, that Mahomet 
 argued (Sur. ii. 109. ed. Flugel.) that God was present every- 
 where, and therefore men might turn any way in prayer ; after- 
 wards, however, he found it convenient to direct men to look to 
 Jerusalem and then to Mecca ; see Maracci on the Coran, p. 49.
 
 46 NOTES ON BOOK I. 
 
 NoTK 20. p. 39. 
 
 This mystical interpretation of the word Hills seems <|uite a 
 Catholic one, being found in sevei-al different parts of the Chureh. 
 V. Origen in Josh. xxvi. 1. c. Cels. p. 253. Hilar, on Ps. cxxiv. 
 August, on Vs. XXXV. 49, from whom more particularly the lan- 
 guage of the text is taken : — " Auxilium tibi venit de montibus, 
 quia Scripturai per montes tibi ministratse sunt, id est, per mag- 
 nos prajdicatores vcritatis : sed noli in illis figere sj)em tuam. 
 Audi quid dicat consequenter, &c." — a caution which he very 
 often urges. Hence in Psalm xcv. we arc also taught, that the 
 Strength of the Hills is His also.
 
 BOOK II. 
 THE GREATER LIGHT.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Sunrise after a thunder-storm ; its joyousness best understood 
 by the ascetic. The last words of David alluded to. Harbingers 
 and events of sunrise typical of the rise of Christianity. Possi- 
 bility that the fault is in the heart of those who have no sense 
 for these types. Sun a type of Him who revealed the Holy 
 Trinity ; specially in His healing powers. Cannot be looked at 
 with safety to the eye. Mid-day and the other canonical hours 
 dwelt upon at length. Clouds attendant on the Sun not without 
 meaning, both as softening and as hidmg his light. The influence 
 of Jewish Saints over the material Sun, of what typical in Chris- 
 tian times . The events of the ninth hour, and the light afforded 
 to the other hemisphere by the sunset considered. Expectation 
 of His coming again to Judgment.
 
 #» --^^ 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The thunder hath unfasten'd the soft spell 
 
 Of restful silence : and the ghastly flash 
 
 With wings of fear upon the murky earth 
 
 Is clapping, as would sentences of wrath 
 
 Upon a sinner's soul. Now many a one 5 
 
 In drowsy sleep enfolded wakes him up, 
 
 And the new flash unto the darkness calls 
 
 To tell the half-roused faculties what voice 
 
 From slumber summou'd them. It seems a thrill 
 
 Anticipative of the Son of Man 1 
 
 To judgment coming, which with urgent fear 
 
 Undoes the hopes of slumber — or the Fire 
 
 Which then shall cleanse the sin-struck penitent 
 
 That in those flashes gleams before the time. 
 
 As each lay down or burden'd or at ease 15 
 
 From conscience, stubborn shadow, which behind 
 
 The day-time's actions closely follows on, 
 
 So did he then awake ; some unto shame 
 
 For wilful sins committed, some to feel 
 
 That night may typify the middle state, 20 
 
 For night with it hath kindred power to still 
 
 The conscience from such sins as during day 
 
 E
 
 50 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Through weakness have been done. And not alone 
 
 The body or the intellect through sleep 
 
 Is here repair'd, but moral faculties 2.'' 
 
 Are of a will more resolute possest 
 
 At morning, than at even. And though sleep 
 
 Be gifted with such absolution-keys, 
 
 'Tis not for all that it will exercise 
 
 Its freshening powers : the murderer from his guilt 'SU 
 
 This merciful restorer ne'er absolves. 
 
 Whether to night this boon was therefore given, 
 
 Because in it the imprison'd spirits heard 
 
 The Preaching of their Saviour, and the deeps 
 
 And dragons ' felt necessity of praise 35 
 
 Then pressing on them, or from other source 
 
 This mercy to the weakness of the flesh 
 
 Show'd sympathizing care, we need not seek. 
 
 But they who most have God's commandments kept, 
 
 Shall most, when waken'd out of nightly sleep, 40 
 
 Be present with Him, firm against the beck 
 
 Of Satan snatching at their energies, 
 
 To turn them to his service, ere as yet 
 
 They beneath fuUy-waken'd conscience stand 
 
 In marshall'd order. These may hear the storm 45 
 
 Undaunted straightway turning them to prayer. 
 
 But chiefly ready are the bolder few 
 
 Who, waking all the night by fast and prayer. 
 
 Prevent the enemy, when sowing tares : 
 
 Their chilly limbs have ceased to sensuahze 50 
 
 The soul ; for they in Thee, the Place of Prayer ^,
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 51 
 
 'OT'-Hbly Ghost, while kneeling, seem'd to join, 
 Thou Advocate ! the unutterable plaint 
 Which Thou, who dost not slumber, dost not sleep, 
 For man, in man, dost make. These too be they 55 
 Who, when the storm is past, shall best salute 
 The type of Christ our Bridegroom taken away 
 By night, and through the hidden alms of prayer 
 Spending the Spirit's inexhausted gold. 
 Are clean to feel His Advent long before ! 60 
 
 Oh ! what a blissful sight a sunrise is 
 For eyes which, drawing from the Well of Life 
 Their Head, a fount of weeping have become 
 Of mediatorial tears, and hallow'd pain. 
 And suffering vicarious, through the Head 65 
 
 (Who waters is) availing for the sins 
 Of the frail daughter of the chosen land. 
 Eyes that have pass'd the night in lengthen'd prayer, 
 The voucher of true joyousness by day ; 
 Or imitating Him who is the Sun 70 
 
 Of the new earth wherein already such 
 Be dwelling, ere His worldly counterpart 
 Be fully up in desert place, apart 
 From lazy slumberings of careless men, 
 Are weeping over brother- Christians' sins, 75 
 
 And in the womb of love with travail sore 
 Begetting earnest spirits, — for such eyes 
 A joyful thing it is to see the flakes 
 Of panting light play softly o'er the Hills, 
 Softly as Music from a mother's lips 80 
 
 £ 2
 
 52 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 By infants' love received, or Prophecy 
 
 ' Expiring witli the Saviour on its tongue.' 
 
 Such in the dreary winter of misfare 
 
 Shall oft remember how by Jacob taught 
 
 They for the sheep were mindful, while the drought 8.5 
 
 By day consumed their outward man, by night 
 
 Their limbs with cold were stiffen'd, and long prayer. 
 
 Such shall have fellowship with Judah's sons. 
 
 Who kept that watch by night, and while they feel 
 
 They are their brothers' keepers, shall not lack 90 
 
 The voice of heavenly melody to cheer 
 
 Tlieir ample vigils. Them the unceasing song 
 
 Of Holy, Holy, Holy, evermore 
 
 Shall haunt, and Angels' ministry befriend 
 
 For blessings on Salvation's heirs obtain'd 95 
 
 By their strong crying. Foretaste shall be theirs 
 
 Of that chief blessing, which to those He finds 
 
 So doing, promised is. With this within 
 
 They shall behold the Bi'idegroom's antitype 
 
 Go forth, with wondrous joy and majesty, 100 
 
 Not visible to all men as to them. 
 
 They with the spell of mighty love to God 
 
 Led onward, ever in the storm may read 
 
 The words of warning, by the Sun be told 
 
 Of the eternal Easter- tide to come, 10.') 
 
 When love, by lasting hallelujahs fed. 
 
 No more shall need the preacher's warnings long. 
 
 But prayer and praise, whose friendship they on earth 
 
 Have courted most, shall open guerdon find.
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 53 
 
 Great was his love who longed for the Courts 110 
 Whose Sun is God : the lowest mansion there 
 He better loved than unabiding tents 
 Where the ungodly hid their wedge of gold ! 
 And therefore in his Psalms the royal Light 
 Of Love most brightly shines ; such love as gives 1 15 
 Not only this frail body to be burn'd, 
 But putteth e'en the soul into the hand, 
 As ready that to lose, if deeds of love 
 To God require, and solemn curses need 
 A human voice to utter what shall make 1 20 
 
 The foe do quickly that he broods upon, 
 And from one sin unto another fall ! 
 And as the Sun of Righteousness so shone 
 In him, as either withering power to wield 
 Or gentle festerings for true penitents 125 
 
 To give, in each obediently inspired — 
 So chiefly did he see what precious things 
 The Sun to this world ministers, he chiefly sung 
 Of brightness after rain, when dewy drops 
 Hail in their bosom light which opens flowers 130 
 
 With healthy eagerness, and graceful mist 
 That glides along the modest valleys seems 
 A veil to hide them, as they laugh and sing 
 Beneath the Bridegroom's rays, whose very love 
 Thus bashful makes them. Soon the bended heads 135 
 That stoop'd beneath the shower shall gather strength 
 From those glad rays transmuting wondrously 
 The gracious rain to be refreshing sap
 
 54 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To stay their weariness. They so ordain'd 
 
 Have been to tell His power on such as hold 140 
 
 Baptismal moisture still ! To rural priest 
 
 Oft hath it doubtless been a cheering sight 
 
 Which follow'd him, when as at early morn 
 
 He in his garden nurslings sprinkled o'er 
 
 With clinging water, ere the quickening rays 145 
 
 Fell on their tender frames ; and chiefly those 
 
 Which with appliances of rustic art' 
 
 Were propp'd against the nightly violence 
 
 Of the uprooting wind, he visited — 
 
 For then he thought of that Eternal Sun 150 
 
 Which soon should open plants his Heavenly Sire 
 
 Had planted, which he water'd with his tears, 
 
 Or propp'd with alms supplying aid discreet 
 
 Against the blasts of earth-born discontent. 
 
 For him alike the breeze which now foretels 155 
 
 The coming of the glorious King of day 
 A spiritual language speaketh to the ear 
 Of inward faith : or gently playing breeze 
 Or rushing mighty wind one Spirit stirs. 
 And in the womb of morning (whence the dew 1 60 
 
 Of the Son's Birth) this may He signify. 
 That He could stir the Baptist in the womb 
 To joyous leaping at the near approach 
 Of the True Sun, and make the Voice proclaim 
 The Word which was, and is, and is to come, 165 
 
 Now silent in the chambers of the womb. 
 
 Yes, more than prophet was he who could speak.
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 55 
 
 Though yet unborn, of that great Light to come ! 
 
 And haplv they who with the purest eyes 
 
 Behold the gleams which tell that day is near 170 
 
 Have somewhat of his foresight wonderful, 
 
 And are themselves with senses new instinct, 
 
 Which to an inward system may belong, 
 
 A body meeter for such communings, 
 
 And at the day when He shall come again 1 75 
 
 To be upraised, and live in endless day. 
 
 The early Church from His clear shining morn 
 Awakening to the Spirit's choicest dew, 
 Saw with what symbols she should speak of Thee, 
 Thou mystic Bridegroom, and she hallow'd Light 180 
 As the best robe to clothe the mighty truths 
 Whereby she lived ! The joy- enkindling Sun 
 Which God had set to rule the realm of day. 
 When unto Her, the Moon's chaste antitype. 
 He gave the light whereby She rules the night 1 85 
 Of this dark scene of trial, furnish'd Her 
 W^ith images wherewith Her love could speak 
 Of truths she felt, all-glorious within. 
 From earliest childhood, and by help of these 
 Articulately spake when more mature * 190 
 
 She moved amid mankind. The Heavenly Host 
 Encamp'd around her, and the marshall'd stars 
 Exulting in their share of light beheld 
 New portions of th' eternal Heavens made 
 Apparent to them, by Her borrow'd Light — 195 
 
 Light borrow'd from that ever-during Sun,
 
 56 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Whose healing Wings o'er spread the youthful Church, 
 
 As did the Holy Dove's the nascent world. 
 
 He by that Comforter, One with Himself, 
 
 Still gathers to His Church the little flock 200 
 
 At the Creation drawn in outline vast, 
 
 But narrowing on, until the Son of Man 
 
 Faith, when He comes, on earth shall scarcely find. 
 
 Methinks this thought too heavily weighs down 
 On those who hope to see again in bloom 205 
 
 Primeval Christianity on earth ! 
 For centuries ago it did appal 
 The holy men of old, and now would light 
 Like to a curse upon the fig-tree signs 
 Of hoped-for restoration, and men's hearts 210 
 
 Have urgent need to ponder joyous signs 
 While withering grass and flowrets of the field 
 To Mourning's house of Wisdom still invite. 
 
 Hail, then, the Sun ! Restorer of the earth ! 
 Not least of thy rich blessings do I deem 215 
 
 These fond memorials of the early Church ! 
 For, as beneath thy healing rays we view 
 The enliven'd face of nature and each plant 
 That droop'd, obedient to thy magic call — 
 The cedar fit for Libanus which God 220 
 
 Hath planted, and the hyssop leaning lank 
 Over the crumbling wall, alike embraced 
 By fervent Sunlight's arm — and feel withal 
 The chastening coolness of the morning air 
 Such holy chill infusing, as a girl 225
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 57 
 
 WEb by her throbbing mother's side should eat 
 
 Her first Communion, by new Wine made glad. 
 
 This when we see, what likeness could we wish 
 
 More vivid of that Bride rejoiced to hear 
 
 The Bridegroom's voice, and by Her fastings cool 230 
 
 For prayer, while He within Her ever dwelt. 
 
 Though taken from her, sparkled in Her dews. 
 
 Shone from Her little ones, as flowers set 
 
 In Paradise, whereon (if right the thought) 
 
 The Second Adam graciously might look, 235 
 
 The Mother of all living, the one Church 
 
 Might brood with joy. For then a childlike faith 
 
 Saw Heaven and Earth unite, saw Christians sit 
 
 In Heavenly places, though to carnal eyes 
 
 They seem'd on earth, and Angel comrades too, 240 
 
 That to a faith half-form'd appear'd to be 
 
 Trees of the wood, not brethren of men 
 
 Who walk'd along Her Way, which was indeed 
 
 The Way, before Whose Presence thronging came 
 
 Angels and Princedoms, by the Altar seen 245 
 
 To holy men of old \ Oh ! blessed Church, 
 
 Things very excellent be said of Thee ! 
 
 The spicy steams that by some hidden power 
 From Nature's bosom rise, what time the morn 
 Breathes into her the Breath of Life again, 250 
 
 And rouse her from the sepulchre of night, 
 Like pious Magdalene and her peers 
 With spices laden at the break of day. 
 Are come to greet His earthly antitype.
 
 58 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 The half-revealing beauty of the flowers 255 
 
 That only to each other so much show 
 Of their retiring treasures, as the dews 
 Need to reflect a thousand sunlit rays 
 Which they to others and to others still 
 Impart, as in a Eucharist of love ; 260 
 
 The trees that from their fragrant burdens bow 
 And stoop at Heaven's blessing ; each and all 
 Are living records of that ancient Faith, 
 Which, fearing to be seen of men, forewent 
 Its modesty in such wise as should draw 265 
 
 The rest to acts of Mercy, — of the men 
 Who bow'd in humble dread, the while they felt 
 Tremendous ministries bequeath'd to them : 
 Or like to such as in the outward man 
 With worthy fruits of penance bowing down, 270 
 
 In vigils and keen hunger stooping muse 
 On future almsgiving, and chide the past. 
 Inclining to the lowest child of Christ 
 The fruits, from Heaven's third height themselves have 
 won. 
 See, too, how many a bud that underground 275 
 
 Was waiting to regale it with the scent 
 Of waters risen afresh, again unfolds 
 Its former splendours, and its stalk regreets 
 The ray of light with life, inspiring man 
 To thoughtful hopes, — how many a wither'd branch 280 
 Touch'd by the Sun, like Memnon's fabled Sphinx, 
 Joins in the universal song of joy !
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 59 
 
 Are'tLese the bodies of the Saints which rose 
 
 And sprouted from Jerusalem ^ like grass 
 
 Upon the earth, as though they had obtain'd 285 
 
 The body that shall be before the time ? 
 
 Oh ! mighty mystery ! hail ye boughs restored 
 To the True Vine engrafted on Himself ! 
 The middle -wall is broken, and the sides 
 Of one great House that fruitful Vine sustain. 290 
 
 Who were ye that arose, ye First-born few ' ? 
 Me shall the faded branch refresh'd, as morn 
 Is turning, if unblamed, of you remind ! 
 Hence (I would ask), what means the Hebrew tale 
 That tells of life unbroken to the Sire 295 
 
 Of all the faithful, to his Sons, to him 
 Whose burial none beheld, and to the Priest 
 His Brother, and th' ascetic Man of God, 
 Who on the holy mount the Lord beheld ? 
 What means that other legend which records 300 
 
 That rising from the dead in Palestine 
 Alone was possible ? and holiest men. 
 When on the bed of sickness unto death 
 With deeper glance they read futurity. 
 Laid on posterity a charge to bear 305 
 
 Their bones to old Machpelah, there to wait 
 Until the cock should crow, not at the fall 
 Of willing Spirit, but at Flesh renew'd ? 
 Say, did the Branches that arose to life 
 Yield to the souls yet separate a pledge 3 1 
 
 Of what the Sun of Righteousness can work
 
 (!(( NATUIIK A PARABLE. 
 
 Oil those that sccm'd to luive cnter'd through the gate 
 Of night and death, with leaves that moisture lack'd, 
 Tlmt shall not, when the Holy Sun is up, 
 So wither as the gardener supposed, 315 
 
 But from themselves have life and vigour drawn ? 
 
 Or should we ratlier deem these wither'd boughs 
 A tvpe of those who after a long night 
 Of penance are refresh'd by Light within 
 Uncoiling all their gentleness and joy, 320 
 
 And writing on their very looks and gait 
 Its overflowing fulness of fresh love ? 
 
 Or if these signs seem speechless unto some, 
 Might they not wisely in their memories weigh 
 How upon earth our Sun from hints obscure 325 
 
 Drew into light the promises of bliss 
 From out of casual words, as man might dream. 
 To Moses spoken by the burning bush ? 
 And are not they in measure and degree 
 Touch'd with the spirit of the Sadducees, 330 
 
 Who mock at such as fancy Holy Church 
 May have Traditions able to unlock 
 The meanings of the least expression writ 
 By Hand Divine in Nature's open page ? • 
 
 Nor let us proudly think that we may walk 335 
 
 Unblamed amid the symbols cast around 
 Our pathway here, but rather with rebuke 
 And self-reproach remind we each himself 
 How Satan coming on the festal day 
 With Angels to present himself to God, 340
 
 THK GREATER LIGHT. 61 
 
 Himself all blinded knew not where he was. 
 
 Until the appalling Voice shook out of him 
 
 The story of his hateful wanderings. 
 
 And if we see no meaning on the face 
 
 Of Nature stamp'd, it may be that our sight 345 
 
 Lacks bracing by ascetic chastisement, 
 
 Or, by wrong Creed distorted, will not see 
 
 How graciously memorials of Love 
 
 Bv Heaven's light are every where bestow'd. 
 
 At best we see but darkly, and this world 350 
 
 Is but a mirror to the eye of Faith, 
 
 On which eternal things by Sunhght cast 
 
 Pass on like shadows. Will the eye that throbs 
 
 With evil glance or foul imagining 
 
 So tranquil fix its gaze on little flowers, 355 
 
 Or trembling dew-drops, as to see the types 
 
 In true relations ? May not some with shame 
 
 Recall the moments when some mighty chain 
 
 Of spiritual dependencies appear'd 
 
 Before the soul, but suddenly the shock 360 
 
 Of grovelling thoughts bedimm'd the glorious scene 
 
 Ere fully view'd, and lo ! from memory's page 
 
 Vanish'd the record of its outline faint, 
 
 And wonderings if it shall regreet the soul. 
 
 And when or where, remain'd. For conscience pure 365 
 
 Is the sole vessel capable of truth 
 
 Celestial, which, when living in the soul 
 
 Abidingly, a clue to depths will be 
 
 Of Nature's mysteries as of Holy Writ.
 
 62 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Strange arc the signatures of things create. 370 
 
 Which by the hght that flowetli from the Sun 
 To us are visible ; thougli phint and stone 
 Possess its own, yet the material Sun 
 Is with highest witness charged for man 
 To read and muse devoutly evermore. 375 
 
 He in the Heavens finisheth with joy 
 His daily course, and carrieth unto all 
 Who look upon him, whether in the glade 
 Of coolest wood, or in the tiring street 
 Of city after Mammon whoring gone, 380 
 
 His light and gladness, telling evermore 
 Of wider sphere, and treasures hid in Heaven 
 Of wisdom and of knowledge yet unknown. 
 E'en so did Christ all knowledge give to man 
 Of Human Nature's bliss, of Sacraments 385 
 
 And channels of eternal life to flesh 
 And soul and spirit ; and of wisdom too, 
 Of holiest wisdom, far above the realm 
 Of matter and finite subsistencies, 
 He spake to man ! 
 
 Hail, then, thou heavenly light, 390 
 Who being light dost send forth light on me — 
 Light undivided from the father-light. 
 And heat not separate from either two 
 Therewith dost give ! Oh ! image wonderful, 
 That, weak and beggarly, dost still declare 395 
 
 The Nature of the Holy Trinity 
 Distinct in Persons, but in Nature one *.
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 63 
 
 The Sun gives light, is light, and giveth heat ; 
 
 The Sun is heat, and nothing from that heat 
 
 Is hidden — nothing by the Spirit of God 400 
 
 Unsearch'd remains. And Christ is Light of Light ; 
 
 And wheresoe'er He cometh, with Him comes 
 
 The Holy Warmth of the abiding Dove. 
 
 For light and heat seem never uncombined, 
 
 Though haply it may need the chemist's skill 405 
 
 To search their presence out, and sometimes one 
 
 May to man's judgment be abiding still 
 
 Without the other ; heat when light is gone, 
 
 Or light when heat, its presence doth not show ; 
 
 Yet darkness often proves that heat with light 410 
 
 Is still united, — Tribulation tells 
 
 That still with Love abideth Light to guide 
 
 The penitent forlorn ; v/ho saith he sees 
 
 Through still-remaining sin the Spirit lacks. 
 
 And though men say the Sun is in the Heaven, 415 
 Yet may we also in the Sun on Earth ^ 
 Be walking ; and the Son of God on Earth 
 Remains, though now in Heaven : as Son of Man 
 He was in Heaven, even when on Earth. 
 How joyous were the Sunlight to the soul, 420 
 
 If, every time it fell upon the eye. 
 We mused upon th' Eternal Light to shine 
 In Heaven's courts ; which suiting to the strength 
 Of each one there His Brightness, shall to each 
 Throughout the Temple of the Lord be seen '". 425 
 
 Meantime in this first Heaven still the Sun
 
 64 
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 His course renews, and day to day with speech 
 
 Is teeming, and in converse seems to live 
 
 Witii this our Earth ; nor did the ancient Bard " 
 
 Amiss believe, that Sol with seeing eye 430 
 
 Survey'd the world, but also with an ear 
 
 This orb endued, as if therein he saw 
 
 A type of Him Who heareth e'en our thoughts. 
 
 While througli our joints and marrow He doth pierce. 
 
 Still at each morn, whene'er the Sun is bright, 435 
 He, as his Antitype, with mercy blends 
 Judgment upon sucli plants as are bereft 
 Of vital moisture, yet of mercy here 
 He speaketh most. Oh I often have I felt 
 Unutterable throngs of moving thoughts, 440 
 
 When gazing down upon a scene that lay 
 Beneath me in the new-born Sun — it seem'd 
 One mass of life, and Earth's wide bosom swell'd 
 As though her bridal hour were scarce gone by ; 
 And she a look possess'd, which they may know 445 
 Who have beheld a child, when, fresh from sleep. 
 With lips of artless modesty and joy. 
 It lisps a pretty hymn, not understood 
 By its own self, but duteously learnt 
 In simple faith ; — or they who shall observe 450 
 
 A holy man come from Cathedral Church, 
 Where Creeds by them more fully understood. 
 Were sung for Principalities and Powers. 
 
 Thus lovely seems tli' expression Nature wore 
 At solemn daybreak : though the Sun was up, 455 
 
 2
 
 : ^, THE GREATER LIGHT. 65 
 
 And travelling slowly from his mountain bed, 
 
 She yet retain'd her freshness, and the air 
 
 Was still uncloyed by the din of art. 
 
 And all its gross remembrances as yet 
 
 Disquieted not the blithe man's countenance, 460 
 
 Who, risen haply from his ancient books, 
 
 Was pensively unfolding in himself 
 
 Some gently-woven musings on the Sun, 
 
 Whose healthy beam his quivering eyes beheld. 
 
 And in its lustre, shrouded by a mist, 465 
 
 He deem'd he saw the Son of Man's own Sign, 
 
 A shape the full blaze, struggling to disperse 
 
 The haze around, had chosen for itself. 
 
 Such sign as anciently to him appear'd. 
 
 Who first protected from the rude assault 470 
 
 Of heathen violence the mighty Church. 
 
 For like a Cross the impeded Sun appear'd 
 
 Amid the clouds : as they that used of old 
 
 The Alchemist's curious arts, a shining cross 
 
 Saw by the furnace — and as certain guide 475 
 
 To change mysterious from baser earth 
 
 That sparkling sign believed — so might one hold 
 
 This Cross a harbinger of golden day 
 
 Transmuting all the lower things of earth 
 
 To mirrors, where His Majesty should shine, 480 
 
 Imparting healthy energy to all. 
 
 'Twas so, before the inductive arguers 
 Had chill'd good men's belief, our ancestors 
 Sought from the benefit of royal touch '*
 
 66 NATURE A PARABI-E. 
 
 The cure of rueful maladies, and found, 485 
 
 As seekinp: faith doth ever find, in him 
 Who was the anointed deputy of Christ, 
 Some portions of the great Thysician's might. 
 And as of old, when visibly He dwelt 
 Among mankind, the faith which leant on sight 490 
 Was so rewarded, even then that faith, 
 Which could believe His Presence with the hand 
 Of consecrated majesty, enjoy'd 
 The healing from that Presence going forth 
 K'lii from the skirts of His pervasive Light. 495 
 
 Such faith, (for I would fain my skill forget 
 Did I not joyously to thee return, 
 Thou Mother of us all,) such simple faith 
 Indwelling long that holy Bride erapower'd 
 Her miracles to work : her martyrs" bones 500 
 
 Were raightv to the soul of faith subdued. 
 And he who first the healing gift possess'd 
 Doth bv his present bones still consecrate 
 The stately pile of Winchester, his vest 
 Still hallow.s those that lack his healing power. 505 
 
 What wonder, if the bones of Israel's saint. 
 Though not as yet with Christ incorporate. 
 Such power obtain'd, that Christian bones dispel 
 Satanic energies, and add a sacred awe 
 To Temples where they lay beside of Him, 510 
 
 Whose Presence help'd the fat upon the earth, 
 And those beneath the dust with joy fulfilled. 
 But now, alas ! our foolish eves would trv
 
 -., THE GREATER LIGHT. 67 
 
 To gaze at once upon the Sun Himself, 
 Untractable of spirit to behold 5 1 5 
 
 That Brightness in the Saints, from whence alone 
 Their garments glisten, or in holy Stream 
 Apparent still, or gleaming through the Veil 
 Of the tremendous Sacrifice, where once 
 Our fathers in the faith, their risen Lord 520 
 
 Beholding, young with Eagle-lustiness 
 Around the Body gather'd and renew'd 
 In strength within, with eyes enlighten'd dared 
 To soar again towards His Majesty ! 
 Oh ! that we lawfully may strive to reach 525 
 
 The height of heavenly place, wherein the Font 
 Had seated us, by hunger and by thirst 
 Our Sacramental Righteousness to gain ! 
 What marvel, that the eye of men that spurn 
 The twihght of hard discipline are dull 530 
 
 To see Who hides Him in the Eucharist, 
 And thence from every eye the penance tears 
 Doth wipe away, the while the entire man. 
 The spirit, soul and body, humbled say 
 This is our God ; we waited. Lord, for Thee ! 535 
 
 But who can rush in ecstasy of faith 
 That is no faith, undazzled, to the sight 
 Of their dread Judge, despising gracious veils 
 Which He hath interposed, thereby to take 
 The covering off all nations, lest they see 540 
 
 Gou in the flesh, and die — say, who unblamed 
 Can so upon Him gaze, nor blinded be ! 
 
 F 2
 
 68 NATURE A I'ARABLE. 
 
 1)1 fare the people, who the p^lorious sight 
 
 Which at the Altar by the Spirit to us 
 
 Goi) hath reveal'd, believe not! but believe 545 
 
 That they have faith His glory to behold 
 
 Apart from hallowing symbols present there. 
 
 Must wc not dread lest haply upon these 
 
 Some stern anathema, some arrow sharp 
 
 Sliimkl light at last from God's own bended bow 550 
 
 By ancient Bishops at a venture drawn ? 
 
 E'en as of old when Magian Simon sought 
 
 Himself in air to lift, the Apostle's words 
 
 With headlong ruin hurl'd him to his place '^. 
 
 Him shall the Righteous, ever glad of fear, 555 
 
 As warning use, and while they shun device 
 
 Of man's invention and the enchanters' arts 
 
 To lift them to the Sun, shall turn to those 
 
 From whom those arts their name and being took ; 
 
 Of them shall learn that from the mystic Sun 560 
 
 Light unto those, who had not heard His Name, 
 
 More plentiful was given, while from him 
 
 \\ iu) scoru'd the brighter Light was snatch'd away 
 
 E'en that he had. For of the Gentile host 
 
 They first who worshipped Heaven's greater light 565 
 
 Beheld the Light which rose to lighten them : 
 
 They with their gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 
 
 Reprove the heathen heart that deems the Church 
 
 Wrought gold for clothing needs not, frankincense 
 
 With hint symbolic on her altar lit 570 
 
 Despiseth, and the bitterness of myrrh
 
 ^ ••'^^ THE GREATER LIGHT. 69 
 
 And hallow'd pain neglecteth evermore ! 
 
 Have we that scorn the supernatural side 
 Of witchcraft and enchantment, not retain'd 
 The devihsh part thereof? .Is avarice 575 
 
 As well as sorcery amid the appalling list 
 Of fleshly lusts or no ? We have the bag, 
 Are careful for the poor and houses build 
 To imprison them ; but Christ, His Ministers, 
 And the majestic Altar where He lay, 580 
 
 Is left all unadorn'd ! as if the heart 
 That on the outward House above its power 
 Once lavish'd richest gifts, upon the poor 
 With face averted look'd ! As if the stone 
 That in the living Temple own'd its place 585 
 
 Would chill in feeling for those other stones 
 Which with itself were fitly framed and join'd 
 In one united House for suffering pain 
 Together with the Master ! Who would build 
 The span continuate of the Gothic arch 590 
 
 And rear the roof majestically wrought 
 For purpled light and hallelujah deep 
 To linger there, that through the cool domain, 
 (What time the priest the blessing shall pronounce 
 For those, who for the sick and poor provide, 595 
 
 In the dread Day of trouble) might resound 
 Memorial of a backward love to these ? 
 Oh ! join ye fathers with me, that with love 
 Unutter'd have beheld your children dear 
 Wrapp'd into prayer beneath the quiet arch 600
 
 70 NATIIRK A PAUABLK. 
 
 And crossing mullions, while the anthems loud 
 
 With archaiigclic notes their voices blend, 
 
 And all the multitude of Heaven's host 
 
 Were present hymning' the Eternal Three 
 
 Of Majesty Coequal. And may rest 605 
 
 And place of ]iardon granted be to all 
 
 Tliat rear'd these glorious shrines and sacred towers. 
 
 And may their prayers be with us to inspire 
 
 Like offices on earth, till we shall learn, 
 
 Bv often communing with them, to share 610 
 
 Through kindred deeds with them the heavenly Realm. 
 
 Of all the sweet remembrances that cheer 
 Life's weary course, one sacred tower of those 
 A sj)ecial joy hath given, where on the day 
 The blended witnesses together come " 615 
 
 Before our gratitude, to God Triune 
 An ancient hymn amid the morning scents 
 Its own sweet savour mingles — 'Tis the tower 
 To that ensample of true penitents 
 Devoted, who her spices at the morn 620 
 
 Was bringing to the Risen Sun of Love. 
 Oh ! may that tower live (as one within) 
 To see the spirit of its youth return. 
 And from its height may many a sacred place 
 To sterner ways and strict devotion given 625 
 
 Re visible, and yonder hallow'd spire, 
 The other Mary, see the Lord of Light 
 Rise from the sepulchre of carnal hearts 
 Not reprobate indeed, though sentence harsh
 
 ^.. THE GREATER LIGHT. 71 
 
 Of judgment premature such language speak. 630 
 
 And while the city wholly given seems 
 
 To pagan learning, may the holier lore 
 
 At least divide the throne, and while we speak 
 
 Of honour Grecia's sons to Phoebus gave. 
 
 May notice follow of methodic skill 635 
 
 Whereby the Foe in dim relief hath raised 
 
 Upon his idol temple figures wrought 
 
 With shadowy resemblance to the Truth, 
 
 Enough to satisfy the thoughtless heart 
 
 That hath no yearning after fuller Joy. 640 
 
 For thus Satanic skill (whose pestilence 
 
 Bv darkness walking to the soul bewrays 
 
 How he must spread the baneful plague of sin 
 
 TJnless the Christian censer stay its rage) 
 
 Hath ever temper'd with so plastic art 645 
 
 The lines of light and darkness, that the eyes 
 
 To caution are not startled by a change 
 
 Inflicted suddenly; and things instinct 
 
 With Christian prophecies were chosen first 
 
 Upon its hellward course the blinded heart 650 
 
 To draw aside to more debasing rites, 
 
 Wherewith he ravish'd those whom he had drawn 
 
 Into the meshes of his artful net. 
 
 But those who loved His coming when He came, 
 Christ did not burn, for with the root of love 655 
 
 Capacities for nourishment abode '* 
 Within their hearts, and rites of pagan night 
 Had been to them the harbingers of Day.
 
 72 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And as nor morn to them nor evening star 
 
 So wondrous was as God's own Counsellor, 660 
 
 Whom they as Righteousness beheld from far ; 
 
 So when He rose, with healing in His wings 
 
 Far deeper than Apollo's fabled art 
 
 Could e'er bestow, for every humble soul 
 
 He rose and chased the darkness far away. 665 
 
 Nor was it Magians only that preserved 
 
 By worship of the outward Sun an eye 
 
 For Truth's internal Light, but earlier days 
 
 Saw in the Kenite's ancestor a type 
 
 Of such as hastened to the risen Sun. 670 
 
 For Madian's priest and king the host of heaven 
 
 Alike with Abraham's sire devoutly served : 
 
 And he, (if rightly we may guess our way) 
 
 Thus handing onward ancienter belief. 
 
 Of duteous observation for the creed 675 
 
 Of those before him, to his children taught 
 
 The lesson by example ; and when they 
 
 Who should as ruddy Nazarites have been 
 
 A Sunlight and a battlement of strength 
 
 To all their kinsmen, fail'd, then Jethro's race 680 
 
 Rebuked the Jews by stern obedience 
 
 To Jonadab's command. The Indian sage 
 
 Who humm'd the sacred Gayatri '^ in praise 
 
 Of Surya's light, had kindred stores preserved 
 
 Of knowledge reverend, by which his soul 685 
 
 Might dwell among the essences of things, 
 
 And shadows flung from the eternal Sun
 
 ^ <^-^^ THE GREATER LIGHT. 73 
 
 Though yet unused as guidance to the Son 
 
 Were in their older sages' mouth replete 
 
 With meaning which might speak of things to come, 690 
 
 The shadows which we see, who still in Heaven 
 
 Expect hereafter the substantial Day. 
 
 And even such in dim or clearer light 
 
 The natural Sun affords us when at morn 
 
 He scatters shades that with their solemn joy 695 
 
 The buoyant heart of the industrious man 
 
 With larger expectations often fill 
 
 Of shadows soon more clearly to be seen 
 
 In those unearthly mixtures of faint light 
 
 With glowing darkness, which a mid-day cloud 700 
 
 Throws on the Hills, as did Elijah throw 
 
 The Prophet's mantle on EUsha's frame. 
 
 Those morning beams and shadows seem to tell 
 
 Of Light and Love in Jewish Sacrifice 
 
 Through outward symbol unto man convey'd 705 
 
 In feeble measure '^ which have disappear'd 
 
 Now that the Sun in fuller glory shines. 
 
 Yet since the coming of the Power of God 
 In flesh reveal'd, a shadow only is 
 
 Of what shall be, and is, and ever was, 710 
 
 We underneath this shadow hope to dwell. 
 The Christian Sacrifice more aptly forms 
 The Antitype of noonday shades with light 
 In them and round them beaming from the Hills 
 The Apostles' successors, from whence our help. 715 
 Well may that hour the mystic veil pourtray
 
 74 NATl'RE A I'ARAnLE, 
 
 Jn whicli tlic Bread of Life Himself enshrines, 
 
 And, present there as Priest and Sacrifice 
 
 With rite memorial which stumhling feet 
 
 From fallinu: stay, He kcepeth evermore 720 
 
 lioth soul and body of His weary sheep. 
 
 And men of old this hour have canonized 
 
 For order'd jjrayer, that gently falling shades 
 
 From the eternal sabbath-light of Heaven 
 
 Cast on the mournful sinner's kneeling soul '" 725 
 
 Might knit his heart in acceptable time 
 
 To Gou His Saviour. 
 
 Even heathen bards ^^ 
 This as the resting-time for all the gods 
 Bv no unreasoning instinct have described 730 
 
 In poesy profane. For as at morn 
 When the Sun riseth and the Beasts at once 
 In lieu of wandering up and down the earth 
 With devilish liunger prowling to and fro 
 About the City seeking human prey, 735 
 
 Then get them to their dens of hell and woe, 
 "With mighty awe the risen Sun behold, 
 And tremble and believe his prophecies 
 Of Sun sometime to scorch them ; and as they 
 Were in the idols which the heathen served, 740 
 
 Well might they teach that mid-day, when the Sun 
 Was at his height of glory, quiet gave 
 From their accursed influence. 'Twas at noon 
 Elijah mock'd the idol worshippers. 
 And they in madness cut to Baal's name 745
 
 •*?» ••'w-..' THE GREATER LIGHT. /3 
 
 Tlie flesh "which should be hallow'd for the Lord. 
 
 He in whose Spirit came the ascetic John 
 
 Might in the womb of things have also felt 
 
 Prophetic throbs of joy for that great hour 
 
 When devils trembled at the approaching song 750 
 
 Of Victorv to be sung by Angel tongues ; 
 
 When his unfetter'd spirit should salute 
 
 The sons of Death through Jesus now at length 
 
 From sunder'd bars of iron bursting free. 
 
 And at this hour when furious in his zeal 7')5 
 
 The persecuting Saul was travelling on 
 To hinder Thy Dominion, then from Heaven 
 Thv Presence shone on him, and Thou the Head 
 In all things to the Church didst then declare 
 Thy mvstic Union with Her^', and the time 7G0 
 
 Again by that victorious Presence mark'd 
 Became a holv hour for men to feel 
 Thy Eucharistic Presence, and to eat 
 Of the great Sacrifice for ever made. 
 Not that for those who at the dawning light 765 
 
 That Presence seek, I have not preference ; 
 A time congenial that, for sowing Seed 
 Of Resurrection and the Wheat some time 
 To be by Angels gather'd to Thy Barn, 
 But that the usages of my own Church 770 
 
 And Mother in the Lord had somewhat sweet 
 And by familiar habit from my youth 
 Remember'd still a place of love possess 
 In my affections ; though 'tis sweeter far
 
 76 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 That men should eat and worship when the blush 775 
 
 Of morning minds them of the holy Cup 
 
 Which Wisdom mingles, and the eased spirit 
 
 Memorials touching in all nature reads 
 
 Of that whereon it meditates with joy. 
 
 When dews reflecting the empurpled Heaven 780 
 
 Are like the Water, which at Cana blush'd 
 
 To see the Son whom Heaven cannot contain 
 
 In Flesh indwelling, and the Virgin's ^^ self 
 
 Was then reproved for deeming that the hour 
 
 Of consecrating banquet now was come. 785 
 
 While then we dwell upon the tranquil hour 
 Of glorious midday, never let our heart 
 Be mindless how by slowly moving steps 
 The Sun advanced, from coolest morning light 
 To stronger heat, till he the hour attain'd 790 
 
 When cloven tongues descended on the Twelve, 
 And they were drunken " with chaste drunkenness 
 And filled with new wine in bottles new, 
 Which in the smoke of this world's misery 
 So wither'd and consumed away without 795 
 
 That they were inwardly renew'd, and grace 
 Drunk deeply by them, from them truly took 
 That irreligious soberness which lacks 
 All holy courage, wise to calculate. 
 Not faithful to rush on to suffering 800 
 
 When strong and humbled Love invites within. 
 Fill'd with that Wine, and giant-like in strength 
 Awaking from the sleep of former things
 
 «i^ ^., THE GREATER LIGHT. 77 
 
 They saw all things were new : they buckled on 
 
 The armour of the missionary's faith, 805 
 
 And unto all the world their voice of joy 
 
 Hath long gone forth, and in them is there set 
 
 A tabernacle for the Righteous Sun 
 
 Who in them pitch'd His tent, the tent of Flesh, 
 
 Which He, on dwelling with them evermore 810 
 
 By secret Presence bent, to them disclosed. 
 
 Yes, they were drunken, not as they supposed. 
 
 But with a Wine far holier ! Judah's sons 
 
 Were used to prophesy, by office set 
 
 To be the priestly nation — and they shared 815 
 
 The office still with Caiaphas their priest. 
 
 E'en in their blasphemies they spake of Hira 
 
 Who in New Wine should afterwards be drunk, 
 
 And send ascetic preachers through the world 
 
 In sackcloth clad, inviting drunkards' sneer 820 
 
 And jest from those that drink of Sodom's Vine. 
 
 So he who erst to Festus (typic name 
 For this world's revellers I) as madden'd seem'd 
 By over-learning, when he first beheld 
 The Sun of Righteousness, to this world's light 825 
 Was for a season blind, till from him fell 
 The scales of darkness on his humbled mind 
 And wasted eye-sight ! then he also shared 
 The fuU-mix'd cup of suffering, austere 
 And hallowing to the saints, to sinners fraught 830 
 With dregs of misery they at last shall drink. 
 And as the Lord of Light in him perform'd
 
 78 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 A twofold miracle, the outward part 
 
 For those without, the inward meant for them 
 
 Who afterwards helieve ; the outward done 835 
 
 E'en on a hunihlcr Jew by holy clay 
 
 While in his low estate, to outward eyes 
 
 Hath ceased to happen, but the inward still 
 
 He at the Altar or the enlightening Stream 
 
 Doth hitherto perform : and they who tend 840 
 
 The bounties given there by inward strength 
 
 Supported, drunk with fast, and tears, and pain. 
 
 Beside themselves appear to men that walk 
 
 By this world's light, and length of days or health 
 
 Of outward frame above the weakness prize 845 
 
 Through which the saints have ever been made strong ! 
 
 For if the Sun that lighteneth this world 
 
 Hath power to weary those who strive to walk 
 
 In the full presence of his midday blaze. 
 
 Much more shall they who with the Austere Man, 850 
 
 The Man of griefs and sorrows, strive to walk, 
 
 Be bowed down, though He at length renew 
 
 Their vigour in them, they with eagle wing 
 
 Again mount up to drink the enlightening draught 
 
 Of thankful pain from their Salvation's Cup. 855 
 
 IJut liaplv tliey alone who from the first 
 Have kept their robes from heavier sin unsoil'd. 
 Can brave the gleams of suffering and tread 
 In our Chief Captain's footsteps, — is there then 
 No way for those that love the Sufferer's path 860 
 
 To look upon His pattern when their eyes
 
 _ THE GREATER LIGHT. 79 
 
 Are wearied out with sobbing over sin 
 
 That will not be subdued, when light therefrom 
 
 Hath gone, and they be powerless to look up 
 
 Upon the Sun of Calvary which calls 865 
 
 To share His sufferings and healing pain ? 
 
 Yes ! thou afflicted one, although thine eye 
 
 Dare not look heavenwards, thou mayst feel the heat 
 
 Thy Saviour sheds about thee at the hour 
 
 Of noontide glory : 'twas some hours ago 870 
 
 He call'd thee back from idling near His Church : 
 
 Sit, then, oh ! sit thee down, with downcast eye. 
 
 Beside Samaria's well, and in the Stream 
 
 Which flows beneath thee thou shalt see the Sun 
 
 Soften'd to suit thine eyesight, even thine. 875 
 
 Meanwhile, the fairness of baptismal stream 
 
 Attuning thee to sorrow, thou shalt hear 
 
 A voice behind thee, not as that which drave 
 
 Thy parents out of Paradise, but one 
 
 That therefore tells thee all thou ever didst, 880 
 
 That thou mayst use this Water to refresh 
 
 Thy tear-worn eyes and see the Lord thy Light, 
 
 And love Him with intensity of grief. 
 
 To thv five senses wedded hast thou been, 
 
 And if thou cleav'st to aught of inward jov 885 
 
 Beside thy Saviour, never shalt thou feel 
 
 True bridal love — thou haply, even thou, 
 
 By speaking of Him in thy lowly deeds, 
 
 Mayst others win amid thy citizens. 
 
 Who hitherto have never heard His Word 890
 
 80 NATURE A PARABLE. ^ ' 
 
 Of comfortable sternness speak within I 
 
 Nor to Samaria's citizens alone 
 At middav was the coming hour foretold 
 When in the Spirit by the Way of Truth 
 All men should every where the Lord adore ; 895 
 
 But further foretaste of the joyous time 
 To ffreat St. Peter at that hour was given. 
 Twas then he saw the sheet that thrice came down, 
 Like to the Three great Names whereby descends 
 Tlic Trinity at Baptism to the babe 900 
 
 In sin conceived, and soil'd humanity 
 To newness call'd was bidden to rejoice. 
 Nor lacks it mystery that the chiefest hours 
 For chiefest acts of love were when the chime 
 So falls upon the ear that one may break 905 
 
 Its numbers into parts of threes composed. 
 So is the Trinity in earth or Heaven 
 By docile spirits every where ^* beheld 
 In hours for prayer, in signatures of stones, 
 In humblest plants, on highest angel's tongue. 910 
 
 This is the hour when each day's ministry 
 Beginneth to look onward to the night 
 With tiring steps ; it lacks not other signs 
 To propagate to people yet to come 
 Its majesty : for when the breathless noon 915 
 
 Has listen'd while the lingering melody 
 Of church-clock chime told o'er the midday notes. 
 Then can the solemn oath that day no more 
 Be after heard, when human Law in doubt
 
 •r^^ THE GREATER LIGHT. 81 
 
 Of her authority compels the inward man 920 
 
 To stand before her heavenly counterpart. 
 
 Yea, even that most solemn marriage-oath 
 
 Which plighting life-long faithfulness bespeaks 
 
 The Bridegroom's lasting promise to His Church 
 
 Refuses to be given, when sunbeams write 925 
 
 With lengthening shadows on the graves reclined, 
 
 Memorials of the perishable state 
 
 Of all beneath the Sun. The simple poor 
 
 Still have a sacred prejudice which chimes 
 
 Harmoniously with this ! nor can they brook 930 
 
 That funeral mournfulness at still grave-side 
 
 Should drop its tranquil, trembling farewell tear, 
 
 Before those shadows warn of parting day. 
 
 When on the Cross He heard the cruel scofF, 
 Spreading His trickling Hands to rebel Jews, 935 
 
 It may be that amid His bitter pangs 
 He saw the waning of the Heavenly Light 
 By Him and from Him shed upon the Bride. 
 Yet this is holy ground, and feet unshod 
 With Gospel preparation, fast and watch, 9-10 
 
 May not its precincts pure with safety tread. 
 But since the Hour when He was crucified 
 The Sun of suffering towards even turn'd ! 
 Vahant at first men bore the cheering Cross, 
 In persecution or in abstinence, 945 
 
 And sleeplessness and self-inflicted pain. 
 Thus filling up what He had left behind 
 To be accoraplish'd for His Body's sake 
 

 
 82 NATURK A rAUABLE. 
 
 In His Elected Saints : the Sun Himself 
 
 Was intimate with sorrows, they that long 950 
 
 To shine like Him, must true CjTcnians be ! 
 
 Oh ! strange that Simon, too, as native place 
 
 A city own'd for troubles famed of old, 
 
 Where votaries of Apollo " in a shrine 
 
 y\nd dedicated fountain honour'd him 955 
 
 Who slew the serpent, foe to gods and men. 
 
 Where e'en on Afric's thirsty land for man 
 
 The Heaven was pierced and water there flow'd down ! 
 
 As though the very ])lace from whence he came 
 
 Who bore the Cross, had legendary signs 960 
 
 That spake of Him whose mystic Name is Heaven. 
 
 Nor seems it ill while o'er this saddening sight 
 
 We linger and grow sad, to deem that clouds 
 
 Anticipative of the darkness strange 
 
 Soon to be felt, were hovering around 965 
 
 This place of awe, and when we muse thereon 
 
 To pause a while and learn their messages 
 
 To thoughtful men : for they, though fleeting fast 
 
 Into unnuuiber'd pliancies of shape, 
 
 Are yet the symbols of eternal things, 970 
 
 And ofttimes when the drooping spirit yearns 
 
 For fostering Sunshine on its rueful tears 
 
 To draw it onward to the central Throne 
 
 Of Light Eternal, there are mystic clouds 
 
 Which God can draw, to intercept His Ijight 975 
 
 Across His Countenance, and helpless prayer 
 
 Feels the impenetrable darkness weigh
 
 tf^ *''-^i^ THE GREATER LIGHT. 8."} 
 
 More heavily than on the mourner's mind 
 The cloud of grief when, apt to court the shade, 
 He dreams the shadows of the midday Sun 980 
 
 Fall joyless on the hilFs, and knows not why. 
 And vet it may he that these inward Clouds, 
 (All things to all men able to become,) 
 If only they be borne with patient grief. 
 Are full with drops of spiritual rain, 98.5 
 
 To drop into the little valleys spread 
 By contrite hearts to drink them humbly in. 
 Nor was it idly held by saints of old 
 That outward clouds*^ translated to the tongue 
 Of spiritual meaning, spake of Bishops' powers, 990 
 Were signs of them who from within them shed 
 The dew of absolution on the souls 
 That sorrowfully greet their softening shower 
 Thus interposed betwixt the wrath Above 
 And their sin-fallen countenance, unapt 995 
 
 To see the Sun's full Majesty unveil'd. 
 And suitably " with this belief of old. 
 Confession once was pour'd into the ear 
 Of one who should receive the mournful tale 
 Touch'd with the like infirmities himself 1000 
 
 And not unscathed of sin : — for so the face 
 Of the appalling Judge, who spake from Heaven, 
 Was not by rude access of misshaped prayer 
 At once approach'd, but from the cloud between 
 The Light was gradually shed, too strong lOO.i 
 
 For sin-struck eyes to gaze upon at once. 
 
 G 2
 
 84 NATITRF, A PARABLK. 
 
 Until at last — for many a soften'd gleam 
 
 Half-pierced the cloud, and many a redden'd ray 
 
 Dwelt in it not from slackness but from love. 
 
 Withholding what would hurt — ^ Brightness full 1010 
 
 Burst out again, and at the eleventh hour 
 
 Rekindled hopes of pardon absolute 
 
 And power to serve again as Angels serve. 
 
 Far sadder Was the cloud by great Saint Paul 
 Upon the sorcerer shed, when he whose eyes 1015 
 
 Had shed their scales, was mighty to destroy 
 Those who, to drink the gracious rain unapt. 
 Were nigh to cursing ! all the miracles 
 In outward interference with the course 
 Of outward things, declared the secret powers 1020 
 Of inward might to Christian Priests convey'd. 
 This type may tell us how the sentence dread 
 Of Excommunication can bereave 
 The opposer's mind of truest Light within. 
 Albeit such may boast of godlike deeds 1025 
 
 And vaunt their lying wonders, Satan's self. 
 If he become their light, with fearful wiles 
 May raise a mockery of the Sun Himself 
 Before the darken'd mind ; as one that sees 
 An image false of the material sun, 1030 
 
 And with distracted vision deems its lierht 
 Is real and lasting. Wherefore they that mock 
 And say it cannot be, have mighty need 
 Of our most earnest prayer ; the Son of Man 
 Hath power on earth ^* their sin to wash away. 1035
 
 ^,. THE GREATER LIGHT. 85 
 
 That power He wills not man should e'er despise. 
 
 Though vested in the arbitrary will 
 
 Of wayward men it sometimes chance to be. 
 
 And though by night the Church with borrow'd light 
 
 Those smiteth oft, whom in Eternal Day 1040 
 
 The Sun shall with His Breath of brimstone burn. 
 
 Far be it from us to fix, with lips unmoved 
 
 To trembling doubt, in whom the curse takes root. 
 
 Eternal root, or use the Church's words 
 
 With confident security for self. 1045 
 
 Only remember we what scorching might 
 
 Tlie Sun can lend to her, and while we burn 
 
 With fervent hope that by some inward means 
 
 The victim may be rescued, ere He tear 
 
 And go away, yet let us feel with awe 1050 
 
 That if Her searching eye hath rightly judged. 
 
 Then would the curse be ratified in Heaven. 
 
 Nor is there certainty that power misused 
 
 Hath no efi'ect, though arguing men prescribe 
 
 What laws must guide the pathway of the Sun. 1055 
 
 Lo ! Joshua, and the Seer of David's race. 
 Who, with the children given him, a type 
 Of Him who hasted to the spoil was made ; 
 Joshua, that brake the Sabbath by the gates 
 Of Jericho, that he might shadow forth 1060 
 
 The Lord of Jewish rites, and months, and days ; 
 Isaiah, by whose nakedness and shame 
 The open shame of evil powers was wrought 
 In clear forestalment, — these upon the Sun
 
 86 NATUKK A PAKABLE. 
 
 Had power granted through their words to work, 1065 
 
 That mighty darkness tlius to antedate, 
 
 "Wherewith their Antitype a third night ^^ made 
 
 When e'en the full-orb'd moon her light withheld, 
 
 And order'd stars in Heaven's meaning scroll 
 
 Were shaken, and the deepest chasm of Hell 1070 
 
 Oped from beneath her mouth with ghastly yawn. 
 
 Portentous symbols these ! yet not alone 
 
 These outward things were by those ancient seers 
 
 Foreshadowed, but, within, a deeper woe 
 
 Is sounded, that whereby the Healing Sun 1075 
 
 No longer gather'd underneath His Wings 
 
 ITie sin-dark nation; then the Church of Saints, 
 
 Whose mystic joints and bands are set to rule 
 
 The night of this world, reft of influence, cast 
 
 Her viewless beams no longer upon those 1080 
 
 Who fell from the inheritance of Light. 
 
 These too, for power like this to holiest saints 
 
 Of old was given, the Christian Church's power 
 
 Foretold, while they, the types themselves of Her, 
 
 Exerted on the Sun, the type of Him, 1085 
 
 Mysterious influence, by unbelief 
 
 (Reflecting in the type its hideous form) 
 
 Consistently objected to, to show 
 
 How hardly they who earthly things oppose 
 
 For heavenly Church's powers belief should have, 1090 
 
 Her absolution deeming idle words. 
 
 But did He fail who is the Light of Light, 
 The Temple of the Father's Majesty,
 
 THE GRKATER LIGHT. 87 
 
 From whence the warmth, the Spirit's kindling warmth. 
 
 Should issue brooding o'er a holy brood 1095 
 
 Of Birds ^°, the Martyrs these whose winged zeal 
 
 Lifts them to Heaven : nay — He cannot fail, 
 
 Nor ever shall His blissful Light go down 
 
 The while His faithful soldiers, with the flesh 
 
 Already conquer'd, fight with hallow'd arms 1100 
 
 Of creeds, and hymns, and life of solid prayer 
 
 Against the rulers of the ghostly night. 
 
 Abiding in His Light who is to them 
 
 Not for one day alone but all the days ^' 
 
 A Sun and a Defence, a Place of Strength. 1105 
 
 For them it was His darkness rent the veil. 
 Not the blue veil alone with Cherubs wrought. 
 But Heaven's self with all its Angel powers, 
 And from the disposition of their Hosts, 
 Whereby they minister'd to Jewish rites, 1110 
 
 He shook them suddenly, and call'd them all 
 By name to tend the newly-founded House. 
 The Moon of the celestial inward world 
 Rose up to meet him, and by Preaching dread 
 Was clothed with fresher light and rays as strong 1115 
 As, ere His Coming in the Flesh, the Sun 
 Was wont to give. Himself shone sevenfold ^^ 
 The Sun of Judah's Glory now was sunk, 
 Yea, sunk behind a cloud of witnesses. 
 Sunk so as now to give a secret light 11 20 
 
 To worlds below, that clothed with the Sun 
 The Bride might be no more by fleshly veil
 
 88 NATURK A PARABLE. 
 
 Betwixt the dead and living cast, in twain 
 
 Divided, but with Light her members all 
 
 Might cover, as a garment. Then the hearts 1125 
 
 Of Patriarchs, rejoiced to see the Sun, 
 
 Were unto children drawn, and children here 
 
 From earth reflected on the Witness-cloud 
 
 The Light which they for their perfection need. 
 
 While these o'er every weight of thwarting sin 1 1 30 
 
 Won easy conquest, and in prayers obtain'd 
 
 Peace for the City of the Saints, let down 
 
 From Heaven to earth, (unlike that ancient place 
 
 W^ith strife distracted,) builded with Itself 
 
 At Unity, and fill'd with plenteous store 1135 
 
 Of Corn, and Wine, and Spiritual Oil. 
 
 Thither amid Jerusalem's misery 
 And sad division now, ive bend our way 
 In heart and mind ; amid all holy spirits 
 A secret unity by Bishops' hands 1140 
 
 Imposed, communicated inwardly 
 There hope to find — for now all Christians seem 
 Amid the willows of drear Babylon 
 To sing untunefully the ancient song 
 Or spiritual hymn ! Each day we need 1145 
 
 With Him to visit the forgetful grave. 
 Oh ! have we never ask'd upon the day 
 Of softest heartfelt joy, what meaning sti-ange 
 Dw'ells in Thy question. Shall Thy Faithfulness 
 Be in the sepulchre made known. Thy marvels seen 1 150 
 Amid the Dead ? Is this indeed the voice
 
 ofK» •'•^^ THE GREATER LIGHT. 89 
 
 Of very Light ? What darkness dark to Him ? 
 
 E'en when on earth, the bUnd received sight 
 
 By His prophetic miracle ; the Sun 
 
 These therefore saw that they might prophesy 1 155 
 
 Of greater things. The prisoners of hope 
 
 (For not in this life only is there place 
 
 And sphere for hope) with sight enlarged beheld 
 
 And worshipp'd toward the Sun, the while on earth 
 
 The other sphere His going down in grief 1 1 60 
 
 And hopelessness had seen, too slow of heart 
 
 Prophetic nature's language to believe. 
 
 Henceforward all that go into the dust 
 
 Before Him glistening with brighter hopes 
 
 Shall kneel, while He by Presence mystical 1 1 65 
 
 Decks priests with Righteousness, and makes the poor 
 
 With Heavenly Bread, divinely multiplied, 
 
 To eat and to be satisfied, that each 
 
 May own the Altar quickeneth his soul. 
 
 Hush'd is the voice of doubtful questioning 1 170 
 
 In him who looks with reverence to the course 
 Of daily miracles wherewith the Sun, 
 Our usual light, its Maker's glory tells. 
 The grains of com intrusted to the earth 
 He multiplieth wondrously, and fools 1 1 75 
 
 Their speech who say the Body of the Lord 
 Cannot be multiplied ! For when our Sun 
 Was sunk among the dead, that awful time 
 Pourtrayed with gleams still biding in the eyes 
 Of faith that thither follows Him, though set, i 180
 
 90 NATURK A PAKABLR. 
 
 The greater things to come, when from the ground 
 Of souls not disembodied, Truth should spring. 
 Which Bishops or their Curates, strong through Him 
 For working marvels, have hereafter seen — 
 Those greater things than He for sensual eyes 1 1 85 
 
 Had wrought on earth, from Heaven now fulfill'd. 
 For greater Gifts than these for man, in Man, 
 Received, by Ministers made as their Lord, 
 Were given while 'mid forty years of pain 
 (This space of trial) still the Church hath rest. 1 190 
 Oh ! could we set a watch upon the lips 
 Of wrangling sense, and boldly strive to stand 
 By humbling discipline for ever fresh 
 Amid the Angels in the Heavenly place 
 Where Holy Waters placed our new-born soul, 1195 
 And leave the subtle ties of time and space 
 To the crude sophistry of angry schools. 
 Stand on the watching-place of holy faith 
 Undimm'd by sight, then might we ken from far, 
 As did the Pastor", an eternal Church 1200 
 
 Whereto the stones it pitieth us to see 
 In this world's dust, are ever gathering in. 
 Then should our eyes forth from the inmost soul 
 Exuding grief, by fleshly ministry 
 
 Gush out with sorrow, that no more we keep 1205 
 
 The new commandment of the Gospel Law, 
 With sorrow sanctified by Him, whose tears 
 Taught us to weep for Sion's low estate. 
 The dead beheld the Sun of Righteousness
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 91 
 
 Arise and shine in hearts of men made clean 1210 
 
 With Heavenly dew ! The waves of lowest Hell, 
 
 Those waters of the Proud, they saw, they fled, 
 
 The roaring Lions felt He was not set 
 
 And hasten'd to their dens, the dens of Hell. 
 
 Then did the mighty feel his prey was gone, 1215 
 
 And they whose hands were mighty against men 
 
 Found not their hands ^*, as one who waking feels 
 
 Pervasive numbness cramp him ! wondrously 
 
 Thou from th' eternal Mountains givest Light, 
 
 Light for the earth, and not for earth alone ; 1220 
 
 For one of old hath written that Thyself 
 
 Didst shine below to Judah's sons alone. 
 
 And Thy Apostles afterwards, as Hills, 
 
 Reflected to the Heathen in the Pit 
 
 With beauteous footsteps all Thy glorious deeds, 1225 
 
 Whereof Thy great forerunner tidings brought 
 
 To all the lowest places, where beneath, 
 
 Thy blessed Church was fashion'd secretly ^\ 
 
 Farewell, then, greater light ! that rul'st the day, 
 Sent forth to minister unto the heirs 1230 
 
 Of glorious rest, to be a herald high 
 For tidings of great joy, created power. 
 Symbol of Uncreate — for I have traced 
 In part thy mystic meanings, and in part 
 We darkly see eternal things of heaven 1235 
 
 Writ with a sunbeam ! now I follow on 
 To watch thee setting in the ruddy sky. 
 Yes — near this ancient seat of prayer and praise
 
 92 NATURK A PARABLE. 
 
 Oft have 1 wander'd up the friendly hill 
 
 To listen with my eyes to whispering lights 1240 
 
 Which moved them, mournful in their gracefulness, 
 
 Athwart the gathering night when moist July 
 
 Was ])arting, and the tranquil towers, pale 
 
 As one who on the bed of sickness calm 
 
 With holy smile beholds the Eucharist, 1 245 
 
 Received, methought, the light into their breast. 
 
 At length the Giant, weary of his course. 
 
 With potent effort drew the pillar'd clouds 
 
 Of night's dark temple down upon himself. 
 
 E'en so of old the Nazarite, — whose life 1250 
 
 Beneath its moral lessons, deeper lore 
 
 Of mysteries (obediently fulfiU'd 
 
 Despite of outward ill report) contains. 
 
 That earn'd him place, unblamed, amid the Saints 
 
 Who good report among Jews inwardly 1255 
 
 Obtain'd for faith, whose name interpreted 
 
 Is also Sun — amid the Philistines 
 
 Knapp'd columns vast asunder, and destroy'd 
 
 More in his death than life-long valour slew ; 
 
 Whence thoughts triumphant in the sunset mix 1260 
 
 And turn the coming night to deepest day. 
 
 More foes the Saviour slew by His last pang 
 
 Than all the miracles had slain before. 
 
 For then they trembled with acknowledged death. 
 
 And he who blindly-daring converse held 1265 
 
 With Him when weak with fasting, saw the men 
 
 Of outward weakness stamp'd with living strength.
 
 »■- _ THE GREATER LIGHT. 93 
 
 O ye who love the meekness through the frame 
 By fasting weaken'd, pour'd at parting day. 
 Be minded how the Beast of Hell comes forth 1270 
 When man at evening from his labour goes ! 
 Then keep your meekness, watchful lest the Sun, 
 Charged as he is with semblance of the True, 
 Go down upon your wrath, for in the night 
 The Devil hath power wider over such 1275 
 
 As yield unto him. He that hateth those 
 Who are the Brethren of Christ their Lord 
 A murderer is, and if to their last sleep 
 Such in the middle state should fold themselves 
 With hatred unrepented, them the night 1280 
 
 Shall not from sin set free : restore the pledge 
 To all thy Brethren due, before ^° in thee 
 The Sun be set, and faith's unsteadied eye 
 Be closed for evermore ! Compassion strong 
 And inward groanings fit the kine that bear 1285 
 
 The ark of heavenly Law by Him Who is 
 The Finger of the Father on the heart 
 Engraved, and sterner love for Him above 
 Shall ever with strange violence unhinge 
 The stubborn knee untutcr'd heretofore 1290 
 
 To bend beneath the weight of others' faults. 
 
 And though mayhap the joyous dance to some 
 Commend itself with all the gaiety 
 Of innocence, yet often have I thought 
 Young men and maidens need to fortify 1295 
 
 Their spirits by the Seal, the mighty Cross,
 
 94 NATURE A PAHABLE. 
 
 Ere, when the powers of the wicked one 
 In the thick forest of temptation strong 
 Are most unchain'd, they venture to enjoy 
 Unstinted lateness in their merriment ; 1300 
 
 Mindful of Him who on the mountains cold 
 The night for them in kneeling spent of yore, 
 Whose Presence unpermitted in the mind 
 Condemns that mind, as hateful of the Light. 
 
 The Bridegroom in His Chamber now is hid, 1 305 
 But soon shall rise again, no more to shine 
 On just and unjust, upon tares and wheat. 
 But those alone whose works have pleased Him 
 Shall to the Sun's own House be onward led 
 To dwell with Him in everlasting Light. L310 
 
 Then may no secret undivulg^d sin 
 Unwash'd of Almsgiving and silent fast 
 Condemn thee to the portion of the Foe ! 
 No sin is hidden from the Heat thereof, 
 Nor secret fault, nor proud presumptuous deed : 1315 
 That dread Refiner's Fire with searching Flame 
 Shall try the work of every son of man, 
 And throughly purge the Temple mystical 
 Of those that changed for money precious souls. 
 And those that sold for price the Spirit's gifts. 13-20 
 The Sun was risen, was risen upon the earth 
 When from the Lord the Lord did vengeance rain 
 Of Fire eternal on those cities foul 
 ' With deepest blackness of debasing sin : 
 Yet shall they find more tolerable pangs 1 325
 
 THE GREATER LIGHT. 95 
 
 Than some that see, and see in unbelief, 
 
 Tlie mighty things He hath already done. 
 
 Tlie Sun shall rise, shall rise upon the earth. 
 
 To work His mightiest Judgment-miracle. 
 
 Where shall we hide our faces from His Beam, 1330 
 
 When men and Angels, shrinking from the Judge, 
 
 See One Alone exalted set on high ?
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK 11. 
 
 Note 1. p. 50. 
 
 Atliaiiasvus, in Psalm 148, torn. ii. p. 1292, tiri ra KciTaxOovia 
 rpiircrai, 11 cia rSiv SpuKuVTioi' koi twv a^iamtiv (TrifiaivtTaC 
 Kai avrai yap a'l naXai tmv yiydfTiov ticeiviov i/'i'Xfi T'wi' 
 airiiGqaavTojv wort icai Tro\t[it]advTwv Tip 9ty, K.r.X. 
 
 Note 2. p. 52. 
 
 Tliis is taken from St. Basil de Spiritu S. § 62, who amongst 
 other language on the subject has the following : Trjv Qva'iav TifQ 
 ntvirr((i>c iv Troi'fJ TOTrrii Trpoacpkaofitv r) iv Tivivfiari Tt^ uyi(f>; 
 Tlov ToiiTO fit[iaVi)Kantv ; Tlap' avroi) tov Kvpi'ou XkyovTOQ, on 
 cl aX/jfltvoi Trpo(JKvvt}Tai iv Tiveuixari Kai a.\r)9ei(f TTpoaKvvf)- 
 trovai Tiji ITnrpi. See the Apost. Const, vi. 27. Clem. Sti'oni. 
 V. § 74. S. Austin, de Trin. xiv. 16. A similar way of speaking 
 occurred also amongst the Jews. 
 
 NoTK 3. p. 54. 
 
 This was suggested by a passage of St. Cyril de .\<lor. in 
 S. et V. iii. p. 87, wcn-fp to. dpTiQaXr] twv (pvrwv rfji; c'lKnai- 
 nrarriQ fiiv tov i)\iov (3o\iiQ napatTtlTai to /3Xa/3oe, dSiKoli'TO 
 o' dv ov /itrpiwc t'l TTvivfxaTwv I^^oXoXq dypiwTtpaiq ciaKpa- 
 OaivoivTO, Stl Si dt) ndvTwQ uvtoIq twv iic tcx'^VQ iniKOvprj- 
 
 l^iaTWl', K. t. X.
 
 i^» ^ NOTES ON BOOK II. 97 
 
 Note 4. p. 55. 
 
 This was said in allusion to the apparently heterodo.\ expi-es- 
 sions in the earlier Fathers, which have arisen from a want 
 of those definite statements which the Church afterwards, in all 
 ages, has been driven to, by the growth of heresy. It seems that 
 such expi-essions might have been designedly allowed by Pi-o- 
 vidence with a view to their beinaoccasions of falling to obstinate 
 heretics afterwards : at least there can be little doubt that this 
 was the case with Scripture. See Isaiah xxviii. 9 — 63, where it 
 seems, from the original, that the falling backward of some persons 
 is designedly aimed at : tliat they might go, &c. See the Anal, 
 ii. c. vi. p. 329. 
 
 Note 5. p. 57. 
 
 Chrysost. de Sacerdotio, torn. i. p. 424, Montf. syw 0£ icai tivoq 
 rJKOvaa Sujyovix'evov ttote, on aiinp tiq TtQtafivT'qQ, dav^iaarbQ 
 av)]() Kai dnoKaXviptig opfv (iwOojQ, tXEyev o-^ewQ r)i,iwc6ai 
 roiavTtjg ttotv Kai Kara rov Kaipbt' Ikhvov CKpvio ttXijOoc; 
 ayy'ikii)v iotlv, wq avT(^ Svvarbv r)v, aroXaQ avaj3tj3\TifiBi'iov 
 \aii7rpaq KCtl to 6vmaiTTi)piov kvk\ovvtii)v, Kai kolto) vivovtwv 
 WQ av t'i TiQ (TTpaTi(i)Ta£ Trapoi/roe jSaaiKiuiQ inrrfKorag iSoi. 
 
 Note 6. p. 59. 
 
 Ps. Ixxii. 16. The name of Jerusalem is strikingly introduced 
 here by the Chaldee Paraphrast, from whom we may often learn 
 how the prophecies of Christ's Kingdom wero understood by the 
 older Jews. 
 
 Note 7. p- 59. 
 
 Compare Gregory, Moral, xiv. 69, 70, who mentions the rising 
 of the Saints, and the "resurrection" of the leaves from the dry 
 stems soon after one another as confirmative of our Resurrection. 
 The notion that these were the Church of the Firstborn is Origeu's 
 (in Rom. i. § 6). In the context allusion is made to a tradition 
 of the .Jews, that those there mentioned were yet alive. Vide 
 SchiJttgcn's Ilor. Ileb. De Messia, cap. vi. I have read somo- 
 
 H
 
 98 NOTES 
 
 where, however, a statement more exactly corresponding with 
 that in the text. Aliiwion is also made to a belief among the 
 Jews, that all whose bones did not lie in the Holy Land would 
 be dragged through the caves of the earth to that country, a 
 process to whieh tliey give the name of Gilgul-hammcchilloth, as 
 the learned reader may sec in liuxtorf's Lexicon Talm. p. 439. 
 Jarchi on Genesis xlvii. 31. 
 
 NoteIR. p. 62. 
 
 The light of the Sun is very frequently used by the Fathers as 
 a natural tj-pe of the generation of the Son. The mention, how- 
 ever, of Heat, as comi)leting the typo of the Everblessed Trinity, 
 is less frequent, and has been adopted here from St. Ephrem, 
 whose ascetic habits seem to have given him an accurate eye for 
 nature's mysteries ; Opera Syi*. vol. iii. p. 71, and 137, where 
 lie writes as follows : " Behold the parable of the Sun, and it is 
 the Father ; of tlie Light, and it is the Son ; of the Heat, and 
 it is the Holy Spirit; and though he be one, yet is a Trmity 
 beheld in him, which cannot be comprehended, — who shall 
 explain it I though one it is many, being one that is three, and 
 three one. Mighty wonder, marvel visible ! Distinct is the Sun 
 from its I'ay ; distinct they are, yet equal, for that the ray thereof 
 itself is also the Sun. Still of two Suns no man discourseth, 
 although the ray thereof be itself also the Sun over those below. 
 Of two Gods we make not mention, although our Lord be also 
 God over the ci-eatures. Who shall search out how and where 
 His Ray is bounden ? bounden and yet loose His Heat : though 
 not separate, yet are they not confounded, distinct and mingled, 
 bound and free. Mighty wonderment ! " &c. &c. 
 
 Note 9. p. 63. 
 
 Justin Mart. p. 358, ed. Col. ar/zjjrov ^e (cai axwpiiTTov row 
 ITarpoc ravri]v rfjv Avva/iLV <pac!iv vTrap\uv, ovjnp rpoirov 
 
 TO TOV t'lXioV <PU)Q (pafflV t-lTl jilQ Hl'M aTjX^TQV KOI d^CtljllOTOJ', 
 
 ovroQ TOV yXiov tv rffJ ovpch'qy kuI otuv Sv^y, avvaTro(pipeTai 
 TO <puJQ. ovrioQ 6 Harz/p orav jiovXijTai, Xeyovn, f^vvafuv 
 AvTov Tvpomjc^v TToiiV Kai orav j5ovXt]Tai, irdXiv dvaaTtXXii 
 tig 'Eavrov.
 
 ON BOOK II. 99 
 
 Note 10. p. 63. 
 
 Iren?Dus, lib. v. cap. 26, § 1, we ol irpicrlivTipoi Xkyovci, tots 
 01 fiiv Kara^iwOiVTiQ rj/e kv ovpavip Siarpifii'ig tKiTae ^wpT/ffoiiffi, 
 oi Sk rjje Tov UapaStiaov Tpvfrjg c'nroXavffovaiv, ot Ss t))v 
 \afnrp6Ti]ra rrig noXeug KaOi^ovcrc iravTaxov yap 6 '2ioTi)p 
 6pa9t'i(TiTai KaOojg li^ioi 'iffovrai o'l opwvrsg aiiTov' where observe 
 that the old version renders " Dciis videbitur." J. Mart. dial, 
 p. 340, also says, oiTOf (6 '\riaovg) tOTtv 6 iv 'lipovffaXrifjL alwviov 
 (pwg Xafj-Treiv fikWoiv. 
 
 Note 11. p. 64. 
 
 Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 4, "Prseclarus, eximius, omnia intuens, 
 omnia etiani exaudiens, ut principi literarum Homero placuisse in 
 imo 60 video." Iliad iii. 277) 'HfXtoe 0' og tzcivt t<pop^g Kai 
 irdvT ETraKoviiQ, is quoted by Harduin. Compare Cyr. de Ador. 
 p. 182. 
 
 Note 12. p. 65. 
 Vide Bp. Bull's Sermons, Serm. v. p. 133, ed. Burton. 
 
 Note 13. p. 68. 
 
 Hist, de S. Petro, i. 18, in Fabricii Cod. Pseud. N. T. p. 436, 
 " Cumque htec cum lacrymis orasset, Apostolus ait, adjuro vos in 
 Nomine Jesu Christi qui eum fertis ut nunc demittatis ; et statim 
 ad vocem Petri demissus a dsemonibus, implicitis remigiis alarum 
 quas sumpserat corruit." F. cites Arnobius c. Gentes, ii. p. 50. 
 
 Note 14. p. 70. 
 
 Alluding to Mr. Newman's Sermon on St. Philip and St. James's 
 Day ; and also, presently, to the dedication to Dr. Routh, of his 
 Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church, &c. 
 
 Note 15. p. 71. 
 
 St. Austin in Ps.alm xliii. 17, " Kadieom charitatis habe, ut cum 
 Sol exortus fuerit, non tc urat, scd nutriat." 
 
 II 2
 
 100 NOTES 
 
 Note 16. p. 72. 
 
 St. Cyi'il de Ador. p. 92, notices of Jetliro, that " he belonged 
 to a rcHgion which was still surviving in Pak'stine, which blended 
 the worship of the Sun and the stars witli that of the true God." 
 Shortly after there is an allusion to Isaiah liv. 11, 12, where the 
 Hebrew word for the battlements means "suns," and the mention 
 of rubies reminded me of Lament, iv. 7- 
 
 Note 17. p. 72. 
 
 The Gayatri is the most sacred verse in the Vedas, and is given 
 as follows by Prof. Wilson in his learned and elegant translation 
 of the Vishnu I'urana, p. 222, n. 23 : "We meditate upon that 
 excellent light of the divine sun : may he illuminate our minds." 
 The notion of three hours, morning, noon, and afternoon, as con- 
 nected by the Indians with devotion and with the sun, may be 
 liere noticed as a heathen parody (so to say) of the Canonical 
 hours as noticed below. V. P. p. 235. 
 
 Note 18. p. 73. 
 
 Bp. Butler, Anal, part ii. ch. v. p. 297, gives what appears to 
 have been the view of several of the Fathers, when he states that 
 the Jewish sacrifices really were in some degree efficacious for 
 obtaining })ardon of sin. See St. Cyril on Isaiah, p. 16. St. 
 Austin in Ps. vi. § 2. St. Chrys. ad Rom. p. 46. 
 
 Note 19. p. 74, 
 
 In these words allusion is made, as in very many other parts 
 of this poem, to G. Herbert's language, " Who in heart not ever 
 kneel, neither sin nor Saviour feel." 
 
 Note 20. p. 74. 
 
 Grsevius ad Callim. H. in Lav. Pall. v. 72, " Attriljuerunt 
 veteres meridiei quietem, <[uia somnum tum capere deos arbri- 
 trabantur. Unde pastor ille apud Theocritum negat sibi licere 
 fistula canere, quia meridies esset, et Pan, deus suus, dorniii-et. . . . 
 Hinc et intelligendus Elias, lib. iii. Reg. cap. 18, 'Cum esset
 
 U^ •.-^^ ON BOOK II. 101 
 
 jam meridies,' &c. Forte respiciuiit ad banc superstitioncm 
 interpp. Grteci et Latiui, Ps. xci. 6, vertendo Sainoviov fxeu- 
 »;/i/3fiii'o5." There is, however, more authority for tliis version, 
 were this the place to discuss it, than Graevius seems disposed to 
 allow. 
 
 Note 21. p. 75- 
 
 St. Austin on Psalm xxxix. § 5. xlix. § 20, &c., notices this 
 several times : in the latter place he says, " Sicut in humano 
 corpore, pede calcato lingua clamat." 
 
 Note 22. p. 76. 
 
 St. Irenteus, lib. iii. c. 16, § 7, " Properante Maria ad ad- 
 mirabile vini signum et ante tempus volente participare com- 
 pendii poculo, Dominus repellens intempestivam festinationem 
 dixit, Quid mihi tibi est, mulier ? nondum venit bora mea." 
 S. Jo. ii. 3. 
 
 Note 23. p. 76. 
 
 St. Austin on Psalm xxxv. § 14, commenting on the Vulgate 
 version of Ps. xxii. 5, (which seems contained in the Hebrew 
 words,) " Calix meus inebrians, quam praeclarus est ! " has the 
 i following words, which 1 have applied, I trust allowably, in the 
 
 1 text : " Hoc jam calice inebriati sunt Martyres quando ad pas- 
 
 sionem euntes suos non agnoscebant. Quid tam ebrium quam 
 non agnoscere uxorem flentem, non filios — non parentes ? Non 
 agnoscebant, non eos ante oculos esse arbitrabantur. Nolite 
 mirari, ebrii erant. Unde ebrii erant ? Videte : acceperunt 
 calicem unde inebriarentur. Unde et ille gratias Deo agit dicens. 
 Quid retril)uam Domino pro omnibus qute retribuit mihi ? Calicem 
 Salutaris accipiam et Nomini Domini invocabo." Ps. cxvi. 12. 
 It is worth adding, that the Catholic interpretation of this passage 
 is, that partaking of Christ's suffermgs is the way to show our 
 thankfulness to Him. Hence austerity of all kinds is a humble 
 offering of thanksgiving to Him who was graciously pleased to 
 <-all Himself an Austere Man. It is, however, applied also by 
 the R. Missal and St. Cyril of Jerusalem to partaking of the Cu]v 
 of Blessing, — which should strengthen and refresli us for more 
 austerities. Thus much has been here said upon this interpretation.
 
 102 NOTES 
 
 because it lies at the bottom of a great deal tliat will be found in 
 this poem. T sliould likewise add, that as these two interpi-et- 
 ations are by no means eonti'adictory, so neither is a third, (to be 
 found in St. Basil in Mart. Julit. § 7-) viz. that retribution may 
 be offered by eompassion to Ills jioor and afflicted members. All 
 good works, as being a sign that Jle is yet in men of a truth, so 
 that they are not reprobates, seem consoling to penitents : but 
 passion and compassion, so to speak, seem especially so. 
 
 Note 24, p. 80. 
 This is noticed by St. Austin de Trin. \i. § 12. 
 
 Note 25. p. 82. 
 
 See Ilerod. iv. ir)8, where the words tvOavTU 6 ovpavbg 
 TtTprjTai occur : and compare Callimachus H. Apoll. 94, there 
 cited : 
 
 Ov Ktivov x°po''' "^' 6ea>Tipov aWov 'AttoWoiv, 
 Ovci ttoXh t6(t' tviifxtv 6(p'i\mfia roaaa Kvprjvy 
 Mvioofitvog TTporeprjg cipTraKTVOQ' ovSe jiiv avToi 
 Bama^ai ^oij3oio ttXeov Qeov dWov iTiaai'. 
 
 Note 26. p. 83. 
 
 The clouds are very often noticed by the Fathers in this or 
 some kindred meaning, as in Ephr. on Judges v. 4 ; on Jerem. 
 xliii. extr. ; Hilar, on Ps. cxxxvi. p. 1070, ed. Par. 1612 ; Cyril 
 on Hos. p. 65, p. 189 ; Aretas on Rev. i. 7? who, after quoting 
 St. Mark's words, xiv. 62, proceeds as follows : riiiv ve(pEXwv 
 ivravOa, tire Sia to Kovfov rag fiirapaiovQ Kai dyyiXiKag 
 SriXovvTtov Swdfific, oiq kuI Aa[5iS 6 OtOTrdriop vi(f>r) T-qv tiri- 
 ^acnv avTtp Tt^ Oi'nj} vttotiOhq, f/ Kai Tovg OtiMQ Kai nveviia- 
 riKwg Z,yv iXofikvovg dvOpwTrovg dtjXdv, Trtpi uv Kai 6 avrbg 
 ovTug (prjaiv, " ctTrb Tijg Tr^Xai'yiiaaog Avrov at v£0fXrtt SirjXQov." 
 Kai 6 'Afxwg Kai 'Uaatag Trtpi rciv avTuiv, " rivfg o'tSs wg 
 VKpeXai TTiTovrai ;" di]Xov yap ujg Trtpi twv OEofiXug jSioivrujv 
 ravra (pi}ai rpoTriKuJg. 6 Kai jxciXXov Trapa^iKTSov, tiys Kai to 
 Trapbv iKai'bv TtKfirjpiuxrai prjrbv fXiTci twv veftXwv <j>diTKOv 
 ip\ea9ai rbv Kpirijv, dXX' ov\ inrb tuiv vtiptXwv iwoxoifievov.
 
 ON BOOK II. 103 
 
 &c. This interpretatiou is also found in the Chaldee Paraphrast, 
 who renders, Is. v. 6, " I will command the prophets not to pro- 
 phesy over them prophecy." 
 
 Note 27- p. 83. 
 
 Origen in Levit. p. 191, "Est adhuc et septima, licet dura et 
 laboriosa, per poenitentiam remissio peccatorum cum lavat pec- 
 cator in laci-ymis stratum suum et iiunt ei lacrymte panes die 
 ac nocte, et cum non erubescit sacerdoti Domini indicare pec- 
 catum suum, et qurerere medicinam secundum ilhul (|Uod dicitur, 
 Ps. xxxi. 5, et Jam. v. 14." 
 
 Note 28. p. 84. 
 
 This application of St. Luke, v. 24, I have seen somewhere in 
 the writmgs attributed to St. Athanasius, which are not his,— but 
 am unable to find it again. 
 
 Note 29. p. 8G. 
 
 Hilar, on Matt. Can. xxxiii. p. (J05, considers the third night as 
 made by the mysterious darkness. 
 
 Note 30. p. 87- 
 
 Tertull. de E-es. Cam. lii. "Alia caro volucrum, id est martyiimi 
 qui ad superiora conantur ; alia autem piscium, id est quibus 
 aqua Baptismatis sufficit." 
 
 Note 31. p. 87. 
 
 Origen in Josh. i. § 5, " Dum nos helium gerimus adversus 
 inimicos nostros et colluctamur adversus principatus et potestates 
 et rectores tenebrai-um harum, adversus spiritalia nequitia' in 
 coelestibus, Sol nobis Justitise indesinenter assistit, nee deserit 
 unquam, nee festinat occumbere, quia ipse dixit, Ecce Ego vobis- 
 cum sum ommhua diebus." See the Greek. For the context see 
 CjTil de Ador. p. 155, who seems to understand the passage of 
 more perfect Christians, who having overcome the flesh, are 
 wrestluig only with unseen enemies ; as do other writers.
 
 104 NOTES 
 
 Note 32. p. 87. 
 
 St. Eplir. on Isai. xxx. " It was not the light of the Sun that 
 was imiltiplicd which had been changed into darkness, but it was 
 knowledge that was nndtiplied, typified in the (greater) lights, 
 wliich also chased away from the nations that liidden darkness 
 which was drawn over the hearts of the nations." 
 
 Note 33. p. 90. 
 
 See St. Hernue I'astoris lib. iii. ix. § 30. The subsequent 
 language is boiTowed from St. Hilary de Trin. lib. x. p. 222, 
 "Quamvis lachrymarum offieium in corporo sit, animas tamen eas 
 in Tuinisterio corporis quasi quidara moeror exudat." 
 
 NoTK 34. p. 91. 
 
 From Ps. Ixxvi. 6 ; the Hebrew literally translated is, " the 
 stout of heart their sleep have slumbered, nor found all men of 
 might their hands." 1 have taken it literally as of alluding to the 
 sensation upon awaking in a state of torpor. The words " Eternal 
 Hills" come from the Septuagint version of the preceding verse, 
 the original words meaning, Mountains of prey, or of meat (as in 
 Ps. cxi. 5). The Septuagint version might be made to allude to 
 the Apostles who distributed the Meat which perisheth not. See 
 Corderius' Catena on the Psalms, p. 570 (ApoUinarii) and 576. 
 
 Note 35. p. 91. 
 
 This is taken from St. Clem. Sti'om. vi. c. 6, § 46, who puts it 
 hypothetically : li St "lovSaiovQ jnorov svT]yytXi(raTo (6 2tiir/)p) 
 ....01 diTocToXoi icaOawep ivTav9a ovnoQ Kciicn rovQ t^ iOrwv 
 iTrirrjSuovg tig tTricfTpoiprjv tvriyytKiaavTO. That our Lord went 
 thither to give remission of sins to them that sat in the shadow of 
 death, seems to have been a generally received opinion. See 
 Spencer's note on Origen c. Cels. p. 85 ; as also that the Baptist 
 was Christ's forerunner, as on earth so also in hell ; see Coteler. 
 ad Patr. Apost. p. 117 (who himself, however, speaks of it as 
 error). Ambr. in Luc. i. § 38, " Prsenuntius natus est, prfenmitius 
 raortuus est." Euseb. Emis. in fest. decoll. p. 4, &c. ed. Augusti
 
 I-., 
 
 ON BOOK II. 105 
 
 (whose uote, p. 125, will show that the opinion is one sufficiently 
 entertained to make it allowable in poetry). Leo, in idem fest. 
 
 Note 36. p. 93. 
 
 Greg. Mor. vii. 42, " Vacete quae sub area Domini ad plaustrum 
 religautui", gemunt et pergunt — dant ab intimis raugitus, et tamen 
 ab itinere non demutant gressus. Araoi'em (juidem per compas- 
 sionem sentiuut, sed colla posterlus non detlectunt. Sic, sic 
 necesse est, ut incedere debeant, qui sacrte legis jugo suppositi 
 jam per internam scieutiam Domhii arcam portant, quatenus per 
 hoc, quod propinquorum necessitatibus condolent, a ccepto recti- 
 tudiuis itinere non declinent. Bethsames quippe domus Solis 
 dicitur. Area ergo Dommi superposita Bethsames pergere, est 
 cum superna. scientia ad isternre Lucis habitaculum propinquare." 
 lb. xvi. § 6, " Pignus ante solis occasum reddere jubemur, quia 
 priusquam in nobis per dolorem cordis Sol Justitise occidat, debe- 
 mus ei confessionem venia; reddere, a quo confessionem accipimus 
 culpa?, ut qui se deli<|uisse in nos meminit, a nobis mox relaxatura 
 sentiat quod deliquit."
 
 *s?» •^-.^^ 
 
 BOOK III. 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Primeval Light limited to definite Orbs. Their abiding Pre- 
 sence typical of Angels and Saints with the Church, though 
 unseen. Gideon's noble act— Stax-light like hints of Scripture- 
 may by contrast enable us better to appreciate the Sun. Stars 
 remind us how we may sin against Heaven. Instructive as seem- 
 ingly forming one vast System. Why thought eternal by the 
 Heathen. Imagmed effect of the Redemption upon their Inhabit- 
 ants. Further Lesson from their Presence. The Moon ; the 
 precious thmgs brought forth by her ; her influence on little and 
 common things. Comets and Eclipses.
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 The earliest light that shone upon the earth 
 
 Was not the sun, the moon, or any star. 
 
 But one vast Ocean of unfetter'd light, 
 
 Created image of the Uncreate 
 
 Which foster'd plants and herbs before the Sun o 
 
 Had glister'd in their dewdrops, or the Moon 
 
 With nightly ray had visited their leaves \ 
 
 This effluence of light to divers orbs 
 
 In divers ranks and orders now confined. 
 
 May haply shine more fully in the Heavens 10 
 
 Above this solid firmament we view 
 
 Set thick with stars as flowers, may shine 
 
 For beings capable of constant beam.s 
 
 From light unbroken, brighter than the Sun ; 
 
 Such as upon the eyes of upright Saul, 15 
 
 Misguided in his zeal, from higher Heaven 
 
 Fell awfully of old ! proclaiming light 
 
 Within to shine on earth, and now in Heaven 
 
 In him with hallowing glory dwelhng still ! 
 
 He taught us how the everlasting Sun 20 
 
 Was with one Glory gifted, while the Stars, 
 
 The types of Cherubim and Seraphim,
 
 110 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Another glory had, and they alike 
 With hoiTow'd lustre, as the lesser light, 
 Shone in the Heavens garnish'd by one Power, 25 
 
 From Whom both men and angels, things above 
 And things belovr, with holy beauty shine. 
 The Sun, so long as in the lower world 
 He shineth, to the world a fountain is 
 Of light and heat : and Christ while in the world 30 
 Was to the world a Light ! The sun withdrawn 
 Discovers countless stars — a little while 
 And we again shall see his Antitype. 
 Meantime, to mind us that this world is night 
 Compared to what shall be, the natural Sun 35 
 
 Withdraws his light, and we, on whom the stars 
 Were glittering all day long, thereby are made 
 The witnesses of love else unbeheld. 
 Had Jesus not ascended, and withdrawn 
 His Presence visible, then Heaven's Host 40 
 
 Had never to the faith of such, as feel 
 This world in darkness lies, been manifest. 
 The ministering Spirits now to holy men 
 Are by that Spirit reveal'd who gave to each 
 His measure of angelic sanctity. 45 
 
 Eye had not seen, nor ear as yet perceived. 
 Nor heart of man within the womb of thought 
 The joyous sense of heavenly Light had shaped, 
 Until the Saviour left us, and to these 
 Imparted glory, shining unperceived 50 
 
 With Majesty upon them, lifted up
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. Ill 
 
 Above all Principalities or Powers, 
 
 That they by Him might unto higher place 
 
 Of dignity be lifted, thus to bless 
 
 With Hght transmitted, Christian warriors here 55 
 
 Who fought their fight beneath such guardian care. 
 
 Oh ! if we once religiously regard 
 The instruments of art as helps to learn 
 More of the influence of heaven's lights 
 On earth, as issuing ft-om the thoughts of man 60 
 
 Not unassisted in discovery 
 By deep interpositions from Above ; 
 Then with far other thoughts accompanying 
 Our eyes at midday through the telescope 
 Shall see the dancing of the polar star 65 
 
 Or other cluster'd orbs of wakeful light — 
 And passing onward into higher courts 
 Of Heaven invisible, yet clearly seen 
 By those things which are made, reveal'd to faith 
 There shall we view the Spirits that have past 70 
 
 Their state of trial, singing evermore 
 With Prophets and Apostles, day and night, 
 Their Holy, Holy, Holy. While we walk 
 Upon the earth about our common work. 
 The stars are shining still as though they kept 75 
 
 Perpetual sabbath by unresting work 
 Of glittering inexhausted ! While we live. 
 And breathe, and move, and, careless of the end 
 Of these, to common meat and drink 
 Our spirits lower, still in Heaven's Court, SO
 
 112 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 At every hour and moment of the day, 
 
 The unbroken office to the Trinity 
 
 By Angel tongues is hymn'd, and when we turn 
 
 To ' Heaven's lieger ' prayer, by it to us 
 
 (As by a telescope the midday stars) 85 
 
 Their joyous song of steady love is heard. 
 
 How sweetly day by day to us the Church 
 
 The Heavens, and all the Angel Powers therein. 
 
 Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, Holy Church 
 
 Throughout the world, at sacred office shows ; 90 
 
 Thus linking into one, elected men 
 
 And Angels past probation *, and the beings 
 
 Who by experience of trial learn 
 
 To hasten onward to the endless Day, 
 
 Far better than the thousand years of joy 95 
 
 In which the Son on earth His Saints prepares : 
 
 For if these thousand days are rightly thought 
 
 In tarrying at the door of Heaven's courts, 
 
 Ere entry, needful, sure the One full Day 
 
 Within those courts more glorious shall be ! 100 
 
 If then the stars be shadows of the Hosts 
 That live in inner Heaven, and if of yore 
 In times when shadows spake to Patriarchs, 
 A shadow of the Son of man was seen, 
 Beneath such dispensation, suitably 105 
 
 With all its bearings did the Psalmist pray 
 That Angels might be stirr'd to fuller praise, 
 And stars and light, when summon'd to the task. 
 Might not unaptly figure Heaven's Host.
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 113 
 
 It might be that the words he raised in pray'r 110 
 
 To Him Who deigns for humble litanies 
 To keep material nature to her course. 
 Had also deeper meaning, meet for such 
 As see by faith the Angels camping round. 
 Blest be the souls who in simplicity 115 
 
 With artless Jacob ^ or Nathanael, 
 See Angels still ascending to the Son 
 To carry prayers to Heaven, or to earth 
 Descending when the Master's presence bids 
 These to partake of shelter, unawares 1 20 
 
 By humble souls afforded, as they stoop 
 Hard by the place where late His Body lay. 
 And see the linen on the Altar still ! 
 Or when the Bishop, with o'ershadowing hand, 
 Giveth a gift more wondrous than the boon 125 
 
 Of everlasting being first bestow'd 
 Through human parents on their fleshly sons, 
 And powers greater than the Shining Light, 
 Who should decrease, enjoy'd, thereby bestows ; 
 Then also are the Hosts, unseen by such 1 30 
 
 As walk by sight, in waiting, and the night 
 Of this world's misery illumined seems 
 With hopes, which fathers' prayers or deacons' breasts 
 Inspiring, promise laden to return. 
 
 And men of faith and prayer believe that beings 135 
 Whose dwelling is afar yet exercise 
 An influence for good upon the earth. 
 As by their distant glimmerings do the stars. 
 
 I
 
 114 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Whene'er these wonder-working days return, 
 
 A sensible advance towards the day liO 
 
 (So near at hand when furthest) by the heart 
 
 Of awe-struck men is felt — the realm of night 
 
 Shrinks into narrower compass, and the stars 
 
 (If not amiss, the name may be transferr'd 
 
 To holy Angels) gleam before the mind 14.) 
 
 Then doubly conscious that there is indeed 
 
 A Host of Seraphs round us evermore. 
 
 And some perhaps who have the Gift received 
 
 But lately, and with love's intensest beating 
 
 Are greeted by companions that can share 150 
 
 Their deeper yearnings, will so awfully 
 
 Have realized the mighty mystery. 
 
 That they who have enjoy'd a longer use 
 
 Of this tremendous Gift, with fear look back 
 
 And feel a night is round them thicker far 155 
 
 Than ever they when fresh with confidence 
 
 Of hoped obedience, deem'd would linger still. 
 
 Yet is the Day at hand, the glorious Stars 
 Are still expecting, and the loyal heart 
 Goaded by memory of stern resolves, 1 60 
 
 Again shall rise to do the Heavenly Will 
 As It is done in Heaven, shall catch from night 
 A precept how to shine while others sleep. 
 Hence are the burning lamp, the girded loins, 
 What time in marriage luxury and sleep 165 
 
 The children of this world for Angel's state 
 On earth aspiring feebly, children seek
 
 -*' THE STARS AND LIGHT. 115 
 
 At their desire, despising such as deem 
 That eunuchs chiefly propagate the Seed 
 From Jesse's Stem, and by their nightly tears 1 70 
 
 With penitents replenishing the earth 
 Or new-won Christians, gain unto themselves 
 A quiver full of spiritual sons 
 To foil the darts of their dread Enemy 
 When in the Gate of Judgment they shall speak. 175 
 Hence is the hardy appetite for pain. 
 For fasting, for th' unwearying earnestness 
 Of intercessive prayer, which as a flower 
 By midday heat and choking trials hurt 
 And wither'd, in the coolness of the night 180 
 
 Recovers pristine attitudes of grace. 
 What time the rains of night upon it drop 
 With patterings intermitting and distinct. 
 As tears by penitential sorrow dropp'd 
 Amid the stillness of the mantling niglit 185 
 
 Upon a book of prayers. O ye that sleep. 
 Awake, awake, put on the glorious robe 
 Of sackcloth, and the saintly posture seize 
 Of standing, in the Courts invisible, 
 With patient feet ; awake from idle dreams 190 
 
 Of ill anticipated for the flesh. 
 To the realities of heavenly rest. 
 The Christian Sabbath ! Dare to follow Him 
 Who on the mountain watch'd the night away 
 In needful intercession, and was heard 1!'5 
 
 In that He feared. Dare to ascend with Him 
 
 I 2
 
 116 
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 r 
 
 111 thought and mind, with Him in human heart 
 
 Gifts for thine enemies do thou i-eceive. 
 
 Thou art a priest and king, a counsellor. 
 
 One that should not indulge in night-long sleep 200 
 
 What time the enemy besets the Camp. 
 
 There is a force in nightly-chanted psalms 
 And holy Creeds, which unto us of old 
 Was promised, when by night the mighty man 
 Went down to Madian's camp, with chosen troop 20.5 
 Of spare and measured diet from the earth 
 Uplifted, not with those that crouch'd 
 To wallow in the mire as the beasts 
 That typify uncleanness, but with few 
 And upright spirits he on Madian's host 210 
 
 Fell suddenly by midnight, and as men 
 Who in their earthen vessels treasure held 
 Of light conceal'd, with no uncertain sound 
 The trumpets blew, and on the type of him ^ 
 Who is our Foe, with mighty ruin dash'd. 21.5 
 
 Tliese battles of the warrior with their noise 
 And garments roU'd in blood, the silent might 
 Of nightly Creed and David's trumpet set 
 To Christians' mouth foretold, a silent might 
 Given by the Child who in the manger call'd 220 
 
 The Stars of Heaven to fight with peaceful song 
 For men of kindred spirit upon earth. 
 Whoso would pass his nights in wakeful rest 
 Might imitate on spiritual enemies 
 The deed of Gideon ! He with inward man 225
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 117 
 
 Might hear the voice the blissful Stars of old 
 
 To David utter'd. For 'tis when the eyes 
 
 Have long been weeping by a soothing Cross 
 
 They best can look upon the marshall'd ranks 
 
 Of Stars whose ministry in distant Heaven 230 
 
 Hath influence on the earth, and in them read 
 
 jMemorial of the Angelic quires that sing 
 
 Their hallelujah charms against the Foe 
 
 That will not, cannot hear them. Outward sign 
 
 They vield to such of inward comfort sweet '2'io 
 
 And gentle to their souls, as starlight is 
 
 Unto the tearworn channels of the eve 
 
 Now daring to look up. ' Ah, lonely man,' 
 
 They seem to say, ' thy sorrows well are known. 
 
 We that be watching o'er the widow'd Church 240 
 
 Behold the same afflictions as in thee 
 
 Accomplish'd in thy brethren ; and our camp 
 
 Is pitch'd about thee still, as round the earth 
 
 The starry firmament. And there is One 
 
 Who calls us all by name, the Second Man, 245 
 
 Who, as of old His earthly antitype 
 
 Gave to the creatures each a separate name. 
 
 With wondrous gift of language then inspired ; 
 
 So did He to the groupings of our Host 
 
 A name bestow, as upon each therein ; 250 
 
 And every name by its significance 
 
 Convey'd to each of us our right and power 
 
 Of several ministries in order'd course. 
 
 There is not on the earth a little flower.
 
 lis NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 A beast, or bird, which telleth not to thee 2oo 
 
 Of counterpart in Heaven : of this the page 
 
 Of nature which we dwell by, will inform 
 
 Thy wakeful love, if there content to muse 
 
 Of glories so reveal'd.' Thus haply he 
 
 Might in his fancy be beguiled to shape 260 
 
 An Angel's language, and delusion strange 
 
 Resulting on the mind with musing weak. 
 
 Might dream it heard the music of the spheres. 
 
 Or as when sleep is stealing o'er the frame, 
 
 Stretch'd on a hardy couch for meagre rest, 265 
 
 Remembrances of spiritual beings blend 
 
 With things of earth, and casually consist 
 
 In brief endurance of propriety 
 
 And reason in the mind, then die away 
 
 Into a jargon of unorder'd images — 270 
 
 So might the soul from musing on the stars 
 
 Aroused, suppose that neighbouring voice had ask'd. 
 
 Who is my neighbour. Lord ? and one replied. 
 
 Each angel that hath mercy show'd to thee ! 
 
 Nor only as reminding, how the Sun 275 
 
 One Glory hath, another. Heaven's Host, 
 Is starlight's dimness joyous to the sight. 
 But also as requiring tender love 
 To rouse to vigour, ere it hear their voice ! 
 Even thus " the book of stars " a gleaming gives, 280 
 Not a full light, but a retiring gleam. 
 The only light that lendeth guidance meet 
 To souls that seek for Scripture's narrow gate
 
 ^ THE STARS AND LIGHT. 119 
 
 By walking mournfully, as all must walk 
 
 Who tread His slander'd footsteps. Yea, the stars, 283 
 
 By their retiring, unobtrusive light. 
 
 Shine just so much as humble souls desire. 
 
 To show the realms of Heaven within the veil. 
 
 Thev would not have them brighter, nor the text 
 
 More clear, which gives to duteous love a place 290 
 
 ^^^lere it may exercise its patient gaze. 
 
 'Tis so a little child, that up a cliff 
 
 Which throws its ruin onward to the shore 
 
 Climbs, joyous in his heart at rugged clumps 
 
 And knolls all bristling with new obstacles ; 295 
 
 And ever and anon as they shall help 
 
 To raise him upward in his busy course. 
 
 He stops and fills his panting bosom fresh 
 
 With the invigorating breeze that teems 
 
 From the still Ocean, fills his wondering eye 300 
 
 With faith and love, and then resumes his task 
 
 Self-set, and yet more gladly now contrives 
 
 To overcome the trial in his course 
 
 Presented next. 
 
 'Tis thus a patient soul 305 
 
 Who to a humble faith hath tutor'd been 
 In holv Church's teaching, gladly joins 
 With difficulties such as may beset 
 His upward pathway, those especially 
 Which call upon that faith to energize 310 
 
 Through love towards the spirits of the just. 
 And reverence duly Heaven's Host unseen '^.
 
 120 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And when the childlike spirit hath been strong 
 To vanquish these, then comes a breathing time, 
 "Whence further we may look towards the sea 315 
 
 And worship that great Deep, the Trinity. 
 
 There is a rude unhallow'd spirit that lives 
 With this our age, more potent than the seven 
 That haunted the regretted Saint whose day 
 A resting time hath furnish'd me to muse 320 
 
 On stars and light, a spirit that guileth men 
 Aside from reverential bride-like love 
 To all that doth or ever hath belong'd 
 Or should perchance belong or minister 
 In any sort unto the Church's Lord : 325 
 
 That love that stirr'd the Church of olden time 
 Unrent of schisms, which did not reverence 
 The Angels, save as stepping-stones t' advance 
 With reverence distinct towards the Throne ; 
 Which felt an awe for those who station held 330 
 
 As doorkeepers of Heaven's highest Height ! 
 Hence not alone before the Father's sight 
 Was sin confess'd. but also against Heaven ; 
 The Angel who was guardian over prayer ^ 
 Might not be told excusingly of vows 335 
 
 Through error broken ; nor might Brother Spirits 
 By women, shameless with uncover'd head. 
 Bereaving them of deep memorial 
 Of inward mysteries, unheeded be ''. 
 A shadow of them is by ancient bard 340 
 
 Preserved, when he of Hours sung, that watch'd
 
 ^^ THE STARS AND LIGHT. 121 
 
 Thv storied gates, Olympus ! since to these 
 
 The opening or shutting of the doors 
 
 Of heaven was trusted. For the Angel high 
 
 Set over prayer is able best to hear 345 
 
 At hours accepted ; such was he who loosed 
 
 The Saint that once was deem'd the rightful lord 
 
 Of the whole Church, until the Enemy 
 
 Sow'd discord 'mid the Wheat, and Truth, averse 
 
 From error real or fancied, kiss'd no more 350 
 
 Her sister Mercy. Dread corruption sway'd 
 
 The members now disjointed — the whole head 
 
 For sickness counted, and the heart throughout 
 
 Beat languidly I Oh would that all could be 
 
 Of humbler mind, all members of the Church, 355 
 
 While through the world she singeth David's Psalms 
 
 And keepeth fast and feast, from sabbaths freed. 
 
 That thev, the fellow-citizens of saints. 
 
 Now, even now, may enter better Rest. 
 
 ^AJas ! that men are set on praising home 360 
 
 Thus Jewishly, and, changing them to fiends. 
 
 Exult in loud abuse of others' sins 
 
 As they esteem them, ignorant of prayer 
 
 And all its humbling workings ! Better far 
 
 To trv ourselves in Catholic balances, 365 
 
 The measures of that Sanctuary of God 
 
 The ancient Church, till certain we ourselves 
 
 Are nothing wanting, and t' esteem the rest 
 
 As better than ourselves in lowly spirit 
 
 And penitential fast and watchful tears ; 370
 
 1 22 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Not saying 'fore the Angel this or that 
 Was but a human faihng, but in air 
 Of awe at having meddled with a whole 
 Whose every part runs into mystery, 
 Confessing fathers' sins — the death-like void 375 
 
 Betwixt the rest of Christendom and us, 
 That their sins, firmly twisted to our own. 
 Have bound us down to. Is it nought to us 
 That no anointing now conveys the Gift 
 By promised channel as it used of old ? 380 
 
 No water mingled is in Wisdom's Cup, 
 The Sacraments are signs, as if the day 
 Of Jewish unrealities were back, 
 And the continuous rest of holy works 
 Were sunk to one poor, measured, sabbath-day, 385 
 And we on whom the Sun shines sevenfold 
 More glorious than on them, were satisfied 
 With two sad services in lieu of seven's joy. 
 Sure it is hard for those, whose privilege 
 It is to know of blessings once enjoy'd 390 
 
 Throughout the Christian world, with patient spirit 
 To brook their ways, who coldly thrust aside 
 These ancient things, — to feel their nakedness 
 And dread the possibility of loss 
 
 Eternal, which may follow it, to hear men say 395 
 
 (The essentials yet remaining) " Unity, 
 Thou fancied bliss, I have no need of thee." 
 Ah ! they that with this vaunting language swell, 
 Know little of the misery of doubt.
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 123 
 
 Nor of the heaviness of earnest hearts 400 
 
 That anxiously are asking if within 
 
 The root of that sad misery is found. 
 
 Or from their outward state it takes its rise ! 
 
 Mine may it be, with humble sympathy 
 
 For such-like holy spirits, undisturb'd 405 
 
 To angry opposition, thus to feel. 
 
 That, here invited, they with me may turn 
 
 Their eyes to heavenly legions of fix'd stars 
 
 Or brilliant planets, and considering 
 
 What arguments the astronomer may find 410 
 
 For deeming these, though separate in space. 
 
 To be united yet in one great system, 
 
 Tliese arguments may welcome as a voice 
 
 Encouraging to them, and hence may hope 
 
 That inward union still pervades the whole 415 
 
 Of inward Heaven, that the Church on earth 
 
 Still is the image of the Church in Heaven, 
 
 Still teems with secret union, wide apart 
 
 And sorely sever'd as its members seem. 
 
 I know not why, but whensoe'er I view 420 
 
 The starlit heaven, it ever seems to me 
 So ver)' full of unity and peace 
 And solemn joy, as though it could instil 
 A quiet into weariness of heart. 
 
 And purposely was framed to speak to man 425 
 
 Of vital unity, which spirits have. 
 Material semblance of the harmony 
 Which space from kindred spirits cannot rend I
 
 124 NATURE A I'ARABLK. 
 
 And haply they whose heart with sorrow bends, 
 
 Are ablest ever intimations faint 430 
 
 To use for arguments, as mourners act 
 
 By instinct's guidance, safer than the light 
 
 That worldly shrewdness lends its votaries. 
 
 Come ye that sorrow, lift your eyes to Heaven, 
 
 Come strong with tears and moanings nightly made, 435 
 
 Come to the lessons which the quiet stars 
 
 Are ever uttering, come, and ye shall hear 
 
 Thunderings and voices sounding through the Church 
 
 Yet one by inward union — ye shall rate 
 
 Sad words of discord or self-righteousness 440 
 
 'Gainst Rome or Greece from unascetic souls 
 
 At naught or less than naught. Thy Master's Host 
 
 Hath inward strength, although its outward lines 
 
 With heretics be tangled, or by hearts 
 
 That use not hardness, blended with the world 445 
 
 To sight appear. The eye of faith, in Heaven 
 
 Shall see the Stars are in their courses still 
 
 For Israel fighting there, against the host 
 
 Of Sisera's fell antitype in hell ; 
 
 Although in Israel's hearts divisions sore 450 
 
 And searchings seem to be, her notes they hear 
 
 What time with spiritual armoury of Psalms 
 
 She wields against the host of Sisera 
 
 The curse which lighteth on him as of old,, 
 
 When they as dung became by Endor's fount. 455 
 
 Deem not, thou feeble-hearted, that the ear 
 Of sense must needs these presences proclaim.
 
 ^R* "'-^^ TH£ STARS AND LIGHT. 125 
 
 Were they indeed with us, (if sinful lips 
 
 May speak what reason haply cannot teach,) 
 
 For lo ! how insects countless as the stars 460 
 
 Seen in the milky way, float through the air. 
 
 With hum scarce audible, and to the sight 
 
 By numbers only made perceptible ; 
 
 And know that there are creatures yet more slight 
 
 Of fabric, each with voice and tongue endow'd, 465 
 
 Ranging the blithsome air unseen by thee 
 
 Save through the glass akin to that which kens 
 
 The orbs of distant Heaven ! — and how much more 
 
 May spiritual Essences around thee move 
 
 Unseen, unheard, while fighting in their course, 470 
 
 And thundering hallelujahs with a sound 
 
 Too vast for human senses to embrace 
 
 (As man's to petty insect'), till the smoke 
 
 Of Satan's firstborn shall at length ascend 
 
 For ever and for ever, at a sound 475 
 
 Whereof the sabbath-breaking truinpets sound 
 
 With vibratory thrills by Jericho 
 
 Foretold the majesty ! Oh awful sound. 
 
 With awfulness which dim futurity 
 
 Alone can echo ! When in deep of night 480 
 
 Upon the wings of darkness trumpet-notes 
 
 Ride heavily, as Pharaoh's chariot- wheels. 
 
 Seems not the Judgment blast, from out the vault 
 
 Of dread futurity, empower'd to yield 
 
 To instruments predictive of itself 485 
 
 A portion of that awe, which highest Heaven
 
 126 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And all tlie ancient stars shall sometime hear ! 
 
 Hence have I fancied that the light of Heaven 
 Was gifted with prophetic ministry : 
 Though haply man's philosophy of old 490 
 
 Seized not the very truth, yet may I deem 
 That she in part, as Balaam, might have learnt 
 To ken the distant Star, and from it, help'd 
 By marr'd tradition, scanty notice gain'd 
 Of earlier history, ere the foot of man 495 
 
 Walk'd on this planet or this planet's self 
 Moved orderly about the ruling Sun. 
 For heathens gazing at the lights of Heaven 
 Were by Satanic interference led 
 
 To deem their brightness from eternitv 500 
 
 To all eternity itself had pour'd 
 Each from its proper essence — wrenching thus 
 Some record haply of their ancientry 
 To creed of their eternity ; and now 
 Philosophy hath said that all the time 505 
 
 From Adam's sin were not enough to mete 
 A portion of the tardy-gaited time 
 Wherein the rapid ray of fix^d star 
 Would end its journey to this little globe * 
 In which we pass our fleet existency! 510 
 
 As though it might be that the outward types 
 Of Heavenly Hosts were older far than earth ; 
 As though a time had been, when man was not 
 And they were living, yet uncharged with powers 
 Of guarding men ; as though this ancient time 515 
 
 2
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 127 
 
 Was call'd by crazed antiquity, a name 
 
 Which suiteth only with the Uncreate, 
 
 W^as call'd Eternal ! Or shall they be thought 
 
 To have heard of light primeval, first-made type 
 
 Of Very Light ? And did the pagan sage '" 520 
 
 Who deem'd th' eternal heavens were those above 
 
 Our earthly heaven, some memory of this light 
 
 Hand faithful on, of time before our time 
 
 Which is a counterpart of what perchance 
 
 May come when earth her present form shall leave ; 525 
 
 A period haply now continuing on. 
 
 In which the dispensation we enjoy 
 
 Of months and years, may be inclosed, as one 
 
 Who reft of sight, amid the sunbeams walks ; 
 
 A period which a week of thousand years 530 
 
 May glide by, as the shadows on the hills 
 
 When mighty winds, in witch-like revelry 
 
 Eddy gigantic dance upon their sides ! 
 
 Sure, of this time some ancient lay survived 
 
 (Untutor'd fancy might indulge herself 535 
 
 Ere conscience had detected her in dreaming 
 
 Of Adam hearing such from Angels' tongues) 
 
 Misshapen more and more as heavier weight 
 
 Of sins entail'd press'd heavier, until Truth 
 
 Unloved within had vanish'd from without. 540 
 
 And others, suffering for the guilty, came 
 
 With love of truth, yet lack'd the outward Creed 
 
 To help them to it needful, deem'd the lights 
 
 Were brighter things than man ; while haply pride
 
 128 
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Forbade their gleaning in the scant remains .54o 
 
 Of the great harvest of traditions pure 
 
 Left from the flood, nor could their soul believe 
 
 That human flesh might ever shine more bright 
 
 Than brightest matter whence the world is made ". 
 
 And of this time might Eastern sage have meant 550 
 
 (Though he had record of man's higher hopes) 
 
 A notice faint to bear to us, when he 
 
 Proclaim'd their light an everlasting light. 
 
 Thus error mouldeth as a wreathing mist 
 
 The things beyond it into shape grotesque, 555 
 
 Itself a medium that cannot frame 
 
 Their visual language rightly to divide. 
 
 Haply they also spake of period still 
 
 Unbroken, of the atmosphere and clime 
 
 In which shall beat the utterances high 560 
 
 Of the new Advent's trumpet when the Moon, 
 
 The Church's representative, is new. 
 
 And when the solemn Feast-Day shall be come, 
 
 And this thick covering be yet more removed. 
 
 But leaving this, which Fancy will be wise 565 
 
 If she should touch with accents indistinct 
 And purposely ill-utter'd, may we ask 
 Whether, as in this little universe 
 Man only reaps not all the benefit 
 
 Of what was wrought in Calvary, the Eai'th 570 
 
 Were not the only person (may I say 
 What to believe were punishable sin) 
 Endued with reason, in the vasty plain
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 129 
 
 Of Heaven ; or whether stars besides and lights 
 
 Have not alike their own intelligence 575 
 
 Inhabited by creatures needing aid 
 
 Of kindred sort to what man's fallen race 
 
 At Mercy's open-handed storehouse sought. 
 
 Here, in this world, we may a law perceive 
 
 Whereby the intellects of finite beings 580 
 
 Judge, speak, or act, and with it interlaced 
 
 In folds and knottings blended hopelessly 
 
 Another Law, by which the Infinite 
 
 (To our capacities) both acts and speaks. 
 
 And every deed of everlasting Love 585 
 
 Hath in it one, an everlasting side. 
 
 Another finite, and its several deeds 
 
 Are infinite and finite, dwell in time 
 
 And in Eternity — What if time and space 
 
 Be compeers in this twofold property, 590 
 
 If, as eternal purposes in time 
 
 To us disclosed have been, so things that space 
 
 Is powerless in truth to fetter, man 
 
 Beholds in bounds of local circumstance ? 
 
 What if the whole vastidity of space 595 
 
 Felt at one moment that great Sacrifice, 
 
 And all the inhabitants of Heaven's wide plain 
 
 (To gift them with a personality 
 
 For fancy's needs) as some excited throng 
 
 Whom pity stirs, or indignation just. 
 
 With mighty groan at once the Ocean huge 
 
 Of creatures heaved, groan audible perhaps 
 
 K 
 
 600
 
 130 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To other beings, and of meaning full! 
 
 On earth a throng hath stronger sympathies 
 
 And feelings far more magic, than the sum 605 
 
 Of single men's unmirror'd sympathies. 
 
 And this strange working of a multitude 
 
 Become one seeming whole, too deep would be 
 
 For this small world, unless one deem it hath 
 
 Some heavenly counterpart, wherewith it chimes ! 610 
 
 And like as when the great creative Power 
 
 Came forth to frame the fabric of the Earth 
 
 Upon Himself, the Corner-stone of all 
 
 That is created, the never-ending choir 
 
 Of Stars in Heaven mingling joy and fear, 61.5 
 
 Prais'd Him the Uncreate ; so when He came 
 
 To recreate the fallen, then their sound 
 
 Went forth again, and so it may have been 
 
 That powers in Heavenly places felt His Love 
 
 When on the Cross, sheep of another fold 6'20 
 
 By those on earth outshadow'd, staiTy orbs 
 
 Who, moved at their departing Sun to wish 
 
 Themselves to sink to nothing, yet maintain 
 
 Their order'd course, and patiently endure 
 
 Lest man's impatiency should miss reproof'. 625 
 
 Yet (not intrudingly mid things unseen 
 
 To stray) for me suffice it to have touch'd 
 
 On thoughts which those who e'er themselves have felt 
 
 Shall haply welcome more, if not compell'd 
 
 With staring shameless clearness to unfold 630 
 
 In words explicit things for love to speak
 
 *'i^^ THE STAKS AND LIGHT. 131 
 
 In inward still discourse of faith to joy. 
 
 For surelv stars the outward emblem are 
 Of anffel Virtues, not the Powers themselves. 
 But things connected distantly with them 635 
 
 Who rule them under High Authority : 
 And forth by night they come, although by day 
 Their secret presence beams upon the earth. 
 E'en so the Angels present evermore 
 With secret offices ordain a Law, 640 
 
 And teach us by the discipline of types 
 Unseen obedience, reverend reserve 
 And constancy unwearied — for that they 
 Have some things which their sanctified desire 
 May not attain the sight of, and from strength 645 
 
 They too to further strength are taught to go. 
 At least of finite beings thus much we know, 
 That they, at best estate, are ever short 
 Of One in Wisdom, powerless to abide 
 The searching out of Triune Majesty. 650 
 
 And whether they shall mount, or not, to heights 
 Yet unattain'd of beatific sight, 
 Thus much we see, that man for wisest end 
 Hath in him longings for a clearer sight. 
 And brooks not mystery, when he brooks it most, 655 
 Thirsting for what was forfeit by the fall. 
 Which Adam erst in Paradise enjoy'd 
 Through superhuman Gift. If stars in Heaven, 
 The emblems of the Cherubs, so exceed 
 In glory one another, and unmoved 660 
 
 K 2
 
 132 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Their glory have immovably assign'd. 
 
 We too by daily Prayer the Way are taught 
 
 That led them each unto his present post 
 
 In Heaven's Army ". Be we Abraham's sons 
 
 In faithful vporks, and then as Stars in Heaven 665 
 
 We too shall shine with glory unto each 
 
 Proportionately given for the works 
 
 Wrought in the flesh — one glory for the Sun 
 
 Of Righteousness, the enduring Light Himself, 
 
 That rules th' eternal Building in the Heavens, 670 
 
 Another of the Stars, His hallow'd Host, 
 
 Another glory for the mystic Moon. 
 
 Hail to that lesser light, the power believed 
 To rule the cleansing Ocean, type in Heaven 
 Of Her who borrows Jesus' Light on earth, 67.5 
 
 Whose blissful Power is worthy to invest 
 Baptismal waters with their influence. 
 And moves the purifying wave with force 
 For cleansing sin, far better than the power 
 By Angels yielded to Bethesda's pool ! 680 
 
 Within the Church continued miracles 
 Abide, not outwardly alone to move 
 Or to astonish unbelievers' eyes. 
 But inwardly to move the faith of poor 
 In spirit as in goods, whose gift it is 685 
 
 To that fair City founded by the Lord, 
 That shall not move at any time, with trust 
 And servile humbleness to pay ungrudgingly 
 Entire obedience, who have taught their hearts
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 133 
 
 In love to listen unreservingly 690 
 
 To all her teaching. 'Tis for these the Moon, 
 Who rules the darkness of this lower world 
 Until the Daystar rise, has ample gifts, 
 Not for the wither'd hand or palsied limbs. 
 Not for the halt and maim'd, or them that eat 695 
 
 Each day unstintedly of sumptuous fare : 
 Albeit these, the shadows of her gifts, 
 Tlieir substance ofttimes follow — but for those 
 Whose hand by sin disabled cannot give 
 In cleansing almsgiving, She hath a Bread 700 
 
 And Wine tliat strengthens him, in holy pain, 
 To lav foundations for the time to come. 
 The spiritually hungry She can feed. 
 And, bid by Prophecy, can multiply 
 Her Corn with increase, when hid Manna falls 705 
 
 Upon the lips of them that trembling stand 
 With lengthen'd fast, that helpeth them to stand 
 As Daniel did, what time they meetly seek 
 For Christ their Righteousness, and ask in faith 
 What is It, while they wist not what it is 710 
 
 Nor where they are ! so awing is the time 
 When the High Mountain (emblem too of Her 
 Of Whom the moon is emblem) spreads its Feast 
 Before them, weary in the wilderness. 
 And coming thither where beneath the shade 715 
 
 Of the Almighty Rock they eat in peace 
 Of fat things well refined and gladdening Wine. 
 Nor seems it short of interposing Love
 
 134 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which made the Pagans picture Dian's haunts 
 
 Amid the mountains, that a quivering ray 720 
 
 Of parting Truth might herald tidings ghid ! 
 
 Faint emhlem, though an emblem, of the Church, 
 
 As though amid the darkest night of sin 
 
 Some muffled gleamings of the distant Light 
 
 Still stole away from Heaven amid the mists, 725 
 
 Enough to give to minds of earnest build 
 
 A half familiarity with things 
 
 Eternity was pregnant with, as yet 
 
 In time unborn ! while minds of colder cast 
 
 In them should rest, and craving for no truth 730 
 
 At them should slake the thirst prophetical 
 
 For ampler things ! So, Dian had her bow 
 
 Unmissing in its aim, the Church her curse ; 
 
 Dian the power of lending matrons aid 
 
 Amid their qualms, the Church Her Sacrament 735 
 
 To heal and help the penitent that toils 
 
 And is in travail with renewing Life ! 
 
 Dian the gift of chastity enjoyed. 
 
 That gift which neither Saints nor Patriarchs 
 
 Were envious of, until the Bridegroom gave 740 
 
 This special and majestic privilege 
 
 To Her who is His Bride ; and when the priests 
 
 Abstain from marriage, then the spiritual sons 
 
 Grow up and multiply, and daughters too 
 
 As polish'd corners of the Church become, 745 
 
 And mid the Gentiles, seldom to be won 
 
 By married priests, the widow'd outwardly 
 
 I-
 
 ^.^^ THE STARS AND LIGHT. 135 
 
 Have children in the spirit, who shall plead 
 
 In the dread Judgment-gate for them that saved 
 
 Their souls, thus hiding multitudes of sins ! 7i3U 
 
 But see how many witness, that the Moon 
 Hath power on lunatics, how David fled 
 At the full-moon from Saul, and monish'd be 
 How spite of arguments adroitly plied 
 The Church may cause the deeper fall of such 755 
 
 As are already wicked by free will. 
 With secret influence searching out the haunts 
 Of wrangling heresy or life impure, 
 Those twofold faces of one Enemy. 
 
 But sure of unpoetic make is he 760 
 
 Who seeth not her power on things of earth ! 
 Go to the forest in a shining night. 
 And see how teems its bosom with new life : 
 Who cannot tell of many a summer's ramble 
 When he has broken ofl'his comrade's talk, 765 
 
 That he might turn and see the rising Moon ? 
 And light and shade profusely did she throw 
 Over the wavy trees until they moved 
 With gracefulness that seem'd above their own. 
 Nor was it only on the stately trees, 770 
 
 Not on the dew-clad herbs or tingling stream. 
 Or wider river, or the bosom large 
 Of restless Ocean, not the towering height 
 Of craggy mountains robed with majesty. 
 Not on the lofty Church, or pealing walls 775 
 
 Of some familiar College, or on house
 
 136 NATUKK A PARABLE. 
 
 For hospitable ancestry beloved, 
 
 That thus the moon with magic power rests, 
 
 And clothes them with a grandeur of her own : 
 
 But every little stone upon the way, 780 
 
 Each landmark set to guide the traveller 
 
 Who stops to count the distance still to go, 
 
 Each strawbuilt hut, or stile that checks the path. 
 
 Or crazy barn or rick by rustics trimm'd, 
 
 Has given to it soft and touching shades 785 
 
 Unlike the clear-mark'd lines of angry day. 
 
 Nor is this softness of untiring light 
 
 Without true influence on the yielding heart 
 
 Of friends conversing, nor, methinks, should they 
 
 Who seeking holy wedlock love to roam 790 
 
 In unsuspecting innocence of heart 
 
 Beneath its beams, be peevishly arraign'd 
 
 Of cliildish poetry, because in song 
 
 They fondly tattle of its gentle light. 
 
 Say rather doth not this, that they confess 795 
 
 To such as have those cravings now subdued. 
 
 Betray, whose type the Moon in Heaven is made ? 
 
 Doth not the type itself in part exert 
 
 The Church's own Love-giving influence } 
 
 And, as by words mysterious She bestows 800 
 
 The gift of fruitfulness upon the pair 
 
 That court Her sacramental privilege, 
 
 (Gift like to that the Moon of old was thought 
 
 To exercise upon the earth-born plants '^) 
 
 So doth she, though in lower grade, still shed 805
 
 "■'i^..' THE STARS AND LIGHT. 137 
 
 A light aud loveliness on trivial things, 
 
 And they that have her gentle teaching woo'd 
 
 By glad austerities from men conceal'd. 
 
 Can reverence all She hallows : oil, or wood, 
 
 Or stone or fenced enclosure from Her takes SIO 
 
 New influences upon them, and they love 
 
 Thinffs that before were common. Since to them 
 
 By fast and prayer the all-enclosing sheet 
 
 Hath once descended, nothing in their eyes 
 
 Of nature's gifts is common or unclean. 815 
 
 On all She smiles with looks betokening love, 
 
 Smile such as that on pale ascetic lips ", 
 
 Smile full of deepness gain'd by moving these 
 
 In Hannah's noiseless prayer, that greeteth all. 
 
 Letting none feel unwelcome or oppress'd 820 
 
 By sense of littleness. 'Tis even so. 
 
 The Moon expressive, smiles on little things, 
 
 Nor needs the mind a guiding hand to point 
 
 How she is faithful counterpart in this 
 
 Of the all-consecrating Church, whose hand 82.5 
 
 O'ershadowing little things hath hallow'd all 
 
 To Her Creator's service : little flowers 
 
 Have colours suited to the divers times 
 
 And seasons, which by sabbaths and new moons 
 
 No more entrammell'd. She at Her pure will 830 
 
 To order is commission'd ; tiny threads. 
 
 Wrought by embroiderers' cunning needlework. 
 
 Adorn the holy Altar, sprigs of box 
 
 With holly mingled freshen in the mind
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 138 NATURE A PARABLE. Ik 
 
 The hopes of that new Advent when the Trees 835 
 
 Of every wood shall joy before the Lord. 
 
 And he that in his lesser temple gains 
 
 A Spirit like to that the Church adorns, 
 
 Shall find in common life o'er little things 
 
 This placid light diffused, o'er bud or flower, 840 
 
 Or ordinary meal, or humble trade 
 
 Amusive or for livelihood pursued. 
 
 And rightly did the nation who invoked 
 
 With Cusii grass and India's choicest flowers, 
 
 In marriage rites the moon as king of herbs 845 
 
 And trees, imagine that ambrosia 
 
 And nectar there was stored, for in the Church 
 
 Is plenteous store of garner'd Bread and Wine, 
 
 The immortalizing Food, by Angels sought. 
 
 For sake of which the common daily fare 850 
 
 And all that ministers to flesh's needs, 
 
 Deserveth hallowing at the Church's hands. 
 
 Nor when I peep upon the nurselings there. 
 That nightly wave beside the battlements 
 Of my balcony, is the dainty beam 855 
 
 Afraid of students' tower, but mingleth there 
 Her gentle rays with early-kindled light 
 Of crackling fire, and at yon Chapel Cross 
 Rests with a modest gravity of air. 
 As though subdued before the awful Sign, 860 
 
 Which shall erewhile in Heaven be reveal'd 
 When Moon and stars no more shall lighten man. 
 Nor lacks the little belfry cunning beams
 
 fc'^^^ THE STARS AND LIGHT. 139 
 
 That seem with childlike innocence to search 
 
 The causes of the vibratory sounds. 865 
 
 So doth the Church find out the secrecies 
 
 Of every rank of life, and shed on each 
 
 Calm joys, in winter, even when the storm 
 
 Of keen adversity is sweeping by. 
 
 Nor think, ye poets, who in rural life 870 
 
 Your pastime find, that study's hardy course 
 
 Ts one mere weariness, unvisited 
 
 By aught of sympathy for nature's smells. 
 
 For busy morning breeze or frosty sky, 
 
 That with its wide expanse the moon attends, 875 
 
 Or misty veils that on the rich- wrought spire 
 
 Bestow their wondrous majesty and awe. 
 
 Nay, for the student, in this holy place. 
 
 From under ivy-mantled buttresses 
 
 May see Saint Mary's, by the early Moon, . 880 
 
 Rise, — like a sceptre sway'd benignantly 
 
 Above the other buildings, or a saint 
 
 Whose beauty shed from holiness within. 
 
 From kindred spirits following far behind. 
 
 Wins by his gracious mien unsought respect. 885 
 
 These are the lights which in their steady course 
 The times and seasons measure for the world 
 By power of old ordain'd — and these the Church 
 May also order, by her sacred might 
 Creating festivals, of majesty 890 
 
 And obligation diverse, as She deems. 
 Instinct with heavenly guidance, that the needs
 
 140 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Of alter'd times new vehicles require 
 
 For truths neglected, or for growing ' store 
 
 Of friends in Paradise ' She wills that gratitude 89.5 
 
 Becoming utterance in her lays should find. 
 
 But other lights there arc in Heaven's high arch 
 
 Which come less frequently within the scope 
 
 Of human vision, yet even these hath art 
 
 Of man, in calculations, patiently 900 
 
 Assisted bv the moon, contrived to note, 
 
 And tell the period of their slow return, 
 
 And reason on the pathway which they tread. 
 
 Space unpreoccupied, — or matter dim 
 
 And finer than were otherwise perceived, 905 
 
 As though there were in this vastidity 
 
 Of boundless worlds material link suffused, 
 
 Which by its subtleness defiance bids 
 
 To man's proud arguings upon the laws 
 
 And forms of matter, even as in words 910 
 
 A majesty and power within resides 
 
 That on a wedding-day obtrudes itself 
 
 E'en on the mind of children of this world 
 
 That marn,' or in marriage are bestow'd. 
 
 ' The earthly godfathers of Heaven's ' host 915 
 
 Their calculations dated from the Moon, 
 
 To show how they who will by loving faith 
 
 To dwell amid the Heavenly Hierarchs 
 
 Must from the movements of the Church on earth 
 
 Learn of the things of Heaven, of incense rites, 920 
 
 Of times for presentation at the Throne
 
 i*!^ •"i^a* THE STARS AND LIGHT. HI 
 
 Of Heaven, of intercessions for the Saints. 
 
 And when we muse on ether's subtle tie 
 
 Between the planets and fix'd stars difi'used, 
 
 Then learn we that tliere is a mystic bond \}-2o 
 
 Between the Church and Principalities 
 
 In Heavenly places, whence the abiding need 
 
 Of better sacrifices, these to cleanse 
 
 From pestilential bane of human sin 
 
 Tliat spreads in circles, feebler in their course, 1)30 . 
 
 Through space the Infinite alone may ken. 
 
 The counterpart of those unwonted lights 
 (Whereby the ether that impedes their haste 
 Itself discloses) are unwonted times 
 Of sudden darkness, such as moved the mind 935 
 
 Of even Milton, to unwonted grade 
 Of awe and reverence, though upon his eyes 
 There was the film, sad antitype of that 
 Which closed his spirit against the Light of Light, 
 The Co-eternal Son ! And blinded thus 940 
 
 Hath he not blinded with irreverence 
 Dear England's sons, with Jewish legend strain'd. 
 And ill transplanted into Christian lands ? 
 Never may J, from fear of hurting man. 
 Or love of death-conceiving prejudice, 945 
 
 Claim aught of poets' brotherhood with one 
 Who disbelieved Thy Godhead ! never seek 
 To find some beauty in a man whose creed 
 Destroy'd all Beauty, carrying secret bane 
 (As I by sins all weaken'd ever dread,) 950
 
 142 NATURE A PAUABLE. 
 
 Into the ramifying.«, roots, and filaments 
 Of all that stately-seeming tree of song, 
 Beneath whose shadow holier hearts than mine 
 May haply dwell hy its ill airs unscathed. 
 And would that ray weak verses might instil 955 
 
 Somewhat of kindred fear into the hearts 
 Of all my countrymen, lest from the fount 
 Of Arian poison they infected be 
 Unconsciously, and lose the power to bow 
 The head in awe, whene'er they hear the Name 960 
 Of Hira Who by His Nod on Calvary 
 Rent Judah's veil ! O banish'd from their love 
 Be any who dishonoureth His Love ! 
 Now let us dare that witching lay to dread. 
 Whence fell irreverence may stealthily 965 
 
 Creep over us with its Socinian chill ! 
 Now be we bold to guess why glorious Lights, 
 The Saints and Angels, seem to miss a place 
 In our esteem ! It is because the Sun 
 Hath lost His honour ! We in Milton's verse 970 
 
 Have well nigh lost the Paradise reveal'd 
 To Christians by the Spirit while on earth ! 
 What if it be through scanty awe for God 
 That we due honour from His Saints withhold ? 
 Oh! could we realize some Martyr's spirit 975 
 
 That long had drunk the beatific Light 
 Of Heaven's Sun, how should we shrink with awe 
 And wither up before his borrow'd Light ! 
 And if our thoughts were capable to move *
 
 THE STARS AND LIGHT. 143 
 
 While awestruck thus, methinks our highest act 
 
 Of honour, short would seem of reverence due 9S0 
 
 To mortals glorified ! how short of His 
 
 Who chargeth even Angel Hosts with folly ! 
 
 From worship given to Him, we learn to feel 
 
 Some reverence for His servants, and from these 
 
 We rise again to higher awe for Him 985 
 
 Whom only (for He only Holy is 
 
 With hate unchanging for iniquity, 
 
 And love for righteousness) we may adore '^. 
 
 To worship them would be to fall from Him ; 
 
 And yet if we be fellow-citizens 990 
 
 With them, there is a reverence to be paid, 
 
 Wholly distinguishable in the mind 
 
 Of childlike love from aught of worship paid 
 
 To Him who is, and was, and is to come. 
 
 But highest reverence, though it will not brook 995 
 
 Approach of far comparison with Him, 
 
 Is hers whom some have held the Queen of Heaven, 
 
 Clad with the Sun her womb of old embraced, 
 
 And with the Moon, the Church, beneath her feet, 
 
 Wlio was (because of that Male Child within, 1000 
 
 That with a rod of iron ruled the world) 
 
 In vain assaulted by the Dragon fell, 
 
 Whose tail had swept a third of Heaven's stars. 
 
 The co-apostate Angels, from their place '^. 
 
 The more we strive by earnest living here 1005 
 
 To feel the innumerable Heavenly Host 
 About us pour'd, to see by faith The Cloud
 
 144 NATURE A PARABLK. 
 
 In whom the Son of God of old conceived 
 
 Shall sit at last to judge, to realize 
 
 These and the Saints departed, or in joy 1 010 
 
 Or waiting for their joy ; the more heguiled 
 
 To kindred love and humbleness and fear, 
 
 We shall behold the distant Trinity 
 
 In Light for ever dwelling, till the Judge 
 
 A nearer access give to souls that shine 101.) 
 
 For ever and for ever as the Stars.
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Note 1. p. 109. 
 
 The existence of a light before the sun and the moon were 
 created, is noticed by St. Ephrem, Op. Syr. vol. i. p. 9 : " Since, 
 then, the primitive light was earliest created, it ministered 
 I sunned] with its brightness to three days ; it ministered also, as 
 tliey say, the conception and the bringing forth of all which the 
 earth produced in the third day ; and the sun was in heaven, that 
 it might ripen whatsoever by the means of primitive light had 
 come forth. They say, too, that from that same free light, and 
 also from the fire, which were created in the first day, was the 
 sun, which was in the firmament, established ; and the moon and 
 the stars were too from it, that primitive light. As, then, the 
 sun that rules the day, along with its giving of light to the earth, 
 doth likewise indeed ripen the fruits of the earth, so the moon 
 that rules the night, while she maketh the might of the night 
 foolish through her shining, yet also verily produceth in right of 
 her primitive nature the fruits and the produces ; for Moses in his 
 Blessing.s saith. Of the freclous thini/s brouijht forth hi/ the moon." 
 St. Basil, Hex. vi. 10, (to whom St. Ephrem possibly alludes) speaks 
 
 L
 
 146 NOTES 
 
 as follows : Oijtiai Sk /cat ry roiv 'Cmwv KaraaKtvy Kai toiq XoiTroif 
 rouj unb y»)i,' (pvo/^itroti; fii) /xiKpov vnaQxtiv i/c riJc Kara ti)v 
 aiXiivijv ^£7djdoX;'jc ti)v avvrtXtiav. Comp. S. Ambr. Hex. iv. 7. 
 
 Note 2. p. 112. 
 
 Butler, Anal, part i. cap. v. p. 138 : " Who knows whether the 
 security of creatures in tlie liigli(!St state of perfection may not in 
 part arise from their having had such a sense of things as this 
 formed and habitually fixed within them in some state of pro- 
 bation." This great writer is said to have been devotc^d much to 
 the Alexandrine Fathers, who generally seem to have held this 
 opinion. Thus St. Athan. c. Ar. i. 51, says, tCjv yst'tjrwv r) (pvaic, 
 iffTi rpeTrn), Kal ot fiiv 7rnpf/3j/iTnj', k.t.X. comjiare iii. 51. Cyril, 
 Jul. lib. iii. p. 93, ed. Spanhem. de Ador. p. 9. Greg. Nyss. i. 
 p. 87, and Vine. Lirin. § viii. (who says, ' coelestes Angeli non 
 peccare^am possunt'). Greg. Moral, v. § 68. Bp. Butler, how- 
 ever, states it cautiously, as knowing, perhaps, that St. Austin 
 c. Faust, xxii. 28, and on Ps. xlii. 5, had spoken otherwise. I can 
 scarce help believing him to have been well read in the Fathers 
 myself, though others are, I am aware, of a different opinion. 
 Origen's o[)inion may be seen in Justinian! upon Hebr. ix. 23, 
 who is perhaps over-severe upon him. On the Heaven of 
 Heavens, see note 5 on boolc iv. 
 
 Note 3. p. 113. 
 
 Jacob is called " a plain man " in Scripture, where the original 
 word .signifies " artless," " integer," a/zwjuoc, a-rrXoug. St. John, 
 i. 52, is explained nearly as in the text by St. Austin c. Faust, 
 xii. 20, on Ps. xliv. 20. Orig. in Levit. p. 242. 
 
 Note 4. p. 116. 
 
 St. Ephr. on Judges vi. 21, p. 318: " The horns are a type of 
 the preachers of the Gospel, because by the lights of the mysteries 
 and by the voices of the preachers sin was stayed, and the dominion 
 thereof was loosed from every people, as was the army of Midian 
 destroyed l)y the lamps and the sound of the trumpets. But the 
 empty pitchers, inside which the lamps were placed, ai'e a type of
 
 "'^^ ON BOOK III. 147 
 
 the synagogue of the Jews, because among them were hidden the 
 lamps of prophecy ; and as soon as ever they were broken by 
 means of the Cross, the lamps of prophecy were made manifest 
 by the hands of the Holy Apostles, and filled the whole earth. 
 Or, again, the pitchers form a type of the bodies of men whicli 
 are taken from the dust ; but the lamps are the chaste operations 
 of the holy Spirit, which worketh in holy bodies." This has 
 suggested the application in the text ; Midian being mentioned as 
 a type of the judgment (which the word means) in Ps. Ixxxiii. 9. 
 Is. ix. 4. X. 26. 
 
 Note 5. p. 119. 
 
 AtuI reverence duly. Orig. c. Cels. p. 386, ed. Spenc. allows 
 that if the sense of the word OtQaTreveaOai has its signification 
 throughly purged [from all ill meaning], it may be said, that 
 Christians use a OepaTrsia of Angels and Archangels, which Celsus 
 indiscriminatmgly objected to them ; or as he himself, stating the 
 
 practice of his day apparently, says at p. 416, Kftj' ISioiuv 
 
 dyykXovg TtrayfiivovQ tTrl twv TrJQ yjjc KaiywwJ' (cai tTri r/jc tiov 
 Zwov ytviffeioQ, ivfrjjwvfxtv avrovq Kai jua/capt^OjUEj' syxapttrOsj'- 
 ~aQ inrb tov Beov ra \pijaiiia riji y'ti'ti »//taii', oh fit)v ti)v biptiKo- 
 fisviji' Trpbg Qebv rifii)i' tovtoiq aTrovk/ioinr, k.t.X. ; and 417, 
 extr. where he says we must ask of Jesus Christ all assistance 
 and guardianship, whether of angels or of the just, &c. &c. See 
 also pp. 233, 400, and 420. So St. Athan. c. Arian. ii. 23, K7t(7/xa 
 KTirffiari ov vpoaKvvtl, dWa foDXog AtairoTTjv, quoting Acts 
 X. 25, and Rev. xxii. 9. And St. Austin de Trin. i. § 13, "Maxime 
 vero illo loco satis claret quod Spiritus Sanctus non est creatura 
 ubi jubemur non servire [Xarptvtiv] creatura3,sed Creator! ; non eo 
 modo quo jubemur per charitatem servire invicem quod est Grsece 
 SovXevdv, sed eo modo quo tantum Deo servitur quod est Gr»ee 
 Xarpeviiv." On Ps. xxxiv. § 13, (En. i.) he says, " Sed forte etliic 
 dicitur mihi, Angelos cole, Angelos adora. Et hie dicam, Domine, 
 'ju'ts simUis Til/i ? Et ipsos Angelos Tu creasti. Nihil sunt Angeli 
 nisi videndo Te. Melius est cum illis possideie Te, quam ipsos 
 adorando cadere a Te." This will be enough to justify the lan- 
 guage of the text, and it is hoped to put persi us on their guard 
 against irreverence or over-reverence towaids those blessed 
 beings. 
 
 l2
 
 148 NOTES 
 
 Note 6. p. 120. 
 
 St. Jcrom on Eccles. v. (J : " Non in vcntuni verba transeunt, 
 scd a pnoscnti Aiiu;cl(i, qui uiiicuifjuc adhna-ot comes, statim per- 
 fcrunturad Doniinmn. I"jt tu, ((iii piitas Deum ij^norare quod pol- 
 licitus est, provocas eum ad iraeundiam," &c. The interpretation 
 of St. Luke, XV. 18, is St. Austin's, if my mciiiory <loes not mislead 
 me, for 1 cannot find it again. St. Jerom ad Damas. xxi. § l(i, 
 applies it to the Heavenly Jerusalem, as does St. Hilary on 
 Ps. 118, Samech, p. 930, — which amounts to the same thing. 
 
 Note 7. p. 120. 
 
 St. Austm, de Trin. xii. 10, considers that the hallowed and 
 l)ious meaning of this action of women's covermg the head was 
 pleasing to the Holy Angels, who therein saw a witness to the 
 necessity of subjugating the weaker vessel of a man's mind (so to 
 say) to the liigher faculties. The whole passage is too long to 
 give here, although justice can only bo done to it by reading the 
 whole of it, and also by considering particularly the general belief 
 of the presence of Angels at prayer, and the bearing of the Church 
 upon Principalities and Powers in Heavenly places. 
 
 Note 8. p. 125. 
 
 Sec note upon book iv. In the context allusion is made to 
 Origen's explanation of Joshua, chap, vi., an explanation found 
 more or less fully in several parts of the Church, as in Tertull. 
 adv. Judteos, 4. St. Eplir. in loc. St. Austin c. Faust, xii. 31. 
 St. Greg. Nys. ap. Galland. vi. 590. Jacob. Nisib. ib. v. p. Ixxxviii. 
 Greg. Mor. xxxv. § 17, whose words may be added : " Per sep- 
 tenarium numevuni universitas teinporalitatis accipitur. Mine est 
 enini quod per septem dies hoe totum vitte prccsentis tempus evol- 
 vitur. Hinc est quod in typo sanctse Ecclesise quae omni tempore 
 hunc mundum pr;edicando circuit Area Domini tubis clangen- 
 til.us muros Jericho diebus septem circumacta confregit." To 
 whiidi I may join the words of St. Clement, Pted. ii. § 4], AIvhte 
 avTuv tv i/xq' ffrtXTTiyyoc, Kcti yap h' yxV ffa^T^iyjOQ avaariian 
 
 TOVQ VEKpOVg.
 
 ^ •■V*' ON BOOK III. 149 
 
 Note 9. p. 126. 
 
 Schubert, Gescliiclite der Natur, i. p. 78, "Selbst die fast gcdaii- 
 kenai'tiger Eile des Lichtstrahles vvlirde zuin Durclilaufen eines 
 solches Raumes langer als 88 Jahre gebrauchen, so dass wenn 
 wir niit solcher Reclinung die spaimenlange Zeit eines Menschen- 
 lebens in Vergleich bringen, der Lichtstrahl welche Sirius oder 
 Wega iu der Stunde der Geburt eines Mannes australilten, die 
 Erde, welche dieser bewohnt, erst dann erreichen wiirde, wenn 
 liber dem Gebeine des erst spat schlafen gegangenen Greises 
 schon niehrmalen das Gras des Feldes gebluiit und reife Sanien 
 getragen hatte," u. s. w. to p. 83, where allusion is made to stars 
 whicli would take 885,000 years to send their rays to our earth. 
 
 Note 10. p. 127. 
 
 The pagan sar/e, Aristot. Metaph. xi. T, ciiSiog dv tlr] 6 Trpwrof 
 ovpavoQ : and in ii. 2, he mentions those who thought there was 
 rig ovpai'OQ Trapa tov aiaOqTov ohpavov, Kai ijXioQ rt icai aeXrjf)] 
 Kai TaWa ofioicoc to. KaTii tov ovpavov. 
 
 Note U. p. 128. 
 
 Allusion is here made to a passage in Bernardo Segni's Com- 
 mentary on the Nic. Ethics, p. 303 : " Rispondendo qui a chi 
 dieesse I'huomo essere il piu nobile di tutti gli animali et pero la 
 Prudenza che di lui cousidera esser della Sapienza piu eccellente, 
 affirma eio niente rilevare, essendo molte cose piu nobili degli 
 animali delle quali considera la Sapienza : com' e verbi gratia 
 I'anima del mondo e la materia onde egli e comjjosto che e incor- 
 rottibile. Et che il mondo habbia anima e oppinione Platonica, 
 e secondo la Teologia Christiana, et socondo il vero, il mondo non 
 ha anima, et I'huomo e il piu nobile ente, che sia dopo le sustanze 
 separate ; perche I'huomo niediante Tanima immortale infusagli 
 da Dio Ottimo avanza tutti gli altri enti, che son sotto gli Angeli, 
 e niediante 1' incorrottibilita del suo corpo, secondo la promessa di 
 Dio futura, avanza ogni incorrottibilita della materia celeste ; 
 avenga che anchora si potesse dire, forse clie niediante I'assunta
 
 150 NOTES 
 
 Ilumanita da C'hristo c venissc con tal rispetto ad avanzare di 
 nobilita gli Angeli." See also Windischmann's Philos. ]>. 125. 
 
 Note 12. p. 130. 
 
 This is an attempt to echo the striking language of Leo the 
 Great : " Pendente in patibulo Creatore, universa creatura con- 
 qonniit ot crucis clavos omnia sinnil elementa senserunt. Nihil 
 ab illo Hupplicio liboruni fuit. Hoc in conimunionem sui ct terram 
 traxit et cwhim ; hoc petras rupit, monumcnta aperuit, inferna 
 reseravit, et densarum horroro tonebrarum radios solis abscondit. 
 Debebat hoc testimonium suo mundus auctori, ut in occasu Con- 
 ditoris sui reUcnt universa finii-i. Sed patientia Dei servat rebus 
 atque temporibus ordinem suum ; nosque in ilium potius vocat 
 affectum, ut eorum salutem petanms, quorum crimen horremus." 
 
 Note 13. p. 132. 
 The passages here alluded to will be found in note 1. 
 
 Note 14, p. 137. 
 
 This comparison of the Moon to an ascetic (as I afterwards 
 found) occurs also in the Vishnu Purana, p. 522, bk. v. chap. x. 
 " Brightly in the starry sky shone the moon with undiminished 
 orb, like the saintly being who has reached the last stage of 
 bodily existence in the company of the pious." The whole pas- 
 sage is a description of autumn of uncommon beauty ; it seems to 
 me a striking specimen of the moral superiority of Indian to 
 Grecian paganism. The Greek would have compared things 
 moral to things physical, in order to elevate the foi'mer : the 
 Indian compares the latter to the former when ho would give 
 dignity to what is physical. 
 
 Note 15. p. 143. 
 
 This is a passage of scripture (Ps. xlv. 7) not unfrequently 
 alluded to in antiquity to show the Unchangeableness and con- 
 sequent Divinity of our Lord. See St. Athanasius in the passage 
 quoted in note 2. St. Austin on the Psalms, as quoted in note 5, 
 is presently referred to.
 
 f'-^^ ON BOOK III. 151 
 
 Note 16. p. 143. 
 
 This alludes to an opinion which appears from Aretas upon the 
 Apocalj-])se, p. 352, to have been commonly held by several of 
 old, viz. that the Woman mentioned in xii. 1, &c. is St. Mary, an 
 opinion confirmed by verse 5, and by no means opposed to that 
 which applies it to the Church ; St. Mary being ever accounted a 
 type of the Chm-ch. The same writer also speaks (p. 396) of 
 the interpretation of the Cloud (in xiv. 14) as St. Mary, as the 
 one generally received by those before him. If I am not mis- 
 taken, the same is St. Ephrem's sense of the passage in a place 
 somewhat obscure, of his discourse on the pearl, 0pp. Syriaca, 
 vol. iii. p. 150, E, who appears to be there comparing the cloud 
 in the pearl to St. Mary. It is often very instructive to find tra- 
 ditions, which at first sight appear questionable, confirmed by 
 fresh evidence for them in a wTiter like St. Ephrem, whose lan- 
 guage was for many centuries unknown to almost all writers in 
 other parts of Holy Chm-ch.
 
 A'
 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Sea with human nature as its sand, how far a type of 
 the Most High, embracing and sustaining all beings. Thoughts 
 suggested by the expansive nature of water, — specially on the 
 mysterious influence of several beings upon matter. Dew com- 
 pared to sundry secret operations of the Holy Ghost. Gideon. 
 The cleansing powers of Water. Traditions upon it. Sea's 
 waves, wherein like the life of our Lord— and of the Church. 
 The gathering together of the waters broken up by the flood. 
 Consoling reflections from the supposition of underground chan- 
 nels of union. The Air, in what respects typical of the Spirit — 
 acting on the Ship in which Christians are. The Rainbow.
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Almighty Father ! from Whose Bosom springs 
 
 The Well of Light, if in Thy child remains 
 
 Some little of the Water given by Thee 
 
 Of old, that mystic form wherein Thy Son 
 
 Was clothed upon us, let not anger burn 5 
 
 Against me, nor dry up the moisture left 
 
 In me whom Thou hast planted, nor refuse 
 
 To let the breath of Life my wither'd leaf 
 
 Revive, that so that moisture yet again 
 
 Some rays of Thy resplendency may throw 1 
 
 Back from itself, and others fill with love. 
 
 Not on the banks of Ocean view'd by sense. 
 
 Not on the surge of human knowledge wide, 
 
 But bv the tide of more mysterious Flood, 
 
 But by the River at thine own Right Hand, 15 
 
 But by the everlasting Stream of Heaven 
 
 Hast thou been pleased to plant us, that our spirit. 
 
 Where soul and body entrance could not gain, 
 
 Might ever stand, and feel that Sea of Love 
 
 Whose waters stirr'd by the most Holy Spirit 20 
 
 lloU on to us an ever- cleansing wave. 
 
 That sea whose blended sands are Abraham's sons
 
 156 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 In spirit, whose hallowing waves to us 
 Are Righteousness, whose depths are deepening Peace. 
 Thou, even Thou, art one unending Sea 25 
 
 Of Love ; that Sea wherever it hath been 
 Of healing waters left a mark behind. 
 And to the trees for meat along its shores 
 Gave wondrous power month by month to yield 
 Medicinable fruits for each man's ill. 30 
 
 Lo ! on the brink the loose dissever'd sand 
 Of human nature once to dust return'd, 
 Lay parch'd and yielding to the trampling Foe ! 
 So have I heard that when the Sun is up 
 On India's shores, the roaring Lion rolls 35 
 
 And revels in the several particles, 
 Mightless against his tossings as in sport 
 He tosses up to the devouring winds 
 The uncompacted mass — a type to be 
 Of that dread adversary, who before 40 
 
 Walk'd with triumphant rage the whole expanse 
 Of human hearts, an omnipresent ill. 
 And they, as lacking union, were unarm'd 
 With power to stand against his fell assault. 
 But when the Ocean of Thy love came on, 45 
 
 And with its waves did fitly join in one, 
 By that wliich every joint or band supplies ', 
 Our parched natures, then a solid ground 
 Appear'd, and though upon its surface wide 
 The Lion's footmarks here or there were seen, 50 
 
 Now they were reft of strength to penetrate
 
 '^^ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 157 
 
 Deep in the solid mass. If, haply, some 
 
 When midday's scorching tried them, were as dust. 
 
 These might the Beast imprint his mark upon ; 
 
 Not else, however, than on solid floor 55 
 
 Of Belus' temple were his servants' feet 
 
 In furnace ashes seen, detected soon 
 
 By that great Prophet whom the former Church 
 
 Bore in her lowest state. For deeper print 
 
 He could not leave, while ever and anon, 60 
 
 Recall'd hy lenten fast, or garments white, 
 
 Or saintly pity, doth that Ocean wet 
 
 The surface once again, and cleanse the print 
 
 Where evil trod, till changing under Him 
 
 It be fresh-sign'd with tokens of His power, 65 
 
 And on itself, as on a countenance. 
 
 Hath legible memorials of His Love. 
 
 Thus oft on pain-worn visage may be seen 
 
 The wrinkled foldings, where unworldly eyes 
 
 Shall read memorials of correcting Love. 70 
 
 E'en such a one, a youth in holy deeds 
 
 Of ministerial love, it was my lot 
 
 To visit often, and. untold by her, 
 
 I knew what recklessness of servants' health 
 
 Had brought the scourge upon her — never brow 75 
 
 Wore deeper marks of resignation earn'd 
 
 By patient sufferance, though full of pain, 
 
 Though all Thy waves and storms had o'er her gone, 
 
 She still held on, possessing her own soul 
 
 With domineering patience, and in me 80
 
 158 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Long after I had seen her go to rest. 
 
 The memory of that calmness still survived. 
 
 Haply amid the Martyrs, seated high. 
 
 Full many such a sufferer shall be seen 
 
 When we are waking, mid the countless spirits 85 
 
 That death discloseth to us, and our heart 
 
 Shall learn what aidance 'gainst the enemy, 
 
 By prayers of glorified sufferers, falls 
 
 From inward Heaven. Man is of the dust. 
 
 Yet, moisten'd by th' Eternal Spirit, man 90 
 
 Is capable of being stamp'd and sign'd 
 
 With blissful Cross, the key and gate of Heaven 
 
 And strength of intercession, by the Fount 
 
 Obtain'd, or after inwardly renew'd. 
 
 By Christ inflicted, whether from within 95 
 
 His Spirit stir to suffering, or His rod 
 
 Be visited upon us from without. 
 
 Each dust-born body in itself is one, 
 And is the type of that extended Whole, 
 Which while on earth is sealed with the Cross, 100 
 
 As through the Eternal Spirit He was made 
 In fashion of a tortured slave to die, 
 And shed from Him the Stream which giveth Life, 
 So is it since with man. In eveiy thing 
 Fashion and shape by Water every where 105 
 
 Are brought to being, and Water is the type 
 And voiceless messenger which through the world 
 Proclaims the Spirit's workings. Is the Moon, 
 Fair witness of the Church, with power endued
 
 >-^^ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 159 
 
 To rule benighted earth ? it is the Sea 110 
 
 She useth to her minister — or say 
 
 The Moon should rather for a shadow stand 
 
 Of the triumphant Church, then by the Sea 
 
 She sheds her influence on things below : 
 
 For, for the dead, to fill their number up, 1 1 5 
 
 Were all of us by the Baptismal Wave 
 
 With arms of everlasting Love embraced. 
 
 And we, who in her quiet light abide, 
 
 Are through that Ocean able to reflect 
 
 Prayers back upon her, sending rest and peace 1 '20 
 
 To all that dwell within fair Zion's gates. 
 
 Moreover, in the Sea are countless tribes — 
 Some minister directly to our good, 
 Some seem empower' d to punish sins in man. 
 Some are unseen, too small for human ken, 125 
 
 Yet having in this world that groaneth still 
 On man's account, a function and a place 
 Contributing perhaps to build up things. 
 Which gladden man, in ways to him unknown. 
 And is there not in this a present sign 130 
 
 Of Him who doth embrace all ranks of Being 
 With His Lifegiving Energy ; by whom 
 Or Angel or Archangel is sustain'd 
 In rightful place, as are His chosen on earth. 
 And when the Ocean thick with divers beings 1 ;j.3 
 
 Wave after wave is rolling to the strand. 
 At each third wave more solemnly it peals, 
 A type to yield of voices uttering praise
 
 160 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Prolong'd, with tones that pause reflectingly 
 
 On the Third " Holy " that completes the note 140 
 
 Of Archangelic melody, a type of prayer 
 
 From multitudinous Being-s utter'd forth 
 
 From Cherubim and Seraphim, and man 
 
 And lower creatures seeking for their prey. 
 
 And ravens calling for the lack of meat 145 
 
 Upon the God that made them — blended voice 
 
 Of whole creation's one majestic groan, 
 
 Articulate or dying off in sounds 
 
 Of undistinguish'd meaning, mid the ranks 
 
 Of limpid insects dallying with the air. 1 50 
 
 Creation's Ocean-voice with throes of prayer 
 
 Thus labours mightily, till the Adoption come. 
 
 And man his forfeit sovereignty regain. 
 
 When musing o'er these manifold estates 
 Of being, the Athenian not in vain 1.55 
 
 Believed that we who in this lower world 
 Are placed, have been by other realms of being 
 Begirt, to whom the solid atmosphere 
 Is as the Ocean in man's estimate : 
 Or if, indeed, it seem an idle dream -, 1 (iO 
 
 His own intention haply framed it so 
 To appear to some men : even as the bud 
 That earliest blossom'd upon Jesse's stem, 
 To Achish seem'd when scrabbling on the wall 
 Bereft of reasoning significancy, J 6.5 
 
 That he might shadow the maturer Fruit 
 Whom carnal Jews a devil deem'd to have. 
 
 2
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 161 
 
 For surely in this lower world of things, 
 
 Man hath dominion over other beings, 
 
 Fowls of the air and fishes of the sea, 1 70 
 
 To be a shadow only of the might 
 
 Attain'd by Human Nature, seated high 
 
 Above all Principalities and Powers. 
 
 And shall the Church, which on Ascension-Day 
 
 This Psalm hath ever sung, ascribe to Him 175 
 
 A beggarly dominion over brutes, 
 
 And close her eyes to those wide tracks of being 
 
 Which in the Ocean of the Universe 
 
 Move up and down, the Beasts both small and great ? 
 
 Beasts are there in the Heavens, and the Name 180 
 
 Himself hath girt Him with a beast's own name. 
 
 The gentle Lamb's, and Him His blessed Bride 
 
 Hath found entitled by the Fish's name. 
 
 So be we neither slow of heart to find. 
 
 Beneath those names angelic powers^ conceal'd, 185 
 
 That silent walk the Ocean of pure air. 
 
 To them as dense as water, — or that these 
 
 Have also what to them is atmosphere. 
 
 But to Archangels, who in ether dwell. 
 
 Is as a water. Not alone on earth 1 i)0 
 
 Do streams of waters flow : above * the Heavens, 
 
 Not above one, but even above all, 
 
 The Scripture knows of waters. What forbids 
 
 But that as several Heavens * were ever held. 
 
 In Christian and in earlier heathen times, 1^5 
 
 Each to succeed the other, of the which 
 
 M
 
 162 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Three to Saint Paul were open'd ; there should be 
 
 To each its Ocean and its Atmosphere, 
 
 Each have its forms of being, and in each 
 
 Our earthly things some counterpart should find''? 200 
 
 What are the forms of matter, what degrees 
 Of subtlety and thinness it is able 
 To reach itself to, or how far its being 
 May be enlarged, and from itself unfold 
 Capacities for influencing a space 205 
 
 Of wider scope than ever now it doth. 
 And visiting with undivided self 
 New regions of the world, though still possess'd 
 Of its material qualities ; what spirit is, 
 What soul, and whether any spirit hath power 210 
 
 T' exist devoid of form, save only One 
 Who by this formlessness is Infinite — 
 All these be weighty problems, which the soul 
 Is powerless, to its own content, to solve. 
 But this we see, that in this little world, 215 
 
 This petty corner of the Universe, 
 (Unless, indeed, itself the centre be. 
 And 'twas no corner in the which was done 
 That which was done unto the Corner-stone,) 
 We see the dew that in a little drop 220 
 
 Is settled on the flowers, and which if forced. 
 As erst it was by Gideon's prayer, to join 
 Its sister drops, and on one fleece appear. 
 Would fill, it may be, such a magnitude 
 As was the vessel, which that water held, 225 
 
 m
 
 *^ ••i».^ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 163 
 
 That blush'd to see the Majesty of God 
 When veil'd in Flesh, and turn'd itself to Wine — 
 We see this dew can spread itself afar 
 Over the face of some well-cultured hill 
 Or flowery garden, and, its form of being 230 
 
 Thus chang'd, can visit many a spicy bloom 
 And charge itself with odours ; such as prayer 
 Wide-wandering is when from the drop of love 
 Tn some still heart it sallieth forth and gains 
 New blessings into its own energies ' 235 
 
 From every fellow -creature that it seeks. 
 And in its charitable arms wide-spread 
 Hath for a while embraced. This little sum 
 Of dewdrops then can such a surface fill 
 Transmuted intp mist. And what if God, 240 
 
 Wlien fervent Heat consumes the elements. 
 Should raise the entire Ocean with a power 
 Akin to that whereby the burning Sun 
 Enlargeth the small dewdrop, till it swell 
 Into an ample atmosphere, and fill 245 
 
 The whole vastidity of this small part 
 Of Heaven and Earth our sight is witness of : 
 And in it all the beings that now are hid. 
 With powers enlarged, should range the Universe, 
 Themselves transmuted by the mighty Heat } 250 
 
 What if indeed (to help weak Fancy's scheme 
 It may be dwelt upon) this atmosphere 
 Should prove an Ocean of a kindred power, 
 And we be capable to grow with it 
 
 M 2
 
 164 
 
 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Into strange new capacities of being ? 255 
 
 Methinks that language uttereth augury 
 
 Of things to come, when it describeth light 
 
 Thus often by the words ^ appropriate 
 
 To streams and waters, guessing at the essence 
 
 Whose fluid agency enwraps the world. 260 
 
 And if the pondering mind should summon light 
 
 Before itself, considering how its stream 
 
 Flows wonderful in joy upon the sight. 
 
 Which for a while can brook it, and reflect 
 
 What ampleness of change that only were 265 
 
 Which man should fit for constant company 
 
 Of this material light ; he well may deem 
 
 That realms of heav'n, in which the fixed stars 
 
 Were thickly studded, and with rays of light 
 
 Unintermitted visited the spheres 270 
 
 Which near them had their orbits, would afford 
 
 A mansion such as human frames unchanged 
 
 Should not endure unscathed. And if this one 
 
 Of all the present elements afi'ord 
 
 Suspicion that we need a change to bear 275 
 
 Its undivided presence, how much more. 
 
 The present elements being first renew'd 
 
 And changed, must those who in them have abode 
 
 Need of a change miraculous, secure 
 
 To dwell amongst the alter'd elements ! 280 
 
 If then indeed the little mite of love 
 Which in one Christian's heart its dwelling finds. 
 At times enlarge itself to such a length
 
 •«* -'^ 
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 165 
 
 And depth of being as when we call it prayer, 
 
 Wliat shall the Church become? her love how wide? 285 
 
 How shall it range throughout the Universe ! 
 
 Yea, even now her burning lights from Heaven 
 
 May exercise their martyr's privilege 
 
 At distances unmeasured — in the flesh * 
 
 The spirit of Saint Paul this might possess'd ; 290 
 
 And if that loving soul while yet on earth 
 
 Could from a distance bind a fallen man, 
 
 Shall not his present power over men 
 
 Have wider range ? how wide when Heaven and earth 
 
 Are both renew'd, and men become the lords, 295 
 
 As is their Lord already, of the world ? 
 
 Nor can the philosophic mind with scorn 
 Reject as idle dreamers those who teach. 
 Our present state with other Beings is shared. 
 Who have strange influence upon our being, 300 
 
 And order all our welfare — lower beings 
 (Such is the law which through the Universe 
 Pervading, sways the whole) have evermore 
 An energy and power to exercise 
 
 On those below themselves. Behold the stones 305 
 By nature settled on the idle ground. 
 They are so by a law : and such a law 
 Hath man the power given him to undo 
 For certain seasons, introducing acts *, 
 Not settled habits : whence in subtle air 310 
 
 The stone by nature for the ground design'd 
 May travel, whensoe'er capricious sport
 
 166 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Shall tempt the schoolboy's arm to interfere, 
 
 O thought most palling ! that the fix'd decrees 
 And statutes given to diverse ranks of being 315 
 
 Should so be placed in thraldom under those 
 Set over them, a higher than the highest 
 Of those on earth should have dominion. 
 As man o'er those of earth, while yet remains 
 The Highest over these ! to Him be praise ! 320 
 
 To arbitrary will in this small world 
 How much hath nature subjected, how oft 
 On arbitrary passion it depends 
 Whether upon the fearful path, whose goal 
 Is life eternal or eternal death, 325 
 
 The baby should be born to take its course ! 
 Grace hath no wonder greater than is this 
 Of nature's common course ! capricious man 
 May alter in the dreadful scheme of Grace 
 Man's everlasting destiny ; in nature's scheme 330 
 
 Determine whether an eternal soul 
 Shall start on its responsibilities 
 Or shall not start. And Pharaoh's Magians 
 Were able to affect creative might 
 Through agency of diabolic powers ; 335 
 
 For these, as knowing more the scheme of things. 
 Knew also whence the seeds of animal being 
 Were secondarily drawn, and turn'd their skill 
 Against their Maker, feigning to have made 
 By power Divine, what they permissively 340 
 
 Perform'd, and having access to the place ^* "
 
 *'-^^ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 167 
 
 Where jjrinciples of all things yet unwrought 
 And undistinguishable to man's eye 
 Were still created ready, brought to light 
 By seeming miracles the callow beings 345 
 
 From where primordially they were create ; 
 Where natures inchoate were yet unborn. 
 Hidden in the womb of dim futurity. 
 As man would feel, to demons' wider ken 
 Existing certainly as doth the embryo 350 
 
 Whose life to check were interference rude 
 And murderous with Creative Energy. 
 All these are gifted with free agency. 
 And yet could have no power, unless the same 
 Were placed within their reach by Him on High. 355 
 Nor is their wondrous power to be denied. 
 Because He fetters by the feeblest bounds 
 The seethings of this mighty tide of being ! 
 Still less shall he by reason's path abide 
 Who will not own that holy men have had 360 
 
 Such sway o'er nature. If to choiceless choice 
 It hath been granted air a path to make 
 For heavy stones, why should not childlike spirits 
 Have vaster powers growing now within, 
 And even sometimes issuing in act, 365 
 
 As when Elisha bade the iron swim 
 Upon the water's surface, — or when He, 
 Who veil'd His Deity, on water walk'd 
 As upon solid earth, as if to show 
 (If this be not irreverently to dream) 370
 
 168 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 How there were other spheres, where agencies , 
 
 Diverse from those our senses witness here, | 
 
 Were natural course ! Thus we work miracles ! 
 
 For those below us, and for us the Beings ,, 
 
 Above us are with kindred powers endow'd. 375 
 
 To these perhaps the air is bulky sea. 
 
 The sea firm earth, and Heaven's gentlest dew 
 
 Substantial as the solid drops of rain * 
 
 That fall, as cumber' d with beatitudes, 
 
 Upon the bosom of our thirsty land. 380 
 
 Had we but dwelt where some sulphureous lake 
 With rising vapours tainted the high air 
 And kept the birds away, the while their scent 
 Prohibited approach, how strange the news 
 To hear that in more favour' d climes a race 385 
 
 Existed, who with fanning pinions sped 
 Light through the air, as if a solid wave, 
 With oar-like movements delicate and swift ! 
 Far easier, then, may antitypes of these 
 Who neither toil nor spin, the Angel Host, 390 
 
 Be thought to walk the pavement of the air 
 With solid tread, or dive its ample depth 
 And raise up pearls to glisten in the Gate 
 Of that Eternal City ! or to bring 
 
 Rains from the Giver, moistening the lips 395 
 
 Of man's parch'd being with freshen'd songs of praise. 
 Or kindling from remaining Baptism dew 
 A mist of love that spreadeth o'er the face 
 Of the whole earth in sweetening wreaths of prayer.
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 169 
 
 Nor should we doubt, if even material dew 400 
 
 Be with such strange capacities endow'd 
 To enlarge itself and fragrant smells receive. 
 That incense from the Angel's vial pour'd 
 May blend with that mysterious dew that fell 
 From the Baptismal rill, though few the drops 405 
 
 And scant that now to sin-struck hearts remain. 
 They know what blessings evermore descend 
 To their own bosom, who with conquering prayer 
 Have march'd into the realms of grudging sleep 
 And sued for brother-sinners Heaven's Throne. 410 
 For e'en the penitent shall find a strength 
 Of inward love he cannot else regain 
 When he so useth penance, as to gain 
 Fresh hours of prayer, too loving for the sheep 
 Of his aU-gracious Saviour, to explore 415 
 
 His own sore bruises too continuously. 
 Haply he followed in his Master's steps 
 What time the dew was visiting each flower 
 That, tired with bearing in the scorching sun 
 The burden of the day, by night revived. 420 
 
 And as the dew upon the flowers fell. 
 It likewise fell upon the gasping ground, 
 It fell, it sunk and help'd the secret life 
 Of such departed herbs, whose silent roots 
 Await the Resurrection of the spring. 425 
 
 'Twas so, when Moses' blessing dropp'd as dew 
 Upon the unstable Reuben " who had died. 
 His father's curse from ofi^ him unremoved,
 
 170 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 That by the Seer's all-penetrating prayer 
 
 The root was bless'd, that hence his men might be 430 
 
 Not few in number, and upon his tribe 
 
 That blessing still abode : unlike to Dan, 
 
 His name was not from Heaven's memorial book 
 
 Erased for ever, but even at the last 
 
 Of Reuben's tribe twelve thousand men were seal'd. 435 
 
 So falleth evermore the dew of prayer, 
 
 Blessing the living and the mighty dead, 
 
 The just made perfect, and the unjust too. 
 
 Ungrudging as the rain from Heaven itself. 
 
 And undistinguishing from very love ! 440 
 
 Less than Saint John were holiest seers of old. 
 And John himself was counted less than those 
 Who rank as least in New Jerusalem : 
 Yet were not they who clomb the older heights 
 Of sanctity, unlike throughout to those 445 
 
 Of Christian days, and Moses' favour'd lips 
 Let fall a dew of blessing on the race 
 Of Judah and of Israel, like to that 
 Which falls on all the world from Christians' prayer. 
 For when the grace of God was wider spread, 450 
 
 Then too the prayer, which by the Eternal Spirit 
 Is breathed into Christians, wider search'd. 
 And from His Presence, omnipresence gain'd 
 To touch the earth and those beneath the earth. 
 The Heavens and all the human powers therein. 455 
 So fell the dew at first upon the fleece 
 Which Gideon, with prophetic Spirit clothed,
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 171 
 
 Had set to drink it in : and then, inspired 
 
 To look for Chiristian blessings, strong in faith. 
 
 He call'd for dew upon the entire ground; 460 
 
 To show how faith, deserting Israel's stock. 
 
 Should moisten all the world, and Gentile clans 
 
 Bedew'd with what was wrung by Anguish sore 
 
 From Mary, whitest fleece immaculate '^, 
 
 (True Judah's type) should be from dryness freed. 465 
 
 Hail to the holy Fount, the source of dew. 
 Of spiritual dew that never fails to fall ; 
 That quencheth Satan's fiery darts ; that chills 
 By might to alms imparted hellish flames ; 
 That thoroughly pervades our weakest deeds 470 
 
 Of love and holiness, that sweeteneth all 
 We think or do aright ; that softens tears. 
 And by them softeneth the Rock of Stone ; 
 That moveth Christ to Mercy (who Himself 
 As very Mercy maketh us afraid) ; 475 
 
 That heals the prescient gnawing of the Worm 
 Of evil conscience ; that is obstinate 
 And clings to sinners' hearts and longs to gush 
 In ample stream of tears, for Him to put 
 In His new Bottle ; that becomes a stream 480 
 
 Indwelling in us where at fattening Feast 
 The Lord may spread His nail-mark'd Hands and swim 
 And stamp the Cross upon us ; that abides 
 When nought beside abideth ; that can spring 
 And multiply and run abundantly 485 
 
 To other vessels when a dearth of love
 
 ' 7'2 NATURE A I'ARABLE. 
 
 Or famine of the llcuvcnly Word around 
 
 Spreads desolating chill ; that stays the weary. 
 
 That goadeth on the penitent ; that mocks 
 
 Despair, strikes language dumb, recals the tongue 490 
 
 That just left praising it, to further tasks ; 
 
 That flows in streams and rivers from the Hills, 
 
 The Apostles' Successors ; that deepens still, 
 
 And deepens to above the loins and breast ; 
 
 That love alone may as a mirror use ; 495 
 
 Whose bottom faith itself may not behold ; 
 
 That flows eternal joy, and maketh glad 
 
 The City of the Lord, whence all fresh springs 
 
 For sinners take their rise " ! Hail, holy Fount. 
 
 That quickenest the dead with doubled hopes, 500 
 
 While men, through thee, are buried in the death 
 
 To hereditary sin, that shortly now 
 
 The number of the elect may be fulfiU'd. 
 
 May that sad heresy that holds thee naught. 
 
 Be by thy might inherent still within 505 
 
 Convicted, and uprooted from the soul. 
 
 And all, as finding brotherhood in thee. 
 
 By thee be knit together evermore ! 
 
 And may the Adversary (as Moab " erst), 
 
 When on thy gather'd waters shines the Sun, 510 
 
 Mistaking thee for what thou really art. 
 
 In unexpected flight be chased away ! 
 
 Of all the prophecies which heathen lore 
 Still sung, there is not one more Catholic 
 Amid all nations, languages, and clans, 515
 
 ^,_ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 173 
 
 Than that which tells of water's cleansing powers. 
 
 The shores of India and the Grecian shrine. 
 
 The north and south, the farthest east and west, 
 
 All lisp of Baptism, all of purity 
 
 By water's agency to man convey'd. 520 
 
 Hence when the Grecian went unto the house 
 
 For worship builded, he with holy drops 
 
 His brow besprinkled, not as though the race 
 
 Of man were in itself by heavenly doom 
 
 Polluted for the service, but because 525 
 
 Of after-sin contracted by himself 
 
 He needed cleansing dew, ere he could go 
 
 Within the shrine with fitting purity **. 
 
 So even in his errors was he wise 
 
 By superhuman instinct, and foretold 530 
 
 The cleansing needful ere the Church's courts 
 
 By feet, through sin contaminate, be trodden. 
 
 Hence also was the Ocean ever deem'd 
 The lord of ceremonies, that wash away 
 Sin's guiltiness from man, and in its waves 535 
 
 Mysterious power was fancied to reside. 
 Whereby the souls of such as migrated 
 Into its finny tribes were taught to look 
 For purgatorial process "' in the flood 
 Of ambient waters. Howsoe'er obscured, 510 
 
 Traditions such as these yield easily 
 To thoughtful hearts the truth they bear within. 
 They are as fragments from the children's lips 
 Of nursery stories at a venture heard
 
 174 
 
 NATURE A PARABLK. 
 
 By one that walks the streets, reminded thus 545 
 
 Of things he once behevcd, and shrouded truths 
 
 Whereon maturer knowledge builds itself. 
 
 And which, correlative to childhood's faith. 
 
 From age to age are propagated still 
 
 By babes and sucklings. Powers for healing sin 550 
 
 Thus to the Ocean's stream of old ascribed. 
 
 Were, as it seemeth, from Tradition learnt, 
 
 While Ocean's self was aptly framed to mind 
 
 Of works mysterious : for the lengthen'd wave 
 
 Before the feet of those upon the shore 555 
 
 Fell audible, but by the wider faculty 
 
 Of sight was known to reach beyond the scope 
 
 Of hearing, by the reflecting spirit's aid, 
 
 Beyond the sight was still believed to move. 
 
 Escaping ever from the field of each, 560 
 
 And leaving each with tired attention faint ; 
 
 As feeling that the highest powers of man 
 
 Should ne'er recount, wljat destiny befel 
 
 Its passing, lingering, ever-echoing sound. 
 
 Its movements and the colours from its spray, 565 
 
 Nor in what region of the universe 
 
 Each had its issue, while, like idle words. 
 
 They seem'd to wait the echo of a day to come. 
 
 Like these in much the Saviour's every act 
 With wonder-working Majesty was fraught, 570 
 
 As though His life '^ were but a moving sea 
 Of miracles, which reach'd to worlds beyond. 
 And had their issue and their echoes there
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 175 
 
 Wliere Spirits and Angels view'd the energies 
 
 Which thev to risrht or left extended far 576 
 
 Beheld, beyond the grasp of human faith. 
 
 For He was seen of Angels, while on earth. 
 
 And when He rent the solid firmament, 
 
 And from their quire resounded David's hymn 
 
 What time they lifted th' Everlasting doors, 580 
 
 Or when they wonder'd at His garments dyed 
 
 In Blood, that men might wonder in the Feast 
 
 At Him who comes again beneath the roof 
 
 Of human temples, purging them from sin. 
 
 For as His life was full of miracles, 585 
 
 So was the Church's life, a mighty deep 
 Of marvels figured by those miracles, 
 Which while She wrought upon the parched sand 
 Of this distracted world, within her dwelt 
 Eternal quiet as the special grace 590 
 
 On man by Him bestow'd, who working still 
 Is still in Sabbath, while He was on earth 
 Was One with Him, who out of endless Rest 
 Created all things by Him, which by Him 
 He now would re-create, that they on Him 595 
 
 Might evermore recline amid their toils. 
 Hence as an Ocean, She throughout the world 
 Was uttering forth a never-ceasing wave '* 
 Of prayer and praise from men or infants' lips, 
 Or holy women pouring, by the calm GOO 
 
 Within sustain'd, a calm which neither foe 
 Nor heretic with crafty angriness
 
 17G NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Was able to disturb, a depth of faith 
 
 Which made Him present, whom it doth adore, 
 
 A love which kept Him in the eye of faith, 605 
 
 And in His Presence wrought at holy deeds, 
 
 Girding her loins with strength, her arms with power ! 
 
 Her household in baptismal scarlet clothed. 
 
 Eat of the Bread to idleness refused, 
 
 And, for the treasure left her from of old, 610 
 
 Arise and call her blessed ! to their ways 
 
 She looketh well, lest haply when the fraud 
 
 Of heresy (retiring while it plans 
 
 Fresh onset full of rage, and biting lips 
 
 Which will not hold its wicked spirit in) 615 
 
 Should from her breasts tear off their clinging gums. 
 
 And tell them that her sacramental milk 
 
 Was fill'd with magic poison " for their blood. 
 
 Or that her ancient songs were idle charms 
 
 Invented by the wranglers of the world. 620 
 
 Then makes she fast the bars of all her gates 
 
 With prayer and meek austerities, that God 
 
 May bless her children in her, and the rest 
 
 Of heaven abide upon them while they fight 
 
 Unmoved by dastard friends or gnashing foes 625 
 
 To aught but loving sorrow, while her bowels 
 
 Are kindled to compassion at their fall. 
 
 For whoso hearkeneth to Wisdom's voice 
 
 So speaking in her, he from fear of ill 
 
 Shall find repose and quiet, while the kings 630 
 
 And statesmen urge the mob of people on 
 
 *?
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 177 
 
 To imagine vain conceits against the Lord, 
 Wlio in his Hill of Zion still abides. 
 So wield they on their sorry armoury 
 Of doubts and impure charity, unbased 635 
 
 On love of Him whose presence brethren makes, 
 They ' with bemock'd-at stabs ' in vain shall try 
 To kill the waters of unceasing prayer. 
 And works of quiet love to man unseen. 
 And peaceful, happy fast-days, yielding fruit 640 
 
 After their kind of alms or gentle words. 
 But as with restful mind into the deep 
 We have descended, seek we out the guide 
 That led th' admired Dante to the shades 
 Of earth below ; and ask we at his mouth 645 
 
 What ancient legend told him -", that the streams 
 Of many rivers were beneath the earth 
 In one united, whether from the rites 
 Of Egypt, land of dark idolatry. 
 
 That doctrine he had learnt, or other sage 650 
 
 The lore to him tran?mitted thence derived : 
 Haply that sage who deem'd that all things took 
 From water their beginning, or tlie bard 
 Who taught that gods their life to Ocean owed. 
 Whence drawn soever, in it seems to speak 655 
 
 Tradition of a period when all floods 
 Were undivided, gather'd into one 
 By law primeval, and still haply one 
 By union imperceptibly maintain'd 
 Through channels dark beneath the jealous earth, 660 
 
 N
 
 178 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 That burieth them to try the faith of man. 
 
 How know we whether this were fruit of sin 
 
 Or not, when at the deluge ranks of men 
 
 And tamer beasts were set at enmity. 
 
 And all the commonwealth of things create 665 
 
 Were subjected to vanity ? That change 
 
 Invites to ampler musing, and suggests 
 
 How man is portion of a vaster scheme 
 
 Which, once in movement, had its countervails 
 
 And interferences of old ordain'd 670 
 
 And ready at sin's beck, that deluges. 
 
 Volcanoes, hurricanes, and every scourge 
 
 That visits earth might be a miracle 
 
 To beings incapacitate to span 
 
 The system in its parts, and see the wheels 675 
 
 Within the wheels of Providence Divine. 
 
 'Tis so the ignorant of what the reach 
 
 And skill of man can learn of human frames 
 
 Are filled with fears and ominous forebodings 
 
 At sudden pains : and in the Universe 680 
 
 Are fearful signs appointed thus to lead 
 
 The teachable and humble to the aid 
 
 Of that adorable Physician's skill. 
 
 So may a comet on its usual course 
 
 Have wrought the Deluge, and the great machine G85 
 
 Of this dread Universe may from the first 
 
 By Him, who dwelleth at the end of things 
 
 From the Beginning, so have been contrived 
 
 As to inflict that plague of waters once.
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 179 
 
 When these subsided, they in diverse parts 690 
 
 Among the hills were settled ; lakes and seas 
 
 Inland were form'd, that were in all things like 
 
 The Ocean's briny wave. Oh, may the Chmxh 
 
 Which still her threefold wave of ' Holy ' sings. 
 
 By Deacons, Priests, and Bishops, threefold rank 695 
 
 Succeeding each the other, still have salt 
 
 To salt her sacrifices, though distinct 
 
 And insulated, since the flood of sin 
 
 Hath broken up the fountains of her peace. 
 
 Her parts and members be I And underground 700 
 
 May Saints and Martyrs yield by channels deep 
 
 And visible to fasting spirits, a tie 
 
 Which nothing shall undo ! from out herself 
 
 Still gradually eject the baneful weeds 
 
 Of sin and heresy, although she seem 705 
 
 All weaken'd with division, strong no more 
 
 The sword, the Spirit's severing sword, to wield ! 
 
 For us 'tis sweet to think that holier men 
 Who last our alter'd service-book review'd, 
 Two British Saints have added to the list 710 
 
 Which lacks the ascetic Basil, ' Athanase 
 The royal-hearted,' and the childlike spirit 
 Whom Jesus once in hallowing arms embraced. 
 Though these and other foes of kingly pride 
 Be now erased, (say, deeply printed still 715 
 
 In hearts that yearn for ghostly Becket's faith,) 
 Saint Alban and the allegoric Bede 
 Were then restored — The one, whose blessed blood 
 
 N 2
 
 180 NATURE A I'ARABLE. 
 
 Still cricth from the ground hard- by the place 
 
 Where lustful Henry did his shrines destroy, 720 
 
 And kill'd his school of prophets by the sword 
 
 Of penury and rapine, and removed 
 
 And overturn'd his Altars — he whose voice 
 
 The water, when his limbs were mantled round 
 
 With Christ the Prince of suffering, in twain ^' 725 
 
 Divided, that the multitude might pass. 
 
 And he might mount the hill with flowrets dight 
 
 And blossoms garnish'd, meet to be a place. 
 
 Whereon a martyr might receive his crown — 
 
 A place from which there sprung beneath his feet 730 
 
 A fountain freshly flowing, comely type 
 
 Of Christian blood, that seed of future sons 
 
 Unto the barren land. The other Saint 
 
 Is he who tells these miracles to those 
 
 Yet for to come, with passing artlessness 735 
 
 And faith that wins believers, Bede revered. 
 
 That sample of what blissful monasteries 
 
 Can yield to feed the soul, that inly yearns 
 
 For Scripture's deepest meanings, or the ways 
 
 Of holy monks of old, as oracles 740 
 
 Of discipline and penance joyous reads. 
 
 Yea, these were added — they beneath the earth 
 
 Are channels for a tranquillizing stream 
 
 Of Unity with saints and men of prowess 
 
 In spiritual fight to flow in, and in these, 745 
 
 Did we but reach to somewhat of their ways 
 
 Of glad austerity, a pregnant sign
 
 *»» "-i^-. THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 181 
 
 Of other restoration might we read, 
 
 Restoring ancient kings, not of the state 
 
 But of the Church, to solemn services, 750 
 
 And these anointing with the holy oil 
 
 Of praise, an odour sweet that from the beard 
 
 Of our high Priest did on the skirts distil — 
 
 On those who as a vestment yet unrent 
 
 Clothed His indwelhng Presence with themselves. 755 
 
 Only be we too eager for the Oil 
 
 Which, with the other cheering Gifts for Man, 
 
 The Gift of suffering on our Head bestow' d. 
 
 Let not, (may each that loveth unity 
 
 Exclaim within,) let not my head refuse - 760 
 
 The Unction of the Head ! His sufferings, 
 
 The first-fruit of the Spirit on Him pour'd. 
 
 Oh, may I share ! the last fruit of His life. 
 
 The gall and bitterness, in part to share 
 
 Be also mine, and mid the ills by them 765 
 
 Inflicted still to pray, till by the Hands 
 
 Of Him, who is our Rock, to God outspread 
 
 Their judges shall be freed, and then have ears 
 
 To hear how sweet the ancient notes of praise 
 
 And thanksgiving for deeds of suffering wrought 770 
 
 In martyr'd members by their conquering Head. 
 
 Although their bones be scatter'd o'er the ground. 
 
 As when one heweth wood ^^ they 're written still 
 
 In that memorial Book, and once again 
 
 Shall they be fashion'd like unto their Head. 775 
 
 Not one of them is broken from the hold
 
 182 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Of Him who loves them, and their vengeance cry, 
 
 E'en in the womb of earth beneath He hears. 
 
 () thou afflicted with the scourge of doubt, 
 
 In these two witnesses behold a sign 780 
 
 That once again to one collected mass 
 
 The Church may flow, and be enlarged and heave 
 
 From this scant leaven with fraternal love. 
 
 So may the sorrowful and widow'd soul 
 
 Upraise her prayer against the unjust judge, 785 
 
 The Herods and the Pilates of the world, 
 
 Until she win them ! Not self-chosen ways, 
 
 But humble looking for the signs from Heaven, 
 
 And prophesying in the grating vest 
 
 Of intercessive sackcloth shall, if aught, 790 
 
 Restore to men that ancient Ocean voice 
 
 Of Hallelujah from the waters deep 
 
 Of many nations flowing into One. 
 
 Meanwhile may we with patient hearts expect 
 Until the Wind, the Spirit's Antitype, 795 
 
 Upon this Ocean move ; then rage and swell 
 Whatever undercurrents spiteful Foes 
 May please t' upheave against us, there shall be 
 None other issue from them save the one 
 Of spewing forth the cankering heresies 800 
 
 Which at the bottom of disunion dwell. 
 The weeds and evil fish that shall at last 
 Be thrown away, shall by this searching breeze 
 Most fearfully be tried. Already move 
 Some rustlings of its purifying power, 805
 
 
 THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 183 
 
 And fearful seem its workings on the souls 
 Men deem'd most stably rooted on the Rock. 
 More fearful, while they in their proper soul 
 Behold a depth which to another calls, 
 A depth which He alone can sound, who knows 810 
 Th' unfathora'd sickness of man's feeble heart. 
 More fearful then to those who humbly dread 
 Lest thev be shaken by the coming storm. 
 Invited either by the pleasing ties 
 
 Of wife or parents, fi-iends or brotherhood, 815 
 
 To drop the flaming sword of doctrine sound 
 Which Christ hath sent to separate the world. 
 But as the winds precede as harbingers 
 A coming earthquake, be it ours to nerve 
 By holier life our fingers for the fight, 820 
 
 Lest while we think to grasp that ancient sword. 
 It scoi-ch the hand, through inward hate or stain 
 Of other sin for wielding it unstrung. 
 Thus and thus only shall our earthy part 
 Abide unshaken by the swelling wave 825 
 
 That maketh shipwreck of unstable faith. 
 But rather turn we to the tranquil air 
 That broods upon the Ocean, while enthroned 
 In purple majesty it calmly yields 
 
 A reflex of the Heaven, and in it read 830 
 
 The image of the Spirit who abides 
 For ever with the Church. That healthy air 
 Inspires unconsciously the vital frame 
 With life through all its broider'd arteries
 
 1 84 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And subtle veins pervadinf^ joyously, 835 
 
 That air opposes us whichever way 
 Our feet are turn'd, yet yielding to our course 
 Sustains us in it, and eludes the grasp ^^ 
 Of him it graspeth round on every side. 
 'Tis so the Spirit evermore sustains 840 
 
 Those that on Him abide, is unperceived 
 Yet never wearied, being very Love, 
 Pervades the personal substance of their souls 
 And helpeth their infirmities, resists 
 Their wayward footsteps gently, and supplies 845 
 
 The voice of prayer, that seemeth human breath. 
 And with the Benedictions from the side 
 Where, on the Altar, lieth the great King, 
 His hallowing Presence mingles, is conceal'd. 
 E'en when He moveth to disclose His love. 850 
 
 As water fresheneth the outward frame. 
 As air upon the same hath kindred power. 
 So He, however present, at the Font, 
 In priestly blessings, or by rushing wind 
 Or gentle stirrings, ever doth renew 855 
 
 With re-creating Power the withering strength 
 Of grass-like flesh, and penetrateth all 
 Created beings with the inward life. 
 Or else with outward life when wickedness 
 This blessed life refuses : by the prayers 860 
 
 He breathes from out the Church, the world sustains 
 In common life ; and by the Breath of Christ 
 The Church did hallow ; by the Breath of God, 
 
 2
 
 "^ •''v-.^ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 185 
 
 His very Self, the Host of Heaven made. 
 
 And He at last shall earthy frames renew 865 
 
 As erst He raised the Lord, He in the world 
 
 Which He hath garnish'd, many a tjrpe hath set, 
 
 The earnests of regenerative Power. 
 
 They hest can weigh the blessing of the air 
 Thus seal'd with promises by its great Archetype, 870 
 Who in the solitary chambers of disease 
 Have dwelt when fever visiteth the frame 
 With searching weakness and the mind deprives. 
 By incoherent images of things 
 
 Protruded on it mid its sleeplessness, 875 
 
 Of power to linger on one, calmer, thought. 
 There is a garden where the chapel tower 
 Lifts softly up its own sweet majesty 
 Among the other roofs that daily yield 
 Responses to its bell, where I have felt 880 
 
 From fever risen, what a blessed thing 
 The air with all its balmv cumbrances 
 Is able to become, more blessed far 
 For consciousness it seem'd than heretofore. 
 And with it I have glad remembrances 885 
 
 Of one who kindly spoke to me in spite 
 Of fever's dreaded influence, and his deed 
 Hath never left my grateful memory. 
 All seem'd to harmonize — and I would wish 
 To learn from nature's gentleness that love 890 
 
 And patience due to all that go astray 
 In spiritual sickness and at length return.
 
 186 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Oh, might they feel through loving much the Love 
 
 Of that most Holy One, more joyously 
 
 Than e'er they chose to feel before their sin I 895 
 
 Mysterious are the movements of the wind 
 As is baptismal Grace : we cannot tell 
 Or whence it cometh, or toward what part 
 Of Heaven it wends its way : no place it holds 
 Amid the history of things that rose 900 
 
 Into existence, neither of itself 
 Hath it existence, but a motion is 
 Of other things ; and when Elijah fled, 
 Though blowing where it listed, yet 'twas void 
 Of God's intenser Presence. Angels moved 905 
 
 The mighty agencies of wind and storm. 
 Which figuring the Law ^* on Sinai given, 
 Contain'd no living and eternal Breath 
 Within them, but a dim reflex alone 
 Of that great Spirit who in holiness 910 
 
 Sustaineth men and Angels. Noise was none, 
 Nor voice of crying heard from that still Voice 
 Who was the Word, who in a manger born 
 Amid dumb beasts, was silent in His Birth, 
 And in His Death He open'd not His Mouth, 915 
 
 Until upon the Cross His hallow'd Flesh 
 Was spread as if a sail " wherein should be 
 Collected, though unbound, the Eternal Spirit, 
 Who by It moves the vessel of the Church 
 Over the billows of this troublous world 920 
 
 Unto the land of everlasting Life.
 
 "^ "'^r^ THE WATERS AND THE WINDS. 187 
 
 And if its sailors use due heedfulness 
 
 To things Saint Paul hath spoken, then they fight 
 
 Not with the idle air, but with the spirits 
 
 That walk the Heaven unseen, (such as was he 925 
 
 Who fell'd the tent where feasted seven sons 
 
 Of patient Job,) for they too on the Cross 
 
 Of suffering, spreading forth their fleshly limbs, 
 
 In that sweet attitude expect the Spirit 
 
 Within their bosom, blowing joyously 930 
 
 And healing rents that lessen His abode 
 
 Until they reach the port of Abraham, 
 
 The haven where they would be, and the strand 
 
 Whose trees with healing leaves and freshening scents 
 
 Breathe, by that Spirit's aid, a lasting might 935 
 
 Of life immortalizing on their weary frame. 
 
 Move then. Eternal Spirit, move again 
 Upon the Waters of the many nations, 
 That now no more are gather'd into one ! 
 And if Thy Streams, with sad alloy of state 940 
 
 And kingly interference are disturb'd. 
 The pastures and the water-brooks of love 
 Be trodden down and colour'd, if their rites 
 Which Bishops made as princes in all lands 
 Are rent away, and many a channel old, 945 
 
 Wherein Thou once wert present, is removed — 
 At least from all of those, with magnet force 
 Draw up to Thee the purer particles. 
 Till in the Heaven we see by eyes of faith 
 A glittering bow, that faithful witness there 950
 
 188 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which never shineth, save when Christ the Sun 
 
 Looketh upon them from His inner Court. 
 
 And when Thou seest that Cloud of Witnesses 
 
 Exalted to the height, then mayst Thou think 
 
 Upon the flood which never can return, 955 
 
 And rescue those who sigh for sterner ways. 
 
 And feebly fall away from high resolves, 
 
 Till they be sweeten'd by the gladdening Air 
 
 Of Thy Almighty Presence, lest the Foe 
 
 Should vaunt himself against Thee. — lest he joy 960 
 
 To see Thy winnowing power, when at the last 
 
 Thou as a Breath of Brimstone shalt uproot 
 
 The trees twice dead : Behold, that yet they yield 
 
 Leaves able to protect Thy strengthening fruits 
 
 Of fast, and alms, and prayer, if Thou sustain 965 
 
 Their withering faculties, and from the Fount 
 
 Wilt water them with plenteous dew of tears !
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Note 1. p. 156. 
 
 Upon the Ocean as a type of God, see note 23. St. Hilar, in 
 Ps. cxxxviii. col. 1119 : " Quis ambigat, secundum Ecclesiam toto 
 in orbe numerosam, multitudinem gentis Judseai copia in Christo 
 credentium prseveniri ? Atque ideo super arenam multiplicabuntur 
 quia copiosiores his erunt, qui, ex legis impio populo, terreni 
 et aridi, significantur in arenis." Abarbanel, quoted by Pocock 
 on Hosea ii. p. 22, " nicely observes another reason, why they 
 are compared to the sand of the sea : because, saith he, the 
 several small parts of that sand, by reason of the moistness of 
 the sea on it, cleave and are united together, as if they were all 
 one compacted body : and so that people, the house of .Judali and 
 the house of Israel at that time, by reason of the law, and the 
 faith which shall be common to them, and is com]):iri(l to water, 
 shall be united, and so in one respect shall be vei'y many, and in 
 another respect as one." 
 
 Note 2. p. 160. 
 
 This is a well-known myth at the end of Plato's Phredo, begin- 
 ning at § 132. In § 134 he expresses the opinion i'//(«i- oiKuvi/TUi;
 
 190 NOTES 
 
 iv toIq (coiXoic Trjc yije XeXijOevai Kai oiiaOai avio ini Ttig yijg 
 oiKilv, wairep av ft tiq tv fi'iai^ ry ttvOjusvi tov iriKciyovQ oikujv, 
 oloiTO TS iwi Tr)g 9a\aTTT]C oUt'iv Kai Sid tou vSarog opiov tov 
 i]\iov Kai TO. uWa darpa T)]v QaKarrav ijyoiro ovpavov dvai< 
 
 K. T. \. 
 
 Note 3. p. l(il. 
 
 St. Augustine on Psalm viii. § 12 : " Nee tamen quasi aliquid 
 magnum videtur adjungere, cum dicit, Oves et boves universas, in- 
 super et jyecora cniiipi, wlucres cceli, et pkces maris, qui per ambulant 
 semitas maris. Videtur enim, relictis coelcstibus Virtutibus et 
 Potestatibus et omnibus exercitibus Angclorum, relictis etiam 
 ipsis honiinibus, tantum ei pecora subjecisse : nisi oves et boves 
 intelligamus aiiimas sanctas, vel innocentise fructum dautes, vel 
 etiam operantes ut terra fructificet, id est, ut terreni homines ad 
 spiritalcni ubertatem regenercntur. Has ergo aniraas sanctas, 
 non hominum tantum, sed etiam omnium Angelorum, oportet 
 accipere, si volumus hinc intelligere omnia esse subjecta Domino 
 nostro Jesu Christo. Nulla enim creatura subjecta non erit, cui 
 primates, ut ita dicam, spiritus subjiciuntui*. Sed unde proba- 
 bimus oves posse accipi etiam sublimiter beatos, non homines, sed 
 AngelicEe creaturte spiritus ? An ex eo quod Dominus dieit, rcli- 
 quisse se nonaginta novem oves in montibus, id est, in subliraiori- 
 bus locis, et descendisse propter unam ? Si enim unam ovem 
 lapsam humanara animam accipiamus in Adam, quia etiam Eva 
 de illius latere facta est, quorum omnium spiritaliter tractandorum 
 et considerandorum nunc tempus non est, restat ut nonaginta 
 novem relictre in montibus, non huraani, sed Angelici spiritus 
 intelligantur. Nam de bobus facilis expeditio est hujus sententia; : 
 quoniara ipsi homines non ob aliud boves dicti sunt, nisi quod 
 evangelizaudo verbum Dei Angelos imitantur, ubi dictum est, 
 Bovi trituranti os non infrenabis. Quauto igitur facilius ipsos 
 xVngelos nuntios veritatis, boves accipimus ; quando Evangelistse 
 participatione nominis eorum, boves vocati sunt ? Subjecisti ergo, 
 in quit, oves et bores uiurersas, id est, omnem sanctam spiritalem 
 creaturam : in qua etiam sanctorum hommimi accipimus, qui sunt 
 in illis videlicet torcularibus quse sub aha similitudine lunse ac 
 stellarum iusiuuata sunt." See, too, the Chorus of Soph. Antig. 
 besiinning IToXXa rd Sth'a, Sec.
 
 ON BOOK IV. 191 
 
 Note 4. p. 161. 
 
 The existence of waters above the Heavens was believed by 
 St. Basil (Hex. iii. § 9) ; St. Ambrose (Hex. iii. 3, § 9) ; St. 
 Austin (de Gen. ad lit. ii. 9, who says, " Quo<iuo autera et 
 qualeslibet aquae ibi sint, esse eas ibi minime dubitemus : major 
 est quipj)e SeriptuTEe hujus auctoritas, quam omnis Inmiani ingenii 
 capacitas ") ; and by St. Ephrem, i. p. 11, extr., who thus speaks 
 of them : " Yea, the waters above also, since on the second day 
 they were separated from their companions by means of the 
 firmament that was between them, were in tlieir receptacles as 
 well as their companions ; I mean not those which became salt in 
 their seas on the third day, but those which sejiarated from them 
 on the second. Hence they were not salt, liecau.^e they were not 
 coiTuptible ; for not on earth were they stationed that they should 
 coiTupt : neither did this [our] ail' do its ministry there that they 
 should gender and swarm, neither are there rivers casting them- 
 selves into them lest they should fail ; for there there is no sun 
 to scorch them so that they should fail : for a dew of blessings 
 abide they, and for the pourings forth of wrath are tliey reserved." 
 The existence of some waters above the Heavens was, I think, 
 generally believed, though I cannot specify more passages. Those 
 liere given are, however, from sufficiently difierent parts of the 
 Chm-ch — Pontus, Italy, Carthage, and Edessa. 
 
 Note 5. p. 161. 
 
 The belief that there was some Heaven above those we see was 
 common in antiquity, as may be seen by reference to Windisch- 
 man, 1. c. p. 177- Prof. Wilson's note to the Vishnu Purana^ 
 p. 213 and p. 635. Aristot. Metaph. p. 997, h. 15, (who mentions 
 astronomers who thought there was a heaven, and a sun, and a 
 moon, and stars other than the visible one ; comp. note 10, p. 149.) 
 and also, with regard to the Jews, m Molitor, ii. § 173. And 
 this belief was common also among Christian writers, being admit- 
 ted, as will be seen in the next note, by Origen, who at p. 209 
 denies that Scri]>ture sanctions a belief in seven Heavens, and con- 
 tends that this Avas of heathen origin, as St. Basil, Hex. iii. 3, seems 
 to have thought. See also S. Just. Mart. Cohort, p. 29. St. Clem. 
 Strom, iv. g 161. v. § 94-5. St. Austin, Confess, xii. init. Clem.
 
 192 NOTES 
 
 Recog. iii. 75- Clcmcntin. xi. 22. St. Chrjs. on the Rom. Honi. 
 xiv. vers. fin. St. Ambrose on Ps. xxxviii. § 17, who differs from 
 Origen as believing there were seven. 
 
 Note 6. p. 162. 
 
 Origen c. Cels. p. 350, Spenc. comments at some length upon 
 the (lassage of Plato above referred to, and shows how far it fell 
 ill with the laiigiuage of prophecy relating to the glory of the 
 Church. The following is a portion of what he says : Qrfaw rag 
 tTToX^tiQ aov "ladTTiv Koi Toiig \iOuvg crov XiOoiif Kpv(TTa\\ov, Kai 
 
 TOV TTiQl^oXoV COV X'lQoVQ IKKtKTOVQ' Kol TTuXlV, Ol)(T(0 Ttt OtfMiXia 
 
 (jov aamptipov. (Esaice liv. 12.) Tov fiii' oliv Trapd nXarwvt 
 aWtjyopovvTeg fiv9ov o'l ae/ivortpuv to. rov (pi\oa6(pov t^tiXijtpoTtg 
 Sniyovvrai. tuq St 7rpo0}jr£('ac, a(l>' div (Tro%a^6/Ltf0a Kai tov 
 nXdrwva HXr](pcvai, oi avyyevwg rolg TrpocpfiTaig Kai ivOkwg /3tw- 
 aavTig, Kai irdvTa tov \p6vov dvaQ'tvTtg Ty t^eTaTti tu>v 'ispijiv 
 ypa/i^aTwv, rolg tTriTtjitioig Sid /Siou KaOapoTrjra Kai TrjV Trspi 
 rd Btla fpiXojxaQtlav TrapaoTrjaovaiv. rifiiv Se npOKt'ifiivov fjv 
 StiKai on yfitlg fiiv oi'k dirb 'EXXrjvoiv »j IlXdT(i)vog rd Trepi Tijg 
 dyiag yiig ilXi](paiiW iKHvoi Ss, vewTipoi ytrojusi'oi ov fiovov tov 
 apxaioTUTov Mioiicreoig, dXXd Kai tCjv nXdcrrtJv TvpotpriToJv yroi 
 irapaKTjKoaoL tivwv aivKsaofikvMv Trepi ruiv toiovtwv' ^ Kai raXg 
 Upalg ti'TvxovTeg ypa<paXg, ■7rapaTroi7]<7avrig avTa, TOiavrd Tiva 
 iripi Trig KptiTTovog (Ipi'jKam yijg. aafwg S' 6 'Ayydlog Trap/crr?;- 
 aiv dXXo fi'tv livai ti)v ^r}pdv, dXXo Si rt)v yrjv, £,r]pdv KaXaiv 
 TavTi]v t(p' TJg iCTfitv Xsyfi de ovTwg, "En unaK fyw atiaw tov 
 ovpavov, Kai Tt)v yijv, Kai t))v Kt]pdv, Kai TijV QdXaaaav. wantp 
 Si avTog t>)v Sirjyrjaiv dvaTiQtrai tov napd JIXcItwvl fivOov, kh- 
 fikvov iv T([) ^aioiovi, Xeywv TaSc, " Ti Si Sid tovtiov ffjKpaviZei, 
 ov TravTi yvuivai p<}5iov' li jxi) otjTig tTrauiv SvvaiTO, Ti nor 
 i(TTiv tKtlvo o fT}<nv 'Ytt' daOtvfiag Kai ^paSvTiJTog ovx o'lovg 
 dvai Su^tX9tiv tTr' 'iaxaTov tov depa' Kai ti r) (pvaig 'iKavi) I'irj 
 dva(Txi<j9ai Gsiopovaa yviovai dv o,ti iKtivog IdTiv 6 dXt]9(Sjg 
 ovpavbg Kai to dXrjOivbv (piUg'" Tov avTov rpoirov Kai I'mtTg rd 
 Trepi Ttjg dyiag Kai dyaOrjg yrjg, Kai Tijg iv avTij TroXtwg tov Qtov 
 ov KUTa Tt]v ivtOTwrrav vofii^ovTeg tlvai TrpayjxaTeiav aa(pr]vi<Tai, 
 vTrepTiQtjKOa ttg Ta i^r]y7]Tiicd ToJv Trpo^r/roii' otTTO fiepovg, Kara 
 TO SvvaTov ruiiv, Sirjyijadfievoi Trtpi TroXttijg Qeoii iv rolg Trpay-
 
 ON BOOK IV. 193 
 
 fiartvOtlrriv t'ljiiv elg rov TtaaapaKoarbv TrefiTTTOv "^aXjibv, Kai 
 Tov rtaaapaKOCTOv 'ii^dofiov ^aXfiov. olce it 6 apxaioraroQ 
 Mojvffkiiig Kai twv irpo(j)TiTuv Koyog rd d\r)9iva Ttavra Ojiwvvfia 
 Toig TySe icaSoXiKuirspott," olov, d\t)9ivuv (pUg, icai ovpavbv 'irtpov 
 irapa to OT£pea»^a, /cat tov ri/t," SiKaioavv7]Q ifKiov aXkoi' Trapd 
 TOV aluBijrov. icai cnraS.aTrXwQ Sk <pr]an>, on Trpbg avTiSiacrroXriv 
 Tbtv aladrjTwv, wv uvSkv koTiv d\r]Qivbv, Tb, Oibg d\T)9tvd tu 
 ipya avTov, in' aWwv ftiv Taanwv rd ipyct rov Qiov, Itti yTTovwv 
 Sk Ta XtyofJiEva tpya tu)V ^fipdiv avTOv. fitfi<j)6iitvo£ yoiii' riirt 
 did rov 'Hffaiou ^Jjfft, rd tpya Ki;piou oi/k ifi(3Xk7rov(Ti, Kai rd 
 ipyoL tS)v \tipit)v avTOv ov Karat'oovcn. Kai ravra fiiv tiri rotrov- 
 rov. Compare also St, CjtU de Ador. p. 504. 
 
 Note 7. p- 164. 
 
 In some languages there appears to be an affinity between 
 words signifying " light " and " ilowing," and which was in my 
 mind when I wrote this. Gesenius in his Hebrew Lex. p. 858, 
 refers to Schultens upon Job, p. 49, for instances. 
 
 Note 8. p. 1G5. 
 
 Origen de Oratione, p. 132, Fell: Kai tl 6 iTi rb (tw/xu vrtpt- 
 KtifievoQ IlaiiXoe awcfparsQai vivojxiKi ry tavrov TrviVfiari iv 
 ry KopivOtft, ovk diroyvwarsov ovrio Kai rovg t^tXrjXvOoTag 
 fiQKapiovg ^9dvtiv rif Trvtvp-ari, ra^a fidXXov rov bvrog tv 
 r<it ffMnari Ini rag tKKXriaiag' Ciowtp ov Kara<ppovr]Tsov tCjv tv 
 avraig tvxw7', wg i^aiptrov ri txovaiiJv r(f yvr\aiuig awtpxafiiviit 
 avTwv. wffjrep ci Sivafjiig 'lt](Tov, Kai rb irvtvixa ITaiiXoD, koi 
 rijjv o/ioiaif, Kai oi TrapifijidXXovrig iKaarov ruii' dyuov kvkXij} 
 dyytXoi Kvpiov ffvvoStvovffi, Kai avv'epxovrai roTg yvriffiiog avv- 
 a9poiZofi'tvoig, o'vrwg aroxaffTiov, ju/;7ro7"« idv dyiov dyyi^Xov 
 dvd'iiog rig y, Kai (.tti rb tavroii dyykXXMV AicijioXtp dt wv 
 dfiaprdvei, Kai etou Kara(ppovi3v irapavofiti' oti b rotovrog, 
 crrrav'nov jxiv ruiv bjioltav avri^ rvyxcivovritiv, ovk ittittoXv 
 X/;Tjjrai riig r<Zv dyykXiav rrpovoiag, vntiptcrii} rov Otiov pov- 
 Xrjiiarog kiriaKonouvrog rrjv tKKXijoiav, (ptpovar]g ng yvutaiv 
 ruiv TToXXdiv rov roiovrov rd iTrai(tiiara. Compare St. Jerome 
 c. Vigilant, c. 7-
 
 1 94 NOTES 
 
 Note 9. p. 1C5. 
 
 Dr. Mill, on Pantheism, p. 134 : " Is not every agency of pui'e 
 will over niattci", whetlior proceeding from an intellectual or 
 merely animal and sentient being, — the hurling of a stone into 
 the air, for instance, — a real positive intei'ference in this very 
 sense with the order and course of nature? For though involving 
 no suspension of its laws even for an instant, is it not an inter- 
 ruption of its regular course by a power extraneous to it, and 
 irreducible to any calculation or causes why it should be exerted 
 or withholdcn ? " See Aristot. Eth. N. ii. 1. 
 
 Note 10. p. IGG. 
 
 The following is selected from a long passage to the purpose in 
 St. Augustine de Trinitate, book iii. § 1.3 : " Nee sane creatores 
 illi mali angeli dicendi sunt, quia per illos magi resistentes famulo 
 Dei ranas et serpentes fecerunt: non enim ipsi eas creaverunt. 
 Omnium quippe rerum quaj corporaliter visibiliterque nascun- 
 tur, occulta qutedam semina in istis corporeis mundi hujus de- 
 mentis latent. Alia sunt enim heec jam conspicua oculis nostris 
 ex fructibus et animantibus, alia vero ilia occulta istorum seminum 
 semina, unde jubente Creatore produxit aqua prima natalitia et 
 volatilia, terra autem prima sui generis germina, et prima sui 
 generis animalia. Neque enim tunc in hujuscemodi foetus ita 
 producta sunt, ut in eis qu£e producta sunt vis ilia consurata sit : 
 sed plerumque desunt congruaa temperamentorum occasiones, 
 quibus erumpant, et species suas peragant." 
 
 Note 11. p. 169. 
 
 St. Ephrem, quoted by Assemanni in the Bibliotheca Orientalis, 
 i. p. 143 : " Bo thou patient : from the Scriptm'es will I bring 
 thee [proof] if thou dost will it. Moses unto Reuben gave life in 
 his blessings. If the dead are not profited, to what end did the 
 son of Amram bless him I And if the departed feel it not, hear 
 the Apostle wliat he said, For if the dead live not [again], why be 
 baptized in their stead? And if the men of the house of Mat-
 
 '^'^ ON BOOK IV. 195 
 
 tathias, who were a figure of us, were possessed of the feasts and 
 commemorations, as ye have read in the Scriptures, By offerings 
 they pm-ified the sins of those that had fallen in the war, that were 
 heathenish in then- deeds, and were evil in their conversation ; 
 how much more will the priests of the Son purify the sins of the 
 departed by their holy offerings and the prayers of their mouths ? " 
 This passage has been suspected of not being genuine, though vvith 
 very little reason as far as I can see. The language and some 
 other peculiarities appear to be greatly in favour of its genuine- 
 ness : I may also notice, that the Chaldee Paraphi'ast has the 
 same interpretation of Dent, xxiii. 6, and that St. Ephrem appears 
 to have been acquainted with Jewish tradition. See Lengerke de 
 Sti Ephremi Arte Hermeneutica, p. 1 8, &c! The Chaldee is, ' Let 
 R. live in life eternal, and the second death let him not die ; and 
 let his sons receive their inheritance according to their numbers.' 
 
 Note 12. p. 171. 
 
 St. Ephrem upon Judges, i. p. 317, writes as follows : " As for 
 that fleece of Gideon, in that it was the receptacle of the dew 
 of Heaven, by it was figured the Virgin, in whom the Word took 
 flesh. But the bason which received the dew from the fleece is a 
 type of Baptism, in which is hidden the Immanuel mystically, that 
 He may pardon and cleanse the filthinesses of them that are bap- 
 tized. But by the floor on which the fleece was placed is the 
 world represented, because in it are mingled the wheat and the 
 chafi" together, as are the righteous mingled with the wicked until 
 the end. And he besought him that upon all the ground there 
 might be dew, and upon the fleece none, . . .this is the sign of the 
 drought, which means the Jews, because the dew of blessings was 
 taken up from them, and fire destroyed the city with its temple 
 and its altar, while over other places there came down the dew 
 of God, and they were filled with the knowledge of God : and in 
 the place of the one altar that was there, lo ! altars were in all 
 the world builded in all the Churches of the Messiah." The type 
 is also explained in the same way by St. IrenuL'us, St. Ambrose do 
 Sp. Sancto, init. St. Austm in Ps. Ixxi. 9, &c. 
 
 o 2
 
 IDG NOTES 
 
 Note 13. p. 172. 
 
 Several passajjcs were before my mind in writin^r this, of which 
 a few may be mentioned. The use of Baptism as quenching fiery 
 darts, is noticed by Orijjen do Oratione, § 20, p. 12(j. The alhision 
 to Ecclus. iii. 30, is from St. Cyprian de Opere et Eleem. 1, who 
 says, "Hie ostenditur I't probatur quia sicut lavacro a.(\uve salutaris 
 GehonniO ignis extinguitiir, ita et eleemosynis atque operationibus 
 justis deHctorum flamma sopitur. Et quia semel in Baptismo 
 remissa pcccatorum datur, assidua et jugis operatio [i. e. opeinim 
 exhibitio] baptismi iiistar, imitata Dei, rursus indulgentiam lar- 
 gitur." The 'worm of evil conscience' is from Bede upon Exodus. 
 Other ajiplications from different sources might be mentioned, but 
 these may be enough to specify. 
 
 Note 14, p. 172. 
 
 This is an allusion to the history given in 2 Kings iii. 20 — 24. 
 The water there mentioned is explained by St. Ephrem of 'streams 
 of living water brought by Christ's loud voice upon the Cross over 
 the woi'ld.' 
 
 Note 15. p. 173. 
 
 Hippocr. de Morbo Sacro, p. 303, Foes, ov ^svroi iywye ci^iw 
 i/TTO Qtov ai'dpioTTov (TWjua fiiaiveaOai, to iiTroKJjporarov vnb tov 
 ayvordrov. aWa Krjv Tvyx^'-^'V *'"'''' iTi^ov jxentaafiivov y n 
 •KtTTOvOoQ, iGiKoi av v-k'o 9tov KaOaipiuSai Kai ayvi^taOuL ficiWoi' 
 fi fiiaiviaQai. Ta youv fieyiffra twv ajunpr>;/iaTwj' Kai civoffub- 
 rara to Qtlov tffri to KaOaipov Kai ayviZov Kai tpvfia ytvojitvov 
 ijiuv. AvToi tc opovgTolq OtoTcn twv iipixiv Kai twv Tefitvtiov utto- 
 SiiKi'viitvoi, WQ civ fir)SiiQ vTTipfiaivoi av fii) ayvtvoi, tlaiovTfg Tt 
 TTipippaivo/ifOa oliK wg piaivofiEvoi, aW ti ti Kai irpoTtpov 
 tXop-iv fivaog TovTo aivayviovfiivoi. For the Mosaic rite see 
 St. Cyril de Adoratione in S. & V. p. 312.
 
 *se* »'■ 
 
 ON BOOK IV. 197 
 
 Note 16. p. 173. 
 
 Servius upon Virgil, p. 162 (ed. Colon. All. 1610) : " Hsec non 
 sunt per poeticara licentiam dicta, sed ex ^gyptiis tracta sunt 
 sacris ; nam certis diebus in sacris Nili pueri de sacris parentibus 
 nati a sacerdotibus nymphis dabantur : qui cum adolevisseut nar- 
 rabant lucos esse sub teri-as et immensam aquam onuiia continen- 
 tem ex qua cuncta procreantur. Unde est illud secundum Thaleta 
 'Oceanum patrera rerum : ' " and p. 456, " purgantur in aqua, i. e. 
 transeunt in corpora marina, si paulo melius vixerint," &c. 
 
 Note 17- p. 174. 
 
 St. Athan. de Incarn. § 54, extr. suggested this comparison. 
 His words are, to. KaTopOwixara tov "EoiTrjpog rti dia Tijg iirav- 
 Gptii7rij(Tio)g Avrov roiavra Kai Toaavrd tariv, & tt SirjyrjaafjQai 
 Tig i9tXr]<Teisv, tot/ct roic a0opw(T(v tig rb iriKayog rijg QaXdaarig 
 Kai QiKovoiv dpiOjXHv to. KVfiaTa avTrjg' wg yap ov oiivarai Tolg 
 d(pda\nolg irepiXajStlv rci oXa KVfiara, Tujj> iTrepxofxtviov Trapiov- 
 Thjv Tt]v nlaOtjaiv tov TTSipdZovTog, ovtu) Kai t<^ (iovXojXivtft irdvTa 
 Ta iv adj^oTi tov XpiaTOV KaropOwfiaTa 7rfpiXa/3tTj', dSivaTov, 
 
 K. T. \. 
 
 Note 18. p. 175. 
 
 See St. Ambrose's Hexaem. lib. iv., who expands the language 
 of St. Basil, Hex. iv. ad fin. Ei Zt OdXaffaa kuXi) kciI twaiveTi) t(^ 
 Os(p, urujg ovxi (caXXiwv 'EKKXrjcriag To<javTt]g uvXXoyog tv y (jvfi- 
 myiig VX^S oiov Tivog KVfiaTog r'jtovi Trpo<T(pspofiivov dt'Spiov Kai 
 yvvaiKoJv Kai vtjwioiv Kara Tag Trpbg tov Oiop y'ifiaiv Zirjaiig 
 iKTr'niniTai. raXr/pr] Si jSaOtla dadXtVTov aiiTr^v Ciaow'^u twi> 
 TTvivjxdTiiJV Tr)g vovripiag TapdS.ai avTi)v Tulg alpiTi.KO~ig Xoyoic 
 fitj dvvri$evTwv. 
 
 Note 19. p. 17G. 
 
 This was a way of speaking of the holy Sacraments used by the 
 Zwinglians, as may be seen in Feuardentius' notes to St. Iremeus, 
 in several places.
 
 198 NOTES 
 
 Note 20. p. 177- 
 
 St. Basil, 1. c. iv. 6 : Tlacra vTrovofiog 7) yfj Sid iropwv CKpavuiv 
 tK TiSv apxioi' TtJQ OaKdaaijt^ v-kovootovvtoq tou vSutoq. See 
 St. Ambrose, Hex. iii. 3. St. Ephrem, i. p. 11, and comp. Heyne's 
 Ex. ii. upon the 4th Georgic, and note 16. Instances of under- 
 ground currents will be found in Pliny, book ii. chap. ciii. Com- 
 pare St. Jerome's account of the pool of Siloam on Isaiah viii. 
 
 Note 21. p. 180. 
 
 The passion of St. Alban, so far as reference is made to it 
 in the text, is thus related by the venerable monk, in a passage 
 of singular simplicity and beauty, E. H. i. 7 : " Sanctus Albanus, 
 cui ardcns inerat devotio mentis ad Martyriuni ocyus pervenire, 
 accessit ad torrentem et dirigens ad coelum oculos, illico siccato 
 alveo vidit undam suis cessisse ac viam dedisse vestigiis. Quod 
 cum inter alios ctiam ipse carnifex qui eum percussurus erat, 
 vidisset, festinavit ei ubi ad locum morti destinatum venerit occur- 
 rei'e ; divino nimirum admonitus instiuctu projectoque ense quem 
 strictum tenuerat, pedibus ejus advolvitur, multum desiderans, ut 
 cum Martyre vel pro Martyre, quem percutere jubebatur, ipse 
 potius mereretur percuti. Dum ergo is ex persecutore factus 
 esset collega veritatis et fidei ac, jacente ferro, esset inter carnifices 
 justa cunctatio, montem cum turbis reverendissiraus Dei confessor 
 ascendit. Qui opportune Isetus gratia decentissima quingentis fere 
 passibus ad arenam situs est, variis herbarum floribus depictus, 
 imo usquequaque vestitus, in quo nihil repente arduum, nihil 
 prseceps, nihil abruptum, quem lateribus longe lateque deductum 
 in modum a-quoris natura coniplanat, dignum videlicet eum pro 
 insita sibi specie venustatis jam olim reddens, qui beati martyris 
 cruore dicaretiu*. In hujus ergo vertice sanctus Albanus dari 
 sibi a Deo aquam rogavit, statimque incluso meatu ante pedes 
 ejus fons perennis exortus est, ut oraues agnoseerent, etiam tor- 
 rentem martyri obsequium detulisse. Neque enim fieri poterat, 
 ut in arduo mentis cacumine martyr aquam, quam in fluvio non 
 reliquerat, peteret, si hoc opportunum esse non videret. Qui
 
 '^ ""^ ON BOOK IV. 199 
 
 videlicet fluvius miuisterio persoluto, devotione completa, officii 
 testimonium i-elinquens, reversus est ad naturara. Decollatus 
 itaque martjT fortissimus, ibidem accepit coronam vitae, quara 
 repromisit Deus diligentibus se. Sed ille qui piis cervicibus 
 impias iutulit manus, gaudere super mortuum non est permissus ; 
 nam oculi ejus in teri'am una cum beati martyris capite decide- 
 rmit. Decollatus est ibi etiam tum miles ille, qui antea superno 
 nutu correptus, sanctum Dei confessorcm ferire recusavit. De 
 quo nimirum constat, quia et si fonte baptisraatis non est ablutus ; 
 sui tamen est sanguinis lavacro mimdatus, ac regni coelestis dignus 
 factus ingressu." 
 
 Note 22. p. 181. 
 
 This is an attempt to explain and apply a very difficult passage 
 in the 141st Psalm. Literally it seems to me to be as follows : 
 " Smite me may the Just [in] mercy, yea, may he reprove me ! 
 Oil of [the] Head let not my head refuse : for yet a while, and 
 prayer of mine shall be amid the ills they do : set free by hands 
 of Rock have been their judges ; also they have heard my words, 
 that sweet they are !" &c. The main alteration here is, I think, 
 the rendering of lUDirD, and I have so rendered it, as thinking 
 that the passage alleged from 2 Kings ix. 34, will not prove the 
 word can bear the meaning of " throw down." It seems that the 
 eunuchs must be conceived as holding Jezebel at the window, and 
 that the word will mean, " let go of her," and so incidentally 
 " throw her down." If this were the right interpretation, the 
 Psalm must be framed with a special view to Christian feelings, 
 when a member under chastisement thankfully receives it as made 
 to be to him a way of partaking of the afflictions of the Head, and 
 from beneath it looks as a disciple to the intercessive prayer on 
 the Cross, and hopes by kindred prayer and suffering to win the 
 imjust judges to a hearing of his words of sweetness. Neither do 
 I think that this will be found to do else than square with the 
 interpretation of St. Hilary and St. Austin, allowing for their dif- 
 ficulty of interpreting the old versions without a knowledge of 
 Hebrew. Persons not acquainted with that language will kindly 
 excuse me for reminding them, (with the greatest distrust of my 
 own judgment in particular cases,) that it is the exceeding depth
 
 200 NOTES 
 
 of Scripture, aa such, and not the uncertainty of Hebi'ew, or New 
 Testament Greek, wliieh gives rise to many differences of inter- 
 pretation apparently, and often only apparently, ii-reconcileable 
 with each other. 
 
 Note 23. p. 184. 
 
 St. Ephr. adv. Scrutat. p. 10 : "Lay again to thy heart that the 
 sea is boisterous, yet is not out of sight by its distance : lo, how 
 greatly in the midst of it the sailors tremble ! to reach its end 
 they are not able ! And [His] Majesty, too ! in it there dwell 
 powers, and natures, and Angels. Lo, every thing dwelleth and 
 springcth forth in the midst of It, yet none can search Him out. 
 With all, again, mingled is this general air, whereon our breath 
 dependeth. Though the fetters of it afflict us not, it goeth into 
 us and out from us, and is to us as though it had no being. Upon 
 it doth the hand fall, and it is not to be felt beneath it ; it fleeth 
 without changing place, while it is in the hand itself : while 
 caught, it is not to be caught. Its breath passeth through bodies. 
 Bound they are by it while loose. They that turn them whither 
 they will, go and come amidst it. On one Breath do all hang : It 
 beareth them, yet toileth not. Amidst His fulness do they dwell, 
 and they as in a void abide. Too great is He to hide in aught : 
 lo, He is covered though not hidden, for He in Himself, Himself 
 doth veil." 
 
 Note 24. p. 186. 
 
 Alluding to the usual interpretation of 1 Kings xix. 11. See 
 Grotius on the place. The Chaldee paraphrast here represents 
 the Angels as present in all the signs but the last. 
 
 Note 25. p. 186, 
 
 St. Ephrem, 1. c. p. 34 : " The sea by the Cross was subjected 
 to the unbelievers : for had the crucifiers not made a cross of 
 wood, and hung upon it the sail in the likeness of the Body, the 
 voyage would have halted. bosom, pure type of our Redeem- 
 er's Body, that with Breath is filled ! Though unbounded, yet it
 
 ON BOOK IV. 201 
 
 closed It in. By the Breath that dwelleth in the linen-cloth, live 
 the bodies in which dwells the soul." No translation can do jus- 
 tice to this : in the Syriac, the word for Spirit and wind or breath 
 is the same, and the spu-it is contrasted with the soul, as in 1 Thes- 
 sal. V. 23. The linen-cloth is so mentioned as to call to mind the 
 powers of the Eucharist, to spiritually " preserve the body and 
 soul unto everlastmg life."
 
 !*• ^-^n' 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Analogy between the Growth of the Church and her Members, 
 and that of Plants. Their cruciform Growth dwelt upon at length 
 as a symbol of the Growth of the former. The Vuie and the Fig- 
 tree, wherein types of the Gospel and the Law. Jotham's Fable, 
 the Olive and Oil. Grafts and divers Grains and Herbs. Seeds, 
 and the enormous waste of them. Few reach their highest capa- 
 l)ilities. Aromatic Plants. Cedars and Fragrant Woods. Lilies 
 and other Flowers. Commemoration of a Botanical Friend.
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 How fearful and how wonderful this frame ! 
 
 A fabric, deep of meaning, shadowing out 
 
 The Church, thy Mystic Body, which beneath 
 
 Is fashion'd in the earth, thereto are drawn 
 
 By secret process members every day. 5 
 
 Each day, when we betake ourselves to rest, 
 
 New members have been written in the Book 
 
 Of Life, and that celestial Body still 
 
 Is round each one of us. The Parish Priest, 
 
 At lowly distance or in crowded streets, 1 
 
 Goes out t' administer the hallowing rite 
 
 Of awful Baptism, somewhere, every day. 
 
 Christ's Body grows towards one perfect Man : 
 
 Each member that already lives therein. 
 
 Is by the new-born infant acted on 15 
 
 With secret access of unreckon'd joy. 
 
 Heaven is about us, and th' unwearied Church 
 
 AU-glorious within by silent course 
 
 Of growth, must needs each member's growth 
 
 Affect in such ways as to hasten on 20 
 
 His future destiny. Our outward limbs 
 
 Seem but a vehicle for frames within.
 
 206 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 That body that shall be, in embryo now 
 
 Conceal'd, and drawing nutriment through them. 
 
 So is all nature — outwardly appears 23 
 
 A something which encases in itself 
 
 A living principle : the little seed 
 
 Steals from the earth, its covering, powers of being 
 
 More wide extended, and the teil-tree shorn 
 
 Of fuller honours hath within it life, 30 
 
 Which, when the summer Sun revisits it. 
 
 Will come from its dull hiding-place, and we 
 
 Ourselves are groaning in ourselves to see 
 
 Our future body drawn by our true Sun 
 
 Forth into being upon the glorious day, 35 
 
 When He with all- enlivening beams shall shine 
 
 In everlasting Glory on our flesh. 
 
 In whatsoever form the very Word 
 
 Is sown, in language or in hallow'd Bread, 
 
 Whether in single members or the Church ; 40 
 
 It now conceals its fulness, till the time 
 
 When Angel-reapers shall with mystic arm 
 
 Put in the sundering sickle and, the tares 
 
 Cast out, shall store the Wheat in Heaven's barn. 
 
 Hence then pursuant of the course begun, 45 
 
 I ask of teeming nature, what may mean 
 Her secret workings, and from little seeds 
 Or high-grown trees learn mysteries of grace. 
 And though astrology be heinous sin. 
 Yet deem I it a choice coincidence 50 
 
 That I upon that day first drunk the light,
 
 '^ "■%->.' THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 207 
 
 When from the Book of stars, the Church's voice. 
 
 Was issuing with melodious David's Psalra, 
 
 That Hkens nature and the ancient Law 
 
 As twins in mystic meaning pregnant hoth 55 
 
 With endless depth of lore to be reveal'd. 
 
 And in the evening soothed the rueful tale 
 
 Of Jesus and His sufferings with the Feast 
 
 Of quickening powers promised to the poor. 
 
 And Table spread before our Enemy 60 
 
 Near pastures green. For in this would I find 
 
 Mv constellation, and from it would learn 
 
 To ask at nature's oracles, not scan 
 
 By scientific rules her mysteries dark. 
 
 Hail, little seeds, that lift your modest bud 65 
 
 Above the surface of the clotting soil. 
 Whether of wheat or of some other grain. 
 Their little bosom heaves with lessons deep, 
 Which faith alone is teachable to read. 
 Which in the hands of this world's wisdom slacks 70 
 And withers down its leaf of slender lines 
 Into a common thing that men pass by. 
 As having neither form nor comeliness 
 For them to turn their haughty foot aside 
 And look upon. Dear tiny things, ye read 75 
 
 In miniature a mighty scheme of faith. 
 And over ye with tears might one rejoice. 
 Like to a tender child which hath been shown 
 Some puzzle that had baffled long his stock 
 Of inexperienced skill ; and feels a joy 80
 
 208 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 He may not otherwise enough express 
 To satisfy his overflowing thoughts, 
 And make his pretty innocent surprise 
 And gratitude be reconciled at last. 
 
 Well may they feel, whose understanding heart 85 
 Once needed some to tell them, why the Wheat 
 In Holy Writ was chosen t' exhibit 
 The powers of life in man's corruption sown. 
 How deep the puzzle seem'd, until the voice 
 Of holy Church, the Mother of us all, 90 
 
 Was listen' d to — and then how full a tone 
 Of matronlike consolement softly fell 
 W^ith sweetness grave ^ upon the willing ear : 
 " The grain of Wheat is Christ ; His Body sown 
 In thine bestows on it a latent power 95 
 
 Against corruption and eternal death. 
 Look to the spicy grave from which He rose ; 
 Lo ! no corruption touch'd His holy frame. 
 Lion of Judah ! from Thy belly came 
 Immortalizing sweetness, better far 100 
 
 Than honey and the comb. The Spartans old 
 Embalm'd their kings in honey, but to you, 
 O royal priesthood, is a greater power 
 Of sweetness given, a Savour unto Life ! 
 Arise and eat, (the Angel voices hymn 105 
 
 Such whisperings in the ear of anxious faith 
 Beside the Holy Altar,) rise and eat ; 
 And in the strength of that Almighty Food 
 Go cheerly onward in the wilderness
 
 "*"^ THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 209 
 
 Of this world's solitude and misery. 110 
 
 Seest thou but little in this piece of Bread .'' 
 
 It is a grain of Wheat which shall not die, 
 
 It is the seed in thy corruption sown. 
 
 Whereof shall spring upon the joyous Morn 
 
 The body incorruptible — it dies 1 1 j 
 
 That it may yield fruit -manifold — the seed 
 
 Thou sowest is not that body which shall be, 
 
 But in it hath a principle of life. 
 
 Which blending kindly with the soften'd soil, 
 
 Commutes it into a more glorious form, 120 
 
 Wliich as it waves beneath the breeze may seem 
 
 To prophesy the workings of the Spirit 
 
 Upon the frames of glorified beings, 
 
 Lo ! even now the sacred Seed is sown 
 
 Within thy fearfully devisfed frame, 125 
 
 And out of it is drawing up to Life 
 
 An embryo body, which within thee beats 
 
 Until its vile and outward covering fall. 
 
 As doth the useless sheath, from flowers mature. 
 
 Or is thy outward man not worn away 1 30 
 
 Enough by fast or vigil, through the which 
 
 The dread Communion of the Saints alone 
 
 Becomes a thing of practical belief. 
 
 Familiarly holding back each day 
 
 From wayward actions by the secret sense, 13.) 
 
 That cloud of Witnesses is pour'd around ^ 
 
 Thy very flesh and blood — and dost thou doubt 
 
 My child, that I must sternly speak to thee
 
 210 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Of easy slumbering ways, preventing thee 
 
 From understanding aught of Presence dread, 140 
 
 And consecrating Flesh ? See ! thou art part 
 
 Of Jesus' husbandry, thy heart a field 
 
 In which the Enemy may sow his tares. 
 
 To choke, if thou be careless, that good Seed. 
 
 Thine is the fault if he hath stay'd its growth, 145 
 
 Or from thee pluck'd the Word of Life away — 
 
 Dimming the fine Gold of the Godhead there. 
 
 Why see I, child, this look of blank dismay. 
 
 Unsettle into blushes all the lines 
 
 Of thy late earnest visage ? Oh ! take heed 1 50 
 
 Lest thou should lose the seed of lasting Life, 
 
 Or so much only should retain, as serves 
 
 To give thy frame new aptitudes for pain. 
 
 Increasing thy damnation. Mercy's smile 
 
 Is but the frown of Justice. in sin's eye." 155 
 
 Thus might one fancy gathering up the lines 
 
 Of sweet Tradition from the inspiring page 
 
 Of holy men of old, the Holy Church 
 
 Would teach her questioning children, if unblanied 
 
 We may divine her language, of the depths 160 
 
 Which every little seed affords the ear. 
 
 But wherefore is this well-known messenger 
 Of inward things, by thousands still unheard ? 
 Its mystic glories, greater far than those 
 Which Solomon, in hallow'd state enthroned, 1 6r) 
 
 Of old enjoy'd, are recognised by few. 
 The little bud * above the clinging soil
 
 '^ •■'i^i*- THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 211 
 
 Hath scarce upheaved its head, — it by its form 
 This problem solves, what time it spreads all day 
 To man's rebellious race its tiny arms, 1 70 
 
 In shape to mind him, why he doth not hear. 
 For as the tender leaves are opened out, 
 A second bud uplifts the firstborn shoot. 
 And shapes a humble Cross. Is it not so ? 
 Though minds unmortified may scorn to find 175 
 
 The holy form therein : yet when the soul, 
 Attuned to nature by faint gentleness 
 From Lenten diet, watches little plants, 
 It sees more happily in natural forms 
 One answering to the mark which kneelings hard 1 SO 
 And prayer-wrought tears have cut upon itself. 
 And he, I ween, who furthest shall advance 
 Into the niches of the mystic House, 
 Wherein ascetics, strong through weaken'd health 
 For prayer and fasting, bow'd their holy knees, 185 
 Or on the thirsty palate strew'd for bread, 
 By hunger now expected, cinders harsh — 
 He furthest shall in nature's secrets see. 
 They with cold hmbs, descending from the mount 
 Of night-long prayers, draw after them a cloud 1 90 
 Which gleams upon them from the valiant Cross, 
 And lightens all about them, when perchance 
 They may by solitary walk relieve. 
 Mid dewclad plants, or weary even's shade, 
 The mind unequal long to converse close 195 
 
 With the Almighty Builder, face to face. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Oh, glorious sign ! Majestic is thy power 
 Against temptation, not alone a sign 
 Commemorative of the awful time 
 
 When we were clothed upon with God Himself, 200 
 But having in its very shape a might 
 Against the legions of the devil's host. 
 Oh that I had from earliest second youth 
 March'd in the glorious line of saints austere ! 
 How fair must thou have been unto the eyes 205 
 
 Of stem ascetics old, if even me, 
 Who have but played with armour now and then 
 Which they assiduously wore, thy form 
 Can fill with such a calmness of delight. 
 In every tree, in human forms, in all 210 
 
 That art or nature had, they track'd thee out. 
 Their foolishness, (for so, alas ! the mind 
 Of modern shallowness must deem it still,) 
 Their foolishness was Wisdom to the wise ; 
 Of her own children she is justified. 215 
 
 Hence also came it, that the ancient spire 
 Of still Cathedral, from the central point 
 In which it stood was fixed in a Cross, 
 Its meetest basis, and the Gothic arch 
 Ran east and west athwart the North and South, 220 
 Crossways, — that men might know the length and 
 
 breadth *, 
 And height and depth, of God's great treasure-house. 
 For in these shapes methinks there lies the type 
 Of that mysterious House, the Body dread,
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 213 
 
 The Church invisible of Christ's elect. 225 
 
 Oh that the Adamantine Sire now gone 
 
 (As very humbly evermore I hope) 
 
 Into the dust before His Lord to kneel, 
 
 Might whisper somewhat to me of the form 
 
 And goodly stones of that mysterious shrine ^. 230 
 
 But need we any guide ? the Body still 
 
 Must on the Cross be stretch'd ; the Mystic Head 
 
 Enacted part of what was to be borne. 
 
 His Saints fill up the measures left behind. 
 
 They still are each one stretch'd upon the Cross, 235 
 
 And as the Holy Spirit frames within 
 
 Each single Christian a mysterious Shrine, 
 
 The Antitype to that great shrine the Church, 
 
 And as the Christian throws his entire being 
 
 Into a crucial shape, and offers up 240 
 
 From thence the acceptable works of fast. 
 
 Or prayer, or almsdeed, or of common tasks, 
 
 By glad obedience worshipping with fear 
 
 Tlie glorious Presence in him ; so the Church, 
 
 Which in the reasons of the Mind Divine, 245 
 
 Seems archetype of man's material frame, 
 
 A kindred shape may have to form the whole 
 
 Harmoniously. Jerusalem is sketch'd. 
 
 On every brick ® which blessed Angels use 
 
 To build the heavenly City — this to sketch 250 
 
 Is the appointed task for those to do 
 
 Whose work is preaching : and the living stones, 
 
 Sign'd with the Cross, are like the living House,
 
 214 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And tell us of its shape in miniature. 
 
 Hence was it that in allegoric page, 255 
 
 Whether of hira who by Edessa's walls 
 
 Continually wept, or Cyril great 
 
 In vigour manifold, or Jerome stern ^ 
 
 Or the great Pope who christianized this isle. 
 
 That quick transition from the greater House 260 
 
 Unto the lesser, from the soul of man 
 
 Unto the Church, surpriseth evermore 
 
 The man that would from self-improvement turn 
 
 To reveries (for such to him they are) 
 
 Upon the Church's state, consoleth him 265 
 
 Who is too grieved with pondering over sin. 
 
 Nor is it proof contemptible, that these 
 
 In kindred shape were moulded, if the minds 
 
 Who in the Church appear' d as counterparts 
 
 Of prophets since the Law, believed it so. 270 
 
 If then the Christian, modell'd to a Cross, 
 
 And bearing Christ within, finds this the shape 
 
 Of his own soul and spirit, if the Church, 
 
 The eternal House unseen, be of this shape ; 
 
 What wonder that it ever dwelt of old 275 
 
 In Christians' minds, and open'd them to see 
 
 In natural things reflections of this form ? 
 
 For I have heard one, whom it may appear 
 
 To 've been my privilege to tell the ways 
 
 Of shy austerity, with quiet ecstacy 280 
 
 Upon the sight of a material cross 
 
 Exclaim, ' how wonderful! v fair this form ! '
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 215 
 
 Me might it ever meet at morn and noon. 
 
 At night or matins, and with solemn look 
 
 Remind me of the goodness of the son, 285 
 
 Whom in the bonds I feel too heavily, 
 
 I seem'd to have begotten I sweet the thought, 
 
 To have taught the least commandment unto him, 
 
 Of the austere and necessary Cross ! 
 
 This blissful sign is not alone bestow'd 290 
 
 On lesser plants, but also upon trees 
 Its shadow throws : for if God's Kingdom be 
 Indeed within us, and the mustard seed. 
 Though very small, unravels from itself 
 The history of that Kingdom's secret growth, 295 
 
 Then larger trees, such as it grows to be. 
 Would also teach us the same lessons deep. 
 And have we never seen the hanging vine 
 Spread its two arms *, and lift its head aloft 
 In crosslike form : the eye by sternness bright 300 
 
 Will haply find it, though conceal'd within, 
 And modestly retiring. Though its stem 
 Be useless either for the workmanship 
 Of handicraftsmen, or to yield a pin 
 To hang things needful on for daily use, 305 
 
 In its own nature, yet by heavenly gift 
 Of dew and rain it may with fruit abound. 
 And leaves of graceful shape, and tendrils fine, 
 Wherewith it clings to things devoid of grace, 
 And gives them beauteousness their nature lack'd. 310 
 Meet emblem of the Church, which from above
 
 216 NATURE .\ PARABLE. 
 
 Drinks in the Dew of Grace upon the stock 
 
 Of wild and useless manhood, and outpours 
 
 Abundant comeliness on all around, 
 
 Whose branches, sucking- others into them, 315 
 
 Reach to the River at the Lord's Right Hand. 
 
 And from the dry and wither'd eunuch boughs, 
 
 (Her stern and holy men conceal'd within^) 
 
 More fruit for ever springeth, and her stem. 
 
 Though scorn'd by human artist, by Divine 320 
 
 Is chosen to bring to naught the things that are ! 
 
 Nor lack the other trees, whose proper seed 
 Is in themselves, their honour — cedars tall 
 Were written of by Solomon, and planes 
 A dwelling did by Mamre erst afford 325 
 
 The father of the faithful, David heard 
 The sound mysterious in the mulberries. 
 And Deborah beneath a palm-tree dwelt. 
 The tree whose leaf by never withering yields 
 A type of Him who by the Waters dwelt, 330 
 
 And made the seventy palms to minister 
 To those whom He from Egypt's bond had freed. 
 That they by Apostolic founts might dwell. 
 
 And what they did, from no inherent power 
 In trees, but gazing on them as the types 335 
 
 Of things to come, the while themselves as yet 
 Were only shadows, that did Satan use 
 To other purpose, forcing men to think, 
 That groves were places, where to deities 
 Was easier access ; groves are evermore 340
 
 ■^ '^ THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 217 
 
 In Scripture link'd with foul idolatry : 
 
 As ever nature's sweetest gifts have been 
 
 When men, forgetful that they are but types. 
 
 And images, and shadows, turn aside 
 
 As drunken with their beauties, and for them 345 
 
 Do dream away the Personality 
 
 And unapproached Majesty of God. 
 
 But haply he who wrote the Proverbs wise 
 And prudent far above all human lore. 
 But having in them wisdom yet more deep, 350 
 
 When from the letter to the spirit, led 
 By holy Bede, the ascetic mystic goes, — 
 He, who did also write of every tree 
 And herb, from tallest Cedar trees 
 To humble hyssop ", had he been allow'd 355 
 
 To send that history onward as a lamp 
 To guide succeeding mystics in the shrine 
 Of nature's inner meanings, much had taught 
 Of what their outward properties, and lines. 
 And divers shapes, contain'd of deeper sense, 360 
 
 Disclosing somewhat wondrous of the Trees 
 Which God hath planted in His Husbandry. 
 And haply even now the patient toil 
 Of humble-minded student from the stores 
 Of allegoric Jews, by Christian lore 365 
 
 Assisted, and with fragments from the East 
 CuU'd here and there, shall one day half restore 
 The better system, that true herbary. 
 Which from the outward form or inward powers
 
 ^18 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Shall learn the thing beforehand signified, 370 
 
 Which great discoverers pass with worldly scorn. 
 
 Albeit, the Vine stands in the foremost rank 
 Of honour, nearest to the unseen world. 
 Soon as the second father of mankind 
 Had once consummated the type of Birth 375 
 
 Restorative of man's primeval robe. 
 Then hear we of the mystic Vine-tree's name, 
 And Noah's drunkenness ", the type obscure, 
 (Obscure to men who easily ascribe 
 Sin to the ancient Saints,) type of the Cup 380 
 
 Which He should drink Who is the Father's Hand. 
 When they who had grown Canaanites beheld 
 His nakedness, and scoff 'd to see Him there, 
 And from that sleep (sweet was it unto Him) 
 He waked, as Noah did, with consciousness 385 
 
 Of what false Israel, now His younger son, 
 As fallen from His birthright, to Him did. 
 
 But as the Law with shaded fruit precedes 
 The Gospel, gently let it draw aside 
 Our over-hastening footsteps from the Vine : 390 
 
 A tree there is whose wide-extending leaves 
 Hide under them a dark and luscious fruit : 
 Meet emblem of the Law — beneath it saints. 
 Preparing for their Saviour, used to sit '■ : 
 Such was Nathanael under, when he first 395 
 
 Drew on him looks that bless'd him as he knelt. 
 Why is it that the withering curse that fell 
 Upon the fig-tree, puzzleth oftentimes
 
 '^ '"'*' THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 219 
 
 The men that look for signs and evidence. 
 
 Save that from lack of allegoric spirit 400 
 
 They tend toward profaneness ? 'Twas the Law 
 
 Which mystically was cursed by Him who took 
 
 The nakedness away which Adam hid 
 
 With fiff-leaf vestments : — mindful of the Vine 
 
 So soon to thrive, He snatch'd away the power 405 
 
 Which hitherto the Jewish ritual had, 
 
 A partial blessing to confer on sons 
 
 And daughters of high Abraham's great Reward. 
 
 Well might it be an emblem of the Law ; 
 
 The Law with mysteries beneath was hung, 410 
 
 Sweet and consoling to the weary soul. 
 
 That lifted gently up the veiling leaves 
 
 Which skreen'd its bashful treasures from the eye. 
 
 That cared not wondrous things beneath its rites 
 
 And ceremonies and statutes to behold. 415 
 
 And he that watch'd these fig-tree mysteries 
 
 Might eat the fruit which lay beneath the shade, 
 
 Although that fruit contain'd not in itself 
 
 A juice that should become of lasting force 
 
 To make the inward heart of man rejojce. 420 
 
 Hence day and night the pensive Psalmist mused. 
 
 Searching beneath the overshadowing rite 
 
 For the sweet fruit of promised things to come. 
 
 Yea, all day long, delighted at its depths. 
 
 He ponder'd it, in prayer by midnight watch 425 
 
 He exercised therein his patient spirit. 
 
 Lifting his eyes unto the Holy Hills,
 
 020 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Already glimmering with prophetic light. 
 Nor was this dimness seal'd upon the Law 
 Writ by a prophet like to Christ Himself, 430 
 
 Or on the gemmed Tabernacle stamp'd, 
 Alone ; but all the history to its close 
 Was awful with the same reserve, and seers 
 Were the selecters of prophetic facts, 
 Knowing for whom they minister'd these things. 435 
 For all the Elders in whose seat 'twas meet 
 To praise Jehovah's hidden miracles, 
 Enjoyed doubtless light which dimly show'd 
 What mysteries were veil'd beneath the Law. 
 And balm upon the penitent by them 440 
 
 Was pour'd, that he might hopefully behold 
 The Gospel blessings shaded by the leaf 
 Of mystic fig-tree, whence the expectant few- 
 Were by the last of all the goodly quire 
 Of prophets bid to ponder Moses' Law. 445 
 
 But lo ! the time must come when this more clear 
 Shall shine to all : these hidden fruits indeed 
 Were sweet to taste, and pleasant to the sight. 
 But though they might sustain the watching soul 
 From languishing, they gladden'd not the heart 450 
 Of God and man. The Law its fruit did yield. 
 And many were to rise, though many fell 
 'Mid Israel's sons : along with naughty figs 
 There were that goodly were as at the first. 
 And e'en of old the Israelite indeed, 455 
 
 What time the judges by the Levites' aid
 
 "-•^ THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 221 
 
 Set forth, in darkest times, the inward Law, 
 
 Sat not beneath the fig-tree's shade alone. 
 
 But with anticipative glance beheld 
 
 The Vine upon the crosslike trellis-work 460 
 
 Supported ; yea, while on the holy ground 
 
 He sat, and on his lips the precious juice 
 
 Of clusters of Engedi freshly shed 
 
 Was yet remaining, he might muse with tears 
 
 Of gratitude, how that they sojourn'd there 465 
 
 As strangers still, a better land in view 
 
 Inviting on — then knew he as he wept, 
 
 That their Vine was not such as Sodom's vine. 
 
 That hailstones jealously destroy' d the type 
 
 Of the true Vine to come from Egypt's shores. 470 
 
 May Israel not have heard how many a year 
 
 That type was absent " from the Nile's rich field } 
 
 As though to mark it as a fatal place 
 
 In which the Church should long uprooted be, 
 
 Whose presence is the warranty and sign 475 
 
 That He who is the Vine abideth there, 
 
 Where'er her hallowing offices are found. 
 
 Might Israel fail to see that at the end 
 
 Of days a joy unknown, by holy Wine 
 
 To men and maidens should imparted be } 480 
 
 This mystery Jotham knew, else were his speech 
 Of impious sound, and false the awful words, 
 ' Why should I leave my Wine, that maketh glad 
 The heart of God and man ? ' — A mystery lurks 
 Beneath them, and the Rite is figured forth 485
 
 '222 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Appropriative of the quickening Gifts 
 
 Which the initiated share with Him. 
 
 Nor can the thorny trunk of fell dissent 
 
 Yield the true cluster of the mystic Vine, 
 
 Nor gather men from thistly heresy, 490 
 
 The fig-tree sweetness of obedience still, 
 
 But that alone which angry winds disperse. 
 
 First was the Olive'* whose pacific boughs 
 
 Even the Heathen, gathering from the flood 
 
 This blossom of tradition's older stem, 495 
 
 At joyous times would dedicate, whene'er 
 
 The house was smiled on by a newborn babe, 
 
 Or note of other peace was requisite — 
 
 And from it cometh holy Unction's power. 
 
 This tree an emblem seems of times to come, 500 
 
 And those gone by — it shadows out the Church, 
 
 Jewish and Christian, twofold and yet one. 
 
 One to the mind of those, whose wiser tongue 
 
 Hath not assign'd to Jews things temporal. 
 
 Eternal things to us, whose eyes are oped 505 
 
 To see what meaning through the outward words 
 
 Must have been felt by those whose earnest gaze 
 
 Was watching evermore for light to come. 
 
 Nor was this emblem unappropriate 
 For such instruction, since the Olive-tree 510 
 
 Hath little form or comeliness, within 
 Conceal'd its virtues lie, and no man sees 
 The lamp of God within the inmost shrine. 
 Who hath not learnt to yield his pliant will 
 
 2
 
 9^ •■'»-<^ THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 223 
 
 To feeble evidence. The Olive's bough 515 
 
 Hath yet within it fatness ; they on earth 
 
 That from the Golden Olive are made fat, 
 
 May eat and worship, and with inward grace 
 
 Of hidden alms be worshipping the Lord, 
 
 And feeding evermore the unceasing lamp 520 
 
 Of spiritual adoration in the shrine 
 
 Of their own hearts, with meek and lowly thoughts 
 
 Of chaste affection to the Presence there, 
 
 With resignation peaceful, and with prayer 
 
 Which weans their souls from enmities and cares. 525 
 
 Upon that Tree, the Church as a new branch 
 
 Was grafted by the Branch, and with her prayers 
 
 Still asketh, though the wondrous ancient form 
 
 Hath suffer'd loss judicial, for the Jews, 
 
 Upon the day of mercy, mercies fresh 530 
 
 To atone them with us, and the stem beneath 
 
 To hallow also by unwonted force 
 
 Miraculous ^^ from out her grafted bough 
 
 Proceeding downwards to the ancient root. 
 
 The root by which she still draws nourishment, 535 
 
 The root in which her fruits are gamer'd all. 
 
 When they by Angels' hands are thither borne. 
 
 E'en now the Jewish branches still have leaves. 
 Beneath whose covering shade the Christian's eye 
 May find full many a pearl by prophets left 540 
 
 Unto the whole collective Church, still stored 
 In Jewish lays : and all their ancient rites 
 Pass'd on to us, though inwardly new life
 
 224 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And greenness was infused more vivid far 
 
 Than aught before that bloom'd to glad the eye 545 
 
 Of those that flourish'd in the House of God. 
 
 Hence was it that the oil, the hallow'd oil, 
 
 Was common to both Churches, the one Church 
 
 More aptly were it said, from olden time 
 
 To latest days its branches reaching forth. 550 
 
 To David, ere he went against the foe 
 
 Long time before, the consecrating oil 
 
 Was given, and to Christian wai'riors too 
 
 The hallowing chrism strength abundant gave 
 
 To meet the spiritual Goliath's rage. 555 
 
 Thus in all things the pure and ancient Church 
 
 Converted types to sacraments, and rites 
 
 Significative into channels turn'd, 
 
 W^hich those who never sated with the gifts 
 
 Of grace would joyously have courted then, 560 
 
 And those who long for ampler progress now, 
 
 Must ever dread the loss of, and suspect 
 
 That those who snatch'd the ancient boon away, 
 
 Miss'd of the good Samaritan's true love 
 
 When they restored the Cup, yet pour'd not in 5G5 
 
 The blissful chrism along with mystic Wine, 
 
 To heal the wounds of those who should descend 
 
 From the celestial Church to seek the world. 
 
 No early rite by holy Church was used, 
 But she thereby was helping to unfold 570 
 
 The sayings of dark prophecy, in which 
 Not the existence only, and bare power
 
 '^'^ THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 225 
 
 Of Christ's king-humbling kingdom was declared, 
 
 But all its rites and sacramental bands 
 
 Were told and number'd ere yet any one 575 
 
 Of them was known, save as an outward form 
 
 That suited with the shadows of the Law. 
 
 For me, I own it seemeth quite profane, 
 
 To deem that prophets heathen figures used. 
 
 And comely metaphors, with sense unreal. 580 
 
 I cannot choose, but think that every word 
 
 Hath some reality in Christ's domain 
 
 To answer to it, (though some parts be kept 
 
 For Angels' vision,) Eucharist to wine, 
 
 That maketh maidens glad, chrism to the oil, 585 
 
 (On holy priesthood in a cross's form 
 
 Imprinted,) as to waters doth the Font. 
 
 Each was a symbol void of inward strength 
 
 In Jewish times, in Christian had become 
 
 A Sacrament, sustaining us in war 590 
 
 With spiritual wickedness, in places high. 
 
 Hence as I sorrow that my own dear Church 
 
 Hath lost the gift of oil, I gladly hail 
 
 The blessed Martyr who for her preserved 
 
 The regal unction, though methinks 'tis clear 595 
 
 (So little of the foe's enslaved race 
 
 Of Gentiles have we won to glorious light) 
 
 That we have lost the gift that Oil conveys 
 
 Of prayer continuous, in the inward shrine 
 
 Of hearts retired : for in the Church's type '* 600 
 
 The lips alone did move ; no striving voice.
 
 226 NATURE A PARAnLE. 
 
 No cumbrous preaching, but is wanting found. 
 Because within, the real converting power 
 Of life austere and shameless prayer is gone. 
 
 Oil for the light was by Bezaleel wrought, 605 
 
 As no faint shadow of the burning Light, 
 Which shining first in John, the Lantern set 
 For God's Messiah, in Messiah shone 
 With brightest Glory ; with the Holy Oil 
 The priests were hallowed for the daily course GIO 
 
 Of ministries prophetic ; Aaron's line '^ 
 Was in the forehead sign'd by Moses' hand. 
 In form well chosen did his fingers move. 
 If old Tradition's voice be credited 
 For things she saw and knew : it was a Cross 615 
 
 That mark'd the high-priest for the office dread 
 Of entering where the cherub-figured veil 
 Enclosed the auguster sanctuary within. 
 These, then, and others, by the Apostle's touch, 
 "When handed onward to the Christian Church, 620 
 Were with a freshen'd holiness infused 
 For holier functions : once the Altar beam'd 
 With two continual monitors of Him 
 Who is the Well of Life ; Saint James the foe 
 Of those who are not zealous of good works, 625 
 
 Reproachful sounds what time he tells of oil 
 Wherewith in olden times the languid sick 
 Were comforted by sacramental aid. 
 Gone are these holy channels, gone perhaps 
 Some portion of the grace they once convey'd, 630
 
 '*"' THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 227 
 
 And those with perfect hatred some might hate 
 Who snatch'd these boons away, were not the tree. 
 Which leads our mournful spirit in these musings. 
 An exhortation in itself to peace. 
 
 Oh that we had the skill to enter in 635 
 
 Bv faith, and dwell among the symbols still. 
 Yet vocal in their stillness, of thy House 
 In Zion builded ! stay we at the doors, 
 And they to peace admonish : olive-trees 
 Supplied them, and the posts whereon they moved, 640 
 And Cherubim within of olive-tree 
 Were also form'd, and they from thence proclaim'd 
 Glory to God in Heaven, Peace to men. 
 Thus was the Olive that wherewith of old 
 Men honour'd God and man, and in the house 645 
 
 At Bethany the blessed penitent 
 Did honour both in One with unguent sweet. 
 And filling all the house with mystic smell. 
 Hence when I look abroad into the Church, 
 This gift of peace, of peace whose odour is 650 
 
 From rigorous orthodoxy and stern ways, 
 I sorely miss and willingly would court. 
 As far as lawful, opportunities 
 For acts of love with every Catholic 
 Who through the world by Bishops hath been blest. 655 
 Dear is to me the Church of ancient Rome, 
 Dear the Apostles' consecrating bones. 
 Dear is the seat of twice-blest Gregory, 
 And all I can, will 1 in humble ways 
 
 q2
 
 228 NATURE \ PARABLE. 
 
 Be labouring after, for a peace with these ! 660 
 
 Would that to these the Cup were once restored, 
 
 Whence flows the true Vine's Blood within the veins ! 
 
 Would that Communions throve abundantly ! 
 
 For little hope of inward peace appears, 
 
 Despite of eyes that gush with water oft, 66r» 
 
 Because that Christians keep not Christ's new law, 
 
 Until we see not only to Rome's maids 
 
 New wine restored, but chrism unto us. 
 
 Joy would be put within my inmost heart. 
 
 If Corn, and Wine, and Oil, were so increased. 670 
 
 Then would that Oil as with the widow erst. 
 
 Run over into other vessels still, 
 
 Till by them, too, the treasure of the creed 
 
 Was holden in their conscience wash'd and clean. 
 
 Upon the Olive of the patriarchs 675 
 
 The Christian Church was grafted ; by the graft 
 The nutriment which through the cunning roots 
 Was drawn together from the ambient soil. 
 Was all to other purpose straightway turn'd. 
 It from itself change marvellous hath made 680 
 
 In all the gifts of fatness in the trunk : 
 They passing onward to the Christian Church, 
 From her their life, from her their inward powers. 
 From her their majesty, their strength have gain'd. 
 Is it not wondrous that the little bud 685 
 
 Should so absorb and concentrate the sap 
 Of the maternal stock, that from the bud 
 It thenceforth takes its colour, fruit, and flowers,
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 229 
 
 Upon it only necessary gifts 
 
 Of life and place bestows, not any grace, 690 
 
 Which to the bud is still unchangingly 
 
 Confined, by order'd law ! As though all trees 
 
 Were witnesses against that wither'd stock 
 
 Which only works for others, bath its being 
 
 But as a minister and servant stem — 695 
 
 Were witnesses against the Jewish race. 
 
 Types of the loss the parent trunk sustain'd, 
 
 By turning wood to that rebellious deed 
 
 They wrought on Calvary. For they are wild. 
 
 And nations, wild of old, are made the branch 700 
 
 For honour and delight — the very graft 
 
 Hath had its nature alter'd, glorified. 
 
 And re-created, while the stock hath lost 
 
 The fruit it used to yield — of sacrifice. 
 
 Or of symbolic rite and order'd priests. 705 
 
 But let not Jotham's fable pass away 
 Ere first we cast a parting glance to ask 
 Why was it that the thorn came last of all ? 
 Might it not have along with its reproof. 
 For that fair land, which like Abimelech 710 
 
 Was but of thorny semblance now become, 
 A somewhat in the order and the place. 
 Betokening that great King ? He last of all 
 Wore on His hallow'd brow (the brow that sweat 
 For man's first sin to turn his burdens light, 715 
 
 And hinder earthy natures any more 
 From yielding thorns alone) a Crown of thorns,
 
 230 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 The natural produce of a human heart — 
 
 And as He wore it, He upon Him clad. 
 
 As in a mystery of things to come, 720 
 
 Our wild and evil natures, turning them 
 
 To joyous fulness, by the hallowing might 
 
 Of suffering, jeopardy, and gentle wood, 
 
 Bestowing on us Unction which the Head 
 
 Of all things to the Church Himself had borne. 725 
 
 Hence at the Sacrifice, unbloody now '^ 
 
 He makes us share with Him His Suffering, 
 
 And of His own Divinity partake. 
 
 Hail to the Crown of Thorns, for of such thorns 
 Men gather grapes indeed, and He who made 730 
 
 The thorns when first men fell from Paradise 
 Destroy'd them not, but wholly changed their powers. 
 Giving to suffering and to toil and pain 
 A sanctifying sweetness which the world 
 And all its jolly votaries alike 735 
 
 Despise and know not ! hail to blissful pain. 
 The Christian's chiefest ornament and joy ; 
 Hail to the bush of thorn, in which at first 
 The Word appear'd ; by which, when lifted up. 
 He shew'd the fulness of His Power Divine. 740 
 
 But as the trees, so are the* slighter herbs 
 Each typical of divers mysteries : 
 The barley, with its long and husky ears, 
 A semblance is of that whose secret truths 
 Were hidden under figures, and the wheat 745 
 
 Of Christians fitted for the granary
 
 «- "■', 
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 231 
 
 By eating of the Grain of Corn Divine. 
 
 The Grass may figure a niix'd multitude 
 
 Of worldly men, that wither in the sun 
 
 Of trial or temptation. Hyssops " on the Wall 750 
 
 Are salutary discipline bestow' d 
 
 By doctors of the Church, for cleansing sin. 
 
 And each with divers ministries are charged, 
 
 Nor is their slender form and feebleness 
 
 Itself inapt to shadow out the Law 755 
 
 Or other transient things, or, view'd as fresh 
 
 And springing joyously, to be a type 
 
 Of Gospel grace, removing slighter sins. 
 
 All too were able by their life renew'd. 
 
 Continually to teach the Gentile world 760 
 
 Of man's fleet passing being, which again 
 
 Shall rise to life renew'd, or to prepare 
 
 By nature's lessons souls which afterwards 
 
 Received the teaching of the ancient seers. 
 
 Whose symbols were exact and running o'er 765 
 
 With meaning, when by Gospel light beheld. 
 
 These all are able as the mustard plant 
 To spring from petty seeds, which if unknown 
 To have that office, had not won belief 
 By aught to man their outward form displays, 770 
 
 'Tis so by worldlings in His Ministers 
 The Presence of the Life is not believed. 
 When they upbraid the wondrous eagerness 
 Which men bestow on fleeting vanities 
 Of beauty, wealth, or friendship's sounder joy. 775
 
 232 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Contempt must be their lot, as it was Thine ; 
 
 They must appear as Thou didst, but as men 
 
 To men of sight, while Angels of the Church 
 
 They by the unrepenting Gift of God, 
 
 To childlike faith of tearful eyes appear. 780 
 
 By most men still unheeded, (though endued 
 
 With power of choosing good and shunning ill,) 
 
 The Priests — or Cedars planted by the Lord, 
 
 The Vine, the Fig, and all the other trees. 
 
 And all the herbs of healing powers for man, 785 
 
 Alike have ever preach'd, that few of all 
 
 Who were of goodly seed, shall ever grow 
 
 To fruit mature^" — thousands on thousands die 
 
 Unopen'd from the sheath which pens their powers 
 
 Within a tiny space : both seeds and men 790 
 
 Having within them power to glad their kin. 
 
 And spread majestically wide, and yield 
 
 A shade of healing leaves, are born to die. 
 
 Go to the woods, how many an acorn crush'd 
 
 Lies on the pathway, and its future powers, 795 
 
 Which it as well as others might have had. 
 
 To build a house for God to dwell within 
 
 From age to age, are vanish'd at a step. 
 
 Go to the vineyard, and how many a stone 
 
 Which might have spread into a noble vine, 800 
 
 That children, mindful of their grandsire's looks. 
 
 Could eat of, and remember how he said, 
 
 I as a child would eat uncloy'd as you. 
 
 Of this same vine-tree — yea, how many a stone
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 233 
 
 Hath vanish'd, and its record no man knows ? 805 
 
 Go to the corn-field, think what endless store 
 
 Of corn-fields lie within each single grain ; 
 
 For as potentially there is in each 
 
 The fullgrown plant with its capacities, 
 
 So, of the plant, its seed is in itself. 810 
 
 How few of all, pluck'd by disciples' hands. 
 
 The elect of seeds, are chosen for the Feast, 
 
 Their highest office, on the Sabbath time 
 
 Of Christian rest, when Christ doth give us rest 
 
 By strengthening us His burdens easily 815 
 
 To bear with Him, nor feel them burdensome. 
 
 'Tis strange that in the country once possess'd 
 
 Of most divine traditions, it was held 
 
 That on a certain day with order'd rites 
 
 The king alone, though doubtless keeping free 820 
 
 From sinful interference with the priests, 
 
 Might offer ^' up, from hallow'd meadows brought, 
 
 A sacrifice of Wheat, reminding thus 
 
 Of what Melchizedek, foreshadowing Him, 
 
 Who as a Priest for ever in His Priests 825 
 
 Still ofilers the pure Offering, did of yore. 
 
 And such methinks are they who gather'd are 
 
 By holy Reapers to our Master's Barn. 
 
 How few in number from how many chosen ! 
 
 For go to crowded cities and how few 830 
 
 Shall be the Elect, when as the winnowing Fan 
 
 Shall throughly purge the area of the Church 
 
 Of all that doth ofi"end. Oh ! think how few
 
 234 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Of all thou knowest thyself are earnest men, 
 
 How many are uncertain, and perhaps 835 
 
 Cover beneath an outward sanctity 
 
 The spreading blight of unrepented sin. 
 
 Fix not on single persons — merely weigh 
 
 That there are halting men and ever were, 
 
 That there are hypocrites and ever were, 840 
 
 That there are self- deceivers, ever were. 
 
 That thou thyself mayest have deceived thyself. 
 
 Knowing but little of thine own heart's ills. 
 
 Tlien of those few, those earnest few, select . 
 
 By thee who seest with the eye of flesh, 845 
 
 And choosest them from out a multitude 
 
 Of such as lack the semblance of a tone 
 
 Of earnest wrestling with their lower part, 
 
 How few, with all allowances and bates 
 
 For errors in discerning of the tares 850 
 
 Before the time, how few shall haply come 
 
 To what their own capacities are aim'd. 
 
 Few surely as the seed that doth fulfil 
 
 Its perfect course, and indistinct as they 
 
 "Which shall fulfil it, ere that fulness comes, 855 
 
 And thou behold it — as the branches left 
 
 After the vintage, as the grains of corn. 
 
 Which out of a whole harvest shall attain 
 
 A place upon the Altar of their God ! 
 
 Again consider, how the acorns shed 860 
 
 Upon the ground are scatter'd everywhere ! 
 Of these a few shall strike a lasting root.
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 235 
 
 And having grown in future days, shall yield 
 
 A shelter from the storm for other age 
 
 Than that wherein it budded from the ground, 865 
 
 And ask of it what it can prophesy 
 
 Of man's intended destinies, if those 
 
 Who by a life in holy walking spent 
 
 Are worthy counted of the joys to come. 
 
 Shall so unfold in far extending rule 870 
 
 Over some future race of beings placed 
 
 Beneath probation, if ten cities then 
 
 Shall feel their secret rule, or if their fame 
 
 In awe mysterious shall then be felt. 
 
 As anciently throughout Decapolis, 875 
 
 Their Master's was to Whom the perfect like 
 
 Shall be in all things ; and if such shall be 
 
 The guardian saints of races uncreate 
 
 As yet, nor to be born until the earth 
 
 Shall have a face renew'd for other beings 880 
 
 To walk upon, and they be then what now 
 
 The elected Angels have to us become — 
 
 Or are not all things at the dreadful day 
 
 Consummated, and all probation closed 
 
 Throughout the entire Universe of beings ? 885 
 
 He wisest shall these questions of the seed 
 
 Be asking, Avho on them enough shall dwell 
 
 To learn the possibilities of things. 
 
 And turn with sober'd mind to walk with awe 
 
 And cheerfulness restrain'd 'mid brother men, 890 
 
 Who have, unknown to him, each one of them
 
 236 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Capacities of being for weal or woe, 
 
 Whose greatness far transcends the widest reach 
 
 Of man's best reason and his purest will. 
 
 Out of all flowers few retain their scent 895 
 
 When wither'd from their shape, or then will serve 
 To heal the wounded, or in censers burn 
 Around the Altar, as the ancient Church, 
 Mindful of doing Heaven's Will on earth 
 As Angels do above, by daily Bread 900 
 
 Would kindle incense that her outward form 
 Might echo Malachi's prophetic note, 
 While with the very censers Angels lit 
 The flame of holy litanies "' within. 
 And Saints perceived the odour unto life 90.5 
 
 From Heaven's inward courts, and on their beds 
 With voice of melody to David tuned, 
 Were holpen by their brethren to rejoice. 
 They as the scented plants embalm the Church, 
 They are as myrrh, of wholesome bitterness, 910 
 
 Yet fragrant to the taste, as cinnamon 
 And cassia, which fill the entire Church 
 With gladness from the palaces outpour'd 
 Wherein they dwell, in whiteness uncorrupt. 
 And myrrh was honour'd more than aught beside 91.3 
 Of all that green things yield, for twice it came 
 Before its Maker when He dwelt with us. 
 It with its bitterness foretold the day. 
 E'en from His cradle, when His bitter pangs 
 Should sanctify all bitterness, and heal 920
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 237 
 
 The inward man by might of wholesome pain. 
 
 And when those pangs were on Him, it again 
 
 Appear'd before Him though rejected then ; 
 
 Since the reality no more allow'd 
 
 Of those prophetic functions which at first 925 
 
 The fragrant gum in Bethlehem discharged. 
 
 And as the m5Trh sweet smelling savour gave, 
 
 And promise of immortal frames to come. 
 
 So did the cedar many times afi'ord 
 
 Sweet savour in the ancient sacrifice. 930 
 
 So was the pine and myrtle with it join'd, 
 
 With fir, box, oil, and shittah, as the signs 
 
 Of incorruption in the desert vast 
 
 Some time to flourish, seven holy trees 
 
 Which figured there the sevenfold energies 935 
 
 Of Him whose gifts restore the immortal life 
 
 Once forfeited, and clothe the Father's trees 
 
 With ever-dnring verdure, springing forth 
 
 Spontaneously from life bestow'd within. 
 
 And these be often sweetest after death, 940 
 
 And then their likeness to the saints fulfil, 
 
 When they are taken from their present life. 
 
 Lilies and violets, and roses fair. 
 And all the host of wondrous images, 
 I linger on ye, and would fain be bold 945 
 
 To wish ye a farewell. The chief of all 
 The lily seems, because it had the bliss 
 To have its name upon the lips of One 
 Greater than Solomon, the King of peace.
 
 238 NATURK A PARABLE. 
 
 Who bade us look upon you. Shall I dare 950 
 
 To pass unnamed the white-robed innocence 
 
 Which their Creator and our gracious Judge 
 
 Commended to our heedful reverence ? 
 
 For even Solomon with ivory throne 
 
 And typic state, had not the whiteness pure, 955 
 
 The unblemish'd beauty of your low estate. 
 
 Albeit he in awful canticles 
 
 Was chief in praising you, yet greater praise 
 
 Than Solomon's was your's : ye neither spin. 
 
 Nor toil ye now at works to earn reward, 960 
 
 But out of your own essence, angel-like ", 
 
 Pour forth from year to year the glorious vest 
 
 Of purity and whiteness ! and for those 
 
 Who are to be as Angels, kindred power 
 
 Shall be bestow'd — though fullers upon earth 965 
 
 May whiten garments more than this of your's. 
 
 Yet they shall never equal by their art 
 
 The whiteness which ye signify for those 
 
 Reserved, who shall with Jesus shine : 
 
 For this your meaning were ye praised above 970 
 
 The man by God beloved for Wisdom's sake. 
 
 The which he chose when lying on his bed. 
 
 Through chaste affection for her Beauty known. 
 
 And even on earth the Priests that minister 
 
 Before the Lord, in white investitures 9-75 
 
 (As yet not forfeited by stupid sin) 
 
 Are clad, the emblematic vest of joy 
 
 Which emanates from Sanctity within.
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 239 
 
 White are the robes upon the saints bestow'd. 
 
 And sweetly doth the Church on earth in this 980 
 
 Act out obedience to her daily prayer, 
 
 Which is the sanction, guide, and voucher here 
 
 For all that is by Christian ritual 
 
 So done on earth, as they in Heaven do 
 
 Who are at peace amid the Angel quires. 985 
 
 And if my fancy doth not practise sway 
 Unlawful o'er my memory, lilies grew 
 Within the room of one I dearly loved, 
 And dearly love with freshness unimpair'd 
 By winter's outward air. For friends are friends, 990 
 And friendship -* is a habit in the soul 
 Which death with flimsy veil may intercept. 
 So only as to make it energize 
 By faith not otherwise than distance doth, 
 Or other temporary foe of love. 995 
 
 Oft would I wander near my native stream. 
 To learn from him the properties of flowers, 
 And loved to hear him turn to his delight. 
 And gently snap my conversation's thread. 
 But over-pleased to yield to such an one, 1000 
 
 An innocent and gentleminded man. 
 Who used not nature with the irreverent hand 
 Of those that deem it hath no mysteries. 
 With special power the poor forget-me-not 
 Was gifted when I lost thee from my sight, 1 005 
 
 And bitterly it made me weep a while 
 Until I grudged thee not the company
 
 240 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which I am much unfit for — may the eye 
 
 Of faith he capable to see thee still. 
 
 In solemn office thinking oft of thee ! 1010 
 
 We see that habits or of will or mind 
 Are able to survive the mortal change, 
 And as belief that those of love survive 
 Is calculate to cheer us with the hope 
 Of mutual assistances supplied, l()i5 
 
 As each hath means ; so for those other powers, 
 The intellectual habits, one may deem 
 Some scope for exercise is yielded them. 
 However alter'd be the circumstance 
 And form of their existence whom we love. i020 
 
 The fishermen for catching men were train'd 
 By lowly art ; the tentmaker was chosen 
 To enlarge the Curtains of His Master's tent ; 
 The Master-builder of the Eternal House 
 Himself, as Mary's Son, was Carpenter. 1025 
 
 And sure the change which death to Saints supplies. 
 May be with kindred circumstance of life 
 Attended. They are haply looking back 
 Upon the childhood of existence here, 
 As we may look upon our infancy, 1030 
 
 And feel whereto its lessons bent their way. 
 Haply to him the vegetable world 
 Is open'd into a transcendant scheme. 
 And he is marvelling how men can walk 
 Unawed among prophetic presences, 1 035 
 
 Or harshly breaking symbols delicate
 
 THE TREES AND GREEN THINGS. 241 
 
 Of kings whom Solomon in glory fail'd 
 
 To equal : windings of each diverse leaf 
 
 To him are hapl\- realized to be 
 
 The order'd doings of the Almighty Hand 1040 
 
 That worketh hitherto, not idle chance, 
 
 But interpenetrated eveiy one 
 
 With some great mysteries to us unseen. 
 
 Whose requisitions call their limber shapes 
 
 Into the very attitude they take, 1045 
 
 As naturally as doth the Eucharist 
 
 Prostrate the faithful to their present King. 
 
 Then are we chiefly present with the Saints 
 
 Who kneel before the Lamb ; we see it not. 
 
 Though twenty thousand chariots of God 1050 
 
 Are round about us, and have once appear'd 
 
 To take away the Saint austere who saw 
 
 His hidden Lord transfigured on the Mount, 
 
 That did rejoice in Him. They shall be green 
 
 Like grass upon the earth, when He shall come. 1055 
 
 Then shall the mystic Vine be evermore 
 
 From the wild heretics that pluck her bough 
 
 Protected, and the Olive-branches, won 
 
 By Eunuchs to the Church, or penitents 
 
 That when converted strengthen boughs that serve 1060 
 
 As peace-making hosannahs, thrive around 
 
 The Table of the Lamb, what time his Wife 
 
 Shall make her ready, and Himself come forth 
 
 To serve them, and the glorious Branch in us 
 
 Planted beside Baptismal waterbrooks 1065 
 
 R
 
 242 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 With leaves unwither'd prosper, and the boughs 
 When He doth enter new Jerusalem 
 In Him and in His Father shall abide. 
 As for th' ungodly, 'tis not so with them.
 
 pt* *'-^0' 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 Note 1. p. 208. 
 
 Allusion is here made to the doctrine, that in the Holy Com- 
 munion a principle of new life was imparted. The note at the 
 end of Mr. Newman's Sermons, vol. ii., may be consuUed. I may 
 also quote the following passages of S. G. Nyssen de Horn. Opif. 
 i. p. 118, p. 123, and p. 125, where he writes as follow;. : KaOcnrifJ 
 yap TO aoma Ik jSpaxvTarov Trpoc; to TeXeiov irpoiicni', ovtui Kai 
 ri TTJQ ^vx^lS kvipyiia KaTaWr/XioQ ifi(pvonsvri T(f i7roKtifikv<j», 
 (jvvtTnSiCojai Kai ovvav^tTai. TrpoijyfTrai fiiv ydp aoTriQ iv Ty 
 TTQMTy KUTUffKivy olov pt'CvS TivoQ tv Ty yy KaTaKi<!i(p9eicrr]Q i) 
 av'iriTiKi) Tt Kai QptirriKT) Sivafiig novi]. ov yap x'^P'* ''^ Tnpiu- 
 aoTipov T) Tov ^txofiivov jipaxvri]Q. dra irpotXOovTog itg (poJc 
 Tov fpvTov, KOI 7)\i({) Ti/v ^XcKTTtiv Sti^avToc, »/ alaQnTiKt) X"P'^' 
 iirr)v9>](7(v. aSfwvOfVTog Si riSt) Kai fig avfijitTpov jirJKOg uva- 
 SpofiovTog, Kaddirep Tig Kapwog SinXafnrnv i) Xoyii;ri Svvaiug 
 apxtTcn, oh iraaa aOpowg tK^paivofiivr)- uXXa Ty Toii opydvov 
 riXtiuati ci iTTintXtiag (jvvav^ovna, toctovtov dti KapTTOipopovoa , 
 offov x*^?" '""'' viroKii\iivov t'l dvvafiig. S. liil. do Trin. lib. v. 
 p. 41 : " Quia ambiguitate locus nullus est quin Moyses ununi 
 Dcuni intclligatur de Dei Filio significasse, quod Dcus sit : per 
 ipsas illas significationis suse auctoritates, recurramus et re- 
 ft 2
 
 244 NOTES 
 
 quiranms, an quom Doum si^rnificaverit, Dcum quoque vcrum 
 intelligendum docuerit. Niilli autem dubium est veritatom ex 
 natura et ex virtute esse, ut exempli causa dictum sit : verum 
 triticum est quod spiea frnctum et aristis vallatum et folliculis 
 excussum et in farinam comminutum et in panem coactum et in 
 cibum .suniptuni rcddidcrit ex se et naturam panis et munus. 
 Neque quia naturnc virtus prrestat veritatem, videamus an vcrus 
 Deus sit qncm Moyses Deum esse sijrnificat," &c. St. Hilary's 
 meaning appears to be more fully drawn out by St. Eplirem : 
 " Take wheat, and bi-uise it and examine it, and show us how the 
 blade, tlie ear, and the- root are hidden there, each one wliereof 
 is perfect in the midst of it, in threefold way ; and which is young 
 and old, or before the other : and though they have beginning, a 
 task is this to comprehend, since from out themselves is their 
 hidden begimiing for themselves. And since even the type 
 faileth, as not sufficing, reaped it is and winnowed to be fit 
 for use. And when the likeness is overborne by contenti- 
 ousness, then do thou healthfully behold it, how the blade is 
 the type of the body, and the fruit stands as type of the spirit, 
 the ear of the soul. Glorious is this j)arable ! For see how 
 every similitude that is sealed up, and curiously wrought, if 
 it suffice to describe the thing unto full perfection, would be 
 found not to be the resemblance but the reality. Meet is it for 
 shadows that they should pass through the network of time." 
 And again, p. 77, he says, " Yea, there is a hidden treasure in 
 that plant, that may be seen. Three concealed there there are, 
 nor can they be searched out there. Three they be that are but 
 one, and though one they yet are three. Who hath penetrated 
 into the midst of the plant, to see how the root, the stem a second, 
 and the fruit a third are there, which each with each commingled 
 are," &c. &c. In both passages the context makes it appear that 
 the mystery of the Trinity m Unity is before him, though in the 
 former he passes on to man, who is made in the Image of God." 
 There is a passage similar to the former in St. Greg. Nyssa, vol. i. 
 p. 123 — 5, part of which passage has been just given. It seemed 
 as well to throw these passages together here, because, though 
 only partially referred to now, they are made use of in other 
 parts of the poem, and could not be so conveniently given in frag- 
 ments when wanted.
 
 ON BOOK V. 245 
 
 Note 2. p. 209. 
 
 The following passage of St. Hilary was in my mind here, 
 p. 842, on Ps. cxviii. Aleph : " Et si quid inealescentibus jam ad 
 crimen animis promptum est, tamen furor iusanientis voluntatis 
 oecursu testis coereetur : et in sese abruptam humance petulentire 
 naturam nonnunquam intercessio repentina revoeavit. Si ergo 
 metus intei'cessionis jam prsesumptum animo facinus demoratur ; 
 quid Christianum liominem agere conveniet, seientem se tot un- 
 dique spiritalium virtutum testimoniis, non dico operum suorum, 
 sed ipsius tantum voluntatis obsessum ? Nonne cum in aliquam 
 turbidae affectionis voluntatem infirmitatis nostras aculeis coni- 
 movemur, metuimus adsistentes undique nobis choros angelorum, 
 et plenum ministeriis coelestibus mundum ? Si enim angeli par- 
 vulorum patrem nostrum quotidie vident, qui in ccelis est ; pos- 
 sumus testimonia eorum metuere, quos et nobiscum manere, et 
 Deo quotidie scimus adsistere." 
 
 Note 3. p. 210. 
 
 Aust. in Ps. lix. § 9 : " Pendebat et conterauebatur ; granum 
 ei-at ; intus habebat vires trahendi post se omnia. Quomodoingrano 
 numeri seminum latent, abj actum nescio quid apparet oeulis, sed 
 vis convertens in se materiam et proferens fruetum abscondita 
 est : sic in Christi cruce abscondita erat virtus, apparebat in- 
 firmitas. O magnum granum," &c. And to the Trallians, c. xi. 
 .St. Ignatius says, Ovtoi oii/c tlai (pvrtia ITarpoc, ei yap fjaav 
 i<paivovTO uv kKuSoi tov aravpov, Kal r]v av 6 KopTrbg avrwv 
 a(p9apT0(. 
 
 Note 4. p. 212. 
 
 ■St. Augustine de Doctrina Christ, bk. ii. chap. xli. " Herba hajc 
 mitis et hurailis est, et nihil fortius et penetrabilius ejus radicibus, 
 ut in caritate radicati et fundati possimus comprehendere cum 
 omnibus Sanctis quai sit latitudo et longitudo et altitude et pro- 
 fundum, id est, crucem Domini : cujus latitudo dicitur in trans- 
 verso ligno, quo extcnduntur manus, longitudo a terra usque ad 
 ipsam latitudinem, quo a manibus et infi'a totum corpus adfigitur,
 
 246 NOTES 
 
 altitudo a latitudine sursum usque ad summum, cui adhreret 
 caput, profunduiii vero quod tcrrx infixuni absconditur." 
 
 Note 5. p. 213. 
 
 Origen in Josh. p. 419, IIoiii. ix. 2: " Isti sunt ergo lapides 
 vivi, e\ quibus Josu.s Dominus noster altare construxit ex lapidi- 
 bus intcgris, quibus ferrum uon est injectum, ut offerat super eos 
 holocausta et sacrificium salutis. Ego puto quod forte isti tales 
 lapides intcgri atque incontaniinati, sancti Apostoli esse possint, 
 omnes simul altare unum facientes propter unanimitatem atque 
 concordiam." 
 
 Note 6. p. 213. 
 
 St. Greg. Moral, xxvi. 9, and in Ezek. i. Horn. xii. § 23 : " Quia 
 vpTO idem Propheta, ut supra jam diximus, typum praedicantium, 
 vel doctorum tenet, recte ei nunc dicitur : ' Sume tibi laterem, et 
 pones eum coram tc.' Oranis enim doctor cum terrenum quempiam 
 auditorem ad coelestis verbi doctrinam suscipit, laterem assumit. 
 Cui dum loqui coeperit quae sit retributio coelestis patriae, quae 
 visio pacis superuEe, civitatem Jerusalem describit in latere. 
 Quem coram se ponit ; quia intenta mente qualitatem audientis 
 considerat, id est, provectum vel defectum conspicit, et juxta 
 ejusdem intelligentiam, proedicationis suae verba moderatur, ut 
 describi in audientis mente civitas Jerusalem, id est visio pacis, 
 possit. Dieatur ergo : ' Smne tibi laterem,' videlicet proximi cor 
 terrenum. ' Et pones eum coram te,' scilicet ut vitam atque intel- 
 lectum illius intenta mente custodias. ' Et describes in eo cwi- 
 totem Jerusalem,' ut ei quae sint superna gaudia de visione pacis 
 innoteseas. Quasi enim jam Jerusalem in latere descripta est, 
 cum terrena mens coeperit quae sint ilia internee pacis gaudia vera 
 cognoscere, et ad conspicicndam gloriam patriae coelestis anhelare. 
 Quasi in terra visio pacis doscribitur, quando mens, quae prius 
 terrena sapuerat, per amorem jam ad contemplandam gloriam 
 regni coelestis elevatur." And Origen in Ps. cxxiv. 1 : Ot irsTroi- 
 
 QoTig STTI KvptOV W(,' OpOg llOJV, K. T. \. Ol ■K(lO<Jt^\6lXlVOl StWJ' 
 
 oQii Kai noXti Oiov ^{ovtoq, 'IfpoucraX/yjti lirovpavii^), (j)Opovcn Tr/v 
 iiKova Tov iirovpaviov, Kai TnnoiOoreg ini Kvpiov yivovTat u)q 
 iKtivo TO SKiv opof.
 
 1^ '^^*' 
 
 ON BOOK V. 247 
 
 Note 7- P- 214. 
 It is not imcommon in writers of all parts of the Church, in 
 St. Jerome as well as m Origen, St. Clement, St. CjtH, and others 
 of the Alexandrine school, in St. Ephrem, and St. Austin, and 
 St. Greo-ory, (^^•hose whole Moralia abounds in it,) to pass from 
 spiritual to moral allegory, as here alluded to : the full discussion 
 of such a subject would take up too much room here, though pas- 
 sages to tlie purpose might easily be supplied. 
 
 Note 8. p. 215. 
 
 I believe I had in my mind, at the time I wrote this, the SjTiac 
 version of Ezekiel xv. 4, which gives ' two branches' for what in 
 om-s is ' both the ends of it.' The ' planes' of Mamre is by ours 
 made the 'plains,' on the authority of the Chaldee and others, but 
 entirely against the analogy of the language, as far as one can see. 
 Different trees have been assigned : I have taken the ' planes,' 
 that the ear may not be offended by a change from the authorized 
 ■version. The origin of the Chaldee version is probably this, that 
 the trees spoken of grew in plain countries : hence they para- 
 phrase rather than translate. The reflections upon Solomon's 
 history of trees were, I think, suggested by the Chaldee Para- 
 ])hrast, who renders 1 Kings iv. 33, "and lie prophesied concerning 
 the kings of the house of David, that were to rule in this world, 
 and in the future world of the Messiah, and he prophesied con- 
 cerning beasts and birds, and concerning reptiles, and concerning 
 fishes." The hyssop is so explamed of Christ's humiliation, and its 
 cleansing powers by St. Cyi'il de Ador. p. 601 ; by St. Austin in 
 Ps. 1. § 12 ; and in St. Barnabas, ch. viii., where Cotelerius gives 
 a number of references. 
 
 Note 9. p. 216. 
 
 St. Bas. Hex. v. 9 : 'Aft'^i^XXov Si 6 ^oii'ig, rtp avT<^ fvWti) tK 
 rtjg ir^tbtTTig fiXaGTrjaiuQ tig riXog ffi^/iTrapa/xevw)'. The mter- 
 pretation of Exodus xv. 27, is a very common one. It is thus 
 concisely given by Bede in loc. " De vetori Testamento transitur 
 ad novum, ad Apostolorum duodecim fontes. Ibi reperiuntur 
 septuaginta palmse : fuerunt ct alii septuaginta raissi ad prajdican- 
 duni vcrbuin Dei."
 
 248 ^ NOTBS 
 
 Note 10. p. 217- 
 
 The distinction between the things spoken of in Prov. i. 1—6, 
 is noticed by St. Cloni. Strom, vi. S 1.'50, and applied by St. Atli. 
 eont. Ar. ii. 44. The same thing is also insisted on by Jewish 
 writers : thus Maimonides in the Porta Mos. says, " Has ob 
 eausas asnigmatice loeuti sunt Sapientes (quibus pax) de rebus 
 Theologicis ; ideoque decet (lucmpiaiu ubi occurrerit ipsi in verbis 
 illorum quicquara quod ipsius opinione abhorreat intellectus, non 
 verbis istis, sed intelleetui suo defectum imputare, et ubicuncjue 
 aliquam e parabolis ipsorum, cujus sensus literalis ab intellectu 
 ipsius valde alieims sit, viderit, ob intellectum suum, qui seopum 
 non attingit, adeo ut res verse ipsi longissime remotse videantur, 
 plurimum angi." 
 
 Note 11. p. 218. 
 
 This view of Noah's drunkenness is given by Justin Martyr, 
 p. 368, as also by St. Austin de Civ. Dei, xvi. 1 &. 2, and eont. 
 Kaust. xii. 23, as follows : " Jam vero illud, quod de vinea quam 
 plantavit, inebriatus Noe, nudatus est in domo sua ; cui non 
 appareat Christus j)assus in goiite sua ? Tunc enim nudata est 
 mortalitas carnis ejus, Judaeis scandalum, Gentibus stultitia, ipsis 
 autem vocatis Judaeis et Gentibus tamquam Sem et Japheth, Dei 
 virtus, et Dei sapientia: quia quod stultum est Dei, sapientius est 
 quam homines ; et quod infirmum est Dei, fortius est quam 
 homines. Proinde in duobus filiis, maximo et minimo, duo populi 
 tigurati, unam vestem a tergo portantes, sacramentum scilicet jam 
 prteterita; atque transaetiu Dominicse passionis, nuditatem patris 
 neque intuentur, quia in Christi neeem non consentiunt : et tamen 
 honorant velamento, tamquam scientes unde sint nati. Medius 
 autem iilius, id est, populus Judseorum, ideo medius, quia nee 
 primatum Apostolorum tenuit, nee ultinms in Gentibus credidit, 
 vidit nuditatem patris, quia consensit in neeem Christi, et nun- 
 tiavit foras fratribus : per eum quippe manifestatum est, et 
 quodam modo publieatum, quod erat in Prophetia secretum ; 
 ideoque fit servus fratrum suorum. Quid est eniin aliud hodieque 
 gens ipsa, nisi qua^dam scriniaria Christianorum, bajulans Legem 
 et Prophetas ad testimonium adsertionis Ecclesiaj, ut nos hono- 
 remus per sacramentum, quod nuntiat ilia per litteram." There
 
 ON BOOK V. 249 
 
 is the same reference to the nakedness on the Cross in St. Ephrem, 
 vol. ii. p. 397, though only by implication, in that he speaks of 
 Shem and Japhet as looking, while they went to cover their father, 
 to the Only-Begotten Son of God, who should come and cover the 
 nakedness of Adam, who was drunken with pride. Reference is 
 also made to the caution given by St. Irenaeus, iv. 31 : " Talia 
 qusedam enarrans antiquus presbyter reficiebat nobis et dicebat, 
 De eisdem delictis de quibus ipsse Scripturae increpabant Patri- 
 archas et Prophetas, nos non oportet exprobrare eis, neque fieri 
 similes Cham, qui irrisit turpitudinem patris sui et in maledic- 
 tionem decidit, sed gratias agere pro illis Deo, quoniam in adventu 
 Domini nostri reniissa sunt iis peccata ; etenim illos decebat gra- 
 tias agere et glorilicari in nostra salute. De quibus autem Scrip- 
 turae non increpant, sed simpliciter sunt positse, nos non debere 
 fieri accusatores (non enim sumus diligentiores Deo neque super 
 Magistrum possumus esse) sed typum quasrere." If St. Irenteus 
 appears to offend against his own rule in speaking of the 'tur- 
 pitude' of Noah, it must be remembered that we have only an old 
 Latin translation here, and not the original Greek. 
 
 Note 12. p. 218. 
 
 St. Hilar, in D. Matt. p. 569 : " In ficu synagogsR positum 
 exemplum est. Dato enim preniteutiEe spatio, eo videlicet tem- 
 pore quod inter passionem et reditum claritatis est medium. 
 Veniet esuriens plebis hujus salutem, et inveniet infoecundam, 
 foliis tantummodo vestitam, id est verbis inanibus gloriantem, sed 
 fructibus vacuam, operibus quippe bonis sterilem, et expectatis 
 proventibus nudam. Et quia poenitendi tempus excesscrit, in 
 perpetuum sententia judicii coolestis arescit." P. 57*), " Ex con- 
 ditione arboris propria et competens synagogaj similitudo pro- 
 posita est. Primes enim populi fructus quos ab exordio pro- 
 tulerat, grossorum amisit exemplo, quia plebem ejus inutilem 
 fidelis et pertinax, et usque ad consummationem temporum 
 maiiens populus gentium protrusit. Veruntamen crodcntos primi 
 t'x Israel Apostoli, et inter legem, et evangclia grossorum modo 
 inhserentes, cseteros resurrectionis gloria et tempore anteibunt. 
 Et quidciri jam in exordio Genesis in hujus rei formam ])u(Iorom 
 buuni Adaui atque Eva hujus arboris foliis texeruut, cum seipsos
 
 "250 NOTES 
 
 ad adventum Domini vooantis oeculeront, quia synagorra infidelis, 
 et lef^is mandata traiisgredicns, impudentisD suic fueditates, et 
 turpitudinura confusionem infructuosis esset verborum velamentis 
 tanquam ficus foliis onntcctura.'' And St. Austin on Ps. xliv. 
 § 20 : " Appcllavit Israolitam, in quo dolus non essct, proptei" 
 Jacob. Et illo Nathanael, Unde me nosti ? Et Dominus, Cum 
 e.sses sub arbore fici, vidi te : id est, cum osses in illo popido sub 
 lege constitutus, quae carnali umbra ilium populum protegebat, 
 ibi te vidi. Quid est, ibi te vidi ? Ibi tui misertus sum. Ille 
 autem recordatus quod fuerat etiam sub arbore fici in vcritate, 
 admiratus, quia putabat se a nemine visum cum ibi esset, con- 
 fitetur et dicit, Tu cs Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel. Quis hoe 
 dixit ? Qui audierat quod verus esset Israelita, et dolus in illo 
 non esset. Et Dominus, Quia dixi tibi, Vidi te sub arbore fici, 
 credidisti ; majora horum vidcbis." And St. Am})rose in D. Luc. 
 § 163, (quoted by Lauretus in voc.) " Primi tamen ex Israel 
 quos naturte validioris ramus extulerat ; sub umbra Lcgis et 
 crucis, in utriusque sinu succo gemino colorati, grossi mature- 
 scentis exemplo, pulcherrimorum gratia fructuum cseteris prsesti- 
 terunt, quibus dieitur : Sedebitis super duodecim thronos, judi- 
 cantes duodecim tribus Israel. Nee illud alienum quod Adam 
 atque Eva, primi illi nostri ut generis ita erroris parentcs, qui 
 hujus arboris texere se foliis, paradisi exsules esse raeruerunt : 
 cum Domini deambulantis prsesentiam transgressionis suje conscii 
 declinarent ; ut significarent futurum quod ultimis temporibus 
 populus Judaeorum sub Domini Salvatoris adventu, qui eos 
 vocaturus advenit, excitum se virtutibus per diaboli tentamenta 
 cognoscens, et intecta conscientise probra formidans, a religione 
 devius, praivaricatione confusus, esset a Domino recessurus, 
 verborum fluentium velut foliorum velaminibus adopertus pudenda 
 gestorum. Ergo illi qui folia de ficulnoa non poma carpserunt, 
 eliminati sunt a Dei regno : erant enim in animam viventem. 
 Venit seeundus Adam, et jam non folia, sed poma qurerebat ; 
 erat enim in Spiritum vivificantem. In Spirltu autem fructus 
 virtutis adquiritur, Dominus adoratur. Quiserebat autem Domi- 
 nus non quia fructuni ficulneie dcesse nesciret, sed ut ostenderet 
 in figura, (luia fructum Svuagoga jam habere deberet."
 
 ON BOOK V. 251 
 
 Note 13. p. 221. 
 
 The absence of the vine from Egypt may be shown from 
 Herodot. ii. 77- As he was an eye-witness, it seems that there 
 can be no doubt of the fact that in his days there were none, 
 whatever may have been the case in Strabo's time. They have 
 again vanished under the Mohammedans. See Jablonski de terrd 
 Goshen, § vi. fin., referred to by Baehr ad Herod. 
 
 Note 14. p. 222. 
 
 The explanation of Jotham's fable is, in the main, the same 
 <%s that given by St. Methodius, Conviv. x. Virginum, x. 2 : Kai 
 tirt<T)C£i|/a(70£ ixr] irort rac airb tov TrpwrowXaarov )w«xpi tov 
 Xpiarov Ka9i^r]g t) ypaipri vofioQiaiuQ SijXoi, wv 6 Sic'tjSoXog dvri- 
 mfioQ l^)]Trdr7]at nXaafiaffi to tSiv ctvOpdnrujv yivoc' Tt)v fikv 
 ^VKriv dmiKd^ovaa tij kcitu tov Tvapdoiiaov SoOt'itrij rt^ dvOowTTtit 
 iVToXy' iireidi^ ti)v yvfivuxyiv dTraTrjOtlg ovTog nsTaXoig aTriKd- 
 Xvipe avKrJQ. ti]v Si ' AjxttiKov, ry ittI tov KaraKXucrjuou Tip 'Nws, 
 did TO olv(f) KoinijOtvTa -xXtvaaOrivai. r>)v St 'EXaiav, ry kutu 
 tt)v tptjuov Tip MwfffT* iTTiiSi) TO ^apiff/xa to vpo(pr]TiKbv, 'iXaiov 
 TO ilytov, dvofirjcrdvTiiiv avTHjv, iicXtXoLTrH Ttjg KXripoi'Ofiiag. Tt/v 
 di "Pd/xvov, T7J iiri autTTji/iq. tov KOffjxov toIq ' AnotTToXoiQ' tTrtiSr/ 
 yap Ci aiiTwv iCicdx6r]fitv ' Ayviiav, rig dTraTr)X6v fiovrig tiduiXov 
 ovK laxvaiv 6 Sid(3oXog aKivduai. Sid tovto koi tvayyeXia rkc- 
 aapa vapaSeSoTai, TtTpdicig ivayyiXiaafikvov tov Qiov Trjv dv- 
 OpdjTTOTrjTct, Kcii TTaiSayojyricravTog Ticaapai voixoig, cjv oi Kaipoi 
 aafug dnb Trig Sia^oporrjrog SrjXovvTai twv Kcipnibv. t) fiiv yap 
 (TVKi), Sid Triv yXvKatj'iav KaiTov iipdiafibv,T))v Tpv<priv ti)v vpb Ttig 
 irapa^datiiig tv TrapaSiiat^> tov dvOpwTrov TraphTrjai yty (vii]p.kvi]v. 
 tan yap oTt Srj Kal atpbSpa TroXXa'^uig Trjg avKrjg Tbv KapTzbv to 
 Jlvtvixa Tb iiyiov ini tov KptiTTOvog Xafiftdvii, KaOojg aTvoSiViofiiv 
 vaTtpov 7/ Se d/nnXog Sid ti)v iXapoTtiTa tijv tic tov o'ivov, icai 
 Ti)v iv<ppoavvt]v TWV 7rfpi(T(xi9tvTwv Trie bpyrjg Kal tov KuTaKXva- 
 fiov, Ttjv dttb TOV (p6[3ov Kal Trjg (ppovriSog, ti)v tig ti)v x"?^'^ 
 avTwv niTafioX-qv alviaaiTai. »'; SI IXaia Sid rbv KapTvbv tov 
 iXaiov TTJv tvanXayxviav tov &fov ntjvvei, TrdXiv dvt^iKaKrjaav-
 
 252 NOTES 
 
 rof jitfrn rov KnTaKXurff^ibv, tuiv ovOpunrd)}/ tKTpaTnvraiv tic 
 liOiorrjTa, Sovvai vofiov, Kcii ffi^aria9l'ivai Timv, Kai lorcKip airo- 
 ajiivvvfiivr]v i]Sri t»)v avyyjv rrig dptrije tXaiqi Xnravai. iii. H 
 ce 'Poifipog Kai ayvoQ i(jTiv, ixp' wv fih' f)afivoQ KaXovfievog, v(p' 
 uit' Si dyroQ' Kai rox« Sia to avyyivsg (pvrbv tovto ry WapBtviq. 
 TretpvKEvai, ravry pctfivog Kai dyvoQ ir^o(rt]yopei9i)' pct(ivoQ fikv, 
 napd TO aTtpkuriov Kai Ka^jrtpbv irpug tikj I'lSovdg- dyvog S(, 
 napd TO SiuTravTog dyvsvtiv. odtv Kai tov llXiav tK irpoffWTTOjj 
 TfiQ 'l£(Taj3{\ yvvaiKog (^ivyovTa, XoyoQ vtto pafivov tXQiiv Trpw- 
 Tov, Kai tiaaKovadiVTa svicr^iiffat Kai Xafttii' Tpo<pfjv, oti twv 
 (ptvyovTwv olarpov, Kui ti)v yvva~iKa, t>)v ySoviiv, to KaTaywyiov 
 Kai t'l (TKiTTr]. TO TTJg ciyviiaq t/3XaffTrj(7£ ^vXov, dirb rJjc Tapoj)- 
 aiaq tov apx'TrapOavov Xpioroii ^aaiXtvaav tuiv avOpwTrwv. riov 
 yap Trpiirwi' aSvvaTt]rrai'TU)V ffuiTai vofio9eT7]iiaTU)V rbv dvOpoi- 
 
 TTOV, TixlV tTTl TOV 'AtldjU Kai TOV N(Il£, (Cfll TWV iTTl 7011 MloatWQ, 1/ 
 
 Kara t6 ivayy'tXiov taiaat fiovr) vofioOtcria TvcivTaq. 
 
 Note 15. p. 223. 
 
 Allusion is here made to the fuller forms of intercession in the 
 
 R. Missal service for Good Friday. The less full expression given 
 
 to the same feelings in our own abridgment of those forms, is, I 
 
 believe, distressing to some acquainted with the original. May I 
 
 suggest to such persons, that even the want of the necessaries of 
 
 spiritual life might in one view be made a blessing to them upon 
 
 that day of Forsaking ?. . . .St. Clem., Strom, vi. 118 : A«/u/3dv£t 
 
 Toivvv Tpo(pr]v fxiv TrXiiova r/ tyK£i/rpt(T0£Tcra tXaia Sid rb dypiq. 
 
 ifKpvtadai, olov Si ySi] ttetthv iOiZtTai t))v Too^r/v ffvvt'iofioiov- 
 
 fiivT) Ty TTibrrjTi ti\q yfi'ipov, ojq Si Kai b (piX6(70(l>og ciypig, iiKuZb- 
 
 fifvog kXaiif, iroXv Tb aTmrTov ix<^v, Sid Tb tlvai ^jjrijT-ticoe ^ai 
 
 (vTrapaKoXoii9r]Tog Kai opiKTiKbg Trig TrioTtiTog Ti'ig dXTjOiiag, idv 
 
 TrpoffXdjiij T))v Qfiav Sid TriaTiojg Suvafiiv Ty XP'''^'"9 ''"' ^If'-^PV 
 
 KaTa(pVTiv9eig yvwati, KaBdrrep 17 dypisXaioc syKfirpiffOfiffa r<^ 
 
 bvToig (caX((j Kai tXiijjxovi Xoyijj iv'tTTH te ti)v TvapaSiSofikvriv rpo- 
 
 <pt)v Kai KaXXiiXaiog yivtTaf b yap toi iyKti'Tpiaixbg Tdg dxpti- 
 
 ovg tvyivtlg noiu, Kai Tdg d(p6povg ^opifiovg ytviadai fSidZeTai 
 
 Tixvy Ty yfwpyiK^ Kat tTriffT-Jj/iy ry yvutffTiKy. Austin in Ps. 
 
 Ixxii. 2 : " Et quia inserit oleasti'um in oliva ? Oliva solet in
 
 ON BOOK V. 253 
 
 oleastro, oleastrum in oliva nunquam videmui=i. Nam quisquis 
 fecerit non inveniat baccas nisi oleastri. Quod enim inseritur 
 hoc erescit et ejus rei fructus invenitur. luvenitur iiou radicis 
 finictus sed surculi. Hoc ostendens Apostolus omnipotcntia sua 
 Deum effecisse ut oleaster in radieem olivte insereretur et non 
 baccas sylvestres sed olivam daret, ad omnipotentiam Dei revocans 
 hoc Apostolus ait, Si tu ex naturali," &c. &c. 
 
 Note 1G. p. 225. 
 
 St. Cyprian de Or. Dom. i. " Nee admonendus est claraoribus qui 
 cogitationes hominuiu videt, probante Domino et dicente : Quid 
 cogitatis nequam in cordibus vestris ? Et alio loco : Et scient 
 omnes ecclesise quia ego sum scrutator renis et cordis. Quod 
 Anna in primo Regnoruni libro Ecclesiai typum portans custodit 
 et servat ; quae Dominum non clamosa petitione, sed tacite et 
 modcste intra ipsas pectoris latebras precabatur. Lo(iuebatur 
 prece occulta sed manifesta fide. Loquebatur, non voce sed 
 corde, quia sic Deum sciebat audire ; et impetravit efficaciter 
 quod petiit, quia fideliter postulavit. Declarat scriptura divina 
 quae dicit : Loquebatur in corde suo, et labia ejus movebantur, et 
 vox ejus non audiebatur, et exaudivit earn Dcus." 
 
 Note 17. p. 226. 
 
 I saw this somewhere in Kimehi first, if I mistake not. It is, 
 however, given by Voisin in his notes to R. Martini, Pugio F. 
 f. 248. " Quoniodo ungebantur Reges ? per modum coronie. 
 Sacerdotes vero quomodo ? per modum Chi. Quid significat hoc, 
 per modum Chi ? Dixit R. Menasseh ; per modum Chi Grseci : 
 i. e. Infundebatur oleum super caput Abaronis, et hac iliac 
 descendebat instar (^uatuor guttarum pretiosarum. Qutu littera 
 Chi (X.) quum sigiumi Crucis reprsesentet ; ideo recte observat 
 Fabiano Fioglie in Introduct. sua alia Fede, c. 54. Etiam nel 
 tempo dclla Lege vccchia, avanti che venisse il Mcssia, quando si 
 ongevano i sacerdoti, si, ongevano con il segno della C'roco, ])er 
 che havendo loro da offerir i sacrifieii per il ])opolo in reniib-
 
 254 NOTES 
 
 sionc de i pcccati ; volcva Dio, clio quaiido si ordinavano per cio, 
 fussiiio segnati con il segno delhi sancta Croce, nclla qual doveva 
 esaer posto quello, il qual doveva esser sacrificato al Padre eterno, 
 per la remiissione di i peccati di tutto il uiondo." 
 
 Note 18. p. 230. 
 
 St. Clemens of Alexandria, Psed. ii. 7-^ : 'Aoxkiirov dfmufiviag 
 6 aTi(pavoc ffv^i^oXov ravry kuI rovg viKpovg Karaartipavovoiv, 
 ip, \6y<i) Kui TO. t'iSojXa, ipy(i> TrpoanaprvpovvreQ avToiQ to tlviii 
 vtKiuHg' 01 fxh' yap jiaKXtvovrtg ovSi dvev artcpai'wv opyid'Covaiv, 
 iirdv di d/ifpiOuivrai rd dvQt) TTphg rijv rtXivrr/v virtpKdovTai. 
 ov dr) KoivuivTjr'sov oiiO' oTrwaTiovv Saifwmv, dW ov5i Trjv hkovu 
 Tov Qtov 7i)v l^il)aav SiKrjv ti£oi\ov KaTaaTfTTTiov. 6 ydp KaXig 
 rov dfiapdvTOV <TTi<pavog diroKeirai T<f KaXug ■7rfiToXiTtvfiivi{)' to 
 dv9og TovTO y>i (iaardZtiv oii Kixo>pr]Ktv, fiovov Si avTo /capTTo- 
 (popilv kniaraTai ovpavog' vpog ci Kai dXoyiarov, aKrjKOOTar 
 r'liidg TOV Kvpiov dKavOaig iaTt<pavu)nivov, lvTpv<pS)VTag rip 
 rsefivi^ TOV Kvpiov TrdOii, dvaStlrrOai toUq dvOtmv. 6 fiiv yap tou 
 Kvpiov (TTi(pavog rj/xag aiviTTtTO Trpo<pT]TiKwg Toxig ttots dKupnovg, 
 TOvg irtpiKdixEvovg Avt<^ Sid Trjg 'EKKXiiaiag r}g iariv KttpaXj'j- 
 dXXd Kai Trig TTiffTHog iari Tvirog, Sw^c fiiv 5ta r/)v ovaiav rov 
 l^vXov, €V(}>porrrn>r]g Si Sid Tr]v Trpofrqyopiav tov aTitpdvov, KivSvvov 
 Si Sid T))v dicavOaV ovSi ydp di'ai/iijjTl Trpoadvai ry A6y(j) 
 i^tariv 6 Si wXtKTog napaiveTUi (STi<pavog ovTog Kai to nXtyfJia 
 Tiig (TKoXioTriTog dvaXx'iiTai Kai to dv9og ^rjpaiviTai, fiapaivtrai 
 ydp 7) co^a twi> Tip Kvpiip fir) TmrKJTivKOTiov. IijcroCv di tart- 
 (pdvwffav vipojfisvov Trjg avTwv KaTajiapTvpoiivTig dfiaGiag' tovt' 
 avTo ydp 01 aKXrjpoKdpSioi TrpoiprjTiiav ovaav (7t(T0(pi(Tfievr)v ov 
 vooiiaiv, &.C. lie has the same application of St. Matth. vii. l(i, 
 shortly after ; as also several other remarks which I have in part 
 made use of. St. Greg, of Nazianzum is also alluded to, i. p. 70 : 
 Aid tTiq dvaifiuKTov Ovffiag r)niig Koivtovovixtv KpiaToii Kai ra»)' 
 TTadrj^drwv Kai Trjg QtOTijTog. 
 
 Note 19. p. 231. 
 
 See notes 4 & 8, and St. Austin de Doct. Christiana, ii. 16 : 
 " Multi autem propter ignorantiam hyssopi, dum uesciunt quara 
 
 2
 
 ON BOOK V. 255 
 
 vim habeat, vel ad purgandum pulmonem, vel ut dicitur ad saxa 
 radicibus penetranda, quum sit lierba brevis atque humilis, omnino 
 iiivenii-e non possunt, quare sit dictum : ' Adsperges me hyssopo, 
 et mundabor.' " 
 
 Note 20. p. 232. 
 
 Bp. Butler, Anal. ch. i. p. 142 : " For of the numerous seeds of 
 vegetables and bodies of animals, which are adapted and put in 
 the wav to improve to such a point or state of natural maturity 
 and perfection, we do not see perhaps that one in a million 
 actually does. Far the greatest part of them decay before they 
 are improved to it ; and appear to be absolutely destroyed. Yet 
 no one who does not deny all final causes, will deny that those 
 seeds and bodies, which do attain to that point of maturity and 
 perfection, answer the end for which they were really designed 
 by nature ; and therefore that nature designed them for such 
 perfection. And I cannot forbear adding, though it is not to the 
 present purpose, that the appearance of such an amazing waste 
 in natm-e, with respect to these seeds and bodies, by foreign 
 causes, is to us as unaccountable, as, what is much more terri'ile, 
 the present and future ruin of so many moral agents by them- 
 selves, i. e. by vice." 
 
 Note 21. p. 233. 
 
 For this fact see Windischman, Philosophie, &c. i. p. 255: 
 " Bei dem grossen symbolischen Opfer des Kaisers, in welchem 
 er das ganze Volk einschloss, bediente man sich, entweder reiner 
 Opferthiere, besonders des Stiers, oder unter Ceremonien, die 
 noch nicht bekannt genug sind, auch des Erodes und des Weins. 
 Jenes war aus dem Korn vom heiligen Felde zubereitet, dieser 
 aus Hirsc oder lleis nebst einer aromatischen Fflanze. Beides 
 wurde auch den Geisten und den Ahnden dargcboten, und der 
 Genuss, insbesondcrc auch des Weins erfordere, hoisste es, ein 
 reines ehrfurchtvolles Herz." Aristot. Polit. iii. § 14, makes the 
 assertion concerning the non-interference of the kings with the 
 priestly oHice probable. He says, p. 1285, G, BaciXtie Si Kvpioi
 
 256 NOTES 
 
 >)(Tav ri'iQ TS Kara TroXfjuoi' »;yf/xoj'(rtg Kai twv Ovaidv, cxrai fiq 
 ispaTiKat, Ka't ttjjoi; tuvtoiq riif Oiicckj tK^m'ov. tovto 6' ittoioi'I' oi 
 /ikv ovK dfivvovTtQ, oi S' ojivvovTU'' 6 S' bpKog r/v tov ffKTjnTpov 
 iiravdracTic. 
 
 Note 22. p. 236. 
 
 This is taken, I believe, from some Syriac Missal, but 1 am not 
 able to find it again. 
 
 Note 23. p. 238. 
 
 St. Hilary on St. Matthew, p. 488, can. v. " Lilia nascuntiir 
 potius quam operantur. Cooperatio autem velamentum est cor- 
 poris non corpus ipsum. Quod si ad spnsum hunianip intcllif^enti.-e 
 res rcfertur, colorem lilii velamenti candor potuorat icmulari. Sed 
 lilia non laborantia neque nentia significari intelligenda. sunt, ut 
 cadestiuni angclorum chiritates, quibus extra hunianup scicntia' 
 eruditionom suique operis mercedcm a Deo gloriio candor indultus 
 est : ne quid ex proprio labore aut arte existimarcntur habuisse. 
 Et cum in Resurrectione similes homines Angelis crunt, spcrare 
 nos coelestis gloria; voluit operimcntum exemplo angelicie clari- 
 tatis. Est autem in natura istius germinis ut aptissime ccelcstibus 
 angelorum substantiis comparctur. Hoc enim eftlorescens cum a 
 stirpe detenta humi radicis avellitur, naturne sua? virtute licet 
 aruisse putetur occultat et redeunte tempore rursum lilii sui 
 honori vestitur. Ex se igitur efflorescit ac redditur et, quod est, 
 nee radici potest debere nee terrje : cum ille, qui se subeat, succus 
 ex se sit. Atque ita, annua; licet, Imjus viriditatis exemplo vir- 
 tutera coelestis snbstantife asmulatur ; cum ex eo tantum quod 
 intra se acceptum habeat alatur in florcm. Ideo ergo lilia non 
 laborant neque nent quia virtutes Angelorum ex ea quam adei)ta) 
 sunt originis sua3 sorte ut sint semper accipiunt." 
 
 Note 24. p. 239. 
 
 Bp. Butler, Analogy, i. v. p. 132. " This way of putting the 
 matter supposes particular affections to remain in a future state ; 
 which it is scarce possible to avoid supposing." (In confirmation
 
 ON BOOK V. 257 
 
 ot which, see St. Luke, xvi. 27, 28.) And again, p. 89 : " Virtue 
 from the very nature of it is a principle and bond of union, in 
 some degree, amongst all who are endued with it, and known to 
 each other ; so as that by it, a good man cannot but recommend 
 himself to the favour and protection of all virtuous beings, 
 throughout the whole universe, who can be acquainted with his 
 character, and can any way iutei'pose in his behalf in any part of 
 his duration."
 
 )t ^, 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 
 
 s-2
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Mysteriousness of things present^-of the ranks and condition 
 of Animals. Effects of the Fall upon these, as subjecting them 
 to destruction in many ways. The primitive and greater inter- 
 course between all ranks of beings impaired by sin ; tendency of 
 goodness, in many ways, to restore this. Noah, Daniel, Job, as 
 proofs of this. Instances in Christian times. Different Beasts 
 typical of different Characters. Heathen illustrations of this prin- 
 ciple. St. Peter's Vision. Amelioration of their condition by the 
 ordinances and presence of the Church. Concluding digression 
 on the duty of England to further Christianity.
 
 W •^i 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 What need to wander deep into the maze 
 
 Of hoar antiquity, or tell the stars 
 
 That sparkle in the lofty arch of Heaven ? 
 
 What need to roam and search for mysteries 
 
 Of distant age or clime ? Where is the man, 5 
 
 Who with sufficient ampleness of thought. 
 
 Shall realize things present, see the spot 
 
 Whereon he stands, the creatures with him here 
 
 Kindred, or of a kind from his estranged ? 
 
 Shall contemplate their present offices 10 
 
 And future destinies, content to feel 
 
 The awe that riseth ever and anon 
 
 (As from a grave phantastic ghosts were deem'd 
 
 To show their presence still) from common things ? 
 
 How hardly do we guess aright the things 15 
 
 That be before us ! how this present world 
 
 Seems as the spot where mysteries converge 
 
 But to diverge afresh ! as on the stone 
 
 That Iceland sends, the Sun's embosom' d ray 
 
 Falls, and in falling makes a spot of light 20 
 
 That stands obedient to the artist's gaze, 
 
 Then boundeth off again to distant space :
 
 262 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Not otherwise do mysteries seem to meet 
 
 Upon this radiant world, and wend their way 
 
 Some whither, we have not the reach of skill 25 
 
 To follow them, until from eager sight 
 
 They vanish as an unsubstantial mist. 
 
 As common things avail to baffle man. 
 So, for the soul that plods the hardy road 
 Of stern yet joyous discipline, (beset 30 
 
 With thorns of doubt if haply he have gone 
 Too high for him, when in the feast of pain 
 By Calvary made inviting, he hath dared 
 To choose the upper rooms,) do common deeds 
 Of necessary obedience, daily seem 35 
 
 To have some baffling power, and many a time 
 Contentment foUoweth these, if rightly done. 
 Yet holy sternness, yet ascetic's fast 
 And vigil, time for tears, would ye were mine, 
 Despite of doubting, though the scorner scorn, 40 
 
 Or would, with silly moderation drunk. 
 Make songs of caution o'er ve ! Ye would leave 
 Beginnings of a meeker temperament, 
 And overflowings of unclaim'd delight. 
 And yearnings for an universal love, 45 
 
 That in and by the mystery of pain 
 Should spread against the very gainsayers 
 Its arms of prayer eifectual all day long. 
 And hail this holy season, dear to me. 
 And dear to friends of mine ! There gleams afar 50 
 The Sun of Easter, soothing all our toils
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. "263 
 
 With promises that are not satisfied 
 
 With seasonable fulfihnent ; but must pour 
 
 A large forestalment of their Easter joy 
 
 Into the very sackcloth of the frame 55 
 
 That fretteth patiently with discipline, 
 
 Which it hath girded on it as a robe, 
 
 Thwartinor itself that it mav meeker bear 
 
 Its brother's burdens, blessing every soul, 
 
 Both those that in their bodies bear the mark 60 
 
 Of Christ their Captain, and the men that scorn 
 
 Such as the Holy Cross's burden love. 
 
 Nor deem I that the lai'geness of their love 
 
 Is wanting, in due measure, for the beasts 
 
 And other creatures that are here with us, 65 
 
 To enjoy our common world, and all its goods, — 
 
 Or blithe bird singing to the breeze of spring. 
 
 Or cattle browsing on a thousand hills. 
 
 Released from sacrifice : for that one Sacrifice 
 
 Which set us free, transferred from them to us 70 
 
 The privilege of being as the sheep, 
 
 Appointed to the slaughter all the day ! 
 
 There have been times when all this order'd world 
 Seem'd by gradations sever'dj and the man 
 Was not the partner to his helpmate wife, 75 
 
 But her despotic ruler, when the slave 
 Was a still lower class, which crouch' d with awe 
 To the fell tyrant, whose accursed gold 
 Had paid the man-stealer; and here or there 
 A higher intellect perceived that this 80
 
 264 NATURE A I'ARABLK. 
 
 Was not a lasting rule, and chose to shape, 
 
 As wisdom ever doth, profounder truths 
 
 In forms that might invite the ridicule 
 
 Of such as vice or common-sense conceit 
 
 Had arm'd with blindness against higher light. 85 
 
 So Plato thought equality alone 
 
 Was that which suited with his deepest grasp 
 
 Of heavenly Society — and Christian rule, 
 
 If it prevail'd, would tend to level all. 
 
 Because in it humility is chief 90 
 
 Of all the virtues, in the house of God 
 
 No dainty separations it allows ; 
 
 And poverty, as being its parent stock. 
 
 Is next humility, and 'mid the rich 
 
 Hardly are Christians ranged, in the sight 95 
 
 Of the stern Gospel's world-abhorring Law. 
 
 Be this then counted as the sovereign ' rule 
 Of Christendom : a levelling spirit 'tis 
 That leaves the pomp of this world's orderings 
 Untouch'd, or uses them for whetting- stones 100 
 
 To shai'pen that submission, which at last 
 Shall mow the stubborn tares of this world down. 
 But of all kings his is the highest rank 
 In th' estimate of Christian balances. 
 Who casting down the tinsel of the state, 1 05 
 
 And all its high-fed squeamishness, can stoop 
 Beneath the cottage doorplate, and rejoice 
 To cheer some sickly inmate, or to fill 
 The debtor's hand with gold, his heart with prayer.
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 265 
 
 Never are kings so high as when they brook 110 
 
 To mingle unobserved among the poor ! 
 
 Never is Christian Church so bowed down, 
 
 As when within its consecrated courts 
 
 It brooks of party-walls, not heeding Him 
 
 "Who sat not by our soil'd humanity 115 
 
 To help it from aloft, but clothed Himself 
 
 Ev'n with our filthy garments -, making clean 
 
 Our own corruptible, which at His day. 
 
 The fourth of days that were a thousand years. 
 
 Stunk with an evU savour unto death. 120 
 
 This spirit, then, which tends to level all, 
 Not with the democrat's rude tyvanny. 
 But by diffusing meekness, and pale fast. 
 And fast-born condescendingness of heart. 
 Lies at the core of this New Polity. 125 
 
 Ah-eady hath it driven from the world 
 In sundry places, the fierce tyranny 
 That slaves were wont to feel, what time it chased 
 The lovers of devotion from their wealth, 
 That they amid religious cells ^ might live 1 30 
 
 And bondage take, while freedom they bestow'd. 
 And animals have shared its gentle gifts : 
 It cannot be, but it must better all 
 'Mid whom it finds abode, and hence the race 
 Of humbler brutes are lifted in the scale 135 
 
 And rank of being : whilom suffering fell 
 Upon them, not alone from human rage. 
 As yet ungifted with internal powers
 
 266 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To govern its own fierceness, or to turn 
 
 Sharp on itself serenely sweet revenge 140 
 
 Of holy penance ; not from want of power 
 
 To govern rage, but from an order changed. 
 
 Which order he may haply trace who looks 
 
 Back to primeval times, when Adam, lord 
 
 Of earth, who had an Archetype in Heaven, 145 
 
 Could tell the number of the beasts, and call 
 
 All by their names, obeying his behest. 
 
 Soon then as man was liable to sin. 
 There fell a blight upon the creatures too, 
 And they were liable each time to fall 150 
 
 To atone the sinners' guilt, by sacrifice 
 To cover inward shame, as by their skins 
 To hide uncomely nakedness without. 
 Thus from the first the innocent began 
 To suffer for the guilty ! Sad it was 155 
 
 That they should have their unofi'ending life 
 Cut off thus prematurely for man's sin ! 
 How they atoned, or whether sacrifice 
 Until the great One had atoning power. 
 Or only gave beforehand suretyship 160 
 
 That That should to those worshippers avail, 
 Or whether beasts be everlasting "* things 
 Whose suffering did interfere to do 
 Wonders, to sense invisible, to me 
 A secret yet remains. But not alone 165 
 
 For human needs were harmless animals 
 Vicarious sufferers made ; but lo !
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 267 
 
 Another and more wonder-stirring sign 
 
 Appears to startle him that wisely weighs 
 
 Whether, along with things presignified, 1 70 
 
 The outward means no lesson may convey. 
 
 'Twas no new thing to Moses first disclosed, 
 
 That for the purposes of sacrifice 
 
 A party-wall existed 'twixt the clean 
 
 And the unclean, amid the animals. 175 
 
 But in the ark, where by the saintly force 
 
 Of Noah's presence for a while the brutes 
 
 Were from their own proprieties withheld, 
 
 The wonderful division had its reign, 
 
 And doubtless there no novel truth it was, 1 80 
 
 But one, with sacrifice, of old reveal'd. 
 
 As though among the beasts, upon the fall. 
 
 Some were the vessels of Almighty wrath. 
 
 And rank'd among the powers of him who wrought 
 
 With serpent's wisdom mischief undefined 185 
 
 At Adam's ruin. All around us stand 
 
 The kinsmen of those mysteries we ken 
 
 As in the eternal distance : while we war 
 
 In bootless polemics, and waste our powers. 
 
 For worship and belief bestow'd, in arguing; 190 
 
 There ever stands beside us mystery 
 
 As puzzling to our nothingness as aught 
 
 We in that distance fret ourselves to know. 
 
 The world is govern'd by a sovereign Lord 
 
 Whose doings, being His, necessitate 195 
 
 The attendance of a mystery, as a shadow
 
 •268 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which ever followcth them on either side. 
 
 Why is it that among the herd of things 
 
 That browse the hill of chance, this one or that 
 
 Ts singled out to work some future end, 200 
 
 While others eddy down the stream of time 
 
 Into the mass confused of incidents 
 
 Unheeded and unmeaning ? This or that 
 
 I do with all the freeness of a chance, 
 
 Yet in the hereafter of this present life 205 
 
 It meets me with a solemn air, its beck 
 
 Is all commanding, and I follow it 
 
 The while it seems in overawing tone 
 
 To claim itself precedency and power 
 
 Which shall exempt it from the poverty 210 
 
 Of common incidents. And whether all 
 
 Our trifling deeds have issue in a sphere 
 
 Too wide for us to trace their action there, — 
 
 All things, at least, all beings, all the sum 
 
 Of what we have to live and be amongst, 215 
 
 Are subject to strange biasses, and seem 
 
 Pregnant with huge capacities for ill 
 
 Or for advantage, as that tiny seed 
 
 That rots, or swells into the mustard tree. 
 
 What then forbids but we may hold that some 220 
 
 By Wisdom infinite are chosen out 
 
 Among the diverse ranks of things and beings 
 
 For greater purposes, while others pass, 
 
 ' Melt and dissolve, and are no longer seen ?' 
 
 Thus musing on this all-pervading Law, 225
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 269 
 
 One might incline to ask, if under it 
 
 The firstborn only of the beasts were set 
 
 Apart to God ? or if 'twere but a means 
 
 To show good things to come, or if an end 
 
 As well as means *, before the judgment-seat 230 
 
 Of the most High ? 'Twere likewise suitable 
 
 With this, to inquire, wherefore there were beasts 
 
 Who suficr not for human beings alone. 
 
 But were vicarious for other beasts ? 
 
 And if, indeed, as some have deem'd, there be 235 
 
 A natural immortality of brutes, 
 
 How shall the suffering of these affect 
 
 Their future destinies ? Is it not more wise, 
 
 And more befitting man's intelligence. 
 
 To dwell upon the beasts, whose dying breath 240 
 
 Accompanied the Hallelujahs raised 
 
 At Solomon's great dedicative feast. 
 
 As types of those who for the building up 
 
 Of Christ's dread House, have shed their precious blood, 
 
 Who gain'd thereby some future privilege, 245 
 
 To be by all beheld with gratitude. 
 
 What time the pompal Hallelujah song 
 
 Of thousands and ten thousands, newly clad 
 
 With Angel tongues, shall hail the eternal morn. 
 
 Their Master enter'd, with His garments dyed 250 
 
 In Blood and Suffering, through the anguish-gate. 
 
 To Him a Glory-gate, that we might bear 
 
 The hallowing Cross's burden all the night 
 
 Of this world's darkness, and with Him rejoice
 
 270 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Upon the eternal Morn of cloudless Day. 255 
 
 And such, who by their deeds of suffering oft 
 
 Have brought forth thousands and ten thousands here, 
 
 Or trodden out the Wheat that shall not die 
 
 By labours pastoral, or as presbyters 
 
 Or deacons shall have used aright the strength 2 GO 
 
 For labour given, shall new Jerusalem, 
 
 Where no decay shall mar their hardy toil. 
 
 No leading forth to Hell's captivity 
 
 Affright, in chiefest brightness then behold ! 
 
 At least the lambs, who in the ancient shrine 265 
 Were sufferers in behoof of other beasts. 
 Are witnesses to that awe-striking law. 
 Whereby the unoffending suffer here 
 For the offending, and the guiltless race 
 Which violates no law to them promulged, 270 
 
 Became the sufferers for those whose law. 
 Though higher far, was wilfully transgress'd. 
 Nor if in ancient days we read of one 
 Who was to reason's law, that aye condemns 
 Each cruel deed, insensible, before 275 
 
 He slew the harmless creatures, should we deem 
 That he or other kindred slaughterers. 
 Without a mystery their rage have shown 
 On guiltless beings. Seems he not to show 
 Whither, if reason's Heaven-born light from man 280 
 Were once withdrawn, the maddening® spirit would lead 
 His unprotected liegemen, and would bring 
 Upon the tranquil race of animals
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 271 
 
 A shortening of th' allotted time of being. 
 
 So far as man hath faculties to trace 285 
 
 Their visible existence ? Or hateth he 
 
 The very types and symbols of the few 
 
 Who suffer with vicarious punishment, 
 
 Enduring all things for the elect on earth ? 
 
 Them hateth he whom that One Sacrifice 290 
 
 Hath made burnt- offerings. He upon the Cross 
 
 Did hallow Achor's valley as a door 
 
 For hopes of Heaven, and present in His Priest 
 
 Bestow'd on them the Cross, it's magic Key, 
 
 To stamp on children's brow that glorious Sign, 295 
 
 And make them shameless venturers in trade 
 
 Of heavenly sort, in selling all they have. 
 
 Their health and strength, and ease and daily joys. 
 
 For gainful fast and pain. The beasts no more 
 
 Were of this privilege possess'd : to man 300 
 
 The Lord of Glory drew the privilege 
 
 And right of such vicarious agony. 
 
 He of whose fulness we have all received. 
 
 Chose Him a second and more glorious way, 
 
 Chose that His perfect sufferings should lack 305 
 
 And be fill'd up in all the martyr lives 
 
 Of His own Members, and by Presence dread 
 
 Made it His lot ' to suffer evils still 
 
 As in His Members. Hence He call'd them friends, 
 
 And hence they all as Moses, chief of those 310 
 
 Who suffer'd for his brethren's sake before 
 
 His Master came, were privileged to see
 
 "272 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Him face to face, as friends, and to accuse 
 
 Such to the Father as despise their blood. 
 
 Now better than was Abel's, crying loud 315 
 
 For holy vengeance. Yet, although the stain 
 
 Of Martyr blood cry not from off the ground 
 
 For us faint followers of earlier times, 
 
 He hath a bottle for our bitterest tears, 
 
 He hath a record-book for all our fasts, 320 
 
 He sees what time the midnight lamp is dim 
 
 Before the eyes of sobbing penitents. 
 
 And those who lifted to the Cross with Him, 
 
 Draw others to Him, hide the multitude 
 
 Of their own sins, the very sheep are clothed 325 
 
 With their own lambs *, while they in Sion's streets 
 
 Bring thousand and ten thousands to the fold 
 
 Unknown to them as are their qualms to men. 
 
 Could dust and ashes but be bold to speak 
 To Him who rain'd eternal vengeance-fire 330 
 
 On Sodom and Gomorrah, then what boon 
 More rightly might it sue for, than that here 
 In our own Church such hidden sufferers 
 Might, as the poor shy violet, be found 
 To send their savour, unperceived themselves, 335 
 
 Up unto those whose incense lacks return. 
 What tender penitent, that daily spends 
 Some few poor hours on intercessive prayer, 
 That still is tied and bounden with the chain 
 Of fretting sin, yet should not wish that all 340 
 
 Might be as he himself, except those bonds,
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 273 
 
 However scant and heartless to himself 
 
 His hardy wooings of dear pain may seem ! 
 
 Oh chiefly may this privilege to those 
 
 Be largely given, who in Saint Peter heard 345 
 
 The Charge to feed His weary sheep on earth ! 
 
 Give us but suffering Bishops, and the Priests 
 
 Will go before, the ministering Deacons bear 
 
 The solemn Cross behind, and then the Flock, 
 
 The little Flock, impregnated through pain 350 
 
 With everlasting glory, should bring forth 
 
 So, as in other lands new folds to need ! 
 
 Only our Oxen, gendering then no more. 
 
 Must through a pure celibacy have learnt 
 
 More strength for labour, ere they shall tread out 355 
 
 The Corn mysterious, ready though it seem 
 
 For harvest now, and in themselves the Cross 
 
 Must for the seeds of joy its furrow cut. 
 
 But whether beasts that suffer'd guiltlessly 
 In sacrifice, were but the types of those 360 
 
 Who bearing in their frames their Master's Death, 
 Are ready to be offer'd, by this Key 
 Of David, king of penitents, assured 
 That they can enter only, as did he 
 Who on the Cross partook of Jesus' cup, 365 
 
 That in that night he as a Thief might go 
 To rest in Paradise — or aught beside 
 Shall by their suffering to such beasts accrue. 
 Suffice it to have asked. Thus much we see. 
 That when fierce plagues infest the swelt'ring air, 370 
 
 T
 
 274 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 The beasts are not exempted from the scourge, 
 
 Whether invited by the tyrant's sin, 
 
 As sings the ancient bard, or by the wrath 
 
 Of God against the people, as of old 
 
 When David long'd to be again the type 375 
 
 Of Him who suffer'd for His straying" sheep. 
 
 But if indeed the judgments upon earth. 
 
 Which separate the wicked and the good. 
 
 As natural consequence of all that is 
 
 Of judgment's kin, or present or to come, 380 
 
 A foretaste and a sample of the Doom, 
 
 (Be they the war, or famine, or the pest,) 
 
 And beasts with human suffering often share ; 
 
 What shall they do in that all-troublous time ? 
 
 Lo, when the type of Jesus led the host 385 
 
 Into the promised land, itself a type 
 
 Of a new country, then along with men 
 
 Did he destroy the beasts ; and prophecy 
 
 Beasts of the field, and fowls, and silent fish 
 
 That bear no malice in their memories, 390 
 
 Did threaten with destruction for the guilt 
 
 Of those who desecrated holy land. 
 
 If then the fall of man, that is prolonged 
 In all his progeny, entail such ills. 
 It hath on both entail'd them, upon beast 395 
 
 As well as man ; yet all their savageness 
 Seems not at once to have reach'd maturest growth 
 Till sin had made more progress. Look we back 
 To oldest times when innocence prevail'd,
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 275 
 
 The beasts are subject to their rightful lord, 400 
 
 The Mother of all living, unalarm'd 
 To caution by the sound, could hear and speak 
 With one of them '°, and even after times 
 Have often told of beasts that converse held 
 With men ; and if the fables far and wide 405 
 
 From earliest ages known, should aught retain 
 Of what in days when intercourse between 
 All orders of creation had not ceased. 
 Then may we deem that innocence secured 
 A power and sway above brute animals; 410 
 
 Such that the fell magician who was hired 
 For tempting Israel by Zippor's son. 
 Was not afraid, as at unusual sign. 
 At hearing the dumb ass. And whence arose it, 
 That fabled converse 'twixt the lower ranks 415 
 
 Of being and man, held universal place 
 In ancient story ? Surely it is strange 
 If somewhat true be not the clue and key 
 To unlock this old belief I Shall we not ask 
 If beasts were subjected to Noah's power, 420 
 
 Or to his justice, if Satanic powers. 
 As Satan's self, by aught could be restrain'd 
 But justice, name instructive for the sum 
 And scope of all the virtues ? If there was 
 This strange intercommunion of peace 425 
 
 Betwixt the good and animals below. 
 Whether a kindred law pervaded too 
 The Heavenly powers, and the Sons of God 
 
 T 2
 
 •21 G NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 (A rank by none but Angx'ls ever claim'd, 
 Till after Baptism had wash'd the drought 430 
 
 Of human nature) did frequent the earth. 
 And make themselves the guests of Abraham 
 And other saints. For in the earlier stage 
 Of things more visible assistances " 
 Were suited to man's need, and lack of faith, 435 
 
 The Gospel power for converse with the world 
 Of unseen beings, made the use of forms 
 That should be touch'd and handled, not unfit 
 For present exigence. But whenas man 
 Had by the agency of higher powers 440 
 
 The necessary appliances of art 
 Discover'd, then those agencies withdrew. 
 Yet long survived belief, that holy beings 
 Still walk'd '- the earth to yield their presences 
 To hospitable men, although disguised 445 
 
 And hidden from them, and the wondrous things 
 Of art were deem'd in truthful sirapleness 
 To have been on man by demigods bestow'd. 
 Nor when we think how manifold the zeal 
 Of forward Mercy is, is it forbidden 450 
 
 To hold that still these interferences 
 Take place unview'd by man ; that things of art, 
 Howe'er the wicked may abuse the good. 
 Are yet bestow'd by the beneficence 
 Of better Creatures, and among the good 455 
 
 This often strikes me, how their tendency 
 Is to ameliorate the state of sufferance
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 277 
 
 In which the brute creation ever groans. 
 
 Yet are the laws Divine that regulate 
 
 Discoveries, a mystery still to man : 460 
 
 Though medicines alleviate disease 
 
 Which Angels once did visibly relieve, 
 
 Though times of blessings, in the things of art, 
 
 Are not perhaps the times when Grace's Dew 
 
 Falls most abundantly ", though mischief dire 465 
 
 And speed for hellish deeds, machinery 
 
 Afford : yet surely it forebodes 
 
 Somewhat of good that cattle of the field 
 
 It saves, in tendency at least, from ill ; 
 
 That holy things which at a distance lie 470 
 
 Are more compatible in one day's space. 
 
 Oh may this merciful aspect of things, 
 
 Bv leading man to mercy, pave the way 
 
 For greater intercourse betwixt the rank 
 
 And orders of the Church, and beasts be types 475 
 
 Again of privilege to light on man, 
 
 When from the kings of this world's Babylon 
 
 The Church again is free, and when again 
 
 Through purity restored is teachable 
 
 To set her up one head, and when true Jews 480 
 
 With Israel join'd shall gather them to one. 
 
 And rise above dependance on the world. 
 But if primeval times more intercourse 
 Beheld with either rank of being, above 
 Our nature or below, observe besides 485 
 
 How righteous types of Righteousness to come
 
 278 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Had power restored them over evil beasts. 
 
 'Twas Job, that type of suffering Righteousness, 
 
 Who first proclaim'd a future day when man 
 
 With stones and beasts should live in peace secure — 490 
 
 The man who held his patience to the last. 
 
 And bore to be mistaken by the types 
 
 Of Jews and heretics, whom in His Church 
 
 Christ ever prayeth for ; 'twas Daniel 
 
 Who set the lions, types of hellish powers, 495 
 
 At bold defiance, through the innocence 
 
 Which, supernatural itself, perform'd 
 
 The miracle by nature : Noah, too. 
 
 That type of Him who preach'd to those below 
 
 In durance awful bound, by holiness 500 
 
 Held in subjection fi'om the wicked one 
 
 His powers amid the brutes '*. The mighty three 
 
 Who would have saved Jerusalem from wrath. 
 
 Were those whose majesty of innocence 
 
 Restrain'd the agencies of wicked beings, 505 
 
 And Christ the while He put Himself beneath 
 
 The Law of shadows, in the wilderness 
 
 Was with the beasts, and hallow'd with his arms 
 
 Ignatius, whose sanctity disarm'd 
 
 And broke the teeth of hons in their mouths. 510 
 
 Thus when the Church had need of miracles 
 
 For them that are without, did she display 
 
 Such signs, as, beneficial in themselves. 
 
 Were yet the semblances of higher powers 
 
 Against the wicked one for those within. 515
 
 1f^ •^«-*' 
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 279 
 
 But as the common cast of outward things 
 Is ever hke to more unwonted gifts, 
 So is there yet a wonder of the race 
 And kindred of such miracles, whene'er 
 We see a child that wantonly invites 520 
 
 The anger of a dog, which patiently 
 Endures it from the innocence, bestow'd 
 Perhaps for such command on animals, 
 Bv Baptism only. Thus doth Prophecy 
 Work for itself fulfilment outwardly 525 
 
 As well as in things signified — The child 
 Sports with the type of evil undismay'd. 
 Alas ! that men should hold in cheap esteem 
 The gift which by this power prognosticates 
 Its future sway above the powers of ill. 530 
 
 The gift of innocence is hardest to regain 
 Once forfeited, its smallest outward acts 
 Are better and more comely than the deeds 
 Of sternest penance, or the patiency 
 Of lowliest meekness cowering under sin. 535 
 
 Alas ! that idle knowledge and display 
 Of trim instruction should be set on high 
 As princes able to bestow the boons 
 Of Christian goodness, while the Trinity, 
 Tied to the soul by innocence, is naught 540 
 
 In statesmen's eyes, that cannot see the Blood 
 Which in the cleansing Stream first seal'd it there. 
 Better to trust in Him than Angel Hosts, 
 Their Princedoms and Dominions ! how much more
 
 280 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Than in these princes, knowledge without creed, 545 
 Instruction without innocence, the banes 
 For which the old dominion over brutes 
 Was forfeit by the mother of us all. 
 
 If then the fierce and violent of beasts, 
 The lion and the dragon, pard and wolf, 550 
 
 Were types of evil ones, and men may grow 
 In nature like to these, yet these, when drawn 
 Into the Ark by Noah, there to lose 
 Their natural cruelty, and so foreshow 
 How fiercest persecutors may become 555 
 
 As gentle as a nurse. Saint Paul, who tore. 
 As doth a wolf'*, his prey, at morning tide. 
 At evening time — when this world's sun was set. 
 And Christ was come to give His labourers 
 Their penny, symbol of the cleansing Font — 560 
 
 The spoil did he with that Strong Man divide 
 Who spoil'd the Spoiler, and as on the Cross, 
 Betwixt his shoulders dwelt to bear the sheep 
 Or carry His own Name to Gentile host : 
 
 While He upon Saint Paul, as on His shrine, 565 
 
 With overshadowing Shechinah dwelt. 
 
 The Lion too may be the type of things 
 
 More holy still — or all this medley strange 
 
 Be prophesied of as inhabitants 
 
 Of Christ's new Ark, because the outward chaff 570 
 
 Of literal meaning is the only food 
 
 That some therein enjoy, or to show that just 
 
 And unjust feed upon the Grain alike
 
 1^ •-* 
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 2S1 
 
 In outward semblance, by the Altar's side. 
 
 While outward things be all that carnal mouths 575 
 
 Attain to from the Feast of fine Wheat flour ""'. 
 
 Hence tamer cattle haply too were there, 
 Where in the manger lay the Holy Child, 
 The Ox -was present at his Master's crib. 
 To show that Priests should at His Altar Hve, 5 SO 
 
 The Ass the type of Christian laity, 
 \\Tio meekly bear the burdens on them plac'd. 
 Was present there ! The Oxen are as Priests 
 Fraught with one function of the Cherubim ; 
 Whence he who most of all the Evangelists 585 
 
 Discourseth of the spiritual cures 
 On penitents bestow'd, hath chiefest claim 
 TJpon this symbol as his own, while he 
 Who stirred up his strength in latest age 
 To tell of Christ's Divinity, is stamp'd 590 
 
 With likeness to the Eagle mounting high. 
 The Man and Lion in that fourfold form. 
 At unity within itself, as those 
 Whom they presignified, the other twain 
 Describe, whereby the Lord of Glory flies 595 
 
 Through all the world with Gospel tidings glad. 
 And being four in one, and one in four, 
 By each the others' offices are shared. 
 As though these signs were purposely devised 
 To puzzle such as will not bow them down 600 
 
 To holy Church's teaching with a look 
 Of incoherence, contradictory
 
 282 NATURK A PARABLE. 
 
 To worldly wisdom's iindiscerning scorn. 
 
 Man then by contrast may be fittest type 
 Of Christian Priest, as closer unto Him 605 
 
 Who is the Son of Man, yet prophecy 
 To Christian days did promise seed of beast 
 As well as seed of man : to save alike 
 Both man and beast, both Priest and Laity 
 Was what He took upon Him. Whence the beasts 610 
 111 treated and accused of stubbornness 
 By this world's people, are the Church's sign 
 What passive and despised humility 
 Is suited to the Christian folk who turn 
 Their cheek unto the smiter as did He, 615 
 
 Whom we when imitating rightly call 
 Our Lord and Master. Yes, the humble ass 
 Is type of Christian laity, or those 
 Who from the nations come to break their thirst 
 At fonts of living Water, who erewhile 620 
 
 Had been unclean, and needed that the Lamb 
 Should be presented for them in the Shrine 
 Which better Sacrifices purify. 
 And sheep that are with young, who alway need 
 A gentle leading, are the penitents 625 
 
 In whom the Lamb of God is not yet form'd 
 Afresh by Holy Church's travailings : 
 For they must enter once again the Womb 
 Of Her who is the Mother of us all '^, 
 And then be born again, and when reborn 630 
 
 Shall have, however sad and long their pangs,
 
 1^ "^.^ 
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 283 
 
 Christ form'd afresh within them ; until then 
 Thev need a nurselike g-entleness from those 
 Whose knees, though bending down in often prayer. 
 Shall bear them as their children, even theirs. 635 
 
 Hark ! 'tis the sound of huntsmen's boisterous cry. 
 The dogs and horses merrily go on, 
 Excitement reigns, nor peaceful boundary now. 
 Nor stream, nor pregnant field can stay their course. 
 But all before their self-will'd jollity 640 
 
 Is batter'd down, and blasphemy around 
 Betokeneth who '^ is overruling these. 
 Or is the merriment a holy one ? 
 Is trade in horses one which Scripture loves ? 
 Are dogs there mentioned as the types of good, 645 
 Or coupled with the types swinish of lust. 
 As horses are with multiplying wives ? 
 'Tis man bestows upon high-spirited horse, 
 Or vigorous dog, the honourable badge 
 Of nobleness, while Scripture's holy page 650 
 
 Is friendlier to those who live a life 
 Of humble drudgery and lowly toil, 
 And seem too dull to act the warrior part 
 Of self-avengement — who in placid tents 
 With artless Jacob dwell, and love to hear 655 
 
 What schools of prophecy " have handed down. 
 Not those who with apostate Esau hunt. 
 Or with rebellious Nimrod, are the themes 
 For hallow'd praise ; though doubtless among these 
 Much undevelop'd goodness often dwells, 660
 
 "284 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Yet are not these the themes for Scripture praise. 
 
 But is there any type amid this scene 
 Of riotous enjoyment, not of ill 
 But goodness speaking ? yes, the frighted stag. 
 That flees before the huntsman, is the type 665 
 
 Of Him whom sinners hunted to the Cross. 
 'Twas to the tune of ancient minstrelsy 
 That David sung of all His Sufferings : 
 The ' Morning Stag ' that minstrelsy was call'd, 
 A Psalm that maketh wise. The Stag'" hath power, 670 
 Frighted and timid as it seems without, 
 Hath power within for treading serpents down ; 
 And therefore was it symbol meet of Him 
 Who in the Garden was astonied 
 
 Before He drank the Torrent in the way; 675 
 
 And we have need to thirst for suffering 
 Ere we can share His Glory, as the Stag 
 That panted for that Torrent ! through its stream 
 We may, though halt by nature, be empower'd 
 To tread the dragon underneath our feet, 6S0 
 
 And, though the lowest members of our Lord, 
 May bruise the head of Satan, and be strong 
 Against his venom, and with bounding feet 
 May walk and leap, and glorify our God. 
 
 Moreover, in the Ark were divers kinds 685 
 
 Of beasts collected, some as types of good. 
 Of ill the others : and in holy writ 
 Leviathan and Behemoth are set 
 As likenesses of him who with his tail
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 285 
 
 Swept Heaven's children down ; Leviathan 690 
 
 Is made to sport amid the troubled sea, 
 
 That God may lead him by the hook of woe, 
 
 Like to that other type of fallen spirit, 
 
 Sennacherib, upon the day of woe. 
 
 When He shall laugh His enemies to scorn : 695 
 
 And Behemoth, who, risen from the surge. 
 
 Abode on earth, again betokens him 
 
 Who from the lake of brimstone rose to mock 
 
 The city of the saints, that he might go 
 
 Back to the lake of fire, tormented evermore. 700 
 
 Of him are divers types, and divers powers 
 
 Of mischief dwell in him, the lion's rage. 
 
 The serpent's subtlety, the greediness 
 
 Of these sea-monsters — all a place have found 
 
 Of likeness to him, some are also chosen 705 
 
 As semblances of better energies. 
 
 The Lion of the Chief of Judah's race 
 
 Was type of old — the Serpent in the waste 
 
 Could speak of Him whose very look could heal 
 
 The men that first look'd on Him, though indeed 710 
 
 No second healing there be promised such 
 
 As catch again the pestilence of sin. 
 
 And through the world some vestiges were kept 
 
 By heathen rites of meaning like to these : 
 
 The Serpent was the hieroglyphic sign 715 
 
 Of Wisdom far and wide, the Ox obtain'd 
 
 A right to signify what duty was. 
 
 And virtue ever waning'', or was placed
 
 "286 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 On high for worship, as by wicked kings 
 
 Who learnt from Egypt strange idolatry. 720 
 
 The dove was held the inspiring messenger 
 
 Of sacred truths in old Dodona's groves : 
 
 And other symbols manifold survived 
 
 From old tradition, or from cunning lore 
 
 Inspired by demons emulous of truth. 725 
 
 If in the race of sovereign man prevails 
 Unbounded waste of faculties begun, 
 If in the multitudinous progeny 
 Of plants that yield their seed, a ruin spreads 
 Of kindred wideness, haply among beasts 730 
 
 Far more fulfil their destiny, though they 
 Be likewise liegemen all of time and chance ; 
 Of old the mingled race of animals 
 Was sever'd into classes of unclean 
 And clean, as each was suited to fulfil 735 
 
 Its office as the type of divers sins. 
 For every sin found antitype in them. 
 Save the Idolater, because all sin 
 Is one idolatry, a worshipping of aught 
 Beside the Lord, in such way as to hurt 740 
 
 Or minish from the reverence due to Him. 
 However proudly Christians may arraign 
 Their brethren for the worshipping of forms 
 Of things in Heaven, this is better far 
 Than worshipping the images of aught 745 
 
 Beneath the earth, than rearing in the heart 
 The shrine of Mammon — god of Englishmen,
 
 IT -» 
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 287 
 
 As reason erst of Frenchmen, and one day 
 
 Perhaps to have his outward image rear'd. 
 
 Secure already of the inward love. 750 
 
 For creatures of all kinds be in the Ark 
 
 Of Christ, until their natures change by aid 
 
 Of saintly intercession, or unchanged 
 
 Shall plunge them into ruin, where nor saint, 
 
 Nor prayer, nor any voice of praise remains. 755 
 
 Yet since this office sins to typify. 
 Or better things to come, was soon of old 
 Perverted, till they made the symbol take 
 The place of what was signified, and paid 
 To Oxen or to Calves the homage due 760 
 
 To Him, who is by penitents return'd 
 Fed humbly on as to the prodigal 
 The fatted calf was in a figure given ; 
 Since beasts were worshipp'd, therefore fell on them 
 Some time the avenging scourge ^^ the harbinger 765 
 Of what befalleth those, who change the use 
 Of natural symbols to the worshipping 
 Of nature in His place, who is the Lord 
 Of nature, who for this idolatry 
 
 Destroyeth it and them. Thus did the scourge 770 
 On Egypt's cattle fall, and on the men ; 
 Thus we, from this sad dwelling-place of Ham, 
 Are warn'd of ill to come, as from the Ark 
 We learn of all the creatures good and bad, 
 That they should gather to the Christian Church. 775 
 
 While then the ceremonial state remain'd.
 
 288 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Ere types had changed to sacraments, or left 
 
 Their place unoccupied as having done 
 
 Tlaeir order'd task, while still Jerusalem 
 
 M'as standing, though beneath a Saviour's curse ; 780 
 
 Saint Peter at the hour of mid-day prayer 
 
 Miraculously hunger'd, and the trance 
 
 Before his vision held the ancient types 
 
 Of men, or clean, or yet unwash'd from stains. 
 
 A while before the roaring Lion sought 785 
 
 To slay the chief Apostle, with the rest — 
 
 But briefly did his faith to failing lean. 
 
 Soon springing back beneath the gracious ray 
 
 Of the o'ershaded Sun, — that Enemy 
 
 Would fain assimilate unto Himself 790 
 
 The Church's Rock ; but now the Higher Rock 
 
 Hath set him up, and he is bid to eat'^ 
 
 The Gentile hosts, beneath the unclean things 
 
 Outshadow'd : soon the prophecy obtains 
 
 An earnest of fulfilment ; and the man 795 
 
 Who was the deputy of Roman power 
 
 (The chiefest temporal power) before his knees 
 
 Was bowing down. The stronghold of the Foe 
 
 Who promised all the kingdoms of the earth 
 
 To Simon's Master, now unwilling yields 800 
 
 To the disciple, — that whose name is Strength, 
 
 Bows down to weakness ; type of many kings 
 
 Is this Centurion, who before the Church 
 
 Should crouch in future days, whom prophecy 
 
 Before their life was given them, had bound 805
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 289 
 
 With wonder-working spell, that they should come 
 And do meet homage to the Church's lords. 
 Oh, mighty vision ! by its agency 
 The destiny of typic ritual 
 
 Was seal'd for ever! Strange it must have been 810 
 T' assort with those who own'd no outward mark 
 Of sonship to the father of the race 
 That only bore the oracles of God ! 
 They saw not in their types and semblances 
 What every where was hidden ; and to them 815 
 
 The living Word was hidden ; they despised 
 Clues which their fathers were entrusted with, 
 That they might have an understanding heart. 
 And shall we never feel with doubting awe. 
 That in the Apostles' history, beneath 820 
 
 The tackling and the girding of the words, 
 There are the solid truths, which we despise ? 
 Shall we not look in visitation's hour 
 With wonder at our blindness, learning then 
 How much true guidance we have hearken'd to 825 
 With deafen'd ears ? how in the Church's storm 
 Stern abstinence may help the nighted crew 
 To come, not by their wayward wilfulness. 
 But by obedient yielding up of self 
 To holy men's direction, to the port 830 
 
 And haven where they would be, if but those 
 Abide within the ship, subdued in heart 
 Amid this failing of the sun and stars ? 
 
 u
 
 290 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 For haply not alone are evil powers 
 
 Invisibly at hand within the Ark 835 
 
 As well as visibly, but every Church and folk 
 
 Good Angels have, who each, beneath their Chief, 
 
 Are glad to hold within their own domain 
 
 Such holy persons, as shall place themselves 
 
 Within the country which their Throne unseen 840 
 
 Presideth over, or by other act 
 
 Yield to the Principality or Power 
 
 That hath another Church, than this their own 
 
 To rule in such ways, as may perfect best 
 
 The sanctity of subjects whom they love. 845 
 
 'Twas so that MichaeF* felt his Brother Chief 
 
 Withstand him, while intent on Persia's weal 
 
 He long'd to keep the lively oracles 
 
 And saintly prayers and lives among them still. 
 
 And who can tell what Martyrdom may give 850 
 
 Of power unseen o'er such as yield themselves 
 
 To influences diverse ? who shall say 
 
 There are no Guardian saints to every isle. 
 
 And place, and nation, from the ground of which 
 
 Their blood with hallow'd intercession cries } 855 
 
 But leaving thoughts, where wonder may abide 
 And lisp its musings, free from just rebuke 
 If only, in some things, it do not dwell 
 Too pertinaciously on possibilities. 
 And shape them into party marks of strife, 860 
 
 To measure in the private of the heart
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 291 
 
 Love to the holder of them, hate to such 
 As have not weigh'd their well-eai-n'd hkeUhood ; 
 Yea, leaving these deep bearings of the Church 
 On higher ranks of being, consider we 865 
 
 If aught of goodness hath through her approach'd 
 The humbler creatures of our common sphere. 
 What though mankind, baptized in Noah's flood, 
 Shook portions of his ceremonial state 
 From off him, and was able to destroy 870 
 
 The cattle for his food, and still is lord 
 Of that his right, (which may not be denied 
 Without asserting error in the gift 
 By All-wise Law bestow'd,) what though delay 
 From human wickedness impede the course 875 
 
 Which else the bearing of the Cross had wrought 
 In abstinence from flesh ; though they who won 
 That Sign in Baptism seem to have flung away 
 The power of self-denial it convey' d ; 
 What though ten thousand creatures roaring seek 880 
 Their meat from God, and with their gory mouth 
 Proclaim the fall by sundry shapes of death 
 Attended ? — in despite of widest spread 
 Of carnage, still there lack not tendencies, 
 Beginnings, yearnings of a kindlier lot 885 
 
 For brutes. For while this one great Nineveh 
 In which we dwell, the Church's trumpet hears 
 1 'reclaim her solemn fasts, then rest accrues 
 To animals far greater, than of old 
 
 u 2
 
 292 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 The Jewish sabbath, typical of rest 890 
 
 For fellow-citizens of Heaven's Saints, 
 
 In one poor corner of the world bestow'd. 
 
 For the new Law a constant rest enjoins " 
 
 From evil works, and gentleness and love 
 
 It bids men shed abroad abundantly ; 895 
 
 And gives them inward courage to display 
 
 That which its words command, and righteousness 
 
 Is mercy in its estimate, and men 
 
 Of righteousness must each one know the mind 
 
 Of his own beast. And childhood's innocence, 900 
 
 While it preserves such power on savage bull 
 
 Or angry mastiff, that the cowering thing 
 
 Yields itself up to teazing patiently, 
 
 Doth also typify a gentleness, in men 
 
 Of childlike minds, extending its domain 905 
 
 To brutes which by the inward majesty 
 
 Of hallow'd lowliness it makes to feel 
 
 Some portions of the great forgiveness-scheme. 
 
 They by their inward gifts (apart from force) 
 
 Enjoy a kingly unction and a sway 910 
 
 Like that which o'er the lion and the bear 
 
 The ruddy youth of Bethlehem possess'd. 
 
 Nor is it gentleness (the Christian's arm 
 
 Of might) alone, that whensoe'er obeyed 
 
 Sheds a benignant shadow on the beasts 915 
 
 That dwell beneath it, while itself was won 
 
 By fasts, whose tendency must ever be
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 293 
 
 To lengthen out the life, we see is theirs : 
 
 But, also wheresoe'er the Holy Church 
 
 Hath borne the Presence (may I fitly say) 920 
 
 Of Him whose gentleness the foal from her 
 
 That bare it would not sunder ; there the brutes 
 
 Evinced some alteration in their wrath 
 
 Against sin-stricken man, some intimate 
 
 And wary sense that now he was restored. 925 
 
 For as they roar and seek their meat from God, 
 
 As ravens cry to Him, as living things 
 
 Have all their way and access to the Throne 
 
 Of unknown Providence, which sways them all. 
 
 Haply by Angels to them visible, 930 
 
 And thwarting what they purpose, certainly 
 
 By fit rewards and punishments ^"j and gifts, 
 
 Some with superior foresight, some with art 
 
 Inimitable, some with love to man. 
 
 And dutiful submission : so they all 935 
 
 Are doubtless capable of diverse gifts 
 
 Additional to these ; of inward aids 
 
 For self-improvement, of submissiveness 
 
 Where they were sometime lawless, or of change 
 
 Further than aught which in the narrow scope 940 
 
 Of human wisdom ever hath appear'd. 
 
 Hence haply where the sons of Adam's race 
 
 Bv sacramental bands are made to share 
 
 Another Nature, there wild animals 
 
 Lose portions of their fierceness, and betray 945
 
 294 NATURK A PARABLE. 
 
 A shake that hath been felt by Satan's powers, 
 
 That ranged of old the air, exorcis'd now 
 
 By the high Presence of the Sacraments, 
 
 Which from the Side of Him, who was uplift 
 
 In air upon the Cross, thus mighty flow : 950 
 
 And beasts of kindred kinds, from divers shores, 
 
 Show some diversity of gentleness, 
 
 According as that Presence hath been near 
 
 Or distant from the lair where they were rear'd. 
 
 Mighty indeed the stream of tendency, 955 
 
 That bears down much before it as it flows, 
 And as it ebbs shall doubtless bear away 
 More that resists it now. Yet whether this 
 Shall e'er become effect, and prophecy 
 Give man a literal domination back 960 
 
 Upon brute creatures, and by consequence 
 Most natural, though not as yet disclosed. 
 Shall yield these beings up again to man, 
 This have I not yet seen : but usefully 
 Methinks we dwell upon the mystery 965 
 
 Which gives a force additional to two 
 When join'd in prayer ; for one alone is void 
 Of power to get him Heat, inviting down 
 That mystic working from the Triune Sun. 
 And till the race of man together joins 970 
 
 In fuller love,_ such rule above the beasts 
 Shall never come to pass. If power join'd 
 With reason, when proportionate, effects
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 295 
 
 Against brute powers of the Evil One 
 
 "What trial proves it can, vphat amplitude 975 
 
 Of power would result, when all mankind 
 
 Were leagued in love, the members of one House ! 
 
 And must not we, whose merchants rival Tyre 
 In self- congratulated wealth and sin. 
 See reason of alarm, when near the shrine 980 
 
 Tn which they worship Mammon with the rites 
 Of toleration on the Ganga's banks. 
 The lion sends his messenger for prey. 
 Or stealthy tiger yields the unclean birds. 
 That hover in the distance, human food ? 985 
 
 Have we, with all our boast of purity. 
 Done aught to purify these conquer'd climes ? 
 Or are we apostolical who send 
 No suffering martyrs forth, but men with wives 
 And comfortable cumbrances, that eat 990 
 
 And waste the missionar}'^'s time for prayer ? 
 Sure it is hard to read in prophecy 
 Of judgments sore on nations that commit 
 The whoredom of their merchandise and trade 
 With all the nations, and to hold that now 995 
 
 Its voice has alter'd into history, 
 And speaks no more the destiny of those 
 Of whom those nations but the shadows were. 
 Tvre might have carried news of better law. 
 And truths reveal'd, and gracious things to come, 1000 
 To all the kingdoms of the earth — and we
 
 296 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Might bear the things not as a promise now. 
 
 But as fulfilment ! we who gather alms, 
 
 Amid the vanities of courtesans, 
 
 For the occasion, of a fancy fair, 1005 
 
 Or herald forth in long subscription-lists. 
 
 That we have done what secrecy alone 
 
 Can make to be what it pretends to be ! 
 
 We that a weekly sermon set on high. 
 
 And drive out daily prayer, or Sacrifice 1010 
 
 At blessed Altar, we that are afraid 
 
 Of monasteries, or aught that yields the smell 
 
 Of sanctity and love, and lengthen'd prayer. 
 
 But think our nation by its factories 
 
 And pandemoniums of machinery 1015 
 
 Is not a whit endanger'd, or by arts 
 
 And merchandise with sanction'd knaveries — 
 
 We, to be sure, are like a Christian folk. 
 
 And dwell in cedar houses, and with gold 
 
 Adorn our tables, and with burnish'd brass, 1020 
 
 The while the mystic Table is not meet 
 
 For scullion's table, and the Lord of Hosts 
 
 Is laid on vilest metals — we, alas ! 
 
 May not be hopeful when with humbled thought 
 
 We think what distant climes and sever'd isles 1025 
 
 Have been entrusted to us, which we use 
 
 As mines to dig out incense for the god 
 
 Of this world's Mammon. And is this Church 
 
 Descended from great Becket, that could once
 
 BEASTS AND ALL CATTLE. 297 
 
 Bow traitor kings before Her Martyr's shrine ? 1030 
 
 Doth she belong to that Church Catholic 
 
 WTio had not yielded kings her right to make 
 
 Her Bishops into Princes in all lands ? 
 
 Who reareth now the Bulwarks as of old ? 
 
 WHio sets up houses for posterity, 103o 
 
 To tell them that come after ? Who can go 
 
 Blest by the Holy See, as Boniface 
 
 The self-denying monk of this dear isle, 
 
 To bring the erring back unto the God 
 
 Whom Woman bore for man ? Alas ! with ease 1040 
 
 We may complain, and deem that stirring man 
 
 Against his Church's order'd punishment. 
 
 And miserable subjection to the state 
 
 And all its odious influences, were gain. 
 
 Far wiser if we each one shall forego 1045 
 
 All pompous acts of Almsgiving, and learn 
 
 By fast to rend away our love of show. 
 
 By praver and life on Eucharist intent 
 
 And sorrowing for it, where 'tis sinfully 
 
 Withheld, in silentness to seek to draw 1050 
 
 With the Man's bands new members to His fold. 
 
 We must not traffic now in oliveyards 
 
 And vineyards, — nor for little ones desire 
 
 As olive-branches round the table set, 
 
 Nor covet wives to be as fruitful vines : 1055 
 
 Nay — loneliness, and fast, and growing prayers, 
 
 And glad humility desirous not to do.
 
 "298 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 But to have done by Gou wliat it affects : 
 
 These be the only ways which may again 
 
 Restore the Church's right to rule the world — 1060 
 
 That desert with whose wild inhabitants 
 
 She, by the aid of her dear Master's Cross, 
 
 Enabling her to live His life austere, 
 
 In safety dwells, till His good time be come 
 
 For her to work her miracles again. 1065
 
 *r •'^^ 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 Note 1. p. 264. 
 
 St. Clement, Strom. V. § 30, 'QffavTwg /cat 6 'AnocfToXog firf^iva 
 tivai iv XpiaTt^ SovXov fj iXivOepov ypcKpei ri "EXXriva t) lov- 
 CaioV Kail')] yao t) Kziffig i) Iv Xpiarcf a^iXovtiKog Kai anXtov- 
 iKTijTog Kui taiiTt]^ SiKuia' <p96vog yap i^ta tov Oeiov x^poi) 
 'iararai k. X. Compare note 16, where mention is made of the 
 intercourse of all orders when m Church. 
 
 Note 2. p. 265. 
 
 St. Ephrem on Zech. iii. vol. ii. p. 286. In that He was clothed 
 with filthy garments — that in his prophecy Isaiah explains, when 
 he says, " The Lord caused to fall upon Him the iniquities of us 
 all." It is cited also by St. Cyprian, Test. ii. 13, to show that 
 Christ came in a low estate at His first Advent. Origen in Levit. 
 ix. 6, quotes it, adding, " Quod utique pro assumtione carnis dici 
 pie intelligitur :" with which Jerome also, on the phice, agrees. 
 Other interpretations may be reconciled with this, by taking the 
 passage to belong to Christ's Body, the Church. See St. Austin, 
 c. Faust, xii. St. Just. Martyr, p. 344, &c.
 
 •300 NOTES 
 
 Note 3. p. 265. 
 
 This alludes to the great service Monasteries were of in bring- 
 ing about the liberation of slaves when rich owners became reli- 
 gious. See Miihler's Treatise upon this subject in his Works, 
 ed. Dollinger, vol. ii. p. 65. 
 
 Note 4. p. 2G6. 
 
 The thing principally dwelt upon in this book is the uncertainty 
 we are iu as to the length of an animal's duration : it is not 
 intended to assert that they have a future existence, but only that 
 it is mysterious, that we should knoic so little of a duration of 
 creatures amongst which we live. Gennadius, indeed, in the 17th 
 chapter of his Eccles. Dogmata, gives it as the received opinion 
 that their existence terminates with this life. But the learned 
 Elraenhorst, in his notes on the place, gives so little authority 
 from the Fathers, as not to prevent its remaining an open ques- 
 tion. Such passages as Ps. xlix. 12, will not settle the question, 
 both for other reasons and for this particularly, that ' perishing ' 
 and 'being lost' are expressed by the same word in Hebrew, as 
 e. g. in the close of Ps. cxix., where no one would suppose that 
 a lost sheep meant, one annihilated. Neither does Bp. Butler 
 appear to me at all to deny the possibility of their existing in 
 some future state. It is from a negation of such possibility on 
 the part of authorities, that I wish to show myself secure ; to 
 assert the duration of animals after death is neither desirable, 
 nor is it necessary for the pui'pose here dwelt upon, viz. our 
 ignorance of their destiny. 
 
 Note 5. p. 209. 
 
 There is an allusion here to two passages of the Analogy. One 
 is in pt. ii. ch. iv. p. 274, and runs as follows : " We know what 
 we ourselves aim at as final ends, and what courses we take 
 merely as means conducive to those ends. But we are greatly 
 ignorant how far things are considered by the Author of Nature 
 under the single notion of means and ends, so as that it may be
 
 ON BOOK VI. 301 
 
 said, this is merely an end, and tliat merely a means in His 
 regard." The other passage is in pt. i. chap. vii. p. 177- The 
 following is a part of it : " There seems, indeed, nothing whence 
 we can so much as make a conjecture whether all creatures, 
 actions, and events throughout the whole of nature have relations 
 to each other. But as it is obvious that all events have future 
 unknown consec|uences," &c. &c. 
 
 Note 6. p. 270. 
 
 See the long chorus at the beginning of Sophocles' Ajax, par- 
 ticularly the words at line 23C, Svo 5' dpyinoSac Kpiovq. . . .iraiti 
 Xr/vn^ fiaariyi ^in\y kukA dtivdi^ajv pi]fiaQ' a Saif^iojv KovStlg 
 
 Note 7- P- 271. 
 
 These words refer to Herbert's Poem on Affliction, p. 71 : 
 " Thy Life on earth was grief, and Thou art still Constant unto 
 it, making it to be A point of honour now to grieve in me. And 
 in Thy members suffer ill." And, a little before, Bp. Butler's 
 words in pt. ii. ch. v. are alluded to, whei-e he says, that " the 
 objection referred to is urged not against Mediation m that high, 
 eminent, and peculiar sense in which Christ is our Mediator, but 
 absolutely against the whole notion itself of a mediator at all," — 
 words which ought to silence those who may be disposed to 
 complain that this great divine took a meagre view of Christ's 
 Mediation. 
 
 Note 8. p. 272. 
 
 This alludes to the 65th Psalm, ver. 13, where the words of 
 the original seem to admit of a rendering in their ordinary sense, 
 if taken of spiritual and not of literal sheep. For if winning souls 
 to Christ covers a nudtitude of sins, then the sheep may be said 
 to be clothed with those they win.
 
 302 NOTES 
 
 Note 9. p. 274. 
 
 This will, 1 believe, be found to be a common view in antiquity 
 of what is now viewed as the sin of David only in numbering the 
 people. For it is the arifjer of the Lord which is spoken of 
 as tempting David ; and that anger is khidled not against David, 
 but against Israel. Theodoret, (Qusest. ad loc.) even, who is not 
 given to mystical intci'prctation, takes v. 17 in the sense here 
 ive" as St. Austin does, c. Faust, xxii. § lid. 
 
 Note 10. p. 275. 
 
 What is here said of fables is said with a full recollection 
 of the way in which the Indian collection styled 'the Hitopadesa' 
 travelled over the world : still there seems something imaccounted 
 for in the fact, that so many nations referred to some greater 
 intercourse between man and brutes in earlier times : the fact is 
 a striking one, whatever becomes of the use here made of it. The 
 following passage from St. Cyril, book iii., against Julian, will 
 show whence some ideas in the text have been taken. It may be 
 found at p. 86 of Spanheim's magnificently but incoi'rectly printed 
 edition, where in reply to Julian's assertion that the account of 
 Eve and the serpent was fabulous, he says, aW ryjueTc, <L rav, ov 
 TovTO (pafiiv TTtpi riJQ ayiaQ Kai Qiottvivotov ypa(p))g' fivBiKov 
 yap iv avrfi •KavTtKwq ovSkv' d\rj9tiaQ Se Travra ntjx'tdTtaTca. 
 Oavfidl^b) Sk on Kai Toi Iffxvog Sjv dyav Kai (laOrjudrajv, i)Q yovv 
 olerai Kai (pr)aiv,i(TU)rspiKm' oiik dvr\KOOQ Kai Trapd twv aioBr)Twv 
 iaO' '6t( tov vovv tvuig ov trvvrJKev, on ry rov Trovrjpov Kai 
 apxtKUKOV Saijiovog tvipyd^ ytyovev r) (pwvi) npoKaXv^fia ttjq 
 kvovariQ avrov (TKat6rT]T0Q Troiovfiivov tov b^iv. Zwou yap to 
 TrjviKaSE XoyiKov fifj ovtoq tTtpov, t$ anXoTijTOQ rjjg dyav (j}t]9t] 
 TO yvvaiov rax« ttod Kai irkpoiq ^woeg SeSoffGai uvOpwmia 
 SvvanOai Kfxpi)'^Oai, (pwvy. "On Si \a\fTrhv ovSiv Tolg (iKaOap- 
 Toig TTVivfiaai to Kai taO' oTt tkti toiovtoiq iivixti-ptiv jxdXiaTa 
 fiiv d^ioxpfwf T£ Kai (lovoq Mwffiojf o Xoyoc £(C '"^ ro xprjvai 
 TrXijpocpoptlv. And then he proceeds to show how their own 
 writers, when asserting similar things, were not comited absurd. 
 Compare Ephr. ii. p. 482, d, and note 14.
 
 1^ •V-*' 
 
 ON BOOK VI, 303 
 
 Note U. p. 276. 
 
 Origen, c. Cels. p. 216, lib. iv. tfTrtp Kara npovoiav 6 Koff^og 
 yeyivtjrai Kai Qtbg e^sor^j/ct roig oXoig dvayKoiov rjv Tci Zt^irvpa 
 Tov yki'ovQ ruiv dv6()U)iTti)v dp^dfiira viro riva ytyovivai (pcjovnav 
 rijv I'nrb Kpfirroj'wv, wcrrt kut' dp-^dq iirini^iav yiyovh'ai Trig 
 6iiag (piKJidig jrpbg rovg dvOpioTTovg' liTTip Kai 6 'AaKpaXog noi- 
 j/rije ivvouiv elnf &vvai yap Tore SaiTig iffay, Kvvoi Si Oooikoi 
 'AOai'droKTi BioTcri KaraSiirjrolg r dvGpunroig' kuI 6 OtTog Ct 
 Kara 'Miovaia \6yog (i(Tt)yayi rovg TrpwTovg dKOvovrag Gtiorepag 
 (pojv^g Kai xpt](Tn6(Tvva opwvTag, kaO' ors dyytXwv 6«oi) litiSr)fiiag 
 yiytvi]fi'ivag [-vr)gV\ Tvpog avrovg' Kai ydp tiKog iv npxj/ tov k6<j- 
 fiov i~i TrXtlov /3£/3ojj0»jcr9at tijv di'OpioTTwv (pvaiv, ewg TrpoKOTrrIg 
 yivofisvt]g iig ovveffiv Kai Tdg Xonrdg dptrdg Kai Ttjv ivptcriv twv 
 rf^i'div, SwrjOuiffi Kai Ka9' eavTovg i^yv ov xP^Zovreg dti iiri- 
 rpoTrevovTiov Kai o'lKOvofiovvTLov avTovg fxiTd Trapaoo^ov itti- 
 (pai'tiag twv inrtjptrovvTOJV ri^ tov Qtov (SovXijfiaTi. And soon 
 aftei- he observes, oi;k dOtet turjxavr^aavTo (Tfiaii' avTolg oi 
 uvBpwTToi (Tiortjpiav d-rrb tHjv Orjpiwv Kai tijv icar' iKtivwv stti- 
 k-pdruav. ' That thoughtful man,' Bp. Butler, ' traced on some 
 obscure hints' from this passage when he wrote part of the 3rd 
 chapter of book i. of his Analogy. 
 
 Note 12. p. 276. 
 
 The Vishnu Purana reminds one of Heb. xiii. 2, when at 
 p. 325 we read, " [The householder] will give food to any guest 
 who arrives at the time, or who is desirous of victuals, or who is 
 passing along the road ; for holy saints and ascetic benefactors of 
 mankind are traversing the earth disguised in various shapes." 
 
 Note 13. p. 277. 
 
 Pliny, N. H. ii. c. 46, complains of the few additions to science 
 in his days, about the time the Gospel was beginning to spread, — 
 " pace tarn fcsta, tam gaudcntc provcntu rerum artiumque prin- 
 cipe, omnino nihil addiscitur nova inquisitione, immo ne veteruni 
 quidem inventa perdiscuntur." One could wish this beautiful and 
 instructive author was more read.
 
 304 NOTES 
 
 NoTK 14. p. 278. 
 
 The following roniark.s are from :i ]);i.s.sage of St. Eplirom, 
 vol. ii. i>. -IJil, in which ho is arguing against the Manichican 
 notion that matter is evil : 
 
 " In the Ark the creatures He so moulded as to teach 
 
 mankind 
 How in it the diverse tribes had all of them their 
 
 natures changed. 
 Lo ! every nature there prockiim'd that evil is no 
 
 natural thing. 
 Let them show me then of evil, that its nature brooks 
 
 no change ; 
 Both in nature and in evil they saw in these that they 
 
 were changed. 
 Lo ! vanquish'd are oui' enemies, and our side by feeble 
 
 things 
 Hath gain'd itself the victory. 
 But and if a man should say of devils, that to tliem 
 
 belongs 
 Nothing of material kmd, and neither was their nature 
 
 changed. 
 To persuade him let there be the pard, the serpent, and 
 
 the bear. 
 Which beneath restraint were laid : 
 For if natures dumb and frantic, with no reason, 
 
 changed were ; 
 Albeit to our Lord the devils crie'd, saying, God Thou 
 
 art. 
 If again they say, that evil to the devils doth belong. 
 Guilty then they plead themselves, the arguers — all 
 
 evil, then. 
 Of mankind and beast, alliance with the Evil One hath 
 
 none ; 
 Of consequence, no forced constraint the Good One upon 
 
 evil lays. 
 Yet the evil that was in them by constraint He did 
 
 o'errule.
 
 ON BOOK VI. 30o 
 
 'Twas not that they might be made evil, but to strip the 
 
 evil off 
 That was in them, that they so were subjected to this 
 
 constraint. 
 In this its half, see thou the whole ! Fish on dry land 
 
 did He drive ; 
 Swine in waters choked He. Yet no confusions wrought 
 
 His force, 
 For that Good One forced not nature ; but did force and 
 
 render fair 
 Beings that were evil, and did all of them from all 
 
 withhold." 
 This passage (though to me not without its difficulties) seems 
 to bring strikingly before one the miraculous suspension of the 
 natural state of things in the Ark. I shall place beside it one 
 given by St. Austin from St. Chrysostom, who looks upon the pre- 
 sent relation of man to the animal world as the result of the Fall. 
 The passage is the more striking, because St. Chrysostom does 
 not very frequently dwell upon things of that nature. It occurs 
 in the first book against Julian the Pelagian, c. 25 : " Tractat idem 
 Johannes in sermone quodam hujusmodi quiKstionem, cur bestiae 
 vel Itedant homines vel interimaut, cum sententia Dcjmini mani- 
 festa sit, qua eas homini subdidit, ut earum habeat potestatem. 
 Quam quaestionera sic solvit ut dicat ante peccatum omnes bestias 
 homini fuisse subjectas, quod autem nunc hominibus nocent 
 pcenam primi esse peccati. Prolixa tractatio est ; ideo huic 
 operi non a me inseritur, sed aliquid tamen inde oportet ut ponam. 
 ' Timemus,' inquit, 'bestias, et pavemus, non contradico ; et a priu- 
 cipatu decidimus ; et hoc dico ipse etiam. Sed non hoc ostendit 
 legem Dei esse mendacem : ab initio enim res non ita erant dis- 
 positse ; sed timebant et tremebant et subjiciebantur domino. 
 Et quoniam a fiducia decidimus, profecto et ab honore. Unde 
 hoc manifestum est 1 Adduxit bestias ad Adam videre quid eas 
 vocaret. Et non resiluit Adam tanquam timens.' Et paulo post : 
 ' Hoc unum,' inquit, ' signum (juod non fuerint homini ab initio 
 terribiles bestiae : secundum, aliud isto manifest! us, qu;e fuit ad 
 mulierem per serpentem disputatio. Si enim essent terribiles 
 hominibus bestiie, non utiquc nmlier viso serpente mansisset, non 
 accepisset consilium, non ei cum tanta sermocinaretur fiducia, sed 
 
 X
 
 306 NOTES 
 
 statim ad ipsum ct cxpavisset et rcsiluisset adspcctum. Nunc 
 autem et disputat et non timet. Nondum enim erat timer iste, 
 sed quia peccatum ingressum est, ablata sunt ea quic honoris 
 erant.' Itemque post ])aululum : ' Quamdiii quidem,' in(juit, 
 ' habebat ad Deum fiduciain, terribilis bestiis erat, sed quia 
 offendit, extremes etiam conservorum suorum jam pavet. Quod 
 si hoe non est, inquit, tu niihi ostende, ante peccatum (juod terri- 
 biles erant lioniinibus bestite — sed non Iiabebis. Si autem post 
 tanta [tantus ?] ingressus est timer, et hoc tutela Domini est. Si 
 enim manduto, quod datum est, moto ab liominc et soluto, honor, 
 qui ci datus erat a Deo, mansisset iinniobilis, non facile resurrex- 
 isset.' Nempe manifestum est sanctum Johannem hac disputa- 
 tione monstrasse illud (juod per unuTn hominem ingressum est, 
 comnmue omnibus factum esse peccatum, quando(|uidem omnibus 
 terror communis est bestiarum, quise utique nee infantibus parcunt, 
 quos profecto secundum istum tractatum Johannis, nuUo mode 
 Itederent sive terrerent nisi essent veteris illius peccati obligatione 
 constricti." 
 
 Note 15. p. 280. 
 
 St. Paul was universally thought to be intended by the wolf, to 
 which Benjamin is herein compared. The following is a portion 
 of what St. Ambrose (de Ben. Patriarch, c. xii.) says upon the 
 subject : " Plurimos habet lupos diabolus quos ad Christi oves 
 dirigit, et ideo intelligibilis Joseph, ut oves servaret suas, ipsun) 
 inimicum venientem ad diripiendas oves rapuit lupum, Paulum 
 faciens ex lupo pastorem. De quo dicit Jacob, sicut scriptum 
 est, Benjamin lupus rapax ; mane comedet adhuc, et ad vesperam 
 diridit escam, principlbus. Lupus erat cum dlspei'geret et devo- 
 raret oves Ecclesiaj. Sed qui lupus venerat, pastor est factus. 
 Lupus erat cum Saulus erat, (juando intrabat in domos et viros ac 
 mulieres trahebat in carcerem. Lupus erat quando spirans minas, 
 
 &c Ideo Rachel cum pareret Benjamin vocavit nomeu 
 
 ejus, Filius doloris mei, futurum prophetans ex ea tribu Paulum 
 qui affligeret filios Ecclesise persecutionis suae tempore, et gravi 
 matrem dolore vexaret. Sed tamen idem postea principibus 
 escam posteriore divisit tempore, evangelizans gentibus Dei 
 Verbum et plurimos ad fidem provocans ; quo disputante, sicut 
 legimus, Paulus proconsul et Publius princeps Domini gratiani
 
 1^ '■'\^0' 
 
 ON BOOK VI. 307 
 
 receperunt." And to go to another corner of the Church, St. 
 Ephrem on Genesis says, " Benjamin is a rarenous wolf, that is, 
 Paul that was a wolf to the wolves, and snatched from the evil 
 one all souls : arid in the evening shall he divide that which he 
 hath seized, that is, in the end of the world shall gain himself an 
 excellent reward for his labours :" and on Deuter. p. 288, Aud 
 over him shall hover all tlie day, and between his shoulders shall He 
 dwfU. By these words he shadows out that voice that hovered 
 over him from Heaven, and showed him the intelligible Heavens 
 [the word 'intelligible,' here and in St. Ambrose, is used as 
 opposed to sensible, and answers to the votjtos of the Greeks] : 
 or that agaui which He said to Ananias, that he shall carry My 
 Name among the nations, and a chosen vessel is he unto Me. 
 Allusion is presently made to St. Hilary's explanation of the 
 parable of the Householder ; who understands the peny of the gift 
 of justification, which was alike to all ; the evening, of the time 
 of Christ's coming, at which those who are called start from where 
 all before them ended, viz. a state of righteousness. 
 
 Note 16. p. 281. 
 
 St. Jerome, who with all his vigour in maintaining the literal 
 sense of Scripture, can use allegory with great dexterity where 
 he is afraid of Millenarian views, upon Isaiah xi. 6, writes as 
 follows : " Hsec breviter diximus ut Judaizantes nostros (sc. Mil- 
 lenaries) gravissimo somno stertere convincaraus. Cteterum juxta 
 vivificantem spiritum facilis intelligentia est. Lupus enim Paulus, 
 qui primum persequebatur et lacerabat Ecclesiam, de quo dictum 
 est, Benjamin lupus rapax, habitavit cum agno, vel Anania a quo 
 baptizatus est, vel Petro Apostolo cui dictum est, pasce agnos meos. 
 Et pardus qui prius non mutabat varietates suas, lotus in Fonte 
 Domini, accubuit cum haedo non qui a sinistris est, sed qui immo- 
 latur in pascha Domini. Et hoc notandum quod non agnus et 
 htedus habitent et accubent cum lupo et pardo, sed lupus et 
 pardus agni et haidi imitentur innocentiam. Leo fjuo<iue, prius 
 ferocissimus, et ovis et vitulus pariter morabuntur. Quod quo- 
 tidie cernlmus in Ecclcsia, divitcs et pauperes, potentos et iuimiles, 
 reges atquc privates pariter comniorari et a pueris parvulis, quos 
 
 X 2
 
 308 NOTES 
 
 Apostolos intc'Uij^iiiius ot Apostolicos viros impcritos scrmone sed 
 non scientia, rc{>;i in Ecclesia. Sim id requicuccnt catidi eorum, 
 Leo quoque non carncs comedet sed paleas, quod scilicet vescatur 
 cibo simplici. Et hie oliservandinn ((uod non bos canios, sed leo 
 paleas comedat. I'aleas puto in Scripturis Sanctis verba simplicia 
 intelligi. Tritieura autem et interiorem medullam, sensum t[m 
 invenitur in litera. Et frequenter evenit ut homines sivculi 
 niystica nescientes simplici Scriptui'arum lectione pascantur." 1 
 wish it to be observed here, that Jerome denies the literal sense 
 will hold. I am not saying that he is wrong : I merely notice 
 that this groat opponent of Origen does so. It is curious to place 
 beside this passage one very similar from St. Ephrem : " The wolf 
 tnth the lamb, i. e. in the Church ; avd the pard shall lie down with 
 the kid, i. e. in Baptism ; and the calf, and the lloii'g whelp, and the 
 ox sltall feed together, i. e. the wise, and the cunning, and the 
 tyrants, and the poor, shall listen to one Gospel. And a little 
 child, &c. i. e. a simple shepherd, figured by the little child, shall 
 lead them. The lion shall eat straw like the ox, i. e. the righteous 
 along with the sinners shall eat of the living Body that is on the 
 jVltar. Yea, those that throw aside the skill in wars, which they 
 had grown up in, and limit their knowledge within the bounds of 
 the pure Gospel," &c. In this and the last note there is a wonder- 
 ful agreement in the essentials of the interpretation, and a differ- 
 ence only in some pomts, which might be accounted for, were this 
 the place to enter upon the discussion requisite for doing it. 
 
 Note I7. p. 282. 
 
 "Ecclesia," says Ven. Bede, "non solum parit filios, sed etiam, 
 si forte declinaverint a via, iterum parturit," in Gen. col. 87. 
 Where I have seen the ' sheep with yoimg ' applied to penitents, 
 I cannot at present call to mind. 
 
 Note 18. p. 283. 
 
 There is a similar sentiment to this in St. Basil, Hex. vii. 8, 
 applied to gaming : Aaifiuj}' TraptaTijKC Sia rwv KaTidTiyjiiyiov 
 ocTstJV rrjv fiaviav i^dnTwv, &c. Racing will combine both.
 
 ON BOOK VI. 309 
 
 Note 19. p. 283. 
 
 The Chaldee Paraphi-ast thus renders Gen. xxv. 2^ : " And 
 the bovs sn-ew : and Esau was an idle man, that went out into the 
 field ; but Jacob was a perfect man, that ministered in the house 
 of doctrine." 
 
 Note 20. p. 284. 
 
 This passage is drawn chiefly from the two here followuig ; 
 Origen, c. Cels. p. 88, lib. 2. 'Eyw S' tliroin' dv on Kara rt)i> 
 'li](Tov tirayytXiav ol jiaQrirai Kal fiei^ova ■KtiroirjKaaiv uiv '\r](yovQ 
 ahOijrdiv TnTToirjKev' dtl yap avoiyovrai ofGaXixoi TV(p\wv rijv 
 ■^vx>]v, Kai WTO ToJv tKKeKbxpi^ixeviov TTpoQ Xoyovg aptTJis, aicovsi 
 ■jvpoQvfitiiQ TTtpl Qlov Kai r/)c Traii' avT(^ ixaKapiaQ ^ojj/t'- TroXXoi 
 £e Kal xwXot tclq (iaffeig tov (ojg i) ypa^ri ojvofiarrtv) iffu) avdpw- 
 TTov, vvv Tov Xoyov laaafi'ivov avroiig ovx cnrXoJg liXXovrai, dXX' 
 <l)g tXacpog u(ptwv iroXefiiov ^wov, Kai Kpiirrov TravTog iov riov 
 ixiovwi'' Kai ovroi yt ol QtpairtvQiVTig x^Xoi Xafijidvovaiif dnb 
 'It]<toii iE.ovaiav naTdv Tclg itoaiv, oig Trportpoi' jjcrav xoiXoi, 
 iTTavix) Tb)v Trjg KaKiag ucptcov KCii cTKopTriojv Kal dTraS,aTrXaig 
 iTrl rrduav T)]v Sitvafiiv tov 'Ex^poii, Kal TrarovvTig oIik dSi- 
 Kovvrai. And from St. Austin in Ps. xli. 2, 3, who among other 
 remarks has these : " Curre ad fontem, desidera fontem ; sed 
 noli utcunque, noli ut qualecunque animal currere : ut cervus 
 curre. Quid est, ut cervus ? Non sit tarditas in currendo : im- 
 pigre cun-e, impigre desidera fontes ; invenimus enim insigne velo- 
 citatis in cervo. Sed forte non hsec Scriptura solum nos in cervo 
 con-siderare voluit, sed et aliud. Audi quid aliud est in cervo. 
 Serpentes necat, et post serpentium interemtionem majori siti 
 inardescit : peremtis serpentibus ad fontes acrius currit. Ser- 
 pentes vitia tua sunt ; consume serpentes iniquitatis, tunc amplius 
 desiderabis Fontem Veritatis." 
 
 Note 21. p. 285. 
 
 The Indians represent Dharma, or moral and religious duty, as 
 an vx whose feet keep dropping off one by one, as mankind grow 
 worse ; and the cow is esteemed a sacred animal with them. Apis
 
 310 NOTES 
 
 was also worshipped undor this form, and supplied, no doubt, the 
 Jews and Israel with their idolatrous worship, as indeed some of 
 the Fathers have noticed. It seems that this was an instance, 
 among many others, of the mistaking the symbol for the thing 
 signified, which Confucius is reported to have said to be the 
 source of all error. 
 
 Note 22. p. 287- 
 
 This is noticed as a probable reason of the infliction, in a very 
 old Jewisli commentary upon Exodus, styled the Mechita, m 
 Ugolini's Thesaurus, xiv. p. 77, "All the first-born of beasts, and 
 why of beasts ? What sin had they done 1 it was only that the 
 P^gyptians might not say, ' our idol hath wrought upon us the 
 vengeance. Mighty is our idol, which itself standeth safe ! 
 Mighty is our idol, on which the vengeance hath no power ! ' " 
 
 Note 23. p. 288. 
 
 St. Austin on Ps. xxx. En. iii. § 5 : " Eos quidem quos Domino 
 lucramur, quodaramodo manducat Ecclesia. Quid est, manducat ? 
 in corpus suum trajicit. Quicquid enim manducamus, in corpus 
 nostrum trajicimus. Hoc egit Ecclesia per sanctos. Esm-it quos 
 lucrari vult, et quos lucratus fuerlt aliquo modo, manducat quo- 
 dammodo. Cujus personam gerebat Petrus quando ei de coelo 
 submissus est discus plenus omnibus aniraalibus, quadrupedibus, 
 serpentibus, et volatilibus, quibus generibus omnes gentes signifi- 
 cantur (conf. Jerom. ad Esai. 1. c). Pra3figurabat Dominus 
 Ecclesiam, quod omnes gentes erat transvoratura et in corpus 
 suum conversura. Et ait Petro, Macta et manduca. Ecclesia 
 (hoc est, Petre, quia super banc petram sedificabo Ecclesiam 
 meam) macta et manduca. Occide quod sunt, et fac quod es." 
 
 Note 24. p. 290. 
 
 The application here of the following passage of St. Ephrem, 
 was told me by a friend ; the passage itself runs as follows : 
 vol. ii. p. 224, f. on Daniel, x. 14, TJiere came tJien to my assistance 
 Michael, one of the first Princes, [sayitig] Lo ! I have coine to-day to
 
 ON BOOK VI. 311 
 
 cause thee to understand. ' This that he says I understand in this 
 way, that the Godhead so ordered things, that the Angels should 
 strive with one another in love. There was one that strove to 
 keep the people in the servitude that their free choice had been 
 content with : and there were two that struggled for the bringing 
 of them forth, to which also the prayer of Daniel was urging. 
 And again, likewise, to every one of the nations after the confusion 
 of the tower, was an Angel attached, as a Prefect and Ruler. For 
 the people of the Hebrews, then, the presidency over them was 
 given in particular to Michael the Angel. And when the people 
 was led captive to Babylon, and had fulfilled the seventy years 
 according to the decree which was passed concerning them, then 
 did Daniel pray unto God to bring about the return of the people. 
 For until the seventy years were fulfilled, the Prophet did not 
 pray for the sending forth of the people. Then there prevented 
 the sending forth of the people and stood against Michael and 
 Gabriel, the Ruler or Angel of the people of Persia. One reason 
 of his doing so was, that he grieved for his presidency's sake, it 
 being over the unbelieving people of Persia, and he comforted 
 himself at the sight of the people of Israel, that kept the Law and 
 the Prophets, and the Righteous men that were among them : 
 and another was, that he expected that if the people stayed and 
 went not up, they would soon provoke the people of Persia to 
 jealousy by the beauties of tlie law, and lead them to the fear of 
 God ; especially as Daniel and the young men, his companions, 
 had yielded them good cause to bear witness and cry that there 
 is no god, save the God of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego.' 
 The holy man's words seem to me like inspiration, and remind 
 one of what St. Paul teaches of the vision of heavenly things 
 under the Gospel — God hath revealed them imto us by His Spirit. 
 
 Note 25. p. 292. 
 
 Alluding to what St. Just. Martyr says against Try])ho, c. 12 : 
 2a/3/8ar(?etv ■iifiaQ o kuivoq No/xo? Sia TravTOQ tOk\ef vfiCiQ £(: 
 fxiav ri^iiiiav dpyovvTti; tiimjiuv SoKiln : words which are an 
 excellent summary of the old Christian doctrine of the Sabbath, 
 as held by the Fathers.
 
 312 NOTES ON BOOK VI. 
 
 Note 26. p. 293. 
 
 See Butler's Anal. p. 172, pt. i. c. vi. " It is a fact that Goi» 
 does govern even bnite creatures by a method of rewards and 
 punishniontH in the natural course of things." Compare ]). 52, 
 pt. i. e. ii. " Vain is the ridicule," &c.
 
 BOOK VII. 
 MAN. IN SOUL AND BODY.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Reflections on the niysteriousness of man's free-will. Heathen 
 attempts to account for the dignity of man drawn possiljly from 
 traditions of a future Church in Christ. Partial parallel to their 
 language in the Old Testament, which, as well as the human 
 frame, seems inexplicable without reference to things signified. 
 The temple of the body, and its trinity the mind, made in God's 
 Image. Man's temple a symbol of several things in the greater 
 Temple, the Church. Probable typical account of the senses and 
 the organs of language as in the head. Other parts and affections 
 of the body not without their Archetypes in higher things. Con- 
 cluding consolation for the Church, in the consideration that She 
 is said to be to God as the apple of His Eye.
 
 ^ -'l^^ 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 How oft with heart unheeding have we read 
 
 The solemn question — Lord, and what is man ? 
 
 Man is the chiefest of Thy works, most high, 
 
 Most glorious in capacities, in act 
 
 Most weak and wavering — at one moment made 5 
 
 The brother of His God, and at the next 
 
 Inclinable to be again the slave 
 
 Of hellish powers : amidst a world of ills 
 
 That may entice him, and to outward look 
 
 The merest thing of circumstance, and framed 10 
 
 By parents and instructors, at a chance. 
 
 Into a demon's or an angel's mould ; 
 
 In his beginnings plastic as a tree 
 
 When but a shoot, yet strangely made to hang 
 
 For all that follows after, upon these, 15 
 
 As though his destiny were in the hand 
 
 Of creatures like himself, the toys of chance. 
 
 But when we put this vain deceit aside. 
 
 And see him gifted with a power to will 
 
 And act upon his will, view him apart 20 
 
 From these imaginable obstacles.
 
 316 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Arm'd with a conscience, which himself may wield 
 
 Or fling aside, thus having in himself 
 
 And in his grasp the issue of his being ; 
 
 Then truly man is awful ! Some few years 25 
 
 Of giddy joy are able to entail 
 
 Eternal woe, yea, earn it at the Hand 
 
 Of Mercy's Self. This is the fearful truth. 
 
 Than which no Angel writing on the wall, 
 
 Could write more terrible — that man himself 30 
 
 Hath in himself the power to choose or shun 
 
 Eternal happiness or endless pain. 
 
 Gird it with mysteries and Gospel truths 
 
 Immovable, encircle it with grace. 
 
 Shroud it with e'en predestination's self, 35 
 
 And still it standeth firm : a shape of awe 
 
 Which neither these, nor mysteries untold, 
 
 (Consistent with it haply in the eyes 
 
 Of higher beings, though mankind in vain 
 
 May seek to ken its form with reason's eye,) 40 
 
 Can ever force to leave its resolute claim 
 
 Upon the heart, of earnestness possess'd. 
 
 But he that in a contemplative mood 
 
 Shall fix the eyes of faith upon its shape, 
 
 And holding true those other mysteries 45 
 
 On this in reverence and fear shall dwell. 
 
 Will ever find the form is standing still. 
 
 And that his hairs, while looking on it, stand 
 
 An end with wonder. Vainly would he strive
 
 1^ --^^ 
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 317 
 
 By closing up his eyes, to disbelieve 50 
 
 That it was real : for every thing he meets 
 
 Repeateth to him, ' man is free to choose 
 
 'Twixt life and death, 'twixt misery and joy.' 
 
 Little it matters whether freedom's self 
 
 Was forfeit at the fall, and then by grace 55 
 
 Renew'd immediately, or whether still 
 
 Enough survived t' accept of proffer'd grace — 
 
 Abstractions such as these are idle play 
 
 For creatures on their trial under God. 
 
 Whatever theory be the truest one, 60 
 
 This is enough in practice, I am free. 
 
 And here, before Almighty God I stand. 
 
 Made out of nothing, with Eternity, 
 
 Eternity of misery or of joy 
 
 Before me, and myself am call'd upon 65 
 
 To act and not to speculate, to choose 
 
 Eternal life. Of all the mysteries 
 
 That hover round us, scarcely one more high 
 
 And wholly inconceivable than this ! 
 
 A creature gifted with capacities 70 
 
 To be a god ', because the Very Word 
 
 Hath come to him, yet left to choose himself. 
 
 Whether he wills to waste the chiefest work 
 
 Of the Almighty, whether life and being 
 
 Substantial to eternity is worth 75 
 
 His painful forethought, whether gifts of grace. 
 
 As well as life, deserve his turning off
 
 318 NATURE A PARABLE, 
 
 From the vain pomps and business of the world. 
 
 That the All-wise entrusts capacities 
 
 So vast into a creature's hands, to use 80 
 
 Or to pervert, this is the mystery 
 
 Which men who lack the faith to realize. 
 
 Account it sin to dwell on. Surely this 
 
 Is profitable for the loving heart 
 
 To dwell upon — that on itself depends 85 
 
 The wasting or the keeping of that Love. 
 
 For, shall not each that feels this awful power. 
 
 More earnest sue for His mysterious Grace, 
 
 Till strong in love for Christ he e'en forgets 
 
 The power to disobey Him who is Power ? 90 
 
 He bade thee to continue in His love. 
 
 And on thy will to do His Father's Will, 
 
 Based promise of instruction, never won 
 
 Without obedience, though the fastless pride 
 
 Of man eschews to walk except by sight. 95 
 
 Yet what is man that God should condescend 
 To take his Flesh, through it to love Him more } 
 Why was he chosen from the Universe 
 Of other beings ? Why this little earth. 
 His trim abode, alone among the worlds, 100 
 
 Invited Hira, who took a servant's form 
 And while illimitable still became 
 A Human Being, in human limits pent. 
 Although the fulness of the Godhead dwelt 
 In Him. Unalter'd and unalterable 105 
 
 o
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 319 
 
 His Majesty, yet still He pitch'd in Man 
 
 His Tent, and with the Uncreate did blend 
 
 In union unconfused the creature Man. 
 
 The Son became a Servant, and the Lord 
 
 Of countless universes vv^as a Slave. 110 
 
 Lord, what is Man, Thou so regardest hira ? 
 
 Search in the ancient books of heathen lore, 
 And thou wilt see that they too busied them 
 To give some theory, that so portrayed 
 Man's state and bearings upon higher things, 115 
 
 As if, with reason, this mysterious frame 
 Was given to him. The Indian held that high 
 In Heaven a mighty Archetype of man 
 Was first created, from whose diverse limbs 
 Beings of diverse caste ^ and order came ; 1 20 
 
 This figment he in his astrology. 
 Gifted with gist and bearing on the type, 
 And deem'd that from such heavenly counterpart, 
 Bedeck'd with stars appropriate, there came 
 A kindred influence on the earthly frame, 125 
 
 Whose members, wondrously correlative 
 To that in Heaven, were fitted to receive 
 The subtle agency in each. The Cabbalist 
 Held that an earlier Adam marshall'd forth 
 The hosts of Heaven, calling by their names 1 30 
 
 The waves of being unnumber'd at his word 
 Before him : others fancied that a state 
 Like to a man in magic symmetry.
 
 320 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Existed in the Heavens : other some 
 
 Held theories, which poesy may cast 1 35 
 
 Aside, as doth the weary student cast 
 
 The book he seized but now with eager hand 
 
 T' allay his feebleness and flagging mind. 
 
 Yet in these theories one truth prevails, 
 
 A sense that man was shadow in himself 140 
 
 Of somewhat greater, whether then it were 
 
 Or was to be — a sense that some High Power 
 
 Was destined to be blended and concern'd 
 
 With human beings — a fragmentary light 
 
 Of hoar tradition, haply from the age 145 
 
 Of Enoch — handed on for thoughtful minds. 
 
 Though tinged too soon with error's gathering mist, 
 
 Which marr'd its comeliness to heathen's eyes. 
 
 Hence, too, though borrowing oft from Eastern lore, 
 
 The Greek philosopher to man compared 150 
 
 His perfect state, throughout whose limbs was stretch'd 
 
 A wondrous band of secret sympathy. 
 
 Which pour'd a vital oneness through the whole. 
 
 And by the guiding power* of the heart 
 
 Community of feeling circulates, 155 
 
 And interchange of sensibilities. 
 
 With speed electric every where convey'd. 
 
 As though men felt this flesh with bone compact 
 
 Was builded as the type of somewhat great 
 
 As yet unknown, and eagerly took up 1 60 
 
 Traditions of a Church one time to be
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 321 
 
 Such as the promise first for comfort given 
 
 To Eve, for faith within itself contain'd : 
 
 The lowest member of that mystic House 
 
 Should Satan bruise, but Christ its glorious Head 165 
 
 Unscathed for aye remain'd. 
 
 Nor seem'd alone 
 The Pagan mysteries to speak of man 
 In Heavens archetypal, but, lo ! the scroll 
 Which, in the awful Tabernacle, sounds 170 
 
 Of holiest Heaven echoed, for the Jew 
 Had language kindred to these heathen tales ; 
 It spake of God as though of parts composed 
 And limbs distinct. As if for minds too gross 
 To hft themselves above material thoughts, 175 
 
 It fain would yield a stumbling-block, and those 
 Who at the sacerdotal lips inquii-ed 
 The meaning of such phrase, alone would know 
 What they might secretly to love suggest — 
 The thought of future King, who should be God 180 
 And Man, of One who by His foresight shaped 
 The letter of that earlier Testament 
 To suit His little ones, whose forward Love 
 Fell on the necks of human kind as yet 
 A great way off, and foretaste thus supplied 1 85 
 
 Of better things to come. For things to come 
 Are ours, and how much more were by-gone things. 
 Now magnified and honourable made. 
 Design 'd for us, and meant to feast our thoughts. 
 When with the Law and Prophets we converse, 190
 
 322 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 With a perpetual memory of Him 
 
 To whom alone such members do belong. 
 
 And as the Law, though teaching moral rules 
 
 Of guidance to such sanctifying grace. 
 
 As then in measure from the royal line 195 
 
 Of Israelites indeed was not withheld ; 
 
 Yet had full many a part of meaning void. 
 
 Save as it shadow'd out those better things 
 
 Not then fulfill'd : so may the human frame 
 
 Have sundry parts, which neither surgeon's skill, 200 
 
 Nor proud philosophy with answers arm'd 
 
 For every question, can distinctly tell 
 
 "What end they serve. But when the house of man 
 
 Is held to be a temple shadowing forth 
 
 The Body Mystical, then haply we 20.5 
 
 Mav read the meaning of some ornament 
 
 That heretofore was useless in our eyes. 
 
 And solve the riddle of the furrow drawn 
 
 By the all-fashioning Hand of God imposed 
 
 Along the back, if only we will plough 210 
 
 With Christ's fair heifer ^ the Beloved Church : 
 
 Or looking where He laid His Hand before. 
 
 May read upon the Christian hero's breast 
 
 The meaning of the marks, which in the fight 
 
 With spiritual foes, are guidance to his hand 2 1 5 
 
 In tracing on himself the awful Sign 
 
 Of that wherein he hopes for victory. 
 
 And as we seem to be the appointed types 
 Of some mvsterious whole, so haply too
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 323 
 
 The sins which will this lesser house defile, 220 
 
 Spread out their cankering ' influence far and wide 
 Through something further, marring antitype 
 As well as type, and carrying, by the deeds 
 Of hellish daring, fearful insolence 
 Into the very Presence of the Lord. 225 
 
 For see we not when beats the heart with fear. 
 Each pulse beats high, with sympathy constraint, 
 As doth the heart ; nor can the culprit nerve 
 His hand or tongue to steady utterance 
 Of their own pregnant purpose, but the heart 230 
 
 Its fluttering solicitude betrays 
 In every member. And when outward cold 
 Benumbs some distant limb, it too afl'ects 
 The inmost heart ; and while it strives to sit 
 With eagle stateliness upon remeraber'd sin, 235 
 
 This distant cold can from its purpose pluck 
 The half resettled throbber, shedding thus 
 Through the whole body somewhat of the chill 
 Itself hath gender'd first. Not otherguise. 
 So far as Httle types of higher things 240 
 
 Are faithful chroniclers, methinks may they 
 Who chill the vital warmth of Heavenly Love 
 Through the whole Body mystical, infuse 
 A chill of sorrow answering to that 
 The higher faculty of conscience feels 245 
 
 When sin hath crush'd the strivings of its voice 
 In the heart's inner shrine. ' No eye beheld,' 
 The sinner oft may say, ' no other man, 
 
 Y 2
 
 .'524 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 By my example led, the rays of grace 
 
 Hath from his soul repell'd — herein I joy 250 
 
 That against God alone my sin hath been.' 
 
 Go then, and hide the foeman's wedge of gold, 
 
 Burv it within the tent of thine own heart 
 
 And solitary conscience. But around 
 
 See Israel's armies fleeing, and with awe 2.55 
 
 Bethink thee, whether thou art not the cause ; 
 
 Whether for thee the Strength-inspiring Light, 
 
 Which by its secret access nerved to fight 
 
 The men of courage, from their inmost soul 
 
 Hath not withdrawn its presence. Thou art he '260 
 
 That troublest Israel, thou who hast been made 
 
 Son of the Vineyard " of the Lord of hosts. 
 
 Nay, if within thy fleshly tabernacle. 
 
 Where God should dwell, thou hast a golden wedge 
 
 Of Satan's hire, which ever and anon 265 
 
 He driveth further in, oh draw it forth, 
 
 Tell it the priest, and glory so to God 
 
 By thy disclosure give, nor further let 
 
 The Armies of the Lord : for that thy tent 
 
 Must be the Holy Spirit's shrine serene. 270 
 
 Hallow that shrine by fast- won temperance. 
 
 By keeping duty's precepts through the zeal 
 
 For trying counsels of perfection learnt 
 
 Most deeply ever : then at last within 
 
 The soul, that image of the Trinity, 275 
 
 Shall live and move uncumber'd by the dog 
 
 Of sense and lust, which while they mar and spoil
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 325 
 
 The movements of the trinity of man, 
 
 Prevent the fuller Presence of the Lord 
 
 That made it, o'er the Chm-ch His larger Shrine. 280 
 
 For rightfully, each time we heave our breasts 
 
 In breathing, ought the lungs ' as cherubs set 
 
 Above the heart to draw, in thankfulness, 
 
 The breath He giv^s us in, and evermore 
 
 To live, and move, and have our being in Hun '28a 
 
 Who, as the invisible Support of all. 
 
 Would raise from us the incense, smeUing sweet 
 
 To Angel powers, of never-ceasing prayer ; 
 
 And in the heart, as holiest of all, 
 
 W'ould tend the light of joyousness within, 290 
 
 With psalmody continually inspired 
 
 To charm the evil Serpent far away. 
 
 But as of old there was a glorious light 
 Attesting Heavenly Presence, so within 
 The bodv of each single saint, there dwells 29.5 
 
 The Triune Sun of Light : each body hence 
 Is a small Church with temple and with shrine. 
 In which the mind hath likeness unto God. 
 And were no stain of fleshly joy within. 
 Then were it of perfections wondrous fair, 
 An undivided trinity ^ Memory 
 Might haply not indecently be said 
 To have a personality distinct 
 From reason and from will, and these from each, 
 Though each mysteriously encircle each. 
 And penetrate with omnipresent power. 
 
 300 
 
 30/
 
 326 
 
 NATURE A PARABLE, 
 
 Through all that either of the three, or is, 
 
 Or does, or meditates. No act of will, 
 
 But memory and reason likewise do : 
 
 No act of reason but from memory, 310 
 
 (So far at least as we can ponder them,) 
 
 Begotten, nor can memory's self beget 
 
 The reason in succession, but at once 
 
 She coexists with memory that begets, 
 
 And will is present too while it begets : 315 
 
 All are in each, and each is one with all. 
 
 And though the mind be no material thing 
 
 Tissued with parts, yet functions so distinct 
 
 Aim at the imaging of Persons Three 
 
 In One, unsever'd Essence Spiritual. 320 
 
 The might of these three faculties in man 
 
 Comes not at once to light, but from the womb 
 
 As tender plants from the embosoming soil, 
 
 Spring up by gradual process, though the whole 
 
 Be folded up within the soul unborn. 325 
 
 Nor did the blessed Trinity disclose 
 
 To other than Himself, His hidden powers 
 
 At once, but in Eternal Rest abode. 
 
 But when the bane of grosser wickedness 
 Has clogg'd the will and clouded reason o'er, 330 
 
 And memory's paternal majesty 
 With devilish idolatries hath stock'd. 
 Then is the reason reft of nimble power 
 To hold discourse in man's small trinity. 
 And be the Word's faint antitype, the will 335
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 327 
 
 No longer is coequal with the word. 
 
 And man is waning toward the lower brutes, 
 
 That lack ' discourse of reason,' memory flags 
 
 With conscious indistinctness, travailing 
 
 Upon the thought it cannot bring to birth : 340 
 
 While will and reason, feeling their shorn powers. 
 
 In vain desire to quicken it as of yore. 
 
 And if in grosser vice, that clearly forth 
 
 In palpable apparency stands out 
 
 Before the enfeebled and distorted spirit, 345 
 
 'Tis like that in all lesser instances 
 
 The same is true, and were the spirit clear 
 
 With the glad perfectness of duty kept 
 
 In smallest instances, then, though in youth. 
 
 From the mere dint of nature's order'd course, 350 
 
 'Twere wiser than the aged. May I stand 
 
 Unblamed among the Doctors, and in thought 
 
 Through faith survey that pure Humanity 
 
 Which was in God, and think that not alone 
 
 The Personal Unity of that Humanity 355 
 
 With God, that wisdom gave Him, but a life. 
 
 Unspotted of the smallest stain of sin. 
 
 In Him disclosed the skill of innocence 
 
 In communing with doctrines hard to scan. 
 
 For with the other attributes of Man 360 
 
 He took his ignorance, and did not know 
 
 The day and hour when He would judge the world : 
 
 He from His early youth in Wisdom grew ; 
 
 Nor hear we that at manhood's fuller age
 
 328 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 He ceased to grow, nor may we dare to seek 365 
 
 What things were hidden, or if aught at Death 
 
 Was seen, that deepen'd that forgiveness cry ; 
 
 Suffice it for us thus to learn that God 
 
 Was one with perfect Man, as in the Worab, 
 
 So even to the hour when all was done. 370 
 
 And if we trace Him further through the gate 
 
 And door of death, let mournful Heman's dirge 
 
 Be that wherewith we follow Him, a dirge 
 
 Devoid, alone of all the unfathom'd Psalms, 
 
 Of aught that gleams the feeblest ray of joy. 375 
 
 That Manhood dread was taken into God 
 That we might have the likeness seal'd again 
 Upon us, that the soul regenerate 
 Might have its memory, and word, and will, 
 Freshen'd and bright for mighty energies. 380 
 
 Hence all whom memory within its womb 
 Shall now conceive, may by the word of prayer. 
 And will, according to the Will of God, 
 Be brought to spiritual life again. 
 
 While every deed by Scripture's lessons set 385 
 
 In memory's bosom, may by reason bent 
 To give its body, faith, the quickening " spirit 
 Of works, be freely by the will perform'd. 
 That all the Creeds, the Church's sacred words, 
 Or those by which man lives as well as Bread, 390 
 
 Might in the fruitful and impregnate memory 
 Be treasured, as dim antitype, perhaps. 
 Of God's predestined acts before the world.
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 329 
 
 For they at first to man no conscious use 
 Possess, but when the Daystar shall arise, 395 
 
 May shine from out of memory, in the heart 
 Of conscious reason heating, on the tongue 
 Of Glory, breathing everlasting song 
 To Him who made, redeem'd, and sanctified 
 The image of Himself, which, keeping pure, 400 
 
 These holy words may evermore retain. 
 Oh happy they who in a virgin heart 
 Thus, in our humble dwelling-place, conceive 
 The Truth Himself, who deigneth from the earth 
 Of human hearts to flourish, — on the path, 405 
 
 The narrow path of ancient Creeds desire 
 To hold their duteous course, and sucking in 
 From that whose sweetness leaves the honeycomb, 
 Pass'd in forgetfulness, behind itself. 
 Continual nutriment of sanctity 410 
 
 Unconsciously supplied, to sweeten still 
 The earthen vessel which the golden Creeds 
 Containeth, who with undivided mind 
 Sing on their notes of joyous innocence. 
 Till having done with this world, they depart 415 
 
 With seeds within them which a brighter Sun 
 Shall one time draw to everlasting light. 
 These are the chosen '^ from the chosen ones. 
 Who draw aside their little bark to lurk 
 In some secluded shore far from the storm 420 
 
 Of this world's wrath and movements, who desire 
 No meed from man, but blush if any hap
 
 330 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To praise their goodness, from their own sweet souls 
 
 Supplying all encouragements which men, 
 
 From sin recovering, at others' praise 425 
 
 Be apt to seek, and scorning to disclose 
 
 The unutter'd mysteries which evermore 
 
 Find an abiding refuge in their hearts. 
 
 For them the world its wonted course maintains, 
 
 Their prayers procure our blessings, and with them 430 
 
 The fleeting scenery of nature's self shall fail. 
 
 If then the memory be counterpart 
 In man of the Most High, if of the Word 
 And Spirit too there be a counterpart 
 In human spirits set, let this small shrine 435 
 
 Thus typical ascend by links between 
 Unto its Archetype. The Church shall stand 
 As the fit mean, whereon mankind should rest 
 Ere they ascend to loftier things than these. 
 In her it seems the happiest time to be, 440 
 
 When memory, that power that scans the past, 
 Holding in clearest view the ancient ways 
 Of doctrine accurate and life severe. 
 Blends in a triune closeness reason's power 
 For shaping ancient things to present needs, 445 
 
 And will subdued beneath her laws promulged 
 By secret interference from Above. 
 And though revolving in one's mind the past. 
 One deem some fate prevails, which suffers not 
 A privilege once lost to be regain'd, 450 
 
 Yet still approaches may be made to gain
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 331 
 
 What memory eyes with love, nor ever need 
 
 The Arm of Heaven be shorter than of old. 
 
 Save through man's hopelessness : yet hopelessness 
 
 Too surely visiteth the spirit that broods 455 
 
 With sorrow on the past, which greedily 
 
 Devours with its guilt the might of hope. 
 
 Thev truly teach, who say man only need 
 
 To look confidingly to heavenly love. 
 
 If but their words were followed by the deed 460 
 
 In quiet earnestness, and not in fancy wild 
 
 Or fearless ecstasy. As if the need 
 
 Were one of easy and off-hand supply. 
 
 Or drunken boldness would suffice to fill 
 
 Tl" place of guiltless confidence of air, 465 
 
 Ana wisdom fresh from garments ever white 
 
 With purity baptismal unalloy'd ! 
 
 But how can conscience, issuing from the lair 
 
 Of sin-stain'd memory, with undaunted voice 
 
 Baptize the soul afresh ? Or who shall put 470 
 
 The words into her mouth, or who ordain 
 
 The matter requisite, or measure out 
 
 What streams of tears shall wash the guilt away ? 
 
 Thou only need to trust, degraded soul ! 
 
 Thou who hast marr'd the image, though restored, 475 
 
 Thou bid to trust, to do the very thing 
 
 Thou canst not, ought' st not, wouldst not wish to do ! 
 
 Thyself accuseth thee of guilty things ; 
 
 Wouldst thou intoxicate thyself with trust. 
 
 And dream that power is thine perpetually 480
 
 332 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which in the fit thou feelest ? Nay, for fear 
 
 And dim distrust and fearful lockings forth 
 
 Are meet for thee : in these indulge thyself ; 
 
 And feel amongst it such a humble trust 
 
 As will spring up amongst it : while due love 485 
 
 Encircleth awe, trust most in thy distrust. 
 
 Oh that a spirit, like in most to this, 
 Would shake the entire fabric of the Church ! 
 Oh that each branch the very semblance lack'd 
 Of using Babylon's self-blinding boast, 490 
 
 ' I am and none beside me. I am pure. 
 In me salvation safely may be earn'd ! ' 
 Or, ' I alone am apostolical.' 
 The Chm'ch (if single men may venture guess 
 Without presumption) first must feel distrust 495 
 
 And guilty conscience for her past misdoings. 
 And humbled hopes before the Throne of Love ; 
 Else dare we look for Mercy ? Is the past 
 The voucher for it ? Is this envying 
 'Twixt Ephraim and Judah any sign 500 
 
 Of love to man, the proof of love to God ? 
 Who shall decide which hath the precious fruits 
 Of Christ, the righteous Sun, and precious things 
 The Church, the Moon, puts forth ? or which the Stafi", 
 Which all his brotherhood shall greet with praise, 505 
 When goods in store for him at length arrive ? 
 Thev be to me as Judah, which confess 
 In down-struck humbleness that they can see 
 No tokens left, and no anointed Seer !
 
 MAN, IX SOUL AND BODV. 
 
 333 
 
 Till we have cast all odious feelf-trust 510 
 
 Aside as menstruous cloth, what hope to rear 
 The trembfing offspring to the stature full 
 Of Christian manhood ? — if the symptoms sure 
 Of health returning in man's lesser shrine 
 Have in them aught of a prophetic hght 515 
 
 To guide us, while the entire world is full 
 Of darkness and of habitations fierce. 
 The axes and the hammers of the state 
 Make daily inroads on the carved work 
 Of holy Church : the children have been spoilt 520 
 
 Because the Mother's rod of discipline 
 Throughout all Christendom in divers ways 
 To please earth's dainty lordlings hath been spared. 
 Whether the inward mind or outward frame 
 
 Of man invites our musings, we may learn 525 
 
 Sufficiently from either emblem, much 
 
 Relating to the growth of holy Church. 
 
 For when a child she acted as a child. 
 
 And needed nursing at the hand of kings 
 
 And queens her servants ; when of fuller age 530 
 
 She bow'd them down before her ministers. 
 
 In vouth we deem that much is certain truth 
 .Which afterlife instructs the teachable 
 
 To modify the use of, with deep sense 
 
 Of dove-like wisdom mingling serpent's skill : 535 
 
 While arguers rude imagine, principles 
 
 Are things of mutability with us. 
 
 And cannot have explain'd what conscience sees
 
 334 NATURE A PARABLE. , 
 
 And gentle sternness knows to realize. 
 
 And hath the Church no inward principles 540 
 
 Develop'd diversely at divers times ? 
 
 Once sabbath-days were Jewish bondage deem'd 
 
 Throughout the Christian world, now suitable 
 
 They have become to those who would return 
 
 For grace unmeasured measures of their time. 545 
 
 And other adaptations wonderful 
 
 To alter'd times, with love should be explored. 
 
 To see if inward guidance, minister'd 
 
 By that which every joint and band supplies, 
 
 These changes of the Body may have wrought. 550 
 
 Moreover, if some type of holy Church 
 Be on man's trinity impress'd within, 
 May there not on his body, framed to be 
 Correlative unto his spirit's make. 
 
 In outward semblance written, sundry marks 555 
 
 And notices of her capacities 
 Be read by careful eyes, awake to see 
 Some consolation even in doubtful things 
 For losses which they wail and haply dread ? 
 See we not then the faculty of sight 560 
 
 By illness oftentimes is snatch'd away. 
 At birth sometimes unknown, or closed by sin ; 
 Meanwhile the man remains : his inward being 
 Lives unimpair'd, and to his grosser powers 
 Of touch and feeling gradually pass 565 
 
 The eye's nice sensibilities to hue 
 Of diverse tinge, or over to the ear
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODT. 335 
 
 Capacities of nerve for sight design'd 
 
 Appear to be transferr'd — to him the voice 
 
 Of the bold sparrows, that have built their nest 570 
 
 Hard by the Altars of the Lord of Hosts, 
 
 Hath, spite of inharmonious chatterings, 
 
 A music and a sweetness, yea, a sound 
 
 Of melody, which he who with his eyes 
 
 Beholds the light that issues from the Sun, 575 
 
 (Head of this visible economy,) 
 
 Cares not to listen to, by sights enrapt 
 
 Which leave sensation strengthless for the joys 
 
 The ear supplies. And may not England's Church, 
 
 Though having not the light of Sacrifice 580 
 
 In ancient form before her very eyes. 
 
 And seemingli/ by priestless priesthood fed. 
 
 Yet have for those who from her humbled shrine 
 
 Have grace attain'd to chatter sparrow-like 
 
 Over the stones of Sion in the dust 585 
 
 Some special blessing left, a secret gift. 
 
 Supplying what her other sense hath lost. 
 
 And working through their soul unconscious good — 
 
 A gift which helpeth them to drop His Blood, 
 
 Who by His sorrows won for loneliness 590 
 
 A mightier blessing, and from darkness thick 
 
 Shone widely through the world ? Is Calvary 
 
 By interpretation flowing locks of hair. 
 
 And outward emblem of gigantic strength, 
 
 Or is it baldness ? Nay, dear mother Church, 595 
 
 Bald as thou art, and shorn of every grace
 
 336 NATURE A PAKABLK. 
 
 Bv Delilah thy queen, I wot that still, 
 
 If in thy blindness thou shalt lift the voice 
 
 Of patient suffering to thy Thorn-crown'd Head, 
 
 Thou, even thou, shalt pull the idol state GOO 
 
 Down into ruin on Philistine lords 
 
 And on the estranged insulters, so to rise 
 
 Triumphant o'er the disuniting foe. 
 
 Yea, even now thy gracious pangs I view, 
 
 Thou from the womb of near futurity 605 
 
 Art putting forth a hand that may be bound 
 
 With blood-red thread of suffering as of old 
 
 Did Thamar's son — meet emblem he of saints 
 
 Who in the darker *^ testament were born 
 
 As members of the Spouse — and we have come 610 
 
 Nigh to their state of darkness when we keep 
 
 The sabbaths like the Jews, are slaves of forms. 
 
 And lack the Spirit which should fill the life 
 
 With presence all-pervading as the Sun, 
 
 Which, when it passes through the window chink, 615 
 
 Upon the little motes and idle flues '^ 
 
 Disporting in its rays, a lustre sheds 
 
 The while it fills the entire house with light. 
 
 So should the candle of the Spirit be 
 
 In man beneath no legal bushel set 620 
 
 Of measured sabbath space, but every where 
 
 Present to turn the Christian's businesses 
 
 Into materials of very rest. 
 
 Till all their proper toilsomeness be burnt 
 
 In sacrifice of love bv rest within. G25
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 337 
 
 Though two within this Church be struggling now. 
 
 And one regardless of the breach may claim 
 
 The name of Pharez, hapl)' future days 
 
 Mav show that breach repayeth all its pain. 
 
 And some who now for suffering's scarlet badge 630 
 
 Have little sympathy, partakers grow 
 
 Themselves of Gospel sufferings, and be 
 
 Among the men who long by patient pain 
 
 To see Jerusalem once more at one ! 
 
 But turning from these gloomier passages 635 
 
 Of hope unrealized, 'twere well to muse 
 Again upon the body, as the type 
 Of that Communion of the Holy Saints 
 Who are the Body of their glorious Head. 
 And though it may be that the fanciful 640 
 
 Should over-realize the symbol given. 
 And dwell on parts and offices minute 
 With prying eagerness, insisting still 
 What must be and what not, until they bind 
 Into a gross and a material whole 64.5 
 
 The things for guidance partial here at least 
 Intended, if hereafter more exact — 
 Yet still where'er revered Tradition holds 
 The reins of fancy in her guiding hand. 
 It may be that minuter likenesses 650 
 
 Are traced without irreverence by man. 
 As when the child '* within the silent womb 
 Is form'd, and life is from conception given, 
 (For all we can disprove,) a sacred gift, 
 
 z
 
 338 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Which they who hinder with the murderer's guilt 655 
 
 Are tainted, as the infant's head is first 
 
 To come to light of all the members writ 
 
 In Heaven's book, and fashion'd day by day : 
 
 So is it with the Church, her mighty Head 
 
 Hath first ascended to the realm of Light, 660 
 
 And in predestination's heavenly scroll 
 
 Are all His Members written, there to stay 
 
 Unless for sin outblotted ; secretly 
 
 He fashioneth their inward man with Life : 
 
 Himself their very Life with God is hid. 665 
 
 As too the Head alone hath in itself 
 All senses ^^ perfect, sight that kens afar 
 The hosts of stars, that one in brightness gleams 
 Above another, spread through boundless space ; 
 The smell that is for diverse savours waked, 670 
 
 Or those to life, or savours unto death ; 
 The taste that trieth meats, and may select 
 Which to incorporate as healthy food, 
 Supplying what the waning body needs ; 
 The hearing which, for music's shyest tones 675 
 
 Discriminative, ever those imbibes 
 With greatest joy, which secretly express 
 A kindred feeling ; and the touch which dwells 
 Along with these, but through the body pour'd 
 Feels also what the lowest limb affects : — 680 
 
 So dwell in Christ our Head more ample gifts 
 Than to His Church belong ; for on the Head 
 The Unction fullest fell, though on the skirts
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 339 
 
 Of His whole healing garment, of His Church, 
 Which now envelopes His all-present Self, 685 
 
 Still dwelling with Her, portions of His grace 
 Id fulness due are copiously bestow'd. 
 The Oil of gladness by the Father pour'd 
 Upon His Human Nature, was on Him 
 In measure without measure ^^ far above 690 
 
 His brethren's share, bestow'd, and though to them 
 He so is linked, as to feel the touch 
 Of what infirmities soe'er befal 
 His lowest member : as the foot of man 
 Cannot without the feeling of the head 695 
 
 Be ever hurt. Yet the expansive Sight 
 Of Him who hath before Him all the Hosts 
 Of Angels and of men in bareness thrown 
 Open before Him, is not granted these : 
 Nor yet the trying smell that surely knows 700 
 
 Which be the men that by self-sacrifice 
 Wrought deeply into them, and growing still 
 Onward and onward, verily fill up 
 That which is lacking of His Sufferings. 
 He onlv knoweth which of all the beasts 705 
 
 Upon the mountains and a thousand hills. 
 He, who the literal bullock's blood declines. 
 Will once incorporate into His Church 
 What time He kills and eats the Gentile world. 
 Destroying their old man, that they may live 710 
 
 In Him and on Him. He alone can hear 
 The notes of prayer, that utter'd in His Spirit 
 
 z 2
 
 340 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Hath with His hunger sympathy, and looks 
 
 With lowly faith for recompense in souls 
 
 Made with His Body mystic to he one. 715 
 
 And haply language carefully survey'd 
 Herein, would oft bewray that it is propp'd 
 By secret underworking of the Word, 
 For often doth it seem in mere self-will 
 Of arbitrary pleasure to describe 720 
 
 The functions of one sense by words and thoughts 
 Expressive of another, and to turn 
 From sense to sense, as though it recognized 
 There is a sense '^ which ministereth all 
 From the soul's chambers, being all in all : 725 
 
 So typifying Him who on Him took 
 That Nature which was in His likeness made. 
 For who shall clearly mark the boundary line 
 Where common language hath its starting place. 
 And holy words their end, say what inspired, 730 
 
 What surely not ? Without the quickening Spirit 
 Who did in tongues upon the twelve descend. 
 We could not frame to speak that sacred Name 
 Which things in Heaven and things beneath the earth. 
 As well as they on earth, must hear with awe. 735 
 
 Hence in the head the tongue is also set, 
 That tongue which weakly shadoweth the Spirit, 
 The ready Writer " who on stony hearts 
 Commandments writeth, not with ink and pen. 
 But His own Presence printed durably. 740 
 
 That, these firm set within, the glorious Gift
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 341 
 
 Might issue forth in praise by virgin heart 
 Conceived and from the heart transferring on 
 The name and gift of Glory to the tongue. 
 And who that thinketh how mysteriously 745 
 
 The Scripture multiplies its earnest rules 
 Against the trespasses that member small 
 Committeth, may not fancy lawfully 
 That these be therefore heinous, with the flame 
 Of hell-fire lit, because they ne'er subsist 750 
 
 Without a shock to the whole order'd course 
 Of types that speak from e'en the outward form 
 Where dwells the likeness of the Trinity ! 
 'Twas so when Moses smote the stony rock. 
 He marr'd the type he had to execute 755 
 
 Bv word of power, and therefore fell on him 
 Sad wrath, preventing him from name and thing 
 Which shadow'd Jesus and baptismal waves. 
 Let us descend more deep into the sounds 
 By this small member utter'd, and for us 760 
 
 A system, yea, a small creation, spoilt 
 By evil use of it, before our eyes 
 Shall stand, not useless for its warning voice 
 To penance summoning and hopes of cure. 
 If then the tongue be type in very deed 765 
 
 Of Him who did in cloven tongues descend. 
 What office hath it closest likeness to 
 Among His many ministries of love ? 
 Is it the great and overshadowing Power 
 Whereby He on the Angel's voice did ride, 770
 
 342 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 That through the ear of Mary in her womb 
 The Word Himself might dwell as in a shrine ? 
 For when we use the common " daily gift 
 Of speech, that speech proceedeth from the heart, 
 There doth the reason shape it, with discourse 775 
 
 Internal speaking in the bosom's depth. 
 Reason it was at first, and reason still 
 When utter'd it remains, though clothed in words 
 To human sense by them perceptible. 
 And Christ from out the Spiritual Womb, 780 
 
 His Father's Bosom came, wherein at first 
 The counsel of His Love was form'd unseen. 
 Ere He in Form perceptible to sense 
 Was clothed : thus speech hath semblance to the Word 
 So veil'd in Flesh, for speech in part alone 785 
 
 Can show the word in man's small trinity ; 
 Discourse internal partially reveals 
 The mind by outward words to sense disclosed : 
 And through the tongue that revelation comes. 
 As through the Spirit man may know in part 790 
 
 The Counsel of the Counsellor of God. 
 Not then without a cause (if possibly 
 These things were by Creative Art design'd 
 To shadow greater forth) a watch we need 
 Upon our lips, the watch which secret life 795 
 
 Of prayer habitual and determinate, 
 And Psalmody^" in stated round fulfill' d. 
 By often repetitions knows to set. 
 Nor were it wrong, methinks, upon the mouth
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 343 
 
 To trace the potent Cross ; for nature's self 800 
 
 Anticipates the fitness of the sign. 
 Since on the ascetic who from lengthened fast 
 Escaping with the skin upon his teeth 
 Close pressing, plainly may we often see 
 A furrow passing downward to the beard 805 
 
 Athwart the mouth, through which the holy Oil 
 Pour'd on the great High Priest must onward pass 
 Down to the skirts of garments fringed with power. 
 That Oil of Holiness if on us shed 
 
 By lips which growing innocence of life 810 
 
 Sets free from stains of guile, will also fill 
 Our smallest actions and pervade our frame. 
 Nor let our head refuse the sterner Oil 
 Of lengthen'd fast, that furrow so to win ; 
 That first among the workings of the Spirit 815 
 
 Which when baptized He show'd, to which He gave 
 The faculty of gladness, which in Him 
 Led forward to the victory on the Cross. 
 So haply may that Cross when outwardly 
 Impress'd, such gentle influence exert 820 
 
 Upon the lips of men of heart austere. 
 As may prevent disturbances of types 
 Seal'd on the outward substance of man's frame 
 To speak of Heaven's deepest mysteries, 
 Wash'd by the lasting Water ^', ever sure 825 
 
 And visited by Bread, that they may live 
 Secure from being set on fire of Hell. 
 Yet sadly must he muse upon these types
 
 344 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 Whose conscience tells him of disturbances 
 
 Indulged in wilfully, and even sadly he 830 
 
 Who with a life to winning for himself 
 
 Exact obedience in the smallest things 
 
 Directed, yet withal is falling short 
 
 Continually in little acts of wrath 
 
 And transient angers, marring so the types 835 
 
 Which Heaven ordain'd, which Angels' eyes perchance 
 
 (While they have access to the Brighter Image) 
 
 May watch with jealousy, with sorrow see 
 
 These records of that Majesty confused. 
 
 So have I seen upon the bosom clear 840 
 
 Of wide-spread water many a tree and tower 
 
 Reflected marvellously, while their shade 
 
 Seem'd too far off to fall upon the lake. 
 
 And with them too the azure vault of Heaven 
 
 Was seen in closeness disproportionate, 845 
 
 So that they touch' d it with their spired tops 
 
 Or little Crosses which had pointed long 
 
 With baby fingers, anxiously outstretch'd 
 
 To feel its tranquil blue — when sudden dash 
 
 Of whirling stone destroy'd the witching scene 850 
 
 As though by hellish magic ; tower and tree, 
 
 And Cross, and spire, and intermingled Heaven 
 
 Were dash'd together as in warlike fray, 
 
 And all their new-reveal'd relationships 
 
 Were in an instant sever'd from the sight. 855 
 
 Such seemeth sin's mad havock of the types 
 
 And vocal semblances that would reflect,
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 345 
 
 If man were holy, in his very frame 
 
 And outward build, the Everlasting Three. 
 
 The head hath on itself such impresses 860 
 
 Of things Divine ; the members likewise tell 
 Of agencies Divine. The hand was made 
 To be the emblem of the blessed Son 
 Whom Scripture nameth oft the Hand of God. 
 And when the miracles foreshadowing those 865 
 
 Which in the Church He worketh, in the waste, 
 (The symbol of the world) were wrought of old 
 By Moses, then his hand to leprous ^^ turn'd. 
 As teaching how the Lord of all would take 
 Our leprous nature on Him, and would cleanse 870 
 
 That nature when ascending up on high 
 He to the Father's Bosom was restored. 
 The hand upon the penitent is laid, 
 ' Conveying thus the Church's borrow'd light 
 Of pardon and of grace : the Bishop's hands 875 
 
 O'ershadow those who need to dweU beneath 
 The shadow of the Rock when youthful lusts 
 Are waxing stronger, and a shield of might 
 Against the evil one is more required. 
 So did the hands of Priests, by hands ordain'd, 880 
 
 Imposed upon the novice, drive away 
 The evil powers ^^ from him, and prepare 
 The dry land of his natural heart to take 
 The kindly influence of baptismal sea. 
 That sea which He hath made for cleansing sin. 885 
 The fingers too, in other rites, are used
 
 346 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 For tracing the majestic Sign along 
 
 The forehead of the worshipper, and they 
 
 Not without mystic hint were so applied 
 
 Of Him who is the Finger "' of the Lord, 890 
 
 The Holv Ghost, bv whom the maniacs 
 
 Had devils cast from out them, miracle 
 
 Foretokening the Church's healing powers. 
 
 Saint Paul when teaching Christian warriors 
 
 How they shall arm their fingers for the fight, 895 
 
 Hath not unmindful been of attitude 
 
 In prayer, but lifting up of holy hands enjoins. 
 
 As though the emblem of the Energy 
 
 Of that most Holy One who dwells within 
 
 The heart of each true Catholic (a shrine 900 
 
 Himself hath purified) should with the voice. 
 
 In which He groaneth, then be lifted up. 
 
 That so lay priesthood also may effect 
 
 Its proper miracles, its healing gifts 
 
 By secret prayer on sin-struck hearts may pour. 905 
 
 And one of yore unsoldierlike esteem'd 
 
 The man who fled with hanging down of hands 
 
 Unworthy of the soul " that was possess'd 
 
 Of every virtue. And, possess'd of Christ, 
 
 His members have all virtues in their Lord. 910 
 
 Oh ye that never knew the taint of sin 
 
 Destructive of His Presence, be not faint 
 
 As deeming you unworthy of a Guest 
 
 So infinite in Majesty, but lift ye up 
 
 In prayer unceasing, lift ye up your hands 9 1 5
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 347 
 
 That now hang down, and lift ye up the gates 
 
 Of this your fleshly temple, lift your lips 
 
 In prayer, that so in Eucharist the King 
 
 Of Glory may come in, enkindling so 
 
 The tongue, your Glory, till it shall rejoice. 920 
 
 Nor let not any yield him to despair 
 
 Who grows in glad obeying, but at last 
 
 He will not be as a wayfaring man. 
 
 That spends a night of fast and prayer with such. 
 
 But shall at last immovably abide 925 
 
 Within that temple, burning constantly 
 
 With Light which not provokings of all men. 
 
 Not loss of all thhigs, not unconsciousness 
 
 Of that dear Presence dread, shall ever quench. 
 
 Thus were the bodies of the saints of old, 930 
 
 As Judah's shrine, by ever-burning light, 
 
 Anticipations of the glorious House 
 
 Which with the Lamb its Light shall ever shine. 
 
 But should it be forbidden to beheve 
 That aught significative of a Truth 935 
 
 Mysterious by their lifting of the hands 
 Was meant, at least this sweetness comes to all 
 By following ancient saints in little things, 
 That we have somewhat more thereby on us 
 Bestow'd to do that lacks apparent use : 940 
 
 Whence groweth dutiful submissiveness 
 To forefathers in faith. And when the tears 
 Of penitents that mourn for Sion's woes 
 Are dropping from them, fellowship accrues
 
 348 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 To them with Asaph ^^ whose uphfted hand 945 
 
 Ran down with water flowing from his eyes. 
 
 And haply 'twas design'd that humble souls 
 
 Who gladly follow little practices 
 
 Of former saints, should find a present meed 
 
 In understanding what to ruder minds, 950 
 
 That keep not godly ceremonies, would seem 
 
 Obscure, as touching not in them such string 
 
 Of sympathy with hallow'd men of old. % 
 
 All that the Saints, in whom abidingly 
 
 The Spirit dwelt, have by their doing it 965 
 
 Made honourable, — or ways of spending time, 
 
 Or rules for winning grace, or petty rites, 
 
 Deserveth man's esteem. And is't not thev 
 
 Who least are gifted with the inward Light 
 
 And gladness of His Presence, that despise 960 
 
 Small things so hallow'd, and are forwardest 
 
 To make the abuse of these by hypocrites 
 
 Their argument for scorn of little things. 
 
 Which tender hearts esteem so fair and good, 
 
 Themselves refrain from using them in awe ? 965 
 
 Oh that the awful Presence might be found 
 
 In all around us ! then such outward things 
 
 Would burst as naturally from all their hearts 
 
 As flowers toward the light when Spring returns 
 
 To pay with fragrant savour rains from Heaven. 970 
 
 Nor is it only in the frame of man, 
 But in its accidents and movements all ^^ 
 His rising up from sleep, his lying down.
 
 MAN, IN SOUL AND BODY. 349 
 
 His ailments and his sinkings, or his feel 
 
 Of awe at darkness, or his early state 975 
 
 When hidden from his brethren in the womb. 
 
 As well as all the language in his tongue, 
 
 Are typical of things that have befallen 
 
 The Lord who took his nature, and perhaps 
 
 Foreshadow somewhat for the Church reserved 980 
 
 When She shall after Jesus' likeness wake. 
 
 Such then the frame of man ! so wonderful 
 In all its parts and movements, as a tvpe 
 And prophecy of truth, or as a book 
 On which are written hieroglyphic signs 985 
 
 Of mysteries too hard for utterance 
 In language more explicit — fearful too 
 Because the heralds of augustest things 
 When used in holy or permitted acts. 
 May be perverted to profaneness dire. 990 
 
 As when the careless talker helps his wit 
 By turning holy texts that speak of One 
 Anointed with the Father's gladdening Gift, 
 To blasphemous appliances, unskill'd 
 Himself in mystic lore, but filling those 995 
 
 That seek to love it tremblingly, with dire. 
 And such perversion seems by hint to tell 
 How dreadful to the eyes of holy spirits 
 Must be the fierce perversion of the shrine 
 And temple of the body which beneath 1000 
 
 The curtains of the night in all estates "^ 
 And ranks of life the wicked one inspires.
 
 350 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 As they then suffer tares which he hath sown 
 
 To grow until the Harvest, be it ours 
 
 Then to be found amid the holy seed, 1005 
 
 The body so to treat at all our meals 
 
 As that wherein the Altar-rite may sow 
 
 The Lord for whom the body hath been made. 
 
 When then our eyes are weary while they look 
 For Him who is their Light, remember we 1010 
 
 Their very tenderness of slightest touch. 
 Susceptible of long-enduring pain 
 Thereon ensuing. When we see the Church 
 Torn with disunion and by policy. 
 
 And men of politics and merchandize, 1015 
 
 So sorely trampled down ; and when we think 
 That if the body be indeed the type 
 And emblem of the Church, then every pain 
 Should thrill throughout the whole, and when we miss 
 Of sympathy at home, and intercourse 1020 
 
 With those who love and pray for us abroad ; 
 When we are forced to hear the reckless words 
 Of such as sell their birthright for the mess 
 Of kingly patronage, despise great Athanase 
 (Yet living in the Creed, at prayer in Heaven) 1025 
 And fling the name of ' Catholic ' away. 
 Or say, because themselves are not the eye 
 Which seeing hath for truths mysterious. 
 They are not of the Body, though baptized 
 And in it by Communion, (if indeed 1 030 
 
 They go not unbelieving to the Host, 
 
 2
 
 MAN, IX SOUL AND BODY. 351 
 
 And see not what hath flowed from His Side,) 
 
 When we have in us tendency to court 
 
 Impatience as a vent for grief within ; 
 
 Then think we of the eye, the only sense 1035 
 
 That feels the presence of the starry Heaven, 
 
 So easily assaulted with the heat 
 
 Of mighty pain at trivial incident ! 
 
 Then bow we patiently to prophecy, 
 
 Believinsr that the wicked who assault 1040 
 
 The Church of God, the apple of His Eye 
 
 Are touching. If He so endure their touch. 
 
 Lets the blunt ignorance of statesmen's skill 
 
 Attempt their coarse appliances to cure 
 
 The ills they see therein, or false or real, 1045 
 
 Lets paltry gluttons joke upon their lack 
 
 Of worldly prudence, as the soldiers did 
 
 Upon His very Self, allows the thorus 
 
 Of pain and grief this intimate approach 
 
 To that which is the apple of His Eye ". 1050 
 
 Then weep thou on in patience, with thy sin 
 
 Before thee always ! Only do not see 
 
 For weeping ; then thy sin shall not remain. 
 
 This sickness of the Church is not to death, 
 
 Though vital warmth be wanting to the parts 1055 
 
 To us most pleasing. Make, oh only make. 
 
 Great lamentation for her, and at length 
 
 The Man who is thy God shall visit her. 
 
 And from that Flesh, now deified, bestow 
 
 Throughout His Body, Wine that is His Blood, lOGO
 
 352 NATURE A PARABLE. 
 
 And Bread to strengthen and revive the Heart 
 
 Of her thou lovcst, till throughout the whole 
 
 A living warmth is kindled, and again 
 
 The one man upon earth be growing on 
 
 To perfectness, the Church invisible 1065 
 
 In the Church visible its likeness find.
 
 ft* -'-^^ 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 Note 1. p. 317. 
 
 St. Aihan. c. Arian. i. 39. TlCjq Os izai OiOTroiriffiQ yh'oir' av 
 j((t)oi£ Tov \6yov Kal Trpo Avtov, Kairoi X'tyovrof; Airoi; irpoQ 
 Toiig dCtK<povg tovtwv lov^diuv^' Et tKeivovg Gfove tiTrt Trpof ovq 
 6 AoyoQ TOV Qiov tykviTo ; ti Si^irdvTeQ, '6<roi vioi ts Kal 9soi 
 ticXriOiiaav, lire tTTi yrjg, t'irt iv ovpm'olg, Sid tov Aoyov vioiroi- 
 r^Oriaav Kal tOtoTcoiifiricav, Avtoq St o Yiog toriv 6 Aoyog, SijXov 
 oTi ci AifTov fxiv 01 irdvTig, Avtuq ci npo TidvTwv, fidWov Si 
 fiovov AvTOQ d\r]Biv'oQ Ylof /cai fiovog Ik tov dXriOivov deov Btog 
 dXtjGivoQ kOTiv oil jxiaQbv dpiTiig Tavra XajSoJi', oiiSe dXXoQ wv 
 ■aapd ToiiTa, dXXd (picsii Kcil kut ovaiav wv Tavra. The same 
 text was urged also against the Nestorians by St. Cyril, c. Nest. 
 ]>. 79, e. 
 
 Note 2. p. 319. 
 
 Alluding to the Indian notidii, that the different castes came 
 from different parts of the body of Urahma. See Manu's Insti- 
 tutes, i. 1. 31, a book which contains many partial parallels to the 
 
 A A
 
 354 NOTES 
 
 scripture accounts of tilings, althougli (if I may be allowed to say 
 it) there seems to be a tendency in the translation to make them 
 more parallel, than the original will perha{)S always warrant. 
 
 Note 3. ji. ;V2(). 
 
 Reference is here made to a famous passage in the fifth book 
 of Plato's Republic, which has been thought like St. Paul's 
 account of the Body I\Iystical. Whether it struck Plato himself, 
 or whether he took it from Eastern traditions akin to that just 
 alluded to, I shall not pretend to decide. It is in the tenth sec- 
 tion, and runs thus : ']•> yriri Ci) ttoXh TrXfTcrroi tTrt to avro 
 Kara ravra tovtq Xiyovai to tfiov kuI to ovk t/ibv, avTTj aoitrra 
 SioiKilTai; YluXvyt. Kai i'/Tig h) iyyvTciTa ivoQ ai'dpuirov ixii' 
 oiov. i'lrai' nov I'lfiwi' trcmrvXaQ tov izXriyy, waaa ij Koivwvin »} 
 Kara to cw/irt Trpot,' ti)v ■ipvxijv TiTajiii't] iig n'lav (Tvi'TaKiv ttjv 
 Tov dpxovTog iv avry, yaOtTo rt Koi naaa ufxa S,vvr)Xyt]ai fi'tpovg 
 ■TTOviiaai'TOQ 0/\>j, Kai oiirw Ci) Xsyo^fv, on 6 di'OptoTrog top Sc'ik- 
 TvXov aXyn' Kai ntpi dXXov otovuiiv twv rod dvdpojTrov 6 nvruQ 
 Xoyog, TTsni n XvnrjQ, irovovi'Tog fiipovg, Kai ircpi t'l^ovrji;, patZov- 
 
 Tog Ei'og Ti oifiai TrdffxovTug twv ttoXitoiv otiovv j) dyuBbv 
 
 ij KnKOi' )) ToiavTT] TzbXiQ finXtuTd Tt (priati ftivriig dvai to 
 Trd<Txor, Kai )/ iuvrjaBy^atrai drraaa ^ ^vXXv7ni9i)aiTai. 
 
 N0TE*4. p. 322. 
 
 St. Ephrem on Judges xiv. " His wife revealed the riddle to 
 them : this is a type of how in the Church Immanuel revealed His 
 Mystery to His saints." And again : " In that on the seventh 
 day the riddle of Samson was disclosed, it shows that at the 
 seventh thousand [of years] there will be disclosed all the riddles 
 and types that have been spoken, before the preparing of that 
 Table of the spiritual Marriage-Feast of the Church, the Bride 
 of Christ, appeareth." The same interpretation of Samson's wife, 
 as meaning the Church, occurs also in St. Augustine, c. Faust, 
 xii. .32, in Ps. Ixxxviii. § 10.
 
 ON BOOK VII. 355 
 
 Note 5. p. 323. 
 
 Origen upon Josua, Horn. v. § 6 : " Vide quantum profeceris 
 ex horaunculo terrene ! In teniplum Dei progressus es sine 
 dubio, in quo habitare debet Deus, et qui caro et sanguis eras, 
 profecisti, ut membrum Christi sis. Sed sicut magnus est iste 
 profeetus, ita et discessus terribiiis atcjue irremediabilis psene 
 lapsus. Jam tibi enim non licet templo Dei, nisi in sanctitate uti, 
 nee membra Christi ad indignum revocare negotium. Et ideo, 
 si quando te malse eoncupiseentiaj pulsat illecebra, memor horum 
 quse nunc audis hosti illi occurre, qui de te ipso, hoc est, de tuo 
 corde procedit, et resiste ei in talibus verbis, et die quia non sum 
 meus ; emptus enim sum pretio sanguinis Christi et membrum 
 Ipsius efFectus sum. Non licet mihi tollere membrum Christi et 
 facere membrum menetricis. Die ei, quia templum Dei effectus 
 sum, non licet mihi immundum aliquid illuc inducere, nee fas est 
 mihi violare templum Dei. Sed et illud adde, quoniam quiforni- 
 catur, in corpus suum peccat: non in istud corpus solum, quod tem- 
 plum Dei effectum est, sed et in illud, quod dicitur, quia omnis 
 Ecclesia corpus Christi est, et in omnem Ecclesiam videtur de- 
 linquere, qui corpus suum maculaverit, quia per unum mem- 
 brum macula in omne corpus diffunditur." Although only the 
 latter part of this passage immediately bears upon the text, yet 
 the whole of it embodies a doctrine to which frequent reference 
 has been made in this work, and particularly in this last book. It 
 may also be taken as a specimen of the beautiful practical lessons 
 every where given us in Origen, whose merits as a writer of that 
 kind can perliajis hardly be overrated, whatever becomes of the 
 question of his orthodoxy. 
 
 Note G. p. 324. 
 
 The expression "Son of the Vineyard," &c. alludes to the name 
 of Achan's father, Carnii, which means "my vineyard." The 
 Fathers commonly dwell upon the meanings of scripture names, 
 as indifative of something below the surface. A good samjilc of 
 this will be found at the begiiniingof St. Thomas A((uinas's Catena 
 Aurea. Though their knowledge of Hebrew was imperfect, still 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 NOTES 
 
 the principle is one, which one seems entitled to avail oneself of, 
 and is often of great practical value. 
 
 Note 7- p. 325. 
 
 St. Ephrem, vol. ii. p. 316: "The mind is in the likeness of 
 Goi), dwellini: in the heaven of the brain : there minister to it 
 spiritual things, by fancy its auxiliary. In the temple of the 
 heart it moves about ; that is the king of thoughts. There run 
 before it, as its messengers, intellect and wisddm. In the reins 
 there dwell thoughts, in them too discrimination hath its abode : 
 to distinguish true from false, the odious and the comely, there is 
 mind with conscience too. In the midst of the stomach is a par- 
 tition, the diaphragm its name and style, — a band, or door of flesh 
 it is, separating between sanctuary and sanctuary : within the 
 one is the outer sanctuary, and within the other the Holy of 
 holies, in the midst whereof dwells the soul. In the heart is the 
 likeness of the ark : the chenibs with their two wings are the 
 lungs that overshadow the heart. Betwi.xt the censers of pure 
 gold the breath there is, and inspiration giving life unto the 
 heart. The lungs indeed do not receive either drink or food. 
 The candle with seven lights is put in the sacred place of the 
 sanctuary. Tiie light is a symbol of life. The liver is the mother 
 of nourishment, which gives the body sustenance," &c. 
 
 Note 8. p. 325. 
 
 The belief that the mind of man was made in the Image of the 
 Ever-blessed Trinity, is one too clearly implied by the words of 
 Ci-eation ("let t/smakc man in Our Image") to reijuire proof — for 
 the genei-al doctrine. As to the particular faculties insisted upon, 
 as those which make the resemblance exact, so to speak, there 
 may be some discrepancy, so far at least as the priv/ffi facie 
 appearance of the statements of the Fathers goes. Obviously it 
 would be out of place to attempt to reconcile at any length here 
 such seeming discrepancies ; neither shall I endeavour to do more 
 than give a very limited number of passages bearing upon the 
 point. The author who, of all others that I am acc^uainted with,
 
 ON BOOK VII. 357 
 
 has treated the subject most fully, is St. Austin, who, in several 
 parts of his work on the Trinity, has traced out the resemblances 
 or types to the Trinity in man's mind, and the operations of it. 
 In all such cases the remarks of St. Ephrem (above, note 1 on 
 book vi.) as to the inadequacy of all types to express the thinnr 
 signified, should carefully be kept in remembrance. St. Austin's 
 9th and 10th books are occupied almost exclusively with treatino- 
 of these resemblances. The following is a passage from ix. 12, 13 : 
 " In ilia oeterna Veritate, ex qua temporalia facta sunt omnia, 
 forniam secundum quam sumus, et secundum quam vel in nobis 
 vel in corporibus vera et recta ratione aliquid operanuu', visu 
 mentis aspicimus, atque inde conceptam rerum veracem notitiam, 
 tanquam Verbum apud nos habemus et dicendo intus gignimus, 
 nee a nobis nascendo discedit. Cum autem ad alios loquimur, 
 verbo intus mauenti miuisterium vocis adhibemus, aut alicujus 
 signi corporalis, ut per quandam commemoratiouem seusibilem 
 tale aliquid fiat etiam in animo audientis, quale de loquentis 
 animo non recedit. Nihil igitur agimus per membra corporis, in 
 faetis dictisque nostris, quibus vel approbantur vel improbantur 
 mores hominum, quod non verbo apud nos intus edito pi'seveni- 
 mus. Nemo enim volens aliquid facit, quod non in corde suo 
 prius dixerit. Quod verbum amore concipitur sive creaturise sive 
 Creatorisjid est aut naturae mutabilis,aut incommutabilisVeritatis. 
 Ergo aut cupiditate aut caritate : non quo non sit amanda crea- 
 tura, sed si ad Creatorem refertur ille amor, jam non cupiditas. 
 Red caritas erit. Tunc enim est cupiditas, cum propter se amatur 
 creatura. Tunc non utentem adjuvat, sed corrumpit fruentem. 
 Cum ergo aut par nobis, aut inferior creatura sit, inferiore uten- 
 dum est ad Deum, pari autem fi'uendum sed in Deo. Sicut enim 
 te ipso non in te ipso frui debes, sed in Eo qui fecit te ; sic etiam 
 illo quem diligis tanquam te ipsum. Et nobis ergo et fratribus in 
 Domino fruamur, et Lnde nos nee ad nosmet ipsos remittere et 
 quasi relaxare deorsum versus audeamus. Nascitur autem 
 verbum, cum excogitatum placet, aut ad peccandum aut ad recte 
 faciendum. Verbum ergo nostrum et mentem de qua gignitur 
 quasi medius amor conjungit, seque cum iis tertium complexu 
 incorporeo, sine ulla confusione constringit. Conceptnm autem 
 verbum et natum id ipsura est, cum voluntas in ipsa notitia con- 
 (juiescit, quod fit in amore spiritualium." The love (elsewhere
 
 358 NOTES 
 
 the will) is made to answer to the IIoi.v Spirit in consideration 
 of the text "God is Love," which is tlionyiit to be more es])ecially 
 said of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. Of memory as the 
 type of tho Father, so much is said that the difficulty is to select : 
 perhaps the following passage, on the general similitude, will be a 
 useful one, as showing also in some degree wherein the type is 
 inadequate. It occurs in xv. § 42 : " Vcrum htec quando in una 
 sunt persona slcut est homo potest nobis quispiam dicere, Tria ista, 
 memoria, intellectus, amor, mea sunt non sua ; nee sibi sed mihi 
 agunt quod agunt, immo ego per ilia. Ego enim memini per me- 
 moriam, intolligo per intelligentiam, amo per amorem ; et quando 
 ad memoriani mcam aciem cogitationis adverto, et sic in corde 
 meo dico (jiiod scio, verburaque verum de scientia mea gignitur, 
 uti'umquc mourn est et scientia utique et verbum. Ego enim 
 scio : ego dico in corde meo, quod scio. Et quando in memoria 
 mea cogitando invenio jam me intelligere, jam me amare aliquid, 
 qui intellectus et amor ibi erant, et ante cjuam inde cogitarem, 
 intellectum meum et amorem meum invenio in memoria mea, quo 
 ego intelligo, ego amo, non ipsa. Item quando cogitatio memor 
 est, et vult redire ad ea quae in memoria reli<iuerit, eaque intellecta 
 conspicere atque intus dicere, mea memoria memor est, mea vult 
 voluntate non sua. Ipse quoque amor meus, cum meminit atque 
 intelligit quid appetere debeat, quid vitai'e per meam non per 
 suam memoriam meminit et per intelligentiam meam non per 
 suam, quicquid iutelligenter amat, intelligit. Quod breviter dici 
 potest, ego per omnia ilia tria memini, ego intelligo, ego diligo, qui 
 nee memoria sum, nee intelligentia, nee dilectio, sed hsec habeo. 
 Ista ergo dici possunt ab una persona quoo habet hsec tria, non 
 ipsa est hsec tria. In illius vero summse simplicitatis natura, 
 quae Deus est, quamvis unus sit Deus, tres tamen Personse sunt 
 Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus." If, then, any thing in the 
 text appears to deny the oneness of man's personality, (though I 
 am not aware of any thing to that effect,) it must be ascribed to 
 an unintentional indefiniteness of language. Greg. Naz. Orat. 
 xxiii. § 11, avToi dk fiiav Kal ryv avTrjv tlSkvai (pvariv QtorriTOQ 
 dvaoxy Kai ytvvyaH Kal Trpooo<i) y%'wpiZofiivT]V, wq viii ri^ iv 
 y'jixlv Kui Xoyti) Kai wtiifiari, oaov tiKUffai Tolg alaOyroXg rd 
 votfTO. Kai Tolg jxiKpoic to. jxiyiaTa, &c. Greg. Nyss. de Opif. 
 Horn. cap. vi. Ei dvoixoiog /card (pvaiv t(^ ILarpi 6 Y'loe, Trwg
 
 ON BOOK VII. 35.9 
 
 fiiav Kara(iK£va^£t twv £ta(p6oo)V (pvaimv Tr]v tiicuva, 6 yap, 
 Tcoii]C!wjxiv avd[Ko7rov Kar i'lKova n'lfiirepav, uttioi', kciI dia riit; 
 7rX»jyui'r(Ki)t' ai]jiaaiaQ Ti)v ' Ayiav Tpid^a SrjXionac, ovic uv Tijt; 
 siKovog novaSiKu)s g/it/iVJJcrSjj, etirtp di/ofioiwf t\'tt Trpof aWfjXif 
 ra apxirvTra : autl in xi. Tloiljaujufi', iprjniv, c'i. tear' ti. t. r). y 
 yap fiKu)v Siog av tr ^i/;Osi'i XfiTr/jmi rwi' Kara to dpxirvirov 
 voov/iEvuiv Kvpiug iaTii> e'lKuiv. KaO' o 5' at' Sianiaij r()f Trpcif to 
 TrptoTOTvirov o^oi6ti]toq kcit hctivo to /ispoc eiiciov ovk tciTir. 
 OuKovi' tTreicdv 'ii> tuiv ttioI r;}i' Otiar (pu(jiv Ofojpovfit^noi/, tarl 
 TO aKaTdXriTTTov rrji; ovcriag, avdyKt] iraaa kuI h> tovtoj Tt]v 
 fiKova TTpbg TO' apxiTtJTTov txiiv T'}i' i^iif-iiiiyiv. The truth of this 
 will be felt by auy oue who considers how distinct the faculties of 
 will and reason appear to our consciousness, although we know 
 that we have but oue person in our nature, as was just now 
 noticed. The following passage from St. Ephrera may be added 
 to these, as containing the germ of a similar view to that given 
 from St. Austin, although not so explicit in the distinctions. It 
 is taken from the 57th Sermon against the Intruders into thuigs 
 not seen, and shall conclude this note : " Wlio hath searched out 
 his soul, and touched it ever with his hand, how and where it 
 culls and lays up in itself its harvest of knowledge, supplying bv' 
 repetition books which are in its heart, gathering by recollection, 
 multiplying by reflection, minishing by remitted exertion ? for in 
 all these there is a wonder, and musings on Thy Majesty. Who is 
 there that can enter into it, and understand how that place sufliceth 
 for so much knowledge, and yet the soul lacketh ? And is there 
 anv wonder at all greater than the memory that taketh in, yet 
 filleth not, that giveth and yet lacketh not ? in the heart there is 
 every thing, while yet there is nothing in it. Who can gaze upon 
 the brightness of the memory, which is a shadow of the Creator, 
 who cannot be comprehended, what He is ? It taketh in without 
 trouble the names of the creatures, and though tliere be no space 
 in it, yet for every thing is there space in it. And how doth it 
 by the names contain all things, while its strength weareth not 
 out ! Who can enter into the midst of the memory, and feel, 
 where they are, those names of the creatures, since neither it nor 
 they are to be felt ? in the mind and in the Essence they wholly 
 dwell. Thus in the Very Father is the Very Son, while neither 
 He nor They may be felt [to know] where they are."
 
 360 NOTES 
 
 Note 9. p. 325. 
 See the first note on book vi. ^ 
 
 Note 10. p. 328. 
 
 This alludes to St. James's words, ii. 26 : "As the body without 
 the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." 
 
 Note 11. p. 329. 
 
 St. Clement, Quis dives salv. ? § 36, Udvrsg o'l inaTol KaXoi 
 BioTrptTTiiQ icai rrjQ Ttpocrriyopiai; d^ioi, rjv wcrTrtp 5ta5jj/xa Trtpt- 
 Kuvrai. oil firiv aW tiaii' i)STf riviQ kuI tSjv iKkiKTiov f/cXfcro- 
 Tjpoi Koi TO(yovT(j) iiaWov fjTTOv kTriatjfioi, Trpoc tov Xi^kva kK 
 Tov kKvSwvoq tov Kofffxav vtioXKOVVTig iavTovQ Kai tTravayovrig 
 In d(7(pa\eQ, ov /SovXo/xtvoi SoKtlv liyioi kuv e'nnj Tig ataxvvu- 
 fitvoi, if /3a0ft yvM^iriQ cnroKpvTTTovTiQ to. aviK\a\r}Ta jivaTi]oia, 
 Kai Tt)v avTotv tvysveiav {^■irt(ir)<pavovvri(; iv KOff^Hf) j3\sTr(a9ai, 
 ovQ V Aoyof (pwg TOV Koajiov teal dXag t7jq yi]Q koXh. tovt' tOTi 
 TO anfpfia iIkujv kciI oixoiojaig &tov Kai TtKvoi> Avtov yvr)<nov Kai 
 KXjjporojuov, oiffTTtp £7rt Tiva KtviTtiav ivTUvOa irtfi-Trofiivov, vvo 
 fitydXrjg o'lKovofiiag Kai dvaXoyiag tov YlaTpbg di ov Kai Ta 
 (pavtpd Kai Ta d^ai'jj Toii k6(T[iov SiSrifiiovpyrjrai, Ta fiiv i'lg 
 SovXtiav, Ta Si elg dnKt^aiv, tu Sk eig ndBrjaiv avrwv Kai Trdvra, 
 fifXP'S dv evTavOa to aTripfia fievy, (TVVBxiTai, Kai avvaxOsvrog 
 avTOv TavTa rdxidTa XvQrjaiTai. 
 
 Note 12. p. 336. 
 
 St. Austin on Ps. Ixi. § 4 : " Ipse ante adventum Incarnationis 
 suae praemisit qusedam membra sua, post quae praenuntiantia se 
 venturum venit et Ipse connexus iis. Refer ad similitudinem 
 nascentis illius : quia manus ante caput procedens et cum capite 
 est et sub capite," — refeiTing to Gen. xxxviii. 27.
 
 ON BOOK VII. 361 
 
 Note 13. p. 336. 
 
 This is suggested by St. Clement, Strom, vii. 3, § 21 : "Ovntp 
 rpoTTOi' 6 7]Xiog ov fiovov tov ovpavbv Kcii tuv '6\ov Kudfiov 
 (pwTiZd yiji' re Kal QdXaacrav sTriXa/tTTwi', aXXa Kai ctci OvpiSiot> 
 Kai fiiKpaQ 6wi)g irpoQ tovq ^ii%airaroi^(." oiicovQ avooTtWei t>)v 
 aiiyifv' ovTug 6 Aoyog iravrr] Ktxvuevog Kai rd afiiKporaTa tCI)v 
 
 TOV (iioV TTpd^fWV tTTtjSXEirtl. 
 
 Note 14. p. 337. 
 
 Pliny, N. H. vii. 8 : "Neronem. . . .toto principatu sue hostem 
 generis humani pedibus geuitum parens ejus scribit Agrippiua. 
 Rltu natiirce capite hominem gigni mos est, pedibus efferri." 
 Compare St. Hilary's interpretation of Ps. 138 = 139, as refei'red 
 to in note 2^ ; and see note 12. 
 
 Note 15. p. 338. 
 
 St. Austin on Ps. xxix. En. ii. § 2 : " Secundum Deum et 
 secundum Divinitatem et secundum id quod in Principle erat 
 Verbimi, et Verbuni erat apud Deum, super oranem creaturam 
 aequalis est Patri : sed agimus de Homine. Forte putat quis- 
 quam vestrum, fratres, quia Homo ille susceptus a Sapientia Dei, 
 iL-qualis erat caeteris hominibus. Si in tuis membris multum 
 distat inter caput et csetera membra, certe omnia membra faciunt 
 corpus unum ; multum tamen interest inter caput et ctetera mem- 
 bra. Et enim in ceteris membris non sentis nisi tactu : taugendo 
 sentis in cseteris membris, in capite autem et vides, et audis, 
 et olfacis, et gustas, et tangis. Si tanta excellentia est capitis ad 
 membra caetera, quanta excellentia est Capitis universae Eccle- 
 sise, id est, illius Hominis, quem voluit Deus mediatorem esse 
 inter Deum et homines ! " 
 
 Note 16. p. 339. 
 
 Compare the 1st note on book i. ; and presently the 2lst note 
 on book ii.
 
 362 NOTES 
 
 Note 17- p. 340. 
 
 St. Austin de Trin. xv. 18 : " Noc tamen quia dicinius locu- 
 tiones cordis esse cogitationos, idco non sunt etiam visiones exortte 
 de nolitiio visionibus, fniando vci';o sunt. Foris cnini euni per 
 coi'pus hsec tiunt, aliud est locutio, aliud visio ; intus autem cum 
 cogitamus, utiMiniquc ununi est. Sicut auditio et visio duo ((Ufedam 
 sunt inter se distantia in sensibus corporis, in aninio autem non 
 est aliud atque aliud videre et audire," &c. 
 
 Note 1!J. j). 340. 
 
 St.Cyril.de Ador. p. 7, e. 'Ev ttXoI'J fih' XiOivait; i(TKtay^m(j)tiro 
 Ton ToiQ d()x^''OTSpotQ 6 vofiOQ Bv daKrvXif) Otoii, kuOu ytypcnr- 
 rav TuTTog Si fjv tKtiva twv kuO' yi^ag tv Xptarip ytvkcrOai iriiri- 
 <TrtvfiivoJv. KaTaypa(j)ti yap loaTrtp Iv ijfuv rijc; fcivToii /3ot)XJ}t,' 
 Ti)v tiSt](nv 6 Travrti)v AtCTrorj/t," 0'O£, o'lovti KaXa/x(>J \pwixtvo(; 
 Tip Yiy kv nvivjiaTi. i)v6jxaZ,i yap ovtwq Avtov eia Aaliic 
 Xsyiov, r/ yXuaaa fiov KaXafioQ ypafXjiaTkuiQ 6'ivypu(pov. 'Evj- 
 Xapa^i yap raif anaj^riov KupSicng 6 Toii IlaTpdg KaXajxoc, 
 TOVT i(TTiv, 6 X'lOQ Tijv TvavTog Hv>}civ ciyaOov, o'lovti tivi Auk- 
 Tv\<{t Qtov Tip Tt Tov JlaTpbg Kal Tip iSiij) ■x^piafitvog nvtv/iaTi. 
 AciKTvXov yap ihvofjiaas to llfsS/ia Qiov, Xtyiov voTf fxtv, Ei tyil) 
 tv Ylv. 9. tKj3dXXw TO, Satfiovia, Trori Si av Et li iv AaKTvXi^ 9. 
 K.X. 'E7rt(7roX))v ci yixcig Tijv Trvtv/iaTiKiijv Kal 6 UauXog sicaXtj 
 Xkyotv, 'H iiri(7ToX)) yfiuit' vnilg iari, k. X., quoting 2 Cor. iii. St. 
 Cyril even urged it against Julian in this sense, p. 281, ed. Spanli. 
 St. Athan. c. Ar. iii. § 76, on the place understands it as the lan- 
 guage of the Father to the Son, as did St. Austin on the place, 
 nor does St. Basil materially differ, although he does refer the 
 beginning to the Psalmist. On the whole, then, it must be con- 
 sidered as truly fearful to hear these words used in the light and 
 irreverent way in which they often are. The words " my glory 
 hath rejoiced," from Ps. xvi. ai"e cited in Acts ii. 26, " my tongue 
 hath rejoiced," as the Septuagint gives them. It seemed to me 
 that light was thrown upon this version by the language of St. 
 CjTil, just quoted. The inwai'd strength perfects the outward 
 praise, (to illustrate by another version of the Septuagint adopted
 
 ON BOOK VII. 363 
 
 in the New Testament,) and in like manner the inward Gift of 
 Glory makes tlie tongue an instrument whereby the Holy Spirit 
 works upon men, so as to write permanently upon their hearts 
 that which is uttered. 
 
 Note 19. p. 342. 
 
 What I have here to give concerning the XoyoQ (' discourse ' in 
 man, in the sense Shakspeare says that brutes lack 'discourse 
 of reason') as a type of the Aoyog or Word of God, will in part 
 have been anticipated by note 8. It may not perhaps be anv 
 harm to allow that the well-known passage in Plato's Theajtetus, 
 § 84, suggested possibly the particular use of this type, to the 
 Fathers. It occurs in TertuUian, c. Prax. St. Dionysius in 
 Athan. Apol. pro Sent. Dionys. § 23 : "Qcnrtp 6 y'lfiinpog vovq 
 kpivyiTca jxtv d(f tavToii Tov \6yov, wg tiTztv o Tipo^i]rr]Q- i^- 
 fptv^aro r) icapSia jxov Xoyov ayaOov' Kcti iari fiev eKcirtpog 'inpoi; 
 Barkpov, 'iSiov kuI tov Xoinov /c£\;(t)pi(Tjusj'0)' ciXj/ywc tottoj', 6 /itj' 
 iv ry Kupcia, 6 tk tTri rtjg yXdjaarjg kuI tov aTo^iaTog oiKoiv rt /cai 
 Kivovfiivog' oil i-itjv SuffTiiKacnv ovoe KaOciTra^ dXXr]X(ov arkpov- 
 Tai, ovci iaTiv, ovTf. 6 voug clXoyog, ovrt di'ovg 6 Xoyog, dXX' o yt 
 vovg TTOiil TOV Xoyov tv avT<^ (jiaveig' /cai o Xoyog huKvvai tov 
 vovv tv avTip ysvofievog' kul 6 fitv voiig t(TTiv, olov Xoyoc kyKs'i- 
 [livog 6 ci Xoyog vovg TrpoTrrjCaiv. Kai ynQ'KJTaTai fikv 6 vovg eig 
 TOV Xoyov, 6 £t Xoyog tov vovv eig Tovg c'lKpoardg tyKVKXtl. Kai 
 o'vTwg 6 voijg Sid tov Xoyov Toig tUv aKOvovrmv ipvxciig iviSpv- 
 iTai avvHd'iuiv Tif Xoyy Kai 'iariv 6 fiiv olov HaTijp, 6 vovg toU 
 Xoyou, u)v i<p' iavTov' 6 Si KaQdinp Yibg 6 Xoyoc; rov vov. Trpo 
 kKtivov jxkv dc{)vaTOv tiXX' ovSk t^ioOtv TroOtv avv iKSi'i'^ yivo- 
 jxevog, ^XatTTTjaag Se dir avTov' QvTing 6 ITar^p 6 fikyiaTog Kai 
 KaOoXov vodg TrpCJTOV tov Ylbv ipfiT]v8a Kui dyytXov 'EavTov 
 «%£(. And there are several otlier passages which might be 
 produced. The following is from St. Austin de Trin. xv. 20 : 
 "Verbum quod foris sonat signum est verbi (£uod intus lucct, cui 
 magis verbi competit nomen. Nam illud, quod profertur carnis 
 ore, vox verbi est : verbunique et ipsum dicitur propter illud 
 a quo, ut foris appareret, assumtum est. Ita enim vcrbum nos- 
 trum vox quodammodo corporis fit, assumendo cam in qua mani-
 
 364 NOTES 
 
 festetnr sonsibus liominum, sient Verbum Dei caro factum est 
 assuniendo earn in (luii ct ipsiiin manifestaretur sensil)u.s liomi- 
 num. Et sicut verbum nostrum fit vox ncc mutatur in voc-em ; 
 ita "Verbum Dei caro (inideni factum est, sed absit, ut niutarctur 
 in cai-ncm. Assumendo (juippc cam, non in earn se eonsuineiido, 
 et hoc nosti-um vox fit, et illud caro factum eat." 
 
 Note 20. p. 342. 
 
 This advice is taken from a very striking passage in St. Clement 
 of Alexandria, (Strom, vi. § 113.) in which he is pointing out the 
 means of higher spiritual progress. Avti] >'/ ivnvviih](Tia to oaiov 
 TO TTfJoc Toi' Qibv Kai to TTpbg tovi; avQ{MTrov(; c'lKuiov haaioZti, 
 KaOaTTef) rr)v 4^vx>)v ^vXaTTOvaa Siavotiixaai fffjuroTf Kfii Xoyotg 
 ayvolg Kai toIq SiKaiouj ipyotg — ovtoiq llvafiiv XajSovau KtipiaKn'jV 
 V ^^X') j"<^£i'4' dvai Otog' KaKov jiiv oiiSfv dWo Tr\t)v c'lyvoiaQ 
 tlvai vofii^ovffa Kai rjje M Kara rbv 6p9dv Xoyov tvtpydag- dti 
 Ss tvxapKTTOvaa iiri naai. ti^ 0£(p Si aKoT/e SiKaiag Kai avayinb- 
 <T(wg Qiiag, Siu Zt]Ti]atwg dXrjGovg, Sid Upoacpopctg dyiac, tV tvxm 
 /laKapiag alvovaa, v/ivovaa, ivXoyovaa, \l/dXXov(ra, ou Oiopi'^trai 
 TTOTt Tov Otov kut' ovc'iva Kaipbv »'/ TOiuSe i^vx^l- 
 
 Note 21. p. 343. 
 
 St. Just. Mart. Dial. c. Tryph. p. 296, interprets Isaiah xxxiii. 
 16 : "Ort fiev ovv iv ravTy ry -iTpo(pr]riiq. nipl tov "Aprov ov 
 TrapidioKSv i]fii%> b t'liurepog Xpiarbg iroifiv tig dvdixvrjaiv rov ti 
 aixjfiaTOTTOitlaQai Avrbv Sid Tovg ninTtvovTug tig AiiTbv Si' ovg 
 Kai TTaOrjTbg ykyovtv. . . .(paivirai. 
 
 Note 22. p. 345. 
 
 St. Greg. Nyss. de Vita Mos. p. 193: Tor vo^oQirov r) x««P '"'po- 
 pXtjOtlaa TOV koXttov -rrpbg Tb Trapd <pv(7iv riXXoiuOrj XP*^!^^' ''"' 
 7ra\ij' tv KoXiroig ytvofitvi] Trpoc ti)v iSiav avTtig Kai /cara (pvaiv 
 iiraviiXOi x«P'»'' ««' " novoyivijg Qtbg wv h KoX-Troig tov UaTpbg,
 
 ON BOOK VII. 365 
 
 ovr'^Q idriv r'l Afi;ia roii 'Yxpiffrov, ore Si t'/iiiv ttc riov koXttiov 
 t<pdi'ii, KciO' t'l^ag riWoiwOr]. irrd Si rug iifiiripag aadevdag 
 iKjid'^ag TrdXiv tTravdyaye ti]v tv iijuv ytvoji'ivriv Xii^a 
 Kai KaQ' t'iftdg xpojijOtiaav inl top "tSiov koXttoi' (koXttoc Si 
 TTJg Ai^idg iariv o Uarijp) tots ov to dnaOig rijc ^I'fffaif tig 
 TrdOog r)X\oioj(7(v, dWd to TptTVTov re Kni i^irraOir Sid Trjg Trpbg 
 TO drptiTTor Koiviot'iag tig dndOticn' fitrtaroixdtiXTtv. And St. 
 Cyril, de Ador. p. 71, explains it in the same way. 
 
 Note 23. p. Mo. 
 
 On the rite of laying hands upon catechumens, see Bingham, 
 vcl.iii. p. 271 (last edition). 
 
 Note 2-1. p. 346. 
 
 The Finger of God is spoken of as a Name of the Holy Spirit 
 very frequently by the Fathers. The following passage of St. 
 Basil may serve, along with the one already given from St. Cyril 
 in note 18, as an instance of this. C. Eunom. v. 'AXXa kuI 6 
 AuKTvXog Tov Oiov, fura(3aXujv iv AlyvTrT<i> top xo5i' I'lg ^wa 
 Trjv apx'l^tJ' Tu)V Z^owi' dvaSei^ag yh'tfTiv, 6 YlapdKXrjTog ijv, to 
 HvivHa Trjg dXrjOtiag- tui>' yap Tpiuiv EvayytXiaTiTiv (prjffdvTojv 
 Trpof 'lovSaiovg iipijKivai tov Kvpiov, E/ Si iyu) iv RvsvixaTi 
 Qtov tKl3uXXiij ra Sainoiin, dpa t^Qftfrsv t^' vfiag 1) patriXeia tov 
 Qtov- 6 AovKag 0»;ffiV tlptjKtvai Avrov, El Si tyw h> AaKTvXi^ 
 tov Oiov, K. X. OuKoui' icat rd Std Muxri-.jg ytvontva iv klyvTrTifi 
 (T)]iiila, uTTip AaicTvXoj Otov iyivtTO Kai rd TrapdSota tov Qiov 
 ffi]f.iHa tTeXsmovpyHTo rjvv T'li Uvsifiarr AaKTvXog Si Ofoi) iv 
 TOVTOig To'ig inrb IVIajfffaig (Crti ToTg tov Kvpiov (rrjptioig f'lptjrai to 
 Tlvtviia, ovx oTi (TjxiKpd Tig iffTi Tt^ 9f(/> (Tvvov(ja Svi/a^iig Kn9- 
 uTTip (TwfiaTL AuKTvXog, dXX' (TTtiSi) sv Ti ToJi' KciTU Sialptffiv 
 XapKTfidTMV AvTOv tan to xdpicrjJia tHjv tnjptiior uai lajxaTwv, to 
 'iv Ti Kai oyx« ra oXa AuktvXov KaXtT. Vid. St. Austin on Ps. viii. 
 § 7- Uidyinub de Sp. Sancto, 20, 21.
 
 366 NOTES 
 
 Note 25. p. 346. 
 
 This alludes to Aristotle's character of the fxeyaXoipvxog, Eth. 
 Nic.4, p. 1123, b. 31, Btkk. 
 
 Note 20. p. 348. 
 
 This is an attempt to give a literal interpretation of the words 
 maj *T in Ps. Ixxvii. 2, taking the phrase to mean, that ' the hand 
 runs down' with tears. 
 
 Note 27. p. 348. 
 
 St. Hilary takes the 138 (= 139th) Psalm to contain a deeper 
 meaning than a mere description of the mysteriousness of a 
 common man's conception, birth, &c. — an interpretation which 
 had struck me before I read it in St. Hilary. His view of the 
 Psalm is thus given by himself in some prefatory remarks : " Non 
 est ambiguum quin in Psalmis de Eo scriptum sit (ex Luc. xxiv. 
 44). Nam tametsi plerumque in his talia sunt, ut ad personam Pa- 
 triarcharum, Apostolorum et MartjTum generationis quoque primic 
 et generationis sequentis referri oporteant : tamen quia omnia in 
 Christo et per Christum sunt, quicquid illud in Psalmis est, sub 
 diversorum personis prophetarum omne de Ipso est : quia doc- 
 trina omnis diversis licet prseceptorum generibus multiformis, hoc 
 per diversos prasstat. ut Ipse noscatur. Hfec nobis propter prse- 
 sentem Psalmum connnemoranda necessario fuerunt ; ne forte 
 improbabili auctoritate pi'sesumsisse existimaremur, ut ad Per- 
 sonam Christi omncm banc prophetiam ejus i-eferremus." Of 
 course, however, the common actions referred to, may be always 
 types of something further. See Mr. Keble's Preface to his 
 exceedingly accurate translation of the Psalms. 
 
 Note 28. p. 349. 
 
 1 had in my mind, when writing this, some very impressive 
 remarks of De Maistre du Pape, liv. iii. ch. 3, as to the Celibacy
 
 ON BOOK VII. 367 
 
 of the Clergy, particularly his words, " Combien y-a-t-il de manages 
 irr^prochables devant Dieu ? " 
 
 Note 29. p. 351. 
 
 This Ls taken from Zach. ii. 8, where Jerome says, "Qui sanctos 
 DoiDini tetigerit, sic est quasi vexare cupiat pupillam oculi ejus 
 et Ilium nititur clara luce privare de qua loquitur in Evangelio, 
 Vos estis Lux Mundi." 
 
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