 | A Song of Faith |  |
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DEVOUT EXERCISES.
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I. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.
As Job, surmounting all his pangs and sorrows,
Bent his worn eyes on God, and God alone,
His Nature, and Perfections; doing no wrong
In his desire to reason with the Lord:
So we, on whom a steadier beam hath shone,
May search, with eyes as earnest, hearts as pure,
The verities and attributes which shroud
His presence: “dim but with excess of light.”
Bent his worn eyes on God, and God alone,
His Nature, and Perfections; doing no wrong
In his desire to reason with the Lord:
So we, on whom a steadier beam hath shone,
May search, with eyes as earnest, hearts as pure,
The verities and attributes which shroud
His presence: “dim but with excess of light.”
Yet must we not confound His Attributes
With human functions: what to us seem many
In Him are One Perfection: punishment
We call His Justice; and His pardons, Mercy.
The earthly nature modifies: our substance,
According to its texture or its place,
Varies its colours; but the Light is One.
With human functions: what to us seem many
In Him are One Perfection: punishment
We call His Justice; and His pardons, Mercy.
The earthly nature modifies: our substance,
According to its texture or its place,
Varies its colours; but the Light is One.
'Tis hard for Man, with powers diverse, and thought
Defined as finite, to contemplate God,
A perfect, because uncompounded, Whole:
And, therefore, forced in earthly scales to weigh,
And give to separate feelings separate names,
From sensible effects perceived we draw
Imaginative lineaments; and trace
The real act to some subjective cause.
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A perfect, because uncompounded, Whole:
And, therefore, forced in earthly scales to weigh,
And give to separate feelings separate names,
From sensible effects perceived we draw
Imaginative lineaments; and trace
The real act to some subjective cause.
How, then, as men, shall we conceive of God?
The Infinite—uncircumscribed by form:
Unlimited—as indivisible:
Dispassionate—as imperturbable:
Unchangeable—“Whose Counsels stand for ever;”
“In whom no shadow of turning hath been seen:”
Eternal—because increate: Immortal
As independent of all outward force:
“The First—The Last—beside Whom is no God!”
Present in every place, and through all time:
A Centre, every where without a bound:
In full Perfection, without discord, One!
The Infinite—uncircumscribed by form:
Unlimited—as indivisible:
Dispassionate—as imperturbable:
Unchangeable—“Whose Counsels stand for ever;”
“In whom no shadow of turning hath been seen:”
Eternal—because increate: Immortal
As independent of all outward force:
“The First—The Last—beside Whom is no God!”
Present in every place, and through all time:
A Centre, every where without a bound:
In full Perfection, without discord, One!
The Living God is He!—but not as life
Is known to man; finite and functional:
With need of food, capacity of growth,
Emotions passionate, and instincts blind;
But He, the Giver of our breath and life,
“Steadfast for ever, everlasting King,”
Him Prophets and Apostles truly hymned
“The Living God!”
Is known to man; finite and functional:
With need of food, capacity of growth,
Emotions passionate, and instincts blind;
But He, the Giver of our breath and life,
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Him Prophets and Apostles truly hymned
“The Living God!”
His, too, perpetual Joy,
Contemplating the subject joys of men;
That infinite Good in all created things,
Fed by His gaze that rests thereon. His Being
Is in itself one vast Intelligence,
Evolving 'neath its ever brooding wings
Knowledge, entire as His own Essence, perfect
In adaptation to all ends; nor those
Alone of actual but contingent things:
A Vision, piercing to the ends of Earth—
“That seeth under the whole heaven”—“that reads
The heart, the secret heart;” “from whom no darkness,
Nor shadow of death, can hide iniquity.”
Contemplating the subject joys of men;
That infinite Good in all created things,
Fed by His gaze that rests thereon. His Being
Is in itself one vast Intelligence,
Evolving 'neath its ever brooding wings
Knowledge, entire as His own Essence, perfect
In adaptation to all ends; nor those
Alone of actual but contingent things:
A Vision, piercing to the ends of Earth—
“That seeth under the whole heaven”—“that reads
The heart, the secret heart;” “from whom no darkness,
Nor shadow of death, can hide iniquity.”
So vast His Knowledge! nor less wonderful
His Wisdom shews: Design unerring there;
And Operation without blemish here.
“God giveth Wisdom; therefore is He wise!”
So spake the Prophet King: and, bolder yet,
The patient lips of that beloved Old Man,
Who sang, “how God alone spread forth the heavens,
And treadeth on the billows of the sea:
He made Arcturus and the Pleiades,
Orion, and the chambers of the South:
He stretched abroad the North in empty Space;
And hangeth upon nothing the great Earth:
He bindeth up the waters in the cloud:
He setteth bounds to ocean: by His Spirit
The Heavens are garnished: and at His reproof
The pillars of the sky tremble. Behold!
These are, in part, His ways: but who may scan
The thunder of His Power?” Hear how Paul
Adjured the Romans, “O, the depth, the riches,
The wisdom, and the knowledge, of the Lord!
Unsearchable His judgments; and His ways
Past finding out: for who hath known the mind
Of God; or who hath been His counsellor?”
His Wisdom shews: Design unerring there;
And Operation without blemish here.
“God giveth Wisdom; therefore is He wise!”
So spake the Prophet King: and, bolder yet,
The patient lips of that beloved Old Man,
Who sang, “how God alone spread forth the heavens,
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He made Arcturus and the Pleiades,
Orion, and the chambers of the South:
He stretched abroad the North in empty Space;
And hangeth upon nothing the great Earth:
He bindeth up the waters in the cloud:
He setteth bounds to ocean: by His Spirit
The Heavens are garnished: and at His reproof
The pillars of the sky tremble. Behold!
These are, in part, His ways: but who may scan
The thunder of His Power?” Hear how Paul
Adjured the Romans, “O, the depth, the riches,
The wisdom, and the knowledge, of the Lord!
Unsearchable His judgments; and His ways
Past finding out: for who hath known the mind
Of God; or who hath been His counsellor?”
Children of men! Raise high the shout of praise!
Be telling, not His marvellous works alone,
But of those holiest Attributes, whereby
He calls upon us with a voice of love;
And teaches Man His high Moralities.
For Holiness is all Divine; the sum
Of purity unstained. He cannot err,
Or look complacently on sin: and hence
His Justice is asserted, and His Judgments
Assured. Lest man should err in ignorance,
“He gave commandments holy, just, and good:”
A great Atoner and a lustral Rite.
Be telling, not His marvellous works alone,
But of those holiest Attributes, whereby
He calls upon us with a voice of love;
And teaches Man His high Moralities.
For Holiness is all Divine; the sum
Of purity unstained. He cannot err,
Or look complacently on sin: and hence
His Justice is asserted, and His Judgments
Assured. Lest man should err in ignorance,
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A great Atoner and a lustral Rite.
The God of Truth hath said—and His behests
Are pure, and bring the certainty of things—
“His Covenant He will not break”—“The Word,
That He hath spoken, That shall judge all men.”
“Though we believe not, He abideth Faithful—
Nor can deny Himself!”
Are pure, and bring the certainty of things—
“His Covenant He will not break”—“The Word,
That He hath spoken, That shall judge all men.”
“Though we believe not, He abideth Faithful—
Nor can deny Himself!”
Blessed for ever,
Before the Worlds were made, and needing not
A solace in Creation, He evoked,
From Nothing, All, to glorify His Love!
He made us capable of greatness; gave
Reason, and strength of heart, to counterpoise
Sorrows ordained to try us; and vouchsafed
Counsel; and left us Guides, and hopeful Beacons.
“He made the world, and saw that it was good.”
“He opened out His hand and satisfied
The want of every Living thing: but most
Were His delights with the Sons of Men.” “He maketh
The sun to rise on the evil as the good.”
“His tender mercies are on all His works!”
“For He is slow to anger, and defers.”
Knowing our frailty, that we are but Dust,
His Pity seeks us, and provides a cure.
Before the Worlds were made, and needing not
A solace in Creation, He evoked,
From Nothing, All, to glorify His Love!
He made us capable of greatness; gave
Reason, and strength of heart, to counterpoise
Sorrows ordained to try us; and vouchsafed
Counsel; and left us Guides, and hopeful Beacons.
“He made the world, and saw that it was good.”
“He opened out His hand and satisfied
The want of every Living thing: but most
Were His delights with the Sons of Men.” “He maketh
The sun to rise on the evil as the good.”
“His tender mercies are on all His works!”
“For He is slow to anger, and defers.”
Knowing our frailty, that we are but Dust,
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How blest is he, who sharing with his kind
Like faculties and sense, trains them aright;
Directing his intelligence to search
The ways of God made manifest! A light
Is held above the path: shall he not follow?
God to His presence calls us; bids to love Him;
And use the means He has prescribed to reach
Him and the glorious Heaven He hath prepared.
He calls—shall we pass by unheeding? Smiles
When we look up—shall we then turn aside?
He opens His Parental arms—shall we
Fly, froward, from His Breast? He thunders forth
His judgments on Impenitence—O turn,
Ere yet too late, to His forgiving Throne!
And clasp His knees—and cry—“Be merciful!
O God! be merciful to me a Sinner!”
Like faculties and sense, trains them aright;
Directing his intelligence to search
The ways of God made manifest! A light
Is held above the path: shall he not follow?
God to His presence calls us; bids to love Him;
And use the means He has prescribed to reach
Him and the glorious Heaven He hath prepared.
He calls—shall we pass by unheeding? Smiles
When we look up—shall we then turn aside?
He opens His Parental arms—shall we
Fly, froward, from His Breast? He thunders forth
His judgments on Impenitence—O turn,
Ere yet too late, to His forgiving Throne!
And clasp His knees—and cry—“Be merciful!
O God! be merciful to me a Sinner!”
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II. THE PURSUIT OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.
Men walk astray in ignorance; or grow
Corrupt through some false principle, imbibed
From evil teachers, or unsteady thought.
So, when temptation comes, they fall away;
Their feet not standing on the Rock eterne;
That fundamental truth, whereon is built
Religion: frail in the uninstructed heart.
Corrupt through some false principle, imbibed
From evil teachers, or unsteady thought.
So, when temptation comes, they fall away;
Their feet not standing on the Rock eterne;
That fundamental truth, whereon is built
Religion: frail in the uninstructed heart.
And such men oft seem pious, for a time;
Nay, are so: some, cold-hearted Disputants,
Who bind the Word in textual fetters down,
Freezing the vital waters: some who quench
The Spirit, and with Sadducean nerve
Cling to the letter: Visionaries some,
Like the old Essenian, or, in later days,
The hundred-handed Giant of Dissent.
Nay, are so: some, cold-hearted Disputants,
Who bind the Word in textual fetters down,
Freezing the vital waters: some who quench
The Spirit, and with Sadducean nerve
Cling to the letter: Visionaries some,
Like the old Essenian, or, in later days,
The hundred-handed Giant of Dissent.
In time of trial put no trust in these.
The mysteries divine of Love and Goodness
Are dim to Reason's microscopic eye:
God's wisdom measureless by Sophist rules.
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Are dim to Reason's microscopic eye:
God's wisdom measureless by Sophist rules.
Must then all die through ignorance? Alas!
We know not: but, as knowledge leads to Faith,
And Faith is safety, shall we not kneel and learn?
Hear holy lessons from the Father-Saints;
Submit our thoughts to heavenly influences;
And hold Religion, virginally pure
As Mary's bosom 'neath the Saviour's cheek?
We know not: but, as knowledge leads to Faith,
And Faith is safety, shall we not kneel and learn?
Hear holy lessons from the Father-Saints;
Submit our thoughts to heavenly influences;
And hold Religion, virginally pure
As Mary's bosom 'neath the Saviour's cheek?
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III. SCRIPTURAL STUDIES.
If all must doubt who cannot understand,
If those reject who find a mystery,
Their error is most fatal. True, the Word
Is oft obscure; the wisdom recondite,
Nay hidden from unworthy eyes; but ever
To humble search, using with gratitude
All aids vouchsafed, the essential truth lies bare.
If those reject who find a mystery,
Their error is most fatal. True, the Word
Is oft obscure; the wisdom recondite,
Nay hidden from unworthy eyes; but ever
To humble search, using with gratitude
All aids vouchsafed, the essential truth lies bare.
Doctrine is not less sure because abstruse:
That Knowledge most we prize secured with pains:
The labour is of love, and love rewards
The effort; and we venerate the more
Truths, found like stars in the deep fields of night,
Unseen, till with their mighty glass wise men,
By Newton led, went sounding the abysm.
That Knowledge most we prize secured with pains:
The labour is of love, and love rewards
The effort; and we venerate the more
Truths, found like stars in the deep fields of night,
Unseen, till with their mighty glass wise men,
By Newton led, went sounding the abysm.
'Tis not for vain Philosophy to lift
That veil which shrouds the Tabernacle: they,
The single-hearted, only, may receive
The Spirit of instruction. In thick darkness
The proud man gropes: for hath not Christ declared,
“That Thou hast hidden these things from the Wise,
Revealing them to babes?”
That veil which shrouds the Tabernacle: they,
The single-hearted, only, may receive
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The proud man gropes: for hath not Christ declared,
“That Thou hast hidden these things from the Wise,
Revealing them to babes?”
Reason in man
Is an innate endowment, for good ends,
With reverential aim; and these attained
The soul shall triumph, glorifying God.
But most the search of verities divine
Becomes us: difficulty stimulates
The task; else languid, technical, and dull;
Nice questions are resolved; proof grows on search;
And faith is strengthened as we comprehend.
Thus to the Scripture should our steps be turned:
Not there to loiter, as in gardens trim,
With ripened fruits, and blooming flowers, adorned,
And broad plain walks; but as a natural field
Wherein the seed and fertile Power lies hid,
And Beauty sleeps, yet inconspicuous;
Till our own industry shall stir the soil,
And gracious dews from heaven mature the fruit.
Is an innate endowment, for good ends,
With reverential aim; and these attained
The soul shall triumph, glorifying God.
But most the search of verities divine
Becomes us: difficulty stimulates
The task; else languid, technical, and dull;
Nice questions are resolved; proof grows on search;
And faith is strengthened as we comprehend.
Thus to the Scripture should our steps be turned:
Not there to loiter, as in gardens trim,
With ripened fruits, and blooming flowers, adorned,
And broad plain walks; but as a natural field
Wherein the seed and fertile Power lies hid,
And Beauty sleeps, yet inconspicuous;
Till our own industry shall stir the soil,
And gracious dews from heaven mature the fruit.
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IV. THE CONTINUITY OF THE VISIBLE CHURCH.
God, whose Almighty Power is manifest,
As making everything there is from nought;
Who in their adaptation, and their ends,
Doth shew the rich abundance of His goodness,
Outpouring like a fountain without stint;
Hath so assorted all things, that they stand
In orderly subjection tripartite.
As making everything there is from nought;
Who in their adaptation, and their ends,
Doth shew the rich abundance of His goodness,
Outpouring like a fountain without stint;
Hath so assorted all things, that they stand
In orderly subjection tripartite.
For some there are to which He hath adjudged
Being; which apprehend it not: to others
He gave to feel and sensibly discern;
Wants, appetites, and their adapted powers:
And lastly, eminent in rank and kind,
A Race made after His own image; apt
For knowledge, with commensurate desires;
The comprehensive faculty, free will,
Restraining conscience, natural piety.
Being; which apprehend it not: to others
He gave to feel and sensibly discern;
Wants, appetites, and their adapted powers:
And lastly, eminent in rank and kind,
A Race made after His own image; apt
For knowledge, with commensurate desires;
The comprehensive faculty, free will,
Restraining conscience, natural piety.
These to Himself He drew: for these He made
This World, a temple meet to worship in:
Ordaining them to be His holy Church,
Wherein His praises might be sung for ever!
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Ordaining them to be His holy Church,
Wherein His praises might be sung for ever!
When, in the time of old, Man's guilt and doom
Were in the penal flood accomplished, God
Willed that a remnant should be saved, and bade
His Chosen to the Ark; so to fulfil
His promise, and lead on the better time.
Such as the Ark was then the Church is now;
Appointed refuge from the wrath of God.
Nor lacks there Bow of peace and promise: ever
Its presence, like a Seraph, goes before us;
Spirit of light! spanning this vale of tears.
It bears the sign, the covenant it shrines
Of God, now smiling o'er a world renewed.
Even on the brow of Infancy it beams,
The pledge divine of Grace reserved for Man.
Were in the penal flood accomplished, God
Willed that a remnant should be saved, and bade
His Chosen to the Ark; so to fulfil
His promise, and lead on the better time.
Such as the Ark was then the Church is now;
Appointed refuge from the wrath of God.
Nor lacks there Bow of peace and promise: ever
Its presence, like a Seraph, goes before us;
Spirit of light! spanning this vale of tears.
It bears the sign, the covenant it shrines
Of God, now smiling o'er a world renewed.
Even on the brow of Infancy it beams,
The pledge divine of Grace reserved for Man.
Not now, as in the ancient day, doth God
Manifest His great presence. Once He moved
A cloudy pillar on the wanderer's way,
Sometimes a flaming fire; (earlier He walked
In the garden beside Adam, softly pacing)
Sometimes He rent the rocks, the mountains clave;
Or, when He gave the Law on Sinai,
Shook heaven and earth with thunders; as the people
Went forth to meet Him, but fled back and cried
To Moses, “Thee we'll hear—speak thou to us—
But let not God talk with us, lest we die!”
Manifest His great presence. Once He moved
A cloudy pillar on the wanderer's way,
Sometimes a flaming fire; (earlier He walked
In the garden beside Adam, softly pacing)
Sometimes He rent the rocks, the mountains clave;
Or, when He gave the Law on Sinai,
Shook heaven and earth with thunders; as the people
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To Moses, “Thee we'll hear—speak thou to us—
But let not God talk with us, lest we die!”
So God, who knows Man feeble, heard the prayer,
And let His awful voice no more be heard;
But sanctified the tongues of chosen men
To feed their kind with wisdom. Priests He raised,
And Prophets to denounce His judgments, smite
Abuses, and reanimate with hope,
Foreshewing the Messias: and He came!
Not to make here perpetual abode;
But, with Himself, to draw His own to heaven!
He came—His work was done: he went—but left
Apostles, to uphold, perpetuate,
Evangelists, to promulgate His Law,
And a commissioned Priesthood, to defend.
And let His awful voice no more be heard;
But sanctified the tongues of chosen men
To feed their kind with wisdom. Priests He raised,
And Prophets to denounce His judgments, smite
Abuses, and reanimate with hope,
Foreshewing the Messias: and He came!
Not to make here perpetual abode;
But, with Himself, to draw His own to heaven!
He came—His work was done: he went—but left
Apostles, to uphold, perpetuate,
Evangelists, to promulgate His Law,
And a commissioned Priesthood, to defend.
Not without order in their Pastoral charge
Were raised those glorious Fathers of the Church,
An hierarchy unbroken to our day;
A regal Race. Thus from the first, and ever,
God's visible city founded was on earth:
Thus unity and concord were prepared,
Humility enforced, things hid revealed,
Things outward consecrated, strifes composed,
And equity with good advice maintained.
Who feared a wrong? in piety and faith
His cause was heard to judgment, with appeal;
And all things worked for good, and all men trusted;
Till One, not satisfied with place and honour,
O'er all his brethren sought imperial power.
Like Lucifer he triumphed; fell like him:
When God, at last, our groanings heard, and woke
The heroic heart within us; and led forth
From spiritual Captivity; with Prophets,
And messengers angelical before us;
Our path irradiate with martyr fires,
Cheered by the inspiration of high song,
And closed with Christian triumph unalloyed!
Were raised those glorious Fathers of the Church,
An hierarchy unbroken to our day;
A regal Race. Thus from the first, and ever,
God's visible city founded was on earth:
Thus unity and concord were prepared,
Humility enforced, things hid revealed,
Things outward consecrated, strifes composed,
And equity with good advice maintained.
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His cause was heard to judgment, with appeal;
And all things worked for good, and all men trusted;
Till One, not satisfied with place and honour,
O'er all his brethren sought imperial power.
Like Lucifer he triumphed; fell like him:
When God, at last, our groanings heard, and woke
The heroic heart within us; and led forth
From spiritual Captivity; with Prophets,
And messengers angelical before us;
Our path irradiate with martyr fires,
Cheered by the inspiration of high song,
And closed with Christian triumph unalloyed!
Thus, from the birth of Man even to our day,
The true ecclesiastic frame descends;
From Adam, the first father and first priest,
Who, having walked with God, declared His will
And ways to all Posterity; through Noah,
The Patriarchs and Prophets, Priests, and Kings,
Fathers, and Saints; a holy Heritage!
Which, to pervert, or to misuse, is sin;
To cast away, a forfeiture of Heaven!
The true ecclesiastic frame descends;
From Adam, the first father and first priest,
Who, having walked with God, declared His will
And ways to all Posterity; through Noah,
The Patriarchs and Prophets, Priests, and Kings,
Fathers, and Saints; a holy Heritage!
Which, to pervert, or to misuse, is sin;
To cast away, a forfeiture of Heaven!
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V. THE RIGHT USE OF REASON IN RELIGIOUS INQUIRY.
Light were our faith, and lightly would assert
The duties and prerogatives of Mind,
Enthroned apart from mere instinctive Life,
If outward shew of miracle, alone,
Without appeal to evidence, and search
Of truth, subjective to analysis,
Were needful to substantiate belief:
And evidence of sense alone conclusive.
The duties and prerogatives of Mind,
Enthroned apart from mere instinctive Life,
If outward shew of miracle, alone,
Without appeal to evidence, and search
Of truth, subjective to analysis,
Were needful to substantiate belief:
And evidence of sense alone conclusive.
Man is not circumscribed, like animals,
By instincts and appropriate appetites.
Then wonders, only, to appal, subdue,
And by mere force restrain, were needful. Him
God hath endowed with Reason: and requires
Account, for providential gifts bestowed.
Marvels indeed the Saviour worked of old;
But with reserve: and oft times under charge
Of silence, though the thankful heart was full.
No boast of Mercy—blazonry of Power—
Was His—nor artful trick of sorcery.
Such were the wonders by the Magian wrought—
Simon—heresiarch, or infidel,
Opposing God: such the Tyanean Seer,
With boastful tongue, and ostentatious rites,
And sentences oracular performed—
Deeds worthy of a heathen Antichrist!
By instincts and appropriate appetites.
Then wonders, only, to appal, subdue,
And by mere force restrain, were needful. Him
God hath endowed with Reason: and requires
Account, for providential gifts bestowed.
Marvels indeed the Saviour worked of old;
But with reserve: and oft times under charge
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No boast of Mercy—blazonry of Power—
Was His—nor artful trick of sorcery.
Such were the wonders by the Magian wrought—
Simon—heresiarch, or infidel,
Opposing God: such the Tyanean Seer,
With boastful tongue, and ostentatious rites,
And sentences oracular performed—
Deeds worthy of a heathen Antichrist!
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VI. THE PLATONIC TRIUNITY.
Say, whence that light which in the antient days—
Like earliest rays of the up-rising sun
That gleam upon some hoary-headed Alp
'Mid his benighted brothers eminent—
Settled on Plato's brow; and glorified
Older Pythagoras in the Memphian school?
To them the mystic Truth was shadowed forth
Of triune Godhead—self-existing Goodness—
Eternal Mind—the universal Soul—
Mating with man and nature; like the sound
Of choral voices linked in harmony
Breathing upon the air melodious song!
Like earliest rays of the up-rising sun
That gleam upon some hoary-headed Alp
'Mid his benighted brothers eminent—
Settled on Plato's brow; and glorified
Older Pythagoras in the Memphian school?
To them the mystic Truth was shadowed forth
Of triune Godhead—self-existing Goodness—
Eternal Mind—the universal Soul—
Mating with man and nature; like the sound
Of choral voices linked in harmony
Breathing upon the air melodious song!
Yes, though they knew not all, echoes of truth,
But faintly heard, came to them from afar:
Not from the northern Rhodopean, whence
The shout of heathen sacrifices sprang;
But from the sacred East—the cedarn slope
Of Lebanon, and Pisgah's hallowed height.
They were but men, humanly taught, and therefore
Erred in their teaching; for they could not give
Being to cold Abstractions, thought and will
To Attributes, to Definitions power.
From these we need no help. The Scriptures prove
(Rightly assigning their due force to words)
Facts vital to our faith and hopes; conveyed
With our baptismal dowry; and confirmed
By sacramental pledge in life and death.
They speak, and ask us to believe, a fact;
Nor labour to expound a mystery.
They teach (and who shall doubt the evidence?)
That Christ said, “Before Abraham was, I am!”
“My Father and I are One!” and John declares,
“There are Three Witnesses in heaven—and These,
The Father, and the Word, and Holy Spirit,
These Three are One!”
But faintly heard, came to them from afar:
Not from the northern Rhodopean, whence
The shout of heathen sacrifices sprang;
But from the sacred East—the cedarn slope
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They were but men, humanly taught, and therefore
Erred in their teaching; for they could not give
Being to cold Abstractions, thought and will
To Attributes, to Definitions power.
From these we need no help. The Scriptures prove
(Rightly assigning their due force to words)
Facts vital to our faith and hopes; conveyed
With our baptismal dowry; and confirmed
By sacramental pledge in life and death.
They speak, and ask us to believe, a fact;
Nor labour to expound a mystery.
They teach (and who shall doubt the evidence?)
That Christ said, “Before Abraham was, I am!”
“My Father and I are One!” and John declares,
“There are Three Witnesses in heaven—and These,
The Father, and the Word, and Holy Spirit,
These Three are One!”
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VII. PRAYER.
There is a living principle in prayer:For prayers have wings, and make their way to heaven;
Swift Messengers, and true, 'twixt God and Man.
No subtile and elaborate argument,
Cautiously wrought within the brain astute,
Before the Searcher of all hearts bear they:
But inward breathings of the conscious spirit,
Rising like odours from some fire-touched gum,
Articulate emotions unprepared.
Nor without high commission do they come
To us returning: but with noble hope,
Angelic comfort, meditation pure:
Glorious assurance that the human heart
Hath holy ties and communing with God!
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VIII. THE JUDGMENTS OF OUR FOREFATHERS WORTHY OF REVERENCE AND TRUST.
The judgments of old times and ancient men;
The practice of enlarged communities;
The records of traditionary faith;
Of saintly Fathers proved in martyrdom,
And wisdom loving Seers foreknowing time,
Whose gray hair was the ripeness of the mind;
These are to be revered; as evidence
Drawn not from argued but experienced things:
Reasoning, that hath its root in holy ground,
And fruitage, like the virtues of old age.
These are to be revered: sure barriers,
Restraining at the precipice's edge.
The practice of enlarged communities;
The records of traditionary faith;
Of saintly Fathers proved in martyrdom,
And wisdom loving Seers foreknowing time,
Whose gray hair was the ripeness of the mind;
These are to be revered; as evidence
Drawn not from argued but experienced things:
Reasoning, that hath its root in holy ground,
And fruitage, like the virtues of old age.
These are to be revered: sure barriers,
Restraining at the precipice's edge.
God in His goodness granted man two powers,
The planning mind, and executing hand.
Let that which hath its vigour but in youth
Subserve what but grows perfecter from age.
So shall the son, following his father's steps,
Keep the right path, and vindicate the way.
The planning mind, and executing hand.
Let that which hath its vigour but in youth
Subserve what but grows perfecter from age.
So shall the son, following his father's steps,
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The light in thought may lightly disallow
That which the Steadfast love for ancientness,
But living Worth should reverence the Dead;
And kindly judge what Wisdom having planned,
The Good, in after ages, perfected.
Age claims respect, continuance bespeaks
Worth proved by trial, and secures regard:
But newness, whatsoever it pretend,
Gives no assurance, and deserves no trust.
That which the Steadfast love for ancientness,
But living Worth should reverence the Dead;
And kindly judge what Wisdom having planned,
The Good, in after ages, perfected.
Age claims respect, continuance bespeaks
Worth proved by trial, and secures regard:
But newness, whatsoever it pretend,
Gives no assurance, and deserves no trust.
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IX. THE SAME SUBJECT.
Doubt and discuss; examine and believe:But, if thy judgment falter, turn with trust
Unto the staff our ancient Guides relied on;
And paths that in the wildernesses bear
The pilgrim's track. If thine own wisdom fail thee,
Put confidence in wisdom tried by Time!
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X. REVELATION.
The natural reason, which we owe to God,
Proves that God is; and what His attributes.
If there indeed be Atheists, such they are
But through infirmity of mind; or haply
As traitors plotting 'gainst the Power they hate.
Proves that God is; and what His attributes.
If there indeed be Atheists, such they are
But through infirmity of mind; or haply
As traitors plotting 'gainst the Power they hate.
Yet are there depths thro' which the rational eye
Strains baffled: mysteries, in that they pertain
To the Infinitudes, which soar above
Finite conceptions; and involve conditions
Beyond the scope of natural sciences;
Extraneous to the obvious, natural law.
Strains baffled: mysteries, in that they pertain
To the Infinitudes, which soar above
Finite conceptions; and involve conditions
Beyond the scope of natural sciences;
Extraneous to the obvious, natural law.
Now these, miraculous in essence, we
Are summoned to believe, on evidence
Direct or circumstantial, testified
By Teachers, not inept, as their words vouch;
Not uninstructed, as their doctrine proves;
Not having selfish ends, as poverty,
Toil, slander, tortures, martyrdoms, confirm:
Ay, Witnesses so pure, that to reject them
Were to renounce all institutes of law,
And stain the ermined robe of equity.
Are summoned to believe, on evidence
Direct or circumstantial, testified
By Teachers, not inept, as their words vouch;
Not uninstructed, as their doctrine proves;
Not having selfish ends, as poverty,
Toil, slander, tortures, martyrdoms, confirm:
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Were to renounce all institutes of law,
And stain the ermined robe of equity.
Alas! and are there then such men? behold!
The purblind Deist plodding on his way;
A querulous questioner, dog-led like the Blind!
He cries, “The Deity hath never made
A Revelation of His will to Man;
And none was everneedful!” Pause— thou fool—
And learn why needful, reasonable, true.
The purblind Deist plodding on his way;
A querulous questioner, dog-led like the Blind!
He cries, “The Deity hath never made
A Revelation of His will to Man;
And none was everneedful!” Pause— thou fool—
And learn why needful, reasonable, true.
God, who in full omnipotence made man,
Ordained the laws that should control his state.
He made men moral agents, with free will;
Forecasting thought, yet mutable; desires
Permitted, yet restrained: He gave a Law—
Obedience—which being broken, punishment
Pursued; and Man no more walked with his God.
Yet did not God desert him: as they fled,
Weeping, from Paradise, He sware to them
A mystery: that from the woman's seed
A Saviour should arise, the Past forgiven!
This Revelation made, they, in meek trust,
Yet comprehending not, went comforted.
Ordained the laws that should control his state.
He made men moral agents, with free will;
Forecasting thought, yet mutable; desires
Permitted, yet restrained: He gave a Law—
Obedience—which being broken, punishment
Pursued; and Man no more walked with his God.
Yet did not God desert him: as they fled,
Weeping, from Paradise, He sware to them
A mystery: that from the woman's seed
A Saviour should arise, the Past forgiven!
This Revelation made, they, in meek trust,
Yet comprehending not, went comforted.
Still Earth waxed sinful; and God proffered Guides:
To whom, in dreams, and high-wrought phantasy
And divine visions by lone hills and streams,
His wonders were revealed. Then fearless Seers
Prophesied to bad Kings and ruthless People;
Thundering dire comminations on their heads:
Or in the ear of mournful exiles breathed
Hope, medicinal as Arabian balm.
Thus Daniel, in the Babylonian courts
Told of the things to come; while the doomed King
Shook at his banquet, staring on the wall,
The fiery letters, and the lonely hand!
So rapt Isaiah bade the Saviour hail!
And, in the noblest song that ever rolled
From human lip, Redemption sang, and hymned
The great Ideal of his pregnant soul!
To whom, in dreams, and high-wrought phantasy
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His wonders were revealed. Then fearless Seers
Prophesied to bad Kings and ruthless People;
Thundering dire comminations on their heads:
Or in the ear of mournful exiles breathed
Hope, medicinal as Arabian balm.
Thus Daniel, in the Babylonian courts
Told of the things to come; while the doomed King
Shook at his banquet, staring on the wall,
The fiery letters, and the lonely hand!
So rapt Isaiah bade the Saviour hail!
And, in the noblest song that ever rolled
From human lip, Redemption sang, and hymned
The great Ideal of his pregnant soul!
What though the very Chosen were but men,
And fallible, we falter not in trust:
Though Moses, doubting his own strength, not God,
Required a further miracle; though Gideon
Shrank, in the diffidence of poverty,
Before the angel, crying, “How should I,
Least in my father's house, save Israel?”
Enough, that equal to the task they proved;
Nor needed to be made impeccable.
God chose His Instruments: and who shall dare
Inquire of Him to vindicate His Ways?
And fallible, we falter not in trust:
Though Moses, doubting his own strength, not God,
Required a further miracle; though Gideon
Shrank, in the diffidence of poverty,
Before the angel, crying, “How should I,
Least in my father's house, save Israel?”
Enough, that equal to the task they proved;
Nor needed to be made impeccable.
God chose His Instruments: and who shall dare
Inquire of Him to vindicate His Ways?
But why, you ask, should Man, with reason, hope
A Revelation from his God!—That knowledge
Of duty, and the means, might supervene.
Without a Beacon how find out the path?
For unenlightened Reason is perverse,
Unwearied in its sorceries, though helpless
As Elymas when smitten blind by Paul.
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Of duty, and the means, might supervene.
Without a Beacon how find out the path?
For unenlightened Reason is perverse,
Unwearied in its sorceries, though helpless
As Elymas when smitten blind by Paul.
Ay, he is blind; yet by strong instinct ruled.
So the poor Savage in Hesperian wilds
Feels want of Gods; and carves his talisman
Of stocks and stones; and, awe-struck, bows before
His wizard priest's fantastic dance; and hears
Demoniac shrieks upon the storm; and cowers
Beneath slain warriors in the Boreal lights!
Some, with more subtile sophistry, endowed
Abstract Perfections, or malignant Powers,
With form and substance; and their children's blood
Smoked upon Moloch's altar! Some revered
The Stars, and the great Sun: nay birds and beasts!
“Making the Incorruptible corrupt!”
So the poor Savage in Hesperian wilds
Feels want of Gods; and carves his talisman
Of stocks and stones; and, awe-struck, bows before
His wizard priest's fantastic dance; and hears
Demoniac shrieks upon the storm; and cowers
Beneath slain warriors in the Boreal lights!
Some, with more subtile sophistry, endowed
Abstract Perfections, or malignant Powers,
With form and substance; and their children's blood
Smoked upon Moloch's altar! Some revered
The Stars, and the great Sun: nay birds and beasts!
“Making the Incorruptible corrupt!”
One medicine, only, for such ills remained;
The Truths, revealed, of God; then prophets sang;
And Moses with commission from Above
Spake, as an echo, God's articulate words.
The Truths, revealed, of God; then prophets sang;
And Moses with commission from Above
Spake, as an echo, God's articulate words.
And who but these shall speak? Records sublime,
Religiously preserved, long scrutinized,
Shew forth their prophecies fulfilled; and tell
The prodigies accrediting their acts:
Of Pharaoh, hard of heart, and Egypt's Plagues;
Of Israel wending through the cloven sea;
The Wilderness, with sustenance from heaven;
The Fountain gushing from the smitten rock
Of Horeb; and the Voice on Sinai!
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Shew forth their prophecies fulfilled; and tell
The prodigies accrediting their acts:
Of Pharaoh, hard of heart, and Egypt's Plagues;
Of Israel wending through the cloven sea;
The Wilderness, with sustenance from heaven;
The Fountain gushing from the smitten rock
Of Horeb; and the Voice on Sinai!
Not Plato, nor the Stagyrite, nor Tully,
All eloquence, but on whose lips dwelt not
High Inspiration, with sincerity,
Availed to raise their kind. As argument
Men heard their doctrine, not without dispute;
And pleased, if not instructed, smiled or mused.
Yet these, or the holier men of older time
Whose words were prompted by the Spirit of God,
Must be your choice. Can any hesitate?
On this side, the Divine, revealed; on that,
Human excogitation, wild and impure!
All eloquence, but on whose lips dwelt not
High Inspiration, with sincerity,
Availed to raise their kind. As argument
Men heard their doctrine, not without dispute;
And pleased, if not instructed, smiled or mused.
Yet these, or the holier men of older time
Whose words were prompted by the Spirit of God,
Must be your choice. Can any hesitate?
On this side, the Divine, revealed; on that,
Human excogitation, wild and impure!
No need is now of miracles. In Christ,
The prophesied, the crucified, are summed
All marvels, but these two, the clinging Curse
Pursuing yet that People which denied Him!
The growth and domination of His Faith
Throughout all Lands! in every tongue adored!
The prophesied, the crucified, are summed
All marvels, but these two, the clinging Curse
Pursuing yet that People which denied Him!
The growth and domination of His Faith
Throughout all Lands! in every tongue adored!
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XI. THE PRAISE OF GOD.
Honour, and Glory, and Dominion,
Belong to God! like incense they ascend
Up from Earth's altar to his throne in Heaven!
Belong to God! like incense they ascend
Up from Earth's altar to his throne in Heaven!
For Him all sacrifices burn; to Him
All sceptres bend, all diadems bow down:
Empires are evanescent as the dew
That gems the path of morning among flowers.
All sceptres bend, all diadems bow down:
Empires are evanescent as the dew
That gems the path of morning among flowers.
What Power like His whose lifted hands send down
The lightnings, and with thunder shake the rocks?
Who good and fair, and worthy of all love,
As He whose charities like manna fall
On every creature? Who so wise as He
To whom all depths of knowledge lie as clear
As the calm crystal of the tropic sea?
For whom Time hath no mist, Nature no veil,
Depth no obscurity, no dimness height!
Who fashions for the spirit in the brain
Engines of eloquence, treasuries of thought!
Who like the Lord is blessëd? Human joys
Leap not in ever-gushing plenitude,
Pure in their freshness; as are His delights,
Lapped in celestial amities. What wealth
Is comparable to the Good He showers
Upon Man's race below, nay shares with man;
For all is His possession? Prime of Spring;
The lustre of the Summer fields and flowers;
Autumn's fecundity; and Winter's song
Of triumph, through the universal Church,
For Christ's nativity!
The lightnings, and with thunder shake the rocks?
Who good and fair, and worthy of all love,
As He whose charities like manna fall
On every creature? Who so wise as He
To whom all depths of knowledge lie as clear
As the calm crystal of the tropic sea?
For whom Time hath no mist, Nature no veil,
Depth no obscurity, no dimness height!
Who fashions for the spirit in the brain
Engines of eloquence, treasuries of thought!
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Leap not in ever-gushing plenitude,
Pure in their freshness; as are His delights,
Lapped in celestial amities. What wealth
Is comparable to the Good He showers
Upon Man's race below, nay shares with man;
For all is His possession? Prime of Spring;
The lustre of the Summer fields and flowers;
Autumn's fecundity; and Winter's song
Of triumph, through the universal Church,
For Christ's nativity!
Away, ye Base!—
Who strive for place and supereminence—
Who, but the King of Glory, hath no Peer?
Yea, who but God beholds no object stretched
Above, beyond, and unattainable?
Who strive for place and supereminence—
Who, but the King of Glory, hath no Peer?
Yea, who but God beholds no object stretched
Above, beyond, and unattainable?
Man envies, man revenges; shakes his glaive,
And plumes his brow, against his fellow man;
Ravages earth, blasphemes against high heaven:
But God, who knows the heart, and can exact
Vengeance for sin; and arm His Angel-host
With pestilence; and bid the tempest blow,
Engulfing navies; and the earthquake gape,
Subverting cities; and volcanoes hurl
Fire to the clouds, impending as a scourge
To vindicate the wrath Divine on earth;
God, in the midst, refrains; His heart relents,
Even as a Father's; and He yields His own,
Yea, His own Son, to expiate; and fling
The odour of His sacred censer round,
To separate the Dying from the Dead!
And plumes his brow, against his fellow man;
Ravages earth, blasphemes against high heaven:
But God, who knows the heart, and can exact
Vengeance for sin; and arm His Angel-host
With pestilence; and bid the tempest blow,
Engulfing navies; and the earthquake gape,
Subverting cities; and volcanoes hurl
Fire to the clouds, impending as a scourge
To vindicate the wrath Divine on earth;
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Even as a Father's; and He yields His own,
Yea, His own Son, to expiate; and fling
The odour of His sacred censer round,
To separate the Dying from the Dead!
O seek the Lord with praise; sing in His Courts
Thanksgiving! for the Lord is merciful,
And gracious to His people evermore:
His Truth is everlasting! Praise the Lord!
Thanksgiving! for the Lord is merciful,
And gracious to His people evermore:
His Truth is everlasting! Praise the Lord!
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VANITIES.
“Lord, what is Man, that thou art mindful of him?”
Psalm viii.
Psalm viii.
Beggars we are! what heritage on earth
Is ours, but death and birth;
Pangs and bereavement, pestilence and dearth?
Is ours, but death and birth;
Pangs and bereavement, pestilence and dearth?
We beg for all things, by mere want impelled,
From helpless youth to eld;
Still craving more, where nothing is withheld.
From helpless youth to eld;
Still craving more, where nothing is withheld.
We borrow all things, never to repay;
Our food and our array,
Fields which we furrow, creatures which we slay:
Our food and our array,
Fields which we furrow, creatures which we slay:
For He who paints the flower, and plumes the bird,
Inclined His ear and heard;
And satisfied our longings by a word.
Inclined His ear and heard;
And satisfied our longings by a word.
Nay, when our father Adam's sin began,
And the dread sentence ran
Against the Race of all succeeding Man;
And the dread sentence ran
Against the Race of all succeeding Man;
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Then were our sins anulled, our chains were riven.
And an assurance given,
Sealed with His blood who testifies in heaven,
And an assurance given,
Sealed with His blood who testifies in heaven,
Nor yet is Man content to take his fill
With thanks; but clamours still
To have, of right, what is God's proper will.
With thanks; but clamours still
To have, of right, what is God's proper will.
He stands on his deserts; as though he wrought
By his own act and thought:
Grasping Redemption as a thing he bought.
By his own act and thought:
Grasping Redemption as a thing he bought.
Ah, who shall turn that Pharisaic heart,
Vain Sophist as thou art,
If no Atoner lives to take thy part?
Vain Sophist as thou art,
If no Atoner lives to take thy part?
And yet—dread thought!—hath the Redeemer died
For these self-satisfied?
Did Christ bow down to plume a Sinner's pride?
For these self-satisfied?
Did Christ bow down to plume a Sinner's pride?
Be sure He toiled on earth, that Holy One,
For Penitents alone,
Armed Reason may not storm His beatific throne!
For Penitents alone,
Armed Reason may not storm His beatific throne!
| A Song of Faith | |