The Amaranth :: :: University of Virginia Library

The gift of Knowing is to all men giv'n ;
All know, but few perform, the will of Heav'n;
They hear the sound, but miss the sense convey'd,
And lose the substance, whilst they view the shade.

When specious doctrines hover round a mind
Which is not vitally with Heav'n conjoin'd,

The visionary objects float and pass
Transient as figures, gliding o'er a glass:
Each but a momentary visit makes,
And each supplies the place, the last forsakes.—
Satan for ever fond to be employ'd,
[And changing minds ev'n ask to be destroy'd ,]
Marks well th'infirm of faith; and soon supplies
Phantoms of truth, and substances of lyes:
Killing the dying, he a conquest gains;
And, from a little, steals the poor remains.
Reason, man's guardian, by neglect, or sleep
Loses that castle, he was meant to keep.

The seeds upon a flinty surface cast,
Denote the worldly-wise, who think in haste:

Who change, for changing's sake, from right to wrong,
Constant to nothing, and in nothing long;
To-day they hear the word of God with joy,
To-morrow they the word of God destroy;
Indiff'rent, to assert, or to deny:
With zeal they flatter, and with zeal decry.
Such is the Fool of Wit! who strives with pains
To lose that paradise the peasant gains.—
Whenever adverse fortune choaks the way,
When danger threats, or clouds o'er-cast the day,
This plant of casualty, unfix'd at root,
Shakes with the blast, and casts his unripe fruit;
But, when the storms of poverty arise,
And persecution ev'ry virtue tries,
Mindless of God, and trusting to himself ,
He strands Heav'n's freightage on a dang'rous shelf.

Averse to learn, and more averse to bear,
He sinks, the abject victim of despair!

The men of pow'r and pomp resemble seeds
Sown on rich earth, but choak'd with thorns and weeds.
Religion strikes them, but they shun the thought;
Behold the profit, and yet profit nought.
Heav'n's high rewards they silently contemn,
And think the present world suffices them.
Mean-while ambition leads the soul astray,
Far from its natal walk, th'ethereal way;
Int'rest assassins friendship ev'ry hour,
Truth warps to custom, conscience bends to pow'r,
Till all the cultivating hand receives
Is empty blossom, and death-blasted leaves.
Idiots in judgment; baffled o'er and o'er;
Still the same bait, still circumvented more;
Self-victims of the cunning they adore!

Wise without wisdom, busy to no end;
Man still their foe, and Heav'n itself no friend!

The chosen seed, on cultur'd ground, are they
Who humbly tread the evangelic way.
The road to heav'n is uniform and plain:
All other paths are serpentine and vain.
The true disciple takes the word reveal'd,
Nor rushes on the sanctuary conceal'd,
Whilst empty reas'ners emptiest arts employ;
Nothing they build, and all things they destroy!
The Provident of Heav'n unlocks his store,
To cloathe the naked, and to feed the poor:
To each man gen'rous, and to each man just,
Conscious of a depositary trust.
Patient of censure, yet condemning none:
Placid to all, accountable to One.
Ev'n in prosperity he fears no loss,
Expects a change, and starts not at the Cross.

All injuries by patience he surmounts;
All suff'rings God's own med'cines he accounts :
Studious of good, and penitent for ill,
Still short of grace, yet persevering still;
As just and true as erring nature can,
[For imperfection sets its stamp on man.]
Heav'n marks the saint, her mansions to adorn,
And, having purg'd the chaff, accepts the corn.

“To sin against knowledge is a greater offence than an ignorant trespass; in proportion as a fault, which is capable of no excuse, is more heinous than a fault which admits of a tolerable defence.” J. Mart. Resp. ad Orthod.

“Ignorance will not excuse sin, when it is a sin in itself.” Anon. Vet.

He that is idle tempts Satan to set him to work.” Chrysost. Hom.

Pious Jeremy Taylor once said to a Lady, “Madam, if you do not employ your children, the Devil will.” The Son of Sirach gives also the following advice: “Send thy Son to labour, that he be not idle; for idleness teacheth much evil.” C. xxxiii, V. 27.

“We are all careful about small matters, and negligent in the greatest; of which this is the reason, we know not where true felicity is.” St. Hieron.

The Preacher writes beautifully upon this subject. Ecclus. C. ii.

“My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for trial. Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and make not haste in in time of trouble,” i.e. be not impatient to get over thy trouble. “Cleave unto him, and depart not away, that thou mayest be increased at thy last end. Whatsoever is brought upon thee take chearfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. —Look at the generations of old, and see, did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded? Or did any abide in his fear and was forsaken? Or whom did he ever despise, that called upon him? For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy; He forgiveth sins, and saveth in time of affliction.—Wo be to the sinner that goeth two ways,” i.e. that hath recourse to man as well as God. “Wo unto him that is faint-hearted; for he believeth not, therefore shall he not be defended. Wo unto you that have lost patience: What will ye do when the Lord shall visit you?—They that fear the Lord will say, We will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men: For as his majesty is, so is his mercy.”

In like manner St. Chrysostom informs us, “That, in proportion as God adds to our tribulation, He adds likewise to our retribution.”