University of Virginia Library

2. PART II.

SCENE, Daniel's House.
DANIEL, ARASPES.
ARASPES.
Proceed, proceed, thrice venerable sage!
Enlighten my dark mind with this new ray,
This dawning of salvation! Tell me more
Of this expected King! this Prince of peace!
This Promise of the nations! this great Hope
Of anxious Israël! This mighty Prophet!
This Balm of Gilead, which shall heal the wounds
Of universal nature! this Messiah!
Redeemer, saviour, sufferer, victim, God!

DANIEL.
Enough to animate our faith, we know,
But not enough to soothe the curious pride
Of vain philosophy! Were all reveal'd,
Hope wou'd have then no object, God no fear,
And faith no exercise! Enough to cheer
Our path we see, the rest is hid in clouds,
And Heav'n's own shadows rest upon the veiw!

ARASPES.
Go on, blest Sage! I cou'd for ever hear,
Untir'd, thy admonition! Tell me, how
I shall obtain the favour of that God
I but begin to know.

DANIEL.
By holy deeds,
By deep humility, by faith unfeign'd.
O Faith , thou wonder-working principle!
Eternal substance of our present hope,
Thou evidence of things invisible!
What cannot man sustain, sustain'd by thee?
The time wou'd fail, and the bright star of day
Wou'd quench his beams in ocean, and resign
His empire to the silver queen of night;
And she again descend the steep of heav'n,
If I shou'd tell what wonders Faith atchiev'd,
By Gideon, Barak, and the sapient seer,
Elkanah's son; the pious Gileadite,
Ill-fated Jephthah! He of Zorah too,
In strength unequall'd; and the shepherd-king,
Who slew the giant of Gath! Why shou'd I tell
Of holy Prophets, who, by conquering Faith,
Wrought deeds incredible to mortal sense;
Vanquish'd contending kingdoms, quell'd the rage
Of furious pestilence, extinguish'd fire?
Victorious Faith! others by thee endur'd
Exile, disgrace, captivity, and death!
Some, uncomplaining, bore (nor be it deem'd
The meanest exercise of well-try'd Faith)
The bitter taunts of undeserv'd reproach;
Despising shame, that death to human pride!

ARASPES.
How shall this faith be sought?

DANIEL.
By earnest pray'r.
Solicit first the wisdom from above;
Wisdom , whose fruits are purity and peace!
Wisdom! that bright intelligence, which sat
Supreme, when with his golden compasses
Th' Eternal plann'd the fabric of the world,
Produc'd his fair idea into light,
And said, that all was good! Wisdom, blest beam!
The brightness of the everlasting light!
The spotless mirror of the pow'r of God!
The reflex image of th' all-perfect mind!
A stream translucent, flowing from the source
Of glory infinite; a cloudless light!
Defilement cannot touch, nor sin pollute
Her unstain'd purity! Not Ophir's gòld,
Nor Ethiopia's gems can match her price!
The diamond of the mine is pale before her!
And, like the oil Elisha's bounty bless'd,
She is a treasure which doth grow by use,
And multiply by spending! She contains,
Within herself, the sum of excellence.
If riches are desir'd, wisdom is wealth!
If prudence, where shall keen invention find
Artificer more cunning? If renown,
In her right-hand it comes! If piety,
Are not her labours virtues? If the lore
Which sage experience teaches, lo! she scans
Antiquity's dark truths; the past she knows,
Anticipates the future; not by arts
Forbidden, of Chaldean sorcerer;
But from the piercing ken of deep foreknowledge;
From her sure science of the human heart;
Weighing effects with causes, ends with means;
And from the probable the certain forms,
With palpable conjecture!

ARASPES.
Now, O Prophet!
Explain the secret doubts which rack my mind,
And my weak sense confound. Give me some line
To sound the depths of Providence! O say,
Why the ungodly prosper? why their root
Shoots deep, and their thick branches flourish fair,
Like the green bay tree? why the righteous man,
Like tender plants, to shiv'ring winds expos'd,
Is stripp'd and torn, in naked virtue bare,
And nipp'd by cruel sorrow's biting blast?
Explain, O Daniel! these mysterious ways,
To my faint apprehension! For as yet
I've much to learn. Fair Truth's immortal sun
Is sometimes hid in clouds; not that her light
Is in itself defective; but obscur'd
By my weak prejudice, imperfect Faith,
And all the thousand causes which obstruct
The growth of virtue.

DANIEL.
Follow me, Araspes!
Within, thou shalt pursue the sacred page,
The book of Life eternal! there thou wilt see
The end of the ungodly; thou wilt own
How short their longest period; will perceive
How black a night succeeds their brightest day!
Weigh well this book; and may the Spirit of Grace,
Who stamp'd the seal of truth on the bless'd page,
Descend into thy soul, remove thy doubts,
Clear the perplex'd, and solve the intricate,
'Till Faith be lost in sight, and Hope in joy!