"Nature ne'er bid all nations worship heaven "In sacrifice:-ne'er bid them shed the gore "Of man or beast? Such light could not be given

"The untaught heart of man? And yet before "That blessed time when hell's strong chains were riven,

"All nations worshipp'd thus.

shore,

On every

"In worlds unknown of old, that rite we find. "One common hope once taught it all mankind.

"For think not all the legends priests of yore "Taught from the sacred hill, and bards enshrin'd

"In verse undying-think not all the lore "Of Rome, and Greece, and Egypt-intertwin'd

"In this high place the nations bow'd before"Sprang from some idle zealot's frenzied

mind.

"Not so; from God himself first came the theme

"That priests and bards bewilder'd to a dream.

"Think not that man-expell'd from paradise"Went without promise of redemption--all "Untaught by God of that which should rejoice "And ransom him from death's appointed

thrall.

"He treasur'd up the hope beyond all price; "And future generations learn'd to call "On Him they look'd for.

near,

Scatter'd far and

"Fable soon blent with truth-but truth was

there.

"Think you the hero of the olden time, "Think you that Hercules was all create "Of priests and poets?-Holiest-most sublime

"The source from whence they drew! Let pedants prate

"Of'elegant mythology:'-I climb

"The abyss of ages, and I consecrate

"To God those legends that from Him came down,

"Bas'd on the promise of his hallow'd Son!

"Think o'er the feats of Hercules and say "What semblance bear they not the Christian creed :

"How Jupiter foretold Almighty sway

"To his and fair Alcmena's son: then read "How in his crib, the child had power to slay

"The serpent sent by envious Juno. Heed "The tale of Eve and of hell's Serpent foil'd: "And trace, in fable, all the truth it spoil'd.

"Next see this child prepare to undergo 'Unheard-oftoils for man; and first conceal

"Himself in solitude till prophets show "That, after three years' labour, man should kneel

"And own his godship. Who will not allow "These legends came from One who deign'd

reveal,

"In earliest times, the mode in which the Christ "Should ransom man-a hero for a priest?

"What was Prometheus?-he who stole the fire "From heaven, to give immortal light to

men:

"Bound on a rock by Jove's relentless ire:"A vulture at his heart?... The poet's strain Sprang from a higher source than bards inspire

"The tree of knowledge-punishment—the pain

"Of evil conscience-exile here below

"Till Christ redeem'd him from his state of woe.

"To win the apples of Hesperides,

"The weight of all the earth we see him bear: "Their dragon guard, fell Typhon, then he slays.

"Apples and serpents still! Whence came they there?

"On seven-headed Hydra next he preys :"Then clears the Augean stable :—I compare "All this: -the filth of vices Christ o'erthrew, "The seven great sins-and feel the legend tru

"Compare that strange descent to hell, to bind "Fierce Cerberus and bring his friends on

high,

"With what the true Redeemer did. Resign'd, "The hero lived three years in misery, "Then calmly died. But, even here, we find "A semblance strange :-His ashes might

not lie

"On earth great Jove to heaven itself upbore "The hero's mortal parts! Bow down, adore,

"Adore with me, my friends," Silvester said, "The one true, mighty God, who, from all time,

"Foretold the Ransomer-the Christ who bled "And died to free the world from sin and

crime.

"Him all the ancients look'd for. Ages sped Away, and faint became the faith sublime. "His mighty plan unchang'd, God chose a race "To whom again he told the Scheme of grace.

"In every age, the same design was shewn

"To bring lost man once more to Paradise. "E'en when first outcast, He foretold the Son "Should be his ransomer, his sacrifice. "Those promises were clouded one by one— "Forgotten even by the good and wise: "But still in every age that faith was seen. "Where'er is sacrifice, that faith has been."

ORIGINAL. FROM "THE BEGGAR'S COIN."

247

ORIGIN OF EVIL.

In this our mortal state, we are sensible of the presence of physical and moral evil; a phenomenon inconsistent with the supposition of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness in the Creator. Reason alone cannot solve this problem: reason may admit the probability of the solution, but, unaided, cannot discover it.

Every conscious being has, of necessity, understanding and will. These are not merely accidental faculties, but are essential properties of a conscious being: it is impossible to conceive such a being without them. The understanding, though it prompt the will, is distinguishable from the will; and the act of the will, though directed by the understanding, may be discriminated from the act of the understanding. Neither is the understanding nor the will separately, nor are both of them together, the whole conscious being; for these two powers inhere in a substantial basis, is an essential power, that gives origin to thought and to the operations of them both.

Even the Supreme Being, with awful reverence be it said, is thus constituted. His understanding is perfect wisdom: his will is perfect goodness; his power rules all things by his wisdom to the ends proposed by his goodness.