[He puts his last charge into his piece. This is the last When this is done, there is no other hope Olaf. Where is this wild? I know not where thou But in our flight! drivest! Hunter. Below our feet lies the eternal ice [He fires. Now heaven must be our helper! On, on, spare not the thong! Olaf. [The horse in dashing forward, breaks from the sledge; the wolves fall upon him instantly. Now must we fly! Hunt. There is a hut among these icy deserts Raised by some hunters. While they gorge themselves We may escape. Paol. Take, take my hand, dear father! Olaf. How cold it is, poor boy! [They turn among the ice-mountains, and soon are out of sight. SCENE V. A chaotic wilderness of icebergs. -Olaf. Let go my cloak-they shall not hurt thee, Enter the HUNTER, and OLAF carrying PAOLO, who How kind thou art, dear father! [He fires. I will run on-I will not cumber thee! Hunt. The wolves are here! Hark, hark! their barking comes Upon the passing wind! Paol. Oh, they are here! Olaf. How can we 'scape from them? I'll sell my life Dearly for this child's sake! Hunt. Throw them the child! And while they gorge on him, we can escape. Olaf. Thou devil of hell! Paol. Sweet father, do it not! [The wolves surround them; and the Hunter snatching up Paolo throws him among them. Paol. Oh father, father, save me! My boy my boy! [He dashes among the wolves with his hunting knife, and then springs forward after the Hunter. SCENE VI. Ter. Nay, then he is not dead!-Oh no, not dead! Night-the interior of Olaf's house-Teresa alone―These men shall seek for him among the wilds- Teresa. How late it is! an hour beyond the midnight! And bitter cold it is! The icy wind Even pierces through these walls! Poor little Paolo, But he shall sit upon the bench beside me, [She puts fresh logs on the fire. And this is the third time I have renewed The wasting fire! and when I piled it first, I know not what to say, saving the wonder Enter HULDA, with a very dejected countenance; she Ere long thy husband comes. Hunt. Enter the HUNTER, hastily. Dear lady, woe is me! Oh wretched, wretched mother! Ter. Torture me not, but tell me where he is? Hunt. Lady, forgive me for the news I bring! Ter. Then he is dead? He did not so! Ter. Lady, he is but missing! Hunt. [Teresa clasps her hands, and stands in I might have snatched a pretty lock of hair; Ter. [falling on her kness.] God, of thy mercy strengthen, strengthen me! Enable me to bear what is thy will! [She falls insensible to the floor. Huld. Wretch, why didst tell it her so cruelly — The following day-the interior of the chapel-Teresa on her knees before the image of the Virgin. Mother of God, who borest That cruel pang which made thy spirit bleed! My need is great, my woe is like thine own! Kind Saviour, who didst shed Who raised the widow's son from off his bier; Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me -- Have gone, and left me faint! Forbear to smite A bruised and broken reed! Sustain, sustain ; Divinest Comforter, to thee I fly, Let me not fly in vain! Support me with thy love, or else I die! Father, who didst send down thy Well-Beloved, Whate'er I had was thine! A God of mercy thou hast ever been; Assist me to resign; And if I murmur, count it not for sin ! How rich I was, I dare not-dare not think; Forgive me if I shrink! To yield my will to thine, forgive, forgive! [She bows her face, and after a time of My soul is strengthened! It shall bear Many weeks afterwards—a chamber of Olaf's house -Olaf near death, lying upon his bed-Teresa sits beside him. Olaf. For years of tyranny I do beseech Ter. Thank God! affliction has been merciful! save! Olaf. I do, I do!- and I rejoice in death; Though, had my life been spared, I would have been Both son and husband to thee!— Weep not thou— We shall all three ere long be united I, the poor outcast else, be one with you! [Olaf remains perfectly quiet, and after Oh human soul, 't is done, Upon thy spirit-robes, redeemed one! Of sin and passion hast been wildly tost, With songs of triumph do we welcome thee! Thou shalt shine out before the Infinite! - In love, which human frailty held in thrall;- Distrust and fear in heaven there cannot be, Oh happy pair, too long divided, Pour out your souls in one strong sympathy! Eternal Love your meeting steps hath guided, Ne'er to be parted through eternity! fore them." Achzib," said he," thou hast tried the sons of men, and hast tempted four to perdition; thus has the All-wise permitted. I come not, however, to speak of their doom, but of good and evil as it regards human life. Thou hast introduced sin and sorrow among men; but thou hast only feebly known the result of every downward step in human degradation and woe. Thou hast seen evil obtaining the mastery over good; sin laying desolate the home of virtue and peace; the good and the kind brought to the grave, or going through life mourning because of it; and thou hast exclaimed, surely, I am mightier than God! Thou hast riveted on the chains of oppres sion; thou hast darkened the minds of the noble and pure, with thy lying deeds; and hast left generations Ter. [waking.] I know that he is dead; but this yet unborn, to groan under thy sinful agency; and sweet omen, These holy voices pealing joy in heaven, men beholding these things, have exclaimed, with bleeding hearts, surely, evil is mightier than good!' Have taken the sting from death! My dear, dear But a superior intelligence looks beyond the outward husband, I know that thou art blessed -art reunited Unto our boy! [She bends over the body for a few mo- prayer. ACHZIB's mission was ended; and he returned to his fellows with exultation. "I have done that which I set out to do!" he exclaimed, "and ye shall declare me victor. I have proved the supremacy of evil; for of the seven whom I have tried, I have won four. Let me no longer be called Achzib the Liar, for I have proved that evil obtains a wider and more powerful agency than good. I have won four young men, in the strength of manhood, and in the full force of intellect: I have lost only a poor scholar, an old man, and a woman!" "Methinks," said the younger spirit, "thou hast been in some measure defeated; inasmuch as these feeble ones were mightier than thou!" : "I was a fool," returned Achzib, "to attempt any of the three in them, passion, and the aptitude to sin, were weak: one was enfeebled by sickness, one by old age, the third by long endurance of evil." "Thy triumph had been greater," interrupted the elder, "had thou won any of the three, whom, losing, thou pretendest to undervalue; the four thou hast won were an easy conquest, for though boastful of virtue, they were weak in principle." "It matters not," said Achzib: "any of these, but for my ministration, might have gone on through life without materially adding to crime; without drawing others after them into sin; and without baptizing human hearts in woe, as they have done; and I tell ye, of the seven whom I have tried, four have become my victims." "We deny it not," said the two. seeming, and perceives in the midst of evil, only more widely-extended good. "O fools and blind, you cannot degrade God! Your malign interference cannot reverse the decrees of his omnipotent wisdom. His goodness upholds and pervades all things, both of the outward creation, and man's moral existence; and though evil is permitted, it neither mars nor deranges the great plan of universal Providence. Evil, like darkness, which makes visible the glory and immensity of God's works, unseen by day, though still present; brings forth, in the moral world, the loveliness, the nobility, and the joy-diffusing nature of virtue. It is the depth of shadow, by which good is thrown into strong relief; it is the source whence many of the highest actions, many of the most triumphant passages of a conflicting life; whence often, the most melting and beautiful trophies of the soul, winged in all its strength and affection, have been made to proceed. It is the trial of love, of faith, of patience; it calls for forgiveness, and Christian charity; it teaches forbearance, meekness, and pity. It is the subjection to evil which is the ordeal of the human spirit, and it is the severe contrast of crime, which leads it to pay its devoutest homage to virtue. Designer of evil, thou hast failed! For every soul whom thou hast lured into sin, thou hast thrown others, through the anguish, or by the example of that sin, upon the healing mercy of Him who is able and willing to save!" Achzib turned abashed from the speaker of Truth, and retired with his fellows into darkness; and the angel lifting up his voice, poured out a hymn of praise. Thou, that createdst with a word each star; Who, out of nothingness brought systems forth, The human soul, immortal at its birth ;- We know how pain and woe, Sorrow and sin, make up the sum of life! How good and evil are at ceaseless strife, And how the soul doth err in choice, we know! Yet not for this droop we, nor are afraid; We know thy goodness, we behold thy might; We know thy truth can never be gainsaid, And what thou dost is right! We glorify thy name that thus it is;- Hymns and Fire-side Verses. ΤΟ CAROLINE BOWLES; AN HONOURED FELLOW-LABOURER. THIS LITTLE BOOK, THE DESIGN OF WHICH IS These have I given thee that thou may'st command TO MAKE THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY And greet thou those who love thee in my name, AN ENDEARED AND FAMILIAR FIRE-SIDE GUEST, IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. L'ENVOI. I HAVE indited thee with care and love, Thou wast not meant for riot and for jest, Dear little book, all simple as thou art; But in sweet homes to be a loving guest; And find a place in many a guileless heart. Have not a fear! I know that thou wilt find Thy journey pleasant as a path of flowers, For pure and youthful hearts are ever kind, Glad to be pleased with labour such as ours. Sit down with little children by the way, And tell them of sweet Marien how she went Over the weary world from day to day, On christian works of love, like thee, intent. Tell them of Him who framed the sea, the sky; The glorious earth and all that dwell therein; And of that Holy One made strong to die, Sinless himself, to save the world from sin. And thou hast many a tale of wonder planned With various art to make thy spirit wise; Yea, greet them warmly! Little book, adieu! MARIEN'S PILGRIMAGE. A FIRE-SIDE STORY. CHRISTIANITY, like a child, goes wandering over the world. Fearless in its innocence, it is not abashed before princes, nor confounded by the wisdom of synods. Before it the blood-stained warrior sheathes his sword, and plucks the laurel from his brow;the midnight murderer turns from his purpose, and, like the heart-smitten disciple, goes out and weeps bitterly. It brings liberty to the captive, joy to the mourner, freedom to the slave, repentance and forgiveness to the sinner, hope to the faint-hearted, and assurance to the dying. It enters the huts of poor men, and sits down with them and their children; it makes them contented in the midst of privations, and leaves behind an everlasting blessing. It walks through great cities, amid all their pomp and splendour, their unimaginable pride, and their unutterable misery, a purifying, ennobling, correcting, and redeeming angel. It is alike the beautiful companion of childhood and the comfortable associate of age. It ennobles the noble; gives wisdom to the wise; and new grace to the lovely. The patriot, the priest, the poet, and the eloquent man, all derive their sublime power from its influence. |