Were there not a need-be of wisdom, nothing would be as it is;
For essence without necessity argueth a moral weakness.
We look through a` glass darkly, we catch but glimpses of truth;
But, doubtless, the sailing of a cloud hath Providence to its pilot,
Doubtless, the root of an oak is gnarled for a special purpose,

The foreknown station of a rush is as fixed as the station of a king,

And chaff from the hand of a winnower, steered as the stars in their

courses.

Man liveth only in himself, but the Lord liveth in all things;
And His pervading unity quickeneth the whole creation.

Man doeth one thing at once, nor can he think two thoughts together;

But God compasseth all things, mantling the globe like air;

And we render homage to His wisdom, seeing use in all His creatures,

For, perchance, the universe would die, were not all things as they

are.

OF COMPENSATION.

EQUAL is the government of heaven in allotting pleasures among men,

And just the everlasting law, that hath wedded happiness to virtue; For verily on all things else broodeth disappointment with care, That childish man may be taught the shallowness of earthly enjoyment.

Wherefore, ye that have enough, envy ye the rich man his abundance?

Wherefore, daughters of affluence, covet ye the cottager's content?
Take the good with the evil, for ye all are pensioners of God,
And none may choose or refuse the cup His wisdom mixeth.
The poor man rejoiceth at his toil, and his daily bread is sweet to

him:

Content with present good, he looketh not for evil to the future: The rich man languisheth with sloth, and findeth pleasure in noth

ing;

He locketh up care with his gold, and feareth the fickleness of

fortune.

Can a cup contain within itself the measure of a bucket?

Or the straitened appetites of man drink more than their fill of luxury?

There is a limit to enjoyment, though the sources of wealth be boundless,

And the choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation.

ALSO, though penury and pain be real and bitter evils,

I would reason with the poor afflicted, for he is not so wretched as he seemeth.

What right hath an offender to complain, though others escape

punishment,

If the stripes of earned misfortune overtake him in his sin?

Wherefore not endure with resignation the evils thou canst not avert?

For the coward Pain will flee, if thou meet him as a man:

Consider, whatever be thy fate, that it might and ought to have been

worse,

And that it lieth in thy hand to gather even blessing from afflictions; Bethink thee, wherefore were they sent? and hath not use blunted their keenness ?

Need hope, and patience, and courage, be strangers to the meanest hovel?

Thou art in an evil case,—it were cruel to deny to thee compassion; But there is not unmitigated ill in the sharpest of this world's

sorrows:

I touch not the sore of thy guilt; but of human griefs I counsel thee,

Cast off the weakness of regret, and gird thee to redeem thy loss; Thou hast gained, in the furnace of affliction, self-knowledge,

patience, and humility,

And these be as precious ore, that waiteth the skill of the coiner: Despise not the blessings of adversity, nor the gain thou hast earned so hardly,

And now thou hast drained the bitter, take heed that thou lose not the sweet.

POWER is seldom innocent, and envy is the yoke-fellow of emi

nence;

And the rust of the miser's riches wasteth his soul as a canker. The poor man counteth not the cost at which such wealth hath been purchased;

He would be on the mountain's top without the toil and travail of the climbing.

But equity demandeth recompense; for high-place, calumny and

care;

For state, comfortless splendor eating out the heart of home;

For warrior fame, dangers and death; for a name among the learned, a spirit overstrained;

For honor of all kinds, the goad of ambition; on every acquirement, the tax of anxiety.

He that would change with another, must take the cup as it is mixed.

Poverty, with largeness of heart; or a full purse, with a sordid spirit: Wisdom, in an ailing body; or a common mind, with health : Godliness, with man's scorn; or the welcome of the mighty, with guilt:

Beauty, with a fickle heart: or plainness of face, with affection. For so hath Providence determined, that a man shall not easily discover

Unmingled good or evil, to quicken his envy or abhorrence.

A bold man or a fool must he be, who would change his lot with another;

It were a fearful bargain, and mercy hath lovingly refused it;

For we know the worst of ourselves, but the secrets of another we

see not,

And better is certain bad, than the doubt and dread of worse.
Just, and strong, and opportune is the moral rule of God;

Ripe in its times, firm in its judgments, equal in the measure of its gifts.

Yet men, scanning the surface, count the wicked happy,

Nor heed the compensating peace, which gladdeneth the good in

his afflictions.

They see not the frightful dreams that crowd a bad man's pillow,
Like wreathed adders crawling round his midnight conscience;
They hear not the terrible suggestions, that knock at the portal of
his will,

Provoking to wipe away from life the one weak witness of the deed; They know not the torturing suspicions that sting his panting breast,

When the clear eye of penetration quietly readeth off the truth. Likewise of the good what know they? the memories bringing

pleasure,

Shrined in the heart of the benevolent, and glistening from his eye; The calm, self-justifying reason that establisheth the upright in his purpose;

The warm and gushing bliss that floodeth all the thoughts of the religious.

Many a beggar at the cross-way, or gray-haired shepherd on the

plain,

Hath more of the end of all wealth, than hundreds who multiply the means.

MOREOVER, a moral compensation reacheth to the secrecy of

thought;

For if thou wilt think evil of thy neighbor, soon shalt thou have him for thy foe:

And yet he may know nothing of the cause that maketh thee distasteful to his soul,

The cause of unkind suspicion, for which thou hast thy punishment:
And if thou think of him in charity, wishing or praying for his weal,
He shall not guess the secret charm that lureth his soul to love thee;
For just is retributive ubiquity: Samson did sin with Dalilah,
And his eyes and captive strength were forfeit to the Philistine :
Jacob robbed his brother, and sorrow was his portion to the grave:
David must fly before his foes, yea, though his guilt is covered:
And He, who seeming old in youth, (6) was marred for others' sin,
For every special crime must bear its special penalty:

By luxury, or rashness, or vice, the member that hath erred suffereth,

And therefore the Sacrifice for all was pained at every pore.

ALIKE to the slave and his oppressor cometh night with sweet refreshment,

And half of the life of the most wretched is gladdened by the soothings of sleep.

Pain addeth zest unto pleasure, and teacheth the luxury of health;
There is a joy in sorrow, which none but a mourner can know;
Madness hath imaginary bliss, and most men have no more;
Age hath its quiet calm, and youth enjoyeth not for haste;
Daily, in the midst of its beatitude, the righteous soul is vexed;

And even the misery of guilt doth attain to the bliss of pardon. Who, in the face of the born-blind, ever looked on other than

content?

And the deaf ear listeneth within to the silent music of the heart. There is evil poured upon the earth from the overflowings of corrup

Sickness, and poverty, and pain, and guilt, and madness, and sor

row;

But, as the water from a fountain riseth and sinketh to its level, Ceaselessly toileth justice to equalize the lots of men;

For habit, and hope, and ignorance, and the being but one of a

multitude,

And strength of reason in the sage, and dullness of feeling in the

fool,

And the light elasticity of courage, and the calm resignation of

meekness,

And the stout endurance of decision, and the weak carelessness of

apathy,

And helps invisible, but real, and ministerings not unfelt,

Angelic aid with worldly discomfiture, bodily loss with the soul's

gain,

Secret griefs, and silent joys, thorns in the flesh, and cordials for

the spirit.

(-Short of the insuperable barrier dividing innocence from guilt,-)

Go far to level all things, by the gracious rule of Compensation.

OF INDIRECT INFLUENCES.

FACE thy foe in the field, and perchance thou wilt meet thy master, For the sword is chained to his wrist, and his armor buckled for the battle;

But find him when he looketh not for thee, aim between the joints of his harness,

And the crest of his pride will be humbled, his cruelty will bite the

dust.