Immaculate as light; without a thought Of evil, and without a name for fear. Oh, when I wake from happy dreams like these, To the old consciousness that I must die, To the old presence of a guilty heart, To the old fear that haunts me night and day, Why should I not deplore the graceless fall That makes me what I am, and shuts me out From a condition and society As much above a sinful maiden's dreams As Eden blest surpasses Eden curst? _David_. So you would be another Eve, and so-- Fall with the first temptation, like herself! God seeks for virtue; you for innocence. You'll find it in the cradle--nowhere else-- Save in your dreams, among the grown-up babes That dwelt in Eden--powerless, pulpy souls That showed a dimple for each touch of sin. God seeks for virtue, and, that it may live, It must resist, and that which it resists Must live. Believe me, God has other thought Than restoration of our fallen race To its primeval innocence and bliss. If Jesus Christ--as we are taught--was slain From the foundation of the world, it was Because our evil lived in essence then-- Coeval with the great, mysterious fact. And He was slain that we might be transformed,-- Not into Adam's sweet similitude-- But the more glorious image of Himself, A resolution of our destiny As high transcending Eden's life and lot As He surpasses Eden's fallen lord. _Ruth_. You're very bold, my brother, very bold. Did I not know you for an earnest man, When sacred themes move you to utterance, I'd chide you for those most irreverent words Which make essential to the Christian scheme That which the scheme was made to kill, or cure. _David_. Yet they do save some very awkward words, That limp to make apology for God, And, while they justify Him, half confess The adverse verdict of appearances. I am ashamed that in this Christian age The pious throng still hug the fallacy That this dear world of ours was not ordained The theater of evil; for no law Declared of God from all eternity Can live a moment save by lease of pain. Law cannot live, e'en in God's inmost thought, Save by the side of evil. What were law But a weak jest without its penalty? Never a law was born that did not fly Forth from the bosom of Omnipotence Matched, wing-and-wing, with evil and with good, Avenger and rewarder--both of God. _Ruth_. I face your thought and give it audience; But I cannot embrace it till it come With some of truth's credentials in its hands-- The fruits of gracious ministries. _David_.