This answer followed.--"You have turned my thoughts Upon our brave Progenitors, who rose 920 Against idolatry with warlike mind, And shrunk from vain observances, to lurk In woods, and dwell under impending rocks Ill-sheltered, and oft wanting fire and food;[381] Why?--for this very reason that they felt, 925 And did acknowledge, wheresoe'er they moved, A spiritual presence, oft-times misconceived, But still a high dependence, a divine Bounty and government, that filled their hearts With joy, and gratitude, and fear, and love; 930 And from their fervent lips drew hymns of praise, That through the desert rang.[382] Though favoured less, Far less, than these, yet such, in their degree, Were those bewildered Pagans of old time. Beyond their own poor natures and above 935 They looked; were humbly thankful for the good Which the warm sun solicited, and earth Bestowed; were gladsome,--and their moral sense They fortified with reverence for the Gods; And they had hopes that overstepped the Grave. 940 "Now, shall our great Discoverers," he exclaimed, Raising his voice triumphantly, "obtain From sense and reason less than these obtained, Though far misled? Shall men for whom our age Unbaffled powers of vision hath prepared, 945 To explore the world without and world within, Be joyless as the blind? Ambitious spirits--[383] Whom earth, at this late season, hath produced To regulate the moving spheres, and weigh The planets in the hollow of their hand; 950 And they who rather dive than soar, whose pains Have solved the elements, or analysed The thinking principle--shall they in fact Prove a degraded Race? and what avails Renown, if their presumption make them such? 955 Oh! there is laughter at their work in heaven! Inquire of ancient Wisdom; go, demand Of mighty Nature, if 'twas ever meant That we should pry far off yet be unraised; That we should pore, and dwindle as we pore, 960 Viewing all objects unremittingly In disconnexion dead and spiritless; And still dividing, and dividing still, Break down all grandeur, still unsatisfied With the perverse attempt, while littleness 965 May yet become more little; waging thus An impious warfare with the very life Of our own souls! "And if indeed there be An all-pervading Spirit, upon whom Our dark foundations rest, could he design 970 That this[384] magnificent effect of power, The earth we tread, the sky that[385] we behold By day, and all the pomp which night reveals; That these--and that superior mystery