They who have seen Whittier suddenly arrested in speech and action stand motionless with bent head and listening soul, and then for a moment uplift his face, his eyes glowing with inspiration, as if his own soul were sending back a message to the skies, can never doubt that there were moments when in the language of the prophets whom he loved, “an angel spake to him.” Or was it that the heart of the Father Himself--the “Over-Heart,” as the poet has it--called to his heart? Later, the poet would speak the message he had received. But the fullness, the joy of it no man could utter--unless he spoke in the tongue of Heaven. * * * * * It was in the garden room where the eyes of one who sat by in reverence had seen this bowed head, this look listening and rapt, this flashing upward glance responsive with joy and power, that the poet sat discoursing of many things of life and thought. In speaking of a creed--belief in the hard and fast-bound fate of all who did not reach what human beings considered the standard of faith--he said: “If people really believed all the things that they think they believe concerning God and the future judgment of the lost, there would be no more smiling in the world.” Yet no one could be farther from underestimating the danger of slighting human responsibility than was Whittier. His oft-repeated saying, “The Lord will do the best He can for us,” to Whittier always carried with it the certainty that God would respect man’s choice. It was linked with the poet’s assertions, “It’s better not to risk behaving in this world as if there were no other,” and, “We ought to do the best we can in this world.” The intensity of this conviction he utters in his “Tent on the Beach,” where he speaks of taking in the crowded sail and letting his conscience steer--the conscience, not of a bigot, but of a saint. * * * * * Poet, philanthropist, saint, as he was--and not scientist--no man comes closer to that supreme science which is perception of the highest truths. That the love of the Father is unalterable, and the free choice of man inalienable, brings to his mind all the possibilities of endless sinning and suffering, side by side with the mercy that endures forever. In its vivid portrayal of Divine love rejected, his poem, “The Answer,” is one of the most remarkable religious poems of the language. In it he sings: “No force divine can love compel. “No word of doom may shut thee out, No wind of wrath may downward whirl, No swords of fire keep watch about The open gates of pearl; “A tenderer light than moon or sun, Than song of earth a sweeter hymn, May shine and sound forever on, And thou be deaf and dim. “For ever round the Mercy-seat The guiding lights of Love shall burn; But what if, habit-bound, thy feet Shall lack the will to turn?” * * * * *