A volume he prepared in name of each of them; The matter of these registers not all the same. 150 The style of every one was in a different guise; From end to end each book’s contents were forgeries. In one, the pangs of hunger mortified the flesh; With penitence, with fasting made, and prayer, to clash. A second taught that fasting did no good at all; That charity, beneficence, was all in all. A third explained: “Thy fasting,--charity itself,— Syntheism[102] is. With God, thou deifiest thyself. To trust with resignation’s all religion’s plan. In weal and woe are springs to trap the soul of man.” 155 A fourth declared: “Faith without works is truly dead. Alone is service valued; faith’s a sin to dread.” A fifth laid down: “The Law’s commands and warnings all Are not for practice; they’re mere symbols of man’s fall. By showing us man’s weakness, God is made more strong; The decalogue this purpose serves; the rest’s all wrong.” The sixth, again: “For man to talk of weakness here, Ingratitude is, simply; God’s grace is so clear; Think, now, how wonderful is man; how great; how wise; ’Tis God has made him thus; to thank Him in us lies.” 160 A seventh suggests: “Leave power and weakness unto Me; They’re idols, both, as also are all things ye see.” An eighth contends: “Put not thy light behind a shade. Let all men see thy light; to glad their eyes ’twas made. Removed from sight if ’tis, an evil thence will loom. Thou, too, wilt be removed at midnight from the groom.” A ninth expounds: “Put out the light; thou’lt have more joy. The sense of sight is one: joy’s feelings, many; boy. Put out the light. The sense of touch thou may’st then use. The bride is timid; in the dark she’ll not refuse. 165 Renunciation of the world’s a very farce. Renounce. The world, and more, thou’lt dream of in thy trance.” A tenth assures: “That which the Lord hath given to man, God hath made pleasant to the eyes. Deny, who can. Take what is thine. Avert thee not; ’tis folly still To take to groaning, moaning, when all’s at thy will.” Another yet: “Forsake all things thou hast possessed. Retention of them by thee baseness is, confessed. How many roads diverse traced for their feet men deem; Each one to one sole “church” the only road doth seem. 170 If way there were secure, for hitting out the truth, The Jews and Magi surely ’d not missed it, forsooth.” Again another: “Moral food makes heart to live. We see this clearly; every hour a proof doth give. Enjoyments sensuous, fleshly, when to fade they haste, Leave no result behind; they’re desert mirage, waste. Regret’s their only issue, grief for loss of time; A bankrupt’s stock; their commerce gives no gain, no prime. Pursuit of them has never ended in success;