are led and governed by it." These admirable qualities O could we see how cause from cause doth spring! The harmony doth rather make than mar! All in himself as in a glass he sees, For from him, by him, through him, all things be; But seeing the whole, each single part doth see. His similes are admirably selected, and are not only recommended by analogy, but novelty: THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE ASSISTANCE TO THE SOUL. THE UNION OF THE SOUL WITH THE BODY. But as the fair and cheerful morning light Doth here and there her silver beams impart, And in an instant doth herself unite, To the transparent air, in all and ev'ry part: So doth the piercing soul the body fill, Being all in all, and all in part diffused; Nor forced, encountered, troubled, or confused. E THE SENSE OF FEELING ILLUSTRATED. SENSITIVE MEMORY. Here sense's apprehension end doth take; Till the last circle touch the bank at last. INNATE IDEAS IN THE SOUL. And though these sparks were almost quenched with sin, And, like the widow's oil, still multiplied. THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL SHOWN FROM THE UN SATISFYING NATURE OF ALL EARTHLY ENJOYMENTS. At first her mother-earth she holdeth dear, And doth embrace the world, and worldly things; Or pleasure of the sense, contentment find? But, pleased with none, doth rise and soar away. Although the Immortality of the Soul is properly a philosophical poem, it is essentially a religious poem also. * Condensed by Pope into a famous couplet: The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine, Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.-Essay on Man. It has nothing of Lucretius, but the majesty. The dependence of man upon a merciful and omnipotent Creator, and the purification of the heart by the influence of the Divine Spirit, are constantly and eloquently enforced : This lamp through all the regions of my brain, And he winds up the whole argument with an appeal to the heart, full of calm wisdom and earnest devotion : O ignorant poor man! what dost thou bear, And all that in the world is counted good. Think of her worth, and think that God did mean, Make not her free-will slave to vanity. And if thou, like a child, didst fear before, Being in the dark, where thou didst nothing see; The glory of thy Maker's sacred name; 52 GEORGE SANDYS. GEORGE SANDYS, the seventh and youngest son of Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York, was born at Bishopsthorp, in 1577; and, in December, 1589, being eleven years old, he was matriculated in the University of Oxford, as a member of St. Mary Hall; but Wood supposes him to have studied at Corpus Christi College. He does not appear to have taken a degree. In the autumn of 1610, he set out on his travels, during which he visited the most interesting cities of Europe, and extended his researches into Egypt and the Holy Land. He seems, also, to have been one of the early residents in Virginia; for Drayton speaks of him as Treasurer to the English Company there. After an absence of more than two years, he returned to England, and composed the history of his wanderings, which issued from the Press in 1615. No personal narrative ever impressed the reader with a livelier sensation of respect for the writer. The brief preface is singularly simple and eloquent, and the opening picture of the disordered condition of France, though consisting only of a few strokes, is very striking. "I began," he says, "my journey through France, hard upon the time when that execrable murder was committed upon the person of Henry the Fourth, by an obscure varlet, even in the streets of his principal city by day, and then when royalty attended; to show that there is none so contemptible, that contemneth his own life, but is the master of another man's. Triumphs were interrupted by funerals, and men's minds did labour with fearful expectations. The princes of the blood discontented, the nobles factious; those of the religion daily threatened, and nightly fearing a massacre. Meanwhile, a number of soldiers are drawn, by small numbers, into the city, to confront all outrages." His journal commences at Venice. The veracity of his information, the diligence of his inquiries, and the accuracy of his descriptions, render him one of the most agreeable and instructive of English travellers; and it may be remarked, that Addison, in his Italian tour, took Sandys for his model. Recent investigations have confirmed his statements. The account of Constantinople, where he resided four months, in the house of the English ambassador, Sir Thomas Glover, is minute and entertaining. But his visit to the Holy Land possesses the most absorbing interest. As a specimen of his style, I may quote the narrative of his journey from Gaza to Jerusalem. "Now the caravan did again divide; the Moors keeping in the way that leadeth to Damascus. Here we should have paid two dollars a-piece for our heads to a Sheik of the Arabs; but the Zanziack of Gaza had sent unto him that it should be remitted. He came into our tent, and greedily fed upon such viands as we had set before him. A man of tall stature, clothed in a Gambalock of scarlet, buttoned under the chin, with a top of gold. He had not the patience to expect a present, but demanded one. We gave him a piece of sugar, and a pair of shoes, which he earnestly inquired for, and cheerfully accepted. "On the two-and-twentieth of March, with the rising sun, we departed from Gaza. A small remainder of that great caravan; the Nostrains (so name they the Christians of the East) that ride upon mules and asses being gone before; amongst whom were two Armenian bishops, who footed it most of the way; but when (alighting themselves) they were mounted by some of their nation. |