Seems but commissioned to repeat
In echo's accents—silvery sweet—
That thou, O Lord, didst give it birth
There is a tongue in every flame—
There is a tongue in every wave—
To these the bounteous Godhead gave
These organs but to praise his name!
O mighty Lord of boundless space,
Here can'st thou be both sought and found—
For here in every thing around,
Thy presence and thy power I trace.
With faith my guide, and my defence,
I burn to serve in love and fear;
If as a slave Oh! leave me here;
If not, O Lord, remove he hence!
Angel.Patrick!
Patr.Who calls?
Paul.There's no one by—
Nobody calls. The man's distraught—[Aside.
Methinks a poet he should be.
Angel.Patrick!
Patr.Who calls again?
Angel.'Tis I,
Paul.He speaks and yet I can see naught—
Well let him speak: what's that to me?
I am not placed to guard his tongue.[Exit.
Patr.Ah! can I trust my wondering eyes,
That Heaven so great a favour sends?—
A glorious cloud from yonder skies
With mingled tints of pearl and rose,
And all its summer bravery hung,
Before my raptur'd sight descends—
And now its glittering gates disclose
The sun within more glorious still;
He comes in purple and in gold—
He comes, as comes the smiling dawn,
In his crimson chariot drawn
By the running rosy hours—
Scattering over vale and hill
Jessamine and all sweet flowers.
Never yet by day or night
Did I such a sight behold![2]
Angel.Patrick!
Patr.I'm dazzled with the light—
Who art thou, celestial Lord?
Angel.Patrick, of my own accord
Here my course I have not bent,
I am Victor, hither sent
(Guardian Angel of thy soul),
From the happy realms of bliss,
Even by God, to give thee this.[Gives him the letter.
Patr.Oh! sweet messenger divine,
Happy harbinger of joy,
How can I my heart controul?
Seeing thee, who, like the seven
That before God's footstool shine,
All thy eternal hours employ,
'Mid the sweet choirs singing, solely,
“Holy! holy! holy! holy!
Mighty Lord of Earth and Heaven.”
Angel.Read the letter.
Patr.Can it be
That the scroll is sent to me?
Yes to me 'tis sent indeed.
[Reads the superscription, which is addressed: “To Patrick.”]
Angel.Open it.
Patr.Within I read,
“Come, Patrick, come, we wait for thee
To free us from our slavery”
So ends the writing; it is clear
This means more than doth appear—
Faithful guardian, let me know
Who are those who call me so.
Angel.Look within this mirror then.
Patr.Heavens!
Angel.What do you behold?
Patr.A mighty crowd of young and old,
Tender children, women, men,
Calling me.
Angel.And those you see
Are the Irish people. They
Stretch their longing arms to thee,
Waiting for the blessed day,
When the darkness pass'd and gone,
Thou wilt bring, like morning light,
Tidings of the Faith—Begone!
Thou, I know, will not be loth
To listen to thy God's command—
Leave thy slavery, and go
Legate and Apostle both,
Of the favour'd Irish land.
First to France[3] depart and take
There at blessed German's feet
The habit of a monk. To Rome,
Then, a rapid journey make—
Then with letters from the Pope,
Good Celestine, thou wilt come
Hither, full of heavenly hope,
Thou, St. Martin, too, wilt see
Bishop of Tours.[4] But now with me
Borne upon the mighty wind
Let us leave this land behind.[5]
Now that I have let thee know
What thy glorious fate must be,
And the task reserved for thee,
Let us on our journey go.[Exeunt.
[END OF ACT I.]
- ↑ The foundation of this scene is contained in the following passage of “La Vie,” all the early lives agree substantially with it. “As he passed almost entire nights in fervent prayers, it happened to him, upon one occasion, that, being entranced, as it were, in an ecstacy or divine transport, he saw, as in a mirror, or beautifully polished glass, a man of a grave and majestic appearance who presented to him a letter on which was inscribed, ‘Here is the voice of all the people of Hibernia;’ and when he had opened the letter to see what it contained he read, therein, that all the inhabitants of Ireland, men, women, and children, big and little, called to him, saying, ‘Patric, &c.’”
- ↑ The appearance of the Angel Victor is somewhat differently described in the various lives, but Calderon's description far surpasses them all in sublimity and beauty. I scarcely know a finer picture of descent of a heavenly messenger than this of Calderon.
- ↑ “He wished nevertheless first to make a voyage into France, where he went to visit Saint German, bishop.”—La Vie, p. 26
- ↑ “Continuing his journey in France, he went to visit Saint Martin, Archbishop of Tours, who was brother to Conehessa, his mother.”—p. 26. It was from him according to Bouillon that the took the habit.
- ↑ In Bouillon and most of the other lives, his Guardian Angel points out to him a cave in which he finds sufficient money to purchase his liberty and to carry him on his journey. Jocelin states that his master, repenting of having lost so good a servant, pursued him, bug geing led astray he did not overtake him,“ but the gold which was the price of his freedom, on returing home he found not. And with this the law accords, for to him who has served six years in slavery, the law directs that in the seventh year shall his freedom be restored.”—p. 12.
Ecclesiastical Architecture.
Part II.
“The symbolic sense of the holy vestments worn by the priests of the Catholic church was seen in the sublime prayers which they repeated, as they clothed themselves to minister at the altar. A long sermon of Ives de Chartres is devoted to explaining, for the edification of manners, the mystic beauty of the priest's vestments, in which every part had a divine meaning. Witness, says Walafried Strabo, that alb denoting purity, that belt signifying continence, that stole obedience, and that flowing chasuble which is placed over all to denote charity, the greatest of all virtues. The gloves of the bishop, were put on to signify that his good works were sometimes to be in secret, and not before men; and, there were laid aside, to remind him that his light was to shine before men. The mystic sense of the pallium, symbol of unanimity, as Pope Symmachus styles it, writing to a bishop of Austria, in the year 504, and which ancient authors mention as being taken from the body of St. Peter, that is to say, from the altar over his relics, and to which they ascribe the plenitude of the pontificial office, is explained by Isidorus Palusista, in his epistle to Count Herminius. The bishop, he says, wears upon his shoulders a band, not of linen, but of wool, to signify that he is an imitator of Christ,
