Page:Passions 2.pdf/130

All power to hold th' immortal soul of man
In everlasting thraldom? O far otherwise!
(taking Selred's hand with great earnestness.)
Of one who health restored unto the sick,
Who made the lame to walk, the blind to see,
Who fed the hungry, and who rais'd the dead,
Yet had no place wherein to lay his head.
Of one from ev'ry spot of tainting sin
Holy and pure; and yet so lenient,
That he with soft and unupbraiding love
Did woo the wand'ring sinner from his ways,
As doth the elder brother of a house
The erring stripling guide. Of one, my friend,
Wiser by far than all the sons of men,
Yet teaching ignorance in simple speech,
As thou would'st take an infant on thy lap
And lesson him with his own artless tale.
Of one so mighty
That he did say unto the raging sea
"Be thou at peace" and it obey'd his voice,
Yet bow'd himself unto the painful death
That we might live.—They say that I am proud—
O! had they like their gentle master been!
I would, with suppliant, knee bent to the ground,
Have kiss'd their very feet.
But, had they been like him, they would have pardon'd me
Ere yet my bending knee had touch'd the earth,

Sel. Forbear, nor tempt me with thy moving words!
I'm a plain soldier, and unfit to judge
Of mysteries which but concern the learn'd.