118 
BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 
and to surround us with a world of insanity and corrup¬ 
tion ; but the moment we suffer the soul to speak, we 
become advertized of the great possibilities of our being, 
and a heaven of truth opens before us, in which we may 
bathe as in an ocean which has neither let nor bound, 
and even to ns, the attributes of God become possible. 
“ The moment we indulge our affections, the earth is 
metamorphosed; there is no winter and no night; all 
tragedies, all ennui vanish—all duties even; nothing 
fills the proceeding eternity but the forms all radiant of 
beloved persons/” The moment the soul is assured of 
its acceptance to this universal realm, it acquires a new 
life, and a beaming satisfaction. Plato says, “lookest 
thou at the stars ? If I were heaven, with all the eyes of 
heaven would I look down on thee ?” and to the soul 
which is conscious of its high regard for the plain and 
solid beauty of its presentiments, the whole universe 
becomes but the speaking semblance of itself, and the 
bond of union between it and those it holds most 
dear. 
All that the poet can teach us is his own impotency 
to express adequately the sentiments and feelings which 
surround us with each pulsing of the soft air, and with 
each echo of the wheeling sky. This power which abides 
within us is higher than intellect, more potent than will, 
and works through every fibre of our living hearts for 
good and beautiful purposes. It is the living soul of 
the world, the Alpha and Omega of this passing life, the 
primum mobile of all the virtues, and the vital force of 
all heroic actions. It is a power above the bolts and 
bars of thought, and fills up the space between the earth 
