"In thee all Heaven upspringing,
Or its dread opposite flinging
Blackness and darkness about thee,—
Both are within, not without thee!
"Yet,—in that darkness, we grope for
Somewhat far off, yet to hope for,
That through some future repentance,
Justice may soften its sentence.
"Ere from the dead He had risen,
'He preached to the spirits in prison,'—
Is this a text that His aid is
Still to be hoped for in Hades?
"'Wrath may endure for a season,'
Both in religion and reason,—
But if its end must be never,
Where is His mercy for ever'?
"Ay,—after long retribution,
Mercy may drag from pollution
Souls that have suffered for ages,
Working out sin's bitter wages,—
"So that the end shall be glorious,
Good over evil victorious,
And this black sin-night of sorrow,
Blaze into gladness to-morrow!"
And so I make an end of this autobiography, with the humble prayer that I may have grace given to finish my course in this life usefully and with honour, at peace with God and man; mindful of that caution of Tellus, the Athenian, as recorded by Herodotus, "not to judge any man happy until he is dead;"—the Christian adds, "and is alive again!"
Let me conclude with some noble lines of Ovid in his Epilogue to the Metamorphoses, which I have Englished below:—
"Jamque opus exegi: quod nec Jovis ira, nec ignes,
Nec poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetustas.
Cum volet illa dies, quæ nil nisi corporis hujus
Jus habet, incerti spatium mihi finiat ævi,—
Parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis
Astra ferar: nomenque erit indelebile nostrum.
Quaque patet domitis Romana potentia terris,
Ore legar populi; perque omnia sæcula famâ
Si quid habent veri vatum præsagia vivam."
"Now have I done my work: which not Jove's ire
Can make undone, nor sword nor time nor fire.
Whene'er that day, whose only powers extend
Against this body, my brief life shall end,
Still in my better portion evermore
Above the stars undying shall I soar.
My name shall never die; but through all time
Whenever Rome shall reach a conquer'd clime,
There, in that people's tongue, shall this my page
Be read and glorified from age to age:—
Yea, if the bodings of my spirit give
True note of inspiration, I shall live!"