nd harsh fortune to the bad,
and then again deals harshly with the good, and grants to the bad their
hearts' desire, how does this differ from chance, unless some reason is
discovered for it all?'

'Nay; it is not wonderful,' said she, 'if all should be thought random
and confused when the principle of order is not known. And though thou
knowest not the causes on which this great system depends, yet forasmuch
as a good ruler governs the world, doubt not for thy part that all is
rightly done.'

SONG V.

WONDER AND IGNORANCE.

Who knoweth not how near the pole
Bootes' course doth go,
Must marvel by what heavenly law
He moves his Wain so slow;
Why late he plunges 'neath the main,
And swiftly lights his beams again.

When the full-orbed moon grows pale
In the mid course of night,
And suddenly the stars shine forth
That languished in her light,
Th' astonied nations stand at gaze,
And beat the air in wild amaze.[M]

None marvels why upon the shore
The storm-lashed breakers beat,
Nor why the frost-bound glaciers melt
At summer's fervent heat;
For here the cause seems plain and clear,
Only what's dark and hid we fear.

Weak-minded folly magnifies
All that is rare and strange,
And the dull herd's o'erwhelmed with awe
At unexpected change.
But wonder leaves enlightened minds,
When ignorance no longer blinds.

FOOTNOTES:

[M] To frighten away the monster swallowing the moon. The superstition
was once common. See Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' pp. 296-302.

VI.

'True,' said I; 'but, since it is thy office to unfold the hidden cause
of things, and explain principles veiled in darkness, inform me, I pray
thee, of thine own conclusions in this matter, since the marvel of it is
what more than aught else disturbs my mind.'

A smile played one moment upon her lips as she replied: 'Thou callest me
to the greatest of all subjects of inquiry, a task for which the most
exhaustive treatment barely suffices. Such is its nature that, as fast
as one doubt is cut away, innumerable others spring up like Hydra's
heads, nor could we set any limit to their renewal did we not apply the
mind's living fire to suppress them. For there come within its scope the
questions of the essential simplicity of providence, of the order of
fate, of unforeseen chance, of the Divine knowledge and predestination,
and of th