CLXXXVIII

If a man has this peace--not the peace proclaimed by Cæsar (how indeed
should he have it to proclaim?), nay, but the peace proclaimed by God
through reason, will not that suffice him when alone, when he beholds
and reflects:--Now can no evil happen unto me; for me there is no
robber, for me no earthquake; all things are full of peace, full of
tranquillity; neither highway nor city nor gathering of men, neither
neighbor nor comrade can do me hurt. Another supplies my food, whose
care it is; another my raiment; another hath given me perceptions of
sense and primary conceptions. And when He supplies my necessities no
more, it is that He is sounding the retreat, that He hath opened the
door, and is saying to thee, Come!--Wither? To nought that thou needest
fear, but to the friendly kindred elements whence thou didst spring.
Whatsoever of fire is in thee, unto fire shall return; whatsoever of
earth, unto earth; of spirit, unto spirit; of water, unto water. There
is no Hades, no fabled rivers of Sighs, of Lamentation, or of Fire: but
all things are full of Beings spiritual and divine. With thoughts like
these, beholding the Sun, Moon, and Stars, enjoying earth and sea, a man
is neither helpless nor alone!




CLXXXIX

What wouldst thou be found doing when overtaken by Death? If I might
choose, I would be found doing some deed of true humanity, of wide
import, beneficent and noble. But if I may not be found engaged in aught