Now the other and second great belief is, that the Universe, the
macrocosm, cannot be apprehended at all except as its rays
converge upon the eye, brain, soul of Man, the microcosm: on you,
on me, on the tiny percipient centre upon which the immense
cosmic circle focuses itself as the sun upon a burning-glass--and
he is not shrivelled up! Other creatures, he notes, share in his
sensations; but, so far as he can discover, not in his percipience
--or not in any degree worth measuring. So far as he can discover,
he is not only a bewildered actor in the great pageant but 'the
ring enclosing all,' the sole intelligent spectator. Wonder of
wonders, it is all meant for _him_!
I doubt if, among men of our nation, this truth was ever more
clearly grasped than by the Cambridge Platonists who taught your
forerunners of the 17th century. But I will quote you here two
short passages from the work of a sort of poor relation of
theirs, a humble Welsh parson of that time, Thomas Traherne--
unknown until the day before yesterday--from whom I gave you one
sentence in my first lecture. He is speaking of the fields and
streets that were the scene of his childhood:
Those pure and virgin apprehensions I had from the
womb, and that divine light wherewith I was born are the
best unto this day, wherein I can see the Universe.... The
corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be
reaped, nor was ever sown. I thought it had stood from
everlasting to everlasting. The dust and stones of the street
were as precious as gold: the gates were at first the end of
the world. The green trees when I saw them first through one
of the gates transported and ravished me.... Boys and girls
tumbling in the street, and playing, were moving jewels. I
knew not that they were born or should die....
The streets were mine, the temple was mine, the people
were mine, their clothes and gold and silver were mine, as
much as their sparkling eyes, fair skins and ruddy faces.
The skies were mine, and so were the sun and moon and stars;
and all the World was mine; and I the only spectator and
enjoyer of it.
Then:
News from a foreign country came,
As if my treasure and my wealth lay there;
So much it did my heart inflame,
'Twas wont to call my Soul into mine ear;
Which thither went to meet
The approaching sweet,
And on the threshold stood
To entertain the unknown Good....
What sacred instinct did inspire
My Soul in childhood with a hope to strong?
What secret force moved my desire
To expect new joys beyond the seas, so young?
Felicity I knew
Was out of view,
And being here alone,
I saw that happiness was gone
From me! For this
I thirsted absent bliss,
And thought that sure beyond the seas,
Or else in something near at hand--
I knew not yet (since naught did please
I knew) my Bliss did stand.
But little did the infant dream
That all the treasures of the world were by:
And that himself was so the cream
And crown of all which round about did lie.
Yet thus it was: the Gem,
The Diadem,
The Ring enclosing all
That stood upon this earthly ball,
The Heavenly Eye,
Much wider than the sky,
Wherein they all included were,
The glorious Soul, that was the King
Made to possess them, did appear
A small and little thing!
And then comes the noble sentence of which I promised you that it
should fall into its place:
You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth
in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and
crowned with the stars.
Man in short--you, I, any one of us--the heir of it all!
_Tot circa unum caput tumultuantes deos!_
Our best privilege to sing our short lives out in tune with the
heavenly concert--and if to sing afterwards, then afterwards!