Act the First: Scene III

DEMON [aside]. Though thou givestAll thy thoughts to the research,Cyprian, thou must ever miss it,Since I'll hide it from thy mind.

CYPRIAN. There's a rustling in this thicket.Who is there? who art thou?

DEMON. Sir,A mere stranger, who has riddenAll this morning up and downThese dark groves, not knowing whither,Having lost my way, my horse,To the emerald that encircles,With a tapestry of green,These lone hills, I've loosed, it gives himAt the same time food and rest.I'm to Antioch bound, on businessOf importance, my companionsI have parted from; through listlessLapse of thought (a thing that happensTo the most of earthly pilgrims),I have lost my way, and lostComrades, servants, and assistants.

CYPRIAN. I am much surprised to learnThat in view of the upliftedTowers of Antioch, you thusLost your way. There's not a singlePath that on this mountain side,More or less by feet imprinted,But doth lead unto its walls,As to its one central limit.By whatever path you take,You'll go right.

DEMON. It is an instanceOf that ignorance which in sightEven of truth the true goal misses.And as it appears not wiseThus to enter a strange cityUnattended and unknown,Asking even my way, 'tis fitterThat 'till night doth conquer day,Here while light doth last, to linger;By your dress and by these booksRound you, like a learned circleOf wise friends, I see you areA great student, and the instinctOf my soul doth ever draw meUnto men to books addicted.

CYPRIAN. Have you studied much?

DEMON. Well, no;But I've knowledge quite sufficientNot to be deemed ignorant.

CYPRIAN. Then, what sciences know you?

DEMON. Many.

CYPRIAN. Why, we cannot reach even oneAfter years of studious vigil,And can you (what vanity!)Without study know so many?

DEMON. Yes; for I am of a countryWhere the most exalted scienceNeeds no study to be known.

CYPRIAN. Would I were a happy inmateOf that country! Here our studiesProve our ignorance more.

DEMON. No figmentIs the fact that without study,I had the superb ambitionFor the first Professor's chairTo compete, and thought to win it,Having very numerous votes.And although I failed, sufficientGlory is it to have tried.For not always to the winnerIs the fame. If this you doubt,Name the subject of your study,And then let us argue on it;I not knowing your opinion,Even although it be the right,Shall the opposite view insist on.

CYPRIAN. I am greatly gratifiedThat you make this proposition.Here in Plinius is a passageWhich much anxious thought doth give meHow to understand, to knowWho's the God of whom he has written.

DEMON. 'Tis that passage which declares(Well I know the words) this dictum:"God is one supremest good,One pure essence, one existence,Self-sustained, all sight, all hands."

CYPRIAN. Yes, 'tis true.

DEMON. And what is in itSo abstruse?

CYPRIAN. I cannot findSuch a god as Plinius figures.If he be the highest good,Then is Jupiter deficientIn that attribute; we see himActing like a mortal sinnerMany a time,--this, Danae,This, Europa, too, doth witness.Can then, by the Highest Good,All whose actions, all whose instincts,Should be sacred and divine,Human frailty be committed?

DEMON. These are fables which the learnedFirst made use of, to exhibitUnderneath the names of godsWhat in truth was but a hiddenSystem of philosophy.

CYPRIAN. This reply is not sufficient,Since such awe is due to God,None should dare to Him attribute,None should stain His name with sins,Though these sins should be fictitious.And considering well the case,If the highest good is figuredBy the gods, of course, they mustWill what is the best and fittest;How, then, can some gods wish one thing,Some another? This we witnessIn the dubious responsesWhich are by their statues given.Here you cannot say I speak ofLearned abstractions of the ideal.To two armies, if two shrinesPromise give of being victors,One, of course, must lose the battle:The conclusion is so simple,--Need I say it? that two wills,Mutually antagonistic,Cannot lead unto one end.They being thus in opposition,One we must consider good,One as bad we must consider.But an evil will in GodWould imply a contradiction:Then the highest good can dwell notAmong gods who know division.

DEMON. I deny your major, sinceThese responses may be given,By the oracles, for endsWhich our intellectual visionCannot reach: 'tis providence.Thus more good may have arisenTo the loser in that battleThan its gain could bring the winner.

CYPRIAN. Granted; but that god ought not,For the gods are not malicious,To have promised victory;--It would have been quite sufficient,Without this most false assurance,The defeat to have permitted.Then if God must be all sight,Every god should see distinctlyWith clear vision to the end;Seeing THAT, he erred in fixingOn a false conclusion; thenThough the deity may with fitnessBe divided into persons,Yet His essence must be singleIn the smallest circumstance.

DEMON. It was needful for this business,That the oracle should rouseThe two hosts alike.

CYPRIAN. If fitting,There were genii that could rouse them(Good and bad, as they're distinguishedBy the learned), who are, in fact,Spirits who among us mingle,And who good and evil acts,Evil thoughts, suggest and whisper,A convincing argumentFor the immortal soul's existence:Of these ministers could GodHave made use, nor thus exhibitHe was capable of a lieTo effect his ends?

DEMON. Consider,That these seeming contradictionsCannot our firm faith diminishIn the oneness of the gods,If in things of higher importThey know naught of dissonance.Take man's wondrous frame, for instance,Surely that majestic structureOnce conception doth exhibit.

CYPRIAN. If man's maker then were oneHe some vantage must have given himO'er the others; and if theyAll are equal,--'tis admittedThat they are so, from the factOf their mutual oppositionTo each other,--when the thoughtOf creating man was hintedBy one god, another couldSay, "No, no, I do not wish it."Then if God must be all hands,Time might come when they would differ,One creating, one undoing,Ere the other's work was finished,Since the power of each was equal,But unequal were their wishes.Which of these two powers would conquer?

DEMON. On impossible and false issuesThere can be no argument;--But your premises admitting,Say what then?

CYPRIAN. That there must beOne sole God, all hands, all vision,Good Supreme, supreme in grace,One who cannot err, omniscient,One the highest, none can equal,Not beginning, yet the Beginner,One pure essence, one sole substance,One wise worker, ozone sole willer;--And though He in one or twoOr more persons be distinguished,Yet the sovereign DeityMust be one, sublime and single,The first cause of every cause,The first germ of all existence.

DEMON. How can I deny so clear,So conclusive a position?

CYPRIAN. Do you feel it?

DEMON. Who would notFeel to find another quickerIn the rivalry of wit?--And though I am not deficientIn an answer, I restrain it,Hearing steps approaching hitherThrough the wood; besides 'tis timeI proceeded to the city.

CYPRIAN. Go in peace.

DEMON. Remain in peace.--So involved in study IS he,That I now must wean him from it,Weaving round him the bewitchmentOf rare beauty. Since I have leaveTo attempt my fires to kindleIn Justina's breast, one stroke,Thus, two vengeances shall give me.

CYPRIAN. Never saw I such a man.But since still my people linger,I, the cause of so much doubt,Will now strive to reconsider.