  Stephen, following Saul, turns the tide of feeling overwhelmingly in the opposite direction. Saul, however, but he almost alone—for even his sister Rachel has been converted—stands out defiant against the manifest power of God. Shimei appears as an auditor watching with sinister motive the course of the controversy. STEPHEN AGAINST SAUL.The tumult grew a tempest when Saul ceased: No single voice of mortal man might hope, Though clear like clarion and like trumpet loud, To live in that possessed demoniac sea Of vast vociferation whelming all, Or ride the surges of the wild uproar. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thy mad mind So suddenly was soothed? Did 'Peace, be still!' Dropping, an unction from the Holy One, Softly as erst on stormy Galilee, Wide overspread the summits of the waves And sway their swelling down to glassy calm? Stephen stood forth to speak, and all was still. Before he spoke, already Rachel felt A different power of silence there, and sense, Within, other than sympathetic awe; This felt she, though she knew it not, nor dreamed It was the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven! From God with power—"God's thoughts are not our thoughts, Neither our ways His ways; for as the heavens Are than the earth more high, so than our ways More high are His, and His thoughts than our thoughts. Our valued wisdom folly is to God Full oft; then most, when folly seems to us God's wisdom. Have ye yet to learn that God Rejoices to confound the vain conceit Of man? The Scriptures, then, search ye with eyes Blinded so thick? It is Isaiah's word: 'Jehovah, yea, hath poured upon you all The spirit of deep sleep, and hath your eyes, Those prophets of the soul that might be, closed, Also your heads, meant to be seers, hath veiled; And vision all is now to you become Even as the words of a shut book and sealed. Therefore Jehovah saith, For that this people Draw nigh to Me in worship with their mouth, But have their heart removed from Me afar, While all their fear of Me is empty form Enjoined of men, and idly learned by rote— Among this people, wonder passing thought, And perish shall the wisdom of their wise And prudence of their prudent come to nought!' "Brethren, that was man's wisdom which just now Ye heard, and were well pleased to hear, from Saul. Hearken again, and hear what God will speak." At the first word that fell from Stephen's lips, An overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Hung like a heaven above the multitude; With every word that followed, slow and full, That awful cope seemed ever hovering down Impendent nearer, as when, fold to fold, Droops lower and lower a dark and thunderous sky. The speaker used no arts of oratory; Only a still small voice, not wholly his, Nor wholly human, issuing from his lips, Only a voice, but eloquence was shamed. And Stephen thus his theme premised pursues: "Rightly and wrongly, both at once, have ye This day been taught of God's Messiah; King He is, as Saul has said, but in a sense, And with a highth and depth and length and breadth Nor ye, nor any by the Holy Ghost Untaught, have yet conceived. Not of this world His kingdom is. The pageant and the pomp, State visible, and splendor to the eye, Are of this world that vanishes away, And of the princes of this world that come To naught. His glory whose the kingdom is Whereof I speak, no eye hath seen, no eye Can see. That vision is for naked soul. "The lordship and authority which craves Obeisance of the knee, the lip, the hand, And the neck breaks to an unwelcome yoke, But traitor leaves the hidden heart within, Rebel the will insurgent, infidel The mind, the critic reason dissident, And violated conscience enemy— Such rule is but the hollow show of rule, A husk of vain pretence, the kernel gone. "No earthly kingdom such, Messiah's is, Of nations hating and yet serving Him— Trampled into the dust beneath His feet, And either cringing or else gnashing rage. From heaven to earth God's true Messiah comes; A kingdom built of meek and lowly hearts By Monarch meek and lowly to be ruled; A world-wide kingdom and a time-long reign. This kingdom new of heaven on earth commenced Will gather Jew and Gentile both in one, Whereso, of high or low, of rich or poor, Heart ready to receive it shall be found, In time or clime however hence afar. For hear Him speak, the High and Lofty One Who maketh His abode eternity: 'Lo, in the high and holy place dwell I, Likewise with him of meek and contrite mind.' "In those words were foreshown the things which are, Brethren, and kingdom which we preach to you, Messiah here indeed, His reign begun, Invisible but glorious, on the earth. He that hath ears to hear, lo, let him hear, And hail the one right Ruler come at last; Who rules not nations, masses of mankind Only, with indiscriminate wide sway By many an individual will unfelt; But seeks His subjects singly, soul by soul, And over each, through all within him, reigns. Jew must with Gentile, heart by heart, submit To own Messiah thus his Lord and King, Throning Him sovereign in the realm of self, The empire of a humble, contrite mind. "No other rule is real than rule like this, The true Messiah's rule, which well within The flying scouts and outposts of the man, Wins to the midmost seat and citadel Of being, where the soul itself resides, And tames the master captive to its thrall. Then sings the soul unto herself and says, 'Bless thou, Jehovah, O my soul, and all That is within me, bless His holy name!' Filled is the hidden part with melody. For joyfully the reason then consents, The mind is full of light to see, and says 'Amen!' the will resolves the opposite Of its old self, won by the heart, which, more Than mere obedience, loves; conscience the while And Holy Spirit breathing benison. "Such subjugation is a state of peace; But peace, stagnation not, nor death. You live And move and have your being evermore Fresher and deeper, purer and more full, Drawn in an ether and an element Instinct and vivid with God. The appetites Are subject servitors to will, the will Hearkens to reason and regards its voice— Reason which is the will of Him who reigns, Your reason and His will insensibly Blending to grow incorporate in one. Such is the kingdom of the Christ of God. You easily miss it—for it cometh not With observation; you must look within To find it—pray that you may find it so." A mien of something more than majesty In Stephen as he spoke, transfiguring him; Conscious authority loftier than pride; Deep calm which made intensity seem weak; Slow weight more insupportable than speed; Passion so pure that its effect was peace, Beneath him that supported him, behind Him that impelled, above him and within That steadied him immovable, supplied As from a fountain of omnipotence; An air breathed round him of prophetic rapt Solemnity oppressive beyond words And dread communication from the throne, Moved near, of the Most High, which only not Thundered and lightened, as from the touched top Of Sinai once in witness of the law— Such might, not Stephen's, wrought with Stephen there And laid his hearers subject at his feet. Saul saw the grasp secure that he had laid Upon his brethren's minds and hearts—to hold, He proudly, confidently deemed, against Whatever counter force of eloquence— This tenure his he saw relaxed, dissolved, EvanishÉd, as it had never been. Perplexed, astonished, but impenetrable, Though dashed and damped in spirit and in hope, Angry he stood, recoiled upon himself. Sharper than any sword of double edge, The Word of God through Stephen pierced her heart, And there asunder clove her self and self. She heeded Stephen's warning words; she looked Within, she pressed her hand upon her heart And prayed, "O God, my God, my fathers' God, Thy kingdom—grant that I may find it here!" So praying she listened while farther Stephen spoke: "That such a Ruler should be such as He Whom we proclaim, the Man of Nazareth, The Carpenter, the Man of Calvary, Affronts your reason, tempts to disbelief— Doubtless; but all the more shown absolute His sovereignty, transcendent, passing quite Limit of precedent or parallel, As nothing in Him outwardly appears To soothe your pride in yielding to His claim. Always the more offended pride rebels, Is proved his triumph greater who subdues. Deep is our human heart, and versatile Exceedingly, ingenious past our ken, Inventive of contrivances to save Pride must be hurt and bleed, unsalved her wounds. She may not conquer crouching, she must crouch Conquered; nor only so, she must be glad To be the conquered, not the conqueror; Thus deeply must the heart abjure itself, Thus deeply own the mastership of Christ. Christ will not practise on your self-conceit And lure you to obey illusively. Obedience is not obedience Save as, obeying, you love, loving, obey— The chief of all obediences, love." Such serene counter to his own superb Disdain of Jesus wrought on Saul effect Diverse from that meanwhile in Rachel wrought. She yielded to exchange her standing-ground, And ceased to hold her centre in herself. Centred in God, she all things new beheld Translated by the mighty parallax. Open she threw the portals of her soul And gave the keys up to her new-found King. But Saul more stubbornly than ever clamped His feet to keep them standing where they stood. He still stared on at Stephen, who Saul's scorn Felt subtly like a fierce oppugnant force Resistlessly attractive to his aim, As, suddenly soon borne into a swift Involuntary swerving of his speech— Himself, with Saul, surprising—he went on: "Such lord, requiring such obedience, In Him of Nazareth, a man approved Of God by many mighty works through Him Among you done, this day I preach to you, My brethren all—my brother Saul, to thee!" Therewith full round on Saul the speaker turned; That self-same instant, the seraphic sheen Brightened to dazzling upon Stephen's face; Saul standing there, transfixed to listen, blenched, As if a lightning-flash had blinded him. Then, prophet-wise, like Nathan come before King David sinner, Stephen, his right hand And fixed forefinger flickering forth at Saul, An intense moment centred upon him, Sole, the converging ardors of his speech— As who, with lens of cunning convex, draws Collected to engender burning heat. Rachel, who saw Saul blench, and full well knew What pangs on pangs his pride could force him bear— He smiling blithely while he inly bled— Watched, with a heart divided in sore pain Between the sister's pity of his case And sympathy against him for his sake, As Stephen thus his speech to Saul addressed: "Yea, to thee, Saul my brother, in thy flush And prime of youth and youthful hope, thy joy, Thy pride, of all-accomplished intellect, And sense of self-sufficing righteousness— To thee, thou pupil of Gamaliel, thee, Thou Hebrew of the Hebrews, Pharisee, Against the gust and fury of thy zeal, And in the teeth of thy repellent scorn, Jesus the crucified I preach thy lord. Blindly with bitter hate thou ragest now Against Him; but hereafter, and not long Hereafter, thou, despite, shalt lie prostrate Before Him and beneath Him in the dust, Astonished with His glory sudden shown Lo, by the Holy Spirit bidden, I This day plant pricks for thee to kick against. Cruel shall be the torture in thy breast, And unto cruel deeds thou didst not dream The torture in thy breast will madden thee— The anguish of a mind at strife with good, A will self-blinded not to cease from sin. Nevertheless at length I see thee mild— Broken thy pride, thy wisdom brought to naught, To thyself hateful thy self righteousness, Worshipping at His feet whom late thou didst Persecute in His members, persecute In me. Lo, with an everlasting love I long for thee, O Saul, and draw thee, love Born of that love wherewith the Lord loved me And gave Himself for me to bitter death." Rachel her prayer and love and longing joins, With tears, to Stephen's, for her brother, who, Conscious of many eyes upon him fixed, Far other thought, the while, and feeling, broods. As captain, on the foremost imminent edge Of battle, leading there a storming van Pregnant with fate to empire, if he feel Pierce to a vital part within his frame Wound of invisible missile from the foe, Will hide his deadly hurt with mask of smile, That he damp not his followers' gallant cheer; Thus, though with motive other, chiefly pride, Saul, rallying sharply from that first surprise, Sternly shut up within his secret breast A poignant pang conceived from Stephen's words, Resentment fated to bear bitter fruit, But melt at last in gracious shame and tears. With fixÉd look impassible, he gazed At Stephen, while, in altered phase, that pure Effulgence of apostleship burned on: "Nor, brethren, let this word of mine become Scandal before your feet to stumble you Headlong to ruin—'gave Himself for me To bitter death'—implying it the Christ's To suffer death in sacrifice for sin. This is that thing of wonder prophesied, Confounding to the wisdom of the wise; A suffering Saviour, a Messiah shamed, With diadem of thorns pressed on His brow, And in His hand for sceptre thrust a reed— The Lord of life and glory crucified! "Dim saw perhaps our father Abraham this, Through symbol and through prophecy contained In smoking furnace and in blazing torch Beheld, that evening, when the sun went down And it was dark. The smoking furnace meant The mystery of the Messiah's shame To go before His glory typified In the clear shining of the torch ablaze. "Of the same mystery of agony In sorrow, shame, and death, forerunning dark The bright and brightening sequel without end Of the Messiah's work, Isaiah spake, When he foresaw His coming day from far. The eagle vision of that seer was dimmed With tears, like Jeremiah's, to behold What he beheld—Messiah's visage so Marred more than any man's, and so His form More than befell the sons of men. He read, Within the mirror of his prophecy, Of many—in the eyes of which of you, My brethren?—at a spectacle so strange. The melancholy prophet saw a gloom Of unbelief darken the world. 'What soul,' Wails he, 'is found to credit our report? To whom has been revealed Jehovah's arm In such a wise outstretched to save?' Heart-sick At what, too clearly for his peace, he sees, Isaiah, turning from his vision, cries In pain—consider, brethren, whether ye Unwittingly fulfil what he portrays!— 'He was despised, rejected was of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted well With grief; as one from whom men hide their face, Despised was He, and we esteemed Him not.' "Now our own gospel hear Isaiah preach, The good news that such sufferings borne by Him, Messiah, were for you, for us, for all: 'Surely our griefs they were Messiah bore, He carried sorrows that were due to us. Yet we, alas, of Him as stricken thought, Smitten of God, and for affliction marked!' Who thus from God reported them to you! He but foresaw them, and he saw them; ye Saw them, and did not see! And yet, even yet, Look back, as forward he; lo, touch your eyes With eyesalve that ye be not blind, but see! See, with Isaiah, how Messiah was 'Wounded for your transgressions, bruised so sore For your iniquities, how chastisement On Him was laid that peace should bring to you, How stripes whereby He bled to you were health.' "Meekly and thankfully Isaiah sinks Himself, one drop, into the human sea, And says 'we,' 'our,' and 'us'—do ye the same. O brethren, if this day ye hear His voice, A whisper only in your ear from heaven, I pray you, harden not your heart. Confess Your fault, and say with your own prophet, 'We, All we, like sheep, have gone astray, astray, And God on Him hath laid the sin of all.'" At such expostulation and appeal Of prophecy, Rachel her heart felt fail Into a pathos of repentance sweet With love and soft sense of forgiveness, bought For her at cost so dear!—and she dissolved In sobs and tears of sorrow exquisite, Better than joy, and uncontrollable. The mastership of Jesus now to her Merged in the sweetness of His saviorship; The duty of obedience to a Lord All taken up, transfigured, glorified, In the transcendent privilege of love. Never such grief in joy, such joy in grief, Was hers before—for self was wholly slain And her whole life grew love unutterable. Yet longed she, with a hope that half was pain, For Saul, while Stephen brokenly went on: "O ye to whom for the last time I speak, My heart is large for you, it breaks for you, And melts to tears within me while I plead. I pray you, I beseech you, in Christ's stead, Be reconciled to God. Hearken this once And answer, Were it set your task, in choice Of Jesus whom ye slew, how otherwise More fitly could ye do it than was done Aforetime by Isaiah when he wrote Prophetically thus of Christ to be: 'Oppressed He was, yet He abased Himself And opened not His mouth; even as a lamb Led to the slaughter, as a sheep before Her shearers speechless, so He opened not His mouth. His grave they with the wicked made, And with the rich they laid Him in His death.' Say, brethren, was not Jesus very Christ? "But, that ye err not, Messianic woe Is not the end; a glorious change succeeds. Isaiah chanted it in sequel glad And contrast of the sorrow-laden strain That mourned Messiah's sufferings; hear the song: 'When thou, Jehovah, shalt His soul have made An offering for sin, Messiah then The endless issue of His pain shall see; Still on and on He shall His days prolong, And in His hand the pleasure of the Lord Shall prosper; of the travail of His soul So, with rejoicing too serenely full For exultation, sang Isaiah then Of Messianic glory following shame. "And now, concerning Jesus whom ye slew, Know, brethren, that He burst the bands of death, Which could not hold the Lord of life in thrall. Know that He, having risen, rose again, Ascending far above all height, and led Captive captivity; attended so With retinue of deliverance numberless, He entered heaven a Conqueror and a King; Before Him lifted up their heads the gates, The everlasting doors admitted Him. There sits He now associate by the side Of His Almighty Father, Lord of all. For to Him every knee shall bow, in heaven, On earth, and every tongue confess that He, Jesus, is Lord; Jehovah wills it so. "Fall, brethren, I adjure you, haste to fall Betimes upon this stone and bruise your pride; Wait but too long, this stone will fall on you: Not then your pride, but you, not bruised will be, So Stephen spoke; and ceased, as loth to cease. The moments of his speaking had been like A slow and dreadful imminence of storm. With those august and awful opening words Of his, which were not his, but God's, it was As when an altered elemental mood Usurps the atmosphere; the winds are laid, Clouds gather, mass to mass, anon perchance Roll back, disclosing spaces of clear sky, But close again, deeper and darker, full Of thunder, silent yet, of lightning, leashed From leaping forth, but watchful for its prey. Such had been Stephen's speaking, boded storm; His ceasing was the tempest burst at last— A silent tempest, silent and unseen, Rending the elements of the world of soul! Meanwhile the angels in attendance there, Watching with eyes that see the invisible Things of the spirit of man within his breast, The posture and behavior of the mind, Had seen exhibited amidst that late With supernatural awe, a spectacle Of consternation and precipitate flight To covert, such as sometimes is beheld In nature, when a mighty tempest lowers, And man, beast, bird, each conscious living thing, Shuddering, hies to hiding from the wrack. With wild inaudible outcry heard in heaven, That shattered congregation, soul by soul, Each soul its several way, fled, to find shroud From spiritual tempest hurtling on the head, Intolerably, hailstones and coals of fire. But one excepted spirit stood aloof, Scorning to join the fellowship of flight. Like a tall pine by whirlwind lonely left Upon his mountain, forest abject round, This man dared lift, though sole, a helmless brow Of stubborn hardihood to take the storm. Others, dismayed, might flee to refuge; Saul, Not undismayed, fronted the wrath of God. Shimei alone there neither stood nor fell; By habit grovelling, on his belly prone, Already prostrate he had thither come. He, abject, but without humility, Ever, by force of reptile nature, crawled; And now had crawled, as, dusty demon's-heart And vitreous eye of basilisk, he still— With equal, though with different, enmity, Devising death for Stephen in his mind, And studying slow prolonged revenge for Saul— Watched all, whatever chanced to either there; But most, malignantly delighted, watched Deepen the settled shadow on Saul's face Cast from the darkness of his inner mood. |
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