The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-07-17
THIRD PART.
TRIAL H~p rArrxScE.


t r- THIRD PART.
TRIAL A.D rArrxScE.
The constant and bitter strokes Of evil fortune.
that continued to assail Camoens, would seem TO
have been enough to have killed any man of his
sensiblIities, at a much earlier date, than fifty
years of age, at which period Of life we find him
still alive in Lisbon, and still struggling with
adversely in some OF its most horrible shapes.
But this remarkable man seemed TO make of adj
verse fortune his chief teacher and inspirer.
Every defeat was to him only the prompting to
some hopeful and triumphant utterance. He
lived upon some memory of an inefable and holy
past. lie did not live for a narrow circle and for
his day he lived for the world, and for all time.
When he was scOurged by fate and trampled into
the very DRIFT was then that he, like the
great apostle, gave utterance only to generous
thoughts. and 10 visions Of glorious things. But
at times, the pressure of the earth saddened him,
and thus he bewailed the vanity of life, in a some
what respondent spirit
What varying ills, and what ceaseless strife.
Cling close around this ever changing life.
Where oft our heart had Gx'd It's fondest hope
What wrack and MOL for man wherer he be
What hap Of life upon the moodful sea-
On where shall man a balm and refuge undE
Where rest his soul in peace aud be resigned
That angry Heaven may not justly fling
Its vengefnl bolts upon so base a thing! ~
But this expression of a gloomy foreboding and
enquiry was by no means frequent with him. He
had acquired a hope and a faith, which he freely
expresses throughout his writings, and especially
IN one OF ms eanzonets, beginning thus
Mao nos epgano a riqueza" &c.
Let not wealth our soul deceive,
Why for fortune should we grieye!
sihce death is sure and we must leave,
All earthly treasure
Oh! let Us while Hfe's gifts abound
At faithful work be ever found,
And in our dutyis constant round
Find surest pleasure.
Why shall we fear hard fortunes sling:
If tree from quilts envenomd sting!
For God TO trusting hearts viii bring
H - IRE. a rest from woe.
Oh, battling world with waste Of years,
What canst thou give US for our tears:
tTiA only God can soothe our fears
re In life below. t5J
RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.
And thus in many places throughout his writ
ings,-and especially in bis noble poem the
Lusiad, do we find a constant recognition of the
Sovereignty and fatherly love of God among men,
and of the blessedness of the Redemption as pro-
yided by Infinite love. In this spirit he puts the
following words into the mouth of his hero de
Cana, when he addresses the chief Of Mozam-
bique, whom he first encounters in Eastern seas;
and replies to questions concerning bis country
and his faith;
Him. whose holy law the tecmiug worlds obey,
Him / adore, and love his sovereign sway.
And all the varying life the Vastly orb unfolds.
And fllea the world with a wondrons story,
Of God in flesh, hanging upon a tree;-
That we might live in bliss for al eternity. ()
And a little farther on in the same canto, he
says;-
Oh Holy Mystery of Eternal Love!
Our aching hearts trust TO Thy will above;
For here Thy chosen have no shield from woes,
From prosecutions hate and direst blows. "a
He thus presents himself in his writings as a
religious man, in a sense that would be acceptable
to Evangelical belief of this day. He recognized
the mercy of God, that had chosen him to be an
object of Divine electing Love. And yet he was
n Poet who has given more expression than any
other to the passionate sentiment of earthly love.
His experience of the passion was always to
ham a reVerential memory. 1t had had so much
to do with the shaping and fashioning,-and en-
tire tone and temper of his life,-that it was the
perfect essence of his being. Love, as We have
seen in all that has been written about him, was
to his heart nothing less than a revelation from
above. And no doubt, to every true and earnest
nature, it must have that Specification, or it is not
genuine. True l~oye,-whether the object be
earthly or divine, is complete sacrifice and conse-
Grafton. A great love humbles the heart, and
blots ourselves out from our self-consciousness,-
and so eradicates all selfshness. To live for
others, and in others, more than for ourselves or
in ourselves, is a state of being, that barbarism,
or heathenism, or unbelief could not produce, and
that can only spring from a consciousness and
hope of Christian immortality. 1t is such a con-
sciOusness, that shows to us, that sacrifice of self
leads the way to the redemption of the soul.
And as Camoens had been so humbled by a great
and pure passion, he ever associated his love with
his assurance of a happy Immortality.
This state of the poets heart, and the incentive
to the poets hopes will be deplored by those, who
would have saving convictions and hopes only
come to US through the channel of some es-
pecial spiritual agency. AND this constancy
of the soul to an image; as illustrated in the life
before us;-this absorption of his heart with
passionate sentiment; and this fxedness of an
immortal mind upon a transient ideal, will be
condemned as an idolatrous devotion, that would
make the hope of Heaven and the trust in a Re
deemer of only a secondary consideration. And
this opinion and judgement is thus ~pointedly ex-
pressed by the moral and religious poet of Eng.
land
Az woodbine WEEDS tie plant within her reach,
Rough elm, or smooth GRAND ash, or glossy beach;
Her golden tasseIs on the leafy sprays,
But does a mischief while she lends a grace;
strait'ning its growth by such a strict embrace
80 lovc,-that clings around the noblest minds,
Forbids tn advancement Of the soul he binds;
The suitors air indeed he soon improves,
And forms it to the taste of her he loves,
Teaches his eye a language, and no less
Refnes his speech and fashions his address;
But farewell promises Of happier fruits,
Manly designs, and leaFning's grave pursuits;
His only bliss is sorrow for her sakej
Who will, may pant for glory and excel
Her smile his aim-ah higher aims farewell -
But is this true? Only when the selfish hope
of possession, alone inmates the lover. But
love like that of Camoens, inspiring sacrifice, and
not tainted with any grossness of selfish emotion;
that utterly subdues and sweetens a Maynard
that prompts every noble and dutifnl
act of life, as though in the constant presence of