Poetry > Course of time

258
THE COURSE OF TIME.
But deeds compelled are not accountable ;
So man is not amenable to God.
Arguing, thatbroughtsucbmonstrousbirth,though
good
It seemed, must have been false. Most false it was,
And by the Book of God condemned throughout.
We freely own that truth, when set before
The mind with perfect evidence, compelled
Belief j but error lacked such witness still;
And none who now lament in moral night,
The Word of God refused on evidence
That might not have been set aside as false.
To reason, try, choose, and reject, was free.
Hence God by faith acquitted, or condemned;
Hence righteous men, with liberty of will,
Believed; and hence, thou saw’st in Erebus
The wicked, who as freely disbelieved
What else had led them to the land of life.