Page images
PDF
EPUB

In vain he points his pow'rs against the skies,
In vain he clofes or averts his eyes,

Truth will intrude-fhe bids him yet beware→→→
And shakes the sceptic in the fcorner's chair.
Though various foes against the truth combine,
Pride above all opposes her defign;

Pride, of a growth fuperior to the rest,
The subtlest serpent with the loftiest crest,
Swells at the thought, and kindling into rage,
Would hifs the cherub mercy from the stage.

And is the foul indeed fo loft fhe cries,
Fall'n from her glory and too weak to rife,
Torpid and dull beneath a frozen zone,
Has fhe no fpark that may be deem'd her own?
Grant her indebted to what zealots call

Grace undeferv'd, yet furely not for all

Some beams of rectitude fhe yet difplays,
Some love of virtue and fome pow'r to praise;
Can lift herself above corporeal things,

And foaring on her own unborrow'd wings,

VOL. I.

H

Poffefs

Poffefs herself of all that's good or true,

Affert the skies, and vindicate her due.
Past indiscretion is a venial crime,

And if the youth, unmellow'd yet by time,
Bore on his branch luxuriant then and rude,
Fruits of a blighted fize, auftere and crude,
Maturer years fhall happier ftores produce,
And meliorate the well concocted juice.
Then, confcious of her meritorious zeal,
To justice she may make her bold appeal,
And leave to mercy with a tranquil mind,
The worthlefs and unfruitful of mankind.
Hear then how mercy, flighted and defied,
Retorts th' affront against the crown of pride.

Perish the virtue, as it ought, abhorr'd,

And the fool with it who infults his Lord..
Th' atonement a Redeemer's love has wrought.
Is not for you the righteous need it not..
Seeft thou yon harlot wooing all the meets,
The worn-out nuifance of the public streets,

Herfelf

Herself from morn to night, from night to morn,
Her own abhorrence, and as much your scorn
The gracious fhow'r, unlimited and free,

Shall fall on her, when heav'n denies it thee.
Of all that wisdom dictates, this the drift,
That man is dead in fin, and life a gift.

Is virtue then, unless of chriftian growth,
Mere fallacy, or foolishness, or both,"
Ten thousand fages loft in endless woe,
For ignorance of what they could not know?"
That speech betrays at once a bigot's tongue,
Charge not a God with fuch outrageous wrong.
Truly not I-the partial light men have,

My creed perfuades me, well employed, may fave,
While he that fcorns the noon-day beam, perverfe,
Shall find the bleffing unimprov'd, a curfe.

Let heathen worthies, whofe exalted mind

Left fenfuality and drofs behind,

Poffefs for me their undisputed lot,

And take unenvied the reward they fought.

[blocks in formation]

But still in virtue of a Saviour's plea,

Not blind by choice, but deftin'd not to fee.
Their fortitude and wisdom were a flame

Celestial, though they knew not whence it came,
Deriv'd from the fame fource of light and grace
That guides the christian in his swifter race;
Their judge was confcience, and her rule their law,
That rule pursued with rev'rence and with awe,
Led them, however fault'ring, faint and slow,
From what they knew, to what they wish'd to know;
But let not him that shares a brighter day,

Traduce the fplendor of a noon-tide ray,

Prefer the twilight of a darker time,

And deem his base stupidity no crime;

The wretch who flights the bounty of the skies,

And finks, while favour'd with the means to rife,
Shall find them rated at their full amount,

The good he fcorn'd all carried to account.

Marshalling all his terrors as he came,

Thunder and earthquake and devouring flame,

From

From Sinai's top Jehovah gave the law,
Life for obedience, death for ev'ry flaw.

When the great fov'reign would his will express,
He gives a perfect rule; what can he lefs?
And guards it with a fanction as fevere
As vengeance can inflict, or finners fear :
Elfe his own glorious rights he would disclaim,
And man might safely trifle with his name:
He bids him glow with unremitting love

To all on earth, and to himself above;

Condemns th' injurious deed, the sland'rous tongue,
The thought that meditates a brother's wrong:
Brings not alone the more confpicuous part,

His conduct to the test, but tries his heart.
Hark! univerfal nature fhook and groan'd,
'Twas the last trumpet-fee the judge enthron'd:
Rouse all your courage at your utmost need,
Now fummon ev'ry virtue, ftand and plead.
What! filent? Is your boasting heard no more?
That felf-renouncing wifdom, learn'd before,

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »