With all Elijah's dignity of tone,
And all the love of the beloved John,

625
To storm the citadels they build in air,
And smile the untemper'd wall ; 'tis death to spare
To sweep away all refuges of lies,
And place, instead of quirks themselves devise,
Lama sabacthani before their eyes ;

630
To prove, that without Christ all gain is loss,
All hope despair, that stands not on his cross ;
Except the few his God may have impress’d,
A tenfold frenzy seizes all the rest.

Throughout mankind, the Christian kind at least,
There dwells a consciousness in ev'ry breast, 636
That folly ends where genuine hope begins,
And he that finds his Heav'n must lose his sins.
Nature opposes with her utınost force
This riving stroke, this ultimate divorce ;

640
And, while religion seems to be her view,
Hates with a deep sincerity the true :
For this, of all that ever influenc'd man,
Since Abel worshipp'd, or the world began,
This only spares no lust, admits no plea,

645
But makes him, if at all, completely free ;
Sounds forth the signal, as she mounts her car,
Of an eternal, universal war ;
Rejects all treaty, penetrates all wiles,

649
Scorns with the same indiff'rence frowns and smiles ;
Drives through the realms of Sin, where Riot reels,
And grinds his crown beneath her burning wheels!
Hence all that is in man, pride, passion, art,
Pow'rs of the mind, and feelings of the heart,
Insensible of Truth's almighty charms,

655
Starts at her first approach, and sounds to arms!
While Bigotry, with well-dissembled fears,
His eyes shut fast, his fingers in his ears,
Mighty to parry and push by God's word
With senseless noise, his argument the sword,

660

Pretonás a zeal for godliness and grace,
And spits abhorrence in the Christian's face.

Parent of Hope, immortal Truth ! make known
Thy deathless wreaths and triumphs all thine own:
The silent progress of thy pow'r is such,

665 Thy means so feeble, and despis’d so much, That few believe the wonders thou hast wrought, And none can teach them, but whom thou hast taught. O see me sworn to serve thee, and command A painter's skill into a poet's hand.

670 That while I trembling trace a work divine, Fancy may stand aloof from the design, And light, and shade, and ev'ry stroke be thine,

If ever thou hast felt another's pain : If ever when he sigh’d, hast sigh'd again; 675 If ever on thy eyelid stood the tear That pity had engender'd, drop one here. This man was happy--had the World's good word, And with it ev'ry joy it can afford; Friendship and love seem'd tenderly at strife, 680 Which most should sweeten his untroubled life; Politely learn'd, and of a gentle race, Good breeding and good sense gave all a grace, And whether at the toilette of the fair He laugh'd and trifled, made him welcome there ; 685 Or if in masculine debate he shar'd, Ensur'd him mute attention and regard. Alas, how chang'd! Expressive of his mind, His eyes are sunk, arms folded, head reclin'd; Those awful syllables, Hell, death, and sin, 690 Though whisper'd plainly, tell what works within , That Conscience there performs her proper part, And writes a doomsday sentence on his heart; Forsaking, and forsaken of all friends, He now perceives where earthly pleasure ends 695 Hard task ! for one who lately knew no care, And harder still as learn'd beneath despair.

His hours no longer pass unmark'd away,
A dark importance saddens ev'ry day;
He hears the notice of the clock perplex'd, 700
And cries, Perhaps eternity strikes next;
Sweet musick is no longer musick here,
And laughter sounds like madness in his ear;
His grief the world of all her pow'r disarms,
Wine has no taste, and beauty has no charms; 705
God's holy word, once trivial in his view,
Now by the voice of his experience true,
Seems, as it is, the fountain whence alone
Must spring that hope he pants to make his own
Now let the bright reverse be known abroad;

710 Say man's a worm, and pow'r belongs to God.

As when a felon, whom his country's laws Have justly doom'd for some atrocious cause, Expects in darkness and heart chilling fears, The shameful close of all his mispent years ;

715 If chance, on heavy pinions slowly borne, A tempest usher in the dreaded morn, Upon his dungeon walls the lightnings play, The thunder seems to summon him away, The warder at the door his key applies,

720 Shoots back the bolt, and all his courage If then, just then, all thoughts of mercy lost, When hope, long ling'ring, at last yields the ghost, The sound of pardon pierce his startled ear, He drops at once his fetters and his fear;

725 A transport glows in all he looks and speaks, And the first thankful tears bedew his cheeks. Joy, far superiour joy, that much outweighs The comfort of a few poor added days, Invades, possesses, and o'erwhelms the soul 730 Of him, whom Hope has with a touch made whole. 'Tis Heav'n, all Heav'n descending on the wings Of the glad legions of the King of kirgs ; "Tis more- —'tis God diffus'd through ev'ry part, Tis God himself triumphant in his heart

735

dics

a

O welcome now the Sun's once hated light
His noonday beams were never half so bright.
Not kindred minds alone are call’d t'employ
Their hours, their days, in list'ning to his joy ;
Unconscious nature all that he surveys,

740 Rocks, groves, and streams, must join him in his

praise.
These are thy glorious works, eternal Truth,
The scoff of wither'd age and beardless youth :
These move the censure and illib'ral grin
Of fools that hate thee and delight in sin :

745 But these shall last when night has quench'd tho

pole, And Heav'n is all departed as a scroll. And when, as Justice has long since decreed, This earth shall blaze, and a new world succeed, Then these thy glorious works, and they who share That hope, which can alone exclude despair, 751 Shall live exempt from weakness and decay, The brightest wonders of an endless day.

Happy the bard, (if that fair name belong To him that blends no fable with his song,) 755 Whose lines uniting, by an honest art, The faithful monitor's, and poet's part, Seek to delight, that they may mend mankind, And while they captivate, inform the mind : Still happier, if he till a thankful soil,

760 And fruit reward his honourable toil ; But happier far, who comfort those that wait To hear plain truth at Judah's hallow'd gate : Their language simple, as their manners meek ; No shining ornaments have they to seek ; Nor labour they, nor time, nor talents waste, In sorting flow'rs to suit a fickle" taste; But while they speak the wisdom of the skies, Which art can only darken and disguise, Th'abundant harvest, recoinpense divine,

770 Repays their work--the gleaning only mine.

765

CHARITY.

Quo nihil majus meliusve terris
Fata donarere, bonique divi;
Nec dabunt, quamvis redeant in aurum
Tempora priscum.

Hor. lib. iv. Od. 2

FAIREST and foremost of the train, that wait
On man's most dignified and happiest state,
Whether we name thee Charity or Love,
Chief grace below, and all in all above,
Prosper, (I press thee with a pow'rful plea,)

5
A task I venture on, impell’d by thee:
O never seen but in thy bless'd effects,
Or felt but in the soul that Heav'n selects;
Who seeks to praise thee, and make thee known
To other hearts, must have thee in his own. 10
Come, prompt me with benevolent desires,
Teach me to kindle at thy gentle fires,
And thongh disgrac'u and slighted, to redeem
A poet's name, by inaking thee the theme,
God, working ever on a social plan,

15 By various tics attaches man to man: He made at first, though free and unconfin'd, One man the common father of the kind; That ev'ry tribe, though plac'd as he sees best, Where seas or deserts part them from the rest, 20