For in this mountain fhall the Lord deftroy
The face of cov'ring o'er all peoples caft,
The vail that is o'er all the nations spread.
Darkness and ignorance, and flavish fear,
Shall all be chas'd away by light and truth.
How will the ranfom'd of Jehovah come
To this high mountain with exceeding joy!
With fongs and joyful fhoutings as they go,
The happy ftreets and villages fhall ring;
Great joy and gladness fhall they all obtain,
When forrow, grief, and fighing are no more.
The happy scenes which then shall common be,
Would scarce gain credit should they be defcrib'd:
But as the facred writings have foretold
The glorious wonders of that future age,
I venture to attempt to follow on
Where fuch a guide as truth eternal leads.
How vaft fhall be the changes in the earth,
And in its foil and climates, and produce,
And in the difpofitions of mankind!
The earth fhall all be fruitful, and with ease
Yield its productions to the lab'rer's hand;
And fandy defarts fhall be fruitful plains
The barren wilderness a fertile field:
New springs fhall flow, and rivers glide along, 500 Where nothing now appears but burning fand.
How glad fhall be the folitary place!
Defarts rejoice and bloffom as the rose;
Bloffom abundantly, like gardens fair,
Well water'd as the garden of the Lord.
The dwellers in the barren land rejoice,
With joy and finging, how they shout aloud!
For Carmel's mount, and Sharon's vale no more
Are us'd proverbially for excellence;
For all their glory and their beauties' fhine
In 'far fuperior dignity in lands.
Once barren, frightful defarts! dreary wastes !
Instead of thorns, behold the fir-trees spring!
Instead of briars, fee the myrtles grow
Thefe to Jehovah are a name and praise,
An everlasting fign of truth fulfill'd,
The plowman fhall the reaper overtake,
So vaft the crop, fo heavy is the grain !
The threshing time fhall to the vintage reach.
And vintage to the fowing time extend.
All climates shall be healthful, blafting winds
And fickly damps, and burning heat, no more
Shall breed disorders, and destroy the lives
Of those who in or near the burning zone
Have their abodes; nor shall the hurricane
Destroy the food and labors of the year.
Thofe violent concuffions of the earth,
Which have fo fatal prov'd in ages past,
And cities in a moment have ingulph'd
In earth's dark womb, they fell no more to rife: 530
These dreadful evils fhall no more affright,
The earth fhall rest in quiet all the days
That Jefu's bleffed reign thereon shall last.
The peftilence that now its thousands kills
Shall then be wholly driven from the world; 535
And famine that with deadly rage destroys
Both foul and body as it were at once,
No more shall reach the dwellings of mankind;
The fields shall yield their meat, the trees their fruit,
In fuch abundance, that no pinching want
Can even more be known upon the globe.
The famous bread tree fruit, plant of renown,
Shall be so common then, that all may eat
That bread which God himself hath so prepar'd,
That little labor needs to make it fit
For our immediate ufe. This plant alone
Famine for ever may prevent, because
The trees once planted need but little care,
And such abundance do their branches yield,
That one fmall orchard planted, will produce 550
More fruit than any family will need.
And God hath many stores of various kinds,
From whence he can supply the world with food,
Although it should contain a thousand times
As many more as ever liv'd in all.
But, oh, how shall the human race be chang'd, When Chrift shall rule the shorld! how different Mankind shall be from what they ever were! When God shall take the ftony hearts, away And give them hearts of flesh; and write his law 560 Upon their inward parts; and deep engrave His juft commands upon their yielding minds. And God will be their God, and they shall be His people worthy of that facred name. For he will wash, and purify their fouls
From their iniquities, and make them clean.
On them he will bestow one heart, one way,
To their advantage, and their children's too.
They shall not from his precepts turn afide,
Nor will he hide his glorious face from them. 570
He will rejoice to do them ev'ry good,
And he will take their fins and guilt away,
And make them clean and pure, and fanctify,
And fit them for his fervice and his use,
His Spirit shall be pour'd upon their feed,
His bleffing on their offspring, and themselves.
Jehovah will rejoice to see them pure,
And they shall joy and triumph in his love.
His love and kindness shall be so display'd,
That they with greatest wonder shall adore.
Their hearts, all fill'd with love and gratitude, -
Shall caufe their nob'eft pow'rs to praife his name.
Their love to God shall form their tempers right,
And fill them with benevolence to men,
From whence all acts of kindness shall proceed. 585
O what exalted friendship shall abound,
And make the race of men like ange's pure!
Deceit and guile, and flattery and fraud,
Ambition, hellish rage, those paffions fou',
Shall all be banish'd from the peacefu! fcene. 590
A thousand promises the Lord hath made,
That he thefe mighty wonders will perform.
His holy word abounds in fuch as thefe,
My people they shall be ; and I their God.
And this is ev'ry thing exprefs'd at once;
Nor can our largest wishes ask for more.
If God fhall be the God of all mankind,
The God of all the families of the earth,
Then ev'ry bleffing needful he'll bestow.
If they fhall be his people, he will make
Them fuch whereof he fhall not be asham'd.
Another glorious bleffing shall attend
The happy race of men in that bright day;
The faints of ancient times fhall reign on earth,
With Christ, their Lord; and doubtless shall at times
Converse with men, and them inftruction give.
Nay, they shall be appointed to prefide.
Daniel, the wife and good, fhall have a lot,
In which he shall with honor ftand, and fhine,
As the bright luftre of the firmament:
The bleft apostles on their thrones shall fit,
And judge the chosen tribes of Isr'el's race.
The fervant who improv'd his pound fo well,
As ten to gain, ten cities fhall receive,
And have authority o'er them to rule:
He that gains five, shall have five cities giv'n
For the fame glorious purpose as the first.
They who have faithful in a little been,
Pow'r and authority fhall have o'er much.
To him that overcometh, Chrift will give
Pow'r over nations, as himself receiv'd ;
Will give a right to fuch to fit with him,
Upon his throne, as when he overcame,
The Father plac'd him on his glorious throne,
Above all principalities and pow'rs.
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