'Thofe nations that have moft, do most complain; And fuch as have no real grievances
Will never fail to feign them, and repine,
As though they were most bitterly oppress'd,
How often have I feen those families
That might have liv'd in greatest happiness
With all the means of pienty in their hands,
Who might have been choice bleffings to the world,
Making themselves most miserable indeed !
And in the midst of trueft hearted friends
Efteeming all mankind their enemies :
Thus turning all their bleffings into bane.
And that which for their comfort fhould have been,
Seems them to make unhappy and unblest.
And fome, the more you try to please them, ftill
The more uneafy grow, and find more fault
And hate you in proportion to your love.
Nay, think that all the good you do is ill;
Or, that you ill intend where beft you aim'd,
This is the devil's influence over man,
This curfed temper will prevail no more,
But when into the abyss he is caft,
Until that he from thence is loos'd again,
And is once more permitted men to tempt;
Then shall this evil disposition rise
To far more dreadful heights than heretofore.
Ev'n in proportion as the blifs enjoy'd
Shall be fuperior far to what is paft.
But oh the fad and most affecting doom, That fhall o'ertake thofe difcontented hosts !
Oh what fi'ry rain on them fhall fall!
What horror, and what torture and despair
Shall rack their fouls, and put their hearts to pain!
Fire fhall their lives deftroy, their flesh consume,
And put an end to their rebellious plan. »
And though their ruin is a dismal scene,
Enough to make the heart of man to chill,
And fill his bones with terror, freeze his blood,
And make his very hairs to stand erect;
Yet when we call to mind, this is the last
Attempt that ever shall be made against the Lord; And Jefus now hath quell'd his num'rous foes, Who never shall combine against him more.
Nor for one moment hence disturb his reign,
Our forrow for their fate is mix'd with joy.
Great is the triumph of our fov'reign King,
And all his fubjects hail him as their Lord.
His foes are all defeated, and their hopes
Of reigning are for ever blafted quite.
This fcene of bold rebellion, and its end,
Is far the darkeft and obfcureft part
Of all the providential ways of God,
And therefore fhort the facred writer tells
The dreadful ftory, here his words are few:
Thougl. vaft the plot, and the deftruction dire,
And far more dreadful than can be defcrib'd.
Far greater numbers are involv'd therein.
Than ever fell at once by war or plague,
Or fire or famine, or the total flood
That overwhelm'd the globe in Noah's time.
Perhaps I should not go too far to say,
That more shall perish then by fire from Heav'n, Than ever tafted death before, or shall
Till then, in any of its thousand forms.
All that remain then uninfected, shall
Be wholly fav'd, their trials paft and gone.
They fhall be own'd as children of the Lord,
Worthy to be enroll'd among the bleft;
And chang'd, fhall pass to an immortal state.
The reft destroy'd from carth: these fit for heav'n.
The prefent uses of the earth are past.
391 And what remains? the judgment must take place. The globe itself becomes a theatre,
Whereon the judgment feat erected stands,
And all the dead are fummon'd to the bar.
The second refurrection now takes place,
And all that fleep in death at once awake,
Call'd by his voice, who makes the dead to hear,
Forth from their graves they come to render up
Their great accounts to Chrift, the fov'reign Judge ;
Whofe juft award they must abide, and bear
Whatever doom on them he fhall pronounce.
Now comes the day of universal doom
On which fo many volumes have been wrote,
Of which the prophets fpake, and poets fang
In far fublimer trains than I can boaft.
But yet I fain would bring my little mite
Though small my off'ring, yet accept it Lord;
And let this labor of my hand remain
Under the patronage of thee, my King,
Till that grand day which I defcribe arrives.
The great white throne on which the judge fhall fit,
Claims our attention, fuch its majesty,
Its fplendor, brightness, like the chrystal clear,
As would fufficiently astonish those
Who dare defpife the terrors of this day;
And who would feign perfuade their guilty hearts
That fuch an awful fcene will never come.
Some fondly dream the judgment day is paft;
But fuch will doubtlefs find their great miflake;
Since reafon fhews that crimes committed here
Will be on earth try'd, judg'd, condemn'd, destroy'd,
And all that ever dwelt on earth fhall view
The great affize, and shall the judge behold,
Shall hear the fentence from his glorious mouth,
Shall fee the punishments and the rewards,
And fhall themselves receive as they have done.
This awful scene can never be fulfiil'd Till all the human race have liv'd and dy'd :
Or have been chang'd, and all the dead are rais'd.
None fhall be abfent on that awful day;
All fhall behold it, each himself shall hear
The Judge's voice, and fee him on his throne.
This cannot be a partial private thing,
Hid from the observation of mankind,
Conducted in the world of fpirits, far
Remote from earth, and to the human race
Unknown, as many in thefe days pretend.
But O, my God, preferve my feeble mind
In conftant stedfastness amidst thefe ftorms!
O let me never from thy word depart,
To hear the inconfiftent dreams of men !
Behold the throne is plac'd, there fits the Judge,. In glory and in majesty array'd;
His garments white as fnow, his hair like wool; 445 His throne like flame, his wheels like burning fire;, Before him iffues forth a fi'ry stream,,
Millions of angels minifter to him,
An hundred millions ftand around his throne.
How folemn, grand, and awful is the scene!
This is the Son of Man who was accus'd,.
Judg'd and condemn'd at guilty Pilate's bar,
Whom Herod and his guilty men of war array'd.
In gorgeous robes, and treated him with fcorn.
Now they in turn muft, ftand before his bar.
This is the man who hung upon a cross,
Was mock'd, and ridicul'd in all his pangs;
Behold him now! and fee the wond'rous change!
Now in his proper glory he appears,
And in his Father's radiant beauty shines;,
While all the holy angels him attend,
And thus increase the terrors of the day..
All things prepar'd, behold the judgment fei!
The human race are call'd by trumpet's found.
Behold from north, and fouth, and east, and west,
They flow in multitudes to hear their doom.
Near to the Judge's throne, his faints are plac'd
On rows of fhining feats; now men behold
What honor Jefus gives to all his friends,
Who lov'd and fuffer'd for his name on earth. 470
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