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Ye flocks that haunt the humble vale,
Ye infects flutt'ring on the gale,

In mutual concourfe rife:
Crop the gay rofe's vermeil bloom,
And waft its fpoils, a fweet perfume,
In incenfe to the fkies.

Wake, all ye mounting tribes, and fing;
Ye plumy warblers of the fpring,

Harmonious anthems raife

To him who fhap'd your finer mould,
Who tipp'd your glittering wings with gold,
And tun'd your voice to praife.

Let man, by nobler paffions fway'd,
The feeling heart, the judging head,
In heav'nly praise employ;

Spread his tremendous name around,

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§ 11. Pfalm 5th. MERRICK.

THE words that from my lips proceed, [read,)
My thoughts (for Thou thofe thoughts canst
My God, my King, attentive weigh,
And hear, O hear me, when I pray.
With earlieft zeal, with wakeful care,
To Thee my foul fhall pour its pray'r,

Till heav'n's broad arch rings back the found, And, ere the dawn has ftreak'd the sky,

The gen'ral burft of joy.

Ye whom the charms of grandeur pleafe,
Nurs'd on the downy lap of cafe,

Fall profire at his throne:

Ye princes, rulers, all adore;

Praife him, ye kings, who makes your pow'r
An image of his own.

Ye fair, by nature form'd to move,
O praise th' eternal Source of love,
With youth's enlivening fire:
age up the tuneful lay,
Sigh his blefs'd name-then foar away,
And afk an angel's lyre.

Let take

10. Pfalm 41b. MERRICK.

DEFENDER of my rightful caufe,
While anguith from my botom draws
The deep-felt figh, the ccafclefs pray'r,
O make thy fervant ftill thy care.
That aid, which oft my griefs has heal'd,
To aid again, intreated, yield.
How long, ye fons of pride, how long
Shall faltehood arm your impious tongue,
And erring rage your breaft inflame,
My pow'r to thwart, my acts defame?
To God my heart fhall vent its woe,
Who, prompt his bleflings to beftow
On each whofe breaft has learn'd his fear,
Bows to my plaint the willing car.

Him wouldit thou plcafe? With rev'rend awe
Obferve the dictates of his Law:
In fecret on thy couch reclin'd
Search to its depth thy leftlefs mind,
Till hufh'd to peace the tumult lie,
And wrath and ftrife within thee die.
With pureft gifts approach his fhrine,
And fafe to Him thy care refign.
I hear a hop clefs train demand,

"Where's now the with'd Deliv'rer's hand?”
Do Thou, my God, do Thou reply,
And let thy prefence from on high
In full effufion o'er our head
Its all-enlivening influence fhed.
What joy my confcious heart o'er flows!
Not fuch th' exulting lab'rer knows,

To Thee direct its longing eye:

To Thee, whom nought obfcur'd by flaiu
Can pleafe; whofe doors to feet profane
Inexorable ftand; whofe Law
Offenders from thy fight fhall awe.
Let each whofe tongue to lies is turn'd,
Who leffons of deceit has learn'd,
Or thirfts a brother's blood to fhed,
Thy hate and heavieft vengeance dread.
But I, whofe hope thy Love fupports,
(How great that Love!) will tread thy courts,
My knees in lowlieft rev'rence bend,
And tow'rd thy fhrine my hands extend.
Do thou, juft God, my path prepare,
And guard me from each hoftile fiare;
O lend me thy conducting ray,
And level to my fteps thy way.
Behold me by a troop inclos'd,
Offalfehood and of guilt compos'd:
Their throat a fepulchre difplays,
Deep, wide, infatiate; in their praife
Lurks flatt'ry, and with fpecious art
Belies the purpose of their heart.
O let the mifchiefs they intend
Retorted on themselves defcend,
And let thy wrath correct their fin,
Whofe hearts thy mercy fails to win.
May all whofe truft on Thee is plac'd
Peace and delight perpetual tafte,
Sav'd by thy care, in fongs of joy
Their ever grateful voice employ,
And thare the gifts on thofe beftow'd,
Who love the name of Jacob's God.
To each who bears a guiltless heart,
Thy grace its bleffings fhall impart;
Strong as the brazen thield, thy aid
Around him cafts its cov'ring shade.

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Yet give my pains their bounds to know, And fix a period to my woe. Return, great God, return, and fave Thy fervant from the greedy grave. Shall Death's long-filent tongue, O fay, The records of thy pow'r difplay, Or pale Corruption's startled ear Thy praife within its prifon hear? By languor, grief, and care opprefs'd, With groans perpetual heaves my breast, And tears, in large profufion fhed, Inceffant lave my fleepless bed. My life, though yet in mid career, Beholds the winter of its year, (While clouds of grief around me roll, And hoftile ftorms invade my foul,) Relentless from my check each trace Of youth and blooming health erase, And fpread before my wafting fight The fhades of all-obfcuring night. Hence, ye profane: My Saviour hears; While yet I fpeak, he wipes my tears, Accepts my pray'r, and bids each foe With thame their vain attempts forego, And, ftruck with horror from on high, In wild diforder backward fly.

§ 13. Pfalm 8th. MERRICK. Mmortal King! Through Earth's wide frame How great thy honour, praife, and name! Whofe reign o'er distant worlds extends, Whofe glory heav'n's vast height tranfcends. From infants Thou canft strength upraise, And form their lifping tongues to praise: By thefe the vengeance-breathing Foe Thy mightier terrors taught to know, In mute aftonifhment thall ftand, And bow beneath thy conqu'ring hand. When, rapt in thought, with wakeful eye I view the wonders of the sky, Whofe frame thy fingers o'er our head In rich magnificence have spread; The filent Moon, with waxing horn Along th' ethereal region borne; The Stars with vivid luftre crown'd, That nightly walk their deftin'd round, Lord! What is Man, that in thy care His humble lot fhould find a fhare; Or what the Son of Man, that Thou Thus to his wants thy ear fhouldst bow ? His rank awhile, by thy decree, Th' Angelic Tribes beneath them fee, Till round him thy imparted rays With unextinguifh'd glory blaze. Subjected to his feet by thee, To Him all Nature bows the knee; The beafts in him their Lord behold; The grazing herd, the bleating fold, The favage race, a countless train, That range at large tl' extended plain, The fowls, of various wing, that fly O'er the vaft defert of the sky, And all the wat'ry tribes, that glide Through paths to human fight deny'd.

Immortal King! Through Earth's wide frame, How great thy honour, praise, and name!

§14. Pfalm 23d. MERRICK. LO, my Shepherd's hand divine!

Want fhall never more be mine.
In a pasture fair and large
He fhall feed his happy Charge,
And my couch with tend'reft care
'Midft the fpringing grafs prepare;
When I faint with fummer's heat,
He fhall lead my weary feet
To the ftreams that ftill and flow
Through the verdant meadow flow.
He my foul anew thall frame,
And, his mercy to proclaim,
When through devious paths I stray,
Teach my steps the better way.
Though the dreary vale I tread
By the thades of death o'erfpread;
There I walk from terror free,
While my ev'ry wish I fee
By thy rod and ftaff fupplied;
This my guard, and that any guide.
While my foes are gazing on,
Thou thy fav'ring care haft fhown;
Thou my plenteous board haft fpread;
Thou with oil refresh'd my head;
Fill'd by Thee my cup o'erflows;
For thy Love no limit knows.
Conftant, to my latest end,
This my footsteps fhall attend,
And thall bid thy hallow'd Dome
Yield me an eternal home.

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By his Command impell'd, to Her Contending Crowds their caufe refer;

While Princes from her Throne, With equal doom, th'unerring Law Difpenfe, who boaft their birth to draw From Jeffe's favour'd Son.

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§ 16. The 8th Pfalm tranflated.
CHRISTOPHER PITT.
KING eternal and divine!
The world is thine alone:
Above the ftars thy glories fhine,
Above the heavens thy throne.
How far extends thy mighty name!
Where'er the fun can roll,
That fun thy wonders fhall proclaim,

Thy deeds from pole to pole.
The infant's tongue fhall speak thy power,
And vindicate thy laws;

The tongue that never fpoke before,

Shall labour in thy cause.

For when I lift my thoughts and eyes,

And view the heavens around,
Yon ftretching wafte of azure fkies,

With stars and planets crown'd;
Who in their dance attend the Moon,
The emprefs of the night,
And pour around her filver throne
Their tributary light:

Lord what is mortal man? that he

Thy kind regard should share ? What is his fon, who claims from thee, And challenges thy care?

Next to the bleft Angelic kind,

Thy hands created man,

And this inferior world affign'd
To dignify his fpan.

Him all revere, and all obey

His delegated reign;

The flocks that through the valley ftray,

The herds that graze the plain.

The furious tiger fpeeds his flight,

And trembles at his power;

In fear of his fuperior might,
The lions ceafe to roar.

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17. Pfalm the 24th paraphrafed. PITT. as the world can ftretch its bounds, The Lord is king of all, His wondrous power extends around The circuit of the ball.

For he within the gloomy deeps

Its dark foundations caft, And rear'd the pillars of the earth Amid the watery waste.

Who fhall afcend his Sion's hill,

And fee Jehovah there?

Who from his facred fhrine fhall breathe
The facrifice of prayer?

He only whofe unfully'd foul

Fair virtue's paths has trod,

Who with clean hands and heart regards
His neighbour and his God.

On him fhall his indulgent Lord

Diffufive bounties thed;

From God his Saviour fhall defcend
All bleffings on his head.

Of those who seek his righteous ways
Is this the chofen race,
Who bafk in all his bounteous fmiles,
And flourish in his grace,
Lift up your stately heads, ye doors,
With hatty reverence rife;
Ye everlasting doors, who guard
The paffes of the skies,
Swift from your golden hinges leap,
Your barriers roll away,
Now throw your blazing portals wide,
And burft the gates of day.

For fee! the King of glory comes
Along th' ethereal road:

The cherubs through your folds fhall bear
The triumphs of your God.

Who is this great and glorious King?
Oh! 'tis the Lord, whofe might
Decides the conqueft, and fufpends
The balance of the fight.

Lift up your ftately heads, ye doors!
With hafty reverence rife;

Ye everlafting doors! who guard
The paffes of the skies.

Swift from your golden hinges leap,
Your barriers roll away,

Now throw your blazing portals wide,
And burft the gates of day;

For

For fee! the King of Glory comes

Along th' ethereal road:

The cherubs through your folds fhall bear
The triumphs of their God.

Who is this great and glorious King?
Oh! 'tis the God, whofe care
Leads on his Ifrael to the field,
Whofe power controuls the war.

§ 18. Pfalm 29th. PITT.
YE mighty princes, your oblations bring,

And pay due honours to your awful King;
His boundless power to all the world proclaim,
Bend at his fhrine, and tremble at his name.
For hark! his voice, with unrefifted fway,
Rules and controuls the raging of the Sea;
Within due bounds the mighty ocean keeps,
And in their watery cavern awes the deeps:
Shook by that voice, the nodding groves around
Start from their roots, and fly the dreadful found.
The blafted cedars low in duft are laid,
And Lebanon is left without a fhade.

See when he speaks, the lofty mountains crowd,
And fly for fhelter from the thundering God:
Sirion and Lebanon like hinds advance,
And in wild measures lead th' unwieldy dance.
His voice, his mighty voice, divides the fire,
Back from the blast the shrinking flames retire.
Ev'n Cades trembles when Jehovah speaks,
With all his Savages the defert shakes.
At the dread found the hinds with fear are ftung,
And in the lonely foreft drop their young;
While in his hallow'd temple all proclaim
His glorious honours, and adore his name.
High o'er the foaming furges of the fea
He fits, and bids the liftening deeps obey :
He reigns o'er all; for ever lafts his power,
Till nature finks, and time fhall be no more.
With ftrength the fons of Ifrael fhall he blefs,
And crown our tribes with happiness and

peace.

§ 19. Pfalm 46th paraphrased. PITT. ON God we build our fure defence, In God our hope repose :

His hand protects us in the fight,

And guards us from our woes. Then, be the earth's unwieldy frame

From its foundations hurl'd,
We may, unmov'd with fear, enjoy
The ruins of the world.

What though the folid rocks be rent,
In tempefts whirl'd away?

What though the hills fhould burst their roots,
And roll into the Sea >

Thou fea, with dreadful tumults fwell,
And bid thy waters rife

In furious furges, till they dafh

The flood-gates of the fkies. Our minds fhall be ferene and calm,

Like Siloah's peaceful flood; Whofe foft and filver ftreams refresh The City of our God.

Within the proud delighted waves

The wanton turrets play;

The ftreams lead down their humid train, Reluctant to the Sea.

Amid the scene the temple floats,

With its reflected towers,

Gilds all the furface of the flood,
And dances to the fhores.
With wonder fee what mighty power
Our facred Sion cheers,
Lo! there amidst her stately walls,
Her God, her God appears.
Fixt on her bafis we shall stand,

And, innocently proud,
Smile on the tumults of the world,
Beneath the wings of God.

See

how their weakness to proclaim,
The heathen tribes engage!
See! how with fruitless wrath they burn,
And impotence of rage!

But God has spoke; and lo! the world,
His terrors to display,
With all the melting globe of earth,
Drops filently away.

Still to the mighty Lord of hofts
Securely we refort;
For refuge fly to Jacob's God,

Our fuccour and support.
Hither, ye numerous nations, crowd,
In filent rapture stand,
And fee o'er all the earth display'd
The wonders of his hand,
He bids the din of war be ftill,

And all its tumults ceafe;
He bids the guiltlefs trumpet found
The harmony of peace.
He breaks the tough reluctant bow,
He burfts the brazen fpear,
And in the crackling fire his hand
Confumes the blazing ear.

Hear then his formidable voice,

"Be ftill, and know the Lord; "By all the heathen I'll be fear'd; "By all the carth ador’d.” Still to the Mighty Lord of hofts Securely we refort; For refuge fly to Jacob's God, Our fuccour and fupport.

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Eternal God! thy early days

Beyond duration run,
Ere the first race of startling time
Was measur'd by the Sun.
We dic; but future nations hear
Thy potent voice again,
Rife at the fummons, and restore
The perish'd race of man.
Before thy comprehenfive fight,
Duration fleets away;
And rapid ages on the wing,
Fly swifter than a day.

As great Jehovah's piercing eyes
Eternity explore,

The longeft æra is a night;
A period is an hour.

We at thy mighty call, O Lord,

Our fancy'd beings leave,

Rous'd from the flattering dream of life, To fleep within the grave.

Swift from their barrier to their goal

The rapid moments pass,

And leave poor man, for whom they run, The emblem of the grass.

In the first morn of life it grows,

And lifts its verdant head; At noon decays, at evening dies, And withers in the mead.

We in the glories of thy face

Our fecret fins furvey,

And fee how gloomy thofe appear,
How pure and radiant they.
To death as our appointed goal

Thy anger drives us on;
To that full period fix'd at length
This tale of life is done.
With winged fpeed, to ftated bounds
And limits we must fly,
While feventy rolling funs complete
Their circles in the sky.

Or if ten more around us roll,

'Tis labour, woe, and ftrife,

Till we at length are quite drawn down
To the laft dregs of life.

But who, O Lord, regards thy wrath,
Though dreadful and fevere?
That wrath, whatever fear he feels,
Is equal to his fear.

So teach us, Lord, to count our days,
And eye their conftant race,
To measure what we want in time,
By wisdom, and by grace.
With us repent, and on our hearts

Thy choiceft graces shed,
And fhower from thy celeftial throne
Thy bleifings on our head.
Oh! may thy mercy crown us here,
And come without delay;
Then cur whole courfe of life will feem
One glad triumphant day.

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21. Pfalm 144th paraphrafed. PITT. foul, in raptures rife to blefs the Lord, Who taught my hands to draw the fatal sword; Led by his arm, undaunted I appear

In the first ranks of death, and front of war.
He taught me first the pointed fpear to wield,
And mow the glorious harveft of the field.
By him infpir'd, from strength to ftrength I paft,
Plung'd through the troops, and laid the battle

foes.

In him my hopes I centre and repose, [waste. He guards my life, and fhields me from my He held his ample buckler o'er my head, And fcreen'd me trembling in the mighty fhade: Against all hoftile violence and power, He was my fword, my bulwark, and my tower. He o'er my people will maintain my fway, And teach my willing fubjects to obey.

Lord! what is man, of vile and humble birth, Sprung with his kindred reptiles from the earth, That he should thus thy fecret counfels fhare? Or what his fon, who challenges thy care?. Why does thine eye regard this nothing, man? His life a point, his meafure but a fpan? The fancy'd pageant of a moment made, Swift as a dream, and fleeting as a fhade.

Come in thy power, and leave th'ethereal plain, And to thy harnefs'd tempeft give the rein; Yon ftarry arch fhall bend beneath the load, So loud the chariot, and fo great the God! Soon as his rapid wheels Jehovah rolls, The fording fkies fhall tremble to the poles: Heaven's gaudy Axle with the world fhall fall, Leap from the centre, and unhinge the ball.

Touch'd bythyhands, the labouring hills expire Thick clouds of fioke, and deluges of fire; On the tall groves the red deftroyer preys, And wraps th'eternal mountains in the blaze: Full on my foes may all thy lightnings fly, On purple pinions through the glooniy sky.

Extend thy hand, thou kind all-gracious God, Down from the heaven of heavens thy bright

abode,

And fhield me from my foes, whofe towering pride Lowers like a ftorm, and gathers like a tide : Against ftrange children vindicate my cause, Who curfe thy name, and trample on thy laws; Who fear not vengeance which they never felt, Train'd to blafpheme, and eloquent in guilt: Their hands are impious, and their deeds profane; They plead their boatted innocence in vain. Thy

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