And owns thy threat'nings juft;
Thy voice the fhudd'ring fuppliant cheers,
With mercy calms her torturing fears,
And lifts her from the duft.

Sublim'd by thee, the foul afpires
Beyond the range of low defires,

In nobler views elate;

Unmov'd her deftin'd change furveys,
And arm'd by faith, intrepid pays
The univerfal debt.

In death's foft flumber lull'd to rest,
She fleeps, by fimiling vifions bleft,

That gently whisper peace,
Till the laft morn's fair op'ning ray
Unfolds the bright eternal day
Of active life and blifs.

§ 264. Written at Midnight in a Thunder-
Storm. CARTER.

LET coward Guilt, with pallid Fear,
To fhelt'ring caverns fly,
And justly dread the vengeful fate
That thunders through the sky.
Protected by that hand, whofe law
The threat'ning storms obey,
Intrepid Virtue fmiles fecure,
As in the blaze of day.

In the thick cloud's tremendous gloom,
The lightnings lurid glare,
It views the fame all-gracious Pow'r
That breathes the vernal air.

Thro' Nature's ever-varying scene,
By diffrent ways purfu'd,
The one eternal end of Heav'n
Is univerfal good.

With like beneficent effect

O'er flaming ather glows,

As when it tunes the linnet's voice,
Or blushes in the rofe.

By reafon taught to scorn those fears
That vulgar minds moleft,
Let no fantaftic terrors break
My dear Narciffa's rest.

Thy life may all the tend'reft care
Of Providence defend;

And delegated angels, round

Their guardian wings extend!
When thro' creation's vaft expanfe
The laft dread thunders roll,
Untune the concord of the fpheres,
And thake the rifing foul;
Unmov'd may 'ft thou the final storm
Of jarring worlds furvey,
That ushers in the glad forene
Of everlasting day!

Whence drew I being? to what period tend ▸
Am I th'abandon'd orphan of blind chance,
Dropp'd by wild atoms in diforder'd dance?
Or from an endless chain of causes wrought,
And of unthinking fubftance, born with thought?
By motion which began without a caufe,
Supremely wife, without defign or laws?
Am I but what I feem, mere flesh and blood?
A branching channel, with a mazy flood?
The purple ftream that thro' my veffels glides,
Dull and unconfcious flows, like common tides;
The pipes thro' which the circling juices ftray,.
Are not that thinking I, no more than they:
This frame compacted with tranfcendent skill,
Of moving joints obedient to my will,
Nurs'd from the fruitful glebe, like yonder tree,
Waxes and waftes; I call it mine, not me.
New matter still the mould'ring mafs fuftains;
The manfion chang'd, the tenant ftill remains,
And from the fleeting stream, repair'd by food,
Diftinct, as is the fwimmer from the flood.

What am I then? fure of a noble birth;
By parents right, I own as mother, Earth;
But claim fuperior lineage by my fire,
Who warm'd th'unthinking clod with heav'nly
Effence divine, with lifelefs clay allay'd, [fire;
By double nature, double instinct fway'd:
With look erect, I dart my longing eye,
Seem wing'd to part, and gain my native sky;
I ftrive to mount, but ftrive, alas! in vain,
Ty'd to this maily globe with magic chain.
Now with fwift thought I range from pole to pole,
View worlds around their flaming centres roll:
What fteady pow'rs their endless motions guide
Thro' the fame trackless paths of boundlets void!
I trace the blazing comet's fiery tail,
And weigh the whirling planets in a scale;
Thefe godlike thoughts, while eager I purfue,
Some glitt'ring trifle offer'd to my view,
A gnat, an infect of the meaneft kind,
Erafe the new-born image from my mind:
Some beaftly want, craving, importunate,
Vile as the grinning mastiff at my gate,

Calls off from heav'nly truth this reas'ning me,
And tells me I'm a brute as much as he.
If, on fublimer wings of love and praife,
My foul above the ftarry vault I raife,
Lur'd by fome vain conceit, or fhameful luft,
I flag, I drop, and flutter in the duft.
The tow'ring lark thus, from her lofty strain,
Stoops to an emmet, or a barley grain.
By adverfe gufts of jarring inftincts toft,
I rove to one, now to the other coaft;
To blifs unknown my lofty foul afpires,
My lot unequal to my vaft defires.
As 'mongst the hinds a child of royal birth
Finds his high pedigree by confcious worth,
So man, amongft his fellow brutes expos'd,
Secs he's a king; but 'tis a king depos'd.

Pay

Pity him, beafts! you by no law confin'd,
Are barr'd from devious paths by being blind;
Whilft man, thro' op'ning views of various ways
Confounded, by the aid of knowledge ftrays;
Too weak to choofe, yet choofing ftill in hafte,
One moment gives the pleafure and diftafte;
Bilk'd by paft minutes, while the prefent cloy,
The flatt'ring future ftill muft give the joy :
Not happy, but amus'd upon the road,
And (like you) thoughtlefs of his laft abode,
Whether next fun his being fhall restrain
To endless nothing, happinefs, or pain.
Around me, lo! the thinking thoughtless crew
(Bewilder'd each) their diff'rent paths purfue;
Of them I ask the way; the first replies,
Thou art a god; and fends me to the skies:
Down on the turf, the next, two two-legg'd beaft,
There fix thy lot, thy blifs, and endless reft:
Between thefe wide extremes the length is fuch,

I find I know too little or too much.

Almighty Pow'r, by whofe moft wife command, Helplefs, forlorn, uncertain here I stand; Take this faint glimm'ring of thyfelf away, Or break into my foul with perfect day !'' This faid, expanded lay the facred text, The balm, the light, the guide of fouls perplex'd. Thus the benighted traveller that ftrays Thro' doubtful paths, enjoys the morning rays: The nightly mift, and thick defcending dew, Parting, unfold the fields and vaulted blue.

O Truth divine! enlighten'd by thy ray,
I grope and guefs no more, but fee my way;
Thou clear'dft the fecret of my high defcent,
And told me what those myftic tokens meant;
Marks of my birth, which I had worn in vain,
Too hard for worldly fages to explain.
Zeno's were vain, vain Epicurus' fchemes,
Their fyftems falfe, delufive were their dreams;
Unfkill'd my twofold nature to divide,

}

One nurs'd my pleafure, and one nurs'd my pride; Thofe jarring truths which human art beguile, Thy facred page thus bids me reconcile.' Offspring of God, no lefs thy pedigree, [be, What thou once wert, art now, and still may Thy God alone can tell, alone decree ; Faultlefs thou dropp'dft from his unerring fkill, With the bare pow'r to fin, fince free of will: Yet charge not with thy guilt his bounteous love: For who has pow'r to walk has pow'r to rove: Who acts by force impell'd can nought deferve; And wifdom fhort of infinite may fwerve. Borne on thy new-imp'd wings, thou took'ft thy Left thy Creator, and the realms of light; [flight, Difdan'd his gentle precept to fulfil; And thought to grow a god by doing ill: Tho' by foul guilt thy heav'nly form defac'd, In nature chang'd, from happy manfions chac'd, Thou fill retain'ft fome fparks of heav'nly fire, To faint to mount, yet reftlefs to afpire; Angel enough to feek thy blifs again, And brute enough to make thy fearch in vain. The creatures now withdraw their kindly ufe; Seine fly thee, fome torment, and fome feduce; Repaft ill-uited to fuch diff'rent gucfts, For what thy fenfe defires, thy foul distastes;

Thy luft, thy curiofity, thy pride,
Curb'd, or deferv'd, or baulk'd, or gratify'd,
Rage on, and make thee equally unblefs'd [feis'd.
In what thou want'ft, and what thou haft pof-
In vain thou hop'ft for blifs on this poor clod;
Return and feck thy Father and thy God;
Yet think not to regain thy native fky,
Borne on the wings of vain philofophy;
Myfterious paffage hid from human eyes;
Soaring you'll fink, and finking you will rife:
Let humble thoughts thy wary footsteps guide,
Repair by meeknefs what you loft by pride.

§ 266. The Frailty and Folly of Man. PRIOR.
GREAT Heav'n' how frail thy creature man is
How by himself infenfibly betray'd! [made!
Too little cautious of the adverfe pow'r;
In our own ftrength unhappily fecure,
We wish to charm, and feek to be belov'd.
And by the blast of felf-opinion mov'd,
On pleasure's flowing brink we idly stray,
Mafters as yet of our returning way:
Seeing no danger, we difarm our mind;
Then in the flow'ry mead, or verdant shade,
And give our conduct to the waves and wind:
To wanton dalliance negligently laid,
We weave the chaplet, and we crown the bowl,
And fmiling fee the nearer waters roll;
Till the ftrong gufts of raging paffion rife;
Till the dire tempeft mingles earth and skies;
And fwift into the boundlefs ocean borne,
Our foolish confidence too late we mourn:
Round our devoted heads the billows beat: [treat
And from our troubled view the leffen'd lands re

§ 267. A Paraphrafe on the latter Part of the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew. THOMSON. WHEN my breaft labours with oppreffive care,

And o'er my check defcends the falling tear; While all my warring paffions are at strife, O, let me liften to the words of life! Raptures deep-felt his doctrine did impart, And thus he rais'd from earth the drooping heart,

Think not, when all your scanty stores afford, Is fpread at once upon the fparing board; Think not, when worn the homely robe appears, While on the roof the howling tempeft bears, What farther fhall this feeble life fuftain, And what fhall clothe thefe fhiv'ring limbs again., Say, does not life its nourishment exceed ? And the fair body its invefting weed? Behold! and look away your low defpairSee the light tenants of the barren air: To them, nor ftores nor granaries belong; Nought but the woodland and the pleafing fongs Yet, your kind heav'nly Father bends his eye On the leaft wing that flits along the fky. To him they fing when fpring renews the plain; To him they cry in winter's pinching reign, Nor is their mufic nor their plaint in vain : He hears the gay and the diftrefsful call, And with unfparing bounty fills them all.

Obferves

No mean atonement does this lapfe require;
But fee the Son, you muft forgive the Sire:
He, † the just prince-with ev'ry virtue blefs'd,
He reign'd, and goodness all the inan poffefs'd;
Around his throne fair happiness and peace
Smooth'd ev'ry brow, and smil'd in ev'ry face.
As when along the burning waste he stray'd,
Where no pure ftreams in bubbling mazes play'd,
Where drought incumbent on the thirsty ground,
Longfince had breath'd her fcorching blafts around
The prophet calls, th'obedient floods repair
To the parch'd fields, for Jofaphat was there.
The new fpring waves, in many a gurgling vein,
Trickle luxurious thro' the fucking plain;
Fresh honours the reviving fields adorn,
And o'er the defart Plenty pours her horn.
So, from the throne his influence he fheds,
And bids the virtues raise their languid heads :
Where'er he goes, attending Truth prevails,
Oppreffion flies, and Juftice lifts her scales.
See, on his arm the royal eagle stand,
Great type of conqueft and fupreme command;
Th'exulting bird distinguish'd triumph brings,
And greets the Monarch with expanded wings.
Fierce Moab's fons prevent th'impending blow,
Rush on themfelves, and fall without the foe.
The pious hero vanquish'd Heav'n by pray'r;
His faith an army, and his vows a war.
Thee too, Ozias, fates indulgent bleft,
And thy days fhone in faireft actions dreft:
Till that rafh hand, by fome blind frenzy fway'd,
Unclean, the facred office durft invade.
Quick o'er thy limbs the fcurfy venom ran,
And hoary filth befprinkled all the man.

Tranfmiflive worth adorns the pious § Son,
The father's virtues with the father's throne.
Lo1 there he stands: he who the rage fubdu'd
Of Ammon's fons,and drench'd his sword in blood; |
And doft thou, Ahaz, Judah's fcourge, difgrace
With thy bafe front the glories of thy race?
See the vile king his iron fceptre bear-
His only praife attends the pious | Heir;
He, in whofe foul the virtues all confpire,
The best good fon from the worst wicked fire.
And lo! in Hezekiah's golden reign,
Long exil'd Piety returns again;
Again in genuine purity fhe fhines, [fhrines.
And with her prefence gilds the long-neglected
Ill-ftarr'd does proud Affyria's impious Lord
Bid Heav'n to arms, and vaunt his dreadful fword;
His own vain threats th'infulting king o'erthrow,
But breathe new courage on the gen'rous foc.
Th'avenging Angel, by divine command,
The fiery fword full-blazing in his hand,

Leant down from Heav'n: amid the ftorm he
March'd Peftilence before him; as he trod,[rode
Pale Defolation bath'd his fteps in blood.
Thick wrapt in night, thro' the proud hoft he past,
Difpenfing Death, and drove the furious blaft;
Nor bade destruction give her revels o'er [gore.
Till the gorg'd fword was drunk with human
But what avails thee, pious Prince? In vain
Thy fceptre refcu'd, and th'Affyrian flain !
+ Jofaphat.
Elicha. Jotham.

Ev'n now the foul maintains her lateft ftrife,
And death's chill grafp congeals the fount of life.
Yet fee, kind Heav'n renews thy brittle thread,
And rolls full fifteen fummers o'er thy head;
Lo! the receding fun repeats his way,
And, like thy life, prolongs the falling day.
Tho' nature her inverted courfe forego,
The day forget to reft, the time to flow,
Yet fhall Jehovah's fervants ftand fecure,
His mercy fix'd, eternal fhall endure;
On them her ever-healing rays thall thine;
More mild and bright, and fure, O fun! than thine,
At length the long-expected Prince behold,
The last good King; in ancient days foretold,
When Bethel's altar fpoke his future fame,
Rent to its bafe, at good Jofiah's name.
Bleft, happy prince! o'er whofe lamented urn,
In plaintive fong, all Judah's daughters mourn;
For whom fad Sion's fofteft forrow flows,
And Jeremiah pours his fweet melodious woes.

But now fall'n Sion, once the fair and great,
Sits deep in duft, abandon'd, defolate;
Bleeds her fad heart, and ever stream her eyes,
And anguifh tears her with convulfive fighs.
The mournful captive spreads her hands in vain,
Her hands that rankle with the fervile chain;
Till he, ++ Great Chief! in Heav'n's appointed
time,

Leads back her children to their native clime.
Fair liberty revives with all her joys,
And bids her envy'd walls fecurely rife.
And thou, great hallow'd doom, in ruin spread,
Again hall lift fublime thy facred head.
But, ah! with weeping eyes, the antients view
A faint refemblance of the old in you.
No more th'effulgent glory of thy God
Speaks awful anfwers from the myftic cloud :
No more thine altars blaze with fire divine,
And Heav'n has left thy folitary fhrine.
Yet, in thy courts, hereafter fhalt thou fee
Prefence immediate of the Deity, [in Thee.
The light himself reveal'd, the God confefs'd

And now at length the fated term of years The world's defire have brought, and lo! the God appears!

The Heav'nly Babe the Virgin Mother bears,
And her fond looks confefs the parent's cares ;
The pleafing burden on her breafts the lays,
Hangs o'er his charms, and with a fmile furveys:
The Infant finiles, to her fond bofom preft,
And wantons, fportive, on the mother's breast.
A radiant glory fpeaks him all Divine,
And in the Child the beams of Godhead fhine,
But now, alas! far other views difclofe
The blackeft comprehenfive fcene of woes.
See where man's voluntary facrifice
Bows his meek head, and God eternal dies!
Fixt to the Crofs, his healing arms are bound,
While copious Mercy ftreams from ev'ry wound.
Mark the blood-drops that life exhaufting roll,
And the ftrong pang that rends the ftubborn foul!
As all death's tortures, with fevere delay,
Exult and riot in the nobleft prey