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Still is there feope for wonder and for love
Ev'n to their laft exertion-fhowers of bleflings
Far more than human virtue can deserve,
Or hope expect, or gratitude return..
Then, O ye people, O ye fons of men,
Whatever be the colour of your lives,
Whatever portion of itfelf his Wifdom
Shall deign t' allow, ftill patiently abide,
And praife him more and more; nor ceafe to chaunt
"All glory to th' Omniscient, and praise,
"And power, and domination in the height!
"And thou, cherubic Gratitude, whofe voice
To pious cars founds filverly fo fweet,
Come with thy precious incenfe, bring thy gifts,
And with thy choiceft ftores the altar crown."
ΤΩ ΘΕΩ ΔΟΞΑ.

faid,

§ 50. On the Power of the Supreme Being. SMART.
TREMBLE, thou Earth!" th'anointed poet
[tains!
"AtGod's bright prefence; tremble, all ye moun-
"And all ye hillocks on the furface bound!"
Then once again, ye glorious thunders, roll!
The Mufe with transport hears ye; once again
Convulfe the folid continent! and flake,
Grand mufic of Omnipotence, the ifles!
'Tis thy terrific voice, thou God of power,
'Tis thy terrific voice; all nature hears it,
Awaken'd and alarm'd; the feels its force;
In every fpring the feels it, every wheel,
And every movement of her vaft machine.
Behold! quakes Apennine; behold! recoils
Athos; and all the hoary-headed Alps
Leap from their bafes at the godlike found.
But what is this, celeftial tho' the note,
And proclamation of the reign fupreme,
Compar'd with fuch as, for a mortal car
Too great, amaze the incorporeal worlds?
Should Ocean to his congregated waves
Call in each river, cataract, and lake,
And with the wat'ry world down a huge rock
Fall headlong in one horrible cafcade,
'Twere but the echo of the parting breeze,
When zephyr faints upon the lily's breaft;
'Twere but the ceafing of fome inftrument,
When the last lingering undulation

Dies on the doubting car, if nam'd with founds
So mighty! fo ftupendous! fo divine!

With clamour inconceivable uptorn,
And hurl'd adown th’abyss. Sulphureous pyrites
Burfting abrupt from darkness into day,
With din outrageous and destructive ire,
Augment the hideous tumult, while it wounds
Th' afflictive ear, and terrifies the eye,
And rends the heart in twain. Twice have we felt,
Within Augufta's walls twice have we felt,
Thy threaten'd indignation: but even Thou,
Incens'd Omnipotent, art gracious ever;
Thy goodness infinite but mildly warn'd us,
With mercy-blended wrath; O'fpare us ftill,
Nor fend more dire conviction! We confefs
That thou art He, th' Almighty: we believe.
For at thy righteous power whole fyftems quake;
For at thy nod tremble ten thousand worlds.

Hark! on the winged whirlwind's rapid rage,
Which is and is not in a moment-hark!

On th' hurricane's tempeftuous fweep he rides
Invincible, and oaks, and pines, and cedars,
And forefts are no more. For, conflict dreadful!
The Weft encounters Eaft, and Notus meets
In his career the Hyperborcan blaft.
The lordly lions fhuddering feek their dens,
And fly like timorous deer; the king of birds,
Who dar'd the folar ray, is weak of wing,
And faints,and falls,and dies;-while He fupreme
Stands ftedfaft in the centre of the ftorm.

Wherefore, ye objects terrible and great,
Ye thunders, earthquakes, and ye fire-fraught
Of fell volcanos, whirlwinds, hurricanes, [wombs
And boiling billows, hail! in chorus join
To celebrate and magnify your Maker,
Who yet in works of a minuter mould
Is not lefs manifeft, is not lefs mighty.

Survey the magnet's fympathetic love,
That woos the yielding needle; contemplate
Th' attractive amber's power, invisible
Ev'n to the mental eye; or when the blow
Sent from th' electric fphere affaults thy frame,
Shew me the hand that dealt it!-Baffled here
By his Omnipotence, Philofophy

Slowly her thoughts inadequate revolves,
And ftands,with all his circlingwonders round her,
Like heavy Saturn in th'ethereal space
Begirt with an inexplicable ring.

If fuch the operations of his power, Which at all feafons and in every place (Rul'd by eftablish'd laws and current nature) But not alone in the aerial vault Arreft th' attention; who, oh who fhall tell Does He the dread theocracy maintain; His acts miraculous? when his own decrees For oft, enrag'd with his inteftine thunders, Repeals he, or fufpends; when by the hand He harrows up the bowels of the earth, Of Mofes or of Joshua, or the mouths And fhocks the central magnet-Cities then Of his prophetic feers, fuch deeds he wrought, Totter on their foundations, ftately columns, Before th' aftonifh'd fun's all-feeing eye, Magnific walls, and heaven-affaulting fpires. That faith was fcarce a virtue. Need I fing What tho' in haughty eminence erect The fate of Pharaoh and his numerous band Stands the ftrong citadel, and frowns defiance Loft in the reflux of the wat'ry walls, On adverfe hofts; tho' many a bastion jut That melted to their fluid ftate again? Forth from the rampart's elevated mound; Need I recount how Sampfon's warlike arm Vain the poor providence of human art, With more than mortal nerves was ftrung, t' o'crAnd mortal ftrength how vain! while underneath Idolatrous Philiftia? Shall I tell [throw Triumphs his mining vengeance in th' uproar How David triumph'd, and what Job fuftain'd? Of thatter'd towers, riven rocks, and mountains,But, O fupreme, unutterable mercy!

O love unequall'd, mystery immenfe,
Which angels long t unfold! 'tis man's redemption
That cross thy glory, and thy power confirms;
Confirm the great, th' uncontroverted claim.
When from the Virgin's unpolluted womb
Share forth the Sun of Righteoufnefs revcal'd,
And on benighted reafon pour'd the day; .
"Let there be peace!" he said, and all was calm
Among the warring world-calm as the fea
When," be still, ye boisterous winds!" he
cried,

And not a breath was blown, nor murmur heard.
His was a life of miracles and might,
And charity and love, ere yet he tafte
The bitter draught of death, ere yet he rife
Victorious o'er the univerfal foe,

And death, and fin, and hell in triumph lead.
His by the right of conqueft is mankind,
And in fweet fervitude and golden bonds
Were tied to him for ever.-O how caly
Is his ungalling yoke, and all his burdens
Tis ecftaly to bear! Him, bleffed Shepherd!
His flocks fhall follow thro' the maze of life,
And shades that tend to day-fpring from on high;
And as the radiant rofes, after fading,
In fuller foliage and more fragrant breath
Revive in fmiling fpring, fo fhall it fare
With thofe that love him-for fweet is their fa-
And all Eternity shall be their spring. [vour,
Then thall the gates and everlafting drs,
At which the King of Glory enters in,
Be to the faints unbarr'd: and there, where plea-
Boaks an undying bloom, where dubious hope
Is certainty, and grief-attended love
Is freed from paffion-there we'll celebrate,
With worthier numbers, Him who is, and was,
And, in immortal prowefs King of kings,
Shall be the monarch of all worlds for ever.

[fure

§ 51. On the Goodness of the Supreme Being. SMART. ORPHEUS, for fo the Gentiles call'd thy

name,

Ifrael's fweet Pfalmift, who alone couldft wake
Th' inanimate to motion; who alone
The joyful hillocks, the applauding rocks,
And floods, with mufical perfuafion drew;
Thon, who to hail and fnow gav 'ft voice and found,
And mad ft the mute melodious!-greater yet
Was thy divineft skill, and rul'd o'er more
Than art and nature; for thy tuneful touch
Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul,
And quell'd the evil Angel :-in this breast
Some portion of thy genuine fpirit breathe,
And lift me from myfelf; each thought impure
Banish; cach low idea raife, refine,
Enlarge, and fanctify;-fo fhall the Muse
Above the ftars afpire, and aim to praise
Her God on earth as he is prais'd in heaven.
Immenfe Creator! whofe all-powerful hand
Fram'd univerfal Being, and whofe eye

Saw, like thyfelf, that all things form'd were good;
Where fhall the timorous Bard thy praise begin,
Where end the pureft facrifice of fong, [light,
And just thanksgiving?—The thought-kindling
Thy prime production, darts upon my mind
Its vivifying beans, my heart illumines,
And fills my foul with gratitude and Thee,
Hail to the cheerful rays of ruddy morn,
That paint the freaky Eaft, and blithfome roufe
The birds, the cattle, and mankind from reft!
Hail to the freshnefs of the early breeze,
And Iris dancing on the new-fall'n dew!
Without the aid of yonder golden globe,
Loft were the garnet's luftre, loft the lily,
The tulip and auricula's fpotted pride;
Loft were the peacock's plumage, to the fight
So pleating in its pop and gloify glow.
O thrice-illuftrious! were it not for Thee,
Thofe panfics, that reclining from the bank,
View thro' th' immaculate pellucid stream
Their portraiture in the inverted heaven,
Might as well change their triple boast, the white,
The purple, and the gold that far outvie
The Eaftern monarch's garb, ev'n with the dock,
Ev'n with the baleful hemlock's irkfome green.
Without thy aid, without thy gladfome beams,
The tribes of woodland warblers would remain
Mute on the bending branches, nor recite
The praife of Hir, who, ere he form'd their lord,
Their voices tun'd to tranfport, wing'd their
flight,

And bade them call for nurture, and receive;
And lo! they call; the blackbird and the thruth,
The woodlark and the redbreatt, jointly call;
He hears, and feeds their feather'd families;
He feeds his fweet musicians,-nor neglects
Th' invoking ravens in the greenwood wide;
And tho' their throats coarfe rattling hurt the ear,
They mean it all for mufic, thanks and praife
They mean, and leave ingratitude to man :—
But not to all-for, hark! the organs blow
Their fwelling notes round the cathedral's dome,
And grace th harmonious choir, celestial feast
To pious cars, and med'cine of the mind!
The thrilling trebles and the manly base
Join in accordance meet, and with one voice
All to the facred fubject fuit their fong.
While in each breaft fweet melancholy reigns
Angelically penfive, till the joy

Improves and purifies; the folemn scene
The Sun thro' ftoried panes furveys with awe,
And bathfully withholds each bolder beam.
Here, as her home, from morn to eve frequents
The cherub Gratitude; behold her eyes!
With love and gladnets weepingly they fhed
Ecftatic fmiles; the incenfe, that her hands
Uprear, is fweeter than the breath of May
Caught from the nectarine's bloffom,and her voice
Is more than voice can tell; to him the fings,
To Him who feeds, who clothes, and who adorns,
Who made, and who preferves, whatever dwells
In air, in ftedfaft earth, or fickle fea.

* See this conjecture ftrongly fupported by Delany, in his Life of David.

D 3

[man;

O He is good, He is immenfely good!
Who all things form'd, and form'd them all for
Who mark'd the climates, varied every zone,
Difpenfing all his bleflings for the beft,
In order and in beauty:-rife, attend,
Atteft, and praife, ye quarters of the world!
Bow down, ye elephants, fubmiffive bow
To Him who made the mite! Tho' Afia's pride,
Ye carry armies on your tower-crown'd backs,
And grace the turban'd tyrants, bow to Him
Who is as great, as perfect, and as good
In his lefs ftriking wonders, till at length
The eye's at fault, and feeks th' affifting glass.
Approach, and bring from Araby the Bleft
The fragrant caffia, frankincenfe, and myrrh,
And meekly kneeling at the altar's foot,
Lay all the tributary incenfe down.
Stoop, feeble Africa, with reverence stoop,

And quits the time-shook tow'r, Where, fhelter'd from the blaze of day, In philofophic gloom he lay,

Beneath his ivy bow'r.

With joy I hear the folemn found,
Which midnight echoes waft around,
Fav'rite of Pallas! I attend,
And fighing gales repeat:

And, faithful to thy fummons, bend
At Wisdom's awful feat.

She loves the cool, the filent eve,
Where no falfe fhows of life deceive,

Beneath the lunar ray:

Here Folly drops each vain disguise,
Nor fports her gaily-colour'd dyes,
As in the glare of day.

O Pallas! queen of ev'ry art,

That glads the fenfe, or mends the heart,
Bleft fource of purer joys;
In ev'ry form of beauty bright,
That captivates the mental fight
With pleafure and furprize;
To thy unfpotted shrine I bow,
Affift thy modeft fuppliant's vow,

That breathes no wild defires:
But, taught by thy unerring rules
To fhun the fruitiefs with of fools,

To nobler views afpires.
Not Fortune's gem, Ambition's plume,
Nor Cytherea's fading bloom,

Be objects of my pray'r;
Let av'rice, vanity, and pride,
Thefe glitt'ring envied toys divide,
The dull rewards of care.

And from thy brow take off the painted plume;"
With golden ingots all thy camels load
T'adorn his temples; haften with thy spear
Reverted, and thy trusty bow unftrung,
While unpurfued thy lions roam and roar,
And ruin'd towers, rude rocks, and caverns wide
Re-murmur to the glorious, furly found.
And thou, fair Indian, whofe immenfe domain
To counterpoife the Hemifphere extends, [ers,
Hafte from the Weft, and with thy fruits and flow-
Thy mines and med'cines, wealthy maid, attend.
More than the plenteoufnefs fo fam'd to flow
By fabling bards from Amalthea's horn
Is thine, thine therefore be a portion duc [crown
Of thanks and praife: come with thy brilliant
And veft of fur; and from thy fragrant lap
Pomegranates and the rich ananas pour.
But chiefly thou, Europa, feat of Grace
And Chriftian excellence, his Goodnefs own,
Forth from ten thousand temples pour his praife.
Clad in the armour of the living God,
Approach, unheath the Spirit's flaming fword;
Faith's fhield, falvation's glory-compafs'd heim
With fortitude affume, and o'er your heart
Fair Truth's invulnerable breaft-plate fpread;
Then join the general chorus of all worlds,
And let the fong of Charity begin
In ftrains feraphic, and melodious
"O all-fufficient, all-beneficent,
"Thou God of Goodness and of Glory, hear!
"Thou, who to loweft minds doft condefcend,
"Affuming paffions to enforce thy laws,
"Adopting jealousy to prove thy love:
"Thou, who refign'd humility uphold it,
"Ev'n as the florift props the drooping rofe,
"But quell'ft tyrannic pride with peerlefs power,
"Ev'n as the tempeft rives the ftubborn oak:
"O all-fufficient, all-beneficent,

prayer:

"Thou God of Goodness and of Glory, hear! "Blefs all mankind; and bring them in the end "To heav'n, to immortality, and Thee!"

$52. Ode to Wisdom. Mifs CARTER.

THE folitary bird of night

To me thy better gifts impart,
Each moral beauty of the heart,

By ftudious thought refin'd:
For wealth, the fmiles of glad content;
For pow'r, its ampleft, belt extent,

An empire o'er my mind.

When Fortune drops her gay parade,
When pleature's tranfient roses fade,
And wither in the tomb,
Unchang'd is thy immortal prize,
Thy ever-verdant laurels rife

In undecaying bloom.
By thee protected, I defy

The coxcomb's incer, the ftupid lyc
Of ignorance and fpite;
Alike contemn the leaden fool,
And all the pointed ridicule

Of undifcerning wit.

From envy, hurry, noise, and ftrife,
The dull impertinence of life,

In thy retreat I reft;
Purfuc thee to thy peaceful groves,
Where Plato's facred fpirit roves,
In all thy graces dreit.

He bid Ilyffus' tuneful ftream

Thro' the pale fhades now wings his flight, Convey the philofophic theme