II. UNITY.

Thus recogniz'd, the fpring of life and thought! Eternal, felf-deriv'd, and unbegot! Approach, celeftial Mufe, th' empyreal throne, And awfully adore th' exalted One! In nature pure, in place fupremely free, And happy in effential unity!

Blefs'd in himself, had from his forming hand No creatures fprung to hail his wide command; Blefs'd, had the facred fountain ne'er run o'er, A boundless fea of blifs that knows no fhore!

Nor fenfe can two prime origins conceive,
Nor reafon two eternal Gods believe!
Could the wild Manichæan own that guide,
The good would triumph, and the ill fubfide!
Again would vanquish'd Arimanius bleed,
And darkness from prevailing light recede!
In diff'rent individuals we find
An evident difparity of mind;

Hence ductile thought a thousand changes gains,
And actions vary as the will ordains;
But should two Beings, equally fupreme,
Divided pow'r and parted empire claim;
How foon would univerfal order ceafe!

}

How foon would difcord harmony displace!
Eternal schemes maintain eternal fight,
Nor yield, fupported by eternal might;
Where each would uncontroul'd his aim purfue,
The links diffever, or the chain renew!
Matter from motion crofs impreffions take,
As ferv'd each pow'r his rival's pow'r to break,
While neutral Chaos, from his deep recefs,
Would view the never-ending ftrife incrcafe,
And blefs the conteft that fecur'd his peace!
While new creations would oppofing rife,
And elemental war deform the fkies!
Around wild uproar and confufion hurl'd,
Eclipfe the heav'ns, and wafte the ruin'd world.
Two independent caufes to adinit,
Deftroys religion, and debafes wit;
The firft by fuch an anarchy undone,
The laft acknowledges its fource but one.
As from the main the mountain rills are drawn,
That wind irriguous thro' the flow`ry lawn;
So, mindful of their fpring, one courfe they keep,
Exploring, till they find their native deep!

Exalted Pow'r invifible, fupreme,
Thou fov'reign, fole unutterable Name!
As round thy throne thy flaming feraphs ftand,
And touch the golden lyre with trembling hand;
Too weak thy pure effulgence to behold,
With their rich plumes their dazzled eyes infold;
Tranfported with the ardors of thy praise,
The holy holy! holy! anthem raife!
To them refponfive, fet creation fing,
Thee, indivifible eternal King!

III. SPIRITUALITY.

O fay, celeftial Mufe! whofe purer birth Difdains the low material ties of earth; By what bright images fhall be defin'd The myftic nature of th' eternal Mind Or how fhall thought the dazzling height explore, Where all that reafon can-is to adore!

'That God's an immaterial effence pure, Whom figure can't defcribe, nor parts immure;

Incapable of paffions, impulfe, fear,
In good pre-eminent, in truth fevere:
Unmix'd his nature, and fublim'd his pow'rs
From all the grofs allay that tempers ours;
In whofe clear eye the bright angelic train
Appear fuffus'd with imperfection's ftain!
Impervious to the man's or feraph's eye,
Beyond the ken of each exalted nigh;
Him would in vain material femblance feign,
Or figur'd shrines the boundlefs God contain;
Object of faith!-he fhuns the view of fenfe,
Loft in the blaze of fightlefs excellence!
Moft perfect, moft intelligent, most wise,
In whom the fanctity of purenefs lies;

In whofe adjufting mind the whole is wrought,
Whofe form is fpirit! and whofe effence thought!
Are truths infcrib'd by Wifdom's brightest ray,
In characters inat gild the face of day!

Reafon confefs'd (howe'er we may difpute),
Fix'd boundary! difcovers man from brute;
But dim to us, exerts its fainter ray,
Depreis'd in matter, and allied to clay!
In forms fuperior kindles lefs confin'd,
Whofe drets is æther, and whofe fubftance mind;
Yet all from Him, fupreme of Causes, flow,
To Him their pow'rs and their existence owe;
From the bright cherub of the noblest birth,
To the poor reafoning glow-worm plac'd on earth;
From matter then to fpirit ftill afcend,
Thro' fpirit ftill refining, higher tend;
Purfue, on knowledge bent, the pathlefs road,
Pierce thro' infinitude in queft of God!
Still from thy fearch, the centre ftill fhall fly,
Approaching ftill-thou never fhalt come nigh!
So its bright orb th' afpiring flame would join,
But the vaft diftance mocks the fond defign.

If He, Almighty! whofe decree is fate,
Could, to difplay his pow'r, fubvert his state;
Bid from his plaftic hand a greater rife,
Produce a mafter! and refign his skies!
Impart his incommunicable flame,
The myftic number of th' Eternal Name;
Then might revolting reafon's feeble ray,
Afpire to queftion God's all-perfect day!
Vain task! the clay in the directing hand
The reafon of its form might fo demand,
As man prefume to question his difpofe,
From whom the pow'r he thus abufes flows.

Here point, fair Mufe! the worthip God re

quires,

The foul inflam'd with chafte and holy fires !
Where love celeftial warms the happy breast,
And from fincerity the thought's exprefs'd;
Where genuine piety and truth refin'd,
Re-confecrate the temple of the mind;
With grateful flames the living altars glow,
And God defcends to vifit man below!
IV. OMNIPRESENCE.

Thro' the unmeasurable tracts of space,
Go, Mufe divine! and prefent Godhead trace!
See where by place, uncircumfcrib'd as time,
He reigns extended, and he shines fublime!
Shouldst thou above the heav'n of heav'ns af-

cend,

Couldst thou below the depth of depths defcend; Could

Could thy ford fight beyond the ftarry fphere,
The radiant morning's lucid pinions bear!
There thould his brighter prefence fhine confefs'd,
There his almighty arm thy courfe arrest!
Could thou the thickeft veil of night affume,
Or think to hide thee in the central gloom
Yet there, all patent to his piercing fight,
Darkiefs itfelf would kindle into light:
Not the black mansions of the filent grave,
Nor darker hell from her perception fave;
What pow'r, alas! thy footsteps can convey
Beyond the reach of omniprefent day ›

In his wide grafp, and comprehenfive eye,
Immediate, worlds on worlds unnumber'd lie:
Syftems inclos'd in his perception roll,
Whofe all-informing mind directs the whole :
Lodg'd in his grafp, their certain ways they know;
Pac'd in that fight from whence can nothing go.
On earth his footftool fix'd, in heav'n his feat;
Enthron'd he dictates, and his word is fate.

Nor want his thining images below,
In streams that murmur, or in winds that blow;
His spirit broods along the boundlefs flood,
Smiles in the plain, and whifpers in the wood;
Warms in the genial fun's enliv'ning ray,
Breathes in the air, and beautifies the day!
Should man his great immenfity deny,
Man might as well ufurp the vacant sky:
For were he limited in date, or view,
Thence were his attributes imperfect too;

His knowledge, pow'r, his goodness all confin'd,
And loft th' idea of a ruling Mind!
Feeble the truft, and comfortless the sense,
Of a defective partial Providence!
Boldly might then his arm injustice brave,
Or innocence in vain his mercy crave;
Dejected virtue lift its hopelets eye;
And heavy forrow vent the heartless figh!
An abfent God no abler to defend,
Proteft, or punish, than an absent friend;
Diftant alike our wants or griefs to know,
To cafe the anguifh, or prevent the blow!
If he, fupreme Director, were not near,
Vain were our hope, and empty were our fear;
Unpunish'd vice would o'er the world prevail,
And unrewarded virtue toil-to fail!
The moral world a second chaos lie,
And nature ficken to the thoughtful eye!
Even the weak embryo, ere to life it breaks,
From his high pow'r its flender texture takes;
While in his book the various parts inroll'd,
Increafing, own eternal Wisdom's mould.

Nor views he only the material whole,
But pierces thought, and penetrates the foul!
Ere from the lips the vocal accents part,
Or the faint purpofe dawns within the heart!
His fteady eye the mental birth perceives,
Ere yet to us the new idea lives!

Knows what we fay, ere yet the words proceed,
And, ere we form th' intention, marks the deed!
But Confcience, fair vicegerent-light within,
Afferts its Author, and reftores the fcene!
Points out the beauty of the govern'd plan,
"And vindicates the ways of God to man,"

Then facred Mufe, by the vast profpect fir'd, From heav'n defcended, as by Heav'n inspir'd; His all enlight'ning Omniprefence own, [known; Whence first thou feel'ft thy dwindling prefence His wide Omnifcience, justly grateful, fing, Whence thy weak fcience prunes its callow wing! And blefs th' eternal, all-informing foul, [whole! Whofe fight pervades, whose knowledge fills the V. IMMUTABILITY.

As the Eternal and Omnifcient Mind, By laws not limited, nor bounds confin'd; Is always independent, always free, Hence thines confefs'd Immutability! Change, whether the fpontaneous child of will, Or birth of force-is imperfection still. But he, all-perfect, in himself contains Pow'r felf-deriv'd, and from himself he reigns! If, alter'd by conftraint, we could fuppofe, That God his fix'd ftability fhould lofe; How ftartles reafon at a thought so strange! What pow'r can force Omnipotence to change? If from his own divine productive thought, Were the yet stranger alteration wrought; Could excellence fupreme new rays acquire ? Or ftrong perfection raife its glories higher? Abfurd his high meridian brightness glows, Never decreases, never overflows! Knows no addition, yields to no decay, The blaze of incommunicable day!

Below, through different forms does matter And life fubfifts from elemental change; [range, Liquids condenfing fhapes terreftrial wear, Earth mounts in fire, and fire dissolves in air; While we, enquiring phantoms of a day, Inconftant as the fhadows we furvey! With them, along time's rapid current pafs, And hafte to mingle with the parent mass; But Thou, Eternal Lord of life divine! In youth immortal fhalt for ever fhine! No change fhall darken thy exalted name; From everlasting ages ftill the fame!

If God, like man, his purpofe could renew, His laws could vary, or his plans undo; Defponding faith would droop its cheerlefs wing, Religion deaden to a lifeless thing! Where could we, rational, repose our truft, But in a Pow'r immutable as juft How judge of revelation's force divine, If truth unerring gave not the defign? Where, as in nature's fair according plan, All fmiles benevolent and good to man.

Plac'd in this narrow clouded spot below,
We darkly fee around, and darkly know!
Religion lends the falutary beam,

That guides our reafon thro' the dubious gleam;
Till founds the hour, when he who rules the kics
Shall bid the curtain of Omniscience rife!
Shall diffipate the mists that veil our fight,
And thew his creatures-all bis ways are right!
Then, when aftonish'd nature feels its fate,
And fetter'd time fhall know his lateft date!
When earth fhall in the mighty blaze expire,
Heav'n melt with heat, and worlds diffolve in fire!

The

The univerfal fyftem fhrink away,
And ceafing orbs confefs th' almighty fway!
Immortal He, amidst the wreck fecure,
Shall fit exalted, permanently pure!

As in the Sacred Bush, shall shine the fame,
And from the ruin raife a fairer frame !

VI. OMNIPOTENCE.

Far hence, ye visionary charming maids, Ye fancied nymphs that haunt the Grecian fhades! Your birth who from conceiving fiction drew, Yourselves producing phantoms as untrue; But come, fuperior Mufe! divinely bright, Daughter of heav'n, whofe offspring ftill is light; Oh condefcend, celeftial facred guest! To purge my fight, and animate my breast, While I prefume Omnipotence to trace, And fing that Pow'r who peopled boundlefs fpace! Thou prefent wert, when forth th'Almighty rode,

While Chaos trembled at the voice of God! [drew, Thou faw'ft, when o'er th' immense his line he When Nothing from his Word existence knew! His Word, that wak'd to life the vaft profound, While confcious light was kindled at the found! Creation fair! furpris'd th' angelic eyes, And fov'reign Wifdom faw that all was wife! Him, fole almighty nature's book difplays, Diftin&t the page, and legible the rays! L.ct the wild fceptic his attention throw -To the broad horizon, or carth below; He finds thy foft impreffion touch his breast, He feels the God, and owns him unconfefs'd Should the ftray pilgrim, tir'd of fands and fkies, In Lybia's wafte behold a palace rife, Would he believe the charm from atoms wrought? Go, atheift, hence, and mend thy jufter thought! What hand, Almighty Architect! but thine, Could give the model of this vast design? What hand but thine adjust th' amazing whole? And bid confenting fyftems beauteous roll! What hand but thine fupply the folar light? Ever beftowing, yet for ever bright! What hand but thine the ftarry train array, Or give the moon to fhed her borrow'd ray? What hand but thine the azure convex fpread What hand but thine compofe the ocean's bed? To the vaft main the fandy barrier throw, And with the feeble curb reftrain the foe! What hand but thine the wint'ry flood affuage, Or ftop the tempeft in its wildeft rage!

Thee infinite! what finite can explore? Imagination finks beneath thy pow'r; Thee could the ableft of thy creatures know, Loft were thy Unity, for he were Thou! Yet prefent to all fenfe thy pow'r remains, Reveal'd in nature, Nature's Author reigns! In vain would error from conviction fly, Thou ev'ry where art prefent to the eye! The fenfe how ftupid, and the fight how blind, That fails this univerfal truth to find!

Go! all the fightlefs realms of space survey, Returning trace the Planetary Way! The fun, that in his central glory fhines, While ev'ry planet round his orb inclines;

Then at our intermediate globe repose,
And view yon lunar Satellite that glows!
Or caft along the azure vault thy eye,
When golden day enlightens all the fky;
Around, behold earth's variegated fcene,
The mingling profpects, and the flow'ry gr
The mountain brow, the long-extended wo
Or the rude rock that threatens o'er the floc
And fay, are these the wild effects of chance
Oh, ftrange effect of reas'ning ignorance!

Nor pow'r alone confefs'd in grandeur lie
The glittering planet, or the painted skies!
Equal, the elephant's or emmet's dress,
The wisdom of Omnipotence confefs;
Equal, the cumbrous whale's enormous mass
With the fmall infect in the crowded grafs;
The mite that gambols in its acid fea,
In fhape a porpus, though a fpeck to thee!
Ev'n the blue down the purple plum furround
A living world, thy failing fight confounds,
To him a peopled habitation thows,
Where millions tafte the bounty God beftows

Great Lord of life, whofe all-controuling mig
Thro' wide creation beams divinely bright,
Nor only does thy pow'r in forming fhine,
But to annihilate, dread King! is thine.
Shouldst thou withdraw thy ftill-fupporting har
How languid nature would astonish'd stand!
Thy frown the ancient realm of night reftore,
And raife a blank-where fyftems fmil'd befor
See in corruption, all-furprising state,
How ftruggling life cludes the ftroke of fate;
Shock'd at the fcene, tho' fenfe averts its eye,
Nor ftops the wondrous procefs to defcry;
Yet jufter thought the myftic change purfues,
And with delight Almighty Wisdom views '
The brute, the vegetable world furveys,
Secs life fubfifting ev'n from life's decays!
Mark there, felf-taught, the penfive reptile com
Spin his thin throud, and living build his tomb
With confcious care his former pleasures leave
And drefs him for the bus'nefs of the grave!
Thence, pafs'd the thort-liv'd change, renew
he fprings,

Admires the fkies, and tries his filken wings!
With airy flight the infect roves abroad,
And fcorns the meaner earth he lately tred!

Thee, potent, let deliver'd Ifrael praise,
And to thy name their grateful homage raife!
Thee, potent God! let Egypt's land declare,
That felt thy juftice, awfully fevere!
How did thy frown benight the fhadow'd land
Nature revers'd, how own thy high command!
When jarring elements their ufe forgot,
And the fun felt thy overcafting blot!
When earth produc'd the peftilential brood,
And the foul ftream was crimfon'd into blood!
How deep the horrors of that awful night,
How ftrong the terror, and how wild the fright
When o'er the land thy fword vindictive pats d
And men and infants breath'd at once their laft
How did thy arm thy favour'd tribes convey!
Thy light conducting point the patent way!
Obedient occan to their march divide
The watry wall diftinét on either fide;

While thro' the deep the long proceffion led,
And faw the wonders of the oozy bed!

Nor long they march'd, till black'ning in the rear,
The veil tyrant and his hoft appear!
Plunge down the steep, the waves thy nod obey,
And when the threat'ning ftorm beneath the fea!
Ne vet thy pow'r thy chofen train forfook,
When thro' Arabia's fands their way they took;
Br day the cloud was present to the fight,
Tas nery pillar led the march by night;
Thy hand amidft the wafte their table spread,
With feather'd viands, and with heav'nly bread:
When the dry wilderness no ftreams fupplied,
Guth'd from the yielding rock the vital tide!
What limits can Omnipotence confine?
What obftacles oppose thy arm divine?
Since itones and waves their fettled laws forego,
Since feas can harden, and fince rocks can flow!
On Sinai's top, the Mufe with ardent wing
The trimphs of Omnipotence would fing!
When oer its airy brow thy cloud display'd,
I'd the nations in its awful fhade!
When fhrunk the earth from thy approaching
And the rock trembled to its rooted bafe; [face,
let where thy majefty divine appear'd,
Where thone thy glory, and thy voice was heard;
Eva in the blaze of that tremendous day,
Iatry its impious rites could pay ! [vade,
On frame to thought!-Thy facred throne in-
And brave the bolt that linger'd round its head!

VII. WISDOM.

O thou, who when th'Almighty form'd this All,
Upheld the fcale, and weigh'd each balanc'd ball;
And as his hand completed each defign,
Namber'd the work, and fix'd the feal divine;
O Wiflom infinite! creation's foul,
Whele rays diffufe new luftre o'er the whole,
What tongue fhall make thy charms celeftial
known?

What hand, fair Goddefs! paint thee but thy own?
What tho' in nature's univerfal ftore,
Appear the wonders of almighty pow'r!
Pow'r unattended terror would infpire,
Aw'd muft we gaze, and comfortless admire.
But when fair Wifdom joins in the defign,
The beauty of the whole refult's divine!

Hence life acknowledges its glorious cause,
And matter owns its great difpofer's laws;
Hence in a thousand different models wrought,
Now fix'd to quiet, now allied to thought;
Hence flow the forms and properties of things,
Hence rifes harmony, and order fprings,
Eile had the mass a shapeless chaos lay,
Nor ever felt the dawn of Wisdom's day!
See, how affociate round their central fun,
Their faithful rings the circling planets run;
Still equi-diftant, never yet too near,
Exactly tracing their appointed fphere.
Mark, how the moon our flying orb pursues,
While from the fun her monthly light renews;
Breathes her wide influence on the world below,
And bids the tides alternate ebb and flow.
View how in course the conftant seasons rise,
Deform the earth, or beautify the skies:

Firft, Spring advancing, with her flow'ry train; Next, Summer's hand, that spreads the fylvan fcene;

Then Autumn, with her yellow harvefts crown'd;
And trembling Winter clofe the annual round.
The vegetable tribes obfervant trace,
From the tall cedar to the creeping grafs :
The chain of animated beings fcale,
From the fmall reptile to th' enormous whale;
From the ftrong cagle ftooping thro' the fkies,
To the low infect that efcapes thy eyes!
And fee, if fee thou canft, in ev'ry frame,
Eternal Wisdom fhine confefs'd the fame:
As proper organs to the leaft affign'd,
As proper means to propagate the kind,
As juft the ftructure, and as wife the plan,
As in this lord of all-debating man!

Hence, reas'ning creature, thy diftinction find,
Nor longer to the ways of Heav'n be blind.
Wisdom in outward beauty ftrikes the mind,
But outward beauty points a charm behind.
What gives the earth, the ambient air, or feas,
The plain, the river, or the wood to please?
Oh fay, in whom does beauty's felf refide,
The Beautifier, or the beautified?
There dwells the Godhead in the bright disguise,
Beyond the ken of all created eyes;
His works our love and our attention fteal;
His works (furprising thought!) the Maker veil;
Too weak our fight to pierce the radiant cloud,
Where Wisdom shines, in all her charms avow'd.

O gracious God, omnipotent and wife,
Unerring Lord, and Ruler of the skies;
All-condefcending to my feeble heart,
One beam of thy celeftial light impart;
I feek not fordid wealth, or glitt'ring pow'r;
grant me Wisdom-and I afk no more!

VIII. PROVIDENCE.

As from fome level country's fhelter'd ground, With towns replete, with green inclofures bound, Where the eye kept within the verdant maze, But gets a tranfient vifta as it ftrays; The pilgrim to fome rifing fummit tends, Whence opens all the scene as he afcends: So providence the friendly height fupplics, Where all the charms of Deity furprife; Here Goodnefs, Power, and Wisdom all unite, And dazzling Glories whelm the ravish'd sight!

Almighty Caufe! 'tis thy preferving care, That keeps thy works for ever fresh and fair; The fun, from thy fuperior radiance bright, Eternal theds his delegated light; Lends to his fifter orb inferior day, And paints the filver moon's alternate ray : Thy hand the wafte of eating Time renews: Thou shedd'ft the tepid morning's balmy dews; When raging winds the blacken'd deep deform, Thy fpirit rides commiffion'd in the storm; Bids at thy will the flack'ning tempeft ceafe, While the calm occan fmooths its ruffled face; When lightnings thro' the air tremendous fly, Or the blue plague is loofen'd to destroy, Thy hand directs, or turns aside the stroke; Thy werd the fiend's commiffion can revoke;

When

When fubterraneous fires the furface heave,
And towns are buried in the yawning grave;
Thou fuffer'ft not the mischief to prevail;
Thy fov'reign touch the recent wound can heal.
ToZembla's rocks thou fend'ft the cheerful gleam;
O'erLybia's fands thou pour'ft the cooling ftream;
Thy watchful Providence o'er all intends;
Thy works obey their great Creator's ends.
When man too long the paths of vice purfued,
Thy hand prepar'd the univerfal flood;
Gracious to Noah gave the timely fign,
To fave a remnant from the wrath divine!
One fhining wafte the globe terrestrial lay,
And the ark heav'd along the troubled fea;
Thou bad'ft the deep his ancient bed explore,
The clouds their wat'ry deluge pour'd no more!
The skies were clear'd-the mountain tops were
The dove pacific brought the olive green. [feen,
On Arrarat the happy Patriarch tost,
Found the recover'd world his hopes had loft;
There his fond eyes review'd the pleasing scene,
The earth all verdant, and the air ferene!
Its precious freight the guardian ark display'd,
While Noah grateful adoration paid!
Beholding in the many-tinctur'd bow
The promife of a fafer world below.

When wild ambition rear'd its impious head,
And rifing Babel Heav'n with pride furvey'd;
Thy word the mighty labour could confound,
And leave the mafs to moulder with the ground.
From Thee all human actions take their fprings,
The rife of empires, and the fall of Kings!
See the vaft theatre of time difplay'd,
While o'er the fcenc fucceeding heroes tread!
With pomp the fhining images fucceed,
What leaders triumph! and what monarchs bleed!
Perform the parts thy providence affign'd,
Their pride, their paffions, to thy ends inclin'd:
Awhile they glitter in the face of day,
Then at thy nod the phantoms pass away;
No traces left of all the bufy fcene,
But that remembrance fays-The things have been!
"But(queftions doubt) whence fickly nature feels
"The ague-fits her face fo oft reveals? [breaft?
"Whence earthquakes heave the carth's aftonifh'd
"Whence tempefts rage? or yellow plagues infeft?
"Whence draws rank Afric her empoifon'd ftore?
"Or liquid fires explofive Etna pour?”
Go, fceptic mole! demand th' eternal caufe,
The fecret of his all-preferving laws;
The depths of wisdom infinite explore,
And afk thy Maker--why he knows no more?
Thy error ftill in moral things as great,
As vain to cavil at the ways of fate.
To ask why profp'rous vice fo oft fucceeds,
Why fuffers innocence, or virtue bleeds!
Why monfters, nature muft with blushes own,
By crimes grow pow'rful, and difgrace a throne!
Why faints and fages, mark'd in ev'ry age,
Perith, the victims of tyranne rage;
Why Socrates for truth and freedom fell,
Or Nero reign'd the delegate of hell :
In vain by reafon is the maze pursued,
Of ill triumphant, and afflicted good.
Fix'd to the hold, fo might the failor aim
To judge the pilot, and the fteerage blame,

As we direct to God what should belong,
Or fay, that fov'reign wisdom governs wrong.
Nor always vice does uncorrected go,
Nor virtue unrewarded pafs below!
Oft facred juftice lifts her awful head,
And dooms the tyrant and th' ufurper dead;
Oft Providence, more friendly than fevere,
Arrests the hero in his wild career;
Directs the fever, poniard, or the ball,
By which an Ammon, Charles, or Cæfar fall.
Or, when the curfed Borgias brew the cup
For merit, bids the monsters drink it up;
On violence oft retorts the cruel spear,
Or fetters cunning in its crafty fnare:
Relieves the innocent, exalts the juft,
And lays the proud oppreffor in the dust !

But, faft as Time's fwift pinions can convey,
Haftens the pomp of that tremendous day,
When to the view of all created eyes
God's high tribunal shall majestic rise,
When the loud trumpet fhall assemble round
The dead, reviving at the piercing found!
Where men and angels fhall to audit come,
And millions yet unborn receive their doom!
Then fhall fair Providence, to all display'd,
Appear divinely bright without a shade;
In light triumphant all her acts be shown,
And blushing Doubt eternal Wisdom own!

Mean while, thou great Intelligence fupreme, Sov'reign Director of this mighty frame, Whofe watchful hand, and all-observing ken, Fashions the hearts, and views the ways of men, Whether thy hand the plenteous table spread, Or measure fparingly the daily bread; Whether or wealth or honours gild the scene, Or wants deform, and wasting anguish stain; On thee let truth and virtue firm rely, Blefs'd in the care of thy approving eye! Know that thy Providence, their conftant friend, Thro' life fhall guard them, and in death attend; With everlasting arms their caufe embrace, And crown the paths of piety with peace.

IX. GOODNESS.

Ye feraphs, who God's throne encircling still, With holy zeal your golden cenfers fill; Ye flaming minifters, to distant lands Who bear, obfequious, his divine commands; Ye cherubs who compofe the facred choir, Attuning to the voice th' angelic lyre! Or ye fair natives of the heav'nly plain, Who once were mortal-now a happier train! Who fpend in peaceful love your joyful hours, In blissful meads and amaranthine bow'rs, Oh lend one fpark of your celeftial fire, Oh deign my glowing bofom to inspire, And aid the Mufe's unexperienc'd wing, While Goodness, theme divine, the foars to fing!

Tho' all thy attributes divinely fair, Thy full perfection, glorious God! declare; Yet if one beams fuperior to the reft, Oh let thy goodnefs faireft be confefs'd: As fhines the moon amidst her starry train, As breathes the rofe amongst the flow'ry scene, As the mild dove her filver plumes difplays, So fheds thy mercy its diftinguith'd rays.

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