Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

Their parents' love and care they overlook,
As if relation had them quite forsook.

They take the counsels of the wanton, rather
Than the most grave instructions of a father.
They reckon parents ought to do for them,
Though they the Fifth Commandment do contemn;
They snap and snarl, if parents them controul,
Although in things most hurtful to the soul.
They reckon they are masters, and that we,
Who parents are, should to them subject be!
If parents fain would have a hand in choosing,
The children have a heart still in refusing.
They by wrong doings from their parents gather,
And say it is no sin to rob a father.

They'll jostle parents out of place and power,
They'll make themselves the head, and them devour.
How many children, by becoming head,
Have brought, their parents to a piece of bread?
Thus they who at the first their parents joy,
Turn that to bitterness, themselves destroy.

But, wretched Child, how canst thou thus requite
Thy aged parents, for that great delight
They took in thee, when thou, as helpless, lay
In their indulgent bosoms day by day?

Thy mother, long before she brought thee forth,

Took care thou should'st want neither food nor cloth.

Thy father glad was at his very heart,
Had he, to thee, a portion to impart.
Comfort they promised themselves in thee,
But thou, it seems, to them a grief wilt be.
How oft-how willingly brake they their sleep,
If thou, their bantling, didst but winch or weep.
Their love to thee was such, they could have given,
That thou might'st live all but their part of heaven.

But now, behold! how they rewarded are,
For their indulgent love and tender care;
All is forgot, this love they do despise,

They brought this bird up to pick out their eyes.

A SHEET OF WHITE PAPER.

THIS Paper's handled by the sons of men,
Both with the fairest and the foulest pen.
Twill also shew what is upon it writ,
Whether is wisely done, or void of wit.
Each blot and blur it also will expose
To the next readers, be they friends or foes..

COMPARISON.

Some Souls are like unto this Blank, or Sheet, (Though not in whiteness;) the next man they meet, Be what he will, a good man or deluder, A kuave or fool, the dangerous intruder May write thereon, to cause that man to err, In doctrine, or in life, with blot or blur. Nor will that soul conceal wherein it swerves, But shew itself to each one that observes. A reading man may know who was writer, And, by the hellish nonsense, the inditer.

THE FIRE.

WHо falls into the fire shall burn with heat,
While those remote scorn from it to retreat.
Yea, while those in it cry out, Oh, I burn!
Some, further off, those cries to laughter turn.

COMPARISON.

While some tormented are in hell for sin, On earth some greatly do delight therein. Yea, while some make it echo with their cry, Others count it a fable and a lie.

END OF THE EMBLEMS.

A

CAUTION

TO STIR UP

TOWATCH AGAINST SIN.

THE first eight lines oue did commend to me,
The rest I thought good to commend to thee:
Reader, in reading, be thou ruled by me,
With truths, not rhimes, nor lines affected be.

I.

SIN will at first just like a beggar crave,
One penny or one half-penny to have:
But, if that suit be granted, 'twill aspire
From pence to pounds, and still will mount up higher.
To the whole soul; but if it makes its moan,
Then say, Here is nought for you, get you gone,
For if you give it entrance at the door,

It will come in, and may go out no more.

11.

SIN, rather than 't will out of action be, Will beg to stay, though a short space, with thee. One night, one hour, one moment, will it cry; Embrace me in thy bosom or I die! Time to repent (saith it) I will allow : And help if to repent thou know'st not how. But if you give it entrance at the door, It will come in, and may go out no more.

[ocr errors]

III.

If begging doth not do, SIN promise will Rewards to those that shall its lusts fulfil;

Some pence, yea, and some pounds, 't will offer thee,

If at its beck and motion thou wilt be.

"Twill seem to out-bid heaven, thy love to gain;
And win upon thee, it to entertain.

But give it not admittance at thy door,
Lest it come in, and so go out no more.

IV.

If promising and begging will not do,
"Twill, by its wiles, attempt to flatter you.
"I'm harmless, mean no ill, be not so shy,"
Will ev'ry soul-destroying motion cry.
Its sting 't will hide, 't will change its native hue,
And as a beauty 't will appear to you.

But if you give it entrance at the door,
It will come in, and may go out no more.

V.

Rather than fail, SIN will itself divide :
Bid thee do this, and lay the rest aside.
Take little sins, ('twill say,) throw great ones by,
(As if for little sins, men should not die.)
Yea, with itself, a quarrel 't will maintain,
On purpose that by it thou might'st be slain.
Beware the cheat then, keep it out of door,
It would come in, and would go out no more.

VI.

SIN, if you will believe it, will accuse

What is not hurtful, and itself excuse:

"Twill make a vice of virtue, and 'twill say, Good is destructive, doth men's souls betray; 'Twill make a law where God has made man free, And break those laws by which men bounded be. Look to thyself then, keep it out of door,

Thee 't would entangle, and enlarge thy score.

VII.

SIN is that beastly thing that will defile Both soul and body in a little while:

"Twill make him who some time God's image was, Look like the devil, love and plead his cause; Like to the plague, poison, or leprosy,

It will defile and spread contagiously.

Wherefore, beware; against it, shut the door;
If not, it will defile thee more and more.

[ocr errors]

SIN, once possessed of the heart, will play The tyrant, force its vassal to obey:

"Twill make thee thine own happiness oppose:
And offer open violence to those

That love thee best: yea, make thee to defy
The law and counsel of the Deity.

Beware then, keep this tyrant out of door,
Lest thou be his, and so thy own no more.

[ocr errors]

SIN harden can thy heart against thy God,
Make thee abuse His grace, despise His rod;
"Twill make you on the very pikes to run,
Till you are irrecoverably undone :

Judgments forseen will not deter the soul;
For one base lust you'll venture heaven and all.
Take heed then, hold it, crush it at the door,
It comes to rob thee, and to make thee poor.

X.

SIN is a prison, hath its bolts and chains, Brings into bondage whom it entertains; Hangs shackles on him, bends him to his will,

Holds him as Sampson, grinding at the mill; "Twill blind him, make him deaf; yea, 'twill him gag, And ride him as the devil rides his hag.

Wherefore look to it, keep it out of door;

If once its slave, thou may'st be free no more.

G

« ForrigeFortsett »