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Scripture indeed is plain; but God and he On Scripture ground are sure to disagree; Some wiser rule must teach him how to live, Than this his Maker has seen fit to give; Supple and flexible as Indian cane, To take the bend his appetites ordain; Contriv'd to suit frail Nature's crazy case, And reconcile his lusts with saving grace. By this, with nice precision of design, He draws upon life's map a zigzag line, That shows how far 'tis safe to follow sin, And where his danger and God's wrath begin. By this he forms, as pleas'd he sports along, His well-pois'd estimate of right and wrong; And finds the modish manners of the day, Though loose, as harmless as an infant's play. Build by whatever plan Caprice decrees, With what materials, on what ground you please; Your hope shall stand unblam'd, perhaps admir'd, If not that hope the Scripture has requir'd. The strange conceits, vain projects, and wild dreams, With which hypocrisy for ever teems, (Though other follies strike the public eye, And raise a laugh) pass unmolested by;

But if, unblameable in word and thought,
A man arise, a man whom God has taught,
With all Elijah's dignity of tone,

And all the love of the beloved John,
To storm the citadels they build in air,
And smite th' untemper'd wall; 'tis death to spare.
To sweep away all refuges of lies,

And place, instead of quirks themselves devise,
LAMA SABACTHANI before their eyes;

To prove, that without Christ all gain is loss, All hope despair, that stands not on his cross; Except the few his God may have impress'd, A tenfold frenzy seizes all the rest.

Throughout mankind, the Christian kind at least, There dwells a consciousness in ev'ry breast, That folly ends where genuine hope begins, And he that finds his Heav'n must lose his sins. Nature opposes with her utmost force This riving stroke, this ultimate divorce; And, while religion seems to be her view, Hates with a deep incerity the true: For this, of all that ever influenc'd man, Since Abel worshipp'd, or the world began, This only spares no lust, admits no plea, But makes him, if at all, completely free;

Sounds forth the signal, as she mounts her car,
Of an eternal, universal war;

Rejects all treaty, penetrates all wiles,

Scorns with the same indiff'rence frowns and smiles;
Drives through the realms of Sin, where Riot reels,
And grinds his crown beneath her burning wheels!
Hence all that is in man, pride, passion, art,
Pow'rs of the mind, and feelings of the heart,
Insensible of Truth's almighty charms,

Starts at her first approach, and sounds to arms!
While Bigotry, with well-dissembled fears,
His eyes shut fast, his fingers in his ears,
Mighty to parry and push by God's word
With senseless noise, his argument the sword,
Pretends a zeal for godliness and grace,
And spits abhorrence in the Christian's face.

Parent of Hope, immortal Truth! make known Thy deathless wreaths and triumphs all thine own: The silent progress of thy pow'r is such,

Thy means so feeble, and despis'd so much,

That few believe the wonders thou hast wrought, And none can teach them, but whom thou hast

taught.

O see me sworn to serve thee, and command

A painter's skill into a poet's hand,

That, while I trembling trace a work divine,
Fancy may stand aloof from the design,

And light, and shade, and ev'ry stroke be thine.
If ever thou hast felt another's pain,
If ever when he sigh'd hast sigh'd again,
If ever on thy eyelid stood the tear,

That pity had engender'd, drop one here.
This man was happy-had the World's good word,
And with it ev'ry joy it can afford;

Friendship and love seem'd tenderly at strife,
Which most should sweeten his untroubled life;
Politely learn'd, and of a gentle race,

Good breeding and good sense gave all a grace, And whether at the toilette of the fair

He laugh'd and trifled, made him welcome there, Or if in masculine debate he shar'd,

Ensur'd him mute attention and regard.

Alas how chang'd! Expressive of his mind,
His eyes are sunk, arms folded, head reclin'd;
Those awful syllables, Hell, death, and sin,
Though whisper'd, plainly tell what works within;
That Conscience there performs her proper part,
And writes a doomsday sentence on his heart;
Forsaking, and forsaken of all friends,
He now perceives where earthly pleasure ends;

Hard task! for one who lately knew no care, And harder still as learnt beneath despair; His hours no longer pass unmark'd away, A dark importance saddens ev'ry day; He hears the notice of the clock perplex'd And cries, Perhaps eternity strikes next; Sweet music is no longer music here, And laughter sounds like madness in his ear: His grief the World of all her pow'r disarms, Wine has no taste, and beauty has no charms: God's holy word, once trivial in his view, Now by the voice of his experience true, Seems, as it is, the fountain whence alone Must spring that hope he pants to make his own. Now let the bright reverse be known abroad; Say man's a worm, and pow'r belongs to God. As when a felon, whom his country's laws Have justly doom'd for some atrocious cause, Expects in darkness and heart-chilling fears The shameful close of all his misspent years; If chance, on heavy pinions slowly borne, A tempest usher in the dreadful morn, Upon his dungeon walls the lightning play, The thunder seems to summon him away,

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