Possess herself of all that's good or true,
Assert the skies, and vindicate her due.
Past indiscretion is a venial crime,

And if the youth, unmellow'd yet by time,
Bore on his branch luxuriant then and rude'
Fruits of a blighted size, austere and crude,
Maturer years shall happier stores produce,
And meliorate the well concocted juice.
Then, conscious of her meritorious zeal,
To Justice she may make her bold appeal,
And leave to Mercy, with a tranquil mind,
The worthless and unfruitful of mankind.
Hear then how Mercy, slighted and defied,
Retorts the affront against the crown of Pride.
Perish the virtue, as it ought, abhorr'd,
And the fool with it, who insults his Lord.
The atonement, a Redeemer's love has wrought,
Is not for you the righteous need it not.
Seest thou yon harlot wooing all she meets,
The worn-out nuisance of the public streets,
Herself from morn to night, from night to morn,
Her own abhorrence, and as much your scorn:
The gracious show'r, unlimited and free,

Shall fall on her, when Heav'n denies it thee.

Of all that wisdom dictates this the drift,
That man is dead in sin, and life a gift.
Is virtue then, unless of Christian growth,
Mere fallacy, or foolishness, or both?
Ten thousand sages lost in endless wo,
For ignorance of what they could not know?
That speech betrays at once a bigot's tongue,
Charge not a God with such outrageous wrong.
Truly not I-the partial light men have,
My creed persuades me, well-employ'd, may save;
While he that scorns the noonday beam, perverse,
Shall find the blessing unimprov'd a curse.
Let heathen worthies, whose exalted mind
Left sensuality and dross behind,

Possess for me their undisputed lot,

And take unenvied the reward they sought.
But still in virtue of a Saviour's plea,
Not blind by choice, but destin'd not to see.
Their fortitude and wisdom were a flame
Celestial, though they knew not whence it came,
Deriv'd from the same source of light and grace,
That guides the Christian in his swifter race:
Their judge was conscience, and her rule their law,
That rule, pursued with rev'rence and with awe,

Led them, however falt'ring, faint, and slow,
From what they knew, to what they wish'd to know.
But let not him, that shares a brighter day,
Traduce the splendour of a noontide ray,
Prefer the twilight of a darker time,
And deem his base stupidity no crime;

The wretch, who slights the bounty of the skies,
And sinks, while favour'd with the means to rise,
Shall find them rated at their full amount,

The good he scorn'd all carried to account. Marshalling all his terrours as he came, Thunder, and earthquake, and devouring flame, From Sinai's top Jehovah gave the law, Life for obedience, death for ev'ry flaw. When the great Sov'reign would his will express, He gives a perfect rule, what can he less? And guards it with a sanction as severe As vengeance can inflict, or sinners fear: Else his own glorious rights he would disclaim, And man might safely trifle with his name. He bids him glow with unremitting love To all on Earth, and to himself above; Condemns th' injurious deed, the sland'rous tongue, The thought that meditates a brother's wrong:

Brings not alone the more conspicuous part,
His conduct, to the test, but tries his heart.

Hark! universal nature shook and groan'd, "Twas the last trumpet-see the Judge enthron'd: Rouse all your courage at your utmost need, Now summon ev'ry virtue, stand and plead. What! silent? Is your boasting heard no more? That self-renouncing wisdom, learn'd before, Had shed immortal glories on your brow, That all your virtues cannot purchase now. All joy to the believer! He can speakTrembling yet happy, confident yet meek.

Since the dear hour, that brought me to thy foot, And cut up all my follies by the root,

I never trusted in an arm but thine,
Nor hop'd, but in thy righteousness divine:
My pray'rs and alms, imperfect and defil'd,
Were but the feeble efforts of a child
Howe'er perform'd, it was their brightest part,
That they proceeded from a grateful heart
Cleans'd in thine own all-purifying blood,
Forgive their evil, and accept their good;
I cast them at thy feet-my only plea
Is what it was, dependence upon thee,

While struggling in the vale of tears below,
That never fail'd, nor shall it fail me now.
Angelic gratulations rend the skies,

Pride falls unpitied, never more to rise,

Humility is crown'd, and Faith receives the prize..