Not like frail creature, subject to the laws Of force, nor influenc'd by a second cause; But has within himself all pow'r confin'd; Unbiass'd will, and unrepenting mind.

To whom all things, consistent with his view
Of right, are possible, and must ensue,

Each in th' appointed time, as he shall see
Most suitable to his divine decree.

Not to enlarge his glory, strength, or sway,

Which will not bear addition or decay,

But, by a living witness, to record

His justice, mercy, pow'r, and faithful word.
These, in unsullied blaze, shall shine, when all

Inferior lights to outward darkness fall;
When not a light exists, but such as gives
Reflection of that life, by which it lives.

XV.

Wide as the sun his friendly light displays,
Whate'er our hand erects, our eye surveys,
The proudest monument of human sway,
Like foam upon the beach, shall melt away.
He, that casts anchor on this sandy rock,
Is plung'd to sheer perdition with the shock.
But Faith, amid the storm, her voyage keeps,
Warn'd of the false repose and whirling deeps.
With full-stretch'd sail and stedfast eye, explores
A surer landing on serener shores.

XVI.

Thus when the stranger, with unsparing pow'r,

Laid low the crest of Salem's regal tower;
Whose sons, forgetful of their God, misus'd

His holy prophets, and his law refus'd,

The priest and people, joining hearts and hands,

Defil'd his courts with gods of heathen lands.

Heedless of Faith, by warning unreclaim'd,

With scorn the preacher, and his God they sham'd.
Till rous'd, th' almighty hand, which proffer'd love,
Pour'd out the wrathful vials from above.

Nor pow'r nor pray'r could save the guilty race,
Nor Zion's altar, God's own dwelling place;

Tho' for their safety a sure guard believ'd;—

A guard for sin, ob, fatally deceiv'd!

When the fierce Chaldee smote, with ruthless rage, The people of each rank, and sex, and age;

Or spar'd to suffer, in a foreign soil,

Pangs worse than death, and with a bondsman's toil.

Here, far from Salem's broken wall remov'd,

Faith found her sons, by their allegiance prov'd.

Yet that the Lord was near at their request,

Let the rare vict'ry which they won attest,

Let Dura's plain a long memorial raise,

And worlds to come, when this vain world decays;

Them not the tyrant's frown, nor smile could shame,

Nor furnace heated with a sevenfold flame;

All which they brav'd, and overcame them all,
For God was round them, like a brazen wall,
Restrain'd them from the foe's oppressive law,
From the fierce fire, and hungry lion's jaw.
-Thou, Lord, in all our trials and distress,
Shalt stretch thine arm in merciful redress!

And still thy pow'r, well-known in ancient days,
Shall yield to us an endless song of praise.

Ev'n when the flesh sinks deepest in the stream,

There shall descend a hope-reviving beam,

[dare

Bright beam! sweet hope! for which the soul would

Each woe, the heaviest earth can lay, to bear.

And once possess'd, could wealth untold be mine,

Not in th' exchange would I my prize resign;

Content to sell, and count it gladly sold―

The world, so might I that rich heirship hold;
So might the Spirit of all joy refresh

My soul, encumber'd with her dying flesh,
And groaning with the weight that bows her down
To earth's vain smile, to sin's unholy frown.
-Yet patiently she waits her better change,

That hour so sure to come, albeit so strange;

When she shall shed her garb of weary growth,

Which time so soon hath soil'd, and sin, and sloth

And, in a heav'nly garment cover'd o'er,

Enjoy her titles and decay no more.

XVII.

The thought of this sublime reform inspires
The soul with transports and unusual fires.
Cold be the heart, and cheerless as the clay-

If Faith once enter, all is blithe as day.