"Too harsh!that endless torments should repay "The crimes of life, the errors of a day!"

In vain our reason would prefumptuous pry;
God's counfels are beyond conception high:
In vain would thought his meafur'd justice fcan;
His ways! how different from the ways of man!
Too deep for thee his fecrets are to know,
Enquire not, but more wifely fhun the woe;
Warn'd by his threatenings, to his laws attend,
And learn to make omnipotence thy friend!
Our weaker laws, to gain the purpos'd ends,
Oft pafs the bounds the law-giver intends:
Oft partial power, to ferve its own defign,
Warps from the text, exceeding reafon's line;
Strikes, biafs'd, at the perfon, not the deed,
And fees the guiltlefs unprotected bleed!
But God alone, with unimpaffion'd fight,
Surveys the nice barrier of wrong and right;
And while, fubfervient, as his will ordains,
Obedient nature yields the present means;
While neither force nor paffions guide his views,
Ev'n evil works the purpose he pursues !
That bitter fpring, the fource of human pain,
Heal'd by his touch does mineral health contain ;
And dark affliction quits its fearsome shrowd
At his command, and brightens into good.
Thus human justice-(far as man can go)
For private safety strikes the dubious blow;

But

But rectitude divine, with nobler foul,
Confults each individual in the whole!
Directs the iffues of the mortal ftrife,
And fees creation struggle into life!

And you, ye happier fouls! who in his ways
Obfervant walk, and fing his daily praise !
Ye righteous few! whole calm unruffled breasts,
No fears can darken, and no guilt infefts;
To whom his gracious promises extend,

In whom they centre, and in whom shall end,
Which (bleft on that foundation fure who build)
Shall with eternal juftice be fulfill'd:

Ye fons of life, to whose glad hope is given
The bright reverfion of approaching heaven,
With grateful hearts his glorious praise recite,
Whofe love from darkness call'd you out to light;
So let your piety reflective shine,

As men may thence confefs his truth divine!
And when this mortal veil, as foon it muft,
Shall drop, returning to its native duft;
The work of life, with approbation done,
Receive from God your bright immortal crown!

IX. GLORY.

But, oh adventerous mufe, reftrain thy flight, Dare not the blaze of uncreated light!

His praise proclaim, ye monsters of the deep,
Who in the vaft abyfs your revels keep!

Before whose glorious throne, with dread surprize,
Th' adoring seraph veils his dazzled eyes;
Whofe pure effulgence, radiant to excefs,
No colours can describe, or words express!
All the fair beauties, all the lucid ftores,
Which o'er thy works thine hand refplendent pours ;
Feeble thy brighter glories to difplay,

Pale as the moon before the folar ray!

See on his throne the Hebrew monarch plac'd,
In all the pomp of the luxuriant eaft!
While mingling gems a borrow'd day unfold,
And the rich purple waves, embofs'd with gold;
Yet mark this scene of painted grandeur yield
To the fair lilly that adorns the field!
Obfcur'd, behold that fainter lilly lies,
By the rich bird's * inimitable dies;
Yet these survey, confounded and undone
By the fuperior luftre of the fun;

That fun himself withdraws his leffen'd beam
From thee, the glorious author of his frame!
Tranfcendent power! fole arbiter of fate!
How great thy glory! and thy bliss how great!
To view from thine exalted throne above,
(Eternal fource of light, and life, and love!)

The Bird of Paradife, feen in the Spice Iflands.

Unnumber'd

Unnumber'd creatures draw their smiling birth,
To bless the heavens, or beautify the earth;
While fystems roll, obedient to thy view,

And worlds rejoice-which Newton never knew!
Then raise the song, the general anthem raise,
And fwell the concert of eternal praise !

Affift ye orbs that form this boundless whole,
Which in the womb of space unnumber'd roll ;.
Ye planets, who compofe our leffer scheme,
And bend, concertive, round the folar frame;
Thou eye of nature, whofe extenfive ray,
With endless charms adorns the face of day!
Consenting raise th' harmonious joyful found,
And bear his praises thro' the vaft profound:
His praife, ye winds, that fan the cheerful air,
Swift as ye pass along your pinions bear!
His praise let ocean thro' her realms display,
Far as her circling billows can convey !
His praise, ye mifty vapours, wide diffuse,
In rains defcending, or in milder dews!
His praises whisper, ye majeftic trees,
As your tops rustle to the vocal breeze!
His praise around, ye flowery tribes exhale,
Far as your sweets embalm the spicy gale!
His praise, ye dimpled ftreams, to earth reveal,
As pleas'd ye murmur thro' the flowery vale!
His praise, ye feather'd choirs, diftinguish'd fing,
As to your notes the tuneful forests ring!

Or

Or ye, fair natives of our earthly scene,
Who range the wilds, or haunt the pasture green!

Nor thou, vain lord of earth, with careless ear,
The univerfal hymn of worship hear!

But ardent, in the facred chorus join,
Thy foul transported with the task divine!
While by his works th' almighty is confefs'd,
Supremely glorious, and fupremely blefs'd!

Great lord of life! from whom this humble frame
Derives the power to fing thy holy name,
Forgive the lowly muse, whose artless lay,
Has dar'd thy facred attributes furvey!
Delighted oft thro' nature's beauteous field
Has fhe ador'd thy wisdom bright reveal'd;
Oft have her wishes aim'd the secret song,
But awful reverence ftill with-held her tongue :
Yet as thy bounty lent the reasoning beam,
As feels my conscious breast thy vital flame;
So, bleft Creator, let thy fervant pay
His mite of gratitude this feeble way,
Thy goodness own, thy providence adore !
He yields thee only-what was thine before.

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