Of the huge Pyrenean, to detect The agate and the deep-intrenched gem Of kindred jafper-Nature in them both Delights to play the mimic on herfelf; And in their veins fhe oft pourtrays the forms Of leaning hills, of trees erect, and streams Now ftealing foftly on, now thundering down In defperate cafcade, with flowers and beasts, And all the living landfkip of the vale: In vain thy pencil, Claudio or Pouffin, Or thine, immortal Guido, would effay Such fkill to imitate-it is the hand
Of God himfelf--for God himself is there. [vance Hence with th' afcending fprings let me ad- Thro beds of magnets, minerals, and fpar, Up to the mountain's fummit, there t'indulge Th'ambition of the comprehenfive eye, That dares to call th horizon all her own. Behold the foreft, and th' expansive verdure Of yonder level lawn, whofe imooth-fhorn fod No object interrupts, unless the oak His lordly head uprears, and branching arms Extends Behold in regal folitude, And paftoral magnificence, he ftands So fimple, and fo great, the under-wood Of meaner rank an awful diftance keep. Yet thou art there, yet God himself is there, Ev'n on the bufh (tho' not as when to Mofes He fhone in burning majefty reveal'd). Nathlefs confpicuous in the linnet's throat Is his unbounded goodness-Thee her Maker, Thee her Preferver chaunts fhe in her fong; While all the emulative vocal tribe The grateful leilon learn-no other voice. Is heard, no other found-for, in attention Buried, ev'n babling Echo holds her peace. Now from the plains, where the unbounded pro- Gives liberty her utmoft fcope to range, [fpect Turn we to yon inclofures, where appears Chequer'd variety in all her forms, Which the vague mind attract, and still suspend With fweet perplexity. What are yon towers, The work of labouring men and clumsy art, Seen with the ringdove's neft? On that tall beech Her penfile houfe the feather'd artist builds→ The rocking winds moleft her not; for fee With fuch due poife the wondrous fabric's hung, That, like the compats in the bark, it keeps 'True to itself, and itedfaft ev'n in ftorms. Thou idcot, that afferts there is no God, View, and be dumb for ever- Go bid Vitruvius or Palladio build The bee his manfion, or the ant her cave- Go call Correggio, or let Titian come [cherry To paint the hawthorn's bloom, or teach the To blush with juft vermilion-Hence away- Hence, ye profane! for God himfelf is here. Vain vere th' attempt, and impious, to trace Thro' all his works th' Artificer Divine- And tho' nor fhining fun, nor twinkling ftar, Bedeck'd the crimfon curtains of the sky; Tho' neither vegetable, beaft, nor bird Were extant on the furface of this ball, Nor lurking gum beneath; tho' the great fea
Slept in profound ftagnation, and the air Had left no thunder to pronounce its Maker; Yet man at home, within himself, might find The Deity immenfe, and in that frame, So fearfully, fo wonderfully made,
See and adore his providence and power
I fee, and I adore-O God most bounteous ! O infinite of goodness and of glory, [The The knee that thou haft fhap'd fhall bend t The tongue which thou haft tun'd fhall chau: thy praife;
And thine own image, the immortal foul, Shall confecrate herself to Thee for ever.
$49. On the Omnifcience of the Supreme Being SMART
ARISE, divine Urania, with new strains
To hymn thy God! and thou, immortal Fama Arife and blow thy everlafting trump! All glory to the Cmnifcient, and praife, And power, and domination in the height! And thou, cherubic Gratitude, whofe voice To pious cars founds filverly fo fweet, Come with thy precious incenfe, bring thy gifts, And with thy choiceft ftores the altar crown. Thou too, my heart, whom Hic, and He alone Who all things knows, can know, with love reRegenerate, and pure, pour all thyfelf A living facrifice before his throne! And may th' eternal, high, myfterious tree, That in the centre of the arched heavens branch Bears the rich fruit of knowledge, with fork Stoop to my humble reach, and blefs my toil! When in my mother's womb conceal'd I lay, A fenfelefs embryo, then my foul thou knew it, Knew'ft all her future workings, every thought, And every faint idea yet unform'd. When up the imperceptible afcent Of growing years, led by thy hand, I rose, Perception's gradual light, that ever dawns Infenfibly to day, thou didft vouchfafe, And taught me by that reafon thou infpir'dft, That what of knowledge in my mind was low, Imperfect, incorrect-in Thee is wondrous, Uncircumfcrib'd, unfearchably profound, And eftimable folely by itself.
What is that fecret pow'r that guides the brute Which Ignorance calls Inftinct? Tis from Thee; It is the operation of thine hands,
Immediate, inftantaneous; 'tis thy wifdom That glorious fhines tranfparent thro' thy works Who taught the pve, or who forewarn'd the jay, To fun the deadly night fhade? Tho' the cherry Boats not a gloffier hue, nor does the plum Lure with more feeming fweets the amorous eye Yet will not the fagacious birds, decoy'd By fair appearance, touch the noxious fruit. They know to tafte is fatal, whence, alarm'd, Swift on the winnowing winds theyworktheir way Go to, proud reafoner, philofophic man, Haft thou fuch prudence, thou fuch knowledge? Full many a race has fall'n into the fnare [-No. Of meretricious looks, of pleafing furface; And oft in defart ifles the famifh'd pilgrim,
By forms of fruit, and luscious tafte, beguil'd, Like his forefather Adam, eats and dies. For why his wifdom on the leaden feet Or flow Experience, dully tedious, creeps, And comes, like vengeance, after long delay. The venerable fage, that nightly trims The learned lamp, t' inveftigate the powers Of plants medicinal, the carth, the air, And the dark regions of the foffil world, Grows old in following what he ne'er fall find; Stadious in vain! till haply at the last He fpics a mift, then fhapes it into mountains, And battlefs fabrics from conjecture builds: While the domeftic animal, that guards At midnight hours his threshold, if opprefs'd By fudden ficknefs, at his master's fect Begs not that aid his fervices might claim, But is his own physician, knows the cafe, And from th' emetic herbage works his cure. Hak from afar the feather'd matron* fcreams, And all her brood alarms! The docile crew Accept the fignal one and all, expert In th' art of Nature and unlearn'd deceit: Along the fod, in counterfeited death, Mute, motionless they lie; full well appriz'd, That the rapacious adverfary's near.
But who inform'd her of th' approaching danger? Who taught the cautious mother, that the hawk Was hatch'd her foe, and liv'd by her destruction? Her own prophetic foul is active in her, And more than human providence her guard. When Philomela, cre the cold domain Of crippled Winter 'gins t' advance, prepares Her annual flight, and in some poplar shade Takes her melodious leave, who then's her pilot: Who points her paffage thro' the pathlefs void To realms from us remote, to us unknown? Her fcience is the fcience of her God. Not the magnetic index to the North
E er afcertains her courfe, nor buoy, nor beacon: She, Heaven-taught voyager, that fails in air, Courts nor coy Weft nor East, but inftant knows What Newton or not fought, or fought in vain †. Illuftrious name! irrefragable proof Of man's vaft genius, and the foaring foul! Yet what wert thou to Him, who knew his works Before creation form'd them, long before He meafur'd in the hollow of his hand Th exulting ocean, and the higheft heavens He comprehended with a fpan, and weigh'd The mighty mountains in his golden fcales; Who fhone fupreme, who was himself the light, Ere vet refraction learn'd her skill to paint, And bend athwart the clouds her beauteous bow. When Knowledge at her father's dread com- Refign'd to Ifrael's king her golden key, [mand O' to have join'd the frequent auditors In wonder and delight, that whilom heard Great Solomon defcanting on the brutes. O how fublimely glorious to apply To God's own honour, and good-will to man, That wifdom he alone of men poffets'd
In plenitude fo rich, and scope fo rare. How did he roufe the pamper'd filken fons Of bloated Eafe, by placing to their view The fage induftrious Ant, the wifeft infect, And beft acconoinift of all the field! Tho' fhe prefumes not by the folar orb To measure times and feafons, nor confults Chaldean calculations, for a guide; Yet, confcious that December's on the march, Pointing with icy hand to Want and Woe, She waits his diie approach, and undismay'd Receives him as a welcome guest, prepar'd Against the churlish Winter's fierceft blow. For when as yet the favourable Sun Gives to the genial carth th' enlivening ray, Not the poor fuffering flave, that hourly toils To rive the groaning earth for ill-fought gold, Endures fuch trouble, fuch fatigue, as fhe; While all her fubterraneous avenues, [meet And ftorm-proof cells, with management most And unexampled housewifery the forms: Then to the field the hies, and on her back, Burden immenfe! the bears the cumbrous corn. Then many a weary step, and many a ftrain, And many a grievous groan subdued, at length Up the huge hill the hardly heaves it home: Nor refts the here her providence, but nips With fubtle tooth the grain, left from her garner In mischievous fertility it steal,
And back to day-light vegetate its way. Go to the Ant, thou fluggard, learn to live, And by her wary ways reform thine own. But if thy deaden'd fenfe, and liftlefs thought, More glaring evidence demand; behold, Where yon pellucid populous hive prefents A yet uncopied model to the world! There Machiavel in the reflecting glafs May read himself a fool. The chemist there May with aftonifhment invidious view His toils outdone by each plebeian bee, Who, at the royal inandate, on the wing From various herbs, and from difcordant flowers, A perfect harmony of fweets compounds.
Avaunt, Conceit Ambition, take thy flight Back to the Prince of vanity and air' O! 'tis a thought of energy moft piercing; [force. Form'd to make Pride grow humble; form d to Its weight on the reluctant mind, and give her ̧ A true but irkfome image of herself.
Woeful viciffitude! when man, fallen man, Who firft from Heaven, from gracious God himfelf Learn'd knowledge of the brutes, must know, by
Still is there fcope for wonder and for love Ev'n to their laft exertion-fhowers of bleflings Far more than human virtue can deserve, Or hope expect, or gratitude return. Then, O ye people, O ye fons of men, Whatever be the colour of your lives, Whatever portion of itfelf his Wisdom Shall deign t' allow, ftill patiently abide, And praife him more and more; nor ceafe to chaunt "All glory to th' Omnifcient, and praife, "And power, and domination in the height! "And thou, cherubic Gratitude, whofe voice "To pious ears founds filverly fo sweet, "Come with thy precious incenfe, bring thy gifts, "And with thy choiceft ftores the altar crown." ΤΩ ΘΕΩ ΔΟΞΑ.
$ to• On the Power of the Supreme Being. SMART. TREMBLE, thou Earth!"' th'anointed poet [tains! "At God's bright prefence; tremble, all ye moun- "And all ye hillocks on the furface bound!" Then once again, ye glorious thunders, roll! The Mufe with transport hears ye; once again Convulfe the folid continent! and shake, Grand mufic of Omnipotence, the ifles! 'Tis thy terrific voice, thou God of power, 'Tis thy terrific voice; all nature hears it, Awaken'd and alarm'd; the feels its force; In every fpring the feels it, every wheel, And every movement of her vaft machine. Behold! quakes Apennine; behold! recoils Athos; and all the hoary-headed Alps Leap from their bafes at the godlike found. But what is this, celeftial tho' the note, And proclamation of the reign fupreme, Compar'd with fuch as, for a mortal ear Too great, amaze the incorporeal worlds? Should Ocean to his congregated waves Call in each river, cataract, and lake, And with the wat'ry world down a huge rock Fall headlong in one horrible cafcade, 'Twere but the echo of the parting breeze, When zephyr faints upon the lily's breast; 'Twere but the ceafing of fome inftrument, When the last lingering undulation Dies on the doubting car, if nam'd with founds So mighty fo ftupendous! fo divine!
But not alone in the aerial vault Does He the dread theocracy maintain; For oft, enrag'd with his inteftine thunders, He harrows up the bowels of the earth, And fhocks the central magnet-Cities then Totter on their foundations, ftately columns, Magnific walls, and heaven-affaulting fpires. What tho' in haughty eminence erect Stands the strong citadel, and frowns defiance On adverfe hofts; tho' many a bastion jut Forth from the rampart's elevated mound; Vain the poor providence of human art, And mortal strength how vain! while underneath Triumphs his nining vengeance in th' uproar Of flatter'd towers, riven rocks, and nountains,
With clamour inconceivable uptorn, And hurl'd adown th' abyfs. Sulphureous pyrites Burfting abrupt from darknefs into day, With din outrageous and deftructive ire, Augment the hideous tumult, while it wounds Th' afflictive car, and terrifies the eye, And rends the heart in twain. Twice have we felt, Within Augufta's walls twice have we felt, Thy threaten'd indignation: but even Thou, Incens'd Omnipotent, art gracious ever; Thy goodness infinite but mildly warn'd us, With mercy-blended wrath; O fpare us ftill, Nor fend more dire conviction! We confefs That thou art He, th' Almighty: we believe. For at thy righteous power whole fyftems quake; For at thy nod tremble ten thousand worlds.
Hark! on the winged whirlwind's rapid rage, Which is and is not in a moment-hark! On th' hurricane's tempeftuous fweep he rides Invincible, and oaks, and pines, and cedars, And forests are no more. For, conflict dreadful! The Weft encounters Eaft, and Notus meets In his career the Hyperborean blaft. The lordly lions fhuddering feek their dens, And fly like timorous deer; the king of birds, Who dar'd the folar ray, is weak of wing, And faints,and falls,and dies;-while He fupreme Stands ftedfaft in the centre of the storm.
Wherefore, ye objects terrible and great, Ye thunders, earthquakes, and ye fire-fraught Of fell volcanos, whirlwinds, hurricanes, [wombs And boiling billows, hail! in chorus join To celebrate and magnify your Maker,
Who yet in works of a minuter mould Is not lefs manifeft, is not lefs mighty.
Survey the magnet's fympathetic love, That woos the yielding needle; contemplate Th' attractive amber's power, invisible Ev'n to the mental eye; or when the blow Sent from th' electric fphere affaults thy frame, Shew me the hand that dealt it! — Baffled here By his Omnipotence, Philofophy
Slowly her thoughts inadequate revolves, And ftands,with all his circlingwonders round her, Like heavy Saturn in th'ethereal ipace Begirt with an inexplicable ring.
If fuch the operations of his power, Which at all feafons and in every place (Rul'd by establish'd laws and current nature) Arreft th' attention; who, oh who fhall tell His acts miraculous? when his own decrees Repeals he, or fufpends; when by the hand Of Mofes or of Joshua, or the mouths Of his prophetic feers, fuch deeds he wrought, Before th' aftonifh'd fun's all-feeing eye, That faith was scarce a virtue. Need I fing The fate of Pharaoh and his numerous band Loft in the reflux of the wat'ry walls, That melted to their fluid ftate again? Need I recount how Sampton's warlike arın With more than inortal nerves was ftrung, t' o'er-. Idolatrous Philiftia? Shall I tell
How David triumph'd, and what Job sustain'd? But, O fupreme, unutterable mercy!
O love unequall'd, myftery immense, Which angels long t' unfold! 'tis man's redemption That crowns thy glory, and thy power confirms; Confirms the great, th' uncontroverted claim. When from the Virgin's unpolluted womb Shone forth the Sun of Righteousness reveal'd, And en benighted reafon pour'd the day; "Let there be peace !" he said, and all was calm Amongst the warring world-calm as the fea When, "O be ftill, ye boisterous winds!" he cried,
And not a breath was blown, nor murmur heard. His was a life of miracles and might, And charity and love, ere yet he tafte The bitter draught of death, ere yet he rife Victorious o'er the univerfal foc, And death, and fin, and hell in triumph lead. His by the right of conqueft is mankind, And in fweet fervitude and golden bonds Were tied to him for ever.-O how easy Is his ungalling yoke, and all his burdens 'Tis ecítaly to bear! Him, blessed Shepherd! His flocks fhall follow thro' the maze of life, And shades that tend to day-spring from on high; And as the radiant rofcs, after fading, In fuller foliage and more fragrant breath Revive in fmiling spring, so fhall it fare With those that love him-for fweet is their fa- And all Eternity shall be their fpring. Then fhall the gates and everlasting doors, At which the King of Glory enters in, Be to the faints unbarr'd: and there, where plea- Boafts an undying bloom, where dubious hope Is certainty, and grief-attended love Is freed from paffion-there we'll cclebrate, With worthier numbers, Him who is, and was, And, in immortal prowefs King of kings, Shall be the monarch of all worlds for ever.
Ifrael's sweet Pfalmift, who alone couldst wake Th' inanimate to motion; who alone The joyful hillocks, the applauding rocks, And floods, with mufical perfuafion drew; Thou, who to hail and fnow gav'ft voice and found, And mad ft the mute melodious!-greater yet Was thy divinest skill, and rul'd o'er more Than art and nature; for thy tuneful touch Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul, And quell'd the evil Angel :-in this breast Some portion of thy genuine fpirit breathe, And lift me from myself; each thought impure Banifh; cach low idea raife, refine, Enlarge, and fanétify;-fo fhall the Muse Above the stars afpire, and aim to praise Her God on earth as he is prais'd in heaven. Immenfe Creator! whofe all-powerful hand Fran'd univerfal Being, and whole eye
Saw, like thyfelf, that all things form'd were good; Where fhall the timorous Bard thy praife begin, Where end the pureft facrifice of fong, light, And juft thanksgiving?-The thougl.t-kindling Thy prime production, darts upon my mind Its vivifying beains, my heart illumines, And fills my foul with gratitude and Thee. Hail to the cheerful rays of ruddy morn, That paint the ftreaky Eaft, and blithfome roufe The birds, the cattle, and mankind from reft! Hail to the freshnefs of the early breeze, And Iris dancing on the new-fall'n dew! Without the aid of yonder golden globe, Loft were the garnet's luftre, loft the lily, The tulip and auricula's spotted pride; Loft were the peacock's plumage, to the fight So pleafing in its pomp and gloily glow. O thrice-illuftrious! were it not for Thee, Thofe panfics, that reclining from the bank, View thro' th' immaculate pellucid stream Their portraiture in the inverted heaven, Might as well change their triple boast, the white, The purple, and the gold that far outvie The Eaftern monarch's garb, ev'n with the dock, Ev'n with the baleful hemlock's irkfome green. Without thy aid, without thy gladfome beams, The tribes of woodland warblers would remain Mute on the bending branches, nor recite The praife of Him, who, ere he form'd their lord, Their voices tun'd to tranfport, wing'd their Aight,
And bade them call for nurture, and receive : And lo! they call; the black bird and the thrush, The woodlark and the redbreaft, jointly call; He hears, and feeds their feather'd families; He feeds his fweet muticians,-nor neglects Th' invoking ravens in the greenwood wide; And tho' their throats coarfe rattling hurt the car, They mean it all for mufic, thanks and praite They mean, and leave ingratitude to man :- But no tto all-for, hark! the organs blow Their fwelling notes round the cathedral's dome, And grace th harmonious choir, celeftial feaft
To pious cars, and medicine of the mind! The thrilling trebles and the manly base Join in accordance mect, and with one voice All to the facred fubject fuit their fong. While in each breaft fweet melancholy reigns Angelically penfive, till the joy
Improves and purifies; the folemn scene The Sun thro' ftoried panes furveys with awe, And bathfully withholds cach bolder beam. Here, as her home, from morn to eve frequents The cherub Gratitude; behold her eyes! With love and gladnefs weepingly they fhed Ecftatic smiles; the incenfe, that her hands Uprear, is fweeter than the breath of May Caught from the nectarine's bloffom, and her voice Is more than voice can tell; to him the fings, To Him who feeds, who clothes, and who adorns, Who made, and who preferves, whatever dwells In air, in ftedfaft earth, or fickle fua,
See this conjecture ftrongly fuppor ed by Delany, in his Life of David.
O He is good, He is immenfely good! [man;] Who all things form'd, and form'd them all for Who mark'd the climates, varied every zone, Difpenfing all his bleffings for the beft, In order and in beauty:-rife, attend, Atteft, and praife, ye quarters of the world! Bow down, ye elephants, fubmiffive bow To Him who made the mite! Tho' Afia's pride, Ye carry armies on your tower-crown'd backs, And grace the turban'd tyrants, bow to Him Who is as great, as perfect, and as good In his lefs ftriking wonders, till at length The eye's at fault, and fecks th' aflifting glafs. Approach, and bring from Araby the Bleft The fragrant caffia, frankincenfe, and myrrh, And meekly kneeling at the altar's foot, Lay all the tributary incente down. Stoop, feeble Africa, with reverence stoop, And from thy brow take off the painted plume; With golden ingots all thy camels load Tadorn his temples; haften with thy spear Reverted, and thy trufty bow untirung, While unpurfued thy lions roam and roar, And ruind towers, rude rocks, and caverns wide Re-murmur to the glorious, furly found. And thou, fair Indian, whofe immenfe domain To counterpoife the Hemifphere extends, But, taught by thy unerring rules Hafte from the Weft, and with thy fruits and flow-To thun the fruitlefs with of fools, Thy mines and med'cines, wealthy maid, attend. More than the plenteoufnefs fo fam'd to flow By fabling bards from Amalthea's horn Is thine; thine therefore be a portion due [crown Of thanks and praife: come with thy brilliant And veft of fur; and from thy fragrant lap Pomegranates and the rich ananas pour. But chiefly thou, Europa, feat of Grace And Chriftian excellence, his Goodnefs own, Forth from ten thoufand temples pour his praife. Clad in the armour of the living God, Approach, unheath the Spirit's flaming fword; Faith's fhield, falvation's glory-compafs'd helm With fortitude affume, and o'er your heart Fair Truth's invulnerable b:caft-plate spread; Then join the general chorus of all worlds, And let the fong of Charity begin
And quits the time-fhook tow'r, Where, shelter'd from the blaze of day, In philofophic gloom he lay,
Beneath his ivy bow'r.
With joy I hear the folemn found, Which might echoes waft around, And fighing 8 Favrite of Ps! I attend, les repeat:
And, faithful to thy fummons, bend
At Wdoin's awful feat.
She loves the cool, the filent evc, Where no falie fhows of life deceive,
Both the lunar ray:
Here Folly drops cach vain disguise, Nor sports he gaily-colour'd dyes, As in the glare of day.
O Pallas! queen of ev'ry art,
hat glads the fenfe, or mends the heart," Bleft fource of purer joys; In ev'ry form of beauty bright, That captivates the mental fight With pleafure and furprize; To thy unfpotted fhrine I bow, Aflift thy modeft fuppliant's vow, That breathes no wild defires:
In ftrains feraphic, and melodious prayer: "O all-fufficient, all-beneficent,
"Thou God of Goodnefs and of Glory, hear! "Thou, who to loweft minds doft condefcend, "Affumitg paffions to enforce thy laws, "Adopting jealoufy to prove thy love: "Thou, who refign'd humility uphold it, "Ev'n as the florift props the drooping rofe, "But quell'ft tyrannic pride with peerlefs power,
Ev'n as the tempeft rives the ftubborn oak: "O all-fufficient, all-beneficent, "Thou God of Goodness and of Glory, hear! "Biefs all mankind; and bring them in the end "To heav'n, to immortality, and Thee!"
52. Ode to Wijdom. Mifs CARTER.
T HE folitary bird of night
To nobler views afpires.
Not Fortune's gem, Ambition's plume, Nor Cytherea's fading bloom,
Be objects of my pray'r. Let av rice, vanity, and pride, Thefe glitt'ring envied toys divide, The dull rewards of care.
To me thy better gifts impart, Each moral beauty of the heart,
By ftudious thought refin'd: For wealth, the fimiles of glad content; l'or pow'r, its ampleft, belt extent,
An empire o'er my mind.
When Fortune drops her gay parade, When pleature's tranfient rofes fade, And wither in the tomb, Unchang'd is thy immortal prize, Thy ever-verdant laurels rife In undecaying bloom. By thee protected, I defy
The coxcomb's fncer, the ftupid lye Of igno, ance and ipite; Alike contemn the leaden fool, And all the pointed ridicule
Of undifcerning wit.
From envy, hurry, noife, and ftrife, The dull impertinence of life,
In thy retreat I reft; Pursue thee to thy peaceful groves, Where Plato's facred fpirit roves, In all thy graces drett.
He bid Ilyffus' tuneful ftream
Thro' the pale fhades now wings his flight, Convey the philofophic theme
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