Ambling and prattling scandal as he goes; But rare at home, and never at his books, Or with his pen, save when he scrawls a card; Constant at routs, familiar with a round Of ladyships a stranger to the poor; Ambitious of preferment for its gold, And well prepared, by ignorance and sloth, By infidelity and love of world,
To make God's work a sinecure; a slave To his own pleasure and his patron's pride : From such apostles, oh, ye mitred heads, Preserve the church! and lay not careless hands On skulls that cannot teach, and will not learn.
Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul, Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own- Paul should himself direct me. I would trace His master-strokes, and draw from his design. I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain, And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture; much impress'd Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men. Behold the picture!-Is it like?-Like whom? The things that mount the rostrum with a skip, And then skip down again; pronounce a text; Cry-hem; and reading what they never wrote, Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, And with a well-bred whisper close the scene!
It happen'd, on a solemn even-tide,
Soon after He that was our surety died, Two bosom friends, each pensively inclined, The scene of all those sorrows left behind, Sought their own village, busied as they went, In musings worthy of the great event: 2 K
They spake of him they loved, of him whose life, Though blameless, had incurr'd perpetual strife, Whose deeds had left, in spite of hostile arts, A deep memorial graven on their hearts. The recollection, like a vein of ore,
The further traced, enrich'd them still the more They thought him, and they justly thought him, one Sent to do more than he appear'd t' have done; T'exalt a people, and to place them high Above all else, and wonder'd he should die. Ere yet they brought their journey to an end, A stranger join'd them, courteous as a friend, And ask'd them, with a kind engaging air, What their affliction was, and begg'd a share. Inform'd, he gather'd up the broken thread, And, truth and wisdom gracing all he said, Explain'd, illustrated, and search'd so well The tender theme on which they chose to dwell, That reaching home, The night, they said, is near, We must not now be parted, sojourn here- The new acquaintance soon became a guest, And, made so welcome at their simple feast, He bless'd the bread, but vanish'd at the word, And left them both exclaiming, 'Twas the Lord! Did not our hearts feel all He deign'd to say, Did they not burn within us by the way?
I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polish'd manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path; But he that has humanity, forewarn'd, Will tread aside, and let the reptile live. The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudes, A visitor unwelcome, into scenes
Sacred to neatness and repose-th' alcove, The chamber, or refectory-may die: A necessary act incurs no blame.
Not so when, held within their proper bounds, And guiltless of offence, they range the air, Or take their pastime in the spacious field: There they are privileged; and he that hunts Or harms them there is guilty of a wrong, Disturbs th' economy of Nature's realm, Who, when she form'd, design'd them an abode. The sum is this:-If man's convenience, health, Or safety interfere, his rights and claims Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs. Else they are all-the meanest things that are- As free to live, and to enjoy that life, As God was free to form them at the first, Who in His sovereign wisdom made them all. Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons To love it too. The spring-time of our years Is soon dishonour'd and defiled in most By budding ills, that ask a prudent hand To check them. But, alas! none sooner shoots, If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth, Than cruelty, most devilish of them all. Mercy to him that shews it is the rule And righteous limitation of its act,
By which Heaven moves in pardoning guilty man; And he that shews none, being ripe in years, And conscious of the outrage he commits, Shall seek it, and not find it, in his turn.
The Restoration of all Things.
The groans of Nature in this nether world, Which Heaven has heard for ages, have an end. Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung, Whose fire was kindled at the prophets' lamp, The time of rest, the promised sabbath, comes. Six thousand years of sorrow have well-nigh Fulfill'd their tardy and disastrous course Over a sinful world; and what remains
Of this tempestuous state of human things Is merely as the working of a sea
Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest:
For He, whose car the winds are, and the clouds The dust that waits upon His sultry march, When sin hath moved Him, and His wrath is hot, Shall visit earth in mercy; shall descend, Propitious, in His chariot paved with love; And what His storms have blasted and defaced For man's revolt, shall with a smile repair.
O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true, Scenes of accomplish'd bliss! which who can see, Though but in distant prospect, and not feel His soul refresh'd with foretaste of the joy? Rivers of gladness water all the earth,
And clothe all climes with beauty; the reproach Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field Laughs with abundance; and the land, once lean, Or fertile only in its own disgrace, Exults to see its thistly curse repeal'd. The various seasons woven into one, And that one season an eternal spring,
The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence, For there is none to covet, all are full.
The lion, and the libbard, and the bear
Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon Together, or all gambol in the shade
Of the same grove, and drink one common stream. Antipathies are none. No foe to man
Lurks in the serpent now: the mother sees, And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand Stretch'd forth to dally with the crested worm, To stroke his azure neck, or to receive The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue. All creatures worship man, and all mankind One Lord, one Father. Error has no place: That creeping pestilence is driven away; The breath of heaven has chased it. In the heart No passion touches a discordant string,
But all is harmony and love. Disease Is not the pure and uncontaminate blood Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age. One song employs all nations; and all cry, "Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain for us!" The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy; Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round. Behold the measure of the promise fill'd; See Salem built, the labour of a God! Bright as a sun the sacred city shines; All kingdoms and all princes of the earth Flock to that light; the glory of all lands Flows into her; unbounded is her joy, And endless her increase. Thy rams are there, Nebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there; The looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind, And Saba's spicy groves, pay tribute there; Praise is in all her gates: upon her walls, And in her streets, and in her spacious courts, Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there Kneels with the native of the furthest west; And Ethiopia spreads abroad the hand, And worships. Her report has travell❜d forth Into all lands. From every clime they come To see thy beauty and to share thy joy, O Sion! an assembly such as earth
Saw never, such as Heaven stoops down to see.
Come then, and, added to Thy many crowns, Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth, Thou who alone art worthy! It was Thine By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth;
And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,
And overpaid its value with Thy blood.
Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their hearts Thy title is engraven with a pen
Dipp'd in the fountain of eternal love.
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