Fair fun of righteoufnefs! in beauty rise,
And clear the mifts that cloud the heathen skies!
To Judah's remnant, now a scatter'd train,
Thou great Messiah! fhow thy promis'd reign;
O'er earth as wide, thy faving warmth diffuse,
As spreads the ambient air, or falling dews,
And hafte the time when, vanquish'd by thy pow'r,
Death fhall expire, and fin defile no more!
But, oh advent'rous Muse, restrain thy flight,
Dare not the blaze of uncreated light!
Before whofe glorious throne with dread furprize,
Th' adoring seraph veils his dazzled eyes;
Whofe pure effulgence, radiant to excess,
No colours can describe, or words express!
All the fair beauties, all the lucid stores,
Which o'er thy works thy hand refplendent pours;
Feeble, thy brighter glories to display,
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, emboss'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 dyes;
Yet these survey, confounded and outdone
By the fuperior luftre of the fun;
That fun himself withdraws his leffen'd beam
From Thee, the glorious author of his frame!
Transcendent pow'r! fole arbiter of fate!
How great thy glory! and thy bliss how great!
To view from thy exalted throne above,
(Eternal fource of light, and life, and love!)
Unnumber'd creatures draw their smiling birth,
To bless the heav'ns, or beautify the earth;
While systems roll, obedient to thy view,
And worlds rejoice-which Newton never knew!
Then raife the fong, the gen'ral 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 extensive ray,
With endless charms adorns the face of day;
Confenting raife th' harmonious joyful found,
And bear his praifes thro' the vast profound:
His praife, ye winds, that fan the chearful air,
Swift as ye pafs along your pinions bear!
*The Manucodota, or Bird of Paradise, feen in the Spice-Islands.
As we direct to God what should belong,
Or fay that fov'reign Wisdom governs wrong.
Nor always vice does uncorrected go,
Nor virtue unrewarded pass below!
Oft facred juftice lifts her awful head,
And dooms the tyrant and th' ufurper dead;
Oft Providence, more friendly than severe,
Arrests the hero in his wild career;
Directs the fever, poinard or the ball,
By which an Ammon, Charles, or Cæfar fall:
Or when the curfed Borgias * brew the cup
For merit,-bids the monsters drink it up;
On violence oft retorts the cruel fpear,
Or fetters cunning in its crafty fnare:
Relieves the innocent, exalts the juft,
And lays the proud oppreffor in the duft!
But faft as Time's swift pinions can convey,
Haftens the pomp of that tremendous day,
When to the view of all created eyes,
God's high tribunal shall majestic rise,
When the loud trumpet shall assemble round
The dead, reviving at the piercing found!
Where men and angels fhall to audit come,
And millions yet unborn receive their doom!
Then shall fair Providence, to all display'd,
Appear divinely bright without a fhade;
* Pope Alexander VI. and his fon, Cæfar Borgia. Mr. Gordon's history.
In light triumphant all her acts be shown,
And blushing doubt, eternal Wisdom own!
Mean while, thou great intelligence supreme,
Sov'reign director of this mighty frame,
Whose watchful hand, and all-observing ken,
Fashions the hearts, and views the ways
of men,
Whether thy hand the plenteous table spread,
Or measure sparingly the daily bread;
Whether or wealth or honours gild the scene,
Or wants deform, and wasting anguish stain;
On thee let truth and virtue firm rely,
Blefs'd in the care of thy approving eye!
Know that thy Providence, their constant friend,
Thro' life fhall guard them, and in death attend;
With everlasting arms their caufe embrace,
And crown the paths of piety with peace.
Ye Seraphs, who God's throne incircling still With holy zeal your golden cenfers fill;
Ye flaming minifters, to distant lands
Who bear, obfequious, his divine commands;
Ye Cherubs who compose the facred choir,
Attuning to your voice th' angelic lyre!
Or ye, fair natives of the heav'nly plain,
Who once were mortal-now a happier train!
Who spend in peaceful love your joyful hours,
In blissful meads and amaranthine bow'rs,
Oh deign my glowing bosom to inspire!
And aid the Mufe's unexperienc'd wing,
While Goodness, theme divine, fhe foars to fing!
Tho' all thy attributes divinely fair,
Thy full perfection, glorious God! declare;
Yet if one beam's fuperior to the rest,
Oh let thy Goodness fairest be confefs'd:
As fhines the moon amidst her starry train,
As breathes the rose amongst the flow'ry scene,
As the mild dove her filver plumes difplays,
So fheds thy Mercy its diftinguish'd rays.
This led, Creator mild, thy gracious hand,
When formless Chaos heard thy high command;
When pleas'd, thine eye thy matchlefs works review'd,
And Goodness, placid, spoke that all was good!
Nor only does in heaven thy Goodness shine,
Delighted nature feels its warmth divine;
The vital fun's illuminating beam,
The filver crefcent, and the starry gleam;
As day and night, alternate they command,
Proclaim this truth to ev'ry distant land.
See fmiling nature, with thy treasures fair,
Confefs thy bounty and parental care;
Renew'd by Thee, the faithful seasons rise,
And earth with plenty all her fons fupplies.
The generous lion and the brindled boar,
As nightly thro' the forest walks they roar,
|