The Works of Mr. John Oldham :: :: University of Virginia Library

To Thee, O God, we thy just Praises sing,
To Thee we Thy great Name rehearse:
We are Thy Vassals, and this humble Tribute bring
To Thee, acknowledg'd only Lord and King,
Acknowledg'd sole and Sovereign Monarch of the Universe.
All parts of this wide Universe adore,
Eternal Father, thy Almighty power:
The Skies, and Stars, Fire, Air, and Earth, and Sea,
With all their numerous nameless Progeny

108

Confess, and their due Homage pay to thee;
For why? thou spak'st the Word, and mad'st them all from Nothing be.
To thee all Angels, all thy glorious Court on high,
Seraph and Cherub, the Nobility,
And whatsoever Spirits be
Of lesser Honour, less Degree;
To Thee in heav'nly Lays
They sing loud Anthems of immortal Praise:
Still Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Hosts they cry,
This is their bus'ness, this their sole employ,
And thus they spend their long and blest Eternity.

2.

Farther than Natures utmost shores and limits stretch
The streams of thy unbounded Glory reach;
Beyond the straits of scanty Time, and Place,
Beyond the ebbs and flows of matter's narrow Seas
They reach, and fill the Ocean of Eternity and Space.

109

Infus'd like some vast mighty soul,
Thou do'st inform and actuate this spacious whole:
Thy unseen hand does the well-joynted Frame sustain,
Which else would to its primitive Nothing shrink again.
But most thou do'st thy Majesty display
In the bright Realms of everlasting Day:
There is Thy residence, there do'st Thou reign,
There on a State of dazling Lustre sit,
There shine in Robes of pure refined Light;
Where Sun's coarse Rays are but a Foil and Stain,
And refuse Stars the sweepings of thy glorious Train.

3.

There all Thy Family of menial Saints,
Huge Colonies of bless'd Inhabitants,
Which Death through countless Ages has transplanted hence,
Now on Thy Throne for ever wait,
And fill the large Retinue of thy heav'nly State.

110

There reverend Prophets stand, a pompous goodly show,
Of old thy Envoys extraordinary here,
Who brought thy sacred Embassies of Peace and War,
That to th' obedient, this the rebel world below.
By them the mighty Twelve have their abode,
Companions once of the Incarnate suff'ring God,
Partakers now of all his Triumphs there,
As they on earth did in his Miseries share.
Of Martyrs next a crown'd and glorious Quire,
Illustrious Heroes, who have gain'd
Through dangers, and Red Seas of Bloud the Promis'd Land,
And pass'd through Ordeal Flames to the Eternity in Fire.
There all make up the Consort of thy Praise,
To Thee they sing (and never cease)
Loud Hymns, and Hallelujah's of Applause:
An Angel-Laureat does the Sense and Strains compose,

111

Sense far above the reach of mortal Verse,
Strains far above the reach of mortal ears,
And all, a Muse unglorified can fancy, or rehearse.

4.

Nor is this Consort only kept above,
Nor is it to the Bless'd alone confin'd;
But Earth, and all thy Faithful here are joyn'd,
And strive to vie with them in Duty and in Love:
And, tho they cannot equal Notes and Measures raise,
Strive to return th' imperfect Ecchoes of thy Praise.
They through all Nations own thy glorious Name,
And every where the great Three One proclaim,
Thee, Father of the World, and Us, and Him,
Who must Mankind, whom Thou didst make, Redeem,
Thee, blessed Saviour, the ador'd, true, only Son
To man debas'd, to rescue Man undone:

112

And Thee, Eternal, Holy Power,
Who do'st by Grace exalted Man restore
To all, he lost by the old Fall, and Sin before:
You bless'd and glorious Trinity,
Riddle to baffled Knowledg and Philosophy,
Which cannot conprehend the mighty Mystery
Of numerous One, and the unnumber'd Three
Vast topless Pile of Wonders! at whose sight
Reason it self turns giddy with the height,
Above the flutt'ring pitch of humane Wit,
And all, but the strong wings of Faith, that Eagle's towring flight.

5.

Bless'd Jesu! how shall we enough adore,
Or thy unbounded Love, or thy unbounded Pow'r?
Thou art the Prince of Heav'n, thou are the Almighty's Heir,
Thou art th' Eternal Off-spring of th' Eternal Sire:
Hail thou the Worlds Redeemer! whom to free
From bonds of Death and endless misery,

113

Thou thought'st it no disdain to be
Inhabiter in low mortality:
Th' Almighty thought it no disdain
To dwell in the pure Virgins spotless Womb,
There did the boundless Godhead, and whole Heav'n find room,
And a small point the Circle of Infinity contain.
Hail Ransom of Mankind, all-great, all-good!
Who didst attone us with thy Bloud,
Thy self the Offering, Altar, Priest, and God:
Thy self didst die to be our glorious Bail
From Death's Arrests, and the eternal Flaming Jail:
Thy self thou gav'st th' inestimable Price,
To Purchase and Redeem our morgag'd Heav'n and Happiness.
Thither, when thy great Work on Earth had end,
When Death it self was slain and dead,
And Hell with all its Powers captive led,
Thou didst again triumphantly Ascend:

114

There do'st Thou now by Thy great Father sit on high,
With equal Glory, equal Majesty,
Joynt-Ruler of the everlasting Monarchy.

6.

Again from thence thou shalt with greater triumph come,
When the last Trumpet sounds the general Doom:
And (lo!) thou com'st, and (lo!) the direful sound does make
Through Deaths wide Realm Mortality awake:
And (lo) they all appear
At Thy Dread Bar,
And all receive th' unalterable Sentence there.
Affrighted Nature trembles at the dismal Day,
And shrinks for fear, and vanishes away:
Both that, and Time breath out their last, and now they die,
And now are swallow'd up and lost in vast Eternity.

115

Mercy, O mercy, angry God!
Stop, stop thy flaming Wrath, too fierce to be withstood,
And quench it with the Deluge of thy Bloud;
Thy precious Bloud which was so freely spilt
To wash us from the stains of Sin and Guilt:
O write us with it in the Book of Fate
Amongst thy Chosen, and Predestinate,
Free Denizens of Heav'n, of the Immortal State.

7.

Guide us, O Saviour! guide thy Church below,
Both Way, and Star, Compass, and Pilot Thou:
Do thou this frail and tott'ring Vessel steer
Through Life's tempestuous Ocean here,
Through all the tossing Waves of Fear,
And dang'rous Rocks of black Despair.
Safe under Thee we shall to the wish'd Haven move,
And reach the undiscover'd Lands of Bliss above,
Thus low (behold!) to thy great Name we bow,
And thus we ever wish to grow:

116

Constant, as Time does thy fix'd Laws obey,
To Thee our Worship and our Thanks we pay:
With these we wake the chearful Light,
With these we Sleep, and Rest invite;
And thus we spend our Breath, and thus we spend our Days,
And never cease to Sing, and never cease to Praise.

8.

While thus each Breast, and Mouth, and Ear
Are filled with thy Praise, and Love, and Fear,
Let never Sin get room, or entrance there:
Vouchsafe, O Lord, through this and all our days
To guard us with Thy pow'rful Grace:
Within our hearts let no usurping Lust be found,
No rebel Passion tumult raise,
To break thy Laws, or break our Peace,
But set thy Watch of Angels on the Place,
And keep the Tempter still from that forbidden ground.

117

Ever, O Lord, to us thy mercies grant,
Never, O Lord, let us thy mercies want,
Ne're want Thy Favour, Bounty, Liberality,
But let them ever on us be,
Constant as our own Hope and Trust on Thee:
On Thee we all our Hope and Trust repose;
O never leave us to our Foes,
Never, O Lord, desert our Cause:
Thus aided and upheld by Thee,
We'll fear no Danger, Death, nor Misery;
Fearless we thus will stand a falling world
With crushing Ruins all about us hurl'd,
And face wide gaping Hell, & all its slighted Pow'rs defie.