Essays upon Several Subjects In Prose and Verse :: :: University of Virginia Library

The sacred Priest the sensless Mob obey'd;
'Twas Aaron who the Golden Folly made:
From Egypt he the lov'd Idea brought,
The Calf was then imprest upon his Thought,
There, by his Fancy, so exactly wrought,
That ev'ry Trace unalter'd did remain,
The Lines were deeply carv'd within his Brain;
Thence, by Traduction, lineally convey'd
On all his Sons the spreading Mischief prey'd:
The tainted Stock did dire Effects produce,
Venom was mix'd with all its vital Juice:

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Th'impoison'd Juice with Swiftness did ascend,
As quick as Thought to loftiest Boughs extend,
And thence, by subtile Paths, to lower Branches tend,
Did on each Leaf, each slender Fibre seise:
Moses himself encreas'd the curst Disease,
When, by a wondrous Skill, an Art divine,
To Ashes he their Apis did calcine,
And with their Liquor mix'd the glitt'ring Dust,
Too much he added to their native Thirst:
The crouding Atoms throng'd into the Brain,
Too close they stuck to be expell'd again:
The sacred Tribe not only Suff'rers were,
Others had in their Guilt an equal Share;
The painful Hunger all alike opprest,
The rav'nous Vultur prey'd on ev'ry Breast,
The Love of Gold its Poison did dilate,
Dispers'd it self throughout the wretched State;
From them into the Christian Church it came;
The Christian Church deserv'd an equal blame,
Too fond it grew of Grandeur, Wealth, & Fame.

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[If I'd a Fortune equal to my Mind]

If I'd a Fortune equal to my Mind,
I like, my bounteous Maker, would be kind,
Wou'd spread my Wealth with greedy Pleasure round,
Near me no needy Wretches shou'd be found;
But still the Good shou'd have the largest Share,
Both of my Love, my Riches, and my Care;

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For them I'd seek, to their Relief wou'd fly,
Prevent their Prayers, and all their Wants supply.

[That Day, when Clangors all Divine]

[I.]

That Day, when Clangors all Divine,
Shall be the Harbingers of Fate;
When dazling Glories all around shall shine,
And God descend in State:
Officious Clouds shall gladly meet,
Shall croud into one solid Mass beneath his Feet,
That God who here our Flesh was pleas'd to wear,
For us Contempts and Pains to bear,
And all the Frailties of our Nature share;
That God, who fell a Sacrifice of Love,
Now comes with glorious Terror from Above:
He comes! he comes! to judge Mankind!
To judge that World for which he dy'd!
The Good shall still the same kind Saviour find,
The Bad be forc'd to own that Justice which they have defy'd.

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II.

See! in the clear expanded Air,
A Throne for him Angelick Forms prepare:
Angelick Forms, whose Number do's transcend
Those sparkling Orbs of Light,
Which give a pleasing Lustre to the Night,
And render even its dusky Horrours bright,
Which far exceed those num'rous Heaps of Sand,
Which check the Sea, and bound the Land,
And betwixt both the lasting Barriers stand.
He sits sublime, while they attend,
While they their joyful Homage pay,
While they before him humbly bend,
And at his Feet their shining Honours lay,
Refulgent Crowns, which if compar'd with those below,
Like radiant Suns to glimmering Glow-worms show.

III.

At his Command they bid the Dead appear,
Th'affrighted Dead the powerful Mandate hear:
All that have trod the Stage of Life arise,
And on the dread Tribunal fix their Eyes;
The Rich, the Poor, the Princes, and their Slaves,
Come trembling up from their deserted Graves,
From their close Mansions, full of anxious Fear,
They come to breathe superior Air.
Those whose past Lives have pious been,
Who to their Reason calm Submission pay'd,
And ne'er their Passions willingly obey'd,

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With less Concern leave their obscure Retreat:
But O! what Tongue their Horrors can repeat,
To whom their Crimes relentless Furies prove,
Who now are curss'd with what they once did love!
They can't the sad Remembrance shun,
But must for ever view the Faults which they have done:
Each do's a Nemesis appear,
And each do's justify their Fear:
Not the least Glimpse of Hope remains,
No Joy to mitigate their Pains,
Despair has bound them fast with Adamantine Chains.
They wish, but wish in vain,
They cou'd return to their first Source again,
Back to that Nothing whence they rose,
Or in some deep Abyss cou'd find Repose,
Cou'd in the darkest Shades of Night
Conceal themselves from all revealing Light.

IV.

These he will separate by his Pow'r Divine,
To each their proper Place assign:
And as a Shepherd with the tend'rest Care
His Sheep do's from his Goats divide,
Do's richest Pastures for the first provide,
Lets them exulting feed on his Right-hand,
While on his Left the Goats neglected stand;
So for the Good the noblest Station he'll prepare,
And then in Accents soft as Air,

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In the still Voice of gentlest Peace and Love,
That Voice which will extatick Raptures move,
Which welcome to their Souls as chearful Light will prove;
To them he'll with Fraternal Kindness say,
Come ye, whom my Great Father's pleas'd to bless,
Come, and immortal Joys possess,
With Raptures come to that exalted State,
Long præ-ordain'd for you by Fate,
That Kingdom destin'd your's, e're since that Day
On which he did the World's Foundation lay.

V.

For me, when hungry, by Compassion led,
You readily with wholsome Viands fed;
And when the sultry Heat had made me dry,
Did with refreshing Draughts supply;
When wand'ring, and alone, I sought Relief,
You on my Suff'rings Pity took,
With an endearing Sweetness calm'd my Grief,
And with a kind inviting Look,
A gen'rous Hospitable Air,
Receiv'd the friendless Stranger to your Care.
When I the greatest Poverty endur'd,
When naked bore the Fervour of the Day,
And in the Night, expos'd to piercing Cold, uncover'd lay,
You me with Cloaths from both Extreams secur'd;
And, when in Pain, I languish'd void of Rest,
You kindly came to visit the Distress'd.

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When to a Prison I was close confin'd,
You found me out, and with unweary'd Love,
Became the dear Physicians of my Mind:
Like sovereign Balm did your Discourses prove,
Into my Soul they gently were convey'd,
And clos'd those Wounds which cruel Grief had made.

VI.

Then shall the Righteous, full of Wonder, say,
When, our dear Saviour, did we thus to Thee!
O how could Thirst and Hunger on Thee prey,
Who art from all our Frailties free,
Secure from all the Suff'rings of Humanity!
Or how could'st thou, who ev'ry Place dost fill,
Be any where a Stranger found,
Thou, who with Glory crown'd,
Art Lord of all,
The higher Orbs, and this inferior Ball!
Sickness could not its Power to Thee extend,
On whose Almighty Will,
Both Causes and Effects depend,
In whose blest Frame, with Harmony Divine,
The diff'rent Particles combine,
No noxious Humours there
Are found to mix with poisonous Steams, or with malignant Air.
Cou'd Space Infinity confine,
Or what's immense be within Limits brought,
What's much too vast for Place, and spreads beyond th'Extent of Thought!

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VII.

Then shall their God from his resplendent Throne
Thus to th'astonish'd Just reply,
Since I for you left my Celestial Height,
And to my Self your Nature did unite,
Made it my own by that mysterious Tye:
The suff'ring Good as Brethren I esteem,
To me they're dear, my Blood did them redeem;
The suff'ring Good, tho' poor, are priz'd by me,
I can thro' Rags interior Merit see.
Whatever Kindnesses to them you do,
All the Regards to them you shew,
With an Affection to Mankind unknown,
With an Affection wonderful and new,
I'll take as if design'd for me alone;
And your Reward shall prove
Worthy my Self, and my unbounded Love.

VIII.

Then turning to the Left, with Looks severe,
With Looks that a Majestick Terror wear,
Depart, he says, depart, ye Curs'd, from me,
From Life and Joy, to everlasting Misery;
To Fire condemn'd, and never-ceasing Pains,
To those dire Realms, where, bound in horrid Chains,
Th'Apostate Prince, and his infernal Train,
Devoted to retrieveless Woes remain.
When Thirst and Hunger, with rapacious Haste,
Upon my fainting Entrails prey'd,
When Sickness did my sinking Spirits waste,
With me you never stay'd:

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Not once you strove to lessen my Distress,
Show'd no Desire to make my Suff'rings less:
When dying, with a base insulting Pride,
My Groans you laugh'd at, did my Sighs deride:
When in your Streets I wander'd in the Night,
Helpless and tir'd, you with a scornful Eye,
From me kept off, or turn'd regardless by;
While in Distress you thought you had a Right
To treat me ill, and exercise your Spight:
And, when in Fetters, I neglected lay,
You ne'er did one condoling Visit pay.

IX.

Tho' self-condemn'd, th'unhappy Wretches strive
To keep a while their dying Hopes alive;
Low as the Dust their trembling Knees they bend,
And toward Heaven enfeebl'd Arms extend,
With mortal Sadness and dejected Eyes,
Looks where Despair does visibly appear,
Joyn'd with a conscious Shame, and a tormenting Fear;
With fault'ring Lips, and a weak broken Tone,
They to their dreadful Charge reply:
O when, they sighing cry,
Did we so impious prove,
So void of Gratitude and Love?
When did'st thou to this Earth descend,
And in a mean Disguise,
Thy Creatures into Faults surprize?
Since unto us thy Wants were never known,
O let our Ignorance for our Crimes attone:

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We never knew thou hungry wert, or dry,
Nor yet bewilder'd in the Glooms of Night;
Nor cou'd we think that thou couldst Garments need,
Could'st need our poor supply,
Who sit'st enthron'd on high,
In Robes of dazling Light,
Robes glorious as the Sun in his Meridian Height:
Or could'st be sick, from whom Health does proceed,
Or made a Prisoner, who dost Nature sway,
And whom superior and inferior Pow'rs obey.

X.

Th'avenging Judge shall then to them reply,
In vain you on your weak Defence rely;
What you've alledg'd can't make your Guilt the less,
You must my Justice, and your Crimes confess:
You knew my Laws, knew their Observers prov'd
My Favourite Care, the Objects that I lov'd:
Yet them you've treated with a barbarous Scorn,
As if they were for your Diversion born,
Left destitute of Pow'r to be your Prey,
Design'd your Slaves, and form'd but to obey;
But know, mistaken Wretches, 'twas on me
You threw the Pain, the Shame, the Infamy;
'Twas me you did despise,
I was the Subject of your Cruelties:
To me th'Indignity was shown,
On me each Obloquy was thrown,
I each Affront resented as my own:

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Then with a Frown that made their Grief compleat,
Made it as piercing, as 'twas great,
He did once more their dreadful Doom repeat;
His Voice, like Thunder, awful Fear imprest,
It struck a Terrour in each guilty Breast;
It scatter'd Horrour wheresoe'er it came,
And fill'd with dire Amaze the universal Frame:
'Twas heard from Heights above, to Depths below,
None cou'd from it to close Recesses go;
It was in vain from it to run,
No Place there was where they the dreadful Sound cou'd shun.
Take them, he said, ye Messengers of Fate,
Into the flaming Gulph let them be thrown,
Where they shall know, when 'tis too late,
Too late shall own,
Their Business lay in being good alone;
In Offices of Love,
In being just, compassionate, and kind,
And in a Charity so unconfin'd,
It should it self to all Mankind extend,
And, like my wond'rous Mercy, know no End.
Past Actions shall torment them there,
Their Thoughts shall Furies prove,
Shall fill their anxious Souls with Fear,
With deep Remorse and black Despair,
Still shall they lash, and still shall blame,
Shall still excite an inward Shame;
A Shame, which shall for ever present be,
And like their other Pains, extend to vast Eternity.

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XI.

But ye, who liberal were and kind,
Who made good Works your chiefest Care,
Bestow'd your Alms with an impartial Mind,
Resolving all that needy were
Shou'd freely of your gen'rous Bounty share;
Who knew no Parties, but to Virtue true,
Her Vot'ries pity'd in Distress,
Thought a Concern was to their Suff'rings due,
And strove those Suff'rings to redress,
The noblest way your Kindness did express;
Look'd without Scorn upon their mean Estate,
Defended them from Envy, Pride and Hate,
And buoy'd them up amidst the cross Events of Fate;
Shall now be for your righteous Deeds repay'd,
And hence with Pomp to Heav'nly Seats convey'd,
Where you, with me, shall feast on Joys Divine
Like me, shall with distinguish'd Glory shine.