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189

II. NATURE without ART.

PART II. Containing Serious POEMS on several Subjects.

An Invocation to the heavenly Muse.

Urania, if minions mean, like me,
Might but a prostrate at thy foot-stool be,
I fain would sing some out-lines in thy name;
O fire my heart, and bring my soul in frame.
Ye heavenly Muse, the Queen of all the nine,
Thy inspirations, lofty and divine,
Can make a peasant 'bove a prince to shine.
To me, illit'rate, clogg'd with worldly care,
Extend thy bounty, that I may declare
Thy goodness great, and condescending love,
Tho' in mean scribbling spheres my pen should move,
Yet this thy wonders splendidly displays,
When meanest thoughts are fill'd with divine lays.
O sacred Muse! thy influence dispense;
Inspire my soul; dispel my ignorance.
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Forty five Wonders; or, an Imitation of a Pamphlet of moral sayings, called, A Book of Fives, or five and forty Wonders.

I, in my imitation, turn the strain
Unto divine, what may be was profane.

[_]

The verse has been extracted from prose text.

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I cannot say that I this work have wrought;
For GOD gave me will, mem'ry, skill and thought:
Therefore, to thee, O GOD, I give the praise;
All's thine I have, my life, and length of days.
I'm but a babe, for learning I have none;
But yet in me thy pow'r and wisdom's shown;
For, from my pen, some things at times have past,
That's made myself admire; and at the last,
Look up to thee, who guides the hearts of kings;
And babes, by thee, are taught mysterious things.
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Alphabetical Verses on the Life of MAN, being eight Verses annexed to each Letter.

A verse may hit him who a sermon flies,
And turn delight into a sacrifice.
Herbert.

With heavenly eloquence, LORD, fill my soul;
O fire my dead heart with an altar-coal.
Pennycuick.

PROLOGUE.

Wake, heav'nly Muse, assist my rural quill;
Fain wou'd I sing, but, oh! I want the skill.
Supply defects, my losses all repair,
And let me be the object of thy care.
Direct my fancy in this weak essay,
While I shall sing man's progress and his way,
From infancy and childhood, up to youth,
The young man's beauty, and his age and growth,
Manhood, old age, conversion, hope and faith,
The brevity of all his life to death;
As I have seen, experienced oft;
Altho' my fancy do not soar aloft,
By Nature taught, I sing forth as I can,
And style the poem, The Life and Age of Man.
An helpless infant, man, at first, appears
Upon this stage, perhaps to stay some years.
Forlorn by nature, destitute of art,
Till those that's more mature must take his part.
All other creatures Nature she provides
With some defence, as feathers, paws, or hides:
But no defence poor infant Man can make,
He's so defective, naked, poor, and weak.
Behold the infant all in tears doth mourn;
Liable to death, to hell, and devils scorn.
Danger surrounds him; but, in midst of death,
God's goodness lends him being, life, and breath.
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His providence protects him from all ill;
Such is the goodness of his sovereign will.
In misery his infancy he spends;
To vanity his youth and childhood tends.
Childhood and youth are surely vanity,
Involv'd in sin and sinful misery.
No pleasant flow'r appears more fair and bright
Than children do still in their parents' sight.
Sure children wise much joys the father's heart;
But those who're foolish prove the mother's smart.
Yea foolishness in children's hearts are bound;
Correction only cures the sinful wound.
Delighted with vain idle sports and play,
His precious time in madness spends away.
Rambling thro' youth, and all its vain conceits,
Sometimes mad laughter drives him into frets.
Sometimes he's pleas'd, sometimes in anger frowns;
Except compell'd, religion he disowns.
Sure our Preserver is the God of truth,
That keeps from danger poor rash heedless youth.
Each passion strong, nurs'd with pure vig'rous blood,
He boasts of strength; of each acquirement proud:
He kicks and laughs at carking cares of life,
Thinks to enjoy untainted pleasures rise.
Poor giddy fool! what know'st thou but this night
Thy precious soul may take its farewell flight
Unto the distant world of spirits, where,
While lasts eternity, thou shalt be there?
For, sure we are but strangers on this earth;
We 'gin to die e'en at our very birth.
This earthly house, wherein our soul sojourns,
Soon crumbles down, and unto dust returns.
Our souls immortal pave their airy way
T'eternal night, or to eternal day;
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To heav'nly joys, or endless woes of hell;
Poor blinded youth! to which thou canst not tell.
Glad lives the youth in merriment and play;
Spends many days insensibly away.
His manly actions managing with art,
Ere he the secrets of his love impart,
By wrestling, running, or some handycraft;
For this he knows will prove the wounding shaft,
To win the fortress of his mistress' heart;
Th'intrigue will hold, if Damon be expert.
How high aspires a young man's haughty mind!
To honour and the world how much inclin'd!
Ambition fills his soul in ev'ry part;
And wanton Cupid too must break his heart.
The piercing rays from Nelly's beaming eyes,
Make him esteem her as the fairest prize.
His mind is restless then, both day and night,
Till he enjoy (he thinks) his heart's delight.
In this vain world he's never satisfy'd;
He something wants, for all he hath, beside.
Man's happiness, while here, is ne'er complete;
Tho' smiling Fortune should his heart invite,
To say, O young man, in thy youth rejoice;
Taste all the sweets; of all delights make choice:
Yet conscience bids him all such thoughts disband;
For, know thou must yet in God's judgment stand.
Just then when conscience whispers him in th'ear,
It strikes him straightway with a painful fear.
But, too too soon, he stifles these convictions,
And disregards all such heav'nly predictions.
As dogs unto their vomit do return,
Or sow from washing, in the mire to spurn;
So he returns unto his former life,
And dallies with his fond new-wedded wife;
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Keenly pursuing carnal ends, not knowing,
That to the flesh, poor harden'd fool, he's sowing;
And that, e'er long, corruption he shall reap,
And plunge headlong in utter darkness deep:
There, ever, ever, in hell's flames to burn,
And never, never, from the same return,
While God is God, or heav'n subsists in being;
Confounded with the thoughts of death, not dying.
Less than a hand-breadth, or a narrow span,
Is that short age and scanty life of man;
Yea, e'en as nothing in Jehovah's eye,
Or when compar'd with vast eternity.
Much like a stranger in some foreign place,
That great affairs must manage in short space,
By which he is to gain immortal fame,
Or, if neglected, scorn, reproach and shame.
Man's life is such, experience doth show;
We are but strangers in this earth below.
Our time is short, yea, and uncertain too;
Yet here we have great business to do:
Eternal life, and glorious diadem,
Or horror, darkness, and eternal flame.
If diligent, the former we shall gain;
But, if neglective, we the last obtain.
Now, strength of nature makes poor man forget
How deep he stands in his Creator's debt.
He tents the world, whether it frowns or smiles;
Prosp'rous or adverse fortune him beguiles:
Either puft up with health, wealth, pride and ease,
Or press'd with toil by his necessities.
Sure this is true, That great men are a lie,
And men of low estate are vanity,
O wonderful the goodness is of God,
Who man with mercies plenteously doth load!
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Though he, regardless of his holy law,
Runs on in sin, without dread, fear, or awe,
Yet God's great goodness holds him in subsistence;
In midst of danger sends divine assistance.
But sure this will man's condemnation prove,
The slighting light and goodness, grace and love.
Pensive and sad our man is now become;
Views at small distance his approaching doom.
When he reflects on time that's past and gone,
It makes him sigh with many bitter groan.
His conscience tells him he is all forlorn,
And that it had been good he'd ne'er been born:
At his wit's end, near ready to despair,
Scarce dares he venture to groan out a pray'r.
Quickly he turns, without the least delay,
To keep God's testimony and his way:
Yet no salvation this way can he see;
For that the law no man can justify.
The guilt of sin he from the womb did bring
Accuse him sore, and doth his conscience sting;
Till in the gospel Jesus Christ he see,
By faith, mix'd with pure hope and charity.
Rejoicing now, with joy beyond expression,
That Jesus Christ hath finished transgression,
By nailing sin unto his cross, and then
Ascending up on high, in sight of men,
To God's right hand, where he, as their high-priest,
Makes intercession in the holiest:
Not ev'ry year, but once for all obtain'd
For us redemption; righteousness unstain'd.
See now the glorious privilege of man,
More valuable than e'er this world can
Afford to any; nay, at cheaper rate:
We are the bankrupts; Jesus paid the debt,
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And set us free; nay more, he gives beside,
Fair heavenly mansions, with himself to 'bide,
If we by faith claim merit in his blood;
And faith's not ours, it is the gift of God.
The great transcendent boundless love of God
To sinners, such as we, is very odd.
Free grace and love to slaves and rebels born;
When he oft call'd, we oft refus'd to turn;
Till, by his pow'r, he opes our blinded eyes,
And lets us see wherein our mis'ry lies;
And that he hath a salve to cure each wound:
Happy the man whom God hath sought and found!
Under old age man seems at last to bow;
His flesh turns loose, his forehead wrinkles plow;
His teeth decays; his crown all bald appears;
His joints are stiff, and deaf'ned turn'd his ears.
Phlegm and dire coughs disturb his nightly rest;
Sore wand'ring pains his body doth molest.
His eyes are dim, he fetcheth short his breath;
Expecting hourly his approaching death.
Various diseases interrupt his health;
He sees no pleasure, tho' he swims in wealth.
But if renewed by regeneration,
God's holy Spirit gives him consolation.
He longs and pants to have his faith in vision,
And that his hope were turn'd into fruition.
Fain would he leave this tottering earthly tent,
To be with Christ above the firmament.
What emblem better man's life represents,
Than Sphynx his riddle to Thebes' inhabitants?
The meaning whereof Oedipus did say,
Was, That Man's life was but one single day.
His infancy to morning he compares;
Full age, high noon; old age night's image bears.
Man in his morning creeps on hands and knees;
Erect at noon; night comes, a staff supplies.
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Xerxes from an hill view'd his mighty host,
And wept to think how soon they'd all turn dust.
How many children in their nonage die!
How many when come to maturity!
Alas! how many die without expecting!
How many 'ceas'd, their errand here neglecting!
How few are left, till they thro' age decline!
How few reserv'd in heav'n with Christ to shine!
Yet, howsoever short man's life may seem,
Most part thereof is lost as in a dream,
One half we sleep; in nonage reason may
Be seen too weak, and in old age decay.
Since reason's weak, and life so very short,
Let us be caution'd to redress our hurt,
By seeking God (since his free grace abound)
And call on him while he is to be found.
Zaccheus-like, let us by faith climb up
By pray'r to heav'n, ere death us interrupt.
When death attacks us, we no more can have
Of th'world, except a coffin, sheet, and grave.
The whole conclusion of the matter hear,
Let us be virtuous, and our God still fear;
Keeping his laws with all the care we can:
This is the duty of frail fading man.

CONCLUSION.

The letters are what every child that learns,
Attains by heart, before he well discerns
The sound of words, or syllabs can pronounce.
So get these lines, and what they do evince,
By heart; and they may give you some impressions,
Both of salvation and of your transgressions;
Of infancy, of childhood, and of youth;
Experience will tell they speak the truth.
And, in old age, when more you come to learn,
The truth of all you'll certainly discern.
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The four Seasons of the Year compared to the four Ages of Man's Life, viz. Infancy, Childhood or Youth, Manhood, and old Age.

I. WINTER.

The absence of the sun gives place to colds;
Earth's pores are stopp'd by chilling frosts, and holds
All vegetables pris'ners in her womb:
All Nature wears an universal gloom.
The ice o'erspreads the rivers, ponds and lakes;
The bleating flocks with scanty food inlakes.
When hills and vales with woolly snows are clad,
And storms and tempests all the plains invade,
The human race are forc'd to tend the fires,
And cattle feeds, imprisoned in byres,
Upon the product of their former toil,
Till Sol's approach make nature 'gin to smile.
Thus, like to winter, is our infancy;
We've no perfection; can do nought but cry,
Under the load of our first parents' guilt;
An heavy burden, too too seldom felt.
Unless the Sun of Righteousness diffuse
His influence into our souls, we chuse
To entertain bleak Winter all our days,
And have no Spring, except iniquities.

II. SPRING.

When Phoebus in our horizon ascends,
His powerful heat into the earth he sends,
Causing all herbs, trees, fruits and flow'rs to spring,
And birds on various boughs to chant and sing.
The hills and holms rejoice on ev'ry side,
With vernal green all deck'd and beautify'd.
The tender buds they by degrees break out,
And clothe the trees with mantles round about.
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The lambkins skip, swift as the skiffing wind,
And sprouting corns gladden the farmer's mind.
All things look gay: so reason youth inspires;
But misimproves't, and yields to carnal fires.
He chears his heart, and feasts his wanton eyes
On empty objects, and false vanities.
Like as the Spring in beauty doth increase,
So youth aspires to pride and haughtiness;
Boasts in his strength, and other nat'ral parts;
Thus carnal thoughts replenish carnal hearts.
He shuns the counsel from the wise-man's mouth,
That doth advise all in the time of youth,
To mind our powerful great Creator, who
Can into hell both soul and body throw.

III. SUMMER.

The warmer sun, and moist'ning dews that fall,
Bring to perfection, fruits, herbs, great and small.
The western winds puff gently thro' the field,
Waving rich corns which fertile valleys yield.
The herds and flocks with pleasure feed on hills,
Quenching their thirst among the purling rills.
The careful ant her little gran'ry stores,
Against the winter's chilling sleety showers.
The painful bee, with purest honey, fills
Laboriously, her narrow waxen cells.
In this sweet season, birds and beasts rejoice;
All Nature smiles with new supplies of joys.
E'en so is man in his full strength of age;
Nothing he doubts, no cares his mind engage,
Except the world, and worldly gain; he feels
No other smart; to carnal fires he yields.
With courage stoutly scampers he thro' life;
Till grown mature, he fondly weds a wife:
Then tamely toils, subsistence to provide
For his domestics and his fav'rite bride.
Now some religion he must needs pursue;
His youthful rambles age 'gins to subdue.
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Now is the time he gains repute and fame,
Or infamy, reproach, and scorn, and shame.
All his perfections now are at the height;
His sun returns declining down to night.
Temptations now will ev'ry day surround him,
And many arrows are design'd to wound him.
If he is rich, he's tempted to be proud;
If he is strong, he's tempted to be rude.
If he is poor, he's tempt'd to steal and lye;
If he is wise, on's wisdom to rely.
If he is foolish, all men prize him nought;
If ignorant, he has no sense of thought.
If he's ill match'd, he's tempted to disdain;
If he is carnal, certainly profane.
If fortunate, he fortune still pursues;
If hapless, then much discontent ensues.
His summer ends, the rip'ning harvest comes;
Old age ensues, that brings us to our tombs.
The reaper, Death, no mortal can defy;
And then, as falls the tree, so must it ly.

IV. Autumn, or Harvest.

Trees, herbs and flowers now cease their annual growth,
And frugal farmers shake themselves of sloth,
Call in the aid of lab'ring nymphs and swains,
To reap the yellow harvest from the plains.
The sickle cuts down high and low; and all
With equal fate, are in the sheaves let fall.
The best reserved for the next year's seed;
The worst for food; for so it is decreed.
It must be ground, eat, and cast out in dung;
So is the fate of all, both old and young.
God, as a farmer, calls his servant Death,
Who, with his sickle, cuts all mankind's breath.
The best reserv'd for the next world's good,
With all the blessings of God's Spirit endu'd.
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The worst are left for's wrath to feed upon,
In endless flames and misery to groan.
Thus calls aloud the wheeling year to man,
As I have sung. We may by Winter scan
Our infancy, wherein we can do nought
But mourn in guilt we from our parents brought.
The Spring doth shew our growing youth, where vice,
With Nature's depravation, doth entice
To sin in action 'gainst our God, that gave us
Our beings first, and means of grace to save us.
The Summer shews our manhood and our strength;
And Harvest death, that cuts us off at length.
Sure, after death, we must in judgment stand,
Either on Christ's right, or on his left hand,
There to receive a sentence of duration
Beyond conception, far beyond expression.
If on his right-hand, we'll to heaven go,
Where we'll be free of sorrow, grief and woe.
Yea, that mount Zion, city of our God,
Shall be our lasting and our blest abode;
That holy place, ev'n new Jerusalem,
Where we shall shine each as a seraphim.
If on his left hand, hell must be our lot,
Tormented with a worm that dieth not.
As seamen shun the dang'rous rocks and shelves,
God grant us faith in Christ to save ourselves.
In Infancy our Winter, Spring of youth,
Guide us and ours, Lord, in the ways of truth.
And in the Summer of our nat'ral days,
Lord stablish, strengthen, settle all our ways.
And, in our Autumn, fit us all for death,
That, in thy favour, we may yield our breath.

A Meditation at the Communion-table.

What's this I see before mine eye?
Behold 'tis bread and wine;
Am I a guest to such a feast,
Yea, to a feast divine?
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Yea, more I see; oh! woe is me!
I see a mount of sin
Cast up before my hard heart's door,
And swarms of it within.
Nay more, I see Christ Jesus die,
And bleeding on the cross,
All for my sake, that he might take
Away my tinn and dross.
I hear him cry, I see him die;
I see them pierce his side;
I see him bound, in grave-cloaths wound,
And in a new grave laid.
With inward eyes, I see him rise,
And, after forty days,
Ascend on high, up thro' the sky;
At God's right-hand he stays,
Making request, as our high-priest,
Before his Father's throne,
For such as he shall glorify
After this world's done.
By this I find, that, in my mind,
A supernat'ral change
Is fully wrought; whereas my thought
On vanities did range.
They're fix'd above, and flames with love
Towards my blessed Lord,
Who underwent sin's punishment
For me; and life restor'd,
When I was dead, and could not plead,
Or merit ought but wrath;
But by his pain, I live again,
And triumph over death.
I now abhor what I before
Did love exceedingly;
And do disdain the servile chain
Of Satan's tyranny.
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I feel th'effect of God's respect
Toward poor sinful me;
For, thro' Christ's merit, his holy Spirit
Doth plainly testify,
That Christ is mine; and doth incline
Me to observe his will;
For, in my stead, for me he did
God's righteous law fulfil.
Now, since 'tis so, to God I'll go;
For he will me enable
Salvation's cup to take, and sup
With him at his own table.
The bread and wine shews the divine
Jehovah condescended,
That Christ should die, man to set free;
In him the law is ended.
From Satan's hands, and sinful bands,
He saves us by his grace;
From hell and wrath, the second death,
And gives us life in'ts place.
All glory be, eternally,
To him, who, by his pow'r,
His life laid down, our souls to crown,
And life to us procure:
And, when he pleas'd, himself he rais'd,
And brake the bands of death;
In triumph he, victoriously,
Hell's pow'r he conquer'd hath.
Those who get grace to see his face,
In reconciliation,
They, by his love, in heav'n above,
Do place their conversation;
And are made free, eternally,
From any condemnation;
They act and do, according to
Effectual vocation.
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They have a right, both day and night,
To divine privileges;
With Christ from heav'n, all things are giv'n
To smooth their pilgrimages.
The cloth is spread, the bread is laid;
The wine sends forth a smell
That makes me long to be among
The saints that do excel.
In glory high, above the sky,
Where this celestial feast
Lasts ev'ry day, Lord, grant I may
Be there with thee a guest.
Meanwhile, O Lord, do thou afford
Me comfort at this time:
And let me find thee to be kind,
And pardon ev'ry crime.
When at this feast the bread I taste,
It brings fresh to my mind,
How Christ was us'd, how he was bruis'd
As mill-stones corn do grind.
When in my hand this cup doth stand,
I think I see him bleed;
And, under wrath, to yield to death,
Yea, in his en'mies stead.
When I go from this table home
Unto the world again,
Make me to fear and persevere;
From sinning me restrain.

On the Fall of Man.

Altho', O Lord, I was design'd,
By thee when I was made,
For services that are divine,
Soon sin me poisoned:
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And now I must be made again,
And born of the Spirit;
Or else, from Scripture it is plain,
I'll never life inherit.

To the holy Trinity, on the Redemption of Man.

Supreme Essence, from eternity
Three Persons all in one;
Who being gave to all that be,
And being had of none.
Thro' all eternity thou wast,
Now art, and shall be ever;
Thy truth and mercy they shall last,
Thro' ages end shall never.
O blessed Father, who hath sent
Thy Son to earth below,
To suffer sinners punishment,
And free them from hell's woe;
And thou most blessed Son of God,
Who was so well content
With sinners vile to make abode,
When by thy Father sent;
Likewise, thou Spirit of all grace,
That turns rebellious wills
To God, and makes a final peace,
And them with comfort fills;
To thee, O glorious Trinity,
Be praises evermore,
Ay trinal Three in Unity,
Let all flesh thee adore.

A Meditation for a Traveller.

Upon this road I walk abroad;
But, oh! I do not know
But death may catch, yea, and dispatch
Me, ere I further go.
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Each step I take, may even make
Me step downward to hell,
Because I move in sin, and love
That lust should in me dwell.
I bear the name, yet want the frame
Of Christianity;
Indwelling lust I love it most,
And hug it carefully.
O God of pow'r, on me, this hour,
Send down thy holy Spirit,
And work in me true love to thee,
That I may life inherit.
Let me still think, that on the brink
Of death I daily stand;
Since ev'ry hour I am not sure
But thou'lt my soul demand.
Let me receive that heav'nly joy
And peace that's in believing,
That I may stand on Christ's right hand,
When judging dead and living.
I with my soul will God extol,
For all his goodness great,
And that he hath not, in his wrath,
Ere now made hell my fate.

Upon the WORLD.

O thou, my soul, why in this world
Dost thou delight to stay;
And as a drudge by her ay hurl'd,
Still at her fortune's sway?
She's painted o'er with pleasures rare,
All dress'd in gaudy hue;
She flatter can beyond compare,
Yet none of them is true.
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Like Solomon's vain harlot, she
Calls to the simple sinner,
Come in, my friend, and feast with me,
Of my fine sumptuous dinner.
Here's pleasures, pride, and profits too;
Here's all things at thy will;
Cast off thy drooping cares; come thou,
Of solace take thy fill.
But thou, my soul, turn not aside;
Pass thou not by her doors,
For fear she thee bewitch with pride,
And spoil thy gracious pow'rs;
For many by her have been slain;
She strong men wounded hath;
Her house the way to hell is plain,
Down to the cells of death.
Lord, give me grace her to avoid,
And slight her gaudy pride;
Lest by her means I be destroy'd,
I'll chuse thee for my guide.

A Meditation for a Fast-day before the Communion.

What day is this? I think it is
A day wherein I ought
To set apart to try my heart;
Yea, search each way and thought.
'Tis a fast-day, wherein to pray
For grace and humiliation:
Before I taste the divine feast,
Lord give me preparation.
I should be fit, I'm call'd to sit
At our Lord's holy table,
And there to share of heav'nly fare;
That is most valuable.
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Lord, send a dart to pierce my heart;
Increase my faith, that I
Thy beauty may behold this day;
My soul, Lord, purify.
I long have ly'n 'mong pots profane;
Lord, make me like a dove,
Whose wings are clad with gold o'erspread;
Fill me with divine love.
I was baptiz'd, and seem'd well pleas'd
With Christ's new covenant;
And shortly now I am to vow,
And shew I am content
To leave each sin that I liv'd in,
And cleave, thro' Christ, to thee,
With heart and mind, and leave behind
What tends to misery.
My heart, Lord, raise, thy name to praise,
With grateful sense of all
Thy mercies free, bestow'd on me
A sinful criminal.
Who'm bred and born in sin forlorn;
Nothing but hell's my due:
But thanks to thee, thy grace is free,
Thy word reveal'd doth shew.
For thou hast laid true help and aid
On One who mighty is
To th'uttermost, to save the lost
From wrath to endless bliss:
E'en Jesus, who did undergo
The punishment of sin,
To set us free from misery,
And Satan's fearful gin.
Unworthy I, yet, Lord, I'll try
To seal the covenant,
In thine own strength, in hopes, at length,
My hard heart may relent.
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Lord, grant me fear to persevere
In ways of holiness;
And at the last, when time is past,
Enjoy eternal bliss.
This Token now doth plainly shew
My evidence for heaven:
O Lord, I crave, that I may have
My guilt and sins forgiv'n.
Thro' Jesus' merit, send thy Spirit
To guide me in all truth;
While here I stay, protect me ay;
With new Songs fill my mouth.

A Lamentation, &c.

O Lord, my God, what can I say
Concerning this sad case?
This is a sad degen'rate day;
Yea, even in this place,
We are a people that's secure;
No trade we have with heav'n;
Yet Satan's bondage we endure;
To sin and sloth are giv'n.
From Israel the glory's gone;
Woe's us, for we have sinn'd
Against our God the holy One,
And would not be restrain'd.
His gracious presence is withdrawn
From ev'ry ordinance;
O that a day of pow'r would dawn
On his inheritance.
Because iniquity abounds,
The love of many's cold;
We're full of putrifying wounds,
And bruises manifold.
216

From head to foot, from king to those
That are of station mean;
All in a course of trespass goes;
To sin we all are keen.
Lord, we have sinn'd, we must confess,
Against thy laws and light;
This aggravates our guiltiness,
That we thy statutes slight.
How can we think to be excus'd
When Jesus Christ shall come,
When thy free grace is so abus'd
By all, both old and young?
For Sodom and Gomorrah, sure,
And Tyre and Sidon too,
It will be better in that hour,
Than us who live just now:
For, if the gospel had been preach'd
To them, as at this day,
Their consciences it would have reach'd,
And caus'd them watch and pray.
The heathens shall in judgment stand
Against us who pretend
To be in Christ's church militant,
Yet have his laws profan'd.
We will be forc'd to pray the rocks
And mountains, at that day,
To fall, and cover us as clokes;
But they will all deny.
Where shall we go? where can we fly?
We shelter will find none,
From the lamb's frowning majesty,
That sits upon the throne.
'Tis not in man that walks, O Lord,
His ways and steps to guide;
Do thou thy Spirit's help afford,
Or else we'll turn aside.
217

Command a blessing from above,
Upon the means of grace;
Increase our faith, hope, fear, and love;
Give us Christ's righteousness.
Fair as the sun, clear as the moon,
Lord, make thy church to be,
E'en as victorious armies shone
With banners terribly:
Unite the hearts of all thy priests,
In love and concord still:
Our sabbaths and our solemn feasts,
Bless, Lord, of thy good will.
Awaken those that are asleep,
That Christ may give them light;
Reclaim the obstinate, and keep
All thy disciples right.
From error, schism and debate,
Purge Levi's children all;
Give grace and peace in church and state,
And bless us, great and small.
But, Lord, we hardly can expect
Such days of pow'r to be,
'Cause of our wilful sad neglect,
And dire apostacie.
Thou threatens us, and justly too,
Since we thy laws forsook;
Thy absence troubles us: do thou
Revive us with a look,
As thou didst Peter, in the days
When in thy humiliation.
Exalt us, Lord, and we shall praise
Thy name with adoration.
218

The contented Christian, or the Christian's Content.

A MEDITATION.

Thrice blessed is the happy man
That's with his state content,
Who trusts in God, he never can
In any case lament.
True godliness is greatest gain;
Contentment fills his mind;
The promises are all his ain,
And God to him is kind.
Afflictions, crosses, losses, all
Are welcome to him still;
Whatever lot can him befal,
He yields to God's good will.
If persecution should arise,
He bears the smarting rod;
With joy he then lifts up his eyes,
And firmly trusts in God.
If in reproach, contempt or scorn,
He mildly bears it all;
He minds how Christ's good name was torn,
Revil'd by great and small.
If adverse poverty and want
Should pinch him, he is more,
With that same lot of his, content,
Than if he had great store.
Altho' the fig-tree may not bloom,
Nor fruit be in the vine,
Yet in his heart should not be room
To fret or to repine.
The labour of the olive may
Cease, and so perish all;
And from the fold the flocks decay,
Nor herds be in the stall!
219

Yet, in the Lord I will rejoice,
My only consolation;
I'll greatly joy in God, who is
The God of my salvation.
A dish of herbs I will prize more;
They more content will yield,
Than dainties all I had in store,
That come from fold or field.
What tho' I lose this world's goods?
They are but empty toys;
God's gracious promises includes
My share in heav'nly joys.
Tho' sickness sore should me befal,
Or sad calamity,
I'll eye God's providence in all,
When thus he calls on me.
These either are to keep me low,
Lest proudly I behave,
Or spurs to push me on to know
What I not yet perceive;
Or else they are his chastisements,
To shew me how I've swerv'd
From's holy just commandements,
And nought but's wrath deserv'd.
Why should I then fret or repine
Against my Father's frowns,
When well I know the fault is mine,
Yet me he not disowns?
Yea, contrary, these shew his love
And tender care for me,
That I may reign with him above,
In true felicity.
I'm not a native heir of heav'n;
My rights were forfeit all;
A bastard, vagabond out-driven,
By my original.
220

Yet, wonderful! the mighty God,
That made all things of nought,
Did cast his eyes of love abroad,
And of my state took thought.
This wonder yet doth more appear,
When God, that cannot ly,
Said, if we disobedient were,
We should for ever die.
Yet, out of love, by wisdom, he,
When we were all undone,
His word to keep, and us set free,
Laid our death on his Son.
God pass'd his word that we should die,
And he's a God of truth,
And there is no iniquity
Comes from his sacred mouth.
Adam did represent us all
In that first covenant;
And we with Adam had our fall;
Yea, the same punishment
Was due to us that he incur'd;
A punishment that none
E'er could or would for us endure:
None could our guilt atone.
In earth and heaven none was found
To take the book, and say,
I'll loose the seals; nay, tho' the sound
Thro' heav'n and earth did fly;
Till Judah's Lion, David's Root,
With pow'r, at last, prevails;
The book did take; to solve the doubt,
He loos'd the seven seals.
May I not then rejoice and sing,
Instead of fretfulness,
When Christ, the Lamb of God, did bring
Us thus in terms of peace:
221

No sacrifice, nor offering,
God's justice could appease;
Nay, tho' we should our first-born bring,
His anger would not cease.
For Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
Of mere good will, engag'd
For sin to bear the wrathful load
Of justice all enrag'd.
O holy God, I come, said he,
To do thy sacred will;
Thy justice I will satisfy;
Thy laws I'll all fulfil.
In room of them whom thou hast chose
To be redeem'd from wrath,
I'll suffer, that they may rejoice,
And triumph over death.
All this is matter of content;
When I reflect on these,
Upon my lusts it puts restraint,
And fills my soul with praise.
What joy to hear the blessed news,
That God to Adam said,
Thy seed, in time, shall surely bruse
The cursed serpent's head.
The morning light doth still increase,
Until the sun doth shine;
So, from this dawning promise, grace
Increas'd her beams divine.
To Abraham this was renew'd,
And unto Jacob clearer;
David and all the prophets view'd
Christ's kingdom still the nearer.
Then rose the Sun of Righteousness,
With healing in his wings;
Good will to men on earth, true peace,
The holy angel sings.
222

The Word made flesh, dwelt on the earth,
Men did his glory see;
Eclipsed glory in his birth,
To the dim carnal eye.
Yet faith sees better far than eyes;
It sees a beauty, when
Christ in a stable manger lyes,
Contemn'd by carnal men.
There were who did, and do behold
His glory in low station,
Such glory as cannot be told,
Tho' in his humiliation:
Glory as of the only Son,
Begotten of the Father,
So full of grace and truth, that none
Can speak or think of either;
Yet so eclips'd, that but a few
This glory did behold;
The sons of earth could never view
The same, tho' it were told
Not with a splendid pomp and fame
This glory did appear;
Not with a great heroic name
The prince of life came here.
A virgin mean his mother was,
Oppress'd with taxes great;
She, pregnant, by command must pass
To the collector's seat.
Unto Bethlehem, the chiefest town,
Tho' distant from her home;
Inn-keepers there did her disown,
And would not give her room.
She and her husband then must lodge
In some old empty stable;
Fill'd with content, they did not grudge
At this their bed or table.
223

Oh! wonderful amazing love,
That God should dwell with men;
That he should leave the heav'ns above,
With sinners to remain.
Subjected to the law, yet he
Is only the law-giver;
Tho' he was God, he man must be,
Both God and man for ever.
Tho' he was the Creator, lo,
A creature he became;
The nature of angels did forgo;
Took seed of Abraham.
May I not then contented be?
Content above all other;
Christ hath become all things for me;
He is mine elder brother.
When I was in such misery,
As cannot be express'd;
Christ was a sacrifice for me,
Both sacrifice and priest.
By nature I'm an heir of wrath,
Yet with content may sing;
For Christ hath conquer'd Hell and Death;
He is my rightful king.
I am so brutish, that I am
For nothing that I know fit;
But Christ to earth from heav'n came,
To teach me as a prophet.
By Nature I am enmitie
Against my great Creator;
But Christ he undertook for me
To be my Mediator.
The devil pleads by law, that I
Be justly ruinate;
But Christ is always standing by,
My stronger advocate,
224

Tho' I have been a sinner vile,
And oft did God provoke
To thrust me down to hell; meanwhile,
Christ is my saving rock.
When I was under Justice rod,
With guilt and sin all stain'd,
Obnoxious to the wrath of God,
Christ stept in as my friend.
Yea, such a friend he prov'd to me,
As I could ne'er expect;
He paid my debt, and set me free;
That makes me thus reflect.
What love, what pity, and good-will,
Hath Christ to sinners shown;
We made the breach, he did it fill,
When helpers we had none.
No man had ever greater love
Than for a friend to die;
But Christ's love greater far did prove
To me his enemy.
He suffer'd hunger, thirst and cold;
He had no where to lodge;
Reproach'd and scorn'd, by young and old,
Wrought like a servile drudge.
One of his disciples betray'd
Him with a feigned kiss;
Another of them him deny'd;
All left him comfortless.
He that was judge of all the earth,
Must judged be of men;
He that was sinless from his birth,
Must in a goal remain.
From prison to the judgment-hall
They brought him; did accuse him;
The multitude, both great and small,
Inhumanly abus'd him.
225

When they blindfolded him by turns,
They smote his blessed face;
Their hellish minds with malice burn
To put him to disgrace.
They scorning bade him prophesy
Who't was that smote him last:
They all cry'd out, Him crucify,
Till Pilate sentence past.
His face with spittle all besmear'd,
Mix'd with his precious blood;
A murderer to him preferr'd,
Their malice was so rude.
They stript him naked shamefully,
In sight of all his foes;
And scourged him most grievously;
And then instead of cloaths,
With purple mantle him array'd;
A reed into his hand;
A thorny crown on's head they laid;
And mocking round him stand.
They bow'd the knee, and jesting said,
Hail, thou King of the Jews;
They struck the crown upon his head,
And made the blood out squeeze.
The clots of his most precious blood
Came trickling to the ground;
That all, where-e'er he went or stood,
Was all besprinkled round.
They all, with one united voice,
To crucify him cry'd;
To torture him they all rejoice;
On him none pity had.
They pull'd the mantle off again,
His own cloaths put upon him;
Yet, notwithstanding all this pain,
Not one was to bemoan him.
226

Then was death's sentence on him past,
He must be crucify'd:
An heavy cross they bring, at last,
And on his shoulders ty'd.
His nat'ral strength began to fail,
That in the way he stood,
And fainted, (while they on him rail),
With so much loss of blood.
A stranger they compell'd to bear
His cross with him along
Unto mount Calvary, and there
They round about him throng.
Flat on the ground they laid the cross,
And stretch'd him hands and feet,
And to the tree they nail'd them closs,
To make his pains complete.
They set the cross upon its end,
And let it fall again;
Such cruel torture they intend,
His innocence to stain.
His cross between two thieves they fix'd;
Then they deride him all:
And when he cry'd, I thirst, they mix'd
Strong vinegar and gall,
And put it on a reed, and held
It to his sacred mouth.
Strange! how these wretches thus rebell'd
'Gainst innocence and truth.
The God-head was from him withdrawn;
His human nature left
With death to struggle all alone;
Of comfort all bereft.
The pow'rs of hell triumph'd to see
Him thus forsaken quite:
Those that pass'd by did vilifie,
And mock him with delight.
227

He saved others; now, say they,
Let him his power exert,
And save himself from cruelty,
Since he was so expert.
Strangers at him their heads did nod,
And with blasphemy rave;
In God he trusted; now let God
With miracles him save.
Let Christ, the king of Jews, descend
Down from the cross to day,
And we'll believe, now in the end,
What he before did say.
This the chief priests and elders said,
To aggravate his grief;
Thus God and man they all deny'd
This innocent relief,
Till he was forc'd to cry, My God,
My God, why hast thou me
Forsaken? Nay, sure this is odd,
That I am left of thee
Then must his human nature fade;
Now yield to death he must.
He cry'd, 'Tis finish'd; bow'd his head;
And then gave up the ghost.
The sun withdrew his shining light;
The rocks were rent in twain;
The graves were open'd; saints that night
Rose from the dead again.
The temple-vail was rent, from top
To bottom, at that tide:
All nature seem'd her course to stop
When he was crucify'd.
They'd not believe that he was dead,
Until they pierc'd his side;
Thence blood and water did proceed,
From wounds both deep and wide.
228

Then in a new grave they interr'd
His blessed corps at last;
And then a great stone they'd prepar'd,
Laid thereon, seal'd it fast.
Of sufferings a dreadful scene
Our Lord did undergo;
The wrath of God, of hell, and men,
All did him overflow.
Then, was not my content dear bought
To him that did procure it
At such a ransom, that no thought
Enough can e'er admire it?
O wonderful mysterious love!
None like it sure can be;
The Son of God come from above
To suffer thus for me,
Who am the vilest creature, sure,
That's this day out of hell;
But, by his blood, I am made pure;
My sins it doth expel.
By rising from the grave again,
He took death's sting away;
He purchas'd ease to me with pain
When I in bondage lay.
What more contentment can I have
Than see my Lord, by faith,
His life resume, and from the grave
Rise conqu'ring hell and death?
To see him on mount Olives stand,
In sight of the eleven,
Enclos'd with angels, to ascend
To God's right-hand in heav'n.
Therefore his people makes request
Before his father's throne;
When prayer by them in faith's exprest,
Christ pleads them as his own.
229

He sends his Spirit us to teach
The ways of holiness;
His servants he instructs to preach
The news of righteousness.
O blessed news! that such as we
Such favour should obtain;
So highly privileg'd, to be
Redeem'd from Satan's chain:
Not only so, but we are made
To our God priests and kings;
And Christ shall, as a shepherd, lead
Us unto living springs:
Yea, and all tears wipe from our eyes,
And set our hearts in frame;
And stir up all our faculties
To bless his holy name.
O worthy, worthy, is the Lamb
That was for sinners slain;
The promis'd seed of Abraham,
That gives us life again.
When we were dead in sins, and lost,
Without all hopes of grace,
Our life, alas! him dearly cost,
His own life and no less.
But now he lives; O blessed be
The rock of my salvation;
In heav'n he intercedes for me,
To my great consolation.
His Spirit guides me in all truth,
And sets my heart in frame;
And with a new song fills my mouth,
To bless his holy name.
Let seraphims and angels bless
His holy name with me;
Since I'm a sharer of his grace,
His praise I'll magnify.
230

For this I know, and am assur'd,
That I with him shall reign;
Afflictions here must be endur'd,
But lo they want their sting:
For Christ hath drunk the bitter cup
For sin, that was my due;
And from the dead hath lift me up;
For he did Death subdue:
And in triumph, victorious, he
Ascended up on high,
And led captive captivity,
That did in bondage ly:
And he received gifts for those,
Yea, those that did rebel,
E'en those that were his keenest foes,
And nought deserv'd but hell.
All this to me gives true content;
And my contentment's this,
That Jesus Christ doth compliment
Me with his righteousness:
By which alone I'm justify'd
Before his Father's throne;
And ever after glorify'd
When time here shall be none.
Tho' here I see it but in part,
And dark, as thro' a glass,
By faith, Lord, fix upon my heart
What time shall bring to pass.
When I shall see thee face to face,
And know as I am known,
And view the beatific place
Of thy majestic throne,
Admiring thy infinite love
And grace bestow'd on me,
In pure unmix'd content above,
I'll spend eternity.
231

And when King Jesus shall descend,
To judge this world below,
His mighty angels will attend
Him with a glorious show:
With sound of trumpet, from on high,
The great archangel shall
Descend. All in the grave that ly,
Shall hear him loudly call,
Arise, ye dead, that in the grave
And dust of death do ly,
And come to judgment. All shall have
Their doom eternally.
Then, with content, to consummate,
I, with the souls above,
The heav'nly orbs shall penetrate
With songs of divine love.
I, with a swift angelic flight,
Shall from these orbs descend,
And at the grave's mouth shall alight,
My body to attend;
There one another we shall greet,
With welcomes of content;
Then I'll re-enter, when we meet,
My old new-fashion'd tent,
Made like the body of my Lord,
With organs all complete;
Free of corruption, and decor'd
With ev'ry member meet,
To soar with seraphs thro' the sky,
And join the blessed throng
Of saints and angels, from on high,
In a triumphant song.
Then, to my great content, I shall
Among the blessed stand,
At the last judgment general,
On Jesus Christ's right hand,
232

And hear from his own blessed mouth,
In favour of us all
Who have believ'd his sacred truth,
That benediction fall,
Ye blessed of my Father all
Come, and inherit now
The kingdom, which, before the fall,
I had prepar'd for you.
For I was hungry, and thou didst
With pity on me think,
And gave me meat, and in the midst
Of my thirst gave me drink.
When I was sick with sore disease,
Thou didst me visits make;
If ought disturb'd my peace or ease,
Thou didst compassion take.
When I was naked, poor and low,
Ye did me clothing give;
And when I did to prison go,
Thou oft didst me relieve.
Then shall we answer, Lord, we ne'er
Saw thee in such distress;
This is a myst'ry, we declare,
Lord, thou dost now express.
Then shall he say, In as much as
Thou didst it unto mine,
The same as done to me it was;
The same reward is thine.
Then shall our Lord proceed, and say,
To them on his left hand,
Depart, ye cursed, hence away,
In my sight do not stand;
Hence to eternal fire, prepar'd
For Satan and his crew;
He and his ways were ay prefer'd
Before mine still by you:
233

For I was hungry, and no meat
You gave me for supply;
To slack my thirst I did intreat,
Yet this you did deny.
When naked, and in prison cast,
A stranger all forlorn,
And when I turned sick, at last,
In all I was your scorn.
Then shall they answer, Lord, we ne'er
Saw thee in such distress,
Else of our help you had had share
In each dejected case.
Then shall he say, In as much as
Ye did it not to mine,
The same as not to me it was;
The same reward is thine.
Then shall they mourn with discontent,
When devils shall them lead
Unto eternal punishment,
Without the least remede.
Then we the sentence shall applaud,
As past with equity;
Tho' in that damn'd and cursed crowd
Our nearest kindred be.
Then shall our Lord ascend on high,
With all his glorious train,
Up to his throne of majesty,
For ever to remain.
Then palms of victory and peace
Shall unto us be giv'n;
While all the wicked from his face
Shall into hell be driv'n.
Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard;
Man's heart cannot conceive
The bless'd effects of that reward
We then in heav'n shall have.
234

When we shall enter heaven's gate,
Our joys shall then abound;
Thousands of angels shall await,
Our welcomes there to sound.
No more shall discontent molest;
No more shall sorrow seize us;
We then shall fully be possess'd
Of ev'ry thing to please us.
No more afflictions; no more cross;
And no more fear of dying;
Yea, no more grudging; no more loss;
And no more pain or crying.
No more temptations to assault;
No more an evil heart;
No more we can commit a fault,
Nor from our God depart.
There shall be none to persecute;
There none to raise reproach;
There shall no bribes be destribute;
No falsehood can approach.
There no division, no debate,
No malice, no ill-will,
No animosities, no hate;
But love and concord still.
Nought to oppose our true content;
Nought to disturb our joy;
Nought there to make us more lament;
Nought there can us annoy.
O then, my soul, say, be content
With all that us befal;
Until a little time be spent,
Then we'll be freed of all.
Then we will fairly bid adieu
To all that's transitory,
And changed be from old to new,
And reign in endless glory.
235

Which that we may, O God, I crave
Thy Sp'rit to guide me here,
Until that sentence I receive,
Before thee to appear.

A Soliloquy for an unregenerate Sinner.

Ah! wretched creature that I am,
To what state have I brought
Myself? Alas! now to my shame,
Woes me! I see my thought
And evil heart did me delude.
Ah! still they flatter'd me,
And told me that my state was good;
But now, alas! I see
That I am lost, yea, sure undone
For ay, unless the Lord
Bring me to Christ, and sin dethrone,
And strength and grace afford.
My sins, O Lord, my sins, unclean
Polluted wretch am I;
More loathsome in thy sight I've been,
Than venom in mine eye.
O what a grievous hell of sin
Is in this heart of mine,
Which I have thought ay pure within,
And wholly to be thine?
I am corrupt in ev'ry part;
My words, my thoughts and ways;
My pow'rs, performances, and heart,
Full of corruption lyes.
Is not my nature and my will
All enmity within?
I'm forward unto evil still;
My heart's a sink of sin.
236

The swarms of sinful thoughts I have
And words, are out of number;
Base wicked actions I perceive
They now my soul incumber.
The load of guilt that's on my soul,
My head is full, my heart,
My mind, my members all are full;
Yea, sin fills ev'ry part.
How do my sins all stare on me?
How do they witness bear
Against me? Woe is me! I see
My creditors appear.
Every commandement takes hold
Upon me, for far more
Than thousand talents ten times told,
Ten thousand thousand score.
O Lord, how endless is the sum
Of all my debts to thee!
When they in reck'ning, Lord, shall come,
Infinite they will be.
Suppose all empty space were fill'd,
From north, south, east and west,
With paper wrote by the most skill'd,
In figures of the best,
What could from earth to heav'n stand,
Short would the number be;
When all cast up, the least command
Craves more than this from me.
My debt's infinite (woe to me!)
My sin's increas'd so high;
For they are wrongs that's done 'gainst thee,
Almighty Majesty.
If one work treason 'gainst a king,
Altho' he's but a man,
Is worthy racking, quartering,
Asunder to be drawn.
237

That I deserve far more, I own,
Who lift my hand so high,
'Gainst Heaven, and struck at the crown
Of God's great dignity.
My sins, my sins, behold a troop,
Yea, multitudes appear;
Their num'rous armies make me stoop,
And guilt sounds in mine ear.
Infinite evils compass me;
Iniquities take hold
On me, and sadly terrify
Me, mustering so bold.
O it were better far to see
Hell's regiments on me fall,
Than have my sins to fall on me,
My silly soul to thrall.
How, Lord, am I surrounded so,
Before, yea, and behind?
How many up against me go?
I am undone, I find.
They swarm within me, and without
They all my pow'rs possess;
My soul they have inclos'd about,
And down to hell me press.
This brood of hell man's ev'ry part,
My soul keeps as her own,
'Gainst God that made me; in my heart
They do erect their throne.
The sands are many, yet but small;
The mountains great, but few;
My sins are more than they are all;
As mountains mighty too.
My sins are many, but their weight
Exceeds their number far;
The pond'rous earth, compar'd, is light,
Far lighter than they are.
238

It better were, that all the rocks
And mountains fell on me,
Than my sins' crushing load; the shocks
Thereof most dreadful be.
With sin, alas! I'm loaden sore;
Let mercy help, O Lord,
Or I'm undone for evermore;
Do thou relief afford;
Press'd down with guilt, Lord, bear me up
Under this load I feel;
Or I'll be crush'd, without all hope,
For ever down to hell.
If throughly weigh'd my grief were, and
My sins in balance laid,
They would be heavier than the sand;
(My words are swallowed.)
They would weigh down the rocks and hills
That in the world stand;
And turn the balance 'gainst the isles
That earth or sea command.
My mighty sins, O Lord, thou knows
How manifold they be;
And my transgressions o'er me goes;
They are not hid from thee.
Once did my soul in glory stand;
Now humbled is; but where?
Once the creation's glory, and
God's image thou didst bear;
But now a lump of filthiness,
Of rottenness a chest;
All cover'd o'er with lothsomeness,
That cannot be express'd.
Oh! how hath sin thee ruinate?
Thou shalt be nam'd forsaken;
Thy faculties all desolate,
Thy chiefest rooms down taken:
239

Thy name shall be call'd Ichabod;
Or, Where's the glory gone:
How dreadfully art thou down trode,
Inglorious wretched one!
My beauty to deformity,
My glory into shame
Is turned now; O Lord, I see
What lep'rous wretch I am.
When Job and Lazarus their boils
And ulcers ran full sore,
To man's eyes, nor in his nostrils,
Was not offensive more,
Than I must needs be, in the view
Of God's great majesty,
Who is of purer eyes, than to
Behold iniquity.
What mis'ry have my sins, alas!
O Lord, brought me upon?
Sold under sin; in what a case
I am, to thee 'tis known.
Out of God's favour I am cast;
Curs'd from the Lord I am;
In soul and body I am curs'd;
In kindred, state, and name.
All that I have is curs'd; and oh!
My sins unpardoned;
My soul within a step of death;
Alas! where is remeid?
What shall I do, or whither will
I either look or go?
God, from above, frowns on me still;
Hell gapes for me below.
My conscience smites me sore within;
Temptations me surrounds
About; without, oh sin! oh sin!
My soul and body wounds.
240

Where shall I fly, or can abide
From God's omnisciency?
What pow'r can me secure or hide
From his all-piercing eye?
Alas! my soul, what mean'st thou now
Thus to go on content?
Art thou in league with hell? Hast thou
With death made covenant?
Art thou in love with misery?
Here is it good to be?
Alas! what shall I do? shall I
Live in iniquity?
Why, then, damnation, certainly,
Will be mine end, 'tis plain,
If in a nat'ral state I stay,
Or in known sins remain,
Ah! shall I so besotted be,
And madded, as to sell
My soul to flames, eternally,
For what prognostics hell?
For pleasure, flesh-content, or gain,
Shall I longer delay,
And in this wretched state remain;
I die, if here I stay.
What then? is there no help, no hope?
Except I turn there's none;
Yet is the door of mercy ope'
To such a woeful one.
Is there redemption, after such
High provocation?
God's oath is plighted, that is much,
To give salvation.
He will have mercy yet, if I
Unfeignedly do climb,
And turn me unreservedly,
By Jesus Christ, to him.
241

O God, I'll thank thee, ear' and late,
Upon my soul's bent knee;
That hitherto thy patience great
Hath waited upon me:
For had'st thou taken me away
In this estate, I had
Been cast off from thy mercy ay;
For certain perished.
But now, let free grace be ador'd,
Since mercy it is free;
I will accept thy offers, Lord,
Thro' Jesus strength'ning me.
My sins, O Lord, renounce I will;
And so resolve, by grace,
To set myself against them still,
And follow thee for peace.
In holiness and righteousness,
All my appointed time;
Until that my life's motion cease,
I will thy praises chime.
Who am I then, O Lord, that I
Should make a claim to thee;
Or have a part or portion by
Thy grace bestow'd on me,
Who am not worthy, certainly,
To lick dust from thy feet?
Since thou holdst forth the sceptre,
Am bold to touch at it.
If I despair, I mercy slight;
Or, to stand off, when thou
Call'st me to come, is great unright,
And would me quite undo.
If humiliation I pretend,
And so rebel 'gainst thee,
'Twill prove destruction in the end;
Therefore I come to be
242

A prostrate at the throne of grace,
With hearty resignation;
Extend thy mercy, Lord, speak peace,
And give me thy salvation.
I will accept, with thankfulness,
Of thee, O Lord, as mine;
And will give up all, more and less,
I have, to thee, as thine.
O'er me and mine, thou sov'reign shall
Be, and my king and God,
Thou shalt be in the throne, and all
My pow'rs be at thy nod.
They worship shall thy feet before,
For thou my portion art;
I'll rest in thee, O Lord; therefore
Thou art my better part.
Thou callest for my heart; oh! that
It were made fit for thy
Acceptance, blessed Lord, but what
A worthless wretch am I
Of any gift, or to be thine?
But, since thou'lt have it so,
I freely do my heart resign;
Take it as thine; and O!
That it were better. Lord, I put
It freely in thine hand;
For thou alone canst fashion it
Into a mould to stand.
O make it after thine own heart,
As thou wouldst have it; soft,
Humble, and heav'nly in each part,
As thou hast promis'd oft.
O make it holy, sound and pure;
Yea, altogether fit,
That I thy favour may procure,
To write thy laws in it.
243

come, Lord Jesus, quickly come;
Enter triumphantly;
Take me for ever to thee home;
I yield each faculty.
Thou art the way; to thee I come,
With guilt of sin o'erload;
Thou'rt mediator, and by whom
I can approach to God.
I have destroy'd myself; but in
Thee is my help: Lord save
Me, else I'll perish in my sin,
And sink below the grave.
I, as a pannel, come to thee,
With rope about my neck,
Acknowledging I ought to die,
And worse than death expect.
The hires more due sure never were
To servants; nor the penny
More due unto the labourer;
No, not so due to any,
As death and hell is unto me.
These are my wages due;
But to thy merits, Lord, I fly;
I trust thou'lt me rescue,
By virtue of thy sacrifice,
And by thy intercession:
Thy teaching, Lord, doth me suffice;
Guide thou my conversation.
Stand wide, ye everlasting doors;
Plain passage that you may
Give to King Jesus, and his pow'rs;
For he's to come this way,
Into my soul and heart, to take
Possession evermore:
O all pow'rs of my soul, awake,
And praise the King of glore.
244

O blessed Sp'rit of the Most High,
That consolation brings,
Who dost thy chosen sanctify,
And guides them in all things,
Come in with thy hostility,
And courtly 'tendants all;
Thy fruits and graces plant in me,
And let me hear thy call.
Thine habitation make thou me;
But nothing I can give,
But what is thine, O Lord, to thee,
Yet I desire to live.
With the poor widow, I cast two
Poor mites, as all I have,
My body, and my soul, into
Thy treasury to save.
Them I resign entire to thee;
O sanctify them now
To be thy servants; then I'll be
Changed from old to new.
They'll be thy patients, cure them now
Of all disease and pains;
They'll be thy agents, govern thou
Their motions by thy reins.
To Satan and the world I have
Too long a servant been;
Now I'll renounce them all, and crave
Thy blessing on each mean.
Thy dictates and directions shall
Still be my rule for ever;
My guide shall be thy counsels all;
O Lord, forsake me never.
Most glorious blessed Trinity,
And Unity in one,
Myself I render up to thee;
Receive me as thine own.
245

Thy name on me, Lord, write, and set
Thy mark on all I have,
As thine own proper goods; and let
Thy Sp'rit me guide and save.
Each member of my corps make thou
And all the faculties
Of my poor soul, O Lord, for now
Thy precepts are my choice.
Thy laws I'll lay before mine eyes;
They shall the copy be
Which I shall keep; and all my days
I'll write still after thee.
According to this rule I'll walk,
In strength of thy great grace;
Thy laws shall govern thoughts and talk,
And all that I possess.
Although I cannot perfectly
Keep thy commands, I'll not
Allow to break the least, or by
Me ever be forgot.
The devil, the world, and the flesh,
Tempt me, they will, to stop;
But thy free Sp'rit will me refresh,
Because in thee I hope.
Now I resolve, in thine own strength,
To cleave to thee always,
That I may in the heav'ns, at length,
Trump forth thy lasting praise.
Whate'er it cost me, well I ken't,
I'll lose nothing by thee;
Therefore I'm heartily content
With each difficulty.
Of all that's sinful, thro' thy grace,
I will myself deny;
To follow thee I will not cease
Until the day I die.
246

Thy yoke is easy, Lord; thy cross
Is welcome, as it is
The way to thee: I'll count but loss
All worldly happiness.
I'll be content to tarry, till
The time I come to thee:
Here, poor and low, let me be still
Despis'd, so I may be
Admitted once to live in bliss
With thee, hereafter, Lord;
Thou hast my heart and hand to this
Agreement, and my word.
Like to the Mede's laws let it be,
And Persians; Lord, command
It never be revers'd; make me
For ever there to stand.
This resolution I will still
Keep till the day I die;
I sworn have, perform't I will;
And that most chearfully.
To keep thy statutes I'll rejoice;
I given have my free
Consent; my everlasting choice
Is made with none but thee.
Now, O Lord Jesus, say Amen;
Confirm the contract band,
That I before thy Father's throne
In purity may stand.
O thou, my soul, rise up, and sing
Praise to the Trinity,
Who doth from death to life me bring,
And from hell set me free.
All glory to the Father, to
The Son and Holy Ghost;
As't was from the beginning, so
Is, and for ay shall last.
247

A BUNDLE OF FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN:

BEING Verses on the most remarkable Men and Women mentioned in the Bible.

WITH Other Poems and Hymns useful for Children, &c.

To my young Reader.

Dear child, in this composure, see
Brave men are mentioned,
Men of the most antiquity,
Most fam'd and honoured:
Here you for imitation have
Men of the best renown
For valiant hearts, and actions brave,
That ever yet were known:
Here's true diverting stories told,
Such like were never found
Among romances, new nor old,
In all the world around.
And art thou piously inclin'd?
Here many patterns be
That on religion set their mind,
When but as young as thee.
248

Would'st thou to wealth and honour climb?
Then fear thou the Most High;
Be good like David, and like him
God will thee magnify.
Wouldst thou escape that dreadful fate
The wicked must befal!
Upon religious duties wait,
And trust to God your all.
On whatsoe'er thy mind shall turn,
Respecting bus'ness here,
If thou thy station wouldst adorn,
First learn thy God to fear:
Then shalt thou prosper in thy way,
And all thou tak'st in hand;
While wicked men shall all decay
Around thee in the land.
Peruse this little book, wherein
You various things will see,
That may divert thy mind from sin,
And be of use to thee.
ALEX. NICOL.

The First Chapter of Genesis.

The Spirit of the living God
Mov'd on the mighty deep;
Matter from nothing came abroad,
And into forms did creep:
Void empty space and darkness did
Surround the dark'ned chaos;
When the Almighty spoke, and bid
Light be, then lo it was.
Darkness to separate from light
He will'd, and they obey:
Light Day he call'd, and darkness Night,
And both made the first day.
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At God's command extended was
The spacious firmament,
That's like a molten looking-glass,
Yet strong and permanent.
Waters above it, and below
He sep'rated to stay:
This firmament call'd Heav'n, and so
This made the second day.
God will'd the waters under heav'n
Together to repair
To where he had appointment giv'n,
That dry-land might appear:
The waters he call'd Seas, and land
He called Earth; and they,
The instant that he gave command,
Did willingly obey.
Then said th'Almighty, Let the earth
Bring forth grass, herbs and trees,
Whose seeds and fruits prolific birth
Their various kinds supplies:
At his command the fertile earth
Did instantly obey;
Produc'd her vegetable birth,
Concluding the third day.
God said, Let there be lights that may
Divide the day from night,
And rule each season, year and day,
And shine exceeding bright:
God made the sun, and moon, and set
Them in the firmament;
The stars also in number great
He made for ornament;
These he appointed to give light
Upon the earth, for they
Were to divide the day from night,
And this made the fourth day.
250

God will'd the waters to bring forth
The moving creatures there;
And fowls to fly above the earth
In open fields of air:
Great whales by him created were;
And ev'ry living thing,
That either is in seas or air,
The waters forth did bring:
To ev'ry thing he gave command
And virtue to increase
Their sev'ral species, that might stand,
Till time itself shall cease.
Thus God beheld all that he made,
And lo! it was all good;
The morning and the evening shade
The fifth day did conclude.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth
The living creatures, which
May multiply birth after birth,
The dry land to enrich:
God made all beasts and creeping things,
And cattle ev'ry one,
After his kind th'earth forth did bring,
Ev'n by his word alone:
God said, Let Us make man that may
Our image represent,
And o'er all living creatures sway
The pow'r and government:
So God created man of dust,
And breath'd in him, and he
Became a living Soul that must
Subsist eternally;
Both male and female was he made,
Resembling God; and he
The pow'r and sovereignty had
O'er all in earth and sea:
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God blessed him, and gave command
To multiply, and gave
Green herbs to beasts for meat, but man
The choicest fruits should have.
So God survey'd the works he made,
And found them very good.
Thus morning and the ev'ning did
The first fix days conclude.

A Meditation on the Second Chapter of Genesis.

Most glorious and holy God,
Who was, is, and shall be;
Heav'n is thy throne and bless'd abode,
To all eternity;
The whole earth's of thy glory full,
Thy works shew forth thy praise;
All nature yields to thy good will,
All things thy word obeys:
Thou mad'st the heav'ns, earth and sea,
Of nothing, by thy pow'r;
And over ev'ry thing that be
Thou art the governor.
Six days, for our example, thou
Didst take the worlds to frame;
And rested on the seventh, to shew
We should observe the same.
Thou mad'st the light and darkness, which
Are both alike to thee:
Sun, moon, and stars, above our reach
Their magnitude to see.
Thou mad'st thine angels spirits pure,
To serve at thy command,
To do thy errands, and procure
Whate'er thou wilt demand.
252

Thou mad'st man to resemble thee
In knowledge, righteousness,
And holiness; no misery
Obstruct'd his happiness;
Inferior but in degree
Unto the angels bright;
Thou crown'd'st his head with dignity,
With favour and delight:
Beasts of the earth, fowl of the air,
Fifth in the seas that swam,
Their due obedience did declare;
If he but call'd, they came.
Thou mad'st a garden fair and sweet,
Where all delight did flourish,
Tor recreation, and for meat,
All's appetites to nourish:
Nay more, to consummate his joy,
Thou gav'st to him a wife,
That all delights he might enjoy
That could be wish'd in life:
Save only that peculiar tree
That in the garden grew;
Of it thou will'd him to keep free,
As a Superior's due:
Thou jnftly threat'ned, At what time
He of the fame did eat,
That he should die for such a crime,
And lose his blessed state;
Not only him, but ev'n all those
That should from him proceed,
Should share the punishment and loss,
Since he of all was head.
Most holy, wise and just thou art,
O God, in all thy ways;
Obedience is our only part,
Thy best-lov'd sacrifice.
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VERSES upon the most remarkable Men and Women mentioned in the BIBLE.

ADAM.

Adam was plac'd in pleasant paradise,
Had all the herbs and fruits therein, to choice
Which he should eat, and which he should forbear,
Except one tree, whose fruits most dang'rous were,
Forbid him (on this peril) by that God
Of whom he held his life, and bless'd abode.

EVE.

Eve, not contented with her bless'd estate,
Believ'd the serpent that she'd be more great,
Did eat of the forbidden fruit, and gave
Her husband also, that he might perceive
Things that he knew not, both of good and evil,
As she had heard and learned of the devil:
But disappointment was their wretched fate;
Instead of knowing more, to their regrete,
They knew far less, and both were quickly driv'n
From paradise, and lost their claim to heav'n.

CAIN and ABEL.

Abel was good; God therefore him preferr'd,
And his first off'ring greatly did regard:
But Cain was evil; God did him neglect,
And to his off'ring did shew no respect:
Which was the cause the villain did embrue
His hands in blood, and his own brother flew.

ENOCH.

Enoch was holy, and still pleased God;
Therefore on earth he had no long abode;
For God took him alive to heav'n, where he
Will reign and walk with him eternally.
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[Methuselah liv'd to the greatest age]

METHUSELAH.
Methuselah liv'd to the greatest age
Of any e'er was on this earthly stage;
Yet of the longest liv'd nought can be said,
But that they once did live, and now are dead.

NOAH.
Six score of years good Noah was employ'd
Building an ark, before the flood destroy'd
The world for sin; and ev'ry stroke he gave
Bade men repent, that God might mercy have:
But none regarded, till the deluge drown'd
Them all at once; no man alive was found,
Save Noah's houshold, eight in number, were
Preserv'd alive by God's peculiar care;
With two and two of ev'ry bird and beast,
That ever since to multitudes increas'd.

NOAH's THREE SONS.
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah's three sons were:
A father's curse the wretched Ham must bear;
Because he saw his father's shame expos'd,
And to his brethren had the same disclos'd.
Who spread a garment on their shoulders straight,
Went back, and screen'd their father's shame from sight.
Ham was the father of Canaan: 'tis said
By Japheth were the Gentile isles o'erspread:
But in Shem's family the church of God
For ages had, and shall have its abode.

NIMROD.
Gigantic Nimrod was a mighty man,
He was the first that monarchy began:
He and his people, journeying from the East,
In Shinar's plains at last their tents they plac'd;
“Come (said they) let us here a city build,
And an high tow'r, our lives from harm to shield,
255

Whose top may reach to heaven's gates, that when
We please we may an access thereto gain;
And let us make ourselves a name, that we
Scatt'red no more throughout the earth may be.”
But God beheld what these vile miscreants did,
And that nonght could their enterprize forbid;
Said he, All mankind have one kind of speech,
And their design is heaven's gates to reach
By their hand-work; I will confound them so,
That one another's speech they shall not know.”
Then ev'ry man spake language that none knew
Except himself, and yet he knew not how:
“Bring me (said one) a load of brick;” and they,
Instead thereof, brought him a load of hay:
One call'd and bid make fast a rope; and he
That was below, made haste to let it flee.
Thus all confus'd, their tools they tumbled straight,
And like bewitched fools began to fight,
All scatter'd round; each one another chas'd;
Dispers'd abroad to North, South, East and West.

ABRAHAM.
From Chaldea the patriarch Abraham,
At God's command, a sojourner he came
Unto Canaan, which land God promise made
To him, that he would give it to his seed,
Yet childless, and his wife tho' barren still,
She was intent that promise to fulfil;
Gave him her handmaid, that she might conceive,
And she by her a borrowed child might have.
So she conceiv'd, and bare Abram a son,
Suppos'd the heir of all his sire had won:
But lo! three angels in the form of men
Came walking to Abram along the plain,
Whom he saluted, to his tent them call'd,
And with a rural feast them well regall'd.
In compensation they call'd for his wife,
And said, “According to the time of life,
256

Thou shalt conceive and bear a son, who shall
Be thy sole heir, and possessor of all:”
At which Sarai laugh'd in heart to hear
That one past age, and barren too, should bear;
For which they chid her, and affirm'd that she
Should the bless'd mother of great nations be.
When they departed, Abram courteously
And in good manners made them a convoy:
When at some distance two went off; but one
Abode with Abram till he was made known,
And told him plainly that he was his God,
And bade him lift his eyes and look abroad,
And view the land from North, South, East and West,
For of the same his seed should be possess'd.
But Abram had forgot God's promise made,
And for Ishma'l his son did intereced;
“Lord, thou hast promis'd, and I do believe
That thou to me a progeny wilt give;
Therefore Ishmael, if 'tis thy sov'reign will,
Grant he may live thy promise to fulfil.”
God said, “Sarai, as I have told you, shall
Bear thee a son, whom thou shalt Isaac call;
With him I will my covenant renew
Which I have made, and still have kept with you,
Lift up thine eyes, and tell the stars, if ye
Can number them, so shall thy offspring be;
For mighty nations shall be of thy seed,
And potent kings shall from thy loins proceed.
Also I heard, and gave thee no denial
Concerning thy first-born son Ishmael;
For he shall live, become exceeding great,
And he in time twelve princes shall beget.
But I my covenant will 'stablish sure
With Isaac, whom thy wife shall to thee bear,
And with his seed; and this shall be the sign,
That you and yours, yea ev'ry male of thine,
Be circumcis'd, and in their foreskin hold
My cov'nant's seal, when they are eight days old.
257

They shall be strangers in a foreign land
Four hundred years, press'd by a tyrant's hand,
From whence I'll bring them by my mighty arm,
(And no man shall have power to do them harm),
And plant them in this fruitful land, wherein
You hitherto a sojourner have been:
But thou shalt die in good old age and peace,
And the fourth generation of thy race
They shall possess the Am'rites land at will,
But their iniquities are not yet full.”

LOT.
Lot, Abram's friend, in Sodom pitch'd his tent:
But lo! two angels unto him were sent,
And warned him from that vile place to flee,
For in short time it would destroyed be;
He and his wife, two daughters, and no moe,
Deliv'red were from that dire overthrow.
His wife, who lov'd the place, began to halt,
And looking back was turned into salt:
She of God's wrath a monument was made,
That others might to God's commands take heed.
He and his daughters to a city went;
But fear'd to dwell therein, because the scent
Of fire and brimstone reach'd thro' all the plain;
They fled, and in the mountains did remain:
There the two maids suppos'd the human race
Was quite extinct, and none left to increase;
They made their father drink till he was drunk,
Lay down with him when he in sleep was sunk;
The force of wine and warmth him so beguil'd,
That he unwitting got them both with child:
Each of the two brought forth a son, from whom
The Moabites and Ammonites did come.

ISAAC.
Young Isaac now appears upon the stage,
Born of his mother when she was past age;
258

At eight days old was circumcis'd, and grew
Till he was wean'd, belov'd of not a few,
Except Ishmael, Hagar's son, who smil'd
When he old Sarah pamp'ring him beheld;
At which she said (and kick'd him out of doors)
“This harlot's son shall not be heir with ours.”
It came to pass, that God call'd Abraham;
To which he answered, “Lord, here I am.”
God said, “Take Isaac, now thine only son;
And nothing grudge, it is what must be done;
Take him, I say, and to Meriah go,
And on a mountain, which I shall thee show,
Offer him up a sacrifice to me:
As all is mine, I challenge this of thee.”
Then Abram said, “Can this be true I hear,
That I should sacrifice mine only heir?
Nay, sure I dream—nay, nay, I am awake;
Some Deity it was that to me spake.
Can God, who is most Holy, Just and Good,
Require a sacrifice of human blood?
No—'tis some daemon, mankind's enemy,
That would seduce me to idolatry;
God is too good his promise to make void;
If Isaac die, my hopes are all destroy'd:
But hold! what do I say? why should I doubt
Of God's great pow'r his promise to make out?
What tho' my Isaac should to ashes burn?
God's pow'r can make him unto life return;
I in my God will trust, who hitherto
All my difficulties hath brought me thro';
Yea, rather than I should my God displease,
My darling Isaac I will sacrifice:
If I'm deceiv'd, God will my error show,
And me preserve from my infernal foe.”
Thus forth he ventur'd in the name of God;
He and his son upon two asses rode:
Wood, fire, a knife, two servants, then took he
With him, and went into the land Mori':
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Three days they walked, till the place they spied
Afar; then Abram to his young men said,
“Stay with the asses, till the lad with me
Go worship yonder, and return to thee.”
So he took wood, and bound it on his son,
Fire in his hand; and on their way they're gone.
Now, as they walked, Isaac look'd him round,
And said, “My father, here we do abound
With preparations for an off'ring; but
A lamb for sacrifice I see it not.”
Then Abram said, “God that requires the thing
Will sure provide a lamb for offering.”
So on they walk'd towards the place, and there
Abram made haste an altar to prepare;
And laid the wood in order thereupon,
Then stretched out his hand to take his son.
Isaac, affrighted, cry'd with tears, and said,
“O father, father, I am sore afraid
That you are desp'rate, or some frantic fit
Has seiz'd your senses, and expell'd your wit:
What cruel thing is this you mean to do?
Would ye your hands in your own blood imbrue?
“No, no, my son; you quite mistake the case:
All human reason must to God give place:
No doubt I love you as I do my life;
And certainly this sacrificing knife
Should as soon sheath in my own bowels as thine,
Wer't not I must regard commands divine.”
“O father, father, has not God once said,
Who sheds man's blood by man shall his be shed?
And at the hand of ev'ry man he wou'd
Require his brother's or his neighbour's blood?
Much more of you: O father dear, forbear,
And to seducing spirits give not ear.”
“Oh not, my son; full well I understand
I'm not deceiv'd; it is God's own command:
And rather than my God I should displease,
My all, my Isaac, I will sacrifice.”
260

“Father, did God 'gainst nature give me life,
To lose it by this sacrificing knife?
No; sure he did some higher-end propose,
Than against nature I the same should lose?
Oft have you told me for a truth most valid,
God said, in me your seed was to be called:
Is God a man, his promise to deny?
Or son of man, that he should make a ly?
Beware, dear father, what you do; forbear,
And to seducing spirits give not ear.”
“Forbear, dear child; no intercession may
Prevail with me my purpose to delay:
It is no spirit, but my God; and still
I will believe him, and obey his will:
I'm confident his promise he'll make good;
Tho' here I slay you, and pour out your blood,
And I do here your bones to ashes burn,
His pow'r can make you unto life return.”
“Since now, dear father, you are resolute,
And all my arguments you still refute,
Unto God's will and yours I do submit,
To do with me all that you judge most fit.
If you're deceived in this strange intent,
I pray the God of heav'n you to prevent;
And if it be his sovereign blessed will,
I own we should all his commands fulfil:
Therefore to him I recommend my spirit,
That thro' Messiah that's to come his merit,
I may be rais'd from death to life again,
And reign with him time without end. Amen.”
Then on the altar laid he Isaac bound,
And took the knife to give the fatal wound:
But lo! an angel call'd from heav'n, and said,
“Lay not thine hand upon the harmless lad;
For now I know thou fearest God truly,
Since thou didst not thine only son deny.”
Then Abraham lift up his eyes, and spied
A ram in thickets by his horns tied:
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With joyful heart he ran and caught the prize,
And off'red him, in's stead, a sacrifice:
Jehovah-Jireh then he call'd the place,
That is, God will provide in such a case.
Again the angel spake to him, and shew'd,
That God for this his promise had renew'd,
That he would bless him greatly, and his seed
Should as the sand on shores be multiplied;
That in his seed all nations he would bless,
And that their en'mies gates they should possess;
Because thou hast obey'd my voice, I will
All this and more for you and yours fulfil.
So they took journey to return again:
And as they walk'd along the lonely plain,
Abraham said, “My son, you plainly see
The folly of your arguments with me.”
“My dearest father, now I see indeed
God is a present help in time of need;
Upon his goodness and his mercies I
Will meditate, until the day I die:
To us this day he manifested hath
Enough to make us stedfast in our faith;
I'll ne'er forget how I was ransomed,
And in a figure raised from the dead:
I'll love the Lord, and serve him all my days,
For this is matter of eternal praise.”
Thus on they walked, both still praising God,
Towards Beersheba, where was their abode.
So Sarah died, and Abram purchas'd straight
A burial-place to hide her from his sight;
Four hundred shekels was the price he paid,
For field and cave wherein his wife was laid.
When Abram saw his son was grown a man,
He to provide him in a wife began;
And call'd his servant, unto whom he said,
“Here is a point in which I want your aid:
Put now thine hand below my thigh, and swear,
As thou the God of heav'n and earth shalt fear,
Take not a wife to my son Isaac here;
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Go to my country, and my kindred, there
Find out a virgin, pious, chaste and fair,
Bring her from thence to be my Isaac's wife,
The only joy and solace of his life.”
Then said the servant, “Sir, perhaps the maid
She will not come to do as you have said;
Must I your son bring thither back again,
In your own native country to remain?
“No, no, (replied the patriarch), take care,
And take not back again my Isaac there;
For if the maiden will not follow you,
Ye shall be clear and free of this your vow.”
Then took the servant jewels, bracelets, rings,
Gold, furniture, and other costly things,
And went toward Mesopotamia,
And near the town where Nahor dwelt did draw.
Then towards ev'ning, near the city he
Stood by a well; and praying earnestly,
He said, “O Lord God of my master, now
Unto my master's son thy kindness shew:
Send me good speed; and let it be, when I
The damsels come to draw their waters spy,
And she to whom I say, Maid, draw for me,
Shall answer, I will you and yours supply,
Let it be her thou hast ordain'd thro' life
To be my master's son young Isaac's wife.”
When he had ended this his wishful pray'r,
Rebekah came, who did a pitcher bear;
Which when she fill'd with water, “Maid (said he)
Allow a draught thereof I pray to me.”
“My lord (said she) it is at your command,
And straight let down her pitcher on her hand;
Also I'll draw for all thy camels, till
They ev'ry one of them shall drink their fill.”
The man then wond'ring at her beauty, said,
“Whose daughter art thou, O thou charming maid?
And can your father lodge us here this night,
Until we see the morrow's morning light?
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Said she, “I am Bethuel's daughter, he
The son of Nahor; that's my pedigree:
Also we want not room for you to lodge,
And likewise straw and provender I judge.”
Then pull'd he forth a great ear-ring of gold,
And bracelets, saying, “Maid, I pray thee hold,
For your good will and service done to me,
Too small regard to be bestow'd on thee.”
Then ran Rebekah; and her mother told
About the man, and of her gifts of gold;
Which when her brother Laban saw, he ran,
And courteously intreated in the man,
And gave him water there to wash his feet,
Set meat before him, urging him to eat;
But he refus'd; said, “I'll not eat a crumb,
Till I have told the errand I am come.”
Then Laban said, “Speak on, Sir, let us hear;
You shall be welcome to our utmost here.”
Said he, “My master Abraham is one
Whom God hath bless'd with riches, and a son
That's grown a man, his only hopeful heir;
Wherefore he made me to protest and swear,
That I should take my journey to this place,
And fetch a wife for him of his own race:
Also I see, so far as I have gone,
That God doth bless the enterprize begun;
For, as I stood by yonder well, I pray'd
That God would send to me the very maid
He had provided for my master's son,
And by that means I wish'd she might be known;
If I said, “Maiden, I am very dry,
Pray let me have some water for supply,
If she should say, “Sir, I will give to you,
And to your servants, and your camels too;”
Let that be her from whom these words shall flow,
That God ordains shall to my master go:
Scarce had I done with praying in my mind,
When lo! Rebekah came, and prov'd so kind.
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Then did I ask her of her kindred syne,
And found that she was of my master's line:
Then did I worship rev'rently the Lord;
And call'd my master's words unto record,
“God will (said he) his angel send with you,
And guide you to the place, and maiden too:
Therefore, if you regard my master say;
If otherwise, then frankly tell me, nay;
That I may turn to either hand, and see
What success God provided hath for me.”
Then answer'd Laban and Bethuel both,
“Friend, to dissemble we'll be very loth;
The thing, it seems, proceeds from God alone,
And cannot sure by us be overthrown:
Behold Rebekah! let her with you go,
And be his wife, since God will have it so.”
So when the man had heard this kindly word,
He bow'd his head, and worshipped the Lord,
Did eat and drink, and went to sleep that night,
And rose to-morrow by the morning light.
Then said he, “Since the Lord hath prospered
My journey hither, I would now implead
You not to hinder, but send me away
Unto my master without more delay.”
Said they, “We'll call the damsel in, and see
If she inclines to go along with thee:
She being call'd, did instantly consent
To go with him, seem'd very well content.
Then did they bless her, and sent her away;
And to Canaan they came without delay.
Now as they walked, and drew near their home,
They spied a man out in the fields to come:
Rebekah said unto the servant, “See,
There is a man that meets us, who is he?
His looks are steady, and his pace but slow,
And with a careless air he seems to go.”
The servant said, “It is my master's son,
He loves to walk forth in the fields alone
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To meditate on things that are divine,
That elevates his good and holy mind;
For he is good, and leads an holy life,
With him you'll be a very happy wife.”
Then did Rebekah vail her face, that he
At first might not her virgin blushes see,
While Isaac took her by the hand, and went
With her unto his mother Sarah's tent:
So she became his wife, with love transported:
After his mother's death he was comforted.
Then Abraham took him another wife,
With whom he spent his residue of life.
By whom he sev'ral other children had:
To each of them he certain portions paid;
But unto Isaac, his beloved heir,
He gave his stock, and all he had to spare;
So Abraham gave up the ghost and died,
And was by Sarah in Macphelah laid.
Now Isaac pray'd his wife a child might have
(For she was barren), and she did conceive:
And lo! the children struggled in her womb,
As if each grudged of too little room;
Then she enquir'd of God the reason why
That she was troubled after such a way;
God told her, twins were in her womb, and she
The mother of two diff'rent sons must be;
Two kinds of people shall from thee divide,
The younger o'er the elder shall preside.
So in due time Rebekah at one birth
Two lively children that were males brought forth:
The boy first born was all o'ergrown with hair,
And Esau nam'd; the other smooth and fair,
And Jacob nam'd, because he strove to feel,
When he was born, his brother Esau's heel:
Both circumcis'd when they were eight days old;
Both grew to men, and Esau rough and bold
Was a great hunter of wild venison,
But Jacob dwelt in tents upon the plain.
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Now Isaac loved Esau, for the meat
He often of his venison did eat:
But lo! Rebekah loved Jacob best,
And often in her heart she Jacob bless'd.
One day, as Esau had at hunting been,
He turned faint; and after he had seen
Some pottage Jacob for himself made ready,
His wish was eager, and his eyes were steady,
And said, “Dear brother, pray now give to me
Some of your pottage, for I'm like to die.”
Then Jacob said, “Sell me thy birth-right now,
And I'll the pottage frankly give to you.”
“Tush, tush! (said Esau) take it unto thee,
'Tis of small value when I'm like to die.”
Said Jacob, “Swear that this birth-right of thine
In ev'ry point shall afterwards be mine:”
So Esau sware; and Jacob gave him bread,
And pottage both: thus was the bargain made,
Then Isaac called Esau his first-born,
And said, “My son, you see with age I'm worn:
Mine eyes are dim; my taste is almost gone;
Go therefore out, and catch some venison,
And make me meat, such as I love, that I
May eat, and bless thee here before I die.”
Rebekah hearing what was said and done,
She call'd for Jacob her beloved son,
And told him all, bids him go to the fold,
And on two fat and well-grown kids lay hold;
I'll make that meat your father loves, that he
May eat, and bless thee now before he die.
But Jacob said, “My brother is all hair,
My father knows that I am smooth and bare;
If he shall feel me, and the cheat discover,
He'll count me nothing but a false deceiver:
Thereby I would incur his cursing rather
Than the kind blessing of a loving father.”
Rebekah said, “Obey my voice: let me
The only object of his cursing be:”
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Jacob obey'd; she made the sav'ry meat,
And cunningly she to conceal the cheat
Took Esau's garments, judging it no sin,
And cloth'd him therewith, and the hairy skin
Put on the smooth parts of his hands and neck,
That so his father might not him suspect.
The good old man thought 'twas his eldest son,
Bless'd him as such: and Jacob scarce outgone,
When Esau from his hunting came, and had
Of's venison the sav'ry morsel made,
Yet miss'd the blessing; and resolv'd to slay
His brother Jacob, but he fled away
To Padan-aram, there to save his life,
Where fourteen years he served for a wife.
Jacob became exceeding rich, and had
Twelve sons, by whom a nation was o'erspread:
Great kings, and many, from him did proceed,
As unto Abraham God had promised.

JOSEPH.
Joseph was sold in Egypt for a slave:
But he fear'd God, and did so well behave,
That soon he was advanc'd to high degree,
And none in Egypt more esteem'd than he.

MOSES.
Like Moses, none of all the human race
Of God had so much countenance and grace:
For meekness he all other men excell'd;
Yet at the waters rashly he rebell'd:
So that the promis'd land afar he view'd;
But there to enter he was not allow'd.

JOSHUA.
Brave Joshua led Isra'l to Canaan,
Fought valiantly, subdu'd each heathen man;
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Parted the land, and in proportion gave
To ev'ry tribe, what they by lot should have.
Still resolute to serve the Lord was he;
And so in peace and good old age did die.

HANNAH and SAMUEL.
Thus Hannah pray'd most fervently in thought,
And earnestly from God a child besought;
“And if (said she) God me a man-child give,
I'll lend him to the Lord while he shall live.”
So she conceiv'd, and Samuel did bring forth,
A man of great integrity and worth.

DAVID.
David, a man of early piety,
And so God rais'd him to great dignity,
From a mean shepherd to a royal throne;
Such is God's goodness unto ev'ry one
That fear and serve him with their heart and mind:
Who seek God early will him surely find.

ABSALOM.
Absalom for beauty did excel,
Yet he against his father did rebel,
For which he was in battle overthrown,
And doubtless unto hell the wretch is gone
So beauty is no sign of goodness, sure;
Fair Helen was but an adult'rous whore.

SOLOMON.
King Solomon, the wisest of mankind;
And yet he prov'd an arrant fool, we find.

MANASSEH.
Manasseh was a wicked wretch; yet he
Found mercy when he sought it earnestly:
Yet this is no encouragement to sin;
It only shews great sinners sav'd have been.

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JOB.
Job patiently did great afflictions bear;
He feared God, and held religion dear:
So that his wife, his friends, and Satan's art
Could never make him from it once depart.

ESTHER.
God's providence brought Esther to a throne,
To save the Jews from being overthrown.

HAMAN.
Upon the gallows Haman had design'd
For Mordecai, himself was hang'd we find,
Pride and unjustice sure at length will be
Brought to disgrace and endless misery.

The PROPHETS.
The Prophets all were holy men, and were
Inspir'd of God his purpose to declare.

Saint JOHN the Baptist.
He honour'd was to go before, and tell
Redemption was at hand for Israel.

JOSEPH and MARY.
Joseph and Mary well met man and wife,
Both just and good, and happy in their life:
The blessed mother of our Lord was she;
And he his father was suppos'd to be.

The four EVANGELISTS.
Four write the hist'ry of our blessed Lord;
They all in one and the same things accord:
All pointedly relate his lowly birth;
His life, and doctrine taught by him on earth;
His cruel death; how from the dead he rose,
And his ascension each exactly shows.

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The twelve APOSTLES.
Christ twelve Apostles chose, to witness bear
Of all he said, and did, and taught while here;
And that they might his doctrine spread abroad,
As they should after be inspir'd of God.

JUDAS.
But one of them a trait'rous wretch did prove,
For money did forfeit his master's love:
But he despair'd, and after hang'd himself;
Surely to him it was a dear-bought pelf.

HEROD.
Proud Herod, when prais'd by a foolish mob,
Did the Almighty of his glory rob:
So that God's judgments seiz'd him in a trice,
That he was eaten quick of worms and lice.

REMARKS.

[I.]

The godly man stands on the surest ground;
For he seeks help where help is to be found:
But lo! the wicked are in dreadful case;
Destruction follows them from place to place.

II.

A fool for Christ is certainly most wise,
Though all the rest of mankind him despise:
They're only fools that wealth and honours make
Their god while here, and the true God forsake.
For nat'ral fools I have nothing to say,
But leave their event to the judgment-day.

III.

That man his journey likely overtakes,
Who in the morning slumb'ring sleep forsakes.
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Rising betimes, he briskly takes his way,
Before the sun his sultry beams display:
Still making progress, ev'ry step doth tend
To make him at the last his journey end.

IV.

A rogue detected by proof rightly led,
Reason for him can no excuses plead:
As is his crime so must his sentence be;
It is unjust to let a rogue go free;
For, when he's punish'd, others may take care,
And not involve themselves into the snare.
Sure rogues are plagues unto society;
So reason says, that ev'ry rogue should die.

V.

When surly winter with his blasts appear,
The most inclement season of the year,
The chilling frosts and icy snows descend;
'Gainst them the flow'rs cannot themselves defend;
And blust'ring Boreas thunders o'er the plain,
And robs the fields of all their vernal green:
So, when the wicked o'er the godly reigns,
They're made to languish and submit to chains.

Fifty Golden Verses.

1

There's few or none, that e'er communion had
With God, who are not sometimes sunk and sad.

2

Where ends the work of ministers, therein
The work of hearers always should begin.

3

It shews to God we have but little love,
In duties, if unwilling we shall prove
To come thereto, and stay with weariness,
And going from them gladness we express.

4

A man in gifts may be exceeding fat;
Yet lean in grace, yea unregenerate.
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5

In want of all things, I can taste and see
How sweet the Lord is many ways to me.

6

Whate'er we suffer, or whate'er it bring,
'Tis sweetest music to hear conscience sing.

7

Repentances gray-headed seldom prove
Of the right kind, descending from above.

8

To worldly things our thirst should be but cold;
To heavenly things inflamed, and most bold.

9

'Tis ease for men to fly from duty's way:
But who can shun th'account at the last day?

10

Thyself to duties customarly take;
But do not duties for mere custom's sake.

11

Out of your houses shut them with disdain,
Who will your God in no ways entertain.

12

Associate not with those as friends to thee,
That shew themselves God's enemies to be.

13

They cannot be reputed worth men's trust
That unto God incline to be unjust.

14

Do thou not venture duty to decline,
Thy liberty pretending to maintain.

15

By this day's practice be thou still intending
The past days errors and misdeeds amending.

16

I fear my duties more than sins by far;
Duties puff up, by sins we humbled are.

17

'Tis well if, when Rome's reliques 'mongst us be;
They don't possession keep for popery.

18

Sleep not at night till thou recal to mind
What actions thou hast done the day behind.

19

Family passions cloud faith, and disturb
Our duties, yea and all our comforts curb.

20

His stock of comforts never can he spent
Who with God's providence lives ay content.

21

That man can never want his will, whose wit
Doth always to God's holy will submit.

22

They need not of another's bucket drink,
That live always upon the fountain brink:
Nor crutches use, nor stilts of greater length,
Who always are supplied with sp'ritual strength.
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23

Let governors and parents always give
A good example in the sphere they live;
That so their children, and their servants, may
Be influenc'd to practise good thereby.

24

Afflictions that are sanctified do prove
The truest tokens of a special love.

25

If that our houses be not nursing places
For heav'n, and also for the heav'nly graces,
They'll places be for breeding brands for hell,
And ev'ry vice will flourish therein well.

26

Whatever sins in others you'd reprove,
Take double care these sins you do not love.

27

Early beginning in true piety
Makes one quite easy when he comes to die.

28

Defer not that till last which cannot be
Done oversoon, if undone ruins thee.

29

T'eternity to live on we no more
Have, but what here in time we lay in store.

30

To be reproach'd for early piety.
Far better is than damn'd eternally.

31

Good education makes good families,
And they again pure churches multiplies.

32

He that's content is rich, tho' ne'er so poor;
But poor, tho' rich, that can't content procure.

33

Two jubilees are held in heav'n: the one
Is when the angels sing before the throne
At the conversion of a sinner; next
Is when he is in heav'nly glory fix'd.

34

Bad times to live in are, for certainty,
The best of times for a good man to die.

35

Afflictions are hard meat for any taster;
But patience surely is a good digester.

36

Our spiritual state's best by our actions known,
Not only merely by a single one.

37

A Christian will not overtake a sin;
Yet the sincere hath overtaken been.

38

Sure sad conclusions might be drawn, and would
'Gainst some saints eminent, if that we should
274

Judge by the rule of some bad actions they
Were guilty of when in their house of clay.

39

As charitable to others if we were,
'Twere good, as partial to ourselves we are.

40

The best of saints assurance ne'er could gain,
If't did consist with no imperfect stain.

41

Cross sanctified hath in it mercies more,
Than comforts that unhallow'd are restore.

42

The company a man keeps ordinar'ly
Upon his life is a true commentary.

43

True godliness, tho' persecute, should be
Our choice before prophane prosperity.

44

'Tis faith's true nature always to make nigh
The things belonging to futurity.

45

It is difficult not to sin, when we
Our passions vent, and very angry be:
But dang'rous sure when anger we are in,
If by our passions we give place to sin.

46

Good scripture logic, sure it is, from thence
To draw conclusions of our confidence,
From premises of pure experience.

47

The poorest person in this world hath more
Than he brought with him of this earthly store:
And more than he can carry hence away,
When his dead corps shall mingle with the clay.

48

Duties are dang'rous when they're rested in,
Even as well as unrepented sin.

49

If mercy be not as a loadstone here
Unto our God to draw us still more near,
It will be as a milstone I can tell
To sink us deeper in the lowest hell.

50

'Tis sad to lose good men in any ways,
Yea in the best and most serenest days:
But when we lose them in the worst of times,
It looks like judgment on us for our crimes.
275

An ACROSTIC.

Just men and faithful from the earth decay,
And godly men do daily fade away.
Mourn, mourn, the loss; oh! Scotland hear the call,
Ev'n pillars of the earth we see them fall;
Shall we not dread the overthrow of all.
Doubtless the righteous are call'd off this stage,
Out of the way when God's fierce wrath shall rage,
While hypocrites are left to feel the smart,
God only knows the secrets of the heart:
Love waxeth cold, iniquities abound,
Among all ranks in ev'ry where around:
Sure they are bless'd that are in Jesus found.

An ACROSTIC.

I while alive did never cease to give,
On all occasions, counsel how to live,
How to behave in this vain world below,
Not to be doom'd unto eternal woe.
But now I'm dead, and no more can I say,
Except my tombstone bid you not delay
A moment longer in your soul's concern,
Till Christ in you be formed you discern.
O mind how dismal your last end will be,
Not to be found in Christ when you're to die!
276

An Epistle, or New-year's Gift, to a young Merchant in Perth, January 1st 1751.

This small Propine that I have penn'd
A new year's gift to you I send;
In hopes it will accepted be,
From one that has regard for thee.
What counsel here I do suggest,
Altho' it be not well express'd,
You'll pardon; for I had not time
To write good numbers, sense or rhyme.
Look round the world, my lad, and see,
If providence befriends not thee:
See thousands of as high a birth
Slaves unto toil, and low as earth;
While you sit easy, clean and neat,
And feed upon the best of meat;
Have company of ev'ry sort,
To which you will to make resort.
But be advis'd to have a care,
The worst of company forbear:
Bad company corrupts a youth;
Beware thereof, and cleave to truth.
Consider what Almighty Jove
Has done for you, and learn to love
Him for his goodness unto thee,
And follow after piety
Lay something up, for fear old age
With you shall happen to engage:
Wait on your business, and spend
Conform each day as you have gain'd.
Keep two diurnals, and each night
Look o'er them both if they be right;
I mean, what progress you have made
Both towards heav'n, and in your trade.
If at old age you don't arrive,
You may have children four or five,
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And leave them tender, young and bare,
If of your trade you take not care.
Beware of pride; let not your gain
Puff up your mind, and make you vain:
Nor at your loss dejected be;
Remember all's but vanity.
Suppress each carnal appetite,
And never set your heart's delight
On pleasures that are momentary;
For all things here are transitory.
And cherish ev'ry pious thought
You by God's Spirit have been taught;
For pleasures that come from above
You'll find the most substantial prove.
If you incline to take a wife,
An helper meet for you thro' life,
Seek first direction from above,
Where, and on whom to fix your love,
And be advis'd good heed to take,
Wed not a wife for money's sake;
For love of pelf comes from the devil,
It causeth much mischief and evil:
Let not a Beauty tempt thy choice,
Nor yet a wanton charming voice;
For these may draw you in a snare,
Therefore, my friend, pray have a care:
Not the externals of a woman
Should be admir'd, tho' these are common;
But seek for one, till her you find
That has her beauties in her mind.
Farewel, my lad; I you commend
To him that's able to defend
Both you and me from evils all,
That any ways can us besal.
I am, Yours, &c. ALEX. NICOL.
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POSTSCRIPT.

If any time you have to spare,
Unto booksellers shops repair,
Where you your choice of books will find,
By which you may improve your mind;
And what you fancy take away,
And for each night what's custom pay:
No time nor cost can better be
Spent, than in dead men's company.
Take care what books you chuse to read,
So that they alter not your creed;
For books of heresies delude,
And do more evil far than good.
But innocent diversions may
Sometimes perhaps come in your way;
Take part thereof, not to excess,
They will your spirits much refresh.
A. N.

The Brevity of Human Life.

What's human life? alas! what need I ask?
To tell, none can adventure such a task.
Some say, a vapour; some, an empty dream;
Some say, 'tis like a bubble in a stream;
Some less than nothing, or mere vanity,
Or like a cloud before the winds that fly.
We cannot call it life; for life's a name
That none of all the human race can claim:
For here we stay, but as it were to bait,
And soon remove into another state.
We can't remember how we came to be,
Nor accidents prevent, or them foresee.
Death dogs behind us; yea, and ev'ry hour,
He doth some part of our frail life devour.
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What we call life is nothing but deceit,
A counterfeit, a nothing, and a cheat:
For we are apt to think to-morrow will
Repay what we to-day have reck'ned ill:
To-morrow comes, perhaps, and yet we find
Its promises more empty are than wind.
Ev'n like the brooks that after sudden rain
Run rapidly, and travellers detain;
These travellers again that way return,
And find its banks and channels deep are worn:
Panting with thirst, yet can have no supply;
By summer's drought these brooks are parched dry:
By these of old, Sheba's and Tema's troops,
Were disappointed of their foolish hopes.
Objects of sense, yea whether pain or pleasure,
Steal off the time by which our life we measure:
Then all that's past is like a tale that's told,
All is but glass, instead of upright gold.
We seek for joy and satisfaction where
Nothing is found but sorrow, toil and care.
All the four ages of our longest life
Are folly, sin, hard labour, pain and grief.
Tost to and fro the little time we live,
All we enjoy no solid joy can give.
From one extreme we rush upon another,
And all our hopes in disappointment smother.
As sparks of fire fly upward, nat'rally,
Our life to troubles hath a tendency.
No part or scene of human life is bless'd;
For with afflictions God still tries the best,
And punishes the vicious, and his wrath
Pursues them still both at and after death.
So that if we the sweets of life would taste,
Sweets most substantial, that for ever last,
We must to God's good will always submit,
Who will dispose of us as he thinks fit.
Our transitory life, uncertain, and so short,
Must be well spent, if we would have comfort;
280

Each day we live still learning how to die,
And where to fix for our eternity.
Tho' to long time our lives cannot extend,
Yet our existence is not at an end:
Here we must win eternal well or woe,
Ere death at last shall strike the fatal blow.

The Eighth Chapter of Solomon's Proverbs.

Doth not Eternal Wisdom cry,
Let sons of men rejoice,
When Jesus Christ most pleasantly
To you lifts up his voice?
As't were, upon each height he waits,
By ev'ry path and way:
At village doors and city gates,
He calling thus doth say;
“To you, O mortal men, I call;
My voice is unto thee,
Or high or low, or great or small,
That son of Adam be.
Ye that are simple, understand
My wisdom, and be wise;
Ye fools give ear to my command,
And me no more despise.
Hear: for I'll speak things excellent,
My lips right things express:
To speak the truth is my intent,
I hate all wickedness.
All words that from my mouth proceed
Are in pure righteousness;
No froward thing's in them indeed,
Or ought that is perverse.
They all are plain to him that is
To understand inclin'd;
And right to him that only does
On knowledge set his mind.
281

Take my instruction, and withhold
Thine heart from silver bright;
My knowledge rather than fine gold
That glisters in thy sight:
For Wisdom sure is better far
Than richest rubies be,
And all things else inferior are
Can be desir'd by thee.
I Wisdom still with Prudence dwell,
I knowledge out do find
Of witty things that do excel,
And fit to store the mind.
The fear of God is to hate still
All arrogance and pride;
The froward mouth and way that's ill,
I cannot them abide.
Good counsel I can only give,
And Wisdom that's divine;
I understanding am, I have
Strength; yea, all things are mine.
By me kings reign, and princes, they
Their justice do decree;
By me they rule, and nobles sway,
And judges all that be.
I love them all most ardently
That have true love to me;
Who seek me early, certainly
I found of such shall be.
True wealth and honours are with me,
My riches last for ay;
With righteousness they deck'd shall be
That walk within my way.
My fruit surpasseth gold most fine;
My revenues exceed
The choicest silver from the mine,
That's often purified.
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I lead in the most pleasant way
Of righteousness divine;
Amidst the paths of judgment I
Continually incline:
That I may cause them that me love
True substance to inherit,
I'll fill their treasures from above
With graces of my spirit.
The Lord Jehovah me possess'd
From all eternity,
Before his works of old, at first
Was none but he and me.
I was set up e'er time took place,
From all eternity;
Before the earth in being was,
Then, and before, was I:
When depths were none, brought forth was I,
When waters none could spring,
Before the hills and mountains high
God did in being bring:
While as the earth he had not made,
Nor fields nor forests fair,
Nor highest part of dust was laid,
I then existing were:
When he prepar'd the heav'ns above,
And fix'd the spangled sky,
Wherein the various planets move,
There with him, then, was I:
When on the depth a compass he
Did set upon its face,
And fix'd the clouds above that be,
And fountains knew their place;
When he the sea fix'd and decreed
His order not to pass,
When he the earth's foundation did
Appoint to know its place;
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Then I was by him, like as one
Brought up with him, and I
Was his delight, and joy'd alone
Before him constantly;
Rejoicing in that part of earth,
Where saints were to remain;
And my delights, e'er they took birth,
Were with the sons of men.
Now therefore, O ye children dear,
Attend to me always;
For blessed are they that me hear,
And ever keep my ways.
Hear my instruction, and be wise,
And do it not refuse;
For blessed are they that always
To hear my words do chuse:
Who watches daily at my gates
Good counsel he shall gain;
Who at my door-posts daily waits,
My favour shall obtain:
For whosoever findeth me,
Their life shall surely save;
They of the Lord shall blessed be,
And still his favour have:
But he against me that doth sin,
His own soul wrongeth sore;
All they that hate me do incline
That death should them devour.”

The Love of Christ, An Hymn.

The Rose of Sharon is my love,
Sweet both in scent and show;
The fairest lily I'll approve
That in the vallies grow.
284

My Christ is altogether fair,
The chief of thousands ten;
There's none with him that can compare
Among the sons of men.
More glorious than hills of prey
Is Jesus, who for me
Did a far richer ransom pay
Than thousand worlds can be.
The tongues and pens of men below,
And angels all above,
Cannot the thousandth part forth show
Of my Redeemer's love.
No hyperboles can be express'd,
Nor no conception frame,
Can any mortal in the least,
To celebrate his fame.
Yet I will sing my Jesus' praise,
Tho' in a lisping strain;
In hopes the time will come to pass,
I'll sing with notes more plain.
O well may I say, Love is strong,
And cannot quenched be,
By all the waters that belong
To rivers and the sea.
And oh the heighth, depth, breadth and length
Of Jesus' love to those,
Who, by his own free grace and strength,
With him by cov'nant close!
As for its height; it was in heav'n
Before the world was fram'd,
When we were by the Father giv'n
To him to be redeem'd:
Its depth brought him to earth below,
To hell, and to the grave;
For he God's wrath did undergo,
Our souls from hell to save.
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Its breadth extends from sea to sea,
To all the human race;
All Adam's sons will welcome be,
By faith that him embrace;
Yea from, and to, eternity
Its length is without change:
For whom he loves, he loves for ay:
Is not his love most strange?
O if I were beyond the skies
His glory to behold,
I'd ravish'd be with extasies
That here I could not hold.
There numbers numberless surround
His glorious throne above,
All bent his praises forth to sound
In songs of divine love.
No toil there is them to molest,
Nor ought like weariness;
No night is there, nor need they rest;
Their songs they never cease.
With expectation I will wait
Till that bless'd time shall come;
When my dear Lord shall me invite
Unto his presence home.

An Hymn on Death.

For certain, Lord, one day I must
Fall by the hand of death,
And turn to my origin dust,
And yield to thee my breath.
But how uncertain is the time
When death shall call on me?
It may be in my strength and prime;
Whene'er it pleaseth thee.
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My times are wholly in thine hand,
My being is from thee;
Thou art my sov'reign to command,
I must submissive be.
Lord, grant me grace now to prepare
For that last enemy,
That I may be a conqueror
Through him that loved me.
Lord, take away the sting of death,
Which is the guilt of sin,
That when I must resign my breath,
With Jesus I may reign.
O Jesus, blessed be his name
To all eternity,
Who came to seek, save and redeem
Poor sinful worms like me!
How dreadful is approaching death,
Where sin's unpardoned!
The prospect of eternal wrath
Ten thousand deaths exceed:
But death unsting'd is a most sweet
Ambassador of peace,
That makes our joys to be complete,
And all our sorrows cease.
Lord, fill my soul with ev'ry grace;
O give me faith and love,
Repentance, self-denial, peace!
O set my thoughts above!
Prepare me, Lord, for death; that I,
When passing death's dark vale,
By faith on Jesus may rely,
And neither faint nor fail.
287

Hymn for a Fellowship Meeting.

Say, brethren, wherefore are we met?
What is our errand here?
Is it some stories to relate,
To gratify the ear?
Yes; 'tis to talk of stories true,
Of what was done of old,
What sacred records to us shew,
And us our teachers told.
Here is a story wond'rous strange,
And yet it is most true,
That one should happiness exchange
For mis'ries to ensue:
Yet this exactly was the case
Of God's eternal son;
He put himself in sinner's place,
And left his glorious throne,
Rather than sinners perish'd all,
As they behov'd to do;
In consequence of Adam's fall,
Hell-torments were their due.
He condescended to come down,
Our nature did assume,
To pacify his Father's frown;
He suff'red in our room.
No friend like to a friend in need;
And such a friend was he,
That for our sins spilt his heart's blood
Upon the cursed tree.
Our griefs and sorrows he did bear,
And by his stripes we're heal'd:
Yet we not friends, but en'mies were,
That 'gainst his laws rebell'd.
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To us the name of Jesus shews
(When mis'ry we were in)
The greatest and the best of news,
Salvation for our sin:
Not only from the pow'r and guilt
Of sin he makes us free;
But us he highly doth exalt
To heav'n with him to be.
O could we feel the influence,
Of this transcendent love!
'Twould conquer self, make us intense
For things that are above.
289

THE CHILD's COMPANION; IN A NATURAL DIALOGUE BETWIXT A Child and One of riper Years: Useful for Young Ones.

To my young Reader.

Dear child, pray hearken unto me,
And these few verses hear;
For in them you will shortly see
How you the Lord should fear.
Remember thy Creator great,
While in your youth and prime,
While evils come not; lest too late
You mourn the loss of time.
These, and such like, are better far
To store your memory,
Than smutty idle stories are,
That now too common be.
ALEX. NICOL.
290

An Advice to Children. By another Hand.

O children dear, incline your ear,
And hearken to God's voice:
This counsel take, and that will make
Your parents to rejoice.
Be not like those that grace oppose,
And give their minds to play:
But let thy mind be well inclin'd
In seeking wisdom's way.
Then shalt thou rest with saints most bless'd,
To all eternity;
And have the crown of bless'd renown,
God's name to magnify.
That thou with Christ in paradise
For evermore mayst dwell,
This do thou pray both night and day:
So children dear, farewell.

The CHILD's COMPANION, &c.

CHILD.
I pray, Sir, give me leave to ask
Some things I cannot know;
And be so kind, if that you can,
All these unto me show.

COMPANION.
Say on, my child; I'll venture on the task;
I love it well to hear young children ask.

CHILD.
How came this world at first to be?
Or, who could reach so far,
As to fix up these heavens above,
The sun, moon, and each star?
291

Who made the mountains and the hills,
The rivers and the sea?
And whereof can all things be made
That round about us be?
Sure, they have been exceeding strong,
And also very high,
That could perform so great a work,
And reach up to the sky.
And whereupon are all things set?
How can they be upborn?
How runs the sun till it go down?
And how does it return?
Yet, tho' they were strong men and high,
That all these things have made;
How came they at the first to be?
Sure, they beginning had.

COMP.
My dearest child, those questions you propound
Such in your age to ask are rarely found:
And I am glad to solve you as I can,
In plainest terms, that you may understand.
There is a God who made all things of nought;
Which may indeed non-plus your tender thought:
But this great God no man can comprehend,
Who was, and is, and will be without end.
He of his goodness, by his word, made known
To us, that he these mighty works hath done:
That book we call the Bible is his word,
In which we have a very true record
Of all things needful for us here to know;
And 'twill an answer to your questions show.
There he declares, when he but spoke, and said,
“Let all things be,” then all things Being had;
And that it was his sacred will to take
Six days exactly every thing to make;
292

Such is his great Almighty Power, that he
Of nothing made all round us that we see:
Sun, moon and stars, he gave command to know
Their nat'ral courses, how and where to go:
And as you wonder whereon all things stand,
My dearest child, you ought to understand,
That the same pow'r, who gave them Beings all,
Supports and holds them that they cannot fall.

CHILD.
Oh wonderful! but God is great!
But yet how can it be,
That no beginning he has had?
Seems very strange to me.

COMP.
No wonder, tho' this seem most strange to thee;
For nat'ral men could ne'er that myst'ry see:
Philosophers, with all their nat'ral light,
Could ne'er conceive the world's beginning right;
Neither did their conjectures well agree,
For none can know't but by divinity.
Some thought that all things, at beginning, were
From earth itself; and other some from air;
And some from simples, some compounds, would have
All things at first; some, numbers did conceive
To be the first beginning of creation;
And some from atoms fetch their generation,
And some from fire; others the world to be
In its duration from eternity.
But God himself hath by his word made known
That He's the great Original alone:
Let this suffice us, since to search him more
Unlawful is; but let us him adore;
For if we trace him farther than he hath
Reveal'd himself, and wrought in us by faith,
We lose ourselves in that abyss of thought,
And our ideas dwindle down to nought.
293

Let us admire and still adore what we
Can never comprehend, nor fully see;
And so believe what he to us doth show:
And after death we more of him shall know.

CHILD.
What means your saying, After death
We more of him shall know?
Can we have knowledge after death,
When unto dust we go?

COMP.
But, my dear child, altho' our bodies may
Go to the grave, and into dust decay;
Yet we have all souls, that can never die
Thro' all the ages of eternity.

CHILD.
What is the soul? what is its shape?
From whence did it proceed?
Where goes it when our bodies die,
For ever to abide?

COMP.
My child, our souls by God created were,
And came from him into our bodies here:
Its form and shape no mortal man can tell;
But, when we die, it goes to heav'n or hell.

CHILD.
Where are those places, heav'n and hell,
To which, you say, they go?
Or is there in them light and joy,
Or darkness, grief and wo?

COMP.
Heav'n is above, and far beyond the sky;
Light shines in it, and joy eternally:
294

Hell is beneath, in the profoundest deep;
And all in it with torment groan and weep.

CHILD.
What causes joy in heav'n to be?
Or what in hell gives pain?
Or why do souls chuse to go there?
Or, when there, to remain?

COMP.
In heav'n all pure, untainted pleasures are;
For God himself, the chiefest good, is there:
There is his throne which angels bright surround,
With golden harps his praises still they sound;
There the redeem'd are made both priests and kings,
And still the praise of their Redeemer sings,
All shining as so many stars of light:
Nor have they any intervals of night;
Of sun nor moon to shine they have no need,
For from God's glory all their light proceed,
That far surpass ten thousand times our day,
When Sol shines bright in his meridian ray:
There all that can immortal souls solace
Is to be found in that most blessed place;
A thousand years is there scarce thought a day,
Such happiness God doth in it display.
But lo! in hell, Satan and his black crew
Their dreadful groans with torments still renew:
With them the souls of unbelievers go
Down to that place of never-ending woe;
There, press'd with loads of divine wrath, they ly,
For ever dying, yet can never die:
There horror, darkness, and all mischief meet,
To make the miseries of the damn'd compleat:
No way is left how they in peace may be;
For death still meets them wheresoe'er they flee.

295

CHILD.
Who are they that believers are?
And angels, who are they?
And their Redeemer, who is he
That's praised as you say?
And who is Satan and his crew?
I pray you to me tell
Who unbelievers are, and damn'd,
That have their part in hell?

COMP.
Believers are those that believ'd the truth
Of their Redeemer from God's sacred mouth,
Which is reveal'd in his most holy Word,
That by his grace we have upon record.
Angels are these bless'd spirits that were made
To serve God e're this world beginning had.
To tell you who the great Redeemer is,
That brings his people to that place of bliss;
He's the eternal son of God, and he
Became a man, and for their sins did die.
Satan, as said is, and his cursed crew,
Were angels that thought heaven to subdue.
Satan himself the highest angel was
Of all so many chiefest and most fair;
Ambitious pride he entertain'd, whereby
He thought at last to equal the Most High;
Drew many thousands of inferior rank
To join with him in this rebellious prank:
But the Almighty soon perceiv'd their aim,
And down to hell in fury tumbled them.
The unbelievers and the damn'd are one
And the same people that to hell is gone,
Because they slighted mercy in their day,
And unto God would not for mercy pray.

296

CHILD.
But pray, Sir, tell me, if you can,
If these men did rebel
Against the Lord, in Satan's plot,
That they are sent to hell;
And why are some, as you have said,
From that dire place redeem'd,
While those who once were angels, yet
By God are not esteem'd?

COMP.
Man was not made when Satan did rebel,
And for his trespass was turn'd down to hell;
But afterwards God made the human race,
On purpose to fill up their empty space.
But to describe the story of man's fall
Will take long time: but yet, my child, I shall,
To satisfy you so far as I can.
And so, at first, God made one single man,
Both soul and body, like to you and me,
And will'd him to increase and multiply;
And for that end God made a woman fair,
And gave to him: and bad them have a care
To keep the laws that he prescrib'd to them;
And if they did continue without blame,
After sometime he would translate them from
That place, and bring them unto heaven home.
“But if (said he) you do what I forbid,
“I'll punish you as I the angels did:
“Free will they had to stand or fall; and lo,
“Satan soon wrought their dismal overthrow.”
But God's great goodness and free sov'reign choice
Saves some from hell to heav'n's eternal joys:
The angels sin'd, without temptation, sure,
And must for ever punishment endure;
But man was tempted; yet 'tis God's free grace
That ever sav'd one of the human race.

297

CHILD.
Pray be not angry, and I'll beg
One favour more of you;
That is, the way how we are sav'd
More plainly to me shew.

COMP.
My child, I shall before I go
An answer to your question show,
And plain, but briefly as I can,
Describe God's covenants with man.
When man at first, as I have said,
Was by his great Creator made,
He plac'd him in a garden fair,
Where he had all things necessar'
To make him happy in this life,
Except it was one thing—a wife.
For when the creatures of each kind
Were brought to him, he could not find,
Among them all, a social mate
To suit his nature and estate:
Wherefore the great Creator made,
Him soundly sleep, as he'd been dead,
And took a rib out of his side,
Whereof he made a lovely bride:
An helper meet, a woman fair,
And brought her unto Adam there.
Then Adam said, “This is my bone,
My flesh and blood, we both are one:
Hence let all men that come to life
Leave all their friends, and take a wife.”
Then said the great Creator, “Lo,
I've made you happy persons two:
I give you pow'r; you I command
To multiply, and fill the land:
I give you sovereignty
O'er all things in the earth and sea;
298

Only one thing I want of you,
And that is a superior's due,
Whate'er my will is to command,
You'll not rebelliously gainstand:
Wherefore I give you leave to eat
Of all this garden's fruits for meat;
Only one tree I do design
To keep, because the right is mine;
Wherefore if you shall eat the same,
I here do solemnly proclaim
You and your whole posterity
Shall for the same for ever die:
Therefore free-will I give you here,
Either to eat or to forbear;
Still to retain your innocence,
Or show your disobedience;
Thereby t'incur my wrath for ever,
From which none else can thee deliver.
Chuse what you think is best; and so
In happiness I leave you two.”
Thus when the great Creator had
This covenant with Adam made,
Adam consented thereuntil,
And promis'd to obey his will:
When God had giv'n them good advice,
He left them both in paradise.
But Satan, as I said before,
Who still doth like a lion roar,
Ay seeking whom he may devour,
Envying the lovely happy pair,
Straight to seduce them did prepare:
The serpent was a subtil beast
By nature; and he thought it best
Therein to enter, that he might
Thereby at first seduce their sight,
And gain upon their outward sense,
To violate their innocence.
299

So when the woman did repair
Near by the tree, to take the air;
Satan, in shape of serpent, came,
And up the tree straightway he clamb;
Pluck'd off the fruit, began to eat,
And said, “This is delicious meat.”
The woman, wond'ring all the time,
Supposing that it was a crime
He had committed, said, “Base elf!
How can you thus destroy yourself?
Sure you and your posterity
Must for this crime for ever die
Our great Creator said we should
Be free to eat all that we would,
Excepting this one single tree,
Which by his great supreme decree
He hath forbid, on penalty
That if we eat thereof, we die.”
Then Satan said, “Great noble queen,
You with your eyes have fairly seen
How that I, who inferior are,
Below your nature very far,
Am free to eat whate'er I please,
Without ought to molest my ease;
Then why should you be thus confin'd,
More than the brute inferior kind?”
The woman said, “I cannot say,
But freely we ought to obey
Our sovereign great Creator, who
All good things on us doth destow.”
Then Satan said, “I grant, 'tis true
Obedience is a sovereign's due,
As we the creatures yield to you:
But your Creator doth impose
On you, and leads you by the nose;
For well he knows if you should eat
This fruit, you would be wise and great;
300

For see, great queen of the creation,
What great and sudden alteration
That fruit hath wrought on me a brute,
Who all my life before was mute:
Now I by virtue of this choice,
Can speak, you see, with human voice.
Now what great influence, think ye,
Would it not have on such as thee?
I can assure you from the sense
I have of my experience,
It would make you as gods to know
Both good and evil, and would show
What politics your Maker did
Intend when he did you forbid.”
With these, and such like flatt'ring tales
He on her innocence prevails:
So that she said, “Mine eyes, behold
The fruit looks beautiful as gold;
Yea, since it hath so chang'd this beast,
I'll try its virtue and its taste.”
With that she pluck'd and eat also;
Straight to her husband she did go,
Gave him thereof; so likewise he
Did eat of that forbidden tree.
No sooner had they broke this law,
Than they themselves both naked saw;
And were asham'd when they did hear
The voice of God did reach their ear;
And hid themselves among the boughs,
For fear that he would them accuse:
For he who knows all that is done
Above, yea and below the sun,
He knew it instantly, that they
Had from his precepts gone astray.
So, coming to the garden, he
Cry'd, “Adam, Adam, where are ye?”
But when they heard the voice of God
Reach to the place of their abode,
301

A terror seiz'd their guilty hearts,
And like two hares affrighted starts
Up from the covert where they lay,
Their great Creator to obey.
When he call'd, “Adam, where art thou?”
Poor Adam did before him bow,
All prostrate on the ground; and said,
I'm naked, Lord, and was afraid,
When I thy dreadful voice did hear,
Before thy presence to appear.”
The great Creator said, “Who told
Thee thou art naked? Wast thou bold
To take and eat of that one tree
Which I at first deny'd to thee?”
Then Adam said, “The woman, who
Thou gav'st to me, did from me go,
And took and eat, and to me gave,
Which I confess I did receive.”
The Lord God said unto the woman,
“Had'st thou not all the fruits in common?
Why didst thou touch or taste this tree?”
Said she, “The serpent cheated me.”
Th'Almighty to the serpent said,
“Because thou hast man thus betray'd,
Above all creatures thou art curs'd,
And all thy life eat nought but dust;
Upon thy belly thou shalt go,
For a perpetual mark of wo;
Betwixt the woman's seed and thee
I'll put a lasting enmity;
Thy head it shall his bruises feel,
But thou indeed shalt bruise his heel.”
Unto the woman next he said,
“Thy sorrows shall be multiply'd
In thy conception, and in birth
With sorrow shalt thou still bring forth;
And thy desire shall always be
Towards thy husband ruling thee.”
302

Then unto Adam did he say,
“Because thy wife you did obey,
The ground is cursed for thy sake;
Henceforth it shall be poor and weak,
Its strength to thee it shall not yield,
And thou shalt eat herbs of the field;
With sorrow, toil, and sweat of face
Thy daily bread thou shalt purchase,
Till thou return again to dust,
From whence thou taken wast at first.”
Yet notwithstanding of their sin,
The Lord God made them coats of skin,
And clothed them; but drove them from
Sweet paradise, their native home;
And cherubims he plac'd to wait
The entry of the garden gate,
And a great flaming sword, that went
Each way, their access to prevent
Towards the tree of life, lest they
Should eat thereof, and live alway.
Thus they, and their posterity,
Involved were in misery;
Depriv'd the presence of their God,
And left to range the world abroad,
Not knowing where or how to live;
And beasts, that did obedience give
To them before, rebelled now,
And man as prey they would pursue;
The lion, tyger, wolf and boar
Them greedily they would devour.
Besides corruption seiz'd them so,
And did like poison thro' them go,
Still rip'ning on apace, till they
Return'd to their origin, clay.
But Adam he some comfort had,
From what his great Creator said
When he the serpent did accuse,
To wit, that woman's seed should bruise
303

The serpent's head, and man should feel
The serpent's bruises in his heel.
Thus Adam by reflection knew
That God to them would mercy shew;
For God, by secret inspiration,
Gave him an ample revelation
Of all things afterwards should be
Concerning his posterity:
By this he came to apprehend
That myst'ry none can comprehend.
That there's one God, yet persons three
In that same very Godhead be,
To wit, the Father and the Son
And Holy Ghost, yet all in one.
That God was from eternity,
And will the same for ever be;
That he is present every where,
And sees at once all things that are;
That he's infinite in his pow'r,
The Maker, and the Governor
Of all and ev'ry thing that be,
Above, below, heav'n, earth and sea,
His works and providence declare;
All's attributes infinite are:
His wisdom, pow'r and holiness,
And justice, truth and great goodness;
These divine attributes he saw
Implead each other, as at law:
Each advocate his client's right
Did vindicate with all his might.
For Justice, he insisted on
The truth of God, and it alone.
“Since God hath said, who cannot lie,
If man shall sin, then shall he die;
Now man hath sinn'd, then let him go
To hell t'endure eternal wo.”
Then Goodness said, “Can mercy now
Bring no relief man to rescue?
304

Must he and his posterity
All in hell's flames for ever ly?”
Said Holiness, “I do abhor
All Sin, and therefore can no more
Admit of mankind in my sight,
Since he my holy laws did slight.”
Wisdom, who heard them all the while,
Did with compassion sweetly smile;
Said, “Justice must be satisfied,
And Holiness too dignified,
The sinner sav'd, and man set free
From hell and endless misery.”
This did astonish the creation,
To hear such news of consolation:
But how it could be brought about
No finite being could find out.
Thus Adam he was made to see,
That God, from all eternity,
Foresaw man's fall, and its effect;
And that he certain did elect,
And chus'd to be redeem'd from wrath,
And effects of the second death.
The great and glorious Trinity,
As they are One, did all agree:
The Father, he did condescend
Into the world his Son to send
In form and nature of a man,
Because that Justice did demand
The nature that hath sinn'd must die,
The truth of God to verify.
The Son consented thereunto,
In all things he would have him do:
Thus was the covenant agreed
Betwixt them, and determined.
The Father promis'd to the Son
Support till all his work was done:
The Son, upon the other part,
Engag'd from's glory to depart,
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Become a man, and suffer all
Due to the elect by the fall.
So some in ev'ry generation
Of this had clearer revelation,
Until th'appointed time drew near,
That Christ the Son was to appear.

CHILD.
That in the Godhead there should be
Three persons, yet but one,
Seems very wonderful to me.
And hard to think upon.

COMP.
My dearest child, as I have said before,
This is a myst'ry wherein none should pore.
We must believe what in his word he shows;
For there's no creature this great myst'ry knows:
The persons of the glorious Trinity
Were Three in One from all eternity.
The Father's pers'nal property alone
Is that he only doth beget the Son;
The Son's to be begotten of the Father;
The Holy Ghost is to descend from either:
And, in that wond'rous method of salvation,
Each of the Three stands in their own relation;
For God the Father did contrive the way
Of man's salvation, Wisdom to display;
The Son did purchas't at th'expence and loss
Of his own blood and life upon the cross;
The Holy Ghost applies the same to those
Whom God from all eternity had chose.

CHILD.
God, as you say, who sees all things
Past, present and to come,
Knew those that would do good or ill,
That made him chuse but some.

306

COMP.
No, it was neither foreseen good nor ill
Of any one that moved him theretill,
But his own free and gracious sov'reign will:
For ever since the first man Adam fell,
All men are guilty, and so heirs of hell;
Guilty so soon as to the world we come;
And therefore not the foreseen good of some;
For no man lives and sinneth not: and ev'n
The best of men cannot lay claim to heav'n;
For none are sav'd but by free sov'reign grace,
And who by faith do Jesus Christ embrace.

CHILD.
Why may not all believe and him embrace,
And so all sav'd, as you have said, by grace?

COMP.
None can believe so as to go to heav'n,
But those to whom the grace of faith is giv'n.
Though God requires of us that we believe,
And for our sins that we repent and grieve,
Those are conditions on our part, if we
Unto God's covenant of grace agree;
Yet wrought in us by God's most holy Spirit,
Abstracting from our own desert or merit;
Yea he works in us both to will and do
Of his good pleasure, and renews us too
In ev'ry part, and turns our hearts from evil,
And frees us from the bondage of the devil,
From sin, and from our own corruptions all,
When he doth us effectually call.

CHILD.
What you have said, Sir, I approve;
And I admire God's grace and love
307

In saving some, as you have said,
That no good thing about them had.
But tell me, Sir, doth't not appear
That God is some way too severe,
In making creatures some to be
Doom'd to eternal misery?

COMP.
God is supreme; “None can, or yet dare say,
Unto him, Why or what dost thou? or stay
His hand from working; when, or where he pleases,
He puts down one, another up he raises.”
Since ev'ry man from Adam did descend,
All are partakers of that sin he sinn'd:
He was our head and representative;
As he behav'd we were to die or live;
For if the fountain be corrupt, be sure
The streams thereof they never can be pure.
If he in innocence had persever'd,
We of that happiness had also shar'd:
Most just 'tis then, since he has sinn'd, that we
Should be partakers of the misery.

CHILD.
But, Sir, I have some scruple yet,
With rev'rence: I suppose
That God is wond'rous good to all
He for his elect chose:
But still something appears to me
That's cruel and unkind,
Concerning these poor miscreants
That he hath left behind:
Can love and goodness pleasure take
Those creatures to torment,
For ever to eternity,
And not at all relent?

308

COMP.
Though God is good and merciful, yet he
Is also just; and therefore cannot be
Said to be cruel, though he never had
Sav'd one of all the human race he made.
Crimes in proportion punish'd are as they
Committed are 'gainst great or lesser sway;
So man sinn'd 'gainst Infinite Majesty,
And must be punish'd too infinitely:
Besides, if sinners should for ever live,
Still they would sin, and God's good Spirit grieve;
And ev'n in hell they curse, blaspheme and roar
Against that God whom saints in heav'n adore;
Most just it is they should for ever ly
In hell, and suffer to eternity.

CHILD.
But why might not Almighty God,
By his infinite pow'r,
Establish man, when he was made,
From sin and death secure?

COMP.
Because 'twas not according to his will;
For what he pleases that he does fulfil:
Besides, his glorious attributes had not
Been so display'd, nor he such praise had got.

CHILD.
But ah! methinks the curses he
Shall get by those in hell,
Will counter-balance all the praise
By these in heav'n that dwell.

COMP.
Child, you mistake it: tho' the damn'd in hell
Shall howl, and cry, curse, roar, blaspheme, and yell;
309

Yet they can blame none but themselves for all
The miseries that ever them befal.

CHILD.
Dear Sir, I pray make this appear;
For that's the thing I long to hear.

COMP.
Child, read the scriptures, and you'll find
Enough to satisfy your mind:
There you will see, since Adam fell,
God had a church on earth to dwell;
And all that would come in were free,
Tho' sinners ne'er so great they be.
Abel was humble, wise and good;
But Cain vicious was and rude;
Instead of joining with his brother,
He slew him, and his blood did smother;
So that he was without excuse,
When God to punish him did chuse:
Enoch he walk'd with God, and did
The wickedness of men forbid;
And did emit a prophecy,
That they for sin should judged be;
Yet they no warning took, and so
Without excuse to hell did go.
Noah again, when wickedness
Grew rampant, preached righteousness
Six score of years, and warned all
A flood upon them was to fall;
Yet they no warning took, till they
Were by the deluge swept away.
Next Abraham, he did not chuse,
When God did call him, to refuse;
But when God call'd him, forth he went,
Not knowing where to pitch his tent;
Submissive unto God's command,
He sojourn'd in a foreign land;
310

While those he left behind did chuse
Their old idolatry to use:
So that excuse they could have none,
When they by God were overthrown.
Lot, vex'd in Sodom ev'ry day,
Did often them beseech and pray
To leave the place, repent and turn,
Before God did their city burn:
But yet no argument could gain
On them, to make them sin refrain;
Till by experience they found
Themselves by fire and brimstone drown'd.
Isaac in midst of heathens led
A pious life; and all he had
Was bless'd therefore with good success,
That all around him might confess,
That if they had led such a life,
As honest Isaac and his wife,
For ever happy they had been;
But no excuse they had to screen
Them from the punishment of sin,
Since they in no ways would come in.
When Jacob was oblig'd to fly
From wicked Esan's tyranny,
God so remarkably him bless'd,
That Laban he himself confess'd,
That while he lodging there did take,
He found God bless'd him for his sake:
So that when men of common sense
Could learn this by experience,
And yet would not religious be,
Without excuse be sure they'll see
God's righteous judgments on them fall,
Who would not hearken to his call.
Esau had opportunity
A devout holy man to be;
Good education and example,
Altho' he on the same did trample,
311

Both from his father and his mother,
And also from his younger brother:
But all for nought, it was in vain,
He turned graceless and profane,
Despis'd his birth-right, good refus'd,
So that he cannot be excus'd.
Joseph was tempt'd to be unjust,
To satisfy his mistress' lust;
Yet would he not yield thereunto,
For all that she could say or do:
So, when she could not gain her end,
Revenge on him she did intend.
There is no doubt this good man had
The ill of sin before her laid;
So that she no excuse can frame,
Altho' she fry in endless flame.
Moses was sent by God's command
To Pharoah king of Egypt's land,
To fetch his people thence, that they
Might serve their God and him obey:
But the hard-hearted tyrant slew
Their males, and did no mercy shew;
And when that Moses him besought,
And many signs and wonders wrought,
Pharoah, still hard'ned, still denied,
Until all the first born died;
And tho' he was convinc'd that all
The judgments that on him did fall
Were purely God's Almighty hand,
Yet his good-will he did withstand;
So he none but himself can blame,
Tho' he's condemned to endless flame.
And many more examples be
That in the scriptures you may see,
That God is good, and just, and holy,
And men themselves to blame are wholly.

312

CHILD.
But one thing, Sir, before you go
You'll be so kind as to me show;
And that is, what religion I
Shall chuse, and also which deny.

COMP.
My child, religions there's no more
In all the universe but four;
And that's Mahomet', Pagan, Jew,
And Christian lastly; that's for you:
For there's no name in earth or heav'n,
Nor yet among men, that is giv'n,
By which we can be sav'd, 'tis plain,
But Christ, who died and rose again;
And him hath God exalted high
A Prince and Saviour to be,
To give repentance and remission
Of all our sins for our salvation.

CHILD.
No Pagan, Jew, nor Mahomet',
Is to be seen upon our street;
Yet there, on Sunday, when I stand,
The people flock on ev'ry hand
To diff'rent quarters of the town,
To their respective meetings bound.
To follow which I do not know;
I pray you therefore to me show
Which of them all I ought to chuse,
And which of them I should refuse.

COMP.
What makes such diff'rence in communion
Is that old wretched word Opinion,
Hatch'd sure by corrupt men's invention,
That bred great trouble and contention:
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Opinion makes a man suppose
That he all others should oppose,
And that no man is safe but he
That is of his community:
Such is the folly of mankind,
Where prejudice hoodwinks the mind.
But be thou, child, advis'd by me,
From party-prejudice keep free;
Believe in Christ, and him alone
Take for your whole salvation.
Pray unto God, that he would make
You know the truth for Jesus' sake;
Pray for repentance, faith and love,
And all the graces from above;
Observe and keep God's holy law,
And of his threat'nings stand in awe;
Believe his promises, and he
Will surely make them good to thee;
A narrow watch keep o'er your heart,
And from appearing ills depart,
Especially whate'er you see
Against God's holy laws to be;
And strive to keep a conscience
To God and man void of offence;
Read ev'ry day God's word with care,
You'll find your duties fully there.
And since it must be so that ye
Must join with some community,
Join those whose tenets are most pure,
According to God's word, be sure;
Neglect their errors which you see
By scripture light, and then you'll be
A Christian, not a party pleader:
May God himself still be your leader!
And so, my child, I bid adieu,
Till the next time I meet with you.

314

KING SOLOMON's BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES, IN METRE.

In this book he convinceth of the vanity of the world, and the foolishness of men: He shews that there is nothing better than to fear God, and to keep his commandments: and he maintains, that there shall be a future judgment. He wrote this book after his falling from God, in token of his true repentance.

Virtues are several paths which lead to heaven;
And they who tread those paths have graces given:
Repentant tears allay the dust of pride,
And pious sighs do blow vain thoughts aside.

On the BOOK.

King Solomon here, in this book, doth shew
What by experience he fully knew:
Well might he say, That all was vanity;
He found it so in truth and verity.
For having riches, pow'r and wisdom too,
T'accomplish what he had a mind to do,
He gave free scope to all his appetites,
And try'd all manner of this world's delights;
Till drown'd in pleasures, he forgot his God,
Who with his bounty did him so much load,
That none more rich, and none more wise, than he,
Yet all employ'd pursuing vanity.
But God by grace at last did let him see,
That all he sought was empty vanity;
That all amusements, pleasures, and each thing
Could here be found, behind them leave a sting;
315

And but short liv'd at longest he did find,
And as uncertain as the fleeting wind;
And that, for these short vanities, he must
In a short time return again to dust,
His soul to God, to get a sentence due,
And lasting doom for all he did pursue.
Reflecting thus, he did repent and grieve,
And pray'd that God would his sad state relieve,
Renounc'd each carnal and each vain delight,
And set himself this little book to write,
That others might escape these rocks whereon
He split himself, when he was dead and gone.
ALEX. NICOL. Collace, March 6th 1749.

King Solomon's Book of Ecclesiastes, in Verse.

CHAP. I.

[1]

These words the preacher, David's son and heir,
When king in Salem, wisely did declare.

2

Vanity of vanities, said he,
Behold all is nought else but vanity.

3

What profit can a man propose to have
Of all his labour on this side the grave?

4

One generation passeth hence away,
Another comes; but still the earth doth stay.

5

The sun ariseth, also downward goes,
And hastes to where he at the first arose.

6

The wind it goes toward the South, and then
It turns about unto the North again:
Continually it whirls in circuits round,
And knows no limits, nor restraint of bound.

7

All rivers run into the sea, yet we
No fuller can perceive the same to be:
From whence the rivers at the first do flow,
Thither again they nat'rally do go.
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8

All things we see are full of labour; so
Man cannot utter, or their labour know:
The eye is not with seeing satisfied,
Nor yet the ear with hearing ever tir'd.

9

The thing that's been, is that which yet shall be;
And what is done, we done again may see:
And there is nothing any man can shew,
Below the sun that can be called New.

10

Is there a thing whereof it may be said,
See this is new, and never being had?
Yea, it hath been long time before us sure,
When our hid substance lay in earth obscure.

11

There's no remembrance of what's past and gone,
Nor after-ages mind what we have done.

12

Now I the preacher was in Salem king,
And over Israel with power did reign.

13

I gave myself by wisdom to search out
All things done under heaven round about:
This travel sore God gives the sons of men,
Therewith to exercise themselves in pain.

14

Yea I have seen all works below the sun;
And lo, they all are vanity when done.

15

That which is crooked straight we cannot see,
And what is wanting cannot numb'red be.

16

With mine own heart I commun'd as I sate:
Lo, now, thought I, I'm come to great estate:
I've got more wisdom, sure, than all of them
That were before me in Jerusalem:
Of wisdom I had great experience,
And I for knowledge us'd great diligence.

17

Wisdom to know I gave myself once wholly:
Also to know what madness was and folly:
And I perceiv'd nothing but grief of spirit
A man by these can any ways inherit:

18

For in much wisdom is much grief; and he
That gets much knowledge, many sorrows see.
317

CHAP. II.

[1]

I bade my heart prove mirth and pleasure; they
I also found but empty vanity.

2

I said of laughter, Surely it is madness;
And what does mirth but fills the mind with sadness?

3

With wine I sought to chear my heart; but, when
I thought on wisdom, this was also vain:
Folly I try'd, to see what's good for men
To do on earth while they alive remain.

4

Great works I made, and built me houses great,
And planted vineyards at a costly rate:

5

Gardens I made, and orchards to my mind,
And fruit trees planted therein of each kind:

6

I made me pools for wat'ring nurseries,
That bringeth forth the young and tender trees:

7

I got me servants, yea, and maidens fair,
And in my house too servants born were:
I had great store of cattle great and small,
Exceeding far my predecessors all:

8

I gath'red silver, gold, and ev'ry thing
That proper were for princes or a king:
I got me singers and delightful sports,
With instrumental music of all sorts.

9

So I was great, increas'd above all them
That were before me in Jerusalem;
Also my wisdom did with me remain.

10

Mine eyes desire I never did restrain;
I ne'er withheld my heart from any joys,
And in my labours greatly did rejoice:
This was the portion of my labours all,
That unto me of all these did befal:

11

I look'd on all the works my hands had wrought,
And on the labours my inventions sought;
And lo, I found them trifling vanity,
And sore vexation of my soul to be:
There was no profit in ought I had done,
Nor satisfaction here below the sun.
318

12

I turn'd myself sage wisdom to behold;
With madness too, and folly, I made bold:
What can the man do that comes after me?
Ev'n what is done, surely no more can he.

13

Then did I see that wisdom did excel
Folly, as far as heaven itself does hell.

14

The wise man's eyes are in his head; but lo,
The fool in paths of darkness on doth go:
And I myself perceiv'd, that unto all
One event still, for the most part, doth fall.

15

Then did I say, Why should I wiser be
Than is the fool? for now I plainly see
One event happ'neth both to him and me;
Then said I thereby this is vanity.

16

For there's no more remembrance of the wise
Than of the fool: in death all hidden lyes:
That which is now shall all forgotten be;
And as the fool, doth not the wise man, die?

17

Therefore I even hated life, because
The work I did unto me grievous was:
For surely all is empty vanity,
And sore vexation of the spirit be.

18

I hated all the labours I had done,
And my inventions here below the sun;
Because that he who shall come after me
Shall in short time thereof possessor be.

19

And who knows whether he'll be wise or fool?
Yet he o'er all my labours shall have rule,
Wherein I labour'd, and my wisdom shown:
This is a vanity below the sun.

20

Then did I seek to cause my heart despair
Of all the works whereof my heart took care.

21

For there's a man hath wisdom to invent,
And knowledge to work out his whole intent;
In equity he deals with all mankind:
Yet must he leave his labours all behind,
Unto a man that ne'er employ'd a thought
T'accomplish them, nor therein ever wrought:
319

This surely is a sordid vanity,
And also a great evil certainly.

22

For what hath man of all his labours done,
And heart's vexation here below the sun?

23

For all his days are sorrows, travel, grief;
Yea, all he doth can yield him no relief.
When as at night his heart can take no rest:
This is a vanity, and not the least.

24

There's nothing better for a man, I think,
Than that he should with pleasure eat and drink;
And let his soul enjoy the happiness
Of all he does, and all he doth possess:
But this I saw to mortals certainly
Came from the lib'ral hand of the Most High.

25

For who can eat, his soul to satisfy,
Or who can hasten thereto more than I?

26

For God gives still to good men in his sight
Wisdom and knowledge, joy and heart's delight:
But to the wicked travel, toil and pain,
God gives, that they may wealth and riches gain,
That he may give't to good men in his sight.
This is a vain vexation of the sp'rit.

CHAP. III.

[1]

To ev'ry thing a season is assign'd,
Time to each purpose under heav'n design'd:

2

Time to be born, and eke a time to die;
A time to plant, and time to pluck there be:

3

A time to kill, a time to heal; also
A time to build, a time to overthrow:

4

A time to weep, a time to laugh may chance;
A time to mourn, a time also to dance:

5

A time there is to gather stones full fast,
A time also the same away to cast;
Time to embrace another, time again
When from embracing we must needs refrain:

6

A time to get, a time to lose; there may
Be time to keep, and time to cast away:
320

7

A time to rent, a time to sew; and eke
A time of silence, and a time to speak:

8

A time to love, a time to hate may be;
A time of war, a time of peace, we see.

9

What profit hath his labours to him brought,
Wherein he oft so eagerly hath wrought?

10

I've seen the travel God hath given to men,
To exercise them constantly therein:

11

He in his time made all things beautiful,
And in their heart he makes the world to rule:
So that no man the work of God can find
Out from beginning thereof to the end.

12

In them I know there is no good to choice,
Save man through life do good, and so rejoice:

13

And that each man should eat, drink, and enjoy
The good of all wherein he doth employ
His hands or mind at home, or yet abroad;
And this for certain is the gift of God.

14

Whate'er God doth, I know for certainty
Shall be for ever to eternity:
Nought thereto can be added, neither can
Ought therefrom be diminished by man:
And what God doth, he doth it that men may
Fear constantly before him night and day.

15

What's been, is now; and that which is to be,
Hath been; and God requires what's past we see.

16

Yea, and I saw below the sun the place
Of judgment just, that there was wickedness:
Who to the place of righteousness repair,
Will shortly see iniquity is there.

17

I in my heart said, God shall surely be
Judge both of good and bad of all degree:
For there's a time for ev'ry work assign'd,
And for each purpose by our God ordain'd.

18

I in my heart perceiv'd the state of men,
And wish'd that God might manifest them plain;
And that they may perceive, and clearly see
That they are beasts, and thereby humbled be.
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19

For what befals the sons of men, likewise
Befalleth beasts, and so alike both dies:
They've all one breath; man hath no pre'm'nency
Above a beast, for all is vanity.

20

Into one place all go, both beasts and men:
For dust they are; to dust they turn again.

21

Who knows man's spirit that doth upward go;
The sp'rits of beasts descend to earth below?

22

There's nothing better in this world, I see,
Than that a man rejoice and merry be
In his own works; for that's his portion sure:
What follows him there's none can him assure.

CHAP. IV.

[1]

So I return'd, consider'd all oppressions
Done here below, which are beyond expressions:
And lo, the tears of such oppressed ones,
Without comforters, utter'd grievous groans;
And on the side of their oppressors were
Pow'r (but, poor souls!) they had no comforter.

2

Wherefore I prais'd the dead, already dead,
Far more than he that liveth in his stead.

3

Yea better far is he that hath not been,
Than dead and living; for he hath not seen
The evil work that here below the sun
By sons of men so frequently is done.

4

Again, all travel I considered,
And each right-work, for which a man's envy'd
Ev'n of his neighbour: this is vanity,
And sore vexation of the mind, surely.

5

The fool together folds his hands afresh,
And by his sloth he eateth his own flesh.

6

Better's an handful, with a quiet possession;
Than both hands full, with travel and vexation.

7

Then on reflection I did plainly see
Below the sun another vanity:

8

There's one alone, and there is not another;
Yea, and he hath not either child or brother:
322

Yet endless toil his carnal heart bewitches,
So that he's never satisfied with riches;
Neither saith he, For whom now do I save
My riches, and my soul of good bereave?
This also is a vanity; yea more,
It is a travel, and a toil full sore.

9

Two better are than one, because they have
A good reward for labour to receive.

10

For if they fall, the one will make a shift,
And strive his fellow up again to lift:
But wo to him that is alone when he
Shall fall; hath none that will his helper be.

11

Again, if two together ly, anon
They've heat; but how can one be warm alone?

12

And if one shall prevail against him, two
Shall him withstand, and likely overthrow;
A threefold cord will not so quickly break,
As one that's single, certainly more weak.

13

A poor wise child is better far, than he
That's old and foolish, tho' a king he be,
Who to no admonition will agree.

14

From out of prison one may raised be
To rule and reign in royal dignity.
Whereas one born in his own kingdom may
Be render'd poor, and subject-like obey.

15

I then consider'd all the living which
Walk under heav'n, yea, both the poor and rich:
The second child, when as a man is dead,
That after him shall stand up in his stead.

16

There is no end of all the people seen
Even of all before them that have been;
Those that come after in him shall not joy.
This also is a vexing vanity.

CHAP. V.

[1]

When to God's house thou goest, then be sure
To keep thy foot; and be more apt to hear,
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Than to present the sacrifice of fools,
For they ne'er mind that they transgress his rules.

2

Be thou not rash nor hasty in thine heart,
To let ought from thy sinful lips depart
Before the Lord: for God's in heav'n, and thou
Art on the earth; so let thy words be few.

3

A dream comes through a train of business,
And fools are known by words too numerous.

4

When thou shalt vow a vow to God, take care
To pay the same, and do not it defer:
For he in fools no pleasure sure can take;
Pay then thy vow, and venture not to break.

5

'Tis better far in vowing to delay,
Than one should vow, and then neglect to pay.

6

Let not thy mouth entice thy flesh to sin,
Nor angels see an error thou art in:
Wherefore should God be angry at thy voice,
And spoil the work wherein thou mayst rejoice?

7

In dreams and words are vanities right odd:
But shun them all, and only fear thou God.

8

If thou the poor oppressed sore dost see,
Though in a land judgment and justice be
Most vi'lently perverted, think't not strange,
For the Most High will recompence revenge.

9

All share the profits that the earth do yield;
The king himself is served by the field.

10

He that loves silver to excess, shall see
That he therewith shall ne'er contented be;
Nor he that loves abundance with increase:
This also is a vanity no less.

11

When goods increase, their eaters multiply;
Their owner only sees them with his eye.

12

The lab'ring man most sweetly takes repose;
No discontent in wealth or pen'ry knows:
Whereas the fulness of the rich doth keep
With anxious cares their drowsy eyes from sleep.

13

There's a sore evil I've seen here below,
Riches kept for the owner's overthrow.
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14

But these same riches, by mismanagement,
For certain perish, and are quickly spent:
His son, that after in his stead should stand,
Is naked born with nothing in his hand.

15

As he at first came from his mother's womb,
Just as he came, so he'll go to his tomb:
Nought of his labours he can bear away
When his dead corpse shall mingle with the clay.

16

This also is an evil sore, that he
In all points goes as first he came to be.
What profit hath he? what can please his mind,
When he hath labour'd for the empty wind?

17

For all his days in darkness he shall eat,
And have much sorrow, wrath, and sickness great.

18

Behold that which I heretofore have seen
Is good and comely, and hath ever been,
Ev'n that a man should eat, drink, and enjoy
The good for which his hands he did employ
All his life days, which here, below the sun,
God gives to him; for 'tis his portion.

19

Each man to whom God gives abundant wealth,
And pow'r to eat with competent good health,
And takes his portion with a joyful heart;
This is a gift God doth to him impart.

20

For he'll not much remember his life days;
Because God grants him joy in all his ways.

CHAP. VI.

[1]

There is an evil I have often seen
Below the sun, that common is to men:

2

A man whom God gives honour wealth and ease,
And wants for nothing that his heart might please;
Yet God denies him pow'r to use the same;
But strangers thereto right and title claim:
This is a strange and sordid vanity;
An ill disease, as in the world can be.

3

If one man should an hundred children have,
And many days, yea many years, should live,
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And yet his soul be never fill'd with good,
And have no burial, may be understood
To be far worse than an untimely birth:

4

For he comes in with vanity, and forth
Again in darkness he departs away;
And fame his name doth in oblivion lay.

5

Moreover he hath never seen the sun,
Nor any thing at all hath ever known:
This hath more rest in dark oblivion's shade,
Than th'other ever in his lifetime had.

6

Yea, tho' he live a thousand years twice told,
Yet with his eyes did never good behold:
Do not all mortals to one place descend?
What's made of dust, in dust again must end.

7

Man's labour all is for his mouth; yet he
His appetite can never satisfy.

8

What hath the wise more than the fool? what hath
The poor that walk within the living's path?

9

The eye sight's better, tho' it soon expire
Than is the wand'ring of the soul's desire:
This also is a very vanity,
And a vexation of the mind, surely.

10

That which hath been it is already nam'd,
'Tis known that man was by the Highest fram'd:
Therefore he may not once with him contend;
For he in no ways can himself defend.

11

Since many things do increase vanity,
What can a man be bettered thereby?

12

For who is he can tell what's good for man
In this frail life, all his life days so vain,
Which as a shadow he doth spend away?
For who is he can tell a man what may
Be after him, when he is dead and gone,
Into his stead here underneath the sun?

CHAP. VII.

[1]

A good name is more preferable far
Than precious ointments, ne'er so costly, are:
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So is the day wherein we come to die
To be preferr'd to our nativity.

2

The house of mourning, better far go there,
Than to the house of feasting to repair:
For that's the end of all men, when they part;
Yea, and the living lays it to his heart.

3

Grief better is than laughter certainly;
For oft the heart is bettered thereby.

4

The wise man's heart the mourners house frequent;
But fools with mirth are always well content.

5

Better to hear the wise rebukes and rules,
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

6

As crackling thorns beneath a pot, so be
Fools laughter: this is also vanity.

7

Oppression surely makes a wise man mad;
And gifts destroy, and make the heart more bad.

8

Better's the ending of a thing than the
Beginning thereof; also so is he,
That's patient in his spirit, better far
Than they whose spirits proud and lofty are.

9

Let not thy sp'rit to anger soon make haste;
For passions always in fools bosoms rest.

10

Say thou not, what could be the certain cause
The former time than now far better was?
For thou dost not with wisdom thus enquire
Concerning this too curious desire.

11

Wisdom is good with heritage; and they
That see the sun, are profited thereby.

12

For wisdom is, for certain, a defence;
And so is money in another sense:
But this is wisdom's great excellency,
That who hath knowledge, he gets life thereby.

13

The work of God consider, and take heed;
For who'll make straight what he hath crooked made?

14

Be joyful while in your prosperity;
But then, consider, in adversity,
That God hath set these two in opposition,
To th'end that man should here find no fruition.
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15

All things I've seen, and marked carefully,
In my short life and days of vanity;
The just to perish in his righteousness,
The wicked's life prolong'd in wickedness.

16

Be not too good; thyself too wise not make:
Why shouldst thou spoil thyself for ruin's sake?

17

Be not too wicked; neither foolish be:
Before thy time why shouldst thou love to die?

18

'Tis good that thou shouldst take fast hold of this;
Slip not thine hand thine former hold to miss:
For who fears God, tho' in the greatest thrall,
Shall come triumphant forth out of them all.

19

One man by wisdom stronger is, by far,
Than ten stout men that in the city are.

30

For on the earth there's not a just man's lot,
That ever doth what's good, and sinneth not.

21

Take thou no heed to ev'ry word you hear,
Lest servants chance to curse thee in thine ear.

22

For thou art conscious to thyself thou hast
Oft cursed others, tho' not full exprest.

23

All this I prov'd by wisdom; said, I'll be
Wise; but, alas! it was too far from me.

24

That which is far off, and is very deep,
What man is he can find it out to keep?

25

I did apply mine heart to search and know,
And seek by wisdom cause of things below;
To know the folly and the wickedness
Of foolishness, and of most men's madness:

26

And lo! I find more bitter far than death,
The wicked woman's filthy noxious breath;
Whose heart is snares, yea, and her very hands
Are nets and traps, invincible strong bands.
Who pleaseth God, from her he shall 'scape free;
But sinners, they by her shall taken be.

27

The preacher saith, Lo! this I have found out,
In counting one by one to solve the doubt:

28

Which yet my soul seeks with all care of mind;
But, in my search, alas! I cannot find:
328

One man among a thousand have I found;
But not a woman all the world around.

29

Lo! this I found, that God made man upright;
But man in new inventions takes delight.

CHAP. VIII.

[1]

As the wise man, who can such knowledge bring
For plain interpretation of a thing?
A man's own wisdom makes his face to shine;
But time will make his strength and face decline.

2

I counsel thee to keep the king's command,
The oath of God you ought to understand.

3

Make no great haste out of his sight to go;
Shun evil things, for what he wills he'll do.

4

Where a king's word is, there his pow'r doth shew:
And who can say to him, Sir, what dost thou?

5

Whoe'er he be keeps the commandement,
No evil thing shall cause his discontent:
A wise man's heart will easily discern,
And also time and judgment both will learn.

6

Since to each purpose time and judgment be;
Therefore sure great is mortals misery.

7

For he knows nothing of futurity:
For who can tell him when, or how 'twill be?

8

No man hath pow'r the spirit to retain;
Nor hath he pow'r from dying to refrain:
There's no discharge of that warfare; nor can
A wicked life preserve a wicked man.

9

All this I've seen; and did my heart apply
To ev'ry work done here beneath the sky.
There is a time wherein a man doth bear
Rule over others, to his hurt full dear.

10

And so I saw the wicked buried, who
Did from the church oft-times both come and go;
And in the city quite forgot were they,
Where they so did: this is a vanity.

11

Because against an evil work sentence
Doth not on sinners presently commence;
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Therefore the hearts of mortal men are still
Set in them always fully to do ill.

12

Altho' a sinner should an hundred times
Prolong his days, and multiply his crimes;
Yet sure I am it shall be well with them
That fear the Lord, and reverence his name.

13

But with the wicked well it shall not be,
Nor yet protract his lease of life shall he;
For as a shadow hath he here abode;
For why? because he never feareth God.

14

Here on the earth is done a vanity:
The just mens lot like wicked workers be,
The wicked's lot as they wrought righteously;
I said this also is a vanity.

15

Then I commended mirth; because a man
Hath nothing better here below the sun,
Than that he eat, and drink, and merry be;
For that abides of all his industry,
With him the days of his frail life alone,
Which God doth give him here below the sun.

16

Wisdom when I apply'd mine heart to know,
To see the bus'ness done on earth below;
(For there is that yea neither day nor night
Lets sleep once dim the optics of his sight.)

17

Then I beheld the work of God, that none
Can find out what is wrought below the sun:
Because though man should labour seeking it,
Yea though a wise man should employ his wit,
Thinking to know it; yet he grasps the wind,
And never shall attain the same to find.

CHAP. IX.

[1]

For all this I consider'd in my heart,
Yea ev'n all this inclining to impart,
That both the righteous' works, yea, and the wise
Are in God's hand, at his disposal lyes:
No man can fully love or hatred know,
By all that is before them here below.
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2

All things alike come unto all, we see:
One event to the just and wicked be;
To good, and clean, and the unclean likewise;
To him that doth, or doth not sacrifice:
As is the good so is the sinner; both
That sweareth, yea, and he that fears an oath.

3

This is an evil 'mong all things that's done
Under the sun, that there is only one
Event to all; yea, and mens haarts are still
Of evil, yea, and madness ever full,
While here on earth they do enjoy their breath:
And after that, they go down unto death.

4

For unto him, for certain, that is join'd
To all the living, there is hope we find:
For sure a dog that lives, is useful more
Than a dead lion that had wont to roar.

5

For sure the living know that they shall die;
But those that dead are, know nought certainly:
Nor any more have they reward or lot;
The memory of them is quite forgot.

6

Also their love, their hatred and envy,
Are perished: nor any more have they
A portion here of any thing that's done,
Upon this stage, below the nat'ral sun.

7

Go, eat thy bread, and drink thy wine with joy;
For God accepts thy works and thine employ.

8

Thy garments always white and clean sure make,
And let thy head no useful ointment lack.

9

Live with the wise thou lovest joyfully,
All the life days of thy short vanity
Which he allows thee here below the sun,
Till thy few days of vanity are run;
For that's thy portion in this life, you know,
And in thy labour thou tak'st here below.

10

Whate'er thy hand doth find to do, always
Do with thy might; for there is no device,
Nor knowledge, work nor wisdom, in the grave,
In which e'er long thou must a lodging have.
331

11

Then I return'd, and saw below the sun,
The race is not to them that swiftest run;
Nor is the battle to the strongest side;
Nor to the wise is there continual bread;
Nor yet is riches always in the hand
Of prudent men, that well can understand;
Nor yet is favour ay to men of skill:
But time and chance still happen to them all.

12

An evil man, that sticks not at a crime,
He's not aware, nor knows the evil time:
As fishes caught are in an evil net,
And birds are trapt by snares in secret set;
So are men's sons snar'd in an evil time,
When suddenly it falleth upon them.

13

Below the sun this wisdom did I see,
And it seem'd great and very strange to me.

14

There was a city, and few men within;
And a great king to siege it did begin,
And round it built great bulwarks, and did raise
Great batteries, to take it with more ease.

15

Now there was found in it a poor wise man,
And by his wisdom he to work began,
And freed the city; yet no man did mind
The same poor man, unto him to be kind.

16

Then did I say, Wisdom is better far
Than the great strength of mighty mortals are:
But yet the poor man's wisdom few regard;
Yea, and his words are very seldom heard.

17

The wise man's words are heard in quiet more,
Than the fool's rulers, though aloud he roar.

18

Wisdom is better far than weapons choice,
But sure one sinner he much good destroys.

CHAP. X.

[1]

When flies among the surgeon's ointment sink,
It causeth it send forth a noisome stink;
So little follies, obvious in the wise,
Will make the mob their wisdom soon despise.
332

2

A wise man's heart is at his right-hand ay;
But the fool's heart doth at his left-hand stay.

3

Yea, also, when a fool doth walk abroad,
His wisdom fails him on the very road;
He acts and speaks without concert or rule,
And tells to all he meets that he's a fool.

4

If rulers spirits up against thee rise,
Leave not thy place as one that guilty flies;
For yielding great offences pacifies.

5

Below the sun an evil I have seen
Come from the ruler as an error keen:

6

Folly set in great dignity and trust,
The rich and wise in lowest places thrust:

7

I have seen servants on high horses ride,
And princes walking on the earth beside.

8

Who digs a pit, himself shall fall in it;
Who breaks an hedge, a serpent shall him bite.

9

He may be hurt, that stones removes; likely
Who cleaveth wood, in danger is thereby.

10

If th'ax be blunt, and he be not expert
To sharp the edge, more strength he must exert:
But wise men will not means of ease neglect;
For wisdom's useful therein to direct.

11

The serpent will without enchantment bite;
So babblers will in talking take delight.

12

The wise man's words, that come out from his mouth,
Are gracious words, yea words of precious truth;
But the fool's lips, poor senseless silly elf!
So froward are, they'll swallow up himself.

13

For he begins his words with foolishness,
And ends the same in mad mischievousness.

14

A fool also is full of words: surely
Man cannot tell what afterward shall be;
And who is he for certain can proclaim
To any man what shall be after him?
The foolish' labour weariness doth prove
For each of them; because if he remove
333

Abroad (poor wretch!) he's not so wise, or witty,
To find the way again into the city.

16

Wo be to thee, O land! thy state is wild,
When as thy king is but a minor child;
And when thy princes, be they ne'er so great,
Do in the morning too too early eat.

17

But blessed art thou, O thou happy land!
When doth the son of nobles thee command,
And when thy princes in due season eat,
For strength, not drunkenness, which spoils the state.

18

By slothfulness the building soon decays;
By idleness the house drops thro' likewise.

19

Feasts are for laughter, wine doth merry make;
But money answers all we undertake.

20

Curse not the king, yea, no not in thy thought,
Nor in thy closet curse the rich for ought:
Birds of the air thy voice shall sure reveal,
And what hath wings the matter clear shall tell.

CHAP. XI.

[1]

Thy bread cast on the waters diff'rent ways,
And thou shalt find it after many days.

2

To seven and eight a portion give; for thou
Know'st not what ill shall be on earth below.

3

If that the clouds be full of rain, they will
Empty themselves, and on the earth distil:
And if the tree fall South or North, ev'n where
The tree shall fall, it surely shall be there.

4

Who foolishly observes the wind, or who
Regards the clouds, shall neither reap nor sow.

5

As thou know'st not which way the spirits come,
Nor how the bones engender in the womb
Of her with child; so canst thou never know
The works of God, that maketh all things grow.

6

Then in the morning sow thy seed; and when
The ev'ning-comes, thy sowing not refrain:
For sure thou know'st not whether that or this
Shall prosper well, or both alike increase.
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7

'Tis truly sweet and pleasant for the eye
To see the light and sun shine from on high.

8

But if a man live many years, and shall
Take much delight, rejoicing in them all;
Yet let him mind the days of darkness, they
Shall many be, and all in vanity.

9

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let
Thy youthful days on cheerfulness be set:
Walk in the ways which thine own heart devise,
And after what is pleasing to thine eyes:
But know thou, surely God for ev'ry thing
Will thee one day unto his judgment bring.

10

Therefore remove all sorrow from thy heart,
And cause all evil from thy flesh depart:
For all may know this for a certainty,
Childhood and youth are surely vanity.

CHAP. XII.

[1]

Remember now thy great Creator, while
The bloom of youth upon thy cheeks doth smile;
While ill days come not, nor the years draw near,
When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure here;

2

While sun, light, moon, nor stars, not dark'ned be,
Nor clouds returning after rain you see:

3

In that sad day, when the house-keepers shall
Tremble, and strong men bowing down shall fall,
The grinders cease, because they are but few,
And lookers from the windows lose their view.

4

The doors shall in the streets be shut, also
The sound of grinding turned very low;
And he shall rise up at the bird's small voice,
And all the daughters of the music cease:

5

When they shall be afraid of what is high,
Fears in the way appearing ever nigh;
The almond-tree shall flourish fair above,
The grashopper shall then a burden prove;
Desire shall fail, because that man must go
To his long home, and mourners walk in wo:
335

6

Or e'er the cord of silver loosed be,
Or golden bowl be broken, or you see
The pitcher broken by the fountain side,
Or wheel asunder at the cistern slide.

7

Then shall the dust to earth again descend,
Just as it was, like to its like still tend;
The spirit upward, as a spark, shall fly
To God, who gave it, where he is on high.

8

Vanity of vanities we see:
The preacher saith, All is mere vanity.

9

Likewise, because the preacher was most wise,
He knowledge taught the people all his days:
He gave good heed, sought out what he could get,
And many proverbs he in order set.

10

The preacher sought out words both plain and smooth;
And what he wrote was upright words of truth.

11

Words of the wise as goads and nails they are,
Fast'ned by masters of assemblies care,
Which from one shepherd freely given were.

12

Further, my son, by these admonish'd be;
Of making books there is no end you see;
And too much study is a weariness,
And very irksome unto human flesh.

13

Let's hear the whole conclusion of the matter,
Of all that can be said by word or letter:
Fear God, and keep all his commands; for this
Man's duty wholly and entirely is.

14

For God to judgment ev'ry work shall bring,
Together also with each secret thing;
Yea, whether it be good or bad, one day
In public manner he will open lay.
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