IN THE CHURCH OF HALSTEAD IN ESSEX. THE SPIRE OF WHICH,
BURNT DOWN BY LIGHTNING, WAS REBUILT AT THE EXPENSE OF MR.
SAMUEL FISKE, MDCCXVII.

View not this spire by measure given
To buildings rais'd by common hands:
That fabric rises high as Heaven,
Whose basis on devotion stands.

While yet we draw this vital breath,
We can our faith and hope declare:
But Charity beyond our death
Will ever in our works appear.

Best be he call'd among good men,
Who to is God this column rais'd:
Though lightning strike the dome again,
The man, who built it, shall be prais'd.

Yet spires and towers in dust shall lie,
The weak effort of human pains;
And faith and hope themselves shall die;
While deathless charity remains.