71.

To th' Intemperate, Abstinence commend,
Tell them what Mischiefs vicious Lives attend:
How soon Excesses will their Health destroy,
That chiefest Blessing here below;
That unexhausted Spring of Joy,
Without which, all things else inspid grow.
Tell them tho' now they kind Instructions slight,
And their unhappy Conduct praise;
Yet when they're to Diseases made a Prey,
They'll then for their retrieveless Follies mourn,
And in Repentance languish out each painful Day.
To please the Taste is but a mean Delight;
The Bliss of Beasts, and not of Men:
And all those Arts by which their Appetites they raise,
Are only finer, more compendious Ways
Destructive Poisons to convey.
How happy shou'd we be, if we agen
To the first rules of Living cou'd return,
By Nature, the best Tut'ress taught,
Her just and easie Laws obey,
Like those she on th' early Stage of Action brought?
Who to few Things their Wishes could confine,
On Herbs and Fruits contentedly cou'd dine;
To quench their Thirst of crystal Springs cou'd drink;
Pure crystal Springs the want of Wine supply'd:
No harmless Beast t'appease their Hunger dy'd.
From Bough to Bough Birds unmolested flew.
They sought no Pomp, no Delicacies knew
Nor Wealth admir'd,
That greatest Plague of Life;
Nor glorious Palaces desir'd;
But underneath some pleasant Shade,
Strangers to Toil, to Care and Strife,
Did sweetly sleep, or calmly think;
To one another kind Discourses made,
With Cheerfulness their Consciences obey'd.
And to their God a joyful Homage paid.

72.

Temp'rance is still Companion of the Wise;
They only can those Snares avoid,
By which th' Imprudent are with so much Ease destroy'd:
They only taste those Pleasures which from Abstinence arise;
Those pure Delights, those Banquets of the Mind,
Which from enlighten'd Reason spring:
Reason, when from the Dregs of Sense refin'd,
From all those Steams, those darkning Vapors freed,
Which from Excess proceed;
When no thick Damps of Earth retard its Flight,
Or make it flag the Wing,
Will boldly soar on high,
Above the Atmosphere,
Where all is calm, and all is clear,
And there, at Pleasure fly,
Bless'd with a free, distinct, unclouded Sight
Of all those Glories which adorn the happy Realms of Light.
Our Faculties will all awake,
And each will sprightly grow,
Exert its Pow'r, and its whole Force will show:
Th' Imagination quick and active prove,
Thro' the whole Compass of created Nature rove:
Collect bright Images, from them Ideas make,
From ev'ry Object some new Hint will take,
And with them entertain the Mind,
And Bus'ness for the Understanding find:
The Understanding more sublime will grow,
We shall more accurately think, and much more fully know.

73.

To the Revengeful teach the gen'rous Way,
With Kindness, Inj'ries to repay:
Tell them 'tis great, and shews a noble Mind,
To pass Affronts regardless by,
And look on Contumelies with a careless Eye:
The brave an inward Firmness find;
They will not from their State descend:
Like Rocks they dare the Tide and Wind,
Themselves from ev'ry Storm defend.
Reproaches from the Earth like Vapors rise,
And fill with Noise the lower Skies.
But cannot to superior Regions fly:
They are above the Sphere of their Activity.
What we call Wrongs would not be so,
Nor the least Impression make,
Did we our selves not aid each Blow.
'Tis from Opinion we our Measures take;
And often rage, complain and weep
For things, which of themselves would no Offences prove,
Wou'd not our Indignation move,
If we but judg'd aright,
And view'd them in their true and proper Light.
Reason, did we its help desire,
Wou'd its Assistance lend;
Wou'd us impassive keep,
Or from Attacks defend:
With pious Sentiments wou'd us inspire,
Tell us 'tis glorious to forgive;
Bid us all angry Thoughts expel,
And by the best of Patterns live;
The suff'ring J ESUS , who lov'd those so well,
From whom he did the utmost Scorn sustain,
By whom revil'd he liv'd, and was unpity'd slain,
That in th' extremest Agonies of Death,
He pray'd for them with his departing Breath.

74.

Thou blest Example of transcendent Love!
O may we in thy shining Footsteps move!
By thee instructed, to our Foes be kind;
With their Mistakes, their Frailties bear;
And with a mild commiserating Mind,
The guilty Sallies of their Passions see,
Yet keep our selves from the Contagion free:
Good, for their Evil let us still return,
And for their Sins, and Follies mourn:
Our selves to them by friendly Acts endear;
Not only make our Patience to appear,
But them with gen'rous Tenderness pursue,
To them repeated Favors shew,
With their Aversion thus a War maintain,
And not leave off, till we the Conquest gain;
Till all their Enmities and Quarrels cease,
And we enjoy the Halcyon Calms of Peace.

75.

Sincerity and Truth to this bad Age
With all your Rhet'rick recommend;
You cannot in a nobler Cause engage,
Nor more the Word befriend:
Tell false designing Men, 'tis much below
Th' exalted Creature Man, such little Tricks to show:
To fawn, deceive, and cringe, for sordid Ends,
For worthless Gold, or for the Bubble Fame.
For Grandeur, Pow'r, or for the Trifle call'd a Name.
Heroick Souls such Meannesses despise,
They scorn to circumvent their greatest Enemies.
And wou'd much sooner die than once delude their Friend;
Honour and Conscience are to them more dear,
Than all the Gifts which Fortune can bestow,
Themselves they more than all the World revere,
Still to themselves the highest Def'rence pay,
And Reason as their Lord obey:
Unworthy Actions they disdain to do,
Are just to others, to themselves are true;
One uniform, direct, and steady Course pursue;
Intrepid and unmov'd still onward go,
And no concern for Censures, or Applauses show;
Desire no Gain, but what from Virtue springs,
Nor wish for any higher Praise, than what she brings.

76.

Thus to your Auditors their Duty shew,
Teach them their Passions to subdue,
To shun each Vice, and ev'ry Good pursue:
And that your Precepts may successful prove,
Practice those Virtues you wou'd have them love:
Strict blameless Lives, will more than Words, persuade;
We're by Examples chiefly sway'd:
Like beauteous Pictures they invite;
At once they fix, and entertain the Sight,
And yield us both Instruction and Delight.
Happy! O happy they
Who like the lucid Spring of Day,
At once both Life and Warmth convey;
Who to Mankind such pious Lessons give,
And universal Blessings live:
Their holy Labours due Rewards shall find,
And Wreaths of Glory their immortal Temples bind.

77.

Ye Servants of the Lord your Homage pay;
To your great Master thankful prove,
Before his Throne th' expected Tribute lay
Of Gratitude and Love:
Observe his Laws, and let each stubborn Thought
Be a Submission to his Precepts taught:
In your Discourses praise his holy Name,
And let your Actions at his Glory arm:
Since all that's yours you to his Bounty owe,
Be grateful, and your selves on him bestow,
No other Good, no other Joy, no other Bus'ness know.

78.

Ye holy Souls, who from your Bondage free,
Have reach'd th' inmost Mansions of the Skie,
And there, those dazling Glories see,
Which lie
Beyond the utmost Ken of a weak mortal Eye:
Adore his Goodness who has broke your Chains,
And put a Period to your Pains;
And gives you leave in Vehicles more fine,
More active, more divine,
To live at large in the soft balmy Air,
And feast on ev'ry Pleasure there;
Pleasures adapted to your nobler Taste,
And such as will not in th' Enjoyment waste,
How vastly diff'rent is your present State,
From that which you once liv'd below!
Here, Sickness did your Joys abate,
And Disappointments, Injuries and Fears,
Render'd uneasie your long tedious Years;
With Toil you gain'd that little you did know;
Laborious was the Task, and your Advances slow:
But now your Understandings are refin'd;
Your Reason strong, your Knowledge unconfin'd;
Vast is your Prospect, and enlarg'd your Sight,
At once you view this Earth, and all the Worlds of Light.

79.

But yet your Happiness is not compleat;
There are reserv'd for you Joys much more great;
Felicities proportion'd to a higher State;
To that blest State to which you shall ascend,
To that blest State which shall your Wandrings end:
Where you no more shall Revolutions see,
But live from Dangers, and Temptations free:
Whither in glorious Bodies you shall go;
Not such as you inform'd below;
But in immortal Bodies, which shall ever be
From Pains, from Death, and all Disorders free:
Which shall be Proof against th' Attacks of Fate,
Against th' Assaults of Envy and of Rage,
And all th' Efforts of dull deforming Age:
Whose Beauty still shall in its Bloom appear,
Which still Ten thousand Charms shall wear;
Like Suns shall ever, ever shine,
But be than Suns more bright, their Lustre all Divine:
With these lov'd Part'ners you shall ever stay,
And with the beatifick Vision blest,
Employ your everlasting Day
In Transports much too vast to be exprest;
In Pleasures which from boundless Goodness flow;
Which boundless Goodness only can bestow,
And which none but the blest Possessors of those Regions know.

80.

Those happy Seats, where Love Divine
Does with refulgent Brightness shine:
Where, the great Suff'rer sits inthron'd,
And is with universal Plaudits own'd:
Where his blest Mother her Reward has found,
And by him stands, with beamy Glories crown'd:
Where, on their golden Harps rejoicing Angels play,
And in melodious Strains their pleasing Homage pay:
Where, ev'ry Object Extasies do's raise,
And where, with them, you'll sing your bounteous Maker's Praise.
O blest Employment! O supreme Delight!
O wondrous Place! and O more wondrous Sight!