81.
Look, dearest Saviour, with a pitying Eye,
On those for whom thou didst with so much
Kindness die:
Raise our dull Souls above the Joys of Sense,
Above those Trifles Earth can give:
And when by Death we're summon'd hence,
Let us for ever in thy Presence live;
In thy lov'd Presence, where is all Delight,
All that can charm the Mind, or please the Sight,
All, all that can the most aspiring Soul invite:
And ye blest Spirits who have liv'd below,
And who our Miseries by your own Experience know,
Add your Requests, and beg that we may share
Your Pleasures, and with you immortal Glories wear;
Then we'll together join in Hymns of Praise,
Together Trophies to our dear Deliv'rer raise,
Together at his Feet our Joys make known,
And with one Voice his unexampl'd Kindness own.
82.
Ye holy Men, whose humble Hearts are free
From swelling Pride, and childish Vanity:
Who know your selves, and all those Arts despise,
Which others use, to make themselves thought wise:
Who own your Faults, and without Anger bear
Reproofs, and never think them too severe:
Who judge your selves, and still employ'd within,
Have neither Leisure, nor Desire,
To censure those with whom you live:
Their Failures, Pity in your Breasts inspire,
And you Allowances for human Frailties give:
The vicious you with Kindness strive to win,
And in the softest Language tell them of their Sin;
But while you their immoral Actions blame,
You with the nicest Care conceal their Shame,
Their Persons you esteem, and still preserve their Fame:
O praise that God from whom these Virtues flow;
Him, for your heav'nly Tempers bless;
Discharge some Part of that vast Debt you owe,
In fervent, and unweary'd Thankfulness.
83.
Ye Jewish Heroes, whose unshaken Zeal
Was Proof aginst the strong Efforts of Pow'r;
Who in that trying Hour,
When the Assyrian Monarch menac'd high,
And Death stood threatning by,
Would not your holy Faith conceal:
Before the Idol you refus'd to fall,
And wou'd not on the glorious Nothing call.
With noble Scorn you to the Tyrant spoke,
And did his utmost Rage provoke:
Seize them he cry'd, and let them feel that Pain,
And meet that Fate which they so much disdain:
Heat hotter yet the Furnace they despise,
And let its Flames with frightening Horror rise:
You dauntless saw the dire Command obey'd,
And by his mightiest Men were to the Fire convey'd,
By those, who with their Lives, for their Obedience pay'd.
84.
Safe in the burning Furnace you remain'd,
And walk'd unmov'd, and calmly there:
The Fire on your impassive Bodies gain'd
No more Advantage than on fluid Air:
The lambent Flames incircling Glories prov'd,
Round you the waving Splendors play'd;
And that th' admiring Croud might see
How much you were belov'd,
The God you serv'd, whose Laws you still obey'd,
Did to your Aid a glorious Angel send,
And bid him your Companion be:
Th' obsequious Minister of Light
Did from superior Joys descend,
And hither came your Triumphs to attend:
Th' astonish'd King beheld the dazling Sight,
And wonder'd at a Form so bright:
With eager'st Haste he call'd you from the Fire,
And did th' amazing Pow'r of your great God admire.
85.
O bless, for ever bless his holy Name,
From whom your wondrous Courage came:
That Courage, which was your Support
Amid the tempting Glories of a vicious Court:
Which kept you firm, when both the Great, and Wise,
Were by their Fear, to mean Submissions led;
You did ev'n then the Tyrant's Threats despise,
And brav'd those Dangers they so much did dread:
Life, on vile impious Terms you did refuse,
And, unconcern'd, did all your Honours lose:
Inclos'd with Terrors, you intrepid stood,
And durst amidst a guilty Croud be good.
Now you the Purchase of your Faith enjoy,
And in a State Divine.
Among the blest Confessors shine,
In grateful Retributions all your Time employ:
Recount with Joy the Wonders wrought for you,
And with continu'd Zeal the pleasing Theme pursue;
His Favours to admiring Saints rehearse,
And cloth your Raptures in harmonious Verse;
With charming Numbers their Attention move,
And loudly sing the Triumphs of his Love.
86.
T O God the F ATHER let us Glory give,
Unto th' immortal King,
The great Original of all,
In whom we center, and in whom we live,
With never ceasing Ardor sing:
The Benefits which he bestows,
For constant Praises call,
A gen'rous Soul no higher Pleasure knows,
Than paying what he owes.
Let narrow Minds, let grov'ling Sons of Earth,
Stick to that Dirt from whence they have their Birth;
On glitt'ring Dust let them with Transports gaze,
And never their dull Eyes to nobler Objects raise:
While we by better Principles inspir'd,
Will learn to think aright;
And having a due Sense of things acquir'd,
To the all-bounteous Giver turn our Sight:
The distant Streams we'll pass regardless by,
And to the Source of Blessings swiftly fly,
There quench our Thirst, and then replete with Joy,
In Hallelujahs all our Hours employ.
87.
Th' eternal S ON let all the World revere,
With his great Father let him equal Glory share:
And let us still, with thankful Hearts, retain
A grateful Sense of Favours past,
Long as our Lives, may the Remembrance last.
O Love, thou sweetest Passion of the Mind,
Thou gentlest Calmer of the Storms within,
Where didst thou ever find,
A kinder welcom, a more noble Seat,
Than in his Breast, who by Compassion led,
And by the tender'st Sentiments possest,
Left undesir'd, his everlasting Rest,
Left that bright Place, where Light Divine has spread
Its glitt'ring Beams around,
Where all that's charming, all that's good is found,
And where unutterable Joys abound:
Left it for us, when all deform'd with Sin,
And for our sakes with Patience did sustain
Th' intensest Sorrow, and the sharpest Pain.
O who, unmov'd, such Goodness can repeat!
Or who enough the dear Obliger praise!
Such wondrous Kindness a Return does claim,
And in us equal Flames should raise.
Of all the Virtues we can boast,
'Tis Gratitude becomes us most,
It gives a Grace, a Varnish to our Fame,
And adds a Splendor to the brightest Name.
But where, O where, can it a Subject find!
Like this among the Race of human Kind:
Who ever did such Obligations lay!
O let us strive the mighty Debt to pay:
Let meaner Objects now no more delight,
Nor lesser Favours entertain the Mind,
For to our Love he has a double Right,
Both by his Merit, and by being kind.
88.
To that blest Spirit who does us inspire
With every grateful, every good Desire,
Let us due Honour pay,
And with attentive Heed, and reverential Fear,
His holy Motions entertain,
And all his gentle Whispers hear:
Now he his Gifts in secret does convey;
On Minds prepar'd, like Morning Dews they fall;
Thro' unresisting Air they make their silent Way,
And unobserv'd, Admittance gain:
Not so of old th' Inspirer did descend;
Then wondrous Pomp his coming did attend;
With a loud rushing Sound amidst the faithful Few
The God his bright Appearance made,
And on each sacred Head the glorious Vision stay'd:
The num'rous Gazers trembl'd at the Sight,
An awful Horror seiz'd on all,
But 'twas a Horror mingl'd with Delight;
At once their Pleasure, and their fear they shew'd,
And with fixt Eyes the dazling Wonders view'd.
89.
But O, how great was their Surprize,
To what a Height did their Amazement rise,
When by the blest Apostles they were told
Important Truths till then unknown,
In Languages peculiarly their own!
Parthians and Medes , and those whose fruitful Land
Betwixt Euphrates and swift Tygris lies;
With those who heard the stormy Euxine roar;
Natives of Asia , and Pamphylia's fertile Soil,
With such as dwelt nigh the Ægean Shore,
Near that fam'd Place, where Ilium stood of old,
And where, by flow'ry Banks, divine Scamander roll'd:
Egyptians, Cretans , and that warlike Race
Who liv'd in Tents amid the barren Sand;
With those who breath'd scorch'd Lybia's sultry Air,
Where fond of Toil,
And pleas'd with rural Care,
They dwelt secure; of Ease and Peace possest,
Envy'd by none, and with Contentment blest:
Inhabitants of Rome , that august Place,
That glorious Seat of independent Sway,
Which to the prostrate World gave Law,
And still does Sovereign Princes awe,
And the most haughty makes obey:
All these they taught; to each themselves addrest;
And with a sudden Elocution blest,
In ev'ry diff'rent Tongue, their flowing Notions drest.
90.
O let such glory still be given
To these eternal THREE ,
This great united ONE ,
By the Possessors both of Earth and Heav'n,
As was by Infant Nature pay'd
As soon as Time begun to be,
And God, no longer pleas'd to live alone,
His mighty Pow'r had shown,
And for his Honour noble Creatures made;
Creatures, design'd to celebrate his Fame,
To build immortal Trophies to his Name,
And make his Service their immediate Aim:
And such as is by all the grateful here,
And by the num'rous Hosts above,
Who think they never can enough revere
Amazing Goodness, and unbounded Love,
With Ardor pay'd in Strains Divine:
And such as shall, when Time shall be no more,
But vast Eternity, like some high swelling Flood,
Shall pass its long confining Shore,
Pass all those Banks which its Insults withstood;
And o'er the whole extend its mighty Sway,
And sweep both us, and all our towring Thoughts away,
The joyful Bus'ness prove
Of those blest Souls, who in the Realms of Light
Shall on the beatifick Vision gaze,
And then with Transports of Delight,
In one harmonious Song combine,
And in the noblest Flights of Love and Praise,
Employ with an unweary'd Zeal, their everlasting Days.
Look, dearest Saviour, with a pitying Eye,
On those for whom thou didst with so much
Kindness die:
Raise our dull Souls above the Joys of Sense,
Above those Trifles Earth can give:
And when by Death we're summon'd hence,
Let us for ever in thy Presence live;
In thy lov'd Presence, where is all Delight,
All that can charm the Mind, or please the Sight,
All, all that can the most aspiring Soul invite:
And ye blest Spirits who have liv'd below,
And who our Miseries by your own Experience know,
Add your Requests, and beg that we may share
Your Pleasures, and with you immortal Glories wear;
Then we'll together join in Hymns of Praise,
Together Trophies to our dear Deliv'rer raise,
Together at his Feet our Joys make known,
And with one Voice his unexampl'd Kindness own.
82.
Ye holy Men, whose humble Hearts are free
From swelling Pride, and childish Vanity:
Who know your selves, and all those Arts despise,
Which others use, to make themselves thought wise:
Who own your Faults, and without Anger bear
Reproofs, and never think them too severe:
Who judge your selves, and still employ'd within,
Have neither Leisure, nor Desire,
To censure those with whom you live:
Their Failures, Pity in your Breasts inspire,
And you Allowances for human Frailties give:
The vicious you with Kindness strive to win,
And in the softest Language tell them of their Sin;
But while you their immoral Actions blame,
You with the nicest Care conceal their Shame,
Their Persons you esteem, and still preserve their Fame:
O praise that God from whom these Virtues flow;
Him, for your heav'nly Tempers bless;
Discharge some Part of that vast Debt you owe,
In fervent, and unweary'd Thankfulness.
83.
Ye Jewish Heroes, whose unshaken Zeal
Was Proof aginst the strong Efforts of Pow'r;
Who in that trying Hour,
When the Assyrian Monarch menac'd high,
And Death stood threatning by,
Would not your holy Faith conceal:
Before the Idol you refus'd to fall,
And wou'd not on the glorious Nothing call.
With noble Scorn you to the Tyrant spoke,
And did his utmost Rage provoke:
Seize them he cry'd, and let them feel that Pain,
And meet that Fate which they so much disdain:
Heat hotter yet the Furnace they despise,
And let its Flames with frightening Horror rise:
You dauntless saw the dire Command obey'd,
And by his mightiest Men were to the Fire convey'd,
By those, who with their Lives, for their Obedience pay'd.
84.
Safe in the burning Furnace you remain'd,
And walk'd unmov'd, and calmly there:
The Fire on your impassive Bodies gain'd
No more Advantage than on fluid Air:
The lambent Flames incircling Glories prov'd,
Round you the waving Splendors play'd;
And that th' admiring Croud might see
How much you were belov'd,
The God you serv'd, whose Laws you still obey'd,
Did to your Aid a glorious Angel send,
And bid him your Companion be:
Th' obsequious Minister of Light
Did from superior Joys descend,
And hither came your Triumphs to attend:
Th' astonish'd King beheld the dazling Sight,
And wonder'd at a Form so bright:
With eager'st Haste he call'd you from the Fire,
And did th' amazing Pow'r of your great God admire.
85.
O bless, for ever bless his holy Name,
From whom your wondrous Courage came:
That Courage, which was your Support
Amid the tempting Glories of a vicious Court:
Which kept you firm, when both the Great, and Wise,
Were by their Fear, to mean Submissions led;
You did ev'n then the Tyrant's Threats despise,
And brav'd those Dangers they so much did dread:
Life, on vile impious Terms you did refuse,
And, unconcern'd, did all your Honours lose:
Inclos'd with Terrors, you intrepid stood,
And durst amidst a guilty Croud be good.
Now you the Purchase of your Faith enjoy,
And in a State Divine.
Among the blest Confessors shine,
In grateful Retributions all your Time employ:
Recount with Joy the Wonders wrought for you,
And with continu'd Zeal the pleasing Theme pursue;
His Favours to admiring Saints rehearse,
And cloth your Raptures in harmonious Verse;
With charming Numbers their Attention move,
And loudly sing the Triumphs of his Love.
86.
T O God the F ATHER let us Glory give,
Unto th' immortal King,
The great Original of all,
In whom we center, and in whom we live,
With never ceasing Ardor sing:
The Benefits which he bestows,
For constant Praises call,
A gen'rous Soul no higher Pleasure knows,
Than paying what he owes.
Let narrow Minds, let grov'ling Sons of Earth,
Stick to that Dirt from whence they have their Birth;
On glitt'ring Dust let them with Transports gaze,
And never their dull Eyes to nobler Objects raise:
While we by better Principles inspir'd,
Will learn to think aright;
And having a due Sense of things acquir'd,
To the all-bounteous Giver turn our Sight:
The distant Streams we'll pass regardless by,
And to the Source of Blessings swiftly fly,
There quench our Thirst, and then replete with Joy,
In Hallelujahs all our Hours employ.
87.
Th' eternal S ON let all the World revere,
With his great Father let him equal Glory share:
And let us still, with thankful Hearts, retain
A grateful Sense of Favours past,
Long as our Lives, may the Remembrance last.
O Love, thou sweetest Passion of the Mind,
Thou gentlest Calmer of the Storms within,
Where didst thou ever find,
A kinder welcom, a more noble Seat,
Than in his Breast, who by Compassion led,
And by the tender'st Sentiments possest,
Left undesir'd, his everlasting Rest,
Left that bright Place, where Light Divine has spread
Its glitt'ring Beams around,
Where all that's charming, all that's good is found,
And where unutterable Joys abound:
Left it for us, when all deform'd with Sin,
And for our sakes with Patience did sustain
Th' intensest Sorrow, and the sharpest Pain.
O who, unmov'd, such Goodness can repeat!
Or who enough the dear Obliger praise!
Such wondrous Kindness a Return does claim,
And in us equal Flames should raise.
Of all the Virtues we can boast,
'Tis Gratitude becomes us most,
It gives a Grace, a Varnish to our Fame,
And adds a Splendor to the brightest Name.
But where, O where, can it a Subject find!
Like this among the Race of human Kind:
Who ever did such Obligations lay!
O let us strive the mighty Debt to pay:
Let meaner Objects now no more delight,
Nor lesser Favours entertain the Mind,
For to our Love he has a double Right,
Both by his Merit, and by being kind.
88.
To that blest Spirit who does us inspire
With every grateful, every good Desire,
Let us due Honour pay,
And with attentive Heed, and reverential Fear,
His holy Motions entertain,
And all his gentle Whispers hear:
Now he his Gifts in secret does convey;
On Minds prepar'd, like Morning Dews they fall;
Thro' unresisting Air they make their silent Way,
And unobserv'd, Admittance gain:
Not so of old th' Inspirer did descend;
Then wondrous Pomp his coming did attend;
With a loud rushing Sound amidst the faithful Few
The God his bright Appearance made,
And on each sacred Head the glorious Vision stay'd:
The num'rous Gazers trembl'd at the Sight,
An awful Horror seiz'd on all,
But 'twas a Horror mingl'd with Delight;
At once their Pleasure, and their fear they shew'd,
And with fixt Eyes the dazling Wonders view'd.
89.
But O, how great was their Surprize,
To what a Height did their Amazement rise,
When by the blest Apostles they were told
Important Truths till then unknown,
In Languages peculiarly their own!
Parthians and Medes , and those whose fruitful Land
Betwixt Euphrates and swift Tygris lies;
With those who heard the stormy Euxine roar;
Natives of Asia , and Pamphylia's fertile Soil,
With such as dwelt nigh the Ægean Shore,
Near that fam'd Place, where Ilium stood of old,
And where, by flow'ry Banks, divine Scamander roll'd:
Egyptians, Cretans , and that warlike Race
Who liv'd in Tents amid the barren Sand;
With those who breath'd scorch'd Lybia's sultry Air,
Where fond of Toil,
And pleas'd with rural Care,
They dwelt secure; of Ease and Peace possest,
Envy'd by none, and with Contentment blest:
Inhabitants of Rome , that august Place,
That glorious Seat of independent Sway,
Which to the prostrate World gave Law,
And still does Sovereign Princes awe,
And the most haughty makes obey:
All these they taught; to each themselves addrest;
And with a sudden Elocution blest,
In ev'ry diff'rent Tongue, their flowing Notions drest.
90.
O let such glory still be given
To these eternal THREE ,
This great united ONE ,
By the Possessors both of Earth and Heav'n,
As was by Infant Nature pay'd
As soon as Time begun to be,
And God, no longer pleas'd to live alone,
His mighty Pow'r had shown,
And for his Honour noble Creatures made;
Creatures, design'd to celebrate his Fame,
To build immortal Trophies to his Name,
And make his Service their immediate Aim:
And such as is by all the grateful here,
And by the num'rous Hosts above,
Who think they never can enough revere
Amazing Goodness, and unbounded Love,
With Ardor pay'd in Strains Divine:
And such as shall, when Time shall be no more,
But vast Eternity, like some high swelling Flood,
Shall pass its long confining Shore,
Pass all those Banks which its Insults withstood;
And o'er the whole extend its mighty Sway,
And sweep both us, and all our towring Thoughts away,
The joyful Bus'ness prove
Of those blest Souls, who in the Realms of Light
Shall on the beatifick Vision gaze,
And then with Transports of Delight,
In one harmonious Song combine,
And in the noblest Flights of Love and Praise,
Employ with an unweary'd Zeal, their everlasting Days.
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