SECTION VI.
Religion and Death.
Lo a form divinely bright
Defcends and burfts upon my fight;
A feraph of illuftrious birth!
(Religion was her name on earth ;)
Supremely sweet her radiant face,
And blooming with celeftial grace!
Three fhining cherubs form'd her train,
Wav'd their light wings, and reach'd the plain :
Faith, with fublime and piercing eye,
And pinions flutt'ring for the fky;
Here hope, that fmiling angel ftands,
And golden anchors grace her hands;
There charity in robes of white,
Faireft and fav'rite maid of light.
The feraph fpoke-"'Tis reafon's part
To govern and to guard the heart;
To lull the wayward foul to reft,
When hope and fears diftract the breaft.
Reafon may calm this doubtful ftrife,
And steer thy bark through various life :
But when the ftorms of death are nigh,
And midnight darkness veils the sky,
Shall reafon then direct thy fail,
Difperfe the clouds, or fink the gale?
Stranger, this fkill alone is mine,
Skill that tranfcends his fcanty line."
"Revere thyfelf-thou'rt near allied
To angels on thy better fide.
How various e'er their ranks or kinds,
Angels are but unbodied minds
When the partition walls decay,
Men emerge angels from their clay.
Yes, when the frailer body dies,
'The foul afferts her kindred fkies.
But minds, though fprung from heav'nly race,
Muft firft be tutor'd for the place :
The joys above are understood,
And relifh'd only by the good.
Who fhall affume this guardian care;
Who shall secure their birthright there?
Souls are my charge-to me 'tis giv'n
To train them for their native heav'n."
"Know then, who bow the early knee,
And give the willing heart to me;
Who wifely when Temptation waits,
Elude her frauds, and fpurn her baits
Who dare to own my injur'd caufe,
Though fools deride my facred laws;
Or fcorn to deviate to the wrong,
Though perfecution lifts her thong;
Though all the fons of hell confpire
To raise the stake and light the fire;
Know, that for fuch fuperior fouls,
There lies a blifs beyond the poles ;
Where fpirits fhine with purer ray,
And brighten to meridian day;
Where love, where boundlefs friendship rules;
(No friends that change no love that cools ;)
Where rifing floods of knowledge roll,
And pour, and pour upon the foul !"
"But where's the paffage to the skies?-
The road through death's black valley lies.
Nay, do not fhudder at my tale ;
Though dark the fhades, yet fafe the vale.
This path the best of men have trod;
And who'd decline the road to God?
Oh! 'tis a glorious boon to die!
This favour can't be priz'd too high."
While thus the fpoke, my looks exprefs'd
The raptures kindling in my breast;
My foul a fix d attention gave:
When the ftern Monarch of the Grave
With haughty ftrides approach'd-amazed
I ftood and trembled as I gazed.
The feraph calmed each anxious fear,
And kindly wip'd the failing tear;
Then haften'd with expanded wing
To meet the pale terrific king.
But now what milder fcenes arife!
The tyrant drops his hoftile guife;
He feems a youth divinely fair.
His graceful ringlets wave his hair;
His wings their whit'ning plumes display,
His burnifh'd plumes reflect the day;
Light flows his fhining azure veft,
And all the angels ftand confefs'd.
I view'd the change with sweet surprise;
And, Oh! I panted for the fkies;
Thank'd heav'n, that e'er I drew my breath;
And triumph'd in the thoughts of death.
CHAP. III.
DIDACTIC PIECES.
The Vanity of Wealth.
O MORE thus brooding o'er yon heap,
With av'rice painful vigils keep;
Still unenjoyed the prefent ftore,
Still endless fighs are breath'd for more.
O quit the fhadow, catch the prize,
Which not all India's treasure buys!
To purchase heav'n has gold the pow'r ?
Can gold remove the mortal hour?
In life can love be bought with gold?
Are friendship's pleasures to be fold?
No; all that's worth a wifh, a thought,
Fair virtue gives unbrib'd, unbought.
Cease then on trash thy hopes to bind;
Let nobler views engage thy mind.
LET no prefuming impious railer tax
Creative wifdom, as if aught was form'd
In vain, or not for admirable ends.
Shall little haughty ignorance pronounce
His works unwife, of which the fmalleft part
Exceeds the narrow vifion of her mind?
As if, upon a full proportion'd dome,
On fwelling columns heav'd, the pride of art!
A critic fly, whofe feeble ray fcarce fpreads
An inch around, with blind prefumption bold,
Should dare to tax the ftructure of the whole.
And lives the man, whofe univerfal eye
Has fwept at once th' unbounded scheme of things;
Mark'd their dependence fo, and firm accord,
As with unfalt'ring accent to conclude,
That this availeth nought? Has any feen
The mighty chain of beings, less'ning down
From infinite perfection to the brink
Of dreary nothing, defolate abyfs!
From which aftonifh'd thought, recoiling, turns?
Till then alone let zealous praise ascend,
And hymns of holy wonder, to that POWER,
Whose wisdom fhines as lovely in our minds,
As on our smiling eyes his fervant fun.
Of all the caufes, which confpire to blind
Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,
What the weak head with ftrongest bias rules,
Is pride, the never failing vice of fools.
Whatever nature has in worth deny'd,
She gives in large recruits of needful pride !
For, as in bodies, thus in fouls, we find
What wants in blood and spirits, fwell'd with wind.
Pride, where wit fails, fteps into our defence,
And fills up all the mighty void of sense.
If once right reafon drives that cloud away,
Truth breaks upon us with refiftless day.
Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know,
Make use of ev'ry friend, and ev'ry foe.
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or tafte not the Pierian fpring:
There fhallow draughts intoxicate the brain;
And drinking largely fobers us again.
Fir'd at firft fight with what the mufe imparts,
In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts,
While, from the bounded level of our mind,
Short views we take, nor fee the lengths behind;
But, more advanc'd behold, with ftrange furprife,
New distant fcenes of endless science rife!
So pleas'd at first the tow'ring Alps we try,
Mount o'er the vales, and feem to tread the fky;
Th' eternal fnows appear already paft,
And the firft clouds and mountains feem the laft:
But, thofe attain'd, we tremble to furvey
The growing labours of the length'd way;
Th' increafing profpect tires our wand'ring eyes;
Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps or Alps raife.
Cruelty to Brutes censured. I WOULD not enter on my lift of friends,
(Though grac'd with polish'd manners and fine fenfe,
Yet wanting fenfibility,) the man
Who needlessly fets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crufh the fnail,
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that hath humanity, forewarn'd,
Will tread afide, and let the reptile live.
The creeping vermine, loathfome to the fight,
And charg'd perhaps with venom, that intrudes
A vifitor unwelcome into scenes
Sacred to neatnefs and repofe, th' alcove,
The chamber, or refectory, may die.
A neceffary act incurs no blame.
Not fo, when held within their proper bounds,.
And guiltlefs of offence, they range the air,
Or take their pastime in the spacious field:
There they are privileg'd. And he that hunts
Or harms them there, is guilty of a wrong;
Disturbs th' economy of nature's realm,
Who, when the form'd, defign'd them an abode.
The fum is this; if man's convenience, health,
Or fafety, interfere, his rights and claims
Are paramount, and muft extinguish theirs.
Elfe they are all, the meaneft things that are,
As free to live and to enjoy that life,
As God was free to form them at the firft,
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