Classic Poem

Ruling Pow'r! eternal Mind!
Uncreated, unconfin'd,
Who, from Nature's simple Law,
Dost her various Myriads draw;
Thou! omnipotent in all,
Equal in the Great and Small,
Where thy rising Works extend,
Wide as Space which knows no End,
From the Mote which unseen plays,
To where Suns unnumber'd blaze;
While the all-pervading Soul
Poises, moves, connects the whole:
In the Chain one Link derang'd,
In the Work one Movement chang'd,
In the Scale one Atom lost,
Worlds would sink in Chaos tost.
But secure, thy potent Hand
Executes what Prescience plan'd,
What was, is, or e'er shall be
Viewing thro' Eternity.

Could an unforeseen Event
Scenes, unknown before, present,
Thou, like Man, become more wife,
Would'st thro' Time in Knowledge rise,
Rais'd, at ev'ry future Date,
From thy still imperfect State.
Yet, in each advanc'd Degree,
Ill th' improving Deity
Would support th' Omniscient's Claim,
From Eternity the same;
Ill, Effects unthought of, tend
To insure Creation's End.

Urg'd by one unvarying Force,
Seasons tread their wonted Course;
While in Nature's stated Turn,
Winters chill, and Summers burn.
Vagrant Winds, the Compass round
Shift, and seem by Rules unbound;
Yet Thou guidest their Career,
Sure as rolls the circling Year:
Nor in wide Creation's Range,
Blindfold Chance or fickle Change
Ever enter'd: fertile Lands
Thirst for Show'rs that glut the Sands;
Nor may starving Virtue taste
What the lavish Vices waste,
All foreknown, no partial Ill
Frustrates the Creator's Will.

Ills there are, in vain deny'd
By the subtle Stoick's Pride;
Such as Nature must produce,
Purchasing superior Use:
Here would Suns benignant shine,
They must scorch beneath the Line:
Clouds that drop the kindly Show'r,
Must the wasting Torrent pour.
Nor to Earth alone confin'd,
Ills disgrace the nobler Mind,
Rank Desires, foul Passions stain:
Should resistless Force restrain,
Soon would Brute-degraded Man
Humble mourn thy alter'd Plan.

In omniscient Justice sure,
Virtue rests of Bliss secure;
Large the Portion here assign'd
To the conscious, spotless Mind,
While unmerited Distress
Points to future Happiness:
One, thus blameless doom'd to fall,
Proves Futurity to all.
Other Proofs, alas! arise:
Prosp'rous Guilt those Proofs supplies.

Tho' awhile in Nature's Scale
Virtues sink and Crimes prevail,
Yet not lost in empty Air
Vainly floats the suppliant Pray'r:
Grateful shall the Incense rise,
Wasting Fragrance to the Skies;
And eternal Bliss repay
The short suff'rings of a Day.
Let not Villains boast their Gains,
While unclos'd th' Account remains!

But would'st Thou, in Mercy shown,
Deign the righteous Cause to own;
Or from Guilt's repentant Eye
Wipe all other Sorrows dry,
Nature's Laws can never force
Mercy from her destin'd Course;
Both are thine — to stir the Wave,
Still, or turn its Rage, and save
Wretches, who thy Hand adore
Slighted or unknown before.

Thus the Kindred-Systems rang'd
Mutual act, their Laws unchang'd;
Tho' deep-veil'd thy form'd Design
Dwells in Mystery divine;
Nor can bounded Reason find
How their various Pow'rs combin'd,
All directed to one End,
Can alternate Succour lend,
While according Parts agree
In Caelestial Harmony.
Howe'er vary'd each Event,
All conform to thy Intent,
To whate'er thy ruling Pow'r
Will'd before th' appointed Hour.

Man thro' Life's inconstant Range,
Proves his Liberty by Change;
But that cogent Proof betrays
Error's inconsistent Maze.
While th' Almighty Hand fulfills
All that Sovereign Wisdom wills;
While no Power's controuling Voice,
Thwarts his self-directing Choice;
Tho' unalter'd still remains
What th' unerring Mind ordains,
Wise Omnipotence is free
In th' immutable Decree,
Ever present, never past,
Never future, first, or last.

In whate'er thou hast ordain'd,
Man ne'er sins by Force constrain'd!
Free his Choice, tho' Heav'n foresee
What that fatal Choice will be;
His, who wrapt in Horror's Gloom,
Reads th' inevitable Doom;
Or who views a Seraph's Throne,
By predestin'd Lot his own;
Or who mocks a saving God,
Spurns his Clemency and Rod:
Impious they, whose Creeds profane
Hold the Works of Virtue vain.
Error's wild Extremes are such,
When too little or too much
Men believe, alike they stray — :
Scepticks in the Noon of Day,
While Credulity's weak Eyes
See the Midnight Spectre rise.
Nor doth Miracle avail
The low Bigot's idle Tale,
How by Supplication prest
Thou hast chang'd thy high Behest;
Turn'd the Bolt thy Wrath prepares,
From the Head thy Pity spares;
Passions varying each Design,
As strong Love or Hate incline:
Vengeance, Mercy but fulfil
Thy unalter'd ceaseless Will,
Both united in one Plan,
Form'd ere Worlds or Time began;
While Presumption baffled strays
In th' inexplicable Maze.

Could sublimer Reason scan
Matter thro' its endless Plan,
From this humble Planet rise
Far as stretch the spangled Skies,
Piercing thro' all Nature's Laws,
Towards the efficient Cause;
Past thy Will should Knowledge strain,
Newton's Lights would Blaze in vain:
Whence on Matter, doom'd to rest
'Till by moving Matter prest,
Does th' imparted Impulse act?
Whence does central Force attract?
Whence in a projectile Line
Bodies would that Force decline?
While th' opposing Pow'r compounds
Orbs that move their destin'd Rounds;
These deep-search'd by human Skill,
Own no Cause beside thy Will.

All obedient to thy Reign
Works more wond'rous still remain,
Where, unknown to human Sight,
Spreads th' expanded Infinite;
While thy ruling Law controlls
The vast Universe of Souls.
Hence that Spark (whose glimm'ring Ray
Animates our senseless Clay,
Knowing all to Mankind known,
Stranger to itself alone;)
Bids the Face of Pleasure glow,
Sickens the pale Cheek of Woe,
Fires the Weak with Valour's Flame,
Numbs with Fear the Giant's Frame,
Gives our Limbs to move or rest,
By no outward Force imprest;
Bids young Vigour, bounding high,
All Attraction's Pow'r defy,
And, in Frolick's varying Round,
Motion's stated Laws confound;
Rules the Man — unconscious whence
Flows its pow'rful Influence.

Since thus destin'd to obey,
Body owns superior Sway;
To the ruling Spirit chain'd,
Union felt but ne'er explain'd;
Well might thy o'er-ruling Force
Stop the Sun's declining Course,
Bid a chosen People pass
Thro' the Sea's divided Mass:
Starting forth at thy Command
Well might Wonders prove thy Hand,
When the Crowd thy Truths receiv'd,
Saw, and what they saw believ'd.
Yet Impiety denies
Miracle and Mysteries;
Mocks the Pow'r which from his Bed
Rais'd to Life the wond'ring Dead,
Scoffs at those who dare proclaim
A Man-God in human Frame,
Join'd in Union undefin'd
To our now ennobled Kind!
In thy Word those Truths we trace,
Treasur'd for the Human Race;
Unimpair'd the Proofs shall last,
Thro' the future, as the past.

If, as impious Teachers say,
Souls are animated Clay;
If, by chemick Pow'r resin'd,
Matter, high-sublim'd to Mind,
Rich with Wisdom, Foresight, Skill,
Chuses, thinks, and moves at will;
A new Essence thus supply'd,
To the native Mass deny'd,
Total Change — such alter'd State
Who produces, must create:
In the wond'rous Work imprest
The Creator shines confest;
Still the Soul retains her Claim,
Pure and animated Flame.

Lo! the Wretch who abject thinks
Man to Brute degraded sinks,
And in mould'ring Earth's decay
Quenches the immortal Ray,
Courting visionary Fame
Pants to eternize his Name;
When no more th' unconscious Ear
Can th' applauding Paean hear,
When no more th' extinguish'd Eye
Sees the Column brave the Sky,
Sacred to a Name alone,
All that liv'd of Man unknown.
Heaven's exhaustless Bounty grants
Fit Supplies for all our Wants,
Whether feeding grosser Fires,
Or the Soul's sublime Desires;
Ev'ry Longing of the Mind,
Marks an Object thus assign'd,
In the wide-extended Scope
Of Enjoyment, Wish, or Hope,
'Tho' mistaken Man's Embrace
Catch at Shadows in his Chace:
He who thirsts to live in Praise,
Thro' a Line of endless Days,
Proves a deathless Prize prepar'd
By our mortal Sense unshar'd.

If the great Creator's Plan
Close with Life's contracted Span,
While in quick successive Birth
Myriads swarm to mix with Earth;
If to no sublimer End
Heav'nly Strength and Thought extend,
Why was favour'd Man begot,
Rising but to breathe and rot?
Why employ'd almighty Pow'r
On the Creature of an Hour?
Epicurus in his Sty,
Hence would Providence deny,
Deeming Earth unmeet to share
A Creator's Guardian Care.

Yet Almighty Pow'r he own'd
On the highest Heav'n enthron'd,
Of Infinitude possest,
In himself supremely blest.
Thus he reason'd. — " God employ'd
In Perfections self-enjoy'd,
Feels no Motive to create,
Rising from a future State:
What can finite Works present
Worthy the Omnipotent?
Can Creation to his Store
Add one Gift, not his before?
Or th' Imperfect yield Delight
To the Perfect Infinite?
Atoms, blindfold in their Dance,
Jumble into Worlds by Chance,
While remote the God-head reigns,
Heedless of our Joys and Pains. "

Wilder'd in phantastick Schemes,
So th' unaided Searcher dreams:
Reason with advent'rous Flight,
Trying Heav'n's unequal Height,
Tir'd and dizzy, from the Sky
Drops into Absürdity.

Faith arise! assert your Claim!
Open Heav'n from whence you came!
Vouch th' eternal Three who shine
One, in Attributes divine!
Say! how the Great Father's Mind
Ere Creation was, design'd
His lov'd Son's unspotted Birth,
Cloth'd in Flesh, exalting Earth;
While with interchang'd Delights,
One creates, and One unites,
Of one Object each possest,
In their mutual Blessings blest.
Say! how all was sanctify'd,
By that Spirit breathing wide,
Who erst in the Prophet's Flame
Did those mystick Truths proclaim;
And, athwart thick pagan Night,
Pour'd on Souls resistless Light.
In this System pre-ordain'd,
God's high Motives stand explain'd;
When his all-creating Hand
Gave to Man Air, Sea and Land,
Made for him, whose kindred-Claim
Boasts his Heav'n-united Frame.

Tenets with such Wonders fraught,
Far beyond the Reach of Thought,
Link'd with Laws, whose rig'rous Plan
Checks th' aspiring Pride of Man,
Stints the darling Joys of Sense,
Lost in rigid Abstinence,
Points to Paths with Thorns bespread,
Far remov'd from Pleasure's Bed,
Leading to a distant Prize,
Past the Ken of human Eyes,
Reason's Sovereign-Rule deny'd,
Senses, Passions, mortisy'd,
In a plain and simple Tale,
Ill constructed to prevail,
With no Eloquence to draw,
Nor Authority to awe,
Yet by Earth's first Pow'rs receiv'd,
And by Learning's Lights believ'd,
Reconciling what before
Mock'd the Sophist's baffled Lore,
Yet that Purpose undesign'd
'Scap'd the rustick Teachers' Mind,
Who, the subtle Schools unknown,
Knew no Doctrines but their own;
Nor in Rolls of Grecian Fame,
Read an Epicurus' Name:
These are Stamps by Heav'n imprest,
Truth's inimitable Test.

Such were they, while Guilt and Shame
Brand th' impostor-Arab's Claim:
Vengeance, Rapine, Murder, Lust,
Ill denote a heav'nly Trust,
Tho' his Followers' Ruffian-Band
Speak the Wonders of his Hand,
Boasting in their martyr'd Train
Robbers by the plunder'd slain.
Well might he by Force impose
Creeds absurd on vanquish'd Foes;
Well seduce a sensual Crowd,
Vague Concubinage allow'd;
While his Paradise invites
To eternal lewd Delights.
But rank Incest, all his own,
Flames a Jewel in his Throne.

How unlike the Man divine!
In whose Life's fair Mirror shine
All the Precepts which he taught,
Spotless pure in Deed and Thought.

Ere the Beam of saving Light
Trac'd the certain Path to Right,
Man, when unseduc'd by Art
Stifling Nature in his Heart,
Safer trusted native Sense
Than weak Learning's Insolence;
Nor, to eternize a Clod,
Labour'd to dethrone his God.

Where the poor untutor'd Hind
Awe-struck hears him in the Wind,
Sees him in the Light'ning blaze,
Feels him in the solar Rays,
And thro' splendid Nature's Stores
In Effects their Cause adores,
Spreading wide as Nations spread,
Admiration, Love and Dread;
Or where Superstition owns
Virtues giv'n to Wood and Stones,
Whether Jove, high-sculptur'd, rise
Awful Sov'reign of the Skies;
Or from monster-teeming Nile
Spring the worship'd Crocodile;
Or rough hewn with barb'rous Glare
Some tremendous Idol stare;
All evince a Pow'r imprest
Deep in Man's instinctive Breast,
Wrapt in Error. — So the eye
Traces in an Ev'ning-Sky
Well-known Forms; yet what we see
Is but cloud-born Imag'ry.

N OT more senseless Tales disgrace
The wild Faith of India's Race,
Than, obscur'd in heathen Gloom,
Sham'd the Lights of Greece and Rome,
When appall'd, the Brave and Wise
View'd Portents and Prodigies:
Did a Fowl in moping Mood,
Sick'ning shun its slighted Food;
Did a Bull ill-omen'd die,
Did a Bird sinister fly,
Earth's proud Masters trembling yield,
Ill resign'd, the unfought Field.

S ELF-BORNE thro' th' aetherial plain
Virtue led her radiant. Train,
Scorning Titles, Wealth, and Pow'r,
Native Charms her only Dow'r:
Yet, inspir'd by Glory's Flame,
Pleas'd she heard the Trump of Fame,
Bade her Votaries pursue
Where the airy Phantom flew,
Wasting in the chace of Praise
Sleepless Nights and restless Days,
'Till a baseless Pile appear'd,
By recording Muses rear'd:
There the Brave, the Good, the Sage,
Liv'd in Clio's deathless Page;
There Calliope display'd
Flow'ry Wreaths which never fade;
While Melpomene sublime
Rais'd to Heav'n the Gods of Rhime.

B Y such splendid Visions led
God-like Cato liv'd and bled;
Liv'd the first of human Race,
Dy'd in Pagan-Pride's disgrace,
Sullen shrinking in despair
From those Ills which Man should bear.

B RUTUS , high in Patriot-Blood,
Honest, gen'rous, brave and good,
Hapless, with one erring Stroke,
Rivetted his Country's Yoke,
Friendship stabb'd in Caesar slain,
O'er Philippi's fatal Plain
Soon he saw a Shadow fly,
Hov'ring in the angry Sky,
Late his Guide: — But ere He fell
Vanish'd the enchanting Spell,
Virtue's unsubstantial Frame
Sunk into an empty Name:
Still He err'd, and in his Fall
Saw blind Fortune govern all.
Such their Doom who unrestrain'd
Own no Laws for Man ordain'd,
Lost to Blessings that await
Merit in a happier State;
Nor behold in sweet Accord
Virtue's Charms and Heaven's Reward.

S OCRATES , when subtle Art
Silenc'd Instinct in his Heart,
Nor wou'd Nature's Law obey
Ill-resign'd to tyrant-Sway,
With fixt Eye and thirsty Soul
Eager view the deadly Bowl,
With firm Hand the Blessing caught,
Fame gay-smiling o'er the Draught.
Yet high rais'd by mental Pow'r,
Did that mighty Genius tow'r,
With all Nature's Treasures fraught,
By all Wisdom's Learning taught.

S UCH is Reason's strongest Ray,
Fading in the Flood of Day
Now Heav'n's saving Page hath shewn
Truths to Socrates unknown.

A LL that in fair Virtue charms,
All in social Love that warms,
All in Sympathy that glows,
Melting at another's Woes,
All that righteous Zeal should dare,
All that bids sweet Mercy spare,
All that in confided Trust
Steels the never-yielding Just,
These, confirm'd by Heav'n's Command,
On a Base eternal stand.

T HO ' on some bleak Heath alone,
In his Storm-rent Cot unknown,
The starv'd Peasant, born to toil,
Tills, unpaid, a barren Soil;
Or fall'n Greatness in the Shade
Pain and Penury invade,
Now no more the Voice of Praise
Chaunting loud the Poet's Lays;
Tho' dark Slander's venom'd Tooth
Wound the blameless Breast of Truth;
Or a keener Foe intrude,
Foul and false Ingratitude;
Yet Religion's beaming Ray,
Portion of th' eternal Day,
With Heav'n's potent Influence fraught,
Spotless Sanctity of Thought,
Patience firm with stifl'd Sigh,
Fortitude with dauntless Eye,
Innocence in Virtue strong,
Meek Forgiveness pard'ning Wrong,
Charity's parental Tears,
Faith that warms, and Hope that cheers,
Can sweet Harmony inspire,
Sweeter than the Poet's Lyre.

I F from the Accord of Things
Natural Religion springs,
With sufficient Force to bind
The strict Duties of our Kind,
While in Reason's moral Light
Wrong stands mark'd distinct from Right,
Whence, the Pride of Stoick Schools,
Epictetus drew his Rules;
Be this boastful Claim allow'd!
What avails it to the Crowd?
What to them, the unknown Use
Of Philosophy abstruse?
Hard their Doom, if millions stray
While a Sophist finds his Way.

O R , if in the humble Shade
Instinct prompting lends its Aid,
Influencing the various Will,
Some to Good, and some to Ill,
Diff'ring as the human Frame
Differs, in no Two the same;
If all Virtue's understood,
The mere Child of balmy Blood;
If black Humours unsupprest
Taint with Vice the gloomy Breast;
If th' impelling Flood commands
Unrestrain'd fell Rapine's Hands;
Wrong'd they fall, by Laws unjust,
Who transgress because they must.
If the milder Stream supplies
Mercy's Beam in melting Eyes;
If their purer Influence warms,
Lighting all the inward Charms;
Sure, in partial Pow'r's Regard,
Virtue finds undue Reward.

L AWS , unequal to prevent,
Know no Means but Chastisement,
And howe'er with Wisdom fraught,
Claim no Empire over Thought;
While the unreach'd Heart remains
Foul with ulcerated Stains,
Where the meditated Sin
Mocks all Pow'r, and lurks within,
'Till from that polluted Source
Crimes wide spread their wasteful Course.

I NSTINCT , Reason, Law, for Man
Trac'd but an imperfect Plan,
'Till th' inspiring Word supply'd
What to Nature was deny'd;
Truths alike to all explain'd,
In that Code for all ordain'd,
Form'd alike to teach and bind
King, Philosopher, and Hind.

T HUS the Sov'reign's Will exprest
Frames his Law to rule the Breast;
While his all-pervading Eyes
See the Crime that brooding lies,
See the Murd'rer's dark Intent,
Doom'd to threat'ned Punishment,
Deeply stain'd with moral Guilt,
Tho' Man's Blood escap'd unspilt.

W HILE the Spirit all divine
Breathes in ev'ry sacred Line,
Shall vain Man with subtil Wit
Parts reject, and Parts admit?
Stating Proofs compar'd Degrees
With Improbabilities;
While in his suspended Scale
Reason dictates which prevail.

Y ET the Sage in hungry Mood,
Trusts not Reason for his Food;
Nor the Sense unsatisfy'd,
Waits till chemick Art hath try'd
What with most salubrious Juice
Suits the wasting Body's Use;
Else, in gnawing Hunger's Pain,
Long the Sage would toil in vain.
Thus our grosser Wants supply'd,
Taste an ever ready Guide,
Shall what feeds the nobler Part,
Cheers and purifies the Heart,
Wait for tardy Reason's Aid,
Straying thro' a dubious Shade?
While Enquiry hangs perplext
O'er the Comment-blotted Text.
In one clear and perfect Plan,
All Heav'n's Rules to govern Man,
On plain Nature's Level lie,
Obvious to weak Reason's Eye.
Yet to these, Conceits acute
Meanings never meant impute.

M YSTERY , before conceal'd,
Is Heav'n's Knowledge now reveal'd;
While Religion, soaring high,
Spreads the Secrets of the Sky.
Vainly would Conception strain
Ev'ry Link of Reason's Chain,
Far unequal to the Height
Of that Knowledge Infinite;
But strong Faith compels Assent,
As to Truths self-evident.

R EASON 's Weakness thus supply'd,
Fearless she pursues her Guide,
Certain that the Wife and Good ,
(Prov'd in all Things understood)
Ne'er with impious Tales deceiv'd
Those who trusted and believ'd.

W HAT tho' Sophistry exert
All her Talents to subvert?
Tho' th' Enthusiast, Frenzy-fir'd,
Boast a Flame by G OD inspir'd?
Faith and Reason's Claim and Use,
Rise unreach'd by their Abuse,

S AY , learn'd Deist! whose Assent
Grants a Pow'r omnipotent,
One uncomprehended Cause.
Acting by his self-form'd Laws,
Why thy varying Creed rejects
Incomprehensible Effects?
And would Reason's Line apply
To unfathom'd Mystery?
Does Creation stand explain'd
To thy finite Mind wide-strain'd?
While the Earth and Sea and Skies
From Non-entity arise,
Know'st thou thro' all Nature's List
How one Atom doth exist?
Less absurd thy Faith would end
Where Men cease to comprehend,
Tho' the Universe unite
To proclaim the Infinite.

G RACIOUS Pow'r! to Thee we owe
All that Bounty can bestow;
We, the Objects of thy Care,
Live in Thee, and move and are
Yet superior Thanks are due,
While the promis'd Bliss we view
In thy holy Word reveal'd,
When thy Blood the Compact seal'd.
Shall the Atheist, self-debar'd
From th' ineffable Reward?
Shall the Deist's Tribe profane?
Shall the Scorner's ribbald Train?
Infidelity far spread,
Raise the supercilious Head?
And no Bard, unaw'd, rehearse
Heav'n-taught Truths, in grateful Verse,
Rescuing from the impious Jest
Those who dare these Truths attest.

F IRST of those, bless'd Monarch, hail!
Faith triumphant shall prevail,
While Religion on thy Throne
Sits, and marks thee for her own.
Her's thou art by ev'ry Claim:
In chaste Virtue's sacred Name,
In those Charities that blend
Sov'reign, Father, Husband, Friend.
Gratitude that thanks and prays,
Zeal that worships and obeys,
Stamp thee her's, her Hope and Aid
When deserted and betray'd.

F ROM the Atheist blindly bold,
From Believers numb and cold,
Those who saving Truths reject,
Those who own them but neglect,
From the Reas'ner's Pride absurd
Spurning Heav'n's attested Word,
From the wild Enthusiast's Rant,
From the Hypocrite's false Cant,
From dark Superstition's Gloom,
From fell Persecution's Doom,
Piety compell'd to fly,
Finds thy Breast her Sanctuary.
Justice, Clemency, combin'd,
Spirit, resolute and kind,
Pleas'd to lead with gentle Hand,
Firm wild Faction to withstand,
Looks benignant, which impart,
Feelings of a spotless Heart,
All the Blessings these dispense,
Speak the Heav'n-sent Influence;
While staid Freedom's sober Train
Own a Monarch's legal Reign,
Viewing with indignant Eye
Licence leading Anarchy:
Nor shall delegated Sway
Stint thy intercepted Ray,
Drawing to a narrow Line
Bounty meant on all to shine.