Messiah's kingdom. A poem

Front matter

WB^^iSKiivS'".'^

BoQk-;:B ^ M -^

)83,

Book I

The saints are the subjects of Messiah's kingdom; and of that kingdom it is their dnty to publish to the world the blessings and the glories, to the end that, when they are made known, the nations may be thereby induced to submit their hearts to so gracious a sceptre, and the dominion of Christ become as universal in its extent, as it is everlasting in its duration. Bishop Home.

ARGUMENT.

Original beauty, perfection, and happiness of the earth, and its inhabitants. — Change eftected by the fall. — Disorder and enmity introduced into creation. — Man cut off from communion with God, and the celestial world. — Condemned, on account of his transgression, to labour, sorrow, and death. — Under these affecting circumstances, is cheered by the promise of a Deliverer. — This first promise, a mysterious intimation of the design of Jehovah, to save the world by a Divine incarnate Redeemer, — Exultation of Satan, Sin, and Death, over the successful issue of diabolic artifice. — Metaj)hor of the oak. — Invocation to celestial spirits. — Unsearchable depths of redeeming love. — Progress of sin. — Cain and Abel. — Apostrophe to Death. — The empire of sin still more extended. — Noah. — Terrors of the flood. — Gratitude and devotion of the patriarchal family on their deliverance, — Renewal of Jehovah's covenant. — The rainbow. — Early reappearance of depravity after the flood. — Idolatry. — Truths of priiTditive revelation taught by Noah, — Confusion of tongues. — Dispersion of the human family. — Assyiia. — Egypt. — Selection and preparation of instruments, the work of Divine wisdom. — Call of Abraham. — His faith and obedience. — Sacrifice of Isaac, ar expressive type of the suffering Redeemer.

MESSIAH'S KINGDOM.

BOOK L

The covenant of gracu lialh subsisted under vanoud forms of extetnaJ administration over since the fall, and shall cuntinuti in full force to tlie consummation of all things. Dr. Owen.

Bright was that moin, and sv/eet those sacred lay^,, When first-born seraphs hymn'd Jehovah's praise j When, rising from the dark abyss of night, In all the charms of new-created light, This globe first floated on the' ethereal way, Stxblime in beauty, as in pleasure gay, Favonian breezes fann'd the verdant woods, Arjd gales ambrosial curl'd the rippling flood;i= The lord of light, with cheering ray benign, Bless'd the meek flower, and bade the vintage &hme. In genial dews, soft, humid vapours fell, Burst the full seed, or made the blossom swell. Earth's fruitful bosom teem'd with life and joy - For none had learnt to injure or destroy.

Nature! what beauties then adorn'd thy face? How didst tpiou smile in majesty and grace ! Yet, not thy sun, though in his golden pride He pour'd forth floods of light and glory wide j Not thy green earth, refresh'd with softening showers, Thy horn of plenty, or thy crown of flowers j Thy countless tribes with varied life endued^, All happy, and all exquisitely good ; Not all thy sweetest, richest treasures fair, Could with immortal man, their sovereign loid, compare- Priest of creation, which with loud acclaim S weird one vast anthem to Jehovah'y numcj

He, bright in pristine dignity ajjpear'd,

Belov'd of God, by angel hosts reveredo

His ample brow celestial wisdom crown'd ^

Light filPd his eye ; the mystic spell of sound

Hung on the music of his speech ; his soul,

Sublimely soaring, own'd but one control i

Acknowledged ruler of terresti-ial things ;

Himself but subject to the King of kings.

In spirit pure as angels throned in light,

For him fair seraphs left their mansions bright.

With them he walk'd in converse kind and sweet j

With them he worshipp'd at Jehovah's feet :

Who, mildly bending from his awful throne,

In man's perfection saw and loved his own.

Immortal then, Death's dark and formless shade

Murmur'd no menace to his soul dismay'd.

'Midst Eden's roses bloom'd perpetual spring,

In life's pure fount Health dipp'd her halcyon wing ;

And fast beside that crystal current grew 1

The living tree, sustain'd by heavenly dew, >

Which bore perennial fruit, and blossoms ever new. j

From what height fallen, since that tremendous day When heaven's apostate angel urged his way To those sweet bowers of bliss ! when, swollen with pride, Jehovah's name the serpent's tongue belied ; With glozing lies man's treacherous heart betray'd ; The shrine of Deity in ruins laid ; Darken'd the sun in the blue vault above ; To desert wastes transform'd the verdant grove ; Corrosive poisons spread through nature's frame. And fill'd the new-form'd earth with guilt and shame !

Dark on that hour loud hurtling tempests frown'd ; The curse, deep driving, scathed the stricken ground ; A vengeful arm impelled its secret force ; A withering world in throes proclaim'd its course. And still that curse earth's strong foundations feel ; Her rude rocks tremble, and her mountains reel. Now, angry elements in storms contend. Beneath the tempest crashing forests bend, In billowy foam wild surging waters rise. And livid fires flash fearful from the skies : From central gulfs sulphuric torrents pour, -'Midst warring meteors, deep-mouth'd thunders roar.

BOOK I. 21

With torrid heats the fierce equator glows : The poles move languid midst perpetual snows. Here sterile Winter Nature's hand restrains : There poisons throb through her distended veins.

Subject to bondage, lo! creation groans ; Earth's hostile tribes man's sinful rule disowns. The early, kindly, heaven-form'd compact broke, Now, fierce, they spurn, or bleed beneath his yoke • The courser's stately neck Oppression bends, _ His tyrant limbs the prowling tiger rends : All feel the curse, — from where, o'er scorching plains, In regal pride, the Lybian lion reigns. To the light insect, borne on golden wing, To gather nectar from the flowers of spring.

All swell the sigh, and heave the general groan ,- Man stands in guilt, but not in grief, alone. O'er his sad soul what whelming sorrows pour ! Exalted, happy, innocent no more ! How is his diadem of glory spoil'd ! His lucid robe of heavenly splendour soil'd ! No angel now in paradise appears, A willing wanderer from celestial spheres. Dark is the spot, where late, in radiance bright, The symboll'd Presence met his wondering sight. Dense gathering clouds, portentous, round him roll, Obscure his intellect, disturb his soul. Through dimming mists distorted shades appear ; Guilt, anguish, agony, remorse, and fear ; And shame, with fever'd cheek and downcast eye, Beseeching, from the covert, secrecy.

Hush ! the light rustling of the evening breeze Fans the thick foliage of those bi-anching trees I Hush ! on that breeze far other sound is heard ? 'Tis the dread summons ! 'tis Jehovah's word ! It speaks the coming Judge ! Prepare to die I To meet the wrath from which ye cannot fly ! Adam ! why of that awful voice afraid ? Why seek ye yet the covert's deepening shade ? From Him it veils not e'en thy inmost thought. " Where art thou ? What is this that thou hast wrought ?"

Confusion curtains Adam's downcast eye. And shaiBe ajid weakness prompt the mean reply.

His Maker, in his gift, reproach'd ; the tear

Of penitential anguish, deep, sincere,

Yet flow'd not from his soul ; his wandering mind

Had swerved from truth, — 'twas impotent and blind

What heart so hard that mercy cannot move ?

What breast of adamant but yields to love?

Lo, from the Judge, what mingled accents flow ?

What words of comfort temper words of wo !

The curse, tremendous doom of guilt, descends ,

Death, dire companion, sin's dark train attends :

Sorrow and labour track the thorny way ;

The stronger govern, and the weak obey.

The penalty upon the crime impress'd.

The just award, the righteous Judge attest ;

On each, retributive, his sentence falls ;

The tempter serpent ignominious crawls

A reptile o'er 'the earth, — to man, a foe ;

Man destined long his venom'd tooth to know.

But hark ! w^iat soothing, healing accents come ? Hope blossoms on the margin of the tomb. True, man the serpent's rankling tooth shall feel^ The wily foe shall lacerate his heel : But, from the victim of his glozing lies, The woman, shall a conquering Seed arise ; He shall avenge her mighty wrong, and tread Victorious on the scaly monster's head. Go, hapless parents of a fallen race, Go, gather comfort from these words of grace ^ Go, wail your foul transgression at his feet ; The tears of penitence, of hope, are sweet. The promise given, in future years fulfill'd, Its eai-nest now, its harvest then shall yield • Your Eden lost, that Conqueror shall regain, O'er every subject foe extend his reign, Ti'iumphant his mj^'sterious path pursue. Unbar the gates of death, and open heaven for you.

Go, then, sad wanderers, quit your blooming bowera For sightless thorns exchange yom* cherish'd flowers. For lo ! the Seraphim with swords of fire Haste to the guard, and caution to retire ; Yet, while from Eden's blissful groves ye turn. And the full eye can scarce its path discern j

BOOK I. 23

While on your steps the curse prolific springs, And sorrow folds you in her damp, cold wings ; While sickness, pain, and death obstruct your way, O lift your eyes to heaven ! believe, and pray ! For lo, vicarious, at yon altar lies, A victim slain in hallow'd sacrifice, Whose guiltless blood for yours a ransom streams, Mysterious type of His whose death from sin redeems.

Now, lost archangel, at thy ruin smile ! Bless the deep fraud, admire the prosperous guile ! From hell's dread haunts thy flaming legions call, Unbless'd intruders on this earthly ball ; To torture man, to swell their own offence, To urge the thunders of Omnipotence ; Thyself the phalanx of rebellion lead, Till heaven arrest thee in the daring deed ; Till thy bold front the searing lightning scathe. And vengeance hurl thee to the gulf beneath, To wail, in endless, ever-heightening pain, Thy proud defiance of Jehovah's reign. Sin ! o'er thy triumphs cast thy gloating eyes ; And, if in thy fell bosom joy can rise. Exult that thou hast fill'd the world with wo, Dishonour'd heaven, laid human glory low, Ignited earth from hell's infernal fire. And piled the brands for nature's funeral pyre. And thou, dread Death, whose pale and ghastly form. Rose on the blackness of this awful storm. While with the serpent crown thou bind'st thy brow, And thy barb'd sceptre lays its myriads low, Rejoice, that o'er the human form divine, Jehovah's workmanship, Jehovah's shrine, Corruption shall its gloomy reign extend, Till nature, time, and thou, in ruin end.

Pride of the forest, so the lofty oak, Falls riven by the lurid lightning's stroke. Deep pierced its roots, high rose its towering iiead, In broad expanse its leafy honours spread ; Blithe on its boughs sweet choristers of spring, Caroll'd soft notes, and plumed the downy wing ; While beasts at noon, in tranquil slumbers laid, Sought the cool shelter of its grateful shade.

1*

Dark frowns the storm : low from the gathering cloud. Wild whirlwinds rush, in murmurs hoai*se and loud^ Swift flies the shaft, the rolling thunder sounds ; Back from the shivering tree, the stroke rebounds ; Its sturdy trunk the flaming bolt receives ; As spoils of autumn, fly the blasted leaves; The tempest's rage its branching beauty rends ; Wrench'dfrom its root, the ponderous bulk descends; Earth trembles as it falls ! Its prostrate lengthy The wreck of beauty, majesty, and strength, Lies on the plain, memorial of His power Who ruled the terrors of that stormy hour.

Celestial spirits! ye whose harps of gold

Once tuned in paradise,

In sacred symphonies.

Did there the hallow'd joys of heaven unfold :

Whether at early dawn,

From fair enamell'd lawn, Your light, ethereal footsteps brush'd the dews ■

Or, from yon brighter sphere,

Your plumes, expanded here, Enrich'd the glowing morn with lovelier hues , Or, whether from your robes of fleecy light, Ye scattered radiance that dispell'd the night '

Whether in lofty strains, ye hail'd the sun, From ocean's emerald bed Raising his glorious head ;

Or, when his midway course through heaven was run. In Eden's shaded bowers, Perfumed with fragrant flowers.

Gave soft iEolian music to the breeze ; Or, mild at falling eve, When glittering moonbeams give

Their pure, pale lustre to the trembling trees,

Ye breathed your holiest melodies of love,

Accordant with adoring choirs above.

BOOK I. , * 25

Ye wlio conversed with man, and linger'd still,

Enaraour'd to attend

Your new delightful friend, His hallow'd mind with heavenly themes to fill,

How deeply would ye grieve,

And to your soft harps give Sad sorrow's tones, his piteous fall to see !

O ye would change your measure

Of sweet and solemn pleasure, To deep aud plaintive moans for man's aposiasy y ,

And quit the groves of paradise

To seek again your native skies ; Unmeet associate now for spirits bright, He shrinks abash'd from your unsullied light.

Yet shall ye tunc once more your harps of gold„

And oft in future years,

From yonder radiant spheres Descend, communion sweet with earth to hold ■

A loftier theme awaits your praise,

A deeper mystery shall raise Your genei'ous sympathies with man,—

With man, redeem'd, restored ;

For lo, the' eternal Woi'd Unfolds salvation's wondrous plan : Jehovah to the mighty rescue comes !

From the sad universe

He bids the shades disperse ; The dire destroyer to destruction dooms, And Eden's blasted groves with heavenly light relum8"3.

As breaks the moonbeam through the parting storm, So, mildly rising, Mercy's radiant form Burst on the darkness of this dreadful night, And cheer'd its gloom by rays of heavenly light, Hope, smiling cherub, in her train appear'd ; Faith at her word the hallow'd altar rear'd ; And Love, on downy wing descending, came To kindle there devotion's sacred flamco

But O, what spirit, eagle-plumed, may soar Into that viewless height, that depth explore, Whence sprang the counsels of redeeming grace, Heaven's large philanthropy to Adam's race ! No finite mind that depth, that height, may gain. Alike by saint or seraph urged in vain. Salvation's source Jehovah only knows. Himself the fountain whence its fulness flows ; Sphered in eternity, he dwells alone. Omniscient, yet unsearchable, unknown. To none the secret of his name he tells. All with himself the mighty mystery dwells: Yet, while the' unfathom'd spring no eye explores. Earth drinks the living stream, and wondering heaven adores.

But thus on man while pitying Mercy smiled. And soothing Hope the anxious heart beguiled. While pale Repentance pour'd the contrite tear, And Faith subdued the boding sounds of fear, From sin's dire seeds a baleful harvest rose, Whose poisonous growth o'erspread the world with woes. Not half so noxious blossoms to the sight The deadly nightshade, or fell aconite, Or upas, amid Java's humid shades. Whose fatal juice life's crimson stream invades. Whose rude, rough bark the liquid death distils. Whose leaves drop venom, and whose vapour kills, Corrodes the channels of the vital flood, And at its source congeals the purple blood. Till life, fast ebbing, from its fount retires,- [pires.

And, writhed with frenzied rage, the fainting wretch ex- Weep, fallen parents of a fallen race ! But O, what tears can sin's deep stain efface? Weep o'er the darken'd mind, the' unhallow'd soul, The lawless will, that hates and spurns control, The' obdurate conscience, the perverse desire, The passions kindling with infernal fire ! Weep for domestic strifes, fraternal hate, For envy, jealousy, revenge, debate, For fraud, for guile, for malice, for despair. For murder ! — for lo ! furious Cain is there ! In whose dark bosom ruthless anger burns, Whose heart ft-om man, from God, indignant turns.

BOOK I, 27

Mark that distorted brow ! See, stern of sou), Dread thoughts of vengeance in his eyeballs rolL He seeks a brother's blood ! He, form'd to share, A brother's blessings, and a brother's care. Amidst the jars of elemental strife, The sighs of suffering, and the storms of life, His destined friend, his counsellor, and guide, Companion, placed by nature at his side, That each to other, kindly join'd, might prove His manhood's treasure, as his childhood's love. Now wrench'd these early, tender, heaven-born tiea, In his fell thought one only purpose lies. Impious and cruel, lo, his murderous hand Deals the dread blow of death. The' afiriglited land From its stain'd bosom, deep, returns the groan, And cries for vengeance to the' eternal throne. As views the anxious husbandman, aghast. His purpling vintage, by the lightning's blast, Wither'd, and scathed, and sear'd: As on the fray Of tempest clouds, that dim his wandering way, The' affrighted traveller looks : Or mournful swain. Who sees the mountain torrent pour amain, Down his sweet native vale r So on the dead Gazed the first parents : 'twas the hour of dread ! Recoiling nature shudder'd at the sight, And backward shrunk instinctive. On that night A deeper gloom the mourning heavens array'd, And spectred Abel glanced athwart the shade: Then hung the curse, like meteor clouds around ; Then dimly vision'd, scaring Vengeance frown'd ; Then sunk the heart beneath domestic wo, In pangs that other hearts can never know ; Then, Adam, rose to heaven thy labouring sighs ♦ Then, weeping Eve, xmuttered agonies Throbb'd through thy bursting heart ! All but Despair Of Sorrow's hapless progeny were there : But all was silence ; contrite grief impress'd Submission on the self-convicting breast ; Handmaid of Faith, calm Resignation stood, And prostrate Patience bore the scourge of God. Bleeding, and pierced, and torn, yet each confess'd •Twas meet the shaft should wound the guilty breast.

Not thus unhallow'd Cain, whose deed accurs'd, Bade drear, dim Death from earth's dark entrails burst.- Upborne to heaven, the vengeful cry of blood Enter'd, and enters still, the ear of God : Stern from his throne the searching summons came ; Cain, guilty culprit, dead to truth and shame, Indignant from requiring justice turn'd ; Pierce in his breast the flame of anger burn'd ' But man is impotent in wrath ; in vain He hurls his threats against the raging main, Hoarse thunders o'er his breast resistless roll. Confound his pride, and crush his quivering souU Uncontrite, unsubdued, constrain'd to bear The rankling vengeance ; terror and despair Pix'd in his breast their harpy fangs, and drove The murderer from the face of heaven above, From all the chai'ities of life below, To wander wide in solitary wo.

His dire disruption of those bonds to wail Which none shall guiltless break, unvisited assaii

Yet, Abel, earliest martyr to the strife Of Satan's serpent brood, thy guiltless life Fell not unhonour'd ; thee the Power Divine Attested righteous at his holy shrine ; To thee the pledge, the sacred witness gave, That sacrificial blood, through faith, shall save: Confirm'd his promise, and still points, through thee, To heaven's profoundest, highest mystery, — = Messiah, for the world a ransom given. On earth devoted, — pleading now in heaven ; Pleading for those, who, with a faith like thine, Repentant, on the consecrated shrine The bleeding victim place ; who meekly own, Nor harvest fruits, nor vintage may atone For man's deep, desperate sin ; nor seek to hide Their foul offence beneath the cloak of pride. Presumptuous, to his Majesty draw near, Unsanction'd by that blood ; nor, reverent, fear That all-consuming fire, whose scorching blaze Low in the ashes of confusion lays Each rash intruder who presumes alone To press with sandall'd foot the precincts of his lhrone=

BOOK I. 29

Death ! dark and gloomy king !

How, on thy ebon wing-, Bow didst thou sail from the dread gulf below t

What fearless spirit durst

Hell's ponderous portals burst, rhy passage from that nether world to show ?

O, thou art strange of form !

Thou ridest on the storm |

And in thy murky wings,

The whistling whirlwind sings ; While dismal groans, And piteous moans,

From thy dim shadows sound, ^nd fearful visions haunt thy solitary ground.

Yet these illusions dread.

On thy dark confines spread, Like meteors on the misty mountain's brow,—

These vanish from the sight,

As, from that stormy height, [nto thin air those spectral yapours flow.

But thou hast feajs defined.

That shake the loftiest mind ;

The interminable sea

Of vast eternity.

Breaks with rude roar On time's dark shore, Then onward sweeps

Into illimitable deeps ;

And those who launch with thee ' ' Vlust tempt with untried step that vast immensity.

Thy melancholy train.

Are Languor, Grief, and Pain ; Dr, unsuspected, thy swift arrow flies : Thy touch dissolves the frame All beauteous though it came rom its great Maker's hand ; thou break'st the tieSj Those viewless ties, that bind The imperishable mind To its companion frailj Whom thousand storms assail,

Which e'en the breeze.

That quivering trees To rustling motion scarcely wakes, Like autumn's faded spoils, to earth's cold bosom shaksss.

And, ruthless as thou art, t

Thou severest the sad heart, To other hearts by sweet attractions bound j

Though closely twined in one,

Yet thy stern work is done, in spite of weeping eyes, of souls in sorrow drDwn'd,

Thou fearest not to leave

The desolate to grieve ;

But O ! there is a bond,

Thy gloomy reign beyond ; And sacred love, In realms above,

From the fair light of day,

Thou bear'st thy trembling prey^ To the cold, gloomy caverns of the deep ;

Where, o'er thy drear domain,

Silence and darkness reign, And desolation and corruption sleep.

No cheerful sound is there,

No voice of praise or prayer.

Nor sun's meridian light,

Nor the pale fires of night, Disperse the gloom That shrouds the tomb.

Nor thither bend the steps of spring, Nor summer there alights, on blithe and roseate wing.

De»vth ! minister of heaven !

Into thy hand is given The awful scourge of justice ; and thy stroke

Resistless must descend

Till time itself shall end ; Tiicn the strong pillatii of creation broke.

BOOK I. SI

At His tremendous word, Thy captives all restored Shall at the bai' of their great Judge appear. Till that dread hour Thy tyrant power Shall Adam's sinful race subdue j Then, by a Mightier slain, thyself shalt perish too.

Has Death his triumphs ? O'er the fallen race Sweep his dark plumes, Oblivion and Disgrace? Sits he enthroned in sohtary state, Midst mouldering tombs, and temples desolate, Beneath whose ruins scaly serpents sleep, Where night birds scream, and desert monsters keep Their dreary haunts, loud howling to the moon ? Or seeks he, riding on the beam of noon, His victim, where the hum of peopled lands Rolls murmuring, as the wave o'er ocean's sands? Dwells he where rich the sculptured marble rears Its trophied pride, or spring's first flower appears On the green turf, beneath the yew tree's shade. Where rustic Labour to repose is laid ? Rules he o'er conquer'd kings of earliest age, O'er tyrants fuming on life's restless stage E'en but the by-gone hour? o'er stately Pridcj Or Vassalage, reposing by his side ? O'er beauty, wisdom, virtue, glory, wealth, The blast of sickness, or the bloom of health? Do earth's wide regions feel his iron reign ? Waves his black pennon o'er the boundless main ? Though such his might, such though his conquests be^ Uncheck'd by slave or monarch, bond or free ; Sm, thou hast larger, wider, mightier sway, And deathless realms thy direful yoke obey.

O depth profound, unpierced by mortal sights Whence issued darkness on the world of lightp From what dim shade, what elemental storm, Sprang forth, detested Sin, thy hydra foi-m? How grew thy germ of being, midst the blaze Of heaven's own beams, till, on the glorious rays

32 biessiah's kingdom.

Of many a morning star, deep darkness fell ?

Thy secrets, or thy triumphs, who shall tell ?

Death wastes exulting man's enfeebled race j

'Twas thine, archangels from their thrones to chase,

To plunge them deep in floods of sulphurous fire,

To whelm in torrents of Jehovah's ire.

Infernal pangs in deathless minds to raise.

To edge the tooth that unconsuming preys.

'Twas thine, fell sorceress, issuing baleful forth.

To blast with plagues the bright and beauteous earth ;

To pierce into the bitter springs of wo.

And bid their dark and turbid waters flow ;—

Sorrow and sickness, penury and pain,

The anxious vigil, and the labour vain,

Hope's wither'd blossoms. Falsehood's lurking snare,

The thorn deep rankling in the heart of Care,

The roar of Anarchy, the feuds of Strife,

The poisons mingled in the cup of life.

Thee Judgment follows ; — in thy treacherous course

Lie ambush'd. Misery, Despair, Remorse;

Destruction, poised awhile on vulture's wings,

Awaits thy harvest of devoted things ;

And haggard Desolation, wild, alone.

O'er thy polluted haunts, erewhile, shall raise his thronei;

Long suffering, yet by human crimes provoked Against the world Jehovah's anger smoked ; Sin had defaced his image ; man, perverse, 'i

His rule contemn'd, and in his universe, >

Seeking delusion, found delusion's curse. j

At length the slumbering sword of justice woke ; Keen was its edge, resistless fell its stroke ; Fell on man's whole offending race, and laid That world in ruins which his wisdom made ; One holy seed alone remain'd to bear The Branch of Righteousness, the promised Ileii, To bless the renovated world, and prove That sternest justice yields to mightier love.

Noah ! to thee, — of all the sinful race Alone found upright, — unto thee the grace Of favouring Heaven was granted ; and thine ear Was privileged that secret voiee to hear. Which speaks Jehovah's will : to thee he carnc^ In all the glories of his aNyfiil name.

BOOK I. 33

And bade thee for impending wrath prepare^

And bade thee that impending wrath declare.

Through rolling years of patient toil, thy hand

Laborious wrought, fulfilling Heaven's command.

Thy warning voice proclaim'd the judgment nigh.

Ere rising clouds obscured the azure sky j

Ere yet, in air, destructive tempests hung,

The patient Spirit, by thy pleading tongue.

Invited, counselPd, urged the apostate race,

To fly from death to mercy's kind embrace.

But blind Impenitence, nor eye, nor ear,

Turn'd to thy work of faith, thy words of fear.

The taunt, the smile, from the cold lip of pride,

Or bolder scoff, that fear'd not to deride

The timid baseness of a mind in dread

Of distant ills, by unseen impulse led : —

Acceptance such as this thy work received,

So was thy counsel by the world believed,

Till, wild and fierce, the reckless tempest strove,

Till vollied lightnings rent the clouds above.

Till down from heaven impetuous torrents pour'd,

And central Hoods through earth's deep caverns roar'd ]

Till, o'er the fruitful vale, the mountain's height,

The cultured plain, the garden of delight,

Floated, and foam'd, the deepening deluge wide,

And bore destruction on its awful tide.

Then, hapless man, the soil that gave thee birth Groan'd with thy weight of crime ! Dissolving earth Felt the' incumbent curse ; and thou, in vain, With trembling steps, along the liquid plain, Urgedst thy tardy, unavailing flight ! Lo ! the tall cedars on the mountain's height Bow to the raging storm ! Thy last resource Beneath the whirlwind's dire, convulsive force Falls, crashing, thundering down : the forest shakes. The rifted adamant asunder breaks. Loud bellowing waters fill the chasm beneath; Above is vengeance ! all around is death ! Nature's wild dissonance returns thy groan. Till all is silence ! Ruin reigns alone ! Above the measurpless, the formless waste, She sits, exulting 6'er a world defaced :

Around her throne the spoils of Vengeance sweep,. And Judgment heaves the billows of the deep.

But Mercy triumph'd : o'er those waters dark, Majestic rose the heaven-constructed ark, Upborne by Him, who to its bounds consign'd The scanty, single remnant of mankind ; The family his grace reserved to tell Succeeding worlds, how wrath on sinners fell ; Succeeding worlds to teach Jehovah's name, And one eternal covenant God proclaim. Upborne by Him, who bears his Church sublime O'er the dark waters of tempestuous time. With gladness only less than spirits know When haven'd safe from every storm below. The trembling I'emnant view'd the verdant earthj And pressed exulting into second birth. Their grateful hands the hallow'd altar rear'd, In mystic flame the present God appear'd ; His token of returning grace they saw, And, prostrate, welcomed with adoring awe. Heard with enraptured ears the Voice Divine, And look'd with transport on the covenant sign , While, o'er the watery meteor, dense and low. Spread the soft splendours of the beauteous bow. Signal of peace, of amity restored. Seal of His truth who spoke the cheering word :— "While earth revolves, heaven's rolling orbs sublime Shall keep the constant register of time ; Summer and winter, day and night remain. Redundant hai-vests crown the cultured plain ; The swelling floods, to ocean's depths confined, Return no more to desolate mankind ; But Truth and Love the promised grace prepare, And renovated earth the covenant blessing share, '-

Gloomy cloud, that, lowering low, Shadowest nature's lovely light,

Wide thy deepening darkness throw, Catch the sunbeam bursting bright

Gently on thy humid breast.

Bid its soften'd splendours rest.

BOOK I. 35

Wild the wind, and fierce the flood Foaming, roaring, raved, and rush'd ;

Thunders roll'd, — the voice of God : — Now the angry'storm is hush'd,