On the Refurrection.
From ev'ry Corner of th' extended Earth,
The fcatter'd Duft is call'd to fecond Birth;
The fever'd Body now unites again,
And kindred Atoms rally into Men,
The various Joints refume their ancient Seats,
And ev'ry Limb its former Task repeats.
Fragrant the Rofe is, but it fades in time;
The Violet fweet, but quickly past the Prime;
White Lillies hang their Heads, and foon decay;
And whiter Snow in Minutes melts away:
Such and fo with ring are our early Joys,
Which Time, or Sicknefs, fpeedily deftroys.
Firft to our God, we must with Rev'rence bow,
The fecond Honour to our Prince we owe;
Next to Wives, Parents, Children, fit Respect,
And to our Friends and Kindred we direct:
Then we must thofe, who groan beneath the Weight
Of Age, Difcale, or Want, commiferate.
From my Beginning, may th'Almighty Powers,
Bleffings beltow in never-ceafing Showers;
Oh! may I happy be, and always bleft!
Of ev'ry Joy, of ev'ry Wilh poffefs'd!
May Plenty diffipate all worldly Cares,
And filing Peace blets my revolving Years!
From fately Palaces we must remove,
The narrow Lodgings of a Grave to prove;
Leave the fair Train, and the light gilded Room,
To lie alone benighted in the Tomb.
God only is Immortal; Man not so :
Life, to be paid upon Demand, we owe.
Go to the Plough or Team; Go Hedge or Ditch ;, Some honeft Calling ufe, no matter which; Be Porter, Poftman, take the lab'ring Oar; Employment keeps the Bailiffs from the Door: Though thou be mean, thy frugal Industry, Depend upon it, fhall rewarded be.
Heaven is our Guard, and Innocence its Care,
Nor need the Juft the worst of Dangers fear:
It pities the defenfelefs poor Man's Grief,
And fends him, when he calls, Help and Relief:
Its Arm, the fureft Succour, and the best,
Delivers and revenges the Diftrefs'd.
Happy is he, the only happy Man,
Who out of Choice, does all the Good he can ;
Who Bufinefs loves, and others better makes,
By prudent Industry, and Pains he takes :
God's Blefling here he'll have, and Man's Efteem
And when he dies his Works will follow him.
Misfortunes Advantageous.
In all Misfortunes, this Advantage lies,
They make us humble, and they make us wife:
Let's bear it calmly, tho' a grievous Woe,
And ftill adore the Hand that gives the Blow ;
And he that can acquire fuch Virtue, gains
An ample Recompenfe for all his Pains.
On CHRIST our Life.
I am the Refurrection, faith the Lord ;
Eternal Life's the Fruit of my eternal Word;
Whoever firmly does in me believe,
The Grave fhall not confine, nor Hell receive :
Not only this; but those that will rely
On what I teach, fhall never never die.
On King GEORGE.
Long may the King Great Britain's Scepter fway,
While all his Subjects peaceably obey:
And when God's Providence hall him remove
From thefe below, to higheft Realms above;
To his own Race, may he the Crown refign,
For ever to continue in that Line.
Let facred Writings always be admir'd,
Whofe holy Penmen truly were infpir'd;
Through all fucceeding Times, both worft and beft,
They have run down, and born the strictest Tel:
A Spirit there, in ev'ry Line we see,
Of Hope, Love, Joy, and Immortality.
Let me, O God, my Labours fo employ,
That, I a Competency may enjoy;
I afk no more, than my Life's Wants fupply,
And leave their Due to others when I die;
If this thou grant (which nothing doubt I can)
None ever liv'd or dy'd a richer Man.
On the Fall of Man.
Man was by Heaven made to govern all,
But how unfit, demonftrates in his Fall;
Created pure, and with a Strength endu'd,
Of Grace divine, fufficient to have ftood;
But alienate from God, he foon became
The Child of Wrath, Pride, Misery, and Shame.
No Providence the Sceptic will allow,
Then let th' ungrateful Mortal tell me, how
His tender Infancy Protection found,
And how his Childhood was with Safety crown'd!
How through his Youth he came to manly Years,
Through many Dangers which he fees and fears!
The Good of Evils.
One Week's Extremity 'may teach us more,
Than long Profperity had done before:
Death is forgotten in our eafy State,
But Troubles mind us of our final Fate:
The doing ill, affects us not with Fears,
But fuffering ill, brings Sorrow, Woe, and Tears.
On all Occafions to declare the Truth,
Is moft Praife-worthy in a virtuous Youth:
A Fault extenuated by a Lye,
Is doubled in Reality thereby :
And he that to this Vice becomes a Slave,
In Fire and Brimftone fhall his Portion have.
Rafhnefs and Halte make all Things unfecure; All great Concernments muft Delay endure: Think on the Means, the Manner and the End, When any great Defign thou doft intend; And if uncertain thy Pretenfions be, Stay till fit Time wear out Uncertainty.
On the PARLIAMENT.
See Britain's King upon his awful Throne, Striving to make each Subject's Heart his own: By Juftice ruling, but with Mercy mixt, Supporting Worthip, as by Law 'tis fixt; While Lords and Commons all as one agree, To fettle firm his Crown and Dignity.
The happieft Man, that ever breath'd on Earth, With all the Glories of Eftaté and Birth, Had yet fome anxious Care to make him know, No Grandeur was above the reach of Woe. To be from all Things, that disquiet, free,
Is not confiftent with Humanity.
On the Almighty Power.
The lofty Concave of the vaft Expanfe
Could never be th' Effect of giddy Chance;
Thofe beauteous and amazing Globes of Light,
No Power could make, that was not infinite;
But when He fpake, each Atom of this Frame,
From the dark Womb of empty Nothing came.
Trifle not in Devotion.
Whither thou go't conceive, and to what End,
When thine own Feet the Houfe of God afcend.
There rather hear his Life-directing Rules,
Than offer up the Sacrifice of Fools.
For finful are their Gifts, who neither know
What they to God fhould give, or what they owe.
When we have once refign'd our finful Breath,
(For we can die but once) then after Death,
Th' immortal Soul immediately goes
To endless Joys, or everlasting Woes.
Wife then's the Man, who labours to fecure
His Paffage fafe, and his Reception fure.
CHRIST on the Cross.
Ye wand'ring Travellers, that pass this Way,
Stand ftill a while, thefe Agonies furvey:
And on refult of ferious Thoughts declare,
If ever Sorrows might with mine compare.
But GOD, in Mercy, has decreed this Cup,
Moft willingly therefore I drink it up..
You, whofe fond Wishes do to Heaven afpire, Who make those bleft Abodes your fole Defire; If you are wife, and hope that Blifs to gain, Ufe well your Time, live not an Hour in vain : Let not the Morrow your vain Thoughts employ, But think this Day the last you fhall enjoy.
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