Though still communicating, ever full.
Thou infinite! O! when I think on thee,
The great idea swells my little soul!
Ye angel-bands! ye ministers of light!
Ye who drink deep at the celestial spring,
Inhaling wisdom as we breathe the air!
Say, can your most enlarg'd capacities
Take in his vast idea?-
Can you comprehend th' incomprehensible,
And tell us what it is to be a God?
No': that is more than finite nature can.
To us his nature is thus far reveal'd;
We know none ever trusted him in vain.
Then keep me, Lord, be thou my sure defence,
Secure me in the hollow of thy hand,
And make me not an outcast from thy love;
For JESUS' sake,-He who on Calv'ry bled,
A spotless victim altogether pure,
The great atoning sacrifice for sin.
And did he bleed? O! what transcendant love!
What matchless goodness! Did the Prince of
Peace,
The king of glory, He who form'd us first
In happy state of innocence and bliss,
Become the victim of our hapless fall,
And die, to give his ruin'd creatures life!
O! could the muses touch the highest string,
And to thy praise in lofty numbers sing;
If I could catch the glowing seraph's fire,
And more than mortal eloquence acquire,
Still would thy goodness far transcend my praise:
But thou wilt not disdain the feeble lays,
The weak effusions of that spark of love,
Which thou hast kindled, which thou canst im-
O! blow the smoaking flax into a flame,
Aspiring to the source from whence it came !
What can the muse a richer theme afford
Than the mysterious person of our Lord?
But let her here with reverence enquire,
And dread approaching with unhallow'd fire
Him that doth in his double name comprise
Both the true Altar and the Sacrifice.
As God he could not suffer loss or pains,
Yet God to wear the human nature deigns :
And in such intimate relation stood,
As gives infinite value to his blood.
The influence of thy spirit, Lord, impart ;-
Raise my conceptions, and enlarge my heart:
Light, heat, and strength unto my soul afford,
From the exhaustless treasures of thy word.
A subject so extensive and sublime
Calls our attention to the birth of time;
Before the planetary worlds were known,
Or Angels bow'd before the eternal throne;
He who is in and of himself complete,
The glorious point where all perfections meet;
Who, from a past eternity, has known.
Unbounded being in himself alone;
In whose all comprehensive mind the plan
Of systems and their habitants began:.
At his command, omnipotent and wise,
Unnumber'd worlds in beauteous order rise:
Systems in systems round their centre roll:
He builds, preserves, and animates the whole.
From him all thinking beings take their rise,
However, potent, bountiful, or wise:
From him at first we came, to him we go;
From him our lives and all our comforts flow:
No vail from his omniscience can conceal:
He knows whate'er we speak, or act, or feel:
'Tis he who is and was, and is to come;
Of all perfection the Eternal Sum:
The glorious founder of salvation's plan,
Its great accomplisher as God and man.
O! I am lost! can I this theme explore!
I cannot comprehend, but must adore!
How vast the treasure of that golden mine,
Where lies all riches human and divine!
Our blessed Lord in dignity excels;
In him "the fulness of the Godhead dwells."
The highest worship he may justly claim,
Who wears the everlasting Father's name;
In essence and prerogative the same.
As God, he shines not with reflected rays,
His human nature sheds abroad the blaze
Of his divinity; thus God is known;
In Chirst the brightness of his glory shown.
Through this bless'd medium, life and truth are giv❜n;
This is the way, the certain way to heav'n.
Alas! there's no perfection here below;
E'en virtues in excess to vices grow.
No human merit paves the way to heaven;
The best of men have much to be forgiven.
But he was spar'd his error to deplore;
He own'd his folly, what could man do more?
Yet with one failing in so great a mind,
Alas! how many evils are combin❜d!
His talents were so various and so great,
His death's a serious evil to the state.
Political debate my muse disclaims,
I know no party, nor no party names;
What's right or wrong I don't pretend to tell,
But from my heart I wish my country well:
Yet this I know, a spirit so diffuse,
So rais'd 'bove selfishness or partial views,
A strong capacious scrutinizing mind,
With strict integrity of heart combin'd,
Must be a jewel worthy more renown
Than that which dropp'd from Scotia's fated crown.
Ah! fatal moment, inauspicious day,
When such a precious life was thrown away!
In his profession too, surpass'd by none,
His talents and his virtues jointly shone.
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