The cloud and pillar (or by night or day)
Reviv'd his heart, and ascertain'd the way.*
His sandals fail'd not; and his robes, untorn,
Escap'd the bramble and entangling thorn.†
Heaven purified for him the' embitter'd well,
And manna from aerial regions fell.§
At length, near peaceful Pisgah|| he retir'd,
And found that rest his pilgrimage requir❜d:
Where, as from toils he silently withdrew,
Half Palestina¶ open'd on his view:
'Go, pious hermit;' groves and mountains cried;
'Enter, thou faithful servant;' Heav'n replied.
Mild as a babe reclines himself to rest,
And smiling sleeps upon the mother's breast,
Tranquil, and with a patriarch's hopes, he gave
His soul to Heaven, his body to the grave;
And with such gentleness resign'd his breath,
That 'twas a soft extinction, and not death.
Happy! who thus, by unperceiv'd decay,
Absent themselves from life, and steal away.*
Accept this verse, to make thy memory live,
Lamented shade !-'Tis all thy son can give.
Waters of Marah. Exod. xv. 23-25.
Ibid. xvi. 15 and 35.
¶ Palestina is the scripture-word for Palestine. Isaiah xiv. 29, 31. Exod. xv. 14.
** Macarius (who was born the 28th of October 1650) was dispossessed of his preferments in 1691, and remained deprived till the time of his death, which happened in February 1735; and (which is remarkable) the Bishops Kidder, Hooper, and Wynne, all contrived that Macarius should receive the little profits from his Prebend of Wells as long as he lived: a circumstance to their honour as well as his.
Better to own the debt we cannot pay,
Than with false gold thy funeral rites defray.
Vainly my muse is anxious to procure
Gifts unavailing, empty sepulture ;*
As vainly she expands her fluttering wings :
She is no swan, nor, as she dies, she sings.
He, that would brighten ancient diamonds, must
Clear and repolish them with diamond-dust;
That task is not for me: the Muses' lore
Is lost;-for Pope and Dryden are no more!
O Pope! too great to copy, or to praise !
(Whom envy sinks not, nor encomiums raise ;)
Forgive this grateful tribute of my lays.
Milton alone could Eden lost regain;
And only thou portray Messiah's reign.
O early lost! with every grace adorn'd!
By me (so Heaven ordains it) always mourn'd.
By thee the good Macarius was approv❜d :
Whom Fenton honour'd, and Philotheus† lov'd.
My first, my latest bread, I owe to thee:
Thou and thy friends, preserv'd my muse and me.
By proxy, from a generous kindred spread,
Thy Craggs's bounty fell upon my
Thy Mordaunt's kindness did my youth engage, And thy own Chesterfield protects my age.
*Hunc saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani Munere.'
+Philotheus, Bishop Ken.
Charles Earl of Peterborough, &c.
CHRIST'S DEATH AND PASSION.
'He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him.'
Σας ειμι, ΧΡΙΣΤΕ· σωσον, ως Αύλος θελίες.
GREG. NAZ. Carm. Iamb.
RESPICE DUM TRANSIS, QUIA SIS MIHI CAUSA DOLORIS.
Haste not so fast, on worldly cares employ'd,
Thy bleeding Saviour* asks a short delay :
What trifling bliss is still to be enjoy'd,
What change of folly wings thee on thy way ?
Look back a moment; pause a while,† and stay.
*Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. The way wherein thou oughtest to walk; the truth which thou desirest to obtain; and the life of happiness which thou longest to enjoy.' St. August.
+'If you labour for a time, you will afterwards enjoy an eternity of rest. Your sufferings are of a short duration, your joy will last for ever: and if your resolution wavers, and is going to de. sert you, turn your eyes towards mount Calvary, and consider what Christ suffered for you, innocent as he was. This consideration will enable you to say in the event, that your sufferings lasted only for a moment.'
For thee thy God assum'd the human frame;
For thee the guiltless pains and anguish tried;
Thy passions (sin excepted) his became :
Like thee he suffer'd, hunger'd, wept, and died.
Nor wealth nor plenty did he ever taste,
The moss his pillow, oft his couch the ground!
The poor man's bread completed his repast;
Home he had none, and quiet never found,
For fell reproach pursued, and aim'd the wound:
The wise men mock'd him, and the learned scorn'd;
The' ambitious worldling other patrons tried;
The power that judg'd him every foe suborn'd;
He wept unpitied, and unhonour'd died.
For ever mournful, but for ever dear;
O love stupendous! glorious degradation!
No death of sickness, with a common tear ;-
No soft extinction claims our sorrows here;
But anguish, shame, and agonizing passion!
The riches of the world, and worldly praise,
No monument of gratitude can prove;
Obedience only the great debt repays,
An imitative heart and undivided love!
To see the image of the' All-glorious Pow'r
Suspend his immortality, and dwell
In mortal bondage, tortur'd every hour:
A self-made prisoner in a dolesome cell,
Victim for sin, and conqueror of hell !*
* Nolo vivere sine vulnere, cum te videam vulneratum.
To know God, without knowing our misery, creates pride: to know misery, without knowing Christ, causes despondence.' St. Augustin.
Lustration for offences not his own!
The' unspotted for the' impure resign'd his breath;
No other offering could thy crimes atone :-
Then blame thy Saviour's love, but not his death.
From this one prospect draw thy sole relief,
Here learn submission, passive duties learn;
Here drink the calm oblivion. of thy grief:
Eschew each danger, every good discern,
And the true wages of thy virtue earn.
Reflect, O man, on such stupendous love,
Such sympathy divine, and tender care ;*
Beseech the Paraclete† thine heart to move,
And offer up to Heaven this silent pray'r.—,
'Great God, thy judgments are with justice crown'd,
To human crimes and errors gracious still;
Yet, though thy mercies more and more abound,
Right reason spares not fresh-existing ill ;
Nor can thy goodness counterwork thy will.
Ah, no! the gloom of sin so dreadful shows,
That horror, guilt, and death, the conscience fill.
Eternal laws our happiness oppose:
Thy nature and our lives are everlasting foes!
*They make a free-will offering to God, who, in the midst of their sufferings, preserve their gratitude and acknowledgments." Cassian.
+ God's Holy Spirit worketh in the following manner in his rational children. It instructs, moves, and admonishes: as for example. it instructs the reason, moves the will, and admonishes the memory.' St. Gregor. in Moral.
translated from the famous French ode of M. de Barreaux : 'Grand Dieu! Tes jugemens sont remplis d'équité,' &e.
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