Past indiscretion is a venial crime;
And if the youth, unmellow'd yet by time,
Bore on his branch, luxuriant then and rude,
Fruits of a blighted size, austere and crude,
Maturer years shall happier stores produce,
And meliorate the well-concocted juice.
Then, conscious of her meritorious zeal,
To Justice she may make her bold appeal,
And leave to Mercy, with a tranquil mind,
The worthless and unfruitful of mankind.
Hear then how Mercy, slighted and defied,
Retorts the affront against the crown of Pride.
Perish the virtue, as it ought, abhorr'd,
And the fool with it, who insults his Lord!
The atonement a Redeemer's love has wrought
Is not for you the righteous need it not.
Seest thou yon harlot, wooing all she meets,
The worn-out nuisance of the public streets,
Herself from morn to night, from night to morn,
Her own abhorrence, and as much your scorn?
The gracious shower, unlimited and free,
Shall fall on her, when Heaven denies it thee.
Of all that wisdom dictates, this the drift—
That man is dead in sin, and life a gift.

Is virtue, then, unless of Christian growth,
Mere fallacy, or foolishness, or both?
Ten thousand sages lost in endless woe,
For ignorance of what they could not know ?—
That speech betrays at once a bigot's tongue;
Charge not a God with such outrageous wrong
Truly, not I-the partial light men have,
My creed persuades me, well employ'd, may save;
While he that scorns the noonday beam, perverse,
Shall find the blessing, unimproved, a curse.

!

491

500

510

520

Let heathen worthies, whose exalted mind
Left sensuality and dross behind,
Possess for me their undisputed lot,

And take unenvied the reward they sought;
But still in virtue of a Saviour's plea,
Not blind by choice, but destined not to see.
Their fortitude and wisdom were a flame
Celestial, though they knew not whence it came;
Derived from the same source of light and grace
That guides the Christian in his swifter race;
Their judge was Conscience, and her rule their law;
That rule, pursued with reverence and with awe,
Led them, however faltering, faint, and slow,
From what they knew to what they wish'd to know :
But let not him that shares a brighter day
Traduce the splendour of a noontide ray,
Prefer the twilight of a darker time,
And deem his base stupidity no crime;

The wretch who slights the bounty of the skies,
And sinks, while favour'd with the means to rise,
Shall find them rated at their full amount,

The good he scorn'd all carried to account.
Marshalling all his terrors as he came,
Thunder, and earthquake, and devouring flame,
From Sinai's top Jehovah gave the law-
Life for obedience, death for every flaw.
When the great Sovereign would his will express,
He gives a perfect rule; what can He less?
And guards it with a sanction as severe
As vengeance can inflict, or sinners fear:
Else his own glorious rights he would disclaim,
And man might safely trifle with his name.
He bids him glow with unremitting love
To all on earth, and to himself above;

525

530

540

550

Condemns the injurious deed, the slanderous tongue, 559
The thought that meditates a brother's wrong:
Brings not alone the more conspicuous part,
His conduct, to the test, but tries his heart.

Hark! universal Nature shook and groan'd,
'Twas the last trumpet-see the Judge enthroned!
Rouse all your courage at your utmost need,
Now summon every virtue, stand and plead.
What! silent? Is your boasting heard no more?
That self-renouncing wisdom, learn'd before,
Had shed immortal glories on your brow,
That all your virtues cannot purchase now.

All joy to the believer! He can speak—
Trembling yet happy, confident yet meek.—

"Since the dear hour that brought me to thy foot, And cut up all my follies by the root,

I never trusted in an arm but thine,
Nor hoped, but in thy righteousness divine :
My prayers and alms, imperfect and defiled,
Were but the feeble efforts of a child;
Howe'er perform'd, it was their brightest part,
That they proceeded from a grateful heart :
Cleansed in thine own all-purifying blood,
Forgive their evil, and accept their good;
I cast them at thy feet-my only plea
Is what it was, dependence upon Thee;
While struggling in the vale of tears below,
That never fail'd, nor shall it fail me now."
Angelic gratulations rend the skies,
Pride falls unpitied, never more to rise,
Humility is crown'd, and Faith receives the prize.

570

580

Why should the Muse weep for England? her outward prosperity great, 1— Sinful condition of Israel, when the prophet wept for her, 33—His warnings despised, 69-The captivity, 73-When nations are to perish, the decay commences in the church, 95-State of the Jewish church and people, when Messiah came, 123-The unequalled privileges of the Jews, 161-Their day of grace abused, 213-Their fall and dispersion, 225-Warning and lesson from their history, especially to Britain, 241-Her sins and dangers, 272-Untoward public events traced to an adverse Providence, 310-Call to the nation to self-judgment, 340-Her unsanctified pride and ambition, 346-Her conduct to India, 364-Abuse of the sacrament, and false swearing, 376-Long deferred and hypocritical fasts, 390-Character of the priesthood, 438-Of the people, 450-Ancient history and origin of the nation, 466-Benefits of the Roman conquest, 474-Introduction of the gospel, 500-Darkened by Popish tyranny, 508-Degraded and enslaved condition of the people, 526-Subsequent blessings of Providence, cause of gratitude and love to Him, 562-Duty to serve him and secure his favour, 644 -Under his guardianship, all dangers may be defied, 694—The poet believes that his expostulation is in vain, 718.

WHY weeps the Muse for England? What appears
In England's case to move the Muse to tears?
From side to side of her delightful isle,

Is she not clothed with a perpetual smile?
Can Nature add a charm, or Art confer
A new-found luxury not seen in her?
Where under heaven is pleasure more pursued,
Or where does cold reflection less intrude?
Her fields a rich expanse of wavy corn
Pour'd out from Plenty's overflowing horn ;
Ambrosial gardens, in which art supplies
The fervour and the force of Indian skies;

10

Her peaceful shores, where busy Commerce waits
To pour his golden tide through all her gates ;
Whom fiery suns, that scorch the russet spice
Of eastern groves, and oceans floor'd with ice,
Forbid in vain to push his daring way
To darker climes, or climes of brighter day;
Whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll,
From the World's girdle to the frozen pole;
The chariots bounding in her wheel-worn streets,
Her vaults below, where every vintage meets;
Her theatres, her revels, and her sports,
The scenes to which not youth alone resorts,
But age, in spite of weakness and of pain,

Still haunts, in hope to dream of youth again ;-
All speak her happy let the Muse look round
From East to West, no sorrow can be found,
Or only what, in cottages confined,

Sighs unregarded to the passing wind.

Then wherefore weep for England? What appears
In England's case to move the Muse to tears?
The prophet wept for Israel; wish'd his eyes
Were fountains fed with infinite supplies;

For Israel dealt in robbery and wrong;

There were the scorner's and the slanderer's tongue;
Oaths, used as playthings or convenient tools,
As interest biass'd knaves, or fashion fools;
Adultery, neighing at his neighbour's door;
Oppression labouring hard to grind the poor;
The partial balance and deceitful weight;
The treacherous smile, a mask for secret hate;
Hypocrisy, formality in prayer,

And the dull service of the lip were there.
Her women, insolent and self-caress'd,

By Vanity's unwearied finger dress'd,