Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta docere.

DIM as the borrow'd beams of moon and stars

To lonely, weary, wand'ring, travellers,
Is reason to the soul: and as on high

Those rolling fires discover but the sky,
Not light us here; so reason's glimm'ring ray s
Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day.

And as those nightly tapers disappear,

When day's bright lord ascends our hemisphere;

}

10

15

So pale grows Reason at Religion's sight;
So dies, and so dissolves in supernat'ral light.
Some few, whose lamp shone brighter, have been led
From cause to cause, to Nature's secret head,
And found that one first principle must be;
But what, or who, that Universal He,
Whether some soul encompassing this ball
Unmade, unmov'd, yet making, moving all,
Or various atoms' interfering dance
Leapt into form, the noble work of Chance;
Or this great All was from eternity,
Not e'en the Stagirite himself could see;
And Epicurus guess'd as well as he.

20

}

As blindly grop'd they for a future state;
As rashly judg'd of Providence and Fate :
But least of all could their endeavours find
What most concern'd the good of human kind;
For happiness was never to be found,
But vanish'd from 'em like inchanted ground.
One thought content the good to be enjoy'd;

This every little accident destroy'd:
The wiser madmen did for virtue toil,

A thorny, or at least a barren soil :

In pleasure some their glutton souls would steep,
But found their line too short, the well too deep, deep,
And leaky vessels which no bliss could keep. 35
Thus anxious thoughts in endless circles roll,
Without a centre where to fix the soul:

25

30

In this wild maze their vain endeavours end:
How can the less the greater comprehend?

Or finite reason reach infinity?

40

For what could fathom God were more than He.

The Deist thinks he stands en firmer ground;
Cries, Εύρηκα; the mighty secret's found:
God is that spring of good; supreme, and best;
We made to serve, and in that service blest.
If so, some rules of worship must be giv'n,
Distributed alike to all by Heav'n;
Else God were partial, and to some deny'd
The means his justice should for all provide.

45

This general worship is to praise and pray;
One part to borrow blessings, one to pay:
And when frail nature slides into offence,

50

The sacrifice for crimes is penitence.
Yet since th' effects of Providence, we find,
Are variously dispens'd to human kind;
That vice triumphs, and virtue suffers here,
(A brand that sov'reign Justice cannot bear)
Our reason prompts us to a future state,
The last appeal from Fortune and from Fate,
Where God's all-righteous ways will be declar'd, 60
The bad meet punishment, the good reward.

55

65

Thus man, by his own strength, to heav'n would And would not be oblig'd to God for more. (soar, Vain, wretched creature, how art thou misled, To think thy wit these god-like notions bred ! These truths are not the product of thy mind, But dropt from heav'n, and of a nobler kind. Reveal'd religion first inform'd thy sight, And Reason saw not till Faith sprung the light. Hence all thy nat'ral worship takes the source; 'Tis revelation what thou think'st discourse: Else how com'st thou to see these truths so clear, Which so obscure to Heathens did appear ? Not Plato these, nor Aristotle found, Nor he whose wisdom oracles renown'd. Hast thou a wit so deep, or so sublime, Or canst thou lower dive, or higher climb ?

70

75

Canst thou by reason more of Godhead know

Than Plutarch, Seneca, or Cicero?

Those giant wits, in happier ages born,

80

When arms and arts did Greece and Rome adorn,

Knew no such system; no such piles could raise
Of nat'ral worship, built on pray'r and praise,

To one sole God:

Nor did remorse, to expiate sin, prescribe,
But slew their fellow-creatures for a bribe:

85

The guiltless victim groan'd for their offence,
And cruelty and blood was penitence.

If sheep and oxen could atone for men,
Ah! at how cheap a rate the rich might sin!
And great oppressors might Heav'n's wrath beguile,

90

By off'ring his own creatures for a spoil!

Dar'st thou, poor worm, offend Infinity? And must the terms of peace be giv'n by thee?

Then thou art justice in the last appeal;

95

Thy easy God instructs thee to rebel;

And, like a king remote, and weak, must take
What satisfaction thou art pleas'd to make.

But if there be a pow'r too just and strong To wink at crimes, and bear unpunish'd wrong, Ioa Look humbly upward, see his will disclose The forfeit first, and then the fine impose: A mulct thy poverty could never pay, Had not Eternal Wisdom found the way,

105

And with celestial wealth supply'd the store;
His justice makes the fine, his mercy quits thy score.
See God descending in thy human frame,

Th' offended suff'ring in the offender's name;

All thy misdeeds to him imputed see,

And all his righteousness devolv'd on thee.

115

For granting we have sinn'd, and that th' offence Of man is made against Omnipotence, Some price that bears proportion must be paid, And infinite with infinite be weigh'd. See then the Deist lost; remorse for vice Not paid, or, paid, inadequate in price: What farther means can reason now direct? Or what relief from human wit expect? That shews us sick; and sadly are we sure Still to be sick, till Heav'n reveal the cure: If then Heav'n's will must needs be understood, (Which must, if we want cure, and Heav'n be good) Let all records of will reveal'd be shown, With Scripture all in equal balance thrown, And our one sacred Book will be that one.

125

120

Proof needs not here; for whether we compare That impious, idle, superstitious ware Of rites, lustrations, offerings, which before, In various ages, various countries bore,

}

With Christian faith and virtues, we shall find 130 None answ'ring the great ends of human kind,

« VorigeDoorgaan »