Affects indeed a most humane concern That men if gently tutor'd will not learn, By fofter methods, must be made asham'd, Most fatʼrifts are indeed a public fcourge, Can be fecure against a madman's thrust, Although immortal, may be prick'd or scratch'd. Or tax'd invention for a fresh supply, "Tis 'Tis called a fatyr, and the world appears A thousand names are tofs'd into the crowd, Worms may They meet with little pity, no redrefs; 1 Plung'd in the stream they lodge upon the mud, Food for the famifh'd rovers of the flood. Of All zeal for a reform that gives offence To peace and charity, is mere pretence : A bold ( 207 ) A bold remark, but which if well applied, And had no other play-place for his wit; 1 He fought the jewel in his neighbour's shame; The turns are quick, the polish'd points surprise, So have I feen, (and haften'd to the fight Where ftands that monument of antient pow'r, Guns, halberts, fwords and pistols, great and small, In ftarry forms difpofed upon the wall; We wonder, as we gazing stand below, That brafs and steel should make fo fine a fhow; But But though we praise th' exact defigner's skill, Account them implements of mischief still. No works fhall find acceptance in that day When all difguifes fhall be rent away, That fquare not truly with the Scripture plan, Nor fpring from love to God, or love to man. As he ordains things fordid in their birth To be resolved, into their parent earth, And though the foul fhall feek fuperior orbs, Whate'er this world produces, it absorbs, So felf starts nothing but what tends apace Home to the goal where it began the race. Such as our motive is our aim must be, If this be fervile, that can ne'er be free; If self employ us, whatfoe'er is wrought, We glorify that felf, not him we ought: Such virtues had need prove their own reward, The judge of all men owes them no regard. True Charity, a plant divinely nurs'd, Fed by the love from which it rose at first, Thrives Thrives against hope and in the rudest scene, Its fruit on earth, its growth above the skies. He bruis'd beneath his feet th' infernal pow'rs, The wreath he won fo dearly, in our name, Life and a kingdom upon worms below; |