Adoring thrones in order fell;

The leffer powers at diftance dwell,

And caft their glories down fucceffive at his feet
Gabriel the Great prepares his way,

"Lift up your heads, Eternal doors," he cries;
Th' Eternal doors his word obey,

Open, and shoot celestial day

Upon the lower skies.

Heaven's mighty pillars bow'd their head,

As their Creator bid,

:

And down Jehovah rode from the superior sphere,
A thoufand guards before, and myriads in the rear.
His chariot was a pitchy cloud,

The wheels beset with burning gems;
The winds in harness with the flames
Flew o'er th' ethereal road:
Down through his magazines he paft
Of hail, and ice, and fleecy fnow,
Swift roll'd the triumph, and as fast
Did hail, and ice, in melted rivers flow.
The day was mingled with the night,
His feet on folid darkness trod,

His radiant eyes proclaim'd the God,
And scatter'd dreadful light;

He breath'd, and fulphur ran, a fiery stream:

He spoke, and (though with unknown speed he came) Chid the flow tempeft, and the lagging flame.

Sinai receiv'd his glorious flight,

With axle red, and glowing wheel,

F 3

Did

Did the winged chariot light,

And rifing finoke obfcur'd the burning hill.
Lo, it mounts in curling waves,

Lo, the gloomy pride out-braves
The ftately pyramids of fire:

The pyramids to heaven aspire,

And mix with stars, but fee their gloomy offspring higher.

So have you feen ungrateful ivy grow

Round the tall oak that fix fcore years has stood,

And proudly shoot a leaf or two

Above its kind fupporters utmost bough,

And glory there to ftand the loftieft of the wood.

Forbear, young Mufe, forbear;

The flowery things that poets fay,
The little arts of Simile

Are vain and useless here;

Nor fhall the burning hills of old
With Sinai be compar'd,

Nor all that lying Greece has told,
Or learned Rome has heard;
Ætna fhall be nam'd no more,
Ætna the torch of Sicily;

Not half fo high

Her lightnings fly,

Not half fo loud her thunders roar

Crofs the Sicanian fea, to fright th' Italian fhore.
Behold the facred hill: Its trembling fpire

Quakes at the terrors of the fire,

While all below its verdant feet

Stagger and reel under th' Almighty weight:

Prefs'd

Prefs'd with a greater than feign'd Atlas' load
Deep groan'd the mount; it never bore
Infinity before,

It bow'd, and fhook beneath the burden of a God.

Freth horrors feize the camp; despair,

And dying groans, torment the air,

And fhrieks, and fwoons, and deaths were there : The bellowing thunder, and the lightning's blaze Spread through the host a wild amaze;

Darkness on every foul, and pale was every

Confus'd and difmal were the cries,
Let Moses speak, or Ifrael dies :
Mofes the spreading terror feels,
No more the Man of God conceals
His fhivering and furprize :
Yet, with recovering mind, commands

face:

Silence, and deep attention, through the Hebrew bands.

Hark! from the centre of the flame,

All arm'd and feather'd with the fame,
Majestic founds break through the fmoaky cloud :
Sent from the All-creating tongue,

A flight of cherubs guard the words along,
And bear their fiery law to the retreating crowd.

"I am the Lord: 'Tis I proclaim

"That glorious and that fearful name,

Thy God and King: 'Twas I, that broke "Thy bondage, and th' Egyptian yoke; "Mine is the right to speak my will,

"And thine the duty to fulfil. F 4

"Adore

"Adore no God befide Me, to provoke mine eyes: "Nor worship Me in shapes and forms that men devise; "With reverence ufe my name, nor turn my words to jeft; "Obferve my fabbath well, nor dare prophane my reft; "Honour and due obedience to thy parents give;

"Nor fpill the guiltlefs blood, nor let the guilty live: "Preferve thy body chafte, and flee th' unlawful bed; "Nor fteal thy neighbour's gold, his garment, or his "bread;

"Forbear to blaft his name with falfehood, or deceit; "Nor let thy wishes loofe upon his large eftate."

Remember your CREATOR, &c.
CREATOR, &c. Ecclef. xii.

CHILDREN, to your Creator, God,

Your early honours pay,

While vanity and youthful blood
Would tempt your thoughts aftray.

The memory of his mighty name,
Demands your first regard;
Nor dare indulge a meaner flame,
Till you have lov'd the Lord.

Be wife, and make his favour fure,
Before the mournful days,

When youth and mirth are known no more,
And life and ftrength decays.

-No more the blessings of a feast

Shall relish on the tongue,

The heavy ear forgets the tafte

And pleasure of a fong.

Old

Old age, with all her dismal train,
Invades your golden years

With fighs and groans, and raging pain,
And death, that never fpares.

What will ye do when light departs,
And leaves your withering eyes,
Without one beam to chear your hearts,
From the fuperior skies?

How will you meet God's frowning brow,
Or ftand before his feat,

While nature's old supporters bow,
Nor bear their tottering weight?

Can

you expect your feeble arms,
Shall make a strong defence,
When death, with terrible alarms,
Summons the prifoner hence?

The filver bands of nature burst,
And let the building fall;

The flesh goes down to mix with duft,
Its vile original.

Laden with guilt, (a heavy load)

Uncleans'd and unforgiven,
The foul returns t' an angry God,

To be shut out from heaven.

Sun,