CXIV.

If mists of doubt e'er dimmed the cottier's mind,

And heavenly prospects vanished from his sight, Christ, Moses, and the prophets quick combined

To flash a cloud-dispelling, marvellous light: Through scripture's range, from earth to heaven it soared, Cheered drooping faith, and all its hopes restored.

CXV.

'Gainst Israel's foes do seas infuriate rage,

Impatient to avenge inhuman wrongs,

That growing, guilty terrors to assuage,

Made fertile Nile to blush before the throngs

Of frantic mothers, from their children torn,
Their loss, God's violated laws, to mourn?

CXVI.

To whirlwinds fierce, contending to be free,
By Moses' rod is wished permission given,
To burst upon Arabia's reddening sea,

In blasts tremendous from the wrath of heaven,
That those who shamed the Nile with infant gore,
Might monsters glut, with carrion pest the shore !

CXVII.

The Hebrew chief our swains view by that flame,
From which the voice said, Let my people go :
They hear the Great I Am pronounce the name;
For Egypt's first-born catch the tale of wo :
In Amram's son they truth and right perceive,
Their doubts expel, and all his words believe.

CXVIII.

In Param's plain near him they take their place,

While through the Hebrews' mind his words shoot fire,

Deep kindling slow remorse with him retrace

The pathless desert, and to bliss aspire;

They from his dazzling looks the veil withdraw;
Canaan compare with heaven, and grace with law.

CXIX.

Condemned to die, and from that land debarred,

From which his anxious mind oft hoped repose, When injured truth did promised joys retard,

When growing sin did mercy's course oppose, The prophet, in their view, new life assumes, Bids Israel hear, and thus their souls illumes.

CXX.

In me, their chief, let Abraham's seed behold

How God is just, though unrestrained his will! His power and praise all time and space unfold;

Perfection's voice does their vast compass fill: When perverse men bring vengeance from on high, It falls like showers upon a sultry sky.

CXXI.

This brow had been e'er now with laurel boundThis hand had haply Egypt's sceptre swayed, If not to bring your tyrants to the ground,

I conscious truth had for short fame betrayed: Yet greater loss than both to me were gain,

From idols would you even now abstain.

CXXII.

From abject bondage God did set you free,

When o'er you men usurped his sovereign sway:

Your Passover recalls the high decree,

That all their first-born bid an angel slay;

Its bitter herbs denote your souls enslaved;

The blood and spotless Lamb proclaim them saved.

CXXIII.

When thirst of power ingulphed the Egyptian cause, And Pharaoh's horsemen perished in the waves, Of God regardless, and of Nature's laws,

Intent alone to seize their gold and slaves, By water sealed, from death to life you rose; Let memory, then, your foes and sins oppose.

CXXIV.

So Marah's founts to you shall sweetly rise;
The desert's morning dew shall manna bring;
Hard rocks shall gush like torrents from the skies;
Wild, barren heaths shall wear the face of spring :-
If ye the statutes of the Lord obey,

To lasting bliss He will direct your way.

CXXV.

But if to other Gods you raise your hands-
To grateful memory, to religion lost-

Ye shall be scattered over distant lands,

As chaff before the sweeping wind is tost;
The yawning gulf, the sword, the serpent's fang,
Shall deal real death, or on your conscience hang.

CXXVI.

From fiery proof let warm conviction flow,
That to rebel not Israel safely dares;

God's two-edged sword unsheathed to smite the foe,
Not rebel Jew more than Egyptian spares :

Let former terrors then your bosoms thrill,
When passions rage against His sovereign will.

To

you

CXXVII.

this day I life and death propound; God's equal love gives sanction to my voice; From earth to heaven let spirits waft the sound ;

Let heaven and earth behold your future choice;

Bear to the ark this record of your fame,

Let sacrifice of praise its truth proclaim.

CXXVIII.

To conscious truth let shame for ever yield,

As darkness flies before the coursing sun :

On future love your future glory build;

Your children teach Heaven's vengeance how to shun:

No shield o'er your rebellion dare to raise ;

More than your own, consult Jehovah's praise.