181 By these expedients I shall still (Where death himself no more can kill), 182 Death grins at me; I grin at him, HYMN TO GOD, ON THE FOREGOING SUBJECT OF THE PRESENT TIMES AND FASHIONS. 183 O SPRING of being, and resource To thee distress'd we have recourse, 184 Once more, Almighty Lord, descend, Our faith and morals to amend And warm us with thy love. 185 Recall our hearts to thee once more Teach us our riches to deplore, 186 Break forth, O Lord, and cause thy face Let tears again recall thy grace, And own us still for thine. 187 Correct us, but with judgment, Lord, Lest, crush'd to nothing by thy sword, 188 O King of kings, and God of all, Astarte, Astoroth, and Baal, 189 Thou, who hast clear'd the earth and skies, And not one demon left, To whom mankind may sacrifice, 190 Beneath whose hand the gods of lust, 191 Fashion, who still thy kingdom braves, O'erwhelm, O Lord, this slave of slaves, 192 Arise, Almighty God, arise, 193 Arise, Almighty Son, arise This dragon's head to bruise, 194 Let loose thy thunders, mighty Lord, Nature and virtue will accord To bare his impious head. 195 Thou know'st, it is alone by wealth, By fraud, oppression, and by stealth, 196 Down, blessed Lord, down strike them all, Oppress'd religion cries; To poverty grant us a fall, That we may fall to rise. 197 Let us no longer, Lord, thy gifts No longer seek for senseless shifts, 198 So shall our hearts to thee return, That they in piety may burn, 199 The modes of thy celestial court And by our deeds those modes support, 200 By poverty, that humble nurse High o'er the envied rich man's curse, 201 Curs'd be those blessings, which on fools Produce effects so dire. What is the learning of their schools, 202 Nowhere on earth the Christian light Yet, as at first, infernal night 203 Since by this light no mortal moves But each man rather darkness loves, 204 Yet Lord, this saving light prolong, 205 Put thy protecting hand about 206 O Holy Ghost, fresh oil instil, To warm, and yet reguide, the will 207 As solar light and heat still flow O sun of souls, on us bestow 208 Thus guided up the arduous steep, We neither shall descend, nor sleep, 209 O source of fire with hearts of ice, And with a victim lame, How can we offer sacrifice, Or make it upward flame? 210 Let piety, O Lord, revive, And on some future day Again return, and all alive, Its light and warmth display. 211 So shall our minds its lustre own, And godless rebels, humble grown, 212 Their souls shall at its ardour fuse, Take a new figure, not like Jews, 213 Nor yet, like fickle slaves of mode, Nor, these to prove, thy sacred code 214 To smattering fops, and empty beaus, Which thread of gold but loosely sews 215 Their utmost wealth can scarcely buy (A cheat discern'd by every eye) The plumage of macaws. 216 What, wedded with religious truth, But the corruption of our youth 217 When wealth and fashion once shall fly To hell from whence they came, We'll build on plaiuness, and build high, 218 Then joyful we a final leave Shall to thy precepts strongly cleave, For theirs and our own sake. 219 Our robes of glory, then how bright! When we for ribbons, beams of light, 220 Tear off the love of pomp and pelf, Clothe us, O Jesus, with thyself, 221 Elijah's chariot then shall wait 222 Or we poor worms, now wound in thread, Shall burst our silken strings, And thither soar, by love upled, HOW GREAT AND GOOD IS GOD. 1 O Lord, when I behold on high 2 But when my soul resumes the thought, These things by thee were call'd ; 3 All these by one creative word, By one destructive word of thine, |