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Grant that the deep this foreign sovereign owns,
That mov'd by her it this and that way runs :
Say, by what force she makes the ocean swell;
Does she attract the waters, or impel?

How does she rule the rolling waves and guide,
By fix'd and constant laws, the restless tide?
Why does she dart her force to that degree,
As gives so just a motion to the sea,

That it should flow no more, no more retire,
Than nature's various useful ends require?
A Mind Supreme you therefore must approve,
Whose high command caus'd matter first to move:
Who still preserves its course, and, with respect
To his wise ends, all motions does direct.
He to the silver moon this province gave,
And fix'd her empire o'er the briny wave;
Endued her with such just degrees of power,
As might his aims and wise designs procure,
Might agitate and work the troubled deep,
And rolling waters from corruption keep,
But not impel them o'er their bounds of sand,
Nor force the wasteful deluge o'er the land.

BOOK II.

THE ARGUMENT.

The introduction. The numerous and important blessings of religion. The existence of a GOD demonstrated, from the wisdom and design which appear in the motions of the heavenly orbs; but more particularly in the solar system. i. In the situation of the sun, and its due distance from the earth. The fatal consequences of its having been placed otherwise than it is. 2. In its diurnal motion, whence the change of day and night proceeds: then in its annual motion, whence arise the different degrees of heat and cold. The confinement of the sun between the tropics, not to be accounted for by any philosophical hypothesis. The difficulties of the same, if the earth moves, and the sun rests. The spring of the sun's motion, not to be explained by any irre. ligious philosophy. The contemplation of the solar light, and the uses made of it for the end proposed. The appearances in the solar system not to be solved, but by asserting a GOD. The systems of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler, considered. The solar system described, and compared with the fixed stars, which are supposed centres of the like systems. Reflections on that comparison. The hypothesis of Epicurus, in relation to the motion of the sun. Wisdom and design disco. vered in the air; in its useful structure, its elasticity, its various meteors; the wind, the rain, thunder, and lightning. A short contemplation of the vegetable kind.

CARUS,* by hardy Epicurus taught,

From Greece to Rome his impious system brought;

* Titus Lucretius Carus; whose philosophical poem, De natura rerum, is sufficiently known.

Then war with heaven he did insulting wage,
And breath'd against the gods immortal rage:
• See, (he exclaims) the source of all our woe!
Our fears and sufferings from religion flow.'

We grant, a train of mischiefs oft proceeds
From superstitious rites and penal creeds;
But view Religion in her native charms,
Dispersing blessings with indulgent arms;
From her fair eyes what heavenly rays are spread,
What blooming joys smile round her blissful head!
Offspring divine! by thee we bless the CAUSE,
Who form'd the world, and rules it by his laws;
His independent being we adore,

Extol his goodness, and revere his power;
Our wondering eyes his high perfections view.
The lofty contemplation we pursue,
Till, ravish'd, we the great idea find,
Shining in bright impressions on our mind.
Inspir'd by thee, guest of celestial race!
With generous love, we humankind embrace:
We provocations unprovok'd receive,
Patient of wrong, and easy to forgive ;
Protect the orphan, plead the widow's cause,
Nor deviate from the line unerring justice draws.
Thy lustre, bless'd effulgence! can dispel
The clouds of error, and the gloom of hell;
Can to the soul impart ethereal light,
Give life divine and intellectual sight;
Before our ravish'd eyes thy beams display
The opening scenes of bliss, and endless day;
By which incited, we with ardour rise,
Scorn this inferior ball, and claim the skies.

Tyrants to thee a change of nature owe,
Dismiss their tortures, and indulgent grow.

Ambitious conquerors in their mad career,

Check'd by thy voice lay down the sword and spear.
The boldest champions of impiety,

Scornful of Heaven, subdued or won by thee,
Before thy hallow'd altars bend the knee;
Loose wits, made wise, a public good become,
The sons of pride an humble mien assume;
The profligate in morals grows severe,
Defrauders just, and sycophants sincere.

With amorous language, and bewitching smiles,
Attractive airs, and all the lover's wiles,
The fair Egyptian Jacob's son caress'd,

Hung on his neck, and languish'd on his breast; Courted with freedom now the beauteous slave, Now flattering sued, and threatening, now did rave; But not the various eloquence of love,

Nor power enrag'd, could his fix'd virtue move. See, aw'd by Heaven, the blooming Hebrew flies Her artful tongue, and more persuasive eyes; And, springing from her disappointed arms, Prefers a dungeon to forbidden charms.

Stedfast in virtue's and his country's cause, The' illustrious founder of the Jewish laws, Who, taught by Heaven, at genuine greatness aim'd, With worthy pride imperial blood disclaim'd; The' alluring hopes of Pharaoh's throne resign'd, And the vain pleasures of a court declin'd; Pleas'd with obscure recess, to ease the pains Of Jacob's race, and break their servile chains; Such generous minds are form'd where bless'd religion reigns.

Ye friends of Epicurus, look around,

All nature view with marks of prudence crown'd

Mind the wise ends, which proper means promote; See how the different parts for different use are wrought;

Contemplate all this conduct and design,
Then own and praise the' Artificer Divine.

Regard the orb sublime, in ether borne, Which the blue regions of the skies adorn; Compar'd with whose extent, this low-hung ball, Shrunk to a point, is despicably small :

Their number, (counting those the' unaided eye
Can see, or by invented tubes descry,

With those which in the adverse hemisphere,
Or near each pole to lands remote appear;)
The widest stretch of human thought exceeds,
And in the' attentive mind amazement breeds;
While these so numerous, and so vast of size,
In various ways roll through the trackless skies;
Through crossing roads perplex'd and intricate,
Perform their stages, and their rounds repeat;
None by collision from their course are driven,
No shocks, no conflicts break the peace of Heaven;
No shatter'd globes, no glowing fragments fall,
No worlds o'erturn'd, crush this terrestrial ball;
In beauteous order all the orbs advance,
And in their mazy complicated dance,
Not in one part of all the pathless sky,
Did any ever halt, or step awry.

When twice ten thousand men, depriv'd of sight,
To some wide vale direct their footsteps right;
Shall there a various figur'd dance essay,
Move by just steps, and measur'd time obey;
Shall cross each other with unerring feet,
Never mistake their place, and never meet;

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