ARGUMENT.

Address to Religion:-Her attributes and functions :-Desired too late by the wicked.-The day of reward to all that in the course of Time had unfeignedly obeyed the will of their Maker.-Those who sought only the approbation of God have all their virtues and services remembered and repaid.—Religion alone keeps the promises given to man. Simile illustrative of the difficulty the Bard feels in selecting the objects of praise.— The faithful minister :-His high station in heaven :—What he was on Earth :-How commissioned:-His influences :— The blessings he conferred :- His learning :—His intellectual powers:-Praise of his surpassing worth. His order numerous in Time. Prophets-Apostles-Reformers appear in heaven like stars. The true Philosopher :-His labours and beneficial investigations for mankind :-His lofty attainments, and humble, affectionate, Christian temper :-His glory in heaven.—The virtuous monarch :-The patriotic senator.-Early discipline of virtuous men.-Charity addressed.—The benevolent man :— His labours in various scenes.-The Bard.-Philosophy and poetry. The true Bard:-The place he fills in heaven.-The bliss of all true believers, however undistinguished on earth.— View of the changes produced by the close of Time and commencement of Eternity.-Old things passed away :-Knowledge increased :-Truth never felt till now.-Old prophecies fulfilled. All generations of men waiting the Judgment, the heavenly hosts descend. The separation of the righteous from the wicked :-Judgment pronounced on Satan and his angels.-The cause of his fall.-How in Time he had tempted men :-His overthrow :-His final punishment.-The Bard's lament over the decay of nature and man. The bereaved old man :-The lunatic.-Reflections on human life.-Its mixture of good and ill.-Picture of the reprobate and the good.-Sentence of the wicked pronounced by the Seraph.-Bow that spans the heavens : -The burning words inscribed on it.

THE

COURSE OF TIME.

BOOK IX.

FAIREST of those that left the calm of heaven, And ventured down to man, with words of peace, Daughter of Grace! known by whatever name, Religion, Virtue, Piety, or Love

Of holiness, the day of thy reward

Was come. Ah! thou wast long despised, despised
By those thou wooedst from death to endless life.
Modest and meek, in garments white as those
That seraphs wear, and countenance as mild
As Mercy looking on Repentance' tear;
With eye of purity, now darted up
To God's eternal throne, now humbly bent
Upon thyself, and weeping down thy cheek,
That glowed with universal love immense,
A tear, pure as the dews that fall in heaven;

In thy left hand, the olive branch, and in

Thy right, the crown of immortality;

With noiseless foot, thou walkedst the vales of earth,
Beseeching men, from age to age, to turn

From utter death, to turn from wo to bliss;
Beseeching evermore, and evermore
Despised-not evermore despised, not now,
Not at the day of doom; most lovely then,
Most honourable, thou appeared, and most
To be desired. The guilty heard the song
Of thy redeemed, how loud! and saw thy face,
How fair! Alas! it was too late! the hour
Of making friends was past, thy favour then
Might not be sought; but recollection, sad
And accurate, as miser counting o'er
And o'er again the sum he must lay out,
Distinctly in the wicked's ear rehearsed

Each opportunity despised and lost,

While on them gleamed thy holy look, that like A fiery torrent went into their souls.

The day of thy reward was come, the day

Of great remuneration to thy friends,

To those, known by whatever name, who sought,

In every place, in every time, to do

Unfeignedly their Maker's will, revealed,

Or gathered else from nature's school; well pleased
With God's applause alone, that, like a stream
Of sweetest melody, at still of night

By wanderer heard, in their most secret ear
For ever whispered, Peace; and, as a string
Of kindred tone awoke, their inmost soul
Responsive answered, Peace; inquiring still
And searching, night and day, to know their duty,
When known, with undisputing trust, with love
Unquenchable, with zeal, by reason's lamp
Inflamed,-performing; and to Him, by whose
Profound, all-calculating skill alone,
Results-results even of the slightest act,
Are fully grasped, with unsuspicious faith,
All consequences leaving; to abound
Or want, alike prepared; who knew to be
Exalted how, and how to be abased;

How best to live, and how to die when asked.
Their prayers sincere, their alms in secret done,
Their fightings with themselves, their abstinence
From pleasure, though by mortal eye unseen,
Their hearts of resignation to the will

Of Heaven, their patient bearing of reproach
And shame, their charity, and faith, and hope,
Thou didst remember, and in full repaid.

No bankrupt thou, who, at the bargained hour
Of payment due, sent to his creditors

A tale of losses and mischances long.

Ensured by God himself, and from the stores
And treasures of his wealth, at will supplied,—
Religion, thou alone, of all that men,

On earth, gave credit, to be reimbursed

On the other side the grave, didst keep thy word, Thy day, and all thy promises fulfilled.

As in the mind, rich with unborrowed wealth, Where multitudes of thoughts for utterance strive, And all so fair, that each seems worthy first To enter on the tongue, and from the lips Have passage forth,-selection hesitates Perplexed, and loses time, anxious, since all Cannot be taken, to take the best; and yet Afraid, lest what be left be worthier still; And grieving much, where all so goodly look, To leave rejected one, or in the rear

Let

any be obscured: so did the bard, Though not unskilled, as on that multitude Of men who once awoke to judgment, he Threw back reflection, hesitating pause. For as his harp, in tone severe, had sung