HEAVENLY KNOWLEDGE.

"But first it needs to say, that other style, And other language than thy ear is wont, Thou must expect to hear-the dialect Of man: for each in heaven a relish holds Of former speech, that points to whence he came. But whether I of person speak, or place, Event or action, moral or divine;

Or things unknown compare to things unknown;
Allude, imply, suggest, apostrophize;

Or touch, when wandering thro' the past, on moods
Of mind thou never felt'st, the meaning still,
With easy apprehension, thou shalt take;
So perfect here is knowledge, and the strings
Of sympathy so tuned, that every word
That each to other speaks, though never heard
Before, at once is fully understood,

And every feeling uttered, fully felt.

"So shalt thou find, as from my various song, That backward rolls o'er many a tide of years, Directly or inferred, thy asking: thou,

And wondering doubt, shalt learn to answer, while I sketch, in brief, the history of Man."

THE

COURSE OF TIME.

BOOK II.

ANALYSIS.-A description of the earth when first created; and the formation of man, a reasonable free agent, upright and immortal The command given was a test of filial love, loyalty, obedience, and faith. The temptation, sin, and fall of man; and redemption from death by the atonement of Christ. Many would not accept the free offer of life and salvation, and in consequence, incurred the punishment of the second death and hell: that they acted thus, and thus perversely chose, well assured of the consequence, by the information contained and given them in the Bible, which was a code of laws, containing the will of Heaven, and defined the bounds of vice and virtue, and of life and death. Mankind were required to read, believe, and obey; and although many did so believe, and were saved, yet many turned the truth of God into a lie, transforming the meaning of the text to suit their own vile and wicked purposes, deceiving and deceived: that the voice of God, against which nothing could bribe to sleep the truths of Judgment and a Judge, caused the wicked to be ill at ease; on which account many ran into impious idolatry, and worshiped ten thousand deities, "imagined worse than he who craved their peace." The Magistrate often turned religion into a trick of state, despising the truth, and forcing the consciences of men; while the enslaved, mimicking the follies of the great, despise her too. The other influences which led to error are mentioned; short-sighted reason, vanity, indolence, and finally pride, self-adoring pride, was primal cause of all sin past; all pain, all wo to come.

CREATION OF THE EARTH.

THIS said, he waked the golden harp, and thus While on him inspiration breathed, began:

"As from yon everlasting hills, that gird Heaven northward, I thy course espied, I judge Thou from the arctic regions came? Perhaps

Thou noticed on thy way a little orb,
Attended by one moon, her lamp by night;
With her fair sisterhood of planets seven,
Revolving round their central sun; the third
In place, in magnitude the fourth: that orb-
New made, new named, inhabited anew,
(Though whiles we sons of Adam visit still,
Our native place; not changed so far but we
Can trace our ancient walks the scenery
Of childhood, youth, and prime, and hoary age-
But scenery most of suffering and wo,)

That little orb, in days remote of old,

When angels yet were young, was made for man,
And titled Earth-her primal virgin name;
Created first so lovely, so adorned

With hill, and dale, and lawn, and winding vale;
Woodland, and stream, and lake, and rolling seas;
Green mead, and fruitful tree, and fertile grain,
And herb and flower: so lovely, so adorned
With numerous beasts of every kind, with fowl
Of every wing and every tuneful note;
And with all fish that in the multitude
Of waters swam: so lovely, so adorned,
So fit a dwelling-place for man, that, as
She rose, complete, at the creating word,
The morning stars-the sons of God-aloud
Shouted for joy; and God, beholding, saw
The fair design, that from eternity

His mind conceived, accomplished; and, well pleased,

His six days' finished work most good pronounced, And man declared the sovereign prince of all."