LIV.

Dissent thus melted in their faithful breast,
At Eucharist received the holy stamp:
The godly, apostolic seal impressed

A lively image of that burning lamp,
To which the everlasting doors unclose,
On blissful mansions, undisturbed repose.

LV.

The hallowed morn that brought Christ from the tomb,
O'er hell and death triumphant, tuned to praise
Their grateful souls; and far dispersed the gloom
That hangs so thick on earth's bewildered maze,
Concealing man from man, and veiling heaven,
Their joint inheritance, in mercy given.

LVI.

The previous day, the Sabbath of the Jews,
Was not despised: he plied his usual care :
His helpmeet knew and shared his pious views;

From distant village brought their Sunday's fare; From neighbouring spring she filled the morrow's pail; And strove of law divine in nought to fail.

LVII.

Provision made for nature's few demands,

The close of Jewish rest unfolds the law: From Exodus they read the ten commands;

Between the rule and deed, they try to draw The devious line, with glowing faith perceive Their loss of Eden; and in Christ believe.

LVIII.

The margin, comment, pastor's voice combine,
With tomes demonstrative, and tracts that arm;

They guide the Boor to inspiration's shrine;
Converge its rays; the cooling bosom warm;

On truth beneficent their stamp impose,

To cherish virtue, and to crush its foes.

LIX

Within the Christian armoury thus led,

The ear of faith can hear, the eye can see; Its tongue can bless the circling blades still red With blood of martyrs: courage tried can flee Resistless wrong; can fearlessly withstand The rack of falsehood, and its burning brand.

LX.

In peaceful scabbard there he views the sword,
That on the gates of Paradise once flamed;
Flashed through the deluge; fire on Sodom poured;
Asunder cut the links which Israel chained :

That on dark Horeb had in terror gleamed,

And from whose point e'en Hebrews' blood had streamed.

LXI.

From sin to punishment high justice leads,

From righteousness to bliss true wisdom guides;

In vain for pardon every victim bleeds,

If no remorse in sinners' minds resides: No nectar to the soul from heaven can flow, If not distilled by mercy's conscious glow.

LXII.

That sense of right and wrong to Adam given,
When freedom, virtue, gratitude did call
For prohibition kind, from bounteous heaven,
On man's enjoyment, rises from his fall;
Gains strength from every wo that fall entails,
And joys eternal at a distance hails.

LXIII.

From holy wrath when Satan shrunk, condemned

In dust his scaly agonies to hide;

And prostrate man in vain the current stemmed,
That poured upon the mind a ruinous tide
Of shame, expulsion, death and woful toil;
A beam of hope raised Adam from the soil.

LXIV.

He blessed his God; with faith beheld the prize,

From hell's rapacious, withering grasp dissolved : And when on perished joys his woful eyes

In silence turned, where cherubim revolved The flaming sword, commanding to depart, The ray of promise brightened in his heart.

LXV.

When first offended Justice spoke his name,

What wild confusion raged through Adam's soul! What writhing anguish wrung his trembling frame, When wrath omnipotent held forth the bowl Of death eternal! and to earth accursed,

Consigned the fragments of his sinful dust.

LXVI.

The fatal draught his every vein quick tides;
Remorse, despair, in every member burns ;
O'er wracking conscience frenzy soon presides;
And all without in thick confusion turns:

The Fiend's last spell in Adam's words blasphemes,
Immortal makes the woes he mortal deems.

LXVII.

'Twas when Jehovah marked the crafty wile,
And on its author triple vengeance hurled;
'Twas when his direful frown betrayed a smile
Of full redemption to a guilty world;

That Adam felt his wracked lost mind restored;
Beheld a Saviour; and with faith adored.

LXVIII.

That deep dismay which Eden did pervade,
When sin in sudden terror sought to hide
Its hideous mien below the cypress' shade,
As if God's high omniscience to deride,
On week's last hour oft reached our mountain cot;
And taught the peasants how to bless their lot.