Beneath whose shelter ages yet to come

Shall fly for refuge, and shall find a home.*

Though thy revenge shall dye the stream of time,
And the world deluge with the depths of crime ;†
Though thy strong arm shall wield the fiery dart,
And goad to madness man's polluted heart;

Though, wrung by thee, earth's piercing groans and cries
Shall draw down pitying tears from angels eyes;

* And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, &c. Isaiah, ch. xi. v. 1.

In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. ver. 10.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Gen. ch. vi. v. 5.

Boast not thy victory! The God, that hurl'd

Thy daring spirit to a burning world;

*

That God, whose palm the ocean can contain,

And weigh the hills and mountains as a grain; †

Whose word commands the tempest's 'whelming force,

Wings its dread lightnings and directs their course,

Shall feed his wrath in Bozrah's hostile flood,

And slake its thirst in Idumea's blood. +

* I beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from heaven. Luke, ch. x. v 18.

† Isaiah, ch. xl. v. 12. For the whole world before thee is as a little grain of the balance. Wisdom, ch. xi. v. 22.

Bozrah standing for the seat of the Prince of Darkness, Idumea for the Kingdom of darkness. For the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. Isaiah, ch. xxxiv. v. 6.-For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion. v. 8.

As the dead leaf from off the vine is cast,

A sportive victim to the wintry blast;

Or as the fig, unripen'd and unsound,

Rots on its branch and drops upon the ground ;*

So shalt thou perish, so thy kingdom fall,

To swell the triumph of the Lord of all.

Why do the people from their cities haste?

What leads their footsteps to the desert waste?
Daughter of Zion, seekest thou to find

A trembling reed that wavers with the wind?

* And all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. Isaiah, ch. xxxiv. v. 3.

Or some exalted potentate to view,

Clad with the silken robes of Tyrian hue ?*

The cheerless desert can but ill bestow

The soft delights luxurious princes know.

Or go'st thou thither anxious to behold

Some Prophet, by thine ancient bards foretold?

Yea, more than Prophet! 'Tis "the still small voice"

That bids this world-this wilderness rejoice.

See! with what grace adown the mountain's side

The beauteous footsteps of the Baptist glide!

Oh! how delightful are the feet that bring

Glad tidings; and the lips how sweet that sing

* See St. Matthew's Gospel. ch. xi. v. 7 to 9.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, &c. Isa. ch. lii. v.7.

Songs of deliv'rance to the captive soul,

That wails and weeps in Satan's fierce control!*
Not more delightful is Orontes' stream

To him that thirsts beneath the Syrian beam.

Sweet as the balm on Aaron's garments shed;

Or as the dews that fall on Hermon's head.+

* Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Psalm xxxii. v. 7.

He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Isaiah, ch. lxi. v. 1.

It is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down upon the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountain of Zion. Psalm cxxxiii. v. 2, 3.