For fome great end ! where not alone the plant
O f ftately growth; the herb o f glorious hue,
Or food-full fubfhance ! not the laboring fteed,
The herd, and flock that feed u s ; net the mine
That yields us ftores for elegance and ufe;
The fea that loads our table, and conveys
The wanderer man from clime to clime, with all
Thofe rolling fpheres, that from on high fhed down,
Their kindly influence; not thefe alone,
Which ftrike ev’n eyes incurious, but each mofs,
Each fhell, each crawling infeft, holds a rank
Important m the plan o f Him, who fram’d
This fcale o f beings; holds a rank, which loft
Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap
Which nature’s felf would rue. Almighty Being-,
Caufe and fupport o f all things, can I view
Thefe objefts o f my w o n d e r c a n I feel
Thefe fine fenfations, and not think o f thee?
Thou who doft thro’ th’ eternal round o f time,
Doft thro’ th’ immenfity o f fpace exift
Alone, fhalt thou alone excluded be
From this thy univerfe ? Shall feeble man
Think it beneath his proud philofophy
T o call for thy afliftanee, and pretend
T o frame a world, who cannot frame a clod ?—
Not to know thee, is not to know ourlelves—-
Is to know nothing— nothing worth the care
O f man s exalted Ipirit:— all becomes,
Without thy ray divine, one dreary gloom,
Where lurk the monfters o f phantaftic brains,
Order
Order bereft o f thought, uncaus’d efleQs,
Fate freely acting, and unerring chance.
Where meanlefs matter to a chaos finks,
Or fomething lower Hill, for without thee
It crumbles into atoms void o f force,
Void o f refiftance— it eludes our thought.
Where Taws eternal to the varying code
O f felf-love dwindle. Intereft, paflion, whim,
Take place o f right, and wrong, the golden chain
O f beings melts away, and the mind’s eye
Sees nothing but the prefent. All beyond
Is vifionary guefs— is dream— is death.*
* Stillingfleet’s Mifcellaneous Traits.
Da C H A P .