VI. Did not th' Almighty, with immediate care, How soon would things into confusion fall! In spite of all that human strength could do, And all that part of nature which has breath And hurry to the dungeons of the grave, 170 175 If watchful Providence were not concern'd to save, Fall at his feet, and in a moment die, Unhurt retreats, or gains unhurt the victory. Let the poor shipwreck'd sailor show He did his life and safety owe When the loud storm his well-built vessel tore, 185 And half a shatter'd plank convey'd him to the shore. Nay, let th' ungrateful sceptic tell us how 190 And helpless childhood was with safety crown'd, If he'll no Providence allow; When he had nothing but his nurse's arms To guard him from innumerable fatal harms; 195 From childhood how to youth he ran Securely, and from thence to man; How, in the strength and vigour of his years, Amidst the fury of tempestuous waves, From all the dangers he foresees or fears, 200 Yet ev'ry hour 'twixt Scylla and Charybdis steers, If Providence, which can the seas command, Held not the rudder with a steady hand? VII. OMNIPRESENCE. 'Tis happy for the sons of men that He Must omnipresent be: For how shall we, by demonstration, show And always so? What's not perceptible by sense may be 205 218 215 In vain we for protection pray, How gratefully we make returns, 220 When the loud music sounds or victim burns, 225 Than a poor Indian slave of Mexico. If so, 'tis equally in vain The prosp'rous sings and wretched mourns ; He cannot hear the praise or mitigate the pain. The Godhead we adore? 230 He must have equal or superior pow'r: If equal only, they each other bind; So neither's God, if we define him right, For neither's infinite: 23.5 But if the other have superior might, Then he we worship can't pretend to be From all restraint, and so no deity. If God is limited in space, his view, 240 His knowledge, pow'r, and wisdom, is so too; At all times present ev'ry where, Yet he himself not actually there; Which to suppose, that strange conclusion brings, 245 His essence and his attributes are diff'rent things. VIII. IMMUTABILITY. As the supreme omniscient Mind Is by no boundaries confin'd, So reason must acknowledge him to be For what he is he was from all eternity. Change, whether the effect of force or will, But imperfection in a deity, That's absolutely perfect, cannot be. Who can compel, without his own consent, He that is infinitely wise To alter for the worse will never chuse; 250 255 260 And he, in whom all true perfection lies, What he forbids, or what he will allow. 270 No argument will positively prove, If the almighty Legislator can Be chang'd, like his inconstant subject man. We all intolerable hazards run, When an eternal stake is to be lost or won. Rejoice, ye sons of Piety! and sing As sure as that there is a God, 275 280 285 Whose mercy is his darling attribute, 295 Mere slips of human nature, small and few, 299 This shocks the mind, with deep reflections fraught, And reason bends beneath the pond'rous thought. |