ON THE POWER OF THE SUPREME BEING.

BY THE SAME.

 "TREMBLE, thou Earth! th' anointed poet said,
" At God's bright presence, tremble, all ye mountains,
 "And all ye hillocks on the surface bound." 
Then once again, ye glorious thunders roll,
 The Muse with transport hears ye, once again
 Convulse the solid continent, and shake,
 Grand music of Omnipotence, the isles. 
'Tis thy terrific voice, thou God of Power,
 'Tis thy terrific voice; all Nature hears it
 Awaken'd and alarm'd; she feels its force,
 In every spring she feels it, every wheel,
 And every movement of her vast machine. 
Behold! quakes Apennine, behold! recoils
 Athos, and all the hoary-headed Alps
 Leap from their bases at the godlike sound. 
But what is this, celestial tho' the note,
 And proclamation of the reign supreme,
 Compar'd with such as, for a mortal ear
 Too great, amaze the incorporeal worlds? 
Should ocean to his congregated waves
 Call in each river, cataract, and lake,
 And with the watry world down an huge rock
 Fall headlong in one horrible cascade,
 'Twere but the echo of the parting breeze,
 When Zephyr faints upon the lily's breast,
 'Twere but the ceasing of some instrument,
 When the last lingering undulation
 Dies on the doubting ear, if nam'd with sounds
 So mighty! so stupendous! so divine! 

But not alone in the aërial vault
 Does he the dread theocracy maintain;
 For oft, enrag'd with his intestine thunders,
 He harrows up the bowels of the earth,
 And shocks the central magnet — Cities then
 Totter on their foundations, stately columns,
 Magnific walls, and heaven-assaulting spires. 
What tho' in haughty eminence erect
 Stands the strong citadel, and frowns defiance
 On adverse hosts, tho' many a bastion jut
 Forth from the ramparts elevated mound,
 Vain the poor providence of human art,
 And mortal strength how vain! while underneath
 Triumphs his mining vengeance in th' uproar
 Of shatter'd towers, riven rocks, and mountains,
 With clamour inconceivable uptorn,
 And hurl'd adown th' abyss. Sulphureous pyrites
 Bursting abrupt from darkness into day,
 With din outrageous and destructive ire
 Augment the hideous tumult, while it wounds
 Th' afflicted ear, and terrifies the eye,
 And rends the heart in twain. Twice have we felt,
 Within Augusta's walls twice have we felt
 Thy threaten'd indignation, but ev'n Thou,
 Incens'd Omnipotent, art gracious ever,
 Thy goodness infinite but mildly warn'd us
 With mercy-blended wrath; O spare us still,
 Nor send more dire conviction! we confess
 That thou art He, th' Almighty: we believe. 
For at thy righteous power whole systems quake,
 For at thy nod tremble ten thousand worlds. 

Hark! on the winged whirlwind's rapid rage,
 Which is and is not in a moment — hark! 
On th' hurricane's tempestuous sweep he rides
 Invincible, and oaks and pines and cedars
 And forests are no more. For conflict dreadful! 
The West encounters East, and Notus meets
 In his career the Hyperborean blast. 
The lordly lions shuddering seek their dens,
 And fly like timorous deer; the king of birds,
 Who dar'd the solar ray, is weak of wing,
 And faints and falls and dies; — while He supreme
 Stands stedfast in the center of the storm. 

Wherefore, ye objects terrible and great,
 Ye thunders, earthquakes, and ye fire-fraught wombs
 Of fell volcanos, whirlwinds, hurricanes,
 And boiling billows, hail! in chorus join
 To celebrate and magnify your Maker,
 Who yet in works of a minuter mould
 Is not less manifest, is not less mighty. 

Survey the magnet's sympathetic love,
 That wooes the yielding needle; contemplate
 Th' attractive amber's power, invisible
 Ev'n to the mental eye; or when the blow
 Sent from th' electric sphere assaults thy frame,
 Shew me the hand that dealt it! — baffled here
 By his Omnipotence, Philosophy
 Slowly her thoughts inadequate revolves,
 And stands, with all his circling wonders round her,
 Like heavy Saturn in th' etherial space
 Begirt with an inexplicable ring. 

If such the operations of his power,
 Which at all seasons and in every place
 (Rul'd by establish'd laws and current nature)
 Arrest th' attention; Who! O Who shall tell
 His acts miraculous? when his own decrees
 Repeals he, or suspends, when by the hand
 Of Moses or of Joshua, or the mouths
 Of his prophetic seers, such deeds he wrought,
 Before th' astonish'd Sun's all-seeing eye,
 That Faith was scarce a virtue. Need I sing
 The fate of Pharaoh and his numerous band
 Lost in the reflux of the watry walls,
 That melted to their fluid state again? 
Need I recount how Sampson's warlike arm
 With more than mortal nerves was strung t' o'erthrow
 Idolatrous Philistia? shall I tell
 How David triumph'd, and what Job sustain'd?
 — But, O supreme, unutterable mercy! 
O love unequall'd, mystery immense,
 Which angels long t' unfold! 'tis man's redemption
 That crowns thy glory, and thy power confirms,
 Confirms the great, th' uncontroverted claim. 
When from the Virgin's unpolluted womb
 Shone forth the Sun of Righteousness reveal'd,
 And on benighted reason pour'd the day;
 Let there be peace (he said) and all was calm
 Amongst the warring world — calm as the sea,
 When O be still, ye boisterous Winds, he cried,
 And not a breath was blown, nor murmur heard. 
His was a life of miracles and might,
 And charity and love, e'er yet he taste
 The bitter draught of death, e'er yet he rise
 Victorious o'er the universal foe,
 And Death and Sin and Hell in triumph lead. 
His by the right of conquest is mankind,
 And in sweet servitude and golden bonds
 Were ty'd to him for ever. — O how easy
 Is his ungalling yoke, and all his burdens
 'Tis ecstacy to bear! Him, blessed Shepherd,
 His flocks shall follow thro' the maze of life
 And shades that tend to Day-spring from on high;
 And as the radiant roses after fading
 In fuller foliage and more fragrant breath
 Revive in smiling spring, so shall it fare
 With those that love him — for sweet is their favour,
 And all eternity shall be their spring. 
Then shall the gates and everlasting doors,
 At which the KING OF GLORY enters in,
 Be to the Saints unbarr'd: and there, where pleasure
 Boasts an undying bloom, where dubious hope
 Is certainty, and grief-attended love
 Is freed from passion — there we'll celebrate,
 With worthier numbers, Him, who is, and was,
 And in immortal prowess King of Kings,
 Shall be the Monarch of all worlds for ever.