I am, I think, in equal case of need
Peculiarly favour'd; which indeed
I rather would admire than dispute.
And after all what harm can be the fruit
Of happy change ascribed to Him alone,
And to His Goodness rather than my own?"

Doubtless all praise to God Alone is due
For happy change; but is it therefore true
That this Good God refuses to admit
The change in others, in all points so fit
For such a blessing? Will This Father leave
One child without, that can or will receive?
Is a self-righteousness so much amiss,
That makes man's merit greater than it is,
And a self-favour'dness from danger free
That, clinging to its own peculiar me,

80

90

Cries, "God, I thank Thee, that I am supplied
With Grace, to other men like me denied?"

Let Mr. N. consider what is done-
It is his own allusion-by the sun!
Unchang'd itself, it shines with equal day
On equal fitness to receive its ray.
All Calvinistic or Arminian strain
Is cobweb search; a principle so plain

Sets this, on which he goes, in its true light:
"Shall not the Fudge of all the earth do right?"

91. God, I thank Thee. xviii. II.

100

See St. Luke, tory Note. The reference is to Abraham's question concerning the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis, xviii. 25.)

100. "SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DO RIGHT?" See Introduc

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES,

CONSISTING OF

THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, FRAGMENTS, EPIGRAMS, &c.

THE WAYS OF GOD.

[For an application of this thought see the poem Moses' Vision, ante, vol. i. pp. 232-3.]

ITH peaceful Mind thy Race of Duty run;

WITH

God Nothing does, or suffers to be done,
But what thou would'st Thyself, if thou could'st see
Through all Events of Things as well as He.

NATURAL KNOWLEDGE AND HEAVENLY WISDOM.

[The reference is to thinkers of the school of Samuel Clarke, "the great English representative," as Mr. Leslie Stephen calls him, "of the a priori method of constructing a system of theology." Compare the stanzas On Faith, Reason and Sight, ante, pp. 339-41.]

NATURAL Knowledge is a Moonshine Light,

And dreaming Sages still keep sleeping by't;

But Heav'nly Wisdom like the rising Sun
Awakens Nature,-and good Works are done.

L

REPENTANCE.

ET thy Repentance be without Delay! —
If thou defer it to another Day,

Thou must repent for a Day more of Sin,

While a Day less remains to do it in.

THE COST OF BEING RELIGIOUS.

“O be religious, something it will cost,—

T°

Some Riches, Honours, Pleasures will be lost;

But if thou countest the Sum total o'er,

Not to be so will cost a great deal more.

WORKS WITHOUT LOVE.

E that does Good with an unwilling Mind,

HE

Does that to which he is not well inclin'd. 'Twill be Reward sufficient for the Fact,

If God shall pardon his obedient Act.

DISAPPOINTMENTS.

F outward Comforts without real Thought

IF

Of any inward Holiness are sought, God disappoints us oft,—and kindly too; To make us holy is His Constant View.

DESIRE.

THI

HINK, and be careful what thou art within ;
For there is Sin in the Desire of Sin.

Think, and be thankful, in a diff'rent Case;
For there is Grace in the Desire of Grace.

PRAYER.

[These lines express with equal simplicity and beauty the substance of Law's more elaborate analysis of the true significance of prayer in The Spirit of Prayer, part ii. pp. 172–174 (Works, vol. vii.). Canon Overton (William Law, p. 273) cites part of this passage as illustrating the mystic "prayer of silence."]

RAY'R does not ask, or want, the Skill and Art

PRAY

Of forming Words, but a devoted Heart.

If thou art really in a Mind to pray,

God knows thy Heart and all that it would say.

CONTENT.

[Compare, as to Byrom's repeated treatment of this theme, the Introductory Note to A Dialogue on Contentment, ante, vol. i. p. 121.]

ONTENT is better, all the Wise will grant,

Than any earthly Good that thou canst want;

And Discontent, with which the Foolish fill
Their Minds, is worse than any earthly Ill.

THE REWARDS OF THE CONTENTED.

[The beggar Lazarus, who after death "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" (St. Luke, xvi. 22) is here treated as a type of true contentment, similar to that presented by the beggar in the anecdote of The Beggar and the Divine (ante, pp. 383-8).]

WO Heav'ns a right contented Man surround,

Two

One here, and one hereafter, to be found:

One in his own meek Bosom here on Earth,

And one in Abraham's at his future Birth.

N°

FAITH AND CHARITY.

O Faith towards God can e'er subsist with Wrath
Tow'rds Man, nor Charity with want of Faith.
From the same Root hath each of them it's Growth;
You have not either, if you have not both.

FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.
AITH is the burning Ardour of Desire;

FAIT

Hope is the Light arising from its Fire;
Love is the Spirit That, proceeding thence,
Completes all Virtue in a Christian Sense.

FAITH AND Works.

[Cf. A Soliloquy, on reading a Dispute about Faith and Works, ante, pp. 498-500.]

OR Steel nor Flint alone produces Fire;

No Spark arises till they both conspire.
Nor Faith alone, nor Work without, is right;
Salvation rises, when they both unite.

ZEAL AND MEEKNESS.

'EAL without Meekness like a Ship at Sea
To rising Storms may soon become a Prey;
And Meekness without Zeal is like the same,
When a dead Calm stops every sailing Aim.

IF

PROCRASTINATION.

F Gold be offer'd thee, thou dost not say,
"To-morrow I will take it, not To-day."
Salvation offer'd, why art thou so cool,
To let thyself become To-morrow's Fool?