TRUT H. Pensantur trutinâ, -HOR. Lib. II. Epist. 1 MAN, on the dubious waves of error tossed, Of virtue, and yet lose it! Wherefore hard? Obedient to the customs of the course; Else, though unequalled to the goal he flies, Oh how unlike the complex works of man, No clustering ornaments to clog the pile; Legible only by the light they give, Stand the soul-quickening words-BELIEVE AND LIVE. Too many, shocked at what should charm them most, Despise the plain direction and are lost. Heaven on such terms! (they cry with proud disdain) Incredible, impossible, and vain!— Rebel, because 'tis easy to obey;" And scorn, for its own sake, the gracious way. These are the sober, in whose cooler brains The rest too busy or too gay to wait Sport for a day and perish in a night, The foam upon the waters not so light. Who judged the Pharisee? What odious cause Exposed him to the vengeance of the laws? Had he seduced a virgin, wronged a friend, Or stabbed a man to serve some private end? Was blasphemy his sin? Or did he stray From the strict duties of the sacred day? Sit long and late at the carousing board? (Such were the sins with which he charged his Lord) No-the man's morals were exact, what then? 'Twas his ambition to be seen of men; His virtues were his pride; and that one vice The self-applauding bird, the peacock see- His measured step were governed by his ear; Not so the pheasant on his charms presumes, Though he too has a glory in his plumes. He, christian like, retreats with modest mien To the close copse, or far-sequestered green, And shines without desiring to be seen. The plea of works, as arrogant and vain, Heaven turns from with abhorrence and dis dain; Not more affronted by avowed neglect, Than by the mere dissembler's feigned respect. What--but a sordid bargain for the skies? But Christ as soon would abdicate his own, As stoop from heaven to sell the proud a throne. His prayer preferred to saints that cannot aid; Till his religious whimsy wears out him. You think him humble-God accounts him proud; |