For fpeedy vengeance on the finner's head;
With force and argument hear how she pleads:
Lord, at thy high tribunal I arraign
The abject ingrate, thy glorious handy-work,
The centre of thy royal goodness, where
In noble counterpart thy image fhone;
But now become a miferable wretch.
His woful cafe might thy compassion move,
Were he ftill innocent as once he was:
But he's a guilty criminal, whofe fin
Juftly forbids that pity should be shewn.
Thou didst create him in another state,
With pow'r fufficient to have kept him fo:
Thy lib'ral bounty doth increase his fault,
And aggravates the blackness of his crime,
By no neceffity was he compell'd
To act rebellion; no, 'twas his choice
To listen to the counsel of thy foe.
His will was free, nor could it be constrain'd
By creature-force, nor can he plead excufe,
As ignorant of what the law enjoin'd,
When both the precept, and the penalty,
Were not deliver'd in ambiguous terms,
But in the plaineft fulleft words expreft;
And were engraven in his nature too.
Had he e'en felt a tranfient infult,
Cafual neglect, that could never form
A juft defence for his apoftacy.
Thou waft his fovereign, abfolute in power,
No ways oblig'd to him, but he to thee
For what he was, and what he did enjoy
Thy bounty gave, and didft thy gifts maintain,
With honour and with glory crownd'st his head.
For him thy power a mansion-seat prepar'd,
Well fituate in the choiceft spot of earth,
Stor'd with all forts of richest furniture,
And trains of fervants on him to attend.
Whate'er his mind by contemplation saw,
Or eyes beheld without, within, himself,
Marks of thy bounty, met him ftill in view,
That might engage obedience to his lord.
Had he conceiv'd leaft ground of difcontent,
Thy kindaefs was an over-balance still.
What favour could th' apoftate angel do?
Author of evil, could he good confer?
To make man leave thee, and inlist his flave?
Was't not enough, one creature should attempt
T'invade thy glory in the upper realms ?
But this muft rob thee of it here below!
By title of Creator 'tis thy due.
Can he complain that the command was hard?
Too difficult to be by him perform'd?
No; what could eafier be propos'd than this,
Of all the fruits that in the garden grew,
One only tree should be prohibited?
Yet to indulge his curious appetite,
His fenfe to Reafon's dictates he prefers,
And breaks the bonds of his Creator's charge.
Righteous and reasonable was the term
Thou didst prescribe. And fhall right reafon be
Rejected by the Judge fupreme? Because
The rebel creature dar'd to trample on't?
What! muft God abrogate his holy law,
'Cause man will fay he likes it not?
What ground would here be given to reflect
Upon the wisdom that enacted it ?
And call the equity in queftion too,
Of the command itself! And whether fit
By such a fanction it should be confirm'd?
Man then must fuffer, or the law be rul'd, Expung'd, and be for ever void and null. And is't not better man fhould undergo Eternal smart, the merit of his crime, Than that the law fhould interrupted be With base dishonour, and unrighteous deem'd ? Or the great Lawgiver with folly charg'd, For want of forefight? What would be th' event Should
Should punishment be fpar'd? what it plainly
An approbation of the Devil's lye,
And juftifies the creature in revolt?
It would condemn thy law, as if unjust,
Sentence thy wisdom of improvidence.
Rather let man for ever bear the ftroke
Of punishment deferv'd for his offence;
Than that God's attributes fhould be reproach'd.
Better that man be miserable ftill,
Than God be false, unrighteous, or unwise;
And tamely fee his fovereignty deny'd.
What profit, what advantage can it be,
If Mercy should herein be gratify'd ?
By pard'ning fuch a malefactor's crime,
He'll furely take encouragement from thence
To fpurn at thine authority fupreme;
Oppose thy holinefs, run on in fin,
With hopes he still fhall punishment escape.
For if the creature be restor❜d again,
And after tranfgreffion ftill elude the rod,
Future obedience is a baseless hope:
The easy re-admiffion would abet
The repetition of an old offence.
Soon wouldst thou find, exalted with conceit,
This base dependant even thee difown.
Should he without condition be reftor'd,
Or cov❜nant made to fubject him to awe?
No; he's a creature not to be controul'd
But by the law, and penal government.
Will he unto thy precept have regard,
Orfear the threat'nings which thou shalt
If now his crime be lightly overpast?
Is not thy mind unalterably sure ?
Yet with what reafon will he credit that,
When he hath found it otherwise by proof?
Thy truth in future threats will have no force
With him, who by his own experience found
How once thou laidft its dignity aside.
'Tis abfolutely neceffary, then,
Rebellious man fhould fuffer punishment,
To falve the honour of thy facred law;
And thine, who art the Legiflator too,
With all thofe high perfections, which agreed
In its compofure. This, this I claim,
That forthwith vengeance vindicate my right.
Here Justice ceas'd-
And Mercy, who had all the while stood by,
Attentive to her fifter's arguments,
Now moving forward, thus, with aspect mild
And chearful voice, her humble plea began :
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