From HORACE9.

Joking decides great things, Stronger and better oft than earnest can1o.

From SOPHOCLES".

'Tis you that say it, not I. You do the deeds, And your ungodly deeds find me the words'.

From SENECA'3.

There can be slain

No sacrifice to God more acceptable, Than an unjust and wicked king14.

PSALM 1.

Done into verse, 1653.

BLESS'D is the man who hath not walk'd astray In counsel of the wicked, and i' the way Of sinners hath not stood, and in the seat Of scorners hath not sat. But in the great Jehovah's law is ever his delight, And in his law he studies day and night. He shall be as a tree which planted grows By watery-streams, and in his season knows To yield his fruit, and his leaf shall not fall, And what he takes in hand shall prosper all. Not so the wicked, but as chaff which fann'd The wind drives, so the wicked shall not stand In judgment, or abide their trial then, Nor sinners in the assembly of just men. For the Lord knows the upright way of the just, And the way of bad men to ruin must.

As thy possession I on thee bestow [sway'd, The Heathen; and, as thy conquest to be Earth's utmost bounds: them shalt thou bring full low

Sat. i. x. 14.

10 Apol. Smectymn. vol. i. p. 116. "Electra, v. 627.

12 From Apol. Smectymn. Ibid.

13 Hercul. Fur.'

Be aw'd, and do not sin; Speak to your hearts alone, Upon your beds, each one, And be at peace within.

Of righteousness, and in Jehovah trust.

4. Lord God of Hosts, how long wilt thou,
How long wilt thou declare

Thy smoking wrath, and angry brow
Against thy people's prayer!

5. Thou feed'st them with the bread of tears; Their bread with tears they eat;

And mak'st them largely drink the tears
Wherewith their cheeks are wet.

6. A strife thou mak'st us and a prey
To every neighbour foe;
Among themselves they laugh, they play,
And flouts at us they throw.
7. Return us, and thy grace divine,
O God of Hosts, vouchsafe;
Cause thou thy face on us to shine,
And then we shall be safe.

8. A vine from Egypt thou hast brought, Thy free love made it thine, And drov'st out nations, proud and haut, To plant this lovely vine. 9. Thou didst prepare for it a place, And root it deep and fast, That it began to grow apace,

And fill'd the land at last.

10. With her green shade that cover'd all, The hills were over-spread;

Her boughs as high as cedars tall

Advanc'd their lofty head.

11. Her branches on the western side Down to the sea she sent,

And upward to that river wide

Her other branches went.

12. Why hast thou laid her hedges low,
And broken down her fence,
That all may pluck her, as they go,

With rudest violence?

13. The tusked boar out of the wood
Up turns it by the roots;

Wild beasts there brouze, and make their food
Her grapes and tender shoots.
14. Return now, God of Hosts, look down
From Heaven, thy seat divine;
Behold us, but without a frown,
And visit this thy vine.

15. Visit this vine, which thy right hand
Hath set, and planted long,
And the young branch, that for thyself
Thou hast made firm and strong.

16. But now it is consum'd with fire,
And cut with axes down;
They perish at thy dreadful ire,
At thy rebuke and frown.

17. Upon the man of thy right hand Let thy good hand be laid;

Upon the son of man, whom thou
Strong for thyself bast made.
18. So shall we not go back from thee
To ways of sin and shame ;
Quicken us thou; then gladly we

Shall call upon thy name.
19. Return us, and thy grace divine,
Lord God of Hosts, vouchsafe;
Cause thou thy face on us to shine,
And then we shall be safe.

PSALM LXXXI.

1. To God our strength sing loud, and clear, Sing loud to God our King;

To Jacob's God, that all may hear,

Loud acclamations ring.

2. Prepare a hymn, prepare a song,
The timbrel hither bring;

The cheerful psaltery bring along,
And harp with pleasant string.
3. Blow, as is wont, in the new moon
With trumpets' lofty sound,
The appointed time, the day whereon
Our solemn feast comes round.
4. This was a statute given of old
For Israel to observe;

A law of Jacob's God, to hold,

From whence they might not swerve. 5. This he a testimony ordain'd

In Joseph, not to change,

When as he pass'd through Egypt land; 'The tongue I heard was strange. 6. From burden, and from slavish toil, 1 set his shoulder free:

12. Then did I leave them to their will,
And to their wandering mind;
Their own conceits they follow'd still,
Their own devices blind.

13. O, that my people would be wise,
To serve me all their days!
And O, that Israel would advise
To walk my righteous ways!

14. Then would I soon bring down their foes, That now so proudly rise;

And turn my hand against all those,
That are their enemies.

15. Who hate the Lord should then be fain To bow to him and bend;

But they, his people, should remain,
Their time should have no end.

16. And he would feed them from the shock
With flower of finest wheat,
And satisfy them from the rock
With honey for their meat.

PSALM LXXXII.

1. GOD in the great assembly stands
Of kings and lordly states;
Among the gods, on both his hands,
He judges and debates.

2. How long will ye pervert the right With judgment false and wrong, Favouring the wicked by your might,

Who thence grow bold and strong? 3. Regard the weak and fatherless,

Despatch the poor man's cause: And raise the man in deep distress By just and equal laws.

4. Defend the poor and desolate, And rescue from the hands

Of wicked men the low estate

5. For they consult with all their might,
And all, as one in mind,
Themselves against thee they unite,
And in firm union bind.

6. The tents of Edom, and the brood, Of scornful Ishmael,

Moab, with them of Hagar's blood
That in the desart dwell,

7. Gebal and Ammon there conspire, And hateful Amalec,

The Philistines, and they of Tyre,
Whose bounds the sea doth check.
8. With them great Ashur also bands,
And doth confirm the knot:

All these have lent their armed hands

To aid the sons of Lot.

9. Do to them as to Midian bold,
That wasted all the coast;
To Sisera; and, as is told,

Thou didst to Jabin's host,
When, at the brook of Kishon old,
They were repuls'd and slain,
10. At Endor quite cut off, and roll'd
As dung upon the plain.
11. As Zeb and Oreb evil sped,
So let their princes speed;
As Zeba and Zalmunna bled,

So let their princes bleed.

12. For they amidst their pride have said, By right now shall we seize

God's houses, and will now invade

Their stately palaces.

13. My God, oh make them as a wheel, No quiet let them find;

Giddy and restless let them reel

Like stubble from the wind. 14. As when an aged wood takes fire Which on a sudden strays,

The greedy flame runs higher and higher Till all the mountains blaze;

15. So with thy whirlwind them pursue, And with thy tempest chase;

16. And, till they yield thee honour due, Lord, fill with shame their face. 17. Asham'd, and troubled, let them be, Troubled, and sham'd for ever; Ever confounded, and so die

With shame, and'scape it never.

18. Then shall they know, that thou, whose name

Jehovah is alone,

Art the Most High, and thou the same O'er all the Earth art One.

PSALM LXXXIV.

1. How lovely are thy dwellings fair! O Lord of Hosts, how dear The pleasant tabernacles are,

Where thou dost dwell so near!

2. My soul doth long and almost die
Thy courts, O Lord, to see;

My heart and flesh aloud do cry,
O living God, for thee.

3. There even the sparrow, freed from wrong, Hath found a house of rest;

The swallow there, to lay her young

Hath built her brooding nest;
Even by thy altars, Lord of Hosts,
They find their safe abode;
And home they fly from round the coasts
Toward thee, my King, my God,