But when the ftern conditions were declar'd, A mournful whifper thro the hoft was heard, And the whole hierarchy, with heads hung down, Submiffively declin'd the pond'rous proffer'd crown, Then, not till then, th' eternal Son from high One in herself, not rent by fchifm, but found, One is the church, and must be to be true: One central principle of unity. As undivided, fo from errors free, As one in faith, fo one in fanctity. Thus fhe, and none but the, the infulting rage Of heretics oppos'd from age to age: Still when the giant-brood invades her throne, She ftoops from heaven, and meets them half way down, And with paternal thunder vindicates her crown. But like Egyptian forcerers you ftand, And vainly lift aloft your magic wand, To fweep away the swarms of vermin from the land: You could like them, with like infernal force, Produce the plague, but not arreft the course. But when the boils and blotches, with difgrace And public fcandal fat upon the face, Themselves attack'd, the Magi ftrove no more, They faw God's finger, and their fate deplore; Themselves they could not cure of the dishonest fore. Thus one, thus pure, behold her largely spread, The gofpel-found, diffus'd from pole to pole, To raise new blushes on my British race; Our failing fhips like common-fewers we use, The draught of dungeons, and the stench of stews. Yet fome improve their traffic more than we; Induftrious of the needle and the chart, Nor leave enough of that, to hide their naked Thus, of three marks, which in the creed we view, Not one of all can be apply'd to you : Much less the fourth; in vain, alas! you feek God-like defcent! 'tis well your blood can be (I mean what is not borrow'd from our store) By care and time recover'd from the blast. } 'Tis faid with ease, but never can be prov❜d, The church her old foundations has remov'd, And built new doctrines on unstable fands: Judge that, ye winds and rains: you prov'd her, yet she stands. Those ancient doctrines charg'd on her for new, Shew, when, and how, and from what hands they grew. We claim no power, when herefies grow bold, To coin new faith, but still declare the old. How elfe could that obfcene disease be purg'd, When controverted texts are vainly urg'd? Το tradition prove Requir'd, than faying, 'twas not us'd before. Those monumental arms are never ftirr'd, Till schism or herefy call down Goliah's fword. Thus, what you call corruptions, are, in truth, The first plantations of the gofpel's youth; And we can point each period of the time, Till A limpid ftream drawn from the native source; Prove any church, oppos'd to this our head, The members all combin'd, and all fubordi nate. Shew fuch a feamless coat, from schism so free, |