Isaiah LVIII. 1

In lofty accents let thy voice be heard, And shew the tribes the mandates of the Lord. Through all the land proclaim what crimes abound, Let every word loud like a trumpet sound; Spare neither age nor sex, nor low nor high, Let all the house of Jacob hear thy cry: For from the lowest cottage to the throne, All ranks of men in paths of vice have gone. They much profess, but yet their meaning's naught, For not one word's an emblem of their thought. In shew fictitious they draw nigh to me, And act as if Jehovah did not see. With pomp and splendor, void of soul and grace, They pay devotion in my holy place. A pleasure counterfeit smiles on each brow, And songs melodious from their lips do flow, That such as see them in this apish mode, Would almost swear they did delight in God; Yet all is fiction;—if you mark their course, They still proceed from evil deeds to worse. Their state devotion's all an action feign'd, For when they worship God, curs'd self's their end. Their slumb'ring priests like hirelings serve for pay, And idly sleep and saunter out the day. Like drowsy idle shepherds, who at noon, Stretch out their lazy limbs upon the down, And sleep securely in the heat of day, While all their flocks do wander far astray: And when the rav'ning wolves the sheep devour, The shepherd lies supine, and sleeps secure. At last the sluggard wakes, and as a proof He loves the flock, he cries and scolds the wolf. So thus the shepherds of the sacred fold, They cannot watch, but loudly can they scold. Even God himself, (they are so void of grace), They even dare to scold him to his face. 'How vain is it for us to fast and pray, 'To waste our labour and lament a day, 'To vex our souls for sin, for though that we 'Do fast and pray, Jehovah will not see; 'Or if he sees us, pays us no regard, 'Nor thinks our labour worthy of reward. 'Our schemes are baffl'd, and our troops defeat, 'And all our wisest projects are too late. 'The chiefs of Bozrah, who obey'd our laws, 'Have now rebell'd, and Libnah's join'd their cause; 'Now both are rebels, and defy our hosts, 'Defeat our armies, and invade our coasts: 'Yet we have fasted many a weary day, 'But now we find it vain to fast and pray.'

Can such profane dissemblers think that I Will either hear their voice or mind their cry? For when ye seem to fast in outward shew, You seek not things above, but things below; Your souls are lofty, and your hearts are proud, This all your actions do proclaim aloud; For when ye fast, and feign t' afflict your souls, You swing in pleasure, and ye swill in bowls; And when ye come to bow before my throne, Ye make your servants drudge like slaves at home. You never fast but when ye mean to smite, And never pray unless for power to fight. No more ye mean when ye your sins confess, Than to bribe heav'n for freedom to oppress. Think ye that God, all gracious, ever will Regard their litanies, who pray to kill? To kill! and whom? your very flesh and blood; Should I regard you, how could I be good? Cease thus profanely to invoke my aid, Or think I'll help to kill the souls I've made. Ye tyrants, dread my thunder, fear your God, And tremble at the lifting of my rod. Is it a solemn fast to please the Lord, To bow the head, and next transgress my word? Can sack-cloth sanctified, conceal your sin, Or hide from me your ugliness within? All space I view, and all the orbs that roll, Mine eyes behold, and penetrate the whole. Your inmost thoughts, their secret springs I see, Proceed from selfish vile hypocrisy. To me's a fast an acceptable day, When none but hypocrites do fast and pray; When bended necks and stubborn hearts draw nigh, To offer vain requests to the Most High? Cry loud and long, yet for no other ends, Except to kill their foes, enslave their friends.— Who never bend their knees before my bar, Till sin and guilt have plung'd them deep in war; And then they think that I am so unjust, To slaughter righteous men to feed their lust.— Their lust of power; and when they steal my word, Maintain they have dominion from the Lord. Their legislature, though reverse to mine, They yet eclept a government divine. Such is their power and impudence of face, They'd swear that Satan's power proceeds from grace: Even Saul, Manasseh, Ahab, all these three, Pretended each they had their power from me. Yet they from me had power no other way, Than wand'ring slaves have power to go astray; For power to live and move implies no more, Than to preserve what I have made before. Abuse of power depends upon men's will, And all must blame themselves when they do ill. All just dominion hath its base in right, And shines self-evident like beams of light: Man's lusts apart, all mankind must agree, That only righteous power proceeds from me. None need dispute who has a right to rule, The God of wisdom ne'er appoints a fool. When fools wear crowns, and tyrants sceptres sway, Then subjects sin not though they disobey: When legislative power's oppos'd to right, Men are not rul'd by justice, but by might; Force is no law, and violence no rule, Who practice either must be knave or fool. The scheme of government which I approve, Is that which rules the heart of man by love. What's Aaron's race or David's line to me, When priests are proud, and kings love tyranny? The poor man's interest, and his soul's as dear In my esteem, as those of prince or peer. Kings were appointed, legislatures made, Mens int'rests to preserve, not to invade. How great their power, how far their might should go, Are things quite plain, not difficult to shew. The end of power is universal good, A thing conspicuous, easy understood. First do no ill, than all the good you can, This is the end of government to man.

Kings often do, and princes oftimes pray, For power to rule with universal sway; For royal proclamations seldom come Abroad, unless to bring dominion home. When kings proclaim a fast, the blind may spy, They have at least a vineyard in their eye. Ahab, than whom a baser prince ne'er sway'd A scepter o'er a nation, whin'd and pray'd; Proclaim'd a fast at Jezebel's command, And issu'd humiliation through the land: But underneath this mask dark vengeance lay, And Naboth suffer'd when the court did pray; The royal monarch gain'd his point at last, And consecrated murder by a fast. The venal minister's of Ahab's court, Meant more by tasting than a simple sport; Like cunning politicians, who conceal Their dark designs against the commonweal; Who, lest some prying folk should chance to know, Strike up some novel masquerade or show, Some Cock-lane Ghost, or if these fail, at last Amuse the people with a public fast. State humiliations are but state engines, Intended chiefly to mask o'er black crimes . Fasts seldom from the royal power proceed, Unless the prince is sadly pinch'd indeed. Give monarch's troops, and but the treas'ry fill, They'll leave the tribes of men to fast who will. A poor exchequer and the reg'ments thin, To monarch's always is the greatest sin. When loads of wealth are squander'd on their lust, And all the pond'rous sums they hold in trust, Are scatter'd far abroad to gather power, They call it treason to refuse them more. The subjects must not judge, although they pay, How much the king and courtiers throw away. Implicit faith to courts is reckon'd due, And none have right to judge except a few;— Whose int'rest always blinds their judgments so, They never err, be't ill or good they do. Thus faith politic, like men's creed at Rome, Is free to be explor'd by only—some. The ignoble vulgar must remain content, Though monarchs should mortgage the continent. Thus speak the proud, but hear th' Eternal say What men should ponder when they fast and pray.

'He who proclaims a fast ought first to free 'His subjects from all yokes of tyranny: 'Loose all unrighteous bands both more and less, 'And cease e'en helpless beggars to oppress. 'Set prisons open, and the hungry feed, 'Bring water to the thirsty when they need; 'Give wholesome covering to the naked poor, 'To all in want set open wide the door. 'When to your home your helpless friends repair, 'Let them have always ready welcome there. 'Nor suffer sycophants for to deny 'Your presence, when a needy friend stands by. 'Then shall thy glory like the morning ray, 'Burst forth in splendor, and increase like day; 'Health like a bubbling fountain shall spring forth, 'And pleasures flow from east, south, west, and north. 'The trump of Fame before thy face shall bear 'Thy high renown, and glory close the rear; 'And when thy orisons shall ascend on high, 'Thy God, propitious, shall attend thy cry; 'Grant all thy suits, and thy requests receive, 'And even ere you ask shall answer give. 'Throw every yoke but legal bands away, 'Nor meanly rule with arbitrary sway; 'For threat'ning proclamations never can 'Insure obedience, or regard from man. 'How vain is it to think when kings command, 'That men should run if they but wag their hand.' Thus spoke Jehovah to the Jews of old, And this the Prophets to the Fathers told .