Then most from John, when the obtain'd,
The facred deed which pow'er restrain'd;
A deed that's fraught with latent good,
That merits being understood,

That gives no licence to confine
The debtor *, in a jail to pine..

* Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur nifi per legale judicium parium fuorum. Magna Charta. See Confiderations on the Law of Infolvency, with a Proposal for a Reform, by James Bland Burges, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn. Some may conceive, that the scheme to prevent, at the firft, the arreft of Debtors, upon the mere oath of the party interested, is romantic and visionary. At all events, however, I think, that when a debtor, who has not acted fraudulently, will furrender all he is worth to his creditors, it is wrong to keep him in jail. The state of Pennsylvania has long acted upon this humane and wife principle. But the glo rious circumftances in which America should be imitated by Britain, and all the nations of the world, are the having no established church, and the unlimited toleration which is granted in the United States to all fects of religion. It has been thought by some, that these circumftances would injure the cause of true religion, and would produce inceffant contenfions. On the contrary, they have been found the most favourable to the cause of religion and peace. The payment of tithes is a violation of religious freedom, and a disgrace to England. In Scotland they are happily free from this badge of Slavery as well as in America. France has also lately fhaken it off. It is to be confeffed, however, that in America there may be danger from the unlimited' indulgence which is given to the Roman Catholics. Some falutary, prudent restraint, and no other, fhould be laid upon them, to prevent their overturning the government, where fears of fuch a proceeding are rationally to be entertained.

Britain! form'd by Nature's partial hand,
The feat of rts, renown'd, delightful land!
Think oft upon the fame of ancient Rome,
Whofe eagles to remoteft regions flew ;.

And learn this lesson from her awful doom,
That the fame judgements the fame crimes pursue;
The God who her chaftis'd may not spare thee;
Revere his laws, give others freedom, and be free..

FOURTH STROPHE..

Dire fuperftition aim'd

An influence eternal o'er the mind;
A privilege from Heav'n fhe claim'd
To lord it uncontrol'd o'er all mankind.
The fword, the jail, the rack fhe us'd,,
All Nature's deareft rights abus'd;'
Against her cries she shut her ears,

Wading through feas of blood and tears...
At length she made the blafphemous pretence,
Which shocks each principle of fenfe,
That equal rev'rence fhould be giv'n
To her tribunal, as to that auguft of Heav'n..

FOURTH ANTISTROPHE.

But now, O peftilent pow'r!

Of man, the fcourge, the tempter, and the fnare,

Is

Is coming thy appointed hour,
Thy priests no longer their affignments bear,
Over thy fad devoted land,

The fierce avenging angel's hand

Is rais'd, deftruction wide to spread,
Nor will, it is enough, be faid,
That city till, of tyranny the nurse,

Feel in th' extreme the blafting curfe;
Till o'er her ftreets, a ruin'd heap*,

Forlorn the owl fhall cry, and hideous fatyrs leap.,

FOURTH

* Almost every commentator of eminence upon Scripture suppofes, that the living and vifible city of Rome will be made defolate after the 1260 years of papal ufurpation are expired. They differ about the time when thefe years are to expire. The celebrated hiftorian Thuanus tells us, that about the time of Henry the Fourth, of France, many fuppofed the day was then come wherein the papal power would be finally abolished. The fame hopes were enter tained about the time of William the third of England. It is na tural to anticipate the day of its deftruction: wisdom, however, should inftruct us, not to attempt the final deftruction of the papal power till the time is fully ripe. If 1260 years are determined by the prophets of the Almighty for the ufurpation of the papal power, that power cannot longer continue; and in a premature attempt to extirpate it we may be overwhelmed with ridicule and ruin. It is faid in Revelations,“ And the ten horns which thou "faweft upon the beaft, thefe fhall hate the whore, and thall "make her defolate, and raked, and fhall eat her flesh, and burn "her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beaft, until

"the

FOURTH EPODE..

How has the wild fanatic race
Of Mahomet, O foul difgrace!
Tormented all the Chriftian world!
How their inceffant vengeance hurl'd!?
How our free children have they borne,,
From all life's fweetest comforts, torn,,
To labour at the oar in chains,

Or feel the whip's corroding pains!

"the words of God fhall be fulfilled. And the woman which's "thou faweft is that great city which reigneth over the kings of "the earth." Chap. xvii. ver. 16. 17, 18. In the fame chapterit.is faid, "And the ten horns which thou faweft are ten kings." Ver. 12. And a little before, "The feven heads are feven "mountains on which the woman fitteth." Ver. 9. It feems. here to be plainly foretold, that the various empires which for merly. fupported the power of Rome, (which is feated on seven mountains) fhall, after a certain time, be, the inftruments of its deftruction. The King of France, who was called the eldest fon of the church, has lately annihilated, or has been made to annihilate, the papal power in his dominions. When Spain, Portugal,, Naples, Poland, Venice, &c. follow the footsteps of France, then it would be prudent for those who are in Rome to fly from it as haftily as they can. See my Obfervations upon the Downfal of. the Papal Power, and the confequent Events.

But:

But not far diftant is the glorious time *,
The day foretold by ancient feers fublime,

*"And the king of the north fhall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horfemen, and with many "fhips." Daniel, chap. xi. ver. 40. The idea of maintaining a balance of power in Europe, is in many respects deserving of commendation, provided it does not militiate against the fulfilment of the prophecies. Our Saviour himself said, "I am not come

to destroy the prophets, but to fulfil." It will appear, if we attend to Daniel, to be certainly foretold, that Ruffia should overcome the Turks at an appointed time. It would be wise, one would think, in the Christian powers, at the arrival of this time, (which I think will be immediately after the annihilation of the papal power) to co-operate with the Ruffians, and to conquer fome of the Turkish provinces for themselves, that the power of Ruff might not be too far aggrandized. The power of the Turks and of the Barbary states may, in fome meafure, be immediately abridged. It is difficult to fay how far. There is a certain odious crime, the difgrace of humanity, to which the Turks are extravagantly addicted. This, with their belief in predestination, I conceive to be the causes of that inceffant plague which defolates their dominions. For their high criminality in this respect, fee "Aron Hill's Travels into the Ottoman Empire, &c. p. 8o. See Robertson's edition of Salmon's Geographical Grammar, p. 422. See Fitt's Account of the Mahometans, p. 26. See The Present State of the Ottoman Empire, by Paul Ricaut, p. 111. See the Work of Elias Habefci on the Ottoman Empire, in various places. See Corneille Le Bruyn's Travels, p. 101, 102. See various other authors. The elegant Busbequius fays of it, "Quod nefas Turcis "familiare." Epistol. p. 156.

When