Hear then my argument: — confess we must,
A God there is, supremely wise and just:
If so, however things affect our sight,
As sings our bard,
But is it right, what here so oft appears,
That vice shou'd triumph, virtue sink in tears?
The inference then, that closes this debate,
Is, that there must exist a future state.
The wise extending their enquiries wide
See how both states are by connection ty'd;
Fools view but part, and not the whole survey,
So crowd existence all into a day.
Hence are they led to hope, but hope in vain,
That Justice never will resume her reign;
On this vain hope adulterers, thieves rely,
And to this altar vile assassins fly.
"But rules not God by general laws divine?
"Man's vice, or virtues change not the design. "
What laws are these? instruct us if you can: —
There's one design'd for brutes, and one for man:
Another guides inactive matter's course,
Attracting, and attracted by its force:
Hence mutual gravity subsists between
Far distant worlds, and ties the vast machine.