The New Hampshire Gazette

The SOLILOQUY of a CHRISTIAN, wak'd by the EARTHQUAKE.

What shocking sound has rouz'd me thus from sleep?
It seems the rattling of the chariot wheels
Of the great GOD of thunder, riding swift
O'er clouds upon the wings of rushing winds.
It can't be that! My soul be all attention!
I hear the shrieks of horror and despair:
'Tis (O! 'tis nature's God bids nature be no more:
And am I ready?
Now faith collect, exert your utmost strength!
With shame I own my follies and my sins;
My sins and follies oft have pres'd me down
With guilt and blackened all the sacred cross;
But he that hung upon it hath sustained
The mighty load, and eas'd me of the weight.
Humbly I trust that my repentant heart
Has firm inur'd him my almighty Friend.
My GOD! with this dependence I resign
My soul, my All to his redeeming hands:
I'm ready now to stand before his bar;
The Judge my Friend, my great supreme reward,
The scene is awful. but my Saviour smiles.
Death. I defy thy sting! My Saviour broke
Its point when thou lay'dst vanquish'd at his feet,
When he from thy dark Vault triumphant rose,
And took possession of the realms of bliss.
With joy I'll now descend thy dreary vale;
The darkness of it can't conceal my GOD;
Then I'll refresh me with the cooling shade,
Till thou my Friend shall turn the key
T' unlock heaven's splendid adamantine gates,
For me to range the paradise of GOD
Let apennines, and alps, and all the hills
Let earthquakes, let ten thousand Etna's roar,
Whose heads are crown'd with everlasting snow!
Rend to their basis, and together rush,
With fervent heat let elements dissolve;
Let stars, and suns, and Systems, melt like wax,
And flow an ocean of tempestuous fire:
Let nature in one common ruin blend;
The shock I smile at, for I've grasp'd the chain,
That golden chain of love, expansive fix'd
To GOD's eternal throne, by that I hold;
With faith I'll keep my hold, nor let it go,
Till my Redeemer with his promis'd love
Shall draw me to himself, the centre of my joy.