The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

The Littleness of Human Wisdom.

Know man! That God has given thee understanding to guide thy behaviour, and not to penetrate into the essence of things which he has created. VOLTAIRE.
measures earth, the air he weighs,
The spacious sky above surveys,
The planetary sphere Explores; views suns. on suns advance,
And worlds, on worlds, thro' heaven's expanse,
That roll in order there.
But how a single grass doth grow,
A cherry ripen,--lily blow,
To him is quite unknown;
Yet full of pride,--temerity,
Nature's grand scheme he would descry,
So wond'rous learned grown.
By laws, his own detroyeth worlds,
Or new ones into Ether hurls;
Pervades with piercing eye
All things in heaven, in air, on earth,
What cause gives each effect its birth,
Tho' plann'd by the Most High.
But how his feet obey his will,
At his command move, or stand still,
He knows not;--yet would tell,
Such his presumptuous confidence,
The Almighty's place of Residence.
Where Situated Hell.
How God seeth, acteth, and commands;
Past, present, future, understands;
Yet ah! he doth not know
Himself.--or how the sense retains,
Of feeling pleasures, fears or pains,
Or doth exist, and grow.
Go wondrous creature! to be good First learn! to give the hungry food,
And clothe the naked poor!
Go,--cherish worth, true merit prize,
'Thy country's happiness devise,
These, these, are in thy power.
This done,--of nature's secrets rare,
Take to the full,--thy allotted share,
But what was pre-design'd,
Too vast for thee, by heaven's high will.
Superior to all human skill,
Leave to th' Eternal mind.
To whom creation does belong,
Who made all right and nothing wrong,
And over all presides;
Governs, direals, the according whole;
Of beauty,--order, is the soul,
And all in perfect wisdom guides.