The Brazen Serpent fet up.
HE Floodborn Prophet guides the facred
Hoft,
Around their Brother Edom's hoftile Coaft:
They thro' rough ways, thro' fcorching Defarts go,
Huge ragged Rocks above, and Sands below:
Agen of God and Mofes they complain,
And taftful Manna, heavenly Food, disdain:
The Lord difpleas'd a dreadful Army fent
Of fiery Serpents, who commanded went
Attack'd the Camp, and enter'd every Tent:
Among the reft himself th' Old Serpent came
His Mouth, his Eyes shot Flakes of smoky Flame:
Rais'd on his Folds, a Crown adorn'd his head,
And hiffing horrible his scaly Troops he led ::
Their Quarry feiz'd they poifnous Vapors breath
Around the Rebels twin'd, an odious Wreath,
And scatter every where Despair and Death:
Those who escape to injur'd Mofes fly,
Their Guilt acknowledge, and for Mercy cry:
To angry Heav'n he for the People prays,
Which bids him ftrait a Brazen Serpent raise
High in Mid-Air, which speedy Eafe thou'd give,
And all the wounded Hoft who look'd fhou'd live."
NUMBERS, Chap. XXI. from Ver. 4.
v. 5. The people fpake against God, and against Mofes, &c.
6. And the Lord fent fiery ferpents among the people, &c.
8. And the Lord faid unto Mofes, make thee a fiery ferpent, and set upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, fhall live.
9. And Mofes made a ferpent of brass, and pur it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a ferpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the ferpent of brass, he lived.
Nor did he this Delay, nor this in vain,
Whoever look, immediate ease obtain:
Their dying Eyes they turn, new Life receive,
Yet fcarce themselves the wond'rous Cure believe.
O thou, who on the curfed Tree wert rais'd,
While finful Men and wond'ring Angels gaz'd:
Whose Death our Life, whofe charming Mercy
brings
Health and Salvation underneath its Wings
Thy Merits to our wounded Souls apply,
Those who believe in thee, O Saviour! never die.
Sihon and Og.
O Sibon's Confines Ifrael's Sons drew near, Tyrants like him are never void of Fear: Their peaceful Hoft his jealous Court alarms, And the fierce King his fervile Subjects arms: In vain the Pilgrims friendly Terms propose, He with no friendly Mind to meet 'em goes: Their Troops with their long March fatigu'd,affails, Yet foon the Juftice of their Cause prevails. The Tyrant falls, his Slaves no longer ftand, To his lov'd Ifrael God difpos'd their Land. A double Conqueft now, but lately won, From Lot's inceftuous Daughter's elder Son; When Hefbbon fhin'd in Flames, and all its State, Cou'd not protect it from its ripen'd Fate.
Confines drew
Next, circling round, the facred Army came, To Bafhan's Region, not unknown to Fame.
Where the rank Soil did Nature's Laws refufe,
And Giant-Beafts, and Moniter Men produce,
Huge Og their King, an Iron Army brought.
In Edrei's Fields with trembling Ifrael fought.
His Sons like lofty Pines around him ftood,
He, like a Cedar in the midst, o'relooking all the
Wood.
An Iron gleam the hideous Monster made,
His Guards, like Dwarfts, fought underneath his
Nor this difcourag'd Mofes from the Fight,
Singly rofolv'd to tempt his boafted might:
Nor had his nervous Arms forgot to wield,"
The biting Ax, or pond'rous brazen Shield:
The moody Tyrant fearless he affails,
And in the Lord of Hoft's dread Name prevails.
His Head that towr'd aloft, he cou'd not reach,
But thro' his Bofom drives a fatal Breach :
The spouting Life a Speedy Paffage found,
He falls a cumbrous Load, and dints the trembling
Ground.
NUMBERS, Chap. XXI. Ver. 21. to
Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Ifrael into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
24. And Ifrael fmote him with the edge of the Sword, &c.
33. Og the king Bafhan went out against them be, and all his people, &c.
35. So they fmote him and his fons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive, &c.
Balak fends to Balaam, &c. The Afs
Hen Heav'n will blaft a lofty Tyrant's reign,
His Cunning and his Force are all in vain:
In vain he strives against its ftrong Decree,
His Hopes are Wind, his End is Infamy.
This, Balak, Lord of faithless Moab found,
When Ifrael's Songs approach'd his Eastern Bound:
When human Succours fail, to Hell he goes,
With curs'd Enchantments to confound his Foes,
To Balaam, thro' the Eaft too widely known,
By Magic infamoufly famous grown;
Who by ftrong Charms, and many a secret Spell,
The fervile Gods cou'd to his Aid compel:
No vulgar Embaffy the Tyrant fends,
Of Moab's Lords, and Midianitifh Friends:
T'enquire of Heav'n the Sorcerer pretends.
But to the Fiends in dead of Night he goes,
And asks their Counsel to destroy their Foes.
In vain obfequious to his Charms they come,
His Threats in vain, their Oracles are dumb.
When lo! a heav'nly Light the Room invades,
And chases thence the foul infernal Shades
They durft not stay, for God himself was there,'
Concern'd for Ifrael, his peculiar Care;
Beware, he crys, audacious Wretch beware, S
Move not a Foot, thou canst not hope fuccefs, Nor canft thou curfe the Man whom God will
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