A
P O E M.
FROM realms of bondage and a Tyrant's reign,
Our Godlike Fathers bore no slavish chain,
To Pharaoh's face th' inspired
Patriarchs stood,
To seal their virtue, with a Martyr's blood :
But lives so precious, such a sacred seed.
The source of empires, Heav'n's high will
decreed;
He snatch'd the SAINTS from
Pharaoh's impious hand,
And bid his chosen seek this distant land :
Thus to these climes th' illustrious Exiles sped,
'Twas freedom prompted, and the Godhead led.
Eternal woods the virgin soil defac'd,
A dreary desart, and a howling waste ;
The haunt of tribes no pity taught to spare,
And they oppos'd them with remorseless war,
But