“O Father, gracious was that word which closed Thy sovereign sentence, that Man should find grace; For which both Heaven and Earth shall high extol Thy praises, with the innumerable sound Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne Encompassed shall resound thee ever blest. For should Man finally be lost, should Man, Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son, Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though joined With his own folly? that be from thee far, That far be from thee, Father, who art judge Of all things made, and judgest only right! Or shall the Adversary thus obtain His end, and frustrate thine? shall he fulfil His malice, and thy goodness bring to naught? Or proud return, though to his heavier doom, Yet with revenge accomplished, and to Hell Draw after him the whole race of mankind, By him corrupted? or wilt thou thyself Abolish thy creation, and unmake, For him, what for thy glory thou hast made? So should thy goodness and thy greatness both Be questioned and blasphemed without defence.”
To whom the great Creator thus replied: “O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight, Son of my bosom, Son who art alone My word, my wisdom, and effectual might, All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are, all As my eternal purpose hath decreed. Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will; Yet not of will in him, but grace in me Freely vouchsafed. Once more I will renew His lapsed powers, though forfeit, and enthralled By sin to foul exorbitant desires: Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand On even ground against his mortal foe; By me upheld, that he may know how frail His fallen condition is, and to me owe All his deliverance, and to none but me. Some I have chosen of peculiar grace, Elect above the rest; so is my will: The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warned Their sinful state, and to appease betimes The incensed Deity, while offered grace Invites; for I will clear their senses dark, What may suffice, and soften stony hearts To pray, repent, and bring obedience due. To prayer, repentance, and obedience due, Though but endeavoured with sincere intent, Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut. And I will place within them as a guide My umpire Conscience; whom if they