In fact, they'd nearly touch'd my brain,

And reason on her throne would shake.

But pity will the vilest seek,

If punish'd guilt will not repine;—

I heard a heavenly teacher speak,

And felt the Sun of Mercy shine:

I hail'd the light! the birth divine!

And then was seal'd among the few;

Those angry fiends beheld the sign,

And from me in an instant flew.