And now those few, who are returned again,

Thy searching judgments to their dwellings trace.

269.

"O pass not, Lord, an absolute decree,

Or bind thy sentence unconditional;

But in thy sentence our remorse foresee,

And in that foresight this thy doom recal.

270.

"Thy threatnings, Lord, as thine, thou may'st revoke;

But, if immutable and fixed they stand,