Let the land mourn through all its coasts, The king lay by his state; Princes and rulers, at their posts, Awhile sit desolate. | Let priests and people, high and low, Rich, poor, and great, and small, Invoke, in fellowship of woe, The Maker of them all. | For God hath summon'd from his place Death, in a direr form, To waken, warn, and scourge our race, Than earthquake, fire, or storm. | Let Churches weep within their pale, And families apart; Let each in secresy bewail The plague of his own heart. | So, while the land bemoans its sin, The pestilence may cease, And mercy, tempering wrath, bring in Not health alone, but peace:-- | The peace of God, which passeth thought, Keep every heart and mind, Till all, by this affliction taught, Be to His will resign'd. | |