An Admonition To A Sick Person Poem by Rees Prichard

If thou already hast not made thy will,
No longer that important work neglect,
But share thy substance, to thy utmost skill,
As Justice and Christianity direct.

That he thy mind may with his wisdom guide,
His Holy Spirit of thy God desire,
To teach thee, how thou may'st thy wealth divide,
As is most pleasing to thy heav'nly Sire.

To thy dear Saviour's care, thy soul devise,
Thy body to its pristine dust commend,
'Till from the grave it shall in glory rise,
And to the mansions of the just ascend.

As Jacob did his uncle's sheep, do thou
From thy own goods thy neighbour's keep a-part ;
Give ev'ry one, thou dealest with, his due,
And pay thy debts, ere thou dost hence depart.

Insert not in thy will a single mite,
Thou by oppression or by fraud didst gain;
Lest they, whom thou hast injur'd of their right,
Shou'd, on the day of doom, to God complain.

Presume not - if thou'dst save thy soul alive,
Unto thy children ill-got gains to grant ;
To wantonness they will thy offspring drive,
And bring them soon to beggary and want.

Though of three steers alone thou art possess'd
By right, amongst thy children to divide:
Yet shall those few with more increase be bless'd
Than thousands, wrongfully obtain'd, beside.

The little parcel, which Patriarch bought,
Better than Joram's sin-stain'd kingdom throve,
And those few sheep which Jacob justly got,
Than all the flocks the guileful Laban drove.

As Naboth's vineyard by injustice gain'd,
Consum'd the whole that Ahab once possest :
So does the wealth, by wickedness obtain'd,
Corrode, however justly got, the rest.

Whoe'er is with unrighteous riches curst,
He is like Pharaoh's meagre kine of yore,
Which eat the fat ones - yet, though almost burst,
They seem'd no fuller than they were before.

Whatever then is just and lawful, give
Among thy children, servants, and thy kin,
But dare not, if thou'd'st save thy soul alive,
Bequeath to them, what has been earn'd by sin.

As God the manna formerly increas'd,
Or as the Widow's meal in substance throve,
Or as the cruse of oil, to flow ne'er ceas'd;
So shall the pittance, justly gain'd, improve.

The better part of what thou art possest,
To Isaac, thy true heir, be sure to give,
Then wisely portion out among the rest
(As thou canst best afford) wherewith to live.

Give to thy wife her thirds of thy estate,
Nor is it right that thou shou'dst give her less;
To give her more, wou'd but disputes create,
And bring perhaps thy offspring to distress.

Never thy servant turn unpaid away,
Thy poor relation from thy barn supply,
Rob not the needy lab'rer of his pay :
Wealth, by such ways acquir'd, aloud will cry.

The Gospel and the church remember still,
The school, or college, where thou wast maintain'd,
Thy native town, or county, in thy will;
If thou to pow'r and riches hast attain'd.

If thou art childless, and canst ought bestow,
If thou dost Christ, and his religion love,
A Free-school in neglected Wales endow,
Where youths, for want of teaching, can't improve.

Remember Joseph, that in prison lies,
To Lazarus, his daily dole allow,
Give thy alms now, if thou art truly wise,
'Tis the last gift perchance thou canst bestow!

If to thy friends, thou shalt impart thy store,
Thy children, or thy wife, 'tis their's alone,
But what thou givest to the truly poor,
Is hoarded for thyself, and all thy own.

Return, whatever thou hast filch'd away,
Whom thou hast wrong'd (far as thou canst) redress;
Ere thy removal hence, thy just debts pay :
When once thou'rt in, from hell, there's no regress.

The pan, the pot, the household goods restore,
The houses, tenements, and ill-earn'd gains,
To them, to whom they did belong before;
Lest thou shou'dst go to everlasting pains.

Let not the farm which thou hast forc'd away
From thy poor neighbour, sore against the grain,
Occasion thee to lose the realms of day :
Give him his land and tenement again.

Now, like Zacchëus, thou may'st make amends
For all th' oppressive acts which thou hast done;
But it no longer on thyself depends,
To pay a mite - when thou to hell art thrown.

Agree with him, whom thou hast wrong'd, in haste,
Ere thou art brought before thy Judge to stand;
Lest thou shou'dst be to hell's deep dungeon cast,
Where thou must satisfy his whole demand.

Though now, no more than any Turk or Jew,
Thou dost the Gospel of our Lord obey ;
Yet this neglect, ere many days, thou'lt rue,
And tear the flesh from thine own arms away.

How many thousands have to hell been thrown,
Because they did not, what they stole, restore,
Who'd give the world, this day, was it their own,
In satisfaction to the injur'd poor.

Thou shalt be pardon'd, so thou dost repent,
Shou'dst thou against the Lord himself transgress;
But if thou shou'dst thy neighbour circumvent,
God ne'er will pardon, 'till he meets redress:

But if the persons, thou hast wrong'd, are dead,
Unto their heirs, what thou hast stol'n, restore,
Or shou'd they from their native land be fled,
Then give that portion to the neigh'bring poor.

Give not (what is not thine indeed to give)
Amongst thy heirs, another person's due:
'Twill sink thee to the pit of hell, and drive
Thy beggar'd offspring the bad act to rue.

Give not among thy children in thy will,
What thou hast got by usury, or wrong,
Or any method fraudulently ill:
Gains of that sort endure but seldom long.

Observe the griping us'rers sons and heirs,
Those of th' oppressor, and successful thief,
How each from church to church for pence repairs,
And daily with his wallet begs relief!

Such shall the fate of thine own offspring be!
If thou amongst them ill-got wealth shalt share:
For God will visit, as we oft may see,
The father's sins upon the hapless heir.

Place then the fear of God before thy sight,
When thou by will thy substance dost bequeath,
Give unto each what is his proper right,
And justly share thy wealth, before thy death.

May God thy heart in this great work direct -
May God impow'r thee thy account to give -
May God thy mind from all mistakes protect -
May God preserve thy precious soul alive.