4. Youths, though yet no losses grieve you,
Gay in health, and many a grace;
Let not cloudless skies deceive you ;
Summer gives to autumn place.
5. Yearly in our course returning,
Messengers of shortest stay;
Thus we preach this truth concerning,
Heav'n and earth shall pass away.
6. On the tree of lite eternal,
Man let all thy hopes be staid;
Which alone, for ever vernal,
Bears a leaf that shall not fade." DR. HORNE,
SECTION XVIII.
Trust in the goodness of God.
1. WHY, O my soul, why thus deprest,
And whence this anxious fear?
Let former favours fix thy trust,
And check the rising tear.
2. When darkness and when sorrows rose,
And press'd on ev'ry side,
Did not the Lord sustain thy steps,
And was not God thy guide?
3. Affliction is a stormy deep,
Where wave resounds to wave:
Though o'er my head the billows roll,
I know the Lord can save.
4. Perhaps before the morning dawns,
He'll reinstate my peace;
For he who bade the tempest roar,
Can bid the tempest cease.
5. In the dark watches of the night,
I'll count his mercies o'er;
I'll praise him for ten thousand past,
And humbly sue for more.
6. Then, O my soul, why thus deprest,
And whence this anxious fear?
Let former favours fix thy trust,
And check the rising tear.
7. Here will I rest, and build my hopes,
Nor murmur at his rod;
He's more than all the world to me,
My health, my life, my God!
1. AWAKE my soul, stretch ev'ry nerve,
And press with vigour on:
A heav'nly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.
2. A cloud of witnesses around,
Hold thee in full survey:
Forget the steps already trod, And onward urge thy way. 3. 'Tis God's all animating voice, That calls thee from on high; 'Tis his own hand presents the prize To thine aspiring eye;
4. That prize with peerless glories bright, Which shall new lustre boast,
When victor's wreaths, and monarchs' gems, Shall blend in common dust.
5. My soul, with sacred ardour fir'd,
The glorious prize pursue;
And meet with joy the high command,
To bid this earth adieu.
The dying Christian to his soul.
1. VITAL sparks of heavenly flame!
Quit, oh quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.
2. Hark! they wisper; angels say,
"Sister spirit come away."
What is this absorbs me quite;
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3. The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav'n opens on my eyes! my ears
With sound seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?
SECTION XXI.
Epitaph on a poor and virtuous man.
1. STOP, reader, here, and deign to look
On one without a name;
Ne'er enter'd in the ample book
Of fortune, or of fame.
2. Studious of peace, he hated strife;
Meek virtues fill'd his breast;
His coat of arms, "a spotless life;"
"An honest heart," his crest.
3. Quarter'd there with was innocence ; And thus his motto ran;
"A conscience void of all offence
Before both God and man."
4. In the great day of wrath, though pride
Now scorns his pedigree,
Thousands shall wish they'd been allied
To this great family.
1. WHEN Christ, among the sons of men,
In humble form was found,
With cruel slanders, false and vain,
He was encompass'd round.
2. The woes of men, his pity mov'd;
Their peace, he still pursu’d;
They render'd hatred for his love,
And evil for his good.
3. Their malice rag'd without a cause,
Yet, with his dying breath,
He pray'd for murd'rers on the cross,
And bless'd his foes in death.
4. From the rich fountain of his love,
What streams of mercy flow!
"Father, forgive them," Jesus cries,
"They know not what they do."
5. Let not this bright example shine,
In vain before our eyes?
Give us, Great God, a soul like his,
To love our enemies.
The dangers and snares of life.
1. AWAKE, my soul! lift up thine eyes;
See there thy foes against thee rise,
In long array, a num'rous host!
Awake, my soul, or thou art lost.
2. Here giant danger threat'ning stands,
Must'ring his pale terrific bands:
There pleasure's silken banners spread,
And willing souls are captive led.
3. See where rebellious passions rage,
And fierce desires and lusts engage;
The meanest foe of all the train
Has thousands and ten thousands slain.*
4. Thou tread'st upon enchanted ground
Perils and snares beset thee round:
Beware of all, guard every part,
But most the traitor in thy heart.
5. Come then, my soul, now learn to wield
The weight of thine immortal shield:
Put on the armour from above
Of heav'nly truth and heav'nly love.
6. The terror and the charm repel,
And pow'rs of earth, and pow'rs of hell:
The Man of Calvary triumph'd here:
Why should his faithful followers fear? BARBAULD
The Divine Being knows and sees every thing.
1. LORD, thou hast search'd and seen me through,
Thine eye beholds with piercing view,
My rising and my resting hours,
My heart and flesh, with all their pow'rs.
3. My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my God distinctly known;
He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my op'ning lips they break.
3. Within thy circling pow'r I stand,
On ev'ry side I find thy hand :
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
4. Amazing knowledge, vast, and great!
What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the pow'rs I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.
5. O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest!
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.-
6. Could I so false, so faithles prove,
To quit thy service and thy love,
Where. Lord, could I thy presence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?
7 If up to heav'n I take my flight,
'Tis there thou dwell'st inthron'd in light:
Or dive to hell, there vengeance reigns,
And Satan groans beneath thy chains.
8. If, mounted on a morning ray,
I fly beyond the western sea;
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