UNSKILFUL he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour;
Far other aims his heart had learned to prize,
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.
In sacred duty prompt at sorrow's call,
He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all.
And as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt her new-fledged offspring to the skies;
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds and led the way.
At church with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place :
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.
The service past, around the pious man,
With ready zeal, each honest rustic ran;
E'en children followed with endearing wile,
And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile.
His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed,
Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed;
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven.
As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.
WHEN Joshua led the armed bands
Of Israel forth to war,
Moses apart with lifted hands
Engaged in fervent
When Moses' hands through weakness dropped,
The warriors fainted too:
Israel's success at once was stopped,
And Amalek bolder grew.
We now of fleets and armies vaunt,
And ships and men prepare;
But men like Moses most we want,
To save the state by prayer.
Lord! hear our prayers, and grant us aid;
Bid war and discord cease;
Heal the sad breach which sin has made,
And bless the world with peace.
THOU truest friend man ever knew,
Thy constancy I've tried;
Where all were false, I've found thee true
My counsellor and guide.
The mines of earth no treasure give
That could this volume buy;
In teaching me the way to live,
It taught me how to die.
FRIEND after friend departs
Who has not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts
That finds not here an end.
Were this frail world our final rest,
Living or dying, none were blest.
Beyond the flight of time;
Beyond the reign of death;
There is, we know, a blessed clime,
Where life is not a breath;
Nor life's affections transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upward and expire.
There is a world above,
Where parting is unknown;
A long eternity of love,
Formed for the good alone;
And Faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that glorious sphere.
Thus star by star declines,
Till all are passed away;
As morning high and higher shines
To pure and perfect day :
Nor sink those stars in empty night,
But hide themselves in heaven's own light.
A MOTHER'S LOVE.
A MOTHER'S love-how sweet the name
What is a mother's love?
A noble, pure, and tender flame,
Enkindled from above,
To bless a heart of earthly mould;
Love that through life can ne'er grow cold;
This is a mother's love.
A parent's heart may prove a snare;
The child she loves so well,
Her hand may lead, with erring care,
Down the broad road to hell:
Nourish the frame-destroy the mind;
Thus do the blind mislead the blind,
E'en with a mother's love.
Blest infant, whom his mother taught
Early to seek the Lord,
And poured upon his dawning thought,
The day-spring of the word;
This was the lesson to her son-
"Time is eternity begun :"
Behold that mother's love.
TRUE PLEASURES.
YE who smile in rosy youth,
Glow with manhood, fade through years, Send the life, the light, the truth,
To dead hearts, blind eyes, deaf ears;
And your very pleasures make
Charities, for Jesus' sake.
THE LIFE OF MAN.
OPENING the map of God's extensive plan,
We find a little isle-the life of man;
Eternity's unknown expanse appears,
Circling around and limiting his years.
The busy race examine, and explore
Each creek and cavern of the dangerous shore;
With care collect which in their eyes excels,
Some shining pebbles, and some weeds and shells.
Thus laden, dream that they are rich and great,
And happiest he that groans beneath his weight.
The waves o'ertake them in their serious play,
And every hour sweeps multitudes away;
They shriek and sink, survivors start and weep,
Pursue their sport, and follow to the deep.
A few forsake the throng; with lifted eyes,
Ask wealth of God, and gain the heavenly prize,
Truth, wisdom, grace, and peace like that above;
Sealed with his signet whom they serve and love;
Scorned by the rest, with patient hope they wait
A kind release from their imperfect state;
And unregretted, are soon snatched away
From scenes of sorrow into glorious day.
HE walks with Christ who lives a life of
And daily casts on Him his every care;
Who in this sweet and sacred converse knows
The soul's refreshment, and the soul's repose.
He walks with Christ who lives a life of faith,
And builds his hope on what the promise saith;
Who letting this world go, the next secures,
And still, as seeing unseen things, endures.
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