O! teach me due returns to give,
And to thy glory let me live!
And then my days shall shine the more
Or pass more blessed than before.
THE beam repelling mists arise,
And Evening spreads obscurer skies.
The twilight will the night forerun,
And night itself be soon begun.
Upon thy knees devoutly bow,
And pray the God of Glory now
To fill thy breast; or deadly sin
May cause a blinder night within.
And, whether pleasing vapours rise,
Which gently dim the closing eyes;
Which make the weary members blest,
With sweet refreshment in their rest;
Or whether spirits, in the brain,
Dispel their soft embrace again;
And on my watchful bed I stay,
Forsook by sleep, and waiting day;
Be God for ever in my view,
And never he forsake me too!
But still, as day concludes in night,
To break again the new-born light,
His wond'rous bounty let me find,
With still a more enlighten'a mind;
When grace and love in one agree,--
Grace from God, and love froin me;
Grace that will from Heaven inspire,
Love that steals it in desire;
Grace and love that mingle heams,
And fill me with increasing flames.
Thou that hast thy palace far
Above the moon and every star ;
Thou, that sittest on a throne
To which the night was never known;
Regard my voice and make me blest,
By kindly granting its request!
If thoughts on thee my soul employ,
My darkness will afford me joy,
Till thou shalt call, and I shall soar,
And part with darkness evermore.
HE left his Christian friends and native strand,
By pity for benighted men constrain'd;
His heart was fraught with charity unfeign'd,
His life was strict, his manners meek and bland:
Long dwelt he lonely in a heathen land,
In want and weariness-yet ne'er complain'd;
But labour'd that the lost sheep might be gain'd,
Not seeking recompense from human hand.
The credit of the arduous works he wrought
Was reap'd by other men who came behind.
The world gave him no honour-none he sought,
But cherish'd Christ's example in his mind:
To one great aim his heart and hopes were given..
To serve his God, and gather souls to heaven.
ALL after pleasures as I rid one day,
My horse and I both tir'd, body and mind,
With full cry of affections quite astray,
I took up in the next inn I could find.
There, when I came, whom found I, but
My dearest Lord; expecting, till the grief
Of pleasures brought me to him; ready there,
To be all passengers' most sweet relief?
O Thou, whose glorious, yet contracted light,
Wrapt in night's mantle, stole into a manger;
Since my dark soul and brutish is thy right,
To man, of all beasts, be not thou a stranger.
Furnish and deck my soul; that thou mayst have
A better lodging than a rack, or grave.
The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?
My God, no hymn for thee?
My soul's a shepherd too; a flock it feeds
Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The pasture is thy word; the streams, thy grace
Enriching all the place.
Shepherd and flock shali sing, and all my powers
Out-sing the day-light hours.
Then we will chide the Sun, for letting night
Take up his place and right;
We sing one common Lord; wherefore he should
Himself the candle hold.
I will go searching, till I find a Sun-
Shall stay till we have done-
A willing shiner; that shall shine as gladly,
As frost-nipt suns look sadly.
Then we will sing and shine all our own day;
His beams shall cheer my breast; and both so twine, Till ev'n his beams sing, and my music shine.
MY God, I heard this day,
That none doth build a stately habitation,
But he that means to dwell therein.
What house more stately hath there been,
Or can be, than is Man? to whose creation
All things are in decay.
For Man is ev'ry thing;
And more. He is a tree, yet bears no fruit.
A beast; yet is, or should be more;
Reason and speech we only bring.
thank us, if they are not mute;
Parrots may
They go upon the score.
Man is all symmetry,
Full of proportions, one limb to another,
And to all the world besides.
Each part may call the farthest brother:
For head with foot hath private amity;
And both, with moons and tides.
Nothing hath got so far,
But Man hath caught and kept it, as his prey. dismount the highest star:
He is, in little, all the sphere.
Herbs gladly cure our flesh, because that they
Find their acquaintance there.
For us the winds do blow,
The earth doth rest, heav'n move, and fountains flow
Nothing we see, but means our good;
As our delight, or as our treasure.
The whole is either our cupboard of food,
Or cabinet of pleasure.
The stars have us to bed:
Night draws the curtain; which the sun withdraws,
Music and light attend our head.
All things unto our flesh are kind,
In their descent and being; to our mind
In their ascent and cause.
Each thing is full of duty:
Waters united are our navigation:
Distinguished, our habitation;
Below, our drink; above, our meat:
Both are our cleanliness. Hath one such beauty?
Then how are all things neat!
More servants wait.on Man,
Than he'll take notice of. In ev'ry path
He treads down that, which doth befriend him
When sickness makes him pale and wan.
Oh, mighty love! Man is one world, and hath
Another to attend him.
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