2 Oh grant me to desire the pain
That comes in kindness down,
More than the world's supremest gain
Succeeded by thy frown.

s Then, tho' thou bend my spirit low,
Love only shall I see:

The very hand that strikes the blow,
Was wounded once for me.

EDMESTON.

THE CHRISTIAN IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH.

10 most delightful hour by man
Experienc'd here below,

The hour that terminates his span,
His folly and his wo!

2 Worlds should not bribe me back to tread
Again life's dreary waste,
To see again my day o'erspread
With all the gloomy past.

3 My home henceforth is in the skies,
Earth, seas, and sun, adieu!

All heav'n unfolded to my eyes,
I have no sight for you.

4 So speaks the Christian, firm possess'd
Of Faith's supporting rod,

Then breathes his soul into its rest;
The bosom of his God.

COWPER.

NEW YEAR'S HYMN.

1 He lives, who lives to God alone,
And all are dead beside;
For other source than God is none,
Whence life can be supplied.

2 To live to God is to requite
His love as best we may;
To make his precepts our delight,
His promises our stay.

3 But life, within a narrow ring
Of giddy joys compris'd,

Is falsely nam'd, and no such thing,
But rather death disguis'd.

4 Can life in them deserve the name,
Who only live to prove

For what poor toys they can disclaim
An endless life above?

5 Who trample order, and the day
Which God asserts his own,
Dishonour with unhallow'd play,
And worship chance alone?

6 If scorn of God's commands, impress'd
On word and deed, imply
The better part of man unbless'd
With life that cannot die;

7 Such want it, and that want, uncur'd Till man resigns his breath,

Speaks him a criminal, assur'd
Of everlasting death.

8 Sad period to a pleasant course!
Yet so will God repay
Sabbaths profan'd without remorse,
And mercy cast away.

COWPER.

THE SAME.

1 Thankless for favours from on high,
Man thinks he fades too soon;
Tho' 'tis his privilege to die,
Would he improve the boon.

2 But he, not wise enough to scan
His best concerns aright,

Would gladly stretch life's little span
To ages, if he might.

3 Strange fondness of the human heart
Enamour'd of its harm!

Strange world, that costs it so much smart,
And still has power to charm.

4 Whence has the world her magic pow'r? Why deem we death a foe?

Recoil from weary life's best hour,
And covet longer wo!

5 The cause is conscience-conscience oft Her tale of guilt renews:

Her voice is terrible, tho' soft,

And dread of death ensues.

6 Then anxious to be longer spar'd, Man mourns his fleeting breath:

All evils then seem light compar'd
With the approach of death.

7 "Tis judgment shakes him; there's the fear
That prompts the wish to stay:
He has incurr'd a long arrear,
And must despair to pay.

8 Pay!-follow Christ, and all is paid;
His death your peace ensures;
Think on the grave where he was laid,
And calm descend to yours.

COWPER.

ЕРІТАРН.

1 Forgive, blest shade, the tributary tear, That mourns thy exit from a world like this; Forgive the wish that would have kept thee here,

And stay'd thy progress to the seats of bliss.

2 No more confin'd to grov'ling scenes of night,

No more a tenant pent in mortal clay; Now should we rather hail thy glorious flight,

And trace thy journey to the realms of day.

ANON.

UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE.

1 Man like a flower at morn appears, And blooms perhaps a few short years:

r

The flatterer, Hope, still leads him on
In quest of pleasure, finding none;
Or, if he finds it for a day,

It soon takes wings and flies away.
2 Oft things which promise passing fair,
Deceive and yield him naught but care.
Care, ever varying, ever new,
Must still our fallen race pursue;
Comes joy? care with it comes along,
And spoils the syren's sweetest song.
3 See pleasure with bewitching charms,
Man grasps it in his eager arms;
The vision swift dissolves in air,
He grasps-but finds it is not there;
The airy phantom still he views,
And still as vainly he pursues.

4 A better hope the Christian cheers,
Which joyful thro' life's gloom appears;
Firm on a rock his hope he builds,
Which to no storm nor tempest yields;
Let earth dissolve-he will not fear;
And why? his hope is not fix'd here.
5 He looks to heav'n where ev'ry joy
Is pure, unmix'd, without alloy;
Joys such as mortals never knew,
Nor raptur'd fancy ever drew,
Joys which shall never pass away,
Tho' heav'n and earth should both decay.

6 Tho' worldly pleasures here should fail,
And sorrows for awhile prevail;