ars,

ES.

Being.

T. ers. the sod, et flowers,

raise,

[Part 2

Acknowledgment of Divine favours.

1. WHENE'ER I take my walks åbroâd,
How many poor I see!

What shall I render to my God,
For all his gifts to me?

2. Not more than others I dēşĕrve',
Yet God has giv'n me more;

For I have food, while others starve,
Or beg from door to door.

3. How many children in the street,
Half naked, I behold!

While I am cloth'd from head to feet,
And cover'd from the cold!

4. While some poor creatures* scarce can tell,
Where they may lay their head,

I have a home wherein to dwell,
And rest upon my bed.

5. While others early learn to swear,
And curse, and lie, and steal,
LORD! I am taught thy name to fear,
And do thy holy will.

6. Are these thy favours, day by day,
To me above the rest?

Then let me love thee more than they,
And try to serve thee best.

SECTION III.

The excellence of the Bible.

1. GREAT GOD! with wonder and with praise
On all thy works I look;

But still thy wisdom, power, and grace,
Shine brightest in thy book.

2. The stars, which in their courses roll,
Have much instruction given;

But thy good word informs my soul
How I may get to heaven.

3. The fields provide me food, and show
The goodness of the Lord;

4. Here are my choicest treasures hid,
Here my best cóm'fórt lies;
Here my desires are satisfied,
And hence my hopes ǎrige.

5. Lord! make me understand thy law;

Show what my faults have been ; And from thy gospel let me draw Pardon for all my sin.

6. For here I learn how Je'şus died,
To save my soul from hell:

Not all the books on earth beside
Such heavenly wonders tell.

7. Then let me love my Bible more,
And take a fresh delight,
By day to read these wonders o'er,
And meditate by night.

SECTION IV.

On In'dustry.

1. How does the little busy* bee Improve each shi'ning hour; And gather honey all the day, From every op'ning flower 2. How skilfully she builds her cell! How neat she spreads the wax! And labours hard to store it well,

With the sweet food she makes.

3. In works of labour, or of skill,
I would be busy too:

For Sa'tăn finds some mis'chief still
For idle hands to do.

4. In books, or work, or healthful play, Let my first years be păst;

That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

How sweet at early morning's rise,
To view the glories of the skies,
And mark with curious eye, the sun
Prepare his radiant course to run!
Its fairest form then nature wears,
And clad in brightest green appears.
The sprightly lark, with artless lay,
Proclaims the entrance of the day.

2. How sweet to breathe the gale's perfume',
And feast the eye with nature's bloom!
Along' the dewy lawn to rove,

And hear the musick of the grove!
Nor you, ye delicate and fair,
Neglect to taste the morning air;
This will your nerves with vigour brace,
Improve and heighten every grace;
Add to your breath a rich per-fume';
And to your cheeks a fairer bloom:
With lustre teach your eyes to glow,
And health and cheerfulness bestow.

SECTION VI.

The drowning Fly.

1. In yonder glass, behold a drowning Fly! Its little feet, how vainly does it ply!

ARM'STRONG.

Poor helpless insect! and will no one save?
Will no one snatch thee from the threat'ning grave?
My finger's top shall prove a friendly shore,
There, trembler, all thy dangers now àre o'er;
Wipe thy wet wings, and banish all thy fear:
Go, join thy num'rous kindred in the air.
Away it flies; resumes its harmless play;
And lightly gambols in the golden ray.

2. Smile not, spectators, at this hum'ble deed:
For you, perhaps', a nobler tǎsk's decreed:
A young and sinking family to save;

To raise the thoughtless from destruction's wave!
To
you, for help, the wretched lift their eyes;:
O! hear, for pity's sake, their plaintive cries;
Ere* long, unless some guardian interpose,
Q'er their devoted heads, the floods may close.

* are.

is the roset what a beautiful flow'r!

2. Yet the rose has one pow'rful vir'tue to boast,
Above all the flowers of the field:

When its leaves àre all dead, and fine colours lost,
Still how sweet a per-fume' it will yield!

3. So frail is the youth and beauty of men,

Though they bloom and look gay like the rose; For all our fond care to preşĕrve' them is vain; Time kills them as fast as he goes.

4. Then I'll not be proud of my youth or my beauty,
Since both of them wither and fade;

But gain a good name by performing my duty:
This will scent like a rose, when I'm dead.

SECTION X.

The Ant.

1. THESE emmets, how little they are in our eyes! We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies, Without our regard or concern':

WATTS.

Yet as wise as we are, if we went to their school,
There's many a sluggard, and many a fool,

Some lessons of wisdom might learn.

2. They don't wear their time out in sleeping or play, But gather up corn in a sun-shiny day,

And for winter they lay up their stores:
They manage their work in such regular forms,
One would think they foresaw all the frosts and the storms,
And so brought their food within doors.

3. But I have less sense than a poor creeping ănt,
If I take not due care for the things I shall wânt,
Nor provide against dangers in time.
When death or old age shall stare in my face,
What a wretch shall I be in the end of my days,
If I trifle ǎway all their prime!

4. Now, now, while my strength and my youth àre in bloom, Let me think what will serve me when sickness shall come, And pray that my sins be forgiv'n:

Let me read in good books, and believe and obey, That, when death turns me out of this cottage of clay, I may dwell in a palace in heav'n.

WATTS.