Man may conjecture, and new schemes declare,
Yet all his systems but conjectures are ;
But this we know, that heav'n's eternal King,
Who bid this universe from nothing spring,
Can, at His word, bid nym'rous worlds appear,
And rising worlds th' all-pow'rful word shall hear,
When to the western main the sun descends,
To other lands a rising day he lendş;
The spreading dawn another shepherd spies,
The wakeful flocks from their warm folds arise ;
Refresh'd, the peasant seeks his early toil,
And bids the plough correct the fallow foil.
While we in Sleep's embraces waste the Night,
The climes oppos’d enjoy meridian light;
And when those lands the busy sun forsakes,
With us again the rosy Morning wakes ;
In lazy neep the Night rolls swift away,
And neither clime laments his absent ray.
When the pure foul is from the body flown, No more shall Night's alternate reign be known; The sun no more shall rolling light bestow, But from th' Almighty streams of glory flow. Oh! may some nobler thought my soul employ, Than empty, tranfient, sublunary joy. The stars shall drop, the sun thall loose his fame, But thou, O God ! for ever shine the famç.
WHEN all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising foul surveys; Transported with the view, I'm loft
In wonder, love, and praise.
how shall words, with equal warmth,
The gratitude declare, That glows within my ravish'd heart?
But thou canst read it there.
Thy providence nay life sustain'd,
And all my wants redrest,
When in the filent womb I lay,
And hung upon the breast.
To all my weak complaints and cries
Thy mercy lent an ear,
Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learnt
To form themselves in pray’r.
Unnumber'd comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestow'd,
Before my infant heart conceiv'd
. From whom those comforts flow'd.
When in the nipp’ry paths of youth
With heedless steps I ran,
Thine arm unseen convey'd me safe,
And led me up to man. Through hidden dangers, toils, and deaths,
It gently clear'd my way,
And through the pleasing snares of vice,
More to be fear'd than they.
When worn with fickness, oft haft Thou
With health renew'd my face,
And, when in fins and furrows sunk,
Reviv'd
my
foul with grace. Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Hath made my cup run o'er,
And in a kind and faithful friend
Hath doubl'd all my store.
Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks mploy,
Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
That tastes those gifts with joy,
Through ev'ry period of my life
Thy goodness I'll pursue ;
And after death in distant worlds
The glorious theme renew.
When nature fails, and day and night
Divide thy works no more,
My ever grateful heart, O Lord,
Thy mercy fhall adore.
Through all eternity to Thee
A joyful song I'll raise, For O! eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise.
The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care:
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend,
When in the fultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains pant;
To fertile vales, and dewy meads,
My weary, wand'ring steps he leads ;
Where peaceful rivers, soft and now,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My ftedfast heart fall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me ftill;
Thy friendly crook (hall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade
Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile:
Thę barren wilderness shall smile,
With fudden greens and herbage crown'd;
And Breams shall murmur all around.
THE spacious firmament on high;
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim :
Th' unwearied sun from day to day,
Does his Creator's pow'r display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty hand.
Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,
The moon takes
up
the wondrous tale; And nightly to the liftning earth Repeats the story of her birth : Whilft all the stars that round her burn; And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole.
What though in folemn silence all
More round the dark terrestrial ball!
What though nor real voice nor found
Amid their radiant orbs be found !
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice ;
For ever singing as they shine,
" The hand that made us is Divine !»
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