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4 When evening slumbers press my eyes,
With his protection blessed,
In peace and safety I commit
My weary limbs to rest.

5 My spirit, in his hand secure,
Fears no approaching ill;
For, whether waking or asleep,
Thou, Lord! art with me still.

Gentleman's Magazine.

478. L. M.

The Vanity and Frailty of Human Life.

1 OUR life advancing to its close,

While scarce its earliest dawn it knows,
Swift through an empty shade we run,
And vanity and man are one.

2 How many, ev'n in youth's gay flower,-
Brief pageants of the noon-tide hour,
Have faded in their brightest bloom,
The early tenants of the tomb!

3 O how thy chastisements impair
The human form, however fair!
How frail the strongest frame we see,
When thou dost man to death decree!

4 As when the fretting moths consume
The curious labour of the loom,
The texture fails, the dyes decay,
And all its lustre fades away.

5 God of my fathers! here, as they,
I walk the pilgrim of a day;

A transient guest, thy works admire,
And instant to my home retire.

1

6 O Lord of life and seasons! we
Our sole reliance place on thee:
In thee we trust with holy fear,
And bless thee for the new-born year!

479. L. M.

The Resurrection of Christ.

Merrick.

1 OUR Lord is risen from the dead,
Our Saviour is gone up on high:
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragged to the portals of the sky.

2 There his triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant their solemn lay:
'Lift up your heads, ye heavenly gates!
Ye everlasting doors! give way.'

3 Loose all your bars of massy light,
And wide unfold the ethereal scene:
He bursts the bands of death and night,
And heaven receives the Conqueror in.

4 Whom did the Lord of life subdue?
The tyrant death, his arm o'ercame,
The world and hell, his power o'erthrew
And Jesus is the Conqueror's name.

5 Who is the King of glory-who?

The Christ, with God's own power possessed, And made our King and Saviour too ;

Thanks be to God, for ever blessed!

Edward Taylor

480. c. M.

Trust in God, under the Trials of Virtue.

1 PLACED on the verge of youth, my mind Life's opening scene surveyed;

I viewed its ills of various kind,
Afflicted and afraid.

2 But chief my fear the dangers moved
That virtue's path inclose;

My heart the wise pursuit approved,
But Oh! what toils oppose!

3 For see, while yet her unknown ways
With doubtful step I tread,

A hostile world its terrors raise,
Its snares delusive spread.

4 Oh! how shall I, with heart prepared,
Those terrors learn to meet?

How, from the thousand snares to guard
My inexperienced feet?

5 Let faith suppress each rising fear,
Each anxious doubt exclude;

My Maker's will has placed me here,
A Maker wise and good.

6 He to my every trial knows
Its just restraint to give;
Attentive to behold my woes,
And faithful to relieve.

7 Then why thus heavy, O my soul?
Say why, distrustful still,

Thy thoughts with vain impatience roil
O'er scenes of future ill?

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8 Though griefs unnumbered throng thee round, Still in thy God confide,

Whose finger marks the seas their bound,
And curbs the rolling tide.

481. c. M.

Merrick,

The Lapse of Time improved. Ps. xc. 9.

1 REMARK, my soul! the narrow bounds Of the revolving year!

How swift the weeks complete their rounds! How short the months appear!

2 So fast, eternity comes on,
And that important day,

When all that mortal life has done
God's judgment shall survey.

3 Yet like an idle tale we pass
The swift advancing year;
And study artful ways to haste
The speed of its career.

4 Waken, O God! this trifling heart,
My great concern to see;
That I may choose the better part,
And give the year to thee.

5 Thus shall their course more grateful roll,

If future years arise;

Or this shall bear my willing soul

To joy that never dies.

Doddridge.

482. s. M.

Children offered to God. Mark x. 14.

1 SEE Israel's Shepherd stand,
With all-engaging charms;
See, how he takes the tender lambs,
And folds them in his arms!

2

3

4

5

'Permit them to approach,
Forbid them not,' he cried;
Of such my Father's kingdom is,
And such with him abide.'

We bring them, gracious Lord!
And yield them up to thee;
Rejoiced that we ourselves are thine,
Thine let our offspring be.

Hear him, ye little flock!
Ye children! seek his face,
And fly with transport to receive
The blessings of his grace.

If orphans they are left,
Thy guardian love we trust;

That love can heal our bleeding hearts,

When weeping o'er their dust.

483. L. M.

Doddridge, alt❜d.

Fidelity in the Cause of Truth and Virtue.

1 SHALL I forsake that heavenly Friend,
On whom my highest hopes depend?
Forbid it, Lord! that ere my heart
From truth and duty should depart.

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