And ceas'd the vocal lay; Now shelter'd in his well-built dome, So man, without the heav'nly shine His passions rage and break his rest, Nor bears a kind controul. And frozen oft, the mind not knows Nor seeks the refuge kind: Where joy and peace combine. When Death's sad glooms and sorrows rise, And veilearths prospects from his eyes, Ent where the strong foundations rest Sweet calms attend his soul: Disolving nature roll. See how he smiles beneath his wing, Where honour'd saints and seraphs sing With animated joy: Well shelter'd there, let sinners go, Unfriended, helpless, 'mid their woe, Which never knows alloy. SERENA. AN EVENING HYMN. Softly the shade of evening falls, Sprinkling the earth with dewy tears, While Nature's voice to sla abercalls, And silence reigns amid the spheres. The silv'ry Moon, with ray serene, Glitt'ring in Contemplation's eye, Illumes the solemn, shadowy -cene,. And drives his chariot thro' the «ky. And while creation round me sleeps, Soft stealing slumbers seize me too; Forgetfulness my temples steeps All night in her oblivious dew. Soon shall a darker night descend And veil from me yon azure skies: And soon shall Death's oppressive hand Lie heavy on these languid eyes. Yet when beneath that dreadful shade I lay my weary frame to rest, That night shall not make me afraid, That bed the dying Saviour press'd. Once more emerging from the night, I, like my risen Lord, shall rise: Once more drink in the morning light, Pure at its fount above the skies. W. B. C. ADDRESS TO VICTORY. (Occasioned by the Naval Engagement of the 21st of October.) VICTRY, we hail thee to our native shore! While to our God we give our heartfelt praise: When Glory, stooping from the azure sky, Swift wheel'd thy chariot through the troubled air, CORNELIA. Printed by G, AULD, Greville Street, London. TO THE EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE FOR THE YEAR 1805. A SHORT MEMOIR OF THE LATE DAVID SAUNDERS, THE SHEPherd of SALISBURY PLAIN. TRUE Religion is like the cut diamond, which reflects a lustre in whatever position it may be placed. Religion gives dignity to the meanest condition of life, and confers happiness without the aid of riches. A striking proof of this occurs in the instance of David Saunders, of West Lavington, Wilts, better known to the world as "The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain ;" being the undoubted subject of the beautiful tract, which, some years since, issued from the ingenious pen of Miss Hannah More, under that title. David Saunders was born about the year 1717; and, in his youth, enjoyed the then distinguished privilege, among the lower class, of being taught to read, and particularly to read his Bible: and here we may observe the mistake of thosa persons who are afraid to teach children to read in the Scriptures, lest it should give them a dislike to them in after-life. It is easy, from other principles, to account for this distaste: the carnal mind has no natural relish for divine truth; and when men become vicious in their conduct, they very naturally become inimical to the Bible, because it will not tolerate their sins. There are innumerable instances, however, of the advantages of an early acquaintance with the sacred volume. How often has an awful text, rivetted on the mind of youth, checked the career of Vice! or a pertinent circumstance of Scripture-History guarded the mind from temptation, or supe ported the sinking spirits above despair! And when, in afterlife, it has pleased God to renew the heart, in circumstances unfavourable to reading, O what a treasure has the Christian found already stored in his memory, though hitherto but seldom recollected; for the traces of our first reading are generally the easiest to be recovered, and the last to be forgotten. - In early life, David was greatly afflicted with the leprosy; which, mentioning one day to a pious young man who was walking with him, he told him he had a much worse leprosy in 4 D |