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diff --git a/old/old/7psss10.txt b/old/old/7psss10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2080a97 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/7psss10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1794 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects, by William Hayley + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects + Printed only as Private Tokens of Regard, for the Particular + Friends of the Author + +Author: William Hayley + +Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8948] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on August 29, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POEMS ON SERIOUS AND SACRED *** + + + + +Jonathan Ingram, Graham Smith and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +POEMS ON SERIOUS AND SACRED SUBJECTS, + + +PRINTED ONLY AS PRIVATE TOKENS OF REGARD, + +FOR THE PARTICULAR FRIENDS OF THE AUTHOR. + + + +....nec pia cessant +In tumulo officia. + +MILTONI MANSUS. + + +A Christian's kindness ends not in the tomb. + +Chichester: + +PRINTED AT THE PRIVATE PRESS OF W. MASON. + +1818. + + +ON THE FEAR OF DEATH: + +AN EPISTLE TO A LADY. + +1768. + +THE FEAR OF DEATH. + + +Thou! whose superior, and aspiring mind +Can leave the weakness of thy sex behind; +Above its follies, and its fears can rise, +Quit the low earth, and gain the distant skies: +Whom strength of soul and innocence have taught +To think of death, nor shudder at the thought; +Say! whence the dread, that can alike engage +Vain thoughtless youth, and deep-reflecting age; +Can shake the feeble, and appal the strong; +Say! whence the terrors, that to death belong? +Guilt must be fearful: but the guiltless too +Start from the grave, and tremble at the view. +The blood-stained pirate, who in neighbouring climes, +Might fear, lest justice should o'ertake his crimes, +Wisely may bear the sea's tempestuous roar, +And rather wait the storm, than make the shore; +But can the mariner, who sailed in vain +In search of fancy'd treasure on the main, +By hope deceiv'd, by endless whirlwinds tost, +His strength exhausted, and his viands lost, +When land invites him to receive at last +A full reward for every danger past: +Can he then wish his labours to renew, +And fly the port just opening to his view? +Not less the folly of the timorous mind, +Which dreads that peace, it ever longs to find; +Which worn with age, and tost in endless strife +On this rough ocean, this tempestuous life, +Still covets pain, and shakes with abject fear, +When sickness points to death, and shews the haven near. +The love of life, it yet must be confest, +Was fixed by Nature in the human breast; +And Heaven thought fit that fondness to employ. +To teach us to preserve the brittle toy. +But why, when knowledge has improv'd our thought, +Years undeceived us, and affliction taught; +Why do we strive to grasp with eager hand, +And stop the course of life's quick-ebbing sand? +Why vainly covet, what we can't sustain? +Why, dead to pleasure, would we live to pain? +What is this sentence, from which all would fly? +Oh! what this horrible decree--to die? +Tis but to quit, what hourly we despise +A fretful dream, that tortures as it flies.-- +But hold my pen!--nor let a picture stand +Thus darkly coloured by this gloomy hand: +Minds deeply wounded, or with spleen opprest, +Grow sick of life, and sullen sink to rest: +But when the soul, possest of its desires, +Glows with more warmth, and burns with brighter fires; +When friendship soothes each care, and love imparts +Its mutual raptures to congenial hearts; +When joyful life thus strikes the ravish'd eye, +'Tis then a task, a painful task to die. +See! where Philario, poor Philario! lies, +Philario late the happy, as the wise! +Connubial love, and friendship's pleasing power +Fill'd his good heart, and crown'd his every hour: +But sickness bids him those lost joys deplore, +And death now tells him, they are his no more. +Blest in each name of Husband, Father, Friend, +Must those strong ties, those dear connexions end? +Must be thus leave to all the woes of life +His helpless child, his unprotected wife? +While thus to earth these lov'd ideas bind, +And tear his lab'ring--his distracted mind: +How shall that mind its wretched fate defy? +How calm his trouble, and how learn to die? +In vain would Faith before his eyes display +The opening realms of never-ending day; +Superior love his faithful soul detains +Bound, strongly bound, in Adamantine chains. +But lo! the gates of pitying Heaven unfold: +A form, that earth rejoices to behold. +Descends: her energy with sweetness join'd, +Speaks the bright mission for relief design'd: +See! to Philario moves the flood of light; +And Resignation bursts upon his sight: +See! to the Cross, bedew'd with sacred gore, +Humbly she points, and bids the world adore; +Then sweetly breathing in his soul inspires +A Christian spirit, and devout desires.-- +Hark! his last wish, his dying pray'r's begun: +"Lord, as in Heaven, on earth thy will be done!" +Calm is his soul; his painful struggles cease; +He bows adoring, and expires in peace. +O! Resignation; thou unerring guide +To human weakness, and to earthly pride, +Friend to Distress, who canst alone controul +Each rising tumult in the mad'ning soul; +'Tis thine alone from dark despair to save, +To soothe the woes of life, and terrors of the grave: +Thro' this rough world assist me with thy power! +Calm every thought! adorn my latest hour, +Sustain my spirit, and confirm my mind, +Serene tho' feeling, chearful tho' resign'd! +And thou! my friend, while thus in artless verse +Thy mind I copy, and thy thoughts rehearse; +Let one memorial, tho' unpolish'd, stand +Rais'd to thy friendship by this grateful hand! +By partial favour let my verse be tried, +And 'gainst thy judgement let thy love decide! +Tho' I no longer must thy converse share, +Hear thy kind counsel, see thy pleasing care; +Yet mem'ry still upon the past shall dwell, +And still the wishes of my heart shall tell: +O! be the cup of joy to thee consign'd, +Of joy unmix'd, without a dreg behind! +For no rough monitor thy soul requires, +To check the frenzy of too rash desires; +No poignant grief, to prove its latent worth, +No pain to wean it from the toys of earth; +Thy soul untroubled can alike survey +This gloomy world, and Heaven's immortal day: +Then while the current of thy blood shall flow, +While Heaven yet lends thee to thy friends below; +Round thee may pleasure spread a chearful scene, +Mild as thy heart, and as thy soul serene! +And O! when Time shall bid thee yield thy breath, +And take thy passage thro' the gates of death, +May that last path without a pang be trod, +And one short sigh conduct thee to thy God! + + + + +FELPHAM: + +AN EPISTLE TO HENRIETTA OF LAVANT. + +1814. + + +FELPHAM. + +Hail Felpham! Hail! in youth my favorite scene! +First in my heart of villages marine! +To me thy waves confirm'd my truest wealth, +My only parent's renovated health, +Whose love maternal, and whose sweet discourse +Gave to my feelings all their cordial force: +Hence mindful, how her tender spirit blest +Thy salutary air, and balmy rest; +Thee, as profuse of recollections sweet, +Fit for a pensive veteran's calm retreat, +I chose, as provident for sure decay, +A nest for age in life's declining day! +Reserving Eartham for a darling son, +Confiding in our threads of life unspun: +Blind to futurity!--O blindness, given +As mercy's boon to man from pitying Heaven! +Man could not live, if his prophetic eyes +View'd all afflictions, ere they will arise. +Think, gentle friend, who saw'st, in chearful hour +Thy poet planning a sequestered tower, +And gayly rearing, in affection's pride, +His little villa by the ocean's side; +Encircled then by friendly artists, three, +Full of sweet fancy, and of social glee, +Think what sensations must have pierc'd his breast +Had a prophetic voice this truth exprest: +O'er thy new fabric ere six year's have fled +Lonely thou'lt mourn all these dear inmates dead. +The unrelenting grave absorb'd them all, +And in the shade of this domestic wall, +Which, as it rose re-echoed to their voice, +And heard them in gay presages rejoice +Of future studies, works of special note! +That each, to deck these precincts, would devote. +Here robb'd of them, their leader, and their friend, +Of their kind visions feels the mournful end, +Afflicted, and alone!--Yet not alone! +Their hovering spirits make this scene their own. +O sweet prerogative of love sublime! +Which so can soften destiny, and time, +That grief-worn hearts, by Fancy's charm revive! +The lost are present! the deceas'd alive! +Yes! ye dear buried inmates of my mind! +Your converse still within these walls I find; +In hours of study, and in hours of rest, +You still to me my purest thoughts suggest: +My heart's propensities you cherish still +To Heaven thanksgiving! and to earth good-will! +In you I still behold affection's smile, +Which can all troubles of the heart beguile; +I hear your kind approvance of my zeal, +When, anxious all your merits to reveal, +Having consign'd your bones to sacred earth, +My mind aspir'd to memorize your worth. +Grateful employment of the feeling soul! +That, in despite of sorrow's dark controul +Keeps the pure form of deathless virtue bright +By just commemoration's soothing light! +For such employment thou wast aptly made, +Thou dear sequester'd cell! in whose calm shade +Thy lonely bard might suit his plaintive strain, +To solemn music from the murmuring main! +Belov'd marine retreat! I oft recall +The night, I first repos'd within thy wall: +A night devoted, at a friend's desire, +To touch the chords of a sepulchral lyre! +Touch'd not in vain!--The faithful tribute brought +To cureless grief the lenitive, she sought; +And Lushington, thro' tearful anguish, smil'd +On truth's memorial of her darling child. +Little I thought, when eager to bestow +The heart's pure offering on parental woe, +How soon my filial pride, and friend most dear, +Would claim the "meed of a melodious tear." +Dear sacred shades of Cowper! and my Son! +Who, in my fond affection, liv'd as one! +Congenial inmates! on whose loss I found +The sweetest light of life in darkness drown'd! +Oft have ye witness'd, while, in this calm cell, +Ye watch'd the lonely bard, ye lov'd so well, +Oft have ye witness'd, how his struggling mind +Labour'd affliction's fetters to unbind, +Ere his o'er-burthen'd faculties could cope +With that ambitious task of tender hope, +To render justice to you both; and frame } +Memorials worthy of each honour'd name: } +A debt the heart must feel! & truth, and nature claim! } +Your smile, dear visionary guests of night! +O'er my nocturnal hours breath'd new delight; +Made me exult in labour, plann'd for you! +Its progress from your inspiration grew: +The toil was sweet, that your approvance cheer'd; +For what your love inspir'd, that love endear'd. +Nor unregarded by the fair, and great, +Was your recluse in this sequester'd state; +When I began, by just records, to prove +How Cowper merited our country's love; +The loveliest regent of poetic taste; +First of the fair; with all attractions grac'd! +Friend of the muses! and herself a muse! +Her bright eyes dimm'd with sorrow's sacred dews, +The high-born beauty, in whose lot combin'd +All--that could charm and grieve a feeling mind, +Shar'd with me, in my cell, some pensive hours; +Herself most eloquent on Cowper's powers, +Urg'd to his willing Eulogist his claim +To public gratitude, and purest fame. +The memoir, as by gradual toil it grows, +Endears the tranquil scene, in which it rose; +And sheds, since public favor blest the page, +A soothing lustre on my letter'd age. +The dues of faithful memory fondly paid +To him, devotion's bard! dear sacred shade! +Then my paternal hand was prompt to raise +To that blest pupil, who had shar'd his praise +A similar record of tender truth; +The genuine portraiture of studious youth-- +Task of such pleasing pain, as pierc'd the heart +Of Daedalus, the sire of antient art! +When, in fond zeal, his busy hand begun +To mould the story of his hapless son, +But falter'd, while, o'erwhelm'd in mournful thought, +He work'd, and wept upon the work, he wrought. +Ah peerless youth! whose highly-gifted hand +Could all varieties of skill command, +Ere illness undermin'd thy powers to use +The Sculptor's chizzel, and the Painter's hues! +Had thy ascending talents, unenchain'd, +Of studious life the promis'd zenith gain'd, +Confederate arts would then have joy'd to see +Their English Michael Angelo in thee. +But never be it by true love forgot, +Thou hast a higher, and a happier lot! +The prime of blessings, in a world like this, +Is early transit to the realms of bliss: +Thence thy pure spirit oft will charm to rest +Those pangs of fond regret, that pierce my breast, +When recollection mournfully surveys +Unfinish'd products of thy studious days. +Ah what a host of filial fair designs: +Where, springing from the heart, the fancy shines, +Thy enterprising mind had here bestow'd, +To honour Felpham as thy sire's abode! +All to thy mental eyes were present here; +The scene, we join'd to deck, all yet endear, +Tho' hardly embrios of plastic grace, +Many yet want their features, and their place. +These vacant circlets, that still court mine eye, +Can I survey, without a bursting sigh, +When fond remembrance tells me that from these +Thy filial hand, tho' robb'd of strength and ease, +Yet inly conscious of ingenious power, +Resolv'd, in labour's first reviving hour, +To fashion portraits claiming just regard, +The Tuscan sculptor! and the Grecian bard! +Whom 'twas thy hope in marble to create +As honour'd guardians of thy poet's gate; +There is no spot within this Villa's bound, +E'en to the Turret's topmost airy round, +Which thy kind fancy, that no ills could check. +With sweet ideal projects fail'd to deck: +Eager to fix around, below, above, +Proofs of thy skill, and monuments of love! +Thy gay activity how passing sweet, +Ere this arising structure was complete! +When 'twas our joy its scaffolds to ascend, +And mark how bright its varied views extend; +To search how far the glass-assisted eye +May scenes of splendor, and of peace, descry! +The first, where, blazing in the gorgeous west, +The sun delights on Vecta's hills to rest, +And gild those fleets, that, when they cease to roam; +Come fraught with glory to her favorite home; +The second, where, in softer northern light, +Eartham, lov'd little hill, allures the sight, +And towering woods, that crown the loftier Nore, +Salute our seamen, as they near the shore! +Ye scenes, that live in memory's regard. +Whose quiet beauty charm'd your pensive bard! +In hopes his eye might long delight to trace, +Tho' distant, visible, your rural grace; +In hopes of tender love, not idle pride! +He rear'd his turret by the ocean's side, +Lofty, tho' little! that his sight might still +Enjoy sweet intercourse with Eartham-hill; +Where, while his heart with pure ambition glow'd, +The filial artist plann'd his own abode; +And by a telegraph, his skill design'd, +Endearing mark of his inventive mind, +He meant to hold, as mutual wants require, +Constant communion with his absent sire: +Fair purpose! furnishing much kind employ, +And oft a subject of ideal joy +To hearts, forbid by mercy to foresee, +How soon the heaven-taught youth, by heaven's decree +Must leave the favorite hill, that charm'd his eyes, +In early transit to serener skies! +Angel! yet visible to mental sight! +Still let me, pensive in my Turret's height, +Whose view of heaven unbroken, unconfin'd +Fixes the lifted eye and fills the mind; +Let love, ascending from earth's dark abyss, +Still commune with thee in thy scene of bliss! +Sole meditation on thy heavenly worth. +Transcending all the social joys of earth; +To purest fancy giving boundless scope, +Turns worldly trouble to celestial hope. + My stedfast friend! unchang'd by chance and time! +Pure in the wane of life, as in its prime; + +Dear Henrietta, to whom justice pays +Her cordial tribute in these local lays; +'Tis the prime privilege of souls like thine, +To feast on heavenly thoughts in life's decline. +Faith to thy veteran bard exults to bring +Her living water from the Christian spring; +Hence the sweet vision, soft as evening's ray, +Shedding enchantment o'er the close of day: +Hence the persuasion, which all time endears, +That our true friendship, firm thro' changeful years, +In scenes exempt from clouds of pain and strife, +Has sure expectancy of endless life. + + + + +Epistle + +TO THE BISHOP OF LANDAFF. + + +Christmas Day, 1811. + +Epistle. + +Thy fav'rite Prelate haste, my verse! to greet +Adorning nature in his sylvan seat! +His southern hermit, his unchanging friend, +Sends him such tribute, as the heart may send, +Love, that, in honouring a peaceful sage, +Invokes all blessings on his hallowed age. +Though many a mountain rears its head between +His wood-crown'd mansion, and my cell marine, +In mental vision I his form survey +Thro' various periods of our vital day; +Now as his manly figure struck my sight, +When first I heard his voice, with new delight, +Imparting science, or celestial truth, +With Latin eloquence, to English youth; +And now, as when, o'erpowering sceptic strife +In his mild vigor of maturer life: +His liberal spirit gain'd the world's applause, +The mitred champion of the Christian cause! +Oh ever friendly to a guileless bard, +Whose pure ambition sought thy kind regard; +How fervently I wish, that verse of mine, +Nor vain, nor languid, tho' in life's decline, +Might thro' thy heart the cheering glow diffuse, +That friendship welcomes from no venal muse, +When worth time-honour'd, still as frank as youth, +Owns that her words of praise are words of truth! +Benign Landaff! to liberal arts a friend! +May all those arts thy well-earned fame attend! +Grateful for all thy kindness to his sire, +My filial sculptor, with Promethean fire, +While yet a boy, confess'd a proud design, +To make thy spirit in his marble shine; +And, with expression eloquently just, +Charm future Christians by thy breathing bust, +That, hope, with many a plan devoutly bold, +The great disposer of our days controll'd; +Saw tortured youth angelically calm, +And call'd the martyr to his heav'nly palm. +If love, inherent in a parent's heart, +Sighs for that lost Marcellus of his art, +Still can I joy, that with rare length of days, +Heaven yet allows my hallow'd friend to raise, +(And with his own more energetic hand +Whose works the ravages of time withstand,) +A portrait of himself:--thou much-lov'd sage! +Far yet extend that biographic page, +Where conscious of existence well employ'd, +And mental treasures gratefully enjoy'd, +Thy virtuous age will morally display +The various labours of thy useful day: +And in thy own rich eloquence enshrin'd, +Leave thy instructive life, a lesson for mankind! + + + + +Epistle + +TO JOHN SARGENT, ESQ. + +OCTOBER, 1814. + +Epistle. + +Friend of my vernal and autumnal day, +In life's gay bloom, and in its slow decay: +Sargent! who leav'st thy hermit's studious cell, +To act thy busier part, and act it well, +In courts of rural justice to preside, +In temperate dignity unstain'd with pride. +Oft let us meet, that friendship's honour'd chain, +In its extension may new lustre gain; +So let us, cheer'd by memory's social blaze, +Live o'er again our long-departed days. +I thank kind Heaven, that made the pleasure mine +Beneath my roof to see thy virtues shine; +When Providence thy fondest wishes crown'd, +Casting thy lot on fair, and southern ground: +When the gay songs of Eartham's friendly grove +Proclaim'd the triumph of thy prosperous love-- +Tis sweet to plant a friend in genial land, +And see his branches round the world expand! +I share thy joy, the heart's parental feast +To learn thy filial pilgrim in the East, +Thy youthful Harry, is among the prime, +Whom learning honours in her Indian clime: +Nor less the joy to hear thy eldest-born, +Whom gifts of sacred eloquence adorn, +Has, with Cicestria's liberal applause, +Those gifts exerted in the noblest cause: +Pleas'd to promote the most sublime emprise +That Christian charity could e'er devise; +To blend her votaries of every name +In one harmonious universal aim; +To make the word of God, that truest wealth, +The heart's nutrition, and the spirit's health +As common as the food, by heavenly power +Pour'd from the skies, a life-preserving shower, +On deserts pour'd, in hopeless hunger's track, +When He, who gather'd little, felt no lack. +My friend of many years! we both have found +Darkness and sunshine on the chequer'd ground, +In different paths appointed to our feet: +You in the world--your host in his retreat! +Yet blest be Heaven, that grants us to behold +Wonders of Providence like those of old, +When mortals in the waste, they murmuring trod, +Saw, and rever'd the guidance of their God, +We have beheld, and with one heart and voice +Hail'd the bright scene, that bids the globe rejoice; +Nature releas'd from devastation's flood, +And peace emerging from a sea of blood. +Wonders yet happier to devotion's eyes +In blissful vision will now widely rise, +From pure diffusive zeal in Britain sprung, +Bidding the Gospel speak in every tongue; +Till its effect earth's utmost bounds attest, +Jesus enthron'd in every human breast, +And all his subjects, as his mercy will'd, +Feeling within themselves his joy fulfill'd. +Yes, my time-honoured friend, with one accord +We bless the promised advent of our Lord, +In heavenly prospect, tho' we still sustain +Our unexhausted share of earthly pain. +But whatsoever ills yet undisplay'd +May o'er our eve of life throw deeper shade, +We have the constant comfort to possess +An antidote against the mind's distress; + +That settled trust in Providence divine. +Which lets the Christian at no lot repine: +But, when most tried, his faith's prime power employ, +And make affliction minister to joy. +We both have past thro' many a troubled day, +And felt adversity's heart-searching sway: +But when most wounded, both have kiss'd the rod, +And blest the pangs assign'd us by our God; +To wean us from a world, which, Nature sees, +None estimate aright, or quit with ease, +But souls Heaven-taught, that, free from doubt's alarm, +Hail death their herald to the Saviour's arms. +We both, my friend, in mind sedate and firm +Enter'd with thankfulness life's latest term. +And I might claim (could years such right assume) +First to attain the quiet of the tomb; +There show me still the friendship of our youth, +And still speak of me with indulgent truth. +May'st thou, less worn by griefs of many a year, +Still rich in filial gems, that earth endear! +Thy public duties long with grace discharge, +Esteem'd and honour'd by the world at large. +Thy elder, idler friend that world may spare, +And yet allow his name a station there; +For he long literary zeal has shown, +To honour merit, that surpassed his own: +And hop'd to live beyond his mortal days, +In England's memory, and friendship's praise. +High hopes! o'er which his holier thoughts aspire, +And make the peace of God his paramount desire. + + + + +Epistle. + +TO MRS. HANNAH MORE + +ON + +_Her Recent Publication--Practical Piety._ + + +JUNE 1811. + +Epistle + +Hail! hallow'd sister! of a saintly band! +Whose hearts in homage to their God expand! +Who, by the kind Urania taught to sing. +See palms celestial in their culture spring; +And, while devotion wafts them to the skies, +Teach weaker mortals on their wings to rise! +Hannah! whom truth, with a parental smile, +Ranks with her favorites of our letter'd isle; +Thou in wide fields, by tribes of learning fill'd, +By folly vainly view'd, by wisdom till'd; +Where grain and weed arise in mingled birth, +To nourish, or oppress, the race of earth; +Well hast thou ply'd thy task of virtuous toil, +And reap'd distinction's tributary spoil: +Long has thy country, with a fond acclaim, +Joy'd in thy genius, gloried in thy fame; +Progressive talents in thy works beheld, +Thine earlier volumes by thy last excell'd! +The noblest motive sway'd thy moral pen, +Intent to meliorate the sons of men +From that now distant year, when faith design'd +Thy sacred dramas for the youthful mind; +To this rich season of thy honour'd age, +When, with the fervour of a Christian sage, +Thine eve of life, with dews from Heaven impearl'd +Shows piety in practice to the world. +Well I remember, tho' long years have past, +Long years with dark calamity o'ercast, +Well I remember, and with grateful pride, +How to my heart thy friendly verse supplied +The glow of exultation; for thy praise +Shed gracious honour on my sportive lays. +When 'twas my aim to clear from thorns of strife +The budding roses of domestic life, +And teach young nymphs, in irritation's hour, +To triumph over spleen's insidious power. +O that, while glowing with celestial hope, +Gently we haste down life's autumnal slope, +Each well convinc'd, and with a mind serene, +From long experience of our chequer'd scene, +Convinc'd no blessings of this earth transcend +The countless value of a Christian friend; +O that just sympathy, and warm esteem, +Kindling to vivid inspiration's beam. +Would to my lyre, tho' in an aged hand, +Supply, at gratitude's devout command, +Praise, such as purest minds delight to hear, +When truth and nature prove that praise sincere! +But vain such wishes, for in virtue's cause +Thou hast receiv'd angelical applause: +No thirst for weaker praise that mind can feel, +Which Porteus cheer'd with evangelic zeal: +Porteus, complete in every graceful part! +A bard in spirit! with a hermit's heart! +In heaven's pure service never cold, or faint, +Till new existence glorified the saint! +How sweet with those, whom still on earth we prize, +To bless a recent inmate of the skies! +On buried friends to let fond memory dwell, +And grateful truth their bright endowments tell! +Careless, if envy, with a spleenful sneer, +Reviles that eulogy she bates to bear, +Saying with freedom's ill-assum'd pretence, +'Tis noxious flattery, o'erwhelming sense. +Peace! scornful pride! nor with malignant aim +Belie the voice of consecrated fame, +Thy subtlest arts, the pious to debate. +End, with strict justice, in thy own disgrace. +How weak were friendship could she shake with dread +Of thy detraction 'gainst her worthies dead! +No! such detraction makes her zeal more just +To every claim of their yet speaking dust. +Save me, good heaven! and all whom I regard, +(Or hasty muse, or irritable bard,) +Save us, good heaven! in mild and temperate age, +From wounded vanity's vindictive rage! +To genuine friendship pure delight is given, +Next to the favor of approving heaven; +And that delight is most sublimely felt. +When nature in vain tears, has ceased to melt: +When sorrow, quell'd by purer love's controul, +To sweet reflection yields the chasten'd soul, +Contemplating, thro' clouds to sunshine turn'd, +The sure beatitude of those--she mourn'd: +This sunshine yet to us the heavens assign +In Porteus, still thy friend! in Cowper, mine! +When tender fancy, on affection's plume, +Emerging from the shadows of the tomb +Aspires to trace, in visionary flight, +The just made perfect, thro' the realms of light! +How glows the soul, with more than earthly joy, +In fondly imaging their blest employ! +How oft, dear Cowper! at the close of day, +When contemplation sheds her mental ray, +I seem, through optics of the mind to see +Thy sainted spirit, from incumbrance free! +Marking how quick, in various hearts, arise +Those seeds of virtue, that thy verse supplies! +What joy, not speakable by mortal tongue, +What praises, to the harp of seraph sung, +May glad thee, now repaid for all thy woes, +While boundless vision to thy spirit shows +How e'en thy earthly song, by heaven inspired. +Attain'd the glorious aim, thy heart desired: +Destin'd to spread, uncrampt by time or space, +Progressive goodness thro' the human race! +Thou monitor! by youth and age revered! +By wisdom prized! to tenderness endear'd! +While men and angels bid thy fame extend, +And nature owns thee her benignant friend; +Could there be mortals so perversely blind, +As coarsely to revile thy tender mind, +Basely applying, with malignant glee, +The hateful title Misanthrope, to thee! +Let just oblivion wrap in endless night +Such baleful fruits of worth-defaming spight: +Truth ne'er could Cowper's want of zeal reprove, +As fervent as a saint in friendly love. +Hannah! to whose effulgent mind belong +Continual plaudits from the sons of song, +Be witness how, in his sequester'd bowers, +Cowper acknowledging thy various powers, +Ever on thee, thy verse, thy prose, bestow'd +Applause, where cloudless admiration glow'd +With warmth, that jealousy could ne'er perplex; +He praised thee, as the glory of thy sex, +In verbal power, in intellectual grace, +Never inferior to man's lordly race! +Congenial spirits, warm'd with kindly zeal, +Each others merits ye were sure to feel +For one, true virtue's favorite employ, +Her happiest exercise! her highest joy. +One glorious motive sway'd each active mind +Whether the bard, to rhymes no more confin'd, +Rapidly sketch'd with glance intensely keen, +His bird's-eye prospect of our human scene, +Or the fair moralist, in polish'd prose, +Describ'd the living manners as they rose. +One glorious motive clear in each we prize. +Bright as the vestal flame, which never dies. +The philanthropic wish, from heaven inspir'd, +That keeps the toiling mind in toil untir'd; +The wish, unstain'd by every selfish aim. +Free from the thirst of lucre and of fame; +The wish most valued, when best understood, +To make the pen an instrument of good, +Recalling mortals lost in false delight, +To find true favour in their Saviour's sight. +The Bard, enfranchised from his earthly fate, +Now soars, from this probationary state +To join the seraphs of sublimer tone, +Whose harps are vocal round the Almighty throne: +On earth his laurels no destruction fear +From cold neglect, or envy's blighting leer. +Verse, in whose influence the good rejoice, +Is sure to echo from the human voice, +While praise, as faithful as the mystic dove, +Flows from the lips, of gratitude and love. +Cowper still lives, to truth's clear optics given, +Endear'd to earth, and recompens'd by heaven! +And O dear lady! who like him, canst feel +For erring mortals anxious friendly zeal, +And deck, like him, thy monitory page +With charms attractive both to youth and age, +Whose pure instruction, with a skill refin'd, +Suits both the lowly, and the lofty mind: +Like Cowper, thou canst bear, with calm disdain, +While pity saves thee from resentment's pain, +The dark insidious enmity of those +Who, self-entitled friends, and secret foes, +If they applaud thy talents, still deride +Thy warm devotion, as fanatic pride, +Tho' such devotion, undebased by art, +Proves its clear source in tenderness of heart; +Sincerely Christian, it forgives the lie +That dares its nature, and its truth deny. +When, rich in honours, as in length of days, +And satisfied with just affection's praise, +Thy spirit to a purer world ascends, +To share the fellowship of sainted friends, +May this sweet vision of the blest be thine, +To trace how widely, with a guide divine. +Thy active mind, while resident below, +In soften'd hearts taught piety to grow, +Aiding benighted souls to view the day, +And drive depravity's dark clouds away: +What bliss, to welcome in those realms of light +Young angels! owning thou hast helped their flight, +And from the Saviour of the world to hear +"Those, who befriended earth--to heaven are dear!" + + + + +Monitory Verses + +_To a Young Lady, who indulged too gloomy +ideas of our sublunary state._ + +Dear nymph of a feeling, and delicate mind! +Whose eye the rash tears of timidity blind, +When fancy alarm'd takes a heart-chilling hue, +And the prospect of life is all dark in thy view, +Let me, as thy monitor, mild and sincere, +To thy spirit the gift of existence endear! +And shew thee, if darkened by fear or chagrin, +The sunshine of friendship can gild every scene! +Those, who true to the Ruler of every hour, +Rely on his mercy, and trust in his power; + +Whatso'er is their lot, may, by viewing it right, +Convert all its darkness to visions of light +When mortals of hope the fair presage assume, +Even death's sable pall is no object of gloom: +They smile on the path which their best friends have trod, +And rejoice, when they feel, they are summon'd to God. +Be it long, my young friend, ere such joy can be thine, +First embrace all the gifts, faith exults to resign. +The best prelude to death is, without mental strife. +To be grateful for all the pure pleasures of life: +And many pure pleasures to mortals are given, +Sick or well, rich or poor, by the bounty of heaven, +If we all draw them forth (by well acting our part,) +From that mine of delight, an affectionate heart! + + + + +Epistle + +TO A FRIEND, ON THE DIVINITY OF OUR SAVIOUR. + +_Inconcussa tenens dubio vestigia mundo._. + +1815. + +Epistle. + +Dear Disputant! whose mind would boldly soar, +And all theology's domain explore! +I love the candid fervency of soul, +That scorns a dogmatist's austere controul; +Let liberal scholars, as they surely ought, +Claim, and allow, a latitude of thought! +As friends I honour, with a love benign, +Many, whose creeds may vary far from mine: +Secure from error I no mortal deem; +But all, who truly seek for truth, esteem. +Yet with a mild regret, and kind concern +I see temerity's ambition burn, +When zeal, self-blinded in a mental mist, +Denies, that hallow'd mysteries exist; +And deems, that reason, which no fears appall, +Has self-sufficiency to clear them all: +Tis reas'ning pride, not reason, just, and sore. +Which in religion finds no point obscure; +Which, measuring Godhead with an earthly line, +Would rob the Saviour of his rights divine. +There are, who call Him, by their dreams beguil'd, +Mere man; of mortal geniture the child! +Tho' sanction'd, by his Sire's almighty breath, +His Son! a sovereign o'er life, and death! +'Tis not for mortals, in their transient hour, +To pierce the secrets of primordial power; +Or guess, how God, on his eternal throne, +To filial spirit could impart his own: +But how can earth deny, by truth unblam'd, +Divinity, that Heaven itself proclaim'd. +Reason opposes pride's degrading plan. +To sink the Saviour to a simple man: +Were He no more, could He, so born, presume +With Heaven to mediate for all nature's doom? +No! for, so born, Himself must then require +A mediator with th' eternal Sire: +Disclaim his Godhead, you at once imply +His deeds are doubtful, and his word a lie. +If not a God, most guilty of mankind, +His doctrine tends the human race to blind. +Surpassing e'en the fiend, who caus'd our fall, +By sharing worship with the Sire of all! +O ye! whose reas'ning pride can so mistake +The truths, He meekly spoke for mercy's sake! +More humbly grateful, learn ye to rejoice +In all the dictates of his cheering voice! +Who, to console his grief-dejected flock, +Show'd, how their faith is built upon a rock; +And, in the closing of his earthly strife, +Made manifest Himself as Lord of Life! +And tho' to death, the most disgraceful, driven, +Possessing all the powers of earth, and Heaven. +Pure source of light! and safety to the lost, +Without Thee on a sea of darkness tost! +Sovereign of grace, and kindness so sublime, +Thou view'st with pity their ungrateful crime, +Who, while they load Thee with degrading praise, +Would darken in thy crown its heavenly rays. +And O! how truly pitiable are those, +By nature mild, nor truth's intended foes, +Whose strange illusion yet miscalls Thee, man, +Tho' chosen to fulfil redemption's plan! +Who of Thy Godhead want that sacred sense, +That cordial glow of gratitude intense, +Which forms the bliss of their enlighten'd zeal, +Who all the merits of thy mercy feel! +Who hail Thee quitting thy bright throne above, +Sublime example of celestial love! +To clear, for them, a debt, they could not pay, +And change their darkness to eternal day! +How passing sweet to pure devotion's soul, +Are proofs of thy unlimited controul! +While the true Christian's mental eyes survey +Thy heavenly origin, and healing sway. +Only begotten Son of Sire supreme, +Whose quickening bounty was thy vital beam, +Ere nature lived, when, with thy filial aid, +The vast foundation of all worlds was laid! +When the paternal God was pleas'd to see +A blight reflection of Himself in Thee! +The splendour of his glory! form'd to share +His purest power, his providential care, +And, in consummating his gracious will, +At length annihilate all cureless ill! +To faith's pure eyes how ravishingly clear +Signs of her Lord's Divinity appear! +While earth and Heaven invite her to behold +How the fair series of those signs unfold! +A blest Redeemer, and without a trace +Of man's corruption in his ruin'd race, +Announc'd by mercy to our fallen sire, +Soon made that contrite criminal respire: +Age after age, of prophecy the breath. +Softening the horrors in the doom of death, +While nature strove with sin's dark woes to cope, +Shed thro' her lighten'd heart religious hope. +Thro' patriarchal times, in vision clear, +Types of the great Deliverer appear: +At length, when centuries have roll'd away. +And faith stands watching for her promis'd day, +She sees her Saviour from a virgin sprung, +His advent by attending angels song! +And wisdom usher'd by the guiding Star, +Hails Him, with gifts of homage, from afar. +The voice of Heaven proclaims his promis'd birth, +And conscious nature feels her friend on earth. +His uninstructed youth divinely sage, +Transcends the knowledge of experienc'd age: +The weak receive the strength, his will can give, +The dead obedient to his mandate live, +In power as mighty, as in mercy kind, +He dies, the ransom of redeem'd mankind! +Lord of Existence! He expires to prove +His matchless effort of celestial love; +And ratify, while He resigns his breath, +His glorious conquest o'er the gates of death! +A massive tomb receives his sacred corse; +And foes would guard it with a watchful force: +Vain boast of folly's disbelieving rout! +Who thus confirm the Deity, they doubt! +The grave beholds the heavenly victor rise, +And soar triumphant to his native skies. +His troubled servants still to calm and cheer +See Him, in human tenderness appear! +And while the slow of faith He mildly blames, +"My Lord! my God!" his doubt-freed saint exclaims. +Were He not God, and worthy of our trust, +Could He admit such worship from the just? +And bless the conscious of his heavenly right, +Whose faith demands no evidence of sight? +Yet grace divine full evidence has given; +Witness! Thou earth! by his dread sufferings riven! +Witness! Thou speaking firmament above! +When God proclaim'd Him offspring of his love! +Pleas'd to that blessed offspring to impart +Prerogative divine, dominion of the heart! +Exulting angels hail his sovereign sway; +Attest his glory, his commands obey; +And usher Him, whom e'en the demons own +As Earth's Redeemer, to his heavenly throne: +Thence, while mankind receive a second birth, +He ratifies the word, He spoke on earth; +And pleas'd to see his rescued servants live, +He gives them, what the world had not to give; +Internal peace! the duteous mind's repose! +With powers to foil the most malignant foes! +This vital sunshine of enlighten'd hearts, +This to his firm adherents He imparts; +When duly grateful for his kind controul, +They bless his empire o'er the willing soul, +For in his own, as in his Father's name, +He claims their boundless love; a righteous claim! +A claim, in which the proofs of Godhead shine! +Celestial attributes! and grace divine! +Hear how beyond the scope of mortal voice, +He bids his servants in his word rejoice, +Bids them for every good on Him depend! +As dearer far than every earthly friend, +Regard Him, parents, children far above; +And die with transport to secure his love. +Were He mere man, must not such orders seem +Distracted arrogance, an impious dream? +So of men's lives He only might dispose; +From whose divinity their safety flows, +Who left the bosom of His heavenly Sire, +To merit, what none other might acquire, +A sacred right with that dread Sire to plead, +To change the doom, his justice had decreed, +And save the guilty from perdition's storm; +Celestial victim in a human form! +Whose mediation, soft'ning wrath supreme, +Taught nature to revive, in mercy's beam. +Gracious Restorer of a race condemn'd, +Tho' by the thankless tribes revil'd, contemn'd. +Yet gratitude, and truth, who round Thee fly, +With all thy menial angels of the sky, +Viewing thy gifts with rapturous amaze, +Hail thy beneficence with heavenly praise: +All bear eternal witness, that Thou art +Justly a Sovereign in the human heart. +Man cannot yield too much, when, at thy call +To Thee his grateful zeal resigns his all; +Whate'er be may resign, yet more he gains, +While in his heart his blest Redeemer reigns; +By thy kind words he is inform'd aright, +And Thee exulting owns his path, his light! +Whether we ponder, with a mind serene, +The gracious marvels of thy earthly scene, +Or the firm promise to thy servants given, +Just ere they saw Thee re-ascend to Heaven; +Or the fulfilment of thy grand bequest, +The promis'd Comforter of man distrest! +That spirit, which, as man's unfailing friend, +'Twas thine, from thy celestial throne, to send +The Spirit of thy Sire! of truth! and peace! +By whose blest influence base passions cease; +And Christians, worthy of their Lord, combine +In the pure bond of charity divine! +Conscious from whom, their new sensations flow! +To whom their renovated hearts they owe! +And conscious, while their heavenly, guide they bless, +Their gratitude is safe from all excess! +In sentient beings, if their love and zeal +Should rise proportion'd to the aid, they feel, +Unbounded, as thy benefits, should be +The thankful homage of our hearts to Thee. +Divine Deliverer! whose grace bestows +Exemption from unutterable woes! +Such gifts on men, as they can ne'er requite, +Made, from the slaves of darkness, sons of light! +Thou filial Deity! whose merits rise +To such amazing height in human eyes, +A justly humble mind, that feels their sway +Too great for earthly language to display, +Conceives, e'en seraphs, tho' in glory's beam, +May find their voice unequal to the theme! +And seems to view them in their heavenly seat, +Mute, from pure adoration, at thy feet: +Thou blest Restorer of corrupted man +From all the snares of Satan's dark divan! +Thou, who with true compassion, hast survey'd +Lost wanderers perishing without thy aid! +To whose pure eyes all wonders are reveal'd, +That live in mortals, from themselves conceal'd! +Who view'st with favor, when they most aspire, +Their narrow faculties, and vast desire! +O prosper, and sustain my anxious thought, +Pondering thy attributes, as mortals ought! +That while I strive to make thy nature known, +My zeal may tend to purify my own. +Pardon the daring aim of grateful love, +If, in research, man's intellect above, +I vainly seek such heavenly things to know, +As Thou to mortals hast not deign'd to show, +Veiling the mode of thy celestial birth +From beings blind to mysteries of earth! +Thy geniture, and thy redeeming power +Transcend the known extent of nature's dower: +But pity weak mortality--that tries +To reach, what may elude all human eyes! +The knowledge man desires, is found by none: +The Eternal Sire, He only, knows the Son: +Taught by this truth, be it our wish alone +To know Him, only as he would be known, +By grace divine! his bounty's blest effect +On those, who hail Him with devout respect! +Thou filial Deity in manly shape! +Whose eye no deeds, no thoughts of man, escape! +Thy servants have no wound, Thou dost not feel, +No sorrow, that thy aid can fail to heal! +In all the trials, I was born to bear, +Many, and sharp, have fallen to my share; +I bless them, leading me to feel, and see, +Our sweetest comfort is our trust in Thee. +Calm acquiescence in thy sacred will +Becomes an antidote to every ill; +As tasks, ensuring favour in thy sight, +Grief turns to joy, and anguish to delight; +Till all the chasten'd heart exults to bless +A Martyr's triumph o'er subdued distress! +Saviour! whose image pure maternal prayer, +Fix'd in my heart, with just dominion there, +Thou never banish'd thence! tho' in my youth, +I heard rash sceptics, scoffing at thy truth, +Deride thy Gospel, and thy deeds revile, +As the false tales of an impostor's guile: +Blest! that no impious wit had power to blind +Thy dawn of favour in my opening mind! +There, in maturer seasons, grief, and pain, +As heavenly agents, have confirmed thy reign. +My spirit's guardian! soother of my woes! +Still of my chequer'd days illume the close! +All mortals feel, their trespasses require +An Intercessor with th' eternal Sire; +And on their minds thy cheering favours shine, +Who feel, thou art an arbiter divine; +Who thy dominion o'er the soul confess, +And, as their final Judge, thy Godhead bless! +Deign to befriend me in my dying hour! +Thou clear Vicegerent of thy Father's power! +And, while, within a grateful heart, I own +My hopes to view Thee on thy heavenly throne. +With all thy merits on my soul imprest, +May faith's firm wings convey me to thy breast! + Such, friendly disputant of studious mind! +Ever to good, in active life, inclind! +Such are my thoughts, my views, my hopes, my creed, +Adverse, I own, to those, for which you plead! +And which, to speak without reserve, I deem +A rash surmise, a dark Socinian dream! +Tho' tenets diversely our fancy strike, +May both, in purity of heart alike, +Still trust the hope, to that endowment given, +To reach the glorious certainty of Heaven! +Where, when the pardon'd round their Lord unite +Their errors will be lost in beatific light. + + + + +A COLLECTION OF HYMNS + +1817. + + +_Hymn to Humility_ + + Of all the Christian virtues chief + With modest charms, and mild relief, +Most apt to heal the wounds of pride, and spleen, + To thee, humility; I bend; + O let me feel, thou art my friend! +Rule thou my bosom, as its gentle queen! + + 'Tis thine benignly to repress + All proud conceit, all vain excess; +To give the chasten'd mind its proper tone; + To make it keep in sight + The worth of others with delight, +And never look too fondly on its own. + + Teach me, with active zeal, to wake + At nature's sigh, for pity's sake, +When pride in dreams of apathy will nod! + Still guided by thy Christian breath, + Keep me, thro' scenes of life, and death, +To mortals kind, and dutiful to God. + + + +_Hymn to Contrition._ + +Tenderest Herald of the sky, + Nature's safeguard from perdition, +Friend of sweet, tho' tearful eye, + Call'd by angels meek Contrition-- + +Bid me with a due concern + Sigh for recollected error, +And to purer conduct turn, + Full of hope, and free from terror! + +All, who have thy succour tried. + Near to Heaven's expanding portal, +Blessing Thee, their chosen guide, + Joy, in ceasing to be mortal. + +Hand-maid of the Saviour's throne, + Sent by Him to check depression, +Make my chasten'd soul thy own, + Guarding it from all transgression. + + + +_Hymn to the Saviour._ + +Saviour! pure source of life and zeal intense, +Whose words were peace, whose deeds benificence, +Around thy servant ever may I see +The sunshine of the soul deriv'd from Thee. + +While their true faith enlighten'd Christians prove, +By mutual aid, and evangelic love, +By sins environ'd, may we strive alone +To pardon others, and repent our own. + +So may we, comforted by words from Heaven, +That clearly prove the penitent forgiven, +With trust beyond the confidence of youth, +Rest on our guardian God--the God of Truth! + + + + +TWO HYMNS + +Written for the Asylum of Female Orphans. + +I. + +Parent to those, whose infant days + No human parent know; +To thee, O Charity! the praise + Of filial love shall flow. + +Base want, and vice, a foe to all! + Round us their snares had thrown. +Had not thy arm, at pity's call, + Embrac'd us for thine own. + +O blest the land! where all to Thee + A tender homage pay! +Where indigence and wealth agree + To venerate thy sway! + +That land the wrath of Heaven may spare. + When ruthless nations groan; +Her guarded orphan's grateful prayer + May rise to mercy's throne. + +Parent to those, whose infant days + No human parent know; +To Thee, O Charity, the praise + Of filial love shall flow. + +II. + +We have no parent but our God; + Yet will we not in grief despair; +For He this vale of sorrow trod, + To make the desolate his care. + +The voice of innocence and youth, + To Thee, meek Saviour! may ascend; +Thou God of Tenderness, and Truth, + Of Infancy Thou art the Friend. + +Thro! tears, that fill the orphan's eye, + With humble confidence we see +Calamity, an holy tie! + That binds our helpless tribe to Thee. + +For charity, angelic power! + Thy fav'rite delegate below! +Makes industry, our peaceful dower! + A guard from indigence and woe. + +We have no parent, but our God; + In Him we trust, who reigns above: +Children He blest, when here He trod, + And we are children of his love. + + + +_A Morning Hymn._ + +Awake my soul! in cheerful mood, + Thy matin thanks to pay! +The God, who gives thee rest, and food, + Directs thee to be gay. + +The Jewish world was dark, and cold, + There doubts and fears annoy: +Thy Shepherd to his happier fold + Brings light, and peace, and joy. + +Cease then, O Christian! cease to grieve + In tempest, or in calm! +Smile on affliction, and receive + Her consecrated palm! + + + +_A Collection of Hymns._ + + +Hymn written for the Rev. Mr. Walker, of +Chichester. + +Where may zeal due succour find, +Man, for thy unguarded mind? +To shield thee, when temptations reign, +From folly's snare, and vice's bane? + +The law of God, a Saviour's law, +Justly heard with grateful awe, +That alone pure light supplies +To the simple, and the wise. + +He, whose heart, however tried, +Keeps the word of God his guide, +He walks secure, and undismay'd +Amid misfortune's darkest shade. + +He, tho' tempests round Him roll, +Feels a sacred calm of soul; +Breathing, to his latest breath, +Joy in life, and hope in death. + + +_Hymn._ + +Since the Evening of Life will soon close, + While I live, may I justly incline +To diffuse peace of heart among those, + Whose lives may be guided by mine! + +To Christ may I lead them to own + The charms of his tender controul, +And with gratitude gaze on His throne. + Whom to serve is the joy of the soul! + + +_Hymn to the Creator._ + +Source of all kind, all potent thought! + Thou God of Goodness, and of Power! +In Thee my soul, by trouble taught, + Shall trust, as in protection's tower. + +The surest friend, the safest guard, + In thy sweet mercy may I see! +And solitude itself regard, + As blessed intercourse with Thee! + +Lord! in whose hands are life, and death, + So let me live, so let me die, +That love may grace my vital breath, + And faith, and hope, my final sigh! + + +_Hymn on Charity._ + +Nor faith, nor hope, whate'er their force, +Can aught avail the soul, +Should charity not guide its course +To glory's heavenly goal. +The songs of wisdom, tho' they soar +To notes that seraphs swell, +If she be wanting, are no more +Than folly's tinkling bell. + +A thousand shapes, as bright as morn, +Sweet Charity assumes, +And all the hues of Heaven adorn +Her variegated plumes. +'Tis she with consolation's voice +That stills affliction's storm, +She bids despairing want rejoice +In bounty's radiant form. + +But with what semblance is she seen, +That more her power endears, +Than when with mild instruction's mien +Her infant train she rears? +Then she the earth-bound spirit lifts +Above the valley's clod, +Then gives the richest of her gifts, +The knowledge of her God. + + +_Hymn for Christmas Day._ + +Saviour inspire the voice of earth, +To hail the day that gave Thee birth; +The Heavens resound in blest accord, +Hosanna! to the highest! praise the Lord. + +Let hymns of gratulation flow +From Adam's race redeem'd from woe; +For Paradise to man restored, +Hosanna! to the highest! praise the Lord. + +Wisdom, and power, and peace proclaim +The new-born Saviour's blessed name, +His glory stars to stars record, +Hosanna! to the highest! praise the Lord. + +Nature to Him in homage fall; +He comes--the Judge, the Lord of all: +His welcome sound on every chord, +Hosanna! to the highest! praise the Lord. + + +_Hymn to the Saviour._ + +Lord, who in mercy's tender tone + Invitest every child of dust, +To seek protection from thy throne, + And in thy guardian grace to trust. + +To thy true votary impart + Hope, from all doubt, all terror free, +Make every movement of my heart + A glow of gratitude to Thee! + + +_Hymn._ + +Lord whose eyes every heart in existence survey, +Who canst regulate all with thy merciful sway, +From mine may thy grace, as a guardian, discard +Whatever might render it--selfish and hard: +O keep it from evil propensities free, +Ever mild to mankind, ever grateful to Thee: +This heart ever feels, with thy image imprest, +The more it is Christian--the more it is blest! + + +_Hymn._ + +Make us, O God! in whom we breathe, and move, +Worthy to love Thee, and to win thy love! +Thy word informs us how thy love is won, +By grateful trust in thy beloved Son! +Through every season may such trust encrease! +We know it duty, and we feel it peace. + +FINIS. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects +by William Hayley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POEMS ON SERIOUS AND SACRED *** + +This file should be named 7psss10.txt or 7psss10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7psss11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7psss10a.txt + +Jonathan Ingram, Graham Smith and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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