No gleam of comfort from their luftre flows,
No harbinger of peace, or calm repose:
But gloomy vapours o'er the night prevail,
And peftilence is spread in every gale :
Thus weaken'd by a gradual decay,
Life's bitter cup I drink without allay,
Nor taste the bleffing of one cheerful day.
Come then, kind death, thy fharpeft fteel prepare,
Here point the dart, and snatch me from despair!
But ftop, O man, thy plaintive strains fupprefs,
With Chriftian patience learn to acquiefce!
Th' inftructive voice of reafon calmly hear,
And let religion check the flowing tear :
Whate'er the will of providence affigns,
'Tis Infidelity alone repines;
But those who trust in God disdain to grieve,
And what our father fends, with joy receive;
Whose sharp corrections testify his love,
And certain bleffings in the end will prove ;
Who fees how man would err without controul,
Afflicts the body, to improve the soul,
And by chaftizing part, preferves the whole.
Hence, tho' dark-lowering skies, and angry gales,
Confpire to raise the ftorm, and rend the fails;
Yet, if calm reafon at the helm prefide,
My little bark will stem both wind and tide ;,
And adverse currents shall at last convey,
The shatter'd veffel to the realms of day!
Thus taught by Faith, how rafh it is and vain
For man, mere duft and ashes, to complain!
My foul, with fad difquietude oppreft,
Directs her flight to heaven in search of rest ;
And refuge takes (which " peace at last will bring")
Beneath the shadow of th' Almighty's wing;
On him I fix my mind, and place my trust,
A Being infinitely wife and juft!
And should his providence new beams create,
To brighten the complexion of my fate,
A cheerful tribute to his throne I'll raife,
And ftamp my fong with gratitude and praise.
But fhould indulgence fuit not his defigns,
Who evil into happiness refines;
Let due fubmiffion make my burden light,
And may I think-Whatever is, is right!
be not thou difquieted my foul,"
Have lively faith--and "faith will make thee whole.”
When heaven inflicts, with calmnefs bear the ftroke,
Since to repine is only to provoke ;
Learn to adore the juftice of thy God,
And kifs the facred hand that holds the rod;
That facred hand, which first the heart explores,
Probes every wound, and fearches all the fores;
Then the right med'cine properly applies,
To cleanse the part where all th' infection lies.
Hear this, thou coward man, nor dread the smart,
Which, tho' it flings, will purify the heart;
For refignation will promote the cure,
And, tho' the means are sharp, the end is fure.
Since then afflictions are thro' mercy fent,
To be of good the happy inftrument;
Since for the nobleft ends they are defign'd,
To form the judgment, to improve the mind,
To curb our paffions, to direct our love,
To awe mankind, and speak a God above;
O may I view them with religion's eye,
Nor lofe the guard of virtue till I die!
Hence fhall I taste the sweets that evils bring,
And fuck the honey, while I feel the fting;
Hence fhall I learn the bitter cup to bless,
And drink it as a draught of happiness;
A wholesome potion, which, tho' mix'd with gall,
May ftill preserve my life, my foul, my all!
Thus fix'd my heart; tho' fruit should fail the vine,
The fig-tree ficken, and its bloom decline;
The labour of the olive be in vain,
And flocks infected, perifh on the plain;
Tho' corn, and oil, and wine at once decrease,
The fields grow barren, and the harvest cease;
Tho baffled hinds their fruitless toil deplore,
And vales uncheerful laugh and fing no more;
Yet ftill with gladness would I ferve the Lord,
Adore his wisdom, and obey his word-
Hear then, O God, regard a fuppliant's prayer;
Sooth all my pangs, and fave me from despair:
Illuminate
Illuminate my foul with glad fome rays,
And tune my voice to thy eternal praise ;
Difpel the clouds of darkness from my eyes,
And make me know that to be good is wife:
Let chriftian precepts all my foul employ,
And be not more my duty, than my joy:
Let confcience, void of art, and free from guile,
Still in my bofom innocently fmile;
Her cheerful beams will gild the gloom of fate,
And make me happy in whatever state.
Hence shall I learn my talent to improve,
If poor by patience, and if rich by love;
If fortune fmiles, let me be virtue's friend,
And where I go, let charity attend:
Within my bofom let compaffion dwell,
To foften all the woes which others feel;
T'affwage by kind relief affliction's fighs,
And wipe the falling tear from widows eyes;
To feed the hungry, the diftrefs'd to cheer,
The needy fuccour, and the feeble rear:
Hence fhall my mind, inflam'd with public good,
Unfhaken stand in midft of plenty's flood;
Hence fhall I fcorn temptation's gilded bait,
Look with disdain on all the pomp of state,
And by humility be truly great.
But fhould it be thy bleffed will to spread
Clouds of thick darkness lowering o'er my
Let me have grace to know they are defign'd,
To check my follies, and correct my mind;
Let me have grace to know in
I still to thee may have a free access;
And be an heir (tho' all the world fhould frown)
Of heavenly glory, and a future crown!.
From these reflections true contentment flows,
Contentment-fuch as grandeur feldom knows;
Hence in the lowly cot a relish springs,
Above the taste of courts, and pride of kings.
Thus in the flood of wealth be thou my guide,
And steer my course 'twixt avarice and pride;
Or, in the ebb of fortune, teach my mind.
To know its duty, and to be refign'd;
Prepare me to receive or good or ill,
As the refult of thy almighty will;
Thy will, whofe chief defign and general plan
Tend to promote the happiness of man:
Be every fenfual appetite fupprefs'd,
Nor the leaft taint lie lurking in my breast:
Let steady reafon my affections guide,
And calm content fit fmiling by my fide
Teach me with fcorn to view the things below,
As gaudy phantoms, and an empty show;
But guide my wishes to the things above,
As the fole object of a christian's love;
Make me reflect on my eternal home,
A dying Saviour, and a life to come;
Direct me virtue's happy course to run,
And let me, as inftructed by thy fon,
In every ftation fay, Thy will be done..
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