"O man belov'd! thy firmest strength prepare, "Receive my thanks, O Fortune! thou hast drove Me to my studies, and my learned grove, My books, my toils, which cheer the lengthen'd day, And for whose loss thy gifts could never pay." FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF THE REV. MR. HOOKER. SAD o'er thy damp and lonely bed, The herbage springs, the long grass sighs, The sculptur'd stone erects its head, And sorrow lifts her tearful eyes. But ah! the guise of woe, how vain, REFLECTION. AS I pensively sat at the close of the day, When its cares, and its labours were o'er, To muse on the tracks of my wandering way, Or the path I had yet to explore: It seem❜d on the lip of the evening, there sigh'd As if the soft stream, in its murmuring tide, "Set not on the things of the earth your delight, Nor give to its pleasures your heart; Lest you sigh at their wounding, or mourn for their flight, Or sink as you see them depart, And then shall your spirit so anxious repose, In the grave, where your wearisome journey shall close, In heaven, where your sorrows shall cease." 1.3 A THOUGHT. THE youthful hope, the youthful smile, That gild our journey o'er, Like man, but stay a little while, Then sink to rise no more. THE EVILS OF HASTE. THE rash resolve, the headlong course, The heart too quickly set, Make bitter work for deep remorse, And for a long regret. Then bow to hear this lesson meek, Be swift to hear, and slow to speak, TRUST IN THE ALMIGHTY. OH, lift thy thought above the gathering gloom, He, when the rains descend, and surges roll, Bounds the rough billows with his mighty span, He breaks the tempest, calms the troubled soul, Stills the wild storm, and heals the heart of man. He rules the pride of elemental strife, He bids the tumults of the nations cease, And from the troubles, and the storms of life, Spreads forth the white wing of the angelpeace. What though our hopes forsake this barren ground, What though our branch of earthly trust be riven, And frail as dew our mortal joys be found, We still may hope for bliss at last in Heaven. So pass away the generous mind, : So pass we all the heart must fail, And thou, whose eye may view this line, Go, seek his love, whose blood was shed, Then happy, whoso'er thou art, |