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And, dampt with omen of our own decease,
On drooping pinions of ambition lower'd,
Just kim earth's furface, ere we break it up,
O'er putrid pride to scratch a littie dust,
And save the world a nuisance. Smitten friends
Are angels sent on errands full of love;
For us they languish, and for us they die:
And shall they languish, shall they die, in vain?
Ungrateful, shall we grieve their hov'ring shades,
Which wait the revolution in our hearts ?
Shall we disdain their filent, soft address;
Their pofthumous advice, and pious pray’r?
Senseless, as herds that

graze
their hallow'd

graves. Tread under-foot their agonies and groans ; Frustrate their anguish, and destroy their deaths ?

H Y MNS

1

HYMNS by Mr. ADDISON.

PROVIDE N C E.

T

HE Lord my pasture shall prepare,

And feed me with a shepherd's care ;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye ;
My noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.

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When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant;
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary wand'ring steps he leads;
Where peaceful rivers, soft and Now,
Amid the verdant landskip flow.

Tho' in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My stedfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me still;
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.

Tho' in a bare and rugged way,
Thro' devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile:
The barren wilderness shall smile,

With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.

GRATITUDE.

WHE

HEN all thy mercies, O my God,

My rising foul surveys; Transported with the view, I'm loft

In wonder, love, and praise :

O how shall words with equal warmth

The gratitude declare,
That glows within my ravish'd heart.

But thou canst read it there.

Thy Providence my life fustain'd,

And all my wants redrest, When in the filent womb I lay,

And hung upon the breast.

To all my weak complaints and cries,

Thy mercy lent an ear,
Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learnt

To form themselves in pray’r.

Unnumber'd comforts to my soul

Thy tender care bestow'd, Before my

infant heart conceiv'd From whom those comforts flow'd.

When When in the flipp'ry paths of youth

With heedless steps I ran,
Thine arm unseen convey'd me safe,

And led me up to man.

Thro' hidden dangers, toils, and deaths,

It gently clear'd my way,
And through the pleasing snares of vice,

More to be fear'd than they.

When worn with sickness, oft haft thou

With health renew'd my face, And when in sins and sorrows sunk,

Reviv’d my soul with grace.

Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss

Has made my cup run o'er, And in a kind and faithful friend

Has doubled all my store.

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Ten thousand thousand precious gifts

My daily thanks employ,
Nor is the least a chearful heart,

That tastes those gifts with joy.

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Thro' every period of my life

Thy goodness I'll pursue ;
And after death in distant worlds

The glorious theme renew.

D6

When When nature fails, and day and night

Divide thy works no more, My ever-grateful heart, O Lord,

Thy mercy shall adore,

Thro' all eternity to thee

A joyful song I'll raise, For oh ! eternity's too short

To utter all thy praise.

CREATION,

THE

HE spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great original proclaim;
Th' unwearied fun, from day to day,
Does his creator's pow'r display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an almighty hand.

1

Soon as th' ev'ning Mades prevail, The moon takes

up

the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the lift'ning earth
Repeats the story of her birth :
Whilft all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What