IV. MISCELLANEOUS.

WISDOM.

How happy is the child who hears
Instruction's warning voice;
And who celestial wisdom makes
His early, only choice.

Wisdom has treasures greater far
Than east or west unfold;
And her rewards more precious are
Than is the gain of gold.

She guides the young with innocence
In pleasure's path to tread;
A crown of glory she bestows
Upon the hoary head.

According as her labors rise,

So her rewards increase;

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.

184

IMMORTAL BEAUTY.

THE HOLY CHILD.

By cool Siloam's shady rill

How sweet the lily grows!

How sweet the breath, beneath the hill,
Of Sharon's dewy rose!

Lo, such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God!

O Thou, who giv'st us life and breath,
We seek thy grace alone,

In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still thine own!

IMMORTAL BEAUTY.

SWEET day! so cool, so calm, so bright,
Bridal of earth and sky,

The dew shall weep thy fall to-night,
For thou, alas! must die.

Sweet rose in air whose odors wave,
And color charms the eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,

And thou, alas! must die.

HEBER.

井

SUNDAY EVENING.

Sweet Spring! of days and roses made,

Whose charms for beauty vie,
Thy days depart, thy roses fade,
Thou too, alas! must die.

Only a sweet and holy soul
Hath tints that never fly;

While flowers decay, and seasons roll,

This lives, and cannot die.

SUNDAY EVENING.

185

GEORGE HERBERT.

'T WAS night, and o'er the desert moor
The wintry storm-gusts wildly blew,
And so we closed our cottage door

And round our cheerful wood-fire drew:
Each joined the hymn of evening praise,
Then told a tale of Bible days.

First Charley, in his little chair,

With sober face, his tale began,
And told us of the faith and prayer
Of Daniel in the lion's den;

And how the lions were afraid
To kill the righteous man who prayed.

Then Henry spoke of Israel's guide,

The cloud by day, the fire by night,

186

SUNDAY EVENING.

And said, whatever might betide,
To trust in God is always right;
For he is still, to those who pray,
A fire by night, a cloud by day.

And little Freddy told of three

Who once a fiery furnace trod,
Because they would not bow the knee
In worship to an idol-god;

And how, to save them from the flame,
The Son of God in glory came.

Then little Susan told of One

Who kindly all our sorrows bore
Though rich in heaven, on earth became
For us so very, very poor,
That, though the foxes had a bed,
He had not where to lay his head.

The tale was told,

a crystal tear

Rose brightly to each sparkling eye,

And then in accents soft and clear

Our evening hymn again rolled high;
Each little girl, each little boy

Joined in the strains of solemn joy.

Then grandpa prayed, — that dear old man,

With wrinkled brow and hoary hair,

While all the little children ran

To kneel around his elbow-chair.

THE DELUGE.

And thus the Sunday evening passed,
In peace and pleasure to the last.

187

CHOICE POEMS.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

EXODUS, CHAP. XX.

1. THOU shalt have no more gods but me; 2. Before no idol bow thy knee.

3. Take not the name of God in vain, 4. Nor dare the Sabbath day profane. 5. Give both thy parents honor due: 6. Take heed that thou no murder do. 7. Abstain from words and deeds unclean, 8. Nor steal though thou art poor and mean, 9. Nor make a wilful lie, nor love it. 10. What is thy neighbor's dare not covet.

THE DELUGE.

A RAIN once fell upon the earth
For many a day and night,

And hid the flowers, the grass, the trees,
The birds and beasts, from sight.

The deep waves covered all the land,
And mountain-tops so high;