That, as the light serenely fair,

Illumines all the tracts of air;

The sacred Spirit so may rest,

With quick'ning beams upon thy breast;

And kindly clean it all within,

From darker blemishes of sin ;

And shine with grace until we view
The realm it gilds with glory too.

See the day, that dawns in air,
Brings along its toil and care.
From the lap of night it springs,
With heaps of business on its wings :
Prepare to meet them, in a mind
That bows submissively resign'd;
That would to works appointed fall ;
That knows that God has order'd all.
And whether, with a small repast,
We break the sober morning fast;
Or in our thoughts and houses lay
The future methods of the day;
Or early walk abroad to meet

Our business with industrious feet:
Whate'er we think, whate'er we do,
His glory still be kept in view.
O, Giver of eternal bliss,

Heav'nly Father, grant me this!
Grant it all, as well as me,

All whose hearts are fix'd on thee;

Who revere thy Son above;

Who thy sacred Spirit love.

PARNELL.

SECTION VII.

The mind to be cultivated.

HEAR, ye fair mothers of our isle,

Nor scorn your poet's homely style.
What though my thoughts be quaint or new,
I'll warrant that my doctrine's true;

Or if my sentiments be old,
Remember, truth is sterling gold.

You judge it of important weight,

To keep your rising offspring straight:
For this such anxious moments feel,
And ask the friendly aid of steel;
For this import the distant cane,
Or slay the monarch of the main.
And shall the soul be warp'd aside
By passion, prejudice, or pride?
Deformity of heart I call

The worst deformity of all.

Your cares to body are confin'd;
Few fear obliquity of mind.
Why not adorn the better part?
This is a nobler theme for art.
For what is form, or what is face,
But the soul's index, or its case?

Now take a simile at hand;
Compare the mental soil to land.

Shall fields be till'd with annual care,
And minds lie fallow ev'ry year?
O, since the crop depends on you,
Give them the culture which is due :

Hoe ev'ry weed, and dress the soil;

If human minds resemble trees,

(As ev'ry moralist agrees,)

Prune all the stragglers of your vine;
Then shall the purple clusters shine.
The gard'ner knows, that fruitful life
Demands his salutary knife:

For ev'ry wild luxuriant shoot,,

Or robs the bloom, or starves the fruit.

SECTION VIII.

Dependence on Providence.

REGARD the world with cautious eye,
Nor raise your expectation high.
See that the balanc'd scales be such,
You neither fear nor hope too much.
For disappointment's not the thing;
'Tis pride and passion point the sting.
Life is a sea where storms must rise;
'Tis folly talks of cloudless skies:
He who contracts his swelling sail,
Eludes the fury of the gale.

COTTON.

Be still, nor anxious thoughts employ ; Distrust imbitters present joy :

On God for all events depend;

You cannot want when God's your friend.
Weigh well your part, and do your best;
Leave to your Maker all the rest.

The hand which form'd thee in the womb,
Guides from the cradle to the tomb.
Can the fond mother slight her boy?
Can she forget her prattling joy?
Say then, shall sov'reign love desert

The humble and the honest heart?
Heav'n may not grant thee all thy mind;
Yet say not thou that Heav'n's unkind.
God is alike, both good and wise,
In what he grants, and what denies :
Perhaps, what Goodness gives to-day,
To-morrow, Goodness takes away.

You say, that troubles intervene ;
That sorrows darken half the scene.
True, and this consequence you see,
The world was ne'er design'd for thee:
You're like a passenger below,
That stays perhaps a night or so;
But still his native country lies
Beyond the bound'ries of the skies.

Of Heav'n ask virtue, wisdom, health;

But never let thy pray'r be wealth.

K 3

If food be thine, (though little gold,)
And raiment to repel the cold;

Such as may nature's wants suffice,
Not what from pride and folly rise;

If soft the motions of thy soul,

And a calm conscience crown the whole;
Add but a friend to all this store,
You can't in reason wish for more;
And if kind Heav'n this comfort brings,
'Tis more than Heav'n bestows on kings.

COTTON.