5.

Soon shall I learn the exalted strains
Which echo o'er the heavenly plains,
And emulate, with joy unknown,
The glowing seraphs round thy throne.

6.

The cheerful tribute will I give
Long as a deathless soul can live :
A work so sweet, a theme so high,
Demands and crowns eternity.

311. c. M.

WATTS.

The vanity of man as mortal.

1.

TEACH me the measure of my days,
Thou Maker of my frame!

I would survey life's narrow space,
And learn how frail I am.

2.

How short the span that we can boast
In the long line of time!

Man is but vanity and dust
In all his flower and prime.

3.

See the vain race of mortals move
Like shadows o'er the plain;
They rage and strive, desire and love,
But all the noise is vain.

4.

What should I wish or wait for, then, From creatures, earth and dust? They make our expectations vain, And disappoint our trust.

5.

Now I forbid my carnal hope,
My fond desires recall;
I give my mortal interest up,
And make my God my all.
312. C. M.

WATTS.

Man frail, and God eternal.

1.

O GOD, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!

2.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.

3.

A thousand ages in thy sight

Are like an evening gone,

Short as the watch that ends the night

Before the rising sun.

4.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away:
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

5.

Like flowery fields the nations stand, Pleased with the morning light: The flowers beneath the mower's hand Lie withering ere 'tis night.

6.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home!

313. C. M. WATTS.

Man frail, God all-powerful.

1.

LET others boast how strong they be,
Nor death nor danger fear;
But we'll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.

2.

Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay;
A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

3.

Our life contains a thousand springs,
And dies if one be wrong:
Strange! that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long.

4.

But 'tis our God supports our frame,
The God that built us first:

All glory to the almighty name,

That rear'd us from the dust!

5.

While we have breath, or use our tongues, Our Maker we'll adore;

His spirit moves our heaving lungs,

Or they would breathe no more.

314. s. M.

T. SCOTT.

The changes of life appointed by God.

1.

As various as the moon

Is man's estate below;

To his bright day of gladness soon
Succeeds a night of woe.

2.

The night of woe resigns
Its darkness and its grief;
Again the morn of comfort shines,
And brings our souls relief.

3.

Yet not to fickle chance
Is man's condition given:

His dark and shining hours advance
By the fixt laws of heaven.

4.

God measures out to all
Their lot of good and ill;

Nor this too great, nor that too small,
Ordain'd by wisest will.

5.

Let man conform his mind
To every changing state;
Rejoicing now, and now resign'd,
And the great issue wait.

6.

Hopeful and humble bear
Thine evil and thy good:
Nor by presumption, nor despair,
Weak mortal, be subdued.

315. P. M.

JOHN TAYLOR.

The changes of life lead to immortality.

1.

MARK, my soul, life's shifting scene,
Where nothing long endures;
Stormy now, and now serene,
No skill from change secures :
Now the clouds that veil the sun
Dark and terrible appear;
Yet ere this day's race be run
His brightest rays shall cheer.

2.

Vainly then the proud shall boast
How firm his mountain stands;
While the weak and tempest-tost
In peaceful harbour lands:
Providence may blow the gale,
Or to waft or overwhelm;
Yet let virtue spread the sail,

And truth command the helm.

3.

Life, how short the voyage, is!
But how important too!
Havens of eternal bliss

Still opening to our view:
Where the heart is right with God,
We shall never want his grace;

Earth is but our short abode,

And heaven our resting-place.