With soft compassion touch'd, He knows,

For He has felt, the sinner's grief; To all our doubts, and all our woes,

He promises and gives relief:

My soul, dismiss thy self-distracting fears,

Thy Saviour-Priest for thee in heav'n appears.

EAST.

The wandering star, and fleeting wind,

Are emblems of the fickle mind;

The morning cloud and early dew
Bring our inconstancy to view.

But cloud and wind, and dew and star,
Only a faint resemblance bear;

Nor can there aught in nature be

So changeable and frail as we.

Our outward walk and inward frame,
Are scarcely through an hour the same ;

We vow, and straight our vows forget,
And then those very vows repeat:

We sin forsake, to sin return;

Are hot, then cold, now freeze, now burn;
Now sink to hell, in dark despair,

Then soar to heaven, and triumph there.

With flowing tears, Lord, we confess

Our folly and unsteadfastness;

When shall these hearts more stable be,
Fix'd by Thy grace alone on Thee!

BEDDOME.

O Lord, how vile am I,
Unholy and unclean !

How can I venture to draw nigh
With such a load of sin!

Myself can hardly bear

This wretched heart of mine: How hateful must it then appear To those pure eyes of Thine!

And must I then indeed

Sink in despair and die?

Fain would I hope that Thou did'st bleed
For such a wretch as I.

That blood, which Thou hast spilt,
That grace, which is Thy own,
Can cleanse the vilest sinner's guilt,
And soften hearts of stone.

Low at Thy feet I bow,

O pity and forgive:

Here will I lie and wait, till Thou

Shalt bid me rise and live.

NEWTON.

A dying, risen Jesus,
Seen by the eye of faith,
At once from danger frees us
And saves the soul from death:
Come then to this Physician,
His help He'll freely give-
He makes no hard condition,
'Tis only-Look and live.

NEWTON.

Why did I leave the narrow path
To pluck life's withering flowers?

Why dare the Almighty's righteous wrath,
For such a world as our's?

Why wander from the ways of Heaven,

The holy and the true?

Why leave the springs so freely given,
And broken cisterns hew?

Saviour of sinners, Son of God!
Is there no mercy now?

I feel Thy pure and precious blood
Can never cease to flow;

Thy birth a holy light revealed,

Whose glory cannot die,

Thy death a fountain's depth unsealed

That never can be dry.

M. A. BROWNE.

V. INVITATIONS TO SINNERS.

BEHOLD, I stand at the door and knock.-REV. iii. 18.

Let him that is athirst, come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.-REV. xxii. 17.

Deut. iv. 29-31–xxx. 15, 19—2 Chron. vii. 14-xv. 2-Prov. i. 23-Cant. v. 2-Isaiah i. 18-xli. 17, 18—xlii. 18-xliv. 3, 4, 22-lv. 1-3, 6, 7-Jer. iii. 12, 14, 22—xviii. 8-Ezek. xviii. 31, 32-xxxiii. 11-Hos. ii. 14-xiv. 1, 2—Joel ii. 12, 13-Zech. i. 3-ix. 12-Mal. iii. 7.

Matt. vii. 7, 8-ix. 12, 13—xi. 28-30-xv. 24-Luke xiv. 21-23-xix. 10-John iv. 10, 14-vi. 35, 37-vii. 37-x. 9, 16xii. 32-1 Cor. vii. 15-2 Cor. vi. 17, 18-1 Tim. ii. 4-6-Heb. vii. 25-Rev. iii. 18, 20-xviii. 4—xxi. 6—xxii. 17.

Ho! every one that thirsts draw nigh,

The living Well behold;

Mercy and free salvation buy,

But offer neither gem nor gold.

See from the rock a fountain rise,
'Midst arid sands and barren wastes;
The sinner who to Christ applies,

His unbought love and pardon tastes.

Why seek ye that which is not good,
Such vain and worthless toys embrace?
Lo! here is pure untainted food,

The bread of life, the word of grace.

WESLEY. (altered.)

Oh, hearken to the healing voice

That speaks from heaven in tones so mild!
To-day are life and death our choice;
To-day, through mercy reconciled,
Our all to God we yet may give ;
Now let us hear His voice and live.

MONTGOMERY.

Lord, I accept, with grateful heart,
1
The hope those precious words impart ;
I come with trembling, yet rejoice,
And bless Thy kind inviting voice.

My Saviour! may Thy powerful love
Confirm my faith, my fears remove,
And sweetly influence my breast,
Till Thou shalt give me perfect rest.

MRS. STEELE,

Behold a Stranger at the door!
He gently knocks, has knock'd before:
Has waited long, is waiting still;

You use no other friend so ill.