He comes! to cheer the trembling heart, O Zion! lift thy raptured eye, The Prince of Salem comes to reign." SPEED THE PROW. Montgomery. Nor the ship that swiftest saileth, Storm and calm, to win the day; O'er life's ocean, wide and pathless, Dark or bright his Providence, Trust in God be my defence. Time there was,-'tis so no longer,— There my bark had founder'd surely, Breathed upon me ;-then securely, Helm, and shrouds, and heart renew'd, Now, though evening shadows blacken, And no star comes through the gloom, On I move, nor will I slacken Sail, though verging tow'rds the tomb : Bright beyond,—on heaven's high strand, Lo, the lighthouse!-land, land, land! Cloud and sunshine, wind and weather, Life and death will soon be past; But where day's last spark declines, REASON AND RELIGION. Bryden. DIM as the borrow'd beams of moon and stars HUMAN FRAILTY. WEAK and irresolute is man ; The purpose of to-day, Woven with pain into his plan, The bow well bent, and smart the spring, Vice seems already slain : But Passion rudely snaps the string, And it revives again. Some foe to his upright intent Finds out his weaker part; Virtue engages his assent, But Pleasure wins his heart. Tis here the folly of the wise And, while his tongue the charge denies, Bound on a voyage of awful length And dangers little known, A stranger to superior strength, Man vainly trusts his own. But oars alone can ne'er prevail, To reach the distant coast; The breath of heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost. CHRIST STILLETH THE TEMPEST. Herman. FEAR was within the tossing bark, And men stood breathless in their dread, And baffled in their skill But one was there, who rose and said To the wild sea, Be still! And the wind ceased-it ceased-that word And slumber settled on the deep, And silence on the blast, As when the righteous falls asleep When death's fierce throes are past. |