3 How vain we are, how fond to show

Our clothes, and call them rich and new! When the poor sheep and silkworm wore This very clothing long before !

4 The tulip and the butterfly Appear in gayer coats than I ;

Let me be dressed fine as I will,
Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still.
5 Lord, teach my foolish heart to find.
Inward adornings of the mind;

Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace,
These are the robes of richest dress.

1 ANGRY words are lightly spoken,
In a rash and thoughtless hour,
Brightest links of life are broken
By their deep, insidious power;
Hearts inspired by warmest feeling,
Ne'er before by anger stirred,
Oft are rent past human healing
By a single angry word.
2 Poison-drops of care and sorrow,
Bitter poison-drops are they,
Making for the coming morrow
Saddest memories of to-day.
Angry words! O let them never
From the tongue unbridled slip;
May the heart's best impulse ever
Check them ere they soil the lip!

3 Love is much too pure and holy,
Friendship is too sacred far,
For a moment's reckless folly
Thus to desolate and mar.
Angry words are lightly spoken,-
Bitterest thoughts are rashly stirred;
Brightest links of life are broken
By a single angry word.

181

A Plain Rule.

1 To do to others as I would That they should do to me,

C.M.

Will make me honest, kind, and good,
As children ought to be.

2 I know I should not steal, or use
The smallest thing I see,

Which I should never like to lose
If it belonged to me.

3 And this plain rule forbids me quite
To strike an angry blow;

Because I should not think it right
If others served me so.

4 At home, or with my friends at school, Or in my walks abroad,

O let me ne'er forget this rule
Of Jesus Christ the Lord!

182.

Filial Obedience.

1 CHILDREN, your parents' will obey ; The Lord commands it to be done;

L.M.

And those who from the precept stray,
To misery and ruin run.

2 Your parents honour and revere ;
Be tender, generous, and kind;

Let filial love wipe every tear,

And chase the sorrows from their mind.

1 THE wishes that the sluggard frames,
Of course must fruitless prove;

With folded arms he stands and dreams,
But has no heart to move.

2 His field from others may be known,-
The fence is broken through,
The ground with weeds is overgrown,
And no good crop in view.

3 No hardship he, or toil can bear,
No difficulty meet;

He wastes his hours at home for fear
Of lions in the street.

4 What wonder, then, if sloth and sleep
Distress and famine bring?

Can he in harvest hope to reap
Who will not sow in spring?

184

Tenderness and Mercy.
1 SWEET it is to see a child
Tender, merciful, and mild;
Ever ready to perform
Acts of mercy to a worm.

C. M.

7's.

2 Grieving that the world should be
Such a scene of misery,-

Scene in which the creatures groan
For transgressions not their own.
3 If the creatures must be slain,
Thankless sinners to sustain,
Such a child, methinks, will cry,
Treat them gently when they die;

4 Spare them while they yield their breath; Double not the pains of death

;

Strike them not at such a time ; God accounts the stroke a crime.' 5 God is love, and never can

Smile upon a cruel man ;

Mercy reigns in every breast
Where His Spirit deigns to rest.

185 True Beauty (Prov. xxxi. 30).
1 How oft the youthful and the fair
Pursue some dangerous way,
And find that beauty is a snare
To tempt their feet astray!

2 The glowing hue of gladsome health,
So pleasing to behold,

May well be valued more than wealth,
And heaps of shining gold.

3 Yet it is but a transient charm-
The creature of a day;

Pale sickness comes, or death's alarm,
And soon it flies away.

C.M.

4 But that rich gift, the fear of God,
Ensnaring pride dispels;

For where true wisdom is bestowed,
True beauty also dwells.

186 Earthly Prospects Deceitful. 7's double. 1 OFT in vain the voice of truth Solemnly and loudly warns ; Thoughtless, inexperienced youth, Though it hears, the warning scorns ; Youth in Fancy's glass surveys Life prolonged to distant years, While the vast imagined space Filled with sweets and joys appears. 2 Awful disappointment soon

Overclouds the prospect gay; Some their sun goes down at noon,

Torn by Death's strong hand away:
Where are then their pleasing schemes?
Where the joys they hoped to find?
Gone for ever, like their dreams,
Leaving not a trace behind.

3 Others, who are spared awhile,
Live to weep o'er Fancy's cheat;
Find distress, and pain, and toil,
Bitter things instead of sweet:
Sin has spread a curse around,
Poisoned all things here below;
On this base polluted ground
Peace and joy can never grow.