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The infant, rear'd alone for earth, May live, may die,-to curse his birth; Is this a mother's love?

A parent's heart may prove a snare;
The child she loves so well,
Her hand may lead, with gentlest care,
Down the smooth road to hell;
Nourish its frame,-destroy its mind:
Thus do the blind mislead the blind,
Ev'n with a mother's love.

Blest infant! whom his mother taught
Early to seek the Lord,

And pour'd upon his dawning thought
The day-spring of the word:
This was the lesson to her son,
-Time is Eternity begun :

Behold that mother's love.

Blest mother! who, in wisdom's path,
By her own parent trod,

Thus taught her son to flee the wrath,
And know the fear of God:

Ah! youth, like him enjoy your prime,
Begin Eternity in time,

Taught by that mother's love,

That mother's love!-how sweet the name!
What was that mother's love?
-The noblest, purest, tenderest flame,
That kindles from above
Within a heart of earthly mould,

As much of heaven as heart can hold,
Nor through eternity grows cold:

This was that mother's love.

HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

HOWELL

Ip of the smallest star in sky
We know not the dimensity;

If those pure sparks that stars compose
The highest human wit do pose;

How then, poor shallow man, canst thou
The Maker of these glories know?

If we know not the air we draw,
Nor what keeps winds and waves in awe;
If our small skulls cannot contain
The flux and saltness of the main;

If scarce a cause we ken below;
How shall we the Supernal know?

If it be a mysterious thing,

Why steel should to the loadstone cling;
If we know not why jet should draw
And with such kisses hug a straw;
If none can truly yet reveal,
How sympathetic powders heal;

If we scarce know the earth we tread,
Or half the simples that are bred,
With minerals, and thousand things

Which for man's health and food she brings;

If Nature's so obscure, then how

Can we the God of Nature know?

What the hat's eye is to the sun;

Or of a glow-worm to the moon;

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ELL.

sky ty;

stars compose

O pose;

Ow man, canst thou

Lories know?

adstone cling; ould draw

a straw; reveal.

ders heal;

h we tread,

e bred,

nd things

food she brings;

then how

Cure know?

e sun;

noon;

The same is human intellect,
If on our Maker we reflect,

Whose magnitude is so immense,

That it transcends both soul and sense.

Poor purblind man! then sit thee still;
Let wonderment thy temples fill:
Keep a due distance: do not pry
Too near, lest, like a silly fly,

While she the wanton with the flame doth play,
First fries her wings, then fools her life away.

WONDERS AND MURMURS.

HALL.

STRANGE, that the Wind should be left so free, To play with a flower, or tear a tree; To range or ramble where'er it will, And, as it lists, to be fierce or still; Above and around to breathe of life, Or to mingle the earth and sky in strife; Gently to whisper, with morning light, Yet to growl like a fetter'd fiend ere night; Or to love, and cherish, and bless, to-day, What to-morrow it ruthlessly rends away!

Strange, that the Sun should call into birth All the fairest flowers and fruits of earth, Then bid them perish, and see them die, While they cheer the soul and gladden the eye.

At morn, its child is the pride of SpringAt night, a shrivell'd and loathsome thing! To-day, there is hope and life in its breath! To-morrow, it shrinks to a useless death. Strange doth it seem, that the Sun should joy To give life, alone, that it may destroy.

Strange, that the Ocean should come and go, With its daily and nightly ebb and flow,Should bear on its placid breast at morn,The bark that ere night will be tempest-torn; Or cherish it all the way it must roam, To leave it a wreck within sight of home: To smile, as the mariner's toils are o'er, Then wash the dead to the cottage door; And gently ripple along the strand, To watch the widow behold him land!

But, stranger than all, that man should die,
When his plans are form'd and his hopes are high;
He walks forth a lord of the earth to day,
And the morrow beholds him part of its clay;
He is born in sorrow and cradled in pain,
And from youth to age-it is labour in vain;
And all that seventy years can show,
Is, that wealth is trouble, and wisdom woe;
That he travels a path of care and strife,
Who drinks of the poison'd cup of life!

Alas! if we murmur at things like these,
That reflection tells us are wise decrees;
That the Wind is not ever a gentle breath,-
That the Sun is often the bearer of death,-
That the Ocean-wave is not always still,--
And that Life is checker'd with good and ill:

[graphic]

pride of Springloathsome thing! life in its breath! a useless death.

t the Sun should joy may destroy.

hould come and go, webb and flow,breast at morn,-ill be tempest-torn; t must roam, sight of home: toils are o'er, e cottage door; ne strand,

d him land!

at man should die,
and his hopes are high;
he earth to day,

nim part of its clay;
cradled in pain,

is labour in vain;
can show,

and wisdom woe; care and strife, cup of life!

Ings like these,
wise decrees;
a gentle breath,-
bearer of death,-
t always still,-
with good and ill:

If we know 'tis well that such change shou
What do we learn from the things we see?
That an erring and sinning child of dust
Should not wonder nor murmur,—but hope and
trust!

ETERNITY.

BOYSE.

WHENCE sprung this glorious frame? or whence

arose

The various forms the universe compose?
From what Almighty Cause, what mystic springs
Shall we derive the origin of things?

Sing, heavenly Guide! whose all efficient light
Drew dawning planets from the womb of Night!
Since reason, by thy sacred dictates taught,
Adores a power beyond the reach of thought.

First Cause of causes! Sire supreme of birth! Sole light of heaven! acknowledged life of earth: Whose Word from nothing call'd this beauteous whole,

This wide expanded all from pole to pole!
Who shall prescribe the boundary to thee,
Or fix the era of eternity?

Should we, deceived by error's sceptic glass,
Admit the thought absurd-that nothing was!
Thence would this wild, this false conclusion flow,
That nothing raised this beauteous all below;
When from disclosing darkness splendour breaks,
Associate atoms move, and matter speaks,
When nonexistence bursts its close disguise,
How blind are mortals--not to own the skies!

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BOYSE.

In different individuals we find

An evident disparity of mind;

Hence ductile thought a thousand changes gains, And actions vary as the will ordains; But should two beings equally supreme, Divided power and parted empire claim; How soon would universal order cease! How soon would discord harmony displace! Eternal schemes maintain eternal fight, Nor yield, supported by eternal might; Where each would uncontroll'd his aim pursue, The links dissever, or the chain renew! Matter from motion cross impressions take, As served each power his rival's power to break, While neutral Chaos, from his deep recess, Would view the never-ending strife increase, And bless the contest that secured his peace! While new creations would opposing rise, And elemental war deform the skies; Around wild uproar and confusion hurl'd, Eclipse the heavens, and waste the ruin'd world.

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