VERSES WRITTEN BY

THE REV. JOHN EWART.

ON A CLOCK.

In this machine we daily may survey
How quickly human life does glide away,
See hours and years with hasty speed decide
The transitory state of human pride.

The

young,

the old, the serious, and the gay,
All swiftly change the scene, and pass away.
In peaceful age we shun the various strife,
And seek retirement after active life.
While then the sable shades of ev'ning close,
We seek the slumber of a calm repose;
And oft we muse in sage and silent thought
On all we've seen and felt, or heard, or wrought.
Destructive Age no pleasures leaves behind,
But those which virtue fixes on the mind.

O vain each joy of nature or of art,

If void of truth and feeling in the heart.

O lift thy heart with gratitude to Heaven,

If mind and memory sound to thee are given;
Then next to the Almighty oft devote
Each cheerful interval of pious thought;
And let each talent ardent still combine
To raise thy soul to objects most divine.
Implore from Heav'n such blessed daily care

As Saints have gain'd by hope, and faith, and prayer.

If conscious errors lay thee in the dust,

And conscience blames thee, own the sentence just.

O teach thy heart to raise its hopes to Heaven,
Assured that nothing here is perfect given ;
Let gratitude be ardent in the praise
Of God, still merciful in all His ways;
And, if life's valley is a vale of tears,
Celestial joy beyond that vale appears.
O bid each discontented murmur cease,
And bless the Lord for competence and peace.

ON THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD.

"For He is ever present, ever felt,

In the wild waste, or in the city full,

And where His presence is there must be joy.",

Thomson.

O bless'd assurance, source of sweet repose,
To heal the heart in all its weary woes!
When disappointment checks the ardent mind,
And frivolous or vain the world we find,

O let the heart address itself to Heaven

With faith and hope, and thanks for mercy given!
While each succeeding year, as we grow old,
Let God's all-seeing eye be our strong hold.
If thou art low, or sick and sad, His power
Can quickly cheer thy spirit every hour.
O why should mortals sink with fear?
Is not thine Heavenly Father near?
He never slumbers, never sleeps,
His creatures all He daily keeps:
Each night, each day, above, below,
He does great imperfection know;
Yet if affliction great has been,
His mercy and His grace are seen;

To all who seek and think of Heav'n,
Still everlasting hope is giv'n;

In the great house or humble cot,

No human being is forgot,

His eye the heart will still explore,

And virtue blessed evermore.

On earth if grief and weary cares abound,
Where dark adversity is often found,

Yet let the heart make its appeal to Heav'n,
And rest assured comfort will be given.
Though in this state of trial every load

Of care or sorrow is assign'd by God,

While various guardian angels, we shall find,

Are near to soothe and cheer the pious mind.

J. E.

A PRAYER,

WRITTEN AT EDINBURGH IN 1800, BY THE RIGHT HON. LADY CHARLOTTE CAMPBELL, NOW LADY CHARLOTTE BURY.

O Thou! whose power o'er all extends,

Whom all must still adore,

Low in the dust thy creature bends,
And does thy grace implore.

Give to my mind contentment still,

Whate'er thou may'st ordain;

Let resignation to thy will

Soothe each severest pain.

S

Make me to think each pang on earth,
Is transient as each joy;

The sun which gives each flower its birth,
May soon that flower destroy.

Says Body to Mind," "Tis amazing to me,
You and I, so related, can never agree,
But lead a most skirmishing warfare in life,
Often plagues to each other, like husband and wife.

And the fault is all yours, who with real oppression
Encroach every day on my lawful possession;

The best room in my house you claimed as your own,
And turn'd the whole tenement quite upside down;
While you hourly call in a disorderly crew,

Which you call Ideas,' who nothing can do,
But to run out and in and ramble about,

From my bed, and my sleep, I am often shut out."
Poor Mind who heard all with great moderation,
Thought it proper to make some true observation;
""Tis I," she replied, "who have cause to complain,
Who am often confin'd, like a slave in a chain;
If I sometimes step out on some weighty affairs,
To visit the sky and my good friends the stars,
Before I have got half so high as the moon,
You command pain or headaches to summon me down,
Not aware of the pleasure which Mind oft derives,
By raising itself from the earth to the skies;
Escaping from sombre and sad meditations,
To enjoy the most noble divine contemplations;
But behold I am seiz'd both morning and night,

By your toothaches, or colds, or weakness of sight.'
“'Twas exactly" said Body, "what you had deserv'd ;
While you ramble abroad I at home am half-starved,
And unless I confine you completely in hold,
You would leave me to perish by hunger and cold."
"I've a friend," answer'd Mind "who if slow is yet sure,
Who will save me, at last, from tyrannical power,

He will break up your power, and your fabric demolish,
And at once all your strength, and my slav'ry abolish:
And while in the dust your poor ruins decay,
I shall rise with new life and fly happy away."