Lord, therefore, now I go abroad,
My guard I Thee confess;
And humbly beg of Thee, O God,
My going forth to bless.

Go with me whither I would go,
Stay with me where I stay,
Do for me what I ought to do,

Speak Thou what I should say.

From taking wrong, from doing harm,
From thoughts and speeches ill;
From passion's rage, from pleasure's charm,
Vouchsafe to keep me still.

Let me abroad some blessing find,

And let no curse the while Befall to that I leave behind, My honest hope to spoil.

But let my going out and in,

My thoughts, my words and ways,

Be always safe, still free from sin,
And ever to Thy praise.

And when my pains effect shall take,

Or times of stay are spent,

With health and credit bring me back,

With comfort and content.

L

GEORGE WITHER.

DIVINE EJACULATIONS.

OUNTAIN of light and living breath,

Whose mercies never fail nor fade, Fill me with life that hath no death, Fill me with light that hath no shade, Appoint the remnant of my days To see Thy power and sing Thy praise.

Lord God of gods! before whose throne
Stand storms and fire, O what shall we
Return to heaven, that is our own,
When all the world belongs to Thee!
We have no offering to impart
But praises, and a wounded heart.

O Thou that sitt'st in heaven, and seest.
My deeds without, my thoughts within,
Be Thou my Prince, be Thou my Priest,
Command my soul, and cure my sin.
How bitter my afflictions be
I care not, so I rise to Thee,

What I possess, or what I crave,
Brings no content, great God, to me
If what I would, or what I have,

Be not possest and blest in Thee.
What I enjoy, oh, make it mine
In making me, that have it, Thine!

When winter fortunes cloud the brows

Of summer friends-when eyes grow strangeWhen plighted faith forgets its vows

When earth and all things in it change,O Lord, Thy mercies fail me never ; When once Thou lovest, Thou lovest for ever.

Great God, whose kingdom hath no end,
Into whose secrets none can dive,
Whose mercy none can apprehend,
Whose justice none can feel, and live,—
What my dull heart cannot aspire
To know, Lord, teach me to admire.

JOHN QUARLES (son of FRANCIS).
1624-1665.

SONG OF PRAISE.

AIR are the feet which bring the news
Of gladness unto me:

What happy messengers are those
Which my bless'd eyes do see!

Thy servants speak, but Thou, Lord, dost
An hearing ear bestow;

They smite the rock, but Thou, my God,
Dost make the waters flow.

They shoot the arrow, but Thy hand.
Doth drive that arrow home :
They call-but then Thou dost compel,
And then Thy guests are come.

Angels that fly, and worms that creep,

Are both alike to Thee:

If Thou makest worms Thine angels, Lord, They bring my God to me.

I bless my God, who is my guide;

I sing in Sion's ways:

When shall I sing on Sion's hill

Thine everlasting praise?

JOHN MASON.

1694.

A REVIEW OF LIFE.

O many years I've seen the sun,
And call'd these hands and eyes my

own;

A thousand little acts have done,

And childhood have, and manhood, known:

Oh, what is life, and this dull round?
To earth why was a spirit bound?
So many airy thoughts and lines,

And warm expansions of the mind,
Have fill'd my soul with great designs,
While practice grovell'd far behind :
Oh, what is thought? and where withdrew
The glories which my fancy drew?
So many tender joys and woes

Have o'er my quivering soul had power;
Plain life with varying passions rose,
The boast and burden of an hour:
Oh, what is all we feel? Why fled
Those pains and pleasures o'er my head?
So many human forms divine,

Some in one interview display'd,
Some oft and freely mix'd with mine,

In lasting bonds my love have laid: Oh, what is friendship? why imprest On my weak, dying, wretched breast?