seen,
The butterfly merrily skims it along;
The grasshopper chirps in the hedges so green,
And the linnet there sings us his liveliest song.

THE OLD MAN’s COMFORTS.

“You are old, Father William,” a young man did say,
“And life must be hast’ning away;
You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death:
Now tell me the reason, I pray.”

“I am cheerful, young man,” Father William replied,
“Let the cause thy attention engage:
In the days of my youth I remember’d my God,
And he hath not forgotten my age.”

CONTENTMENT.

No glory I covet, nor riches I want,
Ambition is nothing to me;
The one thing I beg of kind heaven to grant,
Is a mind independent and free.

With passion unruffled, untainted with pride,
By reason my life let me square;
The wants of my nature are cheaply supplied;
And the rest is but folly and care.

The blessing which Providence kindly has lent
I’ll justly and gratefully prize;
While sweet meditation and cheerful content
Shall make me both healthful and wise.

MORNING HYMN.

My Father, I thank thee for sleep,
For quiet and peaceable rest;
I thank thee for stooping to keep
An infant from being distrest.

My voice shall be lisping thy praise,
My heart would repay thee with love;
O teach me to walk in thy ways,
And fit me to see thee above.

As long as thou seest it right
That here upon earth I should stay,
I pray thee to guard me by night,
And help me to serve thee by day.