SELECT LESSONS

IN

PROSE and VERSE, &c.

ODE on the Glories of the Heavens. ADDISON.

1.

T

HE spacious Firmament on high,

With all the blue ætherial Sky,
And spangled Heavens, a shining Frame,

Their great Original proclaim :
Th' unwearied Sun, from Day to Day,
Does his Creator's Pow'r display,
And publishes to every Land

The Work of an Almighty Hand.

2. Soon as the Evening Shades prevail,
The Moon takes up the wond'rous Tale,
And nightly to the lift'ning Earth
Repeats the Story of her Birth:
Whilst all the Stars that round her burn,
And all the Planets in their Turn,

Confirm the Tidings as they roll,

And spread the Truth from Pole to Pole.

I.

3. What though, in folemn Silence, all
Move round the dark terrestrial Ball!
What though nor real Voice nor Sound
Amid their radiant Orbs be found!
In Reason's Ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious Voice,
For ever finging as they shine,
"The Hand that made us is Divine."

DAVID's. Paftoral HYMN on PROVIDENCE.

T

ADDISON.

HE LORD my Pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a Shepherd's Care:

His Presence shall my Wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful Eye;
My Noon-day Walks he shall attend,
And all my Mid-night Hours defend.

:

2. When in the fultry Glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty Mountains pant;
To fertile Vales, and dewy Meads,
My weary wand'ring Steps he leads;
Where peaceful Rivers, soft and flow,
Amid the verdant Landskip flow.

3. Tho' in the Paths of Death I tread,
With gloomy Horrors overspread,
My stedfaft Heart shall fear no Ill,
For thou, O LORD, art with me still;
Thy friendly Crook shall give me Aid,
And guide me through the dreadful Shade.

4. Tho' in a bare and rugged Way,
Through devious lonely Wilds I ftray,
Thy Bounty shall my Pains beguile :
The barren Wilderness shall smile,
With fudden Greens and Herbage crown'd,
And Streams shall murmur all around.

1.

HYMN on GRATITUDE.

W

ADDISON.

HEN all thy Mercies, O my GOD! My rifing Soul furveys; Transported with the View, I'm loft In Wonder, Love, and Praise:

2. O how shall Words with equal Warmth
The Gratitude declare

That glows within my ravish'd Heart?
But Thou canst read it there.

3. Thy Providence my Life sustain'd,
And all my Wants redreft,
When in the filent Womb I lay,
And hung upon the Breaft.

4. To all my weak Complaints and Cries,
Thy Mercy lent an Ear,
E're yet my feeble Thoughts had learnt
To form themselves in Pray'r.

5. Unnumber'd Comforts to my Soul. Thy tender Care bestow'd, Before my infant Heart conceiv'd

From whom those Comforts flow'd.

6. When in the flipp'ry Paths of Youth
With heedless Steps I ran,
Thine Arm unseen convey'd me fafe,

And led me up to Man.

7. Through hidden Dangers, Toils, and Deaths,

It gently clear'd my Way,
And through the pleasing Snares of Vice,
More to be fear'd than they.

8. When worn with Sickness, oft haft thou
With Health renew'd my Face ;
And when in Sins and Sorrow funk,
Reviv'd my Soul with Grace.

9. Thy bounteous Hand with worldly Bliss
Has made my Cup run o'er,
And in a kind and faithful Friend
Has doubled all my Store.

10. Ten thousand thousand precious Gifts
My daily Thanks employ;
Nor is the least a cheerful Heart,
That taftes those Gifts with Joy.

11. Through every Period of my Life
Thy Goodness I'll pursue;
And after Death in distant Worlds
The glorious Theme renew.

12. When Nature fails, and Day and Night

Divide thy Works no more,
My ever-grateful Heart, O LORD,
Thy Mercy shall adore..

13. Through