That to act, whate'er betide, Nobly on the Christian plan, This is still the surest guide, How to be the Gentleman! WARNING. THINK not, O man, that strong Temptation's hour, Dream not, presumptuous, that thy state is free Hot Nature still may vex thy soul within, And fire its house with wantonness or strife, How canst thou guess the trials coming near, Oh never is there safety for the soul Out of true humbleness; the purest saint Shall burst through grace, and habit's good constraint, If lust and pride within him win control. Then, be thou ware, frail creature! watch and pray; Thou hast no stores, but only manna given; Go, flee temptation at the gates of heaven, And humbly ask thy daily bread to-day. THE die is cast,-be satisfied; The chance is past,-be still : The hour is gone, the deed is done, Stand on the Fact in patience strong, And never nurse regret; Bid this stern Present, right or wrong, And work with all thy skill and power The living duties of the hour. All else is nought, all else is dead, Disguise it as we may ; Causes with yesterday have sped, Results are here to-day; Take them, and use them as you can, Right loyally for GOD and Man. The Thought that was not born a Thing Is only false Romance; Reality is Nature's King, Unfearing change or chance; When men can stand upon a Fact, THE COMMON COMPLAINT. TYRANNIC Circumstance! whose jealous power The brain, the disposition, and the shape, Wherein convention hedges us about, Family likenesses of make and mind, Habit, example, usage harsh or kind, And every tone and temper all around, These link the chain to keep the freeman bound! Poor Gulliver, the giant of the skies, Helpless in head and body, hands and feet, ANSWERED. 113 ANSWERED. AND yet,-What is this ruthless Circumstance?— That all our checks and trials here below, Our inner crosses, and our outer cares, Our wants, temptations, sorrows, fears, and snares H THE GOOD AND THE TRUE. NOTHING lasts that is not good; What a thought kept out of view! And surely drives you all away! Never yet was Truth assail'd, But the struggle gave it strength; "Great is Truth and has prevail'd" Always comes to pass at length: Never yet was good attack'd, But the very foe that smote Whiten'd up what slander black'd, And abjured what malice wrote ! What is Good? the pure and kind; What is Truth? the wise and right; And, in Matter as in Mind, Both will live in death's despite : But the bad, the false, the base, Barely breathe one feverish hour, Dying out of every place Like a rootless nosegay flower. |