2896. PROVIDENCE: all-wise.

SOMETIME, when all life's lessons have been learn'd,

And suns and stars for evermore have set, The things which our weak judgments here have spurn'd,

The things o'er which we grieve with lashes wet, Will flash before us, amid life's dark night,

As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue : And we shall see how all God's plans were right, And what most seem'd reproof was love most true. And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh, God's plans go on as best for you and meHow, when we call'd, He heeded not our cry, Because His wisdom to the end could see; And e'en as prudent parents disallow

Too much of sweet to craving babyhood, So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now Life's sweetest things because it seemeth good. And you shall shortly know that lengthen'd breath Is not the sweetest gift God sends His friend; And that sometimes the sable pall of death

Conceals the fairest boon His love can send. If we could stand within and all God's working see, We could interpret all this doubt and strife, Should for each mystery find there is a key,

And trace the love that sent each woe of life.

But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart!
God's plans, like lilies, pure and white, unfold,
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,

Time will reveal the calyxes of gold;
And if, through patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet with sandals loosed may rest,
Where we shall clearly know and understand,
I think that we shall say, 'God knew the best.'

2897. PROVIDENCE: all-wise.

WHATEVER God does is well!
His children find it so.

Some He doth not with plenty bless,

Yet loves them not the less,

But draws their hearts unto Himself away.Oh! hearts, obey.

Whatever God does is well,

Whether He gives or takes !

And what we from His hand receive

Suffices us to live.

Sometimes He doth all other good destroy,
To be thy joy.

Whatever God does is well!
And His will shall prevail.
Doth He refuse thy hands to fill?
He knows thy heart to still.
A Christian from a very little gift
Much joy can sift.

Whatever God does is well!
Although the field look dark,
Yet cheerful in His path we go;

And by our faith we know

That Christ for us hath heavenly riches bought.Can we lack aught?

Whatever God does is well!

In patience let us wait:

He doth Himself our burdens bear,
He doth for us take care.

And He, our God, knows all our weary days.-
Come, give Him praise !-Schmolk.

2898. PROVIDENCE: causes all things to work together for good.

'ALL things,' dear Lord! Is there no thread of woe Too dark, too tangled, for the bright design? No drop of rain too heavy for the bow

Set in the cloud in covenant Divine?

I know that all Thy full designs are bright;
That darkest threads grow golden in Thy hand,
That bending lines grow straight-the tangled
right-

The bitter drops all sweet at Thy command.

Command the sweetness! make the crooked straight;

And turn these dusky tangled threads to gold!
Swifter, dear Lord! I cannot longer wait;
Faith has grown weary-longing to behold.

I know the promise; but I crave the sight;
I yearn to see the beautiful design;
To hail the rose-tints of the morning light;
To watch the straightening of the bended line.

Why these enigmas? Wherefore not receive

Then love His will.

Whatever God does is well!

And what can our will do?

We cannot reap from what we sow But what His power makes grow.

And One I knew approach'd, and wiped my tear.

With wounded hand, and sigh'd. Ah! then I fell
Down on my knees and held him by the feet,

My Lord! My God! All, all is well!
With Thee, the dark is light, the bitter sweet!

2899. PROVIDENCE. Direction of

THERE is power

Unseen, that rules the illimitable world,,
That guides its motions from the brightest star
To the least dust of this sin-tainted mould;
While man, who madly deems himself the lord
Of all, is nought but weakness and dependence.
This sacred truth, by sure experience taught,
Thou must have learnt, when wandering all alone;
Each bird, each insect, flitting through the sky,
Was more sufficient for itself than thou.-Thomson.

2900. PROVIDENCE. Diversities of

WHEN all the year our fields are fresh and green, And while sweet showers and sunshine every day, As oft as need requireth, come between

The heavens and earth, they heedless pass away. The fulness and continuance of a blessing

Doth make us to be senseless of the good;
And if sometimes it fly not our possessing,
The sweetness of it is not understood;
Had we no winter, summer would be thought
Not half so pleasing; and if tempests were not,
Such comforts by a calm could not be brought;

For things, save by their opposites, appear not.
Both health and wealth are tasteless unto some,
And so is ease and every other pleasure,
Till poor, or sick, or grievèd, they become,

And then they relish these in ampler measure.
God, therefore, full as kind as He is wise,

So tempereth all the favours He will do us, That we His bounties may the better prize,

And make His chastisement less bitter to us. One while a scorching indignation burns

The flowers and blossoms of our hopes away, Which into scarcity our plenty turns,

And changeth new-mown grass to parched hay; Anon, His fruitful showers and pleasing dews,

Commix'd with cheerful rays, He sendeth down, And then the barren earth her crops renews, Which with rich harvests hills and valleys crown; For as, to relish joys, He sorrow sends, So comfort on temptation still attends.-Wither.

2901. PROVIDENCE. Divine

ALL is of God! If He but wave His hand,
The mists collect, the rain falls thick and loud,
Till, with a smile of light on sea and land,

Lo! He looks back from the departing cloud. Angels of life and death alike are His;

Without His leave they pass no threshold o'er; Who then would wish or dare, believing this, Against His messengers to shut the door?

Lowell.

2902. PROVIDENCE: foolishly distrusted. ONE part, one little part, we dimly scan Through the dark medium of life's fevering dream; Yet dare arraign the whole stupendous plan, If but that little part incongruous seem; Nor is that part perhaps what mortals deem; Oft from apparent ill our blessings rise.

Oh then renounce that impious self-esteem, That aims to trace the secrets of the skies: For thou art but of dust; be humble and be wise. Beattie.

2903. PROVIDENCE: its mysteries. PURBLIND man

Sees but a part o' th' chain, the nearest links;
His eyes not carrying to that equal beam
That poises all above.—Dryden and Lee.

The ways of heaven are dark and intricate;
Puzzled in mazes, and perplex'd with errors,
Our understanding traces them in vain,
Lost and bewilder'd in the fruitless search,
Nor sees with how much art the windings run,
Nor where the regular confusion ends.—Addison.

Do thou, my soul, the destined period wait,
When God shall solve the dark decrees of fate,
His now unequal dispensations clear,
And make all wise and beautiful appear.-Tickell,

Heaven darkly works ;-yet, where the seed hath been,

There shall the fruitage, glowing, yet be seen. Mrs Hemans.

2904. PROVIDENCE: its mysteries.
(A Russian Fable.)

ONE day a farmer in his field
Was sowing oats for autumn yield.

A young horse watch'd him on his way,
And gave at once a scornful neigh.
'How foolish man is!' this colt thought.
Here in the very act he's caught
'Of throwing oats upon the ground.
Could any rasher waste be found?

'Give me that heap, and I would show
What oats are good for-for I know.

'Or even give them to the crows :
They have more sense than this act shows!

'Or hoard them carefully away :
Man may want oats some future day!'

Well, time pass'd on. The autumn grain
Was garner'd from the field again.

The farmer gather'd oats tenfold,
And gave the horse all he could hold.
Are we not sometimes like this colt?
We send a criticizing bolt

'Gainst higher powers. We call waste
What is but wisdom, view'd in haste.
We mock the providence that sends
Its aim through darkness to kind ends.
Laura Sanford.

2905. PROVIDENCE. Mercifulness of
YET Providence, that ever-waking eye,
Looks down with pity on the feeble toil
Of mortals lost to hope, and lights them safe
Through all the dreary labyrinth of fate.

Thomson.

2906. PROVIDENCE: overrules all things.

OUR indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall; and that should teach us
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.-Shakespeare.

Each individual seeks a separate goal;

But Heaven's great view is one, and that the whole :
That counterworks each folly and caprice;
That disappoints th' effects of every vice.-Pope.

2907. PROVIDENCE: should be gratefully acknowledged.

It is not so with Him that all things knows
As 'tis with us, that square our guess by shows:
But most it is presumptuous in us, when
The help of Heaven we count the act of men.
Shakespeare.

2908. PROVIDENCE. Tenderness of

JUST as a mother, with sweet pious face,
Yearns towards her little children from her seat,
Gives one a kiss, another an embrace,

Takes this upon her knees, that on her feet;
And while from actions, looks, complaints, pretences,
She learns their feelings and their various will,
To this a look, to that a word, dispenses,

And, whether stern or smiling, loves them still ;—

So Providence for us, high, infinite,

Makes our necessities its watchful task,

Hearkens to all our prayers, helps all our wants, And even if it denies what seems our right, Either denies because 'twould have us ask,

Or seems but to deny, or in denying grants. From the Italian of Vincenzo da Filicaja: tr. by Leigh Hunt.

2909. PROVIDENCE. Trust in
INTRUST thy fortune to the powers above;
Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant
What their unerring wisdom sees thee want.
In goodness as in greatness they excel:

Ah, that we loved ourselves but half so well!
Dryden.

2910. PROVIDENCE. Trust in

My times are in Thy hand! I know not what a day Or e'en an hour may bring to me, But I am safe while trusting Thee, Though all things fade away. All weakness, I

On Him rely,

Who fix'd the earth, and spread the starry sky.

My times are in Thy hand!
Pale poverty, or wealth,
Corroding care, or calm repose,

Spring's balmy breath, or winter's snows,
Sickness, or buoyant health,-
Whate'er betide,

If God provide,

'Tis for the best, I wish no lot beside!

My times are in Thy hand!
Many or few my days,

I leave with Thee,-this only pray,
That by Thy grace, I, every day
Devoting to thy praise,

May ready be

To welcome Thee,

Whene'er Thou comest to set my spirit free!

2911. PROVIDENCE. Trust in

I KNOW not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.

And if my heart and flesh are weak
To bear an untried pain,
The bruised reed He will not break,
But strengthen and sustain.

No offering of my own I have,

Nor works my faith to prove;
I can but give the gifts He gave,
And plead His love for love.

And so beside the Silent Sea
I wait the muffled oar;

No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

PROVIDENTIAL DIRECTION

I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift

Beyond His love and care.

And Thou, O Lord! by whom are seen Thy creatures as they be,

Forgive me if too close I lean

My human heart on Thee !—Whittier.

564

PUNISHMENT

Prudence protects and guides us; wit betrays;
A splendid source of ill ten thousand ways;
A certain snare to miseries immense;
A gay prerogative from common sense;
Unless strong judgment that wild thing can tame,
And break to paths of virtue and of fame. — Young.

Consult your means, avoid the tempter's wiles,
Shun grinning hosts of unreceipted files,
Let Heaven-eyed prudence battle with desire,

for

As in a throng, sedition being raised,
Th' ignoble multitude inflamed with madness,
Firebrands and stones fly; fury shows them weapons:
Till spying some grave man, honour'd for wisdom,
They straight are silent, and erect their ears;
Whilst he, with his sage counsel, doth assuage
Their mind's disorder and appease their rage:
So prudence, when rebellious appetites
Have raised temptations, with their batteries
Assaulting reason, then doth interpose,
And keep it safe.-Nabb.

When any great designs thou dost intend,
Think on the means, the manner, and the end.

Denham.

Look forward what's to come, and back what's past;
Thy life will be with praise and prudence graced :
What loss or gain may follow, thou may'st guess;
Thou then wilt be secure of the success.-Denham.

Prudence! thou vainly in our youth art sought,
And with age purchased, art too dearly bought,-
We're past the use of wit, for which we toil :
Late fruit, and planted on too cold a soil.-Dryden.

2915. PULPIT. Power of the

THE pulpit, therefore (and I name it, fill'd
With solemn awe, that bids me well beware
With what intent I touch that holy thing),
I say the pulpit (in the sober use

Of its legitimate, peculiar powers)

Field.

Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand
The most important and effectual guard,
Support, and ornament of virtue's cause.

There stands the messenger of truth: there stands

The legate of the skies! his theme divine,
His office sacred, his credentials clear.

By him the violated law speaks out

Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
He 'stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
And, arm'd himself in panoply complete

Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms
Bright as his own, and trains, by every rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war,
The sacramental host of God's elect!

Are all such teachers?-would to Heaven all were!
Cowper.

2916. PUNISHMENT. Inevitable ALL vice to which man yields in greed to do it, Or soon or late, be sure, he'll sorely rue it. The whole creation's strange and endless dealing, In spite of shields and veils and arts concealing, Proclaims that whosoe'er is long a sinner, Can only be by it of woe a winner.

Oriental, tr. by W. R. Alger.

2917. PUNISHMENT: necessary. THE land wants such

As dare with rigour execute the laws.

Her fester'd members must be lanced and tented:
He's a bad surgeon that for pity spares
The part corrupted till the gangrene spread,
And all the body perish: he that's merciful
Unto the bad, is cruel to the good.—Rando’ph.

2918. PUNISHMENT: not to be administered vindictively.

YE princes all, and rulers every one,

In punishment beware of hatred's ire.

Before you scourge, take heed; look well thereon:
In wrath's ill will, if malice kindle fire,
Your hearts will burn in such a hot desire,
That, in those flames, the smoke shall dim your sight,
Ye shall forget to join your justice right.

You should not judge till things be well discern'd;
Your charge is still to maintain upright laws :
In conscience' rules ye should be thoroughly learn'd-
Where clemency bids wrath and rashness pause;
And further saith, strike not without a cause:
And when ye smite, do it for justice' sake;
Then in good part each man your scourge will take.
Churchyard.

2926. RATIONALISM. Uncertainty of
DIM as the borrow'd beams of moon and stars
To lonely, weary, wandering travellers,
Is Reason to the soul: and as on high
Those rolling fires discover but the sky,
Not light us here; so Reason's glimmering ray
Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day.
And as those nightly tapers disappear

When Day's bright lord ascends our hemisphere ;
So pale grows Reason at Religion's sight;
So dies, and so dissolves in supernatural light.
Some few, whose lamps shone brighter, have been
led

From cause to cause, to nature's secret head;
And found that one first principle must be :
But what, or who, that universal He;
Whether some soul encompassing this ball,
Unmade, unmoved; yet making, moving all;
Or various atoms' interfering dance
Leap'd into form, the noble work of chance;
Or this great all was from eternity;
Not e'en the Stagirite himself could see;
And Epicurus guess'd as well as he :
As blindly groped they for a future state;
As rashly judged of providence and fate: