574 CONSCIENCE: a trouble to bad men.

It is a dangerous thing;

It makes a man a coward; a man
Cannot steal but it accuseth him; a man
Cannot swear, but it checks him.
'Tis a blushing shame-faced spirit, that
Mutinies in a man's bosom; it fills
One full of obstacles. It made me once
Restore a purse of gold, that by chance I
Found. It beggars any man that keeps it.
It is turn'd out of towns and cities for
A dangerous thing; and every man that means
To live well, endeavours to trust himself,
And live without it. - Shakespeare.

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn away, And lose the name of action.-Shakespeare. 575. CONSCIENCE: a witness.

THOU may'st conceal thy sin by cunning art, But conscience sits a witness in thy heart; Which will disturb thy peace, thy rest undo, For that is witness, judge, and prison too.

576. CONSECRATION. Entire

IF so poor a worm as I

May to Thy great glory live,

All my actions sanctify,

Watkyns.

All my words and thoughts receive;
Claim me for Thy service, claim
All I have, and all I am.

Take my soul and body's powers;

Take my mem'ry, mind, and will;

All my goods, and all my hours;

All I know, and all I feel;
All I think, or speak, or do;
Take my heart, but make it new.

Now, O God, Thine own I am;

Now I give Thee back Thine own;
Freedom, friends, and health, and fame,
Consecrate to Thee alone:
Thine I live, thrice happy I !

Happier still if Thine I die.-Charles Wesley.

577. CONSISTENCY.

THOU must be true thyself,

If thou the truth wouldst teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul wouldst reach.

It needs the overflow of heart
To give the lips full speech.

Think truly, and thy thoughts

Shall the world's famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed;

Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.

578. CONSOLATION. Compensatory

So, Christian! though gloomy and sad be thy days, And the tempest of sorrow encompass thee black; Though no sunshine of promise or hope sheds its

rays

To illumine and cheer thy life's desolate track Though thy soul writhes in anguish, and bitter tears flow

O'er the wreck of fond joys from thy bleeding heart riven,

Check thy murmuring sorrows, thou lorn one, and know

That the chasten'd on earth are the purest for heaven:

And remember, though gloomy the present may be, That 'the Master is coming,' and coming to thee. Patterson.

579. CONSOLATION : in Christ.

'IF any consolation be

In Christ!' Oh words of mild reproof To all who sit in misery,

Holding their griefs and cares aloof
From that dear Helper-bowing low
Beneath the heavy weights of woe,
Yet seeking not the sweet relief
To purchase which He bore our grief.

If there no consolation be

In Christ, or comfort in His love, Ah! where for succour can we flee? Too heavy must our burden prove If we must bear its weight aloneSo deathly faint as we have grown ; Beneath this long suspense and fear What if there were no comfort near?

Alone, and all-forsaken by

The hearts that we have served in need, While keen reproaches multiply,

And gaping wounds afresh do bleed,
If in the spirit we can see
No fellowship of sympathy,
No tender pity of our need,
Then are we desolate indeed!

Comfort the hearts that ache and bleed,
O blessed Jesus! Soothe the woe
Of trembling lips that vainly plead;

How rough these earthly paths can grow,
Thy pierced, wounded feet attest;
Give to the heavy laden rest,

Draw all the weary unto Thee,

Till they Thy consolation see. -Hildreth.

580. CONSOLATION. Time's

AND when Time, sweet opiate, flings
From his swift, invisible wings,
Bearing from the heart away
Some slight anguish day by day;

Grief, through Memory's medium scann'd,
Mellow, sweet, and soft appears;
Though no smile the Past demand,

Still it does not ask for tears.

And when better still than this,
Comes Religion's soothing kiss,
Breathing on the wounded heart
Balm no other can impart,
Grief thenceforth is grief no more;

All its power on earth shall cease,
But shall give, when life is o'er,

Birth to deathless joy and peace.-Clinch.

581. CONSOLATION. True

ONE adequate support For the calamities of mortal life Exists, one only ;-an assured belief That the procession of our fate, howe'er Sad or disturb'd, is order'd by a Being Of infinite benevolence and power, Whose everlasting purposes embrace All accidents, converting them to good. The darts of anguish fix not, where the seat Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified By acquiescence in the will supreme, For time and for eternity ;-by faith, Faith absolute in God, including hope, And the defence that lies in boundless love Of His perfections; with habitual dread Of aught unworthily conceived, endured Impatiently, ill-done, or left undone, To the dishonour of His holy name.. Soul of our souls, and Safeguard of the world, Sustain-Thou only canst-the sick of heart; Restore their languid spirits, and recall Their lost affections unto Thee and Thine!

Come labour, when the worn-out frame requires Perpetual sabbath; come disease, and want,

Whose honesty is not

So loose or easy, that a ruffling wind
Can blow away, or glittering look it blind :
Who rides his sure and even trot,
While the world now rides by, now lags behind.

Who, when great trials come,

Nor seeks, nor shuns them, but doth calmly stay,
Till he the thing and the example weigh:

All being brought into a sum,
What place or person calls for, he doth pay.
Whom none can work or woo,
To use in anything a trick or sleight;
For above all things he abhors deceit :

His words and works and fashion too
All of a piece, and all are clear and straight.

From men, upon a chair of diamond stone; Words he had not, companions he had none, But steadfastly pursued his thoughtful art; And as he mused he pull'd a slender string Which evermore within his hand he held; And the dim curtain rose which had conceal'd His thoughts, the city of the immortal King : There, pictured in its solemn pomp, it lay, A glorious country stretching round about, And through its golden gates pass'd in and out Men of all nations, on their heavenly way. On this he mused, and mused the whole day long, Feeding his feeble faith till it grew strong.-Croly.

586. CONTENTMENT: a Christian duty.
BE still, my soul, Jehovah loveth thee;
Fret not, nor murmur at thy weary lot;
Though dark and lone thy journey seems to be,
Be sure that thou art ne'er by Him forgot.
He ever loves; then trust Him, trust Him still;
Let all thy care be this-the doing of His will;
Canst thou not trust His rich and bounteous hand,
Who feeds all living things on sea and land?
Be thou content.

587. CONTENTMENT: a crown.

My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not deck'd with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: my crown is call'd content; A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.

Shakespeare.

588. CONTENTMENT: brings happiness.
WHAT happiness the rural maid attends,
In cheerful labour while each day she spends!
She gratefully receives what Heaven has sent,
And, rich in poverty, enjoys content. -Gay.

He that holds fast the golden mean,
And lives contentedly between

The little and the great,

Feels not the want that pinch the poor,
Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door,
Embittering all his state.-Cowper.

Think'st thou the man whose mansions hold
The worldling's pomp and miser's gold
Obtains a richer prize

Than he who, in his cot at rest,
Finds heavenly peace a willing guest,
And bears the promise in his breast

Of treasure in the skies ?-Mrs Sigourney.

589. CONTENTMENT: characteristic of the noblest minds.

THE noblest mind the best contentment has.

Spenser.

All great souls still make their own content; We to ourselves may all our wishes grant; For, nothing coveting, we nothing want.

Dryden.

590. CONTENTMENT: comes from within.
CELLARS and granaries in vain we fill
With all the bounteous summer's store,
If the mind thirst and hunger still:

The poor rich man's emphatically poor.
Slaves to the things we too much prize,
We masters grow of all that we despise.

Cowley..

Yet oft we see that some in humble state
Are cheerful, pleasant, happy, and content :
When those indeed that are of higher state,
With vain additions do their thoughts torment.
Lady Carew.

CONTENTMENT, rosy, dimpled maid,
Thou brightest daughter of the sky,
Why dost thou to the hut repair,
And from the gilded palace fly?
I've traced thee on the peasant's cheek;
I've mark'd thee in the milkmaid's smile;
I've heard thee loudly laugh and speak
Amid the sons of want and toil;
Yet in the circles of the great,

Where fortune's gifts are all combined,

I've sought thee early, sought thee late, And ne'er thy lovely form could find. Since then from wealth and pomp you flee, I ask but competence and thee!

Lady Manners,

Some murmur when their sky is clear, And wholly bright to view,

If one small speck of dark appear

In their great heaven of blue;

And some with thankful love are fill'd,

If but one streak of light,

One ray of God's good mercy, gild
The darkness of their night.

In palaces are hearts that ask,
In discontent and pride,
Why life is such a weary task,

And all good things denied?
And hearts in poorest huts admire,
How love has in their aid

(Love that not ever seems to tire)

Such rich provision made. -Trench.

Is it wise to be anxious for pleasures afar,

And the pleasures around us to slight or decry? Asking Night for the sun,-asking Day for the star? Let us conquer such faults, or at least let us try.

If the soil of a garden be worthy our care,

Its culture delightful, though ever so small;
Oh then let the heart the same diligence share,
And the flowers of affection will rival them all.

There ne'er was delusion more constantly shown,
Than that wealth every charm of existence can buy;
As long as love, friendship, and truth are life's own,
All hearts may be happy, if all hearts will try !
Charles Swain.

593. CONTENTMENT: gained.

O YEARS gone down into the past!
What pleasant memories come to me
Of your untroubled days of peace,
And hours of almost ecstasy!

Yet would I have no moon stand still,
Where life's most pleasant valleys lie;
Nor wheel the planet of the day

Back on his pathway through the sky.
For though, when youthful pleasures died,
My youth itself went with them, too;
To-day, ay! ev'n this very hour,
Is the best hour I ever knew.

Not that my Father gives to me

More blessings than in days gone by, Dropping in my uplifted hands

All things for which I blindly cry;

But that His plans and purposes

Have grown to me less strange and dim; And where I cannot understand,

I trust the issues unto Him.

595. CONTENTMENT: its power. THERE is a jewel which no Indian mine can buy, No chemic art can counterfeit ;

It makes men rich in greatest poverty,
Makes water wine, turns wooden cups to gold,
The homely whistle to sweet music's strain :

My heart is happy in itself, my bliss is in my breast.

Wilbye.

Contentment gives a crown,

Where fortune hath denied it.-Ford.

Unfit for greatness, I her snares defy,
And look on riches with untainted eye :
To others let the glitt'ring baubles fall;
Content shall place me far above them all.
Churchill.

596. CONTENTMENT. Nobility of
Ev'N I-but I can laugh and sing,
Though fetter'd and confined,-
My mind I may to fortune bring,
Not fortune to my mind.

How seldom is our good enjoy'd,
Our ill how hardly borne,
When all our fancies are employ'd
To kick against the thorn!
But, sure, ourselves aright to see
True wisdom well may bear :
'Tis nobly great to dare to be
No greater than we are.

597. CONTENTMENT.

Samuel Wesley, Jr.
Profession of

I WEIGH not fortune's frown or smile;
I joy not much in earthly joys;
I seek not state, I seek not style;
I am not fond of fancy's toys;
I rest so pleased with what I have,
I wish no more, no more I crave.

I see ambition never pleased;

I see some Tantals starved in store;
I see gold's dropsy seldom eased;

I see e'en Midas gape for more:
I neither want, nor yet abound-
Enough's a feast, content is crown'd.

I feign not friendship where I hate;
I fawn not on the great in show;
I prize, I praise a mean estate-
Neither too lofty nor too low :
This, this is all my choice, my cheer-
A mind content, a conscience clear.

Joshua Sylvester. 598. CONTENTMENT: the object of universal pursuit.

LIFE'S but a short chase; our game-content,
Which most pursued, is most compell'd to fly ;
And he that mounts him on the swiftest hope,
Shall soonest run his courser to a stand;
While the poor peasant from some distant hill,
Undanger'd and at ease, views all the sport,
And sees content take shelter in his cottage.

Cibber.

599. CONTENTMENT: widely diffused.· WHATE'ER the passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf, Not one will change his neighbour with himself. The learn'd is happy nature to explore, The fool is happy that he knows no more; The rich is happy in the plenty given,

The poor contents him with the care of Heaven. See the blind beggar dance, the cripple sing, The sot a hero, lunatic a king,

The starving chemist in his golden views Supremely bless'd, the poet in his muse.-Pope.

600. CONTRIBUTION-BOX.

Two spiders, so the story goes,

Upon a living bent,

The

Enter'd the meeting-house one day,
And hopefully were heard to say,
'Here we shall have at least fair play,
With nothing to prevent.'

Each chose his place and went to work,
The light webs grew apace;
One on the sofa spun his thread,
But shortly came the sexton dread,
And swept him off, and so, half-dead,
He sought another place.
'I'll try the pulpit next,' said he,

'There surely is a prize;

The desk appears so neat and clean,
I'm sure no spider there has been ;
Besides, how often have I seen

The pastor brushing flies!'
He tried the pulpit, but alas!

His hopes proved visionary;
With dusting-brush the sexton came,
And spoilt his geometric game,
Nor gave him time nor space to claim
The right of sanctuary.

At length, half-starved and weak and lean,
He sought his former neighbour,
Who now had grown so sleek and round,
He weigh'd the fraction of a pound,
And look'd as if the art he'd found
Of living without labour.
'How is it, friend,' he ask'd, 'that I

Endured such thumps and knocks,
While you have grown so very gross?'
'Tis plain,' he answer'd, 'not a loss
I've met since first I spun across

The contribution-box.'-Alice Clark.

601. CONTRITION. Late

IF. gracious God, in life's green, ardent year, A thousand times Thy patient love I tried ;