XIII.

PROV. viii. 22. to the end.

1.

EEP filence, all ye fons of men,

K and hear with rev'rence due;

Eternal Wisdom from above thus lifts her voice to you:

II.

I was th' Almighty's chief delight from everlasting days,

Ere yet his arm was ftretched forth the heav'ns and earth to raise.

III.

Before the fea began to flow,

and leave the folid land,

Before the hills and mountains rofe,
I dwelt at his right hand.

IV..

When first he rear'd the arch of heav'n, and spread the clouds on air,

When first the fountains of the deep he open'd, I was there.

V.

There I was with him when he stretch'd his compass o'er the deep,

And charg'd the ocean's fwelling waves within their bounds to keep.

VI.

With joy I faw th' abode prepar'd which men were foon to fill; Them from the firft of days I lov'd; unchang'd, I love them ftill.

Now therefore hearken to my words, ye children and be wife :

Happy the man that keeps my ways; the man that fhuns them dies.

VIII.

Where dubious paths perplex the mind, direction I afford ;

Life fhall be his that follows me,
and favour from the Lord.
IX.

But he who scorns my facred laws
fhall deeply wound his heart;

He courts deftruction who contemns the counfel I impart.

XIV.

ECCLES. vii. 2.–6.

I.

WHILE others crowd the house of

and haunt the gaudy fhow, [mirth,

Let fuch as would with Wisdom dwell, frequent the house of woe.

II.

Better to weep with those who weep, and fhare th' afflicted's fmart, Than mix with fools in giddy joys, that cheat and wound the heart.

III.

When virtuous forrow clouds the face, and tears bedim the eye, The foul is led to folemn thought, and wafted to the fky.

IV.

The wife in heart revisit oft grief's dark fequester'd cell; The thoughtless, ftill, with levity and mirth delight to dwell.

V.

The noify laughter of the fool
is like the crackling found
Of blazing thorns, which quickly fall
in afhes to the ground.

A

XV.

ECCLES. ix. 4. 5. 6. 10.

I.

S long as life its term extends, Hope's bleft dominion never ends; For while the lamp holds on to burn, The greatest finner may return.

II.

Life is the feafon God hath giv'n
To fly from hell, and rife to heav'n;
That day of grace fleets fast away,
And none its rapid course can stay.

III.

The living know that they must die;
But all the dead forgotten lie;
Their mem❜ry and their name is gone,
Alike unknowing, and unknown.

IV.

Their hatred and their love is loft,
Their envy buried in the duft ;
They have no fhare in all that's done
Beneath the circuit of the fun.

V.

Then what thy thoughts defign to do Still let thy hands with might pursue ; Since no device nor work is found, Nor wisdom, underneath the ground.

VI.

In the cold grave, to which we haste,
There are no acts of pardon paft';
But fix'd the doom of all remains,
And everlasting filence reigns.

IN

XVI.

ECCLES. xii. 1.

I.

'N life's gay morn, when fprightly youth with vital ardour glows,

And fhines in all the faireft charms, which beauty can disclose;