'Twas to save thee, child, from dying, May'st thou live to know and fear him, I could give thee thousand kisses, 65 UNIVERSAL PRAYER. FATHER of all! in every age, Thou first great cause, least understood To know but this, that thou art good, Yet gave me, in this dark estate, What conscience dictates to be done, Or warns me not to do ; This teach me more than hell to shun, That more than heaven pursue. 66 UNIVERSAL PRAYER. What blessings thy free bounty gives, Let me not cast away; For God is paid when man receives : Yet not to earth's contracted span Let not this weak unknowing hand If I am right, thy grace impart, Save me alike from foolish pride, At aught thy wisdom has deny'd, Teach me to feel another's woe That mercy I to others shew, Mean tho' I am, not wholly so, Thro' this day's life or death. This day be bread and peace my lot; To thee, whose temple is all space, 68 THE BEGGAR'S PETITION. Prry the sorrows of a poor old man, Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door, Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span; Oh, give relief, and heaven will bless your store. These tatter'd clothes my poverty bespeak, These hoary locks proclaim my lengthen'd years; And many a furrow in my grief-worn cheek Has been the channel to a flood of tears. Yon house erected on the rising ground, With tempting aspect drew me from my road; |