Or tempt my soul away;
Jesus is all my waking theme,

His lovely form meets every dream,
And knows not to depart :
The passion reigns

Through all my veins,

And floating round the crimson stream, Still finds him at my heart.

Dwell there, for ever dwell, my love;
Here I confine my sense;

Nor dare my wildest wishes rove
Nor stir a thought from thence.
Amidst thy glories and thy grace,
Let all my remnant-minutes pass;
Grant thou, Everlasting Fair,
Grant my soul a mansion there:
My soul aspires to see thy face
Though life should for the vision pay;
So rivers run to meet the sea,

And lose their nature in the embrace.

Thou art my ocean, thou my God;
In thee the passions of the mind,
With joys and freedom unconfin'd
Exult, and spread their powers abroad,
Not all the glittering things on high
Can make my heaven, if thou remove;
I shall be tir'd, and long to die;
Life is a pain without thy love;

Who could ever bear to be

Curst with immortality

Among the stars, but far from thee?

MUTUAL LOVE STRONGER THAN

DEATH.

NOT the rich world of minds above
Can pay the mighty debt of love
I owe to Christ my God:

With pangs which none but he could feel,
He brought my guilty soul from hell:
Not the first seraph's tongue can tell
The value of his blood.

Kindly he seiz'd me in his arms,

From the false world's pernicious charms,

With force divinely sweet.

Had I ten thousand lives my own,

At his demand,

With cheerful hand,

I'd pay the vital treasure down

In hourly tributes at his feet.

But, Saviour, let me taste thy grace

With every fleeting breath;

And through that heaven of pleasure pass
To the cold arms of death;
Then I could lose successive souls

Fast as the minutes fly;

So billow after billow rolls

To kiss the shore, and die.

A SIGHT OF CHRIST.

The substance of the following copy, and many of the lines, were sent me by an esteemed friend, Mr. W. Nokes, with a desire that I would form them into a Pindaric Ode; but I retained his measures, lest I should too much alter his sense.

ANGELS of light, your God and King surround,
With noble songs; in his exalted flesh

He claims your worship; while his saints on earth
Bless their Redeemer-God with humble tongues,
Angels with lofty honours crown his head;
We bowing at his feet, by faith, may feel
His distant influence, and confess his love.

Once I beheld his face, when beams divine Broke from his eyelids, and unusual light Wrapt me at once in glory and surprise.

My joyful heart, high leaping in my breast,
With transport cried, "This is the Christ of God;
Then threw my arms around in sweet embrace,
And clasp'd, and bow'd adoring low, till I was lost
in him.

While he appears, no other charms can hold Or draw my soul, asham'd of former things, Which no remembrance, now deserve or name, Though with contempt; best in oblivion hid.

But the bright shine and presence soon withdrew; I sought him whom I love, but found him not; I felt his absence; and with strongest cries Proclaim'd, "Where Jesus is not all is vain." Whether I hold him with a full delight, Or seek him, panting with extreme desire, 'Tis he alone can please my wondering soul; To hold or seek him is my only choice. If he refrain on me to cast his. Down from his palace, nor my longing soul With upward look can spy my dearest Lord Through his blue pavement, I behold him still, With sweet reflection on the peaceful cross, All in his blood and anguish groaning deep, Gasping and dying there.....

eye

This sight I ne'er can lose; by it I live:
A quick❜ning virtue from his death inspir'd
Is life and breath to me; his flesh my food;
His vital blood I drink, and hence my strength.

I live, I'm strong, and now eternal life

Beats quick within my breast; my vigorous mind
Spurs the dull earth, and on her fiery wings
Reaches the mount of purposes divine,

Counsels of peace betwixt the Almighty Three,
Conceiv'd at once, and sign'd without debate,
In perfect union of the eternal Mind.

With vast amaze, I see the unfathomed thoughts,
Infinite schemes, and infinite designs

Of God's own heart, in which he ever rests.
Eternity lies open to my view;

Here the beginning and the end of all
I can discover; Christ the end of all,
And Christ the great beginning; he, my head,
My God, my Glory, and my all in all.

O that the day, the joyful day, were come, When the first Adam from his ancient dust Crown'd with new honours shall revive, and see Jesus his Son and Lord; while shouting saints Surround their King, and God's eternal Son Shines in the midst, but with superior beams, And like himself; then the mysterious word, Long hid behind the letter, shall appear All spirit and life, and in the fullest light Stand forth to public view; and there disclose His Father's sacred works, and wondrous ways: Then wisdom, righteousness and grace divine, Through all the infinite transactions past, Inwrought and shining, shall with double blaze