549.

PRUDENCE.

C. M.

FATHER of light! conduct my feet
Through life's dark, dangerous road;
Let each advancing step still bring
Me nearer to my God.

Let heaven-eyed prudence be my guide
And when I go astray,
Recall my feet from folly's paths

To wisdom's better way.

That heavenly wisdom from above
Abundantly impart;

And let it guard, and guide, and warm,
And penetrate my heart;

Till it shall lead me to Thyself,

Fountain of bliss and love! And all my darkness be dispersed In endless light above.

550.

STEADFASTNESS.

7s M.

GOD of truth! Thy sons should be
Firmly grounded upon Thee;
Ever on the Rock abide,

High above the changing tide.

Theirs is the unwavering mind,
No more tossed with every wind;
No more doth their 'stablished heart
From the Living God depart.

Father, strengthen Thou my will;
With Thine own steadfastness fill;
Rooted, grounded, may I be,
Fixed in Thy stability.

Henceforth may I nobly stand;
Build no longer on the sand;
But defy temptation's shock,
Firmly founded on the rock.

IV. GOD IN THE LIFE.

OPENING OF LIFE.

551.

THE HOLY CHILD.

C. M.

By cool Siloam's shady rill
How sweet the lily grows!
How sweet the breath beneath the hill,
Of Sharon's dewy rose !

Lo, such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God!

O Thou who giv'st us life and breath!
We seek Thy grace alone,

In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still Thine own.

552.

'REMEMBER THY CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THY

YOUTH.'

C. M..

YE joyous ones, upon whose brow
The light of youth is shed,

O'er whose glad path life's early flowers
In glowing beauty spread;

Forget not Him whose love hath poured
Around that golden light,

And tinged those opening buds of hope
With hues so softly bright.

Thou tempted one, just entering
Upon enchanted ground,

Ten thousand snares are spread for thee,

Ten thousand foes surround:

A dark and a deceitful band,

Upon thy path they lower;

Trust not thine own unaided strength

To save thee from their

power.

Thou whose yet bright and joyous eye
May soon be dimmed with tears,
To whom the hours of bitterness
Must come in coming years;
Teach early thy confiding eye
To pierce the cloudy screen,
To look above the storms of life,
Eternally serene.

553.

LIFE'S MISSION.

L. M.

Go forth to life, O child of earth!
Still mindful of thy heavenly birth;
Thou art not here for ease, or sin,
But manhood's noble crown to win.
Though passion's fires are in thy soul,
Thy spirit can their flames control;
Though tempters strong beset thy way,
Thy spirit is more strong than they.
Go on from innocence of youth
To manly pureness, manly truth;
God's angels still are near to save,
And God himself doth help the brave.

Then forth to life, O child of earth!
Be worthy of thy heavenly birth!
For noble service thou art here;
Thy brothers help, thy God revere !

554.

ENTERING LIFE.

C. M.

A WONDROUS star our pioneer,
We left the mystic land

Where heaven-nurtured childhood slept,
Where yet old visions stand.

The world throws wide its brazen gates; With Thee we enter in ;

O, grant us, in our humble sphere,

To free that world from sin!