long, His thoughts, the city of the immortal King: 1 511. CONTENTMENT, Growth of. There, pictured in its solemn pomp, it lay, 10 years gone down into the past; A glorious country stretching round about, What pleasant memories come to me And through its golden gates pass'd in and out of your untroubled days of peace. Men of all nations, on their heavenly way. And hours of almost ecstasy! On this he mused, and mused the whole day Yet would I have no moon stand still, Feeding his feeble faith till it grew strong. Where life's most pleasant valleys lie; George Croley. Nor wheel the planet of the day Back on his pathway through the sky. 508. CONTENTMENT, Contrast of. Ten poor men sleep in peace on one straw | For though, when youthful pleasures died, w My youth itself went with them, too; heap, as Saadi sings, To-day, aye! even this very hour, But the immensest empire is too narrow for“ | Is the best hour I ever knew. two kings. Oriental. Not that my Father gives to me 509. CONTENTMENT, Cultivating. More blessings than in days gone by, If we cannot have all we wish upon the earth, Dropping in my uplifted hands Let us try to be happy with less if we can ; | | All things for which I blindly cry; If wealth be not always the guerdon of worth, But that His plans and purposes Worth, sooner than wealth, makes the hap Depe Have grown to me less strange and dim; pier man. And where I cannot understand, I trust the issues unto Him. This have I truly learned to say Asking Night for the sun,--asking Day for Prayers which I thought unanswered once the star? Were answered in God's own best way. Let us conquer such faults, or at least let us try. And though some hopes I cherished once, Perished untimely in their birth, If the soil of a garden be worthy our care, Yet have I been beloved and blest Its culture delightful, though ever so small; Beyond the measure of my worth. Oh then let the heart the same diligence share, Phoebe Carey. And the flowers of affection will rival them 512. CONTENTMENT, Profession of. all. I weigh not fortune's frown or smile; There ne'er was delusion more constantly I joy not much in earthly joys; shown, I seek not state, I seek not style; Than that wealth every charm of existence I am not fond of fancy's toys; I rest so pleased with what I have, can buy; As long as love, friendship, and truth are I wish no more, no more I crave. life's own, I quake not at the thunder's crack ; All hearts may be happy, if all hearts will I tremble not at noise of war; try! Charles Swain. I swound not at the news of wrack; 510. CONTENTMENT Gained. I shrink not at a blazing star; I fear not loss, I hope not gain, My conscience is my crown, contented I envy none, I none disdain. thoughts my rest, My heart is happy in itself, my bliss is in my I see ambition never pleased ; breast. I see some Tantals starved in store; Enough I reckon wealth : a mean the surest I see gold's dropsy seldom eased; lot, I see e'en Midas gape for more: That lies too high for base contempt, too low I neither want, nor yet aboundfor envy's shot. Enough's a feast, content is crowned. My wishes are but few, all easy to fulfil, I feign not friendship, where I hate ; I make the limits of my power the bonds I fawn not on the great in show; unto my will. I prize, I praise a mean estateI have no hopes but one, which is of heavenly reign; Neither too lofty nor too low: This, this is all my choice, my cheerEffects attained,' or not desired, all lower hopes refrain. A mind content, a conscience clcar. Joshua Sylvester. I feel no care of coin, well-doing is my wealth, 513. CONTENTMENT, Nobility of. My mind to me an empire is, while grace af Even I-but I can laugh and sing, fordeth health. Robert Southwell. I Though fetter'd and confined, My mind I may to fortune bring, | My future path do Thou in mercy trace; Not fortune to my mind. So cause my soul with pious zeal to burn, That all the trust which in Thy name I place How seldom is our good enjoy'd, Frail as I am, may not prove wholly vain. Our ill how hardly borne, Pietro Bembo. When all our fancies are employ'd, To kick against the thorn! 517. CONTRITION, Power of. All powerful is the penitential sigh But, sure, ourselves aright to see Of true contrition; like the placid wreaths True wisdom well may bear: Of incense, wafted from the righteous shrine 'Tis nobly great to dare to be | Where Abel ministered, to the blest seat No greater than we are. Of Mercy, an accepted sacrifice, Humiliation's conscious plaint ascends. 514. CONTENTMENT, Nataral. Samuel Hayes. Whate'er the passion, knowledge, fame, or 518. CONTRITION, Prayer in. pelf, Wretched, helpless, and distressed, Not one will change his neighbor with him Ah! whither shall I fly? self. Ever panting after rest, I cannot find it nigh: Bound in sin and misery, My help, my all in Thee ! In the wilderness I stray, My foolish heart is blind; Nothing do I know; the way Of peace I cannot find; Jesus, Lord, restore my sight, 515, CONTENTMENT, Riches of. Take, oh, take the veil away; Turn my darkness into light, My midnight into day. Forsaken, and alone, I have not Thee put on; Nor that thing worst which men do most Over me Thy mantle spread, refuse; Send Thy likeness from above; But fittest is, that all contented rest Let thy goodness be displayed, With that they hold; each hath his fortune And wrap me in Thy love. in his breast. Poor, alas! Thou knowest. I am, It is the mind that maketh good or ill, And would be poorer still; That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor; See my nakedness and shame, For some that hath abundance at his will And all my vileness feel; Hath not enough; but wants in greater No good thing in me resides, store ; All my soul an aching void, And other, that hath little, asks for more, Till Thy Spirit there abides, But in that little is both rich and wise; . And I am filled with God. For wisdom is most riches: fools therefore Jesus, full of truth and grace, They are which fortune do by vows devise, I In Thee is all I want; Be the wanderer's resting-place, A cordial to the faint; 516. CONTRITION, Late. Make me rich, for I am poor; If, gracious God, in life's green, ardent year, In Thee may I Eden find; A thousand times Thy patient love I tried; To the dying health restore, With reckless heart, with conscience hard And eyesight to the blind ! Clothe me with Thy holiness, Endue my soul with Thee; Let Thine image be restored, Grant me with reverential awe to hear Let me now Thy nature prove; Thy holy voice, and in Thy word confide! With Thy fulness fill me, Lord, Blot from my book of life its early stain! And perfect me in love. Since days misspent will never more return, I Charles Wesley. 519. CONTRITION, Response to. All night the lonely suppliant prayed, All night his earnest crying made; Till, standing by his side at morn, The tempter said, in bitter scorn, “Oh! peace, what profit do you gain From empty words and babblings vain ? *Come, Lord-oh, come !' you cry alway; You pour your heart out night and day; Yet still no murmur of replyNo voice that answers, 'Here am I.'” Then sank that stricken heart in dust, That word had withered all its trust; No strength retained it now to pray, For faith and hope had fled away; And ill that mourner now had fared, Thus by the Tempter's art ensnared, But that at length beside his bed His sorrowing angel stood and said, “Doth it repent thee of thy love, That never now is heard above Thy prayer, that now not any more It knocks at heaven's gate as before ?" “I am cast out, I find no place, No hearing at the throne of grace; “Come, Lord, oh, come!' I cry alway; I pour my heart out night and day, Yet never until now have won The answer, 'Here am I, my son.'" Oh, dull of heart! enclosed doth lie In cach “Come, Lord,” a “Here am I." Thy love, thy longing are not thine, Reflections of a love divine. Thy very prayer to thee was given, Itself a messenger from heaven. Whom God rejects they are not so; Strong bands are round them in their woc; Their hearts are bound with bands of brass, That sighs or crying cannot pass. All treasures did the Lord impart To Pharaoh, såve a contrite heart; All other gifts unto His foes He freely gives, nor grudging knows; But love's sweet smart and costly pain A treasure for His friends remain. Oriental, tr. by R. C. Trench. 320. CONTRITION, Tears of. Drop, drop, slov tears, And bathe those beauteous feet The news and Prince of Peace! His mercies to entreat! Sin doth never cease; Drown all my faults and fears; P. Fletcher. 521. CONTRITION, True. My sins, my sins, my SAVIOUR) They take such hold on me, Save only, CHRIST, to Thee ; In Thee is all forgiveness, In Thee abundant grace, The brightness of Thy face. How sad on Thee they fall, I tenfold feel them all; But still their pain to me They laid, my Lord, on Thee ! Their guilt I never knew I near Thy Passion drew; I heard Thy pleading prayer, That told Thy sorrow there. E'en in this time of woe, To suffering man below; Whose presence from above John S. B. Monsell. 522. CONVERSATION, Charm of. And we talk'd-oh, how we talk'd! her voice so cadenc'd in the talking Made another singing of the soul! a music without barsWhile the leafy sounds of woodlands, hum ming round where we were walking, Brought interposition worthy, sweet, -as skies about the stars. And she spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them, And had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch, Just as ready to fly east as west, which ever way besought them, In the birchen-wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange. In her utmost rightness there is truth—and often she speaks lightly, Has a grace in being gay, which even mourn ful souls approve, For the root of some grave, earnest thought is under-struck so rightly, As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above. And she talked on—we talked, rather! upon all t'.ings—substance-shadowOf the sheep that browsed the grasses—of the reapers in the corn; Of the little children from the schools, seen winding through the meadow, Of the poor rich world beyond them, still kept poorer by its scorn. side So of men, and so of letters books are men And lead us by Thy grace divine of higher stature, From the forbidden paths of sin; And the only men that speak aloud for future And may that voice which bade the earth times to hear; From chaos and the realms of night, So, of mankind in the abstract, which grows From doubt and darkness call us forth, slowly into nature, To God's own liberty and light! Thus made partakers of Thy love, Our grateful hearts shall rise above, 523. CONVERSATION, Rules for. Renewed in purposes and powers; In thy discourse, if thou desire to please; And songs of joy again shall ring All such is courteous, useful, new, or Triumphant through the arch of heaven, witty: The glorious songs which angels sing, Usefulness comes by labor, wit by ease; Exulting over souls forgiven! Courtesy grows in court; news in the city. W. H. Burleigh. Get a good stock of these, then draw the card; 526. CONVERSION, Figaro of. That suits him best, of whom thy speech is A Lord I had; heard. To Him I brought a dish of fruit one day, Entice all neatly to what they know best; And in the middle placed my heart. But For so thou dost thyself and him a pleasure; He (I sigh to say) leasure ; | Look'd on a servant, who did know His eye (But a proud ignorance will lose his rest, Better than you know me, or (which is one) Rather than show his cards ;) steal from Than I myself. The servant instantly, his treasure Quitting the fruit, seized on my heart alone, What to ask farther. Doubts well raised do And threw it in a font, wherein did-fall lock A stream of blood, which issued from the The speaker to thee, and preserve thy stock. If thou be master-gunner, spend not all Of a great rock. I well remember all, That thou canst speak, at once : but hus- | And have good cause. There it was dipt band it, and dyed, And give men turns of speech; do not fore- And wash'd, and wrung: the very wringing stall yet By lavishness, thine own and others' wit, Enforceth tears. “Your heart was foul, I As if thou madest thy will. A civil guest fear." Will no more talk all than eat all the feast. Indeed 'tis true. I did and do commit George Herbert. Many a fault more than my lease will bear; Yet still ask'd pardon, and was not denied. 524. CONVERSION, Corruption after. George Herbert. When first, to make my heart His own, 527. CONVERSION, Gate of. The Lord revealed His mighty grace, I stood outside the gate, Self reigned, like Dagon, on the throne, A poor, wayfaring child; But could not long maintain its place. Within my heart there beat It fell, and owned the power divine A tempest, loud and wild. A fcar oppressed my soul, (Grace can with case the victory gain); That I might be too late ; But soon this wretched heart of mine And oh! I trembled sore, Contrived to set it up ugain. “And prayed outside the gate. Again the Lord His name proclaimed, “Mercy!” I loudly cried : And brought the hateful idol low; Then Self, like Dagon, broken, maimed, “Oh! give me rest from sin !" “I will," a voice replied: Seemed to receive a mortal blow. And Mercy let me in. Yet Self is not of life bereft, She bound my bleeding wounds: Nor ceases to oppose His will : She soothed my aching head; Though but a maimèd stump be left, She cased my burdened soul, 'Tis Dagon—'tis an idol still. And bore the load instead. Lord, must I always guilty prove, In Mercy's guise, I knew And idols in my heart haye room? The Saviour long abused; O let the fire of heavenly love Who often sought my heart, And wept when I refused. Oh! what a blest return For ignorance and sin! 525. CONVERSION, Effect of. I stood outside the gate, Creator! let thy Spirit shine And Jesus let me in ! The darkness of our souls within, Josephine Pollard. 528. CONVERSION Nooded. Hartley Coleridge. 529. CONVERT, An Aged. Faint, and worn, and aged, One stands knocking at the gate; Knocking though so late. Yet he still doth knock and wait. From the heavenly hill, At his earnest will. He is knocking, knocking still. Stands with bar and lock; Hearkens to the knock, This man's feet are on the Rock. Knocketh, prayeth be: “Lord, have mercy on me, When I cry to Thee !" With a knock unceasing, And a cry increasing, “O my Lord, remember me!” Still the porter standeth, Love-constrained he standeth near, While the cry increaseth Of that love and fear: “Jesus, look upon meChrist, hast thou foregone me? If I perish, I perish here ! ” Faint the knocking ceaseth, Faint the cry and call; Is he lost, indeed, forever, Shut without the wall ? Mighty arms uphold himTender arms surround him, Held, withheld, and borne through all. O celestial mansion, Open wide the door ; Crown and robe of whiteness, Stone-inscribed before, Flocking angels bear them, Stretch thy hand and wear them; Sit thou down forevermore. 530. CONVERT, Happiness of the. O how happy are they, Who the Saviour obey, And have laid up their treasure above! Tongue can never express The sweet comfort and peace When the favor divine What a joy I received My Redeemer to know, Than to fall at His feet, Was my joy and my song: He hath loved me, I cried, I was carried above I could not believe That I ever should grieve, Freely justified I! My soul mounted higher, In a chariot of fire, Of that holy delight Of my Saviour possessid, I was perfectly blest, C. Wesley. List,-thy bosom door! Knocketh evermore! Tis thy heart of sin: Rise, and let Me in! To the hall and hut: Where the door is shut? But thy door is fast! Death breaks in at last. Christ to let thee in; |