KEEP silence, all

I.

EEP silence, all ye sons of men, and hear with rev'rence due ; Eternal Wisdom from above thus lifts her voice to you:

II.

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

Ere yet his arm was stretched forth

the heavens and earth to raise.

Before the sea began to flow,

and leave the solid land,

Before the hills and mountains rose,
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 swelling waves within their bounds to keep.

VI.

With joy I saw the abode prepar'd

which men were soon to fill; Them from the first of days I lov'd; unchang'd, I love them still.

VII.

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

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

VIII.

Where dubious paths perplex the mind, direction I afford;

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

IX.

But he who scorns my sacred laws
shall deeply wound his heart;
He courts destruction who contemns
the counsel I impart.

XIV.

ECCLES. vii. 2,-6.

1.

WHILE others crowd the houseof mirth,

and haunt the gaudy show, Let such as would with Wisdom dwell, frequent the house of wo.

II.

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

III.

When virtuous sorrow clouds the face,
and tears bedim the eye,
The soul is led to solemn thought,
and wafted to the sky.

IV.

The wise in heart revisit oft grief's dark sequester'd cell; The thoughtless, still, with levity and mirth delight to dwell.

V.

The noisy laughter of the fool is like the crackling sound Of blazing thorns, which quickly fall in ashes to the ground.

XV.

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

I,

As long as life its term extends,

Hope's blest dominion never ends; For while the lamp holds on to burn, The greatest sinner may return.

II.

Life is the season God hath giv'n
To fly from hell, and rise 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
Alike unknowing, and unknown.

gone,

IV.

Their hatred and their love is lost,
Their envy buried in the dust;
They have no share in all that's done
Beneath the circuit of the sun.

V.

Then what thy thoughts design 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 past;
But fix'd the doom of all remains,
And everlasting silence reigns.

XVI.

ECCLES. xii. 1.

I.

IN life's gay morn, when sprightly youth

with vital ardour glows,

And shines in all the fairest charms which beauty can disclose;