1 Soon as my youthful lips can speak
Their feeble prayer to thee,
O let my heart thy favor seek,—
Good Lord, remember me.

2 From every sin that wounds the heart
May I be taught to flee;
Oh! bid them all from me depart;
Good Lord, remember me.

3 When with life's heavy load opprest,
I bend the trembling knee,
Then give my troubled spirit rest,—
Good Lord, remember me.

4 Oh! let me on the bed of death
Thy great salvation see;

And pray with my expiring breath,—
Good Lord, remember me.

61.

Ballerma.

Early Piety.

1 Br cool Siloam's shady rill,

How sweet the lily grows!

C. M.

Heber.

How sweet the breath beneath the hill
Of Sharon's dewy rose!

2 Lo! such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;

Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God!

3 By cool Siloam's shady rill
The lily must decay;

The rose that blooms beneath the hill
Must shortly fade away.

4 And soon, too soon, the wintry hour
Of man's maturer age,

Will shake the soul with sorrow's power,
And stormy passion's rage!

5 O Thou, whose infant feet were found
Within thy Father's shrine,

Whose years, with changeless virtue crowned,
Were all alike divine,

6 Dependant on thy bounteous breath,
We seek thy grace alone,

62.

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

Early Piety.

Stow.

1 WHEN little Samuel woke,
And heard his Maker's voice,
At every word he spoke,

How much did he rejoice!

O blessed, happy child, to find

H. M.

The God of heaven so near and kind.

2 If God would speak to me,

And say he was my friend,

How happy should I be !

O, how would I attend!

The smallest sin I then should fear,

If God Almighty were so near.

1

3 And does he never speak?

0
yes! for in his word
He bids me come and seek

EARLY PIETY.

The God whom Samuel beard;
In almost every page I see,

The God of Samuel calls to me.

4 And I, beneath his care,

May safely rest my head;
I know that God is there,
To guard my humble bed:
And every sin I well may fear,
Since God Almighty is so near.

5 Like Samuel, let me say,
Whene'er I read his word,
Speak, Lord, I would obey

66

The voice that Samuel heard ;"
And when I in thy house appear,
Speak, for thy servant waits to hear.

63.

L. M.

Cawood.

1 IN Israel's fane, by silent night,
The lamp of God was burning bright;
And there, by viewless angels kept,
Samuel, the child, securely slept.

2 A voice unknown the stillness broke;
"Samuel!" it called, and thrice it spoke;
He rose: he asked whence came the word?
From Eli? No-it was the Lord.

3 Thus early called to serve his God,
In paths of righteousness he trod;
Prophetic visions fired his breast,
And all the chosen tribes were blest.

4 Speak, Lord! and, from our earliest days,
Incline our hearts to love thy ways;

64.

Thy wakening voice hath reached our ear;
Speak, Lord, to us; thy servants hear.

Early Piety.

Litchfield.

1 IN the soft season of thy youth,
In nature's smiling bloom,
Ere age arrive, and trembling wait
Its summons to the tomb,

C. M.

2 Remember thy Creator, God!
For him thy powers employ;
Make him thy fear, thy love, thy hope,
Thy confidence, thy joy.

3 He shall defend and guide thy course
Through life's uncertain sea,

Till thou art landed on the shore
Of blessed eternity.

4 Then seek the Lord betimes, and choose
The path of heavenly truth ;-
The earth affords no lovelier sight,
Than a religious youth.

65.

Ballerma.

Early Piety.

C. M.

Watts.

1 HAPPY the child, whose early years
Receive instruction well;

Who hates the sinner's path, and fears
The road that leads to hell.

2 When we devote our youth to God,
'T is pleasing in his eyes;

A flower when offered in the bud
Is no vain sacrifice.

66.

THE WAYS OF WISDOM.

3 T is easier work if we begin
To fear the Lord betimes,

While sinners, who grow old in sin,
Are hardened in their crimes.

4 'T will save us from a thousand snares
To mind religion young;

Grace will preserve our following years,
And make our virtues strong.

5 To thee, Almighty God, to thee
Our childhood we resign;

'T will please us to look back, and see
That our whole lives were thine.

66.

6 Let the sweet work of prayer and praise
Employ our youngest breath ;-

Thus we're prepared for longer days,
Or fit for carly death.

The Ways of Wisdom.
Litchfield.

1 How happy is the child, who hears
Instruction's faithful voice,

And who celestial wisdom makes
His early, only choice!

2 For she has treasures greater far
Than east or west unfold;
And her rewards more precious are
Than all their stores of gold.

3 She guides the young with innocence
In pleasure's path to tread;

A crown of glory she bestows
Upon the hoary head.

C. M.