1 O `tis a lovely thing for youth
To walk betimes in wisdom's way;
To fear a lye, to speak the truth,
That we may trust to all they say.
2 But lyars we can never trust,
Though they should speak the thing that's true,
And he that does one fault at first,
And lyes to hide it, makes it two.
3 Have we not known, nor heard, nor read,
How God abhors deceit and wrong?
How Ananias was struck dead
Catch'd with a lye upon his tongue?
4 So did his wife Sapphira die
When she came in, and grew so bold
As to confirm that wicked lye
That just before her husband told.
5 The Lord delights in them that speak
The words of truth; but every lyar
Must have his portion in the lake
That burns with brimstone and with fire.
6 Then let me always watch my lips,
Lest I be struck to death and hell,
Since God a book of reckoning keeps
For every lye that children tell.
Song 16. Against Quarrelling and Fighting.
1 Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
For God has made them so;
Let bears and lyons growl and fight,
For `tis their nature too.
2 But, children, you should never let
Such angry passions rise;
Your little hands were never made
To tear each other's eyes.
3 Let love thro' all your actions run,
And all your words be mild;
Live like the blessed Virgin's Son,
That sweet and lovely child.