But one in my possession loses, by its ludicrousness, all the impressiveness which was intended:—
“Oh may thy powerful word
Inspire a breathing worm
To rush into thy kingdom Lord
To take it as by storm.
Oh may we all improve
Thy grace already given
To seize the crown of love
And scale the mount of heaven.”
Sarah Beckett, 1798.
Lastly, a prayer for the teacher:—
“Oh smile on those whose liberal care
Provides for our instruction here;
And let our conduct ever prove
We’re grateful for their generous love.”
Emma Day, 1837.
Verses Referring to Life and Death
The fact that “Religion never was designed to make our pleasures less” appears seldom or never to have entered into the minds of those who set the verses for young sampler workers. From the earliest days when they plied their needle their thoughts were directed to the shortness of life and the length of eternity, and many a healthy and sweet disposition must have run much chance of being soured by the morbid view which it was forced to take of the pleasures of life. For instance, a child of seven had the task of broidering the following lines:—
“And now my soul another year
Of thy short life is past
I cannot long continue here
And this may be my last.”
And one, no older, is made to declare that:—
“Thus sinners trifle, young and old,
Until their dying day,
Then would they give a world of gold
To have an hour to pray.”