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Domestic Pleasures, or, the Happy Fire-side by Frances Bowyer Vaux
page 97 of 198 (48%)
me by thy providential care, And warm my soul to shun the tempter's
snare. Through all the shifting scenes of varied life, In calms of ease,
or ruffling storms of grief; Through each event of this inconstant
state, Preserve my temper equal and sedate. Give me a mind that nobly
can despise The low designs, and little arts of vice, Be my religion
such, as taught by thee, Alike from pride and superstition free. Inform
my judgment, regulate my will, My reason strengthen, and my passions
still. To gain thy favour, be my first great end, And to that scope may
every action tend. Amidst the pleasures of a prosperous state, Whose
fluttering chains the untutor'd heart elate, May I reflect to whom those
gifts I owe, And bless the bounteous hand from whence they flow. Or, if
as adverse fortune be my share, Let not its terrors tempt me to despair;
But, fix'd on thee, a steady faith maintain, And own all good, which thy
decrees ordain; On thy unfailing providence depend, The best protector,
and the surest friend. Thus on life's stage may I my part sustain, And
at my exit, thy applauses gain. When the pale herald summons me away,
Support me in that dread catastrophe; In that last conflict guard me
from alarms, And take my soul, aspiring, to thy arms."

_Mrs. B._ The lines are excellent, Louisa, and you have repeated them
as if you understood their meaning. What is the "pale herald," alluded
to in the last verse?

_Louisa_. Is it not Death, mamma?

_Mrs. B._ It is, my dear. The concluding lines contain a supplication
for fortitude and serenity at that awful hour, which every individual
must one day meet.

_Emily_. There is something very solemn in the contemplation of death,
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