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I lost them e'er I learned to know their value.
But soon their loss proclaimed it to my heart,
When every other friend abandoned me,
And I was cast upon the world, as now,—
A poor, forlorn, unknown, forsaken boy!"



"Naked I came out of my Mother's Womb, and naked shall I return tither. the lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord."—Job, 1st chap. 21st verse.

Why should I grieve at fortune's frown,
Or that my early friends are flown,
What matter if on this lone earth,
I'm poor and naked as at birth.
What though no home is mine to boast,
And every hope and wish is crossed;
Yet there is comfort still to know
I shall not long remain below:
God hath prepared a better home,
Where sad bereavements never come,
Where care ne'er racks the human breast,
And where the weary head finds rest.
God never christian lot forsakes,—
Tis he who gives and he who takes.
Then let me never more lament,
But be with God's decrees content.