,
Such impious conduct greatly aggravate;
Besides he answers at the awful day,
For causing others from the truth to stray.
Whatever happens in this vale of tears,
Our Maker knows, give him your fervent prayers:
Let your demeanor if in prison be,
Such as the jailor can contrition see;
For his report may mitigate your doom,
And sometimes save you from a prison's gloom.
Religious books if you can read attend,
They are in solitude the pris'ner's friend;
When at the Chapel, do not cast away,
By inattention what the Chaplain say:
It's pure Religion cheers each good man's heart,
And will in time its blessings soon impart;
Such as perhaps you never knew before,
And doubtless will your peace of mind restore.
The Bible read, when in your dismal cell,
Read it attentive ere you bid farewell;
To him who may companion with you be;
Your soul that night may be required of thee.
A scene I witnessed, and not long time since,
Would stop the errors of an hardened prince;
Three men were sentenc'd by the law to die,
To hear them mourn, to see the drooping eye;
Would cause sensations of a painful kind,
While anxious cares corode the tortur'd mind.
A pious Chaplain strove to bring in view,
The proferr'd pardon if repentants true.
He said that God was merciful and just,
To implore forgiveness on his word to trust;
There is a record where the scripture say,
Those that repent he will not cast away;
A sigh or tear can not that boon impart,
It must be fervent from the head and heart:
Thro' Jesus' aid vile sinners doth he save,
If true repentants ere they meet the grave.
Each wish'd they could recal the time that's past,
And they would live as if each day the last:
Just before death they pray'd me to implore,
An erring mortal to transgress no more;
Hope their lov'd Chaplain might, for ever be
When call'd on high blessed to eternity;
They knew his worth his heart is of a kind,
That plants soft pity to a feeling mind:
Deeker, as Chaplain, few can e'er excel,
Belov'd by all who bids the jail farewell.
When first I saw those wretched men in jail,
Before their trial, did their fate bewail;
Soon as the sentence met each anxious ear,
Resign'd and true repentants did appear;
One and all cried out, oh that God how just!
To stop our sad career, on thee we'll trust;
One cause alone