126. c. M.
The Law of Love.
1 ALL nature feels attractive power,
A strong embracing force;
The drops that sparkle in the shower,
The planets in their course.
2 Thus, in the universe of mind,
Is felt the law of love;
The charity, both strong and kind,
For all that live and move.
3 More perfect bond, the christian plan Attaches soul to soul;
Our neighbour is the suffering man,
Though at the farthest pole.
4 To earth below, from heaven above,
The faith in Christ professed
More clear reveals that God is love,
And whom he loves is blessed.
1 ALL-POWERFUL, self-existent God, Who all creation dost sustain !
Thou wast, and art, and art to come,
And everlasting is thy reign.
2 Fixed and eternal as thy days,
Each glorious attribute divine,
Through ages infinite, shall still
With undiminished lustre shine.
3 Fountain of being! Source of good!
Immutable thou dost remain;
Nor can the shadow of a change
Obscure the glories of thy reign.
4 Nature her order shall reverse,
Revolving seasons cease their round;
Nor spring appear with blooming pride,
Nor autumn be with plenty crowned;
5 Yon shining orbs forget their course,
The sun his destined path forsake,
And burning desolation mark
Amid the worlds his devious track:
6 Earth may with all her powers dissolve, If such the great Creator's will;
But thou for ever art the same,
I AM is thy memorial still.
1 ALL-SEEING God! 'tis thine to know
'The springs whence wrong opinions flow;
'To judge, from principles within,
When frailty errs, and when we sin.
2 Who among men, great Lord of all!
'T'hy servant to his bar shall call ;
Judge him, for modes of faith, thy foe,
And doom him to the realms of wo?
3 Who with another's eye can read,
Or worship by another's creed?
'Trusting thy grace, we form our own,
And bow to thy commands alone.
4 If wrong, correct; accept, if right;
While faithful we improve our light,→
Condemning none, but zealous still
To learn and follow all thy will.
5 When shall our happy eyes behold
All Christians fashioned in thy mould;
And charity our lineage prove
Derived from thee, O God of love!
'The Earth is full of thy Riches.' Ps. civ. 24.
1 ALMIGHTY! listen while we raise
Our hymn of thankfulness and praise,
That thou hast given our erring race
So bright, so fair a dwelling place ;-
2 That when this orb of sea and land
Was moulded in thy forming hand,
Thy smile a beam of heaven impressed
In beauty, on its ample breast:
3 And raised the hills, and sunk between
The vales' deep pathway, broad and green;
And stretched the plain to where the sky
Stoops, and shuts in the exploring eye,
4 And made them firm for tread of feet:
Gave pleasant shades, and waters sweet,
And fanning airs, and freshening showers,
And sprinkled earth with fruits and flowers;
5 And spread around the billowy plains
Of the green ocean,-nurse of rains;
Hung high the glorious sun, and set
Nights' cressets in her arch of jet.
6 Lord! teach us, while the unsated gaze,
Delighted, on thy works delays,
To deem the forms of beauty here,
But shadows of a brighter sphere.
130. L. M.
Preservation from Sin implored.
1 AMIDST a world of hopes and fears,
A wild of cares, and toils, and tears,
Where foes alarm, and dangers threat,
And pleasures kill, and glories cheat;
2 Shed down, O Lord! a heavenly ray
To guide us in the doubtful way;
And o'er us hold thy shield of power
To guard us in the dangerous hour.
3 Teach us the flattering paths to shun,
In which the thoughtless many run;
Who for a shade the substance miss,
And grasp their ruin in their bliss.
4 Each noble principle impart;
That faith which sanctifies the heart,
Hope, that to heaven's high vault aspires,
And love that warms with holy fires.
5 Whate'er is honest, pure, refined,
Just, generous, amiable, and kind,
That may our constant zeal pursue,
That may we love and practise too.
6 May never pleasure, wealth or pride,
Allure our wandering souls aside;
Nor tempt us from the narrow road,
Which leads to happiness and God.
Aspiration after the Christian Temper.
1 ALMIGHTY Maker! Lord of all!
Of life the only spring!
Creator of unnumbered worlds!
Supreme, eternal King!
2 Drive from the confines of my heart
Impenitence and pride;
Nor let me in forbidden paths
With thoughtless sinners glide.
3 Whate'er thine all-discerning eye
Sees for thy creature fit ;
I'll bless the good, and to the ill
Contentedly submit.
4 With generous pleasure let me view The prosperous and the great; Malignant envy let me fly,
And odious self-conceit.
5 Let not despair, nor fell revenge,
Be to my bosom known:
O give me tears for others' woes,
And patience for my own!
6 Feed me with necessary food;
I ask not wealth nor fame:
Give me an eye to see thy will,
A heart to bless thy name.
7 Still let my days serenely pass
Without remorse or care;
And growing holiness, my soul
For life's last hour prepare.
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