Images de page
PDF
ePub

A

Thou strength of his Almighty hand,
Whose pow'r does heaven and earth command.
Proceeding Spirit, our defence,
Who dost the gift of tongues dispense,
And crown thy gift with eloquence!

Refine and purge our earthly parts;
But, oh, inflame and fire our hearts!
Our frailties help, our vice control,
Submit the senses to the soul;
And when rebellious they are grown,
Then lay thy hand, and hold them down,
Chase from our minds th' infernal foe,
And peace, the fruit of love, bestow,
And, lest our feet should step astray,
Protect and guide us in the way.

Make us eternal truth receive,
And practise all that we believe :
Give us thyself that we may see
The Father, and the Sơn, by thee.

Immortal honour, endless fame,
Attend th' Almighty Father's name :
Thy Saviour son be glorified,
Who for lost man's redemption died ;
And equal adoration be,
Eternal Paraclete, to thee!

TO A LADY.

THINK not, because thy quiet day,
In silent goodness steals away,
Think not, because to me alone
Thy deeds of cheerful love are known,
That, in the grave's dark chamber laid,
With thee those gentle acts shall fade.

DRYDEN.

From the low turf where virtue lies
Shall many a bloodless trophy rise,
Whose everlasting bloom shall shame
The laurell'd conqueror's proudest name;
For there the hoary sire shall come,
And lead his babes to kiss thy tomb,
Whose manlier steps shall oft repair
To bless a Parent buried there.
The youth, whose grateful thought reveres
The hand that ruled his wayward years;
The tender maid, whose throbbing breast
Thy gentle wisdom sooth'd to rest,
And he who well thy virtues knew,
When Fortune fail'd and friends were few;
All who thy blameless course approv'd,
Who felt thy goodness, or who lov'd,
Shall crowd around thy honour'd shrine,
And weep and wish an end like thine.

BOWDLER.

LINES.

REFLECTED On the lake, I love
To see the stars of evening glow,
So tranquil in the heavens above,
So restless in the waves below.

Thus heavenly hope is all serene,

But earthly hope how bright soe'er,
Still fluctuates o'er this changing scene,
As false and fleeting as 'tis fair.

HYMN.

The invisible God.

WITH deepest rev'rence, at thy throne,
Jehovah, peerless and unknown,

HEBER.

Our feeble spirits strive, in vain,
A glimpse of thee, great God, to gain,

Who, by the closest search, can find
Thy mighty uncreated mind?
Nor men nor angels can explore
Thy heights of love, thy depths of pow'r!
We know thee not! but this we know,
Thou reign'st above, thou reign'st below;
And, though thine essense is unknown,
To all the world thy pow'r is shown.

That pow'r we trace on ev'ry side;
O may thy wisdom be our guide;
And while we live, and when we die,
May thine almighty love be nigh.

HYMN.

REV. EDM. BUTCHER.

Liberal Judgement.

ALL-seeing God! 'tis thine to know
The springs whence wrong opinions flow,
To judge, by principles within,
When frailty errs and when we sin.

Who, among men, high Lord of all,
Thy servant to his bar shall call,
For modes of faith judge him a foe,
And doom him to the realms of woe?

Who with another's eye can read?
Or worship by another's creed?
Revering thy commands alone,
We humbly seek, and use our own.

If wrong, forgive; approve, if right;
While, faithful, we obey our light,

And, cens'ring none, are zealous still
To follow, as to learn, thy will.

When shall our happy eyes behold
Thy people fashion'd in thy mould?
And charity our lineage prove,
Deriv'd from thee, O God of love!

JOHN SCOTT.

HYMN.

Benevolence.

HAIL, source of pleasures ever new!
While thy kind dictates I pursue,
I taste a joy sincere;
Too high for little minds to know,
Who on themselves, alone, bestow
Their wishes and their care.

By thee inspir'd, the gen'rous breast,
In blessing others only blest,

With kindness large and free,
Delights the widow's tears to stay,
To teach the blind their smoothest way,
And aid the feeble knee.

O God! with sympathetic care,
In others' joys and griefs to share,
Do thou mine heart incline;
Each low, each selfish, wish control,
Warm with benevolence my soul
And make me wholly thine.

BLACKLOCK.

DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

LIKE summer eve, when sunlight throws
A beauteous parting ray around;

And silent shades in peace repose
Upon the soft and dewy ground.
As still, as peaceful, and serene,

Is the last ray when life is done;
When Hope's bright beam, smiles o'er the scene
Which saw a glorious race begun.

What though around his couch may fall,
The dewdrops from kind pity's eye;
The happy spirit smiles on all,
And shines upon another sky.
Oh! such is life, whose parting ray
Throws lustre on a world of sorrow;
For as its brightness dies away,
There's promise of a glorious morrow.

WEIK.

PSALM.

On Providence.

THE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary wand'ring steps he leads;
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.

Tho' in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,

« PrécédentContinuer »