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HYMN DCCXXII.

The Example of Christ. 1 John ii. 6.

A

MRS. STEELE.

ND is the gospel peace and love?
So let our conversation be;
The serpent blended with the dove,
Wisdom and meek simplicity.

2 Whene'er the angry passions rise,

And tempt our thoughts or tongues to strife,
On Jesus let us fix our eyes,
Bright pattern of the christian life!

3 O how benevolent and kind!
How mild! how ready to forgive!
Be his the temper of our mind,
And his the rules by which we live.

4 To do his heavenly Father's will,
Was his employment and delight:
Humanity and holy zeal

Shone through his life divinely bright.
5 Dispensing good where'er he came,
The labours of his life were love:
If then we love our Saviour's name,
Let his divine example move.

6 But ah, how blind! how weak we are,
How frail! how apt to turn aside !
Lord, we depend upon thy care,
And ask thy Spirit for our guide!

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See, from the clouds his glory breaks,
When the first beams of morning rise!
2 The rising sun, serenely bright,
O'er the wide world's extended frame,
Inscripes, in characters of light
His mighty Maker's glorious name.
3 Diffusing life, his influence spreads,
And health and plenty smile around:
And fruitful fields, and verdant meads,
Are with a thousand blessings crown'd.
4 Almighty goodness, power divine,
The fields and verdant meads display;
And bless the hand which made them shine,
With various charms profusely gay.

5 For man and beast, here daily food
In wide diffusive plenty grows:
And there, for drink, the crystal flood
In streams sweet winding gently flows.
6 The flowery tribes, all blooming rise,
Above the faint attempts of art:
Their bright, inimitable dyes
Speak sweet conviction to the heart,

7 Ye curious minds who roam abroad,
And trace creation's wonders o'er!
Confess the footsteps of the God,
And bow before him, and adore.

1 WH

HYMN DCCXXIV.

A Hymn for the Spring.

MRS. STEELE.

HILE beauty clothes the fertile vale
And blossoms on the spray,
And fragrance breathes in every gale,
How sweet the vernal day !

2 How kind the influence of the skies;
Soft showers, with blessings fraught,
Bid verdure, beauty, fragrance rise,
And fix the roving thought.

3 O let my wandering heart confess,
With gratitude and love,

The bounteous hand that deigns to bless
The garden, field, and grove.

4 That bounteous hand my thoughts adore,
Beyond expression kind,
Hath sweeter, nobler gifts in store,
To bless the craving mind.

5 Inspir❜d to praise, I then shall join
Ġlad nature's cheerful song;
And love and gratitude divine
Attune my joyful tongue.

HYMN DCCXXV.

Seed-time and Harvest.

MRS. STEELE.

1 THE rising morn, the closing day,
Repeat thy praise with grateful voice;
Both in their turns thy power display,
And laden with thy gifts rejoice.

2 Earth's wide-extended, varying scenes,
All smiling round thy bounty show;
From seas or clouds, full magazines,
Thy rich diffusive blessings flow.

3 Now earth receives the precious seed,
Which thy indulgent hand prepares:
And nourishes the future bread,
And answers all the sower's cares.

4 Thy sweet refreshing showers attend,
And through the ridges gently flow,
Soft on the springing corn descend:
And thy kind blessing makes it grow.
5 Thy goodness crowns the circling year;
Thy paths drop fatness all around;
Ev'n barren wilds thy praise declare,
And echoing hills return the sound.
6 Here spreading flocks adorn the plain;
There plenty every charm displays;
Thy bounty clothes each lovely scene,
And joyful nature shouts thy praise.

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KIPPIS.

HYMN DCCXXVI.

To the unknown God.

KIPPIS.

REAT God! in vain man's narrow view Attempts to look thy nature through: Our labouring powers with reverence own Thy glories never can be known. 2 Not the high seraph's mighty thought, Who countless years his God has sought, Such wondrous height or depth can find, Or fully trace thy boundless mind. 3 Yet Lord, thy kindness deigns to show Enough for mortal minds to know; While wisdom, goodness, power divine, Through all thy works and conduct shine. 4 O! may our souls with rapture trace Thy works of nature and of grace; Explore thy sacred name, and still Press on to know and do thy will!

STERNHOLD.

HYMN DCCXXVII.

The Majesty of God.

STERNHOLD.

1 THE Lord descended from above

THE

And bow'd the heavens most high;

And underneath his feet he cast

The darkness of the sky.

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