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And all-surpassing, than great nature hath?
For though her glittering diadem of stars
Seems like a token of eternity,

Yet she shall be no more!-Whilst Thou, O soul,
Imperishable in thy Creator's love,

Shall, Phoenix-like, but on sublimer wing,
Soar from all-consuming flame to heaven,
And flourish o'er the ashes of a world!!!

W. MARTIN.

GOD OUR REFUGE.

ETERNAL Lord of light and life; the soul
Of nature and the Deity of all,

Whose spirit bending o'er the wondrous whole,
Suffers, unwill'd, no flower or bird to fall:
Can the proud eye look upwards to.yon dome,
Or view the rich array spread forth below,
And not feel pledges of a dearer home,

That make the bosom leap, the spirit glow,
And stretch its hopes far into eternity,

Till like the Patriarch's dove it rests, great Lord, on Thee.

On Thee, its ark of perfect holiness,

With tokens of its everlasting peace,

And certainty of fadeless joy to bless

It in a higher state when time shall cease.
The stars shall burn: those living orbs were fed
With pure effulgence from thy vital ray,
To light us deep into thy essence, shed

Abroad through earth and air by night and day: Fill'd with that glory would my spirit soar,

And although trembling—yet, exultingly adore.

For Thou art all in all-the First-the Last,

Creator, Ruler, Great High Priest, and King! Thy works-how fair! thy power-the mighty blast Bears it from pole to pole upon its wing! Thy kingdom is the universe, enshrined

By the ten thousand suns that gleam above; Thy temple is the all immortal mind

Deliver'd from its tumults by thy love,

And though thy presence beams throughout all

space,

Yet is the human heart not less thy dwelling place. Philosophy hath kept the patient watch

Through many an age in vague uncertainty, And endless speculation, but to catch,

From Thy fair works some transient glimpse of
Thee:

But, ah! how dim is e'en yon orb of light,
And all the splendour of ethereal fires;
Though they do seem to daze the mortal sight,
And the wrapt soul their effluence inspires;
To the pure glory that Thy love has given,
To cheer the sinking soul, and lift it unto heaven.
Hopeless she look'd for Thee from year to year,
Amid the boundless sky or far stretch'd main:
Thy holy presence could not there appear,

And cold abstraction ponder'd long in vain ;
Yet thou hast deigned to converse with man
From the bright sky- -the Star of Bethlehem
shone,

The mighty shook, and royalty look'd wan,
But WISDOM still rejoiced and followed on;
Till at the manger's foot it paused to see
The fulness of Thy glory-and of THEE.

Millions of suns blaze proudly from yon sky,
Millions of orbs move round them in the full
And perfect law of glorious harmony;

All fair, and bright, and calm, and beautiful!
Thy peace surpasseth all; and daily blends
With feelings and sensations deeper far

Than the bright blue which through the heaven extends,

And more exalted than the loftiest star ; Lifting mean man beyond the proudest sphere, And whispering to the soul, that THOU art ever

near.

W. MARTIN.

OMNISCIENCE OF GOD.

LORD! Thou with an unerring beam
Surveyest all my powers;

My rising steps are watch'd by Thee,
By Thee, my resting hours.

My thoughts scarce struggling into birth,
Great God, are known to Thee:
Abroad, at home, still I'm enclosed
With thine immensity.

To Thee the labyrinths of life

In open view are clear;

Nor steals a whisper from my lips

Without thy list'ning ear.

Behind I glance, and Thou art there,
Before me shines thy name,

And 'tis thy strong Almighty hand
Sustains my feeble frame.

Such knowledge mocks the vain essays
Of my astonish'd mind,
Nor can my reason's soaring eye
Its towering summit find.

Where from thy spirit shall I stretch
The pinions of my flight?

Or where, through nature's spacious range,
Shall I elude thy sight?

Scaled I the skies, thy blaze divine
Would overwhelm my soul;
Plunged I to hell, I there should hear
Thine awful thunders roll.

If on the morning's darting ray
With matchless speed I rode,
And flew to the wide lonely shore,
That bounds the ocean's flood;

Thither thine hand, all present God,
Must guide the wond'rous way,
And thine Omnipotence support
The fabric of my clay.

Should I involve myself around

With clouds of tenfold night,

The clouds would shine like blazing noon
Before thy piercing sight!

The beams of noon, the midnight hour,
Are both alike to Thee;

O may I ne'er provoke that power
From which I cannot flee.

BLACKLOCK.

THE DAYS OF CREATION.

(FROM THE GERMAN OF KRUMMACHER.)

ALL dead and silent was the earth,
In deepest night it lay,

The ETERNAL spoke Creation's word,
And call'd to being, Day.

It stream'd from on high, all reddening and bright,
And angels' songs welcomed the new-born light.

GOD spake: the murmuring waters fled,
They left their deep repose;

Wide over-arching heaven's blue vault
The firmament arose.

Now sparkles above heaven's glorious blue,
It sends to the earth the light and the dew.

GOD spake he bade the waves divide;
The earth uprears her head;

From hill, from rock, the gushing streams
In bubbling torrents spread.

The earth rested quiet, and poised in the air,
In heaven's blue bosom lay naked and bare.

GOD spake the hills and plains put on
Their robe of freshest green;

Dark forests in the valleys wave,

And budding trees are seen.

The word of his breath clothes the forest with leaves, The high gift of beauty the spring-tide receives.

GOD spake and on the new-dress'd earth
Soft smiled the glowing sun;

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