"But quell'st tyrannic pride with peerless | Yet here the brightest seraphs can no more power, Than hide their faces, tremble, and adore.
"Even as the tempest rives the stubborn Worms, angels, men, in every different
"O all-sufficient, all-beneficent,
"Thou God of goodness, and of glory hear! "Bless all mankind; and bring them in the end
"To Heav'n, to Immortality, and Thee."
NOT seldom, clad in radiant vest,
Deceitfully goes forth the morn;
Not seldom ev'ning, in the west,
Sinks smilingly forsworn.
The smoothest seas will sometimes prove
To the confiding bark untrue;
And if she trusts the stars above,
They can be treach❜rous too.
The umbrageous bark, in pomp outspread,
Full oft, when storms the welkin rend,
Draws lightning down upon the head
It promis'd to defend.
But thou art true, incarnate Lord!
Who didst vouchsafe for man to die;
Thy smile is sure, thy plighted word
No change can falsify.
I bent before thy gracious throne,
And ask'd for peace with suppliant knee;
And peace was giv'n-nor peace alone,
But faith, and hope, and ecstacy.
GOD of my life! and Author of my days!
Permit my feeble voice to lisp thy praise;
And trembling take upon a mortal tongue
That hallow'd name to harps of seraphs sung.
Are equal all, for all are nothing here.
All nature faints beneath the mighty name,
Which nature's works, thro' all their parts
I feel that name my inmost thoughts control,
And breathe an awful stillness thro' my soul;
As by a charm, the waves of grief subside:
Impetuous passion stops the headlong tide:
At thy felt presence all emotions cease,
And my hush'd spirit finds a sudden peace,
Till every worldly thought within me dies,
And earth's gay pageants vanish from my
eyes;
Till all my sense is lost in infinite,
And one vast object fills my aching sight.
But soon, alas! this holy calm is broke;
My soul submits to wear her wonted yoke;
With shackled pinions strives to soar in vain,
And mingles with the dross of earth again.
But HE, our gracious Master, kind, as just,
Knowing our frame, remembers we are dust:
His spirit ever brooding o'er our mind,
Sees the first wish to better hopes inclin❜d,
Marks the young dawn of every virtuous
aim,
And fans the smoking flax into a flame.
His ears are open to the softest cry,
His grace descends to meet the lifted eye;
He reads the language of a silent tear,
And sighs are incense from a heart sincere.
Such are the vows, the sacrifice I give ;
Accept the vow, and bid the suppliant live;
From each terrestrial bondage set me free;
Still every wish that centers not in thee;
Bid my fond hopes, my vain disquiets cease,
And point my path to everlasting peace.
If the soft hand of winning pleasure leads By living waters, and thro' flow'ry meads, When all is smiling, tranquil, and serene, And vernal beauty paints the flatt'ring
Oh teach me to elude each latent snare,
And whisper to my sliding heart-Beware!
With caution let me hear the syren's voice,
And doubtful, with a trembling heart re-
joice.
A thousand worlds which roll around us brightly,
Thee in their orbits bless;
Ten thousand suns which shine about us nightly,
Proclaim Thy righteousness.
Thou didst create the world-'twas Thy proud mandate,
And the same power that measur'd, weigh'd, and spann'd it,
Shall bid that world decay.
Where shall that praise begin, which ne'er Thou of life the guard and giver;
Where'er I turn, what claim on all applause! How is night's sable mantle labour'd o'er, How richly wrought with attributes divine! What wisdom shines! what love! this midnight pomp,
This gorgeous arch, with golden worlds inlay'd!
Built with divine ambition! nought to thee;
For others this profusion: Thou, apart,
Above! beyond! O tell me, mighty mind!
Where art thou! Shall I dive into the deep?
Call to the sun, or ask the roaring winds,
For their Creator? Shall I question loud
The thunder, if in that th' Almighty dwells?
Or holds he furious storms in strengthen'd
reins,
And bids fierce whirlwinds wheel his rapid car?
Thou canst guard thy creatures sleeping;
Heal the heart long broke with weeping.
God of stillness and of motion,
Of the desert and the ocean,
Of the mountain, rock, and river,
Blessed be thy name for ever.
Thou who slumberest not, nor sleepest,
Blest are they thou kindly keepest;
God of evening's parting ray,
Of midnight's gloom, and dawning day,
That rises from the azure sea,
Like breathings of eternity;
God of life! that fade shall never,
Blessed be thy name for ever!
What mean these questions? Trembling THE heavens, O Lord! Thy power proclaim,
My prostrate soul adores the present God: Praise I a distant Deity? He tunes
My voice (if tun'd): the nerve, that writes, sustains:
Wrapt in his being, I resound his praise :
But though past all diffus'd, without a shore,
His essence,
local is his throne (as meet),
To gather the disperst (as standards call
The listed from afar): to fix a point,
A central point, collective of his sons,
Since finite every nature but his own.
And the earth echoes back Thy name; Ten thousand voices speak Thy might, And day to day, and night to night, Utter Thy praise,-Thou Lord above! Thy praise-Thy glory-and Thy love.
All things I see, or hear, or feel,
Thy wisdom, goodness, power reveal.
The silent crescent hung on high,
So calmly sailing through the sky;
The lowliest flower that lights the dells;
The lightest wave the stream that swells;
The nameless He, whose nod is nature's The breeze that o'er the garden plays;
And nature's shield, the shadow of his hand; Her dissolution, his suspended smile!
The farthest planet's glimmering rays;
The dew upon the distant hill;
The vapours that the valley fill!
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