833. L. M. L. H. Signourney.
Prayer at Sea.
1Prayer may be sweet in cottage homes,
Where sire and child devoutly kneel,
While through the open casement nigh
The vernal blossoms fragrant steal.
2Prayer may be sweet in stately halls,
Where heart with kindred heart is blent,
And upward to th' eternal throne
The hymn of praise melodious sent.
3But he who fain would know how warm
The soul's appeal to God may be,
From friends and native land should turn,
A wanderer on the faithless sea;--
4Should hear its deep, imploring tone
Rise heavenward o'er the foaming surge,
When billows toss the fragile bark,
And fearful blasts the conflict urge.
5Naught, naught appears but sea and sky;
No refuge where the foot may flee:
How will he cast, O Rock divine,
The anchor of his soul on thee!
834. C. M. Anonymous.
The Sailor's Grave.
1Not in the church-yard shall he sleep,
Amid the silent gloom,--
His home was on the mighty deep,
And there shall be his tomb.
2He loved his own bright, deep blue sea,
O'er it he loved to roam;
And now his winding sheet shall be
That same bright ocean's foam.
3No village bell shall toll for him
Its mournful, solemn dirge;
The winds shall chant a requiem
To him beneath the surge.
4For him, break not the grassy turf,
Nor turn the dewy sod;
His dust shall rest beneath the surf,
His spirit with its God.
835. C. M. Select Hymns.
Prayer for Seamen.
1We come, O Lord, before thy throne,
And, with united pleas,
We meet and pray for those who roam
Far off upon the seas.
2O, may the Holy Spirit bow
The sailor's heart to thee,
Till tears of deep repentance flow
Like rain-drops in the sea.
3Then may a Saviour's dying love
Pour peace into his breast,
And waft him to the port above
Of everlasting rest.
NATIONAL HYMNS.
836. 6s. & 4s. M. S. F. Smith.
National Hymn.
1My country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.
2My native country, thee--
Land of the noble, free--
Thy name--I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.
3Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song:
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe, partake;
Let rocks their silence break,--
The sound prolong.
4Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing:
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.
837. C. M. Wreford.
Prayer for our Country.
1Lord, while for all mankind we pray,
Of every clime and coast,
O, hear us for our native land,--
The land we love the most.
2O guard our shores from every foe,
With peace our borders bless,
With prosperous times our cities crown,
Our fields with plenteousness.
3Unite us in the sacred love
Of knowledge, truth, and thee;
And let our hills and valleys shout
The songs of liberty.
4Here may religion pure and mild
Smile on our Sabbath hours;
And piety and virtue bless
The home of us and ours.
5Lord of the nations, thus to thee
Our country we commend;
Be thou her refuge and her trust,
Her everlasting friend.
838. L. M. 6l. H. Ware, Jr.
The God of our Fathers.
1Like Israel's hosts to exile driven,
Across the flood the pilgrims fled;
Their hands bore up the ark of Heaven,
And Heaven their trusting footsteps led,
Till on these savage shores they trod,
And won the wilderness for God.
2Then, where their weary ark found rest,
Another Zion proudly grew;
In more than Judah's glory dressed,
With light that Israel never knew.
From sea to sea her empire spread,
Her temple Heaven, and Christ her head.
3Then let the grateful church, to-day
Its ancient rite with gladness keep;
And still our fathers' God display
His kindness, though the fathers sleep.
O, bless, as thou hast blessed the past,
While earth, and time, and heaven shall last.
839. C. M. Watts.
"Thou shall teach them to thy children."
1Let children hear the mighty deeds
Which God performed of old:
Which in our younger years we saw,
And which our fathers told.
2He bids us make his glories known--
His works of power and grace;
And we'll convey his wonders down
To every rising race.
3Our lips shall tell them to our sons,
And they again to theirs;
That generations yet unborn
May teach them to their heirs.
4Thus shall they learn, in God alone
Their hope securely stands;
That they may ne'er forget his works,
But practise his commands.
840. L. M. Flint.
"We have a goodly heritage."
1In pleasant lands have fallen the lines
That bound our goodly heritage,
And safe beneath our sheltering vines
Our youth is blest, and soothed our age.
2What thanks, O God, to thee are due,
That thou didst plant our fathers here;
And watch and guard them as they grew,
A vineyard, to the planter dear.
3The toils they bore, our ease have wrought;
They sowed in tears--in joy we reap;
The birthright they so dearly bought
We'll guard, till we with them shall sleep.
4Thy kindness to our fathers shown
In weal and woe through all the past,
Their grateful sons, O God, shall own
While here their name and race shall last.
841. L. M. Presbyterian Coll.
God Acknowledged in National Blessings.
1Great God of nations, now to thee
Our hymn of gratitude we raise;
With humble heart and bending knee,
We offer thee our song of praise.
2Here freedom spreads her banner wide,
And casts her soft and hallowed ray;
Here thou our fathers' steps didst guide
In safety through their dangerous way.
3We praise thee that the gospel's light
Through all our land its radiance sheds,
Dispels the shades of error's night,
And heavenly blessings round us spreads.
4Great God, preserve us in thy fear;
In dangers still our guardian be;
O, spread thy truth's bright precepts here,
Let all the people worship thee.
842. L. M. Roscoe.
Remembrance of our Fathers.
1Great God! beneath whose piercing eye
The world's extended kingdoms lie;
Whose favoring smile upholds them all,
Whose anger smites them, and they fall;
2We bow before thy heavenly throne;
Thy power we see, thy goodness own;
But, cherished by thy milder voice,
Our bosoms tremble and rejoice.
3Thy kindness to our fathers shown,
Their children's children long shall own;
To thee with grateful hearts shall raise
Their tribute of exulting praise.
4Our God, our Guardian, and our Friend!
Oh still thy sheltering arm extend;
Preserved by thee for ages past,
For ages may thy kindness last.
843. C. M. C. Sprague.
The Pilgrims.
1Our fathers, Lord, to seek a spot
Where they might kneel to thee,
Their own fair heritage forgot,
And braved an unknown sea.
2Here found their pilgrim souls repose
Where long the heathen roved;
And here their humble anthems rose
To bless the Power they loved.
3They sleep in dust,--but where they trod,
A feeble, fainting band,
Glad millions catch the strain, O God,
And sound it through the land.
844. 8s. & 7s. M. Pierpont.
Anniversary Hymn.
1God of mercy, do thou never
From our offering turn away,
But command a blessing ever
On the memory of this day.
2Light and peace do thou ordain it;
O'er it be no shadow flung,
Let no deadly darkness stain it,
And no clouds be o'er it hung.
3May the song this people raises,
And its vows to thee addressed,
Mingle with the prayers and praises,
That thou hearest from the blest.
4When the lips are cold that sing thee,
And the hearts that love thee dust,
Father, then our souls shall bring thee
Holier love and firmer trust.
845. C. M. Aspland's Coll.
The Virtuous Love of Country.
1Parent of all, omnipotent!
In heaven and earth below!
Through all creation's vast extent
Whose streams of goodness flow:
2Teach me to know from whence I rose,
And unto what designed;
No private aims may I propose,
That injure human kind.
3To hear my country's lawful voice
May my best thoughts incline;
'Tis reason's law, 'tis virtue's choice,
'Tis nature's call, and thine.
4Me from fair freedom's sacred cause
May nothing e'er divide;
Nor grandeur, gold, nor vain applause,
Nor friendship false, misguide.
5To duty, honor, virtue true,
In all my country's weal,
Let me my public walk pursue:
So, God, thy favor deal.
846. 6s. & 4s. M. S. F. Smith.
Anniversary Hymn.
1Auspicious morning, hail!
Voices from hill and vale
Thy welcome sing:
Joy on thy dawning breaks;
Each heart that joy partakes,
While cheerful music wakes,
Its praise to bring.
2Long o'er our native hills,
Long by our shaded rills,
May freedom rest;
Long may our shores have peace,
Our flag grace every breeze,
Our ships the distant seas,
From east to west.
3Peace on this day abide,
From morn till even-tide;
Wake tuneful song;
Melodious accents raise;
Let every heart, with praise,
Bring high and grateful lays,
Rich, full, and strong.
847. 6s. & 4s. M. J. G. Adams.
The Same.
1Loud raise the notes of joy;
Freemen, your songs employ,
As well ye may;--
Let your full hearts go out
In the exulting shout,
And with your praise devout,
Greet this glad day!
2Children of lisping tongue,
Those whose full hearts are young
Lift up the song!
Manhood and hoary age,
Let naught your joy assuage,
In the high theme engage,
Praises prolong!
3God of our fathers' land!
Long may our temples stand
Sacred to thee!
Let thy bright light divine
On all the people shine,
Make us forever thine,
From sin set free!
848. L. P. M. Kippis.
National Praise and Prayer.
1With grateful hearts with joyful tongues,
To God we raise united songs;
His power and mercy we proclaim:
Through every age, O, may we own
Jehovah here has fixed his throne,
And triumph in his mighty name.
2Long as the moon her course shall run,
Or men behold the circling sun,
Lord, in our land support thy reign;
Crown her just counsels with success,
With truth and peace her borders bless,
And all thy sacred rights maintain.
849. 6s. & 4s. M. Anonymous.
Prayer for our Country.
1God bless our native land,
Firm may she ever stand
Through storm and night;
When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of winds and wave,
Do thou our country save,
By thy great might.
2For her our prayer shall rise
To God above the skies;
On him we wait;
Thou who hast heard each sigh,
Watching each weeping eye,
Be thou forever nigh;--
God save the state.
850. 7s. & 6s. M. Christian Ballads.
Our Country.
Now pray we for our country,
Pray that it long may be
The holy and the happy,
And the gloriously free!
Who blesseth her is blesséd!
So peace be in her walls;
And joy in all her villages,
Her cottages and halls.
THE SEASONS, ANNUAL OCCASIONS, ETC.
851. L. M. Heginbotham.
The God of the Seasons.
1Great God! let all our tuneful powers
Awake and sing thy mighty name;
Thy hand rolls on our circling hours,
The hand from which our being came.
2Seasons and moons revolving round
In beauteous order speak thy praise;
And years with smiling mercy crowned,
To thee successive honors raise.
3Each changing season on our souls
Its sweetest, kindest influence sheds;
And every period, as it rolls,
Showers countless blessings on our heads.
4Our lives, our health, our friends, we owe
All to thy vast unbounded love;
Ten thousand precious gifts below,
And hope of nobler joys above.
852. L. M. Enfield's Sel.
The Goodness of God in the Seasons.
1Great God! at whose all-powerful call
At first arose this beauteous frame,
By thee the seasons change, and all
The changing seasons speak thy name.
2Thy bounty bids the infant year,
From winter storms recovered, rise;
When thousand grateful scenes appear,
Fresh opening to our wondering eyes.
3O, how delightful 'tis to see
The earth in vernal beauty dressed!
While in each herb, and flower, and tree,
Thy bright perfections shine confessed!
4Indulgent God! from every part,
Thy plenteous blessings largely flow;
We see,--we taste;--let every heart
With grateful love and duty glow.
853. C. M. Watts.
Seasons.
1With songs and honors sounding loud,
Address the Lord on high;
O'er all the heavens he spreads his cloud,
And waters veil the sky.
2He sends his showers of blessings down,
To cheer the plains below;
He makes the grass the mountains crown,
And corn in valleys grow.
3His steady councils change the face
Of each declining year;
He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.
4On us his providence has shone,
With gentle, smiling rays;
O, may our lips and lives make known
His goodness and his praise.
854. H. M. J. Taylor.
Providence acknowledged in the Seasons.
1Rejoice! the Lord is King:
Your Lord and King adore;
Mortals! give thanks and sing,
And triumph evermore:
Lift up your hearts, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, in sacred lays rejoice.
2His wintry north winds blow,
Loud tempests rush amain;
Yet his thick showers of snow
Defend the infant grain:
Lift up your hearts, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, in sacred lays rejoice.
3He wakes the genial spring,
Perfumes the balmy air;
The vales their tribute bring,
The promise of the year:
Lift up your hearts, lift up your voice
Rejoice, in sacred lays rejoice.
4He leads the circling year;
His flocks the hills adorn;
He fills the golden ear,
And loads the field with corn;
O happy mortals! raise your voice;
Rejoice, in sacred lays rejoice.
855. 7s. M. Barbauld.
The Seasons.
1Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days!
Bounteous Source of every joy,
Let thy praise our tongues employ.
2All that Spring, with bounteous hand,
Scatters o'er the smiling land,--
All that liberal Autumn pours
From her rich o'erflowing stores,--
3These to that dear Source we owe
Whence our sweetest comforts flow;
These, through all my happy days,
Claim my cheerful songs of praise.
4Lord, to thee my soul should raise
Grateful, never-ending praise,
And, when every blessing's flown,
Love thee for thyself alone.
856. L. M. Doddridge.
The Same.
1Eternal Source of every joy!
Well may thy praise our lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,
To hail thee Sovereign of the year.
2Wide as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
By thee the sun is taught to rise,
And darkness when to veil the skies.
3The flowery spring, at thy command,
Perfumes the air and paints the land;
The summer suns with vigor shine,
To raise the corn and cheer the vine.
4Thy hand, in autumn, richly pours
Through all our coasts redundant stores;
And winters, softened by thy care,
No more the face of horror wear.
5Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive songs of praise;
And be the grateful homage paid,
With morning light and evening shade.
857. L. M. Watts.
The Goodness of God in the Seasons. Ps. 65.
1At God's command, the morning ray
Smiles in the east, and leads the day;
He guides the sun's declining wheels
Over the tops of western hills.
2Seasons and times obey his voice;
The evening and the morn rejoice
To see the earth made soft with showers,
Laden with fruit, and dressed in flowers.
3The desert grows a fruitful field;
Abundant food the valleys yield;
The valleys shout with cheerful voice,
And neighboring hills repeat their joys.
4Thy works pronounce thy power divine;
O'er every field thy glories shine;
Through every month thy gifts appear:
Great God! thy goodness crowns the year.
858. C. M. Fergus.
The Promises of the Year.
1The year begins with promises
Of joyful days to come,
Of Sabbath bells, of times of prayer,
Of thoughts on heaven, our home:
2Of seed-time, with its gentle winds,
Soft dews and healthful showers,
And streamlets gushing from the hills,
And birds and opening flowers:
3Of summer, with its warbling choir
Amid the balmy leaves;
Of autumn, with its fragrant herbs
And fruits and bending sheaves:
4Of countless mercies from our God,
Who rules the changeful years,
Both here and in the world of love,
Beyond the heavenly spheres.
859. S. M. Watts.
Blessings of Spring.
1Good is the heavenly King,
Who makes the earth his care,
Visits the pastures every spring,
And bids the grass appear.
2Like rivers raised on high,
The clouds, at thy command,
Pour out their blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.
3The hills, on every side,
Rejoice at falling showers:
The meadows, dressed in all their pride,
Perfume the air with flowers.
4The ridges drink their fill,
And ranks of corn appear;
Thy ways abound with blessings still,
Thy goodness crowns the year.
860. C. M.
Spring.
1When verdure clothes the fertile vale,
And blossoms deck the spray,
And fragrance breathes in every gale,
How sweet the vernal day!
2Hark! how the feathered warblers sing!
'Tis nature's cheerful voice;
Soft music hails the lovely spring,
And woods and fields rejoice.
3O God of nature and of grace,
Thy heavenly gifts impart;
Then shall my meditation trace
Spring blooming in my heart.
4Inspired to praise, I then shall join
Glad nature's cheerful song,
And love and gratitude divine
Attune my joyful tongue.
861. C. M. Peabody.
Spring.
1When brighter suns and milder skies
Proclaim the opening year,
What various sounds of joy arise!
What prospects bright appear!
2Earth and her thousand voices give
Their thousand notes of praise;
And all, that by his mercy live,
To God their offering raise.
3The streams, all beautiful and bright,
Reflect the morning sky;
And there, with music in his flight,
The wild bird soars on high.
4Thus, like the morning, calm and clear,
That saw the Saviour rise,
The spring of heaven's eternal year
Shall dawn on earth and skies.
5No winter there, no shades of night,
Obscure those mansions blest,
Where, in the happy fields of light,
The weary are at rest.
862. L. M. Fergus.
Spring-Time.
1The spring, the joyous spring is come
With lovely flowers of early bloom;
The warbling birds, on every tree,
Fill all the air with melody.
2Once more, unsealed, the fountains run,
Sparkling, beneath a brighter sun;
Green leaves and tender herbs arise,
Cheered by the glow of warmer skies.
3Oh Lord, the changes of the year
At thy Almighty word appear;
And all the seasons, as they roll,
Declare thy name from pole to pole.
4Spring showers, descending from above,
Bear down glad tidings of thy love,
And every blossom on the tree
Bespeaks our gratitude to thee.
863. S. M. Anonymous.
Summer.
1Great God, at thy command,
Seasons in order rise:
Thy power and love in concert reign
Through earth, and seas, and skies.
2How balmy is the air!
How warm the sun's bright beams!
While, to refresh the ground, the rains
Descend in gentle streams.
3With grateful praise we own
Thy providential hand,
While grass, and herbs, and waving corn,
Adorn and bless the land.
4But greater still the gift
Of thy belovéd Son;
By him forgiveness, peace, and joy,
Through endless ages run.
864. C. M. T. Richardson.
"The Hymn of Summer."
1How glad the tone when summer's sun
Wreathes the gay world with flowers,
And trees bend down with golden fruit,
And birds are in the bowers!
2The moon sends silent music down
Upon each earthly thing;
And always, since creation's dawn,
The stars together sing.
3Shall man remain in silence, then,
While all beneath the skies
The chorus joins? no, let us sing,
And while our voices rise,
4O, let our lives, great God, breathe forth
A constant melody;
And every action be a tone
In that sweet hymn to thee!
865. 7s. & 6s. M. Brit. Magazine.
Autumn.
1The leaves, around me falling,
Are preaching of decay;
The hollow winds are calling,
"Come, pilgrim, come away:"
The day, in night declining,
Says I must, too, decline;
The year its bloom resigning,
Its lot foreshadows mine.
2The light my path surrounding,
The loves to which I cling,
The hopes within me bounding,
The joys that round me wing,--
All, all, like stars at even,
Just gleam and shoot away,
Pass on before to heaven,
And chide at my delay.
3The friends gone there before me
Are calling from on high,
And happy angels o'er me
Tempt sweetly to the sky:
"Why wait," they say, "and wither,
'Mid scenes of death and sin?
O, rise to glory, hither,
And find true life begin."
866. C. M. Watts.
Winter.
1The hoary frost, the fleecy snow,
Descend, and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.
2When, from his dreadful stores on high,
God pours the sounding hail,
The man that does his power defy
Shall find his courage fail.
3God sends his word and melts the snow;
The fields no longer mourn;
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.
4The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word;
With songs and honors sounding loud,
Praise ye the sovereign Lord.
867. H. M. Freeman.
The Same.
1Lord of the worlds below!
On earth thy glories shine;
The changing seasons show
Thy skill and power divine.
The rolling years
Are full of thee;
In all we see
A God appears.
2In winter, awful thou!
With storms around thee cast;
The leafless forests bow
Beneath thy northern blast.
While tempests lower,
To thee, dread King,
We homage bring,
And own thy power.
868. L. M. H. Ballou.
The Acceptable Fast.
1This is the fast the Lord doth choose;
Each heavy burden to undo,
The bands of wickedness to loose,
And bid the captive freely go.
2Let every vile and sinful yoke
Of servile bondage and of fear,
By mercy, love and truth be broke;
And from each eye wipe every tear.
3Yes, to the hungry deal thy bread;
Bring to thine house the outcast poor;
There let the fainting soul be fed,
Nor spurn the needy from thy door.
4And when thou seest the naked, spare
The raiment that his wants demand;
Since all mankind thy kindred are,
To all thy charity expand.
5Thus did the Saviour of our race:
Himself, the Bread of Life, he gave;
He clothed us with his righteousness,
And broke the fetters from the slave.
869. C. M. S. Streeter.
Humiliation and Prayer.
1Here in thy temple, Lord, we meet,
And bow before thy throne;
Abased and guilty, at thy feet
We seek thy grace alone.
2Our sins rise up in dread array,
And fill our hearts with fear;
Our trembling spirits melt away,
But find no helper near.
3O, send thy pity from on high
With pardon all-divine;
Bring now thy gracious spirit nigh,
And make us wholly thine.
4We humbly mourn our follies past,
Each guilty path deplore;
Resolved, while feeble life shall last,
To tread those paths no more.
870. C. M. Anonymous.
The Same.
1Now let our prayers ascend to thee,
Thou great and holy One;
Above the world raise thou our hearts;
In us, thy will be done.
2O, let us feel how frail we are,
How much we need thy grace;
O, strengthen, Lord, our fainting souls,
While here we seek thy face.
3Our sins, alas! before thee rise;
Thou knowest all our guilt;
Let not our faith, our hope, our trust,
On earthly things be built.
4Forgive our sins, thy spirit grant,
Let love our souls refine,
And heavenly peace and holy hope
Assure that we are thine.
871. S. M. Drummond.
"Is it such a fast that I have chosen?"
1"Is this a fast for me?"--
Thus saith the Lord our God;--
"A day for man to vex his soul,
And feel affliction's rod?--
2"Like bulrush low to bow
His sorrow-stricken head,
With sackcloth for his inner vest,
And ashes round him spread?
3"Shall day like this have power
To stay th' avenging hand,
Efface transgression, or avert
My judgments from the land?
4"No; is not this alone
The sacred fast I choose,--
Oppression's yoke be burst in twain,
The bands of guilt unloose?--
5"To nakedness and want
Your food and raiment deal,
To dwell your kindred race among,
And all their sufferings heal?
6"Then, like the morning ray,
Shall spring your health and light;
Before you, righteousness shall shine,
Behind, my glory bright!"