Then I a nobler, sweeter song,

I'll sing thy power to save, When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue Lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe thou hast prepared
(Unworthy though I be)

For me a blood-bought free reward,
A golden harp for me.

'Tis strung and tuned for endless And form'd by power divine,

To sound in God the Father's ears

No other name but thine.

years,

IN BEREAVEMENT.

James Montgomery.

LIFT up thine eyes, afflicted soul !
From earth uplift thine eyes,
Though dark the evening shadows roll,

And daylight beauty dies;

One sun is set—a thousand more

Their rounds of glory run,

Where science leads thee to explore

In every star a sun.

Thus, when some long-loved comfort ends,
And nature would despair,

Faith to the heaven of heavens ascends,
And meets ten thousand there;

First faint and small, then clear and bright,
They gladden all the gloom,

As stars that seem but points of light

The rank of suns assume.

THE MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY.

Vedder.

BLEAK was the winter Sabbath morn,
And dreary was the sky,

When the persecuted left their caves,
To worship the Most High.
An unfrequented mountain-gorge
Received the trembling flock;
Their canopy was mist and clouds-
Their altar was the rock.

The eagle o'er their sanctuary

Majestically soar'd,

And scream'd discordant, while the crowd

Most rev'rently adored.

The chilling wind moan'd fitfully
Through groves of stunted pine;
And the torrents rush'd and thunder'd
Through the desolate ravine.

And from that lonely rugged spot
Ascended, rich and rare,

The incense of the contrite heart

The sacrifice of prayer.

And angels from the heights of heaven

Did look complacent down

On the honour'd heads that soon should wear
The martyr's glorious crown.

And grey-hair'd sires forgot their griefs,
And all their wrongs forgave,

When they heard of Him whose power burst

And widows, poor and desolate,

And homeless orphans, pray'd

For pardon from the throne on high

On their oppressor's head.

And matrons, haggard, pale, and wan,

With babes upon the breast,

Expell'd from husband, hearth, and home,

Gaunt, destitute, oppress'd,

Exulted in their sufferings,

Nay, smiled at torture-death,

And gazed on the Sun of Righteousness

With the eagle eye of Faith!

And woe-worn groups, in manhood's prime,
By tyranny harass'd,

Whose tatter'd garments, matted hair,
Stream'd on the wintry blast,

Attuned their voices solemnly

To a high and holy theme;

And the strains of Zion blended with
The roaring of the stream.

The ruthless conqueror may climb
The slippery steep of fame;
And venal pens, corroding brass,
Immortalize his name.

Unfading wreaths, celestial palms,

And crowns are their reward,

Who brave the tyrant, when the sword
Of persecution's bared.

GOD'S HUSBANDRY.

Flabell.

THOU art the Husbandman, and I
A worthless plot of husbandry,
Whom special love did, neʼertheless,
Divide from nature's wilderness.

Then did the sunshine of thy face,
And sweet illapses of thy grace,
Like April showers and warming gleams,
Distil their dew, reflect their beams:
My dead affections then were green,

And hopeful buds on all were seen.
That God who made me spring at first,
When I was barren and accurst,

Can much more easily restore

My state to what it was before ;
A word, a smile, on my poor soul
Would make it perfect, sound, and whole.

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST.

Campbell.

WHEN Jordan hush'd his waters still,

And silence slept on Zion hill;