4 Still let her mild rebukings stand
Between us and the wrong,

And her dear memory serve to make
Our faith in goodness strong.

7 s. M.

THE SEASONS.

127.

J. NEWTON.

"From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God."

1 WHILE, with ceaseless course, the sun
Hasted through the closing year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here.

2 Finished is probation's day,
They have done with all below;
We a little longer stay,

But how little none can know.

3 As the winged arrow flies
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts, and leaves no trace behind;

4 Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream;
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise,
All below is but a dream.

5 Thanks, for mercies past, receive ;
Pardon for our sins renew;

Teach us henceforth how to live,
With eternity in view.

6 Bless Thy word to young and old;
Fill our hearts with filial love;
And when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with Thee above.

7 s. M.

128.

FOLLEN.

"Lo the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; and the time of the singing of birds is come."

1 HAIL! reviving, joyous spring,

Smiling through thy veil of showers!
Birds and brooks thy welcome sing:
Haste, and waken all thy flowers.

2 Hark! a sweet pervading sound
From the breathing, moving earth:
Life is starting all around,
Sending joy and fragrance forth.

3 There is not a silent thing

In this joyous company:
Woods and hills and valleys ring
With a shout of jubilee.

4 Wake, my spirit! art thou still?
Senseless things have found a voice;
Shall this throbbing heart be still
When all nature cries rejoice?

5 Join the grateful, happy throng,
Cast each selfish care away;

Birds and brooks shall tune your song;
This is nature's holiday.

L. M.

129.

"Behold, a sower went out to sow."

WHITTIER.

1 Now is the seed-time; God alone
Beholds the end of what is sown;
Beyond our vision, weak and dim,
The harvest time is hid with Him.

2 Yet unforgotten where it lies,
The seed of generous sacrifice,
Though seeming on the desert cast,
Shall rise with bloom and fruit at last.

"Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun.”

1 GREAT God! at whose all-powerful call
At first arose this beauteous frame,
Thou bidd'st the seasons change, and all
The changing seasons speak Thy name.

2 Aloft, full beaming, reigns the sun,
And light and genial heat conveys;
And while he leads the season on,
From Thee derives his quickening rays.

2 Around us from the teeming fields
Springs the rich grain, or purple vine;
At Thy command the summer yields
Its strengthening bread or cheering wine.
4 Indulgent God! from every part
Thy plenteous blessings largely flow:
We see; we taste; let every heart
With grateful love and duty glow.

8 & 7 s. M.

131.

"We all do fade as a leaf."

HORNE.

1 SEE the leaves around us falling,
Dry and withered to the ground-
Thus to thoughtless mortals calling,
In a sad and solemn sound: —

2 "Youth, on length of days presuming,
Who the paths of pleasure tread,-
View us, late in beauty blooming,
Numbered now among the dead.

8" What though yet no losses grieve you,
Gay with health and many a grace,
Let not cloudless skies deceive you;
Summer gives to autumn place.

4 Yearly in our course returning,
Messengers of shortest stay,
O receive our kindly warning,-
Heaven and earth shall pass away."

5 On the tree of life eternal,

Let our highest hopes be stayed This alone, forever vernal,

Bears a leaf that shall not fade.

C. M.

132.

WATTS.

"He giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes; He casteth forth His ice like morsels; who can stand before IIis cold?"

1 WITH Songs and honors sounding loud, Address the Lord on high;

Over the heavens He spreads His cloud, And waters veil the sky.

2 His steady counsels change the face
Of the declining year;

He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.

8 His hoary frost, His fleecy snow,
Descend and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.

4 The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey His mighty word:

With songs and honors sounding loud, Praise ye the sovereign Lord.