V.

Dear Sov'reign, break these vital strings,

That bind me to the clay;

Take me, Uriel, on thy wings,

And stretch and soar away.

GOD's Dominion and Decrees.

I.

Kand wait your Maker's nod;

EEP silence, all created things,

The muse stands trembling while she sings, The honours of her God.

II.

Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown Hang on his firm decree:

He sits on no precarious throne,

Nor borrows leave to Be,

III.

Th' Almighty Voice bid ancient night

Her endless realms resign,

And lo, ten thousand globes of light
In fields of azure shine.

IV.

Now wisdom with superior sway
Guides the vast moving frame,
While all the ranks of being pay
Deep reverence to his name.

V.

He spake; the sun obedient stood,
And held the falling day;

Old Jordan backward drives his flood,
And disappoints the sea.

VI.

Lord of the armies of the sky,

He marshals all the stars;

Red comets lift their banners high, And wide proclaim his ways.

VII:

Chain'd to his throne a volume lies,
With all the fates of men
With ev'ry angels form and size
Drawn by th' eternal pen.

VIII.

His providence unfolds the book, And makes his counsels shine; Each op'ning leaf, and ev'ry stroke, Fulfils some deep design.

IX.

Here he exalts neglected worms
To sceptres and a crown:
Anon the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down.

X.

Not Gabriel asks the reason why,
Nor GOD the reason gives;
Nor dares the favourite angels pry
Between the folded leaves.

XI.

My GOD I never long'd to see
My fate with curious eyes,
What gloomy lines are writ for me,
Or what bright scenes shall rise.

XII.

In thy fair book of life and grace
May I but see my name,
Recorded in some humble place
Beneath my Lord the Lamb.

Self-Consecration.

I.

T grieves me LORD, it grieves me sore,
That I have liv'd to thee no more,
And wasted half my days;

My inward pow'r shall burn and flame,
With inward passion for thy name,

I would not speak, but for my God, nor move, but to his praise.

II.

What are my eyes but aids to see
The glories of the Deity

Inscrib'd with beams of light

On flow'rs and stars? Lord, I behold

The shining azure, green and gold;

But when I try to read thy name,a dimness veils my sight

III.

Mine ears are rais'd when Virgin sings
Sicilian swains, or Trojan kings,

And drink the music in;

Why should the trumpets brazen voice,

Or oaten reed awake my joys,

[gin.

And yet my heart so stupid lie when sacred hymns be

IV.

Change me, O GOD; my flesh shall be

An instrument of song to thee,

And thou the notes inspire;.

My tongue shall keep the heav'nly chime,

My cheerful pulse shall beat the time,

[spire.

And sweet variety of sound, shall in thy praise con

V.

The dearest nerve about my heart,

Should it refuse to bear a part,

With my melodious breath,

I'd tear away the vital chord,

A bloody victim to my LORD,

And live without that impious string, or shew my zeal in death.

G

The CREATOR and Creatures.

OD is a name my

I.

soul adores,

Th' Almighty Three, th' Eternal One; Nature and grace with all their pow'rs, Confess the infinite unknown.

II.

From thy Great Self, thy being springs;
Thou art thine own original,

Made up of uncreated things,

And self-sufficience bears them all.

III..

Thy voice produc'd the seas and spheres,
Bid the waves roar and planets shine;
But nothing like thy self appears,
Through all these spacious works of thine.

IV.

Still restless nature dies and grows;

From change to change the creatures run:
Thy being no succession knows,

And all thy vast designs are one:

V.

A glance of thine runs thro' the globes,

Rules the bright worlds, and moves their frame: Broad sheets of light compose thy robes;

Thy guards are form'd of living flame.

VI.

Thrones and dominions round thee fall,
And worship in submissive forms;
Thy presence shakes this lower ball,
This little dwelling-place of worms.

VII.

How shall affrighted morta's dare
To sing thy glory or thy grace,
Beneath thy feet we lie so far,
And see but shadows of thy face?

VIII.

Who can behold the blazing light?
Who can approach consuming flame?
None but thy wisdom knows thy might;
None but thy word can speak thy name.

The Nativity of CHRIST,

I.

HEPHERDS, rejoice, lift up your eyes,
And send your fears away;

News from the region of the skies,

6

Salvation's born to-day.

II.

'JESUS, the GOD, whom angels fear, "Comes down to dwell with you; To-day, he makes his entrance here, But not as monarchs do.

III.

"No gold, nor purple swaddling bands,
Nor royal shining things;

A manger for his cradle stands,
And holds the King of kings.