IX.

Or rather let this flesh decay,
The ruins wider grow,

"Til glad to see th' enlarged way,
I stretch my pinions through.

HYMN XXIV. C. M.

PRAISE

Universal Praise.

I.

RAISE ye the LORD with joyful tongue, Ye pow'rs that guard his throne; JESUS, the MAN, shall lead the song, The GOD inspire the tune.

II.

Gabriel, and all th' immortal choir
That fill the realms above,
Sing, for he form'd you of his fire,
And feeds you with his love.

III.

Shine to his praise, ye crystal skies,
The floor of his abode,

Or vail your little twinkling eyes
Before a brighter GOD.

IV.

Thou restless globe of golden light,
Whose beams create our days,
Join with the silver queen of night,
To own your borrowed rays.

V.

Blush and refund the honours paid
To your inferior names;

Tell the blind world

your

orbs are fed

By his o'er flowing flames.

VI.

Winds, ye shall bear his name aloud
Through the ethereal blue,
For when his chariot is a cloud,
He makes his wheels of you.

VII.

Thunder and hail, and fires and storms,
The troops of his command,
Appear in all your dreadful forms,
And speak his awful hand.

VIII.

Shout to the LORD, ye surging seas,
In your eternal roar;

Let wave to wave resound his praise,
And shore reply to shore:

1x.

While monsters sporting on the flood,
In scaly silver shine,
Speak terribly their Maker-God,
And lash the foaming brine.

X.

But gentler things shall tune his name
To softer notes than these,

Young zephers breathing o'er the stream,
Or whisp'ring through the trees.

XI.

Wave your tall heads, ye lofty pines,
To him that bid you grow:

Sweet clusters, bend the fruitful vines
On every thankful bough,

XII.

Let the shrill birds his honour raise,
And climb the morning-sky;

While grov'ling beasts attempt his praise
In hoarser harmony.

XIII.

Thus while the meaner creatures sing,
Ye mortals, take the sound;
Echo the glories of your King
Through all the nations round.

XIV.

Th' eternal Name must fly abroad
From Britain to Japan;

And the whole race shall bow to God,
That owns the name of man.

HYMN XXV. L. M.

Sun, Moon and Stars, praise ye the Lord.

I.

AIREST of all the lights above,

spheres ;

And with unweary'd swiftness move,
To form the circles of our years;

II.

Praise the Creator of the skies,

That dress'd thine orb in golden rays:

Or may the sun forget to rise,

If he forget his Maker's praise.

III.

Thou reigning beauty of the night,
Fair queen of silence, silver Moon,

the

Whose gentle beams and borrow'd light, Are softer rivals of the noon;

IV.

Arise, and to that Sov'reign Pow'r
Waxing and waning honours pay,
Who bid thee rule the dusky hour,
And half supply the absent day.

V.

Ye twinkling Stars, who gild the skies When darkness has its curtains drawn, Who keep your watch, with wakeful eyes, When business, cares, and day are gone.

VI.

Proclaim the glories of your LORD,
Dispers'd through all the heav'nly street,
Whose boundless treasures can afford
So rich a pavement for his feet.

VII.

Thou Heav'n of heav'ns, supremely bright,
Fair palace of the court divine,
Where with inimitable light

The Godhead condescends to shine.

VIII.

Praise thou thy great Inhabitant,
Who scatters lovely beams of grace
On ev'ry angel, ev'ry saint,

Nor vails the lustre of his face.

IX.

O God of glory! GoD of love!
Thou art the Sun that makes our days:
With all thy shining works above,
Let earth and dust attempt thy praise.

L

HYMN XXVI. C. M

The welcome Messenger.

I.

ORD, when we see a saint of thine
Lie gasping out his breath,

With longing eyes, and looks divine,
Smiling and pleas'd in death;

II.

How we could e'er contend to lay
Our limbs upon that bed!
We ask thine envoy to convey
Our spirits in his stead.

III.

Our souls are rising on the wing,
To venture in his place;

For when grim death has lost his sting,
He has an angel's face.

IV.

JESUS, then purge my crimes away;
'Tis guilt creates my fears,
'Tis guilt gives death its fierce array,
And all the arms it bears.

.V.

Oh! if my threat'ning sins were gone,
And death had lost his sting,
I could invite the angel on,
And chide his lazy wing.

VI.

Away these interposing days,
And let the lovers meet;
D