WILLIAM HAMILTON DRUMMOND, D.D.

Ere these received their name or birth,
She dwelt in heaven, she smiled on earth;
Of all celestial graces blest,

The first-the last-the greatest-best.

When Faith and Hope, from earth set free,
Are lost in boundless ecstasy,

Eternal daughter of the skies,

She mounts to heaven, and never dies.

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THE COMING OF THE LORD.

A VOICE from the desert comes awful and shrill : "The Lord is advancing-prepare ye the way;

The word of Jehovah He comes to fulfil,

And o'er the dark world pour the splendour of day.

Bring down the proud mountain, though towering to heaven,
And be the low valley exalted on high!

The rough path and crooked be made smooth and even,
For, Sion, your King, your Redeemer, is nigh."

The beams of salvation His progress illume,
The lone, dreary wilderness sings of her God;
The rose and the myrtle shall suddenly bloom,
And the olive of peace spread its branches abroad.

VICTORY THROUGH CHRIST.

GIVE thanks to God the Lord!

The victory is ours;

And hell is overcome

By Christ's triumphant powers.

The monster sin

In chains is bound,

And death has felt

His mortal wound.

Oppress'd by guilt and woe,
In darkness long we lay;
Till Christ on earth appear'd,
Then all was boundless day.
With terror struck,

The host of night
Fled in despair,

To shun the light.

Now o'er the vanquish'd tomb,
Behold the trophy blaze;
The banner of the Cross,

That pours its streaming rays,
To mark the path
Where Jesus trod,
And upward guide

Our steps to God.

Give thanks to God the Lord!

The victory is won ;
And up the path to heaven
Our march is now begun.
The hymn of joy

Exulting raise,
And shout aloud

The Saviour's praise.

RETIREMENT.

O HAD I the wings of a dove,
To the desert afar I would flee,
To the solitude sweet that I love,
From discord and misery free.

There 'mid the lone wilds of creation,
By folly and faction untrod,
On the bright-beaming ray of salvation,
My soul should oft mount to my God.

No passion with swift-scorching levin,
Should flash on the bower of my rest,
But the sweet, tranquil aspect of heaven
Its image reflect in my breast.

While sounds, with high ecstasy filling
My soul, all around me should rise;
From harps of blest seraphim thrilling
Unseen as they float through the skies.

JOHN DRYDEN.

ONE of the greatest of British poets, JOHN DRYDEN, was born at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, on the 9th August, 1631. He was educated at Westminster School, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He pursued the career of a poet and man of letters, under a variety of external circumstances. His poems, plays, and prose works have been edited by Sir Walter Scott, in eighteen octavo volumes. Dryden died on the 1st May, 1700. He was interred in Westminster Abbey. His great work is his translation of Virgil.

CREATOR SPIRIT! BY WHOSE AID.

CREATOR Spirit! by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid,

Come, visit every pious mind;
Come, pour Thy joys on human kind;
From sin and sorrow set us free,
And make Thy temples worthy Thee.

O Source of uncreated light!
The Father's promised Paraclete !
Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire,
Our hearts with heavenly love inspire;
Come, and Thy sacred unction bring,
To sanctify us while we sing.

Plenteous of grace, descend from high,
Rich in Thy sevenfold energy!

Thou strength of His Almighty hand,

Whose power doth heaven and earth command.
Proceeding Spirit, our defence,

Who dost the gift of tongues dispense,
And crown'st Thy gift with eloquence,—

Refine and purge our earthly parts,
But oh! inflame and fire our hearts!

P

Our frailties help, and vice control,
Submit the senses to the soul;
And when rebellious they are grown,
Then lay Thy hand and hold them down.

Chase from our minds the infernal foe,
And peace, the fruit of love, bestow;
And lest our feet should step astray,
Protect and guide us in the way.

Make us eternal truths receive,
And practise all that we believe;
Give us Thyself, that we may see
The Father and the Son by Thee.

Immortal honours, endless fame
Attend th' Almighty Father's name;
The Saviour-Son be glorified,

Who for lost man's redemption died;
And equal adoration be,

Eternal Paraclete, to Thee.

JAMES EDMESTON.

THE author of nearly two thousand hymns, JAMES EDMESTON was born at Wa London, on the roth September, 1791. His youth was spent at Hackney. He was arti an architect in his sixteenth year. In 1816, he commenced business as an architect, on ha account. He now resides at Homerton, a suburb of the metropolis. In rart, be p small volume of poems. His subsequent publications are "Sacred Lyrics," 1 two volumes; the "Cottage Minstrel," 1821, 12mo; "Missionary Hymns, 1824: “ Hom 1844; "Sonnets," 1845; "Hymns for the Chamber of Sickness;" "Closet Hy Poems," and "Infant Breathings," 1846. In 1847, the greater portion of Mr. Edest lyrical compositions were collected in a single volume. The following compositions t been here printed under Mr. Edmeston's revision.

EVENING HYMN.

SAVIOUR, breathe an evening blessing,

Ere repose our spirits seal;
Sin and want we come confessing,

Thou canst save, and Thou canst heal.

Though the night be dark and dreary,
Darkness cannot hide from Thee;
Thou art He, who, never weary,
Watchest where Thy people be,

Though destruction walk around us,
Though the arrow past us fly,
Angel-guards from Thee surround us;
We are safe if Thou art nigh.

Should swift death this night o'ertake us,
And our couch become our tomb,
May the morn in heaven awake us,
Clad in light and deathless bloom.

THE SABBATH EVENING.

Is there a time when moments flow
More lovelily than all beside?
It is, of all the times below,

A Sabbath eve in summer tide.

Oh, then the setting sun smiles fair;
And all below, and all above
The different forms of nature wear
One universal garb of love.

And then the peace that Jesus beams, The life of grace, the death of sin, With nature's placid woods and streams, Is peace without, and peace within.

Delightful scene!-a world at rest,
A God all love, no grief nor fear:
A heavenly hope, a peaceful breast,
A smile, unsullied by a tear!

If heaven be ever felt below,
A scene celestial as this

May cause a heart on earth to know

Some foretaste of unmingled bliss.