'There is a God, all-good, all-wise,'
The very meanest insect cries.
2 Seasons, revolving in their spheres,
A thousand rural beauties bring;
But loveliest of the group appears
The green-dressed beauty, charming Spring;
The music of whose morning voice
Bids all the sons of earth rejoice.
3 Winter is death, when nature mourns
To see her offspring lifeless lie;
Summer and Autumn weep, by turns,
To see their children droop and die;
But Spring revives their hopes again,
And breathes new life through every vein.
4 How emblematic of that day,
The glorious resurrection morn,
When, decked in brighter robes than May,
In robes that angel hosts adorn,
The soul, redeemed, shall burst its tomb,
And in immortal glory bloom!
Irregular M.
"I would not live alway.'
1 I WOULD not live alway: I ask not to stay Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way; The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here Are enough for life's woes, full enough for its
2 I would not live alway, thus fettered by sin; Temptation without, and corruption within E'en the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears, And the cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears. 3 I would not live alway; no-welcome the tomb; Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom; 380
There sweet be my rest, till he bid me arise To hail him in triumph descending the skies. 4 Who, who would live alway, away from his God, Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode! Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains,
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns; 5 Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, Their Savior and brethren transported to greet; While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, And the smile of the Lord is the life of the soul.
The Hope of another Life.
1 Ir all our hopes and all our fears
Were prisoned in life's narrow bound;
If,-travellers through this vale of tears,-
We saw no better world beyond;
O, who could check the rising sigh,
What earthly thing could pleasure give?
O, who could venture then to die?
Or, who could venture then to live?
2 Were life a dark and desert moor,
Where mist and clouds eternal spread
Their gloomy veil behind, before,
And tempests thunder overhead;
Where not a sunbeam breaks the gloom,
And not a floweret smiles beneath,
Who could exist in such a tomb?
Who, dwell in darkness and in death?
3 And such were life, without the ray
Of our divine religion given;
'Tis this that makes our darkness day, -
'Tis this that makes our earth a heaven.
Bright is the golden sun above,
And beautiful the flowers that bloom,
And all is joy, and all is love,
Reflected from the world to come.
Surpassing Glories of Eternity.
1 How various and how new
Are thy compassions, Lord!
Each morning shall thy mercies show,-
Each night thy truth record.
2 Thy goodness, like the sun,
Dawned on our early days,
Ere infant reason had begun
To form our lips to praise.
3 But we expect a day
Still brighter far than this,
When death shall bear our souls away
To realms of light and bliss.
4 There rapturous scenes of joy
Shall burst upon our sight;
And every pain, and tear, and sigh,
Be drowned in endless light.
5 Nor shall that radiant day,
So joyfully begun,
In evening shadows die away
Beneath the setting sun.
6 How various and how new
Are thy compassions, Lord!
Eternity thy love shall show,
And all thy truth record.
1 THERE is a world we have not seen,
That wasting time can ne'er destroy,
Where mortal footsteps hath not been,
Nor ear hath caught its sounds of joy.
2 That world to come! and O how blest!-
Fairer than prophets ever told;
And never did an angel-guest
One half its blessedness unfold.
3 It is all holy and serene,·
The land of glory and repose;
And there, to dim the radiant scene,
No tear of sorrow ever flows.
4 It is not fanned by summer gale;
'Tis not refreshed by vernal showers;
It never needs the moonbeam pale,
For there are known no evening hours.
5 No, for this world is ever bright
With a pure radiance all its own;
The streams of uncreated light
Flow round it from th' eternal Throne.
6 There forms, unseen by mortal eye,
Too glorious for our sight to bear,
Are walking with their God on high,
And waiting our arrival there.
1 FAR from these scenes of night
Unbounded glories rise,
And realms of infinite delight,
Unknown to mortal eyes.
2 There sickness never comes;
There grief no more complains;
Health triumphs in immortal bloom,
And purest pleasure reigns.
3 No strife nor envy there
The sons of peace molest;
But harmony and love sincere
Fill every happy breast.
4 No cloud those regions know,
Forever bright and fair;
For sin, the source of mortal woe
Can never enter there.
5 There night is never known,
Nor sun's faint sickly ray;
But glory from th' eternal throne
Spreads everlasting day.
6 O may this prospect fire
Our hearts with ardent love!
And lively faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above.
A Prospect of the heavenly Canaan.
1 THERE is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.
2 There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers;
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heavenly land from ours.
3 Sweet fields, beyond the swelling flood, Stand dressed in living green :
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