2 As the winged arrow flies,

Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies

Darts, and leaves no trace behind;
Swiftly thus our fleeting days

Bear us down life's rapid stream;
Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise,

All below is but a dream.
3 Thanks for mercies past receive,

Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us, henceforth, how to live

With eternity in view:
Bless thy word to young and old,

Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And when life's short tale is told,

May we dwell with thee above.

540. P.M.- New Year. The Fig-tree. Luke xiii-6-9. 1 THE Lord of earth and sky,

The God of ages praise,
Who reigns enthron'd on high,

Ancient of endless days;
Who lengthens out our trial here,

And spares us yet another year. 2 Barren and wither'd trees,

We cumber'd long the ground,
No fruit of holiness

On our dead souls was found:
Yet doth he us in mercy spare,

Another and another year.
3 When justice bar'd the sword,

To cut the fig-tree down,
The pity of our Lord

Cried, “ Let it still alone.”
The Father mild inclines his ear,
And spares us yet another year.

.

4

Jesus, thy speaking blood

From God obtained the grace,
Who therefore hath bestow'd

On us a longer space:
Thou didst on our behalf appear,
And lo! we see another year.
Then dig about our root,

Break up our fallow ground,
And let some gracious fruit

To thy great praise abound;
O let us all thy praise declare,
And fruit unto perfection bear.

5

541. L.M. - New Year. Help obtained from God. Acts xxvi. 22. 1 GREAT God! we sing that mighty hand,

By which supported still we stand;
The opening year thy mercy shows;

That mercy crowns it till it close.
2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,

Still are we guarded by our God,
By his incessant bounty fed,

By his unerring counsel led.
3 With grateful hearts the past we own,

The future all to us unknown,
We to thy guardian care commit,

And peaceful leave before thy feet. 4 In scenes exalted or depressid,

Thou art our joy, and thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,

Ador'd through all our changing days. 5 When death shall interrupt these songs,

And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our helper God, in whom we trust,
In better worlds our souls shall boast.

542. C.M.-New Year. Reflections on our Waste of Years. Ps. xc. 9. 1 REMARK, my soul, the narrow bounds

Of the revolving year;
How swift the weeks complete their rounds,

How short the months appear! 2 So fast eternity comes on,

And that important day,
When all that mortal life has done

God's judgment shall survey. 3 Yet, like an idle tale we pass

The swift advancing year;
And study artful ways to' increase

The speed of its career.
4 Waken, O God! my trilling heart,

Its great concern to see;
That I may act the Christian part,

And give the year to thee.
5 So shall their course more grateful roll,

If future years arise;
Or this shall bear my smiling soul

To joy that never dies.

543. L.M.- New Year. The possibility of dying this Year. Jer. xxviii. 16. 1 GOD of my life, thy constant care

With blessings crowns each opening year,
This guilty life dost thou prolong,

And wake anew mine annual song. 2 How many precious souls are fled,

To the vast regions of the dead,
Since from this day the changing sun

Through his last yearly period run! 3 We yet survive; but who can say,

Or through the year, or month, or day,
" I will retain this vital breath;'
Thus far at least in league with death?

4 That breath is thine, eternal God; 'Tis thine to fix

my

soul's abode; It holds its life from thee alone,

On earth, or in the world unknown. 5 To thee our spirits we resign,

Make them and own them still as thine;
So shall they smile, secure from fear,
Though death should blast the rising year.

544.

L.M.- Winter and Spring.
1 THE various changing seasons owe

Their revolutions to the Lord;
The hoary frost and fleecy snow,

And winds and clouds obey his word. 2 He sends the cold, and o'er the streams,

His arms an icy mantle fling;
Again his sun's enlivening beams,

Restore the blessings of the spring. 3 The moon and stars, at his command,

Swiftly perform their destin'd race;
None can his mighty power withstand,

Or his mysterious footsteps trace. 4 He rules the storm by sea and land,

At his rebuke the tempest dies,
And in the hollow of his hand,

The whole extent of nature lies.

545.

P.M.-Spring
1 PLEASING spring again is here!

Trees and fields in bloom appear!
Hark, the birds, with artless lays,
Warble their Creator's praise!
Where, in winter, all was snow,
Now the flowers in clusters grow;
And the corn, in green array,
Promises a harvest day.

2 What a change has taken place!

Emblem of the spring of grace;
How the soul, in winter, mourns
Till the Lord, the Sun, returns;
Till the Spirit's gentle rain
Bids the heart revive again;
Then the stone is turn'd to flesh,

And each grace springs forth afresh. 3 Lord, afford a spring to me!

Let me feel like what I see;
Ah! my winter has been long,
Chill'd my hopes, and stopp'd my song!
Winter threaten’d to destroy
Faith and hope, and every joy;
If thy life was in the root,

Still I could not yield thee fruit. 4 Speak, and by thy gracious voice

Make my drooping soul rejoice;
O, beloved Saviour, haste,
Tell me all the storms are past:
On thy garden deign to smile,
Raise the plants, enrich the soil;
Soon thy presence will restore

Life to what seem'd dead before. 5 Lord, I long to be at home,

Where these changes never come!
Where the saints no winter fear,
Where 'tis spring throughout the year!
How unlike this state below!
There the flowers unwithering blow;
There no chilling blasts annoy;
All is love, and bloom, and joy.

546.

C.M.- Hay Time. 1 THE grass and flowers which clothe the fields

And look so green and gay,
Touch'd by the scythe, defenceless yield,

And fall, and fade away.