615.

1. M. RIPPON'S COLL.

1 PRAISE to the Lord who bows his ear
Propitious to his people's prayer,
And, though deliverance long delay,
Answers in his well-chosen day.
2 Salvation doth to God belong;

His power and grace shall be our song;
The tribute of our love we bring
To thee, our Saviour and our King!
3 Our temples guarded from the flame.
Shall echo thy triumphant name;
And every peaceful private home
To thee a temple shall become.

4 Still be it our supreme delight
To walk as in thine honoured sight;
Hence in thy precepts and thy fear,
Till life's last hour to persevere.

616.

L. M. AIKIN.

In time of War.

1 WHILE sounds of war are heard around, And death and ruin strew the ground; To thee we look, on thee we call,

The Parent and the Lord of all.

2 Thou, who hast stamped on human kind
The image of a heaven-born mind,
And in a Father's wide embrace
Hast cherished all the kindred race;

3 Great God! whose powerful hand can bind The raging waves, the furious wind,

O bid the human tempest cease,
And hush the maddening world to peace.

4 With reverence may each hostile land
Hear and obey that high command,
Thy Son's blest errand from above-
"My creatures, live in mutual love !"

617.

C. M. DODDRIDGE.

For a meeting of Ministers.

I LET Zion's watchmen all awake,
And take the alarm they give;

Now let them, from the month of God,
Their solemn charge receive.

2 'Tis not a cause of small import
The pastor's care demands;

But what might fill an angel's heart,
And filled a Saviour's hands.

3 All to the great tribunal haste,
The account to render there;
And shouldst thou strictly mark our faults,
Lord, how should we appear?

4 May they, that Jesus whom they preach,
Their own Redeemer see;

And watch thou daily o'er their souls,
That they may watch for thee.

618.

C. M. BROWNE.

For a Charitable Occasion.

1 O HOW can they look up to heaven, And ask for mercy there,

Who never soothed the poor man's pang, Nor dried the orphan's tear!

2 The dread Omnipotence of heaven
We every hour provoke,

Yet still the mercy of our God
Withholds the avenging stroke.

3 And Christ was still the healing friend
Of poverty and pain,

And never did imploring wretch
His garment touch in vain.

4 May we with humble effort take
Example from above,

And thence the active lesson learn
Of charity and love.

But chiefly be the labour our's
To shade the early plant;
To guard from ignorance and guilt
The infancy of want;

To graft the virtues, ere the bud
The canker worm has gnawed,
And teach the rescued child to lisp
Its gratitude to God.

619.

L. M. DODDRIDGE.

For the Beginning or End of the Year. 1 OUR helper, God! we bless his name; The same his power, his grace the same: The tokens of his friendly care

Open, and crown, and close the year.

2 We midst ten thousand dangers stand,
Supported by his guardian hand;
And see, when we survey our ways,
Ten thousand monuments of praise.
3 Thus far his arm hath led us on;
Thus far we make his mercy known;
And, while we tread this desert land,
New blessings shall new songs demand.

620. P. M.

WESLEY'S COLL.

For a New Year.

1 COME, let us anew our journey pursue, Roll round with the year,

And never stand still till the Master appear!

2 His adorable will let us gladly fulfil,

And our talents improve,

[love.

By the patience of hope, and the labour of

3 Our life as a dream, our time as a stream Glides swiftly away;

And the fugitive moment refuses to stay.

4 0 that each in the day of his coming may say, "I have fought my way through;

I have finished the work thou didst give me to do."

5 O that each from his Lord may receive the glad word

"Well and faithfully done!

[throne."

Enter into my joy, and sit down on my

621.

112th.

FAWCETT.

1 BLESS, O Lord, the opening year
To each soul assembled here;
Clothe thy word with power divine,
Make us willing to be thine,

2 Shepherd of thy blood-bought sheep!
Teach the stony heart to weep;
Let the blind have eyes to see,

See themselves, and look on thee! d
3 Let the minds of all our youth ag
Feel the force of sacred truth;
While the gospel-call they hear,
May they learn to love and fear.

Mercy hitherto has spared,
But have mercies been improved?
Let us ask, Are we prepared,
Should we be this year removed?
2 Some we now no longer see,
Who their mortal race have run,
Seemed as fair for life as we,
When the former year begun.
Some-but who God only knows—
Who are here assembled now,
Ere the present year shall close,
To the stroke of death must bow.
3 If from guilt and sin set free
By the knowledge of thy grace,
Welcome, then, the call will we
To depart and see thy face.
To thy saints while here below,
With new years new mercies come;
But the happiest year they know,
Is the last that leads them home.

624.

L. M. DODdridge.

For the Opening or Closing the Year. 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, lay before thy feet.
4 In scenes exalted or depressed,
Thou art our joy, and thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Adored through all our changing days.
5 Though 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.