1 WHEN, marshall'd on the nightly plain,
The glitt❜ring hosts bestud the sky,
ONE STAR alone, of all the train,

Can fix the sinner's wand'ring eye.
Hark! hark! to God the chorus breaks,
From every host-from every gem!
But one alone the SAVIOUR speaks,
It is the STAR OF BETHLehem.

2 Once on the raging seas we rode,

The storm was loud-the night was darkThe ocean yawn'd-and rudely blow'd

The wind that toss'd our found'ring bark. Deep horror then our vitals froze,

Death-struck-we ceas'd the tide to stem; When suddenly a star arose,

It was the STAR OF BETHlehem.

3 This is our guide, our light, our all!
It bids our dark forebodings cease;
And through the storm, and danger's thrall,
It leads us to the port of peace.
Now safely moor'd-our perils o'er,
We'll sing, first in night's diadem,

For ever, and for evermore,

The star! the STAR OF Bethlehem!
HYMN 168.

1 O'ER the realms of pagan darkness,
Let the eye of pity gaze;
See the kindreds of the people,
Lost in sin's bewildering maze!
Darkness brooding

On the face of all the earth!

2 Light of them that sit in darkness!
Rise and shine, thy blessings bring;
Light to lighten all the Gentiles!
Rise with healing in thy wing:
To thy brightness

Let all Kings and nations come.

3 May the heathen, now adoring
Idol-gods of wood and stone,
Come, and, worshipping before Him,
Serve the living God alone:
Let Thy glory

Fill the earth, as floods the sea.
4 Thou! to whom all power is given,
Speak the word!at thy command,
Let the company of preachers

Spread thy name from land to land:
Lord, be with them,

Alway to the end of time.
HYMN 170.

1 FROM Greenland's icy mountains,
From India's coral strand,
Where Afric's sunny fountains
Roll down their golden sand,
From many an ancient river,
From many a palmy plain,
They call us to deliver

Their land from error's chain.

2 What though the spicy breezes
Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle,
Though every prospect pleases,
And only man is vile!
In vain with lavish kindness

The gifts of God are strown;
The Heathen in his blindness

Bows down to wood and stone.

3 Shall we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Shall we to men benighted
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation! Oh Salvation!

The joyful sound proclaim;
Till each remotest nation

Has learnt Messiah's Name!

4 Waft, waft, ye winds, His story,
And you, ye waters, roll;
Till, like a sea of glory,

It spreads from pole to pole;
Till, o'er our ransom'd nature,
The Lamb for sinners slain,
Redeemer, King, Creator,
In bliss returns to reign.

HYMN 171.

1 JESUS shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run:

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2 To him shall endless prayer be made,
And princes throng to crown his head:
His Name, like sweet perfume, shall rise,
With every morning sacrifice.

3 People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on his love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his Name.

4 Blessings abound where'er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest;

And all the sons of want are blest.

5 Where He displays his healing power, Death and the curse are known no more: Let every creature rise, and bring Peculiar honours to our KING.

HYMN 172.

1 MARK'D as the purpose of the skies, This promise meets our anxious eyes,That heathen lands the Lord shall know, And warm with faith each bosom glow.

Nn

2 E'en now the hallow'd scenes appear!
E'en now unfolds the promis'd year!
Lo! distant shores thy heralds trace,
And bear the tidings of thy grace.
3 'Mid burning climes and frozen plains,
Where Pagan darkness brooding reigns,
Lord, mark their steps, their fears subdue,
Strengthen their arm, and clear their view.
4 When, worn by toil, their spirits fail,
Bid them the glorious future hail;
Bid them the crown of life survey,
And onward urge their conqu'ring way.
HYMN 173.

I WHEN first the pious herald
To Britain's happy shore
The tidings of a Saviour
With heav'nly triumph bore;
Engulph'd in superstition
Our rude forefathers lay,
Till heav'n's bright orb of glory
Turn'd darkness into day.
2 But, soon as Jesus' banner,-
Which o'er the heathen world
Was marching on in triumph,-
In Britain was unfurl'd;
The idol altars trembled,
Unable to withstand;
And long-benighted Britain
Became a Christian land.

3 Now, grateful for the blessings
Britain to strangers owes,

She lends her pious labours
To soften others' woes;
Their darkness would enlighten,
Their ignorance dispel;

And pour the oil of gladness
Wherever woes prevail.

I WISDOM of God! Thy glorious power
Beside th' Eternal stood,

To frame, in nature's earliest hour,
The land, the sky, the flood;

2 Yet did'st Thou not disdain awhile
An infant form to wear,

To bless thy Mother with a smile,
And lisp Thy falter'd prayer::
3 But, in Thy Father's own abode,
With Israel's elders round,
Conversing high with Israel's God,
Thy chiefest joy was found.

4 So may our youth adore Thy Name!
And, Saviour deign to bless
With fostering grace the timid flame
Of early holiness.

HYMN 175.

1 O CHRIST, by blood and water too
God's mark was set on Thee,

In thee that every faithful view
Both covenants might see.

2 At Circumcision to the Law.
Was thy obedience seal'd:
And at thy Baptism-mortals saw
The Gospel's grace reveal'd.

3 The Spirit's glory, like a dove,
Above the Saviour shone;

The Father's voice proclaim'd his love
For his beloved Son.

4 LORD, sanctify the sacred stream
To consecrate us thine!

Our sins remove, our souls redeem,
And teach thy truth divine.

5 Baptiz❜d into the sacred NAME
Of the ETERNAL THREE;

God's grace in Christ may we proclaim,
Throughout eternity!