SECTION II.

PERFECTIONS OF GOD CELEBRATED.

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C. M.

GENTLEMAN'S MAG.

The God of Nature invoked.

1 HAIL, great Creator, wise and good;
To thee our songs we raise;

Nature, through all her various scenes,
Invites us to thy praise.

2 At morning, noon, and evening mild,
Fresh wonders strike our view;
And while we gaze, our hearts exult
With transports ever new.

3 Thy glory beams in every star
Which gilds the gloom of night,
And decks the smiling face of morn
With rays of cheerful light.

4 The lofty hill, the humble vale,
With countless beauties shine;
The silent grove, the awful shade,
Proclaim thy power divine.

5 Great nature's God! still may these scenes
Our serious hours engage;

Still may our grateful hearts consult
Thy works' instructive page.

6 And while, in all thy wondrous works,
Thy varied love we see,

Still may the contemplation lead
Our hearts, O God, to thee.

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L. M.

LIVERPOOL COL.

God known by his Works.

1 GREAT is our God; his works of might
To praise his glorious name unite;
Heaven, earth, and sea, confess his hand,
And wait, obedient, his command.

2 His hand, unseen, sustains the poles,
On which the vast creation rolls;
The starry skies proclaim his power;
His pencil glows in every flower.
3 Across the waves, around the sky,
There's not a place, or deep or high,
Where the Creator has not trod,
And left the footsteps of a God.

4 O, may the sons of men record

The various goodness of the Lord;
How vast his works, how kind his ways,

And every tongue pronounce his praise!

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C. M.

KEBLE.

"The invisible things of Him, clearly seen, being understood by the

things that are made."

1 THERE is a book, who runs may read,

Which heavenly truth imparts,

And all the lore its scholars need,
Pure eyes and Christian hearts.

2 The works of God above, below,
Within us, and around,

Are pages in that book, to show
How God himself is found.

3 The glorious sky, embracing all,
Is like the Maker's love,

Wherewith encompassed, great and small
In peace and order move.

4 The dew of heaven is like thy grace;
It steals in silence down;

But where it lights, the favored place
By richest fruits is known.

5 One name, above all glorious names,
With its ten thousand tongues,
The everlasting sea proclaims,
Echoing angelic songs.

6 The raging fire, the roaring wind,
Thy boundless power display;
But in the gentler breeze we find
Thy Spirit's viewless way.

7 Thou, who hast given me eyes to see
And love this sight so fair,

Give me a heart to find out thee,
And read thee every where.

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L. M.

The Voice of Nature.

MRS. STEELE.

1 THERE is a God, all nature speaks,

Through earth, and air, and seas, and skies;

See, from the clouds his glory breaks,
When the first beams of morning rise.

2 The rising sun, serenely bright,
O'er the wide world's extended frame,
Inscribes, in characters of light,

His mighty Maker's glorious name.
3 For man and beast, here daily food
In wide, diffusive plenty grows;
And there, for drink, the crystal flood
In streams sweet winding gently flows.
4 The flowery tribes all blooming rise
Above the faint attempts of art;
Their bright, inimitable dyes

Speak sweet conviction to the heart.
5 Ye curious minds, who roam abroad,
And trace creation's wonders o'er,
Confess the footsteps of the God,
And bow before him, and adore.

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C. M.

TATE & BRADY.

The Voice of Nature. Ps. 19.

1 THE heavens declare thy glory, Lord,
Which that alone can fill;
The firmament and stars express
Their great Creator's skill.

2 The dawn of each returning day

Fresh beams of knowledge brings;
And from the dark returns of night
Divine instruction springs.

3 Their powerful language to no realm
Or region is confined;

'Tis nature's voice, and understood
Alike by all mankind.

4 Their doctrine does its sacred sense
Through earth's extent display;
Whose bright contents the circling sun
Does round the world convey.

5 No bridegroom, for his nuptials dressed,
Has such a cheerful face;
No giant does like him rejoice
To run his glorious race.

6 From east to west, from west to east,
His restless course he goes;

And, through his progress, cheerful light
And vital warmth bestows.

37

L. M.

ADDISON.

The Heavens declare the Glory of God. Ps. 19.

1 THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue, ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
The unwearied sun, from day to day,
Doth his Creator's power display,
And publishes to every land

The work of an almighty hand.

2 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;

Whilst all the stars which round her burn,
And all the planets, in their turn,

Confirm the tidings, as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.