Be like a vesture laid aside,

And chang'd at thy command.
4. But thy eternal state, O LORD!
No length of time shall waste:
Thy pow'r and wisdom, truth and grace
From age to age shall last.

5 Thou to the children of thy saints
Shalt endless blessings give:

They in their fathers' GOD shall trust,
And in thy presence live.

57. C.M. MRS. ROWE.

The eternity and immutability of GOD.
1 HOU didst, O mighty God! exist.
Ere time began his race;

Before the ample elements
Fill'd up the voids of space:

2 Before the pond'rous earthly globe
In fluid air was stay'd;

Before the ocean's mighty springs
Their liquid stores display'd:

3 Ere thro' the gloom of ancient night
The streaks of light appear'd;
Before the high celestial arch
Or starry poles were rear'd:

4 Before the bright, harmonious spheres
Their glorious rounds begun;
Before the shining roads of heav'n
Were measur'd by the sun :

5 Ere men ador'd, or angels knew,
Or prais'd thy wondrous name;

Thy

Thy bliss, eternal spring of life!
And glory was the same.

6 And when the pillars of the world
With sudden ruin break,

And all this vast and goodly frame
Sinks in the mighty wreck :

7 When from her orb the moon shall start,
The astonish'd sun roll back,
While all the trembling starry lamps
Their ancient course forsake:

8 For ever permanent and fix'd,
From interruption free;
Unchang'd in everlasting years,
Shall thy existence be.

1

58. P.M. MRS. BARBAULD.

The unrivalled power and dominion of GOD.

JEHOVAH reigns! let every nation hear, And at his footstool bow with holy fear; Let heav'n's high arches echo with hisname, And the wide-peopl'd earth his praise proclaim;

Then send it down to hell's deep gloom resounding,

Through all her caves in dreadful murmurs

sounding.

2 He rules with wide and absolute command,
O'er the broad ocean and the steadfast land:
JEHOVAH reigns, unbounded and alone,
And all creation hangs upon his throne:
He reigns alone; let no inferior nature
Usurp, or share the throne of the Creator.

59. P. M.

1

59. P. M. MRS. BARBAULD.

THIS

GOD the eternal sovereign.

HIS earthly globe, the creature of a day, "Tho' built by GOD's right hand, must

pass away;

And long oblivion creep o'er mortal things, The fate of empires, and the pride of kings: Eternal night shall veil their proudest story, And drop the curtain o'er all human glory. 2 The sun himself, with gath'ring clouds opprest,

Shall in his silent, dark pavilion rest; His golden urn shall break, and useless lie, Amidst the common ruins of the sky; The stars rush headlong in the wild commotion, And bathe their glitt'ring foreheads in the ocean. 3 But fix'd, O GOD! forever stands thy throne: JEHOVAH reigns, a universe alone:

Th' eternal fire that feeds each vital flame, Collected, or diffus'd, is still the same: He dwells within his own unfathom'd essence, And fills all space with his unbounded pre

sence.

4 But oh! our highest notes the theme debase, And silence is our least injurious praise: Cease, cease your songs, the daring flight control;

Revere him in the stillness of the soul: With silent duty meekly bend before him, And deep within your inmost hearts adore

him.

60. C. M.

60. C. M. GROVE.

GOD the Creator.

LORD, how excellent thy name!
How glorious to behold,
Engraven fair on all thy works
In characters of gold!

2 On heav'n's unmeasurable face,
In lines immensely great;
In small, on ev'ry leaf and flower,
CREATOR-GOD is writ.

3 Tho' reason be not giv'n to all,
Nor voice to thee, O sun!
Their maker all proclaim, and here
Their language is but one.

4 From land to land, from world to world,
Thy fame is echo'd round;
And ages, as they pass, transmit
The never-dying sound.

5 Angels, the eldest sons of God,
Began the lofty song;

They saw the heavens expand abroad
And earth on nothing hung.

6 Then man, the last and noblest work,
Of all this lower frame,

With the first vital breath he drew,
Confess'd from whence he came.

70 let us all give praise to GOD,
And magnify his name;

The wonders of his power and love
Let the whole world proclaim.

61. L. M.

1

61. L.M. MRS, STEELE.

The voice of nature.

THERE is a GOD, all nature speaks,

Thro' 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 Diffusing life, his influence spreads, And health and plenty smile around: And fruitful fields, and verdant meads, Are with a thousand blessings crown'd. 4 Almighty goodness, pow'r divine, The fields and verdant meads display; And bless the hand which made them shine, With various charms profusely gay.

5 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.
6 The flow'ry tribes, all blooming rise,
Above the faint attempts of art:
Their bright, inimitable dyes

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

62. L. M.