"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee."

TERNAL Father, throned above!

ETER

Fountain of life and light and love!
To thee our suppliant voice we raise;
To thee we turn our earnest gaze.

Our hearts shall know no dark dismay,
Though clouds are gathering o'er our way;
And though the angry tempest roar,
Our souls thy wisdom shall adore.

Silent, submissive still to thee,

Grant us, Eternal One, to be ;
And still that perfect peace impart,
Thy blessing to the trusting heart.

And when life's checkered scene is past,
Joy's summer smile, grief's wintry blast,
And we the eternal shore shall tread,
By thee, our Father, gently led, –

Still in the mansions of the blest

Our hearts' deep trust on thee shall rest;
And there the perfect peace of heaven,
That holy heritage, be given.

*Christian Register, Nov. 7, 1835.

"UPON WHOM DOTH NOT HIS LIGHT ARISE?"

S there a secret, hidden place,

Is

How lone soever it may be,

In which Faith's vision may not trace
The light of God's divinity?

Thou poor afflicted one, whose eye,
Dim with the frequent-falling tear,
Can see no friendly beacon nigh,

Thy spirit's struggling grief to cheer,

Lift up thine eye! A splendor streams
All glorious from God's throne of light;
Full on the bursting eye it beams,

And turns to day grief's darkest night.

Thou weary one! who fain wouldst lay
The burdens of thy labor down,

To share the only cloudless day,
And win the only fadeless crown,

Not to the dreams of dark despair
Be all thy weary moments given;
Breathe forth thy soul in grateful prayer,
And patient wait the light from heaven.

Darkness and clouds are o'er the way,
That leads us to our heavenly rest;
But faith can view the beaming ray,
That gilds the regions of the blest.

Turn to that rest thy tearful eye,

And God's own hand thy steps shall guide,

Till thou shalt see his mansions nigh,

And stand his glorious throne beside.

INVOCATION.

FATHER, enthroned above!

Thou Source of life and love!

On thine Eternal Name my voice would call.
Hear me as thus I pray,

And let a heavenly ray,
Gently as night-dews, on my spirit fall.

While suppliant thus I kneel,
Let me thy presence feel,

In the bright noontide as the evening shade ;
When, in the hour of prayer,

I bring to thee my care,

May my heart's confidence on thee be stayed.

Spare thou the loved and dear,

Life's trial way to cheer;

Long may their faithful, changeless love be given;

And, 'mid my lonely grief,

Grant me the sweet relief,

The trust to meet those cherished ones in heaven.

And to my fainting heart
Wilt thou thine aid impart?

In weakness, Mighty One! I bend to thee.

When the fierce storm is nigh,

And raised to thee my eye,

Wilt thou my strength in earthly weakness be?

When the dark hour has passed,

Of earthly woe the last,

And the soul quits its prison house of clay,

Thou to whom Death must bow,
Great King of kings! wilt thou

Receive my spirit to eternal day?

THE TRUE SOURCE OF STRENGTH.

"Strength is born

In the deep stillness of long-suffering hearts,

Not amid joy."

MRS. HEMANS.

NOT amid pleasure's giddy throng,

Where sweetly breathes the siren song,

Gathers the spirit strength to bear

Its deepest, heaviest weight of care.

Not when the flashing eye beams bright With hope's sweet ray and memory's light; Not where the wreath of rose-hued flowers We weave to deck life's sunniest hours.

The siren strain, the gilded hall,
Where light as air gay footsteps fall,-
Not these that blessed gift bestow,
Strength to sustain life's deepest woe.

But they above whose grief-bowed head
No herald light of day is shed,
Whose hearts no ark of rest discern,
Whither the fluttering dove may turn,

They who from childhood's earliest day
Have seen each brilliant hope decay,
These, these alone the fountains know,
Whence streams of blessed healing flow.

Yes! fortune's frown, the altered gaze
Of those who shared our brightest days,
The weary day, the anxious night
Scarce gloomier e'en than morning light, -

Like gentlest messengers they come
To guide us to our unseen home,

-

Strength from their mingling might is given To tread life's pilgrim path to heaven.

Thanks for the sunlight of our lot;
Be not its Gracious Fount forgot:
Yet shall our holiest praise arise,
When He withdraws it from our eyes.

“ALL THY WORKS SHALL PRAISE THEE, AND THY SAINTS SHALL BLESS THEE."

NE universal strain of praise

ONE

Creation to its God shall raise;
Its matin song, its vesper tone,
Swell ceaseless to its Maker's throne.

Morn wakes for him its radiant beam,
Him starry midnight makes its theme,
Their anthem strains his children bring,
While prayer lifts up its sacred wing.

Yet notes more holy shall ascend,
With angel harmony to blend :
Praise in his earthly courts is given ;
Praise tunes the harps of saints in heaven.

Eternal Father! King divine!

Grant we may meet around thy shrine,
And wake to thee that strain on high,
Whose melody shall never die.

LINES WRITTEN AFTER AN ORDINATION.

IF ever angel's wing

Droop from its home of purity and bliss,
Pardon, salvation, blessedness to bring,
It is in hours like this.

The holy rite is done;

The solemn, consecrating prayer is said.
Servant of God, and herald of his Son!

Peace be upon thy head.