PREFACE.

THIS selection of Hymns would not have been added to those already published, had not the Original Compositions, kindly contributed by several friends of the Editor, been thought too valuable to be restricted to a private circle. In some of the Hymns, already well known, a few slight alterations have been ventured upon, which, it is hoped, will be deemed improvements; in most cases, they have been made with the advice and assistance of the same friends whose poetry has so greatly enriched the volume.

Jan. 1863.

HYMNS:

HYMN I.

IN trouble and in grief, O God,
Thy smile hath cheered my way;
And joy hath budded from each thorn
That round my footsteps lay.

The hours of pain have yielded good,
Which prosperous days refused;
As herbs, though scentless when entire,
Spread fragrance when they're bruised.

The oak strikes deeper, as its boughs
By furious blasts are driven;

So life's vicissitudes the more
Have fixed my heart in heaven.

B