All noblest things are still the commonest: every place Has water, light and air, and God's abounding grace.
A thousand blessings, Lord, to us thou dost impart : We ask one blessing more, O Lordheart.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
Because the world might not pretend
It knew not of thy coming day,
Thou didst, O Christ, before thee send
A Crier to prepare thy way:
Thy kingdom was the bliss he brought,
Repentance was the way he taught.
And that his voice might not alone
Inform us what we should believe,
His life declared what must be done,
If thee we purpose to receive:
His life our pattern therefore make,
That we the course he took may take.
Let us not gad to pleasure's court,
With fruitless toys to feed the mind;
Nor to that wilderness resort,
Where reeds are shaken with the wind:
But tread the path he trod before
That both a prophet was and more.
Clad in repentant cloth of hair,
Let us, O Christ (to seek out thee),
To those forsaken walls repair,
Which of so few frequented be;
And true repentance so intend,
That we our courses may amend.
Let us hereafter feed upon
The honey of the Word divine;
Let us the world's enticement shun,
Her dregs and her delicious wine:
And on our loins (so loose that are),
The leathern belt of temperance wear.
Thus from the Crier let us learn,
For thee, sweet Jesus, to prepare,
And others of their sins to warn,
However for the same we fare;
So thou to us, and we to thee
Shall when thou comest welcome be.
Hosanna to the living Lord!
Hosanna to th' incarnate word!
To Christ, Creator, Saviour, King,
Let earth, let heaven Hosanna sing-
Hosanna Lord, Hosanna in the Highest!
Hosanna Lord, thine angels cry,
Hosanna Lord, thy saints reply;
Above, beneath us, and around,
The dead and living swell the sound-
Hosanna Lord, Hosanna in the Highest!
But chiefest in our cleansed breast,
Eternal, bid thy Spirit rest,
And make our secret soul to be
A temple pure and worthy thee!
Hosanna Lord, Hosanna in the Highest!
Lo, in the last and dreadful day,
When earth and heaven shall melt away,
Thy flock redeem'd from sinful stain,
Shall swell the sound of praise again -
Hosanna Lord, Hosanna in the Highest!
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid!
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid!
Cold on his cradle the dewdrops are shining!
Low lies his bed with the beasts of the stall!
Angels adore him in slumber reclining,
Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all!
Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,
Odours of Edom and offerings divine;
Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, and gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each costly oblation;
Vainly with gold would his favour secure,
Richer by far is the heart's adoration ;
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid!
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid!
Within the temple slept the child,
The after-prop of Israel's fame,
When o'er his slumbers, calm and mild,
The summons of Jehovah came.
The call was heard, the child awoke :
With beating heart and bended knee,
The future judge and prophet spoke,
Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth thee."
Oh, when we hear Jehovah's voice
Breaking the slumber of the soul,
So may we rise, and so rejoice,
So bend our will to his controul!
His summons calls us even now:
Oh, may each instant answer be,-
"Father, to thy commands I bow ·
Speak, for thy servant heareth thee."
Lord, when we seek thy throne of grace,
To crave a blessing there,
O let not earthly things have place
Unduly in our prayer.
To know that 'tis thy bounteous hand
Our daily bread bestows;
To feel it is from thy command
Each added blessing flows.
This we may humbly know and feel,
But let not worldly store
One thought excite which would reveal
A craving thirst for more.
Thou knowest well what things we need: Oh give us faith to see
That such necessities can plead
Their own brief wants with thee.
But teach us in the solemn hour
Of supplication, still
Simply to crave of thee the power
To do thy holy will.
To feel that thy protecting care
From evil is our shield;
To see, in dark temptations' snare,
The arm for us revealed.
Be such our prayers! for all beside
Thy word a pledge shall be,
For thou hast promised to provide
For all who follow thee.
Beneath our feet, and o'er our head,
Is equal warning given;
Beneath us lie the countless dead,
Above us is the heaven!
Their names are graven on the stone,
Their bones are in the clay;
And ere another day is done,
Ourselves may be as they.
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