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TRUST IN GOD.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee."-ISAIAH XXVI. 3.

THE wild winds are abroad,

Around my humble home I hear them rushing;

Called by the voice of God,

They come, earth's flowers crushing.

Know'st thou their power?

Fanned by their wings, the forests lowly lie;

They touch the rock-built tower,

It trembles to its base, as o'er they fly:

Yet, trusting, in perfect peace man may abide,
For on the wind's wild wings his God will ride.

Feel'st thou the firm earth shake?

Seest thou the trembling multitude around?
Roused from deep sleep they wake;

Prostrate their stately buildings on the ground.

Where may they fly? the rock

Offers no refuge to their cowering fear;
Mountains reel to the shock;

Ah! is there hope, and is there mercy near?
Yes, there is mercy; trusting in God's power,
Man may rest peaceful, e'en in this dread hour.

The bark upon the ocean wave,
Beneath the sun's smile gayly glides along;
Men think not on a deep mysterious grave,

But pass the time in revelry and song.

The vessel groans. Hark to the crash!

A mast's o'erthrown. In shreds the white sails fly. The vivid lightnings flash,

The thunders peal, dark clouds obscure the sky.

Yet may man rest, and, trusting, know his lot;

The darkness is God's, the clouds his chariot.

Fearful, upon the desert wide,

The weary traveller plods on his lonely way;
No green spot near the waters hide,

And parched his tongue throughout the burning day;

The bright lake gleams,

He hastens onward as it meets his view;

Alas! the desert mirage beams

But to deceive, and he now feels how true

That he in trust may rest, though there he lie.
And peaceful yield his soul to God, and die.

Fortune, with lowering frown,

Upon the good man may her keen scourge lay;

May take all but his crown,

And give to darkness and to death the day.

But mark his trust in God,

See him meet firmly every human ill;

He feels each as a father's rod,

Which, though it wounds, he knows will never kill. Around him worlds may into fragments fly,

He trusts in God, and, peaceful, mounts on high.

M. J.

HYMN OF PRAISE.

LAUDED be thy name for ever,
Thou of life the guard and giver!

Thou canst guard thy creatures sleeping,
Heal the heart long broke with weeping;
Rule the storms and winds at will

That vex the air or haunt the hill,
And all the fury subject keep

Of boiling cloud and chafed deep!
I have seen, and well I know it!
Thou hast done, and Thou wilt do it!

God of stillness and of motion!

Of the rainbow and the ocean!
Of the mountain, rock, and river!
Blessed be Thy name for ever!

I have seen Thy wondrous might Through the shadows of the night! Thou who slumber'st not, nor sleepest!

Blest are they Thou kindly keepest!

Spirits from the ocean under
Liquid flame, and levelled thunder,
Need not waken nor alarm them-
All combined they cannot harm them.
God of evening's yellow ray,

God of yonder dawning day,

That rises from the distant sea
Like breathings of eternity!

Thine the flaming sphere of light!
Thine the darkness of the night!

Thine are all the gems of even,
God of angels! God of heaven!
God of life, that fade shall never!
Glory to Thy name for ever!

HOGG.

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