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The infant corn, in vernal hours,
He nurtured with his gentle showers,

And bade the summer clouds diffuse
Their balmy store of genial dews.
He mark'd the tender stem arise,
Till ripen'd by the glowing skies;
And now, matured, his work behold,
The cheering harvest waves in gold.
To nature's God with joy we raise
The grateful song, the hymn of praise.
The valleys echo to the strains

Of blooming maids, and village swains;
To Him they tune the lay sincere,
Whose bounty crowns the smiling year.
The sounds from every woodland borne,
The sighing winds that bend the corn,
The yellow fields around proclaim
His mighty, everlasting Name.

To Nature's God united raise

The grateful song, the hymn of praise.

THE STARS.

Mrs. Hemans.

No cloud obscures the summer sky,

The moon in brightness walks on high,

And, set in azure, every star,

Shines, a pure gem of heaven, afar!

Child of the earth! oh! lift thy glance
To yon bright firmament's expanse;
The glories of its realm explore,
And gaze, and wonder, and adore!

Doth it not speak to every sense
The marvels of Omnipotence?

Seest thou not there the Almighty Name,
Inscribed in characters of flame?

Count o'er those lamps of quenchless light, That sparkle through the shades of night; Behold them!-can a mortal boast

To number that celestial host?

rays

Mark well each little star, whose
In distant splendour meet thy gaze;
Each is a world, by Him sustain'd,
Who from eternity hath reign'd.

Each, kindled not for earth alone,
Hath circling planets of its own,
And beings, whose existence springs
From Him, the all-powerful King of kings.

Haply, those glorious beings know

No stain of guilt, nor tear of woe;

But, raising still the adoring voice,

For ever in their God rejoice.

What then art thou, oh! child of clay!
Amid creation's grandeur, say?

E'en as an insect on the breeze,
E'en as a dew-drop lost in seas!

Yet fear thou not !—the sovereign Hand,
Which spread the ocean and the land,
And hung the rolling spheres in air,
Hath, e'en for thee, a father's care !

Be thou at peace!-the all-seeing Eye,
Pervading earth, and air, and sky,
The searching glance which none may flee,
Is still, in mercy, turn'd on thee.

PRAYER.

James Montgomery.

PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire

Utter'd or unexpress'd;

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burthen of a sigh,
The falling of a tear;

The upward glancing of an eye,

When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech, That infant lips can try ;

Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air;

His watchword at the gates of death—
He enters heaven by prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways;

While angels in their songs rejoice,
"Behold he prays!"

And say,

The saints, in prayer, appear as one,
In word, and deed, and mind,
When, with the Father and his Son,
Their fellowship they find.

No prayer is made on earth alone;
The Holy Spirit pleads;

And Jesus, on the eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

O! Thou, by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way;
The path of prayer thyself hast trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray.

CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Mrs. Hemans.

O LOVELY Voices of the sky,

That hymn'd the Saviour's birth! Are ye not singing still on high,

Ye that sang,

"Peace on earth?"

To us yet speak the strains

Wherewith, in days gone by,

Ye bless'd the Syrian swains,

O Voices of the sky!

O clear and shining Light, whose beams
That hour Heaven's glory shed
Around the palms, and o'er the streams,
And on the shepherds' head;

Be near, thro' life and death,
As in that holiest night
Of hope, and joy, and faith,
O clear and shining Light!

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