2 Depart from mischief, practise love,
Pursue the works of peace;

So shall the Lord your ways approve,
And set your souls at ease.

3 His eyes awake to guard the just,
His ears attend their cry;
When broken spirits dwell in dust,
The God of grace is nigh.

4 When desolation, like a flood,
O'er the proud sinner rolls,
Saints find a refuge in their God,
For he redeemed their souls.

637

L. M.

WATTS.

The Hosanna of the Children. Ps. 8.

1 ALMIGHTY Ruler of the skies,

Through the wide earth thy name is spread, And thine eternal glories rise

O'er all the heavens thy hands have made.

2 To thee the voices of the young
A monument of honor raise,
And babes with uninstructed tongue
Declare the wonders of thy praise.

3 Children amidst thy temple throng
To see their great Redeemer's face;
The Son of David is their song,
And young hosannas fill the place.

495

638

L. M.

WATTS.

Colonies planted. A Psalm for New England. Ps. 107.

1 WHEN God, provoked with daring crimes, Scourges the madness of the times,

He turns their fields to barren sand,
And dries the rivers from the land.

2 His word can raise the springs again,
And make the withered mountains green,
Send showery blessings from the skies,
And harvests in the desert rise.

3 Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey,
Or men as fierce and wild as they,
He bids the oppressed and poor repair,
And builds them towns and cities there.

4 They sow the fields, and trees they plant,
Whose yearly fruit supplies their want;
Their race grows up from fruitful stocks,
Their wealth increases with their flocks.

5 The righteous, with a joyful sense,
Admire the works of Providence,
And tongues of atheists shall no more
Blaspheme the God that saints adore.

6 How few with pious care record
These wondrous dealings of the Lord!
But wise observers still shall find
The Lord is holy, just, and kind.

496

639

L. M.

Remembrance of our Fathers.

FLINT.

1 IN pleasant lands have fallen the lines
That bound our goodly heritage,
And safe beneath our sheltering vines
Our youth is blessed, and soothed our age.
2 What thanks, O God, to thee are due,
That thou didst plant our fathers here,
And watch and guard them, as they grew,
A vineyard to the Planter dear!

3 The toils they bore our ease have wrought;
They sowed in tears-in joy we reap;
The birthright they so dearly bought
We'll guard till we with them shall sleep.

4 Thy kindness to our fathers shown,

In weal and woe, through all the past, Their grateful sons, O God, shall own, While here their name and race shall last.

640

C. M.

J. Q. ADAMS.

Hymn for the 22d of December.

1 WHEN, o'er the billow-heaving deep,
The fathers of our race,

The precepts of their God to keep,
Sought here their resting-place,—

2 That gracious God their path prepared,
Preserved from every harm,

And still for their protection bared
His everlasting arm.

3 His breath, inspiring every gale,
Impels them o'er the main;
His guardian angels spread the sail,
And tempests howl in vain.

4 For them old ocean's rocks are smoothed; December's face grows mild;

To vernal airs her blasts are soothed,
And all their rage beguiled.

5 When Famine rolls her haggard eyes,
His ever-bounteous hand
Abundance from the sea supplies,
And treasures from the sand.

6 Nor yet his tender mercies cease ;
His overruling plan

Inclines to gentleness and peace
The heart of savage man.

7 And can our stony bosoms be
To all these wonders blind?
Nor swell with thankfulness to thee,
O Parent of mankind?

8 All-gracious God, inflame our zeal;
Dispense one blessing more;

Grant us thy boundless love to feel,
Thy goodness to adore.

641

L. M.

Ps. 149.

J. Q. ADAMS.

1 SING to the Lord a song of praise;

Assemble, ye who love his name;

Let congregated millions raise
Triumphant glory's loud acclaim:

From earth's remotest regions come;
Come, greet your Maker and your King;
With harp, with timbrel, and with drum,
His praise let hill and valley sing.

2 Your praise the Lord will not disdain;
The humble soul is his delight;
Saints, on your couches swell the strain,
Break the dull stillness of the night;
Rejoice in glory; bid the storm,

Bid thunder's voice his praise expand;
And, while your lips the chorus form,
Grasp for the fight his vengeful brand.
3 Go forth in arms; Jehovah reigns;

Their graves let foul oppressors find; Bind all their sceptred kings in chains; Their peers with iron fetters bind. Then to the Lord shall praise ascend; Then all mankind, with one accord, And freedom's voice, till time shall end, In pealing anthems, praise the Lord.

642

C. M.

JERVIS.

The Designs of Providence in the Changes of the World.

1 GOD, to correct a guilty world,

In wrath is slow to rise,

But comes at length in thunder clothed,

And darkness veils the skies.

2 His awful banners, lifted high, The nations' God declare,

And, stained with blood, with terrors marked, Spread wonder and despair.