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HYMN XLII. (L. M.)

1 HOSANNA to King David's Son,
Who reigns on a superior throne;
We bless the Prince of heav'nly birth,
Who brings salvation down to earth.
2 Let ev'ry nation, ev'ry age
In this delightful work engage,
Old men and babes in Sion sing
The growing glories of her King.

HYMN XLIII. (C. M.)

1 HOSANNA to the Prince of Grace:
Sion, behold thy King;
Proclaim the Son of David's race,
And teach the babes to sing.

2 Hosanna to th' Incarnate Word,
Who from the Father came;
Ascribe salvation to the Lord,
With blessings on his name.

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PREFACE

TO ALL THAT ARE CONCERNED IN THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.

IT is an awful and important charge that is committed to you. The wisdom and welfare of the succeeding generation are entrusted with you before-hand, and depend much on your conduct. The seeds of misery or happiness in this world, aud that to come, are oftentimes sown very early; and therefore whatever may conduce to give the minds of children a relish of virtue and religion, ought in the first place to be proposed to you.

Verse. was at first designed for the service of God, though it hath been wretchedly abused since. The ancients among the Jews and the Heathens, taught their children and disciples the precepts of morality and worship in verse. The children of Israel were commanded to learn the words of the song of Moses, Deut. xxxi. 19, And we are directed in the New Testament, not only to sing with grace in the heart, but to "teach, and admonish one another by hymns and songs," Ephes. v. 19. And there are those four advantages in it.

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1. There is a great delight in the very learning of truths and duties this way. There is something so amusing and entertaining in rhymes and metre, that will incline children to make this part of their business a diversion. And you may turn their very duty into a reward by giving them the privilege of learning one of these Songs every week, if they fulfil the business of the week well, and promising them the book itself, when they have learnt ten or twenty songs out of it.

2. What is learnt in verse, is longer retained in memory, and sooner recollected. The like sounds, and the like number of syllables, exceedingly assist the remembrance. And it may often happen, that the end of a song running in the mind, may be an effectual means to keep off some temptations, or to incline to some duty, when a word of scripture is not upon their thoughts.

3. This will be a constant furniture for the minds of children that they may have something to think upon when alone, and sing over to themselves. This may sometimes give their thoughts a divine turn, and raise a young meditation. Thus they will not be forced to seek relief for an emptiness of mind, out of the loose and dangerous sonnets of the age.

4. These Divine Songs may be a pleasant and proper matter for their daily or weekly worship, to sing one in the family, at such time as the parents or governors shall appoint; and therefore I have confined the verse to the most usual psalm tunes.

The greatest part of this little book was composed several years ago, at the request of a friend, who has been long engaged in the work of catechising a very great number of children of all kinds, and with abundant skill and success. So that you will find here nothing that savours of a party: The children of high and low degree, of the church of England, or dissenters, baptized in infancy, or not, may all join together in these songs. And as I have endeavoured to sink the language to the level of a child's understanding, and yet to keep it, if possible, above contempt; so I have designed to profit all, if possible, and offend none. I hope the more general the sense is, these composures may be of the more universal use and

service.

I have added at the end some attempts of Sonnets on moral Subjects, for children, with an air of pleasantry, to provoke some fitter pen to write a little book of them.

May the almighty God make you faithful in this important work of education; may he succeed your cares with his abundant grace, that the rising generation of Great Britain may be a glory among the nations, a pettern to the christian world, and a blessing to the earth.

DIVINE SONGS,

ATTEMPTED IN

EASY LANGUAGE, FOR The use of CHILDREN.

WITH SOME ADDITIONAL COMPOSURES.

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Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise; Mat. xxi. 16.

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SONG I.

A general song of praise to God.

1 HOW glorious is our heav'nly King,
Who reigns above the sky!
How shall a child presume to sing
His dreadful majesty?

2 How great his pow'r is none can tell,
Nor think how large his grace;

Not men below, nor saints that dwell
On high before his face.

3 Not angels that stand round the Lord
Can search his secret will;

But they perform his heav'nly word,
And sing his praises still.

4 Then let me join this holy train,
And my first off'rings bring
Th' eternal God will not disdain
To hear an infant sing.

5 My heart resolves, my tongue obeys,
And angels shall rejoice

To hear their mighty Maker's praise
Sound from a feeble voice.

SONG II.

Praise for creation and providence. 1 Sing th' almighty pow'r of God,

That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.

2 I sing the wisdom that ordain'd
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.

3 I sing the goodness of the Lord,

That fill'd the earth with food;
He form'd the creatures with his word,
And then pronounc'd them good.

4 Lord, how thy wonders are display'd,
Where'er I turn mine eye,

If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky.

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Praise to God for our redemption.

1 BLEST be the wisdom and the pow'r,
The justice and the grace,
That join'd in council to restore,
And save our ruin'd race.

2 Our father eat forbidden fruit,
And from his glory fell,

And we his children thus were brought
To death, and near to hell.

3 Blest be the Lord that sent his Son
To take our flesh and blood;
He for our lives gave up his own,
To make our peace with God.

4 He honour'd all his Father's laws,
Which we have disobey'd;
He bore our sins upon the cross,
And our full ransom paid.

5 Behold him rising from the grave,
Behold him rais'd on high;

He pleads his merits there, to save
Transgressors doom'd to die.

6 There on a glorious throne he reigns,
And by his pow'r divine.

1

Redeems us from the slavish chains

Of Satan, and of sin.

Thence shall the Lord to judgment

come,

And with a sov❜reign voice
Shall call, and break up ev'ry tomb,
While waking saints rejoice.

8 O may I then with joy appear
Before the Judge's face,
And, with the bless'd assembly there,
Sing his redeeming grace.

SONG IV.

Praise for Mercies, Spiritual and Temporal.

1 WHENE'ER I take my walks abroad,
How many poor I see?
What shall I render to my God
For all his gifts to me?

2 Not more than others I deserve,
Yet God hath giv'n me more;
For I have food while others starve,
Or beg from door to door.

3 How many children in the street
Half naked I behold?

While I am cloth'd from head to feet,
And cover'd from the cold.

4 While some poor wretches scarce can tell

Where they may lay their head:
I have a home wherein to dwell,
And rest upon my bed.

5 While others early learn to swear,
And curse, and lye, and steal;
Lord, I am taught thy name to fear,
And do thy holy will.

6 Are these thy favours day by day
To me above the rest?"

Then let me love thee more than they,
And try to serve thee best.

SONG V.

Praise for Birth and Education in a Christian Land.

1 GREAT God, to thee my voice I raise, To thee my youngest hours belong, I would begin my life with praise, Till growing years improve the song. 2 "Tis to thy sov'reign grace I owe,

That I was born on British ground,
Where streams of heav'nly mercy flow,
And words of sweet salvation sound.
3 I would not change my native land
For rich Peru with all her gold;
A nobler prize lies in my hand,
Then East or Western Indies hold.
4 How do I pity those that dwell
Where ignorance and darkness reigns?
They know no heav'n,they fear no hell,
Those endless joys, those endless pains.
3 Thy glorious promises, O Lord,

Kindle my hopes and my desire;
While all the preachers of thy word
Warn me to cape eternal fire.

6 Thy praise shall still employ my breath, Since thou hast mark'd my way to heav'n;

Nor will I run the road to death,
And waste the blessings thou hast giv'n.

SONG VI.

Praise for the Gospel.

1 LORD, I ascribe it to thy grace,
And not to chance as others do,
That I was born of Christian race,
And not a Heathen, or a Jew.

2 What would the ancient Jewish kings,
And Jewish prophets, once have giv'n,
Could they have heard these glorious
things,
[heav'n!
WhichChrist reveal'd and brought from

3 How glad the Heathens would have been,

That worship idols, wood, and stone,
If they the book of God had seen,
Or Jesus, and his gospel known!

4 Then if this gospel I refuse,
How shall I e'er lift up mine eyes?
For all the Gentiles, and the Jews
Against me will in judgment rise.

SONG VII.

The Excellency of the Bible.

1 GREAT God, with wonder, and with

praise

On all thy works I look ;

But still thy wisdom, pow'r, and grace,
Shine brighter in thy book.

2 The stars that in their courses roll,
Have much instruction giv'n;
But thy good word informs my soul
How I may climb to heav'n.

3 The fields provide me food, and shew
The goodness of the Lord;
But fruits of life, and glory grow
In thy most holy word.

4 Here are my choicest treasures hid,
Here my best comfort lies;
Here my desires are satisfy'd,
And hence my hopes arise.

5 Lord, make me understand thy law,
Show what my faults have been;
And from thy gospel let me draw
Pardon for all my sin.

6 Here would I learn how Christ has dy'd
To save my soul from hell;
Not all the books on earth beside
Such heav'nly wonders tell.

7 Then let me love my bible more,
And take a fresh delight
By day to read these wonders o'er,
And meditate by night.

SONG VIII..

Praise to God for learning to read.

1 THE praises of my tongue

I offer to the Lord,

That I was taught, and learnt so young
To read his holy word.

2 That I am brought to know
The danger I was in,

By nature, and by practice too,
A wretched slave to sin.

3 That I am led to see

I can do nothing well:
And whither shall a sinner flee,
To save himself from hell?

Dear Lord, this book of thine

Informs me where to go
For grace to pardon all my sin;
And make ine holy too."

• Here I can read, and learn

How Christ, the Son of God,
Has undertook our great concern;
Our ransom cost his blood.

And now he reigns above,
He sends his Spirit down,

To shew the wonders of his love,
And make his gospel known.

7 O may that Spirit teach,

And make my heart receive

Those truths which all thy servants preach,

And all thy saints believe.

Then shall I praise the Lord

In a more cheerful strain,

That I was taught to read his word,
And have not learnt in vain.

SONG IX.

The All-Seeing God.

1 ALMIGHTY God, thy piercing eye
Strikes thro' the shades of night,
And our most secret actions lie
All open to thy sight.

2 There's not a sin that we commit,
Nor wicked word we say,
But in thy dreadful book 'tis writ,
Against the judgment-day.

3 And must the crimes that I have done,

Be read and publish'd there?
Be all expos'd before the sun,
While men and angels hear?
4 Lord, at thy foot asham'd I lie,
Upward I dare not look;
Pardon my sins before I die,
And blot them from thy book.
5 Remember all the dying pains,
That my Redeemer felt,

And let his blood wash out my stains,
And answer for my guilt.
O may I now for ever fear

T'indulge a sinful thought,
Since the great God can see and hear,
And writes down ev'ry fault.
VOL. IX.

SONG X.

Solemn thoughts of God and Death. 1 THERE is a God that reigns above, Lord of the heavens, and earth and, seas;

I fear his wrath, I ask his love,
And with my lips I sing his praise.

2 There is a law which he has writ,
To teach us all what we must do:
My soul, to his commands submit,
For they are holy, just and true.
3 There is a gospel of rich grace,
Whence sinners all their comfortsdraw;
Lord, I repent, and seek thy face;
For I have often broke thy law.

4 There is an hour when I must die,
Nor do I know how soon 'twill come;
A thousand children young as I,
Are call'd by death to hear their doom.
5 Let me improve the hours I have,
Before the day of grace is fled;
There's no repentance in the grave,
Nor pardons offer'd to the dead.

6 Just as a tree cut down, that fell
To north, or southward, there it lies;
So man departs to heav'n or hell,
Fix'd in the state wherein he dies.

SONG XI.
Heaven and Hell.

1 THERE is beyond the sky
A heav'n of joy and love;

And holy children when they die
Go to that world above.

2 There is a dreadful hell,

And everlasting pains,

There sinners must with devils dwell In darkness, fire, and chains.

3 Can such a wretch as I'

Escape this cursed end?
And may I hope whene'er I die
I shall to heav'n ascend?

4 Then will I read and pray,

While I have life and breath;
Lest I should be cut off to-day,
And sent t' eternal death.

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