If man aspires to reach the throne of God, O'er the dull plains of earth must lie the road.

He who best does his lowly duty here, Shall mount the highest in a nobler sphere. At God's own feet our spirits seek their rest,

And he is nearest Him who serves Him best.

Help with Thy grace, through life's short day,

Our upward and our downward way;
And glorify for us the west,
When we shall sink to final rest.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

517.-Noontide.

L.M.

S. GREG.

PSALM xlii. 8.

UP to the throne of God is borne

Our voice of praise at early morn, And He accepts the punctual hymn, Sung as the light of day grows dim.

Nor will He turn His ear aside From holy offerings at noontide: Then, here reposing, let us raise A song of gratitude and praise.

What though our burden be not light,
We must not toil from morn to night;
The respite of the midday hour
Is in the thankful creature's power.

Blest are the moments, doubly blest,
That, drawn from this one hour of rest,
Are with a ready hand bestowed
Upon the service of our God!

Each field is then a hallowed spot
An altar is in each man's cot;
A church in every grove that spreads
Its living roof above our heads.

Look up to heaven! the industrious sun
Already half his race hath run;
He cannot halt nor go astray,
But our immortal spirits may.

Lord! since his rising in the east,
If we have faltered or transgressed,
Guide, from Thy love's abundant source,
What yet remains of this day's course.

518.-Evening Hymn.
JOB XXXV. 10.

N the original form of this Hymn (compare 503) the first line reads, as now in most hymn-books:

"Glory to Thee, my God, this night," and the third verse ends :

"Teach me to die, that so I may

Triumphing rise at the last day."

There are one or two minor alterations in the later version; but the principal ones are in the last two verses (before the Doxology). Ken had originally thrown them into the form of a direct address to his "guardian" (i.e., guardian angel). "You, my blest guardian, while I sleep, Close to my bed your vigils keep, Divine love into me instil,

Stop all the avenues of ill."

This led to the charge that Ken had " taught the scholars of Winchester to invoke the court of heaven;" so that the good bishop had to declare: "By that apostrophe I did no more intend the Popish invocation of saints and angels than the holy Psalmist did, when he calls upon the sun, moon, and stars, fire, hail, and snow, &c., to praise God;" yet, he adds, " to prevent all future misinterpretations, I have altered not the sense, but the words of that paragraph," as we have them now.

A

L.M.

LL praise to Thee, my God! this night, For all the blessings of the light; Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath Thine own almighty wings!

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done;
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed;
To die, that this vile body may
Rise glorious at the awful day!

O may my soul on Thee repose;
And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close;
Sleep, that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.

When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.

Dull sleep, of sense me to deprive !
I am but half my time alive :
Thy faithful lovers, Lord, are grieved
To lie so long of Thee bereaved.

But though sleep o'er my frailty reigns,
Let it not hold me long in chains;
And now and then let loose my heart,
Till it an hallelujah dart !

The faster sleep the senses binds,
The more unfettered are our minds;
O may my soul, from matter free,
Thy loveliness unclouded see!

O when shall I in endless day
For ever chase dark sleep away,
And hymns with the supernal choir
Incessant sing, and never tire!

O may my guardian, while I sleep,
Close to my bed his vigils keep;
His love angelical instil,
Stop all the avenues of ill :

May he celestial joy rehearse,

And thought to thought with me converse;
Or in my stead all the night long,
Sing to my God a grateful song!

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

BISHOP THOMAS KEN.

519.-Sunset.

PSALM cxli. 2.

HIS Hymn, says the translator, is from the Latin, Sol præceps rapitur, proxima nox adest; but the original appears to be lost. It was in some manual of devotion, probably of the eighteenth century. A

P.M.

GOD, that madest earth and heaven,

Darkness and light;

Who the day for toil hast given,

For rest the night;

May Thine angel-guards defend us,
Slumber sweet Thy mercy send us,
Holy dreams and hopes attend us,

This livelong night.

And when morn again shall call us,
To run life's way,

May we still, whate'er befall us,
Thy will obey :

From the power of evil hide us,
In the narrow pathway guide us,
Nor thy smile be e'er denied us,

The livelong day.