How often must the Lord have prayed Learn, O my soul, what God demands But fruit of heavenly hue; By this we prove that Christ we know, Faith works by love, if true. August 14, 1834. 2. JEHOVAH TSIDKENU. 66 THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (The watchword of the Reformers.) I once was a stranger to grace and to God, I oft read with pleasure, to soothe or engage, Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll, When free grace awoke me, by light from on high, My terrors all vanished before the sweet name; Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast, Even treading the valley, the shadow of death, This "watchword" shall rally my faltering breath; For while from life's fever my God sets me free, Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be. November 18, 1834. 3. "THEY SING THE SONG OF MOSES." Dark was the night, the wind was high, The way by mortals never trod ; For God had made the channel dry, The raging waves on either hand With anxious footsteps, Israel trod That shone for them with fav'ring ray. But when they reached the opposing shore The flower of Pharaoh's chivalry. Then awful gladness filled the mind Thus thy redeem'd ones, Lord, on earth, While passing through this vale of weeping, Mix holy trembling with their mirth, And anxious watching with their sleeping. The night is dark, the storm is loud, Heaven's light upon our path to shed. And oh when life's dark journey o'er, We plant our foot on yonder shore, Shall we not see with deep amaze, And even on earth, though sore bested, Yet would I lift my downcast eyes That Hope may all my breast inspire. And thus the Lord, my strength, I'll praise, EDINBURGH, 1835. 4. ON MUNGO PARK'S FINDING A TUFT OF GREEN MOSS IN THE AFRICAN DESERT. "Whatever way I turned, nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I saw my. self in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season, naked and alone, surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. I was five hundred miles from the nearest European settlement. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irresistibly caught my eye. I mention this to show from what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes derive consolation; for though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capsule, without admiration. Can that Being, thought I, who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image? Surely not. I started up, and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forward, assured that relief was at hand, and I was not disappointed."-PARK'S TRAVELS. The sun had reached his mid-day height, No cloudy veil obscured the sky, No mighty rock upreared its head No palm-trees with refreshing green Dauntless and daring was the mind To trace the mighty Niger's course, And ah! shall we less daring show, Let peril, nakedness, and sword, Sad, faint, and weary on the sand One tiny tuft of moss alone "Oh, shall not He who keeps thee green, Here in the waste, unknown, unseen— Thy fellow-exile save? He who commands the dew to feed The heaven-sent plant new hope inspired- And bore him safe along; Till with the evening's cooling shade Thus, we in this world's wilderness, Yet, often in the bleakest wild Of this dark world, some heaven-born child, Amid the low and vicious crowd, |