2 'Tis thine alone to calm the pious breast With silent confidence and holy rest;

From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend, Path, motive, guide, original, and end.

321

L. M.

BEDDOME.

Teachings of the Spirit.

1 COME, blessed Spirit, Source of light,
Whose power and grace are unconfined,
Dispel the gloomy shades of night,
The thicker darkness of the mind.

2 To mine illumined eyes display

The glorious truth thy word reveals;
Cause me to run the heavenly way;
The book unfold, unloose the seals.

3 Thine inward teachings make me know,
The mysteries of redeeming love,
The emptiness of things below,

The excellence of things above.

4 While through this dubious maze I stray,
Spread, like the sun, thy beams abroad,
To show the dangers of the way,
And guide my feeble steps to God.

322

L. M.

MERRICK.

Desire of Instruction. Ps. 119.

1 TEACH me, O teach me, Lord, thy way;

So, to my life's remotest day,

By thy unerring precepts led,

My willing feet its paths shall tread.

2 Informed by thee, with sacred awe,
My heart shall meditate thy law;
And, with celestial wisdom filled,
To thee its full obedience yield.

3 Give me to know thy words aright,
Thy words, my soul's supreme delight,
That, purged from thirst of gold, my mind
In them its better wealth may find.

4 O, turn from vanity mine eye;

To me thy quickening strength supply;
And with thy promised mercy cheer
A heart devoted to thy fear.

323

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

Seeking the Knowledge of God.

1 SHINE forth, eternal Source of light,
And make thy glories known;
Fill our enlarged, adoring sight

With lustre all thy own.

2 Vain are the charms, and faint the rays,
The brightest creatures boast;

And all their grandeur, and their praise,
Is in thy presence lost.

3 To know the Author of our frame
Is our sublimest skill;

True science is to read thy name,
True life, to obey thy will.

4. For this I long, for this I pray,
And following on pursue,
Till visions of eternal day
Fix and complete the view.

324

L. M.

HENRY MOORE.

Wisdom and Virtue sought from God.

1 SUPREME and universal light!
Fountain of reason! Judge of right!
Parent of good! whose blessings flow
On all above and all below;

2 Assist us, Lord, to act, to be,
What nature and thy laws decree;
Worthy that intellectual flame,
Which from thy breathing spirit came.
3 May our expanded souls disclaim
The narrow view, the selfish aim,
But with a Christian zeal embrace
Whate'er is friendly to our race.

4 O Father, grace and virtue grant;
No more we wish, no more we want;
To know, to serve thee, and to love,
Is peace below, is bliss above.

325

L. M.

For Steadiness of Principle.

HENRY MOORE.

1 AMIDST a world of hopes and fears,
A wild of cares, and toils, and tears,
Where foes alarm, and dangers threat,
And pleasures kill, and glories cheat,

-

2 Shed down, O Lord, a heavenly ray,
To guide me in the doubtful way;
And o'er me hold thy shield of power,
To guard me in the dangerous hour.

3 Teach me the flattering paths to shun,
In which the thoughtless many run,
Who for a shade the substance miss,
And grasp their ruin in their bliss.

4 May never pleasure, wealth, or pride,
Allure my wandering soul aside,
But, through this maze of mortal ill,
Safe lead me to thy heavenly hill.

326

7s M.

MERRICK.

Seeking a clean Heart. Ps. 19.

1 BLEST Instructor, from thy ways
Who can tell how oft he strays?
Purge me from the guilt that lies
Wrapped within my heart's disguise.
2 Let my tongue, from error free,
Speak the words approved by thee;
To thy all-observing eyes
Let my thoughts accepted rise.

3 While I thus thy name adore,
And thy healing grace implore,
Blest Redeemer, bow thine ear;
God, my strength, propitious hear.

327

C. M.

WATTS.

Breathing after Holiness. Ps. 119.

1 O THAT the Lord would guide my ways

To keep his statutes still!

O that my God would grant me grace

To know and do his will!

20, send thy Spirit down to write
Thy law upon my heart!

Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
Nor act the liar's part.

3 From vanity turn off my eyes;
Let no corrupt design
Nor covetous desires arise
Within this soul of mine.

4 Order my footsteps by thy word,
And make my heart sincere ;
Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
But keep my conscience clear.

5 Make me to walk in thy commands;
"Tis a delightful road;

Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
Offend against my God.

328

L. M.

Temptation.

COWPER.

1 THE billows swell, the winds are high, Clouds overcast my wintry sky;

Out of the depths to thee I call;

My fears are great, my strength is small.

2 O Lord, the pilot's part perform,

And guard and guide me through the storm;
Defend me from each threatening ill ;
Control the waves; say, "Peace! be still!"

3 Amidst the roaring of the sea,

My soul still hangs her hope on thee;
Thy constant love, thy faithful care,
Is all that saves me from despair.