3 Thanks for mercies past receive,
Pardon of our sins renew;
• Teach us henceforth how to live.
With eternity in view.
Bless thy word to young and old;
Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And, when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with thee above.
For the opening or closing Year.
1 GREAT God! we sing that mighty hand
By which supported, still we stand:
The opening year thy mercy shows;
That mercy crowns it till it close.
2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,
Still are we guarded by our God;
By his incessant bounty fed,
By his unerring counsel led.
3 With grateful hearts the past we own:
The future, all to us unknown,
We to thy guardian care commit,
And, peaceful, leave before thy feet.
4 In scenes exalted or depressed,
Thou art our joy, and thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Adored through all our changing days.
5 Though death shall interrupt these songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our helper, God, in whom we trust,
In better worlds our souls shall boast.
Reflections at the Close of the Year.
1 AND now, my soul, another year
Of my short life is past:
I cannot long continue here;
And this may be my last.
2 Part of my doubtful life is gone,
Nor will return again;
And swift my fleeting moments run-
The few which yet remain !
3 Awake, my soul! with all thy care
Thy true condition learn;
What are thy hopes-how sure, how fair,
And what thy great concern?
4 Now a new space of life begins,
Set out afresh for heaven:
Seek pardon for thy former sins,
Through Christ, so freely given.
5 Devoutly yield thyself to God,
And on his grace depend;
With zeal pursue the heavenly road,
Nor doubt a happy end.
8 & 7s. M. BP. HORNE.
Autumn Warnings.
1 SEE the leaves around us falling,
Dry and withered, to the ground;
Thus to thoughtless mortals calling,
In a sad and solemn sound :-
2 "Sons of Adam, (once in Eden,
Where, like us, he blighted fell,)
Hear the lesson we are reading;
Mark the awful truth we tell :
3 "Youth, on length of days presuming,
Who the paths of pleasure tread,
View us, late in beauty blooming,
Numbered now among the dead.
4 "What though yet no losses grieve you,
Gay with health and many a grace,
Let not cloudless skies deceive you;
Summer gives to autumn place.
5"Yearly in our course returning,
Messengers of shortest stay,
Thus we preach this truth concerning,
Heaven and earth shall pass away.'
6 On the tree of life eternal,
O let all our hopes be laid:
This alone, forever vernal,
Bears a leaf that shall not fade.
Thanks for an abundant Harvest.
1 FOUNTAIN of mercy, God of love!
How rich thy bounties are!
The rolling seasons, as they move,
Proclaim thy constant care.
2 When in the bosom of the earth
The sower hid the grain,
Thy goodness marked its secret birth,
And sent the early rain.
3 The spring's sweet influence, Lord, was thine:
The plants in beauty grew:
Thou gav'st refulgent suns to shine,
And mild, refreshing dew.
4 These various mercies from above
Matured the swelling grain;
A kindly harvest crowns thy love,
And plenty fills the plain.
5 We own and bless thy gracious sway;
Thy hand all nature hails;
Seed-time nor harvest, night nor day,
Summer nor winter, fails.
Sickness healed and Sorrow removed. Ps. 30.
1 I WILL extol thee, Lord, on high;
At thy command diseases fly:
Who but a God can speak and save
From the dark borders of the grave?
2 Sing to the Lord, ye saints of his,
And tell how large his goodness is;
Let all your powers rejoice and bless,
While you record his holiness.
3 His anger but a moment stays;
His love is life and length of days:
Though grief and tears the night employ,
The morning star restores the joy.
Thanksgiving for National Prosperity.
1 How rich thy gifts, almighty King!
From thee our public blessings spring:
The extended trade, the fruitful skies,
The treasures liberty bestows,
The eternal joys the gospel shows,—
All from thy boundless goodness rise.
2 With grateful hearts, with joyful tongues,
To God we raise united songs.
Here still may God in mercy reign;
Crown our just counsels with success,
With peace and joy our borders bless,
And all our sacred rights maintain.
Thanksgiving for National Peace. Ps. 46.
1 GREAT Ruler of the earth and skies,
A word of thine almighty breath
Can sink the world, or bid it rise;
Thy smile is life, thy frown is death.
2 When angry nations rush to arms,
And rage, and noise, and tumult reign,
And war resounds its dire alarms,
And slaughter dyes the hostile plain;
3 Thy sovereign eye looks calmly down,
And marks their course, and bounds their
Thy law the angry nations own,
And noise and war are heard no more.
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