5 To love thee, and yet not to think
That I can love so much,

To have thee with me, Lord, all day,
Yet not to feel thy touch.

6 O, blesséd be this darkness then,
This deep in which I lie,

And blesséd be all things that teach
God's dread supremacy.

684.

C. M.

MRS. BARBAULD.

The Christian Pilgrim.

1 OUR country is Immanuel's ground;
We seek that promised soil;
The songs of Zion cheer our hearts,
While strangers here we toil.

2 Oft do our eyes with joy o'erflow,
And oft are bathed in tears;

But only heaven our hopes can raise,
And sin alone our fears.

3 We tread the path our Master trod; We bear the cross he bore;

And every thorn that wounds our feet
His temples pierced before.

4 We purge our mortal dross away,
Refining as we run;

And while we die to earth and sense,
Our heaven is here begun.

526

685. 7 & 6s. M.

Visits of Divine Love.

CowPER.

1 SOMETIMES a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord who rises

With healing in his wings:.
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain.

2 In holy contemplation,

We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God's salvation,
And find it ever new;
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
"E'en let the unknown morrow
Bring with it what it may."

3 It can bring with it nothing,

But he will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing,
Will clothe his people too:
Beneath the spreading heavens
No creature but is fed;
And he who feeds the ravens
Will give his children bread.

4 Though vine nor fig tree neither
Their wonted fruit should bear,
Though all the field shall wither,
Nor flocks nor herds be there,

Yet God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For while in him confiding

I cannot but rejoice.

686. S. M.

Seed-time.

1 Sow in the morn thy seed; At eve hold not thy hand;

MONTGOMERY.

To doubt and fear give thou no heed;
Broadcast it o'er the land!
Beside all waters sow,

The highway furrows stock,
Drop it where thorns and thistles
Drop it upon the rock!

2 The good, the fruitful ground,

Expect not here nor there;

grow,

O'er hill and dale, by plots 't is found; Go forth, then, every where!

And duly shall appear,

In verdure, beauty, strength,
The tender blade, the stalk, the ear,
And the full corn at length.

3 Thou canst not toil in vain ;
Cold, heat, and moist, and dry,
Shall foster and mature the grain,
For garners in the sky;

Then, when the glorious end,
The day of God, shall come,
The angel reapers shall descend,
At heaven's great harvest home.

687. C. M.

Gentleness.

1 SPEAK gently, — it is better far To rule by love than fear;

Speak gently, let no harsh word mar
The good we may do here.

2 Speak gently to the young, Will have enough to bear;

for they

Pass through this life as best they may, 'T is full of anxious care.

3 Speak gently to the aged one;

Grieve not the careworn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run,
Let them in peace depart.

4 Speak gently to the erring ones;
They must have toiled in vain;
Perchance unkindness made them so;
O, win them back again!

5 Speak gently,

't is a little thing
Dropped in the heart's deep well;
The good, the joy, that it may bring,
Eternity shall tell.

688. L. M.

Humility.

MONTGOMERY.

1 THE bird that soars on highest wing
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing
Sings in the shade when all things rest:
In lark and nightingale we see
What honor hath humility.

2 When Mary chose the better part,
She meekly sat at Jesus' feet;
And Lydia's gently opened heart
Was made for God's own temple meet;
Fairest and best adorned is she

Whose clothing is humility.

3 The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown
In deepest adoration bends;
The weight of glory bows him down,

Then most when most his soul ascends:
Nearest the throne itself must be
The footstool of humility.

689. C. M.

Hope.

S. F. ADAMS.

1 THE world may change from old to new,
From new to old again,

Yet hope and heaven, forever true,
Within man's heart remain.
The dreams that bless the weary soul,
The struggles of the strong,
Are steps towards some happy goal,
The story of hope's song.

2 Hope leads the child to plant the flower,
The man to sow the seed,
Nor leaves fulfilment to her hour,
But prompts again to deed.
And ere upon the old man's dust

The grass is seen to wave,

We look through falling tears, to trust
Hope's sunshine on the grave.