3 Should I distribute all my store,
To feed the bowels of the poor;
Or give my body to the flame,
To gain a martyr's glorious name ;-
4 If love to God, and love to men,
Be absent, all my hopes are vain :
Nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal,
The works of love can e'er fulfil.
1 ALL nature feels attractive power,
A strong, embracing force;
The drops that sparkle in the flower,
The planets in their course.
2 Thus, in the universe of mind,
Is felt the law of love;
The charity, both strong and kind,
For all that live and move.
3 In this fine sympathetic chain
All creatures bear a part;
Their every pleasure, every pain,
Linked to the feeling heart.
4 More perfect bond, the Christian plan Attaches soul to soul;
Our neighbour is the suffering man,
Though at the farthest pole.
5 To earth below, from heaven above, The faith in Christ professed,
More clearly shows that God is love,
And whom he loves is blessed.
HYMN 355. C. M. [#]
Christ's Love to Enemies our Example. 1 Gon of our mercy and our praise, Thy glory is our song;
We'll speak the honours of thy grace
With a rejoicing tongue.
2 When Christ, among the sons of men,
In humble form was found,
With cruel slanders, false and vain,
They compassed him around.
3 Their miseries his compassion moved,
Their peace he still pursued:
They rendered hatred for his love,
And evil for his good.
4 Their malice raged without a cause;
Yet, with his dying breath,
He prayed for murderers on his cross
And blessed his foes in death.
5 O may his conduct, all divine,
To us a model prove :
Like his, O God, our hearts incline,
Our enemies to love.
1 RELIGION is the chief concern
Of mortals here below;
May I its great importance learn,
Its sovereign virtue know.
2 More needful this than glittering wealth,
Or aught the world bestows;
Nor reputation, food, or health,
Can give such sweet repose.
3 Religion should our thoughts engage,
Amidst our youthful bloom;
"Twill fit us for declining age,
"Twill fit us for the tomb.
4 O may my heart, by grace renewed,
Be my Redeemer's throne;
And be my stubborn will subdued,
His government to own.
5 Let lively hope my soul inspire;
Let warın affections rise;
And may I wait with strong desire
To mount above the skies.
HYMN 357. C. M. [#]
Inconstancy in Religion.
1 IMMORTAL Source of light and grace,
We hail thy sacred name :
Through every year's revolving round,
Thy goodness is the same.
2 On us, all worthless as we are,
It wondrous mercy pours;
Sure as the world's established course,
Abundant as the showers.
3 In flowing tears our guilt we mourn,
And loud implore thy grace
To bear our feeble footsteps on
In all thy righteous ways.
4 Armed with this energy divine,
Our steadfast souls shall move;
And with increasing transports press,
To reach thy courts above.
HYMN 358. C. M. [#or b]
Experimental Religion.
1 O FOR a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame,
And light to shine upon the road,
That leads me to the Lamb!
2 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.
3 Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
4 The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
5 So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
And purer light shall mark the road,
That leads me to the Lamb.
HYMN 359. S. M. [#]
Joys of Religion.
1 How blest is man, O God,
When first, with single eye,
He views the glory of thy grace,
The day-spring from on high.
2 Through storms which cloud the sk.es,
And brood o'er earthly things,
The Sun of righteousness breaks forth,
With healing in his wings.
3 Struck by that light, his heart,
A barren soil no more,
Sends shoots of righteousness abroad,
Where follies sprung before.
4 The soul, so dreary once,
Once misery's dark domain,
Feels happiness unknown before,
And owns a heavenly reign.
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