Then set thy bells a-ringing; To praise Great Britain's God! And praise Him for glad autumn-time and her abounding spoil, And praise Him for the winter bleak with lovely garb of snow, Then set thy bells a-ringing; And set thy children singing To Him glad lays of hearty praise Who crowns with goodness all thy days: O'er hill and plain loud swell the strain, To praise Great Britain's God! And when to Him, the Lord of all, your praises ye address, Instructing the most cultured mind and the least lettered boor. And for the vapour-power that moves you fast from place to place, Then set thy bells a-ringing; And set thy children singing To Him glad lays of hearty praise Who crowns with goodness all thy days: O'er hill and plain loud swell the strain, To praise Great Britain's God! And praise thy God, O happy land! for all thy righteous laws, And praise thy God from age to age, for sceptre and for crown, While monarchs ruling in His name need fear no angry frown; For reigning not in tyranny, but courtesy and grace, They find in e'en the humblest heart a loyal dwelling-place. A NATIONAL ANTHEM. Then set thy bells a-ringing; To Him glad lays of hearty praise Who crowns with blessings all thy days: To praise Great Britain's God! And while a priestly tyranny holds other men in chains, Thy people shout for joy to feel free blood course through their veins ; And with glad hearts they call to mind the ways their fathers trod To make them free in limb and life, and free to worship God; And that in town or hamlet wheresoever they may roam, Then set thy bells a-ringing; And set thy children singing To Him glad lays of hearty praise Who crowns with blessings all thy days: To praise Great Britain's God! And chiefly that in their own tongue by all His Word is read, That Word that is the bond that links Christ's people to their Head; And which as seed most precious now through all the world they've flung To men of every clime and skin, and kindred, creed, and tongue. Thy ships on every ocean float, thy commerce fills the world, Thy name and greatness men respect, and thy dominion own. Then set thy bells a-ringing; And set thy children singing To Him glad lays of hearty praise Who crowns with blessing all thy days: O'er hill and plain loud swell the strain, To praise Great Britain's God! In lands less favoured pestilence pursues its dreaded way, Thy sons and daughters undisturbed by rumours and alarms, Then set thy bells a-ringing; O'er hill and plain loud swell the strain To praise Great Britain's God! While kings and potentates abroad upraise their jubilant cry, That they have fought the victors' fight with gun and sword and shield Ye Britons too, upraise your voice and shout with main and might That ye have no ghastly battle-fields, and ye have no foes to smite: That ye live in harmony at home from war and conflict free, Then set thy bells a-ringing; And set thy children singing To Him glad lays of grateful praise Who crowns with goodness all thy days: To praise Great Britain's God. Rejoice then, O ye Britons blest, and shout aloud for joy, And firstly praise your God as men of boldness, pluck, and worth: That Britain as a Christian land, still holds a foremost place. Praise Him, ye sons and daughters, ye husbands and ye wives! And while ye praise Him by your songs, O praise Him by your lives : Praise Him by holy living each at his appointed post, Praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost! CREATION'S ANTKEN. "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord; for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth" PSALM XCVI., 11-13. EJOICE, O Heavens! before the Lord, ye angel choirs, rejoice! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, And on the left hand and the right No more despised by mortals, or buffeted or scourged: No more by cross accursed down-borne, to Calvary's mountain urgèd; Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, Ye thunders peal your loudest before the LORD JEHOVAH ! Fall down, ye kings, the proudest, whom the King of kings rules over! Ye snow-flakes, gleam your whitest to pave the Royal way! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, To claim His broad dominions. Ye oceans roar, your hymns outpour, as ceaselessly ye roll! And every land His praise expand from north to southern pole ! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, And on the left hand and the right Sing, ye blithe birds, your sweetest to ring JEHOVAH's praise! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, Each floral chalice softly breathe each delicate perfume! Bring forth, O Earth! each thing of worth that hideth in thy gloom : Golconda, yield thy diamonds, Peru thy silver ore! Australia and San Francisco, your golden trophies pour! Ye Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, |