And fragrance breathes in ev'ry gale,
How sweet the vernal day!

2 Hark! how the feather'd warblers sing!
'Tis nature's cheerful voice;
Soft music hails the lovely spring,
And woods and fields rejoice.
3 O God of nature, and of grace,

Thy heav'nly gifts impart;
Then shall my meditation trace
Spring blooming in my heart.
4 Inspir'd to praise, I then shall join
Glad nature's cheerful song;
And love, and gratitude divine
Attune my joyful tongue.

76

1

3

HYMN. S. M.
The Spring.

SWEET is the time of spring,
When nature's charms appear;
The birds with ceaseless pleasure sing,
And hail the op'ning year:

But sweeter far the spring
Of wisdom and of grace,

When children bless and praise their King Who loves the youthful race.

2 Sweet is the dawn of day,

When light just streaks the sky;
When shades and darkness pass away,
And morning's beams are nigh:
But sweeter far the dawn

Of piety in youth;

When doubt and darkness are withdrawn Before the light of truth.

Sweet is the early dew,

Which gilds the mountain's tops, And decks each plant and flow'r we view, With pearly glitt❜ring drops:

But sweeter far the scene

On Zion's holy hill;

When there the dew of youth is seen
Its freshness to distil.

77

HYMN. S. M.

1 GREAT God, at thy command Seasons in order rise:

Thy pow'r and love in concert reign Through earth, and seas, and skies. 2 How balmy is the air!

How warm the sun's bright beams! While, to refresh the ground, the rains Descend in gentle streams.

3 With grateful praise we own Thy providential hand,

While grass, and herbs, and waving corn, Adorn and bless the land.

4 But greater still the gift

Of thine incarnate Son;
By him forgiveness, peace, and joy,
Through endless ages run.

78

HYMN. 8's.

1 THE winter is over and gone,

The thrush whistles sweet on the spray, The turtle breathes forth her soft moan, The lark mounts and warbles away. 2 Shall every creature around

Their voices in concert unite, And I, the most favour'd, be found, In praising to take less delight? 3 Awake, then, my harp, and my lute! Sweet organs, your notes softly swell! No longer my lips shall be mute,

The Saviour's high praises to tell! 4 His love in my heart shed abroad,

My graces shall bloom as the spring;
This temple, his Spirit's abode,
My joy, as my duty, to sing.

79

HYMN. 7's.

1 PLEASING spring again is here! Trees and fields in bloom appear!

Hark! the birds, with artless lays,
Warble their Creator's praise!

2 Lord, afford a spring to me! Let me feel like what I see: Ah! my winter has been long, Chill'd my hopes, suppress'd my song. 3 How the soul in winter mourns, Till the Lord, the Sun, returns! Till the Spirit's gentle rain Bids the heart revive again! 4 O beloved Saviour, haste,

Tell me all the storms are past:
Speak, and by thy gracious voice
Make my drooping soul rejoice.

HYMN. C. M.
Summer-A Harvest Hymn.

80

1 TO praise the ever bounteous Lord,
My soul, wake all thy pow'rs;

He calls, and at his voice come forth
The smiling harvest hours.

2 His cov❜nant with the earth he keeps; My tongue, his goodness sing; Summer and winter know their time, His harvest crowns the spring.

3 Well pleas'd the toiling swains behold
The waving yellow crop;
With joy they bear the sheaves away,
And sow again in hope.

4 Thus teach me, gracious God, to sow
The seeds of righteousness;
Smile on my soul, and with thy beams
The rip'ning harvest bless.

5 Then, in the last great harvest, I
Shall reap a glorious crop;
The harvest shall by far exceed
What I have sow'd in hope.

81

HYMN. C. M.
Winter.

1 STERN winter throws his icy chains, Encircling nature round;

How bleak, how comfortless the plais,
Late with gay verdure crown'd!
2 The sun withdraws his vital beams,
And light and warmth depart;
And drooping lifeless, nature seems
An emblem of my heart.

3 My heart, where mental winter reigns,
In night's dark mantle clad,
Confin'd in cold, inactive chains,
How desolate and sad!

4 Return, O blissful Sun, and bring
Thy soul-reviving ray;
This mental winter shall be spring,
This darkness cheerful day.

5 O happy state, divine abode,
Where spring eternal reigns;
And perfect day, the smile of God,
Fills all the heav'nly plains!

6 Great Source of light, thy beams display, My drooping joys restore,

And guide me to the seats of day,
Where winter frowns no more.

HYMN. L. M.

Goodness of God in the Seasons.

82

1 ON God the race of man depends,
Far as the earth's remotest ends;
At his command the morning ray
Smiles in the east, and leads the day.

2 Seasons and times obey his voice; The morn and ev'ning both rejoice To see the earth made soft with showers, Laden with fruit, and dress'd in flowers. 3 The desert grows a fruitful field; Abundant food the valleys yield;

The plains shall shout with cheerful voice, And neighbouring hills repeat their joys. 4 Thy works pronounce thy power divine; O'er every field thy glories shine; Through ev'ry month thy gifts appear: Great God, thy goodness crowns the year.

83

HYMN. C. M.

1 THE Lord is good, the heav'nly King,
He makes the earth his care;
Visits the pastures ev'ry spring,
And bids the grass appear.

2 The times and seasons-days and hours, Heav'n, earth, and air are thine; When clouds distil in fruitful show'rs, The Author is divine.

3 The soften'd ridges of the field
Permit the corn to spring;
The valleys rich provision yield,
And all the lab'rers sing.

4 The various months thy goodness crowns; How bounteous are thy ways!

The bleating flocks spread o'er the downs, And shepherds shout thy praise.

84

HYMN. L. M.

1 SING to the Lord, exalt him high, Who spreads his clouds around the sky; There he prepares the fruitful rain, Nor lets the drops descend in vain. 2 He makes the grass the hills adorn,

And clothes the smiling fields with corn; The beasts with food his hands supply, And feed the ravens when they cry. 3 What is the creature's skill or force, The vig'rous man, the warlike horse, The sprightly wit, the active limb! All are too mean delights for him.

4 His saints are lovely in his sight;
He views his children with delight;
He sees their hopes, he knows their fear,
And finds and loves his image there.

85

HYMN. L. M.

1 LET Zion praise the mighty God, And make his honours known abroad;