238. c. M.

Intercession for the Thoughtless and Inconsiderate. INDULGENT GOD! with pitying eye

1

The sons of men survey:

Alas, how thoughtless mortals sport

In sin's destructive way!

2 Ten thousand dangers lurk around,
To bear them to the tomb:

Each passing hour may place them, where
Repentance cannot come.

3 Reclaim, O LORD! their wand'ring minds
Amus'd by airy dreams,
That heav'nly wisdom may dispel
Their visionary schemes.

4 Guide and direct them by thy truth,
Their dangerous state to see,

That they may seek and find the path
Which leads to heav'n and thee.

1 THE

239. L. M.

Family Religion.

LORD, whose mercies never cease,
Still crowns our families with peace;
From him the dear connections rose,
And all their blessings he bestows.

2 To GCD, most worthy to be prais'd,
Be our domestic altars rais'd:
Though Lord of heaven, he deigas to dwell
With saints in their obscurest cell.

3 To him may each united house

Morning and night present their vows;
And servants, with the rising race,
Be taught his precepts, and his grace.
4 Oh may we, by our lives, proclaim
The honours of his glorious name;
And well prepare, by faith and love,
To join the family above.

Y

240. L. M.

Social Duty.

1 GOD of love! thy grace impart ;
With lib'ral views inspire the soul;

Enlarge the most contracted heart,
And ev'ry selfish wish controul.

2 Oh may we with sincere delight,
To all, the task of duty pay,-
Tender of ev'ry social right,
Obedient to thy righteous sway!
3 Teach us in ev'ry trying hour,
To keep the paths of truth and love,
To trust in thy all-gracious pow'r,
And thus thy faithful servants prove.

1

241. C. M.

Love the most excellent of Christian Graces.
F love with other graces reign,
The mind is truly bless'd;

For love, the noblest of the train,
Aids and exalts the rest.

2 Love suffers long with patient eye,
Nor is provok'd in haste;
She lets the present injury die,
And soon forgets the past.

3 Meekness and peace her bosom fill,
From wrath aud malice pure;
She hopes, believes, and thinks no ill,
And all things will endure.

4 She nor desires, nor seeks to know
The scandals men devise;

Nor looks with pride on those below,
Nor envies those who rise.

5 She, by another's good requir'd,
Lays gain and ease aside;

So, by his fervent love inspir'd,
For us our Master died.

6 Love is the grace which keeps her pow'r, In all the realms above:

There faith and hope are known no more;
But saints for ever love.

242. c. M.

Sympathy.

1 FAR from thy servants, GoD of grace!

The unfeeling heart remove;

And form in our obedient souls
The image of thy love.

2 Oh may our sympathizing hearts
The gen'rous pleasure know,
Kindly to share in others' joy
And weep for others' woe!

3 Where'er the helpless sons of grief
In low distress are laid,

Soft be our hearts their pains to feel,
And swift our hands to aid.

4 Oh be the law of love fulfill'd
In ev'ry act and thought;
Each angry passion far remov'd
Each selfish view forgot!

5 Be thou, my heart! dilated wide
With this kind social grace;
And in one grasp of fervent love
All earth and heav'n embrace.

WITH pure delight the bosom glows,

1 WIT

Where love to GoD resides;

And bless'd, and blessing, is his heart,

Where charity abides.

2 Prompted by love, to mis'ry's call
He never shuts his ear;

And o'er the sorrows others feel
Oft sheds the silent tear.

3 Doth virtue in distress appear?
Doth grief the heart invade?
Doth humble poverty complain
And seek his friendly aid?

4 Benevolence his bosom warms,
And love his actions guides;
A friend in him the poor man finds:
In him the heart confides.

5 For him, the sweet rewards of love
On earth are kept in store;

And God will be his constant Friend,
His portion evermore.

244. C. M.

Christian Charity.

1 BEHOLD! where, breathing love divine,

Our dying Master stands;
His weeping follow'rs gath'ring round,
Receive his last commands.

2 From that mild Teacher's parting lips,
What tender accents fell!

The gentle precept which he gave,

Became its author well.

3 'Bless'd is the man, whose soft'ning heart Feels all another's pain;

To whom the supplicating eye

Was never rais'd in vain.

4 'Whose breast expands with gen'rous warmth,

A stranger's woes to feel,

And bleeds in pity o'er the wound
He wants the pow'r to heal.

5 'He spreads his kind supporting arms
To ev'ry child of grief;

His secret bounty largely flows,

And brings unask'd relief.

6 'To gentle offices of love

His feet are never slow:

He views, through mercy's melting eye,
A brother in a foe.

7 To him protection shall be shown;
And mercy from above

Descend on those, who thus fulfil
The perfect law of love.'

1

L

2

245. s. M.

Christian Unity.

ET party-strife ro more

The Christian world o'erspread;

Gentile, and Jew, and bond, and free,
Are one in Christ their Head.

Among the saints on earth,

Let mutual love be found,-
Heirs of the same inheritance,

With mutual blessings crown'd.

Thus of the joys of heav'n

Some foretaste shall we prove,

Where purest pleasures will arise,
And every heart be love.

246. L. M.

Candour.

1 ALL-SEEING GOD! 'tis thine to know

The spring whence wrong opinions flow;

To judge from principles within,

When frailty errs and when we sin.

2 Who among men, great LORD of all!
Thy servant to his bar shall call ;
Judge him, for modes of faith, thy foe,
And doom him to the realms of woe?