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Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me still;
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.

HYMNS.

IV.

Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile :
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.-C.

469

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When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,

Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise.

O how shall words with equal warmth
The gratitude declare

That glows within my ravish'd heart?
But thou canst read it there.

Thy Providence my life sustain’d,
And all my wants redress'd,
When in the silent womb I lay,
And hung upon the breast.

To all my weak complaints and cries
Thy mercy lent an ear,

Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learn'd
To form themselves in prayer.
Unnumber'd comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestow'd,
Before my infant heart conceived
From whom those comforts flow'd.
When in the slippery paths of youth
With heedless steps I ran,

Thine arm unseen convey'd me safe,
And led me up to man.

ΙΟ

20

Through hidden dangers, toils, and deaths,
It gently clear'd my way,

And through the pleasing snares of vice,
More to be fear'd than they.

When worn with sickness, oft hast thou
With health renew'd my face,
And when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Has made my cup run o'er,
And in a kind and faithful friend
Has doubled all my store.

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;

Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
That tastes those gifts with joy.

Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I'll pursue;

And after death in distant worlds
The glorious theme renew.

When nature fails, and day and night
Divide thy works no more,

My ever grateful heart, O Lord,
Thy mercy shall adore.

Through all eternity to thee
A joyful song I'll raise;
For, oh! eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise.-C.

No. 465. The Confirmation of Faith.

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Qua ratione queas traducere leniter ævum:
Ne te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido;
Ne pavor, et rerum mediocriter utilium spes.
HOR. Epist. i. 18. 97.

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The Supreme Being has made the best arguments for his own 30 existence in the formation of the heavens and earth; and these

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are arguments which a man of sense cannot forbear attending to, who is out of the noise and hurry of human affairs. Aristotle says, that should a man live under ground, and there converse with works of art and mechanism, and should afterwards be brought up into the open day, and see the several glories of the heaven and earth, he would immediately pronounce them the works of such a being as we define God to be. The psalmist has very beautiful strokes of poetry to this purpose in that exalted strain, 'The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmao ment sheweth his handy-work. One day telleth another: and one night certifieth another. There is neither speech nor language: but their voices are heard among them. Their sound is gone out into all the lands: and their words unto the ends of the world.' As such a bold and sublime manner of thinking furnished very noble matter for an ode, the reader may see it wrought into the following one.

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What though nor real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found?
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
For ever singing, as they shine,

'The hand that made us is divine.'-C.

No. 489. Thanksgiving after Travel.

Βαθυρρείταο μέγα σθένος Ωκεανοῖο.—Hom.

[The great might of the deep-flowing Ocean stream.]

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Confusion dwelt in every face,

And fear in every heart:

When waves on waves, and gulfs on gulfs,
O'ercame the pilot's art.

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