3.

And though it wear a transient gloom, Though darkness on our steps attend, E'en though it lead us through the tomb, Its course is bliss, and heaven its end.

454. C. M.

LIVERPOOL COLLECTION.

Reliance upon God in affliction.

1.

O GOD, to thee my sinking soul
In deep distress shall fly;
Thy love can all my griefs control,
And all my wants supply.

2.

How oft, when black misfortune's band
Around their victim stood,
The seeming ill, at thy command,
Hath changed to real good.

3.

The tempest that obscured the sky
Hath set my bosom free

From earthly care and sensual joy,
And turn'd my thoughts to thee.

4.

Affliction's blast hath made me learn
To feel for others' woe,

And humbly seek with deep concern
My own defects to know.

5.

Then rage, ye storms; ye billows, roar;
My heart defies your shock;

Ye make me cling to God the more,
To God, my sheltering rock.

455. L. M.

NEW YORK COLLECTION.

Trust in God our Father.

1.

Is there a lone and dreary hour

When worldly pleasures lose their power?
My Father, let me turn to thee,
And set each thought of darkness free.

2.

Is there a time of racking grief
Which scorns the prospect of relief?
My Father, break the cheerless gloom,
And bid my heart its calm resume.

3.

Is there an hour of peace and joy
When hope is all my soul's employ?
My Father, still my hopes will roam,
Until they rest with thee, their home.

4.

The noontide blaze, the midnight scene,
The dawn, or twilight's sweet serene,
The sick, nay e'en the dying hour,
Shall own my Father's grace and power.

SUBMISSIVE to thy will, O God,

I all to thee resign;'

And bow'd beneath thy chastening rod,
I mourn, but not repine.

2.

Why should my foolish heart complain,
When wisdom, truth and love
Direct the stroke, inflict the pain,
And point to joys above?

3.

I would submit to all thy will,

For thou art good and wise: Let every anxious thought be still, Nor one faint murmur rise.

4.

Thy love will cheer the darksome gloom,
And bid me wait serene,

Till hopes and joys immortal bloom,
And brighten all the scene.

457. P. M.

LIVERPOOL COLLECTION.

Resignation to the will of God.

1.

O GOD, to thee who first hast given
To mortal frame the spark of heaven,
I consecrate my powers;
Thine is its hoped eternity,
And thine its little life shall be
Through years and days and hours.

2.

Here at thy shrine I bow, resign'd
Each struggling passion of my mind,
With all its hopes and fears;
To bend each thought to thy control
Is the sole wish that fires my soul
Through all my future years.

3.

For oh, when earthly cares are o'er, The worn heart feels there is no more Of bliss beneath the skies;

There is no other certain trust Which blends the merciful and just, Omnipotent and wise.

FAR from the world, O Lord, I flee,
From strife and tumult far;
From scenes where sin is waging still
Its most successful war.

2.

The calm retreat, the silent shade, With prayer and praise agree; And seem by thy sweet bounty made For those who follow thee.

3.

There, if thy spirit touch the soul,
And grace her mean abode,

O with what peace, and joy, and love,
She communes with her God!

4.

There, like the nightingale, she pours Her solitary lays;

Nor asks a witness of her song,

Nor thirsts for human praise.

5.

Author and guardian of my life!
Sweet source of light divine!
And all harmonious names in one,
My Father, thou art mine!

6.

What thanks I owe thee, and what love!
A boundless, endless store
Shall echo through the realms above
When time shall be no more.

ENOUGH of life's vain scene I've trod,
Sweet is this interval of rest;.

With cheerful heart I meet my God,
His presence makes me truly blest.

2.

Father and friend! relations dear,
Rejoicing to the human soul;
They lift us above every fear,
And ills, if ills there be, control.

3.

Pleasant is life, and sweet the light
That pours from the bright orb of day,
Revealing to our raptured sight
The world in all its rich display.

4.

Pleasant is life, and sweet its ties,
The touching charities of man;
Friend, fellow, child, and parent rise,
Endearing life's progressive plan: