Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

Verse three, line six:

"With thy blessed ones to reign."

Two stanzas, the second and fifth, of the translator, have been omitted.

For biographical sketch of Dr. Neale, see No. 199.

857 Christ, the Corner-stone.

[ocr errors]

7.

N this stone, now laid with prayer,
Let thy church rise, strong and fair;
Ever, Lord, thy name be known,
Where we lay this corner-stone.

2 Let thy holy Child, who came
Man from error to reclaim,
And for sinners to atone,
Bless, with thee, this corner-stone.

3 May thy Spirit here give rest
To the heart by sin oppressed,
And the seeds of truth be sown,
Where we lay this corner-stone.

4 Open wide, O God, thy door,
For the outcast and the poor,
Who can call no house their own,
Where we lay this corner-stone.

5 By wise master-builders squared,
Here be living stones prepared
For the temple near thy throne, —
Jesus Christ its Corner-stone.

JOHN PIERPONT.

Written for, and first sung at, the laying of the corner-stone of the Suffolk Street Chapel, in Boston, for the ministry to the poor, May 23, 1839.

This hymn has a Trinitarian cast, which has been given to it largely by changes of the text. The second stanza the author wrote thus:

"Let thy holy child' who came
Man from error to reclaim,

And the sinner to atone,

With thee, bless this Corner Stone."

The next stanza is made up of verses three and four of the author:

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

859

O

L. M.

Laying the foundation.
LORD of hosts, whose glory fills
The bounds of the eternal hills,
And yet vouchsafes, in Christian lands,
To dwell in temples made with hands.

2 Grant that all we who here to-day
Rejoicing this foundation lay,
May be in very deed thine own,
Built on the precious Corner-stone.

3 Endue the creatures with thy grace
That shall adorn thy dwelling-place;
The beauty of the oak and pine,
The gold and silver make them thine.

4 To thee they all pertain; to thee
The treasures of the earth and sea;
And when we bring them to thy throne
We but present thee with thine own.

5 The heads that guide endue with skill;
The hands that work preserve from ill;
That we, who these foundations lay,
May raise the topstone in its day.

J. MASON NEALE.

Title: Laying the First Stone of a Church.

[blocks in formation]

4 Be this, O Lord, that honored place, The house of God, the gate of heaven; And may the fullness of thy grace

To all who here shall meet be given.

5 And hence, in spirit, may we soar To those bright courts where seraphs bend;

With awe like theirs, on earth adore,

Till with their anthems ours shall blend.

UNKNOWN.

This hymn first appeared in the hymn book in 1849. It was taken from the Wesleyan Magazine. I have not been able to learn any thing more concerning it.

861

יין

God's guardian presence.

L. M. 2 Abide with us, O Lord, we pray,

HIS stone to thee in faith we lay;
To thee this temple, Lord, we build;
Thy power and goodness here display,
And be it with thy presence filled.

2 Here, when thy people seek thy face,
And dying sinners pray to live,
Hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place,
And when thou hearest, Lord, forgive!

3 Here, when thy messengers proclaim
The blessed gospel of thy Son,
Still, by the power of his great name,
Be mighty signs and wonders done.

4 But will indeed Jehovah deign

Here to abide, no transient guest? Here will the world's Redeemer reign? And here the Holy Spirit rest?

5 Thy glory never hence depart;

Yet choose not, Lord, this house alone; Thy kingdom come to every heart, In every bosom fix thy throne.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

The author's title was: On Laying the Foundation Stone of a Place for Worship. That place of worship was St. George's Church, Sheffield, the corner-stone of which was laid July 9, 1821. The first verse has been improved by some one. The author wrote it thus:

"This stone to Thee in faith we lay;
We build the temple, Lord, to Thee;
Thane eye
be
open night and day,

To guard this house and sanctuary."

Montgomery was very sensitive to any change in his lines; but, if he were still living, he could not but be grateful to the editor who put some rhyme

and sense into this stanza.

The author wrote "O" instead of "Lord" in the last lines of the second stanza, and began the last verse with "That glory," etc. The fourth stanza is omitted:

4 "Hosannah! to their heavenly King,
When children's voices raise that song;
Hosannah! let their angels sing,
And heaven, with earth, the strain prolong."

From The Christian Psalmist, 1825.
See No. 5.

[blocks in formation]

Our strength, our comfort, and our light; Sun of our joy's unclouded day!

Star of our sorrow's troubled night!

3 If from thy paths our souls should stray, Yet turn to seek thy pardoning grace, Cast not our contrite prayer away,

But hear from heaven, thy dwelling-place.

4 Grant us to walk in peace and love,
And find, at last, some humble place
In that great temple built above,
Where dwell thy saints before thy face.

MRS. EMILY H. MILLER.

This hymn was written for the dedication of the Methodist Episcopal church, Akron, Ohio, 1872. Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller is better known as a writer of Sunday-school books. She is also the author of a large number of hymns and poems contributed to periodicals.

863 A humble offering to Jehovah. L. M. THE perfect world, by Adam trod,

THE

Was the first temple, built by God; His fiat laid the corner-stone, And heaved its pillars one by one.

2 He hung its starry roof on high,
The broad expanse of azure sky;
He spread its pavement, green and bright,
And curtained it with morning light.
3 The mountains in their places stood,
The sea, the sky; and all was good;
And when its first pure praises rang,
"The morning stars together sang.'

4 Lord, 'tis not ours to make the sea,
And earth, and sky, a house for thee;
But in thy sight our offering stands,
A humbler temple, "made with hands."

NATHANIEL P. WILLIS.

Title: Dedication Hymn.

It was written to be sung at the consecration of Hanover Street Church, Boston. Most verses, written to order, are measured prose of the heaviest species; but this is poetry of a lofty type—indeed, it is more poem than hymn.

The second line of the second stanza the author wrote:

"The broad illimitable sky."

This has been changed for the better. From the author's Sacred Poems. Nathaniel Parker Willis was born at Portland, Me., in 1807; prepared for college in the Boston Latin School, and was graduated at Yale in 1827. Mr. Willis devoted himself to literature as a profession, and with rare success. He lived until 1867.

864 Seeking a tabernacle.

W

L. M.

HEN to the exiled seer were given

Those rapturous views of highest
heaven,

All glorious though the visions were,
Yet he beheld no temple there.

2 The new Jerusalem on high
Hath one pervading sanctity;
No sin to mourn, no grief to mar,
God and the Lamb its temple are.

3 But we, frail sojourners below,
The pilgrim heirs of guilt and woe,
Must seek a tabernacle where
Our scattered souls may blend in prayer.

4 O Thou, who o'er the cherubim
Didst shine in glories veiled and dim,
With purer light our temple cheer,
And dwell in unveiled glory here.

[blocks in formation]

3 Here may our unborn sons

And daughters sound thy praise,
And shine, like polished stones,

Through long-succeeding days:
Here, Lord, display thy saving power,
While temples stand and men adore

4 Here may the listening throng
Receive thy truth in love;
Here Christians join the song
Of seraphim above;

Till all, who humbly seek thy face,
Rejoice in thy abounding grace.

BENJAMIN FRANCIS, ALT.

Title: On Opening a Place of Worship.
The first two stanzas have been omitted:
1 "In sweet, exalted strains
The King of Glory praise;
O'er heaven and earth he reigns

Thro' everlasting days;

He, with a nod, the world controls,
Sustains or sinks the distant poles.

2 "To earth he bends his throne,
His throne of grace divine;
Wide is his bounty known,

And wide his glories shine:
Fair Salem still his chosen rest
Is with his smiles and presence blest."

3" Then King of Glory come," etc. Verse two, line four, was written:

แ All fragrant to the skies."

The last two stanzas have changed places, and several verbal changes have been made in the last. The author wrote it:

"Here may the attentive throng
Imbibe thy truth and love,

And converts join the song

Of seraphim above;

And willing crowds surround the board,
With sacred joy and sweet accord.”

The Rev. Benjamin Francis was born in Wales in 1734; was educated at Bristol College, and in 1758 was ordained pastor of a Baptist church in Gloucestershire, where he remained until his death, in 1799.

He was a faithful and successful minister. His church was enlarged three times during his long pastorate of forty-one years.

This hymn was written for a re-opening of his church in 1774. The original was contributed to Rippon's Selection, 1787.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »