S.M.

Come, and with cheerful voices raise

To God your grateful songs of praise.
2 With humble hearts His Name adore ;

Thankful repeat His mercies o'er ;
Goodness divine has brought you here,

To thank His Name on this New Year. 3 Kindly He makes your lives His care ;

Richly His favours still you share ;
O may the God of grace and truth

Now bless you in the prime of youth ! 359

Spring.
1 SPARED to another spring,

We raise our grateful songs;
'Tis pleasant, Lord, Thy praise to sing,

For praise to Thee belongs.
2 Ten thousand different flowers

To Thee sweet off' rings bear ;
And cheerful birds, in shady bowers,

Sing forth Thy tender care.
3 The fields on every side,

The trees on every hill,
The glorious sun, the rolling tide,

Proclaim Thy wondrous skill.
4 But trees, and fields, and skies,

Still praise a God unknown ;
For gratitude and love can rise

From living hearts alone.
360 Spring-Regeneration.
1 The ice and snow we lately saw,

Which covered all the ground,

C.M.

Are melted soon before the thaw,

And can no more be found.
2 Could all the art of man suffice

To move away the snow,
To clear the rivers from the ice,

Or make the waters flow?
3 No; 'tis the work of God alone ;

An emblem of the power
By which He melts the heart of stone,

In His appointed hour.
4 All outward means, till He appears,

Will ineffectual prove;
Though much the sinner sees and hears,

He's destitute of love.
5 But let the stoutest sinner feel

The soft'ning warmth of grace,
Though hard as ice, or rock, or steel,

His heart dissolves apace. 361 Return of Spring.

C.M. 1 THE icy chains that bound the earth

Are now dissolved and gone ;
Waked by the sun, the blooming spring

Puts her new garments on.
2 Where awful desolation reigned,

Now plenty rears her head ;
Exulting with a smile to see

Her late destroyer fled.
3 May we in every scene admire

The wisdom and the power ;
Behold the God in every plant,

In every opening flower.

S.M.

ET

362 Nature Renewed.

1 FROM winter's barren clods,

From winter's joyless waste,
The spring in sudden youth appears

With blooming beauty graced.
2 How balmy is the air!

How warm the solar beams!
And to refresh the ground, the rains

Descend in gentle streams.
3 Great God, at Thy command

Seasons in order rise ;
Thy power and love in concert reign

Through earth, and seas, and skies. 4 With grateful praise we own

Thy providential hand,
While

grass for kine, and herbs and corn
For men, enrich the land.
5 But greater still the gift

Of Thine Incarnate Son ;
By Him forgiveness, peace, and joy,

Through endless ages run. 363

Sickness.
1 WHEN the afflicting hand of God

Seems heavily to press,
O be it always mine to see

He chastens but to bless!
2 If every earthly comfort fail,

And creature good decay,
Fix, Lord, this wandering heart on joys

That never pass away.

C.M.

3 When sickness preys upon my cheek,

And fades the healthier hue,
May trust and confidence in Thee

Each care and pain subdue !
And when the hour of death shall come,

May I, from sorrow free,
Pass gently to my heavenly home,

And be, O Lord, with Thee ! 364 Anniversary.

L.M. 10 Thou to whom all thanks are due,

Our Maker and Preserver too,
Now teach our grateful songs to praise

The God in whom are all our ways.
2 We thank Thee for Thy watchful care

Continued through another year;
For all Thy kind remembrance shown

In every favour we have known. 3 Thy goodness lights the path we tread;

Thy mercy gives our daily bread;
And each good thing we have besides,

Thy large and bounteous hand provides. 4 But Thou hast richer treasures stored

For those who follow Christ the Lord ;
May we amongst that number be,

And find true joy alone in Thee ! 365 Before Starting for Excursion or School Treat.

P.M. 1 The day has now come, and here we are

met, The teachers and scholars, the girls and

the boys;

see.

Let us all now agree truly happy to be,

And set off in gladness God's wonders to 2 Then happy to be, our minds must be free From malice and anger, from envy and

spite, From folly and lying, or any such sin,

Control over tempers all striving to win. 3 Be each one determined to reign over self,

And every one seeking all others to please ; For this will ensure us a day of content,

A season of pleasure, on which we are bent. 4 The folly of one could spoil our delight, Would vex our dear teachers, and make

them feel sad; Leteach ask himself, Shall that troubler be I?

O no ; to avoid it I'll try. 5 Then let us now go, with one heart and

one mind, Along with our teachers, who aim at our

good ; Oft telling us truly sin's hated by God, Yet telling us also that Christ shed His

blood.
366 Removal of a Teacher.
1 LORD, in Thy mercy condescend

To richly bless our valued friend ;
May Thy kind love that sent him here,

Attend him to a distant sphere.
2 How often we his voice have heard,
Explaining Thy most holy Word !

P

And answer,

L.M.