With herbs and plants, a flow'ry birth,
The naked globe he crown'd,

Ere there was rain to bless the earth 1,
Or sun to warm the ground.
Then he adorn'd the upper skies:
Behold! the sun appears;
The moon and stars in order rise,
To mark our months and years.

Out of the deep th' Almighty King
Did vital beings frame,
And painted fowls of every wing,
And fish of ev'ry name.

He gave the lion and the worm
At once their wondrous birth;
And grazing beasts of various form
Rose from the teeming earth.
Adam was formed of equal clay,
The sov'reign of the rest;
Design'd for nobler ends than they,
With God's own image blest.
Thus glorious in the Maker's eye
The young creation stood;
He saw the building from on high,
His word pronounc'd it good.

LESSON II.

Watts.

A CHILD'S HYMN FOR THE CLOSE OF THE WEEK.

Before thy footstool, God of truth,

A humble child bows down,
To thank thee for the joys of youth,
And errors all to own.

1 "For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth.”Gen. ii. 5.

I know thou art the fountain-head
Whence all my blessings flow;
But all thy glory and thy good,
I dare not seek to know:

Whether thy way is on the wind,
The pathway of the storm;
Or on the waste of waters wide,
Which rolling waves deform1:
But this I know, by flood or wild,
Thou seest me night and day 2,
And grievest o'er the wayward child
That goes from thee astray.

Through all this week thy kindly sway

Has round me been for good
At task or play, by night or day,
In wilderness or wood.

3

And when I lay me down to sleep,
Thy guardian shield be spread 3 ;
And angel of thy presence keep
A watch around my bed.

O teach me to adore thy name,
For all thy love to me:

Thy guardian goodness to proclaim,
Thy truth and verity!

And through the darkness of the night
Watch o'er my thoughts that stray,
And lift mine eyes upon the light
Of a new Sabbath-day.

And in a holy frame employ
Thy day, due praise to give
To Him who wept that I might joy,
And died, that I might live 4:

"Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds his chariots; who walketh upon the wings of the wind."- Ps. civ. 3. See also Ps. xviii. 10, &c.

2 "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."-Prov. xv. 3.

3 "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.". Ps. iv. 8.

4 "Who died for us, that we should live together with him.". -1 Thes. v. 10.

Who rose again and went above,
That sinful ones, like me,
Might glory in redeeming love,
To all eternity.

For all thy blessings show'r'd around
My kindred and my race,

I bless thee, Lord, but most of all
For riches of thy grace.

For peace of mind, and health of frame,
And joys a mighty store,
Accept my thanks, and to thy name
Be glory evermore!

Turn, O turn a pitying eye-
Hear our solemn litany!

By the sacred grief that wept

O'er the grave where Lazarus slept 1;
By the boding tears that flow'd 2
Over Salem's loved abode ;

By the anguish'd words that told,
Treachery lurk'd within thy fold3;
From thy seat above the sky,
Hear our solemn litany !

By thine hour of dire despair,
By thine agony of prayer,
By the cross, the nail, the thorn,
Piercing spear, and torturing scorn;
By the gloom that veil'd the skies 5,
O'er that dreadful sacrifice,

Listen to our humble cry,
Hear our solemn litany!

By the deep expiring groan 6,
By the sad sepulchral stone,
By the vault whose dark abode
Held in vain the rising God;
O! from earth to heaven restored
Mighty re-ascended Lord,
Listen, listen to the cry
Of our solemn litany!

Grant.

5" And there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour."Luke, xxiii. 44.

6" And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."-Luke, xxiii. 46.

7" Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."-Acts, ii. 24.

How are the valiant fall'n! the slain
Thy mountains stain.

Oh! let it not in Gath be known,
Nor in the streets of Askelon!?

Lest that sad story should excite
Their dire delight!

Lest in the torrent of our woe,
Their pleasure flow :

Lest their triumphant daughters ring
Their cymbals, and their Pæans sing.

Yon hills of Gilboa3, never may
You offerings pay:

No morning dew, nor fruitful showers,
Clothe you with flowers;

Saul and his arms there made a spoil,
As if untouch'd with sacred oil.

The bow of noble Jonathan

Great battles wan:

His arrows on the mighty fed,
With slaughter red.

Saul never raised his arm in vain,

His sword still glutted with the slain.

1 Sauvage (Fr.), wild; uncultivated.

2 Gath and Askelon, two of the

principal cities of the Philistines. See
Geography of Palestine, p. 81.
3 Geography of Palestine, p. 6.