With my melodious breath, I'd tear away the vital chord,

A bloody victim to my Lord,

And live without that impious string, or show my zeal in death.

THE CREATOR AND CREATURES.

GOD is a name my soul adores,
The Almighty Three, the Eternal One;
Nature and grace, with all their powers,
Confess the infinite Unknown.

From thy great Self thy being springs;
Thou art thy own original,

Made up of uncreated things,

And self-sufficience bears them all.

Thy voice produc'd the seas and spheres,
Bid the waves roar, and planets shine;
But nothing like thyself appears,

Through all these spacious works of thine.

Still restless nature dies and grows;

From change to change the creatures run;
Thy being no succession knows,

And all thy vast designs are one.

A glance of thine runs through the globes,
Rules the bright world, and moves their frame;
Broad sheets of light compose thy robes;
Thy guards are form'd of living flame.

Thrones and dominions round thee fall,
And worship in submissive forms;
Thy presence shakes this lower ball,
This little dwelling-place of worms.

How shall affrighted mortals dare
To sing thy glory or thy grace,
Beneath thy feet we lie so far,
And see but shadows of thy face?

Who can behold the blazing light?
Who can approach consuming flame?
None but thy wisdom knows thy might;
None but thy word can speak thy name.

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST.

"SHEPHERDS, rejoice, lift up your eyes,
"And send your fears away;
"News from the region of the skies;
"Salvation's born to day.

"Jesus, the God whom angels fear, "Comes down to dwell with you; "To-day he makes his entrance here, "But not as monarchs do.

"No gold, nor purple swaddling-bands, "Nor royal shining things; "A manger for his cradle stands, "And holds the King of Kings.

"Go, shepherds, where the infant lies, "And see his humble throne; "With tears of joy in all your eyes, "Go, shepherds, kiss the Son."

Thus Gabriel sang, and straight around
The heavenly armies throng;
They tune their harps to lofty sound,
And thus conclude the song:

"Glory to God, that reigns above, "Let peace surround the earth;

"Mortals shall know their Maker's love "At their Redeemer's birth."

Lord, and shall angels have their songs,
And men no tunes to raise ?

O may we lose these useless tongues
When they forget to praise!

Glory to God that reigns above,

That pitied us forlorn!

We join to sing our Maker's love,

For there's a Saviour born.

GOD GLORIOUS, AND SINNERS SAVED.

FATHER, how wide thy glory shines!
How high thy wonders rise!

Known through the earth by thousand signs,
By thousand through the skies.

Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power,

Their motions speak thy skill;

And on the wings of every hour
We read thy patience still.

Part of thy name divinely stands
On all thy creatures writ;

They shew the labour of thine hands,
Or impress of thy feet.

But when we view thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,

Where vengeance and compassion join
In their divinest forms;

Our thoughts are lost in reverend awe;

We love and we adore;

The first archangel never saw

So much of God before.

Here the whole Deity is known,
Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brightest shone,

The justice or the grace.

When sinners broke the Father's laws,
The dying Son atones;

Oh the dear mysteries of his cross!
The triumph of his groans!

Now the full glories of the Lamb
Adorn the heavenly plains;

Sweet cherubs learn Immanuel's name,

And try their choicest strains.

may I bear some humble part

In that immortal song!

Wonder and joy shall tune my heart, And love command my tongue.

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