Thy spirit sways with soft control,

And bears our thoughts above.
3 Why should we then decline from thee?

In search of folly rove?
Or strive to set our passions free

From these soft bands of love ? 4 Extend around thy loving arms,

Infold us in thy breast,
Where, captives to resistless charms,

Our joyful souls may rest.

HYMN 418. 61. L. M. [#]

Angelic Strains responded. 1 ARRAYED in clouds of golden light,

More bright than heaven's resplendent bow, Jehovah's angel came by night,

To bless the sleeping world below:
How soft the music of his tongue !

How sweet the hallowed strains he sung ! 2 Good will henceforth to man be given;

The light of glory beams on earth;
Let angels tune the harps of heaven,
And

saints below rejoice with mirth :
On Bethlehem's plains the shepherds sing,
And Judah's children hail their King.

EVANGELICAL DEVOTION.

HYMN 419. C. M. [#or b]

Devotion.
1 While thee I seek, protecting Power,

Be my vain wishes stilled;
And may this consecrated hour

With better hopes be filled. 2 Thy love the power of thought bestowed ;

To thee my thoughts would soar :
Thy mercy o'er my life has flowed;

That mercy I adore.
3 In each event of life, how clear

Thy ruling hand I see!
Each blessing to my soul more dear,

Because conferred by thee.
4 In every joy that crowns my days,

In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,

Or seek relief in prayer.
5 When gladness wings my favoured hour,

Thy love my thoughts shall fill;
Resigned when storms of sorrow lower,

My soul shall meet thy will. 6 My lifted eye, without a tear,

The gathering storm shall see;
My steadfast heart shall know no fear;

That heart will rest on thee.

HYMN 420. C. M. [b]

Secret Devotion.
1 FATHER divine, thy piercing eye

Looks through the shades of night;
In deep retirement thou art nigh,

With heart discerning-sight.
2 There shall that piercing eye survey

My humble worship paid
With every morning's dawning ray,

And every evening's shade.
3 I'll leave behind each earthly care;

To thee my soul shall soar;
While grateful praise and fervent prayer

Employ the silent hour.
4 So shall the visits of thy love

My soul in secret bless;
So shalt thou deign, in worlds above,

Thy suppliant to confess.

HYMN 421. L. M. [#or b]

Devout Considerations and Desires.
1 As showers on meadows newly mown

The Lord shall shed his blessings down;
Crowned with whose life-infusing drops,

Earth shall renew her blissful corps. 2 Lands that, beneath a burning sky,

Have long been desolate and dry,
Effusions of his love shall share,
And sudden life and verdure wear.

3 The dews and rains, in all their store,

Drenching the pastures o'er and o'er,
Are not so copious as that grace

Which sanctifies and saves our race. 4 As, in soft silence, vernal showers

Descend, and cheer the fainting flowers,
So, in the secrecy of love,

Falls the sweet influence from above. 5 That heavenly influence let me find

In holy silence of the mind,
While

every grace maintains its bloom, Diffusing wide its rich perfume. 6 Nor let these blessings be confined

To me, but poured on all mankind,
Till earth's wild wastes in verdure rise,
And a young Eden bless our eyes.

HYMN 422. C. M. [# or 6 ]

Breathing after the holy Spirit.
1 Come, holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,

With all thy quickening powers;
Kindle a flame of sacred love

In these cold hearts of ours.
2 Look, how we grovel here below,

Fond of these trifling toys;
Our souls can neither fly nor go

To reach eternal joys.
3 In vain we tune our formal songs,

In vain we strive to rise ;
Hosannas languish on our tongues,

And our devotion dies.

4 Dear Lord, and shall we ever live

At this poor dying rate?
Our love so faint, so cold to thee,

And thine to us so great ?
5 Come, holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,

With all thy quickening powers ;
Come, shed abroad a Saviour's love,

And that shall kindle ours.

HYMN 423. L. M. [#]

Pleasures of Devotion. 1 Far from my thoughts, vain world, be gone;

Let my religious hours alone :
Fain would my eyes my Saviour see;

I wait a visit, Lord, froin thee.
2 My heart grows warm with holy fire,

And kindles with a pure desire;
Come, my dear Jesus, from above,

And feed my soul with heavenly love. 3 Blest Jesus, what delicious fare !

How sweet thine entertainments are !
Never did angels taste, above,

Redeeming grace and dying love. 4 Hail, great Immanuel, all divine !

In thee thy Father's glorieś shine,
Thou brightest, sweetest, fairest one,
That eyes have seen, or angels known!