PREFACE.

THE following very simple compositions were written a few years ago, exclusively for the Author's family circle, and without the remotest idea of their publication. It is now her wish to render them more extensively, however humbly, useful. The Hymns were intended to associate the first devotional thoughts of childhood with the loveliness and solemnity diffused over the outward creation. Should they prove acceptable, they may perhaps be followed by a series, of a character more entirely scriptural.

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HYMNS FOR CHILDHOOD.

INTRODUCTORY VERSES.

OH! blest art thou, whose steps may rove
Through the green paths of vale and grove,
Or, leaving all their charms below,
Climb the wild mountain's airy brow;

And gaze afar o'er cultured plains,
And cities with their stately fanes,

And forests, that beneath thee lie,

And ocean mingling with the sky.

For man can show thee naught so fair,
As Nature's varied marvels there;
And if thy pure and artless breast
Can feel their grandeur, thou art blest!

For thee the stream in beauty flows,
For thee the gale of summer blows,
And, in deep glen and wood-walk free,
Voices of joy still breathe for thee.

But happier far, if then thy soul
Can soar to Him who made the whole,
If to thine eye the simplest flower

Portray His bounty and His power.
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If, in whate'er is bright or grand,

Thy mind can trace His viewless hand,
If Nature's music bid thee raise
Thy song of gratitude and praise ;

If heaven and earth with beauty fraught,
Lead to His throne thy raptured thought,
If there thou. lov'st His love to read,
Then, wanderer, thou art blest indeed.

THE RAINBOW.

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis ix. 13.

SOFT falls the mild, reviving shower
From April's changeful skies,

And rain-drops bend each trembling flower
They tinge with richer dyes.

Soon shall their genial influence call
A thousand buds to day,

Which, waiting but that balmy fall,
In hidden beauty lay.

E'en now full many a blossom's bell
With fragrance fills the shade!
And verdure clothes each grassy dell,
In brighter tints array'd.

But mark! what arch of varied hue
From Heaven to earth is bow'd!
Haste, ere it vanish, haste to view
The Rainbow in the cloud.

How bright its glory! there behold
The emerald's verdant rays,
The topaz blends its hue of gold
With the deep ruby's blaze.

Yet not alone to charm thy sight
Was given the vision fair;-
Gaze on that arch of colour'd light,
And read God's mercy there.

It tells us that the mighty deep,
Fast by th' Eternal chain'd,

No more o'er earth's domains shall sweep,
Awful and unrestrain❜d.

It tells that seasons, heat and cold,
Fix'd by his sovereign will,

Shall, in their course, bid man behold
Seed-time and harvest still;

That still the flower shall deck the field,
When vernal zephyrs blow;

That still the vine its fruit shall yield,
When autumn sun-beams glow.

Then, child of that fair earth! which yet
Smiles with each charm endow'd,
Bless thou His name, whose mercy set
The Rainbow in the cloud!

THE SUN.

THE Sun comes forth;-each mountain height Glows with a tinge of rosy light,

And flowers that slumber'd through the night
Their dewy leaves unfold;

A flood of splendour bursts on high,
And ocean's breast reflects a sky

Of crimson and of gold.

Oh! thou art glorious, orb of day!
Exulting nations hail thy ray,

Creation swells a choral lay,

To welcome thy return;

From thee all nature draws her hues,
Thy beams the insect's wings suffuse,

And in the diamond burn.

Yet must thou fade;-when earth and heaven By fire and tempest shall be riven,

Thou, from thy sphere of radiance driven,

Oh Sun! must fall at last;

Another heaven, another earth,
Far other glory shall have birth,
When all we see is past.

But He, who gave the word of might,
"Let there be light"-and there was light,

Who bade thee chase the gloom of night,

And beam, the world to bless ;

For ever bright, for ever pure,
Alone, unchanging, shall endure,
The Sun of Righteousness!