Bowring.

Nature's Evening Hymn.

1 The heavenly spheres, to thee, O God,
Attune their evening hymn;
All wise, all holy, thou art praised,
In song of seraphim!
Unnumbered systems, suns and worlds,
Unite to worship thee,
While thy majestic greatness fills
Space, time, eternity.

2 Nature,--a temple worthy thee,
That beams with light and love;
Whose flowers so sweetly bloom below,
Whose stars rejoice above,
Whose altars are the mountain cliffs
That rise along the shore;
Whose anthems, the sublime accord
Of storm and ocean roar;

3 Her song of gratitude is sung
By spring's awakening hours;
Her summer offers at thy shrine
Its earliest, loveliest flowers;
Her autumn brings its ripened fruits,
In glorious luxury given;
While winter's silver heights reflect
Thy brightness back to heaven.

4 On all thou smil'st; and what is man
Before thy presence, God;
A breath, but yesterday inspired,
To-morrow but a clod.
That clod shall mingle in the vale,
But, kindled, Lord, by thee,
The spirit to thy arms shall spring,
To life, to liberty.

178. L. M. 6l. Bowring.

"Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge."

1 The heavens, O Lord! thy power proclaim,
And the earth echoes back thy name;
Ten thousand voices speak thy might,
And day to day, and night to night,
Utter thy praise--thou Lord above!
Thy praise, thy glory, and thy love.

2 And nature with its countless throng,
And sun, and moon, and planets' song,
And every flower that light receives,
And every dew that tips the leaves,
And every murmur of the sea--
Tunes its sweet voice to worship Thee.

3 Thy name thy glories they rehearse,
Great Spirit of the universe;
Sense of all sense, and soul of soul,
Nought is too vast for thy control;
The meanest and the mightiest share
Alike thy kindness and thy care.

179. 8s. & 7s. M. Heber.

"Consider the lilies of the field;--behold the fowls of the air."

1 Lo! the lilies of the field!
How their leaves instruction yield!
Hark to nature's lesson given
By the blessed birds of heaven!
Every bush and tufted tree
Warbles trust and piety:
Children, banish doubt and sorrow,