Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

While Righteousness and Justice mourn,
And Love and Pity droop forlorn.

5 Great God, whose powerful hand can bind
The raging waves and furious wind!
O bid the human tempest cease,

And hush the maddening world to peace.

S. B. Linsley. 484. L. M.

Isaiah ix. 6.

Winchester.

1 JESUS is call'd the Prince of peace:
There's heavenly sweetness in that word.
And can those who profess his name
Rush to the fight, and draw the sword?

2 O can they tread the purple field,

And hear the dreadful cannon roar?
See men transform'd to demons fierce,
Hear dying groans, see human gore?
3 And, when the battle day is past,
What scenes of agony arise!
The wounded soldier wrings his hands-
For death, and only death, he cries. *
4 And orphans weep, and mothers groan,
And widows, shrieking, rend the air;
And hoary sires, in speechless woe,

Grieve that their slaughter'd sons were there.
5 Thou Lamb of God! thou Prince of peace!
Thron'd in thy blissful realms above!
We'd strive to prove that war is wrong:
O, aid us in this work of love.

*After one of Bonaparte's splendid victories, the wounded soldiers begged the surgeons not to dress their wounds, but to kill them instantly to relieve them of their

agony.

S. B. Linsley. 485.

C. M.

1 FROM battles fought the chief returns
With triumph on his brow;

And far his fame and power extend,
And conquer'd nations bow.

2 Perhaps some proud and youthful heart
Such glory, too, would gain-
Triumphal arches, shouting throngs,
And all that pageant vain.

3 Stop, thoughtless youth, and pause awhile:
Would you such glory share?

A hotter place in hell's dark cave,
With those he hasten'd there.

4 Had he ten thousand conquer'd worlds
He'd gladly give them all

Could he revoke those scenes below
Which you so glorious call.

5 Do his remember'd vict'ries now
One cheering thought inspire?
O, no! they prove the gnawing worm,
And ever-quenchless fire.

S. B. Linsley. 486. L. M.

Horrors of war.

Rockingham.

1 POOR are the triumphs war has won.
Its countless evils who can see?
Immortal beings! deathless souls!
Resolved on death or victory.

2 And many find a speedy death,

And many reach that dark abode,
With all their sins upon their heads,
And hearts at enmity with God.

3 She comes, and, lo! the orphan's wail
No longer loads the passing gale:
Contentment sheds her sacred calm,
And nature owns the sovereign charm.
4 She comes, and banner, spear, and plume,
That led to conquest and the tomb,
Wreath'd with the olive, now adorn
The triumphs of the joyous morn.

5 She comes, and with attentive ear
The gospel's sound the heathen hear—
Round blood-stain'd altars throng no more,
But suppliant bow, and God adore.

6 Father, if such the bliss that flows
Where Peace delights to seek repose,
On earth may she forever rest,
Each bosom with her presence blest.

M. Gardner.

481. L. M.

Enfield.

1 GREAT Prince of peace, enthron'd on high,
Whose heralds bright along the sky
In joyful notes the song began,
Peace be on earth, good will to man—

2 No more let war's dire discord reign,
Nor battle's shout be heard again;
Vouchsafe thy Spirit from above,
And fill each heart with peace and love.

3 No more let cannon, swords, and spears,
Destruction, horror, grief, and tears,
Nor strife, nor bloodshed, blight the land
Made fair by thy creating hand.

4. But let true love to God and man
Fulfil the glorious gospel plan:

Then shall each voice repeat the strain,
Peace be on earth, good will to men.

Sigourney.

482. L. M.

Peace, the song of angels.

Eaton.

1 PEACE was the song that angels sang When Jesus sought this vale of tears; And sweet the heavenly prelude rang

To calm the watchful shepherd's fears. 2 War is the word that man hath spoke,

Convuls'd by passions dark and dread,
And pride enforc'd a lawless yoke,

E'en where the gospel's banner spread.
3 Peace was the prayer the Saviour breath'd
When from our world his steps withdrew ;
The gift he to his friends bequeath'd
With Calv'ry and the cross in view.

4 Redeemer! with adoring love

Our spirits take thy rich bequest,—
The watchword of the host above,
The passport to the realms of rest.

Aiken.

483. L. M.

Rothwell.

1 THOU, who hast stamp'd on human kind
The image of a heav'n-born mind,
And in a father's wide embrace
Hast cherish'd all the human race-

2 O, see with what insatiate rage
Thy sons their impious battles wage;
How spreads destruction like a flood,
And brothers shed their brothers' blood.
3 See guilty passions spring to birth,
And deeds of hell deform the earth;

3 And many noble youths lie low, (Alas, how prodigal of life!) Many a gallant veteran writhes

Beneath the surgeon's tort'ring knife.
4 And now the smoking hamlet view;
The peaceful village wrapt in fire;
And fields of grain like stubble blaze;
And honest labor's hopes expire.
5 Now o'er the plain the fugitives

Fly houseless, homeless, pale with fear;
Mothers and babes, the aged, sick-
Ah, what a sight of woe is here!

6 When war prevails, sins o'er the land
Rush like a desolating tide;

God is contemn'd, his worship scorn'd,
And wholesome human law defied.

7 Then let us labor, let us strive,

And pray that scenes like these may ceaseThat God would fit our souls to dwell

Where Jesus reigns the Prince of peace.

S. B. Linsley. 487. c. M.

Origin of wars. James iv. 1.

Dundee.

1 "FROM whence come wars and fightings dire?" The sacred penman cries.

"From lusts which in your members war: They from your sins arise."

2 O when shall swords to ploughshares turn,
And heave the teeming soil?

When shall our spears be pruning-hooks
To aid the lab'rer's toil?

3 When shall the battle's clangor cease,
And garments roll'd in gore?

« ForrigeFortsæt »