THE DROUGHT.

BY JAMES MONTGOMERY.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel."- HOSEA íi. 21, 22.

WHAT Strange, what fearful thing hath come to pass ?
The ground is iron, and the skies are brass :
Man, on the withering harvest casts his eye,
"Give me your fruits in season, or I die ;"
The timely fruits implore their parent- - Earth,
"Where is thy strength to bring us forth to birth?"
The Earth, all prostrate, to the Clouds complains

'Send to my heart your fertilizing rains;"

The Clouds invoke the heavens -"Collect, dispense
Through us your healing, quickening influence;"
The Heavens to HIM that rules them raise their moan

Command thy blessing, and it shall be done."

The Lord is in his temple :-hushed and still, The suppliant Universe awaits his will.

He speaks:- and to the clouds the Heavens dispense With lightning speed, their genial influence :

The gathering, breaking clouds pour down the rains :
Earth drinks the bliss thro' all her eager veins.
From teeming furrows start the fruits to birth,
And shake their riches on the lap of Earth :
Man sees the harvest grow beneath his eye,
Turns, and looks up with rapture to the sky :
All that have breath and being then rejoice,
All Nature's voices blend in one great voice;
"Glory to God, who thus Himself makes known!"

When shall all tongues confess HIM GOD ALONE? Lord, as the rain comes down from heaven- the rain That waters Earth, and turns not thence again, But makes the tree to bud, the corn to spring, And feeds and gladdens every living thing; So come thy Gospel o'er a world destroyed, In boundless blessings, and return not void : So let it come, in universal showers, To fill Earth's dreariest wilderness with flowers,

With flowers of promise, fill the wild within Man's heart, laid waste and desolate by sin : Where thorns and thistles curse the infested ground, Let the rich fruits of righteousness abound;

And trees of life, for ever fresh and green,

Flourish, where only trees of death have been!

Let Truth look down from heaven, Hope soar above,
Justice and Mercy kiss, Faith work by Love;
Heralds the year of jubilee proclaim ;

Bow every knee at the Redeemer's name;
Nations new-born, their fathers' idols spurn;
The ransomed of the Lord with songs return:

Through realms, with darkness, thraldom, guilt, o'erspread,
In light, joy, freedom, be the Spirit shed.

Speak thou the word: -to Satan's power say,
But to a world of pardoned sinners

"Cease!"

"Peace!"

Thus, in thy grace, O God, Thyself make known, Then shall all tongues confess THEE GOD ALONE!

Sheffield, Aug. 1826.

Published by W. Haynes & Son and Wightman & Cramp, London, 1827.

Printed by Mr Quee