SABBATH HYMN AT SEA.

WE hail the day JEHOVAH made,

To call his wondrous works to mind; The day when Christ, in power arrayed, Came forth the Saviour of mankind.

To-day His saints delight to trace
The pathway to the house of prayer,
And feel the Spirit of His grace

Their souls for higher joys prepare.

And we, afar upon the deep,

Would joy in Christ's triumphal day; His day, our hearts would holy keep, Receive his word, and praise and pray!

Oh! teach us, Lord, to exercise
Our senses unto godliness;

May nature, seen with clearer eyes,
Thy truth upon our minds impress.

As breaks the morn, illume our soul When we peruse the sacred page; Thou Power, that rul'st the billows' roll, The tumults of our breasts assuage.

As fav'ring winds our canvas fill,
So may thy Spirit on us blow,

THE DISTANT SHIP.

Increase our faith, renew our will,
And cherish love's expanding glow.

As floating o'er the sunny wave,
Directed by the magnet's power—
Oh, draw to Him who bled to save,
By love in this accepted hour!

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As some bright star the helmsman guides, Seen near the wide-extended leech,* Thus point our course through Error's tides, Bright morning Star, to Canaan's beach!

And as the midnight deck we pace,
Teach us to watch as well as pray;
Lest Satan, through his guileful race,
Deceive the eye and lead astray.

As through the wave the anchor flies,
When shipmates furl the drooping sail-
So may our hope transpierce the skies,
And firmly hold within the vail !

J. LONGMUIR.

THE DISTANT SHIP.

THE sea-bird's wing, o'er ocean's breast,
Shoots like a glimmering star;

* A rope attached to the edge of a sail.

While the red radiance of the west
Spreads, kindling fast and far;
And yet the splendour wins thee not-
Thy still and thoughtful eye
Dwells but on one dark distant spot
Of all the main and sky.

Look round thee!-o'er the slumbering deep

A solemn glory broods;

A fire hath touched the beacon-steep,
And all the golden woods:

A thousand gorgeous clouds on high
Burn with the amber light;
What spell from that rich pageantry
Chains down thy gazing sight?

A softening thought of human cares,
A feeling linked to earth!
Is not yon speck a bark, which bears
The loved of many a hearth?
Oh! do not Hope and Grief and Fear
Crowd the frail world e'en now,
And manhood's prayer, and woman's tear,
Follow her venturous prow?

Bright are the floating clouds above,
The glittering seas below;

But we are bound by cords of love
To kindred weal and woe:

A SHIP IN MOONLIGHT.

Therefore amidst this wide array
Of glorious things and fair,

My soul is on that bark's lone way;

For human hearts are there.

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MRS HEMANS.

A SHIP IN MOONLIGHT.

AND lo! upon the murmuring waves
A glorious shape appearing!

A broad-winged vessel, through the shower
Of glimmering lustre steering!
As if the beauteous ship enjoyed
The beauty of the sea,

She lifteth up her stately head

And saileth joyfully.

A lovely path before her lies,
A lovely path behind:

She sails amid the loveliness

Like a thing with heart and mind.

Fit pilgrim through a scene so fair,
Slowly she beareth on;

A glorious phantom of the deep,

Risen up to meet the Moon.

The Moon bids her tenderest radiance fall

On her wavy streamer and snow-white wings,

And the quiet voice of the rocking sea

To cheer the gliding vision sings.

Oh! ne'er did sky and water blend
In such a holy sleep,

Or bathe in brighter quietude

A roamer of the deep.

So far the peaceful soul of Heaven
Hath settled on the sea;

It seems as if this weight of calm

Were from eternity.

O world of waters! the steadfast earth

Ne'er lay entranced like thee!

PROFESSOR WILSON

A SHIP IN A TEMPEST.

HIGH o'er the poop th' audacious seas aspire,
Uprolled in hills of fluctuating fire;

With labouring throes she rolls on either side,
And dips her gunnels in the yawning tide;
Her joints unhinged in palsied languors play,
As ice-flakes part beneath the noontide ray,
The gale howls dreadful through the blocks and
shrouds,

And big rain pours a deluge from the clouds;
From wintry magazines that sweep the sky,
Descending globes of hail impetuous fly;
High on the masts, with pale and livid rays,
Amid the gloom portentous meteors blaze;