HYMN.

American Missions.

1.

Lord, when thou didst come from Heaven,

Edom sought thee, from afar,

With her gold and incense given,

By the leading of a star;

Westward then, from Eden guiding,

Was the light of Bethlehem shed;

Like the pillar’d blaze abiding

O’er the wandering Hebrew’s head.

2.

Westward still, the world alluring,

Hath the risen Day-Star beamed,

And, the sinking soul assuring,

O’er the world’s wide ocean streamed.

Westward still, the midnight breaking,

Westward still, its light be poured!

Heathen thy possession making,

Utmost lands thy dwelling, Lord!

3.

Westward, where from giant fountains,

Oregon comes down in flood,

Westward to Missouri’s mountains,

Or to wild Iowa’s wood:

Where the broad Arkansas goeth,

Winding o’er savannahs wide;

Where, beyond old Huron, floweth

Many a strong eternal tide.

4.

Westward, where the wavy prairie

Dark as slumbering ocean lies,

Let thy starlight, Son of Mary,

O’er the shadow’d billows rise!

There, be heard ye herald voices

Till the Lord his glory shows,

And the lonely place rejoices,

With the bloom of Sharon’s rose.

5.

Where the wilderness is lying,

And the trees of ages nod,

Westward, in the desert crying,

Make a highway for our God:

Westward—till the Church be kneeling

In the forest aisles so dim,

And the wildwood’s arches pealing,

With the people’s holy hymn!

6.

Westward, still, oh Lord, in glory

Be thy bannered cross unfurled,

Till from vale to mountain hoary,

Rolls the anthem round the world;

Reign, oh reign o’er every nation,

Reign, Redeemer, Father, King,

And with songs of thy salvation,

Let the wide creation ring!