I.

ADVENT.

GREAT God, what do I see and hear!
The end of things created!
The Judge of mankind doth appear
On clouds of glory seated;

The Trumpet sounds :-the graves restore
The Dead which they contain'd before:
Prepare, my soul, to meet Him!

The Dead in Christ shall first arise
At the last Trumpet's sounding;
Caught up to meet Him in the skies,
With joy their Lord surrounding.
No gloomy fears their souls dismay,—
His Presence sheds eternal day

On those prepar'd to meet Him.

But sinners, fill'd with guilty fears,
Behold His wrath prevailing;
For they shall rise, and find their tears
And sighs are unavailing.

The Day of Grace is past and gone;
Trembling, they stand before the Throne
All unprepar'd to meet Him.

Great Judge! to Thee our prayers we pour
In deep abasement bending:

O shield us through that last dread hour,
Thy wondrous love extending.

May we, in this our trial-day,

With wakeful hearts His Word obey,
And thus prepare to meet Him!

"In the hour of death, and in the Day of Judgment, Good Lord, deliver us."

II.

ADVENT.

Lo! He comes with clouds descending, Christ the Lamb for sinners slain ! Thousand thousand saints attending Swell the triumph of His train. Hallelujah!

Christ returns to judge and reign!

Ev'ry eye shall then behold Him,
Rob'd in dreadful majesty :

They who set at nought and sold Him,
Pierc'd, and nail'd Him to the tree;
Deeply wailing,

Shall the true Messiah see.

Blest Redemption, long expected!
See! His solemn pomp to share,
All His saints, by men rejected,
Rise to meet Him in the air!
Hallelujah!

See the Day of God appear!

Yea, Amen, let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal Throne.
Saviour, Thine be all the glory,

Make Thy righteous judgment known.
Hallelujah!

Take the kingdom for Thine own!

Rev. i. 7.

III.

HARK the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
The Saviour promised long!
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.

He comes, the prisoners to release,
In Satan's bondage held :

The gates of death before Him burst,
Its iron fetters yield.

He comes to bind the broken heart,
To make the wounded whole :
To preach glad tidings to the meek,
And bless the humble soul.

Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thine Advent shall proclaim:
And Heav'n's eternal height resound
The glories of Thy Name.

Is. xlii. 6, 7.

IV.

ST. STEPHEN'S DAY.

THE Son of God goes forth to war,
A Kingly Crown to gain :
His blood-red Banner streams afar:
Who follows in His train?
Who best can drink His cup of
Triumphant over pain:

woe,

Who patient bears his cross below,
He follows in His train.

The Martyr first, whose eagle eye
Could pierce beyond the grave,
Who saw his Master in the sky,
And call'd on Him to save.
Like Him, with pardon on his tongue
In midst of mortal pain,

He pray'd for those who did the wrong:
He follows in His train.

A noble army-men and boys,
The matron, and the maid-
Around their Saviour's Throne rejoice,
In robes of light array'd.

They climb'd the steep ascent of Heaven
Through peril, toil, and pain:

O God, to us may grace be given

To follow in their train!

"The noble army of martyrs praise Thee."