How mildly beam the closing eyes,

How gently heaves the expiring breast!

2 So fades a summer cloud away,

So sinks the gale when storms are o'er, So gently shuts the eye of day, So dies a wave along the shore. 3 A holy quiet reigns around,

A calm which life nor death destroys; Nothing disturbs that peace profound, Which his unfetter'd soul enjoys.

4 Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, Where lights and shades alternate dwell; How bright the unchanging morn appears!

Farewell, inconstant world, farewell! 5 Life's duty done, as sinks the clay, Light from its load the spirit flies; While heaven and earth combine to say, 'How blest the righteous when he dies!"

551

PART VII. C. M. Brodsworth, 414.

1 To sleep in Jesus! rapturous thought!

To close in peace our mortal days!
Safe to the heavenly Canaan brought,
To join the anthems angels raise!
2 To sleep in Jesus! what delight!
Increasing still, and ever new:
To mingle with the saints in light,
And be as pure and happy too!

3 To fear no pain, to know no care;
No sin nor frailty to molest;
And on each glorious object there,
To see eternity impress'd.

4 Ere long will death unclose my chains,
And bid me, Jesus, sleep in thee:
The happiest hour that time retains,
Is that which sets the spirit free.

the Lord.

MRS. GILBERT.

HAPPY they, who safely housed,
To Jesus' bosom fly,

Before the storm of wrath is roused;
Yes, happy they who die!

2 Care, pain, and grief, the wild array
Of sorrows felt below,

The dread of trial's fiery day,
Of persecution's glow,-

3 All, all is o'er, with those at rest,
For Jesus' sake forgiven!
No heavings of the anxious breast,
No sickening fear in heaven!

4 Why linger then, with strange desire,
Where reeks the deadly strife,
And shrink, unwilling to retire,
To everlasting life?

5 Oh were it not for those he leaves
Lone in a desert land,

'Tis wondrous when a Christian grieves To find his home at hand.

551

PART VIII. L. M. Old 100th.
Sleeping in Jesus. MRS. MACKAY.

1 ASLEEP in Jesus! blessed sleep!

From which none ever wakes to weep: A calm and undisturb'd repose, Unbroken by the last of foes! 2 Asleep in Jesus! oh, how sweet To be for such a slumber meet: With holy confidence to sing

That death has lost his venom'd sting!

3 Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest!

Whose waking is supremely blest:
No fear, no woe shall dim that hour,
That manifests the Saviour's power.

4 Asleep in Jesus! oh, for me
May such a blissful refuge be:
Securely shall my ashes lie,

Waiting the summons from on high.

Bedford, 91.

The same. DRUMMOND.

HE sweetly sleeps! the man of God,

From sin and woe set free; Calmly the path of death he trod, Into eternity.

2 Sweetly he rests! the soldier now From battle, wounds, and strife; The wreath of conquest decks his bro With rays of endless life.

3 Sweetly he sleeps! the pilgrim worn, Leaving his weary road;

In peace he waits a glorious morn,
And slumbers in his God.

4 Sleep on, ye saints! and sweetly rest In Jesus' boundless love;

Soon shall ye wake, for ever blest,
And reign with him above.

552

FT as the bell, with solemn toll,
Speaks the departure of a soul,
Let each one ask himself, 'Am I
Prepared, should I be call'd to die?"
2 Only this frail and fleeting breath
Preserves me from the jaws of death;
Soon as it fails, at once I'm gone,
And plunged into a world unknown.
3 Then, leaving all I loved below,
To God's tribunal I must go ;
Must hear the Judge pronounce my fate,
And fix my everlasting state.

4 Lord Jesus, help me now to flee,
And seek my hope alone in thee;
Apply thy blood, thy Spirit give,
Subdue my sin, and let me live.

5 Then when the solemn bell I hear,
If saved from guilt, I need not fear;
Nor would the thought distressing be,-
Perhaps it next may toll for me!'

L.M. M
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Glad when it bids me earth resign, Secure of heaven, if thou art mine.

552 PART II. C. M. Windsor, 247.
Victory over death. 1 Cor. xv. 57.
THEN death appears before my sight,
Unequal to the dreadful fight,
My courage dies away.

Win all his dire array,

2 But see my glorious Leader nigh!
My Lord, my Saviour lives;
Before him death's pale terrors fly,
And my faint heart revives.

3 He left his dazzling throne above;
He met the tyrant's dart;
And (O, amazing power of love!)
Received it in his heart.

4 No more, O grim destroyer, boast
Thy universal sway;

To heaven-born souls thy sting is lost;
Thy night's the gate of day.

5 Lord, I commit my soul to thee;
Accept the sacred trust;
Receive this nobler part of me,
And watch my sleeping dust;
6 Till that illustrious morning come,
When all thy saints shall rise,
And, clothed in full immortal bloom,
Attend thee to the skies:

7 When thy triumphant armies sing
The honours of thy name,
And heaven's eternal arches ring
With glory to the Lamb.

8 O let me join the raptured lays,
And with the blissful throng
Resound salvation, power, and praise,
In everlasting song!

552 PART III. P.M. Pope's Ode.

Victory over death.

POPE.

VIT
VITAL spark of heavenly flame,

Quit, O quit this mortal frame! Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying, Oh the pain, the bliss of dying! Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me languish into life.

Hark! they whisper: angels say,
Sister spirit, come away.

What is this absorbs me quiteSteals my senses-shuts my sightDrowns my spirit-draws my breath? Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world recedes; it disappears!
Heaven opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring:

Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I
O grave, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?

[fly!

The welcome messenger. WATTS.

LORD, when we see a saint of thine
Lie gasping out his breath,
With longing eyes, and looks divine,
Smiling and pleased in death;

2 How could we e'en contend to lay
Our limbs upon that bed!
We ask thine envoy to convey
Our spirits in his stead.

3 Our souls are rising on the wing
To venture in his place;

For, when grim death has lost his sting, He has an angel's face.

4 Jesus, then purge my crimes away,'T is guilt creates my fears;

'Tis guilt gives death his fierce array And all the arms he bears.

5 Oh, if my threatening sins were gone,
And death had lost his sting,
I could invite the angel on,
And chide his lazy wing.

6 Away these interposing days,
And let the lovers meet;
The angel has a cold embrace,

But kind, and soft, and sweet.

7 I'd leap at once my seventy years,
I'd rush into his arms,

And lose my breath and all my cares
Amid those heavenly charms.

8 Joyful I 'd lay this body down,
And leave this lifeless clay,
Without a sigh, without a groan,
And stretch and soar away.

3 Ye wonderful orbs, that astonish mine eyes, Your glories recede from my sight;

I soon shall contemplate more beautiful skies, And stars more transcendently bright.

4 Ye mountains and valleys, groves, rivers, and
Thou earth, and thou ocean, adieu! [plains,
More permanent regions, where righteousness
Present their bright hills to my view. [reigns,

5 My loved habitation and garden, adieu!
No longer my footsteps ye greet;
A mansion celestial stands full in my view,
And paradise welcomes my feet.

6 My weeping relations, my brethren and friends,
Whose souls are entwined with my own,
Adieu, for the present; my spirit ascends
Where friendship immortal is known.

7 My cares and my labours, my sickness and pain'
And sorrows, are now at an end;
The summit of bliss I shall speedily gain,
The heights of perfection ascend.

S The sight of transgressors shall grieve me no
'Midst foes I no longer abide : [more:
My conflict with sin and with sinners is o'er,
With saints I shall ever reside.

9 Thou vale of affliction my footsteps have trod,
With trembling, with grief, and with tears,
I joyfully quit, for the mountain of God;
There, there its bright summit appears.

10 No lurking temptation, defilement, or fear,
Again shall disquiet my breast;

In Jesus' fair image I soon shall appear,
For ever ineffably blest.

11 My sabbaths below, that have been my delight,
And thou the blest volume divine,
You have guided my footsteps like stars during
Adieu, my conductors benign. (night,

12 The sun that illumines the regions of light,
Now shines on mine eyes from above;
But, oh, how transcendently glorious the sight!
My soul is all wonder and love.

13 Thou tottering seat of disease and of pain,
Adieu, my dissolving abode;

But I shall behold and possess thee again.
A beautiful building of God.

14 Come, death; when thy cold hands my eyelids

shall close,

And lay my pale corpse in the tomb,
My soul shall enjoy an eternal repose,
Above in my heavenly home.

15 But oh, what a life, what a rest, what a joy, Shall I know when I 've mounted above! Praise, praise, shall my triumphing powers emMy God, I shall burn with thy love. [ploy: 16 Come, come, my Redeemer, this moment release

The soul thou hast bought with thy blood; And bid me ascend the fair regions of peace, To feast on the smiles of my God.

PART IV. 8.7. Felicity, 535. Pilgrims parting. WHILE, to several paths dividing, We our pilgrimage pursue, May Jehovah, safely guiding,

Keep his scatter'd flock in view.

2 May the bond of sweet communion Every distant soul embrace;

Till, in everlasting union,

3 Oh, 't is sweet, each other aiding,
In companionship to move;
One pure flame each heart pervading,
One our Lord, our faith, our love.
4 Now we part in tearful sadness,
Bearing forth the precious grain;
We shall yet in mirth and gladness,
Bring our harvest sheaves again.

553

1

PART V. C. M. P. Lincoln, 565.
The same. GRINFIELD.

YES, dearest friends, a short farewell,

Until at home we meet!

Oft shall remembrance fondly dwell
On days and scenes that own'd the spell
Of your communion sweet ;-

2 So sweet, at times it seem'd a faint,
A transitory taste

Of converse treasured for the saint In the bright world-which who shall The heaven to which we haste! [paint? 3 For oh! of less than heavenly mould Our friendship ne'er shall be; Nor like the world's, by death controll'd, But fervent, pure; and we, enroll'd Friends for eternity!

4 So, when on earth we cease to dwell
In pilgrim converse sweet;

We'll need no other parting knell
Than- Dearest friends, a short farewell,
Till soon at home we meet!'

553 PART VI. S. M. P. Grantham, 566.

Friends separated by death.
MONTGOMERY.

1 FRIEND after friend departs!

hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end:
Were this frail world our final rest,
Living or dying, none were blest.

2 Beyond the flight of time,

Beyond the reign of death,There surely is some blessed clime Where life is not a breath; Nor life's affections transient fire, Whose sparks fly upwards and expire.

3 There is a world above,

Where parting is unknown; A long eternity of love,

Form'd for the good alone;

And faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that glorious sphere!

4 Thus star by star declines,

Till all are pass'd away;

As morning high and higher shines
To pure and perfect day;

Nor sink those stars in empty night,
But hide themselves in heaven's own light.
PART VII. L. M. Job, 474.
Not lost, but gone before. CLARK.
1 SAY why should friendship grieve fo

553

those

Released from all their hurtful foes, They are not lost, but gone before.

2 How many painful days on earth Their fainting spirits number'd o'er! Now they enjoy a heavenly birth,They are not lost, but gone before.

3 Dear is the spot where Christians sleep,
And sweet the strain which angels pour;
O why should we in anguish weep?
They are not lost, but gone before.
4 Secure from every mortal care,
By sin and sorrow vex'd no more,
Eternal happiness they share,
Who are not lost-but gone before.
5 To Zion's peaceful courts above,
In faith triumphant may we soar,
Embracing in the arms of love
The friends not lost-but gone before.
6 On Jordan's bank whene'er we come,
And hear the swelling waters roar,
Jesus, convey us safely home,
To friends not lost-but gone before.

WE

553 PART IX. 7's. Messina, 506.
Shortness and uncertainty of life.
WHILE, with ceaseless course, the sun
Rolls along the passing year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here.
2 Fix'd in their eternal state,
They are gone from all below;
We a little longer wait,

But how little none can know.
3 Oh, how fast our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream!
Lord, to heaven our wishes raise;
All on earth is but a dream.

4 Guide the young, and warn the old;
Bless us with the Saviour's love;
So, when life's short tale is told,
We shall dwell with thee above."

553 PART X. 8.7.7. Response, 558.

1

WH

The soul's flight.

KELLY.

THAT is life? 't is but a vapour,
Soon it vanishes away;
Life is like a dying taper:

O my soul, why wish to stay?
Why not spread thy wings and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy?'
2 See that glory, how resplendent!

Brighter far than fancy paints;
There, in majesty transcendent,
Jesus reigns, the King of saints.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy.

3 Joyful crowds, his throne surrounding, Šing with rapture of his love; Through the heavens his praises soundFilling all the courts above. [ing, Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly Straight to yonder world of joy. 4 Go, and share his people's glory; "Midst the ransom'd crowd appear; Thine a joyful, wondrous story,

One that angels love to hear. Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly Straight to yonder world of joy.

2 Where Jesus dwells my soul would be,
And faints my much-loved Lord to see
Earth, twine no more about my heart,
For 't is far better to depart.

3 Come, ye angelic envoys, come,
And lead the willing pilgrim home;
Ye know the way to Jesus' throne,
Source of my joys and of your own.
4 That blissful interview, how sweet!
To fall transported at his feet!
Raised in his arms to view his face,
Through the full beamings of his grace!
5 As with a seraph's voice to sing,
To fly, as on a cherub's wing;
Performing with unwearied hands
The present Saviour's high commands.
6 Yet, with these prospects full in sight,
We'll wait thy signal for the flight;
For while thy service we pursue,
We find a heaven in all we do.

555

C. M. James's, 163. Glasgow, 376.
The presence of God worth dying
for. Deut. xxxii. 49, 50. WATTS.

LORD, 't is an infinite delight
To see thy lovely face,

To dwell whole ages in thy sight,
And feel thy vital rays.

2 This Gabriel knows, and sings thy name,
With rapture on his tongue;
Moses the saint enjoys the same,
And heaven repeats the song.

3 While the bright nation sounds thy praise From each eternal hill,

Sweet odours of exhaling grace
The happy region fill.

4 Thy love-a sea without a shore-
Spreads life and joy abroad;

Oh, 't is a heaven worth dying for,
To see a smiling God.

5 Sweet was the journey to the sky,
The wondrous prophet tried;
'Climb up the mount,' says God, and
The prophet climb'd-and died. [die;'

6 Softly his fainting head he lay
Upon his Maker's breast;
His Maker kiss'd his soul away,
And laid his flesh to rest.

7 Show me thy face, and I'll away
From all inferior things;

Speak, Lord, and here I quit my clay,
And stretch my airy wings.

556

1

C. M. Exeter, 4. Palmyra, 203. Death in infancy.

STENNETT.

THY
HY life I read, my dearest Lord,
With transport all divine;

Thine image trace in every word,
Thy love in every line.

2 Methinks I see a thousand charms
Spread o'er thy lovely face,
While infants in thy tender arms
Receive the smiling grace.

3 I take these little lambs,' said he,
'And lay them in my breast;
Protection they shall find in me,-
In me be ever blest.

'Death may the bands of life unloose,
But can't dissolve my love;
Millions of infant souls compose
The family above.

WHEN blooming youth is snatch'd

away

By death's resistless hand,

Our hearts the mournful tribute pay
Which pity must demand.

2 While pity prompts the rising sigh,
O may this truth, imprest
With awful power, I too must die!'
Sink deep in every breast.

3 Let this vain world engage no more: Behold the gaping tomb!

It bids us seize the present hour:
To-morrow death may come.

4 The voice of this alarming scene
May every heart obey;

Nor be the heavenly warning vain,
Which calls to watch and pray.

5 Oh, let us fly-to Jesus fly,

Whose powerful arm can save; Then shall our hopes ascend on high, And triumph o'er the grave.

6 Great God, thy sovereign grace impart,
With cleansing, healing power;
This only can prepare the heart
For death's surprising hour.

557

1

To a parent, on the death of a
child. Job iii. 13. A. A. WATTS.
OOK up, look up, and weep not so-
Thy darling is not dead:

His sinless soul has enter'd now
Yon sky's empurpled bed:

2 His spirit drinks new life and light,
'Mid bowers of endless bloom;

It is but perishable stuff

That moulders in the tomb:

3 Then hush, O hush the swelling sigh, And dry the falling tear;

Look upward to the bliss of heaven,
And joy that he is there.

4 Already he has gain'd the goal,
And tasted of the bliss,-
The peace that God's eternal love
Prepares for souls like his :

5 Then calm thy sorrow-stricken heart, And smile away despair:

Think of the home thy child has won, And joy that he is there.