2 Silent and swift they glide away;

Steady and strong the current flows,
Lost in eternity's wide sea,

The boundless gulf from whence it rose 3 With it the thoughtless sons of men

· Before the rapid stream are borne
On to their everlasting home,

Whence not one soul can e'er return.
4 Great Source of wisdom ! teach our hearts

To know the price of every hour,
That time may bear us on to joys

Beyond its measure and its power.

319

. C. H. M.

J. TAYLOR
What is your Life ?
1 0, WHAT is life? —'t is like a flower

That blossoms and is gone;
It flourishes its little hour,

With all its beauty on:
Death comes, and, like a wintry day,

It cuts the lovely flower away.
2 0, what is life? —'t is like the bow

That glistens in the sky:
We love to see its colors glow;

But, while we look, they die :
Life fails as soon :-to-day 't is here;

Tomorrow it may disappear.
3 Lord, what is life?-if spent with thee

In humble praise and prayer,
How long or short our life may be,

We feel no anxious care :
Though life depart, our joys shall last
When life and all its joys are past

3 We tread the path our Master trod :

We bear the cross he bore ;
And every thorn that wounds our feet,

His temples pierced before.

4 Our powers are oft dissolved away

In ecstasies of love;
And while our bodies wander here,

Our souls are fixed above.

5 We purge our mortal dross away,

Refining as we run;
But while we die to earth and sense,

Our heaven is here begun. .

524.
C. M.

WATTS
“We are fearfully and wonderfully made."
1 Let others boast how strong they be,

Nor death nor danger fear;
But we 'll confess, O Lord, to thee,

What feeble things we are.
2 Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,

And flourish bright and gay;
A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,

And fades the grass away.
3 Our life contains a thousand springs,

And fails if one be gone;
Strange! that a harp of thousand strings

Should keep in tune so long.

4 But 't is our God supports our frame,

The God who built us first;
Salvation to the Almighty Name
That reared us from the dust!

DODDRIDOR

525.

C. M.
“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
1 THESE mortal joys, how soon they fade!

How swift they pass away!
The dying flower reclines its head,

The beauty of a day.
2 Soon are those earthly treasures lost,

We fondly call our own;
Scarce the possession can we boast,

When straight we find them gone.
3 But there are joys which cannot die,

With God laid up in store;
Treasures beyond the changing sky,

More bright than golden ore.
4 The seeds which piety and love

Have scattered here below,
In the fair, fertile fields abuve

To ample harvests grow.

526

L. M.

NEWTOJ Lightning in the Night. 1 A GLANCE from heaven, with sweet effect,

Sometimes my pensive spirit cheers •
But ere I can my thoughts collect,

As suddenly it disappears.
2 So lightning in the gloom of night

Aflords a momentary day;
Disclosing objects full in sight,

Which, soon as seen, are snatched away 3 The lightning's flash did not create

The opening prospect it revealed;
But only showed the real state

Of what the darkness had concealed.

4 Just so, we by a glimpse discern

The glorious things within the veil;
That, when in darkness, we may learn

To live by faith, till light prevail.

527.

C. M.

J. Newton.
The Changes of Life.
1 The evils that beset our path,

Who can prevent or cure ?
We stand upon the brink of death

When most we seem secure.
2 If we to-day sweet peace possess,

It soon may be withdrawn;
Some change may plunge us in uistress

Before to-morrow's dawn.
3 Disease and pain invade our health,

And find an easy prey;
And oft, when least expected, wealth

Takes wings and flies away.
4 The gourds from which we look for fruit,

Produce us often pain;
A worm unseen attacks the root,

And all our hopes are vain.
5 Since sin has filled the earth with woe,

And creatures fade and die;
Lord, wean our hearts from things below,

And fix our hopes on high!

DODDR DE

528.

S. M.
“ The Fathers, where are they?”
1 How swist the torrent rolls,

That bears us to the sea !
The tide that bears our thoughtless souls
To vast eternity!

2 Our fathers, where are they,

With all they called their own ?
Their joys, and griefs, and hopes and cares,

And wealth and honor gone.

3 God of our fathers, hear,

Thou everlasting Friend!
While we, as on life's utmost verge,

Our souls to thee commend.

4 Of all the pious dead

May we the footsteps trace,
Till with them, in the land of light,
. We dwell before thy face.

529.

L. M.

J. Rosc). The Close of Life. 1 MY FATHER! when around me spread

I see the shadows of the tomb,
And life's bright visions droop and fade,

And darkness veils my future doom; 2 0, in that anguished hour I turn

With a still trusting heart to thee,
And holy thoughts still shine and burn

Amid that cold, sad destiny.

3 The stars of heaven are shining on,

Though these frail eyes are dim with tears The hopes of earth indeed are gone;

But are not ours the immortal years?

4 Father! forgive the heart that clings

Thus trembling to the joys of time;
And bid my soul on angel wings

Ascend into a purer clime.