He heard the Lord himself pronounce

His sudden, awful doom:

3 "This night, vain fool, thy soul must pass
Into a world unknown;

And who shall then the stores possess
Which thou hast call'd thine own?"

4 Thus blinded mortals fondly scheme
For happiness below;

Till death destroys the pleasing dream,
And they awake to wo.

220.

1

P. M.
Human Frailty.

WHAT is this passing scene

A peevish April-day?

A little sun-a little rain

And then night sweeps along the plain,
And all things fade away:

Man (soon discuss'd)

Yields up his trust,

And all his hopes and fears lie with him in the dust!

2 Oh, what is beauty's power?

It flourishes and dies;

Will the cold earth it's silence break,
To tell how soft, how smooth a cheek
Beneath it's surface lies?

Mute, mute is all

O'er beauty's fall;

Her praise resounds no more, when mantled in

her pall.

3 The most belov'd on earth

Not long survives to-day;

So music past is obsolete,

And yet 'twas sweet, 'twas passing sweet,

But now 'tis gone away;

Thus does the shade,

In memory fade,

When in forsaken tomb the form belov'd is laid!

4 Then since this world is vain,
And volatile and fleet,

Why should I lay up earthly jovs,
Where rust corrupts and moth destroys,
And cares and sorrows eat?
Why fly from ill
With anxious skill,

When soon this hand will freeze, this throbbing heart lie still?

221.

(122.) P. M.

Jesus's invitation to the afflicted.

1 COME, said Jesus' sacred voice,

Come, and make my paths your choice:

I will guide you to your home!
Weary pilgrim, hither come!

2 Thou, who, houseless, sole, forlorn,
Long hast borne the proud world's scorn,
Long hast roam'd the barren waste;
Weary pilgrim, hither haste!

3 Ye, who, toss'd on beds of pain,
Seek for ease, but seek in vain:
Ye, whose swoll'n and sleepless eyes
Watch to see the morning rise:

4 Ye, by fiercer anguish torn,

Guilt, in strong remorse, who mourn:
Here repose your heavy care:
Conscience wounded who can bear?

5 Sinner, come! for here is found
Balm that flows for ev'ry wound;
Peace that ever shall endure;
Rest eternal, sacred, sure.

222.

1

H

C. M.

Love to the Creatures is dangerous.
OW vain are all things here below!
How false, and yet how fair!

Each pleasure hath its poison too,
And every sweet a snare.

2 The brightest things below the sky Give but a flattering light;

We should suspect some danger nigh
Where we possess delight.

3 Our dearest joys, and nearest friends,
The partners of our blood,
How they divide our wavering minds,
And leave but half for God!

4 The fondness of a creature's love,
How strong it strikes the sense!
Thither the warm affections move,
Nor can we call them thence.

5 Dear Saviour, let thy beauties be
My soul's eternal food;

And grace command my heart away
From all created good.

223.

1OUR

C. M.

The Shortness and Misery of Life.
UR days, alas! our mortal days,
Are short and wretched too;
"Evil and few," the patriarch says,
And well the patriarch knew.

"Tis but at best a narrow bound
That heaven allows to men,
And pains and sins run through the round
Of threescore years and ten.

3 Well, if ye must be sad and few,
Run on, my days, in haste;

Moments of sin, and months of wo,
Ye cannot fly too fast.

Let heavenly love prepare my soul,
And call her to the skies,

Where years of long salvation roll,
And glory never dies.

224.

C. M.

Frailty and Folly.

1 HOW short and hasty is our life!

How vast our souls' affairs!

Yet senseless mortals vainly strive
To lavish out their years.

2 Our days run thoughtlessly along,
Without a moment's stay;

Just like a story, or a song,
We pass our lives away.

3 God from on high invites us home,
But we march heedless on,
And ever hastening to the tomb,
Stoop downwards as we run.

4 How we deserve the deepest hell,
That slight the joys above!

What chains of vengeance should we feel,
That break such cords of love.

5 Draw us, O Saviour, with thy grace,
And lift our thoughts on high,
That we may end this mortal race,
And see salvation nigh.

225.

(225.)

L. M.

The vanity of Creatures.

MAN has a soul of vast desires;

He burns within with restless fires.

Tost to and fro, his passions fly
From vanity to vanity.

2 In vain on earth we hope to find
Some solid good to fill the mind;
We try new pleasures, but we feel
The inward thirst and torment still.

S So, when a raging fever burns,
We shift from side to side by turns;
And 'tis a poor relief we gain,

To change the place, but keep the pain. 4 Great God! subdue this vicious thirst, This love to vanity and dust;

Curc the vile fever of the mind,
And feed our soul with joys refin❜d.

L. M.

226. Seek ye my face.

Psalm xxvii. 8.

1 JEHOVAH speaks, “Seek ye my face,'
My soul admires the wondrous grace;
I'll seek thy face-thy Spirit give!
O let me see thy face and live.

2 I'll wait; perhaps my Lord may come;
(If I turn back, how sad my doom!)
And begging, in his way I'll lie,
Till the sweet hour he passeth by.

8 Daily I'll seek, with cries and tears,
With secret sighs, and fervent pray❜rs;
And, if not heard-I'll weeping sit,
And perish at the Saviour's feet.
4 But canst thou, Lord! see all my pain,
And bid me seek thy face in vain?
Thou wilt not, canst not, me deceive-
The soul that seeks thy face shall live.

227.

C. M.

Time is short. 1 Cor. vii. 29.

THE time is short! the season near,
When death will us remove;

To leave our friends, however dear,
And all we fondly love.

The time is short! sinners beware,
Nor trifle time away;

The word of great salvation hear,
While it is call'd to-day.

& The time is short! ye rebels, now
To Christ the Lord submit,
To mercy's golden sceptre bow,
And fall at Jesus' feet.

4 The time is short! ye saints rejoice→→→→
'The Lord will quickly come: