LXXIV.-The tolling Bell.

1 OFT as the bell, with solemn toll,
Speaks the departure of a soul,
Let each one ask himself, 'Am I
Prepar'd, 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 plung'd into a world unknown.
3 Then leaving all I lov❜d below,
To God's tribunal I must go ;

Must hear the Judge pronounce my fate,
And fix my everlasting state.

4 But could I bear to hear him say,

Depart, accursed, far away!

With Satan in the lowest hell,

Thou art for ever doom'd to dwell?'
5 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.

6 Then, when the solemn bell I hear,
If sav'd from guilt I need not fear;
Nor would the thought distressing be,—
Perhaps it next may toll for me.

7 Rather, my spirit would rejoice,
And long and wish to hear thy voice;
Glad when it bids me earth resign,-
Secure of heaven if thou art mine.

LXXV.-Hope beyond the Grave.

1 My soul, this curious house of clay,
Thy present frail abode,

Must quickly fall to worms a prey,
And thou return to God.

2 Canst thou, by faith, survey with joy
The change before it come?

And say, Let death this house destroy,
I have a heav'nly home?'

3 The Saviour whom I then shall see
With new-admiring eyes,
Already has prepar'd for me
A mansion in the skies*.

4 I feel this mud-wall cottage shake,
And long to see it fall;
That I my willing flight may take
To Him who is my all.

5 Burden'd and groaning then no more,
My rescu'd soul shall sing,
As up the shining path I soar,
Death, thou hast lost thy sting!'

6 Dear Saviour, help us now to seek,
And know thy grace's pow'r,
That we may all this language speak,
Before the dying hour!

LXXVI.-There the Weary are at rest.

1 COURAGE, my soul! behold the prize The Saviour's love provides,

Eternal life beyond the skies

For all whom here he guides.

2 The wicked cease from troubling there, The weary are at rest †;

Sorrow, and sin, and pain, and care,
No more approach the blest.

3 A wicked world, and wicked heart,
With Satan now are join'd;

Each acts a too-successful part
In harassing my mind.

4 In conflict with this threefold troop,
How weary, Lord, am I!

Did not thy promise bear me up,.
My soul must faint and die.

5 But fighting in my Saviour's strength,
Though mighty are my foes,

I shall a conqu'ror be at length
O'er all that can oppose.

6 Then why, my soul! complain or fear?
The crown of glory see!
The more I toil and suffer here,
The sweeter rest will be.

LXXVII.-The Day of Judgment.

1 DAY of judgment, day of wonders! Hark! the trumpet's awful sound, Louder than a thousand thunders,

Shakes the vast creation round! How the summons will the sinner's heart confound!

2 See the Judge, our nature wearing,
Cloth'd in majesty divine!

You who long for his appearing,
Then shall say, This God is mine!'

Gracious Saviour, own me in that day for thine!

s At his call the dead awaken,

Rise to life from earth and sea:

All the pow'rs of nature, shaken,
By his looks prepare to flee:

Careless sinner! what will then become of thee?

4 Horrors past imagination

Will surprise your trembling heart, When you hear your condemnation, 'Hence, accursed wretch, depart !

Thou with Satan and his angels have thy part!'

5 Satan, who now tries to please you,
Lest you timely warning take,

When that word is past, will seize you,
Plunge you in the burning lake:

Think, poor sinner, thy eternal all's at stake.

6 But to those who have confessed,
Loy'd and serv'd the Lord below,
He will say, 'Come near, ye blessed!
See the kingdom 1 bestow:

You for ever shall my love and glory know.'

7 Under sorrows and reproaches,

May this thought your couragé raise; Swiftly God's great day approaches,

Sighs shall then be chang'd to praise : We shall triumph when the world is in a blaze.

LXXVIII.-The Day of the Lord*.

1 GOD with one piercing glance looks through
Creation's wide-extended frame;
The past and future in his view,
And days and ages are the same†.

2 Sinners who dare provoke his face,
Who on his patience long presume,
And trifle out his day of grace,

Will find he has a day of doom.

3 As pangs the lab'ring woman feels,
Or as the thief in midnight sleep,
So comes that day, for which the wheels
Of time their ceaseless motion keep.

4 Hark! from the sky the trump proclaims
Jesus the Judge approaching nigh!
See, the creation wrapt in flames,
First kindled by his vengeful eye!

* Book III. Hymn 4.

2 Pet. iii. 8-10.

5 When thus the mountains melt like wax When earth, and air, and sea, shall burn; When all the frame of nature breaks;

Poor sinner! whither wilt thou turn?

6 The puny works which feeble men
Now boast or covet, or admire;
Their pomp, and arts, and treasures, then
Shall perish in one common fire.

7 Lord, fix our hearts and hopes above!
Since all below to ruin tends;

Here may we trust, obey, and love,
And there be found amongst thy friends.

LXXIX. The great Tribunal*.

1 JOHN, in vision, saw the day

When the Judge will hasten down;
Heav'n and earth shall flee away
From the terror of his frown;
Dead and living, small and great,
Raised from the earth and sea,
At his bar shall hear their fate,-
What will then become of me?

2 Can I bear his awful looks?

?

Shall I stand in judgment then,
When I see the open'd books,
Written by th' Almighty's pen
If he to remembrance bring,
And expose to public view,
Ev'ry work and secret thing,
Ah! my soul, what canst thou do?

3 When the list shall be produc'd
Of the talents I enjoy'd;

Means and mercies, how abus'd!

Time and strength, how misemploy'd!