PRESSING TOWARD HEAVEN.

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God. 2 Peter 3: 12.

RISE my soul, and stretch thy wings,

Thy better portion trace, Rise from transitory things,

Toward heaven thy native place.
Sun, and moon, and stars decay,

Time shall soon this earth remove,
Rise, my soul, and haste away
To seats prepared above.

Rivers to the ocean run,

Nor stay in all their course;
Fire, ascending seeks the sun —
Both speed them to their source:
So a soul that's born of God,

Pants to view his glorious face,
Upward tends to his abode,

To rest in his embrace.

Cease ye pilgrims, cease to mourn,
Press onward to the prize:
Soon our Saviour will return
Triumphant in the skies:
Yet a season, and ye know

Happy entrance shall be given,

All our sorrows left below,

And earth exchanged for heaven.

I WOULD NOT LIVE ALWAYS.

Job 7: 16.

EARTH is the spirit's rayless cell;

But then, as a bird soars home to the shade
Of the beautiful wood, where its nest was made,

In bonds no more to dwell;

So will its weary wing

Be spread for the skies, when its toil is done; And its breath flow free, as a bird's in the sun, And the soft fresh gales of spring.

O, not more sweet the tears

Of the dewy eve on the violet shed,
Than the dews of age on the 'hoary head,'
When it enters the eve of years.

Nor dearer amid the foam

Of the far-off sea, and its stormy roar,

Is a breath of balm from the unseen shore,
To him that weeps for home.

Wings, like a dove, to fly!

The spirit is faint with its feverish strife;-
O, for its home in the upper life!

When, when will death draw nigh!

VIA CRUCIS, VIA LUCIS.

Brought life and immortality to light.-2 Tim. 1: 10.

NIGHT turns to day:

When sullen darkness lowers,

And heaven and earth are hid from sight,
Cheer up, cheer up!

Ere long the opening flowers,

With dewy eyes, shall shine in light.

When over land and ocean,

Roll the loud chariots of the wind,

Cheer up, cheer up!

The voice of wild commotion

Proclaims tranquillity behind.

Winter wakes spring:

When icy blasts are blowing

O'er frozen lakes, through naked trees,

Cheer up, cheer up!

All beautiful and glowing,

May floats in fragrance on the breeze.

War ends in peace:

Though dread artillery rattle,

And ghastly corses load the ground,

Cheer up, cheer up,

Where groaned the field of. battle,

The song, the dance, the feast go round.

Toil brings repose:

With noontide fervors beating,

When droop thy temples o'er thy breast,
Cheer up, cheer up!

Grey twilight, cool and fleeting,

Wafts on its wing the hour of rest.

Though brief and sad thy story,

Thy years all spent in care and gloom,
Look up, look up!

Eternity and glory

Dawn through the portals of the tomb.

MEET AGAIN.

That he should gather together in one the children of God.

Love's own language, comfort darting
Through the souls of friends at parting:

Life in death,

we meet again!

While we walk this vale of tears,

Compassed round with care and sorrow,

Gloom to-day, and storm to-morrow,

'Meet again!' our bosom cheers.

Far in exile, when we roam,
O'er our lost endearments weeping,
Lonely, silent vigils keeping,

'Meet again' transports us home.

When this weary world is past,
Happy they, whose spirits soaring,
Vast eternity exploring,

'Meet again' in heaven at last.

'BEHOLD, I WAS LEFT ALONE.'

Isaiah 49: 21.

WHERE are ye with whom in life I started,
Dear companions of my golden days?
Ye are dead, estranged from me, or parted,
Flown, like morning clouds, a thousand ways.

Where art thou, in youth my friend and brother, Yea, in soul my friend and brother still? Heaven received thee, and on earth none other Can the void in my lorn bosom fill.

Where is she, whose looks were love and gladness,
Love and gladness I no longer see!

She is gone; and since that hour of sadness,
Nature seems her sepulchre to me.