478. P. M. BOWRING.
Life's pilgrimage.

1.

LEAD us with thy gentle sway,
As a willing child is led;
Speed us on our forward way,
As a pilgrim, Lord, is sped,
Who, with prayers and helps divine,
Seeks a consecrated shrine.

2.

We are pilgrims, and our goal
Is that distant land whose bourn
Is the haven of the soul,

Where the mourners cease to mourn;
Where the Saviour's hand will dry
Every tear from every eye.

3.

Lead us thither. Thou dost know
All the way; but, wanderers, we
Often miss our path below,

And stretch out our hands to thee:
Guide us, save us, and prepare
Our appointed mansion there.

479. P. M.

BOWRING.

Whether living or dying, we are thine.

1.

To thee alone we live,

To thee alone we die;

Do thou, O Lord, thy spirit give,
Both life and death to sanctify.

T

2.

The busy march of time,
And death's unbroken sleep,
Vouch for thy purposes sublime,
And all thy holy mandates keep.

3.

Thine eye is never closed:
The present, future, past,

But act the parts thou hast proposed,
All leading on to bliss at last.

4.

The world in love began,

Through love its mazes tend,
And change but leads immortal man
To an unchanging, joyful end.

5.

Lord, let us live to thee,

And dying let us hear

The welcome of eternity,

And heaven's sweet anthems echoing near.

480. P. M. JOHN TAYLOR. God our support in life and in death.

1.

GREAT God, at whose creative call
Unnumber'd worlds arose,

Thy providence extends to all,

To all thy blessing flows.

Hear, gracious Lord, thy creatures' praises hear! O be our lives, our souls, thy constant care!

2.

The breath thy wondrous power convey'd,
The strength thy goodness gave,
Still ask thy kind paternal aid

Our fleeting life to save.

Hear, gracious Lord, thy creatures' praises hear! O be our lives, our souls, thy constant care!

3.

Bow down, our souls, before the Lord,
His mighty arm revere;

Our lives continued or restored,

His mercy still may spare.

Hear, gracious Lord, thy creatures' praises hear! O be our lives, our souls, thy constant care!

4.

Great God of life, the praise attend;
Accept the grateful song:

Not death itself the praise shall end,
Which heaven shall still prolong.
Hear, gracious Lord, thy creatures' praises hear!
O be our lives, our souls, thy constant care!

481. P. M. SIR J. E. SMITH.
[Thou shalt sleep with thy fathers.
2 Sam. vii. 12.]

1.

As o'er the closing urn we bend
Of each belov'd and honour'd friend,
What tears of anguish roll!

In vain, in death's unconscious face,
The living smile we seek to trace,
That spoke from soul to soul.

2.

But shall not memory still supply
The kindly glance, the beaming eye,
That oft our converse blest;

That brighten'd many a prospect drear,
Revived our virtue, soothed our care,
And lull'd each pain to rest?

3.

And when these frail remains are gone, Our hearts the impression still shall own, Our mortal path to cheer.

O God! to point the way to heaven, These angel-guides by thee were given : How blest to meet them there!

482. c. M. PEABODY. (N. AMERICA.) The peaceful death of the Christian.

1.

BEHOLD the western evening light,
It melts in deepest gloom :

So calmly Christians sink away,
Descending to the tomb.

2.

The winds breathe low; the withering leaf
Scarce whispers from the tree :
So gently flows the parting breath
When good men cease to be.

3.

How beautiful on all the hills
The crimson light is shed!

"Tis like the peace the Christian gives
To mourners round his bed.

4.

How mildly on the wandering cloud
The sunset beam is cast!

"Tis like the memory left behind,

When loved ones breathe their last.
5.

And now above the dews of night
The yellow star appears!

So faith springs in the hearts of those
Whose eyes are bathed with tears.

6.

But soon the morning's happier light
Its glories shall restore;

And eyelids that are seal'd in death
Shall wake to close no more.

483. c. M. SIR J. E. SMITH. Nature transitory: the soul immortal.

1.

How glorious are those orbs of light,
In all their bright array,
That gem the ebon brow of night,
Or pour the blaze of day!

2.

See lovely Nature raise her head,
In various graces drest;
Her lucid robe, by ocean spread;
Her verdant flowery vest.

3.

Unnumber'd tribes obey her will;
Her bounty each displays :

She smiles, and every grove and hill
Is vocal in her praise.