3 Ye saints, unite in wrestling prayer,
If still there may be hope;

Who knows but mercy yet may spare,
And bid the angel stop?

4 Already is the plague begun,
And fired with hostile rage,

Brethren, by blood and interest one,
With brethren now engage.

5 Peace spreads her wings, prepared for flight; And War with flaming sword,

And hasty strides, draws nigh, to fight
The battles of the Lord.

6 The first alarm, alas! how few,
While distant, seem to hear!
But they will hear, and tremble too,
When God shall send it near.

7 So thunder o'er the distant hills
Gives but a murmuring sound;
But as the tempest spreads, it fills
And shakes the welkin round.

8 May we, at least, with one consent,
Fall low before the throne;

With tears the nation's sins lament,
The church's and our own.

9 The humble souls who mourn and pray,
The Lord approves and knows;
His mark secures them in the day
When vengeance strikes his foes.

430.

Glimpses of the invisible World.

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
Affords a momentary day;

Disclosing objects full in sight,

Which, soon as seen, are snatch'd away.
3 Ah! what avail these pleasing scenes!
They do but aggravate my pain;
While darkness quickly intervenes,
And swallows up my joys again.
4 But shall I murmur at relief?
Though short, it was a precious view,
Sent to control my unbelief,

And prove that what I read was true.
5 The lightning's flash did not create
The opening prospect it reveal'd;
But only show'd the real state

Of what the darkness had conceal'd.

6 Just so, we by a glimpse discern
The glorious things within the vail,
That, when in darkness, we may learn
To live by faith, till light prevail.

7 The Lord's great day will soon advance,
Dispersing all the shades of night;
Then we no more shall need a glance,
But see by an eternal light.

431.

The Hiding Place.

HAIL, Sovereign Love, that first began The scheme to rescue fallen man? Hail, matchless, free, eternal Grace, That gave my soul a hiding-place. 2 Against the God that rules the sky I fought, with hand uplifted high; Despised the mention of his grace, Secure, without a hiding-place.

3 Enwrapt in thick, Egyptian night, And fond of darkness, more than light, Madly I ran the sinful race,

Too proud to seek a hiding-place.

4 Indignant Justice stood in view; To Sinai's fiery mount I flew;

But Justice cried, with frowning face, "This mountain is no hiding-place!" 5 Ere long a heavenly voice I heard, And mercy's angel form appear'd; She led me on, with joyful pace, To Jesus as my hiding-place.

6 On Him the tenfold vengeance fell, That would have sunk a world to hell; He bore it for a fallen race,

And thus became their hiding-place. 7 A few more rolling suns, at most, Will land me on fair Canaan's coast; There I shall sing the song of grace, And see my glorious hiding-place.

432.

The invisible state.

10 THE hour when this material
Shall have vanish'd like a cloud;
When, amid the wide ethereal,
All the' invisible shall crowd;
And the naked soul, surrounded
With innumerous hosts of light,
Triumph in the view unbounded,
And adore the Infinite.

2 In that sudden strange transition,
By what new and finer sense,
Shall she grasp the mighty vision,
And receive its influence?
Angels, guard the new immortal
Through the wonder-teeming space,

To the everlasting portal,

To the spirit's resting-place.

3 Will she there no fond emotion, Nought of earthly love retain?

Or absorb'd in pure devotion,

Will no mortal trace remain?
Can the grave those ties dissever,
With the very heart-strings twined?
Must she part, and part for ever,

With the friend she leaves behind?

4 No: the past she still remembers,
Faith and hope surviving too,
Ever watch those sleeping embers,
Which must rise and live anew :
For the widow'd lonely spirit
Mourns till she be clothed afresh,
Longs perfection to inherit,

And to triumph in the flesh.

5 Angels, let the ransom'd stranger
In your tender care be blest,
Hoping, trusting, free from danger,
Till the trumpet end her rest:
Till the trump which shakes creation
Through the circling heavens shall roll,
Till the day of consummation,
Till the bridal of the soul.

6 Can I trust a fellow-being?
Can I trust an angel's care?
O thou merciful All-seeing,
Beam around my spirit there!
Jesus, blessed Mediator,

Thou the dreary path hast trod!
Thou the Judge, the Consummator,
Shepherd of the fold of God!

7 Blessed fold! no foe can enter,
And no friend departeth thence;
Jesus is their sun, their centre,
And their shield Omnipotence:
Blessed! for the Lamb shall feed them,
All their tears shall wipe away,
To the living fountains lead them,
Till fruition's perfect day.

8 Lo! it comes, that day of wonder,
Louder chorals shake the skies:
Hades' gates are burst asunder,

See the new cloth'd myriads rise!
Thought repress thy weak endeavour,
Here must Reason prostrate fall :
O the ineffable "For Ever,"
And the "Eternal All in All!"

433.

Life and its issues.

1 THEE we adore, Eternal Name,
And humbly own to Thee,
How feeble is our mortal frame,
What dying worms are we.

2 Our wasting lives grow shorter still
As months and days increase;
And every beating pulse we tell
Leaves but the number less.

3 The year rolls round, and steals away
The breath that first it gave;

Whate'er we do, where'er we be,
We're travelling to the grave.

4 Dangers stand thick through all the ground To push us to the tomb,

And fierce diseases wait around

To hurry mortals home.

5 Good God! on what a slender thread

Hang everlasting things!

The eternal states of all the dead

Upon life's feeble strings.

6 Infinite joy or endless wo

Attends on every breath;

And yet how unconcern'd we go
Upon the brink of death!

7 Waken, O Lord, our drowsy sense
To walk this dangerous road;