Often bless thy guardian care,
Fire by night and cloud by day,
While my triumphs

At my Leader's feet I lay.

4 And when mighty trumpets blown,
Shall the judgment dawn proclaim,
From the central burning throne,
'Mid creation's final flame,

e 1

With the ransomed,

Judge and Saviour, own my name!

HYMN 446. L. M.

Mrs. Gilbert.

Dresden. [b]

The Living and the Dead.

THERE are the dead? In heaven or hell
Their disembodied spirits dwell;

Their buried forms in bonds of clay,
Reserved until the judgment-day.

-2 Who were the dead? The sons of time, In every age, and state, and clime; Renowned, dishonoured, or forgot,

The place that knew them knows them not. 3 Where are the living? On the ground, Where prayer is heard, and mercy found; Where in the period of a span,

The mortal makes th' immortal man. 4 Who are the living? They whose breath Draws every moment nigh to death;

Of bliss or wo the eternal heirs ;

O what an awful choice is theirs!
5 Then, timely warned, may we begin,
To follow Christ, and flee from sin,
Daily grow up in him our Head,

Lord of the living and the dead. Montgomery.

HYMN 447. C. M. Lanesboro'. [b or *]

The Dead who die in the Lord.

p 1 N vain our fancy strives to paint
The moment after death,

The glories that surround the saint,
When he resigns his breath.

2 One gentle sigh his fetters breaks;
We scarce can say,
"He's gone,
Before the willing spirit takes
Her mansion near the throne.

-3 Faith strives, but all its efforts fail,
To trace her heavenward flight;
No eye can pierce within the veil,
Which hides that world of light.

4 Thus much (and this is all) we know,
They are supremely blest;

Have done with sin, and care, and wo,
And with their Saviour rest.

s 5 On harps of gold his name they praise,
His presence always view;-

And if we here their footsteps trace,
There we shall praise him too.

Newton.

HYMN 448. 7s. Sabbath. [b or *]
The dying Christian to his Soul.

a 1 VITAL spark of heavenly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame!
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying;
Oh the pain, the bliss of dying!

Cease, fond nature! cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!
e 2 Hark, they whisper-angels say,
"Sister spirit, come away!

p What is this absorbs me quite,
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul-can this be death?
a 3 The world recedes !—it disappears!
o Heaven opens on my eyes!-my ears
u With sounds seraphic ring!

s Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O grave! where is thy victory?

O death! where is thy sting?

1

Pope.

HYMN 449. 8 & 7. Greenville. [*]

H

The departing Saint.

APPY soul, thy days are ended,
All thy mourning days below;

Go, by angel-guards attended,

To the sight of Jesus go!
2 Waiting to receive thy spirit,
Lo! the Saviour stands above,
Shows the glory of his merit,
Reaches out the crown of love.

3 Struggle through thy latest passion,
To thy dear Redeemer's breast,
To his uttermost salvation,

To his everlasting rest.

4 For the joy he sets before thee, Bear a momentary pain;

Die, to live the life of glory

Suffer, with thy Lord to reign. C. Wesley.

HYMN 450. L. M. Munich. [b]
The Death of the Righteous.

p 1 HOW blest the righteous when they die.

When holy souls retire to rest!
How mildly beams the closing eye!
How gently heaves th' expiring breast!
2 So fades a summer cloud away :
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er :
So gently shuts the eye of day:

So dies a wave along the shore.

3 Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, Where lights and shades alternate dwell! s How bright th' unchanging morn appears! p Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!

p 1

Barbauld.

HYMN 451. C. M. Lanesboro'. [b]

'D

Happy Death of a Christian.
EAR as thou wert, and justly dear,
We would not weep for thee;

a

One thought shall check the starting tear,-
It is that thou art free.

2 And thus shall faith's consoling power
The tears of love restrain:
Oh! who that saw thy parting hour
Could wish thee here again!

3 Gently the passing spirit fled,
Sustained by grace divine:
Oh may such grace on us be shed,
And make our end like thine.

HYMN 452. 8 & 7. Greenville.

1

TH

Dale.

[b or *]

Happiness of departed Saints the Consolation of Survivors.
THINK, O ye who fondly languish
O'er the grave of those your love:
While your bosoms swell with anguish,
They are warbling hymns above

p 2 While our silent steps are straying, Lonely through night's deepening shade, u Glory's brightest beams are playing

Round the happy Christian's head. s 3 Light and peace at once deriving From the hand of God most high, In his glorious presence living, They shall never-never die! 4 Endless pleasure, pain excluding, Sickness, there, no more can come; There, no fear of wo, intruding, Sheds o'er heaven a moment's gloom. Collyer altered.

1L

HYMN 453. 7s. Hotham. [*]
O! the prisoner is released,
Lightened of his fleshly load;
Where the weary are at rest,
He is gathered unto God!!
Lo! the pain of life is past,
All his warfare now is o'er;
Death and hell behind are cast,
Grief and suffering are no more.
g 2 Yes, the Christian's course is run,
Ended is the glorious strife

u Fought the fight, the work is done,
Death is swallowed up of life!
s Borne by angels on their wings,
Far from earth the spirit flies,
Finds his God, and sits and sings,
Triumphing in Paradise..

-3 Let the world bewail their dead,
Fondly of their loss complain;
Brother, friend, by Jesus freed,
Death to thee, to us, is gain:
s Thou art entered into joy:
Let the unbelievers mourn ;
We in songs our lives employ,
Till we all to God return.

Wesley's Col.

HYMN 454. 8s.
8s. Goshen. [b or *]

Death of a Sister.

e1 'TIS finished! the conflict is past,
The heaven-born spirit is fled;

Her wish is accomplished at last,
And now she's entombed with the dead

The months of affliction are o'er,
The days and the nights of distress;
We see her in anguish no more
She has found a happy release.
-2 No sickness, or sorrow, or pain,
Shall ever disquiet her now;
For death to her spirit was gain,
Since Christ was her life when below.
s Her soul has now taken its flight
To mansions of glory above,
To mingle with angels of light,
And dwell in the kingdom of love.
3 The victory now is obtained;
She's gone her Redeemer to see;
Her wishes she fully has gained-
She's now where she panted to be.
Then let us forbear to complain
That she has now gone from our sight;
We soon shall behold her again,
With new and redoubled delight.

p

Alexander's Col.

HYMN 455. L. M. Federal St. [b or *]

1

A

Sleeping in Jesus.

SLEEP in Jesus! blessed sleep!
From which none ever wakes to weep!

A calm and undisturbed repose,

Unbroken by the last of foes!

2 Asleep in Jesus! oh! how sweet
To be for such a slumber meet:

g With holy confidence to sing

That death hath lost its venomed sting!

p 3 Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest!

Whose waking is supremely blest;
No fear-no wo, shall dim that hour,
That manifests the Saviour's power.
4 Asleep in Jesus! oh, for me
May such a blissful refuge be:
Securely shall my ashes lie,

Waiting the summons from on high.
5 Asleep in Jesus! time nor space
Debars this precious "hiding place:"
On Indian plains, or Lapland snows,
Believers find the same repose