O the transporting, rapturous scene That rises to my sight!

Sweet fields arrayed in living green, And rivers of delight!

There generous fruits that never fail On trees immortal grow;

There rocks and hills, and brooks and vales,

With milk and honey flow.

All o'er those wide extended plains, Shines one eternal day;

There God the Sun for ever reigns, And scatters night away.

No chilling winds or poisonous breath Can reach that healthful shore; Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, Are felt and feared no more.

When shall I reach that happy place,
And be for ever blest?

When shall I see my Father's face,
And in His bosom rest?

Filled with delight, my raptured soul
Can here no longer stay:
Though Jordan's waves around me roll,
Fearless I'd launch away.

DR. SAMUEL STENNETT.

387.-The Prospect of Heaven.

DEUTERONOMY xxxiv. 1.

HE charm of this Hymn does not arise from correctness of language or congruity of metaphor. On these points it is undoubtedly open to criticism such as Dr. Kennedy's (Preface to Hymnologia Christiana) Yet the touching beauty of its chief emblem, with the transparent simplicity of its expression, will always commend it to both old and young. It is a possession of which the Church will not willingly be deprived.

A tradition connects this hymn with Southampton. "While looking out upon the beautiful scenery of the harbour and river, and the green glades of the New Forest on its further bank, the idea suggested itself to Dr. Watts, of 'a land of pure delight' and of 'sweet fields beyond the swelling flood' dressed in living green,' as an image of the heavenly Canaan."

The following translation of the Hymn into rhyming Latin verse appeared in the Spectator, December 24, 1875: