3 How happy they, how truly wise,
Who learn and keep the sacred road;
Whom love, with holy zeal, employs,
To bring the wandering soul to God!
4 The shining firmament shall fade,
And sparkling stars resign their light;
But these shall know nor change, nor shade,
For ever fair, for ever bright.

5 On wings of faith and strong desire,
O may our spirits daily rise;

And reach at last the shining choir,
In the bright mansions of the skies!

336. c. M.

Prospect of Heaven.

Mrs. Steele.

1 THERE is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.

2 There, everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers;
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heavenly land from ours.

3 Sweet fields, beyond the swelling flood,
Stand dressed in living green:
So, to the Jews, old Canaan stood,
While Jordan rolled between.

4 But timorous mortals start and shrink,
To cross this narrow sea;

And linger shivering on the brink,
And fear to launch away.

5 O could we make our doubts remove,-
Those gloomy doubts that rise,
And see the Canaan that we love,
With clear, unclouded eyes;-

6 Could we but stand, as Moses stood,
And view the prospect o'er,

Not Jordan's streams, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore!

337. L. M.

Divine Mercy. Ps. cxxx.

Watts.

1 THERE is forgiveness, Lord! with thee,
The humble penitent to cheer;
That all, who thy rich mercy see,
May hope and love, as well as fear.

2 More welcome than the morning's face
To those who long for breaking day,
Great God! is that abundant grace
Which thy kind promises display.
3 Our trust is fixed upon thy word,
Nor shall we trust thy word in vain :
Let contrite souls address the Lord,
And find relief from all their pain.

338. c. M.

+ Exeter Coll.

Earthly and Heavenly Treasures compared. Luke xii. 33. 1 THESE mortal joys-how soon they fade' How swift they pass away!

The dying flower reclines its head,
The beauty of a day.

2 Soon are those earthly treasures lost, We fondly call our own;

Scarce the possession can we boast,
When straight we find them gone.

3 But there are joys, which cannot die,
With God laid up in store,-
Treasures beyond the changing sky,
Brighter than golden ore.

4 The seeds, which piety and love
Have scattered here below,
In the fair fertile fields above,
To ample harvests grow.

339. c. M.

Prospect of Heaven.

Doddridge.

peace,

1 THOSE happy realms of joy and Fain would my heart explore, Where grief and pain for ever cease,

And I shall sin no more.

2 No darkness there shall cloud the eyes,
No languor seize the frame;
But ever-active vigour rise
To feed the vital flame.

3 But ah! a dreary vale between,
Extends its awful gloom;

Fear spreads, to hide the distant scene, The horrors of the tomb.

4 O for the eye of faith divine

To pierce beyond the grave!

To see that Friend, and call him mine,
Whose arm is strong to save!

5 Here fix, my soul! for life is here;
Light breaks amid the gloom;
Trust in thy Father's love, nor fear
The horrors of the tomb.

340. C. M.

Mrs. Steele,

harity essential to the Christian Character. 1 Cor. xiii. 1—3.

1 THOUGH every grace my speech adorned
That flows from every tongue;
Though I could rise to loftier strains
Than ever angels sung:-

2 Though with prophetic lore inspired,
I made all mysteries plain;
Yet, were I void of Christian love,
These gifts were all in vain.

3 Though I dispense with liberal hand,
My goods to feed the poor;

Or, firm to conscience and to truth,
A martyr's fate endure :-

4 Nay, though my faith, with boundless power, Ev'n mountains could remove;

"Twere all in vain, should I be found
A stranger still to love.

Scotch Paraphrases.

341. C. M.

God the Preserver of frail Man.

1 THOUGH others, confident and vain,

Nor death, nor danger fear,

We would a lively sense maintain,
That death is ever near.

2 Just like the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay;

A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

3 Our life contains a thousand springs,
And droops if one be gone:
Strange that a harp of thousand strings,
Should keep in tune so long!

4 'Tis God alone upholds our frame,
Who reared it from the dust:
Hosanna to his mighty name,
In whom is all our trust!

342. L. M.

Watts.

Christ the Image of the Invisible God.

1 THOU, Lord! by mortal eyes unseen, And by thine offspring here unknown, To manifest thyself to men,

Hast set thine image in thy Son.

2 As the bright sun's meridian blaze
O'erwhelms and pains our feeble sight,
But cheers us with his softer rays
When shining with reflected light ;---
3 So, in thy Son, thy power divine,
Thy wisdom, justice, truth, and love,
With mild and pleasing lustre shine,
Reflected from thy throne above.

4 Though Jews, who granted not his claim,
Contemptuous turned away their face;
Yet those, who trusted in his name,
Beheld in him thy truth and grace.