2

3

Thus sweet the dawn of day
Which weary sinners find,
When mercy with reviving ray
Beams o'er the fainting mind.

To slaves oppressed with chains,
How kind, how dear the friend,

Whose generous hand relieves their pains,
And bids their sorrows end!

My God! to gospel light

My dawn of hope I owe;

Once, wandering in the shades of night,
And sunk in hopeless wo.

6

Thy hand redeemed the slave,
And set the prisoner free :

Be all I am, and all I have,

Devoted, Lord, to thee!

335. L. M.

Mrs. Steele.

The Reward of faithful Servants. Dan. xii. 3.

1 THERE is a glorious world on high,
Resplendent with eternal day;
Faith views the blissful prospect nigh,
While God's own word reveals the

2 There shall the servants of the Lord
With never fading lustre shine;
Surprising honour, vast reward,
Conferred on man by love divine!

way.

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 landscape o'er,

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

337. L. M.

Divine Mercy.

Wattst

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.

1 THOSE happy realms of joy and peace 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.

Charity 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, E'en 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.