For every soul departed saith, 'There's but a step 'twixt me and death.'

303

The Soul Immortal.

1 THE grave is not a place of rest,
As unbelievers teach,

Where grief can never win a tear,
Nor sorrow ever reach.

2 The eye that shed the tear is closed;
The heaving breast is cold;
But that which suffers and enjoys,
No narrow grave can hold.

C. M.

3 The mould'ring earth and hungry worm
The dust they lent may claim;
But the enduring spirit lives
Eternally the same.

304

Time Fleeting.

1 SWIFT as the winged arrow flies, My time is hast'ning on;

C. M.

Quick as the lightning from the skies,
My wasting moments run.

2 My follies past, O God! forgive,
My ev'ry sin subdue,

And teach me henceforth how to live,
With glory in my view.

3 'Twere better I had not been born,
Than live without Thy fear;
For they are wretched and forlorn
Who have their portion here.

4 Swiftly another year has gone ;
My heart to Thee incline,

That so I may, when time is done,
Be, Lord, for ever Thine.

1 How long sometimes a day appears,
And weeks, how long are they !
Months move as slow as if the years
Would never pass away.

2 But months and years are passing by,
And soon must all be gone;

For day by day, as minutes fly,
Eternity comes on.

C.M.

3 Days, months, and years must have an end; Eternity has none;

"Twill always have as long to spend As when it first begun!

4 Great God, we children cannot tell
How such a thing can be ;

But do Thou grant that we may dwell
That long, long time with Thee.

306

Close of the Year.

1 GOD of eternity, from Thee

Did infant time his being draw;

L.M.

Moments and days, and months and years,
Revolve by Thine unvaried law.

2 Silent and slow they glide away,
Steady and strong the current flows;
Lost in eternity's wide sea,

The boundless gulf from whence it rose. 3 With it the thoughtless sons of men Before the rapid stream are borne,

On to that everlasting home, Whence not one soul can e'er return. 4 Great Source of wisdom, teach our hearts To know the price of every hour; That time may bear us on to joys Beyond its measure and its power. 307 Prayer for True Wisdom. 1 SWIFT the moments fly away! First the hour and then the day, Next the week, the month, the year, Steal away and disappear.

2 Time is ever on the wing,
While I speak, or think, or sing,
Whether working, or at play,
Time is rolling fast away.

3 Think, my soul; awake and see
What will soon become of thee;
Whither tending, canst thou tell-
Up to heaven, or down to hell?
4 Jesus, I would humbly pray,
Guide and keep me in Thy way;
Every gift and grace bestow;
Wean my heart from things below.

308

Uncertainty of Life.

7'3.

C. M.

1 THE grass and flowers which clothe the field, And look so green and gay,

Touched by the scythe, defenceless yield,
And fall and fade away.

2 Fit emblem of our mortal state!

Thus, in the Scripture glass,

The young, the strong, the wise, the great, May see themselves but grass. 3 Ah! trust not to your fleeting breath, Nor call your time your own; Around you see the scythe of death Is mowing thousands down.

4 The grass, when dead, revives no more;
You die to live again;

But, ah! if death should prove the door
To everlasting pain!

309

Life Hasting away.

1 REMARK, my soul, the narrow bounds Of each revolving year;

C.M.

How soon the weeks complete their rounds,
How short the months appear:

2 So fast, eternity comes on,

And that important day,

When all that mortal life has done
God's judgment shall survey.

310

DEATH.

Death and Judgment.

1 HEAVEN has confirmed the great decree,
That Adam's race must die;

One general ruin sweeps them down,
And low in dust they lie.

2 Now let us all the tomb survey,
Where we must quickly dwell;
Note how the awful summons sounds
Jn every funeral knell !

C. M.

3 Once we must die; and once for all
The solemn purport weigh,

For know, that heaven or hell attend
On that important day.

4 These eyes, so long in darkness veiled,
Must wake the Judge to see;

And every word and every thought
Must pass His scrutiny.

5 0 may we in the Judge behold
Our Saviour and our Friend!
And far beyond the reach of death,
With all His saints ascend.

311

Righteousness of Christ.

L.M.

1 WEALTH cannot to the guilty yield,
In death's dark, trying hour, a shield;
Nor earth, with all its gold, afford
One ray of hope without the Lord.
2 But saints with holy wonder view
Free pardon and salvation too;
Christ's righteousness, put on by faith,
Delivers from eternal death.

3 0 when we come to die, be this
Our refuge and our hope of bliss,
To have no covering of our own,
But stand complete in Christ alone!
Death and Resurrection.
1 THE day will come when we must bid
Farewell to all below;

312

When to the chambers of the dead
Our mortal dust will go.

N

C.M.