3 That once-loved form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;
We weep, our earthly comforts fled,
And wither'd all our joys.
4 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,
When what we now deplore
Shall rise in full immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.
5 Cease then, fond nature, cease thy tears;
The Saviour dwells on high:
There everlasting spring appears,
There joys shall never die.
301.-C. M. Death of a Child. [New Ar. 724.
1'T These lambs within my breast:
IS Jesus speaks, I fold, says he,
Protection they shall find in me,
In me be ever bless'd.
2 Death may the bands of life unloose,
But can't dissolve my love;
Millions of infant souls compose
The family above.
3 Their feeble frames my power shall raise,
And mould with heavenly skill:
I'll give them tongues to sing my praise,
And hands to do my will.
4 His words the happy parents hear,
And shout with joy divine,
"O Saviour, all we have and are
Shall be for ever thine."
Death of a Child. [New Ar.
MOURN not ye, whose child hath found
Purer skies and holier ground;
Flowers of bright and pleasant hue,
Free from thorns, and fresh with dew
2 Mourn not ye, whose child hath fled
From this region of the dead,
To yon winged angel-band,
To a better, fairer land.
3 Knowledge in that clime doth grow
Free from weeds of toil and wo,
Joys which mortals may not share ;
Mourn ye not, your child is there.
303.-S. M. Death of a pious Child. [N. Ar. 726.
HEN sickness, pain, and death
Come o'er a godly child,
How sweetly then departs the breath;
The dying pang, how mild.
2 It gently sinks to rest,
As once it used to do
Upon its tender mother's breast,
And as securely too.
3 The spirit is not dead,
Though low the body lies;
But, freed from sin and sorrow, fled
To dwell beyond the skies.
4 That death is but a sleep
Beneath a Saviour's care;
And he will surely safely keep
The body resting there.
304.-C.M. Present with the Lord. [New Ar. 736.
1 IN 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
Its 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 the Saviour rest.
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.
YE mourners, cease to languish
O'er the grave of those ye love;
Pain and death, and night and anguish,
Enter not the world above:
While in darkness ye are straying,
Lonely in the deep'ning shade,
Glory's brightest beams are playing
Round th' immortal spirit's head.
2 O, ye mourners, cease to languish
O'er the grave of those ye love;
Far removed from pain and anguish,
They are chanting hymns above:
Light and peace at once deriving
From the hand of God most high;
In his glorious presence living,
They shall never, never die.
1 66 SPIRIT, leave thy house of clay;
Lingering dust, resign thy breath;
Spirit, cast thy chains away,
Dust, be thou dissolved in death;"
Thus th' Almighty Saviour speaks,
While the faithful Christian dies;
Thus the bonds of life he breaks,
And the ransom'd captive flies.
2" Prisoner, long detain'd below,
Prisoner, now with freedom blest,
Welcome from a world of wo,
Welcome to a land of rest!"
Thus the choir of angels sing,
As they bear the soul on high;
While with hallelujahs ring,
All the regions of the sky.
3 Grave-the guardian of our dust;
Grave-the treas'ry of the skies;
Every atom of thy trust
Rests in hope again to rise.
Hark! the judgment trumpet calls,
"Soul, rebuild thy house of clay;
Immortality thy walls,
And eternity thy day!"
307.-88. Longing to be with Christ. [N. Ar. 739.
NO Jesus, the crown of my hope,
My soul is in haste to be gone;
Oh bear me, ye cherubims, up,
And waft me away to his throne.
2 My Saviour, whom absent I love,
Whom not having seen, I adore;
Whose name is exalted above
All glory, dominion, and power;
3 Dissolve thou these bonds that detain
My soul from her portion in thee;
O, strike off this adamant chain,
And make me eternally free.
4 When that happy era begins,
When array'd in thy glories I shine,
Nor grieve any more by my sins
The bosom on which I recline;
5 Oh then shall the veil be removed,
And round me thy brightness be pour'd;
I shall see him whom absent I loved,
Whom not having seen, I adored.
308.-C. M. Thanks to God for Victory. [N. A. 740.
FOR an overcoming faith,
To cheer my dying hours!
To triumph o'er the monster death,
And all his frightful powers.
2 Joyful with all the strength I have,
My quivering lips shall sing,
"Where is thy boasted victory, Grave?
And where, O Death, thy sting?"
3 If sin be pardon'd I'm secure,
Death has no sting beside;
The law is sin's condemning power,
But Christ-my ransom-died.
4 Now to the God of victory,
Immortal thanks be paid,
Who makes us conq'rors while we die,
Through Christ, our living Head.
This becomes C.M. by singing the 1st and 2d lines as one, and the 4th and 5th lines as one,
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