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Part Seventh.

THE WORLD TO COME.

SECTION FIRST.-DEATH.

554.

L. M. The great journey. Job xvi. 22. 1 BEHOLD the path that mortals tread Down to the regions of the dead! Nor will the fleeting moments stay, Nor can we measure back our way. 2 Our kindred and our friends are gone, And soon this doom will be our own; Feeble as theirs our mortal frame, The same our way-our house the same. 3 From vital air, from cheerful light, To the cold grave's perpetual night, From scenes of duty, means of grace, Must we to God's tribunal pass ! 4 Important journey! awful view!

How great the change! the scene how new!
The gates of heav'n or hell display'd,-
The realms of light, or gloomy shade!
5 Awake our souls; for death prepare,
And lose in this each mortal care;
With steady feet that path be trod,
Which through the grave conducts to God.

6 Jesus, to thee our all we trust,
And, if thou call us down to dust,
We know thy voice, we bless thy hand,
And die in smiles at thy command.

7 What was our terror, is our joy;
These views our brightest hopes employ,
To go ere many years are o'er,
Secure we shall return no more.

555.

C.M. The certainty and solemnity of death. Heb. ix. 27.
1 HEAV'N hath pronounc'd the great decree,
That Adam's race must die;
One gen'ral ruin sweeps them down,
And low in dust they lie.

2 Ye living men, survey the tomb
Where you must shortly dwell:

Hark! how the awful summons sounds
In ev'ry fun'ral knell.

3 Once you must die-and once for all
The solemn purport weigh;

For know that heav'n and hell depend
On that important day.

4 Your eyes, though long in darkness veil'd,
Must wake the judge to see;

And ev'ry deed, and word, and thought,
Must pass his scrutiny.

5 0 may we, in the Judge, behold

Our Saviour and our Friend;
And far above the reach of death,
With all the saints ascend.

**556.

L. M. Dust returning to dust. Gen. iii. 19.
1 WHY should we murmur, sons of earth,
That sorrow clouds our mortal birth,-
That racking pains, and dark'ning woes,
Pursue us to our journey's close?

2 By sin defil'd, our grov'lling frame

Cleaves to the dust from which it came;

And, lodg'd within the grave's domain,
We soon shall blend with dust again.
3 The ground that mocks our weary tread,
And scarce repays our toil with bread,
Is, through our sin, accurs'd to be
A type of our depravity.

4 Earth yields us scanty gifts ;-she gave
A cradle, and prepares a grave;
Her glory, in its proudest form,
Ends in corruption and the worm.
5 Leave dust to dust ;-let faith survey
The hour when earth must pass away;
And, wrapp'd in folds of blazing fire,
Her glory with her shame expire.

6 A new creation then shall rise,—

New heav'ns and earth shall meet our eyes,
And, rais'd from dust, and freed from stain,
We shall our Paradise regain.

**557.

M. The vicinity of death. 1 Sam. xx. 3. Luke xii. 20. 1 A HAND unseen is o'er us now,

Whose lightest touch can quench our breath;
But who can tell the destin'd brow
That next will feel the stroke of death?

2 That awful hand hath rested not,
While years by thousands roll'd away:
It hovers nigh-it points the spot
Where we must blend with kindred clay.
3 "Thou fool!"-its silent motion cries-
"This night thy forfeit soul I claim;
"Then whose thy toys, thy darling prize,
"Of riches, pleasure, learning, fame?”
4 The knell hath toll'd, the grave hath yawn'd
For many a bright and blooming one,
Radiant in life when morning dawn'd,
And cold in death ere day was done.

5 To die!-it is the gen'ral doom;
Then judgment comes, in stern array:
O trifler! deem not in thy tomb
To sleep unconscious hours away.
6 Canst thou in flames eternal dwell?
Or, seek'st thou a celestial throne?
The joys of heav'n, or pains of hell,
To-morrow may become thine own.

558.

C. M. On the death of a young person.

Job xiv. 1, 2.

1 LIFE is a span, a fleeting hour;
How soon the vapour flies!
Man is a tender, transient flow'r,
That ev'n in blooming dies.

2 Death chills, like winter's frozen arms,
And beauty smiles no more:

Ah! where are now those rising charms,
Which pleas'd our eyes before?

3 The once lov'd form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;
And nature weeps her comforts fled,
And wither'd all her joys.

4 But wait the interposing gloom,
Behold, stern winter flies;

And, dress'd in beauty's fairest bloom,
The flow'ry tribes arise.

5 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,
When what we now deplore
Shall rise in full, immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.

6 Cease, then, fond nature, cease thy tears,
The gospel points on high;

There, everlasting spring appears,
And joys that cannot die.

559.

C. M. Consolation under the death of Christian friends, 1 Thessalonians iv. 14.

1 WHY should we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death's alarms?
'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to his arms.

2 Are we not tending upward too,
As fast as time can move?

Nor would we wish the hours more slow
That lift our souls above.

3 Why should we tremble to convey
Their bodies to the tomb ?
There once our Saviour Jesus lay,
And has dispell'd its gloom.

4 The graves of all his saints he bless'd,
And soften'd ev'ry bed;

Where should the dying members rest,
But with their dying head ?

5 Thence he arose, ascending high,
And show'd our feet the way;
Up to the Lord we too shall fly,
At the great rising day.

6 Then let the last loud trumpet sound,
And bid our kindred rise;
Awake, ye nations, under ground;
Ye saints, ascend the skies.

**560.

Ts. The death of a believer. 1 Thess. iv. 13.

1 Now be hush'd the plaint of woe→
Ev'ry heart with triumph glow-
Ev'ry tongue the chorus swell-
Praise to him who conquer'd hell!
2 Jesus conquer'd! Jesus reigns!
He hath rent our brother's chains;

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