He to early rest is gone,-
He to paradise is fled:
I shall go to him, but he
Never shall return to me.
2 God forbad his longer stay,
And recall'd the precious loan,—
Wisely took the child away,
From my bosom to his own:
Surely what he wills is best;
Therefore in his will I rest.
3 He who takes, says faith, is God;
Let him do as seems him good:
Be thy holy Name adored;
Take the gift awhile bestow'd,-
Take the child, no longer mine;
Thine he is, for ever thine.
L. 487. Altd. A farewell to a departed relative or friend.
FAREWELL, dear friend, a long farewell,
For we shall meet no more,
Till we be rais'd with Christ to dwell,
On Zion's happy shore.
2 Our friend and sister,* lo! is dead:
The cold and lifeless clay
Hath madef in dust its silent bed,
And there it must decay.
3 But is she dead? The spirit lives
With God above the skies,-
To him eternal praises gives,
That she has won the prize:-
4 In robes of innocence and love
Her happy soul is drest;
* Mother, Father, Brother, Pastor, Preacher, or Leader may be used, when appropriate, instead of Sister, with the corresponding pronouns.
+ "Will make," when the corpse is not interred.
And all the angel hosts above
Rejoice to see her blest.
5 Then let us wipe away our tears,-
From gloomy grief refrain;
Prepare to go, when death appears,
With her in heaven to reign.
6 If faithful, we shall shortly leave
This world for that above,
And with our friend shall ever live
In bonds of joy and love.
7 Farewell, dear friend, again farewell;
We soon shall rise to thee;
And when we meet, no tongue can tell
How great our joys will be.
The vital spark triumphantly quitting the mortal frame.
VITAL spark of heavenly flame,
Quit, O quit this mortal frame,
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.
2 Hark! they whisper: angels say,-—
"Sister spirit, come away!"
-What is this absorbs me quite,-
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,-
Drowns my spirit, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3 The world recedes: it disappears;
Heaven opens on my eyes; my ears
With sounds seraphic ring.
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave, where is thy victory?
O Death, where is thy sting?
HYMN 800.
Prayer for a peaceful death. S. M.
WHEN on the brink of death
My trembling soul shall stand,
Waiting to pass that awful flood,
Great God, at thy command;-
2 When every scene of life
Stands ready to depart,
And the last sigh that shakes the frame
Shall rend this bursting heart;—
3 Thou source of joy supreme,
Whose arm alone can save,—
Dispel the darkness that surrounds
The entrance to the grave.
4 Lay thy supporting hand
Beneath my sinking head,
And with a ray of love divine
Illume my dying bed.
5 Leaning on Jesus' breast,
May I resign my breath,
And in his kind embraces lose
The bitterness of death.
HYMN 801.
L. 45. Abridged. Solemn queries and thoughts about death, the resurrection, and judgment, and prayer to be prepared for them. S. M.
1 ND am I born to die?
To lay this body down?
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?
2 A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought;
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot!
3 Soon as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be:
4 Waked by the trumpet's sound,
I from my grave shall rise
And see the Judge with glory crown'd,
And see the flaming skies!
5 How shall I leave my tomb,—
With triumph or regret?
A fearful or a joyful doom,
A curse or blessing, meet?
6 Will angel bands convey
My spirit to the bar?
Or devils hurry it away
To meet its sentence there?
7 I must from God be driven,
Or with the Saviour dwell;
Must go at his command to heaven,
Or else, depart to hell.
8 Help me, O Lord, to shun
Thy dreadful wrath severe;
And when thou comest on thy throne,
May I with joy appear.
L. 47. Lengthened. A peaceful death and its joyous consequences expected and implored. L. M.
HRINKING from the cold hand of death,
I soon shall gather up my feet,
Shall soon resign this fleeting breath,
And die my father's God to meet.
2 Number'd among thy people, I
Expect with joy thy face to see:
Because thou didst for sinners die,
Jesus, in death, remember me.
3 O that, without a ling'ring groan,
I may the welcome word receive,
My body with my charge lay down,
And cease at once to work and live;
4 And while in dust my body lies,
O let my spirit happy be;
When thou shalt bid the dead arise,
May soul and body rest with thee.
HYMN 803.
The grave the resting-place of the body till the resurrection, but the soul rises to its kindred sky. C. M.
1 THROUGH sorrow's night,and danger's path,
THRO
Amid the deep'ning gloom,
We foll❜wers of our suff'ring Lord,
Are marching to the tomb.
2 There, when the turmoil is no more,
And all our powers decay,
Our cold remains, in solitude,
Shall sleep the years away.
3 Our labours done, securely laid
In this our last retreat,
Unheeded, o'er our silent dust,
The storms of earth may beat;-
4 Yet not thus buried, or extinct,
The vital spark shall lie;
Above life's wreck this spark shall rise
To seek its kindred sky.
5 These ashes, too, this little dust,
Our Father's care shall keep,
Till the last angel rise and break
The long and dreary sleep.
L. 48. The body blooms to die, but shall be revived with ever-enduring bloom. L. M.
THE morning flowers display their sweets,
Their gay and silken leaves unfold,
As careless of the noontide heats,
As fearless of the evening cold.
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