3 The time is short!-ye saints, rejoice-
The Lord will quickly come:

Soon shall you hear the Saviour's voice,
To call you to your home.

4 The time is short!-it swiftly flies-
The hour is just at hand,

When we shall mount above the skies,
And reach the wished-for land.

5 The time is short!-the moment near,
When we shall dwell above;
And be forever happy there,
With Jesus, whom we love.

597

C. M.

Spencer. York.

Time the Period to prepare for Eternity.
1 THEE we adore, Eternal Name!
And humbly own to thee

How feeble is our mortal frame,
What dying worms are we!

2 The year rolls round, and steals away
The breath that first it gave;
Whate'er we do-where'er we be,
We're travelling to the grave.

Aff 3 Great God! on what a slender thread
Hang everlasting things!
Th' eternal state of all the dead
Upon life's feeble strings!

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4 Eternal joy-or endless wo
Attends on every breath!

And yet how unconcerned we go
Upon the brink of death!

Aff 5 Awake, O Lord, our drowsy sense,
To walk this dangerous road;

598

And if our souls are hurried hence,
May they be found with God.

L. M.

Ralston. Middlebury.
1 LIFE is the time to serve the Lord,
The time t' insure the great reward;
And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.

2 Life is the hour that God hath given
T'escape from hell, and fly to heaven;
The day of grace-and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.

P

Len

3 Then, what my thoughts design to do
My hands, with all your might, pursue;
Since no device, nor work is found,

Nor faith, nor hope, beneath the ground.
4 There are no acts of pardon passed
In the cold grave to which we haste;
But darkness, death, and long despair
Reign in eternal silence there.

599

A

1 TO-MORROW, Lord, is thine,
Lodged in thy sovereign hand;
And if its sun arise and shine,
It shines by thy command.
2 The present moment flies,
And bears our life away;
Oh make thy servants truly wise,
That they may live to-day.

3 Since on this fleeting hour
Eternity is hung,

Awake, by thine almighty power,
The aged and the young.

4 One thing demands our care;
Oh! be that still pursued!
Lest, slighted once, the season fair
Should never be renewed.

5 To Jesus may we fly,

mf

600

Swift as the morning light,

Lest life's young, golden beams should die
In sudden, endless night.

S. M.

Haverhill. Aylesbury.

Reflections on past Generations.

1 HOW swift the torrent rolls,

That bears us to the sea!

The tide which hurries thoughtless souls
To vast eternity!

2 Our fathers! where are they,

With all they called their own?-
Their joys and griefs-and hopes and cares,
And wealth and honor-gone!

3 But joy or grief succeeds

Beyond our mortal thought,

While still the remnant of their dust

Lies in the grave forgot.

4 There, where the fathers lie,
Must all the children dwell;
Nor other heritage possess,
But such a gloomy cell.
5 God of our fathers, hear,
Thou everlasting Friend!

While we, as on life's utmost verge,
Our souls to thee commend.

6 Of all the pious dead

601

-

May we the footsteps trace,
Till with them, in the land of light,
We dwell before thy face.

Exhortation to work while it is Day.

1 THE swift-declining day,

How fast its moments fly!

While evening's broad and gloomy shade
Gains on the western sky.

2 Ye mortals, mark its pace,

And use the hours of light;
For know, its Maker can command
An instant, endless night.

3 Give glory to the Lord,

Who rules the rolling sphere;
Submissive, at his footstool bow,
And seek salvation there.

4 Then shall new lustre break

602

1

Through all the horrid gloom,
And lead you to unchanging light,
In your celestial home.

L. M.

Danvers. St. Paul's.

AWAKE-awake! each sluggish soul,
Awake-and view the setting sun!
See how the shades of death advance,
Ere half the task of life is done!
mp 2 Soon will he close our drowsy eyes,

Nor shall we hear these warnings more:
Soon will the mighty Judge approach;
Ev'n now he stands before the door!
mf 3 To-day, attend his gracious voice!

And hear the summons which he sends"Awake! for on this passing hour, Thy long eternity depends!"

Aff 4 O Saviour! let these awful scenes
Be ever present to our view:
Teach us to gird our loins about,
And trim our dying lamps anew.
5 Then, when the king of terror comes,
Our souls shall hail the happy day:
Haste, then, O Saviour, from above,
Nor let thy chariot wheels delay!

mf

603

Trust in God in Old Age.

1 ALMIGHTY Father of mankind,
On thee my hopes remain;

And when the day of trouble comes,
I shall not trust in vain.

2 In early years thou wast my guide,
And of my youth the friend;
And as my days began with thee,
With thee my days shall end.

3 Thou wilt not cast me off, when age
And evil days descend;

Thou wilt not leave me in despair,
To mourn my latter end.

4 Therefore in life I'll trust to thee,
In death I will adore;

And after death will sing thy praise,
When time shall be no more.

C. M.

Wachusett. Grafton.

604

Meditation on Death.

1 STOOP down, my thoughts, that used to rise,
Converse awhile with death;
Think how a gasping mortal lies,
And pants away his breath.

2 But oh, the soul!-that never dies!
At once it leaves the clay!-

Ye thoughts, pursue it where it flies-
And track its wondrous way.

3 And must my body faint and die?
And must my soul remove?
Oh! for some guardian angel nigh,
To bear it safe above!

4 Jesus, to thine almighty hand
My naked soul I trust;

605

And waits my flesh for thy command,
To drop into the dust.

Death and Judgment appointed to all.

1 HEAVEN has confirmed the dread decree,
That Adam's race must die:

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

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

Hark! how the awful summons sounds,
In every funeral knell !

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

For know, that heaven or hell is hung
On that important day!

4 Those eyes, so long in darkness vailed,
Must wake, the Judge to see;

And every word-and every thought—
Must pass his scrutiny.

5 Oh may I in the Judge behold

606

mf

My Saviour and my Friend;
And, far beyond the reach of death
With all his saints ascend.

Admonition to prepare for Death.

1 LIFE is a span-a fleeting hour
How soon the vapor flies!

Man is a tender, transient flower,
That ev'n in blooming-dies.

2 The once loved form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;
And nature weeps her comforts fled,
And withered all her joys.

3 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,
When what we now deplore

Shall rise in full, immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.

4 Cease then, fond nature, cease thy tears-
Thy Saviour dwells on high;

There everlasting spring appears-
There joys shall never die.