XIV.

FOR ADVENT OR CHRISTMAS.

1st Voice. WATCHMAN! tell us of the night; What its signs of promise are.

2d Voice. Traveller! o'er yon mountain's height See that glory-beaming star! 1st Voice. Watchman! does its beauteous ray Aught of hope or joy foretell?

2d Voice. Traveller! yes; it brings the day, Promised day of Israel!

1st Voice. Watchman!

2d Voice. Traveller !

2.

Yes, it brings, &c.

1st Voice. Watchman! tell us of the night; Higher yet that star ascends.

2d Voice. Traveller! blessedness and light, Peace and truth its course portends. 1st Voice. Watchman! will its beams alone Gild the spot that gave them birth?

2d Voice. Traveller! ages are its own:

See! it bursts o'er all the earth.

1st Voice. Watchman!

2d Voice. Traveller!

3.

Ages are its own, &c.

1st Voice. Watchman! tell us of the night, For the morning seems to dawn. 2d Voice. Traveller! darkness takes its flight, Doubt and terror are withdrawn.

1st Voice. Watchman! let thy wanderings cease; Hie thee to thy quiet home.

2d Voice. Traveller! lo! the Prince of Peace, Lo! the Son of God is come!

1st Voice. Watchman! Lo! the Prince of Peace,

2d Voice. Traveller!

&c.

XV.

ANGELS ever bright and fair,
Take, oh take me to your care.
Speed to your own courts my flight,
Clad in robes of virgin white.
Angels ever bright and fair,

Take, oh take me to your care.

FATHER of mercies! when the day is dawning, Then will I pay my vows to thee;

Like incense wafted on the breath of morning,
My heart-felt praise to Heaven shall be.

Yes, thou art near me; sleeping or waking,
Still doth thy care unchanged remain ;
If ever I wander, thy ways forsaking,
O lead me gently back again.

XVII.

THE DYING CHRISTIAN.

1 VITAL spark of heavenly flame,
Quit, O quit this mortal frame!
Trembling, hoping, lingering, 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?

XVIII.

FUNERAL.

1 UNVEIL thy bosom, faithful tomb!
Take this new treasure to thy trust;
And give these sacred relics room
To slumber in thy silent dust.

2 No pain, no grief, no anxious fear
Invade thy bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch its soft repose.

3 So Jesus slept; God's dying Son

Passed through the grave, and blessed the bed;
Then rest, dear saint, till from his throne
The morning break, and pierce the shade.

4 Break, sacred morning, from the skies!
Then, clothed anew in bright array,
Immortal form! to life arise,

And swell the song of endless day.

XIX.

AT A FUNERAL.

1 BROTHER, thou art gone before us,
And thy saintly soul is flown
Where tears are wiped from every eye,
And sorrow is unknown.

From the burthen of the flesh,

And from care and fear released, Where the wicked cease from troubling, And the weary are at rest.

2 Sin can never taint thee now,
Nor doubt thy faith assail,
Nor thy meek trust in Jesus Christ
And the holy Spirit fail:

And there thou 'rt sure to meet the good,
Whom on earth thou lovedst best,
Where the wicked cease from troubling,
And the weary are at rest.

3 Earth to earth,' and 'dust to dust,'
The solemn priest hath said;

So we lay the turf above thee now,
And we seal thy narrow bed:
But thy spirit, brother! soars away
Among the faithful blest,

Where the wicked cease from troubling,
And the weary are at rest.

Ll

XX.

SAVE me from my foes,
Shield me, Lord, from harm,
Let me safe repose

On thy mighty arm.

Thou art God alone;

Those who seek thy heavenly face, Thou wilt bless, and they shall own Thy matchless grace.

Pleasant is the land,

Where Jehovah's known,

Where a pious band,

Bow before his throne,

Who with loud acclaim,

Sing his great and wondrous love, Who ere long shall praise his name With saints above.

Let my faith and love

With my years increase,

Let me never rove,

From the paths of peace;

But through life display

Holy deeds and actions pure, That when life has passed away, May bliss be sure.