4 "This is the light prepar'd to shine Upon the Gentile lands,

Thine Israel's glory and their hope,

To break their slavish bands."

5 Jesus! the vision of thy face,
Hath overpowering charms!
Scarce shall I feel death's cold embrace,
If Thou be in my arms.

Oh, longing turns Thy Church to Thee,
For time flows slowly on.

2 Oh, that we soon might Thee behold!
We count the moments o'er;

Oh, come, ere yet the heart grow cold,
And cannot call Thee more!

3 Come, is the pleading of Thy Bride,
She loudly prays Thee come!
With faithful heart she long has cried,
Come quickly, Master, come!

4 The past we lived in love divine
No power can take away;

And that the future shall be Thine,
Thy promise is our stay.

HYMN

ENEATH our feet and o'er our head
Is equal warning given;

Beneath us lie the countless dead,
Above us is the heaven!

2 Death rides on every passing breeze
And lurks in every flower;
Each season has its own disease,
Its peril every hour!

3 Our eyes have seen the rosy light
Of youth's soft cheek decay;
And fate descend in sudden night
On manhood's middle day.

4 Our eyes have seen the steps of age
Halt feebly to the tomb;

And yet shall earth our hearts engage,
And dreams of days to come?

5 Turn, mortal, turn! thy danger know;
Where'er thy foot can tread,
The earth rings hollow from below,
And warns thee of her dead!

6 Turn, mortal, turn! thy soul apply
To truths divinely given:

The dead, who underneath thee lie,
Shall live for hell or heaven!

HYMN

76.

C. M.

GOD! our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home;

2 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

3 A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone,

Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

4 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They pass, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

5 Like flowery fields the nations stand Pleased with the morning light; The flowers beneath the mower's hand Lie withering ere 'tis night.

6 O God! our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guide while life shall last,
And our eternal home.

THE NEW YEAR.

HYMN

77.

L. M.

0

Festival of the Circumcision.

HAPPY day, when first was pour'd
The blood of our Redeemer Lord!

O happy day, when first began
His suff'rings borne for sinful man !

2 Just enter'd on this world of woe,
His blood already learn'd to flow:
His future death was thus express'd,
And thus His early love confess'd.

3 From Heaven descending to fulfil
The mandates of His Father's will,
E'en now behold the Victim lie,
The Lamb of God, prepar'd to die.

4 Beneath the knife behold the Child,
The Innocent, the Undefil'd:

For captives He the ransom pays,
For lawless man the law obeys.

5 Lord, purify our hearts, we pray;
Our fleshly natures purge away;
Thy Name, Thy likeness, may they bear!
Yea, stamp Thy holy image there.

HYMN

78.

III. 1.

WHILE, with ceaseless course, the sun

Hasted through the former year,

Many souls their race have run,

Never more to meet us here: Fix'd in an eternal state,

They have done with all below: We a little longer wait,

But how little, none can know.

2 As the winged arrow flies
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts, and leaves no trace behind,
Swiftly thus our fleeting days

Bear us down life's rapid stream;
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise;
All below is but a dream.

3 Thanks for mercies past receive;
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us henceforth how to live
With eternity in view:

Bless thy word to young and old
d;

Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And when life's short tale is told,
May we reign with thee above.