Our vows, our prayers, we now present

Before thy throne of grace,
God of our fathers, be the God

Of their succeeding race.
Through each perplexing path of life

Our wandering footsteps guide:
Give us each day our daily bread,

And raiment fit provide.
O spread thy covering wings around,

Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father's loved abode,
Our souls arrive in

peace.
Such blessings from thy gracious hand

Our humble prayers implore;
And thou shalt be our chosen God

And portion evermore,

229
W

HERE shall the weary rest ?
In Jesu's arms for ever blest,

Soon shall he banish care !
When shall the sufferer's pain,
The

groan of anguish, cease ?
In heaven his saints no more complain,

But all is endless peace!
When shall temptation's power

No longer break repose ?
There comes a near, a blissful hour

Which no disturbance knows!

When shall this aching heart

With every loved one dwell? In worlds above they never part, There never say

« farewell !” Where is the blest abode

Whence none shall ever roam ? There in the presence of our God

Is our eternal Home! 230

A ,

Though far away from this, Where toil and trouble are no more ;

This land I sometimes see,

And then I fain would be
In safety on the happy shore.

'Tis trouble here and grief,

But hope affords relief;
The hope of an eternal rest,

The hope of reaching home,

The hope of joys to come,
The hope of being ever blest.

'Tis labour here, and strife

That only ends with life,
For here we dwell amidst our foes ;

On yonder happy shore

Our foes are seen no more,
And there we shall enjoy repose.

This mind be always mine,

A fervent wish to join
With those who from their labours rest:

And yet a will to stay,

Till God sees fit to say,
• Come up, and be for ever blest."

231

PER the gloomy hills of darkness

,

All the promises do travail
With a glorious day of grace ;

Blessed jubilee,
Let thy glorious morning dawn.
Let the Indian, let the negro,

Let the rude barbarian see
That divine and glorious conquest,
Once obtained on Calvary;

Let the gospel
Loud resound from pole to pole.
Kingdoms wide, that sit in darkness,

Grant them, Lord, the glorious light;
And from eastern coast to western,
May the morning chase the night;

And redemption,
Freely purehased, win the day.
May the glorious day approaching

Thine eternal love proclaim;
And the everlasting gospel
Spread abroad thy holy name,

O’er the borders
Of the great Immanuel's land.
Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel,

Win and conquer, never cease;
May thy lasting wide dominion
Multiply and still increase :

Sway thy sceptre,
Saviour, all the world around.

C-;

232

YOME, Lord! and tarry not;

Bring the long looked for day;
0! why these years of waiting here,

These ages of delay?
Come, for the good are few;

They lift the voice in vain;
Faith waxes fainter on the earth,

And love is on the wane.
Come, for love waxes cold,

Its steps are faint and slow;
Faith now is lost in unbelief;

Hope's lamp burns dim and low.
Come, for creation groans,

Impatient of thy stay,
Worn out with these long years of ill,

These ages of delay.
Come, and make all things new,

Build up this ruin'd earth;
Restore our faded Paradise,

Creation's second birth.
Come, and begin thy reign

Of everlasting peace;
Come, take the kingdom to thyself,

Great King of Righteousness. 233

YOON may the last glad song arise That song of triumph, which records That all the earth is now the Lord's.

skies;

Let thrones, and powers, and kingdoms be
Obedient, mighty God, to thee :
And over land, and stream, and main,
Wave thou the sceptre of thy reign!
Soon

may the joyful anthem swell,
And host to host the triumph tell;
That not one rebel heart remains,
But over all the Saviour reigns.

234
ONE
NE sweetly solemn thought

Comes to me o'er and o'er-
I am nearer home to-day,

Than I ever have been before. Nearer my Father's house,

Where the many mansions be ; Nearer the great white throne;

Nearer the crystal sea; Nearer the bound of life,

Where we lay our burdens down;
Nearer leaving the cross;

Nearer gaining the crown.
But lying darkly between,

Winding down through the night,
Is the deep and unknown stream,

That leads at last to the light.
Jesus, perfect my trust,

Strengthen the hand of my faith;
Let me feel thee near when I stand

On the edge of the shore of death :