From age to age unchanging, still the same, All good thou art : In every heart! When the glad morn upon the hills was spread, Thy smile was there: We feel thy care. Night spreads her shade upon another day Forever past : A veil may cast. Silence and calm, o'er hearts by earth distrest, Now sweetly steal : Shall faith conceal. Thou, through the dark, wilt watch above our sleep With eye of love; And thou wilt wake us when the sunbeams leap The hills above. Oh! may each heart its gratitude express As life expands, In thy commands! 38. VESPER HYMN. NOW COW, on sea and land descending, Brings the night its peace profound : Let our vesper hymn be blending With the holy calm around. Soon as dies the sunset glory, Stars of heaven shine out above, Telling still the ancient story, Their Creator's changeless love. Now, our wants and burdens leaving To His care who cares for all, Cease we fearing, cease we grieving; At his touch our burdens fall. Lo! eternal stars arise ; Shining in the Spirit's skies. Samuel Longfellow. 39. UPWARD. UPS burning, PWARD, where the stars are Silent, silent, in their turning Round the never-changing pole; Upward, where the sky is brightest; Upward, where the blue is lightest, — Lift I now my longing soul. Far above that arch of gladness, Are the many mansions fair: I would find my mansion there. Where the glory brightly dwelleth; And the discord: never comes ; That must be the home of homes. Blessing, honor, without measure, Lay we at His blessed feet. When before his throne we meet. Rev. H. Bonar. 40. A CHILD'S HYMN. JESU ESUS, gentle shepherd, lead me To the stream that softly flows; In thy pastures guide and feed me, Where each lamb thy calling knows. There no evil thing can find me; I may lie upon thy breast : All shall lead to peace and rest. Jesus, gentle shepherd, hear me; Come and call me one of thine : Let me walk henceforth so near thee, All thy footsteps shall be mine. Agatha Ernesto TRUST 1. THE LOVE OF GOD. LL things that are on earth shall wholly pass Except the love of God, which shall live and last for aye. The forms of men shall be as they had never been; The blasted groves shall lose their fresh and ten der green; The birds of the thicket shall end their pleasant song, And the nightingale shall cease to chant the even ing long; The kine of the pasture shall feel the dart that kills, And all the fair white flocks shall perish from the hills; The goat and antlered stag, the wolf and the fox, The wild boar of the wood and the chamois of the rocks, |