CCCCIV. L. M. RIPPON'S SEL.
1 SINNER, O why so thoughtless grown!
Why in such dreadful haste to die;
Daring to leap to worlds unknown,
Heedless against thy God to fly?
9 Wilt thou despise eternal fate,
Urg'd on by sin's fantastic dreams,
Madly attempt th' infernal gate,
And force thy passage to the flames?
3 Stay, sinner, on the gospel plains,
Behold the God of love unfold
The glories of his dying pains,
For ever telling, yet untold.
CCCCV. C. M. Canterbury tune. WATT'S
LTRIC POEMS.
Death and Eternity.
MY thoughts, that often mount the skies, Go, search the world beneath,
Where nature all in ruin lies,
And owns her sovereign, death.
2 The tyrant how he triumphs here,*
His trophies spread around!
And heaps of dust and bones appear
Through all the hollow ground.
s These skulls, what ghastly figures now!
How loathsome to the eyes!
These are the heads we lately knew
So beauteous and so wise.
But where the souls, those deathless things,
That left their dying clay?
My thoughts, now stretch out all your wings,
And trace eternity!
5 O that unfathomable sea!
Those deeps without a shore!
Where living waters gently play,
Or fiery billows roar.
• There we shall swim in heavenly bliss,
Or sink in flaming waves,
While the pale carcase breathless lies
Among the silent graves.
"Prepare us, Lord, for thy right hand,
"Then come the joyful day,
"Come, death, and some celestial band,
"To bear our souls away."
CCCCVI. C. M. WATTS'S LYRIC POEMS:
The welcome Messenger.
LORD, when we see a saint of thine
Lie gasping out his breath,
With longing eyes and looks divine,
Smiling and pleas'd in death;
2 How we could e'en contend to lay
Our limbs upon that bed!
We ask thine envoy to convey
Our spirits in his stead.
3 Our souls are rising on the wing,
To venture in his place;
For when grim death has lost his sting,
He has an angel's face.
4 Jesus, then purge my crimes away,
"Tis guilt creates my fears;
'Tis guilt gives death his fierce array,
And all the arms he bears,
5 O! if my threatening sins were gone,
And death had lost his sting,
I could invite the angel on,
And chide his lazy wing.
6 Away these interposing days,
And let the lovers meet;
The angel has a cold embrace,
But kind, and soft, and sweet.
7 I'd leap at once my seventy years,
I'd rush into his arms,
And lose my breath, and all my cares,
Amid those heavenly charms.
8 Joyful I'd lay this body down,
And leave this lifeless clay,
Without a sigh, without a groan,
And stretch and soar away...
CCCCVII. C. M. Canterbury Tune.
STEELE.
At the Funeral of a young Person.
THEN blooming youth is snatch'd away
By death's resistless hand,
Our hearts the mournful tribute pay,
Which pity must demand.
2 While pity prompts the rising sigh,
O may this truth, imprest
With awful power--I too must die,-
Sink deep in every breast.
3 Let this vain world engage no more ;.
Behold the gaping tomb!
It bids us seize the present hour,
To-morrow death may come.
4 The voice of this alarming scene
May every heart obey;
Nor be the heavenly warning vain,
Which calls to watch and pray.
5 O may we fly, to Jesus fly!
Whose powerful arm can save;
Then shall our hopes ascend on high,
And triumph o'er the grave.
6. Great God, thy sovereign grace impart,
With cleansing healing power;
This only can prepare the heart
For death's surprising hour.
S. M. TOPLADY'S COL.
Preparation for Death. Matt. xxiv. 44.
REPARE me, gracious God,
To stand before thy face;
Thy spirit must the work perform,
For it is all of grace.
2 In Christ's obedience clothe,
And wash me in his blood:
So shall I lift my head with joy,
Among the sons of God.
3 Do thou my sins subdue,
Thy sovereign love make known; The spirit of my mind renew,
And save me in thy Son.
4 Let me attest thy power,
Let me thy goodness prove,
'Till my full soul can hold no more
Of everlasting love.
CCCCIX. C. M., DODDRIDGE.
Death and Judgment appointed to all.
EAVEN has confrm'd the great 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 quickly 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 attend
On that important day.
Those eyes, so long in darkness veil'd,
Must wake, the Judge to see,
And every word and every thought
Must pass his scrutiny.
5 O may I in the Judge hold
My Saviour and my friend,
And, far beyond the reach of death,
With all his saints ascend.
CCCCX. L. M. SWAIN.
Encouragement against the fear of Death. HEN swelling Jordan o'er us rolls Should Christ his lovely presence hide, Will it not overwhelm our souls,
Before we reach the Canaan-side?
2 Who knows how deep the flood may be, When we our awful summons hear;
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