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4.

One gem, of purest ray, divine,
Alone disclaims her power:
Still brighter shall its glories shine,
When hers are seen no more.

5.

Her pageants pass, nor leave a trace:
The soul no change shall fear.
The God of Nature and of grace
Has stampt his image there.

6.

Nor life, nor death, its trust shall move;
Nor powers, nor worlds unknown:
Responsive to its Maker's love,
And prostrate at his throne.

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How long shall death the tyrant reign,
And triumph o'er the just?
How long the blood of martyrs slain
Lie mingled with the dust?

2.

Lo, I behold the scattering shades,
The dawn of heaven appears;
The bright immortal morning spreads
Its blushes round the spheres.

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I see the Lord of glory come,

And flaming guards around;
The skies divide to make him room;
The trumpet shakes the ground.

4.

I hear the voice, "Ye dead, arise!"
And lo, the dead obey;

And waking saints, with joyful eyes,
Salute the expected day.

5.

How will our joy and wonder rise,
When our returning King

Shall bear us homeward through the skies
On love's triumphant wing!

485. C. M.

SCOTTISH PARAPHRASES.

The resurrection.

[1 Cor. xv. 52, &c.]

1.

WHEN the last trumpet's awful voice
This rending earth shall shake,
When opening graves shall yield their charge,
And dust to life awake,

2.

Those bodies that corrupted fell

Shall uncorrupted rise,

And mortal forms shall spring to life
Immortal in the skies.

3.

Behold, what heavenly prophets sung
Is now at last fulfill'd,

That death should yield his ancient reign,
And, vanquish'd, quit the field.

4.

Let faith exalt her joyful voice,
And thus begin to sing,

"O grave, where is thy triumph now?
"And where, O death, thy sting?"

486. P. M.

LIVERPOOL COLLECTION.

Aspirations after a future state.

1.

O WHEN shall this aspiring soul,
Freed from the body's dull control,
Assert its native birth?

When, on exulting pinions rise,
And look triumphant from the skies
On these low scenes of earth?

2.

Shall these weak limbs, this sinking frame,
Bow'd to that dust from which they came,
The soaring spirit bind?

Can sickness, sorrow, care, and pain,
And all the ills in fortune's train,
Enchain the powers of mind?

3.

No, even in this earthly sphere
She feels the hour approaching near
That plumes her half-fledged wings;
And even now, with new delight,
She with a short but rapid flight
Tow'rds brighter regions springs.

4.

Shall then the strong impassion'd glow
That longs a future state to know
In hopeless gloom expire?

Or canst thou in thy darkling hour
Distrust thy great Creator's

power

To wake the slumbering fire?

487. c. M. P. HOUGHTON.

The renewal of virtuous intercourse in a future state.

1.

BLEST hour, when virtuous friends shall meet,

Shall meet to part no more, And with coelestial welcome greet On an immortal shore.

2.

The parent finds his long-lost child,
Brothers on brothers gaze;

The tear of resignation mild
Is changed to joy and praise.

3.

Each tender tie, dissolved with pain,
With endless bliss is crown'd;
All that was dead revives again;
All that was lost is found.

4.

And while remembrance, lingering still,
Draws joy from sorrowing hours;
New prospects rise, new pleasures fill
The soul's expanded powers.

5.

Congenial minds array'd in light
High thoughts shall interchange;
Nor cease, with ever new delight,
On wings of love to range.

6.

Their Father marks their generous flame,
And looks complacent down;

The smile that owns their filial claim
Is their immortal crown.

488. P. M.

SIR J. E. SMITH.

[In my Father's house are many mansions. John xiv. 2.]

1.

HOLY, wise, eternal Father,
O how blessed is thy word,
Thus reveal'd, to all thy servants,
By thy Son, our gracious Lord!

2.

In thy house are many mansions :-
So his hallow'd lips declare.
O that we might there behold thee!
O that we might enter there!

3.

There the blessed of all nations,

Of all times and worlds shall meet: There the labourers in thy vineyard Peaceful rest at Jesus' feet.

4.

There the wrong'd and broken-hearted Pure and sacred joy shall taste; "There the wicked cease from troubling, "And the weary are at rest."

5.

Then shall all of sin or evil

On its hateful self recoil;

None shall share it, none shall own it,
Ev'n its slaves no more shall toil.

6.

Uncontrol'd, thy power and godhead
Shall thy holy will maintain;
And, without a cloud, thy glory
To eternity shall reign.

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