MINISTERING ANGELS.

1 BROTHER, the angels say,
Peace to thy heart!
We, too, O brother, have
Been as thou art,·
Hope-lifted, doubt-depressed,
Seeing in part,
Tried, troubled, tempted,
Sustained, as thou art.

2 Brother, they softly say,
Be our thoughts one;
Bend thou with us and pray,
"Thy will be done!"

Our God is thy God;

He willeth the best;
Trust Him as we trusted
Rest as we rest!

3 Ye, too, they gently say,
Shall angels be;

Ye, too, O brothers,

From earth shall be free:

Yet in earth's loved ones

ANONYMOUS.

Ye still shall have part,
Bearing God's strength and love
To the torn heart.

4 Thus when the spirit, tried
Tempted and worn,

Finding no earthly aid,

Heavenward doth turn,

359.

Come these sweet angel-tones,
Falling like balm,

And on the troubled heart
Steals a deep calm.

C. M.

MRS. MILES.

FORETASTE OF HEAVEN.

1 WHEN, on devotion's seraph wing,
The spirit soars above,

And feels Thy presence, Father, Friend,
God of eternal love!

The joys of earth, how swift they fade
Before that living ray,

Which gives to the rapt soul a glimpse
Of pure and perfect day!

2 A gleam of Heaven's own light, though now
Its brightness scarce appears
Through the pale shadows that are spread
Around our earthly years;

But Thine unclouded smile, O God!
Fills that all-glorious place,

Where we shall know as we are known,
And see Thee, face to face.

360

S. M.

BRIGGS' COLL.

THE ANGELS' CALL.

1 COME to the land of peace!

From shadows come away;

Where all the sounds of weeping cease,
And storms no more have sway!

2 Fear hath no dwelling here;
But pure repose and love
Breathe through the bright, celestial air
The spirit of the dove.

3 Come to the bright and blest,
Gathered from every land;

For here thy soul shall find its rest,
Amidst the shining band.

4 In this divine abode

361.

Change leaves no saddening trace;
Come, trusting spirit, to thy God,
Thy holy resting-place!

C. M.

A VISION OF HEAVEN.

BRIGGS' COLL.

1 O, HEAVEN is where no secret dread
May haunt us by its power;

Where from the past no gloom is shed
Upon the present hour.

2 And there the living waters flow
Along the radiant shore;

The soul, now wandering here, shall know
Its burning thirst no more.

3 The burden of the stranger's heart,
Which here unknown we bear,
Like the night-shadow shall depart
With our first wakening there.

4 And, born on eagle's wings afar,
Free thought shall claim its dower,
From every sphere, from every star,
Of glory and of power.

VIII. VARIOUS OCCASIONS.

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P. M.

A HYMN OF MORNING.

STERLING.

1 SWEET morn! from countless cups of gold, Thou liftest reverently on high

More incense fine than earth can hold,
To fill the sky.

2 Where'er the vision's boundaries glance,
Existence swells with living power,
And all the illumined earth's expanse
Inhales the hour.

3 In man, O morn! a loftier good,
With conscious blessing, fills the soul, -
A life by reason understood,
Which metes the whole.

4 To thousand tasks of fruitful hope,
With skill against his toil, he bends,
And finds his work's determined scope
Where'er he wends.

5 From earth and earthly toil and strife.
To deathless aims his soul may rise,
Each dawn may wake to better life,

With purer eyes.

6 Such grace from Thee, O God, be ours,
Renewed with every morning's ray,
And freshening still with added flowers
Each future day.

7 To man is given one primal star;
One dayspring's beam has dawned below;
From Thine our inmost glories are,
With Thine we glow.

8 Like earth awake and warm and bright,
With joy the spirit moves and burns;
So up to Thee, O Fount of Light,
Our light returns.

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7s. M.

MORNING HYMN.

EPISCOPAL COLL.

1 Now the shades of night are gone;
Now the morning light is come:
Lord, may we be thine to-day;
Drive the shades of sin away.

2 Fill our souls with heavenly light,
Banish doubt, and clear our sight;
In Thy service, Lord, to-day,
May we stand, and watch, and pray.

3 Keep our haughty passions bound;
Save us from our foes around;
Going out and coming in,
Keep us safe from every sin.