2 Silent and swift they glide away ;
Steady and strong the current flows,
Lost in eternity's wide sea,

The boundless gulf from whence it rose.

3 With it the thoughtless sons of men
Before the rapid stream are borne
On to their everlasting home,

Whence not one soul can e'er return.

4 Great Source of wisdom! teach our hearts
To know the price of every hour,
That time may bear us on to joys
Beyond its measure and its power.

319.

C. H. M.

What is your Life?

J. TAYLOR.

1 0, WHAT is life?'t is like a flower
That blossoms and is gone;

It flourishes its little hour,
With all its beauty on:

Death comes, and, like a wintry day,
It cuts the lovely flower away.

2 O, what is life?—'t is like the bow
That glistens in the sky:
We love to see its colors glow;
But, while we look, they die :
Life fails as soon:-to-day 't is here;
To-morrow it may disappear.

3 Lord, what is life?—if spent with thee,
In humble praise and prayer,

How long or short our life may be,
We feel no anxious care:

Though life depart, our joys shall last
When life and all its joys are past.

520.

L. M.

Our Times are in thy Hand.

BOWRING.

1 OUR times are in thy hand, and thou
Wilt guide our footsteps at thy will:
Lord, to thy purposes we bow,

Do thou thy purposes fulfil !

2 Life's mighty waters roll along,

Thy spirit guides them as they roll;
And waves on waves impetuous throng
At thy command, at thy control.

3 Lord, we, thy children, look to thee,
And with an humble, prostrate will,

521.

Find in thine all-sufficiency

A claim to love and serve thee still.

"Why sayest thou.

my way is hid from the Lord?"

ALONG my earthly way,

How many clouds are spread!
Darkness, with scarce one cheerful ray,
Seems gathering o'er my head.

2 Yet, Father, thou art love:
O hide not from my view!
But when I look, in prayer, above,
Appear in mercy through!

3 My pathway is not hid;

Thou knowest all my need;
And I would do as Israel did,-
Follow where thou wilt lead.

4 Lead me, and then my feet
Shall never, never stray;
But safely I shall reach the seat
Of happiness and day.

522.

5 And O from that bright throne,
1 shall look back, and see,-
The path I went, and that alone,
Was the right path for me.

The Dead speaking to the Living.

1 RISE, O my soul! pursue the path
By ancient worthies trod;
Aspiring, view those holy men

Who lived and walked with God.

2 Though dead, they speak in reason's ear,
And in example live;

Their faith, and hope, and mighty deeds,
Still fresh instruction give.

3 Confiding in his heavenly strength,
They conquered every foe;
To his almighty power and grace
Their crowns of life they owe.

4 Lord, may I ever keep in view
The patterns thou hast given;
And never wander from the road
That led them safe to heaven.

C. M.

The Pilgrimage of Life.

BARBAULD.

1 OUR country is Immanuel's ground;
We seek that promised soil;
The songs of Zion cheer our hearts,
While strangers here we toil.

2 Oft do our eyes with joy o'erflow,
And oft are bathed in tears;

Yet naught but heaven our hopes can raise,
And naught but sin our fears.

523.

3 We tread the path our Master trod:
We bear the cross he bore;

And every thorn that wounds our feet,
His temples pierced before.

4 Our powers are oft dissolved away
In ecstasies of love;

And while our bodies wander here,
Our souls are fixed above.

5 We purge our mortal dross away,
Refining as we run;

But while we die to earth and sense,
Our heaven is here begun.

524.

C. M.

WATTS

"We are fearfully and wonderfully made."

1 LET others boast how strong they be,
Nor death nor danger fear;

But we 'll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.

2 Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay;
A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

3 Our life contains a thousand springs,
And fails if one be gone;

Strange! that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long.

4 But 't is our God supports our frame,
The God who built us first;
Salvation to the Almighty Name
That reared us from the dust!

525.

C. M.

DODDRIDGE

"Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

1 THESE mortal joys, how soon they fade!
How swift they pass away!

The dying flower reclines its head,
The beauty of a day.

2 Soon are those earthly treasures lost,
We fondly call our own ;

Scarce the possession can we boast,
When straight we find them gone.

3 But there are joys which cannot die,
With God laid up in store;
Treasures beyond the changing sky,
More bright than golden ore.

526.

4 The seeds which piety and love
Have scattered here below,

In the fair, fertile fields abuve
To ample harvests grow.

L. M.

Lightning in the Night.

NEWTON.

1 A GLANCE from heaven, with sweet effect,
Sometimes my pensive spirit cheers:

But ere I can my thoughts collect,
As suddenly it disappears.

2 So lightning in the gloom of night
Affords a momentary day;

Disclosing objects full in sight,

Which, soon as seen, are snatched away.

3 The lightning's flash did not create The opening prospect it revealed;

But only showed the real state

Of what the darkness had concealed.