. 7s. & 4s. M. Mrs. Gilbert.

Prayer for Support in Death.

1 When the vale of death appears,
Faint and cold this mortal clay,
O, my Father, soothe my fears,
Light me through the gloomy way;
Break the shadows,
Usher in eternal day;--

2 Upward from this dying state
Bid my waiting soul aspire;
Open thou the crystal gate;
To thy praise attune my lyre:
Then, triumphant,
I will join th' immortal choir.

539. C. M. Anonymous.

The Happy Death.

1 Lord, must we die? O let us die
Trusting in thee alone!
Our living testimony given,
Then leave our dying one.

2 If we must die, O let us die
In peace with all mankind,
And change these fleeting joys below
For pleasures all refined.

3 If we must die,--as die we must,--
Let some kind seraph come,
And bear us on his friendly wing
To our celestial home!

4 Of Canaan's land, from Pisgah's top,
May we but have a view!
Though Jordan should o'erflow its banks,
We'll boldly venture through.

540. L. M. Montgomery.

The Hour of Death, and Entrance on Immortality.

1 O God unseen--but not unknown!
Thine eye is ever fixed on me;
I dwell beneath thy secret throne,
Encompassed by thy deity.

2 The moment comes when strength must fail,
When, health and hope and comfort flown,
I must go down into the vale
And shade of death, with thee alone:

3 Alone with thee;--in that dread strife
Uphold me through mine agony,
And gently be this dying life
Exchanged for immortality.

4 Then, when th' unbodied spirit lands
Where flesh and blood have never trod,
And in the unveiled presence stands
Of thee, my Saviour and my God:

5 Be mine eternal portion this,
Since thou wert always here with me,
That I may view thy face in bliss,
And be for evermore with thee.

541. L. M. Doddridge.

Meditation on Death.

1 Behold the path which mortals tread,
Down to the regions of the dead!
Nor will the fleeting moments stay,
Nor can we measure back our day.

2 Our kindred and our friends are gone;
Know, O my soul! this doom my own;
Feeble as theirs my mortal frame,
The same my way, my home the same