Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion Part 69

1 Calm on the bosom of thy G.o.d, Fair spirit, rest thee now!

E'en while with us thy footstep trod, His seal was on thy brow.

2 Dust, to its narrow house beneath!

Soul, to its home on high!

They that have seen thy look in death No more may fear to die.

3 Lone are the paths, and sad the hours, Since thy meek spirit's gone; But, O, a brighter home than ours, In heaven, is now thine own!

411. 8 & 7s. M. Briggs' Coll.

Death of a Child.

1 Fare thee well, our fondly cherished!

Dear, dear blossom, fare thee well!

He who lent thee hath recalled thee, Back with Him and His to dwell.

2 Like a sunbeam through our dwelling Shone thy presence, bright and calm; Thou didst add a zest to pleasure; To our sorrows thou wast balm.

3 Yet while mourning, O our lost one, Come no visions of despair!

Seated on thy tomb, Faith's angel Saith, thou art not, art not there.

4 Where, then, art thou? with the Saviour, Blest, forever blest, to be; 'Mid the sinless little children Who have heard his "Come to me."

5 Pa.s.sed the shades of death's dark valley, Thou art leaning on his breast, Where the wicked may not enter, And the weary are at rest.

6 Plead, that in a Father's mercy All our sins may be forgiven; Angel! plead, that thou may'st greet us, Ransomed, at the gates of heaven.

412. 7s. M. Anonymous.

Funeral Hymn of a Child.

1 To the Father's love we trust That which was enshrined in dust; While we give the earth to earth, Finds the soul its heavenly birth.

Angels wait the angel child, Gentle, young, and undefiled.

2 Said not oft those pleading eyes That they longed for purer skies?

Did not oft the falling tear Speak of roughening billows here?

Prayed we not that she might rest On her Heavenly Father's breast?

3 Give the spirit, then, to G.o.d, And its vesture to the sod; Life, henceforth, shall have a ray Kindled ne'er to pa.s.s away, And a light from angel eyes Draw us upward to the skies.

413. 7 & 6s. M. Anonymous.

Children in Heaven.

1 In the broad fields of heaven,-- In the immortal bowers, By life's clear river dwelling, Amid undying flowers,-- There hosts of beauteous spirits, Fair children of the earth, Linked in bright bands celestial, Sing of their human birth.

2 They sing of earth and heaven,-- Divinest voices rise To G.o.d, their gracious Father, Who called them to the skies: They all are there,--in heaven,-- Safe, safe, and sweetly blest; No cloud of sin can shadow Their bright and holy rest.

414. 8 & 7s. M. Pierpont.

For a Charitable Occasion.

1 Mighty One, whose name is holy, Thou wilt save Thy work alive, And the spirit of the lowly Thou wilt visit and revive.

What Thy prophets thus have spoken, Ages witness as they roll; Bleeding hearts and spirits broken, Touched by Thee, O G.o.d, are whole.

2 By Thy pitying spirit guided, Jesus sought the sufferer's door; Comfort for the poor provided, And the mourner's sorrows bore;-- So Thy mercy's angel, bending, Heard a friendless prisoner's call, And through night's cold vault descending, Loosed from chains Thy servant Paul.

3 Father, as Thy love is endless, Working by Thy servants thus, The forsaken and the friendless Deign to visit, e'en by us; So shall each, with spirit fervent Laboring with Thee here below, Be declared Thy faithful servant, Where there's neither want nor woe.

415. 6 & 4s. M. Nicoll.

G.o.d Save the Poor!

1 Lord, from Thy blessed throne, Sorrow look down upon!

G.o.d save the Poor!

Teach them true liberty, Make them from tyrants free, Let their homes happy be!

G.o.d save the Poor!

2 The arms of wicked men Do Thou with might restrain,-- G.o.d save the Poor!

Raise Thou their lowliness, Succor Thou their distress, Thou whom the meanest bless!

G.o.d save the Poor!

3 Give them stanch honesty, Let their pride manly be, G.o.d save the Poor!

Help them to hold the right, Give them both truth and might, Lord of all life and light!

G.o.d save the Poor!