Nearer to thee.

NEARER, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

E'en though a cross it be
That raiseth me,

Still all my song shall be,
"Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!"

Though, like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,

My rest a stone,

Yet in my dreams I'd be

Nearer, my God, to thee,—

Nearer to thee!

There let the way appear
Steps unto heaven;
All that thou sendest me

In mercy given;
Angels to beckon me'

Nearer, my God, to thee,

Nearer to thee!

SARAH F. ADAMS.

FUNERAL OCCASIONS.

Consolation.

FATHER, that in the olive shade, When the dark hour came on, Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid, Strengthen thy Son,

O, by the anguish of that night,
Send us down blest relief;
Or, to the chastened, let thy might
Hallow this grief!

And thou, that, when the starry sky
Saw the dread strife begun,
Didst teach adoring faith to cry,
"Thy will be done!"-

By thy meek spirit, thou, of all

That e'er have mourned the chief, Thou, Saviour, if the stroke must fall,

Hallow this grief!

HEMANS.

Death of a Christian.

Go to the grave in all thy glorious prime,
In full activity of zeal and power;
A Christian cannot die before his time;
The Lord's appointment is the servant's hour.

Go to the grave; at noon from labor cease;
Rest on thy sheaves; the harvest task is done;
Come from the heat of battle; and in peace,
Soldier, go home; with thee the fight is won.

Go to the grave, for there thy Saviour lay
In death's embraces, ere he rose on high;
And all the ransomed by that narrow way
Pass to eternal life beyond the sky.

Go to the grave:

no, take thy seat above; Be thy pure spirit present with the Lord,

Where thou for faith and hope hast perfect love, And open vision for the written word.

MONTGOMERY.

Ministering Angels.

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.

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!

Ye, too, they gently say, shall angels be;
Ye, too, O brothers, from earth shall be free:
Yet in earth's loved ones ye still have part,
Bearing God's strength and love to the torn heart.

Thus when the spirit, tried, tempted, and worn, Finding no earthly aid, heavenward doth turn, Come these sweet angel-tones, falling like balm, And on the troubled heart steals a deep calm.

ANONYMOUS.

Lost Ones in Heaben.

We have no recollection

Of any dreams but sweet,
Yet wake to find our pillow
Is wet beneath our cheek.
We look without the window;
A wreck is on the shore;
Yet tranquil is the billow
As on the night before.

When thus, 'mid heavenly visions, We rest from worldly strife,

And have no recollection

That jars our newer life, We yet may mark the traces. Of storms we have forgot, And in our lost ones' faces Recall earth's happy lot.