"Soon-and for Ever!"

Every hill and vale rejoices,

Every flower that decks the sward, All that lives and moves around us, Sing the praises of the Lord.

Hallelujah! let us sing

Praise unto our Heavenly King.

Heaven is now the earth arraying

In its robe of summer sheen,
Flowers their brightness are displaying
On its mantle rich and green;
Up to heaven the lark ascending
Sings his carols to the sky;

Winds and waves, in music blending,—
All His greatness glorify.

Hallelujah! let us sing

Praise unto our Heavenly King.

"Soon-and for Ever!"

REV. J. S. B. MONSELL, D.D.

SOON-and for ever!

Such promise our trust,
Though ashes to ashes

And dust unto dust;
Soon-and for ever

Our union shall be

Made perfect, our glorious

Redeemer, in Thee.

When the sins and the sorrows

Of time shall be o'er,

Its pangs and its partings

Remember'd no more ;

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When life cannot fail

And when death cannot sever, Christians with Christ shall be Soon-and for ever.

Soon-and for ever

The breaking of day

Shall drive all the dark clouds

Of sorrow away.

Soon-and for ever

We'll see as we're seen, And learn the deep meaning Of things that have been. When fightings without us, And fears from within, Shall weary no more

In the warfare of sin.

Where tears, and where fears,

And where death shall be-never, Christians with Christ shall be

Soon-and for ever.

Soon-and for ever

The work shall be done, The warfare accomplished,

The victory won. Soon-and for ever

The soldier lay down

His sword for a harp,

And his cross for a crown. Then droop not in sorrow, Despond not in fear,

A glorious to-morrow

Is brightening and near;

The Spirit's Home.

When-blessed reward

Of each faithful endeavour-
Christians with Christ shall be
Soon-and for ever.

Strong Faith and Perfect Love.

J. E. CARPENTER.—Music by Stephen Glover.

WHY should we bring a broken heart

To offer at the throne

Of Him who holds our meanest part

As if it were His own?

If 'tis but sorrow here below,

Does not hope point above?

Then let us through life's journeying show
Strong faith and perfect love.

It is a grievous thing you say
To suffer and to bear;

But did not One we all obey

More than His burthen share?

For us He died, that we might know
Those boundless realms above;

Then let us through life's journeyings show
Strong faith and perfect love.

The Spirit's home.

W. E. STAITE.—Music by E. J. Loder.

HEN weeping o'er some sacred spot

WE

That holds what once we call'd a friend,

How sadly mournful seems the lot

Of all things here so soon to end!

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Gay youth, no less than tott'ring age,
Together rest in Death's embrace:
Go read the monumental page,

And there this gloomy moral trace-
The gay, the grave, youth, age, are found
Alike beneath the grassy mound.

Beyond this dark and narrow sphere,

So mark'd by Death, so touch'd by Time,
Where joy ne'er melts in sorrow's tear;
There surely is some happier clime!
This thought should every grief assuage,
From every heart its gloom efface:
Go read the consecrated page,

And there the fond assurance trace-
Beyond the starry skies they roam,
There lies the ransom'd spirit's home.

The Fashion of this World Passeth Away.

THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY.-Air, Bingly.

'HE fashion of this world passeth away,

TH

The things that are fairest are first to decay;
The bell of the lily, the leaf of the rose;

The moss on the bank where the violet grows;
All these are too sweet and too fragile to stay,
For the fashion of this world passeth away.

But mourn not the doom of inanimate things;
See thy favourite bird, with its beautiful wings;
Thy dog, full of instinct that courts a caress,
And scarcely wants language his words to express;
The steed thou art proud of--all—all must decay,
For the fashion of this world passeth away.

Prayer at Midnight.

And were we not born for a worthier end,

Than to love him, and lose him? Oh! what were a friend!

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The fond heart looks forth from its pilgrimage here
To a meeting more blest in a happier sphere.
For this we must watch, and for this we must pray,
Since the fashion of this world passeth away.

Prayer at Midnight.

A. DE VERE.

HE stars shine bright while earth is dark!

ΤΗ

While all the woods are dumb,

How clear those far-off silver chimes
From tower and turret come.

Chilly but sweet, the midnight air:
And lo! with every sound,

Down from the ivy-leaf a drop

Falls glittering on the ground.

'Twas night when Christ was born on earth; Night heard His first, faint cry;

While angels caroll'd round the star

Of the Epiphany.

Alas! and is our love too, weak

To meet Him on His way?

To pray for nations in their sleep?
For Love then let us pray.