When safely landed on that peaceful shore,
The weary rest, the Pilgrim's toils are o'er.
A palm of victory, and a golden crown,
Are but faint emblems of those joys unknown;
Then courage take, and let your sighings cease,
Your latter days I'll crown with lasting peace."
"Tis done, I bow submissive to thy sway,
Give, Lord, or take thy earthly gifts away,
While I by faith survey this promised rest,
Would humbly say, Thy will, oh! Lord, is best.
OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF MR. ANDREW BARNES.
Brother in Christ, and well beloved,
Art thou indeed from us removed?
Freed from earth's toils, thy latest foe o'ercome,
Has thy glad spirit reached the Christian's home?
Thy faithful labors in the church has ceased;
From painful duties, too, thou art released;
Duties that caused the sympathetic tear,
And for thy tender spirit too severe;
But zealous Jesus should his sway maintain,
And as in Heaven on earth exalted reign,
His every precept thou would'st glad fulfill,
Pleased that the Scriptures thus revealed his will.
Thy pleasing, joyous duties, too, are done,
And Heaven's eternal ecstacies begun.
"T is said, "we do not know what we shall be;
But this we know, we shall the Savior see;
Made like Him, partners in his glorious throne,
And God well pleased, the favored heirs shall own."
And shall we wish again with mortal bands
To fetter those who have securely fled,
From life's sad ills, to those delightful joys,
Never again death's dreary vale to tread :
Or by this sad bereavement warning take,
No longer loiter in the Heavenly way;
For our sure exit preparation make,
And meet our brother in the realms of day.
We mourn as Christians our loved brother gone,
And not as those of each fond hope bereft;
We also drop the sympathizing tear,
With those who seem to be defenceless left.
But not defenceless, for that gracious power
Who safely aided o'er life's boisterous sea
Our brother, if they place their trust in him,
Will their defence, their sure protector be.
Nor would we aim to eulogize the dead,-
Our humble brother loved not human praise;
His well known worth no panegyric needs,
Christian affection animates our lays.
Methinks I see him stand with placid brow,
His right hand resting on God's Holy Word; "Brethren and sisters, what are earthly joys Compared to those these precious truths afford?
"I do rejoice as life's declining sun
Lengthens time's shadows, and fortells my doom, This Gospel, (weak, yea, lifeless called by some,) Points to immortal joys beyond the tomb.
"On this firm basis my best hopes rely,
This is my chart, my weapon, and my shield;
Nor would I quit my station in this church,
For all the satisfaction earth can yield.
"But time rolls on, and we must severed be,
And pass through death's cold shade as others do;
Oh, may our children by these truths be swayed,
And every path marked out herein pursue.
"And may all these who are assembled now,
And often meet with us to worship here,
To Zion's King with meek submission bow,
And with us in His heavenly courts appear.
"Brethren and sisters, let us faithful be,
Soon, very soon we all shall meet above,
And face to face our blessed Redeemer see,
And celebrate his most stupendous love."
But He is gone-we hear his voice no more-
Immortal anthems his glad powers employ;
When loosed from earth, may we his spirit meet,
And join the general burst of rapturous joy.
OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF MRS. MC'NINCH, OF
ST. JOHN, N. B.
Ah! why these flowing tears, and whence these sighs ? Is it because beneath earth's surface lies,
Enwrapt in death's long slumbers, One of our happy circle? one who strove By tenderest acts of sympathy and love, To light life's burdens?
Now to the grave consigned,
Within its cell confined,
We must her leave:
Sounds on the coffin lid,
Denote the loved one 's hid
From mortal ken.
And will no morning dawn
Upon the mouldering urn?
And must she ever sleep?
Ask nature's ample sound,
Ask reason if there 's found
Aught to indulge a hope of her release!
In vain their boasted light
To aid the mental sight,
Or chase our sadness;
What then can give relief,
What dissipate our grief,
What give us comfort?
Yet heavenly and serene,
Over the gloomy scene,
Hope hovered;
Its pure celestial ray,
Illumined the darksome way
With gleams of glory.
What taught her thus to die?
What fixed the fading eye
On immortality?
And how came she to know
Heaven would the grace bestow ?—
'T was boundless mercy.
Like worthies famed of yore,
She searched the sacred lore,
Truth to discover;
Nor did she search in vain
True knowledge to obtain,―
But found the pearl.
Nor did in knowledge rest,
But eager to be blest,
Publicly came;
The good confession made,
And 'neath the wave was laid
In Jesus' name.
Then rose a creature new,
With victory in her view,
She to his people gave her willing hand;
With them the cross to bear,
Their griefs and joys to share,
And make Heaven's revealed will her standard.
But soon her race was run,
Her warfare soon was done,
And ceased each conflict;
Then change the tears of sadness,
For tears of Christian gladness,-
She sleeps in Jesus.
The sealed, the precious dust
Committed to his trust,
Shall rest in peace;
Till its redemption day,
With vivifying ray,
Unbars the prison door, and frees the captive.
Then brought to pass shall be,
Grave, where 's thy victory?
And where 's, oh, death, thy sting?
Heaven's all victorious king,
His ransomed ones shall bring
To realms of fadeless glory.
TO A RELATIVE OF THE LATE AMIABLE, AND VERY MUCH LAMENTED MISS MARY NOURSE, WITH A SMALL
"No more the dead are laid,
In cold despair beneath the cypress shade,
To sleep the eternal sleep that knows no morn.”
"For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible."-Apostle Paul.
The brow that once this hair entwined,
Now slumbers with the silent dead;
While the immortal, viewless mind,
Called spirit, to that land has fled.
Ah! who can break the ponderous seal,
Who can the dark precincts explore?
What can these mysteries reveal?
Can boasted philosophic lore?
Or can the star-bestudded sky,
The moon's pale beams, the solar blaze,
The flowers that captivate the eye,
Then sink from the admirer's gaze?
The earth receives the seed that 's sown;
Again fresh plants arise and bloom;
By this process ne'er was shown
A resurrection from the tomb.
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