O SWEET HOME-ECHO ON THE PILGRIM'S

WAY.

Mrs. Dr. META Heusser-SchwEIZER, [the sweet evangelical singer of Switzerland]. Translated by JANE BORTHWICK.

O

"And so shall we ever be with the Lord."

SWEET home-echo on the pilgrim's way, Thrice welcome message from a land of light! As through a clouded sky the moonbeams stray,

So on eternity's deep shrouded night

Streams a mild radiance, from that cheering word; "So shall we be forever with the Lord."

At home with Jesus? He who went before,
For His own people mansions to prepare ;
The soul's deep longings stilled, its conflicts o'er,
All rest and blessedness with Jesus there.
What home like this can the wide earth afford?
"So shall we be forever with the Lord."

With Him all gathered! to that blessed home,
Through all its windings, still the pathway tends;
While ever and anon bright glimpses come
Of that fair city where the journey ends.
Where all of bliss is centred in one word:
"So shall we be forever with the Lord.”

Here, kindred hearts are severed far and wide,
By many a weary mile of land and sea,
Or life's all-varied cares and paths divide;
But yet a joyful gathering shall be,

The broken links repaired, the lost restored,
"So shall we be forever with the Lord."

And is there ever perfect union here?

Ah! daily sins, lamented and confessed, They come between us and the friends most dear, They mar our blessedness and break our rest. With life we leave the evils long deplored: "So shall we be forever with the Lord."

All prone to error, none set wholly free

From the old serpent's soul-ensnaring chain, The truths one child of God can clearly see,

He seeks to make his brother feel in vain; But all shall harmonize in heaven's full chord: "So shall we be forever with the Lord."

O blessed promise! mercifully given,

Well may it hush the wail of earthly woe;
O'er the dark passage to the gates of heaven
The light of love and resurrection throw!
Thanks for the blessed, life-inspiring word:
"So shall we be forever with the Lord."

MY TASK IS O'ER, MY WORK IS DONE.

M

From Parish Musings.

Y task is o'er, my work is done,
And spent the weary day;

I've fought the fight, the battle's won,
And I must haste away;

Henceforth there is laid up for me
A crown, through all eternity.

A crown by hands eternal wove,

Meet for a child of God

Gemmed with the jewels of His love,

And purchased by His blood:

Which human hands could ne'er have wrought,
And human merit ne'er have bought.

Farewell the cross 'neath which so long
I've watched and fought below;
And welcome now the harp and song
That wait me where I go;

Yet, oh, that cross must still be dear,
Though borne through many a sorrow here.

And oft throughout eternity,

'Mid all that's bright and blest,

Its victory my joy shall be,

And I will love it best :

For 'twas through Him who died thereon

My fight was fought, my battle won.

DAY OF THE BEAUTIFUL, ARISE, AWAKE!

HORATIUS BONAR.

T

O dream a troubled dream, and then awaken
To the soft gladness of a summer sky;
To dream ourselves alone, unloved, forsaken,
And then to wake 'mid smiles, and love, and joy!

To look at evening on the storm's rude motion,
The cloudy tumult of the fretted deep;
And then at day-burst upon that same ocean,
Soothed to the stillness of its stillest sleep!

So runs our course-so tells the church her story,
So to the end shall it be ever told;
Brief shame on earth, but after shame the glory,
That wanes not, dims not, never waxes old.

Lord Jesus, come, and end this troubled dreaming!
Dark shadows vanish, rosy twilight break!
Morn of the true and real, burst forth, calm-beaming!
Day of the beautiful, arise, awake!

THE LEAVES AROUND ME FALLING.

HENRY FRANCIS LYTE.

HE leaves around me falling

THE

Are preaching of decay;

The hollow winds are calling,
"Come, pilgrim, come away!"
The day, in night declining,
Says, I must too decline:
The year its life resigning-
Its lot foreshadows mine.

The light my path surrounding,
The loves to which I cling,
The hopes within me bounding,
The joys that round me wing-
All melt, like stars of even
Before the morning's ray,
Pass upward into Heaven,
And chide at my delay.

The friends gone there before me
Are calling from on high,

And joyous angels o'er me

Tempt sweetly to the sky.

Why wait," they say, "and wither,
'Mid scenes of death and sin?

O rise to glory hither,

And find true life begin."