473.

Faith sees a light that gilds the cloud,
And dissipates the darkest gloom:
It hears a voice that cries aloud
Amid the silence of the tomb.

The light is Bethlehem's brighter star,
To ransom'd sinners freely given;
The voice it echoes from afar,

"Fear not to die, thy home is heaven."

474.

A lowly follower of the Lord above:

While here on earth his soul on heaven was bent;

His words were kindness, and his deeds were love, His spirit humble, and his life well spent: These then, and not this stone, shall be his monument.

475.

Though hard it be with meekness to endure
The pangs of want and woe, despis'd and poor;
Yet O, how sweet from poverty and pain
To be remov'd with God himself to reign!

Ere now thy spirit bless'd has learn'd to know
What snares encompass greatness here below;
From heavenly joys on earthly crimes look'd down,
And thank'd thy God thou didst not wear a crown.

476.

He looked forward to heaven, not as the reward of a virtuous life, but as the free gift of God to a pardoned sinner, justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

477.

Well may ye weep, proud minions of an hour, Mid mouldering marble and decaying rhymes, That earthly grandeur has so little power

To hand her greatness down to future times. Though gorgeous pyramids in ruin lie,

The Christian's hope uninjur'd still remains: His faith is firm; his record is on high;

His monument the heaven of heavens contains.

478.

Be humble and patient, and learn to forgive,
For if God in his wrath were severe

To mark the transgressions of all that live,
O where would the sinner appear?

Let the mercy thou needest to others be shewn, Lest God their avenger should be,

And when tempests of anger are launch'd from his

throne,

His lightnings should fall

upon thee.

P

479.

May we who still wander in the wilderness, look forward with holy hope to meet thee in the land of promised rest!

480.

By grief and pain and trouble often tried,
He built his monument before he died,
More durable by far than sculptur'd stone:
His record is a well-spent life alone.

481.

Here, wrapp'd in death, frail men have found

One common level in the ground:

The poor, the rich, the low, the high,

In undistinguish'd ruin lie.

The tombstone may impart to thee

The difference in their past degree,

But thou that knowledge ne'er couldst know
From the poor mouldering earth below.

Dost thou in titles put thy trust?
Come, tell me which is noble dust,
For I, alas! when gazing here,
Know not the peasant from the peer;
Nor can I, after pondering long,
Point out, amidst the faded throng,
The master from his meanest slave,
They look so like when in the grave.

Dost thou from riches hope to gain
Distinction in this dark domain?
First with thy finger learn to trace
Past greatness in a faded face.

Thy gold, though bright its glittering ray,
Will never keep thee from decay:

When slumbering 'neath the churchyard stone,
The rich and poor appear as one.

Learn then the truth, whate'er thy trust,
That mortals are but mouldering dust;
And all, despite their glare or gloom,
Shall be forgotten in the tomb.

Know too, that none who breathe on earth,
Whate'er their riches, power, or birth,

But those who trust in Jesus' grace,

Shall find in heaven a dwelling-place.

482.

The unbeliever may

endure to die; the believer

alone can rejoice in death.

483.

Go raise on high thy monumental bust,

And bid thy name in mournful splendour shine, No sculptur'd effigy shall mock my dust

No name shall grace the spot where I recline. Though gilded marble o'er thy grave be spread; Though here I lie beneath this mouldering stone; Yet, Reader, when a few short years have fled, Thy name and mine shall be alike unknown.

484.

Though his eyes were sealed in blindness, we believe, O Lord, that his spirit discerned " thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."

485.

E'en as the child that wanders from his home Through flowery fields and unknown paths to

roam,

Scar'd by unlook'd-for dangers and alarms

In breathless haste seeks his fond parents' arms; So, tried by trouble, her enfranchis'd soul Escap'd exultingly this world's control,

Turn'd from the thorny path in sorrow trod, And sought with joy her Saviour and her God.

486.

As thou canst neither prolong life, delay death, nor avoid the judgment; so it becomes thee to reflect on the worm which never dieth, and on the joy which endureth for ever.

487.

He was a youthful Christian of bright hope and promise; for his mind was richly endued with human learning, and his soul enlightened and purified by divine grace.