Me to receive with welcome to thy heart

Thine arms outstretched and looks of love combine:

O Lord, I come; I choose that better part,

Thine, wholly thine!

Possessing Thee, I am of all possest,

And 'tis by faith this happy lot is mine : Upon thy bosom, Lord, in peace I rest, Thine, only thine!

None from thy book of life shall blot my name,
No tempter from thy paths my steps incline;
'Tis death, 'tis life, thy piercing glance of flame,
But I am thine!

While on this earth I sojourn by thy will,

My Saviour and my God, that will be mine, Till safe in heaven I bless thy mercy still,

For ever thine!

HYMN.

(From the French of Adrien Boissier.)

Seigneur ! du sein de la poussière.'

My God! though cleaving to the dust,
My soul cries out for Thee;
Oh come, confirm my humble trust,

And dwell Thyself in me.

No shadow now can give me peace,

No image, fading still :

Me with the substance of thy grace,
Thyself, thy Spirit, fill!

Oh! long, too long, thy face I seek,
In breathings weak and cold;

Now speaking, I would hear Thee speak,
Would touch Thee, and behold!

Now would I burn, but with thy fire, Now with thy light would shine, Would with Thyself my soul inspire, And love with love divine.

Henceforth to me this blessing give, This only needful thing

In Thee, by Thee, for Thee to live, Who art my God and King.

Yet how, if sins my heart defile,
Can I be one with Thee?

Lord, Thou art pure, and I am vile,
And righteous Thou must be.

Jesus, behold! I plead thy blood,
Thou hast the ransom given ;
Oh fill my heart, blest Lamb of God,

With love, and peace, and heaven!

SONNET S.

I.

'He that believeth shall not make haste.'-Is. xxviii. 16.

WHEN great desires are pending, when his mind
Hangs trembling, now in hope, and now in dread,
How weak the worldling, to the future blind,
And in the present restless! Passion-led,
He hastes to grasp a phantom, and 'tis fled!
O blessed faith in God, which stays the soul,
And plants as on a rock the unshaken tread,
Though floods of joy or sorrow round us roll.
O blessed trust! though some dear hope be high,
He that believeth hath a hope yet dearer :
And what if disappointment's blast be nigh?
The' Almighty arm whereon we rest is nearer.
Believer! wait in hope, and thou shalt see
How all alike is working good for thee.

G

II.

TO AN AFFLICTED FRIEND.

'We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.'

ACTS xiv. 22.

We know it, yet we marvel: if the cloud

Hung never o'er our road, then should we start,
And dread the very sunshine, and our heart
Would shrink from its own joy, and ask aloud—
Is this the path whereby the martyred crowd
Passed on to glory? walked our Saviour here?
Where is the tribulation? where appear

His footprints, 'neath the bitter cross who bowed?
Thus joy would be our grief; and shall not grief,
O mourner, be our joy, if thus we prove
That 'this our light affliction '-light and brief-
Is but the token of a Father's love?

MUCH TRIBULATION: doth thy Father's voice
Thus mark thy road? O trembling heart, rejoice!