attention. The expressive inscription and the impressive stillness of the scene gave birth to the hymn,—

Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep,

From which none ever wakes to weep!
A calm and undisturbed repose,

Unbroken by the last of foes.

Asleep in Jesus! Oh, how sweet
To be for such a slumber meet!
With holy confidence to sing,
That Death hath lost his venomed sting.

Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest,
Whose waking is supremely blest!
No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour
That manifests the Saviour's power.

Asleep in Jesus! Oh, for me
May such a blissful refuge be!

Securely shall my ashes lie,

Waiting the summons from on high.

Asleep in Jesus! far from thee

Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But thine is still a blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep.

The use of this hymn is quite extensive in all English-speaking lands, and its association with the beautiful tune "Rest," by Mr. Bradbury, has endeared it to American churches.

SARAH FLOWER ADAMS

MONG the sacred songs of Christen

dom none has touched the human heart more tenderly in recent years than "Nearer, my God, to Thee"- the soulutterance of a frail woman whose short life was sorely tried by pain and sorrow. Mrs. Adams's maiden name was Flower, and she was born at Great Harlow, England, in 1805. Before her marriage in 1834 to William Bridges Adams, who was a civil engineer and journalist, she had determined to adopt the stage as a profession; but fortunately her name and fame are secure, and millions of Christian hearts have been comforted because of the abandonment of her dramatic aspirations.

Mrs. Adams and her sister Eliza inherited the feeble organism of their mother, who died when Sarah was five years old. Long periods of illness made life a hard struggle for these loving sisters. In 1846 the gentle spirit of Eliza peacefully entered

into the new life; and two years later angels beckoned" to Sarah, and the beautiful soul with all the serenity of sleeplaid down the burden she had so long and patiently borne.

It was while passing through deep afflictions that Mrs. Adams expressed the feeling of her heart in this wondrous hymn:

Nearer, my God, to Thee,

Nearer to Thee,

E'en though it be a cross

That raiseth me:
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee
Nearer to Thee.

Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,

My rest a stone;

Yet in my dreams I'd be

Nearer, my God, to Thee,

Nearer to Thee.

There let the way appear

Steps unto heaven,

All that Thou send'st to me

In mercy given;

Angels to beckon me,

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

Then with my waking thoughts,

Bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs

Bethels I'll raise;

So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

Or if on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upwards I fly,

Still all my song shall be,

Nearer, my God, to Thee,

Nearer to Thee.

The date of the hymn is 1840, and this, with twelve other of Mrs. Adams's productions, was published the following year in a collection of hymns and anthems edited by the Rev. William J. Fox, of London, for use by his Unitarian congregation, to which she belonged.

It is said that Robert Browning indirectly inspired Mrs. Adams's hymn. Their