are when the listless mind can not grasp the beauty of the idea, or follow the inequalities of the rhyme-times when an old verse of Watts or of Doddridge, learned in childhood by the knee of the dead mother, or heard many a year ago in the old church far away by the homestead in the shadow of the hills, will go right past the sickness and the sinking, and thrill through the parting soul, as if it caught already the melodies of heaven. There is, therefore, little novelty in this collection-little has been sought after. The meditations are principally from the pens of old divines; the greater number of the hymns, those which have been long endeared to the hearts of God's people, and it is hoped that they may still be to them, and to other, as wells of living waters, from which many a thirsty soul may draw refreshment in the hour of need.

H. L. P.

CROTON, Oct. 1859.

HYMNS FOR THE SICK-ROOM.

"Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." - Daniel 3: 25.

"So the Christian is not alone when he is cast into the furnace of affliction; though all things may seem arrayed against him, one walketh with him whose form is the likeness of the Son of God."

AND wilt thou now forsake me, Lord?

I feel it can not be;

No earthly tongue can ever tell

What thou hast been to me.

Through all the changing scenes of life
Thy love hath sheltered me;
And wilt thou now forget thy child?
I feel it can not be.

Thy love hath been my heritage

Through many a weary year;

I've trusted to thy promises,

And thou hast dried each tear.

In life or death, I take my stand
Where I have ever stood,
Beneath the shelter of thy cross,
And trusting to thy blood.

And then when youth, and health, and strength,

And energy have fled,

The shades of evening peacefully

Shall close around my head.

And when in all the helplessness
Of death I turn to thee,

Thou wilt not then forsake

me,

Lord

I feel it can not be.

"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious."-1 Pet. 2:7.

"Heaven is, in some sort, dearer to us than to Noah-that Christ is there not only as God, but as God and man.”

Oh! speak of Jesus! other names

Have lost for me their interest now;

His is the only one that claims

To be an antidote for woe;

It falls like music on the ear,
When nothing else can soothe or cheer.

Oh! speak of Jesus! of his power,

As perfect God, and perfect man,
Which day by day, and hour by hour,

As he wrought out the wondrous plan,
Led him, as God, to save and heal-
As man, to sympathize and feel.

Oh! speak of Jesus! of his death;

For us he lived, for us he died;
""Tis finished," with his latest breath,
The Lord, Jehovah-Jesus, cried:

That death of shame and agony
Won life, eternal life, for me.

Yes, speak of Jesus! while mine ear
Can listen to a human voice,

That name my parting soul will cheer,
Will bid me e'en in death rejoice;
Then prove, when these clay-bonds are riven,
My passport at the gates of heaven.

"All my springs are in thee."-Ps. 87: 7.

"As Israel's water-springs were in Canaan, so the believer's springs are above in his heavenly inheritance; therefore, if thy springs of comfort be but few, consider that thou art yet in the wilderness."

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah :
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
Hold me with thy powerful hand :
Bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more.

Open thou the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing streams do flow;
Let the fiery cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through:
Strong deliverer!

Be thou still my strength and shield.

Feed me with the heavenly manna
In this barren wilderness;

Be my sword and shield and banner,
Be my robe of righteousness:
Fight and conquer

All my foes by sovereign grace.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
my anxious fears subside;

Bid

Foe to death, and hell's destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan's side:

Songs of praises

I will ever give to thee.

"Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail for evermore ?"-Ps. 77: 7.

"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."- Heb. 13: 5.

"The sympathy of the head with the members is quick, constant, tender, perfect. Such is the sympathy of Jesus. Suffering one, Christ alone can suitably sympathize with thee; because he alone can so sympathize as to sustain, sanctify thy sufferings, and certainly and honorably deliver thee."

Pensive, doubting, fearful heart,
Hear what Christ the Saviour says;

Every word should joy impart,

Change thy mourning into praise :
Yes, he speaks, and speaks to thee;
May he help thee to believe!
Then thou presently wilt see
Thou hast little cause to grieve.

Fear thou not, nor be ashamed,
All thy sorrows soon shall end :
I who heaven and earth have framed
Am thy husband and thy friend :