7 O yes! we have got but to send
One word or one sigh up to heaven;
The mischief will all be undone,
And the past be completely forgiven.
8 Jesus is just what He was,

On the Cross, as we left Him before,
All gentleness, mercy, and love,

Nay, His love and His mercy look more.

9 We will back with our hearts in our hands-
For the heart is His regular fee:
Forgive us, dear Jesus, forgive-
All we want is forgiveness and Thee

63.

Distractions in Prayer.

1 AH! dearest Lord! I cannot pray, My fancy is not free; Unmannerly distractions come,

And force my thoughts from Thee.

2 I cannot pray; yet, Lord! Thou know'st
The pain it is to me

To have my vainly struggling thoughts
Thus torn away from Thee.

3 Ah! Jesus! teach me how to prize
These tedious hours when I,
Foolish and mute before thy face,
In helpless worship lie.

4 Had I kept stricter watch each hour
O'er tongue, and eye, and ear,
Had I but mortified all day

Each joy as it came near,

5 Had I, dear Lord! no pleasure found But in the thought of Thee,

Prayer would have come unsought, and been A truer liberty.

6 Yet Thou art oft most present, Lord!
In weak distracted prayer;

A sinner out of heart with self
Most often finds Thee there.

7 And prayer that humbles sets the soul
From all illusions free,

And teaches it how utterly,

Dear Lord! it hangs on Thee.

64.

The Work of Grace.

1 How the light of Heaven is stealing,
Gently o'er the trembling soul;
And the shades of bitter feeling
From the lightened spirit roll.
Sweetly stealing, sweetly stealing,
See how grace its way is feeling.*
2 Fairer than the pearly morning
Comes the softly struggling ray;
Ah, it is the very dawning
That precedes eternal day.
Sweetly stealing, &c.

3 See the tears, the blessed trouble,

Doubts and fears, and hopes and smiles!
How the guilt of sin seems double,
And how plain are Satan's wiles!
Sweetly stealing, &c.

4 Now the light is growing brighter,
Fear of hell, and hate of sin;
Another flash! the heart is lighter:
Love of God hath entered in.
Sweetly stealing, &c.

5 Now upon the favourite passion
Falls a steady ray of grace;

For singing, "See how grace its way doth feel.

And the lights of world and fashion
In the new light fade apace.
Sweetly stealing, &c.

6 What was sweet hath now grown bitter,
What was bitter passing sweet;
Even penance now seems fitter
Than the poor world's idle treat.
Sweetly stealing, &c.

7 See! more light! the spirit tingles
With contrition's piercing dart,-
More, and love divinely mingles
Ease and gladness with the smart.
Sweetly stealing, &c.

8 Free! free! the joyous light of heaven
Comes with full and fair release-
O God, what light! all sin forgiven,
Jesus, Mary, love, and peace.
Sweetly stealing, &c.

65.

A good Confession.

1 THE chains that have bound me are flung to the wind,

By the mercy of God the poor slave is set

free;

And the strong grace of heaven breathes fresh o'er the mind,

Like the bright winds of summer that gladden the sea.

2 There was nought in God's world half so dark or so vile

As the sin and the bondage that fettered my

soul;

There was nought half so base as the malice

and guile

Of my own sordid passions, or Satan's control.

3 For years I have borne about hell in my breast, When I thought of my God it was nothing but gloom;

Day brought me no pleasure, night gave me no rest,

There was still the grim shadow of horrible doom.

4 It seemed as if nothing less likely could be Than that light should break in on a dungeon so deep;

To create a new world was less hard than to free

The slave from his bondage, the soul from its sleep.

5 But the word had gone forth, and said, Let there be light,

And it flashed through my soul like a sharp passing smart;

One look to my Saviour, and all the dark night,

Like a dream scarce remembered was gone from my heart.

6 I cried out for mercy, and fell on my knees, And confessed, while my heart with keen

sorrow was wrung;

'Twas the labour of minutes, and years of disease

Fell as fast from my soul as the words from my tongue.

7 And now-blest be God and the sweet Lord who died!

No deer on the mountain, no bird in the sky, No bright wave that leaps on the dark bounding tide,

Is a creature so free or so happy as I.

8 All hail, then, all hail, to the dear Precious

Blood

That hath worked these sweet wonders of mercy in me;

May each day countless numbers throng down to its flood,

And God have His glory, and sinners go free.

66.

The Remembrance of Mercy.

1 WHY art thou sorrowful, servant of God? And what is this dulness that hangs o'er thee now?

Sing the praises of Jesus, and sing them aloud, And the song shall dispel the dark cloud from thy brow.

2 O is there a thought in the wide world so sweet As that God has so cared for us, bad as we

are,

That He thinks of us, plans for us, stoops to entreat,

And follows us, wander we ever so far?

3 Then how can the heart e'er be drooping or sad That God hath once touched with the light

of His grace?

Can the child have a doubt who but lately hath laid

Himself to repose in his father's embrace? 4 And is it not wonderful, servant of God! That He should have honoured us so with His love,

That the sorrows of life should but shorten the road

That leads to Himself and the mansion above?

5 O then when the spirit of darkness comes down With clouds and uncertainties into thy heart, One look to thy Saviour, one thought of thy crown,

And the tempest is over, the shadows depart.