AN INCIDENT.
During the late rebellion the Confederate army burnt the town of Hampton, Va., as they left it, to prevent the Union troops, who were approaching, taking possession of the houses for winter-quarters. Soon afterwards a gentlemen was riding through the deserted streets and heard the voices of children, but saw no one; all the white inhabitants of the town had fled with the Confederate army, and the colored people were employed around the camp beyond the town. He stopped his horse and listened, then advanced in the direction from which the voices seemed to come, and looked within the four blackened walls and half-burnt wood-work of what had been a lordly mansion. There he saw forty colored children seated on heaps of stones and charred wood, rejoicing and singing "The Christian's Home." They added the last verse.
I have a home above,
From sin and sorrow free;
A mansion which eternal love
Design'd and form'd for me.
My Father's gracious hand
Has built this sweet abode,
From everlasting it was plann'd,
My dwelling-place with God.
My Saviour's precious blood
Has made my title sure;
He passed through death's dark raging flood
To make my rest secure.
The Comforter is come,
The Earnest has been given;
He leads me onward to the home
Reserv'd for me in heaven.
His ministers of power
Encamping round me night and day,
Preserve in danger's hour.
Lov'd ones are gone before,
Whose pilgrim days are done;
I soon shall greet them on that shore,
Where partings are unknown.
But more than all I long
HIS glories to behold,
Whose smile fills all that radiant throng,
With ecstasy untold.
That bright, yet tender smile
(My sweetest welcome there),
Shall cheer me through the little while
I tarry for Him here.
Thy love, thou precious Lord,
My joy and strength shall be;
Till Thou shalt speak the glad'ning word
That bids me rise to Thee.
And then through endless days,
Where all Thy glories shine,
In happier, holier strains I'll praise
The grace that made me Thine.
Before the great I AM,
Around His throne above,
The song of Moses and the Lamb,
We'll sing with deathless love.
There is no sorrow there!
In heaven above where all is love,
There is no sorrow there.