Scripture Verse

To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Introduction

portrait
H. A. César Malan (1787–1864)

Words: H. A. Cé­sar Ma­lan, Chants de Si­on, 1832 (Non, ce n’est pas mour­ir que d’al­ler vers son Dieu). Trans­lat­ed from French to Eng­lish by George W. Be­thune, Lays, 1847, page 141. At Be­thune’s re­quest, this hymn was sung at his fun­er­al.

Music: Green­wood (Sweet­ser) Jo­seph E. Sweet­ser, A Col­lect­ion of Church Mu­sic (New York: John Wi­ley, 1849), num­ber 161 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Sweet­ser (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

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George W. Bethune (1805–1862)

Lyrics

It is not death to die,
To leave this weary road,
And midst the brotherhood on high
To be at home with God.

It is not death to close
The eye long dimmed by tears,
And wake, in glo­ri­ous repose,
To spend eter­nal years.

It is not death to bear
The wrench that sets us free
From dungeon chain, to breath the air
Of boundless liberty.

It is not death to fling
Aside this sinful dust
And rise, on strong exulting wing
To live among the just.

Jesus, Thou Prince of Life,
Thy chosen cannot die:
Like Thee, they conquer in the strife
To reign with Thee on high.