>^< uF i^k/Sg^ L SEP '^B ]934 n --A;/' BV Section ^10 \y •"• . < W- JVCJL c SEP 'yd iw ^ ||ittR§ itnl Ifcir |iit|o(§. FACTS AND INCIDENTS OF THE ORIGIN, AUTHORS, SENTIMENTS AND SINGING OF HYMNS, WHICH, WITH A SYNOPSIS, EMBRACE INTERESTING ITEMS RELATING TO OVER EIGHT HUNDRED HYMN-WRITERS. With many portraits and other illnstrations. SECOND EDITION. By Eev. Edwin M.' Long, Author of " Precious Hymns of Jesus," " Talks to Children," " Good News ' '• Work of Grace in the Hearts of the Young," etc. Philadelphia : PUBLISHED BY P. W. ZIEGLER & CO. 518 ARCH STREET. w Entered, according to act of Congress, in the jear 1876, by EDWIN M, LONG, In the OfiBce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ^^^^t >^^..-/ •'^^ ^ ^v^^W^iJC^ J5/ ^ Z^^,^^ iC.rift^'^ A'-*«'*'*«-'i < 4 John }.. fRicK, WHOM I SHALL EVER ESTEEM AS MY "Helper in Christ," this volume is by the AUTHOR. r •^' ZZ£J ^I.N^DING it unpleasant to be com- pelled to wait long at the door of entrance, we Avill not incur this cen- sure from our reader, but at once and with few words, extend our hand and a hearty M-elcome to the picture gal- lery we have been arranging. There will be seen many pleasant faces of old friends, whose hymns have become enshrined in our hearts' affections, and have so often sounded forth in our songs of praise. At the entrance you will meet one whose face beams with a sweet meek- ness, and you will be glad to recog- nize in him. Bishop Ken, who, for nearly two centuries, has been teachino- the world to " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " Take a few steps along our gallery and the reader Avill meet the pensive face of one, whose ready pen sketched the immortal hymn : — "There is a fountain filled with blood. " Ivear by will be perceived the noble and expressive W viii Preface. features of Doddridge, who, among his three hundred hymns, inserted the gem : — " Grace, 'tis a charming sound. " If our reader loves to steal awhile away From every cumbering care," the sight of INIrs. Phoebe H. Brown will surely be wel- come, as well as Montgomery, who wrote that " Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed. " Those who for a life time have been wont to hear the oft-repeated words, — "Come, thou Fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace," will be glad to form the acquaintance of its author, Robert Robinson. Those Mdiose heavenly home-sickness has caused them . oft to sing the hymn, — " Ou Jordan's stormy banks I stand. And cast a wishful eye," will not be reluctant to be introduced to its writer. Then m'c meet the full German face of Gerhardt, who has banished many a mourner's tear by the solace afforded in his precious hymn: — " Commit thou all thy griefs And ways into his hands. " Passing along we meet one whose cheerful and intelli- gent expression of countenance at once finds way into oar hearts, one whose grand missionary hymn has been sung "From Greenland's icy mountains, To India's coral strand."' If our reader can say with the psalmist, "a day in thy courts is better than a thousand," he will gladly welcome Dr.Dwight,the author of "I Love thy kingdom Lord." C Preface. ix Near by his side sits one who has helped many a hesi- tating sinner into the kingdom, by teaching him to say, "Just as I am, vitliout one plea, But that tliy blood was shed for me.'' Farther along is one Avhose lips Avere Avont to say, and ^vhose pen has taught the world to sing : — "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds." The early forests of America gave birth to one whose Indian face will be seen among the group. One who was " Awaked by Sinai's awful sound," and then told the story in a hymn that God's children have ever since loved to repeat, as expressive of their own experience. " India's coral strand" has darkened the face of another, who has united with the blood bought throng in saying, " 0 Thou, my soul forget no more The friend who all thy sorrows bore." Passing thus along in alphabetical order, we meet the revered countenance of the "Father of Modern Hym- nology," and gazing upon his pleasant features, we won- der why the object of his affection should have marred the serenity of that face, by saying, that while she loved the "jewel, she did not admire the casket." Certainly those who love to linger on Calvary's mount, will ever cherish the name of him, who in our devotions enables us to exclaim: — "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed? And did my Sovereign die?" and then to add : — "When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride." Xear to Watts will be seen the cheerful face of one C Preface. who ranks with him in hymnic honor, one to whom the world is indebted for — " Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly." Next to Charles Wesley comes the beaming counte- nance of his brother, John, whose voice is still echoing in his hymn to perishing sinners: — " Ho ! every one that thirsts, draw nigh." AVhile passing thus around the circle, the reader will not fail to pause long enough to gaze upon the youthful face of Henry Kirk White, who rode "once upon the raging seas" of doubt and fear, and then when "safely moored " sang so sweetly of his rescue in " The Star— the Star of Bethlehem." The reader will no doubt be gratified to find Lady Huntingdon among the group; one who has gained a world-wide rei)utation by her gifts and graces, and as the author of that heart searching hymn that propounds the solemn question : — "When thou, my righteous Judge, slialt come To take Xhy ransomed people home, Shall I among them stand? " The interest that clusters around the romantic history of Madame Guyon will invite attention to her counte- nance, so meek and mild, and awaken desires to become better acquainted vvitli her hymns, that still form a part of the songs of the sanctuary. It will be needless to accompany the reader any fur- ther in words of introduction to such hymn-writers as the noble hearted Zinzendorf, the saintly Baxter, tlie eccentric Berridge and the heroic Lutlier, with many others wliose portraits beautify our gallery; as they are "old enough to speak for themselves." £V Preface. xi In the preparation of this work, we have been aided, in the synopsis and in other particulars, by our friend, Mr. Francis Jennings, who may be fitly denominated, a walking encyclopedia of hymnology. He is a native of British soil, around which cluster the most interesting associations of hymn history. Having devoted half a century in treasuring up dates and facts, it is no wonder, tliat, while his locks are becoming silvered with the frosts of many winters, his life-long zeal in this depart- ment remains unabated. We have also received favors, which we would grate- fully acknowledge, from Rev. F. M. Bird, Rev. Dr. E. F. Hatfield, Rev. H. Sheeleigh, David Creamer, Esq., and Mr. Philip Cressman. To Mr. Asa Hull, author of "The Golden Sheaf," and other choice music books, we are also indebted for ser- vices rendered in harmonizing some of the music contained in this volume. Of English publications on hymnology, that v/e have found serviceable, we may mention the followin:g "Sing- ers and Songs of the Church," by Josiah Miller, M. A. ; "Hymn-writers and their Hymns," by Rev. S. \V. Chris- tophers; "The Methodist Hymn Book and its Asso- ciations," by G. J. Stevenson ; " Historical Notes to the Lyra German ica," by Theodore Kubler. Of American issues: "Historical Sketches of Hymns," by Joseph Belcher, D. D. ; "Evenings with the Sacred Poets," by Frederick Saunders; and " Trophies of Song," by Rev. W. F. Crafts. We have been highly favored in opportunities for gathering material for a book of this kind, as we have been brought into contact with so many pastors and others, who have furnished facts and incidents, fresh from their observation and experiences. During the ])ast fifteen years, in the delivery of courses of Illustrated Sermons, XII Preface. and in other evangelistic labors, it has been our privilege to preach in over six hundred churches, in nineteen states of the Union, among twelve different denominatious, and in the German as well as the English language. With the abundance of matter on hand, for which we cannot find room in the present volume, we have arranged, Providence permitting, to go on immediately in the prep- aration of a second work to embrace mainly historical sketches of the hymns and hymn-writers of the present century, as well as the origin, singing, and authors of chddren's hymns and Sunday school songs. It will be of the same size, and illustrated with as many portraits and other engravings, as this book. Many of the por- traits are already engraved, while others are in course of preparation. As there are constantly new facts and incidents trans- piring, connected with the singing of hymns, we have occasionally introduced floral letters, and in other ways havearranged our material in orderto have all articlesend with the bottom of the page, so that other pages can easily be inserted in other editions of this work. We shall be very grateful to any of our readers, if they can furnish us with any additional material for this book, or with any incidents or facts suited to our second volume. Communications to be sent to 1859 N. 12th Street Phil- adelphia Pa. June 1875, E. M. L. ( =g); ( the steel engravings are indicated by an asterisk. • ) Portrait of Thomas Ken. * frontispiece. Author of " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " Portrait of Henry Alford 35 Author of " Come, j'e thankful people, come. " Portrait of Richard Baxter.* 43 Author of" Lord, it belongs not to my care." Baxter before Jeffries 49 Portrait of John ByRRiDOE 59 Author of " 0 happy saints who dwell in light." Portrait of Horatius Bonar 67 Author of " I heard the voice of Jesus say." Potrait of Phobbe H. Buown 75 Author of " I love to steal a while away." Portrait of PnceBE Cart.* 85 Author of '• One sweetly solemn thought." Portrait of William Cowper 93 Author of " There is a fountain filled with blood. " The Olney Cottage Prayer Meeting 103 CoWPER AND his HaRES 117 Doddridge's Mother Teaching him from Dutch Tiles 129 Portrait of Philp Doddridge. * 133 Author of " Grace 'tis a charming sound. " 14 Engravings. Portrait of Timothy Dwigiit* 151 Author of " I love thy kingdom, Lord." Poetrait of Charlotte Elliott 157 Author of " Just as I am, without one plea. " Portrait of John Fawcett. 167 Author of " Blest be the tie that binds." Portrait of Paul Gerhardt 173 Author of " Commit thou all thy griefs. " Portrait of Madame Guyon 185 Author of " I would love thee, God and Father. " Portrait of Henry HAnBAUOH 191 Author of " Jesus, I live to thee. " Portrait of Reginald Hebep* 203 Author of " From Greenland's icy mountains." View of Greenland's Icy Mountains 209 Portrait of Rowland Hill 213 Author of "Cast thy burden on the Lord." Rowland Hill's Surrey Chapkl 217 Portrait of Lady Huntingdon * 221 Author of " When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come." Huss Singing in the Flames of Martyrdom 2.'^1 Portrait of Adoniram Judson* 235 Author of " Our Father God, who art in heaveu. " Portrait of John Keble 241 Author of " Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear. " Portrait of Thomas Ken 245 Author of " Praise God, frorj whom all blessings flow." Church along side of .nd the tomb in which Ken was buried 249 Portrait of Martin Luther* 263 Author of "All praise to thee, eternal Lord." Luther Singing in the Streets 267 The Castle of Coburg 271 Portrait of Samuel Medley 281 Author of " Awake my soul in joyful lays. " Portrait of James Montgomery* 291 Author of " 0 where shall rest be found." I Montgomery's Residence* 295 Engravings. 15 PORTBAIT OF JOHN NbWTON 307 Author of " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds." Monica watching Augustine's departure 314 Portrait of Samson Occom 324 Author of " Awaked bj Sinai's awful sound." Portrait of KRishNA Pal 331 Author of " 0 thou my soul forget no more." Portrait of Robert Robinsou 345 Author of "Come, thou Fount of every blessing." Portrait of John Rtland 351 Author of " 0 Lord, I would delight in Thee." Portrait of Havs Sachs 355 Author of " Why vail thy self in gloo n, my heart ? " Residence of Anne Steel 360 Portrait of Samuel Stennett 367 Author of " On Jordan's stormy banks I stand." Portrait of Augustus Toplady 381 Author of" Rock of ages ! ckft for me." Abket house where Watts lived and died 388 Portrait of Isaac Watts* 401 Author of " Alas ! and did my Saviour bleed." Monument to Watts 405 A scENK IN AN Illustrated Sermon 427 Portrait of Charles Wesley * 435 Author of " Jesus, lover of my soul." Singing on a Sinking Vessel 443 "The Sea" 450 A YOUNG Man sung to Christ 457 Portrait of John Wesley* 479 Author of " How happy is the pilgrim's lot. " Portrait of HENaY Kirk White 487 Author of " When marshaled on the nightly plain." The Cloudy Pillar Leading the Hosts of Israel 490 Portrait of Nicholas Zinzendorf 499 Author of "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness." Church Singing in Olden Times 509 Addison And his hj-mns 25 "Sing and pray, eternity dawns" 28 Sarah F. Adams, and "Nearer, my God, to thee" 29 A blind girl's application of "Nearer, my God, to thee" 30 Draw me Saviour nearer 32 Alford and his hymns 34 King Alfred and his hymns 40 Baxter and his hymns 42 Baxter's hymns illustrated before an Indian Massacre 52 Beddome, author of "Did Christ o'er sinners weep" 54 Bernard's hymn 700 years old 56 Berridge and his hymns ^^^ Bonar and his hymns 66 Bonar's hymn, "As meant forme" 71 " " "I was a wandering sheep" 72 <' <' Sung to a weary teacher 73 Origin of " I love to steal awhile away" 74 Phoebe H. Brown and her hymns '^ A little girl stealing away to Jesus ^1 A captive girl recovered by a hymn 8- Phoebe Gary, author of "One sweetly solemn thought" 84 Gamblers reclaimed by Miss Cary's hymn 86 Cennick, author of "Jesus my all to heaven is gone" 90 "Now will I tell to sinners round" 81 Cowper and his hymns 92 w 18 Contents. Cowper's conversion and hymns relating thereto 96 Origin of Cowper's second hymn 98 Cowper's Olney hymns 100 Birth-place of "There is a fountain filled with blood" 102 Illustrations of Cowper's hymns 103 Diversions of Cowper 116 Origin of "God moves in a mysterious way" 120 Davies and his hymns 122 Singing in time of peril 123 Midnight echo of " Home, sweet home " 125 Singing the heart open 126 Conquered by song 127 Doddridge and his hymns 128 Singing of "0 happy day" 143 A hymn of one word 145 A revival started by singing a hymn 146 Heaven as represented in song 147 Origin of "Stand up! stand up for Jesus " 148 Dr. Dwight author of " I love thy kingdom, Lord " 150 Singing in a forsaken church 153 " heard in the wilderness 154 A prisoner singing himself into liberty 155 Miss Elliott and her hymns 156 "0 sir, I've come, I've come" 161 "Just as I am" uttered with a dying breath 162 The young chorister's last hymn 164 Fawcett and his hymns 166 Origin of " Blest be the tie that binds" 170 A sweet hymn born in sorrow 172 Paul Gerhardt and his hymns 175 Belief brought while singing 178 " Relief in Jesus illustrated " 179 A popular hymn written by a boy ten years old 180 Grigg and "Behold a stranger at the door" ....181 Gustavus's batile-hj-mn 182 Hymns upon the battle field 183 Madame Guyon and her hymns 184 1/ r? Contents. 19 Harbaugh and his hymns ^^^ Hart and his hymns 1^^ Hymns that "mean me" 1^^ Origin of a hymn by quite a young girl 200 Lines on the portrait of Heber 202 Heber and his hymns 205 Origin of "From Greenland's icy mountains" 208 Origin of" Thou art gone to the grave" 211 Rowland Hill and his hymns 212 Lady Huntingdon and her hymns 220 Incidents illustrating Lady Hundingdon's hymn 226 A timely interference 228 Huss singing in the flames of martyrdom 230 Author of "Come, humble sinner in whose breast" 233 Judion aad his h3mns 234 John Keble and his hymns 240 Kelly and his hymns 243 ishop Ken and his hymns - 244 Singing of Kens hymn before a railroad accident 255 The doxology in Libby prison 256 " " sung thirty five times in one day 257 " " " 'mid tears of joy 257 " " heard a mile 260 A hymn by the author of " The Star Spangled Banner ' 291 Luther and his* hymns 262 Luther's snow song ^66 Lyte, Author of " Jesus, I my cross have taken" 274 Origin of "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide" 276 Decision for Christ rewarded 2(7 A scorner conquered by a hymn 278 A hymn deciding a soul's destiny , 279 Medley and his hymns 2S0 Author of " I would not live alway" 288 Moore's hymn illustrated 289 Montgomery and his hymns 290 Unmarried hymnists 300 Neumark's inpromptu hymn 303 20 Contents. C Newton and bis hymns 306 A mother's prayer and her son's hymn 310 Illustration of " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds " 316 Incidents and illustrations of Newton's hymns 317 Angel sent stanzas ; 319 Singing the tears away 321 Two officers led to Christ by a verse 323 A popular hymn written by an Indian 324 Occom's hymn 327 Occom's hymn illustrated 328 A dying boy's emphasis to a hymn 329 A precious hymn by a converted idolater 330 Krishna Pal's hymn 333 Palmer and his hymns 334 "Who is like Jesus, " 337 Author of "All hail the power of Jesus' name " 338 Original of "All hail the power of Jesus' name" 339 " All hail the power of Jesus' name " among savages 340 "Bring forth the royal diadem" 342 The hymn that told Jack's experience 343 Author of " Come, thou Fount of every blessing" 344 "Come, thou Fount of every blessing" illustrated 349 Ryland's liyojn composed during a sermon 350 Ryland and his hymns 353 Sachs, the shoemaker hymn-writer , 354 Shirley and his hymns • 358 Origin of '• My country 'tis of thee " 359 Anne Steele and her hymns 360 Remarkable eff"ect3 attending a closing hymn 364 Drawn into the gospel net by singing 365 Stennett and his hymns > 366 Singing " On Jordan's stormy bank " 370 "Infinite day excludes the night'' illustrated 371 Influence of a blind tlave's song 372 The blind man of the mine 373 Singing a man to Christ 374 Appropriate hym:s amid Chicago's fire 376 r Contents. 21 "That sweet music" ^'' Tennent, and the music he heard while in a trance r-378 Toplady, author of "Rock of Ages" 380 Alterations in "Rock of Ages" 384 A babe hid in the cleft of a rock 386 A man saved by a cleft in a rock 387 " Rock of ages" uttered with Prince Albert's dying breath 388 Singingof "Rock of Ages" by fifty operatives 389 " Rock of ages" floating over a field of death 390 "Rock of ages" drowninrr rowdy songs 391 Clinging close to the rock A 392 the clefts in the rock 393 " Rock of ages" illustrated 394 A new version of " Rock of ages " by Ray Palmer 395 Isaac Watts 3^6 Abney house where Watts lived and died 399 The monument of Watts ^^^ Origin of "How vain are all things here below" 407 Origin of Watt's first hymn '*08 Origin of "There is a land of pure delight" 408 Effects of singing "Give me the wings of faith to rise" 409 A heart broken by a hymn , '^'0 Hymns upon the battle field 412 Hymns making a bloody impression 413 Illustrations sf "Not all the blood of beasts." 414 Conversion through the illustration of a hymn 415 " My faith would lay her hand " illustrated 41G A pirate vessel driven away by the singing of Watts' hymn 417 The closed lips -113 A singular coincidence "^'9 Illustrations of " Alas! and did my Saviour bleed" 420 Watts' hymn illustrated 421 "Here, Lord, I give myself away " illustrated 422 "A guilty, weak and helpless worm" illustrated 423 "Love so amazing, so divine" illustrated 424 Singing lies *25 A hvmn illustrated while it was being sung 42G 22 Contents. Illustrations of " Come, Holy Spirit heavenly dove " 429 A hymn that a church refused to sing 430 A hymn that woke up the sleepers 431 Different illustrations of Watts' hymns 433 Xerxes illustrating "And must this body die" 433 Charles Wesley and his hymns 434 Charles Wesley's last hymn 437 Origin of " 0 for a thousand tongues to sing'' 438 "A charge to keep I have " illustrated by its author 439 Origin of "Jesus lover of my soul" 440 ""Jesus lover of my sout ' sung on a sinking vessel 442 Dr. Ciiyler's use of " Jesus lover of my soul " 445 A mother floating out at sea singing "Jesus lover of soul' 446 Singing an enemy away 447 "Jesus lovar of my soul" in a hurricane 448 The last hymn on a wrecked vessel 449 "Like the sea" 450 Singing as death's "billows near me roll " 452 Tiie drummer boy's last hymn 454 Effects of singing "Jesus lover of my soul" 456 Dr. Beecher's last utterance of " Jesus lover of my soul" 460 An accident the occasion of a hymn 461 Cross bearing in song 462 .^n actress and " Depth of mercy " 464 Origin of " Come, thou all victorious Lord" 465 Wesley's hymn in an alley 466 The death song of amurdered Christian 468 A mob occasioning a hymn 469 Origin of " Lo ! on a narrow neck of land " 470 Illustration of " Lo ! on a narrow neck of land '' 471 Passing awav 472 A man dropping dead after the singing of a hymn 473 Eternal things impress 474 Illustration of "Give me the enlarged desire" 475 An evening funeral song 476 "Why I shall sing forever" 477 John Wesley and his hymns 478 r Contents. 23 Hymn sung by Wesley when dying 482 Wesley's hymn Illustrated by " Foolish Dick " 483 Wesley singing at the table 484 Singing around Mrs. Wesley's body the moment after death 485 Henry Kirk White and his hymns 486 William Williams and his hymns 490 Illustrations of " Guide me, 0 thou great Jehovah" 492 Singing Satan away 494 The name that makes "devils fear and fly" 495 Walford, author of '' Sweet hour of prayer " 496 Xavier and his hymn 497 Zinzendorf and his hymns 498 Department of church singing and music 503 Churches opposed to singing 504 Singing in America two centuries ago 50G Old style hymnology 507 Church singing in olden times. 5C8 \ hyojn illustrated by a choir leader 511 Expressive epitaph of a chorister 512 A hymn illustrated by a thunder storm 513 lucidents of the tune of Old Hundred 514 Hymns disjointed by fugue tunes 516 Massacre of church music 518 Choir difficulties 519 Solemn mockery in singing 520 Old Adam manifested in song 531 A clergyman in a fix 523 Inappropriate hymns 520 Roman Catholic hymns 526 The braying of an ass imitated in church song 527 A maniac subdued by the singing of a hymn 523 A life saved by singing 530 Saved by the attraction of music 531 Solomon's song 532 A ruffian charmed 533 The singing of Ira D. Sankey 534 Synopsis of hymn- writers 537-558 r :^i /' PHIITCBTOIT * .fi£C. SEP iHP; 'Wttttt^'** ILLUSTRATED HISTORY ||tnn§ ani tfeir |«t|0r| Addison and his Hymns. C tlVE hymns have floated down the stream of time, during the past one hundred and sixty years, that have becon?e so endeared to the people of God that scarcely any church hymn-book can be found without them. They are the production of the polished and refined pen of Addison. He was born at Milston, England, in 1672, and was the son of an Episcopal clergyman. In early life he gave many evidences of a precocious intellect. A poem to King William, in ] 695, and one in 1695, on the ''Peace of Ryswiek," procured him a pension of 300^. a year. With this pecuniary aid he was enabled in early manhood to extend his knowledge of the world by travel. While in this pursuit he met IJ 26 Addison's Hymns. with many narrow escapes from death on sea and land. It is supposed, when in after years lie glanced over these many dangers, he felt inspired to say, in the language of his well-known hymn, — " When all thy mercies, O my God, My rising si^ul surveys, Transported with the view, I'm lost In wonder, love and praise." " After publishing his travels and other works, he rose in popular favor till in 1717 he obtained the responsible position of Secretary of State. His hymns were attached to articles written for The Spectator. The .first of the immortal five appeared July 26, 1712, at the end of an essay on "Trust in God," in which he says: "The person who has a firm trust in the Supreme Being is powerful in His power, wise by His wisdom, happy by His happiness. He reaps the benefit of every Divine attribute, and loses his own insufficiency in the fulness of infinite perfection," which beautiful truths he sets forth in poetic form in his hymn : — " The Lord my pasture shall prepare. And feed me with a Shepherd s care, His presence shall my wants supply, /nd guard me with a watchful eye ; My noon-day wallts he shall attend, And all my midnight hours defend." The following month, August 23, he sent forth his next hymn, attached to an article on "The right means to strengthen faith," in which he would lead us up to " The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky," and show us how the spangled heavens " utter forth a glorious voice; For ever singing as they shine, — The Ijaiid that made us is divine.'' A month later, September 20, appeared a paper on G Addison's hymns continued^ 27 "The Sea," to which he afterwards added the hymn: — " How are thy servants blessed, 0 Lord ! How sure is their defence." It had originally ten verses. In one he beautifully says, " The storm is laid, the winds retire, Obedient to thy will ; The sea, that roars at thy command, At thy command is still." The last hymn appeared the month following, October 18, 1716. In tlie prose article that preceded, it is said, "■ Among all the reflections which usually arii-e in the mind of a sick man, who has time and inclination to consider his approaching end, there is none more natural than that of his going to appear naked and unbodied before Him, who made him." "When, rising from the bed of death, O'erwhelmed with guilt and fear, I see my Maker face to face — Oh! how shall I appear?'' When his dying hour drew near, it was with such calm composure that he could look ahead to the time when he should meet his " Maker face to face," that he sent for his step-son, the Earl of Warwick, saying with all the solemnity of death's surroundings, those ever memorable words:— "I have sent for you, that you may see how a Christian can die." To this a poet thus refers : — " He taught us how to live ; and Oh ! too high The price of knowlege ! taught us how to die.'' He died at the Holland House, June 17, 1719. Although unable to finish his intended version of the Psalms, yet he can no\y fulfil his heart's desire as thus expressed in one of his hymns : — ^ "Through all eternity to thee A joyful song I'll raise ; But oh ! eternity's too short To utter all thy praise." c 28 Addison's hymns continued. " Sing and Pray, Eternity Lawns. " HEN the Kev. Dr. Eddy was suddenly confronted with the idea, contained in Addison's hymn, of meeting his " Maker face to face," he could joyously answer the question : — " Oh ! how shall I appear? " When, by medical advice, the unexpected news was first communicated to him, he welcomed it with great calmness. After adjusting his worldly affairs, "he marched rapidly to his end, a shouting victor all the way." To Bishop Janes he remarked, " I am resting in Jesus, O so sweetly! A poor sinner saved by grace, but saved." " Beyond the parting and the meeting, I shall be soon. Beyond the farewell and the greeting, Beyond the pulse's fever beating, I shall be soon. " As his weeping family gathered around his death-bed, he extended his hands over them, and pronounced the apostolic benediction. His joyous countenance seemed to be lit up as with light streaming through the gates of the celestial city. In his ecstacy of joy he raised his trembling hands trying to clasp them, but unable to guide them in his weakness, they would pass each other while, with clear voice, he w^ould sing out, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" His last words Avere, "Sing and pray, eternity dawns." Thus amid the songs of earth, he passed to the halle- lujahs above. Well may we say with AVatts : — " My willing soul would stay In such a frame as this, And sit and sing herself away To everlasting bliss. " Sarah F, Adams. 29 Author of "Nearer, my God, to Thee. " ^HIS language was the heart-utterance of Mrs. Sarah ^ Flower Adams, daughter of Benjamin Flower, editor of The Cambridge Intelligencer, and wife of AVilliam B. Adams, an eminent engineer, and also a contributor to some of the principal newspapers and reviews. She was born February 22, 1805. Her mother is described as a lady of talent, as was her elder, sister Eliza, who was also an authoress. She was noted in early life for the taste she manifested for literature, and in maturer years, for great zeal and earnestness in her religious life, which is said to have produced a deep impression on those who met with her. Mr. Miller says: "The prayer of her own hymn, 'Near- er, my God, to Thee, ' had been answered in her own experience. Her literary tastes extended in various di- rections. She contributed prose and poetry to the peri- odicals, and her art-criticisms were vahied. She also wrote a Catechism for chihlren, entitled 'The Flock at the Fountain' (1845). It is Unitarian in its sentiment, and is interspersed with hymns. She also wrote a dra- matic poem, in five acts, on the martyrdom of 'Vivia Perpetua.' This was dedicated to her sister, in some touching verses. Her sister died of a pulmonary com- plaint in 1847, and attention to her in her affliction enfeebled her own health, and she also gradually ^yore away, 'almost her last breath bursting into unconscious song.'" Thus illustrating the last stanza: — "Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upward I fly, Still all my soncj shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee. " She died' August 13, 1849, eight years after the issue of her popular hymn, and was buried in Essex, England. 30 S. F. Adams' hymn illustrated. A Blind Girl's Utterance of "Nearer my God." /J/ljf E condense a touching narrative as given by an anon- C^ ymoiis writer. Ethel Bent had been for weeks stretched upon a sick bed, where she was brought nigh unto death. The disease had so aifected her eyes that she liad to be kept in a dark room, and it was feared that if she did get well she might still lose her eyesight. Ethel could not believe it possible that so dread a calamity could overtake her. While alone, one Sabbath morning, she said to herself in her darkened chamber, "The Bible says we are not tried above that we are able to bear, and I could not endure that. Oh! no, I shall not be blind." While musing thus a low sweet voice near her said : "Sister Ethel, may I come in?" "Why yes, Ruthie, if you want to." "I wanted to recite my hymn to you; it is some new verses to 'Nearer my God, to thee,' and I like them so much." " Well dear say them ; I dont mind. " " If where they lead my Lord, I, too. be borne, Planting my steps in big, Weary and worn — May the path carry me Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!" "That's not for me," thought Ethel, "it means the old-time martyrs." She tried to .shake oif the feeling. How could the dark path bring her nearer to God ! But the childish voice continued, — "If Thou the cup of pain Givest to drink, Let not my trembling li{)S From the draught shrink; So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, Thee, Nearer to Thee !'" c S. F. Adams' hymn illustrated. 31 "Never mind finishing it Ruthie; my head aches, and I want to be alone. " Once the thin, white hand Avas raised as if to dash "the cup of pain" from her lips. Days passed. As her strength came back the inflam- mation in her eyes decreased. She no longer spoke of her hopes and fears. She looked more and more calmly at her cross. The path, though dark, had one ray of light, which, if followed, must bring her to her Saviour, for it came from him. One day she cried, "O mamma! I cannot M'ait; let the light in now;" but her mother said, "Have patience darling; tlie noon-day is too bright; I will promise you to let the morning sun into your room. " All day long she waited, her lips moving in prayer. The morning dawned. " Open the blinds wide mamma; let in all the light you can before I take off the bandage." She turned toward the window; on her bare arms she felt the warm sun and morning breese, but no light came to her eyes. " Mamma, mamma, why are you so silent? Is the room light? " Her mother's low pained voice answered "My darling, the sun shines in your face." She sank upon her knees; the clasped hands where up- lifted, as if reaching for something unattainable; the face quivered with inward anguish; but the expression of her sightless eyes was more beautiful than in their days of undenied beauty they had ever been. As her mother bent over her she heard the pale lips whisper — " So by my woes to be Nearer, ray God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee. " 32 Hymn hy Edioin M. Long. DBAW ME, SAVIOUR, NEARER. Words and Music by Rev. E. M. Long. lTl=:J=t i^tzM ^^ ,-4- -©- -0 0 0- ■*r-Sr -0 0- ^ 5=^ ^f-^ ^ -»■ -z^ -^ 1 Draw rae, Sa - viour, nearer, Near-er and near-er to thee ; Let me ■A •#- .^ -I- •M: i^f^ :t: -.©-H-i K :p=t=: ■jsi-*^ see still clear-er, All thou art to me. Draw me with the cords of n ^PrT=R^R= love Draw me up to things above. Wliile I sing, oh, may I be 5 -tf-j 1 lg — » i^J^ .^. ^_:?L.,*_;i ifL^ -©--- -^ IF W- -©-^ ^^ rif. pp ^ -S^-S-^*^* • ^ ■*•-*. -f-TT. -F^ ■* ST. Drawn still clos-er, clos-er to thee. Closer, closer, ■ST-. closer to thee. pJt T#-^*-*: :^T^ ^ — h»- .^• F=P=F S>-T ^r- ^1?T- C c Hymn by E. 31. Long continued. 33 As the eagles soaring, Higher and higher ascend, Thus, while Thee adoring, Upwiird I ■would tend. Further from earih and sin away, Nearer heaven's perfect day ; Even now, oh, may I be Drawn still closer, closer to thee. Closer, closer, closer to thee. Aa the river flowing, Ever draws nearer the sea, Thus would I keep going, Till I'm lost in thee. Daily advance and grow in grace, Till I see thee face to face, Then I'll sing eternally, Drawn still closer, closer to thee. Closer, closer, closer to thee. fAYS Jesus, "And T, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. " The sainted Alfred Cookman remarked on his death- bed, " Jesus is drawing me closer and closer to his great heart of infinite love/' To his wife he said, "I am Christ's little infant. Just as you fold your little babe to your bosom, so I amnestied close to the heart of Jesus. " Albert Barnes, commenting on Christians mounting "up with wings as eagles," says: "The image is de- rived from the fact that the eagle rises on the most vig- erous wing of any bird, and ascends apparently farther towards the sun. The figure denotes strength and vigor of purpose; strong and manly piety; an elevation above the world; communion with God, and a nearness to his throne — as the eagle ascends towards the sun." "Ah," said a dying soldier, "tell my mother that last night there was not one cloud between my soul and Jesus. " 34 Henry AJford and Jus hymns. Alford and his Hymns. fEAN HENRY ALFORD was a son of an Episcopal clergyman of the same name. He was born in 1810, and closed his earthly career in 1871. He is widely known through his great work, "The Greek Testament with Notes." He began very early in life to "make his mark, " — at least his pencil marks. For in his memoir it is stated that when only six years of age he wrote and illustrated a book of fourteen pages, three inches by two in size. "The travels of St Paul from his Conversion to his Death, with a book of Plates. " When ten years old he made a more durable mark with ink, in a work that he wrote entitled : "Looking unto Jesus, or the Believers Sup,port under Trials and Afflic- tions, By Henry Alford Jun. 1st edition." At this time he began to court the Muses, and in his eleventh year composed "A Collection of Hymns for Sun- diy Occasions." Among the number is one that begins — "Life is a journey, beavea is our home," and ends with this verse: — " Just as the school-boy longing for his home. Leaps forth for gladness when the hour is come ; So true believers, eager for the skies. Released by death on wings of triumph rise.'' The figure drawn from a school-boy's experience, came readily to him at this period; for at this time he was at- tending a new school he did not like, and had some symptons of that old complaint, called home-sickness. In his sixteenth year he wrote in his Bible, "I do this day, as in the presence of God, and my own soul, renew my covenant with God. and solemnly determine hence- forth to become His, and do His work as far as in me lies." r HENRY ALFORD. Alford's hymns continued. "Saying grace" he did not simply reserve for meal time. But also as he obtained food for the mind. And so habituated did he become in this that as he clos- ed his books after a hard day's study, he would "stand up as at the end of a meal, and thank God for what he had received. " This early habit of acknowledging God in all his ways, of constantly looking for divine guidance was after- wards richly rewarded in his eventful life. It also found a natural expression in the beautiful hymn that he wrote when but sixteen years of age. A hymn well worthy to stand by the side of ^yilliams' grand invocation: — "Guide me, 0 thou great Jehovah." We are fflad to meet with it in some American hymnals, lately issued. We give it herewith: — " Forth to tlie land of promise bound, Our desert path we tread ; God's fiery pillar for our guide, His Captain at our head. "E'en now we faintly trace the hills. And catch their distant blue ; And the bright city' s gleaming spires Rise dimly on our view. " Soon, when the desert shall be crossed,. The flood of death past o'er, Our pilgrim host shall safely land On Canaan's peaceful shore. " There love shall have its perfect work, And prayer be lost in praise ; And all the servants of our God Their endless anthems raise. " Plis "Poetical Works" reached a fourth edition in 18G5. In 1867 he issued a collection of hymns entitled, " The Year of Praise," of which 55 were of his own composition. One is found in nearly all collections, commencinof, " Come, ye thankful people, come. QZ c 38 AIford\ hymns continued. While once waiting for some bishops he wrote : — " I'm glad I m not a bishop, To have to walk in gaiters, And get my conduct pulled about B}' democrat dictators.'' Alford manifested wonderful powers of versatility. It is said, " He was a painter, a mechanic, a musician. He was a poet, a preaclier, a scholar, and a critic." He loved to contemplate the " -raptured greeting On Canaan's happy shore. " Say he, " Our tlioughts have been much turned of late to the eternal state. Half of our children are there, and where the treasure is there will the heart be also." One of his most popular hymns vividly pictures the glories of the redeemed. The singing of it formed part of his own funeral service. In it he says ; "Ten thousand times ten thousand, In sparkling raiment bright, ^ The armies of the ransomed saints Throng up the steeps ot light. 'Tis finished — all is finished — Their fight with Death and Sin : Fling open wide the golden gates, And let the victors in. "What rush of hallelujahs Fills all the earth and sky ! "What ringing of a thousand harps Bespeaks the triumph nigh 1 0 day for which creation, And all its tribes were made ; 0 joy, for all its former woes A thousand fold repaid. " 0 then what raptured greetings On Canaan's happy shore ; What knitting severed friendships up Where partings are no more, ' Then eyes with joy shall sparkle, That brimmed with tears of late ; Orphans no longer fatherless, Nor widows desolate. " Alford's hymns continued. 39 As a member of the Evangelical Alliance, and in many other ways, Alford evinced a catholic spirit that endeared him to many outside of his own branch of the church. Asking a neighboring clergyman to help him find a curate, he said, " I want him to teach and preach Jesus Christ and not the church, and to be fully prepared to recognize the pious Dissenter as a brother in Christ, and as much a member of the church as ourselves." In his sixtieth year he was compelled by failing health to heed his physician's advice and "do nothing," and soon after entered into the rest that remaineth to the people of God. On his tomb was carved, by his request, the exjjressive words : — THE INN OF A TKAVELLER ON HIS WAT TO JERUSALEM. In his dying moments he sweetly realized the desire ofhis heart as expressed in the following hymn, which Avas sung in the great cathedral on the day of his fu- neral : — "Jesus, when I fainting lie, And the world is flitting by, Hold up my head. "When the cry is ' Thou must die, ' And the dread hour draweth nigh, Stand by my bed. ' Jesus, when the worst is o'er, And they bear me from the door, Meet the sorrowing throng. 'Weep not,' let the mourner hear, "Widow's woe and orphans' tear Turn into song. "Jesus, in the last great day, Come thou down and touch my clay, Speak the word ' Arise ; ' • Friend to gladsome friend restore, Living, praying evermore Above the skies." c 40 Hymn by Alfred the Great. King Alfred's Hymn. fNE thousand years ago there lived a Christian King who .'ascended the Engh'sh 'throne in 871, and was justly distinguished as " Alfred the Great. " Although he was twelve years old before he was taught the alpha- bet, yet he afterwards Jipplied himself with such diligence to his studies that he became celebrated as the author of numerous works, the founder of seminaries and of the University of Oxford. Though burdened with the cares of a kingdom, he could find time and pleasure in greeting the morning light with songs of praise, and saying with King David, "Yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning." This is evident from his sweet morning hymn, which was translated by Earl Nelson, and which still finds a place in different church hymn-books. It begins thus : — "As the sun doth daily rise Bright'ning all the morning skies, So to thee with one accord - Lift we up our hearts, 0 Lord ! After many conflicts with the Danes, who invaded his land, he was at last compelled for a time to abandon his throne, and conceal himself in disguise in a cottage of one of his herdsmen. While performing menial service in his hiding-place his hostess gave him a severe repre- mand for permitting some oatmeal cakes to be burned, which, while baking, she had directed him to watch; saying, " No wonder thou art a poor houseless vagrant with such neglect of business, I shall set by all the burnt cakes for thy portion of the week's bread, and thou shalt have no other till they are all eaten ." Dependent thus on ethers for his daily bread, although a King, he could in after years feel the import of his words addressed to the King of Kings in the second verse of his hymn, — Alfred's hymn continued. 41 r " Day by day provide us food, For from thee come all things good ; Strength unto our souls afford From thy living Bread, 0 Lord 1 In the defence of his country he was compelled to fight no less than fifty six battles by sea or land, in which he exposed himselt to innumerable dangers, and no doubt often uttered the prayer contained in the third verse, — " Be onr Guard in sin and strife ; Be the Leader of our life; Lest like sheep we stray abroad. Stay our wayward feet, 0 Lord! Having translated the Psalms into English, and con- stantly carried a copy in his bosom, the fourth verse wa.s certainly the language of his heart : — " Quickened by the Spirit's grace, All thy holy will to trace. While we daily search thy Word Wisdom true impart, 0 Lord ! The hordes that stole around at night and rendered life insecure, gave emphasis to his figure of the fifth verse, " When hours are dark and drear, When the Tempter lurketh near, By thy strength'ning grace outpoured, Savt the tempted ones, 0 Lord ! Before a critical battle with the pagans, Alford man- aged to get into the ranks of the enemy disguised as a travelling minstrel, and with his harp and enrapturing song, was enabled so to win their applause that they detained him three days and nights. The knowledge he thus obtained of the position and forces of the foe, was the means of saving his country. After he became victor, many of the pagans remained in England, renounced their idolatry, and were baptized on profession of their Christian faith. 1/ 42 Ilichard Baxter and his hymns. C Author of "Lord, it belongs not to my care." ^ |i) HE name of Richard Baxter is endeared to many (S through the reading of his two widely known books, The Call to the Unconverted, and the Saints' Ever- lasting Rest. He was born at Rowton, in Shropshire, England, on the 12th of November, 1615. His conversion took place when about the age of fifteen, by reading "an old torn ])ook, lent by a poor man to his father, entitled 'Bunny's Resolutions.' " " Sibb's Bruised Reed,'" was also of great assistance. Thus says he: " Without any means but books, was God pleased to re- solve me for Himself." Montgomery gives Baxter a place among the poets of England. Of his hymns and poems, contained in the volume, entitled, ^^ Poetical Fragments,^' he says that they are "far above mediocrity in many passages of poetry." , As ti^nes were not numerous in those days, Baxter prepared some of his hymns so that they could be sung either as long or common metre, by using or omitting the words contained in brackets. He claimed to be the inventor of this plan. We herewith give a specimen of a part of his version of the twenty-third Psalm : — "The Lord himself my Sheperd is, Who doth me feed and [ safely ] keep ; What can I want that's truly good, While I am [one of] his own sheep? " He makes me to lie down and rest In [pleasant] pastures, tender grass; He keeps, and gently leadeth me Near [tiie sweet] stream of quietness. *' My failing soul he doth restore, And lead [in safe] and righteous ways, And all this freely that his grace. And [holy] name may have the praise." Hichard Baxter continued. 45 Baxter jjrepared a metrical version of the Psalms which was issued the year after his death. One of his liymus is almost universally found in hymn books. It is one among the many influences that he set in mo- tion two centuries ago, that still lives. In the original it consists of eight eight-line stanzas, and begins :--- " My whole, though broken heart, 0 Lord! From henceforth shall be thine. " It was entitled, "The Covenant and Confidence of Faith." At the end he adds the following note: — "This convenant my dear wife, in her former sickness, sub- scribed with a cheerful will. " We will embody it among some of the many incidents of his life that illustrate its sentiments. The first verse as now iu ase commences, — ' Baxter had a bodily frame so frail that it seemed ready at any time to fall to pieces. His studious habits he explained on this wise, "Weak- ness and pain helped me to study how to die; that set me to study how to live." When on his death bed the intensity of pain constrained him to pray to God for his release by death, he would check himself by saying, "'It is not for me to prescribe: when thou wilt, what thou wilt, how thou wilt. " To this language a half century later Dr. Watts re- fered in his dying moments, "it is good to say as did Mr Baxter, ' ^Vhat, when, and where God pleases.' " When Baxter first went to Kidderminster the people were "ignorant, coarse and of loose manners; supersti- tious , sensual and easily roused to deeds of violence and brutal outrage;" and yet that wilderness became as the garden of the Lord through the faithful labors of this man of God. " Lord, it belongs not to my care Whether I die or live." 46 Richard Baxter continued. He toiled and prayed until it could be said '' from every house within his pastorate there was daily the all but ceaseless voice of psalms and hymns. He was literally compassed about with songs of deliverance." Family worship was generally practiced among his peo- ple. • He says that as one passed along the street on a Babbath evening, "one might hear a hundred families singing psalms and repeating sermons. " Although he observed great strictness in the admission to the church yet his membership increased to six hun- dred communicants; he says there were not twelve of whom he had not a good hope. A hundred years later, Dr. Fawcett, one of his succes- sors says, " the religious spirit thus happily introduced by Baxter is yet to be traced in the town and neighbor- hood. " He spoke of Kidderminster as a "place which had the chiefest of my labors, and yielded me the greatest fruits and comfort." He told the people that he came with his heart stirred up " to speak to sinners with some compas- sion, as a dying man to dying men." Here it was he uttered his loud "Call to the Unconverted," and in his earnest preaching exemplified his couplet: — " I'd preach as though I ne'er shouH preach again, And as a dying man to dying men." This was indeed characteristic of Baxter throughout a long life; even Mdien near four score years of age he still staggered up the pulpit steps to proclaim the gospel. An old gentleman, who heard him preach, related that when he ascended the pulpit, with a man following him to prevent his falling backward, and to support liim, if needful in the pulpit, many persons would be ready to say he was more fit for the coffin, than for the pulpit. It was feared the last time he preached that lie would c Richard Baxter continued. 47 have (lied in the pulpit. Well did he illustrate the sen- timent of the second verse of his hymn — " If life be long I will be glad, That I may long obey ; If short yet why should I be sad / To soar to endless day?" / May 1662, the king set his seal of approval to the famous "Act of Conformity/' by which every clergyman of the Church of England must, on the 24th of August following, "openly and publickly, before the congrega- tion there assembled, declare his unfeigned assent and consent to the use of all things " in the " Book of Common Prayer." Baxter was among the two thousand godly ministers who were willing to leave their weeping flocks, and their pecuniary support, to face poverty and persecution for conscience's sake. As many were not silenced by this, the "Couventical Act" Avas passed in 1664, by which " the meeting of more than four persons in any other mauner than allowed by the liturgy and practice of the Church of Eugland is f(jrbidden," under a penalty of a fine or imprisonment. To prevent the Xon-conformist ministers being even among their flocks, the "Five Mile Act" followed, which prevented them from coming or being within five miles of any city or town corporate, or any place where they had at any time exercised their ministry. Although Baxter yielded obedience to the law so far as to abstain from public preaching, yet he kept up family worship, and as some, of their own accord, would drop in and swell the number beyond the legal limit of "four," a warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was incarcer- ated for six months in Clerkenwell prison. Some years later having dared to deliver five sermons, and to live in a corporate town, his enemies seized him again. His goods were taken from him and sold, "even M 48 Richard Baxter continued. to the bed that he lay sick on." '' When they liad taken and sold all" he says, "and I had borrowed some beddhig and necessaries of the buyer, I was never the quieter." At length when unable to find any other fault, they discovered a comment in his " Paraphrase on the New Testament" in which he had M^-itten some censures on persecuting prelates, and on closing the mouths of godly ministers who sought to preach in the name of their Master. This, as they thought, justified the charge of se- dition Avhich they now brought against him. He was summoned to appear for his trial before the notorious Jeffries. This furnished the Judge an opportunity to give vent to his coarse, vulgar spleen. To empty the vials ot his wrath upon the head of an innocent old man. After calling him a rogue, rascal, an old blockhead, an unthankful villain, and other vile epithets, Baxter ventured to put in a word of explanation. "Richard, Richard," roared the judge, "dost thou think we will hear thee poison the court? "Richard, thou art an old fellow, an old knave; thou hast written books enough to load a cart, every one as full of sedition, I might say treason, as an egg is full of meat. Hadst thou been whipped out of the trade forty years ago, it had been happy Come, what do you say for yourself, you old knave? — come speak up. What doth he say? I am not afraid of you, for all the snivel- ing calves you have got about you," (alluding to some pei'sons near Baxter who were in tears). To this shameful tirade Baxter meekly replied, "These things will be understood some day, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he added ; " I am not concerned to an- swer such stuff; but am ready to produce my writings for refutation of all this; and my life and conversation are known to many in this nation. " Richard Baxter continued. 51 As neither justice nor mercy could be obtained before this tribunal, Baxter was ])rouoiinced guilty. While afterwards confined for two years in the dark cells of a 2)rison, and comparing his mock trial with the one through which his Saviour passed, he could draw com- fort from the third stanza of his hymn : — "Christ leads me through no darker rooms Thaa He went through before ; He that into God's kingdom comes, Must enter by this door." Notwithstanding his life-long weakness and pains — the bitter persecution and cruel imprisonments, Baxter did a marvelous amount of labor. His works number one hundred and sixty-eight, which, it is said would make a library themselves, of sixty volumes of five hundred octavo pages each. And yet when reminded on liis death- bed of his good deeds, he replied : " I M-as but a pen in God's hand, and what praise is due to a pen." In trium- phant peace and joy, he ended his days December 8, 1691. "I have pains" said he, "there is no arguing against sense: but I XvAve peace, I have peace." When asked, "How are you?" his answer was, ^'Almost wellJ' This thought is brought out in a verse of his hymn: — " My knowledge of that life is small, The'eye of faith is dim ; But 'tis enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with Him." While contemplating " the innumerable company " in heaven spoken of in Heb. xii. 22, of which he was soon to form a part he said, "It deserves a thousand — thou- sand thoughts. Oh how comfortable the promise that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath pre- pared for them that love Him." To a friend he said these, his last words, "The Lord teach you how to die." 52 Baxter^ s hymn illustrated. A Hymn Sung before an Indian Massacre. TIRRING scenes were witnessed in the early history of our country. The following fact given in the Hallean Annals, contains an exclamation in time of danger, that Avas almost the literal language of the first verse of Baxter's hymn : — " Lord, it belongs not to my care Whether I die or live." In the early settlement of our country about the year 1750, there were frequent scenes of sudden, death through the sudden invasion of the Indian savage. Among the catechumens of the Luth- eran pioneer missionary, the Rev. H. M. Muhlenburg, at Kcw Holland, Pa., were two grown daughters, who, after their reception into the church, removed with their father to a farm near the Blue Mountains. At this period the Indian war was raging, rendering life very insecure in those forests. One Friday evening, in the fall of the year, they told their father that they felt as though they had not long to live, and proposed singing the following appropriate German hymn, in which their voices all united: — " Wer •n'eiss wie nahe mir mein ende ? ' which has been translated into English thus: — "Who knows how near ray life's expended? Time flies, and death is hasting on ; How soon, my term of trial ended, !i[ay heave my last expiring groan ! For Jesus' sake, when flesli shall fail, With me, 0 God, may all be well ! c w Baxter^s hymn illustrated. 53 " My many sins ! — oh, vail them over \Yith merits of thy dying Son ! I here thy richest grace discover, — flere find I peace, and here alone : And for his sake, when flesh shall fail, With me, 0 God, may it be well ! "His bleeding wounds give me assurance That thy free mercy will abide : Here strength I find for death's endurance, And hope for all I need beside: For Jesus' sake, when flesh shall fail, With me, 0 God, may it be well!" After singing they united in prayer and retired to rest. Next morning while the father was in his fields looking for his horses, he saw two Indians s^viftly ap- proaching with deadly weapons. He was so terrified that he knew not what to ; some of his parishioners became angry; some opened their eyes with astonishment; while one and another began to come secretly, and revealing a broken heart, would tell him their lost condition. these words were darted into my mind with wonderful power, and seemed indeed like a voice from heaven, "Cease from thy M-orks. " Before I heard these words my mind was in a very unusual calm; but as soon as I heard them my soul was in a tempest directly , and the iears flowed from my eyes, like a torrent. The scales fell from my eyes immediately, and I now saw the rock I had been splitting on for nearly thirty years. Do you ask what this rock was? Some secret reliance on my own works for salvation. " Afcer his conversion, he says in relation to his preach- ing, '•' I dealt with my hearers in a very different man- ner from what I used to." The effect was manifest at once. Soon one with a broken heart called upon him. " Why, what is the matter, Sarah?" he asked. "Matter! I dont know what's the matter. Those new sermons. I find we are all to be lost now. 1 can neither eat, drink, nor sleep. I don't know what's to become of me." The same week came two or three more on a like errand. This sank him into the dust of self-abasement, to see what a blind leader of the blind he liad been before. Immediately he burnt all his old sermons, and with tears of joy witnessed their destruction.- The secret of his 2)revious failures he expresses on thiswise: — G2 Berridge continued. c Soon others came with the same story. His church became crowded. It is said: "The windows being filled within and without, and even the outside of the pulpit to the very top, so that Mr. Berridge seemed almost stifled." Within a year as many as a thousand persons visited him, inquiring the way of life. He now began to visit and stir up the neighboring towns and vill ages. Being threatened with i mprison ment, if he kept on preaching out of his parish, he replied that he would rather go to jail "with a good conscience, than be at liberty without one; adding there is one canon, my lord, which I dare not disobey, and that says, *Go, preach my gospel to every creature." Aschurclies could not always contain the great multi- tudes that flocked to hear him, he would resort to the open flelds, as did his eloquent co-laborers, Whitefield and Wesley. The effect that often followed his preach- ing is described as truly remarkable. He had a tall and commanding figure, deep voice, a bold and impressive manner of speech, and a vivid fancy, that would often play around his utterances, as lightning about a cloud. Ten to fifteen thousand persons would often hang with breathless attention U])on his weighty words as he ])ortrayed the interests of time and eternity. His eccentricity no doubt helped to swell the number of liis hearers. It is said that sometimes the curl of his lips and "the very point of his peaked nose" would seem to add to the effectiveness of his sjjicy sayings. But his quaint speech was always used as the diamond point on the arrow of truth, that helped to make it pierce far into the citadel of the heart. The slain of the Lord would be many after his use of the sword of the Spirit. Strong men would sink to the earth in great agony, and in a single year of "campaigning" as many as four thousand would thus become "pricked in heart." Berrldge^s hymns. 63 All amusing story is told of Berridge M'hile on a visit in the North of England. Stopping at a village where he must needs stay over the Sabbath, he requested the proprietor of the inn to let the "parson of the parish" know that there was a clergyman stopping with him who would gladly assist at the service on the morrow. In reply to this statement the cautious shepherd re- marked to the landlord, " We must be careful, for you know there are many of those Meandering Methodist preachers about. What sort of man is he?" "Oh, it is all right sir," was the answer, "just see his nose, sir, that will tell you he is no Methodist." " Well, ask him to call on me in the morning," said the rector, "and I shall judge for myself." At the morning call it is said, "the waggish and somewhat rubecund nose" disarmed prejudices and opened the way to the pulpit, where he delivered a memorable discourse. " And fools, who came to scoT, remained to praj." In 1785 he issued his "Sion's Songs, or Hymns com- posed for the use of them that love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," of which he says in the }H-eface; "Many years ago, these hymns were composed in a six months' illness, and have since lain neglected by me, often threatened with fire, but have escaped that martyr- dom." Of the singing in his day, he says, " It has become a vulgar business in our cliurches. This tax of praise is collected, chiefly from an organ, or a clerk, or some bawl- ing voice in a singing loft. The congregation may listen if they please, or talk in whispers, or take a quiet nap." His hymns number three hundred and forty-two. We give five of the six verses of the one on "pleasures for evermore." This is thought to be his best, and is found in nearly all the church hymn-books of the present day : — 64 Berridge's hymns continued. " 0 happy saints, who dwell in light And walk with Jesus clothed in white, Safe landed on that peaceful shore Where pilgrims meet to part no more. "Released from sin and toil and grief, Death was their gate to endless life : An opened cage to let them fly And build their happy nests on high. "And now they range the heavenly plains, And sing their hymns in melting strains; And now their souls l)egin to prove The heights and depths of Jesus ' love." " He cheers them with eternal smile j They sing hosannas all the while ; Or, overwhelmed with rapture sweet, Sink down adoring at his feet. "Ah, Lord ! with tardy steps I creep. And sometimes sing and sometimes weep ; Yet strip me of this house of clay. And I ^111 sing as loud as they." A^ a specimen of some quaint verses that spice his collection, we give the following: — *' But when thy simple sheep For form and shadows fight, I sit me down and Aveep To see their shallow wit. Who leave their bread to gnaw tlie stones, And fondly break their teeth \^ ith bones. Hymn number seven commences thus : — "V/ith solemn weekly state The worldling treads thy court Content to see thy gate, And such as thert resort, But, ah, what is the house tQ me, Unless the master I can see. Another contrasts the law and grace on this wise: — "R'ln, John, and work, the law commands, Yet finds me neither feet nor hands ; But sweeter news the gospel brings. It bids me fly, and lends me Avings. ;ii Berriclge's hymn continued. 65 Although Berridge was never married, he has furnished a good marriage hymn, that is about the only one on that subject in most hymn-books. It commences, "Since Jesus freely did appear To grace a marriage feast, Dear Lord, we ask thy presence here, To make a wedding guest. " His purse was as open as his heart, so that during his lifetime he gave away a fortune and all his patrimony. For four and twenty years he preached on an average ten or twelve sermons a week, and travelled a hundred miles. In a characteristic epitaph he thus epitomizes the events of his life. This, in accordance with iiis wish, was placed on his tomb-stone after death, with the date of the last line added: — "Here lie the earthly remains of John Berridge, late Vicar of Everton, and an itinerant servant of Jesus Christ, who loved his Master and his work, and after running his errands many years, was called up to wait on him above. "Reader, art thou born again? "No salvation without a new birth. "I was born in sin, February, 1716. "Remained ignorant of my fallen state till 1730. "Lived proudly on faith and works for salvation till 1751. "Admitted to Everton vicarage, 1755. "Fled to Jesus alone for refuge, 1756. "Fell asleep in Christ Jesus, January 22, 1793. " He was in his seventy-sixth year wiien the summons of death suddenly arrived. A clergyman remarked, "Jesus will soon call you up higher." He replied, " Av, ay, ay, higher, higher, higher." Once he exclaimed, "Yes, and my childien, too, will shout and sing, ^ Here comes oui' father ! '" ^W 6Q Hor alius Bonar. Bonar and his Hymns. rjijllEIEN the feet of the psahiiist were taken "out of an horrible pit and the miry clay/' he says that there was also "put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God." After the escape from Egyptian bondage, and from the waters of the Red Sea, what was more nat- ural to God's Israel than the spontaneous outburst of praise upon the banks of deliverance. How often the redeemed soul, while surveying the great salvation, has found the language of Bonar 's three well-known hymns exactly suited to tell the story. While sweetly led through "green pastiu'cs" how easy to sing along the banks of "the still waters" the hymn commencing, " I was a wandering sheep, ^ I did not love the fold ; I did not love my Shepherd's voice, I would not be controlled.'" Or when nestled near the loving heart of Jesus, to recount his wondrous love in the hymn : — "I heard the voice of Jesus say, — ' Come unto me and rest; Lay down, thou weary one ! lay down Thy head upon my breast.' " I came to Jesus as I was, Weary, and worn, and sad ; I found in him a resting-plaoe And he has made me glad." ^ Even the smallest babe in Christ can tell the plan of redemption in the simple verse that makes up the hymn commencing, " I lay my sins on Jesus, The spotless Lamb of God." Our readers will surely need no invitation to gaze upon the pleasant features of Bonar's likeness that ac- C HORATIUS BONAR. Bonars hymn continued. 69 company these remarks, and see in them tluit goodness of heart that is indelibly stamped upon all that he has written. The Rev. Horatius Bonar D, D. was born in Edin- burgh Scotland in 1808. He was set apart to the work of the ministry at Kelso, in 1837, and has continued his pastoral work at Edinburgh, since 1867. In 1843 he united with the Free Church of Scotland. His pen has been not only busy and fruitful, but far- reaehins in its influence. / His "Night of Weeping; or Words for the Suffering Family of God," reached its forty-fifth thousand already in 1853. A sequel, "The Morning of Joy," was issued in 1850. His precious work called "The Blood of Christ," has also gained a world-wide reputation. His hymns and poems issued in 1857, entitled "Hymns of Faith and Hope," reached an eighth edition in 1862, and were followed by a second series in 1861, and a third in 1866. A second series was published in 1861. His earnest life has been in keeping with tlie lieart- wish so well expressed in his lines entitled, "Use Me:" — "Make use of me mj- Godl Let me not be forgot; A broken vessel cast aside, One whom thou needest not. *' I am thy creature Lord ; And made by hands divine; And I am part, however mean, Of this great world of thine. "Thou usest all thy works. The weakest things that be; Each has a service of its own For all things wait on thee. "Thou usest the high stars, The tiny drops of dew, The giant peak and little hill; — My God, Oh use me too. " c 72 Bonars hymn. f 4 "I was a Wandering Sheep." tURING a revival in a female seminary in Massa- cliusetts, many of the pupils had shown the natural " enmity" of the "carnal mind'" to spiritual things, Helen B was among those who noticed the Spirit's work only by a curling lip and a scornful laugh. It seemed in vain to talk with her, or seek to induce her to attend a prayer' meeting. Christians could do nothing more than to pray for her. One evening, however, as a praying band had gather- ed, the door opened, and Helen B entered. Her eyes were downcast, and her llice was calm and very pale. There was something in her look which told of an inward struggle. She took her seat silently, and the exercises of the meeting proceeded. A few lines were sung, two or three prayers offered, and then as was their custom, each repeated a few verses of some favorite hymn. One follow- ed another in succession, until it came to the turn of the new-comer. There w^as a pause, and a perfect silence, and then, without lifting her eyes from the floor, she commenced, "I Teas a Tvandering sheep, I did not love the fold. " Her voice was low, but distinct, and every w^ord, as she uttered it, thrilled the hearts of the listeners. She re- peated one stanza after another of that beautiful hymn of Bonar, and not an eye save her owm was dry, as, with sweet emphasis, she pronounced the last lines ; "No more a wayward child, 1 seek no more to roan? ; I love my heavenly' Father's voice — I love, I love his home." That single hymn told all. The wandering sheep, the proud and w^ayward child had returned. Bonar^s hymn — / lay my sins on Jcsiis. 73 Comfort Sung to a Weary Teacher. fN infant school teacher thus describes her experience : "I was not very well, and all my nerves seemed to be in a quiver. It was washing-day, with extra cares and labors. There was company in the house which must be entertained. There was fruit to be attended to — a duty that cannot be put off a single day. In fact there seemed to be everything to do, and the most of it must be done by my own tired hands. My head ached, too. '* I went into the garden for a breath of fresh air, and behold, the long rains had brought out the weeds in un- precedented luxuriance. It would never do to leave those weeds. I went to work with a will — with more will than strength, indeed — and worked till I was utterly exhausted. Then I went into the house to resume my labors there, but I was weary and worn, and the com- ])laining thought uppermost in my mind was, 'Must it be so always? Can I never, anywhere, find rest?' " As if in answer to my question, a little voice, clear and sweet, came from under the clustering vines in the next yard. It was the voice of one of my own little scholars, and she was singing to herself, one line of a favorite song she had learned in ray class : — • I lay my head on Jesus — I lay my head on Jesus. ' She repeated it over and over again. But it was enough. " When they were learning that song, I had told them they should go to Jesus whenever they were tired or sick or sorry, and they should lean their heads on him, and there they would find rest and peace. " It all came back to me. I tried then and there, weary and depressed j\s I was, to "lean my head on Jesus. " I seemed to feel on my hot forehead the touch of his own hand in benediction, and the promised rest entered into my spirit." 74 Origin of 3Irs. P. II. Brown's hymn. ^ liONG a mountain stream, '^ skirted with trees and alders, ^■ near the village of Ellington, Connecticut. there was a well trodden foot path, that led from a cottage to a place of praj-er. At the close of the day, a mother was wont to leave the cares of her family, and, in the quiet of this secluded spot, to hold sweet communion with God. One summer evening she was criticised by a neighbor for the seeming neglect of her family, and for this habit of stealing thus "a while away." When she returned home her heart was much pained at what had been said. So she at once took her pen and wrote an answer to the criticism. She headed it, "An apology for my twilight rambles addressed to a Lady." This mother was Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown. In 1824 she gave Dr. Nettleton permission to issue it in his "Village Hymns." The first verses of the orig- inal hymn commenced thus : — "Yes, when the toilsome day is gone, And night with banners gray Steals silently the glade along, In twilight's soft arrav — c= "I love to steal awhile away From little ones and care, And spend the hours of setting day In gratitude and prayer. " w PHCKBE H. BROWN. 3Irs. Broicn's hymn continued. 11 One of the "little ones" for whom she was thus accus- tomed to pray is now the Rev Samuel R. Brown. D. D. who has been a most efficient missionary in Japan since 1859. What an example to praying mothers, and what an apt illustration of God's promises showing that those who resort to " the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" — that when we pray to him in secret he shall reward us openly. When it is known how true the language of this hymn was, as the heart utterance of its author , and how trutli- fully it expresses the inward emotion of every prayerful soul, it is no wonder that it finds a place in nearly all tlie standard hymn-books of Christendom. As long as Christians are like their Master, of whom it is said; '^ Rising up a great while before day he went out, and departed into a solitary place and prayed," they will also love to sing : — ^ " I love to steal awhile away V From every cumbering care, And spend the hours of setting dry In humble, grateful prayer. " I love in solitude to shed The penitential tear, And all his promises to plead, Wliere none but God can hear. *' I love to think on mercies past, And future good implore, And all my cares and sorrows cast On Him whom I adore. " I love by faith to take a view Of brighter scenes in heaven ; The prospect doth my strength renc^V, While here by tempest driven. "Thus when life's toilsome day is o'er, May its departing ray Be calm as this impressive hour And lead to endless day " =8^ r 78 Phcebe H. Broicm. The tune called "Monson" was composed for this liymn by her son, the Rev. Dr. Brown, who is "a lover of song and an admirable singer." William B. Brad- bury also wrote a tune expressly for this hymn, and named it "Brown," as a compliment to its gifted author- ess." One of the omitted verses of her hymn reads; — " I love to meditate on death, When will its summons come, With gentle power to steal my breath. And waft an exile home ? " We are indebted to Rev. Charles Hammond for the following particulars. He is in possession of her auto- biography, a manuscript volume of four hundred and twelve pages quarto, and a volume of her poems, nearly as large, besides many unpublished papers of equal value. ]\Irs. Brown was the wife of Timothy H. Brown of Monson, Mass. She was born at Canaan, N. Y., May 1st, 1783. Her father, George Hinsdale, having died suddenly of small-pox when she was but ten months old, she was placed in the care of her grandmother. In her autobiography written in her old age, Mrs Brown pavs a tribute to the deathless impressions of her grandmother's instructions, in which she says, "the bright and sunny period of my first nine years has never been forgotten, nor can be undervalued while memory and reason retain their empire. " Being placed in other hands from the age of nine until eighteen her life was one of bondage, hardly less severe and hopeless than that of slavery itself. She lived in poverty, never went to school a day, and for years did not get to church, and was com- pelled through all the plastic period of youth to spend her time in unrequited toil, and in the most menial service. At the age of eighteen she "left the abode of her sorrows and managed to go to school, where, with little children, she learned to write for the first time, and to r Origin of " 0 Lord! thy icorh revive J' 79 sew, and some of the primary studies in a common-school education. Returning to Canaan, the residence of her childhood, she Avas most kindly cared for by the Whiting family, and with them shared in the results of a revival, which, near the beginning of the century, visited that region. No sooner had she learned to write with the pen mechan- ically, than she began to write as the composer of verses, and essays in prose. Her pen was never hiid aside until extreme age and disease prevented its further use. J Next to her "twilight hymn" in popularity yras the one of which she left the following record : "Prayer for a Revival." This hymn was written from the impulse ofa full heart, incidentally shown to a friend, that friend begged a copy for his own private use, but it soon found its way to the public in "The Spiritual Songs." The hymn is familiar to all commencing : — " 0 Lord ! thy work revive In Zion's gloomy hour, And let our dying graces live By thy restoring power." We need not wonder that to nfull heart, overflowing in such earnest cries, a speedy answer should be witnessed. For this verily followed the same year in the neigh- borhood from which her earnest petition ascended to the skies. The children growing uj) under the influence of so many prayers, did not disappoint a mother's wishes for positions of usefulness. The eldest daughter, Julia, was married to the Rev. Daniel Lord; the second to the Rev. Joseph Winn; the remaining daughter, Hannah, first to Mr. Lord of Connecticut, and after his death to Deacon Elijah Smith, now of Illinois, All her children are numbered with the departed, except the son in Japan. Not only at the close, but also at the dawn of dav did ^•i 80 Mrs. Brown continued. slie love to "steal a while away." Even when bending under the weight of old age, she wrote to a friend, saying, " I have risen before the light, that I may have a quiet hour for communion with my God and Saviour." In 1819, she wrote the following Morning Hymn for a sun- rise prayer meeting, held in Monson, during a season of revival : — " How sweet the melting lay, Which breaks upon the ear, When at the hour of rising day, Christians unite in prayer. " The breezes waft their cries Up to Jehovah's throne, He listens to their heaving sighs And sends his blessings down. " So Jesus rose to praj' Before the morning liglit, Once on the chilling mount did stay To wrestle all the night. "Glory to God on high, Who sends his Spirit down To rescue souls condemned to die, And make his people one." By special request, she added a Mid-day Hymn, for the Fulton street prayer meeting, where it is often sung. It commences, *' Jesus this mid-day hour We consecrate to Thee; Forgetful of each earthly care. We would Thy glory see. " Some writers mention Monson, as the place where she wrote her twilight hymn. This is a mistake. On the original manuscript, in the hands of Mr. Hammond, she says; "Written at Ellington, Connecticut, in reply to a censure for Twilight Rambles, August 1818." Near the close of her pilgrimage, she penned these lines: "As to my history, it is soon told; a sinner saved by grace and sanctified by trials." 3Irs. Broicri's hymn illustrated. 81 Stealing Away to Jesus. % brief circular, announcing the preaching of my II- ■^ histrated Sermons, attracted the attention of little ^ Alinnie whose parents would not permit her to go to any church or Sunday school, as they did not believe in Christ. Through her pleadings permission was given her to attend our services in the " Union Tabernacle" at Broad St. and Girard Ave., Philadelphia. ^Minnie made herself a little book in which to put down every wrong word and action during the day. Said she to her mother, " It seems as if my little page gets so full every day, that it makes me feel very bad. I am so naugh- ty. It seems every thing I do, is sinful." Our meetings continued six weeks. Daily would INIin- nie come, long before the time of service, and putting her hand in mine would look up so imploringly, asking the way to Jesus. We gave her a little hymn book, which, with her lit- tle Bible, she kept in a little garret store-room, where she Avould go after service, saying, that she wished to be left alone. Her mother supposed it was in order to play, or read some favorite book, and never interrupted her; but after her death, her Bible and hymn-book were found lying there, having been evidently much read. Thus it became evident that this little disciple had been stealing away to this garret, to enjoy quiet and sweet communion with her Saviour. Two verses in Isaiah, she had emjjhasized, and then re- ferred to them especially on the flyleifofher Bible as expressive of her experience, " Behold, God is my Salva- tion : I will trust and not be afraid ; for the Lord Jeho- vah is my STRENGTH and soxg ; he also is become my salvation ; Therefore with joy shall ye draw Avater out of the wells of salvation. " 82 Prayer ''in the solitude so drear,'' rewarded. A Mother Recognized by a Hymn, AE, was raging in Canada in 1754 between the French and English. The Indians took part with the French and came as tar as Pennsylvania, where they bnrned the houses, and murder- ed the people. , , ■, i In 1 7 55 they reached the dwel- lino- of a poor Christian family. The father and son were in- stantly killed. A little daughter, Rogina, was taken, with many other children, into captivity. +l-,nrnv They were led many miles through woods and thoiny bushes, that nobody could follow them Reg na and a little girl two yeai-s old were given to an old IiKlian widow. The poor children were ^i; ^^ to go into the forest to gather roots and other prov ons or the old woman; and when they would not bung er enough, she would beat them in so cruel a manner that they were nearly killed. , -o- Regina continually repeated ^^e vei^s from t^^^^^^^^ ble, a? well as the hymns which she had ^Jf ^^^^^^^ ^^^v and taught them to the little girl Ami often wo d key retire to a tree and kneel down, when Regma would pia) , and teach her little companion the way to Jesus. Often they cheered each other by the hymn, " Alone, yet not alone am I, ^^ Though in the solitude so drear. In this sad State they remained ""^VrS^tT'com^ Regina reached the age of nineteen, and her little com- panion eleven years. r Incident of Mrs. Jolin Hartman and daughter. 83 In 1^64 the providence of God brought the English Colonel Boquetto the place where they were in captivity. He conquered the Indians and forced them to ask for peace. The first condition he made was that they should restore all the prisoners they had taken. Thus the tM^o girls were released. More than four hun- dred captives were brought to Col. Boquet. It was an aifecting sight. The soldiers gave them food and clothing, took them to Carlisle, and published in the newspapers that all jiarents who had lost their children might come and get them. Regina's mother came; but, alas ! her child had be- come a stranger to her. Regina had acquired the appear- ance and manners of the natives, and by no means could the mother discover her daughter. Seeing her Meep in bitter disappointment, the colonel asked her if she could recollect nothing by which her poor girl miirht be known, bhe at length thought of, and began to sing, the hymn, " Alone, yet not alone am I, Though in this wilderness so drear ; I feel my Saviour always nigh, He comes the weary hours to cheer, I am with him, and he with me ; Even here alone I cannot be. " _ Scarcely had the mother sunor two lines of it when Ee- gma rushed from the crowd, began to sing it also, and threw herself into her mother's arms. They both M'ept for joy; and Avith her young companion, Avhose friends had not sought her, she went to her mother's house. Happi- ly for herself, though Regina had not seen a book for nine years, she at once remembered how to read the iiible. This narrative was recorded by Pastor Rone of Elsi- nore. 84 Phcebe Cary and her hymns. •^^ Author of * One sweetly solemn thought. " (t) HIS hymn, so precious to those whose affection is set ^ on things above, was penned by Miss Phoebe Cary. She M'as born in the Miami Valley, Ohio, September 4, 1824. Early in life she and her sister Alice became so busy with their poetic pens, that by the year 1849 they had a volume ready for the press of which Phoebe made the following record: "Alice audi have been col- lecting and revising all our published poems to send to New York for publication. We are to receive for them one hundred dollars. " After the issue of this volume they were tempted to visit their unknown friends in the East, who had written kind words of approbation. Mr Whittier commemorates their visit by a poem pub- lished after the death of Alice, which commences thus : — " Years since ( but names to me before, ) Two sisters souglit at eve my door ; Two song-birds wandering from their nest A gray old farm house in the West." Speaking of the welcome he gave, he says : — " What could I other than I did? Could I a singing bird forbid? Deny the wind-stirred leaf? Rebuke The music of the forest brook?" The wind that stirred their forest nest was some unpro- pitious gales that made home uncomfortable after the death of a mother, and unsuited to that intellectual ad- vancement they so much coveted. So with much courage and but little money, the sisters bade adieu to the home of their childhood, and sought to make to themselves one in the city of New York. Having rented two or three rooms in an unfashionable neighborhood they began to do with their might, whatsoever their hands could do with the pen, to make a living. Success attended their efforts till they were enabled to purchase a home on CJ>^77^ c: Phoebe Cavifs hymn continued. 87 Twentieth street, from which they ascended in after years to their home above. The two sisters were united by the warmest affection. Phoebe said, " It seems to me that a cord stretches from Alice's heait to mine." AVhen this cord was severed by the rude hand of death it left a bleeding wound which time could not heal. A shadow seemed to linger upon the hearthstone after the loved form of Alice was removed to the Greenwood cemetery that became the shadow of death to the surviving sister. How keenly she felt the departure of Alice can be judged from the last sweet hymn she penned, in which she says; — " 0 mine eyes be not so tearful ; Drooping spirit, rise, be clieerful ; Heavy soul why art tliou fearful? "Nature's sepulchre is breaking, And the earth, her gloom ibrsaking, Into life and light is waking! "0 the weakness and the madness Of the heart that holdeth sadness When all else is light and gladness! " Though thy treasure death hath taken, They that sleep are not forsaken, They shall hear the trump and waken. " Shall not he who life supplieth To the dead seed where it lieth Quicken also man who dieth ? "Yea the power of death was ended Wht-n He who to hell descended. Rose, and up to heaven ascended. " Rise, my soul, then, from dejection, See in nature the reflection Of the dear Lord 's resurrection. '' Let his promise leave thee never: 'If the night of death T sever Ye shall also live forever.' " During the heat of the summer of 1871 she went to Newport hoping to revive her sinking frame but suddenly 88 Phoebe Cary continued. and unexpectedly the summons came that called her to that home of which slie wrote in her popular hymn : — " One sweetly solemn thought Comes to me o'er and o'er, I am nearer home to day Than 1 have been before." In the last year of her life she was much cheered by the incident, given on the opposite page. Writing to an aged friend, she says: "I enclose the hymn, and the story for you, not because 1 am vain of the notice, but because I thought you would feel a peculiar interest in them, when you know the hymn was written eighteen years ago, (1852,) in your house. I composed it in the little back third story bed-room, one Sunday morning, after coming from church ; and it makes me happy to think that any word I could say, has clone a little good in the world." After her death, Mr. Conwell received a letter from the old man referred to, of whom he says, that he "has become a hard worldng Christian, \vliile 'Harry' has renounced gambling and all attendant vices, and thus the hymn has saved from ruin, at least two^ who seldom or never entered a house of worship. " The thought of the following verse was exemplified in her death. Mary C. Ames, her biographer, says, "With- out an instant's warning, her death throe came. She knew it. Throwing u|) her arms in instinctive fright, this loving, believing, but timid soul, who had never stood alone in all her mortal life, as she felt herself diifting out into the unknown, the eternal, starting on the awful passage, from whence there is no return, cried, in a low, piercing voice: 'O God, have mercy on my soull' and died.'^ " 0, if ray mortal feet Have almost gained the brink ; If it be I am nearer home Even to-day than I think,'' etc. w Phoebe Cary^s hymn. 89 C Gamblers Reclaimed by a Hymn. CHOES of hymns reverberate a long while. Col. Russel H. Conwell while on a visit to China, was an eye-witness to the following scene : — "Two Americans, one a young man, the other over for- ty, were drinking and playing at cards in a gambling house in China. While the older one was shuffling the cards, the younger began to hum, and finally sung in a low tone, but quite unconsciously, the hymn : — " ' One sweetly solemn thought Comes to me o'er and o'er, I am nearer home to-day Thau I have been before. ' w^ The older one threw down the cards on the floor and said; " ' Harry, where did you learn that tune ? ' "'What tune?' " ' Why, that one you have been singing. ' " The young man said he did not know what he had been singing. But when the older one repeated some of the lines, he said they were learned in the Sunday School. " ' Come, Harry, ' said the older one, ' come, here's what I've Avon from you. As for me, as God sees me, I have played my last game, and drank my last bottle. I have misled you, Harry, and I am soi-ry for it. Give me your hand, my boy, and say that, for old America's sake, if no other, you will quit the infernal business. ' " Mr. Conwell says that both of the gamblers were per- manently reclaimed by the influence of this hymn. 1/ 90 John Ccnnleh. C '■ Jesus, my all to Heaven is gone. " fHIS sweet hymn is said to have been a description of the author's experience. It was written by John Cennick, wlio was born at Keading in 1717. " As a youtli he delighted in attending dances, play- ing at cards, and going to the tlieatre." In 1735, while jjacing the streets ot* London, he suddenly felt great con- victions of sin. At first he yielded to despair, was " weary of life, and often prayed for death." He fled to and fro, seeking rest in infidelity and open sin. At length he tried to rid himself of sin by penance. Says he, "I even ate acorns, leaves of trees, crabs, and grass. " For three long years ho groaned under the bur- dens of a guilty conscience. This thought he ex^iresses in the verses : — " This is the way I long have sought, And mourned because 1 found it not ; My grief a burden long has been, Because I Avas not saved from sin. Tlie more I strove against its power, I felt its weight and guilt the more ; Till late I heard my Saviour say, Come hither, soul, I am the way. " While reading Whitfield's journal light dawned upon liis soul. In 1739 he commenced work for Christ, in teaching and preaching among the colliers at Kingswood. Eventually he w-ent along with AVesley and Whitfield in their preaching tours. In 1745 he cast his lot with the Moravians. In 1755 he w'as taken ill of fever and died in London. He is the author of the well known hymn, " Children of the Heavenly King." Cenniclc's hymn illustrated. 91 "Now, I will tell to sinners 'round What a dear Saviour 1 have found. " fEING much exhausted during the delivery of a course of " Illustrated Sermons " at Cleveland, Ohio, we proposed to meet any in a social gathering, on Sat- urday evening in the parlor of a friend. After spending the evening in general conversation, the group of young friends were about bidding each other " good nio-ht, " when a little orphan, about ten years of age, of her own accord, arose at the sofa and said: ''Mr. Long, before we separate; I would like to say something. " Breathless silence following, she added : " I have been seeking Jesus all day at home in my closet, and I have found Him, and I want my playmates to seek and find Him too. Let us pray. " As we sank in that parlor, many tears at- tested the effect of that little pleading voice that was leading us at a throne of grace, and of the interest awak- ened by the unexpected testimony of one so young, whose heart was so full that she could not go home without tel- ling "'round what a dear Saviour" she "had found. " The next week she met a little ragged boy on the street, and was overheard saying to him, as she caught him by the hand, "i^ re you interested in Jesus?" "I guess I would be if I had anybody to tell me about Him. But I've got no mother." "Neither have I," said the little Mary, "but come to Jesus and he Avill take care of you." At the close of an "Illustrated Sermon" in the Luth- eran church at Ashland, Pa., on going down the aisle, I saw a little girl getting up on the bench, that she might speak to me. As I drew near she wished me to bend over my head, that she might whisper a precious secret. As I did so, she said softly : " I've found Jesus. " It came so joyously and sweetly from her lips that it left an echo that shall never cease from my memory. W 92 William Cowper. Cowper and his Hymns. fILLIAM COWPER is a name that will linger upon the page of hymnology, as long as there are sinners upon the earth to sing of the "fountain filled with blood." He was the son of the rector of Berk- hampstead England, the Rev. John Cowper. The poet was born November 15, 1731. One of the greatest misfor- tunes that ever befell hira was the loss of an aifectionate mother, when he was but six years of age. His father seemed ill adapted for the training of a child whose "shyness, nervousness and sensitiveness were greatly aggravated by feeble health, and weak eyes. We may infer his injudieiousness from the fact that M'hen his boy was eleven, he made him read a treatise on suicide and give him his opinion upon it. " At 18 he began the study of law for which he did not seem to be naturally inclined, as he says he was "con- stantly employed from morning to night, in giggling and making giggle." A cousin having procured for him the "Clerkship of the Journals," he was notified to stand an examination at the bar of the House of Lords. The time ap})ointed was to him such an approaching "'day of terror" that its prospect weighed so heavily upon his frail tenement that at length it unsettled his reason. The dark November night preceding he made several attempts to commit suicide, first by taking poison. Twenty times he put the black phial to his mouth. His courage failing him he next tried to drown himself, then with a knife tried to stab himself, and at last with a cord tried to hang himself at the top of his door. But the cord breaking and other means failing the half-dead man now began to turn his eyes away from the bar of the House of Lords, to the bar of the King of Kings. At length his brother found him in his terrible agony, c William Cowper. William Cowper continued. 95 his knees smiting together, and his quivering lips uttering tlie piercing cry, "Oh, brother, I am damned! Think of eternity, and then think what it must be to be damned." While in this condition he penned those piteous lines : — " Man disavows and Deity disowns me Hell might afford my miseries a shelter; Therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all Bolted against me. " It is sad to think how one, who has since poured into so many broken hearts the balm of Gilead, should have had his own wrung with what he called "unutterable anguish," and yet this bitter experience may have taught him afterwards to say with more emphasis of that fountain the " thief rejoiced to see," " And there have I, as vile as he, Washed all my sins away. " The Rev. Martin Madan, a cousin whom he had hitherto avoided came to him in this time of need, and told him of Jesus. As they were seated on the bedside Cowper burst into a flood of tears, as a ray of hope flit across the dark horizon, but shortly afterwards actual brain disease came on that resulted in insanity, and poor Cowper was taken to St Alban's. Here it was that in less than two years he was restored mentally and saved spiritiially, and in a double sense was found "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind." In after years how exquisitely he described this experience in poetic form: — " I was a stricken deer that left the herd Long since : with many an arrow deep infixed My panting side was charged, when I withdrew To seek a tranquil death in distant shades. There was I found by One who had Himself Been hurt by archers. In his side He bore And in his hands and feet the cruel scars. * With gentle force soliciting the darts, He drew them forth, and healed and bade me live." c 98 William Cowper. Cowper's Conversion and Hymns relating Thereto. fOWPEE-'S hymns M'ere types of liis varied experi- ences. This Avas especially true of those referring to his new birth. July, 1764, after being an inmate of the Insane Asyl- um at St. Albans for six months, he seated himself near the window, and seeing a Bible, took it up, and as he 0])ened it, his eyes lit on Romans III. 25. The scales fell at once from his eyes. Says he, — " Immediately I received strength to believe, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon rae. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in his blood, and all the full- ness and completeness of his justification. In a moment I believed and received the Gospel." These words he had doubtless said before, but only now he could say, "I saw;" thus illustrating the sen- timents of his exquisitely beautiful hymn beginning, — "The Spirit breathes upon the word, And brings the truth to sight." To this he refers, as he continues : — " Whatever my friend ]\Iadan had said to me so long before revived in all its clearness 'with demonstration of the Spirit and with power.' Unless the Almighty arm had been under me, I think I should have died of gratitude and joy. My eyes filled with tears and my voice choked with transport ,* I could only look up to heaven in silence, overwhelmed with love and wonder. After this blissful experience, he composed his first hymn, which he entitled, "The happy change^ " — "How blest thy creature is, 0 God, When, with a single eye. He views the lustre of thy word, The day-spring from on high ! " Cowper^s liymns continued. 97 " But the work of the Holy Spirit is best described in his own words ; it was 'joy unspeakable and full of glory. ' Thus was my heavenly Father in Christ Je- sus pleased to give me the full assurance of faith, and out of a stony, unbelieving heart to raise up a child unto Abraham. How glad I should have been to have spent every moment in prayer and thanksgiving ! I lost no op])ortunity of repairing to a throne of grace, but flew to it with an eagerness irresistible and never to be sat- isfied. Could I help it? Could I do otherwise than to love and rejoice in my reconciled Father in Jesus Christ? The Lord had enlarged my heart, and I ran in the ways of His commandments. " This last thought he beautifully expressed in this — " My soul rejoices to pursue The steps of him 1 love, Till glory breaks upon my view In brighter worlds above. " " I should have been glad to have spent every mo- ment in i^rayer and thanksgiving! For many succeed- ing weeks tears were ready to flow if I did but speak of the Gospel, or mention the name of Jesus. To re- joice day and night was my employment. O, that the ardor of my first love had coEtinued!" This thought he embodies in the well-known hymn, — " Oh, for a closer walk with God. " In which he says in the second and third stanza, — "Where is the blessedness I knew "When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his word? "What peacrful hours I then enjoyed ! How sweet their memory still ! But now I find an aching void The world ean never fill. " w 7?, -XJ 08 Cowper's hymns continued. Origin of Cowper's Second Hymn. ■^ ^ June 1765, Cowper, being restored to liealtli, left ^ the asylum at St. Alban's. Of his tour to Hunting- don, he says, " It is impossible to tell with how de- lightful a sense of Ills protection and fatherly care of me, it pleased the Almighty to favor me during the whole of my journey." Feeling his loneliness in his new home, and his heart at the same time yearning for communion with his newly found Saviour, he, at eventide, wandered forth in the fields, where he found a closet among the green shrubbery and bushes. While in this "calm retreat," and "silent shade," the gate of heaven seemed opened to his view, and the Lord gave him a glorious manifestation of his presence. The next day being the Sabbath his feet turned to the sanctuary. This was the first time he met with God's peo])le in their Sabbath home, since his conversion. The story of the Prodigal Son was the lesson of the day. Cowper's heart was so full that he found it difficult to restrain his emotions. Of one, devoutly engaged in worship in the same pew, he says: "While he was sing- ing the Psalms I looked fit him; and observing him intent upon his holy employment, I could not help saying in my heart, with much emotion, 'The Lord bless you for praising Him, whom my soul lovetli ! ' " After the church services Avcre over, he hastened at once to the secluded spot that had become so hallowed with the associations of the day before. "How," he exclaims, "shall I express M'hat the Lord did for me, except by saying that he made all his goodness to pass befcre me? I seemed to speak to him face to face, as a man conversetii with his friend, except that my speecii was only in tears of joy, and groan ings which cannot be c Comperes second hymn. 99 uttered. I could say indeed with Jacob, not how dread- ful, but how lovely is this place! — tliis is none other than the house of God." Tliis foretaste of heaven, in the "secret place of the Most High" gave rise to Cowper's second hymn, that has become incorporated in all the standard hymn books of Christendom. How precious and memorable the stanzas of the fol- lowing hymn when we thus take into account the sur- rounding circumstances that gave them birth: — "Far from the world 0 Lord, I flee, From strife and tumult far; From scenes where Satan wages still His most successful war. "The calm retreat, the silent shade, With prayer and praise agree ; And seem, by thy sweet bounty made For those who follow thee. "There, if thy Spirit touch the soul, And grace her mean abode. Oh with what peace, and joy, and love, She communes with, her God! "There like the nightingale, she pours Her solitary lays. Nor ask a witness of her song, Nor thirst3 for human praise." Speaking of Cowper at this period, Montgomery says : — "The first fruits of his muse, after he had been bap- tized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, will ever be pre- cious (independent of their other merits) as the transcript of his happiest feelings, the memorials of his walk with God, and his daily experience amidst conflicts and dis- couragements of the consoling power of that religion in which he had found peace, and often enjoyed peace to a degree that passed nnderstanding." Cowper was a man of prayer, and Xewton said of him, "No one walked with God more closely." C zzzzm 100 William Cowper. Cowper's Olney Hymns- fOWPER had gone to Ifuntingdon to be near his brother, who was then studying at Cambridge. Here he made the acquaintance of the Unwins, who kindly received him as a member of their family, and became his warmest friends for life. • After the death of Mr. Unwin in 1767, Kev. John jSTewton invited Cowper and JSIrs. Unwin to move to Olney and secured a residence for them near his own dwelling. The twelve succeeding years became the happiest period of Cowper's life. Newton's estimate of Cowper's worth lie in after years expressed in this strong language: — ''In humility, simplicity, and devotedness to God, in the clearness of his views of evangelical truth, the strength and the comforts he obtained from them, and the uniform and beautiful example by which he adorned them, I thought he had but few equals. He was eminently a blessing, both to me and to my people, by his advice, his conduct, and his prayers. The I^ord who had brought us together, so knit our h^iarts and affections, that for nearly twelve years we were seldom separated for twelve hours at a time, when we Avere awake and at home. The first six I passed in daily admiring and trying to imitate liini; during the second six I walked pensively with him in the valley of the shadow of death." Newton had a thousand parishioners. In the culti- vation of this extensive field of usefulness, he em- jiloyed every available instrumentality. He says: "We had meetings two or three times in a week for prayer. These Cowper constantly attended with me. For a time his natural constitutional unwillingness to be noticed in public kept him in silence. But it was not very long before the ardency of his love to his Saviour, and his c Cowper's Olney hymns. 101 desire of being useful to others, broke through every restraint. He frequently felt a difficulty and trepidation in the attempt; but, when he had once begun, all difficulty vanished, and he seemed to speak, though with self- abasement and humiliation of spirit, yet with that free- dom and fervency as if he saw the Lord, whom he ad- dressed, face to face." Newton felt the need of hymns specially adapted to these prayer-meetings and the heart experiences of the common people, and so in 1770 he induced Cowper to undertake their preparation. Six years later, by their united efforts, these hymns formed a volume, and were sent forth to the world under the title of the "Olney Hymn Book." Among the first was the following one, so often re- peated since, in similar circles of prayer. When we remember that at this time such prayer-meet- ings in private houses, not specially dedicated to God was something new, and quite an innovation on old customs, we see great force and beauty, in the wording of this hymn : — "Jesus, where'er thy people meet, There thej' behold thy mercy-seat; Where'er they seek tliee, thou art found, And every place is hallowed ground. "For thou, within no walls confined, Inhabitest the humble' mind; Such ever bring thee where they come, » And going take thee to their home. "Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few, ^ Thy former niercies here renew: Here to our waiting hearts proclaim The sweetness of thy saving name. " Here may we prove the power of prayer To strengthen faith, and sweeten care, To teach our faint desires to rise, And bring all heaven before our eyes." 102 William Cow per Birth place of " There is a fountain filled with blood." fS it is interesting to trace tlie origin of our great rivers, that carry with them so many and such varied blessings in their meandering course, so the child of God finds it a pleasing and profitable exercise to go back in the streams of hymn-history to their humble starting point. As Christianity was cradled in a manger, so "Rock of Ages," one of its most famous hymns is tracea- ble to the conversion of its author amid the enclosure of an Irish barn. What a mighty stream of influence has swept through the world through the channel opened up by the singing of "Jesus, lover of my soul," yet it was born in a lowly spring-house, to which Wesley had fled for shelter from the infuriated mob. It was thus by the side of a little bubbling spring, he taught the world to sing of Christ, " Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of thee." In the secluded shelter of some over-hanging trees and rocks that shaded a little brook, Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown was accustomed to resort in the summer of 1818, and co- mingle her voice in prayer and praise, with the soft mur- murs of the silver streamlet. That quiet nook gave birth to a hymn that has since been repeated the world over by the hosts of God's Israel, who with her can say, " I love to steal a while away. " The childrens' hymn, known and loved as far as the English language extends, " I think when I read that sweet story of old, " first echoed forth from an humble stage-coach in England, where it was written by a young lady in 1841. On the opposite page will be seen the little group in the Olney prayer-meeting, for which Cowper wrote his C g)/ Olney 'prayer-meeting. 105 immortal hymn, that has encircled the world with its hallowed influences. The Great House is especially designated as the place where the Olney prayer-circle was accustomed to gather for addresses, singing, and prayer. Little did Cowper imagine, when he first heard Newton announce, and this small praying band unite in singing, that "There is a fountain filled with blooJ," that there was starting a song that would afterwards be caught up by unnumbered millions, and that a century later, while his poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave, would still be repeated from the rising to the setting of the sun — and continue to echo round the globe " Till all the ransomed church of God Be saved, to sin no more. " We give the last of the seven verses of this precious hymn, as they are generally omitted : — " Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, Unworthy though I be. For me a blood-bought free reward, A golden harp for me. "'T is strung, and tuned for endless years, And formed by power divine. To sound in God the Father's ears No other name but Thine." These were days of sunshine in Cowper's spiritual firmament. Newton tells us how their voices came to blend, while singing of "the Lamb once slain." "I heard him and admired, for he could bring From his soft harp such strains as angels sing: Could tell of free salvation, grace, and love, Till angels listened from their home above ; I woke my lyre to join his rapturous strain. We sang together ot the lamb once slain. " w 108 Comperes grave. A Visit to Cowper's Grave. " I went alone. 'Twas summer time ; And, standing there bciore tlie shrine Of that illustrious bard, I read his own lamiliar name, And thought of his extensive fame, And felt devotion's sacred flame, Which we do well to guard. '"Far from the world, 0 Lord, I flee.' How sweet the words appeared to me, Like voices in a dream ! 'The calm retreat, the silent shade,' Describe the spot where he was laid, And where surviving friendships paid Their tribute of esteem. " ' There is a fountain.' As I stood I thought I gaw the crimson ' flood,' And some ' beneath ' the wave ; I thought the stream still rolled along, And that I saw the 'ransomed' throng, And that I heard the ' nobler song' Of Jesus' 'power to save.' "'When darkness long has veiled my mind,' And from these words 1 felt inclined In sym[)athy, to weep; But ' smiling day ' has dawned at last, And all his sorrows now are past; No temi)ter now, no midnight blast, To spoil the poet's sleep. " ' 0 for a closer '' — even so, For we who journey here below Have lived too far from God. Oh, for that holy life I said, Which Enoch, Noah, Cowper, led! Oh, for that 'purer light' to shed Its brightness on ' the road 1' " ' God moves in a mj'sterious way ; ' But now the poet seemed to say, ' No mysteries remain. On earth I was a sufferer. In heaven I am a conquerer; God is his own inierpreter, ■ And he has made it plain.' " r Singing of Cowper^s hymn. 109 The Hymn on which a Heart "Rose to God." IIILE Mr. Ralph Wells was hurrying to meet the cars, a Sunday school teacher hailed him, saying : I have just come from the hospital, where I found on one of the beds, one of my scholars, a lad who sent for me. I found that he had met with a terrible accident, that had nearly severed both his limbs from his body. " O teacher !" he said, " I have sent for you. I am glad you have come before I die. I have something to ask of you. I want you to tell me a little more about Jesus." " Well, my dear boy, have you a hope iii Him ?" " Yes, teacher, thank God, I have had it for six months." " Why, you never said anything to me about it." "No, I did not, teacher, but I have had it, and I find it sustains me in this hour. I have only a few; minutes to live, and I would like you to sing for me." "What shall I sing?" "O sing: — " There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immaniiel's veins, And sinners planged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.' " The teacher began to sing. The dying lad joining in the song with a sweet smile on his countenance. "It was that hymn," said he, "among other things, on M-hich my heart rose to Christ." He then put his arms up and said, "Teacher, bend your head." He bent it down. The dying boy kissed him. "That is all I have to give you," said he. "Good bye," and he was gone. 110 Cowpe7''s hymn continued. 'There is a fountain filled with blood" Illustrated. ^^^ONTGOMERY thought the figure of a "fountain "^p filled" was faulty and ought to be represented aa '' springing up;" but the Christian world has not seen fit to adopt the substitute he proposed, which reads thus : — "From Calvary's cross a fountain flows Of water and of blood, More healing than Bethesda's pool, Or famed Siloa's flood. " A traveller, goihg over a mountainous region, through an accident, fell into a deep chasm, from which there seemed to be no way of escape. The sides were so steep that he could not climb up, and being so far away from the reach of human ears, he felt as if his cries were also in vain. While overwhelmed with the thought of im- pending rjiin, he heard the murmur of a stream, that was stealing its way under the overhanging rocks. It seemed to be his only way of escape. As it was a matter of life and death, it did not take him long to decide to venture upon the stream of life. So he " plunged beneath that flood," and by its waters was carried out of "the horrible pit," into a place of safety. His life was thus saved ; his fears were gone, and in the clear sunlight of free- dom, he went on his way rejoicing. *' Lose all their guilty stains." A little girl expressed this thought very forcibly. She' was asked: "Are you a sinner?" to which she promptly replied, "No, sir!" "Have you never done anything wrong ? " " Oh, yes," she replied ; " a great many times." "How then can you say you are not a sinner?" "It is tooken away" said she, "I have trusted in Christ." Cowper's hymn continued. Ill Illustrated by a Death Scene. tT was our privilege to preach in the Tenth Baptist Church, Philadelphia, during a season of revival in January, 1874. At the close of one of the evening meetings. Captain Timothy Rogers, long a member of the church, and one of the noblest and most faithful fol- lowers of Jesus, rose, and plead with sinners to come to the "fountain filled with blood." At the conclusion of his earnest address, the pastor, Rev. A. J. Rowland, an- nounced a hymn. Captain Rogers requested that this might be changed to " There is a fountain filled with blood." "Yes," said the pastor, "let us sing Captahi Rogers' favorit( hymn, and while we sing, let us all rise. If there be any who would be cleansed in this precious "fountain," let them come forward to the front seats as we sing, and be remembered in a closing prayer. " All arose ; among them Captain Rogers, who stood taller than all the rest, looking anxiously and tenderly over the room, to see who would accept the invitation. While the words of the second verse were beinjr sune: — ■ "And there have I, as vile us he, Washed all my sins awaj^," the captain suddenly sank, and fell on the floor. A number of the brethren, among them Dr. S. Brown, hastened to his side, and carried him into an adjoining room. Thinking he had fallen in a fit, that would soon subside, the audience kept on singing the hymn. As they were singing the last verse, "Then, in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save, When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave," the pastor returned to the audience-room, and said: "Captain Rogers is dead." The scene that followed biffles description. A wail of sorrow burst from every C- ^1 112 Cowper continued. lip, and, while some fainted, the sound of weeping was heard everywhere. In the subsequent meetings a num- ber referred to the death-scene, as the means of their awakening and conversion. It is a singular fact that Captain Rogers had frequently said to the chorister of the church : " When I lie on my death-bed, I want you to come and sing over me the hymn, "There is a fountain filled with blood." Although at the time, he asked for the singing of the hymn at this meeting, he had no idea of his death being at hand, yet it so happened, that under the sound of the singing of this hymn, led by this chorister^ he passed away to mingle his praises with the singing hosts on high. Captain Rodgers was converted on his ship, while out at sea, and so anxious was he to confess Christ at once, that, a Baptist minister being at hand, he had his yawl- boat lowered in the China sea, and using it as a baptistery, he was baptised in the presence of his crew, and of the British fleet that was anchored near by. He was truly a veteran of the cross, and died with the ftill armor on. How literally he illustrated the sentiment of the lines of the hymn on which he had been speaking, and to which he had referred as his last utterance ou earth : — "E'er since by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die." Alike occurrence took place with Rev. Dr. Beaumont. He had just announced with quivering lips the verse: — "The lowest step above thy seat Rises too high for Gabriel's feet In vain, the tall archangel tries. To reach thine height with wondering eyes." While it was being sung, he sank to the floor and died. Comperes hymn. 113 "The dying tliief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day ; And there have I, as vile as he, Washed all my sins away. " fHILE preaching in Maryland, I was told of a thief who was then and there rejoicing that the "fount- ain" was still open ''in his day." The evening before the execution of a murderer, a de- voted Christian lady felt herself constrained to prolong her devotions on behalf of the culprit, before retiring. In her importunate prayer she mentioned thieves and similar characters as those for whom the atoning blood had been efficacious in apostolic times. Her soul was so stirred with sympathy, that she could not get asleep for a long time after going to bed. Toward midnight she thought she heard a noise be- neath her bed. At length she saw the head of a thief ap- pearing at the foot. Being alone and not near any of the family to whom she could call for help, she closed her eyes in silent prayer, and calmly trusted in divine aid for protection. The thief trod softly along the bed-side. To see if she was asleep, he bent over her pillow, coming so near that she felt his breath upon her face. He then quietly descended the stairway and endeavored to get out, but he could not find the key to the door, as that was kept in a secret place. While he was engaged in trying to escape, this Chris- tian heroine awoke a brother, and told him that there was a thief in the house who was striving to get out. Getting a lamp, they descended the stair-steps, when the light fell upon the face of the intruder, who was a man from the village whom they knew. He confessed that he came there to steal. Being unable to meet a note, due the next day, of three hundred dollars, he knew that L W 114 Cowper's hymn illustrated. C this lady had that amount. Supposing she kept it in lier bed-chamber, he concealed himself under her bed, intending to search for it when she was asleep. But her ])rayer for thieves so completely disarmed him, and so convicted him of sin, that he resolved to seek pardon in the blood of the Lamb. After hearing his confession, the sister was so impressed with the genuineness of his contrition, that she told her brother to get the money and loan him the amount needed. He afterward not only repaid the money, but became an earnest Christian, and at the time of my visit was superintendent of the Sunday school of the village. fEV. JOHN WESLEY was once stopped by a high- wayman, who demanded his money. After he had given it to him, he called him back, and said : "Let me speak one word to you ; the time may come when you may regret the course of life in which you are engaged. Remember this: The l>loocl of Jesus Christ deanseth from all sin.'' He said no more, and they parted. Many years afterwards, when he was leaving a church in M'hicli he had been preaching, a person came up and asked if he remembered being waylaid at such a time, referring to the above circumstances. Mr. Wesley replied that he recollected it. "I," said the individual, "was that man ; that single verse on that occasion was the means of a total change in my life and habits. I have long since been attending the house of God and the Word of God, and I hope I am a Christian. " %^FTER giving a black catalogue of criminals, among '^ whom were thieves, drunkards, &c., tlie apostle adds: "such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God. " W Cowper's hymn illustrated. 115 Calling upon a home missionary, a man remarked : "Sir, I hope you will excuse me, but I have been leading a very bad life, and I want to give it up. I want to work for my living in future. I was put in jail for stealing. A Bible reader used to visit and talk to us. AVhile I was there I thought over what he said, and de- termined that when I got out I would try and get a liv- ing honestly." While the missionary assured him of his aid, he also taught him that as long as he was Christ- less he was helpless in his good resolutions. The thief afterward attended upon the preaching of the Word, became deeply penitent, and soon realized the "peace of God which passeth all understanding." He wished to state publicly Avhat grace had done for him, but it was thought best for him to wait awhile, and was so advised. Being absent from public worship on the next Sunday, it was ascertained that he was dangerously ill. The missionary found him lying on a miserable bed in a garret in great pain, expressed sympathy for him, and then alluded to the sufferings of Jesus. "Yes," said he, "that's the wonder when I think that he suffered for such as I — for such a wretch as I. " Being removed to a hospital to undergo an operation, he soon afterwards sank away. As the hymn — '■There is a fountain filled with blood, " was repeated to him, he was greatly moved by the second vei'se: — " The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day, And there have I, though vile as he, » Washed all my sins away. " "Yes," he exclaimed, "/ am that thief, — it meant me, — it was written for me, — that's just me. " ^ gJ 116 William Cowper: The Diversions of Cowper. Q X the sliattered condition of Cowper's nervous system, ^ he found it necessary to seek some recreations with which to occupy his active mind, and to turn it out of the channels of gloom and despondency into which it was so apt to run. He says: "It is no easy matter for the owner of a mind like mine to divert it from sad subjects, and fix it upon such as may administer to its amusement. " Some friends in hearty sympathy with him on account of his mental depression, presented him with some tame hares, to which he became greatly attached. They grew up under his oversight and became objects of great in- terest for eleven years. He has written beautifully of them, both in poetry and prose, in Latin and English. Of the two, he named Bess and Puss, he says : — "I always admitted them into the parlor after supper, when, the carpet affording their feet a firm- hold, they would frisk, and bound, and play a thousand gambols, in which Bess, being remarkably strong and fearless, was always superior to the rest, and j^roved himself the Vestris of the party. One evening, the cat, being in the room, had the hardiness to pat Bess upon the cheek, an indignity which he resented by drumming upon her back with such violence that the cat was happy to escape from under his paws, and hide herself. "Puss grew presently familiar, would leap into my lap, raise himself upon his hinder feet, and bite the hair from my temples. He would suffer me to take him up, and to carry him about in my arms ; and has more than once fallen fast asleep upon my knee. He was ill three days, during which time I nursed him, kept him apart from his fellows, that they might not molest him, (for, like many other wild animals, they persecute one of their own COWPER AND HIS HABKS. Diversions of Cowper. 119 species that is sick, ) and, by constant care, and trying him with a variety of herbs, restored him to perfect health. N^o creature could be more grateful than my patient after his recovery; a sentiment which he most significantly expressed by licking my hand, first the back of it, then the palm, then every finger separately, then between all the fingers, as if anxious to leave no part of it unsaluted: a ceremony which he never performed but once again, upon a similar occasion." Rabbits, guinea-pigs, dogs, canaries, goldfinches, a magpie, a jay, and a starling were added to his house- hold treasures. In addition to these means of recreation he tried his hand at sketching, and "drew mountains, valleys, woods, streams, ducks, and dabchicks." ''I admire them," he wrote, "and Mrs. Unwin admires them, and her praise and my praise are fame enough for me." But notwithstanding these various efforts to allure his mind away from the return of that midnight of mental gloom, its shadows began again to deepen around him. In January 1773, soon after Cowper had penned his last Olney Hymn, his sad depression culminated in an attack of insanity. He afterwards in a measure recovered his health, but while he became sane on every other sub- ject, yet, as long as life lasted, suffered under the mono- mania that he was rejected of God. His judicious friend, Mrs. Unwin, sought now to occupy his attention by writing poetry. He says : " When I can find no other occupation, I think; and when I think, I am apt to do it in rhyme." To this attempted diversion the world is indebted for those unrivalled poems that followed each other in such rapid succession and that have encircled his name with so much fame and honor. Southey describes him as " the most popular poet of his generation, and the best English letter-writer." 120 Origin of Coivpcr^s hymn. Origin of "God moves in a mysterious way." fONTGOMERY describes this hymn of Cowper's, as a "lyric of high tone and character, and rendered awfully interesting by the circumstances under which it was written, — in the light of departing reason." Its original title, "Light shining out of Darkness, " is sup})osed to have had reference to its singular origin. It is said, " When under the influence of the fits of mental derangement to which he was subject, he most unhappily, but firmly believed that the divine will was that he should drown himself in a particular part of the river Ouse, some two or three ■ miles from his residence at Olney. One evening he called for a post-chaise from one of the hotels in the town, and ordered the driver to take him to that spot, which he readily undertook to do as he well knew the place. " On this occasion, however, several hours were con- sumed in seeking it, and utterly in vain. The man was at length most reluctantly compelled to admit that he had entirely lost his road. The snare was thus broken ; Cowper escaped the temptation; returned to his home, and immediately sat down and wrote the hymn," so de- scriptive of God's wonder-working providence, and that has proved a beacon light to many who have wandered in darkness. A somewhat similar providence is reported in the life of Augustine of whom it is said that having occasion to preach at a distant town, he took with him a guide to direct him in the way. This man by some unaccount- able means, mistook the road, and fell into a by-path. It afterwards proved that in this way the preacher's life was saved, as his enemies, aware of his journey, had placed themselves in the proper road with a design to kill him. r Cowper's hymns, continued. 121 " Can a woman's tender care Cease towards the child she bare?" fOWPER knew of a "mother's tender care" by sweet experience. These lines are in his hymn : — " Hark, my soul ! it is the Lord, " Though he lost his mother when only six years of age, yet forty years after, he wrote, " that not a week passes, (perhaps I might Avitli equal veracity, say a day,) in which I do not think of her ; such was the impression her tenderness made upon me, though the opportunity she had for showing it was so short. " In 1790, he received the gift of his mother's picture, on which he wrote a touching poem. The extract we give will show the impress of a mother's love, — " My mother ! when I learned that thou wast dead, Sav, wa.-t »hou conscious of the tears I shed? HoVer'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, ^Vretch even then, life's journey jus b'jgiv.i? Perhaps thou gavest me, though unfelt, a kiss; Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss — Ah, that maternal smile ! it answers — Yes. I heard the bell toll'd on thy burial day, I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away, And, turning from my nursury window, drew A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu ! Bat was it such ? It was. Where thou art gone Adieus iind farewells are a sound unknown. Way 1 but meet thee on that peaceful shore. The parting word shall pass my lips no more ! Thy maidens, grieved themselves at my concern, Oft gave me promise of thy quick return. What ardently I wish'd, 1 long believed. And, disappointed still, was still deceived. By expectation every day beguiled, Dupe of to-morrow even from a child. Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went, Till, all my stock of infant sorrows spent, I learned at last submission to my lot. But, though I less deplored thee ne'er forgot. " 122 Samuel Davies. Author of "Lord! I am thine, entirely thine." fEV. SAMUEL DAVIES, D. D. was the author of a number of choice hymns. He was born in Dela- ware, Noyember, 3, 1724. His devoted Christian moth- er, believing that he had been given in answer to her earnest prayers, named him Samuel. At fifteen he became an earnest Christian, and began his preparation for the work of the ministry. At twenty- two he was licensed to preach, and soon after entered upon a field of labor in Virginia, which extended over several counties.. Great success attended his arduous and self-denying labors, so that in three years time one of his feeblest churches increased to a membership of three hundied. He was described as a "model of the most impressive oratory. As his personal appearance was venerable, yet benevolent and mild, he could address his auditory, either with the most commanding authority, or with the most melting tenderness. He seldom preached without creating some visible emotion in great numbers present." In 1759, he was chosen president of the college at Princeton, New Jersey, as successor to the celebrated Jonathan Edwards. Six years previously, he had vis- ited England, and received large benefactions on behalf of this institution. His sermons abound in striking thoughts and richest imagery. They were issued in three volumes, to which was appended his poems." At the beginning of the year 1761, he preached on the words, " This year thou shalt die," A month latter, he himself was a corpse. He was but thirty-six when he was laid in his coffin. As his venerable mother gazed upon him, lying there, she said: "There is the son of my prayers, and my hopes — my only son — my only earthly I support. But there is the will of God, and I am satisfied." Samuel Davies' Jii/nin. 123 Singing- in Time of Peril. 0\Y impressive was tlie singing of one of the hymns of Davies, as narrated in the Trophies of Song : — "A Christian captain, who had a Christian crew, was caught near a rocky- shore in a driving storm. They were being driven rapidly toward tlie rocks, when he ordered them to 'cast anchor.' "They did so, but it broke. He or- dered them to cast the second. They did so, but it dragged. He then or- dered them to cast the third and last " They cast it while the captain went down to his room to i)ray. He fell on his knees and said, ' O Lord, this vessel is thine, these noble men on deck are thine. If it be more for thy glory that our vessel be wrecked on the rocks, and we go down in the sea, 'thy will be done. ' But if it be more for thy glory that we live to Mork for thee, then hold the anchor. ' Calmly he rose to return to the deck, and as he went, he heard a chorus of voices sino;ing : — " ' Lord, I am thine ! ' It seemed like an angel song. Reaching the deck, he found his brave men standing with their hands on the cable, that they might feel the first giving of the anchor, on Avhich hung their lives, and looking calmly on the raging of the elements, as they sung ' with the spirit and with the understanding also : — ' " ' Lord, I am thine !' "The anchor held till the storm was past, and they anchored safe within the bay. " -^ 124 David Dcnhains hymn. *■ Home, sweet, sweet home. " ||EV. DAVID DENH AM a Baptist minister in ^ England issued in 1837, the well known hymn of "Sweet Honie/'commencing, "Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints." He wrote this and much of his poetry for the religious mao-azines. His field of ministerial labor was Margate, London, and Cheltenham. Having in early life been called to his "sweet home" above he need no longer sing in the language of his hymn : — "I sigh from this body of sin to be free, Which hinders my joy and communion Tvith thee ; Though now my temptation like billows may foam, All, all will be peace, when I'm with thee at home. Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; Prepare me dear Saviour, for glory, my home.'' The tune of "Sweet Home" was written by Sir Henry Rowley Bishop in 1829, and the songof "Sweet Home" by J. Howard Payne in 1825. He sold it to Charles Kemble for 30 pounds. When it was first sung in pub- lic by Miss Tree it so fascinated a wealthy gentleman of London that he made her the offer of his hand and fortune, which were accepted. Paine was a homeless wanderer. " How often, " said he, " have I been in the heart of Paris, Berlin and London, or some other city, and heard j)ersons playing 'Sweet Home,' without a shilling to buy the next meal, or a place to lay my head. Tiie world has literally sung my song until every heart is fiimiliar with its melody. Yet I have been a poor wanderer from my boyhood. My country has turned me ruthlessly from office, and in my old age I have to sul)mit to hu- miliation for my daily bread." He died at Tunis while acting; as U. S. Consul. r '^ Sweet home^' illustrated. 125 Midnight Echo of "Home, sweet, sweet home." jffT was our privilege to hear, from the lips of one who ^ is now a popular pastor of one of tiie largest churches in Philadelphia, the following interesting statement, relating to the echo of a hymn that proved to be the means of his salvation. Having run away as a prodigal from his father's home in Virginia when a young man, he had had little regard for the broken hearted parents that he had forsaken, until one Christmas night, when in the fourth story bed-room of a hotel on Chestnut street Philadelphia, he was awakened by the chimes of bells of an Episcopal church near by. The tune of " Home, sweet, sweet home," was being played. As in the quiet of the midnight hour the sound of this hymn floated over the city, thoughts of his forsaken home began to echo through the chambers of his soul. A father's plaintive voice, and a mother's streaming eyes seemed to beckon him home again. His pillow soon became wet with tears of jienitence. At the repetition of the tune he could no longer remain in bed. His heart was now yearning for "Home, sweet, sweet home, " and soon his hands Avere packing up to start for home, and not long after his feet M'ere hastening down the flight of stairs, up Chestnut street, down Broad street, and at the Baltimore depot betook the first train of cars for home. How many similar prodigals would start for the heav- enly land, if they would wake from their slumbers long enough to listen to some of those sweet echoes that tell us of the soul's " sweet, sweet home. " " My Father's house on high, — Home of my soul, — how near, At times, to faith's farseeing eye, Thy golden gales appear ! " m 126 Dickerson^s hymn. C Singing The Heart Open. f Presbyterian minister, an American by birth, bnt of Scottisli parentage, hap2)ening to be in New Or- leans, was asked to visit an old Scottish soldier who had sickened, and was conv-eyed to the hospital. On entering and announcing his errand, the Scotch- man told him, in a surly tone, that he desired none of his visits — that he knew how to die without the aid of a priest. In vain he informed him that he was no priest, but a Presbyterian minister, come to read him a portion of the Word of God, and to speak to him about eternity. The Scotchman doggedly refused to hold any conversa- tion with him, and he was obliged to take his leave. Next day, however, he called again, thinking that the reflection of the man on his own rudeness, would prepare the way for a better reception. But his manner and tone were equally rude and repulsive ; and at length he turn- ed himself in bed, with his face to the wall, as if deter- mined to hear nothing, and relent nothing. The minister bethought himself, as a last resourse, of the hymn well known in Scotland, the composition of David Dickson, minister of Irvine, beginning, "O mo- ther dear, Jerusalem, when shall I come to thee?" which his Scottish mother had taught him to sing to the tune of Dundee. He be2:an to sino; his mother's hymn. The soldier listened for a few moments m suence, but gradually turning himself round, with a relaxed counte- nance, and a tear in his eye; inquired, "Who taught you that?" "My mother, " replied the minister. "And so did mine," rejoined the now softened soldier, whose heart was opened by the recollections of infancy and of country ; and he now gave a willing ear to the man that found the key to his heart. Two incidents. 127 Conquered By Song. ^ N Louisiana, over a centiir\^ ago, itinerant Methodist ^ preachers fared roughly. A travelling minister %vas one evening reduced to the very verge of starvation. He had spent the preceding night in a swamp, and had taken no food for thirty -six hours, when he reached a plantation. He entered the house and asked for food and lodging. The mistress of the house, a widow with several daughters and negroes, refused him. He stood warming himself by the fire, a few minutes, and began singing a hymn commencing, — '• Peace mj soul, thou needest not fear; The Great Provider still is near.'" He sang the whole hymn, and ,M-hen he looked around they were all in tears. He was forthwith invited to stay not a single night, but a wdiole week, with them. Mr. Bushnell of Utica, X. Y. had occasion to stop at a hotel in a neighboring town. Some twenty men were in the bar room in which temperance was being de- nounced as the work of priests and politicians. Mr. Bushnell, finding it impossible to stem the current of abuse by an appeal to their reason, proposed singing a temperance song-, and accordingly commenced the " Stanch Teetotaller. " On glancing around the room after he had concluded, he observed the tear trickling down the cheek of almost every man. The song carried their thoughts back to their families and firesides, surrounded as they once were with plenty but now with poverty and disgrace. Those hardened men could but acknowledge its truth by tears. Soon af.er the landlord came in, and he repeated it for his special benefit. After Mr. Bushnell had concluded, he grasped him by the hand, and exclaimed, " / will never sell another glass of liquor as long as I live. " r 1/ 128 Philip. Doddridge. Author of "Grace, 'tis a charming sound." fHIS is one among the three hundred hymns penned by Philip Doddridge, T>, D., widely known by his commentary on the Scriptures, the " Family Exposi- tor," and as the author of "The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul '' This has been so widely circu- lated and translated into so many lang-uages, that it has been designated as the most useful book of the eighteenth century. It was written at the suggestion of Dr. Watts, whom he" regarded as one of his warmest friends. Doddridge was born in London, June 26, 1702. Of his early life his biographer says: "At his birth he shewed sc little sign of life that he was laid aside as dead. Eat one of the attendants, thinking she perceived some motion, or breath, took that necessary care of him, on which, in those tender circumstances, the feeble frame of life depended, which was so near expiring as soon as it was kindled. " He was the twentieth child of a mother, who was the daughter of an exiled Bohemian clergyman, the Rev. John Bauman. The mother had imbibed the devoted Christian spirit of her father, of whom, it is said, that for conscience's and Christ's sake, he left Prague in Bohemia about 1626, Giving up a large estate and friends at the age of twenty-one, he withdrew on foot from his country, clad as a j)easant, "carrying with him nothing but a hundred broad pieces of gold, ]>laited in a leathern girdle, and a Bible of Luther's translation." Doddridge counted it a great honor to have descended from these suifering saints of Christ. His mother taught him the history of the Old and New Testaments before lie could read, by the assistance of some Dutch tiles in the room where they commonly met. As these early impressions siiaped his destiny, and were so valuable to him in after life, he frequently rec- UODUKlDlili S MOTIIKU TEACHING HIM. Philip Doddridge. 131 commended to parents to imitate her example. With sucli a mother's training, it is no wonder that it is said that while attending grammar sehool at Kingston, the one previously taught by his grandfather Bauman, from his tenth to his thirteenth year "he was remarkable for his piety and diligent application to learning." His pa- rents dying while he was young he could afterwards say, when pleading for orphans, "I know the heart of an orphan , having been deprived of both of my })arents at an age in which it might reasonably be supposed I should be most sensible of such a loss. " In his orphanage he found it difficult to pursue his studies for the ministry. A tempting offer was made of assistance in the study of law. He was to return an answer at a certain time. As the period drew near he devoted one morning to seek divine direction, and while in the act of prayer the post-man called at the door with a letter from the Rev. Samuel Clark, a Presbyterian minister, in which he said that he had heard of his dif- ficulties, and offered to give him the needed aid to fit him for the ministry. This he looked upon as an answer from heaven, "and" says he, "while I live I shall always adore so seasonable an interposition of divine Providence." When just twenty years old he centered the ministry. PI is first sermon was greatly honored of God in the con- version of two souls. It was delivered at Hinckley, on the text, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran atha. " His first charge was at Kibworth. In 1730 he took charge of a church, and started an academy at North- ampton. This was designed for the training of young men .for the ministry. About one hundred and twenty of his students entered the sacred office. Here he spent the rest of his life, attending to his collegiate and church duties, and writing his numerous and vokiminous works. li 132 Humor of Doddi^idge. Doddridge is described as a man " above the middle stature, extremely thin and slender. His sprightliness and vivacity of countenance and manner commanded general attention in the pulpit and private circles. Mr. Hervey, speaking of spending a night with him at Northampton, says: "I never spent a more delightful evening, or saw one that seemed to make nearer ap- proaches to heaven. A gentleman of great worth and rank in the town, invited us to his house, and gave us an elegant treat; but how mean was his jn'ovision, how coarse his delicacies, compared with the fruit of my friend's lips! — they dropped as the honey-comb, and were a well of life." Doddridge possessed a vein of humor that would some- times reveal itself through his pen. His daughter having had a thorn j)ierce her foot one day, he gent her these lines : — " Oft I have heard the ancient sages say The j)ath of virtue is a thorny way : If so, dear Celia, we may surely know Which path it is you tread, which way it is you go. " Tin's was the little daughter who was asked, how it was that everybody loved her, when she answered: "I know not," "unless it be that I love every body." To one of his pupils, whose weak imagination had led him to think that he had invented a machine by which he could fly to the moon, he sent these lines: — " And will Volatio leave this world so soon To fly to his own native seat, the moon? 'Twill stand, however, in some little stead That he sets out with such an empty head. " Dr. Johnson, who had been styled "the Old King of Critics," said that the following lines, \vritten by Dod- dridge on his family arms, Dum vivimus vivamus, was the finest epigram in the English language: — r IPMHILniP IO)®Bl©mEIE)©J^,E)oID), Doddridge continued. 135 " 'Live while you live,' the epicure would say, 'And seize the pleasures of the present day.' 'Live while you live,' the sacred preacher cries, 'And give to God each moment as it tlies.' Lord, in my view let both united be : I live in pleasure when I live to thee. ' Of this "pleasure," he made frequent mention in his diary, and letters. After a season of sickness, he wrote: — " It is impossible to express the support and comfort, which God gave me on my sick-bed. His promises wers my continual feast. They seemed, as it were, to be all united in one stream of glory, and poured into my breast. When I thought of dying, it sometimes made my very heart to leap within me." "Awake, my soul, to meet the day," was written by Doddridge, who arose every morning at 5 o'clock. It was entitled, "A Morning Hymn, to be Sung at Awaking and Rising." His custom was to spring out of bed, while using the words of the sixth v^erse, commencing, "As rising now," &c. His Com- munion Hymn, is much used; the first stanza reads: — ' My God ! and is thj- table spread ? And does thj' cup with love overflow? Thither be all thy children led. And let them all its sweetness know." Of this "sweetness" he speaks on this wise, after drinking from the cup of affliction, occasioned by the death of a much-loved daughter : — *' I recollected this day, at the Lord's table, that I had some time ago, taken the cup at that ordinance with these words, 'Lord, I take this cup as a public solemn token, that, having received so inestimable a blessing as this, I will refuse no other (!up which thou shalt put into my hands.' God hath taken me at my iconl, but I will not retract it; I repeat it again with regard to every future cup, much sweetness is mingled with this potion." r 9>> 136 Doddridge' s hymns. When, through excessive labor, a deep seated con- sumption so enfeebled him, that he was hardly able to speak or move his dying body, the following incident oc- curred that illustrates the verse of one of his best hymns : — "When death o'er natare shall prevail, And all its power of language fail, Joy through my swimming eyes shall break, And mean the thanks I cannot speak." ''What, in tears again, my dear doctor," said Lady Huntingdon, as she entered his room and found him weep- ino- over the Bible lying before him. "I am weeping, madam," he faintly replied, "but they are tearsof joy and comfort. I can give up my country, my friends, my rel- atives, into the hands of God; and as to myself, I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon, as from my (Avn study at Northampton." This calm resignation he had beau- tifully expressed in his hymn : — "While on the verge of life I stand. And view the scene on eith?rhand. My spirit struggles with its clay, And longs to wing its flight away. Where Jesus dwells my soul would be; It faints my much-loved Lord to see; Farth ! twine no more about my heart. For 'tis far better to depart." " ]\Iy profuse night-sweats " says he, "are weakening to my frame; but the most distressing nights to this frail body have been as the beginning of heaven to my soul. God hath, as it were, let heaven down upon me in those nights of weakness and waking. Blessed be his name." It was thus, from blissful experience, he could say, in the language of his hymn : — "When, at this distance, Lord! we trace The I'arious glorii s of thy fac , What transport pours o'er all our breast, And charms our cares and woes to rest!" c Doddridge continued. 137 Doddridge yielded to the advice of his friends to go to the warmer climate of Lisbon, for the winter of 1751. "I see indeed no prospect of recovery," said the dying man, "yet my heart rejoiceth in my God and my Saviour, and I can call him, under this faihire of every thing else, its strength and everlasting portion." "On the 30th of September," writes one of him, "ac- companied by his anxious wife and servant, he sailed from Falmouth ; and, revived by the soft breezes and the ship's stormless progress, he sat in liis chair in the cabin enjoying the brightest thoughts of all his life. 'Such transporting views of the heavenly world is my Father now indulging me with, as no words can express,' was his frequent ex- clamation to the tender ])artner of his voyage." When the ship was gliding up the Tagus, and Lisbon, with its groves and gardens and sunny towers, loomed up in the distance before him, the enchanting scene brought vividly before his mind that city which hath foun- dations, of which he so sweetly wrote in one of his hymns : — "See! — Salem's golden spires, In beauteous prospect, rise, And brighter crowns than mortals wear. Which sparkle through the skies." Two weeks after the vessel landed at Lisbon, he ex- changed the shores of time for the sunny plains of the Canaan above. The " peace of God which passeth all un- derstanding" smoothed his dying pillow and spread such a halo of glory around his death-couch, that his afflicted wife could sit down afterwards and write to her children, saying : "Oh, my dear children, help me to praise Him. Such supports, such consolations, such comforts has he granted, that my mind at times is astonished and is ready to burst into songs of praise under its most exquisite distress." f 138 Philip Doddridge. Origin of Doddridge's Hymns. tODDRIDGE possessed great versatility of talent. As, in his day, there was not a great variety of hymns adapted to the different subjects of discourse, he ■was accustomed, while his heart was aglow with the com- ])osition of his sermon, to arrange the leading thoughts in a hymn. This was sung at the close of his preaching, and served to give emphasis to his utterances, and to fix the truth more indelibly in the minds and upon the hearts of his hearers. For instance, after a sermon on the words, "Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious, " he gave out the sweet hymn he had prepared : — "Jesus, I love thy charming name; 'Tis music to mine ear: Fain would I sou:id it out so loud, That earth and heaven could hear." After preaching on the text, "There remaineth there- fore a rest to the people of God," he announced the fa- vorite Sunday hymn, beginning, "Lord of the Sabbath hear our vows." As now in use, the hymn is often made to commence with the second verse : — "Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love, But there s a nobler rest above ; To that our laboring souls aspire With ardent hope and strong desire." The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton, referring to the.se hymns thus originated, says: — " If amber is the gum of fossil trees, fetched up and floated off by the ocean, hymns like these are a si)iritual amber. Most of the sermons to which they originally pertained have disappeared forever; but, at once beautiful and buoyant, these sacred strains are destined to carry the devout emotions of Doddridge to every shore where his Master is loved and where his mother-tongue is spoken." r Doddridge continued. 139 Doddrige led by a Special Providence. fllEAT events often turn on a small pivot. The field of Doddridge's great usefulness was Northampton, yet he felt quite reluctant to go there, when the call was first extended, because of his sense of weakness and unfitness. Among the means, which Providence used to de- cide the question, he mentions the following: — On the last Sunday in November, 1729, he went to Northampton to decline the call, and, as he says, "to dispose them to submit to the will of God in events, which might be most contrary to their views and inclin- ations." To this end, he had arranged a sermon on the text, ''And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, ' The will of the Lord be done.' " But he adds : — "On the moi'ning of that day, an incident happened, which affected me greatly. Having been much urged on Saturday evening, and much impressed wath the ten- der entreaties of my friends, I had, in my secret devotion, been spreading the affair before God, though as a thing almost determined in the negative; appealing to Him, that my chief reason for declining the call, Avas the ap- prehension of engaging in more business than I was ca- llable of performing, considering my age, the largeness of the congregation, and that I had no prospect of an assistant. As soon as ever this address ended, I passed through a room of the house in which I lodged, where a child was reading to his mother, and the only words I heard distinctly were these, ' yincZ as thy days, so shall thy strength 6e." This seemed a voice from heaven, he afterwards accepted the call and wrote of his charge: — "T is not a cause of small import The pastor's care demands! But what might fill an angel's heart, And filled a Saviour's hands." w 140 Doddridge's hymns. Doddridge's Hymn Sung with Dying Breath. ® RS. SARAH L. SMITH left Boston in 1833, for a cS? foreign missionary field, where, two years later she sank into the grave, in the thirty-fourth year of her age. ''Tell my friends," said she, "I would not for all the world lay my remains anywhere but here, on mis- sionary ground." Of her triumphant death, an eye- witness wrote: — "We sung the first yerse of that beautiful hymn of Doddridge, on the eternal Sabbath : — '"Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love, But there's a nobler rest above; To that our laboring souls aspire With ardent hope and strong desire.' "To my surprise, her voice, which she had so long been unable to use for singing, was occasionally heard mingling with ours. Her face beamed with a smile of ecstacy; and so intense was the feeling, expressed in her whole aspect, that we stopped after the first verse, lest she should even expire while drinking the cup of joy, we had presented to her. But she said to us 'Go on;' and, though all were bathed in tears, and hardly able to articulate, we proceeded to sing: — '"No nore fatigue, no more distress, Nor sin, nor hell shall reach the place; No groans to mingltr with the son^s, Which warble from immortal tongues,' "I was sitting with her hand in mine. While singing this second verse, she pressed it, and turned to me at the same time such a heavenly smile as stopped my utterance. Bsfore we reached the end, she raised both her hands above her head, and gave vent to her feelings, in tears of pleasure, and almost in shouting. Afterwards she said, *I have had a little glimpse of what I am going to see It seemed a glorious sight.'" c; w An incklent. 141 r The Hymn-prayer at the Gate. fT the close of an "Illustrated' Sermon" inquirers and others were invited to retire to an adjoining room for prayer. As many tilled the room and were disposed to take the prodigal's first step homeward, for the encour- agement of such, a stranger, an old gentleman from the South, arose and said: "Over tbrty years ago, during a season of similar awakening in Virginia, a young prodi- gal felt it was time for him to start home. He had never been accustomed to pray and felt afraid to venture near the Majestic Ruler of the universe. He was then attending an academy, a mile distant from his father's house. Taking a short cut through the fields to his home, he thought he could possibly find some suitable place to unburden his heavily-laden heart in prayer. "As he beheld a retired spot in the fence-corner, he con- cluded to oj)en his lips there. But his courage failed him, and he said to himself, 'In the distance is a big, white oak tree; that will shield me.' But Avhen under the tree his stubborn will would still not yield. A fork in the road and nearly a dozen other places he tried, but W'hen he drew near to them, the tempter also drew near, and caused postponement, until at length he got to the gate at the head of the lane leading to the house. This was the last resort where he could pray unseen. It seemed to him as the turning point. As he sank at Jesus' feet, a hymn came to his lips as the language of his heart, and so he cried out : — '•' ' Show pit}', Lord ! 0 Lord, forpive ; Let a repealing sinner live. ' The six verses of that hymn-prayer decided his destiny. He became a minister, has been preaching many years, and is now the old man you see before you." 142 Doddridge's hymn. 0 happy day that fixed my choice." OINING the cluirch is often at- tended with the singing of this expressive hymn, written by Philip Doddridge. The fourth verse was once the means of bringing peace to an anxious soul, as thus described by an English writer; — " It was my happiness some time since lo be a guest in a fam- ily. One morning I saw one of the servants in the deepest exercise of soul about her salvation. She had been singing that hymn, — " ' Now rest my long divided heart, Fixed on this blissful centre rest ; "With ashes, who would grudge to part, When called on angels' food to feast. '' " I saw her troubled. She felt she had not loved God enough, or prayed enough, or wept enough. I knew she Avas occupying her mind about herself, and that she did not see what Christ was. I remarked that self was mere ' ashes. ' I asked why not part with the condemned doomed ashes of self, and believe in Jesus ? It was dur- ing the family service I saw her countenance so change from its old sadness into happiness and joy; and I thought — What a revulsion is taking place in that mind ! and, wishing to know for myself, I called her aside into the drawing-room. I said, ' You seem happy now. ' ' I am happy, ' was the reply. ' What has made you happy?' 'Oh, I did just what you told me to do. I put myself down to the third chaj^ter of John. ' ' What do you mean ?' ' Why there where it says, ' God so loved the world.' 'Yes, but was that a world of saints Doddridge s hymn continued. 143 or of angels ? ' ' No. ' ' What was it then ? ' 'A M^orkl of sinners. Then I put myself down into that Avorld and I found God loved ??ie, and had given his Son for me. ' " THIS hymn is oftt;n used as fitly describing the birth- day into the kingdom, and is in this respect like the one "Wesley wrote : — " 0 for a thoiisand tongues to sing, " which he styled, " For the anniversary of one' s conversion.^ In 1871, there was an extensive revival in Wisconsin, and in one church they adopted the plan, whenever on an evening, a sinner decided to be Christ's, the audience united in singing : — "Oh, happy day that fixed my choice On Thee, my Saviour and my God. " " After the third night, there was the blessed privi- lege of singing it every evening for fifty days, for one or more, in whom this purpose was newly formed: and many were led to make the choice Avhile it was sung. " The chorus and tune of " Happy day," became wed- ded to this hymn, and was everywhere and freque«tly sung during the great revival in 1858. A Maine phys- ician was requested to certify to what is said in the sec- ond verse, — '"Tis done, the great transaction's done; I am my Lord's, and He is mine, " when he answered, "I can certify to all but the the last words. I can say 'lam the Lord's,' but cannot say 'He is mine. ' I have no consciousness of his accept- ance of me. " And yet his experience verified the Scrip- ture statement, "With the heart man believeth iin.to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. " For the moment he opened his mouth and made this confession, he realized the sweet assurance^ and afterwards could say, " He is mine. " r 144 Boddrldge^s hymn. r "/.wake, my soul, stretch every nerve, And press with vigor on : A heavenl}' race demands thy zeal, And an immortal crown. " % MINISTERIAL brother says that when a child he •^ heard a sermon on the text, "So run that ye obtain," and hearing the members so urgently exhorted to engage in a race, he thought it was going to take place riglit after the service. Greatly did he feel disappointed, when, having hastened out of church to get a good posi- tion on the fence, from which he could get a good view of the racers, he found that they did not " run a bit. " In Cunningham valley, Pa., we had literally such a race at the close of preaching. The church consisted of but one audience-room, and that was wedged so full of hearers, that it was impossible in a prayer-meeting service to speak to those who desired to make known their anxieties, an'd to seek special advice. So we secured three rooms at a hotel a few squares distant. But these, proving inadequate to hold all, there was a regular race at the close of each service to gain admittance. As there was a thaw in mid -winter, and the roads un- paved, it was an annising sight to see the audience splash- ing throuo-h the mud on a regular trot, — men, women and children running as for their lives. What still added to the impressiveness of the scene was the fact that the tavern sign, swinging on its rusty pivots over our heads as we entered the tavern, screeched most piteously, as if it were uttering the death groans of King Alcohol, and so they proved to be. Most of the inmates of the landlord's family becoming subjects of grace, the sign-post was cut down after the close of our meeting, and the building was afterwards used for other purposes. ,|i Doddridge's hymn illustrated. 145 A Hymn of One Word. tN an article concerning the Bedouin Arabs, in the Cliristian Standard, Dr. Stephen Fish gives the origin of a hymn made up of one word. Says he : " j\Iany Bedouin Arabs have embraced the Christian re- ligion. Mr. M. Roysce, of Jerusalem, gave me a very interesting account of the conversion of an Arab whom he knew to be a poet. Soon after he was converted Mr. Roysce was anxious to see if he would write relig- ious poetry. He requested Suleiman to court the Muses, and compose for him a poem on the duties of the Christ- ian missionary, and he did so, and wrote the following : — " Taiyib, taijib, taiyib, taiyib,' Taiyib, taiyib, taiyib, Taiyib, taiyib,. taiyib, taiyib, Taiyib, taiyib, taiyib." " Any trivial sentiment would not bear repeating quite so many times, but the translation of ' Taiyib ' is ' Go on, ' and the Arab, zealous in his new life, could think of nothing but going ahead in it and growing better and better. " f^ . . . Qi O a discouraged Christian who was about to give up ^ some good work because he saw no results, a fellow laborer remarked, " I'll give out a hymn and you sing it. It is common metre. " The verse above translated in English was the one announced : — " Go on, go on, go on, go on, Go on, go on, go on. Go on, go on, go on, go on. Go on, go on, go on. " The advice thus given was heeded. The weary one did "go on, "and glorious results followed. 146 Doddridge's hymn. A Revival Started by Singing a Hymn. f prayer-meeting of a country village was attended by but few during a season of coldness. The pastoi* was absent, his place being supplied by one of his deacons, Avho, for months past, had been deeply mourn- ing in secret the sad decline. Dr. Belcher says : " The hymn he selected with which to commence the service was the one : — " 'Hear, gracious Favionr, from thy throne, And send thy various blessings down. ' Two or three verses were sung to an old tune, till the good deacon came to the last, which thus reads. The reader will observe especially the last two lines : — " ' In answer to our fervent cries, Give us to see thy church arise; Or, if that blessing seem too great, Give us to mourn its low estate. ' While reading this verse, the good man paused: it evi- dently did not exactly accord with the feelings of his soul : it was not the expression of his prayer. He in- dulged a moment's thought, — swift and excellent : an alteration suggested itself, — his eye sparkled with joy, — and out it came: — " ' In answer to our fervent cries, Give us to see thy church arise ; That blessing, Lord, is not too great, Though now we mourn its low estate. ' Every heart was arrested, and sudden emotion so over- powered all in the little assembly that they could scarce- ly sing the words ; but each in silence gave to the senti- ment his own earnest amen. They happily proved it to be true. From that evening a revival began : the church arose from its slumber to new faith and works; and very soon the windows of heaven were opened and a plenitude of blessings was showered down, which con- tinued for several years." Doddridge'' s hymn. 14" Heaven as Represented in Song. f WRITER says in tiie Ladies' Repository: "Mr. Editor, in your notes on Sunday school songs you quote from one of our hymn-writers the lines — " ' 0 Golden Hereafter ! Thine ever bright rafter Will shake in the thunder of sanctified song. ' "Can you kindly refer me to the author and his place of residence, that I may write to him? "He seems to possess information which I liave been unable to get from ray pocket Bible, and it is possible that he can relieve my anxiety about the * Golden Here- after. ' " What I want to know is, whether there is any danger of the plastering or timbers tumbling down Avhen the rafters shake. Yours in affliction. " After a thirty years' residence in Jamaica, a missionary remarks, "One who knows what it is to be exposed to the sun of the torrid zone, shudders to read the lines of Doddridge, describing Heaven : — " ' Xo midnight shade, no clouded sun, But sacied, high, eternal noon. ' " The idea is intolerable. It terrifies one to think of it. The man who wrote the lines must have lived far north, where the glimpse of the sun was a rare favor, and his highest enjoyment to bask in its rays a live-long sum- mer day. "I met once in Jamaica with a black boy, under the shade of a cocoa-nut tree, where we both had taken shelt- er from the glare of the meridian sun, and the dazzling sea-side sandy road. I said, 'Well, my lad, did you ever hear of heaven? ' Me hear, Massa. ' 'And what sort of a place do you think it will be? ' ' Massa, it must be a very cool place. ' " •^" 148 Du^ekVs hymn. \ )> Q Origin of "Stand up ! stand up for Jesus." fUE-ING the revival period of 1858, the watchword of Christ's army seemed to be the message of one of her fallen heroes, the Rev. Dudley A. Tyng, who, when suddenly, in the vigor of early manhood, was stretched out upon a death-bed, said, as liis parting words to his brethren, "Stand up for Jesus.'' Under their in- sjiiration the Rev. George Duffield composed the popular hymn : — "Stand up! stand up for Jesus," to be suno- after his sermon on the Sabbath morning f(jl- lowingthe sudden death of Mr. Tyng in thespringof 1858. Shortly before his departure he delivered a memorable sermon in Jayne's Hall, Pliiladelphia, on the text, "Ye that are men now serve Him, " in which the slain of the Lord Avere many. Mr. Duffield has embraced these words in quotation marks in the verse : — "Stand up ! stand up for Jesus ! The trumpet call obey. " Forth to the mighty conflict In this his glorious day : 'Ye that are men, now serve him' Against unnumbered foes; Tour courage rise with danger, And strength to strength oppose." During our meetings in the Union Tabernacle at Quakertown, in the fall of that year, we sang and often referred to those words. One morning the parents of a little girl were awakened by the repeated call of their little girl in the cradle, whose pleading voice kept saying, "Papa! mama! Pa-pa! ma-ma! Mis-ser Long say 'Tan up— tan up for Y-e-s-u-s. " This little stammering voice went so deep down in the hearts of the parents that in the evening of the same day W Duffi,eld's hymn illustrated. 149 they did "Stand up for Jesus," and after soliciting an interest in the prayers of God's people, became at length earnest and decided soldiers of the cross. A gentleman gave a cird to a little girl, one day, in a railroad car. Supposing that she could not read, he said : " This card says, ' Stand up for Jesus.' " " Does it? " said she. And as if acting under heavenly impulses, she went along the row of seats, saying to each one, "Stand up for Jesus! Stand up for Jesus!" When she got down one side, she turned around^ and coming up the other side, repeated the same words, "Stand up for Jesus! Stand up for Jesus!" The unusual sound of such words, in such a place, and their frecpient repetition, produced a deep impression on many. Her mother leaned over and wept as a child, and thereby was induced to seek the pardon of her sins. Two weeks later, she united with the chiu'ch, and afterward did " Stand up for Jesus." Another little one took a noble stand for Jesus, in the overflowings of her heart. A man, given to profanity, called at her father's house, one day, and in his conver- sation, dropped an oath. It fell like a hot coal of fire upon the tender conscience of the child, and so she burst out crying, as if severely hurt, and left the room. When the cause was inquired into, she sobbed out, "He cursed my Jesus." When the swearer heard the reproof, it pierced his heart, and was the means of his reformation. Some commentators say that the verse in Exodus, xvii. 9, should be translated to read, "To-morrow I will take my stand on the top of the hill, and the staff of God in my hand." Would that on all the hilltops of Zion, there were Moseses who would unfurl the banner of the cross, and take a stand for Jesus. " Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross."' 150 Timothy Bioight. Author of "I love Thy kingdom, Lord." fHIS hymn was issued iu 1800 by Timothy Dwight, D. D.. who was also the author of another hymn : — "While life prolongs its precious light, Mercy is found and peace is given. " He was born in Massachusetts in 1752. His father was a merchant, his mother a daughter of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards. She began in early infancy to en- lighten his conscience and make him afraid of sin. These impressions became permanent. Such was his eagerness and capacity, that he learned the alphabet at a single lesson, and already "at the age of four could read the Bible with ease and correctness." At eight he was so far advanced in his studies that he would have been ready for admission into Yale college^ and when he actually did enter at thirteen, he was already master of history, geography and the classics. At sev- enteen he graduated. Devoting fourteen hours daily to close study, his sight was irreparably impaired, and he was compelled to employ an amanuensis. At nineteen he Avas appointed tutor. At twenty he issued a work on the " History, Eloquence, and Poetry of the Bible," which procured him great honor. In 1777 he was chosen chaplain of the army, and in 1795, President of Yale college. In 1809 he issued his "Theology" in five volumes. After the severe studies of the day he would write poetry at night. Well could he say of the church: — " For her my tears shall fall ; For her my prayers ascend ; To her my cares and toils be given, Till toils and cares shall end. " He expired in 1817, saying of some Bible promises tliat were being read to him, " O what triumphant truths !" EE^': TIMOTHY D^V^IGHT. S.T.D.IX.D. PTuESII)EX"T OT TALE COET.EGE Fiti'M iriir. TO isir. y^^^T^^^ ^-^r-^/^ 1 DwiglvCs hymn illustrated. 153 Singing in a Forsaken Church. tN the " Holland Purchase " a log church was built by Methodist pioneers. It flourished well for years, but eventually some of the old members died, and others moved away, till only one was left, when preach- ing also ceased. This mother in Israel sighed over the desolations in Zion. She loved the old forsaken sanctuary, and still kept going there on the Sabbath to worship God and plead the promises. At length it was noised abroad that she was a witch, that the old church was haunted Avith evil spirits, and that she went there to commune with them. Two young men to satisfy their curiosity, secreted themselves in the loft to watch her. On her arrival she took her seat by the altar. After reading the Scriptures, she announced the hymn, " Jesus, I my cross have taken, " and sang it with a sweet but trembling voice, then kneeled down and poured out her heart in fervent prayer and supplication. She recounted the happy seasons of the past, ])lead for a revival, and for the many who had forgotten Zion. Her pleadings broke the hearts of the young men. They began to weep and cry for mercy. As the Saviour called Zaccheus to come down, so did she invite them down from their hiding-place. They obeyed, and there at the altar, where in other days she had seen many conversions, they too knelt, con- fessed their sins, sought and found the Saviour. From that hour the work of God revived, the meet- ings were resumed, a flourishing church grew up, and the old meeting house was made to resound with the happy voices of God's children. Dr. Strickland. r 154 DwighCs hymn illustrated. C. Singing heard in the Wilderness- fNE hundred years ago Georgia was a wild wilderness. Preaching places were "few and far between." In one of the settlements, six miles distant from each other, lived two pious women. They felt lost when moving there, away from their accvistomed places of worship in Maryland, and especial- ly as the people in these settlements spent their Sundays in frolicking and hunting. These two women agreed to meet half way between their homes, and hold a prayer-meeting by them- selves. Sabbath after Sabbath they walked to their ap- pointment, and there in the depth of that southern for- est engaged in prayer and praise. The singing, echoing through the wild woods, attract- ed the attention of a hunter. As he drew near to a hiding place, he was overwhelm- ed by what he heard. Sabbath after Sabbath he would hide near enough to hear, till, at the close of one of their meetings, he could not conceal himself or his feelings any longer. He then invited them to meet at his cabin the next Sabbath, promising to collect in his neighbors. The call seemed providential. They accepted it. It was soon noised abroad. The whole neighborhood turned out. Their husbands went along to see these strange women. When lo! their own wives took charge of the meeting. The Holy Spirit moved and melted first the heart of the hunter, then of the two husbands. They broke out in cries of mercy. The meeting continued night and clay for some two weeks. A fter some forty were converted, Kev. B. IMaxey heard of it. He took charge of the re- vival which continued to spread over a vast region of country, till many churches sprang up where preach- inof had never been heard before. r Dwight's hymn illustrated. * 155 • A Prisoner Singing Himself into Liberty. §HIS was the case with Deacon Epa Norris during the war between Great Britain and the United States, in 1812. He lived in the Northern Neck, Va. Being captured and taken to a British vessel, they in vain sought to obtain from him the position and num- bers of the American Army. Dr. Belcher says: "The commandant of the ship gave a dinner to the officers of the fleet, an