•piO^U \ .vipw^^r' ■vfc ' * ffY^jjf g AID THEIR .«3$^j!Mitt ■*&• *tfrr ?' I i*< ■ JV{ ;% ►VaT ■ ■ ' « • I t I HT # LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. H B - - : — -• I || lm I'- fright |a. | If UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. « ?<»?•< "tV^J - 11 ■ ■ ■ ■ I lvc n I M m m ■ ■ ^^H J.i* 1 "! H fMf *w ^^M m ■ =jfw: 9\ c (J^U \mm OF j}pn$ ui t|fir C 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 illustrations. $ SECOND EDITION. lS By Kev. Edwin M. Long, Author of "Precious Hymns of Jesus," " Talks to Children," "Good News," " Work of Grace in the Hearts of the Young," etc. &01 <(iH- i Philadelphia : PUBLISHED BY P. W. ZIEGLER & CO. 518 ARCH STREET. & «i r^ , Entered 1 according to act of Congress, in the year 1876, by EDWIN M. LONG, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. John J-. J^rick, WHOM I SHALL EVER ESTEEM AS MY "Helper in Christ," this volume is by the c •W U INDING it unpleasant to be com- pelled to wait long at the door of entrance, we will not incur this cen- sure from our reader, but at once and with few words, extend our hand and a hearty welcome 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 teaching the world to " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " Take a few steps along our gallery and the reader will meet the pensive face of one, whose ready pen sketched the immortal hymn : — "There is a fountain filled with blood. " Kear by will be perceived the noble and expressive **5L Vlll 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 Mrs. 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 whose heavenly home-sickness has caused them oft to sing the hymn, — " On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, And cast a wishful eye," will not be reluctant to be introduced to its writer. . Then we 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 our 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, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for irie." Farther along is one whose lips were wont to say, and whose 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, " 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 : — 11 When T 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." Near 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." While 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 reputation by her gifts and graces, and as the author of that heart searching hymn that propounds the solemn question : — "When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come To take thy 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 with 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, the eccentric Berridge and the heroic Luther, with many others whose portraits beautify our gallery; as they are "old enough to speak for themselves." C w Preface, XI C 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, that, 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 we have found serviceable, we may mention the following " Sing- ers and Songs of the Church," by Josiah Miller, M. A. ; "Hymn-writers and their Hymns," by Rev. S. W. 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 past fifteen years, in the delivery of courses of Illustrated Sermons, 1 XII Preface. iff C 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 denominations, and in the German as well as the English language. "With the abundance of matter on hand, for which we eannot 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 children'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 have arranged our material in order to have all articles end 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. W ( 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, ye thankful people, come. " Portrait of Richard Baxter.* 43 Author of" Lord, it belongs not to my care." Baxter before Jeffries 49 Portrait of John Bsrridge 59 Author of " happy saints who dwell in light." Portrait of Horatius Bonar....! 67 Author of " I heard the voice of Jesus say." Potrait of Phcebe H. Brown 75 Author of " I love to steal a while away." Portrait of Phoebe 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 Phil'p Doddridge.* 133 Author of " Grace 'tis a charming: sound. " c ) 14 Engravings. c: Portrait of Timothy Dwight* 151 Author of "I love thy kingdom, Lord." Portrait 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 Harbauqh 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 231 Portrait of Adoniram Judson* 235 Author of " Our Father God, who art in heaven. " Portrait of John Keble 241 Author of " Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear. " , Portrait of Thomas Ken 245 Author of " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." Church along side of and 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 " where shall rest be found." Montgomery's Residence* 295 1 Engravings. 15 ^jB Portrait of John Nbwton 307 Author of " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds." Monica watchino Augustine's departure 314 Portrait of Samson Occom 324 Author of" Awaked by Sinai's awful sound." Portrait of KrisIina Pal 331 Author of " thou my soul forget no more." Portrait of Robert RoBiNSon 345 Author of "Come, thou Fount of every blessing." Portrait of John Ryland 351 Author of" Lord, I would delight in Thee." Portrait of HaNS 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 ! cleft for me." Abney 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 scene in an Illustrated Sermon 427 Portrait of Charles Wesley* 435 Author of" Jesus, lover of my soul." Singingon 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 Henhy 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 w Addison And his hymns ' 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 , 58 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 77 A little girl stealing away to Jesus 81 A captive girl recovered by a hymn 82 Phoebe Cary, 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" 91 Cowper and his hymns 92 c w 18 Contents. C 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 108 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 Doddrilge and his hymns 128 Singing of "O 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 '• sir, Fve 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 Relief 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 battle-hymn 182 Hymns upon the battle field 183 Madame Guyon and her hymns 184 w Contents. 10 ^ Harbaugh and his hymns 190 Hart and his hymns 196 Hymns that "mean me" 199 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 Judson and his hymns 234 John Keble and his hymns 240 Kelly and his hymns 243 Bishop Ken and his hymns 244 Singing of Ken's 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 1 ' 291 Luther and his hymns .' 262 Luther's snow song 266 Lyte ( , Author of " Jesus, I my cross have taken" 274 Origin of "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide" 276 Decision for Christ rewarded 277 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 c 20 Contents. ^ Newton and his 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 322 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 hy.un 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 effects 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 slave's song 372 The blind man of the mine '. 373 Singing a man to Christ 374 Appropriate hymrs amid Chicago's fire 376 Contents. 21 r "That sweet music" 377 Tennent, and the music he heard while in a trance 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 Singing of "Rock of Ages" by fifty operatives 389 " Rock of ages " floating over a field of death 390 "Rock of ages" drowning rowdy songs 391 Clinging close to the rock 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 396 Abney house where Watts lived and died 399 The monument of Watts 404 Origin of "How vain are all things here below" 407 Origin of Watt's first hymn 408 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 , 4 1 o Hymns upon the battle field 412 Hymns making a bloody impression 413 Illustrations of "Not all the blood of beasts." 414 Conversion through the illustration of a hymn 415 " My faith would lay her hand " illustrated 416 A pirate vessel driven away by the singing of Watts' hymn 417 The closed lips 418 A singular coincidence 419 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 '. 425 A hymn illustrated while it was being sung 426 i 22 Contents. r Illustrations of "Come, Holy Spirit heavenly dove ' T 429 A hymn that a church refused to sing 430 A hymn that woke up the sleepers 431 Different illustrations of Watts' hymns 432 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 soul" sung on a sinking vessel 442 Dr. Cuyler's use of "Jesus lover of my soul" 445 A mother floating out at sea singing "Jesus lover of soul" 4-16 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 The 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 An 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 a murdered 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 away 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 1 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, 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 506 Old style hymnology 507 Church singing in olden times 5C8 A hyom illustrated by a choir leader 511 Expressive epitaph of a chorister 512 A hymn illustrated by a thunder storm 513 Iucidents 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 521 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 hvmn- writers 537-558 ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF J| H tit 11 § and Ujrir |»t$ir§, c Addison and his Hymns. tlVE hymns have floated down the stream of time, during the past one hundred and sixty years, that have become 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 1695, and one in 1695, on the " Peace of Ryswick," procured him a pension of 300£. a year. With this pecuniary aid he was enabled in earlv manhood to extend his knowledge of the world by travel. While in this pursuit he met 1) 26 Addison's Hymns. c with many narrow escapes from death on sea and land. It is supposed, when in after years he glanced over these many dangers, he felt inspired to say, in the language of his well-known hymn, — ' ; When all thy mercies, my God, My rising soul 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, And guard me with a watchful eye ; My noon-day walks 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/ 1 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 hand that made us is divine." A month later, September 20, appeared a paper on $) Addison's hymns continued. 27 "The Sea," to which he afterwards added the hymn: — " How are thy servants blessed, Lord ! How sure is their defence." It had originally ten verses. In one he beautifully says, " The storm is laid, the winds ratire, 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 the prose article that preceded, it is said, "Among all the reflections which usually arise 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 now fulfil his heart's desire as thus expressed in one of his hymns : — "Through all eternity to thee A joyful song I'll raise ; Cut oh ! eternity's too short To utter all thy praise." £ W 28 Addison's hymns continued. ~&^f G " Sing and Pray, Eternity Dawns. " HEN the Rev. 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 laying to clasp them, but unable to guide them in his weakness, they would pass each other while, with clear voice, he would sing out, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" His last words were, "Sing and pray, eternity dawns." Thus amid the songs of earth, he passed to the halle- lujahs above. Well may we say with Watts : — " My willing soul would stay In such a frame as this, And sit and sing herself away To everlasting bliss. " D Sarah F. Adams. 29 HgBf c Author of "Nearer, my God, to Thee. " /foHIS language was the heart-utterance of Mrs. Sarah (^ Flower Adams, daughter of Benjamin Flower, editor of The Cambridge Intelligencer, and wife of William 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 valued. She also wrote a Catechism for children, entitled l The Flock at the Fountain' (1845). It is Unitarian in its sentiment, and is interspersed Avith hymns. She also wrote a dra- matic poem, in five aets, on the martyrdom of 'Vivia Perpetual 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 wore 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 sono; 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. W 30 S. F. Adams' hymn illustrated. HJT A Blind Girl's Utterance of "Nearer my God." /j/TTE condense a touching narrative as given by an anon- cp9 ymous writer. Ethel Bent had been for weeks stretched upon a sick bed, where she was brought nigh unto death. The disease had so affected her eyes that she had 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 his, 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 off 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 lips From the draught shrink ; So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, Thee, Nearer to Thee !'' c II S. F. Adams' hymn illustrated. 31 c " Never mind finishing it Ruthie; my head aches, and I want to be alone. " Once the thin, white hand was raised as if to dash "the cnp 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 wait; let the light in now;" but her mother said, "Have patience darling; the 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 oif 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 — u So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee. " 1 32 Hymn by Edwin 31. Long. C DRAW ME, SAVIOUR, NEARER. Words and Music by Rev. E. M. Long. 1 Draw me, Sa - viour, nearer, Near-er and near-er to thee ; Let me » -&- & 1 t=t j£±zd ^4jj±h *-f- ": he -" -» -5N ^J «=? see still clear-er, All tbou art to me. Draw me with the cords of ;:jig L^U *=£*: PS^ ^ 0- * jttppFtfcbpF^Fiq: tt=fc -»-#--#- 1 — ^-ii* — ®- ? I- -«-*=! I— -*--^.- i— L. i m , » Mt -G 0-\ 0- t— fc£±:$fc: est i love, Draw me up to things a bove. "While I sing, oh, may I be -*2-' -P- J2- pie & F=^F=f -l=t= I -- «t HP-fa -©-*■ rit. PP Drawn still clos-er, clos-er to thee. Closer, closer, closer to thee. 9*i i irrT ^mE^ff^g^r^TCHF £J Hymn by E. 31. Long continued. 33 «$T As the eagles soaring, Higher and higher ascend, Thus, while Thee adoring, Upward I would tend. Further from earth 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. As the river flowing, Ever draws nearer the sea, Thus would I keep g«ing, 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 J, 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. " C 34 Henry Afford and Jus hymns. r Alford and his Hymns. |EAN 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 y.ears 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 Support 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, heaven 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 tjiis 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 lie 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." HENRY ALFORD. Alford's hymns continued. 37 •&' c "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 Williams' grand invocation: — "Guide me, thou great Jehovah.'' We are glad to meet with it in some American hymnals, lately issued. We give it herewith: — " Forth to the 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. M There love shall have its perfect work, And prayer be lo?t in praise ; And all the servants of our God Their endless anthems raise. " His "Poetical Works" reached a fourth edition in 1865. In 1867 he issued a collection of hvmns entitled, ml t " ilie Year of Praise," of which 55 were of his own composition. One is found in nearly all collections, commencing, " Come, ye thankful people, come." J 38 Alf or d' s 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 By democrat dictators." Alforcl manifested wonderful powers of versatility. It is said, "He was a painter, a mechanic, a musician. He was a poet, a preacher, a scholar, and a critic." He loved to contemplate the " raptured greeting On Canaan's happy shore. " Say he, " Our thoughts 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 ! day for which creation, And all its tribes were made ; joy, for all its former woes A thousand fold repaid. " 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 !ate ; Orphans no longer fatherless, Nor widows desolate. " c w AlforoVs hymns continued. 39 C 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 expressive words : — THE INN OF A TRAVELLER ON HIS WAY TO JERUSALEM. In his dying moments he sweetly realized the desire of his heart as expressed in the following hymn, which was 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." 40 Hymn by Alfred the Great. *&' King Alfred's Hymn. §NE thousand years ago there lived a Christian King who ascended the English 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 applied 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, 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 others 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, — C Alfred's hymn continued. 41 C " Day by day provide us food, For from thee come all things good ; Strength unto our souls afford From thy living Bread, Lord ! 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 himself 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, Lord! Having translated the Psalms into English, and con- stantly carried a copy in his bosom, the fourth verse was certainly the language of his heart : — 11 Quickened by the Spirit's grace, All thy holy will to trace, While we daily search thy Word Wisdom true impart, 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, Save the tempted ones, 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 Richard Baxter and his hymns. Author of "Lord, it belongs not to my care. " 01) HE name of Richard Baxter is endeared to many C wrote a Latin hymn to "the sweet memory of Jesus," which has been, and still is highly prized by those who love that precious name. Translated by E. Cas- well the first verse reads, — "Jesus, the very thought of Thee, With sweetness fills my breast ; But sweeter far Thy face to see, And in Thy glory rest. " He was born in Burgundy, A. D. 1091, and was consecrated to God from the first, by Aletta, his devot- edly pious mother, who could say with Hannah, " for this child I prayed." Her death chamber was his spiritual birth-place. She died responding to a chant. He was selected with twelve others to build a mon- astery, which they accomplished in a " pathless forest haunted with robbers." There they toiled with songs of praise till at length it became Clair Vaux "the bright valley." By his learning, eloquence, and piety, he obtained great influence. Kings and Popes consulted him, and were subject to him. Peter the Venerable said he "had rather pass his life with Bernard than enjoy all the king- doms of the world. " Luther held him in high esteem, and said he was " the best monk that ever lived." Among his other sacred lyrics that are still held in high estimation, we may mention, — "Hail, thou Head! so bruised and wounded " The missionary Schwartz found great comfort in his dying hours by hearing the native Christians in India singing this hymn in their own Tamil language. After he had died, as was supposed, he was roused to life again Bernard continued. 57 by this favorite hymn, and his resuscitation was made known to them by his joining with them in the song. Bernard died in 1153, being sixty-two years of age. Like Andrew, he at "first findeth his own brother" and "brought him to Jesus." His father as well as his five brothers were among his first followers that he led in the narrow way. Of his brother Gerard's death, he touchingly savs, " Who could ever have loved me as he did ? He was a brother by blood, but far more by religion God grant, Girard, I may not have lost thee, but that thou hast preceded me; for of a surety thou hast joined those whom in thy last night below thou didst invite to praise God; when suddenly to the great surprise of all, thou, with a serene countenance and a cheerful voice, didst commence chanting, ' Praise ye the Lord, from the heaven; praise Him, all ye angels " Bernard lias been designated the honeyed teacher, and his writings a stream from Paradise. His heart seemed to overflow with love to Christ, of which in the first mentioned hymn, he says, — " Ah ! this Nor tongue nor pen can show : The love of Jesus what it is, None but his loved ones know." The thoughts expressed by Bernard in this verse, were also forcibly brought out in a striking figure by one partially insane at Cirencester, in 1779. •' Could we With ink the ocean fill, Were the whole earth of parchment made, "Were every single stick a quill, Were every man a scribe by trade ; To write the love of God alone, Would drain the ocean dry ; Nor would the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky. " c 58 John Ber ridge and his hymns. C Author of "0 happy saints, who dwell in light." ROMINENT among the workers that brought about the great revival of the eighteenth century was the Rev. John Berridge. He is described as " the salt of the church of England, and an instrument in God's hand of working revivals of religion within her pale, worthy of record with those that his compeers, White- field and Weslev, wrought without her." At nineteen he entered college at Cambridge, and be- came quite celebrated for his attainments, wit and humor. Though awakened in early life to a sense of his sinfulness, he entered the work of the ministry, without knowing the way of salvation. As six years passed around in his first charge at Staple- ford, England, without any souls being brought to Christ, he says, "God would have shown me, that /was wrong by not owning my ministry, but I paid no regard to this for a long time, imputing my want of success to the naughty hearts of my hearers, and not to my own naughty doctrine; that we are to be justified partly by our faith and partly by our works." In 1755 he removed to Everton, where there was a similar want of success. Until, as he says, " I began to be discouraged and now some secret misgivings arose in my mind that I was not right myself. Those misgivings grew stronger, and at last very painful. Being then un- der great doubts, I cried unto the Lord very earnestly. The constant language of my heart w r as this: 'Lord, if I am right, keep me so; if I am not right, make me so. Lead me to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.' After about ten days' crying unto the Lord, he was pleased to return an answer to my prayers, and in the following wonderful manner. As I was sitting in my house one morning, and musing upon a text of Scripture 1 i,\A • JOHX BERRIDGE. Berridge continued. 61 C these words were darted into my mind with wonderful power, and seemed indeed like a voice from heaven, " Cease from thy works. " 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 lears 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. " After 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. I 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 had been before. Immediately he burnt all his old sermons, and with tears of joy witnessed their destruction. The secret of his previous failures he expresses on thiswise: — " No wonder sinners weary grow Of praying to an unknown God, Such heartless prayer is all dumb show, And makes them listless, yawn, and nod." His warm heart now overflowed with emotion for perishing sinners. The church was awakened from its long sleep; 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. §/ 62 Berridge continued. His church "The windows being filled c Soon others came with the same story. became crowded. It is said : 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 villages. Being threatened with imprisonment, 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." As churches could not always contain the great multi- tudes that flocked to hear him, he would resort to the open fields, 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 upon his weighty words as he portrayed the interests of time and eternity. His eccentricity no doubt helped to swell the number of his hearers. It is said that sometimes the carl of his lips and "the very point of his peaked nose" would seem to add to the effectiveness of his spicy 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." Bcrridge's hymns. 63 C An amusing story is told of Berridge while 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 w r as 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 wandering 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 waspish 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 pray." 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 preface; "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 churches. 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 : -. — w w 64 Berridge's hymns continued. c "0 happy saints, who dwell in light Amd 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 begin to prove The heights and depths of Jesus ' love." "He cheers them with etw-nal smile j They sing hosannas all tne 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 will sing as loud as they." As 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 weep To see their shallow wit, Who leave their bread to gnaw the stones, And fondly break their teeth with bones. Hymn number seven commences thus : — u With solemn weekly state The 'worldling treads thy court Content to see thy gate, And such as thert resort, But, ah, what is the house to, me, Unless the master I can see. Another contrasts the law and grace on this wise: — "Ran, John r 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 wings. 1/ Berridge 1 s hymn continued. 65 •4^' Although Berridge was never married, lie 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 his 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 when the summons of death suddenlv arrived. A clerarvman remarked, "Jesus will soon call you up higher." He replied, "Ay, ay, ay, higher, higher, higher." Once he exclaimed, "Yes, and my childien, too, will shout and sing, ' Here comes our father ! ' " C W 66 Horatius Bonar. Bonar and his Hymns. HEN the feet of the psalmist 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 pastures" 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, — 1 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-place 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 that 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- reaching 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 the heart- wish so well expressed in his lines entitled, "Use Me:"— "Make use of me my God! 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. C "I was a Wandering Sheep/' fURING a revival in a female seminary in Massa- chusetts, 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 face 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 was a pause, and a perfect silence, and then, without lifting her eyes from the floor, she commenced, "I was a wandering sheep, I did not love the fold. " Her voice was low, but distinct, and every word, 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 own 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 wayward child had returned. 1 U Bonar's hymn — / lay my sins on Jesus. 73 *$t' Comfort Sung to a Weary Teacher. N infant school teacher thus describes her experience : U 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- plaining 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 my 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 as 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." C w 74 Origin of 3Irs. P. II. Brown's hymn. The Leafy Closet of Prayer. mountain stream, mm fvoov nnn n u prs t- vV ■■■/ sw\ % LONG a skirted with trees and alders, ^ g near the village of Ellington, Connecticut, there was a well trodden foot path, that led from a cottage to a place of prayer. 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 array — "I love to steal awhile away .. From little ones and care, And spend the hours of setting day In gratitude and prayer. " PHCEBE H. BROWN. 3Irs. Brown's hymn continued. 77 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 truth- fully it expresses the inward emotion of every prayerful soul, it is no wonder that it finds a place in nearly all the 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 From every cumbering care, And spend the hours of setting day In humble, grateful prayer. 11 1 love in solitude to shed The penitential tear, And all his promises to plead, Where none but God can hear. O M 'V 50 ►> H Sd i w H H 5 El d a H H O > as d o ►o w w Olney prayer -meeting. 105 immortal hvmn, 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 blood," 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 bast 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 snch 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 sangr together ot the lamb once slain. " c 108 Cowper's grave. A Visit to Cowper's Grave. " I went alone. 'Twas summer time ; And, standing there before the 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. 11 'Far from the world, 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 Ttieir tribute of esteem. "'There is a fountain.' As I stood I thought I saw 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 I felt inclined In sympathy, to weep ; But ' smiling day ' has dawned at last, And all his sorrows now are past; No tempter now, no midnight blast, To spoil the poet's sleep. 11 ' 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! Ob, for that ' purer light' to shed Its brightness on * the road !' " ' God moves in a mysterious way ; ' But now the poet seemed to say, 'No mysteries remain. On earth I was a sufferer, In heaven I am a conqnerer; God is his own inierpreter, And he has made it plain.'" c Singing of Cowper's hymn. 109 C The Hymn on which a Heart "Rose to God." fHILE 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 in 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: — u There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins, And sinners plunged 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 which 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. 1/ 110 Cowper's hymn continued. ; There is a fountain filled with blood" Illustrated. 'ONTGOMERY thought the figure of a "fountain *§? filled" was faulty and ought to be represented as " 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, going 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 ruin, 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. 11 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." r CowpeSs hymn continued. Ill Illustrated by a Death Scene. jj T was our privilege to preach in the Tenth Baptist ^p> 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 Captain Rogers' favorite- 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. AVhile the words of the second verse were being sung: — " And there have I, as vile as he, Washed all iny sins away," 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 baffles 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, u 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 full 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 on 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." . A like 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. Cowper's hymn. 113 •&' c "The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day ; And there have I, as vile as he, Washed all my sins away. " HILE 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 W 114 Cowper's hymn illustrated. C this lady had that amount. Supposing she kept it in her bed-chamber, he concealed himself under her bed, intending to search for it when she was asleep. But her prayer 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. §EV. 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 blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from cdl sin." He said no more, and they parted. Many years afterwards, when he was leaving a church in which 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, the 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 C 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. While 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 what 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 second verse: — "The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day, And there have I, though vile as he, Washed all my sins away. " the "Yes," he exclaimed, "I am that thief, - m6) — it was written for me, — that's just me. " -it meant W 116 William Cowper. *0 The Diversions of Cowper. ^t X the shattered condition of Cowper's nervous system, <^p> 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 proved 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 C i> IJ .' COWPEIt AND HIS HARES. Diversions of Cowper. 119 c: again to deepen of mental gloom, its shadows began 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." species that is sick, ) and, by constant care, and trying him with a variety of herbs, restored him to perfect health. No 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 120 Origin of Cowper's hymn. Origin of "God moves in a mysterious way." 'ONTGOMERY 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 supposed 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 hyrnn," 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. W Cowper's hymns, continued. 121 M Can a woman's tender care Cease towards the child she bare?" age, C OWPER 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 yet forty years after, he wrote, " that not a week passes, (perhaps I might with 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 wc give will show the impress of a mother's love, — " My mother ! when I learned that thou wast dead, Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed? Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, Wretch even then, life's journey jus' begun? 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 ! But was it such? It was. Where thou art gone Adieus find farewells are a sound unknown. May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore, The parting word shall pass my lips no more I Thy maidens, grieved themselves at my concern, Oft gave me promise of thy quick return. What ardently I wish'd, I 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. " 'W 122 Samuel Davies. Author of "Lord ! I am thine, entirely thine." §EV. SAMUEL DAVIES, D. D. was the author of a number of choice hymns. He was born in Dela- ware, November, 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 hundred. 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 support. But there is the will of God, and I am satisfied." c: ~w Samuel Davics' hymn. 123 C, Singing in Time of Peril. OW impressive was the 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 the 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 pray. 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 work for thee, then hold the anchor, ' Calmly he rose to return to the deck, and as he went, he heard a chorus of voices singing : — " ' 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 which hung their lives, and looking calmly on the raging of the elements, as they sung ' with the spirit and with the understanding also : — ' " l Lord, I am thine !' u The anchor held till the storm was past, and they anchored safe within the bay. " 124 David Denham's hymn. '' Home, sweet, sweet home. " longer f|EV. DAVID DENHAM a Baptist minister in England issued in 1837, the well known hymn of "Sweet Home,"commencing, "Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints." He wrote this and much of his poetry for the religious magazines. His field of ministerial labor was Margate, London, and Cheltenham. Having in early life been called to his "sweet home" above he need no sing in the language of his hymn :-— "I sigh from this body of sin to be free, Which hinders my joy and communion with 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 song of "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 persons playing 'Sweet Home/ without a shilling to buy the next meal, or a place to lay my head. The world has literally sung my song until every heart is familiar 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 submit 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. " tT was our privilege to hear, from the lips of one who is now a popular pastor of one of the 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 penitence. 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 were packing up to start for home, and not long after his feet were hastening down the flight of stairs, up Chestnut street, down Broad street, and at the Baltimore depot he took 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 gates appear! " c 126 Dickerson's hymn. Singing- The Heart Open. r Presbyterian minister, an American by birth, but of Scottish parentage, happening to be in New Or- leans, was asked to visit an old Scottish soldier who had sickened, and was conveyed 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 began to sing his mother's hymn. The soldier listened for a few moments in silence, 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. w Two incidents. 127 Conquered By Song. tN Louisiana, over a century ago, itinerant Methodist preachers fared roughly. A travelling minister was 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 my soul, thou needest not fear ; The Great Provider still is near.'' He sang the whole hymn, and when he looked around they were all in tears. He was forthwith invited to stay not a single night, but a whole week, with them. Mr. Bushnell of Utica, 1ST. 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 after 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, " / anil never sell another glass of liquor as long as 1 live. " r 128 Philip. Doddridge. g^te^ Author of " Grace, 'tis a charming sound. " HIS is one among the three hundred hymns penned by Philip Doddridge, D. 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 sc widely circu- lated and translated into so many languages, 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 eaily life his biographer says: "At his birth he shewed sc little sign of life that he was laid aside as dead. Eut 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 peasant, "carrying with him nothing but a hundred broad pieces of gold, plaited in a leathern girdle, and a Bible of Luther's translation." Doddridge counted it a great honor to have descended from these suffering saints of Christ. His mother taught him the history of the Old and New Testaments before he could read, by the assistance of some Dutch tiles in the room where they commonly met. As these early impressions shaped his destiny, and were so valuable to him in after life, he frequently rec- C w DODDKIDUE S MOTHER TEACHING HIM. Philip Doddridge. 131 C commended to parents to imitate her example. With such a mother's training, it is no wonder that it is said that while attending grammar school 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 parents 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 entered the ministry. His 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 Kib worth. 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 voluminous works. ¥ 132 Humor of Doddridge. DoddrkW 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 provision, 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 pierce her foot one day, he sent her these lines : — " Oft I have heard the ancient sages say The path 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. " This 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, written by Dod- dridge on his family arms, Dum vivimus vivamus, was the finest epigram in the English language: — 1/ y«» ^»\ Doddridge continued. 135 C "'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 flies.' 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 were 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 verse, commencing, "As rising now," &c. His Com- munion Hymn, is much used; the first stanza reads: — 'My God! and is thy table spread? And does thy 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 cup which thou shalt put into my hands.' God hath taken me at my ivord, but I will not retract it; I repeat it again with regard to every future cup, much sweetness is mingled with this potion." 1 13G 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 nature 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- ing over the Bible lying before him. "I am weeping, madam," he faintly replied, "but they are tears of 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 own 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 either hand, 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; Far"th ! twine no more about my heart, For 'tis far better to depart." " My 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 various £rlorh s of thy fac , What transport pours o'er all our breast, And charms our cares and woes to rest!" c w Doddridge continued. 137 C 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 failure 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 his 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 partner 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, la 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." m 138 Philip Doddridge, r Origin of Doddridge's Hymns. ODDRIDGE 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- position 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 souad 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 these 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 spiritual 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." Doddridge continued. 139 Doddrige led by a Special Providence. flS RE AT events often turn on a small pivot. The field ^j? 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 morning of that day, an incident happened, which affected me greatly. Having been much urged on Saturday evening, and much impressed with 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, was the ap- prehension of engaging in more business than I was ca- pable 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, ' And as thy days, so shall thy strength be" This seemed a voice from heaven, he afterwards accepted the call and wrote of hie 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 Saviours hands." c w 140 Doddridge's hymns. Doddridge's Hymn Sung with Dying Breath. RS. SARAH L. SMITH left Boston in 1833, for a 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 verse 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 : — a 'No more fatigue, no more distress, Nor sin, nor hell shall reach the place; No groans to mingl*- with the sonrs. 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. Before 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: i An incident. 141 •0 The Hymn-prayer at the Gate. T the close of an "Illustrated Sermon" inquirers and others were invited to retire to an adjoining room for prayer. As many filled 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 ibrty 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 academv, 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 open 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 when under the tree his stubborn will would still not yield. A fork in the road and nearly a dozen other places he tried, but when 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 pity, Lord ! Lord, forgive ; Let a rtpenting 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." c 142 Doddridge's hymn. " happy day that fixed my choice." OINING the church 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 to 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 was 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 chapter of John. ' l What do you mean ?' ' Why there where it says, * God so loved the world. ' 'Yes, but was that a world of saints r W Doddridge s hymn continued. 143 or of angels ? ' ' Xo. ' ' What was it then ? ' ' A world of sinners. Then I put myself down into that world and I found God loved me, and had given his Son for me. ' THIS hymn is often used as fitly describing the birth- day into the kingdom, and. is in this respect like the one Wesley wrote : — " for a thousand tongues to sing, " which he styled, " For the anniversary oj '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 while it was sung. M The chorus and tune of " Happy day/' became wed- ded to this hymn, and was everywhere and frequently sung during the great revival in 1858. A Maine pKys- ician was requested to certify to what is said in the sec- ond verse, — "'Tia 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 'I am 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 un.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 Doddridge's hymn. ".Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve, And press with vigor on : A heavenly 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 right 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, and 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 amusing sight to see the audience splash- ing through 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. r I Doddridge's hymn Illustrated. 145 A Hymn of One Word. tN an article concerning* the Bedouin Arabs, in the Christian Standard, Dr. Stephen Fish gives the origin of a hymn made up of one word. Says he : "Many 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, taiyib, 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 i 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. " {3 , . ; fp O a discouraged Christian who was about to give up Ctp 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. prayer-meeting of a country village was attended by fbut few during a season of coldness. The pastor was absent, his place being supplied by one of his deacons, who, 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 Faviour, 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- tinned for several years. " C Doddridge 's hymn. 147 C Heaven as Represented in Song. WRITER says in the Ladies 1 Repository : " Mr. Editor, in your notes on Sunday school songs you quote from one of our hymn-writers the lines — " ' 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 have been unable to get from my 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 when 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 <5f the torrid zone, shudders to read the lines of Doddridge, describing Heaven: — "'No midnight shade, no clouded sun, But sacred, 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. ' " W 148 Duffield 7 s hymn. C ^^ Origin of "Stand np! stand up for Jesus." SOURING 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 his parting words to his brethren, "Stand up for Jesus." Under their in- spiration the Rev. George Duffield composed the popular hymn : — "Stand up! stand up for Jesus," to be sung after his sermon on the Sabbath morning fol- lowing the sudden death of Mr. Tyng in the spring of 1858. Shortly before his departure he delivered a memorable sermon in Jayne's Hall, Philadelphia, on the text, " Ye that are men now serve Him, " in which the slain of the Lord were many. Mr. Duffield has embraced these words in quotation marks in the verse : — • M Stand up ! stand up for Jesus ! The trumpet call obey. " Forth to the mighty conflict In this his glorious day: 4 Ye that are men, now serve him' Against unnumbered foes; Your courage rise with danger, And strength to strength oppese." 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 Duffield'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 card 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 frequent 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 church, 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. 11 Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross."' c 150 Timothy DiclgJtt. C Author of "Hove Thy kingdom, Lord." fHIS hymn was issued in 1800 by Timothy D wight, 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 was 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 " Th,eology" 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 that were being read to him, " O what triumphant truths !" i) ret: timothy d wight, s.t.d.ul.d. PHESITJE^T OT TALE COLLEGE FROM !7ir)5 TO 1817'. Dwight's hymn illustrated. 1 ^Q 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 ft was noised abroad that she was a witch, that the old church was haunted with 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 taker^ " 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, plead 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 Dwighfs hymn illustrated. C Singing heard in the Wilderness- fljj NE 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 accustomed 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 day for some two weeks. A fter some forty were converted, Rev. B. Maxey 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- ing had never been heard before. W Dwight's hymn illustrated. 1.55 c: A Prisoner Singing Himself into Liberty. ft) HIS was the case with Deacon Epa Norris during C§) 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, and did Mr. Norris the honor to select him from the American prisoners of war to be a guest. The deacon, in his homespun attire, took his seat at the table with the aristocracy of the British navy. The company sat long at the feast: they drank toasts, told stories, laughed and sang songs. At length Mr. Norris was called on for a song. He de- sired to excuse himself, but in vain : he must sing. He possessed a fine, strong, musical voice. In an ap- propriate and beautiful air, he commenced singing: — " ' Sweet is the work, my God, my King, To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing. ' " Thoughts of home and of lost religious privileges, and of his captivity, imparted an unusual pathos and power to his singing. One stanza of the excellent psalm must have seemed peculiarly pertinent to the occasion : — " ' Fools never raise their thoughts so high : Like brutes they live, like brutes they dia ; Like grass they flourish, till thy breath Blast them in everlasting death. ' ""When the singing ceased, a solemn silence ensued. At length the commandant broke it by saying : ' Mr. Norris, you are a good man, and shall return immedi- ately to your family. ' The commodore kept his word ; for in a few days Mr. Norris was sent ashore in a barge, with a handsome present of salt, — then more valuable in the country than gold. •>■> 156 Charlotte Elliott. C Author of " Just as I am, without one plea. " §HIS world-renowned hymn, issued in 1836 by Charlotte Elliott, is spoken of as " the divinest of heart-utterances in song that modern times have bestowed upon us. " It is one of those hymns that are suited to all ages, characters, and conditions in life. Mr. Saunders says: "The plaintive melody of the re- frain cannot but awaken a responsive echo in every devout soul, as the sad notes of some lone bird are caught up and repeated amid the stillness of the silvan solitude. " Rev. R. S. Cook, of New York, sent to Miss Elliott a companion and counterpart to her hymn, commencing: "Just as thou art, without one trace." Miss Elliott is grand-daughter of the Rev. John Venn, and sister of Rev. E. B. Elliott, author of the "Horae Apocalypticse, " and of Rev. Henry Venn Elliott, himself a writer of hymns. Mr. Miller says (1869) "that she formerly resided at Torquay, where the neighborhood was greatly benefited by her piety and benefactions, and is now residing at an advanced age and infirm health at Brighton." She is represented as "a lover of nature, a lover of souls, and a lover of Christ. " Her heart and pen are kept so busy with writing for her Master, that it is said that even in her old age, she seldom appears at the breakfast table without more or less of poetical composition in manuscript. She has issued the following publications: In 1842, "Morning and Evening Hymns for a Week, by a Lady ; in 1836, "Hours of Sorrow Cheered and Comforted;" in 1863, "Poems by E. C. ;" yearly she has issued "The Christian Remembrance;" besides contributing one hundred hymns to the Invalids' Hymn-Book. CHARLOTTE ELLTOTT. Charlotte Elliott continued. 159 "Just as I am" was an epitome of Miss Elliott's ex- perience. Her sister says that in 1821 "she became deeply conscious of the evil in her own heart, and hav- ing not yet fully realized the fulness and freeness of the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, she suffered much mental distress under the painful uncertainty whether it were possible that such a one as she felt herself to be could be saved/' After groping her way through darkness for a year, Dr. Malan of Geneva paid her a visit at her father's house on the ninth of May, 1822. Seeing how she was held back from the Saviour by her own self-saving efforts, he said : " Dear Charlotte, cut the cable, it will take too long to unloose it; cut it, it is a small loss," and then bidding her give "one look, silent but continuous at the cross of Jesus," she was enabled at once freely to say; — "Just as I am — without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bid'st me come to thee, Lamb of God, I come ! " "From that time," says her sister, "for forty years his constant correspondence was justly esteemed the greatest blessing of her life. The anniversary of that memorable date was always kept as a festal day ; and on that day, so long as Dr. Malan lived, commemorative letters passed from the one to the other, as upon the birth- day of her soul to true spiritual life and peace. " Dr. Malan as a skilful spiritual physician had carefully probed the wound, and led her to the true remedy for all her anxiety, — namely, simple faith in God's own word. It was thus from her own experience she could write: — " Just as I am — thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ; Because thy promise I believe, Lamb of God, I come ! " r ^3 160 Charlotte Elliott's hymn continued. C "From that ever memorable clay," it is said her "spir- itual horizon was for the most part cloudless," until, in the bright vision that attended her dying moments, she could say in the language of her last verse; — " Just as I am — of that free love, The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove, Here, for a season, then above, Lamb of God, I come." Clamly she closed her eyes in death, September 22, 1871. POOR little boy once came to a New York city ^p missionary, and holding up a dirty and worn-out bit of printed paper, said, " Please, sir, father pent me to get a clean paper like that." Taking it from his hand, the missionary unfolded it, and found that it was a page containing the precious hymn : — " Just as I am — without one plea." He looked down with deep interest into the face so earnestly upturned towards him, and asked the little boy where he got it, and why he wanted a clean one. "We found it, sir," said he, "in sister's pocket, after she died, and she used to sing it all the time she was sick, and she loved it so much that father wanted to get a clean one, and put it in a frame to hang it up. Wont you please to give us a clean one, sir?" The son-in-law of the poet Wordsworth sent to Miss Elliott a letter, telling of the great comfort afforded his wife when on her dying bed, by the hymn. Said he, when " I first read it, I had no sooner finished than she said very earnestly, 'that is the very thing for me.' At least ten times that day she asked me to repeat it, and every morning from that day till her decease, nearly two months later, the first thing she asked me for was her hymn. "Now my hymn," she would say — and she would of- ten repeat it after me, line for line, in the day and night." Miss Elliott's hymn. 161 " Sir ! I've come, I've come. " (fcHE Rev. Dr. McCook, while in his pastorate at St. (^p Louis, was sent for to see a young lady who was dy- ing of consumption. He soon found that she had imbibed infidelity through the influence of her teacher in the Normal School, and with her keen intellect was enabled to ward off all the claims of the gospel. After exhausting all the arguments he could think of during his visits, he was exceedingly puzzled to know what more to do, as she seemed unshaken in her doubts. She at length seemed so averse to the subject of religion that when calling one day, she turned her face to the wall and seemed to take no notice of him. Mr. McCook said : " Lucy, I have not called to argue with you another word, but before leaving you to meet the issues of eternity I wish to recite a hymn. n He then repeated with much emphasis the hymn : — " Just as I am, without one plea, n and then bade her adieu. She made no response. He was debating for some time whether, after so much re- pugnance, he should call again. But realizing her near- ness to the eternal world he concluded to make one more visit. Taking his seat by her bedside she slowly turned around in bed. Her sunken eyes shone with un- wonted lustre, as she placed her thin, emaciated hands in his and said slowly, and with much emotion : — "'Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood -was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, Lamb of God, I come, I come. ' "O Sir! I've come. I've come." That hymn told the story. It had decided her eternal destiny. It had done what all the logical arguments had failed to do. She soon afterwards peacefully crossed the river. C 162 Miss Elliott's hymn, continued. c "Just as I am" Uttered with a Dying Breath. t ESSIE, a young lady of eighteen, whose home is in Vermont, while attending seminary was taken very ill. It seemed only a slight illness, but to the sur- prise of all, when the doctor was summoned, he said : " You can have but a few hours to live. " A correspond- ent says: "Not one who was present will forget that look of awe and terror that covered Jessie's face. ' pray for me,' was her agonized request of all her friends. To her schoolmates she sent the message, 'Tell them to be Christians, for they know not at what moment they may be surprised as I have been.' She then began to say: — " 'Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, Lamb of God, I come. ' "The second verse was begun in a faint whisper: — " 'Just as T am, and waiting not, To rid my soul of one dark blot, To Thee—"' With the word, ' Thee' upon her lips, she breathed her last breath and passed away to the spirit-land." tAR out on the Western prairies dwelt a father who had not been to church for fifteen years. After death laid some of his family in the grave, God's "still small voice" came to him. "All alone," said he, "out there on the prairie, with no religious teacher, no Christian friend, God spoke to me. I then gladly went to hear a missionary preach in a school-house. Was this salvation for me? Could I, so long a wanderer, come and be for- given? While agitated with these thoughts, they sang: " 'Just as I am, without one plea. ' It told my story, and before it was ended, I could say: — "'0 Lamb of God, 1 come.'" W Miss Elliotts hymn continued. 163 "To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot.'' MISSIONARY in his travels, found a heathen expiring 1 by the wayside. Inquiring of his hopes for the life to come, the dying man whispered: "The blood ot Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin ;" and with this utterance he breathed his last breath. The mission- ary, perceiving a bit of paper in his closed hand, took it from his grasp, when, to his great joy, he found it to be a leaf of the Bible, containing the First chapter of 1st John, on which was printed the text that gave him his hold on eternal life. Ascending thus to the skies, he could truthfully say, in the language of Miss Elliott's hymn: — "To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, Lamb of God, I come." fNE day, a dying girl, twelve years old, rousing from her slumbers, said : " Aunty, how do you know you are a Christian?" To which the answer was given: "Darling, we love Jesus, and try to do what he tells us. Do you want to be a Christian?" "Oh, ;-es aunty!" The lines of the hymn were then quoted: — "Just as I am, without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, Lamb of God, I come 1 I come ! " etc. when she continued, "Oh, aunty, isn't that lovely?" During the convulsions that followed, and closed her earthly career, she could be heard saying: "Abba, Father, Thou knowest that I love thee. Aunty will teach me." When her baby brother was brought in to see her in her coffin, he truthfully said: "tatie seepin." This seemed to the weeping parents but the echo of the Master's words: "She is not dead, but sleepeth." r 164 Charlotte Elliott's hymn. r *5- The Young Chorister's Last Hymn. ((EVERYBODY knew Claude Davenel was dvino; • he vg knew it himself, and his mother knew it as she sat there watching him. All the villagers knew it, and many an eye was wet as the name of little Claude was whispered among them. Claude had taken his illness on a chilly autumn even- ing, when the choir was practising in church. One of his companions, Willie Dalton, complained of a sore throat, so that he could not sing, and he sat down cold and sick in his own place. Claude took off his comfort- er and wrapped it around his friend's neck, and when the practising was over he ran home with him, and then put on his comforter again as he went back to his own home. Willie was sickening for the scarlet fever, and poor Claude caught it too. Willie recovered ; but Claude had taken the disease in its worst form, and though the fever had left him, he had never been able to recover his strength, and he had grown weaker and wasted away. And so it was on this calm Sunday evening. He had been drawn up close to the window, to listen to the church bells slowly ringing out and calling people in. The bell stopped, and Claude's eyes grew more wistful as the sound of the organ fell upon his ear. That stopped too, and then all was still. He closed his eyes until he heard it again ; and then he opened them, listening in- tentl y. "They are coming out now, mother," he said, after a minute's pause. " Lift me up a little, mother dear ; I want to see them. I can hear the boys' foot steps on the gravel — lift me up a little higher, mother — they are com- ing this way. I can't see them, but I can hear them — they are coming down our street. Mother, put your hand out, and wave my handkerchief to them. " W Miss Elliott 1 s hymn continued. 1G5 The trampling of feet had stopped under his window, and there was a low murmur of voices. Another mo- ment and there was a gentle tap at the door, and Willie Dalton slipped in. " Mrs. Davenel, we want to sing to Claude. " The question had been whispered, but Claude heard and caught at it eagerly. "Oh, do! do! Mother, let me hear them — -just once more. " The poor mother nodded her head sadly. "It can't hurt him, Willie, and he likes it." The boy cast a loving glance upon his friend, and then went quietly out of the room. There were a few minutes of silence below, and then the choir-boys sang Claude's favorite hymn : — u My God, my Father, while I stray Far from my home in life's rough way, Oh, teach me from mv heart to say, « Thy will be done ! ' " He clasped his hands together and gently .began to join in when they sang the fourth verse : — 11 If thou should'st call me to resign What most I prize, it ne'er was mine, I only yield Thee what is Thine: 'Thy will be done!'"' When the hymn was ended his mother bent down over her son. His head had fallen back upon the pillow and the color had fled from his cheeks. "Mother," he said, "write ' Thy will be done' over my grave when I am gone. " So the little chorister died. He is buried in a spot near the path to the choir vestry; and till those choir- boys had given place to others, they used to sing each year the same hymn, at Claude Davenel 's grave, on the evening of the day on which he died. Children's Prize. C 16ii John Fawcett. Fawcett and his Hymns. ^LTHOUGII Whitefield did not perpetuate his in- . in 1772. The following are given as the inter- esting facts that occasioned it. After he had been a few years in the ministry, his fam- ily increasing far more rapidly than his income > he thought it was his duty to accept a call to settle as pastor of a Baptist church in London, to succeed the celebrated Dr. Gill. He preached his farewell sermon to his church in Yorkshire, and loaded six or seven wagons with his fur- niture, books, etc., to be carried to his new residence. All this time the members of his poor church were almost broken hearted, fervently did they pray that even now he might not leave them ; and, as the time for departure arrived, men, women, and children clung around him and his family in perfect agony of soul. The last wagon was being loaded, when the good man and his wife sat down on one of his packing-cases to weep. Looking into his tearful face, while tears like rain fell down her own cheeks, his devoted wife said, " Oh, John, John, I cannot bear this ! I know not how to go ! r " Nor I, either, " said the good man ; " nor will we go. Unload the wagons and put everything in the place where it was before." The people cried for joy. A letter was sent to the church in London to tell them that his coming to them was impossible; and the good man buckled on his armor for renewed labors on a salary of less than three hundred dollars a year. He then took his pen and wrote the words, ' c Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love, " as expressive of the golden bond of union that knit pas- tor and people so closely and tenderly together. Dr^ Belcher. 1/ Faiccetfs hymn illustrated. 171 • of this hymn was penned by Lopede Vega, who was born at Madrid, in 1562. In Evenings with the Sa- cred Poets it is said that he read Latin at five years of age; and such was his passion for verses, that before he could use a pen, he bribed his elder schoolmates with a portion of his breakfast, to write to his dictation, and then exchanged his effusion with others for prints and hymns. Thus truly he lisped in numbers; and as he was the most prolific ancl voluminous of poets, he kept himself diligently exercised in that line to the end of his life. li Lord, what am I, that, with unceasing care, Thou didst seek after me? that thou didst wait, Wet with unhealthy dews, before my gate, And pass the gloomy nights of winter there? Oh, strange delusion, that I did not greet Thy blessed approach ! and oh, to heaven how lost, In my ingratitude's unkindly frost, Has chilled the bleeding wounds upon Thy feet: How oft my guardian angel gently cried, ' Soul from thy casement look, and thou shalt see How He persists to knock and wait for thee. ' And oh ! how often to that voice of sorrow, 1 To-morrow we will open ' I replied ; And when to-morrow T came, I answered still, [ 'to-morrow. ' " 3t LITTLE boy had listened very attentively while