ins and outs, ups and downs, of our wilderness route, we shall see and own that not one good thing has failed of all that the Lord our God hath spoken concerning us. Yea more, we shall then be satisfied that some of the roughest things in our journey were among the best of our Father's dealings with us. Do not be dismayed, dear friend, that nature yet shrinks from the touch of the last kind messenger. "That which is born after the flesh is flesh, and that which is born after the Spirit is spirit." And I often find that while the heaven-born principle aspires and pants to range the plains of bliss, the old Adam nature cleaves to the dust, and says, Let me stay a little longer in my native land. But I anticipate that when the hour arrives for my departure, nature will be made to acquiesce in the wish of grace. It is quickening grace we want, to call into exercise the graces bestowed; therefore, the Psalmist's prayer suits us well, "Quicken Thou me." We have all we want in Jesus for eternal salvation, but we want larger communications from Him, and stronger confidence in Him, which can only be obtained by closer intimacy with Him. May He pour upon us the spirit of prayer for that purpose. Be this our comfort: He ever lives to intercede for us; and, though we may be clouded in our experience, dark in our closet, and barren in life, yet He is always the Sun, always light, always saying, "In Me is thy fruit found." He has never been a barren wilderness to us, nor will He withhold any good thing from us. All heaven and earth are at His command for the real interests of His people. Our happiness depends not on creatures, nor on created good, but upon our union with Christ producing that communion which lifts the soul above terrene things, and fixes the confidence on Divine faithfulness. A life of faith is much to be preferred to a life of sensible enjoyment, for the former is solid food, while the latter is only sweetmeats. The former brings great glory to God, while the latter affords gratification to us. Sometimes, however, the Lord favours us with both, and then it is a complete feast. Faith takes God at His word, claims all the promises, triumphs over sin, and expects eternal glory. Yours in the bonds of the Gospel, From "Memoir." No. 26. FROM a young Christian, recently baptized, to her Sister. Debenham, October 4th, 1882. MY DEAR SISTER in nature's bondsand, oh it gives me such pleasure to think that I can now say in Gospel bonds too, I take the present opportunity of writing you this short epistle, in which I want to talk to you a little respecting the change that Grace has wrought in your heart. Oh! I bless God, dear sister, that He has shown you your state as a sinner. We can have no idea of the depravity of our own hearts till He touches them with the finger of His mercy and bids us look within. It is then, and then only, that we can comprehend the perilous condition in which we stand. God has shown you yourself, dear sister, and blessed be His name. He has shown you Himself too. He has made you feel the burden of sin, but He has not left you in your trouble. Oh no, He never does that. Our God is a God of love; were He not such, He would never have given the blood of His precious Son for us. Oh! how sweet it is, dear sister, to have Christ for a friend and companion here below, where we must needs meet with troubles and difficulties. How sweet to have some one to whom we can go and tell all our troubles and know that we shall meet with nothing but pity. Oh ! I have often gone to Him with such a tale as I could never have poured into human ears. Well, dear sister, He has brought you into the light and liberty of the Gospel. Now I hope the time is not far distant when you shall come forward and testify to the world what He has done for your soul. I do not think you will feel quite happy or at ease till you have publicly put on Christ. I speak this from my own personal experience. I tried to make excuses, pleaded my youth, &c. Satan told me there was plenty of time yet. But I was not happy. I could not get rid of this text: "He that knoweth My will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." It seemed to point out the path of duty so plainly to me. But, dear sister, I must hastily break off. Time and space forbid me to say more now. I will, therefore, conclude with best love, From your loving sister, POLLIE. FAVOURITE HYMNS AND THEIR ISAAC WATTS, D.D. THERE is no need to prefix this article with any particular hymn, seeing that Watts's are so well known; and, seeing also that so many of them are favourites with the Church of Christ, it would be difficult to make a selection for the purpose. Very few Christians who praise God in the English tongue are unfamiliar with the strains of the "sweet singer of our British Israel," as Dr. Watts has been called. All hymnals have gathered flowers in his garden, from Stevens', which has 174 of the choicest, down to the Ritualistic "Ancient and Modern" with only five; those five, however, being of the very best, but not transplanted without some injury in the process to one or two of them, by fanciful alteration. Some of our own earliest recollections commingle with Dr. Watts's poetic utterances. Do we not remember repeating at the paternal knee, when somewhere about five years old, before retiring to rest, the hymn, "How glorious is our heavenly King"? And on the Lord's-day morning, "This is the day that Christ arose," and in the evening, "Lord, how delightful 'tis to see"? O, the impressions received in infantile days from those and other hymns of the good Doctor, as taught to repeat by a godly father, will never be forgotten. And then, when called by grace in youthful days, having been baptized and joined the church, when asked for the first time to give out a hymn and pray at the nine o'clock Lord's-day morning prayer-meeting, was not the hymn, "Go, worship at Immanuel's feet," the one from which a few verses were read? How often we have sung the good Doctor's lines with feelings that seemed to identify the soul with the joys of the heavenly choir, since fifty years ago the name of Christ first became precious, it were impossible to say. And have we not heard dying saints repeat his lines as expressive of their faith and hope in view of the close of their journey? That good old pilgrim, friend of our infancy, childhood, and early youth, when asked as to her prospects regarding the life to come, did she not express her faith in our precious Jesus and His precious atonement, by repeating in a solemn and feeling manner the two lines?— "Is He a way? He leads to God, The path is drawn in lines of blood." Then as to the good Doctor's catechisms-that much to be regretted, as being now disused, form of imparting religious instruction to the young:was not the first idea of a Divine Being impressed upon our young mind by learning answers to the questions in his Catechism for Young Children? Can you tell me, child, who made you? The great God who made heaven and earth. What doth God do for you? He keeps me from harm by night and by day, and is always doing me good. How simple, and yet how true, and how all-important to impress the child's mind with the thought that his Maker is always doing him good. And He does do good to all. That infidel who blasphemes His holy name, denies His Word, hates and breaks His laws, God is always doing him good. So that when he comes to be dealt with according to his deeds in another world, the guilty rebel will have nothing to say in extenuation of his crimes. Perhaps not many of these catechisms are sold now, catechising children being out of fashion; but the sale of Watts' "Divine and Moral Songs" in England and America still amounts to the large number of from 80,000 to 100,000 copies a year. But it is of his "Psalms and Hymns" we have to speak. Taking up the volume it opens at the 100th Psalm, the version commencing, "Sing to the Lord with joyful voice." In the selections this verse is omitted, and the next made the beginning, altered thus "Before Jehovah's awful throne, Ye nations, bow with sacred joy. In which improved form it appears in almost all the books. And this may be said to be the best of the very few instances in which alterations in Watts' accepted hymns can be held to deserve the name of improvements. John Wesley is said to be the author of this emendation; but as in the Wesleyan hymn-book this hymn is placed among those said to be added since his death, the assertion seems somewhat questionable. The hymn, "Come, let us join our cheerful songs," ," has been considered by some as the best of all the Doctor's hymns. Amongst so many that are excellent, it is difficult to point to one as excelling the rest. The one just named is certainly a very fine one, having within it the very notes of the heavenly choir. Some have considered the hymn "My God, the spring of all my joys," the finest composition amongst the whole. It certainly has special beauties of its own, and shows the spiritual tone and devout fervour of a mind in close fellowship with God. So does the hymn "From Thee, my God, my joys shall rise," which is a rapturous anticipation of the bliss to be realised by the child of God in the presence of Christ above. Similar words would apply to many others, showing the happy Christian experience of the highly favoured young man who wrote them, for Watts composed most of his best hymns before he was twenty-two years old, and, therefore, while in his "first love," from which happy condition of spiritual well-being he does not seem ever much to have declined. The first hymn young Watts composed is said to have been that which stands first in his book-"Behold the glories of the Lamb,"-and at his father's suggestion, when the young poet complained of the quality of the verses sung at the chapel at Southampton where the family attended, and where Mr. Watts, senior, was deacon. This first effort was, of course, a decided success, and others were called for and rapidly followed, the ultimate result being the "Hymns." The "Psalms" were an after-production, and not published till twelve years later than the first edition of the "Hymns." These soon displaced the older compositions, which, however correct in sentiment, were poor indeed as to poetical merit, as the following specimen, which is an extract from one of them, will show :"Let's send up praises unto Him, Let us His name extol, His mercy was from ever sure, : And the hymns at that period were given out and sung by the congregation a line at a time. No wonder that the worshippers at Southampton were astonished and delighted when this beautiful hymn was read out to them, so superior in every respect to the dull and dreary lines they had been previously accustomed to. There is a pleasing anecdote told in connection with the hymn "Give me the wings of faith to rise." Good Dr. Doddridge, after preaching a sermon one summer's evening to a village congregation from the words, "Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises," gave out that sublime and touching hymn. No doubt that excellent and devout man of God had expatiated very feelingly and blessedly upon the subject of his text, probably on "inheritance" especially SO. This hymn, however, so affected his congregation-who then, perhaps, heard it for the first time-that they were deeply moved, some even to tears. and at the close of the service clustered round the minister expressing their deep gratitude for the enjoyment experienced, and an earnest desire to see the face of dear old Dr. Watts just once." Another incident, partly differing in character from the one just mentioned, has been narrated in connection with the hymn "Come, we that love the Lord." Dr. Haweis, himself the author of several good hymns, a godly man and Evangelical preacher, rector of a country parish in Northamptonshire, had a very strong objection to "that shameful mode of psalmody confined to a few persons huddled together in one corner of the church, who sing to the praise and glory of themselves, for the entertainment or, oftener, the weariness of the rest of the congregation." The good Doctor on one occasion, it seems, gave offence in his sermon to these same "Let "few persons," who, by way of retaliation, declined "leading-off" the closing hymn, the consequence being a dead silence in the church. The Doctor, however, arose in his pulpit and gave out the hymn referred to, giving special and prominent emphasis to the verse, those refuse to sing who never knew our God." The delighted congregation were only too pleased to unite with their minister, who was well able to lead them, in singing this hymn of praise to the God of Zion. It were needless to attempt to point out the beauties of Dr. Watts's hymns, they being so well known, and their excellences so very appreciable by the humble spiritual worshipper. Of the 708, however, which comprise the whole number in his book of "Psalms and Hymns," there are many not well adapted for public worship. Hence the value of a good "selection" like that of Stevens, which includes all those most suited for the service of the sanctuary, and omits such as for any reason may not be so considered. The popular hymnals mostly omit his versions of Solomon's Song, which, one writer tells us, are 66 very sensuous and soon fell into disuse." Probably they did among professors of religion who, like some of the present day, take objection to the word precious as applied to our dear Redeemer. But what humble, contrite, broken-hearted child of God does not feel his soul melted under the hymns-"Thou whom my soul admires above," "When strangers stand and hear me tell," "The wondering world inquires to know," "Daughters of Zion, come, behold," &c. Surely that must be a poor, cold, carnally minded professor who finds no spiritual response in his soul to the glowing, heavenly, Christ-loving expressions contained in the utterances of these hymns. The hymns of Dr. Watts are mostly praise hymns-not experimental in the customary darker sense of the word. Yet there are hymns of his experimental enough in the darker sense, as hymn 98, Book II., "My heart, how dreadful, hard, it is." But whatever is the good, or where the propriety, of people when they stand up to praise their God and Saviour-singing about their hard hearts, or other bad things relating to themselves? Dr. Watts' Christian experience was principally of a bright, confident, trustful kind, yet, withal, very humble and self-abasing. But he could never have written John Newton's "Tis a point I long to know;" nor Hart's verse, "Dream not of faith so clear, As shuts all doubtings out," which seems to imply that no child of God is to expect to attain, as Paul did, to the faith of assurance. It is evident from his hymns that Watts had his dark seasons, but it is more abundantly clear that he experienced much joy and peace in believing. His end was peace, and he departed this life in full persuasion of entering that better life above, which is so expressively spoken of by the apostle as "to be with Christ." The events of his life are within the knowledge of most admirers of his hymns, by the "Life of Dr. Watts," written by Dr. Johnson, frequently prefixed to "Psalms and Hymns," and by other larger, better, and more sympathetic biographies than that stately, frigid affair. The following hymn of praise to the Almighty Saviour is supposed to be one CHRIST, OR THE WORLD? A KAREN Woman offered herself for baptism to Mr. Judson, the missionary in Burmah. After the usual examination, he inquired if she could give up her ornaments for Christ. It was an unexpected blow. The missionary explained the spirit of the Gospel, appealed to her own consciousness of vanity, and read to her the Apostle's prohibition, 1 Tim. ii. 9. She looked again and again at her handsome necklace, and then, with an air of modest decision, took it off, saying, "I love Christ more than this." |