Animula, vagula, blandula, Hospes, comesque corporis, etc. To this, and to a fragment of Sappho, Pope confessed that he owed the inspiration which gave birth to "Vital spark of heavenly flame," the germ of which was sent for insertion in the Spectator in 1712. Soon after its receipt, Steele wrote to Pope, asking him to make an ode out of it suitable for music. He complied with this request, and sent "Vital spark" in the form we now possess it. Samuel Wesley, junr. (1690-1739), the elder brother of John and Charles Wesley, who held aloof from the Methodist movement, which began only five years before his death, and of which they were the great leaders, and from which he did his best to turn them, was also a hymnist, and author of "Poems on Several Occasions." To the last, he adhered to the Church of England, as did his brothers, and was, indeed, a High Churchman of the type of that age. His best known hymn is "The Lord of Sabbath let us praise." Less known, but fairly good, are his hymns, "The morning flowers display their sweets," and "Hail! Father, whose creating call." John Byrom (1691-1763), remarkable for his scientific attainments, belonged, in some degree, to the school of Mystics, but was probably kept from some of their excesses by his work in science. Two of his hymns, though greatly differing in style and substance, have attained to great popularity, and are still widely used. His hymn for Christmas Day, "Christians, awake, salute the happy morn," is very distinctive, and boldly lyrical; whilst "My spirit longeth for Thee "-as the reader may see-is terse and tender in a very high degree :— My spirit longeth for Thee, Of so Divine a guest Unless it come from Thee, No rest is to be found He has given us very little, but that little is very good. Some of his verses anticipate, and set forth with great force the better theological thought of our own time. This is specially so in his "Meditation for Wednesday in Passion Week." George MacDonald speaks of his verses as a well of the water of life, for its song tells of the love and truth which are the grand power of God." Robert Seagrave (born 1693) wrote about fifty hymns, included in a collection prepared for his own congregation at Lorimer's Hall in 1742. He is remembered chiefly by one of these, "Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings," which seems to me touched with the thought of Sir John Davies's remarkable philosophical poem, "Of the soul of man, and the immortality thereof." Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) is one of the great names in hymnody. Remarkable for many things, his fame chiefly rests on his hymns. These were mostly written to gather up and set forth in rememberable form the teachings of his sermons. But whilst the sermons are forgotten, the hymns are remembered. They have been compared to "spiritual amber, fetched up and floated off from sermons long since lost in the depths of bygone time." During his life-time, they did not pass beyond manuscript, in which form they were passed about and read. They number 364. After his death, they were published under the title, "Hymns founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures." In 1839, additional hymns were added, collected from his MSS., and called "Doddridge's Scripture Hymn Book." Some of these reach a very high point of excellence, whilst, as in the case of all voluminous hymn writers, very many are of no great value. The finest of all is "Hark! the glad sound, the Saviour comes." I should be disposed to rank this as one of the noblest hymns ever written, alike as to style and substance. There is a mingling of boldness and tenderness, a suitability and melody in its style, that stamp it as a masterpiece. One of the finest verses, however, is too often omitted On Him the Spirit, largely poured, Exerts its sacred fire; Wisdom and might and zeal and love His holy breast inspire. "Ye servants of the Lord" is a hymn of great directness, gradually rising to a fine climax at the close. "Grace! 'tis a charming sound" is a great favourite with many, probably suggested by a hymn of Esther Grünbeck, of Gotha (1717-1796), beginning "Grace! grace! oh, that's a joyful sound." "My God, and is Thy table spread " was once inserted as a Communion Hymn in the Book of Common Prayer, and for a considerable period remained as part of the Prayer Book, in certain editions of which are two hymns by Doddridge, one each by Wesley, Sternhold, or J. Mardley, and Bishop Ken's Morning and Evening hymn abridged and altered. "O God of Bethel, by whose hand," sometimes attributed to Logan, is by Doddridge, and in his manuscript is dated January 16th, 1736-7. To whom the alterations in the hymn as usually printed are due is uncertain-they have been ascribed to Michael Bruce, but are known to be either Logan's or the revisers of the 1781 Scotch Paraphrases. "Interval of grateful shade," is a hymn of great beauty, set in a subdued and soothing key. It is a part of "an Evening Hymn (of 76 lines) to be used when composing one's self to sleep." In many of Doddridge's hymns which do not reach the highest excellence, there are found lines and verses of great beauty. His hymns appear to me to be a connecting link between Dr. Watts and Charles Wesley. They are akin to the Independent's in form, but to the Methodist's in their lyric force and fervour. Thus they possess the excellences of both. Many of them are likely to hold a permanent place in the song of the Church. CHAPTER X. THE LYRIC FIRE. The SONG has nearly always proved a mighty influence in stirring the hearts of men in times of religious revival, and has also been felt to be a necessity for the full expression of the feelings aroused at such seasons. Methodist Revival was no exception to this rule. Song had much to do both with the origination and expression of its feeling. And it was a providential thing that, in the person of the Brother of the real Leader of the movement, a man was at hand singularly fitted to provide the hymns that were needed. To Charles Wesley we owe the largest contribution to the Church's treasury of song. Dr. Watts is usually regarded as a large contributor, but whilst his hymns number about six hundred, those of Charles Wesley number many thousands. Mr. Stevenson says six thousand; whilst a writer in McClintock and Strong's "American Cyclopædia" credits him, and rightly, with no less than seven thousand. The hymns and poems of John, Charles, and Samuel Wesley fill thirteen volumes in Dr. Osborn's edition; probably a larger number than could be gathered from all previous hymn writers put together. Charles Wesley is far and away the chief contributor to the |