on account of his adoption of Calvinistic views, repented of the publication, and whenever he met with a copy of it, committed it to the flames. In character and style of address, he was not unlike to John Newton. He altered and adapted certain of Charles Wesley's hymns. His hymn, "Jesus, cast a look on me," the first three verses of which consist of an altered version of Charles Wesley's "Lord, that I may learn of Thee," has a simplicity which is very pleasing. This and his Wedding Hymn, "Since Jesus freely did appear," are the only ones which have gained currency in hymnals.

John Cennick (1717-1755), originally one of Wesley's preachers, but afterwards an assistant of Whitfield, and finally a Moravian, the friend of Wesley and Whitfield, is a name of note among the hymnists. His hymns owe something to the revision of Charles Wesley and others, but they have a distinctiveness and lyric force which will probably ensure for them a lasting place in the Church's song. The best known is "Children of the heavenly King," which has found its way into a very large number of hymnals, both of the Established and Nonconformist Churches. The same may be said of "Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone," though it is not equal to the former. His Evening Hymn, "Ere I sleep, for every favour," is quaint and beautiful. His version of the Te Deum, commencing "We sing to Thee, Thou Son of God," before the original was commonly used in Nonconformist worship, was very popular in their assemblies. To him we owe the original of the hymn, to which so many writers contributed either alterations or additions, "Lo! He comes, with clouds descending," which in his version

began, "Lo! He cometh; countless trumpets." In my judgment, Cennick possessed the genuine lyric fire, and, but for deficient culture, and the narrowness of the school of thought in which he lived, would have made still more valuable contributions to hymnody.

I cannot agree with the praise bestowed by James Montgomery and Robert Hall on the hymns of Benjamin Beddome, M.A. (1717-1795), pastor of the Baptist Church at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire. The former praises him for preserving the unity of each hymn. This he does, but there is a didactic tone, and an absence of the lyric element, which are fatal faults in a hymn. This is partly due to the fact that they were written to be sung after his sermons, to which they are a kind of application. This is not the true office of hymns. The mind of their writers should not be occupied with the thought of the edification of the people, but of praise to God. This is the defect of most of his hymns, as will be seen even in his most popular, "Did Christ o'er sinners weep?" "Faith, 'tis a precious grace," and "Let party names no more." The fault is least evident in his Ordination hymn, "Father of mercies, bow Thine ear." He was the author of the large number of eight hundred and thirty hymns.

James Merrick, M.A. (1720-1769), a minister of the Church of England, but, on account of weak health, without pastoral charge, issued "The Psalms translated or paraphrased in English Verse," designed to supplant Tate and Brady, but the collection failed to secure royal sanction for its use in the Episcopal Church. His scholarship was equal to, but his poetic power sadly deficient for the task he undertook. His finest hymn -and it is a fine one-is "Eternal God, we look to

Thee." His version of the 122nd Psalm, beginning "The festal morn, my God, is come,' a translation from Buchanan, is striking, but in parts rather inflated.

Dr. Thomas Gibbons (1720-1758), pastor of various Independent Churches, and tutor of the Dissenting Academy at Mile End, may be ranked with Merrick as possessing scholarship but not the poetic afflatus, although he fancied that he possessed it. His Missionary Hymn, "Great God, the nations of the earth," is not without merit, and held its place in a time when such hymns were not either plentiful or meritorious. It is a far finer hymn than the other by which he is remembered, "Now let our souls on wings sublime." He is one of the fading lights of hymnody.

Joseph Humphreys (born 1720), and Thomas Blacklock, D.D. (1721-1791), are forgotten names in hymnody, and need not detain us.

John Bakewell (1721-1819), a member of, and local preacher in, the Wesleyan Church, is remembered by one hymn which has had a wide popularity, "Hail! Thou once despised Jesus," which has merit, though not of the highest order.

Clare Taylor (died 1778), and John Fountain (died 1800), are now only represented by hymns in collections. prepared more to represent their editors' theological views than with a view to poetic or lyric expression.

Andrew Kippis, D.D., F.R.S. (1725-1795), is more remarkable for his contributions to literature than to hymnody, but deserves to be remembered as the Editor of the first thoroughly popular Unitarian hymn-book, all previous ones having been for the worship of individual churches.

CHAPTER XII.

AN OASIS IN THE DESERT.

REMARKING on the fact that the hymns of earlier days seem to have been written by all kinds of persons except poets, James Montgomery says: "Cowper therefore stands alone among the mighty masters of the lyre, as having contributed a considerable number of approved and popular hymns for the purposes of public or private devotion." In the "Olney Hymns" of John Newton (1725-1807) and William Cowper (1731-1800), we come upon a veritable oasis in the wilderness, from which the Church has gathered and preserved with loving care many a flower of song. Newton's hymns are remarkable as being the productions of a man who, in early life, had exceedingly few educational advantages. To his vigorous nature, and the depth of his religious experiences, are due the high quality of his hymns. One example out of many afforded by hymnody, of the fact that scholarship has very little to do with the production of poetry. Scholarship may refine, but it does not create the poetic faculty. Newton disclaimed any pretension to the possession of the poetic gift, but he nevertheless possessed it, and, for the purposes of hymnody, in a remarkable degree: so remarkable, that a few of his hymns will bear comparison with those of his great friend and co-worker in the production of the "Olney Hymns,"

William Cowper.

There are no hymns more popular among all sections of the Church than some of Newton's. This is largely due to the depth and vitality of his religious experience, which reached to regions far below the doctrinal forms in which it found expression. Scarcely a hymnal of any section of the Church can be mentioned which does not include some of his best known hymns. They may be found, not only in hymnals of the Evangelical type, but in those so widely separated in doctrinal matters as "Hymns Ancient and Modern" and Dr. Martineau's "Hymns of Praise and Prayer." His hymns indeed are alive with personal and vital religious feeling, and so are fitted to express the worshipping feeling of all Christian hearts. The best known is "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds," which some have thought must have been suggested by Bernard's "Jesu dulcis memoria." In all probability, Newton did not know of the earlier hymn of the saintly monk of Clairvaux, but wrote prompted solely by ardent love to Jesus Christ. Equally good, but in a different vein of feeling, is "Quiet, Lord, my froward heart," a hymn whose sentiment and style alike quiet and calm the restless spirit. His hymn for Parting, too often mutilated and made to begin with "For a season called to part," instead of, as it should, with "As the sun's enlivening eye," is of "While with ceaseless course the sun great excellence. is a hymn of great solemnity and pathos. "Glorious things of thee are spoken" is in a very different and much bolder strain. I am disposed to regard those in his more subdued style as reaching to the highest point of excellence, and in them the affectionate characteristics which lay beneath a nature trained amid rugged scenes, and