lated it into Latin, Greek, and Italian. Dr. Pusey declared it to be "the most deservedly popular hymn, perhaps the very favourite." The followers of Wesley, against whom the hymn was originally launched as a light missile in the polemical combat, seized it for their collection and mutilated it the while-why, does not clearly appear. The unfortunate Armenians who were butchered the other day in Constantinople sang a translation of "Rock of Ages" which, indeed, has made the tour of the world, side by side with the Bible and the Pilgrim's Progress. It is recorded that General Stuart, the dashing cavalry leader of the Southern Confederacy, sang the hymn with his dying strength, as his life slowly ebbed away from the wounds he had received in the battles before Richmond. When the "London" went down in the Bay of Biscay, Jan. 11, 1866, the last thing which the last man who left the ship heard as the boat pushed off from the doomed vessel was the voices of the passengers singing "Rock of Ages." "No other English hymn can be named which has laid so broad and firm a grasp on the Englishspeaking world.” 61-BLESSED LORD, IN THEE IS REFUGE. It would be impossible in any collection of hymns that have helped to ignore the hymnody of the Salvation Army. This latest birth of the religious sentiment owes at least as much of its astonishing success to its hymns as to its discipline. It has converted the ordinary 'Arry and 'Arriett first of all into Blood and Fire Soldiers, and then it has set them writing hymns. No religious denomination, no organisation of any kind has done so much to develop the verse-writing instinct latent in most men as the Salvation Army. Every week the War Cry is filled with new hymns, - hymns of all kinds, good, bad, and indifferent. They have long since passed the fresh and sweet simplicity of that most characteristic of all their war songs, beginning, "The devil and me, We can't agree, I hate him, and he hates me," than which nothing could possibly be more concise and graphic. Of the bards of the Army, whose name is legion, Mr. Herbert Booth is conspicuous as the author of a hymn which is worthily and deservedly popular, although it is nowhere used with such effect as in the All-night meetings, when the line "Lord, I make a full surrender," is sung over and over again until the converts empty their pockets, smash their pipes, forswear finery, and find abundant compensation for their sacrifice in the ecstasy of their religious enthusiasm, and the comradeship of the rank and file of the Salvation Army. The Volunteers of America find this hymn one of the two most helpful in their prison work, when they employ hymns at all. Usually the convicts like only refrains and choruses that cling to their memory long after the Volunteer visitors have left them. The hymn is as follows: LESSED Lord, in Thee is refuge, BLES Safety for my trembling soul, Power to lift my head when drooping I will trust Thee, All my life Thou shalt control. In the past too unbelieving Midst the tempest I have been, And my heart has slowly trusted What my eyes have never seen. Blessed Jesus, Teach me on Thy arm to lean. Oh, for trust that brings the triumph Oh, for faith that changes fighting Into victory's ringing cheer Faith triumphant, Knowing not defeat or fear! Welcome, welcome, dear Redeemer ! Every power and thought be Thine- Earth and hell will disappear; Or in vain attempt possession, When they find the Lord is there. - Shout salvation! Shout, ye saints! the Lord is here! TUNE FROM THE SALVATION ARMY HYMN-BOOK. A correspondent in Brentwood, who prefaced his remarks by saying, "I am not a Salvationist à la Booth," writes: " Hymns under all circumstances have been spiritual meat and drink to me, but the Salvation Army songs have tapped a new mine. I have felt like an old war-horse hearing the trumpet sound at mass meetings. My whole being has been stirred by the power and intensity of these wonderful compositions. The hymn that has helped me, and lifted me out of sloughs, carried me to the eternal walls, and up to heaven's gate, is Blessed Lord, in Thee is refuge.' 999 62-JUST AS I AM. THIS poem, by Charlotte Elliott, so universally known and prized, is associated indissolubly by many with the time of their conversion. Her brother, the Řev. H. V. Elliott, stated: "In the course of a long ministry I hope I have been permitted to see some fruit of my labours, but I feel far more has been done by a single hymn of my sister's." There is no language or land where the melody of this hymn is not heard. It was first published in the "Invalid's Hymn-Book" in 1836. To-day it is the most familiar formula on the lips of the Christian evangelist in all quarters of the world. A word fitly spoken, indeed! UST as I am, without one plea, JU But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, Just as I am, though tossed about Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, Just as I am (Thy love unknown Just as I am, of that free love The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove, Here for a season, then above, O Lamb of God, I come! TUNE-" "GAINSWORTH." 63-HARK, MY SOUL, IT IS THE LORD. THIS poem of Cowper's, Mr. Gladstone has translated into Latin. 'Tis thy Saviour, hear His word; 66 "I delivered thee when bound, And, when bleeding, healed thy wound; "Can a woman's tender care Archdeacon Sinclair mentions this as one of the two hymns which he has found most useful, the second being Bishop Ken's "Evening Hymn." Archdeacon ΤΟ |