Mortimer Collins says: "Wesley's hymns are as much in earnest as Dibdin's sea-songs. I suspect Charles Wesley the poet did as much as John Wesley the orator for the permanence of Methodism. The magnetism of personal influence passes away; but the burning life of that wondrous psalmody, sung Sunday after Sunday by congregations full of faith, is imperishable." THERE is a peculiar interest attached to this hymn. John Wesley is said to have translated it in Savannah, in the United States, where he suffered much and was grievously tormented by his ill-starred passion for a certain Miss Sophy. It was with special reference to the continually obtruding thought of this Miss Sophy that the Rev. John composed the verse "Is there a thing beneath the sun?" It seems to have been efficacious, and the lovelorn poet came home to meet a worse fate at the hands of her whom, for his Karma, he was allowed to make Mrs. Wesley. The hymn has helped thousands who never knew of Wesley and his ill-fated loves to acts of consecration and self-sacrifice from which they would otherwise have shrunk. Tersteegen, the original author of the hymn "Verborgne Gottesliebe, Du," was a German mystical poet who died in 1769. HOU hidden Love of God, whose height, Those depth unfathomed, no man knows: I see from far Thy bounteous light, 'Tis mercy all, that Thou hast brought No peace my wandering soul shall see: Then shall my heart from earth be free: O Love, Thy sovereign aid impart, TUNE-"REST" OR "EUPHONY." 98-I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS. THIS is one of the most popular of Dr. Bonar's hymns. It belongs to the number of those in which the converted recite their experiences for the encouragement of the unconverted. The persistent use of "I" and "me" in this hymn has helped it to help many to whom and " us "would have been much less effective. I HEARD the voice of Jesus say, unto me Lay down, thou weary one, lay down I heard the voice of Jesus say, 66 Behold, I freely give we" The living water; thirsty one, Stoop down and drink, and live." My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, I heard the voice of Jesus say, And in that light of life I 'll walk, TUNE "VOX DILECTI." 99-SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS. THIS little hymn by Mrs. Van Alstyne has comforted many, and will continue to do so." There are many souls from whom the craving for being "mothered" has been left out. To them the longing to be folded in loving arms and pressed to a tender and sympathetic bosom is unintelligible. But to those who never outgrow, even in their maturest years, when overwhelmed by affliction, the instinctive heart-longing to seek the sheltering arms which comforted them in their childhood, this hymn is a special and most helpful favourite. It is when people are hard hit they need help. The just need no repentance, and the happy need no helper. But for the miserable, the promise of the shelter of the Everlasting Arms is sweet. Hark! 'tis the voice of angels Over the jasper sea. Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast; There by His love o'ershaded, sweetly my soul shall rest. Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe from corroding care, Only a few more tears! Jesus, my heart's dear Refuge, TUNE FROM "SONGS AND SOLOS." 100-O JESU, KING MOST WONDERFUL. THIS is another part of St. Bernard's hymn, “Jesu dulcis memoria," which is noticed under the heading "Jesus, the very thought of Thee." JESU, King most wonderful, When once Thou visitest the heart, O Jesus, light of all below, May every heart confess Thy name, And, seeking Thee, itself inflame Thee may our tongues for ever bless, And ever in our lives express The image of Thine own. THIS hymn for a hundred years has been a great favourite. It has been wrongfully attributed to the Countess of Huntingdon. Its real author was one Robert Robinson, of whom a somewhat pathetic story is told. In his later years, this Robinson somewhat fell away from grace and displayed such levity in a stage-coach as to lead a lady fellow-passenger to labour with him in the Lord. As a final shot, she, all unknowing who the stranger was, quoted to him this hymn and spoke of how it had been blessed to her soul. Thereupon Robinson burst out into tears, crying: “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who composed that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then." |