38-WHEN THE WEARY, SEEKING REST. THIS Litany, by Horatius Bonar, is modelled upon the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple.

WHEN the weary, seeking rest,

To thy goodness flee;

When the heavy-laden cast
All their load on thee;

When the troubled, seeking peace,

On thy Name shall call;
When the sinner, seeking life,
At thy feet shall fall:

Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry,
In heaven thy dwelling-place on high.

When the worldling, sick at heart,
Lifts his soul above;

When the prodigal looks back
To his Father's love:

When the proud man, in his pride,
Stoops to seek thy face;
When the burdened brings his guilt
To thy throne of grace;

Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry,
In heaven thy dwelling-place on high.

When the stranger asks a home,
All his toils to end;

When the hungry craveth food,
And the poor a friend;
When the sailor on the wave

Bows the fervent knee;
When the soldier on the field

Lifts his heart to thee:

Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry,
In heaven thy dwelling-place on high.

When the man of toil and care

In the city crowd;

When the shepherd on the moor
Names the name of God;
When the learned and the high,
Tired of earthly fame,
Upon higher joys intent,

Name the blessèd Name:
Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry,
In heaven thy dwelling-place on high.

When the child, with grave fresh lip,
Youth or maiden fair;
When the aged, weak and grey,
Seek thy face in prayer;
When the widow weeps to thee,
Sad and lone and low;

When the orphan brings to thee
All his orphan woe:

Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry,
In heaven thy dwelling-place on high.

TUNE "INTERCESSION."

Bishop Fraser of Manchester used to say that he regarded this as the finest hymn in the English lan guage. His second favourite was "I heard the voice of Jesus say."

39-LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT.

Of all the modern hymns praying for guidance, Newman's famous three verses seem to be most popular, especially with people who have not accepted the leading of any church or theological authority. "The only hymn of which words and music touched any chord in me," wrote the Hon. Reginald Brett, "is Cardinal New

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man's 'Lead, Kindly Light.' My opinion is that the music and the congregational singing are the causes of emotion, not the words of any hymn." Cardinal Newman seems to have been very much of the same opinion. He once remarked that he was deeply thankful for the hold his hymn had obtained on the public; but, he added, "it is not the hymn but the tune that has gained the popularity." This is undoubtedly true in certain quarters. In the séance rooms of Chicago it was constantly sung while the medium was waiting for materialization or other manifestations, chiefly on account of the tune and the reference in the last verse to angel faces." But, on the other hand, the hymn has the first place in the favour of such fervent Catholics as the Marquis of Ripon and Mr. Justin McCarthy, and such stout Protestants as Sir Evelyn Wood and a leading member of Lord Rosebery's Cabinet. Mrs. Lynn Linton (who may be said to represent the Agnostics) and Mr. Thomas Hardy include it among their three first favourites. The hymn was not at first included in some Nonconformist hymnals. Mr. Richard Le Gallienne, the poet, for instance, writes: "I was brought up among the Baptists, who, if I remember aright, did not in my time sing, Lead, Kindly Light,' which I learned to love in a late period of church-going. That seems to me," he adds, "if one had to choose, the finest of all hymns, as it contains piety and poetry in the highest proportion." The Rev. Dr. Rigg, who may be regarded as the best representative of the old school of Wesleyans, writes as follows about the hymn:

'Lead, Kindly Light,' is a great favourite with very many, being a hymn that touches the heart and expresses, more or less, the experience of many souls. Certainly it is one which might often have expressed, more or less distinctly, my own experience; but I have not found it a helpful hymn for deliverance, or a strengthening hymn in distress and conflict. It conduces to resignation, it may be, but scarcely leads on to victory. It is not in our Methodist collection, and I

could not say that it has been a helpful hymn to me spiritually, though it is a touching poem, and in various ways prophetic of the experience of its writer."

No doubt it is somewhat hard for the staunch Protestant to wax enthusiastic over the invocation of a "Kindly Light" which led its author straight into the arms of the Scarlet Woman of the Seven Hills. Against this may be put the fact that when the Parliament of Religions met at Chicago, the representatives of every creed known to man found two things on which they were agreed. They could all join in the Lord's Prayer, and they could all sing, "Lead, Kindly Light." This hymn, Mrs. Drew tells me, and “Rock of Ages," are two of Mr. Gladstone's "most favourite hymns."

EAD, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on:

LE

The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on.

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Should'st lead me on:

I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on.

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will; remember not past years.
So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,

And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.
TUNE - LUX BENIGNA."

"It seems to me rather singular," writes a correspondent in Wales, "that verses so full of faith as 'Lead,

Kindly Light,' should be mentioned with such approval by so many sceptics." He then sends me the following attempt to express the views of an Agnostic, thoughtful, humble, and reverent, but quite unable to attain to Newman's standpoint.

The way is dark: I cry amid the gloom
For guiding light;

A wanderer, none knows whence or what his doom,
I brave the night.

Fair scenes afar, as in a dream, I see,

Then seem to wake, and faith deserteth me.

In wondering awe I bend the knee before
The viewless Might;

And all my heart in mute appeal I pour,
While straining sight

Peers o'er the waste, yet Him I cannot find
Whom seeks my soul: I grope as grope the blind.
But 'mid confusing phantom-lights I strive

To go aright:

A still small voice leads on, and love doth give
An inward might;

And spite of sense, their lives a silent trust
That day will dawn, that man is more than dust.

R. M. L.

Another correspondent remarks: "To my mind there is only a spirit of sadness, the blind groping in the dark in loneliness and helplessness. Surely, this is not the highest hope of a follower of Christ."

On the other hand, a Scotchman writes as follows:My spiritual experience has been varied. I was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church, brought up in the Congregational Independent, and at length I was fascinated by the history, energy, and enthusiasm of the Wesleyans. I was at one time a local preacher in that