35

FAT

Grace, pardon, and life.

L. M.
MATHER of heaven, whose love profound
A ransom for our souls hath found,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy pardoning love extend.

2 Almighty Son, incarnate Word,
Our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy saving grace extend.

3 Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
The soul is raised from sin and death,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy quickening power extend.

4 Jehovah! Father, Spirit, Son,
Mysterious Godhead! Three in One!
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
Grace, pardon, life to us extend.

EDWARD COOPER.

This hymn is unaltered and entire, as found in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, Adapted to the Services of the Church of England. By the Rev. T. Cotterill, A.M., Eighth Edition, considerably enlarged. Sheffield, 1819. It first appeared in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, Uttoxeter, 1805. It was so well written that it has escaped the attention of the hymn menders and appears here in its original form.

Rev. Edward Cooper was a Church of England clergyman born in 1770. He died in 1833.

Author's title: Universal Worship.

From Airs of Palestine and Other Poems. Boston, 1841.

It was written for the opening of the Independent Congregational Church in Salem, Mass., 1824.

Verses two and three contain an elegant reference to the words of Christ to the woman of Samaria, John iv, 21-23. Two unimportant stanzas are omitted. In the second line of the last stanza Pierpont wrote:

"The lyre of prophet bards was strung."

John Pierpont was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1785; was graduated at Yale College in 1804; spent several years as teacher, lawyer, and merchant; and in 1818 began to study for the ministry. Soon after that he was installed pastor of the Hollis Street Unitarian Church, in Boston, where he remained for twenty-five years. At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, although seventy-five years old, he could not be contented to remain at home, and Governor Andrew appointed him chaplain of a regiment. His failing strength was not equal to the duties of his position, and he resigned. He was then appointed to a clerkship in Washington, and remained in the service of the government until the time of his death, in 1866. Pierpont was a scholar, orator, and poet, a radical temperTwo of his hymns, both valuable, are found in this ance advocate, and a bold antislavery leader.

collection.

With sovereign power and energy; And may we, in thy faith and fear, Reduce to practice what we hear.

And let your joys be known; Join in a song with sweet accord, While ye surround his throne.

2 Let those refuse to sing

Who never knew our God,

But servants of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad.

3 The God that rules on high,
That all the earth surveys,
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And calms the roaring seas;

4 This awful God is ours,
Our Father and our Love;

S. M.

He will send down his heavenly powers, To carry us above.

5 There we shall see his face,
And never, never sin;

There, from the rivers of his grace,
Drink endless pleasures in:

6 Yea, and before we rise

To that immortal state,

The thoughts of such amazing bliss
Should constant joys create.

7 The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruit on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow:

8 Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's
ground,

To fairer worlds on high.

ISAAC WATTS, ALT. BY J. WESLEY.

From Hymns and Spiritual Songs, book ii, 1707.
Title: Heavenly Joy on Earth.
Stanzas two and nine are omitted:

2 "The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place!
Religion never was designed

To make our pleasures less.

9 "The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets."

The first stanza has been altered, yet some still prefer it as Watts wrote it:

"Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known,
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne."

Verse one, line one:

"With sacred joy we lift our eyes."

Verse two, line one:

"Before the awful throne we bow."

Verse two, line two:

66 Of heav'n's almighty King." Verse three, line one:

"While in thy house of prayer we kneel." Verse four, line one:

"With fervor teach our hearts to pray." One stanza-the third-is omitted:

"Thee we adore; and, Lord, to thee
Our filial duty pay;
Thy service, unconstrained and free,
Conducts to endless day."

From A Collection of Hymns and Palms for Public and Private Worship. A new edition, 1819. (First edition, 1795.) The Rev. Thomas Jervis (1748-1833) was an English Unitarian minister.

William Cowper was the most distinguished poet in the last half of the eighteenth century. His father was a clergyman, and chaplain to George II. Cowper was born in Hertfordshire in 1731; educated at Westminster School; read law in London, and was admitted to the bar, but always preferred literature to law. He won fame by writing the "Task," which was published in 1785. Cowper was endowed with poetic genius, and afflicted by tendency to insanity. The latter increased as he advanced in years until his mind was overshadowed by the deepest gloom. Death brought relief in his seventieth year, 1800.

O! God is here! let us adore, And own how dreadful is this place; Let all within us feel his power, And silent bow before his face;

power, his who grace prove, Serve him with awe, with reverence love.

2 Lo! God is here! him day and night United choirs of angels sing:

To him, enthroned above all height,

Heaven's host their noblest praises bring; Disdain not, Lord, our meaner song, Who praise thee with a stammering tongue.

3 Being of beings, may our praise

Thy courts with grateful fragrance fill; Still may we stand before thy face,

Still hear and do thy sovereign will; To thee may all our thoughts arise, Ceaseless, accepted sacrifice.

GERHARD TERSTEEGEN.

Title: Public Worship.

TR. BY J. WESLEY.

The first, second, and third stanzas, unaltered, of a translation found in Hymns and Sacred Poems. By John and Charles Wesley, 1739. The hymn was evidently suggested by the words of Jacob, Gen. xxviii, 16, 17:

"And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Gerhard Tersteegen, the writer of this solemn lyric, was born in humble life, in the town of Mors, Westphalia, in 1697. He experienced religion in early years, and some time afterward consecrated himself entirely to the Lord and lived in intimate and precious communion with God. It was doubtless the author's reputation for saintliness that attracted the attention of Wesley to his hymns. He was, in fact, a mystic of lofty and pure type. He devoted himself to doing good, in a humble way, by private conversation, and by holding meetings and making addresses. In 1731 he published a volume, called The Spiritual Flower-garden, which contained one hundred and eleven hymns. Altogether, he was a remarkable man, and a great religious poet. Died 1769.