of the deed. The murder proved a shock to English society. The earl was arrested and lodged in the Tower of London. He was brought to trial in Westminster, on which occasion, according to Charles Wesley, "most of the royal family, the chief gentry, and foreign ministers were present." After three days' sitting, the court sentenced the earl to be hanged at Tyburn, and “his body to be delivered to Surgeons' Hall to be dissected and anatomized." The distress of Walter Shirley, Lady Huntingdon, and other pious relatives of the doomed earl, was extreme. The whole English church, and especially the then portion of it known as the Methodists, deeply sympathized with Walter Shirley. The conduct of the highborn convict now gave a still darker aspect and more heartrending associations to the crime. He resolved to die as hardened as he had lived. Walter Shirley left his humble parish in Ireland and hastened to England, and, with Lady Huntingdon, did everything in his power to bring his brother to repentance and the exercise of religious faith, but without success. The religious society of London was deeply affected; prayers were offered up for the earl in the churches, and the Methodist societies spent a day in fasting and prayer for the unhappy nobleman's conversion. But all was of no avail. He spent the night before his execution in playing piquet with the warden of the prison. Just before leaving his cell on the fatal day, he wrote the following lines, which he left on the table: 11* “In doubt I lived, in doubt I die, Yet stand prepared the vast abyss to try, And undismayed expect eternity." He went to Tyburn amid the tears of his friends and the derision of immense crowds of people. He dressed himself for execution in his wedding clothes, and received a note in his carriage from the wretched woman who had caused of all this misery. Sir Walter returned to his little flock in Loughrea a broken-spirited man. Three weeks after the execution. he wrote to Mr. John Wesley as follows: "I have reason to bless God for the humbling lessons he has taught me through these awful visitations." It is probable that family misfortune was the source of the inspiration of his well-known hymn : PEACE, troubled soul, whose plaintive moan Hath taught these rocks the notes of woe; Come, freely come, by sin oppressed, And trust the mercy of thy God: Shirley opposed Wesley in forming societies outside of the Established Church. "I have hitherto learned to consider the Methodists," he wrote to Mr. Wesley, "not as any sect, but as a purer part of the Church of Eng land." In the great religious controversy between the Arminian and Calvinist Methodists, Shirley sympathized with the views of Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon. He greatly loved his little parish in Ireland, and was influenced with warm zeal for the conversion of souls. His piety and humility grew with advancing years, and he fully felt the power of the experience which he has so delightfully sung: SWEET the moments, rich in blessing, Here I rest, for ever viewing Mercy poured in streams of blood; Truly blessed is the station, Lord, in ceaseless contemplation And thine unveiled glory see. This beautiful hymn is said to have been suggested by a religious poem written by James Allen, a local poet, which begins, "While my Jesus I'm possessing." His last days were serene and peaceful, and he witnessed to the end the power of Christian consolations. His sickness was protracted. When no longer able to leave the house, he was unwilling to cease preaching. The old man used to send for his neighbors, and, sitting in his chair in his own house, used to preach to as many as could hear him. He died in 1786. His hymns are marked "Episcopal Collection" in some of the most widely used hymn-books. In the Baptist, Methodist, and Congregational hymn-books, his hymn beginning, "Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing," is attributed to Burder. It appeared originally in Harris' collection of hymns. The last lines of the second verse in the original are, "Ever faithful To thy truth may we be found." "WATCHMAN, TELL US OF THE NIGHT.” WATCHMAN, tell us of the night, What its signs of promise are. Aught of hope or joy foretell? Promised day of Israel. Watchman, tell us of the night; Peace and truth, its course portends. Gild the spot that gave them birth? Trav❜ler, ages are its own; See, it bursts o'er all the earth. Watchman, tell us of the night, For the morning seems to dawn. Lo! the Son of God is come. This hymn was written by Sir John Bowring in 1825. Mr. Bowring seems to have been an almost prophetic poet, and, like Isaiah, to have had continually in view the spiritual victories that are to fill the world with righteousness. In every high position he took with him a hopeful, luminous Christian experience, and ever seemed like a watchman on the walls of Zion, who sooner than others saw and heralded the first beams of the full-orbed and glorious gospel day. He was born in Exeter in 1792. He was a precocious youth, and possessed a remarkable power in acquiring the languages. He became highly accomplished, was elected to Parliament, was appointed consul at Canton, made governor of Hong Kong, and received the honor of knighthood. His Christian experience, and his hopes and expectations of the spread of the gospel over the whole world, are beautifully portrayed in his "Matins and Vespers." "WHILE THEE I SEEK, PROTECTING POWER." WHILE thee I seek, protecting Power, Be my vain wishes stilled; And may this consecrated hour With better hopes be filled. |