Thy love the power of thought bestowed; In each event of life, how clear Each blessing to my soul most dear, In every joy that crowns my days, My heart shall find delight in praise, When gladness wings my favored hour My lifted eye, without a tear, The gathering storm shall see: Some expressions of this hymn have indirect reference to the stormy scenes in France about the time of the Revolution. It was written in France when the political sky was very dark and threatening, and no one felt. secure. Its author was Miss Helen Maria Williams. She was born in the North of England in 1762. She went to London at the age of eighteen, where she won much reputation as a poet. She afterwards went to Paris, where she lived during the breaking up of the monarchy, and where she published works in prose and verse. She was a very devout woman, and relied on the strong arm of God at the time of peril. She held a high place in religious society, both in London and Paris. "HARK! THE VOICE OF LOVE AND MERCY" HARK! the voice of love and mercy Sounds aloud from Calvary; See! it rends the rocks asunder, Shakes the earth, and veils the sky; "It is finished!" Hear the dying Saviour cry. It is finished! Oh what pleasure Do these charming words afford! It is finished: Saints, the dying words record. Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs; Join to praise Immanuel's name; Glory to the bleeding Lamb. This hymn is the fruit of a remarkable Christian experience; a grateful expression of a sense of the greatness of God's mercy, and the extent of the atonement which the writer had occasion to feel. It was written by Jonathan Evans about the year 1787, and appeared in "Rippon s Selection," under the title of "Finished Redemption." Mr. Evans was in early life a very irreligious man. He was employed in a ribbon factory, and led a very profitless and unpromising life, until he was nearly thirty years of age, when he became converted, and joined the Congregationalists. Soon after his conversion he began to speak of God's dealings with him, in public, preaching at such times as his secular employments permitted. He at last gathered around him a church and began a stated ministry. "WHEN, MARSHALLED ON THE NIGHTLY PLAIN.” HENRY KIRKE WHITE was born at Nottingham, England, 1785. His father was a butcher in very humble circumstances. At the age of fourteen he became a weaver's apprentice, and two years later he was articled to an attorney. His religious experience is interesting. He had an intimate friend in youth, named Almond. White was a skeptic, and used to ridicule religion and religious things; while Almond's heart was open to conviction; he seemed anxious to know the truth and to practise it. One day Almond was called to the bedside of a dying believer, who passed away in great peace, consoled by a triumphant faith. He was fully convinced of the truth of religion by the impressive scene, and resolved to become a Christian. But he shrunk from making known his convictions through fear of the ridicule of White. His mind for a time was greatly agitated and divided, but he at last made the resolution to give up the society of his friend, should it be necessary, and to avow himself a believer in Christ. White felt the neglect of his friend keenly, and went to him in an injured way, and inquired the cause. Almond confessed the change that had taken place in his views, and announced his purpose of leading a different life. The answer, of course, implied that his friend was unworthy the confidence of one who aimed to live piously. White saw it in this light, and was cut to the quick. "Good God, Almond!" exclaimed the consciencesmitten skeptic, "you surely regard me in a worse light than I deserve." The interview melted the heart of White, and he, too, became an inquirer after truth, embraced religion, and the two youths renewed their friendship with warmer feelings and more elevated aims. This experience White relates metaphorically in his familiar hymn which follows: WHEN, marshalled on the nightly plain, The glittering host bestud the sky, One star alone of all the train Can fix the sinner's wandering eye. Once on the raging seas I rode : The storm was loud, the night was dark; The ocean yawned, and rudely blowed The wind that tossed my foundering bark. Deep horror then my vitals froze, Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem, When suddenly a star arose, It was the Star of Bethlehem. It was my guide, my light, my all, The Star, the Star of Bethlehem ! White now turned his purpose of life to the ministry, and prepared himself for Cambridge by severe study. At college his health gave way under the severity of his application, and he died in the autumn of 1806, at the age of twenty. "WHILE WITH CEASELESS COURSE THE SUN." WHILE with ceaseless course the sun Hasted through the former year, Many souls their race have run, Never more to meet us here: Fixed in an eternal state, They have done with all below; We a little longer wait, But how little-none can know. As the wingéd arrow flies Speedily the mark to find, As the lightning from the skies Darts and leaves no trace behind, Swiftly thus our fleeting days Bears us down life's rapid stream; |