This was the last hymn which Cowper contributed to the "Olney Collection," and perhaps the finest and most impressive that he ever wrote. It was composea just before his second attack of insanity; the shadow of the coming eclipse had already touched his mind. It is said that on one occasion Cowper had determined to go to a particular part of the river Ouse and drown himself; that the driver of the post-chaise missed his way, and that the hymn was the result of the mental reaction that followed this evidence of providential protection. Montgomery says of the hymn, that it is "rendered awfully interesting by the circumstances under which it was written in the twilight of departing reason." Though this was the last of Cowper's Olney Hymns, it was not the last hymn that he ever wrote. After the publication of the Olney Hymns, he composed the hymn beginning, "To Jesus, the crown of my hope." This is supposed to have been his last, written as it was amid the departing gleams of religious comfort, before despondency and a sense of spiritual orphanage hopelessly settled upon his mind. "I LOVE TO STEAL AWHILE AWAY.” WE read that holy men of old communed with God in deserts and in solitary places, and that the Saviour himself sought the quiet retreats of nature for prayer Many poets, among them Madame Guyon and Cowper have sung the beauty of worshipping God in places of rural retirement, where the rocks are altars and the birds are choirs. Madame Guyon herself loved to pray in solitary places, and Cowper but gives his own experience at St. Albans, when he writes the hymn, beginning, "Far from the world, O Lord, I flee." A devotional hymn, found only in old hymn-books, called "The Bower of Prayer," and written by one accustomed to commune with God in the forest, amid the "ivy, the balsam, the wild eglantine," begins, "To leave my dear friends and with neighbors to part, "The early shrill notes of the loved nightingale To call me to duty, while birds in the air The favorite hymn beginning, "I love to steal awhile away,” was written under the promptings of a love of devotion amid rural scenes, and the inflow of a happy Christian experience. Its author was Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown, who was born in Canaan, N. Y., in 1783. It appeared in Nettleton's "Village Hymns," in 1825. The authoress, a devout Christian mother in humble circumstances in life, was accustomed to resort to a solitary place in a wood or grove, toward nightfall, for secret prayer. For this she was severely criticised by a wealthy neighbor, and her feelings in consequence were deeply wounded. It was a relief to Mrs. Brown to express any strong emotional feeling in poetry, and she made this trial the occasion of writing the hymn so often sung to the music of "Woodstock." The second line as originally written was, "From children and from care." I LOVE to steal awhile away From every cumbering care, And spend the hours of setting day I love in solitude to shed And all his promises to plead, Where none but God can hear. I love to think on mercies past, I love, by faith, to take a view Of brighter scenes in heaven; Thus, when life's toilsome day is o'er, May its departing ray Be calm as this impressive hour, And lead to endless day. “WHEN ALL THY MERCIES, O MY GOD. WHEN all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys, Oh, how can words with equal warmth That glows within my ravished heart? To all my weak complaints and cries Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learned When in the slippery paths of youth Thine arm, unseen, conveyed me safe, Through hidden dangers, toils, and deaths, And through the pleasing snares of vice, Through every period of my life Through all eternity to thee A grateful song I'll raise; To utter all thy praise. The original poem consists of thirteen stanzas, but the part quoted constitutes all of the hymn in common use. The hymn is almost universally familiar. Addison was made to see clearly God's providential care in his own life and experience. This hymn was inspired by devotional gratitude for his providential escape from shipwreck during a storm off the coast of Genoa. APPLETON'S ENCYCLOPEDIA. "O THOU, MY SOUL, FORGET NO MORE.” Most of our readers are doubtless familiar with Krishnu-Pal's hymn. It is the hymn beginning, "O thou, my soul, forget no more The Friend who all thy sorrows bore." But many of them may not know the author as the first Hindoo convert to Christianity. A writer in a Baptist missionary paper thus relates the story of its origin: Dr. Carey had spent six years of toil in India, and had seen no results from his labors. He had prayed, and studied, and waited with a heavy but not with a despondent heart. At length the Master granted a first token of his favor and blessing. Krishnu, while engaged in his work as a carpenter, fell and broke his arm. Mr. Thomas, Carey's companion and fellowlaborer in the mission, was called to set the broken limb, and after his work as a surgeon was done, he most fervently preached the gospel to the assembled crowd. The unfortunate carpenter was affected even to tears, and readily accepted an invitation to call on the missionaries for further instruction. The truth took deep hold on his heart. He told the story he had heard to his wife and daughter; and they, too, were so much moved that all three offered themselves as candidates for baptism. While the question of their reception was under discussion, on the 22d of December, 1800, Krishnu and Goluk, his brother, openly renounced their caste and sat down at the table with the missionaries to eat with them. This excited great surprise among the natives. The evening of the same day, Krishnu, his wife and daugh |