ments, had already shown. Hymns by Unitarian writers, so abundant at a later time, were as yet few in number, and Greenwood went far and wide for his material. "Hymns from Wesley's collection," said he, "and some Moravian hymns, I regard as among the richest contents of this volume. Their delightful fervor, though by some it may be called methodistical, will be thought by others, I trust, to be the true spirit of devotional Christian poetry." In this collection of five hundred and sixty hymns, besides the many from Charles Wesley, Montgomery, Cowper, Doddridge, and others, one hundred and fifteen are by Watts, showing how dependent Unitarian compilers were at this period on evangelical sources. But it was well that disciples of the "liberal faith" were beginning to write their own hymns. Unitarian belief was rapidly becoming more radical; and in order to adapt evangelical hymns to use in liberal churches, compilers rearranged and rewrote the old hymns with a freedom which no reasonable rule on "hymn-tinkering" could indorse. CHAPTER VIII LELAND, HOLDEN, KEY, PIERPONT JOHN LELAND 1754-1841 ELDER JOHN LELAND, as he was generally known, has been called "the Lorenzo Dow of the Baptist denomination." He was a man of "endless eccentricities," but also of genuine worth. He was born at Grafton, Massachusetts, in 1754, and died in 1841. As a young man he felt a call to preach, and receiving a license he began work in Virginia. He remained there for fifteen years, most of the time a roving evangelist, winning many hundreds of converts. Returning to his native State in 1790, he made Cheshire his home, but continued his evangelistic activities. He was not only a mighty preacher, tall, of commanding presence, and with an expression of the eye that was "electrical," but he was also noted for his "mad devotion to politics." He was in the midst of every fray, and he seems to have had a powerful influence, especially while he lived in Virginia. It is interesting to know that Elder Leland wrote hymns, and still more interesting to find what verses from his pen were actually sung. In the hymn book published in 1809, by Rev. Wil liam Parkinson, of New York, we have these lines by Leland: "Brethren, I am come again; Let us join to pray and sing; Another piece from the same pen, written in 1788, and which was a great favorite with the fathers, was sung at winter immersions to encourage timid converts to take the icy plunge: "Christians, if your hearts are warm, Ice and snow can do no harm; If by Jesus you are prized Rise, believe and be baptized." Such odd crudities might be ignored save as they throw light on certain standards of taste of an early day. But Elder Leland could do better than this. He wrote several passable hymns, and he gave to the church an evening hymn of real merit. It has won high praise from discriminating critics. Dr. Duffield, in his English Hymns, calls it a "classic in its unpretending beauty." "The day is past and gone, The evening shades appear; |