our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." It is indeed a great thing to have had admission to the presence of a king like Jehovah, and to have received a token that showed our words had been heard and heeded by the majesty of heaven. The success of just one real prayer of ours ought to be the memory of a lifetime. We might keep saying: I am the man, dust and ashes myself, who once, on such a day and such an hour, asked-and Jehovah answered me! Nay more, he told me to come again! Think now of a human being who can honestly say, “I have daily audience for my petitions in heaven!" "I wonder not the eye of man cows lions in their den, Or that a son of genius can sway the minds of men; . I wonder not the conqueror moves nations with his rod; But rather that a little child can move the hand of God!"

This exquisite piece of poetry appeared in the Christian Union in 1883. The name appended to it was that of Mrs. John P. Morgan; she was then residing in New York, but every effort to procure other information has failed. The translation is probably from some German hymn. The spirit of the petition it presses is almost passionate in its expression of both need and trust.

These covenant-engagements of God-how slight they seem, but what a resident omnipotence they possess! They may not impress the imagination much, but they will wrestle beyond measure! There they lie in the clear stream of Scripture like the five little stones in the brook of David; but each one is good for a giant. There they wait in the storehouse of God like the five loaves and the two fishes of the unnamed lad of Bethsaida; they hardly filled his wallet, but they proved quite enough to feed the five thousand. The simple fact is that in all the engagements God makes he puts his own truth at stake. "All the promises of God in Christ are yea, and in him amen, unto the glory of God by us." Hence when human wrestling lays hold of a

OUR heavenly Father calls,
And Christ invites us near;
With both our friendship shall be sweet,
And our communion dear.

2 God pities all our griefs:
He pardons every day!
Almighty to protect our souls,
And wise to guide our way.

3 How large his bounties are!
What various stores of good,
Diffused from our Redeemer's hand
And purchased with his blood!

4 Jesus, our living Head,
We bless thy faithful care;
Our Advocate before the throne,
And our Forerunner there.

5 Here fix, my roving heart!
Here wait, my warmest love!
Till the communion be complete
In nobler scenes above.

Here we have another of Dr. Philip Doddridge's hymns, numbered 346 in his collection. It is founded upon 1 John 1:3:"Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." It has the same five stanzas, and is entitled, "Communion with God and Christ." One of our modern pastors has related an incident in his own experience; it serves as an illustration, and we give it in his exact words:

"An inquiring friend once asked me, after a public service, When you close your eyes for prayer, and commence as you did this morning-Infinitely high and holy God' what do you see, or what do you seem to see? What he meant was, what sort of mental conception does any Christian have in his ordinary devotions? What is the image which rises before him when he addresses what he terms in common conference the throne of grace?

"Since then I have passed the question on and around, especially among those of largest experience and rarest gift in public prayer. Various answers are given. One said he seemed to see a vast audience-room, vague angels ranged through it, a throne in the midst-and he never found himself going further; but toward the ineffable center of Royalty he sent his petition. Another said that on the instant of closing the world out

from his vision he appeared to himself to be looking straight up into a splendor of light, an undefined radiance of glory that no man could approach unto. Another told me he saw positively nothing; he felt himself in a Presence; he spoke as he would speak to a friend in the next room, out of sight but within hearing. Another pictured himself

as kneeling at the very foot of the cross on Calvary, like the Virgin Mary and her friends. And another still chose for a like similitude Mary at Bethany, sitting at the Saviour's feet. On the whole, the impression I have now is that most believers seem to have a vision of a personal God in the form of Jesus Christ the Redeemer in his human shape more or less recognizable-and that the image different Christians contemplate will vary according to the floridness or dullness of their imaginations, according to the clearness or vagueness of their intellectual processes, and specially according to their individual temperament."

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"The Throne of Grace."
BEHOLD the throne of grace!
The promise calls me near;
There Jesus shows a smiling face,
And waits to answer prayer.

2 That rich atoning blood,
Which sprinkled round I see,
Provides for those who come to God
An all-prevailing plea.

3 My soul! ask what thou wilt;
Thou canst not be too bold:
Since his own blood for thee he spilt,
What else can he withhold?

4 Thine image, Lord bestow,
Thy presence and thy love;
I ask to serve thee here below,
And reign with thee above.

5 Teach me to live by faith;
Conform my will to thine:
Let me victorious be in death,
And then in glory shine.

S. M.

Another of those familiar pieces in our conference meetings, given as No. 33 in Rev. John Newton's Olney Hymns, Book I. There

it has eight stanzas. It is founded upon 1 Kings 3:5:"Ask what I shall give thee." How strange is the spectacle of a habitually prayerless man! We have heard of one who lived without a country. We know men without a home. Bnt how an intelligent moral being can live, and yet not be on speaking terms with his Maker, passes comprehension. The privilege is open to all. Said good Bishop Leighton, with generous expostulation: "Remember, none of God's children are born dumb!"

Testi

This is No. 106, Book II., in Rev. John Newton's Olney Hymns; it appears there with six stanzas. He commences it with Our Lord, who knows fuil well." He refers directly to the parable of the judge, in Luke 18: 1-7. "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." God invites and counsels importunity, and his best people witness to its value in their practical experience. monies are not rare. Sir Matthew Hale says: If I omit praying and reading God's Word in the morning, nothing goes well all day." General Havelock used to rise at four o'clock, if the hour of marching was at six, rather than lose the privilege of communion with God before setting out. And Dr. Cuyler said of the late William E. Dodge: "The secret of his success lay in the first hour of every morning. That hour he gave to God, with his Bible and on his knees, and if he came down town to business with his face shining with cheerfulness and loving-kindness, it was because he had been up in the mount in communion with God."

SING to the Lord, our Might,
With holy fervor sing;

Let hearts and instruments unite
To praise our heavenly King.

2 This is his sacred house;
And this his festal day,

When he accepts the humblest vows That we sincerely pay.

3 The Sabbath to our sires In mercy first was given;

The Church her Sabbath still requires

To speed her on to heaven.

4 And we, like them of old,

Are in the wilderness;

And God is now as near his fold

To pity and to bless.

5 Then let us open wide

Our hearts for him to fill;
And he that Israel then supplied
Will keep his Israel still.

S. M.

We are indebted to a memorial by one who does not care to be openly known by any other address than what is signified by the letters "A. M. M. H." for many of the most interesting particulars concerning Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, the author of this version of Psalm 81. The monograph containing the

information was published in 1850. The date affixed to this hymn by Sir Roundell Palmer is 1834-1841. Whoever is familiar with St. Bernard, Paul Gerhardt, Caswall, or Faber, will be pleased to find the same devout and courageous spirit in Lyte which in those poets was their distinguishing charm. There is a kind of military ardor in these verses, a sense of swift marching with front full in air, as if the singer snuffed the battle afar off and was not afraid in the least to meet the shock of it, knowing that he had supreme help. “The battle is not yours, but God's.' This was the favorite text of Sir Fowell Buxton. He once wrote to his daughter that she would find his Bible opening of itself to the place where this passage occurs. This text it was which gave him courage to move in the British Parliament for the emancipation of slaves throughout the British Empire. When he entered on that conflict he stood almost alone; when this bill was first read in Parliament it was received with shouts of derisive laughter. But he bethought him of this text, and he began his speech, saying: "Mr. Speaker, the reading of this bill is the beginning of a movement which will surely end in the abolition of slavery throughout the British dominions.” The old Hebrew prophet never said a truer word. Sir Fowell knew it, for the battle was not his, but God's.

121

"Bless the Lord!"

STAND up, and bless the Lord,
Ye people of his choice;

Stand up, and bless the Lord your God
With heart and soul and voice.

2 Though high above all praise,
Above all blessing high,

Who would not fear his holy name,
And laud, and magnify?

3 Oh, for the living flame

From his own altar brought,
To touch our lips, our souls inspire,
And wing to heaven our thought!

4 God is our strength and song,
And his salvation ours:

Then be his love in Christ proclaimed, With all our ransomed powers.

5 Stand up, and bless the Lord;

The Lord your God adore:

Stand up, and bless his glorious name,
Henceforth, for evermore.

After Louis XIII. of France had besieged a city of the Huguenots, the citizens assembled in the evening on the wall and there sang with sweetness and solemnity one of their favorite psalms. The king was so impressed by the scene that he turned to Mazarin, who was at his side, and exclaimed: "We can do nothing with this people!" The siege was expeditiously raised, and the persecuted followers of God triumphed over their foe. The present hymn, of which this little story forms

COME, Sound his praise abroad,
And hymns of glory sing:
Jehovah is the sovereign God,
The universal King.

2 He formed the deeps unknown;
He gave the seas their bound;
The watery worlds are all his own,
And all the solid ground.

3 Come, worship at his throne,
Come, bow before the Lord:
We are his work and not our own,
He formed us by his word.

4 To-day attend his voice,
Nor dare provoke his rod :
Come, like the people of his choice,
And own our gracious God.

S. M.

The title given to this piece is, “A Psalm before Sermon;" it is Dr. Isaac Watts' version of Psalm 95, S. M., and it has in all six stanzas. Perhaps no one of this writer's frequent calls to praise has become more familiar than this through the various churches across the whole world. There is something in every true Christian's heart that answers to such a challenge. It is the singing of praises which prepares the soul for its daily expo

sures.

66

"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms." Just before Jesus our Lord went forth "over the brook Kidron," into Gethsemane trials, he sang a hymn." Men cailed Cromwell's Ironsides "psalm-singers," but they dreaded the men who came with nasal music on the field of Naseby. The battle-hymn helped Gustavus Adolphus, and the Covenanters of Scotland forgot the roughness of their versions in the inspiration of the psalms of David. Our hearts ought to grow valiant whenever this lyric is given from the pulpit and old Silver Street follows from the choir.

2 His sovereign power without our aid,
Made us of clay, and formed us men;
And when, like wandering sheep, we strayed,
He brought us to his fold again.

3 We are his people, we his care,
Our souls, and all our mortal frame:
What lasting honors shall we rear,
Almighty Maker! to thy name?

4 We'll crowd thy gates with thankful songs,
High as the heavens our voices raise;
And earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
Shall fill thy courts with sounding praise.
5 Wide as the world is thy command,
Vast as eternity thy love;
Firm as a rock thy truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move.

This hymn appeared in 1719, and was reckoned by Dr. Isaac Watts, at first, as No. 43 in Book I. But in the edition of his works printed in 1810 it is transferred to the place it has since occupied, as the Second Part, L. M., of Psalm 100. Originally it began with this

stanza:

"Sing to the Lord with joyful voice;

Let every land his name adore;
The British isles shall send the noise
Across the ocean to the shore."

Assuredly, all right-minded Christians are glad enough to know that the opening never has been the beginning of this grand old song of the ages. This weak and local verse has wisely been dropped, and one pauses a moment to ask whether people are in earnest when they have such a world of talk to make about the iniquity and impertinence of mutilating the hymns of the ancient poets. Does anybody want that stanza to come back again, and head the psalm precisely as Watts wrote it ?

Moreover the first two lines of the second stanza were given up for the same sufficient reason; these lines are simply unendurable: "Nations, attend before his throne, With solemn fear, with sacred joy." For these John Wesley in 1741 substituted the noble couplet we now use:

"Before Jehovah's awful throne,

Ye nations, bow with sacred joy." No instance that can be adduced shows better the mistaken zeal of some critics who are apparently disturbed by alterations made in these modern versions of old poems, and

who clamor for "restorations" to the original words of the authors. Does any one really want these lines to reappear in the place of the changes? Christophers says: "The Christian Church will never cease to enjoy the grand swell of Psalm 100, as given by Watts but thanks will ever be due Wesley for making these first verses worthy of the last." And Stevenson adds to this: "Never was a transformation more complete than the one made by this alteration. From being a hymn comparatively unnoticed and unnoticeable, it has been rendered one of solemnity, power, and sublimity."

ALL people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice:
Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell,
Come ye before him and rejoice.

2 Know that the Lord is God indeed;
Without our aid he did us make:
We are his flock, he doth us feed,

And for his sheep he doth us take.

3 Oh, enter then his gates with praise,
Approach with joy his courts unto:
Praise, laud, and bless his name always,
For it is seemly so to do.

4 For why? The Lord our God is good,
His mercy is for ever sure:

His truth at all times firmly stood,

And shall from age to age endure.

From the ancient copy of Sternhold and Hopkins' version of the Psalms, set to music, the date of which is 1605, I have caused to be photographed and engraved the original tune, with words inserted in the staff, as it first appeared to the English-speaking public Here, then, is the beginning of our "Old Hundred." The quaint black type, the al

most unintelligible contractions in the words, the funny and inconsistent spelling, the rough phrasing of the poetry, the rugged strength of expression combined with some small touches of wonderful majesty and grace, and, above everything else, the matchless devotion and awful reverence for the majesty and holiness of God-these are the elements of that force which kept the old psalm, with its strain of melody clinging to it, in the hearts of the people through the centuries past.

Rev. William Kethe has been reputed as the author of this composition. He was an exile with Knox at Geneva in 1555; chaplain of the English soldiers at Havre in 1563; and subsequently we find him acting as pastor of a congregation-that of Okeford, in Dorsetshire. Much discussion has been wasted upon this question, and still it remains unsettled; meanwhile the traditional credit is given to him as the author.

A group of tourists left our shores lately for a trip through Europe and Asia. They traveled by way of Egypt. Reaching that country, they determined to see the pyramids. The massive piles of masonry seem familiar enough to those who have never been within thousands of miles of them. But to the observer they appear magnificent beyond description. The party was largely composed of ministers of the gospel. These gathered around the base of the great pyramid. They looked toward the summit. The stone terraces towered row above row up to a dizzy height. They began the ascent. Their agility, combined with much help, brought them to the top-stone. There they sat in amazement and gazed upon the flat country of deserts. Then they drew out their pocket Bibles. The gne hundredth Psalm, in long meter, was announced. To the Old Hundred tune it was sung. Upon the winds of the wilderness the sacred melody floated. From this eminent station these singers sang the song of the Hebrews, and their strains melted away above the graves of their fathers, where they had lived and died in bondage. A song of praise from the great pyramid! May it be a prophecy of the good time coming, when Africa shall be filled with the music of worship, and the sweet psalms of Israel shall be heard in all her plains and mountains. Those who help the missions are hastening the day when the inhabitants of that great continent shall be a gospel choir singing the high praises of their God.

At

This verse, which is found at the close of both the morning and the evening hymn of Bishop Ken, has become the accepted “Te Deum" of the American people. Whenever spontaneous praise rises in a vast body of citizens, it is sure to choose this as a vehicle of swift and satisfactory expression. camp-meetings, at stately Sabbath services, in times of political exultation, in cathedrals, churches, and schoolhouses, out on the steps of the Custom House in Wall Street, in deepest shadows of war lit by sudden news of victory-always the popular resort is to these four lines of ascription of praise to the Triune Maker of the universe. With uncovered heads the throngs of living men and women send it aloft to the strains of the Old Hundredth Psalm.

To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Be honor, praise, and glory given,
By all on earth, and all in heaven.

In many portions of New England it has from time immemorial been the custom to use this stanza, which is Dr. Isaac Watts' Third Doxology, L. M., instead of Bishop Ken's verse now sung in the Middle States. It is found in his Hymns, Book III., where it is No. 32. Like the other familiar stanza, it has always been married to the same old tune. And there is not in musical literature a wider grouping of anecdotes of deepest interest than those which are on everybody's lips, and in everybody's heart, about this admirable piece of composition, originally set to the Hundredth Psalm and taking its name from it. It has gone all around the world, and will live while any human voice is left to sing it on this side of heaven.

Here is an excellent chance to quote some wise, calm sentences once written by old Andrew Fuller. He says: The criterion of a good tune is not its pleasing a scientific ear, but its being quickly caught by a congregation. It is, I think, by singing as it is by preaching: a fine judge of composition will admire a sermon which yet makes no manner of impression upon the public mind, and therefore cannot be a good one. That is the best sermon which is adapted to produce the best effects; and the same may be said of a tune. If it corresponds with the feelings of a pious heart, and aids him in realizing the sentiments, it will be quickly learnt, and be sung with avidity. Where this effect is not produced, were I a composer I would throw away my performance and try again."