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In Bishop Heber's 'Life' it is briefly stated, that in the year 1819 a royal letter having been issued authorizing collections in churches, in furtherance of the Eastern operations of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Heber, who was then Rector of Hodnet, went to Wrexham to hear the Dean of St. Asaph preach on the day appointed. He had written his well-known missionary hymn, and it was first sung in the beautiful church at Wrexham. But further particulars have been recently given, together with the facsimile of the original. The original belonged to the late Rev. Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool, and was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. The particulars given are as follow : On Whit-Sunday, 1819, the late Dr. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, and Vicar of Wrexham Church, preached a sermon in Wrexham Church in aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. That day was also fixed upon for the commencement of the Sunday evening

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lectures which it was intended establish there; the late Bishop of Calcutta, who was the Dean's sonin-law, and at the time Rector of Hodnet, undertook to deliver the first lecture. During the preceding Saturday, the Dean requested Heber to write something for them to sing at the morning service, and for that purpose he retired from the table where the Dean and a few friends were sitting, to a distant part of the room. In a short time the Dean inquired: 'What have you written ?'

Heber, having then composed the three first verses, read them aloud. 'There, there; that will do very well,' said the Dean.

'No, no,' replied Heber; 'the sense is not complete.'

Accordingly, he added the fourth verse; and the Dean, inexorably refusing his repeated request, ‘Let me add another; oh, let me add another!' the hymn, which has since been so celebrated, was completed. It was sung, for the first time, the next morning, at Wrexham Church. An examin

ation of the handwriting of the original has brought out the interesting fact that at the last stanza it changes and becomes trembling, as if the writer was much moved.

'MISSIONARY HYMN.

'From Greenland's icy mountains,
From India's coral strand,
Where Afric's sunny fountains
Roll down their golden sand,
From many an ancient river,
From many a palmy plain,
They call us to deliver

Their land from error's chain !

'What though the spicy breezes
Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle,
Though every prospect pleases,
And only man is vile,
In vain with lavish kindness
The gifts of God are strown,
The heathen in his blindness

Bows down to wood and stone!

Can we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Can we to men benighted
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation! oh, salvation!

The joyful sound proclaim,

Till each remotest nation

Has learned Messiah's name!

'Waft, waft, ye winds, His story,
And you, ye waters, roll,
Till, like a sea of glory,

It spreads from pole to pole ;
Till o'er our ransomed nature
The Lamb for sinners slain,
Redeemer, King, Creator,

In bliss returns to reign!'

Richard Baxter, the author of 'The Saint's Rest,' and other spiritual works, which have comforted and strengthened the faith of many a believer, maintained for himself, during seasons of persecution, imprisonment, and afflictions of all kinds, an unwavering confidence in his covenant God.

He added to his beautiful hymn, 'The Covenant and Confidence of Faith,' this interesting postscript: 'This covenant my dear wife in her former sickness subscribed with a cheerful will John xii. 26: "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there shall also My servant be; if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour."'

'THE COVENANT AND CONFIDENCE OF FAITH.

'My whole, though broken heart, O Lord,
From henceforth shall be Thine,
And here I do my vow record :

This hand, these words, are mine;
All that I have without reserve
I offer here to Thee;

Thy will and honour, all shall serve
That Thou bestow'dst on me.

All that exceptions save, I lose ;
All that I love, I save;

The treasure of Thy love I choose,
And Thou art all I crave.

My God, Thou hast my heart and hand,
I all to Thee resign;

I'll ever to this covenant stand,

Though flesh hereat repine.

'I know that Thou wast willing first,
And Thou mad'st me consent;
Having thus loved me at the worst,
Thou wilt not now repent.

Now I have quit all self-pretence,

Take charge of what's Thine own; My life, my health, and my defence, Now lie on Thee alone.

'Now it belongs not to my care
Whether I die or live;

To love and serve Thee is my share,
And this Thy grace must give.

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