E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing Thy power to save When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Many there be, indeed, with whom this hymn is not a favorite. To them its imagery is unwelcome; nevertheless, it has been triumphantly sung by millions of God's saints. It was a great favorite with my honored friend, Governor Stevenson, of Kentucky. As sung at his funeral, it stirred my heart to rapid beating, and brought tears to my eyes. I could almost hear the shouts of his ransomed soul, declaring: Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing Thy power to save, When this poor lisping, stammering tongue II. 660 Oh, for a closer walk with God, A light to shine upon the road Return, O holy Dove, return, I hate the sins that made Thee mourn, The dearest idol I have known, Help me to tear it from Thy throne, So shall my walk be close with God, III. This was a great favorite with William E. Gladstone, and by him translated into the Italian language: 599 Hark, my soul, it is the Lord; He delivered thee when bound, Can a woman's tender care His is an unchanging love, We shall see His glory soon, Lord, it is my chief complaint Yet I love Thee and adore; Oh, for grace to love Thee more! IV. Perhaps the most powerful of all Cowper's hymns is this. It is all the more interesting to read or sing it, because of his personal experiences of perplexities and sorrows: 427 God moves in a mysterious way He plants His footsteps in the sea, Deep in unfathomable mines, With never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs, Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, His purposes will ripen fast, The bud may have a bitter taste, Blind unbelief is sure to err, God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain. In this connection, Mrs. Browning's touching lines upon "Cowper's Grave," may well be read: It is a place where poets crowned may feel the heart's decaying; And now, what time ye all may read through dimming tears his story, How discord on the music fell, and darkness on the glory, And how when, one by one, sweet sounds and wandering lights departed, He wore no less a loving face because so broken-hearted. He shall be strong to satisfy the poet's high vocation, And bow the meekest Christian down in meeker adoration; Nor ever shall he be, in praise, by wise or good forsaken, Named softly as the household name of one whom God hath taken. With quiet sadness and no gloom I learn to think upon him, With meekness that is gratefulness to God whose heaven hath won him, Who suffered once the madness-cloud to His own love to blind him; But gently led the blind along where breath and bird could find him, And wrought within his shattered brain such quick poetic senses Wild, timid hares were drawn from woods to share his home-caresses, Uplooking to his human eyes with sylvan tendernesses: The very world, by God's constraint, from falsehood's ways removing, Its women and its men became, beside him, true and loving. And though, in blindness, he remained unconscious of that guiding, A word in conclusion as to John Newton's hymns. Concerning these, a competent critic has well written: "There are no hymns more popular among all sections of the Church than some of Newton's. This is largely due to the depth and vitality of his religious experience, which reached to regions far below the doctrinal forms in which it found expression. Scarcely a hymnal of any section of the Church can be mentioned which does not include some of his best known hymns. They may be found not only in hymnals of the Evangelical type, but in those so widely separated in doctrinal matters as 'Hymns Ancient and Modern' and Dr. Martineau's 'Hymns of Praise and Prayer.' From the little volume of 'Olney Hymns' the Church has drawn a far larger number of hymns, and these greatly prized, than from many more voluminous collections. Its somewhat narrow theology is softened by the reality and tenderness of the religious experience of its authors, of both of whom it may be said, "They learnt in suffering what they taught in song.'" * * * Some will remember several of Newton's hymns, which we used to sing years ago, but sing no longer in our churches, e. g., those beginning: |