The Press.
London, England, 1855-09-01 00:00:00

I'm not ashamed to own the Lord—

a wonderful instance of condescension, it must
be admitted, on the part of a Christian
congregation.
Psalmody, as practised in our churches, is
too plainly a contrivance to allow the minister a
breathing pause, or to afford the congregation
relief from one posture to another, or to till
up the gap necessarily occasioned in the in-
tervals between distinct parts of the service.
It does not appear to be practised for its own
sake, and hence the two or three verses chosen
—too brief for the expansion of a sentiment
or of a striking passage in Scripture—are
languidly listened to by the congregation, and
endured as a necessary formality.
The German churches, to judge from this
selection, are much better supplied with devo-
tional poetry than our own Church. We wish
the translator of this attractive volume had
given us some information as to the actual
practice amohg German congregations. All of
these pieces, according to our usage, would be
much too long to be sung at once, yet their
effect would be spoilt if split into frag-
ments. Were Psahnody made a really
important and vital part of our service,
one or two such poems as are contained
in this volume might be sung entire, with
great advantage to the devotional fervour of
the congregation. As it is, there is soaroely
one of them which would not, from He length,

..

SEPT. 1, 1855.

be out of place in any of our collections,
though they might be very advantageously
used in households, many of them having the
character of pious ballads—a species of com-
position which might easily become as popu-
lar in this country as it has long been in
Germany. One of the hymns in this volume,
composed by George Neutnarck, of Weimar,
about two centuries ago, acquired almost in-
stant popularity. No one knew who wrote it,
but a baker's boy at New Brandenburg learnt
it, and was heard singing it over his work.
The common people were charmed with it, and
soon, we are told, " the whole town and neigh-
" bourhood flocked to him to hear this beautiful
"new song "

Leave God to order all thy ways,
And hope in Him whate'er betide,
Thou'lt find Him in the evil days
Thy all•sutlicient strength and guide;
Who trusts in God's unchanging love,
Builds on the rock that nought can move.
What can these anxious cares avail,
These never•ceasing moans and sighs ?
What can it help us to bewail
Each painful moment as it flies ?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.
Only thy restless heart keep still,
And wait in cheerful hope ; content
To take whate'er His gracious will,
His all•discerning love hath sent.
Doubt not our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.
Be knows when joyful hours are best,
He sends them as He sees it meet ;
When thou has borne the fiery test,
And art made free from all deceit,
He comes to thee all unaware,
And makes thee own Hia loving care.
Nor, in the heat of pain and strife,
Think God hath cast thee off unheard,
And that the man, whose prosperous life
Thou enviest, is of Him preferr'd.
Time passes and much change doth bring,
And sets a bound to everything.
All are alike before His face ;
'Tis easy to our God most High
To make the rich man poor and base,
To give the poor man wealth and joy.
True wonders still by Him are wrought,
Who aetteth up, and brings to nought.
Sing, pray, and swerve not from His ways,
But do thine own part faithfully,
Trust His rich promises of grace,
So shall they be fulflll'd in thee;
God never yet forsook at need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.
It is scarcely possible to exhaust the beauty of
a simple composition of this kind. It is
a creed in itself, and eminently calculated to
form a habit of piety in the mind. We wish
that by any process similar pieces could be
made popular among the masses of our people.
Their educational influence would be of in-
calculable value.

Though these hymns have been specially
selected from Bunsen's large colle.;tion, to ac-
cord with the different Sundays of the year,
yet many of them have a historical character.
The following is remarkable as having been
often sung by Gustavus Adolphus with his
army. It was composed by Altenburg, and
bore the title, " A heart cheering song of com-
fort on the watchword of the Evangelical Army
in the battle of Leipsic, September ith, 1631,
God with us." This hymn was sung by the
great Christian soldier immediately before the
battle of Liitzen ;
Fear not, 0 little Bock, the foe
Who madly seeks your overthrow,
Dread not his rage and power :
What though your courage sometimes faints,
His seeming triumph o'er God's saints
Lasts but a little hour
Be of good cheer; your cause belongs
To Him who can avenge your wrongs,
Leave it to 10m our Lord.
Though hidden yet from all our eyes,
He sees the Gideon who shall rise
To save us, and His word.
As true as God's own word is true,
Not earth or hell with all their crew
Against us shall prevail.
A jest and byword are they grown ;
God is with us, we are His own,
Our victory cannot fail.
Amen, Lord Jesus, grant our prayer!
Great Captain, now Thine arm make bare;
Fight for us once again
So shall Thy saints and martyrs raise
A mighty chorus to Thy praise,
World without end. Amen.

Several of the hymns bear relation to the
distress and persecution consequent on the