Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-06
For al we know
OF what the blessed do above,
Is that thnY sing and that they 1--we

Is, that they sing and that they love,
There are no learned theological essays,
no doctrinal disquisitions, no fine-spun
pulpit theories in heaven; and the attrac-
tions Of that eternal home are not lessened
when we remember the fact What in
finite, indcscribable pathos there is in a
hymn, and how it clings to and fills the
memory with the purest and hottest assO-
Citations when care and sin have blotted
out almost all else that is good!
Bcecher said lately that he had rather
bc the author of "Jesus, lover of my
soul, . than to have written all the poetry
IN the English language, and we are sure
that the earnest, trusting faith embodied
in those verses of Charles Wesley, will
carry his name 'to the last syllable of
recorded time That man of iron,
Thomas II. Benton, never heard them
without moistened eyes, for this was the
fayorite hymn of a pious and beloved
wife, TO whom, as he said, he ''was in
debted for all he was and al he hoped
to be-"
Nearly a century ago there died in Lon
don noted popular preacher and contro-
vcrsial writer who attained quite a
celebrity in his day. Six ponderous
volumes, which few persons ever saw, and
fewer still ever read, attest bis zeal in
behalf of the dogmas of bis church, and
we suppose, that il any dreams of postum
nous fame ever entered the godly man
mind, he relied for their realization upon
these sermons and p0lemical tracts; but a
kindly oblivion has engulfed them all, Enc
the world remembers Aug dstus Montague
Toplady only because he wrote ''Rock o.
Ages"-the simplest and the noblest, we
think, of all the religious y ries which
sanctifed genius has laid upon the altar OF
the Almighty Yet as there have been
persons WHO thought the Bible and Shaks
peare capable of improvement in their
rhetorical constr action, so we have row
pernicious race of bymn-butchers who lay
violent hands upon every composition OF
this SOLE penncd in a generation which ha'
passed away, and hew and manglc then
&c suit their own narrow and ulgar taste
The consequences is thaithe best hymn'
are marrcd by these beggarly thinkers, and
it is hardly possible to obtain 4 correc
I versionof any Of them. Here is Crock o
Ages, not as this or that sect has trans
lated it for this OF that book of scCtarial
psalmody, but as Toplady wrote it:
Rock Of Ages, rent for me
Lot me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood
From Thy riyen side which flowed,
BE of sin the double cure;
Cleanse me from its guilt and power
Nothing in my hand bring,
Simply TO Tiny cross cling;
Naked come 10 Thee for dress,
Helpless look to Thee for grace,
Foul 7 10 the Fountain fly:
Wash me, Savior, or die.
While draw this hccting breath,
when my cye-strinEs break in death,
when l soar 10 worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne;
Rock Of Ages, cleft for me,
Lit me hide myself in Thee.
Mankind if indebted to the Cathol
Church for some of the finest contrib
lions to this department Of devotional Ii
era,ura. and no one can be said to have
comprehensive knowledge of hymnolog
who has not carefully examined the Lyr
- Catholica. What a majestic sweep
harmony, what fcTycnt, almost passiona
piety brcathcs through the 'Poruguet
HYMN TO the Virgin, from which we e!
tract two or three verses:
star Of the wide and painless ses
Who loyeth on mariners 10 shine,
These Votiye garments wet, to thee
We hang within thy holy shIine;
When DER flashed the surglng brine,
Amid the warning waters toss d,
From earthly aid we turned to thine,
And hoped, when other hope was lost.
Ave, Maris Stella!
s.ar Of She aoep! at that blest name,
The waves sleep silent round the Keel
The tempests wild their fury tame,
That made the deep foundations reel;
The soft celestial accents steal
SO soothing through the realms Of woe,
That suffering souls a respite feel
Yrom torture in the realms below
Ave, Maris Stella!
star OF the deep. when angel Tyres
To hymn thy holy name essay,
In vain mortal la aspires
To minge in the mighty lay
Mother Of Christ one living ray
of hope our grateful bosom fires,
When storms and tempests pass away,
To join the bright, immortal chOirs.
Ave, Maris stella!
We cannot close without a single 81
pestion. Let stop be put alike TO
..,.:,,, ,F ola HYMNS and tba manuf