St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-08-29
A Hymn that has been Tested.
By REV. ELIAS MASON.


convert themf Does il .aDetify them
Then it is a good hymn. ,ether writ
ten by Papist, Protestant, OK Infidel-in
long metre, short metre, or in no metre
at all. The question to be put to a
hymn, as we'll as to a man, is: "What
have you donef Have you been about
doing good Have you given cOnsola-
ton to the soul in anguish ? Have you
fired the dying eye with hOpeP"
The real excellence of hymn lies
not in its paternity, nor its rhyme, nor
its rhythm but in its potency to bless
the human heart, in its actual influence
on the progress ofrthe cause of the re-
deemed 1t is therefore, always rash
to attempt to settle the destiny of a re-
cent hymn. 1t may be formed upon the
finest models; it may be lyrical ; it
may be faultless in its measure, smooth,
harmonious, devotional; yet for want
of some mysterious, indefinable quality,
still be totally inadequate to touch the
springs of sympathy in the soul.
1t takes century, at least, to test
the real character of hymn; and when
we find one that has lived and shed its
blessings through that period, cheering,
comforting and refining; when we find
hymn which, in spite of the critics
eye, the people still,persist in singing,
and all the more, when floods beat
heavily, we may beicertain that it has
in it the ring of genuine inspiration.
Such hymn is
Jesus, lover of my soul,
by Charles Wesley, 1t was, probably
suggested by the words in Wisdom xi:
26, as the lines of st. Bernard,
o amator amplectende
Tenet ipsum tune ostende
In cruce salutifera,
seem also to have been though it is
quite possible that the great storm
which Mr.. Wesley experienced at sea,
after leaving Boston, in 1873, may have
led to the composition of his admirable
lyric. 81 prayed" said he, in speaking
of that terrific scene upon the deep,
':for power to pray, continually repeat
ing the name Of Jesus, till l felt the vir-
tue of it at last"
This hymn first appeared in vol
ume entitled: Hymns and Sacred
Poems," published in 1740, where it has
one stanza more than is generally found
in our manuals of hymnolOgy, thus:
Wilt Thou not regard my calf
Wilt Thou not regard my prayer2
~. Lo II sink I faint, I fall ]; = > = -4slA.
Lol on Thee cast my
Reach me out Thy gracious handl
While of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope, stand
Dying, and behold, I live
This Wesleyan hymn, so tender, so
earnest, so Evangelical, found its way
from the Methodist into the Episcopal
hymn book, and thence into all our best
manuals of song. 1t has been translat
ed into all the European tongues, and
composers have We'd with each other to
prepare for it appropriate music. In
England it is sung to "Hollingshide,"
and some other tunes; in America to a
very simple tune, called "Martyn,"
written in 1884, by the late Simeon
Butler Marsh. A tune beftting it is yet
to be composed.
Perhaps no hymn was ever written
which SO well expresses mans need of
a Savior and Iris entire reliance on His
mercy for salvation. 1t is q trust hymn.
In our helplessness it opens the soul for
Christ to come into it and to fill it with
Himself. 1t sees, Him only, it clings to
Him only, it loves Him only. Its words
are like ''apples of gold in pictures of
silver" They are the sweet expression
of the confiding heart in its entire reli-
ance on its Lerd and Master. IS
The lines,
Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of thy wing
are as tenderly touching as anything
ever sung.
Millions have been moved toward
Jesus by this charming lyric. 1t has
resounded through the great congreea-
,tioD, comforting the desolate; IL has
warmed the hearts of the weary in the
place of seci.! worship; it has enliveh-
ed and sweetened the devotions of the
domestic circle; it has cheered the
traveller on his lonely way il has sus-
tanned the sick man in the hour of final
conflict. Mary Z. Van Lennep, the de-
voted missionary, repeated this hymn,
cher face abundant with smiles on.
her dying ted. DO you- want auy =
tang !" said pastor to a girl thirteen
years of age, in her last moments.
Yes, SIR" she replied, "sing with me,
Jesas, lover Of my soul
so thousands IN the last extremity have
been solaced By these precious words.
In a dreadful shipwreck, while the
passengers were floating OH whatever
they could reach, a young man, cling
ing to spar, sang in clear, manly
voice,
Jesus, lover Of my soul.
Let me 10 Thy Sosom iy,
and as the last words sounded, sapk
beneath the wave, leaving holy calm
ness in the hearts of those that gained
the shore, blessed death song" says
DIR. Cuyler, eff we could choose The
manner Of our departure, we would
wish to die singing:
other refuge have mona
Hangs my halpless soul on rheer'