CHAPTER VIII.

Other Hymns of Interest.

THE Emperor Frederick, when dying, comforted himself in his pain by singing the following hymn:

"If the Lord me sorrow send

Let me bear it patiently;
Lifting up my heart in prayer
Comfort He will not deny;
Therefore, let there come what will,
In the Lord my heart is still.

Though the heart is often weak,
Full of pain, and all forlorn;
Though in days of utmost pain
Not a day of joy will dawn;
Tell it, let there come what will,
In the Lord all pain is still."

The author was Ernest von Willich, a German boy twelve years old. He was an invalid, and the hymn was his personal testimony.

Another conspicuous instance of a youthful hymn-writer is Joseph Grigg, who wrote "Ashamed of Jesus," when only ten years old.

The hymn gives a rare glimpse into the nature of childhood piety. It does not express, nor pray for the experience of a mature Christian; yet possibly no mature Christian ever wrote a more beautiful and popular hymn on the same subject. A child can be a true friend. The hymn is not lacking in literary merit. What more beautiful figure or appropriate comparison could be given than

or,

"Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far

Let evening blush to own a star;"

"Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon

Let midnight be ashamed of noon."

It is gratifying to know that one who so early enjoyed the friendship of Jesus remained faithful in later years. He wrote another hymn called, "Behold a Stranger at the door," in which he recommended his lifelong Friend to others.

Henry Kirke White was another youthful hymn-writer. He might have lived and died an unbeliever but for the influence of an intimate friend. The friend had been converted, and, knowing White's skeptical views, avoided him. White was grieved, and inquired the reason for the neglect. His friend told him frankly about the change which had come into his life. White was greatly impressed, and later became a Christian.

He was fond of outdoor life. Swimming in the English Channel was one of his favorite sports. After his conversion he seemed to look through nature to nature's God. In one of his hymns-perhaps his greatest-he gives a very poetic and reverent description of a storm. The angry waves and howling winds had lost their terrors since he understood that they were governed and controlled by "the Eternal Monarch" of creation:

"Rebel, ye waves, and o'er the land
With threatening aspect roar;
The Lord uplifts His awful hand,
And chains you to the shore.

Ye winds of night, your force combine;
Without His high behest,

Ye shall not, in the mountain pine,
Disturb the sparrow's nest."

The thunder is but the voice of God.

"His voice sublime is heard afar;
In distant peals it dies."

His hymn on the "Star of Bethlehem" is more familiar. While writing it he probably had in mind some dark night that he himself had spent on the channel, and he made his physical peril represent his spiritual struggle. White be

gan to study for the ministry; but his health failed, and he died at the age of twenty. Such are the merits of his poetry, that many authorities think that, if he had lived, he would have taken a place among the British poets.

It seems strange that there should have been any antagonism between the author of "Jesus, Lover of my soul," and the author of "Rock of Ages;" yet Augustus Toplady wrote many elaborate articles which were intended to refute the teachings of the Wesleys. They taught that salvation was free, and he believed in election. Therefore he felt it was his duty to oppose them. Their doctrine of "Christian Perfection" aroused his special displeasure. That his opposition was due to a misunderstanding of the doctrine is shown by this hymn, which he wrote to controvert it. He called the hymn "A living and dying prayer for the holiest believer in the world." The most perfect Christian must say:

"Thou must save, and Thou alone:
In my hand no price I bring;
Simply to Thy cross I cling."

He wrote better than he knew. He thought he was forging a weapon with which to wound the cause of the Wesleys. In reality he was writing a hymn for the use of the entire Protestant Church. It was the dying prayer of the Prince

Consort.

Bitter as Toplady was against the

theological doctrine, his heart longed for the experience of perfect salvation. He wrote:

"O when wilt Thou my Savior be?

O when shall I be clean?
The true eternal Sabbath see,-

A perfect rest from sin?

I look to my incarnate God
Till He His work begin;

And wait till His redeeming blood
Shall cleanse me from all sin."

Like Pope and Montgomery, Toplady wrote a hymn on the dying Christian. Though perhaps not equal in literary merit, it breathes the same spirit of triumph:

"Deathless principle, arise;

Soar, thou native of the skies!
Pearl of price by Jesus bought,
To His glorious likeness wrought,-

Go, to shine before the throne;
Deck the Mediator's crown;
Go, His triumphs to adorn;

Made for God, to God return.”

These might well have been his last words, so triumphant was his death. A short time before it occurred, he asked his friends if they could spare him. They replied that they could. "O, what blessing," exclaimed Toplady, "that you are