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 THEIE AUTHORS AND ORIGIN. 257

withstanding his occasional suffering in his eyes ; and it was pur sued till his death, in spite of his severe sufferings at the end. His service to Christ s Church was what he had said in his hymn (No. 828)

&quot; For her my tears shall fall, For her my prayers ascend, To her my cares and toils be given, Till toils and cares shall end.&quot;

Dr. Dwight died as he had lived, faithful to Christ and safe and happy in Him. His day of peaceful departure was the llth of January, 1817.

A man of large and generous sympathies, Dr. Dwight was accustomed to give a hearty welcome to strangers of many lands who came to see him in his hospitable home. He lived in com munication with many persons of influence ; and great literary and religious societies found in him one willing to lay their first foundations. Science, education, missions, and Bible -circulation were the objects he laboured to advance; and he did special service in promoting the union of the Presbyterian and Congre gational Churches of his country. Dr. Dwight was equally cele brated for the variety of his attainments, the power of his genius, and the fervour of his piety, for his usefulness as a minister, his ability as a writer, his skill as a teacher, and his unwavering zeal for the cause of God.

Besides the larger poems already referred to, Dr. Dwight wrote verse for amusement from his boyhood to the time of his death. He was accustomed to dictate it in the evening to his amanuensis, and sometimes fifty or more lines at a time. It was the play of his fancy after the severer toils of the day. In the year 1797, he was asked to use his poetical talents for the service of the Church. The General Association of Connecticut wished him &quot; to revise Dr. Watts s version of the Psalms, to versify such as he had omitted, and to make a selection of hymns suited to the general purposes of public worship. The work was completed in 1800, and laid before a joint committee of that body and of

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