Page:The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated.djvu/183

 THE STORY OF THE HYMNS AND THEIR WRITERS 171

II. Trembles the King of Fears

Whene er Thy cross appears. Once its dreadful force he found :

Saviour, cleave again the sky ; Slain by an eternal wound,

Death shall then for ever die.

��Hymn 212. Earth, rejoice, our Lord is King ! CHARLES WESLEY (i).

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740 ; Works, i. 296. To be sung in a tumult. Fourteen verses. In ver. 6, Our Messias is come down, has been altered to Christ the Saviour.

The story of Elisha and his servant (2 Kings vi. 15-17) is used with great effect in ver. 5.

Hymn 213. Rejoice, the Lord is King ! CHARLES WESLEY (i).

Hymns for our Lonfs Resurrection, 1746; Works, iv. 140.

In 1826 Samuel Wesley, the great organist, discovered in the library of the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, in Handel s handwriting, three tunes which he composed for three of his father s hymns

Rejoice, the Lord is King !

Sinners, obey the gospel word.

O Love divine, how sweet Thou art !

Gopsal is the tune for the first, and is attached to it in the Tune-book of 1904. Gopsal Hall, near Ashby-dc-la-Zouch, was the home of Charles Jennens, the compiler of the libretto for the Messiah. Handel frequently visited him, and has com memorated the friendship in this name for his tune. A facsimile of Handel s MS. is given in the Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, iii. 8, p. 239, with some interesting notes by Mr. James T. Lightwood. Handel was a friend of Mr. Rich, who put Covent Garden Theatre at his service for the performance of his operas. Handel taught music to Mr. Rich s daughters, and at his house Charles Wesley and his wife met the German com poser. Mrs. Rich was converted under Charles Wesley s ministry, and was one of the first who attended West Street

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