Page:The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated.djvu/210

 198 THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK ILLUSTRATED

is given by the Rev. W. P. Burgess and others for thus assigning it. Mr. C. D. Hardcastle thinks there is little doubt that the hymn was written by Charles to accompany his famous sermon on the text Isaiah Iv. i, preached at Bristol, September, 1739, and on numerous other occasions. I cried from Isaiah Iv., &quot; Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ! &quot; Between two and three thousand attended. I found great freedom in speaking to them, who are altogether such as I was. Journal, September 24, 1739.

��Hymn 272. O all that pass by, to Jesus draw near. CHARLES WESLEY (i).

Hymns on God s Everlasting Love, No. 3 (Bristol, 1741) ; Works, iii. 6. Six verses.

Charles Wesley s hymns of invitation strike a new note. They are the battle-songs of an open-air preacher, and are borne on the wings of the tempest that raged round the heroic little poet as he faced cheerily the rage or the ridicule of the mob. His metres are bright and lilting, winning the ear of the simple and arresting the casual passer-by. Only a preacher, perhaps only an open-air preacher, could have written such hymns. They are not hymns of the oratory, of the class-room, or the village church ; but of that vast cathedral whose roof is the blue vault of heaven ; they are songs of Moorfields, of Kingswood, of Newcastle, and of Gwennap. Perhaps of all Wesley s hymns these are the most characteristically Methodist. Dr. A. E. Gregory.

Hymn 273. Thy faithfulness, Lord, each moment we find.

CHARLES WESLEY (i).

Hymns on God s Everlasting Love, No. 2 (Bristol, 1741) ; Works, iii. 6. The first verse is

Lord, not unto me, (the whole I disclaim,)

All glory to Thee, through Jesus s name !

Thy gifts and Thy graces, Pour d down from above,

Demand all our praises, Our thanks and our love.

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