THEIR AUTHORS AND ORIGIN. 89
And there are many other similar beauties. More is said of the excellencies of Dr. Watts Hymns, in a comparison of the claims of Dr. Watts and Charles Wesley, which has been attempted under "CHARLES WESLEY."
In Dr. Watts Psalms and Hymns, including "parts" and doxologies, there were six hundred and ninety-seven separate pieces. In the " New Congregational Hymn Book," in order to make room for numerous other writers, and to keep the whole book of a moderate size, it was necessary to make a great reduc tion from this number. But not less than three hundred and ninety-one of Watts are retained ; the next largest contributor, Charles Wesley, supplying only seventy-four. And good service is done not only by omitting those of Watts that were least used and least valuable, but also by introducing a few good hymns found in his works though not included in his collection.
As an illustration of the kind of notes Dr. Watts has some times appended to his Psalms, we give the following, given at the foot of his rendering of Psalm xxxii.
" Blest is the man, for ever blest." jSTo. 41.
He says " These two first verses of this psalm being cited by the Apostle, in the fourth chapter of Romans, to show the freedom of our pardon, and justification by grace without works, I have, in this version of it, enlarged the sense by mention of the blood of Christ, and faith, and repentance ; and because the Psalmist adds, A spirit in which is no guile, I have inserted that sin cere obedience, which is a scriptural evidence of our faith and justification." These notes illustrate the poet s method, but are not of sufficient importance to deserve reproduction. The hymns have no notes.
" Show pity, Lord ; Lord, forgive." No. 71.
For the first three lines of this psalm, Watts is indebted to the "Psalmodia G-ermanica," a translation by John Christian Jacobi, 1722, a work of which he occasionally made use.
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