UZ OUR HYMNS :
tuous, and almost profane. She seldom refers in her hymns to the outward events of her life ; but the following verses possess a peculiar interest when taken with the remembrance of her pro tracted imprisonment :
" Nor exile I, nor prison fear ;
Love makes my courage great ; I find a Saviour everywhere, His grace in ev ry state.
" Nor castle walls, nor dungeons deep.
Exclude His quick ning beams ;
There I can sit, and Fang, and weep,
And dwell on heavenly themes."
They are found in a piece entitled, "Love increased by Suffer* ing." To Cowper, who found some resemblance between the tried life of Madame Guyon and his own, we are indebted for admirable translations of some of the best of her hymns and religious poems.
"All scenes alike engaging prove." No. 681.
This is part of Cowper s translation of a piece entitled, " The soul that loves God finds Him everywhere." Five verses of nine are given, and the last is altered to avoid an expression of familiarity in respect to the Divine being, which would be un suitable for public worship, "and in all cases of doubtful propriety. Upham thinks it highly probable that this hymn was written when, at the age of thirty-four, she was leaving Paris, not knowing what was in store for her of toil or persecution, but bent on evangelical work, experienced in the Christian life, and determined to see God everywhere. This is the only hymn by Madame Guyon in the "New Congregational Hymn Book," but it is very characteristic. We see in it her mysticism and extravagance, and the traces of the habit she carried so far, that of applying the warm expressions of human love to the Divine affection ; at the same time, we admire in it the marks of her spiritual life, her almost angelic piety, her unreserved acquiescence in the Divine will, and her peaceful resting in the love of God.
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