142 OUR HYMNS;
Jackson, in his life of Charles Wesley, says that this account rests only on tradition, hut that it is on record that the following hymn was written by Charles Wesley on the occasion of his visit to the Land s End, and sung there
" Come, Divine Immanuel, come, Take possession of Thy home ; Now Thy mercy s wings expand, Stretch throughout the happy land," &c.
The verses are founded on the words of Isaiah viii. 8 : " He shall reach even to the neck, and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, Immanuel." Hymn 42 i is headed, " A Hymn of Seriousness." It may have referred to the visit, hut the author has not connected it therewith.
" Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire." No. 429.
This is a hymn to be used " Before reading the Scriptures." The second verse is sometimes sung in Wesleyan chapels just before the sermon.
" Father of all, in whom alone." No. 469.
This also is a hymn to be used " Before reading the Scrip tures." These two (429 and 469) first appeared in " Hymns and Sacred Poems," 1740.
" Come, O Thou all-victorious Lord." No. 522.
This was composed by Charles Wesley, in June, 1746, before preaching at Portland, in Dorsetshire, where the people were mostly employed in the stone quarries. Hence perhaps the lines
" Strike with the hammer of Thy word, And break these hearts of stone."
They are almost an exact rendering of Jeremiah xxiii. 29 " Is not my word . . . like a hammer that breakeththe rock in pieces ? "
" Depth of mercy ! can there be
Mercy still reserved for me." No. 528.
An actress, in a provincial town, overhearing this hymn being given
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