244 OUR HYMNS :
the members of the class had committed them to memory. Logan s shameless purpose was seen when, in 1781, he published as his own in a volume of " poems" the " Ode to the Cuckoo," and several of Bm.ce s hymns. The Rev. A. B. Grosart, in his " Works of Michael Bruce," 1865, has fully established these facts.
Some of Bruce s principal pieces were " Lochlcven," written at Forrest Hill, in 1766 ; his " Ode to the Cuckoo," his " Elegy written on Spring," and his piece on " The Last Day." He also wrote twelve hymns. His " Ode to the Cuckoo" will always be valued as a gem of poesy. Its pleasing versification, its truth fulness to nature, and the touching reference to the writer with which it concludes, strike all readers. His other pieces are not wanting in sustained dignity of style and thought, pleasing and appropriate imagery, and just and noble sentiments ; hut they are valued most as earnests of what the author would have accom plished if his life had been spared.
His hymns are admirable for their faithfulness to the passages of scripture they render, for their poetic imagery, and for their style, which is dignified without being pretentious. Here and there they reveal a pensive tendency, resembling what is found in the author s letters, and suggestive of high purposes dis appointed by life s early decay. Most of the hymns have rhymes only in the second and fourth lines, and not in the first and third, and thus, in versification, fall behind what some other hymn writers have accomplished.
" Almighty Father of mankind." No. 104.
This is four verses of a hymn of eight verses, given by Logan as his own in his book of 1781. It is slightly altered from the original, which is believed to have been by Michael Bruce. The reasons are given above.
"Where high the heavenly temple stands." No. 400.
This exceedingly touching and much prized hymn is erro neously attributed to Logan. It is by Michael Bruce. It is the
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