1 62 THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK ILLUSTRATED
Hymn 199. Light of those whose dreary dwelling. CHARLES WESLEY (i).
Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord, No. II ; Works, iv. 1 1 6.
Hymn 200. Lo ! He comes with clouds descending.
CHARLES WESLEY (i).
Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind, 1758. Headed Thy Kingdom Come. Works, vi. 143.
John Cennick s c Lo ! He cometh, countless trumpets, seems to date from 1750. It probably suggested Charles Wesley s verse, though it does not reach the sustained grandeur of Wesley s hymn. Canon Ellerton says, Cennick s hymn is poor stuff compared to that into which Wesley recast it, putting into it at once fire and tunefulness. But the word recast is not warranted by a close comparison of the two hymns.
Thomas Olivers constructed a tune based on a concert- room song, Guardian angels, now protect me. Wesley published it as Olivers in Select Hymns and Tunes Annext, 1765. This tune Mr. Madan recast and renamed Helmsley in his Collection of Hymn and Psalm Tunes, 1769.
Dr. B. Gregory speaks in his Autobiographical Recollections (p. 190) of a sister who died at the age of thirteen, after a quarter of an hour s illness. She had always been strangely thoughtful, gentle, and devout. From the moment of her seizure she knew that she was dying : and, surely, never has death been more gloriously swallowed up in victory. She exclaimed, " Oh, this is nice dying /" And then, fixing her eyes upwards, as if she saw the Redeemer coming to receive her, she cried
Yea, Amen ! let all adore Thee, High on Thy eternal throne ! Saviour, take the power and glory, Claim the kingdom for Thine own,
Jah, Jehovah, Everlasting God, come down !
These were her last words. Beautiful association of the Second Advent with Christ s reception of the individual believer to Himself!
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