Page:The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated.djvu/206

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IQ4 THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK ILLUSTRATED

the address was given. The motto was first suggested by Mr. Hale in a lecture delivered at the Lowell Institute in 1869. The history of these little rules is delightful. A magazine, Lend a Hand, is the exponent of the Legion. Miss Lathbury s share in the work is recognized in the Century Magazine, January, 1885, p. 342. She first saw the rules in 1874 on the frieze of a friend s parlour in Orange, and founded the Legion, which had a membership of 4,000 boys and girls in Methodist Sunday schools in 1885.

Hymn 264. When quiet in my house I sit. CHARLES WESLEY (i).

Short Hymns on Select Passages of Scripture, 1762. Based on Deut. vi. 7. Works, ix. 94. In the original the last line reads, Thy Church above.

I sink in blissful dreams away,

And visions of eternal day,

owes a good deal to Pope

To sounds of heav nly harps she dies away, And melts in visions of eternal day.

(Eloisa to Abelard, 1. 221-2.)

Hymn 265. O how blest the hour, Lord Jesus.

CARL J. P. SPITTA, D.D. ; translated by R. MASSIE.

O wie freun wir uns der stunde. In Spitta s Psalter und Harfe, 2nd Series, 1843, headed Thou hast the words of eternal life. His Psalter und Harfe contained sixty-one hymns. It had unexampled popularity, and reached a 42nd edition in 1887. Spitta s hymns assisted much in the revival of Evangelical religion in Germany.

Spitta was born at Hanover in 1801, became a Lutheran pastor, and died at Burgdorf, where he had just been appointed Lutheran Superintendent. He began to write verse when eight years old. He formed a friendship with Henrich Heine at Gottingen University, but broke it off at Liine because Heine jested at sacred things in the presence of Spitta s pupils. He began to write hymns in 1824, and told a friend in 1826, In the manner in which I formerly sang I sing no more. To the Lord I consecrate my life and my love, and likewise my

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