354 THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK ILLUSTRATED
He knew the distress that young Punshon had been in, and urged on him the need of living faith. Then and there I was enabled to lay hold on my Saviour, and peace immediately sprang up in my heart. He was just fourteen and a half. He was soon eagerly working and cultivating his gifts. When sixteen years and two months old he preached his first sermon. It was manifest that he was called to the ministry. When he became a candidate, the Rev. W. Arthur says his precocious reputation whispered of his coming celebrity. He quickly made himself a great name in Methodism and in the country as a preacher and a lecturer. He was President of the Canadian Conference, 1868-72 ; President of the English Conference, 1874 > Foreign Missionary Secretary, 1875-81. A truer-hearted Methodist preacher never lived. His last words were, Christ is to me a bright reality. Jesus, Jesus. Then with a smile he entered on his heavenly inheritance. He was laid to rest in Norwood Cemetery on April 19, 1881.
Listen ! the Master beseecheth, is another of his hymns, given in the Methodist Sunday School Hymn-Book.
Hymn 642. We rose to-day with anthems sweet.
WILLIAM MORLEY PUNSHON, LL.D. (641).
Sabbath Evening, from Sabbath Chimes, 1867. In the first line the original reads, We woke to-day. Verses 2 and 3 read
Whate er has risen from heart sincere,
Each upward glance of filial fear,
Each litany, devoutly prayed,
Each gift upon Thine altar laid ;
Each tear, regretful of the past, Each longing o er the future cast, Each brave resolve, each spoken vow, Jesus, our Lord ! accept them now.
Hymn 643. O Saviour, bless us ere we go. F. W. FABER, D.D. (54).
In Jesus and Mary, 2nd thousand, 1852. Written in 1849 as an Evening Hymn for Brompton Oratory, of which he was Superior. It begins Sweet Saviour, and the closing stanza, with its line, Mary and Philip, near us be, is unfit for Protestant worship, and is omitted.
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