374 THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK ILLUSTRATED
precious to you?" the answer was, "Yes, so that He is all in all to me." During his waking moments he frequently exclaimed, "Very much peace," and several times, "No fear," "Abundance of joy," "A very present help in time of trouble." The morning of his death the only articulate words that we could catch, uttered two or three hours before his decease, were, " Amen ! Amen ! "
His watchword at the gates of death, He enters heaven by prayer.
At one o clock on the afternoon of God s day of rest, without a struggle, and without the shadow of pain crossing his peaceful countenance, he entered into rest.
Hymn 703. Jesus, where er Thy people meet.
WILLIAM COWPER (60).
Olney Hymns, 1779. Ver. 3, Dear Shepherd is the original reading. Ver. 5 of the original reads
Behold, at Thy commanding word We stretch the curtain and the cord ; Come Thou, and fill this wider space, And bless us with a large increase.
John Newton says, in April, 1769, We are going to remove our prayer-meeting to the great room in the Great House (an uninhabited house at Olney, belonging to Lord Dartmouth). It is a noble place, with a parlour behind it, and holds 130 people conveniently. Pray for us, that the Lord may be in the midst of us there, and that as He has now given us a Rehoboth, and has made room for us, so He may be pleased to add to our numbers, and make us fruitful in the land. Newton s O Lord, our languid frames inspire, and this hymn of Cowper s, were written for this occasion. Cowper used to take part in and sometimes lead these meetings. His friend the Rev. William Bull, Independent minister at Newport Pagnell, quotes the opinion of some one who was present, that he never heard praying that equalled Mr. Cowper s. In July, 1772, Newton says, I preached at the Great House from Heb. ii. 18, to which I was led by Mr. Cowper s prayer. Next day he wrote to his wife, Dear Sir Cowper is as much in the depths as ever. The manner of his prayer last night led me to speak from Heb. ii. 18. I do not think he was much the better for it, but perhaps it might suit others.
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