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and ease, should be chiefly attended to; and the imagery and colouring of poetry, if admitted at all, should be indulged very sparingly, and with great judgment. The late Dr. Watts, many of whose hymns are admirable patterns in this species of writing, might, as a poet, have a right to say, that it cost him some labour to restrain his fire, and to accommodate himself to the capacities of common readers. But it would not become me to make such a declaration. It behooved me to do my best. But though I would not offend readers of taste by a wilful coarseness and negligence, I do not write professedly for them. If the Lord, whom I serve, has been pleased to favour me with that mediocrity of talent which may qualify me for usefulness to the weak and the poor of his flock, without quite disgusting persons of superior discernment, I have reason to be satisfied.

As the workings of the heart of man, and of the Spirit of God, are in general the same in all who are the subjects of grace, I hope most of these hymns, being the fruit and expression of my own experience, will coincide with the views of real Christians of all denominations. But I cannot expect that every sentiment I have advanced will be universally approved. However, I am not conscious of having written a single line with an intention either to flatter or to offend any party or person upon earth. I have simply declared my own views and feelings, as I might have done if I had composed hymns in some of the newly-discovered islands in the South Sea, where no person had any knowledge of the name of Jesus, but myself. I am a friend of peace; and being deeply convinced that no one can profitably understand the great truths and doctrines of the Gospel any further than he is taught of God, I have not a wish to obtrude my own tenets upon others, in a way of controversy; yet I do not think myself bound to conceal them. Many gracious persons (for many such I am persuaded there are) who differ from me, more or less, in those points which are called Calvinistic, appear desirous that the Calvinists should, for their sakes, studiously avoid every expression which they cannot approve. Yet few of them, I believe, impose a like restraint upon themselves; but think the importance of what they deem to be truth, justifies them in speaking their sentiments plainly and strongly. May I not plead for an equal liberty? The views I have received of the doctrines of grace are essential to my peace; I could not live comfortably a day, or an hour, without them. I likewise believe, yea, so far as my poor attainments warrant me to speak, I know them to be friendly to holiness, and to have a direct influence in produ

cing and maintaining a Gospel conversation; and therefore I must not be ashamed of them.

The hymns are distributed into three books. In the first I have classed those which are formed upon select passages of seripture, and placed them in the order of the books of the Old and New Testament. The se cond contains Occasional Hymns, suited to particular seasons, or suggested by particular events or subjects. The third Book is miscellaneous, comprising a variety of subjects relative to a life of faith in the Son of God, which have no express reference either to a single text of Scripture, or to any determinate season or incident. These are further subdivided into distinct heads. This arrangement is not so accurate but that several of the hymns might have been differently disposed. Some attention to method may be found convenient; though a logical exactness was hardly practicable. As some subjects in the several books are nearly coincident, I have, under the divisions in the third Book, pointed out those which are similar in the two former. And I have likewise here and there, in the first and second, made a reference to hymns of a like import in the third.

This publication, which, with my humble prayer to the Lord for his blessing upon it, I offer to the service and acceptance of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, of every name and in every place, into whose hands it may come, 1 more particularly dedicate to my dear friends in the parish and neighbourhood of Olney, for whose use the hymns were originally composed; and as a testimony of the sincere love I bear them, and as a token of my gratitude to the Lord and to them, for the comfort and satisfaction with which the discharge of my ministry among them has been attended.

The hour is approaching, and, at my time of life, cannot be very distant, when my heart, my pen, and my tongue, will no longer be able to move in their service. But I trust, while my heart continues to beat, it will feel a warm desire for the prosperity of their souls; and while my hand can write, and my tongue speak, it will be the business and the pleasure of my life, to aim at promoting their growth and establishment in the grace of our God and Saviour. To this precious grace I commend them, and earnestly entreat them, and all who love his name, to strive mightily with their prayers to God for me, that I may be preserved faithful to the end, and enabled at last to finish my course with joy. JOHN NEWTON.

Olney, Bucks, February 15, 1779.

OLNEY HYMNS, &c.

BOOK I.

ON SELECT PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE.

GENESIS.

HYMN I. Adam. Chap. iii.

1 ON man in his own image made,
How much did God bestow !
The whole creation homage paid,
And own'd him Lord below.

2 He dwelt in Eden's garden, stor'd
With sweets for ev'ry sense;
And there, with his descending Lord,
He walk'd in confidence.

3 But, oh! by sin how quickly chang'd!
His honour forfeited,

His heart from God and truth estrang'd,
His conscience fill'd with dread!

4 Now from his Maker's voice he flees,
Which was before his joy;

And thinks to hide, amidst the trees,
From an all-seeing eye.

5 Compell❜d to answer to his name,
With stubbornness and pride,
He cast on God himself the blame;
Nor once for mercy cry'd.

6 But grace, unask'd, his heart subdu'd,
And all his guilt forgave;

By faith the promis'd Seed he view'd,
And felt his pow'r to save.

7 Thus we ourselves would justify,
Though we the law transgress;
Like him, unable to deny,
Unwilling to confess.

8 But when by faith the sinner sees
A pardon bought with blood,
Then he forsakes his foolish pleas,
And gladly turns to God.

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1 WHEN Adam fell, he quickly lost
God's image which he once possess'd:
See all our nature since could boast
In Cain, his first-born son, express'd!

2 The sacrifice the Lord ordain'd
In type of the Redeemer's blood,
Self-righteous reas'ning Cain disdain'd,
And thought his own first-fruits as good.

3 Yet rage and envy fill'd his mind,
When with a sullen downcast look,
He saw his brother favour find,

Who God's appointed method took. 4 By Cain's own hand good Abel died,

Because the Lord approv'd his faith;
And when his blood for vengeance cry'd
He vainly thought to hide his death.

5 Such was the wicked murd'rer Cain,
And such by nature still are we,
Until by grace we're born again,
Malicious, blind, and proud as he.

6 Like him, the way of grace we slight,
And in our own devices trust;
Call evil good, and darkness light,
And hate and persecute the just.

7 The saints in every age and place
Have found his history fulfill'd;
The numbers all our thoughts surpass,
Of Abels, whom the Cains have kill'd!*

8 Thus Jesus fell-but, oh! his blood

Far better things than Abel's cries,† Obtains his murd'rers peace with God, And gains them mansions in the skies.

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