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SARAH DOUDNEY

HEN one beholds the long list of volumes written by Miss Doudney he is amazed at the prolificness of her pen. Up to 1889, when she had attained to her forty-seventh year, she had published in London over forty different works. She began her contributions to magazines at the age of eighteen, but a year or two previous to that time she had written the favorite and well-known poem, “The Lessons of the Water-Mill," in which is found the impressive refrain which has been quoted around the world, "The mill will never grind with the water that is past." Miss Doudney says she found the words of the refrain in an old scrap-book, where it was placed under the picture of a mill, but further than that she could not trace it. I may add that Hoyt & Ward's "Cyclopedia of Quotations" credits the proverb to "Gen. D. C. MacCallum," which no doubt is an error. Putnam's Sons' "Proverbs,

Maxims, and Phrases," classes it among those of French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese origin, and probably this is correct.

Miss Doudney has written numerous sacred and secular poems which have been widely read in Great Britain. Her" Psalms of Life" was issued in 1871, and in 1881 appeared her "Children's Hymn-Book." From the former work we get her most familiar hymn, which begins with the line, "Saviour, now the day is ending." But a hymn which seems to me to be stronger in thought and expression, and finer in diction, is the following, also from "Psalms of Life":

For all Thy care we bless Thee,
O Father, God of might!

For golden hours of morning,
And quiet hours of night;
Thine is the arm that shields us

When danger threatens nigh,
And Thine the hand that yields us
Rich gifts of earth and sky.

For all Thy love we bless Thee:
No mortal lips can speak

Thy comfort to the weary,
Thy pity for the weak.

By Thee life's path is brightened
With sunshine and with song;
The heavy loads are lightened,
The feeble hearts made strong.

For all Thy truth we bless Thee :
Our human vows are frail,
But through the strife of ages

Thy word can never fail;
The kingdoms shall be broken,
The mighty ones will fall;
The promise Thou hast spoken
Shall triumph over all.

Oh, teach us how to praise Thee,
And touch our lips with fire!
Yea, let Thy Dove descending,
Our hearts and minds inspire!
Thus toiling, watching, singing,
We tread our desert way,
And every hour is bringing
Nearer the dawn of day.

Such hymns as this do much to inspire heart-felt worship, and add enrichment to the hymnals of the Church.

ADA CAMBRIDGE CROSS

N the "tuneful sisterhood" is Mrs.

IN

Cross, the author of several fine hymns and litanies which, I regret to note, are not familiar in the United States. She was born in Norfolk, England, in 1844, and in 1869 was married to the Rev. George Frederick Cross, who became incumbent of Coleraine, Australia. In 1865 she published a volume called " Hymns on the Litany," which contained some verses of great beauty entitled entitled "In Affliction." The hymn, as originally printed, consisted of seven stanzas of eight lines each; but this length not being suitable for public use, the following abbreviated form has been adopted:

Saviour! by Thy sweet compassion,

So unmeasured, so divine;

By that bitter, bitter passion,

By that crimson cross of Thine;

By the woes Thy love once tasted
In this sin-marred world below,
Succor those in tribulation,

Succor those in sorrow now.

Lord, Thou hast a holy purpose
In each suffering we bear;
In each throe of pain and terror;
In each secret, silent tear;
In the weary days of sickness,
Famine, want, and loneliness:
In our night-time of bereavement,
In our soul's Lent-bitterness.

All the needful sweet correction
Of this gentle hand of Thine;
All Thy wise and careful nurture,
All Thy faultless discipline;
All to purge the precious metal,
Till it shall reflect Thy face;
All to shape and polish jewels
Thine own diadem to grace.

Lord! we know that we must ever
Take our cross, and follow Thee

All along the narrow pathway,
If we would Thy glory see.
Then, oh, help us each to bear it,

By Thine own hard life of shame;

Let us suffer well and meekly,

Let us glorify Thy name.