By Thy meek Spirit, Thou, of all

That e'er have mourned, the chief —
Thou, Sufferer! if the stroke must fall,
Hallow this grief.

A tone of sadness characterizes many of Mrs. Hemans's poems; but turning from her plaintive and solemn hymns the reader will find delight in her bright Christmas. Carol, written in 1827:

O lovely voices of the sky,

That hymned the Saviour's birth !
Are ye not singing still on high,

Ye that sang

"Peace on earth"?

To us yet speak the strains
Wherewith in days gone by

Ye blessed the Syrian swains,

O voices of the sky!

O clear and shining light, whose beams
A heavenly glory shed

Around the palms, and o'er the streams
And on the shepherds' head!

Be near through life and death,

As in that holiest night

Of hope, and joy, and faith,

O clear and shining light!

O star which led to Him whose love
Brought hope and mercy free!
Where art thou? 'Mid the host above
May we still gaze on thee?

In heaven thou art not set,
Thy rays earth might not dim;
Send them to guide us yet,

O star which led to Him!

It is worth while to say that Mrs. Hemans's splendid poem, "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England,” beginning with the line

"The breaking waves dashed high,

On the stern and rock-bound coast

has touched the heart and patriotism of millions of Americans, and has found a permanent place in our libraries of poetry and song.

ABBY BRADLEY HYDE

IN years gone by the name of Mrs. Hyde was more familiar to singing congregations than it is to-day. Only a few of the later hymnals contain any of her productions. Among American women to make contributions to our hymnology she was one of the earliest, having been born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1799. In 1818 she was married to the Rev. Lavius Hyde, then holding a Congregational pastorate at Salisbury in that State. During her life, which closed in 1872, Mrs. Hyde wrote about fifty hymns, several of which were used in "Nettleton's Village Hymns," in 1824, and thirty-four found a place in an enlarged edition of that work in 1855.

A few of Mrs. Hyde's pieces can be highly commended, but many changes have taken place in hymnology during the past fifty years, and only two of her hymns have been admitted in the more modern

hymnals. One of her earlier hymns, "And Canst Thou, Sinner, Slight," was once popular in America, and was favored with places in several hymn-books in Great Britain. The other hymn is a prayer in behalf of children; it is touching in sentiment, and deserves a more general acceptance than has been given it by latter-day hymnologists. I quote the full text:

Dear Saviour, if these lambs should stray
From Thy secure inclosure's bound,
And, lured by worldly joys away,

Among the thoughtless crowd be found

Remember still that they are Thine,

That Thy dear sacred name they bear; Think that the seal of love divine,

The sign of covenant grace they wear.

In all their erring, sinful years,

Oh, let them ne'er forgotten be;
Remember all the prayers and tears

Which made them consecrate to Thee.

And when these lips no more can pray,
These eyes can weep for them no more,
Turn Thou their feet from folly's way;

The wanderers to Thy fold restore.

Ο

MARGARET MACKAY

F all the hymns for the burial of the dead there is none more consolatory than " Asleep in Jesus, blessed Sleep." It was written by Mrs. Mackay, who was born at Hedgefield, Scotland, in 1802, and entered that "calm and undisturbed repose," of which she so sweetly sang, in 1887. Her father was Captain Robert Mackay of the British army; and her husband was Lieutenant Colonel William Mackay of the Sixty-eighth Light Infantry, to whom she was married in 1820.

Mrs. Mackay's well-known hymn first appeared in "The Amethyst," an annual publication issued at Edinburgh. The verses were suggested by a simple circumstance. She had visited Devonshire, England, and on a tombstone in the burying ground connected with the chapel, the words "Sleeping in Jesus," attracted her