THERE is no night in heaven. -KNOLLIS.

Francis Minden Knollis, of Fitzhead, Taunton, was a graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1837; and took his M. A. degree in 1840. He proceeded by regular steps, being noted as deacon in 1838, priest in 1839, Bachelor of Divinity in 1850, and Doctor of Divinity in 1851. He was the incumbent of Fitzhead, diocese of Bath and Wells, from 1856—and the gross income of this position was £90! He was, however, domestic chaplain to Lord Ribblesdale; and in 1839 was a Fellow of Magdalen College. He had been (1841) rector of Congerstone, Leicestershire, and his death occurred in 1863. Dr. Knollis published a very large number of pamphlets, sermons and brief treatises. His hymns are contained in A Garland for the School; or, Sacred Verses for Sunday Scholars, 1854; A Wreath for the Altar; and Lays for the Sanctuary, and Other Poems (2d ed. 1867). This latter volume was "compiled by G. Stevenson de M. Rutherford, and published in London by Elizabeth Good." The present piece (which is in the Free Church Hymn-Book, in five stanzas) was contributed by Knollis to Rutherford's Collection.

THERE'S a wideness in God's mercy. -FABER. This hymn is taken from Faber's poem entitled Jesus," which is in thirteen stanzas.

Come to

THERE were ninety and nine that safely lay.-MISS CLEPHANE. The date of this hymn is 1868. The writer was Miss Elizabeth C. Clephane, of Melrose, a member of the Church of Scotland. It first appeared in the Family Treasury, edited by Dr. Arnot. Thence it drifted into the Christian Age, a London religious journal, where it attracted the attention of Mr. Ira D. Sankey. The tune to which it is inseparably joined formed itself in his mind during a conference held on the subject of " The Good Shepherd." He sang it, before it was written down, May 16th, 1874, at a gospel meeting in the Free Assembly Hall, Edinburgh. Miss Clephane died a short time after the piece was written and printed. She is the author also of "Beneath the cross of Jesus."

One of the most thrilling incidents connected with its use is the effect its distant singing produced on the heart of an impenitent

man.

Clear and sweet the song rose up: "I go to the desert to

find my sheep." And the man on the hillside heard and was saved.

THEY Who seek the throne of grace.-HOLDEN, alt. Oliver Holden-an almost mythical figure in American psalmody-was born at Shirley, Mass., September 18th, 1765. We venture to repeat something of what was said under "All hail the power of Jesus' name," in order to make the present annotation more complete. We are indebted for much of our information to Mr. Hubert P. Main.

Holden was a carpenter by trade and then became a teacher of psalmody and publisher of music, at Charlestown, Mass. The list of his publications is as follows:

1792.- The American Harmony, which he compiled and edited. 1793.-The Union Harmony, 2 vols., Boston.

1795.-Massachusetts Compiler, with Gramm and Holyoke, Boston. 1800.-Music on Death of George Washington.

1795-1803.- The Worcester Collection, various editions.

1800 (about).-Plain Psalmody.

1802 (about).-Charlestown Collection.

He is said also to have published a volume of poetry containing some original hymns, in which this may have a place, though the book is inaccessible and the fact cannot be verified. We only know that in The Union Harmony this present piece appears, designated with an H., and commencing, "All those who seek a throne of grace.'

Mr. Holden died at Charlestown, September 4th, 1844.

'By the sick-bed of Rabia stood two holy men. One of them said: 'The prayers of that man are not sincere, who refuses to bear the chastening strokes of the Lord.' The other went beyond him, saying: 'He is not sincere who does not rejoice in them.' Rabia, detecting something of self in that very joy, surpassed them both as she added: 'He is not sincere who does not, beholding his Lord, become totally unconscious of them.' The Mohammedan Lives of the Saints records that, on another occasion, when questioned concerning the cause of a severe illness, she replied: 'I suffered myself to think on the delights of Paradise, and therefore my Lord hath punished me.' She was heard to exclaim : ' What is the Kaaba to me? I need God only." "

THINE earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love. -Doddridge.

·

In the diary of Dr. Gardiner Spring, under date of May 25th, 1851, there is an entry which is interesting. Evidently this excellent man had been pressed by some serious affliction; for he says

that this was the first time he had opened his piano to sing since it occurred.

"I felt,' he writes, that while all God's works praise him, my voice also should be vocal with his praise. How beautiful is this green earth on a Sabbath day!' Yet he seems to have thought his joys ought to be in some measure subdued, and he adds, as he sings on in his quiet way: 'I could only give utterance to the words:

"Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love,

But there's a nobler rest above."'"

This is Dr. Doddridge's "Lord of the Sabbath! hear our vows," found in full in Sir Roundell Palmer's Book of Praise, p. 335. In many of the modern collections the hymn is made to begin, as it does here, with the second stanza, and this omission of the first is the only noticeable alteration which has taken place. It was composed, January 2d, 1737, to be sung after a sermon on Heb. 49.

THINE for ever! God of love.--MAUDE.

Mrs. Mary Fawler Maude is the wife of Rev. Joseph Maude, and the daughter of Mr. George Henry Hooper, of Stanmore, Middlesex. Her husband-to whom she was married in 1841is vicar of Chirk, which lies between Ruabon and Oswestry, North Wales. He is an honorary canon of St. Asaph's. The lady informed Mr. Miller that this hymn-which has been generally adopted-was first printed in her Twelve Letters on Confirmation, 1848. It was composed for a confirmation class at Newport, Isle of Wight, and was earliest used in the collection of Bishop William Walsham How, then rector of Whittington, Shropshire, 1864. Mrs. Maude's Memorials of Past Years appeared in 1852. She has written many other pieces, but none have had the favor which this has enjoyed.

THINE holy day's returning.-PALMER.

This hymn is based on Ps. 84: 10; was written in 1834; and, so far as Dr. Palmer recalls (though the fact has been questioned), was one of the little "batch of hymns" given by him to Lowell Mason not long after that date.

THIS child we dedicate to thee.—GILMAN.

This "Hymn for Baptism" is from the pen of a Unitarian clergyman, Rev. Samuel Gilman, D. D., born, Gloucester, Mass., February 16th, 1791; educated at the Academy in Atkinson,

N. H., and afterward a clerk in the Essex Bank, Salem. In 1811 he was graduated with honor at Harvard College; was tutor in mathematics for two years; studied theology with Drs. Ware and Kirkland, and was then ordained, December 1st, 1819, as pastor of the Unitarian Society, at Charleston, S. C. Dr. Gilman continued at this post until February 9th, 1858, when he died at Kingston, Mass., while on a visit to his son-in-law, Rev. C. J. Bowen. His death was regarded in Charleston as a public calamity.

He was a frequent contributor to current periodicals, and will be remembered by the Memoirs of a New England Village Choir, which are included in his Contributions to Literature (1856). Scattered through his writings are many hymns.

Dr. Putnam says that the present hymn is a translation from the German, with two stanzas omitted, but the original is not named. It suggests C. F. Neander's "Du wiesest, Jesu," etc., at the commencement of the second double stanza :

"Dir sei auch dieses Kind befohlen!

Du nimmst es auf, dein Wort ist wahr," etc.

THINK gently of the erring.-FLETCHER.

"Miss

This hymn appears in Adams and Chapin's (Universalist) Hymns for Christian Devotion, 1846, and bears the name of It is therefore probable that she was an American

Fletcher." writer.

THIS God is the God we adore.-HART.

In Hart's Hymns, 1759 (2d ed., 1762) this is No. 73. It has seven double stanzas and commences, 'No prophet, no dreamer of dreams." The usual two-stanza hymn, with the above first line, has been formed from this longer piece by taking the last stanza and dividing it. The title of the original hymn is, "If there arise among you a Prophet, or a Dreamer of Dreams, etc.-Deut. 13: 1,'' etc.

The morning and evening hymns from the Christian Year were read to Dr. Nicholas Murray just before his death. "Very beautiful," he said, "but I want nothing but sleep." On the other hand, he said of the repetition or reading of Scripture truths and promises : That keeps me awake, as my mind anticipates every word." 'Tis Jesus the first and the last," was repeated to him, and he responded : "Whose Spirit shall guide me safe home."

THIS is my body, which is given for you.-C. L. FORD. "Charles Lawrence Ford," says Dr. Rogers, in Lyra Britannica, 1867 (2d ed., 1868), "is the son of a distinguished artist in Bath. He was educated at Bath and is B.A. of the University of London. Six hymns from his pen are inserted in the Lyra Anglicana, edited by the Rev. Robert H. Baynes. He has also contributed to Mr. Baynes's collection of English Lyrics."

THIS is not my place of resting. —BONAR.

In Hymns of Faith and Hope, first series, 1857, this hymn appears in four stanzas, with the title "Rest Yonder."

THIS is the day of light.—ELLErton.

Rev. John Ellerton, who became rector of Hinstock, Shropshire, in England, 1872, is the author of this hymn. It first appeared in Selection of Hymns for use in Chester Cathedral, 1868. Mr. Ellerton was born in London, December 16th, 1826, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1849. He then entered the Episcopal Church, 1850. In 1883 he was rector of Barnes, Surrey, England. He has written many excellent hymns, some of which are found in the Nantwich Choral Book, 1866 and 1867; others of which are in Hymns, Ancient and Modern, also in the Church Hymns, and in the Hymnal Companion. His Church Hymns, Annotated, was published by the "Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge," London, 1881.

THIS is the day the Lord hath made.—WATTS.

Dr. Watts affords this as a version of Ps. 118, Fourth Part, C. M.; vv. 24-26. The title is, "Hosanna: the Lord's Day; or, Christ's Resurrection and our Salvation." It has five stanzas.

THOU art coming! At thy table.-F. R. HAVERGAL.

This is in Miss Havergal's Poems, p. 53. It is the second part of "Thou art coming, O my Saviour !" which the author dates in 1873.

THOU art coming, O my Saviour!-F. R. HAVERGAL.

This Advent Hymn, in seven stanzas, is in Miss Havergal's Poems, p. 52. We have just given the other part of this hymn, and the date is 1873.