Tarry with me, 0 my Saviour!

Lay my head upon thy breast
Till the morning; then awake me—

Morning of eternal rest!

Not only, however, have the editors enlarged our previous stock of hymns in an unprecedented degree-they have also restored to their original form many which had been grievously curtailed, and mangled by previous compilers. They have not hesitated to assert in their preface, that "those readings which are best in themselves, and also best adapted to actual use in our churches . . . are commonly the original readings;" and that, "in general, the author's words should be preferred to others." Accordingly, many beautiful lyrics* are here given back to us, (with occasional abbreviations,) substantially in the form in which they existed thirty years ago. Many verses have been restored to their proper place, which had been previously transposed or altogether omitted; and even where the restoration has been incomplete, many of the more glaring offenses against poetry and good taste have been corrected, (as in 721, and some of those specified below.)

Finally, in that most invidious and difficult portion of their task-the attempt to alter or remodel stanzas which could not well be retained in their original form-we think the editors have sometimes (and this is high praise) been really successful. We may say of them in this respect, what Dr. Johnson said of Watts, that it is sufficient for them to have done better than others, what no man has done well. We annex a few of the most favorable specimens, (some of which we are happy to trace to the Church Psalmody,) and leave the reader to form his own judgment:

*Such as Nos. 11, 21, 38, 107, 135, 157, 166, 183, 194, 225, 232, 254, 287, 300, 351, 408-9, 441, 452, 487, 549, 580, 601, 652, 810, 885, 913, 1026, 1028, 1045, 1065, 1118, 1149, 1159, 1191, 1192, 1212, 1221, 1234, 1236, 1242, 1253, &c.

Here the absurdity of the original is at least mitigated.

I want that grace that springs from thee. Oh for that grace that springs from thee.

May purge our souls from sense and sin. May purify our souls from sin. (1002.)

* But why omit the original opening lines of this beautiful hymn?

"O Thou, by long experience tried,

Near whom no grief can long abide."

Or devils plunge it down to hell.

Up to the Lord our flesh shall fly.
There the dear flesh of Jesus lay,
And left a long perfume.

(ib.)

Up to the Lord our souls shall fly. (1210.) There the dear flesh of Jesus lay, There hopes unfading bloom. We have already intimated that the arrangement of the hymns in this collection, and the complete and copious character of its indexes, leave, in our opinion, nothing to be desired. We proceed now to the less agreeable task of pointing out what appear to us to be its principal defects.

And first, though many hymns have been restored to something like their primitive condition, a great number have been allowed to remain disfigured with clumsy and prosaic alterations and transpositions, and, in some cases, (we grieve to say,) original, and, we think, very objectionable innovations have been introduced. We subjoin some specimens:

Blest are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne of majesty.

Blest are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne above the sky. (14.)

Here the words, "above the sky," merely repeat, and, of course, weaken the idea already better expressed by the words, on high." On the other hand, "throne of majesty" is more graphic and poetical than "throne" by itself, or with the above useless addition.

O, God, our King, whose sovereign sway
The glorious hosts of heaven obey,
And devils at thy presence filee,
Blest is the man that trusts in thee.

|O, God, our King, whose sovereign sway The glorious host of heaven obey,

Display thy grace, exert thy power,

| Till all on earth thy name adore! (15.)

Here hosts is surely more poetical and expressive than host, and the reference to evil spirits is a natural and appropriate contrast.* The fourth line is a gem, and cannot be spared. The lines substituted are prosaic, and have neither any connection with the subject, nor the slightest foundation in the original Psalm.

"This work shall make my heart rejoice, And spend the remnant of my days."

"This work shall make my heart rejoice, And cheer the remnant of my days." (45.)

* Dominus exercituum: "qui determinat quid faciendum sit per exercitum bonorum angelorum et malorum."

Albert. ad Lib. Nahum, Cap. 2, (ed. Vulg. ad Marg.)

"Cheer" seems only to weaken the effect of the preceding

When strong temptations fright my heart. Whene'er temptations fright my heart.

When the great water-floods prevail.

(637.) When high the water-floods prevail. (670.) On this my steadfast soul relies. (683.) To raise his honor here! (974.)

Steadfast on this my soul relies.

To raise his figure here.

This emendation makes the line (to us) unintelligible.

And thine own church be filled with | And make Jerusalem a praise! (1122.)

Surely this beautiful figure, so appropriate to the glorified humanity of the Redeemer, might have been spared.

These instances, out of many, must suffice. But such as these, though the most numerous, are by no means the worst class of alterations. The following abbreviation and transposition appears to be partially original:

Great God, create my heart anew,
And form my spirit pure and true;
O, make me wise betimes, to spy [see]
My danger and my remedy.

Behold, I fall before thy face,
My only refuge is thy grace:

No outward forms can make me clean,
The leprosy lies deep within.

Behold, I fall before thy face,
My only refuge is thy grace:
Great God, create my heart anew,
And form my spirit pure and true!

(492.)

The 1023d hymn, though credited to Newton, is copied verbatim from the Church Psalmody, and there attributed to "Drummond." The original by Newton consists of five double stanzas, making ten single ones, of which two only are adopted in the Church Psalmody, the first being repeated at the close, and a third supplied (we presume) by "Drummond," making four in all! a few alterations (not improvements, we think) are inserted, as usual. The 80th hymn is Newton's, (excepting the first verse,) but is not credited to him. The real first verse, and the last, are omitted, the second is made the 5th, and some very needless alterations are introduced.* We must here warn all future compilers not to trust Pratt's Collection as an authority for hymns. We have never had the pleasure of seeing it, but this is at least the third instance known to us in which old hymns in a new dress have been credited to it by the unsuspecting editors of "Select Hymns," or "Church Psalmody." The 298th hymn is so altered from the form which we have always supposed the correct one, as to be hardly recognizable. In the 348th (one of Watts's most striking lyrics) only two stanzas out of six are retained. In the 378th (the last verse being omitted) and others, the first verse is repeated at the end, after the fashion of the Church Psalm

* The original hymn of Newton may be found in Worcester's selection, (125.)