.

the first I have classed those which are formed upon select passages of Scripture, and placed them in the order of the books of the Old and New Testament. The second 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 farther 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, I 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 bare 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.

Olney, Bucks, February 15, 1779.

JOHN NEWTON.

VOL. III.

X

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 power 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.

II. Cain and Abel. Chap. iv. 3—8.

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.