believe that this Collection will be found peculiarly calculated to strengthen and enliven, not only those affections which the Gospel encourages and requires towards the God of love and mercy, as the Source of all its blessings, but those also which are due to our Saviour, on account of the exertions and sufferings by which he executed the gracious purposes of his heavenly Father. As it may serve, in various instances, to explain the grounds of their rejection or alteration of Hymns, the Editors think it adviseable to state, that they have endeavoured, as much as practicable, to avoid all expressions which, though susceptible of a correct explanation, are calculated to convey, to the uninformed mind, wrong ideas respecting the perfections of the Supreme Being, and the nature of religion,-and also (in the Hymns designed for Public Worship) such professions respecting the religious character, as cannot, in all probability, be truly employed by the great bulk of a Congregation, and such resolutions respecting the future, as cannot be executed at all, or at most, by those only who have made very great advances in Christian excellence. And they have, in general, thought it best to avoid those invocations to inanimate objects, &c., which, however suitable they may be to the feelings, when under the guidance of a highly excited imagination, seem scarcely to be calculated, in usual circumstances, to raise the devotional affections, or to be generally suited to the purposes of Public Worship. In laying down the foregoing principles, the Editors were chiefly influenced by our Saviour's direction as to the worship which alone is acceptable to the Supreme Being,-"God is a spirit and they that worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth" and they were not unmindful of the Apostle Paul's representations, and wished to aid others to sing, not only "with the spirit," but "with the understanding also." In acting, howver, upon them, (as they pretty uniformly have,) they hope it will seldom appear, that they have diminished the interest of the Hymns which they retained or introduced; and they trust that they have not sacrificed any thing really calculated to excite and cherish the warmest and noblest feelings of the heart. About two-thirds of the following Hymns are derived from the former Collection. Of the remainder, sixteen are original,-the greater part expressly composed for the purpose; and ten or eleven others have not before been introduced into any Collection designed for Public Worship. The rest have been chiefly derived from other Collections; though the Editors have examined all the original sources as far as they had the means. In the Hymns which they have retained or introduced, they have, without hesitation, made such alterations as the above-mentioned principles required, or as appeared to them to be improvements either in the sense, or in the mode of expression. In many instances, by additions or alterations in the expressions or arrangement, made either by themselves or by preceding Collectors, the Hymns are essentially different from what they originally were; and there are few in which some alterations have not been made. As it would be useless, and indeed almost in practicable, to specify all the changes which have been made on the originals, the Editors leave the Hymns (as in the former Collection,) without reference to their respective Authors. The Editors may be allowed to state, before they conclude, that individually and collectively, they have spared no pains to render the Collection as complete and useful as possible. They regard the object as a very important one,-believing that a Hymn-Book has great efficacy in the formation and cultivation of devotional feelings and religious prin. ciple, owing, in part, to the employment of it in the public services of religion, and, perhaps not less, to the use frequently made of it in private. While they indulge the hope, that the Collection will meet the wishes, and promote the religious edification, of the Congregation for whose service it has especially been formed, they are not without the expectation, that it will be more extensively useful, in furthering the grand cause of Christian truth and practice. With these views they humbly commend their labours to the divine blessing. Exeter, 29th May, 1812. This 24mo Edition may be had at the rate of 1s. each in sheets, and the 12mo Edition at 2s. each, in quantities not less than twenty-five, by applying to Mr. B. P. Pope, Exeter; or to Mr. John Chapman, 121, Newgate Street, London. INDEX OF FIRST LINES. THOSE Hymns which are marked by an Asterisk (*), are ori- Again our weekly labours end. Again the Lord of life and light, Again to God your cheerful anthems bring; A glory gilds the sacred page . Before Jehovah's awful throne, .. B. Behold the Prince of Peace, Behold! where, breathing love divine, |
