Ever be near our side,

Our Shepherd and our Guide,
Our staff and song:

Jesus, Thou Christ of God,
By Thine enduring Word,
Lead us where Thou hast trod;

Make our faith strong.

So now, and till we die,
Sound we Thy praises high,
And joyful sing:

Let all the holy throng
Who to Thy Church belong.
Unite and swell the song

To Christ our King!

This hymn which was written in Greek about the close of the second or the beginning of the third century is credited to Clement, of Alexandria, a Christian philosopher and teacher, whose active life was lived in the latter part of the second and the beginning of the third century. The original of the hymn is found in the appendix to the Tutor, composed by Titus Flavius Clemens, Clement of Alexandria. The hymn follows a treatise on "Jesus as the Great Teacher." While the author's references suggest a possible earlier authorship, it is generally called "Clement's Hymn."

This hymn from the Greek reminds us of the statement of history that the disciples who spoke Greek seem to have been especially tuneful and confirms the statement that "Greece, the land of poets, was doubtless the cradle of Christian hymnody." The early believers taught their songs to their children, and it is as certain that our first Sunday-school hymn was written somewhere in the land. of the classic East as it is that the Book of Revelation was written on the Isle of Patmos.

HYMNS OF THE ASCENSION

IN reviewing the use of the hymns of the Ascension, in order to select those which were the most generally used as the favorites to be described, we

were surprised to note that in several books of hymns the whole subject of the Ascension had been overlooked. Yet this is a natural result of the failure to observe the Church Year by many professing Christians. They miss the force of the logic and the sequence in worship.

The Ascension fact is a crowning climax to the Easter triumph. Its setting is picturesque; its facts fully attested, and its lessons most reassuring to the believer. While discoursing to and commissioning His apostles, Jesus suddenly and visibly ascends beyond the clouds into heaven, whence He had come, and assumes His seat at the right hand of Power in eternity. The event in its manner and in its significance means so much to every believer in Him that the soul witnessing it may well shout in exultation in contemplation of the triumphant departure. The writers of evangelical hymns have not ignored the triumphant scene which marks the termination of the physical presence of our Lord upon the earth. The deep impression which the Ascension should make on our hearts and lives is most fully expressed in a remarkable hymn written in German by Gerhard Tersteegen, and furnished in an excellent English translation by that wellknown translator, Catherine Winkworth. The peculiarity of the meter has prevented the wide popularity of the

hymn, which, embracing the great facts of the Ascension, is most expressive.

A PRAYER TO JESUS ON HIS ASCENSION

Conquering Prince and Lord of glory,
Majesty enthroned in light!

All the heavens are bowed before Thee,
Far beyond them spreads Thy might.
Shall I fall not at Thy feet,

And my heart with rapture beat,
Now Thy glory is displayed,

Thine ere yet the worlds were made?

As I watch Thee far ascending

To the right hand of the throne,
See the host before Thee bending,
Praising Thee in sweetest tone,
Shall not I too at Thy feet
Here the angels' strain repeat,
And rejoice that heaven doth ring
With the triumph of my King?

Power and Spirit are o'erflowing;
On me also be they poured:
Every hindrance overthrowing,

Make Thy foes Thy footstool, Lord.

Yea, let earth's remotest end

To Thy righteous scepter bend;
Make Thy way before Thee plain,
O'er all hearts and spirits reign.

Lo, Thy presence now is filling

All Thy Church in every place,
Fill my heart too, make me willing
In this season of Thy grace.
Come, Thou King of glory, come,
Deign to make my heart Thy home,
There abide and rule alone,
As upon Thy heavenly throne.

Thou art leaving me, yet bringing
God and heaven most inly near;
From this earthly life upspringing,
As though still I saw thee here.
Let my heart, transplanted hence,
Strange to earth, and time, and sense,
Dwell with Thee in heaven e'en now,
Where our only joy art Thou!

The author of this hymn, Gerhard Tersteegen, was born at Mörs, Rhenish Prussia, November 25, 1697. He began to study for the ministry in the Reformed Church, but was compelled by the death of his father to go into business. He soon became what is known as a Mystic, absented himself from the Holy Communion because he was not willing to commune with open sinners. He often became spiritually depressed, and in one of these moods, on Maundy Thursday, 1724, he wrote out what he called "a covenant with God," which he signed with his own blood. He kept aloof from the established churches, but made no attempt to organize one of his own. He preached so earnestly that he strained his voice and in his later years was able to speak only to small audiences. He established a "Pilgerhütte," or "Pilgrim's Cottage," for "Awakened Sinners," and in preaching and living, as well as in hymn writing, was deeply pious. His hymns, which are quite numerous, have perpetuated his name. They are found in both Lutheran and Reformed hymnals. His "Prayer to Jesus on His Ascension" is an excellent illustration of the style of his hymns.

AN ASCENSION HYMN OF THE MIDDLE AGES

M. Guizot, in speaking of the characteristics of the literature of the "Middle Ages," very correctly states that