PREFACE. XPERIENCE was begun four years ago, and the Quarterly Issues for 1881 and 1882, having been bound together, formed Vol. I. Those for 1883 and 1884, being now completed, form Vol. II. Cordial thanks are due to many friends in many places who have extended the circulation. Their sympathy and aid will encourage the Editor to place before his readers, in the future, the best thoughts he can find that have come from the grand and great hearts of the holiest sages, Thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof that they were born for immortality.' He claims no higher place in conducting this cheap Quarterly than belongs to any one who selects and prepares articles adapted to aid men to walk closely with God and to lead many to righteousness, and to become and remain as dead to the world, in spirit, in a time of luxury as in days of persecution or pestilence. A wise and good thought is said to be 'a great blessing, for which God is to be first thanked; next, he who is the first to utter it, then, in a lesser degree, the friend who was the first to utter it to us.' The Editor has received ample proof of the truth of this statement. He sincerely asks the prayers of all subscribers that he may be Divinely assisted to make EXPERIENCE more worthy of the cause of God, which it humbly seeks to promote. . 66-72 252 PAGES FOR PREACHERS AND TEACHERS. 297 HOME MISCELLANY. Safety in Heavenly Places-A Good Example-Read and The late George Moore and the Cabman-The Distance A Young Man's Rules of Conduct-A Christian may AMERICAN MISCELLANY. 208 232 250 Failure of Religious Speculation-Turning the Tables- 27MAR98 EXPERIENCE ORD VOL. II., No. 9.] JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, 1883. [PRICE FOURPENCE. THE REV. WILLIAM WILLIAMS, PANTYCELYN, THE CHARLES WESLEY OF WALES. F Howell Harris was the pioneer of Welsh Methodism, and Rowlands of Llangeithio its great preacher, the sacred poet of the blessed revival most assuredly was the honoured man whose name stands at the head of this paper-Williams of Pantycelyn. He was a born hymnologist, and a most prolific writer. He consecrated his genius and the power of his pen to the service of the Master. His name is a household word in the Principality, his hymns are more widely known and more frequently read and sung by his countrymen all over the world than those of any other of their numerous hymnologists and poets. Some of his lines are the first hymns taught to the children at their mothers' knees, and often are the last utterances of the dying who die in the Lord. His hymns are found in every Welsh Hymn-book that has been published in the language during the last hundred and thirty years, and in several of them these well-known hymns form the greater part. This is singular in a country where so many excellent poets appeared and sang, and determines once for all his pre-eminent claims as the "Watts of Wales,' so described by Paxton Hood, or, as we venture to designate him, the Charles Wesley of Welsh Methodism. He wrote 123 English hymns, some of which are widely known. Many of our readers have been cheered on their pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City by the following sweet Zion's song: 'Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; Feed me now and evermore. Open Thou the crystal fountain Whence the healing stream shall flow ; Let the fiery, cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through ; Strong Deliverer! Be Thou still my help and shield, When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid my anxious fears subside; Death of death, and hell's destruction, Land me safe on Canaan's side; Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee.' The fourth verse is generally omitted. It runs as follows 'Musing on my habitation, Musing on my heavenly home, Lord, I long to be with Thee.' Although this hymn appears in some English Hymn-books, with the name 'W. Williams' attached to it in the Index to the Hymns,' few are the readers who bear in mind that the author is W. Williams of Pantycelyn. As soon as it was written it became popular among all denominations of Christians, holding a place in the affections of the Church with Robinson's 'Come, Thou Fount of every blessing.' Long before missionary societies had been formed he wrote, in his remote Welsh village, 'O'er the gloomy hills of darkness Look, my soul, be still and gaze; All the promises do travail Blessed jubilee ! Let thy glorious morning dawn.' |