These two servants of God to whom we owe so much in giving expression to the experiences of the Christian heart in their imperishable hymns, found in the experiences of their life frequent occasions, like David, for the outpouring of their hearts toward God. Isaac Watts' outburst of praise in

"Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song of sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne "

found its birth it is said in some lovely scenery where he saw in nature "glory begun below."

The beautiful stanza which closes one of his hymns,

"There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast."

was inspired, it is said, by the calm beauty of the harbor within view of his home, with the vessels anchored and at rest after their voyage.

Isaac Watts was born at Southampton, England, in 1674, the son of a deacon of the Independent church. At the end of his 22nd. year he had written no hymns, and in the two following years 144 more, besides preparing himself for the ministry. Among his first no hymns is that jewel of his lyric work-

"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Lord of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride."

Charles Wesley, took up the harp of Watts when the older poet laid it down. He was born at Epworth, Eng., in 1708, the third son of Rev. Samuel Wesley, and died in London, March, 1788.

His hymn,

"O, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise,
The glories of my God and King,
And triumphs of His grace "

is believed to have been written May 17, 1739, for the anniversary of his own conversion.

The remark of a fervent Christian friend, Peter Bohler, " Had I a thousand tongues I would praise Christ Jesus with them all," struck an answering chord in Wesley's heart, and he embalmed the wish in his fluent verse. The third stanza has made language for pardoned souls for more than four generations already:

"Jesus ! the name that calms our fears
And bids our sorrows cease ;
'Tis music in the sinner's ears,
'Tis life and health and peace."

Charles Wesley was the poet of the soul, and knew its every mood. Most of the hymns of this good man, of which he wrote no less than six thousand, were hymns of experience-and this is why they are so dear to the Christian heart. The music of eternal life is in them. The happy glow of a single line in one of them-

"Love Divine, all love excelling,"

thrills through the mall. He led a spotless life from youth to old age, and grew unceasingly in spiritual knowledge and sweetness. His piety and purity were the weapons that alike humbled his scoffing fellow scholars at Oxford, and conquered the wild colliers of Kingwood. With his brother John, through persecution and ridicule, he preached and sang that Divine Love to his country-men and in the wilds of America, and on their return to England his quenchless melodies multiplied till they made an Evangelical literature around his name.

The voices of Wesley and Watts will ever be heard wherever Christian life is experienced here below.

Adapted from "Story of Hymns and Tunes."