those were the last words she was heard to utter. Before this she had sent a message of thanks to Mr. Moody and myself, and to the lady who had led her to Christ.

"Ah,” said Mr. Moody, in telling of this, "would not any one have regretted missing the opportunity of helping this soul, who has sent back her thanks from the very portals of glory?"

Ring the Bells of Heaven

Words by William O. Cushing

Music by George F. Root

"Ring the bells of heaven! there is joy to-day
For a soul, returning from the wild."

"Ring the bells of heaven' was written," says the author, "to fit a beautiful tune sent me by George F. Root, entitled, "The little Octoroon.' After receiving it, the melody ran in my head all day long, chiming and flowing in its sweet musical cadence. I wished greatly that I might secure the tune for work in the Sunday-school and for other Christian purposes. When I heard the bells of heaven ringing over some sinner that had returned, it seemed like a glad day in heaven. Then the words 'Ring the bells of heaven,' at once flowed down into the waiting melody. It was a beautiful and blessed experience, and the bells seem ringing yet."

A little girl in England, who was much beloved by her parents, was dying. She had been very fond of our hymns and would often speak of how much she loved them. A few days before she died she said

to her mother: "When I am gone, mother, will you ask the girls of the school to sing that hymn,

'Ring the bells of heaven! There is joy to-day,
For a soul returning from the wild;

See! the Father meets him out upon the way,
Welcoming His weary, wandering child!
Glory! glory! how the angels sing!

Glory! glory! how the loud harps ring!'"

Half an hour before her departure she exclaimed: "Oh, mother, listen to the bells of heaven! they are ringing so beautifully!"

Rock of Ages

Words by A. M. Toplady

Music by Dr. Thomas Hastings

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee."

In the year 1756 a young man of sixteen, while visiting with his mother in Ireland, attended an evangelistic meeting held in a barn at the little village of Codymain. At this meeting the young man was converted. He was none other than Augustus Montague Toplady, who afterwards wrote this famous hymn. Of his conversion the author says: "Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means in England, should be brought right unto God in an obscure part of Ireland, midst a handful of people met together in a barn, and by the ministry of one who could hardly spell his own name. Surely it was the Lord's doing, and is marvelous."

At the age of twenty-two Toplady received orders in the Church of England. He was a strong Calvin

ist, and the author of many popular hymns. He died in 1778. "Rock of Ages" was first published in 1776, in "The Gospel Magazine," of which he was the editor. The hymn has been more or less altered and rearranged several times since then, but the sentiment remains the same.

It was to this hymn that the beloved Prince Consort, Albert of England, turned, repeating it constantly upon his deathbed. "For," said he, "if in this hour I had only my worldly honors and dignities to depend upon, I should be poor indeed."

In

Mrs. L. S. Bainbridge, who, with her husband, visited China for the purpose of studying Christian missions, tells the following incident: "The Chinese women, it seems, are so anxious to 'make merit' for themselves, that they will perform any labor to escape the painful transmigrations of the next life. They dread to be born again as dogs or cats, and the highest hope possessed by them is to be reborn as men. order to secure this they do any and every meritorious act. One woman had excavated with her poor, weak hands a well twenty feet deep, and it was only after this achievement that she learned of the free Gospel of salvation. She was now a woman of eighty, and, stretching out her aged and crippled fingers, we sang together,

Years ago, when a ship sank in the Bay of Biscay, a man who was saved was asked what the passengers

were doing when the ship went down. He said that the last he heard was "Rock of Ages," sung by all who could join in it.

Several tunes have been written for this hymn, the most popular one, however, being the tune by Dr. Thomas Hastings, who was born at Washington, Connecticut, in 1784, and who died in New York in 1872. He wrote many hymns and published several hymnbooks. I have in my possession a large number of hymns set to music by Mr. Hastings which have never been published.

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Words by Fanny J. Crosby

Music by W. H. Doane

"Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe on His gentle breast."

Mr. Doane came into a room in New York, once, where Fanny Crosby was talking with Mr. Bradbury, the father of Sunday-school music, and said to her: Fanny, I have written a tune and I want you to write words for it."

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"Let me hear how the tune goes," she replied. After Mr. Doane had played it over for her on a small organ, she at once exclaimed: "Why, that tune says, 'Safe in the arms of Jesus,' and I will see what I can do about it."

She at once retired to an adjoining room, where she spent half an hour alone. On returning she quoted to Mr. Doane the words of this now immortal

hymn. It was first published in the book entitled "Songs of Devotion."

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A party of steerage passengers were gathered one foggy day below decks on an Allan liner near the entrance of the Belle Isle Straits. They were cold and cheerless and weary of the voyage, though only two days out, and a lady had come down to talk and sing to them. The subject was Stepping over the line," and the song was "Safe in the arms of Jesus." She told the story of a young sailor, who was summoned to his mother's death-bed. "Willie," said the mother, looking up at him with tearful eyes," sing to me once more Safe in the arms of Jesus.' "Mother," he replied, "I can't sing that song. It would be a lie; I am not safe, and I can't sing a lie." The speaker said that she thanked God that the young sailor afterward stepped over the line and was safe. After the story was told and a hymn sung, a man suddenly left his place among the listeners. The lady was troubled. Had she offended him or was his conscience stricken? She watched for him day after day, but a storm succeeded the fog, and it was not until the last day of the voyage that she saw him again. Then, while the vessel was moored in Moville Harbor, and all was bustle on deck, the tall Scotchman sought her, saying:

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Oh, I am so glad that I have found you again! I could not leave without thanking you for those words you sang, 'Safe in the arms of Jesus.' I felt that I could not sing that hymn, as I was not safe. I have been to church all my life, and have taken the sacrament; but I was not safe, and I could not sing it.