long as those Hymns were only in private use; and some time might well elapse after their publication before he was led to think of revising them, either by public or private criticism, or by such an occurrence as the appearance of an altered text under his name, which his publisher found it necessary to repudiate. Nor is it improbable that alterations, and various readings, originating with himself, might have obtained private circulation among his friends, long before he had made up his own mind to give them to the public; a suggestion which may possibly help to explain the fact, that a writer, patronized by Dodwell, was misled into believing (for such a writer ought not lightly to be accused of a wilful fraud) that the text, published in the "Conference" under the Bishop's name, was really from his hand.
I have only a few words more to add, with respect to the reading "Awake, awake," (instead of "I wake, I wake,") in the 21st line of the Morning Hymn, which I have adopted from some of the later editions, issued by Charles Brome after 1712. This reading (I mention the fact, whichever way it may be thought to bear upon the argument,) is also found in the "Conference." Whether this or the "I wake," &c., of 1712, and of all the earlier editions, is the true reading, the variation between them may, not improbably, be due to the printer only. The press, at that period, was seldom well corrected; and other mere printers' errors are to be found in many of the editions of the "Manual." I look, therefore, to the sense: which seems to me to be in favour of the repetition of the imperative mood, (as in the first and fifth stanzas,) and not of the transition to the first person indicative. "I wake," in the sense of bodily waking from natural sleep, would be out of place, after five whole stanzas had been already spoken or sung; and, in a spiritual sense, as applied to the soul, the definiteness and positive tone of the first person indicative would seem to me to be rather repugnant to the character of the author and his theology, to the context and spirit of the rest of the composition, and to its design as a hymn for popular use, particularly by young persons.
I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,
