164
NOTES AND QUERIES. iw s. n. AUG. 27, im.
I cannot speak more to his praise. In the worst
times blessed be His Name ! I can bear testimony
to His faithfulness and truth ; He has never left me
since He first found* me, no, not for a moment. I
know that the everlasting arm is underneath me,
and the Eternal God my Refuge. blessed state of
a believing soul ! who trusteth in the Lord, and
whose hope the Lord is. The Almighty hath graven
him upon the palms of His hands, and all his
interests and concerns are continually before Him.
What a blessed peace belongs to this sweet persua-
sion ! a persuasion not founded in fancy, as the
world profanely dreams, but built upon the sure
promise of an unchanging God. Did not the
remainder of sin and unbelief, deprive us of much of
our enjoyments, what a delightful portion should we
possess even here below ! How much of heaven does
a believing view of Jesus, as our all-sufficient good,
bring down into the soul ! we seem to breathe the
pure air of that better country, where all the
inhabitants are holy, and more than seem to converse
with God, for our fellowship is with the Father,
and with His Son Jesus Christ. Truly the Lord is
gracious ; blessed are all they that wait for Him !
to as many as receive Him, gives He power to
'become the sons of God. May we always be enabled
to receive Him with our whole heart ! May we
charge our souls continually to lift up their ever-
lasting gates, and admit this King of Glory, the
Christ of God, in all the fulness of His free salva-
tion : so shall we be the children of the Most High.
He that is in us, will prove Himself greater than
lie that is in the world, by giving more than victory
over all our enemies. The warfare seems often
difficult to us because we are weak, and the Lord
keeps us sensible of our weakness, for wise and
.gracious ends ; but how easy it is in His hand,
Who hath on His vesture and on His thigh* a name
written, King of kings and Lord of lords ! before
Whom the powers of darkness are as nothing and
'less than nothing, and the legions of hell, with all
their devices and subtleties, are as naked in His
sight. Then let us not fear because of them, but
be very courageous, for the Lord God is with us ;
He it is that fights for us : who can be against us ?
Yours, my dear Aunt, in the best bonds,
etc. etc.
Pp. 75-76, by the same author as pp. 70-72. Dated 12 March. Begins :
May God be for ever praised for the mercies as on this day vouchsafed us all in the event you mention.
Further on :
What a strength of nature does it prove, that at such an age [84], and so feeble a frame, the disso- lution should have so much to struggle with. May this dear and faithful servant of God and man be -enabled to wait the appointed hour of release, and then depart in peace, her eyes seeing Thy salvation, o Lord !
Pp. 77-78 :
Letter 14 [should be 17]. Dated y (Olney), Aug 8t 31 st 1769. Printed in Wright, i. 110-11. P. 110, 1. 2, "afflicting," MS. "afflictive"; 1. 8, "blessed
- * The Task,' iii. 112-13 :
There was I found by One who had Himself Been hurt by the archers.
and happy," MS. "happy and blessed";
1. 11 from foot, "and when," MS. "when";
1. 6 from foot, "trust in," MS. "trust" ; 1. 4
from foot, "distress," MS. "a distress."
P. Ill, at end of letter, "etc. etc."
Pp. 79-80 :
Letter 15 [should be 18]. Date March 5, 1770.
Printed in Wright, i. 116-17. Begins " Dear Cousin." P. 116, 1. 4 of letter, "hope," MS. " hopes " ; 1. 5, " only," omitted in MS. ; 1. 9, "beyond," MS. "out of." P. 117, 1. 1, after "purified" MS. adds "by the many furnaces into which He is pleased to cast us. The world is a wilderness to me, and I desire to find it such, till it shall please the Lord to release me from it" ; 1. 6, after " praise" MS. adds :
" My present affliction is as great as most I have experienced : but
When I can hear my Saviour say, Strength shall be equal to thy day, Then I rejoice in deep distress, Leaning on all-sufficient grace. I beg you will present my affectionate respects to the family you are with. I often think on them ; and, when I do so, I think we shall meet no more, till the great trumpet brings us together. May we all appear at the right hand of that blessed Redeemer Emanuel, Who has loved poor sinners, and washed their sins in His own most precious blood.
My poor brother is continually talking in a delirious manner, which makes it difficult for me to know what I write. I must add no more there- fore but that I am, my dear Cousin,
Yours etc. etc. JOHN E. B. MAYOR. Cambridge.
(To be continued.)
PURCELL'S MUSIC FOR < THE TEMPEST.'
PHOF. CUMMINGS, upon whom Grove and
the ' D.N.B.' base, assigns the composition of
Henry PurcelPs music for Shad well's version
of 'The Tempest ' to 1690, a highly improbable
date. As I have been at some pains to show
in my article in the March issue of Anglia
(Halle), Shadwell's so-called opera was
originally produced at the Duke's Theatre,
in Dorset Gardens, in April, 1674. Largely
based on the Dryden-Davenant sophistication
of 1667, its text is represented by the anony-
mous and misleading quarto issued by
Herringman late in 1674. Even if it could
be shown that the opera was revived in 1690,
the probabilities are against its having been
provided with a new score at that period.
Such a course would hardly have been
followed unless it had proved a failure at the
outset, and we know the contrary to have
been the case.
Beyond the fact that Purcell was barely sixteen at the time, I see no reason for
