FOR THE USE OF THE

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METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,

PRINCIPALLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE

REV. JOHN WESLEY, M. A.

LATE FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD.

I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise unto my God while I have my being. Psal. civ. 33.

I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 1 Cor. xiv. 15. xiv.

NEW-YORK:

PUBLISHED BY N. Bangs, and t. MASON, FOR THE

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Abraham Paul, Printer.

Southern District of New-York, ss. E IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirtieth day of October, (L.S.BE in the forty sixth year of the Independence of the United States of America, N. Bangs, and T. Mason, of the said District, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the. words and figures following, to wit:

"A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church, principally from the collection of the Rev. John Wesley, M. A. late Fellow "of Lincoln College, Oxford. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; I "will sing praise unto my God while I have my being. Psal. 104. 33. I will "sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 1 Cor.

14. 15."

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time thereit mentioned." And also to an act entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act entitled, An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." G.L. THOMPSON,

Clerk of the Southern District of New-York.

TO THE

MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

OF THE

Methodist Episcopal Church.

THE Hymn-Book heretofore in use among us, has been thought by many to be defective, partly on account of the mutilated state of many of the hymns, and partly because of its being divided into two books. To remedy these inconveniences, measures have been adopted to prepare a revised edition of our Hymn-Book, such a one as should exclude the defects and retain the excellencies of the one heretofore published. This revised edition we now present to you.

The greater part of the hymns contained in the former selection are retained in this, and

several from Wesley's and Coke's collections, not before published in this country, are added. The principal alterations which have been made, consist in restoring those which had been altered, as was believed for the worse, to their original state, as they came from the poetical pen of the Wesleys; for the following hymns were, except a few which have been taken from other authors, composed by the Rev. John and Charles Wesley; names that will ever be held dear and in high estimation by every lover of sacred poetry.

The following hymns, arranged under their ap propriate heads, were submitted to the last General Conference, approved by them, and ordered for publication.

In presenting this revised Hymn-Book to you for your use, we humbly trust that we are putting into your hands one of the choicest selections of evangelical hymns, suitable for private devotion, as well as for family, social, and public worship, by which you will be much aided in the

performance of these important parts of divine

service.

We We are the more delighted with this design, as no personal advantage is concerned, but the public good alone. For after the necessary expenses of publication are discharged, we shall make it a noble charity, by applying the profits arising therefrom to religious and charitable purposes.

No motive of a sinister nature has therefore influenced us in any degree to publish this excellent compilation. As the profits of the former editions have been scrupulously applied as above, so the same appropriation of the profits of the present shall be conscientiously observed. We must therefore earnestly entreat you, if you have any respect for the authority of the Conference, or of us, or any regard for the prosperity of the Church of which you are members and friends, to purchase no Hymn-Books but what are signed with the names of your bishops. And as we intend to keep a constant supply, the complaint of our congre