Privations, sorrows, bitter scorn, The life of toil, the mean abode, The faithless kiss, the crown of thorn,— Are these the consecrated road? ’Twas thus He suffered, though a Son, Foreknowing, choosing, feeling all; Until the perfect work was done, And drunk the bitter cup of gall. Lord! should my path through suffering lie, Forbid it I should e’er repine; Still let me turn to Calvary, Nor heed my griefs, remembering Thine. Oh, let me think how Thou didst leave Untasted every pure delight, To fast, to faint, to watch, to grieve, The toilsome day, the homeless night:— To faint, to grieve, to die for me! Thou camest not Thyself to please: And, dear as earthly comforts be, Shall I not love Thee more than these? Yes! I would count them all but loss, To gain the notice of Thine eye: Flesh shrinks and trembles at the cross, But Thou canst give the victory. Thomas Toke Lynch (1818-71), an Independent minister, whose delicate health often interrupted his labours, published in 1855 a little book of poems which roused an extraordinary storm. It is difficult to understand how such an inoffensive book as _The Rivulet_ could make any great sensation, but the theological mind was more sensitive, if not more restless, than it is to-day. The ‘Rivulet Controversy,’ in which the redoubtable Dr. John Campbell was the prime mover, is long forgotten, but a few of the hymns survive. The best known is, ‘Gracious Spirit, dwell with me.’[195] Lynch is an important contributor to Congregational and Baptist hymnals, but he is practically unknown to Anglican books, and is not represented in the _Presbyterian Church Hymnary_. Lynch was of the new and broader school of thought, and his hymns, which he is said to have designed as a supplement to Watts, are of an entirely different cast from those of the earlier day, though their teaching is familiar enough in our time. I make a brief quotation, which is more likely to be welcome to-day than it was half a century ago. If love in any heart arise, And stir the tongue, and light the eyes, And speed the foot, and fill the hand; Then, Christian, thou must understand That, though unthought of, God is there; So of denying Him beware. If Little-more makes haste to bless His troubled neighbour Little-less, And poor men to the poorer give, Weak ones the weaker help to live, The sad those sadder still console; Then God is working in the soul. If the grown man forgoes his bread That little mouths may first be fed; And patient women serve the men Who care for them but now and then, And love keeps warm without a fire; O, then, the grace of God admire. Two strangers ocean may divide Who yet shall bridegroom be and bride, And God unknown to souls may be Who love Him will eternally; But all true hearts our Father knows, And will to them His truth disclose.