Our concern is with Watts as a hymn-writer rather than as a theologian. He was the first man, able to write good hymns, who set himself seriously to secure freedom in worship. In the meeting-house at Southampton he wearied of the dull and halting verse of Barton, and was not slow to accept his father’s challenge to write something better. If tradition may be relied on, his first hymn, written during the week and sung on the following Sunday, was that which he placed first in his _Hymns and Spiritual Songs_, with the title: A NEW SONG TO THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN (Rev. v. 6, 8, 9-12.) Behold the glories of the Lamb, Amidst His Father’s throne: Prepare new honours for His Name, And songs before unknown. Let elders worship at His feet, The Church adore around, With vials full of odours sweet, And harps of sweeter sound. Those are the prayers of the saints, And these the hymns they raise: Jesus is kind to our complaints, He loves to hear our praise. Eternal Father, who shall look Into Thy secret will? Who but the Son shall take that book And open every seal? He shall fulfil Thy great decrees, The Son deserves it well; Lo, in His hand the sovereign keys Of heaven, and death, and hell. Now to the Lamb that once was slain, Be endless blessings paid; Salvation, glory, joy remain For ever on Thy head. This is far from being one of Watts’s best hymns, but it is vastly better than Barton’s best. It is characteristic of Dr. Watts that in the preface to his _Psalms_ he speaks courteously of his predecessors in the attempt to adapt the Psalms to modern use. He praises Sir John Denham, Luke Milbourne, Tate and Brady, and, most of all, Dr. Patrick, whose ‘chief excellency,’ he thought, was that ‘he departed further from the inspired words of Scripture’ than others had done. Watts’s hymns were published ten or twelve years before the _Psalms_, and in his preface he delivers a vigorous apology for what he felt to be a bold venture, but pays no compliment to predecessors. He could not say, like John Wesley, that but a small part were of his own composing, yet even his extreme modesty does not prevent his showing a quiet and most just confidence in his work as compared with what had been hitherto available. His picture of the public worship of his day may comfort us in regard to the attractiveness of modern services. He says—