Perhaps there are few hymns quite of this type, but the subdued and subduing sense of the fear of God pervades many of Charles Wesley’s poems. He dwells much on ‘the mystic joys of penitence,’ as in his brief meditation on Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ‘I will give you an heart of flesh.’ Let me, according to Thy word, A tender, contrite heart receive, Which grieves[149] for having grieved its Lord And never can itself forgive; a verse which reminds one of Cardinal Newman’s saying that true penitence never forgives itself. This, however, is not what Charles Wesley meant, for he of all Christian poets best understood how truly the pardoned prodigal might make merry and be glad when he was safe in his Father’s house once more. Lift up Thy countenance serene, And let Thy happy child Behold, without a cloud between, The Godhead reconciled. An important series of hymns—so important that it demands separate consideration—is that which is found in Sections vii.-ix. of the original hymn-book. They include nearly one hundred pieces, and from the days of John Wesley until the latest revision the section began with a hymn which is the most fitting introduction to the series, since it sets forth with great simplicity the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection. Familiar as this hymn is to Methodists, it is worth while to quote it in full here— The thing my God doth hate, That I no more may do, Thy creature, Lord, again create, And all my soul renew; My soul shall then, like Thine, Abhor the thing unclean, And, sanctified by love divine, For ever cease from sin. That blessed law of Thine, Jesus, to me impart; The Spirit’s law of life divine, O write it in my heart! Implant it deep within, Whence it may ne’er remove, The law of liberty from sin, The perfect law of love. Thy nature be my law, Thy spotless sanctity, And sweetly every moment draw My happy soul to Thee. Soul of my soul remain! Who didst for all fulfil, In me, O Lord, fulfil again Thy heavenly Father’s will! This hymn is made up, as are many others, by joining together verses from the _Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures_. The first verse is suggested by Jer. xliv. 4: ‘Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.’ The second and third by Jer. xxxi. 33: ‘I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Another peaceful and attractive hymn on the same subject is based on Heb. iv. 9: ‘There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.’ Charles Wesley wrote twenty-seven verses; John Wesley selected eight, these are reduced to six in the _Methodist Hymn-book_. I am inclined to think that a further abridgement would have been still wiser. The four verses which follow are a beautiful meditation on the text—