Medley lived a dissipated life in the navy until he was severely wounded in battle in 1759. The reading of a sermon led to his conversion, and he later became pastor of a Baptist congregation in Liverpool. His most famous hymns are "O could I speak the matchless worth" and "Awake, my soul, to joyful lays." Stennett in 1757 succeeded his father as pastor of a Baptist church in London, where he gained fame as a preacher. His best hymns are "Majestic sweetness sits enthroned" and "'Tis finished, so the Saviour cried." Fawcett was minister of an humble Baptist congregation in Wainsgate when, in 1772, he received a call to a large London church. He preached his farewell sermon and had loaded his household goods on wagons, when the tears of his parishioners constrained him to remain. A few days later he wrote the tender lyric, "Blest be the tie that binds." Among his other hymns are "How precious is the Book divine" and "Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing." The Name above All Names How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fear. It makes the wounded spirit whole, And calms the troubled breast; 'Tis Manna to the hungry soul, And to the weary Rest. Dear Name! the Rock on which I build, My Shield and Hiding-place; My never-failing Treasury, filled With boundless stores of grace. By Thee my prayers acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled: Satan accuses me in vain, And I am owned a child. Weak is the effort of my heart, And cold my warmest thought; But when I see Thee as Thou art, I'll praise Thee as I ought. Till then I would Thy love proclaim With every fleeting breath; And may the music of Thy Name Refresh my soul in death. John Newton, 1779. A SLAVE-TRADER WHO WROTE CHRISTIAN LYRICS In one of England's famous old churches there is a tablet marking the last resting-place of one of its rectors, and on the tablet this epitaph: "John Newton, _clerk, once an Infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich Mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy_." This inscription, written by Newton himself before his death, tells the strange story of the life of the man who wrote "How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds," and scores of other beautiful hymns. Newton was born in London, July 24, 1725. His father was a sea captain. His mother, a deeply pious woman, though frail in health, found her greatest joy in teaching her boy Scripture passages and hymns. When he was only four years old he was able to read the Catechism.