PREFACE
TO THE SECOND SUPPLEMENT.
IN a Collection of Hymns for the worship of God, three things seem desirable, if not essentially necessary- savor, variety, and number. Without the first, the sacrifice lacks salt; ( Lev. ii. 13;) without the second, the various experiences of the Lord's people are not met; without the third, constant repetition of the choicest hymns has a tendency to deaden their effect.
When, then, in consequence of the destruction of the stereotype plates by the fire in Bouverie Street, it became necessary to publish a new edition of the late Mr. GADSBY'S Selection, it seemed desirable to increase the number of the hymns; and as the proprietor and publisher liberally consented to enlarge the Hymn Book,( already much increased in size and value by the addition of the remaining hymns of Hart,) without a corresponding enlargement of price, I felt induced to select the following applement.
In this difficult task, in the execution of which I have read many hundred hymns, I have been chiefly guided by two things; first, the savor which I have felt in the hymn itself; secondly, in its meeting the average experience of God's living family. As in music a tune may be pitched in too high a key for the average of voices, so a hymn may be written in too high a strain of assurance for the average of experiences; and as one would not choose a tune in which only a few voices could join, so one would not select a hymn which would require many
to be mute.
I sensibly feel that the following Supplement is inferior to the first; but this has much arisen from the circumstance that the best hymns have already been inserted. Mine has been the gleaning of the grapes when the vintage is done. But such as it is, I hope it may please the Lord to make it a blessing to the souls of his people.
J. C. PHILPOT.