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.

The faithful mother often expressed the hope to her son that he might
become a minister. However, when the lad was only seven years of age, the
mother died, and he was left to shift largely for himself. On his 11th
birthday he joined his father at sea, and made five voyages to the
Mediterranean. Through the influence of evil companions and the reading
of infidel literature, he began to live a godless and abandoned life.

Being pressed into the navy when a war seemed imminent, young Newton
deserted. He was captured, however, and flogged at the mast, after which
he was degraded.

At this point his life teems with reckless adventures and strange
esca