THE following pages contain literally what they profess-
Parish Musings;-Hymns, not the result of retired and con-
templative study, but the unpremeditated aspirations and utter-
ances of the heart of one engaged in the active scenes of
Parish labour;-suggested by the incidents or feelings of each
passing day,-composed on foot or on horseback,-in storm
or sunshine, by the way-side or on the hill-top,-in the
country meadow, or the busy street,-by day or by night,—
wherever duty called, and whenever the spirit caught, from
without or within, subject-matter for serious conversation with
Heaven.
In most cases they have sprung from the consciousness of
wants and weaknesses found within the writer's own breast,-
when a giddy hour, an angry word, a wandering spirit, a cold
heart, a failing faith, made him feel bitterly his own short-
comings, and long for more constant and real communion with
Christ.
The only merit they claim is, that they are practical, not
theoretical; not the cold musings of the head of one at ease;
but the warm gushings of the heart of one, toiling himself,
and striving to lead others amid the dust and conflict of the
journey of life.
As such they are now collected, to edify, to encourage, to
comfort. They seek-not man's praise, but his profit, -to
help, not to amuse him,-to give the utterance of another's
experience to what, no doubt, often struggles voiceless within