Note 27 — Chapter VIII · A Circle of Friends.
Reading edition
Dr. Southey, remarking on this incident, says: “The hymn, indeed, was likely to have this effect upon an assembly whose minds were under the immediate impression produced by a pathetic preacher.” They were those well-known words:
Give me the wings of faith to rise Within the veil, and see The saints above, how great their joys, How bright their glories be. Once they were mourning here below, And wet their couch with tears, They wrestled hard, as we do now, With sins, and doubts, and fears. I ask them whence their victory came; They with united breath Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb, Their triumph to His death. They marked the footsteps that He trod, His zeal inspired their breast; And, following their Incarnate God, Possess the promised rest. Our glorious Leader claims our praise For His own pattern given, While the long cloud of witnesses Show the same path to heaven.