_Moravian Hymns_ (Vol. iv., pp. 30. 502.; Vol. v., pp. 113. 129.).--Your
correspondents having met with the third part only, I will describe the
first and second parts now before me. Both were printed for James
Hutton, London, 1746, who printed also _The Watchwords of the Covenant
in the Blood of Jesus for the Years 1743 and 1746_. They contain 403
hymns, and two supplements. I have sought in vain for the hymn in the
_New Bath Guide_, but the two following will show that Anstey did not
colour too highly.
Many circumstances concurred to render these books now very rare. The
impression was undoubtedly limited, and the wear and tear of
enthusiastic singers for above a century, of a 12mo. book of nearly a
thousand pages, very great. Unless preserved in "N. & Q.," the existence
of such hymns might be doubted some years hence, even by the religious
fraternity for whom they were compiled, and whose collection is now
widely different:
"Jesu! our joy, and loving friend,
Both thy dear wings around extend,
Thy little chickens hide.
Would Satan seize us as his prey,
Then let the angels sing and say,
This chick shall undisturb'd abide."