p. 541 | The Origin of a Hymn

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 2, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 34.

The Origin of a Hymn.

IN London Cowper asked a cabman to drive him to the Thames, intending to throw himself into the water, but before reaching the river, the cab stopped, and when Cowper asked what was the matter, the driver said: “The devil is either in the horse or cab; I cannot go on.” This brought Cowper “to himself,” and on reaching home he turned to the passage in Zechariah speaking of the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and wrote the well-known hymn:—

There is a fountain filled with blood, etc.

The second verse was in the original:—

The dying thief rejoiced to see, That fountain in his day, And there have I, though vile as he, Washed all my sins away.

—The Advance.