sts to-day,
but surely there were not wanting pious words to the old chants of
Bangor and the airs of "Wild Wales." When time brought Howell Harris and
Daniel Rowland, and the great "Reformation" of the eighteenth century,
the renowned William Williams, "the Watts of Wales," appeared, and began
his tuneful work. The province soon became a land of hymns. The candles
lit and left burning here and there by Penry, Maurice, and the Owens,
blazed up to beacon-fires through all the twelve counties when Harris,
at the head of the mighty movement, carried with him the sacred songs of
Williams, kindling more lights everywhere between the Dee and the
British Channel.

William Williams of Pantycelyn was born in 1717, at Cefncoed Farm, near
Llandovery. Three years younger than Harris, (an Oxford graduate,) and
educated only at a village school and an academy at Llwynllwyd, he was
the song protagonist of the holy campaign as the other was its champion
preacher. From first to last Williams wrote nine hundred and sixteen
hymns, some of which are still heard throughout the church militant, and
others survive in local use and affection. He died Jan. 11, 1791, at
Pantycelyn, where he had made his home after his marriage. One of the
hymns in his _Gloria_, his second publication, may well have been his
last. It was dear to him above others, and has been dear to devout souls
in many lands.

My God, my portion and my love;
My all on earth, my all above,
My all within the tomb;
The treasures of this world below
Are but a vain, delusive show,
Thy bosom is my home.

It was fitting that Williams should name the first collection of his
hymns (all in his native Welsh) _The Hallelujah_. Its lyrics are full of
adoration for the Redeemer, and thanksgivings for His work.

"ONWARD RIDE IN TRIUMPH, JESUS,"

_Marchog, Jesu, yn llwyddiannus_,

Has been sung in Wales for a century and a half, and is still a
favorite.

Onward ride in triumph, Jesus,
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh;
Neither earth nor Hell's own vastness
Can Thy mighty power defy.
In Thy Name such glory dwelleth
Every foe withdraws in fear,
All the wide creation trembleth
Whensoever Thou art near.[37]

The unusual militant strain in this paean of conquest soon disappears,
and the gentler aspects of Christ's atoning sacrifice occupy the
writer's mind and pen.

[Footnote 37: The following shows the style of