Letter Fourteen, Post Twelve

Tuesday 25 February 2014
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "We dine now at half after Three, & have done dinner I suppose before you begin-We drink tea at half after six.-I am afraid you will despise us.-My father reads Cowper to us in the evening, to which I listen when I can. How do you spend your Evenings?-I guess that Eliz:th works, that you read to her, & that Edward goes to sleep.-", Jane Austen, Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798

This is such a sweet insight into her daily life... life in the country.

I have loved the hymn, There Is A Fountain, for so many years. It may not be one of the most popular hymns, but it brings tears to my eyes. I did a Google search and discovered that it was written by William Cowper not long before his death on 25 April 1800.

Jane Austen was a big fan of William Cowper. She quoted him in Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Sanditon. He was her favorite poetical moralist.

William Cowper, himself, is interesting. He sometimes suffered from melancholia and depression and spent some time in an asylum. But, Romans 8:28 came into play in his life. He moved into a little house in Olney, England who's backyard connected with the parsonage backyard. And, guess who was the reverend of the parish; it was John Newton, the man who wrote Amazing Grace!

William Cowper and John Newton became very close friends. They worked together to write poetry for the services at the parish and collaborated to write a book called Olney Hymns. This book contains 349 hymns and became one of the most important contributions to musical worship in Evangelical Christianity.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

William Cowper had bouts of doubt about his salvation and God's love for him, but one day while sitting alone at his desk after reading Zechariah 13:1-"In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity." the Holy Spirit inspired him to write these words:

There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he
Wash all my sins away

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose it's power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more

For since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die

When this poor lisping,
stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song

I'll sing thy power to save

There is a Fountain by Selah - a beautiful song...

I hope you enjoy your day today!
Terrie