There has hitherto been no Life of joseph Hart — the most spiritual of the British hymn-writers, as one of his admirers has styled him,-and yet those glorious productions, Come, all ye chosen saints of God, Come, Holy Spirit, come, Descend from heaven, celestial Dove, Christ is the Friend of Sinners, and Ye souls that trust in Christ, rejoice, have for more than a century and a half been the delight and com fort Oi the churches. When I first mooted the desirability of a work of this kind, I was met with the assurance that there was no material. Impelled, however, by a high estimate of, and a deep affection for, a writer whom I place unhesitatingly among the six or seven very greatest of our hymnists, I gave myself to research; and, as the following pages will Show, success rewarded my efforts.