And can it be that I should gain

And can it be that I should gain. Charles Wesley* (1707-1788). First published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739) in six 6-line stanzas, with the title ‘Free Grace’. It was argued at one time that this was the hymn written by Charles Wesley on his conversion, but that is now thought to have been ‘Where shall my wond’ring soul begin’*. This hymn, in the same metre, may have followed shortly after. It is certainly one of the spiritual-autobiographical hymns of this period, and few hymns enable the singer to share in the author’s wonder and thankfulness as powerfully as this. It was reprinted in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1747) and in Hymns for those to whom Christ is all in all (1761) before its...