Rock of Ages, cleft for me

Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Augustus Montague Toplady* (1740-1778). A stanza containing lines from this hymn was first published in The Gospel Magazine (October 1775): Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee! Foul I to the fountain fly: Wash me, Saviour, or I die. The hymn was printed in full in The Gospel Magazine (March 1776), where it was entitled ‘A living and dying PRAYER for the HOLIEST BELIEVER in the world’. It was preceded by an essay which is remarkable as an example of Toplady's evangelical mode. He had become the editor by this time: he prefaced the hymn with ‘A remarkable Calculation: Introduced here, for the sake of the spiritual Improvement subjoined...