Jesus, thou knowst the nations still
Bewitch’d, and slaves to Satan’s will,
By magical illusions held,
Where Thou wast never yet reveal’d:
Visit them, Lord, with gospel-light,
Dispersing all the shades of night,
The dark Americans set free,
And end th’ infernal tyranny.
Jesus, Thou know’st the nations still
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.’—[Acts 8,] v. 11.” This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 223.
Publishing: Public Domain