...nliiilili'' itf;"iTT?!'- ffll 'L,,- nil II 1 1 ill 1 \ Season ^ ■ S3'g^ erhaps the best American work on the subject; "Annotations I^pon Popular Hymns," by Charles Seymour Robin- son, D. I)., an illustrated volume of five hun- dred eighty-one double-column pages, closely printed, based on the "New Laudes Domini ;" "Historical Sketches of Hymns," by Joseph Belcher, I). D. : "Hymn Studies," bv the Rev. viii TREFACE Charles S. Nutter, D. D; ''Hymns Historical- h' Famous,-' by Colonel Nicholas Smith ; ''The Story of the Hymns," by Hezekiah Butter- wortli ; "Studies in Familiar Hvmns,'' bv the Rev. Louis F. Benson. D.I).; and "Hymns That Have Helped," by Mr. W. T. Stead. The writing of the book was mostly done during a season of confinement from public duties 0(!casioned by a broken arm. Under these conditions the writer had an excellent opportunity to test the value of the hymns appearing in this volume, and to ascertain their helpfulness in seasons of disappoint- ment and affliction. If their publication shall in any degree bring to others such de- light and comfort as preparing them for pub- lication in their ])resent form afforded him, God shall have the praise. w. t. h. IX CONTENTS PAGE Preface vii Introductory xiii Praise: I. The Te Deum Laudamus - - 3 II. Heber's Trinity-Sunday Hymn - 14 III. Coronation: The English Te Deum 19 IV. Medley's Hymn to Christ Our King 28 V. Bishop Ken's Sublime Doxology - 33 Prayer : VI. Montgomery's Lyric on Prayer - - 43 VII. The Mercy Seat - . - 47 VIII. Wrestling Jacob 51 IX. John Keble's Evening Hymn - - 63 X. A Woman's Hymn on Twilight Devo- tion - 72 Consecration: XI. Watts's Hymn on the Crucifixion - 81 XII. Wesley's Hymn on the Living Sacrifice 90 XIII. Ray Palmer's Hymn of Full Surrender 94 XIV. Miss Havergal's Consecration Hymn 102 Salvation: XV. Most Helpful Hymn for Seekers - in XVI. Greatest Hymn of the Cross - - 120 XVII. Noblest Heart-Hymn Ever Written 128 XVIII. Nearer, My God, to Thee - - 136 XIX. Great Hymn on Purity of Heart - 146 XX. A Matchless Hymn on Perfect Love 150 xi CONTENTS Resignation: XXI. The Cross-Bearer's Hymn Schmolck's Hymn of Resignation Thy Will Be Done XXII. XXIII. Guidance: XXIV. XXV. XXVI. Trust: XXVIL XXVIII. XXIX. Warfare: XXX. XXXI. Missions: XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. Lead, Kindly Light Noble Hymn by a Welsh Composer The Shepherd Psalm in Meter The Firm Foundation i6i 169 175 181 191 201 - 211 Cowper's Hymn on Divine Providence 219 Gerhardt's Noble Hymn of Trust Luther's Battle-Hymn Processional Hymn Prince of Missionary Hymns Messiah's Universal Reign Hail to the Lord's Anointed Our Country: XXXV. National Hymn XXXVI. Battle-Hymn of the Republic Death: XXXVIL Abide With Me XXXVIII. Asleep in Jesus XXXIX. Crossing the Bar Future Life: XL. Prospect of Immortality XLL The Land of Pure Delight XLII. Forever With the Lord 232 243 256 263 271 276 283 288 297 305 308 317 320 324 xit INTRODUCTORY **I wonder if over a song was sung But the singer's heart sang sweeter I I wonder if ever a rhyme was rung But the thought surpassed the meter!" The hvmnodv of the Christian Church is deserving of much more attention than it generally receives from the Christian public. Its influence in the past has been incalculable, and it is to-day one of the most powerful in- strumentalities in use for tile diffusion of Christian truth and for the culture of the spiritual life. God's people have always been a singing people, and the singing of the saints has ever been a mighty inspiration to the Church in the fierce conflicts she has encountered in at- tempting to propagate the gospel and evan- gelize the world. Hebrew psalmody was thor- oughly interwoven with the whole develop- ment of the Hebrew nation, and Hebrew poetry and song are the forms in which many of the most valuable portions of the in- spired Scriptures have come down to us. xiii INTRODUCTORY The early Christians in particnhar were singing saints. The ]Master Himself led them in the use of devotional song. Both Matthew and Mark have told us of how, after He had instituted the Lord's Supper, Jesus and His chosen few "sang an hymn" — probably the Jewish Hallel of Psalms 113 and 118 — as a fitting conclusion to the solemn service, and then ''went out into the Mount of Olives." Saint Paul also is an authoritv in reference to singing as having formed an important part of early Christian worship. He both recognizes the custom and emphasizes its value when, 10 the Colossian Christians, he writes : "Let the word of Christ dwell in vou richlv in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one an- other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing Avith grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:10). Numerous rythmical passages in his epistles are also fragments of primitive hymns, suggesting both the doc- trinal and devotional value of singing in the early Church. His marvelous climax relative to the great "'mystery of godliness" (1 Tim. 3:16), which most beautifully summarizes the fundamental items in the Christology of the primitive Church, is a striking example. 'Tertullian [born before A. D. 160, died after A. D. 220] records that at the love xiv INTRODUCTORY feasts, after water was furnished for the hands and the lights lit, according as any could remember Scripture or compose, * * * he Avas invited to sing praises to God for the general good;" and Pliny's declaration, that "the Christians are wont on a fixed day, be- fore dawn, to meet and sing a hymn in al- ternate responses to Christ as God.'' is gen- erally familiar. Throughout all subsequent ages Christian hymnodv has increased in volume, richness t t and effectiveness. Some estimate of the im- portant part it has wrought in the making of Christian history may be formed from con- sidering the voluminous amount of livmnic literature now extant. The total number of distinctively Christian hvmns in existence is not less than 400,000 and Mr. W. T. Stead, in his valuable little volume on ^"Hvmns That Have Helped," gives the aggregate number as 500,000. German composers have produced nearly 100,000. English composers have pro- duced the next largest number. Dr. Watts alone wrote between five and six thousand, and Charles Wesley upwards of six thousand five hundred. It is estimated that the hymns of Watts, Wesley, l^rowne, Doddridge, New- ton, Beddome, Kelly and Montgomery now in use number about B,500; and ^'Mr. Sedgwick. XV IXTRODl'CTORY an English writer on hymns, i)nblished in 1801 a catalooue of 018 authors who are rep- resented in the various English hymn-books." There can be no reasonable doubt that those hymns, and tunes as well, Avhich have stood the tests of time and criticism, and have won their way to general recognition as classic productions, are best suited on the whole to producing reverence, devotion, spir- itualitv, and general soundness in the faith. This being true, the growing tendency, aris- ing largely from the jirevalence of a wide- spread but shallow and sensational revival- ism, to relegate these noble prodtictions to the shades of forgetfulness. and to substitute therefor a class of undignified and shallow ditties, and too often of wretched doggerel and mere jingling "rag-time'' melodies, is an evil omen, and greatly to be lamented. ('hristians should learn to distinguish be- tween good hvmns and mere sentimental jingles; between hymns that can be sung by the soul, and those Avhich are sung chiefly by the feet. According to Earl Nelson, as quoted by Hezekiah Butterworth, the marks of a good hymn are the following: '*1. It must be full of Scripture. 2. Full of indi- vidual life and reality. 3. It must have the acceptance of the use of the church. 4. It xvi INTRODUCTORY must be pure in its English, its rhvme and its rvthm." The same eminent authority also adds : "A hymn coming from a deep com- munion with God, and from the special ex- perience of the human heart, at once fulfils, and only can fulfil, the tests I haye ventured to lay down.'' In his "Preparation and Deliyery of Ser- mons" Dv. John A. Broadus sets forth the qualities of a good hymn more at length, and from his presentation of the subject we giye the following summar}^ : "A good hymn must be: ''(a) Correct in sentiment, (b) Deyo- tional in spirit, (c) Poetical in imagery and diction, (d) Rythmical; being correct as to meter, animated and yaried in moyement, and yet not rugged or halting, but truly melo- dious, (e) Symmetrical; the yerses exhibit- ing a regular progress in thought, and form- ing a complete and harmonious whole." A collection of hymns conformed to the foregoing standards is of immeasurable worth as an inspiration in public worship, an aid to priyate deyotion, and a means of con- serying and propagating sound doctrine. The hymns of such a collection '^haye been culled from the sacred poetiw of all ages, and so rich and abundant is the material that only the best lyrics of the best poets can find a per- xvii INTRODUCTORY maneiit place among them.'' Such hjmns were never written as a pastime, nor as an ex- perimentation in the art of poesy; but, like tiie productions of the Hebrew Psalter, they have as a rule been born of experiences so profound, varied and pathetic, that they voice the universal emotions of humanity, thereby enshrining themselves forever in the favor of mankind. As a rule the standard hvmns have had an origin and history the knowledge of which serves to exalt tliem in public appreciation, and to increase their value as aids to both public and private devotion ; and it is the ob- ject of this volume to contribute In some de- gree to a wider intelligence than now prevails regarding the authorship, origin, history and influence of a few of the great hymns of the church. The hvmns considered in the following pages are all far above commonplace — hymns universallv recoonized as classics and master- pieces of their kind. They are productions with which every one ^ho speaks the English language should be familiar, and which the author urges young people especially to com- mit thoroughly to memory. Thus treasured in the mind they will not only serve as power- ful aids in the building up of character, but, xviii INTRODLX^TORY through the coming* years, will also afford de- lightful companionships along the rugged hiahwav of life, and be found invaluable sources of light, inspiration and comfort in times of darkness and depression, and amid the gathering shadows of life's declining "s ears. X!X Praise THE TE DEUM LAUDAMUS What is generally considered the sublimest and most regal of all Christian hymns is one that has come down to us through thirteen centuries and more, bearing the title, Te DeuTii Laudamus, from the opening words of the Latin text, Te Deum laudamus, Te Do- minum confitemur — "We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord." Its majestic and inspiring strains have for ages been among the most familiar rythmical ex- ])ressions of devotion in every great cathedral of the world, and its lofty sentiments of ador- ing reverence have evoked responsive echoes throughout all Christendom. Three great Christian hymns have come down to us from antiquity — the Trisagion, or Thrice Holy, the Gloria in Excelsis, and the Te Deum — "which belong peculiarly and ex- clusively to no sect or section of the Church, but equally to the whole Church. Neither Churchman nor Romanist can claim exclu- (sive proprietorship in them; but, like the Bi- HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ble itself, of which they are so evidently the offspriug, they belong to all who 'profess and call themselves Christians/ of every tongue and clime." The Te Denm is exceedingly valuable as a summary of orthodox Christian beliefs, as well as for its adaptation to the loftiest pur- })oses of holy song among great assemblies of worshipers. Although partaking more the character of "measured prose" than of exact m.eter, it is nevertheless poetic in conception and si)irit, and also in its lofty reach and measured and majestic sweep. Rendered as we once heard it at one of the Sabbath ser- vices of a great eastern university there is a power in it sufficient to lift one well nigh to the third heaven. The following is the English text: We praise Thee, O God : we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father ever- lasting. To Thee all angels cry aloud : the heavens and all the powers therein. To Thee the cherubim and seraphim continually do cry. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth : Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee. THE TE DEUM LAUDAMUS The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee, The noble army of the Martyrs praise Thee. The holy Church throughout the whole world doth acknowledge Thee ; The Father of an Infinite Majesty : Thine adorable, true, and only Son; Also the Holy Chost the Comforter. Thou art the King of gloiy, O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man. Thou didst humble Thyself to be born of a virgin. When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death. Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glorj' of the Father. We believe that Thou shal't come to be our Judge. We therefore pray Thee, help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine heritage. Govern them, and lift them up for ever. Day by day we magnify Thee ; And we worship Thy name ever, world without end. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us. have mercy upon us. O Lord, let Thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in Thee. O Lord, in Thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded. Dr. Philip Scbaff" has characterized this as 5 HYMXS THAT AKK IM MORTAL a ''magnificent antbeni, * * * whirh is wortln^ of a ])lace among David's Psalms of thanksgiving." Mrs. Bundle Cliarles, author of ''The Chronicles of the Schonberg Cotta Family," savs: ''It is at once a hvmn, a creed and a ])rayer. It is a creed taking wing and soar- ing heavenward; it is Faith seized with a ►sudden joy as she counts her treasures, and lading them at the feet of Jesus in a song; it is the incense of prayer rising so near the rainbow round about the throne as to catch its light and become radiant as well as. fra- grant — a cloud of incense illumined into a cloud of glory." Colonel Nicholas Jr^mith, in his "Hvmns Historically Famous," pronounces it "the kingliest of all the songs which have come down to us from anti(iuity." and further says, "In universality of use no ascription of praise in modern times compares with it, except IMshoj) Ken's doxology." Dr. W. R. Huntington, of New York, is ciuoted as saying: "Other hymns may sur- l)ass . the Te Deuni in exhibition of this or that state of feeling, but there is none other ihat combines, as this combines, all the ele- ments that enter into a Christian's concep- tion of reliiiion. The Te Dor.m i-s an orches- THE TE DEr:M LAUDAMUS tra in which, no single instrument is lacking ; first or last, every chord is struck, every note sounded. The soul listens and is satisfied; not one of her large demands has been dis- honored.'' The authorship of this ancient production is involved in obscurity. Tt has been popu- larly but uncritically ascribed to St. Am- brose, or, more accurately speaking, to Saints Ambrose and Augustine conjointly. A picturesque and popular tradition relates how Ambrose, as he led Augustine up from his baptism, under a sudden inspiration from above broke out in singing. "We praise Thee, O God : we acknowledge Thee to be tbe Lord ;" whereu])on Augustine, under the power of a like inspiration responded, "All tbe earth doth worship Thee, the Father ever- lasting :" and that the whole hymn was produced in this manner, Ambrose, and Augustine each responsively producing and singing verse after verse. This account must be regarded as chiefly symbolical and legendary, however, inasmuch as no mention is made of either the circum- stance or the hvmn in the works of the distin- HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL giiished fathers to whose joint .authorship it is ascribed. Nor has the most thorough research found any mention of the hymn as employed in i)ublic worship before the beginning of the sixth century, when St. Caesarius Aries or- dered it to be sung in the Sunday morning services. It is generally believed among scholars to have originated, like the Apostles' Creed, in a growth covering a consider- able period of time. Dr. Schaff informs us that several lines of the hymn, as it finally a})peared at the beginning of the sixth centurv, "can be traced to an older Greek original," and the Schaff-Herzog En- cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge regards it as "a translation, in part, probably by Am- brose, of an older Greek hymn." From its popular ascription to St. Ambrose it is known as "the Ambrosian hymn." The Te Deum has been associated with a greater variety of celebrated events in history than anv other hvmn of the Church. It is commonly sung on all great occasions of de- liverance and triumph, and at the coronation of kings and queens. "Its strains have leaped the barriers of thirteen centuries, hav- ing been chanted at the baptism of Clovis, at Paris, in 496, sung at the coronation of Nicholas II., of Russia, 1894, and in 1897 it 8 THE TE DEUM LAUDAMUS was the song of rejoicing at the Diamond Jubilee ot Queen Victoria." It is said to have been sung by order of Frederick the Great to commemorate the battle of Prague in 1774, to the setting by Graun, generally regarded as the most famous musical render- ing of the hymn on the Continent. It was also sung to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales in 1872, and as a hymn of thanksgiving for the safety of Napoleon III., in 1854. Naturally enough in view of its celebrity, it is "a theme upon which the most celebrated composers have exercised their musical genius." This hymn was largely instrumental in the conversion of Thomas Olivers, a verv wicked and profligate youth, who finally became a Wesleyan preacher of great power, and who WTOte the hymn beginning, — "The God of Abrah'm praise, Who reigns enthroned above," which has won highest praise from poets and scholars generally. Olivers became one of Wesley's most valued preachers, and was con- sidered by Wesley as fully a match for Top- lady in the doctrinal discussions incident to the great Calvinistic controversy of the time. After thirty -six vears of faithful and effi- HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL cient work be passed peacefully to his reward ill 1799. The following narrative, calling to mind a bit of thrilling and comparatively recent his- tory with which the Te Deuni was and ever will be associated, is quoted from Colonel Smith's ^'Hvmns Historically Famous:" ''The universality of the Te Deum is illus- ft trated in this incident: On the first Sunday in Sej)tember, 1900, a solemn high mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of Peking. It was a thanksgiving service in which the peo- ple joined in expressing gratitude that the armies of the allied powers had so promptly and successfully marched to the city at the trumpet call of humanity. "There were two special features associ- ated with that solemn, yet inspiring occa- sion. On the facade and spires of the Cathe- dral, that had suffered much from the shot and shell of the Boxers, waved in triumph the flags of America, Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Russia. Among tbe worshipers on that day were min- isters representing many governments, and missionaries of all creeds. The climax of in- terest was reached when the organ and choir broke forth into that universal ascription of praise — the Te Deum Laudamus. It seemed 10 THE TE DEUM LAUDAMUS to thrill that body of men and women as no other com]>osition possibly could at such a time as that. 'It was the anthem of the brotherhood of men on that day.' '' It will be a matter of interest to Methodist readers in particular to know that Charles Wesle}- wrote a sublime metrical paraphrase of this stately and ancient hymn. The para- phrase contained fourteen six-line long meter stanzas, and was published in the poet's "Hymns for Those That Seek Redemption." in 1747. In the English Hymn Book of later date it is so diy'ded as to make three hymns respectiyely beginning as follows : "Infinite God, to Thee we raise." "Messiab, joy of every heart." "Savioi-, we now rejoice in hope." In the ^Methodist hymnals of this country only a part of the paraphrase appears; nor is there uniformity among the yarious books as to the portions used, each compiling com- mittee combining into a single hymn such stanzas of the original as best suits the ma- jority. The following stanzas will giye a fair idea of the general character of the hymn as I»araphrased by tlie poet of Methodism : Infinite God, to Thee we raise Our hearts in solemn songs of praise : II HYMXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL By all Tby works on eartb adored, We worship Thee, the common Lord ; The everlasting Father own, And bow ourselves before Thy throne. God of the patriarchal race. The ancient seers record Thy praise ; The goodly apostolic band In highest joy and glory stand ; And all the saints and prophets join To extol Thy majesty divine. Head of the martyr's noble host. Of Thee they justly make their boast; The Churr-h to earth's remotest bounds. Her heavenly Founder's praise resounds; And strives with those around the throne, To hymn the mystic Three in One. Father of endless majesty, All might and love we render Thee ; Thy true and only Son adore, The same in dignity and power ; And Cod the Holy Ghost declare. The saints' eternal Comforter. Tune — "St. Chrysostom." There is a stateliness and sublimity charac- teristic of the Te Deiim Laudamus in its original form which Mr. Wesley has admir- ably preserved in his incomparable para- phrase of the same. According to Mr. Ste- venson this paraphrase has very generally but erroneously been ascribed to the poet 12 THE TE DEUM LAUDAMUS Dryden, who published a version of the hymn, but much inferior to this. Drjden's is in decasyllabic verse, and begins — "Thee, sovereign God, our grateful accents praise, We own Tbee Lord, and bless Thy wondrous ways." 13 n heber's trixity-suxday hyimn The noblest of all livmns ever written to express adoration of tlie Holy Trinity is Bishop Heber's hvmn for '^Trinity Sunday,'^ beginning, "Holy. holy. holy. Lord God Almighty!" Xo accoun: of its origin is available, the hymn not having been published until after the death of its illustrious author, and nothing regarding how it came to be written having been left among his effects. To the end of time, however, this majestic anthem will stand on its merits and rank ampng the loftiest and sublimest productions in the hvmnodv of the Church. Tennvson regarded it as the finest devotional lyric ever written in any language. Reginald Heber, the author of this famous production, was born at Malpas, Cheshire, England, in April, 1783. He was educated at Oxford, where he early won the prize for the best poems in both Latin and English. 14 <3 «»^_ -»*- REGINALD HEBER. HEBER'S TRINITY-SUNDAY HYMN He traveled two years after leaving the uni- versity, and then, after his ordination in 1807, became rector at Hodnet. the family liv- ing of that parish having been given him by his brother. For sixteen vears he labored faithfully among the people of Hodnet, to whom he became greatly endeared. He was appointed Missionary Bishop to Calcutta in 1823, after having on two former occasions declined the appointment on account of his wife and child. His deep interest in mis- sions, however, and particularly his fondness for India, finally led him to accept the ap- pointment; and, on June 16th, 1823, he turned from his delightful home at Hodnet toward his new field on "India's coral strand," never again to revisit the scenes from which he so reluctantlv and vet courageouslv turned awav. I. Bishop Heber entered upon the work of his vast field, which included all India, Ceylon, the Mauritius, and Australasia, with great zeal and courage; and his admirable spirit, great abilities and energetic devotion to the welfare of India's millions left a deep and imperishable impression for good upon his extensive diocese. But the good man's admin- istration was destined to be brief. Return- ing from a service at Trichinopoly, April 3rd, 15 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL 1820, where he had confirmed a large class of natives, he retired for the purpose of taking a cold bath, and half an hour later was found dead in his room by his servant, a stroke of apoplexy having taken him off instantly. Bishop Heber wrote fifty-seven hymns of rare merit, all of which are supposed to have been written during his ministry at Hodnet, and all of which are said to be in common use. He will always be particularly and de- lightfully remembered in connection with and as the author of that stirring missionary hymn. "From Greenlaiid's icy mountain," considered elsewhere in this volume, and which alone would have been sufficient to im- mortalize his name. But the sublimest and divinest of all his sacred lyrics is Trinity- Sunday Hymn, of which the following in the original form: Holy, holy, holy, T^rd God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, holy, holy, merciful' and mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea, Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shall be, i6 HEBER'S TRINITY-SUNDAY HYMN Holy, holy, holy I though the darkness hlcle Thee, Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee, l*erfect in power, in love, in purity. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea ; Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty ! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity. Tune — "Nicea." "This grand hymn has been sung into great popularity/' says Mr. G. J. Stevenson, ^'aniong Churchmen whose music is in keep- ing with their ritual ; but the spiritless level of their monotonous chant has been utterly unsuited to the words themselves. Sung on Sabbath morning as an anthem, as it now is every Sunday in some Methodist churches, to the tune 'Trinity/ by A. Stone,/ it goes with exhilarating force. The words and mu- sic harmonizing, raise the singer to the high- est point of hallowed praise. It thus becomes a kindling and exultant melody.'' While ''Trinity" may be the tune most ac- ceptable to English Methodists, "Nicea," in the composition of which for this particular hA'mn in adoration of the Holv Trinity no less a master than Dykes "reached the zenith 17 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL of his musical genius," is generally regarded as better suited to the character of the hvnm than any other ever written. The tune was happily named from Nice, in Asia Minor, where, in A. D. .325. the first Christian Ecu- menical Council was held, which determined that the Eternal Sonship of Christ and his equality with the Father should constitute a part of the creed of the Church. The great popularity of the hymn is chiefly due to its association with this majestic tune, to which it is usually sung throughout the English- speaking world. "Holy, holy, holy," was first published among Bishop Heber's posthumous hymns, in 1827. accordiuo^ to Julian's •'Dictionary of Hymnology." It was soon adopted by hymn- book compilers generally, and at length be- came the best known and most widely used of all the author's hymns. It is a magnificent metrical paraphrase of Revelation 4 : 8-11 : ''And they rest not day and night saying. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come," etc. Xor could the S]»irit of the whole chapter be better ex- pressed in metrical form than Heber has ex- pressed it in this incomparable anthem. i8 ni CORONATION: THE ENGLISH TE DEUM- No loftier hymn of praise to Jesus Clirist has ever been written in any language than Perronet's "All hail the power of Jesus' name." "If the Te Deum be the Hymn of Praise set apart by the Universal Church as the su- preme expression of gratitude and adora- tion/' savs Mr. W. T. Stead, ^'the hvmn which serves the same purpose m English congre- gations is ^A.11 Hail the Power of Jesus' name.' It is one of the ten hymns most used in English- speaking lauds." It was written in 1779, and was first x>ublished anonymously in the Gos- pel Magazine the following year. In 1785 it appeared in a collection of ^'Occasional Verses, Moral and Sacred,' which, though anonymous, was generally known to be Mr. Perronet's production. It is the only hymn of the author which has found its way into standard hymnals, ''but one needs to write 19 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL only one such livmn to gain an enviable im- mortality in the Christian Church." Edward Perronet, son of the Rev. Vincent Perronet. ''an excellent English clergyman of the old school, who was vicar at Shoreham for fifty years," and at one time a confiden- tial friend of John Weslev, was a man of very unassuming character. His life was one of trying and changeful vicissitudes, amidst which he was ever sustained by a strong and unwavering faith. Though a member of the English Church he was for some time a Methodist itinerant preacher under John Wesley, with whom he endured many hard- ships, as, for instance, when at Bolton he *'was thrown down and rolled in mud and mire," while at the chapel "stones were hurled and windows broken." He was one of the preachers appointed under the patron- age of the Countess of Huntington, in which position his ardent zeal, coupled with his deep humility and his broad and tender sym- pathy, made him a shining success. At heart, however, Mr. Perronet was de- cidedly hostile to the union of Church and State, and this hostility finally found out- ward expression in the production of an a- nonymous poem entitled, "The Mitre," which was devoted to keenly satirizing the Estab- 20 CORONATION lished Church. This brought upon him the strong disapprobation of the Countess, and finally occasioned his withdrawal from the position held under her patronage. Later he became pastor of a small congregation of Dissenters, to whom he ministered accept- ably until summoned from earthly labor to his heayenly reward, in January, 1792. The death of Perronet is described as a most triumphant one. His last utterances, well worthy the author of that matchless hymn which has been an inspiration to so many millions, added much to the sublimity and impressiyeness of the occasion: "Orory to God in the height of His divinity ! Glory to God In the depth of His humanity ! Glory to God in His all-sufficiency I Into His hands I commend my spirit!" In its original form *^\11 hail the power of JesUvS' name" contained eight stanzas. It has undergone so many changes that we re- produce it here as originally written: All hall the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall ; Bring forth the royal diadem, To crown Him Lord of all! Let high-born seraphs tune the lyre, And, as they tune it, fall 21 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Before His face who tunes their choir, And crown Him Lord of all ! Crown Him, ye morning stars of light. Who fixed this floating ball ; Now hail the strength of Israel's might, And crown Him Lord of all ! Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, Who from His altar call; Extol the Stem of Jesse's rod, And crown Him Lord of all I Ye seed of Israel's chosen race, Ye ransomed of the fall. Hail Him who saves you by His grace. And crown Him Lord of all ! Hail Him. ye heirs of Jacob's line. Whom David Lord did call. The God Incarnate, Man divine. And crown Him Lord of all I Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget The wormwood and the gall. Go, spread your trophies at His feet, And crown Him Lord of all ! Let every tribe and every tongue That bound creation's call, Now shout in universal song, And crown Him Lord of all ! Tune — "Coronation." Most of the alterations found in the hymn »• we now sing it are improvements. Some 22 COROXATION of them, however, have been the subjects of uiifavora])le criticism, but, owing to their hav- ing been so long accei)ted, it seems likely that the hymn in its present form will remain un- changed. The last stanza of the hymn as it now ap- pears in all the hymnals was not written by Mr. Perronet, but bv some unknown hand. Colonel Nicholas Smith in ^'Hvmns Histori- cally Famous*' says, upon what authority we do not know, that it was ''written bv Dr. Rippon, of London, in 1787." For more thaii a century it has constituted a part of the hymn, and so fitting a climax does it form that it appears to have been inspired for the purpose. An incident in the experience of Rev. E. P. Scott, a missionarv in India, as related bv Mr. William Reynolds, a gentleman of wide reputation in Sunday-school circles, illus- trates the power of this hymn and tune over the worst and most dangerous of heathen tribes. He had gone, against the remon- strances of his friends, to take the gospel to one of the island tribes noted for their savage and murderous proclivities. No sooner had he arrived than he was met bv a dozen pointed spears, and instant death appeared inevitable. While they paused a moment he 23 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL drew out his violin, with which he always accompaDied his sacred soDgs, and, closing his eves, began to play Coronation and sing a translation of this hymn which those about him could all understand. ^^When he had finished he opened his eyes to witness, as he thought, his own death at the point of their spears; but to his joy he found that the spears had fallen and his murderers were all in tears. This song had saved him from death, and opened an effectual door for the preaching of the gospel to the tribe." It is said that he remained with them many years, doing a great work for them and surrounding tribes, and finally died among them, beloved and venerated by all. During the year 18G0 one of the greatest revivals of the last century occurred in Ire- land. Mr. White, a general missionary, whose position and observation enabled him to write intelligently regarding the great work, in a report of the same originally pub- lished in the American and Foreign Christian Union Magazine, of Dublin, in 1860, and re- published the same year in the Earnest Christian, of Buffalo, New York, gave the fol- lowing description of the services of one par- ticularly memorable Sabbath : "At our morning service, at ten o'clock, we 24 CORONATION had a down-pour of heavenh' blessings. The congregation was very large, almost entirely composed of those who were happy in God. How easy it was to preach to them! How good was it to be there! At four o'clock in the afternoon we had an open-air service in the field, where the former meeting was held. Between four and five thousand were there. Brother Wilson opened the meeting with praise and prater. Mr. Johnson, Wesleyan minister, read the scriptures and prayed. Then Mr. Wilev, from Belfast, a Presbv- terian, addressed the meeting with great power. After this I preached a short sermon on the sufferings of Christ for sinners and the service was concluded with a short prayer-meeting. It was a very solemn time. Many wept silently; others groaned in dis- tress, one was stricken, and all seemed con- scious that God was there. "It was a beautiful, calm summer evening. It seemed as if God had hushed the winds, arrested the rain and curtained the sun with clouds, so that we worshiped with great com- fort. It was announced that our chapel, the Presbyterian church, and the Wesleyan chapel, were to be opened for prayer-meet- ings, when the people retired from the field. As they moved down the slope of the beauti- 25 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ful hill leading to the town, a few friends commenced singing — 'All hail the power of Jesus' name ! Let an.f?els prostrate fall ; Bring forth the royal diadem And crown Him Lord of all.' "The miititnde joined with much earnest- ness in singing this beautiful hj^mn ; and sel- dom did such music float on the evening air. T have read of the glorious march of the armies after a victory, as they entered the capitol of their country with martial music, amidst the plaudits of the populace, and felt the blood course more quickl}^ through my veins as I read of the glorious spectacle: but what is such a pageant when compared with such a spectacle as this — four thousand men and women, from different parts of the coun- try, of different denominations, manv of whom had never seen each other before, and all singing — '- *Crown Him Lord of all!' "It was doubtless music that angels bent down from their seats of glory to listen to.'^ It was estimated that not less than 80,000 «ouls had been converted to God up to the time when Mr. White's report was written. 26 CORONATIOX nnd still the good work wns moving on with nnabated interest. A pions man lay dying. Just before the end came he turned to his daughter, bent lovingly over his bed, and said : "Bring — " but could go no further, for the power of utterance failed him. The grief-stricken daughter looked with earnest gaze into his lace and said: "What shall I bring, my fa- ther?" "Bring — /' he gasped, and again his voice failed him. His child was now in an agony of desire to know her dying father's last request, and she said: "Dear, precious father, do trv to tell me what vou want. T will do anvthing vou wish me to do.'' The dying man then rallied all his strength and murmured : "Briug — forth — the royal — diadeui. And crown Him Lord of all \" And with these words he sank to rest and spoke no more. 27 IV medley's hymn to CHRIST OUR KING One of the sublimest of all hymns in cele- braiion of the Kingship of Jesus Christ — a lyric worthy to be coupled with Perronet's *^\11 hail the power of Jesus' name" — is Sam- uel Medley's "O conld I speak the matchless worth, O could I sound the glories forth, Which in my Savior shine!" It first appeared in the Author's ''Hymns/' in 1789, with eight six-line stanzas. The original was entitled, ^'Christ Our King." The four stanzas of which it is composed as found in most modern hymnals are the sec- ond, tifth. sixth and eighth stanzas of the original. The hymn was fully reprinted in the Lyra Britannica, beginning with the line, "Not of terrestrial mortal themes." It neyer became popular until Dr, Lowell 28 HYMN TO CHRIST OUR KING Mason, in 1836, wedded it to Mozart's "Ariel," so altered as to adapt it to the purpose. Then, ''like Aaron's rod that budded, the splendid old song took new life, and is now laid up in the ark of our Christian hvm- nody." The text of the hvmn, as now gener- ally published, is as follows : Oh could I speak the matchless worth, Oh could I sound the glories forth, Which in my Savior shine I I'd soar and touch the heavenly strings, And vie with Gabriel while he sings In notes almost divine. I'd sing the precious blood he spilt, My ransom from the dreadful guilt Of sin and wrath divine : I'd sing his glorious righteousness, In which all-perfect, heavenly dress My soul shall ever shine. I'd sing the characters he bears. And all the forms of love he wears, Exalted on His throne: In loftiest songs of sweetest praise, I would through everlasting days Make all His glories known. Well, the delightful day will come, When my dear Lord will bring me home, And I shall see His face: Then with my Savior, Brother, Friend. 29 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL A blest eternity I'll spend, Triumphant iu His grace. Tune— "Ariel.'* The hymn is one of lofty sweep and senti- ment, every way suited to the exalted theme of which it treats, and admirably adapted foy use in public worship. Well rendered it is powerful in its effect upon the worshipers, and, judging from the writer's own experience, is equally helpful as an inspiration for preach- ing. Samuel Medley, the author of the hymn, was born in Hertfordshire, England, in 1738. He was reared in a godly home, and by de- voted Christian parents. Notwithstanding this, he became a reckless and wicked youth, joined the navy, and, in his soldier life, went farther and farther away from God. He be- came a midshipman and is said to have fought bravely under some of old William Pitt's stout admirals. Being severely wound- ed in the service in 1759, he was allowed to return home, where, through the efforts of his pious grandfather, who read to him Isaac Watts's sermon on Isaiah 42:6, 7, he was soundly converted to God. Following his conversion Medley aban- doned his sea-faring life, taught school for a number of years, and then, as Dr. Cuyler 30 HYMN TO CHRIST OUR KING puts it, "entered the army of Christ's min- isters, serving in the Baptist 'corps' with re- markable zeal and success." For many years he served as pastor of a Baptist church in Liverpool, where he at- tracted large numbers of seamen to his chapel. While serving in this capacity he wrote two hundred and thirty hvmns, which, the year after his death, were published in a volume entitled. "Hymns. The Public Wor- ship and Private Devotions of True Chris- tians Assisted, in some thoughts in verse, Principally drawn from Select Passages in the Word of God. By Samuel Medley." The hymn we are considering quite appropriately stood first in this published collection of his sacred lyrics. Although a settled pastor Medley went out at times on missionary tours, and preached the gospel, as did the early Methodists, in whatever places were accessible. On one of these tours he was preaching in a barn from the text, ^*cast down, but not destroyed." During the discourse the rude pulpit on which he stood gave way, throwing him to the floor. Unhurt "he leaped to his feet and hu- morously exclaimed: ''Well, friends, you see we too are 'cast down, but not de- stroyed.' " 31 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "Like Perronet, Samuel Medley died shouting," says Dr. Cuyler in his ''Hymns of Honor to Christ." ^'On his dying bed he seemed to be watching the points of a com- pass, and ke])t saying, 'One point more; now only one ])oint more.' Then he shouted, 'How sweet will be the port after the storm ! Dying is sweet work ! Home, home, hallelujah ! Glory I Home, IwmcP And so the glorious old mariner passed in, with sails set, to 'the desired haven'." Then began with Samuel Medley the rea- lization of that exalted hope and glorious an- ticipation expressed, when in the last stanza of the hymn, he wrote : "Well, the deligktfiil day will come When my dear Lord will bring me home, And I shall see His face ; Then with my Savior, Brother, Friend, A blest eternity I'll spend. Triumphant in His grace." Forgiven much, he loved much, and wrote, "O could 1 speak the matchless worth." as an expression of that love, and in exaltation of the Christ who, from the very depths of sin and ruin, had redeemed and saved him. 32 BISHOP ken's sublime doxology Preeminently above all other metrical as- criptions of praise in its popularity and in its approach to universality is Bishop Ken's sublime Doxology: Praise God from whom all blessings flow ; Praise Ilini, all creatures bere below; Praise Him above, ye beavenly host ; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Tune — "Old Hundred." Originally forming the closing stanza of the author's Morning Hymn, "Awake, my sonl, and with the sun Thy daily stage of duty run," he derived so much benefit from its use in his morning worship that he also added it to his now equally popular Evening Hymn. "Glory to Thee, my God, this night. For all the blessings of the light." So greatly was the good Bishop in love 33 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL with his own sacred lyrics that he believed, shoiild he gain heaven and be permitted to hear the singing of his songs by the saints on earth, it would add much to his enjoyment in that celestial world. The thought was thus expressed : "And phould the well-meant song I leave behind, With Jesns' lovers some acceptance find, 'T^^•ill heighten e'en the joj^s of heaven to know That, in my verse, saints sing God's praise below." Tf such a privilege as that for Avhich he hoped be granted to the saints in heaven, then surely Bishop Ken's joy must be im- measurably great, since no other stanza ever written is sung so often and so widely among (Christians of all denominations as his grand T^oxology. Thomas Ken. a Bishop of the Church of Ivlngland, was born at Little Berkhampstead, in Berkshire. England, in 1657. After his ordination he was made Chaplain to the Princess of Orange, and later to Charles IT. In 1684 he was made Bishop of Bath and Wells. Bv order of James IT. he was iTniiris- oned in the Tower of London, with six other bishops, for his refusal to sign the Declara- tion of Indulgence, their release being se- cured by popular feeling, however, after 34 TUSHOr KEN'S DOXOLOGY their trial. "At the Revolution he declined to swear allegiance to William III., and re- tired into private life, spending his remain- inj? davs iu the maonificent mansion of an endeared friend, at Longleat. Wilts, where he died in March, 1710." The good Bishop was the author of three immortal compositions — his Morning, Even- ing and Midnight Hymns — first published in 1675 at the end of a '"Manual of Pravers" for the use of boys in Winchester School, where Ken himself had been educated. Refer ring- to these three productions James Mont- gomery said, as quoted by Stevenson, "Had the Bishop endowed three hospitals, he might have been less a benefactor to pos- terilv." Bishop Ken was a sweet singer as well as a skilful composer, and found great delight in rendering the songs of Zion, especially when called to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." "It was the habit of this saintly sufferer," says Mr. Stead, "to accojnpany his ever cheerful voice with the lute which penetrated beyond his prison vralls; and the oft-repeated song of praise, which was soon taken up by his religious sympathizers listening without, has gone on singing itself into the hearts of Christians 35 HYMNS THAT AEE IMMORTAL until tlie fragment has very nearly ap- proached the hymn universal." ''Old hundred," the tune with which this magnificent Doxology is almost invariably as- sociated, was composed by Wilhelm Franc, a German musician, whose work in this case is thoucrht bv some authorities to have been re- vised bv Martin Luther. Bishop Ken's Doxology is alike adapted to expressing the gratitude of living saints in their most enraptured moments, and the trust, comfort and hope of dying pilgrims as they bid farewell to earthly scenes and go "sweep- ing through tlie gates" into the golden City of God. It is sung with tremendous effect in great assemblies met to celebrate national deliverances and v^'ctories. It was sung under decidedly peculiar cir- cumstances in New York Citv on October 15th, 1884. A vast concourse of people awaited till late at night in front of the Re- publican headquarters the returns from an important Ohio election. It was two o'clock in the morning before the last bulletin ap- peared. A short time previous to its appear- ance a multitude of voices were singing "We won't go home till morning;" but the mo- ment the last .message was displayed the steropticon flashed out the line — "Praise 36 THOMAS KEN. BISHOP KEN'S DOXOLOGY God from whom nil ble»«ings flow. Good Diglit." — whereupon^ according to one of the newspaper reports. '^A deep- voiced man in the throng pitched the Doxology, and a mighty volume of song swept upward, the lights went out, and the happy watchers de- parted to their homes." The strains of this sublime stanza are oft- repeated in evei'T great revival season, some- times, as in one of Billy Dawson's meetings where it was repeated thirty-five times in a single evening, being sung after every new conversion. "A twelve miles' walk, through the midnight hours, and in the snow of a cold Februarv," savs Mr. Stevenson in rela- ting this last occurrence, "did not dissipate the blessedness of the memories of that dav, and they are fresh and fragrant on the mind of the writer after the lapse of nearly fifty years." Hundreds of departing saints have also uttered or attempted to utter its lofty strains with their expiring breath, as expressive of their iov in the consciousness of victorv over the last enemy. "Glory be to God, T am come to the mount! I am filled with the glory of God I" exclaimed John West, an English Methodist who had joined the church in times of persecution and HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL had been faithful in all things, as he wai about to make passage to the heavenly home. Then followed an effort to sing — *'l»raise God from whom all blessings flow ! Pi'Riso Him. all creatures bere below :*' after which he said to those about him, "Tell the friends, Jesus is a precious Savior," closed his eyes, and went to be "forever with the Lord/' "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salva- tion," exclaimed Elizabeth Hudson, convert- ed at twenty and thereafter made instru- mental in building up two strong and flour- ishing ^fethodist societies, as she found her dav of earthly service closing. Shortly after- ward she was taken with a fatal fever, and, when apprised of the situation, was filled with joy at knowing she was so near the "desired haven." To a friend who asked, "Are you happy?" she replied. "Oh, yes; I feel more than I can express." In the evening, waving her hand, she exclaimed : "Praise God from whom air blessings flow ; Praise Him, all creatures bere below : Praise Him above, ye beavenlj host : Praise Fatber. Son, and Holy Ghost." 38 BISHOP KEN'S DOXOLOGY Then declaring, ''Christ is precious, and I long to be with Him,'' she passed within the vail. There, in accordance with her longing, to "see the King in His beauty," and abide in His palace forever. In his book on "The King's Stewards" Dr. Louis Albert Banks relates the following storv, which also strikinglv illustrates the power of this old Doxology : A man who was for a long time shut up in Libby Prison savs that they used to con- sole themselves frequently by singing the Doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow/' Dav after day they saw comrades passing away, and their numbers increasing by fresh living recruits for the grave. One night, about ten o'clock, through the stillness and the darkness they heard the tramp of coming feet that soon stopped be- fore the prison door until aiTangements could be made inside. In the company was a young Baptist minister, whose heart almost fainted as he looked on those cold walls and thought of the suffering inside. Tired and weary, he sat down, put his face in his hands and wept. Just then a lone voice of deep, sweet i^athos sung out from an upper win- dow, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," 39 HYMNS THAT AKE IMMORTAL and a dozen manly voices joined in the second line, "Praise Him, all creatures here below ;" then by the time the third was reached more than a score of hearts were full, and joined to send the words on high, "Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ;" by this time the prison was all alive and seemed to quiver with the sacred song, as from every room and cell those brave men sang — "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!" As the song died out on the still night that enveloped in darkness the doomed city of Richmond, the young man arose and happily began himself to sing : "And prisons would palaces prove. If Jesus would dwell with me there." 40 Prayer 41 VI MONTGOMERY S LYRIC OX PRAYER Nearly every hymn-book we have ever ex- amined contains James Montgomery's hymn on the natnre of prayer, beginning — "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered, or unexpressed." it was written in 1818 at the request of the Rev. E. Bickersteth, for that distinguished clergyman's "Treatise on Prayer," and was published under the title, "What is Prayer?" The first five stanzas are wholly didactic, or suited to purposes of instruction rather than of devotion, and the sixth stanza, which contains a fervent prayer, is the only one hav- ing the qualities of a genuine hymn. As the jfpirit of this stanza pervades those preced- ing it, however, and as the first five stanzas, containing the finest metrical setting forth of the nature of true prayer ever written, pre- pare the way for the more fervent breathing of the sentiment expressed in the last stanza, the x>ro(l"<*tion has not only won its way to 43 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL general recognition as a liymn, but also to a popularity greater than any other its high- ly gifted author ever wrote. The following is the full text of the hymn, which every Christian, old and young, should thoroughly know by heart : Prayer is the sbul's sincere desire, Uttered, or iiiiexpressecl ; The motion of a liidden fire That trembles in the breast. Trayer is the burden of a sigh, The falling of a tear, The upward glancing of an eye. When none but God is near. Prayer is the simplest form of speech That infant lips can try ; Prayer the sublimest strains that reach The Majesty on high. Prayer is the Christian's vital breath. The Christian's native air ; His watchword at the gates of death ; He enters heaven with prayer. Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, Returning from his ways, While angels in their songs rejoice, And cry, "Behold, he prays!" 44 LYRIC ON PRAYER O Thou, by whom we come to God, The Life, the Truth, the Way ! The path of prayer Thyself hast trod : Lord, teach us how to pray. Tune — "Naomi" or "Marlow." I'lie author of these remarkable lines once feaici he had received directly and indirectly more testimonials to the appreciation of them than of any other hvmn he had written, which shows two things, namely, the almost universal interest of men and women in the subject of prayer, and their keen perception of and profound satisfaction in a hymn that expresses the heart of that subject. Besides having found its way into most hymnals of our time it is worthy of note that Dr. Adam Clarke regarded this hymn as of suflScient merit to occupy a place in his great Com- mentary on the Holy Scriptures. Nothing ever written on the subject more beautifully sets forth the simplicity and dig- nity of a true supplicant's act of devotion as he bends before the mercy-seat in prayer than this noble Ivric. None but a man of devout spirit and accustomed to communion with his Maker at the throne of grace could have given us such a production. To the fact of its having been born of experience in the holy art of supplication it chiefly owes its popular- 45 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ity. As long as human aspiration Godward seeks expression in prayer and supplication this simple but glowing lyric will live and re- tain its popularity in the hymnody of the church. Ahmtgomery never dreamed when writing this the most popular of all his hymns that there was anything in it prophetic of his own death, jet the peculiar circumstances of his departure show such to have been the case. One evening in 1854, he conducted family worship, as he was wont to do, but with un- usual fervency in his devotions ; and this was the last of his earthly services and utter- ances. He retired for the night apparently well, but was found on the floor in the morn- ing in an unconscious state from which he never ralli3d. He lingered some hours, but never spoke again. In a literal sense, and in fulfilment of his own unconsciously prophet- ic words, "He entered heaven with prayer." 46 VII THE MERCY-SEAT Another sacred poem which has been great- ly blessed to the good of individual souls for many years, and also to the edification of the church at large, and which, because of these facts, has won for its author world- wide and imperishable fame and affection, is the Rev. Hugh StowelPs sweet and tender lyric, beginning, "From every stormy wind that blows." It was originally contributed to a Euro- pean illustrated annual known as W interns Wreath, in 1827, from which it was copied into JJttelVs Religious Magazine (Philadel- phia) in 1828. The author republished it, with some slight revisions, in his ''Pleasures of Religion and Other Poems," in 1832. The hymn originally contained six stanzas, now generally appearing as follows : From every stormy wind that blows, From every swelling tide of woes, 47 PlYMXS THAT AKE IMMORTAL There is a calm, a sure retreat ; 'Tis found beneath the mercy -seat. There is a place \Yhere Jesus sheds The oil of gladness on our heads; A place than all besides more sweet : It is the l^lood-bongbt mercy-seat. There is a scene where spirits blend. Where friend holds fellow.'^iip with friend:' Though sundered far. by faith they meet Around one connnon mercy-seat. Ah 1 v.hither could we flee for aid, AVhen tempted, desolate, dismayed; Or how the hosts of hell defeat, Had suffering saints no mercy-seat? There, there on eagle wings we soar, And sin and sense molest no more ; And heaven comes down our souls to greet, While glory crowns the mercy-seat. Oh I let my hand forget her skill, :My tongue be silent, cold and still : This throbl)ing heart forget to beat. If I forget the mercy-seat. 1' L'XE— "Retreat." The }le\. Hugh Stowell, who wrote this hTiim, was a clergyman of high repute in the Church of Enghmd. He was born in Doug- his. Isle of ^lan, 1 December 3rd, 1799. His fa- ther was also a clergyman, rector of Ballaugh, 48 THE MERCY-SEAT near Ranisev. The son was educated at St. Ediiinnd's Hall, Oxford, j^Taduatinji; in 1822. He took Holy Orders in 1823, and, first as curate in Yorkshire, then as incumbent of St. Stephen's Church, Salford, he drew such throngs to hear his plain and earnest preach- ing that the people were moved to give liber- ally and cheerfully for the erection of an ele- gant structure known as Christ Church, Sal- ford; and therein thousands attended upon Jiis ministry with great delight and profit. In 1845 he was promoted to the position of Honorary Canon of Chester, and later was made Rural Dean of Salford. He was an Evangelical Churchman, but had no sympa- thy with High Church principles, and vigor- ously opposed the Tractarian or High Church movement. He finished his earthly course October 8th, 1865. Canon Stowell's death, according to the ac- count of it given bj the Rev. Thomas Alfred Stowell, his son, beautifully illustrated the sentiment expressed in his remarkable and popular hymn. We quote from Duffield's "Ensrlish Hvmns :" ^'Mv father's last utterances abundanth showed his love of, and delight in, prayer. Almost every word was prayer, couched for the most part in the language of the Holy 49 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Scriptures or of the Book of Common Prayer; and these utterances were characterized by the deepest humility and most entire self -dis- trust. '^Equally apparent was his simple and firm reliance on his Savior. To the question, *Is Jesus with you and precious to you?" the answer was, 'Yes, so that He is all in all to me.' ^'During his waking moments he frequently exclaimed, 'Very much peace,' and sometimes, 'No fear,' 'Abundance of joy,' 'A very present help in time of trouble.' The morning of his death the only articulate words that we could catch, uttered two or three hours before his decease, were 'Amen! Amen!' 'His watchword at the gates of death, He enters heaven with prayer.' '* Around the world he had taught, in the gtanzas of his l>eautiful hymn, the preciousness of the mercy-seat as the meeting-place of God with man, and there it was that, not only in his life but even m,ore abundantly in his death, "Heaven came down his soul to greet, While glory crowned the mercy-seat" 50 vni WRESTLING JACOB Unique and matchless among all sacred poetry having importunity in prayer as its theme is Charles Wesley's lyrical drama, based on the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, and beginning, "Come, O Thou Traveler unknown, Whom still I hold, but cannot see." Its illustrious author, whom many regard as the foi^most hymn-writer of the ages, was borti in the Epworth rectory, England, of which his father, the Rev. Samuel Wesley, w^as incumbent, in 1707. Susanna Wesley, his motlier, was one of the most intelligent and devoted of Christian women, and to the training she gave her sons the world will ever be largely indebted, since no other single factor figured more largely in the making of those remarkable men. Charles "V^'esley took his degree from Ox- ford in 1728, where his brother John, himself and a few others, for their devoted manner of 51 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL life, were first nicknamed ^Tlie Holy Club," and later, because of their methodical divis- ion and use of their time were contempt- uously called '^Methodists." Tn 1735 he re- ceived Holy Orders from the Church of Eng- land, and immediately sailed with his brother John for Georgia, as a missionar}-. He soon returned, however, encountering a most ter- rific storm on the passage, from which the ship's company escaped almost as by miricle. Not until later (1738) did he experience that change of heart which made him ever after- ward a flame of fire for the spread of evan- gelical holiness. With this new experience also began that career of hymn-writing which made him the chief singer of Methodism. He cooperated with his brother John in his great work of reformation to the close of his long life, and died in peace in 1788. The hymn on "Wrestling Jacob" first ap- peared in ''Hymns and Sacred Poems," in 1742, and contained fourteen six-line stanzas. The break in its uniformity by dividing it into several briefer hymns was made by the editors of the 171)7 edition. To divide it thus was to mar it, since its full beauty and force can neither be perceived nor appreciated ex- cept by considering it as an undivided whole. Its length, however, seems to have made divis- 52 CHAELES WESLEY. WRESTLING JACOB ion necessary in order better to adapt it to use in tbe cluircli hymnals. When printed in two or three successive hymns, as is quite coniDionly done, the connection and unity can be readily discerned, and still, to read or sing the hymn in part only is to miss much of its beauty and worth. The scriptural narrative on which the hymn is based is recorded in Genesis 32 : 24- 3i, and must be known in order that tlio h^'nm may be understood and appreciated. The hymn is now seldom if ever printed in full in the church hymnals, two of its origi- nal stanzas being omitted wherever we have found it. Restored to its original complete- ness and order, it reads as follows: Come, O Tbou Traveler unkiiowu. Whom still I hold, but cannot see; My company before is gone, And I am left alone with Thee : With Thee all night I mean to stay, And wrestle till the break of day. I need not tell Thee who I am : ^fy sin and misery declare ; Thyself hast called me by my name. Look on Thy hands and read it there ; But who, 1 ask Thee, who art ThouV Tel] me Thy name, and tell me now. In vain Thou strugglest to get free; I never will unloose my hold 53 f HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Art Thou the Man that died for me? The secret of Thy love unfold; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy name. Thy nature know. Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal Thy new, unutterable name? Tell me, I still beseech Thee, tell; To know it now, resolved I am : Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy name, Thy nature know. 'Tis all in vain to hold Thy tongue, Or touch the hollow of my thigh : Though every sinew be unstrung, Out of my arms Thou shalt not fly; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go. Till I Thy name. Thy nature know. What though my shrinking flesh complain, And murmur to contend so long? I rise superior to my pain : When I am weak, then am I strong! And when my all of strength shall fail, I shall with the God-man prevail. Yield to me now, for I am weak, But confident in self-despair ; Speak to my heart, in blessing speak ; Be conquered by my instant prayer : Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move, And tell me if Thy name be Love. 'Tis Love ! 'tis Love ! Thou diedst for me ; I hear Thy whisper in my heart; 54 WRESTLING JACOB The moriiing breaks, the shadows flee; Pure, universal Love Thou art: To me, to all Thy bowels move, Thy nature and Thy name is Love. My prayer hath power with God; the grace Unspeakable I now receive ; Through faith I see Thee face to face ; 1 see Thee face to face and live ! In vain I have not wept and strove; Thy nature and Thy name is Love. I know Thee, Savior, who Thou art, Jesus, the feeble sinner's Friend : Nor wilt Thou with the night depart. But stay and love me to the end : Thy mercies never shall remove ; Thy nature and Thy name is Love, The Sun of Righteousness on me Ilath risen, with healing in his wings; Withered my nature's strength, from Thee My soul its life and succor brings ; My help is all laid up above: Thy nature and Thy name is Love. Contented now, upon my thigh I halt, till life's short journey end : All helplessness, all weakness, I On Thee alone for strength depend : Nor have I power from Thee to move; Thy nature and Thy name is Love. Lame as I am, I take the prey ; Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o'ercome; 55 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL I leap for joy, pnrsne my way, And, as a boimding hart, fly home : Through all eternity to prove Thy nature and Thy name is Love. Tune — "Rockaway." ComiTienda^ions of this remarkable liviiin t. from the pens of able critics are numerous and forcibly expressed. A few- of them will snfifice to show the esteem in which it has ever been held. In the obituary of ('harles Wesley, pub- lished in the conference minutes, John Wes- ley says: ^'Ris least praise was his talent for poetry; although Dr. Watts did not scruple to say, that the single poem, 'Wrestling Jacob,' was worth all the verses he himself had writ- ten.'^ James Montgomery regarded the produce tion as "among Charles Wesley's highest achievements/' ''in which, with consumm'ate art, he has carried on the action of a lyrical drama : every turn in the conflict with the mA'sterious Being against whom he wrestles all night being marked with precision by the various language of the speaker, accompanied by intense, increasing interest, till the raptur- ous moment of discovery, when he prevails, and exclaims, 'I know Thee, Savior, who Thou art.' " 56 WRESTLING JACOB Mr. Stevonson quotes the Rev. -John Kirk as writing' of ''its wonderful conciseness, 3'et perfect and finished picturing of the scene on the Transjordanic hills, beyond the deep defile where the Jabbok, as its name implies, wres.tles with the mountains through which it dipscends to the Jordan. The dramatic form, so singular in hvmnic composition, shadowing forth the action of the conversa- tion ; the great force of its thoroughly Eng- lish expression: its straightforward ease, without any mere straining at elegance; and the minuteness and beauty of its general ap- plication of the narrative, have won the com- mendation of all competent critics.'- The late Hugh Price Hughes regarded "Wrestling Jacob'' as one of Charles Wes- le^^'s greatest hymns, and Dean Stanley is said to have quoted it with remarkable effect at the unveilini*ayer she wrestled on amid her suffering until, "more than con- queror" over "the last enemy," she received an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of her Redeemer. 62 IX JOHN KEBLE's evening HYMN No English hymn ever written is better en- titled to a place in classic hyranody than John Keble's "Sun of my soul. Thou Savior dear." Nothing equal to it has ever been written ai an evening hynm. It combines the rarest beauty, sweetness, tenderness, love, trust and devotion with deepest spirituality and most fervent breathing after God. Its sentiment and spirit are all that could be desired, and in true poetic excellence it is unsurpassed. ^'The Christian Year," of which it forms a part, ^'has gone through one hundred edi- tions," ^^the last of which placed the bulk of it before one hundred thousand readers;" but ''this hymn is known, not to thousands, but to millions, and the music of its verse is familiar in every nook and corner of the Eng- lish-speaking world." It is a significant circumstance that the author of this universally popular lyric wTote 63 HYMXw^ THAT ARE I:MM0RTAL it with no intention of its becomino- a hvmn. "The (,1iristian Year," in which it originally appeared, was a collection of "Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holidays Through- out the Year." The title-page bore the motto, ''In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." It was first published at Oxford, England, in 1827, in two thin 16mo volumes. It was put forth anonymously at first, the secret of its authorship being shared by a number of the poet's friends to whom he had submitted the manuscript, and from whom, little by little, it leaked out. The work, like Gray's elegy, was the product of long and painstaking labor, which was amply re- warded, however, by the remarkable popu- larity it won, the ninety-sixth edition having been revised by Keble's own hand, and, as al- I'eady suggested, the hundreth edition having since been given to the public. The hymn as it appears in the various hymnals is composed of the third, seventh, eighth and last three stanzas of the original poem, which contains fourteen stanzas. To wbom belongs the honor of having discov- ered the elements of so remarkable a hymn imbedded in the poem from which they were extracted is a problem not yet solved with absolute certainty. According to Dr. Ben- 64 KEBLE'S EVENING HYMN sou tlie Rev. Heni'v ^^nn Elliott, brother of (.'Jiarlotte Elliott, put a selectiou of four stanzas from Keble's poem into his "Psalms and Hymns," beg:inning' with "8un of my soul," etc.- and "'Other editors followed his ex- am])le, some of them using additional verses. This is the earliest appearance of the hymn, in anything like its present form, yet dis- covered ; and, unless some instance of its earlier ])ub]ication shall come to light. Mr. Elliott will be credited with the original dis- coverv of the hvmn ns imbedded in the larger poetical production from Avhich its various stanzas were collected" '"Studies of familiar Hymns"). As geueiallv i)ublished in the hvmnals of the present time the hymn appears in six stanzas, as follows: Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear. It is not night if Thou be near : O njay no earth-born cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes ! When tlie soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, He my last thouj^ht, how sweet to rest Forever on my Savior's breast 1 Abide with me from morn till eve. For without Thee I cannot live; 6q HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Abide with me when night is nigh, For without Thee I dare not die. If «ouje poor wnnd'ring child of Thine Have spurned, to-day, the voice divine. Now, Lord, the gracious work begin ; Let him no more lie down in sin. Watch by the sick ; enrich the poor With blessings from Thy bounteous store ; Be every mourner's sleep to-night. Like infant slumbers, pure and light. Come near and bless us when we wake, Ere through the world our way we take ; Till in the ocean of Thy love, We lose ourselves in heaven above. Tune — "Hursley." Two other stanzas are included in the hymn as sometimes published, constituting respectively, when included, stanzas one and five. We reproduce them herewith* as follows^ and leave the reader to judge for himself as to whether their exclusion improves or les- sens the beautv and worth of the hvmn : Wiien with dear friends sweet talk I hold, And all the flowers of life unfold, , Lot not my heart within me burn, Exeei^t in all I Thee discern. Thou Framer of the light and dark. Steer through tlie tempest Thine own arl: : 66 KEBLE'S EVENING HYMN Amid the howling wintry sea. We are in ix)rt if we have Thee. John Keble, the distinguished author of "The Christian Year," was born at Fairford, England, in 1792, his father being an honored clergyman of the Established Church. He was educated at Oxford, graduating in 1810, with double first class honors. He was ad- mitted to Orders in the Established Church in 1816. Twelve years later appeared his "Christian Year," embodying in its various poems for the Sundavs and holidavs of the year a number of what are now regarded as among the choicest hymns of the Church, "Sun of my soul" being chief est of them all. In 1831 he was elected professor of poetry at Oxford, which position he occupied for ten years. In 1833 he preached his fam,ous Assize Sermon at Oxford, on "National Apostasy," which Cardinal Newman, then within the English Church, subsequently de- clared gave rise to the High Church or Ox- ford Movement — a Movement which "trans- formed the Church of England," and of which "Keble, Newman .and Dr. Pusey were the leading spirits." The Oxford or "Tractarian Movement" final Iv landed Newman in the Roman Catho- lie Church, where his distinguished ability and 67 hy:mxs that are immortal his devotion to the Church at last secured liim a place in the College of Cardinals. Keble, who remained a firm adherent of the Church of England, grieved greatly over New- man's secession. His attitude of attachment to Anglican traditions was expressed in his publication of ''The Christian Year," which also had the effect of confirming thousands of others in a similar attitude. He was a prolific writer of both prose and poetry for many years, and the various productions of his pen did much to influence and mold the national afi'airs of his time. After the death of his father in 1835 Keble married and became Vicar of Hursley, where, for the rest of his days he remained, content- edly "leading the life of a retired scholar and faithful country pastor." His church was always open for morning and evening prayers. ''Night and day he was unwearied in his ministrations to the sick, the poor, the afflicted. On many a dark evening he was seen, lantern in hand, wending his way to some distant cottage, with Avords of cheer. Though a m,an of fine Scholarly tastes and culture, he was so meek and unassuming, that the poor looked up to him as their best friend." His death occurred at Bournemouth, in 68 KEBLE'S EVENING HYMN « March, 186G. His wife survived him but six weeks, and both are buried, side by side, in Hui'slev church-vard. Imiuediatelv followiuij his death a movement was originated to pro- vide for him a suitable monument, which fi- nallv resulted in the foundins: of Keble Col- lege, Oxford, in 1870, "by subscription in memory of the Kev. John Keble. Vicar of Hurslev, sometime fellow and tutor of Oriel College, professor of poetry in the University, and author of *The Christian Year.' '' As sung to the tune "Hursley," Keble's '*Sun of mv soul" is a favorite hvmn in most Christian congregations of the English-speak- ing world. Its tender melody, its pleasing rhythm, its soft and mellow strains, together with the fervor and confidence of its breath- ing after God, adapt it to inspiring the faith, calming the agitations, assuaging the griefs and quickening and brightening the hopes of believers amid all the changeful vicissitudes of their earthly pilgrimage. As illustrative of its value in the foregoing directions, and also as a fitting conclusion to our consideration of its origin, character and history, we subjoin the following pathetic narrative, as related by the Kev. Dr. Tillett in "Our Hymns and Their Authors:'' "A vounji ladv of lovelv Christian charac- 'o 69 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ler lay seriously ill iu her chamber. Her mother and loved ones were about her. The loom seemed to her to be growing dark. She asked them to raise the curtains and let in the light. But, alas, the curtains were al- leady raised, and it was broad-open daylight. It was the night of death that had come, and she knew it not. As she kept asking them to let in the light they had to tell her the nature of the darkness that was gathering about her. But she was not dismayed. With a sweet, quiet, plaintive voice she began sing- ing her favorite hvmn : *Suii of my vsoul, Tbou Savior dear, It is not night if Thou be near: O let no earth-born cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes.' '•The eves of all in the room suffused with tears as the sweet singer's tremulous voice continued : 'When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, Be my last thought, how sweet to rest For e^'er on my Savior's breast !' "She had often sung this hymn to the de- light of the home-circle, but now it seemed like the song of the dying swan, the sweetest 70 KEP,LF/8 EVENING HYMN she had ever sung. Her countenance lighted up witli a beauty and a radiance that came not from earth as she sang once more in feebler but more heavenly sti-ains : *Al»ide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live : Abide with me when night is nigh, For without Thee I dare not die.' And with these fitting words the sweet voice was hushed in death which ceased not to sing, 'Till, in the ocean of God's love, She lost herself in heaven above.' " •^I A A woman's hymx on twilight devotion From tiDie immemorial the fields aud groves have been favorite resorts aud twi- light has been a favorite season with godly men and women for private meditation and l>rayer. There is much in both season and surroundings favorable to concentration up- on the object in view, and adapted to lifting the soul to loftiest contemplations of and most enrapturing communion with the Majes- ty on High. One of the finest and most popular little poems expressive of delight in twilight de- votion — a lyric which, though not intended as a hvmn, has won its wav into many of the church liymnals through first having won its way into the hearts of praying men and women — is one beginning, as usually printed, "I love to steal awLile away Frojii every cumberiug care." Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown, its author, was born in Canaan, New York, in 1783, and 72 TWILIGHT DEVOTION died in Henrv. Illinois, in 1861. She was ;i devout Christian mother, in humble cir- cumstances, burdened with many a "cumber- ing care,'' and daily, toward nightfall, was accustomed to retire to a solitary place a little distant from her home for meditation and secret prayer. Observed in this daily re- tirement bv a wealthv neighbor who severelv criticised her. and even impugned her mo- tives, she was deeply wounded, and, to relieve lier burdened heart, went to her home and wrote the following:- AX APOLOGY FOR MY TWILIGHT RAMBLES^ ADDRESSED TO A LADY. (Ellington, Angiist, 1818.) Yes. when the toilsome daj* is gone, And night with banners gray. Steals silently the glades along In twilight's soft array, I love to steal awhile awaj- From little ones and care, And spend the hours of setting day In gratitude and prayer. I love to feast on Nature's scenes » When Talis the evening dew. And dwell upon the silent themes, Forever rich and new. 73 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL I love in solitude to shed The penitential tear, And all God's promises to plead Where none can see or hear. I love to think on mercies past. And future ones implore. And all my cares and sorrows cast On Him whom I adoje. I love to meditate on death ! When shall II is message come. With friendly smiles to steal my breath, And take an exile home? T love by faith to take a view Of blissful scenes in Heaven : The sight doth all my strength renew While here by storms I'm driven. I love this silent twilight hour Far better than the rest ; It is of all the twenty-four. The happiest and best. Thus, when life's toilsome day is o'er, jMay its departing ray Be calm as this impressive hour, And lead to endless day. Tune — "Arlington." Although written in 1818 the first adop- tion of these lines as a hymn appears to have been in Nettleton's "Village Hymns/^ in 74 TWILIGHT DEVOTION 1825. 8trictl.y speaking the production is a poem and not a hymn. Its author wrote it merely to ease her troubled heart when stung by the groundless accusations already men- tioned, and with no thought of its ever going into print, to say nothing of its finding a per- manent place in the hymnody of the Church. Her own version of its origin, which has been quite widely circulated for years, will bear repetition in each new volume devoted to the storv of the Church's hvmns. ^*It was in Ellington that I wrote the 'Twi- light Hymn,- " she says. "My baby daughter was in mv arms when I wrote it. I had been out on a visit to Dr. Hyde's and several were present. After tea one of my neighbors, who I had always felt was my superior in every way, came and sat down near me, chatting with another lady, without noticing me. Just a& I was rising to go home, she turned sud- denly Lipon me and said : 'Mrs. Brown, why do you come up at evening so near our house, and then go back without coming in? If you want anything, why don't you come in and ask for it? I could not think who it was, and sent my girl down to the garden to see; and she said it was you — that you came to the fence, but, seeing her, turned quickly away, muttering something to yourself.' 75 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "'There was soniething in her manner, more than her words, that grieved me. I went home, and that evening was left alone. After my children were all in bed, except my baby, .1 sat down in the kitchen, with m^ child in my arms, when the «rief in mv heart burst forth in a flood of tears. I took pen and l»aper, and gave vent to my o])pressed heart in what I called 'My Apology for my Twi- light Rambles, Addressed to a Lady.' It will be found in its original form in an old manu- script among my papers. In preparing it (some years after) for Xettleton's 'Village Hymns' some three or four verses were sup- pressed and a few expressions altered. In the original of what is now the first stanza was : '] love to steal awblle away From little ones and care,' [instead of "From cvcri/ cumhcring care'' in- iroduced later]. "This was strictly true. I had four little children; a small unfinished house; a sick sister in the only finished room ; and there was not a place above or below, where I could retire for devotion, without a liabilitv to be interrupted. There was no retired room, rock, or grove where I could go as in former days: but there was no dwelling be- 76 TWILIGHT DEVOTION tTveen our liousa and the one where that lady lived. Her warden extended a good way be- low her house, which stood on a beautiful eminence. The garden was highly cultivated, with fruits and flowers. I loved to smell the fragrance of both (though I could not see them). When I could do so without neglect- ins: niv dutv, I used to steal awav from all within doors, and, going out of our gate, stroll along under the elms that were planted for shade on each side of the road ; and as there was seldom any one passing that way after dark, I felt quite retired and alone with God. "I of^en walked quite up to that beautiful garden, and snufled the fragrance of the peach, the grape, and the rij)ening aT)ple, if not the flowers. I never saw anv one in the garden, and I felt that I could have the privi- lege of that walk and those few moments of uninterrupted communion with God without encroaching upon any one ; but, after once knowing that my steps were watched and made the subject of remark and censure, I never could enjoy it as I had done. I have often thought Satan had tried his best to pre- vent me from prayer by depriving me of a place to pray." One of those ''little ones'' referred to in 77 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL the original form of the second stanza of this hymn became the Rev. S. R. Brown, D. D., and went as the first Christian missionary to Japan, possibly in answer to some of the many prayers breathed by that holy mother in her favorite place of twilight meditation. The hymn as now generally printed omits the first, third, sixth and eighth stanzas of the original, which improves it and renders it more suitable for use in the hymnals. 78 Consecration 79 XI watts' S HYXX OX THE CRUCIFIXIOX lu the Tear 1707, when he was but thirtv- three years of age, Isaac Watts published a volume of "Hymns and Sacred Son^s," in- tended to be used as a church hymn-book, eyery hymn of which was his own composi- tion. The first edition of this work contained two hundred and ten hymns, supposed to liaye been mostly written before he was twenty-fiye years of age and while he was liy- ing in his father's home making preparation for beginning his public ministry. That these hymns were of a high order is evident from the general favor with which the book was at once received, as also from the fact that they were instrumental in producing a new epoch in church hymnody. By far the most popular of all the hymns in this collection, as also of all the hymns Watts ever composed, is the one beginning. "When I surrey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died." In the first edition of "Hymns and Spiritual 8i HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Songs," and also in the enlarged edition of 1709, this hymn appeared under the title of "Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ. Gal. G : 14." The Scripture passage on which it is based reads : "But God for-, bid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, b}' whom the world is crucified unto me, and 1 unto the world." No nobler hvnin has ever been written on the crucifixion than this. "In popularity and use, in its original or slightly altered form,'' says Dr. Julian, "this hymn is one of the four which stand at the head of all hvmns in the English language." Dr. Watts, who has had no peer as a hymn- writer, except it be Charles Wesley, was born in Southampton, England, in 1674. His fa- ther was a deacon in the Congregational Church. Young Watts received a fair edu- cation in the schools of his native town, after which certain well-to-do parties, because of his extraordinary brightness and promise, l)roposed to give him a university education. But English universities were then closed against Dissenters, and young Watts chose rather to suff'er affliction among his Dissent- ing brethren than to enjoy the advantages of an English university for a season. He entered the academy of Rev. Thomas 82 ON THE CRUCIFIXION Rowe at Stoke Newington, and in 1693 be- came a member of Mr. Rowe's church. On finishing his course he returned to the home of his father^ where the next two years were spent in special preparation for the ministry. In 1G9(> he became a tutor to Sir John Har- topp's children, in Newington, for a time, for whom he composed many of his hymns for children which afterward became so popular. He began preaching in 1698 at Mark Lane, near the Tower, in London. Not long after this he was seized with a physical infirmity v/hich left him practically an invalid for life. He continued to hold his pastorate, but was compelled to rely largely upon an as- sistant to perform the duties of his charge, giving himself chielly to the writing and pub- lishing' of livmns. He was never married. In 1713 he accepted an invitation to spend a little time at the house of Sir Thomas Abney, which was the occasion of Mr. Abnev's res- idence becoming his permanent home. Many \ears later he wrote the Countess of Hunt- incidon : ^'This dav thirty vears I came hither to the house of my good friend Sir Thomas Abney, intending to spend but one single week under his friendly roof, and I have extended mv visit to exactly the length of thirty vears." 83 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL He published his metrical version of the Psalms of David in 1719. He also published many volumes in prose as well as in verse, his publications numbering fifty-two volumes in all. He died in peace in 1748. and w^as long held in precious memory ^'as a patriarch among the Dissenting clergy.'' ''When I survey * * * * (>.^jj hardly be said to have had a special history," says Dr. Benson, ''apart from the others in Watts's epoch-making book. But there are several things that single out this hymn from among the rest. One is its extraordinarv excellence. It is not onlv the best of all Watts's hvmns, but it is placed by common consent among Ihe greatest hymns in the language. An- other is the wideness of its use. The greater part of Watts's hymns are left behind; this IkS sung in every branch of the English-speak- ing Church. ^'eludged by the number of church hym- nals containing it, onlv one hvmn is used more widely — Toplady's 'Rock of Ages.' Its greatest glory, however, is the part it has had in the experience of Christians. Only God can know how many living eyes it has inspired with the ideal of the cross of renun- ciation, how many dying eyes it has com- forted with the vision of the cross of hope." 84 ISAAC WATTS. ON THE CRUCIFIXION The following is the complete original text of the hrmn : When I survey the wondrous cross Where the young Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast. Save in the death of Christ my God : Air the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See, from His head, His hands. His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down : Did e'er such love and sorrow meet? Or thorns compose so rich a crown? His dying crimson like a robe Spreads o'er His body on the tree : Then I am dead to all the globe. And air the globe is dead to me. Were the whole realm of nature mine. That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine. Demands my soul, my life, my all. Tune — "Eucharist." Modern hymnals generally omit the fourth stanza, and that wisely in our opinion. The hymn is complete without it, and a super- fluous stanza always detracts from the beau- ty and worth of a hymn. Then the word 8s nY]\[NS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ^'globe" is unfortunately introduced for the Haive of rhynie, wbere icorld is the sense in- tended — not the world as a planet, but the morally corrupt order of things surrounding and continually appealing to us in the pres- ent state of being. This does violence to the Scripture ])assage which forms the basis of Ihe hymn. ^loreover, the simile contained in tlie first couplet seems far-fetched and un- natural, while the last couplet expresses as a sequence what does not naturally or nec- essarily follow from the fact the first couplet was intended to express. That Dr. Watts himself attached less importance to this stanza than to the rest of the hymn is evi- dent from the fact that, in the second edition of his ''Hymns and Songs," he placed it with- in brackets, as the stanza to be omitted if any ])art were to be left out in the singing of the hymn. ''Our hymns have never had a critic so se- ^ere as ^latthew Arnold,'' says Dr. Benson in "Studies of Familiar Hymns." "But on the last day of his life he attended the Sefton Park Presbyterian Church, Liverpool, of which Dr. Watson (Ian Maclaren) is pastor. The hymn, 'When I survey the wondrous cross/ was sung. Coming down, afterward, from his bedroom in his brother-in-law's house 86 ON THE CRUCIFIXION to luncheon, Mr. Arnold was heard softly re- peating to himself the opening lines. At luncheon he spoke of it as the greatest hymn in the language. Afterward he went out, and in ten minutes was dead. Does not such an incident (attested bv Dr. Watson) show the importance of literary merit in hymns? It recalls the appeal of John Wesley for hymns ^such as would sooner provoke a critic to turn Christian than a Christian to turn critic' " This hymn should be sung in the spirit of that true, practical consecration which it breathes, or not sung at all. To sing, "Love so aniazinjr, so Divine. Demands my soul, my life, my all," and then go on living to one's self, withhold- ing tithes from the Lord's treasury, unmoved by the most powerful appeals for aid on be- half of the sick, the poor and the unfortunate -—or, if giving at all, giving stintedly and grudgingly — is naught but hollow mockery, a wicked profanation of divine worship. After the taking of a collection, in a church in London, the congregation led by the choir, sang this beautiful hymn of the cross. When the echo of the last word had died away the pastor slowly repeated the last line, — 87 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "Demands my soul, my life, my all," and added: "Well I am surprised to hear vou sine; that. Do you know that altogether you only put fifteen shillings into the bag this morning?" In a certain charit}' sermon the preacher dwelt on tlie inconsistency of singing this hymn without making the practise of one's life correspond with its sentiments of con- secration and self-sacrifice. A parsimonious old brother, nearly deaf, was much moved by the remarks and unconsciously talked out the struggle which was going on within his heart. The periodical which reported tiie oc- currence said that he ''sat under the pulpit with his ear-trumpet directed upward toward the preacher. - * * * At one time he said to himself — 'I'll give ten dollars;' again he said, 'I'll give fifteen.' At the close of the appeal he was very much moved and thought he would "five fiftv dollars. Now, the boxes were passed. As they moved along, his char- ity began to ooze out. He came down from fifty to twenty, to ten, to five, to zero. 'Yet,' e:aid he, 'this won't do — I'm in a bad fix. This covetousness will be my ruin.' "The boxes were getting nearer and near- er. The crisis w^as now upon him. What 88 ON THE CRUCIFIXION should he do? The box was now under his chin — all the congregation were looking. He had been holding his pocket-book in his hand during this soliloquy, which was half audible, though in his deafness he did not know that he was heard. In agony of the final moment he took his pocket-book and laid it in the box, saying to himself as he did it, — ^^ow squirm j old natar.' '' Self-crucifixion is the spirit of the hymn, and the old brother described in the forego- ing paragraph finally acted upon the princi- ple of self -crucifixion. Would that many others who need to achieve a similar victory v/ould go and do likewise. 89 XII Wesley's hymn on the living sacrifice In Romans 12 : 1 Saint Paul, turning to a powerful application of the truths discussed in the preceding chapters of his epistle, savs: "I beseech you therefore, brethrei!, by the mercies of God, that ve present your bod- ies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is 3'our reasonable service.'' No sacred lyrist has ever more completely and concisely embodied the sentiment of this ex- hortation in verse than Charles Wesley, in the following famous consecration hjmn: Fatiier, Son, aud Holy Gbost, One in Tliree, and Three in One, As by the celestial host, Let Thy will on earth be done : Praise by all to Thee be given, Glorious Lord of earth and heaven! Vilest of the sinful race, liO ! I answer to Thy call : Meanest vessel of Thy grace. (Grace divinely free for all), Lo I I come to do Thy will, All Thy counsel to fulfil. 90 ON THE LIVING SACRIFICE If so poor a worm as I Maj^ to Thy great glory live. All my actions sanctity, All my words and thoughts receive; Claim me for Thy service, claim All I have and all I am. Take my soul and body's powers ; Take my memory, mind, and will ; All my goods, and all my hours ; All 1 know, and all I feel ; All I think, or speak, or do; Take my heart ; but make it new. Now, my God, Thine own I am, Xo\\ I give Thee back Thine own ; Freedom, friends, and health, and fame, Consecrate to Thee alone : Thine I live, thrice happy I, Happier still if Thine I die. Father, vSon, and Holy Ghost, One in Three, and Three in Que, As by the celestial host, Let Thy will on earth be done : Praise by all to Thee be given, (ilorlous Lord of earth and heaven' TU XE "A LETTA." This appears as No. 155 in Charles Wes- ley's collection of ''Hvmns on the Lord's Supper," dated 1745. It is eminently appro- priate for use as a closing hymn on a sacra- mental occasion, and equally appropriate for use as a consecration hymn in revival ser- 91 H y:mxs that are immortal vices, as also tor use in one's daily personal dedication of himself to God. He who daily lives in the spirit of this thoroughly evangeli- cal hymn will ever be "more than conqueror" over hell, earth and sin while life's battle rages, and will also be gloriously triumphant at last over the mortal foe. "Directed bv his own choice to the medical profession, Daniel M'Allum was subsequently called by the great Head of the Church to minister in holy things. In obedience to this call, he exercised his ministry among the [English] Wesleyans until (by a mysterious dispensation of Providence) he was removed, in the midst of his vears and his usefulness, from his labors on earth to his reward in hea- ven. * * * * When, in 1819, he asked the consent of the conference to be relieved from the law which prohibits the marriage of Xn'obationers, he was successful, and made the following entry in his Journal on the occa- sion : ^Vs it respects temporal things, my de- sire is to live honestly in the sight of all men ; and my prayer is that which Agur offered up» As it regards heavenly things, my wish is ex- pressed in the folloAving lines : *If so poor a worm as I May to Thy great glory live, 92 ON THE LIYIXG SACRIFICE Air my actions sanctify, Air my words and tlioughts receive.' " His last testimony was, Oly labors are done, but I build only on the merits of my Savior. I feel that Jesus died for me.' " 93 XIII RAY palmer's HYI^IN OF FULL SURRENDER If ''Nearer, my God, to Thee," is the most popular of all American hymns, the next most popular sacred lyric produced on Amer- ican soil is Dr. Ray Palmer's "My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Cal,vary, Savior divine." In fact, some, like the venerable Dr. Cuyler, assign to the latter hymn the chief place in American hymnic literature. The Doctor de- clares it ''by far the most precious contribu- tion which American genius has yet made to the hymiiologv of the Christian Church." Per- haps if we distinguish properly between the words "precious" and ''popular" his judg- ment is a just one. The former hymn being chiefly theistic and the latter distinctively evangelical, the one has in it the elements of a wilder popularity and the other the ele- ments of more distinctively Christian value. "My faith looks up to Thee" was written 94 HYMN OF FULL SURRENDER ill 1830. and was entitled, "Self-Consecra- tion.'- Dr. Palmer was then a young man, but twenty-two years of age, and was teaching in a Toun": ladies' school in New York City. He had recently graduated from Yale Col- lege. His health was poor, and he was I>rosecuting his work under many discourage- ments. In this condition he came, not by chance, but providentially, upon a Oerman poetic description, in two stanzas only, of "A Suppliant Before the Cross,'' and was so deeply touched by the tender beauty of the lines that he at once translated them into English yerse. He then added four stanzas of his own composition, setting forth what the suppliant was saying, and those four stanzas make up the hymn as it now appears. When asked on one occasion for an account of the origin of the hymn, the aufhor made the following statement as to the mood in which it was composed : '^I gaye form to what T felt by writing, with little effort, these stanzas. I recollect I wrote them with yery tender emotion, and ended the last line with tears. I composed them with a deep con- sciousness of my own needs, without the slightest thought of writing for another eye, and least of all of writing a hymn for Chris- tian worship." After the hymn had attained its 95 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAI, great popularity Dr. Palmer expressed it as his opinion that the production brought com- fort to the hearts of Christians ''chiefly be- cause it expresses in a simple way that act Avhich is the most central in all true Chris- tian life — the act of trust in the atoning Lamb." The hymn originally appeared in the fol- lo>ying form : My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine. Now hear me while I pray, Take all my guilt away, O let me from this day Be wholly Thine ! May Thy rich grace impart Strength to my fainting heart. My zeal inspire! As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee Pure, warm and changeless be, A living fire! While life's dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, Be Thou my guide; Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrow's tears away, Nor let me ever stray From Thee aside. 96 RAY PALMEE. HYMN OF FULL SURRENDER "\"\'lien ends life's transient dream, Wlien death's cold, sullen stream Sljall o'er me roll : Blest Savior, tben. in love. Fear and distrust remove ; O bear me safe above. A ransomed soul I Tune — "Olivet."' About two years iifter the hymn was writ- teu Dr. Lowell Masou met the author ou one of the streets of Boston. After they had ex- changed greetings the famous composer in- formed Mr. T^ilmer that he and Dr. Hastings were compiling a church music-book, and re- quested a contribution for its pages. Mr. Palmer remembered the verses he had written two years before, drew them from his pocket, made a co]»y of them and submitted it for approval. Dr. Mason, after he had taken time to examine them was peculiarly impressed by the verses, and predicted that they would yet be sung around the world. He proceeded at once to set them to appropriate music, com- posing the tune "Olivet'' as the most suitable means of rendering them in song. Assuredly there was a divine providence in the wedding of this hymn and tune; "and what Ood hath joined together let no man put asunder." The next time Dr. Mason met Mr. Pahner after receiving the hymn he said to liim : 'Mr. 97 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Palraer. \o?j may live many years and do many good things, but I think you will be best known to posterity as the author of ^My faith looks up to Thee.' " That was a true l)rophecT, although Mr. Palmer wrote many (/ther hvmns of rare merit, and himself re- garded "Jesus, these eyes have never seen That radiant form of Thine," as his best production. After filling pastorates acceptably in Bath, Maine, and Albany, New York, he was made Corresj)onding Secretary of the Congrega- tional Union in 1865. He continued in this j)Osition until 1878, when ill health comjjelled him to resign. He then settled in Newark, New Jersey, where he finished his course in 1887. It is said that on the day before his death he was heard faintly murmuring to himself the lines, "When death these mortal eyes shall seal. And still this throbbing heart, The rending veil shall Thee reveal All glorious as Thou art." In his '^Recollections of a Long Life" Dr. Cuyler says: ''Dr. Palmer preached several times in my Brooklyn pulpit. He was once with us on a sacramental Sabbath. While 98 HYMN OF FULL SURRENDER the deacons were passing the sacred elements among the congregation the dear old man broke out in a tremulous' voice and sang his own heavenly lines : *My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine.' It was like listening to a rehearsal for the heavenly cboir, and the whole assembly was most deeply moved." While not as old as many of the hymns in general use among English-speaking Chris- tians, "'My faith looks up to Thee" has won for itself as imperishable a place in the hearts of true believers as any of those which have been longer on trial. It is hallowed by asso- ciations most touching and sacred, and by a history which is full of interest and signif- icance. Perhaps there is no Christian home in English-speaking Christendom where its plaintive strains have not inspired faith, quickened hope, and imparted consolation in hours of distracting trouble, bewildering temjjtation and heart-crushing sorrow. To how many it has brought the ministry of light, peace and comfort as they passed ^'through the valley of the shadow of death," God only knows. Such a hymn is a boon of priceless worth. 99 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "In connection with the spiritual use of the hymn," says Colonel Smith, '"this story though old, is still interesting. Mrs. Layath Baraket, a natiye of Syria, who was edu- cated in the mission schools at Beirut, went as a teacher to Egypt, where she made much use of ^^ly faith looks up to Thee.' By the insurrection of Arabi Pasha in 1882, she was driven out of tliat country, and with her hus- band and child came to tlie United States. *Her history is a strange illustration of God's providential care, as they were without any friends in Philadelphia, where they landed.' During her visit in America Mrs. Baraket made many public addresses and attracted large audiences. Her talks on missionary ef- forts in Syria and Egypt were rich in prac- tical and interesting incidents and illustra- tions. She had been permitted to see her whole family, who were Maronites of Mount Lebanon, converted to Christianity. Her mother, at the age of sixty-two, was taught to sing an Arabic translation of Dr. Palmer's hymn; and in 1884, when she received the news that her daughter had reached the Uni- ted States in safety and was kindly received, she responded by simply repeating the words of this hymn. "In the evening before one of the terrible 100 HYMN OF FULL SURRENDER battles of the Wilderness during the Civil \A'ar, eic,ht voiinff men who were warmly at- tached to each other bv the ties of Christian I. comradeship, held a praver-meeting. A great battle was inimiuent, and it seemed improb- able that all of them would survive the con- flict. Before separating for the night, they wrote an exj^ression of their feelings on a sheet of paper. It was, in fact, a death pledge; and was to remain as an evidence of their Christian faith should they fall in bat- tle. The words to which all the young men subscribed their names were those of the hymn, 'My faitb looks up to Thee.' The battle went hard with the regiment to which these eight soldiers of the Cross and Union belonged, and seven of them fell before the blazing discharge of shot and shell of the enemv.-' In the composition of this hymn Dr. Palm- er wrote his own heart's experience and ex- pressed his faith and hope for the future. In doing this he wrote the experience and ex- pressed the faith and hope of all true Chris- tians. This is what gives vitality and popu- larity to the hymn and will cause it to sing its way on to latest generations. lOI XIV MISS havergal's great consecration HYMN Miss Frances Ridley Havergal was evident- ly designed by Providence for extraordinary jichievements in the interests of Christ's Church and Ivingdom, and that particularly in the realm of holy song. The daughter of a devout English clergyman, the Rev. Wil- iam Henry Havergal, who was himself the author of much valuable church music, in- cluding such tunes as ''Evan," ''Zoan," and '•Patmos,'' and baptized by another hymn- ^\ riter of distinction, the Rev. John Cawood, author of ''Hark ! what mean those holy voices?" it will be seen that she was reared amid the most favorable religious surround- ings and "in an atmosphere of hymns." She was a precocious child, too, and the story of her early development, though well authenticated, reads quite like fiction. "A study of her short life reminds us that she could read at three ; that she wrote verses at seven with remarkable fluency; that in her 102 HYMN OF CONSECRATION girlhood days she knew the whole of the New Testament, the Psalms, and Isaiah by heart, and afterward memorized the Minor Proph- ets: that when fourteen years old she had a f>lowiDo: spiritual enthusiasm ; that she early acquired the French, German, Italian, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages; that she daily read the Old and New Testaments in the orig- inal ; that she could play through Handel and much of Mendelssohn and Beethoven without notes ; that she had a sweet singing voice and was a reputable composer; and that, in her school da vs. though ha vine; a frail constitu- tion, she climbed the Swiss mountains that she might revel in the scene of perpetual snow." Such in early years was she whom the Lord, by providential discipline and through the be- stowal of extraordinary grace, prepared for that exalted ministry in the realm of hal- ft. lowed song which reached its culmination in the composition of the Consecration Hymn be- ginning, "Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Tliee." The hymn was written as the expression of her own entire and irrevocable devotement of herself to God's service, and was born of 103 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL an inspiration which came to its author on her reception of the sanctifying fulness of the Holy Spirit. She had been awakened to an unquenchable longing for ''unreached at- tainments" in the divine life through the read- ing of a little book on the subject which came into her hands in 1873. Yielding herself up fully to God she soon received ''the blessing" and entered upon a new era in her Christian history. Previously inclined to depression of spirits, such as drove Cowper to madness, she now lived in a realm of perennial sunshine, and shed the light of holy gladness on all around her. "It was on Advent Sunday, December 2nd. 1873," she says in a letter to her sister, "I first saw clear 1}^ the blessedness of true con- secration. I saw it as a flash of electric light, and what you sec, you can never unsee. There must be full surrender before there can be full blessedness. God admits you by the one into the other." That "full surrender" which is tlie onlv and the sure wav into ''full blessedness" Miss Havergal had most definite- ly and consciously reached ; and, vrhat it then meant to her and must ever mean to all who intelligently make it, she has expressed with remarkable clearness and great poetic beauty in the hymn which follows : 104 FRANCES RIDLEY HAVEEGAL. HYMN OF CONSECRATION Take my life, and let it be Consef-ratecl, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days ; Let tliem flow in endless praise. Take my bands, and let tbem move At the impulse of Tby love. Take my feet, and let tbem be Swift and beautiful for Tbee. Take my voice, and let me sing, Always, only, for my King. Take my lips, and let tbem be Filled ^^•itb messages from Thee Take my silver and my gold ; Not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shalt choose. Take my will, and make it Thine ; It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is Thine own ; It shall be Thy royal throne. Take my love; my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure-store. Take myself, and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee. Tune — "Hendon" or "Patmos." ^[iss navergal wrote this hymn February 4th, 1S74, and has herself given us an account of its origin in the following words: ^Ter- 105 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL haps you will be interested to know the ori- gin of the Consecration Hvmn, 'Take Mv Life.' I went for a little visit of five da3's to the Arely House. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, sonije converted, but not rejoicing Chris- tians. He gave me the prayer, ^Lord, give me all in this house I' And He just did! Before I left the house every one had got a blessing. The last night of my visit I was too happy to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in mv heart one after another till thev finished with, "Ever, onlv, ALL for Thee." The hvmn has been translated into several languages, in all of which it is accomplishing a blessed ministrv. The life of the talented and holy woman who wrote this Consecration Hym;n was not protracted long on earth. She first saw light in Astlev rectorv, December 14th, 1836, and closed her eyes to earthly scenes June 3rd, 1870. Her last days were spent at Caswell Bay, Swansea, South Wales, whither she had gone in quest of renewed strength. On learn- that her end was very near she rejoiced at the tidings as "too good to be true." She died io6 HYMN OF CONSECRATIOX in peace and holy triumph, and was buried in the Astlev churchyard beside her father and near tiie home of her early years. On lier tombstone appears, caryed by her own direction, her fayorite text of scripture — "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all six/' 107 Salvation 109 XV MOST HELPFUL HYMN FOR SEEKERS No Iiymn in the English tongne more cor- rectly indicates the way in which a penitent sinner may find pardon or is better adapted to leading him to the very heart of the Savior, than Charlotte Elliott's "Just as I am without one plea, But tiiat Tlay blood was shed for me." It is probable that no other hymn has ever been instrumental in leading so many pen- itents through the successive steps of self-re- nunciation, self-surrender, and appropriating faith in Christ, out into ''the measureless depths of His love" as this. Its very great popularity and its translation into nearly all languages of the civilized world indicate that, judged by the measure of its use and influ- ence, it deserves to be classed among the fore- most hymns of the Christian Church. Miss Elliott, the author of the hymn, was born in Clapham, England, March 18, 1789. She was reared in the Established Church, III HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL and grew to womanhood amid advantages of the most favorable kind. Bred in a home not onlv of piety, but of culture and refinement, where poetr^^ and music continually exercised their elevating, inspiring and ennobling in- fluence upon her, she was early molded, both mentally and spiritually, for the invaluable service she rendered to the Church of God as a hymn-writer in her maturer years. When about thirtj-two years of age she suffered from a serious illness which left her an invalid for life. This appears to have been another of the peculiar providences by which she was prepared for that ministry of song through which she was made a blessing to the Church and to the world for all genera- tions. Songs like hers seldom emanate from any but hearts which have been broken by sorrow or chastened and mellowed by afflic- tion. In 1832 Miss Elliott first became acquaint- ed with Dr. Caesar Malan, a devout and dis- tinguished Swiss preacher, on the occasion of a visit which he made at her father's home in ('lapham. He soon recognized her superior talents and possibilities, and appreciated them; and it is said to have been chiefly through him that she was led to abandon sec- ular pursuits and devote her talents wholly 112 HELPFUL HYMN FOR SEEKERS to the cause of Christ. Dr. Malan was also instrumental in putting that spiritual im- press upon her life and character which has so beautifully expressed itself in the hymns she wrote, the number of which considerably exceeds one hundred. The hymn by which, more than by any or all others, she has immortalized herself is the one now under consideration, the original of which is as follows: Just as I am, without one plea, But that Tliy blood was sbed for me. And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot. To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come ! Just as I am, though tossed about, With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings and fears within, without. O Lamb of God, I come I Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind, Sight, riches, healing of the mind, Yea, all I need in Thee to find, O Lamb of God. I come I Just as I am. Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, 113 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come! Just as I am (Tliy love unknown lias broken every barrier down), Now to be Tbiue, yea. Thine alone, O Lamb of (Jod, I come ! Just as I am, of that free love The breadth, length, depth and height to prove, Here for a season, then above. O Lamb of God, I come ! Tune — "Woodwoeth." The last of the foregoing stanzas is gen- erally omitted in the hymnals. There is some ditference of opinion as to whether its omis- sion is wise or otherwise. Its poetry does not flow quite as smoothly as that of the other stanzas, but the sentiment is fine and forms a final climax of thought which is both nat- ural and scriptural, and without which the L'ymn is less complete than it is with the stanza retained. This beautiful Christian lyric has had a marvelous history of association with the conversion of sinners. Said the Rev. H. V. Elliott, brother of Charlotte, "In the course of a long ministry I hope I have been per- mitted to see some fruit of my labors, but I feel far more has been done by a single hymn 114 HELPFUL HYMX FOR SEEKERS of my sister's." He referred to "Just as I Am." There are before the author as he writes a considerable number of published instances of the influence of this hymn upon the hearts and lives of saints and sinners. From among them the following are presented in con- densed form : On one occasion the Epworth League of the Lenox Road church, Brooklyn, at its exer- cises previous to the Sunday evening preach- ing service, sang, "Just as I Am." and then at tlie regular hour of public service the same hymn was announced and sung again. It being a sultry evening the windows of the church were open during the service. A few doors away lived a young lawyer, who, lying in his room with his windows raised, could distinctly hear the words of the hymn. He had become hardened and skeptical regarding religious matters. All gracious influences had been resisted, and he had come to regard himself as too far gone for reform;ation. But "Just as I Am," sung by the two different congregations the same evening, produced a deep impression upon his mind, and led him to a change of heart. The next day he sent for the pastor of the church and related to him with deep and strong emotion the cir- 115 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL cumstances of his conversion. Fortunate in- deed was it for him that he experienced this change when he did, since failing health soon compelled him to go South for a change of climate, where death claim^ed him as its vic- tim a few months later. The Rev. Dr. ]McCook, during his pastorate in St. Louis, was sent for on one occasion to visit a young woman who was slowly dying of consumption. She had been attending a normal school, and from one of her teachers had imbibed infidel sentiments. Her keen in- tellect quickly warded off every effort to in- duce her to acknowledge the claims of the gospel. After the man of God had exhausted all his arguments she still remained unshaken in her skepticism, while he was perplexed to know w^hat more he could do toward secur- ing the conversion of the dying girl. So ad- verse was she to hearing more on the subject of religion that she turned her face to the wall and declined giving him further atten- tion. After a time the minister said to her, *Xucy, I have not come to argue with you another word, but before leaving you to meet the issues of eternity I wish to recite a hymn." With much earnestness and emphasis he then repeated, "Just as I am, without one plea," Il6 HELrFUL HYMN FOR SEEKERS and kindly bade her adien. She gave him no recognition and no response. He sadly left her, and went his way debating whether, after such a determined refusal of all his tender efforts to do her good, it would be best to visit her again. Realizing the gravity of her situation, however, he decided to make one more effort to reach her obdurate heart. Call- ing again he took his seat by her side, where- upon she slowly turned toward her visitor. Unwonted luster beamed from her sunken eyes as she placed her emaciated hand in his and slowly, but with deep emotion, said : "Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come !" and then added: '0 Sir, Fvc come! I've comeF' The hymn had done what argument and persuasion had failed to do — determined the dying girl to tlie choice of Jesus Christ, and of eternal life in Him. The end. which came not long afterward, was one of such peace as Christ alone can give. In the year 1800 The Examiner published the following interesting account : ''A few weeks ago a little boy came to one of our city missionaries, and holding up a dirty, 117 HYMX8 THAT ARE IMMORTAL worn-ont bit of printed paper, said : Tlease sir, father sent me to get a clean paper like that.' Taking it from his hand, the mission- ary unfolded it, and found that it was a page containing that precious lyrical epitome of the gospel, of which the first stanza is as follows: 'Just as I am. without ODe plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidcVst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I comel' "The missionary looked down with interest into the face earnestly upturned to him, and asked the little boy where he got it, and why he wanted a clean one. 'We found it, sir,' said he, 'in sister's pocket, after she died, and she used to sino^ it all the time while she was sick; and she loyed it so much that father wanted to get a clean one, and put it in a frame to hang up. Won't you please to giVe us a clean one, sir?' ''This little page, with a single hymn on it, had been cast upon the air, like a fallen leaf, by Christian hands, humbly hoping to do some possible good. In some little mission Sabbath-school, probably, this poor girl had thoughtlessly receiyed it, afterward to find it, we may hope, the gospel of her salyation." Bishop Mcllyaine. of Ohio, was so charmed Ii8 HELPFUL HYMN FOR SEEKERS with ^liss Elliott's lyrical masterpiece that he had it printed on cards for use in one of his conventions, and said : ''I have adopted it for all time to come, as long as I shall be here, as my hymn, always to be sung on such occasions, and always to the same tune. * * * * That hvmn contains my religion, mv theology, my hope. It has been my ministry to preach just what it contains. When I am gone I wish to be remembered in association with that hymn. I wish that my ministry may be associated with 'Just as I am, without oue plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!' Dying some years later in Florence, Italy, he sent last, loving messages to his Ohio friends, and then said to those about him: ''Read to me three hvmns — 'Just as I am ' 'Jesus, Lover of my Soul,' and 'Rock of Ages.' " The hymns were read; and, "filled with joy and peace,*' the good man closed his eyes on earth to open them in heaven. 119 XVI THE GREATEST HYMN OF THE CROSS Toplady's ^'Rock of xVges'^ contends stout- ly with Charles Wesley's "Jesus, Lover of my Soul" for the most popular recognition of any hymn in the English language. It is almost universally used. It has even been adopted by the Roman Catholics, in England. A London paper, Sunday at Home, asked 8,500 of its readers to name twenty of the greatest hymns, and 3,215 placed "Rock of Ages" first. Nor is its influence restricted to English-speaking countries, since the late Hon. W. E. Gladstone translated it into Latin, Greek and Italian. "Rock of Ages" is certainly one of the brightest gems in the hymnody of the Church, and has become so inwrought with the deep- est and holiest experiences of Anglo-Saxon Christianity as have few things else outside the word of God. In palace and cottage alike it has min- istered its inspiration and consolation to the tempted, the disconsolate, the sick and the 130 GREATEST HYMN OF THE CROSS dying. The late Prince Consort, ''Albert the Good," quoted it just before passing within the vail, as expressing his own experience of faith and hope, and as affording him most precious consolation while earthly things were dissolving from his view forever. In manv a humble cot and cabin, as well as in the palace of the prince, its sublime and ten- der strains have been a divine benediction to the dying, inspiring faith, enkindling hope, assuaging grief and quelling fear; while to almost innumerable thousands it has been as a sovereign balm for the wounded spirit in times of deep distress and amid various dis- tracting and bewildering experiences. It is a hymn that will live forever. Augustus Montague Toplady, the author of ''Rock of Ages,'- was born at Farnham, Sur- rey, England, in 1740. His father fought and fell in the battle of Carthagena, and Augustus was thereafter reared bv his devout and holv mother. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Trinity College, Dublin. He was converted at the age of sixteen, in a barn, at an obscure place called Codymain, Ireland, whither he had gone to hear an illiterate lay- man preach. The impression made upon him by the sermon was most unexpected, and so powerful that it led to his immediate conver- 121 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL sion. He has recorded the following account of the event: ''That sweet text, 'Ye who sometime were afar off are made nigh hy the blood of Christ/ was particularly delightful and refreshing to my soul. It was from that passage that Mr. Morris preached on the memorable evening of my effectual call by the grace of God. Un- der tlie ministry of that dear messenger, under that sermon, I was, I trust, brought nigli by the blood of Christ, in August, 1756. "Strange that I, who had been so long un- der the means of grace in England, should be brought nigh to God in an obscure part of Ire- land, amidst a handful of God's people met together in a barn, and under the ministry of one who could scarcely spell his name. The excellency of such power must be of God, and cannot be of men." Toplady became a minister of the Estab- lished Church, and, while studying for the ministry, was made a high Calvinist by at- tending Dr. Manton s lectures on the Seven- teenth Chapter of John. When the discus- sion over Calvinism arose in connection with the Wesleyan reformation he naturally took sides with the Calvinists, and preached and wrote in opposition to the Wesleys and their views with most intemperate zeal. It is much 122 GREATEST HYMN OF THE CROSS to be regretted that one of so lofty a spirit, and of a character in all other respects so ex- emplary, should have been betrayed into such fierce vituperation as characterizes his contro- versial writings. His intemperate language and his intolerance in controversv are the only blemishes on his exalted character. Tn 1775 Toplady's health began to fail. The fiery ardor with which he applied himself to the duties of his calling was more than the earthern vessel could endure. His physician sent him to London. A new field opened to him here, in the pastorate of the French Cal- vinistic Church, the duties of which he as- sumed and performed with great faithfulness. Some time during the year of his settlement in London he produced that sublime hymn, which, had he never achieved anything else of distinction, would have immortalized his name. The hymn first apeared in the Gospel Maga- zine, a periodical of which Toplady was then editor. He published an article on "The Na- tional Debt," in which, along with other things, he adverted to the debt of sin. dis- coursing on the multitudinous sins of hu- manity, and, by numerical calculations, ex- hibited the enormity of the indebtedness of the redeemed to Christ for having cancelled '& 123 HY]MNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL their sins, thereby setting forth the trans- cendent love of God and the measureless value of Christ's atonement. Exalted to the realm of such insi)iring contemplations and of visions thus glowing and ecstatic, he con- cluded with this matchless "hvmn of the cross :" Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me liido myself in Tbee ; Let the water and the blood. From Thy riven side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Cleanse me from its guilt and power. Not the labor of my hands Can fulfil' Thy law's demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and Thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress", Helpless, look to Thee for grace; L'oul, I to the fountain fly ; Wash me. Savior, or I die. Whilst I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyestrings break in death ; When I soar through tracts unknown. See Thee on Thy judgment throne. 124 GREATEST HYMN OF THE CROSS Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me bide myself iu tliee. Tune — "Toplady." The foregoing is the h^nin in its original form, from which it will be readily seen that numerous and important changes have been made in giving it the form in which it is now generally used. Neither in the article in connection with which the hymn was first given to the public, nor in Toplady's hymn-book published the same year, is his authorship of the hymn di- rectlv given. This fact led to some mistaken views as to its authorship in the earlier pe- riod of its historv. ''In a letter in the Wes- Icjjan Magazine, as late as 1S32," says Dr. Til left, "Richard Watson erroneously attri- butes it to Charles Wesley. The early Meth- odists would have welcomed proof that Wes- ley was the author; for the nwst unpleasant controversv that John Weslev was ever drawn into was that which he had with the author of this hymn over doctrinal points, Toplady being a pronounced Calvinisf It adds to the interest and impressiveness of the hymn to know that it was written near the close of Toplady's life, when he was sen- sible that the day of his dissolution was draw- ing near, and when his feet were already 125 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL standing on Pisgah's height, from which vis- ions of celestial glory were vouchsafed to his redeemed spirit. About two years after the first appearance of the hymn its author, at the age of thirty-eight, came to the time of his departure from earth, a victim of consumption ; and, in that supremely try- ing hour he realized in blessed fulfilment the prayer breathed in the last stanza of his im- mortal hvmn. ^'Rock of Ages" was originally entitled, ^^\ Living and Dying Prayer for the Holiest Be- lievers in the World." Although the hymn was written bv one of John Weslev's bitter- est opponents and given a title which was itself a sneer at the Wesleyan doctrine of perfection, Methodists everywhere have adopt- ed it as orthodox, and in a high degree spirit- ually helpful. Comparatively few of them know, or ever stop to consider if they do know, that it had its origin in the midst of the heated controversv between the Calvinists and Arminians which was incidental to the rise of ^lethodism, and was perhaps written more or less under the influence of contro- versial bias. Whatever of human imperfec- tion may have been associated with its pro- duction, the hymn, in its intrinsic merit, true sublimitv and historic associations, has be- 126 GREATEST HYMN OF THE CROSS come so entirely dissociated from all trace and remembrance of those imperfections as to suffer no depreciation therefrom. The historic associations which enhance its interest and value are too numerous for re- hearsal here. The following are simply sam- ples: 'A translation of it was sung by a company of Armenians while they were being massacred in Constantinople. General J. K. ]>. Stuart, the cayalry leader of the Con- federacv, sang it as he was dying from wounds received in battle. When the ship 'London' sank in the Bay of Biscay in 186(), the last thing which the last man who left the ship heard as the boat pushed otf from the doomed vessel, was the voice of the pas- sengers singing, 'Rock of Ages.' " Topladv wrote various other hvmns of merit, but his reputation as a hymn-writer will always be associated with "Rock of Ages," the sublimest and most popular of all his productions. 127 x\aT NOBLEST HEART HYMN EV^ER WRITTEN Xotwitlistanding all that was said and quoted in a former chapter in praise of Top- lady's famous hymn, the writer believes that Charles ^Yesley's ''Jesus, lover of my soul," is the most popular Christian lyric in the English lanijuage. Dr. Duffield, author of "Stand up, stand up for Jesus," wrote of it as follows: "One of the most blessed davs of mv life was when I found, after my harp had long hung on the willows, that I could sing again; that a new song was put in my mouth; and when, ere ever I was aware, I Avas singing, Mesus, lover of mv soul.' If there is anvthing in Christian experience of joy and sorrow, of affliction and prosperity, of life and death — that hymn is the hymn of the ages." Henry Ward Beeclier referred to it in the following terms of praise: "I would rather have written that hvmn of Weslev's, — •Jesus, lover of my soul. Let me to Thy bosom fly,' 128 JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the earth. It is more glorious. It has more power in it. 1 would rather be the autlior of that hymn than to hold the wealth &f the richest man in New York. He will die. He is dead and does not know it. He will pass, after a little while, out of men's thoughts. What will there be to speak of him? What will he have done that will stoj) trouble or encourage hope? His money will go to his heirs, and they will divide it. It is like a stream divided and growing narrower bv division. And thev will die, and it will go to their heirs. In three or four genera- tions evervthins: comes to the ground again for redistribution. But that hymn will go on singing until the last trump brings forth the angel band : and then. I think, it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God.-' The hymn was written in 1730, within six months after the founding of the first Meth- odist society. It appeared in "Hymns and Sacred Poems'' in 1740, entitled, "In Tempta- tion." It originally contained five stanzas, the third being now generally omitted. The complete text of the hymn, as Charles Wesley wrote it, is as follows : Jesus, Lover of my soul. Let me to Thy bosom fly, 129 UVMXS TUAT ARE IMMORTAL \\ Lile the nearer waters roll, \\'liile the tempest still is high! Hide me, O my Savior, hide. Till the storm of life be past; Safe into the haven guide, receive my soul at last! Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee: Leave, ah! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me ! All my trust on Thee is stayed. All mj^ help from Thee I bring, Cover njy defenseless head With the shadow of Thy wing. Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer? Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall— Lo, on Thee I cast my care : Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive, Hoping against hope I stand, Dying, and, behold, I live. Thou. O Christ, art all I want ; More than all in Thee I find : Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy name ; 1 am all unrighteousness : False, and full of sin, I am ; Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin : 130 JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL Let the healing streams abound, ^lake and keep me pure within, Thou of life the fountain art ; Freely let me take of Thee : Spring Thou up within my heart. Rise to all eternity. Tune — "Martyn" or "Refuge." Various accounts of how the hymn came to be written have gained more or less currency, but none of them can be regarded as authen- tic. Dr. Nutter in his "Hvmn Studies'' savs, *'The original title (^In Temptation') gives us some light, and the omitted stanza, es- pecially in connection with the first verse, sho^^-^ that some of the imagery and language of this hymn was borrowed from the stc-rv of Peter's attempt to walk on the Sea of Galilee, Matt. 14 : 28-31. The author's genius and his rough experience on the Atlantic ac- count for the rest." ^Ir. Stevenson, in his "Methodist Hvmn Book Illustrated." gives the following es- timate of this popular hymn : "The Lord of glory bestowed on Charles Wesley the high honor of composing the finest heart-hyniini in the English tongue. If the greatest hvmn of the cross is 'Rock of Ages,' and the greatest hymn of providence is Cowper's ^God moves in a mysterious way,' and the grandest bat- tle-hymn is ^lartin Luther's ^\ mighty fort- 131 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ress is our God^' then it may be said that the noblest JiGart-hymn ever written, the queen of all the lays of holy love, is this immortal song. It is at once a confession and a prayer in meter. The figures of speech vary, but not the thought. In one line we see a storm-tossed voyager crying out for shelter until the tem- pest is over. In another we see a timid, tear- ful child nestling in its mother's arm." The solacing power of this hymn in times of sorrow is marvelous; and there are com- paratively few among English-speaking Chris- tians who have not had occasion to praise God and bless the memory of Charles Wesley for its wondrous ministrv of comfort in some of their own dark hours and heart-breaking experiences. ''Two lines of the hymn have been breathed fervently and often out of bleeding hearts," says Dr. T. L. Cuyler. ''When we were in the valley of death-shade, with one beautiful child in the new-made grave, and others threatened with fatal disease, there was no prayer which we said oftener than this: 'Leave, ah I leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me.' We do not doubt that tens of thousands of other bereaved and wounded hearts have ut- 132 JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL tered this piercing cry, out of the depths, 'Still support and comfort me.' " It is said of the late President Charles G. Finney, of Oberlin. Ohio, that, as he was walking about his grounds not long before his death, in the church where he had preached for forty years the evening serv- ice had just begun. Presently the strains of holy song arose from the assembly, and, floating to him on the breeze, he heard the words of this imperishable hymn. His soul W'as touched, and taking up the strains, he sang with the invisible worshipers, uniting in their praises to the end. Before morning he had joined the choir invisible within the vail. It was in the "Young Reaper," if we re- member correctly, a Baptist Sunday-school paper with which we were familiar in early Tears, that we once read an account of two 30ung women who were sisters, being left to their fate on the deck of a sinking shij), the vessel having been abandoned by the captain and his crew. The only passenger on the ship besides themselves was a gentleman, who. after vainly appealing to the captain to un- dertake their rescue, threw a small hatch into the water, plunged in himself, seized the hatch, clung to it. and floated until rescue 133 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL readied liim. His little raft remained near enough to the sinking ship for him to see the end. According to his report, as the steamer was gradually sinking with the setting of the sun. he saw the sisters standing on the deck, their arrns about each other, and their voices mingled in singing, "Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let Die to Tby bosom fly, While the raging billows roll, While the tempest still is high." Listening, as their song continued, he heard at last the words, "Cover my defenseless head, With the shadow of Thy wing," and in a moment all was over; the ship had made its final plunge, and with it those two sisters sank to rise no more. ^'The one central, all-pervading idea of this matchless hymn is the soul's yearning for its Savior.'' It is adapted alike to the needs of the penitent, in quest of pardoning mercy; to the tried and tempest-tossed believer, in his daily burden-bearing and warfare against sin and Satan ; to the bereaved and heart-broken of all classes; to the saint whose lot it is to suffer long under the wasting of slow and 534 JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL painful disease; and to those who, in early years, in the midst of their days, or "in age and feebleness extreme," must pass "through the vallev of the shadow of death." t Precious hvmni Mav its ministry of heavenly inspiration and holy comfort never cease until distracting care, deferred hope, depressing sorrow and heart-rending grief shall be known on earth no more. Is :io XVIII NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE Another hymn which, for general accept- ance and extensive use, can scarcely be re- garded as of inferior rank to those already considered is "Nearer, Diy God, to Thee." No hymn-book of to day is complete without it. It is a favorite with Christian worshipers of all classes. Romanists and Protestants, Trinitarians and Unitarians, Conformists and Independents, Calvinists and Arminians, all alike express their yearnings for greater nearness to the Divine in the singing of its plaintive but exalted strains. Nor is it pop- ular with English-speaking people alone, as appears from the fact that ''it has been trans- lated into many languages, and has followed the triumphs of the gospel in heathen lands." "It is the best metrical expression of the desire for a more intimate spiritual acquaint- ance with God, and the riches of His grace," says Mr. Butterworth, ''that we have in mod- 136 NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE ern psalmnody. It is a fresh and touchiDg expression of the same yearning aspirations toward God that we prize in Cowper's 'Oh, for a closer wallc with God,' which it succeeds in popular favor. It expresses a willingness to know God through the discipline of aiflic- tion ; to descend into the valleys in the ascent of that spiritual mountain whose summit is everlasting light.'' Sarah Flower Adams, the author, was born at Harlow, in Essex, England, February 22, 1S05. Her father, Benjamin Flower, was edi- tor of the Cambridge IntelUqencer, an influ- ential weekly publication devoted to the sup- port of radical principles. "Accused of libel- ing the Bishop of Llandaff, whose political conduct he had censured," says Dr. Benson, "he was sentenced to six months' imprison- ment in Newgate with a fine of £100. He was visited in prison by Miss Eliza Gould, a lady who is said to have suffered for her own lib- eral principles, and shortly after his release he married her. They settled at Harlow in Essex, where Mr. Flower became a printer and where Mrs. Flower died in ISIO. Sarah's mother is described as a ladv of talent, as was also her sister Eliza, a few years older than herself, and likewise an authoress. In 1834 Miss Flower was married to Wil- 137 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL liam Bridges Adams, an eminent engineer, and also a contribntor to several of the lead- ing newspai)ers and magazines of the time. In 1847 she was sorely shocked bv the death of her sister Eliza, who had been steadily de- elining, frijm pulmonary trouble, for some time, and to whom she most tenderly minis- tered during the whole period of the gather- ing shadows. From this time her own health gradually declined, while her religious aspira- tions, always strong, grew more vigorous, un- til, two years after her sister's departure, she too, fell asleep in Christ. Her end was quite in keeping with her life of faith and hope, ^'almost her last breath bursting into un- conscious song, illustrating the stanza, *0r if on joyful wing, Cleaving tlie sky. Sun, moon and stars forgot, Upward I fly. Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee.' " The story of the hymn, is as follows : After the death of their father the sisters settled in a suburb of London, where they united with a religious society having for its pastor the Rev. \Yi11iam Johnson Fox, "a man who, though classed among L'nitarians, was neither 138 NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE a rationalist nor a sympathizer with Chan- uing or Martineau." Mr. Fox prepared a collection of ''Hymns and Antliems" for use in his own congregation, for which, at ]iis re- quest, Mrs. Adams wrote thirteen original hymns and a few translations. Among these contributions was "Xearer, my God. to Thee." The hymn first a])peared in the second part of Mr. Fox's collection, with the title, "Near- ness to God Desired." in 1841. This hymn has had to win its way against more prejudice and hostile criticism, perhaps, than any other that eyer approxim,ated to the same degree of popularity. This is due to the fact that the author was a Unitarian, and that the hymn makes no direct mention of Christ. It should be remembered, howeyer, that her piety ''was gauged by deyotional feeling and high religious attainments, rather than by denominational requirements or sectarian yiews.-' God often leads sincere souls to the mount of spiritual yision and into heart ex- periences of grace in spite of errors in in- tellectual belief. Martin Luthei' is a remark- able illustration of this. It will be well to remember too that "Nearer, my God. to Thee" is by no means the only hymn of deyotion in our hymnals that fails to make direct mention of the name of Christ. No one objects to Addison's 139 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "When all Thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys," because it makes no mention of the second Person in the Trinity. The Rev. Dr. Tillett has well said, "Chris- tians will never consent to give up those sweetest and tenderest hvmns, 'O Thou who driest the mourner's tears/ and ^Come, ye dis- consolate,' because the gifted author, Thomas Moore, was far from being a Christian. Ba- laam and Saul were among the prophets." The original text of the hymn, which, not- withstanding the many efforts made to im- ])rove it b}^ alterations and additions, re- mains in most hymnals substantially un- changed, is as follows : Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee ! E'en though it be a cross That raiseth me ; Still all my song would be, Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee. Though like the wanderer. The sun gone down. Darkness be over me, My rest a stone; Yet in my dreams I'd be, Nearer, my God to Tliee, Nearer to Thee. 140 ^..•' ' NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE There let the way appear, Steps unto heaven : All that Thon send'st to me In mercy given : Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee. Then, with my waking thoughts, Bright \\ ith Tliy praise, Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise: So by my woes to be Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee. Or if on joyful wing Cleaving the sky. Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upwards I fly. Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God to Thee. Nearer to Thee. TuxE — "Bethany." About half a dozen persons, most of them of some distinction, have tried the experiment of adding to tlie original a stanza that ex- presses dependence on C'hrist for salvation, but none of them have been regarded as improvements by the Church generally, or are likely to be so regarded. What was orig- inally the product of an inspiration can not 141 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL well be improved by alterations made in the interest of doctrinal or sectarian prejudice. This hymn has been pecnliarly endeared to the writer through a circumstance which oc- curred in connection with his own devoted mother's final illness. It was his privilege to minister to her most of the time the last two Aveeks before she passed to her heavenly home. During one of her paroxysms of suf- fering she turned her face suddenly toward him', and exclaimed: "Oh, Wilson, sing! I do belie\e if you would sing it would ease my pain I" To the question, ''Mother, what shall I sing?'- she replied, with great fervor, '•Sing 'Nearer, my God to Thee.' " Struggling with emotion we sang the hymn as best we could, the sufferer in the meantime becoming more at ease. At the conclusion of Ihe vsinging she exclaimed, with much em- phasis, ^'You didnH sing it all!'' When told that one stanza had been forgotten, recalling a part of it herself, she said, with increased emphasis, "Sing 'So by my woes to be Nearer, my God to Thee." " Then we sang, greatly to her satisfaction, the stanza that had been forgotten : 142 NEAKEK, MY GOD, TO THEE "Then with my waking thoughts, Bright with Thy praise, Out of my stony griefs, Bethel I'll raise; So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee." With as clear a voice as she was able to com- mand in her best days she joined in singing the entire stanza — the last she ever sang until she joined in the music of the skies. "In the battle of Fort Donnelson a brave little drummer bov had his arm taken off bv a cannon ball. One who visited the field after the battle was over found him dying of ex- haustion through loss of blood ; but he was heard singing, even while his life-blood ebbed awav, 'There let the way appear. Steps unto heaven : All that Thou sendest me In mercy given : Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee.' " It would hardly be suitable to dismiss our consideration of this hymn without recalling its asociation with the tragic death of the late President McKinley. As reported by Dr. 143 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Matthew D. Mann, the distinguished suffer- er's attending i)hysician, his last utterances were, " 'Nearer, my God to Thee, E'en though it be a cross,' has been my constant prayer." Nor will the present generation ever forget how, in memory of their illustrious dead and as expressive of the general yearning for a sense of divine nearness and consolation, Christian assemblies over all the land sang this hvmn in their churches and memorial I- services the Sabbath following the announce- ment of his death. Then came the day of his funeral, with that solemn "five minutes," dur- ing which, from east to west and from north to south, business of every kind was suspend- ed, the whirr of machinery hushed, street cars, steamboats and railway trains were halted in their courses and telegraph instruments and telephone bells were silenced, while prac- tically the whole nation, with bowed heads, and breaking hearts, joined in singing their fallen chieftain's favorite hymn and dying prayer, — "Nearer, my God, to Thee." It was indeed an unprecedented occasion 144 NEAKEK, MY GOD, TO THEE of public sorrow — a marvelous demonstration of the religious sentiment whjoli. however largely subordinated to the prevalent com- mercialism and competition of the age, is nat- ural to our lunuanity, and will, in times of great stress and calamity at least, assert it- self with emphasis. It was an equally unprec- edented testimonial to the value and popu- larity of the hymn we have been considering. 145 XIX GREATEST HYMX ON PURITY OF HEART Amoug the finest of Charles Wesley's lyr- ical productions and the greatest lyric ever written on the subject of heart-purity is the hymn beginning, "O for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free." It is based on Psalm 51: 10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within me;" and was published in "Hymns and Sacred Poems/' 1742. The saintly John Fletcher, of Madeley, commenting on it, once said : "Here is undoubtedly an evangelical {>ra3'er for the love which restores the soul to a state of sinless rest and scriptural perfec- tion." As originally written the hymn contained eight stanzas, but as now generally published what were formerly the fifth, sixth and seventh stanzas are omitted, the hymn being quite complete without them, as will be seen from the following commonly used text: 146 HYMN ON PURITY OP^ HEART O for a heart to praise my God. A heart from sin set free, A heart that always feels Thy blood, So freely spilt for me! A heart resigned, submissive, meek, ^ly great Redeemer's throne. Where only Christ is heard to speak. Where Jesus reigns alone. O for a lowly, contrite heart. Believing, true, and clean, Which neither life nor death can part From Him that dwells within ! A heart in every thought renewed. And full of love divine; Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, A copy. Lord, of Thine. Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart: Come quickly from above; Write Thy new name upon my heart, Thy new, best name of Love. Tune — "Ablington." That the omitted stanzas are unnecessary to the completeness of the hymn, and, if retained, would impair rather than improye it, will be eyident, we think, to all who com- pare the text as rendered aboye with the way it would read were the following stanzas inserted immediately after stanza three: M7 HYMNS THAT AHE IMMORTAL Thy tenclor lionrt is still the same, And melts at human woe ; Jesus, for Thee, distressed I am, I want Thy love to know. Mv heart, Thou knowest, can never rest Till Thou create my peace; Till, of my Eden re-possessed. From self and sin I cease. Fruit of Thy gracious lips, on me Bestow that peace unknown. The hidden manna, and the tree Of life, and the white stone. Charles Wesley was a master poet and John Wesley a master critic of poetry. As a critic Jolin put many a finisliing touch on his broth- er's productions without which they would have exhibited more imperfections than now charactej'ize them. The foregoing hymn is an instance of this kind. Charles wrote, "O for nn heart." and used the expression '^an liearf' throughout the hymn. John changed it to ''a heart'' throughout. Charles wrote, ''O for an humble, lowly heart," which John altered so as to read. ^'O for a lowly, contrite heart." Charles wrote ''dear Redeemer's throne," in line two of stanza two, and ^'dear- est Lord impart," in line one of the last stanza^ which John changed respectively to 148 JOHN WESLEY. HYMX OX PURITY OF HEART ^^great Redeemer's throne" and ''gracious Lord iDipart.-' These alterations were made by John Wesley in preparing the hymn for his ''Collection" published in 1789. The singing of this hymn in the Spirit has been the means of leading many a soul hun- gering and thirsting after righteousness into ''the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." Its precious and deeply significant words have also dwelt on the lips of many a dying believer, inspiring faith, quickening hope, and enabling him to shout in glorious triumph over "the last enemy." It is one of the hvmns destined to live as long as the crv for inward purity finds place in human hearts and seeks expression on human lips. 149 XX A MATCHLESS HYMN ON PERFECT LOVE Of tlie six thousand five hundred hj^mns })rodnced by Charles Wesley, the princely singer of early Methodism, none exceeds in poetic worth or in the depth and richness of its spirituality and in genuine helpfulness his lofty and glowing lyric on perfect love, beginning. "Love cli\ine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down !" It was first given to the public in his ''Hymns for those that Seek, and those that have Kedemption in the blood of Jesus Christ," 1747, It soon became popular among the ^lethodist societies, and finallv, bv genuine merit alone, won its way to almost universal favor throughout the English-speaking world. "It is one of the most popular and helpful hymns," says Mr. Stead, ''which, originating in ^lethodist hymnody, have found an hon- ored place in the hymn-books of almost every other denomination." The late Rev. Charles 150 HYMN ON PERFECT LOVE S. Robinson, D. D.. who was one of the fore- most hymnologists of this conntry, dechired it ''one of the noblest of all the compositions of Rev. Charles Wesley;" Dr. Nutter regards it as "one of the most valuable hymns the author ever wrote;" and the late Rev. Henry Ward Beecher cherished it as a special favor- ite. It is said that no one who ever heard the great congregation in Plymouth Church sing "Love Divine" is likely to forget the soul- stirring effect. "This is one of the hymns of Charles Wesley," says Mr. Stead again, "which enabled Methodism to sing itself into the heart of the world." The hvmn as published in manv hvmnals is considerably altered from its original form, some compilers having omitted the second stanza, and others having changed various expressions in other stanzas, in both cases the alterations having been made to suit i}\e hymn to the doctrinal bias of those who made them. The following is the full text of the hvum : Love divine all loves excelling. Joy of heaven to earth come down ! Fix in us Thy humble dwelling; All Thy faithful mercies cro\\Ti. Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure unltounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation : Enter every trembling heart. HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Brentbe, breathe Thy loving Spirit Into every troubled breast ! Let us all in Tiiee inherit. Let us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning ; Alj^ha and Omega be ; End of faith, as its beginning. Set our hearts at liberty. Come, almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive ; Suddenly return, and never, Never more Thy temples leave : Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above, Fray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love. Finish then Thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be ; Let us see Thy great salvation, Perfectly restored in Thee: Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place. Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love, and praise. Tune — "Beecher." The English Methodist Hymn-Book omits the second stanza, ^'arising probably," says Mr. Stevenson, '^from tw^o lines w^hich are thought to be defective in doctrinal accii- rac}^" Those lines are the fourth and fifths the fourth line reading, "Let us find that sec- 152 HYMN OX PERFECT LOVE onrJ rest," and the fifth line, as originally written, 'Take away onr power of sinning." American Methodists generally retain this stanza, with the expression, "power of sin- ning,'' in line 5 changed to ''bent to sinning.'' This is quite in accord with the suggestion of the Rev. John Fletcher, a very judicious critic in his day. who justified the expression "second rest," but took exceptions to the line, ''Take away our power of sinning,'' as too strong. His words respecting "that second rest" are as follows : '-^Ir. Weslev savs sec- ond rest, because an imperfect believer enjoys a first inferior rest; if he did not, he would be n-o believer." Regarding "Take away our power of sinning'' he says : ''Is not this ex- pression too strong? Would it not be better to soften it bv saving, 'Take awav the love of sinning?' Can God take away from us our poiccr of sinning without taking away our I'ower of free obedience?" The late Rev. Charles S. Robinson, D. D., an eminent Presbyterian divine, in his "Annota- tions I^pon Popular Hymns," ofifers some in- structive, just and interesting observations regarding the line, "Let us find that second rest," which has been an offense to so many. We give our readers the benefit of the same in the three following paragraphs: 153 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "Come unto me, all ve that labor and are heavy laden, and I will sive you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11 :28, 29. \Aliat strikes us so strangely in reading oyer these yerses is the discovery that Christ says in the beginning, "I will give you rest,*' and at the end says, "Ye shall find rest." With the one oft'er the rest seems to be free ; with the other it is evidently somewhat severely conditioned. ^loreover, the figures employed seem paradoxical. To propose to relieve a man who labors by putting on him a yoke, or to help a man who is heavy laden by impos- ing upon him a burden, gives chance for a cavil. The explanation is found by assuming that in Christian experience there are tico rests, and not iust one onlv. The first of these is a gift, the other is an acquisition. These differ quite elementally. They do not arrive in the same moment. They are not precisely of the same character. They certainly do not come in anvthino: like the same wav. The second one is never attained till the first has pre- ceded it. The first may be reached years before the other is made perfect, so that it 154 HYMN ON PERFECT LOVE mijrlit liappen that the spiritual distance be- tween them sliall be sorrowfully wide. In the second stanza of the hymn now be- fore us* is the line, "Let us find thv promised rest." This is singularly unfortunate, for a fine allusion is lost. But singers insisted that they did not know what the original line meant. Charles Wesley wrote quite scriptur- al ly, but we miss the point. For he said, "Let us find that second rest." He was singing of what this verse [of Scripture] puts second. Xo one can appreciate accurately the signifi- cance of these figures who prefers to sing it. "Let us find Thy promised rest." The yoke comes before the doctrine : "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me." Therein lies our duty. The rest still waits. Yoke-bearing leads to it. Jesus ofters His hand to you. Repent of all your sins ; put your simple trust in Him. Then comes a new endeavor. Sub- mit at once to Christ's will. "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doc- trine." The doing is ahead of even the doc- trine. Make one simple resolve in dej^endence on divine aid : "Here I give myself to Thee ! I put on the yoke. I go joyfully under the burden I" This hymn has often been used with p'cat *As found in Laude? Domini. hy:\ixs that are immortal effectiveness in revival services, at camp- meetings and in various conventions and asso- ciations, Tiie writer recalls instances of this kind in which the singing of the hymn has heen accompanied witli manifestations of the divine presence, reminding one of the scenes on the day of Pentecost. A^arious portions of the hymn have also been greatly blessed to the comfort and in- sj)iration of dying saints. A devout Method- ist woman of England who, in accordance with strong presentiments, had lost several relatives and was herself nearing the grave, when asked by her sorrowing husband, ''Is Jesus precious?" remained silent for a little, and then, summoning all her strength, sang: ".Jesus, Thou art all compassion ; I*ure unbounded love Thou art ; Visit us witli Thy salvation ; Enter every trembling heart." After this she continued praising God and singing her notes of triumph until the pearly gates ojjened and her ransomed s])irit passed into tlie Telestial City. Anothci* holv woman as she came to the crossing of Jordan testified, saying. "Angels now are hovering round us," 156 HYMN OX PERFECT LOVE and then sang-, as her last note of triumph on earth, "Finish then Thy new creatior, Pnre and spotiess let us be; Let us see Tliy great salvation, Perfectly restored in Thee : Changed from glory into glory. Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise." How beautiful to pass frou; the singing of such a victorious strain on earth to the sing- ing of the "'new song'' before the throne of God in heaven ! 157 Resignation 159 XXI THE CROSS-BEAREK'S HYMX ''If -my uiau will come after me. let biin deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me'- (Luke 0:23), are the words in which the Son of God announced for all time the terms of Christian discipleshi}). Xor has any hymn of the Christian Church ever em- bodied more fully the spirit of that announce- ment than Henrv Francis Lvte's "Jesus, I my cross have taken. All to leave, and follow Thee."' ^Ir. Lyte, the author of the liyniii, was born near Kelso, Scotland, in ITOo. His father was a caj)tain in the English arn.y, and both the father and mother died while Henry was a child. Friends took charge of his educa- tion, and he was finally sent to Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, from which he was graduated in 1814. He had ]»urposed to devote himself to the practice of medicine, and studied with that end in view for a time. In ISl."). however, he chaoged his plans, decided to preach the i6i HY>rXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL oospel, and was ordained to the ministry of the Church of England. "A dreary Irish curacy" was the fiehl of his earliest minis- terial labors, in which he served as faithfully and efficiently as could be expected of one Avho, although sincere, had never known by experience the regenerating power of the gos- pel of Clirist. In 1818 Mr. l^yte was the subject of a re- markable spiritual change, brought about tlirough an equally remarkable providence. A brother clergyman who was near the gates of death desired Mr. Lyte's counsel in spirit- ual matters, and sent for him. The sick man, according to Mr. Lyte's account, was a minis- ler of exalted standing, whose life had abounded in benevolence, good sense and Christian virtues. Still, the approach of death convinced him that he was not at heart a Christian — that he was without that expert- mental knowledge of Christ which alone gives ])eace, hope and victory in a dying hour. He insisted upon their examining, in the light of Ihe Xew Testament, the grounds of Christian faith and hope, and the means by which sin- ful men may be prepared for the bliss of heaven. "My blood almost curdled," wrote Mr. Lyte, as quoted by his daughter, Mrs. Hogg, "to 162 THE cross-beaki:r's hymn hear the dying man dechire and prove^ with irrefutable clearness, that both he and T had been ntterlv mistaken in the means we had adopted for oui*selves, and recommended to others, if the explanatory epistles of St. Paul were to be taken in their plain and literal sense. You can hardly, perhaps, conceive the effects of all this, proceeding from,' such a man, in such a situation." As a result of their conference the dying minister found "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,'^ and the living minister went forth a renewed man, having experienced a change akin to that Avrought upon Isaiah the prophet when by seraphic ministry his lips were touched with hallowed fire. This, according to one account, was the occasion which led to the writing of "Jesus, I my cross have taken." the original motto of which was the words of St. Peter to his Master, "Lo, we have left all and followed thee." The following is the full text of the hymn, which is one of the Church's noblest lyrics, and should be thoroughlv memorized bv all Christians, especially by those who are young : Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee : 163 - J HYArXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Nakpri, poor, despised, forsaken, Tliou rroiii lience mj^ all slialtbe. Perish, every fond ambition, All I've sought, or hoped, or known, Yet how rich is my condition ! God and heaven are still my own. Let the world despise and leave me; They have left my Savior too : Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue ; And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might, Foes may hate, and friends disown me; Show Thy face, and all' is bright. Go, then, earthly fame and treasure; Come, disaster, scorn and pain ; In Thy service pain is pleasure; With Thy favor loss is gain. I have called Thee, Abba, Father, I have set my heart on Thee : Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, All must work for good to me. Man may trouble and distress me; 'Twill but drive me to Thy breast: Life with trials hard may press me ; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. O 'tis not in grief to harm me, While Thy love is left to me! O 'twere not in joy to charm me, Were that joy unmixed with Thee! Soul, then know thy full salvation ; Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care; 164 ■inE CROSS-BEARER'S HYMN Joy to find in eveiy station Sometlnnc: still to do or bear. Think what Spirit dwells within thee : Think what Father's smiles are thine ; Think that Jesus died to win thee : Child of heaven, canst thou repine? Haste thee on from grace to glory, Armed by faith, and winged by prayer; Heaven's eternal day's before thee, God's own hand shall guide thee there. Soon shall close thy earthly mission, Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days; Hope shall change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and prayer to praise. Tune — '"Disciple." This hymn has been a great source of in- spiration and strength in hundreds of cases to those who were oppressed and persecuted for their adherence to Christ, His truth, and His cause. Tlie writer recalls with much viv- idness instances in which, during his early years, it was sung in his hearing during such circumstances, his own godly parents some- times being among the oppressed but victori- ous singers. He owes much, too, to the influ- ence of this noble production in the direction of strengthening and developing his own faith while little more than a child in years and Christian experience. Much as he esteemed it then, however, its sentiments have become 165 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL more j)recious with the passing years, and to-dav its value is appreciated more than ever, ir is expressive of that rugged type of Chris- tianity exhibited by the glorious company of Ihe apostles and the noble army of the mar- tyrs, A^'hose self-denial, resignation, purity of character, and unswerving lovaltv to truth and duty challenge our em;ulation. We read some years ago an account of an intelligent young woman, the daughter of a notorious infidel, T^ho, in a revival meeting near lier father's home, gave her heart to God and became soundly converted. On being ap})rised of her action the father called her to account for it, whereupon she ^^ witnessed a good profession," and, with much courage and great blessing, declared what God had done for her soul. The father, unable to dissuade lier from her well -chosen course by gentler means, at length became enraged and in- formed her that, unless she would give up her profession of Christ and her relation with His people, she must leave his home forever. Terrible as was the situation now confront- ing her, she remembered how her divine Mas- ter had said, '^ Whoso loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me," and, in- stead of weakening, her faith grew stronger and her purpose more firm. The time soon 1 66 THE CROSS-BEAKER'S HYMN passed within wbicli her fatlier demanded a final decision, and when the critical moment came she made no hesitation, but, assuring her father of her love and respect for him, assured him also of her supreme love for the Christ who had redeemed her, and of her pur pose to cleave to Him at all hazards. This was a signal for the culmination * of the father's wrath. She was unceremoniously commanded to leave the home she held so dear, and to darken its doors no more. This onlv seemed to nerve her for more heroic de- votion to the Christ she loved above all others. Gathering up such of her effects as it was con- venient to take with her, she tenderly and through tears bade her father and the rest of the family farewell, and started out, like Abraham, when he set out upon his pilgrim- age ''not knowing whither he went." The sun was going down, and, as the shad- ows of night began to thicken around her, she turned aside into a grove, not far from the home she had left, to pray for divine grace and guidance. God came to her heart in great blessins:, and so confident did she become that He would make all her trouble work for her good that she soon found herself singing: ".Tesns, T my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee ; 167 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, Tliou from hence my all shalt be. Perish every fond ambition. Air I've sought, or hoi)ed, or known, Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still my own." As she sang on amid the gathering shades, little thinking that any but God was listen- ing to her heartfelt strains, the gentle breeze wafted the voice of the singer toward the home she had left, where it fell upon the ear of the father who had so inhumanly banished her from beneath his roof. As he listened the voice of the singer was soon recognized, the words of the hymn became distinguishable, strange emotions struggled for expression, and soon his feet were bearing him in the direction from whence came those notes of holy but pathetic song. In a short time the banished daughter was in the tender embrace of the relenting father, who, amid tears and sobs, withdrew the ban he had pronounced, entreated her forgiveness, led her back to the home she had left, pledged her full liberty to serve and worship God as she might please, besought her prayers, and was soon himself rejoicing in a Savior's pardoning love. i68 XXII schmolck'vS hymx of resignation One of the teiiderest and ST^-eetest of all hymns of submission to the divine will was ori.2,inally written in the German bj Pastor Benjamin Schmolck, of Schweidnitz, about 1704, under the title, "Mein Jesu, wie du Willst," and has been beautifully rendered into English by Miss Jane Borthwick, of Scotland, her translation beginning, "My Jesus, as Thou wilt, Oh, may Thy will be mhie." It is founded upon Mark 14 : 86 : "And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt." The hymn is thoroughly saturated with the spirit of these remarkable utter- ances, called forth from our Lord by His agony in Gethsemane, and so is marvelous in its adaptation to expressing "the fellowship of His sufferings." "The thought is this," savs Dr. Robinson : 169 hymNkS that ake immortal "We are to beud our wills in simple submis- sion to Jesus, as Jesus bent His to that of the Father, and so settle the restive iuquisitive- ness of our wounded sensibility. There is no other way of dealing- with such a question as this. We must take the testimony of those who have had experience of trouble. Four eminent men there have been whose history in this particular is before us. Aaron was terribly bereaved when his sons were struck dead ; but ^he held his peace.- That was well, but Eli took higher ground; he spoke; he said : 'It is the Lord, let Him do what seem- eth good in His sight.^ But Job reached a step higher than either; he spoke not only in the language of submission, but of thankful- ness : 'Blessed be the name of the Lord.' And then, from a far more serene and elevated summit of satisfaction, Paul, that grand old Apostle of the New Testament, declared, 'I take pleasure in my distresses.' This ought to be enough for us." The hymn in the German and also in its translated form contains seven stanzas, of Avhich only the first, fourth and last usually appear in the hymnals. The translation is from "Hymns from the Land of Luther," a volume of translations from the German, pro- duced and published by Miss Borthwick and 170 UYMX OF KE8IGXATI0X lier sister, Mrs. Eric J. Findlater. The fol- lowing- are the stanzas comprising the liynm as now generally sung in English-speaking chnrehes : My Jesus, as Thou wilt : may Thy will be mine ; Into Thy hand of love 1 would my all resign. - Through sorrow or through joy, Conduct me as Thine own, And help me still to say. "My Lord, Thy will be done." My Jesus, as Thou wilt : Though seen through many a tear, Let not my star of hope Grow dim and disappear. Since Thou on earth hast wept And sorrowed oft alone. If I must weep with Thee, My Lord, Thy will be done. My Jesus, as Thou wilt : All shall be well for me: Each changing future scene I gladly trust with Thee. Straight to my home above, I travel calmly on. And sing in life or death. ":My Lord, Thy will be done.^ T c NE — " Je vvett.** Benjamin Schmolck. the author of these 171 HYMXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL pathetic and beautiful lines, was a Silesian/ born in Brauchitsclidorf, December 21, 1672, and was one of the most popular hymn- writers of Germany. He graduated at Leip- sic in 1G07; became pastor of Schweidnitz in 1702; remained faithful to the numerous and grave responsibilities of this position until 1737, when, upon the anniversary of his wed- ding, February twelfth, he entered into final rest. The Schweidnitz parish was large, and Schmolck's responsible and laborious posi- tion was rendered the more difficult by the machinations of the Jesuits, who secretly sought to counterwork his efforts. It is said, however, that the earnestness of his labors and the sweetness of his disposition not only won for him the hearts of his parishioners, but disarmed the Jesuits as well. "That pious German pastor, Benjamin Schmolck is an example of how a hymn is written," says Dr. Arthur T. Pierson. "A fire raged over his parish and laid in ruins his church and the homes of his people. Then God's Angel of Death took wife and children, and only graves were left. Then disease [paralysis] smote him and laid him pros- trate; then blindness took the light of his eves awav, — and under all this avalanche of ills Schmolck dictated these words." His be- 172 HYMN OF RESIGNATION reavements appear to have suggested the words, •'Into Thy hand of love I would my all resign ;" his blindness to have called out the expres- sions, "Through sorrow or through joy, Conclucl me as Thine own," and "Let not my star of hope Groio dim and disappear!" while the breaking up of his home and the palsying of his body seeni to have suggested the stanza, "Then to my home above I travel calmly on, And sing in life or death, 'My Lord, Thy will be done!' " As suggested by Mr. Pierson the italicised words refer to his various afflictions. The foregoing facts regarding the circumstances out of which this remarkable hymn grew help us the better to understand and appreciate its significance. It is preeminently a hymn for those experiencing the disappointments and adversities of life; for seasons of be- wildering calamity and distress; for times of 173 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL bereavement and desolation of spirit; for the sick room, and the hour when the shadows of death are gathering. Dr. Duffield, in his ''English Hymns," re- fers to the fact of this hymn having been a favorite with the late Dr. T. H. Skinner, as follows : ^' 'As the olive did not vield its oil before it was bruised/ so, sav the rabbis, 'Is- rael never produced the fruits of righteous- ness before the affliction of God came upon them.' Perhaps it was from some such sense of the nature of the divine discipline that this hvmn was so «rreat a favorite with the late Dr. T. H. Skinnei^ of Union Theological Seminary." The hymn certainly breathes the sjurit en- joined by the author of the Epistle to the IIebre\vs when he says, "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him : for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." 174 XXIII THY WILL BE DONE Another boautifiil and widely used hymn breathing (juite the same spirit of meek and trustful submission to the diyine will as Schmolck's pathetic hymn of resignation is Charlotte Elliott's '^Thy Will be Done," which ai)pears in most hym;uals, but, unfor- tunately, with two stanzas omitted. The fol- lowing is the hymn in full : My God and Father, wbilo I stray Far from my home on life's rough way, O teach me from my heart to say, Thy will be done. Though (lark my path and sad my lot, Let me be still and murmur not, But breathe the prayer divinely taught, Thy will be done. Wliat though in lonely grief I sigh For friends 1 eloved no longer nigh, Submissive still' would I reply, Thy will be done. Though Thou hast called r.ie to resign What most I prized, it ne'er was mine, ^ HY:\rX^^ THAT ARE IMMORTAL I have but yielded what was Thine Thy will be done. Should grief or sickness waste away My life in premature decay, Father divine, I still would say, Thy will be done. If but my fainting heart be blessed With Thy sweet Spirit for its guest, My God, to Thee I leave the rest: Thy will be done. Renew niy will from day to day, Blend it with Thine and take away All that now makes it hard to say. Thy will be done. Tune — "Herbert." Commenting on this liymn Mr. Stevenson says: "The pious author, during her long life of more than fourscore years, outlived most of lier friends. Her own brother Henry, she had hoped would have survived her, and min- istered to her in her last hours, but when in 1865 he died before her, her gentle spirit quailed under the bereavement. She often said his removal changed the aspect of her life, yet she meekly submitted to the heavy stroke from her loving Father's hand, and she sang in the language of the tw^o omitted \erses of this hvmn : — 176 THY WILL BE DONE *Wlmt tlion£:li in lonoly grief I sigh For friends beloved no longer nigh. S*5ubnHssive still wonld I reply. Tliy will be done. 'Tliough Tbou bast called luo to resign Wbat most I prized, it ne'er was mine, I bave but yielded w bat was Tbine, Tby v.ill be done.' It was not justice to the author to omit these verses.-' In some collections the latter of these stanzas is retained, but altered slightly with a view to adapting it better to general use. The altered form is, "If Thou shouUlcfit call me to resign," in line one, and in line three, "/ 0]ily yield Thee what is Thine.*' These alterations in no material degree change the sense, while they relieve the stanza of expressions rather too personal for public use. The hymn is a gem with which all Christians should be familiar, and which, with its usually omitted stanzas, is worthy of [I place in every collection of Christian hymns. 1/7 Guidance 179 XXIV LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on ; The night is dark, and I am far from home ; Lead Thou me on : Keep Thou my feet ; I do not ask to see The distant scene, — one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou Shouldest lead me on ; I loved to choose and see my path : but now Lead Thou me on. I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears. Pride ruled my will : remember not past years. So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still Will lead me on O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone; And with the morn those angel faces smile. Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. Tune — •"Lux Benigna." It may be safely asserted that no lyric ever written expressing the yearning of a soul per- plexed and troubled for divine illumination and guidance surpasses the foregoing in gen- i8i HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL nine pathos and poetic worth. Although never intended bv its author for use as a hynm, and subject as it is on some accounts to criticism when admitted to a place in the hymnody of the church, still it possesses other elements which so highly recommend it as a lyric for devotional use that it has won its wav into the foremost hvmnals of our time and to a popularity not exceeded by any other hymn of its class. The hymn is commonly spoken of as hav- ing been written by Cardinal Newman, and therefgre as a Roman Catholic production, which, with a certain class, is a sufficient ground for its condemnation. If it were true that a Roman Catholic produced it, that of it- self should be no barrier to its admission into the hymnody of Protestant churches, provid- ing its intrinsic merits entitle it to such rec- oo'uition and use. Most Protestant hvmnals of our day include productions from such writers as Bernard of Clairvaux, Bernard of Cluny, Maurus Rabanus. Thomas of Celano, Francis Xavier, Madame Guion and Freder- ick William Faber, all of whom were Roman Catholics; yet those hymns are among the choicest portions of devotional literature which have come to us from bygone genera- tions. 182 LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT But '^Lead, Kindly Light," was not written bv a Koiiiau ('atliolic. Nor was it written bv t. t. Cardinal Newman, but bv John Henrv New- man, of the Church of England, some dozen years before he became a Romanist, and more than thirty years before he was made a Car- dinal. He declares emphatically in his Apol- ogia Pro Vita Sua, which is a history of his religious o])inions, that at the time of writing the hymn he had no thought of leaving the Church of England. Moreover, in his later years he declared that the hymn did not rep- resent his feelings as a Roman Catholic, add- ing, with a quaint and quiet smile, ''For we Catholics believe we have found the light." John Henry Newman was born in London, England, February 21, 1801. When less than sixteen years of age he entered Trinity Col- lege, Oxford, where he won a scholarship two years later, and took his degree in 1820. In 1822 lie was elected to a fellowship at Oriel College, at that time the highest distinction of Oxford scholarship. This advancement brought him into touch with many of the most distinguished men of the time. Among them was Edward Bouverie Pusev, then also a fel- low at Oriel, with whom Newman was later to be m;ost closely associated in originating and promoting the famous Oxford Movement. In '83 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL 3821 lie took Deacon's Orders and continued with his college duties the curacy of St. Clement's church. In 1828 he became vicar of St. Mary's, where he exercised a powerful influence over the young men of the Univer- sity in favor of High Church principles. He took a leading part in the Tractarian or Ox- ford Movement. Of the ninety tracts written in furtherance of the Movement, twenty-nine, including the famous ''Xo. 90," which closed the series, were the products of his pen. The publication of this Tract brought on a fierce controversy between Newman and his fi'iends among the dignitaries of the Church. They finally requested him to retract its contents. He refused to do tliis, but consented to dis- continue its circulation. His prestige began to decline, various events took place which tended to alienate him from the Church in Avhich he had risen to such high distinction, and, four years after the writing of Tract Ninety, he connected himself with the Church of Rome — driven to this extremity, according to those critics who sympathized with his ac- tion, ''by the narrowness of English Church- men." The Romish ecclesiastics gave him en- thusiastic welcome, advanced him from one position to another, and finally in 1879 gave him a Cardinal's hat. He died in 1890. 184 LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT ' "Le«ad. kindly Light" was written June 16, 1833, while the author was en route fi'om Pa- lermo to Marseilles, on board an orange boat becalmed for a week in the Straits of Boni- facio. He has given a full account of those conditions in the Church at home which op- pressed and troubled him, and of his own weakness, loneliness, agitation and grave per- plexity, at the time he wrote these immortal lines, in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua^ pages 32- 35, American edition of 1893, with a further reference to the same event on pages 118 and 110. This account is intensely interesting, but too long for reproduction here in full. We give the following brief extracts only : "At this time I was disengaged from col- lege duties * * * and was easily persuaded to join Hurrell Froude and his fathei*, who were going to the south of Europe for the health of the former. * * * I went down at once to Sicily, * * * struck into the middle of the island, and fell ill of a fever in Leon- forte. My servant thought I was dying, and begged for my last directions. I gave them, as he wished; but I said, 'I shall not die.* I repeated, *I shall not die, for I have not sinned against light, I have not sinned against light.' I have never been able quite to make out what I meant. * ♦ * i got to i^' 185 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Castro-Giovanni, and was laid np there for nearly three weeks. Towards the end of May 1 left for Palermo, taking three days for the journey. * * * I was aching to get home; yet for want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo for three weeks. * * * At last I got off in an orange boat bound for Marseilles. Then it was that I wrote the lines, ^Lead. Kindly Light,' which have since become well known." The circumstances under which it was written help to explain the signification of the hymn. Newman's heart, overshadowed, op- pressed, and deeply agitated by conditions at home, affecting both Church and State, was yearning intensely for light, rest, and as- surance, such as all his High Church princi- ples had failed to give him ; and out of that intense heart-yearning gushed the utterances of ^^Lead, Kindlv Lioht." Still, he was endeavoring to work out the problem on intellectual lines. Committed as he had been for ^ears to High Church and Sacramentarian views, and making these the fundamental i)rinciples of his reasoning, all his rationalizing had led him straight toward Rome, although he seems to have known it not. He had already practically renounced the rij:;ht of private judgment, and, although he tells us that, at the time of writing the 1 86 LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT hymn, the thought of leaving the Anglican Church ''had never crossed his imagination." he was even then "a Romanist in all but a few })oints on which he inconsistently con- tinued to hold iudei^endent opinions for about a dozen vears." The hvmn was the crv of the author's heart for illumination and guidance; and, as such, answers to the experience of many a perplex- ed, bewildered and oppressed pilgrim on the hifi^hwav of life. But Newman's error lav in the direction of seeking the illumination and guidance he had failed to find in High Eccle- siasticism of one form in High Ecclesiasticism of another, a corrupter, and a more supersti- tious form. May not this explain why the eminent ecclesiastic who breathed so fervent- ly the prayer, ''Lead, Kindly Light," went groping on ''amid the encircling gloom," un- til, wearied with his wanderings "o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent," he settled down to rest in the quagmire of Romish superstition and idolatry, mistaking the phosphorescent gleams arising from a swamp for illumination from the celestial hills? Three things have given this production its place in the hymnody of the church — its poet- ry, its pathos, and the music to which it has been wedded. To the music more than to 187 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL anytliing else is it indebted for its great pop- ularity as a hymn. An Anglican divine once said to Cardinal NeAvman, ^'It must be a great pleasure to you to know that you have written a hymn treasured wherever English- speaking Christians are to be found." After a luief silence the Cardinal answered, with deep emotion, ^'Yes; deeply thankful, and more than thankful.-' Then, after another pause, he continued : "But you see it is not the hymn but the tune that has gained the popularity. The tune is by Dykes^ and Dykes was a great master.'' The universal character of this hymn is il- lustrated in the fact that, ''when the Parlia- ment of Religions met at Chicago during the Columbian Exposition, the representatives of every creed known to man found two things on Avhich they were agreed. They could all join in the Lord's Prayer, and could all sing 'Lead, Kindly Light.'"' The hymn was a great favorite with Mr. Gladstone, and also with the late President McKinley. In Union and Madison Squares, New York, on the day of the latter 's burial, at Canton, Ohio, im.mense throngs were, gath- ered reverently to observe the occasion. A period of solemn silence passed, after w^hich the bands played "Nearer, my God, to Thee" i88 LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT —the President's prayer upon his death bed — and then, ^'Lead, Kindly Light," another of the dead President's favorites, every head re- / €-■■ maining uncovered during the solemn and pa- thetic sei'vice. The following story, told bv Dr. Louis Al- bert Banks in his 'Anecdotes and Morals," will close our consideration of this hymn : *'A little girl of four, with her nurse, was walking at the seaside. They came to an in- let, and the nurse decided to row across, be- lieving that hj so doing she would shorten the walk home. When the boat reached the opposite side, she put the child ashore, think- ing she was but a little distance from home, and rowed the borrowed boat back. The dis- tance was not great, but was very rouirh and difficult for a child so small. She struggled on through the coarse grass and heavy sand, until at last her mother saw her coming, and hurried to meet her. The mother exclaimed: ^Wereyou frightened, my sweet?' ^I felt very lost,' was the reply, ^but I sang, "Lead, Kind- ly Light" to myself all the way.' "This sweet little story," continues Dr. Banks, "suggests to our thought the multi- tude of children who have grown taller, who are pressing their way through the hard thickets of life and the heavy sand of the sea- 189 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL shores of mjsterj^, to whom the Easter hope is the ^Lead, Kindly Light' that is nerving their souls and inspiring their courage to press forward — *0'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone, And with the morn those angel faces smile, Which they have loved long since, and lost awhile.' " 190 XXV A NOBLE HYMN BY A WELSH COMPOSER Judging from the extent to which it is snng throughout all Christendom, as also from the length of time it has been used and tested, the hvmn beginning, "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah." is entitled to rank among those lyrics of the Church which will never be relegated to a by- gone age. For a hundred and sixty -live years or more it has been singing itself around. the world, and to-day it has a wider i)opularity than ever. Its author, in producing it, left to the Church of Christ a legacy of incalcu- lable worth. The hymn was written by the Rev. AYilliam Williams, a celebrated preacher and poet of Wales, although it has sometimes been mistakenly attributed to Thomas Olivers, who comi)Osed the music for it soon after it was written. Olivers was a musician, a^ well as a preacher and poet. ;nid was also himself a Welshman by birth. Having com- 191 HY:\rx?^ THAT ARE tm:\iortal posed the iiiusic to which the hymn was orig- inally sung, it is not altogether strange that in time, his name became associated with these beautiful stanzas as their author. ]\rr. Williams was born at Cefncyoed, Car- marthenshire, Wales, in 1717. He studied medicine, and acquired a good educational equipment for his chosen profession. Tender the inlluence of a j)Owerful sermon from the lips of Howell Harris, in Talgarth church- yard, he A\as soundly converted, and with his conversion came that call to the Christian ministry which changed the whole course of his life. At the age of twenty-three he was ordained Heacon in the Established Church. He was never advanced to ''full orders" in the .Establishment — probably because of his affinity for and his inclination toward the Methodists. Encouraged by Whitefield and l^adv Huntingdon he finallv became a Metho- dist itinerant pieacher, at thirty-two years of age. "He possessed the warm heart and glowing imagination of a ti'ue Welshman, and his sermons abounded with vivid pictur- ing, and, always radiant with the presence of his divine ]\raster, they produced an extra- ordinary effect on susceptible Welshmen.'' Associated with such men as Harris and Rowlands, ardent and incessant in all his 192 HYMN BY A WELSH COMPOSEK labors, and endowed in a high degree witli Welsh eloquence, poetic genius and the choicest gift of song, he very naturally be- came popular with his countrymen and exert- ed a powerful influence over them. During half a century he inured himself to the toils, trials, disappointments, sacrifices and hard- ships of an itinerant ministry, his ardor never abating nor his zeal flagging, until, in 1791, he i)assed to be with his adorable Mas- ter forever. He is said to have traveled ''on an average two thousand two hundred thirty miles a vear. for fortv-three vears. when there were no railroads and few stage coaches.-' As a hymn-writer Williams did for Wales what Watts and Wesley did for England and what Luther did for Geimany — inaugurated a new era in religious hynmody and in the Church's devotional song. The time of his dei)arture found him fully prepared to go. His end was a i)eaceful and blessed realization of what he had prayed for as he wrote, •'When I tread the verge of Jordan Bid my anxious fears subside." The hymn was written in or about the year 1745. At any rate it was first puV)lished that vear. at Bristol, in a hvmn-book ])ublishe(l bv 193 IIYMXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Mr. \> illiams under the title of ^'Alleluia." It was originally written in the Welsh lan- <4uai>e, witli five verses of six lines each. The following is a copy of the hymn in its orig- inal tougne, for which w^e are indebted to Julian's "Dictionary of Hymnology :" 'North i fyned tricy'r AnialwcJi. Arglwydd, arwain twry'i* anilwch Fi bererin gwael ei wedd, Nad oes ynof north na bywyd, Fel yn gorwedd yn y bedd : Hollaluog Ydyw'r un a'm cywd i'r Ian. Colofn dan rho'r nos i'm harwain, A rbo'r golofn miol y dydd ; Dal fi pan b\Yy'n teithio'r manan Geirwon yn fy ffordd y sydd : Rho iini fanna, Fel na bwyff yn llwfrhan. Agor y fr'ynnonan niehis Sydd yn tarddu o'r Graig i maes ; 'Rhyd yr anial mowr canlyned Afon iacbawdwrineth gras : Rho imi hyny ; Dim i mi ond dy fwynhan. Pan bwy'n myned trwy'r lorddonen — Angen creulon yn ei rym, Fi est trwiddi gj-nt dy hunan, P'am yr ofnaf bellach ddim? Buddngoliaeth, Gwna imi waeddi yn y llif ! 194 HYMN BY A WELSH COMPOSER Ymddirieilof yn dy alln, Ma^yr gw'r gwaith a wnest erioed : Fi gest angau, ti gest uffern, Fi gest Satan dan dy droel : Pen Calfaria, Nac aed hwnw byth o'm cof. Prom the authority above quoted we also learn that the hymu was first translated (in part only) into English by Peter Williams, also a Welsh minister, and printed for him at Carmarthen, 1771, as follows : Guide me, Thou great Jehovah, Pilgnm thro' this barren land : I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand ; Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more. Open Thou the pleasant fountains, Where the living waters flow ; Let the river of salvation Follow all the desert thro' : May Thy presence Always lead and comfort me. Lord, I trust Thy mighty power. Wondrous are Thy works of old; Thou deliver'st Thine from thraldom, Who for nought themselves had sold: Thou didst conquer Sin and Satan and the grave. HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL These stanzas are translations of stanzas 1, 3 and 5 of the original. William Williams himself adopted the translation of verse 1, translated 3 and 4 (and added another) into English, and then printed the whole in leaflet form, as follows: A FAVOURITE HYMN Sung By Lady Huntingdon's Young Collegians Printed hy the desire of many Christian friends Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren laud: I am weak, but Thou art mighty. Hold me by Thy powerful hand ; Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain, Whence the healing streams do flow; Let the fiery, cloudy pillar Guide me all my journey through ; Strong Deliverer, Be Thou still my strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid ray anxious fears subside ; Death of deaths and hell's destruction, Land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee. 196 HYMN BY A AVELSH COMPOt^ER Musing on nij' habitation, Musing on my heavenly home. Fills my heart Avith holy longing ; Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Vanity is all I see. Lord. I long to be with Thee. Tune— "Guide." In this form the hymn appeared iu Lady Huntinodon's Collection, 1772, in George AVhitetield's "Psalms and Hymns,'' 1773, in Conyer's Collection, 1771, and in others, of almost every communion, until, changed into the form in which it is now generally sung, it has become one of the most extensively used hymns of Christendom. Speaking of the chant:;e in the third line of the third stanza from ''Death of deaths, and hell's destruction" to ''Rear me through the swell- ing current,'' ^fr. Butterworth justly depre- cates it as producing "an inferior picture for the singer, wliatever it may be to the rhetori- cian." The hymn, in one form or another, has been translated into many languages, but always from tlie English. "These translations include the Rev. R. Bingham's rendering of it into Latin, under the title, Magne tu, Je- Jiovah/' In Paxton Hood's ''Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales.'' various specimens 197 HYMXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL of Mr. Evans's allegorical sermonizing are given, among which are extracts from his ser- mon on ''Satan Walking in Dry Places.'^ The object of the discourse seems to have been tliat of sliowing how a mind preoccupied with holy thoughts and asi>irations is fortified against the intrusion of evil suggestions from the I'rince of Darkness. After describing Satan as a vast, invisible, and wicked spirit, moving about in the realm of moral darkness and seeking opportunity to insinuate himself, through the avenues of sense, into some un- suspecting soul and lure it to destruction, he sees him fix his fiery but invisible glance upon a lad, in the rosy blush of health and in- nocence, as he sits upon the box of his cart driving to the quarries for slate or lime. ii 'There he is,' said Satan ; 'his veins are full of blood, his bones are full of marrow. I will cast my sparks into his bosom, and set all his passions on fire; I will lead him on, and he sliall rob his master, and lose his place, and find another, and rob again, and do worse; and he shall go on from worse to worse, and then his soul shall sink, never to rise again, into the lake of fire.' But just then as lie was about to dart a fiery temptation into the heart of the youth, the evil one heard him sing, 198 HY^IX BY A WELSH COMPOSER 'Guide mo, O Thon ^'eat .Teliovah. Pilgrim through this barren land ; I am weak, but Thou art mighty. Hold me by Thy powerful hand ; Strong Deliverer, Be Thou still my strength and shield.' 'Oh, but this is ii dry place,' said the fiery dragon as he fled away." It was allegory indeed^ but allegory true to the experience of thousands who have, through the singing of this precious bymn, been safeguarded from the cruel wiles and fierv darts of the wicked one. A minister's wife lay dying in England in 1883. From her eiditeenth year she had been a deyoted Christian, and, since her marriage, had also been a faithful helper of her husband in his work. "I am not afraid to die," she said, as the end drew near, ''but, if it pleases our heavenly Father, I should like to have greater joy. Pray for me that I may feel very happy." The hymn we are considering had been sung not long before by an audience from a screen on which it had been thrown by a magic lantern. The last three davs of her illness she was greatly comforted and helped by the words of the last stanza, which were much upon her mind : 199 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid my anxious fears subside; Death of deaths, and hell's destruction, Land me safe on Canaan's side ; Songs of praises I win ever give to Thee." * Thus, through the ministry of Mr. Williams's immortal lyric, her desire was granted, and in great happiness she passed from earthly scenes to mansions in the skies. »oo XXVI THE SHEPHERD PSALM IN METER No Other hymn of the Church is so gener- ally ar thou not ; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Another is Isaiah 43 : 2 : "^Vhen thou passest through the waters, I w41I be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,' thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; for I am the Lord thv God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Sa- vior.'' The last is Isaiah 4G : 4 : "And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoary hairs will I carry you : I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry and deliver vou.'' 215 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL The tlioroiigh vscriptnralness of the i)ro(lii('- tion, and also its preeminent adaptation to ministering.' inspiration and comfort to Iried and tempted sonls in all the successive sta|»es and amid all the changeful vicissitudes of the Christian pilgrimage, are undoubtedh' the chief elements of its extensive popularity. From the "Western Sketch-book," by James Gallagher, who mentions therein a visit to General Jackson in the Hermitage in Sep- tember 1843, Dr. Duffield quotes the follow- ing in his "English Hymns :" "The old hero," says Dr. Gallagher, "was then very frail, and had the appearance of extreme old age ; but he was reposing with calmness and confidence on the i)romise and covenant of God. He had now been a mem- ber of the church for several years. During the conversation which took place General Jackson turned to Mr. (iftllagher and remark- ed : 'There is a beautiful hymn on the sub- ject of the exceeding great and precious j)roniises of God to His people. It was a favorite hvmn with mv dear wife, till the day of her death. It commences thus : "How firm a foundation, ye saints or the Lord." J wish you could sing it now.' So the little company sang the entire hymn in its seven stanzas." 216 THE FIR.^I FOUNDATION Tims was the maj»'nificent lyric we have been considering made to minister comfort and hope to the distinguished soldier and statesman 'in age and feebleness extreme." The following incident was related in the t^undajj- school Times of December 7, 1891, by Lieutenant-Colonel Curtis Guild, Jr., late In- spector-general of the Seventh Army Corps, and is reproduced in ''Studies of Familiar Hvnins :" "The corps was encamped along the hills of (^uemados, near New Havana, Cuba. On r'hristmas eve of 1808 Colonel Guild sat be- fore his tent in the balmy tropical night, chatting with a fellow officer of Christmas and home. Suddenly from the camp of the Forty-ninth Iowa rang a sentinel's call, *Nuniber ten ; twelve o'clock, and all's well I' " ^It was Christmas morning. Scarcely had the cry of the sentinel died away, when from the bandsmen's tent of that same regi- ment rose the music of an old, familiar hymn, and one clear barytone voice led the chorus that quickly ran along those moonlit fields : 'IIow firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord !' Another voice joined in, and another, and an- other, and in a moment the whole regiment joined in with the Fourth VirginiU, and all 217 HYMNS TirAT ARE IMMORTAL - the rest, till there, on the long ridge above the great city whence Spanish tyranny once went forth to enslave the New World, a whole American corps was singing: 'Foar not ; I am with thee, O be not dismayed ; I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, T^pheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.' " 'The northern soldier knew the hvmn as one he had learned beside his mother's knee. To the southern soldier it was that and some- thing more; it was the favorite hymn of Gen- eral Robert E. Lee, and was sung at that great commander's funeral. " 'Protestant and Catholic, South and North, singing together^ on Christmas day in the morniniir, — that's an American army!''' After rehearsing the foregoing incident Dr. Benson appropriately adds: ''If any one has felt a sense of impropriety in divorcing the old Christmas music from its proper words, surely he may feel that it came to its own again that morning. Such an incident, and what it implies, inclines rather to tlie hope that 'How firm a foundation' ma^^ never cease to be sung among us, and that it may never be set to any other tune." 218 xxviir REMARKABLE HYMX OX DIVIXE PROVIDEXCE Had William Cowper never achieved any- thing else of distinction his production of the hvmn beginning, "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform," would have rendered his name familiar in ev- ery Christian household of the English speak- ing world to latest generations. It holds the highest rank of all the hymns of its illus- trious author, although ^'There is a fountain filled with blood'- is more generally known and more popularly used in public worship. The hvmn is not onlv elevated, finished, and charming in itself, but, as ^lontgomery has said, is '^rendered awfully interesting b}' tJie circumstances under which it was written — the twilight of departing reason." The author of the hymn was born at Berk- hamstead, Hertfordshire, England, in 1731. His father was tlie Rev. John Cowper, at one time chaplain to King George II. His moth- 219 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL er, wlio traced her pedigree back to King Henry III., died when he was but six years old. TJeing naturally very delicate and sen- sitive, his bereavement weighed upon him to snch an extent that, as a mere boy, he became deeply melancholy. This condition was so ag- gravated that his after life was deeply shad- owed in consequence and through unpleasant experiences endured for some years in school at Westminster. The sorrow occasioned by his mother's death never ceased to weigh upon him. and years after the sad occurrence, in viewing one of her juctures, he recalled the anguish his young heart experienced when that sore bereavement fell upon him and beautifully expressed the same in verse : "My mother! when T learned that thou wast dead, Say, wast thou const-ions of the tears I shed? Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son— Wretch even then, life's journey just he^n? Perhaps thou gavest nie, though unseen, a kiss, Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss. I heard the bell tolTd on thy burial day, I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away I And, turning from my nursery window, drew A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu." While in Westminster he acquired consid- erable classical education, and in addition to his school requirements, translated the whole 220 HYMN ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE of TTomer's "Iliad and Odyssey.'' On leav- ing Westminster lie was apprenticed to an at- torney for three years. This was not his own but his father's choice, and the profession of the law not bein" to his liking he was not as attentiye to it as he might haye been to some- thing more congenial to his tastes and incli- nations. Some years after the conclusion of his law C'' course he was eligible to the position of clerk to the House of Lords, which had been se- cured for him through family influence. He was expected to qualify for the position by taking an examination, but the shrinking of his timid and sensitive nature from the or- deal of a formal examination so agitated and depressed him that he fell into a state of mental disorder and failed to appear. His de- pression was so great that he even attemi)ted suicide, in which act of desperation he failed for lack of courage. From this time on to the close of his life Cowper was subject to seasons of terrible des])ondency and despair, at times regarding himself as haying commit- ted the unpardonable sin and believing him- self as hopelessly lost as though in hell al- ready. After his first attack he was placed in a re- treat conducted by Dr. Cotton, a poet and 221 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL philanthropist, under whose judicious treat- ment and advice he was not only delivered from his mental disorder, but was also led to find peace T\'ith God through Jesus Christ. He was ever afterward a devout and earnest Christian, and, except during his intervals of mental aberration, was bright, cheerful and companionable, and withal an eager stu- dent and an earnest and fruitful worker in the cause of Christ. In devoutness he was not surpassed by Wesley, although the hit- ter's naturally cheerful temperament and his own constitutional tendency to melancholy places Cowper at a disadvantage in such a comparison. Cowper was not merely a religious hymn- writer but a poet of the highest rank in his day, and an able prose writer as well. He in England and Burns in Scotland are credited with having inaugurated that epoch in Eng- lish literature in which poetry was recalled from Artificialism to Naturalism. Cowper's poetry is always "eminently healthy, natural and unaffected." Besides being eminent as a poet he has also been characterized as "the most delightful letter-writer in the English language, the charm of whose epistles noth- ing can surpass — full of humor, gentle sar- casm, anecdote, acute remark, and a tender 222 HYMX ON DIVINE rKOVIDKNCE ^ I i shadow of melancholy thrown over and ton- iug down the whole." In 17G7 Cowper took np his residence in Olney, where a most intimate friendship sprang np between him and the Rev. John Newton, tlie cnrate of that place. Cowper was a constant attendant at the services in jlr, Newton's church, and was especially faithful in attending- the cottage praj'er-meet- ings, for which most of his hymns are said to Iiave been written. The collection commonly known as the ''Olney Hymns" was their joint production, seventy-eight of them coming from Cowper's pen. '^He also translated many of the hvmns of ^ladame Guion." Cowper's last contributions to the ^'Olney Hymns" was ''God moves in a mysterious way." It is said that in one of his melan- choly moods he determined to end his life by drowning, and hired a post-chaise to take him to a certain place on the river Ouse where the desperate deed was to be accomplished. By some unaccountable providence the driver missed his way, and so the poor man returned to his home without having carried out his purpose, whereupon he wrote this remark- able hj'mn. Probably this account is more or less legendary, although the hymn doubtless celebrates some remarkable interposition of 223 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL providence on behalf of its author. Follow- ing is the full text of the hymn : Ootl moves in a mysterious way II is ANOinlers to i>erfoi'ni : He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs. And works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take: The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall 1)reak In Vdessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace: Behind a frowning providence lie hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast. Unfolding every hour : The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err. And scan His work in vain : God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain. Tune — "Dundee." Literary critics ojenerally regard this as 224 HYMN OX DIVKsK PKOVIDHNCE the siibliiiit'Ht hyiini over written in (("lebra- tioii of divine ]»r<)vi(lence. Tlie late Tl'onias James P^ield. an eminent authority on En and it has secured altogether too strong a hold upon the Christian world to be sur- rendered because of an}- hypercritical attacks Ihat may be made upon it. In 1777 this hymn appeared in the Gospel Magazine, erroneously credited to ^'^liss Us- sington, late of Islington, who died May 177r>,'' and with the following stanza added: *'Wlien midiiislit shades are all withdrawn, The opening day shall rise, Whose e^er calm and cloudless morn Shall know no low'ring skies." Who was responsible for the error will prob- ably never be known. The lady referred to may have composed the added stanza, and this mav have led to the entire hvmn being unintentionally ascribed to her. The added stanza is no improvement of the hymn. Various singular and suggestive incidents and associations cluster around this popular Christian lyric which serve to illustrate its 226 HYMN ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE power and value. "It was often sung during the cotton famine" [in England, in 1865, fol- lowing the Civil War in the United States], says ^rr. Stead, "and there are few persons who can not recall times and seasons when its comforting assurances helped to give forti- tude and tranquillity to the soul." During the cotton famine referred to one of the Lanca- shire mill owners called his emplo^X'S to- gether and informed them that he must close the mills. To close them meant his ow^n fi- nancial ruin, and much suffering from pover- ty !o the operatives. The situation was such a painful one, when the announcement came, that none could speak, and for a time silence reigned. At last, however, there rose out of the oppressive stillness the clear voice of a girl — a teacher in the Sunday-school — and as she sang in faith and hope, "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head," the oppressive spell was broken, and new inspiration and hope took possession of all hearts. The late Dr. Charles Cullis, founder of the Faith Cure Consumptives' Home in Boston, 227 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL was on one occasion in great financial straits in the midst of his extensive enterprises. He spread tlie matter before the Lord, and his prayer was answered in a remarlvable way. One man sent him a four and one-half per cent United States bond for |1,000 and a four per cent United Stares bond for |500, |1,500 in all, saying this would cover his subscrip- tion, which, b}^ the wav, was for |400 only; and in the same mail came a letter from an- other man, a stranger to Mr. Cullis, enclosing |1.00 to cancel his subscription, and saying tlmt, although the amount was small, the Lord could multiply it a thousand fold. This letter proved to have been written before the one enclosing the larger amount. The Lord did indeed multii)ly the smaller offering a tliousand fold. Jn recording this remark- able divine interposition Dr. Cullis concluded with the words, "God moves iu a mysterious way His wonders to perform." Dr. Russell H. Conwell, in his Life of Charles H. Spurgeon relates the story of how Richard Knill, a devout minister, on visiting at the Spurgeon home when Charles was a lad, took such an interest in the boy as left an indelible impress upon his after life, 228 HYMN OX DIVINE PROVIDENCE and how he also predicted the boy's future greatness as a preacher, the hymn we are con- sidering' figuring conspicuously in the ac- count. Mr. Knill. it is said, took the lad with him for quiet walks repeatedly, talked with him seriously but tenderly on the subject of religion, knelt and prayed with him, and in various ways exhibited a passionate desire to win him for Christ. Taking the lad upon his knee one dav he said : "I do not know how it is, but I feel a solemn presentiment that this child will preach the gospel to thousands, and that God will bless him to many souls. So sure am I of this that when he preaches in Rowland HilTs chapel, as he will do one day, I should like him to promise me that he will give out the hymn commencing, 'God moves iu a mysterious way His wonders to perform.' " Mr. Knill desired young Spurgeon to learn the hymn by heart, regarding it as applicable to the thini::s Cod would work out for him and through him in his future career. It is said to have been predicted by ^Ir. Knill that the lad in whom he took so deep an interest would one day speak in the largest church in the world — a prophecy which was literally fulfilled. 229 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Is it not strange indeed that a hymn which has cheered so many thousands of troubled and despairing hearts should have been the production of one who was by nature melan- choly and a goodly portion of whose life was spent in dejection and under the horror of hopeless despair? But so it is, and this very circumstance is both a corroboration and an illustration of the truth expressed in the first cou|)let of the hymn. Poor Cowper! Thou didst teach us to sing, "God is His own interpreter. And He will make it plain ;" and we doubt not that he has long ere this made forever |)lain to thee the mystery of all those years of darkness and despair through which thine earthly pathway led. The following stanzas from Mrs. Brown- ing's touching and beautiful elegy on "Cow- per's Grave" are appropriate in closing: "It is a place where poets crowned may feed the heart's decay ini?. It is a place where happy saints may weep amid their praying : Yet let the grief and humbleness, as low as silence languish I Earth surely now may give her calm to whom she gave her anguish. 230 HYMN OX DIVIDE I'KOVIDENCE **0 iK)ets! from a mniiiac's tongue was poured the deathless singiiii^I O Christians I at your cross of hope, a hopeless hand was clinging! O nien I this man in brotherhood your weary paths heguiling, Groaned inly while he taught you peace, and died while ye were smiling I 'With quiet sadness and no gloom I learn to think upon him, With meekness that is gratefulness to God whose heaven hath won him — Who suffered once the madness-cloud to His own love to blind him ; r»ut gently led the blind along where breath and bird could find him." ?3I XXIX gkrhardt's nobi,e hymn of trust Among the numerous hymns inciting to steadfast trust in Divine Providence probably none has been more extensively blessed to the encouragement and inspiration of tried and tempted souls than I*aul Gerhardt's hymn, beginning, as rendered into English bv John Weslev, "Commit thou all thy griefs And ways into His hands.'' It is given in two parts in the Hymn Rook, the second part beginning with the lines, "(jive to the winds thy fears, Hope, and be undismayed." The hvmn is based on Fsalm 87 : 5 : ^*Com- mit thv way unto the Lord : trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Gerhardt composed it, in German, in 1659, and Wes- ley translated it into English in 1739. The full text of Part First is as follows: 232 GEKHAKDT'S HYMN OF TRUST Commit thou al! thy griefs And waj's into His hands. To His sure trust and tender care. Who earth and heaven commands : Who points the clouds their course, Whom winds and seas obey, ITe shall direct thy wanderinc: feet. He shall i)rei>are thy way. Thou on the Lord rely. So safe Shalt thou go on. Fix on His work thy steadfast eye. So shall thy work be done. No profit canst thou gain By self-consuming care ; To Him commend thy cause. His ear Attends the softest prayer. Thine everlasting truth, Father. Thy ceaseless love. Sees all Thy children's wants, and knows What best for each will prove ; And whatso'er Thou will'st. Thou dost, O King of Kings ! What's Thine unerring wisdom's choice. Thy power to being brings I Thou everywhere hast sway. And all things serve Thy might ; Thine every act pure blessing is, Thy path unsullied light. When Thou arisest, Lord. What shall Thy work withstand? When all Thy children want, Thou giv'st ; Who, who shall stay Thy hand? Tune— "Golden Hill." 233 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "The origin of the hjmn is in itself such a remarkable proof of the blessing of trusting jn Providence, * * * that it can not be omitted in this place. Paul Gerhardt was a preacher in Brandenburg, 1659, and he loved to preach from his heart what he believed. The Great Elector admonished him, and threatened his banishment if he would not preach as the Elector desired. Gerhardt re- turned a message to his sovereign that it would be hard to leave his home, his people, his countrv and his livelihood ; but he vrould only i^reach what he found in the word of God. So into banishment he was sent, with his wife and children. "At the end of the first day's journey, they rested at a little inn for the night. The little ones were crying and clinging to their mother, and she also, overcome with fatigue, could not restrain her tears. The sad sight gave Gerhardt a very heavy heart, so he went alone into the dark wood to commend the whole to God. Whilst there his mind was comforted with the text, ^Commit thy way unto the Lord : trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.' ^Yes,' he said, ^though banished from house and home, and not know- ing where to take my wife and children on the morrow, vet God sees me in the dark 234 GERflAKDT'S HYMX OF THUST Avood; now is the time to ti'ust Iliin.' He was so liappv that he liad remembered the text, and so thankful to God that lie made the text, in connection with his saddening lot, into a hymn, as he paced to and iro among the trees. Every verse begins with a word or two from the text, so that if von would read the first words of each verse in the German, yon just read the text. ''When he returned into the house, he told his wife about the text, and repeated to her his hymn. She soon dried up her tears (the children having gone to sleei»|, and became as liopeful and trustful in God as her husband. They had scarcely retired to rest when a loud knockintr was heard at the door. The landloid, on opening the door, found a mes- senger on liorseback, who said aloud, 'I come from Duke Christian of Meresburg, and um in search of Paul Gerhardt; has he passed this wav?' 'Yes/ said the landlord, 'he is in mv house.' 'Let me see him instantiv,* said the Duke's messenger, A large sealed letter was at once handed to the banished pastor from the good T>uke Christian, who said in it. 'Come into my country, Paul Gerhardt, and you shall have church, peo}>le. house, home, and livelihood, and liberty to preach the gos- pel as your heart may prompt you.' So the Lord took care of His servant." 235 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL What a remarkable verification of the prom- ise contained in the text so powerfully im- pressed upon the banished preacher in his dire extremity! What a remarkable illus- tration also of the sentiment expressed in Ihe entire hvmn I ''Thev that trust in the Lord shall never be confounded." Part Second, which we regard as in some respects superior to Part First, breathes the same sweet spirit of submission and trust, and leads on our faith step by step, and from one degree of strengtii to another, until all doubt, and fear, and "self-consuming care" are banished, and over all the trusting soul is "more than conqueror.-' The text is as follows : Give to the winds thy fears ; Hope, aiifl be undismayed : God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears : God shall lift up thy head. Through waves, through clouds and storms, lie gently clears tho way : Wait thou His time : so shall the night Soon end in joyous day. Still heavy is thy heart? Still sink thy spirits down? Cast off the weight, let fear depart, And every care be gone. What though thou rulest not : Yet heaven, and earth, and hell. 236 GERHARDT'S HYMN OF TRUST Proclaim, God sittetli ou the throne, And ruletli all things well. Leave to His sovereign sway To choose and to command ; So Shalt thou, wondering, own His way, How wise, how strong His hand I Far, far al)ove thy thought His counsel shall appear. When fully He the work hath wrought That caused thy needless fear. Thou seest our weakness, Lord, Our hearts are known to Thee ; O lift Thou up the sinking hand, Confirm the feeble knee I Let us in life, in death, Thy steadfast truth declare ; And publish, with our latest breath, Thy love and guardian care. Xunieroiis are the instances in which this sturdy vet tender hymn has aHaved fear, banished anxiety, alleviated suffering, consol- ed grief, inspired faith and kindled hope in seasons of extremity and in the hour of death. T\'illiani Dawson, the farmer Methodist preacher of Barnbow, Leeds, England, after a useful career of nearly seventy years, was suddenly prostrated with a fatal illness. His last utterances were the closing words of this admirable hymn, — "Let us in life, in death. Thy steadfast truth declare." 237 HYJVrXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL He attempted to repeat the closing couplet — "And publish with our latest breath Thy love and guardian care," but the poAver of utterance failed him, and, with his hands crossed upon his breast in peace, he closed his eves on earth to open them in heaven. The Rev. Isaac Bradnack, a Weslevan mis- sionary, born near Birmingham. England, in 1774, after years of usefulness in a foreign field, spent the last few years of life in his native land. During his final illness, when his strength failed, he saw his daughter at his bedside weeping. Suddenly turning to her he said, with earnest look, *'My dear Betsy, why are you weeping? 'Oive to the winds thy fears: Hoi^e, and l)o undismayed ; God hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears ; God shall lift up thy head.' '* After this he conversed with her on the subject of sanctification, emphasizing ''puri- fi/ — purify.'' Then, with much energy, he re- peated — "Tlie fire our graces shall refine," and soon afterward entered into the rest that remaineth for the ])eop]e of God. 238 OERUARDT'^ HYMN OF TRUST The following "legend of the raven" is also related by Mr. Stevens in his "Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated'' : "In a village near Warsaw there lived a pions German i)easant named Dobry. Without remedy he had fallen into arrears of rent, and his landlord threat- ened to evict him. It was winter. Thrice he appealed for a respite, but in vain. It was evening, and the next day his family were to be turned out into the snow. Dobry kneeled down in the midst of his family. After pray- er they sang — "Commit Ibou all thy griefs And ways into His hands." As they came to the verse, in German, "When Thou wouldst all our needs suppiV, Who, who. shall stay Thy hand?" there was a knock at the window close by, where he knelt, and opening it Dobry was met by a raven, one which his grandfather had tamed and set at libertv. It its bill was a ring, set with precious stones. This he took to his minister, who said at once that it Ix^- longed to the King, Stanislaus, to whom he took it, and related the story. The king sent for Dobry, juid rewarded him, so that 239 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL he had no need, and the next year built him a new house, and gave him cattle from his own stall. Over the house door, on an iron tab- let, there is carved a raven with a ring in its beak, and underneath this address to Di- vine Providence: "Tbou overyvvbere hast sway, And all things serve Thy might; Thy every act pure blessing is, Thy path unsullied light." 240 Warfare 241 MARTIN LUTHER. XXX Luther's battle-hymx To Martin Luther, the great reformer, be- longs the honor of liaving produced the great- est battle-hymn of the Christian Church — ''Eiii festc Burg, ist miser Gott," the common English rendering of which is, "A mighty fortress is our God." It was called forth by the troubled and ex- citing times through which its author and his fellow-workers passed in the midst of the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, and has been appropriately characterized by Heinrich Heine as "the Marsellaise of the Keformation.'' Numerous translations of this hymn into English have been attempted, but those best competent to judge affirm that but two really successful renderings have appeared, the first by Thomas Carlyle, printed in his "Luther's Psalm," in 1881. and the other by the Rev. 243 HY:\I^S THAT ARE IMMORTAL Frederick Henrv Hedge, a Unitarian clergy- man of the United States, in 1852, which ap- peared in the second edition of Dr. Furness's ^'Gems of German Verse." In 1853 Dr. Hedge included it in his "Hymns for the Church of Christ" in the form in which it now appears in various church hvmnals. Although Car- Ivle's translation is in several respects the best English rendering, yet Dr. Hedge's is the more commonly found in English and American hymn-books, being the better adapt- ed for use in the song services of the Church. This translation is as follows: A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our helper He amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe ; His craft and power are great And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing ; Were not tlie right ]Man on our side. The Man of God's own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is lie; Lord Sabaoth- is Tlis name. From age to age the same, And He must win the battle. 244 LUTHER'S BATTLE HYMN And tliouirb this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us ; We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us : The prince of darkness grim, — We tremble not for him ; His rage we can endure, For lo ! his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him. That word above all earthly powers, No thanks to them, abideth ; The Spirit and the gifts are ours Through Him who with us aideth : Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also; The body they may kill : God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is for ever. Tune — "Ein Feste Burg." The traditional account of the origin of this hymnic masterpiece gives Liitlier's jour- ney to the Diet of Worms as the occasion of its composition. It was on this journey that Luther, warned by a messenger from Spahitin not to enter the city, sent back by the same messenger the reply, ^'Were there as many deyils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses, T would go and not be afraid. If Huss was burnt to ashes, the truth was not burnt with him." The same sentiment occuiTing in the third stanza of the hymn seems to ha^'e given currency to the 245 HYMX8 THAT ARE IMMORTAL popularly received account of its origin. Stroni*- as the temptation is, however, to as- sociate the composition of the hymn with the momentous occasion referred to, it is im- })robal)le that it originated on that occasion, since the hymn does not appear among Lu- ther's earlier hymns as published in 1524, three years after the convocation of the as- semblv known as the Diet of Worms. In his "History of the Reformation" J. Merle d'Aubigne with much assurance gives the journey to the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 as the occasion on which the hymn was com- ])Osed. Tu Rook XIV. of the single volume edition of that remarkable work, on page 474, its brilliant author tells us that Luther, in company with John the Elector of Saxony, was on his way to the Augsburg assembly when he wrote the hymn, and describes the srene in detail as follows: "John began his journey on the third of April, with one hun- dred and sixty horsemen, clad in rich scarlet * cloaks, embroidered with gold. Every man was aware of the dangers that threatened the Elector, and hence many in his escort marched with downcast eyes and sinking f^earts. But Luther, full of faith, revived the com^age of his friends, by composing and sing- ing with his fine voice tluit beautiful hymn, since become so famous: 246 u;thi:k's p>attijvHYmx Ein frsic Bmfi ht UHscr Oott. Oiii' (iud is a Strong- lower. Xever did .soul that knew its own weakness, but wliich, look- inji' to God. despises every fear, find sueli noble accents." l>ee]>ly interesting as this account is. and niucli as we may dislike to think of the re- nowned and usually accurate D'Aubigne as in error in the foregoing descrii)tion, it is true nevertheless that the facts do not, upon close investigation, warrant the account given. In tlie first place the very character of the hymn, as also Luther's painstaking ef- forts in all his lyrical compositions, forbid our belief that this matchless masterpiece was an impromptu production. Another consid- eration fatal to the foregoing account is the fact, established by the investigation of hym- nologists. that before the date of the Diet of Augsburg Luther's immortal battle-hymn had already appeared in print. That Luther sang it to revive the courage of his friends on their way to the Diet of Augsburg is every way ])robable, but that he comi)osed it on that occasion is equally incredible. From the fact of its having been sung under the foregoing circumstances, and also in view of its not then being in as common use as it was later, it is not strange that its composition came 247 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL to be popularly ascribed to the same occasion. Another account quite generally accepted by hymnologists says that ''Luther composed it for the Diet of Spires, when, on April 20, 1529, the German princes made their formal protest against the reyocation of their liber- ties, and so became kno\\n as Protestants." ''Various monographs haye been publish- ed," says Dr. Benson in his ''Studies of Famil- iar Hymns," ''adyocating other dates and oc- casions. L^ndeterred by these, Scherer, the re- cent historian of German Literature, states with entire confidence that the hymn was written in October, 1527, at the approach of the plague. Luther's biographer, Julius Kost- lin, in the later editions of the Life, accej)ts that date as probably correct. And with that probability we must rest." While this seems to settle the matter sat- isfactorily to Dr. Benson, we must insist that internal eyidences seem to indicate that the hymn was written in anticipation or on the occasion of some great crisis connected with the progress of the Reformation. There are many expressions in the hymn that lose in significance when interpreted on any other ground, and there is little that can be re- garded as applicable to the yisitation of the jilague without torturing it out of its most 248 LUTHER'S BATTLE-HYMX natural meaDing. AVe are still inclined to think tlie second Diet of Spires was the oc- casion which called it forth. For the benefit of those readers who, being familiar with the German tongue, will aj)- predate the hymn much more in the original than in anv of its translated forms, the Ger- man text will here be presented, as found in Julian's "Dictionary of Hvmnologv'' : Eiu' feste Burg ist unser Gott. ein giite webr und Avaffen. Er hilfft unns frey aus aller not die uns ytzt hat betroffen, Der alt buse feind mit ei'DSt ers ytzt meint, gros macbt und viel list sein grausam riistung ist, auf erd ist nicht seins gleichen. Mit unser macht ist nicbts getban, wir sind gar bald veloren ; Es streit fur uns der recbte man, den Gott bat selbs erkoren. Fragstu, wer der ist? er heist Jbesvi Christ der Herr zebaotb, und ist kein ander Gott, das felt Liis er bebalten. Und wen die welt vol Teuffell wehr und wort uns gar verscbliugen 249 TIYMXS THAT AUK LMMOKTAL So fiircbteii wir mis nk-lit zii sehr OS sol iins docli gelingeii. Der Fiirst dieser welt. wie sawr er sich stellt. tliut er uiiiis (loch nicbt, das macht, ei* 1st gericht, ein wortlin kaii ybn follen. Das wort sie sollen lassen stahii imd keiu daiick dazii liabeii. Er ist bey luiiis wol auff deiu plan init seinem geist und gabeii. Xemen sie den, leib. gut, ebr, kindt mind wfib las faren dabin, sie babeiis kein gewin. das reicb nms nns dodi hleiben. Tlie Refonuatioii of the sixteenth century marks an entirely new era in riiristian hvm- nodv — an era riclier and more influential in Its lyrical productions than any other in the history of Christianity. Luther was the chief inspiration of this new era, in its earlier years, as he was the leading sjiirit and the chief insj)iration of the great Reformation it- self. "It is my intention, after the example of the Fa tilers," he said in writing to Georg Spalatin, liis friend and fellow-laborer, '"to make German Psalms for the i)eople; that is to say, sj)iritual songs, whereby the word of God may be kept aliye among them by sing- 250 Ll'THKirs r,ATTLlvHYMN m*^. We seek, lliei'efore, everywhere for poets. Now as yon are siuli a master of the (lernian language, and are so mighty and eU)qnent therein, T entreat yon to join hands with ns in this work, and to turn one of the Psalms into a hymn according to the pattern I /. r., an attempt of my own), that I send von. l>nt 1 desire that all new-fangled words from the court be left out; that the words may be quite plain and common, such as com- mon people may understand, yet ])ure and skilfully handled ; and next that the meaning should be given clearly and graciously, ac- cording to the sense of the Psalm itself ("Hymns Historically Famous"). As Luther was the chief inspirer of this new era in Christian hvmnodv, so his *'Ein feste Burg ist unser Oott" was the climax of his own lyrical contributions to the literature of the Reformation period. He is generally believed to have composed the majestic tune to which the hymn has ever since been sung, and both hymn and tune seem to have been especially inspired for strengthening the faith and stimulating the courage of the re- formers during the long, fierce conflict they endured in defense and promulgation of those essential tiMiths which the Reformation rej)- resented, P>eing a fine singer and a skilful 251 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL composer, and possessing a high degree of magnetic enthusiasm in urging congrega- tional singing upon the people, he gave re- markable zest to the singing of the German nation, and, in a corresponding degree, called forth and enlisted in the cause he represent- ed the best hvmn-making talent of the coun- try. "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" be- came the battle-song, however, of those dark and troubled times, and exerted an influence upon the German people bevond all computa- tion. ''In the life and death struggle that fol- lowed [the protestation of the German princes against the revocation of their lib- erties at the second Diet of Spires], it was a clarion summoning all faithful souls to do battle, without fear, against the insulting foe. Luther sang it to the lute every day. It was the spiritual and national tonic of Germany, administered in those dolorous times as doctors administer quinine to so- journers in fever-haunted marshes. Every one sang it, old and young, children in the {^itreet. soldiers on the battlefield. The more heavily hit they were, the more tenaciously did the}^ cherish the song that assured them of ultimate victory. When Melancthon and t. his friends, after Luther's death, were sent 252 LUTHER'S BATTLE-HYMN into banishment, tliey were marvelouslv cheered as they entered Weimar on hearing a girl sing Luther's hymn in the street. 'Sing on, dear daughter mine,' said Melancthon; 'thou knowest not what comfort thou bring- est to our heart'" (Stead). Luther sang it often as an expression and inspiration of his faith during the pro- tracted session of the Diet of Augsburg in li5.30, and it soon became a favorite psalm with the German people, the strains of which daily ascended up to heaven alike from the palaces of princes and humbler dwellings of the i)oor. "It was sung by poor Protestant emigrants on their way into exile, and by martyrs at their death. It is woven into the web of the history of Reformation times, and it became the true national hjmn of Protes- tant Germany." I. The associations of this hymn, during its subsequent history are full of interest and serve to illustrate its remarkable influence and incomparable value. In 1031, more than a hundred years after its composition, Gus- tavus Adolphus, on the eve of his great and decisive victory over the Roman Cath- olic forces at Leipsic, requested his soldiers to sing this hymn of the great reformer; and after the gaining of the victory he thank- 253 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ed God for having made good the promise expressed in the words, ''The field he will maintain it." On the field of that same bat- tle the hymn was repeated, more than two hundred years later, by the multitude as- sembled at the jubilee of the Gustavus Adol- phas Association. "Again,** says Dr. Ben- son, "it was the battle livmn of his armv at Liitzen, in 1632, in which the king was slain, but his arm.v won tlie victory. It has had a part in countless celebrations commemora- ting the men and events of the Reformation ; and its first line is engraved on the base of Luther's monument at Wittenburg. And it is still dear to the German people; one of the hymns lodged in their memories and hearts, ready for the occasion. An imperishable hymn I not polished and artistically wrought, but rugged and strong like Luther himself, whose very words seem like deeds.'' David Xitschmann.a Moravian bishop, was one of the passengers on board the ship in which John AA'esley sailed for Georgia in 1735. He was then about sixty years of age. "In 1720," says Tyerman, in his "Life and Times of Wesley," "a remarkable revival of religion took place in the town where David lived ; but, by the intervention of the Jesuits, the meetings of the new converts were pro- 254 LfTHEKS BATTLE-HYMX hibited, and many who attended them were imprisoned in stables, ceHars and other of- fensive phices. A police officer entered Nitsch- mann's house, where one hundred and fifty of these godly people were assembled, and seized all the books within his reach. The congregation at once strnck up a stanza of one of Luther's hymns [Ein feste Burg'] : 'If the whole world with devils swarmed, That threatened ns to swallow. We will not fear, for we are armed. And victory will follow.* Twenty persons, including David, all heads of respectable families, were arrested and sent to jail. For three days David was de- prived of food, and was so cruelly ironed that the blood spurted from his nose and mouth, and oozed from his very pores. After some time he escaped from his horrid dungeon, and fled to his friends at Hernhutt." A hvmn that can brace and sustain faith and make it triumphant in such conditions must have in it the element of a divine in- spiration that will make it live forever. 255 XXXI PROCESSIONAL HYMN Wherever the English tongue is a medium for the worship of God there old and young alike and together sing, with an enthusiasm that kindles to an ever intenseir glow as the music moves toward its culmination, the Rev. S. Baring-Gould's grand I*rocessional Hymn, of which the following is the text : Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before. Christ, the Royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle See His banners go. Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before. At the sign of triumph Satan's host doth flee ; On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory : 256 i»roceSkSIOxal hymn Hell's fonndations quiver At the shout of praise : Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthem raise. Onward, etc. Like a mighty army Moves the Church of God ; Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod ; We are not divided, All one hody we, One in hope and doctrine, One in charity. Onward, etc. Crowns and thrones may perish. Kingdoms rise and wane, But the Church of Jesus Constant will remain : Gates of hell can never 'Gainst the Church prevail : We have Christ's own promise. And that cannot fail. On\^•ard, etc. Onward then, ye people. Join our happy throng, Blend with ours your voices In the triumph-song ; Glory, laud and honor Unto Christ, the King ; This through countless ages Men and angels sing. Onward, etc. Tune— "St. Gertrude." 257 IIVMNi^ THAT ARE IMMORTAL The Rev. Sabine Bai*ing;-Gould, author of the hymn, is a prominent clergyman of the dnircli of England. He was born at Exeter, in ISiU; graduated, as Master of Arts, at ('hire College. Oxford, in 1856; ordained as Deacon in 18G4 and as Priest in 18G5 ; made in- cumbent at Dal ton in 18G6, and rector at East ^lersea in 1871. At the death of his father, ICdward Baring-Gould, in 1872, he succeeded to the family estate at Lew-Trenchard, Devonshire, which has been the family seat foi" o\er three hundred years. He became rector at Lew-Trenchard in 1881. He is a ])rolific writer, having published more than a score of volumes from his own pen. He is a master in the realm of '^legendary and folk lore, antiquities and out-of-the-way informa- tion, of Avhich he is himself a living encyclo- pedia.-' His ''Curious Myths of the ^liddle Ages'' is one of his most widely known pro- ductions. It has been his custom for some time io produce a new work of fiction every year, and his works are said to have greater Ijopularity in England than any others of their class. He has published several vol- umes of sermons, which are well received, and is also the author of a number of excel- lent hymns, of which "Onward. Christian Soldiers,'' is the most popular. 258 rROCES8IONAL HYMN Mr. Bai-ing-Oould has given the following account of how his popular Processional Hvnin came into existence: ''It was written in a very simple fashion, without a thought of publication. Whitmonday is a great day for school festivities in Yorkshire, and one Whitmonday it was arranged that our school should join its forces with that of a neigh- boring village. I wanted the children to sing Avhen marching from one village to another, but couldn't think of anything quite suit- able, so T sat up at night resolved to TSTite somethins: mvself. 'Onward, Christian Sol- diers,' was the result. It was written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhvmes are faulty. Certainly nothing has surprised me more than its great popularity.'' A processional hymn is one suited to a marching movement, and Mr. Baring-Gould's vigorous and inspiring stanzas most adrair- ablv meet the demand for such a hvmn. Hence its almost universal use, and its great popu- larity with Americans in particular. "It has been taken up all the world over," says Dr. Robinson, "and with either Haydn's or Sulli- van's music set to it, it constitutes the best maa^ching hymn for children or adults known to this generation. It meets the American ideal, mechanically speaking, in that it is. 259 HY:kIXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL simple, rythmical, lyric, and has a refrain at the end of each stanza. That has given to it an extensive popularity and use." The hymn was written in 1865, and, in its original form, contained six stanzas, what was then the fourth being now generally omitted. The omitted stanza runs as follows : "What the saints established That I hohl for true, What the saints believed That believe I too. Long as earth endureth Men that faith will hold, — Kingdoms, nations, empires, In destruction rolled." Its poetry scarcely compares with that of the other stanzas, and this may be what the author had in mind when expressing his own fears that some of the rhymes were faulty. The hymn seems quite complete without it, and its omission therefore is not only ex- cusable but wise. The hymn has obtained a popularity which seems to make for its im- mortality. "•If it should ever drop out of use," says Dr. Benson, ''that result would l)robably come about through sheer weariness caused by over-repetition." 260 I I Missions 261 XXXII THE PRINCK OF MISSIONARY HYMNS Of all livmns ever written in the interest of foreij^u missions the chief place must be given to Bishop Heber's princely lyric, "From Greeulaud's icy uioimtains." Eternitv alone will reveal the extent to which the cause of world-wide evangeliza- tion has been furthered by the instrumental- itv of this noble i)roduction. Oft as the storv of its origin has been related it will bear an- othei' repetition here. Early in the year 1811) a royal letter was issued authorizing special collections to be taken in every church and chapel of Great Britain for the aid of foreign missions. Whit- sunday of that year fell on the 30th of May, and on that occasion Dr. Shii)ley, Dean of 8t. Asaph, was to take the offering for missions in the parish church of Wrexham, of which he was ihe vicar. He had also arranged for a course of Sunday evening lectures in his church to begin on the evening of that day, 263 • HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL and his son-in-law, the Rev. Reginald Heber, then rector at Hodnet, and later Bishop of Calcutta, was present to deliver the opening lecture. Sometime during the previous day the Dean, his son-in-law, and a few others were together in the vicarage, when the Dean ask- ed Heber to write '^something for them to sing in the morning." He retired at once to another part of the room and seated him- self to his task. After a short time the Dean inquired, ''^Vhat have 3'ou written?" Having written the first three stanzas of the hymn, Heber read them over. 'There, that will do," said the Dean. *'No, no," replied Heber, "the sense is not complete," and pro- ceeded to add the fourth stanza. He would have written more had not the Dean been inexorable to his repeated request of "Let me add another, O let me add another." So with the fourth stanza he completed the hymn which has since become so widely and justly celebrated. It was sung the next morning in the Wrexham church, tradition says to an old ballad tune, " 'Twas when the seas were roaring," and that was the beginning of its marvelous history. The following is the text of the hymn, altered but slightly from its original form : 264 PRIXOE OF MISSIONARY HYMNS From Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand, Where Afric's sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand. From many an ancient river, From many a palmy plain. They call us to deliver Their land from error's chain. What though the spicy breezes Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle ; Though every prospect pleases, And only man is vile : In vain with lavish kindness The gifts of God are strown : The heathen in his blindness Bows down to wood and stone. Can we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high. Can we to men benighted The lamp of life deny? Salvation I O salvation I The joyful sound proclaim, Till each remotest nation Has learned Messiah's Name. Waft, waft, ye winds His story. And you, ye waters, roll. Till like a sea of glory Tt spreads from pole to pole ; Till o'er our ransomed nature The Lamb for sinners slain. Redeemer, King, Creator, In bliss returns to reign. Tune — "Missionary Hymn." 265 HYMXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL The tune to which this great hymn is now generally sung has had much to do with the usefulness of the hymn, and it has a history in interest equal to that of the hymn itself, In February, 1823, the hymn found its way to this counti\v and appeared in the Chris- iian Ohscrvcr. Through this circumstance it fell under the eye of Miss Mary W. Howard, a lady living in Savannah, Georgia, who saw in it great jmssibilities, and eagerly desired 1o have it sung in worship. She could find no tune for it, however^ that seemed apjjro- priate. Finally she called to mind a young bank clerk in the city who had some local reputation as a composer of church music. To him she sent a copy of the hymn with a note requesting him to furnish for it an appropri- ate tune. In response he composed for it, within half an hour, as the story goes, the now famous tune "Missionary Hymn,'' which he had printed as sheet music, bearing the inscription, "Composed for and Dedicated to Miss Mary W. Howard, of Savannah, Geor- gia." That young bank clerk was Lowell Mason, then a little past thirty years of age, who was destined to become the foremost composer of sacred music ever produced in this country. The hymn and tune, having been most fortunately wedded, have ever helj)- 266 PRINCE OF MTSSIOXARY HYMXS I ' I : ed to popularize each other. They have sim^ themselves around the world repeatedly, and the appropriateness of their union is to-day more widely recognized than ever. l^>oth aj*- pear to have been born of a sudden inspira- tion, and encli ;is tlio cdunterjiart of Ihe other. As interest in foreign missionary work in- creases throughout Christendom IJishop lle- ber's hymn has an ever widening sj)here of in- fluence, and an ever growing ]»opularity. As an incitement to self-sacrificing endeavor in the interest of world-wide evangelization it is without an equal. The last stanza in par- ticular is ^'a glorious bugle blast wliich rings like the recclUe of the millennial morning ;'' and the whole hymn has been most aptly characterized bv Dr. Theodore L. Cuvler as "the marching music to which Christ's hosts keep step as they advance to the conquest of the world." It is said that during the great revival of 1858-59 a number of converted sailors on board the steamshi}) North Carolina were conferring together regarding the various lands in which they were born. When it was discovered that they represented ten differ- ent countries^ and that the last one who had spoken was born in Creenland. unable longer 267 HYMXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL to restrain tlieir emotions, one of them led and the rest simultaneously joined in singing, "From Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand, Where Afric's sunny fountaina^ Roll down their golden sand ; From many an ancient river, From many a palmy plain, They call us to deliver Their land from error's chain." We can easily imapne with what a joyous feryor those hardy seamen, hailing from so many widely separated parts of the world, so recently rescued from their liyes of sin, and now filled with the peace and joy of di- yine acceptance, made the strains of this grand old hymn ring out oyer the waters on which they sailed. In the year 1852 Bishop Andrew, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, sent out from the South Carolina conference two preachers to represent and establish the work of his denomination on the Pacific Coast. Not alone the natiye population, but also the mul- titudes then flocking from all parts of the world to California, the land of gold, were in great need of missionary efforts; and the polyglottal gathering there of people from every land made it a particularly opportune 268 PRINCE OF MISSIONARY HYMNS • season for the establishment and spread of ]MethodisiQ in that region. A mission to Cal- ifornia in those days involved about as much of self-denial, sacrifice, hardship and peril as an appointment to a foreign field would mean to-dav. In the midst of their loneliness one t. of the missionaries wrote home regarding the progress of the work. His letter contained an account of the joy it gave him one Sunday' afternoon in 1853, while traveling in the Santa Clara Vallev, to hear a man and his wife from South Carolina singing in front of their tent, — AYaft, waft, ye winds His story, And you, ye waters, roll. Till like a sea of glory, It spreads from pole to pole : Till o'er our ransomed nature, The Lamb for sinners slain. Redeemer, King, Creator, Shall come in bliss to reign." There was a melody in the hymn on that oc- casion to be ai)preciated fulh' only by such as may have heard it sung under similar cir- cumstances. Not all the natural beauty of the country, with its sunny skies, its enamor- ing landscapes, and its luxuriance of flowers, foliage and fruit, on which their senses had feasted for months, had ever once regaled 26q HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL them as did the echoing strains of that sweet song under those conditions. It was to them the breath of a new life with which to prose- cute their self-denving hibors for the salva- tion of their fellow men. 270 XXXIII Messiah's uxiversal keigx Next to Heber's roval missionary liyiuii Dr. Isaac Watts's lyrical rehearsal of the bless- ino:s which are to attend ^[essiah's universal reign upon earth has probably done more than any other in aid of foreign missionary work. It is sung in missionary meetings the wide world over, and always with inspiring effect. The following is the text : .Tesns shall reign where'er the sun Doth His successive journeys run : His kingdom stretch from shore to shore Till moons shall wax and wane no more. ■ From north to south the i»rinces meet To pay their homage at His feet : YSMiile western emjiires own their Loi-d, And savage tribes attend His word. For Him shall endless prayer be made. And endless praises crown His head: His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise With every morning sacrifice. People and realms of every tongue. Dwell on His love with sweetest song; 271 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL And infant voices shall proclaim Their early blessings on His name. IJlessings abound where'er He reigns ; The prisoner leaps to lose his chains ; The weary find eternal rest. And all the sons of want are blest. "Where He displays His healing power, Death and the curse are known no more ; Tn Him the tribes of Adam boast -More blessings than their father lost. The hymn is based on and breathes tlie !^]>irit of the Seventh-second Psalm. It was the author's custom to translate the more evangelical of the Old Testament Psalms into metrical hymns suited to the spirit and needs of the New Testament dispensation and of the varied departments of the Church's work. He was no better pleased with Francis Rous's metrical version of the Psalms for use in Avorshij) than with those hymns of his time Avhich were finally supplanted by his own. He regarded them as rude in construction and altogether Judaic in their coloring. He believed he could give them a metrical ren- dering which Avould conserve their original fervor and fire and at the same time adapt them to the sunnier worship and service of the New Testament age and render them more singable than they had yet been render- 272 MESSIAH'S UNIVERSAL REIGN ed. He said : "I have expressed as I suppose David would have done, had he lived in the davs of Christianitv. I have entirelv f V t.' omitted some whole Psalms and large pieces of manv others, and have chosen out of them such parts only as might easily and naturally be accommodated to the various occasions of the Christian life, or at least might afford us some beautiful allusion to Christian affairs. These I have copied and explained in the gen- eral style of the gospel. I have chosen rather to imitate than to translate, and thus to com- pose a psalm-book for Christians after the manner of the Jewish Psalter/' The hymn was first published in 1719, and contained eight stanzas. The second stanza as novv" sung is made up of portions of stanzas two and tliree as originally written. Watts's eighth stanza, now generally un- known, read as follows : "Let every nation rise and bring Peculiar honors to our King; Angels descend with songs again, And earth repeat the loud Amen." The fulness and completeness of Christ's redemptive vv^ork is beautifully set forth in this hymn, particularly in the stanza, "Where He displays His healing power. Death and the curse are Iciiown no more : 273 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL In Him the tribes of Adam boast More blessings than their father lost." This stanza, however, is one of those omitted by some compilers, possibly because it is thought to be too strong. Nevertheless it is one of the most beautiful, forceful, and, as we think, scriptural portions of the hymn, and so necessary to its completeness that its omission is an injustice alike to the work of Dr. Watts and to the Christian public. "Perhaps one of the most interesting oc- casions on which this hymn was used," says Mr. Stevenson, "'was that on which King (4eorge, the sable, of the South Sea Islands, but of blessed memory, gave a new Constitu- tion to his people, exchanging a heathen for a Christ itm form of government. Under the s])reading branches of the banyan-trees sat Sonne five thousand natis'es from Tonga, Fiji, jind l^^anioa. on AVhitsunday, 18G2, assembled for divine worship. Foremost among them all sat King George himself. Around Iiim were seated old chiefs and warriors who had shared with him the dangers and fortunes of many a battle, — men whose eyes were dim. and whose powerful frames were bowed down with the weight of years. But old and young alike rejoiced together in the joys of that day. their faces most of them radiant 274 MESSIAH'S rXIVERSAL REIGN with Christian joy, love aud hope. It vroiild be impossible to describe? the deep feeling manifested when the solemn service began, by the entire audience singing — 'Jesus shall reigu where'er the sun Doth His successive journeys run : His kingdom stretch from shore to shore. Till suns shall rise and set uo more.' TYho, so much as tliey, could undei'stand the full meaning of the poet's words? for they had been rescued from the darkness of hea- thenism and cannibalism ; and they were that dav met for the first time under a Christian Constitution, under a Christian king, and with Christ Himself reigning in the hearts of, most of those present I" The more recent establishment of Chris- tian government in Madagascar, and the marvelous triumphs of Christianity in the New Hebrides, Hawaii, Micronesia, Oceanica, and the Philippine Islands, as also its on- ward march in India, Africa. China and Ja- pan, are so many tokens that the day is drawing near for the complete realization of the prophetic vision expressed in this glo- rious hymn. Then shall "Angels descend with songs again And earth repeat the loud Amen." 275 XXXIV HAIL TO THE LORD's ANOINTED One of the finest metrical renderings of Hebrew psalmody into the English tongue with which the Church has ever been favored is James ^lontgomery's ode, beginning, "Hail to the Lord's anointed, Great David's greatec Son !" Tt is a free parai)hrase of those portions of the Seventy-second Psalm which foretell the jrlory of Messiah's final advent and uni- versal reign upon the earth. Its author ap- pears to have been accustomed to repeating, when lecturing on literature or poetry, choice selections for the purpose of illustration. On a certain occasion in 1822 he was present and spoke at a Weslevan missionarv asso- elation in Liverpool over which the venerable Dr. Adam Clarke was moderator. When the climax of the poet's address was reached he concluded with the recitation of his own fresh rendering of Psalm LXXII. into English meter. Dr. Clarke was so captivated by the 276 JAMES MONTGOMEEY. HAIL TO THE LORD\S ANOINTED poem that he at once requested the iiiaini- scri])t with permission to insert the i)ani- ])hrase complete in the Coniimentary on the Bible he was then j)reparing*. His request was granted, and the original eight stanzas, unaltered, appear at the close of Dr. Clarke's comments on the Psalm referred to, occupy- ing the larger portion of a quarto page, and preceded by the following remarks: "The folloAving poetical version of some of the principal passages of the foregoing Psalm was made and kindlv sriven me bv mv mucli respected friend, James Montgomery, Esq., of Shefiield. I need not tell the intelligent reader that he has seized the spirit, and ex- hibited some of the principal beauties of the Hebrew bard ; though, to use his own words in his letter to me, his 'hand trembled to touch the harp of Zion.' I take the liberty here to rearister a wish, which I haye strondv expressed to myself, that he would fayor the Church of God with a metrical yersion of the whole book.'' Then follows the hymn, originally entitled, "The Reign of Christ,'' which we here repro- duce without abridgment : Hail to tlie Lord's anointed, Great David's greater Son ! Hail ! in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun I 277 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL He comes to T)reak oppression, To let the captive free, 'I'o talve away transgression, And reign in equity. He comes with succor speedy To tbose who suffer wrong; To belp the poor and needy, And bid tbe weak be strong: To give tbem songs for sigbing, Their darkness turn to light, Whose souls, in misery dying. Were precious in His sight. By such He shall be feared AVbile sun and moon endure. Beloved, adored, revered, For He shall judge tbe poor. Through changing generations, With justice, mercy, truth. While stars maintain their stations, And moons renew their youth. He shall come down like showers Upon tbe fruitful earth. And joy and hope, like flowers, Spring in His path to birth : Before Him. on the mountains. Shall Peace, the herald, go, And righteousness, in fountains, From hill to valley flow. Arabia's desert-ranger To Him shall bow the knee; The Ethiopian stranger His glory come to see: 278 H.ML TO THE LOKD'S ANOINTED With offerings of devotion. Ships from the isles shall meet To pour the wealth of ocean In tribute at His feet. Kings shall fall down before Him, And gold and incense bring : All nations shall adore Him. His praise all people sing: For He shall have dominion O'er river, sea, and shore. Far as the eagle's pinion. Or dove's light wing can soar. For Him shall prayer unceasing. And daily vows ascend; His kingdom still increasing, — A kingdom without end ; The mountain-dews shall nourish * A seed in weakness sown. Whose fruit shall spread and flourish And shake like Lebanon. O'er every foe victorious. He on His throne shall rest. From age to age more glorious. — All-blessing and all-blest : The tide of time shall never His covenant remove : His name shall stand for ever. His name — what is it? Love. Tune— ''Webb." It is an interesting coincidence that both this hymn and Dr. Watts's "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Doth His successive journeys run,'' 279 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL are paraphrases of the same portion of He- brew psalmody. We have seen the suggestion somewhere in our reading that Montgomery's production is probably an unconscious imita- tion of Dr. Watts's hymn. Such a sugges- tion appears to us without warrant, and a gross injustice to Mr. I\Iontgomery. The in- spiration for the writing of both hymns was borrowed from the same source, and both are occupied with paraphrasing the same piece of Hebrev/ literature into English meter; but there is enough of distinct individ-' nality displayed in each to indicate the fullest originality in the later as well as in the earlier hymn produced. The coincidence in the production of these two hymns, so similar and yet so dissimilar, from the same original source is a striking illustration of the won- derful fountain of inspiration for their muses Christian poets have ever found in the Holy Scriptures. As now generally published in the church hymnals Montgomery's hymn appears with but four stanzas — the first, second, fourth and seventh of the original. In this abridged form it makes an admirable hvmn for devo- tional use, and is peculiarly adapted to awakening missionary enthusiasm, and also to expressing the Church's hope for her Lord's return. 280 Our Country 28i XXXV NATIONAL HYMN The people of the United ^?tates have and vet have not a national hymn. The Rev. Sam- uel Francis Smith's ''^Fy country, 'tis of thee'' has so long been regarded as such by common consent that few ever stop to consider that neither this nor any other production has ever been authoritatively designated as the national hymn. It holds the same place in the hearts of the American people, however, as does "God save the king" in the hearts of the English, or the ••Marsellaise'' in the hearts of the French jieople; and it has been so long halloAved by universal use that au- thoritative enactment to make it the national hymn would be su])ertluous. Following is the text : My country I 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty. Of thee I sintr : Land where my fathers died 1 Land of the Pilirrinis' pride I From every mountain-side Let Freedom ring I 283 HY^IXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL My native country, thee — Land of the noble free — Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills; My heart with rapture thrills Like those above. Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song: Let mortal tongues awake ; Let all that breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break — The sound prolong. Our fathers' God! to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing : Long may our land be bright AVith freedom's holy light : Defend us by Thy might. Great God, our King. TrxE — "America." The author of this inspiring and widely known hymn was a Baptist minister of New England. He was born in Boston in 1808, and was educated at Harvard and Andover. He filled various important pastorates and occupied other responsible positions in the de- nomination to which he belonged, during his long and highly useful ministry^ the later years of which were spent at Newton, Massa- chusetts. He also wrote several valuable 284 NATIONAL HYMN books and numerous livmns and poems. His stirring missionary hymn, "The morning light is breaking," is one of his best known and most useful lyrical productions. He was one of the editors of "The Psalmist,'' a Bap- tist hymn-book published in Boston in 1843. "^ly country, 'tis of thee" and also seyeral other hymns of his own composing, were con- tributed to that yaluable collection. His na- tional hymn has come down to us without al- teration. Dr. Smith died Xoyember 16th, 1805, full of years and ri|}e for the kingdom. The story of the hymn has been told briefly t e t. bv its author, who says it "was written in 1832. I found the tune in a German music- book brought to this country by the late Wil- liam C. AVoodbridge, and put into my hands by Lowell Mason, because (so he said) I could read German books and he could not. It is, howeyer. not a translation, but the ex- pression of my thouixht at the moment of glancing at the tune." Tlie origin of the tune to which this hymn is generally sung in this country ["America"] is inyolyed in uncertainty. It is used in Great Britain as "God Saye the King." which is considered the national song. "The name ^Am.erica' was added by Lowell Mason," says Dr. Robinson, "who arranged it for use in 285 PIYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL this country." Some consider it as an amend- ment made by Henry Cary, near the end of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century, from Dr. John Bull, who died in 1G22. The tune was first published in England in honor of George II. But French critics claim that the original m,usic was com- posed by Lulli/and that it was sung by 300 young ladies before Louis XIV. at St. Cyr, where Handel found it in 1721. They even go so far as to insist that the words ["God save the king''] wei^e composed by Madame de Brinon, the Mother Superior, beginning, ^ Grand Dieu, sauvez le RoW The following anonymous verses, though not submitted for their poetic merit, pay high and deserved tribute to Dr. Smith's hymn : PASSING THE PRIMARY SCHOOL "Again each morning as we pass The city's streets along, We hear the voices of the class Ring out the nation's song. "The small boy's treble piping clear, The bigger boys' low growl, And from the boy who has no ear A wierd, discordant howl. "With swelling hearts we hear them sing 'My country! 'tis of thee — ' From childish throats the accents ring, *Sweet land of liberty.' 286 NATIONAL HYMN "Their little hearts aglow with pride, Each with exultant tongue Proclaims : 'From every mountain-side Let freedom's song be sung.' "Let him who'd criticise the time, Or scout the harmony. Betake him to some other clime — No patriot is he! "From scenes like these our grandeur springs, And we shall e'er be strong, While o'er the land the schoolliouse rings Each day with freedom's song." The hymn is usually suug on all national and patriotic occasions. Americans would feel sadly at a loss in an Independence Day or a Thanksgiving Day exei'cise without the inspiration of its stirring strains. It is also the hymn that voices the feelings of Ameri- cans on first sighting their own shores after a period of foreign travel. It has always had a warmer place in the writer's heart since the 20th of June, 1895, when, returning from a three months' tour abroad, as the steamshij* St. Louis brought us within sight of the home-land the voices of all Americans on board joined, almost simultaneously, and with genuine fervor, in singing, "My country ! 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty. Of thee I sing." 287 XXXVI BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC It is strange indeed, bnt no less strange than true, that the greatest Battle-Hymn ever written gnshed from the gentle and sympa- thetic heart of a woman. Agitated intensely and wrought up to the highest pitch of sym- pathy and patriotic emotion over the scenes she had witnessed in a visit to the Army of the Potomac, soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Mrs. fJulia Ward Howe, whose name will ever be a synonym for all that goes 10 make up the noblest type of womanhood, ]>oured out the pent-up inspiration of her soul in the composition of the following inspiring and popular hymn : Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord ; He is trampling out tbe vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. Tie hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword ; His truth is marching on. 1 have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps : 288 BATTLE HY^klX OF THE REPUIMJC Tbe.v have bnilded ITiiii aii altar In the ovcninL? (lows and damps : I have read His righteous sentence by tlie dim and tlariug himps ; Ills day is marching on. 1 have read a liery gospel writ in Imrning rows of sfceel — "As ye deal with My contemners, so with you ^Nly grace shall deal;" Let the ficro born of woman crush the serpent with His heel. Since God is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat : He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judg- ment-seat ; Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him: be jubilant my feet, — Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea. \\'ith a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me : As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free. While God is marching on. Tune — "John Rrow.x's Konv."" Probably no other patriotic hymn is better known or oftener sung throughout the lengtli and breadth of onr country than this; and surely none is better adapted to inspiring 289 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL optimistic enthusiasm for the country's weal, or serene confidence regarding the issue of every gTeat crisis through which the nation ]?asses. Tn its production our modern Miri- am has exquisitely expressed, and also mar- velously intensified, the spirit of our nation, on the lips of whose sons and daughters the uords of her matchless song will live "Till the Hero born of woman crush the serpent with His heel." The Independent i)ublished at some length the storv of this remarkable hvmn a few vears ago, of which the following is a part, as quoted by Col. Nicholas Smith in ^'Hymns Historically Famous:" "It was in December, 1861. that Mrs. Howe, in company with her husband. Gov- ernor and Mrs. xVndrew, and other friends, visited Washington, itself almost in the con- dition of an armed camp. On the journey tliither, the watchfires of a hundred circling camps gleamed in the darkness, the railroad being patrolled by pickets. Mrs. Howe has told of the martial sights and sounds in the national capitol, and of her drive to a dis- tance of several miles from the city to see a review^ of our troops. An attack from the enemy interrupted the program, and the re- 290 BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC turn drive was made through files of soldiers who occupied almost the entire road. To be- guile the tedium of their slow progress, Mrs. Howe nnd her frieuds sang army songs, among others, 'John Brown's Bodj.' This seemed to please the soldiers, who surround- ed them like a river, and who themselves took I'P the strain, in the interval crying, 'Good for you.' Our poet had often wished to write words to be sung to this tune, and now, in- deed, liad she 'Read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel.' " Her visit to the army of the Potomac gave Mrs. Howe such a conception of war as she could have obtained in no other wav — of the wild commotion, the wholesale and horrible slaughter, the widespread and terrible deso- lation, the awful strain upon the nation's life, and the almost universal gloom and hor- ror with which it fills the land. Her heart was stirred with emotions deep and strong, and made to beat in sympathetic response to her country's agony and peril. In the midst of all these depressing and deplorable condi- tions, however, the inspiration of the prophet and the vision of the seer were hers, and, dur- ing the night following her visit to the seat 291 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL of war, she stole from her bed and gave vent to her pent-up spirit of prophetic song in the immortal lines of the foregoing hymn. Some time after its composition the poem was shown to Mr. James T. Fields, then edi- tor of The Atlantic Monthly, who to some extent recognized its merit, suggested as a fitting title for it, "Battle-Hymn of the Re- public," and xjublished it in his magazine in February, 18G2, with no signature attached. Mrs. Howe is said to have received the trifling sum of five dollars for this immortal pro- duction. But the imperishable honor it has brought her, and the invaluable service it has rendered to the country she so ardently loves, are rewards with which no amount of nionied renumeration is to be compared. "When James Russell Lowell was editor of The Atlantic, ^^ writes Colonel Smith, "he declined to publish a poem written by Julia "Ward Howe^ and gave as his reason therefor that no woman could write a poem, and said tiiat 'Mrs. Browning's efforts were a conspic- uous illustration of this fact.' But Mrs. Howe did write a poem which The Atlantic did accept, and, athough Mr. Lowell wrote many verses which will live long in our liter- ature, he has written nothing that will touch the popular heart as deeply as the glorious anthemi — 292 JULIA WAKD HOWE. BATTLE HYMX OF THE REPnU.IC *Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.' " As an illustration of the popularity and power of the air to this noble and stirring hymn the following, from the pen of John Habberton, who served in the Civil War and afterward did editorial work on several im- portant periodicals and wrote books on vari- ous topics, and who wrote it long after the struggle was all over, will be in place: ''The old air has a wonderful influence over me. I heard it in Western camp-meetings and negro cabins when I was a boy. I saw the 22nd Massachusetts march down Broad- way singing the same air during a rush to the front in the early days of the war; I have heard it sung by warrior tongues in nearly every Southern State; my old brigade sang it softly, but with a swing that was terrible in its earnestness, as they lay behind their stacks of arms just before going into action; T have heard it played over the grave of nmny a dead comrade; the semi-mutinous th cav^alry became peaceful and patriotic again as their bandmaster played the old air, after having asked permission to try his hand on them ; it is the tune that burst forth spon- taneously in our barracks on that glorious morning when he learned that the war was 293 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL over, and ir was sung with words adapted to the 0( casion by some good rebel friends of mine on onr first social meeting after the war." Jnlia Ward Howe still lives. Her years are many, she having recently passed her eighty-fonrth birthday. She is not old, how- ever^ since those who live under the spell of such inspiring and enchanting visions as heaven vouchsafed to her never grow old. ^'At the end of a beautiful life, she now looks to- ward the lyreat lights of eternitv that beckon the faithful workers and believers to an hon- orable rest, and to the hope of renewed work in the universe after rest." She is a great Avoman in all that makes for great and noble womanhood. She has expressed the great- ness of her heart and character in the produc- tion of a great hymn. Regarding that pro- duction the writer would say, in the language of another: ^'Read it; teach it to your chil- dren; and, above all, understand it. See Avhat she saw^ — Justice that will not be denied in the end. Progress that cannot be stopped, and Truth that must triumph." 294 Death 295 XXXVII ABIDE WITH ME Of all hymns written under the shadow of that ineffable mvsterv called Death none is more deservedly popular than the tender, hopeful and beautiful swan-song of Henry Francis Lyte, beginning, "Abide with me I fast falls the eventide ; The darkness deeijens ; Lord, with me abide." The hvmn has quite commonly and yet as mistakenly been classified as an Evening Hymn. In the popular conception the deep- ening darkness mentioned in the second line means the gathering gloom of night ; whereas the author had no reference to evening shades whatever, but to the gathering shades of death's long sleep. The pathos of the hymn becomes much more impressive when this fact is understood, and also when we remember that the poet was already enveloped in the fringe of those darkening shadows when his poul poured forth this sweet and hallow^ed lyric. To appreciate the value of the hymn 297 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL we should regard it as a voice wafted back to us from one just entering within the vail that separates between time and eternity, and who cheered his own passage through the deepen- ing shades with this song of marvelous beauty, love and trust. For a sketch of Mr. Lyte's earlier history the reader is referred to Chapter XXI. of this volume. After various shiftings of fortune in his case, he "entered [in 1823] upon the perpet- ual curacy of the Lower Brixham, Devon- shire, England, which he held until his death, twenty-five years later. It was a strange and uncongenial field for a man of Mr. Lyte's culture, refinement and literary tastes, the place being described as a fishing town, com- posed of ^'a poor, rough, sea-faring popula- tion." Here he labored in the spirit of his divine Master, however, with affectionate ten- derness and self -consuming zeal, and remark- able success crowned his efforts. Here also he wrote his sadly tender yet remarkably beautiful Christian lyrics found in nearly all modern hvmnals. Alwavs delicate in health, Mr. Lvte's la- bors on the rude English coast were too much for his strength, and year by year he steadily declined until he was compelled at last to 298 ABIDE WITH ME seek recuperation in travel and in rest from public duties. He saw that the lamp of his life was surely burning out, and. although prepared to die, he longed to live until he should accomplish more of enduring value than seemed to have resulted from his labors. This yearning found expression in the follow- ing lines: *'Mislit verse of mine inspire One virtuous aim, one high resolve impart: Light in one drooping soul a hallowed fire, Or bind one broken heart, "Death would be sweeter then. More calm my slumber 'neath the silent sod ; Might I thus live to bless my fellow men, Or glorify my God." Mr. Lyte had returned home to spend the summer of 1847 with his people in Lower Brixham. His health so rapdly declined, however, that his only hope of life was in getting off as early as possible for the warm- er climate of Southern Europe. The fourth of September was to be his last Sabbath with the people of his parish. To the surprise of his friends, who saw that he was on the very brink of the grave, he announced his deter- mination to preach once more to the people he so ardently loved. He carried out his pur- 299 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL pose, and, feeble as he was, delivered a most affecting farewell sermon, after which he ad- ministered the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- per. Much exhausted, but full of strong emo- tion, he went to his home, and, in accordance with his own poetic prayer — "And graut me, swan-like, my last breath to spend In song that may not die," — composed both words and music of his last and sweetest hymn, ^'Abide With Me," of which the following is the original form : Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide; The darkness thickens. Lord, with me abide. "When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me! Swift to its close ebbs ont life's little day ; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away ; Change and decay in all aronnd T see ; O Thou who changest not, abide with me. Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word. But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples. Lord — Familiar, condescending, patient, free, — Come not to sojourn, but abide with me. Come not in terrors, as the King of kings. But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings; Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea ; Come, Friend of sinners, thns abide with me. 300 ABIDE WITH ME Thou on my liend in early youth diclst smile ; And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile, Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee ; On to the close, O Lord, abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour : Wliat but Thy grace can foil" the tempter's power? Who like Thyself my guide and stay caa be? Through cloud and darkness, O abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless ; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is Death's sting? where, Grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Q'hou abide with me. Hold then Thy cross before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies : Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows tiee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Tune — "Eventide." The liTmn now usnallv appears with stan- zas 3, 4 and 5 omitted. It may be wise that this abridgment is made, tiie hvmn being quite complete without the omitted stanzas, and the length of the lines, the number of stanzas and the slowness of the movement rendering the full hvmn too long for use in piiblic worship. ^'The darkness thickens," in line 2 of stanza 1. was early changed to ''the darkness deepens," "no doubt by Mr. Lyte himself." Later, "Hold then Thy cross" >vas wisely changed to "Hold Thou Thy cross/' 301 HYMNS THAT ARE nLMORTAL this form appearing in the author's later jjoems. Mr. Lvte on leaving England intended to go to Rome. His rapid decline, however, com- pelled him to halt at Nice, in France, where, November 20, 1847, ^'the silver cord was loosed, the golden bowl broken." and the good man's spirit pasced to be '^forever with the Lord.'' In passing a smile transfigured his face^ and, in subdued but triumphant tones he uttered the words — ^%Joy I Peace I'' Two instances illustrative of the inspiring and consoling power of the hymn Avill be ad- duced in closing this sketch. The first of these was connected with the closing of Jennie O'Neill Potter's life, and is reproduced from Tol. Nicholas Smith's "Hymns Historically Famous." ''When that gifted elocutionist and reader lay dying in St. Luke's Hospital. New York, in 1900, the closing of her young and bril- liant life by an incurable disease did not dis- turb her soul. The physicians told her that her remaining days were about ninety; and she began a patient waiting for the inevitable hour. The nurses wondered how the frail little woman could be so happy. She would sing to herself all day long, and as the even- ing fell over the big building upon the hill 302 ABIDE WITH ME not far from General Grant's tomb, a delight- ful melody, with some pathetic Avords, would come from Miss Potter's room. Physicians and nurses could not restrain their tears of sympathy while they listened with breathless attention as she softly crooned the tender lines, 'Abide with me ! Fast falls the eventide ; The darkness deepens ; Lord, with me abide ! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee. Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.' Tn the mortal struggle with disease when ^other helpers failed,' when all around was dark, this hymn was Miss Potter's comfort to the very hour when she realized the full nieaning of the triumphant line, 'Heaven's morninp: breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee.* •" The other instance is that of Louise Butler, who, in alighting from a railway train in Chicago, fell under the wheels of the moving train and was ^'horribly mangled." Report- ing the accident the Chicago Record-Herald, as quoted by the Commoner, stated that after the accident ^liss Butler was placed on the train from which she had fallen to be convey- ed to a hospital five miles away. Reviving in spite of her terrible injuries, she began sing- ing softly : 303 HY^rXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL "Abide with me. Fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide. When others helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me." Slio saiij; the hymn through, the report con- timies, even as her hands clenched in her n.i;ony. and the last line was reached as the train stoj)iied and she was lifted from it. Again Avlien she was placed on the opera- iijig table the girl sang the prayer, only ceasing when her mother and father reached her, to l>eg them not to grieve. Turning from them to her pastor. Miss lUitler asked him to comfort her parents, and requested him to pray. As the prayer was finished she took u]) another hymn: "My iaith looks u]) to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divin(\ Now hear me while I pray ; Take all my gnilt away ; Oh. let me from this day r.e wholly Tliino."' Tier voice faltering on the last line, she whispered: "Do not grieve. Tell them I am not afraid to die,'' and became unconscious. She died thirty minutes afterward. 304 XXXVIII ASLEEP IN JESUS . Sooner or later Death forces 'liis war into every home, and, with inexorable summons, calls for one after another of the family cir- cle to leave it and follow him to those deep shades from which none evermore return. I[oAv dark the i)all of gloom that settles npon those from Avliom loved ones are thus ruthlessly severed none can ever know until called themselves to follow the lifeless forms of those thev have tenderlv loved to their linal resting place. Christian hymnody is re- ])lete with lyrics peculiarly adapted to min- istering consolation to those who are thus called to burv their dend out of their sioht, but none among them all is characterized by greater sweetness, beauty and consolatory power than Mrs. ^largaret ^[ackay's hymn entitled, ^'Sleeping in Jesus," of which the following is a reproduction : Asleep in .Tesns I blessed sleep. From wbich none ever wakes to weep I A calm and undisturbed repose, Unbroken br the last of foes. 305 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL Asleep in Jesus ! Ob, how sweet To be for such a slumber meet! With holy confidence to sing, That Death hath lost its venomed sting. Asleep in Jesus ! peaceful rest, Whose waking is supremely blest! No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour That manifests the Savior's power. Asleep in Jesus ! Oh, for me ^lay such a blissful refuge be! Securely shall my ashes lie, Waiting the summons from on high. Asleep in Jesus ! time nor space Debars this precious "hiding place ;" On Indian plains or Lapland snows l^elievers find the same repose. Asleep in Jesus ! far from Thee Thy kindred and their graves may be; But thine is still a blessed sleep, From which none ever wakes to weep. Tune— "Rest." ^frs. ^lackay, autlioi* of the liyiiin, was born near Inverness, Scotland, in 1802. Her fa- thei- was ('aptain Robert IMackay, of the British army, and her husband Colonel Wil- lijini Mackay, of the Sixty-Eighth Light In- fantry, tc whom she was married in 1820. In addition to several prose works she wrote between seventy and eighty hymns, the best 306 A^^LEEr IN JESUS kiiowE among them being ^'Asleep in Jesus/' On January 5, 1887, after a long life of devo- tion to the blaster's service, she entered that "calm and undisturbed repose" of which slie wrote so beautifully in the foregoing hymn. The hymn first appeared in The Amethyst, or Christian Annual^ for the year 1832, and was introduced as follows: '^Sleeping in Jesus. By ^Irs. ^fackay, of ITedgefield. This simjde but expressive sentence is inscribed on a topibstone in a rural burying-ground in Devonshire, and gave rise to the following verses.-' ]Mrs. ^Mackay reprinted it in her ^'Thoughts Redeemed," 1854, and in connection there- ^^•ith said : ^"The burying-ground meant is that of Pennycross Chapel. Distant only a few miles from a bustling and crowded seaport town, reached tlirough a succession of those lovelv areen lanes for which Devonshire is so renuirkable, the quiet aspect of Pennycross comes soothingly over the mind. 'Sleeping in Jesus' seems in keeping with all around." The hymn has won much favor among all English-speaking peoples, and will doubtless (.ontinue its ministrv of consolation to the bereaved and sorrowing until the coming of Ihat day when it will be said, "Death is swallowed up in victory." 307 XXXIX CROSSING THE BAR ^^Xotliing that Tennyson has ever written,'^ declares Dr. Henry van Dyke, as quoted by Mr. Siitherhmd in The DcUneator, for Decern- ber^ 11)05, ''is more beautiful in body and soul than H'rossing' the Bar.' It is perfect poetry — simple e\en to tlie verge of austerity, yet rich with all the suggestions of wide ocean and waning light and vesper bells; easy to understand and full of music, yet opening inward to a truth which has no words, and pointing onward to a vision which transcends all forms; it is a delight and a consolation, a song for mortal ears, and a prelude to the larger music of immortality." The text of this beautiful lyric is as fol- lows : Smiset and eveninsr star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar When I pnt to sea. But snch a tide as moving seems asleep. Too full for sound and foam, 308 ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON. crOkSkSIxg the bar When that which drew from out the hound- less deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening hell, And after that the dark ! And may there he no sadness of farewell When I emhark ; For, though from out our borne of time and place The flood may iSear me far, I hope to see my IMlot face to face When I have crossed the bar. Alfred, Lord Teniivson, wrote these lines in 1889, and they at once struck such a chord of popular sympathy as soon won for them a place in church hymnody. In producing them their author had no thought of writing a hymn, however, and possibly a strict ad- herence to his own ideal of what a good hymn should be would exclude them from the realm of church hymnody altogether. "A good hymn/' he tells us, '^is the most difficult thing in the world to write. In a good hymn you have to be commonplace and poetical. The moment you cease to be com- monplace, and put in any expression at all out of the common, it ceases to be a hymn.'' "Crossing the Bar" will always appeal suc- cessfully to popular favor because of the 309 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL gemiine poetry which breathes in its utter- ances, but is there not too much ^'out of the common" in it, and also too much irregularity in its meter, to admit of its ever becoming l)0])ular as a hymn? However this may be, the poem has found its way into some prom- inent church hymnals on both sides of the At- lantic, and, as a lyric for devotional use on occasions important but somewhat rare, it is likely to hold its place and enlarge its sphere of inliuence. The story of its origin is related in Hallam Tennyson's "Memoir" of his father (Volume IT., pp. 3G6, 307) as follows: "'Crossing the Bar' was written in my father's eighty-first year, on a day in October when we came from Aldworth to Farringford. Before reaching Farringford he had the ^loaning of the Bar in his mind, and after dinner he showed me this j)oem written out. "T said, 'That is the crown of your life's work.' Tie answei^ed, 'It came in a moment.' He explained the 'TMlot' as 'that Divine Un- seen who is always guiding us.' " Mr. Hallam Tennyson also says, in the same connection, "A few days before my father's death he said to me: 'Mind you put "Crossing the Bar" jit the end of all editions of my i)oems.' " 310 CROSSIXG THE BAR Space is lacking for even a brief sketch of the illustrious poet's life who wrote this ex- quisite swan-sonii\ the l)reathini»s of which were remarkably fulfilled in the closing of his mortal career. One of his physicians, Sir Andrew Clark, declared Lord Tennyson's the most glorious death he had ever witnessed. *'The tide of his life ebbed peacefully out into the ureat ocean of eternity, and so calmly did he respond to the beckoning hand of the death angel that those who stood about his bed s<'arcely knew when the end came. * "" * There could not ha ye been a gentler passing of a soul to its Creator.-' ^'Crossing the Bar" was published the same year it was written, in "'Demeter and other Poems," and at once became popular. The lirst use of it as a. hymn was at Lord Tenny- son's funeral in Westminster Abbey, October 12, 1892. The occasion itself was one of ex- traordinary im])ressiveness and of world-wide interest, and the scene at the interment of the body in Westminster Abbey has been pre- served in a gTa}>hic pen ])icture drawn by the daughter of the Dean as follows: "As the procession slowly passed u^) the nave and paused beneath the lantern, where the coffin was placed during the first inirt of the burial service, the sun lit up the dark scene, and 311 HYMNS TUAT ARE IMMORTAL loiiclied the red-and-blue union jack upon the coiiin witli brilliant lij;ht, filtered throngli the jtainted jsanes of Chaucer's window on the cleared purple sjjace by the oj)en grave, and lighting up the beautiful bust of Dryden, the massive head of Longfellow, the gray tomb of Chaucer, and the innuni.erable wreaths heajied upon it. In the intense and solemn silence which followed the reading of the lesson vvere heard the voices of the choir singing in subdued and tender tones Tenny- son's ^Crossing the I>ar' — those beautiful words in vrliich the poet, as it were, foretold his calm and ])eaceful deathbed. In the sec- ond line the clear, thrilling notes of a boy's voice sounded like a silver trumpet call anions: the arches, and it was onlv at inter- vals that one distinguished Dr. Bridge's beau- tiful organ accompaniment, vrhicli swelled gradually from a subdued murmur, as of the moaning tide, into a triumphant burst from the voices, so blended together were words and music." The Presbyterians were the first to give "Crossing the Bar" a place among the hymns of the Church. "A committee of the Free Church of Scotland engaged Sir Joseph Barn- by to set it to music, and printed it in their 'Home and School Hymnal' of 1S9.3. In this 312 CROSJ^INO THE r>AR countrv also the Presbvterians were the first to include it aiiionjii" their hymns, it ai)i)earing in 'The Ilyinnar of 1895. It has since ap- ])earecl in "The Church Hymnarv' of the Scot- tish churches in several independent collec- tions." y\i'. Edward Lushington made a transla- tion of "<'rossing the Bar" into Greek which Lord Tennyson regarded as the finest trans- lation he had ever read, and which Hallam Tennyson reproduces in a foot-note connected with his account of tlie poem as given ahove. "^>unset and Evening Star" was a favorite of Dr. George Yardlev Tavlor, the brii-iant young ])hysician who gave up his life so hero- ically at Paotingfu. China, in the niiassacre of June. 1900. During the days preceding the traced V, the little circle of men, women and children, who were so soon to seal their faith with their blood, frequently gathered about the organ in the compound and sang the songs of the home-land, now doubly dear and consoling to them because of tlieir help- lessness and need ; and with pathetic pre- science Tennyson's beautiful sunset hymn was always included. It would be difficult 1o iuiagine a greater contrast than that which existed between the ])eaceful surround- ings of the gifted author when he "crossed 313 HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL the l>ar" in tlie earlv autumn morninj>' and tbe wild tnniult through which these brave young missionaries went to their martyrdom ; l)ut Ave doubt not that the same gentle Pilot. y\\\o stood in the quiet moonlit chamber, while "the casement slowly grew a glimmer- ing square," was also ''keeping watch above His own'' at the awful carnage, and that after the ^'twilight and evening bell" ITe ten- derly guided them all — poet and martyrs — to their desired haven, to be with Him forever in ''a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens/' 314 FUTURK IvIFK 31; XI. JOYOUS PROSPECT OF IMMORTALITY Xo production within the whole compass of church hvnmodv more vioorously and beautiful It sets forth the joyous prospect of iriimortality to which believers are begotten through the gospel than the following from the pen of Charles Wesley: And let this feeble body fail And let it faint or die : My sonl shall quit the mournful vale And soar to worlds on high : Shall join the disembodied saints, And find its long-sought rest. That only bliss for which it pants In the Redeemer's breast. In hope of that immortal crowm I now the cross sustain. And gladly wander up and down, And smile at toil and pain: 1 sufl'er on my threescore years, Till my Deliverer come. And wipe away ITis servant's tears, And take Ilis exile home. HYMNS THAT ARE IMMORTAL ^^ilat luith Jesus bought for me! Before my ravished eyes TJlvers of life divine I see And trees of Paradise: 1 see a world of spirits l)riL'-ht, AVho taste the pleasures there : They all are robed in spotless white, And conquering palms they bear. O what are all my sufferings here. If, Lord, Thou count me meet With that enraptured host to appear, And worship at Thy feet I Give joy or grief, give ease or pain. Take life or friends away, But let me find them all again In that eternal day. Tune — "Roberts." This is one of Wesley's "Funeral Hvmns/' published in 1759. The original contained nine stanzas. The foregoing abridgment comprises stanzns one and two, the first half of stanzas five and six, and stanza nine of the original, 's^ith n fe^v slight but important alterations which first api)eared, according to Dr. Xntter, in the ''York Pocket Hymn- Book" in 178G. This noble lyric has been greatly blessed to thousands of God's dear saints in life and in the hour of death. It >vas a great favorite with the waiter's father, and often did the good man cheer his own heart and brighten 318 PROSPECT OF IMMORTALITY his own lioi)e in seasons of trial by llie singing of its exalted and inspiring strains. All who were intimately accpiainted with the late Rev. B. T. Roberts will also remember it as a hymn that was often on his li])s, and tliat to the inspiration aiul con; fort of both liimself a!id those abont him. The singing of the sljinza bcoinnino-, "O wli.-it lijith Jesns boujrlit for mo I" by a i)ious yonng lady who was ill, about half a centnry ago, resulted in the conversion of her brotlier, sitting by her side as she sang. He was led to ask himself, ^*Has Jesns bought nothing for me?" Following this awakening he sought and found pardon, and, not long after, both the brother and sister, accompanied by anotlier brother, left their native country to labor as missionaries in the island of Ceylon. '^Tliousands of pious souls Iiave been cheer- ed bv the words of this hvmn," savs ^Ir. Stevenson, "while passing through the dirk valley. There is not a verse of it but has been made a blessing to some pilgrim..'' It is a hymn, too, that will live to be n>ade a blessing to thousands more as the successive generations of mankind appeal* and pass awav. 319 XLI THE I,AND OF PURE DELIGHT There is a land of pure delight, Where sahits immortal reign ; Infinite day excludes the niglit, And pleasures banish pain. There everlasting spring abides, And never-withering flowers ; Death, like a narrow sea, divides Tliis heavenly land from ours. Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood Stand dressed in living green ; So to the Jews old Canaan stood, Wliile Jordan rolled between. But timorous mortals start and shrink To cross this narrow sea. And linger, shivering on the brink, And fear to launch away. Oh, could we make our doubts remove, These gloomy doubts that rise. And see the Canaan that we love With unbeclouded eyes ; Could we but climb where Moses stood, Aiid view the landscape o'er, Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood. Should fright us from that shore. Tune — "VarixNa." 320 THE LAND OF l^UKE DELIGHT Dr. Isaac AYatts composed this beantifvil liyniD of faith and hope while vet a yoirnj:^ iiiau, and published it under the iK-cnIiar title, ''A Prosper^t of Heaven Makes Death Easy." It is a "familiar son<»- of the a<>es now, OTie of the 'folk-songs' of the American ])eo]de at least." During upwards of thirty years of ministerial life, in which he has traveled quite extensively, the writer has found no ])lace where the hymn is not famil- iar. Dr. A^'atts wrote this hyn>n "at his native home in Southampton, while sitting at the window of a parlor which overlooks the river Itchen, and in full view of the Isle of Wight. The landscape there is very beautiful, and forms an enchanting model for a poet when describing tlie Paradise above." The hymn is sweet, beautiful, and inspir- ing, breathing the atmos])here of hope and aspiration with regard to life beyond the tomb, and yet is exi)ressive of a hope that trembles and shrinks because of the unclear- ness of its vision. In this i-espect it is less exultant than the hymns of Dr. Stennett and Charles Wesley written on similar themes. Dr. Btennett wrote the hymn beginning, ''On Jordan's stormy banks I stand," in which he exultingly exclaims, — 321 HYMN8 THAT ARE IMMORTAL "Filled with delight, my rnptured soul Would here no longer stny : Though Jordan's waves around nie roll. Fearless I'd launch away ;" and Charles Wesley, in liis hymn on ''The Spirit and the Bride say, Come," sings in loftiest strains of holy triumph, — "The promised land from Pisgah's top I now exult to see ; My hope is full (O glorious hope!) Of immortality." This hymn has ever had peculiar attrac- tions for t!ie suffering and the dying, and also for the bereaved and sorrowing. Its charm for these classes is due chieflv to the sw^eet and full assurance with which its first stanza speaks of the celestial Canaan and the en- ciianting imagery in which it describes the virtues of that heavenly country. Pages could ])e filled witli instances in which the hymn has been a solace and an inspiration to weary pilgrims at the fording of Jordan, and to tliose wdio, at the brink of the river, have watched as their loved ones embarked, and then have turned away to linger yet a little in loneliness and sorrow^ before being j)ermitted to join them in their celestial home, but our space is too limited for the in- 322 THE LAND OF PURE DELIGHT trodiiction of tliese interesting narratives here. ^lav the vision which is the burden of this charming lyric and the hope which it in- spires afford both the writer and his readers support and cheer in the hour of their fare- w^ell to earthly scenes and relationships. 323 XLII FOREVER WITH THE LORD "Forever with the Lord !" Amen, so let it be ! Life from the dead is in that word, 'Tis immortality. Here in the body pent, Absent from Him I roam, Yet ni.ichtly pitch my moving tent A day's march nearer home. "Forever with the Lord !" Father, if 'tis Thy will, The promise of that faithful word, E'en here to me fulfil. So when my latest breath Shall rend the vail in twain, Ky death I shall escape from death, And life eternal gain. Knowing as I am known. How shall I love that word. And oft repeat before the throne, "Forever with the Lord I" 324 FOREVER WITH THE LORD "Forever with the Lord !" AuKni, so let it be. Life from the dend is in that word, Tis immortality. Tune — "Nearer Home." This is auotber of James ^roDt<>oiii- ery's invaluable tontrilmtions to Christian hynmody. He first published it in 1827, in two i)arls, the first containing' nine stanzas and the second thirteen. The hvnni as here given comprises stanzas one, two, fourteen, sixteen, seventeen and twentv-two, of the original, unaltered. Referring to the favor the i)roduction received in his time from the Cliristian public the authou once said, ''I re- ceived directly and indirectly more testimo- nials of approbation in reference to these verses, than jterliaps any others I have writ- ten of the sauie class, with the exception of those on prayer." ^Ir. Stevenson in commenting on the hymn aptly says, "This is one of those strains of sacred thought, which, having once taken hold of the public mind, will live in the serv- ice of song to the end of time. " * * Tlie hvmn remained unsuns; and unnoticed for a quarter of a century, when it was introduced to the public with a tune which was so well fitted io exhibit the force and beauty of tlie 325 HY.MXS THAT ARE IMMORTAL words that the time lias recominended the hymn. * * * Tn Yorkshire, in which coun- try it was written, tlie hymn is a great favor- ite, and it lias frequently been used by dying Christians who luid before them the bright reality of being — 'Forevor with the Lord.' ^'At one of the conferences of the ^Methodist Free Church held in Leeds, soon after the hymn was first introduced to Methodist read- ers, it was sung, and such a depth of spirit- ual ])ower fell upon the assembly, that the Rev. James Everett, then an octogenarian, (werwhelmed with emotion, fell prostrate in devout adoration as tlie singing progressed. This was witnessed by the conference, and the members knew the intense affection which existed between ^lontgomery and Ev-