THE BENSON LIBRARY OF HYMNOLOGY 
 
 Endowed by the Reverend 
 
 Louis Fitzgerald Benson, d.d. 
 
 t 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 
 
 3££7 
 
STUDIES 
 
 * * * of « ♦ < 
 
 FAMILIARS 
 HYMNS 
 
 * «• * *-*^y * * 
 LOUIS F.BENSON,D.D 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://archive.org/details/studfamOObens 
 

 HYMNS 
 
 AND 
 
 Spiritual Songs. 
 
 . IuTtfree BOOKS. 
 
 I. Colle&ed from the Scriptures. 
 
 II. Compos'd on Divine Subje&s, 
 
 III. Prepared for the Lord's Supper. 
 
 With an. ESSAY 
 
 Towards the Improvement of Chri- 
 ftian Pfalmody., by the Uf& of E- 
 vangelical Hymns in Worfhlp^ as 
 well as the Plalms of David. 
 
 By /. WATTS. 
 
 And they fung a new Song, fdying y Thou art 
 worthy , &c. for thou waft /lain and baft re- 
 deemed us, fee. Rev. $.9. 
 
 Soliti euent (i. e. Chrifflani) convenire, car- 
 menque Chrifio quafi Deo cjicere. Plinm 
 m Epift. . .... 
 
 ■ i i' i ini p— i ' H ' ' ■ 11 ' ■ iiiii— — — — 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed by J. Humfreys, for John Lawrence, 
 
 at the Angel in the Poultrey. 1707. 
 
 
 TITLE-PAG 
 
 mmm^^mm 
 
 THE FIRST EDITION 
 
STUDIES 
 
 
 OF 
 
 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUIS F. BENSON, D.D. 
 
 Editor of "The Hymnal Published by Authority of the 
 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in hie 
 
 U. S. A.," "■ The Hymnal for Use in Congregational 
 
 Churches," "The Chapel Hymnal," 
 
 and "The School Hymnal' 
 
 NEW EDITION 
 
 * 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 
 192 1 
 
Copyright, 1903 
 By LOUIS F. BENSON 
 
 Published March, iqoj 
 
PREFACE 
 
 When Dr. Ray Palmer, late in life, came to narrate 
 the origin of his youthful hymn, " My Faith Looks Up 
 to Thee," he explained that he would feel no little delicacy 
 in so doing, " were it not that in one way and another it 
 has happened that very inaccurate, and in some instances 
 wholly apocryphal, things have been reported concerning 
 it. It has furnished quite a striking illustration of the 
 difficulty of transmitting verbally, with entire accuracy, 
 a few simple facts, from one person to another." " Slight 
 inaccuracies, rhetorical statements, and the imaginations 
 of writers or speakers," he goes on to say, " have some- 
 times combined to form quite an unauthentic history of 
 its origin." 
 
 Dr. Palmer's chagrin over the literature setting forth 
 the history of his own hymn appears to have been shared, 
 measurably, by many readers of the popular literature 
 setting forth the history of the hymns in which they 
 themselves happen to be interested. The frankness also 
 of Dr. Palmer's criticism has been emulated by them — 
 a frankness which has fulfilled itself (one would hope) in 
 
VI 11 PREFACE 
 
 expressing the opinion that the desire to tell a good 
 story, the ambition to furnish a racy anecdote for homi- 
 letical purposes, is coupled, at times, with a weakening 
 hold upon the realities. 
 
 'Twere pity if 'twere true : and the present writer is 
 not solicitous to defend all that he has read upon the 
 history of our hymns. Yet he would venture the remark 
 (though it be no more than a plea of confession and 
 avoidance) that the telling of the true story of a hymn is 
 not so simple a task as some readers may have assumed 
 it to be, but is, on the contrary, an undertaking requiring 
 patient investigation at first hand. 
 
 One does not know the history of a hymn till he has 
 traced it to its source and studied its original text and 
 surroundings ; till he has worked over its bearings, bio- 
 graphical and hymnological, and has tracked its subse- 
 quent career, textual and liturgical, by actual handling 
 of the hymnals and other books in which it appears ; 
 till he has sought out and scanned such landmarks as 
 remain to testify to its spiritual history, its use and influ- 
 ence over men. 
 
 Such investigations involve the pains of gathering, or 
 of finding access to, extensive collections of hymn books, 
 books of poetry, biographies, fugitive publications, and 
 material of many sorts. A tedious task, no doubt, unless 
 lightened by love ! That some who have felt the call to 
 narrate the story of our hymns have sought the goal 
 by a shorter road affords, it may be, an explanation of 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 the " apocrypha " and the " anecdotage " of popular 
 hymnology. 
 
 Contemplating the simplicity of the results of his studies 
 of familiar hymns as set forth in this book, the writer is 
 almost ashamed thus to hint at the care of his prepara- 
 tion. It had been better, possibly, simply to say that 
 while he has tried to be interesting, he has tried yet more 
 to be trust worth}'. 
 
 The general character and purpose of these Studies is 
 explained by their origin. This book grew out of a 
 series of six papers (expanding, under encouragement, to 
 twenty-five) written for Forward and The Wellspritig^ the 
 admirable periodicals of the Presbyterian and Congrega- 
 tional publishing houses, designed for young people and 
 the family. For the book these Studies have been re- 
 written to a somewhat larger scale, but with an effort 
 not to sacrifice too much of their original simplicity. The 
 fact of their origin explains also the appending to each 
 Study of " Some Points for Discussion " : the hope 
 having been (it still abides) that groups or societies of 
 young people might be led to think over and discuss the 
 message of the hymns they so often sing, sometimes, it 
 may be, too thoughtlessly. 
 
 Between the hymns here studied there is no intended 
 connection ; each hymn being chosen for its own sake — 
 for some distinction it had, but with an eye at the same 
 time upon the veracious material for illustrating it at the 
 writer's command. For that reason a chronological 
 
x PREFACE 
 
 arrangement of the Studies has been avoided, and none 
 other has been sought, except in so far as giving prece- 
 dence to some Study precludes repetition in one coming 
 after. It pleased the writer's fancy that the book should 
 begin in the Light that dawned on Bethlehem and should 
 end at Sunset and Evening Star. 
 
 The text of the hymns, in every case, is that of The 
 Hymnal now widely used in Presbyterian and Congrega- 
 tional churches. To that book reference is also made 
 in the case of hymns merely cited; a course sufficiently 
 justified (if for no other reason) by the convenience of 
 having a common standard. 
 
 PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION, 191 7 
 
 In this new edition a few corrections of typographical 
 errors have been made in the plates, and notes embody- 
 ing later information have been inserted at pages 61, 190, 
 and 258. 
 
 When referring to numerous hymns and tunes through- 
 out the book, mention was made of the number borne by 
 each of them in The Hymnal of 1895. The Hymnal has 
 been followed by the The Hymnal revised of 191 1, in 
 which these numbers are changed. But since several 
 hundred thousand of The Hymnal are still in use, it has 
 not seemed practicable to change these numbers here. 
 Moreover, the hymn " I W T ould Not Live Alway " (No. 
 xxi) is omitted from The Hymnal revised. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. O Little Town of Bethlehem {Phillips 
 
 Brooks) i 
 
 II. Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus {George 
 
 Duffield) 13 
 
 III. Sun of My Soul, Thou Saviour Dear {John 
 
 Keble) 25 
 
 IV. How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the 
 
 Lord (K ) 37 
 
 V. Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise 
 
 Thee {Francis Scoff Key) 51 
 
 VI. From Greenland's Icy Mountains (Reginald 
 
 Heber) 63 
 
 VII. My Faith Looks Up to Thee {Ray Palmer) 75 
 
 VIII. Lead, Kindly Light, Amid the Encircling 
 
 Gloom (John Henry Newman) .... 85 
 
 IX. My Country, 'tis of Thee (Samuel Francis 
 
 Smith) 97 
 
 X. Onward, Christian Soldiers {Sabine Baring- 
 Gould) ' 107 
 
 XL Nearer, My God, to Thee (Sarah Flower 
 
 Adams) 117 
 
 xi 
 
Xll CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 XII. When I Survey mil Wondrous Cross [Isaac 
 
 Watts) 127 
 
 XIII. Still in Accents Sweet and Strong 
 
 {Samuel Longfellow) 137 
 
 XIV. Jesus Christ is Risen To-day [Composite). 147 
 
 XV. A Mighty Fortress i> Our God .Martin 
 
 Luther. Translated by Frederic Henry Hedge ) 155 
 
 XVI. Abide with Me: Fast Falls the Eventide 
 
 I Henry Francis Lyte) 169 
 
 XYII. God Bless our Native Land [attributed to 
 
 Charles T. Brooks and John S. Dwight) . 179 
 
 XYIII. Father of Mercies, in Thy Word [Anne 
 
 Steele) 191 
 
 XIX. O Day of Rest and Gladness i Christopher 
 
 Wordsworth) 201 
 
 XX. Take my Life, and Let it Be ( I -ranees Ridley 
 
 Havergaf) ....211 
 
 XXI. I Would Not Live Alway; I Ask Not to 
 
 Stay I William Augustus Muhlenberg) . . 221 
 
 XXII. O Help us. Lord: Each Hour of Need 
 
 I Henry Hart Mi /man) 233 
 
 XXIII. Shepherd of Tender Youth < Clement. Trans- 
 
 lated by Henry Martyn Dexter) .... 243 
 
 XXIV. Thine For Eyer ! God of Love [Mary 
 
 Fawler Maude) 253 
 
 XXV. Sunset and Evening Star {Lord Tennyson) . 263 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Facsimile of the Title-page of the First Edition 
 of Watts's "Hymns" Frontispiece 
 
 Autograph Verses of " O Little Town of Bethlehem '* 3, 1 1 
 From I lie original manuscript in the possession of George C. 
 Thomas, Esq. 
 
 Lewis H. Redner 5 
 
 From a photograph by Mulnier, Paris. 
 
 Autograph Staff- of the Tune "St. Louis" .... 7 
 
 Phillips Brooks 9 
 
 From a photograph, loaned by Mr. Redner. 
 
 Dudley A. Tyng 15 
 
 From an engraving, loaned by Mr. John P. A /wads. 
 
 George Duffield 19 
 
 From Mitchell's " History of Temple Presbyterian Church." 
 
 Autograph Verse of " Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus " 23 
 
 Autograph Verses of "Sun of My Soul" ..... 27 
 From "A Facsimile Reproduction of the First Form of 
 treble's Christian Year?' 
 
 John Keble 31 
 
 From an engraving by F. Ilalpin, after G. Richmond. 
 
 Facsimile of the Frontispiece to "Rippon"s Selec- 
 tion" 39 
 
 Facsimile of the Pace from "Rippon's Selection" 
 
 CONTAINING " How FlRM A FOUNDATION'" 41 
 
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Autograph Verse of "Lord, with Glowing Heart 
 I'd Praise Thee " 51 
 
 Francis S. Key 57 
 
 Autograph Verses of "From Greenland's Icy Moun- 
 tains" 65 
 
 Reginald Heber 69 
 
 From an engraving by P. ll'oolnoth, after a painting by 
 
 T. Phillips. 
 
 Autograph Verse of "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" 79 
 
 Ray Palmer S3 
 
 From an engraving by II. IV. Smith, after a photograph by 
 Sarony. 
 
 John Henry Newman 87 
 
 From an English engraving. 
 
 Autograph Lines of "Lead, Kindly Light" .... 91 
 
 Cardinal Newman 95 
 
 Fi -om a ph otogi ap h . 
 
 Autograph of "My Country, 'tis of Thee" . . . 100 
 Samuel F. Smith 103 
 
 From a photogra/h by Soule Photograph Co. 
 
 Autograph Verses of "Onward, Christian Soldiers" iii 
 Sabine Baring-Gould 113 
 
 From a photograph by Elliott and Fry. 
 
 Sarah F. Adams 121 
 
 From the Strand Magazine. 
 
 Autograph Verse of "Nearer, My God, to Thee" . 123 
 
 A 1 tograph Memoranda of Dr. Watts 131 
 
 From Paxton Hood's " Isaae Watts P 
 
 Isaac Watts 133 
 
 From an old mezzotint, after an original portrait. 
 
 The Longfellow House, Portland 139 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XV 
 
 PACl 
 
 Samuel Longfellow 141 
 
 Autograph Verses of "O Still in Accents Sweei \m> 
 Strong" 145 
 
 A Page from "Lyra Dayidica" 150 
 
 Martin Luther 157 
 
 From an engravings after a portrait by Cranach. 
 
 Autograph Verse of "A Mighty Fortress ts Our 
 God" . '. 162 
 
 Frederic - H. Hedge 165 
 
 From a photograph furnished by Mr. F. II. Hedge. 
 
 Autograph Verse of "Abide with Me" 171 
 
 Henry F. Lyte 175 
 
 After a painting. 
 
 Autograph Poem of Charles T. Brooks 182 
 
 Autograph Verse of John S. Dwight 184 
 
 Charles T. Brooks , 187 
 
 From a photograph. 
 
 John S. Dwight 189 
 
 Autograph Verses of "Father of Mercies, in Thy 
 
 Word" 193 
 
 Miss Steele's Birthplace 197 
 
 Miss Steele's Bible 199 
 
 These are reproduced from Rev. If. Garrett Ilora' 
 "Anne Steele and Her Hymns" 
 
 Christopher Wordsworth 203 
 
 From an English engraving. 
 
 Autograph Verse of " O Day of Rest and Gladness" 207 
 Autograph Lines of "Take My Life, and Let it Be" 215 
 Frances R. Havergal 215 
 
 From a photograph by Elliott and Fry. 
 
XVI LIST (>/■ ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ai roGRApH Verses of " I Would Not Live Ai.wav" . 225 
 
 Title-page of Kingsley's Tine "Frederick" . . . 227 
 
 William A. Muhlenberg 229 
 
 From an 1 ngraving. 
 
 Autograph Verse of "0 Help us, Lord; Each Hoik 
 of Need " 237 
 
 Henry H. Milman 239 
 
 Autograph Verse of "Shepherd of Tender Youth" 247 
 
 Henry M. Dexter 249 
 
 Autograph Verses of "Think For Ever! God of 
 Love" 255 
 
 Mary F. Maude 259 
 
 From a photograph by C. Hawkins. 
 
 Autograph of "Sunset and Evening Star" .... 265 
 
 Lord Tennyson 269 
 
 From an engraving by G. J. Stot/art, after a photograph by 
 
 J. May a II. 
 
STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 I 
 
 O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 i O little town of Bethlehem, 
 
 How still we see thee lie ; 
 Above thy deep and dreamless sleep 
 
 The silent stars go by : 
 Yet in thy dark streets shineth 
 
 The everlasting Light ; 
 The hopes and fears of all the years 
 
 Are met in thee to-night. 
 
 2 For Christ is born of Mary ; 
 
 And gathered all above, 
 While mortals sleep, the angels keep 
 
 Their watch of wondering love. 
 O morning stars, together 
 
 Proclaim the holy birth ; 
 And praises sing to God the King, 
 
 And peace to men on earth. 
 
 3 How silently, how silently, 
 
 The wondrous gift is given ! 
 So God imparts to human hearts 
 
 The blessings of His heaven. 
 No ear may hear His coming, 
 
 But in this world of sin. 
 Where meek souls will receive Him still, 
 
 The dear Christ enters in. 
 
 i 
 
STL DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 O holy Child of Bethlehem, 
 Descend to us, we pray; 
 Cast out our sin, and enter in, 
 
 Be born in us to-day. 
 We hear the Christmas angels 
 
 The great glad tidings tell; 
 O come to us, abide with us, 
 Our Lord Emmanuel. 
 
 Rev. Phillips Brooks, 1868 
 
 NOTE. — Four verses of the five as originally written (see under "Some 
 Points for Discussion"). This text agrees with the author's 
 manuscript. That issued by Bishop Brooks's publishers in 
 "illuminated'' style was inaccurate. 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 It was the sight of Bethlehem itself, one feels very- 
 sure, that gave Phillips Brooks the impulse to write this 
 hymn. He was then rector of the Church of the Holy 
 Trinity, in Philadelphia, and had spent a year's vacation 
 traveling in Europe and the East. " After an early 
 dinner, we took our horses and rode to Bethlehem," 
 so he wrote home in Christmas week of 1865. "It 
 was only about two hours when we came to the 
 town, situated on an eastern ridge of a range of hills, 
 surrounded by its terraced gardens. It is a good-look- 
 ing town, better built than any other we have seen in 
 Palestine. . . . Before dark, we rode out of town to 
 the field where they say the shepherds saw the star. 
 It is a fenced piece of ground with a cave in it (all 
 the Holy Places are caves here), in which, strangely 
 enough, they put the shepherds. The story is absurd, 
 but somewhere in those fields we rode through the 
 shepherds must have been. ... As we passed, the 
 shepherds were still ' keeping watch over their flocks,'' 
 
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 
 
 "or leading them home to fold." Mr. Brooks returned 
 in September, 1866, and it must have been while medi- 
 tating at home over what he had seen that the carol 
 took shape in his mind. The late Dr. Arthur Brooks 
 assured the writer that it was not written until 1868. 
 
 lynNA/ &FoOb 6rO 4&JL> A&JL> £*-> 
 
 $/Vlrxs<j £&y t&Jlyb <f 6&JU €Ut^ dL<L0 &/jULyj 
 AN AUTOGRAPH VERSE OF THE HYMN 
 
 In the programme of the Christmas service of the 
 Sunday-school of the Church of the Holy Trinity 
 in that year the carol was first printed, and it was 
 sung to the music written for it by Mr. Lewis H. 
 Redner. 
 
4 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Its history as a hymn begins then, and a considerable 
 share of the credit for its popularity must be given to 
 Mr. Redner, at that time organist of the church, su- 
 perintendent of its mission, and teacher in the church 
 school. The place of the carol in the books is now estab- 
 lished, and new tunes have been and will be written for it. 
 But it is safe to say that Mr. Redner's music was what 
 carried the carol into notice and popularity. If the 
 tune to which it was sung at that service had been un- 
 successful, it is unlikely that the carol would have been 
 reprinted or heard again, at least during Bishop Brooks's 
 life. 
 
 With this view of the case it seemed to the present 
 writer well worth while that an account, as circum- 
 stantial as possible, of the genesis of hymn and tune 
 should be secured from the one man living who knows 
 it. And standing over Mr. Redner in his Walnut Street 
 office in Philadelphia one winter afternoon, waving aside 
 the modest protests and gently prodding the reluctance 
 of that genial composer, he was happy in obtaining the 
 following written statement of the circumstances: "As 
 Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that 
 he had written a simple little carol for the Christmas 
 Sunday-school service, and he asked me to write the 
 tune to it. The simple music was written in great haste 
 and under great pressure. We were to practice it on 
 the following Sunday. Mr. Brooks came to me on 
 Friday, and said, ' Redner, have you ground out that 
 music yet to " O Little Town of Bethlehem " ?' I re- 
 plied, ' No,' but that he should have it by Sunday. On 
 the Saturday night previous my brain was all confused 
 about the tune. I thought more about my Sunday- 
 
LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 
 
 5 
 
 "school lesson than I did about the music. Hut I was 
 roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel- 
 strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music 
 paper 1 jotted down the treble of the tune as we now 
 have it, and on Sunday morning before going to chun h 
 I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor 1 ever 
 
 LEWIS II. REDNER ( 1868) 
 
 thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond 
 that Christmas of 1 868. 
 
 " My recollection is that Richard McCauley, who then 
 had a bookstore on Chestnut Street west o( Thirteenth 
 Street, printed it on leaflets for sale. Rev. Dr. Hunting- 
 ton, rector of All Saints' Church, Worcester, Mas^., 
 
6 STUDIES (>/■' /AMI I.I.IK HYMNS 
 
 " asked permission to print it in his Sunday-school hymn 
 and tunc book, called The Church Porch, and it was he 
 who christened the music ' Saint Louis.' " 
 
 The date of Dr. Huntington's book, 1874, does not 
 imply a very prompt recognition of the merits of the 
 carol even as available for use in the Sunday-school. 
 Nor does its appearance in that book imply that the 
 carol passed at that date into general use in Sunday- 
 schools. But gradually it became familiar in those con- 
 nected with the Protestant Episcopal Church. By the 
 year 1890 it had begun to make its appearance in 
 hymnals intended for use in church worship. In 1892 
 (some twenty-four years after its first appearance) Bishop 
 Brooks's carol was given a place as a church hymn in 
 the official hymnal of his own denomination. This 
 occasioned the composition of new tunes to its words 
 for rival musical editions of that book, and also drew 
 attention afresh to the earlier tune of Mr. Redner. It 
 seems, too, to have settled the status of the hymn, recent 
 editors being as reluctant to omit the hymn as their 
 predecessors had been to recognize it. 
 
 There is, however, nothing unusual or surprising in 
 this delay in admitting the carol into the church hymnals. 
 Almost all hymns undergo such a period of probation 
 before they attain recognition ; and it is for the best 
 interests of hymnody that they should. In this particu- 
 lar case there was an especial reason for delay. There 
 had to be a certain change in the standards by which 
 hymns are judged before a carol such as this could be 
 esteemed suitable for church use. In 1868, it is likely, 
 not even its author would have seriously considered it in 
 such a connection. 
 
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 
 
 ? 
 
 V ^ v 
 
 ip * \V -±^ 
 
 
 1 — r 
 
 0&Z Ocffc, 
 
 AN AUTOGRAni STAFF OF THE MUSIC 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Phillips Brooks was born in Boston, December 13th, 
 1835. He came of a long line of Puritan ancestors, 
 many of whom had been Congregational clergymen. 
 His parents became connected with the Episcopal 
 Church, and he was reared in the strict ways of the 
 Evangelical wing of that Church. He had the typical 
 Boston education, the Latin School and then Harvard, 
 from which he was graduated in 1855. He was then 
 for a few months a teacher in the Latin School, but 
 there he had the humiliating experience of complete 
 failure. He soon decided to enter the ministry, and 
 studied at Alexandria Seminary, in Virginia. In 1859 
 he became rector of a small church in Philadelphia. 
 Here his sermons attracted much attention, and in 1861 
 he was called to be rector of the Church of the Holy 
 Trinity, in the same city. 
 
 In that position he remained until 1869, when his own 
 leanings toward his native town and the urgency of re- 
 
8 STUDIES OF FA Ml LI AN HYMNS 
 
 peated calls from there led him to accept the rectorship 
 of Trinity Church, Boston. The congregation built for 
 him the great church in the Back Bay, and there he 
 exercised that wonderful ministry with which we all are 
 familiar. In 1891 he was elected bishop of his Church 
 in Massachusetts, and after some controversy, occasioned 
 by his broad views in church matters, his election was 
 confirmed and he was consecrated. But this position he 
 was not to fill for long. The strain of the great work he 
 had been doing had undermined even his giant strength, 
 and after a short sickness he passed away on January 
 23rd, 1893. 
 
 Bishop Brooks was the most famous preacher and the 
 most widely-loved clergyman of his time. The shock 
 of his death was felt in every branch of the Church 
 throughout the land, for while many disagreed with his 
 opinions, none who knew him in his work could with- 
 hold their admiration. The word that seems best to 
 describe him is " great." He was great in his physical 
 proportions, great in the endowments of genius, great in 
 the power to work, extraordinarily great in his personal 
 influence over men, greatest of all in the moral elevation 
 of his character and his ever-deepening spirit of conse- 
 cration to Christ's service. 
 
 The connection of one so great with hymnody as the 
 writer of a few simple carols intended for children seems 
 at first a little incongruous. But after reading his biog- 
 raphy, and understanding the man's nature, one feels 
 rather that nothing he ever did was more characteristic 
 of him. It now appears that verse-writing was even a 
 regular habit with him, probably as a relief to feelings 
 his intensely reserved nature could express in no other 
 
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 9 
 
 way. And he not only loved children dearly, but liked 
 to be their comrade and to get down on the nursery 
 floor and romp with them. His own heart was like a 
 child's, and he wrote Christmas and Easter carols be- 
 cause he entered into those festivals with a child's 
 enthusiasm and joy. 
 
 PHILLIPS BROOKS (ABOUT 1868) 
 
 But there is another point of connection between 
 Bishop Brooks and hymnody which must not be passed 
 over. Its disclosure was to many one of the surprises 
 of that wonderful biography of his friend by Dr. 
 Allen. And that connection is in the fact that his own 
 mind and heart were stored with hymns, to such an 
 extent and in such a way that they were one of the real 
 influences of his life. 
 
 In one of the letters " the father regrets that Phillips 
 
IO STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 44 could not have been with the family on the last Sunday 
 evening when the boys recited hymns. This was a 
 beautiful custom, which called from each one of the 
 children the learning of a new hymn ever)' Sunday, and 
 its recital before the assembled family. In a little book, 
 carefully kept by the father, there was a record of the 
 hymns each child had learned, beginning with William, 
 who had the advantage of age, and had learned the 
 greatest number, followed by Phillips, who came next, 
 and the record tapering down until John is reached, with 
 a comparatively small number at his disposal. Most of 
 them were from the old edition of the Prayer Book, 
 then bound up with a metrical selection of Psalms and 
 a collection of two hundred and twelve hymns." <4 But 
 there were others. When Phillips went to college there 
 were some two hundred that he could repeat. They 
 constituted part of his religious furniture, or the soil 
 whence grew much that cannot now be traced. He never 
 forgot them." Again his biographer remarks : 4< These 
 hymns Phillips carried in his mind as so much mental 
 and spiritual furniture, or as germs of thought; they 
 often reappeared in his sermons, as he became aware of 
 some deeper meaning in the old familiar lines." Once 
 more the biographer recurs to the subject ; this time 
 to speak of 44 the language of sacred hymns learned in 
 childhood and forever ringing in his ears," as one of 
 the channels through which 44 he had felt the touch of 
 Christ." 
 
 SOA\E POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (i) Bishop Brooks's biographer says of this carol: 
 " It is an exquisitely simple thing, and yet one feeis 
 
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM II 
 
 "behind the words the existence of a great soul, medi- 
 tating on the mystery of the divine revelation." Is this 
 a true characterization? He suggests further that " It 
 has also a theological significance — the adjustment be- 
 tween the natural order and the divine revelation." 
 
 
 THE OMITTED VERSE 
 
 (2) In the original manuscript of the carol there was 
 a fourth verse not used in the hymn books. Its form 
 as first written appears in the facsimile. Mr. Redner 
 
12 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 writes : " The fourth line led to some amusing criticism 
 lest it should smack of the doctrine of the Immaculate 
 Conception. Brooks then changed that line to 'Son of 
 the Mother mild,' [and so it appears in the Christmas 
 programme of 1868], but he afterwards decided to omit 
 the fourth verse altogether from the carol." Is it worth 
 while to restore the omitted verse ? 
 
 (3) The form of the carol is somewhat unusual for a 
 hymn. It is not (until the last verse) an offering of 
 direct praise or prayer to God, but is rather a medita- 
 tion in which the singer addresses the little town itself. 
 Some hymnologists on that account question the pro- 
 priety of giving it a place among the hymns of the 
 Church. Is the carol really wanting in the form proper 
 for a hymn ? and if so, how far is its defect overcome 
 by deeper qualities that mark it as a hymn rather than 
 a ballad? 
 
 (4) The irregularities of the metre offer an interesting 
 study. The general scheme is that called " common 
 metre," a line of four accents alternating with one of 
 three. This was the usual metre of the old English 
 ballads ; and it looks as though Mr. Brooks had been 
 studying the balladists, who had a way of dropping out 
 an accented syllable here and there, and of breaking an 
 occasional line into two by putting an additional rhyme 
 into the middle of it. Do not these irregularities add to 
 the charm ? 
 
 (5) What is the meaning of the lines : — 
 
 " The hopes and fears of all the years 
 Are met in thee to-night " ? 
 
II 
 
 STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
 
 Ye soldiers of the cross ; 
 Lift high His royal banner, 
 
 It must not suffer loss : 
 From victory unto victory 
 
 His army He shall lead, 
 Till every foe is vanquished, 
 
 And Christ is Lord indeed. 
 
 2 Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
 
 The trumpet call obey ; 
 Forth to the mighty conflict 
 
 In this His glorious day : 
 Ye that are men now serve Him 
 
 Against unnumbered foes; 
 Let courage rise with danger, 
 
 And strength to strength oppose. 
 
 3 Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
 
 Stand in His strength alone; 
 The arm of flesh will fail you, 
 
 Ye dare not trust your own : 
 Put on the gospel armor, 
 
 Each piece put on with prayer ; 
 Where duty calls, or danger, 
 
 Be never wanting there. 
 
 T ; 
 
14 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
 The strife will not be long ; 
 This day the noise of battle, 
 The next the victor's song : 
 To him that overcometh 
 
 A crown of life shall be; 
 He with the King of Glory 
 Shall reign eternally. 
 
 Rev. George Duffield, 1858 
 
 NOTE. — Four verses of the original six. The text ib taken from a leaflet 
 printed by the author in 1883. 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 Very few hymns have had so pathetic an origin as 
 this. Its author, the Rev. George Duffield, was a 
 pastor in Philadelphia during the great revival of the 
 winter of 1857 and the spring of 1858, which centred 
 about the Noonday Prayer Meetings in Jayne's Hall, 
 under the charge of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 The real leader of the movement was a young Episco- 
 palian clergyman, Dudley A. Tyng. Though not yet 
 thirty years old, he was well known for his stand for 
 interdenominational fellowship and for the fervor of his 
 evangelical zeal. In Philadelphia, at the time, he was 
 especially before the public eye, having but lately, after 
 a contest with his vestry, precipitated by a sermon in 
 opposition to slave-holding, been compelled to retire 
 from the rectorship of the Church of the Epiphany. He 
 had gone forth with those sympathizing with him, and 
 preached in a public hall, establishing there the Church 
 of the Covenant. The band of clergymen of various 
 denominations gathered about him was united not only 
 
REV. DUDLEY A. TYNG 
 
1 6 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 by zeal in carrying on " The Work of God in Phila- 
 delphia," but also in admiration and affection for Mr. 
 Tyng ; and not the less so for their general feeling that 
 " he had been persecuted." Among these helpers was 
 Mr. Duffield, a deeply attached friend, who thought Mr. 
 Tyng " one of the noblest, bravest, manliest men I ever 
 met." 
 
 Athwart this fellowship and common work came the 
 tragic interruption of Mr. Tyng's death. On Tuesday, 
 April 13th, 1858, he went from the study of his country 
 home to the barn floor where a mule was at work tread- 
 ing a machine for shelling corn. As he patted the 
 animal on the neck the sleeve of his study-gown be- 
 came caught in the cogs of the wheel, wrenching and 
 lacerating his arm, from the neck down, in a dreadful 
 manner. It seems that mortification set in. In any 
 event amputation, performed on the Saturday following, 
 did no more than postpone the end. Mr. Tyng died on 
 Monday, April 19th, 1858. 
 
 Early that morning, it being perceived that he was 
 sinking, he was asked if he had any messages to send, 
 among others, to the band of clergymen so devoted to 
 him and the work. When able to rouse himself suffi- 
 ciently, he responded with a short message, beginning 
 with the words : " Tell them, ' Let us all stand up for 
 Jesus.' " It is evident that these words especially touched 
 the already aroused feelings of his fellow-workers. 
 Bishop Macllvaine and the Rev. John Chambers quoted 
 them at the funeral as their friend's dying message. At 
 one of the Jayne's Hall meetings a poem was read 
 from the platform by the Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, 
 beginning : 
 
STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS \*J 
 
 u Stand up for Jesi s ! Strengthen^ by His hand, 
 Even I, though young, have ventured thus to stand ; 
 But, soon cut down, as maim'd and faint I lie, 
 Hear, O my friends, the charge with which I die — 
 Stand up for Jesus !" 
 
 And the Rev. Kingston Goddard, preaching to a great 
 throng on the day after Mr. Tyng's death, remarked: 
 " I conceive that the whole of my brother's teaching is 
 contained in that grand and noble expression of heroism 
 and devotion that fell from his lips in his dying hour — 
 ' Stand up for Jesus /' " 
 
 Mr. Duffield had been present at these services, but, 
 with his own feelings deeply stirred by his friend's tragic 
 death, perhaps hardly needed such incentives to quicken 
 the appeal of that dying message to his heart. On the 
 Sunday following he preached to his own people from 
 Ephesians vi. 14, and read as the concluding exhorta- 
 tion of the sermon the verses of his now famous hymn, 
 into which he had wrought the message of his friend. 
 
 The superintendent of his Sunday-school, Mr. Benedict 
 D. Stewart, had them printed on a fly leaf; they were 
 copied by religious papers ; they appeared in The Sabbath 
 Hymn Book (Congregational) that same year, and in the 
 Supplement to The Church Psalmist (Presbyterian) in the 
 next year. The hymn became a favorite of the soldiers 
 during the Civil War, and is now sung in churches and 
 Sunday-schools all over the land and in many foreign 
 countries. 
 
 Long afterwards (in 1883) Dr. Duffield printed a leaflet 
 containing his preferred text of the hymn, and also 
 his recollections of its origin. This has been often 
 quoted from, and forms the familiar history of the hymn. 
 
1 8 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Dr. Duffield's memory had retained its hold upon so 
 much of the events as directly concerned himself, but it 
 is plain that other dates and circumstances had become 
 somewhat dimmed with the lapse of years. And the 
 present writer has not hesitated to supplement and cor- 
 rect these recollections in the light of facts disclosed in 
 the Memorial Volume published in the year of Mr. 
 Tyng's death, and especially in the touching Memorial 
 Sermon of Mr. Tyng's father (Stephen H. Tyng, D.D.), 
 who was present during the closing days of his son's 
 life. 
 
 " A cob of corn from that ' threshing-floor,' " we are 
 told by Dr. Duffield's son, in 1885, "has ever since 
 hung on the study-wall of the author of the hymn." 
 The hymn itself seems to echo the voice of his friend : 
 " Tell them, ■ Let us all stand up for Jesus,' " with his 
 other words to those about him soon following, " Sing ! 
 Sing! Can you not sing?" 
 
 The author of the Hymn 
 
 In the ministry of the American Presbyterian Church 
 there have been three distinguished men named George 
 Duffield. The first (1732-1790) was a patriot and 
 chaplain in the Revolutionary army. His grandson, the 
 second George Duffield (1796- 1868), was a successful 
 pastor at Carlisle, Philadelphia, and other places, and 
 an able theologian, whose work on Regeneration met 
 with the disapproval of his Presbytery. It was his son, 
 the third George Duffield, who was the author of his 
 hymn. " The author is not his father, Rev. George 
 Duffield, D.D., the Patriarch of Michigan," he found 
 
STAND C/\ STAND UP FOR JESUS IO, 
 
 occasion to say after his hymn had become famous while 
 his personality seemed obscured. "Neither is he his son, 
 Rev. Samuel \Y. Duffield, . . . now pastor of the West- 
 minster Church, Bloomfield, N. J. [I lej has not yet lost 
 his identity, and claims to be his own individual self." 
 
 -v 
 
 [At about the time of writing the hymn] 
 
 He was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 18 18, was 
 graduated from Yale College in 1837, and from Union 
 Theological Seminary in 1840. In the same year he 
 married, was ordained, and installed pastor of the Fifth 
 Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, where he remained 
 
20 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 seven years. It was as pastor and preacher, rather than 
 as scholar or man of letters, that Dr. Duffield spent his 
 life. After leaving Brooklyn he was pastor of the First 
 Church of Bloomfield, New Jersey, for four years. In 
 1 85 I he broke off a happy pastorate there to accept the 
 call of the Central Presbyterian Church of the Northern 
 Liberties, Philadelphia, with the expectation of rinding in 
 the great city an enlarged opportunity for usefulness. It 
 seems quite certain that if he had not gone to Phila- 
 delphia we should never have had the hymn so closely 
 connected with his experiences there. But to him, at 
 the time, it must have seemed as though his going had 
 been the mistake of his professional life. He found a 
 mortgaged church building unfortunately located in a 
 neighborhood from which the population was moving 
 westward, a congregation reduced in numbers, dis- 
 heartened, and unable to meet its financial obligations. 
 Dr. Duffield's Philadelphia pastorate was not wanting in 
 spiritual results, but with the conditions threatening the 
 continued life of his church he was not able to cope. 
 Year by year the congregation grew less in numbers 
 and resources. Dr. Duffield, however, held on until 
 1 86 1, when he resigned his pastorate. His subsequent 
 pastorates were of a less conspicuous character, — at 
 Adrian, Michigan, for four years, at Galesburg, Illinois, 
 for an equal period, and then at Saginaw City, Michigan. 
 His active service covered more than forty years. 
 Dr. Duffield's last years were lived in Bloomfield, with 
 his son. The son, himself a poet, always recalled with 
 pride that his hand had made the first " fair copy " 
 of his father's hymn for the press, and those who saw 
 father and son together at Bloomfield, still speak of the 
 
STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS 21 
 
 reverence and love with which that same hand sup- 
 ported the father's failing steps. But the son was first 
 called, and it was more than a year before the father fol- 
 lowed him. Dr. Duffield died at Bloomfield on July 6th, 
 1888, and his remains were buried at Detroit. 
 
 Dr. Duffield himself was a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ. He served so well and so long that at first 
 thought it seems strange, even unjust, that he should 
 now be remembered principally as the author of a hymn. 
 But, after all, such a hymn is the flower of a man's life, 
 and holds the best he was and had. It is quite possible, 
 too, that Dr. Duffield's hymn is the crown of his labors 
 for Christ. He helped hundreds while he lived, but 
 how many thousands have been encouraged and in- 
 spired by his brave song ! 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) Why are military hymns so popular? and is it 
 right that they should be? Was a recent critic justified 
 in the remark that it seemed to him foolish for a com- 
 pany of primary school boys and girls to march singing 
 of soldiering and battles ? 
 
 (2) The original second and fifth verses were omitted 
 from The Hymnal. Would either or both of them be 
 any addition to the hymn as here printed ? 
 
 2. " Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
 
 The solemn watchword hear ; 
 If while ye sleep He suffers, 
 
 Away with shame and fear ; 
 Where'er ye meet with evil, 
 
 Within you or without, 
 Charge for the G >d of Rattles, 
 
 And put the foe to rout. 
 
22 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 5. " Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
 
 Eacli soldier to his post ; 
 Close up the broken column, 
 
 And shout through all the host: 
 Make good the loss so heavy, 
 
 In those that still remain, 
 And prove to all around you 
 
 That death itself is gain."' 
 
 (3) The four verses in The Hymnal (and here) are 
 exactly as the author wrote them. In many books the 
 sixth line of verse one (" His army He shall lead ") reads, 
 " His army shall be led." This was originally a mis- 
 print, and was a great annoyance to the author. The 
 change spoils both rhyme and sense, and needs no dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 In The Sabbath Hymn Book of 1858, and in most 
 books since, the sixth line of verse three (" Each piece 
 put on with prayer ") is altered to, " And, watching unto 
 prayer." Was the change justifiable, and is it an 
 improvement ? (Note Dr. Duffield's words : " It is the 
 author's earnest wish that " the hymn " shall continue 
 unaltered until the Soldiers of the Cross shall replace 
 it by something better.") 
 
 (4) The second verse of the hymn contains a para- 
 phrase of the text of a sermon preached by Mr. Tyng 
 at one of the Jayne's Hall meetings. According to Dr. 
 Duffield's leaflet it was preached the Sunday before 
 Mr. Tyng's death (but he was then in a dying condition) ; 
 according to the Memorial it was preached on March 
 30th. A great throng of young men was present, and 
 Dr. Duffield says, " at least one thousand, it was believed, 
 were ' the slain of the Lord.' " What was the text of 
 the sermon ? 
 
/ 
 
 AN AUTOGRAPH VERSE 
 
24 STUDIES (>/■' FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 (5) Which of the familiar tunes to these words best 
 expresses the spirit and sentiments of the hymn — Webb, 
 Lancashire, or Greenland (see The Hymtial, Xos. 304, 
 347, 348) ? This is an instance of a hymn making its 
 way without the aid of a tune — the tune to which it was 
 set in The Sabbath Hymn and Tunc Book having been 
 forgotten loner a^o, and none of those mentioned hav- 
 ing been written for this hymn. 
 
Ill 
 
 SUN OF MY SOUL, THOU SAVIOUR DEAR 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, 
 It is not night if Thou be near; 
 O may no earth-born cloud arise 
 To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes. 
 
 2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep 
 My wearied eyelids gently steep, 
 
 Be my last thought, how sweet to rest 
 For ever on my Saviour's breast. 
 
 3 Abide 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. 
 
 4 If some poor wandering child of Thine 
 Have spurned to-day the voice Divine, 
 Now, Lord, the gracious work begin; 
 Let him no more lie down in sin. 
 
 5 Watch by the sick ; enrich the poor 
 With blessings from Thy boundless store; 
 Be every mourner's sleep to-night, 
 
 Like infants' slumbers, pure and light. 
 
 25 
 
26 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 6 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. 
 
 Re". John Keble. 1820 
 
 NOTE. — Six verses out of the fourteen of the original poem. The text is 
 that of the second edition of The Christian Year, with per- 
 haps) a variation in the form of one word (see under " Some 
 Points for Discussion "). 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 In June, 1827, a book of verse in two thin i6mo vol- 
 umes was published at Oxford, England It had the 
 following title : " The Christian Year : Thoughts in Verse 
 for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year." 
 Beneath the title was the motto, " In quietness and in 
 confidence shall be your strength." The author was a 
 young clergyman. John Keble, but his name did not 
 appear in the book. The secret of authorship was 
 shared by a number of friends to whom he had sub- 
 mitted the manuscript, and gradually leaked out. For 
 years he had been writing and revising his poems, and 
 he wished to hold them back for still further polishing ; 
 perhaps not letting the book appear till after his death. 
 But his aged father's urgent wish to see it in print impelled 
 him to publish it without further delay. 
 
 The success of the book was immediate and extra- 
 ordinary. Edition after edition was called for. In 
 twenty-six years after publication forty-three editions, one 
 hundred and eight thousand copies in all. were printed. 
 Indeed, the sale of the book has gone on continuously 
 up to the present time. The man who seemed most 
 indifferent to its success, most unconscious of its merits, 
 
SUN OF MY SOUL, THOU SAVIOUR PEAR 2J 
 
 was the author himself. He never willingly talked about 
 it or cared to hear it praised. That may be explained 
 partly by his modesty and dissatisfaction with his work, 
 but yet more from the fact that the book laid bare his 
 inmost thoughts and feelings. 
 
 The Christian Year is not a continuous poem. It 
 consists of a series of poems, one for each of the days 
 
 c/u*. ^ /hy *&&/ / Guru. SAVrttrJl fiU*sri 
 /£ LS Hit h^yC6r , ijf tfL-u A **<a^/ 
 
 AUTOGRAPH VERSES OF THE HYMN* 
 
 and occasions for which services are provided in the 
 Book of Common Prayer. These poems were not 
 intended for singing, but for devotional reading as a 
 poetical companion to the Prayer Book. And yet a good 
 
28 STUDIES OF JAM I LIAR HYMNS 
 
 many hymns have been taken from them by compilers 
 of hymn books. 
 
 The first service in the Prayer Book is the Order for 
 Morning Prayer. And the first poem in The, Christian 
 Year is called " Morning." Certain of its verses make 
 one of our most familiar morning hymns, " New Every 
 Morning is the Love" [The Hymnal, Xo. 6). The 
 second service in the Prayer Book is the Order for 
 Evening Prayer, and in The Christian Year the second 
 poem is " Evening." It has fourteen verses, with the 
 motto prefixed, " Abide with us, for it is towards even- 
 ing, and the day is far spent." The third, seventh, 
 eighth, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth verses make 
 up the familiar hymn, "Sun of My Soul," as printed in 
 The Hymnal (No. 16) and here. 
 
 It would be interesting to know who it was with the 
 wit to discover that so lovely and complete a hymn lay 
 imbedded among the verses of a poem which, as a whole, 
 is not a hymn at all. The great thing was to discern 
 the precise point at which the hymn should begin. In a 
 copy of the first edition of The Christian Year belonging 
 to the present writer some one has mapped out a pro- 
 posed hymn, beginning with the first verse of the poem, 
 as follows : — 
 
 u 'Tis gone, that bright and orbed blaze, 
 Fast fading from our wistful gaze ; 
 Yon mantling cloud has hid from sight 
 The last faint pulse of quivering light." 
 
 Such a hymn could not have won its way. As early as 
 1836 the accomplished Unitarian, John Hamilton Thorn, 
 made up for his Selection a hymn whose first verse was 
 
SUN OF MY SOU£, THOU SAVIOUR DEAR 29 
 
 the ninth of the poem, beginning, " Thou Framer of the 
 light and dark," followed by the last three verses as at 
 present sung. A year earlier than that the Rev. Henry 
 Venn Elliott (brother of the author of "Just as I Am ") 
 put into his Psalms and Hymns a selection of four 
 verses, beginning with the " Sun of my soul " verse. 
 His example was followed by other editors, some of 
 them using additional verses. And, unless an earlier 
 instance shall turn up, to him must be given the honor 
 of discovering the hymn that lay imbedded in the poem. 
 It is a curious fact that when Keble himself came to 
 select the verses to be used in the Salisbury Hymn 
 Book, 1857, he left out the "Sun of my soul" verse 
 altogether, and began the hymn with " When the soft 
 dews of kindly sleep." In this he has had few followers. 
 In England, as has been said, the success of The 
 Christian Year was immediate. But England was more 
 remote from the United States then than now, and the 
 channels of fellowship between the Episcopal churches in 
 the two countries were less open. Bishop Doane, of Bur- 
 lington, New Jersey, had his attention called to the book 
 in 1828, accidentally, by coming across a quotation from 
 it. He edited and published in 1834, through Lea & 
 Blanchard, Philadelphia, the first American edition o( 
 The Christian Year. His attempt, by means of notes, to 
 make it serve also as a primer of " the order, institu- 
 tions, and services of the Church," together with his 
 curious method of printing in italics all such lines 
 throughout the book as especially pleased him, cause a 
 smile of amusement to flit across the expression of one's 
 appreciation of the Bishop's venture. It was not, how- 
 ever, until 1865 that " Sun of My Soul " was admitted 
 
30 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 among the hymns appointed to be sung in Protestant 
 Episcopal churches. The New England Unitarians (least 
 in sympathy with Keble and yet most alert in seeing good 
 in new things) were, as so often, the first to introduce 
 
 the hymn into this country. In 1835 F. W. P. Green- 
 wood, pastor of Kind's Chapel, Boston, included it in 
 his Collection of Psalms and Hymns i beginning the hymn 
 with the first verse of the poem (" Tis gone, that bright 
 and orbed blaze "), and following that with the " Sun of 
 my soul " verse and two more of those now so familiar. 
 Several other Unitarian compilers followed Mr. Green- 
 wood's lead. Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Collec- 
 tion of 1855 seems to have introduced the hymn into 
 more orthodox circles ; and in The Sabbath Hymn Book 
 of the Andover professors, 1858, it appears, at length 
 relieved of the incubus of a first verse that is not 
 hymnic, as our familiar " Sun of My Soul, Thou Saviour 
 Dear." 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 John Keble was born at Fairford on April 25th, 1792. 
 He was prepared for college by his father, a country 
 clergyman (for whom the poet was named), and went 
 up to Oxford " as a mere lad, home-bred and home- 
 loving." Keble's home-training in a secluded parson- 
 age, with the peaceful English landscape outside, and, 
 within, the unquestioned reign of the old High Church 
 prejudices, opinions, and piety, had a great part in mak- 
 ing him what he was. It furnished the very atmosphere 
 of the poetry of his after years. 
 
 While only eighteen he was graduated B. A., with 
 double first-class honors, then counted a rare distinction. 
 
SUN OF MY SOL L , THOU S. 11/ OUR D E . I A' 
 
 31 
 
 In those days, when scholarship outranked athletics, it 
 made the shy, gentle lad "first man in Oxford." Cardi- 
 nal Newman recalls that when he came there Keble's 
 was the first name he heard, spoken of "with reverence 
 rather than admiration," and confesses how abashed he 
 
 JOHN KEHLE 
 
 felt in Keble's presence. This " reverence rather than 
 admiration " seems to have been the common feeling 
 toward Keble through all his life. 
 
 Keble was elected a Fellow of Oriel College, and 
 remained in Oxford as a tutor and as examiner. He 
 
32 STUDIES OF JAM I I.IAN HYMNS 
 
 was ordained to the full ministry in 1816, and took a 
 country curacy in addition to college duties. His 
 mother's death, in 1823, brought him home to Eairford, 
 and there, with the exception of a year as curate of 
 Hursley, he stayed as his father's helper as long as the 
 latter lived. It was while at Fairford that he published 
 The Christian Year. Other than that, perhaps the most 
 momentous thing he -did in these years was preaching at 
 Oxford in 1833 the famous Assize Sermon that, accord- 
 ing to Newman, gave the start to the High Church or 
 Oxford Movement, which transformed the Church of 
 England. And of this movement Keble and Newman 
 and Doctor Pusey were the leading spirits. 
 
 In 1835 Keble's father died. In that year he married 
 and became Vicar of Hursley, a lovely village across the 
 downs from Winchester. There he remained with entire 
 contentment for the rest of his days, a famous man, but 
 leading the life of a retired scholar and faithful country 
 pastor. He rebuilt the village church, largely out of the 
 profits of The Christian Year ; and in his daily services 
 and parish ministries carried out the church principles 
 for which he stood. 
 
 Tender-hearted, kindly, gentle, and even playful in 
 manner, Keble was none the less firm and decided in 
 holding and advocating extreme High Church views. 
 He gave himself very earnestly to forwarding " the 
 movement," and had but scant regard for what he 
 called " The Protestant party." But, unlike his friend 
 Newman, he saw his way clear to remain in the Church 
 of England. It is indeed impossible to think of him as 
 making such a breach with his traditions and familiar 
 surroundings, or as surviving it if made. 
 
SUN OF MY SOUL, THOU SAVIOUR DEAR 33 
 
 Keble's mind was that of a poet and not that of a 
 logician. Intuition and feeling were more to him than 
 reasoning, and he instinctively craved a comfortable sup- 
 port of authority as the sanction for his opinions and 
 acts. His character, in its childlikeness and purity, its 
 entire unworldliness, its devotional fervor and spirit of 
 consecration, was lovely indeed. Taken together with 
 his power of substituting lofty poetry for polemics, it has 
 given him extraordinary influence within the Church of 
 England. Beyond its bounds that influence was neces- 
 sarily limited by a theory of the church that withdrew 
 him from any real sympathy and communion with his 
 fellow Christians in other folds. His position in hym- 
 nody does not by any means correspond with the impor- 
 tant place he occupies as a religious poet. The two 
 lovely hymns extracted from the opening poems of 
 The Christian Year come near to exhausting the materials 
 that are available without an effort of piecing together 
 unrelated passages. It is a book of meditative poetry 
 and not of hymns, Keble's other poetical works include 
 Lyra Innocentium, in which childhood is contemplated 
 with the light from stained-glass windows falling upon 
 it ; and also a complete metrical version of the Psalms. 
 The latter was never used as a hymn book, but is far 
 superior to the average attempt to do a thing which, as 
 Keble himself knew and acknowledged, is inherently 
 impossible. The hymn beginning " God, the Lord, a 
 King remaineth " {The Hymnal, No. 89) is an example of 
 Keble's renderings. From time to time he contributed 
 a few other hymns to various books compiled by personal 
 friends. He also assisted Earl Nelson in editing The 
 Salisbury Hymn Book of 1857. In this he printed his 
 3 
 
34 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 familiar wedding hymn, " The Voice that Breathed o'er 
 Eden" (The Hymnal, No. 687). 
 
 Keble died on March 29th, 1866, at Bournemouth, 
 where he had gone for the health of his wife, who sur- 
 vived him but six weeks. The hist book he had in his 
 hand was a hymn book — Roundell Palmer's Book of 
 Praise. He had sent for it, because unable to recall all 
 the verses of Bishop Ken's Evening Hymn, which he 
 was accustomed to say in the night-watches by his wife. 
 The graves of the poet and his wife are in Hursley 
 church-yard. 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) Can even a hymn so tender and lovely as this be 
 sung thoughtlessly ? There is in the diary of the late 
 Archbishop Benson a good instance of the thoughtful 
 hearing of the hymn. He was preaching in the chapel 
 of Eton College, and notes : " In Evening Service I could 
 not see one single boy who was not singing the Evening 
 Hymn after Service, ' Sun of My Soul,' — and the last 
 verse was most touching, and most touchingly sung, as 
 one thought of school as the waking place of so many 
 souls and minds : — 
 
 " ' Come near and bless us when we wake, 
 Ere through the world our way we take.' " 
 
 (2) The many alterations made in the text of the hymn 
 by various editors may well be passed by. The revisions 
 of Keble himself are more interesting. Two autograph 
 manuscripts of The Christian Year, or parts of it, are in 
 existence, and of that dated 1822 a facsimile has been 
 
SUN OF MY S0L7., THOU SAVIOUR DEAR 35 
 
 printed. Its differences from the Hymnal text are 
 these : — 
 
 Verse 2, line 2 : drooping eyelids. 
 
 " " " 4 : our Saviour's. 
 
 " 3 " 1 : to eve. 
 
 " 4 " 1 : wandering soul. 
 
 " " " 2 : has spurned. 
 
 " " " 3 : Thy gracious work. 
 
 " " " 4 : Let him not sleep to-night in sin. 
 
 The Hymnal text here given is that of the second edition 
 (182;) of The Christian Year. It differs from that of the 
 first edition in only two places. In the opening- line of 
 the fourth verse the first edition followed the manuscript 
 form, " If some poor wandering soul of thine " ; and the 
 last line of that verse began (oddly enough), " Let her no 
 more." Can there be any question that in this second 
 edition Keble improved the text of these lines ? 
 
 There is, however, one small particular in which the 
 Hymnal text differs from that of all the early printed 
 editions. In them the last line of the fifth verse is 
 printed to read " Like infant's slumbers," instead of " Like 
 infants' slumbers." In Keble's manuscript the position 
 of the apostrophe is problematical. In later editions of 
 The Christian Year the word is printed " infants'," whether 
 or no by Keble's authority does not appear. It is hard 
 to believe that he would have defended " like infant's 
 slumbers" as good English, if his attention was called to 
 it. It seems more likely that it was an overlooked mis- 
 print. 
 
 (3) What passage of Scripture suggested the lines : — 
 
 " O may no earth-born cloud arise 
 To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes" ? 
 
7,6 STUDIES OF JAM I LIAR HYMNS 
 
 (41 The familiar tunc, Hursley, was arranged for this 
 hymn from an old German melody: Abends ( The Hymnal i 
 
 No. 18), Keble (No. 61), Sun of My Soul (No. 118), 
 and Clolata (No. 444), were all specially written for it. 
 Of the five tunes, which best expresses the spirit of the 
 hymn ? 
 
IV 
 
 HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, YE SAINTS OF 
 THE LORD 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
 Is laid for your faith in His excellent word ! 
 What more can He say than to you He hath said, — 
 You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled ? 
 
 2 " Fear 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, 
 
 Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand. 
 
 3 " When through the deep waters I call thee to go, 
 
 The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow ; 
 For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, 
 And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. 
 
 4 " When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, 
 
 My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply; 
 The flame shall not hurt thee ; I only design 
 Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine. 
 
 5 " E'en down to old age all My people shall prove 
 
 My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love ; 
 And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn, 
 Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne. 
 
 37 
 
38 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 "6 " The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, 
 I will not, I will not desert to his foes ; 
 That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, 
 I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake." 
 
 "K " in Rippon's "Selection of Hymns," 1787 
 
 NOTE.— Six verses out of seven : the text being taken from Dr. Rippon's 
 book. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Outside of the great hymn writers, few names are 
 more familiar to a student of hymns than that of Dr. 
 John Rippon. He was pastor, from 1773 to 1836, of a 
 Particular Baptist church in London. He had great 
 reputation and influence both as man and as pastor; but 
 of all the things he accomplished, the one best remem- 
 bered is the hymn book he edited. He and his people 
 were alike devoted to singing the psalms and hymns of 
 Dr. Watts. Neither had any wish to supersede them, 
 but Dr. Rippon had come to feel that hymns were 
 needed on some subjects and occasions omitted by Dr. 
 Watts. And hence he was led to publish, in the year 
 1787, a hymn book with this title: "A Selection of 
 Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to be an Ap- 
 pendix to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns. By John 
 Rippon, A. M." 
 
 It was a book of great merit, and was used widely 
 and for long, many editions being printed in England 
 and this country ; and Dr. Rippon is reputed to have 
 accumulated a comfortable estate from his profits on the 
 publication. The copy of the first edition in the posses- 
 sion of the present writer is graced by Dr. Rippon's 
 portrait. But as this copy is in special binding, he ven- 
 tures to hope that it is one of a few prepared for per- 
 
Pennfe* tyftSowy 
 
 Engraved fry James Ft'tt/er 
 
 FRONTISPIECE TO " RIPPON'S SELECTION" 
 
40 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 sonal friends, and that copies intended for use in worship 
 were not so embellished. In any event Dr. Rippon 
 must be credited with the very great services he ren- 
 dered to hymnody. The remarkable feature of the 
 book, which has given it permanent fame, is the great 
 number of original hymns secured by him and there 
 first printed. Many of these have been in use ever 
 since. 
 
 From this copy of Dr. Rippon's book the photogra- 
 pher has reproduced for us, even to the light color of 
 the ink, the page containing the most famous of these 
 hymns. Looking upon the facsimile, we have before us 
 the original text of " How Firm a Foundation," from 
 the motto at the top to the editor's note at the bottom, 
 with all the quaint capitalization, just as their eyes saw 
 it who first found inspiration in singing it so long ago. 
 
 The facsimile gives us not only the text, but all that 
 is actually known of the authorship of the hymn. Dr. 
 Rippon's habit was to print the author's name above a 
 hymn. This hymn is one of three to which the only 
 signature is the letter " K " followed by a dash. The 
 other two, beginning, " In songs of sublime adoration 
 and praise," and "The Bible is justly esteemed," do not 
 arouse much interest. But the authorship of this one 
 seems to have been discussed from the first, and ever 
 since has excited much curiosity and speculation. Such 
 a problem has its own fascination. One cannot but think 
 of the unknown writer, all unconscious that by signing 
 his name to the hymn he would have won immortality, 
 and of the other people who knew the secret, but are not 
 here to answer our questions. 
 
 Naturally we turn to Dr. Rippon's preface, first of all, 
 
is exc< . 
 
 SCRIPTURE P R OM I S 1 
 
 CXXVIII. Elevens. K . 
 
 Exceeding great and precious Promifes, z Pet. iii. 4 
 1 TTQWfirmal leLord 
 
 ri 
 
 Whatmoi 
 
 You, who unto j E s u s foj 
 
 * In ever)' Condition. 
 In Poverty's Vale, or abc 
 .At Home andAbro: 
 •• As thy Days may - 
 " ever be. 
 
 3 " Fear not, I am with thee, O b< 
 " I, I am thy God, and will ftill 
 " I'll ftrengthen thee, help thee, 
 
 to Hand, 
 *' Upheld by my righteous or. 
 
 4 M When thro' the deep Waters I ca] 
 " The Rivers of Woe mall not the< 
 M For I will be with thee, thy : 
 "- And fan&ify to thee, t 
 
 5 « When thro' fiery Trials thy Pathway ma 
 u My Grace all fumcieni mall be thy Su 
 *' Tlie Flame mail not hurt thee, I only 
 M ThyDrofs to confume,and thy Gold to refine; 
 
 6 " Even down tooldAge,all myPeopIe fhall prove 
 11 My fovereign, eternal, unchangeable Love ; 
 " And when hoary Hairs mall their Temples 
 
 *' adorn, 
 "Like lambs theyfhall Hill in my bofom b* 
 ■7 "TheSoultbatonJlsus . 
 
 " I will not, I quill not defert to h 
 "ThatSoul > tho , allHell fhouid endeavor 
 " Vll never — no never — no neve. 
 * Agreeable to Dr. Doddridge's Traa 
 
 
 FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PRINTING OF THE HYMN 
 
42 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 to see if it throws any light upon the matter. After 
 speaking of distinguished men who have contributed 
 hymns, he adds : " In most Places, where the Names of 
 the Authors were known, they are put at full Length, 
 but the Hymns which are not so distinguished, or which 
 have only a single Letter prefixed to them, were, many 
 of them, composed by a Person unknown, or else have 
 undergone some Considerable Alterations." What Dr. 
 Rippon has in mind to say here is that many of the 
 unsigned hymns were composed or recast by himself 
 (the " Person unknown "), and that generally (but not 
 always) he has given the author's name in full when he 
 knew it. That is all, and it throws no light here. 
 
 As long as Dr. Rippon lived to reprint his book, the 
 signature to this hymn remained unchanged. After his 
 death, and when the book had passed from the control 
 of his representatives, an enlarged edition appeared, in 
 which " K " is changed to " KIRKHAM." Who made 
 the change, and for what reason, cannot now be known. 
 Very likely it w r as based merely on hearsay. Certainly 
 the new editor did not know who wrote the two other 
 hymns originally ascribed to " K," for they are left 
 anonymous, even that letter being dropped. The ascrip- 
 tions of authorship in this edition are so careless and 
 full of errors as to carry little weight. In 1788 Thomas 
 Kirkham published a collection of hymns, but those 
 who have examined it say that this hymn is not among 
 them. And there is no evidence that it was written by 
 any one of the name of Kirkham. 
 
 Another solution of the puzzle was offered by Daniel 
 Sedgwick. He was a second-hand bookseller of London, 
 who collected hymn books and studied English hymns 
 
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION 43 
 
 until he knew more of their history than any one else of 
 his time. He suggested that " K" was probably put for 
 Keith, meaning George Keith, a London bookseller, 
 son-in-law of the famous Dr. Gill, and who was said to 
 compose hymns based on his father-in-law's sermons. 
 Dr. Julian, who examined Mr. Sedgwick's papers after 
 hrs death, reports that his guess was based on nothing 
 more substantial than a statement of an old woman 
 whom Sedgwick met in an almshouse. But his name 
 carried a certain authority, and his guess grew into a tra- 
 dition. Many hymn books, even to the present time, 
 ascribe the hymn to George Keith, sometimes with, and 
 sometimes without, a mark of interrogation. 
 
 So the matter rested until taken up by a well-known 
 editor of Boston, Mr. H. L. Hastings, who successfully 
 solved the problem of the authorship of another hymn, 
 "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Mr. Hastings 
 published the account of his investigations in his paper, 
 The Christian, for May, 1887, and it will be best to have 
 the story in his own words : 
 
 " In preparing hymns and music for Songs of Pilgrim- 
 age, we were led to go over not only Dr. Rippon's hymn 
 book but also his Tune Book, edited by Thomas Walker, 
 who for a time led the singing in Dr. Rippon's church. 
 We noticed that over the hymn in question was placed 
 the name of a tune to which it was to be sung, which 
 was Geard. On looking up that tune in the book, we 
 found it was composed by R. Keene. There being but 
 two tunes of that metre in the entire book, the thought 
 arose, was the ' K ' of the hymn the same person as the 
 1 R. Keene,' to whose tune it was to be sung ? Examin- 
 ing both hymn and tune, they seemed to be made for 
 
44 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " each other, and the evidence seemed to point to R. 
 Keene as the author of the hymn ; and we accordingly 
 inserted it in Songs of Pilgrimage, with the original 
 tune, and placed under it the name of R. Keene, with a 
 query (?) to indicate uncertainty as to its origin. 
 
 44 Visiting London, near the close of 1886, we called 
 upon the venerable Charles Gordelier, and asked him, 
 Who wrote 4 How Firm a Foundation ' ? He gave the 
 names Kirkham, Keith, and Keene, but could give no 
 definite reason for preferring one to another, until we 
 laid the facts before him. Turning to Keene's tune, 
 Geard, which he had copied into a book, he at once 
 recognized it as the tune to which, fifty years before, 
 they were accustomed to sing that hymn, and he also 
 remembered that its author, R. Keene, was once a leader 
 of the singing in Dr. Rippon's church, and that the 
 hymn in question was said to have been written by a 
 precentor in Dr. Rippon's church. After considerable 
 though:, he recalled that half a century before, when he 
 himself led the singing in the Baptist church, and used 
 to meet with the different precentors from other meet- 
 ings, he had heard the authorship of that hymn attrib- 
 uted to Keene, and he finally remembered that an 
 aged woman named Fdgehill, a member of Dr. Rippon's 
 church, and the wife of a bookseller in Brick Lane, had 
 told him that Keene was the author of that hymn. 
 
 44 There might be various reasons why a musician and 
 choir master might put his name to a tune which he 
 composed, while modest}', or other considerations, might 
 cause him to append only his initial to a new hymn ; 
 and, in view of all the facts, we think we may consider 
 the question settled, and definitely assign the authorship 
 
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION 45 
 
 "of the hymn to R. Keene, a precentor in Dr. Rippon's 
 
 church, and the author of the tune Geard, to which it 
 was sung." 
 
 Such was Mr. Hastings's conclusion, which for some 
 reason has not attracted much attention ; but it has had 
 a striking confirmation at the hands of another investi- 
 gator. In preparing a notice of this hymn for his Dic- 
 tionary of 1 lymnology, Dr. John Julian found that in 
 Dr. Fletcher's Baptist Collection of 1822 the " K — " of 
 Rippon was extended to " Kn," and in his edition of 
 1835, still further, to "Keen," while in the preface Dr. 
 Fletcher stated that he was greatly assisted by Thomas 
 Walker, and acknowledged his extensive acquaintance 
 with sacred poety. Now, this Thomas Walker was Dr. 
 Rippon's precentor and the editor of his Tune Book, in 
 which Geard appears. Taking this association into 
 account, Dr. Julian argues that Dr. Walker based his 
 ascription of authorship upon actual knowledge of the 
 facts, and that " we are justified in concluding that the 
 ascription to this hymn must be that of an unknown 
 person of the name of Keen." 
 
 We have, then, a result practically the same from two 
 independent investigations carried on in each case with- 
 out knowledge of the other, and the reasonableness of 
 such conclusion seems greatly strengthened by the coin- 
 cidence. Mr. Hastings goes a step beyond Dr. Julian in 
 fixing the identity of Keene. The present writer would 
 add further particulars if he could. In the letters of the 
 Rev. George Whitefield are many references to a Robert 
 Keene, woolen draper in the Minories, London, who was 
 Whitefield's faithful friend, a trustee of his Tabernacle, 
 and who lived until 1793. But there seems to be nothing 
 
4" STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 that would associate him with Dr. Rippon's Baptist 
 hymn book. 
 
 The story of the hymn 
 
 The hymn seems to have come into immediate use 
 upon its appearance in Dr. Rippon's book. Copies of 
 the book were brought over to this country, and in 1790 
 this hymn was put into the hymn book of the Philadel- 
 phia Baptist Association. In 1792, only five years after 
 its original publication, the whole book was reprinted in 
 New York, so that the hymn began its career here almost 
 as soon as in England, and for some reason it has won 
 a more lasting popularity here than there. So familiar 
 is the hymn to us, we imagine it to be a standard wher- 
 ever English hymns are sung. But such is not the fact. 
 It never gained a foothold within the Church of England. 
 It is not sung by the Wesleyans or Presbyterians of 
 Great Britain, and but little by the Congregationalists. 
 Dr. Horder, the best known hymnologist among the 
 latter, speaks of it in his Hymn Leveras a hymn of no 
 great merit. Its use, over there, is mostly among 
 Baptists. 
 
 In this country, on the other hand, few hymns have 
 been sung more generally or more enthusiastically. It 
 has a part in the history of our common Christianity. 
 Very likely the stirring tune to which it has for so long 
 been sung throughout the United States is partly respon- 
 sible for this popularity. That tune does not rightly 
 belong to these words, and. as in the case of the hymn, 
 its origin has never been certainly established. The 
 statement o( so many books that it was composed by 
 John Reading rests on no real foundation. The familiar 
 
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION 47 
 
 name, " Portuguese Hymn," is an error started by one 
 who heard it in the chapel of the Portuguese Embassy 
 in London, and hastily assumed it to be a Portuguese 
 melody. All that is actually known of the tune is that 
 it was the music to a Latin Christmas hymn (" Adeste 
 Fideles "), sung in Roman Catholic chapels throughout 
 England as early as the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 Our well-known "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (The 
 Hymnal, No. 170), is a translation of the hymn to which 
 the tune rightly belongs. 
 
 The position which the hymn " How Firm a Founda- 
 tion," thus mated to the Christmas tune, has taken among 
 us was strikingly illustrated in the late Spanish War. 
 The incident is related in The Sunday-School Times for 
 December 7th, 1 901, by Lieutenant-Colonel Curtis Guild, 
 Jr., late Inspector-General of the Seventh Army Corps. 
 The corps was encamped along the hills at Quemados, 
 near Havana, Cuba. On Christmas eve of 1898 Colonel 
 Guild sat before 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, " Number ten ; twelve o'clock, and all's 
 well !" 
 
 " It was Christmas morning. Scarcely had the cry of 
 the sentinel died away, when from the bandsmen's tents 
 of that same regiment there rose the music of an old, 
 familiar hymn, and one clear baritone voice led the chorus 
 that quickly ran along those moonlit fields : ' How firm 
 a foundation, ye saints of the Lord!' Another voice 
 joined in, and another, and another, and in a moment 
 the whole regiment was singing, and then the Sixth 
 Missouri joined in, with the Fourth Virginia, and all the 
 
48 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " rest, till there, on the long ridges above the great city 
 whence Spanish tyranny once went forth to enslave the 
 New World, a whole American army corps was sing- 
 ing :— 
 
 " ' Fear not, I am with thee, O l>e not dismayed; 
 I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid ; 
 I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, 
 Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.' 
 
 " The Northern soldier knew the hymn as one he 
 hdd learned beside his mother's knee. To the Southern 
 .soldier it was that and something more; it was the 
 favorite hymn of General 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 morning, — that's an 
 American army !" 
 
 And 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 
 one rather to the hope that " How Firm a Foundation " 
 may never cease to be sung among us, and that it may 
 never be set to any other tune. 
 
 SOA\E POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (i) Was Mr. Hastings justified in saying that the ques- 
 tion of authorship is now settled in favor of R. Keene ? 
 
 (2) The literary method of this hymn is peculiar, and 
 more like that of a homily than of a song. The singer 
 addresses his fellow-saints with an assertion that a solid 
 foundation for their confident faith is laid in Scripture. 
 
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION 49 
 
 This he emphasizes by the rhetorical question, Could 
 God have promised more? The balance of the hymn is 
 
 simply the citation of his proof-texts. Can you trace in 
 the Scriptures these " precious promises " that are quoted 
 in the hymn ? 
 
 ( 3 ) The last line brings out the impressive repetition 
 of negatives in Hebrews xiii. 5 (" I will in no wise let 
 thee go ; no, nor will I forsake thee "). In the minds of 
 many clergymen who are graduates of Princeton Semi- 
 nary, this line is inevitably associated with an incident 
 of the last years of its much-beloved theological pro- 
 fessor, Dr. Charles Hodge. The tradition still lingers 
 there that one evening, in conducting prayers in the 
 Oratory, the venerable man, in reading this hymn, which 
 he had announced to be sung, was so overcome by his 
 emotions that on reaching the last line he could only 
 indicate by gestures, keeping time with the rhythm of the 
 words, his own appropriation of God's assurance that 
 He would never, no, never, no, never forsake the soul 
 that hath leaned on Christ. 
 
 The foot-note to this last line of the hymn when it 
 originally appeared in Rippon's Selection — " agreeable to 
 Dr. Doddridge's Translation of Heb. xii. 5 " (see the 
 facsimile) — was one that at the time required no explana- 
 tion. The allusion is to the paraphrase of that verse as 
 given in The Family Expositor; or a Paraphrase and 
 Version of the New Testament, with Critical y,otes and 
 Practical Improvements ', by the famous Dr. Philip Dod- 
 dridge. This book had won enthusiastic praise not only 
 from nonconformists, but from divines and scholars of 
 the Church of England, and had already become one of 
 the familiar household books of the period. The verse 
 
 4 
 
50 STUDIES OF JAM I LIAR HYMNS 
 
 in question there reals : " / will not, I will not leave thee, 
 I will in ver, never, never forsake thee." It will be noticed 
 
 that the author of the hymn has not only reproduced in 
 the last line the tripled "never" of Dr. Doddridge's 
 version, but also, in the line immediately preceding, its 
 repetition of the " I will not." 
 

 V 
 
 LORD, WITH GLOWING HEART I'D PRAISE THEE 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i Lord, with glowing heart I'd praise Thee 
 
 For the bliss Thy love bestows, 
 For the pardoning grace that saves me, 
 
 And the peace that from it flows : 
 Help, O God, my weak endeavor ; 
 
 This dull soul to rapture raise : 
 Thou must light the flame, or never 
 
 Can my love be warmed to praise. 
 
 2 Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee, 
 
 Wretched wanderer, far astray ; 
 Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee 
 
 From the paths of death away : 
 Praise, with love's devoutest feeling, 
 
 Him who saw thy guilt-born fear, 
 And, the light of hope revealing, 
 
 Bade the blood-stained cross appear. 
 
 3 Lord, this bosom's ardent feeling 
 
 Vainly would my lips express : 
 Low before Thy footstool kneeling, 
 
 Deign Thy suppliant's prayer to bless : 
 Let Thy grace, my soul's chief treasure, 
 
 Love's pure flame within me raise ; 
 And, since words can never measure. 
 
 Let my life show forth Thy praise. 
 
 Francis Scott Key, 1817 
 
 Note. — The text is taken from Dr. Muhlenberg's Church Poetry, 1823. 
 
 51 
 
 
5-2 STL DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 To a patriotic American Christian it is a real satisfac- 
 tion to find in the hymn book of his Church a hymn by 
 the author of "The Star Spangled Banner." And the 
 hymn is not unworthy of its place. A good judge, the 
 Rev. Frederick M. Bird, in an essay upon the Hym- 
 nology of the Protestant Episcopal Church, called Mr. 
 Key's hymn " as memorable a piece of work " as his 
 "Star Spangled Banner." "It has," he says, "high 
 devotional and fair literary merit, and is endeared to 
 many thousands by long associations." There is, no 
 doubt, a flavor of an older fashion in the rhetoric of the 
 hymn, but its expression of Christian gratitude still rings 
 true ; and, as a matter of fact, the use of the hymn is 
 more widespread to-day than ever before. 
 
 In 1823 the Rev. Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, after- 
 ward famous as the author of " I Would not Live 
 Alway," printed a hymn book under the name of Church 
 Poct)'v. " Here first (so far as is known) appeared Fran- 
 cis S. Key's very genuine hymn, ' Lord, with Glowing 
 Heart I'd Praise Thee,' " says Mr. Bird in the essay 
 already referred to. Such has been the general belief 
 up to this time, and hence in even* hymnal the hymn 
 bears the date 1823. But in our present study we shall 
 be able to make use of some facts not hitherto known. 
 
 In the autumn of 1900 the writer saw in a New York 
 auction catalogue the entry of a copy of this hymn in 
 Mr. Key's autograph, which he secured. It is written 
 on a half sheet of foolscap and inscribed in the margin, 
 " Written by the author, F. Key, for Sylvester Xash." 
 Hitherto only three eight-line verses of the hymn had 
 
LORD, WITH GLOWING HEART PD PRAISE THEE 53 
 
 been known to hymnologists, as printed in Dr. Muhlen- 
 berg's book and always since. Hut the autograph copy 
 has an additional verse (or two of four lines each) as 
 reproduced in the accompanying facsimile. This was 
 
 THE NEWLY-FOUND VERSE 
 
 the original third verse, preceding the last one as here 
 printed. 
 
 And now, as regards the date. In December of 190 1, 
 while having some part in the rearrangement of the 
 library of the Presbyterian Historical Society in Phila- 
 delphia, the writer took the opportunity of examining 
 some old periodicals, on the chance of what he might 
 find. Among them were three volumes of The Christian 
 Messenger, an unsectarian religious magazine, edited and 
 published by Joshua T. Russell, in Baltimore. At page 
 288 of the first volume, at the end of the number for 
 Saturday September 6th, 18 17, he found the original 
 
54 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 printing of this hymn. It is printed in eight four-line 
 verses, and is prefaced by this note : — 
 
 "The following Hymn was eomposed by a gentleman, 
 formerly a resident of this city, distinguished for his eminent 
 talents and exemplary piety." 
 
 This little discovery changes the accepted date of the 
 hymn from 1823 to 18 17. The additional eight lines of 
 the manuscript are included in the hymn in the maga- 
 zine, and this seems to be the first and last time they 
 have been printed until now. Dr. Muhlenberg chose to 
 omit them from his hymn book in 1823. And since 
 then every one else, even the editor of Mr. Key's poems 
 (which were gathered up and published in 1857), seems 
 completely to have lost sight of them. 
 
 In 1826 Mr. Key's hymn, in its three-verse form, was 
 given a place in the Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church y and it has retained that place in the hymnals 
 from time to time authorized for use in that Church. It 
 was introduced to a much wider company when, in 1830, 
 the Rev. Joshua Leavitt included it in his very popular 
 collection, The Christian Lyre. This was the book the 
 light and secular character of whose music caused such 
 grief to the heart of Thomas Hastings. Designed for 
 revival and social meetings, it found its way into the 
 more formal services of many Presb\ r terian churches, as 
 a welcome substitute for the authorized psalmody. It 
 cannot be said, however, that by this means, or any 
 other, Mr. Key's hymn became generally familiar to 
 Presbyterians until a much later date. The Presbyterian 
 Hymnal of 1874 was the first authorized book to contain 
 it. A peculiar feature in the long career of this hymn 
 is that so little music should have been composed for it. 
 
LORD, WITH GLOWING HEART I'D PRAISE THEE 55 
 
 Even now the words can hardly be said to be associated 
 with any particular tune. 
 
 The author of the Hymn 
 
 Over the grave of Francis Scott Key, at Frederick, 
 Maryland, there was placed in 1898 an impressive 
 monument. His figure in bronze stands on a granite 
 base. He is represented at the moment of discovery 
 that " our flag was still there," his right arm extended 
 toward it, and the left waving aloft his hat in an exultant 
 salute. It is a striking representation of the way in 
 which Mr. Key himself stands before the minds of his 
 countrymen. They think of him always as in that atti- 
 tude. To them he is always the man who wrote " The 
 Star Spangled Banner." The one hour outshines the 
 life so much in men's eyes that the life has become 
 obscure. 
 
 It is none the less pleasant to know how worthy that 
 life was before and after its great event ; to find the 
 home life as attractive as the patriotism, to find the grace 
 of the gentleman and the earnestness of the Christian at 
 one with the gifts of the poet. 
 
 No extended life of Mr. Key has been published, but 
 it seems as if (like that editor who put the note before 
 his hymn) every one who wrote of him felt called upon 
 to praise him. 
 
 Mr. Key was the son of John Ross Key, a man of 
 means and high social position, and a self-sacrificing 
 patriot of the Revolution ; and was born on his father's 
 estate, Terra Rubra, Frederick, Man-land, on August 
 1st, 1779. He was educated at St. John's College, 
 
56 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Annapolis, and in 1802 married the representative of 
 another distinguished Maryland family, Mary Tayloe 
 Lloyd, whose ancestral home, with its wainscotted draw- 
 ing-room, has stood in Annapolis from 1709 until now. 
 
 Mr. Key practiced law in Frederick for some years, 
 afterward moving to Georgetown, D. C. For three terms 
 he was district attorney of the District of Columbia. As 
 a lawyer he seems not to have been given to severe 
 studies, but yet competent, with a ready mind full of 
 resources and equal to the occasion. He had, too, more 
 than a little of the gifts of the orator ; was natural and 
 earnest, and easily kindled into passion. In person he 
 was slight, and of extraordinary vigor both in mind and 
 body; walking, when an elderly man, with the light and 
 elastic gait of a boy, and highly charged with electricity 
 through his whole system. He was absolutely fearless, 
 ardent, impulsive, frank, outspoken ; not without the 
 defects of his qualities. Not always recognized by pass- 
 ing acquaintances as being all that he was, and yet al- 
 ways as being a gentleman. He was cheerful, and liked 
 social life and hospitalities, and excelled in bright conver- 
 sation. Of real warmth of heart, he loved his friends 
 with great loyalty and his family with tender devotion. 
 
 Mr. Key was a member of the Protestant Fpiscopal 
 Church, of the type known as Evangelical. He loved 
 his own Church, but one who had been his rector (Rev. 
 John T. Brooke) has taken pains to record in a Memorial 
 Discourse that he " had no sympathy whatever with the 
 later attempts of individuals, at different periods, to erect 
 high and exclusive fences upon the original peculiarities 
 of the church." He was in sympathy with good men 
 of every name, and ready to worship and cooperate 
 
LORD, 1177V/ GLOWING HEART DD PRAISE THEE $/ 
 
 with them. Though burdened with the care of a very 
 large family and heavy professional duties, he was habit- 
 ually busy in Christian work to a degree that excited the 
 wonder of his pastor. Ready to officiate as lay-reader 
 when needed, a fervent participant in social meetings for 
 
 prayer, " he found much time to visit the sick, to comfort 
 the mourning, to confer with the enquiring, to warn the 
 careless ; and he stood ever ready, at a moment's warn- 
 ing, to lift his voice in behalf of any of the great public 
 charities of the day." 
 
 Mr. Key and his wife were both slave-holders by 
 
S$ STUDIES OF JAM J LI A R HYMNS 
 
 inheritance, but deplored the existence of the institution 
 of slaver\-. Mr. Key gave much thought to his own 
 negroes, and regularly held Sunday-school fur them ; in 
 his neighborhood he was proverbially the colored man's 
 friend, their unpaid advocate in the courts, their helper 
 in time of trouble. He was among the first to think out 
 the scheme of African colonization as the most hopeful 
 remedy for a complicated situation. In conneetion with 
 his friend Bishop Meade, he traveled much and worked 
 hard to promote the cause, to which he became ardently 
 devoted. His income was always carefully apportioned 
 to provide a fund for his charities, and among his last 
 words were his directions where to find and how to 
 employ the moneys then on hand for such uses. 
 
 " Good men are crreat blessings to the communitv " — 
 it was so that Mr. Key's pastor began the Memorial 
 Discourse. "But they must die" — so it continued. 
 And though a commonplace, one can understand how 
 hard it must have been to apply the phrase to one so 
 very much alive as he. Mr. Key died in Baltimore, 
 January nth, 1843. In addition to the monument over 
 his grave erected by popular subscription, a statue of 
 him also stands in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, 
 provided by the will of James Lick, the California 
 millionaire. 
 
 But his song is his monument. Toward the end of the 
 War of 1812 he learned that a friend and neighbor had 
 been taken from his home by the British forces and was 
 held as a prisoner on board the admiral's ship. He at 
 once determined to intercede for his friend's release, and 
 secured from the government such papers as were neces- 
 sary to his purpose. Visiting the squadron of the British 
 
LORD, WITH GLOWING HEART PD PRAISE THEE 59 
 
 on the Potomac under a flag of truce, that summer day 
 in 1814, he was detained under guard, for an attack on 
 Baltimore was just about to begin. Anxiously he paced 
 the deck through the long night of the bombardment 
 until he caught the dawn's early light on the flag still 
 waving over Fort McHenry. The attack had failed. 
 He was released with the song in his heart, and most of 
 it roughly drafted on the back of a letter before he 
 reached the shore. The next day it was printed on 
 handbills, and men were singing it, as they have been 
 ever since. 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) The first would seem to be in regard to the value 
 of the newly found lines, — as to whether they are a real 
 addition to the hymn. It will be noticed that in the 
 second verse (keeping to the eight-line form of each 
 verse) the poet recites the acts of divine love calculated 
 to raise the dull soul to a rapture of gratitude. But 
 that verse stops with the appearing of the cross. The 
 newly found verse (as the third) celebrates the Saviour's 
 drawing the sinner to that cross, the call of His gospel, 
 the gifts of His pardon and His peace. Do not these 
 things add to the grounds of praise ? Can they be 
 omitted without loss to the hymn ? 
 
 (2) We have now three texts of the hymn where we 
 had only one, and the opportunity, always interesting, of 
 comparing them. They are the text in the magazine, 
 that of the autograph, and the usual text as here printed. 
 
 The first verse is precisely the same in all three texts. 
 
 The second verse is identical in the autograph copy 
 
 and in the usual text. But we have to choose between 
 
6o STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 their reading of the seventh line, " the light of hope," 
 and that of the magazine, " the light of life." 
 
 Of the newly found third verse there are only two 
 texts. That of the autograph copy is before us; that 
 of the magazine reads (the differences are italicized) : — 
 
 " Praise thy Saviour Lord, that drew thee 
 
 To that cross, new life to give — 
 
 CalVd a guilt- stain* d sinner to thee ! 
 
 Bade thee look to him and live ! 
 
 " Proise the grace whose threats alarm' d thee! 
 Rous' d thee from thy fatal ease ! 
 Praise the grace whose pardon sav\i thee ! 
 Praise the grace that whisper' d peace !" 
 
 The last verse in the autograph copy has only one 
 word different from the usual text here printed ; its fifth 
 line reading, " Let thy love " instead of " Let thy grace." 
 But in the magazine the verse reads : — 
 
 " Lord, this bosom's ardent feeling, 
 Vainly would my tongue express ! 
 Low before thy footstool kneeling, 
 Deign thy suppliant's prayer to bless! 
 
 " Let thy love, my heart' s best treasure, 
 Ever bind tne to thy ways ! 
 Let me ever seek thy pleasure / 
 Let me ever lisp thy praise!'' 
 
 If the writer were to venture a guess as to the history 
 of the three texts it would be that the magazine has the 
 hymn as originally written ; that Mr. Key afterward 
 saw that the line, " Call'd a guilt-stain'd sinner to thee !" 
 in the newly found verse, and the lack of rhyme between 
 " alarm'd thee " and " sav'd thee," needed correction, and 
 
LORD, WITH GLOWING HEART rn PRAISE THEE 6l 
 
 the close of the hymn needed strengthening; so that he 
 changed the hymn to the form seen in the autograph 
 
 copy; and that the omission of the third verse and the 
 single change that marks the usual text as here printed 
 were made by Dr. Muhlenberg. If the writer were 
 editing a hymn book to-day he should print this hymn 
 precisely as in Mr. Key's autograph copy. 
 
 NOTE. — Since making the statement on page 54 concerning the appear- 
 ance of the hymn in its four-verse form, I have discovered a 
 second printing in that form in The Washington Theological 
 Repertory for December, 1819. page 151. The hymn is headed 
 " For The Repertory," as though making its first appearance. 
 
VI 
 
 FROM GREENLAND'S ICY MOUNTAINS 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i 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. 
 
 2 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. 
 
 3 Can we, whose souls are lighted 
 
 With wisdom from on high, 
 Can we to men benighted 
 
 The lamp of life deny ? 
 Salvation ! O salvation ! 
 
 The joyful sound proclaim, 
 Till each remotest nation 
 
 Has learned Messiah's Name. 
 
 63 
 
64 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 Waft, 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, 
 In bliss returns to reign. 
 
 Rev. Reginald Heber, 1819 
 
 NOTE. — The text is that of Bishop Heber's manuscript. 
 
 The Story of the hymn 
 
 In February, 1 8 19, a royal letter was issued authorizing 
 a special offering for foreign missions in all churches and 
 chapels of Great Britain. Whitsunday of that year fell 
 on the 30th of May, and Dr. Shipley, dean of St. Asaph, 
 appointed the morning of that day for making the offer- 
 ing in the parish church of Wrexham, of which he was 
 the vicar. It happened that he had also arranged for a 
 course of Sunday-evening lectures in his church to begin 
 that same day. His son-in-law, the Rev. Reginald Heber, 
 had come to Wrexham to deliver the opening lecture. 
 
 In those days the singing of hymns was not authorized 
 in the Church of England, but they had pushed in, none 
 the less. Heber remarks in one of his letters that 
 " hardly a collection is made for charitable purposes 
 without a hymn for the occasion." But missionary 
 hymns were not then so numerous as now, and the vicar 
 seems to have been at a loss for one to sing in connection 
 with the next day's collection. Vet he had a poet for a 
 son-in-law, and the son-in-law was in the house ; and it 
 occurred to him that a new hymn might be secured for 
 the occasion. For our knowledge of just what happened 
 
FROM GREENLAND'S ICY MOUNTAINS 65 
 
 we are dependent upon a printed statement of Thomas 
 Edgworth, a solicitor of Wrexham. " In the course of 
 the Saturday previous," Mr. Edgworth says, " the dean 
 and his son-in-law being together in the vicarage, the 
 former requested Heber to ' write something for them to 
 sing in the morning ' ; and he retired for that purpose 
 from the table where the dean and a few friends wen 
 sitting, to a distant part of the room. In a short time 
 
 TvU**-* tfAi^i/, fC***^ /vx***£'a++L4 
 /?*& *£cW 4£^r- &r£&~> J**3, 
 
 'Z'/U*^ C****0 jfiv^S t^HST? &U*l*~J 
 
 AUTOGRAPH VERSES OF THE HYMN 
 
66 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 "the dean inquired, ' What have you written?' Hcber, 
 having then composed the first three verses, read them 
 over. ' There, there, that will do very well,' said the 
 dean. ' No, no, the sense is not complete,' replied Hc- 
 ber. Accordingly he added the fourth verse, and the 
 dean being inexorable to his repeated request of 4 Let 
 me add another, O let me add another,' thus completed 
 the hymn . . . which has since become so celebrated. 
 It was sung the next morning in Wrexham Church, the 
 first time." Tradition says it was sung to the old ballad 
 tune, " 'Twas when the Seas were Roaring." 
 
 The hymn had been set up and printed that Saturday 
 evening, to be ready for the use of the congregation. 
 The original manuscript which served as " copy " was 
 happily preserved, bearing the scar made by the copy- 
 hook on which it had been impaled. It was exhibited 
 in 185 i at the World's Exhibition in London. It passed 
 into the possession of Dr. Thomas Raffles, of Liverpool, 
 at one time a hymn writer of some reputation, and also 
 an enthusiastic collector of autographs. When his col- 
 lection came to be sold, it excited much competition, 
 and brought forty-two pounds, — a larger sum than the 
 amount of that missionary collection at Wrexham 
 Church. 
 
 Heber's hymn made its way quickly. Just after his 
 appointment as Bishop of Calcutta brought him into 
 general notice, a correspondent sent to The Christian 
 Observer a copy of the hymn with a letter calling atten- 
 tion to it as written by the new bishop. The hymn and 
 letter appeared in the number for February, 1823, and as 
 an edition of the magazine was reprinted in the United 
 States, it made the hymn known in both countries. On 
 
FROM GREENLAND'S ICY MOUNTAINS 67 
 
 that account the letter is worth reproducing here. It is 
 hardly less interesting on its own account as a perfect 
 specimen of that still familiar type of appreciation which 
 is no less self-conscious than it is generous, and also of 
 a rhetoric as stilted as the patronage. 
 
 " To the Editor of /lie Christian Observer. 
 
 "The following missionary hymn is so beautiful, considered 
 as poetry, and so honourable as the effusion of a Christian 
 mind, that I should request its insertion in your pages, even 
 if it were not the production of a writer whose devout and 
 elevated muse justly obtained your labours [referring to an 
 earlier review of Heber's Palcsti)ie\ ; whose name has since 
 been often mentioned in your pages with high respect ; and 
 whose appointment, to a most important station in the church 
 of Christ, you have recently announced with a pleasure which 
 is shared by all who have at heart the moral and spiritual wel- 
 fare of our numerous fellow-subjects, native and European, in 
 the East. The hymn having appeared some time since in 
 print with the name of Reginald Heber annexed, I can feel 
 no scruple in annexing that name to it on the present occa- 
 sion. There is nothing, either in the sentiments or the poetry, 
 but what does honour to the now Right Reverend prelate, 
 while it must delight every Christian mind to witness such 
 devout ardour for the extension of 'Messiah's Name,' in a 
 station so eminently important for giving effect to that desire 
 in all those measures which Christian piety, meekness, and 
 prudence may suggest. J." 
 
 The best service performed by this euphonious patron 
 lay in the fact that his letter brought the hymn to the 
 attention of Miss Mary W. Howard, of Savannah, 
 Georgia. She saw the possibilities of Bishop Heber's 
 
68 STL- DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 hymn, but knew of no suitable tune that would carry 
 the words, written as they were in a metre not then much 
 used in hymns. Lowell Mason was at the time a bank 
 clerk in the same town ; but he had already begun the 
 musical career which was to bring him fame and do so 
 much for congregational singing. Boston was destined 
 to be the scene of his more conspicuous labors, but 
 already in Savannah he was teaching a singing-school 
 and leading a choir, and the year before he had published 
 the pioneer of his long line of tune books. To him 
 Miss Howard brought the words of this hymn, and he 
 wrote for it his now famous tune, Missionary Hymn, and 
 printed it as sheet music, with the legend, " Composed 
 for and Dedicated to Miss Mary W. Howard, of Savannah, 
 Georgia." The effect of Mason's tune has been to make 
 " From Greenland's Icy Mountains " the inevitable hymn 
 for all missionary occasions in this country ; and in Eng- 
 land, even to this day, the tune is frequently heard in 
 churches where music of the severer type known as 
 Anglican has come to prevail. 
 
 The author of the Hymn 
 
 When Thackeray, in his Four Georges, had grown 
 wean r of flinging his darts at the padded figure of the 
 First Gentleman of Europe, he turned to "tell of better 
 gentlemen " of the reign of George IV. ; among others 
 of " the good divine, Reginald Heber, as one of the best 
 of English gentlemen, — the charming poet, the happy 
 possessor of all sorts of gifts and accomplishments, birth, 
 wit, fame, high character, competence." 
 
 Reginald Heber was born April 21st, 1783, at Malpas, 
 of which parish his father was rector. He wrote verses 
 
FROM GREENLAND'S /CY MOUNTAINS 
 
 69 
 
 from' childhood, and in 1800, his first year at Oxford, 
 gained a prize for the best Latin verse. Three years 
 later, he won the Newdigate prize by his " Palestine," 
 one of the few college prize poems that have taken a 
 
 y^_^ Ju^-^ 
 
 place in literature. Sir Walter Scott wrote in his 
 Journal, March 12th, 1829: "Read Reginald Heber's 
 journal after dinner. I spent some merry days with 
 him at Oxford when he was writing his prize poem. He 
 
JO STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " was then a gay young fellow, a wit and a satirist, and 
 burning for literary fame. My laurels were beginning to 
 bloom, and we were both madcaps. Who would have 
 foretold our future lot?" 
 
 In 1804 Heber took his degree, spending two years in 
 travel on the Continent. Ordained in 1807, he was pre- 
 sented by his brother with the family living of Hodnet. 
 He soon married, and for sixteen years remained the 
 faithful friend of his people in what he called a halfway 
 situation between a parson and a squire. Of the beauti- 
 ful home-life at Hodnet rectory, and the pain of break- 
 ing it up when the call to India came, we catch some 
 glimpses in the second chapter of Augustus Hare's 
 Memorials of a Quiet Life. Always faithful to parish 
 duties, Heber was ardently devoted to literary pursuits. 
 Besides his poems, he did much editorial work, and was 
 one of the original staff of writers on the famous Quar- 
 terly Review. He wrote also a life of Jeremy Taylor, 
 and edited an edition of Taylor's Complete Works 
 which is still the best. He held, too, a place of his own 
 in the literary society of the time. But his literary 
 career came to an end with his call to India when he 
 was only forty years of age. 
 
 While at Hodnet many honors came to him, for all 
 men admired him. While still a young man he was the 
 Bampton lecturer at Oxford, and in 1822 was elected 
 preacher of Lincoln's Inn, London. When forty years 
 old he was offered the appointment of Bishop of Cal- 
 cutta. Twice he refused for the sake of wife and child ; 
 but he had much of the missionary spirit and an especial 
 fondness for India, and he finally accepted the call as 
 from God. On June 16th, 1823, he sailed for the new 
 
FROM GREENLAND'S ICY MOUNTAINS 7 I 
 
 home, and never again was to see the old. He began 
 at once the visitation of his vast diocese, which included 
 all India, Ceylon, the Mauritius, and Australasia. His 
 abilities and enthusiastic labors made a great mark upon 
 the diocese, but his administration was very brief. 
 Returning from a service at Trichinopoly, on April 3rd, 
 KS26, he retired to take a cold bath, and half an hour 
 afterward was found dead in his room by a servant. 
 
 In politics Bishop Heber was a Tory, in theology an 
 Arminian, in religious views a High Churchman. But 
 all his opinions were subject to the law of charity. He 
 entered into no controversy, and was warmly loved for 
 his beautiful character, his religious enthusiasm, and his 
 engaging ways. 
 
 His attention was turned to hymn writing by the 
 unsatisfactory state of psalmody in the Church of Eng- 
 land. Clergy and people had wearied of metrical, psalm 
 versions, and although hymns had never been author- 
 ized, insisted on using them in church. Heber was 
 ambitious to write hymns that should win the sanction 
 of the authorities and make part of an authorized 
 hymnal. But the authorities counseled delay, and his 
 hymn book was first published by his widow in 1827, as 
 " Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church 
 Service of the Year." It contained fifty-seven of Heber 's 
 hymns. A considerable number of these had been 
 printed by him in The Christian Observer between the 
 years 181 1 and 18 16. Most of the others first saw the 
 light when his hymn book came to be printed. To this 
 hymn book there will be occasion to recur in studying 
 a hymn of Dean Milman. Heber is perhaps the only 
 extensive hymn writer in the language of whom it may 
 
J2 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 be said that every hymn he wrote has come into actual 
 
 use. 
 
 Some points for Discussion 
 
 (i) What did the author mean when he insisted on 
 writing a fourth verse because the sense was not com- 
 plete without it; just what, in other words, does that 
 verse add to the structure or thought of the hymn ? 
 
 (2) In The Hymnal (and here) the hymn is printed as 
 originally written. Bishop Heber's allusion in the second 
 verse to the spicy breezes from Ceylon is both explained 
 and illustrated by a passage in his Journal of a Voyage 
 to India, where, under the date of September, 1823, he 
 writes : " Though we were now too far off Ceylon to 
 catch the odors of the land, yet it is, we are assured, per- 
 fectly true that such odors are perceptible to a very con- 
 siderable distance. In the Straits of Malacca a smell 
 like that of a hawthorn hedge is commonly experienced; 
 and from Ceylon, at thirty or forty miles, under certain 
 circumstances, a yet more agreeable scent is inhaled." 
 In spite, however, of Bishop Heber's confirmation of the 
 appropriateness of his earlier allusion to Ceylon, it 
 remains true that when his hymns came to be printed in 
 1827 by his widow, the passage in question was made to 
 read : — 
 
 " What though the spicy breezes 
 Blow soft o'er Java's isle ;" — 
 
 No explanation of the change has ever been made. 
 
 In many hymn books the word " each " in the seventh 
 line of the third verse is changed to " earth's." Is there 
 any good reason for either change ? 
 
FR Oj V G R E E NLAND* S IC Y MO UNTA L \ S J 3 
 
 (3) The non-Christian religions are now regarded with 
 a more sympathetic feeling than in Bishop Heber's time. 
 Has the growth of this feeling had any effect upon our 
 estimate of the appropriateness and usefulness of this 
 hymn ? Compare it in this respect with Bishop Coxe's 
 missionary hymn, "Saviour, Sprinkle Many Nations" 
 (The Ilynnial, No. 399). 
 
 (4) Bishop Heber lived at a time when English lyrical 
 poetry had a great development under Walter Scott, 
 Byron, and others. His aim in writing hymns was to 
 get something of this new lyrical grace and charm into 
 the hymns of the Church. Of his original hymns there 
 are nine in The Hymnal (see its Index of Authors). Do 
 they show that he succeeded in his purpose ? One of 
 them Lord Tennyson thought the greatest hymn in the 
 language. In the opinion of others Heber's style was 
 somewhat too ornate and flowing for hymn writing. 
 
 (5) The hymns of the Church may be called the 
 flowers of the Church's history. The hymns of any 
 epoch grow out of the spiritual life of that epoch, and 
 express its best thought and feeling. Of this Bishop 
 Heber's hymn is an example. The hymn itself is the 
 outgrowth of that missionary movement in England 
 whose influences had surrounded him while growing up. 
 The movement arose with the bejnnnincr of the nine- 
 teenth century. The Baptist Missionary Society was 
 founded in 1792, the London Missionary Society in 
 1795 ; within the Church of England an active Society 
 for Missions to Africa was started in 1799, and the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel began a new 
 career with the new century. It was only in 181 3 that 
 the obstacles to missionary work in Heber's beloved India 
 
74 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 were overcome and the way declared open by Parlia- 
 ment. The aroused conscience and quickened pulse of 
 England have a witness in this and other hymns of the 
 time. And is it not somewhat surprising that the increased 
 missionary enthusiasm of the latter part of the century 
 did not more freely embody itself in hymns that should 
 gain the ear and heart of the Church? The new mis- 
 sionary literature has attained great proportions, but in 
 it all hymnody plays a rather inconspicuous part. Yet 
 there would seem to be room in our hymnals for fresh 
 missionary hymns ; and without increasing the size of 
 the books, from which, one would think, some few of the 
 more prosaic hymns on that theme might go without 
 serious loss. 
 
VII 
 
 MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 My faith looks up to Thee, 
 Thou Lamb of Calvary, 
 
 Saviour 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. 
 
 75 
 
 
jG STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 When ends life's transient dream, 
 When death's cold, sullen stream 
 
 Shall o'er me roll, 
 Blest Saviour, then, in love, 
 Fear and distrust remove ; 
 O bear me safe above, 
 A ransomed soul. 
 
 Ray Palmer, 1830 
 
 Note. — The text is taken from his Hymns and Sacred Pieces, 1865. As 
 regards a different reading in the original printing of the hymn, 
 see under " Some Points for Discussion,'' (3). 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 " Look in thy heart, and write," said the muse to Sir 
 Philip Sidney : and no language could reveal more clearly 
 the source of this hymn. Its words " were born of my 
 own soul," the author said long afterward to Dr. Cuyler. 
 It becomes at once evident, therefore, that we must be 
 altogether dependent upon such disclosures as the author 
 chose to make for any real knowledge of the origin of 
 the hymn. Happily for us the publication of inaccurate 
 and apocryphal accounts of the matter (already alluded 
 to in the preface to this book), together with a wish to 
 escape from " the necessity of replying to letters of 
 inquiry which have been received in inconvenient num- 
 bers," led Dr. Palmer (in an appendix to his Poetical 
 Works, 1876) to narrate the circumstances and experience 
 out of which the hymn arose : 
 
 " Immediately after graduating at Vale College, in 
 September, 1830, the writer went to the city o( New 
 York, by previous engagement, to spend a year in teach- 
 ing for two or three hours each day in a select school 
 for young ladies. This private institution, which was 
 patronized by the best class of families, was under the 
 
MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE 77 
 
 " direction of an excellent Christian lady connected with 
 St. George's Church, the rector of which was then the 
 good Dr. James Milnor. It was in Fulton Street, west 
 of Broadway, and a little below Church Street on the 
 south side of the way. That whole section of the city, 
 now covered with immense stores and crowded with 
 business, was then occupied by genteel residences. The 
 writer resided in the family of the lady who kept the 
 school, and it was there that the hymn was written. 
 
 " It had no external occasion whatever. Having been 
 accustomed almost from childhood, through an inherited 
 propensity perhaps, to the occasional expression of what 
 his heart felt in the form of verse, it was in accordance 
 with this habit, and in an hour when Christ, in the riches 
 of His grace and love, was so vividly apprehended as to 
 fill the soul with deep emotion, that the piece was com- 
 posed. There was not the slightest thought of writing 
 for another eye, least of all of writing a hymn for Chris- 
 tian worship. Away from outward excitement, in the 
 quiet of his chamber, and with a deep consciousness of 
 his own needs, the writer transferred as faithfully as he 
 could to paper what at the time was passing within him. 
 Six stanzas were composed, and imperfectly written, first 
 on a loose sheet, and then accurately copied into a small 
 morocco-covered book, which for such purposes the 
 author was accustomed to carry in his pocket. This 
 first complete copy is still — 1875 — preserved. It is well 
 remembered that when writing the last line, ' A ransomed 
 soul,' the thought that the whole work of redemption 
 and salvation was involved in those words, and sucro-ested 
 the theme of eternal praises, moved the writer to a degree 
 of emotion that brought abundant tears. 
 
 I 
 
7$ STUDIES Oh FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " A year or two after the hymn was written, and when 
 no one, so far as can be recollected, had ever seen it, Dr. 
 Lowell Mason met the author in the street in Boston, 
 and requested him to furnish some hymns for a Hymn 
 and Tune Hook which, in connection with Dr. Hastings 
 of New York, he was about to publish. The little book 
 containing it was shown him, and he asked a copy. We 
 stepped into a store together, and a copy was made and 
 given him, which without much notice he put in his 
 pocket. On sitting down at home and looking it over, 
 he became so much interested in it that he wrote for it 
 the tune ' Olivet,' in which it has almost universally been 
 sung. Two or three days afterward we met again in the 
 street, when, scarcely waiting to salute the writer, he 
 earnestly exclaimed, ' Mr. Palmer, you 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 L T p to Thee." ' " 
 
 The hymn and tune book referred to by Dr. Palmer, 
 in which the hymn first appeared, came out in twelve 
 parts in 1831-32, and was called Sfii-itual Songs for 
 Social }}\)rsliip. Numerous editions of the book were 
 printed ; before long the hymn and its tune became 
 widely sung and began to be copied into other books. 
 In 1842 it was introduced into England through the 
 Rev. Andrew Reed's Hymn Book. The hymn is to-day 
 among those most familiar in evangelical churches of 
 both countries. The statement often made that it now 
 appears in every hymn book is, of course, not true. 
 That is not true of any hymn. But it is as well known 
 and as well loved as any American hymn. It seems to 
 many people like a part of their own spiritual life. 
 
4ri^^ 
 
 Crfi^eC /nru^t y^U^^f 
 
 r^"V '(//Z-C&Zte^. 
 
 AN AUTOGRAPH VERSE 
 
So STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Ray Palmer was the son of the Hon. Thomas Palmer 
 of Little Compton, Rhode Island, and was born at that 
 place on November 12th, 1808. In his thirteenth year 
 he became clerk in a dry-goods store at Boston, and 
 while there he connected himself with the Park Street 
 Church. His thoughts turned toward the ministry, and 
 he spent three years preparing for college at Phillips 
 Academy, Andover, and in 1830 was graduated from 
 Vale. Then came the years of teaching and of prepara- 
 tion for the ministry, first at New York and afterward at 
 New Haven. He was ordained in 1835, becoming pastor 
 of the Central Congregational Church of Bath, Maine, 
 where he remained until 1850. From then until 1866 he 
 was pastor of the First Congregational Church of Albany, 
 New York. In 1866 he became the Corresponding 
 Secretary of the American Congregational Union, re- 
 moving to New York City, and holding that laborious 
 post until 1 S/8. He resigned his secretaryship in that 
 year and had already removed to Newark, New Jersey. 
 
 The real occasion of this resignation was the failure 
 of Dr. Palmer's health. He suffered from a nervous 
 affection causing an uncertainty, at times even a stagger, 
 in his walk. But for some years after giving up his 
 work in New York he continued in active service in 
 connection with the Belleville Avenue Congregational 
 Church, of Newark. By a unique arrangement Dr. 
 Palmer became its " pastor," having especial charge o( 
 visiting the people ; while Dr. George H. Hepworth was 
 its "preacher," and Dr. William Hayes Ward its "super- 
 intendent of mission work." At Newark, in 1882, Dr. 
 
MY FA nil LOOKS UP TO THEE 8 1 
 
 Palmer gathered about him a distinguished and affec- 
 tionate company to celebrate the golden anniversary 
 of his wedding to Miss Ann M. Ward, of New York. 
 But the warning of his approaching end soon followed. 
 He died at Newark on March 29th, 1887. 
 
 Dr. Palmer was the author of a number of books. 
 His prose writings were generally of a devotional char- 
 acter, but included Hints on the Formation of Religious 
 Opinions (i860), of which several editions were printed. 
 His hymns and other verse appeared in successive 
 volumes: Hymns and Sacred Pieces (1865), Hymns of 
 My Holy Hours (1868), Home, or the Unlost Paradise 
 (1868), Complete Poetical Works (1876), and Voices of 
 Hope and Gladness (188 1). Dr. Palmer's poetical work 
 was voluminous enough to fill an 8vo volume of more 
 than three hundred and fifty pages. It is always pure 
 and often graceful, and written in easily flowing verse, 
 but the body of his miscellaneous poetry does not attain 
 such elevation of thought or distinction of form as would 
 recommend it to the student of literature. 
 
 In estimating his poetry it is only fair to remember 
 that Dr. Palmer's life " for more than forty years was 
 unremittingly devoted to the absorbing duties of a Chris- 
 tian minister, and for more than three-fourths of this 
 period to the manifold labors of a city Pastor. Poetry, 
 instead of filling any prominent place in the programme 
 of his life, has been only the occupation of the few occa- 
 sional moments that could be redeemed from severer, 
 and generally very prosaic, forms of work." 
 
 When we turn from the miscellaneous poetry to the 
 hymns, we have a different situation and a happier result. 
 There was nothing in Dr. Palmer's circumstances to 
 
82 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 interfere with the production of hymns. They were 
 quite in line with his thought and work. And the 
 hymn-form furnished precisely the medium through 
 which his purely devotional spirit and gift for graceful 
 verse could find their most spontaneous expression. It is 
 among the hymn writers that Dr. Palmer finds his proper 
 place, and by many he is considered to be the foremost 
 hymn writer of America. He is distinguished not only 
 for the excellence of his best hymns, but for the number 
 of his hymns that are in all ways good. And to them 
 must he added his translations of Latin hymns, in which 
 he was especially successful. Several of his hymns are 
 favorites ; and yet what Lowell Mason prophesied has 
 come to pass, and Dr. Palmer is best known as the 
 author of " My Faith Looks Up to Thee." 
 
 Dr. Palmer's character corresponded to his hymns. 
 One who knew him well has recently spoken of him to 
 the present writer as " One of the loveliest of men. 
 He was exceedingly agreeable in conversation, which 
 had always a spiritual tone," the same friend went on to 
 say. " There was a certain saintliness in his manner and 
 personality. He was gentle in his ways of speech, but 
 had very deep feelings, which often came to the surface 
 in conversation. His religious character was never 
 better illustrated than when he was drawn out to speak 
 of his famous hymn : the usual egotism of an author 
 was so overcome by a feeling of simple gratitude for 
 what the hymn had accomplished." 
 
 Dr. Palmer's portrait illustrates the description of his 
 personal appearance given by his friend Dr. Theodore 
 Cuyler (in Recollections of a Long Life') : " He was short 
 in stature, but his erect form and habit of brushing 
 
.i/)' Firm looks rr to thee 
 
 *3 
 
 DR. RAY PAI.MKR 
 
 " his hair high over his forehead gave him a command- 
 ing look. He was the impersonation of genuine en- 
 thusiasm." 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (i) In the story of the hymn the point that appeals 
 to the imagination is the carrying for so long in the 
 young man's pocket of that single copy, unknown, un- 
 read, of the hymn now so familiar. Almost as appealing 
 is the record of another copy of the hymn that came to 
 Dr. Palmer's knowledge. It was made in camp the 
 evening before one of the great battles of the Civil War. 
 Six or eight young Christian soldiers had met for prayer 
 in one of the tents. They could not all expect to sur- 
 vive the battle. One suggested that they draw up a 
 paper expressive of the spirit in which they faced death, 
 
84 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 and that all sign it for a testimony to the friends of such 
 as should fall. Talking over the form of the paper, it was 
 agreed that the hymn " My Faith Looks Up to Thee" 
 be written out in full ; and to this each one of them 
 signed his name. What caused this particular hymn to 
 be chosen for such a purpose? and just what message 
 did that paper bring to the relatives of those that fell in 
 battle the next day ? 
 
 (2) Dr. Palmer explained the success of his hymn by 
 saving that it embodied " in appropriate and simple 
 language that which is most central in all true Christian 
 experience — the act of faith in the divine Redeemer — the 
 intrusting of the individual soul to Him entirely and 
 for ever." But this explanation would apply just as well 
 to a prose statement as to a hymn. Must there not be 
 poetic feeling as well as spiritual truth in a good hymn ? 
 What are the special poetic merits of this hymn ? 
 
 (3) The hymn has seldom suffered from alterations at 
 the hands of editors. Dr. Palmer complained of a com- 
 piler who substituted " distress " for " distrust," in the 
 last verse. He much preferred " distrust," as applying 
 more to the soul, to " distress," as suggesting bodily 
 sensations. But what he seems to have forgotten is 
 that the word was originally printed " distress " when 
 the hymn first appeared in Dr. Mason's hymn book ; 
 being changed to " distrust " only in the later editions. 
 It would be interesting to examine the small morocco- 
 covered book to see what word was originally written. 
 But is there any question that Dr. Palmer was right in 
 insisting on " distrust " ? Notice his choice of words 
 throughout. Could the hymn be improved by substi- 
 tuting others at any point ? 
 
VIII 
 
 LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT, AMID THE ENCIRCLING 
 GLOOM 
 
 The Text of the hymn 
 
 i 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. 
 
 2 I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 
 
 Shouldst 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. 
 
 3 So long Thy power hath blest 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. 
 
 Rev. (afterward Cardinal John Henry Newman, 1833 
 
 Note. — The text is taken from Newman's Verses on Various Occasions, 
 1867 ; and agrees with that in Lyra Apostolica. 
 
 85 
 
86 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 This much-loved hymn is always spoken of as having 
 been written by Cardinal Newman, and the fact that 
 Protestants love to sing it is used to show the real unity 
 of Christians, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant. 
 Hut as a matter of fact the hymn was not written by 
 Cardinal Newman, nor even by a Roman Catholic. It 
 was written by the Rev. John Henry Newman, a young 
 clergyman of the Church of England, twelve years 
 before he went into the Church of Rome ; and at a time 
 when, as he himself tells us, he had no thought of leav- 
 ing the Church of England. Indeed, Cardinal Newman 
 said in 1882 to Lord Ronald Gower (who reports it in 
 his Old Diaries) that the hymn did not represent his 
 feeling at that time. " For we Catholics " he said, with 
 a quiet smile, " believe we have found the light." 
 
 The hymn is so much a part of its author's life that 
 the story of his hymn and of his life must be told to- 
 gether. The son of John Newman, a London banker, 
 he was born, on February 21st, 1801, within sound of 
 Bow Bells. He was an imaginative boy, and so super- 
 stitious that he used constantly to cross himself on going 
 into the dark. He never could explain what started him 
 in such a practice, for his surroundings were those of 
 Evangelical Protestantism, and his own beliefs were Cal- 
 vinistic, including the opinion that the Pope was anti- 
 Christ. At his conversion, when fifteen years old, his 
 mind became filled with that sense of communion with 
 God which possessed him all his life, and made outward 
 things seem as nothing to him. A curious imagination 
 took hold of him at the same time that it was God's 
 
LEAD, KINDL ) LIGHT 
 
 87 
 
 will that he should live a single life. This feeling never 
 left him. 
 
 Newman went up to Oxford, and was graduated from 
 Trinity College in 1820 ; remaining there first as a fellow, 
 and then as a tutor, of Oriel. In 1824 he was ordained, 
 and in 1828 was appointed vicar of St. Man's Church, at 
 
 REV. JOHN HKNRY NEWMAN 
 
 Oxford. Then he began to preach those sermons which 
 had so extraordinary an influence, and are thought by 
 many the greatest of the century. Meantime his re- 
 ligious opinions were gradually changing under those 
 High Church influences at Oxford which had their be- 
 ginnings in Keble's Christian Year. Especially marked 
 
88 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 was the influence of his friend and fellow tutor, Hurrell 
 Froude. Froude changed Newman's hostility to the 
 Church of Rome to deep admiration, and taught him to 
 look upon the Reformation as a mistake. " He fixed 
 deep in me," says Newman, " the idea of devotion to the 
 Blessed Virgin, and he led me gradually to believe in 
 the Real Presence." 
 
 To this period of change and unrest the hymn be- 
 longs. The anxieties that lay behind it and the circum- 
 stances out of which it sprang are fully narrated in New- 
 man's fascinating Apologia pro Vita Suo ; and certainly no 
 one would care to learn of them from any other source : 
 
 " While I was engaged in writing my work upon the 
 Arians great events were happening at home, which 
 brought out into form and passionate expression the 
 various beliefs which had so gradually been winning 
 their way into my mind. . . . The great Reform agitation 
 was going on around me as I wrote. The Whigs had 
 come into power; Lord Grey had told the Bishops to 
 set their house in order, and some of the Prelates had 
 been insulted and threatened in the streets of London. 
 The vital question was, how were we to keep the Church 
 from being liberalized ? there was such apathy on the 
 subject in some quarters, such imbecile alarm in others ; 
 the true principles of Churchmanship seemed so radically 
 decayed, and there was such distraction in the councils 
 of the Clergy. . . . With the Establishment thus divided 
 and threatened, thus ignorant of its true strength, I 
 compared that fresh vigorous Power of which I was 
 reading in the first centuries. ... I said to myself, 
 ' Look on this picture and on that ' ; I felt dismay at 
 her prospects, anger and scorn at her do-nothing per- 
 
LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 89 
 
 " plexity. I thought that if Liberalism once got a footing 
 within her, it was sure of the victory in the event. I 
 saw that Reformation principles were powerless to rescue 
 her. As to leaving her, the thought never crossed my 
 imagination ; still I ever kept before me that there was 
 something greater than the Established Church, and that 
 was the Church Catholic and Apostolic, set up from the 
 beginning, of which she was but the local presence and 
 the organ. She was nothing unless she was this. She 
 must be dealt with strongly or she would be lost. 
 There was need of a second reformation. 
 
 " At this time I was disengaged from college duties, 
 and my health had suffered from the labor involved in 
 the composition of my Volume. ... I was easily per- 
 suaded to join Hurrell Froude and his Father, who were 
 going to the south of Europe for the health of the 
 former. 
 
 "We set out in December, 1832. . . . I went to vari- 
 ous coasts of the Mediterranean ; parted with my friends 
 at Rome ; went down for the second time to Sicily with- 
 out companion, at the end of April ; . . . the strange- 
 ness of foreign life threw me back into myself. . . . 
 England was in my thoughts solely, and the news from 
 England came rarely and imperfectly. The bill for the 
 Suppression of the Irish Sees was in progress, and filled 
 my mind. ... It was the success of the Liberal cause 
 which fretted me inwardly. . . . 
 
 " Especially when I was left by myself, the thought came 
 upon me that deliverance is wrought not by the many 
 but by the few, not by bodies but by persons. ... I 
 began to think that I had a mission. . . . When we took 
 leave of Monsignore Wiseman, he had courteously ex- 
 
90 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " pressed a wish that we might make a second visit to 
 Rome ; I said with great gravity, ' We have a work to 
 do in England.' I went down at once to Sicily, and the 
 presentiment grew stronger. I struck into the middle 
 of the island, and fell ill of a fever in Leonforte. 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 Castro-Giovanni, and was laid up there for 
 nearly three weeks. Towards the end of May I left for 
 Palermo, taking three days for the journey. Before 
 starting from my inn in the morning of May 26th or 27th, 
 I sat down on my bed and began to sob violently. My 
 servant, who had acted as my nurse, asked what ailed 
 me. I could only answer him, ' I have a work to do in 
 England.' 
 
 " I was aching to get home ; yet for want of a vessel 
 I was kept at Palermo for three weeks. I began to visit 
 the Churches, and they calmed my impatience, though I 
 did not attend any services. ... At last I got off in an 
 oransre boat, bound for Marseilles. Then it was that I 
 wrote the lines, ' Lead, kindly light,' which have since 
 become well known. We were becalmed a whole week 
 in the Straits of Bonifacio. I was writing verses the 
 whole time of my passage. At length I got to Mar- 
 seilles, and set off for England." 
 
 We can now understand the hymn. We can see into 
 the shadows that encircled him who wrote it, — the sick- 
 ness and depression, the loneliness, the dark thoughts of 
 the Church he still clung to. We know his sense of being 
 
LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 91 
 
 called by God to do a work at home without seeing what 
 its end might be. We hear his answer to the call in his 
 renunciation of all pride of leadership into God's hands, 
 his cry for only light enough to see one step ahead, his 
 confidence that God will find his path. " For years," 
 Newman said in another connection, " I must have had 
 something of an habitual notion, though it was latent, 
 and had never led me to distrust my own convictions, 
 that my mind had not found its ultimate rest, and that in 
 some sense or other I was on journey. During the 
 same passage across the Mediterranean in which I wrote 
 1 Lead kindly light,' I also wrote the verses which are 
 
 AUTOGRAPH LINES OF THE HYMN 
 
 found in the Lyra under the head of ' Providences,' 
 beginning ' When I look back.' This was in 1833 ; and, 
 since I have begun this narrative, I have found a memo- 
 randum under the date of September 7th, 1829, in which 
 I speak of myself as ' now in my rooms in Oriel College, 
 slowly advancing, &c, and led on by God's hand blindly, 
 not knowing whither He is taking me.' " 
 
(jl STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 The date of the hymn is June iGth, 1833. On the 
 Sunday following Newman's return from his southern 
 trip it happened that Mr. Keble preached at Oxford his 
 famous sermon on " The National Apostasy." " I have 
 ever considered and kept the day," Newman says, " as 
 the start of the religious movement of 1833." 
 
 Newman had returned in time to become the centre 
 of that very powerful movement to undo the work of 
 the Reformation in England. But he grew so much out 
 of sympathy with all that Protestantism stands for, that, 
 in 1845, he asked to be received into the Roman Catholic 
 Church. His secession was a great blow to many of his 
 friends, to none more than to Keble, to whom it was a 
 life-long sorrow. It caused also intense excitement and 
 bitterness of feeling, the famous Apologia having been 
 written in answer to charges of insincerity made by 
 Charles Kingsley. 
 
 Newman continued a devout Roman Catholic, and in 
 1879 was made a cardinal by the Pope, dying in 1890. 
 It was a strange career of a wonderfully gifted man. 
 But no one now doubts his sincerity or the depth and 
 purity of his religion. 
 
 Newman's verses were first printed in The British 
 Magazine for March, 1834, and then in 1836 in the Lyra 
 Apostolica, a little book in which the contributions to the 
 Magazine of Newman, Keble, and other kindred spirits, 
 were gathered up. In 1846 the verses were included by 
 Longfellow and Johnson in their Book of Hymns. Un- 
 fortunately they had found them in a newspaper as 
 beginning " Send kindly light," and so they printed 
 them. In 1865 Dr. Charles S. Robinson printed them 
 with the same opening in his Songs for the Sanctuary, 
 
LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT 93 
 
 He explained (in The Congregationalist, 1890) that the 
 
 change was made by a " literary friend " who first brought 
 the hymn to his notice, and who assumed that the form 
 " Lead, kindly Light " was a typographical error, arising 
 from the close resemblance of the words Lead and Send 
 in careless manuscript. It is surely an instance of loyalty 
 to friendship that Dr. Robinson persisted in so misprint- 
 ing the hymn in all editions of that popular book up to 
 the day of his death. And so the hymn stands in the 
 more recent issues by the Century Company, now owning 
 the plates of the book. The present familiarity and 
 popularity of the hymn began with its inclusion in 1868 
 in the Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern. Cardi- 
 nal Newman's connection with hymnody by no means 
 ends with this hymn. From his long poem, " The Dream 
 of Gerontius," has been taken the fine hymn beginning, 
 " Praise to the Holiest in the height " (The Hymnal, No. 
 429). He also published two collections of Latin hymns 
 taken from the Breviaries, and made numerous and 
 excellent translations from them. 
 
 Some points for Discussion 
 
 (1) What is the meaning of " kindly Light " ? Newman 
 first printed his verses with the title, " Faith-Heavenly 
 Leadings"; in 1836 with the title, "Light in the Dark- 
 ness," and the motto, " Unto the godly there ariseth up 
 light in the darkness " ; since then with the title, " The 
 Pillar of the Cloud." 
 
 (2) Nothing could have been farther from their author's 
 thoughts than the use of his verses as a hymn. What 
 are the qualities in verses so personal, so closely related 
 to individual experience and circumstances, that make 
 
94 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 them Mutable to be sung by a whole congregation ? The 
 Rev. George Huntington has given us (in his Random 
 Recollections) the modest explanation of Cardinal New- 
 man himself: " I had been paying Cardinal Newman a 
 visit. ... I happened to mention his well-known hymn 
 ' Lead, kindly Light,' which he said he wrote when a very 
 young man. ... I ventured to say, ' 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 ; and where are they not to be found ?' He 
 was silent for some moments and then said with emotion, 
 * Yes, deeply thankful, and more than thankful ' ; then, 
 after another pause, ' But you see it is not the Hymn, 
 but the Tunc, that has gained the popularity ! The 
 Tune is Dykes's, and Dr. Dykes was a great Master.' " 
 
 The " Lux Benigna " of Dr. Dykes was composed in 
 August, 1865, and was the tune chosen for this hymn by 
 the committee preparing the Appendix to Hymns Ancient 
 and Modern. Dr. Dykes's statement that the tune came 
 into his head while walking through the Strand in 
 London presents a striking contrast with the solitary 
 origins of the hymn itself. 
 
 I 3) " The fourth verse of the hymn " is often inquired 
 for. It has only three. But Bishop Bickersteth printed 
 in his Hymnal Companion, 1870, a fourth verse of his 
 own composition, as follows : — 
 
 Meantime along the narrow, rugged path 
 
 Thystrlf hast trod. 
 Lead. Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith, 
 
 Home to my God, 
 To rest for ever after earthly strife 
 In the calm light of everlasting life." 
 
LEAD, KINDL V LIGHT 
 
 95 
 
 He intended to express his conviction that "the heart of 
 the belated pilgrim can only find rest in the Light of 
 Light." The author of the hymn protested against the 
 addition, and many others joined in the protest. Can 
 the addition be justified? 
 
 CARDINAL NEWM \ N 
 
 (4) What is the meaning of the last two lines of the 
 hymn, " And with the morn," etc. ? No doubt those who 
 sing the hymn will interpret these lines as expressing 
 their hope of being reunited with those they have loved 
 and lost by death. But it does not follow that such was 
 
(jO STUDIES (>/■ JAM I LIAR HYMNS 
 
 the author's original meaning. Would a theologian have 
 
 referred to his glorified friends as angels ? Attention has 
 been called to Newman's statement that after his awaken- 
 ing to God in his sixteenth year, he was strongly con- 
 scious both in his waking and sleeping moments of the 
 presence of angels. That consciousness he subsequently 
 lost, greatly to his sorrow ; and the suggestion is made 
 that these lines expressed his hope of regaining it when 
 the night had gone. Another suggested meaning is 
 that in its darkness and perplexity the soul had lost the 
 angel faces not only of Fancy and Hope and youthful 
 Confidence, but of those divine forms of Faith and 
 Assurance which had accompanied the believer in the 
 early fervor of his belief. When quite an old man 
 Cardinal Newman was asked by letter to explain the 
 meaning of these lines, to which letter he returned this 
 curious answer: — 
 
 "The Oratory, January i 8, 1S79. 
 " My dear Mr. Greenhill. 
 
 " You flatter me by your question : but I think it was Keble 
 who, when asked it in his own case, answered that poets were 
 not bound to be critics, or to give a sense to what they had 
 written ; and though I am not like him, a poet, at least I may 
 plead that I am not bound to remember my own meaning, 
 whatever it was, at the end of almost fifty years. Anyhow, 
 there must be a statute of limitation for writers of verse, or it 
 would be quite tyranny if, in an art which is the expression, 
 not of truth, but of imagination and sentiment, one were 
 obliged to be ready for examination on the transient state of 
 mind which came upon one when home-sick, or sea-sick, or 
 in any other way sensitive or excited. 
 
 " Yours most truly. 
 
 "John H. Newman.' 1 
 
MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEb 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 My country, 'tis of thee, 
 Sweet land of liberty, 
 
 Of thee I sing ; 
 Land where my fathers died, 
 Land of the pilgrims' pride, 
 From every mountain side 
 
 Let freedom ring:. 
 
 2 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 that 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. 
 
 97 
 
9«S STUDIES (>/■ FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 Our fathers' God, to Thee, 
 Author of liberty, 
 
 To Thee we sing : 
 Long may our land be bright 
 With freedom's holy light; 
 Protect us by Thy might, 
 Great God, our King. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, 1832 
 
 Note. 
 
 -This is the text of the hymn as originally written, and which Dr. 
 Smith expressed himself as feeling unauthorized to alter in any 
 particular. 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 At a reunion of the famous Class of 1829, of Harvard 
 College, one of its members referred to a classmate in 
 this way : — 
 
 " And there's a nice youngster of excellent pith, — 
 Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith ; 
 But he shouted a song for the brave and the free, — 
 Just read on his medal, ' My country,' 'of thee ! ' " 
 
 It was Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes who read the 
 poem, and it was his friend and classmate, Samuel 
 Francis Smith, who wrote " My Country, 'tis of Thee." 
 
 He was a Boston boy, born under the sound of the 
 Old North Church chimes on October 21st, 1808. After 
 being graduated at Harvard he began to study for the 
 ministry ; and it was while at Andover Theological 
 Seminary, in February, 1832, that he wrote the hymn. 
 
 In 1 83 1 or thereabouts Mr. Willam C. Woodbridge, 
 a distinguished educator, had visited Germany for the 
 purpose of studying the system of German common 
 schools. Among their peculiarities he noted that much 
 attention was given to children's music, and he brought 
 
MY COUNTRY i 'TIS OF THEE 99 
 
 home with him a large number of music books, especially 
 such as were used in the German schools. In Boston 
 just then Mr. Lowell Mason was interesting himself in 
 the music of the churches, and was engaged in training 
 the Sunday-school children to sing, with a view of fitting 
 them to take their places in the choirs. There was quite 
 a scarcity of songs and tunes suitable for children's use, 
 and Mr. Woodbridge placed the entire collection which 
 he had brought from Germany in Mr. Mason's hands. 
 But in all these books the music was set to German 
 words, and of that language Mr. Mason had no 
 knowledge. 
 
 And this fact was the occasion which led to the writ- 
 ing of the hymn " America." Dr. Smith during his life- 
 time furnished many accounts of the circumstances, 
 which, of course, he alone knew. While all of these 
 accounts are in substantial agreement, much the best of 
 them was that written for The Outlook, and printed in 
 the number for November 23rd, 1895 : 
 
 " At that time," says Dr. Smith, " I was a student in 
 the Theological Seminary at Andover. One day [Mr. 
 Mason] brought me the whole mass of his books, some 
 bound and some in pamphlet form, and said, in his simple 
 and childlike way, ' There, Mr. Woodbridge has brought 
 me these books. I don't know what is in them. I 
 can't read German, but you can. I wish you would 
 look over them as you find time, and if you fall in with 
 anything I can use, any hymns or songs for the children, 
 I wish you would translate them into English poetry; 
 or, if you prefer, compose hymns or songs of your own, 
 of the same metre and accent with the German, so that 
 I can use them.' 
 
ftejifi 
 
 ms \ 
 
 ^i ill ll # ^ 
 
 S ' 
 
 1-f 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 ■ w&U hum 
 
MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE IOI 
 
 " I accepted the trust not unwillingly, as an agreeable 
 recreation from graver studies, and from time to time 
 gave him the results of my efforts. Thus he was fur- 
 nished with several hymns for the Spiritual Sougs y which 
 he was issuing in numbers ; also for the Juvenile Lyre, 
 the first book of children's music ever published in this 
 country, in which most of the songs were my own 
 translations from Naegeli and other German composers. 
 
 "One dismal day in February, 1832, about half an 
 hour before sunset, I was turning over the leaves of one 
 of the music books, when my eye rested on the tune 
 which is now known as ' America.' I liked the spirited 
 movement of it, not knowing it, at that time, to be 
 ' God Save the King.' I glanced at the German words 
 and saw that they were patriotic, and instantly felt the 
 impulse to write a patriotic hymn of my own, adapted 
 to the tune. Picking up a scrap of waste paper which 
 lay near me, I wrote at once, probably within half an 
 hour, the hymn ' America,' as it is now known every- 
 where. The whole hymn stands to-day as it stood on 
 the bit of waste paper, five or six inches long and two 
 and a half wide." 
 
 Mr. Smith had no suspicion that he had in that short 
 half hour made his name imperishable. He gave the 
 song soon afterward to Mr. Mason, with some others, 
 and thought no more about it. On the Fourth of July 
 of that same year Mr. Mason brought it out at a chil- 
 dren's celebration in the Park Street Church, Boston. 
 From there it soon found its way into the public schools 
 of that city, and then of other places, and into picnics 
 and patriotic celebrations everywhere ; and finally into 
 the hymn books of the various denominations. The 
 
102 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 whole history of the hymn and its present position are 
 summed up in a remark once made by the author him- 
 self: " The people took it into their hearts." To-day it 
 is called the national hymn, but it is not made so by any 
 formal decree of adoption. It is the national hymn 
 simply because the people that compose the nation love 
 it, and on any occasion when their hearts are fired by 
 patriotic feelings, use this hymn spontaneously to express 
 those feelings. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Samuel F. Smith was graduated from Andover Semi- 
 nary the same year in which he wrote the hymn. For a 
 year and a half after graduation he was the editor of the 
 Baptist Missionary Magazine. In February, 1834, he 
 was ordained, and became pastor of the Baptist Church 
 in Waterville, Maine. He continued as pastor there for 
 eight years, serving also as Professor of Modern Lan- 
 guages in Waterville College, now Colby University : 
 for among Dr. Smith's other gifts was that of acquiring 
 lancruao-es. Duringr his life he became familiar with no 
 less than fifteen, and a visitor to him in his eighty-sixth 
 year found him on the lookout for a suitable text-book 
 with which he might begin the study of the Russian 
 language. 
 
 In 1842 Dr. Smith became pastor of the First Baptist 
 Church of Newton, Massachusetts, when he removed to 
 Newton Centre. There for more than half a century he 
 lived in a simple way with his family in the wide, brown 
 frame dwelling of two stories, which has been the goal 
 of so many sight-seers. He was pastor there for twelve 
 years and a half, and then Secretary of the Missionary 
 
1 ,J 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^H^^^B^^^^Pl W^wLMmJ ■ V; 
 
 
 t * Pu i^^3^Bfl Bv ' 
 
 
 Copyrighted. By permission of Soule Art Company 
 
 REV. SAMUEL F. SMITH 
 
104 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Union for fifteen, spending two of them abroad visiting 
 missionary stations. 
 
 Dr. Smith led a very busy, active life, preaching, 
 editing, writing, studying. From 1842 to 1848 he was 
 editor of The Christian Review. He was one of the 
 editors of The Psalmist (18431, a ni ost successful Baptist 
 hymn book, and compiled several collections of verse, 
 of which Rock of Ages is the best known. He was 
 also the author of The Life of Joseph Grafton ( 1 848), 
 Missionary Sketches (1879), The History of Newton, 
 Massachusetts, (1884), and of Missionary Sketches ( 1 884), 
 which embodied an account of a later tour among for- 
 eign fields. 
 
 His verse writing was a recreation rather than his 
 occupation, and he made no claim to be counted among 
 the poets. Certainly the large volume of his verse 
 gathered at the close of his life under the editorship of 
 his friend General Carrington would yield no sure support 
 for such a claim. He wrote, however, many successful 
 hymns, of which " The Morning Light is Breaking " 
 (The Hymnal, No. 386), is especially familiar. But, no 
 matter what he accomplished or where he went, it was 
 always as the author of " My Country, 'tis of Thee " that 
 he was recognized and welcomed, and was honored as 
 such at a public celebration in Music Hall, Boston, dur- 
 ing the last year of his life. Dr. Smith lived to be 
 eighty-seven years old, active and busy until the evening 
 of Saturday, Nov. 16th, 1895. On that evening he took 
 the train for Read vi lie, near Boston, where he was to 
 preach the next day. Just as he entered the car, turn- 
 ing to speak with a friend, he gasped for breath, threw 
 his hands into the air, and fell backward in death. 
 
MY COUNTRY^ 'TIS OF THEE 105 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) Is it to be regretted that these words should be 
 sung to the National Anthem of Great Britain rather than 
 to a distinctive American air ? Perhaps, in any event, 
 the connection is now indissoluble, though it hardly 
 justifies us in re-naming the tune "America." It would 
 be interesting to know the origin of the National Anthem, 
 and who composed it. Much time and pains have been 
 spent in investigating the matter, but these questions still 
 remain unanswered. All that can be said upon the 
 subject (by the man most competent to say it) may be 
 found in a recent book, The Origin and History of the 
 Music and Words of the National Anthem s by Wm. H. 
 Cummings, published by Novello & Co., London and 
 New York. At the annual meeting of the Rhode 
 Island State Society of the Cincinnati, on July 4th, 1901, 
 a committee was appointed to ascertain whether a suitable 
 national tune cannot be found for this hymn. 
 
 (2) Once, in referring to criticisms of the hymn from a 
 literary standpoint, Dr. Holmes called attenton to the 
 strength of the first line, and said, " He wrote ' My 
 country.' If he had said ' Our country,' the hymn would 
 not have been immortal, but that ' my ' was a master- 
 stroke." Just what was the gain of the " my " over 
 " our " in that place ? 
 
 (3) Is this really a national or only a sectional (New 
 England) hymn ? A correspondent of The Churchman 
 (1895) argued for the latter, claiming that the line " Land 
 of the pilgrims' pride " referred to the Pilgrim Fathers of 
 New England. The same interpretation of this line was 
 made in an editorial in The Independent (January 14th, 
 
IOG STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 1896). If Dr. Smith intended to refer to the Pilgrim 
 Fathers, that of course is the end of the matter. But as 
 yet no one produces such an interpretation of the line 
 coming from him. Apart from such an authoritative state- 
 ment, is it not the natural interpretation that " pilgrims " 
 are in contrast with those whose fathers died here ; those 
 coming to our shores and adopting our country ? If 
 Dr. Smith intended to refer to the Pilgrim Fathers, would 
 he not have used the capital in " pilgrims " ? But he did 
 not in such autograph copies as the writer has seen ; and 
 the word is not so printed in his collected Poems. Again, 
 is " pride " a word with which one would describe the feel- 
 ings of the Pilgrim Fathers toward their new home ? It 
 does, on the other hand, describe what is plainly the 
 fundamental feeling of many " pilgrims " toward the 
 home of their adoption. 
 
 (4) Of this hymn there was but one text, in universal 
 use, until in 1892 the Protestant Episcopal Convention 
 adopted the new hymnal containing as Hymn Xo. 196 a 
 mongrel made up of the fourth verse of " My Country, 
 'tis of Thee," followed by the two verses of " God Bless 
 our Native Land " (altered). The editorial in The Inde- 
 pendent, already referred to, explains this by the unwill- 
 ingness of the Episcopal Church to sing the praises of 
 the Pilgrim Fathers. Whatever we may think of the 
 convention's course in mutilating the hymn, is it not 
 more likely that they were aiming at a hymn more dis- 
 tinctly religious than Dr. Smith's verses ? 
 
 (5) How can it be explained that while Americans 
 really love this hymn, so very few know the words well 
 enough to sing them when called upon ? Is this fact 
 creditable to the people ? 
 
X 
 
 ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i 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. 
 
 2 At the sign of triumph 
 
 Satan's host doth flee ; 
 On then, Christian soldiers, 
 
 On to victory : 
 Hell's foundations quiver 
 
 At the shout of praise ; 
 Brothers, lift your voices, 
 
 Loud your anthems raise. 
 Onward, etc. 
 
 3 Like a mighty army 
 
 Moves the Church of God ; 
 Brothers, we are treading 
 
 Where the saints have trod: 
 
 107 
 
I08 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 We are not divided, 
 
 All one body we, 
 One in hope and doctrine, 
 
 One in charity. 
 
 Onward, etc. 
 
 4 Crowns and thrones may perish, 
 
 Kingdoms rise and wane, 
 But the Church of Jesus 
 
 Constant will remain ; 
 Gates of hell can never 
 
 'Gainst that Church prevail; 
 We have Christ's own promise, 
 
 And that cannot fail. 
 Onward, etc. 
 
 5 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. 
 
 Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, 1865 
 
 NOTE. — The text is that printed in the Appendix to Hymns Ancient and 
 Modern, 1868, and ever since the standard. An autograph 
 copy of the hymn in the writer's possession reads, in the second 
 line of the second verse, " Satan's legions flee." 
 
 The story of the hymn 
 This marching hymn was written in England just at 
 the time when in our own country the sad strife of the 
 Civil War had drawn to a close. And it is not unlikely 
 that the new soldier-spirit left in the hearts of young 
 and old Americans by the four years of the Civil War 
 has had something to do with the marked popularity 
 
ONWARD) CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS IO9 
 
 gained by this and other military hymns. An influ- 
 ence of the same sort can be seen plainly in American 
 hymn books published after the close of the Revolution 
 of 1776. 
 
 The Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould wrote the hymn while 
 curate of a Yorkshire parish, and in a recent interview 
 he has given an account of its origin. "It was written," 
 he says, " in a very simple fashion, without a thought of 
 publication. Whitmonday is a great day for school 
 festivals in Yorkshire, and one Whitmonday it was 
 arranged that our school should join its forces with 
 that of a neighboring village. I wanted the children to 
 sing when marching from one village to the other, but 
 couldn't think of anything quite suitable, so I sat up at 
 night resolved to write something myself. ' Onward, 
 Christian Soldiers ' was the result. It was written in 
 great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are 
 faulty. Certainly nothing has surprised me more than 
 its great popularity." The hymn was written to be sung 
 to a well-known tune by Haydn, which has been much 
 used in American churches ; so much used, indeed, that 
 it became worn out. 
 
 "Onward, Christian Soldiers" was written in 1865. 
 That same year it was printed in a periodical, The Church 
 Times. As early as 1868 it was given a place in the 
 Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern, thus securing 
 a sponsor of the most influential kind. This was at a 
 time when the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
 United States was restive under its old hymn book, and 
 feeling its way toward something better. Eager eyes had 
 already turned toward Hymns Ancient and Modern. Its 
 very name pleased the growing party who were seeking 
 
I 10 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " primitive" paths, while the High Church doctrine of its 
 hymns and the ecclesiastical tone of the new " Anglican 
 school " of music it represented, won their hearts com- 
 pletely. A reprint of Hymns Ancient and Modern and 
 its new Appendix appeared at Philadelphia in 1869, with 
 the imprint of the Lippincotts. In this " Onward, Chris- 
 tian Soldiers " appeared for the first time, probably, in 
 this country. During the year following the Rev. 
 Charles L. Hutchins included it in his Church Hymnal, 
 originally planned for use in St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, 
 New York. In 1 871 it appeared in the draft of the new 
 hymnal laid before the General Convention of the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church, becoming one of the author- 
 ized hymns of that Church. Into the church-worship 
 of other denominations the hymn (like many other 
 things that would once have seemed alien) gradually 
 worked its way by first becoming familiar in the freer 
 atmosphere of the Sunday-schools. The hymn was not 
 included in the authorized Presbyterian Hymnal of 1874, 
 although the compilers of that book made large use of 
 Hymns Ancient and Modern. The rival Hymns and 
 Songs of Praise, by Drs. Hitchcock and Schaff, pub- 
 lished that same year, did, however, include it. 
 
 What proved a most effective letter of introduction 
 for the hymn, and has secured its continued general use, 
 was the appearance in The Musical Times for December, 
 1 87 1, of the stirring tune written for it by Arthur S. 
 Sullivan, to which it has been wedded ever since. At 
 the present time it is unquestionably the most popular 
 and often-used of all processional hymns. If it should 
 ever drop out of use, that result would probably come 
 about through sheer weariness caused by over-repetition. 
 
ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS III 
 
 
 AUTOGRAPH VERSES 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 In this hymn we have for the first time one by a living 
 author. Mr. Baring-Gould is so many-sided a man, with 
 such a variety of gifts and accomplishments, and he has 
 done so much work of so many kinds, that he may be 
 
112 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 said to combine in himself the material for the make-up 
 of at least two distinguished men. There is, therefore, 
 an amusing fitness in his compound name, and in the 
 fact that sometimes he is indexed among the B's for 
 Baring, and sometimes among the G's for Gould. 
 
 Mr. Baring-Gould is now rector of the parish of Lew 
 Trenchard, where his family has had its seat for nearly 
 three hundred years. He is also squire and lord of 
 the manor and a justice of the peace. He lives in 
 Lew Trenchard Manor House, inherited with the family 
 property at his father's death in 1872. His study is de- 
 scribed as a long, low room, with a deep embrasured 
 window overlooking a lovely view, and paneled in fine 
 dark oak, with the rich carvings of the old English time. 
 In this room works the remarkable man, who is not 
 only squire and rector, but also theologian, historian, 
 antiquarian, student of comparative religion, novelist, 
 and poet. The amount of literary work done in this 
 room, much of it requiring wide research, is no less than 
 amazing. On religious subjects, besides many volumes 
 of his sermons and devotional and practical writings, he 
 has written a number of works of a more learned char- 
 acter. Of these, the best known, perhaps, are, The Lives 
 of the Saints, in fifteen volumes, and TJie Origin and 
 Development of Religious Belief, in two. He has pub- 
 lished many volumes dealing with manners and customs, 
 legendary and folk lore, antiquities and out-of-the-way 
 information, of which he is himself a living encyclopedia. 
 Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, Legends of the Old 
 Testament, Iceland, Its Scenes and its Sagas, Curiosities 
 of the Olden Times, The Songs of the West, are but 
 a few of the more familiar titles. And for some time 
 
ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 
 
 13 
 
 it has been his custom to write a new novel every 
 year. In England he is one of the most popular living 
 novelists. 
 
 In all this work Mr. Baring-Gould has employed no 
 
 secretaries or amanuenses. The secret is simply that I 
 
 REV. SABINE BARING-GOULD 
 
 stick to a task when I begin it," he once said. " For 
 some years I have found it necessary to spend the 
 winters abroad, and while I am in the south of France or 
 in Rome I think out the work which I am going to do 
 when I return home. Thus I build up the plot of a 
 
114 Sir DIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 "story, and it all shapes itself in my head, even the dia- 
 logue. I make a few notes, principally of the division 
 
 of the chapters, and then, when I come back, it is simply 
 a matter of writing it out." 
 
 When asked if he did not have to wait for inspiration, 
 he replied with a quiet smile, " Inspiration is all moon- 
 shine in the sense in which you mean it. It would never 
 do to wait from day to day for some moment which 
 might seem favorable for work " ; adding that he often 
 did his best work when he felt the least desire to go on 
 with it. His hymn writing is, of course, small in quantity 
 beside the great volume of his other achievements, but it 
 certainly does not lack what is called inspiration, whether 
 waited for or worked for. He has written many carols 
 and quite a number of hymns, all of which have fresh 
 and striking qualities. Next to " Onward, Christian 
 Soldiers," the lovely evening hymn for children, " Now 
 the Day is Over" (The Hymnal \ No. 692), and his trans- 
 lation, " Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow " 
 (The Hymnal, No. 418), are probably most often sung. 
 
 Mr. Baring-Gould was born at Exeter, January 28th, 
 1834. He was graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, 
 in 1854. In 1864 he was ordained and became curate 
 of Horbury, where he wrote our hymn. From 1867 he 
 was Incumbent of Dalton, until Mr. Gladstone appointed 
 him Rector of East Mersea, in 1871. The rectorate of 
 Lew Trenchard is what in England is called a family 
 living, and when in 1881 the last incumbent died, Mr. 
 Baring-Gould, who was the patron of the living as well 
 as lord o( the manor, became also rector of the parish 
 by his own appointment. It cannot be denied that he 
 chose an able and hard-working man to fill the post 
 
ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS T I 5 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) Tin's hymn may be examined as an example of a 
 class of hymns standing somewhat apart from others. 
 It is what is called a processional hymn. In church life 
 a processional hymn corresponds to a marching song in 
 civil life, one " useful for church parade and similar ser- 
 vices." What are the qualities proper for such a hymn ? 
 Is there any other so good for the purpose as this ? 
 
 (2) It is interesting to contrast this Anglican " Onward, 
 Christian Soldiers" with the Presbyterian "Stand Up, 
 Stand Up for Jesus." Note the different ways in which 
 the two writers picture the Church. Can you trace in 
 each hymn the marks of the peculiar type of Christianity 
 for which the author stands? Which hymn has more 
 picturesque beauty, and which the greater moral earnest- 
 ness ? But is not the purpose and right use of the 
 hymns quite different? If so, each must be judged from 
 its own standpoint. 
 
 (3) In what sense are we to take the statements of the 
 
 third verse,- 
 
 '* We are not divided, 
 All one body we, 
 One in hope and doctrine," etc. ? 
 
 They may be contrasted with the familiar lines of his 
 fellow-churchman (the Rev. Samuel J. Stone), — 
 
 " Though with a scornful wonder 
 Men see her sore oppressed, 
 By schisms rent asunder, 
 By heresies distressed." 
 
 And what and where found is " Christ's own promise" 
 referred to in the fourth verse? 
 
I 1 6 S Ti PIES OF / / MIL 1. 1 R II \ 'MNS 
 
 (4) As originally written, the hymn had an additional 
 (then the fourth) verse, as follows: — 
 
 •' What the saints established 
 
 That I hold 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." 
 
 This is to be read immediately after the present third 
 verse. Should it be restored to its original place ? (The 
 fault}' rhyme in this verse is doubtless what the author 
 had in mind in the remark already quoted.) 
 
XI 
 NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 
 
 The Text of the hymn 
 
 Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
 
 Nearer to Thee ! 
 E'en though it be a cross 
 
 That raiseth me ; 
 Still all my song shall be, 
 Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
 
 Nearer to Thee ! 
 
 2 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 Thee, 
 
 Nearer to Thee ! 
 
 3 There let the way appear, 
 
 Steps unto heaven : 
 All that Thou send'st to me 
 
 In mercy given: 
 Angels to beckon me 
 Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
 
 Nearer to Thee! 
 
 "7 
 
Il8 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 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 ! 
 
 5 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 ! 
 
 Sarah Flower Adams, 1841 
 
 NOTE. — The text is taken from W.J. Fox's Hymns and Anthems ; with a 
 single change, referred to under " Some Points for Discussion." 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 In the year 1820 there came to Dalston, then a rural 
 suburb of London, a little family composed of Benjamin 
 Flower, a widower, and his two daughters, the younger 
 of whom was afterward to write this hymn. 
 
 Something of a career lay behind Mr. Flower, then 
 an elderly man. Unsuccessful in business speculations 
 as a young man, he had become a travelling salesman on 
 the continent. There he became an adherent of the 
 French Republic, and in 1792 published a book on the 
 French Constitution which was really an attack on that 
 of England. He was selected to edit The Cambridge 
 Intelligencer, an influential weekly of radical principles. 
 Accused of libelling the Bishop of Llandaff, whose 
 political conduct he had censured, he was sentenced to 
 six months' imprisonment in Newgate with a fine of 
 
NEARER t MY COD, TO EI/EE 1 19 
 
 £100. He was visited in prison by Miss Eliza Gould, a 
 lady who is said to have suffered for her own liberal 
 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 18 10. 
 These facts of their father's career help us to understand 
 the atmosphere in which the motherless girls grew up. 
 
 Both daughters had inherited their mother's delicate 
 constitution, but both were* talented to an unusual de- 
 gree, and they attracted to the Dalston home many 
 friends who afterward became- distinguished. Among 
 these were Harriet Martineau and Robert Browning, 
 " the boy poet," as Eliza Flower calls him in her letters, 
 who came often to discuss religious difficulties with her 
 sister Sarah. Eliza, the elder, was a skilful musician 
 with a remarkable gift for musical composition. Sarah, 
 the younger of the sisters, was also musical, and pos- 
 sessed of a rich contralto voice, and was much given to 
 singing songs in costume, with appropriate dramatic 
 action. The elder sister always furnished the accompa- 
 niment, and sometimes the musical settings of these 
 songs, in their domestic entertainments. 
 
 Sarah Flower was born at the Harlow home on 
 February 22nd, 1805. She had the dramatic instinct, 
 and from childhood cherished the ambition of adopting 
 the stage as a profession. She idealized the stage as an 
 ally of the pulpit, and held that the life of an actress 
 should be as high and noble as the great thoughts and 
 actions she was called upon to express. In 1829 her 
 father died, and in 1834 Sarah Flower was married to 
 John Brydges Adams, a civil engineer and an ingenious 
 inventor in the early days of railroad building. Her 
 
120 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 husband encouraged her dramatic ambition, and in 1837 
 she made her first public appearance, at the Richmond 
 Theatre, as " Lady Macbeth." Her success was great 
 enough to gain for her an engagement at the Bath 
 Theatre. But her health gave away under the strain of 
 public performances, and she suffered a seige of illness 
 at Bath which at once put an end to all hope of a dra- 
 matic career. 
 
 Mrs. Adams determined to devote herself to literary 
 work, for she had in addition a considerable literary gift. 
 She wrote much for the Monthly Repository, but her 
 most ambitious effort was " Vivia Perpetua — a Dramatic 
 Poem," published in 1841. It tells the story of a young 
 mother who suffered a martyr's death at Carthage, a. d. 
 203, for her faith in Christ. There is but little doubt 
 that her own moral earnestness and intense feelings are 
 set forth in the character of Vivia. The poem is often 
 eloquent, but as a drama not well constructed, and it has 
 taken no permanent place in literature. " The Royal 
 Progress," a long poem in ballad metre, has met a like 
 fate. Mrs. Adams's high ideals and ambitions led her 
 to undertake tasks beyond her powers. Though am- 
 bitious to lead in the moral uplifting of the stage, even 
 the ordinary routine of an actress's life was beyond her 
 physical powers. And so her attempt to revive the 
 poetical drama was quite as far beyond her intellectual 
 powers. She had, however, a real gift for lyrical poetry. 
 By her lyrics she retains a modest place in literature, 
 and is chiefly remembered as the author of " Nearer, My 
 God, to Thee." 
 
 Mrs. Adams is described by her friend, Mrs. Bridell 
 Fox, as "tall and singularly beautiful, with noble and 
 
NEARER, MY COD, TO THEE 
 
 121 
 
 "regular features ; in manner gay and impulsive, her con- 
 versation witty and sparkling." The portrait here given 
 is a facsimile of a slight sketch believed to have been 
 made by Miss Margaret Gillies in 1834. Mrs. Adams 
 seems to have made a deep impression upon the minds 
 of those who knew her. They speak enthusiastically 
 of her personal charm, and of her purity and high- 
 mindedness. In his " Blue-Stocking Revels," the poet 
 Leigh Hunt also pays tribute to her as " Mrs. Adams, 
 rare mistress of thought and of tears." 
 
 Both of the sisters died while still in early life, and 
 within less than two years of each other. Eliza died of 
 consumption in December, 1846, and Sarah on August 
 14th, 1848; the death of the younger sister was prob- 
 
[ 22 S TL 'DIES OF FA MIL I A R II \ MNS 
 
 ably hastened by the cares and anxiety occasioned by 
 the long illness of the elder. At the funerals of both. 
 hymns by Mrs. Adams were sung to music composed 
 for them by her sister. One cannot avoid a feeling of 
 regret that some foretaste of her usefulness and fame did 
 not come to brighten the failing days of the author of 
 " Nearer, My God, to Thee."' 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 After the death of Mr. Flower, his daughters removed 
 to Upper Clapton, a suburb of London, and there con- 
 nected themselves with the religious society to which 
 the gifted William Johnson Fox ministered, in South 
 Place Chapel, Finsbury. Mr. Fox occupied an inde- 
 pendent ecclesiastical position, though generally classed 
 as a Unitarian. For the use of the congregation he 
 prepared a collection of Hymns and Anthems, published 
 in 1840 and 1 84 1, in two parts. At his request Mrs. 
 Adams wrote for the book thirteen original hymns and 
 some translations. One of the hymns was " Nearer. My 
 God, to Thee," and it first appeared in the second part 
 of the book. Like most of Mrs. Adams's hymns it was 
 set to music by her sister, and was often heard in the 
 services of South Place Chapel. 
 
 44 How she composed her hymns," says Mrs. Bridell 
 Fox, 44 can hardly be stated. She certainly never had 
 any idea of composing them. They were the spontan- 
 eous expression of some strong impulse of feeling of 
 the moment ; she was essentially a creature of impulse. 
 Her translations would, of course, be an exception ; also, 
 perhaps, when she was writing words for music already 
 in use in the chapel." 
 
NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 1 23 
 
 " Nearer, My God, to Thee " was not long in finding 
 its way across the ocean. While Mr. Fox was compil- 
 ing his hymn book for his London congregation, an 
 American clergyman, somewhat like him in his religious 
 views, the Rev. James Freeman Clarke, was organizing 
 a new congregation in Boston as the Church of the 
 Disciples. (It is the church described as the Church of 
 the Galileans in Dr. Holmes's Professor at the Breakfast 
 Table}) Mr. Clarke printed a new hymn book for it in 
 1844, including a number of hymns from Mr. Fox's 
 
 
 AN AUTOGRAPH VERSE 
 
 book, a copy of which had been given him by his friend 
 Mr. Bakewell of Pittsburgh. Among these was " Nearer, 
 My God, to Thee," and in 1846 Mr. Longfellow put the 
 hymn into his Book of Hymns. It was some time, how- 
 ever, before it made its way into the orthodox Congre- 
 gational churches. Henry Ward Beecher, who was 
 
124 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 never afraid of novelty, included it in the Plymouth 
 Collection in 1855. But what started the hymn on its 
 free course in America was the tune " Bethany," which 
 Lowell Mason wrote for it and published in 1856. And 
 when the hymn, set to this taking tune, appeared in 1859 
 in the wonderfully successful Sabbath Hymn and Tune 
 Book of the professors at Andover Seminar}', its general 
 use became assured. By 1866 it had found its way into 
 the authorized hymnal of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Some points for Discussion 
 
 (1) Although so popular with congregations, this 
 hymn has had rather hard treatment at the hands of 
 editors of hymn books. In a number of cases the 
 editor has inserted a new stanza, composed by himself. 
 Bishop How rewrote the entire hymn for the 1864 
 edition of his Psalms and Hymns. The object of these 
 changes was to introduce the name and work of Christ, 
 " to make the hymn more distinctly Christian." Is there 
 a real lack in the hymn, needing to be supplied in some 
 such way ? Or is it likely that the Unitarian origin of 
 the hymn suggested the need of change ? 
 
 (2) The text of the hymn has also suffered much 
 from alteration, and is very rarely printed as Mrs. 
 Adams wrote it. In the Protestant I^piscopal Hymnal, 
 for instance, " the wanderer " of verse two becomes " a 
 wanderer," and the following line reads, " Weary and 
 lone." The " Bethel," of verse four, becomes "altars." 
 Is not the Bible story on which the hymn is based com- 
 pletely hidden by these changes ? In The Hymnal only 
 one word differs from what Mrs. Adams wrote. In the 
 fifth line she wrote " would be " instead of " shall be." 
 
NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE 1 25 
 
 The editor thought " would be " better, because less 
 boastful and self-confident, but he feared to make con- 
 fusion by changing what everybody sings from memory. 
 The editor of the new Presbyterian hymnal for Scotland 
 was braver, and prints Mrs. Adams's text, here, as in 
 every other particular. 
 
 (3) Perhaps no hymn is sung more thoughtlessly than 
 this. What is the meaning of " E'en though it be a 
 cross That raiseth me " ? Write out the leading thought 
 of the hymn in plain prose. Is it not singular that a 
 hymn expressing desire to draw nearer to God by the 
 way of suffering should be so often declared their favorite 
 hymn by persons apparently the most self-indulgent ? 
 
 (4) The literary merits of the hymn are much debated. 
 One may admit certain faults. Indeed, he owes it to 
 himself to recognize that " stony griefs " is a bad meta- 
 phor, and that, if a verse is to be omitted in singing, the 
 last verse is not ill-adapted to such a purpose. But 
 notice, on the other hand, the perfect " singableness " of 
 the hymn. And singableness is the first merit of a lyric. 
 Note, also — who has not noted ? — the haunting beauty 
 of the refrain, and the happy introduction of the lonely 
 figure of Jacob. Is it not fair to say that, even from a 
 literary point of view, the merits of the hymn outweigh 
 its defects ? 
 
 (5) It is likely that this hymn will always be associated 
 with the tragic death and the obsequies of President 
 McKinley. The last words of the President, as reported 
 by the attendant physician (Dr. M. D. Mann), were : 
 " ' Nearer, my God, to Thee, E'en though it be a cross,' 
 has been my constant prayer." It is not unnatural that 
 the grieved heart of the American people was deeply 
 
126 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 touched by such allusion under such circumstances. 
 The hymn was sung in hundreds of churches over the 
 country on the Sunday following, and in memorial gath- 
 erings of every sort. One heard the familiar strains of 
 the tune from strong-lunged bands of itinerant musicians 
 in city streets, the street children and their elders often 
 gathering about the performers, and perhaps joining in the 
 hymn. On the day of the burial at Canton, Thursday, 
 September 19th, 1 901, all traffic in the cities stopped, by 
 previous arrangement, at half past three o'clock, and for 
 five minutes there was silence. People in the trolley 
 cars rose and those in the streets bared their heads and 
 stood, often joining in singing the words of the hymn. 
 In Union and Madison Squares, New York City, immense 
 throngs had assembled, and after the period of silence, 
 bands played " Nearer, My God, to Thee," and then " Lead, 
 Kindly Light," a favorite hymn of the dead President, 
 during which everv head in the throng" remained uncov- 
 ered. The whole occasion was remarkable as a demon- 
 stration of popular feeling in which reverence seemed to 
 have a share. Has any other hymn ever received such 
 popular recognition ? 
 
XII 
 
 WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 When I survey the wondrous cross 
 On which the Prince of glory died, 
 
 My richest gain I count but loss, 
 And pour contempt on all my pride. 
 
 2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 
 
 Save in the death of Christ my God : 
 All the vain things that charm me most, 
 I sacrifice them to His blood. 
 
 3 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 ? 
 
 4 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. 
 
 Rev. Isaac Watts, 1707 
 
 NOTE. — Four verses of the original five; for the omitted verse see under 
 "Some Points for Discussion." The text is taken from the 
 second edition of Dr. Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Lon- 
 don, 1709. 
 
 127 
 
I 28 S Tl DIES OF /•: / Mil. 1. 1 R 11 ) M.YS 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 While still a young man the Rev. Isaac Watts pub- 
 lished in London, in 1707, a volume of Hymns and Spir- 
 itual Songs. It was intended to be used as a hymn book, 
 but it was not a collection out of many authors, every 
 hymn being composed by Watts himself. 
 
 In these days of hymn writing and hymn singing it is 
 hard for us to feel how original and even daring his 
 venture was. There had, of course, been writers of 
 English hymns before Watts. But none of them had 
 established a precedent or model to which he and others 
 were expected to conform. He had to form his own 
 ideal of what a hymn for congregational use should be. 
 It was these hymns of Watts himself that were destined 
 to become such a precedent to his successors ; and that 
 is what James Montgomery meant in calling him " the 
 inventor of hymns in our language." 
 
 Watts had also to encounter an apparently impregna- 
 ble prejudice in the churches against the use in praise of 
 anything but metrical versions of the Psalms. This had 
 been a matter of conscience ever since the Reformation, 
 the idea being that the Psalms of the Bible were inspired 
 by God to serve as the hymn book of His Church for all 
 time, and that hymns were " merely human composures," 
 unauthorized and unnecessary. Watts had ever the 
 courage of his convictions, and he printed with his hymns 
 an essay, not only denying that the Psalms were intended 
 as the sole hymn book of the Christian Church, but 
 arguing that it was the duty of the Church to make new 
 hymns that should express Christian faith in the same 
 degree that the Psalms had expressed Jewish faith. 
 
/ / 7/A N / SI 'A' I '/< ) ' 7 'HE WONDROUS ( 'A' ( )SS I 2 9 
 
 Partly by his audacity, partly by the excellence of his 
 hymns,, parti)' also on account of people's weariness with 
 the old Psalm versions, Watts won the day. In dissent- 
 ing churches his hymns were put into use immediately. 
 Their influence spread so widely and grew so great that 
 in the end it completely overcame the prejudice against 
 hymns of " human composure," not only in dissenting 
 churches but in the Church of England and the Church 
 of Scotland. In America this prejudice against hymns 
 was especially strong, but here, too, after much contro- 
 versy, the influence of Watts prevailed. His Hymns, 
 together with his later Imitations of The Psalms, became 
 the familiar and loved hymn book of both the Presby- 
 terian and Congregational Churches, excluding all besides 
 for a considerable period. That the hymns of this inno- 
 vator should thus become a badge and symbol of 
 orthodoxy and conservatism in the churches that once 
 disputed his way is an illustration of personal influence 
 not easy to parallel. 
 
 The first edition of Watts's Hymns has become a very 
 rare book, only two or three copies being known to exist. 
 One of these sold in London in December, 1901, for one 
 hundred and forty pounds. This first edition contained 
 in all two hundred and ten hymns, arranged in three 
 books, together with several doxologies. In the third 
 book, containing hymns to be used in the celebration of 
 the Lord's Supper, " When I Survey the Wondrous 
 Cross " appeared as number seven. Within two years 
 Watts wrote one hundred and forty-four more, and added 
 them in the second edition of 1709; at the same time 
 making many alterations in the text of those printed at 
 the earlier date. 
 9 
 
130 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Of the two hundred and ten hymns included in the 
 first edition it is probable that the larger number were 
 written by Watts during the years 1695 and 1696, both 
 of which he spent at his father's house in preparation 
 for his entrance into the ministry. There is in exist- 
 ence a letter from his brother Enoch, dated as early 
 as March, 1700, urging the speedy publication of the 
 hymns for use in public worship. One of Dr. Watts's 
 earlier biographers gives the following account of their 
 origin : " Mr. John Morgan, a minister oi very respecta- 
 ble character now living at Romsey, Hants, has sent me 
 the following information : ' The occasion of the Doctor's 
 hymns was this, as I had the account from his worthy 
 fellow-laborer and colleague, the Rev. Mr. Price, in whose 
 family I dwelt above fifty years ago. The hymns which 
 were sung at the Dissenting meeting at Southampton 
 were so little to the gust of Mr. Watts that he could not 
 forbear complaining of them to his father. The father 
 bid him try what he could do to mend the matter. He 
 did, and had such success in his first essay that a second 
 hymn was earnestly desired of him, and then a third, 
 and fourth, etc., till in process of time there was such a 
 number of them as to make up a volume.' " This may 
 be accepted as the traditional account of the origin of 
 the hymns, and doubtless may be trusted so far at least 
 as to show that they grew out of Watts's early dissatis- 
 faction with the material available for congregational 
 praise, and his determination to provide better material. 
 
 The hymn we are now studying can hardly be said to 
 have a special history as apart from the others in Watts's 
 epoch-making book. Rut there are several things that 
 single out this hymn from among the rest. One is its 
 
WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS 
 
 3* 
 
 extraordinary excellence. It is not only the best of all 
 Watts's hymns, but it is placed by common consent 
 among the greatest hymns in the language. Another is 
 the wideness of its use. The greater part of Watts's 
 
 
 
 l6to 
 
 AUTor.RAUI MEMORANDA 
 
 hymns are left behind ; this is sung in every branch of 
 the English-speaking Church. Judged by the number 
 of hymnals containing it, only one hymn is used more 
 widely — Toplady's " Rock of Ages." Its greatest glory, 
 however, is the part it has had in the experience of 
 
132 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Christians. Only God can know how many living eyes 
 it has inspired with the ideal of the cross of renunciation, 
 how many dying eyes it has comforted with the vision of 
 the cross of hope. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Isaac Watts was born July 17th, 1674, at the English 
 town of Southampton, where his father was deacon of a 
 Congregational church. It was at a time when the laws 
 against nonconformity to the state religion were still 
 enforced with bitterness, and he was often carried in his 
 mother's arms to the town jail, where she visited his 
 father, imprisoned for conscience' sake. The accounts 
 of Watts's childhood tell of a pale, undersized child, 
 asking those about him to " buy a book " before he could 
 pronounce the words plainly, beginning Latin at four, 
 and writing poetry at seven. Perhaps there is an element 
 of exaggeration in such stories. The portraits of Dr. 
 Watts in his ponderous eighteenth century wig make it 
 hard enough to think of him as ever young, and these 
 accounts do not much encourage one in that attempt. 
 
 After his school days at Southampton, a few friends, 
 impressed by his diligence and abilities, offered to send 
 him to one of the universities. But the universities were 
 not open to dissenters, and among these the young 
 scholar had determined to abide. He entered the acad- 
 emy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe at Stoke Newington, 
 and in 1693 was admitted to the church of which Mr. 
 Rowe was pastor. At twenty he had completed the 
 ordinary course of study, and had returned to his father's 
 house, spending two years there in study and spiritual 
 preparation for the ministry. Afterward he lived for 
 
134 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 several years with Sir John I lartopp as the tutor of his 
 son, carrying forward his own studies at the same time. 
 
 ( )n his twenty-fourth birthday Watts preached his 
 first sermon. He became the assistant, and in 1702 was 
 ordained the successor, of Dr. Isaac Chauncy, pastor of 
 the Independent Church meeting in Mark Lane, London. 
 Already, as Dr. Chauncy's assistant, he had been laid 
 aside for several months by sickness, and soon after his 
 ordination he was seized with a dangerous illness which 
 left him so weak as to require an assistant of his own. 
 From 1712 to 17 16 he was again laid aside by a fever 
 and its consequences, from which he never fully re- 
 covered. Happily he had the gift of making people 
 love him. His church was always patient and sympa- 
 thetic, and in his weakness and loneliness he was invited 
 to the palatial home of Sir Thomas Abney, Theobalds, 
 not far from London. Expecting to stay a week, he 
 remained in the family for the rest of his life, thirty-six 
 years, a loved and honored guest. Here he continued 
 his care of his church, preaching when able and engaging 
 in literary work. Lady Abney watched over him with 
 unremitting care, shielding him, so far as she could, from 
 anxiety and troubles, until he died, after a long illness, 
 November 25th, 1748. 
 
 " Few men," said the great Dr. Johnson, " have left 
 behind such purity of character or such monuments of 
 laborious piety." His published works cover many de- 
 partments — geography, astronomy, philosophy, theology, 
 practical religion, and poetry. In all of these depart- 
 ments he was accomplished and useful. But his own 
 estimate, that in completing his Psalms and Hymns he 
 had produced his greatest work for the use of the 
 
WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS I 35 
 
 Church, is undoubtedly true. Providence had a special 
 mission for him in that department, and through it his 
 name and influence must always endure. 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) Our hymns have never had a critic so severe as 
 the late Matthew Arnold. 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 to luncheon, Mr. Arnold was heard 
 softly repeating 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 by 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 Chris- 
 tian to turn critic." 
 
 (2) This hymn bore the title: Crucifixion to the World 
 by the Cross of CJirist. Can you give the verse from 
 St. Paul on which it is based ? 
 
 (3) In the original hymn there was a fourth verse, 
 reading as follows : — 
 
 " His dying Crimson like a Robe 
 
 Spreads o'er his Body on the Tree, 
 Then am I dead to all the Globe, 
 And all the Globe is dead to me." 
 
 This verse was omitted from The Hymnal, and for 
 that omission its editor was criticised. Is it better to 
 
136 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 omit or retain the verse, and why ? In his second edition 
 Dr. Watts printed this verse within brackets, signifying 
 that it might " be left out in singing without disturbing the 
 
 s use." That fact does not, however, settle the question. 
 The frequent omission of this verse by editors is ex- 
 plained by Canon Twells, in a sermon upon the hymn, 
 in this way: "The rather awkward use of the word 
 ' globe ' for ' world/ to meet the exigencies of rhyme, 
 has, I suppose, vetoed this verse." Are there better 
 reasons ? 
 
 (4) Dr. Watts very carefully revised the text oi his 
 hymns for the second edition. In this hymn the only 
 change was in the second line, which originally read : — 
 
 " Where the young Prince of Glory dy'd.'* 
 
 Was there sufficent reason for this change ? 
 
XIII 
 O STILL IN ACCENTS SWEET AND STRONG 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 i O still in accents sweet and strong 
 Sounds forth the ancient word, 
 
 " More reapers for white harvest fields, 
 More laborers for the Lord." 
 
 2 We hear the call; in dreams no more 
 
 In selfish ease we lie, 
 But, girded for our Father's work, 
 Go forth beneath His sky. 
 
 3 Where prophets' word, and martyrs' blood, 
 
 And prayers of saints were sown, 
 We. to their labors entering in, 
 
 Would reap where they have strown. 
 
 4 O Thou whose call our hearts has stirred, 
 
 To do Thy will we come ; 
 Thrust in our sickles at Thy word, 
 And bear our harvest home. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Longfellow, 1864 
 
 NOTE. — The text is taken from Hymns of the Spirit, which Mr. Longfellow- 
 compiled, in conjunction with his friend, the Rev. Samuel John- 
 son. 
 
 137 
 
138 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Iii all the editions of the poetical works of Henry W. 
 Longfellow there is found among the earlier poems one 
 entitled " Hymn for my Brother's Ordination." It is this 
 brother, the Rev. Samuel Longfellow, who is the author 
 of the hymn now to be studied. 
 
 The Longfellow family lived in Portland, Maine. The 
 father was a greatly respected lawyer there, and sur- 
 rounded his family with comfort and refinement. The 
 square brick house in which they lived, and in which 
 Samuel, the younger of the brothers, was born June 
 1 8th. 1 819, is still standing, though now in the business 
 quarter of the town. 
 
 Just as the older brother gravitated naturally toward 
 a literary life, so the younger brother gravitated toward 
 the ministry. From Harvard, where he was a classmate 
 and close friend of Edward Everett Hale, he was gradu- 
 ated in 1839; and, after a few years spent in teaching 
 and study, entered the divinity school of that university, 
 being graduated in 1846. It was while a student there 
 that he and another friend, Samuel Johnson, undertook 
 to compile a new hymn book for Unitarian churches — a 
 somewhat audacious venture for two theological students. 
 The book appeared in 1846, under the name of The Book 
 of Hymns ; though Theodore Parker, who was one of 
 the first to use it in his services, was wont to call it 
 " The Book of Sams." 
 
 The book was very remarkable for literary merit. It 
 broke away from the old tradition of dull and heavy 
 hymns, and brought before the churches many that were 
 fresh and beautiful. Among these were " Lead, Kindly 
 
O STILL IN ACCENTS SWEET AND STRONG I 39 
 
 THE LONGFELLOW HOISE, PORTLAND 
 
 " Light," which the editors had found in a newspaper, and 
 many of the hymns of Mr. Whittier and of other American 
 writers. The book had a great influence far beyond the 
 bounds of those who shared the peculiar religious beliefs 
 of its young editors. 
 
140 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Mr. Longfellow was ordained as a Unitarian minister 
 in [848, and became pastor at Fall River, Massachusetts, 
 
 and afterward at Brooklyn. After a long interval Mr. 
 Longfellow in [878 began his last pastorate at the Uni- 
 tarian Church of Germantown, a Philadelphia suburb. 
 The whole period of his settled pastoral life was less than 
 fifteen years. Together with a lack of physical robust- 
 ness, there was a craving for the quiet life and a shrinking 
 from formality and routine. Resigning his charge in 
 1882, he took up his residence in the famous " Craigie 
 House " in Cambridge that had been the home of his 
 brother, the poet ; giving up his closing years to writing 
 that brother's biography. Mr. Longfellow died October 
 31a!, 1892, and was buried from the old home at Portland. 
 No brothers were ever more devoted than these. But 
 at the same time there are disadvantages in being the 
 younger brother of a famous poet; and while Samuel 
 Longfellow 7 had the poetic temperament, and was not 
 lacking in the poetic gift, and was a prominent man in 
 Unitarian circles, it has happened nevertheless that the 
 light of his fame has burned, and always must burn, with 
 a paler flame, because nature set it alongside of the far 
 brighter blaze of his brother's renown. To most readers 
 Samuel Longfellow is known simply as the poet's brother 
 and biographer. Yet he was in all respects a man worth 
 knowing for his own sake: "full of enthusiasm of the 
 quiet, deep, interior kind; worshipful, devout, reverent ; 
 a deep believer in the human heart, in its affections; 
 having a perfect trust in the majesty of conscience, a 
 supreme trust in God and in the laws of the world; a 
 man thoroughly well informed, used to the best people, 
 used to the best books and the best music, with the soul 
 
STILL IN ACCENTS SWEET AND STRONG 
 
 41 
 
 "of a poet in him and the heart of a saint; a man of a 
 deeply, earnestly consecrated will ; simple as a little 
 child; perpetually singing little ditties as he went about 
 in the world, humming his little heart-songs as lie went 
 
 REV. SAMUEL LOXCFEI.LOW 
 
 about in the street, wherever you met him." "A very 
 perfit gentil knight " was the old phrase applied to him by 
 Colonel Higginson. 
 
 And yet this sympathetic pastor, this sunny-hearted 
 gentleman, all the motives of whose life were high and 
 spiritual, who lived and did his work within a perpetual 
 atmosphere of calm and sweet serenity, came gradually 
 to assume an attitude toward Christianity that only the 
 
142 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 gentleness of his heart and his pervading chanty saved 
 from being obstructive. Mr. Longfellow's religious in- 
 heritance was that of the temper and beliefs of the older 
 Unitarianism, and with this point of view the hymn book 
 of his seminary days corresponds. His point of view ap- 
 pears in his choice of hymns, which freely recognize the 
 supernatural character of Christ. It appears in the very 
 grouping of the hymns under such main heads as "Jesus 
 Christ," " Communion Hymns," " Christianity and the 
 Christian Life." How far that point of view was left 
 behind as Mr. Longfellow's life advanced is revealed 
 nowhere more plainly than in a second hymn book com- 
 piled in the early sixties by the same two life-long friends, 
 and published at Boston in 1864 as Hymns of the Spirit. 
 From this later book all hymns " which attributed a 
 peculiar quality and special authority to Christianity, and 
 recognized a supernatural element in the personality 
 of Jesus," were excluded. Even the hymn, " Christ to 
 the Young Man Said," composed for his ordination by 
 his famous brother was omitted because " he would not 
 by that one name disturb the simplicity of his faith in the 
 one Source of the soul's higher life." The Communion 
 Hymns were left out, as the rite itself had disappeared 
 from Mr. Longfellow's ministry. " Christianity " appears 
 only as the heading of a group of seventeen hymns out 
 of a total of seven hundred and seventeen. The view- 
 point of the book was that which its editor had declared 
 his own to be — that of universal religion of which Chris- 
 tianity was only an illustration, of theism as distinguished 
 from Christianity. 
 
 If we are to take Mr. Longfellow at his word, and 
 regard him as a theist rather than a Christian, there 
 
O STILL IN ACCENTS SWEET AND STRONG 143 
 
 remains at least the satisfaction of recognizing the strik- 
 ing moral coincidences between his conception of univer- 
 sal religion and our own of Christianity. There remains 
 the greater satisfaction of finding in his character and 
 ways so many illustrations of what Christianity has done 
 for life. But among those who care for Mr. Longfellow's 
 hymns there will be very many who prefer to think of 
 this free spirit as poet rather than as theologian. For the 
 latter office he was indeed hardly qualified either by his 
 mental bent or his habits of study. His was a mind of 
 the sentimental cast, which sincerely loved truth and 
 sought to find it, but in reality rejoiced more in a sense 
 of unfettered freedom in the search itself than in any 
 logical coherence of the beliefs that rewarded the search. 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 Mr. Longfellow wrote many hymns, most of which 
 were included in Hymns of the Spirit. This hymn, beau- 
 tiful and heartfelt as it is, has no striking features in its 
 history. There is no account of its origin anywhere 
 printed, and those who have written of it have simply 
 said that it was composed for Hymns of the Spirit m 1864. 
 The present writer, however, has in his possession an 
 autograph letter of Mr. Longfellow's in which he states 
 that " the hymn was originally written to be sung by a 
 class graduating from the divinity school at Cambridge." 
 He does not say in what year, and most probably did 
 not remember, since his niece, who published a volume 
 of his hymns after his death, was not able to give the 
 date of this one. 
 
 The hymn is becoming very popular in this country ; 
 abroad it is less used than Mr. Longfellow's beautiful 
 
.144 STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 evening hymn, " Again, as Evening's Shadow Falls," 
 and his " Holy Spirit, Truth Divine" ( The Hymnal, Nos. 
 22, 279). It takes a great many years for a hymn to get 
 into general use throughout all English-speaking coun- 
 tries, and very lew hymns attain such an honor. Whether 
 this or any of Mr. Longfellow's hymns shall gain such a 
 distinction can hardly be foretold. 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) There is still some difference of opinion in regard 
 to the propriety of the use by Orthodox churches of 
 hymns by those writers of " liberal " or " radical " opin- 
 ions whom we generally group together under the term 
 " Unitarian." The following opinions are set down here, 
 not for the purpose of settling that question, but rather 
 as laying the ground for the discussion of it. 
 
 When one comes to think about it, there is nothing 
 singular in the fact that a Unitarian should write hymns 
 that prove acceptable to Christians who have no share 
 whatever in the beliefs peculiar to Unitarianism. As a 
 matter of fact, it is not the purpose of every hymn to 
 glorify the nature of our Lord as divine. Some hymns, 
 for example, celebrate God's fatherhood or providence, 
 some the work of the Spirit in our hearts, some are of 
 heaven, some of the moral life, and some of missions. 
 On these and other subjects there is very much ground 
 held in common by all people of reverent mind and 
 religious faith. There are, no doubt, hymns written 
 by Dr. Holmes, Mr. Longfellow, and other " liberals," 
 which contain their peculiar personal beliefs, some that 
 even sound a note of protest against other peoples' 
 beliefs ; and those are passed by, as a matter of course, 
 

 Jfrfued ieA^C- **£** Zfi£ **t ^4^ 
 
 AUTOGRAPH VERSES 
 
146 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 by churches which profess the Orthodox faith. But 
 the fact of their writing such sectarian hymns does 
 not spoil the quality of such of their hymns as are not 
 sectarian, but are simply religious. Is it not properly a 
 matter of rejoicing that there are so many hymns that 
 religious people of all shades of belief can agree to love 
 and to sing ? 
 
 (2) It has been said before now that the best hymns 
 are those which use most freely the thoughts and even 
 the language of the Bible. If that is true, the hymn 
 of Mr. Longfellow would not need to be excluded from 
 the best hymns, for it is Scriptural to a somewhat un- 
 usual degree. From what passages in the gospel are 
 the thoughts and some of the phrases of this hymn 
 taken ? 
 
XIV 
 JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN TO-DAY 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 i Jesus Christ is risen to-day, 
 Our triumphant holy day, 
 Who did once, upon the cross, 
 Suffer to redeem our loss. 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 2 Hymns of praise then let us sing 
 Unto Christ our heavenly King 
 Who endured the cross and grave, 
 Sinners to redeem and save. 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 3 But the pains which He endured 
 Our salvation have procured ; 
 Now above the sky He's King, 
 Where the angels ever sing. 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 4 Sing we to our God above 
 Praise eternal as His love ; 
 Praise Him, all ye heavenly host, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 [A composite hymn] 
 
 NOTE. — The text is that printed in connection with early nineteenth century 
 issues of Tate and Brady's Psalms, except that some (possibly- 
 all) of these issues read "hath" instead of " have " in the 
 second line of the third verse ; treating " pains " as a singular — 
 a usage not without precedents. 
 
 147 
 
148 studies of familiar hymns 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 There are a few familiar hymns which can best be 
 described as gradual growths rather than as the crea- 
 tions of an author's mind. Some lines or verses have 
 served for the nucleus of a hymn; these have been 
 reshaped T.nd added to time and again by the hands of 
 successive editors, and in that way the hymn has attained 
 the form we know. Poetry of a high order could not 
 be made by such a process ; but of these composite 
 hymns the few that survive are such, to say the least of 
 them, as have proved both serviceable and attractive. 
 One of the best of them is our Easter hymn, apart from 
 which the services of that day would hardly seem com- 
 plete. And the history of its making is not without an 
 interest of its own. 
 
 For the earliest form of the hymn we must go back 
 to the fourteenth century. There is now in Munich a 
 manuscript of that date containing an Easter carol in 
 Latin, which reads as follows : — 
 
 " Surrexit Cbristus hodie 
 humano pro solamine. allel. 
 
 Mortem qui passus corpore 
 miserrimo pro homine. all. 
 
 Mulieres ad tumulum 
 
 dona ferunt aromatum. all. 
 
 Album videntes angelum 
 
 annunciantem gaudinm : all. 
 
 Discipulis hoc dicite, 
 
 quod surrexit rex gloria?, all. 
 
 Paschal i pleno gaudio 
 benedicamus domino, all." 
 
JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN TO-DAY 149 
 
 Other manuscripts of the same hymn exist, having ad- 
 ditional verses. Hut we are specially concerned only 
 with the first and second couplets, which are in all the 
 manuscripts. For these two couplets proved to be the 
 nucleus round which our hymn was to grow. 
 
 The first stage in the growth of the hymn is the turn- 
 ing of that Latin carol into English, four centuries later. 
 The illustration here given is the facsimile of one page 
 from a book printed in London, 1708, by J. Walsh. It 
 had this title : — 
 
 " Lyra Davidica, or a Collection of Divine Songs and 
 Hymns, partly New Composed, partly Translated from 
 the High German and Latin Hymns ; and set to easy and 
 pleasant Tunes." 
 
 Comparing the words in the facsimile with the first and 
 second couplets of the Latin, it is readily seen that they 
 are a translation of them, and not very different from the 
 first verse of our present hymn. The remainder of the 
 carol follows on the next page of the book, the whole 
 reading as follows : — 
 
 "Jesus Christ is Risen to day Ilalle-Halleluiah 
 Our triumphant Holyday 
 Who so lately on the Cross 
 Suffer'd to redeem our loss. 
 
 " Hast ye females from your fright 
 Tnke to Galilee your flight 
 To his sad disciples say 
 Jesus Christ is risen to day. 
 
 " In our Paschal joy and feast 
 Let the lord of life be blest 
 Let the Holy Trine be prais'd 
 And thankful hearts to heaven be rais'd." 
 
<3L $tyu 
 
 ivrrtctzon. 
 
 Sesus C/ifiat LsQusvn. to'cfay J~CaC/c.-(ka(C'fiuafh 
 
 MM .l i lmU afej 
 
 =^E 
 
 P* 
 
 Our^btvu iii&Aa^SwOu&Q'u J7/7i/%-fftafie&ua&. 
 
 m a hjt'w ]i Hf 
 
 
 " ft l-VJSQ f I E-P {p f J 
 
 i q -// ? i ml ^P 
 
 Ju/fcro to 
 
 rede&m otmt 
 
 m nt-^rr^f 
 
 TH'Jkdpsit 
 
 A PAGE FROM " LYRA DAVIDICA 
 
 ISO 
 
JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN TO-DAY I 5 1 
 
 We recognize also the " easy and pleasant tune, "to which 
 we still sing our Easter hymn, harmonized in two parts, 
 the air and bass. The tune seems to make its first ap- 
 pearance in this book. Most likely it was composed for 
 these words, but nobody knows. In many hymnals the 
 statement still continues to be made that Dr. Worgan 
 composed the tune, the fact that he was not yet born not 
 seeming to make any difference. Nothing more is known 
 of the translation than of the tune. Who wrote the 
 English words, who edited the book, for whose use the 
 book was intended — on none of these interesting ques- 
 tions is there any light whatever. But the fact remains 
 that in 1708 we got a first verse and also a tune for our 
 Easter hymn, though not as yet in just the form we 
 know. 
 
 In 1749 or early in 1750 John Arnold, a musician 
 living at Great Warley, in Essex, published the second 
 edition of a collection of tunes called The Compleat 
 Psalmodist. In this book the same tune appears again, 
 but the hymn has been made over. Only the four lines 
 of the translated carol from Lyra Davidica remain. 
 These are altered, and there are now added two verses 
 entirely new. The hymn in the earliest edition of this 
 book seen by the present writer reads as follows : — 
 
 "Jesus Christ is ris'n to-Day. Hallelujah. 
 Our triumphant Holiday 
 Who did once upon the Cross 
 Suffer to redeem our Loss. 
 
 " Hymns of praises let us sing 
 Unto Christ our heav'nly King 
 Who endur'd the Cross and Grave 
 Sinners to redeem and save. 
 
1.52 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " But the pain that he endur'd 
 Our Salvation ha> procur'd 
 Now above the Sky he's King 
 Where the Angels ever >ing."' 
 
 This is substantially the modern form of the hymn. And 
 here again there is no clue as to the authorship of the 
 new verses. 
 
 Not much now remained to be done to the hymn. It 
 needed a little polishing, and it needed to have a place 
 made for it among the hymns sung in church. For 
 these it waited until the beginning of the nineteenth 
 century. At that time the Church of England was sing- 
 ing metrical versions of the Psalms. Tate and Brady's 
 version was commonly bound in with the Prayer Books. 
 Toward the close of the eighteenth century a few hymns 
 had appeared at the end of the Psalms. How they got 
 there is not known. It is thought likely that some 
 printer, with the free ways of a dissenter, saw fit to fill 
 up a few blank leaves left over at the end of a Prayer 
 Book with hymns, and that he made his own selection. 
 Certain it is that the hymns appeared there and that they 
 appeared without authority. It is equally certain that 
 they kept their place in later editions of the Prayer Book 
 and were sung in the services. They- not only stayed, 
 but increased in number. Some time early in the nine- 
 teenth century, at a date not yet fixed, our Easter hymn 
 was added to the little group. The changes in the text 
 were not many, and each change was for the better. 
 This final form of the hymn corresponds to the first three 
 verses as printed at the head of this Study. 
 
 In later years some editor, thinking that the hymn 
 needed a conclusion, added a doxology by the Rev. 
 
JESUS CHRIST JS RISEN TO-DAY I 53 
 
 Charles Wesley, originally printed in 1740. The dox- 
 ology (the fourth verse) suits the hymn and may now be 
 looked upon as part of it. And the story of the making 
 of the hymn, like the hymn itself, ends with this doxology. 
 It was a long evolution, a somewhat curious history. 
 Perhaps its most curious feature, amounting to something 
 almost like an air of mystery, is the veil of anonymity 
 that is not once lifted through all the five hundred years. 
 Many hands have wrought to bring the materials into 
 shape, and of all these hands not one can be associated 
 with a human name or presence. 
 
 The popularity of the hymn is readily explained. It 
 appeared at a time when suitable Easter hymns were 
 sadly lacking, already provided with a stirring melody. 
 And both hymn and tune have kept their place because 
 they express, somewhat quaintly but none the less fitly, 
 the gratitude and gladness of the Christian heart in view 
 of Christ's resurrection. 
 
 Some points for Discussion 
 
 (1) Are the Easter hymns as a class equal in merit 
 and attractiveness to the Christmas hymns as a class ? 
 
 (2) In the act of singing this hymn the correct render- 
 ing of the tune makes such demands upon one's attention 
 that the words deserve a quiet study apart. Does any 
 hymn set forth more appealingly the mingled triumph 
 and pathos of the resurrection ? Notice the alleluias 
 which interrupt the very recital of Christ's pains. 
 
 (3) Much has been said in favor of keeping up the 
 association of a particular hymn with " the tune to which 
 it has always been sung." As a matter of fact, the num- 
 ber of standard hymns that have always or even generally 
 
154 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 been sung to special tunes of their own is quite small. 
 In this matter we are likely to think that the association 
 familiar to ourselves has been a more general usage than 
 on inquiry proves to be the case. And even though a 
 hymn has generally been sung to a particular tune, it 
 may happen that the tune has been outgrown and the 
 hymn thereby fallen into unfortunate neglect ; or that 
 the hymn has outlived its usefulness while its tune is 
 worthy of longer use if set to better words. In such a 
 case a change of the association would seem desirable. 
 But in a case such as this, where tune and words are 
 both worthy, have come into the world together, and 
 have been sung together very generally and with great 
 satisfaction, is there not a certain profit as well as pro- 
 priety in keeping that association undisturbed ? 
 
 There is indeed need of a certain watchfulness on our 
 part to make sure that we do not lose the words of this 
 hymn altogether out of our hymn books. The tune 
 goes very well to Wesley's Easter hymn in the same 
 metre. And some recent compilers, pressed as they are 
 for space, and conscious of a general desire that the 
 number of hymns be reduced, have sought to relieve the 
 situation by setting this tune to Wesley's words. Perhaps 
 they thought we would not notice. But they do us an inj us- 
 tice. No other words have just the Easter flavor of these. 
 
 (4) The facts set forth in this Study are put in con- 
 densed form into the note underneath the hymn in TJic 
 Hymnal (No. 244). If any one would take the trouble 
 to work out the note in the light of the Study he would 
 be in the way of understanding those Hymnal notes on 
 the history and text of the hymns. Many people find 
 difficulty in following such condensed statements. 
 
XV 
 
 A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i 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. 
 
 2 Did we in our own strength confide, 
 
 Our striving would be losing ; 
 Were not the right man on our side, 
 
 The man of God's own choosing : 
 Dost ask who that may be ? 
 Christ Jesus, it is He ; 
 Lord Sabaoth His Name, 
 From age to age the same, 
 
 And He must win the battle. 
 
 3 And though 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. 
 
 155 
 
I56 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 That word above all earthly powers, 
 
 No thanks to them, abideth ; 
 The Spirit and the gifts are ours 
 
 Through Him who with us sideth : 
 Let goods and kindred go, 
 This mortal life also ; 
 The body they may kill : 
 God's truth abideth still, 
 
 His kingdom is for ever. 
 
 Rev. Martin Luther, (about) 1528 
 Translated by Rev. Frederic Henry Hedge, 1852 
 
 NOTE. — The text is taken from Hedge and Huntington's Hymns for the 
 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 The greatest scene of Luther's career was his brave 
 stand before the Diet of Worms, on the 17th of April, 
 1 52 1. It was on the way thither, when warned by 
 Spalatin against entering the city, that Luther wrote 
 back : " Were there as many devils in Worms as there 
 are tiles on the roofs of the houses, I would go in." 
 Perhaps the occurrence of this same sentiment in the 
 third verse of Luther's hymn, " Ein' Feste Burg ist Unser 
 Gott," is what has led so many writers to say that the 
 hymn also was written on that journey to Worms. 
 Picturesque as it may be thus to connect the great 
 hymn with the great event, the claim is not supported 
 by any actual evidence. Three years afterward, in 1524, 
 Luther printed his earlier hymns, but this is not among 
 them. One naturally concludes that it had not been 
 written. 
 
 Six other dates and occasions for the origin of the 
 hymn have been fixed upon, each of them with con- 
 siderable confidence. No one could seem more sure of 
 

 157 
 
158 STL DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 anything than is Merle d'Aubigne, the brilliant historian 
 of the Reformation, that Luther wrote the hymn while 
 with the Elector John of Saxony, who was on his way 
 
 to the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. That writer pictures 
 the very scene. "John," he says, "began his journey 
 on the 3rd April, with one hundred and sixty horse- 
 men, 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 eves and sinking hearts. Hut Luther, full of 
 faith, revived the courage of his friends by composing, 
 and singing with his fine voice that beautiful hymn, since 
 become so famous : Ein* Feste Burg ist Unser Gott! y 
 Here again is a picturesque origin found for the hymn, 
 but one improbable on its face, and contradicted by the 
 fact that at the time referred to Luther's hymn had 
 already appeared in print. Various monographs have 
 been published advocating other dates and occasions. 
 Undeterred by these, Scherer, the recent 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 Kostlin, in the 
 later editions of the Life, accepts that date as probably 
 correct. And with that probability we must rest. The 
 actual evidence in the matter is the appearance of the 
 hymn in print. Some years ago it was found in a muti- 
 lated copy of a Wittenberg hymn book of 1529; and 
 more lately report was made of its discovery in an 
 earlier issue, dating apparently from February, 1528. 
 It was already set to the glorious tune, believed by many 
 to be composed by Luther himself, to which it has been 
 sung ever since. The best opinion of the present time 
 
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OCR COP I 59 
 
 is that not any of the tunes furnished by Luther were 
 original compositions, but were rather drawn from sacred 
 or popular sources. That of " Kin' Feste Burg," it is 
 claimed, was developed from an old Gregorian melody. 
 Such a hymn, with such a tune, spread quickly, as 
 may well be believed ; " quickly, as if the angels had 
 been the carriers," one enthusiastic writer has said. But 
 they were men and not angels who spread Luther's 
 hymn of faith and courage from heart to heart and from 
 lip to lip. It thrilled them like a trumpet blast, en- 
 couraging the faint-hearted and nerving the brave to 
 fight the battle of the Lord. It was, as Heine said, the 
 Marseillaise of the Reformation. It was sung at Augs- 
 burg during the Diet, and in all the churches of Saxony, 
 often against the protest of the priest. It was sung in 
 the streets ; and, so heard, comforted the hearts of 
 Melanchthon, Jonas, and Cruciger, as they entered 
 Weimar, when banished from Wittenberg in 1547. 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 hymn of Protestant Germany- 
 Gustavus Adolphus ordered it sung by his army before 
 the battle of Leipzig, in 1 631, and on the field of that 
 battle it was repeated, more than two centuries after- 
 ward, by the throng assembled at the jubilee of the 
 Gustavus Adolphus Association. Again, it was the 
 battle hymn of his army at Lutzen, in 1632, in which the 
 King was slain, but his army won the victory. It has 
 had a part in countless celebrations commemorating the 
 men and events of the Reformation ; and its first line is 
 engraved on the base of Luther's monument at Witten- 
 
loo STUDIES OF FAMILIAR /DMAS 
 
 berg. And it is dear still to the German people ; one of 
 the hymns lodged in their memories and hearts, ready for 
 the occasion. An imperishable hymn! not polished and 
 artistically wrought, but rugged and strong like Luther 
 
 himself, whose very words seem like deeds. 
 
 Among Luther's hymns (some thirty-six in all) this 
 occupies the supreme place, because it is the fullest 
 expression of what he was as a man and as a reformer. 
 " It is a true picture of his simple faith in Christ, and of 
 his immovable trust in God, his forgetfulness of self and 
 entire consecration of his life and all that he held dear 
 to that Saviour who, he doubted not. would speedily, 
 gloriously, and for ever, triumph over Satan and all his 
 hosts, by that word which he was the honored instru- 
 ment once more to proclaim to the world." 
 
 The Translator of the Hymn 
 
 The translating of Luther's hymn began very early. 
 His hymns seemed to the early Protestants like a part 
 of their confession of the new faith ; and as Lutheran 
 ideas spread into other countries, the hymns were trans- 
 lated, and sung by the people in their own tongues. In 
 the English Reformation, however, they had no part. 
 While an exile in Germany, toward the middle of the 
 sixteenth century, Myles Coverdale came into contact 
 with them, and made versions of a number, which he 
 printed in his Goostly Psalmes and Spirituall Songes. He 
 seems to have been more interested in Luther's tunes 
 than in the words. The forty-sixth Psalm in his book is 
 in the metre o( " Kin' Feste Burg," but only the first four 
 lines follow Luther's hymn. The first real translation into 
 English is probably that contained in Lyra Davidica, 
 
 
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD l6l 
 
 published in London in 1708, and, like the book itself, 
 anonymous. 
 
 The next version appeared in Psalmodia Germanica, 
 
 a book of translations of German hymns published at 
 London in 1722, by John Christian Jacobi, who had 
 charge of the Royal German Chapel at St. James's 
 Palace. This interests us more, because a reprint of the 
 book came from the press of Hugh Gaine in New York 
 in 1756. It was the first hymnal used in Lutheran 
 services in English in this country, and introduced " Kin' 
 Feste Burg" here as an English hymn. This version 
 was reprinted by Dr. Kunze, of New York, in his Lu- 
 theran hymn book of 1795. But in after years, both in 
 England and this country, knowledge of the hymn was 
 mostly confined to Germans until Carlyle called atten- 
 tion to it in his now famous essay, " Luther's Psalm," 
 printed in Frascr s Magazine for 1831. Since that date 
 very many writers, both English and American, have 
 attempted versions of the hymn ; how many, it would be 
 hard to say. The Rev. Dr. Bernhard Pick has collected 
 eighty different translations in a little book, but there 
 are many more. Of these versions, some are poor 
 enough ; and of them all, only two have proved widely 
 successful. 
 
 To translate a hymn into another language, and yet to 
 preserve the spirit and the form of the original, is always 
 a difficult task. But to do it in such a way that a foreign 
 people shall love to sing the hymn in their own tongue 
 is a feat of which any one may be proud. One of the 
 two successful versions is the translation made by Thomas 
 Carlyle, and printed in his "Luther's Psalm" in 1831. 
 Carlyle's understanding of Luther, and his own gift of 
 
1 62 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 downright speech, well fitted him for his undertaking. 
 In many respects his is the best version of the hymn in 
 English ; and in Great Britain it is the one most generally 
 sung, although some changes are made in it, in most 
 cases, to fit it for such a use. The other successful trans- 
 lation is American. It was made by a Unitarian clergy- 
 
 
 */mcrt4j6~ Jlktn /<rAv tisf&l lof sj/^&d^* 
 
 A VERSE IN THE AUTOGRArH OF THE TRANSLATOR 
 
 man, the Rev. Frederic Henry Hedge, and first appeared 
 in 1852, in the second edition of Dr. Furness's Gems of 
 
 £^~ 
 
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OCA' COD 1 63 
 
 German Verse. A year later Dr. Hedge included it 
 (just as it stands in The Hym nal and here) in Hymns for 
 the Church of Christ. 
 
 The translator did his work well. His version is 
 worthy to stand beside Carlyle's, and for church use as a 
 hymn is probably the better of the two. It has become 
 the accepted version of Luther's hymn in this country, 
 and now finds a place in the great majority of recent 
 American hymnals of the better kind. Perhaps we 
 hardly realize that Luther's hymn is gradually becoming 
 one of the standard hymns of the American Church. 
 More than once in late years it has happened that classes 
 in our colleges have adopted it by vote as their class 
 hymn. To this growing appreciation of the hymn several 
 things contribute. One is the growth of historical feel- 
 ing, making more of historical associations. Another is 
 the clear ring of faith in the hymn itself, never more 
 appealing than now. Still another is the quality of the 
 old chorale to which the words are set. But Dr. Hedge's 
 great success in producing such a version as makes us 
 feel that we are singing Luther's hymn itself, must also 
 be placed high among the causes which are acclimating 
 the old German hymn. 
 
 Dr. Hedge was decidedly a man of mark in New Eng- 
 land ; a thinker and scholar of influence. His life is 
 linked with Harvard University by close ties. His 
 mother was the granddaughter of one of its presidents, 
 and his father a professor there for over thirty years. 
 He himself was born at Cambridge, December 12th, 
 1805, was graduated in arts by Harvard in 1825, and in 
 divinity three years later. While still pastor of a church 
 at Brookline, in 1857, he became Professor of Church 
 
164 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 History, and in 1872 Professor of German, in the univer- 
 sity. This latter chair he held until 1 88 1, and lived until 
 August 2 1 st, 1890. 
 
 Dr. Hedge reached manhood at a time when there was 
 great intellectual unrest in New England, and much 
 excitement on moral and religious questions. It culmi- 
 nated in what is generally called the Transcendental 
 Movement for a more spiritual philosophy. Dr. Channing 
 was probably the leader of this movement, but Dr. Hedge 
 took a most active part in it. He was one of the founders 
 of the Transcendental Club of Boston, and of its eccen- 
 tric organ, The Dial. Dr. Hedge's particular share in 
 this movement seems to have been to make known and 
 expound the literature, and especially the philosophy, 
 of Germany. Before going to Harvard he had spent 
 several years as a student in Germany. These made him 
 so familiar with the language that it became to him prac- 
 tically a second mother-tongue, and gave him a sympathy 
 with German thought, of which he remained a student 
 all his life. He published, in 1848, a large volume of 
 The Prose Writers of Germany, which became a standard 
 work ; and by lectures, review articles, and books, did 
 much to make the philosophers of Germany more wel- 
 come than they had been in New England. 
 
 This translation of Luther's hymn, therefore, was quite 
 in line with Dr. Hedge's special work. For keeping his 
 memory green in the world it is, no doubt, the most 
 effective piece of work he ever did. It was a little piece 
 of work. And yet nothing less than his own religious 
 nature and strong religious feeling, his poetic tempera- 
 ment and gift for making verse, his familiarity with 
 German and practiced skill in translating it — nothing less 
 
REV. FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE 
 
1 66 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 than all these things, combined in the one man, made 
 success in that little piece of work possible. 
 
 Dr. Hedge's connection with the hymnody of the 
 Church at large does not extend much beyond this con- 
 tribution of his translation of the great Reformer's hymn. 
 He holds an honorable place in the succession of Ameri- 
 can editors. In cooperation with the Rev. Frederick D. 
 Huntington (then a Unitarian, afterward Bishop in the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church) he prepared, and published 
 in 1853 for use in Unitarian churches, the Hymns for 
 the Church of Christ already referred to. It had, and 
 deserved, much success, being of a high order both 
 poetically and spiritually. The book was worth while, 
 if only because it introduced to the churches that fine 
 morning hymn, " Now, when the Dusky Shades of 
 Night, Retreating" (The Hymnal, No. 8). If, indeed, 
 the editors had been careful to make a note of the 
 authorship or source of that hymn (now apparently irre- 
 vocably lost) their service would be still more appreci- 
 ated by the curious. Dr. Hedge contributed a number 
 of original hymns to the book. One of the best is that 
 beginning, " Beneath Thine hammer, Lord, I lie." An- 
 other, which sets forth the cross as the sign of Christ's 
 leadership, beginning, " 'Twas the day when God's 
 Anointed," has particular merit, judged from its own 
 point of view. But none of Dr. Hedge's original hymns 
 has come into more than a limited use, even within 
 strictly Unitarian circles. For that reason any inquiry 
 into his theological position and views is less pertinent. 
 It is just as well, since it would be difficult to classify 
 him as connected with any special school of thought. 
 He distrusted system and cared little for logical con- 
 
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 1 67 
 
 sistency. His position was altogether independent and 
 sometimes undefined. Certainly he hewed a path far 
 beyond the conventions of Christian theology. What 
 we have to be especially grateful for is the undisturbed 
 reflection he gave forth of the spirit and words of 
 Luther's hymn. 
 
 Some points for Discussion 
 
 (1) Luther seems to have been accustomed to refer to 
 his hymn as the 46th Psalm. This is interesting as 
 showing the source of Luther's inspiration ; but can the 
 hymn be said to be a version of that psalm ? 
 
 (2) The following analysis of the hymn has been 
 made : " In stanza i. we see our stronghold and its be- 
 siegers ; in stanza ii. our weakness, our Saviour's power 
 and might ;' in stanza iii. the vanity of the Prince of this 
 World ; in stanza iv. whatever earthly goods we lose we 
 have our true treasure in heaven." Is the analysis 
 satisfactory ? 
 
 (3) It is interesting to compare Dr. Hedge's translation 
 with such others as one has access to. Carlyle's, in his 
 essay, " Luther's Psalm," is to be found in all editions of 
 his works. A version by Longfellow can be found 
 imbedded in his " Golden Legend." Many of the later 
 versions have no individuality, but are merely the old 
 materials worked over and slightly rearranged. A trans- 
 lation by Thomas I. Zimmerman, one of the publishers 
 of the Reading Daily Tutus and Dispatch^ and printed 
 in that newspaper in 1888, is thought by some to be an 
 exception. " Nothing is more curious," a writer in The 
 Athen&um remarked in 1897, "than the way in which 
 translators go on working in beaten paths." Certainly 
 
l68 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 the beaten paths offer least hope of pioneer work, but 
 each fresh comer, finding no existing translation that 
 seems perfectly satisfactory, doubtless hopes to straighten 
 the path a little here and there. And the same qualities 
 of an original that moved its first translator to try to 
 express what he found there move others in the same 
 way. It is interesting to note that even the Quaker 
 heart of YVhittier responded to the trumpet-blast of 
 Luther's psalm. He entitled one of his poems in war 
 time, " Kin' Feste Burg ist Unser Gott," writing it also 
 in the metre of the original. 
 
XVI 
 
 ABIDE WITH ME: FAST FALLS THE EVENTIDE 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 i 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, O abide with me. 
 
 2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day ; 
 Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; 
 Change and decay in all around I see ; 
 
 Thou who changest not, abide with me. 
 
 3 I need Thy presence every passing hour; 
 
 What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power ? 
 Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be ? 
 Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me. 
 
 4 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 ? 
 
 1 triumph still, if Thou abide with me. 
 
 5 Hold Thou 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 flee : 
 In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. 
 
 Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, 1847 
 
 NOTE. — Five verses of the original eight (see under "Some Points for 
 Discussion "). 
 
 169 
 
170 studies of familiar hymns 
 
 The story of the Hymn 
 
 The darkness that deepens in the hymn is the shadow 
 of death creeping over the poet himself, whose last song 
 it was. The Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, who was pastor 
 as well as poet, had been for nearly twenty-five years in 
 charge of the district church at Lower Brixham on the 
 shores of Torbay, England. Originally a little fishing 
 village, it had grown into a somewhat disorderly and 
 immoral district, with a rough and uneducated popula- 
 tion. It seems a strange post for a gentle poet, but Mr. 
 Lyte exerted a great influence over the sailors and fisher- 
 men, for whom he wrote songs, as well as hymns for 
 their children in his schools. Never robust, he became 
 year by year less fit for the heavy duties of the post, 
 until the time came when he broke down utterly, and 
 could live only by spending the winters in the warmer 
 climate of Southern Europe. He had come home to 
 spend the summer of 1847 with his church, but had lain 
 extremely ill. Sunday, the 4th of September, was the 
 last day of his permitted stay in England, and he shocked 
 his family by announcing his intention to preach once 
 more to his own people. " His weakness, and the possi- 
 ble danger attending the effort, were urged to prevent it ; 
 but in vain. He felt sure he should be enabled to fulfil 
 his wish, and feared not for the result." He did preach, 
 and, although i^Teatlv exhausted, assisted at the celebra- 
 tion of the Holy Communion. In the evening of that 
 same day he placed in the hands of a member of his 
 family the manuscript of the hymn " Abide with Me," 
 together with a tune he had composed for it. On the 
 following dav he started for the South, but did not live 
 
ABIDE WITH ME : FAST FALLS THE EVENTIDE 1 7 1 
 
 to complete the journey. When within a few hours of 
 Nice he was attacked by influenza, which soon developed 
 alarming symptoms, and after some days of suffering he 
 passed away. 
 
 It deepens the pathos of these circumstances to be 
 told by Mr. Lyte's daughter (in her Memoir) that he 
 was much distressed by difficulties which had arisen 
 
 
 *#£. 
 
 AN AUTOGRAPH VERSE 
 
 among his people. A recent visitor to Lower Brixham 
 records a local tradition that a defection of some of his 
 church workers is referred to in the words of the first 
 verse, " When other helpers fail." 
 
 But the story of the hymn has a brighter side. It is 
 pleasant to think of it in connection with another poem 
 he left behind him, called " Declining Days." In this 
 the poet asks himself why he should sigh at the thought 
 of approaching death. He is described by one who 
 
172 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 loved him as a cheerful and unselfish Invalid ; but this 
 touching poem shows, none the less, that he shared the 
 regret common to invalids that his life had been frus- 
 trated by illness, and that he was only a burden to his 
 friends. Death, he says, would seem even sweet could 
 he think that in his narrow bed he should not be wholly 
 mute or useless, but should help or heal some living 
 heart by his verse : — 
 
 " Some simple strain, some spirit-moving lay, 
 Some sparklet of the Soul, that still might live 
 When I was passed to clay ! " 
 
 The poem closes with the prayer : — 
 
 " O Thou ! whose touch can lend 
 Life to the dead, Thy quick' ning grace supply, 
 And grant me, swanlike, my last breath to spend 
 In song that may not die ! " 
 
 Not often are the prayers and longings of a disap- 
 pointed heart so literally fulfilled. It was given to 
 the poet to sing that swan-song that should not die. 
 The Rev. Dr. George D. Baker, of Philadelphia, has 
 told the present writer of meeting a young man at a 
 church door in Nice one Sunday morning. They could 
 not get in and walked together to another church, and 
 after service went to visit Lyte's grave in the English 
 cemetery. While they stood beside the grave the young 
 stranger became much affected as he told what the 
 hymn had been to him. How far, indeed, is the author 
 of such a hymn from being " mute or useless in his 
 narrow bed " ! 
 
 It would seem strange to us if " Abide with Me " were 
 omitted from the hymn books. But its present position 
 
A HIDE WITH ME. FAST FALLS THE EVENTIDE 1/3 
 
 was not attained immediately, cither in England or in 
 this country. In 1855 Mr. Beecher, in his Plymouth 
 
 Collection, put three verses at the service of American 
 Congreerationalists. In 1861 Dr. Henrv A. Boardman, 
 of Philadelphia, in his Selection, introduced the entire 
 hymn to Presbyterians, especially of his own congrega- 
 tion. But he preceded it by the notice : " [For reading 
 only]." That notice reads curiously now. But he may 
 have considered, as some still consider, the hymn too 
 personal and intense for congregational use ; or more 
 likely, he knew of no tune that would carry the long 
 lines. Indeed, the actual use of the hymn dates from 
 the publication, that same year, of the now familiar tune 
 in Hymns Ancient and Modern. After one of the meet- 
 ings of the committee which compiled that book it was 
 suddenly remembered that there was no tune for Hymn 
 27, "Abide with Me"; whereupon Dr. Monk, the musi- 
 cal editor (so he told a friend), sat down and composed 
 in ten minutes the tune that has carried Hymn 27 to the 
 ends of the earth. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Mr. Lyte was born June 1st, 1793, near Kelso, Scot- 
 land, but was the son of a captain in the English army. 
 Both parents died while he was a child, leaving him to 
 struggle for a liberal education. Several prizes for poems 
 gained at Trinity College, Dublin, were a welcome addi- 
 tion to his slender income, which he also supplemented 
 by teaching; and he was graduated in 18 14. He began 
 the study of medicine, but in 181 5 was ordained to the 
 ministry in the Church of England. 
 
 His first charge was " a dreary Irish curacy," within 
 
174 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 seven miles of the town of Wexford — " Remote from 
 towns, in almost perfect seclusion, giving myself up to 
 the duties of my situation, writing my sermons, visiting 
 my sick, catechizing my children, without other com- 
 panions than my flute, my pen, and my books." 
 
 While there he had a strange spiritual experience. 
 He was called in during the last illness of a neighboring 
 clergyman, whom he attended for some weeks. The 
 clergyman, Mr. Lyte tells us, bore the highest character 
 for benevolence, piety, and good sense. But his last days 
 had brought distress and not peace, and he spent them 
 in reviewing anxiously his own spiritual condition and 
 grounds for hope. The sick man insisted upon going 
 into an examination of the evidences for a future state, 
 for the trustworthiness of the Scriptures as a revelation 
 from God, and finally of the means by which a happy 
 eternity was to be attained. " My blood almost curdled," 
 Mr. Lyte writes, " to hear the dying man declare and 
 prove, with irrefutable clearness, that both he and I had 
 been utterly mistaken in the means we had adopted for 
 ourselves, and recommended to others, if the explana- 
 tory epistles of St. Paul were to be taken in their plain 
 and literal sense. You can hardly perhaps conceive the 
 effect of all this, proceeding from such a man, in such a 
 situation." The dying man found peace, and Mr. Lyte 
 went forth a changed man, with a new spirit within 
 him and a new message on his lips. 
 
 The strain of these weeks, with subsequent labors, 
 proved too great for his strength. He became very ill, 
 and was threatened with consumption — a shadow from 
 which his after life was never to be free. He traveled 
 on the continent, and on his return, " after being jostled 
 
ABIDE 11777/ ME: FAST FALLS THE EVENTLDE I 75 
 
 4 from one curacy to another," he settled down to work 
 in a Cornwall village. Here he married, and soon after 
 moved into the quiet country near Lymington, where he 
 wrote many of his poems, and the Tales on the Lord's 
 Prayer which Christopher North liked so well. In 1823 
 
 Mr. Lyte took charge of the district church at Lower 
 Brixham, where he was to do the great work of his 
 ministry. This charge he retained until his death, which 
 occurred near Nice, France, on November 20th, 1847. 
 
 " A simple marble cross in the English cemetery at 
 Nice fitly marks the last resting-place of one whose 
 highest honor and desire in active life had been to exalt 
 
176 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " the Cross ; who meekly bore the Cross through years 
 of suffering, and who, trusting in the merits of his 
 Blessed Saviour's Cross and Passion alone, calmly re- 
 signed his mortal life, in the sure and certain hope of a 
 glorious immortality.'' With such words Mrs. Hogg 
 brines to a close the Memoir of her father which she 
 prefixed to the volume of his literary Remains. 
 
 Mr. Lyte's position as a hymn writer is a very high 
 one. An earlier hymn, " Jesus, I my Cross I lave Taken " 
 {The Hymnal, No. 356), has been in the past even more 
 used than this. Many other excellent hymns have been 
 taken from his Spirit of the Psalms, a book originally 
 printed in 1834 for the use of his own congregation. 
 His miscellaneous poems are of much less import, and 
 rarely reveal the creative touch of imagination. One of 
 them, " On a Naval Officer Buried in the Atlantic," was 
 set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. As recently as 
 1868 a volume of Lyte's Miscellaneous Poems was re- 
 printed in London, with a prefatory notice of " a con- 
 tinual demand for" them. The demand even then was 
 perhaps less the call for specific poems of his than a 
 curiosity to see what else the author of such hymns had 
 written. But in the hymns lay his strength. It is dis- 
 tinction enough for one man to have written " Abide 
 with Me." 
 
 Some points for discussion 
 
 (i) Is this hymn an evening hymn or not? It is 
 usually so classed in the hymnals. On the other hand, 
 Mr. Ellerton, himself a distinguished hymn writer, says 
 that this is done " apparently on the ground of the first 
 two lines, and their similarity in sound to two lines in 
 
ABIDE 11777/ ME: FAST FALLS THE EVENTIDE 1 77 
 
 "Keble's 'Sun of My Soul.' This is a curious instance 
 of the misapprehension of the true meaning of the hymn 
 
 by those among whom it is popular ; for a very little 
 consideration will suffice to show that there is not 
 throughout the hymn the slightest allusion to the close 
 of the natural day : the words of St. Luke xxiv. 29 are 
 obviously used in a sense wholly metaphorical." 
 
 (2) In Mr. Lyte's manuscript the second line began, 
 " The darkness thickens." In the hymn as printed 
 almost at once it was changed (no doubt by Mr. Lyte 
 himself) to " The darkness deepens." In the first line 
 of the last verse Mr. Lyte originally wrote, " Hold, then, 
 Thy cross " ; and so it was first printed and again by 
 his daughter after his death. But in the later edition 
 of his Poems it reads, " Hold Thou Thy cross." There 
 being some uncertainty here of what Mr. Lyte's final 
 preference was, was it right to use in The Hymnal the 
 reading that is preferable and also universally accepted ? 
 
 (3) The Southern Presbyterian Church has been en- 
 gaged in the preparation of a new hymnal (published in 
 1902). A correspondent of the Hymnal Committee 
 insisted that the line just referred to must not go in 
 because suggesting " Romish belief and practice." Is 
 there adequate ground for this proposed exclusion ? 
 
 (4) The hymn had eight verses in all. Hymns Ancient 
 and Modern, which brought the hymn into use, omitted 
 the third, fourth, and fifth, thus reducing it to five verses. 
 This course has been generally followed. It is plain 
 that eight verses of lines so long set to a tune of slow 
 movement will not be actually sung ; and there is 
 general agreement that the omitted verses do not help 
 the five that make a hymn already rounded and com- 
 
I78 STUDIES 01- FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 plete. It is, perhaps, an open question whether the 
 whole of such a poem should be given in a hymn book 
 for the sake of completeness. The omitted verses are 
 as follows : — 
 
 N a i>ricf glance I l*ey, a pacing word ; 
 IJut. as Thou dwell' st with Thy disciples, Lord, 
 Familiar, condescending, patient, free, 
 Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me. 
 
 "4 Come not in terrors as the King of kii 
 
 But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings ; 
 Tears for all woes, a heart for even- plea; 
 Come, Friend of sinners, and thu- bide with me. 
 
 •• 5 Thou on my head in early youth didst 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."' 
 
XV! I 
 
 GOD BLESS OUR NATIVE LAND 
 
 THE TEXT OF 'I HE HYMN 
 
 i God biess our native land ; 
 Firm may she ever stand 
 Through storm and night : 
 
 When the wild tempests rave, 
 Ruler of wind and wave, 
 Do Thou our country save 
 
 By Thy great might. 
 
 2 For her our prayer shall rise 
 To God, above the skies ; 
 
 On Him we wait ; 
 Thou who art ever nigh, 
 Guarding with watchful eye, 
 To Thee aloud we cry, 
 God save the State. 
 
 [The first five lines are here attributed to the Rev. 
 Charles Timothy Brooks as author or trans- 
 lator, (about i 1832-35; the remainder to Dr 
 John Sullivan Dwight, iaboutt 1844] 
 
 NOTE. — Of this hymn there can be no authoritative text. That here 
 printed is taken from Lowell Mason's The Psaltery, 18.15. 
 Two earlier texts are quoted in the Study. 
 
 179 
 
I So STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 The one thing about this little hymn that seems certain 
 is its excellence. And its excellence is not lessened by 
 the fact that the hymn is cosmopolitan. It claims, indeed, 
 to be translated from the German. Whether or not that 
 is so, all who speak English, be they American or British, 
 can sing it side by side. The meaning of the hymn is 
 plain to all who love their native land. The authorship 
 of the hymn is much less certain, and has all the interest 
 of a puzzle. 
 
 (i) Mrs. HaishaiL r s Claim. — One day, in 1895, the 
 writer saw, on a friend's table at Germantown, a little 
 book of poems by Sarah E. Henshaw. Turning the 
 leaves, his eye caught this hymn printed among the other 
 poems of that lady as her own. Greatly surprised, he 
 inquired of his friend who she was. He learned that she 
 was a lady of high character, of New England lineage, 
 who had lately died in California, and was the true 
 author of this hymn. The writer at once started an 
 investigation. He secured from Mrs. Henshaw's family 
 a copy of a letter in which she had made her own state- 
 ment of her claim as follows : " I wrote the verses just 
 after the fall of Fort Sumter. I was then living in Illinois. 
 I learned from the papers that the Rhode Island volun- 
 teers had gone through to the front, singing 'John 
 Brown's Body,' and that Governor Buckingham had put 
 the organization of our Connecticut regiments in charge 
 of my uncle, General Dan. Tyler. With a heart on fire, 
 and desirous that the Connecticut soldiers should also 
 have something to sing, I wrote the verses in question. 
 That every one might know the music, I wrote them for 
 
GOD BLESS OUR NATIVE LAND l8l 
 
 " the air ' God Save the Kinj^.' I sent them by post to my 
 uncle with much hesitation, because he would probably 
 think it all nonsense. Neither did I attach my name to 
 the verses : I wrote at the caption, ' By a daughter of 
 Connecticut.' I kept no copy, sent them to no pub- 
 lisher, heard nothing of them, took it for granted that 
 my uncle had thrown them aside. 
 
 " After the war I moved out here [Oakland]. I drove 
 down the street one Fourth of July to hear the school- 
 children sing. They sang my verses — those verses! I 
 looked at the programme; there were the lines. 'Why! / 
 wrote that !' I explained to [a friend]. As I wrote them, 
 the poem contained several verses. Here were only two. 
 But I was glad to get them. They were the first and the 
 last. In writing them, I .felt much dissatisfied with the 
 last line of the last verse, viz. : ' God save the State ' ; 
 and had earnestly cast about without avail for a stronger 
 climax to match my rhyme. But here it was, just the 
 same. I smiled at the recollection, as I carefully put the 
 programme into my reticule." 
 
 (2) Mr. Brooks's Claim. — Mrs. Henshaw's letter was 
 written to the Rev. Charles W. Wendte. Now it hap- 
 pened that Mr. Wendte had been the friend of the Rev. 
 Charles T. Brooks, a poet and translator of much ability, 
 pastor for many years of a Unitarian church at New- 
 port. While sympathizing with Mrs. Henshaw's wish to 
 establish her authorship, Mr. Wendte writes her : " My 
 dear old friend, Mr. Brooks, whose memoir I wrote, 
 called it his. He wrote so much that it is not at all 
 unlikely he was wrong." 
 
 Mr. Brooks certainly claimed the hymn. In 1875 his 
 friend Dr. Putnam printed the following statement, ap- 
 
£ ^JjfcZ' tutu- **r&^c Ur^Ase* *^> ^S^L 
 
 AN AUTOGRAPH POEM OF MR. BROOKS 
 
GOD BLESS OCA' NATIVE LAND 1 83 
 
 parently by Mr. Brooks's authority: "Compilers and 
 hymnologists have cither marked ' God Bless Our Native 
 Land ' anonymous or else have attributed it to John S. 
 Dwight Mr. Brooks translated it from the German 
 
 while he was a member of the Divinity School at Cam- 
 bridge [1832—35]. It was shortly afterward altered in 
 some of its lines by Mr. Dwight, and in its changed 
 form was first introduced, it is supposed, into one of 
 Lowell Mason's singing-books. Hence, doubtless, it 
 came to be credited so widely to Mr. Dwight himself. 
 We give the original translation of it by Mr. Brooks : — 
 
 " ' God bless our native land ! 
 Firm may she ever stand 
 
 Through storm and night ! 
 When the wild tempests rave, 
 Ruler of wind and wave, 
 Father Eternal, save 
 
 Us by thy might ! 
 
 " ' Lo ! our hearts' prayers arise 
 Into the upper skies, 
 Regions of light ! 
 He who hath heard each sigh 
 Watches each weeping eve : 
 He is forever nigh, 
 Venger of Right !' " 
 
 (3) Dr. Dwight 's Claim. — " I hasten to say that the 
 hymn, ' God Bless Our Native Land,' has been ac- 
 credited to me for nearly fifty years, though I really 
 had forgotten ever writing it." So answered, in 1893, 
 Dr. John S. Dwight, the famous musical critic of Boston, 
 when asked what light he could throw upon the matter. 
 Dr. Dwight goes on to say : " Brooks reminded me 
 once of our doing it piecemeal together. Certainly, it 
 
184 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " dates far back of Fort Sumter. About the year 1 844 I 
 translated many songs from a German song book for 
 
 ^iZsi^ Zrit^ Q/Cju <Z*s-<^2 /D^^/ / 
 
 &<j~e 
 
 A VERSE IN DR. DWIGHT'S AUTOGRAPH 
 
 Lowell Mason's collection for our public schools — 
 sometimes translating, sometimes making a stanza or 
 two at first hand. I presume this was one of them. 
 Brooks did the same thing for Dr. Mason. I did the 
 work hastily and cheaply, I never thought of the song 
 again." 
 
GOD BLESS OCR NATIVE LAND 1 85 
 
 Ten years earlier (1883) Dr. Dwight had written an- 
 other letter, now in possession of the present writer, 
 accompanying the autograph verse here reproduced. He 
 explains that he transcribes and signs only this first verse 
 of the hymn, " which I am pretty confident is mine." 
 As to the second verse (as given in The Hymnal and 
 here) he is less confident. " This also I think may have 
 been made by me, but am not sure." 
 
 (4) Mr. Hickson's Claim. — As early as 1869 an Eng- 
 lish musician, Mr. William E. Hickson, had seen Dr. 
 Dwight's name given as the author of " God Bless Our 
 Native Land." He wrote to Mr. Sedgwick, the hym- 
 nologist, stating that he had written the hymn in 1836 
 as a new national anthem, and that it first appeared in 
 his book called The Singing Master, published in the 
 same year. 
 
 Some Points for Discussion 
 
 (1) Mr. Hickson's claim is easily disposed of. It is a 
 fact that he published in 1836 a hymn beginning, — 
 
 " God bless our native land, 
 May heav'n's protecting hand 
 Still guard our shore !" 
 
 The first line, curiously enough, is identical with that 
 of the American hymn. But the present writer has 
 examined Mr. Hickson's book, and can state that no 
 single line of his hymn, except the first, has even a re- 
 semblance to any line of the American hymn in any one 
 of its versions. 
 
 (2) The claim of Mrs. Henshaw must be disposed of 
 by asking one question. How could a hymn which had 
 
lS6 STUDIES Of I- A MILIAR HYMNS 
 
 been printed as early as 1841 have been written by her 
 in 1 86 1 ? That lady made her elaim in perfect good 
 faith, none the less, and died with the cherished convic- 
 tion that she was the true author. She was the victim 
 of one of those tricks of memory to which we are all 
 subject. 
 
 (3) The claims of Mr. Brooks and Dr. Dwight are 
 more difficult to adjust, and neither is presented in satis- 
 factory shape. In an ordinary case, Dr. Putnam's ac- 
 count of the origin of the hymn would be accepted 
 without question. But in this case of disputed author- 
 ship, Mr. Brooks should have furnished all particulars, 
 such as the evidence for the date, the original draft, if 
 existing, a reference to its first publication, etc. He 
 offers nothing beyond the bare statement, whatever 
 proof he may have held. But, on the other hand, Dr. 
 Dwight offers no more, and plainly he held no proof of 
 his claim. He speaks too from revived recollections of 
 an old event to which, at the time, he attached no im- 
 portance and had long forgotten. 
 
 The earliest appearance of the hymn known to the 
 present writer is in 1841, in Lowell Mason's Carmina 
 Sacra. There the first five lines agree with Dr. Putnam's 
 text. The remainder is changed and reads : — 
 
 u Do thou our country save, 
 By thy great might. 
 
 2 " For her our prayer shall rise, 
 To God above the skies ; 
 
 On him we wait : 
 Thou who has heard each sigh, 
 Watching each weeping eye, 
 Be thou forever nigh : 
 
 God save the State." 
 
GOD BLESS OUR NATIVE LAND 
 
 .87 
 
 In 1845 the hymn appears again in Mr. Mason's 
 Psaltery, this time in a revised form, agreeing with the 
 
 text as printed here and in most modern books. 
 
 By comparing the " original translation " with this 
 text, it will be seen that Mr. Brooks's claim covers only 
 
 REV. CHARLES T. BROCKS 
 
 five lines of the hymn as at present sung. Each claim- 
 ant seems to have a recollection that the other con- 
 tributed something to the hymn. We may, therefore, 
 accept their joint authorship of the hymn as it now 
 stands. And may we not make a reasonable adjustment 
 of their claims that substantially admits both ? Mr. 
 Brooks wrote (or translated) in the thirties the hymn as 
 
1 88 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 given by Dr. Putnam. By him or Dr. Dwight (jointly, 
 perhaps) it was improved before 1S41. Finally, Dr. 
 Dwight rewrote the hymn for Lowell Mason, not later 
 than KS44, using the first five lines by Mr. Brooks. 
 
 This adjustment seems practically to reconcile both 
 statements. May it not be accepted as at least more 
 than probable? The only bit of evidence refusing to be 
 linked in this conclusion is the verse signed by Dr. 
 Dwight, which he was u pretty confident " was his, and 
 which contains the very lines ascribed to Mr. Brooks. 
 But, as Mrs. Henshaw's claim reminds us, the memory 
 cannot be trusted to pick up forgotten lines after so long 
 an interval of time ; and it looks to the present writer as 
 though Dr. Dwight himself did not feel so very con- 
 fident about the details. 
 
 The authors of the Hymn 
 
 We are now in a position to refer with some confidence 
 to the joint authors of the hymn. 
 
 The Rev. Charles T. Brooks was born at Salem, Massa- 
 chusetts, on June 20th, 18 13. He was graduated by 
 Harvard College in 1832, and by the Divinity School at 
 Cambridge in 1835. His principal pastorate, at Newport, 
 Rhode Island, began in 1837 and continued until 1871, 
 when he resigned through failure of his sight and health. 
 He died on June 14th, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Brooks was a poet and scholar, and also a diligent 
 man of letters. The list of his works, original and 
 translated, is a very long one, and their character is such 
 as reflects honor upon their author's name. Gentle and 
 retiring, he was greatly loved in life, though it is not 
 likeh' that his work ever took hold of a very wide public. 
 
GOP BLESS OTA' NATIVE I..I.XD 
 
 189 
 
 His translations of Goethe's "Faust" and of Richter's 
 44 Hesperus " and " Titan " are the best remembered of 
 his productions. Of his hymns none has ever come into 
 general use. 
 
 One of Mr. Brooks's most intimate friends, his class- 
 mate at Harvard and his co-laborer in several literary 
 undertakings, was John S. Dwight. He was the son of 
 
 JSP 
 
 JOHN ^. mVIGHT 
 
 Dr. John Dwight, of Boston, where he was born on May 
 13th, 181 3. He also was graduated by Harvard in 1832, 
 and by the Divinity School in 1836. His first and only 
 pastoral charge was that of a little Unitarian congrega- 
 tion at Northampton, Massachusetts, and lasted only one 
 year. At its close he quietly retired from the ministry. 
 
HjO STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Bashful, sensitive, and lacking confidence in himself, he 
 was hardly at home in the pulpit. He shrank too from 
 any outward expression of religious feeling; in later 
 years developing great dislike to church organization and 
 methods, and ceasing to attend religious services. After 
 the ministry came the years of his connection with the 
 Brook Farm experiment, in which he was an active 
 spirit. 
 
 But, wherever he was, the real enthusiasm of his nature 
 was for music. He founded, in 1 852, Dwights Journal 
 of Music, which, against great financial difficulties, he 
 continued until 1 881. It gave him a recognized position 
 as the leader of Boston's musical interests, and through 
 it and other labors he did great service to music as a 
 branch of liberal culture. 
 
 Dr. D wight (he became a Doctor of Music) was of 
 slender build and short stature. He was mild in manner, 
 of a sweet and cheerful nature, and, however shy, was 
 "clubbable,'' being one of the famous Saturday Club. 
 He was very positive in his opinions and uncompromising 
 in maintaining his intellectual and aesthetic ideals. Dr. 
 Dwight was singularly unfitted for the task of living. 
 He met life in a spirit of helplessness that appealed 
 greatly to his friends, and which, in spite of their efforts, 
 kept him in a struggle with poverty all his days. He 
 died at Boston on September 5th, 1893. 
 
 Note. — My friend, the Rev. James Mearns, of Buntingford, England, 
 writes me of his discovery that this hymn is a rather free ver- 
 sion of the first and third stanzas of a German hymn (" Gott 
 segne Sachsenland"), by August Mahlmann, that was first 
 printed in 1815. 
 
XVIII 
 FATHER OF MERCIES, IN THY WORD 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 I Father of mercies, in Thy word 
 What endless glory shines ; 
 For ever be Thy Name adored 
 For these celestial lines. 
 
 a Here may the wretched sons of want 
 Exhaustless riches find ; 
 Riches above what earth can grant, 
 And lasting as the mind. 
 
 3 Here the Redeemer's welcome voice 
 
 Spreads heavenly peace around ; 
 And life and everlasting joys 
 Attend the blissful sound. 
 
 4 O may these heavenly pages be 
 
 My ever dear delight ; 
 And still new beauties may I see, 
 And still increasing light. 
 
 5 Divine Instructor, gracious Lord, 
 
 Be Thou for ever near ; 
 Teach me to love Thy sacred word, 
 And view my Saviour there. 
 
 Anne Steele, 1760 
 
 NOTE. — Five verses of the original twelve. The text is taken from the 
 Poems of Theodosia, vol. i. 
 
 191 
 
192 studies of familiar hymns 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 If this hymn were to be taken alone, its story might 
 be summed up very briefly. It is a leaf out of an inva- 
 lid's spiritual diary, penned in the Baptist parsonage of 
 an obscure English village. That leaf bears no date of 
 composition, dates being of but little account in the 
 monotonous passage of such a life. The hymn first 
 appeared in print in 1760 among the other poems of 
 Miss Steele, but may have been written some years 
 earlier ; and it soon found the place in the hymn books 
 which it has always kept. 
 
 The hymn has much more of a story if taken in its 
 historical connection with the whole body of Miss Steele's 
 hymns. Of these it is one of the best, and it has its 
 share in the very conspicuous part they have played in 
 the history of our hymnody. 
 
 Miss Steele's verses had long been familiar to her 
 friends, but she was modest and reluctant to appear in 
 print. It was by the advice and even persuasion of 
 others that at length she consented to publish them, and 
 then without her name. In 1760 they appeared in two 
 volumes, at London, as " Poems on Subjects Chiefly De- 
 votional. By Theodosia." If one were now to take up 
 the little brown calf books for the first time it would not 
 occur to him that Theodosia was a poet of a high order. 
 He would perceive, however, that many of the pieces were 
 written in the simple metres then used in hymns, and 
 were composed with correctness and much tender feel- 
 ing. He would probably conclude that they were in- 
 tended to be sung, and might even point out a number 
 as likely to succeed if put into the hymnals. This 
 
FATHER OF MERCIES, IN THY WORD I93 
 
 would be a judgment from the standpoint of our own 
 time. To Miss Steele's friends and contemporaries it 
 
 
 
 AUTOGRAPH VERSES 
 
 would have seemed faint praise indeed. They hailed 
 her as a great light risen upon the horizon. She made 
 an impression upon the Christian feeling of her time 
 extraordinary both for its depth and for the wideness of 
 13 
 
1 94 STL DIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 its reach. Her hymns entered upon a career of popu- 
 larity which we can hardly realize, but of which we 
 must try to gain some idea. 
 
 Nine years after the appearance of her Poems two 
 English Baptist clergymen, Dr. John Ash and Dr. Caleb 
 Evans, published at Bristol a successful hymn book, 
 containing in all four hundred and twelve hymns. Of 
 these no less than sixty-two are by Miss Steele, and the 
 preface has a special paragraph in her honor. After 
 her death Dr. Evans printed in 1780 a new edition 
 of her Poems, including a third volume she had made 
 ready for the press. Seven years later Dr. John Rippon 
 published his Selection, which was destined to have 
 great vogue among Baptists, and to supersede the Ash 
 and Evans book. But even this contained forty-seven 
 of Miss Steele's hymns. Dr. Rippon's book was often 
 reprinted in the United States, and it extended Miss 
 Steele's influence here. A simple fact will serve to show 
 how widely her popularity spread and how long it lasted. 
 The people of Trinity Church in Boston grew weary of 
 singing the authorized Psalm-versions, and in 1808 the 
 vestry ventured to print a hymn book for their private 
 use. In this book of only one hundred and fifty-two 
 hymns fifty-nine are Miss Steele's, and the preface ex- 
 plains that " if we have extracted more copiously from 
 Mrs. Steele than from any other writer, we have done no 
 more than what we thought due to her poetical superi- 
 ority, and to the ardent spirit of devotion which breathes 
 in her compositions." Such a tribute from within the 
 most exclusive of denominations, and from another 
 country than her own, reveals something of the great 
 influence of Miss Steele's hymns. 
 
FATHER OF MERCIES, EV Til Y WORD 1 95 
 
 The three volumes of Theodosia's Poems were re- 
 printed in Boston in 1808; and the hymns were reprinted 
 once more in London as late as 1863 by Daniel Sedgwick, 
 the hymnologist. But during the hitter half of the nine- 
 teenth century the enthusiasm for what Dr. Evans called 
 " those truly sublime composures " has been gradually 
 cooling. Many of the hymns are still sung ; some few 
 are sung quite widely. But the latest American Baptist 
 hymnal (Sursum Con/a, 1898) contains but seven of the 
 hymns of Theodosia in a total of eight hundred and 
 fifty-six. Even that diminished number is somewhat 
 larger than the average in recent hymnals. 
 
 Of Miss Steele's hymns still in use the one perhaps 
 best known, and even loved for its tender grace, is that 
 generally made to begin, " Father, whate'er of earthly 
 bliss" (The Hymnal, No. 511). Another of her hymns, 
 beginning "Now I resolve with all my heart" (The 
 Hymnal, No. 314), is by many associated with their first 
 Communion. And it is quite possible that some who 
 use the hymnals would welcome a larger number of 
 Miss Steele's hymns than they find there. If these are 
 possibly too inward, and even pensive, for congregational 
 use, it may well be that they have a further mission for 
 private use, especially in cheering the sick room. 
 
 Miss Steele must always remain a figure of unique 
 interest in hymnody. She is still the representative 
 Baptist hymn writer. She was, too, the first of her sex 
 to gain prominence in the hymn books. But her special 
 preeminence is independent of her being either Baptist or 
 woman : it lies in the extraordinary extent of the contri- 
 bution she was permitted to make to the hymnody of the 
 Church. 
 
96 STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 The author of the Hymn 
 
 Anne Steele was the daughter of William Steele, a 
 successful timber merchant, who was at the same time 
 pastor, without salary, of a Baptist church in the village 
 of Broughton, England. Broughton lies about midway 
 between the two cathedral towns of Salisbury and Win- 
 chester. Mr. Garrett Ilorder has described it as " one 
 long straggling street of cottages, mostly thatched, with 
 here and there a more pretentious house." In a quaint 
 stone house in the centre of the village Anne was born 
 in May, 17 17, and lived for half a century. Anne's 
 father had succeeded his own uncle in the pastorate at 
 Broughton, and her mother was the daughter of another 
 Baptist clergyman, so that Anne's religious heritage may 
 be described as well within the limits of that faith and 
 communion. When she was but three years old her 
 mother died, and from her seventh year Anne was 
 brought up by a stepmother, with much anxiety both for 
 her spiritual and bodily health. Of physical health there 
 seemed little prospect in a childhood threatened with 
 consumption, and even that was lessened by a serious 
 injury to her hip. This accident happened to her in 
 1835, within a few w r eeks after her father had broken his 
 leg in a fall from his horse. The coincidence gave occa- 
 sion for a quaint entry in the diary of Anne's stepmother 
 (reported by Mr. Horder) : " I desired our Heavenly 
 Father to heal all our family's infirm limbs." The 
 shadow of a greater grief fell on Miss Steele soon after, 
 when the young man she was to marry was drowned 
 while bathing in the river on the day before that appointed 
 for the wedding. 
 
FATHER OF MERCIES, IN THY WORD 
 
 197 
 
 Thus feeble in body and chastened in spirit, though 
 never losing altogether her natural gift of cheerfulness, 
 Miss Steele led a retired life confined almost exclusively 
 She never married : the title " Mrs.," 
 
 to her own village 
 
 MISS STEELE S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 so often given her in the older books being but a courtesy 
 title, then often applied to single ladies. She had been a 
 faithful member of her father's church since the age of 
 fourteen, and as daughter of a village pastor she employed 
 
I98 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 herself in many quiet ministries of service among the 
 sick and afflicted about her. Her pleasures were in her 
 friends and in the exercise of her poetical talents. While 
 her writings have not unnaturally a tone of pensiveness 
 and of gentle patience, they show nowhere the least trace 
 of the bitterness of defeat. No one can read them with- 
 out a kindly regard for her beautiful spirit. In every 
 experience her faith was supreme. It sustained her in 
 the end through years when she was confined to her 
 room in great bodily suffering, and it spoke to those 
 about her in her last words : " I know that my Redeemer 
 liveth." Miss Steele died in November, 1778, at the age 
 of sixty-one, in her brother's house in Broughton, where 
 she had gone at her father's death a few years before, and 
 where she had received affectionate care. Her body 
 was laid in Broughton churchyard, and on her tomb- 
 stone are the words : — 
 
 " Silent the lyre, and dumb the tuneful tongue, 
 
 That sung on enrth her great Redeemer's praise ; 
 But now in heaven she joins the angelic song, 
 In more harmonious, more exalted lays.'' 
 
 No portrait of Miss Steele is known to the present 
 writer, and from her sensitive modesty and seclusion it 
 may perhaps be inferred that none was taken. Other- 
 wise it would be hard to commend her good friend Dr. 
 Evans in his choice of a frontispiece for the volume of 
 her " Remains " which he published after her death. 
 Only a sepulchral urn represents the poetess, to which a 
 stilted female figure appeals with outstretched hands and 
 the legend : — 
 
 " Forgive the wish that would have kept thee here." 
 
FATHER OF MERCIES, IX T//Y WORD 
 
 1 99 
 
 Some Points for discussion 
 
 (1) Do the Scriptures form a suitable subject fur a 
 hymn? Has the subject a poetical as well as spiritual 
 side, and is it a subject one cares to sing" of? As a 
 matter of fact, there are but few desirable hymns on the 
 Scriptures. Is not this hymn one of the best ? Notice 
 
 MISS STEELE'S BIBLE 
 
 how it relates the Scriptures to God the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost. 
 
 (2) How can the decreased use of Miss Steele's 
 hymns be explained? The following; may be suggested 
 for consideration as possibly affecting it : Changes in the 
 standard of literary merit ; changes in religious feeling 
 and in ways of expressing it ; and the enormous in- 
 
200 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 crease in the number of available hymns, but a very- 
 small part of which can be included in our hymn books. 
 
 (3) Docs it seem likely that any single writer of the 
 present day could gain such preeminence as was ac- 
 corded Miss Steele ; or that the Church would be willing 
 to receive so large a proportion of its hymns from one 
 hand ? Of course the use of Dr. Watts's hymns was 
 far more extended and exclusive. But then he may be 
 said to have headed a revolution in psalmody, while 
 Miss Steele at the best must rank as one of his followers 
 rather than as an original force. It was undoubtedly 
 the sentimental touch and her evangelical fervor that 
 won the day. She has been compared to Miss Haver- 
 gal, and the latter has been called " Our Theodosia of 
 the nineteenth century." 
 
 (4) This hymn had originally twelve verses, of which 
 only six came into use. One of the omitted verses is 
 shown in the facsimile. Does it strengthen the hymn ? 
 
XIX 
 
 O DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 O day of rest and gladness, 
 
 O day of joy and light, 
 O balm of care and sadness, 
 
 Most beautiful, most bright ; 
 On thee the high and lowly, 
 
 Through ages joined in tune, 
 Sing Holy, Holy, Holy, 
 
 To the great God Triune. 
 
 On thee, at the creation, 
 
 The light first had its birth ; 
 On thee, for our salvation, 
 
 Christ rose from depths of earth : 
 On thee our Lord, victorious, 
 
 The Spirit sent from heaven ; 
 And thus on thee, most glorious, 
 
 A triple light was given. 
 
 3 Thou art a port protected 
 
 From storms that round us rise; 
 A garden intersected 
 
 With streams of Paradise ; 
 Thou art a cooling fountain 
 
 In life's dry, dreary sand ; 
 From thee, like Pisgah's mountain, 
 
 We view our promised land. 
 
STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 To-day on weary nations 
 The heavenly manna falls : 
 
 To holy convocations 
 
 The silver trumpet calls, 
 Where gospel light is glowing 
 
 With pure and radiant beams, 
 And living water flowing 
 
 With soul-refreshing streams. 
 
 5 New graces ever gaining 
 
 From this our day of rest, 
 We reach the rest remaining 
 
 To spirits of the blest. 
 To Holy Ghost be praises, 
 
 To Father, and to Son ; 
 The Church her voice upraises 
 
 To Thee, blest Three in One. 
 
 Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, 1862 
 
 Note. — Five verses of the original six : the omitted verse may be found 
 under " Some Points for Discussion." The text is taken from 
 the author's Holy Year. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 The Duke of Wellington said in 1827 of Dr. Words- 
 worth, the Master of Trinity College, " I consider him 
 to be the happiest man in the kingdom " ; and being 
 asked why, the Duke answered, u Because each of his 
 three sons has this year got a university prize !" Of the 
 three, Christopher, the youngest, born in 1807, was the 
 author of this hymn. He was athletic as well as 
 scholarly, and liked to tell how he " caught-out Man- 
 ning " (the future Cardinal) at a cricket match. His 
 career at Winchester and at Cambridge University was 
 one of extraordinary distinction, and at its close he re- 
 mained as Fellow of Trinity College and assistant tutor. 
 
DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS 
 
 20^ 
 
 Before he was thirty he was head-master of a great 
 school, Harrow. The fourteen years of his mastership 
 there may be called also a part of his own education. 
 He undertook a reformation of the school in manners 
 and discipline with more earnestness than suavity ; and 
 though at the end of his anxious years there he left the 
 school smaller than he found it, he took with him to a 
 larger life new acquirements of tact and forbearance. 
 
 In 1844 Sir Robert Peel made him a Canon of West- 
 minster Abbey. In that position he felt called upon to 
 
 BISHOP WuRDS WORTH 
 
 resist the appointment of Dr. Arthur Stanley as Dean 
 with one of the " pamphlets " inevitable in English 
 church controversy. Bitterly opposed as he was to the 
 latitudinarianism for which Stanley stood, he tempered 
 his earnestness with the courtesy he had learned at 
 Harrow, and remained always on the best terms with 
 
204 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 the new Dean. From 1850 fur nineteen years Canon 
 Wordsworth was pastor of a country charge, which had 
 the striking name of Stanford-in-the-Yale-cum-Goosey. 
 Here he lived except when on duty at the Abbey, and 
 here he accomplished an enormous amount of scholarly 
 work. He had already gained a high position as church- 
 man and scholar, writer and preacher, when in 1 cS6(j Mr. 
 Disraeli appointed him Bishop of Lincoln. His ad- 
 ministration of this large diocese was both strenuous and 
 successful until his strength failed in old age. He died 
 on March 21st, 1885. 
 
 Christopher Wordsworth's fame as man of letters and 
 bishop is greater than as a writer of hymns. The mass 
 of his published work is very great and its quality very 
 high. His earlier work was in the lines of classical 
 study, and his book on Greece itself has obtained some- 
 thing of the position of a " classic." But his two life- 
 long enthusiams were for " Church Principles " and 
 Holy Scripture. And his literary work, covering much 
 ground in both these departments, and far beyond them, 
 culminated in his massive and learned Commentary on 
 the Whole Bible. 
 
 He was a man of very decided opinions, which he 
 liked to establish when he could, and at least to express 
 when he could do no more. In church matters he was 
 for strict and unbending adherence to the Church of 
 England pattern. He could be cordial with his Methodist 
 neighbors, but he could not agree that their ministers 
 should wear the title " Rev." He bore his part in many 
 a controversy, never looking to see which side was the 
 popular one, but which was right. And if he struck 
 stout blows for his somewhat narrow principles, it must 
 
O DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS 205 
 
 also be said of him that he kept the friendship of his 
 opponents. And that certainly is a good deal to say of 
 him. 
 
 Bishop Wordsworth's opinions about hymns were just 
 as decided as in other directions. He profoundly re- 
 gretted that " Hymnology has been allowed to fall into 
 the hands of persons who had little reverence for the 
 Authority and Teaching of the ancient Christian Church, 
 and little acquaintance with her Literature." " The con- 
 sequence has been," he said, " that the popular Hym- 
 nology of this country has been too often disfigured by 
 many compositions blemished by unsound doctrine, and 
 even by familiar irreverence and rhapsodical fanaticism ; 
 or else it too often rambles on in desultory and unmean- 
 ing generalities, or sparkles with a glitter of tinsel imagery 
 and verbal prettiness, or endeavors to charm the ear with 
 a mere musical jingle of sweet sounds, not edifying the 
 mind or warming the heart, nor ministering to the glory 
 of Him to whom all Christian worship ought to be 
 paid." 
 
 He thought, too, that our modern hymns were alto- 
 gether too egotistical. They make too much of ourselves 
 and our personal feelings, and not enough of God and His 
 glory. He thought hymns of personal experience might 
 do for private use. But for public use in church wor- 
 ship he did not approve of them. Church hymns should 
 be churchly, expressing the worship of the congregation 
 as a body and not as individuals. He would drop the 
 pronouns " I " and " mine " from our hymns. We should 
 forget ourselves and thank God for His great glory, and 
 praise Him not for mercies to us as individuals, but to 
 the whole company of faithful people. And especially 
 
206 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 he insisted that the great office and use of hymns was to 
 set forth plainly and emphatically the teachings of the 
 Scriptures and the Prayer Book. The hymns should 
 teach the people the facts and doctrines of Christianity, 
 and make " these glorious truths . . . the subject of 
 public praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God." His 
 idea was that the hymns for each day for which the 
 Prayer Book provided services should set forth the 
 meaning and lesson of that which the day commemorated. 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 By way of earning out his views in hymnody Bishop 
 Wordsworth (while still Canon of Westminster) prepared 
 a hymn book called The Holy Year, and published it in 
 1862. For this book he wrote one hundred and seven- 
 teen original hymns, and for a later edition ten more. 
 All of them are good if looked at from the author's 
 standpoint. But some things are best taught in prose, 
 and when an effort is made to put them into verse the 
 verse becomes prosy. And some of Bishop Words- 
 worth's hymns are prosaic and labored. He had, never- 
 theless, a vein of poetry in him (he was the nephew and 
 biographer of Wordsworth, the great poet\ and his best 
 hymns are excellent, not only from his standpoint, but 
 from any standpoint. 
 
 It cannot be said that The Holy Year in its entirety 
 ever won much favor. Its title and its method of furnish- 
 ing a hymn for each day and occasion for which the 
 Prayer Book provided services at once challenged com- 
 parison with Keble's Christian Year. The inevitable 
 results of such a comparison were once for all expressed 
 by saying that The Christian Year was written by a poet 
 
O DAY OF REST AXD GLADNESS 
 
 207 
 
 with a strong theological bias, and that The Holy Year 
 was written by a theologian whose nature possessed 
 many poetical elements and sympathies, but who is at 
 times deficient in the accomplishment of verse. Mr. 
 Keble himself, in a letter to Canon Wordsworth acknowl- 
 edging the receipt of a copy of The Holy Year, remarked 
 that " to judge of it properly it must take at least a year 
 to read ; for every hymn, of course, should be read on 
 its own day — as a flower to be fully prized must be 
 
 JF in tain. 
 
 </ 
 
 c^y^z 
 
 0^-JL-> 
 
 AUTOGRAPH LINES OF THE HYMN 
 
2o8 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 '* studied in situ." It may be that the general reading of 
 the book was more hasty. The general verdict certainly 
 was that its use in worship would be calculated to correct 
 some infelicities of praise by killing the spirit of song 
 itself. 
 
 " O Day of Rest and Gladness " was number one in 
 The Holy Year, appearing under the head of "Sunday," 
 and certainly it was a real inspiration. Any one who 
 loves the Lord's Day is pretty sure to love the hymn. 
 It began to be copied into other hymn books almost 
 immediately, and is now in general use in all the 
 churches. It was introduced into this country in 1865 
 in Songs for the Sanctuary. Dr. Charles S. Robinson, 
 the editor of that book, stated that he found the hymn 
 upon the cover of a religious tract in London. The 
 words were set by him to Lowell Mason's tune, Men- 
 debras, and the association of the two has been popular 
 ever since. 
 
 A friend of Bishop Wordsworth has written down a 
 reminiscence which brings us a little closer to the mak- 
 ing of the hymn than merely reading a printed copy of 
 it can do. His friend writes : " I was with him in the 
 library when he put his arm in mine, saying, ' Come up- 
 stairs with me; the ladies are going to sing a hymn to 
 encourage your labors for God's holy day.' We all 
 then sang from the manuscript this hymn. I was in 
 raptures with it. It was some days before I knew it was 
 written by himself." 
 
 Some Points for Discussion 
 
 (1) One verse of the hymn (the original fourth) was 
 omitted from The Hymnal. It reads as follows : — 
 
O DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS 209 
 
 "4 Thou art a holy ladder, 
 
 Where Angels sm> and conic; 
 Each Sunday finds us gladder, 
 
 Nearer to Heaven, our home. 
 A day of sweet refection 
 
 Thou art, a day of love ; 
 A day of Resurrection 
 
 From earth to heaven above." 
 
 Is this verse as good as the others? and if not, why 
 not? 
 
 (2) In our time, when the Lord's Day is threatened 
 on all sides, we could hardly make too much of a good, 
 effective Sunday hymn. Is there any other hymn which 
 embodies so happily the true spirit of the Lord's Day ? 
 Note the " triple light " from heaven falling upon the 
 day, and the triple response of men's hearts in rest, 
 gladness, and worship. 
 
 (3) What is to be said of Bishop Wordsworth's views 
 of avoiding personal hymns in public worship ? Is it 
 true that our favorite hymns are too egotistical ? It 
 would be worth one's while to make a list of his own 
 favorites to discover how large a proportion have him- 
 self for their theme, and also to examine Bishop Words- 
 worth's hymns (there are eleven in The Hymnal — see 
 its Index of Authors), all of which are entirely free from 
 that personal element. 
 
 (4) There cannot be any question as to the teaching 
 power of hymns. (" In all ages popular songs, sacred 
 and secular, have been the most effective teachers." 
 And see Colossians iii. 16.) If Christians realized this, 
 would they not be much more particular as to the 
 character of the hymns that are sung? But, after all, is 
 not the teaching power of hymns only one side of their 
 
 14 
 
2IO STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 influence and importance ? .And did not Bishop Words- 
 worth make too much of that side- when he claimed 
 that the first purpose of a hymn was t<> teach sound 
 doctrine ? 
 
 (5) In The Holy Year are many hymns no one cares 
 to sing. W^vc is a specimen verse of one: — 
 
 •• M.m fell from grace by carnal appetite, 
 And forfeited the Garden of Delight ; 
 To fast for us our second Adam deigns, 
 These forty days, and Paradise regains.*' 
 
 Can you contrast this with a verse of " O Day of Rest 
 and Gladness " to show why one is hymn-like and the 
 other not ? People often say to their pastor, " Please do 
 not give out didactic hymns !" What do they mean by 
 " didactic hymns " ? 
 
XX 
 
 TAKE MY LIFE, AND LET IT BE 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i Take my life, and let it be 
 Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. 
 Take my moments and my days ; 
 Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 
 
 2 Take my hands, and let them move 
 At the impulse of Thy love. 
 Take my feet, and let them be 
 Swift and beautiful for Thee. 
 
 3 Take my voice, and let me sing, 
 Always, only, for my King. 
 Take my lips, and let them be 
 Filled with messages from Thee. 
 
 4 Take my silver and my gold ; 
 Not a mite would I withhold. 
 Take my intellect, and use 
 
 Every power as Thou shalt choose. 
 
 5 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. 
 
212 STUDIES (>/■' FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 6 Take my love ; my Lord, I pour 
 At Thy feet its treasure-store. 
 Take myself, and I will be 
 Ever, only, all for Thee. 
 
 Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874 
 
 NOTE. — The text is that of Miss "I I irergal's Songs of Grace and Glory and 
 of the authorized edition of her Poetical Works. As a poem 
 she arranged it in couplets; as a hymn, in four-line verses. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 This hymn of Frances Ridley Havergal records a deep 
 experience in her own spiritual life, of the sort that most 
 of us prefer to hide among the secrets of the soul. But 
 Miss Havergal both spoke and wrote freely of the experi- 
 ence, and gave an account of the hymn's origin. It 
 was her way to be perfectly outspoken about such 
 matters, because she thought her frankness would prove 
 helpful to others. And after her death her family, no 
 doubt for the same reason, opened to the world the last 
 reserves of her soul, and printed her most intimate letters 
 and conversations. We are thus relieved of any sense 
 of intrusion in our study of the hymn. 
 
 Toward the close of the year 1873 a little book that 
 came into Miss Havergal's hands awakened within her 
 great longings for unreached depths of spiritual experi- 
 ence and a fuller entrance into God's peace. It was not 
 long before she received what she called " the blessing," 
 that lifted her whole nature into sunshine, and threw an 
 uninterrupted gladness over the remaining years of her 
 life. " It was on Advent Sunday, December 2nd, 1873," 
 she wrote her sister, " I first saw clearly the blessedness 
 of true consecration. I saw it as a flash of electric light, 
 and what you see, you can never ////see. There must 
 
TAKE MY LIFE, AND LET IT BE 21 3 
 
 "be full surrender before there can be full blessedness. 
 God admits you by the one into the other." It is 
 this full surrender of herself to which she then attained 
 that is recorded and expressed in the hymn. 
 
 The hymn was written while on a visit to Arely House, 
 on February 4th, 1874. Miss Havergal afterward gave 
 the following account of the circumstances : " Perhaps 
 you will be interested to know the origin of the consecra- 
 tion hymn, ' Take my life.' I went for a little visit of five 
 
 
 AUTOGRAPH LINES OF THE HYMN 
 
 days. There were ten persons in the house, some un- 
 converted and long prayed for, some converted but not 
 rejoicing Christians. He gave me the prayer, ' Lord, give 
 me all'm this house!' And He just did J 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 consecra- 
 tion, and these little couplets formed themselves and 
 chimed in my heart one after another, till they finished 
 with, ' Ever, only, ALL for Thee !' " 
 
 Miss Havergal had her own characteristic way of 
 
214 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 writing hymns ; and here again it will be best to let her 
 speak for herself: " Writing is praying with me, for I 
 never seem to write even a verse by myself, and feel like 
 
 a little child writing ; you know a child would look up 
 at every sentence and say, ' And what shall I say next ?' 
 That is just what I do ; I ask that at every line He would 
 give me not merely thoughts and power, but also every 
 word y even the very rhymes. Very often I have a most 
 distinct and happy consciousness of direct answers." 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 It has been said of Miss Havergal that she was born 
 in an atmosphere of hymns. Her father, the Rev. Wil- 
 liam Henry Havergal, certainly wrote man)', but is now 
 best remembered for his services to church music and by 
 his tunes " Evan," " Zoan," " Patmos," and others. She 
 was baptized by another hymn writer, the Rev. John 
 Cawood, author of " Hark ! What Mean those Holy 
 Voices?" (The Hymnal, No. 169), and "Almighty God, 
 Thy Word is Cast" (The Hymnal, No. 74). 
 
 Miss Havergal was born in the rectory of the little 
 English village of Astley, December 14th, 1836. The 
 family removed to the city of Worcester in 1845, when 
 her father became rector of one of its churches. The 
 story of her child life there, its joys and griefs, and the 
 beginnings of her work for others in the Sunday-school 
 and " The Flannel Petticoat Society," Miss Havergal 
 herself has told in The Four Happy Days. She went 
 away, first to an English school, under whose strong 
 religious influences she began " to have conscious faith 
 and hope in Christ," and afterward to a school in 
 Germany. 
 
MISS HAVERGAL 
 
2l6 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 With a real love of learning and an ambition to make 
 the most of herself, she earned on her studies until she 
 became a very accomplished woman. She was at home 
 in Hebrew and Greek as well as in modern languages. In 
 music she cultivated her special gift to such a degree 
 that she was sought after as a solo singer in public con- 
 certs ; and she became a brilliant performer on the piano. 
 How she did it may be gathered from her poem " The 
 Moonlight Sonata." Her own sense of power in her 
 music and the delight of public applause enforced the 
 advice from professional sources that she make music 
 her career. She knew, too, that she held the pen of a 
 ready writer and the promise of poetic achievement ; and 
 when there is added the influence upon her of marked 
 social attentions evoked by the charm of her personality, 
 and quickening her natural fondness for life and gayety, 
 it will readily be understood that for a while the precise 
 turn her life would take seemed somewhat problematical. 
 
 But it was never really in question. Love and service 
 were the only ideals that could satisfy her nature, and 
 to these she yielded herself so completely as to efface 
 all other ambitions. Her gifts were thenceforward 
 " Kept for the Master's use." She considered literal 
 " Singing for Jesus " her most direct mission from Him, 
 and after 1873 sang nothing but sacred music, and that 
 only for spiritual purposes. Her great work was that of 
 personal spiritual influence upon others, and was carried 
 forward to the extreme limit of her strength by writing 
 many leaflets and books of prose and poetry, by per- 
 sonal interviews, addresses, teaching, society work, and 
 correspondence. 
 
 Many of her hymns were written for a hvmn book, 
 
TAKE MY LIFE, AND LEE IT BE 2 1/ 
 
 Songs of Grace and Glory, of which she was one of the 
 editors. This was a large and carefully edited book, 
 ardently evangelical in its point of view, but it took no 
 permanent place in the Church of England. Many of 
 Miss Havergal's poems were originally printed as leaflets. 
 From time to time she collected them into volumes, of 
 which Ministry of Song (\%6^) l Under the Surface (1874), 
 and Loyal Responses (1878), are the more important. 
 After her death her complete poetical writings were 
 gathered together and published by her sister. They 
 made a bulky volume, and included, one would think, a 
 great deal of verse which its author would not have 
 considered worthy of appearing there. She also edited 
 the Psalmody of her father, to whose memory she was 
 devoted, and whose services to church music she lost no 
 opportunity of magnifying. 
 
 Miss Havergal's ideals and methods in writing were 
 not those of an artist. And, though her beautiful spirit is 
 beyond criticism, it is only right to say that the cultiva- 
 tion of poetic art to the highest excellence (as in the 
 case of Tennyson) may be pursued as conscientiously, 
 and be as legitimate a consecration, as was the conscien- 
 tious suppression of the art instinct in Miss Havergal's 
 case. And while her hymns have been of great in- 
 fluence and won a wide use, it remains to be seen 
 whether that influence shall be permanent, or was rather 
 the personal influence of the devoted woman herself. 
 For as the personal influence of a writer fades away, his 
 or her work comes to be judged by what it is in itself. 
 And one hardly feels that most of Miss Havergal's 
 hymns are as good from the literary standpoint as she 
 was capable of making them. Her " Golden Harps are 
 
2 IS STL DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 "Sounding" {T/w Hymnal, No. 702) is perhaps the best 
 poetically, and seems too to have the promise of longest 
 life. But many of her hymns have proved helpful to the 
 spiritual life of others, and with that she would have been 
 abundantly content. 
 
 Miss Havergal's later years were spent at Leaming- 
 ton, her last days at Caswell Bay, Swansea, Wales, 
 where she had gone for rest. She had borne a full share 
 of illnesses and suffering, and, though exceptionally sen- 
 sitive to pain, had learned not only to carry forward her 
 work under difficulties but also to find gladness in her 
 infirmities. When informed of the dangerous turn of 
 her last illness, she answered, "If I am going, it is too 
 good to be true." Miss Havergal died on June 3rd, 
 1879, in the forty-third year of her age, and was buried 
 in the Astley churchyard beside her father and close to 
 the church and home of her childhood. On her tomb- 
 stone is carved, by her own desire, her favorite text : 
 " The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from 
 all sin." 
 
 SO.WE POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) The proper use to make of a hymn such as this 
 deserves more thought than it gets. Miss Havergal 
 herself meant just what she said in these verses, and 
 often made personal use of them to see how far her 
 actual living measured up to their standard : — 
 
 " I had a great time early this morning renewing the never 
 regretted consecration. I seemed led to run over the ' Take 
 my life,' and could bless Him verse by verse for having led 
 me on to much more definite consecration than even when I 
 wrote it, voice, gold, intellect, etc. But the eleventh couplet, 
 
TAKE MY LIFE, AND LET IT BE 219 
 
 ''Move,' — that has been unconsciously not filled up. Some- 
 how, I felt mystified and out of my depth here : it was a simple 
 and definite thing to be done, to settle the voice, or silver 
 and gold \ but ' love ' ? I have to love others, and I do j and 
 I've not a small treasure of it, and even loving in Him does 
 not quite meet the inner difficulty. ... I don't see much 
 clearer or feel much different ; but I have said intensely this 
 morning, 'Take my love,' and He knows I have." {From 
 her letter of December 2nd, 18 jH.) 
 
 Miss Havergal also made much use of the hymn in 
 her consecration meetings : — 
 
 "At the close of the meeting, my sister gave to each one a 
 card with her Consecration hymn, specially prepared and 
 printed for this evening. Her own name was omitted, and a 
 blank space left for signature. As she gave the cards, she 
 asked them to make that hymn a test before God, and if they 
 could really do so, to sign it on their knees at home. Then 
 the hymn was sung." {From a memorandum of Miss 
 M. V. G. Havergal, April jyth, iSyg.) 
 
 No one will question the fitness of the words for such 
 uses. But to encourage a promiscuous assembly or 
 Sunday-school to sing them, without special spiritual 
 preparation or without any common purpose or feeling 
 corresponding to them, is open to more question. The 
 two sides of the question may be presented in this way. 
 It may be urged, on the one hand, that it is no better to 
 make to God promises we do not intend to keep, or to 
 express feelings we do not have, in song than it is in 
 speech, and that such singing breeds insincerity. It may 
 be argued, on the other hand, that it is proper to sing 
 hymns expressing purposes more definite than our actual 
 
220 STUDIES OF JAM 1 LIAR HYMNS 
 
 resolutions and feelings deeper than those actually mov- 
 ing us, because the hymn expresses the ideal we should 
 aim at, and singing the hymn keeps the ideal before us, 
 and encourages us to attempt to attain it. 
 
 (2) Miss Havergal wrote to the editor of a hymn 
 book: " I particularly wish that hymn kept to my dear 
 father's sweet little tune, ' Patmos,' which suits it per- 
 fectly. So please substitute that, and your book will be 
 the gainer." She was grieved whenever she found that 
 any other tune had taken its place in a hymn book. Is 
 " Patmos " a satisfactory setting of the words ; and how 
 far should we allow ourselves to be influenced by Miss 
 Havergal's wish in the matter? 
 
XXI 
 
 I WOULD NOT LIVE ALWAY ; I ASK NOT TO 
 STAY 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i I would not live alway; I ask not to stay 
 
 Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way; 
 
 The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here 
 
 Are enough for life's woes, full enough for its cheer. 
 
 2 I would not live alway, thus fettered by sin ; 
 Temptation without, and corruption within : 
 E'en the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears, 
 And the cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears. 
 
 3 I would not live alway ; no, welcome the tomb : 
 Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom ; 
 There sweet be my rest, till He bid me arise 
 
 To hail Him in triumph descending the skies. 
 
 4 Who, who would live alway, away from his God, 
 Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, 
 
 Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, 
 And the noontide of glory eternally reigns ; 
 
 5 Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
 Their Saviour and brethren, transported, to greet ; 
 While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, 
 And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul ? 
 
 Rev. William Augustus Muhlenberg, (about) 1824 
 
 NOTE. — This text is taken from Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 1827. Other texts arejeferred to in " The Story of the Hymn." 
 
 221 
 
222 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 A hymn so deeply tinged with melancholy as this illus- 
 trates two curious facts. One is that the saddest poetry 
 is likely to be written by the youngest poets ; the other, 
 that the young appreciate such poetry more than the 
 old. The brightness of youth has a vein of melancholy 
 running through it, and the active imagination of youth 
 forecasts the sorrows of life ; while age, which has actu- 
 ally experienced them, likes to be as cheerful as it can. 
 It need occasion no surprise, therefore, to learn that 
 this hymn was written by the Rev. William Augustus 
 Muhlenberg, somewhere in his twenties, and that, as he 
 grew older, he grew to dislike it. 
 
 He came to dislike the hymn itself, thinking it did not 
 truly represent either the joys or the opportunities of 
 the earthly life, and that it was unduly impatient for the 
 joys of heaven. To the end of his life Dr. Muhlenberg 
 kept on writing new versions of the hymn in the hope 
 (quite vain) that some one of them would replace the 
 earlier text in popular favor. Dr. Philip Schaff's bi- 
 ographer describes a luncheon given by Dr. William 
 Adams to Dr. Muhlenberg, at which Dr. Schaff re- 
 marked to him : " Your hymn, ' I Would Not Live 
 Ahvay,' makes you immortal." Dr. Muhlenberg pro- 
 tested, saying that he hoped to make changes in it to 
 bring it nearer the spirit of the gospel. Dr. Adams in- 
 terrupted the conversation with the remark, " Well, you 
 may not be able to evangelize the hymn, but you can- 
 not kill it." 
 
 Dr. Muhlenberg came also to dislike the popularity of 
 the hymn, which from the very first was amazing. People 
 
/ WOULD NOT LIVE AL WA Y; I ASK NOT TO STA Y 22$ 
 
 would seek him out when busy with other things, "just 
 to shake hands," as they said, " with the author of 4 I 
 Would Not Live Alway.' " He would be pointed out 
 and introduced as " the author of the immortal hymn," 
 etc. " One would think that hymn the one work of my 
 life," he used to say. 
 
 The exact date of the hymn is uncertain. In his 
 Story of the Hymn it is given as 1824. Several of the 
 dates there are wrong ; but this one is perhaps correct. 
 In regard to the circumstances, or experience, out of 
 which the hymn grew, there has been and continues to 
 be a conflict of opinion. The tradition has always been 
 that it was occasioned by a great personal disappoint- 
 ment suffered by its author. Dr. Muhlenberg was well 
 aware of this tradition, and in his Story of the Hymn 
 took occasion to contradict it in the following terms : 
 " The legend that it was written on an occasion of 
 private grief is a fancy." However conclusive this may 
 seem, it has not concluded the matter. The Rev. 
 Frederick M. Bird, in his essay on the Hymnology of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, goes so far as to say that 
 Dr. Muhlenberg's assertion " hardly agrees with the 
 clear and minute recollections of persons of the highest 
 character still living, and who knew the circumstances 
 thoroughly." Two remarks seem to be suggested by 
 this statement. One is that the persons referred to may 
 have " known thoroughly " Dr. Muhlenburg's situation 
 at the time and the reality of his private grief, and yet 
 would not seem to have been in a position so good as 
 his for knowing the exact connection, or lack of it, be- 
 tween the grief and the hymn. The other remark is 
 that while we too, if we had enjoyed the privilege of 
 
224 STL DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 knowing who the unnamed witnesses were, and of hear- 
 ing or reading the exact words of their testimony, might 
 have come to feel it more trustworthy than Dr. Muhlen- 
 berg's recollections after so many years ; yet, in the 
 absence of such opportunity, we feel ourselves bound 
 by the explicit denial of the author himself. There 
 will always, however, be many among the lovers of the 
 hymn who believe the legend and not the assertion. 
 The demand for a specifically romantic origin for every 
 individual piece of verse for which one cares is unfailing. 
 And in this case there is unhappily an apparent reality 
 in the private grief in question, finding, as alleged, cor- 
 roboration in the fact that Dr. Muhlenberg never mar- 
 ried ; there is even perhaps a coincidence in date between 
 the sorrow and the hymn. Who but the author (and 
 perhaps not he) could know how far his private grief 
 had clouded the outlook of his muse upon time and 
 the eternal ? 
 
 For the next step in the history of the hymn, as related 
 by Mr. Bird, the authority is more satisfying : — 
 
 " It was written at Lancaster, in a lady's album, and 
 began, — 
 
 ' I would not live ahvay. No, no, holy man. 
 Not a day, not an hour, should lengthen my span.' 
 
 In this shape it seems to have had six eight- line stanzas. 
 The album was still extant in 1876, at Pottstown, Pa., 
 and professed to contain the original manuscript. Said 
 the owner's sister, ' It was an impromptu. He had no 
 copy, and wanting it for some occasion, he sent for 
 the album.' In 1826 he entrusted his copy to a friend, 
 who called on him on the way from Harrisburg to Phila- 
 
/ WOULD NOT LIVE ALWAY; I ASK NOT TO STAY 22$ 
 
 " delphia, to carry to the ' Episcopal Recorder,' and in 
 that paper it appeared June 3rd, 1826 (not 1824J. For 
 
 » 
 
 » 
 
 u. ^ 
 
 AUTOGRAPH VERSES 
 
 these facts we have the detailed statement of Dr. John 
 B. Clemson, of Claymont, Del, the ambassador men- 
 tioned, who also chances to have preserved that volume 
 of the paper." And the present writer, in his turn, must 
 rest upon the authority of Mr. Bird (which, indeed, is 
 
226 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 happily high) ; not having seen the album nor even 
 
 chanced upon that number of The Episcopal Recorder. 
 
 Dr. Muhlenberg himself has told us how his poem 
 first gained place as a hymn. From the paper, in which 
 it was printed anonymously, it was adopted by a sub- 
 committee among the hymns to be passed upon by the 
 whole committee which then 11X26) was engaged in 
 preparing a hymn book for the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church. When this hymn was proposed, " one of the 
 members remarked that it was very sweet and pretty, 
 but rather sentimental ; upon which it was unanimously 
 thrown out. Not suspected as the author, I voted 
 against myself. That, I supposed, was the end it. The 
 committee, which sat until late at night at the house of 
 Bishop White, agreed upon their report to the Conven- 
 tion, and adjourned. But the next morning Dr. Onder- 
 donk (who was not one of their number, but who, on 
 invitation, had acted with the sub-committee, which, in 
 fact, consisted of him and myself) called on me to inquire 
 what had been done. Upon my telling him that among 
 the rejected hymns was this one of mine, he said, ' That 
 will never do,' and went about among the members of 
 the committee, soliciting them to restore the hymn in 
 their report, which accordingly they did ; so that to him 
 is due the credit of giving it to the Church." It was 
 copied almost at once into other books, and soon became 
 one of the most popular of American hymns. 
 
 Ever since 1833 it has been associated with the melo- 
 dious tune " Frederick," composed for it by Mr. George 
 Kingsley, and printed as sheet music in that year. Kings- 
 ley belonged to the period of American psalmody when 
 the performances of soloists and quartettes drowned the 
 
% 
 
 w0 UU> NOT X.IVS Al,v A 
 
 MET. y&XDJUUCK T, SJRAX 
 
 TITLE-rAGE OF MR. KINGSLEY S MUSIC 
 
228 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 voice of congregations. The standard of church music 
 did not differ materially from that of parlor music. Like 
 the hymn itself his tune (even to the vignette on the 
 title) reflects the religious fashion of the time. The two 
 belong together. Several editors have attempted to put 
 a newer tune in the place of Mr. Kingsley's. It was in 
 vain, simply because words and melody both appeal to 
 the same taste. They are not likely to be divorced, but 
 to live or die together. 
 
 The history of the text is somewhat peculiar. The 
 original, written in the album, seems to have been in six 
 verses of eight lines each ; as was also the first printed 
 text in the Recorder. It was Dr. Onderdonk who 
 selected and arranged the lines into four-line verses for 
 the Episcopalian hymn book, Dr. Muhlenberg slightly 
 revising them. So far as the public is concerned, this is 
 the only text of the hymn. But in i860, in a little collec- 
 tion of his poems, Dr. Muhlenberg printed a new version, 
 and in a second edition, in the same year, added a post- 
 script to that. In 1 87 1, and again in 1876, he rewrote 
 the hymn. It was not vanity but conscientiousness that 
 inspired so much thought and labor; although these 
 were quite in vain. The public loved the earlier version, 
 and took no interest at all in the revisions. The auto- 
 graph verses reproduced in this Study are from the 
 version of 1871. 
 
 The author of the hymn 
 Dr. Muhlenberg was born in Philadelphia, September 
 16th, 1796, and came of distinguished stock. His great- 
 grandfather was Dr. Henry M. Muhlenberg, founder of 
 the Lutheran Church in America ; his grandfather (Fred- 
 
.■'5* 3fc 
 
 ^QvWav^?^, ■ 
 
 im^Y> 
 
230 STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 crick A.) was Speaker of the House of Representatives 
 in the First and Second Congresses during Washington's 
 
 first administration. In his boyhood the Lutheran ser- 
 vices were conducted in German, of which he was igno- 
 rant ; and he drifted into the Episcopal Church, into 
 whose ministry he entered in 18 17. He was ordained 
 by Bishop White, and for a while served as chaplain to 
 that famous prelate. 
 
 In 1820 he became rector of St. James's Church, Lan- 
 caster, Pennsylvania. It was there he began his labors 
 for a better church hymnody, publishing his Church 
 Poetry, and doing much for that cause. While there he 
 also conceived the idea of a school under church auspices, 
 where education should be distinctly religious. Such a 
 school he established at Flushing, Long Island, and gave 
 to it fifteen years of enthusiastic toil. When circumstances 
 compelled him to abandon it, he became in 1846 rector 
 of a church in New York City founded by his sister, which 
 he developed as a " free " church. Here he organized 
 the first Protestant sisterhood, and established St. Luke's 
 Hospital, in which, as pastor, he spent the last twenty 
 years of his life, ministering to the suffering. In these 
 later years he established the religious industrial com- 
 munity of St. Johnland on Long Island. 
 
 The great purposes of Dr. Muhlenberg's efforts may 
 be summed up as the Christianizing of education, the 
 reunion of all Christians in one Evangelical Catholic 
 Church, and the bettering of the lot of the poor. To 
 these he consecrated his life, with his great gifts for 
 originating and administering. For these he spent his 
 private fortune, of which he left behind less than enough 
 to bury him. He was a prophet, and saw visions of a 
 
/ WOULD NOT LIVE ALWA Y; / ASK NOT TO STAY 231 
 
 holier Church than any on the earth, more catholic of 
 heart and more helpful of hand. Me thought his own 
 denomination called to lead the way, and committed to 
 it his visions as a trust. Dr. Muhlenberg's ideals and 
 influence constitute one of the great forces now at work 
 in the development of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 Of his spiritual greatness, his lovely personality, his 
 saintliness, his utter abnegation of self-interest, it seems 
 hardly possible to speak too warmly. " His long life 
 was one stream of blessed charity." Dr. Muhlenberg 
 died at St. Luke's Hospital, April 8th, 1877, and was 
 buried at St. Johnland. 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) The omission of this hymn from the latest hymnal 
 of Dr. Muhlenberg's own denomination raises the ques- 
 tion of its fitness to serve as a hymn according to our 
 present standards of judgment. Is its true place in a 
 hymn book for congregational use or in a book of 
 religious poetry for private use ? 
 
 (2) There is a more important question : Is the view 
 of life expressed in the hymn wholesome and inspiring, 
 or is it morbid and enervating ? The hymn embodies 
 what seems to have been the average sentiment at that 
 day among evangelical Christians. But a great change 
 has come over evangelical thought about this life and the 
 next. If, however, the " other-worldliness " of that gen- 
 eration seems morbid to us, it may be that to them, 
 looking down upon us now from that other world, the 
 " this-worldliness " of the present generation seems short- 
 sighted, to say the least. 
 
 (3) Dr. Muhlenberg's desire to evangelize his hymn 
 
232 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 strikes one at first as peculiar. 1 1 is version of 1871 was 
 headed, "'I Would Not Live Alway* Evangelized." 
 
 What he had in mind is doubtless explained by the fre- 
 quent saying of his later years : " Pauls desire to ' depart 
 and be with Christ ' is better than Job's ' I would not live 
 alway." " 
 
^ 
 
 XXII 
 O HELP US, LORD; EACH HOUR OF NEED 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 i O help us, Lord; each hour of need 
 Thy heavenly succor give : 
 Help us in thought, and word, and deed, 
 Each hour on earth we live. 
 
 2 O help us when our spirits bleed, 
 
 With contrite anguish sore ; 
 And when our hearts are cold and dead, 
 O help us, Lord, the more. 
 
 3 O help us, through the prayer of faith 
 
 More firmly to believe ; 
 For still, the more the servant hath, 
 The more shall he receive. 
 
 4 If, strangers to Thy fold, we call, 
 
 Imploring at Thy feet 
 The crumbs that from Thy table fall, 
 'Tis all we dare entreat. 
 
 5 But be it, Lord of mercy, all, 
 
 So Thou wilt grant but this : 
 The crumbs that from Thy table fall 
 Are light, and life, and bliss. 
 
 233 
 
234 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 6 O help us, Jesus, from on high ; 
 We know no help but Thee : 
 O help us so to live and die 
 As Thine in heaven to be. 
 
 Rev. Henry Hart Milman, 1827 
 
 NOTE.— The text is that published in Bishop Heber's Hymns, 1827. 
 
 The story of the Hymn 
 
 It may be recalled that in our study of the hymn 
 u From Greenland's Icy Mountains " reference was made 
 to Bishop Heber's favorite project of a literary hymn 
 book for the Church of England, a hymn book to 
 contain only good poetry as well as good devotion. 
 And now our study of this hymn, written by the Rev. 
 Henry Hart Milman, brings us back to that project of 
 his friend. 
 
 Heber had made a beginning on his book, at least as 
 early as 1811, by writing some original hymns for it. 
 But he never intended to follow the example of Dr. 
 Watts and make the entire book consist of his own 
 hymns. And we find him, in 1820, casting his eyes 
 about the literary horizon to see what poets could be 
 enlisted in his scheme. 
 
 There was no dearth of poets in those days. And it 
 is likely that Heber knew most of them, for he had be- 
 gun to write for the new Quarterly Review of Mr. 
 Murray, the great London publisher, whose hospitable 
 drawing-room was the common meeting ground of the 
 poets of the time. Keats, Shelley, and Byron were all 
 alive in 1820, but no one then or now would be likely to 
 think of them in connection with a hymn book. Crabbe 
 was an old man, whose poetry lay behind him. Coleridge 
 
O HELP US y LORD ; EACH HOUR OF NEED 235 
 
 was capable of writing great hymns, but it was in vain 
 to ask him to do any given thing at a given time. Keble 
 at that time was actually writing The Christian War, but 
 the fact was known to very few. Montgomery, distinct- 
 ively a hymn writer, would probably be passed over as 
 out of sympathy with the Church of England. Words- 
 worth, Scott, Campbell, Moore, Southey, and Milman 
 were the six who remained, conspicuous and possibly 
 available. 
 
 To at least three of these we know that Heber ap- 
 pealed to furnish hymns for his book. Scott and 
 Southey both promised their aid. But both failed him, 
 although some unnamed poet did send in contributions 
 that were rejected as beneath the level of the book. To 
 Milman, whom he greatly admired, Heber sent in 1820 
 an earnest request for hymns : " I know with what 
 facility you write poetry, and all the world knows with 
 what success you write religious poetry." 
 
 And Milman did not fail him. In May of the year 
 following Heber alludes to three hymns already re- 
 ceived from him, one of them the now familiar " Ride on, 
 Ride on in Majesty " (The Hymnal, No. 214) ; saying, " I 
 rejoice to hear so good an account of the progress which 
 your Saint [The Martyr of Antioch] is making towards 
 her crown, and feel really grateful for the kindness which 
 enables you, while so occupied, to recollect my hymn 
 book. I have in the last month received some assistance 
 
 from , which would once have pleased me well ; 
 
 but alas ! your advent, Good Friday, and Palm Sunday 
 hymns have spoilt me for all other attempts of the sort. 
 There are several Sundays yet vacant, and a good many of 
 the Saints' days. But I need not tell you that any of the 
 
236 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 "other days will cither carry double, or, if you prefer it, 
 the compositions which now occupy them will 'contract 
 their arms for you, and recede from as much of heaven' 
 as you may require." 
 
 The hymn " O Help Us, Lord ; Each Hour of Need" 
 does not appear to have been in that first group, but 
 very likely it was one of a second group acknowledged 
 by Heber at the close of the same year. He writes to 
 Milman : "You have indeed sent me a most powerful 
 reinforcement to my projected hymn book. A few more 
 such hymns and I shall neither need nor wait for the 
 aid of Scott and Southey. Most sincerely, I have not 
 seen any lines of the kind which more completely corre- 
 spond to my ideas of what such compositions ought to 
 be, or to the plan, the outline of which it has been my 
 wish to fill up." At all events, we read of no more 
 hymns from Milman in Heber's letters. 
 
 Milman contributed twelve hymns in all to the first 
 edition of the book, which Bishop Heber was not to live 
 to publish : and in that book, as put forth by the Bishop's 
 widow in 1827, they first appeared in print. The book 
 was immediately reprinted in New York, just too late 
 for its hymns to be used in the new Episcopalian hymn 
 book published that year. But perhaps it did not 
 matter, and certainly not so far as this particular hymn 
 was concerned, since American Episcopalians were con- 
 tent to wait until 1892 before including it among their 
 authorized hymns. The hymn was included in The 
 [Baptist] Psalmist of L843 ar| d The Sabbath Hymn Book 
 [Congregational] of 1858, but, in the case of this, as of 
 so many other hymns, the Boston Unitarians were the 
 first to see its merits, and the only ones to make prompt 
 
O HELP US, LORD; EACH //OTA' OF NEED 237 
 
 use of it, which they did in 1830. It is to be remembered 
 that the Orthodox churches at that date were satisfied to 
 sing " Watts," or, if they were to admit new hymns 
 (enough to make " Watts and Select "), they preferred 
 such new hymns as approached most closely to the old 
 model. 
 
 Some years ago Mr. Francis Arthur Jones attempted 
 to trace the whereabouts of the original manuscript 
 drafts of some of our popular hymns with a view to an 
 article upon the subject in the Strand Magazine, He 
 found that comparatively few such manuscripts have 
 been preserved. In regard to those of Milman, his son, 
 Mr. Arthur Milman, wrote: "I have never even seen a 
 
 ^f- V ^ A^£~ cuJ ^J <^ ^ 
 
 £<~<£~~ i^Zjl^. #us <£d^J£r j^xl. c*r&) '^w Jty 
 
 AN AUTOGRAPH VERSE 
 
258 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " MS. of my father, Dean Milman's hymns, and I greatly 
 doubt whether any can have survived." It happened 
 that Mr. Jones had secured an autograph of this hymn 
 only two days prior to the receipt of Mr. Milman's letter, 
 and from that the facsimile here reproduced was made. 
 Concerning this he remarks : u Whether the MS. is the 
 original, or merely the ' fair ' copy, I am unable to say. 
 It came into my hands through a dealer, and I value it 
 very highly." 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE HYMN 
 
 Henry Hart Mil man, born February 10th, 1791, was 
 the youngest child of Francis Milman, physician to 
 George III., and created a baronet by that king. He 
 was prepared for Oxford at Eton, and after a brilliant 
 career took his degree at Brasenose College in 18 13. 
 Among the prizes he carried off was that for English 
 poetry, an event chronicled in one of the Ingoldsby 
 Legends : — 
 
 '• His lines on Apollo 
 Beat all the rest hollow, 
 And gained him the Newdigate prize." 
 
 While still at Oxford he wrote his first drama, " Fazio : 
 a Tragedy," published soon after his graduation. It was 
 put upon the stage without his knowledge or consent, 
 and acted with much success in England and America. 
 
 Ordained to the ministry in 18 16, he became Vicar of 
 St. Mary's Church, Reading. " He reads and preaches 
 enchantingly," the famous Miss Mitford wrote soon after 
 his coming; but he found in his parish some prejudice 
 against him as the author of a play. He was full of 
 
#xz, 
 
240 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 industry and literary ambition, and followed his drama 
 with an epic poem in twelve books, " Samor, Lord of the 
 Bright City." Then came the three religious dramas 
 which crowned his poetic career, the " Fall of Jerusalem," 
 in 1820; the " Martyr of Antioch " and " Belshazzar," in 
 1822. For the copyright of each of these he received 
 the large sum of five hundred guineas. 
 
 But with the last of the three the enthusiasm of critics 
 and applause of the public, originally very great, had 
 waned, and his later poems were not successful. All 
 alike are now buried and forgotten. It seems strange, 
 indeed, that a poet greeted with so much enthusiasm by 
 his contemporaries should be remembered only by a few 
 hymns. His poetical works, gathered into three comely 
 volumes in 1839, and long out of print, contain much 
 that is striking and beautiful ; and not the least pleasing 
 feature is their dedication " To her who has made the 
 poetry of life reality, by her affectionate husband." 
 
 Milman was to win more permanent fame in another 
 branch of literature. While still at Reading he published 
 his History of the Jews \ in which he attempted, for the 
 first time in England, to read the sacred annals in the 
 light of the principles of historical criticism. This effort 
 brought down upon him a storm of indignation and 
 abuse, for which, however, he was not unprepared, and 
 which he weathered in silence. His later works, The 
 History of Christianity and The History of Latin CJiris- 
 tianity, placed him at once among the great historical 
 writers of the language ; and in that high place he still 
 remains. Promotion in the Church also came to him. 
 In 1835 he was appointed rector of St. Margaret's, the 
 church that stands in the shadow of Westminster Abbey ; 
 
HELP US, I. OKI); EACH HOUR OF NEED 241 
 
 and in 1849 he became Dean of St. Paul's, the cathedral 
 church of London. 
 
 Dean Mil man's London life was one of incessant toil, 
 and had its sorrows also, three of his children lying in 
 one grave in the north aisle of the Abbey. He became 
 a great figure in London, sought after for his social 
 charm, admired for his learning and genius, and reverenced 
 for his lofty and peculiarly straightforward Christian 
 character. He was a liberal in theology, and stood 
 resolutely apart from the High Church movement. He 
 survived in the full vigor of his mental powers until 
 September 24th, 1868, and was buried in the crypt of his 
 vast cathedral. 
 
 In 1900 appeared a biography of Dean Milman, by 
 the son who has already been referred to. It had been 
 delayed, strangely enough, until the generation of those 
 who were his personal friends had passed away and the 
 lustre of his poetic reputation had been dimmed by the 
 lapse of time. 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) In the Book of Common Prayer each Sunday has 
 a passage of the gospels appropriated to it, to be used as 
 the Gospel for the day. Bishop Heber's hymn book was 
 to have a hymn for each Sunday based on its special 
 Gospel. What is the particular passage on which this 
 hymn is based, and which it illustrates ? 
 
 (2) When Dean Milman came to make a hymn book 
 
 of his own, he omitted the fourth and fifth verses of this 
 
 hymn ; but, in reprinting it in his Poetical Works of 1839, 
 
 he included all six verses, with no change from his earliest 
 
 text, except that in the first line of the last verse he sub- 
 16 
 
242 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 stituted "Saviour" for "Jesus." In the omission of the 
 two verses he has been followed by most later editors. 
 As to the beauty of those omitted verses there can hardly 
 be any question. Hut is there any such lack of clearness 
 in them that the poem is better as a hymn without 
 them ? 
 
 (3) The three hymns of Milman in The Hymnal^' Ride 
 on, Ride on in Majesty," " When our Heads are Bowed 
 with Woe," and this) are probably the best cut of his 
 twelve in Bishop Heber's book. And, if placed side by 
 side, it will be seen that each is in a different style. One 
 is after the manner of a metrical litany, one so dramatic 
 that it might serve as a chorus for one of his sacred 
 dramas, and one " a piece of pure, deep devotion " in the 
 best manner of unpretentious hymn writing. 
 
 
XXIII 
 SHEPHERD OF TENDER YOUTH 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i Shepherd of tender youth, 
 Guiding in love and truth 
 
 Through devious ways : 
 Christ, our triumphant King, 
 We come Thy Name to sing; 
 Hither our children bring, 
 
 To shout Thy praise. 
 
 2 Thou art our Holy Lord, 
 The all-subduing Word, 
 
 Healer of strife : 
 Thou didst Thyself abase, 
 That from sin's deep disgrace 
 Thou mightest save our race, 
 
 And give us life. 
 
 Thou art the Great High Priest, 
 Thou hast prepared the feast 
 
 Of heavenly love : 
 While in our mortal pain, 
 None calls on Thee in vain : 
 Help Thou dost not disdain, 
 
 Help from above. 
 
 243 
 
 - 
 
244 STUDIES 01 FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 4 Ever be Thou our Guide, 
 Our Shepherd and our Pride, 
 
 Our Staff and Song : 
 Jesus, Thou Christ of God, 
 By Thy perennial word, 
 Lead us where Thou hast trod ; 
 
 Make our faith strong. 
 
 5 So now and till we die, 
 Sound we Thy praises high, 
 
 And joyful sing : 
 Infants, and the glad throng 
 Who to Thy Church belong, 
 Unite to swell the song 
 
 To Christ our King. 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, who died about A. D. 220 
 Translated by Rev. Henry Martyn Dexter, 1846 
 
 THE STORY OF THE HYMN 
 
 This hymn is the translation of a Greek poem, and 
 this relation to an antique world gives, it a special inter- 
 est of its own. It forms a connecting link between the 
 second century and the twentieth, showing that, while 
 many things have been changed, the Christian heart 
 then as now feels the same impulse to praise Christ, and 
 can express that praise in like words. The Greek poem 
 is often spoken of as the oldest Christian hymn, but 
 that is saying too much. It is rather the oldest surviv- 
 ing Christian poem (after the Song of Mary and the 
 other New Testament hymns) which can be traced to a 
 particular author. And that is distinction enough. 
 
 Among the great figures of the Church at the end of 
 the second century was Clement of Alexandria. Of 
 Clement himself, apart from his reputation and writings, 
 we know little. He was a Greek, but when or where 
 
SHEPHERD OF TENDER VOL III 245 
 
 born is uncertain. He seems to have been of good 
 birth and social position, and certainly was highly edu- 
 cated. He had been a heathen philosopher and when 
 he became a Christian was a philosopher still, travel- 
 ing about seeking for light from various teachers. He 
 mentions six, under whom he studied "the true tradition 
 of the blessed doctrine of the holy apostles." Alex- 
 andria was then the great centre of Christian scholar- 
 ship. It was there that Clement found in the Word of 
 God the solution of the riddles of his soul. And there 
 his wanderings ended in rest in a living Christ. When 
 his teacher, Pantaenus, head of the Catechetical School 
 there, left it to go forth as a missionary, Clement be- 
 came the head of the school, and so remained until 
 driven away by persecution in a. d. 202. Whither he 
 went and how r he spent his closing years we do not 
 know. We hear of him at Jerusalem and once again 
 at Antioch, and he is believed to have died a little be- 
 fore A. D. 220. 
 
 Clement was a reformer, and wrote several books ex- 
 posing the dreadful moral corruption of paganism and 
 tutoring new converts in the life becoming the gospel of 
 Christ. One of his books was called The Instructor (or 
 Tutor), and is a treatise on Christian morals and manners. 
 It sets forth Christ the Son of God as the true Instructor 
 of men, and expounds His teachings with eloquence and 
 the warmth of a real affection for Him. At the end of 
 the book is appended the " Hymn to Christ the Saviour." 
 It is a doxology, a burst of praise, an expression of 
 thankfulness " to the Instructor who has not only en- 
 lightened us but called us into His Church and united us 
 to Himself." 
 
246 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Clement's poem has always been an object of interest 
 to scholars as a relic of early Christianity, and has been 
 frequently translated. From a poetic standpoint it par- 
 takes too much of the nature of an inventor}' of figures 
 applied to Christ in the Scriptures, and too little of the 
 spontaneity of a lyric of praise. There is at the same 
 time a charm in its cumulative adorations and its loyalty 
 to Christ. But it never at any period found a place in 
 the hymn books of the Church. For that honor it waited 
 sixteen centuries. 
 
 In 1846 an American Congregational clergyman, the 
 Rev. Henry Martyn Dexter, was preparing for his church 
 at Manchester, New Hampshire, a sermon on " Some 
 prominent characteristics of the early Christians," from 
 the text, " Remember the days of old." — Deut. xxxii. 7. 
 It occurred to him to make a hymn out of the old poem 
 and to have it sung at the service. He says : " I first 
 translated it literally into prose, and then transfused as 
 much of its language and spirit as I could into the hymn." 
 Dr. Dexter's hymn was first printed in The Congregation- 
 al 'ist for December 21st, 1849. In 1853 Drs. Hedge and 
 Huntington put it into their Hymns for the Church of 
 Christ simply because, in their judgment, it was a good 
 hymn, as they apparently knew nothing of its history or 
 authorship. In 1866 it was included in the Hymnal of 
 the Presbyterian Chnreh, and is now widely used in this 
 country and to some extent in England. Dr. Dexter's 
 version has certainly won its way without any pushing 
 on his part. As lately as 1869 Dr. Schaff (with all his 
 wide acquaintance with religious verse) was obliged to 
 include it in his delightful Christ in Song as "a trans- 
 fusion by an unknown author." 
 
SHEPHERD OF TENDER YOUTH 247 
 
 6W ^^L CuuuZ-. >W^; 
 
 A VERSE IN THE AUTOGRAPH OF THE TRANSLATOR 
 
 The Translator of the Hymn 
 
 Henry Martyn Dexter, a son of the Rev. Elijah 
 Dexter, was born at Plympton, Massachusetts, August 
 13th, 1 82 1. He was graduated from Yale College in 
 1840 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1844. 
 That same year he was ordained, and became pastor of 
 
248 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 a Congregational Church at Manchester, New Hamp- 
 shire. Five years later he became pastor of a church in 
 Boston. While there he also became the editor of The 
 Congregationalist and of The Congregational Quarterly. 
 
 In 1867 he resigned his pastorate to be the editor of The 
 Congregationalist and Recorder. 
 
 Dr. Dexter's natural inclinations made his career that 
 of a man of letters and a scholar. He was especially 
 interested in historical studies. Born within ten miles 
 of Plymouth Rock, and often visiting the old town so 
 full of Pilgrim memories, and with the blood both of 
 Pilgrim and Puritan blended in his own veins, he early 
 acquired a peculiar interest in the first settlers of New 
 England. He came to believe in their system of Con- 
 gregationalism as the best and most Scriptural form of 
 church government. What Dr. Dexter believed he be- 
 lieved with all his heart, and he spent much time and 
 money in tracing the beginnings of the Pilgrim Church 
 in England and Holland, and especially in searching for 
 the rare books and tracts that illustrate the early history 
 of Congregationalism. He published many books and 
 articles on these and kindred subjects, upon which he 
 is now recognized as a high authority. His principal 
 work was published in 1880 as The Congregationalism 
 of the Last Three Hundred Years, as Seen in its Litera- 
 ture. While some of the conclusions of this book have 
 been questioned, no one has failed to admire the learn- 
 ing and patient research that have gone into it. Dr. 
 Dexter's published works extend over more than forty 
 years. His interests and studies were by no means con- 
 fined to Congregationalism, and his works deal with 
 many problems in national, religious, and social life. 
 
SHEPHERD OF TENDER YOUTH 
 
 249 
 
 Dr. Dexter's hymn entitles him to a niche among 
 American hymn writers, but he seems to have published 
 no other verse. His son, the Rev. Morton Dexter, 
 writes : " As a young man he used to write verse some- 
 times, and in middle life composed a number of hymns 
 
 REV. HENRY M. DEXTER 
 
 for special occasions. But he never regarded himself as 
 a poet and never gave much attention to versifying. 
 Most of his earlier poetry was in the ballad form and 
 amusing in character." 
 
 Dr. Dexter died of heart failure on November 13th, 
 1 890, passing away in his sleep. To look at the like- 
 ness of his pleasant face and to read his books, so full 
 of learning and vitality, is to feel something of the irre- 
 trievableness of death. It is to be regretted that no bi- 
 ography of him has been published. He holds a secure 
 place among the investigators into the origins of Ameri- 
 
250 
 
 STUDIES OF 1AM I LIAR 11YMXS 
 
 can church history, but it is not impossible that his 
 hymn may prove to be his most enduring memorial. 
 
 SO.WH POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (i) In our hymn books man)' hymns are marked 
 " Tr.," which means that they are translations, whether 
 from the Greek or Latin or some other language. Hut 
 while, for convenience, all alike are called translations, it 
 should be understood that such hymns differ very widely 
 in the degree in which the English version corresponds 
 to the original text. As a rule, translations from the 
 Latin can and do follow the original more closely than 
 those from the Greek. It must be said frankly that lew 
 translations have less of the original in them than this. 
 Dr. Dexter attempted little more than to reproduce the 
 spirit of the original with occasional use of its language. 
 This will appear in comparing the following literal trans- 
 lation with Dr. Dexter's hymn : — 
 
 " Bridle of untamed colts, 
 Wing of unwandering birds, 
 Sure Helm of babes. 
 
 Shepherd of royal lambs ! 
 Assemble thy simple children 
 To praise holily, 
 To hymn guilelessly 
 With innocent mouths. 
 Christ the Guide of children. 
 
 "O King of Saints, 
 All-subduing Word 
 Of the most-high Father, 
 Prince of wisdom. 
 Support of sorrows. 
 That rejoicest in the ages, 
 Jesus, Saviour 
 Of the human race, 
 
 Shepherd, Husbandman, 
 
 Helm, Bridle, 
 
 Heavenly Wing 
 
 Of the all-white flock, 
 
 Fisher of men 
 
 Who are saved. 
 
 Catching the chaste fishes 
 
 With sweet life 
 
 From the hateful wave 
 
 Of a sea of vices, — 
 
 Lead, O Shepherd 
 
 Of reasoning sheep : 
 
 Lead harmless children, 
 
 O holy Kin^. 
 
 O footsteps of Christ, 
 
 ( ) heavenly Way, 
 
 Perennial Word, 
 
 Endless Age, 
 
SHEPHERD OF TENDER YOUTH 25 1 
 
 " Perpetual Light, Let us sing together 
 
 Fountain of mercy, Artless praises, 
 
 Worker of virtue: True hymns 
 Noble [is the] sustenance of those To Christ the King, 
 
 Who praise God, Sacred rewards 
 
 O Christ Jesus, For the doctrine of life; 
 
 Heavenly milk Let us sing together, 
 
 Of the sweet breasts Sing in simplicity 
 
 Of the graces of the Bride, The mighty Child. 
 
 Pressed out of Thy wisdom. O choir of peace, 
 
 The Christ-begotten, 
 
 " Babes, nourished O chaste people, 
 
 With tender lips, Let us praise together 
 
 Filled with the dewy spirit The God of peace." 
 Of the spiritual breast, 
 
 Any one who values the historical association of the 
 hymn feels a certain dissatisfaction with so loose a ren- 
 dering of the original as Dr. Dexter's. That the poem 
 can be reproduced much more closely appears from a 
 version by a Scotch Presbyterian, Dr. Hamilton M. Mac- 
 gill, of which the opening lines are as follows : — 
 
 " Thyself, Lord, be the bridle ! 
 These wayward wills to stay : 
 Be thine the wing unwandering! 
 To speed their upward way ; 
 
 " The helm for youth embarking 
 On the all-treacherous sea ! 
 Shepherd of lambs ! Thou only, 
 Their King and Leader be ! 
 
 " O l>ring your tender young ones, 
 To chant their hymns of praise, 
 And holy hallelujahs, 
 
 With hallowed lips to raise. 
 
 "Let them with songs adoring, 
 Their artless homage bring 
 To Christ the Lord, and crown Him 
 The children's Guide and King." 
 
-r 
 
 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 Dr. Macgill's verse is just as good as Dr. Dexter's and 
 
 as a translation far better. Yet, after all, it is a question 
 if Dr. Dexter's version does not better represent the 
 original for the purpose of singing. The spirit of the 
 Greek poem appeals to us, but when it comes to address- 
 ing Christ as the bridle and the helm we are not quite so 
 sure. 
 
 (2) The autograph verse here reproduced (it was 
 written in 1883) shows that Dr. Dexter had recast the 
 form of the fourth verse. Is the earlier or the later 
 version preferable ? Careless as he was of the fate of the 
 hymn, it is difficult to say which one of the somewhat 
 differing texts represents his preference. That here 
 printed is one that apparently had his approval as late as 
 
 1883. 
 
XXIV 
 THINE FOR EVER! GOD OF LOVE 
 
 The Text of the Hymn 
 
 i Thine for ever ! God of love, 
 Hear us from Thy throne above ; 
 Thine f&r ever may we be 
 Here and in eternity. 
 
 2 Thine for ever ! Lord of life, 
 Shield us through our earthly strife ; 
 Thou, the Life, the Truth, the Way, 
 Guide us to the realms of day. 
 
 3 Thine for ever! O how blest 
 They who find in Thee their rest ! 
 Saviour, Guardian, heavenly Friend, 
 O defend us to the end. 
 
 4 Thine for ever! Saviour, keep 
 These Thy frail and trembling sheep; 
 Safe alone beneath Thy care, 
 
 Let us all Thy goodness share. 
 
 5 Thine for ever ! Thou our Guide, 
 All our wants by Thee supplied, 
 All our sins by Thee forgiven, 
 Lead us, Lord, from earth to heaven. 
 
 Mary Fawler i Hooper) Maude. 1847 
 
 NOTE. — Five verses of the original seven. Some features of the text are 
 referred to under " Some Points for Discussion." 
 
 253 
 
254 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 A sensational or sentimental hymn may catch the ear 
 of the public and at once gain a short-lived popularity. 
 But a hymn of solid merit makes its way more slowly. 
 It is not often that the writer of such a hymn lives to 
 see it take its place in the permanent hymnody of the 
 Church. Such, however, is the happy experience of 
 Mrs. Maude, who wrote " Thine for Ever ! God of 
 Love." And it is certainly an additional happy circum- 
 stance that we now have the story of the hymn in her 
 own words. Mrs. Maude has lately written it for the 
 Rev. John Brownlie, as follows : — 
 
 "In 1847 m y husband was minister of the Parish 
 Church of St. Thomas, Newport, Isle of Wight. We 
 had very large Sunday-schools, in which I taught the 
 first class of elder girls, then preparing for their con- 
 firmation by the Bishop of Winchester. Health obliged 
 me to go for some weeks to the seaside, and while there 
 I wrote twelve letters to my class, which were afterward 
 printed by the Church of England Sunday-School In- 
 stitute. In one of the letters I wrote off, almost im- 
 promptu, the hymn Thine for ever." 
 
 It should be explained, perhaps, that in the confirma- 
 tion service in the Church of England the prayer spoken 
 by the bishop in the act of laying on his hands begins, 
 " Defend, O Lord, this thy Child with thy heavenly 
 grace, that he may continue thine for ever." These 
 words furnished the theme for the hymn. In the hymn 
 they are taken up by catechumens and congregation, 
 and made the words of their own prayer. 
 
 Mrs. Maude goes on to say : " The hymn must have 
 
THINE FOR EVER! GOD OF FOVE 255 
 
 " been in some way seen by the committee of the Chris- 
 tian Knowledge Society, for early in the fifties I opened 
 their newly-published hymnal, much to my surprise, 
 upon my own hymn. After that, application for its use 
 
 2>^ 
 
 
 AUTOGRArH VERSES 
 
 came in from all quarters. Little did I imagine that it 
 would be chosen by our beloved Queen to be sung at 
 the confirmation of a Royal Princess. 
 
 " It was our custom in Chirk Vicarage to sing a 
 hymn, chosen in turn, at our evening family prayer on 
 the Lord's Day. On Sunday, February 8th, 1887, it was 
 my husband's turn to choose, and he gave out Thine 
 for ever, looking round at me. On the nth he was 
 singing with saints in Paradise. . . . 
 
256 Sir DIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " Now, in my eightieth year, whenever I meet my 
 hymn, there seems written across it, to my mental vision, 
 non nobis Domine" 
 
 Mrs. Maude's hymn is so admirably suited to a con- 
 firmation service that its early adoption in the Church of 
 England can readily be understood. In this country 
 the hymn does not seem to have been used in the Epis- 
 copal Church until 1872. By that time it was already 
 getting to be familiar in such Presbyterian and Congre- 
 gational churches as were using Dr. Robinson's Songs for 
 the Sanctuary, published in 1865. 
 
 In accounting for the wide use into which this hymn 
 has come, one finds a reminder of the actual distinction 
 between a collection of lyrical or even devotional poetry 
 on the one hand and a hymn book on the other. If he 
 were considering this hymn as a candidate for inclusion 
 in a book of lyrics he would feel that it was lyrical in the 
 sense of being eminently singable, but he would look in 
 vain through its verses for any special structural beauty, 
 for a thought or even a turn of expression that had 
 anything of the charm of the unexpected. Nothing in 
 it is far removed from the commonplace in a poetic 
 sense. He might feel toward it in much the same way, 
 considered for a place even in a book of devotional 
 poetry. He would recognize a real tenderness of feel- 
 ing and a perfect refinement of expression. Why, even 
 then, should it gain favor as against a vast body of 
 verse as true in religious feeling and equally poetic, to 
 say the least? Rut who, on the other hand, has ever 
 heard Mrs. Maude's hymn sung heartily in connection 
 with the act of admitting catechumens to the Table of 
 their Lord without feeling something of the satisfaction 
 
THINE FOR EVER! COD OF LOVE 2$7 
 
 that comes with the right word, to the occasion true 
 because exactly expressive of the feeling whieh the 
 occasion evokes? Mrs. Maude's verses, it would seem, 
 find their proper plaee not in a book of poems, but in a 
 service book. They are poetry in the sense of being 
 liturgical verse, whose art consists in entering into the 
 feelings of those participating in a certain service, and 
 giving to them expression in perfect truth and in perfect 
 taste. To bring out the poetry in them they must be 
 sung, and sung in connection with the service to which 
 they belong, and sung by those whose hearts respond 
 to what the service means and stands for. There is 
 abundant room for lyrics of high art in the hymn book, 
 but there is also an inevitable demand for proper liturgical 
 poetry. 
 
 In estimating the readiness of welcome which Mrs. 
 Maude's hymn has found, one has also to remember 
 that it did not have to make its way through a very 
 formidable body of competitors. Even now it stands 
 somewhat isolated on a bare spot of the domain of our 
 hymnody. We have Bishop Wordsworth's conscien- 
 tious and careful " Arm These Thy Soldiers, Mighty 
 Lord" (The Hymnal, No. 315). But the hymn itself 
 belongs to the Heavy Artillery, and rarely gets into 
 active service. We have also President Davies's " Lord, 
 I am Thine, Entirely Thine" (The Hymnal, No. 320), 
 but many who have heard it sung by a great congrega- 
 tion must have felt that it should have remained rather 
 as a secret between an individual soul and its Master. 
 There are no other hymns for this occasion with the 
 liturgical excellence of Mrs. Maude's. And that fact 
 greatly strengthens its title to the place it now holds. 
 17 
 
258 studies of familiar hymns 
 
 The author of the Hymn 
 
 Mary Fawler Hooper was born in 1819, and is the 
 daughter of George H. Hooper, of Stanmore, Middlesex. 
 In 1841 she was married to the Rev. Joseph Maude, who 
 became Vicar of Chirk, in North Wales, and an Honorary 
 Canon of St. Asaph's Cathedral, and whose death, in 
 1887, has been referred to already. In 1848 her Twelve 
 Letters on Confirmation were published, and in 1852 she 
 printed privately her Memorials of Past Years. She has 
 written other hymns, mostly for use in her husband's 
 parish, but none of these has come into general use. 
 
 Mrs. Maude's life has been in no sense that of a 
 woman of letters, or one lived in the public eye. It has 
 been that of the faithful wife of a village pastor, the 
 sharer of his labors and his hopes. Of such a life, how- 
 ever successful, the rewards are not with men. Her 
 hymn represents her one point of contact with the larger 
 public. And even the hymn was written with no more 
 ambitious aim than that of being helpful to a class of 
 village girls. " The praise of any usefulness," Mrs. Maude 
 modestly says in a recent letter, " must be all given to 
 Him whose glory it is to work by such simple means." 
 Mrs. Maude is now in the evening of her life, but it 
 seems likely that for long her name will be pleasantly 
 remembered in connection with the hymn of her younger 
 days. (Mrs. Maude died in 191 3.) 
 
 SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 (1) " For ever" is so long a time that only God Him^ 
 self could be justified in covering it with a pledge or 
 promise. Is the beautiful ideal of our being God's for 
 
THINE FOR EVER! GOD OF LOVE 
 
 2 59 
 
 /%/xszy y^Zar&t *fa**<^jz__ 
 
 ever set before us by the hymn in such a way that we 
 can sing it in sincerity and in truth ? 
 
 (2) The text of the hymn in The Hymnal (and here) 
 differs in one word, apparently, from the original. The 
 editor was unable to secure a copy of the little book in 
 which the hymn first appeared, and he had to determine 
 the text from such evidence as he could obtain. He has 
 now in his possession an autograph of the hymn in which 
 verse four begins : — 
 
 " Thine for ever ! Shepherd, keep 
 Us, Thy frail and trembling sheep" ; 
 
 and also a letter in which Mrs. Maude states that she 
 originally wrote " Shepherd," and does not know who 
 
20o STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 changed it to " Saviour." " Shepherd " seems, therefore, 
 
 to be the correct word. Is it not also the better word, 
 and why ? 
 
 The second of the two lines just quoted from the 
 autograph of the hymn also differs from the text printed 
 in The Hymnal. In spite of that fact the present writer 
 believed the Hymnal text to be correct ; and when this 
 Stud) r was originally printed he remarked at this point : 
 " In regard to the second line there is reason to think 
 that Mrs. Maude has on other occasions given ' These ' 
 and not 'Us' as the correct wording. Certainly the 
 'Us' is awkward in beginning the line." And now, 
 while the proofs of this second printing of the Study are 
 being corrected, there arrives opportunely from England 
 a copy of Mr. F. A. Jones's Famous Hymns and Their 
 Authors. Mr. Jones, who has been already referred to 
 as a seeker for the original manuscripts o{ well-known 
 hymns, has had correspondence with Mrs. Maude con- 
 cerning this hymn. She calls his attention, in a letter 
 which he quotes, to alterations made in the fourth verse 
 of her hymn " without any reference to " her. One of 
 the unauthorized changes she objects to is that of 
 "These" into "Us." She says: "'Us' is a most un- 
 musical word to begin a line with, and, moreover, the 
 thought of the verse is lost, for the first two lines are a 
 prayer for the catechumens from the congregation : — 
 
 ' Thine for ever! Shepherd, keep 
 These Thy frail and trembling sheep'; 
 
 then the supplication reverts and embraces all present : — 
 
 'Safe alone beneath Thy care, 
 Let us all Thy goodness share.' " 
 
THINE FOR EVER! COD OF LOVE 26 1 
 
 Mrs. Maude's position is doubtless correct. She is con- 
 fronted, nevertheless, by her autograph copy of the 
 hymn containing the very word against which she pro- 
 tests as objectionable and unauthorized. This particular 
 instance of confusion is referred to here not merely for 
 its interest as bearing upon the text of a familiar hymn, 
 but also as an illustration of the great difficult)' of attain- 
 ing accuracy in these matters. Ordinarily in the case 
 of a disputed text or interpretation an appeal to the 
 author is regarded as bringing the matter before a court 
 of last resort, whose decision is final. In the case of 
 hymns, however, it has repeatedly been demonstrated 
 that even the statements of their authors must be treated 
 as subject to correction. 
 
 (3) There were originally a sixth and a seventh verse 
 which have not been used in the hymnals, as follows : — 
 
 " 6 Thine for ever! In that day 
 
 When the world shall pass away : 
 When the trumpet's note shall sound, 
 And the nations under ground 
 
 " 7 Shall the awful summons hear, 
 
 ■ Which proclaims the Judgment near: 
 Thine for ever ! 'Neath Thy wings 
 Hide and save us, King of kings!" 
 
 Do these lines strengthen or weaken the hymn ? 
 
 Mrs. Maude states that the fifth verse originally ended 
 with the line : — 
 
 "Led by Thee from earth to heaven." 
 
 The line was changed to its present form to make a 
 proper conclusion to the hymn as abridged, and the 
 change has her approval. 
 
2()2 
 
 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 (4) This hymn is associated with the death of the late 
 Dr. Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, while visiting 
 Mr. Gladstone at Hawarden. It was sung at the close 
 of an early service he attended at the neighboring church 
 on October nth, 1896. Returning to the church three 
 hours later for the Morning Prayer he passed away 
 while kneeling for the Confession. The hymn is said to 
 have been sung when his funeral left Hawarden, and 
 again over the grave at Canterbury Cathedral. It sug- 
 gests once more the difficult}' of attaining accuracy in 
 these matters that Mrs. Maude states that the hymn 
 was sung to the Archbishop's " favorite old Spanish air, 
 Thine for ever " ; while his son and biographer describes 
 it as a beautiful Welsh tune which the Archbishop " had 
 not heard before." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Brownlie obtained a copy of the tune, 
 and thinks it only requires to be known to become a 
 general favorite, and it is here printed : — 
 
 A-men. 
 
XXV 
 SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE HYMN 
 
 i Sunset and evening star, 
 
 And one clear call for me ! 
 And may there be no moaning of the bar 
 When I put out to sea, 
 
 2 But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 
 Too full for sound and foam, 
 When that which drew from out the boundless deep 
 Turns again home. 
 
 3 Twilight and evening bell, 
 And after that the dark ! 
 And may there be no sadness of farewell 
 When I embark ; 
 
 4 For, though from out our bourne of time and place 
 The flood may bear me far, 
 I hope to see my Pilot face to face 
 When I have crost the bar. 
 
 Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1889 
 
 NOTE. — The text is taken from Demeter and Other Poems, 1889. 
 
 263 
 
264 studies 01 familiar hymns 
 
 The Story of the Hymn 
 
 "'Crossing the Bar' was written in my father's eighty- 
 first year," writes the present Lord Tennyson in the 
 Memoir ; "on a day in October when we came from 
 Aldworth to Farringford. Before reaching Farringford 
 he had the Moaning of the Bar in his mind, and after 
 dinner he showed me this poem written out. I said, 
 'That is the crown of your life's work.' He answered, 
 1 It came in a moment' He explained the ' Pilot ' as 
 'that Divine and Unseen who is always guiding us.' A 
 few days before my father's death he said to me : ' Mind 
 you put " Crossing the Bar" at the end of all editions 
 of my poems.' " 
 
 The lyric was published in the volume of 1889, Dime- 
 ter and Other Poems, and won instant acceptance. The 
 student of poetry was glad that the old tree should bear 
 so perfect a flower, and the religious public was touched 
 by the venerable poet's avowal of his personal faith. 
 
 The first public use of the poem was as an anthem at 
 Lord Tennyson's funeral in Westminster Abbey on Octo- 
 ber 1 2th, 1892. The daughter of the Dean of West- 
 minster has pictured the scene : — 
 
 "As the procession slowly passed up the nave and 
 paused beneath the lantern, where the coffin was placed 
 during the first part of the burial service, the sun lit up 
 the dark scene, and touched the red and blue Union 
 Jack upon the coffin with brilliant light, filtering through 
 the painted panes of Chaucer's window on to the cleared 
 purple space by the open grave, and lighting up the beau- 
 tiful bust of Dryden, the massive head of Longfellow, 
 the gray tomb of Chaucer and the innumerable wreaths 
 
Urfay fa. /> 
 
 Hi, 
 
 W*u Uun U6L fa. ^. 
 
 ^ W n*u U n* ^o^j ^/u u* 
 
 ******* +± fi* n* * S^. , 
 
 *** 4fc «</ fe oC^t; 
 
 FACSIMILE OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT. 
 
266 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 heaped upon it. In the intense and solemn silence which 
 followed the reading of the lesson were heard the voices 
 of the choir singing in subdued and tender tones Tenny- 
 son's ' Crossing the Bar ' — those beautiful words in which 
 the poet, as it were, prophetically foretold his calm and 
 peaceful deathbed. In the second line the clear, thrilling 
 notes of a boy's voice sounded like a silver trumpet call 
 amongst the arches, and it was only at intervals that one 
 distinguished Dr. Bridge's beautiful organ accompani- 
 ment, which swelled gradually from a subdued murmur 
 as of the morning tide into a triumphant burst from the 
 voices, so blended together were words and music." 
 
 The credit of introducing Tennyson's lyric as a hymn 
 belongs to Presbyterians. A committee of the Free 
 Church of Scotland engaged Sir Joseph Barnby to set it 
 to music, and printed it in their Home and School Hymnal 
 of 1893. In this country also the Presbyterians were the 
 first to include it among their hymns, it appearing in The 
 Hymnal of 1895. It has since appeared in The Church 
 Hymnary of the Scottish Churches and in several inde- 
 pendent collections. 
 
 The author of the Hymn 
 
 Alfred Tennyson was born August 6th, 1809, at 
 Somersby, a Lincolnshire village of which his father was 
 the rector. Even as a child he made verses, and as early 
 as 1827 he and his brother Charles published a volume 
 of Poems by Tzoo Brothers. The next year he went to 
 Trinity College, Cambridge. " The Lover's Tale " was 
 written at that time, and in the summer following he 
 gained the chancellor's prize for a poem on Timbuctoo. 
 
 When only twenty-one Tennyson published his Poems 
 
SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 267 
 
 Chiefly Lyrical. They had a wonderful freshness, and in 
 them were the very witchery of music and all the shapes 
 and colors of word painting. Dreamy young people 
 were fascinated by these lyrics. Older people, whose 
 tastes had been formed on more conventional models, 
 looked at them more doubtfully, and some, like Christo- 
 pher North, laughed at them. They were the ex- 
 periments of a young artist, and many of the poems 
 Tennyson withdrew afterward, with the deepening of his 
 thoughts and purposes. But the book marks the worthy 
 beginning of a great poetic career of more than sixty 
 years, that in its circumstances and its influence is almost 
 ideal. Tennyson no doubt will always stand as the 
 representative poet of Queen Victoria's reign. 
 
 To trace that career and to record his poetical achieve- 
 ments belongs to English literature and not to hymnology. 
 Except the little children's hymn in " The Promise of 
 May," and possibly this poem, Tennyson wrote nothing 
 designed for a hymn, although some verses from the 
 prologue of " In Memoriam " are often included in hymn 
 books. It was a favorite project with his friend Dr. 
 Jowett, Master of Balliol College, that the poet should 
 " write a few hymns in a high strain, to be a treasure to 
 the world and to the Church." " I want him to think 
 of millions of persons repeating his words with the liv- 
 ing voice, during many centuries. Is this a crown to 
 be despised?" — Jowett wrote to the poet's son. But 
 Tennyson had a feeling that hymns were expected to 
 be commonplace, and for that reason, perhaps, he felt 
 little impulse to attempt them. 
 
 Tennyson had a deeply religious nature and regarded 
 himself as intrusted with a divine message. He was a 
 
268 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 humble believer in Christ. " What the sun is to that 
 flower, that," he once said, "Jesus Christ is to my soul." 
 He spoke often of the actuality of Christ's presence to 
 him in the Holy Communion. Indeed, he lived and 
 wrought always as in the divine presence, saying once to 
 his niece in the most natural way: "God is with us now, 
 on this down, as we two are walking together, just as 
 truly as Christ was with the two disciples on the walk to 
 Emmaus. We cannot see Him, but He — the Father 
 and the Saviour and the Spirit — is nearer, perhaps, now 
 than then to those who are not afraid to believe the 
 words of the apostle about the actual and real presence 
 of God and His Christ with all who yearn for it." 
 
 As this glorious career drew toward its close, his 
 queen, who had twice before sought to crown it with 
 civic honors, offered the poet a peerage. While the 
 offer appealed to him but little, he accepted it as repre- 
 senting the nation's tribute to literature, and in 1883 
 became Baron Tennyson of Aldworth in Sussex and of 
 Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. On October 6th, 1892, 
 God gave him, after a brief sickness, just such a quiet 
 death as he had craved in this poem, his hand clasp- 
 ing a volume of Shakespeare, which he had asked for 
 just before the end. 
 
 Some points for Discussion 
 
 (1) It seems strange that the personality of the " Pilot " 
 should have been a matter of discussion. But a per- 
 verse effort was made by certain critics to deny that the 
 poem was really an avowal of Christian faith. As to 
 this the present Lord Tennyson writes : " My father was 
 much pained to learn that an)- one could misinterpret 
 
St •. \ '.s'/. / ' AND El '/■- . \ '/. \ G S I '. / A' 
 
 269 
 
 " the ' Pilot ' in ' Crossing the Bar,' and imagine that it 
 referred to Arthur Hallam or to my brother Lionel. 
 He had thought there could be only one possible inter- 
 pretation. Repeatedly and emphatically, at his dictation, 
 
 LORD TENNYSON 
 
 I have had to say this. Moreover, I have had to ex- 
 plain, also at his dictation, that in the line, ' And after 
 that the dark,' the 4 dark ' merely means ' The Valley of 
 the Shadow of Death.' " 
 
 (2) And one clear call for me! What is this call? 
 The passage from " Enoch Arden " will be remem- 
 bered : — 
 
 " Then the third night after this, 
 While Enoch slumber' d motionless and pale, 
 And Miriam watch'd and dozed at intervals, 
 
27O STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 " There came so loud a calling of tlie sea, 
 That all the bouses in the haven rang. 
 He woke, he rose, he spread his arms abroad, 
 ( Tying with a loud voice, ' A sail ! a sail ! 
 I am saved' ; and so fell back and spoke no more." 
 
 In an edition of Tennyson's poems Mr. W. Trego Webb 
 gives the following definition " on the authority, if not in 
 the words, of Lord Tennyson himself: — 
 
 " A calling of the sea. A term used in some parts of 
 England for a ground-swell. When this occurs on a 
 windless night, the sound not only echoes through the 
 houses standing near the beach, but is often heard many 
 miles inland." 
 
 (3) A recent writer thinks that Tennyson mixed his 
 metaphors in the last line, where " we are abruptly con- 
 fronted with a new contradictory image of facing the 
 pilot when we have crossed the bar, as though he were 
 then receiving us into his care, instead of dismissing us 
 from it." Father Tabb, the poet, answers this by saying 
 that before a ship sails out of port the pilot is in charge, 
 nor does the law allow her to cross the bar without 
 him ; and that in the poem it is a question not of hav- 
 ing a pilot, but of seeing him face to face, which in our 
 voyage we cannot hope to do till we have crossed the 
 bar. Is there any confusion of metaphor here ? 
 
 (4) The meaning of another line has also been dis- 
 cussed. In the Memoir of Bishop Walsham How the 
 following passage occurs in a letter dated October 24th, 
 1 890 : — 
 
 "A few months ago the Master of Trinity (Dr. Butler) sent 
 me a Latin version of Tennyson's 'Crossing the Bar.' I 
 ventured to criticise one word. In rendering the lines : — 
 
SUNSET AND EVENING STAR 27 I 
 
 1 When that which drew from out the boundless deep 
 Turns again home,' 
 
 he introduced the word ' vita.' I said I thought it was wrong, 
 as I always understood those lines of the tide and not of the 
 life. He replied, referring me to Tennyson's 'Out of the 
 deep, my child, out of the deep,' and to various other pas- 
 sages of Tennyson, proving that the thought of the life being 
 drawn out of the depths of infinity to return thither again 
 was a very familiar one to him. He also showed me several 
 places in Wordsworth where the same thought occurs. This 
 entirely convinced me that I was wrong, and I then observed 
 that in each of the other stanzas the third and fourth lines 
 refer to the thing typified, and the first and second to the 
 type, so that symmetry of arrangement was against me. After 
 some time the Master wrote to me from the Isle of Wight, 
 where he had seen Tennyson, and told me he had told him 
 of our correspondence, and the poet had said I was right and 
 Butler wrong. I still think the author had better adopt 
 Butler's view and make it his own, the arguments for it being 
 so strong." 
 
 But does not the imagery seem to require that the 
 words refer to the tide on which the ship floats ? 
 
 (5) Does it seem likely that this lyric is to take its 
 place among the accepted hymns of the Church ? In 
 its favor are its exquisite beauty and its appeal to every 
 Christian heart. Against it are its irregularity of metre, 
 requiring more extended music than an ordinary hymn, 
 so that it must in any event be reserved for somewhat 
 occasional use ; and also its lack of hymnic form, which, 
 however, is no more marked here than in the case of 
 " Lead, Kindly Light." It is significant, perhaps, that 
 the omission of the hymn from a recent hymnal caused 
 
2J2 STUDIES OF FAMILIAR HYMNS 
 
 so much remark that in revising the plates of the book 
 the opportunity was taken to insert it. Yet, on the 
 other hand, a distinguished literary woman, Mrs. ( )li- 
 phant, appears to question the propriety of using this 
 lyric as a funeral hymn. In a letter, published since her 
 death, she wrote : " Is it true that Hallam Tennyson has 
 wished it to be set to music and sung at the funeral ? I 
 can't think it very suitable for that. I suggested to Dr. 
 Bridge those verses from ' In Memoriam ' : — 
 
 ' Peace ; come away : the song of woe 
 Is. after all, an earthly song.' " 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 [Titles of books, etc.. in Italics.] 
 
 Abends (Tune), 36 
 
 Abney, Sir Thomas and Lady, 
 
 134 
 Adams, John Brydges, 119 
 Adams, Sarah Flower:— her hymn, 
 
 " Nearer, My God, to Thee," 117- 
 
 126; sketch of, 118-122; portrait 
 
 of, 121 ; autographs of, 121, 123 
 Adams, Rev. Dr. William, 222 
 Adeste Fideles (Tune), 47 
 African colonization, Mr. Key and, 
 
 58 
 Alexandria, 245 
 Allen, Rev. Dr. A. V. G., his Life of 
 
 Phillips Brooks, 9, 10 
 Alterations of hymns, 22, 34, 93, 106, 
 
 124, 259 
 "America," as the name of a hymn, 
 
 99, 101 ; as the name of a tune, 
 
 101, 105, 181 
 Andover Seminary, Samuel F. Smith 
 
 at, 99 ; hymn book edited by its 
 
 professors, 30, 124 
 "Angel faces," meaning of, 95 
 Anglican school of hymn tunes, 68, 
 
 no 
 Annapolis, 56 
 
 Apologia pro Vita Suo, 88, 92 
 Arnold, John, 151 
 Arnold, Matthew, 135 
 Art and consecration, 217 
 Ash, Rev. Dr. John, 194 
 Assize Sermon (Keble's), 32, 92 
 Association of hymns with particular 
 
 tunes, 46-48, 153-154 
 18 
 
 Astley, 214, 218 
 Athenceum, 167 
 
 Augsburg, 158, 159 
 
 Baker, Rev. Dr. George D., 172 
 
 Ballad metre, 12 
 
 Baltimore, Mr. Key in, 54, 58 ; attack 
 
 on, 59 
 Baptist hymnody, 38,44,46, 104, 194, 
 
 195 
 
 Baptist Missionary Magazine, 102 
 
 Baring-Gould, Rev. Sabine : — his 
 hymn, "Onward, Christian Sol- 
 diers," 107-116; sketch of, in- 
 114; portrait of, 113; autograph 
 of, III 
 
 Barnby, Sir Joseph, 266 
 
 Beecher, Henry Ward, 30, 123, 173 
 
 Belleville Avenue Congregational 
 Church, Newark, 80 
 
 Belshazzar, 240 
 I Benson, Archbishop Edward White, 
 34, 262 
 
 Bethany (Tune), 124 
 
 Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks at, 2 
 
 Biblical language in hvmns, 48-40, 
 146, 246; the Bible as a theme of 
 hymns, 199 
 
 Bickersteth, Bishop Edward FL. 04 
 
 Bird, Rev. Frederick M., 52, 223, 
 224, 225 
 
 Bloomfield, N. J., the Duffields at, 
 19, 20, 21 
 
 Blue-Stocking Revels, quoted, 121 
 I Boardman s Selection, 173 
 
 273 
 
274 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Book of Common Prayer, 10, 27, 28, 
 152, 206, 241, 254 
 
 Book of Hymns, 92, 123, 138, 142 
 
 Book of Praise, 34 
 
 Boston, Phillips Brooks in, 7-8 ; 
 Lowell Mason in, 08, 99; Ray 
 Pamier in, 80; S. F. Smith in, 98, 
 104: John S. Dwight in, 190 
 
 Bridge, Dr. Frederick, 266, 272 
 
 British Magazine, 92 
 
 Brixham, Lower, 170 
 
 Brook Farm, 190 
 
 Brooke, Rev. John T., 56, 58 
 
 Brooks, Rev. Dr. Arthur, 3 
 
 Brooks, Rev. Charles T., 179-189; 
 portrait of, 187 ; autograph of, 182 
 
 Brooks, Bishop Phillips: — his hymn, 
 "O Little Town of Bethlehem," 
 1-12; sketch of, 7-10 ; portrait of, 
 9 ; autographs of, 3, 11 
 
 Broughton, 196-198 
 
 Browning, Robert, 119 
 
 Brownlie, Rev. John, 254, 262 
 
 Buckingham, Governor, 180 
 
 Butler, Rev. Dr. Henry M., 270. 
 
 Byron, 234 
 
 Calling of the sea, 270 
 
 Cambridge Divinity School, Long- 
 fellow and Johnson at, 138 
 
 Cambridge Intelligencer, 118 
 
 Cambridge, University of, Bishop 
 Wordsworth at, 202 
 
 Campbell, Thomas, 235 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 161, 167 
 
 Carmina Sacra, 179, 186 
 
 Carols, Christmas and Easter, 9, 153 
 
 Carrington, General Henry B., 104 
 
 Cawood, Rev. John, 214 
 
 Central Presbyterian Church (N. L.), 
 Philadelphia, 20 
 
 " Ceylon's isle," 72 
 
 Chambers, Rev. John, 16 
 
 Channing, Dr., 164 
 
 Chauncy, Dr. Isaac, 134 
 
 Children's hymns, 8-9, 109 
 
 Chirk, 255 
 Christ in Song, 246 
 Christian Lyre, 54 
 Christian Messenger, 53 
 Christian Observer, 66-67, 7* 
 Christian Review, 104 
 Christian, The, 43 
 Christian Year, 26-29, 87. 206, 235 
 Christmas at Bethlehem, 2; at l^je- 
 mados, Cuba, 47; Christmas ca.oU, 
 9, 153 ; " Adeste F. deles," 47-46 
 Church, The, in hymnody, 115 
 (Jiurch Hymnal { Hutch ins), no 
 Church Hynviary (Scoit.shj, 125, 266 
 Church of England hyimiody, 4 r ->,'J4, 
 
 71, 73. 129. x 52. 234-236 
 Church of the Covenant, Philadel- 
 phia, 14 
 Church of the Disciples, 123 
 Church of the Epiphany, Philadel- 
 phia, 14 
 Church of the Holy Trinity, Phila- 
 delphia, 2, 3, 7 
 Church Poetry, 51-53, 61, 230 
 Church Porch, 6 
 Church Psalmist, 17 
 Church Times, 109 
 Churchman, 105 
 
 Civil War (1861), 17. 83. 108, 180 
 Clarke, Rev. J. Freeman, 123 
 Clement of Alexandria, 244-246 
 Clemson, Rev. John B., 225 
 Clolata (Tune), 36 
 Coleridge, 234 
 
 Commentary on the Whole Bible, 204 
 Common metre, 12 
 Compleat Psalmodist, 151 
 Composite hymns, 148 
 Confirmation service, 254 
 Congregational Quarterly, 248 
 Congregationalism of the Last Three 
 
 Hundred Years. 248 
 Congregationalist, 93, 246, 248 
 Congregationalist and Recorder. 218 
 Congregationalist hymnody, 46, 129, 
 130, 256 
 
GENERAL fNDEX 
 
 275 
 
 Consecration, 212; and art, 217 
 Consecration hymns, proper use of, 
 
 218 
 Coverdale, M> les, 160 
 Coxe, Bishop Arthur C, 73 
 Crabbe, 234 
 Craigie House, 140 
 Cross, The, in hymnody, 59, 125, 132, 
 
 177 ; (processional), 107 
 " Cross. ng the Bar," 263-272 ; 
 
 (Tune), 266 
 Cruciger, Kaspar, 159 
 Cummings, William H., 105 
 Carious My I lis oj the Middle Ages, 
 
 112 
 Curiosities of the Olden Time, 112 
 Cuyler, Rev. Dr. Theodore L., 76,82 
 
 Dalston, 118, 119 
 
 Da vies, President Samuel, 257 
 
 " Declining Days," 171 
 
 De vieter and Other Poems, 263, 264 
 
 Dexter, Rev. Elijah, 247 
 
 Dexter, Rev. Dr. Henry M. : — his 
 translation, "Shepherd of Tender 
 Youth," 243-252: sketch of, 247- 
 250; portrait of, 249; autograph 
 of, 247 
 
 Dexter, Rev. Morton, 249 
 
 Dial, The, 164 
 
 Dictionary of Hymnology, 45 
 
 Didactic hymns, 210 
 
 Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), 204 
 
 Doane, Bishop George W., 29 
 
 Doddridge, Rev. Dr. Philip, 49 
 
 " Dream of Gerontius," 93 
 
 Duffield, Rev. George (1st), 18; 
 (2nd), 18; (3rd), 18: — his hymn, 
 "Stand Up for Jesus," 13-24; 
 sketch of, 18-21; portrait of, 19; 
 autographs of, 19, 23 
 
 Duffield, Rev. Samuel W., 18, 19, 20 
 
 Dwight, John S., 179-190; portrait 
 of, 189; autograph of, 184 
 
 Dwight' s Journal of Music, 190 
 
 Dykes, Rev. John B., 94 
 
 Easter carols, 9, 148-153 
 
 Easter Hymn (Tune), 150 
 
 Edg worth, Thomas, 65 
 
 Kin Feste Burg (Tune), 159 
 
 Ellerton, Rev. John, 176 
 
 Elliott, Rev. Henry Venn, 29 
 
 Enoch . Irden, 269 
 
 /episcopal Recorder, 225-226, 229 
 
 Ep.scopal. See Protestant Episcopal. 
 
 Eton College, singing at, 34 
 
 Evan (Tune), 214 
 
 " Evangelical Catholic Church," 230 
 
 Evangelical Party, 7, 56, 86 
 
 Evans, Rev. Caleb, 194, 195, 198 
 
 Evening hymns, 176 
 
 Eventide (Tune), 173 
 
 Eairford, 32 
 
 Fall of Jerusalem, 240 
 
 Family Expositor, 49 
 
 Famous Hymns and their Authors, 260 
 
 Faust, 189 
 
 Fazio : a Tragedy, 238 
 
 Fletcher, A., 45 
 
 Flower, Benjamin, 118 
 
 Flower, Eliza, 118, 119 
 
 Flower, Sarah. See Adams. 
 
 Flushing, L. I., 230 
 
 Fort McHenry, 59 
 
 Fort Sumter, 180, 184 
 
 Four Georges, 68 
 
 Four Happy Days, 214 
 
 Fox, Mrs. Bridell, 120, 122 
 
 Fox, Rev. William J., 118, 222, 123 
 
 Eraser's Magazine, 161 
 
 Frederick, Md., 55, 56 
 
 Frederick (Tune), 226, 229 
 
 Froude, Hurrell, 88-89 
 
 Furness, Dr. William Henry, 162 
 
 Gaine, Hugh, 161 
 Geard (Tune), 44-45 
 Gems of German Verse, 163 
 Georgetown, D. C, Mr. Key in, 56 
 German hymnody, 98-99, 160, 161, 
 180 
 
276 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Germany, Prose Writers of, 164 
 
 Gill, Dr. John, 43 
 
 Gillies, Margaret, 121 
 
 ( Gladstone, 1 14, 262 
 
 God Save the King (Tune), 101, 105, 
 
 181 
 Goddard, Rev. Kingston, 17 
 Goethe, 189 
 Golden Legend, 167 
 Goostly Psalmes and Spirituall 
 
 Songes, 160 
 ( i< irdelier, Charles, 44 
 " Gospel " for the day, 241 
 Gould. See Baring-Gould 
 Gould, Eliza, 119 
 Gower, Lord Ronald, 86 
 Grafton, Life 0/ Joseph, 104 
 Gratitude, Christian, in hymns, 52, 59 
 Greek hymns, 244, 250 
 Greenland (Tune), 24 
 Greenwood, Rev. F. W. P., 30 
 Grey, Lord, 88 
 Guild, Lieutenant-Colonel Curtis, Jr., 
 
 47 
 Gustavus Adolphus, 159 
 
 Hale, Rev. Edward E., 138 
 
 Hallam, Arthur, 269 
 
 Hare, Augustus, 70 
 
 Harrow, Bishop Wordsworth at, 203 
 
 Hartopp, Sir John, 133 
 
 Harvard University, Dr. Hedge's 
 
 connection with, 163; class of 1829, 
 
 98 
 Hastings, H. L., 43-44, 48 
 Hastings, Thomas, 54, 78 
 Havergal, Frances R., 200: — her 
 
 hymn, " Take My Life, and Let it 
 
 Be," 211-220; sketch of, 214-218; 
 
 portrait of, 215 ; autograph of, 213 
 Havergal, Miss M. V. G., 217, 219 
 Havergal, Rev. William H., 214, 217 
 Hawarden, 262 
 Haydn's tune, St. Alban, 109 
 Heber, Bishop Reginald : — his hymn, 
 
 " From Greenland's lev Moun- 
 
 tains, " 63-74; sketch of, 68-72; 
 portrait of, 09 ; autographs of, 65, 
 69; his Hymns, 71, 234-236, 242 
 Hedge, Rev. Fred. H. :— his transla- 
 tion, " A Mighty Fortrrs> is Our 
 God,'' 155-168; sketch of, 02- 
 167 ; portrait of, 165 ; autograph 
 of, 162 ; reference to, 246 
 Heine, 159 
 
 Henshaw, Sarah E., 180, 185-186 
 Hepworth, Rev. George IL, 80 
 Hesperus, 189 
 Hickson, William E.. 185 
 Higginson, Thomas \\\, 141 
 High Chureh Party, 30, 32, 56, 71, 87, 
 
 no, 204, 241 
 Hints on the Formation of Religious 
 
 Opinions, 81 
 History of Christianity, 240 
 History of the Jews, 240 
 History of Latin Christianity, 240 
 Hitchcock, Rev. Dr. Roswell D., no 
 Hodge, Rev. Dr. Charles, 49 
 Hodnet, 70 
 
 Hogg, Mrs. A. M., 171, 176 
 Holmes, Dr. Oliver Wendell, 98, 105, 
 
 123. 144 
 Holy Year, 202, 206-208, 210 
 Home and School Hymnal, 266 
 Home, or the Unlost Paradise, 81 
 Hooper, George H., 258 
 Horder, Rev. W. Garrett, 46, 196 
 How, Bishop W. Walsham, 124, 270 
 Howard, Mary W., 67-68 
 Hunt, Leigh, 121 
 Huntington, Rev. Frederick D., 156, 
 
 166, 246 
 Huntington, Rev. George, 94 
 Huntington, Rev. Dr. William R., 
 
 5.6 
 Hursley, 32 ; (Tune), 36 
 Hutchins, Rev. Dr. Charles L., no 
 " Hymn for My Brother's Ordina- 
 tion," 138, 142 
 Hymn Lover, The, 46 
 Hymnal Companion, 94 
 
(//■AAA'.// I XL) EX 
 
 2 77 
 
 Hymnal, Presbyterian (1874), 54, no 
 Hymnal, The (1895). See Preface 
 
 (to this book reference is made 
 
 throughout as the textual standard); 
 
 its notes to the hymns, 154 
 Hymnal oj the Presbyterian Church 
 
 (1866), 124, 246 
 Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal 
 
 Church (1872), no, 256; (1892), 
 
 6, 106, 124, 231, 236 
 Hymnology, Julian s Dictionary of, 45 
 Hymns . — 
 
 alterations of, 22, 34, 93, 106, 124, 
 
 259 
 
 Biblical language in, 48-49, 146, 
 246 
 
 churchly, 205 
 
 composite, 148 
 
 didactic, 210 
 
 egotistical, 205, 209 
 
 form proper to, 12, 271 
 
 literary merit of, 125, 135, 234, 
 256, 267 
 
 as liturgical verse, 206, 257 
 
 and lyrical poetry, 256 
 
 memorizing of, 9-10 
 
 military, 21, 108 
 
 of personal experience, 77, 205, 
 209 
 
 poetic merit of, 73, 84, 125, 234, 
 256 
 
 prejudice against, 128 ; introduc- 
 tion into Church of England, 
 64, 71, 129, 152, 234-236; in- 
 troduction into American Con- 
 gregational and Presbyterian 
 Churches, 129, 237 
 
 private use of, 195, 205, 231 
 
 processional, 115 
 
 vs. Psalms, 128 
 
 teaching-power of, 206, 209 
 
 translated, 161, 250 
 
 of Watts as models for his suc- 
 cessors, 128 
 
 Bishop Wordsworth on the char- 
 acter of, 205 
 
 Hymns .Indent and Modern (1861), 
 
 109, no, 173, 177; Appendix to 
 
 (1868), 93, 94, 108, 109, no 
 Hymns and Anthems, 118, 122-123 
 Hymns and Sacred Pieces, 76, 8 1 
 Hymns and Songs of Praise, no 
 Hymns and Spiritual Songs \ Watts), 
 
 127-129, 200, 237 ; see frontispiece. 
 Hymns for the Church of Christ, 150, 
 
 163, i66, 246 
 Hymns of My Holy Hours, 81 
 Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal 
 
 Church (1827), 54, 221, 226, 229, 
 
 236 
 Hymns of the Spirit, 137, 142, 143 
 Hymns Written and Adapted to the 
 
 Weekly Church Service, 71, 234- 
 
 236, 242 
 
 Iceland: Ps Scenes and its Sagas, 112 
 Imitations of the Psalms, by Watts, 
 
 129 
 /// Memoriam, 267, 272 
 Independent, 105, 106 
 India, 70, 73 
 Ingoldsby legends, 238 
 Instructor, The, 245 
 
 Jacobi, J. C, 161 
 
 Jayne's Hall Meetings, Philadelphia, 
 
 14, 22 
 John, Elector of Saxony, 158 
 "John Brown's Body," 180 
 Johnson, Dr., 134 
 Johnson, Rev. Samuel, 92, 137, 138 
 Jonas, Dr. Justus, 159 
 Jones, Francis Arthur, 237, 260 
 Journal of a I r oyage to India, 72 
 Jowett, Rev. Dr. Benjamin, 267 
 Julian, Rev. Dr. John, 43, 45 
 Juvenile lyre, 101 
 
 " K " in Rippon's " Selection," 
 
 38, 40-46 
 Keats, 234 
 Keble (Tune), 36 
 
278 
 
 GENERAL IXDEX 
 
 Keble, Rev. John :— his hymn, "Sun 
 of My Soul, Thou Saviour Dear," 
 25-3 6 ; sketch of, 30-34; portrait 
 of, 31 ; autograph of, 27 ; references 
 to, 87, 92, 96, 177, 206-207, 2 35 
 
 Keene, R., 43, 44, 45, 48 
 
 Keith. George, 43 
 
 Ken, Bishop, 34 
 
 Key, Francis S. : — his hymn, " Lord, 
 with Glowing Heart I'd Praise 
 Thee," 51-61 ; sketch of, 55-59 ; 
 portrait of, ^y ; autographs of, 53, 
 57 
 
 Key, John Ross, 55 
 
 KJngsley, Rev. Charles, 92 
 
 Kingsley, George, 226, 229 
 
 " Kirkham," 42 
 
 Kostlin, Julius, 158 
 
 Kunze, Rev. Dr. John C, 161 
 
 Lancashire (Tune), 24 
 
 Lancaster, Pa., Dr. Muhlenberg at, 
 224, 230 
 
 Latin hymns, 47, 93, 148, 149, 250 
 
 Leavitt, Rev. Joshua, 54 
 
 Lee, General Robert E., 48 
 
 Legends of the Old Testament, 112 
 
 Leipzig, Battle of, 159 
 
 Lew Trenchard, 112. 114 
 
 Liberal hymns, 144 ; Singers and 
 Songs of the Liberal Faith, 181, 
 186, 188 
 
 Lick, James, 58 
 
 Literary merit in hymns, 125, 135, 
 234, 256, 267 
 
 Liturgical poetry, 206, 257 
 
 /ires of the S, lints, 112 
 
 Lloyd, Mary Tayloe, 56 
 
 London, Milman in, 241 
 
 Longfellow, Henry \V., 138, 140, 142, 
 167 
 
 Longfellow, Rev. Samuel, 92, 123 : — 
 his hymn, " O Still in Accent? Sweet 
 and Strong," 137-146 ; sketch of, 
 138-143 ; portrait of, 141 ; auto- 
 graph of, 145 
 
 I. >rd's Day hymns, 208, 209 
 Tale, 266 
 
 Laval Responses , 217 
 
 Luther, Dr. Martin : — his hymn, 
 " Ein' Feste Burg ist Unser Gott," 
 i55- l6 8 ; portrait and autograph 
 of, 157 
 
 Lutheran hymnody, 160, 161 
 
 Liitzen, Battle of, 159 
 
 Lux Benigna (Tune), 94 
 
 Lyra Apostolica, 85, 91, 92 
 
 Lyra Davidica, 149-151, 160 
 
 Lyra Liinocenttum, 33 
 
 Lyre, The Christian, 54 
 
 Lyrical poetry and hymns, 256 
 
 Lyte, Rev. Henry F. : — his hymn, 
 " Abide with Me," 169-178 ; sketch 
 of, 173-176 ; portrait of, 175 ; auto- 
 graphs of, 171, 175 
 
 McCauley, Richard, 5 
 
 Macgill, Rev. H. M., 251 
 
 Macllvaine, Bishop, 16 
 
 McKinley, President, 125 
 
 Maclaren, Ian, 135 
 
 Magnificat, 244 
 
 Manchester, X. H., Dr. Dexter at, 
 
 246 
 Mann, Dr. M. D., 125 
 Manning, Cardinal, 202 
 Marseillaise, The, 159 
 Martineau, Harriet, 119 
 Martyr of Antioch, 235, 240 
 Mary, the Song of, 244 
 Mason, Lowell : — beginning of his 
 
 career, 68 ; in Boston, 78, 99, 101, 
 
 124, 184; references to, 82, 84, 179, 
 
 183, 186, 187, 188, 208 
 Maude, Mary F. : — her hymn, 
 
 "Thine For Eve*!" 253-262; 
 
 sketch of, 258 ; portrait of, 259 ; 
 
 autographs of, 255. 250 
 Maude, Rev. Joseph, 258 
 Meade, Bishop. 58 
 Melancholy poetry, 222 
 Melanchthon, 159 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 2/9 
 
 Memorials of a Quiet Life, 70 
 Memorials of Past Years, 258 
 Mendebras (Tune), 208 
 Merle d'Aubigne\ 158 
 
 Military hymns, their popularity, 21, 
 108 
 
 Milman, Arthur, 238, 241 
 
 Milman, Sir Francis, 238 
 
 Milman, Dean Henry H., 71 :— his 
 hymn, " O Help Us, Lord," 233- 
 242; sketch of, 238-241 ; portrait 
 of, 239; autographs of, 237, 239 
 
 Milnor, Rev. Dr. James, 77 
 
 Ministry of Song, 217 
 
 Missionary Hymn (Tune), 68 
 
 Missionary hymns, 64, 68, 73-74 
 
 Missionary movement in nineteenth 
 century, 73 
 
 Missionary Sketches, 104 
 
 Mitford, Miss., 238 
 
 Monk, William Henry, 173 
 
 Montgomery, James, 128, 235 
 
 Monthly Repository, 120 
 
 " Moonlight Sonata," 216 
 
 Moore, Thomas, 235 
 
 Morbid views of life in hymns, 222, 
 231 
 
 Morgan, Rev. John, 130 
 
 Muhlenberg, Frederick A., 229-230 
 
 Muhlenberg, Rev. Dr. Henry M., 229 
 
 Muhlenberg, Rev. Dr. William A., 
 51-54, 61 : — his hymn, " I Would 
 Not LiveAlway," 221-232; sketch 
 of, 229-231 ; portrait of, 229 ; auto- 
 graphs of, 225, 229 
 
 Murray, John, 234 
 
 Musical Times, no 
 
 Nash, Sylvester, 52 
 
 National Anthem, the, 105 ; national 
 
 hymn, 102, 105, 179 
 Nelson, Horatio, Earl, 33 
 New York, Ray Palmer in, 76-77; 
 
 Dr. Muhlenberg in, 230 
 Newark, Ray Palmer in, 80 
 Newdigate prize, 69, 238 
 
 Newman, John, 86 
 
 Newman, Cardinal John H., 31, 
 32 : — his hymn, " Lead, Kindly 
 Light," 85-96; sketch of, 86-93; 
 portraits of, 87, 95; autograph of, 
 
 91 
 Newton Centre, Dr. Smith at, 102 
 Newton, Mass., History of, 104 
 Nice, Lyte's grave at, 172, 175 
 Noonday prayer-meetings in Phila- 
 delphia, 14 
 North, Christopher, 175, 267 
 
 Old Diaries, 86 
 
 Oliphant, Mrs. M. O. W., 272 
 
 Olivet (.Tune), 78 
 
 Onderdonk, Bishop Henry U., 226 
 
 Origin and Development of Religious 
 Belief, 112 
 
 Other-wordliness, 231 
 
 Outlook, 99 
 
 Oxford movement, 32, 92 
 
 Oxford University, Keble and New- 
 man at, 30-32, 87, 91-92; Heber 
 at, 69 ; Milman at, 238 
 
 Palermo, 90 
 
 Palestine, 67, 69 
 
 Palmer, Rev. Dr. Ray : — his hvmn, 
 " My Faith Looks Up to Thee," 
 75-84 ; sketch of, 80-83 ; portrait 
 of, 83 ; autograph of, 79 
 
 Palmer, Roundell (Lord Selborne), 
 
 34 
 Palmer, Thomas, 80 
 Pantnenus, 245 
 
 Park Street Church, Boston, 80, 101 
 Parker, Theodore, 138 
 Parlor music era of psalmody, 226 
 Patmos (Tune), 214 220 
 Peel, Sir Robert, 203 
 Philadelphia, "The Work of God" 
 
 in, 14-17 ; Phillips Brooks in, 2-5, 
 
 7 ; Dr. Duffield in, 20 
 Pick, Rev. Dr. Bernhard, 161 
 Pilgrim Fathers, 105-106, 248 
 
2 SO 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Plymouth, 248 
 
 Plymouth Collection, 30, 124, 173 
 
 Poems by Two Brothers, 266 
 
 Poems ( 'hiefly Lyrical, 267 
 
 I' etii merit in hymns, 73, 84, 125, 
 
 256 
 Cortland, the I <ongfellows in, 138 
 P01 tuguese 1 1\ inn ( Tunc), 47 
 l\.i\ er Hook, io, 27, 28, 152, 206, 241, 
 
 254 
 Prayer Book ( ollection, 10, 109 
 Presbyterian Historical Society, 55 
 Presbyterian Hymnal (1866) , 124, 
 
 246 : (1874). 54, no; U895). see 
 
 Preface | to this Look all textual 
 
 references are made 1 ; its rj 
 
 the hymns, 154 
 Presbyterian hymnody, 46, 54, 106, 
 
 no, 125, 129, 173, 177, 256, 266 
 Price, Rev. Mr., 130 
 Processionals, 115 
 
 or at tin' Breakfast Tabic, 123 
 Promise of May, 2.6j 
 Proper tunes, 46-48, 153 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, Hymns 
 
 of, (1827), 54, 221, 226, 229, 236 
 Protestant Episcopal Hymnal (1872), 
 
 no, 256; (1892), 6, 106, 124, 231, 
 
 236 
 Protestant Episcopal hymnody, 6, 52, 
 
 54, 106, 109-110, 194, 223, 226, 230, 
 
 236 
 Psalm XLVI., 160, 167 
 Psalmist, 104, 236 
 Psalmodia Germanica, 161 
 Psalmody, Havergal's, 217 
 Psalms as the only subject matter of 
 
 praise, 128 
 Psalms imitated by Watts, 129 
 Psalms, metrical, 71, 128, 152,194; 
 
 Keble's version, 33; Tate and 
 
 Brady's, 147. 152 
 Psalms and Hymns ( Prayer Book 
 
 Collection), 10, 109 
 Psaltery, 187 
 Pusej . Dr., 32 
 
 Putnam's Singers and Songs of the 
 
 Libera/ Faith, 181, 186, 188 
 
 Quarterly Review, 70, 234 
 Quemados, Cuba, Christmas at, 47 
 
 Radical hymns, 142, 144 
 Rattles, Rev. Dr. Thomas, 66 
 Random Recollections, 94 
 Reading, John, 4') 
 Reading Daily Times, 167 
 Rebellion (1861). 17, 83, 108, 180 
 Recollections of a Long Life, 82 
 Redner, Lewis H., 3-6, 11 ; portrait 
 
 of, 5 ; autograph of, 7 
 Reed, Rev. Andrew, 78 
 Reformation, the, 158-160; Merle 
 
 d'Aubigne's History of, 158 
 Resurrection of Christ, 147 
 Revival of 1857-58, 14 
 Revolutionary War, 18, 109 
 Richter, 189 
 Rippon, Rev. John, 38, 44 ; portrait 
 
 of, 39 
 Rippon s Selection, 38-42, 46, 194 
 Rippon' s Dine Book, 43 
 Robinson, Rev. Dr. Charles S., 92- 
 
 93, 208, 256 
 Rock of Ages, 104 
 Roman Catholic hymnody, 47, 86 
 Rowe. Rev. Thomas, 132 
 Royal Progress, The, 120 
 Russell, Joshua T., 53 
 
 Sabbath Hymn Hook, 17. 22, 30, 236 
 Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, 24, 
 
 124 
 San Francisco, 58 
 St. Alban (Tune), 109 
 St. Gertrude (Tune 1, no 
 St. Johnland, 230, 231 
 St. Louis 1 Tune), 4, 5 
 St. Luke's Hospital, X. V., 230-231 
 St. Mary's, Oxford, 87 
 St. Paul's, London, 241 
 Salisbury Hymn Book, 29, 33 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 28l 
 
 Samor, 240 
 
 Saturday ( !lub, 190 
 
 Savannah, Ga., Lowell Mason in, 
 
 67-68 
 
 Schaff, Rev. Dr. Philip, no, 222, 246 
 
 Scherer, \\\, 158 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 69, 235, 236 
 
 Scottish Church Hymnary, 125,266 
 
 Scripture, Holy, in hymnody, 199 
 
 Sedgwick, Daniel, 42-43, 185, 195 
 
 Selborne, Lord (Roundell Palmer), 34 
 
 Shelley, 234 
 
 Shipley, Dean, 64 
 
 Sicily, Newman in, 89 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, 76 
 
 Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith , 
 181, 186, 188 
 
 Singing Master, 185 
 
 Slavery, Mr. Key and, 157-158 
 
 Smith, Rev. Dr. Samuel F. : — his 
 hymn, "America," 97-106; sketch 
 of, 102-104 ; portrait of, 103 ; auto- 
 graph of, 100 
 
 Songs for the Sanctuary, 92, 208, 256 
 
 Songs of Grace and Glory, 212, 217 
 
 Songs of Pilgrimage, 43-44 
 
 Songs of the West, 112 
 
 Southey, Robert, 235, 236 
 
 Spalatin, 156 
 
 Spanish War, 47 
 
 Spirit of the Psalms, 176 
 
 Spiritual Songs for Social Worship, 
 78, 84, 101 
 
 Stanley, Dean, 20 
 
 Star Spangled Banner, 52, 55, 58 
 
 Steele, Anne : — her hymn, " Father 
 of Mercies, in Thy Word," 191- 
 200 ; sketch of, 196-198 ; autograph 
 of, 193 
 
 Steele, William, 196 
 
 Stewart, Benedict D., 17 
 
 Stockton, Rev. Thomas H., 16 
 
 Stone, Rev. Samuel ]., 115 
 
 Strand Magazine, 237 
 
 Sullivan. Sir Arthur, no, 176 
 
 Sun of My Soul (Tune), 36 
 
 Sunday hymns, 208, 209 
 Sunday-school hymnody, 3, 6, 99, 
 
 109, no 
 Sunday School Times, 47 
 Sursum Corda x 105 
 
 Tabb, John B., 270 
 
 Tales on the Lord's /'/-aver, 175 
 
 Tate and Brady's Version of the 
 
 Psalms, 147, 152 
 Taylor, Jeremy, 70 
 Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 73, 217 : — 
 his hymn, " Sunset and Evening 
 Star," 263-272; sketch of, 266- 
 268; portrait of, 269; autograph 
 of, 265 
 Tennyson, Charles, 266 
 Tennyson, Hal lam (2nd Lord), 272; 
 
 his Memoir of his father, 264, 268 
 Tennyson, Lionel, 269 
 Thackeray, 68 
 Theobalds, 134 
 Theodosia, 191, 192, 195, 200 
 Thine For Ever (Tune), 262 
 Thorn, John H., 28 
 Thoughtless hymn singing, 34, 125 
 Titan, 189 
 
 Toplady, Rev. Augustus M., 131 
 Transcendental movement, 164 
 Translated hymns, 161, 250 
 Trinity Church, Boston, 8 ; its parish 
 
 hymn book, 194 
 Tunes : — 
 
 Abends, 36 
 
 Adeste Fideles, 47 
 
 America, 101, 105, 181 
 
 Bethany, 124 
 
 Clolata, 36 
 
 Crossing the Bar, 266 
 
 Easter Hymn, 150 
 
 Ein' Feste Burg, 159 
 
 Evan, 214 
 
 Eventide, 173 
 
 Frederick, 226, 229 
 
 Geard, 44-45 
 
 God Save the King, ioi, 105, 181 
 
282 
 
 UEXERAL INDEX 
 
 Tunes : — 
 
 ( Greenland, 24 
 Hursley, 36 
 Keble, 36 
 
 Lancashire, 24 
 
 Lux Benigna, 94 
 
 Mendebras, 208 
 
 Missionary Hymn, 68 
 
 Olivet, 78 
 
 Patmos, 214, 220 
 
 Portuguese Hymn, 47 
 
 St. Alban, 109 
 
 St. Gertrude, no 
 
 St. Louis, 4, 5 
 
 Sun of My Soul, 36 
 
 Thine For Ever, 262 
 
 'Twas When the Seas Were 
 Roaring, 66 
 
 Webb, 24 
 
 Zoan, 214 
 Tunes: — of Anglican school, 68, no; 
 of parlor music era, 226; "proper," 
 46-48, 153-154 
 'Twas When the Seas Were Roaring 
 
 (Tune), 66 
 Twells, Canon Henry, 136 
 Twelve Letters on Confirmation , 258 
 Tyler, General Daniel, 180 
 Tyng, Rev. Dudley A., 14-18, 22; 
 
 portrait of, 15 
 Tyng, Rev. Dr. Stephen H., 18 
 
 Under the Surface, 217 
 Unitarian hymnody, 30, 138, 142, 144, 
 166, 236 
 
 Verses on Various Occasions, 85 
 
 Vivia Perpetua, 120 
 
 Vuws of Hope and Gladness, 81 
 
 Walker, Thomas, 43-45 
 
 Walsh, J., 149 
 
 War of Revolution, 18, 109; of 1812, 
 
 58; of Rebellion, 17, 83, 108, 180; 
 
 Spanish, 47 
 Ward, Ann M., 81 
 Ward, Rev. Dr. William Hayes, 80 
 
 Watson, Rev. Dr. John, 135 
 
 Watts, Enoch, 130 
 
 Watts, Dr. Isaac, 38, 128-129, 2 °°, 
 2 34. 2 37 : — his hymn, "When I 
 Survey the Wondrous Cross," 127- 
 136 ; sketch of, 132-134 ; portra.t ot 
 133 ; autographs of, 131, 133 ; title- 
 page of his Hymns, frontispiece. 
 
 Waits and Select, 237 
 
 Webb (Tune), 24 
 
 Webb, W. Trego, 270 
 
 Weimar, 159 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, 202 
 
 Wendte, Rev. C. W., 181 
 
 Wesley, Rev. Charles, 153, 154 
 
 Wesley, Rev. John, 135 
 
 Wesleyan hymnody, 46 
 
 Westminster Abbey, Bishop Words- 
 worth at, 203 ; Tennyson's funeral 
 in, 264, 272 
 
 Westminster Church, Bloomfield, X. 
 
 J- 19 
 
 White, Bishop William, 226, 230 
 
 Whitefield, Rev. George, 45 
 
 Whittier, 139, 168 
 
 Wiseman, Monsignor, 89 
 
 Wittenberg, 158-159 
 
 Woodbridge, William C, 98 
 
 Wordsworth, Rev. Dr. Christopher, 
 202 
 
 Wordsworth, Bishop Christopher: — 
 his hymn, " O Day of Rest and 
 Gladness," 201-210; sketch of, 
 202-206; portrait of, 203; auto- 
 graph of, 207 ; reference to, 257 
 
 Word-worth, William, 206, 235, 271 
 
 Worgan, Dr., 151 
 
 " Work of God in Philadelphia," 
 14-17 
 
 Worms, Luther at, 156 
 
 Wrexham, 64-66 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association, 
 
 14 
 Zimmerman, Thomas I., 167 
 Zoan (Tune), 214 
 
INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 
 
 [ Those which are the subjects of the Studies are printed in Italics. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A mighty Fortress is our Go J 1 55-1 68 
 
 Abide 7.'//// me : fast falls the eventide 169-1 78 
 
 Adeste fideles ■ 47 
 
 Again, as evening's shadow falls 144 
 
 All -praise to Thee, my God, this night 34 
 
 Almighty God, Thy word is cast 214 
 
 Arm these, Thy soldiers, mighty Lord 257 
 
 Beneath Thine hammer, Lord, I lie • • • • 166 
 
 Bridle of untamed colts 250 
 
 Christ to the young man said 138, 142 
 
 Fin Feste Burg ist Unser Gott 155-168 
 
 Father of mercies, in Thy word 191-200 
 
 Father, whate'er of earthly bliss 195 
 
 From Greenland ' s lev mountains 63-74, 234 
 
 Glory to Thee, my God, this night 34 
 
 God bless our native land 106, 1 79-190 
 
 God save our gracious king 1 01, 105, 181 
 
 God, the Lord, a King remaineth ^ 
 
 Golden harps are sounding 217 
 
 H irk ! what mean those holy voices 214 
 
 Holy Spirit, Truth Divine- 144 
 
 Hoiu firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord 37 _ 5° 
 
 / would not live alway ; I ask not to star 221-232 
 
 In songs of sublime adoration and praise 40 
 
 283 
 
284 INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 
 
 1 IGE 
 
 Jesus, I my cross have taken 1 76 
 
 Jons Christ is risen to-day 147-154 
 
 Just as 1 am, without one plea 29 
 
 Lead) kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom 
 
 85-96, 126, [38, 271 
 
 Lord, I am Thine, entirely Thine 257 
 
 Lord, with glowing heart I'd praise Thee 5 1-61 
 
 My country, 'tis of thee 97-106 
 
 My faith looks up to Thee 75 - ^4 
 
 Nearer, my God, to Thee 1 1 7-1 26 
 
 New every morning is the love 28 
 
 Now I resolve with all my heart 195 
 
 Now the day is over 114 
 
 Now, when the dusky shades of night, retreating. ... 166 
 
 ( ) 1 ome, all ye faithful 47 
 
 O day of rest and gladness 201-2 10 
 
 O help us, Lord ; each hour of need 233-242 
 
 O little town of Bethlehem 1-1 2 
 
 O still in accents sweet and strong 137-146 
 
 Onward, Christian soldiers 1 07-1 16 
 
 Praise to the Holiest in the height 93 
 
 Ride on, ride on in majesty 235. 242 
 
 Rock of Ages, cleft for me 131 
 
 Saviour, sprinkle many nations 73 
 
 Shepherd of tender youth 243-252 
 
 Stand up for Jesus ! Strengthen 'd by His hand 17 
 
 Stand up, stand up for Jesus 1 3-23, 1 15 
 
 Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear 25-36, 177 
 
 Sunset and ereniug star 263-272 
 
 Surrexit ( 'hristus hodie 1 48 
 
 Take my life, and let it be 21 1-220 
 
 The Bible is justly esteemed 40 
 
 'The Church's one Foundation 115 
 
 The morning light is breaking 104 
 
INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 
 
 ■85 
 
 The voice that breathed o'er Eden $$ 
 
 Thine for ever .' God of lore 253-262 
 
 Thou Kramer of the light and dark . 29 
 
 Through the night of doubt and sorrow 114 
 
 Thyself, Lord, be the Bridle 25 1 
 
 "lis gone, that bright and orbed blaze 28, 30 
 
 'Twas the day when God's Anointed 166 
 
 What a Friend we have in Jesus 43 
 
 When I survey the wondrous cross 127-136 
 
 When our heads are bowed with woe 242 
 
J it h^, «h- **-«-«• **> — 
 
 )U Till *•■*»* -~ -*~*^ 
 
 ^/ At *w£- J tU^U. 
 
 « 
 
 
 
 1 e Ml 
 
 , / /Ave/ 
 
 $*.*, /^ 
 
 to. 
 
 

 HP 
 
 
 ■ 1 1 
 
 ■ ■