The Rev. John Fawcett, D.D., wrote the hymn, “Blest be the tie
that binds”--perhaps the noblest hymnic expression of Christian
brotherhood; and the author is himself one of the best examples
of its sentiment. Brought to God by the Methodists, under the
ministry of Whitefield, he joined that body, and became later
pastor of a Baptist church in Bradford, England, and finally was
settled at Wainsgate. Receiving a call to succeed the celebrated
Dr. Gill in London, he had his goods packed ready for removal,
when his loving people gathered, weeping, to say farewell, which
so touched him and his good wife that he said, “I will stay;
you may unpack my goods, and we will live for the Lord lovingly
together.” This experience, it was, which led the author to
compose the now popular hymn. (Text.)
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