MISSIONARY HYMNS.
"JESUS SHALL REIGN WHERE'ER THE SUN."
One of Watts' sublimest hymns, this Hebrew ode to the final King and His
endless dominion expands the majestic prophesy in the seventy-second
Psalm:
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journeys run,
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
The hymn itself could almost claim to be known "where'er the sun" etc.,
for Christian missionaries have sung it in every land, if not in every
language.
One of the native kings in the South Sea Islands, who had been converted
through the ministry of English missionaries, substituted a Christian
for a pagan constitution in 1862. There were five thousand of his
subjects gathered at the ceremonial, and they joined as with one voice
in singing this hymn.
_THE TUNE._
"Old Hundred" has often lent the notes of its great plain-song to the
sonorous lines, and "Duke Street," with superior melody and scarcely
inferior grandeur, has given them wings; but the choice of many for
music that articulates the life of the hymn would be the tune of
"Samson," from Handel's Oratorio so named. It appears as No. 469 in the
_Evangelical Hymnal_.
Handel had no peer in the art or instinct of making a note speak a word.
"JOY TO THE WORLD! THE LORD IS COME!"
This hymn, also by Watts, is often sung as a Christmas song; but "The
Saviour Reigns" and "He Rules the World" are bursts of prophetic triumph
always apt and stimulating in missionary meetings.
Here, again, the great Handel lends appropriate aid, for "Antioch," the
popular tone-consort of the hymn, is an adaptation from his "Messiah."
The arrangement has been credited to Lowell Mason, but he seems to have
taken it from an English collection by Clark of Canterbury.
"O'ER THE GLOOMY HILLS OF DARKNESS."
_Dros y brinian tywyl niwliog._
This notable hymn was written, probably about 1750, by the Rev. William
Williams, a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist, born at Cefnycoed, Jan. 7,
1717, near Llandovery. He began the study of medicine, but took deacon's
orders, and was for a time an itinerant preacher, having left the
established Church. Died at Pantycelyn, Jan. 1, 1781.
His hymn, like the two preceding, antedates the great Missionary
Movement by many years.
O'er the gloomy hills of darkness
Look my soul! be still, and gaze!
See the promises advancing
To a glorious Day of grace!
Blessed Jubilee,
Let thy glorious morning dawn!
Let the dark, benighted pagan,
Let the rude barbarian see
That divine and glorious conquest
Once obtained on Calvary.
Let the Gospel
Loud resound from pole to pole.
This song of anticipation has dropped out of the modern hymnals, but the
last stanza lingers in many memories.
Fly abroad, thou mighty Gospel!
Win and conquer, never cease;
May thy lasting wide dominion
Multiply and still increase.
Sway Thy scepter,
Saviour, all the world around!
_THE TUNE._
Oftener than any other the music of "Zion" has been the expression of
William Williams' Missionary Hymn. It was composed by Thomas Hastings,
in Washington, Ct., 1830.
"HASTEN, LORD, THE GLORIOUS TIME."
Hasten, Lord, the glorious time
When beneath Messiah's sway
Every nation, every clime
Shall the Gospel call obey.
Mightiest kings its power shall own,
Heathen tribes His name adore,
Satan and his host o'erthrown
Bound in chains shall hurt no more.
Miss Harriet Auber, the author of this melodious hymn, was a daughter of
James Auber of London, and was born in that city, Oct. 4, 1773. After
leaving London she led a secluded life at Broxbourne and Hoddesdon, in
Hertfordshire, writing devotional poetry and sacred songs and
paraphrases.
Her _Spirit of the Psalms_, published in 1829, was a collection of
lyrics founded on the Biblical Psalms. "Hasten Lord," etc., is from Ps.
72, known for centuries to Christendom as one of the Messianic Psalms.
Her best-known hymns have the same inspiration, as--
Wide, ye heavenly gates, unfold.
Sweet is the work, O Lord.
With joy we hail the sacred day.
Miss Auber died in Hoddesdon, Jan. 20, 1862. She lived to witness and
sympathise with the pioneer missionary enterprise of the 19th century,
and, although she could not stand among the leaders of the battle-line
in extending the conquest of the world for Christ, she was happy in
having written a campaign hymn which they loved to sing. (It is curious
that so pains-taking a work as Julian's _Dictionary of Hymns and
Hymn-writers_ credits "With joy we hail the sacred day" to both Miss
Auber and Henry Francis Lyte. Coincidences are known where different
hymns by different authors begin with the same line; and in this case
one writer was dead before the other's works were published. Possibly
the collector may have seen a forgotten hymn of Lyte's, with that first
line.)
The tune that best interprets this hymn in spirit and in living _music_
is Lowell Mason's "Eltham." Its harmony is like a chime of bells.
"LET PARTY NAMES NO MORE."
Let party names no more
The Christian world o'erspread;
Gentile and Jew, and bond and free,
Are one in Christ the Head.
This hymn of Rev. Benjamin Beddome sounds like a prelude to the grand
rally of the Christian Churches a generation later for united advance
into foreign fields. It was an after-sermon hymn--like so many of Watts
and Doddridge--and spoke a good man's longing to see all sects stand
shoulder to shoulder in a common crusade.
Tune--Boylston.
"WATCHMAN, TELL US OF THE NIGHT."
The tune written to this pealing hymn of Sir John Bowring by Lowell
Mason has never been superseded. In animation and vocal splendor it
catches the author's own clear call, echoing the shout of Zion's
sentinels from city to city, and happily reproducing in movement and
phrase the great song-dialogue. Words and music together, the piece
ranks with the foremost missionary lyrics. Like the greater Mason-Heber
world-song, it has acquired no arbitrary name, appearing in Mason's own
tune-books under its first hymn-line and likewise in many others. A few
hymnals have named it "Bowring," (and why not?) and some later ones
simply "Watchman."
1.
Watchman, tell us of the night.
What its signs of promise are!
(Antistrophe)
Traveler, on yon mountain height.
See that glory-beaming star!
2
Watchman, does its beauteous ray
Aught of hope or joy foretell?
(Antistrophe)
Trav'ler, yes; it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.
3
Watchman, tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends.
(Antistrophe)
Trav'ler, blessedness and light
Peace and truth its course portends.
4
Watchman, will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
(Antistrophe)
Trav'ler, ages are its own.
See! it bursts o'er all the earth.
"YE CHRISTIAN HERALDS, GO PROCLAIM."
In some versions "Ye Christian _heroes_," etc.
Professor David R. Breed attributes this stirring hymn to Mrs. Vokes (or
Voke) an English or Welsh lady, who is supposed to have written it
somewhere near 1780, and supports the claim by its date of publication
in _Missionary and Devotional Hymns_ at Portsea, Wales, in 1797. In this
Dr. Breed follows (he says) "the accepted tradition." On the other hand
the _Coronation Hymnal_ (1894) refers the authorship to a Baptist
minister, the Rev. Bourne Hall Draper, of Southampton (Eng.), born 1775,
and this choice has the approval of Dr. Charles Robinson. The question
occurs whether, when the hymn was published in good faith as Mrs.
Vokes', it was really the work of a then unknown youth of twenty-two.
The probability is that the hymn owns a mother instead of a father--and
a grand hymn it is; one of the most stimulating in Missionary
song-literature.
The stanza--
God shield you with a wall of fire!
With flaming zeal your breasts inspire;
Bid raging winds their fury cease,
And hush the tumult into peace,
--has been tampered with by editors, altering the last line to "Calm the
troubled seas," etc., (for the sake of the longer vowel;) but the
substitution, "_He'll_ shield you," etc., in the first line, turns a
prayer into a mere statement.
The hymn was--and should remain--a God-speed to men like William
Carey, who had already begun to think and preach his immortal motto,
"Attempt great things for God; expect great things of God."
_THE TUNE_
Is the "Missionary Chant," and no other. Its composer, Heinrich
Christopher Zeuner, was born in Eisleben, Saxony, Sept. 20, 1795. He
came to the United States in 1827, and was for many years organist at
Park Street Church, Boston, and for the Handel and Haydn Society. In
1854 he removed to Philadelphia where he served three years as organist
to St. Andrews Church, and Arch Street Presbyterian. He became insane in
1857, and in November of that year died by his own hand.
He published an oratorio "The Feast of Tabernacles," and two popular
books, the _American Harp_, 1832, and _The Ancient Lyre_, 1833. His
compositions are remarkably spirited and vigorous, and his work as a
tune-maker was much in demand during his life, and is sure to continue,
in its best examples, as long as good sacred music is appreciated.
To another beautiful missionary hymn of Mrs. Vokes, of quieter tone, but
songful and sweet, Dr. Mason wrote the tune of "Migdol." It is its
musical twin.
Soon may the last glad song arise
Through all the millions of the skies.
That song of triumph which records
That "all the earth is now the Lord's."
"ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP APPEARING."
This admired and always popular church hymn was written near the
beginning of the last century by the Rev. Thomas Kelly, born in Dublin,
1760. He was the son of the Hon. Chief Baron Thomas Kelly of that city,
a judge of the Irish Court of Common Pleas. His father designed him for
the legal profession, but after his graduation at Trinity College he
took holy orders in the Episcopal Church, and labored as a clergyman
among the scenes of his youth for more than sixty years, becoming a
Nonconformist in his later ministry. He was a sweet-souled man, who made
troops of friends, and was honored as much for his piety as for his
poetry, music, and oriental learning.
"I expect never to die," he said, when Lord Plunkett once told him he
would reach a great age. He finished his earthly work on the 14th of
May, 1855, when he was eighty-five years old. But he still lives. His
zeal for the coming of the Kingdom of Christ prompted his best hymn.
On the mountain-top appearing,
Lo! the sacred herald stands,
Joyful news to Zion bearing,
Zion long in hostile lands;
Mourning captive,
God himself will loose thy bands.
Has the night been long and mournful?
Have thy friends unfaithful proved?
Have thy foes been proud and scornful,
By thy sighs and tears unmoved?
Cease thy mourning;
Zion still is well beloved.
_THE TUNE._
To presume that Kelly made both words and music together is possible,
for he was himself a composer, but no such original tune seems to
survive. In modern use Dr. Hastings' "Zion" is most frequently attached
to the hymn, and was probably written for it.
"YE CHRISTIAN HEROES, WAKE TO GLORY."
This rather crude parody on the "Marseillaise Hymn" (see Chap. 9) is
printed in the _American Vocalist_, among numerous samples of early New
England psalmody of untraced authorship. It might have been sung at
primitive missionary meetings, to spur the zeal and faith of a Francis
Mason or a Harriet Newell. It expresses, at least, the new-kindled
evangelical spirit of the long-ago consecrations in American church life
that first sent the Christian ambassadors to foreign lands, and followed
them with benedictions.
[Illustration: The Right Rev. Reginald Heber, D.D.]
Ye Christian heroes, wake to glory:
Hark, hark! what millions bid you rise!
See heathen nations bow before you,
Behold their tears, and hear their cries.
Shall pagan priest, their errors breeding,
With darkling hosts, and flags unfurled,
Spread their delusions o'er the world,
Though Jesus on the Cross hung bleeding?
To arms! To arms!
Christ's banner fling abroad!
March on! March on! all hearts resolved
To bring the world to God.
O, Truth of God! can man resign thee,
Once having felt thy glorious flame?
Can rolling oceans e'er prevent thee,
Or gold the Christian's spirit tame?
Too long we slight the world's undoing;
The word of God, salvation's plan,
Is yet almost unknown to man,
While millions throng the road to ruin.
To arms! to arms!
The Spirit's sword unsheath:
March on! March on! all hearts resolved,
To victory or death.
"HAIL TO THE LORD'S ANOINTED."
James Montgomery (says Dr. Breed) is "distinguished as the only layman
besides Cowper among hymn-writers of the front rank in the English
language." How many millions have recited and sung his fine and
exhaustively descriptive poem,--
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
--selections from almost any part of which are perfect definitions, and
have been standard hymns on prayer for three generations. English
Hymnology would as unwillingly part with his missionary hymns,--
The king of glory we proclaim.
Hark, the song of jubilee!
--and, noblest of all, the lyric of prophecy and praise which heads
this paragraph.
Hail to the Lord's anointed,
King David's greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed
His reign on earth begun.
* * * * *
Arabia's desert ranger
To Him shall bow the knee,
The Ethiopian stranger
His glory come to see.
* * * * *
Kings shall fall down before Him
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing.
The hymn is really the seventy-second Psalm in metre, and as a version
it suffers nothing by comparison with that of Watts. Montgomery wrote
it as a Christmas ode. It was sung Dec. 25, 1821, at a Moravian
Convocation, but in 1822 he recited it at a great missionary meeting in
Liverpool, and Dr. Adam Clarke was so charmed with it that he inserted
it in his famous _Commentary_. In no long time afterwards it found its
way into general use.
The spirit of his missionary parents was Montgomery's Christian legacy,
and in exalted poetical moments it stirred him as the divine afflatus
kindled the old prophets.
_THE TUNE._
The music editors in some hymnals have borrowed the favorite choral
variously named "Webb" in honor of its author, and "The Morning Light is
Breaking" from the first line of its hymn. Later hymnals have chosen
Sebastian Wesley's "Aurelia" to fit the hymn, with a movement similar to
that of "Webb"; also a German B flat melody "Ellacombe," undated, with
livelier step and a ringing chime of parts. No one of these is
inappropriate.
Samuel Sebastian Wesley, grandson of Charles Wesley the great hymnist,
was born in London, 1810. Like his father, Samuel, he became a
distinguished musician, and was organist at Exeter, Winchester and
Gloucester Cathedrals. Oxford gave him the degree of Doctor of Music.
He composed instrumental melodies besides many anthems, services, and
other sacred pieces for choir and congregational singing. Died in
Gloucester, April 19, 1876.
"FROM GREENLAND'S ICY MOUNTAINS."
The familiar story of this hymn scarcely needs repeating; how one
Saturday afternoon in the year 1819, young Reginald Heber, Rector of
Hodnet, sitting with his father-in-law, Dean Shipley, and a few friends
in the Wrexham Vicarage, was suddenly asked by the Dean to "write
something to sing at the missionary meeting tomorrow," and retired to
another part of the room while the rest went on talking; how, very soon
after, he returned with three stanzas, which were hailed with delighted
approval; how he then insisted upon adding another octrain to the hymn
and came back with--
Waft, waft, ye winds, His story,
And you, ye waters, roll;
--and how the great lyric was sung in Wrexham Church on Sunday morning
for the first time in its life. The story is old but always fresh.
Nothing could better have emphasized the good Dean's sermon that day in
aid of "The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,"
than that unexpected and glorious lyric of his poet son-in-law.
By common consent Heber's "Missionary Hymn" is the silver trumpet among
all the rallying bugles of the church.
_THE TUNE._
The union of words and music in this instance is an example of spiritual
affinity. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder." The
story of the tune is a record of providential birth quite as interesting
as that of the hymn. In 1823, a lady in Savannah, Ga., having received
and admired a copy of Heber's lyric from England, desired to sing it or
hear it sung, but knew no music to fit the metre. She finally thought of
a young clerk in a bank close by, Lowell Mason by name, who sometimes
wrote music for recreation, and sent her son to ask him if he would make
a tune that would sing the lines. The boy returned in half an hour with
the composition that doubled Heber's fame and made his own.
In the words of Dr. Charles Robinson, "Like the hymn it voices, it was
done at a stroke, and it will last through the ages."
"THE MORNING LIGHT IS BREAKING."
Not far behind Dr. Heber's _chef-d'oeuvre_ in lyric merit is the still
more famous missionary hymn of Dr. S.F. Smith, author of "My Country,
'Tis of Thee." Another missionary hymn of his which is widely used is--
Yes, my native land, I love thee,
All thy scenes, I love them well.
Friends, connections, happy country,
Can I bid you all farewell?
Can I leave you
Far in heathen lands to dwell?
Drs. Nutter and Breed speak of "The Morning Light is Breaking," and its
charm as a hymn of peace and promise, and intimate that it has "gone
farther and been more frequently sung than any other missionary hymn."
Besides the English, there are versions of it in four Latin nations, the
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French, and oriental translations in
Chinese and several East Indian tongues and dialects, as well as one in
Swedish. It author had the rare felicity, while on a visit to his son, a
missionary in Burmah, of hearing it sung by native Christians in their
language, and of being welcomed with an ovation when they knew who he
was.
The morning light is breaking!
The darkness disappears;
The sons of earth are waking
To penitential tears;
Each breeze that sweeps the ocean
Brings tidings from afar,
Of nations in commotion,
Prepared for Zion's war.
Rich dews of grace come o'er us
In many a gentle shower,
And brighter scenes before us
Are opening every hour.
Each cry to heaven going
Abundant answer brings,
And heavenly gales are blowing
With peace upon their wings.
* * * * *
Blest river of Salvation,
Pursue thy onward way;
Flow thou to every nation,
Nor in thy richness stay.
Stay not till all the lowly
Triumphant reach their home;
Stay not till all the holy
Proclaim, "The Lord is come!"
Samuel Francis Smith, D.D., was born in Boston in 1808, and educated in
Harvard University (1825-1829). He prepared for the ministry, and was
pastor of Baptist churches at Waterville, Me., and Newton, Mass., before
entering the service of the American Baptist Missionary union as editor
of its _Missionary Magazine_.
He was a scholarly and graceful writer, both in verse and prose, and
besides his editorial work, he was frequently an invited participant or
guest of honor on public occasions, owing to his fame as author of the
national hymn. His pure and gentle character made him everywhere beloved
and reverenced, and to know him intimately in his happy old age was a
benediction. He died suddenly and painlessly in his seat on a railway
train, November 16, 1895 in his eighty-eighth year.
Dr. Smith wrote twenty-six hymns now more or less in use in church
worship, and eight for Sabbath school collections.
_THE TUNE._
"Millennial Dawn" is the title given it by a Boston compiler, about
1844, but since the music and hymn became "one and indivisable" it has
been named "Webb," and popularly _known_ as "Morning Light" or oftener
still by its first hymn-line, "The morning light is breaking."
George James Webb was born near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng., June 24,
1803. He studied music in Salisbury and for several years played the
organ at Falmouth Church. When still a young man (1830), he came to the
United States, and settled in Boston where he was long the leading
organist and music teacher of the city. He was associate director of the
Boston Academy of Music with Lowell Mason, and joint author and editor
with him of several church-music collections. Died in Orange, N.J., Nov.
7, 1887.
Dr. Webb's own account of the tune "Millennial Dawn" states that he
wrote it at sea while on his way to America--and to secular words and
that he had no idea who first adapted it to the hymn, nor when.
"IF I WERE A VOICE, A PERSUASIVE VOICE."
This animating lyric was written by Charles Mackay. Sung by a good
vocalist, the fine solo air composed (with its organ chords) by I.B.
Woodbury, is still a feature in some missionary meetings, especially the
fourth stanza--
If I were a voice, an immortal voice,
I would fly the earth around:
And wherever man to his idols bowed,
I'd publish in notes both long and loud
The Gospel's joyful sound.
I would fly, I would fly, on the wings of day,
Proclaiming peace on my world-wide way,
Bidding the saddened earth rejoice--
If I were a voice, an immortal voice,
I would fly, I would fly,
I would fly on the wings of day.
Charles Mackay, the poet, was born in Perth, Scotland, 1814, and
educated in London and Brussels; was engaged in editorial work on the
_London Morning Chronicle_ and _Glasgow Argus_, and during the Corn Law
agitation wrote popular songs, notably "The Voice of the Crowd" and
"There's a Good Time Coming," which (like the far inferior poetry of
Ebenezer Elliot) won the lasting love of the masses for a superior man
who could be "The People's Singer and Friend." He came to the United
States in 1857 as a lecturer, and again in 1862, remaining three years
as war correspondent of the _London Times_. Glasgow University made him
LL.D. in 1847. His numerous songs and poems were collected in a London
edition. Died Dec. 24, 1889.
Isaac Baker Woodbury was born in Beverly, Mass., 1819, and rose from the
station of a blacksmith's apprentice to be a tone-teacher in the church.
He educated himself in Europe, returned and sang his life songs, and
died in 1858 at the age of thirty-nine.
A tune preferred by many as the finer music is the one written to the
words by Mr. Sankey, _Sacred Songs_, No. 2.
"SPEED AWAY! SPEED AWAY!"
This inspiriting song of farewell to departing missionaries was written
in 1890 to Woodbury's appropriate popular melody by Fanny J. Crosby, at
the request of Ira D. Sankey. The key-word and refrain are adapted from
the original song by Woodbury (1848), but in substance and language the
three hymn-stanzas are the new and independent work of this later
writer.
Speed away! speed away on your mission of light,
To the lands that are lying in darkness and night;
'Tis the Master's command; go ye forth in His name,
The wonderful gospel of Jesus proclaim;
Take your lives in your hand, to the work while 'tis day,
Speed away! speed away! speed away!
Speed away, speed away with the life-giving Word,
To the nations that know not the voice of the Lord;
Take the wings of the morning and fly o'er the wave,
In the strength of your Master the lost ones to save;
He is calling once more, not a moment's delay,
Speed away! speed away! speed away!
Speed away, speed away with the message of rest,
To the souls by the tempter in bondage oppressed;
For the Saviour has purchased their ransom from sin,
And the banquet is ready. O gather them in;
To the rescue make haste, there's no time for delay,
Speed away! speed away! speed away!
"ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!"
Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, the author of this rousing hymn of Christian
warfare, a rector of the Established Church of England and a writer of
note, was born at Exeter, Eng., Jan. 28, 1834. Educated at Clare
College, Cambridge, he entered the service of the church, and was
appointed Rector of East Mersea, Essex, in 1871. He was the author of
several hymns, original and translated, and introduced into England from
Flanders, numbers of carols with charming old Christmas music. The
"Christian Soldiers" hymn is one of his (original) processionals, and
the most inspiring.
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, etc.
* * * * *
Like a mighty army
Moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod;
We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope, in doctrine,
One in charity.
_THE TUNE._
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, Doctor of Music, who wrote the melody for
this hymn, was born in London, May 13, 1842. He gained the Mendelssohn
Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, and also at the Conservatory
of Leipsic. He was a fertile genius, and his compositions included
operettas, symphonies, overtures, anthems, hymn-tunes, an oratorio ("The
Prodigal Son"), and almost every variety of tone production, vocal and
instrumental. Queen Victoria knighted him in 1883.
The grand rhythm of "Onward, Christian Soldiers"--hymn and tune--is
irresistible whether in band march or congregational worship. Sir Arthur
died in London, November 22, 1900.
"O CHURCH ARISE AND SING"
Designed originally for children's voices, the hymn of five stanzas
beginning with this line was written by Hezekiah Butterworth, author of
the _Story of the Hymns_ (1875), _Story of the Tunes_ (1890), and many
popular books of historic interest for the young, the most widely read
of which is _Zigzag Journeys in Many Lands_. He also composed and
published many poems and hymns. He was born in Warren, R.I., Dec. 22,
1839, and for twenty-five years was connected with the _Youth's
Companion_ as regular contributor and member of its editorial staff. He
died in Warren, R.I., Sept. 5, 1905.
The hymn "O Church, arise" was sung in Mason's tune of "Dort" until
Prof. Case wrote a melody for it, when it took the name of the
"Convention Hymn."
Professor Charles Clinton Case, music composer and teacher, was born in
Linesville, Pa., June, 1843. Was a pupil of George F. Root and pursued
musical study in Chicago, Ill., Ashland, O., and South Bend, Ind. He was
associated with Root, McGranahan, and others in making secular and
church music books, and later with D.L. Moody in evangelical work.
As author and compiler he has published numerous works, among them
_Church Anthems_, the _Harvest Song_ and _Case's Chorus Collection_.
O Church! arise and sing
The triumphs of your King,
Whose reign is love;
Sing your enlarged desires,
That conquering faith inspires,
Renew your signal fires,
And forward move!
* * * * *
Beneath the glowing arch
The ransomed armies march,
We follow on;
Lead on, O cross of Light,
From conquering height to height,
And add new victories bright
To triumphs won!
"THE BANNER OF IMMANUEL!"
This hymn, set to music and copyrighted in Buffalo as a floating waif of
verse by an unknown author, and used in Sunday-school work, first
appeared in Dr. F.N. Peloubet's _Select Songs_ (Biglow and Main, 1884)
with a tune by Rev. George Phipps.
The hymn was written by Rev. Theron Brown, a Baptist minister, who was
pastor (1859-1870) of churches in South Framingham and Canton, Mass. He
was born in Willimantic, Ct., April 29, 1832.
Retired from pastoral work, owing to vocal disability, he has held
contributory and editorial relations with the _Youth's Companion_ for
more than forty years, for the last twenty years a member of the office
staff.
Between 1880 and 1890 he contributed hymns more or less regularly to the
quartet and antiphonal chorus service at the Ruggles St. Church, Boston,
the "Banner of Immanuel" being one of the number. _The Blount Family_,
_Nameless Women of the Bible_, _Life Songs_ (a volume of poems), and
several books for boys, are among his published works.
The banner of Immanuel! beneath its glorious folds
For life or death to serve and fight we pledge our loyal souls.
No other flag such honor boasts, or bears so proud a name,
And far its red-cross signal flies as flies the lightning's flame.
* * * * *
Salvation by the blood of Christ! the shouts of triumph ring;
No other watchword leads the host that serves so grand a King.
Then rally, soldiers of the Cross! Keep every fold unfurled,
And by Redemption's holy sign we'll conquer all the world.
The Rev. George Phipps, composer of the tune, "Immanuel's Banner," was
born in Franklin, Mass., Dec. 11, 1838, was graduated at Amherst
College, 1862, and at Andover Theological Seminary, 1865. Settled as
pastor of the Congregational Church in Wellesley, Mass., ten years, and
at Newton Highlands fifteen years.
He has written many Sunday-school melodies, notably the music to "My
Saviour Keeps Me Company."