SUNDAY-SCHOOL HYMNS.
_SHEPHERD OF TENDER YOUTH._
[Greek: Stomion pôlôn adaôn]
We are assured by repeated references in the patristic writings that the
primitive years of the Christian Church were not only years of suffering
but years of song. That the despised and often persecuted "Nazarenes,"
scattered in little colonies throughout the Roman Empire, did not forget
to mingle tones of praise and rejoicing with their prayers could readily
be believed from the much-quoted letter of a pagan lawyer, written about
as long after Jesus' death, as from now back to the death of John Quincy
Adams--the letter of Pliny the younger to the Emperor Trajan, in which
he reports the Christians at their meetings singing "hymns to Christ as
to a god."
Those disciples who spoke Greek seem to have been especially tuneful,
and their land of poets was doubtless the cradle of Christian hymnody.
Believers taught their songs to their children, and it is as certain
that the oldest Sunday-school hymn was written somewhere in the classic
East as that the Book of Revelation was written on the Isle of Patmos.
The one above indicated was found in an appendix to the _Tutor_, a book
composed by Titus Flavius Clemens of Alexandria, a Christian philosopher
and instructor whose active life began late in the second century. It
follows a treatise on Jesus as the Great Teacher, and, though his own
words elsewhere imply a more ancient origin of the poem, it is always
called "Clement's Hymn." The line quoted above is the first of an
English version by the late Rev. Henry Martyn Dexter, D.D. It does not
profess to be a translation, but aims to transfer to our common tongue
the spirit and leading thoughts of the original.
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.
The last stanza of Dr. Dexter's version represents the sacred song
spirit of both the earliest and the latest Christian centuries:
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.
While they give us the sentiment and the religious tone of the old hymn,
these verses, however, recognize the extreme difficulty of anything like
verbal fidelity in translating a Greek hymn, and in this instance there
are metaphors to avoid as being strange to modern taste. The first
stanza, literally rendered and construed, is as follows:
Bridle of untaught foals,
Wing of unwandering birds,
Helm and Girdle of babes,
Shepherd of royal lambs!
Assemble Thy simple children
To praise holily,
To hymn guilelessly
With innocent mouths
Christ, the Guide of children.
Figures like--
Catching the chaste fishes,
Heavenly milk, etc.
--are necessarily avoided in making good English of the lines, and the
profusion of adoring epithets in the ancient poem (no less than
twenty-one different titles of Christ) would embarrass a modern song.
Dr. Dexter might have chosen an easier metre for his version, if (which
is improbable) he intended it to be sung, since a tune written to sixes
and fours takes naturally a more decided lyrical movement and emphasis
than the hymn reveals in his stanzas, though the second and fifth
possess much of the hymn quality and would sound well in Giardini's
"Italian Hymn."
More nearly a translation, and more in the cantabile style, is the
version of a Scotch Presbyterian minister, Rev. Hamilton M. Macgill,
D.D., two of whose stanzas are these:
Thyself, Lord, be the Bridle
These wayward wills to stay;
Be Thine the Wing unwand'ring,
To speed their upward way.
* * * * *
Let them with songs adoring
Their artless homage bring
To Christ the Lord, and crown Him
The children's Guide and King.
The Dexter version is set to Monk's slow harmony of "St. Ambrose" in the
_Plymouth Hymnal_ (Ed. Dr. Lyman Abbott, 1894) without the writer's
name--which is curious, inasmuch as the hymn was published in the
_Congregationalist_ in 1849, in _Hedge and Huntington's_ (Unitarian)
_Hymn-book_ in 1853, in the _Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church_ in 1866,
and in Dr. Schaff's _Christ in Song_ in 1869.
Clement died about A.D. 220.
Rev. Henry Martyn Dexter, D.D., for twenty-three years the editor of the
_Congregationalist_, was born in Plymouth, Mass., Aug. 13, 1821. He was
a graduate of Yale (1840) and Andover Divinity School (1844), a
well-known antiquarian writer and church historian. Died Nov. 13, 1890.
"HOW HAPPY IS THE CHILD WHO HEARS."
This hymn was quite commonly heard in Sunday-schools during the
eighteen-thirties and forties, and, though retained in few modern
collections, its Sabbath echo lingers in the memory of the living
generation. It was written by Michael Bruce, born at Kinneswood,
Kinross-shire, Scotland, March 27, 1746. He was the son of a weaver, but
obtained a good education, taught school, and studied for the ministry.
He died, however, while in preparation for his expected work, July 5,
1767, at the age of twenty-one years, three months and eight days.
Young Bruce wrote hymns, and several poems, but another person wore the
honors of his work. John Logan, who was his literary executor,
appropriated the youthful poet's Mss. verses, and the hymn above
indicated--as well as the beautiful poem, "To the Cuckoo,"[27] still a
classic in English literature,--bore the name of Logan for more than a
hundred years. In _Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology_ is told at length
the story of the inquiry and discussion which finally exposed the long
fraud upon the fame of the rising genius who sank, like Henry Kirke
White, in his morning of promise.
[Footnote 27:
Hail, beauteous stranger of the wood,
Attendant on the Spring;
Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat,
And woods thy welcome ring.]
_THE TUNE._
Old "Balerma" was so long the musical mouth-piece of the pious
boy-schoolmaster's verses that the two became one expression, and one
could not be named without suggesting the other.
"Balerma" (Palermo) was ages away in style and sound from the later type
of Sunday-school tunes, resembling rather one of Palestrina's chorals
than the tripping melodies that took its place; but in its day juvenile
voices enjoyed it, and it suited very well the grave but winning words.
How happy is the child who hears
Instruction's warning voice,
And who celestial Wisdom makes
His early, only choice!
For she hath treasures greater far
Than East and West unfold,
And her rewards more precious are
Than all their stores of gold.
She guides the young with innocence
In pleasure's path to tread,
A crown of glory she bestows
Upon the hoary head.
Robert Simpson, author of the old tune,[28] was a Scottish composer of
psalmody; born, about 1722, in Glasgow; and died, in Greenock, June,
1838.
[Footnote 28: The tune was evidently reduced from the still older
"Sardius" (or "Autumn")--_Hubert P. Main_.]
"O DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED."
Written about 1803, by the Rev. John A. Grenade, born in 1770; died
1806.
O do not be discouraged, }
For Jesus is your Friend; } _bis_
He will give you grace to conquer,
And keep you to the end.
Fight on, ye little soldiers, }
The battle you shall win, } _bis_
For the Saviour is your Captain,
And He has vanquished sin.
And when the conflict's over, }
Before Him you shall stand, } _bis_
You shall sing His praise forever
In Canaan's happy land.
_THE TUNE._
The hymn was made popular thirty or more years ago in a musical
arrangement by Hubert P. Main, with a chorus,--
I'm glad I'm in this army,
And I'll battle for the school.
Children took to the little song with a keen relish, and put their whole
souls--and bodies--into it.
"LITTLE TRAVELLERS ZIONWARD"
Belongs to a generation long past. Its writer was an architect by
occupation, and a man whose piety equalled his industry. He was born in
London 1791, and his name was James Edmeston. He loved to compose
religious verses--so well, in fact, that he is said to have prepared a
new piece every week for Sunday morning devotions in his family and in
this way accumulated a collection which he published and called
_Cottager's Hymns_. Besides these he is credited with a hundred
Sunday-school hymns.
Little travellers Zionward,
Each one entering into rest
In the Kingdom of your Lord,
In the mansions of the blest,
There to welcome Jesus waits,
Gives the crown His followers win,
Lift your heads, ye golden gates,
Let the little travellers in.
The original tune is lost--and the hymn is vanishing with it; but the
felicity of its rhyme and rhythm show how easily it adapted itself to
music.
"I'M BUT A STRANGER HERE."
The simple beauty of this hymn, and the sympathetic sweetness of its
tune made children love to sing it, and it found its way into a few
Sunday-school collections, though not composed for such use.
A young Congregational minister. Rev. Thomas Rawson Taylor, wrote it on
the approach of his early end. He was born at Osset, near Wakefield,
Yorkshire, Eng., May 9, 1807, and studied in Bradford, where his father
had taken charge of a large church, and at Manchester Academy and
Airesdale College. Sensible of a growing ailment that might shorten his
days, he hastened to the work on which his heart was set, preaching in
surrounding towns and villages while a student, and finally quitting
college to be ordained to his sacred profession. He was installed as
pastor of Howard St. Chapel, Sheffield, July, 1830, when only
twenty-three. But in less than three years his strength failed, and he
went back to Bradford, where he occasionally preached for his father,
when able to do so, during his last days. He died there March 15, 1835.
Taylor was a brave and lovely Christian--and his hymn is as sweet as his
life.
I'm but a stranger here,
Heaven is my home;
Earth is a desert drear,
Heaven is my home.
Dangers and sorrows stand
Round me on every hand;
Heaven is my Fatherland--
Heaven is my home.
What though the tempest rage,
Heaven is my home;
Short is my pilgrimage,
Heaven is my home.
And time's wild, wintry blast
Soon will be overpast;
I shall reach home at last--
Heaven is my home.
In his last attempt to preach, young Taylor uttered the words, "I want
to die like a soldier, sword in hand." On the evening of the same
Sabbath day he breathed his last. His words were memorable, and
Montgomery, who loved and admired the man, made them the text of a poem,
part of which is the familiar hymn "Servant of God, well done."[29]
[Footnote 29: See page 498]
_THE TUNE._
Sir Arthur Sullivan put the words into classic expression, but, to
American ears at least, the tune of "Oak," by Lowell Mason, is the
hymn's true sister. It was composed in 1854.
"DEAR JESUS, EVER AT MY SIDE."
One of Frederick William Faber's sweet and simple lyrics. It voices that
temper and spirit in the human heart which the Saviour first looks for
and loves best. None better than Faber could feel and utter the real
artlessness of Christian love and faith.
Dear Jesus, ever at my side,
How loving must Thou be
To leave Thy home in heaven to guard
A sinful child like me.
Thy beautiful and shining face
I see not, tho' so near;
The sweetness of Thy soft low voice
I am too deaf to hear.
I cannot feel Thee touch my hand
With pressure light and mild,
To check me as my mother did
When I was but a child;
But I have felt Thee in my thoughts
Fighting with sin for me,
And when my heart loves God I know
The sweetness is from Thee.
[Illustration: Fanny J. Crosby (Mrs. Van Alstyne)]
_THE TUNE._
"Audientes" by Sir Arthur Sullivan is a gentle, emotional piece,
rendering the first quatrain of each stanza in E flat unison, and the
second in C harmony.
"TIS RELIGION THAT CAN GIVE."
This simple rhyme, which has been sung perhaps in every Sunday-school in
England and the United States, is from a small English book by Mary
Masters. In the preface to the work, we read, "The author of the
following poems never read a treatise of rhetoric or an art of poetry,
nor was ever taught her English grammar. Her education rose no higher
than the spelling-book or her writing-master,"
'Tis religion that can give
Sweetest pleasure while we live;
'Tis religion can supply
Solid comfort when we die.
After death its joys shall be
Lasting as eternity.
Save the two sentences about herself, quoted above, there is no
biography of the writer. That she was good is taken for granted.
The tune-sister of the little hymn is as scant of date or history as
itself. No. 422 points it out in _The Revivalist_, where the name and
initial seem to ascribe the authorship to Horace Waters.[30]
[Footnote 30: From his _Sabbath Bell_. Horace Waters, a prominent
Baptist layman, was born in Jefferson, Lincoln Co., Me., Nov. 1, 1812,
and died in New York City, April 22, 1893. He was a piano-dealer and
publisher.]
"THERE IS A HAPPY LAND FAR, FAR AWAY"
This child's hymn was written by a lover of children, Mr. Andrew Young,
head master of Niddrey St. School, Edinburgh, and subsequently English
instructor at Madras College, E.I. He was born April 23, 1807, and died
Nov. 30, 1899, and long before the end of the century which his
life-time so nearly covered his little carol had become one of the
universal hymns.
_THE TUNE._
A Hindoo air or natural chanson, that may have been hummed in a pagan
temple in the hearing of Mr. Young, was the basis of the little melody
since made familiar to millions of prattling tongues.
Such running tone-rhythms create themselves in the instinct of the ruder
nations and tribes, and even the South African savages have their
incantations with the provincial "clicks" that mark the singers' time.
With an ear for native chirrups and trills, the author of our pretty
infant-school song succeeded in capturing one, and making a Christian
tune of it.
The musician, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, sometime in the eighteen-forties,
tried to substitute another melody for the lines, but "There is a happy
land" needs its own birth-music.
"I HAVE A FATHER IN THE PROMISED LAND."
Another cazonet for the infant class. Instead of a hymn, however, it is
only a refrain, and--like the ring-chant of the "Hebrew Children," and
even more simple--owes its only variety to the change of one word. The
third and fourth lines,--
My father calls me, I must go
To meet Him in the Promised Land,
--take their cue from the first, which may sing,--
I have a Saviour----
I have a mother----
I have a brother----
--and so on ad libitum. But the little ones love every sound and
syllable of the lisping song, for it is plain and pleasing, and when a
pinafore school grows restless nothing will sooner charm them into quiet
than to chime its innocent unison.
Both words and tune are nameless and storyless.
"I THINK WHEN I READ THAT SWEET STORY"
While riding in a stage-coach, after a visit to a mission school for
poor children, this hymn came to the mind of Mrs. Jemima Thompson Luke,
of Islington, England. It speaks its own purpose plainly enough, to
awaken religious feeling in young hearts, and guide and sanctify the
natural childlike interest in the sweetest incident of the Saviour's
life.
I think when I read that sweet story of old
When Jesus was here among men,
How He called little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with them then.
I wish that His hands had been laid on my head,
And I had been placed on His knee,
And that I might have seen His kind look when He said,
"Let the little ones come unto me."
This is not poetry, but it phrases a wish in a child's own way, to be
melodized and fixed in a child's reverent and sensitive memory.
Mrs. Luke was born at Colebrook Terrace, near London, Aug. 19, 1813. She
was an accomplished and benevolent lady who did much for the education
and welfare of the poor. Her hymn--of five stanzas--was first sung in a
village school at Poundford Park, and was not published until 1841.
_THE TUNE._
It is interesting, not to say curious, testimony to the vital quality of
this meek production that so many composers have set it to music, or
that successive hymn-book editors have kept it, and printed it to so
many different harmonies. All the chorals that carry it have
substantially the same movement--for the spondaic accent of the long
lines is compulsory--but their offerings sing "to one clear harp in
divers tones."
The appearance of the words in one hymnal with Sir William Davenant's
air (full scored) to Moore's love-song, "Believe me, if all those
endearing young charms," now known as the tune of "Fair Harvard," is
rather startling at first, but the adoption is quite in keeping with the
policy of Luther and Wesley.
"St. Kevin" written to it forty years ago by John Henry Cornell,
organist of St. Paul's, New York City, is sweet and sympathetic.
The newest church collection (1905) gives the beautiful air and harmony
of "Athens" to the hymn, and notes the music as a "Greek Melody."
But the nameless English tune, of uncertain authorship[31] that
accompanies the words in the smaller old manuals, and which delighted
Sunday-schools for a generation, is still the favorite in the memory of
thousands, and may be the very music first written.
[Footnote 31: Harmonized by Hubert P. Main.]
"WE SPEAK OF THE REALMS OF THE BLEST."
Mrs. Elizabeth Mills, wife of the Hon. Thomas Mills, M.P., was born at
Stoke Newington, Eng., 1805. She was one of the brief voices that sing
one song and die. This hymn was the only note of her minstrelsy, and it
has outlived her by more than three-quarters of a century. She wrote it
about three weeks before her decease in Finsbury Place, London, April
21, 1839, at the age of twenty-four.
We speak of the land of the blest,
A country so bright and so fair,
And oft are its glories confest,
But what must it be to be there!
* * * * *
We speak of its freedom from sin,
From sorrow, temptation and care,
From trials without and within,
But what must it be to be there!
_THE TUNE._
The hymn, like several of the Gospel hymns besides, was carried into the
Sunday-schools by its music. Mr. Stebbins' popular duet-and-chorus is
fluent and easily learned and rendered by rote; and while it captures
the ear and compels the voice of the youngest, it expresses both the
pathos and the exaltation of the words.
George Coles Stebbins was born in East Carleton, Orleans Co., N.Y., Feb.
26, 1846. Educated at common school, and an academy in Albany, he turned
his attention to music and studied in Rochester, Chicago, and Boston. It
was in Chicago that his musical career began, while chorister at the
First Baptist Church; and while holding the same position at Clarendon
St. Church, Boston, (1874-6), he entered on a course of evangelistic
work with D.L. Moody as gospel singer and composer. He was co-editor
with Sankey and McGranahan of _Gospel Hymns_.
"ONLY REMEMBERED."
This hymn, beginning originally with the lines,--
Up and away like the dew of the morning,
Soaring from earth to its home in the sun,
--has been repeatedly altered since it left Dr. Bonar's hands. Besides
the change of metaphors, the first personal pronoun singular is changed
to the plural. There was strength, and a natural vivacity in--
So let _me_ steal away gently and lovingly,
Only remembered for what _I_ have done.
As at present sung the first stanza reads--,
Fading away like the stars of the morning
Losing their light in the glorious sun,
Thus would _we_ pass from the earth and its toiling
Only remembered for what _we_ have done.
The idea voiced in the refrain is true and beautiful, and the very
euphony of its words helps to enforce its meaning and make the song
pleasant and suggestive for young and old. It has passed into popular
quotation, and become almost a proverb.
_THE TUNE._
The tune (in _Gospel Hymns No. 6_) is Mr. Sankey's.
Ira David Sankey was born in Edinburgh, Lawrence Co., Pa., Aug. 28,
1840. He united with the Methodist Church at the age of fifteen, and
became choir leader, Sunday-school superintendent and president of the
Y.M.C.A., all in his native town. Hearing Philip Phillips sing impressed
him deeply, when a young man, with the power of a gifted solo vocalist
over assembled multitudes, but he did not fully realize his own
capability till Dwight L. Moody heard his remarkable voice and
convinced him of his divine mission to be a gospel singer.
The success of his revival tours with Mr. Moody in America and England
is history.
Mr. Sankey has compiled at least five singing books, and has written the
_Story of the Gospel Hymns_. Until overtaken by blindness, in his later
years he frequently appeared as a lecturer on sacred music. The
manuscript of his story of the _Gospel Hymns_ was destroyed by accident,
but, undismayed by the ruin of his work, and the loss of his eye-sight,
like Sir Isaac Newton and Thomas Carlyle, he began his task again. With
the help of an amanuensis the book was restored and, in 1905, given to
the public. (See page 258.)
"SAVIOUR, LIKE A SHEPHERD LEAD US."
Mrs. Dorothy Ann Thrupp, of Paddington Green, London, the author of this
hymn, was born June 20, 1799, and died, in London, Dec. 14, 1847. Her
hymns first appeared in Mrs. Herbert Mayo's _Selection of Poetry and
Hymns for the Use of Infant and Juvenile Schools_, (1838).
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us,
Be the Guardian of our way:
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us,
Seek us when we go astray;
Blessed Jesus,
Hear, O hear us when we pray.
The tune everywhere accepted and loved is W.B. Bradbury's; written in
1856.
"YIELD NOT TO TEMPTATION"
A much used and valued hymn, with a captivating tune and chorus for
young assemblies. Both words and music are by H.R. Palmer, composed in
1868.
Yield not to temptation,
For yielding is sin;
Each vict'ry will help you
Some other to win.
Fight manfully onward,
Dark passions subdue;
Look ever to Jesus,
He will carry you through.
Horatio Richmond Palmer was born in Sherburne, N.Y., April 26. 1834, of
a musical family, and sang alto in his father's choir when only nine. He
studied music unremittingly, and taught music at fifteen. Brought up in
a Christian home, his religious life began in his youth, and he
consecrated his art to the good of man and the glory of God.
He became well-known as a composer of sacred music, and as a
publisher--the sales of his _Song Queen_ amounting to 200,000 copies. As
a leader of musical conventions and in the Church Choral Union, his
influence in elevating the standard of song-worship has been widely
felt.
"THERE ARE LONELY HEARTS TO CHERISH."
"While the days are going by" is the refrain of the song, and the line
by which it is recognized. The hymn or poem was written by George
Cooper. He was born in New York City, May 14, 1840--a writer of poems
and magazine articles,--composed "While the days are going by" in 1870.
There are lonely hearts to cherish
While the days are going by.
There are weary souls who perish
While the days are going by.
Up! then, trusty hearts and true,
Though the day comes, night comes, too:
Oh, the good we all may do
While the days are going by!
There are few more practical and always-timely verses than this
three-stanza poem.
_THE TUNE._
A very musical tune, with spirited chorus, (in _Gospel Hymns_) bears the
name of the refrain, and was composed by Mr. Sankey.
A sweet and quieter harmony (uncredited) is mated with the hymn in the
old _Baptist Praise Book_ (p. 507) and this was long the fixture to the
words, in both Sunday-school and week-day school song-books.
"JESUS THE WATER OF LIFE WILL GIVE."
This Sunday-school lyric is the work of Fanny J. Crosby (Mrs. Van
Alstyne). Like her other and greater hymn, "Jesus keep me near the
Cross," (noted on p. 156,) it reveals the habitual attitude of the pious
author's mind, and the simple earnestness of her own faith as well as
her desire to win others.
Jesus the water of life will give
Freely, freely, freely;
Jesus the water of life will give
Freely to those who love Him.
The Spirit and the Bride say "Come
Freely, freely, freely.
And he that is thirsty let him come
And drink the water of life."
Full chorus,--
The Fountain of life is flowing,
Flowing, freely flowing;
The Fountain of life is flowing,
Is flowing for you and for me.
_THE TUNE._
The hymn must be sung as it was _made_ to be sung, and the composer
being many years _en rapport_ with the writer, knew how to put all her
metrical rhythms into sweet sound. The tune--in Mr. Bradbury's _Fresh
Laurels_ (1867)--is one of his sympathetic interpretations, and, with
the duet sung by two of the best singers of the middle class
Sunday-school girls, is a melodious and impressive piece.
"WHEN HE COMETH, WHEN HE COMETH."
The Rev. W.O. Cushing, with the beautiful thought in Malachi 3:17
singing in his soul, composed this favorite Sunday-school hymn, which
has gone round the world.
When He cometh, when He cometh
To make up His jewels,
All the jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.
Like the stars of the morning,
His bright brow adorning
They shall shine in their beauty
Bright gems for His crown.
He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His Kingdom,
All the pure ones, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.
Like the stars, etc.
Little children, little children
Who love their Redeemer,
Are the jewels, precious jewels
His loved and His own,
Like the stars, etc.
Rev. William Orcutt Cushing of Hingham, Mass., born Dec. 31, 1823, wrote
this little hymn when a young man (1856), probably with no idea of
achieving a literary performance. But it rings; and even if it is a
"ringing of changes" on pretty syllables, that is not all. There is a
thought in it that _sings_. Its glory came to it, however, when it got
its tune--and he must have had a subconsciousness of the tune he wanted
when he made the lines for his Sunday-school. He died Oct. 19, 1902.
_THE TUNE._
The composer of the music for the "Jewel Hymn"[32] was George F. Root,
then living in Reading, Mass.
[Footnote 32: Comparison of the "Jewel Hymn" tune with the old glee of
"Johnny Schmoker" gives color to the assertion that Mr. Root caught up
and adapted a popular ditty for his Christian melody--as was so often
done in Wales, and in the Lutheran and Wesleyan reformations. He
baptized the comic fugue, and promoted it from the vaudeville stage to
the Sunday School.]
A minister returning from Europe on an English steamer visited the
steerage, and after some friendly talk proposed a singing service--it
something could be started that "everybody" knew--for there were
hundreds of emigrants there from nearly every part of Europe.
"It will have to be an American tune, then," said the steerage-master;
"try 'His jewels.'"
The minister struck out at once with the melody and words,--
When He cometh, when He cometh,
--and scores of the poor half-fare multitude joined voices with him.
Many probably recognized the music of the old glee, and some had heard
the sweet air played in the church-steeples at home. Other voices chimed
in, male and female, catching the air, and sometimes the words--they
were so easy and so many times repeated--and the volume of song
increased, till the singing minister stood in the midst of an
international concert, the most novel that he ever led.
He tried other songs in similar visits during the rest of the voyage
with some success, but the "Jewel Hymn" was the favorite; and by the
time port was in sight the whole crowd of emigrants had it by heart.
The steamer landed at Quebec, and when the trains, filled with the new
arrivals, rolled away, the song was swelling from nearly every car,--
When He cometh, when He cometh,
To make up His jewels.
The composer of the tune--with all the patriotic and sacred
master-pieces standing to his credit--never reaped a richer triumph than
he shared with his poet-partner that day, when "Precious Jewels" came
back to them from over the sea. More than this, there was missionary joy
for them both that their tuneful work had done something to hallow the
homes of alien settlers with an American Christian psalm.
George Frederick Root, Doctor of Music, was born in Sheffield, Mass.,
1820, eldest of a family of eight children, and spent his youth on a
farm. His genius for music drew him to Boston, where he became a pupil
of Lowell Mason, and soon advanced so far as to teach music himself and
lead the choir in Park St. church. Afterwards he went to New York as
director of music in Dr. Deems's Church of the Strangers. In 1852,
after a year's absence and study in Europe, he returned to New York,
and founded the Normal Musical Institute. In 1860, he removed to Chicago
where he spent the remainder of his life writing and publishing music.
He died Aug. 6, 1895, in Maine.
In the truly popular sense Dr. Root was the best-known American
composer; not excepting Stephen C. Foster. Root's "Hazel Dell," "There's
Music in the Air," and "Rosalie the Prairie Flower" were universal
tunes--(words by Fanny Crosby,)--as also his music to Henry Washburn's
"Vacant Chair." The songs in his cantata, "The Haymakers," were sung in
the shops and factories everywhere, and his war-time music, in such
melodies as "Shouting the Battle-cry of Freedom" and "Tramp, Tramp,
Tramp, the Boys are Marching" took the country by storm.
"SCATTER SEEDS OF KINDNESS."
This amiable and tuneful poem, suggested by Rom. 12:10, is from the pen
of Mary Louise Riley (Mrs. Albert Smith) of New York City. She was born
in Brighton, Monroe Co., N.Y. May 27, 1843.
Let us gather up the sunbeams
Lying all along our path;
Let us keep the wheat and roses
Casting out the thorns and chaff.
CHORUS.
Then scatter seeds of kindness (_ter_)
For our reaping by and by.
Silas Jones Vail, the tune-writer, for this hymn, was born Oct. 1818,
and died May 20, 1883. For years he worked at the hatter's trade, with
Beebe on Broadway, N.Y. and afterwards in an establishment of his own.
His taste and talent led him into musical connections, and from time to
time, after relinquishing his trade, he was with Horace Waters, Philip
Phillips, W.B. Bradbury, and F.J. Smith, the piano dealer. He was a
choir leader and a good composer.
"BY COOL SILOAM'S SHADY RILL."
This hymn of Bp. Heber inculcates the same lesson as that in the stanzas
of Michael Bruce before noted, with added emphasis for the young on the
briefness of time and opportunity even for them.
How fair the lily grows,
--is answered by--
The lily must decay,
--but, owing to the sweetness of the favorite melody, it was never a
saddening hymn for children.
_THE TUNE._
Though George Kingsley's "Heber" has in some books done service for the
Bishop's lines, "Siloam," easy-flowing and finely harmonized, is knit
to the words as no other tune can be. It was composed by Isaac Baker
Woodbury on shipboard during a storm at sea. A stronger illustration of
tranquil thought in terrible tumult was never drawn.
"O Galilee, Sweet Galilee," whose history has been given at the end of
chapter six, was not only often sung in Sunday-schools, but chimed (in
the cities) on steeple-bells--nor is it by any means forgotten today--on
the Sabbath and in social singing assemblies. Like "Precious Jewels," it
has been, in many places, taken up by street boys with a relish, and
often displaced the play-house ditties in the lips of little newsboys
and bootblacks during a leisure hour or a happy mood.
"I AM SO GLAD"
This lively little melody is still a welcome choice to many a lady
teacher of fluttering five-year-olds, when both vocal indulgence and
good gospel are needed for the prattlers in her class. It has been as
widely sung in Scotland as in America. Mr. Philip P. Bliss, hearing one
day the words of the familiar chorus--
O, how I love Jesus,
--suddenly thought to himself,--
"I have sung long enough of my poor love to Christ, and now I will sing
of His love for me." Under the inspiration of this thought, he wrote--
I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Tells of His love in the book He has given
Wonderful things in the Bible I see,
This is the dearest--that Jesus loves me.
Both words and music are by Mr. Bliss.
The history of modern Sunday-school hymnody--or much of it--is so nearly
identified with that of the _Gospel Hymns_ that other selections like
the last, which might be appropriate here, may be considered in a later
chapter, where that eventful series of sacred songs receives special
notice.