186. What a friend we have in Jesus
Joseph Scriven, 1820-86
A spiritual song of comfort and hope and the most popular Canadian contribution to the hymnody of the church.
The authorship of this hymn long remained a secret. In one publication it was erroneously attributed to Horatius Bonar. Scriven composed it for his mother to comfort her in time of special sorrow, not intending that anyone else should see it. This information was revealed to a friend who sat up with the author in his last illness.
Joseph Scriven, born in Dublin, came to Canada at the age of 25 and settled first at Rice Lake and later at Port Hope, Ontario. He was unmarried and lived with several families in succession. An eccentric person, he was always assisting others, and was known as “the man who sawed wood for widows and sick people who are unable to pay.” He was found drowned in a stream near Rice Lake. A monument to his memory was erected by the people who had been helped by him, and by others in the district.
MUSIC. ERIE was composed for this hymn by Charles Crozat Converse, 1832-1918, an American, trained in Germany for the musical profession. On returning to America, he studied law, graduating from Albany Law School in 1861, and from 1875 practicing the legal profession at Erie, Pa. He maintained his interest in music and published several compositions during his career as lawyer.