Thy presence through my journey shine,
And crown my journey’s end.
That the Lord heard her prayer may be attested by the fact that she became the greatest hymn-writer the Baptist Church has produced. Throughout her life she remained unmarried, living with her father and writing noble hymns. In 1760 her first poems appeared in print under the pen name of “Theodosia.” Her father at this time makes the following notation in his diary: “This day Nanny sent part of her composition to London to be printed. I entreat a gracious God, who enabled and stirred her up to such a work, to direct it and bless it for the good of many. I pray God to make it useful, and keep her humble.” The book proved immensely popular, and the author devoted the profits from its sale to charity.
Miss Steele is the author of 144 hymns and 34 paraphrases of the Psalms. That many of them breathe a spirit of melancholy sadness is not to be wondered at, when we consider the circumstances under which they were written. Although they do not rise to great poetic heights, their language is so artless and simple they seem to sing their way into the heart of the worshiper. When Trinity Episcopal Church of Boston, in 1808, printed its own hymn-book of 151 hymns, fifty-nine of them, or more than one-third, were selected from Miss Steele’s compositions. The fact that so many of them are still found in the hymnals of today is another testimony of their worth.
Among the more famous hymns from her pen are: “Father of Mercies, in Thy Word,” “How helpless guilty nature lies,” “Dear Refuge of my weary soul,” “O Thou whose tender mercy hears,” “Thou only Sovereign of my heart,” and “Thou lovely source of true delight.”
England’s pioneer woman hymnist fell asleep in November, 1788, her last words being, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” Her epitaph reads:
Silent the lyre, and dumb the tuneful tongue,
That sung on earth her great Redeemer’s praise;
But now in heaven she joins the angelic song,
In more harmonious, more exalted lays.