The Rev. Thomas Scott (not Rev. Thomas Scott the Commentator) was born in Norwich, Eng., in 1705, and died at Hupton, in Norfolk, 1776. He was a Dissenting minister, pastor for twenty-one years—until disabled by feeble health—at Lowestoft in Suffolk. He was the author of—
Angels roll the rock away.
“MUST JESUS BEAR THE CROSS ALONE?”
This emotional and appealing hymn still holds its own in the hearts of millions, though probably two hundred years old. It was written by a clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. Thomas Shepherd, Vicar of Tilbrook, born in 1665. Joining the Nonconformists in 1694, he settled first in Castle Hill, Nottingham, and afterward in Bocking, Essex, where he remained until his death, January, 1739. He published a selection of his sermons, and Penitential Cries, a book of sacred lyrics, some of which still appear in collections.
The startling question in the above line is answered with emphasis in the third of the stanza,—
No! There's a cross for every one,
And there's a cross for me,
—and this is followed by the song of resolve and triumph,—
The consecrated cross I'll bear,
Till death shall set me free.