152. We walk by faith, and not by sight
Henry Alford, 1810-71
Based on the story of the incredulity of Thomas in John 20:25-29: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe ... blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Henry Alford was educated at Cambridge for the Anglican ministry. After serving various churches, he finally, in 1857, became Dean of Canterbury, the highest post in the church. He was a renowned scholar and the author of numerous volumes. His Greek Testament was his greatest work and remained the standard critical commentary of the latter 19th century. He was a member of the New Testament Revision Company, whose work resulted in the revised version in 1881. Greatly interested in hymnology, he himself wrote and translated many hymns, and published several collections of hymns. Dean Alford was a strenuous worker, never idle, always broad-minded and throughout his life maintained cordial relations with non-conformists. A lifelong desire to visit the Holy Land remained unfilled; which fact suggested the beautiful inscription on his tombstone: “Deversorium viatoris proficiscentis Hierosolymam”—“the inn of a pilgrim travelling to Jerusalem.”
MUSIC. ARLINGTON is a tune from Thos. A. Arne’s opera Artaxerxes, arranged by Rev. Ralph Harrison, 1748-1810, an English Presbyterian minister who published it in his Sacred Harmony, 1784.
Thos. A. Arne, 1710-1778, was educated for the legal profession. He turned away from law to become the foremost English composer of the 18th century. He received his degree of Doctor of Music from Oxford in 1759. Arne wrote the patriotic air, “Rule Britannia,” besides many other popular songs. His sister, a famous contralto, was chosen by Handel as one of the soloists for the first performance of The Messiah in Dublin, April 13, 1742.
153. O for a faith that will not shrink
Wm. Hiley Bathurst, 1796-1877
An excellent hymn on “The Power of Faith,” based on I John 5:4: “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” It appeared in the author’s Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, 1831.
William Hiley Bathurst graduated from Oxford in 1818. During 33 years of ministry at Barwick-in-Elmet, he endeared himself to his people by his “eminent piety, his great simplicity of character, his tender love, and his abundant generosity.” He was a shy and reserved man “and had the peculiarity of becoming utterly silent if one asked the most trivial question.” His father was Charles Bragge, a member of Parliament for Bristol. The son assumed the name of Bathurst on succeeding to the estate of his uncle, Earl Bathurst, at Lydney Park, Gloucester.