One of the most popular of all modern prayer meeting hymns, sometimes erroneously ascribed to Fanny Crosby. It was composed in 1842 by Rev. William W. Walford, a blind minister of England, of whom little is known except that he recited the words of this hymn to Rev. Thos. Salmon, Congregational minister at Coleshill, England, who wrote them down and later sent them to the New York Observer, in which publication they were printed September 13, 1845. The original has four stanzas, the last two being omitted here.
MUSIC. CONSOLATION, a tune well suited to the words, was composed by Wm. B. Bradbury in 1859. It is also known as “Sweet Hour” and “Walford.”
For comments on the composer, Wm. B. Bradbury, see [Hymn 103].
183. Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Richard C. Trench, 1807-86
Arr. W. P. Merrill, 1867—
A hymn of the peace and power available through the practice of prayer. It is an arrangement of Trench’s sonnet on “Prayer.”
Richard Chenevix Trench was born in Dublin, educated at Twyford School, Harrow, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was preacher, poet, professor of divinity and later the Archbishop of Dublin. Trench, a scholar of distinction, is the author of valuable books, including Notes on the Parables, Notes on the Miracles, and Study of Words.
The poem came into the hymn books through the arrangement made of it by Dr. W. P. Merrill who first became acquainted with the sonnet through hearing it read about 1907 by President Charles Cuthbert Hall, of Union Theological Seminary in the course of a lecture at the University of Chicago. As sonnets each have fourteen lines, changes were necessary to make the poem suitable for singing. Dr. Merrill omitted two lines and arranged the rest to make three symmetrical four-line stanzas.
William Pearson Merrill was born in Orange, N. J., January 10, 1867. After graduating from Rutgers College, he trained for the Presbyterian ministry at Union Theological Seminary, New York. He served churches in Philadelphia and Chicago and then went, in 1911, to the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City to begin a long and distinguished pastorate which ended with his retirement in 1938. He was president of the Church Peace Union, was long active in The American Hymn Society, and is the author of several books. His influence as preacher and religious leader extends beyond his own denomination.