For comments on Horatius Bonar see [Hymn 129].
MUSIC. O LEIDE, LEIDE GERN is from the Gesangbuch mit Noten, where it appears anonymously set to the words, “O leide, leide, gern! Es ist der Will’ des Herrn.”
253. Lord, it belongs not to my care
Richard Baxter, 1615-91
A hymn of love, trust, and hope, based on Phil. 1:21: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Richard Baxter, English Presbyterian, was born in Shropshire, England. He took holy orders in the Church of England, but withdrew from this church to become one of the outstanding Nonconformists of his time. Though he never attended university, he published over 250 volumes, among them several classics, The Reformed Pastor and The Saints’ Everlasting Rest. A fearless man and willing to suffer for what he believed to be right, Baxter did not hesitate to rebuke Cromwell for his assumption of supreme power of the State. Once, when falsely charged of libeling the Church, Chief Justice George Jeffreys taunted him by, “Richard, I see the rogue in thy face.” Baxter replied, “I had not known before that my face was a mirror.” After an infamous trial, Baxter was condemned and thrown into prison where he remained for 18 months.
As to music in the church, he did not share the views of the large number of his fellow Puritan clergymen who disapproved of it. “I have made a psalm of praise in the holy assembly the chief delightful exercise of my religion and my life, and have helped to bear down all the objection which I have heard against church music.” He also took a stand for the use of original hymns to supplement psalm singing, and favored the use of the organ, though he did not introduce the latter where it led to disputes.
MUSIC. EVAN. For comments on this tune and its composer, William H. Havergal, see [Hymn 153].
254. Holy Father, cheer our way
Richard H. Robinson, 1842-92