IRA D. SANKEY

HYMNS
In Human Experience

by
WILLIAM J. HART, D.D.

Publishers HARPER & BROTHERS
New York and London 1931

Copyright, 1931, by Harper & Brothers. Printed in the U. S. A. First Edition D-F

To
My Wife and Daughters

THE GOOD OLD HYMNS

There’s lots of music in ’em, the hymns of long ago;

An’ when some gray-haired brother sings the ones I used to know

I sorter want to take a hand—I think o’ days gone by—

“On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye.”

There’s lots of music in ’em—those dear, sweet hymns of old,

With visions bright of lands of light and shining streets of gold;

And I hear ’em ringing—singing, where memory dreaming stands,

“From Greenland’s icy mountains to India’s coral strands.”

We hardly needed singin’ books in them old days: we knew

The words, the tunes, of every one, the dear old hymn book through!

We had no blaring trumpets then, no organs built for show;

We only sang to praise the Lord, “from whom all blessings flow.”

An’ so I love the dear old hymns, and when my time shall come—

Before the light has left me and my singing lips are dumb—

If I can only hear ’em then, I’ll pass, without a sigh,

“To Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie!”

—Frank L. Stanton in The Atlanta Constitution

CONTENTS

[ Preface] xi [I. A Singing Faith] 1 [II. Songs in the Night] 29 [III. Hymns Mothers Loved] 52 [IV. When Preachers Sing] 67 [V. Songs of Soldiers] 80 [VI. Heard within Prison Walls] 95 [VII. The Music of Submerged Lives] 103 [VIII. Songs of Salvation] 113 [IX. “The Old Rugged Cross”] 127 [X. Hymns of Youth] 136 [XI. Hymns As Prayers] 153 [XII. Songs of the Negroes] 165 [XIII. Christmas and Easter Melodies] 173 [XIV. Funeral Music] 188 [XV. Hymns on Patriotic Occasions] 204 [ Index of Hymns] 217

PREFACE

Half a million hymns, it is estimated, are written in more than two hundred languages and dialects in which Christianity is preached. Some of these are translations, but many are original expressions of the Christian faith. This extraordinary production is an impressive testimony from Christian experience.

Having for many years made a study of the influence of hymns in human experience, I have during that time gleaned material from newspapers, periodicals (both American and British) and books; and to both the authors and the publishers of these I here express my indebtedness. Little is said in this volume concerning the origin of hymns and tunes, or of their place in literature. These aspects of the subject are well discussed in “The English Hymn” by Louis F. Benson, “The Hymn as Literature” by J. B. Reeves, “The Story of the Hymns and Tunes” by T. Brown and H. Butterworth, “The Evolution of the English Hymn” by F. J. Gillman, “Stories of Great Hymns of the Church” by Silas H. Paine, “English Hymns: Their Authors and History” by S. W. Duffield, and many others.

The chief purpose of this volume is to show how hymns have been actually used, and how people have been helped by them in different circumstances of life. Each chapter has a brief introduction bearing on the special topic, and the various incidents are linked together in a manner which gives continuity to the whole.

Some of this material was used in addresses at church services, and also in Chapel Addresses at the Northern New York Summer School for Ministerial Training. As dean of this school the author desires to associate both the members of the faculty and the student body with this volume. Their expressed appreciation of the incidents which they heard, and their urgent request for the publication of the same, encouraged me to complete this work.

I desire to make special mention of the assistance received from the Rev. Oscar L. Joseph, Litt. D. His wise counsel has been invaluable. Furthermore, he has edited the volume with the utmost care, and its final form is the result of his experience as an author and his painstaking labors. The introductory notes in each chapter were also written by Dr. Joseph and these constitute an important feature of the volume.

Ministers and laity alike, it is believed, will find this book of value. My hope is that it may help towards a renewed emphasis upon the value of Christian experience, and a broader recognition of the rich heritage which Christianity has in its songs.

William J. Hart

Utica, New York

1931

Hymns In Human Experience

CHAPTER I
A Singing Faith

Christianity came to the world on the wings of song. From that memorable night when the angels celebrated the divine grace in “Glory to God in the Highest” up to the present day, song has been a powerful agency in spreading the Gospel of Redemption. Consider the influence of hymns in leading people to God, in giving courage to the depressed, hope to the disappointed, comfort to the sorrowing, guidance to the perplexed; in creating and confirming faith; in inspiring for the performance of duty and for steadfastness in fidelity.

The hymn holds a premier place in the literature of poetry, but it is much more than poetry. “It belongs with the things of the spirit, in the sphere of religious experience and communion with God.” Some of the best hymns which have touched and transformed the depths of human life may not meet the tests of literary critics. But more important than such academic standards is the conclusive proof that these writings have animated and sustained faith, hope and love. They have done this more effectively than any other means employed to produce these exhilarating and virtuous qualities of Christian character.

It is true that Christianity came out of a religion which has its rich heritage in the Psalter. Indeed, this is the world’s greatest hymn book; its sentences of prayer and praise have captured the hearts of generations of pious souls and ministered to their religious and moral needs. It is equally true that Christianity has liberated song far more effectively than any other religion. Of all the liturgical aids to private and public worship hymns are the most popular because of their freedom from any sectarian note and their wholesome ability to rouse emotion and direct life in ways of humane service.

This chapter is a selection of incidents which illustrate how hymns have voiced the deep instincts of the soul under a variety of circumstances. They witness to the power of the Gospel to soothe, calm and sustain in ways hardly otherwise possible. They show how hymns are woven into the fabric of life and that in times of pressure they express the latent and active emotions which give evidence of the real worth and dignity of human personality.

Tastes differ about hymns, but many will agree with these two men concerning:

The Supreme Hymn

Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes were once discussing what they considered the best hymn ever written. Holmes said that the hymns published by the various churches were mere bits of cabinet-work—phrases from the Scriptures or from devotional writers such as Thomas à Kempis being patched together in metrical form. Emerson signified his assent; and then Holmes, rising, continued, “In my opinion the greatest hymn ever written is this:

‘Thou hidden love of God, whose height,

Whose depth unfathomed, no man knows,

I see from far Thy beauteous light,

Inly I sigh for Thy repose:

My heart is pained, nor can it be

At rest, till it finds rest in Thee.’”

“I know, I know!” exclaimed Emerson. “That is the supreme hymn.”

Its author was Gerhard Tersteegen, one of the most prolific of German hymn writers. It was translated by John Wesley when he was in Savannah, Georgia, in 1736. It must have made a profound impression upon Holmes who wrote the hymn:

“Lord of all being, throned afar,

Thy glory flames from sun and star;

Center and soul of every sphere,

Yet to each loving heart how near!”

Harry Lauder, in Roamin’ in the Gloamin’,[1] refers to it as “that gorgeous bit of poetic imagery,” and adds that Holmes would have been the greatest hymn writer in the world had he only written some more.

The reference to John Wesley recalls an interesting incident:

When Two Hymn-Writers Met

On a fine summer’s day in the first half of the eighteenth century a traveler on horseback, crossing one of the lovely hills of Derbyshire in England, was aroused from his meditations by the voice of singing. Pausing to listen, these words came on the still air from the valley below:

“Could we but climb where Moses stood,

And view the landscape o’er,

Not Jordan’s stream, nor death’s cold flood,

Should fright us from the shore.”

Instantly, in a clear voice, the traveler sent ringing down the hills the glad response in his brother’s words:

“The promised land, from Pisgah’s top,

I now exult to see:

My hope is full, O glorious hope!

Of immortality.”

And then the two greatest little men in all England, John Wesley and Isaac Watts, met and talked together of the deep things of God.

How indebted we are to these two men for the enrichment of English hymnody! Watts sang of the majesty of God while Charles Wesley, the brother of the founder of Methodism, magnified the love of God, but all three were one in purpose. We join with Watts in singing, “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun,” and with the same enthusiasm we sing with Charles Wesley, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

How profoundly Watts had influenced his contemporaries is seen in

John Wesley’s Last Hymn

The great evangelist had reached the age of eighty-eight and his passing hence was in a cloud of glory. Arnold Lunn thus describes it in his book John Wesley:[2] “The end was very beautiful. He lingered for three days, surrounded by those who loved him. No pain, only a growing sense of weakness, and a tranquil acceptance of the inevitable. He slept much and spoke little, but sometimes the dying flame flickered up, and the inner light which had changed the face of England glowed with its old intensity. On the afternoon before he died, he surprised his friends by bursting into song:

‘I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath,

And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers.’

He sang two verses and then sank back exhausted. These lines were from Watts’ well-known hymn. Some hours passed as Wesley continued to sink, and with ebbing strength his last words of triumphant faith were: “The best of all is, God is with us.”

Such a consciousness of the divine presence has sustained many others. Here is one instance entitled:

Singing Their Farewell

Having spent forty years in educational work in England, a Scotch schoolmaster and his wife moved back to their native land to spend their days of retirement. Since they were active in one of the local churches, the membership came together for a farewell service. When they came to sing the closing hymn, choice was made of an arrangement of Psalm 34.[3] Doubtless the aged couple going into the sunset period of life afterwards recalled the words which they and their friends in Christian service sang that evening:

“Through all the changing scenes of life,

In trouble and in joy,

The praises of my God shall still

My heart and tongue employ.

. . . . . . . . .

Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then

Have nothing else to fear;

Make you His service your delight,

He’ll make your wants His care.”

Cheerful and encouraging words were these in which to voice a farewell.

The happy outlook of a faith which breaks out in song impressed me when I was a patient

In the Hospital

Christmas was near, and I was a patient in a hospital away from home. The attending physician informed me that Dr. William D. Marsh, the founder of “The League of the Kindly Tongue,” an organization which has a large membership in the United States as well as in some other countries, was in the same hospital on the floor below. The day he was discharged, he came to visit me. During the conversation he stated that he had recently been relearning and trying to live a hymn which he found very precious. It was one of Toplady’s:

“If, on a quiet sea,

Toward heaven we calmly sail,

With grateful hearts, O God, to Thee,

We’ll own the favoring gale.”

Special reference was made to the last verse:

“Teach us, in every state,

To make Thy will our own;

And when the joys of sense depart,

To live by faith alone.”

Such was the hymn beloved by the man who endeavored to enlist men and women to bring their daily conversation into harmony with the Golden Rule.

This experience brought to my mind the gracious sufficiency of Him whom every believer confesses as

“Sun of My Soul”

Years of constructive service were given by Dr. Charles N. Sims to the important task of building up Syracuse University. It was during the time of the early struggles of the development of that institution that he served heroically as the Chancellor. Later there followed some years of pulpit activity. Then came the time of retirement from educational and pastoral leadership, and he returned to his native state of Indiana to spend the eventide of life.

When it was evident that the time of his home-going was near, a member of the family went to the piano and played the hymn he greatly loved. Softly also it was sung:

“Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear,

It is not night if Thou be near.”

The second stanza was reached:

“When the soft dews of kindly sleep

My wearied eyelids gently steep,

Be my last thought, how sweet to rest

Forever on my Saviour’s breast.”

Relatives, looking on the peaceful form, then observed that he had quietly answered the call of his Lord, and that the spirit had gone to the home of many mansions.

Here is an incident which recalls one of the bitter tragedies of the ocean. See also [page 30].

Their Last Sing-Song

Permission was obtained from the purser of the Titanic to hold a song service in the saloon one Sunday evening. The Rev. E. C. Carter, of Whitechapel, London, a clergyman of the Anglican Church, was in charge. A young Scotch engineer presided at the piano.

The passengers were asked to make their selections. It was significant that many of the hymns chosen had to do with dangers at sea. There was a hushed tone with which all sang: “For those in peril on the sea.”

The service lasted until after ten o’clock, with wishes exchanged by all that they might soon reach the end of their pleasant voyage by landing in New York. Little did they realize at the time that only a few miles ahead lay one peril on the sea in the iceberg that sank the great liner. The leader of this service and his wife were among the hundreds who perished ere the dawn of the next day.

The power of hymns to calm and sustain is seen in

Other Refuge Have I None

An air raid of the enemy threatened the destruction of a munitions factory “somewhere in England” where thousands of women were working, according to Mrs. Burnett Smith. A very tense feeling prevailed, for it was realized that the worst might happen at any moment. Nerves began to break a little, while sobs and screams were being heard. Then some one in a far corner began softly to sing:

“Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly.”

The others quickly joined in the song until all were singing softly and quietly. The danger passed, and the women were unharmed.

One can imagine the courage of that group of women rising as they prayerfully sang the words:

“Other refuge have I none;

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee:

Leave, ah! leave me not alone,

Still support and comfort me:

All my trust on Thee is stayed,

All my help from Thee I bring;

Cover my defenseless head

With the shadow of Thy wing.”

Their help in giving the fortitude of faith is illustrated by

An Unforgotten Song

A British writer has told us of an evening which he spent at a fashionable watering place in Scotland. The visitors were seated in the drawing-room, spending the evening in a leisurely manner in reading or conversing.

Presently two ladies walked up to the piano, one to sing, the other to play her accompaniment. Conversation still continued, as the air was played over. But as soon as the words were reached, a hush fell upon the audience. The piece was Topliff’s setting of “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” The drawing-room was a large one, capable of seating some hundreds of people, and furnished in a way calculated to deaden sound. Yet every word was heard distinctly.

The man who tells the story says that next to him was sitting a man, apparently from the west of England, “endowed with a wise and gracious Christlike spirit, the fruit of many years’ experience in his Master’s service.” This man listened with rapt attention. Then he turned to his neighbor, and whispered in a hushed voice, “I can tell by the way that girl sings that she is a Christian.”

The narrator of the incident, anxious to know more about the young lady, learned something of her experience. He records it as follows: “She had been engaged to be married to a medical man—a very fine Christian. One day, when he was staying at a place far distant from the home of his fiancée, he was suddenly stricken with typhoid fever, and died almost immediately. The lady was not told about it till after the funeral was over. The shock was so great that she was prostrated for some days. When she was able to get about again, her lovely voice, her greatest gift, was gone. Something like paralysis of the throat prevented her speaking above a whisper. Many months after, the voice gradually came back. When she was able to sing once more with her old power, she made a solemn vow that she would devote her voice very specially to God’s service. Thenceforth her most treasured possession was the Bible of her beloved. I saw it. It was crowded with notes from cover to cover, for the book was woven into its owner’s life.”

The secret of such a faith is finely expressed in

Sounding the Silver Trumpet

“I had read in the biography of Sir Edward Burne-Jones a legend which he had noted,” said Dr. R. G. Gillie. “When Lucifer was cast out of the Holy City he founded a kingdom of his own, and one of his retainers, greatly caring, asked what he missed most now that he was shut out of Heaven. Pondering, the Prince of Evil paused and answered: ‘I miss the sound of the silver trumpets in the morning.’ According to the legend all the glad populace was called each day to labor and achievement by silver trumpets.”

“Today on weary nations

The heavenly manna falls;

To holy convocations

The silver trumpet calls.”

The response to this call is touchingly related in an incident:

Grandchildren of Cannibals Praised God

Stirring reports were brought back from Africa by Mr. W. J. W. Roome when he went there in 1929 for the British and Foreign Bible Society. The main station of the great English Baptist Mission on the Congo is at Yakusu. When Mr. Roome arrived at this point the children of the mission, who were the grandchildren of cannibals, greeted him by singing Lyte’s great hymn.

“Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;

To His feet thy tribute bring;

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

Who like me His praise should sing?

Praise Him! praise Him! praise Him! praise Him!

Praise the everlasting King!”

The irrepressible faith in missionary work was recently advertised by

A Song Which Belted the Globe

Over four thousand women attended a communion service in Columbus, Ohio, October 30, 1929. It was held in connection with the sixtieth anniversary of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was thus described by Eloise Andrews Woolever in The Christian Advocate:

“The last great day opened with the communion service at 6:45, conducted by Bishop William F. McDowell. At 4:30 on that dark, rainy morning eight hundred women were standing on the steps of Memorial Hall. For nearly three hours the procession passed forward to receive the broken bread from the brass communion plates sent from Korea, and to drink the wine from the Chinese communion cups, and to stand a moment in prayer. And in the solemn hush one thought of the communion services being held around the world on this day, when the communion song, ‘The Light of the World is Jesus,’ would belt the globe.”

This is the theme, announced with variations, concerning

The Wondrous Story

A company of friends were in the Sunday School Times party which took a trip by water from Philadelphia to the Pacific coast. In an article on “Cruising to California,” in 1930, Dr. Charles G. Trumbull related the following:

“They were gathered together on the after-deck of the steamer, singing the old hymns. Night had come down over the ocean, the myriad stars of a tropical sky were twinkling overhead, and more than one of the Sunday School Times party who were joining in the singing were thanking God for the precious memories the old hymns brought them. Stewards and stewardesses in the service of the ship were on deck near by, resting in steamer chairs, enjoying the cool breezes and listening to the hymns.

“It was interesting to note the deep interest with which the passengers on board listened to the singing of the old hymns. Some joined in; the lips of others were seen moving as words of the hymn were being repeated; one man removed his eyeglasses to wipe a certain mistiness from his eyes, then he rather timidly asked that a certain hymn might be sung, ‘I Will Sing the Wondrous Story.’”

Some incidents are parables of life as when a congregation

Sang Amid the Darkness

Many years ago the Bishop of Ripon preached at Harrowgate on the text, “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:36). Earnestly and impressively he presented Christ as the Light of the World. Those away from Christ were pictured as being out in the darkness. Tenderly urging the congregation to come into the light, he announced the hymn, “Abide With Me!” The large congregation had joined with the choir in singing the first line:

“Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide,”

when every light in the church suddenly went out.

Without a moment of pause, however, the choir continued to follow the organ, and sang:

“The darkness deepens—Lord, with me abide!

When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me!”

While singing the next lines, a few of the gas jets were lit. These words were:

“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;”

But the lights feebly flickered and died, and the congregation, again in darkness, continued:

“Change and decay in all around I see:

O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!”

But the choir sang on to the end. When they reached the last stanza some of the gas jets were burning; and in the dim light the words were stirringly appealing:

“Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes:

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies:

Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!”

The Christian Advocate gives two illustrations of the popularity of the hymn,

“God Will Take Care of You”

A blind man was seen crossing the street at a dangerous place in the Bronx, New York City. When a friend approached he saw that the lips of the blind man were moving, and as he listened he heard him singing softly, “God will take care of you.” When the friend made himself known to the blind man he carelessly inquired, “Why are you singing that hymn?” He replied: “The reason is that I must cross this dangerous crossing just ahead of me in about a minute, and I was thinking that possibly one of the many wagons or trucks might strike me and I would get killed. But the thought came to me that even if it did occur my soul would go straight to God. And if He led me across all right it would be just another evidence of His care of me. So I just could not help singing to myself, ‘God will take care of you.’ Hallelujah!”

A young woman who had lost both her husband and little daughter, and was left to support herself in sorrow, took a slip of paper on which was written the song, “God will take care of you,” and pinned it over the place where she did her dishwashing, and testified to the great comfort the song brought to her.

A different kind of testimony, both interesting and exceptional, is given in

A Sexton’s Tribute to a Singer

Traveling amid the great artificial lakes in the Elan Valley, from which Birmingham receives its water supply from the Welsh mountains, the visitor had pointed out to him by the driver a little church on the hillside. The visitor was interested in the “little sanctuary, nestling among the green mountains,” and confessed that he liked to think of places which recall the words, “It’s quiet down here... And God is very near.” Being a newspaper man, however, he was particularly impressed by a somewhat garbled version of the time when Dame Clara Butt sang in the little building. Later, in London, he had the opportunity of hearing the story from Dame Clara Butt herself. She was motoring with some friends through the valley beyond Llandrindod Wells and espied this simple and tiny church, without spire or tower, standing alone on the hillside. It seemed so like a little private sanctuary that she exclaimed, “I wish that little church were mine!” and halted the car, and crossed the river to have a closer look.

It happened that a service was almost due, and the sexton and an old companion were there; so the visitors were able to enter the sanctuary. They remained in silence a few minutes, when one of the party, pointing to the little organ, asked Dame Clara to play it and sing. She shook her head; the request was repeated; the impulse came and the singer sat at the instrument, and sang the opening lines of Liddle’s setting of “Abide With Me.”

In a few minutes she was conscious that the old sexton was chiming in with notes which harmonized; but, as the great voice rang through the little church, he stopped to listen, for nothing like it had ever been heard there. When the last notes died away, he said, “But who is this lady who has sung to us?”

When he was told he held up his hands, and with tears falling, exclaimed, “The great Madame Clara Butt has come to our little church and sung to us!” Then pointing upward, he said reverently: “Ah! They heard that up there!”

This tribute, coming from the sexton who had himself once sung in Welsh choirs, was all the more gratifying because it was simple and spontaneous.

Here is an interesting sidelight upon

The Author of “Beulah Land”

Edgar Page Stites, the author of “Beulah Land” and many other popular hymns, was a local deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served as a supply preacher in Dakota. At the outbreak of the Civil War he lived in Richmond, Virginia. After enlisting he was stationed in Philadelphia and had charge of feeding the troops which passed through that city. At the time of his death in Cape May he was the oldest insurance agent in New Jersey.

During his retirement he once wrote to a friend: “I am whittling away on my eighty-second year. Have written a great many songs the last fifty years signed ‘Edgar Page,’ which is the front of my name. I was enabled by great spiritual help to write ‘Beulah Land’ in 1876, at Philadelphia. I was wonderfully converted sixty-five years ago this month [November, 1852] and am still on board the old ship Zion.”

“Uncle Joe” Cannon, ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, once met Mr. Stites in Cape May and told him he would rather have written “Beulah Land” than to have been President of the United States. Chaplain McCabe was the first to introduce this now famous hymn to the public, singing it at a ministers’ meeting in Philadelphia. Since then it has been sung around the world and during the World War it was a general favorite of the soldiers overseas.

And another sidelight upon the writer of

A Hymn of Consecration

Miss Frances Ridley Havergal was visiting a home in Cavendish Square, London, where the aristocracy live. She was to be a guest for five days. Knowing that several members of this family were not rejoicing Christians, she made a prayer, “Lord, give me all in this house.” The way was opened through her singing and she entranced everyone in this home. The father, mother, children and servants were all brought clear into the Kingdom of joy and peace before she left. On the last night of her visit she was too happy to sleep, and spent the greater portion of it in meditation and prayer. Then it was that there came to her the hymn which she wrote with buoyant feeling,

“Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee,”

ending with the line, “Ever, only, all for Thee.”

The energy and endurance of this singing faith come from the Holy Spirit. I quote a description of a singular event in Heidelberg, Germany, written for The Christian Advocate by Professor J. Newton Davies. It might be called

Kindling the Torches at the Bonfire

“On a June evening, the student corporations of the university, a thousand strong, assembled on the banks of the Neckar to celebrate the coming of summer. Each student carried in his hand an unlighted torch. At a given signal, they marched, singing, across the old bridge, and up the steep path to the Bismarck tower, where a bonfire blazed. At this bonfire each man lighted his torch, and then continued his march to the valley below. The thousand burning torches glinting through the dark fir trees were an unforgettable sight.

“In Jerusalem, at Pentecost, the fires of a religious enthusiasm were kindled, at the blaze of which a small band of Christians lighted the unlit torches of their personalities. With loins girt, and lamps lit, that gallant group of torchbearers set forth, singing songs of victory and triumph, to herald the advent of a New Day. As we today, nineteen centuries afterward, look back on their astonishing victories, we cannot but fervently join in Charles Wesley’s prayer:

‘O Thou, who camest from above,

The pure celestial fire to impart,

Kindle a flame of sacred love

On the mean altar of my heart!

There let it for Thy glory burn,

With inextinguishable blaze,

And trembling to its source return,

In humble love and fervent praise.’”

One of the hymns which stirs our spirits for valiant endeavor is

“Onward, Christian Soldiers”

The Rev. S. Baring Gould was the author of one hundred and forty books, showing versatility of genius in these works of religion, fiction, folklore, mythology, travel, biography, art. Many of these writings will doubtless be forgotten when a hymn which he improvised and wrote in great haste, as a marching song for a band of schoolchildren in his parish, will continue to be remembered. About this hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” the author once wrote, “Certainly nothing has surprised me more than its great popularity.”

The universal appeal of this hymn has justly made it a heritage of Christian civilization. It belongs to every church and nation and no one thinks of the author as an Anglican rector but as a large-hearted soul, which he truly was. It is sung by surpliced choir boys in the incense-laden air of Roman Catholic churches; and by lads without vestments in the plain country church; by the Knights of Columbus and by the Knights Templar; by Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and every other denomination. Indeed, it is used by all Christians as a rallying call and it will so continue till the church militant becomes the Church triumphant.

The romance of American history is impressively illuminated by

A Shrine Created by a Song

“There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood”—this song has been sung for threescore years and more in all the world. It has furthermore made famous “The Little Brown Church in the Vale,” located in the village of Nashua, Iowa. The associations of this sanctuary go back to early pioneer days when the settlers contributed lumber, logs, stone and labor for its erection. Dr. W. S. Pitts, a physician who had helped to build this church, was inspired to write the song.

The railroad came in 1868 to Nashua and the Little Brown Church began to thrive as the population had now increased to about a thousand. Dr. Pitts taught a singing school in Bradford, a few miles away. It was necessary to have an organ but the only instrument in all this region was in the Little Brown Church. His song at once gained popularity. Jubilee singers took it up and concert companies carried it all over America and Europe. It was even heard in New Zealand, Australia and South America.

The song was then forgotten and with the drift of the population away from the country the Little Brown Church was abandoned. But about twenty-five years ago the old song was revived and an interest in the little church was quickened. It was restored to its original condition, largely due to the song it had inspired. Every year thousands of visitors go to Nashua to see it. It has also become a sort of Gretna Green, for over five hundred couples have been married there. Indeed, the church is largely supported by these fees and it continues to do the work of a real country church. Seldom have a church and a song been so closely identified as in this instance.

CHAPTER II
Songs in the Night

The quality of our faith is made known in times of stress and storm, when appearances are anything but favorable and the outlook is bleak and barren. Just as the courage of the soldier is shown in the thick of the battle rather than at the camp fires, so the fortitude of the Christian is exhibited in the strife and strain of untoward circumstances. These may be caused by some calamity such as sickness or death or some serious loss. The pessimist sees only darkness and danger and is ready to let go. The optimist sees only brightness and security but is nonplused before mishaps. They are both one-sided and superficial because they reckon with a limited set of facts. The meliorist, on the other hand, is convinced that, because his faith is fixed trusting in God, he can weather the tempest and survive the severe ordeal.

It has been said that many hymns are weakened by excessive sentimentalism. This criticism carries the point too far and overlooks the fact that in the final analysis we are influenced far more by the monitions of the heart than by the admonitions of the head. What Dr. Joseph Collins calls “adult infantilism” is due, according to this keen analyst, to our failure to educate and regulate our emotions. To be sure, there is such a thing as frothy emotionalism, but when we go to the other extreme and pretend we are living in an ice pack it is often due to the inferiority complex. Better a sentimentalism which stirs our emotions than a rationalism which suppresses them.

The answer to this inept criticism is given in the following incidents. They illustrate how men and women have expressed the buoyancy of religion in the darkness of peril, accident, sorrow, suffering and other trials. It was their faith which made use of hymns to carry on until the day dawned.

Here is an incident from a memorable tragedy which tells how one

Played a Hymn on the Deck of a Sinking Boat

“Wallace H. Hartley
Died April 15, 1912
‘Nearer, my God, to Thee’”

Such was the simple inscription on the rosewood coffin of one of the heroic figures of the musical realm, whose name was carried all over the world when the Titanic was sunk. As the boats were hurrying away from the wreck the marine band continued to play until their instruments were choked by the swirling water that closed about the musicians and sent them to heroes’ graves. Of the eight bandsmen six were Englishmen, one a German and one a Frenchman.

Their leader was Mr. Wallace H. Hartley. One who had been with him on twenty-two voyages on the Mauretania states that he once casually asked him what he would do if he were on a boat which was wrecked. He promptly replied that he would play “Nearer, my God, to Thee.” And this was the hymn he led the bandsmen in playing after they had long been rendering popular tunes, when he had to make a last selection before the great ship made her final plunge.

Among the 815 passengers and 688 crew who were drowned was W. T. Stead, editor of The Review of Reviews. A few years previous he had published “Hymns That Have Helped.” In this list of the best hundred hymns, “Nearer, my God, to Thee” stands seventh. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, sent a letter to the editor in which he expressed a preference for this hymn and said, “There is none more touching nor one that goes more truly to the heart than No. 7 on your list.” Mr. Stead made the terse comment, “The hymn is as dear to the peasant as it is to the prince.”

Mr. E. J. Elliott, president of the local musicians’ union at Louisville, at the time of the disaster said there is a standing rule in the national organization requiring bands attending funerals of dead members to conclude the rites with this tune. “That is the last thing we play at the grave of a musician—‘Nearer, my God, to Thee.’ I believe that, knowing they were doomed as the result of their own heroism, the members of the ship’s orchestra thus commended their own souls to their God, giving expression to their petition in the notes of their instruments.”

What a fitting expression for souls about to wing their way into eternity!

Equally impressive is this incident when

Rescuers Steered in the Direction Of the Singer

When the English steamer Stella was wrecked on the Casquet rocks twelve women were put into a boat which the waves whirled away, leaving them helpless without even an oar. They passed a terrific night not knowing what awaited them. Wet and cold they would have perished but for the courage of one of them, Miss Marguerite Williams, who was a contralto singer.

There was no thought of ruining her voice at such a crisis, and through the night she sang parts from “The Messiah” and “Elijah” and also hymns. This cheered the desolate women. About four o’clock in the morning a lifeboat which was sent out to save any surviving victims came to a pause in the waters as the men heard a woman’s voice singing in the distance. The words, “Oh! rest in the Lord,” were carried to them by the wind and they promptly steered in their direction. Before long they sighted the boat with the twelve women who were taken aboard the steam launch.

The singing of Miss Williams not only braced up her companions and herself but led to their rescue.

Dr. W. T. Grenfell recounts a rescue under similar circumstances in his book[4] entitled

“Adrift on an Ice-Pan”

He had returned home on Easter Sunday after the service when he received an urgent call to go sixty miles to help a young man on whom he had previously operated. Crossing the ice the next day, as it was breaking up, he found that he was on a piece which was drifting into the open Atlantic. Three of his dogs were killed, and from their bones he made a flagpole; while their coats were used to keep him warm during the night.

All night long he drifted, but was rescued in the morning, although there seemed little probability that he would be. Through the night, expecting death at any moment, there ran through his mind the words of an old hymn which came back to him from his boyhood days:

“My God, my Father, while I stray

Far from my home, on life’s rough way,

O teach me from my heart to say,

Thy will be done!”

Referring to this rescue, Dr. Grenfell said: “As I went to sleep that first night there still rang in my ears the same verse of the old hymn which had been my companion on the ice, ‘Thy will, not mine, O Lord.’”

There is much significance in a ceremony associated with

Dedicating a Lifeboat

Five hundred lives had been saved by a lifeboat service at the Scilly Islands just off the coast of Cornwall, England, between 1828 and 1930. These islands are near the main lines of Atlantic travel.

A new lifeboat costing $42,500 was dedicated in August, 1930. It was named the Cunard in honor of the donors, the Cunard Steamship Company. This boat is fitted with twin screws and two engines, each of forty horsepower, which could work even though the engine room were filled with water. She has water-tight compartments, generates her own electricity and is manned by a crew of eight men.

Two prayers were offered by ministers, and two hymns were sung. Led by the local band, the assembled company, who fully realized the perils of the great waters, joined in singing:

“Eternal Father, strong to save,

Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,

Who bidds’t the mighty ocean deep,

Its own appointed limits keep;

O hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in peril on the sea.

“O Christ, whose voice the waters heard

And hushed their raging at Thy word,

Who walkedst on the foaming deep,

And calm amid the storm didst sleep;

O hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in peril on the sea.”

Equally appropriate was the second hymn rendered:

“O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home!”

The confidence of such faith is illustrated in

What Led to “He Leadeth Me”

The birthplace of this world-renowned hymn was marked in Philadelphia by a tablet containing the first stanza and the following inscription:

“‘He Leadeth Me,’ sung throughout the world, was written by the Rev. Dr. Joseph H. Gilmore, a son of a Governor of New Hampshire, in the home of Deacon Wattson, immediately after preaching in the First Baptist Church, northwest corner Broad and Arch Streets, on the 26th day of March, 1862. The church and Deacon Wattson’s house stood on the ground on which this building is erected.

“The United Gas Improvement Company, in recognition of the beauty and fame of the hymn, and in remembrance of its distinguished author, makes this permanent record on the first day of June, 1926.”

The subject of the sermon was the Twenty-third Psalm, especially the words “He leadeth me.” After the service a few met with the minister and rehearsed the impression, emphasizing the timeliness of the sermon, since this was the darkest hour of the War of Rebellion. “Then and there,” wrote Dr. Gilmore, “on a blank page of the brief from which I had intended to speak, I penciled the hymn, handed it to my wife, and thought no more about it.”

It was later published in a Boston paper, which attracted the attention of William B. Bradbury, who set the hymn to music. Since then it has gone on its mission, translated into several languages and sung by people of different churches. Bishop Paddock had it included in the revised hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church, saying “how could I conduct a service in a home for the aged if I couldn’t give out ‘He Leadeth Me’?”

This hymn was once sung in a Chinese court of justice by a native who had never seen a white missionary, to show the presiding judge what a Christian hymn was like. The man was being tried for renting a building to some Christians who had opened an opium refuge. When he told the justice that at their meetings the Christians prayed and sang hymns, he was asked for a specimen and sang “He Leadeth Me.”

How a crisis was averted is seen when

A German Girl Led in Singing “A Mighty Fortress”

A few years ago there was a fearful accident at the coal mines near Scranton, Pennsylvania. Several men were buried for three days and all hopes of their rescue seemed to be futile. Most of the miners in this region were Germans. Their excitement was intensified by sympathy for the wives and children of the buried men and their failure to rescue them.

On the third day at evening, a mob assembled at the mouth of the mine in a sullen temper because it was hopeless to dig further since the men were probably dead by this time, and in their mad rage they blamed the rich mine owners for the tragedy. They were ready for any violence if only some reckless word was spoken.

The atmosphere was tense but it was suddenly changed when a little German girl, about eleven years of age, pale with fear, lifted her voice in song. She began in a hoarse whisper but her childish voice gathered strength as she went on with the first verse of Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

There was silence as these lines fell on the ears of the Germans, familiar with them from the cradle. Others joined and before long the whole company were singing:

“Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side,