'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends Are we not tending upward too As fast as time can move? Nor should we wish the hours more slow To keep us from our Love. The graves of all His saints He blessed Where should the dying members rest Timothy Swan was born in Worcester, Mass., July 23, 1758, and died in Suffield, Ct., July 23, 1842. He was a self-taught musician, his only "course of study" lasting three weeks,-in a country singing school at Groton. When sixteen years old he went to Northfield, Mass., and learned the hatter's trade, and while at work began to practice making psalm-tunes. "Montague,” in two parts, was his first achievement. From that time for thirty years, mostly spent in Suffield, Ct., he wrote and taught music while supporting himself by his trade. Many of his tunes were published by himself, and had a wide currency a century ago. Swan was a genius in his way, and it was a true comment on his work that "his tunes were remarkable for their originality as well as singularity -unlike any other melodies." "China," his masterpiece, will be long kept track of as a curio, and preserved in replicates of old psalmody to illustrate self-culture in the art of song. But the major mode will replace the minor when tender voices on burial days sing Why do we mourn departed friends? Another hymn of Watts, God is the refuge of His saints When storms of sharp distress invade, -sung to Lowell Mason's liquid tune of "Ward," and the priceless stanza, Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are, doubly prove the claim of the Southampton bard to a foremost place with the song-preachers of Christian trust. The psalm (Amsterdam version), "God is the refuge," etc., is said to have been sung by John Howland in the shallop of the Mayflower when an attempt was made to effect a landing in spite of tempestuous weather. A tradition of this had doubtless reached Mrs. Hemans when she wrote Amid the storm they sang, etc. "FATHER, WHATE'ER OF EARTHLY BLISS." This hymn had originally ten stanzas, of which the three usually sung are the three last. The above line is the first of the eighth stanza, altered from And O, whate'er of earthly bliss. Probably for more than a century the familiar surname "Steele" attached to this and many other hymns in the hymn-books conveyed to the general public no hint of a mind and hand more feminine than Cowper's or Montgomery's. Even intelligent people, who had chanced upon sundry copies of The Spectator, somehow fell into the habit of putting "Steele" and "Addison" in the same category of hymn names, and Sir Richard Steele got a credit he never sought. But since stories of the hymns began to be published—and made the subject of evening talks in church conference rooms-many have learned what "Steele" in the hymn-book means. It introduces us now to a very retiring English lady, Miss Anna Steele, a Baptist minister's daughter. She was born in 1706, at Broughton, Hampshire, in her father's parsonage, and in her father's parsonage she spent her life, dying there Nov. 1778. She was many years a severe sufferer from bodily illness, and a lasting grief of mind and heart was the loss of her intended husband, who was drowned the day before their appointed wedding. It is said that this hymn was written under the recent sorrow of that loss. In 1760 and 1780 volumes of her works in verse and prose were published with her name, "Theodosia," and reprinted in 1863 as "Hymns, Psalms, and Poems, by Anna Steele." The hymn "Father, whate'er," etc., is estimated as her best, though some rank it only next to her Dear Refuge of my weary soul. Other more or less well-known hymns of this devout and loving writer are, Lord, how mysterious are Thy ways, So fades the lovely blooming flower, -to a stanza of which latter the world owes the tune of "Federal St." THE TUNE. The true musical mate of the sweet hymnprayer came to it probably about the time of its hundredth birthday; but it came to stay. Lowell Mason's "Naomi" blends with it like a symphony of nature. Father, whate'er of earthly bliss Thy sovereign will denies, Let this petition rise. Give me a calm and thankful heart From every murmer free, The blessings of Thy grace impart, "GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH.” This great hymn has a double claim on the name of Williams. We do not have it exactly in its orig inal form as written by Rev. William Williams, "The Watts of Wales," familiarly known as "Williams of Pantycelyn." His fellow countryman and contemporary, Rev. Peter Williams, or "Williams of Carmarthen," who translated it from Welsh into English (1771) made alterations and substitutions in the hymn with the result that only the first stanza belongs indisputably to Williams of Pantycelyn, the others being Peter's own or the joint production of the two. As the former, however, is said to have approved and revised the English translation, we may suppose the hymn retained the name of its original author by mutual consent. Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah, Feed me till I want no more. Open Thou the crystal Fountain Whence the healing streams do flow, Let the fiery cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through. Strong Deliverer, Be Thou still my Strength and Shield! When I tread the verge of Jordan Bid my anxious fears subside; Death of death, and hell's destruction, Land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee. |