"LORD WITH GLOWING HEART I'D PRAISE THEE." This was written in 1817 by the author of the "Star Spangled Banner," and is a noble American hymn of which the country may well be proud, both because of its merit and for its birth in the heart of a national poet who was no less a Christian than a patriot. Francis Scott Key, lawyer, was born on the estate of his father, John Ross Key, in Frederick, Md., Aug. 1st, 1779; and died in Baltimore, Jan. 11, 1843. A bronze statue of him over his grave, and another in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, represent the nationality of his fame and the gratitude of a whole land. Though a slaveholder by inheritance, Mr. Key deplored the existence of human slavery, and not only originated a scheme of African colonization, but did all that a model master could do for the chattels on his plantation, in compliance with the Scripture command,* to lighten their burdens. He helped them in their family troubles, defended them gratuitously in the courts, and held regular Sunday-school services for them. Educated at St. John's College, an active member of the Episcopal Church, he was not only a scholar but a devout and exemplary man. Lord, with glowing heart I'd praise Thee For the bliss Thy love bestows, For the pardoning grace that saves me, *Eph. 6:9, Coloss. 4: 1. Help, O Lord, my weak endeavor; Lord, this bosom's ardent feeling Deign Thy suppliant's prayer to bless. Let Thy grace, my soul's chief treasure, THE TUNE. "St. Chad," a choral in D, with a four-bar unison, in the Evangelical Hymnal, is worthy of the hymn. Richard Redhead, the composer, organist of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Paddington, Eng., was born at Harrow, Middlesex, March 1, 1820, and educated at Magdalene College, Oxford. Graduated Bachelor of Music at Oxford, 1871. He published Laudes Domina, a Gregorian Psalter, 1843, a Book of Tunes for the Christian Year, and is the author of much rit.. ual music. "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY." There is nothing so majestic in Protestant hymnology as this Tersanctus of Bishop Heber. The Rt. Rev. Reginald Heber, son of a clergyman of the same name, was born in Malpas. Cheshire, Eng., April 21st, 1783, and educated at Oxford. He served the church in Hodnet, Shropshire, for about twenty years, and was then appointed Bishop of Calcutta, E. I. His labors there were cut short in the prime of his life, his death occurring in 1826, at Trichinopoly on the 3d of April, his natal month. His hymns, numbering fifty-seven, were collected by his widow, and published with his poetical works in 1842. Holy! holy! holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee. Holy! holy! holy! merciful and mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity. Holy! holy! holy! all the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before Thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shall be. THE TUNE. Grand as the hymn is, it did not come to its full grandeur of sentiment and sound in song-worship till the remarkable music of Dr. John B. Dykes was joined to it. None was ever written that in performance illustrates more admirably the solemn beauty of congregational praise. praise. The name "Nicea" attached to the tune means nothing to the popular ear and mind, and it is known everywhere by the initial words of the first line. Rev. John Bacchus Dykes, Doctor of Music, was born at Kingston-upon-Hull, in 1823; and graduated at Cambridge, in 1847. He became a master of tone and choral harmony, and did much to reform and elevate congregational psalmody in England. He was perhaps the first to demonstrate that hymn-tune making can be reduced to a science without impairing its spiritual purpose. Died Jan. 22, 1876. "LORD OF ALL BEING, THRONED AFAR." This noble hymn was composed by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, born in Cambridge, Mass., 1809, and graduated at Harvard University. A physician by profession, he was known as a practitioner chiefly in literature, being a brilliant writer and long the leading poetical wit of America. He was, however, a man of deep religious feeling, and a devout attendant at King's Chapel, Unitarian, in Boston where he spent his life. He held the Harvard Professorship of Anatomy and Physiology more than fifty years, but his enduring work is in his poems, and his charming volume, The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. Died Jan. 22, 1896. THE LNE. Holmes' hymn is sung in some churches to "Louvan," V. C. Taylor's admirable praise tune. Other hymnals prefer with it the music of "Keble," one of Dr. Dykes' appropriate and finished melodies. Virgil Corydon Taylor, an American vocal composer, was born in Barkhamstead, Conn., April 2, 1817, died 1891. CHAPTER 1. SOME HYMNS OF GREAT WITNESSES. JOHN OF DAMASCUS. Ἔρχεσθε, ὦ πιστοί, ̓Αναστάσεως Ἡμέρα. John of Damascus, called also St. John of Jerusalem, a theologian and poet, was the last but one of the Christian Fathers of the Greek Church. This eminent man was named by the Arabs "Ibn Mansur," Son (Servant?) of a Conqueror, either in honor of his father Sergius or because it was a Semitic translation of his family title. He was born in Damascus early in the 8th century, and seems to have been in favor with the Caliph, and served under him many years in some important civil capacity, until, retiring to Palestine, he entered the monastic order, and late in life was ordained a priest of the Jerusalem Church. He died in the Convent of St. Sabas near that city about A. D. 780. His lifetime appears to have been passed in |
