The Story of Our Hymns Part 30

Montgomery, however, proved as indiscreet as Gales had been, and during the first two years of his editors.h.i.+p he was twice imprisoned by the government, the first time for publis.h.i.+ng a poem in commemoration of "The Fall of Bastille," and the second time for his account of a riot at Sheffield.

In 1797 he published a volume of poems called "Prison Amus.e.m.e.nts," so named from the fact that some of them had been written during his imprisonment. In later years the British government granted him a pension of $1,000 per year in recognition of his achievements and perhaps by way of making amends for the indignity offered him by his two imprisonments.

In Montgomery's hymns we may hear for the first time the missionary note in English hymnody, reflecting the newly-awakened zeal for the evangelization of the world which had gripped the English people. The Baptist Missionary Society had been organized in 1792; Carey had gone to India as its great apostle; and in 1799 the English Church Missionary Society had been formed.

In the fervor aroused for foreign missions in England we may discern a continuation of the impulses which went forth from the Pietistic movement at Halle, Germany, nearly a century earlier, when Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Plutschau were sent from that cradle of the modern missionary movement as the first missionaries to India. We may also see something of the influences emanating from the great Moravian missionary center at Herrnhut. John Wesley visited both these places before he began his great revival in England, and became deeply imbued with zeal for missions.

Moravian contact with England had resulted in the formation of many Moravian societies, and it was one of these that had sent Montgomery's parents as missionaries to the West Indies. It was not without reason, therefore, that Montgomery became the first English hymnist to sound the missionary trumpet. He could never forget that his parents had given their lives in bringing the gospel to the wretched blacks of the West Indies. His father's grave was at Barbadoes and his mother was sleeping on the island of Tobago. And for the same reason, Montgomery was a bitter opponent of slavery.

The first missionary note is heard in Montgomery's great Advent hymn, "Hail to the Lord's Anointed," written in 1821. One of the stanzas not usually found in hymn-books reads:

Kings shall fall down before Him, And gold and incense bring; All nations shall adore Him, His praise all people sing; For He shall have dominion O'er river, sea, and sh.o.r.e, Far as the eagle's pinion Or dove's light wing can soar.

Two other missionary hymns are "Lift up your heads, ye gates of bra.s.s"

and "Hark! the song of jubilee." The latter sweeps along in triumphant measures:

He shall reign from pole to pole, With illimitable sway; He shall reign, when like a scroll Yonder heavens have pa.s.sed away; Then the end: beneath His rod Man's last enemy shall fall: Hallelujah! Christ in G.o.d, G.o.d in Christ, is all in all!

Although "Jerusalem, my happy home!" ranks highest among the hymns of Montgomery, judged by the standard of popular favor, his hymn on prayer and "Forever with the Lord" have aroused the most enthusiasm on the part of literary critics. Julian says of the latter that "it is full of lyric fire and deep feeling," and Dr. Theodore Cuyler declares that it contains four lines that are as fine as anything in hymnody. This beautiful verse reads:

Here, in the body pent, Absent from Thee I roam, Yet nightly pitch my moving tent A day's march nearer home.

Montgomery's last words were words of prayer. After his usual evening devotion on April 30, 1854, he went to sleep, a sleep from which he never woke on earth. And so was fulfilled in his own experience the beautiful thought contained in his glorious hymn on prayer:

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, The Christian's native air, His watchword at the gates of death-- He enters heaven with prayer.

A Sublime Hymn of Adoration

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord G.o.d Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee: Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty; G.o.d in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, Holy, Holy! all the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns upon the gla.s.sy sea; Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eyes of sinful man Thy glory may not see, Only Thou art holy: there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power, in love, in purity.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord G.o.d Almighty!

All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea: Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty; G.o.d in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Reginald Heber, 1826.

HEBER, MISSIONARY BISHOP AND HYMNIST

In the glorious hymns of Reginald Heber, missionary bishop to India, we find not only the n.o.blest expression of the missionary fervor which in his day was stirring the Church, but also the purest poetry in English hymnody. Christians of all ages will gratefully remember the name of the man who wrote the most stirring of all missionary hymns, "From Greenland's icy mountains," as well as that sublime hymn of adoration, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord G.o.d Almighty!"

The latter was regarded by Alfred Tennyson as the world's greatest hymn.

Born April 21, 1783, at Malpas, Ches.h.i.+re, England, Heber was educated at Oxford, where he formed the friends.h.i.+p of Sir Walter Scott. His gift for writing poetry revealed itself in this period of his life, when he won a prize for a remarkable poem on Palestine. It is said that Heber, who was only seventeen years old at the time, read the poem to Scott at the breakfast table, and that the latter suggested one of the most striking lines.

Following the award of the prize, for which young Heber had been earnestly striving, his parents found him on his knees in grateful prayer.

For sixteen years Heber served in the obscure parish of Hodnet as a minister of the Church of England. It was during this period that all of his hymns were written. He was also engaged in other literary activities that brought him some fame. All this while, however, he nourished a secret longing to go to India. It is said that he would work out imaginary journeys on the map, while he hoped that some day he might become bishop of Calcutta.

His missionary fervor at this time is also reflected in the famous hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains," written in 1819. The allusions to "India's coral strand" and "Ceylon's isle" are an indication of the longings that were running through his mind.

His earnest prayer was answered in 1822, when at the age of forty years he was called to the episcopate as bishop of Calcutta. After three years of arduous work in India, the life of the gifted bishop was cut short.

During this period he ordained the first native pastor of the Episcopal Church--Christian David.

A man of rare refinement and n.o.ble Christian personality, Heber was greatly beloved by all who knew him. "One of the best of English gentlemen," was the tribute accorded him by Thackeray. It was not until after his death, however, that he leaped into fame through his hymns.

The story of how "From Greenland's icy mountains" was written reveals something of the poetic genius of Heber. It seems that he was visiting with his father-in-law, Dr. s.h.i.+pley, vicar and dean of Wrexham, on the Sat.u.r.day before Whitsunday, 1819. The dean, who was planning to preach a missionary sermon the following morning, asked young Heber to write a missionary hymn that could be sung at the service. The latter immediately withdrew from the circle of friends to another part of the room. After a while the dean asked, "What have you written?" Heber replied by reading the first three stanzas of the hymn. The dean expressed satisfaction, but the poet replied, "No, no, the sense is not complete." And so he added the fourth verse--"Waft, waft, ye winds, His story"--and the greatest missionary hymn of the ages had been born.

The story of the tune to which the hymn is sung is equally interesting. A Christian woman in Savannah, Georgia, had come into possession of a copy of Heber's words. The meter was unusual, and she was unable to find music to fit the words. Learning of a young bank clerk who was said to be gifted as a composer, she sent the poem to him. Within a half hour it was returned to her with the beautiful tune, "Missionary Hymn," to which it is now universally sung. The young bank clerk was none other than Lowell Mason, who afterwards achieved fame as one of America's greatest hymn-tune composers. The marvel is that both words and music were written almost in a moment--by real inspiration, it would seem.

Bishop Heber's hymns are characterized chiefly by their lyrical quality.

They are unusually rich in imagery. This may be seen particularly in his beautiful Epiphany hymn, "Brightest and best of the sons of the morning."

In some respects the hymns of Heber resemble the later lyrics of Henry Francis Lyte, writer of "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide." They ring, however, with a much more joyous note than the hymns of Lyte, in which are always heard strains of sadness.

We have already referred to Tennyson's estimate of Heber's hymn to the Holy Trinity. It should be observed that this great hymn is one of pure adoration. There is nothing of the element of confession, pet.i.tion or thanksgiving in it, but only wors.h.i.+p. Its exalted language is Scriptural throughout, indeed it is the Word of the Most High. It is doubtful if there is a n.o.bler hymn of its kind in all the realm of hymnody. The tune to which it is always sung, "Nicaea," was written by the great English composer, Rev. John B. d.y.k.es, and is comparable to the hymn itself in majesty.

Other fine hymns by Heber include "The Son of G.o.d goes forth to war,"

"G.o.d that madest earth and heaven," "O Thou, whose infant feet were found," "When through the torn sail," "Bread of the world in mercy broken," and "By cool Siloam's shady rill."

Altogether Heber wrote fifty-seven hymns, all of which were published in a single collection after his death. It is said that every one of them is still in use, a rare tribute to the genius of this consecrated writer.

Heber's life was closely paralleled in many respects by another great hymn-writer who lived in the same period. His name was Sir Robert Grant.

He was born two years later than the gifted missionary bishop and, like Heber, died in India. Although he did not enter the service of the Church but engaged in secular pursuits, he was a deeply spiritual man and his hymns bear testimony of an earnest, confiding faith in Christ. Between his hymns and those of Heber there is a striking similarity. The language is chaste and exalted. The rhythm is faultless. The lines are chiseled as perfectly as a cameo. The imagery is almost startling in its grandeur.

Take, for example, a stanza from his magnificent hymn, "O wors.h.i.+p the King":

O tell of His might, and sing of His grace, Whose robe is the light, whose canopy s.p.a.ce; His chariots of wrath the deep thunder-clouds form, And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

There is something beautifully tender in that other hymn of Grant's in which he reveals childlike trust in Christ:

When gathering clouds around I view, And days are dark, and friends are few, On Him I lean, who, not in vain, Experienced every human pain; He sees my wants, allays my fears, And counts and treasures up my tears.

Nor would we forget his other famous hymn, "Saviour, when in dust to Thee," based on the Litany. When we learn that the man who wrote these hymns was never engaged in religious pursuits, but that his whole life was crowded with arduous tasks and great responsibilities in filling high government positions, we have reason to marvel.

Sir Robert Grant was born in the county of Inverness, Scotland, in 1785.

His father was a member of Parliament and a director of the East India Company. The son also was trained for political life, and, after graduating from Cambridge University in 1806, he began the practice of law. In 1826 he was elected to Parliament, five years later became privy counselor, and in 1834 he was named governor of Bombay. He died at Dapoorie, in western India, in 1838.

While a member of Parliament, Sir Robert introduced a bill to remove the restrictions imposed upon the Jews. The historian Macaulay made his maiden speech in Parliament in support of this measure.