The Story of Our Hymns Part 37

Another very famous translation from the Greek by Neale is the hymn:

Art thou weary, art thou languid, Art thou sore distressed?

"Come to me," saith One, "and, coming, Be at rest."

This hymn is often regarded as an original by Neale, but the author was St. Stephen the Sabaite, a monk who received his name from the monastery in which he spent his life, that of St. Sabas, near Bethlehem, overlooking the Dead Sea. St. Stephen, who was born in 725 A.D., had been placed in the monastery at the age of ten years by his uncle. He lived there more than half a century until his death in 794 A.D.

Neale was equally successful in the translation of ancient Latin hymns.

Perhaps the most notable is his rendering of Bernard of Cluny's immortal hymn:

Jerusalem, the golden, With milk and honey blest!

Beneath thy contemplation Sink heart and voice oppressed: I know not, O I know not, What blissful joys are there, What radiancy of glory, What light beyond compare!

So facile was Neale in the art of writing either English or Latin verse, that he often astounded his friends. It is said that on one occasion John Keble, author of "The Christian Year," was visiting him. Absenting himself from the room for a few minutes, Neale returned shortly and exclaimed: "I thought, Keble, that all your poems in 'The Christian Year'

were original; but one of them, at least, seems to be a translation."

Thereupon he handed Keble, to the latter's amazement, a very fine Latin rendering of one of Keble's own poems. He had made the translation during his absence from the room.

But Neale did not confine himself to translations. He also wrote a large number of splendid original hymns. He was fond of writing hymns for holy days and festivals of the church year. The hymn printed in connection with this sketch is for Advent. "Oh Thou, who by a star didst guide," for Epiphany, and "Blessed Saviour, who hast taught me," for confirmation, are among his other original hymns.

Because of his "high church" tendencies, accentuated no doubt by the influence of the "Oxford Movement," Neale incurred the suspicion of some that he leaned toward the Church of Rome. However, there is nothing of Roman error to be found in his hymns. The evangelical note rings pure and clear, and for this reason they will no doubt continue to be loved and sung through centuries yet to come.

Neale died August 6, 1866, at the age of forty-eight years, trusting in the atoning blood of Christ, and with the glorious a.s.surance expressed in his version of St. Stephen's hymn:

If I still hold closely to Him, What hath He at last?

"Sorrow vanquished, labor ended, Jordan pa.s.sed."

If I ask Him to receive me, Will He say me nay?

"Not till earth and not till heaven Pa.s.s away."

Another Englishman who gained renown by translations of the old cla.s.sical hymns of the Church was Edward Caswall. He was a contemporary of Neale, and, like the latter, came under the influence of the "Oxford Movement,"

which cost the Church of England some of its ablest men. While Neale, however, remained faithful to his own communion, Caswall resigned as a minister of the English Church and became a Romanist. He was made a priest in the Congregation of the Oratory, which Cardinal Newman had established in Birmingham, a position he continued to fill until his death in 1878.

Two of the most beautiful hymns in the English language--"Jesus, the very thought of Thee" and "O Jesus, King most wonderful"--were derived by Caswall from the famous Latin poem, _De Nomine Jesu_, by Bernard of Clairvaux. Of the former hymn Dr. Robinson has said: "One might call this poem the finest in the world and still be within the limits of all extravagance."

Among other fine translations from the Latin by Caswall are "Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding" and "Glory be to Jesus." He also has given us some hymns from the German, including the exquisite morning hymn, "When morning gilds the skies." This is such a free rendering, however, that it may rather be regarded as an original hymn by Caswall. Three of its stanzas read:

When morning gilds the skies, My heart, awaking, cries, May Jesus Christ be praised!

Alike at work and prayer, To Jesus I repair; May Jesus Christ be praised!

In heaven's eternal bliss The loveliest strain is this, May Jesus Christ be praised!

Let air, and sea, and sky From depth to height reply, May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine, My canticle divine, May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this the eternal song Through all the ages on, May Jesus Christ be praised!

A Great Marching Song

Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before.

Christ, the royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle, See, His banners go!

At the sign of triumph Satan's armies flee; On, then, Christian soldiers, On to victory!

h.e.l.l's foundations quiver At the shout of praise; Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise.

Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane, But the church of Jesus Constant will remain; Gates of h.e.l.l can never 'Gainst that church prevail; We have Christ's own promise, And that cannot fail.

Onward, then, ye people!

Join our happy throng, Blend with ours your voices In the triumph-song; Glory, laud, and honor Unto Christ the King, This through countless ages Men and angels sing.

Sabine Baring-Gould, 1865.

BARING-GOULD AND HIS NOTED HYMN

When Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, on Whitsunday, 1865, sat up a greater portion of the night to compose a hymn, he did not realize he was writing words that would be sung through the centuries; but that no doubt will be the result of his zeal. The hymn he wrote was "Onward, Christian soldiers."

The story is an interesting one. At that time Baring-Gould was minister of the Established Church at Lew-Trenchard, England. On Whitmonday the children of his village were to march to an adjoining village for a Sunday school rally.

"If only there was something they could sing as they marched," the pastor thought, "the way would not seem so long." He searched diligently for something suitable but failed to find what he wanted. Finally he decided to write a marching song. It took the greater part of the night to do it, but the next morning the children's pilgrimage was made the lighter and happier by "Onward, Christian soldiers."

Commenting on the hymn some thirty years later, the author said: "It was written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty.

Certainly, nothing has surprised me more than its popularity."

In this instance, as in many others that might be mentioned, the tune to which it is inseparably wedded, has no doubt contributed much to make it popular. Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, the great English organist who wrote "The Lost Chord," in 1872 composed the stirring music now used for Baring-Gould's hymn.

Objection has sometimes been voiced against the hymn because of its martial spirit. However, it should be noted that this hymn gives not the slightest hint of warfare with carnal weapons. The allusion is to spiritual warfare, and the warrior is the Christian soldier.

We are reminded throughout this hymn of Paul's martial imagery in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, where he tells us that "our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the princ.i.p.alities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," and admonishes us to put on "the whole armor of G.o.d." We also recall the same apostle's exhortation to Timothy to "war the good warfare," and to "fight the good fight of faith."

It is salutary to be reminded by such a hymn as this of the heroic character of the Christian life. The follower of Jesus is not to sit with folded hands and sing his way into Paradise. A sickly, sentimental religion has no more place in the Christian Church today than it had in those early days when apostles and martyrs sealed their faith with their life-blood. Baring-Gould's hymn seems almost an exultant answer to Isaac Watts' challenging stanza:

Must I be carried to the skies On flowery beds of ease, While others fought to win the prize, And sailed through b.l.o.o.d.y seas?

We sometimes hear it said that the Church of Christ has fallen on evil days, and more than one faithful soul fears for the future. Baring-Gould has reminded us here of Christ's "own promise" that, though kingdoms may rise and fall, His kingdom shall ever remain, for the gates of h.e.l.l shall not prevail against it.

During a desperate battle between the French and Austrians in the Napoleonic wars, a French officer rushed to his commander and exclaimed, "The battle is lost!" Quietly the general answered, "One battle is lost, but there is time to win another." Inspired by the commander's unconquerable optimism, the French army renewed the struggle and s.n.a.t.c.hed victory out of the jaws of defeat. That has ever been the history of the Church of Christ.

Baring-Gould was one of England's most versatile ministers. In addition to his hymn-writing, he was a novelist of considerable reputation. For many years he regularly produced a novel every year. His "Lives of the Saints" in fifteen volumes, his "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages" and his "Legends of the Old Testament" are all notable works. It is said that he did all his writing in long hand without the aid of a secretary. He once declared that he often did his best work when he felt least inclined to apply himself to his task. He never waited for an "inspiration," but plunged into his work and then stuck to it until it was finished.

The beautiful evening hymn, "Now the day is over," is also from Baring-Gould's pen, and, to show his versatility, he also composed the tune for it. He was also the translator of Bernhardt Severin Ingemann's famous Danish hymn, "Through the night of doubt and sorrow."

Despite his arduous and unceasing labors, Baring-Gould lived to the ripe old age of ninety years. He died in 1924, but his hymn goes marching on.