The Story of Our Hymns Part 43

In peopled vale, in lonely glen, In crowded mart, by stream or sea, How many of the sons of men Hear not the message sent from Thee!

Send forth Thy heralds, Lord, to call The thoughtless young, the hardened old, A scattered, homeless flock, till all Be gathered to Thy peaceful fold.

Send them Thy mighty Word to speak, Till faith shall dawn, and doubt depart, To awe the bold, to stay the weak, And bind and heal the broken heart.

Then all these wastes, a dreary scene That makes us sadden, as we gaze, Shall grow with living waters green, And lift to heaven the voice of praise.

William Cullen Bryant, 1840.

AMERICA'S FIRST POET AND HIS HYMNS

William Cullen Bryant, America's first great poet, was also a hymn-writer. Although he did not devote much of his thought and genius to sacred lyrics, he wrote at least two splendid hymns that merit a place in every hymn collection. The one, "Thou, whose unmeasured temple stands,"

is a church dedication hymn of rare beauty; the other, "Look from Thy sphere of endless day," is unquestionably one of the finest home mission hymns ever written.

Born at c.u.mmington, Ma.s.s., November 3, 1794, he was educated at Williams College to be a lawyer. It was his writing of "Thanatopsis" as a boy of seventeen years that gave the first notice to the world that America had produced a great poet.

It is said that when the lines of "Thanatopsis" were submitted to Richard H. Dana, editor of the "North American Review," he was skeptical.

"No one on this side of the Atlantic," he declared, "is capable of writing such verses."

Bryant was brought up in a typical New England Puritan home. Family worship and strict attendance at public worship was the rule in the Bryant household. Every little while the children of the community would also gather in the district schoolhouse, where they would be examined in the Catechism by the parish minister, a venerable man who was loved by old and young alike.

While yet a little child Bryant began to pray that he might receive the gift of writing poetry. No doubt he had been influenced to a large degree in this desire by the fact that his father was a lover of verse and possessed a splendid library of the great English poets. The youthful Bryant was taught to memorize the n.o.ble hymns of Isaac Watts, and when he was only five years old he would stand on a chair and recite them to imaginary audiences.

Early in life Bryant came under the influence of the Unitarian doctrines which were then sweeping through New England as a reaction against the stern, harsh teachings of Puritanism. When he was only twenty-six years old he was invited to contribute to a volume of hymns then in course of preparation by the Unitarians. He responded by writing five hymns. Six years later he wrote "Thou, whose unmeasured temple stands" for the dedication of the Second Unitarian Church of New York City. He usually attended the First Congregational Unitarian Church of that city.

About thirty years later, however, when Bryant was sixty-four years old, a profound change occurred in his religious convictions. During a trip abroad his wife became critically ill in Naples. At first her life was despaired of, but when she finally was on the road to recovery Bryant sent for a warm friend of the family, Rev. R. C. Waterston, who was in Naples at the time. The latter tells of his meeting with the aged poet in the following words:

"On the following day, the weather being delightful, we walked in the royal park or garden overlooking the Bay of Naples. Never can I forget the beautiful spirit that breathed through every word he (Bryant) uttered, the reverent love, the confiding trust, the aspiring hope, the rooted faith.... He said that he had never united himself with the Church, which, with his present feeling, he would most gladly do. He then asked if it would be agreeable to me to come to his room on the morrow and administer the communion, adding that, as he had never been baptized, he desired that ordinance at the same time.

"The day following was the Sabbath, and a most heavenly day. In fulfilment of his wishes, in his own quiet room, a company of seven persons celebrated together the Lord's Supper.... Previous to the breaking of bread, William Cullen Bryant was baptized. With snow-white head and flowing beard, he stood like one of the ancient prophets, and perhaps never, since the days of the apostles, has a truer disciple professed allegiance to the divine Master."

Twenty years after this experience, in the last year of the poet's life, he made some contributions to the Methodist Episcopal hymnal. A revision of one of the hymns which he had written in 1820 for the Unitarian hymnal reveals his changed att.i.tude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Unitarian book he had written:

Deem not that they are blest alone Whose days a peaceful tenor keep; The G.o.d who loves our race has shown A blessing for the eyes that weep.

For the Methodist hymn-book he changed the third line to read:

The anointed Son of G.o.d makes known.

The hymn was sung in its changed form at the poet's funeral, as well as another beautiful hymn ent.i.tled "The Star of Bethlehem," written in 1875 for the semi-centennial of the Church of the Messiah in Boston.

An Exquisite Baptismal Hymn

Saviour, who Thy flock art feeding With the shepherd's kindest care, All the feeble gently leading, While the lambs Thy bosom share.

Now, these little ones receiving, Fold them in Thy gracious arm; There, we know, Thy word believing, Only there secure from harm.

Never, from Thy pasture roving, Let them be the lion's prey; Let Thy tenderness, so loving, Keep them through life's dangerous way.

Then, within Thy fold eternal, Let them find a resting place, Feed in pastures ever vernal, Drink the rivers of Thy grace.

William Augustus Muhlenberg, 1826.

THE HYMN-WRITER OF THE MUHLENBERGS

William Augustus Muhlenberg, one of America's early hymn-writers, came from a most distinguished family. His great grandfather, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, was the "patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America," having come to these sh.o.r.es from Germany in 1742, and being the founder in that year of the first permanent Lutheran organization in the new world.

A son of the patriarch and grandfather of the hymn-writer bore the name of Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg. He, too, was a Lutheran minister, but during the stirring days of the Revolutionary period he entered into the political affairs of the struggling colonies. He was president of the convention which ratified the Const.i.tution of the United States and also served as first speaker of the new House of Representatives. His brother, Rev. Peter Muhlenberg, was also a distinguished patriot. When the Revolution broke out, he was serving a congregation at Woodstock, Va. It was he who stood in the pulpit of his church and, throwing aside his clerical robe, stood revealed in the uniform of a Continental colonel.

"There is a time to preach and a time to pray," he cried, "but these times have pa.s.sed away. There is a time to fight, and that time has now come!"

Thereupon he called upon the men of his congregation to enlist in his regiment. Before the war ended he had risen to the rank of major general.

William Augustus Muhlenberg, the hymn-writer, was born in Philadelphia in 1796. Since the German language was then being used exclusively in the German Lutheran churches, he and his little sister were allowed to attend Christ Episcopal Church. In this way William Augustus drifted away from the Church of his great forbears, and when he grew up he became a clergyman in the Episcopal communion.

It is evident that Muhlenberg brought something of the spirit of the "singing church" into the church of his adoption, for in 1821 he issued a tract with the t.i.tle, "A Plea for Christian Hymns." It appears that the Episcopal Church at this time was using a prayer-book that included only fifty-seven hymns, and no one felt the poverty of his Church in this respect more keenly than did Muhlenberg.

Two years later the General Convention of the Episcopal body voted to prepare a hymn-book, and Muhlenberg was made a member of the committee.

One of his a.s.sociates was Francis Scott Key, author of "Star spangled banner."

As a member of the committee Muhlenberg contributed four original hymns to the new collection. They were "I would not live alway," "Like Noah's weary dove," "Shout the glad tidings, triumphantly sing," and "Saviour, who Thy flock art leading." The latter is a baptism hymn and is one of the most exquisite lyrics on that theme ever written. Although Muhlenberg never married, he had a very deep love for children. No service seemed so hallowed to him as the baptism of a little child. It is said that shortly after his ordination, when asked to officiate at such a rite, Muhlenberg flushed and hesitated, and then asked a bishop who was present to baptize the babe. The latter, however, insisted that the young clergyman should carry out the holy ordinance, and from that day there was no duty that afforded Muhlenberg more joy.

Muhlenberg often expressed regret that he had written "I would not live alway." It seems that the poem was called into being in 1824, following a "heart-breaking disappointment in the matter of love." Muhlenberg was a young man at the time, and in his later years he sought to alter it in such a way that it would breathe more of the hopeful spirit of the New Testament. He contended that Paul's words, "For me to live is Christ"

were far better than Job's lament, "I would not live alway." However, the hymn as originally written had become so fixed in the consciousness of the Church, that all efforts of the author to revise it were in vain.

Nearly all the hymns of Muhlenberg that have lived were written during his earlier years. His later ministry centered in New York City, where he was head of a boys' school for a number of years, and later rector of the Church of the Holy Communion. He soon became an outstanding leader in the great metropolis. After having founded St. Luke's hospital, the first church inst.i.tution of its kind in New York City, he spent the last twenty years of his life as its superintendent.

His death occurred when he was past eighty years. It is said that when the end was drawing near, the hospital chaplain came to his bedside to pray for his recovery.

"Let us have an understanding about this," said the dying Muhlenberg.

"You are asking G.o.d to restore me and I am asking G.o.d to take me home.

There must not be a contradiction in our prayers, for it is evident that He cannot answer them both."

The Way, the Truth, and the Life