Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-01-04

II i4AAuOuS Gue many Sweet ana Qelnful hymns
sung at devotional meetings in this country,
few have taken stronger hold than that be-
ginning: "He Leadeth Me-" It was welded
BY Bradbury to one of his tenderest and
purest melodies, and the words and music
appear in almost every church collection Of
hymns and tunes. The author Of "He Lead
eth Men was Rev. j. d. Gilmore, who wrote
it in Philadelphia many years ago. It
was after the author had delivered
lecture on the Twenty third Psalm
at an evening service, and while
9 few Of the leading members of his society
were developing the subject still further in
the parlor Of one Of their number, that Mr..
Gilmore jotted the hymn down in pencil pre-
scisely as it now stands, save that the refrain
has since been added by another hand. The
poem was handed by him to his wife, who
sent it, without his knowledge, to The
Watchman and Reflector, in which paper it
was soon after printed.
A DOUBLE CLAIM.
The history Of the beautiful hymn. 81
Would Not Live Away affords one of the
most remarkable instances Of a double claim
to authorship on record It is almost uni
versally accredited to DR. Muhlenberg. and
it may be a surprise to many to learn that
strong evidence has been adduced to prove it
to have been written by Henry Ward, q
printer and poet, who died in Litchfield,
Conn, in 1871.
It is claimed that this was one of several
original compositions which were bound into
small pamphlet, in manuscript, by Mr..
Ward, and given to the Rev. Isaac Jones. a
former rector of the church in which the.
printer poet was reared, who took it to an
Episcopal convention held in 1896, where it
was probably sung for the first time. Until
his death MIR. Jones strongly upheld the truth
of this account Of the hymns origin.
"A warm controversy was waged in 1853, in
the newspapers, between the friends of the
claimants in regard to the matter, and in
1875 an extended and able argument in
support of the claim of Mr.. Ward was
printed in The Boston Transcript in re-
ply to one published in The New York Sun
on the opposite side. The claim of Henry
Ward was carefully Investigated during the
same year by O. H. Hurpel, the editor of a
handsome and unique book entitled "Poets
and Poetry Of Printerdom, !" who became CON
WINGED of the Justice Of Wards claim before
admitting it to place in his collection.
CONVERTS MASTERPIECE
Among the older hymns which still retain
their place as masterpieces in modern collec-
tions. one Of the most sublime is Cowper's:
God moves in mysterious way
his wonders to perform
An interesting and pathetic story of the
origin OF this composition is related by John
Banvard, who received it from an old clergy
man who was we'll acquainted with the cir
cumstances:
As is well known, Cowper was subject to
deep melancholy, which at times even
amounted to insanity. During one Of these
fts Of depression, while in London, the poet
was seized with the sudden impulse to drown
himself. He Immediately ordered a hackney
coach to be brought to his door, and upon it's
arrival he rushed down stairs and into it
without giving orders where it was to be
driven On the driver asking him where he
wished to be taken he replied exciteily: ITO
the Thames!" 81
The manner and look in which these words
were uttered convinced the man that all was
not right He drove of, but not to the
river, as Cowper had ordered him. He drove
up one street and down another for a long
time, while Cowper sat back in his seat in
mental abstraction, which convinced the
driver that his occupant was insane
After long, roundabout journey he at
length drove up to the poets lodgings and
told him he had arrived 11where he was or
dered. Cowper descended from the vehicle,
entered the house and went to, his room.
Then, in his returning consciousness, the
truth Of the entire transaction entered his
mind, and he found that he had not seen the
river at all, nor had he drowned himself, as
he intended when he left the chamber, two
hours before. In this occurrence Cowper
plainly discerned the hand Of Providence,
and immedi diately composed the famous hymn,
which will be sung as long as hymns are
sung in religious worship Charles F. Adams
in Detroit Free Press