The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1892-02-18
Origin of Great Hymns.

they thought to be the hundred best
hymns, promising prize for the list that
should most nearly correspond with the
general verdict. More than 340O lists
! were received in response. The first
hymn upon the larger number was Rock
OF Ages" receiving 1915 votes. The sec
ond in point of popularity was abide
with Me-" the third, "Jesus, Lover Of
My Soul Il Heard the Voice of Jesus
Say" II ce,vel $3.50 votes. OF course, an
American al Hence might change the
order a little, but think any audience,
II called upon to name the dozen best
hymns in the language, would put all
four of these in the list.
Il have selected four great hymns
Rock of Ages, Jesus, Lover of My Soul,
Just as Am, Without One Plea, and
All Hail the Power of Jesus Name
The first, Rock oflAges, is certainly one
OF the most popular hymns in the Eng
I lish language. Its author was Augustus
Montague Toplady, the son of Richard
Toplady, a commissioned officer in the
British army, who died at the siege of
Carthagena, Spain, about the time of
his sons birth, 1740. Left to the care of
his widowed mother, he was entered at
Westminster School, London, and soon
showed decided aptitude for learning.
His mother, having claims to an estate
in Ireland, took the boy with her on a
journey there in 1856. While there he
was converted under curious circumstan-
ces. He strayed into a barn, where an
unlettered! ayman named James Morris
was preaching to handful of people,
Writing of this circumstance years after
terward, Toplady says: BY the Grace of
God, under the ministry of that dear
messenger and through that sermon, l
trust, brought nigh by the blood of
Christ, i'll August, 1855. Strange that I,
who had SO long sat under the means of
grace in England, should be brought
near to God in an obscure part of Ire
land, amidst a handful of Gods people,
met together in q barn, and under the
ministry of one who could hardly spell
his name. The excellence of such power
must be of God, and cannot be of man..
Toplady now began a new life and en-
tered Trinity College, Dublin, as stu>
dent for the ministry, being ordained in
1862. 1t was while laboring among the
humble laceworkers in Devonshire, in
1886, that this hymn, which was to make
SITS writer famous, was given to the
world. He wrote much before this, and
good deal nsthe two years he lived af
ter its publication, his works haying
been published by a-.friend in six vol
umes.
"The second hymn I have chosen,
Jesus, Lover of Ny Soul, was written
by Charles Wesley. Toplady and Yves
ley disagreed very decidedly in their re-
ligious beliefs, but when they came to
writing hymns their sentiments were
much alike, just as the various sects in
controversy come close together in their
hymnology. Wesley wrote 1000 hymns,
but this at the head. Henry Ward
Beecher once spoke of his love for this
hymn in these words: i would rather
'Jesus Lover of My Soul" than to have
the fame of all the kings that ever sat
on the earth. would rather be its au-
thor than to hold the wealth of the rich
est man in New York. There are sew
eral traditions connected with the origin
of the hymn, one, and not very probable
one, holding that Wesley, flying from
prosecutors in England took refuge in
she'd, and during this time was inspired
with the thoughts of the hymn. Anoth-
err and more likely tradition claims that
Jesus, Lover of My Soul came to Wes-
ley's heart and mind one evening when
he was sitting by an open window watch
ing the storm that still was high, and
the angry pillows that he so beautifully
imagesin the hymn. AS he sat a bird,
beaten about by the storm, flew in the
window and took shelter on Wesley's
breast This suggested the spirit u al
shelter sought in the appeal, Let me to
thy bosom fly
Tradition has also been busy with
the origin of those beautiful lines from
the pen of Charlotte Elliott, who was
born in Brighton in 1880. She was an
invalid for fifty years of her life, from
1891 to 1871. 1t is said when Dr. Caesar
Malau visited her fathers house in 1922
he found her trying to work out her own
salvation and unwilling to trust Christ.
Charlotte, he said, cut the cable. 1t
will take too long to unloose it. 1t is a
small loss the wind blows and the
ocean is before you. Cut it and come
just as you are' She came just as she
was, and multitudes of others have come
on her language. The hymn first APP
peared as one of is contributed to In
valid's Hymn Book in 1885. Rev. Henry
Venn Elliott said that he always consid-
cred this hymn of his sisters to have
ontweighed in Christian value all of his
own efforts as q pastor.
Edward Peronnet was the author of
that stirring hymn, All Hail the Power
of Jesus Name, which appeared anony
mously in eight stanzas in the Gospel
Magazine, 1880. DR.. Rippon introduced
it into his selections, changing it to it's
present form in 1887. The author was a
son of minister, and he and his broth
er became ministers, in connection with
the Wesleys, about 1746. Wesley after
ward fell out with him, and through the
latter's antipathy Peronnet's hymn was
long denied a place in the Methodist
hymn book. Peronnet became dissent
ing minister at Canterbury, and died
there in 1899. 1t is strange that this
should have been his only great hymn.
1t has become the English TIE Deum,
sharing with BishopsKen's doxology the
spontaneous approval of all Christian
hearts. All Hail the Power of Jesus
Name was first set to the tune known as
Mills Lane composed by an intimate
friend, Mr.. Shrubsole, and it is so sung
in England In 1893 it was set to mar
tial music, Coronation composed for it
hv OIiyar Holden of CharleStOWn Mass