Evening star., 1925-09-26
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the BookLover.

Some famous hymns have been 80
familiar to US from our childhood that
we think Of them as a species Of folk
lore, springing4 y without personal au-
thorship froaa humanity as whole to
meet q human need. Yet sometimes
knowledge Of the authors of the
hymns and the circumstances under
which they were written adds greatly
to their interest and helpfulnesss,
hymn writer's have frequently made
use OF military symbolism. comparing
the Christian life to struggle of the
forces Of good against those Of evil.
Martin Luther's hymn "A Mighty
Fortress Is Our God" was to the Ger
man reformation what the "Marseil-
iaise" was to the French Revolution.
he based 1t on the forty-sixth Psalm.
but 1t does not entirely follow the
course of the Psalm. Another hymn
OF stirring military character is "On-
ward, Christian Soldiers" by Rev.
Sabine Baring-Gould, a Yorkshire Gu.
rate at the time when the hymn was
written. He was training the. chill
dren of his village for a Whitmonday
march and could find for them no
good marching song, SO he wrote this
hymn. Am Soldier Of the CROSSE"
was written by Isaac Watts, who has
been called the father of English hymn
writing. to follow a sermon on the
text from first Corinthians, Watch ye,
stand fast In the faith. quit you like
men, be strong" Rev. John Samuel
BeWiey Monsell of Guildford, England,
wrote over 900 hymns, among which
none has been more used than flight
the Good Fight
The protecting, strengthening power
of God is appealed to and proclaimed
in many hymns. Five of the best
known are "All Hail the Power of
Jesus Name" How Firm a Founda-
ton" Rock of Ages" Jesus, Lover
or My Soul and Nearer. My God, to
Thee The first Of these is the one
great hymn written by Edward Per-
ronet, an English clergyman of French
descent who worked with John and
Charles Wesley in the Methods.
movement. How Firm a Founda-
ton" was written by Robert keene,
precentor In the church of DR.. John
Rlppon, a Baptist minister of Lon.
don, who first published the hymn in
his collection "A Selection Of Hymns
from the Best Authors" Rock of
lady, young Englishman, while he
was f1ghttng tuberculosis which ulti-
mately caused his death. This hymn
was the dying prayer of Prince AL
pert, the consort Of Queen Victoria,
ana was also an especial favorite with
Gladstone, who often hummed il in the
House of Commons and translated it
into Greek. Latin and Italian. Jesus.
Lover of My Soul" is considered the
best of Charles Wesley's hymns, and
he wrote about 5000. 1t Is said that
this hymn was written Just after
CHARLES Wesley and his brother John
had been driven by mob from the
place where they had been preaching.
Another story is that it was written
after d frightened bird, pursued by a
hawk, had flown into the. folds of
Charles Wesley's coat for protection.
Nearer, My God. to Thee" by Sarah
flower Adams, has been called the
greatest hymn ever written by a
woman. AS President Mckinley was
dying he murmured the first, line of
this hymn.
Two hymns are famous because
they are cry for help in the midst of
doubts and difficulties; Jesus, Saviour,
Pilot Me-" and Lead, Kindly Light. -
The first. by Rev. Edward Hopper of
New York, was published in the Sail.
ors Magazine when the author was
pastor Of the Church of Sea and Land.
a sailors church in New York Harbor.
Lead, Kindly Light one of the
greatest of all hymns, was written by
Cardinal Newman before he left the
church of England, while on a voyage
from Sicily to Marseille. 1t was dur
ing the period when he was beginning
70 be drawn toward the Church of
Rome and is prayer for guidance
in his perplexity. ,F:, =
From Greenland's Icy Mountains. "
by Bishop Reginald Heber of the
Church of England, is missionary
hymn. God Be With You Till We
Meet Again." by Rev. Jeremiah h
Rankin of Washington, D. c., Is called
the benediction hymn. "Blest Be the
lie that Binds" by John Fawcett, a
forkshireman. is the hymn of union,
used constantly by Christian Endeavor
societies: Calm on the Listening Ear
OF Night" by Rev. Edmund H. Sears
of Massachusetts,. While Shepherds
Watched Their F'locks by Might by
Nahum Tate. and 20 Little: Town of
Bethlehem" by Bishop Phillins
Brooks. are three of the most beauti.
iuI OF Christmas hymns. In addition
to purely religious hymns, there are,
OF course, many patriotic songs which
are Of the nature of hymns, as Julia
ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the
Republic" Samuel Smiths my .Coun.
Try. Try It's OF Thee" Joseph Hopkihson's s
Hail! Columbia" and Francis Scott
Keys Star Spangled Banner
X
-
wrecks, mutinies, pirates and buried
treasure, are always popular, probably
because they give the settled business
man or the tired housekeeper an IT,
lusion for the time Of being an ad-
venturous, devil-nay-cares sort of per
son. Two anthologfes of such sea and
pirate stories have recently been pub.
ished-"Great Sea Stories: Second
Series" and "Great Pirate Stories.
Second Series," both edited by .Josenh
Lewis French, who has established
reputation as a persistent antholo-
gist. Some Of these stories are true,
or at least were told as true; as Sir
Walter Raleigh's narrative of Sir
Richard Greenville's ship Revenge
and it's remarkable defense against
So Spanish vessels at Flores, in the
Azores, and a burial at sea from r: H.
Dana's 1.-TWO Years Before the Mast
Most of the stories are, however, from
masterpieces of fiction, as an account
of the fishermen from Pierre Lofts
"An Iceland Fisherman" the fight
with the octopus from Victor Hugo's
''Toilers of the Sea-" the pursuit of
the whale from j. Fenimore Cooper's
''The Pilot" and the rounding of Cape
Horn from Herman Melville's white
Jacket"
X Y X - &.
Poetry divorced from personality Is
pure poetry" according to George
Moore, who has edited "An Anthology