The Story of the Hymns and Tunes Part 63

CHORUS.

O sing of His mighty love (_ter_) Mighty to save!

Dr. Bottome returned to England, and died at Tavistock June 29, 1894.

_THE TUNE._

Bradbury's "Songs of the Beautiful" (in _Fresh Laurels_). The hymn was set to this chorus in 1871.

"WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BE?"

Very popular in England. Mr. Sankey in his _Story of the Gospel Hymns_ relates at length the experience of Rev. W.O. Lattimore, pastor of a large church in Evanston, Ill., who was saved to Christian manhood and usefulness by this hymn. It has suffered some alterations, but its original composition was Mrs. Emily Oakey's work. The Parables of the Sower and of the Tares may have been in her mind when she wrote the lines in 1850, but more probably it was the text in Gal. 6:7--

Sowing the seed by the daylight fair, Sowing the seed by the noonday glare, Sowing the seed by the fading light, Sowing the seed in the solemn night.

O, what shall the harvest be?

Lattimore, the man whose history was so strangely linked with this hymn, entered the army in 1861, a youth of eighteen with no vices, but when promoted to first lieutenant he learned to drink in the officers' mess.

The habit so contracted grew upon him till when the war was over, though he married and tried to lead a sober life, he fell a victim to his appet.i.te, and became a physical wreck. One day in the winter of 1876 he found himself in a half-drunken condition, in the gallery of Moody's Tabernacle, Chicago. Discovering presently that he had made a mistake, he rose to go out, but Mr. Sankey's voice chained him. He sat down and heard the whole of the thrilling hymn from beginning to end. Then he stumbled out with the words ringing in his ears.

Sowing the seed of a lingering pain, Sowing the seed of a maddened brain, Sowing the seed of a tarnished name, Sowing the seed of Eternal shame.

O, what shall the harvest be?

In the saloon, where he went to drown the awakenings of remorse, those words stood in blazing letters on every bottle and gla.s.s. The voice of G.o.d in that terrible song of conviction forced him back to the Tabernacle, with his drink untasted. He went into the inquiry meeting where he found friends, and was led to Christ. His wife and child, from whom he had long been exiled, were sent for and work was found for him to do. A natural eloquence made him an attractive and efficient helper in the meetings, and he was finally persuaded to study for the ministry.

His faithful pastorate of twenty years in Evanston ended with his death in 1899.

Mrs. Emily Sullivan Oakey was an author and linguist by profession, and though in her life of nearly fifty-four years she "never enjoyed a day of good health," she earned a grateful memory. Born in Albany, N.Y., Oct. 8, 1829, she was educated at the Albany Female Academy, and fitted herself for the position of teacher of languages and English literature in the same school, which she honored by her service while she lived.

Her contributions to the daily press and to magazine literature were numerous, but she is best known by her remarkable hymn. Her death occurred on the 11th of May, 1883.

_THE TUNE_,

By P.P. Bliss, is one of that composer's tonal successes. The march of the verses with their recurrent words is so automatic that it would inevitably suggest to him the solo and its organ-chords; and the chorus with its sustained soprano note dominating the running concert adds the last emphasis to the solemn repet.i.tion. The song with its warning cry owes no little of its power to this choral appendix--

Gathered in time or eternity, Sure, ah sure will the harvest be.

"O THINK OF THE HOME OVER THERE."

A hymn of Rev. D.W.C. Huntington, suggested by Ps. 55:6. It was a favorite from the first.

Rev. DeWitt Clinton Huntington was born at Townshend, Vt., Apr. 27, 1830. He graduated at the Syracuse University, and received the degrees of D.D. and LL.D. from Genesee College. Preacher, instructor and author--Removed to Lincoln, Nebraska.

O think of the home over there, By the side of the river of light, Where the saints all immortal and fair Are robed in their garments of white.

Over there, (_rep_)

O think of the friends over there, Who before us the journey have trod, Of the songs that they breathe on the air, In their home in the palace of G.o.d.

Over there. (_rep_)

_THE TUNE._

The melody was composed by Tullius Clinton O'Kane, born in Delaware, O., March 10, 1830, a hymnist and musician. It is a flowing tune, with sweet chords, and something of the fugue feature in the chorus as an accessory. The voices of a mult.i.tude in full concord make a building tremble with it.

"WHEN JESUS COMES."

Down life's dark vale we wander Till Jesus comes; We watch and wait and wonder Till Jesus comes.

Both words and music are by Mr. Bliss. A relative of his family, J.S.

Ellsworth, says the song was written in Peoria, Illinois, in 1872, and was suggested by a conversation on the second coming of Christ, a subject very near his heart. The thought lingered in his mind, and as he came down from his room, soon after, the verses and notes came to him simultaneously on the stairs. Singing them over, he seized pencil and paper, and in a few minutes fixed hymn and tune in the familiar harmony so well known.

No more heart-pangs nor sadness When Jesus comes; All peace and joy and gladness When Jesus comes.

The choral abounds in repet.i.tion, and is half refrain, but among all Gospel Hymns remarkable for their tone-delivery this is unsurpa.s.sed in the swing of its rhythm.

All joy his loved ones bringing When Jesus comes.

All praise thro' heaven ringing When Jesus comes.

All beauty bright and vernal When Jesus comes.

All glory grand, eternal When Jesus comes.

"TO THE WORK, TO THE WORK."

One of f.a.n.n.y Crosby's most animating hymns--with Dr. W.H. Doane's full part harmony to re-enforce its musical accent. Mr. Sankey says, "I sang it for the first time in the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Cornell at Long Branch. The servants gathered from all parts of the house while I was singing, and looked into the parlor where I was seated. When I was through one of them said, 'That is the finest hymn I have heard for a long time,' I felt that this was a test case, and if the hymn had such power over those servants it would be useful in reaching other people as well; so I published it in the _Gospel Hymns_ in 1875, where it became one of the best work-songs for our meetings that we had." (_Story of the Gospel Hymns_.)

The hymn, written in 1870, was first published in 1871 in "_Pure Gold_"--a book that had a sale of one million two hundred thousand copies.

To the work! to the work! there is labor for all, For the Kingdom of darkness and error shall fall, And the name of Jehovah exalted shall be, In the loud-swelling chorus, "Salvation is free!"

CHORUS.

Toiling on, toiling on, toiling on, toiling on! (_rep_) Let us hope and trust, let us watch and pray, And labor till the Master comes.

"O WHERE ARE THE REAPERS?"

Matt. 13:30 is the text of this lyric from the pen of Eben E. Rexford.

Go out in the by-ways, and search them all, The wheat may be there though the weeds are tall; Then search in the highway, and pa.s.s none by, But gather them all for the home on high.

CHORUS.

Where are the reapers? O who will come, And share in the glory of the harvest home?

O who will help us to garner in The sheaves of good from the fields of sin?

_THE TUNE._

Hymn and tune are alike. The melody and harmony by Dr. George F. Root have all the eager trip and tread of so many of the gospel hymns, and of so much of his music, and the lines respond at every step. Any other composer could not have escaped the compulsion of the final spondees, and much less the author of "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," and all the best martial song-tunes of the great war. In this case neither words nor notes can say to the other, "We have piped unto you and ye have not danced," but a little caution will guard too enthusiastic singing against falling into the drum-rhythm, and travestying a sacred piece.