TWO IMMORTAL HYMNS.
Reading edition
Interesting Stories of the Origin of World-famous Sacred Lyrics Which Have Been Sung in Every Country on the Globe.
The two favorite hymns, "Lead, Kindly Light," and "Abide With Me," were each written in circumstances which lend them peculiar significance. In 1833 John Henry Newman, afterward Cardinal Newman, left England in extreme ill-health. "My servant thought I was dying," he relates, "and begged for my last directions. I gave them as he wished; but I said: 'I shall not die, for I have not sinned against light, I have not sinned against light!' I never have been able to make out at all what I meant." This was just before he started upon his journey. He was still in a very feeble state, suffering from bodily weakness and mental depression, when one June evening he was becalmed in an orange-boat on the Mediterranean, in sight of Garibaldi's home on the island of Caprera. As he lay there he composed the beautiful hymn "Lead, Kindly Light."
Did the language of his fevered mind flash back upon him as he saw the shore lights on Caprera? The lights led the boat safely to harbor, and he returned to England. The mental darkness with which he had been struggling also cleared for him, for it was just after his return that the Oxford Movement began. He was a leader in that movement until he went over to the Church of Rome in 1845.
Henry Francis Lyte, curate of Brixham, in Devonshire, England, from 1823 until his death, in 1847, wrote many "hymns for his little ones, and hymns for his hardy fishermen, and hymns for sufferers like himself." His health declined as the years passed, and it was seen that the climate of the Devon coast was too harsh for his frail constitution. But he was loath to leave his parishioners, and, lingering at his post, could not be persuaded to go to Italy until it was too late for the change to save him.
He held a last communion service and delivered his solemn, pathetic parting words. Then, dragging himself wearily to his room, he wrote the hymn "Abide With Me," a most affecting expression of the faith of a dying man. Not long afterward he died at Nice, France. Of all his hymns, "Abide With Me" is best remembered. Like "Lead, Kindly Light," it is a hymn of comfort and help. Always the most helpful words have come from those who have themselves most felt the need of help.
LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT.
By CARDINAL NEWMAN.
Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom; Lead thou me on! The night is dark and I am far from home; Lead thou me on! Keep thou my feet! I do not ask to see The distant scene—one step's enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou Shouldst lead me on. I loved to choose and see my path, but now Lead thou me on! I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years. So long thy power has blest me, sure it still Will lead me on O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone. And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since and lost awhile.
ABIDE WITH ME.
By HENRY FRANCIS LYTE.
Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens: Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me! Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see: O thou, who changest not, abide with me! Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word, But as thou dwell'st with thy disciples, Lord, Familiar, condescending, patient, free— Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me! Come not in terrors, as the King of kings; But kind and good, with healing in thy wings, Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea: Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me! Thou on my head in early youth didst smile; And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile, Thou hast not left me, oft as I left thee: On to the close, O Lord, abide with me! I need thy presence every passing hour. What but thy grace can foil the Tempter's power? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me! I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless: Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee: In life and death, O Lord, abide with me!