Words by Charlotte Elliott

Just as I Am

Music by William B. Bradbury

"Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me."

Miss Charlotte Elliott was visiting some friends in the West End of London, and there met the eminent minister, Cesar Malan. While seated at supper, the minister said he hoped that she was a Christian. She took offense at this, and replied that she would rather not discuss that question. Dr. Malan said that he was sorry if he had offended her, that he always liked to speak a word for his Master, and that he hoped that the young lady would some day become a worker for Christ. When they met again at the home of a mutual friend, three weeks later, Miss Elliott told the minister that ever since he had spoken to her she had been trying to find her Saviour, and that she now wished him to tell her how to come to Christ. "Just come to him as you are," Dr. Malan said. This she did, and went away rejoicing. Shortly afterward she wrote this hymn, "Just as I am, without one plea." It was first published in "The Invalid's Hymn Book," in 1836. In all my preaching," said her brother, the Rev. H. V. Elliott, "I have not done so much good as my sister has been permitted to accomplish by writing her one hymn, 'Just as I am.""

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A little street waif in New York City came to a missionary with a torn and dirty piece of paper, on which this hymn was printed.

"Please, sir," he said, "father sent me to get a clean copy like that."

The missionary learned that the child's sister had loved to sing it, and that this copy had been found in her pocket after her death. The father wanted to obtain a clean copy of the verses in order to frame them.

During a service of song in a Christian church, John B. Gough was asked by a man in the pew with him what was to be sung, as the announcement had not been heard. The questioner was most repulsive in appearance, because of a nervous disease that disfigured his face and form. When the singing began, Gough was driven almost to frenzy by the harsh and discordant tones of the singer by his side. But when they came to "Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind," the wretched creature lifted his sightless eyes to heaven and sang with his whole soul. The great orator, in his impassioned and inimitable way, said:

"I have heard the finest strains of orchestra, choir, and soloist this world can produce, but I never heard music until I heard that blind man sing, 'O, Lamb of God, I come, I come.""

Lead, Kindly Light

Words by John H. Newman

Music by John B. Dykes

"Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on."

Dr. Newman wrote this hymn in 1833, just before he entered upon the tractarian movement in the Established Church. He had been at Rome, and stopping at

Sicily on his homeward way, he there became dangerously ill of fever. Upon recovery, he took passage on an orange boat for Marseilles, being under the impression that he must return to England and begin a movement for the reformation of the Church in accord with his peculiar views. The sailing vessel was becalmed for a week in the Straits of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia. It was on this vessel and under such circumstances, his body sweltering in the heat and his mind racked with conflicting views as to his duty in the contemplated mission to the Established Church, that he penned the lines of this now cherished hymn. Its original title was "The Pillar of the Cloud," the hymn appearing first in "The British Magazine."

Let the Lower Lights be Burning

Words by P. P. Bliss

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Music by P. P. Bliss

'Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From His lighthouse evermore.”

The words of this hymn were suggested to Mr. Bliss on hearing Mr. Moody tell the following incident: "On a dark, stormy night, when the waves rolled like mountains and not a star was to be seen, a boat, rocking and plunging, neared the Cleveland harbor. 'Are you sure this is Cleveland?' asked the captain, seeing only one light from the lighthouse. Quite sure, sir,' replied the pilot. 'Where are the lower lights?' 'Gone out, sir.' 'Can you make the harbor?' 'We must, or perish, sir!' With a strong hand and a brave heart the old pilot turned the wheel. But alas, in the darkness he missed the channel, and with a crash upon

the rocks the boat was shivered, and many a life lost in a watery grave. Brethren, the Master will take care of the great lighthouse; let us keep the lower lights burning!"

Let the Saviour in

Words by J. B. Atchinson

Music by E. O. Excell

"There's a Stranger at the door;

Let Him in!"

In Great Britain this favorite hymn brought blessing to a retired colonel of the English army, at one of Mr. Moody's meetings on the banks of the Thames. The colonel had become anxious about his spiritual condition, and decided to go to London to attend our meetings there. At the conclusion of one of the evening services, as he was about to leave the great building, his attention was arrested by a sweet voice singing, "Let the Saviour in." On taking the train at Paddington station for Bournemouth, the song remained in his heart and the wheels of the train seemed to repeat in his ears the refrain, “Let him in! let the Saviour in!"

He went again to London and sought out the singer whose voice had so impressed him. She was a lady of high rank, and in the course of a few months became the wife of the gallant colonel. A year later they moved to Florida, where I had the pleasure of visiting them in their home. On my invitation, they accompanied me to a near-by town where I was holding meetings. At the conclusion of my lecture the lady sang this hymn again, and so sweetly that it moved the audience to tears.

Words by R. Heber

Missionary Hymn

Music by Dr. Lowell Mason

"From Greenland's icy mountains,

From India's coral strand."

The author of this hymn was Dean of Hodnet and afterward Bishop of Calcutta. He was visiting his father-in-law, the Vicar of Wrexham, they being together in the Vicar's study on the Saturday before Whitsunday, 1819. Each was preparing a missionary sermon to be delivered the following day, when the Vicar spoke up:

"Heber, write something appropriate to sing at our services to-morrow."

Immediately retiring to the other end of the room, Heber sat down by the window and composed the four stanzas which now constitute this hymn. He wanted to add a fifth, but the Vicar said: "Nay; you will only destroy the beauty and symmetry of the composition; let it stand."

The song was sung for the first time on that Whitsunday. Bishop Heber laid down his life, seven years later, on the mission field of India. Of the many hymns which he wrote, nearly all are in common use.

Moment by Moment

Words by D. W. Whittle

Music by May Whittle Moody

"Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;

Living with Jesus a new life divine."

While I was attending the World's Fair, in Chicago, Henry Varley, a lay preacher from London, said to Major Whittle: "I do not like the hymn 'I need