Mary Lathbury, born today in 1841, will always be remembered for two simple hymns that she wrote for the Chautauqua Institution: Break thou the Bread of Life and Day is dying in the west. Charles Sumner Nutter, author of Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church (1905).wrote:
It could be wished that we had a
dozen or more hymns from her pen in our
Hymnal if all of them could be as poetic
and devotional as these two beautiful lyrics.
Nutter's book was specifically about hymns and their writers which were contained in the Methodist Hymnal of 1905, which did not, in fact, contain any more of Lathbury's hymns, though she wrote many more.
Today's hymn comes from a collection called Crystal Songs (1877), which contains many texts about water, used in various metaphorical ways.
O river of the Life of God,
Foreseen by saint and seer
No witness of thy glory tells
Thy coming drawing near,
The rising of the tides we feel,
The living floods we hear.
Beyond the waters, crystal clear,
The Holy City lies.
Its glory groweth day by day
Upon our raptured eyes
Who watch upon the shore until
The sacred river rise.
Then rise, O holy waters, rise,
Till waste and wilderness
Shall feel the overflowing tide;
And truth and righteousness
Shall spring, a miracle of bloom,
The whole round earth to bless.
Mary A. Lathbury, 1877; alt.
Tune: BROTHER JAMES' AIR (8.6.8.6.8.6.)
James Leith Macbeth Bain, 1915
Water was often a sort of code word used in hymns and songs on the topic of temperance in the late nineteenth century and some of the material in Crystal Songs reflects this. Though Lathbury did write more overtly pro-temperance songs, this does not appear to be one of them. Frances Willard, one of the founders and later president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union was a close friend of Lathbury, and wrote of her:
A high courageous faith, a loyalty to the best ideals, and a devotion to the truth that gave inspiration to all with whom she came in contact, characterized 'our Mary.'
Five Years Ago: Mary Artemesia Lathbury
Four Years Ago: Mary Artemesia Lathbury
Three Years Ago: Mary Artemesia Lathbury
Today is the birthday of Mary Lathbury, born in 1841 in northern New York state. She attended art school after high school graduation, and went on to teach art for some years before turning more to writing, primarily for childrens' magazines and then books, which she illustrated herself.
She became the associate editor of Sunday School publications for the Methodist Episcopal Church where she continued writing and illustrating. John Heyl Vincent, a Methodist minister and later bishop, was a friend and Lathbury regularly attended the summer sessions at the Chautauqua Institution, which Vincent founded in the 1870s. Lathbury began writing hymns for worship and sometimes for Bible study classes at Chautauqua, often based on particular requests from Vincent, and sometimes set to tunes by the Institute's music director, William Fisk Sherwin. She became known as the poet laureate of Chautauqua, and her songs are still sung there today. In her own time, several were published in Chautauqua Carols (1878) though she continued to write new texts practically every year for many years after that, often for special occasions (such as when President Grant visited Chautauqua) or anniversaries.
Her two most familiar hymns have already been covered here on previous birthdays, and they each have appeared in hundreds of hymnals. Today's hymn is not nearly so well-known; Hymnary.org has only found four appearances of it thus far. Worship at Chautauqua was (and is) always nondenominational, and it may be that the theme of unity expressed here accounts for its scarcity.
O Shepherd of the Nameless Fold,
One promised church to be,
Our hearts with love and longing turn
To find their rest in thee;
And even now its heav’nly walls
Unseen around us rise,
And deep in loving human hearts
Its broad foundation lies.
From out our old, divided state,
And centuries of strife,
Thy hand, O Shepherd of the flock,
Is lifting us to life.
O blest dominion, happy fold,
The unity to be,
Our hearts in love and worship turn
To find themselves in thee!
Its bounds are known to God alone,
For they are set above;
The length, the breadth, the height are one,
And measured by God's love.
Mary Lathbury, 1881; alt.
Tune: ST. STEPHEN (C.M.)
William Jones, 1789
Though people had often requested it, Lathbury published no single collection of her verse in her lifetime. Two years after her death in 1913, Poems of Mary Artemesia Lathbury, Chautauqua Laureate was finally issued. including a foreword by Bishop Vincent and a brief sketch of her life by Frances Willard.
William Fisk Sherwin was born today in 1826, in Buckland, Massachusetts. He is primarily known today for only two tunes which were written for two long-lasting hymns by Mary Lathbury: Break thou the bread of life and Day is dying in the west. Like so many of his contemporaries, however, he produced many other songs and hymns that are forgotten.
He studied music with Lowell Mason and later became an instructor at the New England Conservatory of Music. He was active in Sunday school work, teaching and leading special assemblies throughout New York and New England. In later years he was remembered by George C. Stebbins in Reminiscences and Gospel Song Stories (1924):I remember well his singing very effectively and artistically the old classic among sacred songs Flee as a bird to your mountain. His manner of rendering and his well trained and sympathetic voice made a lasting impression upon me.Sherwin was a friend of the Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent, who founded a camp in 1874 for Sunday school teachers on the shores of Lake Chautauqua in western New York and asked Sherwin to serve as the camp's music director. This camp soon developed into the prestigious Chautauqua Institution, and Sherwin maintained his connection to it for many years. Many of his compositions, not just those with Lathbury, were popularized here first.Sherwin was also a musical editor at the Century Company and at Biglow & Main, who published many of his songs. One of his collections there, co-edited with Robert Lowry and William H. Doane, was titled Chautauqua Carols (1878) and was used both at the Institute and thoughout the country where numerous "tent chautauquas" sprang up in connection with the original. Though mostly known today as a composer, Sherwin did write many of his own texts for his tunes as well, such as this one.Grander than ocean’s story,
Or songs of forest trees;
Purer than breath of morning,
Or evening’s gentle breeze;
Clearer than mountain echoes
Ring out from peaks above,
Rolls on the glorious anthem
Of God’s eternal love.
Dearer than any friendship
Our truest comrades show;
Stronger than all the yearning
A mother’s heart may know;
Deeper than earth’s foundations,
And far above all thought;
Broader than heav’n’s high arches—
The love that Christ has brought.
Richer than all earth’s treasures,
The wealth my soul receives;
Brighter than royal jewels,
The crown that Jesus gives;
Wondrous the condescension,
And grace beyond degree!
I would be ever singing
The love of Christ to me.
William F. Sherwin, 19th c.
GOD'S LOVE (7.6.7.6.D.)
On this date in 1876, the United States Patent Office issued Patent #174,465 to Alexander Graham Bell for “the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound,” or, as we know it now, the telephone. Three days later Bell finally achieved his initial goal when his famous quote “Mr. Watson, come here -- I want to see you” was transmitted between rooms of his workshop to his waiting assistant.
Over the next century the telephone developed from that primitive “apparatus” into a device that was, for better or for worse, present in most American households. In the last twenty years, advances in telephone technology have spread its use even farther, so that every individual person in that household can now carry one around in one's pocket.
We were nowhere near that point in 1919; the telephone was still a rather new invention, but it was at least known to most people. I suppose it may have seemed slightly miraculous to many, which brings us to this gospel song published in that year by Nazarene pastor Frederick M. Lehman, likening the process of prayer to talking on the telephone.Central’s never “busy,” always on the line;
You may hear from Heaven almost any time;
’Tis a royal service, free for one and all;
When you get in trouble, give this royal line a call.
Refrain
Telephone to glory, O what joy divine!
I can feel the current moving on the line,
Built by God the Father for His loved and own,
We may talk to Jesus thru this royal telephone.
There will be no charges, telephone is free,
It was built for service, just for you and me;
There will be no waiting on this royal line,
Telephone to glory always answers just in time.
Refrain
Fail to get the answer, Satan’s crossed your wire,
By some strong delusion, or some base desire;
Take away obstructions, God is on the throne,
And you’ll get your answer through this royal telephone.
Refrain
If your line is “grounded,” and connection true
Has been lost with Jesus, tell you what to do;
Prayer and faith and promise, mend the broken wire,
’Till your soul is burning with the Pentecostal fire.
Refrain
Carnal combinations cannot get control
Of this line to glory, anchored in the soul;
Storm and trial cannot disconnect the line,
Held in constant keeping by the Father’s hand divine.
Refrain
Frederick Lehman, 1919
Tune: THE ROYAL TELEPHONE (6.5.6.5.6.5.6.7 with refrain)
arr. Claudia Lehman Mays, 1919This seems somewhat amusing to us today, but the idea of writing a song of praise to God with a technological theme is not altogether unknown. Offhand, I'm thinking of Life in the Loom by Mary Lathbury, and there are probably others. And I guess you could include Earth and all stars, a 1968 (copyrighted) hymn by Herbert Brokering which includes the lines:Classrooms and labs, loud boiling test-tubes,Sing to the Lord a new song!but I don't know of any hymns yet about iPods or laptop computers.Frederick Lehman published five volumes for congregational singing called Songs That Are Different, which included some other unusual numbers, such as one called John Barleycorn Is Dead, King Nicotine Must Die (we haven't talked much here about temperance hymns and hymnals, but they were big business too). Lehman wrote more conventional hymns and songs as well. including The Love of God, which seems to be enjoying a resurgence in recent years.
Mary Artemesia Lathbury, born today in 1841, wrote and edited books and magazines for children, but is probably most known today for two hymns, though she wrote many more. According to Hymnary.org, Break thou the bread of life, discussed here last year, appears in more than 536 hymnals, and today's hymn in more than 456 hymnals.
Evening hymns are sung by a shrinking number of congregations each year, but this one is still the opening hymn at each Sunday night service at the Chautauqua Institution, with which Lathbury was long associated and where she wrote this text. The first two verses were written in 1877, set to music by the Institute's music director, William Fiske Sherwin, and Lathbury added the additional two verses two years later.Day is dying in the west;
Heav’n is touching earth with rest;
Wait and worship while the night
Sets the evening lamps alight
Through all the sky.
Refrain
Holy, holy, holy, O God of Hosts!
Heav’n and earth are full of Thee!
Heav’n and earth are praising Thee,
O Lord most high!
God of life, beneath the dome
Of the universe, thy home,
Gather us who seek thy face
To the fold of thy embrace,
For thou art nigh.
Refrain
While the deepening shadows fall,
Heart of love enfolding all,
Through the glory and the grace
Of the stars that veil thy face,
Our hearts ascend.
Refrain
When forever from our sight
Pass the stars, the day, the night,
God of angels, on our eyes
Let eternal morning rise
And shadows end.
Refrain
Mary A. Lathbury, 1877 & 1879; alt.
Tune: CHAUTAUQUA (7.7.7.7.4. with refrain)
William F. Sherwin, 1877There is a similar hymn with a morning text sung to this tune which begins Day is dawning in the east, Souls are gathering for the feast which is attributed to Mary Lathbury, but it does not seem to have appeared in any hymnals until long after her death in 1913.
Mary Artemesia Lathbury (born August 10, 1841) was a teacher, artist, and editor as well as a writer (and not only of hymns). She taught art at a number of schools in the northeastern US, and was then hired as associate editor for the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School publications. She wrote and illustrated many poems and other pieces for those books and magazines, including the Child's Life of Christ.She attended the annual sessions of the Chautauqua Institution for many years, and wrote her two most famous hymns while there: the evening hymn Day is dying in the west, and this one, probably the most widely used, still today.Break now the Bread of life,Dear Friend, to me,As once you broke the loavesBeside the sea;Beyond the sacred pageYour voice is heard;My spirit longs for you,O living Word!
Bless here the truth, dear Christ,To me, to me,As once you blessed the breadBy Galilee;Then shall all bondage cease,All fetters fall;And I shall find my peace,My all in all.Mary A. Lathbury, 1877, alt.Tune: BREAD OF LIFE (6.4.6.4.D.)William F. Sherwin, 1877Lathbury wrote only two verses. In 1913 Alexander Groves added two more verses; many hymnals publish all four, some only the original two. I chose to leave the additions out for a few reasons.
A well-written hymn will have a recognizable final verse, one that comes to a climax or conclusion. Lathbury's does - we, with Christ's blessing, find our "all in all." But Groves' verses continue on, with his own final verse, meaning that there's now an extra one. Also, Lathbury specifically writes "Beyond the sacred page," indicating perhaps that there's more to faith than scripture alone. But Groves brings the Bible back into it in two lines -- "(Thy) holy Word the truth that saveth me" and his final line, "And in (thy) Book revealed, I see the Lord." Did he overlook her meaning, or did he decide to "correct" her? Either way, I no longer see any need for his extra verses. Voices Found includes a new third verse (using a vague shadow of Groves' last verse), but gives no indication of its author. Maybe two verses are enough.
Mary Lathbury wrote several more hymns, more than are listed at her Cyber Hymnal page. In Songs From the Hearts of Women, a 1903 book about women hymn writers, it's written of Lathbury "her chance of having a name two hundred years hence is better than that of most writers in America." This hymn has already lasted 131 years, so 200 doesn't seem unlikely.
