The Story of Our Hymns Part 26

is regarded by most critics as the finest hymn in the English language, Toplady's "Rock of Ages" holds the distinction of being the most popular.

Perhaps no hymn ever written has so gripped the hearts of Christians of all communions as this n.o.ble hymn.

A British magazine once invited its readers to submit a list of the hundred English hymns that stood highest in their esteem. A total of 3,500 persons responded, and "Rock of Ages" was named first by 3,215.

We have tried the same experiment with a group of Bible students, and "Rock of Ages" easily headed the list.

Augustus Montague Toplady, the writer of this hymn, was born on November 4, 1740, at Farnham, England. His father, a major in the English army, was killed the following year at the siege of Carthagena. The widowed mother later removed to Ireland, where her son was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. It was during this period of his life that Augustus, then sixteen years of age, chanced to attend an evangelistic service held in a barn. The preacher was an unlettered layman, but his message so gripped the heart of the lad that he determined then and there to give his heart to G.o.d. Of this experience Toplady afterward wrote:

"Strange that I who had so long sat under the means of grace in England should be brought right unto G.o.d in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of people met together in a barn, and by the ministry of one who could hardly spell his own name. Surely it was the Lord's doing and is marvelous."

Toplady was ordained at the age of twenty-two as a minister of the Church of England. He was frail of body, and after some years he was stricken with consumption. It was while fighting the ravages of this disease that he wrote his famous hymn, two years before his death.

The hymn first appeared in the March issue of the _Gospel Magazine_, of which Toplady was editor, in the year 1776. It was appended to a curious article in which the author attempted to show by mathematical computation how dreadful is the sum total of sins committed by a man during a lifetime, and how impossible it is for a sinner to redeem himself from this debt of guilt. But Christ, who is the sinner's refuge, has paid the entire debt. It was this glorious thought that inspired him to sing:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.

For some years John Wesley, the great founder of Methodism, and Toplady had been engaged in a theological dispute. Toplady was a confirmed Calvinist and was intolerant of Wesley's Arminian views. Both men were intemperate in their language and hurled unseemly and sometimes bitter invectives at each other. Wesley characterized Toplady as a "chimney-sweep" and "a lively c.o.xcomb." Toplady retorted by calling Wesley "Pope John" and declaring that his forehead was "petrified" and "impervious to a blush." There are reasons for believing that the article in the _Gospel Magazine_ by Toplady to which we have alluded was for the purpose of refuting Wesley's teachings, and that "Rock of Ages" was written at the conclusion of the article as an effective way of clinching the argument.

In our day, when we find "Rock of Ages" on one page of our hymnals and Charles Wesley's "Jesus, Lover of my soul," on the next, it is hard to understand the uncharitable spirit that existed between these servants of Christ. Perhaps, had they really understood each other, they were more in accord than they suspected.

Nevertheless, G.o.d is able to use the most imperfect of human instruments for His praise, and surely "Rock of Ages" has been the means of bringing mult.i.tudes to G.o.d through Christ. Its strength lies undoubtedly in the clear and simple manner in which it sets forth the glorious truth that we are saved by grace alone, through the merits of Christ. Even a child can understand the meaning of the words,

Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.

Or these,

Not the labors of my hands Can fulfil Thy Law's demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.

In this comforting and triumphant faith Toplady himself pa.s.sed into glory in his thirty-eighth year. A few hours before his death he exclaimed: "My heart beats every day stronger and stronger for glory. Sickness is no affliction, pain no curse, death itself no dissolution." His last words were: "My prayers are all converted into praises."

During his illness some friends had expressed the hope that he might soon be restored. Toplady shook his head.

"No mortal man can live," he said, "after the glories which G.o.d has manifested to my soul."

At another time he told how he "enjoyed a heaven already in his soul,"

and that his spiritual experiences were so exalted that he could ask for nothing except a continuation of them.

Before his death Toplady had requested that he be buried beneath the gallery over against the pulpit of Totenham Court Chapel. Strangely enough, this building was intimately a.s.sociated with the early history of Methodism. It was built by Whitefield, and here also Wesley preached Whitefield's funeral sermon. Perhaps it was Toplady's way of expressing the hope that all the bitterness and rancor attending his controversy with Wesley might be buried with him.

"Rock of Ages" has been translated into almost every known language, and to all peoples it seems to bring the same wondrous appeal. An old Chinese woman was trying to do something of "merit" in the eyes of her heathen G.o.ds by digging a well twenty-five feet deep and fifteen in diameter. She was converted to Christianity, and when she was eighty years old, she held out the crippled hands with which she had labored all her life and sang: "Nothing in my hands I bring."

A missionary to India once sought the aid of a Hindu to translate the hymn into one of the numerous dialects of India. The result was not so happy. The opening words were:

Very old stone, split for my benefit, Let me get under one of your fragments.

This is a fair example of the difference between poetry and prose. The translator was faithful to the idea, but how common-place and unfortunate are his expressions when compared with the language of the original!

The Coronation Hymn

All hail the power of Jesus' Name!

Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel's chosen race, Ye ransomed from the fall, Hail Him, who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David's line, Whom David Lord did call; The Lord incarnate, Man divine, And crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget The wormwood and the gall; Go, spread your trophies at His feet, And crown Him Lord of all.

Let every kindred, every tribe, On this terrestrial ball To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all.

O that with yonder sacred throng We at His feet may fall!

We'll join the everlasting song, And crown Him Lord of all.

Edward Perronet, 1779.

THE BIRD OF A SINGLE SONG

Some men gain fame through a long life of work and achievement; others through a single notable deed. The latter is true in a very remarkable sense of Edward Perronet, author of the Church's great coronation hymn, "All hail the power of Jesus' Name."

"Perronet, bird of a single song, but O how sweet!" is the charming tribute of Bishop Fess in referring to this inspired hymn and its author.

Although Perronet was a man of more than ordinary ability, his name probably would have been lost to posterity had he not written the coronation hymn. An a.s.sociate of the Wesleys for many years, Perronet also wrote three volumes of sacred poems, some of unusual merit. All of them, however, have been practically forgotten except his one immortal hymn. So long as there are Christians on earth, it will continue to be sung, and after that--in heaven!

Perronet came from a distinguished line of French Protestants who had found refuge in England during times of religious persecution in their homeland. His father, Rev. Vincent Perronet, was vicar of Sh.o.r.eham. Both father and son, though ardent supporters of the Established Church, became intensely interested in the great evangelical revival under Whitefield and the Wesleys. At one time young Perronet traveled with John Wesley. Much opposition had been stirred up against the Wesleyan movement, and in some places the preachers were threatened by mobs.

Concerning these experiences, Wesley makes the following notation in his diary:

"From Rockdale we went to Bolton, and soon found that the Rockdale lions were lambs in comparison with those of Bolton. Edward Perronet was thrown down and rolled in mud and mire. Stones were hurled and windows broken."

On another occasion it is recorded that Wesley wanted to hear Perronet preach. The author of our hymn, however, seems to have been somewhat reluctant about preaching in the presence of the great reformer. Wesley, nevertheless, without consulting Perronet, announced in church that the young man would occupy the pulpit on the following morning. Perronet said nothing, but on the morrow he mounted the pulpit and explained that he had not consented to preach. "However," he added, "I shall deliver the best sermon that has ever been preached on earth," whereupon he read the Sermon on the Mount from beginning to end, adding not a word of comment!

"All hail the power of Jesus' Name" has been translated into almost every language where Christianity is known, and wherever it is sung it seems to grip human hearts. One of the most remarkable stories of the power of this hymn is related by Rev. E. P. Scott, a missionary to India. Having learned of a distant savage tribe in the interior to whom the gospel had not yet been preached, this missionary, despite the warnings of his friends, packed his baggage and, taking his violin, set out on his perilous venture. After traveling several days, he suddenly came upon a large party of the savages who surrounded him and pointed their spears at him.

Believing death to be near, the missionary nevertheless took out his violin and with a prayer to G.o.d began to sing "All hail the power of Jesus' Name!" He closed his eyes as he sang, expecting every moment to be pierced through with the threatening spears. When he reached the stanza, "Let every kindred, every tribe," he opened his eyes. What was his surprise to see every spear lowered, and many of the savages moved to tears!

He remained for two years and a half, preaching the story of redemption and leading many of the natives to Jesus. When he was about to return to America on furlough, they pleaded, "O missionary, come back to us again!"

He did so, and finally pa.s.sed away in the midst of these people who had learned to love the man who had brought them the gospel of Christ.

It is interesting to know that, while the people of both England and America prize this hymn very highly, they sing it to different melodies.

The tune used in America is called "Coronation" and was composed by a carpenter of Charlestown, Ma.s.s., by the name of Oliver Holden. This man was very fond of music and spent his spare time in playing a little organ on which he composed his tunes. The organ may still be seen in Boston.

Thus an English minister and an American carpenter have united in giving the world an immortal hymn.