GEORGE MATHESON (Glasgow, Scotland, March 27, 1842) Scottish theologian and poet, the author of a number of polemical works on theology, and of a volume of sacred songs, lost his sight when but a lad. Yet he persevered with his studies and graduated with honors at Glasgow. This song was first published in 1883. The author says it seemed to come to him almost against his will, for it was written at a time of great mental distress. The writer of "Black Diamond Men" makes a beautiful use of this hymn.

THE BLIND MAN'S SONG

O LOVE, thou wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light, that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine's blaze its day May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy, that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the sunshine through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross, that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life's glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be.

GEORGE MATHESON

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN (London,

Feb. 21, 1801 - Edgbaston, Aug. 11, 1890), well known as a writer and an ecclesiastic, has yet found far greater fame as the author of this single hymn. He was educated at Ealing and at Trinity, Oxford, and in 1824 was ordained to the ministry in the English church. Twenty-one years later, after a long period of stress of mind and conflict with doubt, he went into the Church of Rome. particularly trying time of religious perplexity led to the writing of this hymn, which was first published as a poem, under the title

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Light in Darkness." Born of such an experience, it has become the hymn not only of those who wander in religious unrest, but of all who are in darkness of any kind. It is commonly sung to the tune, "Lux Benigna," by J. B. Dykes.

LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT

LEAD, kindly light! amid th' 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 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 blessed 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!

CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER (London, Oct. 30, 1825 — Feb. 2, 1864), the daughter of "Barry Cornwall," the poet and dramatist, is the author of "The Lost Chord," and also of several beautiful and sympathetic hymns. She spent much of her life in philanthropic service, particularly delighting in writing songs and poems to be sold for the benefit of charitable causes. Toward the end of her life she became a Roman Catholic, and seemed fairly to wear herself away religious service. This hymn may be counted as one of the new hymns of the church, but it is rapidly growing in favor.

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