Origin-1911-a-0059.txt

„  ,  OLD  HUNDRED.  4 t> 
ye  heavens,  ....  shout,  ye  lower  parts  of  the  earth  :  break  forth  into  singing,  ye  mountains,  O  forest,  and  every  tree  therein.”—Isa.  44  :  23. 
BISHOP  KEN,  1661.  Key  of  A  Major.  GuiE.  Franc>  i 541 . 
O  come,  loud  anthems  let  us  sing,  Loud  thanks  to  our  Al-might-y  King.  For  we  our  voic-es  high  should  raise,  When  our  sal-va-tion’s  Rock  we  praise. 
Bishop  Ken  was  born  in  Great  Britain  in  1637  and  died  in  1711.  He  was  educated  at  New  Oxford  in  1762,  and  eighteen  years  later  King  Charles  II.  appointed 
him  Chaplain  to  Princess  Mary  of  Orange,  and  before  his  death  made  him  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells.  He  was  a  great  orator,  minister,  and  poet.  King  James  II. 
imprisoned  him  for  refusing  to  sign  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He  ministered  to  Charles  II.  in  his  last  moments.  His  “  Manuel  of  Prayers,”  in  which  his 
hymns  were  published,  appeared  in  numerous  editions  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
The  music  of  “  Old  Hundred  ”  is  generally  credited  to  Guil.  Franc,  of  France,  who  is  sometimes  called  William  the  Frenchman.  He  founded  a  school  in 
Geneva,  in  1541,  where  he  was  Chapel  Master  for  some  time.  He  died  in  1570.  Some  claim  the  music  of  “  Old  Hundred”  to  be  one  of  Luther’s  melodies,  while 
others  attribute  it  to  Bourgeois.  It  is  generally  conceded,  however,  to  William  the  Frenchman.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  tunes  in  the  books,  and  has  been  used 
throughout  Christendom  for  over  300  years. 
MEAR.  C.  M. 
“  What  if.God,  willing  to  shew  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much  long-suffering.”—Rom.  9  :  22. 
JESSE  Mercer.  Key  of  G  Major.  Aaron  Williams,  1760. 
1.  Will  God  for  -  ev  -  er  cast  us  off?  His  wrath  for  -  ev  -  er  smoke  A-gainst  the  peo  -  pie  of  His  love,  His  lit  -  tie  cho  -  sen  flock. 
2.  Think  of  the  tribes  so  dear  -  ly  bought  With  the  Re-deem  ■  er’s  blood,  Nor  let  Thy  Zi  -  on  be  for-got,  Where  once  Thy  gio  •  ry  stood. 
3.  Where  once  Thy  church-es  prayed  and  sang  Thy  foes  pro-fane  -  ly  rage;  A  -  mid  Thy  gates  their  en-signs  hang,  And  there  their  host  en-gage. 
4.  And  still  to  height-en  our  dis-tress,  Thy  pres-ence  is  with-drawn;  Thy  wonted  signs  of  pow’r  and  grace  Thy  pow’r  and  grace  are  gone. 
5.  No  proph  -  et  speaks  to  calm 
our  grief,  But  all  in  si  -  lence  mourn;  Nor  know  the  hour  of  our  re  -  lief,  The  hour  of  Thy 
re  -  turn. 
There  are  two  sources  claiming  the  authorship  of  this  tune.  In  one  it  is  credited  to  Aaron  Williams,  who  was  born  in  1734  and  died  in  1776.  The  tune  is  a 
Welsh  air  without  doubt.  The  Americans  claim  an  earlier  date  for  the  tune,  1726;  that  it  is  an  American  tune,  and  was  composed  by  a  Boston  minister,  but  do  not 
give  his  name.  There  has  been  but  little  change  in  the  melody.  B.  F.  White  made  slight  changes  in  the  tenor  and  treble  about  1846-47.  It  is  one  of  the  standard 
melodies,  and  has  been  for  nearly  200  years.  “Mear”  appears  in  all  the  earlier  publications  of  American  tune  books.  See  “Southern  Harmony,”  by  William 
Walker,  1835,  page  24;  “  Missouri  Harmony,”  1837,  page  24. 
The  words  are  from  “  Mercer’s  Cluster,”  by  Jesse  Mercer,  minister  of  the  gospel,  Washington,  Ga.,  1830,  5th  edition,  page  391,  and  publication  by  same  author 
of  same  hymn  but  in  1823,  page  397,  while  he  lived  at  Powellton,  Ga.  Copyright,  1909,  by  j.  s.  James.