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HMIMiVMrii

WHAT A FRIEND
WE HAVE IN JESUS

AND OTHER HYMNS

JOSEPH SCRIVEN

WITH

A SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR

REV. JAS. CLELAND

PORT HOPE
W. WILLIAMSON, PUBLISHER

189s

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A CELEBRATED HYMN

AND

ITS WRITER.

In our modem Hymnology, few
of our hymns have attained such a
wide spread popularity as the one
entitled: "What a Friend we Have
in Jesus." Without the indorsement
of any well known name— in fact
without any recognized paternity— its
circulation has been world wide and its
"unsurpassed excellency," universally

' I <u<vi«ipp«pip>«

A CELEBRATED HYMN

acknowledged. Its high worth is
attested by the fact, that it has
been attributed, without authority, to
Horatius Bonar, and to others of our
great hymn writers. A few interest-
ing facts in relation to it are taken
from articles which appeared in the
New York Observer^ about a year
ago— some mistakes in these are
corrected, and some reliable inform-
ation, both new and important,
supplied as to its author. It has
been translated into many languages,
and "over 50 million impressions of
the piece are known to have been
made." Mr. Ira Sankey states, that
wherever he has sung it, it is a greater

'w^m"*

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mmmm

AND ITS WRITER. 5

favourite, with the people, than any
other. No doubt one cause of its
popularity is due to the music to
which it is set, and which was
furnished by Mr. C. Converse, an
accomplished musician. The tune is
one "which the people make their
own— a sacred folk song." Criminals
on the scaffold have requested to
have it sung to them. Mr. Van
Meter states that it has been sung,
in the sweet Italian tongue, under
the walls of the Vatican. It has
sung its way to millions and millions
of souls; inspiring comfort and hope
in the stormy passages of life. In
the steerage of the steamer, a traveller

I' l""ll™I^B»i»l»n"T!JTT^

6 A CELEBRATED HYMN

returning from Europe, heard a mixed
company, who spoke diflferent lan-
guages, united in singing this hymn.

Naturally much interest has been
taken in the inquiry — "Who was its
author?" In a letter to the New
York Observer^ in March, 1893, it is
stated that it was written by Joseph
Scriven — an obscure local preacher,
blind in his latter years — and found
after his death among his papers. U.

Joseph Scriven was^ without doubt,
the author of this matchless hymn.
He was born in Dublin, about 1820,
and was a graduate of Trinity College,
Dublin. He also spent four years at
Addiscombe Military College, near to

I I mwivwnrn^fi^^^^fmf

■'

AND ITS WRITER. 7

London. He emigrated to Canada,
over forty years ago. His family is
highly respectable, and his brother is
a physician of standing, in Stephens
Green, Dublin. The special reasons
for his emigration are not known to
his friends here, but it may have been
his conversion.

About 1850 he came to the neigh-
bourhood of Rice Lake— lo miles from
Port Hope, Ontario— and engaged as
tutor in the family of Lieut. Pengelly
He at this time was a professedly
religious man, having also embraced,
to a large extent, the tenets of the
Plymouth Brethren, though he did not
belong to the body.

1^' ■ ' "

A CELEBRATED HYMN

He gathered a small Plymouth
church at Rice Lake, and was for
years a preacher on market and other
days, in the streets of Port Hope.

Like his Brethren he refused to
join in the services of any of our
churches — not recognizing them as
such — and only when his peculiar
tenets were questioned, was he liable
to lose command of an otherwise
smooth temper.

When converted, Mr. ocriven
probably united with some Separatist
Society. The history may have been
something like this. About 1840
there was a strong religious move-
ment in Dublin. A number of earnest

aaeassesx

AND ITS WRITER, g

Christian men, who desired to see
more devotedness to Christ, and
closer union among the people of
God, associated themselves together
for religious fellowship and study,
meeting together as disciples of
Christ on every Lord's day " to break
bread." Before this there had been
a Separatist Society founded by John
Walker, an ex fellow of Trinity
College, on somewhat similar grounds.
His society was, he asserted, the One
spiritual church in Dublin. He died
in 1833. Another Separatist Society,
was that of the Rev. J. Kelly, a former
minister of the Church of England,
and who is well known as the writer

A CELEBRATED HYMN

of many choice hymns. He died in
1855. With the keen controversies
carried on in Dublin, in connection
with the prominent doctrines of these
and kindred societies, Joseph Scriven
must have been familiar. The mem-
bers were drawn from the different
churches, and as Mr. Scriven states,
" there was a unity and love and
sweet fellowship among them." When
5aved, he. united with them, though
he adds, "I knew nothing, and today
I know, very little, of the power of
the principles which I claimed."

His benevolence, in accordance
with his principles, was of the extreme
kind. In one of the papers, which.. he

■H

AND ITS WRITER.

has left behind him, he says: — "The
wearing of gold and expensive clothes,
made in the world's style, is as much
forbidden as stealing. If I spend
five cents on some unnecessary thing
for ornament, it costs that much
money, and that money would buy
something for a needy person. Again ;
the Scriptures, to which I have just
referred, speak only of women's cloth-
ing, but if a man wears cuffs, that
are no part of his shirt, and only put
on for ornament, if he wears studs,
gold chains and clothing, of a more
expensive kind than what would be
durable and afford the same comfort,
he is as much disobeying the word

' •I'll «<<wvnmp^pi«mB^if^

A CELEBRATED HYMN

of God, as a woman who wears
feathers, earrings, bracelets. If we
would avoid unnecssary and unscrip-
tural expense, there would be no
need of asking the people of the
world for money to carry on Christ's
work, or of getting up concerts, ban-
quets and other unscriptural means
of coaxing money, from the people, of
the world, as though Christ needed
to beg from Satan." . When Mr.
3criven had . means, his hand was
open as day to the calls made upon
him. He has been known to divest
himself of his own clothing, in order
to cover the nakedness and relieve
the sufferings of destitute ones. He

fl"*PlWP^iip»f

mmmmmn

AND ITS WRITER.

was always ready to minister in the sick
chamber to the suffering, and fear of
infectious disease was no hindrance.

He established and managed a
dairy, for over twenty years, at Port
Hope, in order to afford support to a
destitute widow.

When residing at the house of
his friend Mr. Sackville, near Rice
Lake, he composed this hymn ; making
two copies, one of which he sent
to his mother, in Dublin, and gave
the other to Mrs. Sackville, which
the old lady, now over eighty years
of age, values highly. Probably it
was through his mother that the hymn
was given to the public.

"■""■'■•"•PIIUPP

A CELEBRATED HYMN

Mr. Scriven published a small
volume of hymns, which was printed
at Peterboro, Ontario. The hymn
in question is not in it, and was
probably written at a later time.
Some of them — of which we give
specimens — are not inferior in poetic
power to this celebrated hymn.

Mr. Scriven resided for over thirty
years between Rice Lake and Port
Hope. Latterly his mind was much
depressed, and he feared being left
a burden on his friends. His health
also was failing. A dark shadow
rests on the closing days of his life,
as will be seen in an extract from a
preface to some thoughts of his, on

AND ITS WRITER.

»5

various subjects, by his life long
friend, James Sackville, at whose
house he died.

He died on the loth of August,
1886, aged sixty-six, and his body
was interred in the family burying
ground of Lieut. Pengelly.

Some of the circumstances that
cluster around Mr. Scriven's death,
are detailed in a preface to papers
that he left, by his friend Mr. Sackville.
"His body was just worn down
with toil, and his mind was wearied
with failure and disappointment in
his work during past years. In the
end of his days he failed to trust
God to provide for his bodily wants,

■T!-«^'r. -Tryf^

A CELEBRATED HYMN

and to resign himself to the will of
God, and to wait patiently till the
Lord's time came to release him
from the body, and to take him
home to Himself." Mr. Sackville,
having heard of his illness, hastened
to him, and found him ** just prostrate
in mind and body. His greatest fear
appeared to be lest he should do any
thing to dishonour God, or bring re-
proach on the name of Christ. The
one desire and prayer of his heart
seemed to be expressed in the words
which he was heard to speak a few
days before his departure, *I wish
the Lord would take me home.' His
confidence in the Lord, as to his own

AND ITS WRITER.

»7

personal safety, and the bright pros-
pect of future glory, were firm and
unshaken, to the end. Two scrip-
tures I heard him repeat, during the
last hour I was with him, ' I am the
the Lord's' and 'I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee.'"

Mr. Sackville brought him to his
own house. « We left him," he says,
"about midnight. I withdrew to an
adjoining room, not to sleep, but to
watch and wait, and occupied myself
with reading my brother's writings,
until about 5 o'clock in the morning.
You may imagine my surprise and
dismay, when, on visiting his room,
I found it empty. All search failed

r i'^nwi^p^9l«p«p«np^

A CELEBRATED HYMN

to find any trace of the missing one,
until a little after noon, the body
was discovered in a water near by,
lifeless and cold in death."

"A veil of mystery hangs over
the last hours of my beloved brother's
life on earth. What is known, we
read with humiliation to profit, the
unknown we leave with Him, who
knows what is in the darkness. In
His own time and way. He will bring
to light the hidden things of darkness,
and make manifest the counsel of the
hearts."

Mr. Scriven left a number of
papers on religious topics, such as : —
"What Church etc.," "The Church

"^■"PIPPWP

mmm

AND ITS WRITER.

of God," "Priesthood," "The Minis-
tration of the Spirit," "Our Assembly,"
"The Coming of the Lord," "Dis-
cipline," etc., etc., which have been
published by Mr. Sackville.

In concluding this biographical
sketch, the writer wishes to acknowl-
edge with thanks the courtesy of Mr.
Jas. Sackville, in supplying most of
the information contained in it, also
for the loan of the manuscript con-
taining the hymns now published,
with one or two exceptions, for the
first time.

■1^^

HYMNS.

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE

IN JESUS.

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear !
What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer !
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear —
All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer !

Have we trials and temptations ?

Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged :

Take it to the Lord in prayer !
Can we find a Friend so faithful.

Who will all our sorrows share ?
Jesus knows our every weakness —

Take it to the Lord in prayer !

l|"ll««^lBi "111

HYMNS.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care ?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge, •

Take it to the Lord in prayer !
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee ?—

Take it to the Lord in prayer !
In His arms He'll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

'••••■■ ■ ' • • ' ' • ' -

St. John H. i6.

■* ... • t-

Let us go that we may die with Him,
What words of ardent love !

Our closet thoughts, our public hymn-
When tried — as fickle prove.

Firm Thomas faltered, when he met

The world's religious rage.
Our prayers and hymns we soon forget.

If self our minds engage.

wm^mr-'w^

HYMNS.

Where are the circumcised in heart, —
Who sorrow, Lord, with Thee,

That sin one human soul should part,
From love that set us free ?

Who bear reproach and suflTer toil,
V And weep when thou wouldst weep,
Till conquering love divide the spoil,
And win the wandering sheep ?

Up, up ! spend not in pleasure's dream

Your ransomed energies !
The precious fleeting time redeem.

The golden moments seize !

Arrest the gentle soul, beguiled

By Satan's slimy coils !
Dispute his claims, and do not yield—

The loved one to his toils !

^^■P I ■! l»IHIWBIIWPIIWWIPIWiP»MWWWWMW|i^WWW

HYMNS. 23

JESUS AT THE WELL.

Man of sorrows, thirsty, weary,

Lord of all, without a home ;
Stranger in this desert dreary.

To the well had come. )

Strange that he should ask for water

From a rival creed and race;
Such the thought of Sychar's daughter,

Stranger still to grace.

" CHORUS.

Oh the gift of God so precious,
Oh the victory of Love,

Oh the Just one, still so gracious,
Now enthroned above.

Oh the love of that soft answer :
If she knew what God would give.

If she knew this thirsting stranger.
She would drink and live.

HYMNS.

Oh ! that water, richly flowing,
Oh ! that sweet subduing love,

Yes that love wherever tasted —
Must victorious prove.

Oh ! the cross that shows how justice,

Can redeem the soul undone,
There, O there, the only trust is

For the guilty one!
Yes the cross is our foundation,

Through the ages yet to come.
In no other is salvation.

But in Christ alone.

I John II. 28,

Little childrer.^ love to utter
Little words in parents' ears ;

Tell the little things they suffer.
Tell them of their little fears j

N III IP IWilVW

HYMNS.

Talk of all their little pleasures,
Come with all their little joys,

Show them all their little treasures, " ^
Bring them all their little toys.

Sweet the place of little children
Trusting in the Father's love ;

All our childish troubles bringing
To where Jesus sits above.

There it is we view our folly,

There it is we see our sin ;
There we learn more wonderfully

What thy grace to us has been.

Oh the confidence ye owe Thee ;

Oh the sweet simplicity !
Lord how precious thus to know Thee,

In the children's Hberty. .

^iifmiimm^l^ti^ifif

HYMNS.

I Corinthians XIII.

When gifts no more required, shall cease;

And partial knowledge fade away,
As moonlight, precious in its place,

Is lost amid the opening day ;
Unfailing love will then endure

Triumphant in its own abode,
Where naught unseemly or impure '

Will mar the presence of our God.

Then let us breathe our native air,

And learn to live as heavenly ones,
Jesus, Thy sweet reproach to bear ; —

Servants, because we first were sons.
With lowly mind, and heavenly grace.

Let nought unseemly dim the light
That we reflect from Jesus' Face,

Amid the dark and stormy night.

MMHMgiMI

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HYMNS.

The love which seeketh not her own,

Delights another to prefer,
Dwells not on things that I have done.

Glad that another, praise should bear.
More excellent than any gift,

Oh let the love of Jesus rule ;
And every heart with fervour lift

To God Who trains us in His school.

I CoR. X., AND Hebrews HI. and IV.

This rest is glorious ; it is mine, —
'Tis ours who have believed ;

Then let us learn to know the joy
Of what we have received.

Each Israelite passed thro' the flood,
Who marched from Egypt's land ;

And yet how few in Canaan stood.
Of all that ransomed band.

HYMNS.

Through unbelief they turned away ;

They could not enter in :
Beware lest we, o'ercome as they,

Fall by that very sin.

As thousands in the desert died,
And entered not the land,

Though safe beyond that rolling tide-
The grave of Pharaoh's band ;

So we, forever saved from wrath,
Oft scourged for wilful sin.

May lay our bodies in a grave
Of faithful discipline.

The Jews who fell, regarded not

Their heritage unseen ;
And therefore used no diligence

That they might enter in.

But Joshua and Caleb loved
Their heritage afar,—

HYMNS.

In hope, toiled through the wilderness,
Nor feared the foe in war :

Then Jordan's bed, the type of death
The many thousands trod ;

In figure, soon, of risen life,
On Canaan's soil they stood ;

Then battle after battle fought,

As Joshua led them on,
Until they rested from the war.

And found the conquest won.

Type of the rest that Jesus gives

Within the veil above ;
There, dead and risen now with Him,

Our home is in His love.

Gird on the armour ; face the foe :
Labour to enter in,

And day by day enjoy still more
Our holy rest unseen.

> 1 ll<«ll*i

HYMNS.

On John III. 13.

No man has ever yet

Ascended up to heaven,
Except the Son of man, whose death

Eternal life has given.

Then dream not, step by step.
To make your way to God :

'Tis but religiously to tread
The dark and downward road.

None ever go to heaven,
Who are not heavenly born :

Is man then doomed as unforgiven,
Eternally to mourn ?

No : He Who came from heaven
"^^ould not remain alone :
ic: Holy One, His life has given :
This only can atone.

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