6 If I ask Him to receive me,
Will He say me nay?
"Not till earth, and not till heaven,
Pass away!"
7 Finding, following, keeping, struggling,
Is He sure to bless?
"Angels, prophets, martyrs, virgins,
Answer, 'Yes!'"
"LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT."
Of all the modern hymns praying for guidance, Newman's famous three verses seem to be most popular—especially with people who have not accepted the leading of any church or theological authority. . . . At Chicago, the representatives of every creed known to man found two things on which they agreed. They could all join in the Lord's Prayer, and they could all sing "Lead, Kindly Light." This hymn, Mrs. Drew tells me, and "Rock of Ages" are two of Mr. Gladstone's "most favorite hymns."
Lead, kindly Light, amid the 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
Should'st 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 hath blest 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.
Tune—"Lux Benigna."
"It seems to me rather singular," writes a correspondent in Wales, "that verses so full of faith as 'Lead, Kindly Light' should be mentioned with such approval by so many sceptics." He then sends me the following attempt to express the views of an agnostic, thoughtful, humble, and reverent, but quite unable to attain to Newman's standpoint.
The way is dark: I cry amid the gloom
For guiding light;
A wanderer, none knows whence or what his doom,
I brave the night.
Fair scenes afar, as in a dream, I see,
Then seem to wake, and faith deserteth me.
In wondering awe I bend the knee before
The viewless Might;
And all my heart in mute appeal I pour,
While straining sight
Peers o'er the waste, yet Him I cannot find
Whom seeks my soul: I grope as grope the blind.
But 'mid confusing phantom-lights I strive
To go aright;
A still small voice leads on, and love doth give
An inward might:
And spite of sense, there lives a silent trust
That day will dawn, that man is more than dust.
"THE LORD'S MY SHEPHERD."
If "Lead, Kindly Light" is English, and "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah" is Welsh, "The Lord's my Shepherd" is Scotch.
1 The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green: He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
2 My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Ev'n for His own name's sake.
3 Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
Yet will I fear none ill:
For Thou art with me; and Thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
4 My table Thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
5 Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me:
And in God's house for evermore
My dwelling-place shall be.
Tune—"Kilmarnock."
"For me," writes Mr. S. R. Crockett, the popular author of the "Raiders" and many another delightful romance, "there is no hymn like 'The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want.' I think I must have stood by quite a hundred men and women as they lay a-dying, and I can assure you that these words—the first learned by the child—were also the words that ushered most of them out into the Quiet. To me, and to most among these Northern hills, there are no words like them."
Dr. John Ker says: "Every line of it, every word of it, has been engraven for generations on Scottish hearts, has accompanied them from childhood to age, from their homes to all the seas and lands where they have wandered, and has been to a multitude no man can number the rod
