THE STORY OF THE HYMNS AND THEIR WRITERS 297
Hymn 485. My God, my Father, while I stray.
CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT (317).
Published in Appendix to 1st edition of Invalid s Hymn-book, 1834. The third verse is omitted here
What though in lonely grief I sigh For friends beloved, no longer nigh, Submissive still would I reply, Thy will be done.
The my in the first line is from the 1839 edition of Elliott s Psalms and Hymns. The line read originally, My God and Father.
Miss Elliott s brother, the Rev. H. V. Elliott, on whom she had hoped to lean, died in 1865. She often said that his loss changed the whole aspect of life for her ; but the spirit of submission which breathes in her hymn did not fail her.
Hymn 486. When I survey life s varied scene.
ANNE STEELE (255). From her Poems, 1760, Resignation.
It is said to have been written after the great shock caused by her lover s tragic death. Her brain seemed to reel at that stroke, and for days she could not even think of submission.
Hymn 487. Thou doest all things well. W. M. BUNTING (249).
Songs in the Night- Season.
The story of the writer s life and spiritual discipline is almost gathered up in these verses.
Hymn 488. God moves in a mysterious way. WILLIAM COWPER (60).
It appeared in John Newton s Twenty-six Letters on Religious Subjects; to which are added Hymns, &*c., by Omicron. This was published in July, 1774, in six stanzas of
�� �
