Words by Joseph Scriven Music by C. C. Converse
The author was b om in Dublin, Ireland, in 1820 and came to Canada at the age of 25. The ac cidental drowning of his fiancee on the eve of their intended mar riage brought about a definite change in his life which exhibited itself in two ways: first, the trag edy brought him to Christ and led him to devote his time to witness ing for the Lord; second, it brought about a life-long melan cholia which caused his neigh bors to think him eccentric and odd. He lived a lonely life, and al though he was loved by those who knew him because of his kindness and unselfishness, he seemed not to desire intimate friendships. The lonely secrecy of the latter part of his life was ech oed in the mysterious circum stances surrounding his death. His body was found in a ravine near Lake Rice, Canada, October 10, 1886; the cause of his mysterious death has never been established. During an illness, a neighbor who was “ sitting up” with Scriven found a manuscript poem, “What a friend we have in Jesus,” and inquired as to its origin. He re plied that he had written it to comfort his mother in a time of sorrow (1885) and that he had never intended that any other person should see it. The neigh bor made a copy and the poem soon began to appear in religious periodicals. The present musical setting was composed by Converse in 1868 and first published in a Sunday school hymnal, Silver Wings, in 1870; later it received national impetus by inclusion in Sankey’s famous Gospel Hymns No. 1. For more than a decade the words were er roneously attributed to Horatius Bonar and Bonar’s name still ap pears in several old hymnals. Charles Crozat Converse (1832- 1913) was a versatile musician, lawyer, philologist and inventor. He studied music in Germany, re turned to America to take up the practice of law and became a pro lific tune composer.
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