Frances Jane Crosby Van Alstyne

songs which now numbers not far, it is said, from three thousand. Her best known piece is "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," but by no means is it her most meritorious production. "Rescue the Perishing," written as far back as 1869, is popular, and has been very effective in many evangelistic and reform movements. in America and Great Britain. It is somewhat of a wonder that this is the only hymn written by Mrs. Van Alstyne that has thus far been included in any recent church hymnal of prominence; it is found in the temperance department of "In Excelsis."

It is true that Mrs. Van Alstyne's chief thought has run on the plane of "gospel songs," but at times she has risen to a higher standard of poetic feeling, as will be seen from the following hymn found in her "Bells at Evening," published by the Biglow & Main Company:

Great is Jehovah, King of kings!

Oh, magnify His name;

Praise Him, ye nations of the earth,

His mighty works proclaim;

When darkness hovered o'er the deep,
And all was veiled in night,
At His command, in beauty smiled
A morn of purest light.

Great is Jehovah, King of kings!
The stars together sang;
Sweetly the new created earth

In joyful concert rang;
But oh, our souls! in wonder lost,
Behold, by faith sublime,
In man's redemption from the fall
God's greatest wisdom shine.

Glory to Him whose boundless love
The debt of sin has paid!
Glory to Him whose precious blood

Our sacrifice was made!

With Him we die, through Him we rise;
To Him all praise be given,
Who lives, exalted and adored
By all the hosts of heaven.

This hymn has a meritorious ring, and is good enough to claim inclusion in our better class of hymnals. Several of Mrs. Van Alstyne's songs perhaps a dozen or more - are worthy of admission in public worship; but editors of later church hymnals do not seem to share in this appreciation of

Frances Jane Crosby Van Alstyne

her finer, though less familiar hymns, and hence have passed them by.

I think it was in 1897 that Mrs. Van Alstyne wrote the following Easter poem for "The New York Press":

"Hallelujah! Christ hath risen!"
Sing for joy, O sons of earth!
Hail His glorious resurrection,

Ye who once proclaimed His birth!
Christ hath risen! See it flashing
From the cloudless arch above.
Written there in light resplendent
By His hand whose name is Love!

"Hallelujah! Christ hath risen!”
Mighty conqueror o'er His foes,
And thro' Him a gate is opened
That shall never, never close.
Blessed gate, that all may enter;
Blessed gate of life and peace,

Leading every true believer

Where the troubled waves shall cease.

Ring the bells in tuneful chime!

'Tis the day of our redemption;
Sound it forth to every clime.

Bring the fragrant Easter lilies,
Gather blushing roses fair,
Lay them on the sacred altar
Let them bloom in beauty there.
Hallelujah! Christ hath risen ! "
He shall reign the King of kings
And the faithful He shall cover
With the shadow of His wings.
Lo! the seal of death is broken

And the gloom of night has fled!
He hath rent the grave asunder,

"He who liveth and was dead."

"Hallelujah! Christ hath risen!"
So triumphant we may rise,
And forever in His kingdom

Dwell with Him beyond the skies.
"Hallelujah! Christ hath risen!"
Angels, strike your harps again!
Heaven and earth, in chorus blending,
Shout once more the loud amen!

This is one of the best pieces that have flowed from Mrs. Van Alstyne's wondrous wellspring of sacred song, and it may be appropriately classed among the more suitable hymns for public use at Easter time.

CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER

OME one has said that the reason

SOM

why a woman's poetry is generally true to nature and humanity so far as she touches it is that she is throughout tender, "for tenderness is a deep characteristic of truth." Mrs. Alexander was always in touch with the thoughts and feelings of children, and being indued with fine poetic gifts, she surpassed all other writers of sacred song in meeting a growing demand for children's hymns - hymns attractive in their simplicity, picturesqueness, and pathos, and yet without blemish in hymnic beauty.

Mrs. Alexander, whose maiden name was Humphreys, was born at Strabane, Ireland, in 1823. In 1850 she was married to the Rev. William Alexander, afterwards bishop of Derry and Raphoe. Her volume of verses for the use of schools was