15. “The Top 10”
15
“THE TOP 10”
Had there been a rating for popular songs in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, several of Fanny’s hymns certainly would have been in the Top 10. For nearly a decade, “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” had been a universal favorite; within another twenty years it would be translated into more than two hundred languages and sung the world over. “Blessed Assurance” also had attained immense popularity. Ira Sankey said it was “one of the most popular and useful” of all the hymns he and Moody used in their campaigns.
The number-one hit of their meetings was “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour,” of which Sankey wrote: “No other hymn in our collection was more popular than this at our meetings in London in 1874. It was sung every day at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Pall Mall.” It, too, was translated into several languages. After the return of the evangelists to the states, “Pass Me Not” continued to be the most popular hymn of the campaigns. Dr. E. I. Dakin, a prominent New York Baptist clergyman, credited it with bringing more people to Christ than any other hymn.
THE NUMBER 1 HIT WAS “PASS ME NOT, O GENTLE SAVIOUR.”
“Rescue the Perishing,” “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” “I Am Thine, O Lord,” and “All the Way My Saviour Leads Me” likewise were tremendous hits.
The hymns were popular in secular circles as well as religious, alongside such favorites as “Silver Threads Among the Gold,” “When You and I Were Young, Maggie,” and “In the Good Old Summer-Time.” Through the universal appeal of her hymns, by her sixth decade Fanny was beginning to realize her ambition of winning a million men to Christ. Reports abounded of how people were moved to the point of conversion by her simple but earnest lyrics.
Fanny was eager to hear of news of conversions inspired by her hymns, not for the sake of pride but because she felt it was evidence of the workings of God. “God has given me a wonderful work to do,” she said, “a work that has brought me untold blessing and great joy. When word is brought to me, as it is from time to time, of some wandering soul being brought home through one of my hymns, my heart thrills with joy, and I give thanks to God for giving me a share in the glorious work of saving human souls.”
Fanny’s hymns not only helped convert the indifferent and unbelieving; they also were of great comfort to those who already believed. “You have been the means of cheering tens of thousands trudging along the highways of life,” Sankey once told her.
One day a woman came up to Fanny after church and cried, “Oh, thank God I have found you. I have prayed that I might see you before I die. ‘Safe in the Arms of Jesus’ was the last thing my mother said before she went home.” Sankey brought a similar account back from Scotland in 1885. “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” had led to conversions and consoled many in crisis.
“Blessed Assurance” also had great effect. A teenage boy, hospitalized with an incurable illness, was said to have converted fourteen other patients by his singing of “Blessed Assurance.” Later, as his own dying moment approached, he fervently sang “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” Just as his soul departed, he cried out, “Ma, I hear the voice of angels! Ma, there are the fields of glory! Ma, there is the jasper sea!”
“Rescue the Perishing” led to many conversions, although it was directed toward Christians, stirring them to win unconverted souls. An alcoholic aimlessly wandering through the Bowery passed the Water Street Mission one day and heard worshippers singing the hymn. Attracted to the lilting, forceful hymn, he went inside to hear it better. When it was over, he “broke down in contrition.”
“RESCUE THE PERISHING” LED TO MANY CONVERSIONS, ALTHOUGH IT WAS DIRECTED TOWARD CHRISTIANS.
An Englishman wrote to Sankey attributing “my conversion, through the grace of God, to one verse of that precious hymn, ‘Rescue the Perishing.’ ” He said he was “very far from my Saviour and living without a hope in Jesus. Yet I was very fond of singing hymns, and one day I came across this beautiful piece.” He cited especially this passage:
Touched by a loving heart,
Wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
One evening at the Bowery Mission, a ragged, drunk man staggered in. “Rescue the Perishing” was being sung and made a great impression on the poor wretch. During the sermon, the speaker referred to his Civil War experiences and mentioned the name of the company with which he served.
After the service, the drunkard reeled up to the speaker and sputtered, “Do you remember the name of the captain of your company at that time?” The speaker quoted the name. “You are right,” said the bum, emotionally. “I am that man! I was your captain! Now, look at me today and see what a wreck I am! I have lost everything in the world that I had through drink, and I don’t know where to go. Can you save your old captain?”
The drunk veteran was converted that evening and afterward became a devoted mission worker. He gave many lectures telling of his conversion and attributing his change of heart to the hymn “Rescue the Perishing.”
“Pass Me Not” likewise was said to have led to many conversions. Sankey wrote of the prominent Englishman who “had been very much opposed to our meetings, and his opposition was not lessened when he saw his wife converted.” But the man agreed to accompany his wife to the last meeting. He was so moved by the words of “Pass Me Not” that he felt “touched by the Spirit of God.”
Many were moved by some of Fanny’s lesser-known works. In the early 1870s, she was on a trolley with Howard Doane when the inspiration suddenly came. Right then, she wrote a hymn beginning:
Jesus, I love Thee, Thou art to me
Dearer than ever mortal can be;
Jesus, I love Thee, Saviour Divine,
Earth has no friendship constant as Thine;
Thou wilt forgive me when I am wrong,
Thou art my comfort, Thou art my song!
Jesus, I love Thee, yes, Thou art mine.
Living or dying, still I am Thine!
Doane was moved and set the words to music that evening. It was published in 1873 and became moderately popular. Moody and Sankey used it during their British campaigns. A British Methodist pastor used it as an invitational hymn during an evening service several years later. After the singing, a visitor surrendered herself to the Lord. She became one of the most devoted members that congregation had ever known. She felt the words to Fanny’s hymn had enlightened her soul, and she wanted others to know and share the joy she felt in Jesus Christ. She was such an energetic, effective witness that before her death a year later, she had led twenty-four persons to make a personal commitment to Christ and join the church. On her deathbed, she asked her pastor to thank Fanny Crosby for writing the hymn.
Another moderately popular hymn was responsible for a conversion in the South. A country squire, though indifferent to matters of faith, loved to listen to hymns. One night he was in town and decided to stop by the local church, where a prayer meeting was in progress. He heard just one hymn, “Only a Step to Jesus.” It moved him so greatly he could not put it from his mind. He dreamed about the words that night, and the next day he began to think about their meaning and examine his life. Soon, he was a committed believer. He went to the church and related his experience. Many of the faithful, who had never expected this man to display the slightest interest in religion, wept openly.
Around 1900, a Pittsburgh Anglican church was jolted when a woman went forward to “testify”—an unheard-of thing in an Anglican Mass. Before the astonished priests and parishioners, she told of her life as a woman of easy virtue who happened to hear “Saved by Grace” at an open-air meeting. It reminded her of her childhood and her mother’s constant prayers for her. The woman fell to her knees on the curbstone and asked God’s pardon. “Then and there I received it, and I left the place with a peace which has never forsaken me.”
The rector descended from the high altar and, with tears in his eyes, bid her Godspeed. Parishioners said the feeling was so intense “the Lord Jesus and His Mother have been here.”
What was there about these simple hymns, set to even more simple tunes, that deeply affected so many? Fanny attributed it to the Holy Spirit. Whenever she wrote a hymn, she prayed God would use it to lead many souls to Him. She prayed she might be the means of saving a million men through her hymns.
WHAT WAS THERE ABOUT THESE SIMPLE HYMNS THAT DEEPLY AFFECTED SO MANY?
Although the hymns were not first-rate literature, they could produce great emotional effect. They were straightforward, usually simple enough for a child to understand, yet not as trite as most hymns of the time. She made them vivid through the use of familiar phrases. Terms like “sylvan bowers” and “vernal flowers” make for the worst of poetry—but for very successful hymnody. Fanny considered hymnody not “pure” poetry but more utilitarian, intended to facilitate worship.
So she filled hymns with familiar phrases: “Rock of Ages,” “saved by grace,” “golden shore,” “bleeding side.” Most of her hymns alluded to scripture: “living bread” ( John 6:35), waters “gushing from the rock” (Numbers 20:11), “my Father’s house above” ( John 14:2), “the angel reapers” gathering in the harvest (Matthew 13:39), the “pearly gates” (Revelation 21:21), and so on. A curious exception to this practice was her use of “summerland,” taken from spiritualism and referring to the dwelling place of the happy dead.
Fanny defined a hymn as “a song of the heart addressed to God,” and her hymns were dear to the hearts of those who sang them. She related her hymns to the worshipper’s own experience: “Now there is pardon for you.” “Pass me not.” “I come to Thee, I come to Thee.” Fanny wrote most of her hymns in the first person so those who sang them might become more intimately involved in their thoughts.
One of the most striking things about her hymns is the familiarity with which the Saviour is addressed. She uses the “familiar and fondling epithets” so decried by Lowell Mason; even in modern times, some find this aspect of her hymnody objectionable. One reason she took this approach was her belief in a strong, intensely personal relationship with God. It also must be remembered that she lived in an emotional age, when affection was more openly acknowledged than today. Tears rolled down Sankey’s cheeks when he sang. Men wept profusely in public.
ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING THINGS ABOUT HER HYMNS IS THE FAMILIARITY WITH WHICH THE SAVIOUR IS ADDRESSED.
Partly because she was blind, no doubt, physical contact meant a lot to Fanny. She was always hugging and kissing and greeting everyone with, “God bless your dear heart! I’m so happy to see you!” The Bowery bums and railroad men were “my boys,” Carrie and Jule “my precious, darling sisters,” Kirkpatrick “Kirkie,” her friend Adelbert White the “dear deacon.”
Since Fanny addressed relatives and companions in emotionally affectionate language, it was very natural for her to address her Savior the same way. After all, she loved Him more than anyone else.
In addition to emotion, Fanny used the device of repetition. She tended to repeat a key phrase, word, or figure of speech throughout a hymn—the same technique modern advertising writers use for subliminal impression. In “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” for example, the word “safe” is repeated five times in three stanzas and is found twice in the chorus. Worshippers are unaware the word is being implanted inexorably in their minds, but afterward, their subconscious tells them they are “safe” in Jesus’ arms.
Some people have claimed the success of Fanny’s hymns resulted more from the tunes than the words. The various accounts of conversions through her hymns would tend to disprove that. In most instances, it was the words that stuck with the hearer; the tune was the vehicle. Lowry often said the words usually carried more effect than the music.
Criticism did not trouble Fanny. She was writing not for the critics but for the common people. She knew what type of hymn the common person could best understand.