AN AN INDIAN HYMN. IN de dark woods, no Indian aigh, Dat God on high, in shiny place, See me in night wid tearry face, God send he angel take me care, Ham come heselp and hear um prayer He see me now--- -He know me here; So me lub God wid inside heart, T. D. C. JESUS FULL OF TRUTH AND GRACE. JESUS is rais'd that grace to give Thro' which alone the dead can live, The guilty be forgiven: That grace which purifies the soul, And brings at last to Heaven. Twice as much. Thus r, 1814. In possession of the author AN INDIAN HYMN The hymn beginning "In de dark wood, no Indian nigh," was one of the common hymns used in the early camp meetings from about 1815 to 1860, and it is found in many of the books of that period prepared for such occasions. The name of the author is not known, though Hezekiah Butterworth in his Story of the Hymns states that it was written by William Apes, one of the best educated and most prominent of the Pequod tribe of Massachusetts Indians. The only evidence of his authorship appears to be the fact that the hymn was printed at the end of the second edition of his autobiography in 1831. The first edition, 1829, does not have it. It seems more probable that it was merely a favorite of his, and for that reason he added it at the end of his book. The hymn with music is found in print as early as 1814, when it appeared in The Youth's Magazine or Evangelical Miscellany, published in London in November of that year. William Apes tells us that he was born in Colraine, Massachusetts, January 31, 1798. If this is correct, and if it is true that this hymn was his, it must have been written when he was not more than sixteen years of age. At that time he had not been converted, and during the year 1814 he was a soldier in the army of the Continentals, serving most of the time at Plattsburg, where he was when peace was declared at the close of the war. It is therefore very unlikely that he should have written these stanzas at that age. The title to the music in the Youth's Magazine is "An Indian Hymn, the air and sentiment from a North American Indian," and the hymn has at its end the initials T. D. C. This music is doubtless that originally set to the hymn, for the melody is almost the same as that which I learned from my father years ago, and is very similar to the tune "Ganges," to which it was later set. This latter tune, called "Hull" in English hymnals, is said to be the composition of an American, S. Chandler. Not much has been found about this musician, though he is reported to have lived in and around Troy, New York, both before and after the year 1800. James Love, in his Scottish Church Music, says that the earliest copy of the tune which he had seen was in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, 1812. In a collection of sacred music published by Ananias Davisson in July, 1825, the tune is named "Indian Philosopher," and is set to a hymn by the Indian preacher, Samson Occum. WASHINGTON HYMNODY AND PSALMODY1 WASHINGTON CITY has always been the gathering place for politicians, diplomats, and statesmen, because it is the seat of the government. Inventors and scientists are attracted here by the hopes for assistance from the nation. The early models of the first steamboat, the Clermont, built by Robert Fulton, and financially encouraged by Joel Barlow of Kalorama, were floated in the waters of Rock Creek. The first successful trains for passengers were run into this city from Baltimore in August, Read before the Abracadabra Club in Washington, D. C. 1835. The first long-distance telegraph message was received May 24, 1844, from Baltimore by Samuel F. B. Morse in the old Indian Office building at Seventh and E Streets. The early tests of the airplane were made at Fort Myer by the Wrights in 1907, and an unsuccessful attempt at flying had been made by Professor Langley, of the Smithsonian Institution, several years earlier not far from the Capital City. The first telephone message from one house to another was sent by Alexander Graham Bell while he was a professor in Boston University, but Washington was the home of this inventor for many years before his death. The Capital City has had a long and honorable history with its Choral Society, its Oratorio Section, and other less ambitious organizations such as the Moody Choir, the Inaugural Choruses, and the more recent Billy Sunday singers. But when we seek the names of those who have contributed to sacred music either hymns or hymn tunes, there is no single source of information. Many denominations have had a share in this work. The Baptists appear to have made larger gifts than any other, for the reason, perhaps, that they had established here the Columbian College as early as 1820. Methodists, Congregationalists, Swedenborgians, Reformed, Presbyterians, Christians, Catholics, and no doubt others have accomplished their part. JOEL BARLOW The career of Joel Barlow is very interesting aside from his Version of the Psalms, and would furnish material for a long article, but a hasty |