1811 - 1898 Person Name: Mrs. Saxby Meter: 8.7.4 Author of "Father, let thy benediction" in Manual for the chapel of Girard College Saxby, Jane Euphemia, née Browne, daughter of William Browne of Tallantire Hall, Cumberland, and sister of Lady Teignmouth, was born Jan. 27, 1811, and married, in 1862, to the Rev. S. H. Saxby, Vicar of East Clevedon, Somersetshire. Her work, The Dove on the Cross, was published in 1849. It has passed into numerous editions, and from it several hymns have come into common use. This was followed by The Voice of the Bird, in 1875; and Aunt Effie’s Gift to the Nursery, 1876. Sometimes Mrs. Saxby's Dove on the Cross is dated 1819, but in error. The compilation known as Hymns and Thoughts for the Sick and Lonely, by a Lady, London, J Nisbet & Co., 1848, although it contains several of her hymns in an altered form, is ascribed to her in error. Mrs. Saxby's hymns in common use include:
1. Father, into Thy loving hands. Resignation.
2. O Jesus Christ, the holy One. Holy Communion.
3. O Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Whitsuntide.
4. Shew me the way, O Lord. Guidance desired.
5. Thou art with me, O my Father. God everywhere.
6. Thou God of love, beneath Thy sheltering wings. Burial.
Of these hymns, Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 6, appeared in her Dove on the Cross, 1849. No. 2 appeared in the English Presbyterian Psalms & Hymns for Divine Worship, 1867, No. 840, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. It was supplied to Dr. W. F. Stevenson in manuscript in 6 stanzas for his Hymns for the Church and Home, 1873. The additional stanza (the 4th) given in his Notes is:—
As Thou hast placed beyond my reach
Thy richest means of grace,
Teach me without them, Saviour, teach
My soul to see Thy face."
The point and meaning of this stanza is explained by the fact that this hymn "was written for one who by illness was prevented joining in the Communion." The hymn was included in The Voice of the Bird, 1875. Mrs. Saxby's hymns are very plaintive and tender. This is explained by her thus:— "I wrote most of my published hymns during a very long and distressing illness, which lasted many years. I thought probably that I was then in the 'Border Land’ and wrote accordingly." Died Mar. 25, 1898.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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