How long, O Lord, his brother's blood

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How long, O Lord, his brother's blood

Author: William Gaskell
Published in 2 hymnals

Representative Text

How long, O Lord, his brother’s blood
Shall man in battle spill?
How long that mandate be withstood,
Which cries, “Thou shalt not kill?”

How long shall glory still be found
In scenes of cruel strife,
Where misery walks, a giant crowned,
Crushing the flowers of life?

O, hush, great God! the sounds of war,
And make Thy children feel
That he, with Thee, is noblest far,
Who toils for human weal;—

And though forgotten, he alone
Can be a Christian true
Who would his foes as brethren own,
And still their good pursue.

Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #185

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Author: William Gaskell

Gaskell, William, M.A., son of Mr. William Gaskell, was born at Latchford (a suburb of Warrington, on the Cheshire side of the Mersey), 24 July, 1805. He was educated at Manchester New College and at the University of Glasgow, where he graduated M.A. in 1825. In 1828 he became co-pastor with the Rev. J. G. Robberds at Cross Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester, a position he held until his death. Mr. Gaskell was a man of cultivated mind and considerable literary ability. His publications include Lectures on the Lancashire Dialect, 1853, a small volume of Temperance Rhymes, 1839, and various theological works. In 1832 he married Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson, who afterwards attained celebrity as the authoress of Mary Barton, and of other popul… Go to person page >

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