I hear a sound that comes from far

Author: Thomas Kelly

Kelly, Thomas, B.A., son of Thomas Kelly, a Judge of the Irish Court of Common Pleas, was born in Dublin, July 13, 1769, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was designed for the Bar, and entered the Temple, London, with that intention; but having undergone a very marked spiritual change he took Holy Orders in 1792. His earnest evangelical preaching in Dublin led Archbishop Fowler to inhibit him and his companion preacher, Rowland Hill, from preaching in the city. For some time he preached in two unconsecrated buildings in Dublin, Plunket Street, and the Bethesda, and then, having seceded from the Established Church, he erected places of worship at Athy, Portarlington, Wexford, &c, in which he conducted divine worship and preached. H… Go to person page >

I hear a sound [voice] that comes from far. T. Kelly. [The Voice of Mercy.] Published in the 2nd edition of his Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture, 1806, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines (ed. 1853, No. 327). It is usually given in an abbreviated form, and sometimes as, "I hear a voice that comes from far," as in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, N. Y., 1872, &c.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)