the University of Abo, and later removed to
Sweden, where he became pastor of St. Clara church, in Stockholm, and
eventually Bishop of Hernosand. He died in 1847.

Franzen early became associated with Wallin and exerted a strong
influence over the latter. Though not as prolific a writer as Wallin, the
hymns of Franzen are rich in content and finished in form. Because of
their artless simplicity it has been said that "the cultured man will
appreciate them and the unlettered man can understand them." Among the
most popular are two evening hymns--"The day departs, yet Thou art near"
and "When vesper bells are calling." The latter is a hymn of solemn
beauty:

When vesper bells are calling
The hour of rest and prayer,
When evening shades are falling,
And I must hence repair,
I seek my chamber narrow,
Nor my brief day deplore,
For I shall see the morrow,
When night shall be no more.

O take me in Thy keeping,
Dear Father, good and just,
Let not my soul be sleeping
In sin, and pride, and lust.
If in my life Thou guide me
According to Thy will,
I may in death confide me
Into Thy keeping still.

The voice of gracious invitation heard in Franzen's communion hymn,
"Thine own, O loving Saviour," has called millions of hungering souls to
the Lord's Supper. His hymn for the first communion of catechumens,
"Come, O Jesus, and prepare me," is also regarded as the most appealing
of its kind in Swedish hymnody. The stirring note in his hymn of
repentance, "Awake, the watchman crieth," reveals Franzen as a poet of
power and virility as well as a writer of the more meditative kind. The
same solemn appeal, although expressed in less severe language, is also
heard in his other call to repentance:

Ajar the temple gates are swinging,
Lo! still the grace of God is free.
Perhaps when next the bells are ringing
The grave shall open unto thee,
And thou art laid beneath the sod,
No more to see this house of God.

Franzen was recently accorded a unique honor in America when his
soul-gripping Advent hymn, "Prepare the way, O Zion," was made the
opening hymn in the Hymnal of the Augustana Synod. This hymn-book
contains more translations of Swedish hymns than any other volume
published in America.

When we add to the hymns already mentioned such beautiful compositions as
"Thy scepter, Jesus, shall extend," "Look to Jesus Christ