Anne Steele, 1760.

ENGLAND'S FIRST WOMAN HYMNIST

While Isaac Watts was working on his immortal version of "Psalms of
David," a baby girl was born to a Baptist minister at Broughton, fifteen
miles away. The baby was Anne Steele, destined to become England's first
woman hymn-writer. This was in 1716.

Her father, who was a merchant as well as a minister, served the church
at Broughton for sixty years, the greater part without pay. The mother
died when Anne was only a babe of three years. From childhood the future
hymnist was delicate in health, and in 1735 she suffered a hip injury
which made her practically an invalid for life.

The hardest blow, however, came in 1737, when her lover, Robert Elscourt,
was drowned on the day before he and Anne were to have been married. The
grief-stricken young woman with heroic faith nevertheless rose above her
afflictions and found solace in sacred song. It is believed that her
first hymn, a poem of beautiful resignation, was written at this time:

Father, whate'er of earthly bliss
Thy sovereign will denies,
Accepted at Thy throne, let this
My humble prayer arise:

Give me a calm and thankful heart,
From every murmur free;
The blessings of Thy grace impart,
And make me live to Thee.

Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine
My life and death attend,
Thy presence through my journey shine,
And crown my journey's end.

That the Lord heard her prayer may be attested by the fact that she
became the greatest hymn-writer the Baptist Church has produced.
Throughout her life she remained unmarried, living with her father and
writing noble hymns. In 1760 her first poems appeared in print under the
pen name of "Theodosia." Her father at this time makes the following
notation in his diary: "This day Nanny sent part of her composition to
London to be printed. I entreat a gracious God, who enabled and stirred
her up to such a work, to direct it and bless it for the good of many. I
pray God to make it useful, and keep her humble." The book proved
immensely popular, and the author devoted the profits from its sale to
charity.

Miss Steele is the author of 144 hymns and 34 paraphrases of the Psalms.
That many of them breathe a spirit of melancholy sadness is not to be
wondered at, when we consider the circumstances under which they were
written. Although they do not rise to