great poetic heights, their
language is so artless and simple they seem to sing their way into the
heart of the worshiper. When Trinity Episcopal Church of Boston, in 1808,
printed its own hymn-book of 151 hymns, fifty-nine of them, or more than
one-third, were selected from Miss Steele's compositions. The fact that
so many of them are still found in the hymnals of today is another
testimony of their worth.

Among the more famous hymns from her pen are: "Father of Mercies, in Thy
Word," "How helpless guilty nature lies," "Dear Refuge of my weary soul,"
"O Thou whose tender mercy hears," "Thou only Sovereign of my heart," and
"Thou lovely source of true delight."

England's pioneer woman hymnist fell asleep in November, 1788, her last
words being, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Her epitaph reads:

Silent the lyre, and dumb the tuneful tongue,
That sung on earth her great Redeemer's praise;
But now in heaven she joins the angelic song,
In more harmonious, more exalted lays.

The decades during which Miss Steele lived and wrought were remarkable
for the number of hymn-writers of her own communion who flourished in
England. In addition to Miss Steele, the Baptist Church produced such
hymnists as Samuel Medley, Samuel Stennett and John Fawcett. Benjamin
Beddome also was a prolific writer of this period, but his hymns are not
of a high order.

Medley lived a dissipated life in the navy until he was severely wounded
in battle in 1759. The reading of a sermon led to his conversion, and he
later became pastor of a Baptist congregation in Liverpool. His most
famous hymns are "O could I speak the matchless worth" and "Awake, my
soul, to joyful lays." Stennett in 1757 succeeded his father as pastor of
a Baptist church in London, where he gained fame as a preacher. His best
hymns are "Majestic sweetness sits enthroned" and "'Tis finished, so the
Saviour cried." Fawcett was minister of an humble Baptist congregation in
Wainsgate when, in 1772, he received a call to a large London church. He
preached his farewell sermon and had loaded his household goods on
wagons, when the tears of his parishioners constrained him to remain. A
few days later he wrote the tender lyric, "Blest be the tie that binds."
Among his other hymns are "How precious is the Book divine" and "Lord,
dismiss us with Thy blessing."

The Name above All Names

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds