Marching Song

Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See, His banners go!

At the sign of triumph
Satan's armies flee;
On, then, Christian soldiers,
On to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver
At the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices,
Loud your anthems raise.

Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus
Constant will remain;
Gates of hell can never
'Gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ's own promise,
And that cannot fail.

Onward, then, ye people!
Join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices
In the triumph-song;
Glory, laud, and honor
Unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages
Men and angels sing.

Sabine Baring-Gould, 1865.

BARING-GOULD AND HIS NOTED HYMN

When Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, on Whitsunday, 1865, sat up a greater
portion of the night to compose a hymn, he did not realize he was writing
words that would be sung through the centuries; but that no doubt will be
the result of his zeal. The hymn he wrote was "Onward, Christian
soldiers."

The story is an interesting one. At that time Baring-Gould was minister
of the Established Church at Lew-Trenchard, England. On Whitmonday the
children of his village were to march to an adjoining village for a
Sunday school rally.

"If only there was something they could sing as they marched," the pastor
thought, "the way would not seem so long." He searched diligently for
something suitable but failed to find what he wanted. Finally he decided
to write a marching song. It took the greater part of the night to do it,
but the next morning the children's pilgrimage was made the lighter and
happier by "Onward, Christian soldiers."

Commenting on the hymn some thirty years later, the author said: "It was
written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty.
Certainly, nothing has surprised me more than its popularity."

In this instance, as in many others that might be mentioned, the tune to
which it is inseparably wedded, has no doubt contributed much to make it
popular. Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, the great English organist who
wrote "The Lost