The Story of the Hymns and Tunes, page 119 by Theron Brown
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tune is a record of providential birth quite as interesting as that of the hymn. In 1823, a lady in Savannah, Ga., having received and admired a copy of Heber's lyric from England, desired to sing it or hear it sung, but knew no music to fit the metre. She finally thought of a young clerk in a bank close by, Lowell Mason by name, who sometimes wrote music for recreation, and sent her son to ask him if he would make a tune that would sing the lines. The boy returned in half an hour with the composition that doubled Heber's fame and made his own.
In the words of Dr. Charles Robinson, "Like the hymn it voices, it was done at a stroke, and it will last through the ages."
"THE MORNING LIGHT IS BREAKING."
Not far behind Dr. Heber's chef-d'oeuvre in lyric merit is the still more famous missionary hymn of Dr. S.F. Smith, author of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Another missionary hymn of his which is widely used is--
Yes, my native land, I love thee, All thy scenes, I love them well. Friends, connections, happy country, Can I bid you all farewell? Can I leave you Far in heathen lands to dwell?
Drs. Nutter and Breed speak of "The Morning Light is Breaking," and its charm as a hymn of peace and promise, and intimate that it has "gone farther and been more frequently sung than any other missionary hymn." Besides the English, there are versions of it in four Latin nations, the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French, and oriental translations in Chinese and several East Indian tongues and dialects, as well as one in Swedish. It author had the rare felicity, while on a visit to his son, a missionary in Burmah, of hearing it sung by native Christians in their language, and of being welcomed with an ovation when they knew who he was.
The morning light is breaking! The darkness disappears; The sons of earth are waking To penitential tears; Each breeze that sweeps the ocean Brings tidings from afar, Of nations in commotion, Prepared for Zion's war.
Rich dews of grace come o'e