Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1893 — "AUTHOR OP AMERICA. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

"AUTHOR OP AMERICA.

♦low HE CAME TO/WRITE THE FAMOUS HYMN. Pr, Samuel Francis Smith. Anthor of "My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” Says Its Snooess Surprised Him— A Man of Very Broad Culture. Oar National Hymn. Dr. Samuel Francis Smith, the author of .one of the most inspiring jaational hymns in the world, “My Country, ’Tis of Thee, ” told a Boston reporter who visited him recently on 'the occasion of his eighty-fifth birthday how the famous hymn came to [he written. In 1832 William 0. jWoodbridge, a friend of Dr. Smith’s, who had been visiting Germany and ithe German schools, brought home ( With him a lot of German music ;books. Mr. Wood bridge gave the ( books tOjLowell Mason, then the conservator of all church music in Boston, 'end Mr. Mason being unable to read German turned them over to Dr. Smith and said he would like to have • poetical translation of anything Dr. Smith saw in the book and liked. “Turning over the leaves of the books one gloomy day in February, 1832,” •aid Dr. Smith, “1 came across the

air *God Save the Kins'.’ I liked the ■male. I glanced at the German words at the foot of the page. Tinder the Inspiration of the moment I went to work and in half an hour ‘America’ was the result. It was written on a scrap of paper I picked up from th<e table, and the hymn of to-day is substantially as it was written that day.” Dr. Smith still has the original draft of the' poem. He has been ■rged many times to give it up. They would like to have it in Washington for preservation, and it would, of •oorse, be prized and safely cared for

1b Boston, but he has thus far declined to part with it Dr. Smith Bade a copy of it for D. Lothrop & Ca, the Boston publishers, and this •opy was in their exhibit at the World’s Fair. The paper on which the poem was originally written is yellow with age, but the writing is perfectly legible. The paper is about six inches long by three inches wide, and has only three erasures in the wage. On the back are some stray Knee, the remnants of some translation from a German work. When .it became “the national •hymn* is not known. It was never adopted as such formally and officially ftp the Government, but it- seems to

have been adopted by the people, and for more than sixty years in school and church, and in nearly every patriotic gathering, the singing of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” has aroused the people in patriotism as no other hymn has been able to do. It matters not whether the hymn has been “officially” sanctioned by the Government, says the Boston Traveller. It has been taken to the hearts of the people—they love it for its sentiment and for its melody—and they will continue, as long as time shall endure, to sing the poetic prayer of their own patriotic hymn: Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light. Protect us by thy might, Great God our king. “I have heard ‘America’ sung,” said Dr. Smith in answer to a question, “half way around the world. I have heard it on the Atlantic Ocean, on the Baltic Sea and on the Mediterranean; in London, Liverpool, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, Home, Naples, in the baths at Pompeii, in Athens, Calcutta and Rangoon. On the earth I have heard it on Pike’s Peak, and under the earth in the caverns at Manitou, Col., where it was played on the stalactites.” At the magnificent reception given Dr. Smith in San Francisco several years ago General O. O. Howard referred to the influence of the hymn upon soldiers he bad met, and said not only on the battlefield and the march but in the hospitals and barracks sometimes one would start “My country, ’tis of thee,” and it would be taken up from man to man until the entire company joined in the grand hymn. “America” met the hearts of the people who sang it with great

enthusiasm during the war. It was sung on special days—days of encouragement and days of darkness, and as it was sung by the brave soldier boys they felt they were more than paid for their suffering by having a country to suffer for. Mr. Smith began public life as pastor of the village church at Watervllle, Me., and at the same time he became Professor of Modern Languages in Waterville College, now known as Colby University. This was in 1834. Eight years later he was editor of the Christian Review, and until July, 1854, he was pastor of the Bactist Church at Newton Center. He then became connected with the foreign missionary work of the church and served in the Secretary’s department for fifteen years, during which time he contributed by pen, voice and. money to the advancement of the interests of this important branch of Christian activity. His knowledge of the languages of the world proved a valuable help to his missionary work, and to his labors in translation-the-ehurch is indebted for many advances in the domain of intelligent investigation. He is a man of broad culture and eminent literary attainments, with a practical knowledge of men and affairs, a facility of expression and a conciseness of style that make a rare combination for effective work. Dr. Smith was born in Boston, Oct. 21, 1808. He entered Harvard at the age of 17, and with his companions formed what was afterward known as the famous class of “ ’29.” “America" is not the only hymn Dr. Smith has written. The hymnbooks of all contain many of his productions. "The Psalmist, ” a book used by the Baptists for thirty years, contains nearly thirty of his compositions. His best-known missionary hymn. “The Morning Light Is Breaking, ” has been translated into many languages. When a man has a plain sickness there is seldom any danger of fatal results, but when what the doctors call “complications” set in, then is the time to pray.—Atchiso Globa

AUTOGRAPHIC PAC-SIMILE OF THE HYMN “AMERICA."

DR. SAMUEL F. SMITH.