Henry Martyn Kieffer 
Short Stories of the Hymns [PDF ebook] 
Being a Brief Account of the Circumstances, in Which Some of Our Best Hymns, and Songs Were Written

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Our Hymns — where did they come from? As you take your seat in your pew on the Sunday morning, and open your hymn book to find the hymn which the minister has just announced, does it ever occur to you to inquire, as you look at the/ hymn, Who wrote this hymn? Why? And under what Circumstances? Your hymn book may perhaps Of itself tell you the name of the author and the date of its composition — but that is very little information. Let us say, for example, that the hymn which the minister has announced is.