Amen, amen, my soul replies, I'm bound to meet you in the skies, And claim my mansion there, etc.
The anonymous[24] "Garden Hymn, as old, at least, as 1800," has nearly passed out of reach, except by the long arm of the antiquary; but it served its generation.
[Footnote 24: A "Rev." Mr. Campbell, author of "The Glorious Light of Zion," "There is a Holy City," and "There is a Land of Pleasure," has been sometimes credited with the origin of the Garden Hymn.]
Its vigorous tune is credited to Jeremiah Ingalls (1764-1838).
The Lord into His garden comes; The spices yield a rich perfume, The lilies grow and thrive, The lilies grow and thrive. Refreshing showers of grace divine From Jesus flow to every vine, Which makes the dead revive, Which makes the dead revive.
Henry Hart Milman, generally known as Dean Milman, was born in 1791, and was educated at Oxford. In 1821 he was installed as university professor of poetry at Oxford, and it was while filling this position that he wrote this celebrated hymn, under the title of "The Last Day." It is not only a hymn, but a poem--a sublime ode that recalls, in a different movement, the tones of the "Dies Irae."
Dean Milman (of St Paul's), besides his many striking poems and learned historical works, wrote at least twelve hymns, among which are--
O help us Lord; each hour of need Thy heavenly succor give,
--which last may have been written soon after he laid three of his children in one grave, in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey. He lived a laborious and useful life of seventy-seven years, dying Sept. 24, 1868.
There were times in the old revivals when the silver clarion of the "Chariot Hymn" must needs replace the ruder blast of Occum in old "Ganges" and sinners unmoved by the invisible God of Horeb be made to behold Him--in a vision of the "Last Day."
The Chariot! the Chariot! its wheels roll in fire When the Lord cometh down in the pomp of His ire, Lo, self-moving, it drives on its pathway of cloud, And the heavens with the burden of Godhead are bowed.
The Judgment! the Judgment! the thrones are all set, Where the Lamb and the white-vested elders are met; There all flesh is at once in the sight of the Lord, And the doom of eternity hangs on His word.