A Famous Battle Hymn.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 24 December 1910, Page 12

A Famous Battle Hymn.

By A. Maurice Low.

Death removed a notable- figuro in America when Sirs. Julia Ward Howe succumbed at the ago of ninety-one to an attack of pneumonia. Wheirliist yeat Brown University bestowed upon''her tho degreo."of Doctor of Letters,' sho was formally "presented" -as "author,- philanthropist, : mother, friend of the slave, prisoner, and all who. .suffer,' singer of the battle of freedom." ' The characterisation was no 1 exaggeration. ' Any ' ono of tlie things'"■ that brought her recognition was sufficient to have made her famous, but combined they""gavo her' ah unique and 'extraordinary place -in'"the respect ' and "iffection of Americans.' Mrs. Howe was best known as 'tlie'author'of "The Battle' Hymn of'the Republic." Sho wrote much- that will be remembered, but that ringing and [resplendent lyric belongs in .'a class by-, itself. Tho poem.was bom in tho throes of tho great conflict- that racked tho United States from 1861 to .1865,-.a ,time that marks, a-distinct, literary epoch in America. A million . men were engaged in fighting Jjjr an abstraction or in defcnco cf". a-principle, and to thirty-million-men- and.women,, that conflict was part of .their life and influenced their every : thought aii'd action. > Naturally the'literature',of,-that era-was mar;tial, but most: of .it was .written .for tlio moment -to appeal to the emotions.or, to hearten.,the Wavering, and .little survived, .because'it had'no lasting claim to fame. Conspicuously as an "exception is Mrs. Howe's "Battlo Hymn of the Republic," ■ which, as she herself; said, was no laboured toil, Jjut came .as an .inspiration and was ono of tho most potent sources of inspiration.' Tlie songs of tho people, liko their music, may not always be of . the highest, metrical form'.or musical composition, but when they appeal to a people ; and grip their imagination they,, enter .into their , blood and, they make oven tlie ■.mosfc . cowardly ■-doers.:.-,of brave deeds. "Those-who. have heard the swing and. 'surge of its resounding lines," the New York '."Tribune", says" of -the hymn, "as sung by an .Army on the march, -or by a great multitudo impassioned in their earnestness, can realise something of the spiritual force which it- has exerted upon millions, and which it is . still destined to exert upon people engaged in a great campaign for .'-freedom." Millions of.men : havo sung .this hymn as. .they . marched to death or victory; it has been, roared ,on tlie arid plains, of the,': West, and in the swamps of the South, under-,,the tropical skies of Cuba and in..tho-dense .vegetation-of the Philippines; millions, of school .children hav.e lisped and-sung the hymn .in.; school and., church; ,yet. it has lost [none.,of its, forccj, no ono hears it without'a thrill. ' How Mrs. Howe ' came to ..write this famous hymn she thus told. on.one occasion;, , :

"ill tho late autumn, of the year ISSI I visited the national capital in tho company of my husband, Dr. Howe, and a party of friends, among whom were Governor . and Mrs. Andrew, Mr. and Mrs. Whipple, and my dear pastor, the. Rev. James Freeman Clarke. The journey was one of'vivid, even romantic interest. AVo were. about-to seo tho;.grim,Demon of War face to face,' and long befdfe.we reached the city his..presence made itself felt in the blaze of tho fires albas - the road, .wliero sat or. stood our . .pickets, ■guarding'the road on winch, we travelled. One day we drove out to attend a review of troops, appointed to take place .some ■distance from tho city. In the carriage with ,;uo wjre James Freeman.Clarke and Mr. and ' Mrs. IV hippie.". The day v.-as A l ??, eveiythiiig.,.promised!'well,'.but a sudden surprise/on the "par.t : of "the enemy, interrupted .the proceedings befo.re. they were, well begun. A smalt . body' of our men had , been surrounded and -cut off from their companions; reinforcements were -sent, out to their assistance, and the expected pageant was necessarily given ~ UP - Tho troops who were to have taken .part m it wero ordered back to their quarters, and we also turned our horses'' heads home. l'or a long distance the foot soldiers nearly filled the road.. They wore bgiore aud behind, and we were.-obliged no drive very slowly. We presently began to. sing'some-of the wefl-lcnown war • songs, and - ..ftniong them--"John .Brown's, body lies a-mouldering in the grave/' This , ' to ..pl«aso the soldiers,, who -cried, • Croodfor, you," and themselves took up tne strain. Mr. Clarke said to me, "You ought to write s'omo now. words to that tune. t I replied. that-1 had often wished ito!do so. '" : ' ; .

; In spite of the.expitenient-.pf.:the,.day 1; went to bed , arid . slept' as I ;usual", . but awoke tho next ..morning 'in ofdaivn, .and to my.'astonishmcnt ;found the wishcd-for. lines- were arranging. ' themselves in my braiii; I lay. quite,still,until. the last verse had completed ihelf in my thoughts, then hastily arose, saving , to myself, shall;.loso:-tMs .if, J don't yrito it down innnodiately.'" .lisearched for a sheet of paper'aml aii old-stump, of a 7)en whicli 1 1 had .had- the' night before, ami began to'scrawl'the lilies almost without, looking,. as I learned to. do-'often.by scratching down verses •in tho. darkened room where iny little'..'. cliildreii - sleep. Having, completed. this I Jay ,do,wn again and toll asleep, biit not without feeling .that something, of .importahca-.Jiad, happened to me. The-poem was-published .soon.after.this in.the ."Atlantic Monthly.". It first came prominently into notice when Chaplain M'Cabe,.-. upwly released ;i'. oln . .Libbey Prison," gave' a lecture in Washington, and in thq,course of,it, told, how he' and 'Sis' fellow'■ prisoners,' having ,somchow.bocomo..posse'ssed,"of a copy of the. battle Hymn, sang it witli'a will 'in their prison on tidings of a Unioii victory. - : ;.,'Vohil'Brovdi's;'Bod,y"''wasr'one of the .most -popular of the songs of T tlio'Nortiern Armies. John Brown, -of Osawa•tbmie, was hanged in'Tirgiriia. for having attempted to incite the slaves to rebellion, and within a year and a . half .of the day of his execution ' North and South were at war, and the men of the North'were tramping to Southern battlefields chanting: John .Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, But his soul is'.marching on. .'The. words are not literature, but tho ,tune is nnisic'; it lias hone' of the rollicking, lilting, pulse-yuickening swing of some other military songs; it moves more ■with the solemnity and restraint of a chant, and it was, perhaps, for that reason that it -so peculiarly appealed to these Northern men, who felt that they were engaged in a holy war -to rid the South of the infamy of slavery and to preserve intact tho Ttnion that. their fathers fought to create. It was to this almost pcrfcct setting that Mrs. Howe wrote theso words: Mine eyes havo seen tho glory of tho '" coming of tho Lord; lie i.; trampling out tho vintage where •' tho grapes of wrath are stored, He has loosed tho fateful lightning '. of His terrible swift sword;' His truth is' marching on. I have seen ITim in tho watchfires of a hundred circling camps; ' They havo buildod Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;; ! ' I can read .His righteous sentence by tho dim and llaring lamps; His day is marching on. I'have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel; As you deal with my- contemners, so ' with you my grace shall deal; Let tho Hero born of woman crush ... tho serpent with His heel, ■ Since God is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that - shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of man bc- ■ fore His judgment seat; Oh! be swift, my' soul, to answer Him! bo jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. In the beauty-of the'lilies Christ was borne across tho sea, .With a glory in His bosom that trans- - figures you- and me; As lie died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on.