It is hard to believe that the author of this hymn was called “the most unpopular governor Hong Kong ever had!”
But the facts of history cannot be denied. The explanation may lie in the change wrought in and idealistic youth who wrote his splendid hymns before he was thirty-five, and then, corrupted by power.
To his credit, let it be remembered that he was one of the most brilliant and versatile men England has ever produced. He could speak fluently in 22 languages and converse in almost a hundred more;
At thirty-three, in 1825, inspired by the words of St. Paul in Galations 6:14, “Far be it from me to glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he wrote this hymn.
It was not until twenty-four years later that he saw the ruins of a cathedral in Macao in China, over which a cross was still standing, which some claimed as the inspiration for this Hymn.
—Ernest K. Emurian
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In the Cross of Christ I Glory[1]
1 In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
2 When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me:
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.
3 When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds new luster to the day.
4 Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.
In The Cross Of Christ I Glory (2)
All who have heard the sacred hymn, In the Cross of Christ I Glory, love it; and it adds to its beauty to learn about how it was written.
Sir John Bowring, the noted naturalist, linguist, statesman, financier, was the author. This gifted man was at one time the governor of Hong Kong. It was he who invented the florin, a two-shilling piece greatly used in England. He could write in thirteen different languages and dialects. His education was of the right sort, for it led him to a deeper worship of the Crucified One.
One time when he was in the Orient, he was gazing at a tract of land which had been devastated by an earthquake. He noticed the tower of a church standing among the ruins, and on the top of the tower a cross. The sight of this prompted him to write the great hymn.
—Our Youth
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