138. Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed _Harriet Auber_, 1773-1862 One of the finest of our hymns on the Holy Spirit. It was written for Whitsunday and published in the author’s _The Spirit of the Psalms_, 1829, in seven stanzas, the second and third being omitted here. The hymn appears in most modern hymnals and has been translated into several languages. Harriet Auber, whose grandfather went from Normandy to England in 1685 as a Huguenot refugee, was born in London. She was a woman of refinement and culture who spent most of her life in the quiet villages of Broxbourne and Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. She wrote numerous poems and hymns, but her name survives as the author of this exquisite lyric. _MUSIC._ ST. CUTHBERT was composed for these words by J. B. Dykes for the original edition of _Hymns Ancient and Modern_, 1861. For comments on Dykes see Hymn 1. 139. Spirit divine, attend our prayer _Andrew Reed_, 1787-1862 _Samuel Longfellow_, 1819-92 This is a revision by Samuel Longfellow of a hymn written by Andrew Reed, an English Congregational minister. Reed, a philanthropist and great organizer, and founder of six asylums and orphanages, wrote 21 hymns and published several hymn books. He was an ardent supporter of missionary work at home and abroad. Writing to his son who suggested that the father should write his autobiography, Dr. Reed summed up his own life in these words: I was born yesterday, I shall die tomorrow, and I must not spend today in telling what I have done, but in doing what I may for HIM who has done all for me. I sprang from the people, I have lived for the people—the most for the most unhappy; and the people when they know it will not suffer me to die out of loving remembrance. _MUSIC._ BRECON. The origin of this tune has not been traced. It is a useful tune as a choir response after the prayer. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE—THE CALL OF CHRIST 140. Jesus calls us o’er the tumult _Cecil Frances Alexander_, 1823-95 A hymn of consecration which has had far-reaching influence especially over young people. It is based on Matt. 4:18, 19: “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” There is also a reference to the incident by the lake recorded in John 21:15: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?” The hymn appeared first in _Hymns_, 1852, published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. In the Episcopal Church in the United States and Canada, it has been adopted as the hymn of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Mrs. Alexander is known principally as a writer of children’s hymns (410 and 412), but she also contributed excellent church songs for adults.