Open the door with shame, if ye have sinned; If ye be sorry, open it with sighs. Albeit the place be bare for poverty, And comfortless for lack of plenishing, Be not abashed for that, but open it, And take Him in that comes to sup with thee; “Behold!” He saith, “I stand at the door and knock!” Speak, then, O rich and strong: Open, O happy young, ere yet the hand Of Him that knocks, wearied at last, forbear; The patient foot its thankless quest refrain. The wounded heart forevermore withdraw. Holman Hunt’s picture, “The Light of the World,” is an exquisite illustration of the spirit of this hymn. William Walsham How was born at Shrewsbury, England, educated at Oxford, and ordained to the ministry in 1846. He served various churches as pastor and declined offers of positions of more distinction. He refused the bishopric of Durham, one of the most distinguished posts in the Anglican Church, with an income more than double what he then had. He was a man of broad sympathies and apostolical zeal, and was a master of the pastoral art. He collaborated with Thos. Baker Morrell in editing _Psalms and Hymns_, 1854, and in 1871 was joint editor of _Church Hymns_, published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, the latter becoming the greatest rival of _Hymns Ancient and Modern_ which that book had had to date. His poems are marked by simplicity and beauty of diction and constitute some of the richest treasures of modern hymnody. _MUSIC._ ST. HILDA, also known as “St. Edith,” is an arrangement by Rev. Edward Husband of a tune published by Justin H. Knecht in _Vollständige Sammlung_, Stuttgart, 1799. For comments on Knecht see Hymn 511. Edward Husband, 1843-1908, was an English clergyman with a great deal of musical talent and interest and was a well-known lecturer on the subject of church music. PENITENCE AND CONFESSION 145. Savior, when in dust to Thee _Robert Grant_, 1779-1838 A hymn of penitence which has had a wide use. It was published in the _Christian Observer_, 1815, as a Lenten “Litany.” The last line of each stanza (five in the original) read, “Hear our solemn litany,” here changed to “Hear thy people when they cry.” Stanzas 2 and 4 have been much altered by an unknown hand. Grant’s original hymn of five stanzas reads as follows: 1. Savior, when in dust to Thee Low we bow the adoring knee, When, repentant, to the skies Scarce we lift our weeping eyes, Oh, by all Thy pains and woe Suffered once for man below, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our solemn litany! 2. By Thy helpless infant years, By Thy life of want and tears, By Thy days of sore distress In the savage wilderness, By the dread, mysterious hour Of the insulting Tempter’s power, Turn, O turn, a favoring eye, Hear our solemn litany!