348. God bless our native land _Siegfried A. Mahlmann_, 1771-1826 _Stanza 3, William E. Hickson_, 1803-70 The first two stanzas are a free translation of Stanzas 1 and 3 of the following patriotic song for Saxony: 1. Gott segne Sachsenland, Wo fest die Treue stand In Sturm und Nacht! Ew’ge Gerechtigkeit, Hoch überm Meer der Zeit, Die jedem Sturm gebeut, Schütz uns mit Macht! 2. Blühe, du Rautenkranz In schöner Tage Glanz Freudig empor! Heil, Friedrich August, dir! Heil, guter König, dir! Dich, Vater, preisen wir Liebend im Chor! 3. Was treue Herzen flehn Steigt zu des Himmels Höh’n Aus Nacht zum Licht. Der unsre Liebe sah, Der unsre Tränen sah, Er ist uns huldreich nah, Verlässt uns nicht. A fourth stanza, identical with the first, follows. It was written by the German song writer, Siegfried Augustus Mahlmann, and published in G. W. Fink’s _Musikalischer Hausschatz_, 1842. The hymn was first sung Nov. 13, 1815, in the presence of the King of Saxony. The hymn was also the inspiration for Samuel F. Smith’s, “My country ’tis of thee.” The translation was made in 1834 by Charles T. Brooks, while a student at the Divinity School at Cambridge, Mass. It was revised by John Sullivan Dwight, 1813-93, to form our version. Dwight was a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and became a Unitarian minister in Northampton, Mass., but gave up the ministry to devote himself to literature and music. For thirty years he owned and edited Dwight’s _Journal of Music_. The third stanza, raising the hymn above any narrow patriotism, was added by William E. Hickson, an English shoe manufacturer who retired from that business to pursue literary and philanthropic interests. Much interested in the musical culture of his people, he published various books on music and composed numerous musical works of merit. For a time he was editor of the _Westminster Review_. _MUSIC._ DORT. For comments on the composer of this tune, Lowell Mason, see Hymn 12. 349. Great God of nations, now to Thee _Alfred A. Woodhull_, 1810-36 Entitled “Thanksgiving Hymn,” this poem was written in 1828 when the author was only eighteen years old. It was published in the Presbyterian _Psalms and Hymns_, 1829, Princeton, N. J. There have been many alterations of the lines. Alfred Alexander Woodhull, son of a Presbyterian minister, graduated from Princeton at 18 years of age, and then took a medical course at the University of Pennsylvania. He began the practice of medicine at Marietta, Pennsylvania, then moved to Princeton where within a year he contracted a fever which occasioned his death. Known as a fine Christian man as well as a skilled physician, his early death was greatly lamented. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. _MUSIC._ MENDON. For comments on this tune see Hymn 211.