The supposed date of the hymn is 1860; the author, Albert Midlane. He was born at Newport on the Isle of Wight, Jan. 23, 1825 a business man, but, being a Sunday-school teacher, he was prompted to write verses for children. The habit grew upon him till he became a frequent and acceptable hymn-writer, both for juvenile and for general use. English collections have at least three hundred credited to him. Revive Thy work, O Lord, Thy mighty arm make bare, Speak with the voice that wakes the dead, And make Thy people hear. _THE TUNE._ Music and words together make a song-litany alive with all the old psalm-tune unction and the new vigor; and both were upon Mr. McGranahan when he wrote the choral. It is one of his successes. Revive thy work, O Lord, Exalt Thy precious name, And by the Holy Ghost our love For Thee and Thine inflame. REFRAIN. Revive Thy work, O Lord, And give refreshing showers; The glory shall be all Thine own, The blessing shall be ours. "WHERE IS MY WANDERING BOY TO-NIGHT?" This remarkable composition--words and music by Rev. Robert Lowry--has a record among sacred songs like that of "The Prodigal Son" among parables. A widowed lady of culture, about forty years of age, who was an accomplished vocalist, had ceased to sing, though her sweet voice was still in its prime. The cause was her sorrow for her runaway boy. She had not heard from him for five years. While spending a week with friends in a city distant from home, her hidden talent was betrayed by the friends to the pastor of their church, where a revival was in progress, and persuasion that seemed to put a duty upon her finally procured her consent to sing a solo. The church was crowded. With a force and feeling that can easily be guessed she sang "Where Is My Boy Tonight?" and finished the first stanza. She began the second,-- Once he was pure as morning dew, As he knelt at his mother's knee, No face was so bright, no heart more true, And none were so sweet as he; --and as the congregation caught up the refrain,-- O where is my boy tonight? O where is my boy tonight? My heart overflows, for I love him he knows, O where is my boy tonight? --a young man who had been sitting in a back seat made his way up the aisle and sobbed, "Mother, I'm here!" The embrace of that mother and her long-lost boy turned the service into a general hallelujah. At the inquiry meeting that night there were many souls at the Mercy Seat who never knelt there before--and the young wanderer was one. [Illustration: Philip Doddridge, D.D.] Mr. Sankey, when in California with Mr. Moody, sang this hymn in one of the meetings and told the story of a mother in the far east who had commissioned him to search for her missing son. By a happy providence the son was in the house--and the story and the song sent him home repentant.