To the Work

Words by Fanny J. Crosby Music by W. H. Doane

"To the work! to the work! we are servants of God,
Let us follow the path that our Master has trod.”

Fanny Crosby wrote the words of this hymn in 1869, and it was set to music by \V. H. Doane two years later. I sang it for the first time in the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Cornell at Long Branch. The servants gathered from all parts of the house while I was singing, and looked into the parlor where I was seated. When I was through one of them said: ”That is the finest hymn I have heard for a long time; won't you please sing it over again? ”I felt that this was a test case, and that if the hymn had such power over those servants it would be useful in reaching other people as well; so I published it in ”Gospel Hymns” in 1875, where it became one of the best work-songs for our meetings that we had.