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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.
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