Elizabeth Charles wrote these three stanzas, not in rhyme, nut in rhythm, giving praise to the Trinity. The firs stanza is addressed to God the Father, the second to God the Son, and the third to God the Holy Ghost, naming the characteristics mentioned by the apostle Paul in the benediction that closes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Chrsit, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor. 13:14) In the respective stanzas of the hymn, the divine characteristics are alluded to in the following terms: lovingkindness, graciousness, and comforter. The last line ascribes praise to the Trinity, the Three on One.

Elizabeth Rundle was born in Tavistock, Devonshire, England, on January 2, 1828, the daughter of a member of Parliament. IN 1851 she married a London barrister, Andrew Paton Charles. She was an accomplished poet, musician, author, and painter, and wrote several historical novels, including ones on the life and times of Luther and John Wesley. She began writing hymns in 1850, translating from German, Latin, and Swedish, together with original ones. She died at Hampstead Heath, near London, on March 28, 1896.

FLEMMING commemorated the composer Friedrich Ferdinand Flemming, who composed it for a male voice choir to words from the Roman poet Horace’s Ode XXII, “Integer Vitae Scelerisque purus” (Upright of Life, Pure From Guilt). Flemming was born in Neuhausen, Germany, 3o miles from Dresden, on February 28, 1778. He qualified as a physician after study at Wittenberg, Jena, Vienna, and Trieste. He practiced in Berlin but cultivated his hobby as a musician, composing many songs for male choir. He died in Berlin on May 27, 1813.