Hugh Stowell printed this hymn in the Winter’s Wreath, 1828, under the title “Peace at the Mercy Seat.” There were six stanzas, revised in 1831. SDAH’s stanzas 5 should precede stanza 4 as in the original, for the latter answers the former.

Stowell was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, England, on December 3, 1799. He earned a B.A. at Oxford in 1822 and received his M.A. in 1826. He began his ministry as a curate in Gloucestershire, then moved to Huddersfield in Yorkshire and then to Salford, in Lancashire. He was appointed rector in Christ Church, Salford, in 1831 and then in 1845 canon of Chester Cathedral. In 1851 he became chaplain to the bishop of Manchester. He was an excellent preacher, and published many sermons and pamphlets and several books. He wrote nearly 50 hymns, mostly for Sunday school anniversaries in Christ Church, Salford. He died in Salford on October 8, 1865. 

RETREAT was composed by Thomas Hastings (1784-1872; see SDAH 300). It was so named because it was especially written for these words, which describe the retreat from life’s cares and problems that can be found at the mercy seat. It consists of chords of the tonic (more than half), the dominant, and the subdominant, with the upper parts moving generally in thirds and sixths. Hastings also composed SDAH 300, TOPLADY; and SDAH 601, ZION; and wrote the words of the third stanza of SDAH 477, “Come, Ye Disconsolate.”