Jews were wrought to cruel madness,
Christians fled in fear and sadness,
Mary stood the cross beside.
At its foot her foot she planted,
By the dreadful scene undaunted,
Till the gentle sufferer died.
Poets oft have sung her story;
Painters decked her brow with glory;
Priests her name have deified;
But no worship, song, or glory,
Touches like that simple story,—
“Mary stood the cross beside.”
And when under fierce oppression
Goodness suffers like transgression,
Christ again is crucified.
But if love be there, true-hearted,
By no grief or terror parted,
Mary stands the cross beside.
Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #135
Fox, William Johnson, the son of a small farmer in Suffolk, was born in 1786. As a boy he worked as a weaver, but subsequently spent six years in a bank. He was educated for the ministry under Dr. Pye Smith, at Homerton. His first settlement was with an Orthodox Independent congregation; but he very soon became a Unitarian. In 1817 he settled in London as minister of the Parliament Court Chapel. In 1824 lie removed to a new chapel at South Place, Finsbury, where he remained until 1852. He was a prominent member of the Anti Corn-law League; joined in founding the Westminster Review, and from 1831 to 1836 was owner of the Monthly Repository. From 1847 to 1863 he sat in Parliament as member for Oldham. He died in 1864. In 1841 he published Hym… Go to person page >
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