Souls of Men, Why Will Ye Scatter

Author: Frederick W. Faber

Faber, Frederick William, D.D., son of Mr. T. H. Faber, was born at Calverley Vicarage, Yorkshire, June 28, 1814, and educated at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1836. He was for some time a Fellow of University College, in the same University. Taking Holy Orders in 1837, he became Rector of Elton, Huntingdonshire, in 1843, but in 1846 he seceded to the Church of Rome. After residing for some time at St. Wilfrid's, Staffordshire, he went to London in 1849, and established the London "Oratorians," or, "Priests of the Congregation of St. Philip Neri," in King William Street, Strand. In 1854 the Oratory was removed to Brompton. Dr. Faber died Sept. 26, 1863. Before his secession he published several prose works, some of which were… Go to person page >

Souls of men, why will ye scatter? F. W. Faber. [Invitation: The Divine Call.] This is given from his Hymns, 1862. It really appeared in his Oratory Hymns, 1854, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, with the heading "Come to Jesus." It is found in its full form in some collections; and the following centos therefrom are also in common use:—(1) "There's a wideness in God's mercy;" and (2) "Was there ever kindest Shepherd?" These are in several collections.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)