When Wilt Thou Save the People

When wilt Thou save the people?

Author: Ebenezer Elliott (1850)
Tune: COMMONWEALTH
Published in 128 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 When will you save the people?
O God of mercy, when?
Not states and corporations!
But children, women, men!
Flowers of your heart, O God, are they;
Let them not pass, like weeds, away,
Their heritge a sunless day;
God, save the people!

2 Shall crime breed crime forever,
Strength aiding still the strong?
Is it your will, Creator,
That we shall toil for wrong?
"No," say your mountains; "no," your skies;
The clouded sun shall brighty rise,
And song be heard instead of sighs;
God, save the people!

3 When will you save the people?
O God of merccy, when?
The people, Lord, the people,
But children, women, men!
God, save the people; yours we are,
Your children, as your angels fair,
From vice, oppression, and despair;
God, save the people!

Source: Worship in Song: A Friends Hymnal #292

Author: Ebenezer Elliott

Elliott, Ebenezer, commonly known as the "Corn Law Rhymer," was born near Rotherham, Yorkshire, 1781, and died at Barnsley, in the same county, in 1849. The greater part of his life was spent in Sheffield, where he was engaged in the iron trade, and it was in a Sheffield newspaper that many of his poetical pieces first appeared. He published:— (1) Night, a Descriptive Poem, 1818. (2) The Village Patriarch, 1829. (3) Corn Law Rhymes, 1831. (4) Poems, 1834 ; and (5) More Prose and Verse, 1850. A piece or two from these works have been adapted as hymns in some Unitarian Collections. They include "Another year is swallowed by the sea," for the old and new year. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)  Go to person page >

Notes

When wilt Thou save the people? E. Elliott. [National Hymn.] From his More Verse and Prose, 1850, i., p. 80, into the Congregational Church Hymnal, 1887.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #7731
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (101 - 128 of 128)
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The Institute Hymnal #183

The Methodist Hymn-Book with Tunes #909

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The Methodist Sunday School Hymnal #280

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The Mission Hymnal. (Enlarged Edition) #187

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The New Baptist Praise Book #439

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The New Baptist Praise Book #439

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The New Church Hymnal #352

The New Hymnal for American Youth #288

The New Hymnal for American Youth #288

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The New Hymnal #501

The Oxford American Hymnal for Schools and Colleges #d386

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The People's Hymn Book #401

The Pilgrim Hymnal #320

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The Pilgrim Hymnal #410

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The Pilgrim Hymnal #537

The Plymouth Hymnal #d594

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The Praise Hymnary #450

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The Service Hymnal #374

The Student Hymnary #d398

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The Sunday School Hymnary #574

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The University Hymn Book #269

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The Y.M.C.A. Hymnal #331

Unitarian Service Book, and Hymns for Church and Home. Abridged ed. #d490

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University Hymns #211

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War-Time Hymns #29

Worship in Song #d337

TextPage Scan

Worship in Song #292

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Worship Song #796

Pages

Exclude 126 pre-1979 instances
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