394 Savior, While My Heart Is Tender
John Burton, the younger, 1803-77
A hymn of dedication to Christian service, suitable for use with young people’s groups.
The author, John Burton, usually called “the younger” to distinguish him from another English hymn writer of the same name, was born and died in Stratford, England. From his 15th to 25th year he suffered greatly from ill health but recovered sufficiently to spend the next 50 years in business as a cooper and basket-maker in his home town. A devout Congregationalist, he served as deacon in his church and as a Sunday school teacher for 27 years. While visiting a poor chimney sweeper, he contracted small pox and died of that disease. He published several volumes of religious works, including One Hundred Original Hymns for the Young, 1850, in which the present hymn is found.
MUSIC. LILLE is an old French melody, the origin of which has not been traced.
(Correction: second last soprano note in the first score should be on B, not A as in the earlier editions of the Hymnary.)