Tribute to Fanny Crosby at 85 (24/03/1905) By Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (an invalid herself) Isaiah 64:4

Tribute To Fanny Crosby on her 85th Birthday - 24th March 1905 By Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (an invalid herself) Bible Ref: Isaiah 64:4 (KJV) E L I Z A' S P O E M The friends are forming a garland, Fragrant and lovely and sweet, The roses and lilacs of friendship, To lay at our loved one’s feet. And while the fair chaplet they’re twining, May I bring a little flower, A forget-me-not, meek and lowly; To add to the joys of the hour? This love-wreath is for our dear Fanny, Whose heart is so young and so true, No wonder her songs, freely gushing, Are as fresh as the morning dew! They sparkle with Spring’s happy sunshine, They ripple like streams of delight, They flow from the rocks of the mountain, They touch us with love’s tender might. Because she sings of her Saviour, And His spirit tunes her lyre, Her work shall go on forever, And she has been called up higher. So we’ll gather round our Fanny, With smiles and greetings sincere; May she have just the sweetest birthday She has had for many a year. Then we’ll all be happy with her, And thank the dear Lord above, For sending us one of His angels To sing to us of His love. O friend beloved, with joy again We hail thy natal day, Which brings you one year nearer home, Rejoicing on the way. How fast the years are rolling on— We cannot stay their flight; The summer sun is going down, And soon will come the night. But you, dear friend, need fear no ill, Your path shines bright and clear; You know the Way, the Truth, the Life, To you He’s ever near. And when you pass from time away To meet your Lord and King, In heaven you’ll meet ten thousand souls, That you have taught to sing. A few more years to sing the song Of our Re­deem­er’s love; Then by His grace both you and I Shall sing His praise above. B I O G R A P H Y O F F A N N Y C R O S B Y Fanny was the daugh­ter of John and Mer­cy Cros­by, and wife of or­gan­ist Al­ex­an­der Van Al­styne, who like her, was blind. Though blind­ed by an in­com­pe­tent doc­tor at six weeks of age, she wrote ov­er 8,000 hymns. About her blind­ness, Fan­ny said: It seemed in­tend­ed by the bless­ed pro­vi­dence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dis­pen­sa­tion. If per­fect earth­ly sight were of­fered me to­mor­row I would not ac­cept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been dis­trac­ted by the beau­ti­ful and in­ter­est­ing things ab­out me. On her 85th birth­day, Am­eri­can pre­si­dent Gro­ver Cleve­land wrote to Fan­ny: My dear friend: It is more than fif­ty years ago that our ac­quaint­ance and friend­ship be­gan; and ev­er since that time I have watched your con­tin­uous and in­ter­es­ted la­bor in up­lift­ing hu­man­ity, and point­ing out the way to an ap­pre­ci­ation of God’s good­ness and mer­cy. I am, there­fore, ex­ceed­ing­ly gra­ti­fied to learn that your eigh­ty-fifth birth­day is to be ce­le­brat­ed with a dem­on­stra­tion of this re­mem­brance. As one proud to call you an old friend, I de­sire to be ear­ly in con­gra­tu­lat­ing you on your long life of use­ful­ness, and wish­ing you in the years yet to be add­ed to you, the peace and com­fort born of the love of God. (From Cyber Hymnal) The Lord Jesus laid a burden on my heart to help in reviving the unheard and forgotten hymns of our dear Fanny Crosby, since there are only around 27 of her hymns which are commonly sung and in use presently. Contemporary tunes have been used wherever needed, generated by AI, so that the younger generation will be encouraged to learn and sing these timeless and Biblically based hymns. May the name of the Lord Jesus Christ continue to be Worshiped, Praised, Exalted & Lifted up as we all await His soon return to this earth. Philippians 2:10,11 (KJV) "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things in the earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father". Acts 16:31 (KJV) "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house". As the United States of America celebrate their 250th year of Independence, It's our prayer that America and the World will not only revive and sing the forgotten hymns of their Un'sung' hero: FANNY CROSBY", but turn back to the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land". 2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) For those of us who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, let us lay hold of God's promises, and live Godly lives as we await Christ's coming: Matthew 13:16 "But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear". (KJV)