George Matheson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(27 March 1842 – 28 August 1906) was a Scottish minister and

hymn writer A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditionally ...

and prolific author. He was blind from the age of 17.

Early life

Born at 39 Abbotsford Place in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, to George Matheson (d.1891), a merchant and Jane Matheson (a second cousin), he was the eldest of eight children. He was educated at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully private school in ...

and the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, where he graduated first in classics,

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In his twentieth year he became totally blind, but he held to his resolve to enter the ministry, and gave himself to theological and historical study.

Ministry

He was licensed to preach by the

Presbytery of Glasgow The Presbytery of Glasgow is one of the 14 Presbyteries of the Church of Scotland. It dates back to the earliest periods of Presbyterian church government in the Church of Scotland in the late 16th century. The Presbytery of Glasgow currently has ...

in 1866 and started as an assistant minister of Sandyford Parish Church. His first ministry began in 1868 at Innellan, on the

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

coast between

Dunoon Dunoon (; ) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the cou ...

and

Toward Toward () is a village near Dunoon, west of Scotland, in the south of the Cowal Peninsula. During World War II, the Toward area was a training centre called HMS ''Brontosaurus'' also known as the No 2 Combined Training Centre (CTC), based at ...

. He stayed 18 years. His books on ''Aids to the Study of German Theology, Can the Old Faith live with the New?, The Growth of the Spirit of Christianity from the First Century to the Dawn of the Lutheran Era'', established his reputation as a liberal and spiritually minded theologian; and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

invited him to preach at Balmoral. She had his sermon on

Job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

published. In 1886, he moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where he became minister of St. Bernard's Parish Church in Stockbridge in place of Rev John McMurtrie. Here he did his core work as a minister. He lived slightly south at 19 St Bernards Crescent. In 1879, he declined an invitation to the pastorate of Crown Court,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in succession to Dr. John Gumming (1807–1881). In 1881 he was chosen as Baird lecturer, and took for his subject ''Natural Elements of Revealed Theology'', and in 1882 he was the St Giles lecturer, his subject being ''

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

''. In 1890 he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

gave him its honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LL.D.), and in 1899 he was appointed Gifford lecturer by that university, but declined on grounds of health. In the same year he severed his active connection with St. Bernard's.

Published works

One of his hymns, "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go," has passed into the popular hymnology of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Church. Matheson himself wrote of the composition: :''"I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high."'' "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go" was written on the evening of Matheson’s sister’s marriage. Years before, he had been engaged, until his fiancée learned that he was going blind—that there was nothing the doctors could do—and she told him that she could not go through life with a blind man and broke off the engagement. He went blind while studying for the ministry, and his sister had been the one to care for him through the years. He was now 40, and his sister’s marriage likely brought a fresh reminder of his own heartbreak. It was in the midst of this circumstance that Matheson penned this hymn, which he said was written in five minutes. British composer

Florence Margaret Spencer Palmer Florence Margaret Spencer Palmer (July 27, 1900 – March 29, 1987) was a British composer who wrote several hymns and a piano pedagogy textbook. She published some of her works under the name Peggy Spencer Palmer. Spencer Palmer was the youngest ...

set it to music in 1941. Matheson published only one volume of verse, ''Sacred Songs''. All of which he commented 'I simply followed the impression of the moment' His exegesis owes its interest to his subjective resources rather than to breadth of learning; his power lay in spiritual vision rather than balanced judgment, and in the vivid apprehension of the factors which make the Christian personality, rather than in constructive doctrinal statement.

Awards

In 1879 the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D. In 1890, he became a fellow of the

, upon the proposal of

Sir William Thomson William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), professor of Natur ...

, Robert Flint, Hugh Macmillan and James Lindsay.

Personal life

At age 20, George Matheson was engaged to be married but began going blind. When he broke the news to his fiancee, she decided she could not go through life with a blind husband. He never married.

Death

He died suddenly of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

(stroke) at Avenell House in

North Berwick North Berwick (; ) is a seaside resort, seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holi ...

on 28 August 1906, aged 64, in

and is buried with his parents in the

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian era, Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of St. Mungo's Cathedral, Glasgow, Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have ...

. The grave lies near the summit.

Writings

His other writingsFurther reading per index to ''Sacred Songs'', W M Blackwood & Sons London kindle ebook ASIN B008UC9ER0 include : *''Can the Old Faith Live with the New'' (1885) * ''The Distinctive Message of the Old Religions'' (1892) *''The Psalmist & The Scientist'' (1887) *''Spiritual Development of St Paul'' (1891) *''Times of Retirement'' (1901) *''The Voice of the Spirit'' Non-religious or broader subjects include: *Aid to the Study of German Theology (1874) *The Growth of the Spirit of Christianity (1877) *Natural Elements of Revealed Theology (1881) Baird Lecture * Confusianism (1882) St Giles Lecture *My Aspirations (1882) *Moments on the Mount (1884) *The Religious Bearings of the Doctrine of

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

(1884) a specific response to Darwin's "

Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...

" *Landmarks of

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Morality (1888) *Sacred Songs (1890) *Searching in the Silence (1895) *Words by the Wayside (1896) *The Lady Ecclesia (1896) *Sidelights from

Patmos Patmos (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where, according to Christian belief, John of Patmos received the vision found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. ...

(1897) *Bible Definition of Religion (1898) *Studies of the Portrait of Christ (2 volumes, 1899, 1900) *The Sceptre without a Sword (1901) *The Representative Men of the Bible (2 series, 1902, 1903) *Leaves for Quiet Hours (1904) *The Representative Men of the New Testament (1905) *Rests by the River (1906) *The Women of the Bible (1907)

Notes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, George 1842 births 1906 deaths People educated at the Glasgow Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Clergy from Glasgow Scottish Christian theologians Scottish blind people Church of Scotland hymnwriters Burials at the Glasgow Necropolis 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers