Charlotte Elliott – death, Sep. 22, 1871

O Thou, the contrite sinner’s Friend,
Who loving, lov’st them to the end,
On this alone my hopes depend,
That Thou wilt plead for me.

When weary in the Christian race,
Far off appears my resting place,
And, fainting, I mistrust Thy grace,
Then, Savior, plead for me.

When I have erred and gone astray,
Afar from Thine and wisdom’s way,
And see no glimmering, guiding ray,
Still, Savior, plead for me.

When Satan, by my sins made bold,
Strives from Thy cross to loose my hold,
Then with Thy pitying arms infold,
And plead, O plead for me.

And when my dying hour draws near,
Darkened with anguish, guilt, and fear,
Then to my fainting sight appear,
Pleading in Heav’n for me.

When the full light of heavenly day
Reveals my sins in dread array,
Say Thou hast washed them all away;
O say, Thou plead’st for me!

Charlotte Elliott died this date, 9/22/1871, at Bright­on, East Suss­ex, Eng­land.  She is best known for her hymn “Just As I Am” (1836).

 

Born 3/18/1789at Clap­ham, Sur­rey, Eng­land, Charlottebecame an invalid somewhere between 30 and 33 years of age. What a waste?  Ah, man sees not as God sees.  She produced the above (O Thou, the Contrite Sinner’s Friend is one of her lesser known hymns) and some 150 others in those years of pain.

 

In addition to her hymns she is known to have had a “spiritual” correspondence with Henri A. C. Malan for around 40 years.

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Henri A. C. Malan – death, May 18, 1864

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of thy love;
take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King;
take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine.
take my heart, it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store;
take my self, and I will be ever, only, all for thee.

Henri A. C. Malan died this date,5/18/1864, at Vandoeuvres (near Geneva) Switz­er­land. He wrote the music to the well-known song above.

Malan (may also be seen as “Cesar H. A.”) finished his studies and traveled to Mar­seilles, France, to learn bus­i­ness.  God had other plans for him; soon he en­tered the Acad­e­my at Ge­ne­va.  Here he prep­a­red to enter the min­is­try (was or­dained, 1810) having been made a mas­ter at the Coll­ege in 1809.  He has the distinction of being an orig­in­at­or of the “hymn move­ment” in the French Re­formed Church.

Malan also has the distinction of saying to a young lady named Charlotte Elliott that he hoped she was a Christian.  (It was on a visit to England where God allowed this evangelist to be seated at the same table.)  She bristled and let him know she did not wish to discuss his question.  Henri Malan apologized, expressing he did not wish to give offense.  Though offended, it became a turning point for Charlotte and, as known, she became a beleiver in Christ.

In ad­di­tion to his musical abilities, Malan penned a numb­er of tracts and pamph­lets.  This musician, ar­tist, and me­chan­ic (suggesting cleaver use of hands) was born Ju­ly 7, 1787 at Ge­ne­va,Switz­er­land.

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