Depart, my child, the Lord thy spirit calls

Translator: Jane L. Borthwick

Miss Jane Borthwick, the translator of this hymn and many others, is of Scottish family. Her sister (Mrs. Eric Findlater) and herself edited "Hymns from the Land of Luther" (1854). She also wrote "Thoughts for Thoughtful Hours (1859), and has contributed numerous poetical pieces to the "Family Treasury," under the signature "H.L.L." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.… Go to person page >

Author: Gottfried Hoffmann

Hoffmann, Gottfried, son of Caspar Hoffmann, brewer at Plagwitz, near Lowenberg, in Silesia, was born at Plagwitz, Dec. 5, 1658. After studying at the University of Leipzig (M.A. 1688), he was appointed in 1688 Corrector, and in 1695 Rector of the Gymnasium at Lauban. In 1708 be became Rector of the Gymnasium at Zittau, where he died after a stroke of paralysis, Oct. 1, 1712. (Koch, v. 437-442; Allg. Deutsche Biographie, xii. 591-592.) Of his hymns, about 60 in all, written mostly for his scholars, only one has passed into English, viz.:— Zeuch hin, mein Kind. Death of a Child. According to Koch, v. 442, this beautiful hymn was written in 1693, on the death of his little daughter Magdalene Elisabethe, was printed in the same year in her… Go to person page >