Speak gently, it is better far

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Speak gently, it is better far

Author: G. W. Hangford
Published in 114 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Speak gently--it is better far
To rule by love than fear;
Speak gently--let no harsh word mar
The good we may do here.

2 Speak gently to the young, for they
Will have enough to bear;
Pass through this life as best they may,
'Tis full of anxious care.

3 Speak gently to the aged one,
Grieve not the careworn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run--
Let them in peace depart.

4 Speak gently to the erring ones;
They must have toiled in vain;
Perchance unkindness made them so;
Oh, win them back again!

5 Speak gently--'tis a little thing,
Dropped in the heart's deep well;
The good, the joy, that it may bring,
Eternity shall tell.

Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #706

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Author: G. W. Hangford

19th Century We have little data on Hangford, except that he once held a position in India, and died between 1847 & 1867. Presumably he was British; his only known hymn was published in the London Magazine in 1848. --www.hymntime.com/tch/ Go to person page >

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First Line:	Speak gently, it is better far
Author:	G. W. Hangford

2 Timothy 2:24
(hymns)

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Notes

Speak gently; it is better far. [Gentleness.] Usually attributed to George Washington Hangford, and dated 1847. In Sharpe's London Magazine, Feb. 1848.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

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Tune

SAWLEY (Walch)

This tune was composed by James Walch in 1857 for a children's anniversary, and was published in 1860 with other tunes for private circulation. It was wrongly assigned, in the early editions of [The Free Church Hymnal, 1888] to the Rev. F. Pigou. Scottish church music: its sources and composers, 189…

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[Speak gently!--it is better far] (55613)

NOX PRAECESSIT

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