Jesus, Saviour, pilot me

Jesus, Saviour, pilot me. Edward Hopper* (1816-1888). This text was written at the request of George S. Webster, secretary of the Seaman’s Friend Society, and first published in The Sailor’s Magazine and Seamen’s Friend, the magazine of the Society, and dated 3 March 1871. It was not anonymous, as is sometimes stated: ‘By Rev Edward Hopper, D.D., Pastor of the Church of the Sea and Land’ is clearly indicated. It was given a tune, PILOT, by John Edgar Gould (1822-1875) for The Baptist Praise Book (1871). It had six stanzas. Most books have shortened the hymn, printing verses 1, 5 and 6: ‘Jesus, Saviour, pilot me’, ‘As a mother stills her child’ and ‘When at last I near the shore’. In the...