Emphasis Preaching Journal

It was October in Paris in the year 1822. John Payne was far from his home in East Hampton, Long Island. He had lived in Europe for 9 years. He had been successful as an actor and a playwright. Despite the success, Payne was lonely. He stood at the window of a lodging house near Palais Royal. He watched the people who hurried home in the streets below his window. Touched by the feeling of homesickness, Payne turned back to his work. He began writing the words of a new song. In the early months of 1823, Payne sold three plays to the manager of the Covent Garden Theatre in London.