while I was sitting up with one of my children who was ill of typhoid fever, I thought I should like to write a missionary hymn to the tune of the hymn beginning, “Hark, hark, my soul, angelic songs are swelling," as I was fond of that tune; but as I could not then get a refrain I liked, I left the hymn unfinished, and about three years later I finished it by writing the refrain which now forms part of it. By some mistake 1891 is given instead of 1871 as the date of the hymn in the (Episcopal) Hymnal. I do not think it is ever sung to the tune for which I wrote it. Rev. John Anketell told me, and I am sure he is right, that it is better for a hymn to have a tune of its own, and I feel much indebted to the composer of the tune "Tidings" for writing so inspiring a tune to my words. are O Zion, haste, thy mission high..... 654 Thring, Godfrey, an English clergyman, Prebendary of Wells Cathedral, son of Rev. J. G. D. Thring, was born at Alford March 25, 1823; graduated at Oxford, 1845; served different charges as curate and rector, 184667; Rural Dean, 1867-76; Prebendary of Wells Cathedral from 1876 till his death, September 13, 1903. He has written many hymns, about twenty-five of which found in different Church hymnals in England and America. He published Hymns Congregational and Others, 1866; Hymns and Verses, 1866; Hymns and Sacred Lyrics, 1874; Church of England Hymn Book, 1880 (second edition, 1882). "His hymns," says Dr. Julian, "are mainly objective, and are all of them of a strong and decided character. In some of his finer hymns his tone is high and his structure massive; in several others his plaintiveness is very tender, whilst very varied, and his rhythm is almost always perfect. The prominent features throughout are a clear vision, a firm faith, a positive reality, and an exulting hopefulness." 626 344 Fierce raged the tempest o'er the... 485 I saw the holy city.. Saviour, blessed Saviour.. Toplady, Augustus Montague, the author of "Rock of Ages," was born at Farnham, Surrey, November 4, 1740. His father was an officer in the British army. His mother was a woman of remarkable piety. He prepared for the university at Westminster School, and subsequently was graduated at Trinity College, Dublin. While on a visit in Ireland in his sixteenth year he was awakened and converted at a service held in a barn in Codymain. The text was Ephesians ii. 13: "But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." The preacher was an illiterate but warm-hearted layman named Morris. Concerning this experience Toplady wrote: "Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought nigh unto God in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of God's people met together in a barn, and under the ministry of one who could hardly spell his name. Surely this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous." In 1758, through the influence of sermons preached by Dr. Manton on the seventeenth chapter of John, he became an extreme Calvinist in his theology, which brought him later into conflict with Mr. Wesley and the Methodists. He was ordained to the ministry in the Church of England in 1762, and in 1768 he became vicar of Broadhembury, a small living in Devonshire, which he held until his death. The last two or three years of his life he passed in London, where he preached in a chapel on Orange Street. His last sickness was of such a character that he was able to make a repeated and emphatic dying testimony. A short time before his death he asked his physician what he thought. The reply was that his pulse showed that his heart was beating weaker every day. Toplady replied with a smile: "Why, that is a good sign that my death is fast approaching; and, blessed be God, I can add that my heart beats stronger and stronger every day for glory." To another friend he said: "O, my dear sir, I cannot tell you the comforts I feel in my soul; they are past expression. My prayers are all converted into praise." He died of consumption August 11, 1778. His volume of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship was published in 1776. Of the four hundred and nineteen hymns which it contained, several were his own productions. If on a quiet sea.... Rock of ages, cleft for me.. Tuttiett, Lawrence, a clergyman 446 279 of the Church of England, was born at Colyton, Devonshire, in 1825; educated at King's College, London; entered the ministry in 1848; vicar of Lea Marston, Warwickshire, 1854-60; incumbent of Episcopal Church of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1870-80; became prebendary in St. Ninian's Cathedral, Perth, 1880. He died May 21, 1897. Among his published volumes are Hymns for Churchmen, 1854, and Hymns for the Children of the Church, 1862. "Mr. Tuttiett's hymns," says Dr. Julian, "are characterized by smoothness of rhythm, directness of aim, simplicity of language, and deep earnestness." Go forward, Christian soldier....... 387 Twells, Henry, a clergyman in the Church of England, was born at Birmingham March 13, 1823. He was educated at St. Peter's College, Cambridge, taking the degree of B.A. in 1848. He took orders in 1849, and occupied various positions of service and honor in the ministry. He was subvicar at Stratford-on-Avon in 1851-54, and in 1884 he became honorary canon of Peterborough Cathedral. A few of his hymns were contributed to Hymns Ancient and Modern. He died January 19, 1900. His biographer says of him: He was a preacher of power, a builder of churches, a helper of parochial missions, a defender of country parsons, and an altogether friendly and wholesome sort of man. He died as he lived, in quietness and peace. Shortly before his death he asked for the gathering of his household and the singing of "Now thank we all our God" and "When all thy mercies, O my God.” At even, e'er the sun was set....... 54 Unknown. Some of our finest hymns are of unknown origin. The authors had such humble opinion of their work as to feel that it was not worth while to attach their names to their Own productions. True worth and greatness are often unconscious of themselves. Of many of our greatest hymns of known authorship it is recorded that when their authors wrote them they had no thought whatever of writing anything of interest or value to others, and least of all anything that would be used in public worship; but, on the contrary, they were simply writing to give expression to their own religious experiences, feelings, and aspirations. (See notes under Nos. 272, 334, 460, 498, and 702.) A hymn of unknown authorship stands absolutely upon its merits, and it is therefore an even higher tribute to the merits of a hymn to admit it to a hymnal if its authorship be unknown than is the case where the authorship is known. After all, the song, and not the singer, is the precious thing to remember. As Mrs. Ellen H. Gates has said: Though they may forget the singer, They will not forget the song. That song alone can hope to live forever that has its real and true elements of immortality not in its author but in itself, in its own power to awaken the spirit of devotion and inspire adoration and praise. In the following list of hymns we place not only those whose authorship is absolutely unknown, but also those hymns which, although accredited on circumstantial evidence to the hymn-writers whose names are given, are nevertheless of uncer 125 376 610 O for a heart of calm repose. O mother dear, Jerusalem.. Our highest joys succeed our griefs.. 474 Saviour, like a shepherd lead us.... 677 Soon may the last glad song arise.. 630 To God on high be thanks and praise. 93 Why should our tears in sorrow.... 591 Van Alstyne, Mrs. Fanny Crosby. See Crosby, Fanny. Vokes, Mrs., is a hymn writer concerning whom very little is known. Some of her hymns are found in a Selection of Missionary and Devotional Hymns, published in 1797 by Rev. J. Griffin, an English Congregational minister, and several of these are reproduced in J. Dobell's New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns, 1806. In W. B. Collyer's Collection, 1812, there are seven hymns signed "Mrs. Vokes." While the hymn beginning "Soon may the last glad song arise" is generally accredited to Mrs. Vokes, Dr. Julian, our greatest authority in hymnology, says he has been unable to find any definite and satisfactory evidence that she wrote it. We find the name of this writer spelled "Voke" in some volumes. Soon may the last glad song arise.. 630 Walford, William W., a blind preacher of England, is the author of the hymn beginning "Sweet hour of prayer." This hymn first appeared in print in the New York Observer September 13, 1845. The contributor who furnished the hymn says: During my residence at Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, I became acquainted with W. W. Walford, the blind preacher, a man of obscure birth and connections and no education, but of strong mind and most retentive memory. In the pulpit he never failed to select a lesson well adapted to his subject, giving chapter and verse with unerring precision, and scarcely ever misplacing a word in his repetition of the Psalms, every part of the New Testament, the prophecies, and some of the histories, SO as to have the reputation of knowing the whole Bible by heart." Rev. Thomas Salmon, who was settled as the pastor of the Congregational Church at Coleshill in 1838, remained until 1842, and then removed to the United States, is believed to have been the contributor who says of the hymn: "I rapidly copied the lines with my pencil as he uttered them, and send them for insertion in the Observer if you think them worthy of preservation." Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour... 516 Ware, Henry, a Unitarian minister and professor of theology, was born at Hingham, Mass., April 21, 1794; graduated at Harvard College in 1812, and taught school for two or three years in Exeter Academy; was licensed to preach in the Unitarian Church in 1815; became pastor of the Second Unitarian Church of Boston in 1817, and in 1829, his health being impaired, Ralph Waldo Emerson was called in to be his assistant pastor. In 1830 he became Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology in the Cambridge Theological School, continuing there until 1842, when he resigned. He died at Framingham September 25, 1843. Four years after his death his works were collected and publish in four volumes. He wrote a large number of hymns, about a dozen or more of which are possessed of more than ordinary excellence and are in common use, particularly among Unitarians. Lift your glad voices in triumph on. 159 We rear not a temple like Judah's... 666 Waring, Anna Laetitia, the daughter of Elijah Waring and niece of Samuel Miller Waring, the hymn writer, was born at Neath, in Southern Wales, in 1820. As late as 1893 she was living at Clifton, near Bristol, England. Her Hymns and Meditations were published in London in 1853. This book was republished in Philadelphia in 1859 by "The Association of Friends for the Diffusion of Religious and Useful Knowledge," and again in Boston in 1863. The volume contains only thirty-two pieces, and three of these are in this Hymnal. "The tone of spiritual thought and feeling in most of the pieces is very lofty and very pure. The ideas of a Christian life which are wrought into the poetry are always both strong and tender, vigorous and gen My Saviour, on thy word of truth... 364 Warner, Anna Bartlett, daughter of Henry W. Warner and sister of Susan Warner (1819-85), the authoress, was born in 1820 at Martlaer, West Point, New York. She is the author of some fifteen or twenty volumes. She edited Hymns of the Church Militant, 1858. Her first volume, Say and Seal, 1859, prepared in association with her sister, contained one of the most popular hymns for young people ever written in America, beginning: Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so. In 1869 she published Wayfaring Hymns, Original and Translated. The titles of her successive volumes (most of which have been published under the pen name of "Amy Lothrop") may be found in any biography of American authors. She resides at Martlaer's Rock, West Point, N. Y. One more day's work for Jesus..... 419 We would see Jesus, for the shadows. 323 Warren, William Fairfield, is the Dean Emeritus of the Theological School of Boston University. He was born at Williamsburg, Mass., March 13, 1833; is a graduate of Wesleyan University. After a few years spent in teaching and preaching, he became a professor at Bremen, Germany, 1861-66. Returning to America, he was elected acting President of Boston Theological School, which place he held until 1873, when he was elected President of Boston University, a position which he held with distinction for thirty years. He is the author of numerous published volumes. Dr. Warren resides at Brookline, Mass. I worship thee, O Holy Ghost...... 186 Waterbury, Jared Bell, a Congregational minister, was born in New York City August 11, 1799. He was graduated at Yale College in 1822, and subsequently studied theology at Princeton. He was a pastor in Hudson, N. Y., in Boston, and elsewhere. His active and useful life closed in Brooklyn December 31, 1876. He contributed several hymns to The Christian Lyre, New York, 1830, which was compiled by the Rev. Joshua Leavitt. Soldiers of the cross, arise..... 385 Watts, Isaac, may be considered the father of English hymnody. The beginning of the eighteenth century marks a distinct period in the history of hymnology. The apostle of the new departure was Dr. Isaac Watts. He was the first to see the real need, and in large measure he succeeded in supplying it. (See note under No. 167.) He was born at Southampton July 17, 1674. He was a precocious child; learned to read almost as soon as he could articulate, and wrote verses when a little boy. He was firmly attached to the principles of the Nonconformists, for which his father had suffered imprisonment, and was therefore compelled to decline the advantages of the great English universities, which at that time received only Church of England students. He availed himself, however, of the privilege of attending a Dissenting academy in London, taught by Mr. Thomas Rowe, where he applied himself to study with uncommon diligence and success. During his school days it was his habit frequently to attempt poetry both in English and in Latin, according to the custom of the time. In this manner he was unconsciously preparing himself for a long, brilliant, and useful career. In 1705 he published his first volume of poems, Hora Lyrice, which was received with approbation in Great Britain and America, and gave the author, in the opinion of the learned Dr. Johnson, an honorable place among English poets. His Hymns and Spiritual Songs appeared in 1707; Psalms, in 1719; and Divine Songs for Children, in 1720. One characteristic of Watts's hymns is majesty. He is bold, massive, tremendous. This was not his only style of writing; some of his hymns are very pathetic. For example, "When I survey the wondrous cross" and "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed." Grandeur was his forte, but he could be as simple as a child and as tender as a mother. The same hand that wrote Wide as the world is thy command, also wrote the familiar little cradle song, Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber; years I came hither to the house of my good friend Sir Thomas Abney, intending to spend but one single week under his friendly roof; and I have extended my visit to exactly the length of thirty years." He issued many works in prose as well as in poetry, amounting altogether to fifty-two publications. He lived to be seventy-five years of age, and was for many years before his death recognized as a patriarch among the Dissenting clergy. He died November 25, 1748. Westminster Abbey, that vast mausoleum of England's heroes, statesmen, poets, and saints, has been honored with a memorial of this great, good man. Underneath a bust of the poet the artist has sculptured Watts sitting at a table writing, while behind and above him an angel is whispering heavenly thoughts. The design is artistic and very appropriate. This Hymnal contains fifty-three hymns by Dr. Watts. A broken heart, my God, my King.. 266 Alas! and did my Saviour bleed. 146 393 405 6 89 167 24 3 22 17 79 80 218 Am I a soldier of the cross..... ...... 107 94 604 There is a land of pure delight. Thus far the Lord hath led me on... 51 Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb.... 586 Welcome, sweet day of rest... 64 When I can read my title clear. 440 When I survey the wondrous cross.. 141 Why do we mourn departing friends. 595 Why should the children of a King. 299 Why should we start and fear to die. 581 Wells, Marcus Morris, is the author of one of our most popular modern hymns on the Holy Spirit and also the composer of the tune to which it is universally sung. Beyond the published date of his birth (1815) and his death (1895) and the statement that he was a lawyer living in the State of New York, we have no facts concerning him. It is hoped that some facts may be learned about him which may be incorporated in later editions of this volume. The date assigned to the hymn by Mr. Ira D. Sankey is 1858. It is to be regretted that we have not other hymns and tunes from one who can write devotional poetry and music such as that represented by the single hymn and tune which we have here from his pen. Holy Spirit, faithful Guide. 193 Wesley, Charles, has been called "the poet of Methodism," but this designation is too narrow for him. He might more properly be called the poet of Christendom, for the entire Christian world is indebted to him for many of its most valuable hymns. For the first place among English hymn writers he has never had but one competitor. Hymnologists have sometimes instituted a comparison between the hymns of Wesley and those of Watts. Some have given the preference to one, and some to the other. We must remember that these men were not rivals. They were too good, too great, and too unlike to be antagonists. They were both princes-aye, kings-of song, but each in his own realm. Watts's great theme was divine majesty, and no one approaches him in excellence upon this subject. Wesley's grandest theme was love— the love of God-and here he had no rival. Charles Wesley was born in Epworth, England, December 18, 1707. He was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University, where he took his degree in 1728. It was while a student at Christ Church College that Wesley and a few associates, by strict attention to duty and exemplary conduct, won for themselves the derisive epithet of "Methodists." He was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1735, and that same year he sailed with his brother John as a missionary to Georgia, but soon returned to England. He was not converted, according to his own statement, until Whitsunday, May 21, 1738. (See note under No. 1.) On that day he received a conscious knowledge of sins forgiven, and this event was the real beginning of his mission as the singer of Methodism. He tells his own experience beautifully in the hymn beginning: And can it be that I should gain An interest in the Saviour's blood? Charles Wesley's hymns may be generally classified as follows: Hymns of Christian experience ("O for a thousand tongues to sing" is an example); invitation hymns (of which "Come, sinners, to the gospel feast" is a good specimen); sanctification hymns ("O for a heart to praise my God" is one of them); funeral hymns ("Rejoice for a brother deceased"); and hymns on the love of God, a subject on which he never became weary. "Wrestling Jacob" represents the last class. But it is preeminently in portraying the various phases of experimental religion-conviction of sin, penitence, saving faith, pardon, assurance, entire sanctification-that Charles Wesley is quite without a peer among hymn writers. His songs have been one of the most potent forces in Methodism since its organization. Nor was he a singer alone, but as an itinerant preacher he was a busy and earnest colaborer with his brother John. After his marriage, in 1749, his itinerant labors were largely restricted to London and Bristol. He died March 29, 1788. "After all," says Dr. John Julian, the greatest authority in English hymnology, "it was Charles Wesley who was the great hymn writer of the Wesley family, and perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn writer of all ages." Of the six thousand and five hundred hymns by Charles Wesley (all of which were written after his conversion), this collection contains one hundred and twenty-one. (See page 451 for a complete list of the poetical publications of John and Charles Wesley.) A charge to keep I have. 388 75 |