4 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! says in his Dictionary that all of HeAll thy works shall praise thy name, in ber's hymns are in common use in Enearth, and sky, and sea; Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity! Reginald Heber. gland and America, and, with very few exceptions, in the original form in which the author wrote them-which, considering that the author has been dead eighty years, is the highest tribute that can possibly be paid to the undying influence and popularity of this rarely gifted hymnwriter and saintly missionary bishop. This hymn for "Trinity Sunday" was first published in 1826 in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury, third edition. This was the year the author died, which sad event, occurred in India, where he was missionSome, though not all, will appreciate ary Bishop of Calcutta. The following and indorse the words of W. Garrett Horyear his widow gathered together all of der, who is one of the most judicious and the fifty-seven hymns which he had writ- discriminating of English hymnologists: ten and published them in a volume titled Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year. Lord Tennyson once declared to Bishop Welldon that he regarded this hymn on the Holy Trinity as the finest hymn ever written. It is certainly one of the noblest and most majestic odes ever addressed to the Divine Being, and is in every way worthy of the author of the most popular missionary hymn ever written, "From Greenland's icy mountains." The tune to which it is commonly sung, and which is so well adapted to the words, is very appropriately named Nicæa, after the first great ecumenical council of the Christian Church, at which the Bible doctrine of the Trinity was formulated. Tune and words unite to fill the soul of the devout worshiper with feelings of awe and a sense of the divine Presence. It is based on Revelation iv. 8: "And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Also Isaiah vi. 3: "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." All of Heber's hymns, it is said, were written while he was rector at Hodnett (1807-12), and many of them were printed at the time in the Christian Observer, being signed with the initials "D. R.," which are the last letters of his name. Julian A hymn of great beauty and full of rich lyric feeling. Its only fault, in my judgment, is the too metaphysical line, "God in three Persons, blessed Trinity," due in all probability to the fact that it was written for Trinity Sunday. In hymns dogma should take on the softened form of poetry and be a pervading spirit, not a metaphysical declaraIndeed tion. the doctrine of the Trinity finds much more spiritual expression in Scripture than in the creeds of the Church of which, when he wrote this line, the good Bishop's mind was evidently full. It may seem to the reader and student of hymnology that the selection of hymns here addressed to the Trinity is unaccountably small, being only four in number. This is due to the fact that several very valuable hymns, appropriate under this head, have been placed by the editors of the Hymnal under other heads to which they also properly belong. The reader should compare with the four hymns given above the following, which are addressed either in whole or in part to the Trinity-viz., those beginning, "Come, thou Almighty King" (No. 2), "Infinite God, to thee we raise" (No. 10), "Praise ye Jehovah" (No. 20), "Angel voices ever singing" (No. 27), "We lift our hearts to thee" (No. 45), "Now God be with us, for the night is closing" (No. 58), "Thou whose almighty word" (No. 629), and others. These, taken all together, make a noble volume of praise to the Triune God. 79 HYMNS TO THE FATHER C. M. 'ATHER, how wide thy glory shines, FA How high thy wonders rise! Known through the earth by thousand signs, By thousands through the skies. 2 Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power; 3 But when we view thy strange design 4 Our thoughts are lost in reverent awe; 5 Here the whole Deity is known, Which of the glories brighter shone, 6 Now the full glories of the Lamb Bright seraphs learn Immanuel's name, 7 O may I bear some humble part Wonder and joy shall tune my heart, Isaac Watts. Thy being no succession knows, And all thy vast designs are one. 4 A glance of thine runs through the globe, Of light thou form'st thy dazzling robe: 5 How shall polluted mortals dare And see but shadows of thy face. 6 Who can behold the blazing light? "The Creator and Creatures" is the author's title in Hora Lyrica, 1706. Of the two omitted stanzas, one is: This hymn was first published in the first edition of Hora Lyricæ, 1076, with the title, "God Appears Most Glorious in 2 Our Salvation by Christ." It appears in the second edition of Hora Lyricæ, 1709, in nine stanzas, under the title, "God Glorious, and Sinners Saved." Two inferior verses have been omitted, and a few verbal changes have been made. Watts was fond of comparing and contrasting nature and redemption as modes of revealing the goodness and glory of God. Nature could manifest his attributes in part, but it was reserved for redemption to manifest all his attributes and especially his wisdom, holiness, and love. Here alone "the whole Deity is known." From thy great Self thy Being springs; And Self-sufficience bears them all. A glance of thine runs through the globes, Rules the bright world, and moves their frame: Broad sheets of light compose thy robes, Thy guards are formed of living flame. 2 The thunders of his hand Keep the wide world in awe; His wrath and justice stand To guard his holy law; And where his love resolves to bless. 3 Through all his mighty works Amazing wisdom shines; And all their dark designs; 4 And will this sovereign King And will he write his name, My Father and my Friend? I love his name, I love his word; Title: "The Divine Perfections." From Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II., 1709. It appears to be founded, in part at least, upon Psalm xcvii.: "The Lord reigneth: let the earth rejoice." A few verbal changes have been made in the last two stanzas. This is Dr. Watts's favorite theme-the greatness and sovereignty of God. It is safe to say that on this topic no hymn writer, ancient or modern, has equaled him in loftiness of thought or grandeur of expression. Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love, Before thy ever-blazing throne We ask no luster of our own. 5 Grant us thy truth to make us free, And kindling hearts that burn for thee, Till all thy living altars claim One holy light, one heavenly flame. Oliver W. Holmes. "A Sun-day Hymn" is the author's title for this exceptionally fine and majestic Christian lyric. It was written in 1848, but was not published until 1859. It closes the last chapter of "The Professor at the Breakfast Table" in the Atlantic Monthly for December, 1859, being preceded immediately by the following words: finished. And SO my year's record is Thanks to all those friends who from time to time have sent their messages of kindly recognition and fellow-feeling. Peace to all such as may have been vexed in spirit by any utterance the pages have repeated. They will doubtless forget for the moment the difference in the hues of truth we look at through our human prisms, and join in singing (inwardly) this hymn to the Source of the light we all need to lead us and the warmth which can make us all brothers. To write two such hymns as this and the one beginning, "O Love divine, that stooped to share," is enough to give one immortality as a lyric poet and a high and permanent place in the history of hymnology. The author's Autocrat of the Breakfast Table was as much admired as the volume from which we have just quoted. On the occasion of his celebrating his eightieth birthday Whittier congratulated him in a beautiful poem containing these lines: Long be it ere the table shall be set For the last Breakfast of the Autocrat, And Love repeat, with smiles and tears thereat, His own sweet songs, that time shall not forget: Waiting with him the call to come up higher, Life is not less, the heavens are only higher! 83 0 L. M. LOVE of God, how strong and true, Eternal, and yet ever new; Uncomprehended and unbought, Beyond all knowledge and all thought! 2 O heavenly Love, how precious still, In nights of pain and helplessness, 3 O wide-embracing, wondrous Love, In seas that swell and streams that flow. 4 We read thee best in Him who came 5 O Love of God, our shield and stay Horatius Bonar. Author's title: "The Love of God." A fine hymn upon a grand theme. It is found in Hymns of Faith and Hope, second series, 1864, where it has ten stanzas. These are verses one, three, four, six, and ten, without verbal change. The first part of the hymn calls attention to the love of God as seen in his works, the last part to the same truth as best seen in Christ. One of the omitted verses, the second, is not singable, but it is well worth quoting for its terse terms and forcible expression: While all the stars that round her burn, 3 What though in solemn silence all Move round the dark terrestrial ball? What though no real voice nor sound Amid the radiant orbs be found? In reason's ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice; Forever singing as they shine, "The hand that made us is divine!" Joseph Addison. This sublime composition is thought by many to be the best of Addison's hymns. It is the language of one who knows how to reason "from nature up to nature's God," and not only to reason, but to worship. It first appeared in 1712, at the end of an article in the Spectator on "The Right Means to Strengthen Faith." It is based on Psalm xix. 1-6: Day The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The author precedes this hymn with the following remarks: The Supreme Being has made the best arguments for his own existence in the formation of the heavens and the earth, and these are arguments which a man of sense cannot forbear attending to who is out of the noise The and hurry of human affairs. Psalmist has very beautiful strokes of poetry to this purpose in that exalted strain (Psalm xix). As such a bold and sublime manner of thinking furnishes very noble matter for an ode, the reader may see it wrought into the following one. And then comes this hymn. It is said to have been a favorite with Dr. Samuel Johnson. He used to repeat it with great delight. Dr. Telford has an interesting note here: Reascend, immortal Saviour; Leave thy footstool, take thy throne; Robert Robinson. Not long before his death John Wesley was talking with Adam Clarke about the origin of Methodism. He pointed out how "God raised up Mr. Addison and his associates to lash the prevailing vices and ridiculous and profane customs of the country, and to show the excellence of Christianity and Christian institutions. The Spectators, written with all the simplicity, elegance, and force of the Eng-Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen," which has lish language, were everywhere read, and been omitted above, as also the seventh were the first instruments in the hands of stanza, which is as follows: God to check the mighty and growing profanity and call men back to religion and decency and common sense. Methodism, in the order of God, succeeded and revived and spread Scriptural and experimental Christianity over the nation. And now what hath God wrought!" That is perhaps the noblest tribute ever paid to Addison and Steele, who were, like Wesley, old Carthusians. Addison's poetic version of the twentythird Psalm, beginning, "The Lord my pasture shall prepare," is much admired, and is found in most collections. This majestic hymn appears in Rippon's Selection, 1787, in nine four-lined stanzas, each followed by a refrain, "Hallelujah, Y God, how wonderful thou art! In depths of burning light! 2 How dread are thine eternal years, By prostrate spirits day and night 3 How beautiful, how beautiful, Thine endless wisdom, boundless power, 4 O how I fear thee, living God, And worship thee with trembling hope, 5 Yet I may love thee too, O Lord, For thou hast stooped to ask of me 6 No earthly father loves like thee, Bears and forbears as thou hast done 7 Father of Jesus, love's reward! Frederick W. Faber. |