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Isaac Watts

1674 - 1748 Author of "I'll Praise My Maker" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary labours. He did not retire from ministerial duties, but preached as often as his delicate health would permit. The number of Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in 1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His "Horae Lyricae" was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared in July, 1707. The first hymn he is said to have composed for religious worship, is "Behold the glories of the Lamb," written at the age of twenty. It is as a writer of psalms and hymns that he is everywhere known. Some of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. Montgomery calls Watts "the greatest name among hymn-writers," and the honour can hardly be disputed. His published hymns number more than eight hundred. Watts died November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields. A monumental statue was erected in Southampton, his native place, and there is also a monument to his memory in the South Choir of Westminster Abbey. "Happy," says the great contemporary champion of Anglican orthodoxy, "will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God." ("Memorials of Westminster Abbey," p. 325.) --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872. ================================= Watts, Isaac, D.D. The father of Dr. Watts was a respected Nonconformist, and at the birth of the child, and during its infancy, twice suffered imprisonment for his religious convictions. In his later years he kept a flourishing boarding school at Southampton. Isaac, the eldest of his nine children, was born in that town July 17, 1674. His taste for verse showed itself in early childhood. He was taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew by Mr. Pinhorn, rector of All Saints, and headmaster of the Grammar School, in Southampton. The splendid promise of the boy induced a physician of the town and other friends to offer him an education at one of the Universities for eventual ordination in the Church of England: but this he refused; and entered a Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, under the care of Mr. Thomas Rowe, the pastor of the Independent congregation at Girdlers' Hall. Of this congregation he became a member in 1693. Leaving the Academy at the age of twenty, he spent two years at home; and it was then that the bulk of the Hymns and Spiritual Songs (published 1707-9) were written, and sung from manuscripts in the Southampton Chapel. The hymn "Behold the glories of the Lamb" is said to have been the first he composed, and written as an attempt to raise the standard of praise. In answer to requests, others succeeded. The hymn "There is a land of pure delight" is said to have been suggested by the view across Southampton Water. The next six years of Watts's life were again spent at Stoke Newington, in the post of tutor to the son of an eminent Puritan, Sir John Hartopp; and to the intense study of these years must be traced the accumulation of the theological and philosophical materials which he published subsequently, and also the life-long enfeeblement of his constitution. Watts preached his first sermon when he was twenty-four years old. In the next three years he preached frequently; and in 1702 was ordained pastor of the eminent Independent congregation in Mark Lane, over which Caryl and Dr. John Owen had presided, and which numbered Mrs. Bendish, Cromwell's granddaughter, Charles Fleetwood, Charles Desborough, Sir John Hartopp, Lady Haversham, and other distinguished Independents among its members. In this year he removed to the house of Mr. Hollis in the Minories. His health began to fail in the following year, and Mr. Samuel Price was appointed as his assistant in the ministry. In 1712 a fever shattered his constitution, and Mr. Price was then appointed co-pastor of the congregation which had in the meantime removed to a new chapel in Bury Street. It was at this period that he became the guest of Sir Thomas Abney, under whose roof, and after his death (1722) that of his widow, he remained for the rest of his suffering life; residing for the longer portion of these thirty-six years principally at the beautiful country seat of Theobalds in Herts, and for the last thirteen years at Stoke Newington. His degree of D.D. was bestowed on him in 1728, unsolicited, by the University of Edinburgh. His infirmities increased on him up to the peaceful close of his sufferings, Nov. 25, 1748. He was buried in the Puritan restingplace at Bunhill Fields, but a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. His learning and piety, gentleness and largeness of heart have earned him the title of the Melanchthon of his day. Among his friends, churchmen like Bishop Gibson are ranked with Nonconformists such as Doddridge. His theological as well as philosophical fame was considerable. His Speculations on the Human Nature of the Logos, as a contribution to the great controversy on the Holy Trinity, brought on him a charge of Arian opinions. His work on The Improvement of the Mind, published in 1741, is eulogised by Johnson. His Logic was still a valued textbook at Oxford within living memory. The World to Come, published in 1745, was once a favourite devotional work, parts of it being translated into several languages. His Catechisms, Scripture History (1732), as well as The Divine and Moral Songs (1715), were the most popular text-books for religious education fifty years ago. The Hymns and Spiritual Songs were published in 1707-9, though written earlier. The Horae Lyricae, which contains hymns interspersed among the poems, appeared in 1706-9. Some hymns were also appended at the close of the several Sermons preached in London, published in 1721-24. The Psalms were published in 1719. The earliest life of Watts is that by his friend Dr. Gibbons. Johnson has included him in his Lives of the Poets; and Southey has echoed Johnson's warm eulogy. The most interesting modern life is Isaac Watts: his Life and Writings, by E. Paxton Hood. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] A large mass of Dr. Watts's hymns and paraphrases of the Psalms have no personal history beyond the date of their publication. These we have grouped together here and shall preface the list with the books from which they are taken. (l) Horae Lyricae. Poems chiefly of the Lyric kind. In Three Books Sacred: i.To Devotion and Piety; ii. To Virtue, Honour, and Friendship; iii. To the Memory of the Dead. By I. Watts, 1706. Second edition, 1709. (2) Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In Three Books: i. Collected from the Scriptures; ii. Composed on Divine Subjects; iii. Prepared for the Lord's Supper. By I. Watts, 1707. This contained in Bk i. 78 hymns; Bk. ii. 110; Bk. iii. 22, and 12 doxologies. In the 2nd edition published in 1709, Bk. i. was increased to 150; Bk. ii. to 170; Bk. iii. to 25 and 15 doxologies. (3) Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children. By I. Watts, London, 1715. (4) The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, And apply'd to the Christian State and Worship. By I. Watts. London: Printed by J. Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry, &c, 1719. (5) Sermons with hymns appended thereto, vol. i., 1721; ii., 1723; iii. 1727. In the 5th ed. of the Sermons the three volumes, in duodecimo, were reduced to two, in octavo. (6) Reliquiae Juveniles: Miscellaneous Thoughts in Prose and Verse, on Natural, Moral, and Divine Subjects; Written chiefly in Younger Years. By I. Watts, D.D., London, 1734. (7) Remnants of Time. London, 1736. 454 Hymns and Versions of the Psalms, in addition to the centos are all in common use at the present time. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================================== Watts, I. , p. 1241, ii. Nearly 100 hymns, additional to those already annotated, are given in some minor hymn-books. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ================= Watts, I. , p. 1236, i. At the time of the publication of this Dictionary in 1892, every copy of the 1707 edition of Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs was supposed to have perished, and all notes thereon were based upon references which were found in magazines and old collections of hymns and versions of the Psalms. Recently three copies have been recovered, and by a careful examination of one of these we have been able to give some of the results in the revision of pp. 1-1597, and the rest we now subjoin. i. Hymns in the 1709 ed. of Hymns and Spiritual Songs which previously appeared in the 1707 edition of the same book, but are not so noted in the 1st ed. of this Dictionary:— On pp. 1237, L-1239, ii., Nos. 18, 33, 42, 43, 47, 48, 60, 56, 58, 59, 63, 75, 82, 83, 84, 85, 93, 96, 99, 102, 104, 105, 113, 115, 116, 123, 124, 134, 137, 139, 146, 147, 148, 149, 162, 166, 174, 180, 181, 182, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 200, 202. ii. Versions of the Psalms in his Psalms of David, 1719, which previously appeared in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707:— On pp. 1239, U.-1241, i., Nos. 241, 288, 304, 313, 314, 317, 410, 441. iii. Additional not noted in the revision:— 1. My soul, how lovely is the place; p. 1240, ii. 332. This version of Ps. lxiv. first appeared in the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, as "Ye saints, how lovely is the place." 2. Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine; p. 1055, ii. In the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, Bk. i., No. 35, and again in his Psalms of David, 1719. 3. Sing to the Lord with [cheerful] joyful voice, p. 1059, ii. This version of Ps. c. is No. 43 in the Hymns & Spiritual Songs, 1707, Bk. i., from which it passed into the Ps. of David, 1719. A careful collation of the earliest editions of Watts's Horae Lyricae shows that Nos. 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, p. 1237, i., are in the 1706 ed., and that the rest were added in 1709. Of the remaining hymns, Nos. 91 appeared in his Sermons, vol. ii., 1723, and No. 196 in Sermons, vol. i., 1721. No. 199 was added after Watts's death. It must be noted also that the original title of what is usually known as Divine and Moral Songs was Divine Songs only. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) =========== See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

John Wesley

1703 - 1791 Adapter of "I'll Praise My Maker" in The Presbyterian Hymnal John Wesley, the son of Samuel, and brother of Charles Wesley, was born at Epworth, June 17, 1703. He was educated at the Charterhouse, London, and at Christ Church, Oxford. He became a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, and graduated M.A. in 1726. At Oxford, he was one of the small band consisting of George Whitefield, Hames Hervey, Charles Wesley, and a few others, who were even then known for their piety; they were deridingly called "Methodists." After his ordination he went, in 1735, on a mission to Georgia. The mission was not successful, and he returned to England in 1738. From that time, his life was one of great labour, preaching the Gospel, and publishing his commentaries and other theological works. He died in London, in 1791, in his eighty-eighth year. His prose works are very numerous, but he did not write many useful hymns. It is to him, however, and not to his brother Charles, that we are indebted for the translations from the German. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872 ====================== John Wesley, M.A., was born at Epworth Rectory in 1703, and, like the rest of the family, received his early education from his mother. He narrowly escaped perishing in the fire which destroyed the rectory house in 1709, and his deliverance made a life-long impression upon him. In 1714 he was nominated on the foundation of Charterhouse by his father's patron, the Duke of Buckingham, and remained at that school until 1720, when he went up, with a scholarship, from Charterhouse to Christ Church, Oxford. Having taken his degree, he received Holy Orders from the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Potter) in 1725. In 1726 he was elected Fellow of Lincoln College, and remained at Oxford until 1727, when he returned into Lincolnshire to assist his father as curate at Epworth and Wroot. In 1729 he was summoned back to Oxford by his firm friend, Dr. Morley, Rector of Lincoln, to assist in the College tuition. There he found already established the little band of "Oxford Methodists" who immediately placed themselves under his direction. In 1735 he went, as a Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, to Georgia, where a new colony had been founded under the governorship of General Oglethorpe. On his voyage out he was deeply impressed with the piety and Christian courage of some German fellow travellers, Moravians. During his short ministry in Georgia he met with many discouragements, and returned home saddened and dissatisfied both with himself and his work; but in London he again fell in with the Moravians, especially with Peter Bohler; and one memorable night (May 24, 1738) he went to a meeting in Aldersgate Street, where some one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. There, "About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." From that moment his future course was sealed; and for more than half a century he laboured, through evil report and good report, to spread what he believed to be the everlasting Gospel, travelling more miles, preaching more sermons, publishing more books of a practical sort, and making more converts than any man of his day, or perhaps of any day, and dying at last, March 2, 1791, in harness, at the patriarchal age of 88. The popular conception of the division of labour between the two brothers in the Revival, is that John was the preacher, and Charles the hymnwriter. But this is not strictly accurate. On the one hand Charles was also a great preacher, second only to his brother and George Whitefield in the effects which he produced. On the other hand, John by no means relegated to Charles the exclusive task of supplying the people with their hymns. John Wesley was not the sort of man to depute any part of his work entirely to another: and this part was, in his opinion, one of vital importance. With that wonderful instinct for gauging the popular mind, which was one element in his success, he saw at once that hymns might be utilized, not only for raising the devotion, but also for instructing, and establishing the faith of his disciples. He intended the hymns to be not merely a constituent part of public worship, but also a kind of creed in verse. They were to be "a body of experimental and practical divinity." "In what other publication," he asks in his Preface to the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780 (Preface, Oct. 20,1779), "have you so distinct and full an account of Scriptural Christianity; such a declaration of the heights and depths of religion, speculative and practical; so strong cautions against the most plausible errors, particularly those now most prevalent; and so clear directions for making your calling and election sure; for perfecting holiness in the fear of God?" The part which he actually took in writing the hymns, it is not easy to ascertain; but it is certain that more than thirty translations from the German, French and Spanish (chiefly from the German) were exclusively his; and there are some original hymns, admittedly his composition, which are not unworthy to stand by the side of his brother's. His translations from the German especially have had a wide circulation. Although somewhat free as translations they embody the fire and energy of the originals. It has been the common practice, however for a hundred years or more to ascribe all translations from the German to John Wesley, as he only of the two brothers knew that language; and to assign to Charles Wesley all the original hymns except such as are traceable to John Wesley through his Journals and other works. The list of 482 original hymns by John and Charles Wesley listed in this Dictionary of Hymnology have formed an important part of Methodist hymnody and show the enormous influence of the Wesleys on the English hymnody of the nineteenth century. -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) =================== See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Samuel Longfellow

1819 - 1892 Person Name: Samuel Longfellow, 1819-1892 Author of "God of the Earth, the Sky, the Sea" in Hymns of the Saints Longfellow, Samuel, B. A., brother of the Poet, was born at Portland, Maine, June 18, 1819, and educated at Harvard, where he graduated in Arts in 1839, and in Theology in 1846. On receiving ordination as an Unitarian Minister, he became Pastor at Fall River, Massachusetts, 1848; at Brooklyn, 1853; and at Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1860. In 1846 he edited, with the Rev. S. Johnson (q. v.), A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion. This collection was enlarged and revised in 1848. In 1859 his Vespers was published, and in 1864 the Unitarian Hymns of the Spirit , under the joint editorship of the Rev. S. Johnson and himself. His Life of his brother, the Poet Longfellow, was published in 1886. To the works named he contributed the following hymns:— i. To A Book of Hymns , revised ed., 1848. 1. Beneath the shadow of the Cross. Love. 2. 0 God, thy children gathered here. Ordination. ii. To the Vespers 1859. 3. Again as evening's shadow falls. Evening. 4. Now on land and sea descending. Evening. iii. To the Hymns of the Spirit, 1864. 5. A voice by Jordan's shore. Advent. 6. Father, give Thy benediction. Ordination. 7. Go forth to life, 0 child of earth. Life's Mission. 8. God of ages and of nations. Holy Scriptures. 9. Holy Spirit, Truth divine. The Holy Spirit desired. 10. I look to Thee in every need. Trust in God. 11. In the beginning was the Word. The Word. 12. Love for all, and can it be? Lent. The Prodigal Son. 13. 0 God, in Whom we live and move. God's Law and Love. 14. 0 God, Thou Giver of all good. Prayer for Food. 15. O still in accents sweet and strong. Missions. 16. 0 Thou, Whose liberal sun and rain. Anniversary of Church dedication. 17. One holy Church of God appears. The Church Universal. 18. Out of the dark, the circling sphere. The Outlook. 19. Peace, peace on earth! the heart of man for ever. Peace on Earth. 20. The loving Friend to all who bowed. Jesus of Nazareth. 21. ’Tis winter now, the fallen snow. Winter. Of these, hymn No. 2 was written for the Ordination of E. E. Hale (q. v.), at Worcester, 1846. Several are included in Martineau's Hymns, 1873. Died Oct. 3, 1892. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907), p. 685 =============== Longfellow, S., p. 685, i. Since Mr. Longfellow's death on Oct. 3, 1892, his hymns have been collected by his niece, Miss Alice Longfellow, as Hymns and Verses(Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1904.) From this work we find many of the hymns signed Anon, in the Index to Longfellow and Johnson's Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, were his; several of these, including E. Osier's "O God unseen, yet ever near," were popular English hymns which he rewrote from his own theological standpoint. These re¬written hymns are very widely used by Unitarians and others. During the last ten years the following additional hymns by S. Long¬fellow have come into common use:— 1. Eternal One, Thou living God. Faith in God. 2. God of the earth, the sky, the sea. God in Nature. 3. God's trumpet wakes the slumbering world. Call to duty. 4. Light of ages and of nations. God in and through all time. 5. Lo, the earth is risen again. Spring. (1876.) 6. Now while we sing our closing psalm. Close of Worship. 7. O Life that maketh all things new. Unity. (1874.) 8. O Thou in Whom we live and move. The Divine Law. 9. The summer days are come again. Summer. From his hymn,"The sweet[bright] June days are come again." 10. Thou Lord of lite, our saving health. In Sickness. (1886.) Of these hymns Nos. 2, 3 appeared in the Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, and all with the dates appended in Hymns and Verses, 1904. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) ================== http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Longfellow

Paul Gerhardt

1607 - 1676 Person Name: P. Gerhardt Author of "Jesus, Thy boundless love to me" in Old and New Welsh and English Hymns Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which condemned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was released from his position in Berlin in 1666. With the support of friends he became archdeacon at Lubben in 1669 and remained there until his death. Gerhardt experienced much suffering in his life; he and his parishioners lived in the era of the Thirty Years' War, and his family experienced incredible tragedy: four of his five children died young, and his wife died after a prolonged illness. In the history of hymnody Gerhardt is considered a transitional figure-he wrote at a time when hymns were changing from a more objective, confessional, and corporate focus to a pietistic, devotional, and personal one. Like other German hymns, Gerhardt's were lengthy and intended for use throughout a service, a group of stanzas at a time. More than 130 of his hymns were published in various editions of Cruger's Praxis Pietatis Melica, the Crüger-Runge Gesangbuch (1653), and Ebeling's Das andere Dutzeud geistliche Andachtslieder Herrn Paul Gerhardts (1666-1667). John Wesley and Catherine Winkworth both made famous English translations of Gerhardt's texts. Bert Polman ====================== Gerhardt, Paulus, son of Christian Gerhardt, burgomaster of Gräfenhaynichen, near Wittenberg, was born at Grafenhaynichen, Mar. 12, 1607. On January 2, 1628, he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg. In the registers of St. Mary's church, Wittenberg, his name appears as a godfather, on July 13, 1641, described still as "studiosus," and he seems to have remained in Wittenberg till at least the end of April, 1642. He appears to have gone to Berlin in 1642 or 1643, and was there for some time (certainly after 1648) a tutor in the house of the advocate Andreas Barthold, whose daughter (Anna Maria, b. May 19, 1622, d. March 5, 1668) became his wife in 1655. During this period he seems to have frequently preached in Berlin. He was appointed in 1651, at the recommendation of the Berlin clergy, Lutheran Probst (chief pastor) at Mittenwalde, near Berlin, and ordained to this post Nov. 18, 1651. In July, 1657, he returned to Berlin as third diaconus of St. Nicholas's church; but becoming involved in the contest between the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (who was of the Reformed Church) and the Lutheran clergy of Berlin, he was deposed from his office in February, 1666, though he still remained in Berlin. In Nov. 1668, he accepted the post of archidiaconus at Lübben, on the Spree, was installed in June, 1669, and remained there till his death on June 7, 1676 (Koch, iii. 297-326; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, viii. 774-783, &c). The outward circumstances of Gerhardt's life were for the most part gloomy. His earlier years were spent amid the horrors of the Thirty Years' War. He did not obtain a settled position in life till he was 44 years of age. He was unable to marry till four years later; and his wife, after a long illness, died during the time that he was without office in Berlin; while of the five children of the marriage only one passed the period of childhood. The sunniest period of his life was during the early years of his Berlin ministry (i.e. 1657-1663), when he enjoyed universal love and esteem; while his latter years at Lübben as a widower with one surviving child were passed among a rough and unsympathising people. The motto on his portrait at Lübben not unjustly styles him "Theologus in cribro Satanae versatus." Gerhardt ranks, next to Luther, as the most gifted and popular hymnwriter of the Lutheran Church. Gervinus (ed. 1842, pt. iii. p. 366), the well-known historian of German literature, thus characterises him:— "He went back to Luther's most genuine type of hymn in such manner as no one else had done, only so far modified as the requirements of his time demanded. In Luther's time the belief in Free Grace and the work of the Atonement, in Redemption and the bursting of the gates of Hell was the inspiration of his joyful confidence; with Gerhardt it is the belief in the Love of God. With Luther the old wrathful God of the Romanists assumed the heavenly aspect of grace and mercy; with Gerhardt the merciful Righteous One is a gentle loving Man. Like the old poets of the people he is sincerely and unconstrainedly pious, naive, and hearty; the bliss fulness of his faith makes him benign and amiable; in his way of writing he is as attractive, simple, and pleasing as in his way of thinking." With a firm grasp of the objective realities of the Christian Faith, and a loyal adherence to the doctrinal standpoint of the Lutheran Church, Gerhardt is yet genuinely human; he takes a fresh, healthful view both of nature and of mankind. In his hymns we see the transition to the modern subjective tone of religious poetry. Sixteen of his hymns begin with, “I." Yet with Gerhardt it is not so much the individual soul that lays bare its sometimes morbid moods, as it is the representative member of the Church speaking out the thoughts and feelings he shares with his fellow members; while in style Gerhardt is simple and graceful, with a considerable variety of verse form at his command, and often of bell-like purity in tone. From the first publication of Gerhardt's hymns they at once came into favour among all ranks and creeds; and a large proportion are among the hymns most cherished and most widely used by German-speaking Christians at the present day. They appeared principally in the various editions of Crüger's Praxis, and the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653. The first collected edition was prepared by J. G. Ebeling, and published in separate "Dozens" 1-4 in 1666, 5-10 in 1667, i.e. 120 in all. In the edition of J. H. Feustking, Zerbst, 1707, a few stanzas were intercalated (from manuscripts in the possession of Gerhardt's surviving son), but no new hymns were added. Among modern editions of Gerhardt's hymns (mostly following the text of Ebeling) may be mentioned those by Langbecker, 1842; Schultz, 1842; Wackernagel, 1843; Becker, 1851; Goedeke, 1877, and Gerok, 1878. The Historico-Critical edition of Dr. J. F. Bachmann, 1866, is the most complete (with 11 additional pieces hardly Church hymns), and reverts to the pre-Ebeling text. The length of many of Gerhardt's hymns ("Ein Lämmlein" is 10 stanzas of 10 lines; "Fröhlich soil," 15 stanzas of 8 lines, &c), and the somewhat intricate metres of others, have caused his hymns to be less used in English than otherwise might have been the case; but a considerable proportion have come in some form or other into English hymnbooks. A large selection, translated with scrupulous faithfulness but not retaining much of the lyric grace of the originals, was published by the Rev. John Kelly, in 1867, as Paul Gerhardt’s Spiritual Songs; while many individual hymns have been translated by John Wesley, Miss Winkworth, Miss Cox, Miss Borthwick, and many others. His translations from St. Bernard are noted under "O Haupt voll Blut." There are separate notes on 19 of his greater hymns. Besides these the following have passed into English:— I. Hymns in English common use: i. Auf den Nebel folgt die Sonn. Thanksgiving after great sorrow and affliction. In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 249, in 15 stanzas of 7 1.; thence in Wackernagel’s ed. of his Geistliche Lieder, No. 87, and Bachmann's ed., No. 64. In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 402. Translated as:— Cometh sunshine after rain. A good translation, omitting stanzas iv.-vii., x., xi., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855, p. 100 (translations of x., xi. added to 2nd ed., 1856). Repeated, omitting the translations of stanzas ii., x.-xii., as No. 4 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. In the Christian Hymn Book, Cincinnati, 1865, No. 799, begins with st. xiii., "Now as long as here I roam." Another translation is:—"After clouds we see the sun," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 261. ii. Die Zeit ist nunmehr nah. Day of Judgment—Second Advent. Founded on Acts iii. 20. In the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch 1653, No. 367, iii 18 stanzas of 6 lines, and thence in Wackernagel's edition of his Geistliche Lieder, 1843, No. 119 (1874, No. 124), and Bachmann's edition, No. 40. In the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 1517. Translated as:— O Christ! how good and fair. Being a translation of stanzas iii., iv., vi., vii., x.-xiii., xvii., by Mrs. Charles, in her Voice of Christian Life in Song, 1858, p. 242. Her translations of stanzas iii., x., xii., are No. 150 in G. S. Jellicoe's Collection, 1867. Other trs. are:—(1) "May I when time is o'er," of stanzas vii., viii. as part of No. 831 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789; in the 1801 and later eds. (1886, No. 1229), beginning, "I shall, when time is o'er." (2) “The time is very near," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 341. iii. Gottlob, nun ist erschollen. Peace. Thanksgiving for the Proclamation of the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, after the Thirty Years’ War. In Crüger's Praxis 1656, No. 409, in 6 stanzas of 12 lines, and thence in Wackernagel's edition of his Geistliche Lieder, No. 64, and Bachmann's ed., No. 84; and in the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 589. Translated as: — Thank God it hath resounded. A full and good tr. by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 156, repeated, omitting stanza ii., in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. St. i., v., vi., form No. 49 in M. W. Stryker's Christian Chorals, 1885. Another tr. is: ”Praise God! for forth hath sounded," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 251. iv. Ich, der ich oft in tiefes Leid. Ps. cxlv. First published in J. G. Ebeling's edition of his Geistliche Andachten Dritte Dutzet, 1666, No. 27, in 18 stanzas of 7 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 95, and Bachmann's ed., No. 103; also in the Berlin Geistliche LiederSchatz, ed. 1863, No. 1004. Translated as:— I who so oft in deep distress . A good translation, omitting stanzas ii.-iv., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 149. Her translations of stanzas i., xiii.-xvi., xviii., were included as No. 224, and of stanzas vi., viii., ix., xi. altered, and beginning, "O God! how many thankful songs," as No. 168, in Holy Song, 1869. Another tr. is:—-"Who is so full of tenderness," of stanza viii. as stanza iv. of No. 1075 in the Supplement of 1808 to the Moravian Hymn Book, 1801 (1886, No. 537). v. Ich steh an deiner Krippen bier. Christmas. Included in Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 105, in 15 stanzas of 7 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 9, and Bachmann's ed., No. 45; and in the Berlin Geistliche LiederSchatz, ed. 1863, No. 167. A beautiful hymn, in which the poet puts himself in the place of the shepherds and the wise men visiting Bethlehem; and in praise and adoration tenders his devotion, his love and his all, to the Infant Saviour in the manger. Translated as:— My faith Thy lowly bed beholds. A translation of stanzas i., iv., vii., xv., by A. T. Russell, as No. 57 in his Psalms & Hymns, 1851. Other trs. are:— (1) "I stand beside Thy manger-bed," by Miss Manington, 1864, p. 38. (2) "Now at the manger here I stand," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 32. vi. Ich weiss dass mein Erlöser lebt. Easter. Founded on Job xix. 25-27. First published in J. G. Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Zehende Dutzet, 1667, No. 119, in 9 stanzas of 7 lines; repeated in Wackernagel's ed., 1843, No. 118 (1874, No. 123); in Bachmann's ed., No. 119; and in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S. ed. 1863, No. 301. Translated as:— I know that my Redeemer lives, In this my faith is fast. A full and spirited translation by J. Oxenford, in Lays of the Sanctuary, 1859, p. 122. His translations of stanzas i., iii., vii.-ix., were included, altered, as No. 779 in Kennedy, 1863. Another tr. is:— "I know that my Redeemer lives, This hope," &c, by Miss Manington, 1863, p. 78. vii. Ich weiss, mein Gott, dass all mein Thun. Supplication. A prayer for success in all Christian works and purpose; founded on Jeremiah x. 23, and Acts v. 38, 39. Included in Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 332, in 18 stanzas of 5 lines. In Wackernagel's ed., No. 40; Bachmann's ed., No. 71, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863. Translated as:— I know, my God, and I rejoice. A good translation of stanzas i.-iii., viii., xi., ix., by Miss Winkworth, as No. 121 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Another translation is:— "My God! my works and all I do” by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 102. viii. Kommt, und lasst uns Christum ehren. Christmas. Founded on St. Luke ii. 15. First published in J. G. Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Fünffte Dutzet, 1667, No. 56, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines. Thence in Wackemagel's ed., No. 6; Bachmann's ed., No. 110; and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 43. Translated as:— 1. Come, unite in praise and singing. Omitting stanzas vi., vii., contributed by A. T. Russell to Maurice's Choral Hymnbook, 1861, No. 707. 2. Bring to Christ your best oblation. A full and good translation by P. Massie in his Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 96; repeated in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. Other translations are:— (1) "Come, and let us Christ revere now," by Miss Manington, 1864, p. 25. (2) "Come, and Christ the Lord be praising," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 24. ix. Lobet den Herren, alle die ihn fürchten. Morning. Included in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch 1653, No. 7, in 10 stanzas of 5 lines. In Wackernagel's ed., No. 100, and Bachmann's ed., No. 21, and in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S. edition 1863, No. 1063. Translated as:— Praise God! revere Him! all ye men that fear Him! This is from the version in Bunsen's Allgemeine Gesangbücher, 1846, No. 167, stanza i. being from Gerhardt, and st. ii., iii., from "Lobet den Herren, denn er ist sehr freundlich" (q. v.); and appeared in the Dalston Hospital Hymnbook, 1848, No. 55, signed "A. G." Other translations are:— (1) "Our Lord be praising, All His glory raising," by H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 27. (2) "Praise ye Jehovah, all ye men who fear Him," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 279. x. Micht so traurig, nicht so sehr. Christian Contentment. In the 3rd edition, 1648, of Crüger's Praxis, No. 251, in 15 stanzas of 6 1., repeated in Wackernagel's ed., No. 53; Bachmann's ed., No. 16, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 851. It is founded on Ps. cxvi. 7; Ps. xlii. 6-12; 1 Tim. vi. 6. Translated as:— Ah! grieve not so, nor so lament. A free translation by Mrs. Findlater, of stanzas i., ii., vii.-x., xiii., xv., in the 1st Ser., 1854, of the Hymns from the Land of Luther, p. 48 (1884, p. 50). Repeated, abridged, in Holy Song, 1869, and Dale's English Hymnbook, 1875. Other translations are:- (l) "Why this sad and mournful guise," by Miss Dunn, 1857, p. 85. (2) "Not so darkly, not so deep," by Miss Warner, 1858 (1861, p. 58). (3) “0 my soul, why dost thou grieve," by J. Kelly, 1867. xi. Nun lasst uns gehn und treten. New Year. Included in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653, No. 106, in 15 st. of 4 1. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 12; Bachmann's ed., No. 24, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 200. Evidently written during the Thirty Years' War. Translated as:— In pray'r your voices raise ye. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 45. From this, 8 st. are included as No. 48 in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. Other translations are:— (1) "Now let each humble Creature," in the Supplement to German Psalter, ed. 1765, p. 4, and Select Hymns from German Psalter, Tranquebar, 1754. p. 7. In the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789, No. 507 (1849, No. 1106), greatly altered, and beginning, “Year after year commenceth." (2) "0 come with prayer and singing," by R. Massie in the British Herald , Jan., 1865, p. 8. (3) “Christians all, with one accord," by E. Massie, 1867, p. 168. (4) "With notes of joy and songs of praise," by Dr. R. Maguire, 1883, p. 24. xii. Schaut! Schaut! was ist für Wunder dar? Christmas. First published in J. G. Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Fünffte Dutzet, 1667, No. 55, in 18 stanzas of 4 1. Thence in Wackernagel’s ed., No. 4; Bachmann's ed., No. 109. Translated as:— Behold! Behold! what wonders here. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 14. From this, 12 st. were included in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880, as Nos. 25, 26: No. 26 beginning with the translation of st. xiii., "It is a time of joy today." xiii. Warum willt du draussen stehen. Advent. Suggested by Gen. xxiv. 31. Appeared in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653, No. 78, in 9 stanzas of 8 lines; viz., stanzas i.—vii., xi., xii., of the full form; st. viii.-x. being added in Ebeling's Geistliche Andachten Fünffte Dutzet, 1667, No. 50. The full text, in 12 stanzas, is also in Wackernagel's ed., No. 2; Bachmann's ed., No. 23, and Geistliche Lieder S., 1851, No. 20. Translated as:— Wherefore dost Thou longer tarry. A good translation, omitting st. viii.-x., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyrica Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 6. In her Chorale Book for England, 1863, No. 153, the translations of st. iii., v., xi., are omitted. Other trs. are:- (l) “Wherefore dost Thou, blest of God," by R. Massie, in Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 90. (2) “Why, without, then, art Thou staying," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 5. xiv. Was alle Weisheit in der Welt. Trinity Sunday. In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 212, in 8 stanzas of 9 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 1, and Bachmann's ed., No, 59, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 50. Translated as:— Scarce tongue can speak, ne'er human ken. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 1, repeated as No. 111 in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. Another translation is:—"The mystery hidden from the eyes," by R. Massie, in Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 87. xv. Was Gott gefällt, mein frommes Kind. Resignation. This beautiful hymn, on resignation to “what pleases God," first appeared in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653, No. 290, in 20 stanzas of 5 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 60; Bachmann's ed., No. 37, and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 723. Translated as:—- What God decrees, child of His love. A good translation of stanzas i., ii., v., vi., viii., xii., xv., xviii., xx., by Mrs. Findlater, in the 3rd Ser., 1858, of the Hymns from the Land of Luther, p. 49 (1884, p. 170). Included, in full, in Bishop Ryle's Collection, 1860, No. 171; and abridged in Christian Hymns, Adelaide, 1872, and beginning, "What God decrees, take patiently," in Kennedy, 1863, No. 1344. Other translations are:— (1) "What pleaseth God with joy receive," by Miss Dunn, 1857, p. 94. (2) “What pleases God, 0 pious soul," by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 193, (3) ”What pleaseth God, my faithful child," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 189. xvi. Wie schőn ists doch, Herr Jesu Christ. For Married Persons. Founded on Ps. cxxviii. First published in Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Vierte Dutzet, 1666, No. 38, in 8 st. of 12 1. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., 1843, No. 108 (1874, No. 109); Bachmann's ed., No. 105, and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen S., 1851, No. 680. Translated as:— Oh, Jesus Christ! how bright and fair. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 307, repeated, altered, and omitting st. iii.—v., in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880, No. 339. II. Hymns not in English common use: xvii. Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt. Good Friday. On St. John iii. 16. In Crüger's Praxis, 1661, No. 372, in 17 stanzas. Translated as, "Be of good cheer in all your wants,” by P. H. Molther, of stanza 16, as No. 181 in the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789 (1886, No. 217). xviii. Auf, auf, mein Herz mit Freuden. Easter. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 141, in 9 stanzas. The translations are:-- (1) "Up! Up! my heart with gladness, See," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 71. (2) "Up, up, my heart, with gladness; Receive," by N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 228. xix. Du bist zwar mein und bleibest mein. For the Bereaved. A beautiful hymn of consolation for parents on the loss of a son. Written on the death of Constantin Andreas, younger son of Johannes Berkov, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Berlin, and first printed as one of the "Dulcia amicorum solatia" at the end of the funeral sermon by Georg Lilius, Berlin, 1650. Included in Ebeline's ed. of Gerhardt's Geistliche Andachten Sechste Dutzet, Berlin, 1667, No. 72, in 12 stanzas. The translations are: (1) "Thou'rt mine, yes, still thou art mine own”, by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 123. (2) "Yes, thou art mine, still mine, my son," by J. D. Burns, in the Family Treasury, 1861, p. 8, and his Remains, 1869, p. 249. (3) "Mine art thou still, and mine shalt be," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 333. (4) "Thou art mine own, art still mine own," by Dr. J. Guthrie, 1869, p. 100. xx. Du, meine Seele, singe. Ps. cxlvi. In the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, Berlin, 1653, No. 183, in 10 stanzas. Translated as, “O come, my soul, with singing," by Miss Burlingham, in the British Herald, Jannary, 1866, p. 207, and as No. 423 in Reid's Praise Book, 1872. xxi. Gieb dich zufrieden, und sei stille. Cross and Consolation—-Ps. xxxvii. 7. In Ebeling Erstes Dutzet, 1666, No. 11, in 15 stanzas. Translated as: (1) “Be thou content: be still before," by Miss Winkworth, 1855, p. 156, and in Bishop Ryle's Collection, 1860, No. 269. (2) “Be thou contented! aye relying," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 202. (3) “Tranquilly lead thee, peace possessing," by N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 246. xxii. Hőr an! mein Herz, die sieben Wort. Passiontide. On the Seven Words from the Cross. Founded on the hymn noted under Bőschenstein, J. (q.v.). In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 137, in 15 stanzas. Translated as: (1) “Come now, my soul, thy thoughts engage," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 309). (2) "Seven times the Saviour spake my heart," by R. Massie, in the British Herald, Sept., 1865, p. 133. (3) "My heart! the seven words hear now," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 63. xxiii. Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn. Resignation. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 249, in 12 st. Translated as: (1) "I into God's own heart and mind," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 219. (2) "To God's all-gracious heart and mind”, by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 213, repeated in Statham's Collection, Edinburgh, 1869 and 1870. xxiv. 0 Jesu Christ! dein Kripplein ist. Christmas. At the Manger of Bethlehem. In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 101, in 15 stanzas. Translated as: (1) Be not dismay'd—-in time of need" (st. xi.) in the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789, No. 236. (2) "O blessed Jesus! This," by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p, 18. (3) "O Jesus Christ! Thy cradle is," by Miss Manington, 1864, p. 41. (4) "Thy manger is my paradise," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 26. xxv. Voller Wunder, voller Kunst. Holy Matrimony. In Ebeling Vierte Dutzet, 1666, No. 40, in 17 st. Often used in Germany at marriages on the way to church. Translated as: (1) "Full of wonder, full of skill," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 215). (2) "Full of wonder, full of skill," in Mrs. Stanley Carr's translation of Wildenhahn's Paul Gerhardt, ed. 1856, p. 52. (3) "Full of wonder, full of art," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 302. (4) "Full of wonder, full of art," by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 215. xxvi. Warum machet solche Schmerzen. New Year. On St. Luke ii. 21. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 97, in 4 stanzas. Bunsen, in his Versuch, 1833, No. 120, gives st. iii., iv. altered to "Freut euch, Sünder, allerwegen." Tr. as: (1) "Mortals, who have God offended," by Miss Cox, 1841, p. 21, from Bunsen. (2) "Why should they such pain e'er give Thee," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 43. xxvii. Weg, mein Herz, mit den Gedanken. Lent. On St. Luke xv. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 36, in 12 stanzas. Translated as: (1) "Let not such a thought e'er pain thee," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 83. (2) "Hence, my heart, with such a thought," by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 210. Besides the above, a considerable number of other hymns by Gerhardt have been translated by Mr. Kelly, and a few by Dr. Mills, Miss Manington, and others. The limits of our space forbid detailed notes on these versions. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============================= Gerhardt, Paulus, pp. 409, ii., 1565, i. The most recent edition of Gerhardt's hymns is in vol. iii. of the Fischer-Tümpel Deutsche evangelische Kirchenlied des Siebzehnten Jahr-hunderts, 1906, Nos. 389-495. In fixing the text the compilers have been enabled to use the recently discovered 1647, 1653 and 1657 Berlin editions of Cruger's Praxis Pietatis Melica. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Charles Wesley

1707 - 1788 Author of "Infinite God, to thee we raise" in The Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepened, and he became one of the first band of "Oxford Methodists." In 1735 he went with his brother John to Georgia, as secretary to General Oglethorpe, having before he set out received Deacon's and Priest's Orders on two successive Sundays. His stay in Georgia was very short; he returned to England in 1736, and in 1737 came under the influence of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, especially of that remarkable man who had so large a share in moulding John Wesley's career, Peter Bonier, and also of a Mr. Bray, a brazier in Little Britain. On Whitsunday, 1737, [sic. 1738] he "found rest to his soul," and in 1738 he became curate to his friend, Mr. Stonehouse, Vicar of Islington, but the opposition of the churchwardens was so great that the Vicar consented that he "should preach in his church no more." Henceforth his work was identified with that of his brother John, and he became an indefatigable itinerant and field preacher. On April 8, 1749, he married Miss Sarah Gwynne. His marriage, unlike that of his brother John, was a most happy one; his wife was accustomed to accompany him on his evangelistic journeys, which were as frequent as ever until the year 1756," when he ceased to itinerate, and mainly devoted himself to the care of the Societies in London and Bristol. Bristol was his headquarters until 1771, when he removed with his family to London, and, besides attending to the Societies, devoted himself much, as he had done in his youth, to the spiritual care of prisoners in Newgate. He had long been troubled about the relations of Methodism to the Church of England, and strongly disapproved of his brother John's "ordinations." Wesley-like, he expressed his disapproval in the most outspoken fashion, but, as in the case of Samuel at an earlier period, the differences between the brothers never led to a breach of friendship. He died in London, March 29, 1788, and was buried in Marylebone churchyard. His brother John was deeply grieved because he would not consent to be interred in the burial-ground of the City Road Chapel, where he had prepared a grave for himself, but Charles said, "I have lived, and I die, in the Communion of the Church of England, and I will be buried in the yard of my parish church." Eight clergymen of the Church of England bore his pall. He had a large family, four of whom survived him; three sons, who all became distinguished in the musical world, and one daughter, who inherited some of her father's poetical genius. The widow and orphans were treated with the greatest kindness and generosity by John Wesley. As a hymn-writer Charles Wesley was unique. He is said to have written no less than 6500 hymns, and though, of course, in so vast a number some are of unequal merit, it is perfectly marvellous how many there are which rise to the highest degree of excellence. His feelings on every occasion of importance, whether private or public, found their best expression in a hymn. His own conversion, his own marriage, the earthquake panic, the rumours of an invasion from France, the defeat of Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, the Gordon riots, every Festival of the Christian Church, every doctrine of the Christian Faith, striking scenes in Scripture history, striking scenes which came within his own view, the deaths of friends as they passed away, one by one, before him, all furnished occasions for the exercise of his divine gift. Nor must we forget his hymns for little children, a branch of sacred poetry in which the mantle of Dr. Watts seems to have fallen upon him. It would be simply impossible within our space to enumerate even those of the hymns which have become really classical. The saying that a really good hymn is as rare an appearance as that of a comet is falsified by the work of Charles Wesley; for hymns, which are really good in every respect, flowed from his pen in quick succession, and death alone stopped the course of the perennial stream. It has been the common practice, however for a hundred years or more to ascribe all translations from the German to John Wesley, as he only of the two brothers knew that language; and to assign to Charles Wesley all the original hymns except such as are traceable to John Wesley through his Journals and other works. The list of 482 original hymns by John and Charles Wesley listed in this Dictionary of Hymnology have formed an important part of Methodist hymnody and show the enormous influence of the Wesleys on the English hymnody of the nineteenth century. -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================== Charles Wesley, the son of Samuel Wesley, was born at Epworth, Dec. 18, 1707. He was educated at Westminster School and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. In 1735, he took Orders and immediately proceeded with his brother John to Georgia, both being employed as missionaries of the S.P.G. He returned to England in 1736. For many years he engaged with his brother in preaching the Gospel. He died March 29, 1788. To Charles Wesley has been justly assigned the appellation of the "Bard of Methodism." His prominence in hymn writing may be judged from the fact that in the "Wesleyan Hymn Book," 623 of the 770 hymns were written by him; and he published more than thirty poetical works, written either by himself alone, or in conjunction with his brother. The number of his separate hymns is at least five thousand. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872.

Carlton R. Young

b. 1926 Composer (timpani) of "OLD 113TH" in The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement

Angelus Silesius

1624 - 1677 Person Name: J. Scheffler, 1624-1677 Author of "O God, of good the unfathomed Sea!" in Methodist Hymn and Tune Book Pen name of Johann Scheffler ======================================= Angelus Silesius, born in Selisia, in 1624, was the son of a Polish nobleman, and his true name was John Scheffler; but he adopted the name Angelus from a Spanish mystic of the 16th century--John ab Angelis--and added the name Silesius, because of his own country. He studied medicine, and obtained his degree of M.D. at Padua. While physician to the Duke Sylvius Nimrod--from 1649 to 1652--he had contention with the Lutheran clergy, and in 1653 entered the Romish Church. Subsequently he was physician to the Emperor Ferdinand III., but at length entered the priesthood and retired to the Jesuit monastery of S. Matthias, in Breslau, where he died in 1677. His hymns were mostly written before he joined the Romish Church, and were intended for private devotion; some, however, have been very acceptable for public use. "Several of them are among the deepest and most tender in the German language, and breathe a glowing love to the Saviour." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872. ================================================= Scheffler, Johann (Angelus Silesius), was born in 1624 at Breslau in Silesia. His father, Stanislaus Scheffler, was a member of the Polish nobility, but had been forced to leave his fatherland on account of his adherence to Lutheranism, and had then settled in Breslau. The son was thus educated as a strict Lutheran. After passing through the St. Elisabeth's Gymnasium at Breslau, he matriculated at the University of Strassburg, on May 4, 1643, as a student of medicine. In the next year he went to Leyden, and in 1647 to Padua, where he graduated PH. D. and M.D. on July 9, 1648. Thereafter he returned to Silesia, and, on Nov. 3, 1649, was appointed private physician, at Oels, to Duke Sylvius Nimrod of Württemberg-Oels. The Duke was a staunch Lutheran, and his court preacher, Christoph Freitag, administered the ecclesiastical affairs of the district according to the strictest Lutheran churchly orthodoxy. Scheffler, who in Hollaud had become acquainted with the writings of Jakob Böhme, and had become a personal friend of Abraham von Frankenberg, the editor of Böhme's works, soon found that the spiritual atmosphere of Oels did not suit him. His own leanings at this time were distinctly to Mysticism and Separatism. He was at no pains to conceal his sentiments, and withdrew himself from public worship, from confession, and from the Holy Communion. When he wished to publish his poems, and submitted them for this purpose to Freitag, he was refused permission to print them on the ground of their mystical tendencies. He resigned his post in the end of 1652, and went to Breslau. Here he became acquainted with the Jesuits, who in that place were earnest students of the mystical works of Tauler (q.v.), and through them was introduced to the study of the mediaeval mystics of the Roman Catholic Church. On June 12, 1653, he was formally received into the Roman Catholic communion, and at his confirmation on that day at St. Matthias's Church in Breslau, he took the name of Angelus, probably after a Spanish mystic of the 16th cent, named John ab Angelis.* On March 24, 1654, the Emperor Ferdinand III. conferred on him the title of Imperial Court Physician, but this title was purely honorary, and Scheffler remained still at Breslau. On Feb. 27,1661, he entered the order of St. Francis; on May 21, 1661, was ordained priest at Neisse in Silesia, and in 1664 was appointed Rath and Hofmarschall to his friend Sebastian von Rostock, the newly created Prince Bishop of Breslau. After the Bishop's death in 1671 Scheffler retired to the monastery of St. Matthias in Breslau, where he died July 9, 1677, from a wasting sickness, during which he used this characteristic prayer, "Jesus and Christ, God and Man, Bridegroom and Brother, Peace and Joy, Sweetness and Pleasure, Refuge and Redemption, Heaven and Earth, Eternity and Time, Love and All, receive my soul." Of Scheffler, as a Convert and as a Controversialist, not much need be said. He certainly became more Roman than the Romans; and in his more than 50 controversial tractates, shows little of the sweetness and repose for which some have thought that he left the Lutheran church. In his Ecclesiologia, published at Glatz in 1677 [British Museum has the 2nd edition, published at Oberammergau and Kempten in 1735], he collected 39 of these treatises, of which e.g. No. 34 is entitled, "The Lutheran and Calvinistic Idol of the Understanding exhibited, laid bare, as well as the Likeness of the True God. In which also, at the same time, the attacks aud objections of adversaries are repelled. 1 Cor. viii. 4, Idolum nihil est, an idol is nothing." At an early age Scheffler had begun to write poems, and some of these occasional pieces were printed in 1641 and 1642. His most famous non-hymnological work is his Geistreiche Sinn- und Schlussreime, &c, published at Vienna in 1657, but better known by the title prefixed in the 2nd edition published at Glatz in 1675, viz. the Cherubinischer Wandersmann, [Both eds. in the British Museum]…. Scheffler's latest poetical work was the Sinnliche Beschreibung der vier letzten Dinge, zu heilsamen Schröken und Auffmunterung aller Menschen inn Druck gegeben. Mit der himmlischen Procession vermehrt, &c. Schweidnitz, 1675. [British Museum]… Scheffler's most important hymnological work is his Heilige Seelenlust, oder geistliche Hirten-Lieder, der in ihren Jesum verliebten Psyche, gesungen von Johann Angelo Silesio, und von Herrn Georgio Josepho mit aussbündig schönen Melodeyen geziert, &c. Of this the first edition appeared at Breslau, apparently in 1657, in three books, with Hymns 1-123, and a fourth—-separately paged—-book, with 32 hymns, apparently also at Breslau, 1657. In the 2nd ed., pub. at Breslau in 1668, the paging and numbering are consecutive; and a fifth book is added, with Hymns 166-205. [Both eds. in Royal Library, Breslau; 2nd ed. in British Museum] The first three books form a cycle of hymns, principally on the person and work of Our Lord, arranged according to the Christian Year, from Advent to Whitsuntide, and seem mostly to have been written before Scheffler left the Lutheran church. Those of the fourth book were probably written 1653 to 1656, and those of the fifth book between 1656 and 1668. In the first three books he is most clearly under the influence of his predecessors. That is, so far as the style and form are concerned, he was greatly influenced by the Pastorals of the Nürnberg Pegnitz Shepherds, and of Friedrich von Spee (q.v.) ; and in the substance of his poems—their longings for mystical union with Christ, and their clinging love to the Saviour—he was influenced on the one side by Böhme, and on the other by the earnest inner religious life which he had found in Holland. In his later hymns the tone is more manly, and the defects and excesses of his earlier style have, in great measure, disappeared. Scheffler's hymns were gladly received by the Lutheran Church as a welcome addition to the store of "Jesus Hymns," but many long passed current as anonymous; the I. A., for Johann Angelus, being often interpreted as Incerti Autoris, and vice versa. Through the Nürnberg Gesang-Buch, 1676; Freylinghausen's Gesang-Buch 1704 and 1714; Porst's Gesang-Buch, 1713; and Burg's Gesang-Buch, Breslau, 1746, a large number came into use among the Lutherans, more indeed than among the Roman Catholics. They were great favourites among the Moravians, after Zinzendorf had included 79 of them in his Christ-Catholisches Singe-und Bet-Büchlen, 1727 ; and, unfortunately, preciscly the worst were selected for imitation, so that Scheffler has the doubtful honour of being the model of tli8 spiritual-fleshly productions which disfigured the Moravian hymn-books between 1740 and 1755. Judging Scheffler's hymns as a whole one must give them a very high place in German hymnody. Only a small proportion of the hymns bear a distinctively Roman Catholic character. Of the rest, after setting on one side those in which Christ is set forth as the Bridegroom of the soul, with an excessive use of the imagery of Canticles; and those disfigured by the mannerisms of the Pastoral School, there remain a large number which are hymns of the first rank. These finer hymns are the work of a true poet, almost perfect in style and in beauty of rhythm, concise and profound; the fruits indeed it may be said of Mysticism, but of Mysticism chastened and kept in bounds by deep reverence and by a true and fervent love to the Saviour. Scheffler holds a high place in the first rank of German sacred poets, and is much the finest of the Post-Reformation Roman Catholic hymn-writers. A number of Scheffler's hymns are translations from the Latin…which have passed into English, are as follows. i. Ach Gott, was hat vor Herrlichkeit. God's Majesty. First published as No. 110 in Bk. iii., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust , in 6 st. of 8 1., entitled, "She [the soul] rejoices herself on the glory of Jesus." In the Herrnhut Gesang-Buch, 1735, No. 67. The translation in common use is:— Thy Majesty, how vast it is. This is a free translation of st. i.-iv. as part of No. 189 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789 (1886, No. 225). Another tr. is: "My God! how vast a Glory has," as No. 310 in the Moravian Hymn Book, pt. ii., 1743. ii. Der edle Schäfer, Gottes Sohn. The Good Shepherd . Translated as:— The true good Shepherd, God's own Son. This is a translation of st. i., v., by P. H. Molther, as No. 18 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789. In the 1826 and later eds. (1886, No. 22) it begins, "Christ the good Shepherd.” iii. Grosser König, dem ich diene. Love to God. First published as No. 161 in Bk. v., 1668, of his Heilige Seelenlust in 10 stanzas of 8 lines, entitled, "She presents to her Beloved her heart in diverse fashion as a morning gift." The translation in common use is:— Make my heart a garden fair. This is a tr. of st. viii., as st. ii. of No. 439 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789. Other trs. are: (1) "Lord, I come, Thy grace adoring," by J. D. Burns, 1869, p. 227. (2) "Almighty King, Eternal Sire," by G. Moultrie, in his Espousals of S. Dorothea, 1870, p. 69. iv. Jesus ist der schönste Nam'. Love to Christ. First published as No. 35 in Bk. i., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust in 9 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled, "She praises the excellency of the Name of Jesus." Tr. as:— Jesus is the highest name. This is a good tr. of st. i., ii., viii., ix., by A. T. Russell, as No. 69 in his Psalms & Hymns, 185. Another tr. is: "Jesus is the sweetest Name, Unto mortals," by J. C. Earle, in O. Shipley's Annus Sanctus, 1884, pt. ii. p. 43. v. Keine Schönheit hat die Welt. Love to Christ. A beautiful hymn on Christ in Nature. First published as No. 109 in Bk. iii., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust, in 16 stanzas of 4 lines, entitled, "She ponders His charmingness to the creatures." The trs. in common use are :— 1. Earth has nothing sweet or fair. This is a very good translation, omitting st. vi.—viii., x., xi., by Miss Cox in her Sacred Hymns from the German, 1841, p. 165 2. Nothing fair on earth I see. This is a somewhat free tr. of st. i.-v., ix., xii.-xiv., xvi., by Miss Winkworth in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855, p. 48; repeated, abridged and altered, in her Chorale Book for England, 1863, No. 158. Other translations are : (l) All the beauty we can find," as No. 457, in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymn Book 1754. (2) "Would you view the glorious face," in J. A. Latrobe's Psalms & Hymns ., 1841, No. 437. (3) "Whate'er of beauty I behold," by Lady E. Fortescue, 1843, p. 35. (4) " Earth has nothing bright for me," by Miss Manington, 1863, p. 168. (5) "The world with broadcast beauties sown," by E. Massie, 1867, p. 14. vi. Morgenstern der finstern Nacht. Love to Christ. First published as No. 26 in Bk. i., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust, in 6 st. of 5 1., entitled, "She wishes to have the little Jesus as the true Morning Star in the heaven of her heart." Another tr. is: "Morning Star in darksome night”, by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 250. vii. Nun nimm mein Herz, und alles was ich bin. Self-surrender to Christ. First published as No. 102 in Bk. iii., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines, entitled, "She gives herself to her Bridegroom." The translation in common use is:— O take my heart, and whatsoe'er is mine. This is a tr. of st. i., iv., by F. W. Foster, as No. 267 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789. Another tr. is: "Now take my heart and all that is in me," by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 98. viii. Wollt ihr den Herren finden. Seeking of Christ. First published in Bk. iv., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust, entitled, "She gives notice where Jesus is to be found.” Translated as:— If you would find the Saviour. This is a free version, condensing st. iii., iv., as st. iii. in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754, pt. i., No. 657. Included, greatly altered, and beginning, "Would you find the Saviour?" in J. A. Latrobe's Psalms & Hymns, 1841 and 1852. ix. Wo willt du hin, weils Abend ist. Evening. A beautiful hymn founded on the Narrative of Christ at Emmaus. The translation in common use is:— Where wilt Thou go! since night draws near. By A. Crull, in full, as No. 93 in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal 1880. Another translation is: "Where wilt Thou go? the eve draws nigh," by Miss Manington; 1863, p. 154. Other hymns by Scheffler which have been rendered into English are:— x. Ach, sagt mir nicht von Gold und Schätzen. Love to Christ. The translations are (1) "Tell me no more of golden treasures," in the Supplement to German Psalmody, ed. 1765, p. 53; and Select Hymns from German Psalmody , Tranquebar, 1754, p. 84. (2) "0 tell me not of glitt'ring treasure," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845, p. 75. (3) "0 tell me not of gold and treasure," by Miss Burlingham, in the British Herald, August, 1865, p. 121, repeated as "Ah, tell me not," &c, in Reid's Praise Book, 1872. xi. Ach, was steh'st du auf der Au. Love to Christ. This form is tr. as "Jesus, end of my desires." xii. ‘Auf, auf, 0 Seel', auf, auf, zum Streit. Christian Warfare. The translations are (1) "Up! Christian man, and join the fight," by Miss Manington, 1863, p. 44. (2) "Up, Christian! gird thee to the strife," by Miss Burlingham, in the British Herald, July, 1865, p. 106. xiii, Dein' eigne Liebe zwinget mich. Love to Christ. Tr. as, "Thine own love doth me constrain," by J. Kelly, in the Family Treasury, 1878, p. 716. xiv. Die Sonne kommt heran. Morning. Translated as "The sun will soon appear," by J. Kelly, in the Family Trea¬sury, 1878, p. 716. xv. Ihr Engel, die das höchste Gut. Love to Christ. This form is tr. as, "Ye Seraphim, who prostrate fall," as No. 649 in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754. xvi. Jesu, ew'ge Sonne. Love to Christ. Translated as "Christ the spring of endless joys," by J. Kelly, in the Family Treasury, 1878, p. 716. xvii. Kommt, meine Freund, und höret an. Eternal Life. Tr. as: "Come hither, friends, and hear me say," by J. Kelly, in the Family Treasury , 1879, p. 271. xviii. Meine Seele willt du ruh'n. Love to God. This form is tr. as "O my soul, desir'st thou rest." In the Supplement to German Psalmody, ed. 1765, p. 56. xix. Mein Lieb ist mir und ich bin ihm. Love to Christ. This is tr. as, "My Friend's to me, and I'm to Him," as No; 467 in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754. xx. 0 du allerliebster Gott. Christ in Gethsemane. This form is tr. as "Jesus, O my Lord and God," by J. C. Earle, in O. Shipley's Annus Sanctus, 1884, p. 73. xxi. Schau', Braut, wie hängt dein Bräutigam. Passiontide. Tr. as, "O Bride! behold thy Bridegroom hangs," as No. 460 in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754. xxii. Tritt hin, o Seel', und dank' dem Herrn. Thanksgiving. Tr. as "Come, O my soul, with thankful voice," by Dr. G. Walker, 1860, p. 70. xxiii. Weil ich schon seh' die gold'nen Wangen. Morning. The trs. are (1) "Because I see red tints adorning," by Miss Manington, 1863, p. 119. (2) "I see the golden light of morn," in the Family Treasury, 1877, p. 603. xxiv. Wie lieblich sind die Wohnungen. Eternal Life. Translated as "How lovely are the mansions fair," by J. Kelly, in the Family Treasury, 1879, p. 270. xxv. Zeuch mich nach dir, so laufen wir. Love to Christ. Translated as "Draw us to Thee, then will we flee," as No. 137 in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754. It may be added that in some English books Scheffler appears as a composer of hymn-tunes. This is however a mistake, for the melodies in the Heilige Seelenlust are, as the title distinctly says, by Georg Joseph, a musician living at that time in Breslau. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] * In his later writings he styled himself Johann Angelus Silesius, adding this designation—the Silesian—in order to distinguish himself from the Lutheran theologian, Johann Angelus, of Darmstadt. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

George Herbert

1593 - 1633 Person Name: George Herbert, 1593-1633 Author of "Enrich, Lord, heart, mouth, hands in me" in The Cambridge Hymnal Herbert, George, M.A., the fifth son of Richard Herbert and Magdalen, the daughter of Sir Richard Newport, was born at his father's seat, Montgomery Castle, April 3, 1593. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1611. On March 15, 1615, he became Major Fellow of the College, M.A. the same year, and in 1619 Orator for the University. Favoured by James I., intimate with Lord Bacon, Bishop Andrewes, and other men of influence, and encouraged in other ways, his hopes of Court preferment were somewhat bright until they were dispelled by the deaths of the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Hamilton, and then of King James himself. Retiring into Kent, he formed the resolution of taking Holy Orders. He was appointed by the Bishop of Lincoln to the Prebend of Lcighton Ecclesia and to the living of Leighton Bromswold, Hunts, July 15, 1626. He remained until 1629, when an attack of ague obliged him to remove to his brother's, house at Woodford, Essex. Not improving in health at Woodford, he removed to Dantsey, in Wiltshire, and then as Rector to Bemerton, to which he was inducted, April 26, 1630, where he died Feb. 1632. The entry in the register of Bemerton is "Mr. George Herbert, Esq., Parson of Foughleston and Bemerton, was buried 3 day of March 1632." His life, by Izaak Walton, is well known; another Memoir, by Barnabas Oley, is forgotten. Herbert's prose work, Priest to the Temple, appeared several years after his death: but The Temple, by which he is best known, he delivered to Nicholas Ferrar (q.v.), about three weeks before his death, and authorized him to publish it if he thought fit. This was done iu 1633. The work became popular, and the 13th edition was issued in 1709. It is meditative rather than hymnic in character, and was never intended for use in public worship. In 1697 a selection from The Temple appeared under the title Select Hymns Taken out of Mr. Herbert's Temple & turned into the Common Metre To Be Sung In The Tunes Ordinarily us'd in Churches. London, Parkhurst, 1697. In 1739, J. & C. Wesley made a much more successful attempt to introduce his hymns into public worship by inserting over 40 in a much-altered form in their Hymns & Sacred Poems. As some few of these came into their collection of Psalms & Hymns, 1741, revised 1743, they were long sung by the Methodists, but do not now form part of the Wesleyan Hymn Book. No further attempt seems to have been made to use the Temple poems as hymns until 1853, when some altered and revised by G. Rawson were given in the Leeds Hymn Book of that year. From that time onward more attention was paid to Herbert alike by Churchmen and Nonconformists, and some of his hymns are now widely accepted. Many editions of his works have been published, the most popular being that of the Rev. Robert Aris Wilmott, Lond., Geo. Routledge & Son, 1857; but Dr. Grosart's privately printed edition issued in his Fuller Worthies Library in 1874, in three volumes, is not only the most complete and correct, but included also his psalms not before reprinted, and several poems from a ms. in the Williams Library, and not before published. The Temple has also been pub¬lished in facsimile by Elliott Stock, 1876, with preface by Dr. Grosart; and in ordinary type, 1882, by Wells Gardner, with preface by J. A. Shorthouse. The quaintness of Herbert's lyrics and the peculiarity of several of their metres have been against their adoption for congregational purposes. The best known are: "Let all the world in every corner sing"; "My stock lies dead, and no increase"; "Throw away Thy rod"; "Sweet day, so cool, so calm"; and "Teach me, my God, and King." [William T. Brooke] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Robert Bridges

1844 - 1930 Person Name: R. B. Translator of "Fear not, thou faithful christian flock" in Hymns Robert S. Bridges (b. Walmer, Kent, England, 1844; d. Boar's Hill, Abingdon, Berkshire, England, 1930) In a modern listing of important poets Bridges' name is often omitted, but in his generation he was considered a great poet and fine scholar. He studied medicine and practiced as a physician until 1881, when he moved to the village of Yattendon. He had already written some poetry, but after 1881 his literary career became a full-time occupation, and in 1913 he was awarded the position of poet laureate in England. Bridges published The Yattendon Hymnal (1899), a collection of one hundred hymns (forty-four written or translated by him with settings mainly from the Genevan psalter, arranged for unaccompanied singing. In addition to volumes of poetry, Bridges also published A Practical Discourse on Some Principles of Hymn-Singing (1899) and About Hymns (1911). Bert Polman =================== Bridges, Robert Seymour, M.A., son of J. J. Bridges, of Walmer, Kent, was b. Oct. 23, 1844, and educated at Eton and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (B.A. 1867, M.A. 1874). He took his M.A. in 1874, but retired from practice in 1882, and now (1906) resides at Yattendon, Berks. He is the author of many poems and plays. He edition and contributed to the Yattendon Hymnal, 1899 (originally printed at the Oxford Univ. Press in parts—Nos. 1-25, 1895; 26-50, 1897; 51-75, 1898; 76-100, 1899). [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)