Person Results

Switch back to the old search page.Advanced Search

Showing 11 - 20 of 208Results Per Page: 10 20 50

Thomas Tallis

1505 - 1585 Person Name: Thomas Tallis, c. 1505-1585 Scripture: Psalm 17:8 Composer of "TALLIS'S CANON" in Common Praise Thomas Tallis (b. Leicestershire [?], England, c. 1505; d. Greenwich, Kent, England 1585) was one of the few Tudor musicians who served during the reigns of Henry VIII: Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth I and managed to remain in the good favor of both Catholic and Protestant monarchs. He was court organist and composer from 1543 until his death, composing music for Roman Catholic masses and Anglican liturgies (depending on the monarch). With William Byrd, Tallis also enjoyed a long-term monopoly on music printing. Prior to his court connections Tallis had served at Waltham Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. He composed mostly church music, including Latin motets, English anthems, settings of the liturgy, magnificats, and two sets of lamentations. His most extensive contrapuntal work was the choral composition, "Spem in alium," a work in forty parts for eight five-voice choirs. He also provided nine modal psalm tunes for Matthew Parker's Psalter (c. 1561). Bert Polman

Joachim Neander

1650 - 1680 Person Name: Joachim Neander (1650-1680) Scripture: Psalm 17:8 Author of "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation" in Church Hymnary (4th ed.) Neander, Joachim, was born at Bremen, in 1650, as the eldest child of the marriage of Johann Joachim Neander and Catharina Knipping, which took place on Sept. 18, 1649, the father being then master of the Third Form in the Paedagogium at Bremen. The family name was originally Neumann (Newman) or Niemann, but the grandfather of the poet had assumed the Greek form of the name, i.e. Neander. After passing through the Paedagogium he entered himself as a student at the Gymnasium illustre (Academic Gymnasium) of Bremen in Oct. 1666. German student life in the 17th century was anything but refined, and Neander seems to have been as riotous and as fond of questionable pleasures as most of his fellows. In July 1670, Theodore Under-Eyck came to Bremen as pastor of St. Martin's Church, with the reputation of a Pietist and holder of conventicles. Not long after Neander, with two like-minded comrades, went to service there one Sunday, in order to criticise and find matter of amusement. But the earnest words of Under-Eyck touched his heart; and this, with his subsequent conversations with Under-Eyck, proved the turning-point of his spiritual life. In the spring of 1671 he became tutor to five young men, mostly, if not all, sons of wealthy merchants at Frankfurt-am-Main, and accompanied them to the University of Heidelberg, where they seem to have remained till the autumn of 1673, and where Neander learned to know and love the beauties of Nature. The winter of 1673-74 he spent at Frankfurt with the friends of his pupils, and here he became acquainted with P. J. Spener (q.v.) and J. J. Schütz (q.v.) In the spring of 1674 he was appointed Rector of the Latin school at Düsseldorf (see further below). Finally, in 1679, he was invited to Bremen as unordained assistant to Under-Eyck at St. Martin's Church, and began his duties about the middle of July. The post was not inviting, and was regarded merely as a stepping stone to further preferment, the remuneration being a free house and 40 thalers a year, and the Sunday duty being a service with sermon at the extraordinary hour of 5 a.m. Had he lived, Under-Eyck would doubtless have done his best to get him appointed to St. Stephen's Church, the pastorate of which became vacant in Sept., 1680. But meantime Neander himself fell into a decline, and died at Bremen May 31, 1680 (Joachim Neander, sein Leben und seine Lieder. With a Portrait. By J. F. Iken, Bremen, 1880; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, xxiii. 327, &c.) Neander was the first important hymn-writer of the German Reformed Church since the times of Blaurer and Zwick. His hymns appear to have been written mostly at Düsseldorf, after his lips had been sealed to any but official work. The true history of his unfortunate conflict has now been established from the original documents, and may be summarized thus. The school at Düsseldorf was entirely under the control of the minister and elders of the Reformed Church there. The minister from about July, 1673, to about May, 1677, was Sylvester Lürsen (a native of Bremen, and only a few years older than Neander), a man of ability and earnestness, but jealous, and, in later times at least, quarrelsome. With him Neander at first worked harmoniously, frequently preaching in the church, assisting in the visitation of the sick, &c. But he soon introduced practices which inevitably brought on a conflict. He began to hold prayer meetings of his own, without informing or consulting minister or elders; he began to absent himself from Holy Communion, on the ground that he could not conscientiously communicate along with the unconverted, and also persuaded others to follow this example; and became less regular in his attendance at the ordinary services of the Church. Besides these causes of offence he drew out a new timetable for the school, made alterations on the school buildings, held examinations and appointed holidays without consulting any one. The result of all this was a Visitation of the school on Nov. 29, 1676, and then his suspension from school and pulpit on Feb. 3, 1677. On Feb. 17 he signed a full and definite declaration by which "without mental reservations" he bound himself not to repeat any of the acts complained of; and thereupon was permitted to resume his duties as rector but not as assistant minister. The suspension thus lasted only 14 days, and his salary was never actually stopped. The statements that he was banished from Düsseldorf, and that he lived for months in a cave in the Neanderthal near Mettmann are therefore without foundation. Still his having had to sign such a document was a humiliation which he must have felt keenly, and when, after Lürsen's departure, the second master of the Latin school was appointed permanent assistant pastor, this feeling would be renewed. Neander thus thrown back on himself, found consolation in communion with God and Nature, and in the composition of his hymns. Many were without doubt inspired by the scenery of the Neanderthal (a lovely valley with high rocky sides, between which flows the little river Düssel); and the tradition is probable enough that some of them were composed in a cave there. A number were circulated among his friends at Düsseldorf in MS., but they were first collected and published after his removal to Bremen, and appeared as:— A und Ώ, Joachimi Neandri Glaub-und Liebesübung: — auffgemuntert durch ein fällige Bundes Lieder und Danck-Psalmen, Bremen, Hermann Brauer, 1680; 2nd ed. Bremen, 1683 ; 3rd ed. Bremen, 1687; 4th ed. Frankfurt, 1689. These editions contain 57 hymns. In the 5th ed., Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1691, edited by G. C. Strattner, eight hymns were added as being also by Neander. [The whole of these eds. are in the Royal Library, Berlin. The so-called 3rd. ed. at Wesel, 1686, also found in Berlin, was evidently pirated.] Other editions rapidly followed till we find the complete set (i.e. 57 or 58) formally incorporated as part of a hymnbook, e.g. in the Marburg Reformed Gesang-Buch, 1722, where the first part consists of Lobwasser's Psalter, the second of Neander's Bundeslieder, and the third of other hymns. Neander's Bundeslieder also form a division of the Lemgo Reformed Gesang-Buch, 1722; and of a favourite book used in the meetings conducted by G. Tersteegen, which in the 5th ed., Solingen, 1760, has the title Gott-geheiligtes Harfen-Spiel der Kinder Zion; bestehend in Joachimi Neandri sämtlichen Bundes-Liedern, &c. In this way, especially in the district near Düsseldorf and on the Ruhr, Neander's name was honoured and beloved long after it had passed out of memory at Bremen. Many of Neander's hymns were speedily received into the Lutheran hymnbooks, and are still in universal use. The finest are the jubilant hymns of Praise and Thanksgiving, such as his "Lobe den Herren”, and those setting forth the Majesty of God in His works of beauty and wonder in Nature, such as his "Himmel, Erde", and "Unbegreiflich Gut"; while some of his hymns of Penitence, such as his "Sieh hier bin ich, Ehrenkönig" (q.v.), are also very beautiful. Many are of a decidedly subjective cast, but for this the circumstances of their origin, and the fact that the author did not expect them to be used in public worship, will sufficiently account. Here and there there are doubtless harshnesses, and occasionally imagery which is rather jarring; and naturally enough the characteristic expressions and points of view of German 17th cent. Pietism and of the "Covenant Theology" are easily enough detected. But the glow and sweetness of his better hymns, their firm faith, originality, Scripturalness, variety and mastery of rhythmical forms, and genuine lyric character fully entitled them to the high place they hold. Of the melodies in the original edition of 1680 there are 19 by Neander himself, the best known being those to Nos. viii. and xi. below. The hymns by Neander which have passed into English, and have not already been referred to, are:— Hymns in English common use: i. Meine Hoffnung stehet feste. Thanksgiving. Founded on 1 Tim. vi. 17. 1680 as above, p. 115, in 5 stanzas of 7 lines, entitled "Grace after meat." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 712. Translated as:— All my hope is grounded surely. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth, as No. 8 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Another translation is: "All my Hope is fix'd and grounded." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 17, repeated in his ed., 1732, p. 64, altered and beginning, "All my Hope is firmly grounded." ii. Unbegreiflich Gut, wahrer Gott alleine. Summer. According to tradition this was written in the summer of 1677, in a cave in the Neanderthal near Düsseldorf, while Neander was in enforced absence from his school duties (Koch, vi. 20). It is founded on Ps. civ. 24. 1680, p. 165, in 12 stanzas of 6 lines, and entitled, "The Joys of Summer and Autumn in Field and Forest." The following note shows that the "Feeling for Nature" is not entirely modern. “It is also a travelling hymn in summer or autumn for those who, on their way to Frankfurt on the Main, go up and down the river Rhine, where between Cologne and Mainz, mountains, cliffs, brooks and rocks are to be beheld with particular wonder; also in the district of Berg in the rocky region [the ‘Gestein' now called the Neanderthal], not far from Düsseldorf." The hymn is in Knapp's Evangelischer Lieder-Schatz 1850, No. 2163 (1865, No. 2231), omitting st. x. Translated as:-— 0 Thou true God alone. A very good translation, omitting st. x., by Miss Winkworth, in her Christian Singers, 1869, p. 286. Her translation of st. i., iii.-v. altered in metre, and beginning "Thou true God alone," are No. 53 in M. W. Stryker's Christian Chorals, 1885. Hymns not in English common use:—— iii. Auf, auf, mein Geist, erhebe dich zum Himmel. Holy Communion. Founded on Ps. xxiii. 6. 1860, as above, p. 27, in 5 stanzas, entitled, "The soul strengthened and refreshed. After the reception of the Holy Communion." In Porst's Gesang-Buch, ed. 1855, No. 218. In the Moravian London Gesang-Buch, 1753, No. 697, it begins, "Den Himmels-Vorschmack hab' ich auf der Erde," and in the Brüder Gesang-Buch, 1778, No. 1178, it was further recast (by C. Gregor?) and altered to "hab'ich schon hinieden." Translated as "Heav'n's foretaste I may here already have." By F W. Foster & J. Miller, as No. 596, in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789. In the 1801 ed. (1849, No. 1003) it begins, “Since Jesus dy'd, my guilty soul to save." iv. Der Tag ist hin, mein Jesu, bei mir bleibe. Evening. Founded on St. Luke xxiv. 29. 1680, p. 15, in 6 stanzas entitled, "The Christian returning thanks at eventide." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 512. The translations are: (1) "The Day is gone, come Jesu my Protector." In the Supplement to German Psalmody, ed. 1765, p. 72. (2) "The day is past, Thou Saviour dear, still dwell my breast within." By H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 82. (3) "The day is gone, abide with me tonight." By E. Massie, 1867, p. 192. (4) "The day is gone, abide with me, 0 Jesus." By R. Massie, in the Day of Rest, 1877. v. Grosser Prophete, mein Herze begehret. Love to Christ. Founded on 1 Cor. xvi. 22. 1680, p. 191, in 4 stanzas. Translated as “Heavenly Prophet, my Heart is desiring." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 40. vi. Jehovah ist mein Licht und Gnadensonne. God's Perfections. Founded on 1 John i. 7. 1680, p. 19 in 4 stanzas, entitled, "Walking in the Light." Translated as, "Jehovah is my light, salvation showing." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 6). vii. 0 allerhöchster Menschenhüter. Morning. A hymn of praise to our Almighty Preserver. 1680, p. 11, in 6 stanzas, founded on Ps. lix. 16; and entitled, "The Christian singing at Morning." Translated as, "O Thou Most Highest! Guardian of mankind." By Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 72. viii. Unser Herrscher, unser König. Thanksgiving. Founded on Acts viii. 2. 1680, p. 147, in 6 stanzas, entitled, "The glorious Jehovah." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen 1851, No. 344. The well-known melody (in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns called Munich) is also by Neander, and appeared along with the hymn. Translated as, "Sovereign Ruler, King victorious," in the British Herald, Dec, 1865, p. 185, and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. ix. Wie fleucht dahin der Menschenzeit. For the Dying. A powerful hymn on the vanity of the earthly, founded on Ps. xc. 12. 1680, p. 174, in 7 stanzas, entitled, "He that counts his days." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 845. The translations are: (1) "This life is like a flying dream" (beginning with st. ii. "Das Leben ist gleich wie ein Traum"). By Mrs. Findlater, in Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1858, p. 24 (1884, p. 146). (2) "Though hastening onward to the grave." By E. Massie, 1867, p. 36. x. Wo soil ich hin? wer helfet mir? Lent. Founded on Romans vii. 24. 1680, p. 51, in 5 st. entitled “The distressed one longing for Redemption." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 393. The translations are: (1) "For help, O whither shall I flee." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 146). (2) "How shall I get there? who will aid?" By Miss Warner, 1858, p. 52. xi. Wunderbarer König. Thanksgiving. Founded on Ps. cl. 6. 1680, p. 159, in 4 stanzas, entitled, "Inciting oneself to the Praise of God." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 787. The melody, a very fine one (called by Mr. Mercer Groningen), is also by Neander, and appeared along with the hymn. The translations are: (1) "Wonderful Creator." By J. C. Jacobi, 1722, p. 88. (2) "Wonderful and blessed." By J. D. Burns in his Memoir and Remains, 1869, p. 230. (3) "Wondrous King Almighty." By N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 266. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Catherine Winkworth

1827 - 1878 Person Name: Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) Scripture: Psalm 17:8 Translator of "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation" in Church Hymnary (4th ed.) Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used in many modern hymnals. Her work was published in two series of Lyra Germanica (1855, 1858) and in The Chorale Book for England (1863), which included the appropriate German tune with each text as provided by Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. Winkworth also translated biographies of German Christians who promoted ministries to the poor and sick and compiled a handbook of biographies of German hymn authors, Christian Singers of Germany (1869). Bert Polman ======================== Winkworth, Catherine, daughter of Henry Winkworth, of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was born in London, Sep. 13, 1829. Most of her early life was spent in the neighbourhood of Manchester. Subsequently she removed with the family to Clifton, near Bristol. She died suddenly of heart disease, at Monnetier, in Savoy, in July, 1878. Miss Winkworth published:— Translations from the German of the Life of Pastor Fliedner, the Founder of the Sisterhood of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserworth, 1861; and of the Life of Amelia Sieveking, 1863. Her sympathy with practical efforts for the benefit of women, and with a pure devotional life, as seen in these translations, received from her the most practical illustration possible in the deep and active interest which she took in educational work in connection with the Clifton Association for the Higher Education of Women, and kindred societies there and elsewhere. Our interest, however, is mainly centred in her hymnological work as embodied in her:— (1) Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855. (2) Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858. (3) The Chorale Book for England (containing translations from the German, together with music), 1863; and (4) her charming biographical work, the Christian Singers of Germany, 1869. In a sympathetic article on Miss Winkworth in the Inquirer of July 20, 1878, Dr. Martineau says:— "The translations contained in these volumes are invariably faithful, and for the most part both terse and delicate; and an admirable art is applied to the management of complex and difficult versification. They have not quite the fire of John Wesley's versions of Moravian hymns, or the wonderful fusion and reproduction of thought which may be found in Coleridge. But if less flowing they are more conscientious than either, and attain a result as poetical as severe exactitude admits, being only a little short of ‘native music'" Dr. Percival, then Principal of Clifton College, also wrote concerning her (in the Bristol Times and Mirror), in July, 1878:— "She was a person of remarkable intellectual and social gifts, and very unusual attainments; but what specially distinguished her was her combination of rare ability and great knowledge with a certain tender and sympathetic refinement which constitutes the special charm of the true womanly character." Dr. Martineau (as above) says her religious life afforded "a happy example of the piety which the Church of England discipline may implant.....The fast hold she retained of her discipleship of Christ was no example of ‘feminine simplicity,' carrying on the childish mind into maturer years, but the clear allegiance of a firm mind, familiar with the pretensions of non-Christian schools, well able to test them, and undiverted by them from her first love." Miss Winkworth, although not the earliest of modern translators from the German into English, is certainly the foremost in rank and popularity. Her translations are the most widely used of any from that language, and have had more to do with the modern revival of the English use of German hymns than the versions of any other writer. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============================ See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Philip Doddridge

1702 - 1751 Person Name: Philip Doddridge, 1702-1751 Scripture: Psalm 17 Author of "O God of Bethel, by Whose Hand" in Common Praise (1998) Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Northampton." He died in Lisbon soon after his arrival. Doddridge wrote some four hundred hymn texts, generally to accompany his sermons. These hymns were published posthumously in Hymns, Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures (1755); relatively few are still sung today. Bert Polman ======================== Doddridge, Philip, D.D., was born in London, June 26, 1702. His grandfather was one of the ministers under the Commonwealth, who were ejected in 1662. His father was a London oilman. He was offered by the Duchess of Bedford an University training for ordination in the Church of England, but declined it. He entered Mr. Jennings's non-conformist seminary at Kibworth instead; preached his first sermon at Hinckley, to which Mr. Jennings had removed his academy. In 1723 he was chosen pastor at Kibworth. In 1725 he changed his residence to Market Harborough, still ministering at Kibworth. The settled work of his life as a preceptor and divine began in 1729, with his appointment to the Castle Hill Meeting at Northampton, and continued till in the last stage of consumption. He sailed to Lisbon, in 1751, where he died October 26, the same year. Two hundred pupils in all, gathered from England, Scotland and Holland, were prepared in his seminary, chiefly for the dissenting ministry, but partly for professions. The wide range of subjects, including daily readings in Hebrew and Greek, Algebra, Trigonometry, Watts' Logic, outline of Philosophy, and copious Divinity, is itself a proof of Doddridge's learning. He was presented with his D.D. degree by the University of Aberdeen. His fame as a divine, combined with his wide sympathies and gentle, unaffected goodness, won for him the friendship of Watts, Col. Gardiner and Hervey, and the esteem of Seeker and Warburton. He welcomed the work of Wesley and Whitefield, and entertained the latter on his visit to Northampton. His Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul and The Family Expositor both did good work in their day. For criticism of his hymns see English Hymnody, Early, § XIV. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] After Dr. Doddridge's death his hymns were published by his friend Job Orton, in 1755, as:— "Hymns founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures. By the late Reverend Philip Doddridge, D.D. Published from the Author's Manuscript by Job Orton . . . Salop. Printed by J. Eddowes and J. Cotton, &c. MDCCLV." Concerning the text of the hymns, Orton says in his Preface:— "There may perhaps be some improprieties, owing to my not being able to read the author's manuscript in particular places, and being obliged, without a poetical genius, to supply those deficiencies, whereby the beauty of the stanza may be greatly defaced, though the sense is preserved." The 1st edition contained 370 hymns; the 2nd, 1759, 374; and the 3rd, 1766, and later editions, 375. In 1839 Doddridge's great-grandson re-edited the hymns from the original manuscript and published the same as:— Scriptural Hymns by the Rev. Philip Doddridge, D.D. New and corrected edition containing many hymns never before printed. Edited from the Original Documents by the Author's great-grandson, John Doddridge Humphreys, Esq. Lond. Darton & Clark, 1839. This work contains 22 additional hymns. The text differs in many instances from Orton's, but these changes have not come into common use. In addition to the manuscript used by Orton and J. D. Humphreys, another containing 100 hymns (five of which are not in any edition of the Hymns), all in the author's handwriting, and most of them dated, is referred to in this Dictionary as the "D. Manuscripts." It is the property of Mr. W. S. Booker and family. A manuscript, not in Doddridge's handwriting, of 77 "Hymns by P. Doddridge, Mar. 16, 1739/1740," is in the possession of Mr. W. T. Brooke. The existence of these manuscripts is accounted for from the fact that Doddridge's hymns were freely circulated in manuscript during his lifetime. It is from his correspondence with R. Blair (q.v.) that the few compositions traceable to him in the Scottish Trans. & Paraphrases were derived. The hymns by Doddridge which have attained to the greatest popularity are:— “Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve"; " Do not I love Thee, O my Lord? " "Grace 'tis a charming sound”; " Hark, the glad sound, the Saviour comes"; "My God, and is Thy table spread?" "O happy day, that fixed my choice"; "O God of Jacob [Bethel], by Whose hand”; " See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand"; "Ye servants of the Lord." These hymns, with many besides, are annotated under their respective first lines. Of the rest, taken from the Hymns, &c, 1755, the following are also in common use:— 1. Behold the gloomy vale. Death anticipated. 2. Behold the Great Physician stands. Christ the Physician. 3. Captives of Israel, hear. Spiritual Deliverance. 4. Eternal God, our wondering souls. Enoch's Piety and Translation. 5. Eternal Source of life and thought. Subjection to the Father. G. Exalted Prince of Life, we own. Christ the Prince and Saviour. 7. Father Divine, the Saviour cried. Christ's Submission to the Father. 8. Father Divine, Thy piercing eye. Secret Prayer. 9. Father of mercies, send Thy grace. Sympathy. The Good Samaritan. 10. Go, saith the Lord, proclaim my grace. Forgiveness. 11. God of Eternity, from Thee. Redeeming the Time. 12. God of my life, through all its [my] days. Praising God continually. 13. God. of salvation, we adore. Praise to God for Redemption. 14. Great Father of mankind. Gentiles brought into the Church. 15. Great God, we sing that mighty hand. The New Tear. 16. Great Leader of Thine Israel's host. During Persecution. 17. Great Lord of angels, we adore. Ordination. 18. Great Spirit of immortal love. Purity of Heart desired. 19. Great Teacher of Thy Church, we own. The Divine Precepts. 20. Hail, everlasting Prince of Peace. Sympathy. 21. Hail to the Prince of life and peace. Praise to Christ. 22. Hear, gracious [Saviour] Sovereign, from Thy throne. The Blessings of the Holy Spirit desired. 23. How gentle God's commands. God's Care of His Own. 24. How rich Thy favours, God of grace. God and His Living Temple. 25. How swift the torrent flows [rolls]. Our Fathers, where are they? 26. Jesus the Lord, our souls adore. Christ the Forerunner. 27. Jesus, we own Thy Sovereign hand. Christ to be fully known hereafter. 28. Loud let the tuneful trumpet sound. Gospel Jubilee. 29. My gracious Lord, I own Thy right. Life in Jesus. 30. My [Dear] Saviour, I am [we are] Thine. Joined to Christ through the Spirit. 31. My soul, with all thy waking powers. The Choice of Moses. 32. Now let our voices join. Singing in the ways of God. 33. 0 injured Majesty of heaven. Lent. 34. 0 Zion, tune thy voice. Glory of the Church of Christ. 35. Peace, 'tis the Lord Jehovah's hand. Resignation. 36. Praise the Lord of boundless might. The Father of Lights. 37. Praise to Thy Name, Eternal God. Growth in Grace desired. 38. Remark, my soul, the narrow bounds. The New Year. 39. Repent, the Voice celestial cries. Lent. 40. Return, my roving heart, return. Heart communing. 41. Salvation, O melodious sound. God our Salvation. 42. Saviour of men, and Lord of love. Ministry and Death of Christ. 43. Searcher of hearts, before Thy face. Peter to Simon Magus. 44. Shepherd of Israel, Thou dost keep. Induction or Settlement of a Minister. 45. Shine forth, eternal Source of light. Knowledge of God desired. 46. Shine on our souls, eternal God. Sunday. 47. Sing, ye redeemed of the Lord. Joy on the Homeward Way. 48. Sovereign of life, before Thine eye. Life and Death in God's hands. 49. The darkened sky, how thick it lours. Sorrow followed by Joy. 50. The day approacheth, O my soul. Judgment anticipated. 51. The King of heaven His table spreads. The Gospel Feast. 52. The promises I sing. The unchanging promises of God. 53. The swift-declining day. Walk in the Light. 54. These mortal joys, how soon they fade. Treasures, Perishable and Eternal. 55. Thy judgments cry aloud. Retributive Providence. 56. Thy presence, Everlasting God. Omnipresence of the Father. 57. 'Tis mine, the covenant of His grace. Death anticipated. 58. To Thee, my God; my days are known. Life under the eye of God. 59. Tomorrow, Lord, is Thine. Uncertainty of Life. 60. Triumphant Lord, Thy goodness reigns. The Divine Goodness. 61. Triumphant Zion, lift thy head. The Church Purified and Guarded. 62. Unite my roving thoughts, unite. Peace. 63. What mysteries, Lord, in Thee combine. Christ, the First and Last. 64. While on the verge of life I stand. Death anticipated with Joy. 65. With ecstacy of Joy. Christ the Living Stone. 66. Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell. Heaven opening. 67. Ye hearts with youthful vigour warm. The Young encouraged. 68. Ye humble souls, that seek the Lord. Easter. 69. Ye sons of men, with joy record. Praise of the Works of God. 70. Yes, the Redeemer rose. Easter In Dr. Hatfield's Church HymnBook, N. Y., 1872, Nos. 9, 12, 14, 15, 21, 23, 25, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 39, 40, 44, 47, 51, 61, 64, 65, 67, 69, 70, as above, are dated 1740. What authority there may be for this date we cannot say, these hymns not being in any “D. MSS." with which we are acquainted, and no dates are given in the Hymns, &c, 1755. Some later American editors have copied this date from Dr. Hatfield. Doddridge's hymns are largely used by Unitarians both in Great Britain and America. As might be expected, the Congregationalists also draw freely from his stores. The Baptists come next. In the hymnals of the Church of England the choicest, only are in use. Taken together, over one-third of his hymns are in common usage at the present time. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Doddridge, Philip, D.D. At p. 305 an account is given of a manuscript volume of Doddridge's Hymns, which is the property of the Rooker family. Since that article was written another manuscript vol. has been found. It was the property of Lady Frances Gardiner, née Erskine, an intimate friend of Doddridge, and wife of Col. Gardiner. It is a copy of the Rooker manuscipt, with the revised text, as in the margin of that ms., and is in Doddridge's hand¬writing. It was from this manuscript that the Doddridge hymns were taken for the Scottish Translationsand Paraphrases, 1745. Additional hymns by Dr. Doddridge still in common use include:— 1. My God, how cheerful is the sound. All in Christ. 2. My Saviour, let me hear Thy voice. Pardon desired. 3. My soul, triumphant in the Lord. Divine Guidance assured. 4. No «iore, ye wise, your wisdom boast. Glorying in God alone. From Hymns, No. 128. 5. Now be that Sacrifice survey'd. Christ our Sacrifice. 6. 0 Israel, blest beyond compare. Happiness of God's Israel. 7. Our fathers, where are they? Considering the Past. From Hymns, No. 164. 8. Praise to the Lord on high. Missions. 9. Praise to the radiant Source of bliss. Praise for Divine Guidance. 10. Return, my soul, and seek thy rest. Rest in Jesus. 11. Salvation doth to God belong. National Thanksgiving. 12. Sovereign of Life, I own Thy hand. On Recovery from Sickness. 13. The sepulchres, how thick they stand. Burial. 14. There is a Shepherd kind and strong. The Good Shepherd. From Hymns, No. 216. 15. Wait on the Lord, ye heirs of hope. Waiting on God. 16. We bless the eternal Source of light. Christ's care of the Church. 17. With transport, Lord, our souls proclaim. Immutability of Christ. 18. Ye mourning saints, whose streaming tears. Death and Burial. These all appeared in Dr. Doddridge's Hymns, 1755. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Ken Medema

b. 1943 Scripture: Psalm 17:6 Author of "Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying" in The Worshiping Church Ken Medema (b. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1943) is a song writer, composer, recording artist, and story-teller through music. Blind from birth, Ken began playing the piano at age five and studied classical music by reading Braille. He graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School and studied music therapy at Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan. As a music therapist in both Indiana and New Jersey, he began writing songs for hurting teenagers, an experience that helped to launch a career of writing songs on Christian life that has taken him to venues large and small all over North America and beyond. He responds to what he hears and sees in his heart at particular events, often improvising songs on the spot, offering compassion, honesty and desire for integrity in both worship and life. In 1985 he began Brier Patch Music, which continues to publish his music and recordings, including 26 CDs. Bert Polman

Bob Hurd

b. 1950 Person Name: Bob Hurd, b. 1950 Scripture: Psalm 17:6-9 Author of "Shelter Me, O God" in Gather Comprehensive

Michael Haydn

1737 - 1806 Person Name: Michael Haydn, 1737-1806 Scripture: Psalm 17:1 Composer of "SALZBURG" in The Book of Praise Johann Michael Haydn Austria 1737-1806. Born at Rohrau, Austria, the son of a wheelwright and town mayor (a very religious man who also played the harp and was a great influence on his sons' religious thinking), and the younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn, he became a choirboy in his youth at the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna, as did his brother, Joseph, an exceptional singer. For that reason boys both were taken into the church choir. Michael was a brighter student than Joseph, but was expelled from music school when his voice broke at age 17. The brothers remained close all their lives, and Joseph regarded Michael's religious works superior to his own. Michael played harpsichord, violin, and organ, earning a precarious living as a freelance musician in his early years. In 1757 he became kapellmeister to Archbishop, Sigismund of Grosswardein, in Hungary, and in 1762 concertmaster to Archbishop, Hieronymous of Salzburg, where he remained the rest of his life (over 40 years), also assuming the duties of organist at the Church of St. Peter in Salzburg, presided over by the Benedictines. He also taught violin at the court. He married the court singer, Maria Magdalena Lipp in 1768, daughter of the cathedral choir-master, who was a very pious women, and had such an affect on her husband, trending his inertia and slothfulness into wonderful activity. They had one daughter, Aloysia Josepha, in 1770, but she died within a year. He succeeded Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an intimate friend, as cathedral organist in 1781. He also taught music to Carl Maria von Weber. His musical reputation was not recognized fully until after World War II. He was a prolific composer of music, considered better than his well-known brother at composing religious works. He produced some 43 symphonies,12 concertos, 21 serenades, 6 quintets, 19 quartets, 10 trio sonatas, 4 due sonatas, 2 solo sonatas, 19 keyboard compositions, 3 ballets, 15 collections of minuets (English and German dances), 15 marches and miscellaneous secular music. He is best known for his religious works (well over 400 pieces), which include 47 antiphons, 5 cantatas, 65 canticles, 130 graduals, 16 hymns, 47 masses, 7 motets, 65 offertories, 7 oratorios, 19 Psalms settings, 2 requiems, and 42 other compositions. He also composed 253 secular vocals of various types. He did not like seeing his works in print, and kept most in manuscript form. He never compiled or cataloged his works, but others did it later, after his death. Lothar Perger catalogued his orchestral works in 1807 and Nikolaus Lang did a biographical sketch in 1808. In 1815 Anton Maria Klafsky cataloged his sacred music. More complete cataloging has been done in the 1980s and 1990s by Charles H Sherman and T Donley Thomas. Several of Michael Haydn's works influenced Mozart. Haydn died at Salzburg, Austria. John Perry

A. Williams

1731 - 1776 Person Name: Aaron Williams Scripture: Psalm 17:8 Composer of "ST. THOMAS" in Psalter Hymnal (Gray) Aaron Williams (b. London, England, 1731; d. London, 1776) was a singing teacher, music engraver, and clerk at the Scottish Church, London Wall. He published various church music collections, some intended for rural church choirs. Representative of his compilations are The Universal Psalmodist (1763)— published in the United States as The American Harmony (1769)—The Royal Harmony (1766), The New Universal Psalmodist (1770), and Psalmody in Miniature (1778). His Harmonia Coelestis (1775) included anthems by noted composers. Bert Polman

John Logan

1748 - 1788 Person Name: John Logan, 1748-1788 Scripture: Psalm 17 Author of "O God of Bethel, by Whose Hand" in Common Praise (1998) Logan, John, son of a farmer, born at Fala, Midlothian, 1748, and educated at Edinburgh University, in due course entering the ministry of the Church of Scotland and becoming the minister of South Leith in 1770. During the time he held this charge he delivered a course of lectures on philosophy and history with much success. While he was thus engaged, the chair of Universal History in the University became vacant; but as a candidate he was unsuccessful. A tragedy, entitled Runnamede, followed. He offered it to the manager of Covent Garden Theatre, but it was interdicted by the Lord Chamberlain "upon suspicion of having a seditious tendency." It was subsequently acted in Edinburgh. In 1775 he formed one of the Committee by whom the Translations and Paraphrases of the Church of Scotland was prepared. In 1782 he was compelled to resign his charge at Leith in order to prevent deposition, and finally, having passed on to London, he supported himself partly by his pen, and died there, Dec. 28, 1788. [Also, see Bruce, Michael] The names of Michael Bruce and John Logan are brought together because of the painful controversy which has long prevailed concerning the authorship of certain Hymns and Paraphrases of Holy Scripture which are in extensive use in the Christian Church both at home and abroad. During the latter years of Bruce's short life he wrote various Poems, and also Hymns for a singing class at Kinnesswood, which were well known to his family and neighbours, and were eventually copied out by Bruce himself in a quarto MS. book, with the hope that some day he might see them in print. Immediately upon his death, in 1767, Logan called upon his father and requested the loan of this book that he might publish the contents for the benefit of the family. This was granted. Not till three years afterwards did a certain work, containing seventeen poems, and entitled Poems on Several Occasions, by Michael Bruce, 1770, appear, with a Preface in which it was stated that some of the Poems were by others than Bruce. Bruce's father immediately pointed out the absence from the volume of certain hymns which he called his son's "Gospel Sonnets," and members of the singing class at Kinnesswood also noted the absence of hymns with which they were familiar. Letters of remonstrance and demands for the return of the quarto manuscript book of Bruce by the father remaining unanswered, led him eventually to see Logan in person. No book was forthcoming, a few scraps of manuscript only were returned, and Logan accounted for the absence of the book by saying he feared "that the servants had singed fowls with it." For a time the matter rested here, only to be revived with renewed interest by the publication, in 1781 (14 years after the death of Bruce, and 11 after the Poems, &c, were issued), of Poems. By the Rev. Mr. Logan, One of the Ministers of Leith. In this volume, an "Ode to the Cuckoo," a poem of exquisite beauty, and other poetical pieces which appeared in the Poems on Several Occasions, by Michael Bruce, were repeated, and claimed as his own by Logan. In addition, certain Hymns and Paraphrases were included, most of which were of sterling merit, and poetical excellence. It has been shown, we think, most conclusively by Dr. Mackelvie in his Life of Bruce prefixed to the Poems, 1837 and by Dr. Grosart in his Works of M. Bruce, 1865, that the "Ode to the Cuckoo," "Lochleven," and other poetical pieces were taken from MS. book of M. Bruce. The Hymns and Paraphrases, most of which were included in the Translations and Paraphrases during the same year, were also claimed for Bruce. Until clearer evidence is brought forward on behalf of Bruce, the hymns, or paraphrases, following must be ascribed to John Logan: — "Who can resist th'Almighty arm"; "In streets and op'nings of the gates”; "Thus speaks the heathen: How shall man"; "Take comfort, Christians, when your friends"; "The hour of my departure's come." The following, which are found only in the Translations and Paraphrases of 1781, are claimed by W. Cameron for Logan, and have never been seriously disputed by the friends of Bruce, the second being original, the first a revise from the Translations and Paraphrases of 1745; and the third a revise of Doddridge and Dr. Hugh Blair:— "Let Christian faith and hope dispel"; “Thus speaks the high and lofty One"; "What though no flowers the fig-tree clothe." In addition, we see no cause to deny to Logan the few changes, and new stanza, which are found in Doddridge's "0 God of Bethel, by Whose hand." Of the above hymns 5 are recasts of hymns in the Scottish Translations and Paraphrases of 1745. Those are: "Behold the mountain of the Lord " (see "In latter days the mount of God "); "When Jesus by the Virgin brought" (see "Now let Thy servant die in peace"); "Behold the Ambassador divine" (see "Behold my Servant, see Him rise"); "Let Christian faith and hope dispel" (see “Now let our souls ascend above"); and "What though no flowers the fig-tree clothe" (see "So firm the saints' foundation stands"). …It is curious to note that every hymn which we have ascribed to M. Bruce has come into more or less extensive use outside of the Translations and Paraphrases, and that not one which we have ascribed to Logan, except "Let Christian faith and hope dispel," and “Take comfort, Christians," &c, is found beyond that work, unless we give to Logan the plaintive "The hour of my departure's come" (which Dr. Grosart claims for Bruce), and the recast "O God of Bethel, by Whose hand," whose success is due to Doddridge. This is the verdict of 100 years' use of those hymns, and shows conclusively the poetic strength of Bruce and the weakness of Logan. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logan_%28minister%29

Isaac Williams

1802 - 1865 Scripture: Psalm 17:8-9 Author of "Lord, in this Thy mercy's day" in The Presbyterian Book of Praise Isaac Williams was born in London, in 1802. His father was a barrister. The son studied at Trinity College, Oxford, where he gained the prize for Latin verse. He graduated B.A. 1826, M.A. 1831, and B.D. 1839. He was ordained Deacon in 1829, and Priest in 1831. His clerical appointments were Windrush (1829), S. Mary the Virgin's, Oxford (1832), and Bisley (1842-1845). He was Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, from 1832 to 1842. During the last twenty years of his life his health was so poor as to permit but occasional ministerial services. He died in 1865. He was the author of some prose writings, amongst which are Nos. 80, 86 and 87 of the "Oxford Tracts." His commentaries are favourably known. He also published quite a large number of poems and hymns and translations. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872 ========================== Williams, Isaac, B.D., was born at Cwmcynfelin in Cardiganshire, Dec. 12, 1802, where his mother happened to be staying at her father's house at the time of his birth. But his parents' house was in Bloomsbury, London, his father beiug a Chancery barrister at Lincoln's Inn. He received his early education from a clergyman named Polehampton, with whom he was at first a day pupil in London, but whom he afterwards accompanied to a curacy at Worplesdon, near Guildford. All Mr. Polehampton's pupils (15), with the exception of Isaac Williams and his two elder brothers, were being prepared for Eton, where great stress was laid upon Latin versification; and it was in these early years that Isaac Williams acquired his fondness for, and proficiency in, this species of composition. In 1814 he was removed to Harrow, where Mr. Drury was his private tutor. He gained several school prizes, and became so used, not only to write, but to think, in Latin, that when he had to write an English theme he was obliged to translate his ideas, which were in Latin, into English. In 1821 he proceeded to Trinity College, Oxford, that college being chosen on the advice of Mr. Drury; and in his second term he was elected scholar of Trinity. In 1823 he won the University Prize for Latin Verse, the subject being Ars Geologica. The gaining of this prize was indirectly the turning point of his life, for it brought him into close relationship with John Keble, who may be termed his spiritual father. He had been previously introduced to Mr. Keble by the Vicar of Aberystwith, Mr. Richards, whom he had met at his grandfather's house. But there was no intimacy between them until he had won the Latin Verse Prize, when Mr. Keble came to his rooms and offered to look over the poem with him before it was recited and printed. This led to an intimate acquaintance which ripened into a warm friendship of infinite benefit to Isaac Williams's spiritual life. Mr. Keble offered to take him with him into the country and read with him during the Long Vacation, without any payment. Robert Wilberforce, then an undergraduate of Oriel, was also to be of the party. They settled at Southrop, near Fahford, a name familiar to the readers of Keble Life. Here Isaac Williams made the acquaintance of Hurrell Froude, who was also reading with Mr. Keble, and this acquaintance also ripened into a friendship which was terminated only by death. Keble was like a boy with his pupils, entering with zest into all their amusements, but he also exercised a deep influence over their religious characters, especially that of Isaac Williams. Williams spent this and all his subsequent Long Vacations at Southrop, and became more and more influenced for good by Mr. Keble. He also became a great friend of Sir George Prevost, then an undergraduate of Oriel, who afterwards married his only sister. During one of these sojourns at Southrop, Keble showed Williams and Froude a manuscript copy of the Christian Year, but, strange to say, the young men did not appreciate its beauties. Williams's intimacy with Keble caused alarm to Mr. Hughes, the successor of the Vicar of Aberystwith who had first brought the two together; Mr. Hughes was greatly shocked to hear that he was a friend of Mr. Keble of Oriel, and said he would introduce him to a most excellent and promising person there, a Mr. Newman, whom the evangelical vicar knew in connexion with the Church Missionary Society, and who would, he doubtless thought, supply an antidote to Keble's High Church opinions. While Williams was an undergraduate at Oxford, though he was a member of Trinity College, he spent much of his time at Oriel, attracted thither, not only because it was Keble's college, but also because he had many friends there, the chief of whom were the Wilberforces, Ryder, Anderson (now Sir C. Anderson), Hurrell Froude, and Sir G. Prevost. As an accomplished scholar who had the benefit of Keble's tuition, it was naturally expected that he would take a high degree; and so, no doubt, he would have done, had he not attempted too much. In spite of the warnings of friends, he resolved to aim at a "double first," and, as mathematical studies were not to his taste, the labour over this uncongenial work in addition to the necessary preparation for the classical school was too severe for him; his health broke down, and he was obliged to be content with a pass degree. In 1829 he was ordained to the curacy of Windrush, about twelve miles from Fairford where Keble then lived, and about twenty from Bisley, where his brother-in-law, Sir George Prevost, who was now married, was curate. But he did not stay long at Windrush. Passman though he was, he competed successfully for a Trinity Fellowship, and had to return to Oxford the same year as college tutor. He lived on terms of great intimacy with Hurrell Froude, then Fellow of Oriel, and was introduced by him to J. H. Newman, to whom he was much attracted, like almost all who were brought into contact with that remarkable man. The attraction appears to have been mutual, and Williams became Newman's curate at S. Mary's, Oxford, which then included the village or rather hamlet of Littlemore. In 1842 he married Caroline, the third daughter of Arthur Champernown, of Dartington Hall, Devon, left Oxford, and went to Bisley as curate to Mr. T. Keble. So far as his outer life went, little more need be said. Nothing seems to have occurred to ruffle its placid course, except one episode which occurred in 1841-2. When John Keble resigned the Poetry Professorship at Oxford, he was naturally anxious that his friend Williams should be his successor. Not only was there a warm personal friendship and an entire sympathy of opinion on the most important of all matters between the two men, but on the score of poetical merit, Williams seemed to him obviously the proper person. He had already published several of his poetical works, and his reputation as a sacred poet was second only to that of Keble himself. But he was also identified in a peculiar way with the Tract writers. He had actually written that Tract which, next to the memorable Tract 90, had given the greatest offence of all, viz.: Tract 80, on Reserve in the Communication of Religious Knowledge, and he was also known as the especial friend and late coadjutor of Newman. It is not, therefore, surprising that vehement opposition was raised against his election. A rival candidate was found in the person of Mr. Edward Garbett, of Brasenose, a First Classman, but quite unknown in the domain of poetry. There was really no comparison whatever between the fitness of the two candidates, but that counted for little when men's minds were heated by the "odium theologicum." It became simply a party question; but a public contest was happily averted by a private comparison of votes, when it was found that there was a large majority of votes in favour of Mr. Garbett. Mr. Williams was much hurt—not by the opposition of the Low Churchmen, for he expected that,—but by the desertion of several whom he counted upon as friends. He withdrew from Oxford and from public life (which had never possessed much attraction to a man of his retiring and studious habits) altogether. He remained at Bisley until 1848, when he removed to Stinchcombe; and there he lived until his death. From time to time some cultured and thoughtful work from his pen was given to the world, but that was all; and when the announcement that he had quietly passed away on SS. Philip and James Day, May 1, 1865, appeared, the outer world had almost forgotten that he was still living, though it had not forgotten, and will not, it is hoped, while the English language lasts, ever forget his writings. He died of a decline, the seeds of which had long been sown. As a devotional writer both in prose and verse the name of Isaac Williams stands deservedly high, but as a writer of hymns for congregational use, he does not, either for quantity or quality, at all reach the first rank. Indeed, it would have been very distressing to him if he had done so, for he shared the distaste which most of the early leaders of the Oxford movement felt for the congregational use of any metrical hymns apart from the Psalter, and it is said that he purposely made his translations of the Hymns from the Parisian Breviary rough, in order to prevent them from being so used. His poetical works are:— (1.) The Cathedral, his first publication in verse, issued in the early part of 1838. It was written about the same time as the famous Tract on Reserve, and "in pursuance of the same great object we had undertaken " (in the Tracts for the Times). What that object was is intimated in the alternative title, The Cathedral, or the Catholic and Apostolic Church in England. It followed very much the same lines as George Herbert's Temple, only it worked out the ideas far more in detail, connecting each part of the edifice with some portion of church doctrine or discipline. The whole volume is written in the true spirit of poetry, and some of the sonnets in it are good specimens of that difficult form of composition; but it contains scarcely any verses out of which even centos of hymns can be formed. (2.) Later on in the same year (1838) he published a volume, entitled Thoughts in Past Years, though, as the title implies, many of its contents were written at an earlier date. In fact the composition ranged over a period of at least twelve years. In the writer's own opinion there was more true, poetry in this volume than in The Cathedral, but the latter had the advantage of being written on one systematic plan, while the Thoughts was a collection of detached poems. The connexion between the four divisions of the volume was, that they were all suggested by the writer's surroundings. Thus the “Golden Valley" was the beautiful district in the neighbourhood of Stroud known by that name; "The Mountain Home" was the writer's own birthplace, Cwmcynfelin in Cardiganshire; "The River's Bank" was the River Windrush, on the banks of which was the writer's first curacy; "The Sacred City" is Oxford. In a later edition (1852) there is an additional division entitled "The side of the Hill," that is, Stinchcombe Hill, Gloucestershire. Like The Cathedral, this is rather a volume of sonnets and sacred poems for private use, than of hymns in the popular sense of the term. The same volume contains his Beliquiae Latinae; or Harrow School Exercises, and his Oxford Prize Poem, Ars Geologica. The Latinity of these poems fully bears out the writer's own remark, that in his early years he was more at home in Latin than he was in his own language. It also contained a translation of the "Dies Irse, Dies Ilia," to which, in the revised and enlarged edition of 1848, were added, under the title of Lyra Ecclesiastica, a number of translations from other Latin and Greek Hymns. These translations are for the most part very free, and are not adapted, as they were certainly not intended, for congregational use. (3.) His next publication was Hymns translated from the Parisian Breviary, 1839. He thought that "the ancient Latin hymns were the best source from which our acknowledged deficiency in metrical psalmody should be supplied, as being much more congenial to the spirit of our own Liturgy than those hymns which are too often made to take part in our ancient services;" and he had already published many of the translations which appear in this volume, at intervals from 1833 to 1837, in the British Magazine, the church organ which was edited by Hugh James Rose. A few hymns from this volume, e.g. "0 Heavenly Jerusalem," "Disposer Supreme," "0 Word of God above," have been adopted for congregational use, but most of these are, perhaps purposely, done into such irregular metres, that they are not available for the purpose. Indirectly, however, they have been highly serviceable to the cause of congregational psalmody, for Mr. Chandler tells us in the Preface to his Hymns of the Primitive Church that Mr. Williams's translations in the British Magazine led him to produce that work. (4.) The next little volume, Hymns on the Catechism, was written at Bisley and published in 1842. Its object was strictly practical; it was intended as "an aid towards following out that catechetical instruction which is so essential a part of the church system." It cannot be said that these hymns are likely to be so attractive to children, as, for example, those of Mrs. Alexander, but they are suitable for congregational, or at any rate, for Sunday school use, and one of them, "Be Thou my Guardian and my Guide," has found its way deservedly into most collections. (5.) In the same year (1842) a much more ambitious work, The Baptistery, also saw the light. One seems to recognize in this work the pupil of John Keble, for its leading idea is very much the same as that of Tract , viz.: that earthly things are a shadow of heavenly. It is divided into thirty-two "Images," as the author terms them; it is not easy reading, but it well repays the careful attention which it requires, for both in form and matter it is the product of a true poet. One of the "Images," the 20th, "The Day of Days, or the Great Manifestation," has supplied our well-known hymn, "Lord, in this, Thy mercy's day," but the general tenour of the work is quite apart from hymnody. (6.) The same may be said of The Altar, published in 1847, which takes the second great Sacrament of the Gospel, as The Baptistery took the first, for the basis of a series of devout meditations, 34 in number. The first edition was illustrated by 34 pictures, one to each meditation, after the fashion of a foreign book which the writer had seen; but the illustrations were thought unworthy of the subject, and the later editions appeared without them. The object of the work was to connect the various events which occurred at the time of our Blessed Lord's Passion with the Eucharistic Service. It consists exclusively of a series of sonnets, and supplies no hymns for congregational use. (7.) In the same year (1849) appeared another work of a very different type. It is entitled The Christian Scholar, and its object is "to render the study of the classics subservient to a higher wisdom." It incidentally gives us an interesting insight into the author's own training under Mr. Keble, for he tells us in the Preface that he himself "derived, not merely moral benefit, but actual religious training from this indirect mode of instruction in another to whom he owes everything that renders life valuable." The plan of the book is, in a word, to take passages from all the chief classical authors, and to give Christian comments on each. (8.) His only other poetical work was Ancient Hymns for Children, 1842, which consisted of a reprint, with slight alterations, of 30 of his translations from the Latin, previously published in 1838 and 1839 as above. Although Isaac Williams's prose writings are as valuable, and perhaps more popular than his verse, yet from the point of view of this article it will suffice to enumerate the principal of them. They include— Several reviews for The British Critic at various dates; Thoughts on the Study of the Gospels, 1842; Sermons on the Characters of the Old Testament, 1856; The Beginning of the Book of Genesis, with Notes and Reflections, 1861; The Psalms interpreted of Christ, vol. i., 1864 (no other volumes were published); A Memoir of the Rev. R. A. Suckling, late Perpetual Curate of Bussage, 1852; A Harmony of the Four Gospels, 1850; Sermons on the Epistles and Gospels, 3 vols., 1853; Sermons on the Female Characters of Holy Scripture, 1859; The Apocalypse, 1851, and many other minor works. Besides these, he edited a large number of Plain Sermons at different dates by various writers, and he also wrote some of the Tracts for the Times, notably Tract 80 (1838), and 87 (1840), on Reserve in Communicating Religious Knowledge. It is difficult to see why these should have given so much offence. The principles on which the conclusion is based are obviously correct. Perhaps the title Reserve was alarming when men's minds were excited by the fear that they were being led by the new Oxford school they knew not whither. These two Tracts, with Tract 86, also by Isaac Williams, would fill an octavo volume of more than 200 pages. Both the character and the writings of Isaac Williams are singularly attractive. They both present a striking combination of qualities which are not often found in union. He was as firm as a rock in the maintenance and expression of his principles, but so quiet and retiring that his personality came far less before the public than that of any of the other leaders of the Oxford movement. His writings are so Christian and unaggressive in their tone that we are won over to his side almost without knowing it. He was a most valuable ally on this very account to his party, and the hymnologist may well regret that he did not devote his exquisite poetical taste, his refined culture, and his ardent piety more to hymnwriting than he did. [Rev. J. H. Overton, D.D.] Isaac Williams's position in hymnody does not lie so much in the actual work which he did, as in the influence he had over others. His translation from the Latin, mainly through the metres which he deliberately adopted, have not had a wide acceptance in the hymnody of the Church. J. Chandler, however, has left it on record that Williams's translations in the British Magazine led him to undertake kindred work, and Chandlers translations are amongst the most popular in the English language. Williams's Hymns on the Catechism, 1842, were with, Dr. Neale's Hymns for Children of the same year the forerunners of the more popular productions on the same lines by later writers. Of his original hymns the following are also in common use:- 1. How solemn, silent, and how still. Obedience (1842.) 2. Jesus, most loving Lord. Hymn to Christ (1844.) 3. Lord, Thou dost abhor the proud. Humility. 4. Members of Christ are we. Members of Christ. 5. The child leans on its parent's breast. Trust in God. (1842.) 6. The High Priest once a year. Ascension. (1842.) The dates here given indicate the works in which these hymns appeared. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)