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Emily Taylor

1795 - 1872 Person Name: E. Taylor Hymnal Number: 296 Author of "Come to the house of prayer! Oh, thou afflicted, come" in The Voice of Praise Taylor, Emily, born 1795, was the daughter of Samuel Taylor, of New Buckenham, Norfolk, niece of John Taylor, of Norwich, the hymnwriter, and great grand-daughter of Dr. John Taylor, the Hebraist. Miss Taylor was the writer of numerous tales for children, chiefly historical, and of various books of instruction, and of descriptive natural history. Amongst her publications are:— (1) Letters to a Child on Maritime Discovery, 1820; (2) Vision of Las Casas, and other Poems, 1825; (3) Poetical Illustrations of Passages of Scripture, 1826 ; (4) Tales of the Saxons, 1832; (5) Tales of the English, 1833; (6) Memoir of Sir T. More, 1834; (7) The Boy and the Birds, 1835. She also edited Sabbath Recreations, 1826; and Flowers and Fruit in Old English Gardens, 1836; and contributed to the Magnet Stories, 1860, &c.; and the Rainbow Stories, 1870, &c. Miss Taylor wrote several hymns, which appeared as follows:—To the Unitarian Collection of Psalms & Hymns, printed for the Renshaw Street Chapel, Liverpool, 1818, she contributed anonymously:— 1. Come to the house of prayer. Invitation to Public Worship. Sometimes given as "O come to the house of Prayer." 2. God of the changing year Whose arm of power. Lessons of the Changing Year. 3. O Father, though the anxious fear. Sunday. 4. O here, if ever, God of love. Holy Communion. These, and the following 6 hymns, were given anonymously in the 2nd ed. of the Norwich Unitarian Hymn Book, 1826:— 5. Here, Lord, when at Thy Table met. Holy Communion. 6. O not for these alone I pray. Holy Communion. Sometimes, "No, not for these alone I pray." 7. The Gospel is the light. Worth and Power of the Gospel. Sometimes “It is the one true light." 8. Thus shalt thou love the Almighty God [Lord] . Self-consecration to God. 9. Who shall behold the King of kings? Purity. 10. Who that o'er many a barren part. Missions. Sometimes it begins with st. ii., "Thy kingdom come! The heathen lands." Of the above No. 6 is part of a longer poem which was given in her Poetical Illustrations of Passages of Scripture, 1826. This work also contains:— 11. O Source of good! around me spread. Seek, and ye shall find. 12. Truly the light of morn is sweet. Early Piety. 13. When summer suns their radiance fling. Resignation with Praise. In the Rev. J. R. Beard's Collection of Hymns for Public and Private Worship, 1837, several of the above are repeated, and also:— 14. If love, the noblest, purest, best. Communion with Jesus. Of these 14 hymns 10 are in Dr. Martineau's Hymns, &c, 1840, and 9 in his Hymns, &c, 1873. Several are also found in other collections, as Horder's Congregational Hymns, 1881, and some American and other hymn-books. Although for the greater part of her life Miss Taylor was a Unitarian, latterly, under the influence of F. D. Maurice, she joined the Church of England She died in 1872. [Rev. Valentine D. Davis, B.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Joseph Hoskins

1745 - 1788 Person Name: Anon. Hymnal Number: 1007 Author of "Prisoner of sin, and Satan, too" in The Voice of Praise Hoskins, Joseph, was born in 1745, but at what place is unknown. He was a Congregational Minister, who for ten years laboured with great success at Castle Green Chapel, Bristol, and died Sept. 28, 1788, aged 43. During the three years previous to his death ho had written 384 hymns, which in the year following, after correction and revision, were published by Messrs. Moody & Bottomley, Congregational Ministers. The book is entitled, Hymns on Select Texts of Scripture and Occasional Subjects (Bristol, 1789). From this work the following hymns are in common use:— 1. Alas! my [the] Lord my Life is gone. Spiritual darkness and death. 2. Great Light of life, Thou nature's Lord. God, the True Light. 3. In Thy great Name, 0 Lord, we come. Divine Worship. 4. 0 how the hearts of those revive. Joy in Salvation. 5. Prisoners of sin and Satan too. Hope. 6. Saviour of sinners, deign to shine. Christ's light desired. 7. The time is short, ere all that live. Shortness of Time. Hoskins's hymns are said to have been greatly esteemed by his friends and hearers, but they have little poetic merit. [Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology ====================== Hoskins, J., p. 535, ii. Additional pieces from his Hymns, &c, 1789, in common use, in America include:— (1) "Let thoughtless thousands choose the road" (Life in Christ), p. 312; (2) "To-day the Saviour rose" (Easter), p. 364; (3) "Behold, behold the Lamb of God" (Invitation!), p. 242. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II ============ Hoskins, Joseph, pp. 535, ii., 1571, ii. The following additional hymns by Hoskins are in The New Psalms and Hymns (Presbyterian), Richmond, Va., 1901:— 1. It shall be well, let sinners know. The Promises of God. 2. Sinners, behold the Lamb of God. The Atonement; and in the Book of Worship with Hymns and Tunes ... of the Evang. Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, 1899:— 3. On Christ, by faith, my soul would live, from "Let thoughtless thousands," &c. p. 1571, ii. These hymns are from his Hymns, &c, 1789. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

James Boden

1757 - 1841 Person Name: Jas. Boden Hymnal Number: 243 Author of "Come, all ye saints of God" in The Voice of Praise Boden, James, was born April 13, 1757, in the house at Chester long occupied by Matthew Henry, and educated for the Congregational Ministry at Homerton College. In 1784 he became the pastor of the Independent Chapel, Hanley; and, in 1796, of the Queen's Street Chapel, Sheffield. This last charge he held for nearly 43 years. He died at Chesterfield, June 4, 1841. In 1801 he assisted Dr. Williams, of the Masborough Theological College, near Sheffield, in compiling A Collection of above Six Hundred Hymns designed as a New Supplement to Dr. Watts's Psalms & Hymns, &c, Doncaster, 1801. This collection is known as Williams and Boden, and to it is traced the anonymous modern version of "Jerusalem, my happy home" (q.v.). To this collection Boden contributed, under the signature "Boden” the following hymns:— 1. Bright source of everlasting love. Charity Sermon. 2. Come, all ye saints of God. Passiontide. 3. Come death, released from dread. Death. 4. Our great High Priest we sing. Christ the H. Priest. 5. Shall sin, that cruel foe? Lent. 6. Triumphant sing ye favoured [ransom'd] saints. Jesus, all in all. 7. We come, dear Jesus, to Thy throne. Prayer Meeting. Of these hymns, No. 1 appeared in the Evangelical Magazine Aug., 1798. Most of them are still in common use, but chiefly in America. They are of no special merit. In the Gospel Magazine, 1777, there are a few hymns under the signature "J-----s B-----n, Chester." Of these, one only (8), "Ye dying sons of men" [Invitation), was given in the Williams and Boden Collection, and then, not with the full signature of "Boden," but as by “B___." On this evidence mainly the hymn has been ascribed to James Boden. It appeared in the Gospel Magazine twice in 1777, in Feb. and in Aug. It may be by our author; but seeing that it alone of the eight hymns above noted is signed "B-----," and was given in the Gospel Magazine in 1777, and that the rest are signed "Baden," and did not appear in the Gospel Magazinein 1777, or in any other year, we regard the evidence as somewhat inconclusive. It has been suggested that possibly the "J-----s B-----n, Chester," was his father. The signatures appended to the hymns in the 1st edition of Williams & Boden, 1801, were omitted from the 2nd edition, 1803, and portions of the Preface were rewritten. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Alexander Pope

1688 - 1744 Person Name: Pope Hymnal Number: 238 Author of "Rise, crowned with light, great Salem, rise!" in The Voice of Praise Alexander Pope was born in London, in 1688. His parents were Roman Catholics. He had a feeble constitution, was deformed in person, and attained the age of only fifty-six. He early acquired the means of independence by his literary gifts, and purchased his celebrated villa at Twickenham, whither he went to reside at the age of thirty. Of his many published works, his translation of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" of Homer has given him the greatest reputation. As an English satirist, also, he stands very high. Nearly all his works, however, are imitations. He died at Tickenham, in 1744. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872 ======== Pope, Alexander, the poet, son of a wholesale linen merchant in Lombard Street, London, was born in Plough Court, Lombard Street, May 21, 1688. His father being a Roman Catholic, he was first placed under the charge of Father Taverner, who taught him the rudiments of Greek and Latin. Later he attended a school at Winchester, and then at Hyde Park Corner. When about twelve he retired with his parents to Binfield, in Windsor Forest, and from thenceforth his education was mainly in his own hands. His subsequent success as a writer and poet is a matter of history, and has been dealt with in detail by Dr. Johnson in his Lives of the Poets, and by others. He died May 30, 1744, and was buried in a vault in Twickenham Church. For distinct public use, so far as we are aware, Pope wrote no hymns. His "Messiah"; his "Universal Prayer"; and his "Vital Spark" (q.v.), have been made use of for congregational purposes, but as a Roman Catholic he had no object in writing a hymn in a language which, at that time, his Church would refuse to use. In modern hymn-books his name is identified with the following pieces:-- 1. Father of all, in every age. Universal Prayer. The Lord's Prayer. This Prayer was published in 1738, as a conclusion to his Essay on Man, in 13 st. of 4 1. Warburton in his Advertisement of the 1748 ed. of the Essay, says:— "Concerning the Universal Prayer which concludes the Essay, it may be proper to observe that some pas¬sages in the Essay having been unjustly suspected of a tendency towards Fate and Naturalism, the author composed that Prayer as the sum of all, to show that hi a system was founded in Freewill, and terminated in Piety: that the First Cause was as well the Lord and Governor as the Creator of the Universe; and that by submission to His will (the great principle enforced throughout the Essay) was not meant the suffering ourselves to be carried along with a blind determination; but a religious acquiescence, and confidence full of hope and immortality. To give all this the greater weight and reality, the Poet chose for his model The Lord's Prayer, which of all others best deserves the title prefixed to his Paraphrase." The title here referred to is "The Universal Prayer, Deo Opt. Max." The hymn is found in common use in the following forms:— (1.) Father of all in every age. This is an abbreviated form, and has been in use, especially in Unitarian hymnbooks, from an early date. (2.) Father of all, [and] Thou God of love. This cento was given in 6 st. of 4 1. in the 1815 edition of Cotterill's Selections, No. 2; again in the 1819 ed., 141; in Stowell's Psalms & Hymns, 1831, No. 179; and again in later collections. (3.) Not to this earth's contracted span. In Collyer's Collection 1812, No. 629, in 4 st. of 4 1., and others. (4.) Teach me to feel another's woe. Also in Collyer's Collection, 1812, No. 630, in 4 st. of 4 1., and others. (5.) Thou Great First Cause, least understood. Also in Collyer's Collection, 1812, No. 628, in 4 st. of 4 1., and later hymnals. (6.) When I am right Thy grace impart. Given in Kennedy, 1863, No. 1166. 2. Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the song. The Messiah. In No. 378 of the Spectator for Wednesday, May 14, 1712, Addison gave this poem with the introduction :— "I will make no apology for entertaining the reader with the following poem, which is written by a great genius, a friend of mine, in the country, who is not ashamed to employ his wit in the praise of his Maker." Then follows the poem with the heading, “Messiah. A Sacred Eclogue, composed of several passages of Isaiah the Prophet. Written in imitation of Virgil's Pollio." It consists of 107 lines. When republished by Pope this heading was expanded into a paragraph as an "Advertisement." As a poem it is unknown to the hymn-book; but from it the following centos have passed into common use:-- (1.) As the Good Shepherd tends his fleecy care. This was given in Collyer's Collection, 1812, No. 626, in 6 st. of 4 1., and has been repeated in later hymnals, but usually in an abridged form. (2.) From Jesse's root, behold a branch arise No. 624 in Collyer's Collection, 1812, in 5 st. of 4 1.; and again in later hymnals. (3.) Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers. No. 625 in Collyer's Collection, 1812, in 4 st. of 4 1.; in Bishop Heber's posthumous Hymns, &c, 1827, p. 106; and again in later collections. (4.) Rise crowned with light, imperial Salem rise. In the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, No. 687, in 3 st. of 8 1., and several later collections. (5.) The Saviour comes! by ancient seers foretold. In Mercer's Church Psalm & Hymn Book, 1864, and others. It may be noted that 1. 46 of The Messiah reads in the original "He wipes the tears for ever from our eyes." This was altered by Pope at the suggestion of Steele, made to Pope in a letter dated June 1, 1712, to "From every face He wipes off every tear." This latter is the poet's authorized reading, is given in his Works, and is found also in the book form reprints of the Spectator. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Henry Ustick Onderdonk

1789 - 1858 Person Name: Onderdonk Hymnal Number: 832 Author of "The Spirit, in our hearts " in The Voice of Praise Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Bishop of Pennsylvania, was born in New York, March 16, 1789, and educated at Columbia College, B.A. 1805, M.A. 1808, D.D. 1827. Having decided to devote his life to medicine, he studied first in London and then in Edinburgh, receiving his M.D. from that university in 1810. Returning to New York, he began to study theology under Bishop Hobart and was ordained in 1815. He was rector of St. Ann's, Brooklyn, until 1827 when, following a famous controversy, he was elected bishop coadjutor of Pennsylvania, becoming diocesan in 1836 upon the death of Bishop White. He, with W.A. Muhlenberg, q.v., was influential on the committee appointed by General Convention to prepare the so-called Prayer Book Collection, 1826. The two men were also instrumental in the publication of the volume known as Plain Music for the Book of Common Prayer, in 1854. These books served until the Hymnal of 1874. Although some metrical psalms were included in the Prayer Book Collection, the book marked the change in America from psalmody to hymnody. Onderdonk contributed nine hymns, of which only one survives. He also wrote several works on the episcopacy. His weakness for alcohol necessitated his resignation in 1844, but his life from then on was so exemplary that he was restored to his bishopric two years before his death, which occurred in Philadelphia on December 6, 1858. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion ================================================ Onderdonk, Henry Ustic, D.D., was born in New York, March 16, 1789, and educated at Columbia College. Taking Holy Orders, he was for some time Rector of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, New York. On the 27th Oct., 1827, he was consecrated at Philadelphia, and acted as Assistant Bishop of Philadelphia to Bishop White from that date to 1836, when upon the death of Bishop White, he entered upon the full charge of the diocese. He was suspended by the House of Bishops on the ground of intemperance in 1844, but restored in 1856. He died in Philadelphia, Dec. 6th, 1858. Without Bishop Doane's commanding talents, he yet rendered large and useful service to hymnody as author and compiler. He was a member (and apparently a leading one) of the Committee which compiled the American Prayer Book Collection of 1826 and was by far the largest contributor thereto. Apart from hymnwriting, so far as we know, he wrote nothing in verse. His original hymns contributed to the Prayer Book Collection, 1826, are:— 1. Although the vine its fruit deny. Confidence in God. A paraphrase of Hab. iii. 17-19. 2. Blest be Thou, the God of Israel. Praise. A paraphrase of 1 Chron. xxix. 10-13. 3. How wondrous and great. Missions. A paraphrase of Rev. xv. 3, 4, being the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. 4. On Zion, and on Lebanon. Missions. Based on the text, Is. xxxv. 2. 5. Seek, my soul, the narrow gate. The Narrow Way. A paraphrase of St. Luke xiii. 24-27. 6. Sinner, rouse thee from thy sleep. Exhortation to awake out of sin. Based upon Eph. v. 14-17. 7. The Spirit in our hearts. Invitation. Based upon Rev. xxii. 17-20. This hymn may possibly have been suggested by Dr. Gibbons's "The Spirit in the word," which appeared in Hymns adapted to Divine Worship, 1769, p. 149. Bishop Onderdonk's hymn is in extensive use. Sometimes it is given as "The Spirit to our hearts." 8. Though I should seek to wash me clean. Need of the Mediator. This is not only used in full, but sts. iii.— v. are also used separately as "Ah, not like erring man is God." 9. When, Lord, to this our western land. Missions. This, and No. 4, were given in the Prayer Book Collection. "For Missions to the new Settlements in the United States." In addition to these original hymns, Onderdonk contributed to the same collection the following adaptations from others:— 10. Ah, how shall fallen man? Redemption, This is I. Watts's "How should the sons of Adam's race?" (p. 539. i.), rewritten from the form given to it in the Scottish Translations and Paraphrases, 1781. 11. Heirs of unending life. Trust in God. Of this st. i. is by Onderdonk, and st. ii. and iii. are altered from Beddome's hymn "That we might walk with God." Sometimes given as "Heirs of immortal life." 12. The gentle Saviour calls. Christ accepting Children. This is altered from Doddridge's "See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand." It is sometimes given as "The Saviour kindly calls." [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Joshua Leavitt

1794 - 1873 Person Name: Leavitt Hymnal Number: 1042 Author of "When for th' eternal world I steer" in The Voice of Praise Joshua Leavitt (September 8, 1794-Jan. 16,1873) was born in Heath, MA, earned a degree from Yale College, practiced law in Putney, VT, was graduated from Yale Seminary, was ordained and served as a Congregational minister at Stratford, CT for four years before he moved to New York City to serve as Secretary of the American Seamens’ Friend Society. He was for many years musical advisor to the most famous revivalist of the Second Great Awakening, Charles Grandison Finney. In 1831 he compiled and published The Christian Lyre, the first hymnal to print music (melody and bass) for every hymn. He was a spokesman for the Liberty Party and a campaigner for cheap postage. He was editor of many periodicals including The Emancipator, the New York Independent, the New York Evangelist, etc. He was first Secretary of the American Temperance Society and co-founder of the New York City Anti-Slavery Society. He aided a slave Basil Dorsey to escape from MD to MA and formed with Lewis Tappan and Simeon Jocelyn the Amistad Committee to raise funds for the defense of Amistad captives. On Wikipedia can be seen a letter of August 1862 to Lincoln signed by Leavitt, Henry Ward Beecher and other abolitionists requesting formation of black regiments in the Union Army. Mary Louise VanDyke Concerning publication dates of The Christian Lyre, Leavitt left a very useful description: "The Christian Lyre was commenced in November, 1830, as a monthly repository of music and hymns, for social worship. Vol. I., containing six No's, or 216 pages, was completed the first of April, and Vol. II. the first of October, 1831. At that time, there had been published no less than Nine Editions of Vol. I., each edition consisting of 2000 copies." (Preface to 1837 edition of the Supplement). Apparently each monthly "number" was 36 pages, which means the first 72 pages were published in 1830, the rest in early 1831. Both Volume 2 and the Supplement date from 1831; all three were separately paginated, for a total of 310 tunes with words.

George Gill

1820 - 1880 Person Name: Anon. Hymnal Number: 957 Author of "Beautiful Zion, built above, Beautiful city that I love" in The Voice of Praise Gill, George, son of William Gill, was born at Tiverton, Devonshire, Jan. 23, 1820, and was for some time a missionary in the South Sea Islands. His hymn, "Beautiful Zion, built above " (Heaven), was "written" the author says, "on the island of Mangaia, South Seas, April, 1850." It was printed in the Juvenile Missionary Magazine in 1852. His re-written form of Phoebe Cary’s “One Sweetly Solemn Thought” beginning “this sweetly solemn thought” is dated 1861 and also appeared in the Juvenile Missionary Magazine, Gill left the South Sea in 1860, and in 1861 became pastor of Wesgate Congregational Chapel, Burnley. He died Aug. 19, 1880. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

John Ogilvie

1732 - 1813 Person Name: Ogilvie Hymnal Number: 322 Author of "Begin, my soul, the exalted lay" in The Voice of Praise John Ogilvie was born in 1733, and was minister of Midmar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, from 1759 until his death in 1814. He published some theological and philosophical treatises, and a number of poems. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872. ============= Ogilvie, John, D.D., eldest son of the Rev. James Ogilvie, or Ogilvy, of Aberdeen, was born at Aberdeen in 1733. After studying at the University of Aberdeen (Marischal College), which, in 1766, conferred upon him the degree of D.D., he became parish minister of Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire, in 1759, and of Midmar, Aberdeenshire, in 1760. He died at Midmar, Nov. 17, 1813. He published a number of poetical works, and among others Poems on Several Subjects, in 2 vols. (London, 1769). This includes his well known paraphrase of Psalm cxlviii.— "Begin, my soul, the exalted lay." He was a member of the Committee appointed by the General Assembly of 1775, to revise the Scottish Translations and Paraphrases of 1745, and is said to have contributed No. 62, “Lo, in the last of days behold", to the 1781 authorized ed. of the same. [Scottish Translations and Paraphraphs] [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= Ogilvie, John, p. 856, ii. From his psalm version, "Begin, my soul, the exalted lay," the cento “Ye fields of light, celestial plains" is taken. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

George Crabbe

1754 - 1832 Person Name: Crabbe Hymnal Number: 838 Author of "Pilgrim, burdened with thy sin, Come the way to Zion's gate" in The Voice of Praise Crabbe, George, LL.B., born at Aldborough, Suffolk, Dec. 24, 1754, and educated for the medical profession, but after practising for a short time, he turned his attention to literature, and subsequently took Holy Orders. He was successively Curate of Aldborough and of Stathern, and Incumbent of Evershot, Mirston and Trowbridge. Died at Trowbridge, Feb. 3, 1832. He received his degree from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Although well known as a poet, his hymns are very few, and but little known. His works include The Village; The Parish Register, 1807; and others. From The Parish Register, his hymn, "Pilgrim, burdened with thy sin" (q.v.) is taken. Crabbe's collected Works were published, with a Memoir, by his son, in 1834. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Thomas Gibbons

1720 - 1785 Person Name: Anon. Hymnal Number: 688 Author of "Arise, my soul, on wings sublime" in The Voice of Praise Gibbons, Thomas, was born at Beak, near Newmarket, May 31, 1720; educated by Dr. Taylor, at Deptford; ordained in 1742, as assistant to the Rev. Mr. Bures, at Silver Street Chapel, London; and in 1743 became minister of the Independent Church, at Haberdashers' Hall, where he remained till his death, Feb. 22, 1785. In addition to his ministerial office he became, in 1754, tutor of the Dissenting Academy at Mile End, London; and, in 1759, Sunday evening lecturer at Monkwell Street. In 1760 the College at New Jersey, U.S., gave him the degree of M.A. and in 1764 that of Aberdeen the degree of D.D. His prose works were (1) Calvinism and Nonconformity defended, 1740; (2) Sermons on various subjects, 1762; (3) Rhetoric, 1767; (4) Female Worthies, 2 vols., 1777. Three volumes of sermons were published after his death. His poetical works were:— (1) Juvenilia; Poems on various subjects of Devotion and Virtue, 1750, was published by subscription. Among the subscribers is found the name of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, B.A. It was dedicated to the Countess of Huntingdon, and bears her coat of arms. In this volume are included versions of six of the Psalms, and a few hymns. (2) Hymns adapted to Divine wor¬ship in two books. Book I. Derived from select passages of Holy Scriptures. Book II., Written on sacred subjects and particular occasions, partly collected front various authors, but principally composed by Thomas Gibbons, D.D., 1769. (3) Hymns adapted to Divine worship in two books. Book I. Derived from select passages of the Holy Scriptures. Book II. Written on sacred subjects and particular occasions by Thomas Gibbons, D.D., 1784. (4) The Sermons, published in 1762, included fifteen hymns, one being appended to each sermon. (5) The Christian Minister in three poetical epistles to Philander, 1772. This volume included (i.) Poetical versions of several parts of Scripture, (ii.) Translations of poems from Greek and Latin writers, (iii.) Original pieces on various occasions. (6) An English version of the Latin Epitaphs on the Nonconformist's Memorial, with a poem to the memory of the 2000 ministers ejected in 1662, 1775. (7) Select Portions of Scripture, and Remarkable Occurrences, versified for the Instruction and entertainment of Youth of both Sexes, 1781. Reprinted in America, 1805. Dr. Gibbons may be called a disciple in hymnwriting of Dr. Watts, whose life he wrote. His hymns are not unlike those of the second rank of Watts. He lacked "the vision and faculty divine," which gives life to hymns and renders them of permanent value. Hence, although several are common use in America, they are dying out of use in Great Britain. The most popular are, "Now let our souls on wings sublime"; "Great God, the nations of the earth"; "Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess"; "To Thee, my God, whose presence fills." [Rev. W. Garrett Horder] The less important of Dr. Gibbons's hymns, which are still in common use are:— 1. And be it so that till this hour. Hope. This is No. 50 in Book ii. of his Hymns adapted to Divine Worship, &c, 1769, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "Encouragement against Despair; or, Hope still set before us." Originally a Sacramental hymn in Rippon's Selections, 1787, No 230, it was altered to a general hymn, with special reference to "Hope." 2. Assist us, Lord, Thy Name to praise. Life, a race. In Rippon's Baptist Selections, 1787, No. 326, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. 3. Eternal life, how sweet the sound. Eternal Life. This is one of three hymns on Titus iii. 7, in his Hymns adapted to Divine Worship, &c, 1784, Book i., No. 156, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. In the American Dutch Reformed Hymns of the Church, 1869, No. 843 begins with st. ii., "Eternal life, how will it reign?" 4. Father, is not Thy promise pledged? Missions. This is Pt. iii.of his hymn, "Great God, the nations of the earth" (q. v.). 5. Forgiveness, 'tis a joyful sound. Pardon. From his Hymns adapted to Divine Worship, &c, 1769. Book i., No. 69, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines into several modern collections in Great Britain and America. It is based on St. Luke, vii. 47. 6. From winter's barren clods. [Spring.] Appeared in his Hymns, &c, 1784, Book ii., No. 27, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "The Return of the Spring celebrated in the Powerful and Gracious Work of God." In 1787 it was repeated anonymously in Rippon's Baptist Selections, No. 499. The hymn, "Great God, at Thy command, Seasons in order rise," begins with st. iii. of this hymn. 7. Happy the men in ancient days. Public Worship. In his Hymns adapted to Public Worship, &c, 1784. 8. On Zion, his most holy mount. Gospel Feast. From his Hymns adapted for Divine Worship, &c, 1769, Book i., No. 35, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. It was originally a Sacramental hymn, but in its abbreviated form, as in use in America, that element is eliminated. 9. Our Father, high enthroned above. Lord's Prayer. Appeared in the Bristol Baptist Collection of Ash & Evans, 1769, No. 41, in 9 stanzas of 4 lines. In 1772 it was reprinted in a revised form, and with an additional stanza, in Gibbons's Christian Minister, p. 74. 10. Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess. Providence and Grace. Appeared in the Gospel Magazine, 1775, and in his Hymns adapted to Divine Worship, &c, 1784, Bk. ii., No. 11, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. In Dobell's Selections, 1806, st. i.-iv., and vi. were given with alterations, which were not improvements, as No. 9. This arrangement is repeated in modern hymnbooks, including the Baptist Hymnal, 1879, and others. 11. When Jesus dwelt in mortal clay. Jesus our Example. From his Hymns adapted to Divine Worship, &c, 1784, Book i., No. 128, in 9 stanzas of 4 lines into a few American collections, including the Baptist Praise Book, 1871. The more important of Dr. Gibbons's hymns are annotated under their respective first lines. [William T. Brooke] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ====================== Gibbons, Thomas, p. 420, i. From his Hymns, &c, of 1784, are also in common use:— 1. Lord God, omnipotent to bless. Divine Help desired. 2. Now may the God of peace and love. Close of Service. (1769. Pt. i.) 3. O what stupendous mercy shines. Benevolence. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)