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Charles Wesley

1707 - 1788 Hymnal Number: 259 Author of "Jesus Comes with Clouds Descending" in Moravian Book of Worship Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepened, and he became one of the first band of "Oxford Methodists." In 1735 he went with his brother John to Georgia, as secretary to General Oglethorpe, having before he set out received Deacon's and Priest's Orders on two successive Sundays. His stay in Georgia was very short; he returned to England in 1736, and in 1737 came under the influence of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, especially of that remarkable man who had so large a share in moulding John Wesley's career, Peter Bonier, and also of a Mr. Bray, a brazier in Little Britain. On Whitsunday, 1737, [sic. 1738] he "found rest to his soul," and in 1738 he became curate to his friend, Mr. Stonehouse, Vicar of Islington, but the opposition of the churchwardens was so great that the Vicar consented that he "should preach in his church no more." Henceforth his work was identified with that of his brother John, and he became an indefatigable itinerant and field preacher. On April 8, 1749, he married Miss Sarah Gwynne. His marriage, unlike that of his brother John, was a most happy one; his wife was accustomed to accompany him on his evangelistic journeys, which were as frequent as ever until the year 1756," when he ceased to itinerate, and mainly devoted himself to the care of the Societies in London and Bristol. Bristol was his headquarters until 1771, when he removed with his family to London, and, besides attending to the Societies, devoted himself much, as he had done in his youth, to the spiritual care of prisoners in Newgate. He had long been troubled about the relations of Methodism to the Church of England, and strongly disapproved of his brother John's "ordinations." Wesley-like, he expressed his disapproval in the most outspoken fashion, but, as in the case of Samuel at an earlier period, the differences between the brothers never led to a breach of friendship. He died in London, March 29, 1788, and was buried in Marylebone churchyard. His brother John was deeply grieved because he would not consent to be interred in the burial-ground of the City Road Chapel, where he had prepared a grave for himself, but Charles said, "I have lived, and I die, in the Communion of the Church of England, and I will be buried in the yard of my parish church." Eight clergymen of the Church of England bore his pall. He had a large family, four of whom survived him; three sons, who all became distinguished in the musical world, and one daughter, who inherited some of her father's poetical genius. The widow and orphans were treated with the greatest kindness and generosity by John Wesley. As a hymn-writer Charles Wesley was unique. He is said to have written no less than 6500 hymns, and though, of course, in so vast a number some are of unequal merit, it is perfectly marvellous how many there are which rise to the highest degree of excellence. His feelings on every occasion of importance, whether private or public, found their best expression in a hymn. His own conversion, his own marriage, the earthquake panic, the rumours of an invasion from France, the defeat of Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, the Gordon riots, every Festival of the Christian Church, every doctrine of the Christian Faith, striking scenes in Scripture history, striking scenes which came within his own view, the deaths of friends as they passed away, one by one, before him, all furnished occasions for the exercise of his divine gift. Nor must we forget his hymns for little children, a branch of sacred poetry in which the mantle of Dr. Watts seems to have fallen upon him. It would be simply impossible within our space to enumerate even those of the hymns which have become really classical. The saying that a really good hymn is as rare an appearance as that of a comet is falsified by the work of Charles Wesley; for hymns, which are really good in every respect, flowed from his pen in quick succession, and death alone stopped the course of the perennial stream. It has been the common practice, however for a hundred years or more to ascribe all translations from the German to John Wesley, as he only of the two brothers knew that language; and to assign to Charles Wesley all the original hymns except such as are traceable to John Wesley through his Journals and other works. The list of 482 original hymns by John and Charles Wesley listed in this Dictionary of Hymnology have formed an important part of Methodist hymnody and show the enormous influence of the Wesleys on the English hymnody of the nineteenth century. -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================== Charles Wesley, the son of Samuel Wesley, was born at Epworth, Dec. 18, 1707. He was educated at Westminster School and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. In 1735, he took Orders and immediately proceeded with his brother John to Georgia, both being employed as missionaries of the S.P.G. He returned to England in 1736. For many years he engaged with his brother in preaching the Gospel. He died March 29, 1788. To Charles Wesley has been justly assigned the appellation of the "Bard of Methodism." His prominence in hymn writing may be judged from the fact that in the "Wesleyan Hymn Book," 623 of the 770 hymns were written by him; and he published more than thirty poetical works, written either by himself alone, or in conjunction with his brother. The number of his separate hymns is at least five thousand. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872.

John Francis Wade

1711 - 1786 Hymnal Number: 283 Author of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" in Moravian Book of Worship John Francis Wade (b. England, c. 1711; d. Douay, France, 1786) is now generally recognized as both author and composer of the hymn "Adeste fideles," originally written in Latin in four stanzas. The earliest manuscript signed by Wade is dated about 1743. By the early nineteenth century, however, four additional stanzas had been added by other writers. A Roman Catholic, Wade apparently moved to France because of discrimination against Roman Catholics in eighteenth-century England—especially so after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. He taught music at an English college in Douay and hand copied and sold chant music for use in the chapels of wealthy families. Wade's copied manuscripts were published as Cantus Diversi pro Dominicis et Festis per annum (1751). Bert Polman

Paul Gerhardt

1607 - 1676 Hymnal Number: 289 Author of "All My Heart Again Rejoices" in Moravian Book of Worship Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which condemned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was released from his position in Berlin in 1666. With the support of friends he became archdeacon at Lubben in 1669 and remained there until his death. Gerhardt experienced much suffering in his life; he and his parishioners lived in the era of the Thirty Years' War, and his family experienced incredible tragedy: four of his five children died young, and his wife died after a prolonged illness. In the history of hymnody Gerhardt is considered a transitional figure-he wrote at a time when hymns were changing from a more objective, confessional, and corporate focus to a pietistic, devotional, and personal one. Like other German hymns, Gerhardt's were lengthy and intended for use throughout a service, a group of stanzas at a time. More than 130 of his hymns were published in various editions of Cruger's Praxis Pietatis Melica, the Crüger-Runge Gesangbuch (1653), and Ebeling's Das andere Dutzeud geistliche Andachtslieder Herrn Paul Gerhardts (1666-1667). John Wesley and Catherine Winkworth both made famous English translations of Gerhardt's texts. Bert Polman ====================== Gerhardt, Paulus, son of Christian Gerhardt, burgomaster of Gräfenhaynichen, near Wittenberg, was born at Grafenhaynichen, Mar. 12, 1607. On January 2, 1628, he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg. In the registers of St. Mary's church, Wittenberg, his name appears as a godfather, on July 13, 1641, described still as "studiosus," and he seems to have remained in Wittenberg till at least the end of April, 1642. He appears to have gone to Berlin in 1642 or 1643, and was there for some time (certainly after 1648) a tutor in the house of the advocate Andreas Barthold, whose daughter (Anna Maria, b. May 19, 1622, d. March 5, 1668) became his wife in 1655. During this period he seems to have frequently preached in Berlin. He was appointed in 1651, at the recommendation of the Berlin clergy, Lutheran Probst (chief pastor) at Mittenwalde, near Berlin, and ordained to this post Nov. 18, 1651. In July, 1657, he returned to Berlin as third diaconus of St. Nicholas's church; but becoming involved in the contest between the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (who was of the Reformed Church) and the Lutheran clergy of Berlin, he was deposed from his office in February, 1666, though he still remained in Berlin. In Nov. 1668, he accepted the post of archidiaconus at Lübben, on the Spree, was installed in June, 1669, and remained there till his death on June 7, 1676 (Koch, iii. 297-326; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, viii. 774-783, &c). The outward circumstances of Gerhardt's life were for the most part gloomy. His earlier years were spent amid the horrors of the Thirty Years' War. He did not obtain a settled position in life till he was 44 years of age. He was unable to marry till four years later; and his wife, after a long illness, died during the time that he was without office in Berlin; while of the five children of the marriage only one passed the period of childhood. The sunniest period of his life was during the early years of his Berlin ministry (i.e. 1657-1663), when he enjoyed universal love and esteem; while his latter years at Lübben as a widower with one surviving child were passed among a rough and unsympathising people. The motto on his portrait at Lübben not unjustly styles him "Theologus in cribro Satanae versatus." Gerhardt ranks, next to Luther, as the most gifted and popular hymnwriter of the Lutheran Church. Gervinus (ed. 1842, pt. iii. p. 366), the well-known historian of German literature, thus characterises him:— "He went back to Luther's most genuine type of hymn in such manner as no one else had done, only so far modified as the requirements of his time demanded. In Luther's time the belief in Free Grace and the work of the Atonement, in Redemption and the bursting of the gates of Hell was the inspiration of his joyful confidence; with Gerhardt it is the belief in the Love of God. With Luther the old wrathful God of the Romanists assumed the heavenly aspect of grace and mercy; with Gerhardt the merciful Righteous One is a gentle loving Man. Like the old poets of the people he is sincerely and unconstrainedly pious, naive, and hearty; the bliss fulness of his faith makes him benign and amiable; in his way of writing he is as attractive, simple, and pleasing as in his way of thinking." With a firm grasp of the objective realities of the Christian Faith, and a loyal adherence to the doctrinal standpoint of the Lutheran Church, Gerhardt is yet genuinely human; he takes a fresh, healthful view both of nature and of mankind. In his hymns we see the transition to the modern subjective tone of religious poetry. Sixteen of his hymns begin with, “I." Yet with Gerhardt it is not so much the individual soul that lays bare its sometimes morbid moods, as it is the representative member of the Church speaking out the thoughts and feelings he shares with his fellow members; while in style Gerhardt is simple and graceful, with a considerable variety of verse form at his command, and often of bell-like purity in tone. From the first publication of Gerhardt's hymns they at once came into favour among all ranks and creeds; and a large proportion are among the hymns most cherished and most widely used by German-speaking Christians at the present day. They appeared principally in the various editions of Crüger's Praxis, and the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653. The first collected edition was prepared by J. G. Ebeling, and published in separate "Dozens" 1-4 in 1666, 5-10 in 1667, i.e. 120 in all. In the edition of J. H. Feustking, Zerbst, 1707, a few stanzas were intercalated (from manuscripts in the possession of Gerhardt's surviving son), but no new hymns were added. Among modern editions of Gerhardt's hymns (mostly following the text of Ebeling) may be mentioned those by Langbecker, 1842; Schultz, 1842; Wackernagel, 1843; Becker, 1851; Goedeke, 1877, and Gerok, 1878. The Historico-Critical edition of Dr. J. F. Bachmann, 1866, is the most complete (with 11 additional pieces hardly Church hymns), and reverts to the pre-Ebeling text. The length of many of Gerhardt's hymns ("Ein Lämmlein" is 10 stanzas of 10 lines; "Fröhlich soil," 15 stanzas of 8 lines, &c), and the somewhat intricate metres of others, have caused his hymns to be less used in English than otherwise might have been the case; but a considerable proportion have come in some form or other into English hymnbooks. A large selection, translated with scrupulous faithfulness but not retaining much of the lyric grace of the originals, was published by the Rev. John Kelly, in 1867, as Paul Gerhardt’s Spiritual Songs; while many individual hymns have been translated by John Wesley, Miss Winkworth, Miss Cox, Miss Borthwick, and many others. His translations from St. Bernard are noted under "O Haupt voll Blut." There are separate notes on 19 of his greater hymns. Besides these the following have passed into English:— I. Hymns in English common use: i. Auf den Nebel folgt die Sonn. Thanksgiving after great sorrow and affliction. In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 249, in 15 stanzas of 7 1.; thence in Wackernagel’s ed. of his Geistliche Lieder, No. 87, and Bachmann's ed., No. 64. In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 402. Translated as:— Cometh sunshine after rain. A good translation, omitting stanzas iv.-vii., x., xi., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855, p. 100 (translations of x., xi. added to 2nd ed., 1856). Repeated, omitting the translations of stanzas ii., x.-xii., as No. 4 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. In the Christian Hymn Book, Cincinnati, 1865, No. 799, begins with st. xiii., "Now as long as here I roam." Another translation is:—"After clouds we see the sun," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 261. ii. Die Zeit ist nunmehr nah. Day of Judgment—Second Advent. Founded on Acts iii. 20. In the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch 1653, No. 367, iii 18 stanzas of 6 lines, and thence in Wackernagel's edition of his Geistliche Lieder, 1843, No. 119 (1874, No. 124), and Bachmann's edition, No. 40. In the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 1517. Translated as:— O Christ! how good and fair. Being a translation of stanzas iii., iv., vi., vii., x.-xiii., xvii., by Mrs. Charles, in her Voice of Christian Life in Song, 1858, p. 242. Her translations of stanzas iii., x., xii., are No. 150 in G. S. Jellicoe's Collection, 1867. Other trs. are:—(1) "May I when time is o'er," of stanzas vii., viii. as part of No. 831 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789; in the 1801 and later eds. (1886, No. 1229), beginning, "I shall, when time is o'er." (2) “The time is very near," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 341. iii. Gottlob, nun ist erschollen. Peace. Thanksgiving for the Proclamation of the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, after the Thirty Years’ War. In Crüger's Praxis 1656, No. 409, in 6 stanzas of 12 lines, and thence in Wackernagel's edition of his Geistliche Lieder, No. 64, and Bachmann's ed., No. 84; and in the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 589. Translated as: — Thank God it hath resounded. A full and good tr. by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 156, repeated, omitting stanza ii., in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. St. i., v., vi., form No. 49 in M. W. Stryker's Christian Chorals, 1885. Another tr. is: ”Praise God! for forth hath sounded," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 251. iv. Ich, der ich oft in tiefes Leid. Ps. cxlv. First published in J. G. Ebeling's edition of his Geistliche Andachten Dritte Dutzet, 1666, No. 27, in 18 stanzas of 7 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 95, and Bachmann's ed., No. 103; also in the Berlin Geistliche LiederSchatz, ed. 1863, No. 1004. Translated as:— I who so oft in deep distress . A good translation, omitting stanzas ii.-iv., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 149. Her translations of stanzas i., xiii.-xvi., xviii., were included as No. 224, and of stanzas vi., viii., ix., xi. altered, and beginning, "O God! how many thankful songs," as No. 168, in Holy Song, 1869. Another tr. is:—-"Who is so full of tenderness," of stanza viii. as stanza iv. of No. 1075 in the Supplement of 1808 to the Moravian Hymn Book, 1801 (1886, No. 537). v. Ich steh an deiner Krippen bier. Christmas. Included in Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 105, in 15 stanzas of 7 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 9, and Bachmann's ed., No. 45; and in the Berlin Geistliche LiederSchatz, ed. 1863, No. 167. A beautiful hymn, in which the poet puts himself in the place of the shepherds and the wise men visiting Bethlehem; and in praise and adoration tenders his devotion, his love and his all, to the Infant Saviour in the manger. Translated as:— My faith Thy lowly bed beholds. A translation of stanzas i., iv., vii., xv., by A. T. Russell, as No. 57 in his Psalms & Hymns, 1851. Other trs. are:— (1) "I stand beside Thy manger-bed," by Miss Manington, 1864, p. 38. (2) "Now at the manger here I stand," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 32. vi. Ich weiss dass mein Erlöser lebt. Easter. Founded on Job xix. 25-27. First published in J. G. Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Zehende Dutzet, 1667, No. 119, in 9 stanzas of 7 lines; repeated in Wackernagel's ed., 1843, No. 118 (1874, No. 123); in Bachmann's ed., No. 119; and in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S. ed. 1863, No. 301. Translated as:— I know that my Redeemer lives, In this my faith is fast. A full and spirited translation by J. Oxenford, in Lays of the Sanctuary, 1859, p. 122. His translations of stanzas i., iii., vii.-ix., were included, altered, as No. 779 in Kennedy, 1863. Another tr. is:— "I know that my Redeemer lives, This hope," &c, by Miss Manington, 1863, p. 78. vii. Ich weiss, mein Gott, dass all mein Thun. Supplication. A prayer for success in all Christian works and purpose; founded on Jeremiah x. 23, and Acts v. 38, 39. Included in Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 332, in 18 stanzas of 5 lines. In Wackernagel's ed., No. 40; Bachmann's ed., No. 71, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863. Translated as:— I know, my God, and I rejoice. A good translation of stanzas i.-iii., viii., xi., ix., by Miss Winkworth, as No. 121 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Another translation is:— "My God! my works and all I do” by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 102. viii. Kommt, und lasst uns Christum ehren. Christmas. Founded on St. Luke ii. 15. First published in J. G. Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Fünffte Dutzet, 1667, No. 56, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines. Thence in Wackemagel's ed., No. 6; Bachmann's ed., No. 110; and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 43. Translated as:— 1. Come, unite in praise and singing. Omitting stanzas vi., vii., contributed by A. T. Russell to Maurice's Choral Hymnbook, 1861, No. 707. 2. Bring to Christ your best oblation. A full and good translation by P. Massie in his Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 96; repeated in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. Other translations are:— (1) "Come, and let us Christ revere now," by Miss Manington, 1864, p. 25. (2) "Come, and Christ the Lord be praising," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 24. ix. Lobet den Herren, alle die ihn fürchten. Morning. Included in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch 1653, No. 7, in 10 stanzas of 5 lines. In Wackernagel's ed., No. 100, and Bachmann's ed., No. 21, and in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S. edition 1863, No. 1063. Translated as:— Praise God! revere Him! all ye men that fear Him! This is from the version in Bunsen's Allgemeine Gesangbücher, 1846, No. 167, stanza i. being from Gerhardt, and st. ii., iii., from "Lobet den Herren, denn er ist sehr freundlich" (q. v.); and appeared in the Dalston Hospital Hymnbook, 1848, No. 55, signed "A. G." Other translations are:— (1) "Our Lord be praising, All His glory raising," by H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 27. (2) "Praise ye Jehovah, all ye men who fear Him," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 279. x. Micht so traurig, nicht so sehr. Christian Contentment. In the 3rd edition, 1648, of Crüger's Praxis, No. 251, in 15 stanzas of 6 1., repeated in Wackernagel's ed., No. 53; Bachmann's ed., No. 16, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 851. It is founded on Ps. cxvi. 7; Ps. xlii. 6-12; 1 Tim. vi. 6. Translated as:— Ah! grieve not so, nor so lament. A free translation by Mrs. Findlater, of stanzas i., ii., vii.-x., xiii., xv., in the 1st Ser., 1854, of the Hymns from the Land of Luther, p. 48 (1884, p. 50). Repeated, abridged, in Holy Song, 1869, and Dale's English Hymnbook, 1875. Other translations are:- (l) "Why this sad and mournful guise," by Miss Dunn, 1857, p. 85. (2) "Not so darkly, not so deep," by Miss Warner, 1858 (1861, p. 58). (3) “0 my soul, why dost thou grieve," by J. Kelly, 1867. xi. Nun lasst uns gehn und treten. New Year. Included in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653, No. 106, in 15 st. of 4 1. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 12; Bachmann's ed., No. 24, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 200. Evidently written during the Thirty Years' War. Translated as:— In pray'r your voices raise ye. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 45. From this, 8 st. are included as No. 48 in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. Other translations are:— (1) "Now let each humble Creature," in the Supplement to German Psalter, ed. 1765, p. 4, and Select Hymns from German Psalter, Tranquebar, 1754. p. 7. In the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789, No. 507 (1849, No. 1106), greatly altered, and beginning, “Year after year commenceth." (2) "0 come with prayer and singing," by R. Massie in the British Herald , Jan., 1865, p. 8. (3) “Christians all, with one accord," by E. Massie, 1867, p. 168. (4) "With notes of joy and songs of praise," by Dr. R. Maguire, 1883, p. 24. xii. Schaut! Schaut! was ist für Wunder dar? Christmas. First published in J. G. Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Fünffte Dutzet, 1667, No. 55, in 18 stanzas of 4 1. Thence in Wackernagel’s ed., No. 4; Bachmann's ed., No. 109. Translated as:— Behold! Behold! what wonders here. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 14. From this, 12 st. were included in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880, as Nos. 25, 26: No. 26 beginning with the translation of st. xiii., "It is a time of joy today." xiii. Warum willt du draussen stehen. Advent. Suggested by Gen. xxiv. 31. Appeared in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653, No. 78, in 9 stanzas of 8 lines; viz., stanzas i.—vii., xi., xii., of the full form; st. viii.-x. being added in Ebeling's Geistliche Andachten Fünffte Dutzet, 1667, No. 50. The full text, in 12 stanzas, is also in Wackernagel's ed., No. 2; Bachmann's ed., No. 23, and Geistliche Lieder S., 1851, No. 20. Translated as:— Wherefore dost Thou longer tarry. A good translation, omitting st. viii.-x., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyrica Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 6. In her Chorale Book for England, 1863, No. 153, the translations of st. iii., v., xi., are omitted. Other trs. are:- (l) “Wherefore dost Thou, blest of God," by R. Massie, in Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 90. (2) “Why, without, then, art Thou staying," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 5. xiv. Was alle Weisheit in der Welt. Trinity Sunday. In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 212, in 8 stanzas of 9 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 1, and Bachmann's ed., No, 59, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder S., ed. 1863, No. 50. Translated as:— Scarce tongue can speak, ne'er human ken. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 1, repeated as No. 111 in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. Another translation is:—"The mystery hidden from the eyes," by R. Massie, in Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 87. xv. Was Gott gefällt, mein frommes Kind. Resignation. This beautiful hymn, on resignation to “what pleases God," first appeared in the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, 1653, No. 290, in 20 stanzas of 5 lines. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., No. 60; Bachmann's ed., No. 37, and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 723. Translated as:—- What God decrees, child of His love. A good translation of stanzas i., ii., v., vi., viii., xii., xv., xviii., xx., by Mrs. Findlater, in the 3rd Ser., 1858, of the Hymns from the Land of Luther, p. 49 (1884, p. 170). Included, in full, in Bishop Ryle's Collection, 1860, No. 171; and abridged in Christian Hymns, Adelaide, 1872, and beginning, "What God decrees, take patiently," in Kennedy, 1863, No. 1344. Other translations are:— (1) "What pleaseth God with joy receive," by Miss Dunn, 1857, p. 94. (2) “What pleases God, 0 pious soul," by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 193, (3) ”What pleaseth God, my faithful child," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 189. xvi. Wie schőn ists doch, Herr Jesu Christ. For Married Persons. Founded on Ps. cxxviii. First published in Ebeling's ed. of his Geistliche Andachten Vierte Dutzet, 1666, No. 38, in 8 st. of 12 1. Thence in Wackernagel's ed., 1843, No. 108 (1874, No. 109); Bachmann's ed., No. 105, and the Unverfälschter Liedersegen S., 1851, No. 680. Translated as:— Oh, Jesus Christ! how bright and fair. In full, by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 307, repeated, altered, and omitting st. iii.—v., in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880, No. 339. II. Hymns not in English common use: xvii. Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt. Good Friday. On St. John iii. 16. In Crüger's Praxis, 1661, No. 372, in 17 stanzas. Translated as, "Be of good cheer in all your wants,” by P. H. Molther, of stanza 16, as No. 181 in the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789 (1886, No. 217). xviii. Auf, auf, mein Herz mit Freuden. Easter. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 141, in 9 stanzas. The translations are:-- (1) "Up! Up! my heart with gladness, See," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 71. (2) "Up, up, my heart, with gladness; Receive," by N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 228. xix. Du bist zwar mein und bleibest mein. For the Bereaved. A beautiful hymn of consolation for parents on the loss of a son. Written on the death of Constantin Andreas, younger son of Johannes Berkov, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Berlin, and first printed as one of the "Dulcia amicorum solatia" at the end of the funeral sermon by Georg Lilius, Berlin, 1650. Included in Ebeline's ed. of Gerhardt's Geistliche Andachten Sechste Dutzet, Berlin, 1667, No. 72, in 12 stanzas. The translations are: (1) "Thou'rt mine, yes, still thou art mine own”, by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 123. (2) "Yes, thou art mine, still mine, my son," by J. D. Burns, in the Family Treasury, 1861, p. 8, and his Remains, 1869, p. 249. (3) "Mine art thou still, and mine shalt be," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 333. (4) "Thou art mine own, art still mine own," by Dr. J. Guthrie, 1869, p. 100. xx. Du, meine Seele, singe. Ps. cxlvi. In the Crüger-Runge Gesang-Buch, Berlin, 1653, No. 183, in 10 stanzas. Translated as, “O come, my soul, with singing," by Miss Burlingham, in the British Herald, Jannary, 1866, p. 207, and as No. 423 in Reid's Praise Book, 1872. xxi. Gieb dich zufrieden, und sei stille. Cross and Consolation—-Ps. xxxvii. 7. In Ebeling Erstes Dutzet, 1666, No. 11, in 15 stanzas. Translated as: (1) “Be thou content: be still before," by Miss Winkworth, 1855, p. 156, and in Bishop Ryle's Collection, 1860, No. 269. (2) “Be thou contented! aye relying," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 202. (3) “Tranquilly lead thee, peace possessing," by N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 246. xxii. Hőr an! mein Herz, die sieben Wort. Passiontide. On the Seven Words from the Cross. Founded on the hymn noted under Bőschenstein, J. (q.v.). In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 137, in 15 stanzas. Translated as: (1) “Come now, my soul, thy thoughts engage," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 309). (2) "Seven times the Saviour spake my heart," by R. Massie, in the British Herald, Sept., 1865, p. 133. (3) "My heart! the seven words hear now," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 63. xxiii. Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn. Resignation. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 249, in 12 st. Translated as: (1) "I into God's own heart and mind," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 219. (2) "To God's all-gracious heart and mind”, by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 213, repeated in Statham's Collection, Edinburgh, 1869 and 1870. xxiv. 0 Jesu Christ! dein Kripplein ist. Christmas. At the Manger of Bethlehem. In Crüger's Praxis, 1656, No. 101, in 15 stanzas. Translated as: (1) Be not dismay'd—-in time of need" (st. xi.) in the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789, No. 236. (2) "O blessed Jesus! This," by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p, 18. (3) "O Jesus Christ! Thy cradle is," by Miss Manington, 1864, p. 41. (4) "Thy manger is my paradise," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 26. xxv. Voller Wunder, voller Kunst. Holy Matrimony. In Ebeling Vierte Dutzet, 1666, No. 40, in 17 st. Often used in Germany at marriages on the way to church. Translated as: (1) "Full of wonder, full of skill," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 215). (2) "Full of wonder, full of skill," in Mrs. Stanley Carr's translation of Wildenhahn's Paul Gerhardt, ed. 1856, p. 52. (3) "Full of wonder, full of art," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 302. (4) "Full of wonder, full of art," by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 215. xxvi. Warum machet solche Schmerzen. New Year. On St. Luke ii. 21. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 97, in 4 stanzas. Bunsen, in his Versuch, 1833, No. 120, gives st. iii., iv. altered to "Freut euch, Sünder, allerwegen." Tr. as: (1) "Mortals, who have God offended," by Miss Cox, 1841, p. 21, from Bunsen. (2) "Why should they such pain e'er give Thee," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 43. xxvii. Weg, mein Herz, mit den Gedanken. Lent. On St. Luke xv. In Crüger's Praxis, 1648, No. 36, in 12 stanzas. Translated as: (1) "Let not such a thought e'er pain thee," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 83. (2) "Hence, my heart, with such a thought," by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 210. Besides the above, a considerable number of other hymns by Gerhardt have been translated by Mr. Kelly, and a few by Dr. Mills, Miss Manington, and others. The limits of our space forbid detailed notes on these versions. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============================= Gerhardt, Paulus, pp. 409, ii., 1565, i. The most recent edition of Gerhardt's hymns is in vol. iii. of the Fischer-Tümpel Deutsche evangelische Kirchenlied des Siebzehnten Jahr-hunderts, 1906, Nos. 389-495. In fixing the text the compilers have been enabled to use the recently discovered 1647, 1653 and 1657 Berlin editions of Cruger's Praxis Pietatis Melica. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

J. M. Neale

1818 - 1866 Person Name: John Mason Neale Hymnal Number: 291 Translator of "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice" in Moravian Book of Worship John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackville College in East Grinstead, a retirement home for poor men. There he served the men faithfully and expanded Sackville's ministry to indigent women and orphans. He also founded the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, which became one of the finest English training orders for nurses. Laboring in relative obscurity, Neale turned out a prodigious number of books and artic1es on liturgy and church history, including A History of the So-Called Jansenist Church of Holland (1858); an account of the Roman Catholic Church of Utrecht and its break from Rome in the 1700s; and his scholarly Essays on Liturgiology and Church History (1863). Neale contributed to church music by writing original hymns, including two volumes of Hymns for Children (1842, 1846), but especially by translating Greek and Latin hymns into English. These translations appeared in Medieval Hymns and Sequences (1851, 1863, 1867), The Hymnal Noted (1852, 1854), Hymns of the Eastern Church (1862), and Hymns Chiefly Medieval (1865). Because a number of Neale's translations were judged unsingable, editors usually amended his work, as evident already in the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern; Neale claimed no rights to his texts and was pleased that his translations could contribute to hymnody as the "common property of Christendom." Bert Polman ======================== Neale, John Mason, D.D., was born in Conduit Street, London, on Jan. 24, 1818. He inherited intellectual power on both sides: his father, the Rev. Cornelius Neale, having been Senior Wrangler, Second Chancellor's Medallist, and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and his mother being the daughter of John Mason Good, a man of considerable learning. Both father and mother are said to have been "very pronounced Evangelicals." The father died in 1823, and the boy's early training was entirely under the direction of his mother, his deep attachment for whom is shown by the fact that, not long before his death, he wrote of her as "a mother to whom I owe more than I can express." He was educated at Sherborne Grammar School, and was afterwards a private pupil, first of the Rev. William Russell, Rector of Shepperton, and then of Professor Challis. In 1836 he went up to Cambridge, where he gained a scholarship at Trinity College, and was considered the best man of his year. But he did not inherit his father's mathematical tastes, and had, in fact, the greatest antipathy to the study; and as the strange rule then prevailed that no one might aspire to Classical Honours unless his name had appeared in the Mathematical Tripos, he was forced to be content with an ordinary degree. This he took in 1840; had he been one year later, he might have taken a brilliant degree, for in 1841 the rule mentioned above was rescinded. He gained, however, what distinctions he could, winning the Members' Prize, and being elected Fellow and Tutor of Downing College; while, as a graduate, he won the Seatonian Prize no fewer than eleven times. At Cambridge he identified himself with the Church movement, which was spreading there in a quieter, but no less real, way than in the sister University. He became one of the founders of the Ecclesiological, or, as it was commonly called, the Cambridge Camden Society, in conjunction with Mr. E. J. Boyce, his future brother-in-law, and Mr. Benjamin Webb, afterwards the well-known Vicar of St. Andrew's, Wells Street, and editor of The Church Quarterly Review. In 1842 he married Miss Sarah Norman Webster, the daughter of an evangelical clergyman, and in 1843 he was presented to the small incumbency of Crawley in Sussex. Ill health, however, prevented him from being instituted to the living. His lungs were found to be badly affected; and, as the only chance of saving his life, he was obliged to go to Madeira, where he stayed until the summer of 1844. In 1846 he was presented by Lord Delaware to the Wardenship of Sackville College, East Grinstead. This can hardly be considered as an ecclesiastical preferment, for both his predecessor and his successor were laymen. In fact the only ecclesiastical preferment that ever was offered to him was the Provostship of St. Ninian's, Perth. This was an honourable office, for the Provostship is equivalent to a Deanery in England, but it was not a lucrative one, being worth only £100 a year. He was obliged to decline it, as the climate was thought too cold for his delicate health. In the quiet retreat of East Grinstead, therefore, Dr. Neale spent the remainder of his comparatively short life, dividing his time between literary work, which all tended, directly or indirectly, to the advancement of that great Church revival of which he was so able and courageous a champion, and the unremitting care of that sisterhood of which he was the founder. He commenced a sisterhood at Rotherfield on a very small scale, in conjunction with Miss S. A. Gream, daughter of the rector of the parish; but in 1856 he transferred it to East Grinstead, where, under the name of St. Margaret's, it has attained its present proportions. Various other institutions gradually arose in connection with this Sisterhood of St. Margaret's, viz., an Orphanage, a Middle Class School for girls, and a House at Aldershot for the reformation of fallen women. The blessing which the East Grinstead Sisters have been to thousands of the sick and suffering cannot here be told. But it must be mentioned that Dr. Neale met with many difficulties, and great opposition from the outside, which, on one occasion, if not more, culminated in actual violence. In 1857 he was attending the funeral of one of the Sisters at Lewes, when a report was spread that the deceased had been decoyed into St. Margaret's Home, persuaded to leave all her money to the sisterhood, and then purposely sent to a post in which she might catch the scarlet fever of which she died. To those who knew anything of the scrupulously delicate and honourable character of Dr. Neale, such a charge would seem absurd on the face of it; but mobs are not apt to reflect, and it was very easy to excite a mob against the unpopular practices and sentiments rife at East Grinstead; and Dr. Neale and some Sisters who were attending the funeral were attacked and roughly handled. He also found opponents in higher quarters; he was inhibited by the Bishop of the Diocese for fourteen years, and the Aldershot House was obliged to be abandoned, after having done useful work for some years, in consequence of the prejudice of officials against the religious system pursued. Dr. Neale's character, however, was a happy mixture of gentleness and firmness; he had in the highest degree the courage of his convictions, which were remarkably definite and strong; while at the same time he maintained the greatest charity towards, and forbearance with, others who did not agree with him. It is not surprising, therefore, that he lived all opposition down; and that, while from first to last his relations with the community at East Grinstead were of the happiest description, he was also, after a time, spared any molestation from without. The institution grew upon his hands, and he became anxious to provide it with a permanent and fitting home. His last public act was to lay the foundation of a new convent for the Sisters on St. Margaret's Day (July 20), 1865. He lived long enough to see the building progress, but not to see it completed. In the following spring his health, which had always been delicate, completely broke down, and after five months of acute suffering he passed away on the Feast of the Transfiguration (Aug. 6), 1866, to the bitter regret of the little community at East Grinstead and of numberless friends outside that circle. One trait of his singularly lovable character must not pass unnoticed. His charity, both in the popular and in the truer Christian sense of the word, was unbounded; he was liberal and almost lavish with his money, and his liberality extended to men of all creeds and opinions; while it is pleasing to record that his relations with his ecclesiastical superiors so much improved that he dedicated his volume of Seatonian Poems to the bishop of the diocese. If however success in life depended upon worldly advantages, Dr. Neale's life would have to be pronounced a failure; for, as his old friend, Dr. Littledale, justly complains, "he spent nearly half his life where he died, in the position of warden of an obscure Almshouse on a salary of £27 a year." But, measured by a different standard, his short life assumes very different proportions. Not only did he win the love and gratitude of those with whom he was immediately connected, but he acquired a world-wide reputation as a writer, and he lived to see that Church revival, to promote which was the great object of his whole career, already advancing to the position which it now occupies in the land of his birth. Dr. Neale was an industrious and voluminous writer both in prose and verse; it is of course with the latter class of his writings that this sketch is chiefly concerned; but a few words must first be said about the former. I.— Prose Writings.— His first compositions were in the form of contributions to The Ecclesiologist, and were written during his graduate career at Cambridge. Whilst he was in Madeira he began to write his Commentary on the Psalms, part of which was published in 1860. It was afterwards given to the world, partly written by him and partly by his friend, Dr. Littledale, in 4 vols., in 1874, under the title of A Commentary on the Psalms, from Primitive and Mediaeval Writers. This work has been criticised as pushing the mystical interpretation to an extravagant extent. But Dr. Neale has anticipated and disarmed such criticism by distinctly stating at the commencement that "not one single mystical interpretation throughout the present Commentary is original;" and surely such a collection has a special value as a wholesome correction of the materialistic and rationalistic tendencies of the age. His next great work, written at Sackville College, was The History of the Holy Eastern Church. The General Introduction was published in 1847; then followed part of the History itself, The Patriarchate of Alexandria, in 2 vols.; and after his death another fragment was published, The History of the Patriarchate of Antioch, to which was added, Constantius's Memoirs of the Patriarchs of Antioch, translated from the Greek, edited by the Rev. G. Williams, 1 vol. The whole fragment was published in 5 vols. (1847-1873). The work is spoken very highly of, and constantly referred to, by Dean Stanley in his Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church. Dr. Neale was naturally in strong sympathy with the struggling Episcopal Church of Scotland, and to show that sympathy he published, in 1856, The Life and Times of Patrick Torry, D.D., Bishop of St. Andrews, &c, with an Appendix on the Scottish Liturgy. In the same direction was his History of the so-called Jansenist Church in Holland, 1858. Next followed Essays on Liturgiology and Church History, with an Appendix on Liturgical Quotations from the Isapostolical Fathers by the Rev. G. Moultrie, 1863, a 2nd edition of which, with an interesting Preface by Dr. Littledale, was published in 1867. It would be foreign to the purpose of this article to dwell on his other prose works, such as his published sermons, preached in Sackville College Chapel, his admirable little devotional work, Readings for the Aged, which was a selection from these sermons; the various works he edited, such as the Tetralogia Liturgica, the Sequentiae ex Missalibus Germanicis, Anglicis, Gallicis, aliisque Medii Aevi Collectae; his edition of The Primitive Liturgies of S. Mark, S. Clement, S. James, S. Chrysostom and S. Basil, with a Preface by Dr. Littledale; his Translation of the same; his many stories from Church History, his Voices from the East, translated from the Russ, and his various articles contributed to the Ecclesiologist, The Christian Remembrance, The Morning Chronicle, and The Churchman's Companion. It is time to pass on to that with which we are directly concerned. II. —Poetical Writings.— As a sacred poet, Dr. Neale may be regarded under two aspects, as an original writer and as a translator. i. Original Writer.—Of his original poetry, the first specimen is Hymns for Children, published in 1842, which reached its 10th edition the year after his death. It consists of 33 short hymns, the first 19 for the different days of the week and different parts of the day, the last 14 for the different Church Seasons. This little volume was followed in 1844 by Hymns for the Young, which was intended to be a sequel to the former, its alternative title being A Second Series of Hymns for Children; but it is designed for an older class than the former, for young people rather than for children. The first 7 hymns are "for special occasions," as "on goiug to work," “leaving home” &c.; the next 8 on "Church Duties and Privileges," "Confirmation," "First Holy Communion," &c, the last 13 on "Church Festivals,” which, oddly enough, include the Four Ember Seasons, Rogation Days, and the Sundays in Advent. In both these works the severe and rigid style, copied, no doubt, from the old Latin hymns, is very observable. Perhaps this has prevented them from being such popular favourites as they otherwise might have been; but they are quite free from faults into which a writer of hymns for children is apt to fall. They never degenerate into mere prose in rhyme; and in every case the purity as well as the simplicity of their diction is very remarkable. In the same year (1844) he also published Songs and Ballads for Manufacturers, which were written during his sojourn in Madeira, and the aim of which (he tells us) was "to set forth good and sound principles in metaphors which might, from their familiarity, come home to the hearts of those to whom they were addressed." They are wonderfully spirited both in matter and manner, and their freedom of style is as remarkable as the rigidity of the former works. They were followed eleven years later (1855) by a similar little work entitled Songs and Ballads for the People. This is of a more aggressive and controversial character than the previous ones, dealing boldly with such burning questions as "The Teetotallers," "Why don't you go to Meeting?" &c. Passing over the Seatonian Poems, most of which were of course written before those noticed above, we next come to the Hymns for the Side, which is a fitting companion to the Readings for the Aged, and then to Sequences, Hymns, and other Ecclesiastical Verses, which was published just after the author's death (1866), and may be regarded as a sort of dying legacy to the world. In fact, the writer almost intimates as much in the preface, where he speaks of himself as "one who might soon be called to have done with earthly composition for ever." Many of the verses, indeed, were written earlier, "forty years ago," he says, which is evidently intended for twenty. The preface is dated "In the Octave of S. James, 1866," and within a fortnight, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, “the veil” (to use the touching words of his old friend, Dr. Littledale) "was withdrawn from before his eyes, and the song hushed on earth is now swelling the chorus of Paradise." Was it an accident that these verses dwell so much on death and the life beyond the grave? or did the coming event cast its shadow before? Not that there is any sadness of tone about them; quite the reverse. He contemplates death, but it is with the eye of a Christian from whom the sting of death has been removed. Most of the verses are on subjects connected with the Church Seasons, especially with what are called the "Minor Festivals:" but the first and last poems are on different subjects. The first, the "Prologue," is "in dear memory of John Keble, who departed on Maundy Thursday, 1866, "and is a most touching tribute from one sacred poet to another whom he was about to follow within a few months to the "land that is very far off." The last is a poetical version of the legend of "the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus," and is, the writer thinks, "the first attempt to apply to primitive Christianity that which is, to his mind, the noblest of our measures." That measure is the hexameter, and undoubtedly Dr. Neale employed it, as he did all his measures, with great skill and effect; but it may be doubted whether the English language, in which the quantities of syllables are not so clearly defined as in Latin and Greek, is quite adapted for that measure. Throughout this volume, Dr. Neale rises to a far higher strain than he had ever reached before. ii. Translations.— It is in this species of composition that Dr. Neale's success was pre-eminent, one might almost say unique. He had all the qualifications of a good translator. He was not only an excellent classical scholar in the ordinary sense of the term, but he was also positively steeped in mediaeval Latin. An anecdote given in an appreciative notice by "G. M." [Moultrie] happily illustrates this:— Dr. Neale "was invited by Mr. Keble and the Bishop of Salisbury to assist them with their new hymnal, and for this purpose he paid a visit to Hursley Parsonage." On one occasion Mr. Keble "having to go to another room to find some papers was detained a short time. On his return Dr. Neale said, ‘Why, Keble, I thought you told me that the "Christian Year" was entirely original.' ‘Yes,' he answered, 'it certainly is.' ‘Then how comes this?' and Dr. Neale placed before him the Latin of one of Keble's hymns. Keble professed himself utterly confounded. He protested that he had never seen this 'original,' no, not in all his life. After a few minutes Neale relieved him by owning that he had just turned it into Latin in his absence." Again, Dr. Neale's exquisite ear for melody prevented him from spoiling the rhythm by too servile an imitation of the original; while the spiritedness which is a marked feature of all his poetry preserved that spring and dash which is so often wanting in a translation. (i.) Latin.— Dr. Neale's translations from the Latin include (1.) Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851). He was the, first to introduce to the English reader Sequences, that is, as he himself describes them, " hymns sung between the Epistle and Gospel in the Mass," or, as he explains more definitely, "hymns whose origin is to be looked for in the Alleluia of the Gradual sung between the Epistle and the Gospel." He was quite an enthusiast about this subject:— "It is a magnificent thing,” he says, "to pass along the far-stretching vista of hymns, from the sublime self-containedness of S. Ambrose to the more fervid inspiration of S. Gregory, the exquisite typology of Venantius Fortunatus, the lovely painting of St. Peter Damiani, the crystal-like simplicity of S. Notker, the scriptural calm of Godescalcus, the subjective loveliness of St. Bernard, till all culminate in the full blaze of glory which surrounds Adam of S. Victor, the greatest of them all." Feeling thus what a noble task he had before him, it is no wonder that he spared no pains over it, or that he felt it his duty to adopt "the exact measure and rhyme of the original, at whatever inconvenience and cramping." That he succeeded in his difficult work, the verdict of the public has sufficiently proved. Of all the translations in the English language no one has ever been so popular as that of the Hora Novissima, in this volume, afterwards (1858) published separately, under the title of the Rhythm of Bernard de Morlaix, Monk of Cluny. Some original hymns may be as well known as "Jerusalem the Golden," "For thee, O dear, dear country," or "Brief life is here our portion,” but it would be hard to find any translations which come near them for extensive use. A second edition of the Mediaeval Hymns, much improved, came out in 1863, and a third, "with very numerous additions and corrections," in 1867. (2.) We next come to the Hymnal Noted, in which 94 out of the 105 hymns are the work of Dr. Neale. These are all translations from the Latin. The first part appeared in 1852, the second in 1854. Dr. Neale has himself given us an interesting account of his connection with this work:— "Some," he writes, "of the happiest and most instructive hours of my life were spent in the Sub-Committee of the Ecclesiological Society, appointed for the purpose of bringing out the Second Part of the Hymnal Noted It was my business to lay before them the translations I had prepared, and theirs to correct. The study which this required drew out the beauties of the original in a way which nothing else could have done, and the friendly collisions of various minds elicited ideas which a single translator would in all probability have missed." Preface, Mediaeval Hymns & Sequences (3.) The last volume of translations from the Latin published by Dr. Neale appeared in 1865, under the title of Hymns, chiefly Mediaeval, on the Joys and Glories of Paradise. It was intended to be a companion volume to the Rhythm of Bernard of Cluny. In this work the writer gives the general reader an opportunity of comparing the translation with the original by printing the two together in parallel pages. Before quitting the subject of Dr. Neale's translations from the Latin, it is only fair to notice that while they have been almost universally accepted by the English Church, and some of them adopted by dissenting congregations, they called down upon the translator a storm of indignation from an opposite quarter. The Roman Catholics accused him of deliberate deception because he took no pains to point out that he had either softened down or entirely ignored the Roman doctrines in those hymns. So far, they said, as the originals were concerned, these translations were deliberate misrepresentations. As however the translations were intended for the use of the Anglican Church, it was only to be expected that Neale should omit such hymns or portions of hymns as would be at variance with her doctrines and discipline. (ii.) Greek.— Dr. Neale conferred even a greater boon upon the lovers of hymnology than by his translations from the Latin, when he published, in 1862, his Hymns of the Eastern Church. In his translations from the Latin he did what others had done before; but in his translations from the Greek he was opening entirely new ground. "It is," he says in his preface to the first edition, "a most remarkable fact, and one which shows how very little interest has been hitherto felt in the Eastern Church, that these are literally, I believe, the only English versions of any part of the treasures of Oriental Hymnology." As early as 1853 he had printed a few of his versions in The Ecclesiastic, but it was not till the appearance of the complete volume that the interest of the general public was awakened in them. Then they became wonderfully popular. His translations "Christian, dost thou see them?" "The day is past and over," "'Tis the day of Resurrection," and his Greek-inspired "Art thou weary," and "O happy band of pilgrims," are almost as great favourites as "Jerusalem the golden," and the first in his Hymns of the Eastern Church, "Fierce was the wild billow," deserves to be. Dr. Neale had a far more difficult task before him when he undertook these Greek hymns than he had with the Latin, and he appeals to the reader "not to forget the immense difficulty of an attempt so perfectly new as the present, when I have had no predecessors and therefore could have no master." That difficulty in comparison with the Latin cannot be better stated than in his own words:— "Though the superior terseness and brevity of the Latin hymns renders a translation which shall represent those qualities a work of great labour, yet still the versifier has the help of the same metre; his version may be line for line; and there is a great analogy between the collects and the hymns, most helpful to the translator. Above all, we have examples enough of former translation by which we may take pattern. But in attempting a Greek canon, from the fact of its being in prose (metrical hymns are unknown) one is all at sea. What measure shall we employ? Why this more than that? Might we attempt the rhythmical prose of the original, and design it to be chanted? Again, the great length of the canons renders them un suitable for our churches as wholes. Is it better simply to form centos of the more beautiful passages? or can separate odes, each necessarily imperfect, be employed as separate hymns? . . . My own belief is that the best way to employ Greek hymnology for the uses of the English Church would be by centos." That, in spite of these difficulties, Dr. Neale succeeded, is obvious. His Greek hymns are, indeed, adaptations rather than translations; but, besides their intrinsic beauty, they at any rate give some idea of what the Greek hymn-writers were. In this case, as in his translations from the Latin, he omitted what he held was not good from his Anglican point of view, e.g., the Doxologies to the Blessed Virgin Mary. One point strikes us as very remarkable in these hymns, and indeed in all Dr. Neale's poetry, viz., its thorough manliness of tone. Considering what his surroundings were, one might have expected a feminine tone in his writings. Dr. Littledale, in his most vivid and interesting sketch of Dr. Neale's life, to which the present writer is largely indebted, has remarked the same with regard to his teaching: "Instead of committing the grave error of feminising his sermons and counsels [at St. Margaret's] because he had only women to deal with, he aimed at showing them the masculine side of Christianity also, to teach them its strength as well as its beauty." In conclusion, it may be observed that no one had a higher opinion of the value of Dr. Neale's labours in the field of ancient and mediaeval hymnology than the one man whose competency to speak with authority on such a point Dr. Neale himself would assuredly have rated above that of all others. Over and over again Dr. Neale pays a tribute to the services rendered by Archbishop Trench in this domain; and the present sketch cannot more fitly close than with the testimony which Archbishop Trench has given of his sense of the services rendered by Dr. Neale. The last words of his preface to his Sacred Latin Poetry (ed. 1864) are:—" I will only, therefore, mention that by patient researches in almost all European lands, he [Dr. Neale] has brought to light a multitude of hymns unknown before: in a treatise on sequences, properly so-called, has for the first time explained their essential character; while to him the English reader owes versions of some of the best hymns, such as often successfully overcome the almost insuperable difficulties which many among them present to the translator." [Rev. J. H. Overton, D.D.] Dr. Neale's original hymns and translations appeared in the following works, most of which are referred to in the preceding article, and all of which are grouped together here to facilitate reference:— (1) Hymns for Children. Intended chiefly for Village Schools. London, Masters, 1842. (2) Hymns for the Sick. London, Masters, 1843, improved ed. 1849. (3) Hymns for the Young. A Second Series of Hymns for Children. London, Masters, 1844. (4) Songs and Ballads for Manufacturers. London, Masters, 1844. (5) Hymns for Children. A Third Series. London, Masters, 1846. (6) Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences. London, Masters. 1851; 2nd ed. 1861; 3rd. ed. 1863. (7) Hymnal Noted. London, Masters & Novello, 1852: enlarged 1854. Several of the translations were by other hands. Musical editions edited by the Rev. T. Helmore. It is from this work that a large number of Dr. Neale's translations from the Latin are taken. (8) Carols for Christmas and Eastertide. 1853. (9) Songs and Ballads for the People. 1855. (10) The Rhythm of Bernard de Morlaix, Monk of Cluny, on the Celestial Country. London, Hayes, 1st ed. 1858: 3rd ed., with revision of text, 1861. It contains both the Latin and the English translation. (11) Hymns of The Eastern Church, Translated with Notes and an Introduction. London, Hayes, 1862: 2nd ed. 1862: 3rd ed. 1866 : 4th ed., with Music and additional notes, edited by The Very Rev. S. G. Hatherly, Mus. B., Archpriest of the Patriarchal (Ecumenical Throne. London, Hayes, 1882. Several of these translations and notes appeared in The Ecclesiastic and Theologian, in 1853. (12) Hymns, Chiefly Mediaeval, on the Joys and Glories of Paradise. London, Hayes, 1865. This work contains notes on the hymns, and the Latin texts of the older amongst them. (13) Original Sequences, Hymns, and other Ecclesiastical Verses. London, Hayes, 1866. This collection of Original verse was published posthumously by Dr. Littledale. In addition to these works Dr. Neale published collections of Latin verse as:— 1.) Hymni Ecclesiae e Breviariis quibusdam et Missalibus Gallicanis, Germanis, Hispanis, Lusitanis, desumpti. Oxford & Lond. J. H. Parker, 1851: and (2) Sequentiae e Missalibus Germanicis, Anglicis, Gallicis, aliisque Medii Aevi collectae. Oxford & Lond. J. H. Parker, 1852. A few of his translations appeared from time to time in The Ecclesiastic; and a few of his original hymns in The Christian Remembrancer. In the collection compiled for use at St. Margaret's, East Grinstead, St. Margaret's Hymnal, Printed Privately for the use of the Community only, 1875, there are several of his hymns not traceable elsewhere. [Many of his translations and original compositions are not listed here]. Some of the original hymns in common use which remain to be noted are:— i. From Hymns for Children, 1842. 1. No more sadness now, nor fasting. Christmas. 2. 0 Thou, Who through this holy week. Passiontide. 3. The day, 0 Lord, is spent. Evening. 4. The grass so green, the trees so tall. Morning of the Third Day. 5. Thou art gone up, 0 Lord, on high. Evening. 6. Thou, Who earnest from above. Whitsuntide. 7. With Thee, 0 Lord, begins the year. Circumcision, or, the New Year. ii. From Hymns for the Sick, 1843. 8. By no new path untried before. Support in Sickness. 9. Count not, the Lord's Apostle saith. Communion of the Sick. 10. Lord, if he sleepeth, he shall sure do well. Watching. 11. 0 Thou, Who rising long before the day. In a sleepless Night. 12. The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken away. Death and Burial. 13. There is a stream, whose waters rise. In dangerous Sickness or Fever. 14. They slumber not nor sleep. Guardian Angels. 15. Thy servants militant below. In Affliction. iii. From Hymns for the Young, 2nd series, 1844. 16. Lord Jesus, Who shalt come with power. Ember Week in Advent. 17. 0 God, in danger and distress. In time of Trouble. 18. 0 God, we raise our hearts to Thee. Ember-Week in Advent. From this, "0 Lord, we come before Thee now” is taken. 19. 0 God, Who lovest to abide. Dedication of a Church. 20. 0 our Father, hear us now. Rogation. The first of three hymns on The Lord's Prayer. 21. 0 Saviour, Who hast call'd away. Death of a Minister. 22. 0 Thou, Who lov'st to send relief. In Sickness. 23. 0 Thou, Who once didst bless the ground. Ember-Week in September. 24. 0 Thou, Who, when Thou hadst begun. On going to Work. 25. Still, 0 Lord of hosts, we share. Rogation. The Second of his hymns on The Lord's Prayer. 26. Strangers and pilgrims here below. On entering a new Dwelling to reside there. 27. They whose course on earth is o'er. Communion of Saints. From this, "Those whom many a land divides," is taken. 2S. Till its holy hours are past. Rogation. The third of his hymns on The Lord's Prayer. iv. Songs and Ballads for Manufacturers, 1844. 29. Work is over; God must speed it. Evening. v. Hymns for Children, 3rd series, 1846. 30. Before Thy Face, 0 God of old. St. John the Baptist. 31. By pain, and weariness, and doubt. St. Stephen. 32. First of the twelvefold band that trod. St. James. 33. Four streams through happy Eden flow'd. St. Mark. 34. Is there one who sets his face. St. Bartholomew. From this "He, for man who suffered woe," is taken. 35. Not a single sight we view. St. Matthias. 36. 0 Great Physician of the soul. St. Luke. 37. 0 Heavenly Wisdom, hear our cry. Christmas. “0 Sapientia." 38. 0 Key of David, hailed by those. Christmas. "0 Clavis David." 39. 0 Root of Jesse, Thou on Whom. Christmas. “O Radix Jesse." 40. 0 Thou, on Whom the nations [Gentiles] wait. Christmas. "0 Rex Gentium." 41. 0 Thou, Who earnest down of old [to call] . Christmas. "0 Adonai." 42. 0 Thou, Whose Name is God with us. Christmas. "0 Emmanuel." 43. 0 Very God of Very God. Christmas. "0 Oriens." 44. Saints of God, whom faith united. SS. Simon and Jude. 45. Since the time that first we came. St. Andrew. From this, "Every bird that upward springs," is taken. 46. That love is mighty love indeed. St. Barnabas. 47. We cannot plead, as others may. St. Matthew. 48. We have not seen, we cannot see. St. Thomas. 49. Would we go when life is o'er? St. Peter. v. Carols for Christmas and Eastertide. 1853. 50. Gabriel's message does away. Christmas. 51. Joy and gladness be to king and peasant. Christmas. 52. Joy to thee, joy to thee, Day of our victory. Easter. 53. Sing Alleluia, all ye lands. Easter. 54. The world itself keeps Easter Day. Easter. From this "There stood three Marys by the tomb," is taken. 55. With Christ we share a mystic grave. Easter or Holy Baptism. vi. From Sequences, Hymns, &c, 1866. 56. Can it, Master, can it be? Maundy Thursday. 57. Need it is we raise our eyes. All Saints. 58. Prostrate fell the Lord of all things. Maundy Thursday. 59. Rear the column, high and stately. All Saints. 60. The Paschal moonlight almost past. Easter. 61. Though the Octave-rainbow sometimes. Low Sunday. 62. When the earth was full of darkness. St. Margaret. 63. Young and old must raise the lay. Christmas Carol. vi. From the St. Margaret's Hymnal, 1875. 64. O gracious God, Who bid'st me now. On Leaving Some. 65. Thou Who came to save Thy people. For a School. 66. Thy praise the holy Infants shewed. Holy Innocents. These 66 hymns now in common use by no means represent Dr. Neale's position in modern hymnody. Many others must be added thereto. Even then, although the total is very large, it but feebly represents and emphasises the enormous influence which Di. Neale has exercised over modern hymnody. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Isaac Watts

1674 - 1748 Hymnal Number: 294 Author of "Joy to the World, the Lord Is Come" in Moravian Book of Worship Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary labours. He did not retire from ministerial duties, but preached as often as his delicate health would permit. The number of Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in 1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His "Horae Lyricae" was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared in July, 1707. The first hymn he is said to have composed for religious worship, is "Behold the glories of the Lamb," written at the age of twenty. It is as a writer of psalms and hymns that he is everywhere known. Some of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. Montgomery calls Watts "the greatest name among hymn-writers," and the honour can hardly be disputed. His published hymns number more than eight hundred. Watts died November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields. A monumental statue was erected in Southampton, his native place, and there is also a monument to his memory in the South Choir of Westminster Abbey. "Happy," says the great contemporary champion of Anglican orthodoxy, "will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God." ("Memorials of Westminster Abbey," p. 325.) --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872. ================================= Watts, Isaac, D.D. The father of Dr. Watts was a respected Nonconformist, and at the birth of the child, and during its infancy, twice suffered imprisonment for his religious convictions. In his later years he kept a flourishing boarding school at Southampton. Isaac, the eldest of his nine children, was born in that town July 17, 1674. His taste for verse showed itself in early childhood. He was taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew by Mr. Pinhorn, rector of All Saints, and headmaster of the Grammar School, in Southampton. The splendid promise of the boy induced a physician of the town and other friends to offer him an education at one of the Universities for eventual ordination in the Church of England: but this he refused; and entered a Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, under the care of Mr. Thomas Rowe, the pastor of the Independent congregation at Girdlers' Hall. Of this congregation he became a member in 1693. Leaving the Academy at the age of twenty, he spent two years at home; and it was then that the bulk of the Hymns and Spiritual Songs (published 1707-9) were written, and sung from manuscripts in the Southampton Chapel. The hymn "Behold the glories of the Lamb" is said to have been the first he composed, and written as an attempt to raise the standard of praise. In answer to requests, others succeeded. The hymn "There is a land of pure delight" is said to have been suggested by the view across Southampton Water. The next six years of Watts's life were again spent at Stoke Newington, in the post of tutor to the son of an eminent Puritan, Sir John Hartopp; and to the intense study of these years must be traced the accumulation of the theological and philosophical materials which he published subsequently, and also the life-long enfeeblement of his constitution. Watts preached his first sermon when he was twenty-four years old. In the next three years he preached frequently; and in 1702 was ordained pastor of the eminent Independent congregation in Mark Lane, over which Caryl and Dr. John Owen had presided, and which numbered Mrs. Bendish, Cromwell's granddaughter, Charles Fleetwood, Charles Desborough, Sir John Hartopp, Lady Haversham, and other distinguished Independents among its members. In this year he removed to the house of Mr. Hollis in the Minories. His health began to fail in the following year, and Mr. Samuel Price was appointed as his assistant in the ministry. In 1712 a fever shattered his constitution, and Mr. Price was then appointed co-pastor of the congregation which had in the meantime removed to a new chapel in Bury Street. It was at this period that he became the guest of Sir Thomas Abney, under whose roof, and after his death (1722) that of his widow, he remained for the rest of his suffering life; residing for the longer portion of these thirty-six years principally at the beautiful country seat of Theobalds in Herts, and for the last thirteen years at Stoke Newington. His degree of D.D. was bestowed on him in 1728, unsolicited, by the University of Edinburgh. His infirmities increased on him up to the peaceful close of his sufferings, Nov. 25, 1748. He was buried in the Puritan restingplace at Bunhill Fields, but a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. His learning and piety, gentleness and largeness of heart have earned him the title of the Melanchthon of his day. Among his friends, churchmen like Bishop Gibson are ranked with Nonconformists such as Doddridge. His theological as well as philosophical fame was considerable. His Speculations on the Human Nature of the Logos, as a contribution to the great controversy on the Holy Trinity, brought on him a charge of Arian opinions. His work on The Improvement of the Mind, published in 1741, is eulogised by Johnson. His Logic was still a valued textbook at Oxford within living memory. The World to Come, published in 1745, was once a favourite devotional work, parts of it being translated into several languages. His Catechisms, Scripture History (1732), as well as The Divine and Moral Songs (1715), were the most popular text-books for religious education fifty years ago. The Hymns and Spiritual Songs were published in 1707-9, though written earlier. The Horae Lyricae, which contains hymns interspersed among the poems, appeared in 1706-9. Some hymns were also appended at the close of the several Sermons preached in London, published in 1721-24. The Psalms were published in 1719. The earliest life of Watts is that by his friend Dr. Gibbons. Johnson has included him in his Lives of the Poets; and Southey has echoed Johnson's warm eulogy. The most interesting modern life is Isaac Watts: his Life and Writings, by E. Paxton Hood. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] A large mass of Dr. Watts's hymns and paraphrases of the Psalms have no personal history beyond the date of their publication. These we have grouped together here and shall preface the list with the books from which they are taken. (l) Horae Lyricae. Poems chiefly of the Lyric kind. In Three Books Sacred: i.To Devotion and Piety; ii. To Virtue, Honour, and Friendship; iii. To the Memory of the Dead. By I. Watts, 1706. Second edition, 1709. (2) Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In Three Books: i. Collected from the Scriptures; ii. Composed on Divine Subjects; iii. Prepared for the Lord's Supper. By I. Watts, 1707. This contained in Bk i. 78 hymns; Bk. ii. 110; Bk. iii. 22, and 12 doxologies. In the 2nd edition published in 1709, Bk. i. was increased to 150; Bk. ii. to 170; Bk. iii. to 25 and 15 doxologies. (3) Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children. By I. Watts, London, 1715. (4) The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, And apply'd to the Christian State and Worship. By I. Watts. London: Printed by J. Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry, &c, 1719. (5) Sermons with hymns appended thereto, vol. i., 1721; ii., 1723; iii. 1727. In the 5th ed. of the Sermons the three volumes, in duodecimo, were reduced to two, in octavo. (6) Reliquiae Juveniles: Miscellaneous Thoughts in Prose and Verse, on Natural, Moral, and Divine Subjects; Written chiefly in Younger Years. By I. Watts, D.D., London, 1734. (7) Remnants of Time. London, 1736. 454 Hymns and Versions of the Psalms, in addition to the centos are all in common use at the present time. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================================== Watts, I. , p. 1241, ii. Nearly 100 hymns, additional to those already annotated, are given in some minor hymn-books. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ================= Watts, I. , p. 1236, i. At the time of the publication of this Dictionary in 1892, every copy of the 1707 edition of Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs was supposed to have perished, and all notes thereon were based upon references which were found in magazines and old collections of hymns and versions of the Psalms. Recently three copies have been recovered, and by a careful examination of one of these we have been able to give some of the results in the revision of pp. 1-1597, and the rest we now subjoin. i. Hymns in the 1709 ed. of Hymns and Spiritual Songs which previously appeared in the 1707 edition of the same book, but are not so noted in the 1st ed. of this Dictionary:— On pp. 1237, L-1239, ii., Nos. 18, 33, 42, 43, 47, 48, 60, 56, 58, 59, 63, 75, 82, 83, 84, 85, 93, 96, 99, 102, 104, 105, 113, 115, 116, 123, 124, 134, 137, 139, 146, 147, 148, 149, 162, 166, 174, 180, 181, 182, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 200, 202. ii. Versions of the Psalms in his Psalms of David, 1719, which previously appeared in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707:— On pp. 1239, U.-1241, i., Nos. 241, 288, 304, 313, 314, 317, 410, 441. iii. Additional not noted in the revision:— 1. My soul, how lovely is the place; p. 1240, ii. 332. This version of Ps. lxiv. first appeared in the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, as "Ye saints, how lovely is the place." 2. Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine; p. 1055, ii. In the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, Bk. i., No. 35, and again in his Psalms of David, 1719. 3. Sing to the Lord with [cheerful] joyful voice, p. 1059, ii. This version of Ps. c. is No. 43 in the Hymns & Spiritual Songs, 1707, Bk. i., from which it passed into the Ps. of David, 1719. A careful collation of the earliest editions of Watts's Horae Lyricae shows that Nos. 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, p. 1237, i., are in the 1706 ed., and that the rest were added in 1709. Of the remaining hymns, Nos. 91 appeared in his Sermons, vol. ii., 1723, and No. 196 in Sermons, vol. i., 1721. No. 199 was added after Watts's death. It must be noted also that the original title of what is usually known as Divine and Moral Songs was Divine Songs only. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) =========== See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Nahum Tate

1652 - 1715 Hymnal Number: 296 Author of "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" in Moravian Book of Worship Nahum Tate was born in Dublin and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, B.A. 1672. He lacked great talent but wrote much for the stage, adapting other men's work, really successful only in a version of King Lear. Although he collaborated with Dryden on several occasions, he was never fully in step with the intellectual life of his times, and spent most of his life in a futile pursuit of popular favor. Nonetheless, he was appointed poet laureate in 1692 and royal historiographer in 1702. He is now known only for the New Version of the Psalms of David, 1696, which he produced in collaboration with Nicholas Brady. Poverty stricken throughout much of his life, he died in the Mint at Southwark, where he had taken refuge from his creditors, on August 12, 1715. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Joseph Mohr

1792 - 1848 Hymnal Number: 297 Author of "Silent Night, Holy Night" in Moravian Book of Worship Joseph Mohr was born into a humble family–his mother was a seamstress and his father, an army musketeer. A choirboy in Salzburg Cathedral as a youth, Mohr studied at Salzburg University and was ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in 1815. Mohr was a priest in various churches near Salzburg, including St. Nicholas Church. He spent his later years in Hintersee and Wagrein. Bert Polman ================= Mohr, Joseph, was born at Salzburg, Austria, on Dec. 11, 1792. After being ordained priest on Aug. 21, 1815, by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, he was successively assistant at Ramsau and at Laufen; then coadjutor at Kuchl, at Golling, at Vigaun, at Adnet, and at Authering; then Vicar-Substitute at Hof and at Hintersee--all in the diocese of Salzburg. In 1828 he was appointed Vicar at Hintersee, and in 1837 at Wagrein, near St. Johann. He died at Wagrein, Dec. 4, 1848. The only hymn by him translated into English is:— Stille Nacht! heilige Nacht! Christmas. This pretty little carol was written for Christmas, 1818, while Mohr was assistant clergyman at Laufen, on the Salza, near Salzburg, and was set to music (as in the Garland of Songs) by Franz Gruber, then schoolmaster at the neighbouring village of Arnsdorf (b. Nov. 25, 1787, at Hochburg near Linz, died June 7, 1863, as organist at Hallein, near Salzburg). What is apparently the original form is given by 0. Kraus, 1879, p. 608, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines, and in Dr. Wichern's Unsere Lieder, Hamburg, 1844, No. 111. Another form, also in 3 stanzas of 6 lines, is in T. Fliedner's Lieder-Buch für Kleinkinder-Schulen, Kaiserswerth, 1842, No. 115, and the Evangelical Kinder Gesang-Buch, Basel, 1867. The translations are from the text of 1844. 1. Holy night! peaceful night! All is dark. By Miss J. M. Campbell in C. S. Bere's Garland of Songs, 1863, and thence in Hymns & Carols, London, 1871. 2. Silent night! hallowed night. Land and deep. This is No. 131 in the Christian Hymn Book, Cincinnati, 1865. It is suggested by, rather than a translation of the German. 3. Holy night! peaceful night! Through the darkness. This is No. 8 in J. Barnby's Original Tunes to Popular Hymns, Novello, N. D., 1869; repeated in Laudes Domini, N.Y., 1884, No. 340. 4. Silent night! holy night! All is calm. This is in C. L. Hutchins's Sunday School Hymnal, 1871 (1878, p. 198), and the Sunday School Hymn Book of the Gen. Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 1873, No. 65. 5. Peaceful night, all things sleep. This is No. 17, in Carols for St Stephen's Church, Kirkstall, Leeds, 1872. 6. Silent night, holiest night. All asleep. By Dr. A. Edersheim, in the Sunday at Home, Dec. 18, 1875, repeated in the Church Sunday School Hymn Book, 1879, No. 35. 7. Silent night! holy night! Slumber reigns. By W. T. Matson, as No. 132, in Dr. Allon's Children's Worship, 1878. 8. Still the night, holy the night! Sleeps the world. By Stopford A. Brooke, in his Christian Hymns, 1881, No. 55. Translations not in common use:-- (1) "Stilly night, Holy night, Silent stars," by Miss E. E. S. Elliott, privately printed for the choir of St. Mark's, Brighton, about 1858, but first published in the Church Missionary Juvenile Instructor, 1871, p. 198. Also in her Tune Book for Under the Pillow, 1880. (2) "Holy night! calmly bright," by Mary D. Moultrie in Hymns & Lyrics by Gerard Moultrie, 1867, p. 42. (3) "Silent night, holiest night! Moonbeams," by C. T. Brooks, In his Poems, Boston, U. S., 1885, p. 218. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Mohr, Joseph, p. 760, ii. The translation "Stilly night, starry and bright," in Farmer's Glees & Songs for High Schools, 1881, p. 36, is by Archdeacon Farrar. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

W. Chatterton Dix

1837 - 1898 Person Name: William Chatterton Dix, 1837-1898 Hymnal Number: 305 Author of "What Child Is This" in Moravian Book of Worship Most British hymn writers in the nineteenth century were clergymen, but William C. Dix (b. Bristol, England, 1837; d. Cheddar, Somerset, England, 1898) was a notable exception. Trained in the business world, he became the manager of a marine insurance company in Glasgow, Scotland. Dix published various volumes of his hymns, such as Hymns of Love and Joy (1861) and Altar Songs: Verses on the Holy Eucharist (1867). A number of his texts were first published in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861). Bert Polman ======================== Dix, William Chatterton, son of John Dix, surgeon, of Bristol, author of the Life of Chatterton; Local Legends, &c, born at Bristol, June 14, 1837, and educated at the Grammar School of that city. Mr. Chatterton Dix's contributions to modern hymnody are numerous and of value. His fine Epiphany hymn, "As with gladness men of old,” and his plaintive ”Come unto Me, ye weary," are examples of his compositions, many of which rank high amongst modern hymns. In his Hymns of Love and Joy, 1861, Altar Songs, Verses on the Holy Eucharist, 1867; Vision of All Saints, &c, 1871; and Seekers of a City, 1878, some of his compositions were first published. The greater part, however, were contributed to Hymns Ancient & Modern; St. Raphaels Hymnbook, 1861; Lyra Eucharidica, 1863; Lyra Messianica, 1864; Lyra Mystica, 1865; The People's Hymns, 1867; The Hymnary, 1872; Church Hymns, 1871, and others. Many of his contributions are renderings in metrical form of Dr. Littledale's translation from the Greek in his Offices . . . of the Holy Eastern Church, 1863; and of the Rev. J. M. Rodwell's translation of hymns of the Abyssinian Church. These renderings of the "songs of other Churches" have not received the attention they deserve, and the sources from whence they come are practically unknown to most hymnal compilers. Mr. Dix has also written many Christmas and Easter carols, the most widely known of which is "The Manger Throne." In addition to detached pieces in prose and verse for various magazines, he has published two devotional works, Light; and The Risen Life, 1883; and a book of instructions for children entitled The Pattern Life, 1885. The last-named contains original hymns by Mr. Dix not given elsewhere. In addition to the more important of Mr. Dix's hymns which are annotated under their respective first lines, the following are also in common use:- 1. God cometh, let the heart prepare. Advent. In his Vision of All Saints, &c, 1871. 2. Holy, holy, holy, to Thee our vows we pay. Holy Communion. Published in his Altar Songs, 1867, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines, and headed "Eucharistic Processional for Dedication Feast." In the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871, and others in an abridged form. 3. How long, O Lord, how long, we ask. Second Advent. Appeared in the Appendix to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Psalms & Hymns, 1869, and repeated in several collections. 4. In our work and in our play. Children's Hymn. Published in his Hymns and Carols for Children, 1869, and is largely adopted in children's hymnbooks, as Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymnbook, 1881, and others. Also in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871. 5. In the hollow of Thine hand. For Fair Weather. Appeared in the People's Hymns, 1867, and repeated in several others. 6. Joy fills our inmost heart today. Christmas. Printed in the Church Times, and then on a Flysheet by Gr. J. Palmer, as the third of Four Joyful Hymns for Christmas, circa 1865. It is in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871, and other hymnals. It is also one of Mr. Dix's Christmas Customs & Christmas Carols, not dated. 7. Lift up your songs, ye thankful. St. Ambrose. Contributed to the People's Hymns, 1867. 8. Now in numbers softly flowing. St. Cecilia. Contributed to the People's Hymns, 1867. 9. Now, our Father, we adore Thee. Praise to the Father. Appeared in the Appendix to the S. P. C. K. Psalms & Hymns, 1869. 10. O Christ, Thou Son of Mary. St. Crispin. First printed in the Union Review, Sept., 1866, and thence into the People's Hymns, 1887. 11. O Cross which only canst allay. Glorying and Trusting in the Cross. Published in the People's Hymns, 1867. 12. O Thou the Eternal Son of God. Good Friday. Appeared in Lyra Messianica, 1864; the author's Hymns and Carols for Children, 1869; the S. P. C. K. Church Hymns, 1871, &c. 13. On the waters dark and drear. For use at Sea. Published in Hymns for Public Worship, &c. (St. Raphael's, Bristol), 1861; the S. P. C. K. Church Hymns, 1871, &c. 14. Only one prayer to-day. Ash Wednesday. Contributed to the People's Hymns, 1867. 15. Sitting at receipt of custom. St. Matthew. Appeared in the People's Hymns, 1867. 16. The Cross is on thy brow. Confirmation. In the 1869 Appendix to the S. P. C. K. Psalms & Hymns. 17. The stars above our head. Work and Humility. In the 1869 Appendix to the S. P. C. K. Psalms & Hymns. 18. When the shades of night are falling. Evening Hymn to the Good Shepherd. In the author's Seekers of a City, &c. [1878]. Most of Mr. Dix's best-known hymns, and also some of those named above, are in common use in America and other English-speaking countries. In Great Britain and America from 30 to 40 are in common use. He died Sept. 9, 1898. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ====================== Dix, William Chatterton, p. 302, ii. Additional hymns by Mr. Dix now in common use are:— 1. Lift up your songs, ye angel choirs. Ascension. 2. Now, my soul rehearse the story. Christ Feeding the Multitude. 3. Within the temple's hallowed courts. Blessed Virgin Mary. These hymns are from his Altar Songs, 1867. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Christopher Wordsworth

1807 - 1885 Person Name: Christopher Wordsworth, 1807-1885 Hymnal Number: 313 Author of "Songs of Thankfulness and Praise" in Moravian Book of Worship Christopher Wordsworth--nephew of the great lake-poet, William Wordsworth--was born in 1807. He was educated at Winchester, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A., with high honours, in 1830; M.A. in 1833; D.D. in 1839. He was elected Fellow of his College in 1830, and public orator of the University in 1836; received Priest's Orders in 1835; head master of Harrow School in 1836; Canon of Westminster Abbey in 1844; Hulsean Lecturer at Cambridge in 1847-48; Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale, Berks, in 1850; Archdeacon of Westminster, in 1865; Bishop of Lincoln, in 1868. His writings are numerous, and some of them very valuable. Most of his works are in prose. His "Holy Year; or, Hymns for Sundays, Holidays, and other occasions throughout the Year," was published in [1862], and contains 127 hymns. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872. =================== Wordsworth, Christopher, D.D., was born at Lambeth (of which parish his father was then the rector), Oct. 30, 1807, and was the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth, afterwards Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Priscilla (née Lloyd) his wife. He was educated at Winchester, where he distinguished himself both as a scholar and as an athlete. In 1826 he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his career was an extraordinarily brilliant one. He swept off an unprecedented number of College and University prizes, and in 1830 graduated as Senior Classic in the Classical Tripos, and 14th Senior Optime in the Mathematical, won the First Chancellor's Medal for classical studies, and was elected Fellow of Trinity. He was engaged as classical lecturer in college for some time, and in 1836 was chosen Public Orator for the University. In the same year he was elected Head Master of Harrow School, and in 1838 he married Susan Hatley Freere. During his head-mastership the numbers at Harrow fell off, but he began a great moral reform in the school, and many of his pupils regarded him with enthusiastic admiration. In 1844 he was appointed by Sir Robert Peel to a Canonry at Westminster; and in 1848-49 he was Hulsean lecturer at Cambridge. In 1850 he took the small chapter living of Stanford-in-the-Vale cum Goosey, in Berkshire, and for the next nineteen years he passed his time as an exemplary parish priest in this retired spot, with the exception of his four months' statutable residence each year at Westminster. In 1869 he was elevated to the bishopric of Lincoln, which he held for more than fifteen years, resigning it a few months before his death, which took place on March 20th, 1885. As bearing upon his poetical character, it may be noted that he was the nephew of the poet-laureate, William Wordsworth, whom he constantly visited at Rydal up to the time of the poet's death in 1850, and with whom he kept up a regular and lengthy correspondence. Christopher Wordsworth was a very voluminous writer, his principal works being:— (1) Athens and Attica, 1836; (2) Pompeian Inscriptions, 1837; (3) Greece Pictorial and Descriptive, 1839; (4) King Edward VIth's Latin Grammar, 1841; (5) Bentley's Correspondence, 1842; (6) Theophilus Anglicanus, 1843; (7) Memoirs of William Wordsworth, 1851; (8) Hippolytus, 1853; (9) Notes at Paris, 1854; (10) A Commentary on the whole Bible, 1856-1870; (11) The Holy Year, 1862; (12) Church History, 1881-1883; many volumes of Sermons, and an enormous amount of Pamphlets, Addresses, Letters, Speeches, on almost every subject in which the interests of the church were concerned, and also on subjects connected with classical literature. Of his many works, however, the only one which claims notice from the hynmologist's point of view is The Holy Year, which contains hymns, not only for every season of the Church's year, but also for every phase of that season, as indicated in the Book of Common Prayer. Dr. Wordsworth, like the Wesleys, looked upon hymns as a valuable means of stamping permanently upon the memory the great doctrines of the Christian Church. He held it to be "the first duty of a hymn-writer to teach sound doctrine, and thus to save souls." He thought that the materials for English Church hymns should be sought (1) in the Holy Scriptures, (2) in the writings of Christian Antiquity, and (3) in the Poetry of the Ancient Church. Hence he imposed upon himself the strictest limitations in his own compositions. He did not select a subject which seemed to him most adapted for poetical treatment, but felt himself bound to treat impartially every subject, and branch of a subject, that is brought before us in the Church's services, whether of a poetical nature or not. The natural result is that his hymns are of very unequal merit; whether his subject inspired him with poetical thoughts or not, he was bound to deal with it; hence while some of his hymns (such as "Hark! the sound of holy voices," &c, “See the Conqueror mounts in triumph," &c, "O, day of rest and gladness") are of a high order of excellence, others are prosaic. He was particularly anxious to avoid obscurity, and thus many of his hymns are simple to the verge of baldness. But this extreme simplicity was always intentional, and to those who can read between the lines there are many traces of the "ars celans artem." It is somewhat remarkable that though in citing examples of early hymnwriters he almost always refers to those of the Western Church, his own hymns more nearly resemble those of the Eastern, as may be seen by comparing The Holy Year with Dr. Mason Neale's Hymns of the Eastern Church translated, with Notes, &c. The reason of this perhaps half-unconscious resemblance is not far to seek. Christopher Wordsworth, like the Greek hymnwriters, drew his inspiration from Holy Scripture, and he loved, as they did, to interpret Holy Scripture mystically. He thought that ”the dangers to which the Faith of England (especially in regard to the Old Testament) was exposed, arose from the abandonment of the ancient Christian, Apostolic and Patristic system of interpretation of the Old Testament for the frigid and servile modern exegesis of the literalists, who see nothing in the Old Testament but a common history, and who read it (as St. Paul says the Jews do) ‘with a veil on their heart, which veil' (he adds) 'is done away in Christ.'" In the same spirit, he sought and found Christ everywhere in the New Testament. The Gospel History was only the history of what "Jesus began to do and to teach" on earth; the Acts of the Apostles and all the Epistles were the history of what he continued to do and to teach from Heaven; and the Apocalypse (perhaps his favourite book) was "the seal and colophon of all." Naturally he presents this theory, a theory most susceptible of poetical treatment, in his hymns even more prominently than in his other writings. The Greek writers took, more or less, the same view; hence the resemblance between his hymns and those of the Eastern Church. [Rev. J. H. Overton, D.D.] During the time that Bishop Wordsworth was Canon of Westminster, and Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale cum Goosey, he published his collection of hymns as:— The Holy Year; or Hymns for Sundays and Holy-days, And other Occasions. London, Rivingtons, 1862. This work contained an extended Preface; a Calendar of Hymns; 117 Original Compositions; and a Supplement of 82 hymns from other sources. In the 3rd edition, 1863, the Supplement was omitted, and the Original hymns were increased to 127. Several of these hymns are annotated under their respective first lines, the rest in common use are:— From The Holy Year, first edition, 1862:— 1. Five pebbles from the brook. Temptation. Stanza ix. added in 1863. 2. Giver of law is God's [Thy] dear Son. Circumcision. Doxology added in 1863. 3. Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost. Quinquagesima. 4. Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of Hosts, Eternal King. Holy Trinity. 5. Holy of Holies! awful name. Epistle 5th Sunday in Lent. 6. How blest are hearts which Christ the Lord. Holy Matrimony. In 1863 in two parts, Pt. ii. being "Bless these Thy servants, gracious Lord." 7. How blessed is the force of prayer. St. Peter. In 1863, in two parts, Pt. i. being "Behold! at hand is Herod's doom." 8. How wondrous and mysterious are. Holy Baptism. In the 1863 ed. it is divided into four parts:— Pt. ii. "In Jordan Thou didst sanctify"; Pt. iii. "Thee, risen in triumph from the grave"; Pt. iv." Baptized in Christ we put on Christ." The cento, "By Water and the Holy Ghost," is also from this hymn. 9. In sorrow and distress. Ash Wednesday. 10. In Thy glorious Resurrection . Easter. In the 1863 ed. it begins, "Lord, Thy glorious Resurrection," and the doxology was added. 11. Lord, may we never, save to One. Against False Worship. Stanza viii. was added in 1863. 12. Lord not with [by] poor and paltry gifts. Offertory. 13. Lord, Who didst the Prophets teach. 2nd Sunday in Advent, or, Holy Scripture. The doxology was added in 1863. 14. Man fell from grace by carnal appetite. Gospel 1st S. in Lent. 15. Mankind in Adam fell. Good Friday. In the 1863 ed. it is divided into three parts: Pt. ii. being "We fell by Adam's sin;" and Pt. iii. "Thy Cross a Trophy is." 16. Not bound by chains, nor pent in cells. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost. This hymn is preceded by a special note on the Holy Spirit and His gifts. 17. Not gifts of prophecy can save. Self Discipline, or, 8th Sunday after Trinity. 18. 0 Jerusalem beloved, joyful morn has dawned on Thee. Purification of Blessed Virgin Mary, or, The Presentation. In the 1863 edition it is divided into two parts, Pt. ii. Being “Light the Gentile world to lighten, and thy glory Israel." 19. 0 Saviour, Who at Nain's gate. The Raising of the Widow's Son. 20. 0 Son of God, the Eternal Word. The Queen's Accession. 21. Once all the nations were as one. Babel and Sion a Contrast. 22. Sing, 0 sing this blessed morn. Christmas. In the 1863 edition a doxology was added, and the hymn was divided into two parts, Pt. ii. being, "God comes down that man may rise." 23. The banner of the Cross. Missions. In the 1863 ed. it is in three parts, Pt. ii., "Now for the Lord our God"; Pt. iii. "The earth from East to West." 24. The Galilean Fishers toil. Collect 4th Sunday in Advent. From this "0 Lord, when storms around us howl" is taken. 25. Thou bidd'st us visit in distress. The Promise of the Comforter, or, Sunday before Ascension. In the 1863 edition it is in two parts, Pt. ii. being “At Thy first birth, Thou, Lord, didst wait." 26. Thou hast a Temple founded. The Christian Temple; or, Epistle 11th Sunday after Trinity. 27. To-day, 0 Lord, the Holy James. St. James. In the 1863 ed. in two parts, Pt. ii. being "God in His word does not display." 28. Today with bright effulgence shine. Conversion of St. Paul. In the 1863 ed. it begins "Today in Thine Apostle shine," and is in two parts, Pt. ii being "From East to West, from North to South." 29. Upon the sixth day of the week. Easter Eve. Stanzas x., xi. of the 1863 text were added then, and the hymn was given in two parts, Pt. ii. being "By tasting the forbidden fruit." 30. We hear the tolling bell. Burial. The doxology was added in 1863, and the hymn was divided, Pt. ii. being "0 gracious Lord, to Thee." The cento "We see the open grave" is from this hymn. 31. When from the City of our God. The Good Samaritan. From this is taken “What beams of grace and mercy, Lord." 32. When Thou, 0 Lord, didst send the Twelve. SS. Simon and Jude. In the 1863 ed. stanza x. is new, and Pt. ii. begins, "Zeal, swollen with passion's cloudy smoke." ii. From the Holy Year, 3rd ed., 1863. 33. Heavenly Father, send Thy blessing. For Schools. In extensive use. 34. Holy, holy, holy Lord, Maker of this worldly frame. Septuagesima. Based on the Epistle and Gospel of the week. 35. Lo He comes! Whom every nation. Advent. This is headed "The First Advent of Christ, coming to save." 36. 0 fear not though before thee lies. Communion of the Sick. Pt. ii. begins, "The Resurrection and the Life." 37. On every new-born babe of earth. Churching of Women. Pt. ii. begins, "Bright angels of the King of kings." 38. Peace to this house! O Thou Whose way. Visitation of the Sick. Pt. ii. "0 Conqueror by suffering; Pt. iii. "Restore us to Thine house of prayer." 39. The day is gently sinking to a close. Evening. A beautiful hymn. 40. We all, 0 God, unrighteous are. The Lord our Righteousness. Sometimes "We all, O Lord, unrighteous are." Based upon the Epistle of the Sunday next before Advent. Pt. ii. begins "Behold the day, the glorious day." In addition to many of the hymns in the 1863 edition of The Holy Year being divided into parts, the texts of most of them were revised by the author, and are authorized. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Wordsworth, Bp. C. (Lincoln) , p. 1294, i. Of his hymns, noted on p. 1294, i., ii., we find that No. 39 appeared in his Holy Year in 1864; and Nos. 34, 35, and 40 in 1862. The first edition in which the longer hymns were divided into parts was that of 1868. With regard to the date of Bp. Wordsworth's death, we find this reference thereto in his Biography: "He expired soon after midnight on Friday, March 20, or perhaps, it might be said, early on the Saturday morning." This gives the date of his death as March 21, 1885. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) =========================== See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Reginald Heber

1783 - 1826 Person Name: Reginald Heber, 1783-1826 Hymnal Number: 317 Author of "Brightest and Best of the Stars" in Moravian Book of Worship Reginald Heber was born in 1783 into a wealthy, educated family. He was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury in the west of England where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and worked tirelessly for three years until the weather and travel took its toll on his health and he died of a stroke. Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today. -- Greg Scheer, 1995 ==================== Heber, Reginald, D.D. Born at Malpas, April 21, 1783, educated at Brasenose College, Oxford; Vicar of Hodnet, 1807; Bishop of Calcutta, 1823; died at Trichinopoly, India, April 3, 1826. The gift of versification shewed itself in Heber's childhood; and his Newdigate prize poem Palestine, which was read to Scott at breakfast in his rooms at Brazenose, Oxford, and owed one of its most striking passages to Scott's suggestion, is almost the only prize poem that has won a permanent place in poetical literature. His sixteen years at Hodnet, where he held a halfway position between a parson and a squire, were marked not only by his devoted care of his people, as a parish priest, but by literary work. He was the friend of Milman, Gifford, Southey, and others, in the world of letters, endeared to them by his candour, gentleness, "salient playfulness," as well as learning and culture. He was on the original staff of The Quarterly Review; Bampton Lecturer (1815); and Preacher at Lincoln's Inn (1822). His edition of Jeremy Taylor is still the classic edition. During this portion of his life he had often had a lurking fondness for India, had traced on the map Indian journeys, and had been tempted to wish himself Bishop of Calcutta. When he was forty years old the literary life was closed by his call to the Episcopate. No memory of Indian annals is holier than that of the three years of ceaseless travel, splendid administration, and saintly enthusiasm, of his tenure of the see of Calcutta. He ordained the first Christian native—Christian David. His first visitation ranged through Bengal, Bombay, and Ceylon; and at Delhi and Lucknow he was prostrated with fever. His second visitation took him through the scenes of Schwartz's labours in Madras Presidency to Trichinopoly, where on April 3,1826, he confirmed forty-two persons, and he was deeply moved by the impression of the struggling mission, so much so that “he showed no appearance of bodily exhaus¬tion." On his return from the service ”He retired into his own room, and according to his invariable custom, wrote on the back of the address on Confirmation 'Trichinopoly, April 3, 1826.' This was his last act, for immediately on taking off his clothes, he went into a large cold bath, where he had bathed the two preceding mornings, but which was now the destined agent of his removal to Paradise. Half an hour after, his servant, alarmed at his long absence, entered the room and found him a lifeless corpse." Life, &c, 1830, vol. ii. p. 437. Heber's hymns were all written during the Hodnet period. Even the great missionary hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains," notwithstanding the Indian allusions ("India's coral strand," "Ceylon's isle"), was written before he received the offer of Calcutta. The touching funeral hymn, "Thou art gone to the grave," was written on the loss of his first babe, which was a deep grief to him. Some of the hymns were published (1811-16) in the Christian Observer, the rest were not published till after his death. They formed part of a ms. collection made for Hodnet (but not published), which contained, besides a few hymns from older and special sources, contributions by Milman. The first idea of the collection appears in a letter in 1809 asking for a copy of the Olney Hymns, which he "admired very much." The plan was to compose hymns connected with the Epistles and Gospels, to be sung after the Nicene Creed. He was the first to publish sermons on the Sunday services (1822), and a writer in The Guardian has pointed out that these efforts of Heber were the germs of the now familiar practice, developed through the Christian Year (perhaps following Ken's Hymns on the Festivals), and by Augustus Hare, of welding together sermon, hymnal, and liturgy. Heber tried to obtain from Archbishop Manners Sutton and the Bishop of London (1820) authorization of his ms. collection of hymns by the Church, enlarging on the "powerful engine" which hymns were among Dissenters, and the irregular use of them in the church, which it was impossible to suppress, and better to regulate. The authorization was not granted. The lyric spirit of Scott and Byron passed into our hymns in Heber's verse; imparting a fuller rhythm to the older measures, as illustrated by "Oh, Saviour, is Thy promise fled," or the martial hymn, "The Son of God goes forth to war;" pressing into sacred service the freer rhythms of contemporary poetry (e.g. "Brightest and best of the sons of the morning"; "God that madest earth and heaven"); and aiming at consistent grace of literary expression.. Their beauties and faults spring from this modern spirit. They have not the scriptural strength of our best early hymns, nor the dogmatic force of the best Latin ones. They are too flowing and florid, and the conditions of hymn composition are not sufficiently understood. But as pure and graceful devotional poetry, always true and reverent, they are an unfailing pleasure. The finest of them is that majestic anthem, founded on the rhythm of the English Bible, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." The greatest evidence of Heber's popularity as a hymnwriter, and his refined taste as a compiler, is found in the fact that the total contents of his ms. collection which were given in his posthumous Hymns written and adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year. London, J. Murray, 1827; which included 57 hymns by Heber, 12 by Milman, and 29 by other writers, are in common in Great Britain and America at the present time. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] Of Bishop Heber's hymns, about one half are annotated under their respective first lines. Those given below were published in Heber's posthumous Hymns, &c, 1827. Some of them are in extensive use in Great Britain and America; but as they possess no special histories they are grouped together as from the Hymns, &c, 1827:— 1. Beneath our feet, and o'er our head. Burial. 2. Creator of the rolling flood. St. Peter's Day, or, Gospel for 6th Sunday after Trinity. 3. Lo, the lilies of the field. Teachings of Nature: or, Gospel for 15th Sunday after Trinity. 4. 0 God, by Whom the seed is given. Sexagesima. 6. 0 God, my sins are manifold. Forgiveness, or, Gospel for 22nd S. after Trinity. 6. 0 hand of bounty, largely spread. Water into Wine, or, Gospel for 2nd S. after Epiphany. 7. 0 King of earth, and air, and sea. Feeding the Multitude; or, Gospel for 4th S. in Lent. 8. 0 more than merciful, Whose bounty gave. Good Friday. 9. 0 most merciful! 0 most bountiful. Introit Holy Communion. 10. 0 Thou, Whom neither time nor space. God unsearchable, or, Gospel for 5th Sunday in Lent. 11. 0 weep not o'er thy children's tomb. Innocents Day. 12. Room for the proud! Ye sons of clay. Dives and Lazarus, or, Gospel for 1st Sunday after Trinity. 13. Sit thou on my right hand, my Son, saith the Lord. Ascension. 14. Spirit of truth, on this thy day. Whit-Sunday. 15. The feeble pulse, the gasping breath. Burial, or, Gospel for 1st S. after Trinity. 16. The God of glory walks His round. Septuagesima, or, the Labourers in the Marketplace. 17. The sound of war in earth and air. Wrestling against Principalities and Powers, or, Epistle for 2lst Sunday after Trinity. 18. The world is grown old, her pleasures are past. Advent; or, Epistle for 4th Sunday in Advent. 19. There was joy in heaven. The Lost Sheep; or, Gospel for 3rd S. after Trinity. 20. Though sorrows rise and dangers roll. St. James's Day. 21. To conquer and to save, the Son of God. Christ the Conqueror. 22. Virgin-born, we bow before Thee. The Virgin Mary. Blessed amongst women, or, Gospel for 3rd S. in Lent. 23. Wake not, 0 mother, sounds of lamentation. Raising the Widow's Son, or, Gospel for 16th S. after Trinity. 24. When on her Maker's bosom. Holy Matrimony, or, Gospel for 2nd S. after Epiphany. 25. When through the torn sail the wild tempest is streaming. Stilling the Sea, or, Gospel for 4th Sunday after Epiphany. 26. Who yonder on the desert heath. The Good Samaritan, or, Gospel for 13th Sunday after Trinity. This list is a good index of the subjects treated of in those of Heber's hymns which are given under their first lines, and shows that he used the Gospels far more than the Epistles in his work. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)