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James Edmeston

1791 - 1867 Hymnal Number: 565a Author of "Savior, Breathe an Evening Blessing" in The Lutheran Hymnal Edmeston, James, born Sept. 10, 1791. His maternal grandfather was the Rev. Samuel Brewer, who for 50 years was the pastor of an Independent congregation at Stepney. Educated as an architect and surveyor, in 1816 he entered upon his profession on his own account, and continued to practice it until his death on Jan. 7, 1867. The late Sir G. Gilbert Scott was his pupil. Although an Independent by descent he joined the Established Church at a comparatively early age, and subsequently held various offices, including that of churchwarden, in the Church of St. Barnabas, Homerton. His hymns number nearly 2000. The best known are “Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us” and "Saviour, breathe an evening blessing." Many of his hymns were written for children, and from their simplicity are admirably adapted to the purpose. For many years he contributed hymns of various degrees of merit to the Evangelical Magazine, His published works are:— (1) The Search, and other Poems, 1817. (2) Sacred Lyrics, 1820, a volume of 31 hymns and one poem. This was followed by a second Series, 1821, with 35; and a third Series, 1822, with 27 pieces respectively. (3) The Cottage Minstrel; or, Hymns for the Assistance of Cottagers in their Domestic Worship, 1821. This was published at the suggestion of a member of the Home Missionary Society, and contains fifty hymns. (4) One Hundred Hymns for Sunday Schools, and for Particular Occasions, 1821. (5) Missionary Hymns, 1822. (6) Patmos, a Fragment, and Other Poems, 1824. (7) The Woman of Shunam, and Other Poems, 1829. (8) Fifty Original Hymns, 1833. (9) Hymns for the Chamber of Sickness, 1844. (10) Closet Hymns and Poems, 1844. (11) Infant Breathings, being Hymns for the Young, 1846. (12) Sacred Poetry, 1847. In addition to those of his hymns which have attained to an extensive circulation, as those named above, and are annotated in this work under their respective first lines, there are also the following in common use in Great Britain and America:— 1. Along my earthly way. Anxiety. In his Sacred Lyrics, third set, 1822, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines. It is given in several collections, but usually in an abbreviated form, and generally somewhat altered. 2. Dark river of death that is [art] flowing. Death Anticipated. Given in his Sacred Lyrics, 3rd set, 1822, p. 39, in 9 stanzas of 4 lines. It is usually given in an abbreviated form, and sometimes as, "Dark river of death that art flowing." 3. Come, sacred peace, delightful guest. Peace. Appeared in his Closet Hymns, &c, 1844, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. 4. Eternal God, before thy throne, Three nations. National Fast. 5. For Thee we pray and wait. Second Advent. 6. God intrusts to all. Parable of the Talents. This is No. 13 of his Infant Breathings, 1846, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. It is a simple application of the parable to the life of a child. It is widely used. 7. God is here; how sweet the sound. Omnipresence. Given as No. 9 in his Sacred Lyrics, 1st set, 1820, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. In the Baptist Hymnal, 1879, No. 45. St. i.-iii. are from this text, and iv. and v. are from another source. 8. How sweet the light of Sabbath eve. Sunday Evening. No. 10 in theCottage Minstrel, 1821, slightly altered. 9. Is there a time when moments flow. Sunday Evening. No. 5 of his Sacred Lyrics, 1st set, 1820, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. 10. Little travellers Zionward. Burial of Children. No. 25 of his Infant Breathings, &c, 1846, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. In the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, it begins with stanza ii., "Who are they whose little feet?" 11. May we, Lord, rejoicing say. National Thanksgiving. Dated 1849 by the author in Spurgeon's Our Own Hymnbook, No. 1008. 12. Music, bring thy sweetest treasures. Holy Trinity. Dated 1837 by the author in Spurgeon's Our Own Hymnbook, No. 167. It is in his Sacred Poetry, 1847. 13. Roll on, thou mighty ocean. Departure of Missionaries. In his Missionary Hymns, 1822, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. It is in common use in America. 14. Sweet is the light of Sabbath eve. Sunday Evening. In 5 stanzas of 41., from the Cottage Minstrel, 1821, where it is given as No. 10, and entitled "The Cottager's Reflections upon the Sabbath Evening." 15. The light of Sabbath eve. Sunday Evening. In 5 stanzas of 4 lines, as No. 11 in the Cottage Minstrel, 1821, p. 14, and headed, "Solemn Questions for the Sabbath Evening." 16. Wake, harp of Zion, wake again. Missions to the Jews. Dated 1846 by the author in Spurgeon's Our Own Hymnbook. It is in his Sacred Poetry, 1847. 17. When shall the voice of singing? In his Missionary Hymns, 1822. It is in a few American collections. 18. When the worn spirit wants repose. Sunday. No. 18, of his Sacred Lyrics, 1st set, 1820, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. It is somewhat popular, and is given in several collections in Great Britain and America, as the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858-80; the Church Praise Book, N. Y., 1881, &c. 19. Why should I, in vain repining? Consolation. No. 14 in the 1st set of his Sacred Lyrics, 1820, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ========================= Edmeston, James, p. 321, ii. Other hymns are:— 1. O Thou Whose mercy guides my way. Resignation. In his Sacred Lyrics, 1st set, 1820, p. 24, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines, and again in his Hymns for the Chamber of Sickness, 1844. 2. Parting soul, the flood awaits thee. Death anticipated. In his Sacred Lyrics, 1st set, 1820, p. 18, in 3 stanza of 8 lines, and based upon the passage in the Pilgrim's Progress:—"Now I further saw that betwixt them and the gate was a river, but there was no bridge to go over, and the river was very deep." 3. 'Tis sweet upon our pilgrimage. Praise. In hi3 Closet Hymns and Poems, 1846, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "An Ebenezer Raided." 4. Welcome, brethren, enter in. Reception of Church Officers. Miller says, in his Singers and Songs, 1869, p. 420:—"This is No. 1 of five hymns supplied by Mr. Edmeston, at the request of a friend, for insertion in a provincial hymn-book, on the subject of admitting members," but he does not give the name of the book, neither have we identified It. The hymn, as given in the New Congregational Hymn Book, 1859, No. 840, is in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, of which Millet says stanza iii. is by another hand. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

1090 - 1153 Person Name: Bernard of Clairvaux, d. 1153 Hymnal Number: 172 Author (attributed to) of "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" in The Lutheran Hymnal Bernard of Clairvaux, saint, abbot, and doctor, fills one of the most conspicuous positions in the history of the middle ages. His father, Tecelin, or Tesselin, a knight of great bravery, was the friend and vassal of the Duke of Burgundy. Bernard was born at his father's castle on the eminence of Les Fontaines, near Dijon, in Burgundy, in 1091. He was educated at Chatillon, where he was distinguished for his studious and meditative habits. The world, it would be thought, would have had overpowering attractions for a youth who, like Bernard, had all the advantages that high birth, great personal beauty, graceful manners, and irresistible influence could give, but, strengthened in the resolve by night visions of his mother (who had died in 1105), he chose a life of asceticism, and became a monk. In company with an uncle and two of his brothers, who had been won over by his entreaties, he entered the monastery of Citeaux, the first Cistercian foundation, in 1113. Two years later he was sent forth, at the head of twelve monks, from the rapidly increasing and overcrowded abbey, to found a daughter institution, which in spite of difficulties and privations which would have daunted less determined men, they succeeded in doing, in the Valley of Wormwood, about four miles from the Abbey of La Ferté—itself an earlier swarm from the same parent hive—on the Aube. On the death of Pope Honorius II., in 1130, the Sacred College was rent by factions, one of which elected Gregory of St. Angelo, who took the title of Innocent II., while another elected Peter Leonis, under that of Anacletua II. Innocent fled to France, and the question as to whom the allegiance of the King, Louie VI., and the French bishops was due was left by them for Bernard to decide. At a council held at Etampes, Bernard gave judgment in favour of Innocent. Throwing himself into the question with all the ardour of a vehement partisan, he won over both Henry I., the English king, and Lothair, the German emperor, to support the same cause, and then, in 1133, accompanied Innocent II., who was supported by Lothair and his army, to Italy and to Rome. When Lothair withdrew, Innocent retired to Pisa, and Bernard for awhile to his abbey of Clairvaux. It was not until after the death of Anacletus, the antipope, in January, 1138, and the resignation of his successor, the cardinal-priest Gregory, Victor II., that Innocent II., who had returned to Rome with Bernard, was universally acknowledged Pope, a result to which no one had so greatly contributed as the Abbot of Clairvaux. The influence of the latter now became paramount in the Church, as was proved at the Lateran Council of 1139, the largest council ever collected together, where the decrees in every line displayed the work of his master-hand. After having devoted four years to the service of the Pope, Bernard, early in 1135, returned to Clairvaux. In 1137 he was again at Rome, impetuous and determined as ever, denouncing the election of a Cluniac instead of a Clairvaux monk to the see of Langres in France, and in high controversy in consequence with Peter, the gentle Abbot of Cluny, and the Archbishop of Lyons. The question was settled by the deposition by the Pope of the Cluniac and the elevation of a Clairvaux monk (Godfrey, a kinsman of St. Bernard) into his place. In 1143, Bernard raised an almost similar question as to the election of St. William to the see of York, which was settled much after the same fashion, the deposition, after a time, if only for a time, of William, and the intrusion of another Clairvaux monk, Henry Murdac, or Murduch, into the archiepiccopal see. Meantime between these two dates—in 1140—the condemnation of Peter Abilaid and his tenets, in which matter Bernard appeared personally as prosecutor, took place at a council held at Sens. Abelard, condemned at Sens, appealed to Rome, and, resting awhile on his way thither, at Cluny, where Peter still presided as Abbot, died there in 1142. St. Bernard was next called upon to exercise his unrivalled powers of persuasion in a very different cause. Controversy over, he preached a crusade. The summer of 1146 was spent by him in traversing France to rouse the people to engage in the second crusade; the autumn with a like object in Germany. In both countries the effect of his appearance and eloquence was marvellous, almost miraculous. The population seemed to rise en masse, and take up the cross. In 1147 the expedition started, a vast horde, of which probably not a tenth ever reached Palestine. It proved a complete failure, and a miserable remnant shared the flight of their leaders, the Emperor Conrad, and Louis, King of France, and returned home, defeated and disgraced. The blame was thrown upon Bernard, and his apology for his part in the matter is extant. He was not, however, for long to bear up against reproach; he died in the 63rd year of his age, in 1153, weary of the world and glad to be at rest. With the works of St. Bernard, the best ed. of which was pub. by Mabillon at Paris in the early part of the 18th cent. (1719), we are not concerned here, except as regards his contributions, few and far between as they are, to the stores of Latin hymnology. There has been so much doubt thrown upon the authorship of the hymns which usually go by his name,—notably by his editor, Mabillon himself,—that it is impossible to claim any of them as having been certainly written by him; but Archbishop Trench, than whom we have no greater modern authority on such a point, is satisfied that the attribution of them all, except the "Cur mundus militat," to St. Bernard is correct. "If he did not write," the Archbishop says, "it is not easy to guess who could have written them; and indeed they bear profoundly the stamp of his mind, being only inferior in beauty to his prose." The hymns by which St. Bernard is best known as a writer of sacred poetry are: (1.) "Jesu duicis memoria," a long poem on the " Name of Jesus"—known as the "Jubilus of St. Bernard," and among mediaeval writers as the " Rosy Hymn." It is, perhaps, the best specimen of what Neale describes as the "subjective loveliness " of its author's compositions. (2.) "Salve mundi Salutore," an address to the various limbs of Christ on the cross. It consists of 350 lines, 50 lines being addressed to each. (3.) "Laetabundus, exultet fidelis chorus: Alleluia." This sequence was in use all over Europe. (4.) "Cum sit omnis homo foenum." (5.) " Ut jucundas cervus undas." A poem of 68 lines, and well known, is claimed for St. Bernard by Hommey in his Supplementum Patrum, Paris, 1686, p. 165, but on what Archbishop Trench, who quotes it at length, (Sac. Lat. Poetry, p. 242,) deems " grounds entirely insufficient." (6.) " Eheu, Eheu, mundi vita," or " Heu, Heu, mala mundi vita." A poem of nearly 400 lines, is sometimes claimed for St. Bernard, but according to Trench, “on no authority whatever." (7.) “O miranda vanitas." This is included in Mabillon's ed. of St. Bernard's Works. It is also attributed to him by Rambach, vol. i. p. 279. Many other hymns and sequences are attributed to St. Bernard. Trench speaks of a " general ascription to him of any poems of merit belonging to that period whereof the authorship was uncertain." Hymns, translated from, or founded on, St. Bernard's, will be found in almost every hymnal of the day, details of which, together with many others not in common use, will be found under the foregoing Latin first lines. -John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

W. H. Havergal

1793 - 1870 Person Name: William H. Havergal Hymnal Number: 400 Composer of "PATMOS" in The Lutheran Hymnal Havergal, William Henry, M.A, son of William Havergal, was born at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 1793, and was educated at St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford (B.A. 1815, M.A. 1819). On taking Holy Orders he became in 1829 Rector of Astley, Worcestershire; in 1842, Rector of St. Nicholas, Worcester; and in 1860, Rector of Shareshill, near Wolverhampton. He was also Hon. Canon in Worcester Cathedral from 1845. He died April 18, 1870. His hymns, about 100 in all, were in many instances written for special services in his own church, and printed as leaflets. Several were included in W. Carus Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840 (2nd ed., 1842); and in Metrical Psalms & Hymns for Singing in Churches, Worcester, Deighton, 1849, commonly known as the Worcester Diocesan Hymn Book, and of which he was the Editor. In Life Echoes, 1883, his hymns are given with those of Miss Havergal. Of those in common use the greater part are in Mercer, and Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory. Although his hymns are all good, and two or three are excellent, it is not as a hymnwriter but as a musician that Canon Havergal is best known. His musical works and compositions included, in addition to numerous individual hymn tunes and chants, the Gresham Prize Service, 1836; the Gresham Prize Anthem, 1845; Old Church Psalmody, 1849; History of the Old 100th Psalm tune, 1854, &c. He also reprinted Ravenscroft’s Psalter of 1611. His hymns in common use include:— 1. Blessed Jesus, lord and Brother. School Festivals, 1833. Published in Life Echoes, 1883. 2. Brighter than meridian splendour. Christ the glory of His Church. 1830. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalms, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849, &c. 3. Christians, awake to joy and praise. Christmas Carol, c. 1860. Printed on broadsheet, with music by the author, and sold on behalf of the Lancashire Cotton Distress Fund. 4. Come, Shepherds, come, 'tis just a year. Christmas Carol. 1860. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 5. For ever and for ever, Lord. Missions, 1866, for the Church Mission Society. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, and the Life Echoes, 1883. 6. Hallelujah, Lord, our voices. Sunday. 1828. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalms, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, 1883, &c. 7. Heralds of the Lord of glory. Missions. First sung in Astley Church, Sep. 23, 1827. Published in Miss Havergal's Starlight through the Shadows, 1880; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. 8. Hosanna, raise the pealing hymn. Praise to Christ, 1833, and first sung in Astley Church, June 9, 1833. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes 1883, &c. 9. How vast the field of souls. Missions. 1858. Printed for Shareshill Church Miss. Anniversary, 1863, and published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, and the Life Echoes, 1883. 10. In doubt and dread dismay. Missions. Written in 1837, and published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849, &c. 11. Jerusalem the golden, The home of saints shall be. Heaven. Published in Life Echoes, 1883. 12. My times are in Thy hand, Their best, &c. 1860. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, the Records of the author's life and work, and Life Echoes, 1883. The editor of the Records says (p. 159) "this hymn has been much appreciated, and well illustrates the devotional and cheerful spirit of the writer." 13. No dawn of holy light. Sunday. 1825. Printed in 1831 on a leaflet, and published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, 1883, &c. 14. Our faithful God hath sent us. Harvest. Written at Shareshill in 1863, for a Harvest Festival. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory 1872, and Life Echoes, 1883. 15. Shout, 0 earth! from silence waking. Praise to Jesus for Redemption. 1841. Published in the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. 16. So happy all the day. Christmas Carol, c. 1834. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. 17. Soon the trumpet of salvation. Missions. 1826. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. 18. To praise our Shepherd's [Saviour's] care. The Good Shepherd. Written after witnessing the death of Elizabeth Edwards, aged 12, of St. Nicholas, Worcester, and printed as a leaflet. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, &c, 1883. The author also published a Memoir of the child. 19. Widely 'midst the slumbering nations. Missions. 1828. Published in the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. In addition to these hymns, his carols, "How grand, and how bright," "Our festal morn is come," and others are annotated under their respective first lines. Most of these carols and hymns were reprinted in Christmas Carols & Sacred Songs, Chiefly by the Rev. W. H. Havergal, London, Nisbet, 1869. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ===================== Havergal, W. H., p. 498, i. Other hymns are: — 1. Lord, if judgments now are waking. Second Advent. Published in W. Carus Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; in Kennedy, 1863, &c. 2. Remember, Lord, Thy word of old displayed. Missions. "Composed for a special prayer-meeting for missionary labourers, held in the author's schoolroom, in the parish of St. Nicholas's, Worcester." (W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church and Home, 1873, where the original text is also given.) It must be noted that No. 17, at p. 498, ii., "Soon the trumpet of salvation," was first published in A Collection of Original Airs adapted to Hymns, &c, 1826. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

348 - 410 Person Name: Aurelius C. Prudentius, d. 413 Hymnal Number: 98 Author of "Of the Father's Love Begotten" in The Lutheran Hymnal Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, "The Christian Pindar" was born in northern Spain, a magistrate whose religious convictions came late in life. His subsequent sacred poems were literary and personal, not, like those of St. Ambrose, designed for singing. Selections from them soon entered the Mozarabic rite, however, and have since remained exquisite treasures of the Western churches. His Cathemerinon liber, Peristephanon, and Psychomachia were among the most widely read books of the Middle Ages. A concordance to his works was published by the Medieval Academy of America in 1932. There is a considerable literature on his works. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion ============= Prudentius, Aurelius Clemens , with the occasional prefix of Marcus (cf. Migne, vol. lix. p. 593, and Dressel, p. ii. n), is the name of the most prominent and most prolific author of sacred Latin poetry in its earliest days. Of the writer himself we know nothing, or next to nothing, beyond what he has himself told us in a short introduction in verse to his works. From that source we learn that he was a Spaniard, of good family evidently, and that he was born A.D. 348 somewhere in the north of Spain, either at Saragossa, Tarragona, or Calahorra, but at which is left uncertain, by his applying the same expression to all, which if applied only to one would have fixed his place of birth. After receiving a good education befitting his social status he applied himself for some years to practising as a pleader in the local courts of law, until he received promotion to a judgeship in two cities successively:— "Bis legum moderanrine Frenos nobilium reximus urbium Jus civile bonis reddidimus, terruimus reos;" and afterwards to a post of still higher authority: "Tandem militiae gradu Evectum pietas principis extulit." Archbishop Trench considers this last to have been "a high military appointment at court," and such the poet's own words would seem to describe; but it may well be doubted whether a civilian and a lawyer would be eligible for such employment; in which case we may adopt the solution of the difficulty offered in the Prolegomena to our author's works (Migne, vol. lix. p. 601):— "Evectus indeest ad superiorem rnilitia? gradum, nimirum militia? civil is, palatinae, aut praesidialis, non bellicae, castrensis, aut cohortalis; nam ii qui officiis jure consultorum praesidum, rectorum et similium funguntur, vulgo in cod. Theod. militare et ad superiores militias ascendere dicuntur." It was after this lengthened experience at a comparatively early age of positions of trust and power that Prudentius, conscience-smitten on account of the follies and worldliness that had marked his youth and earlier manhood, determined to throw up all his secular employments, and devote the remainder of his life to advancing the interests of Christ's Church by the power of his pen rather than that of his purse and personal position. Accordingly we find that he retired in his 57th year into poverty and private life, and began that remarkable succession of sacred poems upon which his fame now entirely rests. We have no reason however to regard him as another St. Augustine, rescued from the "wretchedness of most unclean living" by this flight from the temptations and engrossing cares of official life into the calm seclusion of a wholly devotional leisure. He had probably rather learnt from sad experience the emptiness and vanity for an immortal soul of the surroundings of even the high places of this world. As he himself expresses it:— "Numquid talia proderunt Carnis post obitum vel bona, vel mala, Cum jam, quicquid id est, quod fueram, mors aboleverit?" and sought, at the cost of all that the world holds dear, those good things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. Beyond the fact of his retirement from the world in this way, and the fruits which it produced in the shape of his voluminous contributions to sacred poetry, we have no further information about our author. To judge from the amount he wrote, his life must have been extended many years after he began his new career, but how long his life was or where he died we are not told. Probably he died circa 413. His works are:— (1) Liber Cathemerinon. "Christian Day, as we may call it" W. S. Lilly, "Chapters in European History," vol. i. p. 208). (2) Liber Peristephanon. "Martyrs' Garlands" (id.). (3) Apotheosis. A work on the Divine Nature, or the Deification of Human Nature in Christ. (4) Hamartigenia. A treatise on the Origin of Sin, directed against the Marcionites. (5) Psychomachia or "The Spiritual Combat"-—an allegorical work. (6) Libri contra Symmachum. A controversial work against the restoration in the Senate House at Rome of the altar of Victory which Gratian had removed. Symmachus had petitioned Valentinian II. for its restoration in 384, but the influence of St. Ambrose had prevailed against him at that time. In 392 the altar was restored, but removed again by Theodosius in 394. After the death of the latter the attempt to restore it was renewed by Arcadius and Honorius, and it was at that time that Prudentius wrote his first book. The second (for there are two) was written in 405. Fague considers that the first may date in 395. (7) The Dittochseon = the double food or double Testament, is a wordy collection of 49 sets of four verses each, on Old and New Testament scenes. Of these different works the most important are the first two, and it is from them that the Liturgical hymns enumerated below have been chiefly compiled. The general character of Prudentius's writings it is not easy fairly to estimate, and to judge by the wholesale laudation he obtains from some of his critics, and the equally unsparing censure of others, his judges have so found it. In venturing upon any opinion upon such a subject, the reader must bear in mind the peculiar position in which the period at which he was writing found the poet. The poetry of classical Rome in all its exact beauty of form had long passed its meridian, and was being replaced by a style which was yet in its infancy, but which burst forth into new life and beauty in the hands of the Mediaeval hymnologists. Prudentius wrote before rhyming Latin verse was thought of, but after attention had ceased to be given to quantities. Under such circumstances it were vain to look for very finished work from him, and such certainly we do not find. But amidst a good deal of what one must confess is tasteless verbiage or clumsy rhetorical ornament-—however varied the metres he employs, numbering some 17—-there are also passages to be found, not unfrequently, of dramatic vigour and noble expression, which may well hold their own with the more musical utterances of a later date. He writes as a man intensely in earnest, and we may gather much from his writings concerning the points of conduct which were deemed the most important in Christian living at a time when a great portion of mankind were still the victims or slaves of a morality which, heathen at the best, was lowered and corrupted the more as the universality of its influence was more and more successfully challenged by the spread of the Gospel of Christ. If, there¬fore, we can scarcely go as far in our author's praise as Barth—-much given to lavish commendation—-who describes him as "Poeta eximius eruditissimus et sanctissimus scriptor; nemo divinius de rebus Christianis unquam scripsit"; or as Bentley—-not given to praise--who calls him the "Horace and Virgil of the Christians," we shall be as loath, considering under what circumstances he wrote, to carp at his style as not being formed on the best ancient models but as confessedly impure; feeling with Archbishop Trench that it is his merit that "whether consciously or unconsciously, he acted on the principle that the new life claimed new forms in which to manifest itself; that he did not shrink from helping forward that great transformation of the Latin language, which it needed to undergo, now that it should be the vehicle of truths which, were all together novel to it." (Sacred Latin Poetry, 1874, p. 121.) The reader will find so exhaustive an account of the various writings of Prudentius in the account given of him and them in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography, and Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, that it is only necessary in this work to refer very briefly to them as above. The poems have been constantly reprinted and re-edited, till the editor who produced the best edition we have of them, Albert Dressel (Leipsic, 1860), is able to say that his is the sixty-third. The use made of Prudentius's poems in the ancient Breviaries and Hymnaries was very extensive. In the form of centos stanzas and lines wore compiled and used as hymns; and it is mainly from these centos, and not from the original poems, that the translations into English were made. Daniel, i., Nos. 103-115, gives 13 genuine hymns as having been in use for "Morning," "Christmas," "Epiphany," "Lent," "Easter," "Transfiguration," "Burial," &c, in the older Breviaries. ….Many more which were used in like manner have been translated into English. When to these are added the hymns and those which have not been translated into English, we realise the position and power of Prudentius in the hymnody of the Church. [Rev. Digby S. Wrangham, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============== Prudentius, A. C, p. 915, ii. Two somewhat full versions of Prudentius are: (1) The Cathemerinon and other Poems of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens in English Verse, Lond., Rivington, 1845; and (2) Translations from Prudentius. By Francis St. John Thackeray, M.A.. F.S.A. Lond., Bell & Sons, 1890. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Joachim Neander

1650 - 1680 Hymnal Number: 39 Author of "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" in The Lutheran Hymnal Neander, Joachim, was born at Bremen, in 1650, as the eldest child of the marriage of Johann Joachim Neander and Catharina Knipping, which took place on Sept. 18, 1649, the father being then master of the Third Form in the Paedagogium at Bremen. The family name was originally Neumann (Newman) or Niemann, but the grandfather of the poet had assumed the Greek form of the name, i.e. Neander. After passing through the Paedagogium he entered himself as a student at the Gymnasium illustre (Academic Gymnasium) of Bremen in Oct. 1666. German student life in the 17th century was anything but refined, and Neander seems to have been as riotous and as fond of questionable pleasures as most of his fellows. In July 1670, Theodore Under-Eyck came to Bremen as pastor of St. Martin's Church, with the reputation of a Pietist and holder of conventicles. Not long after Neander, with two like-minded comrades, went to service there one Sunday, in order to criticise and find matter of amusement. But the earnest words of Under-Eyck touched his heart; and this, with his subsequent conversations with Under-Eyck, proved the turning-point of his spiritual life. In the spring of 1671 he became tutor to five young men, mostly, if not all, sons of wealthy merchants at Frankfurt-am-Main, and accompanied them to the University of Heidelberg, where they seem to have remained till the autumn of 1673, and where Neander learned to know and love the beauties of Nature. The winter of 1673-74 he spent at Frankfurt with the friends of his pupils, and here he became acquainted with P. J. Spener (q.v.) and J. J. Schütz (q.v.) In the spring of 1674 he was appointed Rector of the Latin school at Düsseldorf (see further below). Finally, in 1679, he was invited to Bremen as unordained assistant to Under-Eyck at St. Martin's Church, and began his duties about the middle of July. The post was not inviting, and was regarded merely as a stepping stone to further preferment, the remuneration being a free house and 40 thalers a year, and the Sunday duty being a service with sermon at the extraordinary hour of 5 a.m. Had he lived, Under-Eyck would doubtless have done his best to get him appointed to St. Stephen's Church, the pastorate of which became vacant in Sept., 1680. But meantime Neander himself fell into a decline, and died at Bremen May 31, 1680 (Joachim Neander, sein Leben und seine Lieder. With a Portrait. By J. F. Iken, Bremen, 1880; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, xxiii. 327, &c.) Neander was the first important hymn-writer of the German Reformed Church since the times of Blaurer and Zwick. His hymns appear to have been written mostly at Düsseldorf, after his lips had been sealed to any but official work. The true history of his unfortunate conflict has now been established from the original documents, and may be summarized thus. The school at Düsseldorf was entirely under the control of the minister and elders of the Reformed Church there. The minister from about July, 1673, to about May, 1677, was Sylvester Lürsen (a native of Bremen, and only a few years older than Neander), a man of ability and earnestness, but jealous, and, in later times at least, quarrelsome. With him Neander at first worked harmoniously, frequently preaching in the church, assisting in the visitation of the sick, &c. But he soon introduced practices which inevitably brought on a conflict. He began to hold prayer meetings of his own, without informing or consulting minister or elders; he began to absent himself from Holy Communion, on the ground that he could not conscientiously communicate along with the unconverted, and also persuaded others to follow this example; and became less regular in his attendance at the ordinary services of the Church. Besides these causes of offence he drew out a new timetable for the school, made alterations on the school buildings, held examinations and appointed holidays without consulting any one. The result of all this was a Visitation of the school on Nov. 29, 1676, and then his suspension from school and pulpit on Feb. 3, 1677. On Feb. 17 he signed a full and definite declaration by which "without mental reservations" he bound himself not to repeat any of the acts complained of; and thereupon was permitted to resume his duties as rector but not as assistant minister. The suspension thus lasted only 14 days, and his salary was never actually stopped. The statements that he was banished from Düsseldorf, and that he lived for months in a cave in the Neanderthal near Mettmann are therefore without foundation. Still his having had to sign such a document was a humiliation which he must have felt keenly, and when, after Lürsen's departure, the second master of the Latin school was appointed permanent assistant pastor, this feeling would be renewed. Neander thus thrown back on himself, found consolation in communion with God and Nature, and in the composition of his hymns. Many were without doubt inspired by the scenery of the Neanderthal (a lovely valley with high rocky sides, between which flows the little river Düssel); and the tradition is probable enough that some of them were composed in a cave there. A number were circulated among his friends at Düsseldorf in MS., but they were first collected and published after his removal to Bremen, and appeared as:— A und Ώ, Joachimi Neandri Glaub-und Liebesübung: — auffgemuntert durch ein fällige Bundes Lieder und Danck-Psalmen, Bremen, Hermann Brauer, 1680; 2nd ed. Bremen, 1683 ; 3rd ed. Bremen, 1687; 4th ed. Frankfurt, 1689. These editions contain 57 hymns. In the 5th ed., Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1691, edited by G. C. Strattner, eight hymns were added as being also by Neander. [The whole of these eds. are in the Royal Library, Berlin. The so-called 3rd. ed. at Wesel, 1686, also found in Berlin, was evidently pirated.] Other editions rapidly followed till we find the complete set (i.e. 57 or 58) formally incorporated as part of a hymnbook, e.g. in the Marburg Reformed Gesang-Buch, 1722, where the first part consists of Lobwasser's Psalter, the second of Neander's Bundeslieder, and the third of other hymns. Neander's Bundeslieder also form a division of the Lemgo Reformed Gesang-Buch, 1722; and of a favourite book used in the meetings conducted by G. Tersteegen, which in the 5th ed., Solingen, 1760, has the title Gott-geheiligtes Harfen-Spiel der Kinder Zion; bestehend in Joachimi Neandri sämtlichen Bundes-Liedern, &c. In this way, especially in the district near Düsseldorf and on the Ruhr, Neander's name was honoured and beloved long after it had passed out of memory at Bremen. Many of Neander's hymns were speedily received into the Lutheran hymnbooks, and are still in universal use. The finest are the jubilant hymns of Praise and Thanksgiving, such as his "Lobe den Herren”, and those setting forth the Majesty of God in His works of beauty and wonder in Nature, such as his "Himmel, Erde", and "Unbegreiflich Gut"; while some of his hymns of Penitence, such as his "Sieh hier bin ich, Ehrenkönig" (q.v.), are also very beautiful. Many are of a decidedly subjective cast, but for this the circumstances of their origin, and the fact that the author did not expect them to be used in public worship, will sufficiently account. Here and there there are doubtless harshnesses, and occasionally imagery which is rather jarring; and naturally enough the characteristic expressions and points of view of German 17th cent. Pietism and of the "Covenant Theology" are easily enough detected. But the glow and sweetness of his better hymns, their firm faith, originality, Scripturalness, variety and mastery of rhythmical forms, and genuine lyric character fully entitled them to the high place they hold. Of the melodies in the original edition of 1680 there are 19 by Neander himself, the best known being those to Nos. viii. and xi. below. The hymns by Neander which have passed into English, and have not already been referred to, are:— Hymns in English common use: i. Meine Hoffnung stehet feste. Thanksgiving. Founded on 1 Tim. vi. 17. 1680 as above, p. 115, in 5 stanzas of 7 lines, entitled "Grace after meat." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 712. Translated as:— All my hope is grounded surely. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth, as No. 8 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863. Another translation is: "All my Hope is fix'd and grounded." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 17, repeated in his ed., 1732, p. 64, altered and beginning, "All my Hope is firmly grounded." ii. Unbegreiflich Gut, wahrer Gott alleine. Summer. According to tradition this was written in the summer of 1677, in a cave in the Neanderthal near Düsseldorf, while Neander was in enforced absence from his school duties (Koch, vi. 20). It is founded on Ps. civ. 24. 1680, p. 165, in 12 stanzas of 6 lines, and entitled, "The Joys of Summer and Autumn in Field and Forest." The following note shows that the "Feeling for Nature" is not entirely modern. “It is also a travelling hymn in summer or autumn for those who, on their way to Frankfurt on the Main, go up and down the river Rhine, where between Cologne and Mainz, mountains, cliffs, brooks and rocks are to be beheld with particular wonder; also in the district of Berg in the rocky region [the ‘Gestein' now called the Neanderthal], not far from Düsseldorf." The hymn is in Knapp's Evangelischer Lieder-Schatz 1850, No. 2163 (1865, No. 2231), omitting st. x. Translated as:-— 0 Thou true God alone. A very good translation, omitting st. x., by Miss Winkworth, in her Christian Singers, 1869, p. 286. Her translation of st. i., iii.-v. altered in metre, and beginning "Thou true God alone," are No. 53 in M. W. Stryker's Christian Chorals, 1885. Hymns not in English common use:—— iii. Auf, auf, mein Geist, erhebe dich zum Himmel. Holy Communion. Founded on Ps. xxiii. 6. 1860, as above, p. 27, in 5 stanzas, entitled, "The soul strengthened and refreshed. After the reception of the Holy Communion." In Porst's Gesang-Buch, ed. 1855, No. 218. In the Moravian London Gesang-Buch, 1753, No. 697, it begins, "Den Himmels-Vorschmack hab' ich auf der Erde," and in the Brüder Gesang-Buch, 1778, No. 1178, it was further recast (by C. Gregor?) and altered to "hab'ich schon hinieden." Translated as "Heav'n's foretaste I may here already have." By F W. Foster & J. Miller, as No. 596, in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1789. In the 1801 ed. (1849, No. 1003) it begins, “Since Jesus dy'd, my guilty soul to save." iv. Der Tag ist hin, mein Jesu, bei mir bleibe. Evening. Founded on St. Luke xxiv. 29. 1680, p. 15, in 6 stanzas entitled, "The Christian returning thanks at eventide." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 512. The translations are: (1) "The Day is gone, come Jesu my Protector." In the Supplement to German Psalmody, ed. 1765, p. 72. (2) "The day is past, Thou Saviour dear, still dwell my breast within." By H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 82. (3) "The day is gone, abide with me tonight." By E. Massie, 1867, p. 192. (4) "The day is gone, abide with me, 0 Jesus." By R. Massie, in the Day of Rest, 1877. v. Grosser Prophete, mein Herze begehret. Love to Christ. Founded on 1 Cor. xvi. 22. 1680, p. 191, in 4 stanzas. Translated as “Heavenly Prophet, my Heart is desiring." By J. C. Jacobi, 1720, p. 40. vi. Jehovah ist mein Licht und Gnadensonne. God's Perfections. Founded on 1 John i. 7. 1680, p. 19 in 4 stanzas, entitled, "Walking in the Light." Translated as, "Jehovah is my light, salvation showing." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 6). vii. 0 allerhöchster Menschenhüter. Morning. A hymn of praise to our Almighty Preserver. 1680, p. 11, in 6 stanzas, founded on Ps. lix. 16; and entitled, "The Christian singing at Morning." Translated as, "O Thou Most Highest! Guardian of mankind." By Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 72. viii. Unser Herrscher, unser König. Thanksgiving. Founded on Acts viii. 2. 1680, p. 147, in 6 stanzas, entitled, "The glorious Jehovah." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen 1851, No. 344. The well-known melody (in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns called Munich) is also by Neander, and appeared along with the hymn. Translated as, "Sovereign Ruler, King victorious," in the British Herald, Dec, 1865, p. 185, and Reid's Praise Book, 1872. ix. Wie fleucht dahin der Menschenzeit. For the Dying. A powerful hymn on the vanity of the earthly, founded on Ps. xc. 12. 1680, p. 174, in 7 stanzas, entitled, "He that counts his days." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 845. The translations are: (1) "This life is like a flying dream" (beginning with st. ii. "Das Leben ist gleich wie ein Traum"). By Mrs. Findlater, in Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1858, p. 24 (1884, p. 146). (2) "Though hastening onward to the grave." By E. Massie, 1867, p. 36. x. Wo soil ich hin? wer helfet mir? Lent. Founded on Romans vii. 24. 1680, p. 51, in 5 st. entitled “The distressed one longing for Redemption." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 393. The translations are: (1) "For help, O whither shall I flee." By Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 146). (2) "How shall I get there? who will aid?" By Miss Warner, 1858, p. 52. xi. Wunderbarer König. Thanksgiving. Founded on Ps. cl. 6. 1680, p. 159, in 4 stanzas, entitled, "Inciting oneself to the Praise of God." In the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 787. The melody, a very fine one (called by Mr. Mercer Groningen), is also by Neander, and appeared along with the hymn. The translations are: (1) "Wonderful Creator." By J. C. Jacobi, 1722, p. 88. (2) "Wonderful and blessed." By J. D. Burns in his Memoir and Remains, 1869, p. 230. (3) "Wondrous King Almighty." By N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 266. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Joseph Mohr

1792 - 1848 Hymnal Number: 646 Author of "Silent Night! Holy Night!" in The Lutheran Hymnal 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

Clement of Alexandria

170 - 215 Hymnal Number: 628 Author (attributed to) of "Shepherd of Tender Youth" in The Lutheran Hymnal Clemens, Titus Flavins (Clemens Alexandrinus), St. Clement of Alexandria, was born possibly at Athens (although on this point there is no certain information) about A.D. 170. His full name, Titus Flavins Clemens, is given by Eusebius (H. E., vi. 13) and Photius (Cod. Ill), but of his parentage there is no record. Studious, and anxious to satisfy his mind on the highest subjects, he is said to have been a Stoic and Eclectic, and a seeker after truth amongst Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Jewish teachers. He himself enumerates six teachers of eminence under whom he studied the "true tradition of the blessed doctrine of the holy apostles." At Alexandria he came under the teaching of Pantsenus, and embraced Christianity, Pantsenus being at the time the master of the Catechetical School in that city. On the retirement of Pantsenus from the school for missionary work, Clement became its head, cir. 190, and retained the position to 203. His pupils were numerous, and some of them of note, including Origen, and Alexander, afterwards Bishop of Jerusalem. Driven from Alexandria by the persecution under Severus (202-203), he wandered forth, it is not known whither. The last notice wo have of him in history is in a letter of congratulation by his old pupil, Alexander, then Bp. of Cappadocia, to the Church of Antioch, on the appointment of Asclepiades to the bishopric of that city. This letter, dated 211, seems to have been conveyed to Antioch by Clement. Beyond this nothing is known, either concern¬ing his subsequent life or death, although the latter is sometimes dated A.D. 220. The works of Clement are ten in all. Of these, the only work with which we have to do is The Tutor, in three books. The first book describes the Tutor, who is the Word Himself, the children whom He trains (Christian men and women), and his method of instruction. The second book contains general instructions as to daily life in eating, drinking, furniture, sleep, &c.; and the third, after an inquiry into the nature of true beauty, goes onto condemn extravagance in dress, &c, both in men and women. Appended to this work, in the printed editions, are two poems; the first, "A Hymn of the Saviour), and the second, an address "To the Tutor". The first, beginning is attributed to Clement in those manuscripts in which it is found; but it is supposed by some to be of an earlier date: the second is generally regarded as by a later hand . The “Hymn of the Saviour," the earliest known Christian hymn, has been translated into English: The earliest translation is "Shepherd of tender youth.” This is by Dr. H. M. Dexter (q. v.). It was written in 1846, first published in The Congregationalist [of which Dexter was editor], Dec. 21, 1849, and is in extensive use in the United States. In Great Britain it is also given in several collections, including the New Congregational Hymn Book, 1859; Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858; the R. T. Society's Collection, &c. There are also translations not in common use, viz.: (1) "Bridle of colts untamed," by Dr. W. L. Alexander, in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. iv. p. 343; (2) "Bridle of colts untaught," by Dr. H. Bonar, in The Sunday at Home, 1878, p. 11. (3) Another translation is by the Rev. A. W. Chatfield, in his Songs and Hymns of the Earliest Greek Christian Poets, 1876. Mr. Chatfield, following the Anth. Graeca Car. Christ., 1871, p. 37, begins with the eleventh line: "O Thou, the King of Saints, all-conquering Word." His translation extends to 40 lines. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Robert Grant

1779 - 1838 Hymnal Number: 17 Author of "Oh, Worship the King" in The Lutheran Hymnal Robert Grant (b. Bengal, India, 1779; d. Dalpoorie, India, 1838) was influenced in writing this text by William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561). Grant’s text was first published in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody (1833) with several unauthorized alterations. In 1835 his original six-stanza text was published in Henry Elliott’s Psalm and Hymns (The original stanza 3 was omitted in Lift Up Your Hearts). Of Scottish ancestry, Grant was born in India, where his father was a director of the East India Company. He attended Magdalen College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1807. He had a distinguished public career a Governor of Bombay and as a member of the British Parliament, where he sponsored a bill to remove civil restrictions on Jews. Grant was knighted in 1834. His hymn texts were published in the Christian Observer (1806-1815), in Elliot’s Psalms and Hymns (1835), and posthumously by his brother as Sacred Poems (1839). Bert Polman ======================== Grant, Sir Robert, second son of Mr. Charles Grant, sometime Member of Parliament for Inverness, and a Director of the East India Company, was born in 1785, and educated at Cambridge, where he graduated in 1806. Called to the English Bar in 1807, he became Member of Parliament for Inverness in 1826; a Privy Councillor in 1831; and Governor of Bombay, 1834. He died at Dapoorie, in Western India, July 9, 1838. As a hymnwriter of great merit he is well and favourably known. His hymns, "O worship the King"; "Saviour, when in dust to Thee"; and "When gathering clouds around I view," are widely used in all English-speaking countries. Some of those which are less known are marked by the same graceful versification and deep and tender feeling. The best of his hymns were contributed to the Christian Observer, 1806-1815, under the signature of "E—y, D. R."; and to Elliott's Psalms & Hymns, Brighton, 1835. In the Psalms & Hymns those which were taken from the Christian Observer were rewritten by the author. The year following his death his brother, Lord Glenelg, gathered 12 of his hymns and poems together, and published them as:— Sacred Poems. By the late Eight Hon. Sir Robert Grant. London, Saunders & Otley, Conduit Street, 1839. It was reprinted in 1844 and in 1868. This volume is accompanied by a short "Notice," dated "London, Juno 18, 1839." ===================== Grant, Sir R., p. 450, i. Other hymns are:— 1. From Olivet's sequester'd scats. Palm Sunday. 2. How deep the joy, Almighty Lord. Ps. lxxxiv. 3. Wherefore do the nations wage. Ps. ii. These are all from his posthumous sacred Poems, 1839. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

John Ellerton

1826 - 1893 Hymnal Number: 47 Author of "Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise" in The Lutheran Hymnal John Ellerton (b. London, England, 1826; d. Torquay, Devonshire, England, 1893) Educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man and at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1851. He served six parishes, spending the longest time in Crewe Green (1860-1872), a church of steelworkers and farmers. Ellerton wrote and translated about eighty hymns, many of which are still sung today. He helped to compile Church Hymns and wrote its handbook, Notes and Illustrations to Church Hymns (1882). Some of his other hymn texts were published in The London Mission Hymn Book (1884). Bert Polman ========================= Ellerton, John, M.A., son of George Ellerton, was born in London, Dec. 16, 1826, and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1849; M.A. 1854). Taking Holy Orders he was successively Curate of Easebourne, Sussex, 1850; Brighton, and Lecturer of St. Peter's, Brighton, 1852; Vicar of Crewe Green, and Chaplain to Lord Crewe, 1860; Rector of Hinstock, 1872; of Barnes, 1876; and of White Roding, 1886. Mr. Ellerton's prose writings include The Holiest Manhood, 1882; Our Infirmities, 1883, &c. It is, however, as a hymnologist, editor, hymnwriter, and translator, that he is most widely known. As editor he published: Hymns for Schools and Bible Classes, Brighton, 1859. He was also co-editor with Bishop How and others of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871. His Notes and Illustrations of Church Hymns, their authors and translators, were published in the folio edition of 1881. The notes on the hymns which are special to the collection, and many of which were contributed thereto, are full, accurate, and of special value. Those on the older hymns are too general for accuracy. They are written in a popular form, which necessarily precludes extended research, fulness, and exactness of detail. The result is acceptable to the general public, but disappointing to the hymnological expert. Mr. Ellerton's original hymns number about fifty, and his translations from the Latin ten or more. Nearly every one of these are in common use and include:— 1. Before the day draws near its ending. Afternoon. Written April 22, 1880, for a Festival of Choirs at Nantwich, and first published in the Nantwich Festival Book, 1880. In 1883 it passed into the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book. 2. Behold us, Lord, a little space. General for Weekdays. Written in 1870 for a mid-day service in a City Church, and published in Church Hymns in 1871. It has passed into several collections. 3. Come forth, 0 Christian brothers. Processional for Choral Festival. Written for a Festival of Parochial Choirs held at Chester, May, 1870, and 1st printed in the Service-book of the same. In 1871 it passed into Church Hymns. 4. Father, Name of love and fear. Confirmation. Written in 1871 for a Confirmation in the North of England, and published in Church Hymns, 1871, and other collections. 5. God, Creator and Preserver. In Time of Scarcity. Written for and first published in The Hymnary, 1870; and again in the revised edition, 1872, and other hymnbooks. 6. Hail to the Lord Who comes. Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Written Oct. 6, 1880, for Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, and published therein, 1881. 7. In the Name which earth and heaven. Foundation of a Church. Written for and first published in Church Hymns, 1871, and repeated in several collections. The hymn sung at the re-opening of the Nave of Chester Cathedral, January 25, 1872, was compiled by Mr. Ellerton from this hymn, and his "Lift the strain of high thanksgiving.” 8 King Messiah, long expected. The Circumcision. Written Jan. 14, 1871, and first published in Church Hymns, 1871. It has passed into other collections. 9. King of Saints, to Whom the number. St. Bartholomew. Written for and first published in Church Hymns., 1871. It is very popular, and has been repeated in many hymnals. 10. Mary at the Master's feet. Catechizing. Written for and first published in Church Hymns, 1871. 11. O Father, all-creating. Holy Matrimony. Written Jan. 29, 1876, at the request of the Duke of Westminster, for the marriage of his daughter to the Marquess of Ormonde. It was published in Thring's Collection, 1880 and 1882. 12 O! how fair the morning broke. Septuagesima. Written March 13, 1880, for Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, and included therein, 1881. 13. O Lord of life and death, welcome. In Time of Pestilence. Written for and first published in Church Hymns, 1871. 14. O shining city of our God. Concerning the Hereafter. First published in the Rev. R. Brown-Borthwick's Sixteen Hymns with Tunes, &c, 1870; and again in Church Hymns, 1871. 15. O Son of God, our Captain of Salvation. St. Barnabas. Written April 5, 1871, and first published in Church Hymns, 1871; and again in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1875, Thring's Collection, 1882, and others. 16. O Thou in Whom Thy saints repose. Consecration of a Burial Ground. Written for the consecration of an addition to the Parish Churchyard of Tarporley, Cheshire, 1870, and published in Church Hymns, 1871. 17. O Thou Whose bounty fills the earth. Flower Services. Written for a Flower Service at St. Luke's Church, Chelsea, June 6, 1880, and published in Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, 1881. 18. Praise to our God, Whose bounteous hand. National Thanksgiving. Written in 1870 for Church Hymns, but first published in the Rev. R. Brown-Borthwick's Select Hymns, &c., 1871, and then in Church Hymns later the same year. 19. The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended. The darkness, &c. Evening. Written in 1870 for A Liturgy for Missionary Meetings (Frome, Hodges), and revised for Church Hymns, 1871. The revised form has passed into other collections. 20. The Lord be with us when we bend. Close of Afternoon Service. Written [in 1870] at the request of a friend for use at the close of Service on Sunday afternoons when (as in summer) strictly Evening hymns would be unsuitable. It was published in Church Hymns, 1871, Thring's Collection, 1882, and others. 21. This day the Lord's disciples met. Whitsuntide. "Originally written in 1855 for a class of children, as a hymn of 8 verses of 5 lines each, beginning, 'The Fiftieth day was come at last.’ It was abridged, revised, and compressed into C.M. for Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, 1880," and published therein, 1881. 22. Thou in Whose Name the two or three. Wednesday. Appeared in the Parish Magazine, May, 1871, as a hymn for Wednesday. After revision it was included in Church Hymns, 1871, and repeated in other collections. 23. Thou Who sentest Thine Apostles. SS. Simon and Jude. Written in June, 1874, for the revised edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern, and published in the same in 1875. 24. We sing the glorious conquest. Conversion of St. Paul. Written Feb. 28, 1871, for and published later the same year in Church Hymns. It was repeated in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1875. 25. When the day of toil is done. Eternal Best. Written in Jan., 1870, and first published in the Rev. R. Brown-Borthwick's Sixteen Hymns with Tunes, &c. 1870, Church Hymns, 1871, and subsequently in several Scottish hymn-books. The tune "Preston," in Church Hymns was written for this hymn. To these hymns must be added those which are annotated under their respective first lines, and the translations from the Latin. The grandest of his original compositions is, "Throned upon the awful tree," and the most beautiful and tender, "Saviour, again to Thy dear Name we raise"; and of his translations, "Sing Alleluia forth in duteous praise," and "Welcome, happy morning, age to age shall say," are the most successful and popular. The subjects of Mr. Ellerton's hymns, and the circumstances under which they were written, had much to do with the concentration of thought and terseness of expression by which they are characterized. The words which he uses are usually short and simple; the thought is clear and well stated; the rhythm is good and stately. Ordinary facts in sacred history and in daily life are lifted above the commonplace rhymes with which they are usually associated, thereby rendering the hymns bearable to the cultured, and instructive to the devout. His antitheses are frequent and terse, almost too much so for devotional verse, and are in danger of interrupting the tranquil flow of devotion. His sympathy with nature, especially in her sadder moods, is great; he loves the fading light and the peace of eve, and lingers in the shadows. Unlike many writers who set forth their illustrations in detail, and then tie to them the moral which they are to teach, he weaves his moral into his metaphor, and pleases the imagination and refreshes the spirit together. Now and again he falls into the weakness of ringing changes on words; but taken as a whole his verse is elevated in tone, devotional in spirit, and elegant in diction. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ===================== Ellerton, John, p. 326, i. Other hymns are:— 1. O Father, bless the children. Holy Baptism. Written in 1886, and published in his Hymns, &c, 1888, in 4 stanzas of 8 lines. Also in the 1889 Suppl. Hymns to Hymns Ancient & Modern. 2. O Thou Who givest food to all. Temperance. Written Aug. 30, 1882, and printed in the Church of England Temperance Chronicle, Sept. 1882. Also in his Hymns, &c, 1888. 3. Praise our God for all the wonders. St. Nicholas's Day. Dated in his Hymns, 1888, "December 1882." It was written for the Dedication Festival of St. Nicholas's Church, Brighton, and first printed as a leaflet in 1882. 4. Praise our God, Whose open hand. Bad Harvest. Written as a hymn for the bad harvest of 1881, and printed in the Guardian in August of that year. Also in his Hymns, &c, 1888. 5. Praise to the Heavenly Wisdom. St. Matthias's Day. Dated in his Hymns, &c, 1888, "January, 1888." Also in the 1889 Suppl. Hymns to Hymns Ancient & Modern. 6. Shine Thou upon us, Lord. For a Teachers' Meeting. Contributed to the 1889 Suppl. Hymns to Hymns Ancient & Modern. 7. Thou Who wearied by the well. Temperance. Written for the Opening of a Workmen's Coffee Tavern, and dated in his Hymns, &c, 1888, "September 23, 1882." It was printed in the Church of England Temperance Chronicle the same year. 8. Throned upon the awful Tree. Good Friday. Written in 1875, and published in the 1875 ed. of Hymns Ancient & Modern. It has passed into many collections, and is one of the finest of Mr. Ellerton's productions. Mr. Ellerton's original and translated hymns to the number of 76 were collected, and published by Skeffington & Son in 1888, as Hymns, Original and Translated. By John Ellerton, Rector of White Roding. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) =================== Ellerton, J., pp. 326, ii.; 1561, ii. He was appointed Hon. Canon of St. Albans in 1892. and died June 15, 1893. His Life and Works, by H. Housman, was published in 1896. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

George Duffield

1818 - 1888 Hymnal Number: 451 Author of "Stand Up! - Stand Up for Jesus" in The Lutheran Hymnal Duffield, George, Jr., D.D., son of the Rev. Dr. Duffield, a Presbyterian Minister, was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Sept. 12, 1818, and graduated at Yale College, and at the Union Theological Seminary, New York. From 1840 to 1847 he was a Presbyterian Pastor at Brooklyn; 1847 to 1852, at Bloomfield, New Jersey; 1852 to 1861, at Philadelphia; 1861 to 1865, at Adrian, Michigan; 1865 to 1869, at Galesburg, Illinois; 1869, at Saginaw City, Michigan; and from 1869 at Ann Arbor and Lansing, Michigan. His hymns include;— 1. Blessed Saviour, Thee I love. Jesus only. One of four hymns contributed by him to Darius E. Jones's Temple Melodies, 1851. It is in 6 stanzas of 6 lines. In Dr. Hatfield's Church Hymnbook it is given in 3 stanzas. The remaining three hymns of the same date are:— 2. Parted for some anxious days. Family Hymn. 3. Praise to our heavenly Father, God. Family Union. 4. Slowly in sadness and in tears. Burial. 5. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. Soldiers of the Cross. The origin of this hymn is given in Lyra Sac. Americana, 1868, p. 298, as follows:— "I caught its inspiration from the dying words of that noble young clergyman, Rev. Dudley Atkins Tyng, rector of the Epiphany Church, Philadelphia, who died about 1854. His last words were, ‘Tell them to stand up for Jesus: now let us sing a hymn.' As he had been much persecuted in those pro-slavery days for his persistent course in pleading the cause of the oppressed, it was thought that these words had a peculiar significance in his mind; as if he had said, ‘Stand up for Jesus in the person of the downtrodden slave.' (Luke v. 18.)" Dr. Duffield gave it, in 1858, in manuscript to his Sunday School Superintendent, who published it on a small handbill for the children. In 1858 it was included in The Psalmist, in 6 stanzas of 8 lines. It was repeated in several collections and in Lyra Sac. Amer., 1868, from whence it passed, sometimes in an abbreviated form, into many English collections. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] - John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church