Eternal Light, eternal Light. T. Binney. [Sunday.] Mr. Binney's account of this hymn, supplied in 1866 to Miller's Singers and Songs, &c, p. 457, is, "It was written about 40 years ago, and was set to music and published by Power, of the Strand, on behalf of some charitable object to which the profits went. It was some little time since set to music also by Mr. Burnett, of Highgate. It has appeared, I believe, in one or two books of sacred poetry, and in a mutilated state in a hymn-book in America." It was given in the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858, No. 103, and again in several others, in 5 stanzas of 5 lines. The hymn—"O Thou Who art enrob'd in Light," in the Oberlin, U.S., Manual of Praise, 1880, No. 77, is an altered form of this hymn, with the omission of stanza ii. Original text in Lyra Britannica, 1807, p. 63.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Binney, Thomas, D.D., b. at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1798, and educated at Wymondley College, Hertfordshire. Entering the ministry, he was successively pastor of a congregation at Bedford, an Independent Chapel at Newport, Isle of Wight, and of the King's Weigh House Chapel, London, 1829. The University of Aberdeen conferred upon him the LL.D. degree. He died Feb. 23, 1874. His works, exceeding 50 in number, include Life of the Rev. Stephen Morell, 1826; Money, 1864; St. Paul, his Life and Ministry, &c. He wrote a few hymns, including "Eternal Light! Eternal Light,” and "Holy Father, Whom we praise.” (Close of Service.)
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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