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John Oxenham

1852 - 1941 Person Name: John Oxenham, d. 1941 Author of "In Christ There Is No East or West" in The Chapbook John Oxenham is a pseudonym for William Arthur Dunkerley, and is used as the name authority by the Library of Congress.

John Newton

1725 - 1807 Author of "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" in The Cyber Hymnal John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide-surveyor in Liverpool, England, Newton came under the influence of George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley and began to study for the ministry. He was ordained in the Church of England and served in Olney (1764-1780) and St. Mary Woolnoth, London (1780-1807). His legacy to the Christian church includes his hymns as well as his collaboration with William Cowper (PHH 434) in publishing Olney Hymns (1779), to which Newton contributed 280 hymns, including “Amazing Grace.” Bert Polman ================== Newton, John, who was born in London, July 24, 1725, and died there Dec. 21, 1807, occupied an unique position among the founders of the Evangelical School, due as much to the romance of his young life and the striking history of his conversion, as to his force of character. His mother, a pious Dissenter, stored his childish mind with Scripture, but died when he was seven years old. At the age of eleven, after two years' schooling, during which he learned the rudiments of Latin, he went to sea with his father. His life at sea teems with wonderful escapes, vivid dreams, and sailor recklessness. He grew into an abandoned and godless sailor. The religious fits of his boyhood changed into settled infidelity, through the study of Shaftesbury and the instruction of one of his comrades. Disappointing repeatedly the plans of his father, he was flogged as a deserter from the navy, and for fifteen months lived, half-starved and ill-treated, in abject degradation under a slave-dealer in Africa. The one restraining influence of his life was his faithful love for his future wife, Mary Catlett, formed when he was seventeen, and she only in her fourteenth year. A chance reading of Thomas à Kempis sowed the seed of his conversion; which quickened under the awful contemplations of a night spent in steering a water-logged vessel in the face of apparent death (1748). He was then twenty-three. The six following years, during which he commanded a slave ship, matured his Christian belief. Nine years more, spent chiefly at Liverpool, in intercourse with Whitefield, Wesley, and Nonconformists, in the study of Hebrew and Greek, in exercises of devotion and occasional preaching among the Dissenters, elapsed before his ordination to the curacy of Olney, Bucks (1764). The Olney period was the most fruitful of his life. His zeal in pastoral visiting, preaching and prayer-meetings was unwearied. He formed his lifelong friendship with Cowper, and became the spiritual father of Scott the commentator. At Olney his best works—-Omicron's Letters (1774); Olney Hymns (1779); Cardiphonia, written from Olney, though published 1781—were composed. As rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, London, in the centre of the Evangelical movement (1780-1807) his zeal was as ardent as before. In 1805, when no longer able to read his text, his reply when pressed to discontinue preaching, was, "What, shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak!" The story of his sins and his conversion, published by himself, and the subject of lifelong allusion, was the base of his influence; but it would have been little but for the vigour of his mind (shown even in Africa by his reading Euclid drawing its figures on the sand), his warm heart, candour, tolerance, and piety. These qualities gained him the friendship of Hannah More, Cecil, Wilberforce, and others; and his renown as a guide in experimental religion made him the centre of a host of inquirers, with whom he maintained patient, loving, and generally judicious correspondence, of which a monument remains in the often beautiful letters of Cardiphonia. As a hymnwriter, Montgomery says that he was distanced by Cowper. But Lord Selborne's contrast of the "manliness" of Newton and the "tenderness" of Cowper is far juster. A comparison of the hymns of both in The Book of Praise will show no great inequality between them. Amid much that is bald, tame, and matter-of-fact, his rich acquaintance with Scripture, knowledge of the heart, directness and force, and a certain sailor imagination, tell strongly. The one splendid hymn of praise, "Glorious things of thee are spoken," in the Olney collection, is his. "One there is above all others" has a depth of realizing love, sustained excellence of expression, and ease of development. "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds" is in Scriptural richness superior, and in structure, cadence, and almost tenderness, equal to Cowper's "Oh! for a closer walk with God." The most characteristic hymns are those which depict in the language of intense humiliation his mourning for the abiding sins of his regenerate life, and the sense of the withdrawal of God's face, coincident with the never-failing conviction of acceptance in The Beloved. The feeling may be seen in the speeches, writings, and diaries of his whole life. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] A large number of Newton's hymns have some personal history connected with them, or were associated with circumstances of importance. These are annotated under their respective first lines. Of the rest, the known history of which is confined to the fact that they appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779, the following are in common use:— 1. Be still, my heart, these anxious cares. Conflict. 2. Begone, unbelief, my Saviour is near. Trust. 3. By the poor widow's oil and meal. Providence. 4. Chief Shepherd of Thy chosen sheep. On behalf of Ministers. 5. Darkness overspreads us here. Hope. 6. Does the Gospel-word proclaim. Rest in Christ. 7. Fix my heart and eyes on Thine. True Happiness. 8. From Egypt lately freed. The Pilgrim's Song. 9. He Who on earth as man was Known. Christ the Rock. 10. How blest are they to whom the Lord. Gospel Privileges. 11. How blest the righteous are. Death of the Righteous. 12. How lost was my [our] condition. Christ the Physician. 13. How tedious and tasteless the hours. Fellowship with Christ. 14. How welcome to the saints [soul] when pressed. Sunday. 15. Hungry, and faint, and poor. Before Sermon. 16. In mercy, not in wrath, rebuke. Pleading for Mercy. 17. In themselves, as weak as worms. Power of Prayer. 18. Incarnate God, the soul that knows. The Believer's Safety. 19. Jesus, Who bought us with His blood. The God of Israel. "Teach us, 0 Lord, aright to plead," is from this hymn. 20. Joy is a [the] fruit that will not grow. Joy. 21. Let hearts and tongues unite. Close of the Year. From this "Now, through another year," is taken. 22. Let us adore the grace that seeks. New Year. 23. Mary to her [the] Saviour's tomb. Easter. 24. Mercy, 0 Thou Son of David. Blind Bartimeus. 25. My harp untun'd and laid aside. Hoping for a Revival. From this "While I to grief my soul gave way" is taken. 26. Nay, I cannot let thee go. Prayer. Sometimes, "Lord, I cannot let Thee go." 27. Now may He Who from the dead. After Sermon. 28. 0 happy they who know the Lord, With whom He deigns to dwell. Gospel Privilege. 29. O Lord, how vile am I. Lent. 30. On man in His own Image made. Adam. 31. 0 speak that gracious word again. Peace through Pardon. 32. Our Lord, Who knows full well. The Importunate Widow. Sometimes altered to "Jesus, Who knows full well," and again, "The Lord, Who truly knows." 33. Physician of my sin-sick soul. Lent. 34. Pleasing spring again is here. Spring. 35. Poor, weak, and worthless, though I am. Jesus the Friend. 36. Prepare a thankful song. Praise to Jesus. 37. Refreshed by the bread and wine. Holy Communion. Sometimes given as "Refreshed by sacred bread and wine." 38. Rejoice, believer, in the Lord. Sometimes “Let us rejoice in Christ the Lord." Perseverance. 39. Salvation, what a glorious plan. Salvation. 40. Saviour, shine and cheer my soul. Trust in Jesus. The cento "Once I thought my mountain strong," is from this hymn. 41. Saviour, visit Thy plantation. Prayer for the Church. 42. See another year [week] is gone. Uncertainty of Life. 43. See the corn again in ear. Harvest. 44. Sinner, art thou still secure? Preparation for the Future. 45. Sinners, hear the [thy] Saviour's call. Invitation. 46. Sovereign grace has power alone. The two Malefactors. 47. Stop, poor sinner, stop and think. Caution and Alarm. 48. Sweeter sounds than music knows. Christmas. 49. Sweet was the time when first I felt. Joy in Believing. 50. Ten thousand talents once I owed. Forgiveness and Peace. 51. The grass and flowers, which clothe the field. Hay-time. 52. The peace which God alone reveals. Close of Service. 53. Thy promise, Lord, and Thy command. Before Sermon. 54. Time, by moments, steals away. The New Year. 55. To Thee our wants are known. Close of Divine Service. 56. We seek a rest beyond the skies. Heaven anticipated. 57. When any turn from Zion's way. Jesus only. 58. When Israel, by divine command. God, the Guide and Sustainer of Life. 59. With Israel's God who can compare? After Sermon. 60. Yes, since God Himself has said it. Confidence. 61. Zion, the city of our God. Journeying Zionward. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= Newton, J., p. 803, i. Another hymn in common use from the Olney Hymns, 1779, is "Let me dwell on Golgotha" (Holy Communion). --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ----- John Newton was born in London, July 24, 1725. His mother died when he was seven years old. In his eleventh year he accompanied his father, a sea captain, on a voyage. For several years his life was one of dissipation and crime. He was disgraced while in the navy. Afterwards he engaged in the slave trade. Returning to England in 1748, the vessel was nearly wrecked in a storm. This peril forced solemn reflection upon him, and from that time he was a changed man. It was six years, however, before he relinquished the slave trade, which was not then regarded as an unlawful occupation. But in 1754, he gave up sea-faring life, and holding some favourable civil position, began also religious work. In 1764, in his thirty-ninth year, he entered upon a regular ministry as the Curate of Olney. In this position he had intimate intercourse with Cowper, and with him produced the "Olney Hymns." In 1779, Newton became Rector of S. Mary Woolnoth, in London, in which position he became more widely known. It was here he died, Dec. 21, 1807, His published works are quite numerous, consisting of sermons, letters, devotional aids, and hymns. He calls his hymns "The fruit and expression of his own experience." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872 See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church =======================

Henry Hart Milman

1791 - 1868 Person Name: Henry H. Milman Author of "O help us, Lord; each hour of need" in The Hymnal Milman, Henry Hart, D.D., the youngest son of Sir Francis Milman (who received his Baronetage as an eminent Court physician), was born Feb. 10th, 1791, and educated at Dr. Burney's at Greenwich, and subsequently at Eton. His career at B. N. C. Oxford, was brilliant. He took a first class in classics, and carried off the Newdigate, Latin Verse, Latin Essay, and English Essay. His Newdigate on the Apollo Belvedere, 1812, is styled by Dean Stanley "the most perfect of Oxford prize poems." His literary career for several years promised to be poetical. His tragedy Fazio was played at Covent Garden, Miss O'Neill acting Bianca. Samor was written in the year of his appointment to St. Mary's, Reading (1817); The Fall of Jerusalem (1820); Belshazzar and The Martyr of Antioch (1822), and Anne Boleyn, gained a brilliant reception from the reviewers and the public. He was appointed Poetry Professor at Oxford in 1821, and was succeeded ten years after by Keble. It must have been before 1823, the date of Heber's consecration to Calcutta, that the 13 hymns he contributed to Heber's Hymns were composed. But his poetry was only the prelude to his larger work. The Bampton Lectures (1827) mark his transition to theological study, and the future direction of it was permanently fixed by his History of the Jews (1829). This book raised a storm of obloquy. It was denounced from the University pulpit, and in the British Critic. "It was the first decisive inroad of German theology into England, the first palpable indication that the Bible could be studied like another book, that the characters and events of the sacred history could be treated at once critically and reverently" (Dean Stanley). In 1835 he was presented by Sir Robert Peel to a Canonry at Westminster and the Rectory of St. Margaret's. In 1839 appeared his valuable edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall; and in 1840 his History of Christianity to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire. Among his minor works in a different field were his Life of Keats and his edition and Life of Horace. It was not till 1854 that his greatest work—-for "vast and varied learning, indefatigable industry, calm impartiality, and subtle and acute criticism, among the most memorable in our language" (Quart Rev.)—-Latin Christianity—-appeared. He had been appointed Dean of St. Paul's in 1849. The great services under the dome originated in his tenure of the Deanery. His latest work, published after his death, Sept. 24, 1868, was The Annals of St. Paul’s. Though one of the most illustrious in the school of English liberal theology, he had no sympathy with the extreme speculations of Germany. The "criticism" of Tübingen "will rarely bear criticism." He "should like an Ewald to criticise Ewald." "Christianity will survive the criticism of Dr. Strauss," and the "bright flashing artillery" of Rénan. His historical style has been compared to Gibbon in its use of epigram and antithesis. His narrative is full of rapidity of movement. His long complex paragraphs have often a splendour of imagination as well as wealth of thought. All the varied powers of his mind found vent in his conversation; he was called, after his death, "the last of the great converters." The catalogue of his friends from the days of Heber, "his early friend," to those of Hallam, Macaulay, and Dean Stanley, was long and distinguished. Milman's 13 hymns were published in Heber's posthumous Hymns in 1827, and subsequently in his own Selection of Psalms & Hymns, 1837. The fine hymn for The Burial of the Dead, in Thring's Collection, "Brother, thou art gone before us," is from The Martyr of Antioch (1822). Like Heber's, they aim at higher literary expression and lyric grace. He makes free use of refrains. The structure is often excellent. His style is less florid and fuller of burning, sometimes lurid force than Heber's. His hymn for the 16th Sunday after Trinity, "When our heads are bowed with woe," has no peer in its presentation of Christ's human sympathy; the hymn for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, “Oh! help us, Lord! each hour of need," is a piece of pure deep devotion. "Ride on, ride on in majesty," the hymn for Palm Sunday, is one of our best hymns. And the stanzas for Good Friday, "Bound upon the accursed tree," form one of the finest meditations on the Passion. All his hymns are still in common use. [Rev.H.Leigh Bennett, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Joseph Addison

1672 - 1719 Author of "When all thy mercies, O my God" in The Hymnal Addison, Joseph, born at Milston, near Amesbury, Wiltshire, May 1, 1672, was the son of the Rev. Lancelot Addison, sometime Dean of Lichfield, and author of Devotional Poems, &c, 1699. Addison was educated at the Charterhouse, and at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating B.A. 1691 and M.A. 1693. Although intended for the Church, he gave himself to the study of law and politics, and soon attained, through powerful influence, to some important posts. He was successively a Commissioner of Appeals, an Under Secretary of State, Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Chief Secretary for Ireland. He married, in 1716, the Dowager Countess of Warwick, and died at Holland House, Kensington, June 17, 1719. Addison is most widely known through his contributions to The Spectator, The Toiler, The Guardian, and The Freeholder. To the first of these he contributed his hymns. His Cato, a tragedy, is well known and highly esteemed. Addison's claims to the authorship of the hymns usually ascribed to him, or to certain of them, have been called in question on two occasions. The first was the publication, by Captain Thompson, of certain of those hymns in his edition of the Works of Andrew Marvell, 1776, as the undoubted compositions of Marvell; and the second, a claim in the Athenaeum, July 10th, 1880, on behalf of the Rev. Richard Richmond. Fully to elucidate the subject it will be necessary, therefore, to give a chronological history of the hymns as they appeared in the Spectator from time to time. i. The History of the Hymns in The Spectator. This, as furnished in successive numbers of the Spectator is :— 1. The first of these hymns appeared in the Spectator of Saturday, July 26, 1712, No. 441, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines. The article in which it appeared was on Divine Providence, signed “C." The hymn itself, "The Lord my pasture shall prepare," was introduced with these words:— "David has very beautifully represented this steady reliance on God Almighty in his twenty-third psalm, which is a kind of pastoral hymn, and filled with those allusions which are usual in that kind of writing As the poetry is very exquisite, I shall present my readers with the following translation of it." (Orig. Broadsheet, Brit. Mus.) 2. The second hymn appeared in the Spectator on Saturday, Aug. 9, 1712, No. 453, in 13 st. of 4 1., and forms the conclusion of an essay on " Gratitude." It is also signed " C," and is thus introduced:— “I have already obliged the public with some pieces of divine poetry which have fallen into my hands, and as they have met with the reception which they deserve, I shall, from time to time, communicate any work of the same nature which has not appeared in print, and may be acceptable to my readers." (Orig. Broadsheet, British Museum) Then follows the hymn:—"When all Thy mercies, 0 my God." 3. The number of the Spectator for Tuesday, Aug. 19, 1712, No. 461, is composed of three parts. The first is an introductory paragraph by Addison, the second, an unsigned letter from Isaac Watts, together with a rendering by him of Ps. 114th; and the third, a letter from Steele. It is with the first two we have to deal. The opening paragraph by Addison is:— “For want of time to substitute something else in the Boom of them, I am at present obliged to publish Compliments above my Desert in the following Letters. It is no small Satisfaction, to have given Occasion to ingenious Men to employ their Thoughts upon sacred Subjects from the Approbation of such Pieces of Poetry as they have seen in my Saturday's papers. I shall never publish Verse on that Day but what is written by the same Hand; yet shall I not accompany those Writings with Eulogiums, but leave them to speak for themselves." (Orig. Broadsheet, British Museum

Anonymous

Person Name: Anon. Author of "Jerusalem, my happy home" in The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries.

Edward Caswall

1814 - 1878 Person Name: Edward Caswall, 1814-1878 Translator of "O Jesus, King most wonderful" in The Book of Praise Edward Caswall was born in 1814, at Yately, in Hampshire, where his father was a clergyman. In 1832, he went to Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1836, took a second-class in classics. His humorous work, "The Art of Pluck," was published in 1835; it is still selling at Oxford, having passed through many editions. In 1838, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1839, Priest. He became perpetural Curate of Stratford-sub-Castle in 1840. In 1841, he resigned his incumbency and visited Ireland. In 1847, he joined the Church of Rome. In 1850, he was admitted into the Congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, where he has since remained. He has published several works in prose and poetry. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872 ===================== Caswall, Edward, M.A., son of the Rev. R. C. Caswall, sometime Vicar of Yately, Hampshire, born at Yately, July 15, 1814, and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating in honours in 1836. Taking Holy Orders in 1838, he became in 1840 Incumbent of Stratford-sub-Castle, near Salisbury, and resigned the same in 1847. In 1850 (Mrs. Caswall having died in 1849) he was received into the Roman Catholic communion, and joined Dr. Newman at the Oratory, Edgbaston. His life thenceforth, although void of stirring incidents, was marked by earnest devotion to his clerical duties and a loving interest in the poor, the sick, and in little children. His original poems and hymns were mostly written at the Oratory. He died at Edgbaston, Jan. 2, 1878, and was buried on Jan. 7 at Redwall, near Bromsgrove, by his leader and friend Cardinal Newman. Caswall's translations of Latin hymns from the Roman Breviary and other sources have a wider circulation in modern hymnals than those of any other translator, Dr. Neale alone excepted. This is owing to his general faithfulness to the originals, and the purity of his rhythm, the latter feature specially adapting his hymns to music, and for congregational purposes. His original compositions, although marked by considerable poetical ability, are not extensive in their use, their doctrinal teaching being against their general adoption outside the Roman communion. His hymns appeared in:— (1) Lyra Catholica, which contained 197 translations from the Roman Breviary, Missal, and other sources. First ed. London, James Burns, 1849. This was reprinted in New York in 1851, with several hymns from other sources added thereto. This edition is quoted in the indices to some American hymn-books as Lyra Cath., as in Beecher's Plymouth Collection, 1855, and others. (2) Masque of Mary, and Other Poems, having in addition to the opening poem and a few miscellaneous pieces, 53 translations, and 51 hymns. 1st ed. Lon., Burns and Lambert, 1858. (3) A May Pageant and Other Poems, including 10 original hymns. Lon., Burns and Lambert, 1865. (4) Hymns and Poems, being the three preceding volumes embodied in one, with many of the hymns rewritten or revised, together with elaborate indices. 1st ed. Lon., Burns, Oates & Co., 1873. Of his original hymns about 20 are given in the Roman Catholic Crown of Jesus Hymn Book, N.D; there are also several in the Hymns for the Year, N.D., and other Roman Catholic collections. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ====================== Caswall, E. , p. 214, ii. Additional original hymns by Caswall are in the Arundel Hymns, 1902, and other collections. The following are from the Masque of Mary, &c, 1858:— 1. Christian soul, dost thou desire. After Holy Communion. 2. Come, let me for a moment cast. Holy Communion. 3. O Jesu Christ [Lord], remember. Holy Communion. 4. Oft, my soul, thyself remind. Man's Chief End. 5. Sleep, Holy Babe. Christmas. Appeared in the Rambler, June 1850, p. 528. Sometimes given as "Sleep, Jesus, sleep." 6. The glory of summer. Autumn. 7. This is the image of the queen. B. V. M. His "See! amid the winter's snow,” p. 1037, i., was published in Easy Hymn Tunes, 1851, p. 36. In addition the following, mainly altered texts or centos of his translations are also in common use:— 1. A regal throne, for Christ's dear sake. From "Riches and regal throne," p. 870, ii. 2. Come, Holy Ghost, Thy grace inspire. From "Spirit of grace and union," p. 945, i. 3. Hail! ocean star, p. 99, ii,, as 1873. In the Birmingham Oratory Hymn Book, 1850, p. 158. 4. Lovely flow'rs of martyrs, hail. This is the 1849 text. His 1873 text is "Flowers of martyrdom," p. 947, i. 5. None of all the noble cities. From "Bethlehem! of noblest cities," p. 946, ii. 6. O Jesu, Saviour of the World. From “Jesu, Redeemer of the world," p. 228, ii. 7. 0 Lady, high in glory raised. From "O Lady, high in glory, Whose," p. 945, i. The Parochial Hymn Book, 1880, has also the following original hymns by Caswall. As their use is confined to this collection, we give the numbers only:— IS os. 1, 2, 3, 159 (Poems, 1873, p. 453), 209 (1873, p. 288), 299, 324 (1873, p. 323), 357, 402, 554, 555, 558, 569 (1873, p. 334). These are from his Masque of Mary 1858. Nos. 156, 207 (1873, p. 296), 208 (1873, p. 297), 518. These are from his May Pageant, 1865. As several of these hymns do not begin with the original first lines, the original texts are indicated as found in his Poems, 1873. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Thomas Haweis

1734 - 1820 Author of "Our children, Lord, in faith and prayer" in The Presbyterian Book of Praise Thomas Haweis (b. Redruth, Cornwall, England, 1734; d. Bath, England, 1820) Initially apprenticed to a surgeon and pharmacist, Haweis decided to study for the ministry at Oxford and was ordained in the Church of England in 1757. He served as curate of St. Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, but was removed by the bishop from that position because of his Methodist leanings. He also was an assistant to Martin Madan at Locke Hospital, London. In 1764 he became rector of All Saints Church in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, and later served as administrator at Trevecca College, Wales, a school founded by the Countess of Huntingdon, whom Haweis served as chaplain. After completing advanced studies at Cambridge, he published a Bible commentary and a volume on church history. Haweis was strongly interested in missions and helped to found the London Mission Society. His hymn texts and tunes were published in Carmino Christo, or Hymns to the Savior (1792, expanded 1808). Bert Polman ============================ Haweis, Thomas, LL.B., M.D., born at Truro, Cornwall, 1732. After practising for a time as a Physician, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated. Taking Holy Orders, he became Assistant Preacher to M. Madan at the Lock Hospital, London, and subsequently Rector of All Saints, Aldwincle, Northamptonshire. He was also Chaplain to Lady Huntingdon, and for several years officiated at her Chapel in Bath. He died at Bath, Feb. 11, 1820. He published several prose works, including A History of the Church, A Translation of the New Testament, and A Commentary on the Holy Bible. His hymns, a few of which are of more than ordinary merit, were published in his Carmina Christo; or, Hymns to the Saviour. Designed for the Use and Comfort of Those who worship the Lamb that was slain. Bath, S. Hayward, 1792 (139 hymns), enlarged. London, 1808 (256 hymns). In 1794, or sometime after, but before the enlarged edition was published, two hymns "For the Fast-day, Feb. 28, 1794," were added to the first edition. These were, "Big with events, another year," and "Still o'er the deep the cannon's roar." The most popular and widely used of his hymns are, "Behold the Lamb of God, Who bore," &c.; "Enthroned on high, Almighty Lord"; and “O Thou from Whom all goodness flows." The rest, all being from Carmina Christo, first edition 1792, are:— 1. Dark was the night and cold the ground. Gethsemane. 2. From the cross uplifted high. Christ in Glory. 3. Great Spirit, by Whose mighty power. Whitsuntide. 4. Submissive to Thy will, my God. Resignation. 5. The happy morn is come. Easter. 6. Thou Lamb of God, that on the tree. Good Friday. The hymn, "Thy Head, the crown of thorns that wears," in Stryker & Main's Church Praise Book, N. Y., 1882, begins with st. ii. of this hymn. 7. To Thee, my God and Saviour, My heart, &c. Praise for Redemption. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Ray Palmer

1808 - 1887 Author of "Unseen, not Unknown" in The Pilgrim Hymnal Ray Palmer (b. Little Compton, RI, 1808; d. Newark, NJ, 1887) is often considered to be one of America's best nineteenth-century hymn writers. After completing grammar school he worked in a Boston dry goods store, but a religious awakening prodded him to study for the ministry. He attended Yale College (supporting himself by teaching) and was ordained in 1835. A pastor in Congregational churches in Bath, Maine (1835-1850), and Albany, New York (1850-1865), he also served as secretary of the American Congregational Union (1865-1878). Palmer was a popular preacher and author, writing original poetry as well as translating hymns. He published several volumes of poetry and hymns, including Sabbath Hymn Book (1858), Hymns and Sacred Pieces (1865), and Hymns of My Holy Hours (1868). His complete poetical works were published in 1876. Bert Polman =================== Palmer, Ray, D.D., son of the Hon. Thomas Palmer, a Judge in Rhode Island, was born at Little Compton, Rhode Island, Nov. 12, 1808. His early life was spent at Boston, where he was for some time clerk in a dry-goods store. At Boston he joined the Park Street Congregational Church, then under the pastoral care of Dr. S. E. Dwight. After spending three years at Phillips Academy, Andover, he entered Yale College, New Haven, where he graduated in 1830. In 1835 he became pastor of the Central Congregational Church, Bath, Maine. During his pastorate there he visited Europe in 1847. In 1850 he was appointed to the First Congregational Church, at Albany, New York, and in 1865 Corresponding Secretary to the American Congregational Union, New York. He resigned in 1878, and retired to Newark, New Jersey. He died at Newark, Mar. 29, 1887. Dr. Palmer's published works in prose and verse include:-- (1) Memoirs and Select Remains of Charles Pond, 1829; (2) The Spirit's Life, a Poem, 1837; (3) How to Live, or Memoirs of Mrs. C. L. Watson, 1839; (4) Doctrinal Text Book, 1839; (5) Spiritual Improvement, 1839, republished as Closet Hours in 185; (6) What is Truth? or Hints on the Formation of Religious Opinions, 1860; (7) Remember Me, or The Holy Communion, 1865; (8) Hymns and Sacred Pieces, with Miscellaneous Poems, 1865; (9) Hymns of my Holy Hours, and Other Pieces, 1868; (10) Home, or the Unlost Paradise, 1873; and (11) Voices of Hope and Gladness, 1881. Most of Dr. Palmer's hymns have passed into congregational use, and have won great acceptance. The best of them by their combination of thought, poetry, and devotion, are superior to almost all others of American origin. The first which he wrote has become the most widely known of all. It is:— 1. My faith looks up to Thee. Faith in Christ. This hymn was written by the author when fresh from College, and during an engagement in teaching in New York. This was in 1830. The author says concerning its composition, "I gave form to what I felt, by writing, with little effort, the stanzas. I recollect I wrote them with very tender emotion, and ended the last line with tears." A short time afterwards the hymn was given to Dr. Lowell Mason for use, if thought good, in a work then being compiled by him and Dr. T. Hastings. In 1831 that work was published as Spiritual Songs for Social Worship: adapted to the use of Families, &c. Words and Music arranged by Thomas Hastings, of New York, and Lowell Mason of Boston. It is No. 141 in 4 stanzas of 8 lines, entitled "Self Consecration," and accompanied with the tune by Dr. L. Mason, there given as "My faith looks up to Thee, "but subsequently known as Olivet. (Orig. text of hymn in Thring's Collection, 1882.) It has passed into most modern collections in all English-speaking countries, and has been rendered into numerous languages. That in Latin, by H. M. Macgill (p. 708, ii.), begins "Fides Te mea spectat." 2. Fount of everlasting love. Praise for renewed Spiritual Life. This also appeared in the Spiritual Songs, &c, 1831, No. 191, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Praise for a Revival." The hymns which are given below are all in Dr. Palmer's Poetical Works, N. Y., 1876, and the dates appended in brackets are those given by him in that work. 3. Thou who roll'st the year around. (1832.) Close of the Year. In several American collections. 4. Away from earth my spirit turns. (1833.) Holy Communion. Appeared in Lowell Mason's Union Hymns, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In the Church Praise Book, N. Y.. 1882, it begins with st. ii., "Thou, Saviour, art the Living Bread." 5. Before Thy throne with tearful eyes. (1834.) Liberty of Faith. 6. Stealing from the world away. (1834.) Evening. Written at New Haven in 1834, and is very popular in America. 7. Thine [Thy] holy day's returning. (1834.) Sunday Morning. 8. Wake thee, 0 Zion. (1862.) Zion Exultant. 9. We stand in deep repentance. (1834.) Lent. This last, No. 9, in common with Nos. 10, 11, 12, is marked "original," in the Presbyterian Parish Hymns, 1843. Probably they were given to the editors of that book in manuscript, and had not previously appeared. 10. And is there, Lord, a rest? (1843.) Rest in Heaven. Written at Bath, Maine, in 1843. 11. 0 sweetly breathe the lyres above. Consecration to Christ. This was accidentally omitted from Dr. Palmer's Poetical Works, 18?6. S. W. Duffield says:— "It was written in the winter of 1842-43, at a time of revival. At the previous Communion several had been received under circumstances that made Doddridge's hymn, ‘0 happy day that fixed my choice 'a most appropriate selection. Not caring to repeat it, and needing something similar, Dr. Palmer composed the present hymn." English Hymns, N. Y., 1886, p. 432. 12. When downward to the darksome tomb. (1842.) Death Contemplated. Written at Bath, Maine, 1842. From 1843 there comes a long break, and Dr. Palmer seems to have done no more hymn-writing until called upon by Professors Park and Phelps, of Andover, for contributions to their Sabbath Hymn-Book, 1858. His hymns written for that important collection rank amongst the best that America has produced. This is specially true of the first four (Nos. 13-16) from the Latin. 13. Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts. (l858.) Translation of a cento from "Jesu dulcis memoria" (p. 588, ii.). 14. 0 Bread to Pilgrims given. (1858.) Translation of “O esca viatorum" (q.v.). 15. 0 Christ our King, Creator Lord. (1858.) Translation of “Rex Christe, factor omnium " 16. Come Holy Ghost, in love. (1858.) Translation of “Veni Sancte Spiritus" (q.v.) 17. Jesus, these eyes have never seen. (1858.) Christ loved, though unseen. This hymn is accounted by many as next in merit and beauty to "My faith looks up to Thee." 18. Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb. (1858.) God Unsearchable. This hymn deals with the mysteries of Predestination in a reverent and devout manner. 19. Thy Father's house! thine own bright home. (1858.) Heaven. The next group, Nos. 20-27, appeared in Dr. Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865. 20. Lord, Thou wilt bring the joyful day. (1864.) Contemplation of Heaven. Written in New York City. 21. Eternal Father, Thou hast said. (i860.) Missions. 22. Jesus, Lamb of God, for me. (1863.) Jesus, the Way of Salvation. Written in Albany, New York. 23. Take me, 0 my Father, take me. (1864.) Lent. 24. Wouldst thou eternal life obtain. (1864.) Good Friday. 25. Come Jesus, Redeemer, abide Thou with me. (1864.) Holy Communion. 26. Lord, Thou on earth didst love Thine own. (1864.) Fellowship with Christ. 27. Thou, Saviour, from Thy throne on high. (1864.) Prayer. The next four (Nos. 28-31) present another group. They appeared in D. E. Jones's Songs for the New Life, 1869, and the Reformed Dutch Hymns of the Church, N. Y., 1869. The dates of composition are from Dr. Palmer's Poems, 1876. 28. Lord, Thou hast taught our hearts to glow. (1865.) Ordination, or Meeting of Ministers. 29. When inward turns my searching gaze. (1868.) Evening. 30. 0 Jesus, sweet the tears I shed. (1867.) Good Friday. 31. Jesus, this [my] heart within me burns. (1868.) Love. The hymns which follow are from various sources. 32. 0 Christ, the Lord of heaven, to Thee. (1867.) Universal Praise to Christ. Appeared in the author's Hymns of my Holy Hours, 1867. It is a hymn of great merit, and is widely used. 33. Behold the shade of night is now receding. (1869.) A translation of "Ecce jam noctis." (p. 320, i., and Various). 34. Hid evening shadows let us all be waking. (1869.) A translation of "Nocte surgentes" (p. 809, i.). 35. I give my heart to Thee. (Aug. 20, 1868.) A translation of "Cor meum Tibi dedo," p. 262, ii. 36. Holy Ghost, that promised came. (1873.) Whitsuntide. From the author's Poems, 1876. 37. 0 Holy Comforter, I hear. The Comforter. Appeared in the Boston Congregationalist, September 7th, 1867. 38. Lord, when my soul her secrets doth reveal. (1865.) Holy Communion. Most of the foregoing hymns are in common in Great Britain, and all are found in one or more American hymnbooks of importance. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) =================== Palmer, Ray, D.D., p. 877, i. The following original hymns by Dr. Palmer are also in common use:— 1. O Rock of Ages, since on Thee. Faith. From his Poetical Works, 1876, p. 27, where it is dated 1869. Bp. Bickersteth says "This hymn"... is "worthy of Luther." (Note Hymnal Companion, ed. 1876.) 2. Thy holy will, my God, be mine. Resignation. From his Hymns of my Holy Hours, &c, 1868, p. 47. Also in his P. Works, 1876, dated 1867. 3. We praise Thee, Saviour, for Thy grace. Holy Communion. From his Hymns and Sacred Pieces, &c, 1865. Also in P. Works, 1876, dated 1864. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ========== Ray Palmer was born at Little Compton, Rhode Island, in 1808. He studied at Phillip's Academy, Andover, Mass., and graduated at Yale College in 1830. In 1835, he was ordained pastor of a Congregational Society in Bath, Maine, from which he removed, in 1850, to the pastorate of a Congregational Society in Albany, N.Y. He has published many hymns, some of his own authorship, and some translations. He has published some sermons and reviews. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.

Juan Bautista Cabrera Ivars

1837 - 1916 Person Name: Juan Bautista Cabrera, 1837-1916 Translator of "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (Cuán dulce el nombre de Jesús)" in Santo, Santo, Santo Juan Bautista Cabrera Ivars was born in Benisa, Spain, April 23, 1837. He attended seminary in Valencia, studying Hebrew and Greek, and was ordained as a priest. He fled to Gibraltar in 1863 due to religious persecution where he abandoned Catholicism. He worked as a teacher and as a translator. One of the works he translated was E.H. Brown's work on the thirty-nine articles of the Anglican Church, which was his introduction to Protestantism. He was a leader of a Spanish Reformed Church in Gibraltar. He continued as a leader in this church when he returned to Spain after the government of Isabel II fell, but continued to face legal difficulties. He then organized the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church and was consecrated as bishop in 1894. He recognized the influence of music and literature on evangelism which led him to write and translate hymns. Dianne Shapiro, from Real Academia de la Historia (https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/39825/juan-bautista-cabrera-ivars) and Himnos Cristanos (https://www.himnos-cristianos.com/biografia-juan-bautista-cabrera/) (accessed 7/30/2021)

Reginald Heber

1783 - 1826 Author of "Our children, Lord, in faith and prayer" in The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook 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)