A hymn of love, trust, and hope, based on Phil. 1:21: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Richard Baxter, English Presbyterian, was born in Shropshire, England. He took holy orders in the Church of England, but withdrew from this church to become one of the outstanding Nonconformists of his time. Though he never attended university, he published over 250 volumes, among them several classics, The Reformed Pastor and The Saints’ Everlasting Rest. A fearless man and willing to suffer for what he believed to be right, Baxter did not hesitate to rebuke Cromwell for his assumption of supreme power of the State. Once, when falsely charged of libeling the Church, Chief Justice George Jeffreys taunted him by, “Richard, I see the rogue in thy face.” Baxter replied, “I had not known before that my face was a mirror.” After an infamous trial, Baxter was condemned and thrown into prison where he remained for 18 months.
As to music in the church, he did not share the views of the large number of his fellow Puritan clergymen who disapproved of it. “I have made a psalm of praise in the holy assembly the chief delightful exercise of my religion and my life, and have helped to bear down all the objection which I have heard against church music.” He also took a stand for the use of original hymns to supplement psalm singing, and favored the use of the organ, though he did not introduce the latter where it led to disputes.
MUSIC. EVAN. For comments on this tune and its composer, William H. Havergal, see Hymn 153.
Based on Zech. 14:7: “But it shall come to pass, at evening time it shall be light.” The hymn was written in 1869 for the author’s congregation, to be sung at evening prayer. It appeared in Church Hymns, 1871, published by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, London.
Richard Hayes Robinson, a clergyman of the Church of England, was born in London. He was educated at King’s College, London, and served as minister in various churches. On the day of his second wedding, he was taken ill on the train and died the next day. He published several volumes of sermons.
MUSIC. MÜDE BIN ICH, GEH ZUR RUH is a well-known German melody in the Gesangbuch mit Noten, where it appears anonymously, set to Louise Hensel’s hymn from which the tune derives its name. The melody, in slightly different form, appeared in 1842 in Lieder-Buch für Kleinkinder-Schulen ... con Theodor Fliedner. It is used in the Methodist Hymnal (1935) set to the words, “Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear.”
Based on I Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you,” and on the Scripture lesson in Matthew 6:24-34. The original poem was in five stanzas. The hymn was written out of experiences of sickness, pain, and trial.
Joseph Anstice, a friend of Gladstone during student days at Oxford, was appointed Professor of Classical Literature at King’s College, London, at the age of 22. Within three years his health failed, and he died at the age of 28, whereupon Gladstone, who had been deeply influenced by him at Oxford, wrote in his Diary, “Read to my deep sorrow of Anstice’s death on Monday. His friends, his young widow, the world can spare him ill.” This and 53 other hymns were dictated to his wife in the afternoons during his last illness.
MUSIC. MERIBAH. For comments on the composer, Lowell Mason, see Hymn 12.
This hymn on perfect peace is based on Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.”
The origin of the hymn was furnished Dr. Julian by Rev. S. Bickersteth, a son of the author:
This hymn was written by Bishop Edward Henry Bickersteth while he was spending his summer holiday in Harrogate in the year 1875. On a Sunday morning in August the Vicar of Harrogate, Canon Gibbon, happened to preach from the text, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee,” and alluded to the fact that in the Hebrew the words are “peace, peace,” twice repeated and happily rendered in the 1611 translations by the phrase “perfect peace.” This sermon set my father’s mind working on the subject. He always found it easiest to express in verse whatever subject was uppermost in his mind, so that when on the afternoon of that Sunday he visited an aged and dying relative, Archdeacon Hill, of Liverpool, and found him somewhat troubled in mind, it was natural to him to express in verse the spiritual comfort which he desired to convey. Taking up a sheet of paper, he then and there wrote down the hymn just exactly as it now stands and read it to this dying Christian.
It is not always noticed that the first line in each verse is in the form of a question referring to some one or other of the disturbing experiences of life, and the second line in each verse endeavors to give the answer.... The hymn has been translated into many tongues, and for years I doubt if my father went many days without receiving from different people assurances of the comfort which the words had been allowed to bring to them. The most touching occasion on which, personally, I ever heard it sung was round the grave of my eldest brother, Bishop Edward Bickersteth, of South Tokyo, at Chiselden in 1897, when my father himself was chief mourner.
MUSIC. PAX TECUM was written for this hymn by George Thomas Caldbeck, 1852-?, concerning whose life one reads contradictory statements. Some writers say he was a missionary in China when he wrote this tune; others, including James Moffatt, give the account essentially as follows: that Caldbeck, while a student in London, was compelled through ill health to give up his purpose of becoming a missionary, went to Ireland to teach school and engage in independent missionary work. Later he returned to London where he did much open-air preaching, making a meagre living by selling Scripture text-cards from door to door. For selling without a license, he was arrested one day but dismissed by the judge on being informed that the defendant was the composer of this well-known hymn tune.
The tune was arranged by Charles John Vincent, born 1852, English organist, composer and editor of much church music.
Based on Psalm 46:1-5: “God is our refuge and our strength; a very present help in time of trouble,” etc., and was entitled by Watts, “The Church’s Safety and Triumph.” It is interesting to compare this free rendering of the Psalm with that of the Scotch Psalter, 1650, (588), where the thought of the psalm and the stately King James version combine to make up the greatest metrical form of the psalm. Martin Luther’s version of the same Psalm is found in his great hymn “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (549).
For comments on Isaac Watts see Hymn 11.
MUSIC. WARRINGTON was composed by Ralph Harrison, 1748-1810, an Englishman and son of a Presbyterian minister. Educated at Warrington Academy, he became a noted teacher of ancient languages, but maintained a keen interest in sacred music. He compiled Sacred Harmony, 2 vols., 1784-1791, a collection of psalm tunes, ancient and modern, in which were found some of his own compositions, including this tune.
A free rendering of Isaiah 40:28-31.
The hymn is from Watts’ Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707, where it is headed, “The Christian Race.”
For comments on Isaac Watts see Hymn 11.
MUSIC. SAMSON. This tune is an adaptation, a very considerable one, from Chorus 31: “Then round about the starry throne,” in Handel’s oratorio, Samson. The tune is taken from various parts of the chorus.
For comments on Handel see Hymn 70.
Another of the “songs in the night,” written by one who, like Charlotte Elliott (See 245), was an invalid the greater part of her life and suffered much pain.
Jane Fox was born in Cornwall, England. In 1836 she married Thomas D. Crewdson, a Manchester manufacturer. Always delicate, she became a confirmed invalid, but her sufferings served to deepen her spiritual life. She was a woman of fine intellectual power and poetic gifts and through her writings testified gloriously to the all-sufficiency of her Savior’s love. Her attitude toward her suffering is well expressed in the beautiful third verse of the hymn:
There is no secret sigh we breathe
But meets Thine ear divine:
And every cross grows light beneath
The shadow, Lord, of thine.
This was the favorite hymn of Dr. John Henry Jowett, at one time minister of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City.
MUSIC. COOLING first appeared in The American Choir, 1858. No information has been obtained concerning the composer, Alonzo Judson Abbey, 1825-87.
A lovely song of the journey of life—the Christian’s pilgrimage to heaven, the heart’s true home. “The Pilgrims of the Night” was the title given this hymn by its author, F. W. Faber, the warm-hearted Roman Catholic hymn writer. The phrases of the poem are wrapped in mystery and loveliness. Their meaning is not always clear but the rhythm and musical ring of the hymn are effective and its popularity is genuine and wide-spread.
For comments on F. W. Faber see Hymn 44.
MUSIC. PILGRIMS was written for this hymn for the appendix to the original edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern.
For comments on the composer, Henry Smart, see Hymn 46.
From Montgomery’s poem of twenty-two 4-line stanzas, in two parts, published in the Amethyst, 1835. It is based on I Thess. 4:17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Canon Farrar once said, “I can scarcely ever join in singing ‘Forever with the Lord’ without tears.”
The hymn voices the aspirations of multitudes of Christians. In time of sorrow and death it points to the life beyond as the true goal of all our earthly striving.
For comments on James Montgomery see Hymn 62.
MUSIC. NEARER HOME, also called “Montgomery,” was composed for this hymn and was published in The Choral Advocate, 1852. The composer, Isaac Baker Woodbury, 1819-58, was an American singer, teacher of music, composer of hymn tunes and sacred songs, and editor of Musical Review. His career was cut short by his death at the early age of thirty-nine.
“And the city was pure gold” Rev. 21:21.
This hymn is from a Latin manuscript of 3,000 lines entitled “De Contemptu Mundi” (On Contempt of the World), written by Bernard of Cluny while he was a monk at the famous monastery of Cluny, France, c. 1145. Practically nothing is known of him except his authorship of this poem. Two other hymns, “Brief life is here our portion,” and “For thee, O dear, dear country,” not in the Hymnary, are taken from the same poem. The original was not written as a hymn at all but as a “bitter satire on the fearful corruption of the age,” especially of the Church of Rome, in contrast to which the author paints the joys of the new Jerusalem. The author employed throughout the unusually difficult meter known as “dactylic hexameter with tailed rhymes,” of which Bernard himself says: “Unless the Spirit of wisdom and understanding had flowed in upon me, I could not have put together so long a work in so difficult a meter.” The reading of the Latin stanzas best reveal the rhythm and music of the original:
Urbs Sion aurea, patria lactea,
Cive decora,
Omne cor obruis, omnibus obstruis
Et cor et ora.
Nescio, nescio, quae iubilatio,
Lux tibi qualis,
Quam socialia gaudia, gloria
Quam specialis.
Sunt Sion atria coniubilantia,
Martyre plena,
Cive micantia, principe stantia,
Luce serena.
Sunt ibi pascua mentibus afflua
Praestita sanctis;
Regis ibi thronus, agminis et sonus
Est epulantis.
Gens duce splendida, contio candida
Vestibus albis,
Sunt sine fletibus in Sion aedibus,
Aedibus almis. Amen.
For comments on the translator, John M. Neale, see Hymn 67.
MUSIC. EWING, composed for “For thee, O dear, dear country” (see above), was originally in triple time and named, “St. Bedes.” In Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861, it was set to the present words and the tune changed to common time without the consent of the composer. Ewing disliked the change and expressed himself thus: “In my opinion the alteration of the rhythm has very much vulgarized my little tune. It now seems to be a good deal like a polka. I hate to hear it.” In spite of the composer’s opinion, the tune is generally accepted in its revised form and considered preferable to the original.
Alexander Ewing, 1830-95, of Aberdeen, Scotland, was a skilled musician. One evening after choir practice, he modestly introduced what he called his first effort at writing a hymn tune, offering copies of the voice parts, and asking the choir to sing it over. This was done, the choir liked it, and the tune EWING was launched on its long and popular career.
For comments on this hymn see No. 262.
MUSIC. URBS BEATA (The City Beautiful) was composed in 1887 for these words. The composer found words for the refrain by repeating lines 1, 6, 7, and 8 of the first stanza. It makes a first-rate choir number. To keep up the proper tempo it should be sung with two beats to the measure. When the tune is used for congregational singing, the high notes in the refrain are intended to be sung by the sopranos in the choir.
The composer, George LeJeune, 1842-1904, was the son of a well-known musical family in London. He began his musical career in Canada; later he studied with Joseph Barnby. His great work was done as church organist and organ recitalist at St. John’s Chapel of Trinity Parish, New York City, where he served 28 years.
A poem in contemplation of heaven, written in 1852, entitled, “Nearer Home,” with no thought of its being used as a hymn. In fact its original irregular rhythm hardly permitted it to be sung. The words have been changed to fit the short-meter tune, and have become popular as a hymn. Upon reading the story of how the hymn was instrumental in the conversion of two gamblers in China, who, after betting and drinking and card playing, decided upon a change of life and consecrated themselves to Christian work, Miss Cary wrote to a friend:
I enclose the hymn and story for you, not because I am vain of the notice, but because I thought you would feel a peculiar interest in them when you knew the hymn was written eighteen years ago (1852) in your house. I composed it in the little, back, third-story bedroom on Sunday morning after coming from church, and it makes me happy to think that any word I could say has done a little good in the world.
Phoebe Cary was born on a farm near Cincinnati, Ohio. Her early days were a struggle with hardship and poverty. “I have cried in the street because I was poor,” she wrote in her later and more prosperous years, “and the poor always seem nearer to me than the rich.” With her sister Alice Carey, she published a small volume of verse in 1849, then the two moved to New York City where they became quiet but influential leaders in literary society. Their friendship with Whittier was a noted factor in the lives of the Carey sisters. Phoebe was a member of the Church of the Pilgrims in New York, and later attended the Church of the Stranger in the same city.
MUSIC. DULCE DOMUM is an arrangement from the composer’s popular song, “One sweetly solemn song,” later published as an anthem.
Robert Steele Ambrose, 1824-1908, born in England, came with his parents to Canada in his first year. He prepared himself for the musical profession and became organist successively in churches in Guelph, Kingston, and Hamilton, Ontario. He is known best by the above-mentioned song.
A song of immortality, written in ten minutes in the author’s eighty-first year. It is always printed at the end of Tennyson’s poems. Tennyson once said: “I can hardly understand how any great, imaginative man, who has lived, suffered, thought and wrought, can doubt of the soul’s continuous progress in the after life.”
The poem was written on an October day in 1889, as the poet was crossing from Aldworth to Farringford. Tennyson’s son wrote in his Memoir of his father, concerning its origin:
Before he reached Farringford he had the moaning of the bar in his mind, and after dinner he showed me this poem written out. I said: “That is the crown of your life’s work.” He answered: “It came in a moment.” He explained the “Pilot” as “that Divine and Unseen who is always guiding us.” A few days before my father’s death, in 1892, he said to me: “Mind you put ‘Crossing the Bar,’ at the end of all editions of my poems.” My father considered Edmund Lushington’s translation into Greek of “Crossing the Bar” one of the finest translations he had ever read.
MUSIC. CROSSING THE BAR was composed for these words. The tune, in the nature of an unaccompanied quartet anthem, may be sung with freedom in regard to time and shading.
For comments on the composer, Joseph Barnby, see Hymn 21.
A paraphrase of I Peter 1:3-5.
The original by Watts was published in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707, from which it was taken over unchanged into the Scottish Paraphrases of 1745 and of 1751. In the final 1781 edition, the third stanza was omitted and the fourth altered from
There’s an inheritance divine
Reserved against that day;
’Tis incorrupted, undefiled,
And cannot waste away.
The improvements are attributed to William Cameron, 1751-1811, who, as a young licentiate, was entrusted with the final revision of the Scottish Paraphrases.
For comments on Isaac Watts see Hymn 11.
MUSIC. ST. STEPHEN (ABRIDGE) is described by Archibald Jacob as a “beautifully fluent and graceful melody ... in the best 18th-century style of this class of tune.” It appeared originally in A Collection of Psalm Tunes in Three Parts ... by Isaac Smith, c. 1770, under the name ABRIDGE, by which it continues to be known in England. In Sacred Harmony for Use in St. George’s, Edinburgh, 1820, it appeared under the name ST. STEPHEN, with slight modification of the last line.
Isaac Smith, c. 1725-c. 1800, was a London linen-draper with a taste for music. He composed and published a number of Psalm-tunes which long remained popular, though ABRIDGE is almost the only one now left of his compositions. Smith named his tunes after localities in and about London. ABRIDGE was the name of a small village near Epping Forest, in Essex.
A hymn expressing the unity of God’s people in their labor for the Kingdom through the ages. “The goodly fellowship of the prophets” is set forth here with power and poetic beauty.
For comments on Frederick L. Hosmer see Hymn 72.
MUSIC. ONWARD, with its strong rhythm and moving power, lends itself well for processional use, resembling in this respect the tune “St. Gertrude” (225), for which the present hymn was written.
No information is at hand concerning the composer, J. W. Barrington.
One of the few hymns written on the petition, “Thy Kingdom come,” in the Lord’s Prayer. Canon Percy Dearmer speaks of this as “one of the noblest hymns in the language.” It is a fervent prayer for the day when there shall be more justice, knowledge, peace, and righteousness on the earth.
The hymn was written June 21, 1891, for the commencement of the Meadville Theological School, Pennsylvania.
For comments on Frederick L. Hosmer see Hymn 72.
MUSIC. IRISH, also called “Dublin,” appeared first in Hymns and Sacred Poems, published in Dublin in 1749. The composer is not known. It is a smooth, triple-time tune which young people love to sing. Its name is misleading, for there is no indication of an Irish origin other than, as stated, its appearance in a book published in Dublin.
A prayer for the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth, based on the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.”
Rev. John Johns, English Presbyterian minister, was known for many years in Liverpool as the “minister to the poor.” He was a man of fine poetic gifts and published several volumes of poetry but is remembered for his life of service among the poor.
MUSIC. ST. THOMAS is one of the oldest and best tunes of the church. It has good rhythm, graceful form, and a strong forward movement to give it unusual singing merit.
The composer, Aaron Williams, of Welsh descent, was born in London in 1731, and died there in 1776. He was composer, engineer, publisher, music teacher, and clerk of the Scotch Church, London Wall. He published a number of important collections of tunes: The Universal Psalmodist, 1763, and New Universal Psalmodist, 1770, in which the above tune appeared.
Another hymn on the petition, “Thy Kingdom come,” in the Lord’s Prayer, setting forth its coming in relation to the unity of nations. Compare Hosmer’s other hymn on the Kingdom (268) where the emphasis is on righteousness and justice. This is an appropriate hymn for use in gatherings concerned with Christian unity and world friendship.
For comments on Frederick L. Hosmer see Hymn 72.
MUSIC. INVITATION. For comments on the composer of this tune see Hymn 112.
Another of the few hymns that have been written on the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come.” See Hymns 268, 269, 270.
Lewis Hensley had a distinguished career at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, as student and then six years as fellow and tutor. He became a minister in the Church of England and for a time was Rural Dean.
MUSIC. ST. CECILIA was composed for Dr. Bonar’s hymn, “Thy way, not mine, O Lord” (252), appearing with these words in The Merton Tune Book, Oxford, 1863.
The composer, Rev. Leighton George Hayne, 1836-83, was educated at Oxford, took holy orders in 1861, was appointed conductor of the chorus of the University and public examiner in the School of Music, and then served for a time as organist of Eton College. The last 12 years of his life were spent as minister in various churches. He wrote many hymn tunes and edited, with Rev. H. W. Sargeant, The Merton Tune Book.
A paraphrase of Psalm 100, revised by John Wesley.
The original text by Watts began:
Sing to the Lord with joyful voice;
Let every land his name adore;
The British Isles shall sound the noise
Across the ocean to the shore.
Wesley, considering this an unpromising initial stanza, omitted it, and changed the second stanza, lines 1 and 2, from
Nations attend before his throne
With solemn fear, with sacred joy
to
Before Jehovah’s awful throne
Ye nations bow with sacred joy.
Wesley severely condemned the practice of changing another’s hymns, but in this case his own “transgression” resulted in a greatly improved hymn.
The word “awful” in the first line is spelled “awe-full” in some hymnals in order to convey more nearly its original meaning.
For comments on Isaac Watts, see Hymn 11.
MUSIC. PARK STREET was composed by Frederick M. A. Venua, 1788-1872, an eminent French organist, a native of Paris. It is a favorite tune in America where it is invariably associated with this hymn by Watts.
A truly great hymn, honoring the church of Christ and longing for its prosperity. The author, then a young curate of 27 years in the Church of England, was so stirred by the attacks made on the church in his time that he determined to write a series of twelve hymns on the Apostles’ Creed. This one is based on the article, “I believe in the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints.” The controversy which then raged in England concerning the nature of the inspiration of the Scriptures is reflected in the third stanza, the author leaning strongly on the conservative side.
Samuel J. Stone was a clergyman of the Church of England, born in Staffordshire, and educated at Oxford. He served various churches, finally succeeding his father at St. Paul’s, Haggerston, London. For twenty years he had a fruitful ministry in this East End parish among the poor and depraved, before moving to another part of the city to another church. He is the author of many hymns and translations and published several volumes of poetry.
MUSIC. AURELIA (signifying “golden”) one of our most stately tunes, combining ease of singing with churchly dignity, was written for the hymn, “Jerusalem the golden” (262). It was set to the present hymn in Hymns Ancient and Modern and did much to carry the hymn into the churches. It has become one of the great processional hymns of the church.
Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1810-76, grandson of Charles Wesley, was like his father, Samuel Wesley, a great English composer and organist. He had a consuming love of the outdoors, as well as of music, and was passionately fond of fishing. He was outspoken in his demands for reform in the music of the church and was, consequently, frequently at odds with his superiors. Wesley received inadequate recognition for the contributions he made to the music of his time.
Based on Psalm 87:3: “Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God,” and other passages, especially Isaiah 33:20, 21, and Exodus 13:22.
It is one of our best hymns on the Church and, says Julian, “It ranks with the first hymns in the language.” In ordinary use the omission of the third stanza is desirable. Augustine Smith suggests in Lyric Religion that “the last score should always be repeated, the second time sung broader and fuller, building into a superb climax.”
John Newton is remembered among the hymn writers because of the radical change that took place in his life at conversion. Born in London, his only schooling was from his eighth to his tenth year. He went to sea at eleven, his godly mother following the profligate youth with her prayers. As a midshipman in the navy he deserted his post, was captured, and reduced to a common seaman, and later became a servant of a slave dealer in Africa. He was converted at 23 after an awful night steering a water-logged ship in the face of death. Though converted, he retained certain blind spots in his social outlook and he continued as a slave dealer. This hymn was written when he was on a voyage from Sierra Leone, Africa, with a load of slaves shackled closely together and being taken to London or America to be sold. “I have never had such sweet communion with Jesus as I had on that voyage,” he wrote. This may seem like hypocrisy, but it must be remembered that slavery was a common practice and that only a few people of the time understood clearly its complete denial of the spirit of Christ. It may be that future generations will see in our times evils that flourished unchallenged while we prayed and sang according to the light we had. In 1750, Newton married Mary Catlett, a noble and pious woman, and a godsend in his life. In 1755, he settled down as customs officer in Liverpool, becoming at the same time greatly interested in Wesley and Whitefield and other evangelical leaders. Three years later he became a minister in the Church of England, and in 1764, he began a distinguished career as curate at Olney, where he was associated with his friend, William Cowper, the poet. The two were joint authors of the Olney Hymns, 1779. After sixteen years in Olney, he moved to London where for 28 years he did faithful and successful work as rector of St. Mary Woolnoth. He wrote his own epitaph which is found on a plain marble tablet near the vestry door of his church in London:
John Newton, Clerk
Once an Infidel and Libertine,
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ
Preserved, restored, and pardoned,
And appointed to preach the Faith
He had long labored to destroy,
Near 16 years at Olney in Bucks
And ... years in this church
On Feb. 1, 1750, he married
Mary,
Daughter of the late George Catlett
Of Catham, Kent.
He resigned her to the Lord who gave her
On 15th of December, 1790
MUSIC. AUSTRIAN HYMN is founded on a Croatian melody. It was used in Germany as the tune of “Deutschland über alles.” Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809, made a setting of it to be sung at the Emperor’s birthday, Feb. 12, 1797, to the words, “Gott erhalte Franz der Kaiser.” The tune was a great favorite of Haydn and he used it as a theme in one of the movements in his famous “Emperor Quartet,” No. 76.
For comments on Franz Joseph Haydn, see Hymn 27.
Based on Psalm 137:5, 6: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.” It is rated high among all the hymns on the church and is probably the earliest American hymn in use today.
Timothy Dwight, the great president of Yale, was the grandson of Jonathan Edwards and shared in a large measure the intellectual brilliance of the Edwards family. A precocious youth, he entered Yale College at 13 and graduated at 17. An outstanding personality of his time, he was honored for his sound scholarship, elected a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and served as minister of the Congregational Church at Greenfield, Conn. From 1795 until his death in 1817, he was President of Yale, simultaneously holding the Chair of Theology. His presence at Yale changed the whole moral and religious attitude of the campus, there having been only four or five professed Christians at the college, according to Prof. W. W. Sweet, when he became president. At the request of the General Association of Congregational Churches in Connecticut and with the concurrence of the Presbyterian General Assembly, he revised The Psalms of David, by I. Watts, a work which was used in the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of Connecticut for over 30 years.
Dwight did a prodigious amount of work in spite of a serious physical handicap. His eyesight, for the greater part of forty years, was so poor that his reading was done only with the greatest of difficulty and with frequent and agonizing pain behind the eyeballs.
MUSIC. STATE STREET. For comments on this tune see Hymn 246.
From a larger poem by Coxe, entitled “Chelsea,” containing ten stanzas of eight lines each. It is a hymn of confidence that the church, built on a solid foundation, will survive all earthly kings and empires and will be able to withstand every earthly foe.
Arthur Cleveland Coxe was born at Clifton Springs, N. Y.; graduated from the University of New York and General Theological Seminary; and then became the rector successively of St. John’s Church, Hartford, Conn.; Grace Church, Baltimore; and Calvary Church, New York City. In 1865, he was elected Bishop of Western New York. He was a member of the Hymnal Commission for the Protestant Episcopal Church, which compiled the Hymnal of 1872, but refused, out of modesty, permission to include in that work any of his own hymns.
MUSIC. ST. ANNE. For comments on this tune see Hymn 61.
From Part II of an ancient Latin hymn of the 6th or 7th century beginning: “Urbs beata Hierusalem.” The author is not known. The first verse reflects Ephesians 2:20-21: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.”
The hymn is often used at the dedication of churches, stanzas 3 and 4 being especially appropriate for that purpose.
Dr. Neale’s translation of the hymn, in nine stanzas, appeared in his Medieval Hymns, 1851. Our hymn is a selection of stanzas 5, 6, 7, and 8, of his translation, with some changes in the words. The Latin of our first three stanzas is as follows:
Angularis fundamentum
lapis Christus missus est
Qui compage parietis
in utroque nectitur,
Quem Sion sancta suscepit,
In quo credens permanet.
Hoc in templo, summe Deus,
exoratus adveni,
Et clementi bonitate
precum vota suscipe;
Largam benedictionem
his infunde iugiter.
Hic promereantur omnes
petita adquirere
Et adepta possidere
cum sanctis perenniter,
Paradisum introire,
translati in requiem.
For comments on John M. Neale see Hymn 67.
MUSIC. REGENT SQUARE. For comments on this tune see Hymn 81.