Da eee ect eters Gh Le fers tenrntawtietn sree eee Rep Ap Pabhenr apa era rea tMENat Rt pi gaatnen ine aiitiens seer easeTy, a BEAL a PISS bees eget erie B seyret rersreMmTAET cian ee eee, % a i ai eo Oe eee Ee E Bey sehen PaTaiaTheA ABEL pated etna ; i BEER i i ae pea raaraeeds z 3 sib HERE Z Ears Fi : Perper areata : : : ushers P prepeiteet eee : ; ! : nies ee als Fes eon a as Errore SIT eae ae Sincere estos rite =| Hat a iealined teat siicast ie Fup SETI RE flere basis Gornell University Library Sthaca, Nem York BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE RIUSIC 1891 Cornell University Library BV 415.A1 1911 Te THE HYMNS AND HYMN WRITERS OF THE CHURCH ORDER OF WORSHIP Let all our services begin exactly at the time appointed; and let all our people kneel in silent prayer on entering the sanctuary. [I. Voluntary, instrumental or vocal.]* ; II. Singing from the.Common Hymnal, the people standing. [III. The Apostles’ Creed, recited by all, still standing. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.] IV. Prayer, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, repeated audibly by all, both minister and people kneeling.t [V. Anthem, or Voluntary. ] F VI. Lesson from the Old Testament, which, if from the Psalms, may be read responsively. . : [VII. The Gloria Patri. “Glo - ry be to the Fa-ther, and to theSon,and tothe Ho - ly Ghost; as ~o- was in the be-gin-ning, is now, and ev-er shall be, world with-outend. A-men, a-men. VIII. Lesson from the New Testament. IX. Notices, followed by collection; during or after which an offertory may be rendered. X. Singing from the Common Hymnal, the people standing. XI. The Sermon. . XII. Prayer, the people kneeling. XIII. Singing from the Common Hymnal, the people standing. XIV. Doxology and the Apostolic Benediction. (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) *Parts inclosed in brackets may be used or omitted. Let all our people be exhorted to kneel in prayer, facing toward the minister, (ii), THE hymns and Hymn Writers OF THE CHURCH . AN ANNOTATED EDITION Che Methodist Hymnal BY CHARLES S. NUTTER, D.D. AUTHOR OF “HYMN STUDIES,” “HISTORIC HYMNISTS,” ETC. AND WILBUR F. TILLETT, D.D., LL.D. DEAN OF THE THEOLOGICAL FACULTY OF VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY AUTHOR OF ‘‘ OUR HYMNS AND THEIR AUTHORS,” “STUDIES IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE,” ETC. THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN New York CINCINNATI w (]/S0559b Pgs : CoPyRIGHT, 1911, BY Eaton & ‘Mas, Jennines & Granam, Smita & Tause DEDICATION TO THE MINISTRY AND MEMBERSHIP oF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH IN THE HOPE AND WITH THE PRAYER THAT THEY MAY BE ONE NOT ONLY IN THE SONGS THEY SING BUT IN ALL THINGS ELSE THAT TEND TO PROMOTE CHRISTIAN FRATERNITY AND INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN FULFILLING THE WIDENING MISSION OF METHODISM IN THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE WORLD. “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. (1 Cor. xiv. 15.) “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. v. 19, 20.) PREFACE I am pleased to have a part in preparing a book for people interested in hymnody. The plan of the book is much the same as that followed in Hymn Studies, but this work is far more elaborate and valuable than that well-known book. The hymns are given in full, with careful criticism and historic notes. The book contains also biographical sketches of all the authors of hymns and composers of tunes. It is one of the duties of the pastor to be familiar with his Hymnal, and it is the privilege of the intelligent layman as well. This work contains many valuable facts and opinions, criticisms and approbations that can be found nowhere else. The Methodist Hymnal is a valuable book with a remarkable history. Before the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church several hymn books of Wesleyan origin were used in this country. Among these were Select Hymns, Hymns and Psalms, Redemption Hymns, and Mr. Wesley’s. first Pocket Hymn Book; but the Methodist people in America had no book in common. At the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1784, A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Lord’s Day was prepared for the new organization. It was printed in London in 1784, and came to America in sheets with the famous Sun- day Service. The “collection,” however, contained only one hundred and eighteen selections, and was altogether inadequate to meet the needs of the growing Church. About 1790 a Pocket Hymn Book, printed in Philadelphia, appeared containing a pastoral letter to the “members and friends” of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and signed by Bishops Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury. It contained some three hun- dred hymns, and was sold for half a dollar. This book was essentially a reprint of a Pocket Hymn Book edited and published by Robert Spence, a Methodist class lead- er of York, England. All subsequent official hymn books of the Methodist Episcopal Church are enlargements and improvements of the Coke-Asbury book. The editorial work of preparing this annotated edition of the Methodist Hymnal has been very great, as can readily be seen. Dr. Wilbur Fisk Tillett, of Vanderbilt University, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has been associated with me in this work, and much of the value of the book is due to his careful and painstaking labor. We send forth this work confidently hoping that it will be appreciated and praying that it may be of some use in advancing the kingdom of our Christ in the earth. , CuHarLes S. NUTTER. 4 Berwick Park, Boston. (vii) INTRODUCTION THE Hymnal of the Church, in its religious and moral value to Christian believ- ers, is second only to one other book—the Bible. Those who sing “with the spirit and with the understanding also” cannot fail to appreciate the value of an edition of their Church hymnal which gives all desirable information concerning the hymns and their authors. The hymns found in the modern hymnals of’ the Christian Church are culled from the sacred poetry of all ages, and so rich and abundant is the material available that only the best lyrics of the best poets can find a perma- nent place in them. While hymns are selected mainly with reference to their use in public worship, a Church hymnal has value also as a book of private devotion for the closet and for hours of religious meditation. Those who read and study the hymns in private are the worshipers who derive most enjoyment and inspiration from the public service of song in the sanctuary. There is scarcely any phase of religious experi- ence that does not find faithful and happy expression in the Church hymnal. Ev- ery. great and helpful hymn was born in the heart before it was born in the head, and it is only those hymns that come from the hearts of the writers that find a home in the hearts of others. The “hymns of the ages” were not written by the poets for mere pastime, but, as a rule, were born of experiences the deepest that human hearts are ever called to pass through. These great hymns have a spiritual origin, and many of them a deeply interesting history, to know which increases their value and our appreciation of them as aids to private devotion and public worship. The hymn book is one of the most effective agencies in the hands of the Chris- tian Church for the dissemination of truth among men, and the value of a hymnal as a book of Christian doctrine cannot easily be overestimated. “Let me write the songs of a people,” said one, “and I care not who may write their laws—I will govern them.” “Let me write the hymns of a Church,” said another, “and I care not who may write its creeds and volumes of theology—I will determine its faith.” If it be true that many get their theology more from the hymns they sing than from their Church creeds, the theology of our hymns is a matter to be considered not less than the theology of our creefs and confessions of faith, and the service of song be- comes scarcely less important than the preaching of the gospel as a mode of indoc- trinating men in Christian truth. Hymns performed a large and important service in the great reformation of both the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries. In driv- ing out the errors and superstitions of his day and bringing in the evangelical truth of a purer faith, Martin Luther’s hymns did for the masses of the people (ix) x ANNOTATED HYMNAL, what his learned theses and powerful philippics did for scholars and theologians but could not have done for the people. Great as John Wesley was as a preacher of righteousness and an organizer of men, Methodism could never have accom- plished its marvelous work in “spreading scriptural holiness over these lands” had not our evangelical doctrines of sin and salvation, of free grace and unlimited atone- ment, of heart holiness and Christian love, been embodied in the matchless hymns of his gifted poet-brother, the sweet and saintly singer of our Methodism. The large and important place which music and song have taken in the great evan- gelistic movements of modern times also bears witness to the influence which hymns sung by the people have in determining the type of faith that prevails. Only hymns whose character and contents are in keeping with the true evangelical faith of a great Church are worthy of a place in a modern Christian hymnal. The hymns found in this volume follow the order in which they are found in the Methodist Hymnal. Under each hymn will be found a note containing the follow- ing facts so far as they could be obtained: (1) The original title given by the au- thor to the hymn; (2) the name and date of the book, magazine, or periodical in which it was first published; (3) the passage of scripture, if any, upon which it is based; (4) the changes made in the original text of the hymn; (5) all omitted stanzas, unless too numerous to quote; (6) any experience in the life of the author, or other circumstance, which led to the writing of the hymn or which gives peculiar significance to it; (7) any incident or illustration connected with the hymn or any use of it in Christian experience such as may add interest to the singing of it or give value to the use of it in social and revival meetings; (8) a brief critical estimate of the hymn is given in many cases, and in some cases an appreciation or “hymn study,” involving a more or less extended analysis and study of the contents of the hymn; (9) all known facts concerning each hymn deemed of real value and interest. by the writer of the note have been given; (10) hymn “myths”—that is, unaccred- ited stories about the origin of hymns—have, as a rule, been omitted, or if named it is only that they may be duly discredited. The notes have been made as brief as possible consistent with the effort to make them contain all of the facts above mentioned. The “Biographical Index of Authors” which follows the hymns will be found to contain in alphabetical order brief historical sketches of all the hymn writers and translators whose productions find a place in the Hymnal. These sketches contain a simple statement of the leading facts, as far as known, in each author’s life such as will give interest to the reading and singing of his hymns. This biographical sec- tion of the volume will be found especially serviceable to all who desire to make a study of the various hymn writers and their hymns, and without some such study there can be no real appreciation of our Christian singers and their songs. A brief course of study in the hymns and hymn writers of the Church would make the INTRODUCTION. é xi Hymnal a new book to many Christian worshipers and would invest the service of song with an interest and helpfulness that it never can possess without such study. No other book used so largely and so constantly by Christian people is studied so lit- tle by them as the Church hymnal. A study of these biographies will reveal the fact that the great singers of the Church have not been idlers who spent their days in retirement and meditation, but they were in most instances busy workers; and most of their hymns were produced when their lives were full of toil and self-sacri-_ ficing service. It is the men who build and the soldiers who are winning victories that not only go forward to achievement and to conquest with songs upon their lips, but many of them, while they wrought and fought, themselves made these songs that sing of service and of victory. It would be difficult to bring together in one vol- ume three hundred and six nobler and more useful men and women than those who have written the hymns found in this Hymnal. It is a glorious company! Happy they who make their acquaintance and enjoy their fellowship! Following the “Biographical Index of Authors” we give an alphabetical “Index of the Composers” which will be found to contain under each name a few facts of special interest to musicians, singers, and others. A poem can never really become a hymn until it has a tune, and the popularity and power of many a hymn is due not less to the tune to which it is set than to its intrinsic literary and religious merits as ahymn. This being true, it.follows that no study of the hymns and hymn writers can be altogether satisfactory and complete that is not coupled with a study of the hymn-tunes and those who wrote them. For this section of our volume, however, we can only claim to have presented such facts as we could gather from the lim- ited sources of information at our command. Concerning some of the composers it has been impossible to get any trustworthy information. That many hundreds of volumes had to be consulted in order to make an anno- tated hymnal such as this is, will be manifest to every reader. The authors have in most instances had access to the original works of nearly all the poets whose hymns find a place in this collection; and for information they have, as a rule, gone directly to these original sources. But they have not failed to appreciate and avail them- selves of the many excellent works in hymnology recently published, without: which the preparation of such a volume as this would have been impossible. These works are referred to and quoted from throughout the volume. The basis of this work is found in Hymn Studies (1884) by my colaborer, Dr. C. S. Nutter, and in the writer’s volume titled Our Hymns and Their Authors (1889), these being annotated editions, respectively, of the former hymnals of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. By far the greatest contribution to modern English hymnology is the monumental work of Dr. John Julian, of England, titled A Dictionary of Hymnology. To it we are most deeply indebted. Other books of which we desire to make special and grateful mention are: The Methodist Hymn xii ANNOTATED HYMNAL. Book Illustrated, by Rev. John Telford; English Hymns, by Dr. Samuel W. Duffield; Annotations upon the Popular Hymns, by Dr. Charles S. Robinson. Readers who wish to make a more careful and extended study of hymnology and Church music will find the “Bibliography of Hymnology” (see page 470) helpful in many ways. This author desires to say in conclusion that the fellowship of Dr. Nutter and himself in the preparation of this volume has been most agreeable. While the en- _tire volume is a joint publication, it may be of interest to some readewrs to know that the hymns were distributed evenly between the two authors for annotation, Dr. Nutter taking all the odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, and so on throughout the volume) and the writer taking the even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8, and so on throughout the volume). The reader will understand, therefore, that with but few exceptions the notes under the odd numbers were prepared by Dr. Nutter and those under the even numbers by the undersigned. Each author, however, in the writing of his notes, has had the benefit of a critical reading and suggestions from his colleague. The biographical sketches of hymn writers and other portions of the volume were prepared by the authors jointly in such a manner as to make it difficult, and in some instances im- possible, to distinguish.the work of each. In the preparation of the “Index of Com- posers” Dr. Nutter has performed the larger service, while the undersigned author is more particularly responsible for the preparation of the “Index of Subjects,” the “Index of Scripture Texts,” and the “Bibliography of Hymnology.” If the publication of this volume shall lead even a portion of the ministry and membership of the two Churches represented to a higher appreciation of their ex- cellent Hymnal and to a more intelligent and spiritual use of the hymns found there- in, the authors will feel that they are fully rewarded for the years of investigation and toil they have spent in collecting these facts concerning the hymns and hymn writers of the Church. Wiusur F. Truuerr. VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, August 1, 1911 BISHOPS’ PREFACE TO HYMNAL Tuis Hymnal is the result of the labors of a joint Commission of twenty- two ministers and laymen appointed in equal numbers by the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; the double purpose being to provide a worthy manual of song for use in the public and private worship of Almighty God, and to testify to the world the essential unity of the two great branches of Episcopal Methodism. The fruit of their toil we now lay before the churches with confidence and joy: with confidence because we feel warranted in saying that the book is an admirable compilation of sacred lyrics; and with joy because we trust that for many long years it will prove to be a visible and potent bond of union among all our people. We gladly note that the hymns of the Wesleys are given the prominence which justly belongs to them in any collection to be used ‘by Methodists. But the book will be found to contain also the choicest work of the other hymn writers of the eighteenth century, namely, Doddridge, Watts, Cowper, ‘Newton, Montgomery, and a very considerable number of new hymns selected after a wide examination of the body of religious verse produced during the last seventy-five years. The hymns admitted have been selected from the ancient and modern treasuries of religious poetry. They are the expression of sound doctrine and healthful Christian experience, and it is believed will greatly enrich our worship and bring us into closer fellowship with believers in all lands and in all ages. Such verbal changes as have been made in the hymns are in most cases a return to the original and preferable forms. Some stanzas have been wholly excluded on the ground that they contain imagery offensive to modern taste, and others have been omitted to secure desirable brevity. The Com- mission did not venture to make arbitrary or capricious alterations, In only a very few cases have hymns been divorced from the tunes to which long use has wedded them. For some familiar hymns alternate tunes (xiii) xiv BISHOPS’ PREFACE TO HYMNAL. have been provided, either with a view to please both branches of the church or to secure a better musical expression for the words than is given by the tune now familiar. Many new tunes by the more eminent modern com- posers of church music have been introduced. Much care has been given to the selection of these tunes, which we are assured will be found to be devo- tional in spirit, well fitted to the hymns to which they are set, and adapted to use by the great congregation. And now, praying that ‘this Hymnal, prepared by a joint Commission whose brotherly harmony was never once broken and whose final meeting was a Pentecost, may be abundantly blessed of God to the edification of believing souls and to the glory of his name, we commend it to our churches, and we earnestly hope that it may evetywhere supplant those unauthorized publications which often teach what organized Methodism does not hold, and which, by excluding the nobler music of the earlier and later days, pre- vent the growth of a true musical taste. Your servants in Christ, J. H. Vincent, E. H. Hucues, W. F. O_pHam, Ear CRANSTON, F. M. Bristot, C. B. MitcHeELt, J. W. HAMILTON, H. C. Stunzz, FRANKLIN HaMILTon, -J. F. Berry, T. S. HENDERSON, J. M. THosurn, W. F. McDowetit, W. O. SHEPARD, J. C. Harrze.t, J. W. Basurorp, F. J. McConne t, F. W. Warne, WILLIAM Burt, F. D. Leste, I. B. Scott, L. B. Witson, an. J. CooKE, J. E. Ropinson, T. B. NEELY, W. P. THIRKIELD, M. C. Harris, W. F. ANDERSON, HeErsert WELCH, J. W. RosINson, J. L. NueELsen, Tuomas Nicuotson, A. P. CampuHor, W. A. QUAYLE, A. W. LEoNARD, - E. S. Jounson, W. S. Lewis, M. S. Hucues, Bishops Methodist Episcopal Church. E. R. Henprix, E. E. Hoss, W. R. Lameurta, J. S. Key, JAMEs ATKINS, R. G. WaTERHOUSE, W.A. CANDLER, Cottins Denny, E. D. Mouzon, H. C. Morrison, J. C. Kieo, J. H. McCoy, W. B. Murran, Bishops Methodist Episcopal Church, South, HISTORIC NOTE In accordance with authority given by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Bishops of the respective churches appointed as members of the Joint Commission for the preparation of a common Hymnal the following persons: Of the Methodist Episcopat Of the Methodist Episcopal -Church. Church, South, BisHop D. A. GoopseLt, BisHop E, E. Hoss, S. F. Upuam, GeorceE B, WINTON, C. M. Stuart, H. M. Du Boss, C. M. Cosern, W. F. Tittert, _R. J. Cooke, Paut WHITEHEAD, C. S. Nutrer, Joun M. Moorz, W. A. Quay_Le, Epwin Mrs, H. G. Jackson, H. N. Snyper, C. W. Smiru, F, S. Parker, C. T. WINCHESTER, James CAMPBELL, J. M. Brack. R. T. Kerwin. On the recommendation of the above Joint Commission, Professor Karl P. Harrington, of the Wesleyan University, and Professor Peter C. Lutkin, of the North- western University, were appointed musical editors. (xv) CONTENTS, PaGH PREFACE ..ceceseeseeee i lalQPOWW a gia yeld ww Acatoe eS SRST Geaue eaatonane Says 16 oye Slane ei gietecd ereroretece vil INTRODUCTION: Sa63)sisiee Sie ariie eo ause 8G Ae Daeae owe ee Gals Sars oer scares wae aie Bec ix BISHOPS’ PREFACE TO THE’ HYMNAL .....--eesecccecccccccccccsesesceas sates xiii HISTORIC NOTE ....... 0. -eeeeecececeeeccee vier tesa ora'vav wud eregyausysie: a ohare aneua as ana dedgievea XV Hytins; ANNOTATED ° The people of the Hebrews With palms before thee went: Our praise and prayers and anthems Before thee we present. oO To thee, before thy passion, They sang their hymns of praise; To thee, now high exalted, Our melody we raise. ANNOTATED HYMNAL. 6 Thou didst accept their praises ; Accept the prayers we bring} Who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King. Theodulph. Tr. by John M. Neale. From the Latin, “Gloria, laus, et honor,” of the ninth century. The translator in his preface says: This processional hymn for Palm Sunday is said to have been composed by S. Theo- dulph at Metz, or, as others will have it, at Angers, while imprisoned on a false accusa- tion, and to have been sung by him from his dungeon window, or by choristers instructed by him, as the Emperor Louis and his court were on their way to the cathedral. The good Bishop was immediately liberated. The Latin contained ten stanzas. One of those omitted Dr. Neale translated as follows: Be Thou, O Lord, the Rider, And we the little ass; That to God’s Holy City Together we may pass. The singing of this stanza was discontin- ued in the seventeenth century for evi- dent reasons. 32 6s. 61. HEN morning gilds the skies, My heart awaking cries, May Jesus Christ be praised! Alike at work and prayer, To Jesus I repair; May Jesus Christ be praised! 2 Whene’er the sweet church bell Peals over hill and dell, May Jesus Christ be praised! O hark to what it sings, As joyously it rings, 4 May Jesus Christ be praised! 3 My tongue shall never tire Of chanting with the choir, May Jesus Christ be praised! This song of sacred joy, It never seems to cloy, May Jesus Christ be praised! 4 When sleep her balm denies, My silent spirit sighs, May Jesus Christ be praised! When ‘evil thoughts molest, With this I shield my breast, May Jesus Christ be praised! HYMNS OF WORSHIP. on Does sadness fill my mind?.- A solace here I find, May Jesus Christ be praised! Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this, May Jesus Christ be praised! oO The night becomes as day, When from the heart we say, May Jesus Christ be praised! The powers of darkness fear, When this sweet chant they hear, May Jesus Christ be praised! a In heaven’s eternal bliss The loveliest strain is this, May Jesus Christ be praised! Let earth, and sea, and sky, From depth to height reply, May Jesus Christ be praised! 8 Be this, while life is mine, My canticle divine, May Jesus Christ be praised! Be this the eternal song Through ages all along, May Jesus Christ be praised! From the German. Tr. by Edward Caswall. One of Caswall’s most popular transla- tions. The German original begins, “Beim friihen Morgenlicht,” and was pub- lished in the Katholisches Gesang-Buch, Wiirzburg, :1828, under the title, “The Christian Greeting,” in fourteen stanzas. Six stanzas of Caswall’s translation ap- peared in Formby’s Catholic Hymns, Lon- don, 1854, and these, together with the eight additional stanzas, are found in Caswall’s Masque of Mary, 1858. This hymn was a great favorite with Canon Liddon and the singers at St. Paul’s Ca- thedral, in London. The spirited refrain at the end of each triplet of lines, “May Je- sus Christ be praised!” suggested to Dr. C. S. Robinson the title of one of his most popular collections of hymns, Laudes Domini, where it appears as the opening hymn. In his annotation upon this hymn Dr. Robinson says: The compiler of this and other hymn books, little and large, would like to cay, once for all, that the aim of his entire work could not better be indicated than it ig in the single line, “May Jesus Christ be praised!” For 23 this book aims to be peculiar in presenting hymns which are neither didactic nor horta- tory, but which are addressed more directly and persistently as praises to the one Lord Jesus Christ. Pliny gave it as the singular charaeteristic of Christians in his day that they were wont to assemble early in the morning and evening and sing alternately among themselves a hymn of praise to Christ as God. 33 Cc. M. NCE more we come before our God; Once more his blessings ask: O may not duty seem a load, Nor worship prove a task! 2 Father, thy quickening Spirit send From heaven in Jesus’ narne, To make our waiting minds attend, And put our souls in frame. 3 May we receive the word we hear, Each in an honest heart, And keep the precious treasure there, And never with it part! 4 To seek thee all our hearts dispose, To each thy blessings suit, And let the seed thy servant sows Produce abundant fruit. Joseph Hart. Title: “Before Preaching.” From the Supplement of Hymns Composed on Va- rious Subjects. By J. Hart, 1762. In the third verse the author wrote “Hoard up” instead of “And keep;” in the fourth verse he wrote “a copious” instead of “abundant.” The original has two additional stan- Zas: 5 Bid the refreshing north wind wake, Say to the south wind, blow; Lét every plant the power partake, And all the garden grow. 6 Revive the parched with heavenly showers, ’ The cold with warmth divine; And as the benefit is ours, Be all the glory thine. A worshipful hymn, very suitable for the opening of a service. To sing such a prayer-hymn as this “with the spirit and with the understanding also” is the best possible preparation for receiving and profiting by the gospel message that fol- lows. 24 34 C. M. OMB, ye that love the Saviour’s name, And joy to make it known, The Sovereign of your hearts proclaim, And bow before his throne. 2 Behold your Lord, your Master, crowned With glories all divine; And tell the wond’ring nations round How bright those glories shine. 3 When, in his earthly courts, we view The glories of our King, We long to love as angels do, And wish like them to sing. 4 And shall we long and wish in vain? Lord, teach our songs to rise: Thy love can animate the strain, And bid it reach the skies. Anne Steele. “The King of Saints” is the title which this hymn bears in the author’s Miscel- laneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, Lon- don, 1780. These are the best of eight stanzas. In the first line of the second stanza the author wrote “King” instead of “Lord,” and “Saviour” instead of “Mas- ter.” 35 qs. ORD, we come before thee now, At thy feet we humbly bow; O do not our suit disdain; Shall we seek thee, Lord, in vain? 2 Lord, on thee our souls depend; In compassion now descend ; Fill our hearts with thy rich grace, Tune our lips to sing thy praise. wo In thine own appointed way, Now we seek thee, here we stay; Lord, we know not how to go, Till a blessing thou bestow. ~ Send some message from thy word, That may joy and peace afford; Let thy Spirit now impart Full salvation to each heart, oo Grant that all may seek and find Thee, a gracious God and kind: Heal the sick, the captive free; Let us all rejoice in thee. William Hammond. Author’s title: “A Hymn to be Sung at Public Worship.” The original contains ANNOTATED HYMNAL. eight double stanzas. It first appeared in the author’s Psalms, Hymns, and Spir- itual Songs, 1745. Lyra Britannica, Lon- don, 1866, also gives the original. Ham- mond wrote in the first couplet of verse five: Grant that those who seek may find, Thee a God sincere and kind. A very useful opening hymn, well cal- culated to inspire worship. It will be observed that this hymn throughout is directly addressed to Deity, and so culti- vates the idea of the presence of God in public worship. The fifth stanza of the original is omitted above: Comfort those who weep and mourn; Let the time of joy return: Those that are cast down lift up, Strong in faith, in love, and hope. Cc. M. OME, let us who in Christ believe, Our common Saviour praise: ‘To him with joyful voices give The glory of his grace. 36 2 He now stands knocking at the door . Of every sinner’s heart: The worst need keep him out no more, Nor force him to depart. 3 Through grace we hearken to thy voice, Yield to be saved from sin; In sure and certain hope rejoice That thou wilt enter in. 4 Come quickly in, thou heavenly Guest, Nor ever hence remove; But sup with ws, and let the feast Be everlasting love. Charles Wesley. From a hymn of fourteen stanzas in the author’s Hymns on God’s Everlasting Love, 1741, being the first and the last three stanzas, unaltered. “A little hymn of pure gold is thus made by omitting ten prosaic verses,” says Telford in his Meth- odist Hymn Book Illustrated. 37 L. M. ESUS, where’er thy people meet, There they behold thy mercy Seat ; Where’er they seek thee, thou art found, And every place is hallowed ground. HYMNS OF WORSHIP. 25 2 For thou, within no walls confined, Dost dwell with those of humble mind; Such ever bring thee where they come, — And, going, take thee to their home. 3 Great Shepherd of thy chosen few, Thy former mercies here renew;- Here, to our waiting hearts, proclaim The sweetness of thy saving name. 4 Here may we prove the power of prayer To strengthen faith and sweeten care; To teach our faint desires to rise, And bring all heaven before our eyes. William Cowper. Title: “On opening a place for Social Prayer.” It is from the Olney Hymns, 1779. The author wrote in verse two, line two: “Inhabitest the humble mind;” and in verse three, line one: “Dear Shep- herd of the chosen few.” There are two additional stanzas: Behold, at thy commanding word, We stretch the curtain and the cord; Come thou, and fill this wider space, And bless us with a large increase. Lord, we are few, but thou art near; Nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear; Oh rend the heavens, come quickly down, And make a thousand hearts thine own. A genuine prayer song, one of Cowper’s best. In the most recently published edition of Cowper’s Poems (London, 1905) the editor, J. C. Bailey, has the following note which gives some interesting facts con- cerning the origin of this hymn: This beautiful hymn was written on the oc- casion of the first prayer meeting held at a house in Olney called the Great House. In the letter of November 30, 17938, to John Johnson, printed for the first time in the ap- pendix to the Introduction, Cowper says that writing on a Sabbath morning makes him go back to the time when “on Sabbath mornings in winter I rose before day, and by the light of a lanthorn trudged with Mrs. Unwin, of- ten through snow and rain, to a prayer meet- ing at the Great House, as they call it, near the church at Olney. There I always found assembled forty or fifty poor folks, who pre- ferred a glimpse of the light of God’s counte- nance and favor to the comforts of a warm bed,” ete. 38 10s. AVIOUR, again to thy dear name we raise With one accord our parting hymn of praise; We stand to bless thee ere our worship cease, Then, slowly kneeling, wait thy word of peace. 2 Grant us thy peace upon our homeward way; With thee began, with thee shall end the day ; Guard thou the lips from sin, the hearts from shame, That in this house have called upon thy name. 3 Grant us thy peace, Lord, through the com- ing night, Turn thou for us its darkness into light; From harm and danger keep thy children free, For dark and light are both alike to thee. ~ Grant us thy peace throughout our earth- ly life, f Our balm in sorrow, and our stay in strife; Then, when thy voice shall bid our conflict cease, Call us, O Lord, to thine eternal peace. John Ellerton. Written in 1866 in five stanzas for the festival of the Malpas, Middlewich and Nantwich Choral Association. It was lat- er revised and reduced to the four stan- zas here given and published in the Ap- pendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1868. It is the most popular of all the author’s hymns, and is regarded as one of the greatest evening hymns of the Eng- lish Church. It was written to be sung to a tune in Thorne’s collection titled “St. Agnes;” but the author later expressed a preference for the tune by Dr. Hopkins (“Ellers”) found in the music edition. “As tenderly spiritual as it is ethically strong,” is Horder’s comment. The omit- ted stanza is: Grant us thy peace—the peace thou didst be- stow On thine apostles in thine hour of woe; The peace thou broughtest, when at eventide They saw thy piercéd hands, thy wounded side. 26 39 &,"%, 8, % 4 ORD, dismiss us with thy blessing, Fill our hearts with joy and peace; Let us each, thy love possessing, Triumph in redeeming grace; O refresh us, i Traveling through this wilderness. 2 Thanks we give, and adoration, For thy gospel’s joyful sound; May the fruits of thy salvation In our hearts and lives abound; May thy presence With us evermore be found. 3 So, whene’er the signal’s given Us from earth to call away, Borne on angels’ wings to heaven, Glad the summons to obey, May we ever Reign with Christ in endless day. John Fawcett. A very appropriate and widely used closing hymn. It is found in the Rev. John Harris’s Collection of Hymns for Public Worship, 1774. There it has the name of John Faweett. It is not among his original hymns, 1782. The hymn is the same as it is found in Lady Hunting- don’s Collection, edited by Walter Shirley, with the exception of one line. The fifth line of verse three reads: “We shall sure- ly.” Some English hymnologists formerly attributed this hymn to Shirley instead of Fawcett. 40 8s, 7s. AY the grace of Christ our Saviour, And the Father’s boundless love, With the Holy Spirit’s favor, Rest upon us from above. 2 Thus may we abide in union With each other and the Lord, And possess, in sweet communion, Joys which earth canrot afford. John Newton. From the Olney’ Hymns, 1779. It is a metrical version of the apostolic benedic- tion: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion oi the Holy Ghost, be with you all.” (2 Cor, xiii. 14.) It has been translated into several languages. ANNOTATED HYMNAL. Cc. M, ORD, in the morning thou shalt Lear My voice ascending high: To thee will I direct my prayer, To thee lift up mine eye: 41 2 Up to the hills where Christ is gone To plead for all his saints, Presenting, at the Father’s throne, Our songs and our complaints. 38 O may thy Spirit guide my feet In ways of righteousness; Make every path of duty straight, And plain before my ‘face. Isaac Watts. Title: “For the Lord’s Day Morning.” It is a part of Watts’s version of Psalm vy. 3-8: My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The fool- ish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. The original contains eight stanzas. We have above verses one, two, and five, unal- tered. Stanzas three and four are as fol- lows: 3 Thou art a God before whose Sight The Wicked shall not stand; Sinners shall ne’er be thy Delight, Nor dwell at thy Right-hand. 4 But to thy House will I resort To taste thy Mercies there; I will frequent thine holy Court, And worship in thy Fear. From The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, Lon- don, 1719. 42 L. M. EW every morning is the love Our wakening and uprising prove; Through sleep and darkness safely brought, Restored to life and power and thought. HYMNS OF WORSHIP, 27 2 New mercies, each returning day, Hover around us while we pray; New perils past, new sins forgiven, New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. 3 If on our daily course our mind Be set to hallow all we find, New treasures still of countless price God will provide for sacrifice. 4 The trivial round, the common task, Will furnish all we ought to ask— Room to deny ourselves, a road To bring us daily nearer God. Only, O Lord, in thy dear love Fit us for perfect rest above; And help us this, and every day, To live more nearly as we pray. John Keble. “Morning” is the title of this in the au- thor’s Christian Year, 1827. It comprises verses six, seven, eight, fourteen, and six- teen of a poem of sixteen stanzas. It is based upon Lamentations iii. 22, 23: “His compassions fail not. They are new every or morning.” The hymn begins with the words: “Hues of the rich unfolding morn.” It was written September 20, 1822. The Christian Year is one of the greatest religious classics in the English language. What the Prayer Book is in prose for public worship, the Christian Year is in poetry for private devotion. 43 11s, 10s. TILL, still with Thee, when purple morn- ing breaketh, When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee ; : Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight, Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with thee. 2 Alone with thee, amid the mystic shadows, The solemn hush of nature newly born; Alone with thee in breathless adoration, In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. 3 As in the dawning o’er the waveless ocean, The image of the morning-star doth rest, So in this stillness, thou beholdest only Thine image in the waters of my breast. 4 Still, still to thee! as to’ each newborn morning, A fresh and solemn splendor still is giv- en, So does this blessed consciousness awaking, Breathe each day nearness unto thee and heaven. 5 When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber, Its closing eyes look up to thee in prayer ; Sweet the repose beneath thy wings o’er- shading, But sweeter still, to wake and find thee there. 6 So shall it be at last, in that bright morn- ing, When the soul waketh, and life’s shad- ows flee; O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawn- ing, ‘ Shall rise the glorious thought—I am with thee, Harriet B. Stowe. Contributed by the author, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, to the Plymouth Collec- tion, edited by her brother, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in 1855. It manifests a spirit of entire consecration and an inti- mate communion with God. As the fifth stanza intimates, the last conscious thought of the Christian at night and the first in the morning should be of God. Very suitable for private use, I doubt if this hymn ever becomes popular for the public congregation. It is unaltered and entire, The author of this hymn by writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin gained a permanent place in the annals of the nation. People differ as to the correctness of her pen pic- ture of slavery, but I am not aware that any one questions the honesty of her pur- pose or the piety of her heart. 44. L. M. WAKE, my soul, and with the sun Thy daily stage of duty run; Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise To pay thy morning sacrifice. 2 Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart, And with the angels bear thy part, Who all night long unwearied sing High praises to the eternal King. 3 All praise to thee, who safe hast kept, And hast refreshed me while I slept: Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake, I may of endless life partake. 28 ANNOTATED HYMNAL. 4 Lord, I my vows to thee renew: Disperse my sins as morning dew; Guard my first springs of thought and will, And with thyself my spirit fill. oo Direct, control, suggest, this day, All I design, or do, or say; That all my powers, with all their might, In thy sole glory may unite. Thomas Ken. This is a part of Bishop Ken’s famous “Morning Hymn,” the original of which contains fourteen stanzas, being the first, fifth, ninth, twelfth, and thirteenth stan- zas. This and its companions, the no less admired Evening and Midnight Hymns, enjoy the enviable distinction of having furnished, at least in English-speaking countries, The Doxology of the Christian Church. Each of these hymns closes with our well-known “long-meter doxology.” These three valuable hymns, it is in- teresting to note, were originally written for the use of the students in Winchester College. As early as 1674 Bishop Ken published a Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Scholars of Winchester College. This book had gone through thirty-two editions by 1799. The earliest edition that contained the above three hymns was that of 1695. In this work he thus coun- sels the young men: “Be sure to sing the Morning and Evening Hymns in your chamber, devoutly remembering that the Psalmist upon happy experience assures you that it is a good thing to tell of the loving-kindness of the Lord early in the morning and of his truth in the night sea- son.” As these words appear in the first (1674) edition of the Manual, we are war- ranted in concluding that the two hymns referred to had then been printed and sup- plied to students, possibly on sheets of paper. The author used to sing this hymn ey- ery morning upon waking, playing the ac- companiment with his lute. In obedience to his expressed wish, when he died he was buried at sunrise, and the singing of this hymn was almost the only ceremony that took place. He is buried in the churchyard at Frome, under the east win- dow of the church, and nothing but a sim- ple iron railing marks his resting place. But one who is embalmed in the affec- tions of the Christian Church, as he is, needs no marble shaft to perpetuate his memory or to mark his resting place as long as his grand doxology shall continue to be sung the world around. The fact that these three hymns should have been prepared especially for the use of college students adds to their interest. Two omitted stanzas in the “Morning Hymn” are worthy of being quoted here: e I would not wake nor rise again, And Heaven itself I would disdain, Wert Thou not there to be enjoyed, And I in hymns to be employed. Heaven is, dear Lord, where’er thou art; O never then from me depart; For to my soul ’tis hell to be But for one moment without thee. The “Evening Hymn” contains sentiments that young and old alike can well afford to utter in prayer-song at the close of day: Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son, The ills that I this day have done; That with the world, myself, and thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be. Teach me to live that I may dread The grave as little as my bed; Teach me to die, that so I may Rise glorious at the awful day. How much better than lying awake and fretting because of inability to sleep is it for one to quiet his restless soul by such reveries and prayers as the following, taken from the “Midnight Hymn:” My God, I now from sleep awake, The sole possession of me take: From midnight terrors me secure, And guard my heart from thoughts impure, Lord, lest the tempter me surprise, Watch over thine own sacrifice: All loose, all idle thoughts cast out, And make my very dreams devout. HYMNS OF The soul that begins and closes all his days with songs and prayers like these has learned the secret of a serene, happy, and useful life. Were any lines ever written more cer- tain to secure immortality for their au- thor and for themselves than the follow- ing four lines which were first written as a closing stanza for each of these three hymns? Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 45 Ss. M. E lift our hearts to thee, O Day-Star from on high! The sun itself is but thy shade, Yet cheers both earth and sky. bo O let thy orient beams The night of sin disperse, The mists of error and of vice Which shade the universe! 3 How beauteous nature now! How dark and sad before! With joy we view the pleasing change, And nature’s God adore. May we this life improve, To mourn for errors past; And live this short revolving day As if it were our last. To God, the Father, Son, And Spirit—One in Three— Be glory; as it was, is now, And shall forever be. oO John Wesley. Title: “A Morning Hymn,” from A Col- lection of Psalms and Hymns, published by John Wesley, 1741. This is one of the few original hymns ascribed to John Wes- ley. One reason why it is thought to be his rather than Charles Wesley’s is that it is only half-rhymed. Not a single known stanza of Charles Wesley’s has that peculiarity. The sublime thought ex- pressed in the third line of the first stanza is borrowed from Plato: “Lumen est um- bra Dei.” It has not been altered, but one stanza, the fourth, has been omitted: WORSHIP. 29 O may no gloomy crime Pollute the rising day: Or Jesus’s blood, like evening dew, Wash all the stains away. Cc. M. OW from the altar of my heart Let incense flames arise; Assist me, Lord, to offer up Mine evening sacrifice. 46 2 This day God was my Sun and Shield, My Keeper and my Guide; His care was on my frailty shown, His mercies multiplied. 3 Minutes and mercies multiplied Have made up all this day: Minutes came quick, but mercies were More fleet and free than they. 4 New time, new favor, and new joys Do a new song require: © Till I shall praise thee as I would, Accept my: heart’s desire. John Mason. “A Song of Praise for the Evening,” from the author’s Spiritual Songs, or Songs of Praise to Almighty God, 1683. Three omitted stanzas have striking thoughts in them, and are well worth quoting: Awake, my Love; Awake, my Joy; Awake my Heart and Tongue: Sleep not: when Mercies loudly call, Break forth into a Song. Man’s Life’s 4 Book of History, The Leaves thereof are Days, The Letters Mercies closely joined, The Title is thy Praise. Lord of my Time, whose Hand hath set New Time upon my Score; Then shall I praise for all my Time, When Time shall be no more. One of Mason’s hymns contains this striking and much-admired verse: To whom, Lord, should I sing but Thee, The Maker of my tongue? Lo, other lords would seize on me, But I to Thee belong. As waters haste into their sea, And earth unto its earth, So let my soul return to Thee, From whom it had its birth, 30 4% L. M, UN of my soul, thou Saviour dear, It is not night if thou be near: O may no earthborn cloud arise To hide thee from thy servant’s eyes. When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, Be my last thought, how sweet to rest Forever on my Saviour’s breast. Abide with me from morn till eve, For without thee I cannot live; Abide with me when night is nigh, For without thee I dare not die. oo If some poor wandering child of thine Have spurned, to-day, the voice divine, Now, Lord, the gracious work begin ; Let him no more lie down in sin. i Watch by the sick; enrich the poor With blessings from thy boundless store ; Be every mourner’s sleep to-night Like infant’s slumbers, pure and light. o 6 Come near and bless us when we wake, Ere through the world our way we take; Till, in the ocean of thy love, We lose ourselves in heaven above. John Keble. From The Christian Year, 1827. Part of a poem of fourteen stanzas, entitled “Bvening.” This hymn is made up of the third, seventh, eighth, and last three verses, unaltered. Text: “Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” (Luke xxiv. 29.) This widely used and vastly useful lyric stands near the head of the list of the best English hymns. It is number nine in the list of hymns of “first rank” in Anglican Hymnology, and number eight in the list of Stead’s Hymns That Have Helped. One of the highest privileges known to man is that of voicing the desires of Christian people in holy song as the au- thor has here. The hymn is full of the spirit of Christ, and could only have been written by a devout soul. Allan Sutherland, in his Famous Hymns of the World, writes of this hymn as fol- lows: “Sun of My Soul” is one of the finest ex- amples in our language of what a true prayer- ANNOTATED HYMNAL. hymn should be. Beginning with a beautiful acknowledgment of what God is to us, there follows an earnest supplication that debasing thoughts may be driven away, that “no earthborn cloud” may arise to hide us from our Saviour. The first three stanzas are de- voted to an earnest plea for the right rela- tion of our own hearts to God. From that point it is easy and natural to think of and pray for others. How inclusive are the next two stanzas! ‘The wanderer, the sick, the poor, the mourner are all sympathetically re- membered; and then follow the tender and comforting appeal for divine guidance throughout our earthly life and the exquisite- ly expressed belief in an eternity of joy with which the hymn ends. A visitor once asked Alfred Tennyson what his thoughts were of Christ. They were walking in a garden, and for a moment the great poet was silent; then, bending over some beautiful flowers, he said: “What the sun is to these flowers, Jesus Christ is to my soul. He is the sun of my soul.” Conscious- ly or unconsciously he was expressing the same thought in the same language used by John Keble years before when he gave to the world his great heart hymn, “Sun of My Soul.” It has a large place in Christian biog- raphy. The following incident is taken from Our Hymns and Their Authors: A young lady of lovely Christian character jay seriously ill in her chamber. Her moth- er and loved ones were about her. The room seemed to her to be growing dark. She asked them to raise the curtains and let in the light. But, alas! the curtains were already raised, and it was broad-open daylight. It was the night of death that had come, and she knew it not. As she kept asking them to let in the light, they had to tell her the nature of the darkness that was gathering about her. But she was not dismayed. With a sweet, quiet, plaintive voice she began singing her favorite hymn: “Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear, It is not night if thou be near: O may no earthborn cloud arise To hide thee from thy servant’s eyes.” The eyes of all in the room suffused with tears as the sweet singer’s tremulous voice continued : “When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, Be my last thought, how sweet to rest Forever on my Saviour’s breast.” HYMNS OF WORSHIP. She had often sung this song to the delight of the home circle, but now it seemed, like the song of the dying swan, the sweetest she had ever sung. Her countenance lighted up with a beauty and radiance that came not from earth as she sang once more in feebler but more heavenly strains: “Abide with me from morn till eve, For without thee I cannot live: Abide with me when night is nigh, For without thee I dare not die.” And with these fitting words the sweet voice was hushed in death, ceasing not to sing “Till, in the ocean. of God’s love, She lost herself in heaven above.” 48 L. M. GAIN, as evening’s shadow falls, We gather in these hallowed walls; And vesper hymn and vesper prayer Rise mingling on the holy air. 2 May struggling hearts that seek release Here find the rest of God’s own peace; And, strengthened here by hymn and prayer, Lay down the burden and the care. 8 O God, our Light, to thee we bow; Within all shadows standest thou; Give deeper calm than night can bring; - Give sweeter songs than lips can sing. 4 Life’s tumult we must meet again, We cannot at the shrine remain; But in the spirit’s secret cell May hymn and prayer forever dwell! Samuel Longfellow. “Vesper Hymn” is the title which this hymn bears in the author’s volume titled Vespers, 1859. It was a source of regret to many of those who had charge of the making of this Hymnal that they could not find a suitable hymn to place within the volume from the writings of Ameri- ca’s greatest poet, Henry W. Longfellow. We are glad at least to have the family name and genius represented among our hymns and hymn writers in the person of the poet’s brother. At the ordination of the author of this hymn to the ministry, in 1848, a song was used which was writ- ten by Henry W. Longfellow especially for the occasion. It contains the follow- ing lines that: may well be quoted here: 31 Christ to the young man said: “Yet one thing more: If thou wouldst perfect be, Sell all thou hast and give it to the poor, And come and follow me.” Within this temple Christ again, unseen, Those sacred words hath said, And his invisible hands to-day have been Laid on a young man’s head. And evermore beside him on his way The unseen Christ shall move, That he may lean upon his arm and say: “Dost thou, dear Lord, approve?” And this “Vesper Hymn” of Samuel Longfellow calls also to mind the superb little poem of his illustrious poet-brother, titled “The Day Is Done,’ which closes with this beautiful and oft-quoted tribute to the power of music and song: Such songs have power to quiet The restless pulse of care, And come like the benediction That follows after prayer. Then read from the treasured volume The poem of thy choice, And lend to the rhyme of the poet The beauty of thy voice. And the night shali be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. L. M. LORY to thee, my God, this night, For all the blessings of the light; Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath the shadow of thy wings. 49 dS Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son, The ill which I this day have done; That with the world, myself, and thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be. 8 Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed; ' Teach me to die, that so I may Rise glorious at the judgment day. 4 O let my soul on thee repose, And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close; Sleep, which shall me more vigorous make, To serve my God, when I awake. Thomas Ken. This is a part—the first four verses— of Bishop Ken’s famous “Evening Hymn.” The original, including the doxology, con- 32 tained twelve stanzas. been altered: Verse one, line four: Under Thy own Almighty Wings. Verse three, line four: Triumphing rise at the last day. Verse four, line one: O may my soul on Thee repose. Verse four, line two: And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close. Verse four, line three: Sleep that may me more vigorous make. Several lines have From the author’s Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Scholars of Winchester College, edition of 1695. Anglican Hymnology places this at the head of the list of hymns of first rank. Other hymnologists would put “Rock of Ages” or “Jesus, Lover of My Soul’ at the head. This evening hymn is a gen- eral favorite; and if it is not at the very head of the list, it ought to be named among the first ten hymns in the English language. (See No. 42.) A recent writer makes this interesting observation: Where authors have written both morning and evening hymns, the evening hymns are, as a rule, more widely known and more great- ly beloved than the morning hymns. [See No. 42.] “One reason for this,” says W. G. Horder, “may be found in the fact that we are more disposed to hymn-singing in the evening than in the morning, and that we are unore moved by songs of the night than of the day.” Dryden said of Ken: David left him, when he went to rest, His lyre; and after him he sang the best. Each of Bishop Ken’s three great hymns, for morning, evening, and mid- night, closed with the long-meter doxolo- By: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father; Son, and Holy Ghost. It is very likely that the lines of this grand doxology have been sung oftener than any other lines ever written by man. ANNOTATED HYMNAL, 50 : 10s. BIDE with me! Fast falls the eventide, The darkness deepens—Lord, with me abide! : When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me! be Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O thou who changest not, abide with me! oO I need thy presence every passing hour; What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? : Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me! rg I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitter- ness; Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me. oO Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies; Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me! Henry F. Lyte. “Light at Eventide” ig the title of this truly beautiful hymn, which was first pub- lished in leaflet form in September, 1847, and later in the author’s Remains, pub- lished by his daughter in 1850. It is based on Luke xxiv. 29: “Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” Three verses of the original are omitted: 3 Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word; But, as Thou dwell’dst with Thy disciples, Lord, Familiar, condescending, patient, free, Come, not to sojourn, but abide with me! 4 Come not in terrors, as the King of kings, But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings, Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea; Come, Friend of sinners, and abide with me, HYMNS OF Thou on my head in early youth didst smile ; And, though rebellious and perverse mean-. while, Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee: On to the close, O Lord, abide with me. The circumstances under which this hymn was written are full of pathetic interest. For twenty-four years the au- thor had been curate of Brixham, Devon- shire, England, but failing health re- quired a change of climate. He himself tells how he deprecated being divorced from the ocean, the friend and playmate of his childhood; and it can only be con- jectured how painful to a heart so highly susceptible was the prospect of being torn from his hardy, seafaring flock. He lin-| gered with them until life was fast ebb-| ing, and then writes: “The swallows are preparing for flight and inviting me to| accompany them; and yet, alas! while I. talk ef flying, I am just able to crawl.” Thus, frail and feeble, he rallied to preach a farewell sermon to his fond people and once more to administer to them the Lo'd’s Supper. His theme that day was: “The Believer’s Dependence upon the Lath of Christ.” It was September 4, 1f47. After closing the deep solemnities ot the communion, he dragged himself warily. back to his home. That after- nijon he walked down the garden path to the seashore, and, returning to his study, wvote out this immortal heart song, which he placed that evening in the hands of a near and dear relative. The following poem, titled ‘“Hre the Night Fall,” is by the author of this hymn, and is closely akin to it in sentiment. It is one of the most beautiful expressions in all poetry of a desire for earthly im- mortality that every Christian poet can well afford to cherish. Why do I sigh to find Life’s evening shadows gathering round my way, The keen eye dimming, and the buoyant mind Unhinging day by day? : 3 WORSHIP. 33 I want not vulgar fame— I seek not to survive in brass or stone; Hearts may. not kindle when they hear my name, Nor tears my value own; But might I leave behind Some blessing for my fellows, some fair trust To guide, to cheer, to elevate my kind, When I am in the dust; Might verse of mine inspire One virtuous aim, one high resolve impart, Light in one drooping soul a hallowed fire, Or bind one broken heart; Death would be sweeter then, More calm my slumber ’neath the silent sod,— Might I thus live to bless my fellow-men, Or glorify my God! O Thou whose touch can lend Life to the dead, Thy quickening grace supply, And grant me, swanlike, my last breath to spend In song that may not die! A few years ago an American pastor, in visiting the cemetery at Nice where the author is buried, found a young man standing reverently beside the grave of Lyte, his eyes filled with tears. The young man told him with deep feeling that he had been led to Christ through the influence of this hallowed song. 51 L. M. HUS far the Lord hath led me on, Thus far his power prolongs my days; And every evening shall make known Some fresh memorial of his grace. 2 Much of my time has run to waste, And I, perhaps, am near my home; But he forgives my follies past, And gives me strength for days to come. 3 I lay my body down to sleep; Peace is the pillow for my head; While well-appointed angels keep Their watchful stations round my bed. 4 Thus when the night of death shall come, My flesh shall rest beneath the ground, And wait thy voice to rouse my tomb, With sweet salvation in the sound. Isaac Watts. Title: “An Evening Hymn,” from Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book L., 1709. Unaltered. 34 Two stanzas, the fourth and fifth, are left out: 4 In vain the sons of earth and hell Tell me a thousand frightful things; My God in safety makes me dwell Beneath the shadow of his wings. 5 Faith in his name forbids my fear, O may thy presence ne’er depart! And in the morning make me hear The love and kindness of thy heart. These omitted verses are well worth reading. On the whole it is a soliloquy rather than a hymn. It is very suitable for pri- vate or family worship, but it is not spe- cially adapted for public use. 52 re- 8s, 7s. \ ILENTLY the shades of evening Gather round my lowly door; Silently they bring before me Faces I shall see no more. 2 O the lost, the unforgotten, Though the world be oft forgot! ‘O the shrouded and the lonely, In our hearts they perish not! 3 Living in the silent hours, ‘ Where our spirits only blend, They, unlinked with earthly trouble, We, still hoping for its end. 4 How such holy memories cluster, Like the stars when storms are past, Pointing up to that fair heaven We may hope to gain at last! Christopher C. Cox. This sad, sweet strain is a poetical rev- erie and meditation at eventide concern- ing loved ones that are gone but not for- gotten. It is said to have been printed first in a newspaper about 1840. It is found in Woodworth’s Cabinet, 1847, and some authorities assign 1846 as the date of its composition. The internal evidence, in the absence of definite knowledge, would favor the later date, in view of the fact that in 1840 the author, a practicing physician, was only twenty-four years old; and it ig not altogether natural for one so young as that to indulge in this| particular kind of a reverie concerning ANNOTATED HYMNAL. departed loved ones. It is such a poem as we would most naturally expect to come from one considerably advanced in years, 53 7s. OFTLY now the light of day Fades upon our sight away ; Free from care, from labor free, Lord, we would commune with thee. 2 Thou, whose .all-pervading eye Naught escapes, without, within. Pardon each infirmity, Open fault, and secret sin. 8 Soon from us the light of day Shall forever pass away; Then, from sin and sorrow free, Take us, Lord, to dwell with thee. George W. Doane. Author’s title: “Evening; from Songs by the Way, 1824. It is based on Psalm exli. 2: “Let my prayer be set forth be- fore thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” The writer used the first person singu- lar in starzas one and three. The hymn has been improved by omitting the last verse. We give it because it completes the hymn as published by the author: Thou who, sinless, yet hast known All of man’s infirmity ; Then, from Thine eternal throne, Jesus, look with pitying eye. L. M. T even, e’er the sun was set, The sick, O Lord, around thee lay; O in what divers pains they met! O with what joy they went away! 54 2 Once more ’tis eventide, and we, Oppressed with various ills, draw near; What if thy form we cannot see? We know and feel that thou art here. 3 O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel; For some are sick and some are sad, And some have never loved thee well, And some have lost the love they had. 4 And none, O Lord, have perfect rest, For none are wholly free from sin; And they who fain would serve thee best Are conscious most of wrong within. HYMNS OF 5 O Saviour Christ, thou too art Man; Thou hast been troubled, tempted, tried; Thy kind but searching glance can scan The very wounds that shame would hide. 6 Thy touch has still its ancient power, No word from thee can fruitless fall; Hear in this solemn evening hour, And in thy mercy heal us all. Henry Twells. “Hvening” is the title which this hymn bears in the appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1868, for which it was writ- ten at the request of the author’s friend, Sir Henry Baker, who thought there was a special need for an evening hymn in the collection which he was making. It is based on Mark i. 32, “At even when the sun did set they brought unto him all that were diseased,” and Luke iv. 40: “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” The first line of this hymn has been criticised in its form of statement, and has been published in an altered form, “When the sun was set,” or, When the sun did set,” being substituted for “e’er the sun was set.” Those who made this criti- cism contended that inasmuch as it was unlawful among the Jews for a gathering of diseased persons to be held before the sun had gone down and the Sabbath had ended, the proposed change was necessary if the opening line of the hymn was to be accurate. Canon Twells, while allowing Prebendary Thring and others to make the proposed change for their use, yet de- fended his own form of expression as en- tirely consistent with both Mark and Luke. (See The Literary Churchman for June 9 and 23, 1882.) Two stanzas have been omitted: And some are pressed with worldly care, And some are tried with sinful doubt; And some such grievous nassions tear, That only thou canst cast them out. WORSHIP. 35 And some have found the world is vain, Yet from the world they break not free, And some have friends who give them pain Yet have not sought a friend in thee. 55 8s, 7s. AVIOUR, breathe an evening blessing, Ere repose our spirits seal; Sin and want we come confessing: Thou canst save, and thou canst heal. 2 Though destruction walk around us, Though the arrows past us fly, Angel guards from thee surround us; We are safe, if thou art nigh. 8 Though tre night be dark and dreary, Darkness cannot hide from thee; Thou art he who, never weary, Watchest where thy people be. 4 Should swift death this night o’ertake us, And our couch become our tomb, May the morn in heaven awake us, Clad in light and deathless bloom. James Edmeston. This hymn appears without title in Sacred Lyrics, by James Edmeston, Lon- don, 1820. It has not been changed. It is well adapted for private worship, and we need just such hymns, for the Hymnal is designed for home use as well as for public service. 56 1% yh OLY Father, cheer our way With thy love’s perpetual ray; Grant us every closing day Light at evening time. 2 Holy Saviour, calm our fears When earth’s brightness disappears; Grant us in our later years Light at evening time, Holy Spirit, be thou nigh When in mortal pains we lie; Grant us, as we come to die, Light at evening time. Holy, blesséd Trinity, Darkness is not dark to thee; Those thou keepest always see Light at evening time. Richard H. Robinson. This was written in 1869 for the au- thor’s congregation in St. Paul’s Church, Upper Norwood, England, and was de- signed to be sung after the third collect’ ~ 36 at evening prayer. It appeared in the Church Hymns, published in 1871 by the} Society for Propagating Christian Knowl-, edge. It is based on Zechariah xiv. 7: | “But it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light.” 7, 7, 7, 7, 4. AY is dying in the west; Heaven is touching earth with rest: Wait and worship while the night Sets her evening lamps alight Through all the sky. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of thee! Heaven and earth are praising thee, O Lord most high ! 5% bs Lord of life, beneath the dome Of the universe, thy home, Gather us who seek thy face To the fold of thy embrace, For thou art nigh. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts! Heaven and earth are full of thee! .Heaven and earth are praising thee, O Lord most high! . Mary A. Lathbury. In his Annotations, 1898, Dr. Robinson says: “To a Chautauquan the vesper serv- ice seems incomplete without the singing of this beautiful hymn. It was written at the request of Bishop John H. Vincent in the summer of 1880, and it is frequently sung at the close of the day, when the vast company of graduates, students, and visitors are assembled for evening prayer.” The author has added ‘two stanzas. They worthily complete the poem: While the deepening shadows fall, Heart of Love enfolding all, Through the glory and the grace Of the stars that veil thy face Our hearts ascend. When forever from thy sight Pass the stars, the day, the night, Lord of angels on our eyes‘ Let eternal morning rise And shadows end. ANNOTATED HYMNAL. 58 11, 11, 11, 5. OW GOD be with us, for the night is closing ; The light and darkness are of his dispos- ing, : And ’neath his shadow here to rest we yield us, For he will shield us. 2 Let evil thoughts and spirits flee before us; Till morning cometh, watch, O Master, o’er us; In soul and body thou from harm defend us, Thine angels send us. 8 Let holy thoughts be ours when sleep overtakes us; Our earliest thoughts be thine when morn- ing wakes us. : All sick and mourners we to thee com- mend them, Do thou befriend them. 4 We have no refuge, none on earth to aid us But thee, O Father, who thine own hast made us. Keep us in life; forgive our sins; deliver. Us now and ever. 5 Praise be to thee through Jesus our salva- tion, God, Three in One, the ruler of creation, High throned, o’er all thine eye of mercy casting, Lord everlasting. Petrus Herbert. Tr. by Catherine Winkworth. Alt. This hymn is said to have been written under “the pressure of persecution and oppression.” Its first appearance was in a German hymn book in 1566 in five stan- zas of seven lines each. The translation here given was first published in Miss Winkworth’s Choral Book for England, 1868, and is reproduced in her Christian Singers of Germany, 1869. The third stanza above is made up of the first two lines of the third stanza and the ‘second two lines of the fourth stanza as found in Miss Winkworth’s Christian Singers, with some verbal alterations. To the original five stanzas, it seems, a poetic version of the Lord’s Prayer and of the doxology was added as a sixth and seventh stanza, respectively. The Lord’s Prayer is found in Miss Winkworth’s translation, but is omitted above, while the doxology given as the closing stanza above is not found in Miss Winkworth’s translation. 59 6s, 5s. OW the day is over, Night is drawing nigh; Shadows of the evening Steal across the sky; 2 Jesus, grant the weary Calm and sweet repose; With thy tenderest blessing May our eyelids close. 3 Grant to little children - Visions bright of thee; Guard the sailors tossing On the deep, blue sea. 4 Comfort every sufferer Watching late in pain; Those who plan some evil From their sins restrain. 5 Through the long night watches May thine angels spread Their white wings above me, Watching round my bed. 6 When the morning wakens, Then may I arise Pure, and fresh, and sinless In thy holy eyes. Sabine Baring-Gould. “Evening” is the title. Dr. Julian says: “Written in 1865 and printed in the Church Times the same year. In 1868 it was given in the Appendix to Hymns An-|: cient and Modern, and from that date it], has gradually increased in popularity un-| til its use has become common in all Eng- lish-speaking countries.” The second and last stanzas, which have been omitted, are as follows: 2 Now the darkness gathers, Stars begin to peep, Birds, and beasts, and flowers Soon will be asleep. 8 Glory to the FATHER Glory to the Son And to Thee Blest SPIRIT Whilst all ages run, Amen. 60 9s, 8s. HE day thou gavest, Lord, is ended, The darkness falls at thy behest, To thee our morning hymns ascended, Thy praise shall hallow now our rest. HYMNS OF WORSHIP. 37. 2 We thank thee that thy Church, unsleeping While earth rolls onward into light, Through all the world her watch is keeping, And rests not now by day or night. ‘3 As o’er each continent and island The dawn leads on another day, The voice of prayer is never silent, Nor dies the strain of praise away. 4 So be it, Lord; thy throne shall never, Like earth’s proud empires, pass away; But stand, and rule, and grow forever, Till all thy creatures own thy sway. John Ellerton. Written in 1870 to be used as a “Litur- gy for Missionary Meetings,” after which it was revised and published in Church ‘Hymns, 1871. An anonymous hymn in Church Poetry, 1855, has as its first line ‘the identical words with which this hymn begins. The continuity of the sunlight, advancing ever forward with the revolv- ‘ing earth, is here used in an expressive and beautiful manner as a symbol of the ‘continuity of spiritual worship and of ‘evangelizing agencies that are always at work and moving forward in the world. 61 10s. 61. ‘THE day is gently sinking to a close, | Fainter and yet more faint the sunlight glows: : e O Brightness of thy Father’s glory, thou Eternal Light of light, be with us now: Where thou art present, darkness cannot be; i Midnight is glorious noon, O Lord, with thee. ‘ y Our changeful lives are ebbing to an end; Onward to darkness and to death we tend; O Conqueror of the grave, be thou our guide; Be thou our light in death’s dark eventide: Then in our mortal hour will be no gloom, No sting in death, no terror in the tomb. ° Thou, who*in darkness walking didst ap- pear. : - ca ' Upon the waves, and thy disciples cheer, ' Come, Lord, in lonesome days, when. I storms assail, | And earthly hopes and human succors fail: When all is dark may we behold thee nigh And hear thy voice, “Fear not, for it-is I.” -. 38 4 The weary world is moldering to decay, Its glories wane, its pageants fade away ; In that last sunset when the stars shall fall, May we arise awakened by thy call, With thee, O Lord, forever to abide In that blest day, which has no eventide. Christopher Wordsworth. Title: “Evening.” A hymn of real mer- it, especially adapted to close an evening service. It was written in 1863 and pub- lished in the author’s Holy Year, third edition, 1863. 62 Cc. M. D. HE shadows of the evening hours Fall from the darkening sky; Upon the fragrance of the flowers The dews of evening lie. Before thy throne, O Lord of heaven, We kneel at close of day; Look on thy children from on high, And hear us while we pray. 2 The sorrows of thy servants, Lord, O do not thou despise, But let the incense of our prayers Before thy mercy rise. The brightness of the coming night Upon the darkness rolls; With hopes of future glory chase The shadows from our souls. 3 Slowly the rays of daylight fade: So fade within our heart The hopes in earthly love and joy, That one by one depart. Slowly the bright stars, one by one, Within the heavens shine: Give us, O Lord, fresh hopes in heaven, And trust in things divine. Let peace, O Lord, thy peace, O God, Upon our souls descend ; From midnight fears, and perils, thou Our trembling hearts defend. Give us a respite from our toil; Calm and subdue our woes; Through the long day we labor, Lord, O give us now repose. Adelaide A. Procter. “Evening” is the title of this hymn in the enlarged edition of the aythor’s Leg- ends and Lyrics, published in 1862. A very fine and poetic prayer-song, worthy of frequent use in evening wor- ship. It well illustrates the truth that po- etic figure is not incompatible with hym- nic merit. ~ ANNOTATED HYMNAL. Cc. M. OME, let us join with one accord In hymns around the throne! This is the day our rising Lord Hath made and called his own. 2 This is the day which God hath blest, The brightest of the seven, Type of that everlasting rest The saints enjoy in heaven. 63 3 Then let us in his name sing on, And hasten to that day When our Redeemer shall come down, And shadows pass away. 4 Not one, but all our days below, Let us in hymns employ ; And in our Lord rejoicing, go To his eternal joy. Charles Wesley. Title: “For the Lord’s Day.” Unal- tered and entire from Hymns for Chil- dren, 1763. The preface to this booklet contained the following paragraph: There are two ways of writing or speak- ing to children: the one is to let ourselves down to them; the other, to lift them up to us. Dr. Watts has written in the former way, and has succeeded admirably well, speaking to children as children and leaving them as he found them. The following hymns are written on the other plan: they contain strong and manly sense, yet expressed in such plain and easy language as even children may un- derstand. But when they do understand them, they will be children no longer only in years and in stature. History shows that this philosophy is erroneous. The man who would commu- nicate with children must humble him- self to the child’s understanding. Dr. Watts’s method was vastly successful. No man can estimate the influence of his Divine Songs for Children on generations of youth. The man who wrote for adults, Wide as the world is thy command, Vast as eternity thy love, wrote for little children: How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From every opening flower. The Wesleyan “plan” was a failure. The . HYMNS OF WORSHIP. 39 only one of these hymns that has had a wide influence with children is the one be- ginning, Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child, and this was written in violation of the Wesleyan teaching. It igs plain that John Wesley did not understand children. 64 S. M. LCOME, sweet day of rest, That saw the Lord arise; Welcome to this reviving breast, And these rejoicing eyes! 2 The King himself comes near, And feasts his saints to-day; Here we may sit, and see him here, And love, and praise, and pray. 3 One day in such a place, 7 Where thou, my God, art seen, Is sweeter than ten thousand days Of pleasurable sin. 4 My willing soul would stay In such a frame as this, And sit and sing herself away To everlasting bliss. Isaac Watts. “The Lord’s Day; or, Delight in Ordinances.” From Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707. The original -of the third stanza, lines one and two, is: Author’s title: One day amidst the place Where my dear God hath been. The third stanza appropriates very beautifully the thought of the Psalmist: “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Ps, Ixxxiv. 10.) 65 Cc. M. ITH joy we hail the sacred day, Which God has called his own; With joy the summons we obey, To worship at his throne. 2 Thy chosen temple, Lord, how fair! As here thy servants throng To breathe the humble, fervent prayer, And pour the grateful song. 8 Spirit of grace! O deign to dwell Within thy church below; Make her in holiness excel, With pure devotion glow. 4 Let peace within her walls be found; Let all her sons unite, To spread with holy zeal around Her clear and shining light. 5 Great God, we hail the sacred day Which thou hast called thine own; With joy the summons we obey To worship at thy throne. Harriet Auber. This is based on Psalm cxxii.: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord,” ctc. Three lines have been altered. In verse two, line two, the author wrote: Where willing votaries throng. Verse two, line four: And pour the choral song. Verse four, line three: To spread with grateful zeal around. The last stanza is practically a repeti- tion of the first, and was made by some hymn editor. From The Spirit of the Psalms, London, 1829, 66 SM: AIL to the Sabbath day! The day divinely given, When men to God their homage pay, And earth draws near to heaven. i] Lord, in this sacred hour Within thy courts we bend, And bless thy love, and own thy power, Our Father and our Friend. wo But thou art not alone In courts by mortals trod; Nor only is the day thine own , When man draws near to God: Thy temple is the arch Of yon unmeasured sky ; Thy Sabbath, the stupendous march Of vast eternity. 5 Lord, may that holier day Dawn on thy servants’ sight; And purer worship may we pay In heaven’s unclouded light. Stephen G. Bulfinch. ~ 40 From the author’s Contemplations of the Saviour: A Series of Extracts from the Gospel History, with Reflections, and Original and Selected Hymns, Boston, 1832, where it is appended to the author’s reflection upon “The Walk through the Cornfields.” The author was only twen- ty-two years old when he wrote this hymn. His father enjoys international fame as the architect of the national capitol at Washington. 6% 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8. ‘yaicoss delightful morn, Thou day of sacred rest! TI hail thy kind return; Lord, make these moments blest: From the low train of mortal toys, I soar to reach immortal joys. 2 Now may the King descend, And fill his throne with grace; Thy scepter, Lord, extend, While saints address thy face: Let sinners feel thy quickening word, And learn to know and fear the Lord. wo Descend, celestial Dove, With all thy quickening powers; Disclose a Saviour’s love, And bless the sacred hours: Then shall my soul new life obtain, Nor Sabbaths be enjoyed in vain. Hayward, in Dobell’s Selection. Title: “Sabbath Morning.” Only one word has been changed. The author wrote the last line: “Nor Sabbaths be in- dulg’d in vain.” Dobell’s New Selection, 1806, was a book of. special value in its day. It contained many new hymns by various authors. Some of them are still in common use. “Hayward” is simply a name. Nothing ‘is known of this author. 68 7s, 6s. D. DAY of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light, O balm of care and sadness, Most beautiful, most bright: On thee, the high and lowly, Through ages joined in tune, Sing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” To the great God Triune. ANNOTATED HYMNAL. 2 On thee, at the creation, The light first had its birth; On thee, for our salvation, Christ rose from depths of earth; On thee, our Lord, victorious, The Spirit sent from heaven; ’ And thus on thee, most glorious, A triple light was given. 8 To-day on weary nations The heavenly manna falls; To holy convocations The silver trumpet calls, Where gospel light is glowing With pure and radiant beams, And living water flowing With soul-refreshing streams. 4 New graces ever gaining From this our day of rest, We reach the rest remaining To spirits of the blest; To Holy Ghost be praises, To Father, and to Son; The Church her voice upraises To thee, blest Three in One. Christopher Wordsworth. “Sunday” is the title which this hymn bears in the author’s volume titled The Holy Year; or, Hymns for Sundays and Holydays, 1862, where it appears as the opening hymn. The fact that the author is a nephew of William Wordsworth, the poet, adds interest to this hymn. The two omitted stanzas are: 3 Thou art a port, protected From storms that round us rise; A garden, intersected With streams of Paradise; Thou art a cooling fountain, In life’s dry, dreary sand, From thee, like Pisgah’s mountain, We view the promised land. 4.Thou art a holy ladder, Where Angels go and come; Hach Sunday finds us gladder, Nearer to Heaven, our home. A day of sweet reflection Thou art, a day of love, A day of Resurrection From earth to things above. qs. 61. AFELY through another week, ’ God has brought us on our way; Let us now a blessing seek, ' Waiting in his courts to-day: ; Day of all the week the best, : Emblem of eternal rest. HYMNS OF WORSHIP. 44 2 While we pray for pardoning grace, Through the dear Redeemer’s name, Show thy reconciléd face, Take away our sin and shame; From our worldly cares set free, May we rest this day in thee. 38 Here we come thy name to praise; May we feel thy presence near: May thy glory meet our eyes, While we in thy house appear: Here afford us, Lord, a taste Of our everlasting feast. ~ May thy gospel’s joyful sound Conquer sinners, comfort saints; Make the fruits of grace abound, Bring relief for all complaints: Thus may all our Sabbaths prove, Till we join the church above. John Newton. From Olney Hymns, 1779. The author’s title was “Saturday Evening.” Several lines have been changed to adapt it to Sunday singing. One stanza, the second, has been omitted: Mercies multiplied each hour, Through the week our praise demand; Guarded by Almighty power, Fed and guided by his hand; Though ungrateful we have been, Only made returns of sin. 70 L. M. NOTHER six days’ work is done; Another Sabbath is begun: Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest, Improve the day thy God hath blest. we O that our thoughts and thanks may rise, As grateful incense, to the skies; And draw from Christ that sweet repose Which none but he that feels it knows! 38 This heavenly calm within the breast Is the dear pledge of glorious rest Which for the Church of God remains, The end of cares, the end of pains. he In holy duties let the day, In holy comforts, pass away; How sweet, a Sabbath thus to spend, In hope of one that ne’er shall end! Joseph Stennett. The original of this hymn contains four- teen stanzas, of which the above are the first, tenth, eleventh, and thirteenth. The author was pastor of a Seventh-Day Bap- tist Church, but there is nothing in this hymn to render it inapplicable to the first | day of the week. This hymn, along with many others, is found in the author’s Col- lected Works, published in 1732, where it bears the title, “On the Sabbath.” "4 L. M. WEET is the work, my God, my King, To praise thy name, give thanks and sing: To show thy love by morning light, And talk of all thy truth by night. bd Sweet is the day of sacred rest; No mortal cares shall seize my breast; O may my heart in tune be found, Like David’s harp of solemn sound. 3 When grace has purified my heart, Then I shall share. a glorious part; And fresh supplies of joy be shed, Like holy oil, to cheer my head. » Then shall I see, and hear, and know All I desired or wished below ; And every power find sweet employ In that eternal world of joy. Isaac Watts. Title: “A Psalm for the Lord’s Day.” This precious old hymn, which has helped multitudes to worship God, is a metrical version of the first part of Psalm xcii. The third, fourth, and sixth stanzas have been left out: 38 My heart shall triumph in my Lord, And bless his works, and bless his word: Thy works of grace how bright they shine! How deep thy counsels! how divine! ~ Fools never raise their thoughts so high; Like brutes they live, like brutes they die; Like grass they flourish till thy breath Blasts them in everlasting death. na Sin, my worst enemy before, Shall vex my eyes and ears no more; My inward foes shall all be slain, Nor Satan break my peace again. The first couplet of the third stanza has been transposed and changed. Watts wrote: But I shall share a glorious part When grace hath well refined my heart. It is not otherwise altered. Date of pub- lication, 1719. 42 72 Ts, 6s. D. HE dawn of God’s dear Sabbath Breaks o’er the earth again, As some sweet summer morning After a night of pain; It comes as cooling showers To some exhausted land, As shade of clustered palm trees *Mid weary wastes of sand. 2 And we would bring our burden Of sinful thought and deed, In thy pure presence kneeling, From bondage to be freed; Our heart’s most bitter sorrow For all thy work undone; So many talents wasted! So few bright laurels won! 2 And with that sorrow mingling, A steadfast faith, and sure, And love so deep and fervent, That tries to make it pure: In his dear presence finding The pardon that we need; And then the peace so lasting— Celestial peace indeed! Ada C. Cross. From the author’s Hymns on the Holy Communion, 1866. This hymn is marked by great sweetness and purity of rhythm. "3 L. M. ORD of the Sabbath, hear our vows, On this thy day, in this thy house, And own, as grateful sacrifice, The songs which from thy servants rise. 2 Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love; But there’s a nobler rest above; To that our laboring souls aspire, With ardent hope and strong desire. wo No more fatigue, no more distress, Nor sin nor hell, shall reach the place; No sighs shall mingle with the songs, Which warble from immortal tongues. 4 No rude alarms of raging foes, No cares to break the long repose; No midnight shade, no clouded sun, But sacred, high, eternal noon. Philip Doddridge. Title: “The Eternal Sabbath.” Written to be sung at the close of a sermon preached June 2, 1736. Text: “There re- maineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” (Heb. iv. 9.) ANNOTATED HYMNAL. It is found in Hymns Founded ‘on Vari- |ous Texts in the Holy Scriptures, by P. Doddridge; edited by Job Orton, 1755. In the last line of the first stanza the author wrote: “The songs which from the Desert rise.” In the last line of the second stan- za, the original is: ‘With ardent Pangs of strong Desire.” The third line of the third stanza originally read: “Groans to mingle with the Songs.” One stanza, the fifth, has been omitted: 5 O long-expected day, begin! Dawn on these realms of woe and sin: Fain would we leave this weary road, And sleep in death, to rest with God. The reason for this omission was that the Commission thought the Hymnal con- tained too frequent expression of a “de- sire to depart.” It is all right for the worn-out veteran who has “fought a good fight,” but the young and the vigorous should wish to stay and fight on. 94 7s. OFTLY fades the twilight ray Of the holy Sabbath day; Gently as life’s setting sun, When the Christian’s course is run. bw Peace is on the world abroad; ’Tis the holy peace of God, Symbol of the peace within When the spirit rests from sin. oo Saviour, may our Sabbaths be Days of joy and peace in thee, Till in heaven our souls repose, Where the Sabbath ne’er shall close. Samuel F. Smith. This hymn was written in 1832, and was contributed by the author to the Psalmist, a Baptist collection, published in 1843. Two stanzas are omitted: 2 Night her solemn mantle spreads O’er the earth as daylight fades; All things tell of calm repose, At the holy Sabbath’s close. 4 Still the Spirit lingers near, Where the evening worshiper Seeks communion with the skies, Pressing onward to the prize. HYMNS TO THE TRINITY. Cc. M. THOUSAND oracles divine Their common beams unite, That sinners may with angels join To worship God aright. W5 2 Triumphant host! they never cease To laud and magnify The Triune God of holiness, Whose glory fills the sky; 3 Whose glory to this earth extends, When God himself imparts, And the whole Trinity descends Into our faithful hearts. 4 By faith the upper choir we meet, And challenge them to sing Jehovah, on his shining seat, Our Maker and our King. 5 But God made flesh is wholly ours, And asks our nobler strain: The Father of celestial powers, The Friend of earthborn man. Charles Wesley. From Hymns on the Trinity, 1767. The original contains four eight-lined stanzas. These are half the first and all of the sec- ond and third. The thought of the last line is beautifully expressed by Edward Young in his Night Thoughts: O how Omnipotence Is-lost in love! thou great Philanthropist, Father of angels, but the friend of man. In verse four, line four, the author wrote: “Our Maker, God, and King.” The third verse of the hymn is a grand one. The following omitted stanza ‘is equally remarkable: Ye seraphs nearest to the throne, With rapturous amaze On us poor ransomed worms look down, For Leaven’s superior praise. The thought is beautiful, yet it is not new nor original with Wesley, that re- deemed men can and ought to excel the angels in praise to God. This thought also was suggested by a passage in the Night Thoughts, as will be seen at a glance by comparing the last line in the stanza just quoted with the last of the following four lines from Dr. Young: This theme is man’s, and man’s alone; Their vast appointments reach it not: they see On earth a bounty not indulged on high, And downward look for Heaven’s superior praise! : Charles Wesley, writing in July, 1754, says: “I began once more transcribing Young’s Night Thoughts. No writings but the inspired are ‘more useful to me.” Not only were these individual verses inspired by Dr. Young, but his Hymns on the Trinity were really suggested by a volume by Rev. William Jones, of the Es- tablished Church, titled The Catholic Doc- trine of a Trinity proved by above an hun- Ldred short & clear arguments, expressed in the terms of Holy Scripture. It was first published in 1754, and in a new and en- larged edition in 1767. Following the or- der and using the Scriptures quoted in this book, Wesley wrote a hymn for each. That Wesley’s phraseology was sometimes derived from this volume will be sean by comparing the first verse of the hymn above with the following sentence taken from the preface of Mr. Jones’s book: “In the fourth and last chapter the passages of the Scripture have been laid together and made to unite their beams in one com- mon center, the Unity of the Trinity.” "6 11s, 10s. NCIENT of Days, who sittest throned in glory, To thee all knees are bent, all voices pray; Thy love has blessed the wide world’s wen- drous story With light and life since Eden’s dawning day. (43) 44 2 O Holy Father, who hast led thy children In all the ages, with the fire and cloud, Through seas dry-shod, through weary wastes bewildering, ~ / To thee, in reverent love, our hearts are bowed. 3 O Holy Jesus, Prince of Peace and Sav- iour, To thee we owe the peace that still pre- vails, Stilling the rude wills of men’s wild behav- ior, And calming passion’s fierce and stormy gales. 4 O Holy Ghost, the Lord and the Life-giver, Thine is the quickening power that gives | increase ; From thee have flowed, as from a pleasant river, Our plenty, wealth, prosperity, and peace. 5 O Triune God, with heart and voice adoring, Praise we the goodness that doth crown our days; Pray we that thou wilt hear us, still im- ploring Thy love and favor, kept to us always. William C. Doane. This was written in 1886. In reply toa letter inquiring as to the origin of this hymn, Bishop Doane replied as follows in a letter dated August 20, 1907: The hymn to which you refer was written to be sung at the bicentenary of the charter of Albany as a ¢ity. Of course it was not exactly in its present shape then, but was | somewhat changed in form when the commit- tee decided to put it in our Church Hymnal. / This is not a matter of very great impor- tance, but gives you the facts about which you ask. Bishop Doane has given us here a most valuable hymn to the Trinity, each of the) three Persons of the Godhead being ad- dressed in succeeding stanzas. a7 7s. 61. OLY, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, eternal King, By the heavens and earth adored! Angels and archangels sing, Chanting everlastingly To the blesséd Trinity. 78 ANNOTATED HYMNAL. 2 Thousands, tens of thousands, stand, Spirits blest, before thy throne, Speeding thence at thy command, And, when thy béehests are done, Singing everlastingly To the blesséd Trinity. Cherubim and seraphim Veil their faces with their wings; Byes of angels are too dim To behold the King of kings, While they sing eternally To the blesséd Trinity. Thee apostles, prophets thee, Thee the noble martyr band, Praise with solemn jubilee; Thee, the church in every land; Singing everlastingly To the blesséd Trinity. Hallelujah! Lord, to thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Godhead one, and persons three, Join we with the heavenly host, Singing everlastingly To the blesséd Trinity. Christopher Wordsworth. ow ~ oO Title: “Trinity Sunday.” From the au- thor’s Holy Year, London, 1862. The orig-: inal has eight stanzas; these are verses one, three, four, five, and eight, unaltered. This is a singable hymn that any congre- gation can use with joy and profit. It is based upon, and was no doubt inspired by, | the Te Dewm, one of the grandest anthems of the Christian Church. 11, 12, 12, 10. OLY, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ! Early in the morning our song’shall rise to thee; Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blesséd Trinity. 2 Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. 3 Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide thee, Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see; Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee, Perfect in power; in love, and purity. HYMNS TO THE TRINITY. 45 4 Holy, holy; holy, Lord God Almighty! All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea; : Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blesséd Trinity ! Reginald Heber. This hymn for “Trinity Sunday” was first published in 1826 in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury, third edition. This was the year the author died, which sad event occurred in India, where he was mission- ary Bishop of Calcutta. The following year his widow gathered together all of the fifty-seven hymns which he had writ- ten and published them in ‘a volume titled Hymns Written and Adapted to the Week- ly Church Service of the Year. Lord Tennyson once declared to Bishop Welldon that he regarded this hymn on the Holy Trinity as the finest hymn ever written. It is certainly one of the noblest and most majestic odes ever addressed to the Divine Being, and is in every way worthy of the author of the most popular missionary hymn ever written, “From Greenland’s icy mountains.” ‘The tune to which it is commonly sung, and which is so well adapted to the words, is very ap- propriately named Nicea, after the first great ecumenical council of the Christian Church, at which the Bible doctrine of the ‘Trinity was formulated. Tune and words unite to fill the soul of the devout wor- shiper with feelings of awe and a sense of the divine Presence. It is based on Revelation iv. 8: “And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” Also Isaiah vi. 3: “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” ' All of Heber’s hymns, it is said, were written while he was rector at Hodnett (1807-12), and many of them were printed at the time in the Christian Observer, be- ing signed with the initials “D. R.,” which are the last letters of his name. Julian says in his Dictionary that all of He- ber’s hymns are in common use in En- gland and America, and, with very few ex- ceptions, in the original form in which the author wrote them—which, considering that the author has been dead eighty years, is the highest tribute that can pos- sibly be paid to the undying influence and popularity of this rarely gifted hymn- writer and saintly missionary bishop. Some, though not all, will appreciate and indorse the words of W. Garrett Hor- der, who is one of the. most judicious and discriminating of English hymnologists: A hymn of great beauty and full of rich lyric feeling. Its only fault, in my judgment, is the too metaphysical line, “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity,” due in all prob- ability to the fact that it was written for Trinity Sunday. In hymns dogma should take on the softened form of poetry and be a pervading spirit, not 4 metaphysical declara- tion. Indeed the doctrine of the Trinity finds much more spiritual expression in Scrip- ture than in the creeds of the Church of which, when he wrote this line, the good Bish- op’s mind was evidently full. It may seem to the reader and student of hymnology that the selection of hymns here addressed to the Trinity is unac- countably small, being only four in num- ber. This is due to the fact that several very valuable hymns, appropriate under this head, have been placed by the editors of the Hymnal under other heads to which they also properly belong. The reader should compare with the four hymns given above the following, which are ad- dressed either in whole or in part to the Trinity—viz., those beginning, “Come, thou Almighty King” (No. 2), “Infinite God, to thee we raise” (No. 10), “Praise ye Jehovah” (No. 20), “Angel voices ever singing” (No. 27), “We lift our hearts to thee” (No. 45), “Now God be with us, for the night is closing” (No. 58), “Thou whose almighty word” (No. 629), and oth- ers. These, taken all together, make a noble volume of praise to the Triune God. HYMNS TO THE FATHER "9 Cc. M. ATHER, how wide thy glory shines, How high thy wonders rise! Known through the earth by thousand signs, By thousar.ds through the skies. ~w ‘Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power; Their motions speak thy skill: And on the wings of every hour We read thy patience still. 8 But when we view thy strange design To save rebellious worms, Where vengeance and compassion join In their divinest forms; ~ Our thoughts are lost in reverent awe; We love and we adore: The first archangel never saw So much of God before, oa Here the whole Deity is known, Nor dares a creature guess Which of the glories brighter shone, The justice or the grace. Now the full glories of the Lamb Adorn the heavenly plains; Bright seraphs learn Immanuel’s name, And try their choicest strains. a a O may I bear some humble part In that immortal song! Wonder and joy shall tune my heart, And love command my tongue. Isaac Watts. This hymn was first published in the first edition of Hore Lyrice, 1706, with the title, “God Appears Most Glorious in Our Salvation by Christ.” It appears in the second edition of Hore Lyrice, 1709, in nine stanzas, under the title, “God Glo- rious, and Sinners Saved.” Two inferior verses have been omitted, and a few verbal changes have been made. Watts was fond of comparing and con- trasting nature and redemption as modes of revealing the goodness and glory of God. Nature could manifest his attributes in part, but it was reserved for redemp- tion to manifest all his attributes and es- pecially his wisdom, holiness, and love. Here alone “the whole Deity is known.” (46) 80 L. M. OD is the name my soul adores, The almighty Three, the eternal One: Nature and grace, with all their powers, Confess the Infinite Unknown. 2 Thy voice produced the sea and spheres, Bade the waves roar, the planets shine; But nothing like thyself appears Through all these spacious works of thine. 3 Still restless nature dies and grows; From change to change the creatures run: Thy being no succession knows, And all thy vast designs are one. 4 A glance of thine runs through the globe, Rules the bright worlds, and moves their frame; Of light thou’ form’st thy dazzling robe: Thy ministers are living flame. on How shall polluted mortals dare To sing thy glory or thy grace? Beneath :hy feet we lie afar, And see but shadows of thy face. 6 Who can behold the blazing light? Who can approach consuming flame? None but thy wisdom knows thy might;' None but thy word can speak thy name. Isaac Waits. “The Creator and Creatures” is the au- thor’s title in Hore Lyrice, 1706. Of the two omitted stanzas, one is: 2 From thy great Self thy Being springs; Thou art thine own Original, Made up of uncreated Things, And Self-sufficience bears them all. Watts wrote in the opening line “a name” instead of “the name;” in verse two, “bid” instead of “bade,” “and plan- ets” instead of “the planets;” in verse five, “affrighted” instead of “polluted,” and “so far” instead of “afar.” Verse four of the original is: A glance of thine runs through the globes, Rules the bright world, and moves their frame: Broad sheets of light compose thy robes, Thy guards are formed of living flame. HYMNS TO THE FATHER. 81 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8 HE Lord Jehovah reigns, His throne is built on high; The garments he assumes Are light and majesty: His glories shine with beams so bright, No mortal eye can bear the sight. The thunders of his hand Keep the wide world in awe; His wrath and justice stand To guard his holy law; And where his love resolves to bless, His truth confirms and seals the grace. Lo 3 Through all his mighty works Amazing wisdom shines; Confounds the powers of hell, And all their dark designs; Strong is his arm, and shall fulfill His great decrees and sovereign will. ~ And will this sovereign King Of glory condescend, And will he write his name, My Father and my Friend? I love his name, I love his word; Join all my powers to praise the Lord! Isaac Watts. Title: “The Divine Perfections.” From Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book IL., 1709. It appears to be founded, in part at least, upon Psalm xcvii.: “The Lord reign- eth: let the earth rejoice.” A few verbal changes have been made in the last two stanzas. This is Dr. Watts’s favorite theme—the greatness and sovereignty of God. It is safe to say that on this topic no hymn writer, ancient or modern, has equaled him in loftiness of thought or grandeur of expression. 82 L. M. ORD of all being, throned afar, Thy glory flames from sun and star; Center and soul of every sphere, Yet to each loving heart how near! 2 Sun of our life, thy quickening ray Sheds on our path the glow of day; Star of our hope, thy softened light Cheers the long watches of the night. 3 Our midnight is thy smile withdrawn ; Our noontide is thy gracious dawn ; Our rainbow arch thy mercy’s sign; All, save the clouds of sin, are thine! 47 4 Lord of all life, below, above, Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love, Before thy ever-blazing throne We ask no luster of our own. 5 Grant us thy truth to make us free, And kindling hearts that burn for thee, Till all thy living altars claim One holy light, one heavenly flame. Oliver W. Holmes. “A Sun-day Hymn” is the author’s title for this exceptionally fine and majestic Christian lyric. It was written in 1848, but was not published until 1859. It closes the last chapter of “The Professor at the Breakfast Table” in the Atlantic Monthly for December, 1859, being pre- ceded immediately by the following words: And so my year’s record is finished. Thanks to all those friends who from time to time have sent their messages of kindly recog- nition and fellow-feeling. Peace to all such as may have been vexed in spirit by any ut- terance the pages have repeated. They will doubtless forget for the moment the differ- ence in the hues of truth we look at through our human prisms, and join in singing (in- wardly) this hymn to the Source of the light we all need to lead us and the warmth which can make us all ‘brothers. To write two such hymns as this and the one beginning, “O Love divine, that stooped to share,” is enough to give one immortality as a lyric poet and a high and permanent place in the history of hymnology. The author’s Autocrat of the Breakfast Table was as much admired as the volume from which we have just quo- ted. On the occasion of his celebrating his eightieth birthday Whittier congratu- lated him in a beautiful poem containing these lines: Long be it ere the table shall be set For the last Breakfast of the Autocrat, And Love repeat, with smiles and tears thereat, His own sweet songs, that time shall not for- get: Waiting with him the call to come up higher, Life is not less, the heavens are only higher! 48 ANNOTATED HYMNAL. L. M. LOVE of God, how strong and true, Eternal, and yet ever new; Uncomprehended and unbought, Beyond all knowledge and all thought! 83 O heavenly Love, how precious still, In days of weariness and ill, In nights of pain and helplessness, To heal, to comfort, and to bless! O wide-embracing, wondrous Love, We read thee in the sky above; We read thee in the earth below, In seas that swell and streams that flow. We read thee best in Him who came To bear for us the cross of shame, Sent by the Father from on high, Our life to live, our death to die. O Love of God, our shield and stay Through all the perils of our way; Eternal Love, in thee we rest, Forever safe, forever blest. Horatius Bonar. Author’s title: “The Love of God.”