Part 4

_Now, when the dusky shades of night retreating_,

This is a free translation in five stanzas of the Latin hymn, _Ecce jam noctis tenuatar umbra_ by Gregory the Great, c. 600, included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853, as anonymous. It passed into Beecher’s _Plymouth Collection_, 1855, and into many other hymn books, British and American, often with the 3^d and 4^th stanzas omitted. There is no clue as to its author though Julian (p. 320) points out that the first stanza appears to be an altered form of W. J. Copeland’s translation from the Latin, published in 1848. The three stanza form of the hymn is included in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 819 H.W.F.

_We follow, Lord, where thou dost lead_,

L.M. 5 stas. Attributed to “Book of Hymns,” in _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908.

Appleton, Rev. Francis Parker, Boston, Massachusetts, August 9, 1822—June 14, 1903, Cohasset, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1845, and was minister to the Unitarian church, in South Danvers, (now Peabody) Massachusetts from 1846 to 1853. He then left the ministry for secular occupations. His hymn,

_Thirsting for a living spring_,

was included, anonymously, in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_, 1846, and, attributed to him, in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. It is included in the _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908; in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. His hymn,

_The past yet lives in all its truth, O God_,

was also included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864, and in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, but has now dropped out of use.

J. 1551, 1606 H.W.F.

Badger, Rev. George Henry, Charlestown, Massachusetts, March 27, 1859—May 11, 1953, Orlando, Florida. He was educated at Williams College, A.B. 1883, at Andover Theological Seminary and the Harvard Divinity School, receiving the degree of S.T.B. from the latter institution in 1886. He served several Unitarian churches in New England. From 1912-1918 he was a minister in San Antonio, Texas; from 1919-1936 in Orlando, Florida. The preface to _The Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908, is signed with his initials as editor. That book contains three hymns of which he was author:—

1. _God of the vastness of the far-spread sea_,

2. _Lord, I believe, and in my faith_,

3. _Thy way, O Lord, is in the sea_,

In 1910 he wrote a hymn beginning,

4. _O Thou who art my King_,

which was included in The _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914. None of these hymns have passed into later collections.

H.W.F.

Ballou, Rev. Adin, 1803-1890. Without much formal education, but gifted in mind and spirit, he was ordained in 1827 as a Universalist minister, but in 1831 joined the Unitarian denomination in which he served a number of New England parishes. He wrote a hymn beginning,

_Years are coming—speed them onward!_ _When the sword shall gather rust_

which was included in Universalist hymnbooks and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

H.W.F.

Barber, Rev. Henry Hervey, Warwick, Massachusetts, December 30, 1835—January 18, 1923, Jacksonville, Florida. He was educated at Deerfield (Massachusetts) Academy, and at Meadville Theological School from which he graduated in 1861. After pastorates in two New England churches he became in 1881 a professor in Meadville Theological School, a position from which he retired in 1904. His hymn beginning,

_Far off, O God, and yet most near,_

dated 1891, had considerable use and was included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.

H.W.F.

Barnard, Rev. John, Boston, Massachusetts, November 6, 1681—January 24, 1770, Marblehead, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard in 1700, and was installed as minister of the Congregational Church in Marblehead in 1716, which he served with distinction through the rest of his life. A number of his sermons were printed, and in 1752 he published _A New Version of the Psalms of David_, 278 pp., printed in Boston, the result of his own endeavor to produce a fresh metrical translation. It is listed in Julian’s _Dictionary_, p. 929, under _Psalters, English_. His book was used in his own church, but not elsewhere, and is now very rare. His own annotated copy is in the Harvard College Library and the original ms. is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.

H.W.F.

Barrows, Rev. Samuel June, New York, New York, May 26, 1845—April 21, 1909, New York. He graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1875 and in 1876 was ordained minister of Mount Pleasant Church, Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he served until 1881. He was editor of the _Christian Register_ from 1881 to 1897, and was a member of Congress, 1897-1899.

A hymn beginning

_Enkindling Love, eternal Flame_

is attributed to him in the _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908.

H.W.F.

Bartol, Rev. Cyrus Augustus, D.D., Freeport, Maine, August 30, 1813—December 16, 1890, Boston. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1832 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1835. After lay preaching for a year in Cincinnati he was ordained in 1837 as successor to Rev. Charles Lowell (father of James Russell Lowell) in the West Church (Unitarian) in Boston. He retired in 1889. He was author of several books and of a large number of printed sermons and addresses. He, with others, edited _Hymns for the Sanctuary_, Boston, 1849, commonly called “Bartol’s Collection”, in which was included an anonymous hymn beginning

_Be thou ready, fellow-mortal_ (Readiness for Duty)

This hymn passed into the _Supplement_ to Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns of the Church of Christ_, Boston, 1853, and into other collections. Its authorship has never been disclosed, but its theme and mode of expression suggest that it may have been written by Bartol.

J. 120 H.W.F.

Bartrum, Joseph P., a Unitarian layman living in the 19^th century, who published _The Psalms newly Paraphrased for the Service of the Sanctuary_, Boston, 1833, from which his version of Psalm CVI,

_O from these visions, dark and drear_,

was taken for inclusion in several Unitarian collections in Great Britain and America and in the Universalist _Church Harmonies, New and Old_, 1895. His version of Psalm LXXXVII,

_Amid the heaven of heavens_,

is included in Holland’s _Psalmists of Britain_, 1843, vol. II, p. 339, with a critical note.

Neither hymn is found in use today.

J. 116 H.W.F.

Beach, Rev. Seth Curtis, D.D., near Marion, Wayne County, New York, August 3, 1837—January 30, 1932, Watertown, Massachusetts. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York in 1863, and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1866. From 1867 to 1869 he served the Unitarian Church in Augusta, Maine. Ill health then led him to take up a farm in Minnesota for four years. In 1873 he returned to New England, where his longest pastorates were at Bangor, Maine, 1891-1901, and at Wayland, Massachusetts, 1901-1911, when he retired to Watertown. His hymn,

1. _Mysterious Presence! Source of all_,

was first printed in the “Order of Exercises at the Fiftieth Annual Visitation of the Divinity School, July 17, 1866,” having been written for that occasion.

In 1884 he wrote

2. _Thou One in all, thou All in one_ (God in Nature)

These two hymns were included in the Unitarian _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. His third hymn

3. _Kingdom of God! The day how blest_,

is included in the _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908.

J. 1581 H.W.F.

Belknap, Rev. Jeremy, D.D., Boston, Massachusetts, June 4, 1744—June 20, 1798, Boston. He graduated from Harvard College in 1762; taught school for four years; in 1766 accepted a position as assistant to Rev. Jonathan Cushing of Dover, New Hampshire, and in 1767 was ordained, serving that parish until 1786. In 1787 he became minister of the Federal Street Church, (now the Arlington Street Church) Boston, which he served until his death. Harvard gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1792. He was the author of a three volume _History of New Hampshire_; of a petition (1788) for the abolition of the slave trade; and of other books and essays; and formed the plan for the Massachusetts Historical Society, organized in 1791. He wrote no hymns but made an important contribution to American hymnody in his collection _Sacred Poetry: consisting of Psalms and Hymns adapted to Christian devotion in public and private. Selected from the best authors, with variations and additions_, by Jeremy Belknap, D.D., Boston, 1795, which ran to many editions. His intention was to provide a book acceptable to both the conservative and the liberal wings of Congregationalism, to bridge the widening gap which resulted in the formation of the Unitarian denomination a generation later. In this he failed, for only the liberal churches accepted it, though it was widely used by them for 40 years, being much the best of the period. It includes 300 hymns from the best English sources, and was the first to introduce to Americans the hymns by Anne Steele. The only American hymns in the collection are Jacob Kimball’s metrical version of Psalm 65 and Mather Byles’ _When wild confusion rends the air_.

H.W.F.

Blake, Rev. James Vila, Brooklyn, New York, January 21, 1842—April 28, 1925, Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard College in 1862 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1866, and served Unitarian churches in Massachusetts and Illinois, his last and longest pastorate being at Evanston, Ill., 1892-1916. Author of a number of books. He shared with W. C. Gannett, _q.v._ and F. L. Hosmer, _q.v._ in the compilation of the first edition of _Unity Hymns and Chorals_, 1880, which included his hymn,

_Father, Thou art calling, calling to us plainly_,

included also in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. The latter book also includes his hymn of the church universal,

_O sing with loud and joyful song_.

H.W.F.

Briggs, C. A.

A hymn beginning,

_God’s law demands one living faith_ (Law of God)

is attributed to a person with this name in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853. It is probable, but not certain, that the author was Rev. Charles Briggs, Halifax, Massachusetts, January 17, 1791—December 1, 1873, Roxbury, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1815 and from the Divinity School in 1818, was minister of the First Church in Lexington, Massachusetts, 1818-1834, and secretary of the American Unitarian Association, 1835-1848.

H.W.F.

Briggs, LeBaron Russell, LL.D., Salem, Massachusetts, December 11, 1855—April 24, 1934, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from Harvard College in 1875, A.M., 1882; served as tutor, then as professor of English, and as dean from 1891-1925. Harvard gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1900, as did Yale in 1917, and Lafayette University gave him the degree of Litt.D. For the celebration of the 300^th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, December 21, 1920, he wrote a poem which is introduced by a prayer in three stanzas, 11.10.11.10, offered by “The Pilgrim”, beginning,

_God of our fathers, who hast safely brought us_,

It is a fine hymn of thanksgiving for religious freedom and it was included in the program celebrating the 300^th anniversary of the “Cambridge Platform” in October 27, 1948. It deserves wide use.

H.W.F.

Brooks, Rev. Charles Timothy, Salem, Massachusetts, June 20, 1813—June 14, 1883, Newport, Rhode Island. He graduated from Harvard College in 1832 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1835. He was ordained as the first minister of the Unitarian Church in Newport, Rhode Island, on January 1, 1837, and served there until 1873. He was author of a number of books, most of them translations from German poets and novelists. After his death a volume entitled _Poems, Original and Translated_, was published. The only hymn with which his name is associated was in two stanzas beginning,

_God bless our native land!_

said to have been written while he was a student in the Divinity School. Part of the first and almost the whole of the second stanza were rewritten by J. S. Dwight, _q.v._, and Putnam, in _Songs of the Liberal Faith_, states that it was first published in this form in one of Lowell Mason’s song books in 1844. It was included, with further alterations, in Hedge and Huntington’s_ Hymns of the Church of Christ_, 1853, and with yet other changes in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. In the 20^th century collection also entitled _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937, the hymn appears in 3 stas. of which the first is by Brooks, the second by Dwight, and a third, of which the first 3 lines are those introduced by Longfellow and Johnson, the remaining four lines from a later unknown source, and its authorship is attributed to “Composite: based on Charles Timothy Brooks and John Sullivan Dwight.” The complicated history of this hymn is traced in Julian, 184, 1566, 1685.

H.W.F.

Bryant, William Cullen, Cummington, Massachusetts, November 3, 1794—June 12, 1878, New York, New York. He was a student at Williams College for two years, then studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1815, where he practised until 1825 when he removed to New York. There he devoted himself to journalism as editor of _The New York Review_ and of the _New York Evening Post_, reserving part of his time, especially in later years, to literary pursuits at his retreat at Roslyn, Long Island, where he wrote addresses, essays and reviews as well as poems. In point of time he was the first of the famous group of New England poets of the nineteenth century. He began writing verses when a child and composed his noblest poem, _Thanatopsis_, when only eighteen years of age. His first volume of poems, containing one entitled _The Ages_ delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard, and some others, was published in 1821. In 1832 a volume entitled _Poems_, complete to that date, was published, for which Washington Irving secured republication in England, where it brought him wide recognition. Many successive editions of Poems, each with some additional items, were published in later years, and after his death a complete edition of the _Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant_ appeared in 1879. He also had privately printed a little volume of his _Hymns_, 1869.

The following pieces by him have been included in various collections of hymns, some of them having considerable use in Great Britain as well as in this country.

1. _All praise to him of Nazareth_ (Communion)

Dated 1864. Included in Hatfield’s (British) _Church Hymn Book_, 1874, in 3 stanzas, and in _Songs of the Sanctuary_ and in Putnam’s _Singers and Songs_, etc. in 5 stanzas.

2. _All that in this wide world we see_ (Omnipresence)

Dated 1836, but Beard, in his _Collection_, (British) 1837, gives it as an original contribution, thus fixing the date of first publication. Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc., notes that it was “Written, probably, for some church in England,” information which sounds like the aged poet’s vague recollection many years after he had responded to Beard’s request. Included in Lunt’s _Christian Psalter_, 1841.

3. _All things that are on earth_, (Love of God)

Included in Beard’s _Collection_, 1837.

4. _Almighty! hear thy children raise_, (Praise)

One of five hymns written by Bryant at the request of Miss Sedgwick for inclusion (without the author’s name) in Sewall’s _Collection_, 1820, compiled for use in the First Congregational Society of New York (Unitarian), now All Souls Church. In Beard’s _Collection_, 1837, the first line is altered to read

_Almighty, listen while we praise_,

and in the Unitarian _Hymn and Tune Book_, Boston, 1868, it is altered to

_Almighty, hear us while we praise_,

5. _As shadows cast by cloud and sun_,

Written for the Semi-Centennial of the Church of the Messiah, Boston, March 19, 1875. Included in the Methodist Episcopal _Hymnal_, New York, 1878.

6. _Close softly, fondly, while ye weep_ (Death)

Included in H. W. Beecher’s _Plymouth Collection_, 1855.

7. _Dear ties of mutual succor bind_ (Charity)

Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, 1874, p. 130, says, “Mr. Bryant has kindly sent us, as an additional contribution to this volume, the following exquisite lines, which were written about forty years since, for some charitable occasion, and which he lately found among some old papers. They are not among his published poems.” Included in the Methodist Episcopal _Hymnal_, 1878.

8. _Deem not that they are blest alone_ (Mourning)

Written for Sewall’s _Collection_, 1820, _vide supra._ Included in Beard’s _Collection_, 1837, and, the first line altered to read,

_O deem not they are blest alone_,

in Martineau’s _Hymns of Prayer and Praise_, 1873, and in _Songs for the Sanctuary_, New York, 1865-1872.

9. _Father, to thy kind love we owe_, (God’s Loving Kindness)

One of the five hymns, written by Bryant for inclusion in Sewall’s _Collection_, New York, 1820. Included in the _Hymn and Tune Book_, Boston, 1868, and in Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873. In Putnam’s _Singers and Songs_, etc. the first line reads,

_Our Father, to thy love we owe_.

10. _How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps?_ (Future life)

A memorial poem in 9 stanzas rather than a hymn, but included in part in the supplement of devotional readings in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853. Complete text in Putnam’s _Singers and Songs_, etc., pp. 125-126.

11. _Look from Thy sphere of endless day_ (Home missions)

Dated 1840. Included in _Songs for the Sanctuary_, New York, 1865; in Horder’s (British) _Congregational Hymns_, 1884, and in the _Pilgrim Hymnal_, 1935.

12. _Lord, who ordainest for mankind_ (Thanks for Mother Love)

Written at the request of Rev. Samuel Osgood of New York for inclusion in his _Christian Worship_, 1862, and included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, etc., 1873.

13. _Mighty One, before whose face_ (Ordination)

Dated c. 1820. It was included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns_, etc. 1853, H. W. Beecher’s _Plymouth Collection_, 1855, and elsewhere.

14. _Not in the solitude_, (God in the city)

Dated 1836. Included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873.

15. O God, whose dread and dazzling brow (God’s compassion)

Included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns_, etc. 1853, and in the _Hymn and Tune Book_, Boston, 1868.

16. _O North, with all thy vales of green!_ (Reign of Christ)

Included in the author’s privately printed _Hymns_, 1869, undated. It passed into several British collections, e.g., the Scotch _Church Hymnary_, 1898; _Worship Song_, 1905; _The English Hymnal_, 1906; and is included in the American Episcopal _Hymnal_, 1940.

17. _O Thou, whose love can ne’er forget_ (Ordination)

One of Bryant’s early hymns, perhaps written for the ordination of Rev. William Ware, December, 1821, as minister of the First Congregational Society of New York, (now All Souls Church). Included in Beard’s English _Collection_, 1837.

18. _O Thou Whose own vast temple stands_ (Opening of a house of worship)

Written in 1835 for the dedication of a Chapel in Prince Street, New York. The building was soon afterwards destroyed by fire. This hymn is the most widely used of all those written by Bryant. It was included in Beard’s English _Collection_ in 1837, and in Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873. In Putnam’s _Singers and Songs_, etc., the opening line reads,

_Thou, whose unmeasured temple stands_,

and in this form it was included in Lunt’s _Christian Psalter_, 1861, and in the American Presbyterian _Psalms and Hymns_, Richmond, 1867; in Horder’s _Congregational Hymns_, London, 1884; and elsewhere.

19. _Standing forth in life’s rough way_ (On behalf of children)

Included in Dr. Allon’s (British) _Children’s Worship_, 1878; in Horder’s _Congregational Hymns_, 1884; and elsewhere.

20. _Thou unrelenting past_ (The Past)

Dated 1836. A poem of 14 stanzas, a few of which were included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873.

21. _When doomed to death the Apostle lay_ (On behalf of Drunkards)

Included in the Methodist Episcopal _Hymnal_, 1878.

22. _When he who from the scourge of wrong_ (Hope of Resurrection)

Written for Sewall’s _Collection_, 1820. Included in _Lyra Sacra Americana_, 1868.

23. _When this song of praise shall cease_ (Anticipation of Death)

Written for a collection of hymns printed at the end of a _Sunday School Liturgy_, prepared by James Lombard, of Utica, New York, in 1859. Included in Bryant’s privately printed _Hymns_, 1869, and in Stevenson’s (British) _School Hymnal_, 1889.

24. _When the blind suppliant in the way_ (Opening the eyes of the blind)

Dated 1874. Included in the Methodist Episcopal _Hymnal_, New York, 1878.

25. _Whither, midst falling dew_, (Divine Guidance)

This is one of Bryant’s best known poems, entitled “To a Waterfowl,” and dated 1836, and is in no sense a hymn, although included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873.

26. _Wild was the day, the wintry sea_, (The Pilgrim Fathers)

Included in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864.

Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc., p. 123 reports a hymn beginning

_Ancient of Days! except Thou deign_,

“written for the dedication of Rev. R. C. Waterston’s church in Boston,” and another hymn beginning

_Lord, from whose glorious presence came_,

written “at the request of a friend, Mr. Hiram Barney, for the opening of an Orthodox Congregational Church,” but does not print the text of either, and neither appears to have been included in any Collection.

As indicated in the foregoing list, the text of several of Bryant’s hymns is found with the opening line altered from the original, either by the author himself, or, presumably, with his consent, so that it is impossible to say which is the correct or authorized form, and frequently no more than approximate date of composition can be given.

The early flowering of Bryant’s gifts as a poet, promoted by a fortunate combination of circumstances, quickly brought him widespread recognition in both Great Britain and America, which deepened into respect for his fine character as he advanced in age. The writings of no other American poet of his period were so eagerly searched by compilers of hymn books, who sometimes included verses which were meditative, poems rather than hymns, e.g., nos. 8, 10, 20 and 25 in the above list. Bryant’s mind was cool and meditative, and his hymns are correct and smoothly flowing, but seldom touched with lyric fire, and none of them quite reach the highest level. They express an attitude towards religion characteristic of the intellectual life of his time but now largely passed away. No. 16 is still included in several leading hymn collections of the 20^th century; nos. 11 and 18 are in the Unitarian _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914; and nos. 12 and 18 are in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 189-190, 1682 H.W.F.