Part 8

Hedge, Rev. Frederic Henry, Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 12, 1805—August 21, 1890, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Son of Professor Levi Hedge of Harvard, he was a very precocious child, ready to enter college at 12 years of age, but his father wisely sent him to Germany, with a tutor, George Bancroft, later a noted historian, where he studied in German schools for 5 years. He then returned to Harvard College, graduating in 1825, followed by a period of study in Harvard Divinity School, where he became an intimate friend of R. W. Emerson. He was ordained minister of the First Congregational Parish (Unitarian) in West Cambridge (now Arlington) Massachusetts in 1829. In 1835 he moved to Bangor, Maine, where he served the Independent Congregational Society until 1850, then serving the Westminster Congregational Church, Providence, Rhode Island, 1850-1856. In the latter year he was called to the First Parish in Brookline, Massachusetts, which he served until 1872. His removal to Brookline enabled him to serve as a nonresident professor of ecclesiastical history in the Harvard Divinity School. He retired from the ministry in 1872 and moved to Cambridge, where he was appointed professor of German language and literature, retiring in 1882. He was a man of extraordinary intellectual ability, one of the most learned of his time, and a pioneer in bringing to this country an acquaintance with German literature and metaphysics. Harvard gave him the degree of D.D. in 1852, and that of LL.D. in 1886. He was one of the editors of the _Christian Examiner_, author of _The Prose Writers of Germany_, 1848, of _Reason in Religion_, 1865, of a volume of _Metrical Translations and Poems_ in 1888, and of a large number of essays and sermons. He was president of the American Unitarian Association 1860-1863. He collaborated with Dr. F. D. Huntington, _q.v._, in editing _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, Boston, 1853, to which he contributed three translations from the German:

1. _A mighty fortress is our God_, (Ein’ feste Burg)

2. _Christ hath arisen!_ (Goethe’s Faust)

3. _The sun is still forever sounding_ (Goethe’s Faust)

The Unitarian _Hymn and Tune Book for Church and Home_, 1868, includes his translation from the Latin,

4. _Holy Spirit, Fire Divine_, (Veni, Sancte Spiritus)

Translated 1862.

His original hymns included in _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853, are,

5. _Beneath thine hammer, Lord, I lie_,

Undated but “Written at a time of severe trial and deep depression.”

6. _Sovereign and Transforming Grace_,

Written for the ordination of H. D. Barlow at Lynn, Massachusetts, December 9, 1829. This fine hymn is appropriate to a service of worship and, with the omission of one stanza, has been widely used.

7. _’Twas in the East, the mystic East_,

A Christmas hymn, written about 1853.

8. _’Twas the day when God’s anointed_,

Written for a service in Bangor, Maine, held on Good Friday, 1843, in six stanzas, the last three of which, beginning

_It is finished, Man of sorrows!_

had considerable use in Great Britain and this country. The whole six stanzas were included in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_, 1846, as “Anonymous.” The last three stanzas are in Martineau’s _Hymns_ and in many other collections.

He also wrote a hymn beginning

9. _Lo! another offering,_ _To Thy courts this day we bring,_

for his own ordination at West Cambridge in 1829, which was also used at the ordination of F. A. Whitney, at Brighton, Massachusetts, on February 24, 1844, but which passed into no collections.

All these hymns, and two other religious poems, are included in Putnam’s Singers and _Songs of the Liberal Faith_. Most of them had gone out of use by the end of the 19^th century, but nos. 1, 6 and 8 (beginning _It is finished, Man of sorrows_,) are in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

By far the best known of Hedge’s hymns is his fine and accurate translation of Luther’s great chorale _Ein’ feste Burg_ (no. 1). This is the version accepted by almost all the Protestant denominations in this country, whereas in Great Britain Thomas Carlyle’s earlier translation (1831) is generally used, although James Martineau included Hedge’s version in his _Hymns of Praise and Prayer_, 1873, mistakenly attributing it to Samuel Longfellow. Putnam, _op. cit._, 214, says that it was first printed in W. H. Furness’s _Gems of German Verse_, which appeared in Philadelphia, without date but undoubtedly in the latter part of 1853, a second edition following in 1859. That Hedge should have sent his translation of the chorale to Furness without delay was natural, because the two men were close friends with a common interest in German literature, and Putnam was the younger contemporary of both, in a position to know that Furness’s little book had appeared on the market a few days, or weeks, ahead of the collection of hymns which Hedge and F. D. Huntington were editing and which they published late in 1853 as _Hymns for the Church of Christ_.

The earliest record of the hymn, however, is to be found in the autograph letter (now in the Harvard University Library) which Hedge wrote to Rev. Joseph H. Allen, his successor in the pulpit at Bangor, Maine, asking him to recommend hymns for inclusion in the book on which he and Huntington were working. This letter is dated “Providence, March 27th, 1853.” In the course of it Hedge wrote, “I have made a new translation of Luther’s splendid psalm ‘Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott’ Carlyle’s translation not being available.” This statement is followed by the four stanzas of his translation. That book contained no printed tunes, only citing the metre at the head of each hymn as a guide to the organist, but in his letter Hedge goes on with the surprizing statement, “The original is much sung in Germany and therefore I suppose that it will not be difficult to find a tune for it.” Since he must have become familiar with both the words and the music of the famous chorale when he was a youthful student in Germany this remark indicates that the tune was still unknown in America, and that he took little interest in introducing it.

J. 504, 1647 Revised by H.W.F.

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 12, 1822—May 9, 1911, Cambridge. He graduated from Harvard College in 1841 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1847. Entering the Unitarian ministry he served churches in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1847-1850, and in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1852-1858. He was an ardent Abolitionist and when the Civil War came he entered the Union Army, in which he rose to the command of a Negro regiment. After the war he became a man of letters and published several books and numerous essays. While still a student in the Divinity School he contributed to the _Book of Hymns_, 1846, which his friends Longfellow and Johnson were preparing, four hymns, which they marked with an asterisk, viz:

1. _No human eyes Thy face may see_ (God known through love)

2. _The land our fathers left to us_ (American Slavery)

3. _The past is dark with sin and shame_, (Hope)

4. _To thine eternal arms, O God_, (Lent)

The last two have had considerable use. Both express the pessimistic mood with which the young man viewed the evils of the time.

One of his later poems of social justice has also had some use as a hymn,

5. _From street and square, from hill and glen,_ _Of this vast world beyond my door._

His four hymns in the _Book of Hymns_, with other poems by him, are included in Putnam’s _Singers and Songs, of the Liberal Faith_, 1875. Of the above hymns those listed as 3 and 5 are included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 521, 1711 H.W.F.

Hill, Rev. Thomas, D.D., L.L.D., New Brunswick, New Jersey, January 7, 1818—November 21, 1891, Portland, Maine.

He graduated from Harvard College in 1843 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1845. He served as minister of the First Parish (Unitarian) in Waltham, Massachusetts from 1845 to 1859; was president of Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 1859-1862; president of Harvard University, 1862-1868; and minister of the First Parish of Portland, Maine, 1873 to 1891. He was distinguished as a mathematician.

In the earlier part of his career he wrote or translated many hymns which found publication in current periodicals, usually anonymously or signed only with cryptic initials. One by him, beginning,

_All holy, ever living One,_

was included in a few hymn books of the 19^th century, but has dropped out of use. A few others, mostly written for special occasions, are in Putnam’s _Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith_, but none have found other use.

J. 524 H.W.F.

Holland, Joseph Gilbert, Belchertown, Massachusetts, July 24, 1819—October 12, 1881. A newspaper man on the staff of the _Springfield Republican_ who became editor of _Scribner’s Magazine_ in 1870. Author of several books and some poetical pieces. One of the latter, beginning

_For summer’s bloom, and autumn’s blight_, (Praise in and through all things)

from his _Bitter Sweet_, 1858, was included in the Unitarian _Hymn and Tune Book for Church and Home_, Boston, 1868.

J. 529 H.W.F.

Holmes, Rev. John Haynes, D.D.; Litt. D.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1879—still living. He graduated from Harvard, _summa cum laude_ in 1902, and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1904. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1930, from St. Lawrence University in 1931, and from Meadville Theological School in 1945; Doctor of Letters from Benares Hindu University, India, in 1947, and Doctor of Humanities from Rollins College, Florida, in 1951. He was installed as minister of the Third Religious Society (Unitarian), Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1904, and went to New York in 1907 as associate and successor to Rev. Robert Collyer, _q.v._, minister of the Second Congregational Unitarian Society, (Church of the Messiah, now called the Community Church of New York) of which he became pastor emeritus in 1949. He withdrew from the Unitarian fellowship in 1919, not on theological grounds but because he preferred a position independent of any denominational label. Throughout his career in New York he has been an outspoken leader in many causes for social betterment, and a prolific author in prose and verse who has published a large number of books, religious and biographical, and of printed sermons. No other American author of his period has written so many fine hymns which have been widely used in this country, in England, and in Japan.

1. _Accept, O Lord, this precious gift_

8.6.8.6. 3 stas.

Written for dedication on October 31, 1943, of Chapel in the rebuilt Community Church.

2. _Accept, O Lord, this temple_,

7.6.7.6.7.6. 3 stas.

Written on the occasion of the rededication of the Community Church, December 31, 1922.

3. _All hail the pageant of the years_,

8.6.8.6.8.8. 5 stas. Undated

Included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

4. _Almighty God, beneath whose eye_

C.M.D. 4 stas.

An early hymn written for Labor Day Sunday in 1910.

5. _Almighty God, to whom the dark_

C.M.D. 3 stas. 8 l.

A Vesper hymn written in 1906.

6. _America triumphant! Brave land of pioneers._

7.6.7.6.D. 5 stas.

Written during World War I, in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

7. _Behold, O God! our holy house_,

C.M. 5 stas. September, 1919

Written on the occasion of the burning of the Community Church, September 11, 1919.

8. _Be with us, Father, in this place._

Dated 1945.

9. _Bless, thou, O God, this fellowship_

8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.

Written for the Installation of Rev. Dana McLean Greeley, B.D., D.D. as President of the American Unitarian Association on October 7, 1958.

10. _Bright visions glow across the sky_,

8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6. 3 stas.

Written by Mr. Holmes in 1947 on the occasion of his 40^th anniversary as Minister of the Community Church.

11. _God of the nations, near and far._

C.M. 6 stas.

Written before this country entered World War I, for a hymn contest sponsored by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, for use on Peace Sunday. This hymn was widely sung in churches of many denominations.

Included in _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937, with alteration in 2^nd sta.

12. _God save the people’s cause._

6.6.4.6.6.6.4. 3 stas.

Written in 1939.

13. _Great Spirit of the speeding spheres_,

L.M. 6 stas.

Written in 1932 on the occasion of the 25^th anniversary of Mr. Holmes as minister of the Community Church.

14. _Joy to our hearts! Again we meet!_

8.6.8.8.6.6.6.4. 3 stas. 8 l.

A Hymn of reunion, 1920, set to the tune of Antioch.

15. _O blessed isle of quiet_,

7.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.

Written at the Isles of Shoals in the summer of 1930, and set to an original tune by Robert B. Buxton.

16. _O Father, Thou who givest all_

L.M. 4 stas.

Written for _The Beacon Song and Service Book_, Beacon, 1908; included in _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

17. _O God of field and city_,

7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6. 3 stas. Prompted, in 1917, by the darkly unfolding experiences of World War I.

18. _O God of light and darkness_,

7.6.7.6.D. 3 stas. 8 l. Undated.

19. _O God, whose law from age to age_

8.6.8.6.D. 4 stas. 1910.

20. _O God, whose love is over all_,

8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas. 1909.

21. _O God, whose smile is in the sky_

8.6.8.6.D. 4 stas.

Written in 1907 for the _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908, in 4 stas., C.M.D. Included in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, in 5 stas. of 4 l. with revisions approved by the author, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

22. _Old Jubal twanged the bow-string_

7.6.7.6.D. 3 stas.

Written for the 25^th anniversary of Clifford Demarest as organist of the Community Church, May 10, 1936, based on Genesis 4.21. “Jubal,—father of all such as handle the harp and the pipe.” An interesting _tour de force_ on the rise of music in praise of God.

23. _Onward still and upward_

6.5.6.5.D. 3 stas.

Written in 1950, and dedicated to the American Unitarian Association in celebration of the 125^th anniversary (1825-1950) of its founding.

24. _O Thou who in chaotic night_,

8.8.8.8.8.8. 4 stas.

Written in war time, 1918.

25. _O Thou, whose presence moved before_

C.M.D. 6 stas.

Written for use on the 10^th anniversary of his installation as Minister of the Community Church, February 4, 1917.

26. _O’er continent and ocean_

7.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.

Written for a “Service of Commemoration of a Century of British American Peace,” held in the Church of the Messiah, Montreal, Canada, at a meeting of Unitarian General Conference on September 25, 1917. In _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

27. _Show us thy way, O God!_

6.6.8.6. 4 stas.

Printed in _The Christian Century_ in 1936, included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937, with a correction by the author.

28. _The Bethlehem stars are dim tonight_

8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas. Dated 1925

29. _The voice of God is calling_

7.6.7.6.D. 4 stas.

Written in September, 1913 for the Young People’s Religious Union of Boston. In _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914. In _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937; widely used in the United States, England, translated into German, Japanese and Spanish.

30. _Thou God of all, whose presence dwells_

8.8.8.8. 4 stas.

Written some time after World War I. Intended as a protest against nationalistic theism which induced both belligerent nations to claim a monopoly of God.

31. _Thou God of all, whose Spirit moves_

8.6.8.6.D 3 stas.

Printed in _The Christian Century_, May 29, 1940 and in _The Christian Register_, August, 1940.

32. _Thy voice, O God, in every age_

8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.

Written for the Installation of Rev. Donald Harrington at the Community Church of New York on November 19, 1944.

33. _To earth’s remote horizons_

7.6.7.6.D. 4 stas.

Written in 1949 and first sung on November 27th of that year at a special service in commemoration of the retirement of Mr. Holmes from the active ministry.

34. _To Thee, O God, be homage_

7.6.7.6.D. 3 stas. 1945.

35. _When darkness, brooding o’er the deep_

8.6.8.6.D. 4 stas.

Written in 1925 on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Community Church of New York.

36. _Why trust we not our God?_

6.6.8.6. 5 stas.

Of the hymns listed above, Nos. 3, 6, 11, 18, 20, 23 and 29 have had the most widespread use.

H.W.F. in collaboration with J.H.H.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, M.D., LL.D., Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 29, 1809—October 7, 1894, Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in the famous Class of 1829, studied medicine and became a practitioner in Boston, and was appointed Professor of Anatomy in the Harvard Medical School in 1847. Although distinguished as a physician his fame is that of a man of letters gifted with a sense of humor which made him one of the wittiest men of his time. Besides important medical treatises he wrote essays, novels, biographical sketches, and poetry which brought him a great reputation in this country and in Great Britain. Much of his poetry is occasional verse, which he was often called upon to write, such as his “International Ode” to be sung to the tune “America” (“God Save the Queen”) on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1860. Oxford University gave him the honorary degree of D.C.L. in 1886. He was a member of Kings’ Chapel, (Unitarian) Boston, and two of his poems are about that church. He contributed The _Autocrat at the Breakfast Table_ to the opening issues of _The Atlantic Monthly_, 1857-58, published _The Professor at the Breakfast Table_ in 1859, _The Poet at the Breakfast Table_ in 1872. He wrote _Elsie Venner_, 1861, and two other novels. His poetry was published in _Songs in Many Keys_, 1861; _Humorous Poems_, 1865; _Before the Curfew_, 1888; and in his _Complete Poetical Works_, in 1895.

Although he made a greater contribution to American hymnody than did any other of the “New England poets” of his era, except Bryant and Whittier, his hymns were incidental literary by-products, for he was not primarily a hymn writer. They include:

1. _Angel of peace, thou hast tarried too long_

Written in 1869.

2. _Father of mercies, heavenly Friend_,

A prayer in time of war. Undated but between 1861 and 1865.

3. _Lead where the banners wave last to the sea_,

Written as an American national anthem. It appeared in his _Songs in Many Keys_, 1861, entitled “Freedom, our Queen.”

4. _Lord of all being, throned afar_, (God’s Omnipotence)

Included in _The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table_, 1848, under the title of “A Sun-day Hymn.” This is his finest hymn and has had widespread use in many collections.

5. _O Lord of hosts, Almighty King_,

Entitled “Army Hymn,” and published in _The Soldier’s Companion_, a hand-book of hymns and scripture readings issued in the fall of 1861, by the American Unitarian Association, for use by soldiers in the Union Army. It is a fine hymn, but with several lines directly referring to the immediate situation which make it unsuitable for present use and which cannot be altered or dropped without mutilating the hymn. In the same collection he wrote an “Additional Verse” appended to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” beginning

_When our land is illumined with Liberty’s smile_,

6. _O Love Divine, that stooped to share_,

Written in 1859, a hymn of trust in time of doubt and sorrow.

7. _Our Father, while our hearts unlearn,_ _The creeds that wrong thy name,_

Written for the 25^th Anniversary of the Boston Young Men’s Christian Union, May 31, 1893.

8. _Thou gracious Power whose mercy lends_,

Written in 1869 for the 40^th anniversary meeting of the Harvard Class of 1829. In the Methodist Hymn Book, 1904, altered to read

_Thou gracious God_, etc.

Of these hymns nos. 4 and 6 have had the most widespread use. Those two, and no. 1 are included in _The Pilgrim Hymnal_, 1935, and nos. 4, 6, 7 and 8 are in the Unitarian _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and In _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 530, 1649, 1713, rewritten by H.W.F.

Horton, Rev. Edward Augustus, Springfield, Massachusetts, September 28, 1843—April 15, 1931, Toronto, Canada. He studied at the University of Chicago and at Meadville Theological School, from which he graduated in 1868. He served Unitarian churches in Leominster, Massachusetts, 1868-1875; Hingham, Massachusetts, 1877-1880; and the Second Church in Boston, 1880-1892. Thereafter he was active in the work of the Unitarian Sunday School Society. In 1912 he wrote an “Anniversary Hymn” beginning,

_We honor those whose work began_,

which was included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.

H.W.F.

Hosmer, Rev. Frederick Lucian, D.D., Framingham, Massachusetts, October 16, 1840—June 7, 1929, Berkeley, California. He graduated from Harvard College in 1862, and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1869. In October of that year he was ordained minister of the First Congregational Church (Unitarian), Northborough, Massachusetts, where he served for 3 years. He served the Unitarian Church in Quincy, Illinois, 1872-1877; then spent sixteen months in Europe, returning late in 1878 to serve the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland, Ohio, 1878-1892; the Church of the Unity, St. Louis, Missouri, 1894-1899; and the First Unitarian Church, Berkeley, California, 1900-1915, where he remained as minister-emeritus until his death. In 1887 Buchtel College gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

While in the Divinity School he formed a close life-long friendship with William C. Gannett, _q.v._ Neither wrote any hymns until early middle life, Dr. Gannett’s earliest having been written in 1873, Dr. Hosmer’s in 1875, but thereafter they worked together for nearly four decades to make a contribution to American hymnody comparable to that made by Samuel Longfellow, _q.v._, and Samuel Johnson, _q.v._, a generation earlier. Of the two men it has been well said that “Gannett was the better poet, Hosmer the better hymn writer,” and many more of his hymns than of those by Gannett have come into widespread use.

Working together they edited _Unity Hymns and Chorals_, published in 1880, a revised edition of which appeared in 1911. (J. V. Blake, _q.v._, was also an editor of the first, but not of the revised edition). In 1885 they published a small collection of their poems entitled _The Thought of God in Hymns and Poems_, followed by later collections with the same title, 2^nd Series 1894, 3^rd Series 1918. In 1908 Dr. Hosmer gave a series of lectures on hymnody at the Harvard Divinity School, repeated at the Pacific Unitarian School for the Ministry, in Berkeley, California, but these have not been published.

Julian’s _Dictionary_, pp. 1650-51, lists 27 hymns by Dr. Hosmer, with “annotations—from ms. notes supplied—by the author,” as follows:—

1. _Father, to Thee we look in all our sorrow_ (Trust in God)

Written in 1881 upon the death of a member of the author’s congregation, and published in _The Thought of God_, 1^st Series, 1885.

2. _From age to age how grandly rise_ (Unity)