Benjamin Wallin › Texts

Wallin, Benjamin, son of Edward Wallin, pastor of the Baptist Church, Maze Pond, Southwark, was born in London in 1711. He received a good education under the care of the Rev. John Needham, of Hitchin (father of the hymnwriter of that name, and was for a time engaged in business. But in 1740 he responded to an earnest request to become pastor of the church over which his father had presided, and this position he retained until his death on Feb. 19, 1782. Mr. B. Wallin published nearly forty sermons, charges, and other small religious books and pamphlets. In 1750 he published a volume entitled, Evangelical Hymns and Songs, in Two Parts: Published for the Comfort and Entertainment of true Christians; with authorities at large from the Scriptures. The hymns in this volume are 100 in number, and the texts of scripture illustrated in each stanza are quoted in full in the lower part of the page. The versification is homely and the rhymes are often faulty.

Two hymns from the work are in common use:—
1. Hail, mighty Jesus [Saviour] how divine. Divine Grace.
2. When I the holy grave survey. Easter.
These, with others, appeared in A. M. Toplady's Psalms & Hymns, 1776. They are usually given with alterations, chiefly introduced by Toplady. [Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)