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Isaac Watts

1674 - 1748 Person Name: Rev. Isaac Watts Author of "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" in Sunday-School Book Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary labours. He did not retire from ministerial duties, but preached as often as his delicate health would permit. The number of Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in 1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His "Horae Lyricae" was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared in July, 1707. The first hymn he is said to have composed for religious worship, is "Behold the glories of the Lamb," written at the age of twenty. It is as a writer of psalms and hymns that he is everywhere known. Some of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. Montgomery calls Watts "the greatest name among hymn-writers," and the honour can hardly be disputed. His published hymns number more than eight hundred. Watts died November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields. A monumental statue was erected in Southampton, his native place, and there is also a monument to his memory in the South Choir of Westminster Abbey. "Happy," says the great contemporary champion of Anglican orthodoxy, "will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God." ("Memorials of Westminster Abbey," p. 325.) --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872. ================================= Watts, Isaac, D.D. The father of Dr. Watts was a respected Nonconformist, and at the birth of the child, and during its infancy, twice suffered imprisonment for his religious convictions. In his later years he kept a flourishing boarding school at Southampton. Isaac, the eldest of his nine children, was born in that town July 17, 1674. His taste for verse showed itself in early childhood. He was taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew by Mr. Pinhorn, rector of All Saints, and headmaster of the Grammar School, in Southampton. The splendid promise of the boy induced a physician of the town and other friends to offer him an education at one of the Universities for eventual ordination in the Church of England: but this he refused; and entered a Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, under the care of Mr. Thomas Rowe, the pastor of the Independent congregation at Girdlers' Hall. Of this congregation he became a member in 1693. Leaving the Academy at the age of twenty, he spent two years at home; and it was then that the bulk of the Hymns and Spiritual Songs (published 1707-9) were written, and sung from manuscripts in the Southampton Chapel. The hymn "Behold the glories of the Lamb" is said to have been the first he composed, and written as an attempt to raise the standard of praise. In answer to requests, others succeeded. The hymn "There is a land of pure delight" is said to have been suggested by the view across Southampton Water. The next six years of Watts's life were again spent at Stoke Newington, in the post of tutor to the son of an eminent Puritan, Sir John Hartopp; and to the intense study of these years must be traced the accumulation of the theological and philosophical materials which he published subsequently, and also the life-long enfeeblement of his constitution. Watts preached his first sermon when he was twenty-four years old. In the next three years he preached frequently; and in 1702 was ordained pastor of the eminent Independent congregation in Mark Lane, over which Caryl and Dr. John Owen had presided, and which numbered Mrs. Bendish, Cromwell's granddaughter, Charles Fleetwood, Charles Desborough, Sir John Hartopp, Lady Haversham, and other distinguished Independents among its members. In this year he removed to the house of Mr. Hollis in the Minories. His health began to fail in the following year, and Mr. Samuel Price was appointed as his assistant in the ministry. In 1712 a fever shattered his constitution, and Mr. Price was then appointed co-pastor of the congregation which had in the meantime removed to a new chapel in Bury Street. It was at this period that he became the guest of Sir Thomas Abney, under whose roof, and after his death (1722) that of his widow, he remained for the rest of his suffering life; residing for the longer portion of these thirty-six years principally at the beautiful country seat of Theobalds in Herts, and for the last thirteen years at Stoke Newington. His degree of D.D. was bestowed on him in 1728, unsolicited, by the University of Edinburgh. His infirmities increased on him up to the peaceful close of his sufferings, Nov. 25, 1748. He was buried in the Puritan restingplace at Bunhill Fields, but a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. His learning and piety, gentleness and largeness of heart have earned him the title of the Melanchthon of his day. Among his friends, churchmen like Bishop Gibson are ranked with Nonconformists such as Doddridge. His theological as well as philosophical fame was considerable. His Speculations on the Human Nature of the Logos, as a contribution to the great controversy on the Holy Trinity, brought on him a charge of Arian opinions. His work on The Improvement of the Mind, published in 1741, is eulogised by Johnson. His Logic was still a valued textbook at Oxford within living memory. The World to Come, published in 1745, was once a favourite devotional work, parts of it being translated into several languages. His Catechisms, Scripture History (1732), as well as The Divine and Moral Songs (1715), were the most popular text-books for religious education fifty years ago. The Hymns and Spiritual Songs were published in 1707-9, though written earlier. The Horae Lyricae, which contains hymns interspersed among the poems, appeared in 1706-9. Some hymns were also appended at the close of the several Sermons preached in London, published in 1721-24. The Psalms were published in 1719. The earliest life of Watts is that by his friend Dr. Gibbons. Johnson has included him in his Lives of the Poets; and Southey has echoed Johnson's warm eulogy. The most interesting modern life is Isaac Watts: his Life and Writings, by E. Paxton Hood. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] A large mass of Dr. Watts's hymns and paraphrases of the Psalms have no personal history beyond the date of their publication. These we have grouped together here and shall preface the list with the books from which they are taken. (l) Horae Lyricae. Poems chiefly of the Lyric kind. In Three Books Sacred: i.To Devotion and Piety; ii. To Virtue, Honour, and Friendship; iii. To the Memory of the Dead. By I. Watts, 1706. Second edition, 1709. (2) Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In Three Books: i. Collected from the Scriptures; ii. Composed on Divine Subjects; iii. Prepared for the Lord's Supper. By I. Watts, 1707. This contained in Bk i. 78 hymns; Bk. ii. 110; Bk. iii. 22, and 12 doxologies. In the 2nd edition published in 1709, Bk. i. was increased to 150; Bk. ii. to 170; Bk. iii. to 25 and 15 doxologies. (3) Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children. By I. Watts, London, 1715. (4) The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, And apply'd to the Christian State and Worship. By I. Watts. London: Printed by J. Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry, &c, 1719. (5) Sermons with hymns appended thereto, vol. i., 1721; ii., 1723; iii. 1727. In the 5th ed. of the Sermons the three volumes, in duodecimo, were reduced to two, in octavo. (6) Reliquiae Juveniles: Miscellaneous Thoughts in Prose and Verse, on Natural, Moral, and Divine Subjects; Written chiefly in Younger Years. By I. Watts, D.D., London, 1734. (7) Remnants of Time. London, 1736. 454 Hymns and Versions of the Psalms, in addition to the centos are all in common use at the present time. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================================== Watts, I. , p. 1241, ii. Nearly 100 hymns, additional to those already annotated, are given in some minor hymn-books. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ================= Watts, I. , p. 1236, i. At the time of the publication of this Dictionary in 1892, every copy of the 1707 edition of Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs was supposed to have perished, and all notes thereon were based upon references which were found in magazines and old collections of hymns and versions of the Psalms. Recently three copies have been recovered, and by a careful examination of one of these we have been able to give some of the results in the revision of pp. 1-1597, and the rest we now subjoin. i. Hymns in the 1709 ed. of Hymns and Spiritual Songs which previously appeared in the 1707 edition of the same book, but are not so noted in the 1st ed. of this Dictionary:— On pp. 1237, L-1239, ii., Nos. 18, 33, 42, 43, 47, 48, 60, 56, 58, 59, 63, 75, 82, 83, 84, 85, 93, 96, 99, 102, 104, 105, 113, 115, 116, 123, 124, 134, 137, 139, 146, 147, 148, 149, 162, 166, 174, 180, 181, 182, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 200, 202. ii. Versions of the Psalms in his Psalms of David, 1719, which previously appeared in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707:— On pp. 1239, U.-1241, i., Nos. 241, 288, 304, 313, 314, 317, 410, 441. iii. Additional not noted in the revision:— 1. My soul, how lovely is the place; p. 1240, ii. 332. This version of Ps. lxiv. first appeared in the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, as "Ye saints, how lovely is the place." 2. Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine; p. 1055, ii. In the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, Bk. i., No. 35, and again in his Psalms of David, 1719. 3. Sing to the Lord with [cheerful] joyful voice, p. 1059, ii. This version of Ps. c. is No. 43 in the Hymns & Spiritual Songs, 1707, Bk. i., from which it passed into the Ps. of David, 1719. A careful collation of the earliest editions of Watts's Horae Lyricae shows that Nos. 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, p. 1237, i., are in the 1706 ed., and that the rest were added in 1709. Of the remaining hymns, Nos. 91 appeared in his Sermons, vol. ii., 1723, and No. 196 in Sermons, vol. i., 1721. No. 199 was added after Watts's death. It must be noted also that the original title of what is usually known as Divine and Moral Songs was Divine Songs only. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) =========== See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Catherine Winkworth

1827 - 1878 Translator (from German) of "I Say to All Men Far and Near" in The Cyber Hymnal Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used in many modern hymnals. Her work was published in two series of Lyra Germanica (1855, 1858) and in The Chorale Book for England (1863), which included the appropriate German tune with each text as provided by Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. Winkworth also translated biographies of German Christians who promoted ministries to the poor and sick and compiled a handbook of biographies of German hymn authors, Christian Singers of Germany (1869). Bert Polman ======================== Winkworth, Catherine, daughter of Henry Winkworth, of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was born in London, Sep. 13, 1829. Most of her early life was spent in the neighbourhood of Manchester. Subsequently she removed with the family to Clifton, near Bristol. She died suddenly of heart disease, at Monnetier, in Savoy, in July, 1878. Miss Winkworth published:— Translations from the German of the Life of Pastor Fliedner, the Founder of the Sisterhood of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserworth, 1861; and of the Life of Amelia Sieveking, 1863. Her sympathy with practical efforts for the benefit of women, and with a pure devotional life, as seen in these translations, received from her the most practical illustration possible in the deep and active interest which she took in educational work in connection with the Clifton Association for the Higher Education of Women, and kindred societies there and elsewhere. Our interest, however, is mainly centred in her hymnological work as embodied in her:— (1) Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855. (2) Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858. (3) The Chorale Book for England (containing translations from the German, together with music), 1863; and (4) her charming biographical work, the Christian Singers of Germany, 1869. In a sympathetic article on Miss Winkworth in the Inquirer of July 20, 1878, Dr. Martineau says:— "The translations contained in these volumes are invariably faithful, and for the most part both terse and delicate; and an admirable art is applied to the management of complex and difficult versification. They have not quite the fire of John Wesley's versions of Moravian hymns, or the wonderful fusion and reproduction of thought which may be found in Coleridge. But if less flowing they are more conscientious than either, and attain a result as poetical as severe exactitude admits, being only a little short of ‘native music'" Dr. Percival, then Principal of Clifton College, also wrote concerning her (in the Bristol Times and Mirror), in July, 1878:— "She was a person of remarkable intellectual and social gifts, and very unusual attainments; but what specially distinguished her was her combination of rare ability and great knowledge with a certain tender and sympathetic refinement which constitutes the special charm of the true womanly character." Dr. Martineau (as above) says her religious life afforded "a happy example of the piety which the Church of England discipline may implant.....The fast hold she retained of her discipleship of Christ was no example of ‘feminine simplicity,' carrying on the childish mind into maturer years, but the clear allegiance of a firm mind, familiar with the pretensions of non-Christian schools, well able to test them, and undiverted by them from her first love." Miss Winkworth, although not the earliest of modern translators from the German into English, is certainly the foremost in rank and popularity. Her translations are the most widely used of any from that language, and have had more to do with the modern revival of the English use of German hymns than the versions of any other writer. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============================ See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

William Cowper

1731 - 1800 Author of "When Hagar Found the Bottle Spent" in The Cyber Hymnal William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional stability, but the periods of severe depression returned. His depression was deepened by a religious bent, which often stressed the wrath of God, and at times Cowper felt that God had predestined him to damnation. For the last two decades of his life Cowper lived in Olney, where John Newton became his pastor. There he assisted Newton in his pastoral duties, and the two collaborated on the important hymn collection Olney Hymns (1779), to which Cowper contributed sixty-eight hymn texts. Bert Polman ============ Cowper, William, the poet. The leading events in the life of Cowper are: born in his father's rectory, Berkhampstead, Nov. 26, 1731; educated at Westminster; called to the Bar, 1754; madness, 1763; residence at Huntingdon, 1765; removal to Olney, 1768; to Weston, 1786; to East Dereham, 1795; death there, April 25, 1800. The simple life of Cowper, marked chiefly by its innocent recreations and tender friendships, was in reality a tragedy. His mother, whom he commemorated in the exquisite "Lines on her picture," a vivid delineation of his childhood, written in his 60th year, died when he was six years old. At his first school he was profoundly wretched, but happier at Westminster; excelling at cricket and football, and numbering Warren Hastings, Colman, and the future model of his versification. Churchill, among his contemporaries or friends. Destined for the Bar, he was articled to a solicitor, along with Thurlow. During this period he fell in love with his cousin, Theodora Cowper, sister to Lady Hesketh, and wrote love poems to her. The marriage was forbidden by her father, but she never forgot him, and in after years secretly aided his necessities. Fits of melancholy, from which he had suffered in school days, began to increase, as he entered on life, much straitened in means after his father's death. But on the whole, it is the playful, humorous side of him that is most prominent in the nine years after his call to the Bar; spent in the society of Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Lloyd, and in writing satires for The Connoisseur and St. James's Chronicle and halfpenny ballads. Then came the awful calamity, which destroyed all hopes of distinction, and made him a sedentary invalid, dependent on his friends. He had been nominated to the Clerkship of the Journals of the House of Lords, but the dread of appearing before them to show his fitness for the appointment overthrew his reason. He attempted his life with "laudanum, knife and cord,"—-in the third attempt nearly succeeding. The dark delusion of his life now first showed itself—a belief in his reprobation by God. But for the present, under the wise and Christian treatment of Dr. Cotton (q. v.) at St. Albans, it passed away; and the eight years that followed, of which the two first were spent at Huntingdon (where he formed his lifelong friendship with Mrs. Unwin), and the remainder at Olney in active piety among the poor, and enthusiastic devotions under the guidance of John Newton (q. v.), were full of the realisation of God's favour, and the happiest, most lucid period of his life. But the tension of long religious exercises, the nervous excitement of leading at prayer meetings, and the extreme despondence (far more than the Calvinism) of Newton, could scarcely have been a healthy atmosphere for a shy, sensitive spirit, that needed most of all the joyous sunlight of Christianity. A year after his brother's death, madness returned. Under the conviction that it was the command of God, he attempted suicide; and he then settled down into a belief in stark contradiction to his Calvinistic creed, "that the Lord, after having renewed him in holiness, had doomed him to everlasting perdition" (Southey). In its darkest form his affliction lasted sixteen months, during which he chiefly resided in J. Newton's house, patiently tended by him and by his devoted nurse, Mrs. Unwin. Gradually he became interested in carpentering, gardening, glazing, and the tendance of some tame hares and other playmates. At the close of 1780, Mrs. Unwin suggested to him some serious poetical work; and the occupation proved so congenial, that his first volume was published in 1782. To a gay episode in 1783 (his fascination by the wit of Lady Austen) his greatest poem, The Task, and also John Gilpin were owing. His other principal work was his Homer, published in 1791. The dark cloud had greatly lifted from his life when Lady Hesketh's care accomplished his removal to Weston (1786): but the loss of his dear friend William Unwin lowered it again for some months. The five years' illness of Mrs. Unwin, during which his nurse of old became his tenderly-watched patient, deepened the darkness more and more. And her death (1796) brought “fixed despair," of which his last poem, The Castaway, is the terrible memorial. Perhaps no more beautiful sentence has been written of him, than the testimony of one, who saw him after death, that with the "composure and calmness" of the face there “mingled, as it were, a holy surprise." Cowper's poetry marks the dawn of the return from the conventionality of Pope to natural expression, and the study of quiet nature. His ambition was higher than this, to be the Bard of Christianity. His great poems show no trace of his monomania, and are full of healthy piety. His fame as a poet is less than as a letter-writer: the charm of his letters is unsurpassed. Though the most considerable poet, who has written hymns, he has contributed little to the development of their structure, adopting the traditional modes of his time and Newton's severe canons. The spiritual ideas of the hymns are identical with Newton's: their highest note is peace and thankful contemplation, rather than joy: more than half of them are full of trustful or reassuring faith: ten of them are either submissive (44), self-reproachful (17, 42, 43), full of sad yearning (1, 34), questioning (9), or dark spiritual conflict (38-40). The specialty of Cowper's handling is a greater plaintiveness, tenderness, and refinement. A study of these hymns as they stood originally under the classified heads of the Olney Hymns, 1779, which in some cases probably indicate the aim of Cowper as well as the ultimate arrangement of the book by Newton, shows that one or two hymns were more the history of his conversion, than transcripts of present feelings; and the study of Newton's hymns in the same volume, full of heavy indictment against the sins of his own regenerate life, brings out the peculiar danger of his friendship to the poet: it tends also to modify considerably the conclusions of Southey as to the signs of incipient madness in Cowper's maddest hymns. Cowper's best hymns are given in The Book of Praise by Lord Selborne. Two may be selected from them; the exquisitely tender "Hark! my soul, it is the Lord" (q. v.), and "Oh, for a closer walk with God" (q. v.). Anyone who knows Mrs. Browning's noble lines on Cowper's grave will find even a deeper beauty in the latter, which is a purely English hymn of perfect structure and streamlike cadence, by connecting its sadness and its aspiration not only with the “discord on the music" and the "darkness on the glory," but the rapture of his heavenly waking beneath the "pathetic eyes” of Christ. Authorities. Lives, by Hayley; Grimshaw; Southey; Professor Goldwin Smith; Mr. Benham (attached to Globe Edition); Life of Newton, by Rev. Josiah Bull; and the Olney Hymns. The numbers of the hymns quoted refer to the Olney Hymns. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Cowper, W. , p. 265, i. Other hymns are:— 1. Holy Lord God, I love Thy truth. Hatred of Sin. 2. I was a grovelling creature once. Hope and Confidence. 3. No strength of nature can suffice. Obedience through love. 4. The Lord receives His highest praise. Faith. 5. The saints should never be dismayed. Providence. All these hymns appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Cowper, W., p. 265, i. Prof. John E. B. Mayor, of Cambridge, contributed some letters by Cowper, hitherto unpublished, together with notes thereon, to Notes and Queries, July 2 to Sept. 24, 1904. These letters are dated from Huntingdon, where he spent two years after leaving St. Alban's (see p. 265, i.), and Olney. The first is dated "Huntingdon, June 24, 1765," and the last "From Olney, July 14, 1772." They together with extracts from other letters by J. Newton (dated respectively Aug. 8, 1772, Nov. 4, 1772), two quotations without date, followed by the last in the N. & Q. series, Aug. 1773, are of intense interest to all students of Cowper, and especially to those who have given attention to the religious side of the poet's life, with its faint lights and deep and awful shadows. From the hymnological standpoint the additional information which we gather is not important, except concerning the hymns "0 for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way," "Tis my happiness below," and "Hear what God, the Lord, hath spoken." Concerning the last three, their position in the manuscripts, and the date of the last from J. Newton in the above order, "Aug. 1773," is conclusive proof against the common belief that "God moves in a mysterious way" was written as the outpouring of Cowper's soul in gratitude for the frustration of his attempted suicide in October 1773. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

John Newton

1725 - 1807 Author of "Bleak Winter Is Subdued At Length" in The Cyber Hymnal John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide-surveyor in Liverpool, England, Newton came under the influence of George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley and began to study for the ministry. He was ordained in the Church of England and served in Olney (1764-1780) and St. Mary Woolnoth, London (1780-1807). His legacy to the Christian church includes his hymns as well as his collaboration with William Cowper (PHH 434) in publishing Olney Hymns (1779), to which Newton contributed 280 hymns, including “Amazing Grace.” Bert Polman ================== Newton, John, who was born in London, July 24, 1725, and died there Dec. 21, 1807, occupied an unique position among the founders of the Evangelical School, due as much to the romance of his young life and the striking history of his conversion, as to his force of character. His mother, a pious Dissenter, stored his childish mind with Scripture, but died when he was seven years old. At the age of eleven, after two years' schooling, during which he learned the rudiments of Latin, he went to sea with his father. His life at sea teems with wonderful escapes, vivid dreams, and sailor recklessness. He grew into an abandoned and godless sailor. The religious fits of his boyhood changed into settled infidelity, through the study of Shaftesbury and the instruction of one of his comrades. Disappointing repeatedly the plans of his father, he was flogged as a deserter from the navy, and for fifteen months lived, half-starved and ill-treated, in abject degradation under a slave-dealer in Africa. The one restraining influence of his life was his faithful love for his future wife, Mary Catlett, formed when he was seventeen, and she only in her fourteenth year. A chance reading of Thomas à Kempis sowed the seed of his conversion; which quickened under the awful contemplations of a night spent in steering a water-logged vessel in the face of apparent death (1748). He was then twenty-three. The six following years, during which he commanded a slave ship, matured his Christian belief. Nine years more, spent chiefly at Liverpool, in intercourse with Whitefield, Wesley, and Nonconformists, in the study of Hebrew and Greek, in exercises of devotion and occasional preaching among the Dissenters, elapsed before his ordination to the curacy of Olney, Bucks (1764). The Olney period was the most fruitful of his life. His zeal in pastoral visiting, preaching and prayer-meetings was unwearied. He formed his lifelong friendship with Cowper, and became the spiritual father of Scott the commentator. At Olney his best works—-Omicron's Letters (1774); Olney Hymns (1779); Cardiphonia, written from Olney, though published 1781—were composed. As rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, London, in the centre of the Evangelical movement (1780-1807) his zeal was as ardent as before. In 1805, when no longer able to read his text, his reply when pressed to discontinue preaching, was, "What, shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak!" The story of his sins and his conversion, published by himself, and the subject of lifelong allusion, was the base of his influence; but it would have been little but for the vigour of his mind (shown even in Africa by his reading Euclid drawing its figures on the sand), his warm heart, candour, tolerance, and piety. These qualities gained him the friendship of Hannah More, Cecil, Wilberforce, and others; and his renown as a guide in experimental religion made him the centre of a host of inquirers, with whom he maintained patient, loving, and generally judicious correspondence, of which a monument remains in the often beautiful letters of Cardiphonia. As a hymnwriter, Montgomery says that he was distanced by Cowper. But Lord Selborne's contrast of the "manliness" of Newton and the "tenderness" of Cowper is far juster. A comparison of the hymns of both in The Book of Praise will show no great inequality between them. Amid much that is bald, tame, and matter-of-fact, his rich acquaintance with Scripture, knowledge of the heart, directness and force, and a certain sailor imagination, tell strongly. The one splendid hymn of praise, "Glorious things of thee are spoken," in the Olney collection, is his. "One there is above all others" has a depth of realizing love, sustained excellence of expression, and ease of development. "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds" is in Scriptural richness superior, and in structure, cadence, and almost tenderness, equal to Cowper's "Oh! for a closer walk with God." The most characteristic hymns are those which depict in the language of intense humiliation his mourning for the abiding sins of his regenerate life, and the sense of the withdrawal of God's face, coincident with the never-failing conviction of acceptance in The Beloved. The feeling may be seen in the speeches, writings, and diaries of his whole life. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] A large number of Newton's hymns have some personal history connected with them, or were associated with circumstances of importance. These are annotated under their respective first lines. Of the rest, the known history of which is confined to the fact that they appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779, the following are in common use:— 1. Be still, my heart, these anxious cares. Conflict. 2. Begone, unbelief, my Saviour is near. Trust. 3. By the poor widow's oil and meal. Providence. 4. Chief Shepherd of Thy chosen sheep. On behalf of Ministers. 5. Darkness overspreads us here. Hope. 6. Does the Gospel-word proclaim. Rest in Christ. 7. Fix my heart and eyes on Thine. True Happiness. 8. From Egypt lately freed. The Pilgrim's Song. 9. He Who on earth as man was Known. Christ the Rock. 10. How blest are they to whom the Lord. Gospel Privileges. 11. How blest the righteous are. Death of the Righteous. 12. How lost was my [our] condition. Christ the Physician. 13. How tedious and tasteless the hours. Fellowship with Christ. 14. How welcome to the saints [soul] when pressed. Sunday. 15. Hungry, and faint, and poor. Before Sermon. 16. In mercy, not in wrath, rebuke. Pleading for Mercy. 17. In themselves, as weak as worms. Power of Prayer. 18. Incarnate God, the soul that knows. The Believer's Safety. 19. Jesus, Who bought us with His blood. The God of Israel. "Teach us, 0 Lord, aright to plead," is from this hymn. 20. Joy is a [the] fruit that will not grow. Joy. 21. Let hearts and tongues unite. Close of the Year. From this "Now, through another year," is taken. 22. Let us adore the grace that seeks. New Year. 23. Mary to her [the] Saviour's tomb. Easter. 24. Mercy, 0 Thou Son of David. Blind Bartimeus. 25. My harp untun'd and laid aside. Hoping for a Revival. From this "While I to grief my soul gave way" is taken. 26. Nay, I cannot let thee go. Prayer. Sometimes, "Lord, I cannot let Thee go." 27. Now may He Who from the dead. After Sermon. 28. 0 happy they who know the Lord, With whom He deigns to dwell. Gospel Privilege. 29. O Lord, how vile am I. Lent. 30. On man in His own Image made. Adam. 31. 0 speak that gracious word again. Peace through Pardon. 32. Our Lord, Who knows full well. The Importunate Widow. Sometimes altered to "Jesus, Who knows full well," and again, "The Lord, Who truly knows." 33. Physician of my sin-sick soul. Lent. 34. Pleasing spring again is here. Spring. 35. Poor, weak, and worthless, though I am. Jesus the Friend. 36. Prepare a thankful song. Praise to Jesus. 37. Refreshed by the bread and wine. Holy Communion. Sometimes given as "Refreshed by sacred bread and wine." 38. Rejoice, believer, in the Lord. Sometimes “Let us rejoice in Christ the Lord." Perseverance. 39. Salvation, what a glorious plan. Salvation. 40. Saviour, shine and cheer my soul. Trust in Jesus. The cento "Once I thought my mountain strong," is from this hymn. 41. Saviour, visit Thy plantation. Prayer for the Church. 42. See another year [week] is gone. Uncertainty of Life. 43. See the corn again in ear. Harvest. 44. Sinner, art thou still secure? Preparation for the Future. 45. Sinners, hear the [thy] Saviour's call. Invitation. 46. Sovereign grace has power alone. The two Malefactors. 47. Stop, poor sinner, stop and think. Caution and Alarm. 48. Sweeter sounds than music knows. Christmas. 49. Sweet was the time when first I felt. Joy in Believing. 50. Ten thousand talents once I owed. Forgiveness and Peace. 51. The grass and flowers, which clothe the field. Hay-time. 52. The peace which God alone reveals. Close of Service. 53. Thy promise, Lord, and Thy command. Before Sermon. 54. Time, by moments, steals away. The New Year. 55. To Thee our wants are known. Close of Divine Service. 56. We seek a rest beyond the skies. Heaven anticipated. 57. When any turn from Zion's way. Jesus only. 58. When Israel, by divine command. God, the Guide and Sustainer of Life. 59. With Israel's God who can compare? After Sermon. 60. Yes, since God Himself has said it. Confidence. 61. Zion, the city of our God. Journeying Zionward. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= Newton, J., p. 803, i. Another hymn in common use from the Olney Hymns, 1779, is "Let me dwell on Golgotha" (Holy Communion). --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ----- John Newton was born in London, July 24, 1725. His mother died when he was seven years old. In his eleventh year he accompanied his father, a sea captain, on a voyage. For several years his life was one of dissipation and crime. He was disgraced while in the navy. Afterwards he engaged in the slave trade. Returning to England in 1748, the vessel was nearly wrecked in a storm. This peril forced solemn reflection upon him, and from that time he was a changed man. It was six years, however, before he relinquished the slave trade, which was not then regarded as an unlawful occupation. But in 1754, he gave up sea-faring life, and holding some favourable civil position, began also religious work. In 1764, in his thirty-ninth year, he entered upon a regular ministry as the Curate of Olney. In this position he had intimate intercourse with Cowper, and with him produced the "Olney Hymns." In 1779, Newton became Rector of S. Mary Woolnoth, in London, in which position he became more widely known. It was here he died, Dec. 21, 1807, His published works are quite numerous, consisting of sermons, letters, devotional aids, and hymns. He calls his hymns "The fruit and expression of his own experience." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872 See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church =======================

John Needham

? - 1786 Author of "'Tis Nature's Voice Which Reason Speaks" in The Cyber Hymnal Needham, John, was the son of John Needham, Baptist Minister, of Hitchin, Herts, but the date of his birth is unknown. He would doubtless be educated by his father, who was a tutor and in repute as a learned man. In 1750 Needham became co-pastor with John Beddome at the Baptist meetinghouse in the Pithay, Bristol; but, two years later, Beddome having retired through age, a violent controversy arose in the Church with regard to a continuance of the plan of co-pastorship. As the result, Needham and a number of his friends removed to a Baptist meetinghouse in Callowhill Street, where a Mr. Foot was pastor. For a time the two societies used the same builing at different hours, but in 1755 they were united, with Mr. Needham and Mr. Foot as co-pastors. It is known that up to 1774 this arrangement continued, and it is also known that in 1787, both Mr. Needham and Mr. Foot having died, the Callowhill Street Church became extinct, but which of the two pastors was the survivor is not known. The date of Needham's death is unknown. It was probably circa 1786. In 1768 he published Hymns Devotional and Moral on various Subjects, collected chiefly from the Holy Scriptures, &c, Bristol, S. Farley, 1768. These hymns are 263 in all, and whilst none of them possess great excellence, yet several are of a pleasing and useful character. During the past 120 years several have appeared in Nonconformist hymnbooks, and specially in those of the Baptists. Of these the following are still in common use:— 1. Ashamed of Christ! my soul disdains. Not ashamed of Christ. 2. Awake, my tongue, thy tribute bring. The Divine Perfections. 3. Glory to God, Who reigns above. Jesus, the Messiah. 4. Great author of the immortal mind. Imitation of God's Moral Perfections. From "flow matchless, Lord, Thy glories are." 5. Happy the man whose cautious steps. Christian Moderation. 6. Holy and reverend is the Name. Reverence in Worship. 7. Kind are the words that Jesus speaks. Christ the Strengthener. 8. Lord,ere [Now Lord] the heavenly seed is sown. Parable of the Sower. 9. Methinks the last great day is come. The Judgment. 10. Rise, O my soul, pursue the path. The Example of the Saints. 11. See how the little toiling ant. Youth for Christ. 12. Thou art, O God, a Spirit pure. God a Spirit. 13. To praise the ever bounteous Lord. Harvest. 14. When some kind shepherd from his fold. The Lost Sheep. From this “O how divine, how sweet the joy," in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, New York, 1872, is taken. [Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Karl Spazier

1761 - 1805 Person Name: Spazier Composer of "ICH SAG ES JEDEM DAS ER LEBT" in Sunday-School Book Also known as Carl Spazier, Johann Karl Gottlieb Spazier, and Johann Gottlieb Karl Spazier

Herman H. Brueckner

1866 - 1942 Person Name: H. Brueckner Author of "All Hail, Thou Day Of Wondrous Grace" in American Lutheran Hymnal Born: March 11, 1866, Grundy County, Iowa (birth name: Herman Heinrich Moritz Brueckner). Died: January 25, 1942, Hebron, Nebraska (funeral held in Beatrice, Nebraska). Buried: St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Waverly, Iowa. After ordination in 1888, Brueckner pastored in Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. He later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University in 1917. In 1926, he joined the faculty of Hebron College in Nebraska. In 1938, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He retired as professor emeritus from Hebron College in 1941. Sources: Erickson, p. 254 Findagrave, accessed 14 Nov 2016 Hustad, p. 213 Stulken, p. 325 © The Cyber Hymnal™. Used by permission. (www.hymntime.com)

Georg Friedrich Philipp von Hardenberg

1772 - 1801 Person Name: Friedrich von Hardenberg Author of "I Say to All Men Far and Near" in The Cyber Hymnal Pseudonym: Novalis. See also Novalis, 1772-1801 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hardenberg, Georg Friedrich Philipp von, was son of Baron Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus von Hardenberg, director of the Saxon Saltworks at Weissenfels. He was born May 2, 1772, at his father's estate of Widerstedt or Ober-Wiederstäd, near Eisleben. In the autumn of 1790 he entered the University of Jena, then went to Leipzig, and finally to Wittenberg. After concluding his studies, he went, in the end of 1794, to Tennstädt, near Erfurt, in order to learn administrative business under Kreisamtmann Just. In the autumn of 1797 he entered the School of Mines at Freiberg in Saxony, and in the autumn of 1799 went to Artern, at the foot of the Kyffhäuser-Berg, to be employed in the saltworks there. Soon after he began to spit blood, and while on a visit to Dresden the news of the sudden death of a younger brother, in Nov. 1800, brought on a hemorrhage which destroyed all hopes of his recovery. In January, 1801, he was removed to the house of his parents at Weissenfels, and died there March 25, 1801. (Koch, vii. 4-9; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, x. 562-570; Blätter für Hymnologie, 1884, 3-6, &c.) Hardenberg's various writings appeared under the name of Novalis (apparently taken from the name of one of the family estates), which he first adopted in his Blüthenstaub, published in the Athenæum, Brunswick, 1798; and it is as Novalis that he is best known. He was one of the leaders of the Romantic School which arose in Germany in the last years of the 18th century, and of which his friends F. and A. W. Schlegel, Fouque and Tieck are the best known members. It is, however, by his hymns that he will probably best be remembered. They arose in the time of deep sorrow into which he was cast on the death of his betrothed Sophie von Kühn, when his thoughts turned to the faith of his childhood (his father and mother were Moravians, and his early education was imparted by a Moravian pastor); and when from the barren religiosity of the latter days of Illumination his soul found its strength and solace in loving surrender to the Person of our Blessed Lord. His hymns, 15 in all, are distinguished by beauty of rhythm and lyric grace. While some have been included in recent German hymn-books (e.g. Nos. ii.-iv. in the Berlin Gesang-buch, 1829, through the influence of F. Schleiermacher), yet for Church use they are too subjective, and in some cases even too sentimental. They must be regarded as beautiful and deeply spiritual poems, rather than as hymns suited for public worship. Some of them are not altogether free from Pantheistic tendencies. The Marienlieder (i.e. the hymns to the B. V. M.) were not intended by himself to be published among his hymns, but were meant to be inserted in his unfinished romance of Heinrich von Ofterdingen, as hymns of pilgrims to the shrine of the B. V. M. at Loretto in Italy. Seven of his hymns were sent, on Jan. 20, 1800, to P. Schlegel for publication in the Athenæum. They did not however appear till in the Musenalmanach für das Jahr, 1802, published at Tübingen, 1802. The rest of his hymns were published in his Schriften, Berlin, 1807. A handy little edition of his Gedichte, with a critical and biographical sketch by W. Beyschlag, appeared in 1869 (2nd ed. 1877). Since the publication of T. Carlyle's Essay on Novalis in 1829, numerous "Studies" have appeared in English and American reviews and magazines; and some of these may contain translations not noted below. Hardenberg's hymns, all of which have been rendered into English, are as follows :— I. Hymns in English common use:-- i. Ich sag' es jedem, das er lebt. Easter. In his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 143, in 8 st. of 4 l. Repeated in the Württemberg Gesang-buch, 1842, No. 165. Translated as :-— I say to all men, far and near, in full, by Miss Winkworth in her Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858, p. 40. In full in Kennedy, 1863 ; and in varying centos in America in the Dutch Reformed Hymns of the Church, 1869; Baptist Praise Book, 1871; Hymns & Songs of Praise, N. Y., 1874, &c. Other translations are: (1) "I say to every one, He lives," by Helen Lowe, in her Zareefa, 1844, p. 166. (2) "To every one I say," by Dr. J. F. Hurst, in his translation of K. R. Hagenbach's History of the Church 18 and 19 centuries, N. Y., 1869, vol. ii. p. 283. (3) "I say to each man that He lives," by M. E. Bramston, in theDay of Rest, 1875, p. 69. (4) "He lives! He's risen from the dead," by Dr. G. Macdonald, in his Exotics, 1876, p. 22. [The hymn "He lives! He lives! let joy again," by Sir John Bowring, in J. R. Beard's Collection, 1837, No. 145, seems based on this German.] ii. Was wär ich ohne dich gewesen. The Love of Christ. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 189, and his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 123, in 10 st. of 8 1. Included in various German hymn-books, and is No. 1562 in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863. It is said that shortly after the death of Novalis his father was present at a Moravian service at Herrnhut during which this hymn was sung. When he asked who was the author of this wonderfully beautiful hymn, he was greatly moved on receiving the reply, "Your son." And then in a moment it became clear to him that the Christ who had been the Crown and Star of his heart ever since his youth, was also his son's Saviour and Deliverer, though he had sought and found Him by a different way. The translations in common use are :— 1. What had I been if Thou wert not, a free translation of st. i.-iii., viii., v., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855, p. 96. Centos from this are:— (1) Lord! when Thou mak'st Thy presence felt (st. iii.) in the Swedenborgian Collection, 1880. (2) Thou strong ana loving God in man (st. iv.), in Hymns of the Spirit, Boston, U.S., 1864. (3) Thou strong and loving Son of Man (st. iv.), in H. L. Hastings's Hymnal, Boston, U.S., 1880. 2. Without Thee, Lord, what had we been, a paraphrase or transfusion in 3 st. of 8 1., by Dr. W. L. Alexander, written about 1830, but first published in the second edition, 1858, of his Selection of Hymns, No. 323. Other translations are: (1) "What might I not have been without Thee," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 216. (2) "What without Thee, would I have been," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 78). (3) "Without Thee, what were I worth being", by Dr. G. Macdonald, in Good Words, 1871, p. 846. Thence (as “Without Thee what were all my being"), in his Exotics, 1876, p. 3. iii. Wenn alle untreu werden. Love to Christ. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 200, and his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 136, in 4 st. of 8 1. Included in the Berlin Gesangbuch, 1829 ; the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863, No. 1563, &c. Translated as:— Though all the world forsake Thee, a free translation, in 6 st. of 4 1., by J. S. Stallybrass, as No. 417 in Curwen's Sabbath Hymnbook, 1859. Other translations are: (1) Tho' all men faith had banished," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 222; and thence in Lyra Eucharistica, 1864, p. 100. (2) "Though all to Thee were faithless," by Miss Winkworth, 1855, p. 165. (3) Though all were faithless to Thee," by M. E. Bramston, in the Day of Rest, 1875, p. 68. (4) "My faith to Thee I break not," by Dr. G. Macdonald, in his Exotics, 1876, p. 15. iv. Wenn ich Ihn nur habe. Jesus only. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 199, and his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 134, in 5 st. of 6 1. In various recent German hymnbooks, as the Württemberg Gesang-buch, 1842, the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863, No. 1564, &c. Translated as:— If I Him but have, by Dr. G. Macdonald, as No. 172 in the Manchester Sunday School Hymnbook, 1855 (see Bubier), and in his own Exotics, 1876, p. 13. Other translations are: (1) "If I have only Him," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 221, repeated in Lyra Messianica, 1864, p. 207. (2) "Oh! could my soul possess His love,” by Miss Fry, 1845, p. 114. (3) “If I only have Thee,” by Dr. G. W. Bethune, in his Lays of Love and Faith, 1847, p. 139. (4) "If only He is mine," by Miss Borthwick, in Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1855, p. 54. (5) "If I have Christ, and Christ be mine," by Dr. G. Walker, 1860, p. 52. (6) “If I trust in God alone," by Frederica M. Rowan, in her Meditations on Death and Eternity, 1862, p. 88. II. Hymns not in English common use: -- v. Es giebt so bange Zeiten. The Unchanging. Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 145, in 7 st. The translations are: (1) "How dark the seasons lour," by Helen Lowe, in her Zareefa, 1844, p. 164. (2) “There are dark hours of sadness," by Madame L. Davésiés de Pontès, in her Poets and Poetry of Germany, 1858, ii. p. 408. (3) “There be such dreary seasons," by M. E. Bramston, in the Day of Rest, 1875, p. 55. (4) "The times are all so wretched," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 24. vi. Fern im Osten wird es helle. Christmas. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 193, and his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 128, in 6 st. The translations are: (1) "Afar the Eastern sky is glowing," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 218, and Lyra Messianica, 1864, p. 87. (2) "Dawn, far Eastward on the mountain," by Dr. G. Macdonald, in Good Words, 1872, p. 216, and his Exotics, 1876, p. 7. vii. Ich sehe dich in tausend Bildern. B. Y. M. Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 157, in 8 1. Translated as: (1) "In many a form I see thee oft," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 229. (2) "In countless pictures I behold thee," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 36. viii. Ich weiss nicht was ich suchen könnte, Desire for Christ. Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 147, in 12 st. The translations are: (1) "I know not what I could desire," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 223, and Lyra Mystica, 1864, p. 218. (2) "How could I wish a greater treasure," by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 72). (3) "I know not one hope left to draw me," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 26. (4) "What better good could e'er befall me," by R. Massie, in the Day of Rest, 1878, p. ill. (5) "I know not what I more should long for," by F. W. Young, in the Christian Monthly, 1880, p. 559. ix. Unter tausend frohen Stunden. Communion with God. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 197, and his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 132, in 4 st. The translations are: (1) "Of all the golden hours whose light," by Helen Lowe, in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 220. (2) "All my world was struck with storm" (st. ii.), by M. E. Bramston, in the Day of Rest, 1875, p. 55. (3) "Of a thousand hours me meeting," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 11. x. Weinen muss ich, immer weinen. Passiontide. Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 141, in 7 st. Translated as, "Weep I must—-my heart runs over," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 20. xi. Wenige wissen das Geheimniss der Liebe. Holy Communion. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 202, and Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 138, in 2 stanzas. Translated as, "Few understand the mystery of love," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 17. xii. Wenn in bangen, trüben Stunden . In sorrow. Schriften , 1802, pt. ii. p. 153, in 2 st. The translations are: (1) "When in hours of pain and anguish," by Madame L. Davésiés de Pontès, in her Poets and Poetry of Germany, 1858, ii. p. 407. (2) "When in dreary, mournful hours," by Lady John Manners, in her Gems of German Poetry, 1865, p. 14. (3) "When in hours of fear and failing," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 32. xiii. Wer einmal, Mutter dich erblickt. B. V. M. Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 154, in 8 st. Translated as, "Who once hath seen thee, mother fair," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 33. xiv. Wer einsam sitzt in seiner Eanuner. Christ the Consoler. Musenalmanach, 1802, p. 195, and his Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 130, in 9 st. Translated as, "Who in his chamber sitteth lonely," by Dr. G. Macdonald, in Good Words, 1872, p. 234, and his Exotics, 1876, p. 9. xv. Wo bleibst du, Trost der ganzen Welt. Advent . Schriften, 1802, pt. ii. p. 150, in 12 st. Translated as, "Earth's Consolation, why so slow," by Dr. G. Macdonald, 1876, p. 29. Besides the above he had previously published a series of poems entitled "Hymnen an die Nacht" in the Athenæum, a magazine edited by A. W. Schlegel and F. Schlegel, where they appear in vol. iii., pt. ii., pp. 188-204, Berlin, 1800. They are a wonderful picture of the "night" of sorrow into which he was plunged at the death of his betrothed on March 19, 1797. There are five poems "in prose, with interspersed verse, the sixth being in verse. The longer poems in verse-form are:— 1. Das furchtbar zu den frohen Tischen trat. 2. Geboben ist der Stein. 3. Hinüber wall'ich. 4. Hinuntcr in der Erde Schoos. There is a complete translation by Henry Morley in his Dream of the Lilybell, &c, London, 1845. No. 2 has also been translated by Dr. G. Macdonald in his Threefold Cord, 1883, p. 256; and No. 4 by Helen Lowe in her Prophecy of Balaam, 1841, p. 226 (Lyra Mystica, 1864, p. 220). [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) See Novalis, 1772-1801

James Newton

1732 - 1790 Author of ""Proclaim," Saith Christ, "My Wondrous Grace"" in The Cyber Hymnal Newton, James, A.M., was born at Chenies, in Bucks, in the year 1732. At the age of 17 he went to London, where he joined the Baptist church under the care of the Rev. B. Wallin [Wallin, B,]. In 1757 he became assistant minister to the Rev. J. Tommas, pastor of the Baptist church in the Pithay, Bristol; and in 1770, classical tutor at the Baptist College in that city. He filled both these offices with honour and usefulness until his death in 1790. As a hymn-writer he is known by one hymn only, "Proclaim, saith Christ, my wondrous grace" (Holy Baptism), which appeared in 3 stanzas in the Bristol Collection of Ash & Evans, 1769, No. 381; Rippon's Baptist Selection, 1787, and others of the older hymn-books. In the Baptist New Selection, 1828; the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858; the New Congregational Hymnal, 1850, and others, it begins with stanza ii.: "Let plenteous grace descend on those." In this form it is widely used. [Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M. A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Novalis

1772 - 1801 Person Name: Novalis (F. von Hardenberg) Author of "Ich sag es jedem, daß er lebt" in Deutsches Liederbuch Pseudonym of Georg Friedrich Phillip von Hardenberg.