Chapter M: F. Ham and J. H. Holmes are the latest notable figures in this era of (5)

15. _In the beginning was the word._ (The Word of God)

This was printed in _The Liberty Bell_, Boston, 1851, in 6 stanzas
of 8 lines, and dated “Fall River, Sept. 1850.” Two stanzas are
included in Hys. Sp. 1864; also in H. & V., undated.

16. _Life of all that lives below._

An adaptation from Charles Wesley; not in Bk. Hys. or Hys. Sp.

17. _Life of God, within my soul._ (God in the soul)

Only found in H. & V., undated, entitled “A Prayer.” 4 stas. of 4
l.

18. _Light of ages and of nations._ (Inspiration)

Dated 1860 in H. & V. in which it begins as above with title “In
all ages entering holy souls.” It was first printed, however, in
Hys. Sp. 1864 as “God of ages,” under title “The word of the Lord
abideth forever.” 3 stas. of 8 l.

19. _Lo! the earth is risen again._ (Easter)

In H. & V. the first line reads “Lo the earth again is risen,”
with no date, but Dr. Louis F. Benson owned a copy of the book in
which a ms. note was appended to this hymn reading

“In memory of C.J.
July 6, 1864
May 12, 1886.
Written for the first anniversary of her death, May 12, 1887.”

Several other lines besides the opening one have been re-written,
presumably by S.L., to make the later and improved version of the
hymn included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

20. _Love for all! and can it be?_ (The Prodigal Son)

Included in Hys. Sp. 1864 under title “Father, I have sinned”;
also in H. & V. without date. 6 stas. of 4 l.

21. _Now on land and sea descending._ (Evening)

This is the 3^d of the Vesper Hymns in H. & V. 2 stas. of 8 l.
(See note under “Again as evening’s shadow falls.”)

22. _Now while we sing our closing psalm._ (Close of worship)

In H. & V., no date; not in Bk. Hys. or Hys. Sp.

23. _Now with creation’s morning song._ (Morning)

In Hys. Sp. 1864, ascribed to “Breviary”; it is S.L.’s adaptation
of E. Caswall’s trans. of “Lux ecce surgit aurea”, beginning “Now
with the rising golden dawn”; see Julian’s Dict. pp. 820-821.

24. _O church of freedom and of faith._ (Installation)

Written in 1891, presumably for the installation of Rev. John
Carroll Perkins as minister of the First Parish in Portland in
that year. Included in H. & V. Not found elsewhere.

25. _O Father, fix this wavering will._

No. 368 in Hys. Sp. 1864, “Anon.” but later acknowledged by S.L.
as his though “of no importance.” (H. W. Foote, _The Anonymous
Hymns of Samuel Longfellow_, Harv. Theol. Rev., Oct., 1917.)

26. _O God! a temple to thy name._

“Hymn for the dedication of the new chapel of the First Parish,
Haverhill.” Dated 1848 in H. & V., but not found elsewhere. 5
stas. of 4 l.

27. _O God! Thy children gathered here._ (Ordination)

“Hymn for the ordination of Edward Everett Hale” at Worcester,
Massachusetts in 1846. Bk. Hys. 1848; H. & V. 1894. 6 stas. of 4
l.

28. _O God, thou giver of all good!_ (Gratitude)

Included in Hys. Sp. 1864, and in H. & V., without date, under
title “Give us this day our daily bread.” 4 stas. of 4 l.

29. _O God unseen, but ever near._

S.L.’s adaptation of hymn by E. Osler, printed in Hys. Sp. 1864,
in 3 stas of 4 l., entitled “At the fountain”. Anon, in index. “It
is, in fact E. Osler’s hymn rewritten, 7 of its 12 lines being
Osler’s.” The expanded form in later books is attributed to S.L.,
but should be “E. Osler alt. by S.L.” See Julian’s Dict. pp. 1665,
1681, 833.

30. _O holy, holy, holy,_
_Art Thou, our God and Lord._ (Praise)

This hymn in two stanzas, 8 lines, is found only in C. W. Wendte’s
book _The Carol: for Sunday School and the Home_ (1886), where it
is attributed to Samuel Longfellow and dated 1886.

31. _O Life that maketh all things new._

Written under the title “The light that lighteth every man,” for
the 2^d Social Festival of the Free Religious Association 1874, in
2 stas. of 8 l.; afterwards published in _A Book of Hymns and
Tunes for the Congregation and the Home_, Cambridge, 1876, with
the title “Greeting”, in 4 stas. of 4 l.; included in H. & V.
under title “Behold, I make all things new”, and there incorrectly
dated 1878. For use of first line see note under “O Thou whose
liberal sun and rain.”

32. _O still in accents sweet and strong._ (Ordination)

Printed in Hys. Sp. 1864 under title “Behold the fields are
white.” H. & V., no date. 4 stas. of 4 l.

33. _O Thou, in whom we live and move._

In Hys. Sp. 1864, this begins, “O God, in whom we live and move,”
5 stas. of 4 l. headed “God’s Law and Love.” In H. & V. it begins,
“O Thou, in whom we live and move,” the form in which the hymn has
passed into later use.

34. _O Thou, whose liberal sun and rain._ (Church anniversary)

Included in Hys. Sp. 1864, and in H. & V. no date. 3 stas. of 4 l.
(Note the last line, “To Him who maketh all things new”, used
later for first line of hymn “O Life that maketh all things new.”)

35. _One holy church of God appears._ (The church universal)

Dated 1860 in H. & V.; included in Hys. Sp. 1864. 5 stas. of 4 l.

36. _Out of every clime and people._ (Christmas)

This hymn in two stanzas, 8 lines, with chorus, is found only in
C. W. Wendte’s _The Carol: for Sunday School and the Home_ (1886)
where it is attributed to S.L. (except chorus).

37. _Out of the dark, the circling sphere._ (Hope and courage)

Based on a hymn written in 1856 for the 25^th anniversary of the
American Anti-Slavery Society, with the title “What of the night?”
and beginning, “A quarter of the circling sphere.” See H. & V. for
the original version, which S.L. rewrote for Hys. Sp. 1864, in 5
stas. of 4 l. The misplaced comment by Putnam in _Singers and
Songs of the Liberal Faith_, p. 429, that it was “founded on a
passage in one of Mr. Martineau’s sermons,” refers not to this
hymn but to “He who himself and God would know,” cited earlier in
this listing.

38. _Peace, peace on earth, the heart of man forever._ (Peace
on earth)

Included in Hys. Sp. 1864 and H. & V., no date. 2 stas. of 4 l.

39. _Sing forth his high eternal name._ (Praise)

Written by request for words to tune “Coronation.” In H. & V.
under title “The Lord of all”, no date, 6 stas. of 4 l.

40. _Spirit divine attend our prayer._

This hymn appeared in Hys. Sp. 1864, as “Anon.” It is S.L.’s
adaptation of a hymn by Andrew Reed, 1829, about half the lines
having been re-written. It should be credited to both writers as a
joint production.

41. _The loving Friend to all who bowed._ (Jesus)

Included in Hys. Sp. under title “Jesus of Nazareth”; no date in
H. & V. 5 stas. of 4 l.

42. _The summer days are come again._

H. & V. includes a song in three 8-line stanzas headed “Summer
Rural Gathering”, dated 1859, each stanza beginning, “The sweet
June days are come again.” In Hys. Sp. 1864, the second and third
stanzas of this song are taken to form a hymn for summer, each
beginning, “The summer days are come again”, the concluding
quatrain of the last stanza re-written.

43. _’Tis winter now; the fallen snow._

Dated 1859 in H. & V. In Hys. Sp., 4 stas. of 4 l.

44. _Thou Lord of life, our saving health._ (Dedication of
hospital)

“Written for dedication of Cambridge Hospital.” In H. & V., 4
stas. of 4 l., dated 1886.

45. _We sowed a seed in faith and hope._

“Written for the 25^th anniversary of the first meeting of the
Second Unitarian Society of Brooklyn”, included in H. & V. under
title “The truth shall make you free.” No further use.

46. _When from the Jordan’s gleaming wave._ (Baptism)

Dated 1848 in H. & V., but it was included in Bk. Hys. 1846, 5
stas. of 4 l.

There are also five hymns, composite in origin and listed as “Anonymous” in Hys. Sp. 1864, which in style and sentiment so closely resemble S.L.’s writings as to suggest that he gave them the form in which they are there printed, viz:—

47. _As darker, darker fall around_
_The shadows of the night._

This is printed in 6 stas., the first four of which are taken from
“The Hymn of the Calabrian Shepherds,” printed in William Young’s
_Catholic Choralist_, 1842, but there beginning, “Darker and
darker fall around.” The 5^th and 6^th stas. may be by S.L. since
he referred to this hymn as it appeared in Hys. Sp. as “founded
upon the Hymn of the Calabrian Shepherds,” tho he did not state
that he wrote them. (H. W. Foote, _The Anonymous Hymns of Samuel
Longfellow_; and Julian, _Dictionary_, p. 1627.)

48. _Come, thou Almighty Will_

This hymn in three stanzas was included as Anon. in Longfellow and
Johnson’s _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. Its theme was obviously
suggested by Ray Palmer’s five stanza translation of the 12^th
century Latin hymn _Veni Sancte Spiritus_, beginning _Come, Holy
Ghost, in love_, published in 1858, from which three lines are
borrowed intact, with as many more which only slightly alter
Palmer’s words. Since the religious outlook expressed is
characteristic of Samuel Longfellow, and the hymn first appeared
in _Hymns of the Spirit_, it seems certain that he was the author
but listed it as _Anon_, because of its composite form. It was
included in several later Unitarian hymn books, most recently in
_The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_,
1937. (J. 1623 H.W.F.)

49. _Give forth thine earnest cry._

Printed in three 4-line stas. There is no evidence as to the
authorship of this hymn, but its sentiment is completely in line
with Longfellow’s. Included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864, and in
_The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.

50. _God is in his holy temple._

Printed in four 4-line stas. One line is almost identical with one
found in S.L.’s earlier hymn “Written for the dedication of the
New Chapel of the First Parish, Haverhill, Mass.”, which had had
no use beyond the occasion for which it was written, but which
Miss Longfellow included in _Hymns and Verses_. The recurrence of
this line in the hymn here listed suggests the probability that
the whole hymn is by S.L. though he preferred to cite it as
“Anon.”

51. _Supreme disposer of the heart._

This appeared in the 1848 edition of the _Book of Hymns_, where it
is cited as from “Breviary”, and was included by Miss Longfellow
in _Hymns and Verses_ with the same citation. She probably assumed
that it was a translation by S.L. from a Latin hymn. It is,
however, a largely rewritten version of John Chandler’s
translation of the hymn _Supreme motor cordium_, in his _Hymns of
the Primitive Church_, 1837, p. 31. Longfellow retained the
general pattern of Chandler’s five stanzas, and kept a few of his
lines unchanged, or altered by only a word or two, but rewrote the
rest, the fourth and fifth stas. being wholly S.L.’s, differing
from Chandler’s in both phrase and significance, and even further
from the Latin original.

The _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908, contains a hymn in two stanzas, 8.6.8.6.D., beginning

52. _The heavens thy praise are telling_,

Given as “Anon.” but Mrs. Emma Marean, _q.v._, who was
exceptionally well informed about that book, attributed it to
“Spitta-Longfellow,” i.e., by S. Longfellow based on a German hymn
by C. J. P. Spitta. It is possible that this is the case but the
original by Spitta has not been traced and Longfellow did not
claim this arrangement.

H.W.F.

Loring, Louisa Putnam (1854-1924) of Boston and Pride’s Crossing, Massachusetts, compiled _Hymns of the Ages_, published in 1904. Her literary and musical standards were high, and the book was handsomely printed, but its appeal was limited and it had to compete with several other excellent hymnbooks then on the market for use among Unitarians. It included Miss Loring’s own morning hymn beginning,

_O Thou who turnest into morning_, (1902)

also included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.

H.W.F.

Loring, William Joseph, Boston, Massachusetts, October 8, 1795—1841, Boston. He graduated from Harvard College in 1813 and went into business in Boston. He was a lay member of the Unitarian denomination; was president of the Washington Benevolent Society; and was a member of the Horticultural Society. He was probably the author of the hymn beginning,

_Why weep for those, frail child of woe_,

attributed to “W. J. Loring” in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853.

H.W.F.

Lowell, James Russell, LL.D., Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 22, 1819—August 12, 1891, Cambridge. Son of Rev. Charles Lowell, minister of the West Church (Unitarian), Boston, he graduated from Harvard College in 1838, and entered upon a literary career as a poet, essayist and scholar. In 1855 he succeeded H. W. Longfellow as Professor of Belles Lettres at Harvard and spent the next two years in Europe to increase his knowledge of southern European languages and literature. On his return he was the first editor of _The Atlantic Monthly_, 1857-1862, then editor of _The North American Review_, 1863-1872. He was United States Minister to Spain, 1877-1880, and to Great Britain, 1880-1885. He wrote many essays, addresses and poems. These last were published in a succession of volumes, “A Year’s Life,” 1841; “Poems,” 1844-1854; “The Vision of Sir Launfal,” 1845; “A Fable for Critics,” 1845; “The Biglow Papers,” 1848 and 1867; “The Commemoration Ode,” 1865; “Under the Willows,” 1868; and later volumes, his “Complete Poems” appearing in 1895. Though some of his poems show deep religious feeling he made only a slight and indirect contribution to American hymnody, writing only one hymn and one Christmas carol, although stanzas quarried out of his poems have been used as hymns, as follows:—

1. _Men who boast it is that ye_
_Come of fathers brave and free_,

The 1^st, 3^d and 4^th stanzas of his anti-slavery poem, “Stanzas
on Freedom,” written in 1844. It was included in this form in _The
Soldier’s Companion_, 1861, in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of
the Spirit_, 1864, and in part in _Songs of the Sanctuary_, N. Y.
1865, beginning

_They are slaves who will not choose_,

2. _Once to every man and nation_,

In December, 1844, Lowell wrote a poem in 18 stas. of 5 l.
entitled “The Present Crisis,” a protest against the war with
Mexico. The English hymnnologist, Rev. V. Garrett Horder, took
from this poem a number of lines sufficient to make a hymn of 4
stas. which he included, with a few verbal alterations, in his
_Hymns Supplemental_, 1896, and then in his _Treasury of Hymns_.
The _English Hymnal_ included the hymn in 1906, and from this it
passed into many collections. In the form commonly used in this
country, stanza 1 is that of sta. 5 in the original poem; sta. 2
is that of original sta. 11; sta. 3 is no. 13, original; and sta.
4, part of sta. 6 and part of sta. 8 original. In this form it has
had considerable use in this country.

3. _Our house, our God, we give to Thee_,

Hymn for the dedication of the First Church (Unitarian),
Watertown, Massachusetts, on August 3, 1842, in a service in which
Rev. Samuel Ripley made the dedicatory prayer and the sermon was
preached by Rev. Convers Francis, who had recently left Watertown
to accept a professorship at the Harvard Divinity School. Lowell’s
Cambridge residence at “Elmwood” was only a short distance from
the Watertown line, and Miss Maria White, whom he married in 1844,
belonged to the Watertown parish, which suggests the possibility
that it was she who persuaded him to write the hymn. It was not
included in any of his published works but has been found on the
only known copy of the printed program of the service, now owned
by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Pasadena, California. It
probably was used only on the occasion for which it was written.

4. _The ages one great minster seem_,

Taken from a poem “Godminster Chimes” which was “Written in aid of
a chime of bells for Christ Church, Cambridge,” and published in
“Under the Willows,” 1868. From this poem of 7 stas. 8 l., enough
lines have been selected and arranged, with a few verbal
alterations, to make a hymn on the theme of the Church Universal,
in 4 stas. of 4 l.

5. _What means this glory round our feet?_

A Christmas carol written in 1866 “For the children of the Church
of the Disciples”, Boston, (Unitarian), of which Rev. James
Freeman Clarke, _q.v._, was minister. Of the original 7 stas.,
five have come into considerable use.

Of the above listed hymns all except no. 3 are in current use in various hymn books. Nos. 2 and 5 are in _The Pilgrim Hymnal_, 1935; nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864.

J. 698
H.W.F.

Lunt, Rev. William Parsons, D.D., Newburyport, Mass., April 21, 1805—March 31, 1857, Akabah, Arabia. He graduated from Harvard College in 1823, and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1828. On June 19, 1828 he was ordained as the first settled minister of the Second Unitarian Congregational Society in New York, where he served for five years. On June 3, 1835, he was installed as associate minister of the First Church in Quincy, Mass., where he became the sole minister in 1843 and served until his death while on a journey to Palestine. After his death his hymns and occasional poems were printed in a small volume entitled _Gleanings_, but none of them have been included in later books. His contribution to American hymnody was made by the publication of his collection entitled _The Christian Psalter_, 1841, for his congregation at Quincy, but its fine quality brought it into much wider use. It is chiefly remembered today because it included 5 hymns and the metrical version of 17 psalms by his distinguished parishioner, John Quincy Adams, _q.v._

J. 703
H.W.F.

Mann, Rev. Newton, Cazenovia, New York, January 16, 1856—July 25, 1926, Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Cazenovia Academy, and during the Civil War served as head of the Western Sanitary Commission. He then entered the Unitarian ministry and was ordained as pastor of the church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which he organized and served for three years. He later served churches in Troy, New York, 1868-70; Rochester, New York, 1870-1888; and Omaha, Nebraska, 1888-1908, after which he retired to Chicago. His only connection with hymnody was his versification of an English translation of the Jewish creedal statement known as the Yigdal. His verse, which has not survived, was later recast by Rev. W. C. Gannett, _q.v._, to form the great hymn

_Praise to the living God! All praiséd be his name!_

concerning which detailed information will be found under Dr. Gannett’s name. In its present form the hymn is probably mostly the work of Gannett, but Mann should be credited with having drafted its earlier form. See also Foote, _Three Centuries of American Hymnody_, 339-340.

H.W.F.

Marean, Mrs. Emma (Endicott), Boston, Massachusetts, January 20, 1854—October 17, 1936, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She married Joseph Mason Marean January 20, 1876. Two hymns by her were included in _The Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_ (Unitarian), 1908,

1. _Grateful for another day_, (An Island Morning)

2. _Set from the restless world apart_ (An Island Hymn)

Neither has been included in later hymn books but both are in her small volume of poems, _Now and Then_, Cambridge, 1928.

H.W.F.

Mason, Mrs. Caroline Atherton (Briggs), Marblehead, Massachusetts, July 27, 1823—June 13, 1890, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In 1853 she married Charles Mason, a lawyer living in Fitchburg. She published in 1852 a volume of poems entitled _Utterance: or Private Voices to the Public Heart_, and after her death another collection was published, her _Lost Ring and Other Poems_, 1891.

Three of her hymns have had considerable use.

1. _I cannot walk in darkness long_, (Evening)

This begins with stanza V of her poem on _Eventide_, “At cool of
day with God I walk,” in her _Lost Ring_, p. 165.

2. _O God I thank Thee for each sight_, (The Joy of Living)

A cento of 4 stanzas, from her poem “A Matin Hymn” beginning “I
lift the sash and gaze abroad,” in her _Lost Ring_, p. 164.

3. _The changing years, eternal God_, (Adoration)

Written for the Bicentennial of the First Congregational Church,
Marblehead, August 13, 1884. In her _Lost Ring_ it begins “The
changing centuries, O God,”.

Of these hymns no. 2 has had considerable use. It is included in _Hymns of the Church Universal_, 1891; the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914; the _Pilgrim Hymnal_, 1935; _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 1669
H.W.F.

Miles, Sarah Elizabeth (Appleton) Boston, Massachusetts, March 28, 1807—January 3, 1877, Brattleboro, Vermont. She married Solomon P. Miles. In 1827 she printed in the _Christian Examiner_ a hymn beginning,

_Thou, who didst stoop below_,

which passed into a number of hymn books of the period, and in 1828, in the same periodical she printed a poem in 4 stanzas, C.M.D., which S. Longfellow and S. Johnson, in their second hymn-book, _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864, divided into two hymns, of 2 stanzas each, the first beginning

_The earth, all light and loveliness_,

the second

_When, on devotion’s seraph wing._

They also included another of her hymns, consisting of the second, fourth and fifth stanzas of her poem entitled “In Affliction,” beginning

_Thou, infinite in love._

These, and some other religious poems, are included in Putnam’s _Singers and Songs_, etc. None of her hymns are now in use.

H.W.F.

Mott, Rev. Frederick B., England, 1856-1941, England. When a young man he emigrated to this country and on September 30, 1887 was ordained minister of the Barton Square Church (Unitarian) in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1892 he became minister of the Third Religious Society in Dorchester, Massachusetts, which he served till 1903. In 1904 he returned to England and was installed as minister of the Unitarian Chapel at Southport, and later moved to London as editor of the periodical _Christian Life_. Two hymns in the Universalist _Church Harmonies_, 1895, are attributed to him, viz:—

1. _Take our pledge, eternal Father_,

2. _The spirit of the Lord has stirred_,

but appear to have had no further use.

H.W.F.

Newell, Rev. William, D.D., Littleton, Massachusetts, February 25, 1804—October 28, 1881, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1824 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1829. He was ordained minister of the First Parish in Cambridge on May 19, 1830, where he served until his retirement on March 31, 1868. He was author of many commemorative sermons and memoirs, and received the honorary degree of D.D. from Harvard in 1853. A number of his poems are included in Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc. His hymn beginning,

_All hail, God’s angel, Truth_ (Thanksgiving)

is included in G. Horder’s _Worship Song, with Tunes_, London, 1905, but is not found in American collections.

J. 1676
H.W.F.

Norton, Prof. Andrews, Hingham, Massachusetts, December 31, 1786—September 18, 1853, Newport, Rhode Island. He graduated from Harvard in 1804. In 1811 he was appointed tutor in the College, in 1813 librarian and Lecturer on the Bible, and in 1819 Professor of Sacred Literature in the Harvard Divinity School, a post which he resigned in 1830 to devote himself to literary and theological pursuits. In 1837 he published the first volume of his famous book _The Genuineness of the Gospels_, followed in 1844 by the second and third volumes. This was the earliest scholarly work on the New Testament by an American author, and expressed the conservative Unitarian thought of his period. He wrote several other books, and numerous articles. His few poems were printed in a small volume soon after his death, including six hymns, some of which have had considerable use.

1. _Another year, another year_, (Close of the Year)

Appeared in the _Christian Examiner_, Nov.-Dec. 1827, in 11 stas.
of 4 l. In the Unitarian _Hymn and Tune Book_, 1868, a cento from
it begins with sta. 6,

_O what concerns it him whose way_

2. _Faint not, poor traveller, though thy way_, (Fortitude)

Printed in the _Christian Disciple_, July-Aug. 1822, and included
in the West Boston _Collection_, 1823.

3. _He has gone to his God, he has gone to his home_ (Burial)

Printed in the _Christian Examiner_, Jan.-Feb. 1824.

4. _My God, I thank Thee; may no thought_ (Submission)

Appeared in the _Monthly Anthology and Boston Review_, Sept. 1809,
and was included in Lunt’s _Christian Psalter_, 1841, and in many
later collections. This was Norton’s earliest and best known hymn.

5. _O stay thy tears; for they are blest_, (Burial of the
Young)

Printed in the _General Depository and Review_, April, 1812, in 5
stas. of 4 l. In 1855, stas. III-V were included in Beecher’s
_Plymouth Coll._ no. 1094 as

_How blest are they whose transient years_

6. _Where ancient forests round us spread_,

Written in 1833 for the dedication of a church.

Of the above nos. 1, 4, 5 were included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, London, 1873. Nos. 4 and 6 are in the Unitarian _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and no. 6 is in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. See Putnam’s _Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith_ for the full text of all Norton’s hymns.

J. 810
Revised by H.W.F.

Parker, Rev. Theodore, was born on a farm in Lexington, Massachusetts on August 24, 1810, and died in Florence, Italy, on May 10, 1860. He entered Harvard College in 1830, but did most of his work at home, and studied in the Harvard Divinity School, 1834-1836. In 1840 he was granted the degree of A.M. from Harvard. Entering the ministry he served the Unitarian Church in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1837-1846, and the 28^th Congregational Society, Boston, 1846-1860. He was a famous preacher; author of numerous printed discourses on social and religious problems; and one of the earliest American translators of current German theological literature. He wrote a few poems, none intended for use as hymns, but Longfellow and Johnson took one of his sonnets and, by eliminating two lines, transformed it into a hymn of 3 stanzas of 4 lines each beginning,

_O thou great Friend of all the sons of men_,

which they included in their _Book of Hymns_, 1846. It has had widespread and long continued use in American hymn-books and to some extent in England. Twelve of Parker’s poetical pieces are included in A. P. Putnam’s _Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith_. Biographies of Parker have been written by John Weiss, Octavius B. Frothingham, and other authors.

J. 882
H.W.F.

Peabody, Rev. Ephraim, Wilton, New Hampshire, March 22, 1807—November 28, 1856, Boston, Massachusetts.

He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1827, and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1830. After serving as a tutor in the Huidekoper family in Meadville, Pennsylvania, he was ordained in 1832 as minister of a recently gathered Unitarian congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1837 he joined Rev. John H. Morison in serving the First Congregational Society of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and in 1845 he accepted a call to King’s Chapel, Boston, where he remained until his death, though ill-health prevented him from preaching in the last year and a half of his life. An impressive preacher, he also wrote some poetry, and a hymn for an ordination, beginning

_Lift aloud the voice of praise_

is attributed to him in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853.

H.W.F.

Peabody, Rev. Oliver William Bourne, Exeter, New Hampshire, July 9, 1799—July 5, 1847, Burlington, Vermont. He was twin brother of W. B. O. Peabody, _q.v._ He graduated from Harvard College in 1817, practised law for a few years at Exeter, served as professor of English Literature in Jefferson College, Louisiana from 1842 to 1845, and in the latter year was licensed to preach by the Boston Association and served as minister of the Unitarian Church at Burlington, Vermont, until his death two years later.

A hymn beginning

_God of the rolling orbs above_

is attributed to him in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853, but does not appear to have had further use.

J. 887
H.W.F.

Peabody, Rev. William Bourne Oliver, D.D., Exeter, New Hampshire, July 9, 1799—May 28, 1847, Springfield, Massachusetts. Graduated from Harvard College in 1817, taught for a year in Phillips Exeter Academy, and studied for the ministry at the Harvard Divinity School. He was ordained as the first minister of the Unitarian Church in Springfield, Massachusetts, in October, 1820, and remained there until his death. In 1823 he published a _Poetical Catechism for the Young_, in which he included some original hymns. He edited _The Springfield Collection of Hymns for Sacred Worship_, Springfield, 1835, which was adopted for use in many parishes besides his own, and several of his hymns were included in it. A _Memoir_ of him, written by his twin brother, O. W. B. Peabody, was published in the 2^d edition of his _Sermons_, 1849, and a collection of his _Literary Remains_ was published in 1850. He is described as “a man of rare accomplishments, and consummate virtue,” widely respected and admired.

The following hymns by him had considerable use in the 19^th century, but only the last survived in a hymn book of the 20^th.

1. _Behold the western evening light_; (Death of the Righteous)

Published in his _Catechism_, 1823, and in _Springfield
Collections_, 1835, and elsewhere. It passed into use in England;
in altered form in the _Leeds Hymn Book_, 1853, and in George
Rawson’s Baptist _Ps._ and _Hys._ 1858, where it begins,

_How softly on the western hills._

2. _O when the hours of life are past_ (The Hereafter)

Published in his _Catechism_ in answer to the question “What do
you learn of the future state of happiness?” It was included in
Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853, and
had some use in its original form, and also altered to _When all
the hours of life are past_.

3. _The moon is up; how calm and slow_, (Evening)

A poem rather than a hymn, in 6 stas. of 4 l., appended to his
_Catechism_, 1823.

4. _When brighter suns and milder skies_, (Spring)

Appended to his _Catechism_, 1823, in 6 stas. of 4 l.

5. _Who is thy neighbor? He whom thou_ (The good neighbor)

Included in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.

The full texts of Peabody’s hymns are printed in Putnam, _Singers & Songs of the Liberal Faith_, Boston, 1874.

J. 887
Revised by H.W.F.

Perkins, Rev. James Handasyde, Boston, Massachusetts, July 31, 1810—December 14, 1849, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Round Hill School, Northampton, Massachusetts. After a brief business experience in Boston he moved to Cincinnati, where he was admitted to the bar in 1837, but two years later he took up the Ministry-at-Large organized by the First Congregational Society (Unitarian) of Cincinnati, and later became pastor of the church. He was active in social reforms and as a lecturer, and was author of a number of essays descriptive of life in what was then the far west.

The hymn in 3 stanzas, C.M., beginning

_It is a faith sublime and sure_,

attributed to “J. H. Perkins” in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_, 1846-48, is presumably by him, although it is not included with his poems printed in the _Memoir and Writings of James Handasyde Perkins_, edited by W. H. Channing, Cincinnati, 1851. It does not appear to have had any further use.

H.W.F.

Pierpont, Rev. John, Litchfield, Connecticut, April 6, 1785—August 27, 1866, Medford, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College in 1804, studied law, and in 1812 set up practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but later turned to the ministry and graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1818. That fall he became minister of the Hollis Street Church (Unitarian) in Boston, which he served till 1840, when a sharp controversy over his outspoken attacks on intemperance, slavery and other social evils led to his resignation. In the same year he published his _Poems and Hymns_, which included his temperance and anti-slavery poems and songs, and of which a later edition appeared in 1854. He also wrote a number of excellent school books. In 1845 he became minister of the Unitarian Church at Troy, New York, and in 1849 of the First Parish in Medford, Massachusetts, which he served until 1859, when he retired. With the outbreak of the Civil War he became an Army chaplain and was later employed in the Treasury Department at Washington. He died suddenly while on a visit to Medford.

He was the maternal grandfather of J. Pierpont Morgan of New York, who was named for him, but it would be hard to find a greater contrast than that offered by the careers of the hymn-writing reformer and his grandson, the financial magnate.

In his own day Pierpont’s hymns brought him a wide reputation. Thus Putnam, in his _Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith_, 1873, says, “Mr. Pierpont was one of the best hymn writers in America. He was a genuine poet, as well as a powerful preacher and stern reformer.” Today he occupies a much more modest place in American hymnody. None of his hymns attained a very high level of excellence. Most of them are respectable verse, written in response to frequent requests for hymns for special occasions, but they well illustrate the mood of the Unitarianism of his period.

His hymns which have come into use are

1. _Another day its course hath run_ (Evening)

Appeared in _Hymns for Children_, Boston 1825; in Greenwood’s
_Chapel Liturgy_, 1827; in Lunt’s _Christian Psalter_, 1841; and
in the author’s _Poems and Hymns_, 1840.

2. _Break forth in song, ye trees_ (Public Thanksgiving)

Written for the celebration of the 200^th anniversary of the
Settlement of Boston, Sept. 17, 1830. Included in _Poems and
Hymns_, 1840.

3. _Break the bread and pour the wine_ (Communion)

In Harris’s _Hymns for the Lord’s Supper_, 1820.

4. _Father, while we break the bread_, (Communion)

5. _God Almighty and All-seeing_ (Greatness of God)

Contributed to Elias Nason’s _Congregational Hymn Book_, Boston,
1857.

6. _God of mercy, do Thou never_ (Ordination)

Written for the ordination of John B. P. Storer at Walpole, Mass.,
Nov. 18, 1826. Included in the author’s _Poems_, 1840, and in
Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853.

7. _God of our fathers, in Whose sight_, (Love of Truth)

This hymn is composed of stas. IX and X of a longer hymn written
for the Charlestown (Mass.) Centennial, June 17, 1830. In this
form it was included in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1864, and elsewhere.

8. _Gone are those great and good_, (Commemoration)

Part of no. 2, above, in _Church Harmonies_, 1895.

9. _I cannot make him dead_ (Memorial)

A part of an exquisitely touching and beautiful poem of ten
stanzas, originally printed in the _Monthly Miscellany_, Oct.
1840.

10. _Let the still air rejoice_, (Praise)

This was headed “Temperance Hymn” in _The Soldier’s Companion_,
1861, but is really a patriotic ditty.

11. _Mighty God, whose name is holy_ (Charitable Institutions)

Written for the anniversary of the Howard Benevolent Society, Dec.
1826. Included in the author’s _Poems_, 1840.

12. _My God, I thank Thee that the night_ (Morning)

In the author’s Poems, 1840. In Lunt’s _Christian Psalter_, 1841,
and Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873, it begins

_O God, I thank Thee_.

13. _O bow Thine ear, Eternal One_ (Opening of Worship)

Dated 1823, but not included in the author’s Poems. It is given in
Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns_, etc. 1853.

14. _O Thou to Whom in ancient times_ (Worship)

“Written for the opening of the Independent Congregational Church
in Barton Square, Salem, Mass. Dec. 7, 1824,” and printed at the
close of the sermon preached by Henry Colman on that day. Included
in the author’s _Poems_, 1840, and in many collections in this
country and in Great Britain.

15. _O Thou Who art above all height_ (Ordination)

“Written for the ordination of Mr. William Ware as Pastor of the
First Congregational Church in New York, Dec. 18, 1821.” Included
in _Poems_, 1840, and in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns_, etc.

16. _O Thou, Who on the whirlwind rides_ (Dedication of a
Place of Worship)

Written for the opening of the Seamen’s Bethel in Boston, Sept.
11, 1833. Sometimes used beginning

_Thou Who on the whirlwind rides_

17. _O’er Kedron’s stream, and Salem’s height_, (Gethsemane)

Contributed to T. M. Harris’s _Hymns for the Lord’s Supper_, 1820.
Included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, London, 1873.

18. _On this stone, now laid with prayer_ (Foundation Stone)

Written for the laying of the cornerstone of Suffolk Street
Chapel, Boston, for the Ministry to the Poor, May 23, 1839.

19. _With Thy pure dew and rain_, (Against slavery)

Written for the African Colonization Society. Included in
Cheever’s _Common Place Book_, 1831, but not in the author’s
_Poems_, 1840.

20. _While with lips with praise that glow_, (Communion)

Included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns_, etc.

All of the above hymns have passed out of use except nos. 1, 8, 12, and 14 which are included in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and nos. 8 and 14, included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 895, 1647
Revised by H.W.F.

Pray, Lewis Glover, Quincy, Massachusetts, August 15, 1793—October 9, 1882, Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was a business man in Boston, active in civic and church affairs. For 33 years he was superintendent of the Sunday School in the Twelfth Congregational Society of Boston. In 1833 he published a _Sunday School Hymn Book_, the first book containing music published for Sunday Schools in New England. It appeared in enlarged form in 1844 as the _Sunday School Hymn and Service Book_. In 1847 he published his _History of Sunday Schools_. His own hymns and poems were published in 1862 as _The Sylphids’ School_, and in a second volume, _Autumn Leaves_, 1873. Most of them are songs for Sunday School use rather than hymns for the church service but one of them, from _The Sylphids’ School_, beginning

_When God upheaved the pillared earth_,

was included in _Hymns of the Ages_. 3^d Series, 1864.

J. 906
H.W.F.

Prince, Rev. Thomas, D.D., Sandwich, Massachusetts, May 15, 1687—October 22, 1758, Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard in 1707. After voyages to Barbadoes and a stay of several years in England he returned to Boston and in 1717 was ordained as colleague of Rev. Joseph Sewall, minister of the Old South Church. His career was marked by frequent controversies and by his _Chronological History of New England_, based on his great collection of rare documents dating from the early years of the Colony. This priceless collection was unfortunately dispersed and much of it lost after his death. During his ministry the Tate and Brady version of the Psalms was gradually replacing the _Bay Psalm Book_ in New England, but his parishioners clung to the old book. He persuaded them to let him revise it, which he did, improving or modernizing the verse and printing after the Psalms “an addition of Fifty other Hymns on the most important subjects of Christianity.” It included one hymn by himself beginning

_With Christ and all his shining Train_
_Of Saints and Angels, we shall rise_ (The Resurrection)

His collection was published in 1758 and was first used in the Old South Meeting House on the Sunday following his death. Its use there continued for another 30 years, but it was not adopted elsewhere, the _Bay Psalm Book_ being by that time generally superseded by collections of _Watts and Select_.

H.W.F.

Putnam, Rev. Alfred Porter, D. D. Danvers, Massachusetts, January 10, 1827—April 15, 1906, Salem, Massachusetts. He was educated at Brown University, A.B. 1852, and graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1855. Entering the Unitarian ministry he served a church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1855-1864, and the Church of the Saviour, Brooklyn, New York, 1864-1886, when he retired. Brown University gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1871. He wrote no hymns but published in 1874 a book entitled _Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith: being selections of hymns and other sacred poems of the Liberal Church in America, with biographical sketches of the writers_. This book includes practically all the hymns by American Unitarian authors which had come into use prior to 1870, and the biographical sketches are generally accurate and adequate in brief space. This useful reference book is elsewhere referred to in this Dictionary as Putnam: _Singers and Songs_.

H.W.F.

Robbins, Rev. Chandler, D.D., Lynn, Massachusetts, February 14, 1810—September 12, 1882, Westport, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1829 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1833. On December 4th of the same year he was ordained minister of the Second Church (Unitarian), Boston, in succession to Henry Ware, Jr. and R. W. Emerson. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Harvard in 1855. He was the author of a number of books, essays and memorial discourses dealing with local events and persons. In 1843 he published _The Social Hymn Book_, intended for social gatherings rather than for church services, and in 1854 an enlarged edition entitled _Hymn Book for Christian Worship_, though this book does not give his name as editor. He contributed two hymns to _A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Sanctuary_, 1845, compiled by George E. Ellis.

1. _Lo! the day of rest declineth_ (Evening)

for which L. B. Barnes, then president of the Handel and Haydn
Society composed the tune, Bedford Street, named for the location
of Dr. Robbins’ church.

2. _While thus [now] thy throne of grace we seek_, (Voice of
God)

The first of these is included in The _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_,
1908, and in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914. The second is in
_Church Harmonies_, 1895.

J. 966
H.W.F.

Robbins, Rev. Samuel Dowse, Lynn, Massachusetts, March 7, 1812—?1884, Belmont, Massachusetts, he was a brother of Chandler Robbins, _q.v._ He graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1833 and on November 13 of the same year was ordained minister of the Unitarian Church in Lynn. He subsequently held pastorates in Chelsea (1840), Framingham (1859) and Wayland, Massachusetts, 1867-1873.

He wrote a good many poems on religious themes, which were published in magazines and newspapers but were never collected in a volume. The Unitarian _Hymn and Tune Book_, 1868, included four of his hymns, viz:

1. _Down toward the twilight drifting_, (Sunset)

2. _Saviour, when thy bread we break_, (Communion)

3. _Thou art my morning, God of light_, (Day)

4. _Thou art, O God! my East. In thee I dawned_,

In Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc., this is entitled “The
Compass,” with the statement, “Several mistakes in this hymn, as
it is printed in the Hymn and Tune Book, are here corrected by Mr.
Robbins.”

Julian’s _Dictionary_, p. 967, also cites one beginning

5. _Thou art our father! thou of God the Son_ (Christ)

but it is a religious poem rather than a hymn and there is no evidence that it was included in any hymn book.

J. 967
Revised H.W.F.

Sargent, Lucius Manlius, Boston, Massachusetts, June 25, 1786—June 2, 1867, Boston. A layman of independent means, author of many articles advocating temperance. His temperance hymn beginning

_Slavery and death the cup contains_

“was written during the Washingtonian Temperance Revival” and appeared in Adams’ and Chapin’s Unitarian _Hymns for Christian Devotion_, Boston, 1846. In the American Methodist Episcopal _Hymnal_, 1878 the first line is altered to read

_Bondage and death the cup contains_,

The hymn is included, with the original wording, in the Universalist _Church Harmonies_, 1895.

J. 1061
H.W.F.

Savage, Rev. Minot Judson, D.D., Norridgewock, Maine, June 10, 1841—May 22, 1918, Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were strictly orthodox Congregationalists whose resources were meagre, but a generous benefactor made it possible for him to enter Bangor Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1864. He served as a Congregational minister in California, Massachusetts and Missouri, but, having become acquainted with the works of Darwin and Herbert Spencer, he transferred his membership to the Unitarian denomination in 1872 and became minister of the Third Unitarian Church in Chicago. Two years later he accepted a call to Unity Church in Boston, which he served until 1896 when he moved to New York as minister of the Church of the Messiah. He was one of the earliest advocates of a religious interpretation of the doctrine of evolution, a bold thinker and forceful speaker in great demand, and the author of many books and printed sermons. In 1883 he published _Sacred Songs for Public Worship; a Hymn and Tune Book_, with music arranged by Howard M. Dow, for use in Unity Church. It contained 195 hymns and songs, 42 of which were from his own pen. It had the shortcomings of a “one-man book” and was musically nearer akin to the typical gospel song-book than was usual in Unitarian hymn-books, and it had little use outside his own congregation. Several of his hymns passed into other collections in England and America, viz:

1. _Dost thou hear the bugle sounding_, (Duty)

2. _Father, we would not dare to change thy purpose_ (Prayer)

3. _God of the glorious summer hours_, (New Year)

4. _How shall come the kingdom holy_ (Coming of the kingdom)

5. _O God, whose law is in the sky_ (Consecration to Duty)

6. _O star of truth, down shining_, (Devotion to Truth)

7. _Seek not afar for beauty_, (God in Nature)

8. _The God that to our fathers revealed his holy will_,

9. _The very blossoms of our life_, (Baptism)

10. _What purpose burns within our hearts_, (Church Fellowship)

11. _When the gladsome day declineth_, (Evening)

Of these nos. 4, 6, 7 and 11 are included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 1698
H.W.F.

Scudder, Eliza, Boston, Massachusetts, November 14, 1821—September 28, 1896, Weston, Massachusetts. She was a niece of Rev. E. H. Sears, _q.v._ Early in life she joined a Congregational Church, throughout her middle years was a Unitarian, and late in life entered the Episcopal Church. She wrote a small number of poems which were published in Boston in 1880 under the title _Hymns and Sonnets, by E.S._, and again with her two latest poems and a brief biographical sketch by Horace E. Scudder, in 1897, but most of her hymns had appeared at earlier dates in other places. They are characterized by a profound mystical spirit expressed in terms of great literary beauty, and some of them passed into a considerable measure of common use.

1. _And wherefore should I seek above_,

This hymn, included in _The Isles of Shoals Hymnbook_, 1908,
consists of the last three stanzas of a much longer poem entitled
“The New Heaven,” dated 1855.

2. _From past regret and present faithlessness_, (Repentance)

written in August, 1871, and published in _Quiet Hours_, Boston,
1875. This was altered in some hymnbooks to,

_From past regret and present feebleness_,

In most cases the opening stanza has been omitted and the hymn has
begun with the second stanza,

_Thou Life within my life, than self more near_,

see no. 9, below.

3. _I cannot find Thee, still on restless pinion_, (Seeking
after God)

This first appeared in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1864.

4. _In Thee my powers and treasures live_, (Faith and Joy)

This appeared in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. It is part of a hymn
of 10 stanzas beginning

_Let whosoever will inquire_, dated 1855.

In _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, another arrangement of
stanzas forms a hymn beginning

_My God, I rather look to Thee_

5. _Life of our life, and light of all our seeing_, (Prayer)

Written in August, 1870, it was included in _Quiet Hours_, 1875.

6. _The day is done: the weary day of thought and toil is past_,
(Evening)

Included in _Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life_, E. H.
Sears, Boston, 2^nd ed. 1878, p. 296, entitled “Vesper Hymn,”
dated “October, 1874.”

7. _Thou Grace divine, encircling all_, (Divine Grace)

This appeared in E. H. Sears’ _Pictures of the Olden Time, as
shown in the Fortunes of a Family of Pilgrims_, 1857. Written in
1852, it was included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. In the
Universalist _Psalms and Hymns_, 1865, it was mistakenly called
“An Ancient Catholic Hymn.”

8. _Thou hast gone up again_ (Ascension)

In _Hymns and Sonnets_, 1880.

9. _Thou Life within my life, than self more near_,

As noted above, this is part of No. 2, beginning with the second
stanza of that hymn. In this form it is perhaps Miss Scudder’s
most beautiful hymn.

10. _Thou long disowned, reviled, opprest_, (Spirit of Truth)

Written in January, 1860, it was included in _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1864. A cento from this hymn, altered to read,

_Come Thou, with purifying fire_,

was included in Stryker’s _Church Song_, 1889.

Of these hymns nos. 3, 4 (selected stanzas), 7, 9 and 10 are included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and nos. 3, 7 and 9 in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.

J. 1035, 1589, 1700
H.W.F.

Sears, Rev. Edmund Hamilton; Sandisfield, Massachusetts April 6, 1810—January 16, 1876, Weston, Massachusetts. Studied at Union College, graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1837. Ordained minister of the First Parish (Unitarian) of Wayland, Massachusetts, on February 20, 1839. He soon after went to Lancaster, Massachusetts; returned to Wayland, 1848-1864; and was minister of the First Parish, Weston, Massachusetts, 1866 until his death. He was author of many books and printed sermons, and of a good many poems, often hymns supplementary to his sermons. None of these, however, have come into general use, and his reputation as a hymn writer is based on his two widely used Christmas hymns, found in many hymn books. The first,

_Calm on the listening ear of night_,

was written in 1839. It was included as “Anon.” in _The Christian Psalter_, published in 1841 by Sears’ friend, Rev. W. P. Lunt, _q.v._ of Quincy, Massachusetts. In the _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, the second line of sta. 6

The Saviour now is born!

was changed to read

The Prince of Peace is born!

but the original reading was restored in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. His second hymn,

_It came upon the midnight clear_,

was written in 1849. One tradition about it reports that it was written at Mr. Lunt’s request and was first used at the Christmas celebration of the Sunday School in Quincy in that year. Sta. 5 of this hymn

For lo! the days are hastening on
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing

has appeared in re-written forms more than once because its “backward look” to a golden age is not Biblical but is derived from the Fourth Eclogue of the poet Virgil. In the Episcopal _Hymnal_ of 1874 this is altered to read

For lo, the days are hastening on
By prophets seen of old,
Till with the ever circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace their King- - - -

and this version was reprinted in the Episcopal hymnals of 1892 and 1916, and passed into other collections. In the _Hymnal_, 1940, it was again altered to read

For lo, the days are hastening on
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever circling years
Shall come the time foretold

These alterations may have brought the hymn into closer accord with orthodox theology, but at the expense of some of its poetic beauty.

Two patriotic songs by Sears were included in the army hymn book, _The Soldier’s Companion_, 1861. One headed “A Psalm of Freedom” begins,

_Still wave our streamer’s glorious folds_,

The other is headed “Song of the Stars and Stripes,” and begins,

_We see the gallant streamer yet_,

Neither has any great merit, though both may have served the purpose for which they were written.

J. 1036
H.W.F.

Sewall, C.

An anti-slavery hymn attributed to a person of this name is included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853. It begins,

_Lord, when thine ancient people cried_,

It is probable, but not certain, that the author was Rev. Charles Chauncy Sewall, Marblehead, Massachusetts, May 10, 1802—November 22, 1886, Medfield, Massachusetts; who was a graduate of Bowdoin College and who received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard in 1832. He was a Unitarian minister serving churches in Peabody, Massachusetts, 1827-1841; Sharon, Massachusetts, 1857-1862; and Medfield, 1873-1377.

H.W.F.