The divine and moral songs of Isaac Watts

Chapter I: Part 1

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_The Divine and Moral Songs
of Isaac Watts_

CONTENTS

Frontispiece
Apologia
The Divine and Moral Songs of Isaac Watts
Bibliographical Notes
The British Editions
The American Editions

The Divine and Moral
SONGS
_of_
ISAAC WATTS

An _Essay_ thereon and a
tentative _List of Editions_ by
WILBUR MACEY STONE

_Out of the Mouth of Babes and
Sucklings thou hast perfected
Praise._ Matt. XXI. 16

_NEW YORK_
Privately printed for
_The Triptych_
1918

_Apologia_

The gathering of the data which are the bases of this little book was an offshoot of my general interest in the collection of books made for the children of long ago. This field is rich in human interest and leads one into folk-lore and fairyland, a delightful avocation for a man busy in the urgent bread-and-butter (and pie) struggle of to-day.

It was my intention and ardent desire to put forth this little story in 1915, to commemorate the two-hundredth anniversary of the first edition of the _Divine and Moral Songs_--but--“the best-laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley”, and mine were ruthlessly spilled; so instead of this book appearing in 1915, the dear old world has made several stormy circuits of its orbit and the chronologers are about to hang out the sign for 1919 before a kindly fate permitted the fulfillment of my heart’s desire in this matter. But never mind, I am doubtless the only one to be much annoyed, for the whole of 1915 passed without the appearance of so much as a newspaper paragraph, so far as I could discover, relative to the momentous fact that two hundred years ago an immortal book first saw the light.

It may be, however, of passing interest to note that the one-hundredth anniversary of the _Divine Songs_ was celebrated by the battle of Waterloo, and the two-hundredth anniversary found Europe in the midst of a conflict to which that celebrated battle of 1815 now seems like boys’ play.

And so, with Herrick I say:

“Goe thou forth my booke, though late;
Yet be timely fortunate,
It may chance good-luck may send
Thee a kinsman, or a friend,
That may harbour thee, when I,
With my fates neglected lye.
If thou know’st not where to dwell,
See, the fier’s by: _Farewell_.”

W. M. S.

September, 1918.

DIVINE
SONGS

Attempted in Easy Language
for the Use of
CHILDREN.

By _I. WATTS_.

_Out of the Mouth of Babes and
Sucklings thou hast perfected
Praise._ Matt. xxi. 16.

_LONDON_:

Printed for _M. Lawrence_ at the Angel
in the _Poultry_. 1715.

_The Divine and Moral Songs of Isaac Watts_

If the _New England Primer_ was the “little Bible” of New England, Dr. Watts’s _Divine and Moral Songs_ has a worthy place beside it as the “little Hymn-book”, not only of New England, but of old England as well. These two juveniles appeared in close sequence and for nearly one hundred and fifty years jointly contributed to the infant joys, and doubtless sorrows, of our sturdy ancestors. Even to-day well-nigh everyone is familiar with “Let dogs delight to bark and bite” and “How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour”; but alas, ’tis rarely that a knowledge of their authorship is associated with a knowledge of the rhymes.

When these two little books were in vogue the principal object in teaching children to read was to open to them the advantages of the Christian religion. Therefore the children’s first essay, after learning their letters, was to acquire a knowledge of the Scriptures and the characters therein portrayed. In the _Primer_ the rhymed alphabet began with “In Adam’s fall we sinnèd all” and ended with “Zaccheus he, did climb a tree, his Lord to see”, each illustrated with a thrilling wood-cut. The _Divine Songs_ opens with a “General hymn of praise” and closes with the cradle hymn “Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber”, all calculated to inculcate grace and wisdom.

Before the middle of the nineteenth century modern influences toward secularization in education crowded the _New England Primer_ into oblivion, and it has survived only on the shelves of collectors and in a few reprints as a curiosity of bygone days. The _Divine Songs_ has fared better, as it is still kept in print by one or two of our publishing concerns, and several beautiful, illustrated editions have been issued in very recent years. The _New England Primer_ has long been considered as having the highest record of editions and quantity published of any of the old juveniles, but I am convinced that it must yield first place to the _Divine Songs_. There are of record about three hundred and fifty editions of the _Primer_, but I have been able to gather about two hundred and fifty editions of the _Divine Songs_ in the British list and over three hundred in the American list. It would be impossible to state the total number of copies printed, but assuming that the accepted estimate of six and one half million for the _Primer_ is approximately correct, we must grant that the _Divine Songs_ stands with a total number of copies to its credit considerably in excess of that number.

* * * * *

Isaac Watts, the eldest of nine children, was born at Southampton on the 17th of July, 1674, about sixteen years after the death of Oliver Cromwell. His father was a schoolmaster, a man of excellent mental attainments and a Dissenter who suffered persecution for his convictions, even to the extent of imprisonment. This was during the reign of Charles II, when nonconformity was looked upon as a crime. Young Isaac was reared in this atmosphere of protest, and it is of record that while the father lay in prison “Mrs. Watts was seen sitting on a stone, near the prison door, suckling her son Isaac.” Little Isaac was a precocious child, reading Latin at four, and was known as a boy who loved his books more than his play. The result was that his over-studious habits greatly militated against his health, and during most of his life he was a physical weakling.

A vivid pen-picture of this anemic boy in his school days is given in a review of a new edition of some of his later works, in the _North British Review_ in 1857. The reviewer writes:

“In the gloomy reign of James II, the most diligent boy in
the Grammar School of Southampton was a little Puritan. So
tiny, that he would hardly have passed for eleven years of
age, he was so grave and good, as to be at once a model and
a reproof to his sturdier class-mates; and, although in
repose there was nothing peculiarly prepossessing in his
pale face, with its prominent cheekbones, and a forehead
far from lofty, the moment that some hard question posed
the form, the sparkling eye and the light nervous figure
quivering with the pent-up answer, betrayed the genius
and the scholar. Already he had made good proficiency in
French, Latin, and Greek, and had delighted his mother,
whilst he astonished his companions, by ingenious acrostics
and clever impromptu stanzas; and altogether, with his
quiet, docile disposition, and his precocious attainments,
he made glad the heart of the Rev. Mr. Pinhorn, who, like
many a disconsolate preceptor before and since, at last
foresaw a dim and distant Ararat, and hailed the youth who
should yet ‘comfort him concerning his work and the toil of
his hands.’”

When he was twenty-two, in 1696, young Watts became tutor to the children of a wealthy friend of his family at Stoke-Newington, and two years later, while thus employed, he preached his first sermon on his twenty-fourth birthday as assistant to Dr. Chauncy, minister of the Independent congregation in Mark Lane, London. In 1702 he succeeded to Dr. Chauncy’s pastorate, taking full charge of the congregation. But his frail health soon necessitated an assistant with whom to share his burdens.

In Dr. Watts’s congregation was Sir Thomas Abney and his family. Sir Thomas was for many years an alderman of the city of London and at one time its mayor. Dr. Watts in 1712, at the age of thirty-eight, succumbed to the arduous tasks of his ministry and quite collapsed. Lady Abney, ever alert in good works, took the worthy parson to Theobalds, their country home at Stoke-Newington, for a few weeks’ rest and fresh air. His visit has come down to us as a record for length. The weeks sped on and then the years, and still he continued a welcome and honored guest until his death thirty-six years after his advent to that hospitable household. While under the sheltering roof of Theobalds, Dr. Watts wrote several of his justly celebrated works and in 1715 gave to the world the memorable volume of _Divine Songs for Children_. In graceful acknowledgment of his guestship, he dedicated that little book to Sarah, Mary and Elizabeth Abney, the three daughters of Sir Thomas and Lady Abney. One of the two known copies of the first edition of the _Divine Songs_ bears on the inside of its front cover in Dr. Watts’s handwriting, “To Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, I. W.” Of course Elizabeth, a child of eleven, was not “Mrs.” in our present understanding of that term, but “Mistress”, used as an expression of respect even to children at that time.

This presentation copy has found a home in the sumptuous library of the late J. Pierpont Morgan, and another first edition of one of Dr. Watts’s books in that library is similarly inscribed to another daughter of the Abneys’.

The Morgan copy of the first edition of _Divine Songs_ was specially bound in red morocco rather elaborately gold-tooled. This copy had an interesting career before reaching its present resting-place. It was picked up by a Nottingham bookseller with a handful of other old books in a country house in 1902, at a cost of less than a guinea for the lot. It had come down to its previous owner from her great-grandfather, Meredith Townsend, co-pastor with Dr. Watts at Stoke-Newington. The bookseller sold it to Mr. James Ward, a collector of Nottingham, for about £30 and by him it was sold at Sotheby’s, after spirited bidding, for £155 to Mr. Morgan’s agent. The following Christmas, in a privately printed booklet, Mr. Ward distributed to a few friends a most interesting history of this little volume.

In the thirteen pages of dedication which appears in the earlier editions of the _Divine Songs_, Dr. Watts pays pleasing tribute to the hospitality of the Abney family, beginning as follows:

“My Dear Young Friends, Whom I am constrain’d to love
and honour by many Obligations. It was the generous
and condescending Friendship of your Parents under my
weak Circumstances of Health; that brought me to their
Country-Seat for the Benefit of the Air; but it was an
Instance of most uncommon Kindness, to supply me there
so cheerfully for two Years of Sickness with the richest
Conveniences of Life. Such a Favour requires my most
affectionate Returns of Service to themselves, and to all
that is dear to them; and meer Gratitude demands some
solemn and public acknowledgment.”

The dedication then goes on to praise not only Sir Thomas and his wife, but particularly their three daughters whose education Dr. Watts superintended, and closes with the following benediction:

“May the Blessings of his Right Hand more enrich you daily,
as your Capacities and your Years increase; and may he add
bountifully of the Favours of his Left Hand, Riches and
Honour. May his Grace make you so large a Return of all the
Kindness I have received in your Family, as may prevail
above the fondest Hopes of your Parents, and even exceed
the warmest Prayers of
Your most Affectionate
Monitor and Obliged
Servant, in the daily
Views of a future
World,
I. WATTS.
Theobalds,
June 18,
1715.”

This quaint dedication was omitted from those editions printed after 1750, but the preface, “To all that are concerned in the Education of Children”, has persisted to this day in nearly every edition that has come to my observation. This preface is addressed to “My Friends”, and begins “It is an awful and important Charge, that is committed to you. The Wisdom and Welfare of the succeeding Generation are entrusted with you beforehand, and depend much on your Conduct.... Verse was at first design’d for the Service of God, though it hath been wretchedly abused since.... What is learnt in _Verse_, is longer retained in Memory, and sooner recollected.... These _Divine Songs_ may be a pleasant and proper Matter for their daily or weekly Worship, to sing one in the Family, at such time as the Parents or Governors shall appoint; and therefore I have confined the Verse to the most usual Psalm Tunes. The greatest Part of this little Book was composed several Years ago, at the Request of a Friend, who has been long engag’d in the Work of Catechising a very great Number of Children of all kinds, and with abundant Skill and Success. So that you will find here nothing that savours of a Party: The Children of high and low Degree, of the Church of _England_ or Dissenters, baptized in Infancy, or not, may all join together in these Songs. And as I have endeavoured to sink the Language to a Level of a Child’s Understanding, and yet to keep it (if possible) above Contempt; so I have design’d to profit all (if possible) and offend none.”

Then he closes with a reference to the _Moral Songs_ as follows: “I have added at the End an Attempt or two of _Sonnets_ on _Moral Subjects_ for Children, with an Air of Pleasantry, to provoke some fitter Pen to write a little Book of them.” The earliest record I have found of one so “provoked” is in the preface to Mrs. Barbauld’s “Hymns in Prose, For Children”, published about 1775. There she writes, “Among the number of Books composed for the use of children, though there are many, and some on a very rational plan, which unfold the system, and give a summary of the doctrines of Religion, it would be difficult to find _one_ calculated to assist them in the devotional part of it, except indeed _Dr. Watts’s Hymns for Children_. These are in pretty general use; and the Author is deservedly honoured for the condescension of his Muse; which is very able to take a loftier flight.”

It is not, however, until the early part of the nineteenth century that I find a work in direct imitation of Dr. Watts’s little book. Then in close sequence several volumes of verses for children appeared, the authors of each of which acknowledged the impetus to their muse from Dr. Watts’s preface. The first of these was “Moral Songs for the Instruction and Amusement of Children Intended as a Companion to Dr. Watts’ Divine Songs, by John Oakman and Others.” This was published in London in 1802 by Darton and Harvey. The preface states, “Whoever follows the manner of another who has been happy in any particular way, however successful he may prove in his labours, will only gain the servile name of an imitator. A man so eminent as Dr. Watts has been in his Hymns and Moral Songs, for the edification of children, it must be granted, there is little hope of following with much success.... But as he declared himself there is much room left to proceed in the same way, and has in a manner exhorted others to pursue his ideas, the Author of this little book hopes to be excused for the attempt if not applauded.” And surely the author of these later “Moral Songs” is open to the accusation of being a “servile imitator”, as witness one extract:

_Danger of Mispending Time_

How craftily the spider weaves,
And draws her slender threads!
Yet sudden chance her hopes deceives,
And spoils the net she spreads.

Let me not spend my precious hours
In trifling works like these;
But still employ my active pow’rs
In what may truly please.

The style well copied but the inspiration feeble and the moral hardly deducible from the subject. A few years later, the Taylor sisters, Jane, Ann, Mary and the rest of them, who had in 1803 been very successful with their “Original Poems for Infant Minds”, published a volume entitled “Hymns for Infant Minds”. These young women in their preface acknowledge their indebtedness to Dr. Watts as follows:

“The ‘Divine Songs’ of Dr. Watts, so beautiful, and
so universally admired, almost discourage, by their
excellence, a similar attempt; and lead the way, where it
appears temerity to follow. But as the narrow limits to
which he confined himself, excluded a number of useful
subjects, the following Hymns, though with much diffidence,
are presented to the public.”

It was not long after the _Divine Songs_ rode into popularity on wave after wave of editions that itching fingers began to busy themselves with alterations and modifications of these simple and sincere verses. As early as 1720 one Cobbin, a reverend doctor, conceived the idea that the work would be more useful with Scripture references appended to each song. So he forthwith lumbered up the little volume with voluminous footnotes of references and comments, but thanks be, the dear children could skip all this dry stuff.

Then later the strong theology of some of the songs annoyed our good friends the Unitarians and they, by the hand of one who modestly subscribed herself on the title-page as “A Lady”, proceeded to take the starch out of some of the more rigid ones, to sprinkle in a little “probation after death” and entirely omit Song III, “Praise to God for redemption through Jesus Christ.” That song was a bit too Trinitarian for remodeling. Dr. Watts’s delightful preface is omitted and a new preface setting forth the reasons for revision and alteration, is substituted. This is signed “E. Y.” and dated November 17, 1785.

This “Revised and Altered” form evidently proved popular, as a second edition appeared in 1787, with an added note that “A large impression of the first edition of these Hymns, Revised and Altered, having been favorably received by the public, the editor has been encouraged to give further attention to their improvement, and to cause them to be printed in their present form.” The fair reviser was brave enough to retain Song XI, “Heaven and Hell”, but replaced Dr. Watts’s second stanza

“There is a dreadful Hell,
And everlasting Pains,
Where Sinners must with Devils dwell,
In Darkness, Fire, and Chains.”

with the following, much more comforting to a naughty world

“There also is a future state,
Of Mis’ry, grief and pain;
Where wicked children long must wait,
And many years remain.”

And in verse 4, Dr. Watts wrote

“Lest I should be cut off Today,
And sent t’ eternal Death.”

for the last line of which she has substituted

“And suffer after death.”

In the first verse of Song XII, “The Advantages of early Religion”, Dr. Watts’s last line reads

“The Road that leads to Hell.”

and which our tender reviser changes to

“The Road that leads to ill.”

In Song XIII, verse 5, Dr. Watts wrote

“One stroke of his almighty Rod,
Shall send young Sinners quick to Hell.”

Our reviser changed the last line to read

“May send young sinners to the grave.”

“Jesus who reigns above the Sky,
And keeps the World in Awe,”

are the first two lines of verse 2, Song XIV. These are changed to

“Jesus tho’ now above the sky,
Belovèd by his God”.

The last verse of Song XV begins

“Then let me always watch my Lips,
Lest I be struck to Death and Hell.”

The second line is altered to

“And keep my Tongue from ill.”

In verse 4 of Song XVII Dr. Watts wrote

“The Devil tempts one Mother’s Son,”

The revised edition reads

“Passion, and Pride, may tempt each one”.

From the revised version of Song XVIII, “Against Scoffing and calling Names”, the reference to the children who scoffed Elisha is omitted by dropping out verses 4 and 5, as follows:

“When Children in their wanton Play,
Serv’d old Elisha so;
And bid the Prophet go his Way,
‘Go up, thou Bald-head, go’;

“God quickly stopt their wicked Breath,
And sent two raging Bears,
That tore them Limb from Limb to Death,
With Blood, and Groans, and Tears.”

In Song XXIII, “Obedience to Parents”, verse 3 was originally written

“What heavy Guilt upon him lies!
How cursèd is his Name!
The Ravens shall pick out his Eyes,
And Eagles eat the same.”

has been softened to the following:

“What heavy Guilt upon him lies!
How hateful is his Name!
Who thus his Parents shall despise,
Will bring Himself to Shame.”

Listed among the _Divine Songs_ in the British Museum are the following collateral items: “Divine Songs attempted in Easy Language. (A sequel to Dr. Watts’s divine songs for children and schools.) The Rake reformed in the House of Mourning. The Cottage Library of Christian Knowledge etc. Vol. I.” 1806 (?) 8^{o}; and “A Supplement to Dr. Watts’s Divine Songs for the use of Children, selected from various authors. London.” 1820 (?) 12^{o}.

From another source I find, “Essays adapted to Dr. Watts’ Divine Songs. For the instruction of young people. By Rev. A. Scott. 13th edition. London: Printed for Thomas Tegg. 1841. Illustrated.”

In an edition published in Exeter, in 1812, entitled “Dr. Watts’s Hymns for Children, Revised and Altered, so as to render them of General Use”, the editor, who modestly signs himself “C”, explains as follows: “Dr. Watts, in the Preface to his Divine and Moral Songs for Children, says; ‘You will see here nothing that savours of a party,’ nevertheless it cannot be denied, that, in several parts of these Hymns, expressions do occur, which are objectionable to many Christians; and which, there is reason to believe, the amiable and excellent Author would have avoided, had he written them toward the latter part of his life.” Our editor then goes on to state which obnoxious weeds he has uprooted and what new flowers he has transplanted from other gardens. Of some of the latter he says: “The next five, Nos. 9 to 13, I have taken the liberty of inserting from a very superior little publication, entitled ‘Hymns for Infant Minds’.” But even here our editor must have a slap at the theology of the gentle “Taylor sisters”, and which he does in the following terms, throwing in a sop at the end to mitigate the bitter: “I cannot agree with the respectable Authors in some of the opinions which their Hymns express, because I do not think those opinions are the doctrine of the Scriptures; but I have no hesitation in earnestly recommending the book to all judicious Parents.”

The inscriptions of presentation and ownership in some of the old copies of the _Divine Songs_ are quaintly interesting. In one, printed in Boston in 1759, is found on the reverse of the title-page in almost illegible characters, “Bithrah norton | hur buk”, and then follows several words entirely undecipherable. Lower down on the page in a later and more readable hand is written, “Sarah Norton her | Book God Give her Grace therein to look | and when the bells do | for her tole Lord Jesus | Christ” ... and there the leaf is torn off.

In a London copy of 1773, which is thumbed well-nigh to pieces, the fly-leaf is inscribed in elaborate childish printing, “SAMUEL, HOVEY. | JUNR: & LYDIA, HOVEY. | JUNR. our BOOK GIVEN | To us By the Schoolmast | er of Buxton July y^{e} 21^{st} 1774”. Then on the inside of the front cover there appears in a crabbed running hand, “To Mehitabel | And Phebe Hovey | This with our Love to you | Both for you to remem | ber us by | Sam^{ll} Hovey | and Lydia Hovey”; while near the foot of the inside of the front cover is inscribed in shaky childish characters, “_R_Ut_h_ S_h_oR_t_ | _h_eR _b_oo_k_ | _a_ge_d_ _s_e_v_e_n_ | _y_e_a_R_s_”. So this little volume bears records of what seem to be three generations of lovers of these old songs.

The fly-leaf of a copy printed in London in 1779 bears the inscription in bold, childishly printed letters covering the whole page, “William | shErWood | MARCh 23 | 1788”.

In another copy bearing a London imprint and dated 1780 is “William Hayward his Book | Drayton | October 16 1782”, all written the long way of the page and apparently by a grown person. Later William himself took a hand and in an upper unoccupied corner scribbled “William | Haywood | Drayton | Berks”.

In another London copy, 1787, in a fine feminine hand, is written “Catherine Wright | her book | The Gift of the | Rev^{d} Dr. Priestly”.

Inside the back cover of a copy printed in New Haven, Conn., in 1809, is pasted a presentation book-plate, home-made, and bearing a border of vine and leaves in green, while within the border is inscribed in a fine schoolmistress hand, “Hannah Kendall’s Book | given her by her Instructress | as a reward of merit”.

A Boston copy of 1818 was once “George T. Read’s Book | Presented to him by his Aunt Eliza Read 1856 | Belfast”; doubtless Belfast, Maine. But an avaricious member of the family, doubtless of a later and degenerate descent, ruthlessly crossed off this inscription and wrote the long way of the page and nearer its base, “Charlotte Read’s Book”.

The only record I have encountered to indicate that the _Divine Songs_ was used regularly as a Sunday School song-book occurs in a copy dated “London 1828.” Pasted on the reverse of the title in this book is a label headed “The Protestant Dissenters’ | Sunday School, | at | Christchurch Meeting.” This heading is followed by a number of Biblical quotations beginning with “Suffer little children, etc.” Pasted inside the back cover is a similar label similarly headed. Then we find this admonition: “No scholar in this School to be allowed to swear, lie, nor fight;--nor to be disobedient to Masters, Parents, or Guardians”, followed by more Scripture texts, and finally, “Sabbath Schools are of the utmost importance when judiciously conducted.”

In another, a New Haven, Conn., copy, 1824, on the title-page itself is written “Master George and Miss S. E. Derby | from their affectionate mother | August 2^{d} 1826”. Lower down on the same page and in the same hand appears, “Suffer little children to come | unto me for of such is the kingdom of Heaven”.

And lastly, a modern copy containing numerous, most delightful, colored illustrations by Mrs. Arthur Gaskin, is inscribed by the artist to the author of this essay--a cherished possession.

Numerous memorials and biographies of Dr. Watts have been written since his death, but perhaps the most elaborate and exhaustive was published in London in 1914, written by Thomas Wright, the author of several other biographies of notable men of the past. In this work considerable space is devoted to a relation of the environment and influence under which the _Divine and Moral Songs_ were written. Mr. Wright very circumstantially tells the story of a visit, “apparently in the spring of 1720”, by Dr. Watts to Hedingham Castle, Essex, the home of Mr. Robert Ashhurst, who had married Lady Abney’s sister. Our author states that some of the _Divine and Moral Songs_ were written there during that visit. He further relates, “The pretty poem ‘How doth the little busy bee’ was probably not only a kindly message to children, but also a humorous compliment to the industry and taste displayed by Mr. Ashhurst in restoring his house.” But alas! in view of the fact that at least two copies of the first edition, each plainly dated 1715, are in existence, and one of which I have minutely examined, our credulity is a bit overtaxed by Mr. Wright’s narrative; and we wish he had not been so detailed and particular in his description of events and circumstances that could not possibly have occurred prior to or in connection with the writing of the _Divine Songs_. We also read in the preface to the first edition of 1715, “The greater part of this little book was composed several years ago at the request of a friend.”

The revised edition, first published in 1785, continued to appear over a long period, and as late as 1803, in the _Guardian of Education_, is found a scathing review of this emasculated work. Mrs. Trimmer, the editor of the _Guardian_, had previously been accused of having been the reviser, but she emphatically denies all responsibility and unequivocally censures the editor for having so radically changed the theology set forth by Dr. Watts in these small hymns. She further remarks, “The Hosannas in Dr. Watts’s original work, are perfectly agreeable to Scripture, and so impressive, that we cannot reconcile ourselves to the exchange of them for Dr. Clarke’s. Neither can we readily part either with the ‘Hymn of Praise to God for Redemption’; or with ‘The Cradle Hymn’. However, as Christians, we wish not to deprive those who are satisfied with this mutilated edition of the edification it still affords; but let them on their side allow to the children of the Church the full benefit of the author’s pious labours.”

In this same volume is reviewed a little book published by Darton & Harvey, entitled “Moral Songs for the Instruction and Amusement of Children, intended as a companion to Dr. Watts’s Divine Songs, by John Oakman and others.” In reviewing this little work, Mrs. Trimmer states, “Though Dr. Watts’s Divine Songs have excited many writers to imitate them, they still remain unrivalled. No work of the kind that we have yet met with, is worthy to be compared to them, for beauty of composition and elegant simplicity of style.”

Though a bit upsetting in chronological sequence, I cannot refrain from referring here to another much later tribute by Mrs. S. C. Hall, who in her “Pilgrimages to English Shrines” (Appleton, 1854), says of Dr. Watts, “But after all, his popularity is based on the universal knowledge of his Divine and Moral Songs; and never was popularity more widely diffused, better merited or productive of more glorious results.”

Unscrupulous publishers continued to mutilate this little work, and there are also some interesting differences between British and American editions. In Song V as originally published God is praised

“That I was born on British ground.”

While in some of the American editions this form was retained, still as early as 1799 in the Boston edition of Coverly it is changed to

“That I was born on Christian ground.”

In the Cambridge (U.S.) edition published by the trustees of Phillips’ Academy, the last line of the fifth verse reads

“Teach me thy goodness to admire.”

while the original reads

“Warn me to ’scape eternal fire.”

The editor of this Cambridge edition fell into an error in the last line of verse 1, Song XVI, that has persisted in many, many editions. In the original this first verse reads:

“Let Dogs delight to bark and bite,
For God hath made them so;
Let Bears and Lions growl and fight,
For ’tis their natures too.”

The Cambridge error consisted in printing the last word of the verse “to”.

In many of the modern editions the old form “that” is changed to “which”.

The learned editor in Cambridge blundered in punctuation also. In Song XV, verse 1, he inserted a comma in the last line after “all” that quite destroys the sense; and again in the last line of verse 2, Song XX, the comma inserted after “food” is worse than superfluous.

Many publishers of juvenile books drew generously upon the storehouse of the _Divine and Moral Songs_. In the 1781 Boston edition of Janeway’s “Token for Children” are included Songs XII, XIII and XIV. In “Choice Poetry” published at Derby, England, in 1835, are four of the _Divine Songs_, two of the _Moral Songs_ and the Cradle Hymn. In “Reading Made Easy” published by J. Weatherly, Berwick, about 1820, under the general heading “Lessons in Verse”, are printed eight of the _Divine Songs_. A number of editions of the _New England Primer_ contain selections from the same source.

Dr. Watts in his preface states that the _Divine and Moral Songs_ were intended to be sung to well-known psalm tunes, but before the end of the eighteenth century editions with special music began to appear. In 1800 Dr. Jackson published an edition wherein words and music were engraved throughout on copper plates.

Although early in the eighteenth century many children’s books were issued with illustrations, usually crude wood-cuts, I have been unable to find an illustrated edition of the _Divine and Moral Songs_ in England earlier than 1760 and in America earlier than 1773. In the beginning of the nineteenth century illustrated editions were more frequent, and one published in London in 1823 has an ornate folding frontispiece in colors. With the revival of wood engraving between 1840 and 1850, there appeared a number of elaborately illustrated editions with pictures by eminent artists. Perhaps the most beautifully illustrated edition of this period was that published by John Van Voorst in London. This appeared in 1848 and contains thirty pictures drawn on the wood by C. W. Cope, A.R.A., and cut by John Thompson. They are definitely illustrative of the text and are most daintily conceived and executed. These illustrations were extensively copied in later editions by other publishers, particularly in America. The first issue of this edition contained on page 28 the “Death Print” as a tailpiece to the song “Heaven and Hell”. This picture was evidently too realistic and too fully illustrative of the song, so it was promptly suppressed and replaced by one from a now blank page farther on in the book.

The size of the _Divine Songs_ has varied greatly, from the little books published by Rusher of Banbury, 4½ by 2¾ inches, to the huge volume 10¾ by 8½ inches, issued by Nisbet and Company, London. This Nisbet edition is undated, but appears to have been published between 1870 and 1880, and is illustrated by such eminent artists as W. Holman Hunt, George Du Maurier, H. K. Brown, Marcus Stone and others. The pictures were reproduced by the “New Graphotype Engraving Process”, apparently zinc etching. As early as 1810 selections from the _Divine Songs_ with illustrations were engraved on copper and arranged as a broadside school piece, the pictures being carefully hand-colored. These “school pieces” were large sheets, 19 by 15 inches, with a border of pictures and a blank space in the middle in which the child wrote his “school piece” or composition.

In 1855 an edition in book form was printed on cloth as an aid to durability, while in 1849 an edition was issued with phonetic spelling. Early in the nineteenth century “The Beggar’s Petition” and “The Universal Prayer” were added and carried through numerous editions.

For many years following the first edition, this little book of songs was of uniform size, carefully printed, well sewed, and bound in full calf. It was a sturdy little volume and many copies of these early editions have come down to us in excellent condition.

A copy of the eighth edition, 1729, is cherished by its owner for the following inscription on the fly-leaf, by the hand of Dr. Watts:

“To My Dear Neece
Sarah Brackstone
I. W.”

This Sarah was a daughter of Dr. Watts’s sister Sarah, who married a Brackstone. Later, James Brackstone, a brother to Sarah the daughter, was a London printer. The fifteenth edition of the _Divine Songs_, 1739, was published by R. Hett and J. Brackstone, and the sixteenth edition, 1740, bears Brackstone’s name alone, as publisher. But alas, James proved a black sheep; in a letter written by Dr. Watts in 1746 to his brother Enoch Watts, is the sad record that James Brackstone was ejected from the church for “damning and cursing in a shocking manner” his uncle Dr. Watts, and for declaring that he would no longer be a member of his church.

This presentation copy evidently soon descended to a younger member of the family, as on the same fly-leaf that bears the inscription by Dr. Watts is written in a childish hand, “Bety Brackstone Her Book 1730”, and on the fly-leaf at the back of the book appears “Bety Brackstone, Her Book, God Give Grace therein to Look, but wen the bel be gins to tole, Lord Jesus Christ reseive her Sole. A Men.”

In the “English Primer” published by Mosley, Derby and London, about 1825, is printed the only rhyme directed to these songs, which I have discovered. It is as follows:

“What sweet-er book to me be-longs
Than Dr. Watts’s book of Songs?
O! I would learn them all the day,
I’m sure I love them more than play.

“When I’m grown up,--yes, quite in age,
Still I shall love his plea-sing page;
Still I shall love the songs I sung,
That taught me good when I was young.”

These verses, with a wood-cut above, occupy the whole of page 29. The illustration is of a prig of a boy in chimney-pot hat, leaning against a sun-dial in a garden. In the boy’s hands is the precious volume which he is studiously perusing.

A comparison of the _Divine Songs_ with other portions of Dr. Watts’s writings reveals in many instances a correspondence in subject-matter. The thought of Song XVIII, “Against scoffing and calling names”, is used as part of one of his sermons; and Song XXII, “Against pride in clothes”, appears in a slightly different dress in another sermon. Song XXV, beginning “My God who makes the sun to know”, is a simplified rendering of one of the hymns in his larger hymn book.

It is interesting to note that the _Divine and Moral Songs_ were not composed during Dr. Watts’s youth, but after he had arrived at middle life, a bachelor, a student and an invalid. It would not have been surprising if he had at that time lost interest in children, even if he did not find their company a burden. But his heart kept its youthfulness, as the sweetness and simplicity of many of these songs will testify, in spite of the rigid theology of others of them. And so his Michaelmas summer brought up again the blossoms of spring and wove therefrom a fragrant garland.

One appreciative biographer, referring to the tender sentiments of the Cradle Hymn, writes: “‘Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber’, was written not by a young and loving mother bending over her baby whom she all but stifles with kindness and kisses, but by a little weazened retired bachelor, whose heart, however, was as warm, whose ways were as gentle as those of the happiest and fondest mother.”

The _Divine and Moral Songs_ was not by any means the only book for children written by Dr. Watts. He was the author of several little catechisms, graded from one for the smallest infants to others for older children. In 1720 he published “The Art of Reading and Writing English” and he also in 1725 wrote for the perusal of their elders, “A Discourse on the Education of Children and Youth”; while in 1728 was issued his “Prayers Composed For the Use and Imitation of Children, Suited to their different Ages and their various Occasions.”

Editions of the _Divine Songs_ appeared in Dutch and Welsh and one was printed in India in English.

The largest collection in a public library is that in the British Museum where there are eighty-seven specimens, the earliest being a copy of the ninth edition, dated 1728. The Bodleian Library at Oxford has examples of thirty-three editions while in this country the Boston Public Library and the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Mass., each has a dozen, and the library of the General Theological Seminary in New York nearly as many.

And so may this little book of appreciation renew, at least in a few hearts, the love and memory of those dear, quaint and sometimes frightful songs that contributed so much of entertainment and joy to the lives of nearly two centuries of English-speaking children both in the old world and the new.

VALE

_Bibliographical Notes and Lists of Editions_

_Bibliographical Notes_

Although for several generations last past, the little book which we are considering has been known as the _Divine and Moral Songs_, it did not always bear this full title. Throughout the first seventy-five years of its existence it was known simply as the “Divine Songs”, in spite of the fact that during all that time the book contained “a slight specimen of Moral Songs”, from two in the earlier editions to the full complement of seven later. I have seen no copies of the 13th, 14th or 15th editions, but the 16th edition (1740) has the title extended by the following words: “With some additional composures”, that being the first title-page reference to the _Moral Songs_ which I have found. No copy, issued by the regular publishers, so far as I have discovered, ever bore the words “and Moral Songs”. The first occurrence of the _Moral Songs_ in the title, which I find, is in an edition issued in London in 1785, under the name of “Dr. Watts’s Hymns and Moral Songs for the use of Children Revised and Altered ... By a Lady.” It is not until 1794 that I find the now well-known title of _Divine and Moral Songs_. The twenty-seventh edition (1795) is the last one which I find bearing the number of the edition, although the book continued to be published by the same people or their successors at least until 1821.

From 1785 numerous editions appeared bearing the names of other publishers and “Printed by permission of the Proprietors.” The first edition emanating in Great Britain outside of London, which I have found, was printed in Welsh at Caerfyrddin in 1771, and in 1776 an edition was published from Salisbury in English. A few Dutch items have been included in the British list.

Substantially all of the editions which have come to my attention have on their title-pages the quotation from Matt. XXI, 16, “Out of the mouth of babes, etc.”, but in the following list of editions that quotation is indicated in the interest of brevity, except in the first edition, by a few dashes after the author’s name. Where not so indicated, it is not necessarily to be inferred that it does not so appear, but only that the writer has been unable to verify that appearance.

A date followed by a question-mark in parentheses indicates that the date is doubtful or approximate.

In the following list of editions various references are abbreviated as follows:

_A.A._ American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
_B._ Private collection.
_B.A._ Boston Athenæum.
_B.M._ Library of the British Museum.
_B.H._ Bates Hall Public Library, Boston, Mass.
_Bod._ Bodleian Library, Oxford.
_B.P._ Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, N. Y.
_Bos._ Boston Public Library.
_Bro._ Brown University Library, Providence, R. I.
_Bry._ Bryson Library, Teachers College, New York.
_Conn._ Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Conn.
_Esx._ Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.
_Evans._ American Bibliography by Chas. Evans, 1903.
_Gen._ Library General Theological Seminary, New York.
_Har._ Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
_Hild._ The Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania by Chas.
R. Hildeburn, 1885.
_L.C._ Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.
_L.I._ Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn, N. Y.
_Lown._ The Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature
by William Thomas Lowndes, London, 1869.
_New._ Newberry Library, Chicago, Ill.
_Nich._ Bibliography of Worcester (Mass.) by Chas. L.
Nichols, 1899.
_N.L._ Free Public Library, Newark, N. J.
_N.L.I._ National Library of Ireland, Dublin.
_NR._ indicates that no record of a copy has been found
by the compiler.
_N.Y._ New York Public Library.
_N.Y.His._ New York Historical Society, New York City.
_N.Y.S._ New York State Library, Albany, N. Y.
_O.P._ Private collection.
_Penn. His._ Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
_P.L._ Peabody Library, Baltimore, Md.
_Peq._ Pequot Library, Southport, Conn.
_S._ Author’s collection.
_Trum._ List of Books printed in Connecticut, 1709–1800,
by James Hammond Trumbull, Acorn Club, Hartford,
1904.
_U.T._ Union Theological Seminary, New York.
_Wat._ Watkinson Library, Hartford, Conn.
_Yale._ Library of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

_The British Editions_

Divine Songs, etc. 2nd edition. 1716. Only one copy known.

Divine Songs, etc. 3rd edition. Printed by R. Ford at the Angel in the Poultry. 1719. Copy sold at Sotheby’s, April 1911. Mor. ex. £1-7. Third edition advertised at the back of The Psalms of David, etc., by I. Watts. 3rd ed. London, John Clark and Rich. Ford. M.DCC.XXII.

Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children. London: R. Ford. 1720. 4th edition. Calf. 12^{o}. Copy offered by Maggs Bros., London, 1909, £4-10.

Divine Songs. Edited by I. Cobbin, London, 1720. 12^{o}. _Lown._

Divine Songs, etc. 5th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 6th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 7th edition. 1726 (?). Advertised in An Essay Toward the Encouragement of Charity Schools, by I. Watts, London: John Clark and Richard Hett. 1728.

Divine Songs, etc. 9th edition. London: 1728. 12^{o}. _B.M._

Divine Songs, etc. 10th edition. London: R. Ford, near Stocks-Market. 1729. Copy sold at Sotheran’s, April 1890, £1-2; at Christie’s, June 1898, Mor. ex. g. e., £1-8; at Sotheby’s, Feb. 1900, £1-16; offered by Bull and Auvache, London, £2-12-6.

Divine Songs, etc. 11th edition, 1731. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 12th edition. (?) London: R. Ford. 1733. 8^{o}. Copy sold at Sotheby’s, June 1891. Mor. ex., £3-7-6. Copy sold in Hoe Collection, N. Y., April 1911, Lev. mor. g. e., $15.00.

Divine Songs, etc. 13th edition, 1735 (?). _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 14th edition, 1737 (?). _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 15th edition, 1739 (?). Fifteenth edition advertised at the back of The Art of Reading and Writing English, 6th ed. London, 1740, published by R. Hett and J. Brackstone at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry.

Divine Songs, etc. 16th edition, with some additional composures (a Slight Specimen of Moral Songs). London: J. Brackstone, 1740. Small 12 mo. calf. Copy offered by Bull and Auvache, London, 1905. 15/-.

Divine Songs, etc. 17th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 18th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 19th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 20th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. The twenty-first edition with some additional composures, 1752. Copy sold at Hodgson’s, Feb. 1905, mor. ex. g. e., 8^{o}, £2-2.

Works of Isaac Watts. Edited by D. Jennings and P. Doddridge. London: 1753. 6 vols. 4^{o}. Vol. 4 contains the Divine Songs, for the use of Children. _B.A._

Divine Songs, etc. 22nd edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 23rd edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 24th edition. _NR._

Divine Songs, etc. 26th edition. _NR._

I. Watts’ Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children. London (176–), 18^{o}, Dutch boards. Quaint cuts. Offered by Poynder, Reading, 1910, 15/-.

Caniadau Dwyfol (Divine Songs) Caerfyrddin, 1771. pp. 45, 12^{o}, in Welsh. _B.M._

Divine Songs, Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children. London: Printed for J. Buckland; J. and F. Rivington, etc. 1772. pp. 60, 5¾ × 3¼, George II license facing title. _Bry._

Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children. London: J. Buckland. 1774. pp. xii + 58, 8^{o}. _B.M._

Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language For the Use of Children. Salisbury, 1776. 12^{o}. _B.M._

Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language For the Use of Children. By I. Watts, D.D. London: Printed in the year 1776. 12^{o}. No printer’s or publisher’s name. Offered by Murray’s, Leicester, 1914, £2-10.

Spiritual Lessons for Children to read, etc. Chiefly selected from the Divine Songs of Dr. Watts. 1780 (?). 32^{o}. _B.M._

Horæ Lyricæ | Poems | Chiefly of the Lyric Kind, | etc. By I. Watts. Pages 323–370 contain the Divine Songs. 6 × 3¾. No publisher, place or date. 1780 (?). _S._

Dr. Watts’s Hymns and Moral Songs for the use of Children. Revised and Altered, etc. By a Lady. London: Printed by permission, etc. 1785 (?). First edition, _NR._ See 2nd ed., 1787; 3rd ed., 1791.

Divine Songs attempted in easy language for the use of Children. S. Harward, Glocester, 1785. pp. xii + 58. 12^{o}. _B.M._

Divine Songs for the use of Children, Coventry, 1787 (?), 12^{o}. _Bod._

Divine | Songs | Attempted in | Easy Language | For the use of | Children. | By I. Watts, D.D. || London: J. Buckland; J. F. | and C. Rivington; T. Longman; T. Field; | and C. Dilly. | MDCCLXXXVII. | pp. xii + 60, 5⅞ × 3½. _S._

Divine Songs for Children, 1788. Comment on Watts’ Divine Songs by Mrs. Trimmer. 1789. 12^{o}. Copy in old Eng. Mor. Gold tooled, G. E. With portrait added, sold at Sotheby’s, May 1892, £4.

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The divine and moral songs of Isaac WattsChapter I: Part 1

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