In this later period of English hj-mnology many and verj' sweet have been the singers and their sacred songs. There is Henry F. Lyte, the rector of Brixham (1793- 1847), author of ' ' Jesus, I my cross have taken," and of those delightful "hymns from beneath the cloud," "My spirit on thy care, blest Saviour, I recline," and the last that he ever wrote, "Abide with me, fast falls the even- tide." It was of his Tales in Veise that professor Wil- son, in the "NoQtes Ambrosiana?," wrote, "Now that is the right kind of religious poetrj'. He ought to give us another volume." That volume soon came, entitled Poems, chiefly reliffious. The female hjinnists increase in number and in power in this period. Mrs. Felicia Hemans, Caroline Bowles, and others of great repute, lead the way with tlieir sweet music. We have learn- ed to sing " Nearer, my God, to thee," from Miss Sa- rah F.Adams, who died in 1849 in her old home, Dor- setshire ; and Charlotte Elliott, of Torquay, struck a new chord for all the Avorld when she WTote, in 1S3G, those inimitable verses, "Just as I am, without one plea." She is the author of several volumes, and furnished one hundred and seventeen hymns to The Invalid's Hymn- book, the last edition of which she supervised. BIrs. Barret Browiing, INIrs. Charles, of " Schonberg Cotta" fame. Miss Adelaide Proctor, Mary Howitt, and the Bronte sisters — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, Isabella Craig, and JMrs. Craik, formerly Miss Mulock, author of John Halifax, Gentleman, are among the later chief singers of their sex whose verses have enriched our hymnals. Sir John Bowring, born in 1792, author of "In the cross of Christ I glory," " Watchman, tell us of the night ;" the dean of St. Paul's, Dr. Henrj- Hart JIU- man, archbishop Trench, John Keble, with his Chri-i- tian Year, the poet leader of the Anglican CathoUc movement in the English establishment, Alexander Knox, Allan Cunningham, Robert Pollok, bishop Heber, with his glorious advent, and judgment, and missionary hj-rons, Bernard Barton, the Quaker poet, canon Words- worth, and the late dean .-Vlford, of Westminster Abbey,
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Fabor, the devout Eomish hymnist, and Dr. John H. Newman, once of Oxford and now of Kome, Kobert Mur- ray M'Cheyue,and John K. M'Uuff, the Scottish preach- ers, with Horatius Bonar, of Kelso, author of the de- lightful Hymns of Faith and Hope, many of which are already familiar as household words, and Edward H. Bickersteth, whose poem " Yesterday, to-day, and for- ever" is " one of the most remarkable of the age" — all these, and more M'hom we cannot even name, swell the majestic volume of our most recent British sacred song. It is not any exaggeration to say that many of their hymns wiU compare favorably with the best that pre- ceded them, and that some of them can never die while their mother tongue is the vehicle of Christian praise.
3. A mericatu— Poetry was not cultivated in our he- roic age for its own sake, and the singers were few and far between. The churches mostly used the psalms and hymns which they brought with them from the Old World until after the Revolutionary War. Presi- dent Davies (1724-17G1) left some poems, among which his lines on the birth of an infant, and the noble hymn commencing " Great God of wonders ! all thy ways," are most famiUar. The celebrated Dr. Timotliy Dwight, at the request of the Congregational ministers of Connec- ticut, revised the psalms of Dr. Watts, and added over twenty of his own versifications to tlie volume. Of all that he wrote, however, none have such beauty and vi- tality as his rendering of Psalm cxix, " How precious is the Book divine !" Psalm exxxvii, " I love thy king- dom, Lord ;" and of Psalm cl, " In Zion's sacred gates." These are universal favorites. In his preface to that admirable volume, Christ in Sonc;, Dr. PhiUp Schaff says, " The Lyra Sacra of America is well represented. Although only about thirty years old, it is far richer than our British friends are aware of." Abundant proof of its richness is furnished iia the Hymns of Immanvel, which the author has gathered into this remarkable collection of Christological poetry, a number of which were furnished by their authors for this work. It is scarcely necessary in these pages to quote at any Icr.gth those hymns which have been adopted into nearly all of the recent books of praise for the various denomiua- tions. We shall therefore only refer to the most noted authors, and give parts of some of the hymns which seem destined to secure a permanent place in our Amer- ican hj-mnals. The earlier poets — I'ercival, Pierpont, Henry Ware, Jr., Kichard H. Dana, Washington Alston, John Neal, N. P.Willis, Brainard, J.W. East burn, Car- los Wilcox, Hillhouse, with Bryant, Longfellow, Tuck- emian, and Wbitticr, ^\•ho are still living— have aU made occasional contriljutions to the stock of popular hymns, chiefly of the Unitarian and Universalist bodies. The clergy of the American churches have probably been the most fertile contributors to this department of sanc- tuary worship during this period.
The late bishop Doane (q. v.), of New Jersey, vTote some very beautiful hjTnns, which long ago passed be- yond the body of which he was a champion into the hym- nals of other churches. His evening hymn is worthy of comparison even with that of good bishop Ken : " Softly now the light of day." There is a trumpet-like music in his majestic lines on the Banner of the Cross which reminds us of Heber and Milman : " Fling out the ban- ner ! let it float," etc. The same Church has also given us Dr. W. A. Muhlenbergh's well-known hymn, " I would not live alway," and other delightful verses from his now patriarchal muse. Another bishop. Dr. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, among his fine Christian ballads and poems, has rendered into verse, with more spirit and power than any other Enghsh writer, those words of Christ, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock."