THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
troversy over the propriety of using them, and divided into " singing and non-singing congregations." The Independents began to use hymns about 1690 {Collection of Divine Hymns, 1694), and the time was ripe for Isaac Watts (q.v.; 1674-1748), who has been called the creator of English hymnody. The public sentiment of the time has been indicated by the fact that Watts considered it necessary to preface his Hymns (1707) with an apologetic argument. The comparative excellence of his compositions forced them into acceptance, rendered psalm-singing as the only means of public praise obsolete, and made his hymns necessary to every hymnal since his time. He left about 875 hymns and psalms, and his significance lies in his departure from the literalness of the Psalters and the employment of modern thought and sentiment. Watts opened the flood-gates of English hymnody, and from his time the flow of hymns has been steady. Philip Doddridge (q.v.; 1702-51) composed nearly 400 hymns, many of which were written and sung as supplement to his sermons. He had as younger contemporaries Simon Browne (1680-1732), who left 170 hymns, among them " Come, gracious Spirit, heavenly dove," and Robert Seagrave (1693-1755), who left about fifty hymns, including " Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings." The creations of hymnals under these influences was rapid. The Moravian hymn-book was made in 1742 and standardized in 1789; a Unitarian collection was made in 1757; the Church of England's hymnal began with Martin Madan's Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1760), using the previous sources; the first Wesleyan hymnal was put out in 1780; and the first Baptist hymn-book was Rippon's (1787).
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries witnessed the rise of a large number of " poets of the Church " who produced compositions which became deservedly popular and seem assured of lasting fame. Some of these are the following: Joseph Hart (1712-68), "Come, Holy 4. Individual Spirit "; Anne Steele (1716-78), "Father, HymnistS. whate'er of earthly bliss "; William Williams (1717-91), a Welsh hymnist, who wrote 800 hymns, including " Guide me, O thou great Jehovah ". John Cennick (1718-55), " Children of the heavenly king "'• John Newton (1725-1807) and William Cowper (1731-1800)' who cooperated in producing the " Olney Hymns "; William Hammond (1719-83), " Awake and sing the song "; Thomas Gibbons (1720-85), " Now let our souls on wings sublime "; Edward Perronet (1726-92), " All hail the power of Jesus' name"; Samuel Stennett (1727-95), " Majestic sweetness sits enthroned "; Thomas Haweis (1732-1820), who wrote 256 hymns; the brothers Wesley, foremost of whom as a hymn-writer was Charles (1739-86), who wrote some 6,000 hymns, 3,000 of which were left in manuscript; John Fawcett (1739-1817), " Blest be the tie that binds "; Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-78), " Rock of Ages, cleft for me " and 132 others; Mrs. Anna Leetitia Barbauld (1743-1825), " Come, said Jesus' sacred voice " and 143 others; Rowland Hill (1744-1833), " Cast thy burden on the Lord "; James Montgomery (1771-1834), " Oh! where shall rest be found "; Harriet Auber (1773-1862), " Our blest Redeemer, ere he breathed "; Reginald Heber (1783- 1826), " By cool Siloam's shady rill "; Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871), " Just as I am, without one plea "; Henry Kirke White (1785-1806), " Oft in danger, oft in woe "; Sir Robert Grant (1785-1838), " Ohl worship the king, all glorious above "; Sir John Bowring (1792-1872), " In the cross of Christ I glory "; James Edmeston (1791-1867), " Savior, breathe an evening blessing "; Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847), " Abide with me, fast falls the eventide "; Sarah Flower Adams (1805-48), " Nearer, my God, to thee "; Christopher Wordsworth (1807-85), "Oh! day of rest and gladness "; Horatius Bonar (1808-89), " I heard the voice
of Jesus say "; Henry Alford (1810-71), " Come, ye thankful people, come "; Thomas Toke Lynch (1818-71), " Gracious Spirit, dwell with me " and 166 others; William Walsham How (1823-97), " For all thy saints who from their labors rest "; Edward Henry Bickersteth (1825-1906), " 0 God, the rock of ages "; Catherine Winkworth (1829-78), who produced the Lyra Germanica which has so influenced modern church singing; Frances Ridley Havergal (1836- 1879), " I gave my life for thee" ; and George Matheson (1842-1906), "O Love that will not let me go." Not mentioned in the foregoing are the members of a little circle, all connected with the Oxford movement, who influenced English hymnody less by the number of hymns which they produced than by the high value of their compositions as expressions of devotion. This circle comprised: JohnKeble (1792-1866), who produced the Christian Year; Frederick William Faber (1814-63), " Paradise, 0 paradise " and " Hark! hark, my soul "; John Mason Neale (1818- 1866), whose rendering " Jerusalem the golden " is in every hymnal of note, and who produced also the splendid Medieval Hymns and Sequences (London, 1852); Edward Caswall (1814-78), who produced Lyra Catholica; and John Henry Newman (1801-90), whose " Lead, kindly light " is one of the best known of English hymns.
While, during the whole period just sketched, the production of hymnals was steady, with 1830 began
a better use of the earlier material,
5. Recent evident in more careful editing and
Hymnology. a larger employment of the earlier
treasures of the Church, made available by the writers named above and others whose work was perhaps no less worthy. Critical study was made of sources, attention was paid to the reproduction of the spirit of the originals, and greater faithfulness was manifested in the employment of earlier hymns, while the tunes used were not only of a higher quality in composition, but were made to accord in their flow with the rhythm of the hymns. In this way improvement almost inestimable has been brought about in the song service of the Church. In this movement one of the most influential leaders was Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-77), whose famous Hymns Ancient and Modern was at the time of its appearance highwater mark as a medium of congregational devotion. This compiler is hardly less celebrated for his setting of Psalm xxiii., " The king of love my shepherd is." In this movement the Church of England has taken great interest, and at present its hymnals are recognized as models for the compilation of service-books of song.
X. American Hymns: The connection between the colonies and England was so close until about
1770 that American hymnody had
1. General little distinctively its own. The first
Description. American praise-book was the famous
Bay Psalm-Book (q.v.), which was often reprinted. Then Tate and Brady's Psalter came into popular use, with a supplement of hymns largely by Watts, of which many editions were issued. After the War of the Revolution, denominational activity in the production of hymnals became intense, and this movement, stimulated by the production of meritorious hymns, soon passed beyond the use of the versified psalms. Official hymnals were issued by the Protestant Episcopal Church (1789, 1808, 1826), by the Baptists (The Philadelphia Collection, 1790), by the Methodists (prior to 1790); the Universalists published two collections in 1792, the Unitarians one in 1795, the Congregationalists one in 1799, while the first official