GEORGE HERBERT
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George Herbert is one of our
great hymn writers. He lived through dramatic times in English history.
Although he died at the age of 40 he lived through the reigns of three monarchs
– Elizabeth I (1558-1603), James I (1603.1625) and Charles I (1625-1649).
Contemporaries of Herbert's were the explorer and circum-navigator of the
globe, Sir Francis Drake, John Hawkins, the first English slave-trader and
William Shakespeare. It was an age when Britain was
developing into a great sea power. Drake's daring voyages to the little known West Indies opened the way to the treasures to be had from the New World. The great European powers of the time were England, France and Spain.
Socially it was a period when the plague visited Britain,
followed by famine. The population was heavily taxed to finance the war with Spain. Henry VIII had dissolved the monasteries, many of which deserved
their fate. However, the ministry to the poor carried out by the better ones
collapsed. Thus a compulsory Poor Tax was imposed in 1597 and well-known
institutions were founded – such as Christ Hospital for the education of boys, St. Thomas' and St. Bartholomew's Hospitals for the sick, and Bethlehem (later Bedlam) for the care of the insane. Yet England was full of vagabonds and tramps, travel was not really
safe without escort. It was the age of alchemy. Originating independently in Egypt and China, it remained for 1,500 years a legitimate
branch of science and philosophy.
This then was the world into
which George Herbert was born on the 3rd of April 1593 in Montgomery, Wales. He was
one of ten children. After the death of his father his mother raised the
children alone. Mrs. Herbert was patron to the Rev'd. John Donne (1571-1631),
the 'passionate Dean' of St.
Paul's, London.
George Herbert was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He
wrote circular verse and sonnets as well as religious composition. He was
elected a major Fellow of Trinity, was Reader in Rhetoric at Cambridge and was a public orator. He was elected to represent Montgomery in parliament in 1624-1625. His mother died in 1627 and
John Donne gave the funeral oration. Two years later Herbert married Jane
Denvers. The following year he gave up his secular ambitions and took holy
orders, becaming Rector of Bermerton by Salisbury. He
wrote a great deal and succeeded in rebuilding his church, funding the work
partly himself. He helped the poor, becoming known as 'Holy Mr. Herbert' until his
death in 1633 from tuberculosis. He is commemorated in the Anglican calendar on
27th February. Some of his best-known hymns are: King of Glory, King of
Peace, Let all the world and Teach me my God and King
ISAAC WATTS
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Our second great hymn writer
chronologiocally is Isaac Watts. It had never occurred to me that the writer of
such well known hymns in our Anglican hymnals as 'O God our help in ages
past', 'Joy to the world', 'When I survey the wondrous cross' and 'Jesus shall
reign' could not have been an Anglican. However, an article in the Vienna magazine 'Crossways' has shown me to be mistaken.
He was a prolific hymn writer
from an early age, and has some 750 hymns to his name. His propensity for
rhyming almost drove his parents to distraction during his childhood years. Watts was born in Southampton in the home of a firm non-conformist. He
attended King Edward the VI School where he studied classical languages.
Because of his nonconformity entry to Oxford or Cambridge was barred. Thus he became a student at the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690.
He later became the pastor to
a large independent chapel in London. He also worked as a private tutor,
living with the Hartopp family at Fleetwood House and later with the family of
the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Abney. Sir Thomas, although a
Dissenter, showed a certain openness towards the Church of England. Watts himself adopted a more interdenominational attitude towards
religious belief than was normal for Dissenters of his period.
His textbook on Logic,
published in 1724, became the standard work on the subject at Oxford, Cambridge, Yale and Harvard for over 100 years. He
died in 1748 in Stoke Newington and was buried in the Dissenting Cemetery at Bunhill Fields. His papers were given
to Yale University
which was largely a Dissenting foundation. He is commemorated in the Church of
England Calendar on the 25th of November.
Watts lived in a turbulent period. He lived through the reigns of six
kings from the Restoration to the the Hanoverian George II. The Book of Common
Prayer, banned under Cromwell, was reintroduced (in almost the form we know it)
in 1662. The Declaration of Indulgence allowed Protestant dissenters to worship
openly again. He was born just after the Plague and the Great Fire of 1666.
Thus Sir Christopher Wren was rebuilding St. Paul's
during his lifetime. During these years the Union of England and Scotland was achieved. A dark chapter of these years was the
massacre at Glencoe and the crushing of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 and
1745. A number of important charitable movements though also took form during
these years. By the time of his death witches were no longer burned
CHARLES WESLEY
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Charles Wesley was born on the 18th December 1707 in Epworth,
Lincolnshire – the 18th (and last) child of the Rev'd. Samuel and Susanna
Wesley. He was first educated at home by his parents, and later at
Westminster School. He went on to Oxford with a Westminster
scholarship. While at Oxford he and his brother John formed the Oxford
Holy Club in 1729 for the purposes of worship and visiting the sick and
those in prison. Its members received the nickname of 'Methodists'. It
was at this time that his lasting friendship with George Whitfield began.
Charles was made Deacon in the Church of England in 1735. In this
same year he, accompanied by his brother John, made his first voyage to
the colony of Georgia as part of the entourage of the governor, George
Oglethorpe. He returned to England the following year as a result of poor
health. His brothers, John and Samuel the Younger, were also ordained as
priests of the Church of England.
Charles and John together are considered to be the founders of
Methodism, although they did not always agree. In particular Charles
was strongly opposed to any breach with the Church of England. Just
before his death he sent for the Rector of St. Marylebone Parish Church,
in which parish he lived, and said to him, “Sir, whatever the world may
say of me, I have lived, and I die, a member of the Church of England. I
pray you bury me in your churchyard.” On his death, his coffin was
carried to the church by eight clergymen of the Church of England.
In 1749 he married Sarah Gwynne. She was much younger than Charles.
They had eight children together of whom only three sons survived
infancy. Sarah accompanied Charles and John on their preaching tours
throughout Britain until Charles ceased to travel in 1765.
In the course of his life Charles wrote the words for over 7,000 hymns.
5,500 of these he published during his lifetime. It is sometimes said that
these hymns had as much impact on the mission of the two brothers as
the preaching of John. Many of these hymns are still commonly sung
today. They include: And can it be that I should gain?; Christ the Lord is
risen today; Christ whose glory fills the skies; Come, Thou long-expected
Jesus; Hail! The day that sees him rise; Hark the herald angels sing;
Jesu, Lover of my soul; Lo! He comes with clouds descending; O for a
thousand tongues to sing; Rejoice, the Lord is King; Soldiers of Christ,
arise; Jesus, from whom all blessings flow; Come, Holy Ghost our hearts
inspire; Forth in Thy name O Lord.
JOHN NEWTON
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John Newton was born in London on July 24th
1725. His father was a merchant ship captain. At the age of 11 he
went to sea with his father and made six voyages with him before the
elder Newton retired. In 1741 John was pressed into service on HMS
Harwich. He subsequently tried to desert, but was caught and severely
flogged. At the same time he was demoted from midshipman to ordinary
seaman. In his humiliation he considered suicide but finally, at his
own request, was transferred into service on a slave ship. He became
the servant of a slave trader who brutally abused him. Early in 1748
John was rescued by the master of a ship who knew his father. In 1750
he married Mary Catlett with whom he had been in love for a number of
years. He eventually came to own his own ships with which he plied
the slave trade.
Although
he had some early religious instruction from his mother, he had long
since given up any religious belief. However, on one homeward voyage
he experienced during a violent storm what he referred to
subsequently as his 'great deliverance'. He observed the anniversary
of this event (March 21, 1748) for the rest of his life He
dated his full conversion though to a later experience during a time
of sickness. His slave trading activities did not cease though until
1754 when he suffered a severe stroke. It does appear though that
slaves on his ships were treated during these later years more
humanely than was usual.
In
1755 he became Tide Surveyor of the Port of Liverpool. During this
period he became well-known as an evangelical lay-minister. In 1757
he applied for ordination into the priesthood of the Church of
England. But it was to be seven frustrating years before he was
actually accepted. In 1764 he was made Deacon, and was priested later
that same year. He received the living of Olney in Buckinghamshire.
In this period his simple piety brought him the respect of both
Anglicans and Dissenters. In 1779 he became Rector of St. Mary,
Woolnoth in the Diocese of London. This post he held until his death
in 1807. He became a strong supported of the abolition of the slave
trade. It was he who persuaded William Wilberforce not to seek Holy
Orders in the Anglican priesthood, but to continue his Abolitionist
struggle in Parliament.
In
1767 William Cowper had moved to Olney and at this time the two
collaborated in producing a book of hymns known as 'Olney Hymns'.
This included Newton's well-known hymns: Glorious
things of Thee are spoken, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, Come
my soul, thy suit prepare, Approach my soul the mercy seat, and
Amazing
grace.
REGINALD HEBER
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Continuing
the series of articles on great hymn writers.
Reginald
Heber was born into a heritage of wealth and culture on April 21st,
1783 in Malpas, Cheshire. His father was a member of an old Yorkshire
family. Reginald apparently was the archetypal child prodigy. By the
age of five years he had read the Bible so thoroughly that he could
give chapter and verse references for quotations chosen by chance. He
was an insatiable reader throughout his life.
Heber
was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford where he won a number of
prizes for both Latin and English poetry and prose. In 1804 he was
elected a fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford.
In
1807 he was ordained to the priesthood of the Church of England and
became Vicar of the family estate at Hodnet, Shropshire, where his
father held half the living. Here he was dearly loved and served
faithfully for sixteen years – often at risk of infection at
the sick-beds of the poor. He married Amelia Shipley, the daughter of
the Dean of St. Asaph's Cathedral, in 1809. It was during his years
at Hodnet that he did all his hymn writing – some 57 in total,
a number of which are still in popular use.
In
1815 he was appointed Brampton Lecturer at Oxford, and in 1817 he
became Prebendary of St. Asaph's, where his father-in-law was still
the Dean. In 1827, after refusing twice, Heber reluctantly accepted
the appointment as Bishop of Calcutta. The Diocese of Calcutta at
that time included all of what is today India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Shri Lanka (Ceylon), and Australia. At this time he was awarded a
Doctorate in Divinity from Oxford University. He worked intensively
in his new post for three years. This work involved an immense amount
of uncomfortable travel in tropical heat and over vast distances
It
is said that on the day of his death he had baptized 42 people. He
died in Tamil Nadu, India, on April the 3rd in 1826 of a cerebral
haemorrhage, whilst bathing..He was buried in St. John's Church,
Trichnopoly, Tamil Nadu. The grave is on the north side of the altar.
Heber's
hymns which are most familiar to us and which still find an honoured
place in our hymn-books are: Bread
of the world in mercy broken, Brightest and best of the sons of the
morning, From Greenland's icy mountains, God that madest earth and
heaven, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Hosanna to the living
Lord and
Virgin
born, we bow before thee
HENRY FRANCES LYTE
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H.
F. Lyte, the great Anglican divine and hymn-writer was born in 1793
on a farm in the village of Ednam, near Kelso in Scotland. His
parents were Thomas and Anna Lyte.
In that year Britain was at war
with Napoleon. Later there were rumours that the French were sending
forces to assist the Irish rebels. Thus in 1798 Captain Thomas Lyte,
Royal Marines, was amongst those drafted to Sligo to put down the
rebellion. Anna and her three sons followed on. Henry had a very
close early relationship with his mother who was really the source of
his knowledge of the love of God. Sadly though she died at an early
age. Thomas made arrangements for Henry and his older brother to be
enrolled in the Royal School in Enniskillen. Soon afterwards he
abandoned his family. At the age of nine Henry found himself alone
and without any means of support.
The
headmaster of Henry's school, Dr. Burrows, a distinguished scholar,
was a kindly man and recognizing Henry's ability, he and Mrs. Burrows
took Henry into their home and paid his school fees. He was virtually
an adopted son of the Burrow's, and he never forgot their kindness.
Lyte went on to study at Trinity College, Dublin. He took Anglican
holy orders in 1815 and became curate of Taghmon near Wexford. By
1817 he was a curate in Cornwall and was married to Anne Maxwell who
came from Monaghan in Ireland. He finally settled in 1823 in the
parish of Lower Brixham, a fishing village in Devon. It was here that
he helped in the education of the later British Prime Minister, Lord
Salisbury.
Lyte's
first work was Tales
in Verse illustrative of Several of the Petitions in the Lord's
Prayer (1826).
He then published (1833) a volume entitled Poems,
chiefly Religious,
and in 1834 a small collection of psalms and hymns with the title The
Spirit of the Psalms. Three
of his most well known hymns are from this book,.and are paraphrases
of psalms.
Lyte
was never physically strong. He developed consumption and had to
visit Europe frequently. He continued writing, mainly religious
poetry and hymns, until his death in 1847 in Nice where he is buried.
It
was following his last service, after watching the sunset over Torbay
that he penned his most famous hymn Abide
with me! Fast falls the eventide.
Other well-known hymns of his are: Jesus,
I my cross have taken; Praise my soul, the King of Heaven; Pleasant
are Thy courts above, and
God
of mercy, God of grace.
Newman was born in London on February 21st, 1801, the eldest of six children. His father, John Newman, was a banker. His mother, Jamima, was a member of the Fourdonier family. In 1808 he was enrolled at a private school in Ealing. As a boy he was a voracious reader, especially of the Bible.
In 1816 he had a conversion experience. The religious background to this was of a somewhat evangelical character. This also was the year of the collapse of his father's banking business. It was only as the result of a scholarship that he was able to enter Trinity College, Oxford, in 1817.
In 1822 he was elected a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. Edward Bouverie Pusey, with whom he was to be associated closely in later years, was elected the same year. In 1825 Newman was ordained as a priest of the Church of England and 1828 he became Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford. He retained this post until 1843. During the earlier years of his time at St. Mary's Newman began to question his former evangelical views.
In 1833 he preached his famous sermon on 'National Apostasy', which could be regarded as the beginning of the Oxford Movement in the Church of England. The two other great figures were Keble and Froude, along with Pusey somewhat later. Newman published the first 'Tract for the Times' in the same year. A considerable number of tracts were written by these men, all priests of the Church of England over a number of years. This resulted in the Oxford Movement also being known as 'Tractarianism'. They sought to recapture the Catholic heritage of the Church of England.
In 1845, having finally come to the view that the Church of England could not be a true home to his Catholic beliefs, Newman was received into the Roman Church. In 1847 he was ordained to the Roman priesthood in Rome and was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1878. He published his account of his journey of faith in the book entitled 'Apologia Pro Vita Sua' in1864. Newman founded the English Oratory in 1848. He preached his last sermon in 1888 and died in Birmingham on August 11th, 1890.
The well known and frequently used hymns in Anglican hymnals which were written by Newman are, Firmly I believe and truly; Lead, kindly light and Praise to the holiest in the hight. He is also known for his translation of Come, Holy Ghost, who ever one.
J. M. Neale (1818 – 1866) was an English divine, scholar and hymn writer. He was born in London, his father being an Anglican priest, the Rev'd. Cornelius Neale. He was educated at Trinity College Cambridge where he was influenced by the Oxford Movement. He was ordained in 1841, but due to poor health was only able to take up an appointment in 1846 when he became warden of Sackville College. This was an alms-house in East Grinstead. He held this post until his relatively early death.
In 1854 Neale co-founded the Society of St. Margaret, a Church of England womens' religious nursing order. Many Anglicans at that period though were suspicious of anything suggestive of Roman Catholicism. The Tractarians had sought to re-establish the Catholic heritage of the Church of England, and just nine years previous to this one of the leaders of the movement, John Henry Newman had been received into the Roman Church. All this suggested to many that people such as Neale with their Catholic sympathies were in reality agents of the Vatican endeavouring to subvert Anglicanism from within. This backlash sometimes became violent, the Protestants encouraging mobs to invade services and the like. Neale was threatened with violence on several occasions. He was actually attacked once when conducting the funeral service for one of the Sisters. He encountered opposition also from Church authorities for the same reason, including a fourteen years inhibition by his bishop. He received no preferment or honour in England, and his doctorate was bestowed by an American college, Trinity College, Connecticut. However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had previously bitterly opposed him. The Sisterhood of St. Margaret survived and prospered.
Neale translated the liturgies of the Eastern Church into English and wrote a mystical and devotional commentary on the Psalms. However, he is best remembered as a hymn writer, and especially as a translator of many ancient and medieval hymns from their original Latin and Greek. More than any other single person he enriched the worship of English-speaking congregations by making them aware of the heritage of centuries of Latin, Greek, Russian and Syrian hymns on which they could draw. His translations include: All Glory, Laud and Honour, Sing My Tongue, the Glorious Battle, To Thee Before the Close of Day, and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! He is commemorated in Anglican Church Calendars on August 04 and in some Lutheran Calendars on July 01.
Continuing the series on Hymn Writers of the Church:
Sir H. W. Baker is a name we see frequently in our hymn books. As well as being a prolific hymn writer he was also an eminent priest of the Church of England. He was born in London in 1821, the son of Vice Admiral Sir Henry Loraine Baker. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge where he graduated BA in 1844. he took holy orders in 1844, and became vicar of Monkland, Herefordshire in 1851, which benefice he held until death. He succeeded to the baronetcy also in 1851.
He is best known as editor in chief of Hymns Ancient and Modern, to which he contributed a number of his hymns. This hymnal sold 60,000,000 copies and its successors Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised and Hymns Ancient and Modern New Standard (which we currently use) still enjoy considerable popularity throughout the Anglican Communion, with the exception of the Episcopal Church of the United States of American and the Church of Ireland.
A critique of Baker's work says, 'Of his hymns four only are of the highest strain of jubilation, another four are bright and cheerful, and the remainder are very tender but exceedingly plaintive, sometimes even to sadness.' The language of his hymns is smooth and simple, the thought is correct and sometimes very beautifully expressed.
Best known of his hymns, a number of which are frequently sung here in S. Margaret's, are O God of love, O King of peace, The King of love my Shepherd is, Praise, O praise, our God and King, Lord, thy word abideth, My Father, for another night, and O praise ye the Lord. Baker was also the translator of the version of O sacred head surrounded which we use in Holy Week. He also wrote two well known hymn tunes, St. Timothy and Stephanos.
Baker died on February 12, 1877. His last audible words were a quotation from the third verse of his own exquisite rendering of the twenty-third Psalm, The King of love my Shepherd is.
Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed
But yet in love he sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home rejoicing brought me.