Unitarian Association, but the editorial work was chiefly done by Rev.
Leonard J. Livermore (1822-1886). It is the first hymn-book to be
issued by the Association and the first American Unitarian hymn-book
to be completely furnished with tunes. It contained 740 hymns, about
30 chants, etc., and 299 tunes, a large proportion of which have since
dropped out of use. Regarded as in some measure an authorized
denominational hymn-book, it had wide use, though it “marked no
advance over its predecessors, but its tunes were well up to the
average level and gave it a great advantage,” and stimulated
congregational singing.
35. _Hymns for the Christian Church, for the use of the First Church
of Christ in Boston_—Boston, 1869.
Edited by Rev. Rufus Ellis (1819-1885), minister of the First Church,
Boston. It was based on Lunt’s conservative Christian Psalter (15)
which had been in use in the First Church for 25 years. About 250
hymns were retained from the earlier volume and enough more added to
bring the total to 469. The selections were well made, but, without
music, the book could not compete with the more inclusive _Hymn and
Tune Book_ (34) which the American Unitarian Association had published
the preceding year.
36. _Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and Home_—Revised edition.
American Unitarian Association, Boston, 1877.
The compiler’s name nowhere appears in the book, which was edited by
Rev. Rush R. Shippen (1828-1911), then Secretary of the American
Unitarian Association. It is a thorough-going revision of (34),
virtually a new book. It contains 871 hymns, 14 chants, etc., 316
tunes, a much richer selection than its predecessor, although the
music was still of the mid-century type, with only a few examples of
the newer English tunes which were being introduced into America by
the choirs of Episcopal churches. The book was well adapted to the
general needs of Unitarians and was the most widely used book among
the Unitarian churches for the ensuing forty years.
37. _Unity Hymns and Chorals_—Edited by W. C. Gannett, J. V. Blake, F.
L. Hosmer. Chicago, 1880.
A later and largely revised edition was published in 1911 by Hosmer
and Gannett. The editors, Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840-1929), William
Channing Gannett (1840-1923), and James Vila Blake (1842-1925), were
hymn-writers and ministers in the Western Unitarian Conference. This
small book, noted for its “split-leaf” arrangement, represented the
point of view of the “left-wing” group in the denomination. In its two
editions it contained most of the hymns by its editors, and a good
many by other authors which appeared for the first time within its
covers. In this respect, as in its radical character, it may be
compared to the hymn-books by Longfellow and Johnson (24 and 33). It
was widely used in the Western Unitarian Conference. Musically it was
mediocre.
38. _Sacred Songs for Public Worship: A Hymn and Tune Book_—Edited by
M. J. Savage and Howard M. Dow. Boston, 1883.
This small book contains 195 hymns and songs for popular use, selected
by Minot J. Savage (1841-1918), minister of Unity Church, Boston,
Mass., and set to music by Howard M. Dow. Forty-two items are from Mr.
Savage’s pen, the rest mostly from familiar sources. It is much more
of a “one-man book” and musically nearer akin to the typical gospel
song-book than any other collection in this series.
39. _Hymns of the Church Universal_—Compiled by the Rev. Henry Wilder
Foote [I]: Revised and edited by Mary W. Tileston and Arthur Foote.
Boston, 1890.
This book was compiled for use in King’s Chapel, Boston, of which Mr.
Foote (1838-1889) was minister, but was not published until after his
death, the editorial work being completed by his sister and brother.
The book superseded _Greenwood’s Collection_ (13) in King’s Chapel,
and had considerable use elsewhere. It contained 647 hymns, a number
of chants, and 299 tunes. It introduced many hymns and tunes of the
later 19^th century English authors and composers which were not found
in any earlier American Unitarian collections, and was influential in
setting a standard for later books.
40. _Hymnal: Amore Dei_—Compiled by Mrs. Theodore C. Williams, Boston,
1890. Revised, 1897.
Edited by Mrs. Williams in co-operation with her husband, Rev.
Theodore C. Williams (1855-1915), minister of All Souls’ Church, New
York.
It contained 382 hymns, about 25 chants and responses and 272 tunes. A
collection similar to _Hymns of the Church Universal_ (39) in
utilizing the newer English hymns and tunes of the nineteenth century,
it had many excellencies and considerable use. The biographical
indexes of composers and authors are far more complete than those of
any earlier book in this series.
41. _Hymns for Church and Home_—American Unitarian Association,
Boston, 1895.
Edited by Mary Wilder Tileston and Arthur Foote, it was in effect a
revised and enlarged edition of _Hymns for the Church Universal_ (39),
containing 801 hymns. It was an admirable compilation but rather large
and heavy for handling.
42. _Hymns for Church and Home Abridged_—1902.
An edition of (41) with the number of hymns reduced to 513.
43. _Hymns of the Ages_—Cambridge: The University Press. 1904.
Edited by Louisa Putnam Loring (1854-1924). A book of high literary
and musical standards, based upon the (Harvard) _University Hymn Book_
(1895). It contained 316 hymns and 205 tunes, but it represented a
rather limited and individualistic point of view and did not prove
adaptable to general use.
44. _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book and Candle Light Service_—The Isles of
Shoals Association, 1908.
Edited by Rev. George H. Badger (1859-1954). Since the book was
intended for use at the summer meetings on the Isles of Shoals, off
Portsmouth, N. H., the religious interpretation of nature is strongly
emphasized. The book contains 219 hymns and 96 tunes, mostly selected
from _Hymns for Church and Home_ (41), but nine of them are original
contributions to this book, some with lines referring directly to the
island setting or history. Both words and music represent the highest
standards at the time of publication, and the book is an exceptional
collection of hymns expressing this aspect of religion.
45. _The New Hymn and Tune Book_—American Unitarian Association:
Boston, 1914.
Edited by a commission: Rev. Samuel A. Eliot (1862-1950), Chairman;
Rev. Henry Wilder Foote, (II), (1875-____), Secretary; Rev. Rush R.
Shippen, (1828-1911), Rev. Lewis G. Wilson, (1858-1928).
Nominally a revision of the _Hymn and Tune Book_ of 1877 (36), it was
in effect a new compilation, drawing largely upon _Hymns for Church
and Home_ (41), _Amore Dei_ (40) and _Unity Hymns and Chorals_ (37).
It contained 546 hymns, 28 chants, etc., and 268 tunes. It also
included a set of services and responsive readings, prepared by
another committee. It represented a great advance on earlier books and
was more widely adopted than any of them. In its music it was less
progressive than in its selection of hymns, representing the musical
standard and practice of about 1900.
46. _Twenty-five Hymns for Use in Time of War_—The Beacon Press.
Boston, n. d. (1916).
A pamphlet of hymns, more than half of them reprinted from the _Hymn
and Tune Book_ of 1914 (45) for use during the Great War.
47. _Songs and Readings_—compiled and edited by Jacob Trapp and R. T.
Porte. Salt Lake City, 1931.
This booklet contains 58 songs and hymns, without music, and 32
responsive readings for use in the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake
City, of which Mr. Trapp (1899-____) was then minister. Intended for
ministers with “Humanist” leanings.
48. _Hymns of the Spirit_—Beacon Press, 1937.
Edited by a Unitarian Commission: Rev. Henry Wilder Foote, (II)
(1875-____), Chairman; Rev. Edward P. Daniels (1891-____), Rev. Curtis
W. Reese (1887-____), Rev. Von Ogden Vogt (1879-____), working in
co-operation with a Universalist Commission: Rev. L. G. Williams
(1893-____), Chairman; Rev. Prof. Alfred S. Cole, (1893-____), Rev.
Prof. Edson R. Miles (1875-1958), and Rev. Tracy M. Pullman
(1904-____).
The title is borrowed from the second collection, edited by Samuel
Longfellow and Samuel Johnson, 1864, (33). The book is printed with
services and responsive readings prepared by the same two commissions.
It is an extensive revision of the _New Hymn and Tune Book_ (45) of
1914, with special emphasis on “the social gospel” and on hymns
dealing with “man in the universe.” Its most notable advance over its
predecessors is in its music, edited by E. P. Daniels and Robert L.
Sanders. It contains 533 hymns, 42 chants, etc., 366 tunes.
_Alphabetical List of Unitarian Hymn Writers In the Following
Catalogue_
Adams, John Quincy
Alcott, Louisa May
Alger, Wm. R.
Ames, Chas. G.
Anonymous
Appleton, Francis P.
Badger, George H.
Ballou, Adin
Barber, Henry H.
Barnard, John
Barrows, Samuel J.
Bartol, Cyrus A.
Bartrum, Joseph P.
Beach, Seth Curtis
Belknap, Jeremy
Blake, James Vila
Briggs, C. A.
Briggs, LeB. R.
Brooks, Charles T.
Bryant, William Cullen
Bulfinch, Stephen G.
Burleigh, Wm. H.
Cabot, Eliza Lee, see Follen, Eliza Lee
Chadwick, John W.
Chapman, Mrs.
Cheney, Mrs. Edna D.
Church, Edward A.
Clapp, Eliza T.
Clarke, J. F.
Collyer, Robert
Clute, Oscar
Dana, Chas. A.
Dwight, John S.
Emerson, R. W.
Everett, Wm.
Fernald, W. M.
Flint, James
Follen, Eliza Lee
Foote, H. W., I
Foote, H. W., II
Freeman, James
Frothingham, N. L.
Frothingham, Octavius B.
Fuller, Sarah Margaret
Furness, W. H.
Gannett, W. C.
Gilman, Caroline (Howard)
Gilman, Samuel
Goldsmith, Peter H.
Greenough, James B.
Greenwood, Helen W.
Hale, Edw. Everett
Hale, Mary W.
Hall, Harriet W.
Ham, M. F.
Harris, Florence
Harris, Thaddeus M.
Hedge, F. H.
Higginson, T. W.
Hill, Thomas
Holland, J. G.
Holmes, John Haynes
Holmes, Oliver Wendell
Horton, Edw. A.
Hosmer, F. L.
Howe, Julia (Ward)
Huntington, F. D.
Hurlburt, W. H.
Johnson, Samuel
Kimball, Jacob
Larned, Augusta
Lathrop, John Howland
Livermore, A. A.
Livermore, Sarah W.
Long, John D.
Longfellow, Henry W.
Longfellow, Samuel
Loring, Louisa P.
Loring, W. J.
Lowell, J. R.
Lunt, W. P.
Mann, Newton
Marean, Emma (Endicott)
Mason, Caroline A.
Miles, Sarah E.
Mott, F. B.
Newell, Wm.
Norton, Andrews
Ossoli, Margaret, see Fuller
Parker, Theodore
Peabody, Ephraim
Peabody, O. W. B.
Peabody, W. B. O.
Perkins, J. H.
Pierpont, John
Pray, Lewis G.
Prince, Thomas
Putnam, A. P.
Robbins, Chandler
Robbins, S. D.
Sargent, L. M.
Savage, M. J.
Scudder, Eliza
Sears, E. H.
Sewall, C.
Sigourney, Lydia H.
Sill, E. R.
Silliman, V. B.
Spencer, Anna G.
Sprague, Charles
Trapp, Jacob
Tuckerman, J.
Very, Jones
Very, Washington
Ware, Henry
Waterston, R. C.
Weir, R. S.
Weiss, John
Wendte, Chas. W.
Westwood, Horace
Wile, Frances W.
Wiley, Hiram O.
Willard, Samuel
Williams, Theodore C.
Williams, Velma C.
Willis, Love Maria
Willis, Nathaniel P.
Wilson, Edwin H.
Wilson, Lewis G.
Young, George H.
Biographical Sketches
with Notes on Hymns
Adams, Hon. John Quincy, Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, July
11, 1767—February 21, 1848, Washington, D. C. He graduated from
Harvard in 1787. From 1794-1801 he was United States Minister to
England, the Netherlands and Prussia. In 1806 he was appointed
Professor of Rhetoric at Harvard. In 1809 he became United States
Minister to Russia, in 1817 he was Secretary of State, and from 1824
to 1828 he was President of the United States. In 1831 he was elected
to the House of Representatives, in which body he served until his
death.
Most of his verse, both religious and secular, was written after he
had left the Presidency, but he remains the only hymn writer who has
ever been President of this country. In his later years he composed a
metrical version of the Psalms, best described as a free rendering in
fairly good verse of what he felt was the essential idea of each
Psalm. When his minister, Rev. William P. Lunt, _q.v._, of the First
Parish, (Unitarian) Quincy, Massachusetts, undertook the preparation
of his hymn book _The Christian Psalmist_, (1841), Mrs. Adams put the
manuscript of her husband’s metrical Psalms into Mr. Lunt’s hands, and
the latter included 17 of them in his book, and five other hymns by
his distinguished parishioner.
The effect on Adams is recorded in a moving entry in his _Journal_
which reveals an aspect of his character quite unknown to those who
regarded him as an opinionated and uncompromising though sincere and
upright politician. He wrote on June 29, 1845, “Mr. Lunt preached this
morning, Eccles. III, 1. For everything there is a season. He had
given out as the first hymn to be sung the 138^th of the Christian
Psalter, his compilation and the hymn-book now used in our church. It
was my version of the 65^th Psalm; and no words can express the
sensations with which I heard it sung. Were it possible to compress
into one pulsation of the heart the pleasure which, in the whole
period of my life, I have enjoyed in praise from the lips of mortal
man, it would not weigh a straw to balance the ecstasy of delight
which streamed from my eyes as the organ pealed and the choir of
voices sung the praise of Almighty God from the soul of David, adapted
to my native tongue by me. There was one drawback. In the printed
book, the fifth line of the second stanza reads,
‘The morning’s dawn, the evening’s shade,’
and so it was sung, but the corresponding seventh line of the same
stanza reads,
‘The fields from thee the rains receive,’
totally destroying the rhyme. I instantly saw that the fifth line
should read,
‘The morning’s dawn, the shades of eve,’
but whether this enormous blunder was committed by the copyist or the
pressman I am left to conjecture.”
After Adams’ death his verses, both religious and secular, were
published in a small volume entitled _Poems of Religion and Society_,
New York, 1848, which ran to a fourth edition in 1854. This collection
included the five hymns and 17 metrical Psalms printed in _The
Christian Psalmist_, unchanged except that the opening line of each
psalm has been substituted for the number of the psalm as its heading.
Nor was the misprint which Adams lamented amended. Judged by the
conventional standards of his time Adams’ poetry was consistently
respectable verse, but without any notable distinction other than that
lent to it by the fame of the author.
His five hymns are,
1. _Sure to the mansions of the blest_, (Death of Children)
This is part of a piece of 20 stanzas, which appeared in the
_Monthly Anthology and Boston Review_, January 1807. It is
entitled “Lines addressed to a mother on the death of two infants,
19th Sept. 1803, and 19th Decb. 1806.”
2. _Alas! how swift the moments fly_, (The Hour-Glass)
Sometimes given as
_How swift, alas, the moments fly_,
written for the 200^th anniversary of the First Parish Church in
Quincy, September 20, 1839.
3. _Hark! ’tis the holy temple bell_, (Sabbath morning) undated
4. _When, o’er the billow-heaving deep_,
“A Hymn for the twenty-second of December,” i.e., the coming of
the Pilgrim Fathers, undated.
5. _Lord of all worlds, let thanks and praise_,
“Written in Sickness;” undated.
His metrical versions of the Psalms follow:—
6. _Blest is the mortal whose delight_, Ps. 1
7. _Come let us sing unto the Lord_, Ps. 95
8. _For thee in Zion there is praise_, Ps. 65
9. _My Shepherd is the Lord on high_, Ps. 23
10. _My soul, before thy Maker kneel_, Ps. 103
11. _O, all ye people, clap your hands_, Ps. 47
12. _O God, with goodness all thine own_, Ps. 67
13. _O heal me, Lord, for I am weak_, Ps. 6
14. _O, judge me, Lord, for thou art just_, Ps. 26
15. _O Lord my God! how great thou art_, Ps. 104
16. _O Lord, thy all-discerning eyes_, Ps. 139
17. _O that the race of men would raise_, Ps. 107
18. _Send forth, O God, thy truth and light_, Ps. 43
19. _Sing to Jehovah a new song_, Ps. 98
20. _Sing to the Lord a song of praise_, Ps. 149
21. _Turn to the stars of heaven thine eyes_, Ps. 19
22. _Why should I fear in evil days_, Ps. 49
A few of these hymns and psalms found their way into other
collections. Nos. 2 and 3 were included in _Lyra Sacra Americana_; no.
18 is in _Hymnal for American Youth_ and the _American Student
Hymnal_; no. 16 is in the Jewish _Union Hymnal for Worship_, 1914.
J. 16, 1647
H.W.F.
Alcott, Louisa May, Concord, Massachusetts, November 29, 1833—March 5,
1888, Concord. She was the author of widely known books for children,
_Little Women_, _Little Men_, and others. Julian’s _Dictionary_, p.
1602, records her hymn,
_A little kingdom I possess_,
and cites Eva Munson Smith’s _Women in Sacred Song_ as quoting a note
from Miss Alcott dated “Concord, Oct. 7, 1883,” in which she says that
this is “the only hymn I ever wrote. It was composed at thirteen - - -
and still expresses my soul’s desire.” Notwithstanding this statement
another hymn attributed to her, apparently written for use by young
people and beginning,
_O the beautiful old story!_
is included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.
J 1550, 1602
H.W.F.
Alger, Rev. William Rounsville, Freetown, Massachusetts, December 28,
1822—February 7, 1905, Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from the
Harvard Divinity School in 1847 and in the same year became minister
of the Mount Pleasant Society, Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1855 he was
settled over the Bulfinch Place Church, Boston. He was a popular
lecturer and the author of numerous articles and several books, the
most notable of which was his _History of the Doctrine of the Future
Life_, 1864, and later editions.
His Christmas hymn
_Jesus has lived! and we would bring_,
written in 1845 while he was still a student, is included in Hedge and
Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853.
Other poems by him, including a hymn for the graduation of his class
from the Divinity School in 1847 and another for the ordination of
Thomas Starr King, are included in Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, but
have had no further use.
H.W.F.
Ames, Rev. Charles Gordon, Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1828—April 15,
1912, Boston, Massachusetts. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in
1849 and spent some years as a home missionary in Minnesota. In 1859
he joined the Unitarian denomination and served several churches, his
last pastorate being with the Church of the Disciples, Boston. In 1905
he wrote a hymn for the dedication of the new edifice of that Society
beginning,
_With loving hearts and hands we rear_,
which is included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.
A hymn beginning
_Father in heaven, hear us today_,
is attributed to him in the Universalist _Church Harmonies_: _Old and
New_, 1898, but is not found elsewhere.
H.W.F.
Anonymous
In Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853,
there is no Index of Authors, but in its Index of First Lines the name
of the author, (often only his or her surname) is given in most
instances. The Index also lists 57 hymns as “Anon.” or, more often,
with no word as to authorship. The source of several of these hymns
can be traced in Julian’s _Dictionary_ or in Putnam’s _Singers and
Songs of the Liberal Faith_, but I have been unable to identify the
author or source of the following hymns, or to check their later use,
if any.
H.W.F.
_Hys. Ch. Ch._
509 Abba, Father, hear thy child,
758 Alas! how poor and little worth,
602 Behold, the servant of the Lord,
73 Blest is the hour when cares depart,
510 Come, let us who in Christ believe
288 Come, O thou universal good!
581 Come to the morning prayer,
707 Gently, Lord, O gently lead us,
868 God of the mountain, God of the storm,
437 God of the rolling year! to Thee
765 Go to thy rest, fair child!
305 Head of the church triumphant,
860 Hear, Father, hear our prayer
691 He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower
686 I cannot always trace the way
763 In the broad fields of heaven,
37 “Let there be light!” When born on high
255 Lord, in thy garden agony,
409 Lord, may the spirit of this feast,
861 Meek and lowly, pure and holy,
573 Meek hearts are by sweet manna fed,
798 Mortal, the angels say,
856 My feet are worn and weary with the march,
481 O’er mountaintops, the mount of God,
294 On earth was darkness spread,
742 O speed thee, Christian, on thy way,
506 O Thou, who hearest prayer,
803 O why should friendship grieve for them
56 O wondrous depth of grace divine,
307 Saviour and dearest friend,
312 Saviour, source of every blessing,
539 Sovereign of worlds! display thy power,
757 Swift years, but teach me how to bear,
611 Take my heart, O Father, take it,
75 There is a world, and O how blest,
276 Thou art the Way, and he who sighs,
768 Thou must go forth alone, my soul!
155 ’Tis not Thy chastening hand I fear,
247 Wake the song of jubilee.
528 When shall the voice of singing,
846 Why come not spirits from the realms of glory?
448 Why slumbereth, Lord, each promised sign?
Anonymous Hymns
_Come, Holy Spirit, hush my heart_,
C.M. 3 stas. 3 _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908.
_Come thou Almighty King!_
The widely used hymn to the Trinity which begins with this line
was written about 1757 in England. It has often been mistakenly
attributed to Charles Wesley, and research has failed to discover
who its author was. Perhaps he thought it prudent not to disclose
his name because both his words and the tune by Felice di Giardini
to which it was set in 1769 offered so marked a contrast to the
British national anthem, in the same unusual metre, which had come
into popular use about 1745 with the words _God save our lord the
King_. American Unitarians in the 19^th century could sing the
first stanza of the hymn, addressed to the “Father all glorious,”
but not the trinitarian stanzas which followed. An unknown writer
produced two additional stanzas in a carefully revised version
which was included in Lunt’s _Christian Psalter_, 1841; in the
1851 _Supplement_ to Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_,
1846; and in their _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. This version,
however, was not satisfactory to later Unitarians and was again
largely rewritten in the form in which it has been included in
most of the Unitarian hymn books of more recent date. This version
will be found in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns
of the Spirit_, 1937.
H.W.F.
_For mercies past we praise thee, Lord_,
Given as Anonymous in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_,
1846, in 4 stas. of 4 l. It was repeated in their _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1864, and in the (Unitarian) _Hymn and Tune Book_, 1868.
J. 1564
_My life flows on in endless song_,
8.7.8.7.D. 3 stas. _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908.
_Now, when the dusky shades of night retreating_,
This is a free translation in five stanzas of the Latin hymn,
_Ecce jam noctis tenuatar umbra_ by Gregory the Great, c. 600,
included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of
Christ_, 1853, as anonymous. It passed into Beecher’s _Plymouth
Collection_, 1855, and into many other hymn books, British and
American, often with the 3^d and 4^th stanzas omitted. There is no
clue as to its author though Julian (p. 320) points out that the
first stanza appears to be an altered form of W. J. Copeland’s
translation from the Latin, published in 1848. The three stanza
form of the hymn is included in the _New Hymn and Tune Book_,
1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.
J. 819
H.W.F.
_We follow, Lord, where thou dost lead_,
L.M. 5 stas. Attributed to “Book of Hymns,” in _Isles of
Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908.
Appleton, Rev. Francis Parker, Boston, Massachusetts, August 9,
1822—June 14, 1903, Cohasset, Massachusetts. He graduated from the
Harvard Divinity School in 1845, and was minister to the Unitarian
church, in South Danvers, (now Peabody) Massachusetts from 1846 to
1853. He then left the ministry for secular occupations. His hymn,
_Thirsting for a living spring_,
was included, anonymously, in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of
Hymns_, 1846, and, attributed to him, in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864.
It is included in the _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_, 1908; in _The New
Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. His
hymn,
_The past yet lives in all its truth, O God_,
was also included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864, and in _The New Hymn
and Tune Book_, 1914, but has now dropped out of use.
J. 1551, 1606
H.W.F.