1812—March 18, 1871, Brooklyn, New York. He was an editor and
publisher working successively in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1837-1843;
in Hartford, Connecticut, 1843-1849; in Syracuse, New York, 1849-1854.
From 1855-1870 he was Harbor Master of New York. He was a member of
the Second Unitarian Church in Brooklyn and an ardent advocate of
anti-slavery and temperance reforms. Early in life he began writing
hymns and other poems which were printed in various periodicals, but
for many of which the date and occasion are impossible to determine.
They were collected for publication in a volume entitled _Poems_,
Philadelphia, 1841, and this book, enlarged with his later poems, was
republished in 1871 after his death, with a biographical notice by his
wife. Some of the best were included in the British collection _Lyra
Sacra Americana_, 1868, the editor of which, Dr. Cleveland, said,
“Most of these beautiful hymns of Mr. Burleigh’s were given to me in
ms. by the author.” From this publication they were taken for
extensive use in British hymn books.
1. _Abide not in the realm of dreams_, (The Harvest Call)
Included in Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc., is a poem of 10
stanzas from which a cento consisting of the first two lines of
stanza 1 combined with the second two lines of stanza 2, followed
by stanzas 3, 6, 7 and 10 are taken to form a hymn in the _New
Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.
2. _Fades from the west the farewell light_ (Night)
This poem, entitled “A Psalm of Night,” is given in his _Poems_,
New York, 1871. Although not in the first edition of _Poems_,
1841, stanzas selected from it came into use as early as 1844. The
original is in 5 stanzas of 8 lines. From it the following centos
have come into use.
(a) _Day unto day uttereth speech_,
This consists of stanzas III-V, and is given in the _Christian
Hymns_ of the Cheshire Pastoral Association, 1844, as an “Evening
Hymn.”
(b) _O Holy Father, mid the calm_
This cento consists of stanzas IV-V, and is given in Longfellow
and Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_, 1846, and in their _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1864.
(c) _Not only doth the voiceful day_,
Composed of stanzas II-III, in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of
the Spirit_, 1864. Another arrangement beginning with the same
stanza is in _Lyra Sacra Americana_.
(d) _The brightening dawn and voiceful day_,
In the British _Hymnary_, London, 1872, an altered form of (c),
with the addition of a doxology.
In these various forms the use of this hymn was very extensive.
3. _Father, beneath thy sheltering wing_, (Trust and Peace)
Printed in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864,
in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. Included in the British _Baptist Hymnal_,
1879; in Horder’s _Congregational Hymns_, 1884; and others; and in
many American collections.
4. _Father, thy servant waits to do thy will_ (Ordination)
“Written for the ordination of Mr. J. W. Chadwick, as pastor of
the Second Unitarian Church, in Brooklyn, New York, 1864.”
Included in Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc.
5. _For the dear love that kept us through the night_ (Morning)
Taken from the author’s _Poems_, 1871, for inclusion in Horder’s
_Congregational Hymns_, 1884.
6. _From the profoundest depths of tribulation_ (Lent)
A meditative poem rather than a hymn, included in the Supplement
to Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns of the Church of Christ_, 1853.
7. _Lead us, O Father, in the paths of peace_ (Divine Guidance)
In _Lyra Sacra Americana_ headed “A Prayer for Guidance.” This is
one of the author’s best known and most widely used hymns.
Included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.
8. Not in vain I poured my supplication (Lent)
A continuation of the same thought as no. 6, preceding, which it
follows in the Supplement to Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns_, etc.
9. _O deem not that earth’s crowning bliss_, (Morning)
In his _Poems_, 1871; in _Lyra Sacra Americana_ from which it
passed into the British _Baptist Hymnal_, 1879, and Horder’s
_Congregational Hymns_, 1884, and others. In the Methodist
Episcopal _Hymnal_, New York, 1878, the hymn beginning
_From lips divine the healing balm_
is a cento from this poem.
10. _Still will we trust though earth seems dark and dreary_,
(Faith)
From _Lyra Sacra Americana_ this passed into many non-conformist
collections in Great Britain where it was the most widely used of
all of Burleigh’s hymns. It had a much more limited use in this
country. Included in Putnam’s _Singers & Songs_, etc.
11. _There is a beautiful land by the spoiler untrod_, (Heaven)
Dr. Cleveland, editor of _Lyra Sacra Americana_ says “This piece
was first published in the _Independent_, Jan. 18, 1866.”
12. _They who have kept their virgin whiteness_, (Purity)
In _Lyra Sacra Americana_.
13. _Thou who look’st with pitying eye_ (Lent)
In _Lyra Sacra Americana_.
14. _Through the changes of the day_ (Evening)
From his Poems, 1841. In _Lyra Sacra Americana_; in S.P.C.K.’s
_Psalms and Hymns_, 1852; in Thring’s _Collection_, and other
British books.
15. _We ask not that our path be always bright_, (Trust in God)
From _Lyra Sacra Americana_ this passed into Horder’s
_Congregational Hymns_, 1884.
16. _When gladness gilds our prosperous day_ (Good in all)
From _Lyra Sacra Americana_ this passed into Horder’s
_Congregational Hymns_, 1884.
The above hymns have had much less use in this country than in Great
Britain. Nos. 7 and 10 are in the Universalist _Church Harmonies_,
1895; nos. 1 and 7 in _Hymns of the Spirit_. 1937, no. 7 in _The
Hymnal_, 1940; and no. 3 in the _Isles of Shoals Hymn Book_. The
others, though very acceptable expressions of the religious thought
and feeling in the era in which the author lived, have now dropped out
of use.
J. 195-6
Revised H.W.F
Chadwick, Rev. John White, Marblehead, Massachusetts, October 19,
1840—December 11, 1904, Brooklyn, New York. After two years of study
at the Bridgewater Normal School, and a shorter period at Phillips
Exeter Academy, he entered the Harvard Divinity School, from which he
graduated in 1864. He received the degree of A.M. 1888. In December,
1864, he was ordained minister of the Second Unitarian Church,
Brooklyn, where he remained until his death. He was an influential
preacher and a prolific author in both prose and verse, his principal
publications being a _Book of Poems_, 1876, _Nazareth Town_, 1883
(poems), the two being later combined and republished in 1888 with the
earlier title; _The Bible Today_, 1879: _Old and New Unitarian
Belief_, 1894; and first-rate biographies of _Theodore Parker_, 1901,
and _William Ellery Channing_, 1903. After his death a small volume
was published entitled _Later Poems_, 1905, and his printed sermons
have been collected in 14 volumes. As a young man he became a close
friend of W. C. Gannett, _q.v._, and F. L. Hosmer, _q.v._, both of
whom were also born in 1840, though not his classmates in the Divinity
School, and his hymns are expressions of a theological outlook similar
to theirs, notably in his endeavor to give a religious interpretation
to the then disputed doctrine of evolution. Although several of his
hymns are of exceptionally fine quality, he often wrote in haste,
lacking the patience with which his two friends sought for the precise
word to convey their meaning, but he often abbreviated or re-wrote his
verses at the request of hymn-book editors, or willingly accepted
their proposed alterations. The result is that some of his hymns now
appear in forms which depart considerably from their original texts.
His secular poems, mostly the utterances of a nature lover, are often
the too hastily written verse of a minor poet.
His _Book of Poems_, 1888, and _Later Poems_, 1905, include all his
hymns, three of which had little use, viz:
1. _A gentle tumult in the earth_, (Easter) 1876
2. _Everlasting Holy One_, (Invocation) 1875
3. _O God, we come not as of old_, (Worship) 1874
His best known hymn was written for the Visitation Day exercises at
the Harvard Divinity School, 1864,
4. _Eternal Ruler of the ceaseless round_,
It has been widely used in Great Britain and in this country. Other
hymns by him have had considerable use, as follows:
5. _Another year of setting suns_, (New Year’s) 1873
This was written in ten stanzas beginning
“That this shall be a better year,”
but in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937, only stas. 5, 6, 7, and 10 are
given, beginning as above.
6. _It singeth low in every heart_, (Commemoration) 1876
Written for the 25^th anniversary of the dedication of his church
in Brooklyn, and widely used.
7. _Now sing we a song of the harvest_, (Thanksgiving Day) 1871
8. _O Love Divine, of all that is_, (A song of Trust) 1865
9. _O Thou, whose perfect goodness crowns_, (Anniversary Hymn)
Written in 1889 for the 25^th anniversary of his ordination.
10. _Thou glorious God, before whose face_, (Anniversary Hymn)
Undated.
11. _Thou whose spirit dwells in all_, (Easter)
Written in 1890.
12. _Thy seamless robe conceals Thee not_, (Jesus)
Written in 1876. Included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914,
but not in later publications.
13. _What has drawn us thus apart_, (Unity of Spirit)
Written in 1891.
Several of the above hymns, as printed in current hymn-books, consist
of selected stanzas, or have been slightly altered from their original
forms, in most cases by Gannett and Hosmer, for inclusion in their
collection _Unity Hymns and Chorals_, 1880, 1911. Two others included
in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937, were not written as hymns but have
been quarried out of verses in _Later Poems_, by permission of the
author’s widow, viz:
14. _Spirit of God, in thunder speak_, (Summons to Duty)
This arrangement combines stanzas 13 and 16 in the poem entitled
“A Missionary Chant”, used as the first two stanzas of the hymn,
with stanzas 8 and 9 of the poem to “William Cullen Bryant” as the
third and fourth stanzas of the hymn, both poems being found in
_Later Poems_, 1905.
15. _Thou mighty God, who didst of old_, (Communion of Saints)
This is arranged from the same sources. Stanzas 1 and 2 are the
first two stanzas in “William Cullen Bryant,” the last three
stanzas are stanzas 11, 7, and 8 in “A Missionary Chant,”
considerably altered. These arrangements were made by H. W. Foote,
with the coöperation of F. L. Hosmer and W. C. Gannett, for
inclusion in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914.
Of the hymns listed above _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937 includes Nos. 4,
5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15.
J. 216, 1619
Revised by H.W.F.
Chapman, Mrs. (No information available).
An anti-slavery hymn beginning
_O God of freedom! Hear us pray_,
is attributed to “Mrs. Chapman” in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for
the Church of Christ_, 1853.
H.W.F.
Cheney, Mrs. Ednah D. (Dow) Boston, Massachusetts, June 27,
1824—November 19, 1904, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. She married Seth
Wells Cheney. She was the author of several books, including _The Life
and Letters of Louisa May Alcott_. She wrote a hymn on “the larger
prayer,” beginning
_At first I prayed for Light_,
in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each, printed in the _Riverside Record_ and
reprinted in the _Boston Gazette_, February 4, 1882. Enough lines have
been taken from this hymn to make a much shorter one in 5 stanzas of
four lines each, C.M. for inclusion in Unitarian hymn-books. It has
also been considerably rewritten, but since this revised form is not
marked as “altered” it is probable that the changes were made by the
author or at least with her permission. It is included in _Hymns of
the Spirit_, 1937.
H.W.F.
Church, Edward Alonzo, Boston, Massachusetts, —— 1844—January 29,
1929, Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was a business man who wrote in 1904,
for the laying of the cornerstone of a new edifice for the Church of
the Disciples (Unitarian), Boston, of which he was a member, a hymn
beginning,
_Almighty Builder, bless, we pray,_
_The cornerstone that here we lay,_
The next year, for the final service in the old edifice which the
congregation was leaving, he wrote one beginning,
_O Thou to whom in prayer and praise_
_We here have turned with constant heart._
Both hymns were included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and
the first is also in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.
H.W.F.
Clapp, Eliza Thayer, 1811-1888. She was a resident of Dorchester,
Massachusetts. She was author of _Words in a Sunday School_, of
_Studies in Religion_, New York, 1845, and of later essays on religion
and of poems posthumously collected in a volume entitled _Essays,
Letters and Poems_, privately printed in Boston, 1888. At the request
of her friend R. W. Emerson she contributed three hymns and two poems
to The _Dial_, 1841. From one of the hymns in 9 stanzas of 4 lines,
published in The _Dial_, July, 1841, and entitled “The future is
better than the past,” is taken the hymn beginning
_All before us is the way_, (Onward with confidence)
included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_,
1853, where it was erroneously attributed to Emerson, an error which
was repeated in several other collections which included it.
J. 234
H.W.F.
Clarke, Rev. James Freeman, D.D., Hanover, New Hampshire, April 4,
1810—June 8, 1888, Boston, Massachusetts. He was named for his
step-grandfather, Rev. James Freeman, _q.v._ He graduated from Harvard
College in 1829 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1833. He
served as minister of the Unitarian Church in Louisville, Kentucky,
from 1833 to 1840. In 1841 he returned to Boston where he gathered a
group of persons interested in the more radical social and religious
reforms of the day into a church which he named the Church of the
Disciples (Unitarian) of which he remained minister until his death.
He became one of the most distinguished ministers of his period in
Boston, greatly beloved and admired for his courage as well as his
piety, his wisdom as well as his wit. He was the author of several
books (and many short printed articles) the best known of which were
his _Orthodoxy: its Truths and Errors_, and _Ten Great Religions_. The
latter is an amplification of lectures on Comparative Religion which
he gave at the Harvard Divinity School as early as 1854, and again for
several years in the eighteen-seventies, the earliest course in this
field of study to be given in any American theological school. In 1844
he published a _Service Book_ for use by his congregation, which
included a small selection of hymns, among them Sarah Flower Adams’
_Nearer my, God, to Thee_, which had appeared in England only three
years earlier and was now introduced for the first time to an American
congregation, whence it quickly passed into numerous other
collections. In 1852 a revised and enlarged edition of the _Service
Book_ was published entitled the _Disciples Hymn Book_, which included
five hymns by the compiler. A few of his poems are included in
Putnam’s _Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith_, and the following
hymns by him have come into some use.
1. _Brother, hast thou wandered far?_ (The Prodigal)
First printed in the _Service Book_, 1844. It appeared in
abbreviated form as
_Hast thou wasted all the powers?_
(beginning with the second stanza) in _Hymns for the Church of
Christ_, 1853; in Beecher’s _Plymouth Collection_, 1855, and in
other American and British books.
2. _Dear Friend, whose presence in the house_, (Jesus at Cana)
Dated 1855. A tender poem rather than a hymn, included in the
British _Lyra Sacra Americana_.
3. _Father, to us Thy children humbly kneeling_ (Aspiration)
About 1833, after arrival in Louisville, Clarke wrote a poem
entitled “Hymn and Prayer” beginning _Infinite Spirit, who art
round us ever_, which was published in _The Dial_ for January,
1841. Five stanzas beginning
_Unseen, yet not unfelt!—if any thought_
were taken from this form of the poem for inclusion in Hedge and
Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853, but already
Clarke had taken from his poem, and largely rewritten, three
stanzas to make the hymn beginning as above. In this later form it
was included in his _Service Book_, 1844, in Longfellow and
Johnson’s _Book of Hymns_, 1846, in the _Disciples Hymn Book_,
1852, and in many later collections down to the present day.
4. _For all thy gifts we bless Thee, Lord_
Written for a Unitarian Convention in New York City, held on
October 22, 1845, and included in _Hymns for the Church of
Christ_, 1853.
5. _Hast thou wasted all the powers_,
Included in _Hymns for the Church of Christ_, 1853.
6. _To him who children blessed_ (Christening)
7. _To Thee, O God in heaven_ (Christening)
Both of these tender and beautiful hymns for a christening
appeared in the _Service Book_, 1844, and have passed into a good
many other collections, although hymns are now seldom sung at such
a service.
Of the above no. 3 was included in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Book of
Hymns_, 1846, attributed to Clarke, and nos. 1, 5 and 6 were included
as Anonymous. In their _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864, these hymns were
correctly attributed to Clarke. He was the author of a limited
quantity of pleasing religious verse acceptable to his many friends
rather than a hymn writer of distinction, his best ones being nos. 3,
5 and 6. _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, includes nos. 3 and 6;
_The Pilgrim Hymnal_, 1935, includes nos. 3 and 5; _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1937, has only no. 3.
J. 235, 1556
Re-written, H.W.F.
Collyer, Rev. Robert, D.D., Keighly, Yorkshire, England, December 8,
1823—November 30, 1912, New York, New York. His education in childhood
was very limited, and in early manhood he became a blacksmith, which
had been his father’s trade. He joined the Methodist Church in 1847
and three years later sailed for America, settling at Shoemakertown,
Pennsylvania, where he was both a blacksmith and a preacher. Having
become acquainted with Dr. W. H. Furness, _q.v._, of Philadelphia, he
accepted Unitarian beliefs and left the Methodist Church. His great
intellectual abilities and natural gifts as a preacher brought him an
invitation in 1859 to go to Chicago to take charge of the newly
organized Unity Church in that city, which he served until 1879, when
he accepted a call to the Church of the Messiah (Unitarian), New York.
He was a widely popular lecturer and author of many published sermons,
other articles, and a few occasional verses. The church of which he
was minister was destroyed by the great Chicago fire of 1870 but was
soon rebuilt. For the dedication of the new building in December 3,
1873, he wrote his one fine hymn beginning,
_With thankful hearts, O God, we come_,
which altered to
_Unto thy temple, Lord, we come_,
has had wide use in Unitarian hymn books and is included in the _New
Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, and in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937.
J. 1623
H.W.F.
Clute, Rev. Oscar, Bethlehem, New York, March 11, 1837—January 27,
1902, Sawtelle, California. He took the degree of M.S. at Michigan
State College, and then studied at Meadville Theological School,
1867-1868. In the latter year he was ordained as minister of the
Unitarian Church at Vineland, New Jersey, where he remained for five
years. He served churches in Keokuk, Iowa, 1875-1878; Iowa City,
1878-1888; and Pomona, California, 1888-1889. From 1889 to 1893 he was
president of Michigan State Agricultural College, and president of
Florida Agricultural College from 1893 to 1897, when he moved to
California.
He wrote a hymn beginning,
_O Love of God most full,_
_O Love of God most free,_
which is included in _The New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914, in _Hymns of
the Spirit_, 1937, and in _The Hymnal_ (Presbyterian), 1935, the
Handbook to which describes it as “a rhapsody of gratitude for the
love of God.”
J. 1682
H.W.F.
Dana, Charles Anderson, Hinsdale, New Hampshire, August 8,
1819—October 17, 1897, Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. He was one of
the leaders in the Brook Farm Association, 1842; then became a
journalist and man of letters; on the staff of the New York _Tribune_,
1847-1862; Assistant Secretary of War, 1863-1864; editor of the New
York _Sun_, 1868.
The hymn beginning
_Work, and thou shalt bless the day_ (Joy in Labor)
which Hedge and Huntington included in their _Hymns for the Church of
Christ_, 1853, and attributed to “C. A. Dana” was probably written
while he was engaged in the Brook Farm experiment.
H.W.F.
Dwight, Rev. John Sullivan, Boston, Massachusetts, May 13,
1812—September 5, 1893. He graduated from Harvard College and from the
Harvard Divinity School, and entered the Unitarian ministry, but after
six years turned to literary pursuits, and was for nearly 50 years
editor of the Journal of Music. A meditative poem by him in seven
stanzas, entitled “True Rest,” beginning
_Sweet is the pleasure_,
is included in the Supplement in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the
Church of Christ_, 1853, but it is not a hymn and his only connection
with hymnody was his part in re-writing the hymn beginning
_God bless our native land!_
by his friend, C. T. Brooks, _q.v._ In most versions of this much
altered hymn the second stanza is in the form given it by Dwight.
J. 1560, 1631
H.W.F.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, LL.D., Boston, Massachusetts, May 25, 1803—April
27, 1882, Concord, Massachusetts. He was the son of Rev. William
Emerson, _q.v._, minister of the First Church of Boston (Unitarian)
who, though not himself a hymn writer, published in 1808 the excellent
small collection entitled _A Collection of Psalms and Hymns_ (5).
R. W. Emerson graduated from Harvard College in 1821 and after further
study in the Harvard Divinity School took his A.M. in 1827. He was
ordained in 1829 as minister of the Second Church of Boston
(Unitarian). He served the church for three years but resigned in
1832, feeling that his pastoral work was inadequate and that he was
not in accord with his parishioners’ views about the Communion
Service. A volume of his sermons, selected and edited by A. C.
McGiffert, Jr., was published in 1938 under the title _The Young
Emerson Speaks_. Although he preached occasionally for several years
thereafter he never held another pastorate, but retired to Concord and
devoted himself to lecturing and authorship. As an essayist and poet
he rose to great and lasting distinction. He published _Orations,
Lectures, and Addresses_, 1844; _Poems_, 1846; _Representative Men_,
1850; _English Traits_, 1856; and a succession of later volumes. His
_Collected Works_ were published after his death, in 12 volumes.
Perhaps his most famous essay was his epoch-making _Divinity School
Address_, delivered in 1838. In 1833 he wrote his hymn
_We love the venerable house_ (The house of God)
for the ordination of his successor, Rev. Chandler Robbins, _q.v._, in
the Second Church, though it is more a commemorative poem than an
ordination hymn. It was included in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of
the Spirit_, 1864; in Martineau’s _Hymns of Praise and Prayer_,
printed in England in 1873; and in later Unitarian and other hymn
books down to the present day. Four stanzas selected from this poem,
beginning with the second,
_Here holy thoughts a light have shed_,
were included in Hedge and Huntington’s _Hymns for the Church of
Christ_, 1853, though without the author’s name, and the same
collection erroneously attributed to Emerson a hymn beginning,
_All before us is the way_,
the author of which was Eliza T. Clapp, _q.v._, an error which was
repeated in various other collections.
Part of Emerson’s poem entitled _The Problem_, beginning
_Out of the heart of nature rolled_ (The Everlasting Word)
originally printed in the _Dial_, July, 1840, and then in his _Poems_,
1846, was also included in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864, and in
Martineau’s _Hymns_, but has since dropped out of use.
Another poem of two stanzas beginning
_Not gold, but only men can make_
was attributed to Emerson in the later book called _Hymns of the
Spirit_, 1937, probably mistakenly. These verses are listed as
Emerson’s in Granger’s _Index to Poetry and Recitations_, under _A
Nation’s Strength_, and Granger states that they are to be found in a
publication of The Penn Publishing Company of Philadelphia. They are
not to be found, however, in the _Centenary Edition of Emerson’s
Poems_ nor in Hubbell’s _Concordance to the poems of Emerson_ (N. Y.,
Wilson, 1932). It is therefore doubtful whether the attribution to
Emerson is well-founded.
J. 329
Revised by H.W.F.