Transcription of the Title Page and Preface, from a copy of the 1839 edition now in The Congregational Library, London (H13.1.41). Copy re-bound 1895.
MS note on the flyleaf, verso Title Page:
This edition contains 22 hymns not in Orton's edition; as well as many corrections as explained in the preface. It is scarce, most of the copies having been destroyed by a fire in the printer's or binder's warehouse.
[ Title Page ]
(JDH's punctuation has, to the best of our ability, been reproduced exactly; there are no deliberate alterations in this transcript.)
Among the strong consolations that clung around the heart of Doddridge, when under the pressure of a fast consuming disease, was the animating thought of his future usefulness as an Author in the Church of Christ: - but this was not without its alloy. The publication of his "Family Expositor" was not entirely completed, - and the present work, his "Scriptural Hymns", composed at intervals throughout his life, and written under the impulse of those pious sentiments which they embody, were then in most instances first and unrevised manuscripts in short-hand, so that the task of bringing them before the world, as he foresaw, would require much attention.
Under the promptings of a zealous friendship, Mr Orton had very kindly undertaken the office of editor; and we are informed by him, that, even the last hour which he spent with Dr Doddridge, - and that but a few weeks before his death, - was consumed in directions for their transcription and correction, - an incident which sufficiently marks the anxiety of the author. A little afterwards, Mr Orton with his usual candour proceeds to state, that, "There may, perhaps, be some improprieties, owing to my not being able to read the author's manuscript in particular places, and being obliged without a poetic genius, to supply those deficiencies, whereby the beauty of the stanza may be greatly defaced, though the sense is preserved." Without going any farther, we have in this extract a sufficient explanation of the extraordinarily incorrect and unsatisfactory manner in which the Hymns of Dr. Doddridge were brought before the world. A consciousness of the want of the necessary qualifications, in a poetical sense, rendered Mr Orton a far less efficient editor than he would otherwise have been; - matters of the most simple character were overlooked, and the Hymns, as formerly printed, abound with ungrammatical constructions and verbal inelegancies, of which the author was incapable.*
[ * footnote giving an example from Hymn CXI "Mark the soft-falling snow ... " ]
In another particular, this work was most unfortunate on its appearance in the world. It was printed with so much precipitation, that a considerable number of Hymns, equal in value to any of the others, were met with too late for the press, and consequently omitted. These manuscript Hymns were afterwards bound up with the rest, and presented to the author's widow by Mr Orton. In the present edition they are for the first time incorporated, so as to render the work complete; and, as the reader might feel an interest in being able to recognise them, the headings have an ornamental mark attached to distinguish them from the others.
In a second, and in a still more important sense, it is with diffidence submitted, that this edition has been rendered complete, in accordance with the views of the author, and in those particulars in which the religious world has long had reason to lament that one of his most valuable works has been fast becoming more and more confined in its circulation from accidental imperfections.
The necessary corrections so unfortunately neglected in the first, and in the many succeeding editions up to the present, have been now inserted under feelings of anxious care. Many of the errors had occured from misconceptions in transcribing the short-hand, and were easily amended; - some mistakes had arisen from injudicious alterations, which required to be remodelled: - a crowd of others demanded mere verbal changes, often of no more than a syllable, or a letter, but carrying with them correction in construction and euphony, of which every poetical reader of taste and judgment well knows the value. It is almost unnecessary to add, that the author's sense has not, in a single instance, been compromised; nor has any hymn, or even a verse been suppressed, a practice too common in new editions of established works, but one involving an injustice, which, in the judgment of the editor, cannot be too widely exposed, or too severely condemned.
Having submitted these preliminary explanations to the reader, the more pleasing duty remains of pointing out some of the peculiar claims which the "Scriptural Hymns" of Dr Doddridge may present to his attention. Of these, one of the most prominent is the fact that they constitute a very complete system of "Biblical Divinity"; comprehending, explaining and enforcing, a chain of the most most interesting and signal texts which the enlightened judgment of the author could select, and extending from the first book of the Sacred Records to the last. It is in this sense, that this little volume may prove so valuable to individuals, and to families, for the purposes of private and social worship; and above all, it is for this reason, that its circulation should be extended among the young, as it presents a solid and systematic view of divine truth, in the most attractive form. In connection with these practical points the following pertinent observations by Mr Orton may be read with advantage. "Those young Ministers who are desirous of entering into the spirit and copiousness of Scripture, may find this work greatly useful to them, by directing them to many very suitable Texts, and to some very natural thoughts and useful reflections to be insisted upon in discoursing from them."
Those readers who have had the advantage of becoming familiar with the religious sentiments of Dr Doddridge as reflected in his writings, and more particularly in that delightful transcript of his private thoughts, his "Devotional Letters," are fully aware of the perfect catholicism of his theological views, and it is pleasing to observe the kindred spirit shown by Mr Orton, who, if not a poet, was a very sound and able divine, in the following testimony to the excellence of these hymns in this particular: "There is nothing that savours of a Party Spirit, or carries an appearance of designing to confine their use to any of the Sects into which Christians are unhappily divided. The materials are divine, and the Author's soul was never more enlarged than when he was promoting a Spirit of Piety and Candour in their just connection."
After all, there was a master charm in the character of Doddridge which, imperceptibly to themselves, has often rendered his readers the ready proselytes of his views, and which has thus increased his sphere of usefulness in no ordinary degree. His mind was ardent and affectionate to an unusual extent, and his sympathies are ever involved in the subject before him; in speaking from the heart, he finds a ready response in the bosom of his auditor, and we listen cordially to advice, which unites the warmth with the sincerity of friendship. In his "Scriptural Hymns," this delightful trait is dveloped to the fullest extent; the divine glow of his faith rekindles our religious hopes, as it were with the light of heaven; and the tender solemnity of his language in allusion to the anxieties and sorrows of mortality, teems with the holy consolations of "that grief which maketh the heart better."
Of this description are the many impressive hymns on Death and the Resurrection, scattered through this volume, and which, in the original copy, have the dates and occasions of their composition noted, and were generally written on the decease of friends, and for funeral services. In pathos, in fervour of poetical expression, and in sympathetic feeling, these are certainly the most noble examples extant, and the solace they may afford to the children of suffering and of grief is beyond all value.
In closing these brief remarks, I feel that I cannot do so with more propriety, than by quoting the pious exclamation of Mr Orton, may they "promote and diffuse a spirit of Devotion, and together with other assitances, human and divine, prepare many to join with their devout Author in the noble, and everlasting Anthems of Heaven."
JOHN DODDRIDGE HUMPHREYS.
John Street, Pentonville.
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