The Enchiridion

John Hunter: Hymns of Faith and Life, 1889/1896

[ Transcription of the Title Page, and two Prefaces ( 1889, 1896 ) from a copy in The Congregational Library, London.]

[ Title page, 1889 ]

HYMNS OF

FAITH AND LIFE

REV. JOHN HUNTER

PREFACE

THIS Hymn-Book is not published with any intention of rivalling existing collections. It has a purpose of its own.

In preparing it I have carefully tried to avoid hymns written to express scholastic and sectarian interpretations of the Christian facts and truths. The hymns most suitable for common worship are those which give expression to the fundamental experiences and persuasions of the soul, and to the largest and simplest aspects of Christian faith and life; whose statements are so undogmatic and comprehensive that they are not restricted by private interpretation, but may be sung by the devout and thoughtful without any strain to the mind and conscience. By the omission of a verse, or line, or word here and there I have been able to retain some old and excellent hymns, which, on account of their phraseology, are in danger of being lost to a large and ever-increasing number of worshippers. Wider service for a hymn may well be urged as a sufficient justification for the slight alteration which secures it.

I have also sought to avoid hymns unreal, exaggerated, and sensuous in their sentiment and language.

The Christian conception of the Kingdom of God, as existing now and here, and of the essential divineness of the present life has determined the selection of many hymns. God is the Living God, and the God of the living. To-day is as sacred as yesterday, and the eternal realities are as near to us now as they will be hereafter. Though this life at its best is but a prophecy of a larger and lovelier life, yet hymns which pour contempt on the present, and are full of longings for death and future felicity, savour more of medieval asceticism and pessimism than of the Mind and Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The `larger hope' finds expression in not a few hymns. Whatever be the mystery of the future, there can be no doubt that the most Christian disposition is that which takes counsel, not with fear, but with faith. It is not easy to believe that, in a universe of which `the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ' reigns, immortality can be a curse even to a small minority of souls; while there may and must be many scenes and stages of discipline, there can be little if any room for an unending woe. The hope of the final and universal triumph of good in the creation, and in the hearts and lives of all God's children, grows as naturally out of the Christian ideas and the Christian spirit as the harvest of autumn out of the sowing of spring.

But while seeking for hymns which express the larger ideas and wider and more generous sympathies of our day, and giving the preference to those most imbued with the modern spirit, yet I hope that I have not failed to give fairly adequate expression to the faith which is common to all ages and sections of the Christian Church, to the trusts and hopes and experiences which know neither creed nor sect, neither to-day nor yesterday, but are the same always and everywhere.

My labour in preparing this selection of hymns will be amply rewarded if the book helps in some modest measure the cause of a progressive and Catholic Christianity, the building of the Universal Church --

Lofty as the love of God,

Ample as the needs of man.

For permission to use the Hymns and Canticles my best thanks are due, and are hereby tendered to --

Dr. FELIX ADLER, New York

Rev. DENDY AGATE, B.A., Manchester

Rev. CANON AINGER, The Temple, London

Mr. ALEXANDER, The Bishop's Palace, Londonderry

Miss ALEXANDER, for Hymn by the late Dr. W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER

The FAMILY of the late DEAN ALFORD

Mrs ELKANAH S. ARMITAGE, Rotherham

Mrs. FRANCES ARNOLD, for verses by the late Dr. MATTHEW ARNOLD

Rev. SABINE BARING-GOULD, M.A.

Rev. JAMES BELL, Wycliffe Church, Hull

Right-Rev. Dr. BICKERSTETH, Bishop of Exeter

Dr. JOHN STUART BLACKIE, Edinburgh

Rev. T.W. JEX BLAKE, D.D., Worcester

Rev. J. VILA BLAKE, Chicago

Rev. JAMES BONAR, Greenock, and Mr. N.M. BONAR, Edinburgh, for Hymns by the late Dr, Horatius Bonar

Rev. STOPFORD BROOKE, M.A., London

Rev. PHILIPS BROOKS, Boston, U.S.

Mrs. BALDWIN BROWN, for Hymn by the late Rev. J. Baldwin Brown

Mrs. BUBIER, for Hymns by the late Rev. G.B. Bubier

Mrssrs. BURNS & OATES, Paternoster Row, for Hymns by the late Rev. Dr. Faber, and for permitting a few verbal alterations

Rev. JOHN W. CHADWICK, Brooklyn, New York

Rev. ANDREW CHALMERS, M.A., Wakefield

Mrs. E. RUNDLE CHARLES, Auchterarder

Rev. J.W. CHIGNELL, Exeter

Miss FRANCES POWER COBBE, Dolgelly

Rev. ROBERT COLLYER, New York

Rev. JOHN ELLERTON, M.A., White Roding, Dunmow

Very Rev. F.W. FARRAR, D.D. Canon of Westminster

Rev. J.W. FRECKLETON, Islington

Rev. W.H. FURNESS, D.D., Philadelpia, U.S.

Rev. CANON FURSE, Westminster, for Hymns by the late Rev. Dr. Monsell

Rev. W.C. GANNETT, Chicago

The Misses GASKELL, Manchester, for Hymns by the late Rev. Wm. Gaskell

Mrs GELDERT, for Hymn by the late Rev. E.M. Geldert, M.A.

Mr. THOMAS H. GILL, Shirley House, Kent

Rev. ALAN GREENWELL, for Hymn by the late Dora Greenwell

Mrs. GREG, Macclesfield, for Hymns by the late Mr. Samuel Greg

Rev. Dr, EDWIN HATCH, Oxford

Mrs. H.P. HAWKINS, Bedford

Rev. H.R. HAWEIS, M.A., London

Mr J.T. HAYES, for Hymns by the late Dr. Neale

Rev. F.H. HEDGE, D.D., Cambridge, U.S.

Rev. THOMAS HINKS, B.A., Leigh Wood, Bristol

Dr. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, Beverly, Massachusets

Mrs. HOOD, for Hmns by the late Rev. E. Paxton Hood

Rev. J. PAGE HOPPS, Leicester

Rev. F.L. HOSMER, Cleveland, Ohio

Right Rev. Dr. HOW, Bishop of Wakefield

Messrs. HOULSTON & SONS, London, for Hymns from "Hymns on the Holy Communion" by Ada Cambridge

THOMAS HUGHES, Esq., Chester

Miss JEAN INGELOW for Hymns from "Holy Songs and Carols"

Mr. ISBISTER for Hymn by the late Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod

Rev. JAMES LEGGE, M.A., Leeds

Mrs. LYNCH, for Hymns by the late Rev. Thomas Lynch

Rev. SAMUEL LONGFELLOW, Cambridge, Massachusets, for his own Hymns, and Hymns by his brother the late H.W. Longfellow, and by the late Rev. Samuel Johnson

Dr. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

Dr GEORGE MACDONALD

Messrs. MACMILLAN & CO. for verses from Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam,", for Hymn by the late Rev. Charles Kingsley, and by the late Principal Shairp of St. Andrews

Rev. JAMES MARTINEAU, LL.D., London

Rev. Dr. MATHESON, St. Bernard's Parish, Edinburgh

Miss ANNIE MATHESON, London

Rev. W. TIDD MATSON, Southampton

Mr LEWIS MORRIS, for verses from "Songs of Two Worlds"

Mr. C.E. MUDIE, London

Messrs. NELSON & SONS for Hymns by the late Rev. J.D. Burns

Mr. HERBERT NEW, Evesham

CARDINAL NEWMAN, The Oratory, Birmingham

Professor FRANCIS NEWMAN, Weston-super-Mare

Rev. H. OAKLEY, Sheffield, for Hymns by his brother, the Rev. Sherman Oakley

Dr. FRANCIS T. PALGRAVE, London

The Very Rev. Dr. PLUMPTRE, Dean of Wells

Miss ISABEL RAWSON, for Hymns by the late Mr. G. Rawson

RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY for Hymns by the late Miss C. Elliot

Rev. Dr. SADLER, Hampstead, for Canticles from "The Ten Services" edited by him and Dr. Martineau

Rev. MINOT J. SAVAGE, Boston, U.S.

Mrs. FRANCES A. SHAW, Bewdley, for Hymns by the late Miss Havergal

Rev. Dr. WALTER C. SMITH, Free High Church, Edinburgh

Mrs. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, Hartford, U.S.

Mr. A. STRAHAN, Covent Garden, for Hymn by Miss Sarah Williams

JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS, Esq., LL.D., Davos Platz, Switzerland

Rev. Dr. DAVID THOMAS, Stockwell, London

Rev. GODFREY THRING, M.A., Hornblotton Rectory, Somerset

Mr. A. CHEVENIX TRENCH for Hymns by the late Archbishop Trench

Rev. LAURENCE TUTTIETT, The Parsonage, St. Andrews

Rev. HENRY TWELLS, M.A., Waltham Rectory

Mrs. VAUGHAN, The Deanery, Llandaff, and Mr JOHN MURRAY, Publisher, for Hymns by the late Dean Stanley

THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE for Hymns by Miss A.L. Waring

Rev. BENJAMIN WAUGH, St. Albans

Mr. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, Amesbury, Massachusets

Rev. HAYDN WILLIAMS, Whitby

Mrs. ROWLAND WILLIAMS, Liverpool, for verses from "Psalms, Litanies and Collects" by the late Rev. Dr. Rowland Williams

Mrs. WOODWARD, The Vicarage, Folkestone

 

Permission to publish verses from the Lyra Germanica, and a hymn by the late Miss A. PROCTOR has been obtained from Messrs. Longman, and Bell & Sons on the usual terms; and purchase has also been made of one hymn by the late Dr. WORDSWORTH, Bishop of Lincoln.

If any copyright has been unknowingly infringed, I crave indulgence and beg to be informed of the mistake. I also offer apologies to authors whose hymns, owing to the difficulty of obtaining addresses, I have used without their permission. In more than one case I have written to four or five different addresses without receiving any answer.

I have also to acknowledge the assistance I have received in revising the metres of the hymns, and in pointin the chants, from Mr. JAMES GREIG, late Choir-master of Trinity Church, Glasgow.

Only those Psalms or parts of Psalms which are suitable for Christian Worship have been used for the purposes of chanting. Eight Canticles are taken from the Ten Services of Public Prayer, with the permission of the Editors. The Canticle `We praise Thee in Thy power' is taken from the writings of Professor F.W.Newman. Some of the verses in the remaining Canticles are from Psalms by Keshub Chunder Sen, and from Psalms and Litanies by the late Dr Rowland Williams. The Te Deum is given in an alternative form.

The anthems have been selected from Dr Allon's Congregational Psalmist (third section) and from the Congregational Church Hymnal (Part III.) edited by the Rev. G.S.Barrett.

JOHN HUNTER

UNIVERSITY GARDENS, GLASGOW,

September, 1889.

[ Contents ]

695 hymns

6 "doxologies" for use at end of Psalm or Canticle

49 prose psalms or portions or centos of psalms

43 canticles, mainly scriptural

78 anthems (Words edition: 1st line Index only)

ORDER AND SUBJECT OF HYMNS

[ New Edition, 1896 ]

PREFACE

THIS new edition of Hymns of Faith and Life has been carefully revised, and re-arranged to suit the order of the Christian Year. A few hymns have been omitted, but many new and better ones have been added. In addition to acknowledgments made in the Preface to the first edition of this book (see Appendix), I have to tender my thanks for permission to use hymns to:

The CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE of "Hymns Ancient and Modern," for Hymns by Sir H.W. Baker

The FATHERS OF THE ORATORY, Kensington, for Verses from two copyright Hymns by the late Dr. Faber

The Rev. JAMES BELL, Hull, for additional Hymns

The Rev. AMBROSE N. BLATCHFORD, B.A., Bristol

The Rev. CANON BRIGHT, D.D., Christ Church, Oxford

The Rev. STOPFORD BROOKE, LL.D., for additional Hymns

The Rev. G.T. COSTER

Mrs. MARGARET DELAND, Boston, U.S., for Hymn and Easter Anthem

JOHN BROOKE GREENWOOD, Esq., Manchester

Rev. HENRY W. HAWKES, Waterloo, Liverpool

The Rev. J. JOHNSTON, Sale

The Rev. ELVET LEWIS, Llanelly

The Rev. GEORGE MATHESON, D.D., for additional Hymn

The Rev. EDWIN P. PARKER, D.D., Hartford, U.S.

Miss ROBERTSON, Bridge of Allan, for "Evening Intercessions," by the late Dr. W.B. Robertson of Irvine

The Hon. ROLLO RUSSELL

Mrs. SADLER, Hampstead, for Hymn by the late Rev. Dr. Sadler

J. SKELTON, Esq., Edinburgh

Mrs SPURGEON, for Hymn by the late Rev. C.H. Spurgeon

The Rev. S.J. STONE, M.A., Vicar of St. Paul's, Haggerston

The Rev. THEODORE WILLIAMS, New York

Mr T.H.GILL has also allowed me to purchase the use of many of his hymns, and permission to use a hymn by the late Miss CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI has been obtained on their usual terms from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. [ "Lord, grant us grace to mount, by steps of grace" ]

I have taken much trouble to avoid the infringement of any proprietary rights, but if I have unwittingly transgressed in this particular, I crave beforehand the kind indulgence of the owner. Few, I am sure, are the hymn writers who are not prepared to re-echo the words of Dr Horatius Bonar, spoken in reference to his own hymns: "I consider them not as my property, but the property of the Church of God."

For assistance in correcting proofs and for many suggestions, I am much indebted to my friends, Mt JOHN BROOKE GREENWOOD of Manchester and Mr WILLIAM WHITWELL of Balham. Mr B.SYKES, Organist and Choirmaster of Trinity Church [Glasgow], has revised the pointing of the Psalms and Canticles.

JOHN HUNTER

9 UNIVERSITY GARDENS,GLASGOW,

January 1st, 1896

ORDER AND SUBJECT OF HYMNS [page-indexed in 1896; hymn nos here]

[ 1896 edn, hymn 538 -- Henry Vaughan ]

King of comforts, King of life,

Thou hast cheered me;

And when fears and doubts were rife,

Thou hast cleared me.

 

Not a nook in all my breast

But Thou fill'st it;

Not a thought that breaks my rest

But Thou kill'st it.

 

Wherefore with my utmost strength

I will praise Thee;

And as Thou giv'st line and length

I will raise Thee.

 

Day and night, not once a day,

I will bless Thee;

And my soul in new array

I will dress Thee.

 

Not one minute in the year

But I'll mind Thee;

As my seal and bracelet here

I will bind Thee.

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