APPENDIX C.
James Dodson
Hymn Writers.
WE have barely touched in Chapter III. upon the character of the hymns now in use, nor do we propose to do so here. Many of these are very nice songs; some of them beautiful in sentiment and in style; some of them very touching and pathetic; but there are some facts in regard to the authorship of some of the hymns sung in evangelical churches, that should be known. A hymn book was compiled a few years since by Rev. H. W. Beecher, the (*) correspondent of the “Independent.” In reference to this book, the Evangelist, he says,
“Charged that in collecting hymns we have gone quite beyond the ordinary excursions of evangelical compilers of hymn books, and have freely used ‘Catholic, Unitarian, Universalist, Swedenborgian, and other collections.’”
The compiler thus vindicates himself and his collection:—
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* Edwards’ Works, vol. iii. pp. 230–232. N. Y., Ed. 1829.
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“Our reply is a denial that we have gone where other evangelical compilers have not gone. There is scarcely a collection made within thirty years, that has not been indebted to Catholic, Unitarian, and Universalist collections. The Church Psalmody, prepared by Lowell Mason, and Dr. Greene, one of the officers of the American Board of Foreign Missions; The Psalmist, the standard Baptist collection, edited by Baron Stow and S. F. Smith, and adopted by the Board of the Baptist Publication Society; and especially the Methodist Episcopal collection, approved by Bishops Hedding, Waugh, Morris, Hamlin, and Janes, published by the Methodist Book Concern, and now generally used by that denomination; the Lutheran collection, published by the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,—all these, and many others, are indebted largely to Catholic, Unitarian, and Universalist collections. As for the Swedenborgian collections, we cannot tell how much we may owe to them, as we have never seen one.”
The author says again:—
“The Evangelist charges that in the Plymouth Collection there is a ‘large admixture’ of the hymns of Bryant, Chapin, Furness, Willis, Mrs. Hemans, Tom Moore, L. E. L., (Letitia Landon,) Longfellow, Mrs. Sawyer, Whittier, Festus Bailey, Burns, Miss Martineau,* and others.”
And thus answers:—
“What are the facts? We do not know of a
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* An Atheist.
AUTHORS OF HYMNS. 237
single evangelical collection of hymns which has not introduced the hymns of some or many of these authors. In the book of the General Association of Connecticut, hymns of Bryant, Pierpont, Bowring, Hemans, Martineau’s Collection, Pope, Sir Walter Scott, Tom Moore, are all found. In the New School Presbyterian Assembly’s book, Tom Moore holds an honourable place, as he does in the book of the Old School General Assembly and Nettleton’s Village Hymns. When the General Assemblies join in giving to the church Tom Moore’s ‘Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,’* we think the Evangelist need not take the pains to sacrifice its candour and veracity in order to reproach the Plymouth Collection for having Tom Moore’s ‘mock piety.’ In the Baptist Collection may be found Mrs. Follen, Bulfinch, hymns from Martineau’s Collection, Tom Moore, Mrs. Hemans, Pope and Willis. The Methodist Collection contains hymns of Moore, Bryant, Ware, G. P. Morris, Pierpont,” &c.
The only vindication proposed is, “If the hymn is good, we are not to go behind it. * * * The hymn is to stand for itself.” This may satisfy some, but we are much mistaken if the plain people of God are prepared to offer the Most High the effusions of all sorts of heretics. This is a painful
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* A favourite hymn with many; a hymn moreover, if we mistake not, with rather a remarkable history for a hymn. Moore was a Papist, and a very free and luscious poet.
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feature of modern hymnology. The hymns of such writers may be good poetry and pretty reading, but to use them in God’s worship, is, we think, most offensive to Christian faith and feeling. How dare a worshipper come before God, with thoughts and words, which, it may be, an open enemy of Christ has furnished him? The Reformed Church of Germany—a section of the large Protestant body—seems to have come to this conclusion. At the Conference of the present year, held at Elberfeld, it was decided that “only hymns whose authors are known to be truly regenerate Christians shall be received.” Consistently carried out, this decision will exclude from this service, all but the Bible Psalms; for how is it to be determined beyond possibility of mistake, that the authors of any others, are “truly regenerated Christians?”