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The Canadian Warbler
Publication Date: 1863 Publisher: A. & S. Nordheimer Publication Place: Toronto, Ont. ; Montreal, Que. Editors: L. C. Everett; A. & S. Nordheimer
The Canadian Warbler
We come with song to greet you
Author: I. P. Williams Appears in 36 hymnals First Line: Another week has passed away
We come with song to greet you
Beautiful Zion, built above; Beautiful city that I love
Author: George Gill Appears in 263 hymnals
Beautiful Zion, built above; Beautiful city that I love
We come with song to greet you
Author: I. P. Williams Hymnal: CW1863 #d2 (1863) First Line: Another week has passed away
We come with song to greet you
Reginald Heber
1783 - 1826 Hymnal Number: d7 Author of "Beneath our feet and o'er our head" in The Canadian Warbler Reginald Heber was born in 1783 into a wealthy, educated family. He was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury in the west of England where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and worked tirelessly for three years until the weather and travel took its toll on his health and he died of a stroke. Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today.
-- Greg Scheer, 1995
====================
Heber, Reginald, D.D. Born at Malpas, April 21, 1783, educated at Brasenose College, Oxford; Vicar of Hodnet, 1807; Bishop of Calcutta, 1823; died at Trichinopoly, India, April 3, 1826. The gift of versification shewed itself in Heber's childhood; and his Newdigate prize poem Palestine, which was read to Scott at breakfast in his rooms at Brazenose, Oxford, and owed one of its most striking passages to Scott's suggestion, is almost the only prize poem that has won a permanent place in poetical literature. His sixteen years at Hodnet, where he held a halfway position between a parson and a squire, were marked not only by his devoted care of his people, as a parish priest, but by literary work. He was the friend of Milman, Gifford, Southey, and others, in the world of letters, endeared to them by his candour, gentleness, "salient playfulness," as well as learning and culture. He was on the original staff of The Quarterly Review; Bampton Lecturer (1815); and Preacher at Lincoln's Inn (1822). His edition of Jeremy Taylor is still the classic edition. During this portion of his life he had often had a lurking fondness for India, had traced on the map Indian journeys, and had been tempted to wish himself Bishop of Calcutta. When he was forty years old the literary life was closed by his call to the Episcopate. No memory of Indian annals is holier than that of the three years of ceaseless travel, splendid administration, and saintly enthusiasm, of his tenure of the see of Calcutta. He ordained the first Christian native—Christian David. His first visitation ranged through Bengal, Bombay, and Ceylon; and at Delhi and Lucknow he was prostrated with fever. His second visitation took him through the scenes of Schwartz's labours in Madras Presidency to Trichinopoly, where on April 3,1826, he confirmed forty-two persons, and he was deeply moved by the impression of the struggling mission, so much so that “he showed no appearance of bodily exhaus¬tion." On his return from the service
”He retired into his own room, and according to his invariable custom, wrote on the back of the address on Confirmation 'Trichinopoly, April 3, 1826.' This was his last act, for immediately on taking off his clothes, he went into a large cold bath, where he had bathed the two preceding mornings, but which was now the destined agent of his removal to Paradise. Half an hour after, his servant, alarmed at his long absence, entered the room and found him a lifeless corpse." Life, &c, 1830, vol. ii. p. 437.
Heber's hymns were all written during the Hodnet period. Even the great missionary hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains," notwithstanding the Indian allusions ("India's coral strand," "Ceylon's isle"), was written before he received the offer of Calcutta. The touching funeral hymn, "Thou art gone to the grave," was written on the loss of his first babe, which was a deep grief to him. Some of the hymns were published (1811-16) in the Christian Observer, the rest were not published till after his death. They formed part of a ms. collection made for Hodnet (but not published), which contained, besides a few hymns from older and special sources, contributions by Milman. The first idea of the collection appears in a letter in 1809 asking for a copy of the Olney Hymns, which he "admired very much." The plan was to compose hymns connected with the Epistles and Gospels, to be sung after the Nicene Creed. He was the first to publish sermons on the Sunday services (1822), and a writer in The Guardian has pointed out that these efforts of Heber were the germs of the now familiar practice, developed through the Christian Year (perhaps following Ken's Hymns on the Festivals), and by Augustus Hare, of welding together sermon, hymnal, and liturgy. Heber tried to obtain from Archbishop Manners Sutton and the Bishop of London (1820) authorization of his ms. collection of hymns by the Church, enlarging on the "powerful engine" which hymns were among Dissenters, and the irregular use of them in the church, which it was impossible to suppress, and better to regulate. The authorization was not granted. The lyric spirit of Scott and Byron passed into our hymns in Heber's verse; imparting a fuller rhythm to the older measures, as illustrated by "Oh, Saviour, is Thy promise fled," or the martial hymn, "The Son of God goes forth to war;" pressing into sacred service the freer rhythms of contemporary poetry (e.g. "Brightest and best of the sons of the morning"; "God that madest earth and heaven"); and aiming at consistent grace of literary expression.. Their beauties and faults spring from this modern spirit. They have not the scriptural strength of our best early hymns, nor the dogmatic force of the best Latin ones. They are too flowing and florid, and the conditions of hymn composition are not sufficiently understood. But as pure and graceful devotional poetry, always true and reverent, they are an unfailing pleasure. The finest of them is that majestic anthem, founded on the rhythm of the English Bible, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." The greatest evidence of Heber's popularity as a hymnwriter, and his refined taste as a compiler, is found in the fact that the total contents of his ms. collection which were given in his posthumous Hymns written and adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year. London, J. Murray, 1827; which included 57 hymns by Heber, 12 by Milman, and 29 by other writers, are in common in Great Britain and America at the present time. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.]
Of Bishop Heber's hymns, about one half are annotated under their respective first lines. Those given below were published in Heber's posthumous Hymns, &c, 1827. Some of them are in extensive use in Great Britain and America; but as they possess no special histories they are grouped together as from the Hymns, &c, 1827:—
1. Beneath our feet, and o'er our head. Burial.
2. Creator of the rolling flood. St. Peter's Day, or, Gospel for 6th Sunday after Trinity.
3. Lo, the lilies of the field. Teachings of Nature: or, Gospel for 15th Sunday after Trinity.
4. 0 God, by Whom the seed is given. Sexagesima.
6. 0 God, my sins are manifold. Forgiveness, or,
Gospel for 22nd S. after Trinity.
6. 0 hand of bounty, largely spread. Water into Wine, or, Gospel for 2nd S. after Epiphany.
7. 0 King of earth, and air, and sea. Feeding the Multitude; or, Gospel for 4th S. in Lent.
8. 0 more than merciful, Whose bounty gave. Good Friday.
9. 0 most merciful! 0 most bountiful. Introit Holy Communion.
10. 0 Thou, Whom neither time nor space. God unsearchable, or, Gospel for 5th Sunday in Lent.
11. 0 weep not o'er thy children's tomb. Innocents Day.
12. Room for the proud! Ye sons of clay. Dives and Lazarus, or, Gospel for 1st Sunday after Trinity.
13. Sit thou on my right hand, my Son, saith the Lord. Ascension.
14. Spirit of truth, on this thy day. Whit-Sunday.
15. The feeble pulse, the gasping breath. Burial, or, Gospel for 1st S. after Trinity.
16. The God of glory walks His round. Septuagesima, or, the Labourers in the Marketplace.
17. The sound of war in earth and air. Wrestling against Principalities and Powers, or, Epistle for 2lst Sunday after Trinity.
18. The world is grown old, her pleasures are past. Advent; or, Epistle for 4th Sunday in Advent.
19. There was joy in heaven. The Lost Sheep; or, Gospel for 3rd S. after Trinity.
20. Though sorrows rise and dangers roll. St. James's Day.
21. To conquer and to save, the Son of God. Christ the Conqueror.
22. Virgin-born, we bow before Thee. The Virgin Mary. Blessed amongst women, or, Gospel for 3rd S. in Lent.
23. Wake not, 0 mother, sounds of lamentation. Raising the Widow's Son, or, Gospel for 16th S. after Trinity.
24. When on her Maker's bosom. Holy Matrimony, or, Gospel for 2nd S. after Epiphany.
25. When through the torn sail the wild tempest is streaming. Stilling the Sea, or, Gospel for 4th Sunday after Epiphany.
26. Who yonder on the desert heath. The Good Samaritan, or, Gospel for 13th Sunday after Trinity.
This list is a good index of the subjects treated of in those of Heber's hymns which are given under their first lines, and shows that he used the Gospels far more than the Epistles in his work.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Reginald Heber
Thomas Hastings
1784 - 1872 Hymnal Number: d12 Author of "Child of sin and sorrow, Filled with dismay" in The Canadian Warbler Hastings, Thomas, MUS. DOC., son of Dr. Seth Hastings, was born at Washington, Lichfield County, Connecticut, October 15, 1784. In 1786, his father moved to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. There, amid rough frontier life, his opportunities for education were small; but at an early age he developed a taste for music, and began teaching it in 1806. Seeking a wider field, he went, in 1817, to Troy, then to Albany, and in 1823 to Utica, where he conducted a religious journal, in which he advocated his special views on church music. In 1832 he was called to New York to assume the charge of several Church Choirs, and there his last forty years were spent in great and increasing usefulness and repute. He died at New York, May 15, 1872. His aim was the greater glory of God through better musical worship; and to this end he was always training choirs, compiling works, and composing music. His hymn-work was a corollary to the proposition of his music-work; he wrote hymns for certain tunes; the one activity seemed to imply and necessitate the other. Although not a great poet, he yet attained considerable success. If we take the aggregate of American hymnals published duriug the last fifty years or for any portion of that time, more hymns by him are found in common use than by any other native writer. Not one of his hymns is of the highest merit, but many of them have become popular and useful. In addition to editing many books of tunes, Hastings also published the following hymnbooks:—
(1) Spiritual Songs for Social Worship: Adapted to the Use of Families and Private Circles in Seasons of Revival, to Missionary Meetings, &c, Utica, 1831-2, in which he was assisted by Lowell Mason; (2) The Mother's Hymn-book, 1834; (3) The Christian Psalmist; or, Watts's Psalms and Hymns, with copious Selections from other Sources, &c, N. Y., 1836, in connection with "William Patton; (4) Church Melodies, N. Y., 1858, assisted by his son, the Rev. T. S. Hastings; (5) Devotional Hymns and Poems, N. Y., 1850. The last contained many, but not all, of his original hymns. (6) Mother's Hymn-book, enlarged 1850.
The authorship of several of Hastings's hymns has been somewhat difficult to determine. All the hymns given in the Spiritual Songs were without signatures. In the Christian Psalmist some of his contributions were signed "Anon." others "M. S.," whilst others bore the names of the tune books in which they had previously appeared; and in the Church Melodies some were signed with his name, and others were left blank. His MSS [manuscript] and Devotional Hymns, &c, enable us to fix the authorship of over 50 which are still in common use. These, following the chronological order of his leading work, are:—
i. From the Spiritual Songs, 1831:—
1. Before Thy footstool kneeling. In Sickness. No. 358, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines.
2. Bleeding hearts defiled by sin. Fulness of Christ. No. 261, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines.
3. Child of sin and sorrow, Filled with dismay. Lent. No. 315, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. It is sometimes given as "Child of sin and sorrow, Where wilt thou flee?" It is in extensive use.
4. Delay not, delay not, 0 sinner draw near. Exhortation to Repentance. No. 145, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. Given in several important collections.
5. Forgive us, Lord, to Thee we cry. Forgiveness desired. No. 165, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines.
6. Gently, Lord, 0 gently lead us. Pilgrimage of Life. No. 29, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. It is given in several collections. The first two lines are taken from a hymn which appeared in the Christian Lyre, 1830.
7. Go forth on wings of fervent prayer. For a blessing on the distribution of Books and Tracts. No. 250, in 4 stanzas of 5 lines. It is sometimes given as “Go forth on wings of faith and prayer," as in the Baptist Praise Book, N. Y., 1871, No. 1252; but the alterations are so great as almost to constitute it a new hymn.
8. Hail to the brightness of Zion's glad morning. Missionary Success. No. 239, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In several hymnbooks in Great Britain and America.
9. How calm and beautiful the morn. Easter. No. 291, in 5 stanzas of 6 lines. Very popular.
10. In this calm, impressive hour. Early Morning. No. 235, pt. i. in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. In several collections.
11. Jesus, save my dying soul. Lent. No. 398, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. A deeply penitential hymn.
12. Now be the gospel banner. Missions. No. 178, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. In several collections (see below).
13. Now from labour, and from care. Evening. No. 235. Pt. ii. in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. This hymn, with No. 10 above, "In this calm," &c, constitute one hymn of 6 st. in the Spiritual Songs, but divided into two parts, one for Morning and the other for Evening. Both parts are popular as separate hymns.
14. 0 God of Abraham, hear. Prayer on behalf of Children. No. 288, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. In use in Great Britain.
15. 0 tell me, Thou Life and delight of my soul. Following the Good Shepherd. No. 151, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, on Cant. i. 7, 8.
16. Return, O wanderer, to thy home. The Prodigal recalled. No. 183, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines, with the refrain, " Return, return " (see below).
17. Soft and holy is the place. Public Worship. No. 351, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In Dr. Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, N. Y., 1872, and some other collections, the opening line is altered to "Sweet and holy is the place."
18. That warning voice, 0 sinner, hear. Exhortation to Repentance. No. 231, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines.
19. To-day the Saviour calls. Lent. No. 176, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. Dr. Hastings says, in a communication to Dr. Stevenson (Hymns for Church and Home, 1873), this hymn “was offered me in a hasty sketch which I retouched." The sketch was by the Rev. S. F. Smith.
20. Why that look of sadness. Consolation. No. 268, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines.
21. Zion, dreary and in anguish. The Church Comforted. No. 160, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines.
Concerning the two hymns, No. 12, "Now be the gospel banner"; and No. 16, "Beturn, O wanderer, to thy home," Dr. Stevenson has the following note in his Hymns for Church and Home, London, 1873:—
"In a letter to the Editor, Dr. Hastings wrote, not more than a fortnight before his death, 'These two hymns of mine were earlier compositions, the former ["Now be," &c.] for a Utica Sunday School celebration, the latter ["Return, 0 wanderer," &c.] after hearing a stirring revival sermon on the Prodigal Son, by the Rev. Mr. Kint, at a large union meeting in the Presbyterian Church, where two hundred converts were present. The preacher at the close eloquently exclaimed with tender emphasis, "Sinner, come home! come home! come home!" It was easy afterwards to write, "Return, 0 wanderer."'"
Several additional hymns in the Spiritual Songs, 1831, have been ascribed to Dr. Hastings, but without confirmation. The sum of what can be said on his behalf is that the hymns are in his style, and that they have not been claimed by others. They are:—
22. Drooping souls, no longer mourn. Pardon promised. No. 40, in 3 stanzas of 8 1., of which st. i., ii. are altered from J. J. Harrod's Public, Parlour, and Cottage Hymns, Baltimore, 1823, that is, 8 years before the Spiritual Songs were published.
23. Dying souls, fast bound in sin. Pardon offered. No. 41, in 5 stanzas of 8 lines. It is usually given in an abridged form.
ii. From his Mother's Hymn Book, 1834:—-
24. Forbid them not, the Saviour cried. Holy Baptism. No. 44.
25. God of mercy, hear our prayer. On behalf of Cliildrcn, No. 48, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. It was included in J. Campbell's Comprehensive Hymn Book, Lond., 1837, and subsequently in several collections.
26. God of the nations, bow Thine ear. Missions. No. 115, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines. In several collections.
27. How tender is Thy hand. Affliction. No. 99, in 5 stanzas of 41.
28. Jesus, while our hearts are bleeding. Death. Resignation. No. 95, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. This is in extensive use and is one of his best and most popular hymns.
29. Lord, I would come to Thee. Self-dedication of a Child. No. 72, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines.
30. 0 Lord, behold us at Thy feet. Lent. No. 59, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. It is doubtful if this is by Hastings. It is sometimes signed "Mrs. T."
31. The rosy light is dawning. Morning. No. 11, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines.
32. The Saviour bids us [thee] watch and pray. Watch and Pray. No. 119, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines.
33. Thou God of sovereign grace. On behalf of Children. No. 66, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines.
34. Wherever two or three may meet. Divine Service. No. 56.
35. Within these quiet walls, 0 Lord. Mothers' Meetings. No. 58, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. In Spurgeon's Our Own Hymn Book, 1866, No. 1010, it begins, "Within these peaceful walls." This reading is from J. Campbell's Comprehensive Hymn Book, London, 1837. It is very doubtful if this is by Hastings.
iii. From the Christian Psalmist, 1836:—
36. Children, hear the melting story. On the life of Christ. No. 430, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. It is given as from the Union Minstrel, and the statement that it is by Hastings is very doubtful, no evidence to that effect being in the possession of his family. Dr. Hatfield, in his Church Hymn Book, dates it 1830, and gives it as "Anon."
37. Go, tune thy voice to sacred song. Praise No. 190, in 5 stanzas of 5 lines, and given as from "ms."
38. He that goeth forth with weeping. Missions No. 212, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines, and given as from "ms." It is in several collections.
39. I love the Lord, Whose gracious ear. Ps. cxvi. Page 186, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines, as from "ms."
40. Lord of the harvest, bend Thine ear. For the Increase of the Ministry. No. 407, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, as from "ms." This hymn Dr. Hastings altered for his Devotional Hymns & Poems, 1850, but it has failed to replace the original in the hymnbooks.
iv. From the Reformed Dutch Additional Hymns, 1846:—
41. Child of sorrow, child of care [woe]. Trust. No. 168, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines, appeared in W. Hunter's Minstrel of Zion, 1845.
42. Heirs of an immortal crown. Christian Warfare. No. 136, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines.
43. O Saviour, lend a listening ear. Lent. No. 175. Stanzas vi., i., iv., v., altered.
44. The Lord Jehovah lives. Ps. xviii. No. 26, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines.
These three hymns, together with many others, are given in the Dutch Reformed Hymns of the Church, N. Y., 1869. In the 1847 Psalms & Hymns there were, including these, 38 hymns by Hastings, and 2 which are doubtful.
v. From Dr. Hastings's Devotional Hymns and Religious Poems, 1850:—
45. In time of fear, when trouble's near. Encouragement in Trial. Page 95, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines. In use in Great Britain.
vi. From Church Melodies, 1858:—-
46. For those in bonds as bound with them. Missions. No. 416, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, on Heb. xiii. 3.
47. Forget thyself, Christ bids thee come. Holy Communion. No. 683, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines.
48. Jesus, Merciful and Mild. Leaning on Christ. No. 585, in 4 stanzas of 8 1. In several collections.
49. Pilgrims in this vale of sorrow. Self-denial. No. 397, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines.
50. Saviour, I look to Thee. Lent. In time of Trouble. No. 129, in 4 stanzas of 7 lines.
51. Saviour of our ruined race. Holy Communion. No. 379, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines.
52. Why that soul's commotion? Lent. No. 211, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. It is doubtful if this is by Hastings.
vii. In Robinson's Songs of the Church, 1862:
53. Be tranquil, 0 my soul. Patience in Affliction. No. 519, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. Altered in Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865.
54. Peace, peace, I leave with you. Peace, the benediction of Christ. No. 386, in 3 stanzas of 7 lines.
55. Saviour, Thy gentle voice. Christ All in All. No. 492, in 3 stanzas of 7 lines.
viii. In Bobinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865:—
56. God of the morning ray. Morning. No. 53, in 2 stanzas of 7 lines.
Of Hastings's hymns about 40 are in the Reformed Dutch Psalms & Hymns, 1847; 39 in Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865; 15 in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, 1872; and 13 in the Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. They are also largely represented in other collections. Many other of his compositions are found in collections now or recently in common use, but these are not of the highest merit. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.]
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
========================
Hastings, T., p. 494, i. Additional hymns are:—
1. Children hear the wondrous story; and "Sinners, hear the melting story," are altered forms of No. 36, on p. 495, i.
2. Father, we for our children plead. On behalf of Children.
3. Forgive my folly, O Lord most holy. Lent.
4. Hosanna to the King, That for, &c. Praise to Jesus.
5. I look to Thee, O Lord, alone. Pardon desired.
6. Jesus, full of every grace. Pardon desired.
7. O why should gloomy thoughts arise? The Mourner Encouraged.
8. Peace to thee, O favoured one. Peace in Jesus.
9. Saviour, hear us through Thy merit. Forgiveness. Of these hymns, No. 3 is in Hasting’s Spiritual Songs, 1831; No. 9 in his Mother's Hymn Book, 1834, and his Devotional Hymns, 1850; and Nos. 4, 5 & 8 in his Devotional Hymns, 1850.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
Thomas Hastings
Robert Robinson
1735 - 1790 Hymnal Number: d27 Author of "Come thou fount of every blessing" in The Canadian Warbler Robert Robinson was born at Swaffham, Norfolk, in 1735. In 1749, he was apprenticed to a hairdresser, in Crutched Friars, London. Hearing a discourse preached by Whitefield on "The Wrath to Come," in 1752, he was deeply impressed, and after a period of much disquietude, he gave himself to a religious life. His own peculiar account of this change of life is as follows:--"Robertus Michaelis Marineque Robinson filius. Natus Swaffhami, comitatu Norfolciae, Saturni die Sept. 27, 1735. Renatus Sabbati die, Maii 24, 1752, per predicationem potentem Georgii Whitefield. Et gustatis doloribus renovationis duos annos mensesque septem, absolutionem plenam gratuitamque, per sanguinem pretiosum i secula seculorum. Amen." He soon after began to preach, and ministered for some time in connection with the Calvinistic Methodists. He subsequently joined the Independents, but after a short period preferred the Baptist connection. In 1761, he became pastor of a Baptist congregation at Cambridge. About the year 1780, he began to incline towards Unitarianism, and at length his people deemed it essential to procure his resignation. While arrangements for this purpose were in progress he died suddenly at Bingham, in June 1790. He wrote and published a good many works of ability.
--Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.
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Robinson, Robert, the author of "Come, Thou fount of every blessing," and "Mighty God, while angels bless Thee," was born at Swaffham, in Norfolk, on Sept. 27, 1735 (usually misgiven, spite of his own authority, as Jan. 8), of lowly parentage. Whilst in his eighth year the family migrated to Scarning, in the same county. He lost his father a few years after this removal. His widowed mother was left in sore straits. The universal testimony is that she was a godly woman, and far above her circumstances. Her ambition was to see her son a clergyman of the Church of England, but poverty forbade, and the boy (in his 15th year) was indentured in 1749 to a barber and hairdresser in London. It was an uncongenial position for a bookish and thoughtful lad. His master found him more given to reading than to his profession. Still he appears to have nearly completed his apprenticeship when he was released from his indentures. In 1752 came an epoch-marking event. Out on a frolic one Sunday with like-minded companions, he joined with them in sportively rendering a fortune-telling old woman drunk and incapable, that they might hear and laugh at her predictions concerning them. The poor creature told Robinson that he would live to see his children and grandchildren. This set him a-thinking, and he resolved more than ever to "give himself to reading”. Coincidently he went to hear George Whitefield. The text was St. Matthew iii. 7, and the great evangelist's searching sermon on "the wrath to come" haunted him blessedly. He wrote to the preacher six years later penitently and pathetically. For well nigh three years he walked in darkness and fear, but in his 20th year found "peace by believing." Hidden away on a blank leaf of one of his books is the following record of his spiritual experience, the Latin doubtless having been used to hold it modestly private:—
"Robertus, Michaelis Mariseque Robinson filius. Natus Swaffhami, comitatu Norfolciae, Saturni die Sept. 27, 1735. Renatus Sabbati die, Maii 24,1752, per predicationem potentem Georgii Whitefield. Et gustatis doloribus renovationis duos annosque septem absolutionem plenam gratuitamque, per sanguinem pretiosum Jesu Christi, inveni (Tuesday, December 10, 1755) cui sit honor et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen."
Robinson remained in London until 1758, attending assiduously on the ministry of Gill, Wesley, and other evangelical preachers. Early in this year he was invited as a Calvinistic Methodist to the oversight of a chapel at Mildenhall, Norfolk. Thence he removed within the year to Norwich, where he was settled over an Independent congregation. In 1759, having been invited by a Baptist Church at Cambridge (afterwards made historically famous by Robert Hall, John Foster, and others) he accepted the call, and preached his first sermon there on Jan. 8, 1759, having been previously baptized by immersion. The "call" was simply "to supply the pulpit," but he soon won such regard and popularity that the congregation again and again requested him to accept the full pastoral charge. This he acceded to in 1761, alter persuading the people to "open communion." In 1770 he commenced his abundant authorship by publishing a translation from Saurin's sermons, afterwards completed. In 1774 appeared his masculine and unanswerable Arcana, or the Principles of the Late Petitioners to Parliament for Relief in the matter of Subscription. In 1776 was published A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in a Pastoral Letter to a Congregation of Protestant Dissenters at Cambridge. Dignitaries and divines of the Church of England united with Nonconformists in lauding this exceptionally able, scholarly, and pungently written book. In 1777 followed his History and Mystery of Good Friday. The former work brought him urgent invitations to enter the ministry of the Church of England, but he never faltered in his Nonconformity. In 1781 he was asked by the Baptists of London to prepare a history of their branch of the Christian Church. This resulted, in 1790, in his History of Baptism and Baptists, and in 1792, in his Ecclesiastical Researches. Other theological works are included in the several collective editions of his writings. He was prematurely worn out. He retired in 1790 to Birmingham, where he was somehow brought into contact with Dr. Priestley, and Unitarians have made much of this, on exceedingly slender grounds. He died June 9, 1790.
His Life has been fully written by Dyer and by William Robinson respectively, both with a bias against orthodoxy. His three changes of ecclesiastical relationship show that he was somewhat unstable and impulsive. His hymns are terse yet melodious, evangelical but not sentimental, and on the whole well wrought. His prose has all…that vehement and enthusiastic glow of passion that belongs to the orator. (Cf. Dyer and Robinson as above, and Gadsby's Memoirs of Hymn-Writers(3rd ed., 1861); Belcher's Historical Sketches of Hymns; Millers Singers and Songs of the Church; Flower's Robinson's Miscellaneous Works; Annual Review, 1805, p. 464; Eclectic Review, Sept. 1861. [Rev. A. B. Grosart, D.D., LL.D.]
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Robert Robinson
