250,000 copies of this book have been circulated in Great Britain and its Colonies. The 426th hymn of this book, entitled "The Converted Hindoo's Hymn," is from Mr. Bickersteth's pen. Four out of five stanzas are here given: “O thou, my soul! forget no more But, O my soul! forget him not. "Renounce thy works and ways with grief, And fly to this most sure relief ; Nor him forget who left his throne, "Thy Lord for thee a body takes, "Ah! no, till life itself depart, His name shall cheer and warm my heart; EDWARD HENRY BICKERSTETH. 1825 THE Bickersteth family have been considerably addicted to hymnology. The "Christian Psalmody" of the Rev. Edward Bickersteth, of Watton, has just been noticed. His elder brother, John, Rector of Acton, Suffolk,-father of the Right Rev. Robert Bickersteth, D.D., the Bishop of Ripon since 1857,-published, in 1819, a Collection of "Psalms and Hymns, selected and revised," including several of his own composition. Edward Henry, the only son of Edward, has not only followed, in this respect, his father and uncle, but has also developed a poetic genius denied to them both. He was born, January 25, 1825, at Islington, London. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1843, and, for his skill in poetry, was awarded, 1844, 1845, 1846, the "Chancellor's Medal." The prize for the best English Essay also was awarded to him, November, 1846. He graduated, A.B., in 1847. He was ordained deacon, February 6, 1848, by the Bishop of Norwich, and on the 24th was married to Miss Rosa Bignold, a maternal relative. Immediately after, he entered upon the Curacy of Banningham, Norfolk. He was ordained priest, February 4, 1849,-also by the Bishop of Norwich. At the close of 1851, he accepted a Curacy at Tunbridge Wells, a watering place in Kent. His stay here was short, for in April, 1852, he obtained, by the presentation of the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Rectory of HintonMartell, Dorsetshire. Here he remained until 1855, when he was preferred to the living of Christ Church, Hampstead, in the northern suburbs of London, where he has continued to reside until now. In 1870 he made a brief visit to the United States. Mr. Bickersteth, like his father, has had much to do with the press. He has published the following valuable works: "Poems and Hymns" (1849); "Nineveh, a Poem" (1851); "Water from the Well-Spring for the Sabbath Hours of Afflicted Believers" (1852); "Psalms and Hymns, based on the 'Christian Psalmody' of the late Edward Bickersteth" (1858); "A Practical Commentary on the New Testament" (1864); "The Rock of Ages," "Plain Sunday Readings for Farm Boys," "Hades and Heaven" (1865); "Yesterday, To-Day, and For Ever-a Poem in Twelve Books" (1867); "The Spirit of Life," and "The Two Brothers and Other Poems" (1871). The latter contains many of his earlier Poems, Fugitive Pieces, and Hymns, several of them bear ing date from 1844 to 1847, and written at college. His principal poem, "Yesterday," etc., is an epic of great merit, descriptive of the Church of Christ, and contains passages of great beauty. In 1858 he selected about 400 hymns from his father's Collection, added 130 from other sources, including a few of his own, and published it as above. Not content with this, he published, in 1870, "The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer," a book of 400 carefully selected and laboriously edited Hymns. The "Annotated Edition, with Introduction and Notes," is an admirable contribution to Hymnology. His hymn on the Trinity, "Father of heaven above," is from this work. The following two double stanzas are taken from his 90th hymn: "O brothers! lift your voices, Triumphant songs to raise; "O Christian brothers! glorious Our Leader all controls; Our trophies, fetters broken: Our captives, ransomed souls." THOMAS BLACKLOCK. 1721-1791. THE blind bard of Annan, Rev. Thomas Blacklock, D.D., was the son of a bricklayer, and was born, November 10, 1721, of English parents, at Annan, Scotland. When only six months old, he lost his sight by small-pox. At an early age he developed a remarkably retentive memory, and a great thirst for knowledge. He had a passion for poetry, and great skill in versification. The best literature within his father's reach was read to him, and much of it was retained in memory. He was deprived of his father in his nineteenth year, and thrown upon his own resources. By the kindness of Dr. Stevenson, a physician of Edinburgh, who became his patron, he received a regular course of instruction (1741–1751) at the University of that city. He thus became a proficient in the Latin, Greek, French, and Italian tongues, as well as his own. A volume of his poems was published in 1745 at Glasgow, and another in 1754. Thereupon, the Rev. Joseph Spence, of Oxford, England, published "An Account of the Life, Character, and Poems of Mr. Blacklock, Student of Philosophy at Edinburgh," which was also prefixed to a quarto edition of his Poems, issued in 1756. After a three years' course of theological study at the Divinity Hall, Edinburgh, he was licensed, in 1758, by the Presbytery of Dumfries, as a preacher of the Gospel. On his presentation, in 1760, by the Earl of Stirling, to the parish of Kirkcudbright, his settlement was opposed by the parishioners on account of his blindness. The case was carried to the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, then by reference to the Synod of Galloway, and thence to the General Assembly of 1761. After a full hearing of the case, the Assembly ordered, May 29th, his induction by the Presbytery. Owing to the continued opposition of his parishioners, he accepted, at the end of three years, an annuity, resigned his living, and removed to Edinburgh. Having married Miss Johnston, a surgeon's daughter, of Dumfries, he opened a boarding-school, and secured considerable patronage. The University of Aberdeen, in 1766, conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He published, besides the "Poems" already noticed and several "Sermons," "Essays toward Universal Etymology" (1756); "Paraclesis, or Consolations deduced from Natural and Revealed Religion" (1767); "Two Discourses on the Spirit and Evidences of Christianity" (1768); a satirical "Panegyric on Great Britain" (1773); "The Graham, an heroic Ballad" (1774); "Remarks on the Nature and Extent of Liberty" (1776), suggested by the American War; and an Article in the Encyclopædia Britannica (1778) on the "Education of the Blind." Edmund Burke said of him: "Few men, blessed with the most perfect sight, can describe visual objects with more spirit and justness than this blind man." John Wesley regarded his version of the 104th Psalm as "the finest in the English language." The closing paragraph of this version, which is written throughout in heroic pentameters, will fairly exhibit his style: "While this immortal 'spark of heavenly flame' And all the Godhead flashes on my mind; When, winged with whirlwinds, vice shall take its flight To the deep bosom of eternal night, To Thee my soul shall endless praises pay: Join, men and angels! join th' exalted lay!" Dr. Blacklock's "Braes of Ballenden," a popular song, has ever been a great favorite with his countrymen. He died, July 7, 1791, of nervous fever, at Edinburgh. An edition of his "Poems" was published two years after his death. |