OXFORD MOVEMENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 July 1933, Page 10

OXFORD MOVEMENT

ITS HYMNOLOGY. The observance of the centenary of thp Oxford Movement is not without its critics. Some earnest Evangelicals have gone so far as to doubt it the Church of England has much to thank the Tractarians for, and that the Catholic revival in the Church of England 1 is not a matter for thankfulness (writes Ransome T. Wyatt, in the “Sydney Morning Herald”). It would be easier to follow these arguments it those who put them forward were to eliminate from their worship the hymns of the Oxford Movement. It would be logical if they refused to sing them, but their worship would be very bare. It would mean giving up “Sun of My Soul,” “Abide with Me,” “Fight the Good Fight,” “Hark, My Soul,” “Glory be to Jesus,” “All Glory, Laud, and Honour,” “Lead, Kindly Light,” “And now, O Father, mindful of the Love,” “Now the Day is Over,” "Onward Christian Soldiers,” “On the Resurrection Morning,” and even “Good King Wenceslas,” to mention only a few. As a matter of fact, the Oxford Movement included amongst its closest adherents the most wonderful band of hymnologists that ever graced a single epoch of Church history. Not only the Oxford Movement, not only the Church of England, but the whole of Christendom owes a debt beyond measure to the Tractarian hymn writers and their successors in that revival.

When at the Reformation the English Prayer Book was put together, it was Cranmer’s intention to translate also the host of Latin hymns sung in the services of the Church. He found he had neither the time nor the ability. Nobody else tried. Then came the influence of foreign Protestants, who regarded it as a sin to sing anything in church but words of Scripture or Scriptural paraphrases. For 250 years metrical paraphrases of the psalms constituted the sole hymnody of the English Church. In other words, one of the most striking results of the Reformation in England was the banishment of hymns and' hymn singing from divine worship. Curiously enough, just as it was the Protestant Reformation which drove hymns out of the worship of the Church, so that it was the Evangelical Revival that first brought them back. More than any others, .the credit must be given to Dr. Watts and the Wesleys. But those collections made only slow headway in the Church of England, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century out of 19,000 parishes in England over 18,800 were still singing such crude paraphrases as Tate and Brady’s metrical psalms. This was changed, and ' changed very suddenly, and mainly by the Tractarian or Oxford Movement. Bishop Heber’s “Hymns written and adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year” in 1826, John Keble’s “The Christian Year” in 1827, were followed quickly by Lyte’s, Murray’s, Cosby White’s, and Gauntlet’s collections, until in 1861 “Hymns, Ancient and Modern” appeared, embodying all that was then regarded as vital and essential in the ; teaching of the Oxford Movement. Now, one would like to trace the whole history of hymns and hymn writers from 1833 to 1933, and show how those early struggles paved the

way for the rich heritage of hymns and translations we enjoy to-day in subsequent and improved’ editions ot “Hymns, Ancient and Modern,” in the “English Hymnal” and more recently in “Songs of Praise.” Space will not permit. Instead this article must be confined to the singers of the Oxford Movement proper and their contributions to the hymnody of the English Church. No commemoration of the i centenary of the Oxford Movement could be complete unless it recognised the everlasting debt we owe to the writers and composers specially identified with the movement and contemporary with its commencement and rise. Amongst such are:— FAMOUS WRITERS. z John Keble, 1792-1866: The poet of the Oxford’ Movement, who gave us “New Every Morning is the Love, “Sun of My Soul,” “When God of Old Cam e Down from Heaven,” “Blessed are the Pure in Heart,” and “The Voice that breathed o’er Eden.” Henry Vrancis Lyte, 1793-1847: Intended for medicine, he took Orders in 1815. He was Perpetual Curate of Lower Brisham, Devon, from 1823 to 1847. He wrote some eighty hymns, more popular in America than in England. Some, however, we could not imagine our hymnals without, e.g., “Abide with Me,” “Praise my Soul the King of Heaven,” “God of Mercy, God of Grace,” and “Pleasant are Thy Courts Above.” John Henry Newman, 1801-1890: No hymnal is complete without “Praise to the Holiest in the Height” and “Lead, Kindly Light,” the latter written just a month before Keble’s famous Assize Sermon on “National Apostasy.” Isaac Williams, 1802-1865: the friend of Keble and Froude, and himself the author of Tract 80, one of the most criticised at the time. Of his hymns we should miss “Lord, in this Thy Mercy’s Day,” “Be Thou My Guardian and iny Guide,” and a host of translations, one of the best being “Disposer Supreme, and Judge of the Earth.” Frederick Oakeley, 1802-1880: Canon of Lichfield. In the Oxford Movement until 1845, when proceedings were taken against him in the Court of Arches. He was suspended unless he retracted. He. resigned and joined the Church of Rome. His best known hymn is the translation of the “'A,deste Fideles”—“O Come all ye Faithful.” John S. Monsell, 1811-1875: An Irish Priest and son of an Irish Priest. Afterwards Rector of St. Nicholas’, Guildford. He wrote 300 hymns, of which the best known is “Fight the good Fight.” Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863: Dr. Faber was the son of an English clergyman, and himself took Orders in the Church of England in 1837. However, he seceded to Rome in 1846. Some of our best known hymns were written by him, such as “Sweet Saviour, bless Ug ere we go,” “O come and mourn with me awhile,” “Hark, Hark My Soul, Angelic Songs are swelling,” “My God, how wonderful Thou art,” “O Paradise,” and scores of others.

Edward Caswall, 1814-1878: Took Holy Orders in” 1838. From 1840 to 1847 he was Incumbent of Strathford-sub-Castle, near Salisbury. In 1850 he left the Church of England for that of Rome, and joined Newman at Edgbaston. He translated some hundreds of Latin hymns, and his translations are found in all hymnals, enjoying a popularity second only to that

!' ■ A’ of Neale’s.. Aniongst his happiest . translations in general use are Jesu, ) the very thought of Thee,” “Days and imoments quickly flying” “AU ye who seek for sure relief,” “Glory be to Jesus,” and “Hark, h-thrilling voice' is sounding.” , John Mason Neale, 1818-1866: It has been said, “If Keble .maj be regarded as the poet of the Oxford Movement, and Newman as its preacher, then John Mason Neale was its hymnoiogist. From the first he ’identified himself with the Oxford Movement and suffered difficulties, . opposition, persecution, and sometimes actual violence all his life in'consequence, Yet no man ever had a greater influence on the hymns of the nation. He wrote scores of hymiis, some seventy of which are in doinmon use, and translated hundreds/of others, mainly from the Greek and .Latin. To name only a few, All J . Glory, laud and honour,” “Art Thou, weary, art Thou, languid?” “O Happy Band of Pilgrims,” “Jerusalem the Golden,” “Good King Wenceslas,” “Good Christian men rejoice,” etc., etc. Yet he had no reward or recognition in the Church of England. He was unhonoured and shamefully treated, as indeed were most, of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.

Rev. Sir H. W.; Baker, 1821-1877: Vicar of a small English village. The first editor of “Hymns Ancient and Modern.” Thirty-three of his hymns are to be found there, and four of his tunes. His best known hymn is, “The . King of Love my Shepherd is.” Rev. Sir H. W. Baker,

Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834-1927:- Another priest in the succession o.f the Tractarian leaders who received little or no recognition at the hands of the Church of England.* Yet“he wrote “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” “Now the day is over,” “On the Resurrection morning,” “Daily, daily, sing the praises,” “Thfough the night of doubt and sorrow.” RENOWNED COMPOSERS.

Nor must, we forget the composers cf this time. Intimately associated with most of the writers, just mentioned were Dr. Monk, the Rev. Sir F. A. Gore Ousely, Dr. Dykes, Elvey, Redhead Gauntlett, Stainer, and Barnby, all of whom contributed largely, sometimes a little too largely, to “Hymns Ancient and’ Modern.” Yet, with all its faults, no hymn book has had a greater influence. It extended far beyond the bounds of the Church of England, affecting all modern hymnody. As for the Church of England it is hard to say how much the Oxford Movement owes to its hymn writers, or how much the writers of hymns owe to the Oxford Movement. The bulk of the hymns of the English Church will ever be identified with that movement.

j At a. time when the outlook for religion was dark and troubled, when i atheism was rampant, and faith discounted, churches empty, and the [Church unpopular, these men in prayer, service, and devotion enriched our worship for all' time. All denominations sing their hymns, nor could we imagine Christian worship without them. In all jtlio thanksgivings of the .Centenary of the Oxford Movement, space must be found to. remember singers of the movement, the men and women who gave to us, or opened up to us, the treasury of song that Evangelical and Catholic alike love and enjoy today.