J. 400, 1564 Revised H.W.F.

Frothingham, Rev. Octavius Brooks, son of [Rev. Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, D.D.], q.v., Boston, November 26, 1822—November 27, 1895, Boston. He graduated from Harvard College in 1843, and in 1846 from the Harvard Divinity School, where, for the graduating exercises of his class, he wrote his fine, and only, hymn,

Thou Lord of Hosts, whose guiding hand, (Soldiers of the Cross)

which was included in the Book of Hymns prepared by his classmates, Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson, published later in the same year. He served as minister of the (Unitarian) North Church, Salem, Massachusetts from 1847 to 1855, and became minister of the Third Congregational Church in New York City, resigning in 1879. He was a bold, outspoken, eloquent speaker, and the author of many printed discourses and of several important biographies.

J. 400, 1638 H.W.F.

Furness, Rev. William Henry, D.D., Boston, Massachusetts, April 20, 1802—January 30, 1896, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Harvard College in 1820 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1823, and was given the degree of Doctor of Divinity by Harvard in 1847. In 1825 he was ordained minister of the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia where he served for 50 years before becoming pastor emeritus, his connection with the church covering a period of 71 years. He was an accomplished scholar, and attained distinction as a preacher, an author and a worker in social reforms. His publications include Notes on the Gospels, 1836; Jesus and his Biographers, 1838; The History of Jesus, 1850; a Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840, in which his earlier hymns were printed; a translation of Schiller’s Song of the Bell; and other translations from the German. His collected Verses, Translations and Hymns appeared in 1886. The following hymns by him have had considerable use.

1. Father in heaven, to Thee my heart,

Appeared in The Christian Disciple, 1822. It was printed in this form in several collections, including the Unitarian Hymn and Tune Book, 1868. In Longfellow and Johnson’s Book of Hymns, 1846, it reads

Father in heaven, to whom our hearts

and was reprinted in this form in their Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, and in Martineau’s Hymns of Praise and Prayer, 1873.

This hymn has sometimes been attributed to “H. Ware,” in error.

2. Feeble, helpless, how shall I,

Included on the Cheshire Christian Hymns, 1844, and in later 19th century Unitarian publications; also in the British Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868, and Thring’s Collection, 1882.

3. Have mercy, O Father,

Contributed to Martineau’s Hymns of Praise and Prayer, 1873.

4. Here in a world of doubt, (Psalm XLII)

Contributed to the New York Lutheran Coll., 1834, and included in the author’s Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840 and in Martineau’s Hymns, 1873.

5. Here in the broken bread,

Included in the Appendix to the Philadelphia Unitarian Collection, 1828; in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853; and in a few later collections, among them The Hymn and Tune Book, 1868.

6. Holy Father, Gracious art Thou,

Contributed to Martineau’s Hymns, 1873.

7. I feel within a want,

Included in the Cheshire Christian Hymns, 1844; in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853; and in a few other collections.

8. In the morning I will praise (pray)

In the author’s Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840, this hymn began

In the morning I will raise

and was thus included in Martineau’s Hymns, 1873, but in Longfellow and Johnson’s Book of Hymns, 1846, and later American collections the first stanza is dropped and the hymn begins

In the morning I will pray

9. O for a prophet’s fire,

Included in the Appendix to the Philadelphia Unitarian Collection, 1828, and in the Cheshire Christian Hymns, 1844.

10. Richly, O richly have I been,

Written in 1823 and included in the author’s Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840. In Longfellow and Johnson’s Book of Hymns, 1846, and in their Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, it is altered to begin

O richly, Father, have I been

In Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853, and most later Unitarian and other collections, the opening stanza is dropped and it begins with the second stanza,

Unworthy to be called Thy son,

11. She is not dead, but sleepeth

Included in the author’s Verses, Translations and Hymns, 1886.

12. Slowly by Thy [God’s] hand unfurled

Written in 1825 and included in the author’s Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840. In Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853, the first line was changed to read,

Slowly by God’s hand unfurled,

and was thus printed in the Unitarian Hymn and Tune Book, 1868. In Martineau’s Hymns, 1873, and in most later American Unitarian collections, the original reading has been retained.

13. That God is Love, unchanging Love,

Written in 1892 and included in Hymns for Church and Home, 1896, and in The Isles of Shoals Hymn Book, 1908.

14. Thou only Living, only True,

An ordination hymn, dated 1868, included in Martineau’s Hymns, 1873.

15. Thou who dost all things give

Written in 1869. Included in the author’s Verses, Translations and Hymns, 1886; in The Pilgrim Hymnal, 1904; and in Horder’s Treasury of American Sacred Song, 1896.

16. To the High and Holy One,

This is printed in full in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. In Longfellow and Johnson’s Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, the first stanza is dropped and it begins with the 2nd stanza,

To the truth that makes us free,

17. What is the world that it should share,

Printed in the Christian Disciple, 1822, and in Martineau’s Hymns, 1873. It begins with the second stanza of a hymn of which the opening line reads,

Here in Thy temple, Lord, we bow,

In Lyra Sacra Americana it is altered to read

Oh, is there aught on earth to share

18. What is this that stirs within?

Printed in the author’s Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840; in the Cheshire Christian Hymns, 1844, in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, and in a good many other American collections.

Dr. Furness’s hymns, though creditable religious verse of the period and widely esteemed because of the author’s distinction, nowhere attain a very high level of poetic beauty, and almost all of them have passed out of use. Only nos. 8, 10, and 12 were included in the Unitarian New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, and only no. 12 survives in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.

J. 402, 1638 Revised by H.W.F.

Fuller, Sarah Margaret, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 23, 1810—July 16, 1850, in a shipwreck south of New York. In 1847 she married the Marchese Ossoli in Rome. She did educational work in Boston and in Providence, Rhode Island, edited The Dial in 1840, and was noted locally for her intellectual brilliance. Memorials of her by R. W. Emerson, W. H. Channing and J. F. Clarke appeared in 1851, her Works in 1874.