This was “Written at the request of Dorothea L. Dix for a collection made by her for the use of an asylum.” (Miss Dix was engaged in a notable reform of institutions for the insane.)
9. Life of Ages, richly poured (Inspiration)
10. Strong-souled Reformer, whose far-seeing faith (Jesus)
11. The Will Divine that woke a waiting time (St. Paul)
12. Thou whose glad summer yields, (Worship)
13. To light that shines in stars and souls, (Dedication of a Place of Worship)
A number of these hymns have had widespread and long-continued use. Numbers 1, 4, 6, 7, and 9 are included in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937, and stand out as some of the finest examples of American hymnody in their lyrical quality and depth of religious feeling. A few of Johnson’s hymns have found acceptance also in England, the most notable example being No. 7, sung at the consecration of the new Anglican cathedral at Liverpool in 1924, an occasion which the words fitted to perfection. But, since even the existence of the obscure minister in Lynn, Massachusetts, was quite unknown to all but very few of those present, the Samuel Johnson to whom it was attributed was commonly supposed to be the famous 18th century English lexicographer, and the hymn is mistakenly assigned to him in the latest edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations! Following its use at Liverpool it was sung in Westminster Abbey at a service for the League of Nations in 1935; at the jubilee service for the 25th anniversary of the coronation of George V; and was one of seven hymns included in the special service prepared by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for use in parish churches throughout England at the time of the coronation of George VI. Probably no other hymn of American authorship is so widely known or used in British dominions.
J. 604-5, 1583, 1681, 1711 H.W.F.
Kimball, Jacob, Topsfield, Massachusetts, February 15, 1761—July 24, 1826, Topsfield. He graduated from Harvard in 1780, studied law, taught school, and tried to make a living at various other occupations, with small success except in the field of music where he was regarded as the outstanding singer, teacher, and composer of his period. He edited Rural Harmony, (Boston, 1793) which he followed with Essex Harmony, (1800) and Essex Harmony, Part II, (1802), which included the only tunes of his own composition which can now be identified as his, except those in the popular Village Harmony (1795) the later editions of which, down to 1821, were probably edited by him. There is evidence that he also wrote poetry, including a number of hymns, some of them perhaps the anonymous ones, otherwise unknown, included in the above-mentioned song books. The one hymn which can be attributed to him with assurance is his excellent metrical version of Psalm 65 which Jeremy Belknap included in his Sacred Psalmody (1795), entitled “A New Version” and beginning
Thy praise, O God, in Zion waits.
The only other hymns by an American author in Belknap’s Collection is Mather Byles’
When wild confusion wrecks the air,
republished in 1760.
See Jacob Kimball: A Pioneer American Musician, Essex Institute Historical Collections, XCII, no. 4.