1. All nature’s works His praise declare, (Worship)

Headed “On Opening an Organ” and dated November 9, 1822. In view of the almost universal use of organs in modern churches it is rather surprizing that this should be a well-nigh unique example of a hymn for the dedication of such an instrument. It is also a good general hymn of worship. It was included in Horder’s British Congregational Hymns, 1884, and in a number of American Unitarian collections.

2. Around the throne of God, the host angelic sings,

A hymn of “Universal Praise,” based on Revelation IV, 2, 3; XV, 3. Dated 1823 and published in the Christian Disciple, vol. V. A fine hymn of its type, but little used, perhaps because of its metre, 6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4.

3. Father of earth and heaven, Whose arm upholds creation, (Thanksgiving for Divine Mercies)

Included in Cheever’s Common Place Book, 1831, and in Lyra Sacra Americana.

4. Father, Thy gentle chastisement (In sickness)

Dated March, 1836. In Lyra Sacra Americana.

5. Great God, the followers of thy Son, (Ordination)

Written for the ordination of Jared Sparks, the historian, as minister of the First Unitarian Church, Baltimore, Maryland, May 5, 1819, but suitable for any service of worship and perhaps the most widely used of Ware’s hymns.

6. In this glad hour when children meet (Family Gatherings)

Dated August 20, 1835. In Lyra Sacra Americana.

7. Lift your glad voices in triumph on high (Easter)

Dated 1817, and published in the Christian Disciple of that year, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. In Lyra Sacra Americana and included in many 19th century hymn books. In a few cases the second stanza alone is given, beginning

Glory to God, in full anthems of joy!

8. Like Israel’s hosts to exile driven (The God of our Fathers)

Written for the Centennial Celebration of the Boston Thursday Lecture, October 17, 1833. It is a quasi-national hymn in praise of the Pilgrim Fathers. Included in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ and in Lyra Sacra Americana.

9. O Thou in whom alone is found (Laying Foundation Stone for a Place of Worship)

Not dated. In Lyra Sacra Americana, and in Thring’s Collection (British) 1882.

10. O Thou who on thy chosen Son, (Ordination)

Written “For an ordination, March, 1829.” Included in Dale’s English Hymn Book, 1874.

11. Oppression shall not always reign, (Anti-Slavery Song)

Dated March 15, 1843, it is the last of the author’s writings in verse. In its original form it was a poem in several stanzas unsuited for use as a hymn, but 3 stanzas, beginning as above, had been taken from it, altered and transposed, and thus adapted for worship. Stanzas one and two were included in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ and in Longfellow and Johnson’s Hymns of the Spirit, 1864.

12. To prayer, to prayer, for morning breaks, (Prayer)

In 1826 he wrote a poem of 10 stanzas, 6 lines each, entitled “Seasons of Prayer,” printed in full in Lyra Sacra Americana and in Putnam, Singers and Songs, from which at least three variant centos were in use in the 19th century. One beginning with the first line, as above, adapting it for morning worship, was included in Lunt’s Christian Psalter, 1841, and in later collections. Another beginning with the second stanza

To prayer, the glorious sun is gone,

was adapted for evening worship. A third selection, beginning with the third stanza of the poem,

To prayer! for the day that God hath blest,

was included in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ.

13. We rear not a temple, like Judah of old, (Dedication of a Place of Worship)

“For the dedication of a church, April, 1839.”

14. With praise and prayer our gifts we bring (Opening of a Place of Worship)

In Dale’s English Hymn Book, 1874. Not in Putnam’s Singers and Songs, etc.

None of the hymns listed above are in current use except nos. 1 and 5, both of which are included in The New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, and Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.

J. 1233, 1595 Revised by H.W.F.

Waterston, Rev. Robert Cassie, Kennebunk, Maine, 1812—February 21, 1893, Boston, Massachusetts. He studied for a time at the Harvard Divinity School. In 1844 Harvard gave him the degree of Master of Arts, following the publication of his book on Moral and Spiritual Culture. In 1839 he was ordained to the ministry-at-large (Unitarian) in Boston, in charge of the Pitts Street Chapel, where he remained till 1845. From 1845 to 1852 he served as minister of the Church of the Saviour, Boston, and from 1854 to 1856 he was minister of the First Religious Society of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Thereafter he gave himself to educational and literary pursuits. He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and was long active on the Boston School Committee. He wrote many essays, addresses and poems, the most important of which are listed in Putnam’s Singers and Songs, etc., pp. 390-410. He contributed one hymn to the Cheshire Pastoral Association’s Christian Hymns, 1844, and eight to his own Supplement to Greenwood’s Psalms and Hymns, 1845.

1. God of the soul (The soul and God)

2. Great God, in heaven above,

Written for a Sunday School.

3. Great Source of Good, our God and Friend (Worship)

4. In ages past, majestic prophets, (The Coming of Jesus)

5. Nature with eternal youth

Written before 1853 and included in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, published in that year. It is a selection of 4 stanzas, numbers 4 to 7, from a longer poem entitled Nature and the Soul, printed in full in Putnam.

6. Lord of all, we bow before Thee

Entitled “Christian Benevolence.”

7. O God of Light and Love,

Written for the annual meeting of the American Unitarian Association, Boston, 1845.

8. O Lord of Life! to Thee we pray,

Written for the dedication of a church.

9. One sweet flower has drooped and faded,

Included in the Cheshire Collection, 1844, entitled “Death of a Pupil.” In Putnam the opening line reads

“One bright flower has drooped”, etc.

and the hymn is entitled “On the Death of a Child”, with a note, “Sung by her classmates.”

10. Theories, which thousands cherish, (Truth)

Published in The Religious Monthly, Boston, and included in several collections.

11. Thou who didst aid our sires (On leaving an old house of worship)

Written for the last service of worship held in the Federal Street Meeting House, Boston, March 13, 1859.

All of these hymns, and a number of other poems by Waterston, are included in Putnam’s Singers and Songs, etc., but few of them are dated or annotated as to use. The author was a popular writer of verses which were respectable expressions of the religious thought and feeling of his community, in which they had considerable vogue, but they rarely rise above mediocrity and have long since dropped out of use.

J. 1235, 1724 H.W.F.

Weir, Hon. Robert Stanley, D.C.L. 1856-1926. Judge in Admiralty of the Exchequer Court of Canada. He translated, from the original French by Calixa Lavallée, the hymn beginning, in his English version,

O Canada, our home, our native land,

which was adopted by the Canadian government as Canada’s national hymn. It is included in The New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914. He was a member of the Church of the Messiah (Unitarian), Montreal.