Olney Hymns
Encyclopedia
The Olney Hymns were first published in February 1779, and are the combined work of curate
John Newton
(1725–1807) and his poet
friend, William Cowper
(1731–1800). The hymn
s were written for use in Newton's rural parish which was made up of relatively poor and uneducated followers. The Olney Hymns are an illustration of the potent ideologies of the Evangelical
movement, to which both men belonged, present in many communities in England
at the time.
The Olney Hymns were very popular; by 1836 there had been 37 recorded editions, and it is likely that many other editions were printed in both Britain
and America
. As hymn-singing gained popularity in the nineteenth century, many (around 25) of the hymns were reproduced in other hymn-books and pamphlet
s. Today around six of the original 348 Olney Hymns regularly feature in modern church worship, the most famous of which is 'Amazing Grace
'.
town from which the hymns get their name, Olney, was, at the time of first publication, a market town
of about 2,000 people. Around 1,200 of these were employed in its main, poorly-paid, lace-making industry. As a result Olney's population was principally of a low income status; Cowper is said to have described his neighbours as 'the half-starved and ragged of the earth'. The Olney Hymns were, however, written primarily with this poor and under-educated population in mind.
Olney itself, situated near the borders of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire
, and Northamptonshire
, places it within a region traditionally associated with religious Dissent
. Dissenters were Protestants who refused to follow the rules of the Church of England
after the Restoration
of Charles II
in 1660, and when Newton settled in Olney the village still supported two Dissenting chapels. Notable local Dissenters included John Bunyan
, of Bedford
, author of the Pilgrim's Progress, and another important hymn writer, Philip Dodderidge (1702–51), of Northampton
. Newton, with his own associations with Dissenters (his mother was one) meant he was in a position to conciliate with, rather than confront, his parishioners, and he quickly achieved a reputation as a popular preacher
. Within his first year at Olney a gallery was added to the church to increase its congregational capacity, and the weekly prayer-meetings were moved in 1769 to Lord Dartmouth's mansion, the Great House, to accommodate even greater numbers. 'Jesus where're thy people meet' was written for their first meeting at the Great House.
Newton's conversion occurred during a violent storm at sea on 10 March 1748. Newton describes the event in his autobiography
, An Authentic Narrative (published 1764), and thereafter marked the anniversary
of his conversion as a day of thanks-giving. This incident revived Newton's belief in God
and, despite considerable reservations from within the established church (it took six years to be ordained into the Church of England), he achieved the position of priest
to the village of Olney in 1764. Newton's apparent influence and charisma proved beneficial to him and his parish when local Evangelical merchant
, John Thornton
, to whom he had sent a copy of his autobiography, offered the parish
£200 per year, requesting that Newton, in part, provided for the poor. This annual contributing ceased when Newton left in 1780 when he took the position of Rector
at St. Mary Woolnoth, in London
. Newton's epitaph
on a plaque
in St. Mary Woolnoth, written by Newton himself, bears these words:
William Cowper was the son of an Anglican clergyman and well-educated at Westminster School
. Cowper was liable to bouts of severe depression
throughout his adult life, and during a period in an asylum
he was counselled by his cousin, Martin Madam, an Evangelical clergyman. His new enthusiasm for Evangelicalism, his 'Conversion', his and his move to Olney in 1767 brought him into contact with John Newton. Cowper eventually became an unpaid curate to Newton's church, helping with the distribution of Thornton's funds.
Cowper is best known, not just for his contribution to the Olney Hymns, but as a poet, letter-writer, and translator
: his works include The Diverting History of John Gilpin
(1782), The Task
(1785) and his translation of Homer
, published in 1791. Cowper left Olney for nearby Weston Underwood in 1786.
and experience, and a reflection of the principal tenets of the Evangelical faith: the inherent sinfulness of man; religious conversion
; atonement; activism
; devotion to the Bible
; God's providence
; and the belief in an eternal life after death
. However, they were primarily written for immediate and day-to-day use in Newton's ministry
of Olney. Here they were sung, or chanted, in church or at Newton's other Sunday and weekday meetings as a collective expression of worship. Hymn singing, though, was not without controversy, particularly within the official church, the Church of England
. By the 1760s hymns had become an established feature of religious devotion in the Evangelical church, where early (post-Reformation
) hymns were versifications (producing song-like verses from the original words of the psalms) of the biblical text of the psalms
, known as metrical psalms. To the Church of England hymns other than metrical psalms were of questionable legality until the 1820s, as they were not explicitly sanctioned by the Book of Common Prayer
. As a consequence, many church leaders reserved hymn-singing to meetings other than the main Sunday services, and for private or household devotions.
In the preface to the Hymns Newton says that: 'They should be Hymns, not Odes
, if designed for public worship, and for the use of plain people'. Newton also explains his two primary motives for publishing; his desire to promote 'the faith and comfort of sincere Christians', and as a permanent record of his friendship with Cowper. Newton is attributed with suggesting that he and Cowper collaborate on a collection of hymns, ultimately drawn largely from Newton's texts accumulated over (by the time of publication) some 10 years. Of the 348 hymns in the original published edition of 1779 some commentaries state that Cowper wrote just 66 between 1772 and 1773, and Newton the remainder, while other sources attribute 67 to Cowper. It is known, however, that Newton wrote some of the hymns in direct response to events around him; 'Oh for a closer walk with God' for instance was written in response to the serious illness then being suffered by Cowper's house companion, Mary Unwin
, an illness she survived.
There is no evidence to show that either Newton or Cowper wrote any music to accompany the hymns. It is assumed that they were initially sung to any suitable tune that fitted the metre (rhythm), most probably to sixteenth or seventeenth century metrical psalm tunes. Subsequently individual tunes have become linked to specific hymns from the Olney books. For example, the tune 'Austria' (originally Haydn
's 'Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
') is associated today with the hymn 'Glorious things of thee are spoken', just as 'New Britain' an American folk melody, believed to be Scottish
or Irish
in origin; has since the 1830s been associated with 'Amazing grace
'. The hymn's Scottish or Irish melody is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune; the hymn is frequently performed on bagpipes and has become associated with that instrument.
As an expression of the many Evangelical beliefs, 'Amazing Grace' serves as an example: the very first stanza
(verse) for instance expresses Newton's sense of past sinfulness, as a 'wretch', but also conversion, from being 'lost' and 'blind' to 'now I see'. God's providence, and Cowper's sense of a close and personal relationship with God are voiced in stanza four: 'He will my shield and portion be'. The belief in eternal life after death is expressed in stanzas five and six: 'when this flesh and heart shall fail', 'I shall possess' 'A life of joy and peace', and 'God, who call'd me here below, Will be for ever mine'.
'Amazing Grace' was not the original title of this hymn: it was originally written as a poem entitled 'Faith's Review and Expectation' and appears in Book I of the Olney Hymns with the poem's title and 'hymn 41'. The six stanza version quoted is the original, as written by Newton, but it has also appeared in longer forms where others have added verses or where verses from other hymns from the Olney books have been moved across.
The Olney Hymns are subdivided into three books: Book I, On Select Texts of Scripture; Book II, On occasional Subjects; and, Book III, On the Progress and Changes of the Spiritual Life. The sub-divisions reflect key Evangelical beliefs. Book I holds that the Bible is the ultimate source of religious authority, and its hymns are written to provide the believer, through simple language, with a thorough understanding of its contents. Book II's 'Occasional Subjects' are those that bring understanding to the priorities of the Evangelical spiritual
life. There is a section for instance on 'Providences', which serves to illustrate the Evangelical belief in God's ever-present controlling hand. Book III is written to express Newton's ideas of the stages of personal spiritual awakening and salvation
.
The undoubted popularity of the hymns was not simply a matter of local taste, but can be seen within the wider, developing religious climate in England. The relative rise in popularity of the Evangelical movement in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was due to a number of reasons: the on-set of the Industrial Revolution
and the subsequent break up of, particularly, rural communities, was an unsettling influence on a parish like Olney; Methodism had seen a significant growth in popularity in the same period; and Evangelicalism was gradually finding its way into the established Church of England. However, Newton and Cowper's writing clearly fitted its purpose. Cowper's relatively few hymns demonstrate his poetic and creative abilities, whereas Newton's prose have been assessed by some as 'wooden'. Nevertheless, the principal purpose of the hymns was not a theological discussion or representation of the Bible, but were written for 'plain people'. In this respect Newton's use of simple and repetitive metres (rhythms) and simple rhyming structures ensured that his audience were better able to remember these hymns. The significant emphasis with 'I' within the hymns is an indication of Newton's view that the hymns are a product of his personal experience, a feature of his belief in personal repentance
and Conversion, and his desire for a personal relationship with God.
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
John Newton
John Newton
John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
(1725–1807) and his poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
friend, William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
(1731–1800). The hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s were written for use in Newton's rural parish which was made up of relatively poor and uneducated followers. The Olney Hymns are an illustration of the potent ideologies of the Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
movement, to which both men belonged, present in many communities in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at the time.
The Olney Hymns were very popular; by 1836 there had been 37 recorded editions, and it is likely that many other editions were printed in both Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As hymn-singing gained popularity in the nineteenth century, many (around 25) of the hymns were reproduced in other hymn-books and pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
s. Today around six of the original 348 Olney Hymns regularly feature in modern church worship, the most famous of which is 'Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
'.
Background
The BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
town from which the hymns get their name, Olney, was, at the time of first publication, a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of about 2,000 people. Around 1,200 of these were employed in its main, poorly-paid, lace-making industry. As a result Olney's population was principally of a low income status; Cowper is said to have described his neighbours as 'the half-starved and ragged of the earth'. The Olney Hymns were, however, written primarily with this poor and under-educated population in mind.
Olney itself, situated near the borders of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, and Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, places it within a region traditionally associated with religious Dissent
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
. Dissenters were Protestants who refused to follow the rules of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
after the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in 1660, and when Newton settled in Olney the village still supported two Dissenting chapels. Notable local Dissenters included John Bunyan
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
, of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, author of the Pilgrim's Progress, and another important hymn writer, Philip Dodderidge (1702–51), of Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
. Newton, with his own associations with Dissenters (his mother was one) meant he was in a position to conciliate with, rather than confront, his parishioners, and he quickly achieved a reputation as a popular preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
. Within his first year at Olney a gallery was added to the church to increase its congregational capacity, and the weekly prayer-meetings were moved in 1769 to Lord Dartmouth's mansion, the Great House, to accommodate even greater numbers. 'Jesus where're thy people meet' was written for their first meeting at the Great House.
Newton and Cowper's personal background
John Newton was an only child, and was a self-educated sea captain, at one time captaining slave ships.Newton's conversion occurred during a violent storm at sea on 10 March 1748. Newton describes the event in his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, An Authentic Narrative (published 1764), and thereafter marked the anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of his conversion as a day of thanks-giving. This incident revived Newton's belief in God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and, despite considerable reservations from within the established church (it took six years to be ordained into the Church of England), he achieved the position of priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
to the village of Olney in 1764. Newton's apparent influence and charisma proved beneficial to him and his parish when local Evangelical merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
, John Thornton
John Thornton (philanthropist)
John Thornton was a merchant and Christian philanthropist.Thornton was the son of Robert Thornton of Clapham, Surrey, a merchant who became a director of the Bank of England....
, to whom he had sent a copy of his autobiography, offered the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
£200 per year, requesting that Newton, in part, provided for the poor. This annual contributing ceased when Newton left in 1780 when he took the position of Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
at St. Mary Woolnoth, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Newton's epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
on a plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
in St. Mary Woolnoth, written by Newton himself, bears these words:
| JOHN NEWTON, Clerk |
| Once an infidel and libertine |
| A servant of slaves in Africa, |
| Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour |
| JESUS CHRIST, |
| restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach |
| the Gospel which he had long laboured to destroy. |
| He ministered, |
| Near sixteen years in Olney, in Bucks, |
| And twenty-eight years in this Church. |
William Cowper was the son of an Anglican clergyman and well-educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
. Cowper was liable to bouts of severe depression
Major depressive episode
A major depressive episode is the cluster of symptoms of major depressive disorder. The description has been formalised in psychiatric diagnostic criteria such as the DSM-IV and ICD-10, and is characterized by severe, highly persistent depression, and a loss of interest or pleasure in everyday...
throughout his adult life, and during a period in an asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
he was counselled by his cousin, Martin Madam, an Evangelical clergyman. His new enthusiasm for Evangelicalism, his 'Conversion', his and his move to Olney in 1767 brought him into contact with John Newton. Cowper eventually became an unpaid curate to Newton's church, helping with the distribution of Thornton's funds.
Cowper is best known, not just for his contribution to the Olney Hymns, but as a poet, letter-writer, and translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
: his works include The Diverting History of John Gilpin
The Diverting History of John Gilpin
The Diverting History of John Gilpin is a comic ballad by William Cowper, written in 1782. The ballad concerns a draper called John Gilpin who rides a runaway horse...
(1782), The Task
The Task (poem)
The Task: A Poem, in Six Books is a poem in 6000 lines of blank verse by William Cowper, usually seen as his supreme achievement. Its six books are called "The Sofa", "The Timepiece", "The Garden", "The Winter Evening", "The Winter Morning Walk" and "The Winter Walk at Noon"...
(1785) and his translation of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, published in 1791. Cowper left Olney for nearby Weston Underwood in 1786.
The hymns in more detail
The Olney Hymns are in part an expression of Newton and Cowper's personal religious faithFaith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
and experience, and a reflection of the principal tenets of the Evangelical faith: the inherent sinfulness of man; religious conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
; atonement; activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
; devotion to the Bible
Bible study (Christian)
In Christianity, Bible study is the study of the Bible by ordinary people as a personal religious or spiritual practice. Some denominations may call this devotion or devotional acts; however in other denominations devotion has other meanings...
; God's providence
Divine Providence
In Christian theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's activity in the world. " Providence" is also used as a title of God exercising His providence, and then the word are usually capitalized...
; and the belief in an eternal life after death
Life After Death
Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997 and serves as his final studio album...
. However, they were primarily written for immediate and day-to-day use in Newton's ministry
Christian ministry
In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith. 2003's Encyclopedia of Christianity defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", indicating that it is "conferred on each Christian in baptism." It is performed by all Christians...
of Olney. Here they were sung, or chanted, in church or at Newton's other Sunday and weekday meetings as a collective expression of worship. Hymn singing, though, was not without controversy, particularly within the official church, the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. By the 1760s hymns had become an established feature of religious devotion in the Evangelical church, where early (post-Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
) hymns were versifications (producing song-like verses from the original words of the psalms) of the biblical text of the psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, known as metrical psalms. To the Church of England hymns other than metrical psalms were of questionable legality until the 1820s, as they were not explicitly sanctioned by the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
. As a consequence, many church leaders reserved hymn-singing to meetings other than the main Sunday services, and for private or household devotions.
In the preface to the Hymns Newton says that: 'They should be Hymns, not Odes
Ode
Ode is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...
, if designed for public worship, and for the use of plain people'. Newton also explains his two primary motives for publishing; his desire to promote 'the faith and comfort of sincere Christians', and as a permanent record of his friendship with Cowper. Newton is attributed with suggesting that he and Cowper collaborate on a collection of hymns, ultimately drawn largely from Newton's texts accumulated over (by the time of publication) some 10 years. Of the 348 hymns in the original published edition of 1779 some commentaries state that Cowper wrote just 66 between 1772 and 1773, and Newton the remainder, while other sources attribute 67 to Cowper. It is known, however, that Newton wrote some of the hymns in direct response to events around him; 'Oh for a closer walk with God' for instance was written in response to the serious illness then being suffered by Cowper's house companion, Mary Unwin
Mary Unwin
Mary Unwin , the friend of Cowper, the daughter of William Cawthorne, a draper, of Ely, was born in that city in 1724. Hayley remembered her when comparatively young, a person of lively talents with a sweet serene countenance, and remarkably fond of reading...
, an illness she survived.
There is no evidence to show that either Newton or Cowper wrote any music to accompany the hymns. It is assumed that they were initially sung to any suitable tune that fitted the metre (rhythm), most probably to sixteenth or seventeenth century metrical psalm tunes. Subsequently individual tunes have become linked to specific hymns from the Olney books. For example, the tune 'Austria' (originally Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's 'Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser
Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser was an anthem to Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. Lorenz Leopold Haschka wrote the lyrics, and Joseph Haydn composed the melody...
') is associated today with the hymn 'Glorious things of thee are spoken', just as 'New Britain' an American folk melody, believed to be Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
or Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in origin; has since the 1830s been associated with 'Amazing grace
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
'. The hymn's Scottish or Irish melody is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune; the hymn is frequently performed on bagpipes and has become associated with that instrument.
As an expression of the many Evangelical beliefs, 'Amazing Grace' serves as an example: the very first stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
(verse) for instance expresses Newton's sense of past sinfulness, as a 'wretch', but also conversion, from being 'lost' and 'blind' to 'now I see'. God's providence, and Cowper's sense of a close and personal relationship with God are voiced in stanza four: 'He will my shield and portion be'. The belief in eternal life after death is expressed in stanzas five and six: 'when this flesh and heart shall fail', 'I shall possess' 'A life of joy and peace', and 'God, who call'd me here below, Will be for ever mine'.
'Amazing Grace' was not the original title of this hymn: it was originally written as a poem entitled 'Faith's Review and Expectation' and appears in Book I of the Olney Hymns with the poem's title and 'hymn 41'. The six stanza version quoted is the original, as written by Newton, but it has also appeared in longer forms where others have added verses or where verses from other hymns from the Olney books have been moved across.
The Olney Hymns are subdivided into three books: Book I, On Select Texts of Scripture; Book II, On occasional Subjects; and, Book III, On the Progress and Changes of the Spiritual Life. The sub-divisions reflect key Evangelical beliefs. Book I holds that the Bible is the ultimate source of religious authority, and its hymns are written to provide the believer, through simple language, with a thorough understanding of its contents. Book II's 'Occasional Subjects' are those that bring understanding to the priorities of the Evangelical spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
life. There is a section for instance on 'Providences', which serves to illustrate the Evangelical belief in God's ever-present controlling hand. Book III is written to express Newton's ideas of the stages of personal spiritual awakening and salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
.
The undoubted popularity of the hymns was not simply a matter of local taste, but can be seen within the wider, developing religious climate in England. The relative rise in popularity of the Evangelical movement in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was due to a number of reasons: the on-set of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
and the subsequent break up of, particularly, rural communities, was an unsettling influence on a parish like Olney; Methodism had seen a significant growth in popularity in the same period; and Evangelicalism was gradually finding its way into the established Church of England. However, Newton and Cowper's writing clearly fitted its purpose. Cowper's relatively few hymns demonstrate his poetic and creative abilities, whereas Newton's prose have been assessed by some as 'wooden'. Nevertheless, the principal purpose of the hymns was not a theological discussion or representation of the Bible, but were written for 'plain people'. In this respect Newton's use of simple and repetitive metres (rhythms) and simple rhyming structures ensured that his audience were better able to remember these hymns. The significant emphasis with 'I' within the hymns is an indication of Newton's view that the hymns are a product of his personal experience, a feature of his belief in personal repentance
Repentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
and Conversion, and his desire for a personal relationship with God.