The Newport Collection (1766): the First Baptist hymnal in America.

Baptist beginnings in the New World are generally traced to the founding of the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1639. From this modest beginning the number of Baptist churches in America grew slowly but steadily until the Revolutionary War.

Church music in these congregations--where it existed at all--generally consisted only of congregational singing. Some churches followed a Zwinglian tradition that excluded all song from the sanctuary. The churches that did sing mainly adhered to the Calvinist practice of singing only metrical Scripture (principally the Psalms) in unison without instrumental or choral accompaniment. During the late-seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the most popular psalters in the New World were the Bay Psalm Book (1640) and Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins's Whole Book of Psalms (1562, the "Old Version"), the former used principally by Congregationalists, the latter by Baptists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and others.

Metrical psalmody continued to form the backbone of congregational singing in most Baptist churches in America until after the Revolutionary War. However, hymns (as opposed to metrical psalms) were beginning to make headway in British Baptist churches, thanks particularly to the work of Benjamin Keach (1640-1704), Joseph Stennett (1663-1713), and the non-Baptist Isaac Watts (1674-1748). A book of congregational songs published at Boston in 1762 suggests that Baptists in America were beginning to accept "human composures," for it contained reprints of two hymn books by English Baptists--Benjamin Wallin's Evangelical Hymns and Songs (1750) and Joseph Stennett's Hymns Compos'd for the Celebration of the Holy Ordinance of Baptism (1712)--and a selection of hymns gleaned from the sermons of Isaac Watts.

By 1766, the time appeared ripe for the publication of the first Baptist hymnal to be compiled in the Colonies, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, collected from the works of several authors. Because of its generic title (Hymns and Spiritual Songs), which was used by many other hymnals of the day, the work is usually called the "Newport Collection" after the place of its publication, Newport, Rhode Island. Though the word "Baptist" did not appear on the title page, the contents and what is known of the people involved in its publication make it evident that the book was both compiled by and intended for Baptists.

The People

The title page of the Newport Collection did not include the name of a compiler, nor does this information appear to be available from other sources. However, the title page did list the names of the book's sellers, William Rogers and Clarke Brown, as well as that of the printer, Samuel Hall.

The William Rogers who has been identified previously as the person of that name has been described as the first student and a member of the initial graduating class at Rhode Island College (now Brown University). (1) Rogers (1751-1824) became one of the most prominent Baptist leaders of his time, serving as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a chaplain (and friend of George Washington) in the Revolutionary Army, professor at the College of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Pennsylvania state legislature, and an officer in many significant organizations.

However, there is reason to treat this identification with caution. In 1766, the year the Newport Collection was published, this William Rogers was no more than fifteen years old, and had only just completed (or would soon complete) his first year at Rhode Island College (he entered the college at age fourteen). Furthermore, the diary of Isaac Backus suggested that Rogers was not converted until 1770. (2) To be sure, Backus observed a short time later that Rogers "appears a promising youth," (3) but it seems doubtful that the responsibility for being the seller of a hymnal would have rested with a person so young, and one who was not converted at that.

A more likely possibility is that it was not this William Rogers but his father of the same name who served as one of the sellers of the Newport Collection. William Rogers Sr. was born about 1709. His occupation was that of a merchant. He was following this trade at least as early as 1763, when he placed an advertisement in the Newport Mercury touting his inventory of newly imported London goods, including various types of cloth as well as tea, chocolate, snuff, sugar, and flour, all of which were available at his shop "on the north side of the Parade." (4) Being the owner of a general store would have provided Rogers with a natural outlet for selling the Newport Collection.

William Rogers Sr. appears to have been a member of the Second Baptist Church of Newport. A copy of the Newport Collection in the library of Brown University contains a note to the effect that it was given to Robert Rogers by his father for use in the Second Baptist Church of Newport. (5) William Rogers Sr. is known to have had a son named Robert, who was listed along with William Rogers Jr. and Gardner Thurston (the pastor of Second Baptist Church, Newport) in William Sr.'s. will and codicil. (6) Thurston's involvement suggested that he was assisting with the arrangements for one of his church members. Shortly after William Sr.'s death in 1772, Morgan Edwards listed his widow Sarah, his son William Jr., and a number of other Rogerses as members of the Second Baptist Church--which Edwards called the "Farewell Street Church"--of Newport, further suggesting that William Sr., had been a member there. (7)

Unfortunately, the story of William Rogers Sr. does not appear to have had a happy ending. His obituary appeared in the Newport Mercury of October 5, 1772.

   Last Thursday morning died, suddenly, aged 63 years, Mr. William
   Rogers, of this town, merchant, having left a disconsolate widow,
   and eight children, to bemoan the loss of an affectionate husband
   and tender parent. His remains, attended by a large number of
   respectable Inhabitants, were interred last Saturday.

The reason for Rogers's sudden death is noted in Isaac Backus's diary for October 1, 1772: "Mr. Wm. Rogers senior of Newport hanged himself this morning." (8) Whatever may have been the circumstances that caused William Rogers Sr. to take his own life, it seems likely that it was he rather than his son who served as one of the sellers of the Newport Collection. (9)

The second seller of the hymnal, Clarke (or "Clark" as his name also appears in early records) Brown, appears to have been a fellow church member of the two william Rogerses at the Second Baptist Church of Newport. (10) This is probably the same Clarke Brown who was born about 1719, died in 1793, and was listed in his will as a "shopkeeper." (11) Brown also advertised in the Newport Mercury, the earliest known of his notices appearing in the May 16-23, 1768, issue; however, it is likely that he was already a store owner when the Newport Collection was published. As with William Rogers Sr., Brown's occupation would have provided a ready means for selling the book. (12)

Samuel Hall, the printer of the hymnal, was an active publisher of newspapers and books during the last half of the eighteenth century. In 1762, Hall had become a partner with Ann Franklin in the publishing of the Newport Mercury. The next year, Mrs. Franklin died and Hall became the paper's sole proprietor, a situation that was still in effect in 1766 when he printed the Newport Collection. Hall divested himself of the paper in 1768 and moved to Massachusetts, where he subsequently published newspapers in Salem, Cambridge, and Boston. He died in 1807. (13) In all likelihood, Hall was not a Baptist; his printing of the Newport Collection was probably a contract job, as was common at the time. (14) The fact that William Rogers Sr. had previously advertised in Hall's newspaper shows that the two men already had a working relationship; this would be a natural opening for approaching Hall to be the publisher of the hymnal. (15)

Given the prominent part played by two members of Second Baptist Church, Newport, in selling the hymnal, it is interesting to note that in the two years leading up to the publishing of the book singing was a matter of considerable controversy in this congregation. The church had been founded about 1656 when a group split off from First Baptist Church, Newport, in part over the mother church's adoption of singing. Apparently, the second church continued to be songless until 1764, for in that year "efforts were made to introduce psalmody, and numerous church meetings were called for the purpose, without accomplishing the object." Finally, on April 18, 1765, the church records noted:

   A church meeting was held, at which twenty-seven brethren attended;
   eighteen gave it as their mind to sing praise to God every public
   meeting day. Five gave it as their mind to sing at fifth day
   meetings, and two gave their voice against it at any time. So we
   concluded to sing praise to God on all days of public worship, and
   to sing such psalms or hymns as the minister shall direct. (16)

Publishing the Newport Collection in the following year almost certainly links it with the decision of the Second Baptist Church to begin singing. It may very well be that the pastor, Gardner Thurston, had a part in putting the book together since the repertory of the congregation was under his direction. However, until more information is discovered, this must remain a matter of conjecture.

The Hymnal

The Newport Collection contained words only. Though no tunes were included, twenty-five texts were marked to be sung "As the 100th psalm," "As the civth psalm," or "As the 25th psalm." (17) These rubrics referred to the metrical psalms in the most popular English psalter of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, Sternhold and Hopkins's Whole Book of Psalms. Musical editions of this book were issued beginning in 1563. Subsequent psalters often adopted the hymnic meters used for specific psalms in the Old Version so that the same musical settings could be sung to both. Thus, the indication for a hymn in the Newport Collection to be sung "as the 100th psalm" means that the tune OLD 100TH would be the obvious choice, since this was the tune used for Psalm 100 in the Old Version. (18)

The Newport Collection was divided in three sections, with a total of 141 hymns. The first section, labeled "Hymns for Baptism," included sixteen texts. Part two, "Hymns for the Lord's Supper," was much larger, containing seventy-five texts; this part was numbered separately from part one, beginning the numbering over again with "Hymn I." The third part, "Hymns and Spiritual Songs," continued the numbering of part two and did not begin with a section divider; part three included fifty hymns. Two different hymns in part three were labeled "Hymn CXIX" (pp. 175, 177). Thus, the hymn numbers of the two sections (part one + parts two and three) added up only to 140, but there were actually 141 texts. The title for the third section, "Hymns and Spiritual Songs," is derived from the running head of the book.

The emphasis on hymns for baptism and the Lord's Supper was typical of Baptist hymn collections in both England and North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Baptists could use metrical psalms and hymns from other traditions as material for general worship, but their distinctive views on the two ordinances called for a special body of song. Thus, many early Baptist hymnals were compiled primarily to provide texts for these occasions, and it appears that the Newport Collection was no exception. (19)

"Hymns and Spiritual Songs," besides being the name of the third section, was, of course, the actual title of the Newport Collection. This phrase had previously been used as a title by Isaac Watts in his first book of congregational song, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), and was to become a common title for collections that contained few or no metrical psalms. While the generic term "spiritual songs"--like "psalms and hymns"--was derived from Paul's admonitions in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century America, it was often associated with a specific type of song, the folk hymn. It has been implied that this identification began--in print, at least--with the Newport Collection, but it appears doubtful that any of the texts was actually of American origin or were from oral tradition (see below). (20)

The Sources

None of the texts in the Newport Collection contained author attributions. However, most of the texts can be traced to their original sources. From these, it is evident that the compiler was quite familiar with developments in British hymnody during the late-seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, but it is equally evident that he relied primarily on three writers: Isaac Watts, James Maxwell, and Joseph Stennett.

Thirty-six texts in the Newport Collection--just over a quarter of the total--were taken from Isaac Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs, far and away the most popular hymnal of the eighteenth century in both England and America. The compiler of the Newport Collection does not seem to have troubled himself much to disguise his borrowing from Watts: one group of hymns (nos. 51-75) "is an exact duplication of 'Hymns, Book III, Prepared for the Holy Ordinance of the Lord's Supper'" from Watts's collection. (21) Among the texts borrowed from Watts were the perennial favorites "Alas and did my Savior bleed" and "When I survey the wondrous cross." (22)

The Newport Collection does not contain a single text from Watts's other major congregational song book, The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719). It is almost inconceivable that the Newport Collection's compiler would have been unfamiliar with Watts's psalms, especially given their popularity during the eighteenth century and his obvious acquaintance with Watts's hymns. The Newport Collection was perhaps intended as a supplement to Watts's Psalms; in addition, the inclusion of some of Watts's psalm "imitations" would not have fit the title of the Newport Collection.

Another major source for the Newport Collection was the Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1759) by the Scottish hymn writer James Maxwell (1720-1800), from which thirty-six texts were taken. As with the borrowings from Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs, successive hymns from Maxwell's book often appeared in the same order in the Newport Collection. Maxwell's hymnal had been published only seven years before the Newport Collection and that it was relied on so heavily by the compiler of the American book is remarkable. Maxwell was a relatively little-known hymn writer of the eighteenth century, and it was perhaps the printing of some of his texts in the Newport Collection that led to a complete American reprint of his Hymns and Spiritual Songs in New York in 1768. (23)

Another point of interest regarding Maxwell and the Newport Collection is that a number of the texts in the latter that had been thought to demonstrate characteristics of American folk hymns were actually by the Scotsman. An example is "Amazing is thy mercies, Lord," the grammatical error in the first line being assumed to represent the speech pattern of unlearned rural folk. (24) In fact, the words had been published in this form by Maxwell, though the first line was listed in the index as "Amazing are thy mercies, Lord"; the use of "is" in the hymn itself was probably a misprint that was simply carried over into the Newport Collection.

By far, the most significant source drawn on by the compiler of the Newport Collection was the British Seventh-Day Baptist hymnist Joseph Stennett. The entire contents of Stennett's two hymnic collections, Hymns in Commemoration of the Sufferings of Our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, compos'd for the celebration of his Holy Supper (1697; 3rd ed., 1713) and Hymns Compos'd for the Celebration of the Holy Ordinance of Baptism (1712), were reprinted in the American book--sixty-two texts in all. (25) The reliance on Stennett is evident not only from the number of hymns borrowed, but also from the tune notations in the Newport Collection which appear in a similar form in Stennett's Hymns in Commemoration. (26)

Thus, of the 141 hymns in the Newport Collection, 134 were the work of three men. The remaining seven texts include two by the seventeenth-century Englishman Thomas Flatman, one by Charles Wesley (first published in 1739), and one ("We sing to thee whose wisdom formed") that was apparently first published in 1677 in John Playford's Whole Book of Psalms. One of the most remarkable inclusions in the hymnal is a text "On the six principles of Christ's doctrine. Heb. vi. 1, 2," "Repentance is wrought in my soul," which Henry S. Burrage speculated might have been the work of a Rhode Island Baptist. (27) Actually, the hymn was written by the London Baptist pastor Benjamin Keach and printed in his War with the Devil (4th ed., 1676). In 1691, Keach published a revision of the text in his hymnal Spiritual Melody ("Repentance, when wrought in the soul"). However, the compiler of the Newport Collection either did not know Spiritual Melody or chose to follow the earlier version, as is shown not only by the form of the text but also by the subject heading and Scripture reference. (28) Though Keach was quite prolific, his hymns were generally of poor quality and were seldom anthologized by others; the presence of "Repentance is wrought in my soul" in the Newport Collection is a notable exception. Two texts, "And glorious angels do rejoice" and "After our Saviour was baptiz'd," have remained untraced. Since these appear on successive pages in the Newport Collection (as the last two hymns in the "Baptism" section), it may be that they were both taken from the same unknown source.

The "First Baptist Hymnal in America"?

The fact that the Newport Collection was drawn largely from the works of three British hymn writers, and that it had been preceded four years earlier by another volume of reprints from three British writers, leads naturally to the question as to whether the Newport Collection can really be considered the "first Baptist hymnal in America." In hymnological sources, the earlier of the two books has generally been called merely a reprint of Benjamin Wallin's Evangelical Hymns and Songs; however, the presence of hymns by Watts and Stennett shows that this collection was much more than that. Assuming that the Wallin/Watts/Stennett book was put together by an American, could this not be considered the first New World compilation of hymns for Baptists? And, since the hymns in the Newport Collection were apparently all borrowed from England, should it be considered merely a reprint, and should we look elsewhere for the first Baptist hymnal to be compiled in America?

While certainly valid reasons exist for these questions, equally valid reasons exist for scholars to continue to consider the Wallin/Watts/Stennett volume as strictly a reprint and the Newport Collection as a compilation. One significant contrast between the Newport Collection and the Wallin/Watts/Stennett hymnal is in the arrangement of the two books. In the 1762 volume, the hymns by Wallin are printed as a distinct group, as are the hymns by Watts and Stennett; each group is given a separate title. (29) In a sense, these were basically three separate books that were simply printed as a unit. The Newport Collection, on the other hand, was topical in its organization; the hymns by the three principal authors were scattered among these topics rather than simply being reprinted as whole books, as they were in the Wallin/Watts/Stennett compilation. (30)

The Newport Collection also differs from the earlier book in two other respects. First, the 1762 hymnal reprinted complete volumes, omitting no hymns from its three source collections. The 1766 volume, on the other hand, left out many of the hymns that Watts and Maxwell had included in their own hymnals.

Second, the Newport Collection, though made up principally of the work of three authors, also incorporated individual hymns by several other writers. The Newport Collection demonstrates much more of a sense of selection than the Wallin/Watts/Stennett book, which was essentially a straightforward reprint. Thus, the Newport Collection can truly be called the first hymnal complied by Baptists in America, while its predecessor must continue to be thought of as merely a republication.

Influence of the Newport Collection

The influence of the Newport Collection is difficult to measure. The book apparently never achieved a second edition, suggesting that it met with a poor reception. According to the files of the Dictionary of American Hymnology, at least eighty-four hymns seem to have received their first American publication in the Newport Collection, but because of its heavy reliance on previously published British material, it is hard to determine if subsequent printings of these hymns were derived from Hymns and Spiritual Songs or from other sources. (31) For example, six hymns by James Maxwell printed in the Newport Collection also appeared in what seems to be a 1791 edition of New Hampshire Baptist Joshua Smith's Divine Hymns and Spiritual Songs. (32) These might have been taken from the Newport Collection; on the other hand, they might equally have been borrowed directly from Maxwell's original publication or from its American reprint. Little other evidence exists that Smith or his cocompilers were aware that the Newport Collection had ever existed.

Like many initial ventures, the Newport Hymns and Spiritual Songs may not have been a success. However, it paved the way for a flood of subsequent Baptist collections that have impacted congregational song within the denomination and far beyond. If for no other reason than that, the Newport Collection deserves to be remembered and honored.

A List of Hymns in the Newport Collection
Notes for Table on Pages 98-100

DAH = Dictionary of American Hymnology
H Comp = Hymns Compos'd
H in Gomm = Hymns in Commemoration
HSS = Hymns and Spiritual Songs
J = John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology
First American printings are noted only when they occurred in the
Newport Collection.

The Frist Baptist Hymnal in America

First Line                           Page   Author/Source

After our saviour was baptiz'd        19    Author/source unknown
Alas and did my saviour bleed        127    Watts HSS
All ye who bear the Christian name   148    Maxwell HSS
Amazing is thy mercies lord          150    Maxwell HSS
And are you here distrest            136    Maxwell HSS
And glorious angels do rejoice        18    Author/source unknown
And now all ye who have receiv'd     161    Maxwell HSS
Angels and men your songs renew       51    Stennett H in Comm
At thy command our dearest lord      113    Watts HSS
Awake my heart arise my tongue       121    Watts HSS
Awake my soul awake mine eyes        183    Thomas Flatman, Poems
                                            and Songs, 4th ed. (1686)
Behold again the dawning day         138    Maxwell HSS
Behold the boasting Pharisee         131    Maxwell HSS
Behold the king of glory sits         24    Stennett H in Comm
Behold the savior of the world        79    Stennett H in Comm
Behold the wretch whose lust and     124    Watts HSS
wine
Chear up ye mourning friends         177    Maxwell HSS
Cheer up dear souls nor let a        147    Maxwell HSS
cloud
Come all that fear the lord          175    Maxwell HSS
Come brethren let us sleep no more   146    Maxwell HSS
Come let us adore/The dear           178    Maxwell HSS
slaughter'd
Come let us all who here have seen    66    Stennett H in Comm
Come let us bless the glorious        78    Stennett H in Comm
name
Come let us go and die with him       74    Stennett H in Comm
Come let us join a joyful tune        99    Watts HSS
Come let us lift our voices high     115    Watts HSS
Come lowly souls that mourn            3    Stennett H Comp
Come sinners attend/And make no      157    Maxwell HSS
delay
Dear Jesus here comes                159    Maxwell HSS
Descend from heav'n immortal dove    128    Watts HSS
Descend O king of saints descend      26    Stennett H in Comm
Didst thou dear Jesus suffer shame   171    Maxwell HSS
Eternal father how divine             59    Stennett H in Comm
Father of lights from whom           149    Wesley, Hymns & Sacred
proceeds                                    Poems (1739) (J)
Father we wait to feel thy grace     119    Watts HSS
From supper to Gethsemane             47    Stennett H in Comm
Glory to God on high                  45    Stennett H in Comm
Gracious redeemer how divine          35    Stennett H in Comm
Hail happy pilgrims whence came ye   163    Maxwell HSS
Happy are they our lord has chose     68    Stennett H in Comm
Hast thou my soul thy saviour         54    Stennett H in Comm
view'd
Here O ye saints behold the price    174    Maxwell HSS
How are thy glories here display'd   120    Watts HSS
How condescending and how kind        94    Watts HSS
How glorious is this holy place       82    Stennett H in Comm
How many miracles of love             39    Stennett H in Comm
How rich are thy provisions lord     104    Watts HSS
How sweet and awful is the place     105    Watts HSS
How sweet how charming is the         40    Stennett H in Comm
place
I am that I am                       155    Maxwell HSS
Immortal praise be given              33    Stennett H in Comm
In grateful hymns ye saints           32    Stennett H in Comm
display
In such a grave as this               12    Stennett H Comp
Jehovah we in hymns of praise         21    Stennett H in Comm
Jesus invites his saints              92    Watts HSS
Jesus is gone above the skies         96    Watts HSS
Jesus O word divinely sweet           85    Stennett H in Comm
Jesus we bow before thy feet         112    Watts HSS
Let all our tongues be one           100    Watts HSS
Let all who enters Sion's gate        76    Stennett H in Comm
                                            (orig: "Letall who enter
                                            Sion's gate")
Let all who love our saviour's        63    Stennett H in Comm
name
Let us adore the eternal word         95    Watts HSS
Lo the'almighty king of glory        140    Maxwell HSS
Lord all the works thy hand has       53    Stennett H in Comm
form'd
Lord could I lift a filial eye       143    Maxwell HSS
Lord for the favours of this day     152    Maxwell HSS
Lord hast thou suffer'd me to see    153    Maxwell HSS
Lord having broke thy holy law       142    Maxwell HSS
Lord how divine thy comforts are     103    Watts HSS
Lord thou hast treated us             61    Stennett H in Comm
Lord we adore thy bounteous hand     113    Watts HSS
Lord we approach thy throne           56    Stennett H in Comm
Lord when together here we meet      166    Maxwell HSS
My blessed saviour is thy love        48    Stennett H in Comm
My soul let all thy nobler powers     29    Stennett H in Comm
Nature with all her pow'rs shall     125    Watts HSS
sing
Nature with open volume stands       102    Watts HSS
Now have our hearts embrac'd our     107    Watts HSS
God
Now is the time O lovely youth       134    Maxwell HSS
Now let our pains be all forgot      109    Watts HSS
Now lord another of thy days         154    Maxwell HSS
Now lord though we must part         167    Maxwell HSS
awhile
Now see the Publican opprest         132    Maxwell HSS
O bless'd redeemer in thy side         7    Stennett H Comp
O lord how shall we frame a song      42    Stennett H in Comm
O lord thou dost a broken heart       57    Stennett H in Comm
O sinners attend/Whilst here I       180    Maxwell HSS
relate
Once more behold the sable shade     139    Maxwell HSS
Others may tell of famous things      71    Stennett H in Comm
Our lord a banquet has prepar'd       50    Stennett H in Comm
Our lord when cloath'd with mortal     1    Stennett H Comp
flesh
Our spirits join t'adore the lamb    117    Watts HSS
Repentance is wrought in my soul      16    Benjamin Keach, War with
                                            the Devil, 4th ed. (1676)
Salvation oh the joyful sound        131    Watts HSS
See in what grave our savior lay      13    Stennett, H Comp
Sing hallelujah to our king           44    Stennett H in Comm
Sitting around our father's board    118    Watts HSS
Sleep downy sleep come close mine    184    Thomas Flatman, Poems and
eyes                                        Songs, 4th ed. (1686)
That doleful night when our dear      23    Stennett H in Comm
lord
The God of grace to human race        36    Stennett H in Comm
The great redeemer we adore            9    Stennett H Comp
The mere'fy of our dying lord        108    Watts HSS
The promise of my father's love       93    Watts HSS
The sacred body of our lord            2    Stennett H Comp
The sun of righteousness has          77    Stennett H in Comm
shin'd
Think worldling think alass [sic]    135    Maxwell HSS
how vain
Thou art all love my dearest lord     22    Stennett H in Comm
Thou hast o'ercome lord who can       86    Stennett H in Comm
prove
Thus saith the first the great       123    Watts HSS
command
Thus saith the lord ye sinners all   145    Maxwell HSS
Thus saith the lord your master      170    Maxwell HSS
dear
Thus was the great redeemer            6    Stennett H Comp
plung'd
Thus we commemorate the day           89    Stennett H in Comm
Tis finish'd the redeemer dies        88    Stennett H in Comm (orig:
                                            "Tis finished, the
                                            redeemer crys")
To us our God his love commends       25    Stennett H in Comm
Twas on that dark that doleful        90    Watts HSS
night
Twas the commission of our lord       15    Watts HSS
Up to the fields where angels lie    130    Watts HSS
We sing the amazing deeds            110    Watts HSS
We sing to thee whose wisdom         182    John Playford, Whole Book
form'd                                      of Psalms (1677) (J)
Well met dear friends in Jesu's      165    Maxwell HSS
name
What mighty conqueror do we see       69    Stennett H in Comm
What poor despised company           162    Maxwell HSS
What tho' the fig-tree blossom not   168    Maxwell HSS
What wondrous things we now behold    64    Stennett H in Comm
When Christ at Simon's table          73    Stennett H in Comm
plac'd
When fam'd Bethesda's waters          10    Stennett H Comp
flow'd
When from Egyptian slavery             8    Stennett H Comp
When I survey the wond'rous cross     98    Watts HSS
When sin had brought death with a     37    Stennett H in Comm
train
when th'antient world God's            4    Stennett H Comp
patience try'd
whence do our mournful tho'ts        122    Watts HSS
arise
Whene'er one sinner turns to God      14    Stennett H Comp
Wherewith shall I a sinful worm       41    Stennett H in Comm
While painful shepherds watch'd      173    Maxwell HSS
their flocks
while thy love's pledges we           81    Stennett H in Comm (orig:
conceive                                    "While thy love's pledges
                                            we receive")
Why should we start and fear to      129    Watts HSS
die
With humble boldness trembling joy    31    Stennett H in Comm
Ye happy guests who meet around       84    Stennett H in Comm
You that the holy Jesus love          60    Stennett H in Comm
You who our lord's great banquet      28    Stennett H in Comm
share

First Line                           Topic/1st Am. Printing

After our saviour was baptiz'd       Baptism 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Alas and did my saviour bleed        Spiritual Songs
All ye who bear the Christian name   Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Amazing is thy mercies lord          Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
And are you here distrest            Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
And glorious angels do rejoice       Baptism 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
And now all ye who have receiv'd     Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Angels and men your songs renew      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
At thy command our dearest lord      Lord's Supper
Awake my heart arise my tongue       Spiritual Songs
Awake my soul awake mine eyes        Spiritual Songs
Behold again the dawning day         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Behold the boasting Pharisee         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Behold the king of glory sits        Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Behold the savior of the world       Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Behold the wretch whose lust and     Spiritual Songs
wine
Chear up ye mourning friends         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Cheer up dear souls nor let a        Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
cloud
Come all that fear the lord          Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Come brethren let us sleep no more   Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Come let us adore/The dear           Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
slaughter'd
Come let us all who here have seen   Lord's Supper
Come let us bless the glorious       Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
name
Come let us go and die with him      Lord's Supper
Come let us join a joyful tune       Lord's Supper
Come let us lift our voices high     Lord's Supper
Come lowly souls that mourn          Baptism
Come sinners attend/And make no      Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
delay
Dear Jesus here comes                Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Descend from heav'n immortal dove    Spiritual Songs
Descend O king of saints descend     Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Didst thou dear Jesus suffer shame   Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Eternal father how divine            Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Father of lights from whom           Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
proceeds
Father we wait to feel thy grace     Lord's Supper
From supper to Gethsemane            Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Glory to God on high                 Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Gracious redeemer how divine         Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Hail happy pilgrims whence came ye   Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Happy are they our lord has chose    Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Hast thou my soul thy saviour        Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
view'd
Here O ye saints behold the price    Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
How are thy glories here display'd   Lord's Supper
How condescending and how kind       Lord's Supper
How glorious is this holy place      Lord's Supper
How many miracles of love            Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
How rich are thy provisions lord     Lord's Supper
How sweet and awful is the place     Lord's Supper
How sweet how charming is the        Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
place
I am that I am                       Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Immortal praise be given             Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
In grateful hymns ye saints          Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
display
In such a grave as this              Baptism
Jehovah we in hymns of praise        Lord's Supper
Jesus invites his saints             Lord's Supper
Jesus is gone above the skies        Lord's Supper
Jesus O word divinely sweet          Lord's Supper
Jesus we bow before thy feet         Lord's Supper
Let all our tongues be one           Lord's Supper
Let all who enters Sion's gate       Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Let all who love our saviour's       Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
name
Let us adore the eternal word        Lord's Supper
Lo the'almighty king of glory        Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord all the works thy hand has      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
form'd
Lord could I lift a filial eye       Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord for the favours of this day     Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord hast thou suffer'd me to see    Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord having broke thy holy law       Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord how divine thy comforts are     Lord's Supper
Lord thou hast treated us            Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord we adore thy bounteous hand     Lord's Supper
Lord we approach thy throne          Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Lord when together here we meet      Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
My blessed saviour is thy love       Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
My soul let all thy nobler powers    Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Nature with all her pow'rs shall     Spiritual Songs
sing
Nature with open volume stands       Lord's Supper
Now have our hearts embrac'd our     Lord's Supper
God
Now is the time O lovely youth       Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Now let our pains be all forgot      Lord's Supper
Now lord another of thy days         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Now lord though we must part         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
awhile
Now see the Publican opprest         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
O bless'd redeemer in thy side       Baptism
O lord how shall we frame a song     Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
O lord thou dost a broken heart      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
O sinners attend/Whilst here I       Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
relate
Once more behold the sable shade     Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Others may tell of famous things     Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Our lord a banquet has prepar'd      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Our lord when cloath'd with mortal   Baptism
flesh
Our spirits join t'adore the lamb    Lord's Supper
Repentance is wrought in my soul     Baptism 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Salvation oh the joyful sound        Spiritual Songs
See in what grave our savior lay     Baptism
Sing hallelujah to our king          Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Sitting around our father's board    Lord's Supper
Sleep downy sleep come close mine    Spiritual Songs
eyes
That doleful night when our dear     Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
lord
The God of grace to human race       Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
The great redeemer we adore          Baptism
The mere'fy of our dying lord        Lord's Supper
The promise of my father's love      Lord's Supper
The sacred body of our lord          Baptism
The sun of righteousness has         Lord's Supper 1 st Am. pr. (DAH)
shin'd
Think worldling think alass [sic]    Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
how vain
Thou art all love my dearest lord    Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Thou hast o'ercome lord who can      Lord's Supper
prove
Thus saith the first the great       Spiritual Songs
command
Thus saith the lord ye sinners all   Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Thus saith the lord your master      Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
dear
Thus was the great redeemer          Baptism
plung'd
Thus we commemorate the day          Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Tis finish'd the redeemer dies       Lord's Supper
To us our God his love commends      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Twas on that dark that doleful       Lord's Supper
night
Twas the commission of our lord      Baptism
Up to the fields where angels lie    Spiritual Songs
We sing the amazing deeds            Lord's Supper
We sing to thee whose wisdom         Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
form'd
Well met dear friends in Jesu's      Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
name
What mighty conqueror do we see      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
What poor despised company           Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
What tho' the fig-tree blossom not   Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
What wondrous things we now behold   Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
When Christ at Simon's table         Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
plac'd
When fam'd Bethesda's waters         Baptism
flow'd
When from Egyptian slavery           Baptism
When I survey the wond'rous cross    Lord's Supper
When sin had brought death with a    Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
train
when th'antient world God's          Baptism
patience try'd
whence do our mournful tho'ts        Spiritual Songs
arise
Whene'er one sinner turns to God     Baptism
Wherewith shall I a sinful worm      Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
While painful shepherds watch'd      Spiritual Songs 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
their flocks
while thy love's pledges we          Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
conceive
Why should we start and fear to      Spiritual Songs
die
With humble boldness trembling joy   Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
Ye happy guests who meet around      lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
You that the holy Jesus love         Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
You who our lord's great banquet     Lord's Supper 1st Am. pr. (DAH)
share

(1.) Cf. William Loyd Hooper, Church Music in Transition (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1963), 107-08.

(2.) The Diary of Isaac Backus, ed. William G. McLoughlin (Providence: Brown University Press, 1979), 2:795; Backus's diary entry is dated April 8, 1771.

(3.) Ibid., 796.

(4.) Newport Mercury, April 18, 1763. The same advertisement was reprinted in subsequent issues; other advertisements by Rogers appeared in the May 18-25, 1767; November 9-16, 1767; and May 30-June 6, 1768, issues of the newspaper. Rogers's gravestone inscription also listed his occupation as that of a "merch[ant]"; see Alden Gamaliel Beaman, comp., Rhode Island Vital Records, New Series: Volume 11: Births 1590-1930 from Newport Common Burial Ground Inscriptions (East Princeton, Mass.: Rhode Island Families Association, 1985), 343.

(5.) Hooper, Church Music in Transition, 108; William J. Reynolds, "Baptist Hymnody in America," in Jere V. Adams, ed., Handbook to the Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Convention Press, 1992), 34. These two sources do not agree with one another in all details.

(6.) See Nellie M. C. Beaman, "Abstracts Pre-Revolutionary Newport Wills," Rhode Island Genealogical Register 15 (1992): 11-12.

(7.) Morgan Edwards, Materials towards a History of the Baptists, prepared for publication by Eve B. Weeks and Mary B. Warren (Danielsville, Ga.: Heritage Papers, 1984), 1:208-09, note 17. Curiously, the name of Robert Rogers does not occur among the membership, perhaps indicating that he was older than William Jr. and had already left for another locale.

(8.) Diary of Isaac Backus, 2:857.

(9.) Within a month after her husband's death, his wife Sarah placed a notice in the Newport Mercury advertising her shop "in Queen-Street, near the middle of the Parade" (Nov. 9, 1772).

(10.) His name appears in the list provided by Morgan Edwards (Edwards, 208).

(11.) Beaman, Rhode Island Vital Records, 55. His obituary in the Newport Mercury, April 16, 1793, merely noted the death of"Mr. Clark Brown, a respectable Citizen."

(12.) This may have been the same Clarke Brown who served in the Rhode Island militia as a quartermaster during the Revolutionary War; see Samuel Greene Arnold, History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1860), 2:378.

(13.) See the entries on Hall in Clarence S. Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers 1690-1820 (Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society, 1947), especially 2:997, which covers the period of the Newport Collection).

(14.) In the same year he printed the Newport Collection, Hall also published Isaac Backus's Family Prayer Not to be Neglected.

(15.) Unfortunately, the 1765 and 1766 volumes of the Newport Mercury do not appear to be extant, so it is not certain if the book was advertised in the newspaper, though there is every likelihood that it was.

(16.) J. O. Choules, A Sermon, Preached November 26, 1829, being the Day of Thanksgiving; containing a history of the origin and growth of the Second Baptist Church in Newport (R. I.) (Providence: H. H. Brown, 1830), 13.

(17.) According to L. D. Casey Jr., "Psalmody and Hymnody of Baptists in the American Colonies" (M.C.M. thesis, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1967), 47, twenty-six texts received a tune indication. The discrepancy is perhaps to be accounted for by Hymn CXXI, which is labeled "The same Metre," i.e., the same as Hymn CXX, which contains the rubric "As the 104th psalm." Casey's figure perhaps includes Hymn CXXI, while the number given in the present study does not.

(18.) OLD 100TH is the tune for "All people that on earth do dwell" and the familiar "Doxology," "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." See Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Convention Press, 1991), no. 5.

(19.) William J. Reynolds, "Baptist Hymnody in America," 34-35.

(20.) The implication that Hymns and Spiritual Songs contained American folk hymns was first advanced by George Pullen Jackson in White and Negro Spirituals: Their Life Span and Kinship (New York: J. J. Augustin, 1943), especially pp. 52-53, 296.

(21.) Casey, "Psalmody and Hymnody of Baptists," 47-48.

(22.) The latter shows that the compiler of the Newport Collection used the second (1709) or a later edition (perhaps an American reprint) of Watts's book. In Watts's first edition the second line of stanza one reads "Where the young Prince of Glory died," while the second edition (and the Newport Collection, as well as most subsequent hymnals) gave it as "On which the Prince of Glory died."

(23.) This is the edition of Maxwell's hymns that has been relied on by the present writer.

(24.) See william J. Reynolds and Milburn Price, A Survey of Christian Hymnody, 4th ed., rev. and enl. by David W. Music and Milburn Price (Carol Stream: Hope Publishing Company, 1999), 104.

(25.) The compiler of Hymns and Spiritual Songs probably used the 1713 edition of Hymns in Commemoration. The 1697 edition had included only thirty-seven texts; this was increased in the 1713 third edition to fifty, all of which found a place in the Newport Collection. See Robert H. Young, "The History of Baptist Hymnody in England from 1612 to 1800" (D.M.A. diss., University of Southern California, 1959), 62.

(26.) However, the compiler of the Newport Collection did not include all the tune suggestions from Stennett's book.

(27.) Henry S. Burrage, Baptist Hymn Writers and Their Hymns (Portland, Maine: Brown Thurston & Company, 1888), 640.

(28.) In War with the Devil the hymn is headed "An Hymn on the Six Principles of Christ's Doctrine. Heb. 6. 1,2," while in Spiritual Melody it is titled "Heb. 6. 1,2. Not laying again the Foundation of Repentance from dead Works, and of Faith towards God, ver. 1. Of the Doctrine of Baptism, and laying on of Hands, & c. ver. 2." See David W. Music, "The Hymns of Benjamin Keach: An Introductory Study," The Hymn 34 (July 1983), p. 153.

(29.) The overall title of the book is Evangelical Hymns and Songs... by Benjamin Wallin. To which is added, a collection of hymns from Dr Watts's forty-four sermons; and, Mr. Stennett's sacramental hymns (Boston: Edes & Gill, 1762). Watts's hymns are preceded by the title "Divine Hymns composed on the subjects of Dr. Watts's forty-four sermons," and Stennett's by the heading "Hymns for Baptism. By the Reverend Joseph Stennet [sic], M.A."

(30.) The presence of a few "series" of hymns noted above does not alter this basic premise.

(31.) The Dictionary of American Hymnology lists many more first printings in the Newport Collection but does not take into account the twelve Stennett texts published four years earlier in the 1762 Wallin/Watts/Stennett book. The microfilm set is unclear about the first American printing of a few items, including the two Thomas Flatman hymns. (The Dictionary is in process of being reedited and transferred to compact disk). It is likely that several hymns other than those noted in the table received their first printings in the Newport Collection. The Dictionary does take note of the fact that several texts from Stennett's Hymns in Commemoration received their first American printings in a 1758 edition of the Bay Psalm Book, edited by Thomas Prince.

(32.) On this 1791 edition, see the author's forthcoming study of Divine Hymns and Spiritual Songs in a festschrift for Harry Eskew. The six Maxwell texts are "Didst thou dear Jesus suffer shame," "Hail happy pilgrims whence came ye," "I am that I am," "Now is the time O lovely youth," "Now Lord though we must part awhile," and "Well met dear friends in Jesus' name."

David W. Music is professor of church music at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.