310 OUR HYMNS :
Thomas Hastings, the son of a physician, was born in Wash ington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on the 15th of October, 1784. At twelve years of age he removed with his father to Clinton, Oneida County, New York. A natural taste for music led him to give much attention to his favourite pursuit. On attaining manhood he became a trainer of church choirs, and began to publish books of instruction in music, and collections of musical pieces. From 1824 to 1832 he conducted a religious journal in Utica, and availed himself of his position to advocate his own views of church psalmody. It was during this period that he published his " Union Minstrel, for the use of Sabbath Schools, &c. " 1830. At length, in 1832, a committee of twelve churches in New York invited him to come and make their psalmody what he had taught it should be. He accepted the invitation, and has been since that time residing there and suc cessfully carrying out his great work in the improvement of the psalmody of the Church. We omit the titles of his musical works, only mentioning one as suggestive of what his life-work is " The History of Forty Choirs," published in 1854.
In 1832, he published his "Spiritual Songs;" in 183G, his " Christian Psalmist: a book of Psalms and Hymns for the Uso of Churches." In 1849, " The Mother s Hymn Book : compiled from various Authors and Private Manuscripts, for the use of Maternal Associations, &c." And in 1850, " Devotional Hymns and Religious Poems." It consists of 199 hymns and three poems. One of the poems, "The Reign of Heaven," extends to thirty-five pages. This poem is not equal to the author s hymns. The author explains in the preface that the reception of his earliest efforts had encouraged him in his habits of versification ; that some of his pieces published anonymously had been widely circu lated, and that some were written to enable him to make use of foreign pieces of music for which they had not hymns of suitable metre. In 1864, he published his " Church Melodies," including some additional hymns.
Dr. Hastings is the author of several favourite hymns besides
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