Matthew Bridges › Texts

Matthew Bridges was born at Malden, Essex, on July 14, 1800. He began his literary career with the publication of a poem, Jerusalem Regained, in 1825; followed by a book entitled The Roman Empire under Constantine the Great, in 1828, its purpose being to examine "the real origin of certain papal superstitions." As a result of the influence of John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement, Bridges became a Roman Catholic in 1848, and spent the latter part of his life in Canada. He died in Quebec on October 6, 1894.
--Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872

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Bridges, Matthew, youngest son of John Bridges, Wellington House, Surrey, and brother of the Rev. Charles Bridges, author of An Exposition of the cxix. Psalm, born at The Friars, Maiden, Essex, July 14,1800, and educated in the Church of England, but subsequently conformed to the Church of Rome. His works include, Babbicombe, or Visions of Memory, with other Poems, 1842; Hymns of the Heart, 1848 (enlarged in 1852); and The Passion of Jesus, 1852, besides some prose productions. From the last two works his hymns found in com¬mon use are taken, the greater number being from Hymns of the Heart. Besides the hymns in use in Great Britain, as, “Behold the Lamb," "My God, accept my heart this day," and others, the following, all of which were published in 1848, are found in several American collections, to which they were introduced mainly through the Rev. H. W. Beecher's Collection, 1855:—
1. Bright were the mornings first impearl'd. At the grave of Lazarus.
2. Head of the hosts in glory. All Saints. From this is derived "Armies of God! in union," which is given in some American collections.
3. Lo, He comes with clouds descending (q. v.).
4. Rise, glorious Conqueror, rise. Ascension.
5. Soil not thy plumage, gentle dove. Morning.
Of late years Mr. Bridges has resided in the Province of Quebec, Canada.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)