Pure Reformers

Representative Text

O pure Reformers! not in vain
Your trust in human kind;
The good which bloodshed could not gain,
Your peaceful zeal shall find.

The truths ye urge are borne abroad
By every wind and tide;
The voice of nature and of God
Speaks out upon your side.

The weapons which your hands have found
Are those which Heaven hath wrought,
Light, Truth, and Love,—your battle-ground,
The free, broad field of Thought.

O, may no selfish purpose break
The beauty of your plan,
Nor lie from throne or altar shake
Your steady faith in man.

Press on! and if we may not share
The glory of your fight,
We’ll ask at least, in earnest prayer,
God’s blessing on the Right.



Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #191

Author: John Greenleaf Whittier

Whittier, John Greenleaf, the American Quaker poet, was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, Dec. 17, 1807. He began life as a farm-boy and shoemaker, and subsequently became a successful journalist, editor and poet. In 1828 he became editor of the American Manufacturer (Boston), in 1830 of the New England Review, and an 1836 (on becoming Secretary to the American Anti-Slavery Society) of the Pennsylvania Freeman. He was also for some time, beginning with 1847, the corresponding editor of the National Era. In 1840 he removed to Amesbury, Massachusetts, where most of his later works have been written. At the present time [1890] he lives alternately at Amesbury and Boston. His first poetical piece was printed in the Newburyport Free Press in 182… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O pure reformers, not in vain
Title: Pure Reformers
Author: John Greenleaf Whittier
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

COLCHESTER (Tans’ur)

From William Tans’ur’s A Compleat Melody: or, The Harmony of Sion (London: W. Pearson, for James Hodges, 1735), attributed to him there as composer and/or arranger. Hymn Tune Index no. 1393a. The tune is sometimes attributed to Henry Purcell, although the reasons for that attribution are unclear…

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CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN

Melchior Vulpius (PHH 397) composed this short chorale tune, published as a setting for the anonymous funeral hymn "Christus, der ist mein Leben" ("For Me to Live Is Jesus") in Vulpius's Ein Schön Geistlich Gesangbuch (1609). Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) based his Cantata 95 on this tune and provided two…

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DUNDEE (Ravenscroft)

DUNDEE first appeared in the 1615 edition of the Scottish Psalter published in Edinburgh by Andro Hart. Called a "French" tune (thus it also goes by the name of FRENCH), DUNDEE was one of that hymnal's twelve "common tunes"; that is, it was not associated with a specific psalm. In the Psalter Hymnal…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 30 of 30)
Text

A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #191

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A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion. (10th ed.) #191

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Christian Science Hymnal #a83

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Christian Science Hymnal #aa83

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Christian Science Hymnal #83

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Christian Science Hymnal #83a

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Christian Science Hymnal #83b

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Christian Science Hymnal #83c

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Christian Science Hymnal #83

Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home and Services for Congregational Worship. Rev. ed. #d522

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Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home. (Rev. ed.) #605

Hymnal and Ritual Services for the Union Gospel Church #d73

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Hymns and Anthems adapted for Jewish Worship #65

Hymns and Songs #bd30

Hymns and Songs II #d30

Hymns and Songs IV #abd30

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Hymns for the Church of Christ (3rd thousand) #468

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Hymns for the Church of Christ. (6th thousand) #468

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Hymns of the Spirit #678

Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #328

Jubilate Deo #235

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Plymouth Collection #a1056

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Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the use of Christian Congregations #1056

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Services for Congregational Worship. The New Hymn and Tune Book #456

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Songs for Social and Public Worship #482

The Association Hymn Book #d92

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The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book #1056

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The Liberal Hymn Book #101

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The Psalms of Life #134

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