Wesley Corpus

Last updated: 16 January 2010. Thanksgiving Hymns (1746)1 Baker list, 125 Editorial Introduction: The Jacobite uprising in 1745, led by Charles Edward Stuart, had been greeted by Charles Wesley with a series of hymns beseeching God's protection for the English king and nation see "Hymns for 1745." When the English troops led by William, Duke of Cumberland and the 25 yearold son of George II, defeated the Jacobite forces in April 1746 at the battle of Culloden, it is small surprise that Charles would again respond with appropriate verse. Specifically, in preparation for the official public commemoration of this victory, Charles published (anonymously) in early October 1746 in London and Bristol his Hymns for the Public Thanksgiving Day, Oct. 9, 1746, a booklet containing seven new hymns specific to the occasion. The hymns exude the English sense of being defenders of the cause of Protestantism against the treachery of Catholic Spain and France (see esp. Hymn 3, st. 2). This collection was reprinted only once, in 1769. It is unlikely that this was simply because the original copies had been exhausted. It appears timed to bolster English confidence in the face of the growing rebellion of the American colonists (and their French supporters). Editions: Charles Wesley. Hymns for the Public Thanksgiving Day, Oct. 9, 1746. London: Strahan, 1746. Bristol: Farley, 1746. Bristol: Pine, 1769. Table of Contents Hymn I Hymn II Hymn III Hymn IV Hymn V Hymn VI Hymn VII Page 3 October 9, 1746. Hymn I. Britons, rejoice, the Lord is King, The Lord of hosts and nations sing, Whose arm hath now your foes o'erthrown, Ascribe the praise to God alone, The giver of success proclaim, And shout your thanks in Jesus' name. 'Twas not a feeble arm of ours Which chac'd the fierce contending powers, Jehovah turn'd the scale of fight, Jehovah quell'd their boasted might, And knapp'd their spears, and broke their swords, And shew'd the battle is the Lord's. He beckon'd to the savage-band, And bade them sweep thro' half the land: The savage-band their terror spread, With Rome and Satan at their head, But stopt by his almighty breath, Rush'd back into the arms of death. Page 4