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Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs

“There is great delight in the very learning of truths and duties this way. What is learnt in verse is longer retained in memory and soon recollected.”

—Isaac Watts in Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children

Sacred verse set to music and sung during services is an integral element of Christian worship, whether intended to express religious doctrine or personal devotion. These collections of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs, published in England in the second half of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries, were composed specifically for children. In contrast to other types of texts meant for a child’s personal education and private devotion, the works in this section contain verses for communal worship. Of special interest are titles printed for the use of particular, named groups of poor children and orphans in public services. In all of these works, the verses provided young worshippers with texts of adoration, praise, and prayer.

Psalms to be sung by charity-children	Hymns by Charles Wesley, intended for children	Psalms and hymns for orphans at the Foundling Hospital	Divine songs by Isaac Watts, for children

Hymns and moral songs by Isaac Watts, revised	Hymns for (and by) orphan girls	Divine songs, a provincial printing	Psalms and hymns, engraved throughout	Hymns adapted for the young