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Olney Hymns

John Newton and William Cowper

Also known as: Olney Hymns in Three Books · Amazing Grace

1779 · 18th Century · Poetry · English

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Abstract

Written: c. 1767–1779
Setting: Evangelical revival; Olney, Buckinghamshire
Author: John Newton and William Cowper
Country: England
Language: English
Genre: Hymns
Form: 348 hymns in three books
Recommended: Grades 9–12 (Short hymns in plain metre; easy to read aloud.)

Origin. A former slave-ship master who had become a country curate wrote songs for his parish prayer meetings, joined by a gifted poet neighbour who struggled with melancholy. They published the result together in 1779.

Arrangement. The first part follows the Bible book by book; the second treats seasons and special occasions; the third traces the inner life from guilt through conflict to comfort and praise.

Famous hymns. A New Year's hymn of 1773 on David's prayer begins with grace that saved a wretch. Other favourites celebrate Zion, the name of Jesus, and a fountain of cleansing.

Two voices. Newton is plainspoken and often recalls the sea. Cowper is more inward; some of his pieces, written in depression, describe darkness and divine mystery with striking candour.

Legacy. Sung in Anglican and Dissenting chapels, the songs later crossed the Atlantic. Set to a tune called New Britain, Newton's best-known text became an American anthem.

This edition. All three books follow the first edition, with headings naming author, metre and text. Readers can find the famous texts quickly by these headings, and comparing a Newton hymn with a Cowper hymn on the same theme shows how differently two friends could express one faith.

Key figures

John Newton: Former slave-ship captain, curate of Olney
William Cowper: Poet and Newton's collaborator

Summary

Olney Hymns is a collection of 348 hymns published in London in 1779 by John Newton, curate of the small market town of Olney in Buckinghamshire, and his friend the poet William Cowper. Newton wrote most of them; Cowper contributed sixty-eight, marked with a C in the first edition. Many were written for the weekly prayer meetings Newton led for his parishioners, and he explained in the preface that he aimed for plain language that ordinary worshippers could understand. The collection is arranged in three books. Book I follows the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, with each hymn based on a particular text. Book II deals with occasional subjects such as the seasons, the new year, funerals and providence. Book III traces the spiritual life: conviction of sin, seeking, conflict, comfort, dedication, cautions, praise and the hope of heaven. The best-known hymn is Newton's 'Faith's Review and Expectation', written for New Year's Day 1773 and based on 1 Chronicles 17, now known by its opening words, 'Amazing grace'. Newton had once been a slave-ship captain, and the hymn's language of a wretch saved by grace reflects his understanding of his own past, though at the time of writing he had not yet publicly opposed the trade. Other lasting hymns include Newton's 'Glorious things of thee are spoken' and 'How sweet the name of Jesus sounds', and Cowper's 'God moves in a mysterious way' and 'There is a fountain filled with blood'. Cowper's contributions are often more inward and troubled, and some, written during periods of depression, describe spiritual darkness with great honesty. Newton's are more direct and narrative, often drawing on his experience at sea. The hymns spread through evangelical Anglican and Nonconformist congregations. 'Amazing Grace' became especially popular in the United States in the nineteenth century, sung to the tune now called New Britain, and later became one of the best known songs in the world.

Plot or Argument

Preface
Newton explains the occasion and the plain style of the collection.
Book I: On select texts of Scripture
Hymns following the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, including 'Amazing grace'.
Book II: On occasional subjects
Seasons, providences, the new year and other occasions.
Book III: On the progress and changes of the spiritual life
Conviction, conflict, comfort, dedication, praise and the hope of glory.

Lessons

Personal testimony in public song
Newton turns his own life story into words a congregation can sing.
- How does 'Amazing grace' move from personal experience to shared hope?
- What makes a song able to speak for many different people?
Related across the library
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- The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Summary
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- Heart of Darkness, Part III
  Mistah Kurtz—he dead The manager's servant announces Kurtz's death; T. S. Eliot used the line as an epigraph to 'The Hollow Men'.
- The Annals of Imperial Rome, Lesson: Fear rewrites public speech
  Fear rewrites public speech. Tacitus shows people speaking safely rather than truthfully. Political terror becomes a language disorder.
Honesty about doubt
Cowper's hymns admit darkness and struggle as part of faith.
- How does 'God moves in a mysterious way' handle suffering?
- Why might a hymnbook include songs of doubt as well as praise?
Related across the library
- Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Lesson: Freedom
  Freedom. Poem 35 imagines a nation of free minds and truthful words.
- The Princess and the Goblin, Lesson: Trust the thread
  Trust the thread. Irene must follow the grandmother’s thread when she cannot see the end—an image of faith.
- The Homeric Hymns, Lesson: The singer and his song
  The singer and his song. Several hymns reflect on poetry itself: the blind man of Chios asks the Delian maidens to remember him, Hermes' first song is about the gods' origins, and Hymn XXV says that singers come from the Muses and Apollo. Greek religion here is inseparable from performance and memory.
- The Last Battle, Lesson: Rash anger and honest surrender
  Rash anger and honest surrender. Tirian kills two Calormenes in a fury before he has thought, and then, ashamed, gives himself up to be judged. His hasty act begins the story's troubles, but his honesty and his willingness to fight on with only a few friends make him a true king.
- The Count of Monte Cristo, Lesson: Revenge exacts its own price
  Revenge exacts its own price. Monte Cristo's plan works, but innocent people die along the way, and he is forced to doubt that he is God's instrument. The novel both indulges and questions the fantasy of perfect vengeance.
Writing for ordinary people
Newton aimed for plain language that his parishioners could understand and sing.
- What features make these hymns easy to sing and remember?
- Does plainness limit what poetry can express?
Related across the library
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- Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, Lesson: Faith as a community project
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- The Giver, Lesson: Wisdom needs memory
  Wisdom needs memory. The Elders consult the Giver because only he remembers what happened when people chose badly before. A people that forgets its past cannot judge well, and one person carrying all the memory for everyone is lonely and overburdened.
- Pearl Harbor Address ("A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"), Lesson: Memory as a national duty
  Memory as a national duty. Roosevelt tells the nation that the date will live in infamy and that the whole nation will always remember the character of the onslaught. The speech does not only ask for a declaration; it fixes how the event will be remembered, joining resolve to remembrance.
- The Last Battle, Lesson: Rash anger and honest surrender
  Rash anger and honest surrender. Tirian kills two Calormenes in a fury before he has thought, and then, ashamed, gives himself up to be judged. His hasty act begins the story's troubles, but his honesty and his willingness to fight on with only a few friends make him a true king.
For the Christian reader
Olney Hymns gave the church 'Amazing Grace' and 'Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken' by Newton and 'God Moves in a Mysterious Way' by Cowper. Newton, a former slave-ship captain, wrote out of his own conversion; Cowper, who suffered severe depression, wrote honestly of darkness and hope. Students can sing these hymns and trace their phrases to Scripture.
- What does 'Amazing Grace' reveal about Newton's understanding of his own past?
- How do Cowper's hymns speak to believers who struggle with fear or sorrow?
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Context

Evangelical revival in eighteenth-century England, led by figures such as the Wesleys and George Whitefield, renewed congregational singing of hymns beyond the metrical psalms.

Composition

Newton and Cowper wrote these hymns at Olney between about 1767 and 1779, many for the parish prayer meeting. Cowper's mental illness interrupted his work, and Newton completed and published the collection in 1779.

Reception

The hymns entered many denominational hymnals. 'Amazing Grace' became an American favourite after it was set to the tune New Britain in 1835 and was later associated with the civil rights movement and recorded by many artists.

Faith / Religion Guilt Sin Nature / Landscape Death / Mortality

Comparisons

Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Watts's earlier hymns showed the way for the evangelical hymn writers of Olney.
The Collar
Herbert's devotional poems share Cowper's honesty about spiritual struggle.
The Pilgrim's Progress
Book III's progress of the spiritual life parallels Bunyan's journey.
Psalm 23
The Psalms remained the model for congregational song.
Narrative of the Life and What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
Douglass's narrative gives the enslaved person's view of the trade Newton once practised.
Sermons on Several Occasions and Primitive Physick
Wesley's revival movement created the setting for Olney's hymn singing.

Quotes

Frequently cited

“Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”

— John Newton and William Cowper, Olney Hymns, Book I: On Select Texts of Scripture (Olney Hymns, in Three Books (London: W. Oliver, 1779), first edition, via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library).Quote card

Faust, Part Two, Full Text
the lake reflecting Gleam in cloudless dark aboon While the bliss of rest protecting Reigns in pomp the perfect moon Now the Hours are cancelled for thee Pain and bliss have fled away Thou art whole let faith restore thee Trust the new the rising Day Vales grow green and hills are lifting Through the shadow-rest of morn And in waves of silver drifting On to harvest rolls the corn Wouldst thou win desires unbounded Yonder see the glory burn Lightly is thy life surrounded Sleep s a shell to break and spurn When th...
The Social Contract, Introduction
of the French Revolution or as one of the greatest books dealing with political philosophy It is in the second capacity as a work of permanent value containing truth that it finds a place among the world's great books It is in that capacity also that it will be treated in this introduction Taking it in this aspect we have no less need of historical insight than if we came to it as historians pure and simple To understand its value we must grasp its limitations when the questions it answers seem unnaturally put w...
The Poetic Edda, Full Text
Skirnismol was composed it has been preserved in exceptionally good condition and seems to be practically devoid of interpolations or lacun Freyr the son of Njorth had sat one day in Hlithskjolf and looked over all the worlds He looked into Jotunheim and saw there a fair maiden as she went from her father s house to her bower Forthwith he felt a mighty love-sickness Skirnir was the name of Freyr s servant Njorth bade him ask speech of Freyr He said Go now Skirnir and seek to gain Speech from my son And answer to...
The Odyssey, Source
Illustration The Odyssey by Homer rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original Contents PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION THE ODYSSEY BOOK I BOOK II BOOK III BOOK IV BOOK V BOOK VI BOOK VII BOOK VIII BOOK IX BOOK X BOOK XI BOOK XII BOOK XIII BOOK XIV BOOK XV BOOK XVI BOOK XVII BOOK XVIII BOOK XIX BOOK XX BOOK XXI BOOK XXII BOOK XXIII BOOK XXIV FOOTNOTES AL PROFESSORE CAV BIAGIO INGROIA PREZIOSO ALLEATO L AUTORE RICONOSCENTE PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION This translati...
The Social Contract, Summary
Of the Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right is a compact treatise in four books, the only finished part of a larger work on political institutions that Rousseau abandoned. It opens with its most famous sentence, that man is born free and everywhere in chains, and with a promise not to explain how this happened but to say what could make it legitimate. Book I clears away false foundations. The family is the only natural society, and even it lasts only while children need their father. Force cannot cr...

Frequently cited

“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.”

— John Newton and William Cowper, Olney Hymns, Book III: On the Progress and Changes of the Spiritual Life (Olney Hymns, in Three Books (London: W. Oliver, 1779), first edition, via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library).Quote card

Inaugural Address, Source
John F Kennedy's Inaugural Address Vice President Johnson Mr Speaker Mr Chief Justice President Eisenhower Vice President Nixon President Truman reverend clergy fellow citizens we observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago The world is very different now For man holds in his mortal...
Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Summary
Hymns and Spiritual Songs, first published in London in 1707 and enlarged in 1709, is the collection that made Isaac Watts the most influential hymn writer in English. At the time most English congregations, especially among Dissenters and Presbyterians, sang only metrical versions of the Psalms, often in stiff, literal verse. Watts argued in his preface that Christians should be able to sing their faith in their own words and with the gospel made explicit, and he set out to provide hymns that ordinary congregat...
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The Editor’s Narrative
fear with me we part on equal terms Do your worst and my secret shall go to the gallows and the grave with me Mrs Logan was now greatly confounded and after proffering in vain to concede everything she could ask in exchange for the particulars relating to the murder she became the suppliant in her turn But the unaccountable culprit exulting in her advantage laughed her to scorn and finally in a paroxysm of pride and impatience called in the jailor and had her expelled ordering him in her hearing not to grant her...
Early Franciscan Sources, Life of St. Francis, Ch. XIX
Brother fire," he said, "you are beautiful above all creatures; be favorable to me in this hour; you know how much I have always loved you; be then courteous to-day Francis addresses the cautery instrument through the same kinship imagination that shapes the Canticle.
Sartor Resartus, Summary
Sartor Resartus ("the tailor re-tailored") is Thomas Carlyle's first book and the strangest of the major Victorian prose works. An anonymous English Editor has been sent a German treatise, Die Kleider, ihr Werden und Wirken (Clothes, their Origin and Influence), by Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, Professor of Things in General at the University of Weissnichtwo ("Know-not-where"). He resolves to introduce this 'Philosophy of Clothes' to the British public, and the book we read is his digest of it: long translated extract...

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

The preface's statement of purpose.
Hymn 41 in Book I and its biblical source.
The differences between Newton's and Cowper's hymns.
The sequence of the spiritual life in Book III.

Key terms and names

Common metre: A stanza of alternating eight- and six-syllable lines (8.6.8.6).
Evangelical: Emphasizing conversion, the Bible and the cross.
Curate: An assistant or parish priest in the Church of England.
Providence: God's care and guidance of events.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension Who wrote 'Amazing grace' and in what year?
Comprehension What are the three books of the collection about?
Comprehension Which of the two authors wrote 'God moves in a mysterious way'?
Interpretation How does Cowper's 'God moves in a mysterious way' explain suffering?
Interpretation What does Newton mean by calling himself 'a wretch'?
Big Question Can a person truly change, and how should the past be remembered when they do?

Faith Connections

1 Chronicles 17:16-17 (Scripture)
David's wonder at God's favour, the text of 'Amazing grace'.
John 9:25 (Scripture)
'Whereas I was blind, now I see', echoed in the hymn.
Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade (1788) (Great Conversation)
Newton's later public repentance for the trade.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Grace reaches the worst of sinners and leads them through doubt and struggle toward hope; ordinary people can sing their faith in plain words.

Rhetorical device: common metre. Most hymns use a simple ballad metre that makes them easy to sing and memorize.

Debate: Resolved: that 'Amazing Grace' adequately expresses repentance for Newton's role in the slave trade.

Memory Work

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
Book I: On Select Texts of Scripture. One of the most famous stanzas in the English language.

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Book III: On the Progress and Changes of the Spiritual Life. A classic statement on providence and suffering.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Compare Newton's and Cowper's contributions to Olney Hymns. How do their lives shape their hymns?

Comparison with Hymns and Spiritual Songs: Compare the Olney Hymns with Watts's hymns in style, theology and personal voice.

Creative Prompts

Essay
Research Newton's life and write a short essay on how 'Amazing grace' does and does not reflect his involvement in the slave trade.
Poetry
Write a hymn or poem of four stanzas in common metre (8.6.8.6) on a personal turning point.
Essay
Write an essay explaining how 'Amazing grace' uses images of blindness and lostness.