Walter Chalmers Smith
Walter Chalmers Smith (5 December 1824 - 19 September 1908), was a hymnist, poet and minister of the Free Church of Scotland and is chiefly remembered for his hymn "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise".
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[edit] Life
He was born in Aberdeen and attended Marischal College at the University of Aberdeen and New College, Edinburgh.[1] He received the degrees of D.D. and LL.D. He was mentioned in Lord Adam Gifford's will.
[edit] Service
He was ordained pastor of the Chadwell Street Scottish Church, Pentonville, Islington, London, on Christmas Day, 1850. He later served at:
- Roxburgh Free Church, Deinburgh
- Orwell Free Church, Milnathort, Kinrossshire(1853–1858)
- Free Tron Church, Glasgow
- Reid Memorial Church, Edinburgh
- Free High Church, Edinburgh (1874–1884)
The Free Church of Scotland elected him its moderator during its Jubilee year in 1893. He was a distinguished preacher and a man of catholic sympathies.
[edit] Published works
He attained considerable reputation as a poet. Among his works are The Bishop's Walk (1861), Olrig Grange (1872), Hilda among the Broken Gods (1878), Raban (1880), Kildrostan (1884), and A Heretic (1890). Some of these were written under the names of "Orwell" and Hermann Kunst.
[edit] Hymns
[edit] References
- ^ "Walter Chalmers Smith". The Cyber Hymnal;. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/m/i/smith_wc.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ "Earth was waiting, spent and restless" (PDF). http://www.servicemusic.org.uk/smith/earth.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Immortal, invisible, God only wise". The Cyber Hymnal;. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/i/g/iigowise.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
[edit] Further reading
Bailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's sons. pp. 455–456.
Julian, John (June 1907). A Dictionary of Hymnology. London: John Murray. p. 1064.
"Gifford Lecture Series". http://www.giffordlectures.org/will.asp. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J. M. Dent & Sons; New York, E. P. Dutton.
[edit] External links
- Biography at the Cyber Hymnal;
