Father of spirits! gathered now before Thee

Author: John Bowring

James Bowring was born at Exeter, in 1792. He possessed at an early age a remarkable power of attaining languages, and acquired some reputation by his metrical translations of foreign poems. He became editor of "The Westminster Review" in 1825, and was elected to Parliament in 1835. In 1849, he was appointed Consul at Canton, and in 1854, was made Governor of Hong Kong, and received the honour of knighthood. He is the author of some important works on politics and travel, and is the recipient of several testimonials from foreign governments and societies. His poems and hymns have also added to his reputation. His "Matins and Vespers" have passed through many editions. In religion he is a Unitarian. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charl… Go to person page >

Ancient of ages! humbly bent before Thee. Sir J. Bowring. [Missions.] A short hymn on behalf of missions, of more than usual merit. It appeared in his Hymns, 1825, in 2 stanzas of 7 lines. In Miss Courtauld's Unitarian Psalms, Hymns and Anthems, London, 1860, it is given as No. 10.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)