Come, thou Fount of every blessing” Perhaps all hymns are to some extent autobiographical in that they reveal something of the author’s spiritual experience. In some hymns, the autobiographical thread is stronger and more obvious. Such is the case with British Baptist hymn writer Robert Robinson (1735-1790), who as a barber’s apprentice, fell under the powerful influence of George Whitefield’s preaching. A favorite line in the last stanza, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love,” is thought to be particularly autobiographical, referring to Robinson’s early life, when his mother sent him to London to be an apprentice. It was during this time, according to hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck, that “he associated with a notorious gang of hoodlums and lived a debauched life” until he came under the spell of Whitefield. After his conversion in 1755, Robinson first preached at a Calvinistic Methodist chapel at Mildenhall, Suffolk, and then founded his own independent congregation at Norwich. He was re-baptized in 1759 after taking up Baptist theological perspectives. This led to his nearly 30-year relationship (1761-1790) as pastor of Stone Yard Baptist Church at Cambridge. Baptist hymnologist William Reynolds notes that Robinson “was an unusual man, and, while lacking formal education, he rose to great prominence as a preacher, scholar.” Robinson published A History of Baptism in 1790. “Come, thou Fount of every blessing,” written in 1758, was the first hymn in A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Church of Christ, Meeting in Angel-Alley, Whitechappel . . . (1759). Martin Madan included the first three stanzas in his Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1760), which established the practice of eliminating the original fourth stanza.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
