Zion’s foundation firmly stands;
Rais’d up on Christ, the corner stone,
Secure as God’s eternal throne.
2. See how the glorious fabric grows,
Fram’d of materials that he chose!
Each stone prepar’d, and fitly set,
The royal structure to complete.
3. Still shall this edifice arise,
’Till all shall reach the lofty skies;
And joyful hosts shall praise above,
Jehovah’s grace and Jesu’s love.
The above hymn was published in an 1806 hymn book (A New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns for Private, Family, and Public Worship...) by John Dobell (1757-1840) of England. John Julian describes him as follows in his Dictionary of Hymnology.
Dobell, John, b. 1757, d. May, 1840, was a port-gauger under the Board of Excise, at Poole, Dorset, and a person of some local note. In 1806 he published:—
A New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns for Private, Family, and Public Worship (Many Original) from more than two hundred of the best Authors in England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, Arranged in alphabetical order; Intended as a Supplement to Dr. Watts’s Psalms and Hymns. By John Dobell. Lond., Williams and Smith, 1806.
Subsequently this Sel. was increased to “More than Eight Hundred” hymns, and the wording of the title-page was changed in several instances. Dobell’s account of this work is:—
“The hymns here presented to the public I have collected from more than two hundred authors; many of them are taken from Manuscripts which I deemed too valuable to be suffered to remain in obscurity, and some have been supplied by friends. As this work has been the labour of years, and the choice of many thousand hymns, it will, I trust, give satisfaction to the Church of God.” Preface, p. iii.
In addition to a work on Baptism, 1807, and another on Humanity, 1812, Dobell also published:—
The Christian’s Golden Treasure; or, Gospel Comfort for Doubting Minds, 1823. This work was in two vols., the first of which contained 124 hymns, several of which were by Dobell.
Of this writer’s hymns very few are found in modern hymn-books. We have from the 1806 book:—(1) “Come, dearest Lord, and bless this day” (Sunday Morning); (2) “Great Ruler of the earth and skies” (In time of War); (3) “Now is the accepted time,” (Invitation) — in C. U. in G. Britain and America,[i] out of twenty or more. It is not as a hymn-writer, but as a diligent and successful hymnologist, that J. Dobell is best known.
A Dictionary of Hymnology, Vol. 1, A-O, John Julian, Editor. New York, NY: Dover, 1907, p. 304
Dobell ascribes this cornerstone hymn to “Anon.,” so it should not be mistaken as written by him.[ii] Though John Julian does not identify the following hymn by Dobell as in use, we can find it used in The Sacred Harp (see 479, 2012 Cooper Edition), with the song Behold A Sinner by W. J. Bartlett:
Encourag’d by thy gracious word.
Would venture near to seek that bread,
By which thy children here are fed.
This hymn (No. 287) is based on the “Woman of Canaan….Matt. 15.27,” and is found in three stanzas in his Selection.[iii]
John Julian does not give a denominational affiliation for Dobell; I had previously assumed he was some sort of independent, and thought he might even be a Baptist. However, based on his inclusion of eight hymns on “infant baptism” (180-187; two of which he wrote), it is clear that John Dobell was a paedobaptist.[iv]
[ii] “I have endeavored to ascertain the Author of every hymn. In some cases my enquiries have been fruitless, and I have consequently said, Anon. (anonymous)” (p. iv).
[iii] The fourth stanza and chorus were added or arranged by W. J. Bartlett.
[iv] For example, “This water sprinkled on the child…” stanza 5, hymn no. 186, titled “Infants given to God in Baptism.” Additionally, his preface also makes this clear. “It is however, as generally admitted, that there are many subjects for which Doctor Watts has provided no hymns. To see this deficiency supplied amongst pædo-baptist churches, has been the desire of many ministers and private Christians; and to effect this is the principal, though not the only end of this small volume” (“Preface,” p. 3). Dobell mentions in his “Preface” generically “that denomination of christians with which providence has placed me” and “the churches with which I am connected,” but does not identify them by name.
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