Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was an Independent minister, private tutor, and the greatest hymnwriter of the eighteenth century. He spent most of his adult life in Stoke Newington, near London. He was, along with Charles Wesley, the dominant force in hymnwriting throughout the eighteenth century.  His Horæ lyricæ: poems, chiefly of the lyric kind, in three books: sacred : I. To devotion and piety, II. To virtue, honour, and friendship, III. To the memory of the dead (London, 1706), went through 16 English editions between 1706 and 1799.  Besides his hymns, Isaac Watts was also instrumental in transforming the Westminster Catechism (1648) into memorable language that a child could memorize.  His The Assembly's Catechism with Notes, or, The shorter catechism composed by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster: with a brief explication of the more difficult words and phrases contained in it, for the instruction of youth. Taken out of the larger book of prayers and catechisms for childhood and youth (London, 1748) was revised and republished numerous times during the eighteenth century, becoming an important tool in the early years of the Sunday School movement in England and America. Eliza’s reference is probably to two later versions of Watt’s work:  The Assembly's Catechism Abridged: for the use of children, particularly in the Sunday Schools: with select proofs and short explanatory notes (London, 1791), or Dr. Watts's Divine and Moral Songs for children revised and altered so as to render them of general use: to which are added, a short catechism and prayers (London: Joseph Johnson, 1787).