A short biography of Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts, 1674–1748, wrote his own epitaph, which said,

This is not the epitaph we might expect. We consider Watts to be a great primarily because of his contributions to the hymns we sing, a poet. But Watts evidentially thought of himself as a pastor. Indeed, he began preaching in 1698 and became an assistant pastor at Mark Lane Chapel in 1699, eventually becoming the main pastor there for the rest of his life.

In other times and places, Watts might be known primarily as the author of a well-known series of books on logic and thinking, especially Logic: or the Right Use of Reason (used as an introductory logic text at Oxford, Cambridge, and Yale for decades) and The Improvement of the Mind. Others might be more familiar with his theological writings, especially his writings on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which, though apparently orthodox, attracted critics. Still others might know him mostly as a children’s author, his Divine and Moral Songs running to hundreds of editions.

Clearly, there is more to Watts than his hymn texts. In this essay, I want to sketch out his biography. In later essays, I want to touch on some other aspects of his life and thought, but here, I want to lay out the main facts of his life.

Isaac Watts was the first-born child of Sarah and Isaac Watts. At the time of his birth on July 17, 1674, it was essentially illegal to not be part of the established Church of England, but Sarah and Isaac were “Dissenters,” that is, protestants who were not part of the established church. In fact, Isaac, Sr., was imprisoned three times because of his dissenting faith, once for six months, and was separated from his family for two years. Isaac’s parents were very serious Christians, and Isaac took this deeply to heart; at age 14 felt “considerable conviction of sin” and at age 15, “was taught to trust in Christ, I hope.” He showed early facility with language: starting Latin before he was six, and Greek when he was nine. He also showed an early facility with poetry, getting into trouble during morning prayers at home when he “tittered” because the following verse came into his mind:

There was a mouse for want of stairs,
Ran up a rope to say his prayers.

He did so well in school that a family friend wanted to send him to Oxford or Cambridge, but that would have required him to conform to the established church. Instead, he attended the Nonconformist Academy, where he made life-long friends and got a good education. He became a serious and pious man in a generation of serious men and women, both pious and impious. He was mentored by Thomas Rowe (whose church he joined) and trained for the ministry.

Two years after leaving the academy (which he spent reading and writing both prose and verse), started preaching at age 24, and the following year became an assistant pastor at Mark Lane—the “church in London” with which he was associated for the rest of his life. His preaching was “weighty and powerful,” and the church grew in numbers once he was the lead pastor. He also began to publish: a book of polished poetry, Horae Lyricae, probably to establish his bona fides as a poet (first edition, 1706), and then his Hymns and Spiritual Songs (first edition, 1707).

He never married. There’s a story in Wright that Miss Elizabeth Singer became enamored with Watts’s writing, and she wrote him: “I burn with an immortal love, And sing a purer flame.” Finally, they met, and Watts proposed, but (alas) she turned him down: “Mr. Watts, I only wish I could say that I admire the casket as much as I desire the jewel.” Eventually, he took residence with the family of Sir Thomas and Lady Mary Abney, with whom he stayed even after the death of Sir Thomas. This home provided a stable place for Watts to write, prepare sermons, rest up from frequent illnesses, and receive visitors for the rest of his life. He did not travel. According to Samuel Johnson, he “allowed the third part of his annual revenue” to the poor.

Watts’s poetry, so well-remembered by us, was completed mostly by age 44 or so. He wrote Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children in 1715, which included the poems “Against Idleness and Mischief” (“How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour”) and “The Sluggard,” (“‘Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain”) famously parodied by Lewis Carroll in his Alice in Wonderland books. The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament followed in 1718.

In all, he published around fifty books in his lifetime, and three posthumous books plus collections of his writings. Of course, he wrote on theological and pastoral matters, including significant works on the Christian Trinity, a catechism, ecclesiology, and soteriology. In the preface to his Reliquiae Juveniles, he writes that his “amusements” during his hours of leisure were “Mathematical Science, Philosophy, and Poetry.” He was, in the best modern sense, a nerd. As mentioned above, his book on logic was substantial, and his book on the “Passions” (what we might call emotions) showed him to be more than concerned with the logical empiricisms of his age. He often wrote to instruct people in right thinking, right feeling, and right action. He was awarded a degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1728 by the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Watts died on November 25, 1748, surrounded by friends at the Abney estate, and was interred at the Dissenter burial grounds in London, Bunhill Fields. His estate was worth £2,900 (approximately £575,000 or $750,000 today), and he left money to care for the poor of both the Dissenter and the established church.

Bibliography

Fountain, David G. Isaac Watts Remembered, Henry Walter, Worthing, 1974.

Johnson, Samuel and Samuel Palmer, The Life of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D.D, with Notes. Second edition, Printed for J. Johnson and T. Enott, London, 1791.

Rivers, Isabel. "Watts, Isaac (1674–1748), Independent minister and writer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/28888.

Wright, Thomas. The Life of Isaac Watts and Contemporary Hymn Writers, C. J. Farncombe and Sons, London, 1914.

[1] In Jesus alone are all things.