Born: March 17, 1801, Ply­mouth, Eng­land.

Died: June 23, 1847, Li­ver­pool, Eng­land.

Son of an ar­tist, Johns was ed­u­cat­ed at the local gram­mar school, by I. Wors­ley, a Un­i­tar­i­an min­is­ter in Ply­mouth, and af­ter­ward dur­ing two years spent at Edin­burgh. In 1820, he be­came min­is­ter of the old Pres­by­ter­i­an cha­pel at Cred­it­on, where he stayed un­til 1836, when he moved to Liv­er­pool to serve as Min­is­ter to the Poor.

Johns wrote over 35 hymns, and was a fre­quent con­trib­u­tor to the Monthly Repository, Christ­ian Reformer, and Christ­ian Teach­er. His other works in­clude:

• Dews of Cas­ta­lie; a Col­lect­ion of Po­ems, 1828
• The Val­ley of the Nymphs, 1829
• Georgics of Life, 1846

Sources

Hymns

1. Come, Kingdom of Our God
2. Farewell, Our Blighted Treasure
3. Great God, Avert from Us the Thought
4. Hush the Loud Cannon’s Roar
5. O Know ye Not That Ye
6. Thanks to God for These Who Came
7. Thou Must Be Born Again