Waite, John James

Waite, John James an English Congregational minister, was born at Gloucester, Feb. 23, 1808. Mr. Waite's thirst for knowledge in all departments led him to pursue his studies with such avidity as ultimately to impair his eyesight, of which faculty he was entirely deprived at the age of eighteen. This severe affliction served, under the blessing of God, to develop the more rapidly his' intellectual and moral character. For ten ears he was engaged entirely in ministerial labor, and at the end of this period Mr. Waite commenced his important life-work, the reformation of the Psalmody. For several years he had the oversight of the Church at Ilminster; but so great was the growing appreciation of the value of his labors, and of the simplicity and general application of his system of teaching, that it became necessary for him to accede to the request of his ministerial brethren in London, and devote himself exclusively to his great work. Mr. Waite recognised the necessity for a purer taste and for a higher standard of music in the services of the sanctuary, and with the co-operation of the larger churches he was able to do much towards laying the foundation for a more extended knowledge of musical science. He died. Oct. 25, 1868. See (Lond.) Cong. Year-book, 1869, p. 291.