Thomas Scott was an English nonconformist minister, known as a writer of hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s.

Life

He was a younger son of Thomas Scott, an Independent minister at Hitchin

Hitchin

Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, where he was born, and later of Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

; he was the brother of Joseph Nicol Scott and Elizabeth Scott, and nephew of Dr. Daniel Scott

Daniel Scott (lexicographer)

Daniel Scott LL.D. was an English nonconformist minister, theological writer and lexicographer,-Life:Born on 21 March 1694, was son, by the second wife, of Daniel Scott, a London merchant...

. He was probably educated by his father, and while still young took charge of a small boarding-school at Wortwell

Wortwell

Wortwell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and adjoining the county of Suffolk. It is located on both the River Waveney and the A143 road, some 20 km east of Diss and 30 km west of Lowestoft...

, in the parish of Redenhall, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. While there he once a month preached to the Independent congregation at Harleston

Harleston

Harleston may refer to:*Harleston, Devon*Harleston, Norfolk*Harleston, Suffolk...

 in the same parish.

In 1733 he became minister of the dissenting congregation at Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

. While perhaps retaining this office till 1738, in 1734 he succeeded Samuel Say as colleague to Samuel Baxter at St. Nicholas Street Chapel, Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

. On Baxter's death on 13 July 1740 he became sole pastor, and remained so till 1761, when Peter Emans became his colleague, followed by Robert Lewin (1762–1770), and William Wood

William Wood (botanist)

William Wood was an English Unitarian minister and botanist who was involved in efforts to remedy the political and educational disabilities of Nonconformists under the Test Acts.-Life:...

 (1770–1773). Except during the three years of Wood's ministry, the congregation languished.

On 26 April 1774, but in broken health, Scott was elected minister by the trustees of an endowed chapel at Hapton, Norfolk

Hapton, Norfolk

Hapton is a village in Norfolk, England, located about nine miles south of Norwich. It is in the parish of Tharston and Hapton.-Description:The local church is dedicated to St...

. He died at Hapton in 1775, and was buried in the parish churchyard. He was married and left issue.

Works

Some of his hymns (e.g. ‘Absurd and vain attempt,’ ‘Imposture shrinks from light’) are odes to independence of thought; but ‘Hasten, sinner, to be wise’ and ‘Happy the meek’ are in different veins. Eleven of his hymns were first contributed to ‘Hymns for Public Worship,’ &c., Warrington, 1772, edited by William Enfield

William Enfield

William Enfield was a British Unitarian minister who published a bestselling book on elocution entitled The Speaker .-Life:...

 Most of his hymns are contained in his ‘Lyric Poems’ (1773); others are in the ‘Collection,’ &c., 1795,, by Andrew Kippis

Andrew Kippis

Andrew Kippis was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer.The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to school at Sleaford in Lincolnshire he passed at the age of sixteen to the Dissenting academy at Northampton, of which Dr Philip Doddridge was then...

, Abraham Rees

Abraham Rees

Abraham Rees was a Welsh nonconformist minister, and compiler of Rees's Cyclopaedia .- Life :He was the second son of Lewis Rees, by his wife Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and was born at born in Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire. Lewis Rees Abraham Rees (1743 – 9 June 1825) was a Welsh...

, and others.

He published four single sermons (1740–59), including a funeral sermon for Samuel Baxter; other works were:

• ‘A Father's Instructions to his Son,’ &c., 1748, (verse).
• ‘The Table of Cebes … in English verse, with Notes,’ &c., 1754.
• ‘The Book of Job, in English verse … from the original … with Remarks,’ &c., 1771; 2nd edit. 1773.
• ‘Lyric Poems, Devotional and Moral,’ &c., 1773.