to join in the public worship of God or to disclose the heart's secrets in the presence of fellow-worshippers. Our theme, then, is peculiarly sacred, since it deals with the spiritual songs in which earnest and sincere men have uttered, in the very presence of God, their most secret thoughts, confessions, and aspirations. Every true hymn was first spoken by one man to God alone, was prayed before it was sung, though now it may be heard daily from ten thousand voices. Harsh or flippant criticism is out of place here, an irreverent impertinence, like the interruption of private prayer. In the study of hymns Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; The place where man his God shall meet Be sure is holy ground.' 2 Yet St. Paul himself reminds us that the word of Christ is to dwell wisely as well as richly in our hearts. 'Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.' 'Next to a sound rule of faith, there is nothing of so much consequence as a sober standard of feeling in matters of religion.' Morbid, insincere, fanatical, or exaggerated emotion is as much to be deprecated as doctrinal error, and its evils are at least as disastrous. The diffusion of false or superficial sentiment in the household of the faith is like the spreading of a subtle disease which saps the strength and mars the beauty of devotion, while error bears a charmed life if it comes in the words of a familiar Christian Year (Fifth Sunday in Lent). • Ibid. (Preface). and attractive hymn. Moreover, it is in the hymns of the Church rather than in its formal declarations of faith and doctrine that we find the truest and generally the most favourable revelation of its character. Hymnology is a more important element in the history of religion than most Church historians and theological writers have recognized.1 The present time is in many respects peculiarly appropriate for a consideration of the growth and development of the hymns of the modern Church. We are in a state of rest or pause after tumult. The great religious 'movements' of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are matters of history, and we can regard even the most recent of them calmly and without the prejudice which while conflict rages may, not altogether unfairly, be regarded as patriotism. The Methodist Revival, the Evangelical Awakening, the Oxford Movement, the Salvation Army Campaign, the Undenominational Evangelism of Messrs. Moody and Sankey, may all be taken into account in considering the material and character of the hymn-book of the modern Church. Again, it is interesting to remember that of the hymn-writers of the nineteenth century few survive. For the moment there is neither evangelist nor poet to give us new songs. Our fathers made hymn-books; we 1 "The general Church histories mostly neglect or ignore hymnology, which is the best reflection of Christian life and worship.' -SCHAFF: Mediaeval Christianity, ii. 403. See also LILLY's Christianity and Modern Civilization, ch. v., The Age of Faith.' re-edit them. Within the last few years the standard Presbyterian, Baptist, Anglican,1 and Methodist hymnbooks have appeared in new and revised editions, whilst in the Arundel Hymns we have the most recent Roman Catholic hymnal. Dr. Barrett's Congregational Church Hymnal, issued in 1887, is of the modern type, though it preserves many of the features of the older Nonconformist books. Mr. Garrett Horder's Worship-Song represents the taste of an individual, not of a committee or community; but it is in many respects the best and most complete collection of the hymns of the modern Church. These books enable us to discover current opinion and taste in regard to hymns which are worthy to take their place in the service of the Christian sanctuary, and both in their unity and diversity are of great value as indicating the life and thought of the Churches they represent. In this lecture I shall attempt 1. A brief preliminary inquiry into what constitutes a true hymn, suited for use in Christian worship. 2. A very brief review of the relation of the Hebrew Psalter to the Christian Hymnal, and a passing glance at the hymns of the New Testament and of the early Church. 3. A more detailed survey of the rise and development of modern English hymns and their use in the Church since the Reformation. 1 Church Hymns (revised edition, 1903). A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern is being prepared. Such a study, however unskilfully guided, cannot, I hope, be altogether without interest or edification, since it brings the student into fellowship with the sweetest and the saintliest souls, and bids him join in spirit the choir invisible who praise God day and night in His temple. I regret that the limits assigned to my lecture make it impossible to refer to translations from the Greek, Latin, German, and other languages. These form a most valuable and an increasing portion of all modern hymnals. They furnish abundant material for a separate volume. W I A True Hymn HEN my revered father, more than thirty years ago, delivered the fourth Fernley Lecture, he laid this down as the first scriptural Church principle-'The Church is not a thing of rigid definition.' I may adapt that phrase to my own subject, and say, A hymn is not a thing of rigid definition. Commenting on the note which closes the second book of Psalms, 'The prayers [LXX. hymns] of David the son of Jesse are ended,' St. Augustine gives this definition: Hymns are praises of God with singing, hymns are songs containing praises of God. If there be praise, and not praise of God, it is not a hymn. If there be praise, and praise of God, and it is not sung, it is not a hymn. It is necessary, therefore, if it be a hymn, that it have these three things: both praise, and praise of God, and that it be sung. In commenting on Ps. cxlviii. he repeats this rule in almost the same words. The definition commends itself at once as excellent, and in regard to a large |