"Day of vengeance, day of wages, Fiery goal of all the Ages, Burden of prophetic pages," &c. The 116th Hymn, here, is equal, in the first verse, to the original, which is very spirited, ('Aurora cœlum purpurat, Aether resultat laudibus,' &c., of the Breviary,) and, in the other verses, better than those from which it is taken: yet, in general, there is not the life about the versions from the Latin, that characterizes those from the German. We have already said, distinctly, that this book is a very good one, an uncommonly good one; and any eye may see, that it is not a large one, and yet we wish that it had been smaller. There are not too many Hymns given, here; but there are too many indifferent ones. We would, in one way, at least, assert to our Church a special character; in having all her Hymns, (if possible,) distinguished by sublimity, or dignity, or grace, or fervor, or some excellence. We would have the Book of Common Prayer purged, by this rule; and we would have no Hymns admitted, hereafter, that do not satisfy it. False doctrine is intolerable; false Grammar is intolerable; false taste is intolerable; and mere common-place variations, in good language and correct rhyme, are not desirable. The Church's Hymns should be excellent. Not every pious man's taste is to be gratified, by Hymns adapted to it, any more than slate-pencils are to be ground for the appetite that relishes that sort of food; or more than music is to be set false, for those whose ears are out of tune. Let the Hymns be worthy of the Church and the Prayers: bad taste, even, will soon be satisfied with them; for habit and example guide such tastes. If, on the other hand, you give them a chance at doggerel, with a sort of jingle like the French Ran, ran, rataplan,' they will take to that. Let them have no chance of becoming fond of such things. The child fondles and cossets its doll, whose face may be one disgusting blotch, from which not only beauties but distinguishing features and colors have *We are glad to know, that we may soon look for an Article, from a competent hand, on Latin Hymnody, and especially this best Latin Hymn: in which, doubtless, these excellent Versions will hold a fitting place. perished but it would be at least just as fond of its plaything, if it were not shocking to better tastes, and were pretty. We would have this book cut down to those Hymns which are decidedly excellent, and more added, some other day, which are excellent. Reverend Committee-men have sometimes seemed to fancy not only, that the stream of Sacred Song stopped running while they stood in its bed, as Jordan stopped, of old, at the priests' feet, but that they could and ought to stop it forever after Our Committee have a noble appreciation of the character of their office as Compilers, and have no fancy that they must make their work final. Beside admitting many pieces that have no special excellence, it would be strange, if, in the first edition of this book, there were no other faults. We think, that, in some of the Hymns, changes to no purpose, and changes from the better to the worse have been allowed. We think, too, that changes might easily have been made, where they would be decidedly for the better. In their 35th Hymn, from Heber, why is 'The Son of God goes forth to war,' changed to 'The Son of God is gone to war?' Why is patient bears his cross, below,' made into 'boldest bears His cross?' Why are two verses, about St. Stephen, left out? and two more, afterward? In short, why are nine changes, that we see at this moment, made in this fine Hymn? Why is the second verse of the 75th, (also Heber's,) left out? and why the changes in the last verse, including one from 'The bones that underneath thee lie," to 'The dead, who underneath thee lie?' In Milman's Bound upon the accursed tree,' (110th, here,) why is there change after change invariably for the worse? Thus Dread and awful,' becomes, even absurdly, 'Dread and woful;' 'sad and dying,' (a change from 'faint and bleeding')-why must 'faint and dying' be insisted upon? Why, where the Author purposely and with instinct, breaks the smoothness which in less deft hands might easily become monotony, have the Committee allowed (for they could not have chosen,) a variation which nearly, if not quite, secures that very monotony? In the 119th, (Newton's,) is a change from the accustomed 'For awhile she lingering stood, Filled with sorrow and surprise, Trembling, while a crystal flood 'There awhile she lingering stood, Lost in anguish and dismay, Issued from her weeping eyes,' to As there is a better Version, which can be had, we think that we are doing no harm to this Hymn, in asking the reader whether the third line, as it is read in this book, does not infallibly suggest Canning's "Lozenges I gave my love-Ipecacuanha." In the 154th, why leave out John Sternhold's third verse, "And like a den most dark He made His bed and secret place ?" In Montgomery's very fine Hymn, (221st here,) we have been accustomed to the first verse "Servant of God, well done! Rest from thy loved employ; The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master's joy." Let that be read at the beginning of this Hymn, and is not the admirable Hymn more perfect? Could there have been any other reason for the Committee's leaving it off, than the accident, that, (as in some cases already referred to,) a different verse, from the same first line, began a Hymn of Wesley's, which they have in this book as the 217th? In Merrick's 'Author of good to Thee we turn,' (232,) why do we read, for the second and third lines, "To thee for help we fly; Thine eye can all our wants discern," instead of the usual, 66 Thine ever-watchful eye Alone can all our wants discern?" In their 286th, All hail the power of Jesus' name !',so dearly loved by all who know it, 'Ye ransomed from the fall' is good; but why could not 'A remnant weak and small' stand? "Ye Gentile sinners, ne'er forget and why is any verse left out? In the 349th Hymn,-Wa ts wrote, (we believe,) 'Some fresh memorial of His grace,'-some one, to make that line rhyme, has changed 'grace,' senselessly, to 'praise.' A change of the matching word days' to 'race,' would have kept the In that delightful thing, 'Jerusalem, my happy home,' why need hard hands have been laid upon this touching verse, "Oh! when, thou city of our God, sense. Shall I thy courts ascend, Where congregations ne'er break up, And Sabbaths have no end?" The Committee have left faults that ought to have been corrected. The paltry bustle of the first verse of the 79th, "Come, let us anew, &c., Roll round with the year, And never stand still, till our Master appear," reminding one of some girls' game, ought to be changed, or the verse abolished. The other verses are excellent. In the 106th, (by Lyte, who writes excellently,) are these words, at which, because of their connection, we will not ask the reader to smile : "Could crush His murderers with a word, If such had been His aim ! In reading such a line as, 'O Lord, how vile am I!' (Hymn 240th,) or its parallel, in another collection, "Lord! what a feeble piece, Is this our mortal frame !" how can one help smiling, when he thinks that the least irreverent way of understanding it is as an oath? What an absurdity is this to be sung, (383d Hymn :) "Feel as if now my feet Were slipping o'er the brink; For I may now be nearer home, Much nearer-than I think! The accent in the 3d verse of the 7th, is wrong: let 'perfect made' be read for 'perfected,' and it is right. In the 24th, is bad. In the 31st, 2d line, the accent, again; 'Perfecting the saints below;' in the 69th, 2d, 'When He came, the angels sung,' the Grammar: in the 137th, the same fault: And sung the triumph; in the 217th, 3d, "With saints enthroned on high, Thou dost the Lord proclaim," the doctrine is not quite safe. In the 308th, (Luther's,) why not change the awkward 'That Thou'lt repel him not, O Lord ?' We have no room (if there were need) for recording all the slight blemishes that might, possibly, be found: we have not attempted it; and we have done enough, we think, to show that a later edition may be bettered. So, too, we have not room to mention, by first lines-from the Hymns that our rich language will yet furnish, freely, though our Committees' vintage is done, a twentieth part of those that seem to us much better than a great many to be found in this book. We will suggest a few of these: Mrs. Barbauld's, in which are the verses, "Sleep, sleep to-day tormenting cares, Of earth and folly born, &c., Watt's 'Unveil thy bosom, sacred tomb;' his 'Almighty Maker, God!''Keep silence, all created things;' 'Great God, how infinite art Thou!' 'My God, my Portion and my Love!' 'Thy hand, unseen, sustains the poles ;' 'Up to the fields where angels lie;' With songs and honors sounding loud ;' Doddridge's 'O ye immortal throng;' his 'Amazing, beauteous change!' these are all uncommonly good. Less known, but very beautiful, are Taylor's "Like shadows gliding o'er the plain, a sweet Hymn, Or clouds that roll successive on, Man's little generations pass, And, while we look, their forms are gone;" "I am weary of straying Oh! fain would I rest;" a very effective one |