, 1881-01-02


And In Thy presence rest
TranslatIons Of Bernard's hymns are found
in all good collections. and are among the
most precious things Of our inheritance from
the middle ages. To this period belong also
several ct the most renowned hymns OF all
time: Dies Irn, Te,tt Spirltus Creator
described to Thomas Celano), .Stabat Mater,
and others equally noted.
The Greek nynnists OF the medieval epoch
have left some illlstrious names and some
undy1ng hymns: John Of Damascus I'd. 7S0),
i'll his monastery near Jerusalem, sang OF
the Resurrection-Day in tile following exalt-
ed lines, whose tone contrasts widely with
that OF Dies IrG.
.,Tis tho day Of Resurrection.
Earth, tell it out abroad,
The Passover Of Eladness,
The Passover Of God;
From death to life eternal,
From earth unto tho sky.
Que Christ hath brought us over
With songs OF victory.
Stephen of Sabas ID. 70), in the closing
lines of his Art Thou Weary?" has the
following:
II ask Him to receive me
win He say me nay?
Sft fass tili awayl sss5a end not till heaven
A far loftier expression Of the doctrine OF
present and complete assurance than can be
jail, tits done!"
from Constantinople, the city Of his convent,
the following lines, which as strongly re-
~ contrasted with that remarkable hymn:
That fearful dny, that day Of speechless dread,
When Thou shalt come to judge the quick and
dead
Ishudder to foresee,
OGod, what then shall be-.
This merest mention must suffice for epochs
which reach back over links of holy fire, al
most to the days OF our Lord upon earth.
And now there burst upon lis i'll full viSor
the heroic hymns Of the reformation, WHICH
the character of the Inen and times from
which they sprang, There werea few French
writer's of note. but the true lymnody, like
the theology Of those times, had its birth and
development in Germany. Luther, himself
sweet singer, leads this grand chorus, voics
ing his own words. 1Iark! It is the echo of
that song which, twenty-five years before, q
child sang at the door Of Ursula Gotta, and
10! the echo has gathered volume from the
reyerberations Of those years Till now 1t "
brates through all Europe, and shakes the
foundation-stones Of the Vatican:
God is our castle and defcuse
When troubles and distress invade;
He'll help and free lis from ofense,
And ever shield us with His aid.
No Diet of Kings or Prelates could over
awe such men as could compose these
hymns: no sssembiage of devils, though as
thick as tiles on the roof, could stay their
zeal.
and Alberti; but Of them all Paul Gerhardt
{16OG-167B) was the greatest. He wrote d
century after Luther. but even the heroic
fires kindleu by the Reformation burn Oh in
his hymns, as witness the folloWing:
F. Give to the winds thy fears;
Hope aud be undisnaycd;
God hears thy signs nnd counts thy tears,
God shall lift UP thy head.
The wealth of German hymnology may be
Judged when we learn that of this Keforlna-
lion epoch alone knipp'S collection contains
more than 300U hymns. ;,
While all Germany was thus borne grandly
through the fires and over the pillows OF the
Reformation by the inspiration OF holy song,
for some reason England lad but few hyin-
nists, and none to any extent successful dur
iug this great epoch. A collection Of "Spir-
itllal Songs +" BY Myles Coyerdale, made i'll
the sixteenth century, seems never to nave
attracted any considerable attention. Jere-
NV Taylor (l655) wrote some hymns, and was
success. John Mason (1GSO was the first
whose hymns were sung to any extent as
parts of regular worship. 1t is said that his
Volume of "Spiritual Songsm was the mine
many Of the thoughts which live to-day in
I'll Tie hymns Of Watts, published in Ills, in;
troducel q new era. They were welcomed
with delight by Dissenters throughout the
Showed that they had opened the fount Of a
new inspiration. Nor can we wonder at thelr
influence when we may open at random upon
such lofty lines as these:
Eternal wisdom, thee We praise;
To thee our songs We bring.
While with thy name rocks, hills ana seas,
And Heavens high arches ring.
ThY haa ;c1}ons how vide Vi nchoI9 + 59Teads the sky'
1frptdI with Il blue uf heavenly dye
And starred with sparkling gold
With the WeSleys daWned another epoch.
We might almost say that the hymns ot
Charles Wesley (whose sacred poems mi
thrteea f sd Tfse M cdpeers 10 we're
Germany. Throughout. these pulse anu
surge the holy emotions and aspirauons Of
one Of the greatest reyivals which the world
has ever seen. It has been said that there IS
not M emotion or PURPOSE OF the Cnristla's 1:,a
Of Wesley. 'There is nothing which he did
not touch; he touched nothing which he did
not adorp." Quotations from his hymns are
useless; whoever will may take up the
hymn-book at his side, of whatever denom-
ination, and read for himself,
From Wesley until now there have been
nlauy writer's of hymns, many Of whose pro
d,ctions will live. But since Wesley there
has been no1,e whose hymns SO distinctly
mark an epoch. We have had, with many
grave; Montgomery and Kelley. lIeber
Bonar, and Elliot; Dean Afford and Words
worth: while of those in our own land who
have written worthy and enduring hymns,
the names of Muhlenberg, Bryant, Ray
Palmer, and Sears are prominent.
GENERAL NEWS.
There are 200 Protestant schools with Il,