from the remotest antiquity, authorizes and encourages the use of hymns as well as of the Psalms of David. The hymn which Pliny mentions as sung, Christo quasi Deo,' can hardly have been a Psalm. Socrates Hist. vi. § 8, speaks of St. Ignatius as the inventor, Tor αντιφωνων ὕμνων την άγιαν Τριαδα ὑμνούντων. It is not, indeed, clear whether the use of hymns generally, or of the alternate way of chanting them, is here intended. But be this as it may, it appears that hymns were used in the Church of Antioch on the authority of Ignatius. Tertullian Apol. § 39, says, ' Post aquam manualem et lumina, ut quisque de S. S. vel DE PROPRIO INGENIO potest, provocatur in medium Deo canere.' And we have still the words of the hymnus lucernalis, which was most frequently used on these occasions. Hilary is mentioned by Jerome (Cat. Script. Op. T. i. p. 192,) as author of a book of hymns. So at least the Latin runs; but in the Greek of Jerome's work, nothing of the sort is mentioned. But that Hilary did compose such a book is plain, from a decree of the fourth council of Toledo, Can. 13, (Delectus Actorum T. i. p. 494.) De non renuendo pronuntiare hymnos,' in which the hymns are specified 'quos beatissimi Doctores HILARIUS et Ambrosius ediderunt.' I do not know whether any of the hymns now in the Romish breviary are the work of Hilary. That very many of them have been retained there ever since the time of St. Ambrose, there is no reason for doubting. The religious poetry of this latter Father is collected at the end of the folio edition of his works, and with one exception, (that of the Vexilla Regis prodeunt,') appears to be genuine. The breviary contains also three hymns of Prudentius, one of which is very beautiful, for Innocents' day, and some by later writers. The number altogether is, I should think, twenty or thirty, containing hymns for every day in the week, &c. I have laid no stress on Synesius, because I do not know that his hymns were sung publicly. The Greek Church, however, has followed the same line of conduct with the Latin. The liturgies too of the Lutheran churches all abound with compositions of the same kind, so that if such aids to devotion were refused by the English Church, she would act in opposition to the great body of Christians in all ages. "There is, indeed, a canon of the council of Laodicea, which has been often quoted, and which forbids the use idiwτikwv vμrwv. But this, according to the natural meaning of the word diwrns, can only mean hymns brought in by private persons, without the permission or authority of the bishop. At all events, I have the council of Toledo to set against that of Laodicea; and it is perfectly certain that if the prohibition just mentioned were meant to apply to all hymns of human composition, that prohibition was never enforced either in the eastern or western churches. "3dly. The compilers of our Liturgy appear to have been by no means unfavourable to the use of hymns. Besides the Benedicite' and the Te Deum,' they have given us the Veni Creator' in the Ordination Service. And at the end of the old version of the Psalms are several hymns- A Prayer to the Holy Ghost,' The humble suit of a Sinner,' &c. And we are, therefore, I conceive, warranted to infer that they would have favourably received any decent hymns for the holydays, &c. if not as regular and necessary parts of the Service, yet with the same permission which they have given to anthems, and to the works of Sternhold and his coadjutors. And the licence afterwards given to the version of the Psalms by Tate and Brady, seems to prove that there has always been a disposition on the part of our rulers to accommodate their laws in such matters to the taste and temper of the age. The evil indeed, if it be one, of the admission of hymns into our churches has, by this time spread so widely, and any attempt to suppress it entirely would be so unpopular, and attended with so much difficulty, that I cannot help thinking it would be wiser, as well as more practicable, to regulate the liberty thus assumed, instead of authoritatively taking it away. Nor can I conceive any method by which this object might be better obtained, than by the publication of a selection which should at least have the praise of excluding whatever was improper in diction or sentiment; and might be on this, if on no other ground, thought not unworthy a licence of the same kind as that which was given to the Psalms of Tate and Brady. I have the vanity to think that even my own compositions are not inferior in poetical merit to those of Tate; and my collection will contain some from our older poets, which it would be mockery to speak of in the same breath with his. There are a few also which I have extracted from the popular collections usually circulated, which, though I have not been able to learn their authors, possess considerable merit and much popularity, and are entirely free from objectionable expressions. Nor am I without hope, if encouraged by your Lordship to proceed, of obtaining the powerful assistance of my friends Scott and Southey. By far the greater part, however, of my present collection are of my own making, a circumstance which, I trust, will not expose me to the imputation of vanity, when the difficulty is considered of finding unexceptionable words suitable to the plan which I have adopted. I have given the names of the authors from whose works I have extracted any hymns. My own I have marked with my initials. But my collection is yet in MS. and has still some lacunæ to fill up. "Under these circumstances, my Lord, I feel I am taking a great liberty, but one for which I hope I shall be pardoned, in requesting to know whether you think it possible or advisable for me to obtain the same kind of permission for the use of my hymns in churches which was given to Tate? and if so, what is the channel through which I should apply? Or if, from the mediocrity of my work, or for any other reason, this would be improper or unattainable, whether I may conscientiously assume the same liberty that many of my neighbours do, and have a few copies printed, not for publication, but for the use of my own church? This I should on some accounts prefer, so far as I myself am concerned, to the more ambitious project, inasmuch as I am well aware that no great renown is to be expected by the publisher of religious poetry; but I am really doubtful as to the propriety of the measure; or whether the long connivance of our superiors can fairly be construed into a tacit permission to introduce unauthorized compositions into the public worship. On all these points then, I earnestly request your Lordship's advice, by which, I beg you to believe, I shall be implicitly guided. I cannot venture to trouble you to inspect my whole MS. but you will be in some measure enabled to form your opinion of it by the following hymns, being the first in my collection. Should you not be unfavourable to my plan of publishing, I should esteem most highly the advantage of your criticism, and would thankfully conform to whatever improvement you might suggest either of addition, omission, or alteration. I ought to mention that most of my hymns The few which vary are applicable to the psalm tunes in common use, from this rule are adapted to different ancient melodies of approved composers. "My Lord, Your Lordship's most obliged "REGINALD HEBER." FRIENDS GONE TO GLORY. (For an old Scotch Air.) WHEN sair oppressed wi' grief and care, I turned to seek for comfort where 'Tis only found-in Glory: I thought upon that blissful land, Of friends, all gone to Glory. I saw my parents sheltered there, Whom aince I lo'ed, in Glory. I saw them on that peacefu' strand, Who called them up to Glory. There's scarce gane by one tedious year, Since they've been ta'en to Glory. And still around my lonely way, And join us all in Glory." What though alone I linger here, Since they now rest in Glory. Patient and calm I'll wait the hour, We'll meet in endless Glory. C. C. MONTHLY REGISTER. CHURCH SOCIETIES. NATIONAL SCHOOL SOCIETY. REPORT, 1835. AMIDST the interesting events which have successively engaged the attention of the Committee of the National Society, they have seldom stopped to take a full survey of the great work which they are engaged in accomplishing; and they have never been able to afford the public a complete view of the state of education amidst the whole population for which they are concerned. This useful task they propose, in some degree, to effect by means of the present Annual Report; and to arrange, under appropriate divisions, the circumstances to which their attention has been more particularly directed during the last twelve months. The means by which they have endeavoured to improve and to extend the system of popular education will thus be brought in succession under the notice of the general Meeting, previously to inquiring into the work which has been, and that which remains to be accomplished, for the complete instruction of the poor in the principles of the National Church. With reference to the first object, the measures adopted for improving Schools, it is well known that the Committee from the first held out their model and training institution, the Central School, as the source from which the principal improvements in National education were to flow. It was not so much for the purpose of instructing a number of children as for benefiting other Schools throughout the kingdom that this Establishment was to be maintained. It was designed to exhibit the system of mutual instruction by the scholars-to show how it might be carried into operation among very large numbers of children -and to furnish a place where adult persons might be trained and disciplined in the mechanical arrangements necessary to this end, and also in those more important qualifications which are essential to every teacher under the National Church. From the first, a Sub-Committee was formed to VOL. XVII. NO. X. watch over this Institution, and see that it really accomplished the purposes for which it was established. How far the endeavours of those who devoted themselves to this business have prospered, was shown considerably in detail by the last Annual Report. It was there stated that 1104 persons had been received into training on their own account-that 936 persons, who had been previously appointed to Schools, had been instructed upon application from their employers -that they had in each case undergone a regular course of examination and instruction-that the former class of persons, the Society's own teachers, had continued in that state of probation and discipline, on an average, for a period of five months, during which they had been employed and practised in the organizing of 657 Schools, and that their success, in general, after they obtained permanent appointments, had not disappointed the expectations of the Committee. The same system has been pursued through the last twelve months, during which period 106 additional admissions of masters and mistresses of Schools have taken place, &c.; and on the whole the Committee are enabled to report, as the total result of this portion of their labours, that 2102 adult persons have been trained in their Central School, and 684 Schools have been organized by the assistance of such persons previous to their being provided with appointments. But it is not merely in the metropolis that the principle of the Central School system has been applied. Among the methods pursued for the improving of Schools, considerable attention is due to the diocesan and district Societies, which are acting in this and some other respects, on the plan of the parent institution, in different parts of England and Wales. There are at this present time sixty of such associations engaged in promoting in the immediate sphere of their operations, the same schemes which the Society itself is advocating through 4 M out the whole country. Under the superintendence of these bodies there are forty-three Central Schools, which exhibit the National system with more or less exactness, and serve to stimulate the country Schools to greater activity and energy than the teachers, without such a specimen in their neighbourhood, might be generally disposed to exert. These Schools also serve for the training of such persons as are unable to come to London, of whom above 2000 have been specifically reported to this Society as having been so trained. The Committee have from the first acted on the principle of raising and distributing sums of money to create and stimulate local coutributions for erecting School-rooms; at the same time that they have extensively circulated the best information they could procure in regard to building and fitting up School-rooms, and establishing and maintaining Schools. From year to year an account has been rendered to the public of the beneficial results of their exertions in this way; and they have recently had the satisfaction of perceiving that their own plan of operations was deemed worthy of the sanction of the Legislature, and selected as the principle upon which grants of public money should be distributed in furtherance of education. The succour of Parliament now referred to has in some measure relieved the funds of the Society from a weight and pressure which they were growing unequal to bear, and the grants of the Committee during the last year have in consequence been happily confined much within their average amount; a sum of 2, 1267. has been sufficient to satisfy the direct demand upon them. But the extent of the Society's grants must not be made a criterion of the progress of National Schools during the year; on the contrary, the funds distributed by the lords of His Majesty's treasury, and the applications which the Committee have been called upon to transmit and recommend in that quarter, and not their own grants, have now become the correct measure on this important subject, and never was there a time when the Committee had a more sa tisfactory statement to make on the progress of Schools. Since the last anniversary meeting, the second grant of 20,000l. has been appropriated; and the lords of the treasury (being unable to meet the whole demand which was made upon their funds) adopted two principles of distribution, the first having reference to the smallness of the amount which was solicited at their hands, and the second, to the extent of the population from which the application came. Upon these two principles, 122 cases, transmitted through the Society, have been satisfied; and the proportion of the parliamentary vote assigned for their use amounts to 13,610. But applications from 89 places for 8,0147. still remained undisposed of when this decision of the treasury was announced; and, including the applications which have been subsequently laid before their lordships, the Society is at this time a petitioner upon the public funds to the extent of 20,9041. A grant from the treasury to this amount would secure au immediate outlay of above 50,000/ in building School-rooms, and provide accommodation in 213 places for 31,375 children. The Committee have been instrumental in distributing (during the 24 years that the Society has existed) a little more than 105,000l.; to which must be added above 20,000l. voted by the several District Societies throughout the country, in furtherance of the same work. And this expenditure, upon the principle just mentioned, (aided during the two last years by the parliamentary bounty,) has secured a total outlay in building considerably exceeding half a million of money. This is independent of the occasional assistance given to Schools for the training of masters, and on other accounts, and also of a very large number of National Schools, which have been established and provided with School-rooms by private persons, and of many endowed Schools which have been enlarged and thrown open to the public by the trustees, who although they are acting generally upon the Society's principles and plans, have not hitherto entered formally into union. |