THE
HYMN-BOOK OF THE
MODERN CHURCH
BRIEF STUDIES OF HYMNS AND HYMN-WRITERS
THE THIRTY-FOURTH FERNLEY LECTURE
BY
ARTHUR E. GREGORY, D.D.
PRINCIPAL OF THE CHILDREN’S HOME AND ORPHANAGE EDITOR OF ‘BOOKS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS,’ ETC.
London
CHARLES H. KELLY
2, CASTLE ST., CITY ROAD; AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
1904
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
To
My Children
‘Better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said.’
PREFACE
This lecture consists of a series of essays introductoryto the study of English hymns, inwhich I have tried to give some account ofthe sources from which the Church gathers its sacredsongs, and to sketch briefly the growth of the modernhymn-book. It has been necessary to omit severalsections which I had intended to include, and thisvolume covers a portion only of the ground indicatedby the title. I may, perhaps, some day be able tocarry the work a stage nearer completeness.
It may be thought that I have given disproportionatespace to certain periods and to certain hymn-writers.If so, I can only say that they seemed to me speciallyinteresting or important. In quotations, especiallyfrom less-known writers, I have taken as much libertyas possible, and I think this is the redeeming featureof the lecture. In extended quotations I have usuallygiven the preference to hymns not readily accessibleto the general reader, and have only occasionally quotedhymns to be found in the Methodist Hymn-book.
To the hymns of the Wesleys I have given considerablespace. The subject was chosen for me in viewof the publication of the new Methodist Hymn-book,and the occasion seemed to require a somewhat detailedsurvey of the early Methodist hymns. Nor do I thinkthat many will consider the attention given to themmore than their intrinsic value justifies. ‘After theScriptures,’ wrote Dr. James Martineau, ‘the WesleyHymn-book appears to me the grandest instrument ofpopular religious culture that Christendom has everproduced.’[1]
Delightful as this work has been to me, the bookhas been written under great pressure and amidcountless interruptions. I have had to redeem oddminutes and the evening hours when a long day’swork had already been done.
I have to acknowledge constant obligation—muchmore extensive than is indicated by frequent reference—toDr. Julian’s monumental Dictionary of Hymnology,which has lightened the labour of research for allstudents of hymns.
To my friend, Dr. J. T. L. Maggs, I am undermanifold obligations which I most gratefully record.Dr. Maggs read a great part of the book in MS, andthe whole in proof; and I am also indebted to him forcalling my attention to, or procuring for me, someimportant books of reference. Mr. W. Garrett Horderhas also given me the benefit of his advice andixcriticism—all the more valuable because his judgementhas often differed from my ow