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OF

THE CHURCH

Their Origin and Authorship

BY

REV. DUNCAN MORRISON, M.A.

OWEN SOUND, CANADA

TORONTO

HART & COMPANY

1890

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, by HART & COMPANY, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.

PREFACE.

HESE notes on the Great Hymns of the Church are the result of the author's observations on the subject for years. He believes that our people in the public service would sing with the spirit and the understanding in a far higher degree, did they know more about their hymns; and that if any one would undertake simply to tell the story of each of them-giving some account of its origin and authorship, he would render them no small service, even if he should only succeed in awakening a deeper interest in the service of song, and calling forth some more competent laborer to enter the same field.

He had originally intended to confine himself in his annotations to twelve of the Great Hymns and presenting them in the shape of a series of contributions to the "Canada Presbyterian "; but ere he had finished that essay he received such encouragement from brethren whose opinions he was bound to respect, that he determined on extending his investigations and, at length, presenting the result in the form desired. For careful supervision and judicious selection of tunes his thanks are specially due to Mr. S. R. Hart, Toronto. These notes, such as they are, are now commended to Him without whose blessing nothing is good and nothing strong by the

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CONTENTS.

Why?

The Service of Song in the Temple-Its great power-

Jonathan Edwards' views in this connection-The great
masters, such as Dryden, failures as hymnists.
Some of the essentials that enter into a great hymn-
Faultless in style-Transparent simplicity--Evangelical in
colour and character-Reverent in tone-Objective in
character-Dealing with the great externals of religion
Should not aim at voicing ecstatic moods-Didactic hymns
most used in former days-The Church needs to know
more about her hymns before she can sing with the spirit
and understanding.

I. TE DEUM-The great historical hymn

One of the earliest hymns after those of the Holy Scrip-

tures introduced into the Church—Its origin—Illustration
of its power in the case of Thomas Olivers-Early cor-
rupted-Specimen of corruption-Great occasions on which
it was sung-Scriptural style of the language-The objec-
tive character of its teaching.

PAGE.

iii

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