LADY HYMN WRITERS. I' T has been said that St. Luke was the first Chris tian hymnologist." It is true that he has preserved to us the Benedictus, the Magnificat, the Nunc Dimittis, and the Gloria in Excelsis. But there were Christian singers before the days of Mary and Simeon and Zacharias. Miriam and Deborah sang songs of praise to God ages before the days of St. Luke. The whole Bible rings with music from the days when "the morning stars sang together" with joy at the creation, down to the time when John beheld and heard in prophetic vision the angels "harping with their harps before the throne of God upon the glassy sea.' a." It will be seen that in Biblical times, as well as in our days, one spirit-that of devout praise to God— animated all these singers. There was then no difference whether the singer were a humble prophetess like Deborah, living under a palm-tree in simple fashion, or a great king like David, or a lowly maiden like Mary. So in later times. Congregations sing the strains of the early Christian fathers, like Ambrose ; of medieval monks, like Bernard; of Anglican clergymen, like Ken and Lyte; of Romanists, like Newman and Madame Guyon; of Methodists, like Wesley and Whitefield; of Independents, like Baxter, Doddridge, and Watts; of Moravians, like Montgomery and Zinzendorf; of Unitarians, like Sarah F. Adams; of Baptists, like Anne Steele; of Churchwomen, like Frances Ridley Havergal, Charlotte Elliott, and Mrs. Alexander; of straitest Nonconformists, like Ann and Jane Taylor and Harriet Beecher Stowe. In singing hymns, the Church militant forgets to quarrel; and so our hymnbooks bear musical and eloquent witness to the inward unity of our faith. In this one form of service there is neither Catholic nor Protestant, neither Churchman nor Dissenter; for all alike praise God, and are "one in Him." What is a hymn? There are many answers to this question. Many of our best writers and thinkers have attempted a definition. Saunders says: "A true hymn is either prayer or praise-a heart-utterance to the divine Being." Gill says: "Hymns are not meant to be theological statements, expositions of doctrines, or enunciations of precepts; they are utterances of the soul in its manifold moods of hope and fear, joy and sorrow, love, wonder, and aspiration." H. W. Beecher says: “Hymns are the exponents of the inmost piety of the Church; they are the crystalline tears, or blossoms of joy, or holy prayers, or incarnated raptures." Lord Selborne says: "A good hymn should have simplicity, freshness, and reality of feeling; a consistent elevation of tone; and a rhythm easy and harmonious, but not jingling or trivial." Augustine said: “Hymns are songs containing the praises of God." And as if to point the moral of Augustine's definition, Dr. Prescott, in his "Christian Hymns and Hymn Writers," gives the following medieval legend : Once seven holy men determined to forsake the world, and devote their lives to the service of God. Having no building suitable for their purpose, they worshipped God in a beautiful forest glade, far from the haunts of men. But they were old, and destitute of musical ability. Their abbot, therefore, gave them leave to repeat their chants instead of singing them, except the Magnificat, which they were to chant in the best manner they could. Things went on like this till one day a stranger possessing a beautiful voice accosted them, and entreated to be allowed to join them in singing. And they were only too glad to accept his offer; for, it is said, their unmelodious chant was so dreadful that it absolutely frightened every bird. The old men, on listening to the stranger's voice, mentally thanked God that now the Magnificat could be sung aright, and therefore in a manner acceptable to him. But little they knew the true state of |