our own hymns, and it is with our own hymns that we are concerned. We might add, that several which occur in the Sarum, such as Crur fidelis, terras cælis, and Collaudemus Magdalenæ, are not, and never were, in the Roman Breviary.

2. But, it will truly be said, many of the eformed and unreformed hymns are so nearly the same, that in them, at least, former translations might in great measure be adopted. We come then to the second reason which forbids this: the excessive rarity of translations made in the metre of the original; a point, to us, of clearly absolute necessity. We open Mr. Caswall's Lyra Catholica, and, out of the first fifty hymns, one only is in the metre of the original. We take a very fair collection of "Hymns for the Service of the Church," bearing our own publisher's name, and here we find the same average. Some of these are the wildest deviations from the original metre, e.g., Trochaics for Iambics,

and

"En clara vox redarguit,

Obscura quæque personans :
Procul fugentur somnia :
Ab alto IESUS promicat."

"Hark! an awful voice is sounding :
CHRIST is nigh, it seems to say:
Cast away the dreams of darkness,
ye children of the day!"

"O qui tuo, Dux Martyrum,
Præfers coronam nomine, &c."

"Rightful Prince of Martyrs thou,

Bind the Crown about thy brow, &c."

We do not mean to say that all the departures from the original metre are of this very violent nature. The change of long to common

metre is not uncommon.

appears as,

Thus,

"A solis ortus cardine

Ad usque terræ limitem

Christum canamus Principem,
Ortum Mariâ Virgine,"

"From the far blazing gate of morn
To earth's remotest shore,
Let every tongue confess to Him
Whom Holy Mary bore."

And there is yet another change, of which we must say a little more, because it might escape the notice of those who are insufficiently versed in the subject.

Every one knows that the usual metre for the hymns of the Church was Iambic dimeter (the Long Metre of our "Selections"). But we believe that we shall surprise some of our readers when we tell them, that by far the greater part of mediæval compositions in this metre were written in rhyme, assonant or consonant. This was neg

lected by the Roman revisers, but it was the rule of the mediæval Church, e. g.,

"Qui condolens interitu
Mortis perire sæculum,

Salvasti mundum languidum
Donans reis remedium,"

is very good rhyme, but the Roman revision does not retain it ;

"Qui dæmonis ne fraudibus

Periret orbis impetu,

Amoris actus, languidi

Mundi medela factus es."

Now, we have further to remark that all long metre hymns, whether in Latin or English, are divisible into two classes: those which rhyme co-ordinately and those which rhyme alternately. Of the first sort are such as,

"Deus, tuorum militum

Sors et corona, præmium,
Laudes canentes Martyris
Absolve nexu criminis."

Of the second sort, which is far less common, such as,—

"Lauda, Mater Ecclesia,

Lauda Christi clementiam;
Qui septem purgat vitia,
Per septiformem gratiam."

Now the whole flow, sequence, modulation, and cæsura of these two kinds of long metre is so utterly different, that we can never allow, in a translation meant to be sung to the melody of the original, that one should be substituted for the other. Therefore we could not avail ourselves of such a translation as this :

"Jam lucis orto sidere,

Deum precemur supplices,
Ut in diurnis actibus

Nos servet a nocentibus."

"Now doth the sun ascend the sky,

And wake creation with his ray;

Keep us from sin, O LORD Most High,
In all the actions of the day."

And still less of the following, where the first and third lines of the English do not rhyme; (a very slovenly and idle thing, by the way :)—

"Vexilla Regis prodeunt,

Fulget crucis mysterium,
Quo carne carnis conditor
Suspensus est patibulo."

-(or, as the Roman :

"Qua Vita mortem pertulit,
Et morte vitam protulit.''-)

"Forth comes the standard of the King,
All hail, thou Mystery adored!
Hail, Cross, on which the Life Himself
Died, and by death our life restored."

It is very easy to say that these little niceties are so much trifling. The only answer is, Study the hymns for two or three years, (very few people study them at all,) and it will appear how much force they have. An ill-formed student from Homerton or Glasgow may sneer at the "little niceties" of Greek particles; but that does not detract from their immense importance. So, in like manner, an unpractised ear may not at once see the wide difference between co-ordinate and alternate rhymes, in Latin Iambic Dimeter; nay, may hardly catch the assonances at all. The writer remembers with shame that when, some ten years ago, he first turned his attention to the subject of Latin hymns, he quarrelled with that of S. Peter Damiani, de gloria et gaudiis Paradisi, which he now sees to be of rhythm perfect beyond description, because of its assonances; and that such verses as the following, the intense melody of which he now perceives, jarred painfully on his

ear:

"Hiems horrens, estas torrens, illic nunquam sæviunt;

Flos perpetuus rosarum ver agit perpetuum;
Candent lilia, rubescit crocus, sudat balsamum."

But we proceed to a third reason which renders many of the existing translations inapplicable to our use.

Every one who knows anything of Gregorian hymns, knows that their chief beauty consists in the rolls of sound which accompany the elongation of syllables. Now if a translation is published without reference to the melody, it is almost sure to offend grievously in this particular. For example :-the two first lines of the second verse of Exultent orbis gaudiis are these, in Mr. Caswall's translation :—

"O ye who, throned in glory dread,
Shall judge the living and the dead ;—”

and the mere reader would think them, as they are, very good. But let us take them to the Christmas melody of the same hymn,

and we need not stay to point out the absurdity of the rhythm. So again take the same translation of the Vexilla Regis to the Sarum melody,

Forth come the ban

ners OF

the King.

We may mention a curious instance of this. At the late consecration of S. Ninian's, (where, by the way, the Gregorians, both hymns and psalms, were to be heard in great perfection,) a translation of the Sarum (and Aberdeen) Urbs beata Jerusalem, was the dedication hymn. The beginning of one of the verses ran thus :—

"From celestial realms descending,
Ready for the nuptial bed,
Decked with jewels, to His Presence
By her LORD shall she be led."

When in course of practice by the choir, the third line was found to give this precious piece of rhythm:

Deck'd with jew - els, ΤΟ

His Pre sence:

Fortunately, in this case, it was very easily altered:

"To His Presence, decked with jewels."

We should gladly, if we might do so without invidiousness, add a few words on the difficulty of translating Latin hymns. Most people seem to think that there is nothing more simple; and, so the general meaning is preserved, (and that is not always the case,) they trouble themselves with nothing further. But now, to take the first verse, quoted above, of the Vexilla Regis. Probably many persons would think that it was to be read off without a thought; but may not these questions fairly be asked? Does Fulget Crucis Mysterium simply mean, The visible Cross, with all its mystic meaning, glitters before us? or, The deep mystery of the Cross, so long concealed, is now made manifest in full light? And, as connected with this, do the last two lines mean, By means of which mystery the Maker of flesh was in flesh suspended on the place of punishment? or, In which place of punishment the Maker, &c.? Again, the unreality of the version we quoted above would soon appear, if a choir, following the processional cross were to sing it ;

"Forth comes the banner of the King."

Must it not manifestly be, Forth goes ? or, as the Hymnal has it, "The Royal banners forward go ?"

We wish to answer one more question before we conclude. How, it is asked, if we keep to the system of metre for metre, can we give the classical measures in the Breviary?

We reply ;-with the Alcaics, &c., of Urban VIII. we have nothing to do. In the Sarum Breviary there are but two classical measures, Sapphic, and the Quis desiderii sit pudor of Horace. (We need not trouble ourselves with the one Hexameter Alma chorus, nor the one Tetrameter, O quam glorifica, because, notwithstanding their pious simplicity, probably none would wish them translated; nor with the Iambic Trimeter of the Festivals of Apostles, because it is equally an English metre.)

1. With regard to Sapphics. While, if accented metrically, they read thus,

if accented as usually read, and as mediæval poets did accent them, the rhythm is this,

And this is simply an English heroic verse, with the redundant syllable, so common in dramas; and the very usual substitution of a Trochee for an Iambus in the first foot. Thus the line

"Or to take arms against a sea of troubles"

is as good an accentual Sapphic as an heroic line. Hence it follows that there can be no impropriety in the metre in an English form. We are quite prepared for the ridicule and the parodies which may be the fate of our Sapphic translations at the hands of those who forget this great distinction between scansion and accent, and who are wholly unacquainted with the ancient music to which these words are intended to be sung.

In the other metre,—

"Sanctorum meritis inclyta gaudia,"

to which one of the loveliest melodies of the Breviary is wedded, there are but five examples; and the reader will soon have the opportunity of judging for himself with what success, in this case, English words have been substituted for the Latin.

THE LAW OF PEWS:-A CASE AT YEOVIL.

THE town of Yeovil has lately been disturbed by certain disputes about pews. It seems that, from very ancient times, a custom has existed of treating the seats in the parish church as private property; and this has been carried to such an extent, that one gentleman possessed eleven, and many others a plurality. Within the last two or three years, a claim has been set up by an inhabitant to have a seat allotted to him, according to law, by the churchwardens. A public meeting was held, and a warm discussion took place on the whole question. The immediate result was one of those compromises, that do not last, and please nobody. One of the gentlemen, who owned the largest number of seats, gave a pew up, and the churchwardens allotted it to the claimant. Of course a like claim was soon made by some one else, and the whole matter had to be gone into again. We can imagine the embarrassment and distress of the churchwardens, for such questions as these are not treated quietly; and, unfortunately, many of us are too apt to throw blame on those who cannot do what we desire, and therefore seem to deny us justice.

After the matter had dragged on for some time, the churchwardens took the very reasonable course of laying all the questions before them