it is given among the anonymous hymns of the third century. A translation of it by Keble, beginning Hail, gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured,' may be seen in Lyra Apostolica. The following hitherto unpublished version is due to the Rev. T. L. Kingsbury : 'Blissful Ray of Holiest Light, Faded are the fires of day, Holiest in the darkest woe Bids the world Thy glories know.' S. Gregory Nazianzen's hymns bear traces of having been written in the troublous times of Apollinarianism. Some of his verses have the condemnation of that heresy for their express object. Others are rather suitable for meditation than for public use, as may be seen from the following specimen, entitled 'A Prayer Before a Journey:'— Without Thee, CHRIST our King, Thou art our Way, and Thou the Spring I take this journey now, Be Thou my Guide, my Leader Thou, Grant me my heart's desires, Bring me safe home, O King! With voice of praise that never tires It must be admitted, that the excellencies of this writer are much more conspicuous in his prose works than in his poetry. But surely his hymn to CHRIST, beginning Σὲ τὸν ἄφθιτον μονάρχην Δὸς ἀνυμνεῖν, δὸς ἀείδειν. may command some admiration, though it might be difficult to adapt it for English use. The original was probably intended for singing, for which much of Gregory's poetry is obviously not adapted. As Daniel has included some of this latter kind in his Thesaurus Hymnologicus, we may perhaps be excused for attempting to present a specimen of it here. It is taken from his 'Lament for his own Soul:' 'Alas! myself from sin how shall I save? O that I might lie hid in cloud or wave! O that some land were from transgression free; * In fiery chariot borne, Elias soared ; Moses escaped, when Egypt's murderous lord Doomed babes to death;-unhurt chaste Jonah came From sin deliver ?-Thou, my Saviour, set me free!' A lively and amusing, though somewhat flippant account of the poetry of the younger Apollinarius is given by Mrs. Browning in the work quoted above. It is greatly to be regretted that so much of the Greek devotional poetry is addressed, in terms which too often usurp the reverence due to GOD, to the Blessed Virgin. Euthymius's Canon 'To the Exceedingholy Mother of GOD,' is almost as objectionable as anything in the Roman books of devotion. Nor are the Anacreontics of S. Sophronius wholly free from the same fault. This writer was Patriarch of Jerusalem in the early part of the seventh century, but his style is perhaps the closest extant imitation of Anacreon; often, as Peter Matranga remarks, presenting such beauty in its metaphors, that it seems to claim for its author some one of the most renowned poets in the golden age of Greece. Many of his poems are arranged so as to form an alphabetical acrostic. As he does not allow himself to begin a line with the long vowels and w, S. Sophronius has generally substituted for them a repetition of the preceding letters, and y. The following lines are taken from his poem on the Baptism of our LORD :— 'From his home in desert cave, Glorious course the Baptist ran; Hear him in the wilderness Preach to those who round him press,- His address to Jerusalem' begins with some lines of extreme beauty, very inadequately represented in this translation: 'O GOD's Own holy City! How gladly would I wait! My heart is sick with longing Which nought can lull to rest.' But he is thinking only of a pilgrimage to the earthly Jerusalem, not of a translation to the heavenly City. Probably the poem was written during a longer absence than usual from the seat of his chief labours. With S. Sophronius, the period of metrical Church poetry in Greece may be said to close. It is true that some examples of it occur much later, and that on the other hand we have instances of Church hymns written in rhythmical prose some centuries earlier. Dr. Neale 2 is of opinion that the 'hymns and spiritual songs' of the apostles were unmetrical. One of the most popular of the Greek hymns is the beautiful evening song, Tv μépav dieλ0wv, attributed, on somewhat insufficient authority, to S. Anatolius of Constantinople. Dr. Neale's translation, "The day is past and over,' is so beautiful, and so widely known, that I should content myself with referring readers to it, but that some may peruse with interest a more exact rendering : Now, having spent the day, May eventide, I pray, And night, both sinless be: My Saviour, grant me this, and save Thou me! Now, having passed the day, Master, I worship Thee; May eventide, I pray, And night, offenceless be: My Saviour, grant me this, and save Thou me! Now, having lived the day, Holy One, sing I Thee; Keep eventide, I pray, And night, from danger free: My Saviour, grant me this, and save Thou me! 1 "Αγιον πόλισμα Θεῖον. It is worth notice, however, that he has somewhat altered the Greek of his first quotation (Eph. v. 14) in proof of this, and that with the alterations it falls almost naturally into metre. His second quotation is given by mistake as from Rev. iv. 8, instead of Rev. xv. 3. Enlighten Thou mine eye, O CHRIST, Thou God of Light, Lest my foe cry to-night, 'I have prevailed against him in the fight.' 'Mid many snares I tread : My soul's preserver be; Thy love, to man so free: Deliver me from them, and save Thou me! In the This is, it must be remembered, a strictly literal version. following translation, from a midnight hymn of unknown authorship, the original has been somewhat less closely followed. It may be seen in Daniel's Thesaurus, vol. iii., p. 126. 'Now from sweet sleep arising, Good LORD, we bow to Thee, Me from my couch and slumber Thou Holy, Holy, Holy ONE! The Judge of all Creation Shall openly appear; In fear we raise our midnight cry To Thee, Thrice Holy TRINITY.' The originals of these two last specimens possess some features in common; and Dr. Daniel, the Editor of the 'Thesaurus,' seems to have considered them both to belong to about the same date. (To be continued.) PSALM IV. (Cum invocarem.) HEARKEN to me, O Lord my righteousness; How is it, brothers, that ye cannot see The peace and glory that He sheds on me? What glittering shadow hides Him from your view? O turn no more my glory into shame, Saddened, exalted, calmed with holy dread, Ponder no more the old delusive theme, Yes, Lord, I watched them heaping up their corn, I saw their olives yielding golden store ; I answered-Thou art mine, and Thou art more. No blight, no drought, no winter, can destroy I lay me down in peace and take my rest, Thou watchest by me, I am safe and blest. M. C. RECEPTION AND BAPTISM OF A TARTAR BY H. C. ROMANOFF. AT the west end of this town is a long shabby street of small log-houses, leading straight to the forest, and to a tributary of the beautiful lake (i.e. mill-pond) that keeps the iron-works going. This street is exclusively inhabited by Tartars, who indeed are to be met with almost everywhere in Russia, like Jews or gipsies, but particularly towards the east. They keep themselves aloof from the Russians, and vice versa; and are distinguishable at the first glance by their features and costume, both of which differ essentially from those of the Russian. The men have their |