'A great and mighty wonc-er,
The festal makes secure : The Virgin bears the Infant
With Virgin-honor pure.
The Word is made incarnate,
And j-et remains on high :
And cherubim sing anthems
To shepherds from the sky.
And we with them triumphant
Repeat the hymn again : "To God on high be glory,
And peace on earth to men !" While thus they sing your Monarch,
Those bright angelic bands, Ee.iolce, ye vales and mountains !
I'e oceans, clap your hands ! Since all He comes to ransom.
By all be He adored, The" Infant boru in Bethlehem,
The Saviour and the Lord ! Now idol forms shall perish.
All error shall decay, And Christ shall wield Ilis sceptre, Our LoKR and God for aye.'
Another specimen of a Christmas hpnn by the same, commencing tv Bt]Sr\tii.i :
' In Bethlehem is He born ! Maker of all things, everlasting God !
He opens Eden's gate, Monarch of ages ! Thence the fiery sword
Gives glorious passage ; thence. The severing mid-wall overthrowu, the powers
Of earth and Heaven are one ; Angels and men renew their ancient league,
The pure rejoin the pure. In happy union ! Now the Virgin-womb
Like some cherubic throne Contalneth Him, the Uncontainahle:
Bears Him, whom while they bear The seraphs tremble ! bears Him, as He comes
To shower upon the world The fulness of His everlasting love !'
One more on Christ calming the storm, ^o(pepag TpiKiJ' [liag, as reproduced by Neale :
' Fierce was the wild billow.
Dark was the night ; Oars labor'd heavily ;
Foam glimmer'd white ; Mariners trembled ;
Peril was nigh ; Then said the God of God,
" Peace ! It is I." Kidge of the mountain-wave,
Lower thy crest I
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Wail of Earoclyclon, Be thou at re*t !
Peril can noiae be— Sorrow must fly —
Where saith the Light of light, "Peace! Itisl."
Jesu, Deliverer ! Come Thou to me :
Soothe Thou my voyaging Over life's sea !
Thou, -vvheii the storm of death Roars sweeping by,
Whisper, O Truth of truth ! "Peace! Itisl.'"" 2. Latin Church. — Of far more importance to the Christian Church than the Greek are the Latin hymns produced in the earUer ages, or the period covering the 4th to the 16th centuries. Though smaller in compass, Latin hymnology far surpasses the Greek "in artless simplicity and truth, and in richness, vigor, and fulness of thought, and is much more akin to the Protestant spirit. With objective churchly character it combmes deeper feeling and more subjective appropriation and experience of salvation, and hence more warmth and fervor than the Greek. It forms in these respects the transition to the evangelical hymn, which gives the most beautiful and profound expression to the personal enjoyment of the Saviour and his redeeming grace. The best Latin hymns have come through the Roman Breviary into general use, and through translations and reproductions have become naturalized in Protestant churches. They treat, for the most part, of the great facts of salvation and the fundamental doctrines of Christianity" (Schaflf, Ch. Hist, ii, 585). But many of them, like the later productions of the Greek Church, are devoted to the praises of Mary and the martyrs, and are A'itiated with all manner of superstitions. One of the oldest writers of Latin hvonns is Hilary of Poitiers (Pictaviensis), who died in 3G8. Banished to Phrygia, he was incited by hearing the singing of Arian hymns to compose some for the orthodox Church, and among these productions his Lucis larrjitor splemKde is the most celebrated. There is no doubt that the author- ship of a great many hymns is spurious, especially in the case of Ambrose (q. v.), bishop of Milan, who died in 397, and who is generally considered the proper fa- ther of Latin Church song. Among his genuine pro- ductions we tind the grand hymns 0 lux heata trinitus ; Veni redemptor gentium ; JJeus creator omnium, etc. The so-called Ambrosian song of praise, Te deum lau- damus, "by far the most celebrated hymn," formerly ascribed to Ambrose, '■ which alone would have made his name immortal," and which, with the Gloria in er- celsis, is " by far the most valuable legacy of the old Catholic Church poetry, and which will be prayed and sung with devotion in all parts of Christendom to the end of time," he is said to have composed for the bap- tism of Augustine. But it is now agreed by our best critics that this hymn was written at a later date (SchafF, Ch. Hist, ii, 592). Another distinguished hymn- writer of the Middle Age was Augustine, " the greatest theologian among the Church fathers (f 430), whose soul was filled with the genuine essence of poetry." He is said to have composed the resurrection hymn. Cum rex cjlorim Christus ; the hymn on the glor}' of Paradise, Ad perennis vitm fontem M'ens sitivit arida, and others. Damascus, bishop of Pome (f 384), who is said to have been the author of the rhyme of which we spoke above, is perhaps not less celebrated than tlie preceding names. Yery prominently rank also Pruden- tius, in Spain (f 405), whom Neale calls '• the prince of primitive Christian poets," the author of Jam masta quiesce querela, and others ; Paulinus of Nola ; Sedulius, who composed two Christmas hymns, A solis ortus car- dine and Ilostis II erodes impie: Enodius, bishop of Pa- via (t 521) ; and Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers (about 600), who wrote the passion hymns, Pange lingua glori- osiPralium certaminis and Vexilla regis pi-odeunt. These hymns (the text and translations of most of which are given by Schalf, I. c.) soon became popular, and though