drowning in a pail of water, of being overlaid by a sleepy servant, or such little accidents, then the young man dances like a bubble, empty and gay, and shines like a dove's neck, or the image of a rainbow, which hath no substance, and whose very imagery and colours are fantastical; and so he dances out the gaiety of his youth, and is all the while in a storm, and endures, only because he is not knocked on the head by a drop of bigger rain, or crushed by the pressure of a load of indigested meat, or quenched by the disorder of an ill-placed humour; and to preserve a man alive, in the midst of so many chances and hostilities, is as great a miracle as to create him; to preserve him from rushing into nothing, as at first to draw him up from nothing, were equally the issues of an Almighty power.' Jeremy Taylor.

HYMNS.

Devotional verse is one of the oldest and most natural forms of song, and it is met with wherever the instinct for worship takes outward form.

The following is Lord Selborne's admirable definition of what a good hymn should be: 'It should have simplicity, freshness, and reality of feeling ; a consistent elevation of tone, and a rhythm easy and harmonious, but not jingling or trivial. Its language may be homely, but should not be slovenly or mean. Affecta

tion or visible artifice is worse than excess of homeliness a hymn is easily spoiled by a single falsetto note. Nor will the most exemplary soundness of doctrine atone for doggrel, or redeem from failure a prosaic didactic style.'

I believe a martial ode is understood to be one of the most difficult forms of metrical composition, and I suppose we might say the same of devotional poetry, seeing how very few fine hymns we possess.

It is thus that Dr. Johnson accounts for the difficulty: The paucity of its topics enforces perpetual repetition, and the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction. It is sufficient for Dr. Watts to have done better than others what no man has done well.' This is trenchant enough, but it seems hardly adequate, and I think the reasons are not far to seek.

A hymn ought to be simple, clear, and direct, and we know that rapt devotional feeling is apt to be tinged with mysticism, which, in itself, is opposed to lucidity of expression. Then the literary and devotional element must be harmoniously blended and balanced, and it must be neither prosaic nor ornate. Unity of subject and purpose is also essential; indeed, many hymns lose themselves in generalities; and, last of all, it must be the perfection of form.

It is very difficult to write a good hymn, and it is remarkable that even our best hymn writers, like

Charles Wesley, have seldom succeeded in producing more than one specimen of first-rate excellence; his 'Wrestling Jacob,' as a poetic allegory, is perhaps the most perfectly sustained work in all English hymnody. Then we have Toplady's 'Rock of Ages,' where the harmony of the emblems, incongruous in themselves, is secured by the devotional fervour that welds them together. These are both powerful hymns. there is the Rev. H. F. Lyte's beautiful 'Abide with me,' which should be confined to its five best stanzas; and lastly, Dr. J. H. Newman's exquisite 'Lead, Kindly Light.' I do not know any expression in English poetry more beautiful in its way than the turn of the thought in the last half of the last stanza.

Then

Most of John Keble's hymns are on a fairly high level; but the best of them are not equal to these I have quoted. Keble wants clearness and simplicity in thought or diction, and usually in both. This may be said of even his best pieces, such as 'Morning' and 'Evening.' And it seems to me that the devotional poetry of the present day, in spite of its lyric sweetness and delicacy, lacks the vigour and exaltation of the older hymns.

Among other admirable hymns are the Rev. H. Twells' 'At Even when the Sun ;' Dr. Arthur Stanley's ‘O Master, it is good to be upon the mountain here ;' Dr. Watts' Fairest of all the Lights above,' and several in Dr. Martineau's excellent 'Hymns of Praise,' such

as 'Let no tears to-day be shed,' and 'Come tread once more the path with song.'

What is it that gives a hymn its popularity? Is it merely the music to which it has been set? Let us hope not. Very few hymns reach the great heart of the people: some, like Dr. Watts's, endure for generations, and English mothers are now singing them to their children in the back-woods of America, on the Himalayas, and wherever English mothers find themselves. Other hymns, apparently as beautiful, die unrecognised. It is difficult to account for this.

Sternhold and Hopkins's old version was rendered into a metrical form direct from the Hebrew. The Scottish version was by an Englishman, Dr. Rous; and now we have Lord Lorne's skilful and harmonious rendering. The 23rd Psalm is lovely in all its versions, no effort of man can stale it, or quench its exquisite beauty.

PRUDERY.

I have read that some societies in America are so very prudish that they actually object to using the honest word leg. For instance, a girl calls in hot haste on the doctor to say that her sister had broken her 'limb.' 'Which limb is it?' says the doctor. 'Oh, I-can't-tell-you-which-limb,' says the girl. 'But you must,' says the doctor. 'Oh, dear, I-can't

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indeed, sir,' says the girl. Hang it,' says the doctor, losing all patience, 'Is it the limb she threads her needle with?' 'No, sir,' says the girl, immensely relieved. 'It's the limb she wears her garter on.'

CYNICS.

The world has pretty well made up its mind that your Cynic, pur et simple, is an odious being, and that our most lovable fellow-creatures have not a tinge of cynicism in their composition. I grant this, and yet, if Diogenes can only supplement his pessimist nature with a certain amount of playfulness, a fair dash of sensibility, and a sufficiency of benevolence, he blossoms into very pleasant company indeed. Our friend T. (as a writer) was an illustrious instance of this, and perhaps it is this mixture that makes Warrington so agreeable, and, I may say, so very attractive. But the most delightful example of all did not live a thousand miles from the Bridge of Allan.

ELOQUENCE IS EASILY MARRED.

As my revered friend was very anxious that his sermon should be a success, he had taken more than ordinary pains over it. However, during its delivery he