"HYMNS ANCIENT AND MODERN."

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 184, 6 August 1925, Page 10

"HYMNS ANCIENT AND MODERN."

A FAMOUS COLLECTION.

JUBILEE CELEBRATED.

"HjTmrs Ancient and Modern" are celebrating- an important jubilee year; Long before 1875, of course, this popular collection of hymns, had made its appearance, but the_ present anniversary of the publication of the revised edition is a memorable - one, inasmuch as it' recalls the, .final stage in the long and painstaking labours of devout men in bequeathing a real treasury of spiritual song.' For the actual beginnings of "Hymns Ancient and Modern" we must- go back to- the early 'fifties, when every other parish iise'd 'some different collection of hymns, some, of them as good as others were indifferent "and poor. Something like 500 collections we're' said' to be scattered over the land, and a grand old. hymn would often be tinkered with to suit the poetical and theological whims of the various compilers. A Rector's Idea. It-was the Rector 'of Chislehufst, in Kent, who first insisted that, as a means of bringing order out of the medley, the old and the i new hymns should be gathered together, the best sifted from the worst, and a collection made that would meet with general approval. So heartily was his proposal received that a meeting was held in a Pimlico vicarage, and there it was that the editors of certain existing hymnals and a number of clergymen began the preparation of a uniform collection. ' . Certainly the compilers had no lack of material from which to make their selection. Early in the. eighteenth century Isaac Watts had given an impulse to the writing of hymns, and there were in existence thousands of poems which breathed the spirit of simpler unaffected piety. They had, in addition, the wealth of old traditional hymns which went back to the earliest days of the faith, and thus it was that they could name their collection "Ancient and Modern. Laborious Research.. Late in 1859 the committee brought out their first hymnal. Its 130 hymns were intended for use while they were pursuing their task, which involved much laborious research, endless careful translations, and a shrewd choice of tunes to suit the sentiment and metrical form of the verse. The full book was. issued in the following year. It contained 273 hymne^ Carelully -as the" compilers "had done their work, they did not regard if as at all and within a short time they added ...an. appendix carrying the total from 273' to 386; ° .Supplementary hymns have- been added since, but as regards the y scope and arrangement, it is this revised edition, issued exactly fifty years ago that remains in use in bo many, churches., tptday, challenged .only by the much newer "English Hymnal." No col-; lection-of hymns in--the-language has ever-had a wider appeal, and it is estimated, that the copies! of. "Hymns .Ancient and Modern"' sold now far ekr ceed 30,000,000. , • .: