The Hymn-Book of the Modern Church: Brief studies of hymns and hymn-writers

BRIEF STUDIES OF HYMNS AND HYMN-WRITERS
THE THIRTY-FOURTH FERNLEY LECTURE
BY ARTHUR E. GREGORY, D.D. PRINCIPAL OF THE CHILDREN’S HOME AND ORPHANAGE EDITOR OF ‘BOOKS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS,’ ETC.
London CHARLES H. KELLY 2, CASTLE ST., CITY ROAD; AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1904
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
To My Children
‘Better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said.’
This lecture consists of a series of essays introductory to the study of English hymns, in which I have tried to give some account of the sources from which the Church gathers its sacred songs, and to sketch briefly the growth of the modern hymn-book. It has been necessary to omit several sections which I had intended to include, and this volume covers a portion only of the ground indicated by the title. I may, perhaps, some day be able to carry the work a stage nearer completeness.
It may be thought that I have given disproportionate space to certain periods and to certain hymn-writers. If so, I can only say that they seemed to me specially interesting or important. In quotations, especially from less-known writers, I have taken as much liberty as possible, and I think this is the redeeming feature of the lecture. In extended quotations I have usually given the preference to hymns not readily accessible to the general reader, and have only occasionally quoted hymns to be found in the Methodist Hymn-book .
Delightful as this work has been to me, the book has been written under great pressure and amid countless interruptions. I have had to redeem odd minutes and the evening hours when a long day’s work had already been done.
I have to acknowledge constant obligation—much more extensive than is indicated by frequent reference—to Dr. Julian’s monumental Dictionary of Hymnology , which has lightened the labour of research for all students of hymns.