H7MN
595
HYMN
since it is of pantheistic origin; see Pantheism, God,
Emanationism.
Scientific iiylozoism is a protest against a mechan- ical view of the world. But, like mechanicism, it pre- tends to apply the same pattern to all Ijcings alike, to make of them all one uniform series. Its outcome is monism, materialistic, ideahstic, or parallelistic, ac- cording as the series is conceived after the pattern of matter, or of mind, or of some reality combining both. It therefore falls under the criticisms proper to these forms of monism. As a matter of fact, life is not found in all beings; some are destitute of it, and, among those in which it is found, plants possess merely vegetal life, while animals have also the powers of sense, and man the powers of sense and reason. In an age which boasts of trusting experience alone, it is surprising that this fact should be so readily overlooked. True, we crave for unity and continuity in our knowledge and its object; but unity should not be procured at the cost of evident diversity. Or rather, since this craving for unity is nothing else than the voice of rea.son, it ought indeed to be satisfied; but they err who seek in the world itself this perfect unity which is to be found only in its Cause, God. (See also Matter, Life, Soul, Teleology, Monism,
M.\TERIALIS.M.)
Brochard in Grande Encyclopedic, s. v.; Hagemann in Kirchenlex., s. v.; also Eisler, Wurterbuch d. philos. Begriffe; Franck, Diet. d. sciences philos.; Baldwin. Diet, of Philos. and Psych. Histories of Philos. by Turner (Boston. 1903); by Ueberweo-Heinze (Berlin, 1901); and. for ancient philos., by Zeller (transl.). Soury, De Hylozoismo apud recentiores (Paris, IS.Sl). For the latest expression of hyloz. by H.\c- KEL. see Monism, tr. Gilchrist (London, 1894): and Tlic Riddle of the Universe, tr. MacCabe (London, 1900). For a criticism of it, see Geraro, The Old Riddle and the Newest An- swer (London, 1904).
John M. Redon.
H}min, a derivative of the Latin hymnus, which comes from the Greek ii/x"", derived from l/Seix, to sing. In ancient pagan literature C/ii-os designates a prize song to the gods or heroes set to the accompaniment of the cythara {iixmi. ixiv is toi>s Beovs TrowdvTat, firatvoi 6'^s avSpuiirovi, Arrian., IV, xi), at first written in the epic measure like the oldest hymn to the Delphic Apojio, later in distichs or in the refined lyric measures of Alcieus, Anacreon, and Pindar. In Christian literature the noun ii^n-os oc- curs in only two passages in the New Testament, namely Eph., v, 19, and Col., iii, 16, and then together with the synonyms ^/oKubi and i^St] irvevfiaTiK-^. With these can be compared the verl) v/jLuuf in Matt ., xxvi, 30; Mark, xiv, 26; Acts, xvi, 25; and Heb., ii, 12. Notwithstanding the many attempts at definitions made by exegetes it is difficult to decide to what de- gree, if at all, a distinction among three kinds of Divine praises is made by the three different terms, psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles. Psalm is ap- plied only to those songs composed by David, but, if the spiritual contents of these songs be considered, they may j ustly be called spiritual canticles, while their adaptability to singing makes them hymns. Thus, in the language of the Vulgate, the Psalms of David are termed hymni ; "hymnos David canentes" (II Par., vii, 6); and that ii/ivos sung by Christ the Lord and His disciples at the Last Supper, as they are described by the Evangelist Matthew (xxvi, 30) as viivovvTes, or iifiviiaavTes was the great Hallel pre- scribed by Jewish custom for the paschal feast. From this it is to be inferred that ii^vos was originally used in the general acceptation of " song of praise to God ". At the same time it can be supposed that the expression faKixbi was more current among the Jew- ish Christians, while the Gentile Christians used more commonly the expression (iixvo^ or ifS-li, the latter re- quiring the complementary irvtvixariKii to distinguish it from profane odes.
The Latin word hymnus is unknown in the pre- Christian literature. For it the word carmen is used
by the classic authors, so that hymnus is specifically
a Christian derivative from the Greek, like so many
other expressions of the liturgy. In the ancient
Christian writers hymnu.t is generally paraphrased as
"laus Dei cum cantu" (Uufinus, "in Ps. Ixxii ") or
as "hymnus specialiter Deo dictus" (Ambrose, " De
Off.", I, xlv). The most celebrated definition is that
of Saint Augustine. Commenting on Ps. cxlviii he
says: " Know ye what a hymn is? It is a song with
praise of God [canlus est cum laude Dei]. If thou
praisest God and singest not, thou utterest no hymn,
if thou singest and praisest not God but another
thing, thou utterest no hymn. A hymn then con-
taineth these three things, song [ca/i/i/.s] and praise
[cum laude] and that praise of God [Dei]." The ex-
pression " praise of God " must not however be taken
so literally as to exclude the praise of his saints.
Saint Augustine himself says in the explanation of
the same psalm, verse 14: "hymnus omnibus .Sanctis
eius"; "What then meaneth this 'A hymn to all
His saints'? Let His saints be offered a hymn."
God is really praised in His saints and in all His
works, and therefore a " praise of the saints " is also
a "praise of God".
But Saint Augustine's definition, if it should com- prise all and all that alone which has been considered in the course of time as hymnus, requires a limi- tation and an extension. A limitation: a song in praise of God can also be composed in prose, in un- metrical language, as for in.stance the "Gloria in excelsis" and the "Te Deum". These are still called "Hymnus angelicus" or "Hymnus Ambro- sianus", evidently because of their elevated lyrical movement. But we have long tmderstood by hym- mis a song whose sequence of words is ruled by metre or rhythm, with or without rhyme, or, at least, by a symmetrical arrangement of the stanzas. To the earliest Christian authors and their pagan contemporaries it is most probable that such a limi- tation of the acceptation was unknown, liymnus on the contrary being entirely a general term which included the p.salms, the Biblical cantica, the dox- ologies, and all the other songs of praise to God in prose or in rhythmical language. It is therefore labour lost to seek for the origins of hymnal poetry in Pliny the Younger (Epp., X, xcvii), TertuUian (Apol., ch. ti), Eusebius (Hist, eccl.. Ill), Sozomen (IV, iii), Socrates (V, xxii), and others. On the other hand the expression canlus in Saint Augustine's defi- nition must be extended. Although tlie hymn was originally intended for singing anil only for singing, the development of the form soon led to hymns being recited aloud or used as silent prayers. Very early indeed religious poems arose which were conceived and written only for private devotion without ever having been sung, although they were genuine lyrical and emotional productions and are counted under the head of hymnody. Consequently, the term canlus is not to Ije limited to songs which are really sung and set to melodies, but can be applied as well to every religious lyrical poem which can be sung and set to music. With this interpretation Saint Augustine's definition is wholly acceptable, and we may reduce it to a shorter formula, if w-e say. Hymn in the broader meaning of the word is a "spirit- ual song " or a "lyrical religious poem ", consequently, hymnody is "religious lyric" in distinction from epic and didactic poetry and in contradistinction to pro- fane lyric poetry. Hymn in the closer interpretation of the word, as "it will be shortly shown, is a hymn at the Breviary.
Branches and SnBDivisiONS. — The religious song or hymn in the broader sense comprises a great num- ber of different poems, the classification of which is not mentioned by Saint Augustine and which is in reality first completely introduced in the "Analecta hymnica medii isvi" edited by Blume and Dreves.
