PREFACE
in every case to fill an acknowledged gap or to introduce a tune of special excellence, must stand or fall on its merits. One feature, however, requires a word of comment. Hymns are printed, where-ever possible, as their authors wrote them. To many it will be a surprise to find that the ascription of a hymn to this or that author, when it was given at all in hymnals of the last century, was very often misleading. The public now has the opportunity of comparing many originals with their altered versions; and few. we venture to predict, will deny that they had been altered for the worse. Occasionally, indeed, the music requires the removal of an extra word if a hymn is to be used at all, as for instance in Neale's hymn, No. 137 (The Day of Resurrection), and in Milton's, No. 532 (Let us, with a gladsome mind); but although these hymns are marked as altered, none of their characteristic epithets have been changed. Sometimes alterations are justified for other reasons; and some translations are the work of several hands. But, apart from such exceptional cases, the efforts, so often made in the past to improve the work of competent authors, have had the inevitable result. The freshness and strength of the originals have been replaced by stock phrases and commonplace sentiments; and injury has been done to the quality of our public worship as well as to the memory of great hymn-writers.
A Hymn Book that is offered as a companion to the Book of Common Prayer must provide adequately not only for Sundays but also for all those other Holy-days which in the Prayer Book are ordered to be observed precisely in the same way as Sundays. The Office Hymns for the Saints' Days 'to be observed' are therefore given, as well as many suitable modern hymns: to these have been added the hymns for the Minor Saints' Days of the Anglican Calendar (since it is a common practice to sing a hymn as a memorial of such days), although we recognize the fact that as there is no Office for such days in the Prayer Book they can have no Office Hymn in the strict sense of the word.
The Hymns marked 'Office Hymn' are translations from those appointed in the ancient choir services of the English Church. In suggesting these as specially suitable, by placing them out of the
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