as not eaſily to be matched by any mediæval compoſition on the ſame ſubject. Dean Trench, in his 'Sacred Latin Poetry,' gave a very beautiful cento of ninety-five lines from the work. From that cento I tranſlated the larger part in the firſt edition of the preſent book, following the arrangement of Dean Trench, and not that of Bernard. The great popularity which my tranſlation, however inferior to the original, attained, is evinced by the very numerous hymns compiled from it, which have found their way into modern collections; ſo that in ſome ſhape or other the Cluniac's verſes have become, as it were, naturalized among us. This led me to think that a fuller extract from the Latin, and a further tranſlation into Engliſh, might not be unacceptable to the lovers of ſacred poetry."
"It would be moſt unthankful did I not expreſs my gratitude to God for the favor He has given ſome of the centos made from the poem, but eſpecially Jeruſalem the Golden. It has found a place in ſome twenty hymnals; and for the laſt two years it has hardly been poſſible to read any newſpaper, which gives prominence to eccleſiaſtical news, without ſeeing its employment chronicled at ſome dedication or other feſtival. It is alſo a great favorite with diſſenters, and has obtained admiſſion to the Roman Catholic ſervices. 'And I ſay this,' to quote Bernard's own preface, 'in no wiſe arrogantly, but with all humility, and therefore boldly.'
"But more thankful ſtill am I that the Cluniac's verſes ſhould have ſoothed the dying hours of many of God's ſervants, the moſt ſtriking inſtance, of which I know, is related in the memoir publiſhed by Mr. Brownlow, under the title, A Little Child ſhall lead them; where he ſays that the child of whom he writes, when ſuffering agonies which the medical attendants declared to be almoſt unparalleled, would lie without a murmur or motion, while the whole four hundred lines were read.
