ture, which are read for purposes of instruction, a freer and less formal mode of utterance seems alike suitable and desirable. iv. The Te Deum is set to the ancient Ambrosian melody, simplified and adapted to the English words from the version given in the Sarum Breviary. v. The other Canticles and the Psalms are assigned to the old Gregorian chants. The Book does not actually contain the Psalter with its chants (just as it does not contain the Litany with its music, which had been already published). A simple Gregorian melody (8th tone, 1st ending) is given for the. "Venite;" after which is added, "and so forth with the rest of the Psalms as they are appointed.” The primary object of this was, probably, to keep the Book in a reasonably small compass, and avoid the great additional expense of printing a musical notation for each verse of the entire Psalter. But partly, no doubt, it was the uncertainty then felt (and even to the present day, to some extent experienced) as to the best mode of selecting and adapting the old chants to English words, which caused the editors instinctively to shrink from the responsibility of so soon determining these delicate points, and to prefer leaving it to the different Choirs and Precentors to make experiments, and adapt and select according to their own judgement. There is no proof that it was intended to fasten this particular book upon the English Church. It was probably of a tentative and experimental character. It was put forth as a companion to our Revised Service-book, as a practical explanation of its musical rubrics, and as also furnishing examples and specimens of the way in which the framers of our vernacular Offices originally contemplated that they should be allied with the old Latin Ritual Song. vi. In the music for the Hallelujah ("The Lord's Name be praised "), for the Lord's Prayer in the Post-Communion, and for the Kyrie (the melody of the latter borrowed from the Sarum "Missa pro Defunctis"), we find merely the old Sarum plain song reproduced in simplified form. vii. The Nicene Creed, the Gloria in Excelsis, and the Offertory Sentences appear to be all original settings, although they are, as is sufficiently evident, founded, to a considerable extent, on the old Church plain song. From what has been said it will incidentally appear, 1st, how fully determined were our sixteenthcentury Revisionists that the Offices in their new form should not lose their old choral and musical character; and thus that Divine Service should still continue what it had ever theoretically been, a Service of Song;" and, 2nd, how earnestly anxious they were that the music should be of a plain and simple character, so that it might be a real aid in the great object they had before them, that of restoring to the people their long-suspended right of due and intelligent participation in the public worship of the Sanctuary. In illustration of these points, Cranmer's letter to Henry VIII., dated Oct. 7, 1544, is interesting; and although it is printed entire at p. 21, it is necessary again to refer to it in connection with our present subject. After speaking of the English Litany already published with musical notation; and of certain other Litanies, or "Processions," which he had been preparing, and which he requests the King to cause to be set to music, on the ground that "if some devout and solemn note be made thereunto,” “it will much stir the hearts of all men to devotion;" he proceeds to offer his opinion as to the kind of music suitable for these Litanies, as also for other parts of the Service: 6 "In mine opinion the Song that shall be made thereunto would not be full of notes, but as near as may be for every syllable a note; as be, in the Matins and Evensong, 'Venite,' the Hymns 'Te Deum,' 'Benedictus,' Magnificat,' 'Nunc Dimittis,' and all the Psalms and Versicles; and, in the Mass, Gloria in Excelsis,' 'Gloria Patri,' the Creed, the Preface, the 'Pater noster,' and some of the Sanctus' and Agnus.' As concerning the 'Salve, festa dies,' the Latin note, as I think, is sober and distinct enough; wherefore I have travailed to make the verses in English, and have put the Latin note unto the same. Nevertheless, they that be cunning in singing can make a much more solemn note thereto. I made them only for a proof, to see how English would do in song." 1 The last portion of this letter introduces a subject on which it is necessary to add a few words, viz. the use of Metrical Hymns in public worship. Cranmer himself was most anxious to have retained the use of them, and with that view set about translating the Breviary Hymns. But he was so dissatisfied with his attempts, that eventually he gave up the idea. This loss was a serious one, and soon made itself experienced. Fervent Christian feeling must find means of expression; and if not provided with a legitimate outlet, such as the Hymns 1 For the Melody of the Hymn "Salve, festa dies," see the "Hymnal Noted," No. 62. ૧ of the Church were intended to furnish, will vent itself in ways irregular, and, perhaps, in unorthodox language. It is difficult to ascertain the exact time when the practice of popular Hymn and metrical Psalm singing established itself in connection with our revised Ritual, though independently of its direct authority. Such singing was in use very early in Elizabeth's reign, having doubtless been borrowed from the Protestants abroad. For the purpose of giving a quasi-official sanction to a custom which it would have been very unwise to repress (and thus, through a sort of bye-law, to supply a practical want in our authorized public Ritual), it was ordained, by a Royal Injunction in the year 1559, that, while there was to be "a modest and distinct song so used in all parts of the Common Prayers in the Church that the same might be understanded as if it were read without singing;" (in other words, while the old traditional plain song, in its simplified form, is to be employed throughout the whole of the service; yet,) "for the comforting of such as delight in musick it may be permitted, that in the beginning or at the end of the Common Prayer, either at morning or evening, there may be sung an hymn or such like song to the praise of Almighty God, in the best sort of melody and musick that may be conveniently devised; having respect that the sentence [i.e. sense] of the hymn may be understanded and perceived." To this Injunction of Queen Elizabeth we owe our modern Anthem; on which it is necessary to add a few words. The term itself is merely an Anglicized synonym of the word Antiphon. Its old spelling was Antem, Anteme, or Antempne.1 Its origin is the Greek word avτipwvov, or rather avripova (antiphona: neut. plur.), which is the old ecclesiastical term. From antiphona comes the Italian and Spanish antifona, as well as the old English form antephne, and the Anglo-Saxon antefn. Now, just as the Anglo-Saxon word stefn (the end, or prow, of a ship) became stem in English, so did Antefn become Antem. The further change of the initial ant into anth is merely parallel with the corresponding change of the old English te and ta into thee and that." From the fact of Barrow in one of his sermons spelling the word " Anthymn," Dr. Johnson and others have hastily inferred that its true origin is to be traced in avrì üμvos or ävðvμvos (anti-hymnus, or anthymnus), which would give it the meaning of a responsive hymn. And it is by no means improbable that the accidental similarity in sound between the final syllable of" Anthem" and the word "hymn," coupled with the fact of the intelligible, and in a measure correct, meaning which this plausible derivation would seem to afford, has not been without its influence in determining the popular sense of the word itself. But there is not a vestige of authority for this latter derivation, and it is certain that porn, not "uvos, is the root out of which "Anthem" grows. In its earliest form, the Anthem, or Antiphon, seems to have been a single verse out of any Psalm repeated after the recitation of the Psalm (and, in later times, before its recitation also) with a view of fixing the keynote, so to speak, of the Psalm; of bringing into prominence, and fastening attention upon, some special idea contained within it. In course of time the Antiphons came to be selected from other Psalms than the particular ones to which they were affixed; and appropriate passages of Scripture from any book, and even short uninspired sentences in prose or verse, came to be similarly applied. When the use of a "Hymn, or such like song," was authoritatively permitted at the beginning or end of Common Prayer-not only with a view of adding dignity and interest to the worship of Almighty God, and rendering the Service of Praise more worthy of Him to Whom it was offered, but with the twofold secondary end also (1) of "comforting" musical people by allowing the strains of the Sanctuary a greater freedom of developement than the mere chant and plain-song intonations admitted, and thus (2) of encouraging amongst all classes the study and practice of music-our Church composers, in casting about for suitable words, seem first to have had recourse to the old Antiphons, many of which they set to music. Other similar brief and characteristic passages of Holy Scripture, Prayers, Hymns, and the See Our Lady's Mirror, p. 163, E. E. T. Soc. ed. For a discussion on the derivation and use of the word Anthem, see Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, xi. 457, 491; xii. 90, 151. Also SKEAT'S Etym. Dict. s. v. From the fact of the Antiphon giving the keynote or leading idea of the Psalm to which it was attached, we find the word Anthem frequently used for the text of a sermon. It may be remarked, that as the idea of responsive music lies at the bottom of Antiphon, or Anthem (whence we find old writers speaking of the Psalms as sung Anthem-wise, i.e. responsively), so, in the actual and varied use of the word we find sometimes the responsive and sometimes the musical element coming into prominence: occasionally, one or the other element entirely disappearing. In the text of a sermon, for instance, there is nothing musical. In a modern Anthem there is nothing necessarily responsive. like, were speedily selected for the same purpose; but the name "Anthems," whether they happened to have been used as Antiphons or not, equally attached itself to all. Many have endeavoured to discover some definite ritual significance in the word itself, and in the position occupied by the Anthem in our Service, to account for its name. It has been regarded as the intentional “residuum" of the Antiphons of the old Service-books. But such theories, though interesting, are unsubstantial. It is all but certain that it was through a loose, accidental, popular application of an old term, the strict meaning of which was not a matter of much concern, rather than through any deliberate conviction of the modern Anthem being, practically or theoretically, identical with, or a legitimate successor and representative of the old Antiphon, that the name Anthem finally allied itself with that class of musical compositions or Sacred Motets which now form a recognized adjunct to our English Service.1 It may be added that, in country parishes, where a trained choir could not be obtained, a metrical Psalm would be sung in the place of the Anthem, and fall under the same general designation. The actual period of the introduction of the term in its familiar modern and popular sense, to denote a piece of sacred music for the use of the Church, may perhaps be approximately illustrated by a comparison of the titles of two successive editions of a very important musical work. Within the year after the publication of Queen Elizabeth's Injunction giving permission for the use of a "Hymn, or such like song," John Day printed his great choral work entitled, "Certain notes set forthe in 4 & 5 parts, to be sung at the Morning, Communion, & Evening Prayer, very necessary for the Church of Xt to be frequented & used. And unto them be added divers godly Prayers & Psalmes in the like form to the Honour and Praise of God." Five years later, this fine work, to which Tallis with other famous Church writers contributed, was reprinted, though with a somewhat different title: "Morning & Evening Prayer & Communion set forth in 4 parts, to be sung in Churches, both for men & children, with divers other godly Prayers & Anthems of sundry men's doyings." In the second edition we thus have the word "Anthems" used, where in the first edition "Psalmes" had been employed. An illustration of the early actual use of the Anthem in its modern English sense is afforded by Strype, in his description of the Lent Services which took place in the Chapel Royal, within a year of the time when the permissive Injunction for the use of "a Hymn, or such like song," was published, at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign. "The same day" (he writes, i.e. Midlent Sunday, March 24, 1560), "in the afternoon, Bp. Barlow, one of King Edward's Bishops, now Bishop of Chichester, preached in his Habit before the Queen. His sermon ended at five of the clock: and, presently after, her Chapel went to Evening Song. The Cross as before standing on the Altar; and two Candlesticks, and two Tapers burning in them. And, Service concluded, a good Anthem was sung." [See also MACHYN's Diary, 1560.] Thus the place of the Anthem became practically settled after the third Collect, with which Morning and Evening Prayer at that time concluded; although it was not till above a hundred years after this period that there was any rubrical recognition of the Anthem, or direction concerning the time of its performance. When, however, at the last Review, in 1661, the concluding prayers were added, the Anthem was not removed to the end of the Service, as before, but was still allowed to retain its old traditional place after the third Collect. And it was with a view of fixing this position that the Rubric was inserted, “In Choirs and places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem." But although this is the only place where the introduction of a "Hymn, or such like song," or "Anthem," is definitely authorized, yet custom has sanctioned a much freer interpretation of the Rubric than its words actually convey. Practical need has asserted and substantiated its claim. The Rubric, or rather the original Injunction on which the Rubric was based, has shewn itself conveniently expansive and elastic, and the word "Anthem" proved a pregnant and germinant one, covering at once the Hymn, the Introit, and the Anthem proper. The truth is, however, that it is to custom and necessity, not to Rubrics or Injunctions, that we owe the general introduction of Music, as distinct from Plain song, into our Revised Offices. Custom drew forth the Injunction of Queen Elizabeth; the Injunction subsequently gave rise to the Rubric. But as Music originally found its way into our 1 It will also be observed that the two English wordsreally identical, and coming from the same root-Antiphon and Anthem, have finally parted company; the former retaining its ancient ritual, the latter acquiring a modern musical meaning. Reformed Service independently of written authority, so, independently of written authority, does it continue. For the very necessity which received formal recognition in the Anthem-Rubric, refuses to be satisfied with or limited by the strict terms of that Rubric. The Anthem, in some shape or other, was a fact before ever any written authority called it into legal existence; and in like manner, Hymnsinging, over and above the Anthem, has been, and is, and will be, an actual fact, notwithstanding its apparent want of formal rubrical sanction. The result of all is, that while "the Anthem" still retains its place, as a special offering to God of the firstfruits of sacred musical skill and science, "in choirs and places" where such an offering is possible, the additional introduction elsewhere of suitable Hymns, whether in the Eucharistic or other Offices, as aids and reliefs to the Services, is not only not thereby excluded, but practically and subordinately and implicitly sanctioned. This Section may be concluded with some practical rules on the subject of which it has treated. 1. Although, as we have seen, there was no deliberate intention, on the part of our Liturgical Revisers, that the old Antiphon should be reproduced, or find an exact counterpart in the modern Anthem; still, on the other hand, it is most desirable that the Anthem should practically—by its appropriate character, by its responding accordantly to the Service of the day, bringing out and emphasizing its special theme-vindicate its right to the title it has obtained, and prove itself a legitimate successor and representative of the Antiphon.1 Anthems or Hymns may thus become invaluable auxiliaries; imparting a freedom and variety to our Service which it would not otherwise possess, and rendering it susceptible of easy adaptation to the ever-changing phases of the Church's year. If the "Hymn, or such like song," does not possess any of this "Antiphonal" character, if it is regarded merely in the light of so much music interpolated into the Office by way of relief, it becomes simply an element of disintegration, splitting up the Service into several isolated fragments, instead of imparting a unity and consistency and character to the whole. Hence the need of due and reverent care in the selection of the Anthems and Hymns. Judiciously chosen, they may not only give new beauty and meaning to our Services, but may also prove most useful and delightful means of propagating and popularizing Church doctrine, and promoting the growth of genuine and healthy Church feeling. 2. As regards the position of the Hymns. The Elizabethan Injunction specifies the "beginning or end of Common Prayer;" and the Rubric says, "after the third Collect." So that we have three available places for "Hymns, or such like songs." The Hymn at the beginning of Common Prayer, although desirable on great Festivals, as a kind of Antiphon fixing the keynote of the whole succeeding Service, is somewhat inconsistent with the general penitential character of the Introduction to our Mattins and Evensong, and should not, therefore, be ordinarily employed. During the Eucharistic Office, the singing of Hymns, independently of the Nicene Creed, and the great Eucharistic Hymn "Gloria in Excelsis," is most desirable. There may be (1) an introductory "Introit;" (2) a Hymn, or (as the alternative provided in Edward's first Prayer Book) the "Agnus Dei," after the Prayer of Consecration; and (3) a Hymn, or (as a very suitable alternative) the "Nunc Dimittis," when the Service is over, and the remains of the Consecrated Elements are being reverently consumed. In the Office for Holy Matrimony, the Order for the Burial of the Dead, and other occasional Offices, Hymns may be often most appropriately and happily introduced. 3. With regard to the exact nature of the music to be employed in the Psalms, Hymns, Canticles, Anthems, etc., it would be most unwise, even if possible, to lay down any strict rules. While it would be a great error to discard many of the ancient Hymn-tunes and Psalm-chants of the Church, it would be a no less serious error to keep exclusively to them. The Church must bring forth from her treasurehouse "things new and old;" not only the severe (and to some ears uncouth) unisonous strains of bygone times, but also the rich, full harmonies of modern days. All must be freely, fearlessly 1 It should, perhaps, be remarked, that there still remain in the Prayer Book a few instances of the word Anthem retaining its old meaning. For example, the Invitatory Psalm, Venite exultemus," is regarded in some sort as a fixed Antiphon before the Psalms for the day, and is in this sense called an Anthem; the Rubric enjoining its constant use, "except on Easter-day, upon which another Anthem is appointed. The word is also used in its old sense in the following passage from the Introduction, "Concerning the Service of the Church :" "For this cause be cut off "" employed, according as taste, or special circumstances, or choral capability may dictate. Experiments must be made, mistakes perhaps braved; for many questions as to the best practical methods of linking together the "sphere-born, harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse" in the Service of the Sanctuary remain as yet undecided. Hasty dogmatism, and intolerant exclusiveness, in reference to the accessories of Divine Worship, are much to be deprecated, for in all matters of external apparatus the Church of England has yet much to learn. In putting forth the full strength of the Prayer Book, and developing its inward powers and energies, there will be also gradually disclosed outward features and graces which seem new and strange from their having been so long latent. But it is certain that all the resources of the Church, external as well as internal, are needed for modern times; and that all appliances, musical, ritual, æsthetic, should be brought to bear on the Services rendered to God by so cultivated an age, and set forth before men to win and help their souls. God having given all these outward aids-music, ritual, art-He means them to be employed for His glory, and in order to influence, and subdue, and attract mankind. As churches should be beautiful, and ritual beautiful, so music also should be beautiful; that it may be a more fitting offering to Him, and better calculated to impress, soften, humanize, and win. None of these Divinely-granted helps may be contemptuously laid aside. All should be reverently, humbly, piously used; used for God, not for self; used in full and fearless confidence that it is His own blessed Will that they should be used; used with the single eye to the glory of God, and the spiritual welfare of His people. SECTION III. THE ACCESSORIES OF DIVINE SERVICE. Divine Service being, as the term implies, the act of Worship rendered to GOD, it follows from the consideration of His Majesty that the place where it is offered, and the persons engaged in conducting it, should be furnished with whatever is suitable to denote its reverent dignity. The practice of the Jewish Church in this respect, based as it was on a Divine command which prescribed even its minutest details, proves that such accessories are not in their own nature unacceptable to God, or inconsistent with the claims of a Spiritual Being to the homage of His rational creatures. Further, the sanction given by our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles to the Services of the Temple and the Synagogue, and the application made of the Jewish Ritual by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, furnish indisputable authority for incorporating similar symbolic uses with Christianity, in order that it may present itself to mankind in a not less attractive form than the Religious System which it was designed to complete, but did in the end supersede. That such a Christian adaptation of other existing Religious Ritual Customs was considered to be right and desirable, is evidenced by the fact that the Christian Church, from its earliest days downwards, has everywhere exhibited, though in varying degrees, this combination of Symbolical Ritualism with the highest spiritual worship; and thus has practically enunciated a law-that Divine Service is to be accompanied with external accessories. The RULE given by the Church of England in applying this principle is contained in the following general Rubric, which is placed in a prominent position at the beginning of the Prayer Book: "And here is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the Church, and of the Ministers thereof, at all Times of their Ministration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by the Authority of Parliament, in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth." A Rubric substantially, though not quite verbally, identical with this, first appeared in the Elizabethan Prayer Book of 1559: the necessity for which arose out of the determination, on Queen Elizabeth's accession, to abandon the Latin Service-books, which had been restored in Queen Mary's reign, and to revert to the form of Divine Worship arranged in the Second Prayer Book of King Edward VI. [A.D. 1552], though with some revisions which made it more conformable to the First Reformed Prayer Book [A.D. 1549]. This change in the Services necessarily required some adaptation in the Accessories of Divine Worship; and as these had also undergone alterations during the period in which the Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552 were employed, it was requisite to adopt some standard by which to regulate them. The standard chosen was the use which prevailed "by the Authority of Parliament, in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth." The Rubric which declared this decision |