Hymns and Their Stories. By " A. E. C." (S.P.C.K.)—This is
a very carefully written and useful little volume, giving just the information that many will wish to have. Some knowledge of the writer adds an interest to a hymn, possibly in a greater degree than in the case of any other poem. Bible Hymns and Prayer- Book Hymns form the subjects of the first two chapters ; in the second a good deal is brought out that will be new to some who are fairly familiar with the Prayer-Book. Early and late Greek hymns, Latin hymns, and the compositions belonging to this country, to Germany, &c., are successively discussed. St. Bernard of Cluny's saying that only the inspiration of God could have helped him to write the "Rhythm of the Heavenly Country" refers in the first place to the extraordinary difficulty of its metre. It is written in quantity and with double rhymes.
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