habitants of Stoke; but a telegram came down to me two years ago from Bath to this effect-"If the Congress invites itself to Stoke, will Stoke receive us?" My answer was so confident was I of the goodwill of the people-"Yes ;" and I have not been disappointed in the ready willingness of all parties in this and the neighbouring towns to receive the members of the Congress. And now I must congratulate the Permanent Secretary on the prospect of the immortality of Church Congresses. I believe they have taken a new lease of life from Stoke. I trust that Archdeacon Emery may be permitted for many years to see the succession of Congresses continue, and I am sure that he will have reason to be thankful that he was minded to bring the Congress here; and I trust that the new spirit, if I may so say, which has pervaded this Congress will influence Church Congresses from this time forth. HYMNS AND HYMN-SINGING. PAPERS. The REV. JOHN ELLERTON. THE branch of this subject with which I am now about to deal, is the Present Condition and Future Prospects of Congregational Hymnody in the Church of England. All of us, probably, are aware that the present condition of our hymnody is one of rapid-some would say of too luxuriant growth. That growth is not restricted to our own Church or nation. The old distinction between Lutheran and Calvinistic communions, that the one were singers of hymns, the others of metrical psalms, bids fair to be entirely abolished before the present century comes to a close. Among French Protestant congregations "Chants Chrétiens" in one form or other (some of them translations of English hymns) have all but superseded the psalms of Marot and Beza, just as among ourselves Tate and Brady have fallen into disuse. Even the old Scotch Psalms are slowly giving way before the newer rivals, and each of the chief Presbyterian communions in England and Scotland has its own modern hymn book in use or in progress. Among ourselves the revolution is now virtually completed. Two results have followed. The first, the vast impulse given to the multiplication of hymns; their free and abundant employment among us, their interpolation at various points of our regular services, their value in the various special services which have arisen among us-children's services, mission, choir-gatherings, and the like, their evangelistic use, on which I do not now dwell-all this has enormously augmented their power and their popularity; and has, of course, tended to multiply their number. Then while the twenty-five years from 1835 to 1860, will be marked by future hymnologists as the age of translations, the time when Latin, and to a less extent German hymnody was made available for congregational use among us, the fifteen years which have since elapsed have been years of almost unexampled fertility in the production of original English hymns. Doubtless many of these will ere long be disused and forgotten. But it is to be noticed that these new hymns are not mere additions to our stock. They are displacing the older ones to a great extent. While the best of the early Evangelical and Wesleyan hymns are, I am convinced, valued by church people far more than they ever were, it is worth remarking how few of them appear likely to remain in use. I may take as representatives of modern Church hymn-books, three of those which now command the largest sale "Hymus Ancient and Modern," Mr Bickersteth's "Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer," and the new Church Hymns' of S.P.C.K. Out of Watts' 720 hymns, five are in Hymns Ancient and Modern, eleven in Church Hymns, while but twenty-eight survive even in Mr Bickersteth's. Of the 348 Olney Hymns Mr Bickersteth preserves twenty-one, Hymns Ancient and Modern but four, Church Hymns but six. Notwithstanding the strong reaction in favour of Charles Wesley's hymns, Hymns Ancient and Modern gives us out of the twelve great volumes but thirteen hymns, Church Hymns twenty-three, and Mr Bickersteth's thirty-six. Of the other hymn-writers of the eighteenth century, about ten of Doddridge's, two or three of Toplady's, and a few single ones by other writers, are the most that will be found in the books mentioned. Later authors, such as Bishop Heber and James Montgomery, are of course men largely represented. These statistics will show that it is not mere addition, but displacement, which is occurring. I do not mention this with unmixed satisfaction. In the "struggle for life" of hymns it is not always the fittest which survive. Happily, in their case, disuse is not always death. It may be that the calmer wisdom of a future generation will in some cases revise the hasty judgment of our own day, and restore to our children some of those words which animated the praise, enshrined the experience, and cheered the dying hours, of saintly men and women whose names still dwell among the hallowed recollections of our own childhood. Next, This increased use of hymns has of course brought with it a great change in our hymn-books. But we must not conclude from this that the number of hymn-books published has increased in the same proportion. Local selections, so common in the early years of this century, have almost disappeared. One after another, large and important hymn-books for general use have arisen; each of these has killed off many small competitors, and the number in future seems likely to be diminished rather than increased. Such local books as now appear, are mostly mere supplements to one of these. Already, a clergyman seeking to introduce a new hymn-book into his congregation, is likely to make his choice not, as till lately, from among some twenty or thirty, but from among seven or eight at the most. In turning to the FUTURE, it is natural to ask, if the tendency of the Church of our own time is thus to the widespread use of a few large hymn-books, is it possible or desirable to go a step further, and concentrate into one national book the few that seem likely to distance all competitors? Or is it to be desired that at least a certain number of hymns, which are common to all these books, should be authorised, and congregations be left at liberty to add to these according to the taste of those who are responsible for their hymnody? Each of these questions I feel bound to answer with an emphatic "No." I do not think we are ripe for the interference, to such an extent, of authority, with the free development of our hymnody. A comprehensive hymn-book must do one of two things; either it must contain hymns the language of which would be so repellent to the view of many congregations I can and do most cordially congratulate this assembly on something better than that, namely, on the forbearance and Christian charity exhibited throughout all our meetings. The resolution was carried by acclamation. REV. E. H. BICKERSTETH. It is only at the command of our excellent secretary that I rise on behalf of my colleagues to express our hearty thanks to you for carrying by acclamation this vote of thanks to those who have had the privilege and responsibility of speaking in our Master's name. If Plato said that he was the happiest man and the richest man who had the opportunity of scattering germs of thought in the minds of his hearers, I am sure that we, who are disciples of that Master who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," can only thank Him for the privilege of having been permitted to say any words in His name; and I am sure that we and you will alike find that in this work of exchanging thought we have experienced what Shakespeare said of mercy"It is twice blessed: it blesses him that gives and him that takes." I heartily thank you. REV. R. W. RANDALL. THE singular unanimity of this Congress seems to be mounting to its climax on its last evening, as indeed it should, and the resolution I have to place before you is one that will, I think, bring that unanimity to its highest point. It is this:-"That the sincere thanks of the Congress be given to the Executive Committee for their arduous and successful labours." I have to couple with this the name of Sir Lovelace Stamer, the Rector of Stoke, and one of the secretaries of the Congress. You are assisting, let me remind you at this moment, at one of the most remarkable working-men's meetings that you could possibly assist at. As one who has worked a little upon a Committee of Congress, let me tell you that there is some very hard work to be done by those who make the arrangements for the addresses and speeches which we have been so richly enjoying the last few days. I do not think that the members of the Committee, especially when we remember that the Congress has been held in the good town of Stoke, will feel insulted if I compare them to some very useful but very little noticed officers of our railways, and say that they are a body of excellent stokers. If I may still carry a little further my railway figure, I confess that sometimes during our meetings here I have had some fear whether the steam might not have been a little too much suppressed here and there; but however much the steam in the shape of applause may have been suppressed, such has been the skill of the engine-driver, that though the boiler has been at boiling-heat, we have had no bursting of the boiler; and such has been the singular care with which the train has been conveyed from station to station, that we have had no collisions; and I venture to say that it may be recorded of the Congress of Stoke that it has kept safely and surely upon the grand old lines of the Church of England. I am sure that you will not forget that we owe our safety in these matters largely to the care which the Committee have exercised in the choice of speakers; and I must add that we owe our thanks to them for the admirable manner in which they have quartered us upon the hospitable inhabitants of this district. The MAYOR OF NEWCASTLE. MY LORD BISHOP, Ladies and GENTLEMEN,—I have much pleasure in seconding the resolution, and, to carry the railway illustration a little further, I may safely say that the real safety-valve which has kept all this great machinery at work and in good order has been the true spirit of English courtesy with which this Committee have managed the whole affairs of this Congress. The borough which I represent is, I believe, one of the oldest in the country, having obtained its charter in the year 1172, in the nineteenth year of Henry II.; and I can only say we look upon it as a sort of shadowy honour which we obtain through this Congress, having been received in our neighbouring borough of Stoke-upon-Trent. I myself am glad of this opportunity of making one remark, which, I think, will do something towards removing an imputation under which our borough might rest in consequence of a statement which appeared in the "Daily Telegraph.' In a leading article upon the Church Congress, I believe it was stated, after referring to the antiquity of our borough, and the modern character of the borough of Stoke-upon-Trent, that we look upon the borough somewhat in the light of a vulgar upstart. Such words as those must have been coined in the mint of the "Daily Telegraph" itself, because I do not believe myself that there is a single person in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyne who would ever think, much less say, such a thing with reference to what we consider a neighbouring thriving and friendly • borough. The REV. Sir L. T. STAMER. MY LORD, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS,-I dare not take to myself-though my name has been coupled with this resolution-more than that fraction of thanks and goodwill to which I am entitled as a member of a very large Executive Committee. The number of gentlemen going about with red and blue rosettes will assure every one that there has been a large army working for this end. Any one who knows what the work of preparation for a Congress like this really is, must be aware that no single hand could have carried it to a successful issue. Much has been said, and happily, as to the unanimity and goodwill which have characterised the proceedings of the Congress. But I am reminded to-night of the old saying that no man must be pronounced happy till the day of his death; and the Congress being about to expire with a musical session, and knowing as I do that musicians are as likely to get into collision as any other body of men, it is just possible that a collision may happen. Still, ladies and gentlemen, I do venture to hope that we shall all look back upon this Congress with blessed and happy recollections. The peculiar happiness, blessedness, peace, and order which have characterised this more than any other Congress, have been due, in my own opinion, to the constant and fervent prayers which have been offered up on its behalf. It was due to the happy suggestion of your coadjutor, my lord-I mean Bishop Hobhouse-at our first Committee meeting, that the prayer for God's blessing upon this Congress was prepared and placed in the hands of hundreds and thousands, who have offered it up to God; and I believe that the spirit which has actuated the Congress is due to the earnest, fervent intercession with God that He would give wisdom to our bishop and the clerical and lay members who have been speaking or attending at this Congress. I hope and trust that the good custom begun at Stoke will be continued at successive Congresses, and that all who are likely to take an interest in them will be equally blessed as we have been. I do most heartily thank the Committee of last year for having accepted the invitation to come to Stoke. It was a bold thing even to think about, but I am bound to say that the idea of bringing it here did not originate with us. In their wildest moments of ambition such a thing would never have crossed the minds of any in habitants of Stoke; but a telegram came down to me two years ago from Bath to this effect "If the Congress invites itself to Stoke, will Stoke receive us?" My answer was so confident was I of the goodwill of the people-"Yes;" and I have not been disappointed in the ready willingness of all parties in this and the neighbouring towns to receive the members of the Congress. And now I must congratulate the Permanent Secretary on the prospect of the immortality of Church Congresses. I believe they have taken a new lease of life from Stoke. I trust that Archdeacon Emery may be permitted for many years to see the succession of Congresses continue, and I am sure that he will have reason to be thankful that he was minded to bring the Congress here; and I trust that the new spirit, if I may so say, which has pervaded this Congress will influence Church Congresses from this time forth. HYMNS AND HYMN-SINGING. PAPERS. The REV. JOHN ELLERTON. THE branch of this subject with which I am now about to deal, is the Present Condition and Future Prospects of Congregational Hymnody in the Church of England. All of us, probably, are aware that the present condition of our hymnody is one of rapid-some would say of too luxuriant growth. That growth is not restricted to our own Church or nation. The old distinction between Lutheran and Calvinistic communions, that the one were singers of hymns, the others of metrical psalms, bids fair to be entirely abolished before the present century comes to a close. Among French Protestant congregations "Chants Chrétiens" in one form or other (some of them transla tions of English hymns) have all but superseded the psalms of Marot and Beza, just as among ourselves Tate and Brady have fallen into disuse. Even the old Scotch Psalms are slowly giving way before the newer rivals, and each of the chief Presbyterian communions in England and Scotland has its own modern hymn book in use or in progress. Among ourselves the revolution is now virtually completed. Two results have followed. The first, the vast impulse given to the multiplication of hymns; their free and abundant employment among us,--their interpolation at various points of our regular services, their value in the various special services which have arisen among us-children's services, mission, choir-gatherings, and the like, their evangelistic use, on which I do not now dwell-all this has enormously augmented their power and their popularity; and has, of course, tended to multiply their number. Then while the twenty-five years from 1835 to 1860, will be marked by future hymnologists as the age of translations, the time when Latin, and to a less extent German hymnody was made available for congregational use among us, the fifteen years which have since elapsed have been years of almost unexampled fertility in the production of original English hymns. Doubtless many of these will ere long be disused and forgotten. But it is to be noticed that these new hymns are not mere additions to our stock. They are displacing the older ones to a great extent. While the best of the early Evangelical and Wesleyan hymns are, I am convinced, valued by church |