280 OUR HYMNS :
he published " Original Hymns for Public, Private, and Social Devotion." In his "Introductory Essay" to his "Christian Psalmist," he has given an interesting sketch of some of the hymns-writers whose hymns he has included in his collection, and at the same time has given his account of what a hymn should be. He calls for unity in hymns, gradation in the thoughts, and their mutual dependence, a conscious progress, and at the end a sense of completeness ; and he insists that hymns ought to be easy to understand. He says : " The faults in ordinary hymns are vulgar phrases, low words, hard words, technical terms, inverted construction, broken syntax, barbarous abbreviations, that make our beautiful English horrid even to the eye, bad rhymes, or no rhymes where rhymes are expected ; but, above all, numbers with out cadence." As to the form and general character of his hymns, Montgomery has certainly been faithful to his own canons ; but it is open to question whether some of his pieces are in the true sense hymns. This is especially applicable to the favourite piece
" Prayer is the soul s sincere desire." No. 800,
which consists almost entirely of definition and statement. It bears date 1819. Taken as a whole, Montgomery s hymns are the most valuable recent contribution to our collections. In a letter written in 1807, Montgomery informs us of the history of his hymn-writing. He says : " When I was a boy I wrote a great many hymns ; indeed, the first-fruits of my mind were all consecrated to Him who never despises the day of small things, even in the poorest of His creatures. But as I grew up and my heart degenerated, I directed my talents, such as they were, to other services, and seldom, indeed, since my fourteenth year, have they been employed in the delightful duties of the sanctuary. Many conspiring and adverse circum stances that have confounded, afflicted, and discouraged my mind, have also compelled me to forbear from composing hymns of prayer and praise, because I found that I could not enter into the spirit of such divine themes with that humble boldness, that earnest ex-
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