During the last forty years, multitudes of American and English worshippers have been accustomed to the following variation of one of Doddridge's hymns; the variation making the hymn more appropriate to public worship.

That indispensable hymn of Dr. Raffles: "High in yonder realms of light," consists of forty-eight lines, as published by William Bengo Collier in 1812. As published by Dr. Raffles himself, in 1853, it consists of thirty-two lines. As it ordinarily appears, in English and American hymn books, it is variously combined and altered. The following are specimen copies :

WILLIAM BENGO COLLIER'S EDITION DR. RAFFLES'S OWN EDITION OF 1853.

§ 6. Changes in the Text, as affecting the Uniformity of

Worship.

A great evil resulting from the alteration of hymns is, that various forms are used by various congregations; and men, accustomed to sing from one manual, are confused by the new phrases which they find in another manual; and sometimes the same assembly utter, on the same notes, different words, or even different verses, and thus there is no distinction of sound, but "every-one hath a psalm," " hath a tongue," "hath an interpretation." This is an infelicity, and therefore manuals for song should adopt the original, partly because this is more apt to be the prevailing, form of the lyrics.

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But exceptions prove the wisdom of this general rule. We must not blame the original collector of the " Psalms of David," even if we adopt a common theory, that he inserted the eighteenth Psalm in a form different from the original, as found in the twenty-second chapter of second Samuel. It has been remarked by those who believe that the Book of Samuel contains the earliest copy of that song, that the first notable instance of departure from the original draught of a sacred lyric, was made by the editor of the inspired Psalms. Many persons have been "shocked," still more have been confused," and some have been ruinously prejudiced against the revealed word, by the fact that the old songs of the temple are "altered," when cited by the apostles; and that the quotations made in the New Testament from the Old, are often so far "modified," that it is difficult, if not impossible, to recognize and identify them. We believe that, in many instances, the writers of the New Testament quoted the "changed form," simply because it had become more familiar than the original words, to the men whom the apostles immediately addressed. But the original form remains, and is now better known, and has become far more precious to many readers, than is the Septuagint, which the writers. of the New Testament have preferred to cite. There were valid reasons for accommodating the words of the old poets

and prophets to the times of the new dispensation. So there were valid reasons for giving us two different versions of the Lord's Prayer, both of them promoting an excellent end, although the "uniformity of worship" is not always secured by them. In like manner, there are reasons for adapting to modern tastes some of the ancient hymns, notwithstanding all the inconveniences which attend the adaptation.

§7. The Principle of Changes in the Text lies at the Basis of Modern English Hymnology.

More than twenty English versions of Hebrew Psalms appeared before the time of Dr. Watts. They were written by Sir Philip Sidney, Christopher Hatton, H. Dodd, Dr. Henry King, Miles Smith, Dr. Samuel Woodford, John Milton, William Barton, Dr. Simon Ford, Sir Richard Blackmore, Dr. John Patrick, Mr. Addison, archdeacon Daniel, Dr. Joseph Trapp, Dr. Walter Harte, Dr. Broome, George Sandys, Sir John Denham, and others. It was the aim of their versions to represent, exactly, the spirit and style of the Psalter; but every one of them frequently, though unintentionally, failed in the correctness of its translation. The Psalter, as versified by Dr. Watts, introduced a new era into English psalmody, and constitutes the basis of our modern hymnological literature. But he has designedly "altered" the Psalms of David. "I could never persuade myself," he writes, "that the best Way to raise a devout Frame, in plain Christians, was to bring a King or a Captain into their Churches, and let him lead and dictate the Worship, in his own Style of royalty, or in the language of a field of Battel." Accordingly, we find such notes as the following appended, frequently, to his Imitations of the Psalms.

'This quotation is made from page x111 of the first edition of Watts's Psalms. It was printed in London "for J. Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry; R. Ford, at the Angel in the Poultry; and R. Cruttenden, at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside. 1719." The copy of this edition now lying before us was a presentation copy of the author himself, and contains his autograph on the blank leaf: "To y Rev Mr Stinton. - I. WATTS." From this copy the notes printed on the following pages are extracted.

Psalm 5. "Stanzas 2 and 5. Where any just occasion is given to make mention of Christ and the Holy Spirit, I refuse it not; and I am persuaded David would not have refused it, had he lived under the Gospel; nor St. Paul, had he written a Psalm Book."

Psalm 35. "Stanza 6. Among the Imprecations that David uses against his Adversaries, in this Psalm, I have adventured to turn the Edge of them away from Personal Enemies, against the implacable Enemies of God in the World.

Stanzas 7 and 8. Agreeably to the Spirit of the Gospel, I have here further mollified these Imprecations by a charitable distinction and Petition for their Souls, which Spirit of Evangelic Charity appears so conspicuous in the 12th, 13th, and 14th verses of the Psalm, that I could not forbear to form them into a short, distinct Hymn, enlarging on that Glorious Character of a Christian - Love to our Enemies - commanded so particularly, and so divinely exemplified by Christ himself."

Psalm 37. "This long Psalm abounds with useful Instructions and Incouragements to Piety, but the Verses are very much unconnected and independent; Therefore I have contracted and transposed them so as to reduce them to three Hymns of a moderate length, and with some connection of the sense."

Psalm 39. "I have not confined myself, here, to the Sense of the Psalmist; but have taken occasion, from the three first Verses, to write a short Hymn on the Government of the Tongue."

Psalm 40. "If David had written this Psalm in the Days of the Gospel, surely he would have given a much more express and particular account of the Sacrifice of Christ, as he hath done of his preaching, vs. 9, 10, and enlarged, as Paul does in Heb. 10: 4, etc., where this Psalm is cited. I have done no more, therefore, in this paraphrase, than what I am persuaded the Psalmist himself would have done in the time of Christianity."

Psalm 55. "I have left out some whole Psalms, and several parts of others that tend to fill the Mind with overwhelming sorrows, or sharp resentment; neither of which are so well suited to the Spirit of the Gospel, and therefore the particular Complaints of David against Achitophel, here, are entirely omitted."

Psalm 92. "Stanza 6. Rejoicing in the destruction of our personal Enemies, is not so evangelical a practice, therefore I have given the 11th verse of this Psalm another Turn."

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It is common to speak of Dr. Watts's "Imitations" model psalms. They are such, and they ratify the principle of occasional departures from the main text. It is a singular fact, that even although he is not condemned, when he