As to the form in which these early hymns of the Church were composcd, we have no means of even approaching a certain conclusion. Among the Jewish Christians the chanting of the Psalms was familiar, and it would be easy for them to compose hymns that could be sung to their accustomed tunes ; but with the Gentile converts it would be somewhat different. Among the Grccks and Ro mans poetry had fixed metrical forms, to which the tunes of the Hebrews could not be adapted. There is no reason, however, to believe that the early Gentile Christians followed these metrical forms in their sacred poetry. The earliest speci mens of Christian song extant ; the hymu to Christ, preserved by Clemens of Alexandria ; the evening hymn, referred to by Basil as in his time very ancient, handed down from the Fathers (De Spir. Sanc., c. 29) ; and the morning hymn, which has been incorporated with the Liturgy of the Church of England ; have no traccs of a metrical character, but are, like the Biblical hymns, adapted only for being chanted in recitative with a few and simple cadences.* Such singing would no doubt be new to the Gentile converts, but it would be speedily learned ; and as they probably had very little sacred music of their own, they would hail with delight this accession to their sources of enjoyment, which served at the same tiine as a vehicle of the devo tional feeling which had been kindled within them.
It has been suggested that in Cor. xiii. we have an apostolic hymn, and in Eph. v. 14 ; I Tim. iii. 16 ; James i. 17 ; Rev. i. 5, 6 ; xv. 3, etc., frag ments of hymns sung in the Apostolic churches ; but this is mere conjecture, though not without some probability (Deyling, Hymni a Christianis decantandi, Obss. Sac. iii. 43o ; Walch, De Hynz nis Ecd. Apostol., 1737 ;Hilliger, De Psal. Hymn.
Odar. sac cliscrimine, Viteb. 172o ; Gerbert, De cantu et musica a prima Ecd. stain usque aa' trasens tempus, Bamb. et Frib. 1774, z tom. 4to ; Bingham, Antiquities, Bk. xiv. ch. 2, Works, vol. iv. p. 447, ff. ; Rheinwald, Chthtl. Archxologie, p. 262. For collections and specimens of ancient hymns, see Poeta Grad Christiani, una cunz Ho mericis centonibus ex sanctor. Patr. opp. colledi usum Gynznas. Soc. yesu, Lutet. Paris. 16cio ; Magg,i, &seri Hinni che si lege,ono in tzetto anno santa Chiesa, Venet. 1567 ; Hymni Ecclesix e Breviario Parisiensi, Oxon. 1838 ; [Faber] Hymns translated front the Parisian Breviasy,Lond. 1839; Daniel, Thesaurus Ilymnologicus, 3 vols., Hal. et Lips. 1841-55 ; Bingess, Select Metrical Hynzns and Homilies of Ephraem Syrus, Lond. 1853 ; Trench, Sacred Latin Poetry, Lond. 1[849 ; Mrs. Barrett Browning, .The Greek Christian Poets, Lond. i863).—W. L. A. [SYNAGOGUE, 9o5.]