own hymn book; and the hymns of Heber himself, and of writers still living, such as Keble, Milman, Alford, and Neale, are met every day in a variety of forms, which their authors would scarcely recognise." There are some authorities, such as Dr. Kennedy, of Shrewsbury, editor of "Hymnologia Christiana," who consider that such modifications, under certain circumstances and for certain purposes, are justifiable. We have, as will be seen, availed ourselves of this license of alteration. The editor has to thank living authors for the use of their compositions. He would add, in the language of Sir Roundell Palmer, that, "if in any instances he has, either through ignorance of the existence of a copyright, or for want of means of communication, made use of any work, in respect of which a similar permission ought to have been obtained, without actually obtaining it, he ventures to hope that the oversight may be excused, and the same liberality extended to him as if a request for permission had been previously made." As strict adherence to our principle has led to the exclusion from the body of the work of a few favourite compositions found in most popular hymn books, we have inserted them at the end of the book, under the title, Sacred Poetry. |