262 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n'i S. VII. Mae. 26. '59. 



(2"-^ S. vii. 6.) 



Dr. Gauntlktt related an anecdote connected 

 with the hymn 



" Beyond the glittering starry sky," 



and assigned the authorship to the brothers Ber- 

 ridge. In the Index to the Conp'egational Hymn 

 Book the hymn is ascribed to Gregg. Which is 

 correct ? 



Does any authentic record exist of the circum- 

 stances which have given occasion to the penning 

 of many of our finest hymns ? 



Gerhard Tersteegen, whose name is omitted by 

 Dr. Gauntlett, is reputed to be the author of 

 the hymn in Wesley's Collection : — 



" Lo ! God is here ! let us adore. 

 And own how dreadful is this place ! " 



And it is said to have been written after visiting 

 some cathedral. Is this true ? I read his Life 

 some years ago, but have not the book at hand : 

 the hymn is therein claimed for him, if I recollect 

 aright. 



Is it also true that, while on a visit to the Land's 

 End, C. Wesley wrote the hymn beginning 



" Thou God of glorious majesty"? 

 in which occurs the line, 



" Lo ! on a narrow neck of land," — 



suggested by the position of the bold Cornish 

 promontory. 



Is it also true that Oliver, having heard a He- 

 brew melody, was so charmed witii it that, not 

 recollecting suitable words to sing to the tune, he 

 composed expressly for that purpose the noble 

 verses beginning, 



" The God of Abraham praise." 

 Does any collection exist in which the hymns 

 are honestly retained in the form in which they 

 were written by the authors ? The hymn last re- 

 ferred to has been sadly maimed of late : for in- 

 stance, compare this verse — 



" The God of Abraham praise. 



Whose all-sufficient grace 



Shall guide me all mj' happy days 



In all my ways. 



He calls a worm his Friend, 



He calls himself mj"- God : 



And he shall save me to the end. 



Through Jesu's blood." 



Which I take to be the form in which it was 

 issued by Oliver, with the following version in the 

 Congregational Hymn Book : — 



" The God of Abraham praise, 



Whose all-sufficient grace. 



Shall guide us througli the wilderness, 



To see his face. 



He is our faithful Friend, 



He is our gracious God, 



And he will save us to the end. 



Through Jesu's blood." 



I do not say this is bad absolutely, but I say 

 the nerve is lost. The lion-souled Oliver, strong 

 in the conviction of the personal providence of 

 God, felt that his days must be and were happy, 

 and expressed what was to him a true living 

 thought ; in the improved version, besides an al- 

 teration in some of the ideas, the individuality is 

 all gone, and the singer merges into an item, one 

 amongst a crowd. Most of our best hymns, like 

 the Psalms of David, are written in the singular 

 form ; and, in most cases, lose in effect by conver- 

 sion into the plural style. 



I think it was J. AVesley who said that others 

 were perfectly welcome to print his own and his 

 brother's hymns, provided they printed them "just 

 as they are:" and added, "but I desire they 

 would not attempt to mend them, for they really 

 are not able." There is a great deal of truth in 

 this remark, which is applicable to more than 

 Wesley's compositions. 



Few hymns have been improved by the altera- 

 tions which of late have been so freely introduced. 



Sometimes, when an alteration has grated upon 

 my ear, and I have felt that the beauty and point 

 of the original have been injured, I have tested 

 the matter by reading both versions aloud to in- 

 telligent persons unacquainted with either original 

 or alteration; and I have invariably found the 

 hymn, as written by the author, to be so decidedly 

 preferred, that I have come to the conclusion that 

 the cases in which alterations are improvements 

 are extremely rare. 



This little quiver of Queries must suflice for the 

 present. W. Stones. 



Blackheath. 



GIPSY LANGUAGE. 



(2"'' S. vii. 170.) 



Mr. J. Dirks, on p. 5. of the Prize Essay I re- 

 ferred to in " N. & Q." (2"'^ S. vii. 96.), names the 

 following works as treating this subject : — 



Dr. F. BischotF, Deutsch-Zigeunerisches War- 

 terhuch, Ilmenau, 1827. 



Grollmann, Wurterhuch der in TciitscMavd iih- 

 lichen Spitzhuhen-Sprachen, vol. i. Giessen, 1822; 

 vol. ii. ? Collate von Train, Chochemer Loschen- 

 Wurterbnch der Gauner und Diebs-, vulgo Jensicher 

 Sprache, Meissen, 1833. 



Graffunder, JJeher die Sprache der Zigeuner, 

 Erfurt, 1835, in 4to. 



A. F. Pott, Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien, 

 vol. i. ; Einleitung vnd Grammatik, xvi. and 476. 

 pp., large 8vo., Halle, 1844, vol. ii. ; Einleitung 

 iiber Gaiiner-Sprachcn, Worterbuch und Sprach' 

 proben^ iv. and 540. pp., Halle, 1845. 



Furthermore : — 



Grellmann, Die Zigeuner, also translated into 

 the French and Dutch languages, Dessau and 

 Leipzig, 1783, 2nd edit. 1786; in Didck, Dor- 



