not only of mediæval, but of all, ages. It is a magnificent thing to pass along the far-stretching vista of Hymns,—from the sublime self-containedness of S. Ambrose to the more fervid inspiration of S. Gregory, the exquisite typology of Venantius Fortunatus, the lovely painting of S. Peter Damiani, the crystal-like simplicity of S. Notker, the scriptural calm of Godescalcus, the subjective loveliness of S. Bernard, till all culminate in the full blaze of glory which surrounds Adam of S. Victor, the greatest of all. And though Thomas of Celano in one unapproachable Sequence distanced him, and the author, whoever he were, of the Verbum Dei Deo natum once equalled him, what are we to think of the genius that could pour forth one hundred Sequences, of which fifty at least are unequalled save by the Dies Iræ?
When the first edition of my book was published, Gautier's collection of the works of Adam had not appeared:—and several of them were yet MS. Two out of these, the Stola Regni laureatus; and the Verbi vere substantivi, will be found here. Probably no poet is so hard to translate, from the subtleness of his allusions, the richness of his rhyme, the close
