The _hymns_, which at first were not used at all in the Roman church, were one of the brightest ornaments of the Greek. The verses and ancient tunes of these hymns were at first well adapted to each other; but, by the constant introduction of embellishments, shakes, and cadenzas, the connection was soon lost. This taste for ornamentation in sacred music was driven to far greater excess in the Greek church, than even in Rome; the taste _fioritura_ is to-day, and always has been, a characteristic of most Eastern nations. This is driven to such excess in the Greek church, that (in the churches of the Orient, at least), the hymns are executed by two singers, one of whom sings the hymns, while the other sustains the key note or principal tone only. This note the singer gives out with regularity and monotony, its only object being to keep the principal singer in bounds and to prevent him from straying away from the key on account of the numerous trills and _fiorituri_ which he is expected to introduce into the song. It may be well to mention here, as we shall not recur to the music of the Eastern Greek church again, that its style of notation, and singing has altered very little, in the course of centuries; it is totally different from that of all other countries, and consists wholly of signs, which are not in any manner measured off into bars, but somewhat resemble the chants of the Catholic church. The notes are only relative in value, and the scale on which the melodies are founded, may be represented thus,— Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, Do, Re. Pa, Bou, Ga, Di, Ke, Zô, Ne, Pa. Every embellishment is represented by a character; rising and falling inflections by others, and comparative length of notes by yet others. It will therefore be seen that although the notation is decidedly complicated, there is a comprehensible system followed, by consulting which, we attain certain information as to one branch of the early church.[242] The works found in the old monasteries of the Orient are almost invaluable to the musical antiquary. We believe that many more will yet be discovered among the monks of Mt. Athos, those strange and illiterate custodians of some of the rarest manuscripts in existence, relative to this subject.[243] We are sorry that a thorough description of this subject (though full of interest) would demand much space and many engravings. The effect of the singing of this church in its oriental branches is very similar to that of the Hebrews in their services of the present day. SYRIAN CHURCH. We now turn to the early Christian church of Syria, founded by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas.