Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1850-10-24

up our voices with one accord in chant
ing and singing What reason is there
for con6atng praise, any more than
prayer, to size choir and organist 2 Are
they rsse only persons in the church who
are bound 10 give glory To God 2 Have
hey only becn redeemed by the precious
blood of Chris, Z DO we read anywhere
IN the Bible that praise II q part Of wor-
ship that does not brleng to the whole
congregation, but TO some ak or eight
individuals exclusively a? Where can
such an ntInation be- found ? Is il in
the psalm that is sometimes sung to us,
"Lc; the people praise thee, o God yea,
let all the people praise thee? Or in
the opening words of the Ien'te, 80
come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us
heartily rejoice in the strength Of our
salvation let us come before His pres
ence with thanksgiving and show our
selves glad in Him with psalms ~ Or in
the 92d psalm, at is a good thing to
give thanks unto the Lord, and TO sing
praises unto thy name, o most Highest"
Is this good thing for all Christians, or
for select and small number Do we
find such custom in sentences like these:
"All the world shall worship thee, sing
of thee, and praise thy name" "Kings
ofihe earth. and all people princes and
all judges Of the world (; young men and
maidcns, old men and children, praise
tile name Of the Lord all His saints
shall praise Him /; let the congregation Of
saints praise Him let everything, tina,
hath breath, praise the Lord" In the
New Testament rs We have already no
ticcd, all Christians are called on to speak
to themselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, to sing with grace in their
hearts unto the Lord. And in the
Acts of the Apostles we are told that
they, the believers in Christ lifted up
their voice with one accord unto the
Lord. 1t is related by Plny, n Roman
governor, at the beginning Of the second
century that the Christians were in the
habit of"mceting together and singing a
hymn TO Christ, as if he were Cod
This continued to be the practise for
long time. 1t was not until Christianity
became corrupted, and turned into Po-
perry, that the praises of Christ were sto-
len away from the congregation, and
kept to the lips of the Priest and choir.
And lest the people, after it was forbid
den to use their voices, might even then
make. melody with their hearts, and
sing with their understanding, the psalms
and anthems were confined in an un-
known tongue, and the songs Of Zion
locked up in Latin. But since our Re-
formed Church has restored the sense,
why should we not have the sound al
81 Since we possess n common pray
cr. why should we not have "A common
praise? There is no rubric in our Pray
or Book which requires that the chant
ing shall be done by a few selected
singers the words are, Here shall be
said or sung" such a psalm, anthem
cantic!e, or hymn the spirit and the ar
rangement OF all The services imply that
that they are to be said or sung by all the
people.
Two objections may be made to the
proposition that it is the right and the du-
~ Of the whole congregation to sing the
praises God. The first is that the in
PRODUCTION Of this practise would shut out
OF the church the finest music, and the
best singers. If by the finest music, be
meant that which u the most difficult Of !
execution, or the most astonishing as a
piece of art or the most acceptable to the
ears OF those who come to church, not to
worship God, but to he amused and kill
tune and irby the best singers be meant
such as sing entirely or chiefly TO dis
play their voices, to be heard and praised
OF men or such as sing only for gain, on
Sundays at the church, on week days at
the theatre,-then, We say, the sooner
this kind OF music is shut out of our
churches, the better it were consu
nation most devoutly to be wished
The House Of the Lord is not an Opera
house, nora II concert-room ;and when it
IL used for such purposes, it is dishon-
ored and desecratcd. When people de
sire to hear music merely as an amuse-
mcnt, or rs an art. let them go to the
proper place and at the proper time
there is nothing wrong in making or
hearing this kind of music, in itself con-
sidcrcd. But for everything there is
season. The Lords day is not the time
for secular singing the Lords House is
not the place for the study Of the fine
arts. We come, or should come hithcr,
toworship the living God TO praise and
glorify the Father, the Son, and the Ho- /
ly Ghost our Maker, Redecmer and
Sanctificr. The Music that is made |