The Kanzas news., 1857-11-28

Henry Ward Beecher on Church Music
In letter from Henry Ward Beecher
printed in the Iadepsndent under date o.
'Mountain-rest Matteawan," we read:
"By the way. yesterday morning was al
the Methodist Church here. a very plea
SAINT room it Is, and I am told that a very
worthy society occupy it. But I have q
most weighty charge to bring against the
good people, of musical apostacy. 1 had
expected treat of good, hearty singing
There were Charles Wesley's hymns, and
there were the good old Methodist tunes,
that ancient piety loved, and modern conceit
laughs at ! Imagine my chagrin when, after
reading the hymn. up rose choir from the
shelf at the other end of the church, and
began to sing monotonous tune of the mod
ern music-book style. The patient eengre-
CATION stood up meekly to be sung to, as
men stand under rain when there is no
shelter. Scarcely lip moved. j., No one
seemed to hear the hymn, or to care for the
music How I longed for the good old
Methodist thunder! One good burst of old
fashioned music Woiild have blown this
modern singing out of the windows like
wadding from gun Men may call this
an improvement, genteel! Gentility has
nearly killed our churches, and it will kill
the Methodist churches if they give way to
its false and pernicious ambition. We know
very well what good, old fashioned Metho-
dist music was. 1t had faults enough,
doubtless, against taste. But it had an in
ward purpose and religious earnestness
which enabled it to carry all its faults, and
to triumph in spite of them? It was wor-
ship. Yester lays music was tolerable
singing, but very poor worship. We are
sorry that just as our churches are begin
ming to initiate the former example of Meth
odist churches, and to introduce melodies
that the people love, and to encourage uni
yersal singing in the congregation, our Meth
odist brethren should pick up our east-of
Journalism in church music. 1t viii be
worse with them than with us. It will
mark a greater length of decline We could
hardly believe our eyes and ears yesterday.
We could not persuade ourselves that we
stood before a Methodist church. We
should have supposed it to be good, solid
Presby terian or Congregationalist church,
in which the choir and pulpit performed eve
rything, and the people did nothing.
Our brethren in this church must not
take these remarks unkindly. They are
presented in all kindness and affection. The
choir sung better than many choirs in city
churches, but no one sung with them. The
people were mute. They used their ears,
and not their mouths But, alas! we
missed the old fervor-the good, old-fash-
ioned Methodist fire. Wesley's hymns,
taking the congregation by the hand, would
have led them UP the gate of heaven. But
yesterday it only led them up as far as the
choir, about ten feet above the pews This
viii never do. Methodiets win make grand
good worshipping Christians if they are not
of their own ways, but very poor
ones if they are. Brethren, you are in the
wrong way. 1t will never do for you to 81
lence the people. Your fire win go out #
you rake it up under the ashes of false
refinement. Let an outsider, but we'll
wisher, say these plain words to you with
out offence. The Methodist Church has laid
the Christian world under great debt by |
its service IN the cause of Christ, and we |
have right In it, and an interest in it, as |
common Christians, too great to suffer US
to see signs of degeneracy in it without sor-
row and alarm. We hope God means to do
great things by it yet, for our land. But it
will not be by giving up heart and soul, zeal
and popular enthusiasm in worship, for the
sake of sham propriety and tasteful formal
sm, that the Methodist Church will become /
yet further efficient. We hope to see such
a revival of religion among them as shall
come like freshet upon their churches, and
sweep out the channels of song, and carry
away the dead wood and trash which has
already damned up the current of song, and
made the congregation stagnant. Oh, that
there might be a rain of righteousness upon
them, which shall swell their hearts to over
flowing, and cleanse their sanctuary from
all Journalism, and especially from the form
alism of pedantic musict 5