Middletown transcript., 1871-12-16

Dwn ON t1o, S0tyccts Nuu - wv OcRgtnR
VI the question. We doa'l expect NIL
choirs. or any choirs. to be perfect We
know too veil ttst shsy are very lsr from
perscctiou. and Il Is no argument what
ever. in psliation Of the hesvt burpisgs,
strife, envy. SnsliessSnd nm
chasisablsuess which prevail - 0veso A.
mcng mcmbers Of choir. 10 ~ tbet. = u
10 were all psrfset. there ueuld b no |
need Of churches At sll" Il Is 10 be
hoped that there is no church IN the land
Cursed with that imperfcction in its gen
crnl congregation. which mars the spirit
Of worship in too many choirs cf the land.
In noticing my remark that ",hcrc are
those who sing in choirs. who make the
whole thing Of singing, so far as they are
concerned, more Of mockcry than n
really devotional psrt Of puplic worship"
You say, granting this, would il make
nny difference whether they sing in tue
choir, or in the body Of the church among
the congregation? And fturncd ont Of
the choir. why no, exclude them from the
church 7" Why, Mr. Editor, | avn sur
priced mt you. Do you see no difference:
II not. then. TO use your own quotation
- there are none so blind, MS those who
do not wish to see" There is enough
order, propricty. dcccncy. and respectful
frown down. If attempted to be INDUCED
in. the conduct Of persons who would dare
to indulge in such public mockcry OF
Divine Worship, MS some choirs do; aud
ii would require no other check upon
such than the frowns Of the congregation,
aud the public robukc Of the minister. to
keep them in order do not wish TO
make this communication too long. but
would suggest that you are simply mis-
taken in the impression. that turning the
leaves over during prayer in the church.
is done as much in the congregation MS in
the choir. That is not So and | know it.
| agree with you in your rcbukc OF the
bad manners Of those. members Of the
church" il you please, "who during both
prayer and the sermon. turn aud twist in
all directions to see who comes in. or to
see the latest style Of bonnet. dress or
shawl" II is neither polite or proper :;
it is disrcspccifnl to the officiating minis
ter; i, really displays an amount of i'll
breeding that in polite private circles.
would exclude them from association
Every church has some such weak and
foolish people in its congregation. and it
is an evil wc all dcplorc. would from
my heart i, could be cured and tina, -ucl,
nigh, take heed Of the sage and solemn
counsel Of the wise man. keep thy foot
when thou goest TO the house Of God, and
be more ready to hear than to give the
sacrifice of fools for they consider not
,ha, they do evil" NJ.
When the writer handed in his former
article he left nearly page blank, fo'
which We thanked him. reinarking at ,h'
same time that il would do 10 write oul
reply upon. This time, however, he die
not leave us room for line, thinking
perhaps. it would prcvcn, rejoindcr
) which. probably, he preferred. II is u
cainst the rules of this and muny ,ther of
fees to write on both sides Of the paper
but We will transgrcss it for once, an'
will use the back Of his manuscript Il
make few remarks in reply to his ar'i
: Gle. We don't like to say the writer
understanding mu., be becoming m's''
}, 6ed, but il would really seem so. II
:, quotes our language correctly, bu, put
e IN erroneous construction upon it. W
don't mean tina, one voice would make
=. bcdlam. and the words which he quot,
:. does not infer il. To strip the sentence I
,s verbiaee, il means--if one voice could
'c distinguished. which could be done by
quick enr) where half Of the congrega,io
O. read aloud it would be bcdlam MS far I
a. the music /. concerned. The writer {,
ii presses his surprise u, one Of our rcmnrk
but j, is not worth while to be astcnishe'
II u person would nisbchavc in cho
which 10 generally near the minister. al
,c in full view Of him. and not frowned dow
by him, it is not likely that he or u
" would care n,pch for the congregation.
- The writer is nc, much like the parse
cs spoken Of in his quotation from Goldsmi,
10 for he has not advanced any argument
10 favor of reading aloud, and has ignor'
:, the question almost entirely. lie b
.b not touched upon some strong points
IS made. but has taken up some minor ma
10 tcrs touching neither our article nor q
y. !. the subject under discussion, He, ip III
n. Of the above article, should merely ha
c. written
y ''l see the errurs that would avoid,
ID for. ns Prior says.
ID When people nrc suce IL the wrong,
h. Each line they add Is much loo long.
he Where one-fqnr,h. or onc-six,h, or ev
:. ono il n dozen. reads aloud while I
co others sing. no one, With any music In