The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-28

Whatever BIZ the significance of the WORD
tread" In any zone" of the three positions ir
which it Is placed in the above rubric, the
same attaches to 1t in the other two.
Morning and evening prayer are appointed
to be said" with the same correctness as tc
be ''read.' The l30th psalm here appointed
to be tread" Ia, In the visitation OF the sick
introduced with the rubrical Injunction
.'Then shall the minister ''say'' this psalm
Psalm cxxx, and the lltany, which here is d.
rected to be- tread" ls, as we shall presently
see, In three other services ordered TO DC
''sald." We will now pass on to the following
rnbric occurring in this service for the vista
ton of prisoners:
Rubric-"Hers The minister, as he shall see
convenient, may read the prayer for all men. the
collect for Ash Wednesday and the collect begin:
| ming Almighty God, the fountain or all wisdom
Ac., or any other prayer OF the liturgy Wnieh ut
shall Judge proper"
1t appears to us from this inquiry Into and
comparison Of the rubrics, that y musical rem
derlnc of the parts of the service to which The
word 'sread'' Is prelxed, Is not only not imt
piled, but is positively excluded. We think
that were there needed any further weight o.
testimony from the language Of llturglc9
rules to fully establish US In our position, Il
Ia furnished by the last quoted rubric.
We call attention, without comment, to tn
two following ~rubrics; the frat follows The
collect for Ash Wednesday; the second the
collect for st. Stephens Day:
l. "This collect is to be read every day In Lent,
after the collect appointed for the day."
2, sThen shall follow the collect for the nativity
which shall be said continually until New Years
Eve"
None can fall to note the rubric placed I'M,
mediately before the order for daily morning
and evening prayer, respectively:
strhe minister shall begin tile morning prayer
by reading one or more Of The following senten'
ces Of scripture.
.fh. minister shall begin the evening prayer
by reading one or more OF the following sentcn'
| ces OF scripture"
Does any one suppose that the minister may
| render these sentences with musical note,
| and That because the word ''read" Ia used 10
the rubrics? Then we beg him TO turn TO the
two rubrlcs used In the communion service,
| one before aud the other after the sentences
| of the offerlory, to which attention has already
been directed.
We will next Inquire whether our prayer
book hos directed the psalter to be pro-
| nounced always without musical notes or has
| given the liberty of singing 1t.
We have already established the use Of
tread" but We will not take q retrospect OF
| what has been ELECTED from other parts of The
| prayer book, but consider what ls cubrlcally
| said 10 direct reference to the portions now
| under consideration.
On the first page of the book of common
| prayer, after the preface, we have 1.-THE order
how the psalter Ia appointed to be read" and
Immediately following the direction for read,
Ing the psalter we have 1.-THE order how the
| rest OF the Holy Scripture is appointed to be
'read.'"
AS at the time Of the compilation of our
prayer book there were nc cathedrsls, but
only parish churches, In this country, there
| was no contemplated use Of our liturgy In
| such q choral name as to induce the COM
| pliers of the American Prayer Book to antlcl.
| pate that either the lessons would be intoned
or the psalter chantsd. Now, some may say
! that the direction 1'read" does not prevent the
introduction oil either use. Surely neither the
| word 'readn nor many another word can pre-
| vent the gradual development Of appropriate
! use. But we are not discussing use In the
church, nor oasing our lawful rendering OF the
service upon 1t, We are addressing ourselves
to rubrloal interpretations; and, looking back
to the period when these rubrics were placed
In our book of public worship, we wish to as
certain their true purport by considering what
direction the oompilers- of the book found It
expedient or necessary to give as to the rem
derlng of The different portions OF the liturgy.
We shall and some light thrown upon this
matter as to whether the word read" was re-
garded by the council of the American Church,
which leglslated upon and fixed the rubrics,
as implying a musical rendering, and was,
therefore, used to afford such liberty, by turn
Ing to commentators upon the English Book
of Common Prayer.
Wheatly sage: 'Pope CelesIne, as we read
In his life, applied the psalss to be sung alter
nately at the celebration Of the Eucharist"
This practice, 30 primitive and devouc, our
to eDjoln it) still continues In her service,
either by singing, as In our cathedral worship,
or by "saylng," as 10 the parOchlal.
For in the former, when one side OF the
choir sing to the other, they both provoke
and relieve each others devotion; ''they pro-
woke It las Terlullian remarks) by a holy con-
tentlon, and relieve 1t by q natural supply and
change; for which reason, In the par0chial
service, the reading Of The psalms is also divl-
ded between the minister and people,"
We observe, then, 9 difference 10 cathedral
and psrochIal rendering of the psalter, which
the fathers of the American church we'll know
Ing, used the word ''read" as they have used
used 1t throughout the prayer book. 10 place
of SAY never for 8 moment Imagining that
In q single parochlal worship 1t would be 80 In
terpreted by any as to give The right to a cho-
dral. We would direct attention to the use OF
the word ''read,n In the passage quoted
above: SIN the parochial service, the reading
of the psalms Is also divided between the min
lister and people,"
Aud here it may 5e very well as strength
ening us the more 10 the opinion that ''read'
does not Imply or admit the idea OF singing to
make another extract from the same author,
When speaking Of the Gloria lin Excelsls he re-
marks yin The Greek Church, II makes q con,
slant part Of the morning devotions as vel
upon ordinary days as upon Sundays and holy
| days, only with this difference, that upon ordl'
nary days IL is only read whereas upon more
solemn times 1t is appointed to be 'sune,,.'"
It is too worthy of note to be overlooked,
that while at the beginning of the psalter. and
also of the selections of psalms to be used In
stead of the psalms for the day, there Is nc
further direction for the mode of rendering
the same, (that at the beginning Of the prayer
book directing them TO be 'read' being
deemed sufficiently We find over the psalms
| to be used instead of the recite, which ls Itself
| appointed to be said or sung this ruorlc:
"Portlons OF psalms to be sung or said q
| morning prayer on certain reasts ami fests, In.
stead OF the .Venlte Exultemus,' when any OF the
foregoing selections are TO follow Instead OF the
| pSalnS, as 10 the table,"
Again In testimony that the psalter Ia In
| tended to be pronounced without musica
| note, we have In the evening prayer these two
| rubrlcs, the one directly following the other:
s.Then shall be read the first lesson, according
| to the table OF calendar.
"After which Shall be said or sung the FOL
lowing psalm, except when 1t Is read in the ordl
nary course OF the psalms on the nineteenth day
OF the month";"
We would submit to any candid mind, thai
the word Tread" Of the first rubrlc applied tt
the lesson, and of the second to the psalter,
Indicates the same mode of rendering, an6
that the explicit direction "sald or sungh with
respect to the xcvlll psalm clearly disorlml'
lfkr.t -t-~n -. ...-