Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1885-11-05

difficult to get near her. But two
more blows broke the jar in pieces; all
but the neck ; this was left on pussy's
neck, and off she went as fast as she
could go, with this queer necklace on,
| to her home on the mountain.
--~C-~ tr--
Sunday school Music and fss
Effect.
We're we to trace the religious indIf-
ference of to-day to its origin, we would.
perhaps, find the causes of it much
nearer at hand than we suppose. Take
for instance the case of young man.
lie goes regularly to church, hears the
sermon and the music, and is inAuen-
ced by them just in that degree to
which his interest has been awakened:
He feels that he is only a passive OBJ
ject, having nothing to do, but to keep
quiet during divine service. Is it to be
wondered at if he gets, in time, tired
and Indifferent? If he only could sing,
but business and other circumstances
prevent his giving attention to il, hence
he must let his praise to the Lord be
done by proxy-the choir.
He has learned to sing too in the
Sunday school, but then those songs
are not sung in Church because they
are not fit. Hence he wanders off from
one church to another just to see what
is going on, and finally drops off by de-
grees altogether, simply because he
takes no interest in the service. Were
we to condense in one comprehensive
sentence the tendency of education Of
the present day, we would say: The OBJ.
jece of education is to utilize for
permanent use all juvenile efforts as
soon as possible, in other words, to
make the training practical so as to be
in readiness for application in after
life.
The children in Sunday school are
taught the Lords plecepts FOR present
and future practice, why not extend it
to their singing too, that they may
learn to sing the hymns of the Church.
Nay, Is it right to waste their precious
time on trialng stuff such as the Sum
day-school hymns and music is pro-
nounced to be? How much better it
would be to teach them the songs they
ale to use through their own life. {
verify believe such a course would keep
them in the Church, where now they
are drifting into inditferentism! Some
one has truly observed that we must
get hold of the future congregation
when they Gt ia) are impressible, and
that they should be taught the songs
their elders sing and not the miserable
jigs that they are singing now.
This is "a serious matter, and should
he closely examined into by ministers,
and if there is any truth in the saying:
Give me the making of the peoples
songs and | care not who make their
laws, the responsibility becomes doub-
ly great when we consider that we have
to guide the young and inexperienced,
who rely upon our judgement and sin
cerity in directing them Alright. Con-
sidering too that we have not far to go
for the proper material, it becomes in
excusable to continue the present Sun
tay-school music any longer, for our
collection of hymns is acknowledged to
be among the very best, while Tunes
for Worship, is pronounced to be The
Book for years to come.
If such radical change is made now
how grand would the music grow from
year to year as the young advance in
life, and how sweet the memories IN
their declining age!
Luther knew the value of congrega-
tional singing, hence his efforts in in
Producing 1t. A Sunday school leader
was asked once: Suppose the Lord
Jesus was vis'bly present during divine
service, could you sing your Sunday
school mueic?' mo- Gould you sing
Old Hundred OR any other choral ?
Yes! This tells very briefly what is
not. The one was dictated by reveren-
tial sincerity. the other by u hollow
hearted desire to please the seeker of
frivolous pas. times and make money
by selling music books, i: e., exchange
musical jingle. An organist writes,
th,.t for some time past he has intro
duced better Music in the Sunday
school. At first, people said it would
not work now, thank Heaven the chill
dren sing the chorals Of the fatherland
and the modern tunes Of the mother