Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-05-21

by throwing the whole responsibility upon
the mass Of the people, making the great
multitude the choir, we might ronss more
heartiness The great congregation COM
ing on the sabbath day feel that
they cannot delegate this part If the
great service q any one else, aud
50 they themselves assume IT, We
have glorious congregational singing here.
People have come many miles to hear it.
| They are not sure about the preaching, but
they can always depend on the singing We
have heard the sound coming up like ''th
| voice of many waters but it will be done "a
a better rate after n while, when we shall
realize the height and the depth, and the i'm
mensity of this privilege
Another reason why we adcptel this plan.
We do not want a1y choir quarrels You
Rnow very well that in scores OF the churches
there has been perpetual contention in that
direction. Tho only church fight that ever
occurred under my ministry was over a
melodeOn in my first settlement. Have YOU
never been in church on the Sabbath day
and heard the choir sing and you said: "That
! is splendid musicpi The next Sabbath You
were in the church and there was no choir at
| al3 WhYl The leader was mad OF his assist
| ants were, or they were all mad together
Some of the choirs are ira le UP of our
best Christian peoplel Some of the warme,t
| friends have ever had have stood up i'm
them, Sabbath after Sabbath, conScentiously
But the majority of the choiIs throughout
the land are not made up of Christian peo-
pie, and three-fourths of the church fight
| originate in the organ loft. | take that ba *,
AMI say nino-tenths. Many of our churches
are dying of choirs.
let us as a church give still more atten-
ton to the music. If man with voice
enough to sing keeps silent during this exer-
else, he commits a crime against God and
insults the Almighty
Music ought to rush from the audience like
the water from a rock-clear. bright, spark
ling. If all the other part of the church SER
vice is dull do not have the music dull.
With so many thrilling things to sing about,
away with all drawing and stupidity
There is nothing that makes me so
nervous as to sit in pulpit and
look off on an audience with their
eyes three-fourths closed and their lips
almost shut, mumbling the praises OF
God. During my recent absence preached
to large audience and ali the music they
made together did not equal one slylnrk!
| People do not sleep at q coronation Do not
let US sleep when we come to a Saviour's
browning. In order to proper discharge of
this duty let us stand up, save as age or
weakness or fatigue excuse us. SEATED in an
easy pew we cannot do this duty half so well
MS when, upright we throw our whole body
into it. Let our song be like an acclamation
of victory. You have a right to sing. Do
not surrender your prerogative.
We want to rouse all our families upon
this subject. We want each family of our
congregation to be a singing school. Child
ish petulance, obduracy aud intractability
would be soothed if we had more singing in
tho household, and then our little ones would
be prepared for the great congregation ON
Sabbath day, their voices uniting with our
voices in the praises of the Lord After a
shower there are scores of streams
~ vii
voices ripping and silvery, pouring into
one river, and then rolling in unitao
strength to the sea. So | would have all the
families in my church send forth the voice
of prayer and praise pouring it into the great
tide of public worship that rolls on and on to
empty into the great, wide heart of God.
Never can we have our church sing as it
ought until our families sing as they ought.
There will be greatrevolution on this sub
feet in all our churches. God will come down
by his spirit and rouse up the old hymns and
tunes that have not been more than half
awake since the time of our grandfathe rs.
The silent pews in the church will break
forth iuto r1lsir, and when the conductor
takes his place on the Sabbath day,
there will BE- q great host OF voices
rushing into the harmony. Ny Christian
friends, If wa have no taste for this
service on earth, what will we do in Heaven
where they all sing and sing foreverl Let
lne DrODueSy Ill regard 10 any one mere VINO
has no delight in the worship OF Heaven-if
you do not sing the praises of God on earth l
do not believe you will ever sing them in
glory. / would that our singing to-day
might be like the Saturday night rehearsal
for the Sabbath morning in the skies, and
might begin now by the strength and by thu
help of God, to discharge duty which uona
of US have fully performed.
"Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God;
But children Of the Heavenly king
Should speak their joys abroad.
The hill of Zion yields
IA thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
"Then let our songs abounl,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Emanu,l's
ground
To fairer worlds on high"
Come now, clear your throats and get
ready for this duty OF you will never hear the
end of this. | never shall forget hearing a
Frenchman singing tho Marseiaisa Hymn %
the Champ Elysees, Paris, just before the
lattle Of Sedan. 1never saw such enthusi-
assn before or since, as he sang that national
air. Oh, how the Frenchmen shoutedl Have
youeverm anEnglish assemblage heard baud
play God Save the Queen" Ii you have
you know something about the enthusiasm
of national air. Now, tell you that these
songs we sing Sabbath by Sabbath are the
national airs Of Jesus Christ and of the king
dom of heaven. When Cromwell's army
went into BATTLE he stood at the head of them
one day and gave out the long metre doxol-
ogy to the tune of 'Old Hundredn and
that great host, company by company, regi-
ment by regiment, battalion by battalion,
joined in the doxology:
Praise God from whom all blessing flow,
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost"
And while they sang they marched, and
while they marched they fought, AMI while
they fought they got the victory. o. mer
and women of Jesus Christ let us 90 into al
our conflicts singing the praises of God, ant
then, instead of falling back, as we often do
from defeat to defeat, We viii be marching
Oh from victory to victory
Not All Right.
A