The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-29

el11.estlns against songs OF that order /
Gustave Schirmer. who is engaged in
the publication OF music, said. There Is
no doubt that many Of the songs heard
~ our churches are very poor, whether
you consider the words or the music. A
great deal OF church music is being pub
ilshed all the time. Some of IL is eXcel-
tent, some is very poor. In general. IL
may be said that the music in American
chufcheS is inferior in quality to that
heard abroad. The latter is more severe,
ana some of IL is classical. The music
IN New York churches is better on the
average than in other parts of the Coun-
Try IN some Of the smaller churches al
most the only songs used are mere ball
lads, and in many cases operate and 9TH
~ popular airs have been adapted for
church use. In such cases the words
are considered of secondary importance.
and they are often meaningless.
IN some churches the music is valued
only for its drawing power That is,
where you VIII find the quartet solo choir,
ana where everything else is sacrificed to
the necessity Of permitting the singers to
display the fine qualities of their voices"
Probably no other man in America is
as well Versed in hymnology as the Rev.
CHARLES 5 Robinson. DR.. Robinson has
made a careful study of hymns, and has
published twenty-five hymn books, the
aggregate circulation of which runs up
into the millions When ne saw the par
ucular verse of Drifting With the Tide.
winch Mr.. Tuck had quoted for the sub
jet of his remarks. DR.. Robinson said:
That isn't hymn at all, at least not as
it stands. there. A hymn is a religious
song, and there is no religion in that.
Still, 1 don't believe that protesting
against it is likely to Go much good, for
such things will probably continue to be
written and sung in spite of protests.
And, after all, they are harmless. The
only thing to be said about them is that
they are not religious songs and so do not
belong in a hymn book. There are many
such, and some of them are widely sung
This Drifting reminds me of one, We
Are Sailing Ger the Sea, Homeward
Bound All you know when you. get
through singing that is that YOU have been
out sailing on the sea. And on Sunday
too" continued the doctor, laughing.
Hold the fort is a familiar thing. and
it is sung in many churches. but IL is not
a hymn. Another of the same kind he
gins Forward, Christian Soldier and
ends with the refrain, 'Toilng on, totltng
on They don't mean anything, and yet
worthy people stand up and get black in
the face shouting out these lines.
THE one or two examples given above
afford only slight indication of the alb
surd lengths which are sometimes reach
ed. l once attended a meeting held os-
tensibly in the interests of temperance
and religion, which went as far as any
this meeting closed his remarks by saying
that the only thing to do in the good
cause of temperance was TO go on. Then
he said: I'VE will close with hymn to
the tune of Aud Lang Syne.' He led
the hymn, and this was it:
go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on,
go on,
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on,
go on,
Gwan, g'wan, go on, go on, go on,
Gwan, g'wan, go on, go on,
Gwan, g'wan. go on, go on, go on, go on,
go on, go on.
Five hundred people stood up and sang
that, and, what is worse, they seemed
to enjoy it and to think 1t appropriate.
Do you know how many of the things
that find their way into hymn books are
written? You know that when a butcher
wants to steer a refractory pig or calf
in a certain direction he takes it by the
tail. That's the way the writing Of this
miscalled hymns is conducted. A man
will play or whistle or hum tune and
think that he has improvised an air. Then
he takes this little melody and builds into
it lot of words, which he naturally con-
siders of less Importance than the air.
The result is tabled a hymn and many
persons seem satisfied to accept it as such
on the authors statement without further
question.
ITO get down to bedrock in this mat
ter" continued Dr. Robinson, lit seems
to me that it is only necessary to keep
in mind the fact that hymn singing is,
or should be, a part of the worship of
God. As 1 said at the beginning, hymn
is a religious song, and nothing that fails
to meet this definition should find place
in a HYMN book"