The San Francisco call., 1896-03-10
DO LAMBS SHED TEARS 2
Rev. DR.. Goodwin Finds Too
Much Poetical License in
the M. E. Hymnal.
IT GOES AGAINST NATURE.
Congregationalists Hear Some Defini.
tions of American Religious
Liberty.
IT GOES AGAINST NATURE.

Rev. DR.. W. r. Goodwin wants to find
tune e-maker, consecrated, sensible, bap-
tized tune-maker, who shall arise and COM
pile such book of psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs as will set all Christendom
singing.
1t was at the San Francisco Methodist
Preachers Meeting yesterday morning,
that DR.. Goodwin expounded his views on
the subject. The next General Conference
will probably be called upon to give the
M. E. church new hymn and tune book
and the reverend gentleman employed the
shining hour yesterday in attempting to
reconcile his hearers to the change by
pointing out the poetical licenses and the
musical impossibilities of the hymnal at
present patronized by the faithful OF the
Methodist church. H said:
"Henry Ward Beecher once said,
Hymns are the exponent of the inmost
piety of the church, Let US truly exam
inc our authorized hymnal and see what
kind of book the Methodist church is ex-
pected to use. We have a hymnal con-
tanning ILL hymns, many of which have
no more place in a singing book than so
many extracts from Milton, Pollock or
Scott. AS book of poems our hymnal is
splendid, but set to such tunes the hymns
are simply unsingable and useless in a
song book. Take 1907, Tender shepherd.
brief weeping Now it is generally known
/ that lambs do not shed tears, and no
poetic license should be indulged in If it is
to violate natural laws"
Other amusing examples of poetic license
were cited, and the speaker turned his at
tention to the tunes which. he said, the
musical editors had in several instances
divorced from the hymns for which they
were written. THAT the tunes in our
hymnal are classical is conceded, but that
the majority of them are singable is denied.
| Because of this the country is flooded with
unnumb bered 'harps' and songs and hl-dld-
dle-diddle trash full of jingle. but devoid
of sense. Very few pastors can use our
church hymnaI in reyivals or prayer-meet-
| ings or sunday-schools unless they have a
paid choir TO teach and lead, and paid
| choir rarely teaches and does not want to
! have any one else sing.
"The hymns in our hymnai are gener-
| ally set to unsingable tunes, while our
| modern revivalist jingle has tunes enough,
| but omits the thhnderings from Sinai and
| feeds sinners aon food adapted only to
saints" The speaker went on to plead for
| tunes adapted to the sentiment OF the
"If we had from 500 TO 800 OF our best
church hymns set to the right kind OF tunes
we should set our churches and Sunday
schools in such blare of Gospel singing
that we could beat the devil to death with
holy song"
Even this cheering prospect did not rec
oncile most of the pastors who took part
! in the discussion to the idea of being
shorn Of their present hymnal. Rev. DR..
! Carroll said that he was astonished at the
attack and considered that its restrictions
| included aspersions on st. Paups utter
ances. DR.. Hammond defended the old
! hymnal and Rev. T. X. Baker said it was
a tune in the old book which led him into
the straight and narrow path. A few OF
| the pastors condemned the hymnal with
| faint praise, particularly DR.. Ollie, who
considered it too voluminous.
| At the close of the meeting resolutions
were passed expressing pleasure that the
National Woman's Christian Temperance
Union Convention is to meet in this City
next November.