The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-09-29
/, 70 Gospel - y
1 ! y Hymns.

Hi - - charles Graves "a - .
k9i Key, That Haven't Helped,
dE ., -rs many Of the favorite Cos
des ~ saelarlnr in effect that their
h5nns us .nd trashy, while the words
~, meaningless dosserei VI "0''0
rrl,ss ala and written from
BtNura pas -, the low grade OF music
3 70 co'uo IN our churches. With the
Common ss ~ hymns commonly known
o..,sl hymns but which ior .ne sun sun
IH Ge'pi Standardization, are some
Nj n'eouss "a under such titles as Songs
.ts pup','1c ,,dness, The Finest OF the
~ jc ana Ian Endeavor Songs and
NO. samerous to mention-with the
!, this class of church music there
gni o. annette for cheap, trashy
come GA bvmn books, which contain
III pae, bvmns and tunes of the great
III iac w 80 hecn laid aside for the jing-
"a s'' Z, non.sacred music of MacGrana'
x s,,pblns, sankcy, Billhorn' h'rkpat-
NJ Nv IKE TO sing these songs is the
III i''t -eoson given for the change.
~ y, ~ follow out this principle and give
Ell ..,,ls circus instead OF a sermon
IA NOV like II better? II we are
sars sacred Worship we must have
Y mrslc-rnnsic that suggests pure and
III sncbts that awakcns divine aspirn.
& MAJ ufts the soul above the dis
IA ILL.,, n earth into the restfulness OF
MANY of the Gospel hymn tunes
land Won in the midst of an indian
e T" All is not music that jingles'
"a ii 4 not sacred that Is puhlished W'tn
religious title.
In mon the question of hymn tunes
"a @ NV adding anything; but 1t is sell
"a !, oyer tbnt attention is called to the
"A ...ss, of the words that make up these
Il ,.oA HYMNS. Bad as the music is-if
a ~ !, may he called-thc words are, In
" - es.es still worse. Barring out a few
Y Il hymns as this;
Vth holy fear and humble song
n n. sreaful God our souls adore,
fp,r,,srce and awe become the tongue,
Thot speaks the terror of his power,
y ,,,, belongs 10 the early years of Protes-
X 4 hymnody, the Gosra hymns are by
4, ,he worst that have ever been pub
H. INT say some we don't care about
|, words. If the tune pleases us, that is
4. W. ask Then, why use words at aux
H. not say the meaningless 'Ta-ra-ra
s0nde.aye, instead of such wretchcd
,srds as The blood, the blood Is all my
sea Hallelujah how 1t cleanses me-
TO a great many people the church
frice Is nothing more than form. They
tdte creed aud ritual as though the words
teant nothing Many say, with solemn
sneilon, 4 believe in the resurrection of
BE dead, when they don't believe any such
bling They confess to God that they are
BE chief Of sinners when they would
tnte you in the face If you called them
ilth And how many people sing, with Il
bod deal Of enthusiasm about wearing
'Fhite robes and golden crowns and walk
BIZ through streets Of pure gold knowing
b the time that that is STEER fancy, a Sc
bis Of images borrowed from dark and
b. away ages!
The history Of bymDody shows that
tynns have always been fred with a Sc
fcs purpose. Charles Wesley's hymns
Fge as effective as John Wcsleys SER
FonS The hymn has been mighty force
n spFesting different forms Of the Chris
Pa faith Let me make the hymns, said
fne Old writer, and care not who makes
Pc creeds John Wesley describes his
fynn book as a body Of experimental and
practical divinity. And recently Bishop
pilaIeu, speaking Of Moody, said: He cir
plated unnumbered millions Of gospel
fynnS II 1t be true that he who makes
'le hymns Of people rules the nation,
'nen M. Moody must have been one of tho
llgalleS Of men, SO clearly have reli-
Elous leaders seen the need of hymns to
'oee their faith and emphasize Its cardi-
~ points that, lacking good hymns of
lAsf own creation. thRr have taken the
p'nns Of other writer's and adapted them
z thelr notions.
Meaningless and Morbid Hymns.
u falr to assume that the Gospel
.yuPs have been written. or, at least, are
prpusaed for the purpose of teaching the
!. ,u"plcptS therein expressed. They are
,pel 10 the world with all seriousness.
=. WORDS as well as the music, have been
LpplO'ea and selected for the purpose of
-f''ues religious instruction and awAk
.N religious faith Were these HYMNS
s oay oy few benighted souls In the
u, ,.1NUOds they might be fttlngIy ignored /;
y \, 'nsSinnch as these or others of exactly
n. s4~e character are sung at every re.
n. revival, in Epworth League and
I1,,. Luaeayor meetings In the ma
N W rrotestant orthodox churches In
NM OultrY' aud all too frequently In our
,,s y sCnoois' their character is not an un-
lpol'aD' matter. - =
u''e are societies established for the
ppgesslon OF bad pictures and hooks no.
M, !, Is believed upon very good evl.
W. 'aat these things are demorallzlng.
N .l many stories of good little boys
\, sn ~ VINO die young, wr.,ten expressly
Son. ay school libraries, exert as per
h, an influence as the worst detec.
as., ino'an dime novel. Much that
e,lth,", e' tue name of religion is as nm
Il, w as anything can well be. cen
" ~ II an epidemic smote n commun-
s,.;r = va. va, considered the proper and eff
can s 'nlhg to pray to God TO stop the
!, \. Nowadays we see that the sew
s:,.ct vpen and the streets clean. To
nrs.. ssn,'ary measures, even for the
: os,. " ueYotlng time to prayer. would
snn,1 su suicidal. A larger knowledge
-vs,msr. me suppression of the religious
srs 49,. wtehcraft, Insanity and cpl
d r., aud large knowledge compels
,c,e ''g many hymns because they ex-
. N NJ. thoroughly evil influence. Take
U''ratlon the one beginning: