The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-09-29
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Classes OF suh;.e..

world with silly lamentations ov.r 49,.
istence. ou' eA-
Classes OF Subjects.
Let us briefly examine the Gospel HYMNS
take the edition known as GOSPEL uymns
consolidated. including Nos. /. ? al
This contains emitting dupllcato, ,ao
hymns II is not an easy matter -
nlyze them into different subiect o,s.sas
Tor the reason that many of them roon,
treat dozen subjects with eoual n.rtic,,
'arity' inc second coming OF Christ the
plood oil jesus, and Jesus as God are ofte,
equally prominent in one hymn. This make.
the analysis show more hymns than tboro
really are Roughly speaking. the collec.
tioh OF hymns can be divided as follows.
Ten only-that is about nor con,
adore and worship God the Father ,ho
One, Only and True God. Four SING nroisos
Of the Ever Blessed Trinity i've h,,
area ana seventy-seven, or 65 per cent are
audressed to Jesus as the Supreme BEING
In preference to God the Father. Slxty.
two make free and distinctive mention NJ
the saving power Of the blood of Jesus
Fltteen eloquently describe the second con,
ing OF Christ. Forty.three are detailed do
scriptions Of heaven as a material nloco
ana twenty-three are anxious longinrs -
quit this world for heaven. Five tcoch mo.
lie here Is an unmitigated misfortune 81,
cast contempt upon the world. ten throw.
art In mans face and only hve-out Of i26
hymns, only iye-have word Of conn.
dence In man, and teach him to be good
ana true by virtue Of his own power.
SAMPLES of Hvn,psl Doo,o..t
LET us look at them stil more closely
Montgomery shrewdy remarks-ond his w..
marks condemn many Of his own prod,,c.
tons though doubtless that was not his In.
tention- Hymns looking at the multitude
and mass of them, appear to have been
| written by all kinds Of persons cxcept
poets And this is especially true of the
Gospel hymns. The mass of them are the
basest doggercl you can Imagine. and mean
as little as a lot Of words thrown together
can well mean They lack almost every
quality that makes good verse. secular or
religious, and they are as empty of feeling
as Of sense. No, IS is a typical specimen.
though by no means the worst. Here is
| the second stauza'
Come home, come home.
For we watch and we walt
And we stand at the gate
While the shadows are piled.
Nor is this from No 263 any better:
"Would you have your cares grow light?
Fix your eyes upon Jesus
Would you songs have in the night?
Fix your eyes upon Jesus.
"Nor do more recent editions and hymns
show any Improvement, ms this. il Is taken
from Gospel Hymns No. g. will show:
Rejoice in the Lord, oh, let His mercy
cheer
lie sunders the bands that enthral,
Redeemed by His blood why should we
ever fear,
Since Jesus is our all in all?
1--WE are told that the mysteries of re-
| ligion' are hidden from the wise and re.
vcaed to the simple; perhaps that Is Q
case with the merits of these hymns But
| In this hardhcGded everyday world we
are in the habit of taking things at their
face value and, on the whole it Is a safe
way.
at doesn't mend matters to plead that
the writer's of this doggerel meant well
and were inspired by noble purpose.
Judging by their work, they succeeded n
keeping all meaning and inspiration out of
their hymns Nor can It be urged that
there was any need for a greater muml er
OF hymns to express the special religious
dogmas of evangelical Christianity, for
there Is an adequate store of very hnn ana
strong hymns orthodox enough to suit I e
most rgidlv righteous How can people
deliberately forsake such vigorous and in.
| spring hymns MS
Chou hidden love Of God. whose height,
Whose depth unfathomed no MN
knows.
see from far thy beauteous light
Inly / sigh for thy rcpose,
My heart is panied. nor can II he
At rest, till it find rest in Thee
for the cheap, meaningless trash of the
average Gospel hymn? ! think all agree
that when we worship God we should wor-
ship Him with the best nj our command.
We should be moved by the purcst intent,
and our words should be the sweetest and
noblest mortal tongues can lisp. There are,
as we all know, many hymns that exp ess
the orthodox ideas In n noble and worthy
way. To neglect these for the WHISKY washy
verses characteristic of this collection is to
vulgarize religious worship and rob 1t OF
its sweet spiritual upllft
Examples Of MutiIation.
Not only are the finest hymns Of the or
thodox faith put aside for much inferior
ones, hut 1t is not unusual to find them mn
tilated and murdcrcd-for to rob a hymn
Of it's life is to murder It, A good example
of this is found in No. 236 The original il
one of DR.. Watts most celebrated hymns
/ In its true form It is noble utterance; it,
rhythm is sweet, its movement majestic ant
its thought inspiring;
''Joy to the world! The Lord is come,
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and Nature sing.
"A greater writer tLan Dr. Watts nigh
perhaps improve upon this; but there l.
not Gospel hymn writer who could hold
candle to the great hymnist And yet
full of confidence and conceit MS all iittl'
minds are, one Of these Ingenious peopl
has thought to improve the hymn an
purify It's orthodoxy by twisting Is thus;
Joy to the world The Lord is come
The mighty God. the Everlasting Father
the Prince of Peace.