FROM THE LIBRARY OF 



REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. 



BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 



THE LIBRARY OF 



PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 






No. 429. 



A PLE 




FOR 



SACRED MUSIC 



A PREMIUM TRACT. 



BY REV. EDWARD W. HOOKER, D. D. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET. NEW-YORK. 



D. Fanehaw, Priiittr. 



2 A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 

the .in sic or the i»+ ire oil 

If it were proper here to speak of the music of the pal- 
lor, we should feel constrained to proscribe the mass of 
popular songs, and say they ought never to be sung. They 
are, to an amazing extent, either insipid, vulgar, profane 

centious in their tendency, and in their positi 
. We have heard christian females sing such songs 

re not only popular in the theatre and the midnight 
revel, but appropriate to them, rather than to the fireside 
of a religious or a cultivated family. Not to name others, 
such a blasphemous effusion as "the Evening Song to the 
Virgin" — which is a prayer to the virgin Mary — is not 
unfrequently performed, when a request is made for t 
sacred song. The popular taste is so far vitiated, 
young ladies seem to have forgotten that there are some 
ears to be gratified with pious sentiments, or offended 
with that which is corrupting in morals, and dissipatin j 
in its influence on the mind and heart. The deleterioi > 
effect of fictitious reading seems to have extended to th • 
musical literature and taste of the country, and made 
one of the purest sources of enjoyment a channel for 
the merest sentimentalism, or what is infinitely v. 

We could wish that American females might proi, 
the reply of an accomplished Swiss lady of our acquaint- 
ance, who, on being asked to sing some popular song in a 
large and genteel party, said that tf the members of her fa- 
ther's family all played and sung, and derived much of their 
enjoyment from this source ; but that she had never heaMft 
or sung any other than songs of a religious character 
der her paternal roof; and she wondered at the taste of 
a christian country where other and insipid songs were 
popular." Yet she is a perfect mistress of the piano, aid 
in the purest taste. Will not the individual 

je hand this Tract may fall, if she possesses this de- 
d accomplishment, purge her collection cf s< 
of the accumulated trash which may probably be f< 
there! And will she not ask herself the question, how 
ihese same ill affect her, should they crowd 1 

her memory, when her \ < . and when those fn [ 

which have wander* icefully over the keys of her 

t, begin to grow stiff in death! r. s. c. 

No. -129. 



No. 429. 
A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 



The word of God appoints, and christians have ever 
maintained, three distinct exercises, embraced in public 
worship, — prayer, preaching, and sacred song. Each of 
these, in its place, is important. Christians should sustain 
them all. On the truth and justice of these remarks, as 
they apply to sacred music, we base our plea in its behalf. 

When we speak of sacred music for the common use 
of a christian assembly, we refer especially to composi- 
tions having the simplicity and brevity of Luther's Old 
Hundred, Hamburgh, St. Martin's, Duke-street, Dundee, 
Elgin, Wells, and others like them; tunes which can be 
adapted to many psalms and hymns ; and which, perform- 
ed with the variety of expression suited to the sentiments 
ind character of the poetry, will bear repetition in three, 
four, or five stanzas, without dull uniformity. Such music, 
connected with words and performed with proper ex- 
pression, has an eloquence delightful and powerful; and 
which may pervade the perfoimance of a common psalm- 
tune, as well as of an air, recitative, duet, or of a chorus 
in Handel's Messiah or Haydn's Creation. With this ex- 
planation, then, in pleading for good sacred music, we 
shall be understood to speak of that which is practicable 
by all well trained singers, and within the means of any 
congregation able to support the Gospel. 

Valuable collections of psalms and hymns have been 
prepared for use in connection with sacred music, and 
are found in our places of public worship. These are prin- 
cipally adapted to musical compositions of the charac- 
ter already described. They open a wide field for the elo- 
quence of music. They comprise choice lyrical pieces, 



4- A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. (4 

general duty of praise. They are instructions to the use 
of music in union with " psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs," as means of acceptable worship. Ancient saints 
practised on these. David so much used sacred song for 
devotional purposes that he was called "the sweet 
psalmist of Israel." Paul and Silas sang praises to God 
in the prison at Philippi. Israel at the Red Sea, after the 
destruction of their Egyptian pursuers, broke forth in 
most lively songs of gratitude and joy. Sacred song 
made a very important and interesting part of the temple 
services at Jerusalem, and occupied the time and talents 
of 4,000 of the best musicians in the nation. To read the 
histories of some of the sacred festivals of the Jews, and 
of the music by which they were rendered august and 
imposing, cannot fail to move the feelings of any man 
who has "music in his soul." They help our conceptions 
of the meaning and devotional spirit of David, when he 
said, " The Lord is in his holy temple ;" " Enter into his 
courts with thanksgiving and into his gates with praise." 
2. The effects of music furnish an argument for its use 
m divine worship. All men are moved by it, more or less. 
A single song, used in France, and appealing powerfully 
to popular feeling, was one of the instrumentalities in 
bringing on that revolution, which many years since 
surprised half the civilized world with its terrors. The 
effects of the first performance of the Hallelujah Chorus 
in Handel's Messiah were such as to raise the vast assem- 
bly from their seats, almost unconsciously to themselves. 
Music not only powerfully affects man, but even the 
lower animals. If such then be the power of music, it 
should be regarded as of inestimable worth in aiding the 
devotions of immortal beings assembled as worshippers 
of "the Most High God." Let the Church patronize, 
cultivate, and employ it for the purposes for which it is 
so eminently adapted ; and what may it not accomplish 
for the advancement of piety and devotion 1 



5) A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 5 

The christian comes to the sanctuary, burdened with 
trouble and sorrow, afflicted with some bereavement, 
or beset with temptations, or oppressed with a sense of 
unworthiness and guilt before God. How sweetly the 
soothing influence of sacred sonof will sometimes come 
over his spirit. It calms the troubled waves of his soul, 
as did the voice of Jesus the stormy sea, when he said, 
w Peace, be still!" The christian is thus led to adore 
a Father who "pitieth his children." "Awake and sing, 
ye that dwell in the dust," says the Scripture ; and from 
deepest sorrows thus break tenderest, sweetest songs. 
The weight under which the soul has been bowed down 
is removed. The mourner is comforted; the trembling 
believer established, quickened, strengthened; the con- 
trite heart sweetly drawn to a reconciled God; and cou- 
rage is gathered by the christian for the " good fight 
of faith." 

Eminent christians have testified their experience of 
the benefits of sacred music, as they have those derived 
from meditation, prayer and hearing the word. A devoted 
female missionary, speaking of a Sabbath service in a 
dark and. dreary land, writes, "My soul was refreshed, 
particularly in the singing ; and I thought of the bliss of 
heaven." President Edwards writes, " I often used to sit 
and view the moon for continuance ; and in the day spent 
much time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold the 
sweet glory of God in these things; in the mean time 
singing forth with a low voice my contemplations of the 
Creator and Eedeemer." "I felt God, so to speak, at the 
first appearance of a thunder-storm; and used to take 
the opportunity, at such times, to fix myself in order to 
view the clouds and see the lightnings play, and hear the 
majestic and awful voice of God's thunder, which often 
times was exceedingly entertaining, leading me to sweet 
contemplation of my glorious God. While thus engaged, 
it always seemed natural to me to sing or chant forth my 



6 A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC (6 

meditations, or to put my thoughts in soliloquies with 
a singing voice." 

The deepest feelings of the christian, then, find the 
most natural channel for their flow in music. This ac- 
counts for the fact, that in the Scriptures sacred song 
is .described as the medium of the liveliest joys and most 
exalted praises of heaven. The most inspiring songs of 
earth are immeasurably surpassed by those heard in the 
temple " not made with hands," and from the choir of the 
" New Jerusalem." There is worship to God perfect; 
praise offered "in the beauty of holiness." There per- 
forms a choir "which no man can number," and which 
has been formed and taught by the Son of God. There 
are employed harps, M strung and tuned for endless 
years." Eternity will never know dissonance, nor weari- 
ness, nor faltering, in the songs of praise before "the 
throne of God and the Lamb." " The ransomed of the 
Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs, and ever- 
lasting joy shall be upon their heads." " And they sung a 
new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and 
to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast re- 
deemed us to God by thy blood." " And I heard the voice 
of harpers, harping with their harps; and they sung as 
it were a new song before the throne and before the four 
beasts and the elders; and no man could learn that song 
save the hundred and forty and four thousand which were 
redeemed from the earth." 

Now we cannot suffer heartless criticism, disjoined 
from taste for either earthly or heavenly harmonies, to 
wrest from us our faith, or discourage our anticipations, 
that music will minister to the bliss for which we hope 
in heaven. We do and will believe that " sounds of 
glory" will help to swell the " amazing joys " of the re- 
deemed. While the pious soul takes wings from amid the 
scenes of earthly worship, and dissolves in tenderness 
and joy under the power of sacred music, there is rap« 



7) A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 7 

ture in the thought, " If so sweet be the songs of Zion 
on earth, what must be the holy harmonies of heaven !" 

3. We argue for sacred music, because its cultivation 
and 'performance are within the ability of all. God has 
given to men musical powers as freely as those of 
speech ; and early and assiduous cultivation would as 
fully develope the one as the other. This has been be- 
lieved by but very few, till of late ; and it still is doubt- 
ed by many. And those who do believe in the univer- 
sality of musical powers have been long and slowly 
coming to this point. But experiment, that sure test 
of the soundness of opinions, has demonstrated it. Let 
your child be as early and faithfully taught to sing as 
to read, and he will make a singer as certainly as he is 
made a reader. Proper musical education of the young, in 
past years, would have made our present congregations 
great choirs of singers. There is at this moment, in all 
our religious assemblies, a vast amount of musical talent 
unimproved, " buried 5" and account must be given for 
this in the last day, as for other unimproved talents. 

There are in our places of worship, every Sabbath, 
hundreds of listeners, or perhaps inattentive endurers 
of defective musical performances, who ought to be en- 
gaged in raising the songs of joy and praise towards 
the throne of heaven. To many of these, not even now 
too old to learn to sing the praises of God in his sanc- 
tuary, we say, " Unbury your talents, cultivate them, 
consecrate them, and use them in praise of their Giver. " 

Many a man, in common conversation, uses a voice 
full, clear, musical, and yet has never learned any thing 
more than Old Hundred, or perhaps a military air. 
Many a woman, in the social circle, speaks with a voice 
soft, sweet, melodious, and adapted for the service of 
sacred song ; but has perhaps never learned more than 
a popular love song or a nursery lullaby. " These things 
ought not so to be." It is ingratitude to God, the Giver 



8 A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. (8 

of such powers, not to cultivate and employ them in his 
praise. Scarce a bird is there in all " the firmament 
of heaven" but raises some notes to the praise of the 
Creator ; and shall man, whom he has made but M a 
little lower than the angels," be silent ! 

The question may be asked, rf Is it necessary that all 
should sing who can 1" But if sacred song be worship 
to God, then the question is not, " how many performers 
are needed 1" rather, H who can be excused from the 
duty of singing, any more than from joining in prayer V 9 

But we reply to the questions stated, as apparently 
anticipating the danger of having too muck power or 
quantity in the service of sacred song ; that there cannot 
be too many voices nor too much music in any reli- 
gious assembly, if the voices be properly cultivated, 
and if it be music which is made, and not solemn jargon. 
The writer once listened to four hundred singers, sus- 
tained by the powers of a noble organ, in one of our 
city churches. It was music, in the true sense of the 
word. Among other tunes performed was that noblest 
of all, Old Hundred, in which the whole congregation 
were requested to join with the choir. Two thousand 
voices were then poured forth to swell the majestic 
river of song. Yet such was their harmony, and so ju- 
diciously and admirably were the powers of the organ 
brought out in accompaniment, that there was not one 
voice too many, nor one breath of instrumental aid too 
much. We have read of commemorations of Handel 
and other great musical festivals, for which were as- 
sembled the musical talent and skill of all Europe ; but 
we do not remember to have read of too much music 
on such occasions. No ; assemble a choir of ten thou- 
sand, around an organ, if you please, vast as a cathedral 
or a palace ; let harmony blend and bind all together ; 
and although the sublimity and majesty of the perform- 
ances may overwhelm an audience of millions, still, of 



9) A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 9 

music there will not, cannot be too much. John listen- 
ed to a voice M upon mount Zion," " as the voice of 
many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder ;" but 
he appears to have felt no oppression of his senses ; for 
it was a voice full of the music of heaven. The notes 
were mighty, and yet sweet and delightful as the glory 
which surrounds the eternal throne. 

4-. Appropriate sacred music is a 'powerful auxiliary 
to the preaching of the Gospel. When the minister of 
Christ has " reasoned out of the Scriptures," pressed 
truth and precept upon men's consciences ; warned, en* 
treated, pointed to the " judgment to come," heaven 
and hell ; then, in the appropriate psalm or hymn, mu- 
sic, like a voice from heaven, speaks to the inmost 
soul. The unconverted hearer who has been instructed, 
convinced and made serious by the sermon, may melt 
and weep under the pathos of the " lovely song," which 
speaks of mercy, hope, " the throne of grace ;" and of 
Christ as the sinner's friend, refuge, Savior, and " the 
Prince of Peace." The backslider, shown by the word 
his way of grievous departure, when music falls upon 
his ear, perhaps in the words, 

" Return, O wanderer ! return, 

" And seek an injured Father's face/' 

may melt like Peter under the tender yet piercing 
look of his Lord. Under the solemn preaching of the 
word the deep fountains of the soul become full and 
swollen ; and thSh music breaks open those fountains, 
and makes to flow penitence or joy, or both sweetly 
mingled. 

There are few hindrances to the efficacy of preach- 
ing liable to exist in connection with public services, 
which a solicitous minister will more earnestly depre- 
cate than bad psalmody. Let a sermon, uniting the 
solemnity and richness of Baxter with the eloquence of 
Saurin or Massillon, be preceded by psalmody from the 



10 A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. (10 

bad effect of which the sermon must recover the assem- 
bly before it can profit them ; or let such preaching be 
followed by singing which offends, through discord- 
ancy, or inappropriateness, or confusion of time, or in- 
expressiveness, or perhaps through all of these together ; 
and there is a sacrifice of spiritual benefit, a waste of 
the toils of a Aveek of study, and a frustration of the 
ends of preaching, for which the minister might sit 
down in his pulpit and w r eep. The writer once attended 
an evening service in one of our city churches, and 
listened with deep interest to a discourse on that de- 
lightful text, M Whereby are given unto us exceeding 
great and precious promises." It was an admirable 
sermon. The soul of the preacher was in every sen- 
tence, and gave unction and eloquence to the whole. It 
should have been preceded and followed with music 
services in keeping with that sublime thought of Watts, 

" The voice that rolls the stars along 
* c Speaks all the promises." 

But the singing was mere sound, with scarce an attri- 
bute of music ; and would have been jeered in the social 
circle, and hissed in the theatre. Gabriel'himself might 
preach, and the effect of his eloquence would be marred 
by a music service so void of harmony, heart and ex- 
pression. A christian church even, through indifference 
to sacred music, or parsimony, or both, may neglect 
this part of the services of the sanctuary, to the embar- 
rassment, if not utter prevention, of the usefulness of 
the best preaching ; and to the destruction of the sym- 
metry and beauty of the whole appointments of the 
house of God. 

Churches and congregations should be mindful that 
responsibility rests upon them for all which is lost of 
the proper effect of the pulpit services, through their 
neglect to provide suitably for those of sacred music. 
Ministers share in this responsibility also j for their in- 



11) A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 11 

terest or indifference respecting this part of divine ser- 
vice will influence their people. And here let it be 
respectfully, yet earnestly urged upon the considera- 
tion of some ministers, whether the extensive neglect 
of the cultivation of sacred music has not been owing 
to their own failure to press the duty on their people, 
and to their indifference to it as a part of divine wor 
ship. Every minister should regard good sacred music 
as an invaluable means, — along with the faithful dispen- 
sation of divine truth, — for the edification of his own 
and the souls of his hearers. If he should be anxious 
to preach wejl of God and his truth, so should he be so- 
licitous that his congregation shall offer to the God of 
truth acceptable sacrifices of praise, — shall sing well 
M the songs of Zion." 

5. We plead for sacred music, because, as much as 
prayer itself, it is worship of God. The psalms and 
hymns in common use embrace all the parts of prayer- 
invocation, adoration, confession, petition, intercession, 
thanksgiving, praise, and ascription. In performing them 
we profess devotional approach to God. All the solem- 
nity attaches to sacred song which attaches to prayer. 
Performed with right feelings and in a right manner, it 
will always be communion with God, the entrance of 
the soul into the spirit of those in the upper temple, 
who cry, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts !" 

The cultivation of sacred music, therefore, should be 
regarded as preparation for a service in which God is 
to be approached, who is " great, and greatly to be 
feared, and to be had in reverence by all them that are 
about him." The feelings, spirit, sentiments, habits of 
deportment, which should be cultivated in the scenes 
of musical instruction and practice, must be those of 
devout seriousness and religious emotion. And the 
singer should be a christian ; should feel that " the 
place whereon he standeth is holy ground," that he ap- 



12 A PLEA FOR SACKED MUSIC. (12 

proaches M the throne of grace ;" and that he performs 
services in which God " requireth truth in the inward 
part." He must not be a mere vocalist or amateur, 
making an exhibition, delighting the ear and regaling 
the taste of an audience of dying men. He must, in 
singing, offer the sacrifices of the heart. His soul must 
go up in fervent aspirations to God. Singing the songs 
of the sanctuary is a service scarcely less serious than 
preaching and prayer. 

To the question, then, " how shall the spirit of devo- 
tion be promoted in our congregations V J it is one 
proper answer, " make psalmody what it should be, as 
a solemn, heart-felt act of worship to God." The spiritu- 
ality appropriate to prayer and preaching belongs equal- 
ly to " the service of song." And when performers, as 
christians, throw their souls into this service, and when 
the attending assembly join them in sincerity of heart, 
then will be rf offered up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable 
to God." Then will holy affections be increased in the 
hearts of christians ; and the sanctuary will be, to the 
assembled throng, M the house of God — " M the gate of 
heaven." 

The limits of this Tract admit but a brief notice of some 
misapprehensions and erroneous habits of thought among 
christians; which need correction and removal before 
sacred music can have its proper place in the estimation 
of the churches. 

Christian people must cease to regard sacred music 
as a matter on which they can be indifferent, or of the sup- 
port of which they can be negligent, and yet be guiltless. 
If it is appointed of God as a portion of divine service, 
for his honor and our good, then christians must prize 
it highly, sustain it systematically and liberally, and ex- 
pect from it religious benefit steadily and largely. 

Christians must cease to regard sacred in the same light 



13) A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 13 

with secular music. Many probably have so regarded it, 
because it has been much in the hands and under the di- 
rection of persons not of religious, and sometimes not 
even of moral character. How has this happened] Truly, 
because christians have neglected it ; and other men have 
taken it up and kept it in existence as a mere matter of 
taste. Let christians take sacred music into their own 
hands, consider it as much claiming their care as prayer 
and preaching in the pulpit ; provide for it in the educa- 
tion of children and youth, especially, in the art of music ; 
and select and employ a christian leader of sacred song 
as much as they do a minister of the sacred Gospel; and 
they will not then be troubled with the interference of 
men destitute of religious character, nor will they be de- 
pendent upon such for the conduct of this holy service. 

Christians must cease to regard music as only appro- 
priate to the drawing-room, or scenes of gayety and fes- 
tivity, or to the theatre and the military parade. Music 
is a heaven-born art ; is one of the richest gifts of a mer- 
ciful God to a world where sin, confusion, sorrow and 
tears have so much place. " The children of this world" 
see its worth; and they borrow it of the church, so much 
that the church almost forgets that it is one of her right- 
ful possessions. The first and proper place of music on 
this side of heaven is in the house of God. Its most appro- 
priate use is by fr the great congregation," in the worship 
of "the High and Lofty One w T ho inhabiteth eternity." 

We protest against christians regarding sacred music 
as an elegant and expensive luxury, a mere superfluity ia 
religious services. It may be made so, it is true, by hiring 
foreign and merely professional performers, who serve 
the church on the Sabbath, and the theatre and the devil 
all the week. But employ christian men to teach the 
children and youth, and to train the older members of 
the congregation, and to conduct the musical perform- 
ances of the Sabbath; and it is no more an expensive 



14 A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC, (14 

superfluity than is education to read the Bible; than 
prayer; than the dispensation of the blessed Gospel. 

Those christians who have not the taste for music 
which others have, should be considerate of their fellow- 
christians to whom it is pleasant, and ff for their good to 
edification." 

Sacred music must not be blamed because it has 
wrought, in so few places and on so limited a scale, the 
benefits we have ascribed to it. By liberal patronage and 
assiduous cultivation make it what it ought to be, and 
then give it a fair trial. It will assuredly prove its worth. 
Many religious assemblies know not what good sacred 
music is, because it has been a neglected and underva- 
lued part of divine service. When they will make it what 
they should, and to be in keeping with good preaching 
and devout prayer, then they will know what it is; and 
know, too, what a defective and useless service they 
have long been substituting and mistaking for true sacred 
music. 

Music must not be regarded as a mere art, and its ef- 
fects as a species of enchantment not belonging in asso- 
ciation with religion. Poetry and eloquence are arts; 
and their power is great as employed for evil purposes; 
but who argues, hence, that they are to be discarded 
from all association with religion ] 

Sacred music must not be cultivated and sustained sim- 
ply as a matter of taste. It has often failed to accomplish 
its proper effects where it has been considerably cultivat- 
ed ; probably because pleasure has been sought in its 
sweetness and power, rather than in the praises of God, 
of which it is properly the medium. To cultivate and 
maintain music in Sabbath services simply to gratify 
taste, would be sin against God; as much as a minister's 
cultivating oratory, and his people supporting him for 
the purpose of oratorical exhibitions on the Sabbath. 

The object of sacred song being the praise of God and 



15) A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 15 

the spiritual profit of worshippers, christians should on 
the Sabbath commend these services to the divine blessing, 
as steadily as they do the preaching of the Gospel and 
the administration of the ordinances. Ministers should 
set their churches an example, in praying for those who 
lead in the " service of song." The effect may be ines- 
timably happy. 

The education of the young in sacred music is an object 
of high importance. Music, as well as the reading of our 
own language, should be taught in our common-schools j 
and our children accustomed to sing, as well as to talk 
and read. Then, whoever becomes a christian will be pre- 
pared for the delightful work of singing the praises of God. 

Sacred music should be cultivated in christian families, 
and used in the seasons of morning and evening devotion. 
A more delightful scene cannot be presented on this side 
heaven, than when parents, with their sons and daughters, 
surround the family altar, and devoutly unite their voices 
in sacred song. Such services will promote domestic hap- 
piness and kind affections. If there be affliction in the 
family, grief will be soothed. Pious feeling will be aided 
in those who are christians^ and their steps quickened in 
the way to heaven. Thoughtfulness, tenderness of spirit, 
and anxiety on the subject of salvation, will be promoted 
in such of the members as are without hope. The 
question, " Shall I never sing with these beloved ones in 
heaven V may sometimes come over the spirit of the 
unconverted one, with force which cannot be resisted, 
and may lead to earnest seeking of the grace of God* 
Transfer this family to the sanctuary on the Sabbath, 
and they are prepared to aid efficiently in the songs of 
the solemn assembly. 

If there be one occasion when the whole souls of the 
assembled church should flow* forth to their Lord and 
Eedeemer, in holier and livelier devotion than on any 
other, it is the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. And if 



16 A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. (16 

there be one channel especially adapted for this purpose, 
it is that of sacred song". To celebrate the dying love of 
Christ, in the tenderness of spirit, the sincerity of devo- 
tion; and in the fervency, gratitude, faith and joy which 
become souls redeemed, nothing affords such a medium 
as sacred song. Those lines, 

M How sweet and awful is the place, 
h» M With Christ within the doors !" 

cannot be felt, adequately, except they be sting, and that 
in the true sense of the word, around the Lord's table. 
Sacramental singing, unhappily, is often exceedingly de 
fective. Christian, let it no more be thus. Learn to sing, 
that you may be prepared to give honor to your divine 
Redeemer in the songs of that holy, heavenly hour. 
Then, amidst that scene, will you make nearest and 
happiest approaches to the songs of angels and the 
redeemed before the throne of God. 

On the subject of this Tract, we do not expect to awa- 
ken in all minds the enthusiasm seen in some who may 
be called passionately fond of music. But we earnestly 
desire to awaken christian conscientiousness and feeling 
respecting it ; and to induce efforts which shall raise it 
to a higher point of excellence, usefulness and dignity, 
than it has ever yet reached in our country. An interest 
is requisite which shall be deep, serious, lively, steady; 
which shall hold alliance with the spirit of prayer, and 
with thirst for instruction in divine truth, and for holi- 
ness; and which, interwoven with all the religious affec- 
tions, as are the effects of the other services of the sanc- 
tuary, shall aid the growth of grace in the hearts of 
christians, and their preparation to enter upon the holi- 
ness and bliss of eternity. 

A premium, offered by a friend, was awarded to Rev. Edward 
W. Hooker, D. D. author of this Tract. 



A PLEA FOR SACRED MUSIC. 



»2JLXr SHOULD LtEJHUT TO SIJTG. 

Ability to sing is not simply the gift of nature. It is 
in every case acquired, more or less gradually, by means 
of instruction, imitation and practice. Imitation com- 
mences in infancy, and instruction should be given in 
early childhood. The voice becomes less manageable, 
in proportion as it is neglected, or suffered to remain 
out of tune ; and in adult years it is sometimes as dif- 
ficult to gain new habits in this respect, as to utter the 
sounds of a foreign language ; and for the same reasons. 

If then nature gives to every one, when young, the 
power of producing musical sounds, and lessens the 
power in subsequent years in proportion as the voice is 
neglected, it is plain that sacred music should form a 
regular branch of religious education. And if the faculty 
of singing, when acquired, is gradually lost by habitual 
neglect, it will follow that the practice is a duty, and the 
neglect a sin. 

The Scriptures enjoin upon all, of every rank and de- 
scription, from the prince to the peasant, from the aged 
man to the infant in years, the solemn duty of praise. We 
are bound not only to speak in ordinary language, as in 
exhortation and prayer, to the praise and glory of God, 
but to sing aloud unto his name. This is the constituted 
method. The great Head of the church himself says, 
' f Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." As the duty 
of prayer is universal, so is the duty of praise. "Let 
every thing that hath breath " — every one that breathes — 
" praise the Lord." Of course there will be diversities 
of talent. Those who are the most gifted should lead in 
public. Others should lead only in private circles, and 
at the family altar. If any individual has really no voice 
for speech or song, and can acquire none, he, and he 
alone, is allowed to be always a silent worshipper ; for 
where nothing is given, nothing is required. Even such 
a one, however, is bound to yield the homage of the heart 
in relation to the exercise : for the duty is absolutely 

Universal. Thos. Hastings. 

No. 429. 



20 pages.) 



A PLEA FOR SACKED MUSIC. 



Sacred 'JTTusic must be spiritually performed* 

All good music is performed with adaptation to its 
object. In secular music, the object is tasteful grotifi- 
cation, or the display of talent ; beguiling a tedious hour, 
or giving pleasure to associates or patrons ; but in devo- 
tional music the object should be to employ the voice in 
favor of the sentiments contained in the sacred song. Secu- 
lar motives, habits and associations have here no place. 

Among the constituted themes of song, some are sim- 
ply didactic. Here we should aim at distinctness, and 
be awake to the importance of the instructions we con- 
vey. Some of the themes abound in lively prophetic 
description. These had better be read than sung, unless 
the members of the choir can utter them with distinct- 
ness and effect. Some of the themes are of a hortatory 
character ; these, too, should receive a distinct as well as 
a persuasive enunciation. Many of the psalms and hymns 
contain the language of confession, thanksgiving and 
praise. And should not the singers really consider and 
feel what they are presuming to utter in the presence of 
God among his chosen worshippers % 

But the themes are often of a still higher character. 
Many of them are pre-eminent for spirituality. Not a 
few are such as angels utter with veiled faces in the 
deepest prostration before the throne. Something more 
than musical elocution is here required. It is a solemn 
thing to sing such hymns as these ; and demands the 
most careful preparation of heart and voice. 

As habit has a powerful influence over our religious 
affections, pious persons should be willing to engage 
heartily, prayerfully and perseveringly in the work of 
cultivation : they should do this as a religious duty, and 
not chiefly for the purpose of tasteful gratification. 
The members of a choir should be at once devout, vigi- 
lant, cheerful and happy. There should be mutual con- 
fidence between them ; they should be of one mind, 
affectionate and condescending; and should often unite 
in exercises of prayer in reference to the responsibilities 
they are assuming. Where all this is wanting, the finest 
possible adaptation will be of little avail. i™*- 

No. 429. 



Hi ^vBHuh 

■ • I ■ ■ * I &#?; ^^^H I 






»<5 S ' Vvi"- 



^■i 

^^^M 



■.'■■•■.■■■■■.■■ 

hhhbhhv 

•:*■•.■ 



S9BL 



I . .-•'..> * 'i---i.;'.'5^}* 

•■■■'»'■•■•■■• 
■uhhh 



wBKF 






