1. To accomplish, in the happiest manner, the devotional ends of sacred music, the congregation should unitedly join in it.
In advancing an opinion so much opposed to the taste of the age, the writer has no expectation that it will be received with the consideration which, in his opinion, its importance [379] demands. For he cannot resist the conviction, that in separating the congregation generally from a participation in this delightful part of public worship, we have taken the most effective measure, as did the Catholic clergy in the period which has passed under review, to destroy the devotional influence of sacred music. What, may we ask, was the secret of the magic charm of sacred music, in the early Christian church? Whence its mighty influence over those primitive saints? It was, that the great truths of religion were embodied in their psalmody, and set to such simple airs that all could blend their voices and their hearts in the sacred song; and, though they may have exhibited little of what is denominated musical taste, or of the symphonies of a modern oratorio, they offered unto God the melody of the heart, by far the noblest praise. Their sacred songs became, as we have seen, the ballads of the people,40 sung at all times, and upon every occasion. Religious truth became inwrought into the very soul of these Christians by their sacred songs. It entered, not only into their public devotions, but into their family worship, their domestic pleasures, and their social entertainments. Thus religious truth addressed itself to the hearts of the people in a manner the most persuasive possible. It became associated, both with the most endearing recollections of the heart, and its most hallowed associations. Will the music of our churches, however skilfully played upon the organ, or sweetly sung by a few select voices, ever so move the heart, and mould the character of the whole society? No; like the cold coruscations of the Northern lights, it does but amuse and delight the spectator for a while, and then passes away, leaving the bosom dark and cheerless as before. But when the music of the church is let down from the orchestra to the congregation below, [380] and runs with its quickening influence, from man to man, until all feel their soul ascending in the song which they unitedly raise to God, then it is that the
“Heart grows warm with holy fire,
And kindles with a pure desire.”
No one can witness the worship of the churches in Germany, without being struck with the devotional influence of their psalmody. They are a nation of singers. Rarely is one seen in the church, whether old or young, who does not join in the song;41 and with an evident interest which it has not been the good fortune of the writer often to witness, or to experience in the churches of America. In our country this subject is encompassed with intrinsic difficulties which we must pass without remark. But were it possible ever to make the modification under consideration in our church-music, even at the expense of the musical skill and talent which are now displayed, we must believe that much would be gained to the devotional influence of our sacred music. What [381] though, in humbler strains, and more simple airs, the churches raise to God their sacred songs of praise? What if some discordant notes occasionally disturb the harmony of the music? if still they do but fulfill the apostolical injunction, singing and melody in their hearts to the Lord, the noblest, the best, the only true end, of sacred music is accomplished. Such are the strains which He who inspires the songs of heaven delights most to hear:
“Compared with thee, Italian trills are tame;
The tickled ears no heart-felt raptures raise.”
2. Christian psalmody was one of the principal means of promoting the devotions of the primitive church.
Enough remains on record in relation to this subject, to show what interest these venerable saints and martyrs had in their sacred songs. Enough, to show what power their psalmody possessed to confirm their faith, to inspire their devotions, to bring them nigh to God, and to arm them with more than mortal courage for the fiery conflict into which they were summoned in defense of their faith. Has this most interesting and important part of religious worship its just influence with us? Is its quickening power shed abroad over our assemblies, like the spirit of heavenly grace, warming the cold heart into spiritual life, and reviving its languid affections, as if with a fresh anointing from on high?
3. Christian psalmody affords the happiest means of enforcing the doctrinal truths of religion.
Reason with man, and you do but address his understanding; you gain, it may be, his cold convictions. Embody the truth in a creed, or confession of faith; to this he may also yield assent, and remain as unmoved as before. But express it in the sacred song. Let it mingle with his devotions in the sanctuary, and in the family; let his most endeared associations cluster around it, as the central point, not only of his faith, but of his hopes, his joys; and what before was a [382] speculative belief, has become his living sentiment,—the governing principle both of the understanding and the heart. The single book of psalms and hymns, therefore, does unspeakably more to form the doctrinal sentiments of men, than all the formularies, creeds, and confessions of polemics and divines. “The one,” says Augusti, “is chiefly for the minister; the other is in the hands of the people, and is, as you may say, his daily creed.”42 The heart, in religion, as in everything else, governs the understanding. The sacred song that wins that one, fails not also to convince and to control the other. With great propriety, therefore, has the hymnbook long been styled, the Layman’s Bible.43
Every religious denomination, accordingly, has its hymnbook; and in ancient times the same was true of every religious sect. The spiritual songs of the primitive Christians were almost exclusively of a doctrinal character. “In fact, almost all the prayers, doxologies, and hymns of the ancient church are nothing else than prayers and supplications to the triune God, or to Jesus Christ. They were generally altogether doctrinal. The prayers and psalms, of merely a moral character, which the modern church has in great abundance, in the ancient, were altogether unknown.”44 And yet modern Christian have not been inattentive to this mode of defending their faith. Their different collections of psalms and hymns abound with those that are expressive merely of [383] points of doctrine, at the expense, often, of all poetical imagery or expression.45
4. Christian psalmody is one of the most efficient means of promulgating a religious system among a people.
This was one of the earliest and most successful expedients for spreading the ancient heresies of the church. Bardasanes, the famous Syrian Gnostic, in the latter part of the second century, made this the principal means of propagating his sentiments. He composed songs expressive of the tenets which he would inculcate, and adapted them to music, to be sung by the people. His son, Harmonius, followed the example of his father; and such, according to Augusti, “was the influence of their efforts, that the Syrian church was well nigh overrun with their errors.”46 And not only the Gnostics, but the Manicheans, the Donatists, and almost every heretical sect, employed, with surprising success, the same means of promulgating their tenets. Taught by their example, the orthodox finally sought, in the same manner, to resist the progress of their errors. Such were the efforts of Ephraem the Syrian, Hilary, Augustine, and others.47
Luther well understood this method of propagating truth and refuting error, and employed it with a skilful hand. [384] For his great work he possessed remarkable qualifications, which are seldom united in one man. Among his varied accomplishments, not the least important were his poetical and musical talents. He was taught music with the first rudiments of his native language; and when, as a wandering minstrel, he earned his daily bread by exercising his musical powers, in singing before the doors of the rich, in the streets of Magdeburg and Eisenach, he was truly preparing for the future Reformer, as when, a retired monk in the cloister at Erfurt, he was storing his mind with the truths of revelation, with which to refute the errors and expose the delusions of papacy. One of his earliest efforts at reform was the publication of a psalm-book, A. D. 1524, composed and set to music chiefly by himself.48 The songs of Luther confirmed the Christian’s faith and soothed the sufferings of the martyr at the stake. One of his earliest hymns he consecrated to commemorate the martyrs of Brussels; and the whole reformed church felt the sustaining influence of this single song which we give in the margin.49 [385] His associate Hans Sachs coöperated with him by publishing in 1523, the “The Nightingale of Wittenberg.” His efforts at an earlier period at Nuremberg had according to D’Aubigné, great influence in promoting the work of the Reformation. “From a humble workshop situated at one of the gates of the imperial city of Nuremberg proceeded sounds that resounded through all Germany preparing the minds of men for a new era, and everywhere endearing to the people the great revolution that was then in progress. The spiritual songs of Hans Sachs, his Bible in verse powerfully assisted this work. It would, perhaps, be difficult to say to which it was most indebted, the Prince, the Elector of Saxony administrator of the empire, or the shoemaker of Nuremberg!”
The psalms of the church, in the time of the Reformation, were wholly of a doctrinal character. “Hymns merely inculcating moral truths, which are so abundant in modern collections, were unknown at this early period. As now, in symbols and catechisms, we have an abstract of the Christian faith, so then, was the substance of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith embodied in their divine songs.”50 Weapons so simple were employed with surprising effect by the great Reformer. Even his enemies acknowledged their hated power. “These hymns, many of which are manufactured in Luther’s own laboratory, and sung in the vernacular tongue of the people,—it is wonderful what power they have in propagating the doctrines of Luther! Some of them doctrinal in their character, others imitating devotional psalms, they repeat and blazon abroad the faults [386] of the church, whether real or imaginary.”51 Such is the mighty power of sacred psalmody in propagating the Christian faith:
“These weapons of our holy war,Have our missionaries employed, with due diligence and skill, this mode of warfare, and applied these weapons with sufficient success to the assault upon the strongholds of Satan?
Of what almighty force they are!”
5. Is not the influence of sacred music too much overlooked as a means of moral discipline, in our efforts to educate the young, and to reform the vicious? [387]
Has it the place which its great importance demands in our primary schools and higher seminaries of learning? In Germany the child is universally taught to sing in the primary school. Singing is as much a part of the instruction in these schools as arithmetic or grammar. This is one of the blessings which they owe to their great reformer. “Next to theology,” said Luther, “it is to Music that I give the highest place, and the greatest honor.52 A schoolmaster ought to know how to sing; without this qualification I would have nothing to do with him.” Can a more amiable provision be made for the future happiness of the child than to train his heart and ear for the delights of music by teaching his infant lips to sing the praises of his God and Saviour?
In our admirable system of prison discipline, has it its proper place among the reforming influences which are employed to quicken the conscience of the hardened transgressor, and turn him from the error of his ways?53 Has the power of sacred music been sufficiently employed to restore the insane? We know the magic power of David’s harp to tame the ferocious and frenzied spirit of Saul; will not the same means have a similar effect, to soothe and to tranquilize the poor maniac’s bewildered soul, and restor him to his right mind? We submit these inquiries respectfully to the careful consideration of the reader, and leave the subject for the discussion of abler pens.
Finally. This subject suggests the importance of simplicity in church psalmody.
Let our sacred songs be simple in their poetry. Such is [388] the poetry of nature, of devotion, of the Scriptures. If we would have the songs of Zion come from the heart, the offspring of pure and deep emotion, if we would have them stir the souls of the whole assembly for heart-felt, sympathetic worship, they must be indited in the simplicity of pure delightful simplicity. Let them be adapted to Congregational singing. Let all be trained to sing as early and as universally as they are taught to read; and if we would have the soul ascending in the song, let the whole assembly join in the solemn hymn which they raise to God. The primitive church knew nothing of a choir, set apart and withdrawn from the congregation, for the exclusive performance of this delightful part of public worship. “The Bible knows nothing of a worship conducted by a few, in behalf of a silent multitude; but calls upon everything that hath breath to join in this divine employ.” Have we done well, then, in substituting for the voice of all the people in the praise of God, the voice of a few in a choir? For the sweet simplicity of ancient melodies, hallowed by a thousand sacred associations, have we wisely introduced the musical display of modern airs? Have we done well in substituting, even for the rude simplicity of our fathers, if such you please to call it, the profane and secular airs of some modern harmonies? After admiring those noble portraits of the great and revered reformer which adorn the galleries of his native country, clad in the easy, simple and appropriate costume of his age, who would endure the sight of that venerable form dressed out in the modern style, so trim and sleek, of a fashionable fop? With the same wretched taste do we mar, in attempting to mend the music of the great masters of another age, by conforming it to the style of the present.
It is exceedingly gratifying to observe in the public journals and current literature of the day, the return of the public mind to a better taste in sacred music; and to notice that [389] several of the ablest masters in the country have entered in earnest upon the work of reform. Heaven speed their work, and hasten the day, when, with sweet accord of hearts and voices attuned to the worship of God, all shall join in singing to his praise in the great congregation. [390]
40 One has wisely said, “Let us make the ballads of the people, and I care not who makes their laws.” But connected with religion their power is immensely increased.
41 The singing is the most devotional part of the religious worship of the Lutheran and Evangelical churches of Germany, and in proportion to other parts of worship is extended to an inordinate length. For example, on one occasion in the ordinary services of the Sabbath, the singing before sermon was observed, by the writer, to occupy fifty minutes. In the course of this time, two prayers were offered, neither of which occupied the space of three minutes, and two portions of Scripture were read, which did not occupy more than five minutes. All the prayers, including the litany, did not exceed ten minutes in length; while the singing employed near an hour. The prayers are liturgical forms to a great extent, briefly rehearsed at different times by the clergyman, in which the congregation seem not to be deeply interested. The singing is the act of the congregation unitedly, with which they are never weary, with which, I had almost said, they never appear to be satisfied. And yet the hymns in common use have but very humble claims to consideration for the poetic taste which they display. In this respect they would hardly equal the antiquated collect of Tate and Brady. With the Divine Songs of Watts, and with our lyric poetry generally, they bear no comparison.
42 Denkwürdigkeiten, V. S. 411.
43 Augusti, Denkwürdigkeiten, V. S. 411; also, 277. Augustine recognizes the same sentiment, as follows:—Cum reminiscor lachrymas meas quas fudi ad cantus ecclesiae tuae in primordiis recuperatae fidei meae, et nunc ipso quod moveor, non cantu, sed rebus quae cantantur, cum liquida voce et convenientissima modulatione cantantur, magnam instituti hujus utilatem rursus agnosco. Tamen cum mihi accideit ut me amplius cantus quam res quae canitur moveat, poenaliter me peccare confiteor, et tunc mallem non audire cantantem.—Confess. L. 10. c. 33. Vol. 1. p. 141.
44 Augusti, Denkwürdigkeiten, Vol. V. p. 417.
45 For example, the successive stanzas of one of the hymns in the Lutheran collection, begin, each, with one of the terms at the beginning of the creed. 1. I believe in God the Father, etc. 2. I believe in God the Son, etc. 3. I believe in God the Holy Ghost, etc.
46 Composuit carmina et ea modulationibus aptabit, finxit psalmos induxitque metra, et mensuris ponderibusque distribuit voces. Ita propinavit simplicibus venenum dulcedine termperatum; aegroti quippe cibum recusabant salubrem. Davidem imitatus est, ut ejas pulchritudine ornaretur ejusque similitudine commendaretur. Centum et quinquaginta composuit hic quoque psalmos. Ephraem Syrus, in Hymn 53, p. 553. Comp. Sozomen, h. e. 3. c. 16. Theodor. Lib. 4. c. 29; also, 1. c. 22.—Denkwürdigkeiten, Vol. V. S. 272, 273.
47 Augusti, Denkwürdigkeiten, Vol V. S. 275, 414, 415. For further information on this point, see J. Andr. Schmidt. De modo propagandi religionem per carmina. Helmst. 1720. 4to.
48 This psalm- book is usually ascribed to Luther, though it bears not his name. It contained eight psalms, of which, however, but one bears his name. But he published in 1525, two editions, the first containing sixteen, and the other forty. In the collection of sacred music in the use by the Lutheran churches in Germany, consisting of two hundred and fifty-three tunes, twenty- five are ascribed to Luther, either as the author of them, or as having been revised by him, and adapted to the use of the church. The authorship of a few is doubtful, though they assigned to that age.
Flung on the heedless winds
Or on the waters cast,
Their ashes shall be watched
And gathered at the last.
And from that scattered dust,
Around us and abroad
Shall spring a plenteous seed
Of witness for God.
Jesus hath now received
Their latest living breath,—
Yet vain is Satan’s boast
Of victory in their death.
Still—still—though dead they speak,
And trumpet tongued proclaim
To many a wakening land,
The one availing name.
50 Augusti, Denkwürdigkeiten, Vol. V. S. 287.
51 Cantilenae
vernaculo idiomate, quarum plurimae ex ipsius Lutheri officina
sunt profectae, mirum est, quam promoveant rem Lutheranam.
Quaedam dogmaticae, aliae aemulantur psalmos pios;—recitant
exagitantque Christianorum vitia sive vera, sive ficta.
Thomsas de Jesu, (Didacus Davila) Thesaur. sapient.
divinae, T. 2. p. 541. Luther inserted in the title-page of
his hymn-book, published at Wittenberg, in 1543, the following
stanza:
“Viel falscher Meister jetzt Lieder dichten,
Siehe dich für, und lern’ sie recht richten.
Wo Gott him bauet sein’ Kirch’ und sein
Wort,
Da will der Teufel seyn mit Trug und Mord.”
Augusti, Denkwürdigkeiten, Vol. V. S. 287.
The influence of congregational singing in England at an early period in the reformation is noticed by bishop Jewel. “A change now appears visible among the people; which nothing promotes more than inviting them to sing psalms. This was begun in one church in London, and did quickly spread itself, not only through the city, but in neighboring places. Sometimes at Paul’s Cross there will be six thousand singing together.” By the Act of Uniformity, 1548, the practice of using any psalm openly “in churches, chapels, oratorios and other places” was authorized. At length, after being popular for a while in France and Germany, among both Roman Catholics and Protestants, as psalmody came to be discountenanced by the former as an open declaration of Lutheranism, so, in England, psalm-singing was soon abandoned to the Puritans, and became almost a peculiarity of Nonconformity.”—Conder’s View of all Religions, p. 321. Note.
52 Ich gebe nach der Theologia, der Musica den nähesten Locum und höchste Ehre. Opp. W. 22. S. 2253.—Cited by D’Aubigné.
53 “I always keep these little rogues singing at their work,” said a distinguished overseer of an institution for juvenile offenders, in Berlin, “I always keep them singing, for while the children sing, the devil cannot come among them at all; he can only sit out doors there and growl; but if they stop singing, in comes the devil.”—Prof. Stowe, on Com. Schools, p. 26.