IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■- IIIIIM 150 ""'^^ i^ m Ui m IIM = 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 < 6" - ► %. % 7 ^3 # C^ o>. >> o 7 w //a Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STflEET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ,\ ^ '^ ■i<'. iV ^ modulated sound, such as may most readily be adopted by che people ; for but a poor attempt at responding can be expected when no proportion is preserved between the minister and congregation. The voice of the minister should be continued with an even sound, without rising or falling m pitch, ''' if possible, from the beginning to the end of any verse or prayer, the last syllable of which should be slightly sustained, in order that the congregation may the more readily take up the ''Amen,'' or other response, in unison or in harmony with that tone of voice in which the prayer had been uttered. In the " Creed '' and in the '' Lord's Prayer," and such other portions of the service as minister and people repeat together, the same tone of voice ought especially to be used, and they should be said v/ith much care and distinctness, the tone manly and dignified. In the Psalms and Canticles, when not sungi the same rule should be observed. * At the same time care must be taken not to be sleepy or mechanical in iltterance— it is quite necessary to preserve life and spirit and variety— which is of easy attainment with- out altering the pitch of voice. s * Let the minister and people correspond in voice, time, and rythni, and let the voice preserve one sustainel sound, the greatest care being taken not to begin before the Choir and to pause at the colon in the middle of each verse, which point is meant quite as much for the guidance of those who '' say " the Psalms as for those who chant or ''sing '' them. Inthetitle page of the Prayer Book they are expressly referred to as being . '' pointed as they are to be sung or said in churches." Thr pointing'' is nothing else but the colon in the middle of each verse • and indeed so necessary is it to cl>serve these points in saying the Psalms, that where they are disregarde.', it is not only impossible to recognise .jat singular sweetness of rythm which it is the character of the Psalms so remarkably to possess, but the result must be a confused, indistinct, and discordant mur- mur of many voices, which is therefore in general almost inaudible, because if these discordant sounds were made louder, the fioise would be intolerable Such then is the principle hj which the congregational worship of the Church ought to he governed, and it is incredible what a 10 solemnity and dignity our public devotions would assume if minister and people would resolutely determine upon being guided thereby ; our services w^ould bear on the very face of them order and majesty, the. sound would be suited to the words, and would conduce to summon up and to sustain those feelings with w^hich a spiritual worshipper ought to be actuated in all parts of the Com- mon Prayer ; nay, when the service is thus performed, it is next to impossible for a devout worshipper to grow Aveary or dull. We must now recall attention to the ordi- nary way in which our public devotions are celebrated. Can any thing be more alien from the principles above laid down ? the principles which nature, reason, and the com- pilers of our services unite in recommending. For what is the fact ? In the first place, those parts of the service wherein the whole congregation is expected audibhj to join, are in many places neglected by the congregation altogether, and left to the hurried and spirit- less utterance of the clerk or a few of the con- gregation, and it is rare to enter any church where the responses are made with that due rej^ard to regularity and order and the laws oi 11 sound wliicli ought unquestionably to prevail in united worship. If our people offer up their petitions with one heart, they do not do so with one voice. An audible response (ex- cept perhaps from the clerk) is scarcely ever heard ; the greater part whisper or mutter, some speaking faster, some slower, a id if any are more audible than the rest, yet all respect to time, concord, and njthm is utterly lost sight of, each one, apparently, reading out his response without the smallest reference to the congregation along with whom he is supposed to be responding, forgetful of the social character of the service of our Common Prayer. And nowhere is this seeming want of heart and life more perceptible than in the cold and apathetic ''Amen/' It would be something if only an attempt were made to restore this one often repeated and impor- tant response to its due place. There was a time when we are told the " A-men"* of the Christian worshippers shook the very roof of the place which held them ; doubtless they responded in the same voice, not the less * The first syllable of which should be pronounced open as in Father. •^ 12 heartily, because they did it under the gui- dance of a rule or system ; on the other hand, this very rule which guided them re- lieved them from the trammels of disorder and confusion, and enabled them to indicate energetically the heart's assent to the prayers and supplications which had been offered up for them by their minister in their hearing. But it would be not only unjust but absurd to lay the blame of this discordant respond- ing entirely at the doors of the congregation. How can they be expected to respond aright unless they canhave their minister, his voice, tone, and manner, to look up to for guidance ? And what measure oi assistance or guidance do they in general meet with in this respect, from their minister '^ Absolutelv none iit all. Most clergymen indeed are, without perhaps being aware of it, a hindrance in this respect rather than a help ; for can it be disputed that nine ministers out of every ten have each his own way of reading the service, which no one else could follow with- out the appearance of mockery ? One seeks to be impressive — another lays great em- phasis on certain words — another repeats the service as rapidly as he can — another ■i. 13 preaches the prayers — others have a sing- song way of their own, altering the pitch of their voice half a dozen times in the same prayer — others drop it at every pause, in- variablj^ at the end — hastening the closing syllables which ought to be sustained. Now what chance is there in any of these cases for the congregation to produce, if they desired it, an united response ? The wonder is, 7iot that people make the respon- ses so indifferently as they do, but rather, under such circumstances, that they can be prevailed on to respond at all. In this dull, heavy, uninteresting manner is our public worship ordinarily gone through — tolerated rather than enjoyed. What won- der that complaints are made of dulness to the spirits, and weariness to the flesh ? For it has been well asked, '' Who that has the least ear or feeling for regulated sound, can be otherwise than distressed at being, week after week, condemned to listen to the miserable duet between the minister and clerk, repeating the psalms, and hymns, the litany and suffrages, the Confession, the Lord's prayer, and the Belief, with reference to no principle, with no regard to resrularitv. oftentimes five or six words apart T It is 14 more tliaii distressing, it is grievous to be compelled to listen to the school children in particular, Avho are often permitted in God's house, to hurry over these solemn portions of the divine service in a way which would not be tolerated in their school room, but which is tolerated in God's house, because the principle on which Church worship should be conducted has been so universally lost sight of and neglected. Is there not then under these circum- stances an absolute call upon us to do some- thing ? Is it not high time to revert to nature and reason, and to conform ourselves to the only knoirn principles upon which the ser- vice of God ca?i be reverently, orderly, and solemnly performed ? The time is not far distant, let us hope, when the clergy, as a body, will feel the truth which these remarks have dwelt upon ; and Ihen when they have become persuaded, let them by degrees endeavour to conform themselves to the rules laid down. Let them observe as nearly as possible one tone of voice throughout a prayer ; let them be deliberate and even in reciting the psalms, litany, and suffrages, ob- serving the colons. rryu^ 4. he transition from their own way to the right way, will thus be easy 1 15 and almost imperceptible, for it must not be supposed requisite, in order to act upon the principle in question, to repeat the service \. :th that decided mudcal recitation observed in cathedrals, which is only suited to an organised choir ; on the other hand, it is more proper in ordinary parish churches to speak in the natural tone of voice, only minding to preserve it firm, even, dignified and sustained* When this point has been attained, then let the clerk and the chil- drenf be trained to respond in accordance with the minister— this will soon attract those members of the congregation, who have an ear, to join in, and in no very long time the whole congregation (the author speaks from his own experience) will res- pond, if not in the same tone, yet harmoni- nious'ly— and in the same time, preserving the proper rythm and accent. And note, that every member of a parish choir ought to consider himself quite as much responsible for assisting in this depart- * The feelings ought to bo expressed by allowing the vowe to dwell slightly on emphatic syllables— not by a rise or fall m the pitch. + Sec note at foot of page 1. ln.Ttfi»J\iiiffl|iWaif. IJH 16 meut as in the singing. There will be some bashfalness, and hesitation, it may be, to overcome at first, but which a very little pains and perseverance will subdue. It was not the object of these pages to enter into the question of chanting the psalms, or singing the litany and suffrages to the time-honored cadences which have been from the earliest ages set to them, and which have never altered. Great facilities are now provided for the more general attain- ment of these helps to devotion and praise. We conclude by repeating that if we could but return to the good old ivay, the effect would be felt in quarters where we should least expect it, and the service would be fre- quented by many who had hitherto despised or neglected it, repelled by the negligent, hurried, cold, spiritless, discordant, and therefore uninviting manner in which our divine worship is now for the most part performed. The author has purposely con- fined himself to the more humble effort of pleading for an united response, on the broad ground, that it is useless to attempt to fly before we have learned to walk. IiowsELL & ELLiifj Printers, KiMa^SmKiiT, Tokonto.