AJIERICAN^.-— ^"^ 
 
 BIBLICAL REPOSITORY, 
 
 DEVOTED TO 
 
 BIBLICAL AND GENERAL LITERATURE, THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION. THE 
 . HISTORY OF THEOLOGICAL OPINIONS, ETC. 
 
 CONDUCTED BV 
 
 JOHN HOLMES AGNEW 
 
 Secontr Scr f e». 
 VOL. XII. NOS. XXIII., XXIV.— WHOLE NOS. LV., LVL 
 
 NEW-YORK. 
 PUBLISHED BY LEAVITT, TROW, & CO 
 
 No. 194 Broadway. 
 BOSTON: 
 
 SAXTON & PIERCE, 133X WASHINGTON-STREET 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 WILEY & PUTNAM, 35 PATERNOSTER ROW 
 
 1844 
 
t:NTEKtD according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844. by 
 
 J. H. AGNEW, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern 
 
 District of New- York. 
 
 Joiin F. Trow A. Co.. Pkintep. 
 .33 A«»p«-iThi:iT, Nkw Yobr. 
 
1844.] Sacred Music. 425 
 
 the people ; for it is added, " What is the chaff to the wheat 1" 
 A good proportion of wheat in the chaff, it is admitted, makes 
 a very tolerable compound. But when it comes to be all chaff, 
 the people will not bear it ; for they know very well, that they 
 are wronged, and heaven is outraged. We say to every young 
 man, whatever the size of his parish or the press of duty, never 
 consent to be one of these chaff-dealing ministers. Bring forth 
 the wheat ; then good will be done ; the people will be pleased, 
 their souls will thrive, and the parish will grow. Men will 
 come and listen to such a minister ; thinking, intellectual men 
 will gladly hear hated truth well preached. Such a minister is 
 respected, and makes religion respected. He exhibits it in its 
 greatness, and majesty, and authoritative claim, so that the un- 
 believer is afraid to treat it with insolence. Many sweetly bow 
 to it here, and rise at length to its reward in heaven. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII 
 
 Sacred Music. 
 
 Source of the Prevailing Abuses in Cultivation, and the only 
 Practical Remedy. 
 
 By Thomas Hastings, Esq., N. Y. 
 
 Whoever enters upon a careful examination of the Holy 
 Scriptures in regard to the cLaracter and the influence of sacred 
 music, will be convinced that its importance in these modern 
 days is not fully recognized. Once it was cultivated by kings 
 and princes, and teachers of religion ; now it is left with the 
 less influential classes in the community. Once the singing of 
 " psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs," was an exercise as 
 truly and as exclusively religious, as was that of preaching, 
 exhortation, or prayer; now the same exercise is often little 
 else than an entertainment for the gratification of taste. Once 
 those who were the most spiritual were the most active in the 
 solemn work of praise; now they are generally the most neg- 
 ligent; or earnestly engaging as they sometimes consent to do 
 
426 Sacred Music. [April, 
 
 in the clischarp;*e of this duty, tliey are often seen to decline in 
 spirituality. They appear in religious things as if some stranf>e 
 lethargy had overtaken them ; as if some withering ham! had 
 dried up within them all the sources of spiritual life. They 
 become other men. They learn by degrees to exercise them- 
 selves with the sentimentalities of song, instead of lifting up 
 holy hands and hearts to God in the solemn exercise. 
 
 The many painful examples of this nature which have been 
 witnessed in modern times, have awakened the jealousy of good 
 men against the claims of the art ; and led many to imagine 
 that it was designed chiefly for the circumstances of other times, 
 while now it is waxing old and ready to vanish away. Why 
 else, they would ask, do we experience so little benefit from the 
 exercise of praise ; and why are we so often foiled in our efforts 
 toward rendering it an efficient instrument of edification ? The 
 answer to such inquiries will be found in the sequel of these 
 observations. 
 
 Sacred music as a divine institution, was not destined, like 
 the ancient Jewish ritual, to decay. It is to stand while time 
 endures, as a lively representation of the worship of the sanc- 
 tuary above. Nor can we doubt that it will yet be seen to 
 operate more efficiently than ever, in enliveninp^ the devotions 
 of the sincere worshipper. That there is something wrong in 
 the present manner of sustaining it, is freely admitted. Indeed, 
 there is so much which is wrong, that it seems difficult to deter- 
 mine where to begin or to end the recital. But it is not our 
 present object to speak of the number and character of abuses. 
 A more delicate task lies before us, and one which we hope will 
 prove on the whole more beneficial. We shall endeavor to dis- 
 cover to our readers the principal source of these abuses, and 
 point out the only sure and practical remedy. 
 
 The musical art, if we may venture to believe the accredited 
 decisions of ancient history, was originally confined to purposes 
 of religious worship. As society became more depraved, and 
 religious rites were corrupted, feasting and merriment and idol- 
 worsliip took place of the serious offerings of praise and 
 prayer ; and hence the origin of secular music as a distinct 
 branch of the art. When at times pure religion was reinstattd, 
 she received tlie arts as she found them. Her aim was, not to 
 destroy, but to reform and preserve every thing which was in- 
 trinsically valuable. The distinction between sacred and secu- 
 lar music was for a time well defined, so far at least as inllu- 
 
1844.] Sacred Music. 427 
 
 ences were concerned ; though afterwards there seems to have 
 been, occasionally, an unhallo^ved blending. The song at the 
 Red Sea appears to have been an earnest expression of grati- 
 tude and holy joy : but that which was uttered by the same 
 people before the idolatrous calf of gold, we may suppose, was 
 of a very different character. A remarkable change of influ- 
 ences was also witnessed in the days of Solomon. So early as 
 at the dedication of the temple, the songs of Zion appeared in 
 their true dignity and beauty as smiled upon by the great Mas- 
 ter of assemblies. It was not when the countless sacrifices 
 were burning upon the altar, nor when the ark, that holiest of 
 symbols, was deposited in its place, that the Lord descended into 
 his holy temple. It was just when the singers and the trumpet- 
 ers began to be heard as one, in thanking and praising the Lord 
 for his ever-during mercy, that the divine presence was mani- 
 fested. Then the whole house was so filled with the glory of 
 God that even the consecrated priests could not stand to minis- 
 ter. But what does Solomon mean when, in the decline of life, 
 bearing testimony against the vices and follies of the world, he 
 says he gat to himself men-singers, women-singers, and instru- 
 ments of all sorts, so delightful among the sons of men ; and 
 then exclaims. Behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit ? 
 Surely, at the dedication all was not vanity. We read of no 
 vexation in the music or the singers. But subsequently there 
 was a change of management. The art, in the days of reli- 
 gious declension, had been pursued as a means of luxurious en- 
 joyment. Objects of taste are allowed to mingle with our 
 worship as auxiliaries ; but when we pursue them directly, as 
 the chief sources of enjoyment, it is but right that in this rela- 
 tion W'e should be made to feel their emptiness and vanity. 
 
 In the days of Hezekiah we find again the song of praise 
 with its appropriate influences, as the hosts were about to engage 
 in a victorious battle. But in the days of Uzziah and his suc- 
 cessors, when the art was brought to minister to the worldly 
 sensibilities of the indolent, the profane, and the luxurious, how 
 widely different were its results! The maledictions of Jehovah 
 were uttered against the men who, among other offences, would 
 "chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instru- 
 ments of music, like David.'''' Such examples as these are full 
 of instruction ; and we may readily infer from them, that sacred 
 music can never be secularized or applied to inferior purposes. 
 
428 Sacred Micsic. [April, 
 
 without leading, in some way or other, to disastrous conse- 
 quences. 
 
 In the days of primitive Christianity, there was little time for 
 the cultivation of the art. Exiled from their homes, despoiled 
 of their possessions, and driven from city to city in peril of their 
 lives, the early Christians employed the art as they found it ; 
 and sung the praises of the true God in the common melodies 
 of that day. For the farther purposes of cultivation they had 
 neither leisure nor opportunity. Yet they spent much time in 
 the exercise of praise, and derived from it great spiritual advan- 
 tage. They sometimes employed whole nights in this manner; 
 not, indeed, as amateurs at a grand musical festival, but as sin- 
 cere worshippers of the heart-searching God. No wonder, 
 therefore, that they were greatly edified and comforted. 
 
 In process of time, when the churches had rest from persecu- 
 tion, and derived protection and assistance from the arm of civil 
 power, they began to pay more attention to music as an art. 
 This they did, not for purposes of amusement or display, for 
 they had not yet learned to make sacred words serve as a mere 
 excuse for singing. Higher and purer motives still held the 
 predominance, and for a while sacred music continued to be a 
 powerful instrument of edification in public and in private. But 
 as years rolled by, the symptoms of a change were beginning 
 to appear. One of the early fathers speaks of the sweet influ- 
 ences of the songs of praise, with mingled sentiments of grati- 
 fication and self-distrust. The music melted his heart and 
 caused his tears to flow ; and was so attractive as to draw 
 heathen into the assemblies, who would sometimes remain till 
 they learned to worship in sincerity. But at the same time the 
 charms of musical sentinientality required his utmost watcliful- 
 ness to prevent them from absorbing that measure of attention 
 which ought to be employed with the subject matter of the 
 song. 
 
 Here was suggested an important principle. The objects of 
 taste, by divine appointment, so sweetly blending with the sen- 
 timents of devotion, are, through human infirmity, continually 
 liable to weaken that influence which they are tiesigned and 
 espcc:iiilly achipted to promote. Even the orator in his loftier 
 flights Will sometimes lead us thus astray ; but when the same 
 sentiments arc expressed in sweet poetry, and clothed in beau- 
 tiful music, the attraction is stronger, and the temptation more 
 diflicult to be overcome. 
 
1844.] Sacred Musit. 429 
 
 The churches at length became less scrupulous in regard to this 
 important principle. They would allow tliemselves to sing 
 psalms for the express purpose of " relieving the tedium of 
 other exercises," preventing languor, and 'preparing the mind 
 by a little tasteful enjoyment, to enter with greater alacrity upon 
 subsequent duties of devotion. By a still farther declension in 
 spirituality, it was subsequently declared in the days of Gregory, 
 the reformer of the canto primo, that " the chanters " who had 
 also been ministers, should be separated from the regular cler- 
 gy, on the ground that " singers were to be admired, more on 
 account of their voices, than for their precepts or pitrily.^^ This 
 decision of the man of sin seems never yet to have been fully 
 abrogated, even among protestants. No further step was 
 needed to complete the declension. Sacred music came to be 
 regarded simply as a fine art, irrespective of personal religious 
 responsibilities. The office of praise was thus degraded for 
 centuries. Sunday evening concerts were blended with reli- 
 gious orations ; and the music becoming the chief object of 
 attraction, led the way by easy steps to the cultivation of " sa- 
 cred dramas," so called, which were partly acted and partly 
 sung. At Christmas, for example, would be represented " the 
 play of the JVativity,'' and at Easter, " the play of the Resur- 
 rection!" In these exhibitions or entertainments, the musicians 
 themselves were not necessarily regarded as worshippers. 
 Though the words which fell from their lips w^ere often such as 
 angels would not utter but with veiled faces, they were here 
 comparatively of little account. The whole subject of devotion 
 was dramatized ; and the performers it would seem were chiefly 
 solicitous to act their parts to the public admiration. Choirs of 
 churches, where there was sufficient wealth, were then em- 
 ployed chiefly wnth reference to talent ; and they conducted the 
 music for the most part on the same general basis as here 
 described. The singers were but personators of devotion, like 
 sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. 
 
 This species of management was not confined to the Italian 
 states, nor to a limited period of time. In the reign of Henry 
 the Eighth, choirs w^ere still established in England by public 
 authority, and impressment was as common for this purpose, as 
 it has since been for the military service. The same practice 
 continued in the reign of Elizabeth. Better notions of civil 
 liberty afterwards prevailing, recourse was had, in many in- 
 stances, to hired professional singers, of whom it might be said 
 
430 Sacred Music. [April, 
 
 that musical talent was almost their only qualification. Instances 
 of this management have been known in later times ; nor has 
 our own country, even at the present day, been without exam- 
 ples of the same nature. But how very different is all this from 
 the primitive manner and spirit of praise ! 
 
 The art, meanwhile, had been making unwonted progress in a 
 new direction. In the days of primitive simplicity the music of 
 the church was but an impassioned melodious form of utterance, 
 applied to the consecrated themes for the purpose of enforcing 
 their meaning as by the power of oratory ; but now it began to 
 assume an importance independent of the established themes. 
 The latter were uniformly in the Latin tongue, and this with- 
 out even the advantages of simultaneous utterance. As many 
 as ten, twenty, thirty, or forty different parts in the harmony 
 would be sung in perpetual canon and fuge, etc., to the perfect 
 annihilation of the language. This style of music prevailed up 
 to the period of the Reformers. The singers were not remark- 
 able for pious intentions ; and they were allowed, it seems, to 
 address their auditors in language unintelligible. The music 
 also was so complicated in its structure, as of Itself to make no 
 suitable appeal to the uninitiated listener. To every purpose 
 of edification, therefore, the oflice of praise had become ex- 
 tinct. 
 
 The reformers of the sixteenth century did all that could well 
 have been done, by men in their circumstances, to improve the 
 music of the church. They composed hymns no longer in the 
 Latin tongue, but every where in the native dialect of the peo- 
 ple. These they adapted to such familiar melodies as all men 
 of ordinary talent might be able to sing; and in consequence 
 of this management, the churches once more became vocal in 
 the praises of God, as in primitive days. The songs of Zion 
 were again their delight as a source of spiritual comfort and 
 Christian edification. The reformers had it not in their power 
 to become extensive cultivators. They did what they could in 
 times of danger and perplexity. They set such an example of 
 improvement as opportunities allowed ; and their success was 
 complete in kind, though limited in duration. 
 
 The arts are never stationary ; and Christianity has nothing 
 to gain by neglecting them. She can by degrees mould them 
 somewhat to her own liking; but she cannot be allowed to 
 arrest their progress. Different systems of management suc- 
 ceeded. Some churches, following the precedent of the reform- 
 
1844] Sacred Music, 431 
 
 ers too literally, confined themselves to the same identical 
 strains, long after their original significancy had been lost in 
 the progress of the art. Others following with more propriety 
 the spirit of that precedent, invented additional melodies in 
 accordance with the taste of the times. Others still, introduced 
 music into the service which was more elaborate ; and there 
 were not wanting within the pale of the visible church, exam- 
 ples high in influence, which favored the dramatic use of reli- 
 gious themes, irrespective of any direct influences or purposes of 
 devotion. The latter class of individuals, embracing almost 
 every where the members of the musical profession, finally 
 gained the ascendency as to numbers and influence ; and their 
 maxims and habits for a long time extensively prevailed. We 
 see, however, in the same connexion, the strong evidences of 
 degeneracy as to religious influences; and we think, also, that 
 we see the cause. Sacred music was no longer cultivated, as 
 in primitive times, with specifi.c and exclusive reference to 
 religious purposes. 
 
 Sacred music was intended originally as the handmaid of 
 spiritual influences ; but she reduced the latter to a state of 
 humble vassalage. By this unwarranted act of usurpation, 
 she has been despoiled of her own pristine beauty and signifi- 
 cance. She now pleases far less on her own account than when 
 she kept her place as an unostentatious instrument of edification. 
 The present period furnishes striking illustrations of this truth. 
 A portion of the community are laboring with becoming activ- 
 ity for general improvement in sacred music ; and so far as the 
 art itself is concerned, their efforts are attended with gratifying 
 success. But they fail in regard to religious influences. Sacred 
 music, as a fine art, as a human science, as a source of tasteful 
 gratification, is increasing in the public favor ; but sacred music, 
 as a Christian privilege, as a specific instrument of edification, 
 as an expression of devout thanksgiving and praise — sacred 
 music, as a holy, a divinely constituted office, requiring pure 
 motives, and consecrated affections, and hallowed purposes — 
 this we fear is even now sinking into comparative neglect and 
 inefficiency. The maxims and habits and notions and preju- 
 dices which have so long been prevalent, have this infallible 
 tendency to deterioration; and the existing efforts are too feeble 
 and to ill-concerted too counteract it. Nor is sacred music as an 
 art assuming by any means that measure of importance in the 
 eye of the community which it would do if it w^ere attended 
 
432 Saci'td Muyic. [April, 
 
 with its full, legitimate results. Good men, in immense num- 
 bers, will continue to neglect it until its character is reformed. 
 
 But we must be more specific in our observations. The more 
 distinguished musicians of our own country recognize two large 
 classes of specimens under the general appellation of sacred 
 music ; the one belonging strictly to fhe church, the other to 
 the concert room or the oratorio. The one class puiports to be 
 adapted to religious worship ; the other to tasteful amusement 
 or display of talent. Tlie one essays to lead the worshipper in 
 those walks of chaste simplicity which allow him to school his 
 affections, call home his wandering thoughts and fix them upon 
 divine things; the other makes its appeal to the imagination, 
 shows us the worshippers at a distance, and makes us spectators 
 of the scene, delighted, it may be, with the dignity, the more 
 than human rhapsody which seems to animate the throng. In 
 short, the one leads us into the realities of religious worship ; 
 the other into the mere personations of religion. The one is 
 real life ; the other, imaginative representation. 
 
 A single example may sufficieritly illustrate our meaning. 
 " To thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, ' Holy, 
 holy,' " etc. If I feel myself thus directly addressing the great 
 God in an attitude of religious worship, I shall be filled with 
 awe, and sink in prostration before the divine Majesty as if 
 " my words" were "swallowed up." In proportion as spiritual 
 influences prevail, I shall be inclined like the prophet of old 
 who heard the same theme from angelic worsliippers, to cry 
 " woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean 
 lips." But if simply enjoyed as in dramatic personation, I 
 strive to paint the raptures of the unseen world, I may break 
 forth in the boldest strains of a celebrated " Te Deum," without 
 at all offending against the received'' principles of taste. I may 
 be as clamorous and as full of repetition as 1 choose, except, 
 perhaps, in regard to the single word "/<o/y," and no one will 
 complain. The loftiest martial strains of a llayiln or a Beetho- 
 ven, containing more of earthly joy than of heavenly rapture, 
 will seem most in character with the admiring midtitude. 
 Genius overpowers every thing. Taste is gratified. The im- 
 agination kindles antl burns, but not with holy fire. The emo- 
 tions are temporarily exciied, but the heart remains cold. 
 
 • I say received principles, because, after all, the principles 
 are not just, even in a dramatic point of view. 
 
1844.] Sacred Music. 433 
 
 Now the question more immediately before us is not whether 
 the same religious themes may or may not with Christian pro- 
 priety, under different circumstances, be used for each of these 
 specific purposes, but whether they may be consistently used 
 for both purposes at once ; or, rather, since there is every where 
 so much want of discrimination, whether the one of these pur- 
 poses is not continually liable to be frustrated by the ill-timed 
 inconsiderate application of the other. Devotional music in the 
 exhilarating concert-room, for instance, is seldom found to be in 
 keeping with the humor of the place; and concert music must 
 have a still more undesirable influence when heard in the solemn 
 assembly. At the same time, the true character of a piece in 
 these respects is not always readily determined. To this end, 
 we must look beyond the title of the piece, the character of the 
 words, or the reputation of the composer, or we shall be greatly 
 wanting in discrimination. 
 
 The most celebrated transatlantic composers and professors, 
 we are sorry to say, have too generally disregarded this dis- 
 tinction. They have not even recognized the entire claims of a 
 personated Aeyoiion. Surrounded by the imposing splendors of 
 a nominal Christianity, they have mistaken the shadow of re- 
 ligion for the substance. They have ministered to the imagina- 
 tion, rather than to the heart ; and even this without the 
 advantage of enlightened discrimination. And what is person- 
 ation ? The least that it can imply is, that the composer and 
 the executant both form right conceptions of characters and 
 things, and execute their allotted tasks under the influence of 
 appropriate emotions. In relation to secular subjects, this is 
 easily done, because the nature of such subjects is open to com- 
 mon observation. Any one who has human sympathies can 
 readily frame right conceptions of the joys and sorrows, hopes 
 and fears, remembrances and anticipations, of a given personage, 
 because these things are, in some important sense, common to 
 all. But in relation to religious subjects the case is far other- 
 wise. Vital religion, though a precious reality to every one 
 who embraces it, is not well understood by those who have 
 never learned its nature by personal experience. And, unfor- 
 tunately, the great musicians to whom we allude appear to 
 have been too much under the dominion of a worldly spirit to 
 yield themselves up to the effectual influences of a heavenly 
 tuition. This is sufficiently obvious from the details of their 
 history. 
 
 SECOND SERIES, VOL. XI. NO. II. 13 
 
434 Sacred Music. [April, 
 
 We laugh at the simplicity of the painter who, in reference 
 to the passage in the " Te Deum," " continually do cry," 
 represented his angels with tears in their eyes. But a similar 
 mistake is made by the composer, when he paints the peculiar 
 enjoyments of the Christian in a gloomy dress, or represents his 
 sorrows by a smile, his solicitudes by the calm of tranquillity, 
 or his faintest heavenly aspirations by the outbreakings of ter- 
 restrial joy. This, in the higher walks of composition, is not 
 unfrequently done. Serious as the accusation is, we need not 
 here apply for testimony to the aggrieved party. No one who 
 attentively reads the " Lives of Haydn and Mozart," will suspect 
 the talented writer of that work of the least taint of religious 
 enthusiasm. He was a man of the world, in the midst of culti- 
 vated society, in the heart of Europe ; and few could have had 
 better opportunities for critical observation than he enjoyed in 
 regard to the things of which he treats. Speaking of the pro- 
 gress of the Italian style, during the last century, he says that 
 " the music of the church and the theatre became the same. 
 A gloria in excelsio was nothing but a lively air, in which a 
 happy lover might very well express his felicity, and a miserere , 
 a plamtive strain, full of tender languor. Airs, duets, recitatives, 
 and even sportive rondeaus, were introduced into the prayers !" 
 
 The same writer, though a passionate admirer of Haydn, was 
 not wholly blind to the faults of that great man in his treat- 
 ment of sacred themes. He represents him in general as avoid- 
 ing the profane lightness of the Italian school, yet allows him 
 to have often exceeded in lightness the limits of propriety. He 
 says also, that his faults were sometimes more positive. He 
 could occasionally introduce comic passages ; and even paint 
 the fascinations of sin instead of the penitence of the sinner ! 
 No trifling faults, truly. 
 
 vSuch testimony as the above is not easily set aside. We be- 
 hold in it, not the accusations of an enemy, but the admissions 
 of a friend, — and as the works referred to are before us, we 
 have also the means of ascertaining for ourselves the reality of 
 the things described. Not only are these admissions well ibund- 
 ed, but the half is not told. Nor is the celebrated Haydn the 
 only great composer, who often fails in his conception of reli- 
 gious subjects. All the distinguished men of the same school, so 
 far as we liave been able to examine their works, appear to 
 have labored under the same infirmity. And if this is true of 
 the highest geniuses of any age or country, what might be ex- 
 
1844.] Sacred Music. 431^ 
 
 pected from their countless admirers and imitators? And if the 
 men fail thus when composing expressly for the church, how 
 much more might we expect them to fail in the dramatic use of 
 religious themes 1 These failures are not indeed perpetual ; 
 but they are sufficiently frequent to produce many an uncon- 
 scious abuse, not to say desecration, of religious themes. 
 
 It affords us no pleasure to speak thus of the great masters 
 of song. We would not at all depreciate their talents or lessen 
 their reputation. We should as soon think of questioning 
 the genius of a Virgil, a Homer, or a Milton, as to say ought 
 against the high ascendency these composers have gained in the 
 musical world. Let their works be thoroughly studied, and 
 they will be but the more venerated and admired. Yet, on 
 this very account, it becomes the more necessary to expose the 
 one general characteristic which has such a disastrous tendency 
 on the influence of religious music. The public taste in this 
 country is much in favor of that music which is of a hio-h 
 rhapsodic character, because it is tasteful, lively, energetic, and 
 in keeping with the general excitability of an enterprising age : 
 and thus it happens, in many circles, that concert-music, which 
 is very unsuited to the worship of the sanctuary, passes for 
 music which is really devotional. 
 
 And what shall be said of the executants of a corresponding 
 rank ? We once heard the piety of a preacher called in ques- 
 tion, not because he seemed deficient In sensibility, but because 
 he was wont to weep in the wrong places. While discoursing 
 of the Prodigal Son, for instance, he would melt at the thought 
 of feeding upon husks, but be little touched at the scene of pa- 
 ternal recognition, which is of such thrilling interest to the pious 
 heart. But this was nothing in comparison with what is wit- 
 nessed in the higher walks of professional execution. In the 
 performance of sacred music, they will not even consent to 
 weep in the wrong places. Their sympathies are differently 
 employed. They have a reputation to maintain, a talent to dis- 
 play, and an audience to gratify, at the expense of every thino- 
 save the single article of " filthy lucre." Honored exceptions 
 there doubtless have been — but we hazzard nothing in saying, 
 that the men whose lives are devoted to the secular drama are 
 not the individuals who, in the oratorio, the sacred concert, the 
 choir, or the organ loft, will enter, even with dramatic propriety, 
 into the sweetness and tender solemnity of religious themes. 
 These are not at all to their liking. They have no true taste 
 
436 Sacred Music. [April, 
 
 for them, no just conception of their meaning and importance. 
 The same is also true of many a distinguished performer, who, 
 without visiting the theatre, has acquired an exclusive taste for 
 secular music. How can any one, who is a habitual neglecter 
 of religious themes, be supposed on the spur of the occasion to 
 enter fully into the spirit of them ? The thing is impossible. 
 They must be studied and heartily appreciated before right con- 
 ceptions will generally be formed. 
 
 But let us suppose, for a moment, that the thing is not so : 
 that the worldly-minded can exhort us to lay up treasures in 
 heaven, the skeptical hold forth the language of Christian ex- 
 perience, and the neglecters of religion remind us of Him, who 
 " was despised and rejected of men," — that all this can be done 
 in such melting tones as to move a heart of marble to tender- 
 ness — will this answer the religious ends of sacred music ? We 
 often find passages which assume the alhrmative of this question 
 with as much confidence as if it had been established by the 
 soundest arguments, and confirmed by the most undoubted ex- 
 perience. One of the more respected class of dramatical per- 
 formers, for example, says of his professional friend at an Eng- 
 lish concert, that " his ' Lord, remember David,' and his ' 
 C07ne, let us worship,' breathed pure religion. No divine from 
 the pulpit, though gifted with the greatest eloquence, could 
 have inspired his auditors with a more perfect sense of duty to 
 their JNIaker than he did, by his melodious tones and chaste 
 style." Other writers might be quoted much to the same pur- 
 pose ; while multitudes show, by their management, that the 
 same opinion is entertained. Well, if the question be so decid- 
 ed, if expressive tones, with corresponding sentimentalities, are 
 so easily obtained from the irreligious, and are alone of such 
 wonderful efficacy in religious worship, why, let us at once in- 
 vite the prima dojinas into the choir, and all will soon be right. 
 On the same general principle, also, let us invite our Garricks 
 and Kcans into the pulpit, and constitute our masters in elocu- 
 tion the sole readers of the liturgy ! This would be acting con- 
 sistently. It would be treating the equally solemn ollices of 
 preacliing and prayer and praise alike. But no — we must come 
 back to primitive liabits and principles. We must call back the 
 Asaphs, the Hemans, and the Jeduthuns, and others of the same 
 spirit, to shed the right influence upon the undertaking. 'J'hen, 
 and not till then, will the legitimate results of religious music- 
 be fully restoreil. 
 
1844.] Sacred Music. 43', 
 
 We have seen, in the preceding history, that the religious in- 
 fluences of sacred music were the offspring of religious motives, 
 purposes, and affections, in the persons of those who became the 
 successful instruments of edification. We do not assert that 
 what the profession have so long claimed was never in any given 
 instance realized — for even actions which were wrongly intend- 
 ed have sometimes been overruled for good. But we say such 
 things are not to be expected. Religious results are to be 
 sought for only in a religious way. This is the constituted 
 method of obtaining them ; and when a different method is sub- 
 stituted, we have no right to look for a blessing upon our 
 exertions. 
 
 Here, then, is seen the great source of misdirection from which 
 the countless abuses have arisen. That which claims to be 
 sacred music, among the distinguished cultivators of the art and 
 their countless imitators, is not adapted with sufficient strictness 
 to religious purposes ; it is often nothing better than secular 
 music in disguise. Yet, since it has its peculiar attractions, it is 
 adopted more or less by all classes, and executed, almost as a 
 matter of course, in accordance with the design, the motives, 
 and the sentimentalities of the composer. 
 
 But before we proceed to speak more specifically of a remedy, 
 ■we must be allowed to offer a single word on the dramatic use 
 of religious subjects. When we consider that in the higher de- 
 partments of sacred music there is now, and usually has been in 
 modern times, a general absence of religious motives, purposes, 
 and affections, as well as a want of just conception, both in 
 composers and performers, how can we avoid the suspicion 
 that there is something even worse than the negation of religious 
 influences connected with these branches of cultivation ? If 
 religious themes are liable to be abused in speech, why not in 
 song ? If they are desecrated by furnishing unhallowed quota- 
 tions in speeches and dialogues, why not by an irreverential 
 utterance in recitatives, airs, and choruses? To our own mind, 
 the principle is perfectly plain. The whole system of dramatiz- 
 ing religious subjects, without any proper recognition of religious 
 responsibility in the parties concerned, is, in our view, an abuse 
 which ought never to be countenanced in a Christian commu- 
 nity. In the expression of this opinion we do not stand alone. 
 It did not even originate with us. To say nothing of our own 
 countrymen, in this relation, the opinion has been supported by 
 
 J wpers, the Newtons, the Cecils, the Richmond s, o 
 
438 Sacred Music. [April, 
 
 England, some of them, at least, men of refined taste, who lived 
 many years where abundant opportunities of information were 
 enjoyed. There is something in the very history of oratorios 
 which should excite our suspicion. To say nothing of their 
 origin and progress in a Catholic country, the consideration 
 that they have been generally employed in England as a sub- 
 stitute/or other amusemtnts in the time of Lent, and performed 
 by gay and thoughtless executants, not unfrequently in the 
 theatre, and in immediate connexion with secular songs which 
 were of more than a questionable character, would surely seem 
 sufficient to put good men upon their guard. The power of the 
 music upon the initiated class in community is unquestioned ; but 
 is this power rightly applied, and does it really produce legiti- 
 mate results ? Does it reclaim wicked men, and make good 
 men better by promoting their growth in grace 1 Does it not 
 rather have the opposite tendency ? Does it not tend indirect- 
 ly to lessen the devotional influence of church music ? and does 
 it not produce ujjon a large and respectable portion of the reli- 
 gious community, a strong reaction against the propriety of 
 church music ? 
 
 These truly are momentuous questions, well worthy the atten- 
 tion of the first minds in the community. But however they may 
 be disposed of, one thing is certain, that sacred subjects, whether 
 in speech or song, ought always to be treated in a sacred manner. 
 From this one decision there can be no appeal. And here we 
 take our stand. With this principle we would begin and end 
 the entire process of cultivation in regard to sacred music. The 
 highest and most important uses to which this department can 
 be applied, are the sincere worship of the heart-searching God, 
 and Christian instruction and edification. Let us, in all our 
 eilbrts towards improvement, limit its application to these pur- 
 poses, and ba watchful over the attendant inlluences, with a due 
 sense of our obligations and responsibilitits. 'I'ijis, and this 
 alone, will lead eifectually to the cure of evils and })rcvention 
 of abuses. 
 
 Pieces for practice, in a period like the present, should be 
 selected with the utmost care anil discrimination. This is a 
 task which is not likely to be executed by the press. It must 
 be done by individuals whose influence will be ielt. Concert 
 music ap})lied to sacred subjects sliould ever be regarded as a 
 misnomer. It is, morally sj)eaking, notliing better than secular 
 music in disguise. A practical test is always at hand. The 
 
1844.] Sacred Music 439 
 
 sentiments of the words which form the basis of our songs are 
 to be illustrated and enforced, as by the power of impassioned 
 oratory. That music which does this, and that alone, can 
 properly be regarded as sacred. We are not for laying aside 
 the compositions of the great masters. We would employ them 
 in sacred departments just so far as they can be made to answer 
 the purpose required. We would have them treated as the 
 classics in literature are treated. Shakspeare and Milton are 
 often quoted with propriety, even in the sacred desk ; but this 
 is a different thing from converting the pulpit into a play-house 
 or a chair of rhetoric. 
 
 Performers should also remember that, if in sacred music 
 they would become real worshippers, they must diligently seek 
 to cultivate the true spirit of praise as well as the right manner 
 of song. Both are essential, and neither can be omitted with- 
 out serious injury to the cause. The voice of prayer as well as 
 of praise should be heard in our schools and rehearsals. Let 
 the whole effort be fully Christianized, and then we may, with 
 humble confidence, look for the divine blessing. 
 
 Secular music has its own specific claims and advantages, 
 and we have no desire to lessen it in the public esteem. As an 
 art, it is worthy being better understood and more extensively 
 patronized. Still it is not without its attendant evils. Among 
 the wealthier class in the community, this branch of the art is 
 almost universally pursued to the neglect of sacred music, 
 properly so called. It is regarded simply as an elegant accom- 
 plishment. Time and expense will be devoted to it, year after 
 year, while, perhaps, not a solitary hour is given to the system- 
 atic practice of devotional music. If sacred music is occasion- 
 ally taken in hand, it is usually that of the concert style, as if 
 no other could be worthy of a moment's attention. Persons 
 thus educated, are quite indisposed to the practice of psalms 
 and hymns. They not unfrequently acquire such a disgust for 
 the whole subject of church music, as no strength of religious 
 principle is afterwards sufficient to overcome. Or, if stirred up 
 to duty, and induced to commence in earnest the work of praise, 
 then all their habits and notions are found to be at variance 
 with the prevailing style. One of two extremes they are 
 always prone to pursue. They incline either, on the one hand, 
 to apply secular melody with its light, unhallowed associations 
 to sacred words ; or, on the other hand, to discard every appear- 
 ance of melody, in favor of tunes so chastised in simplicity as 
 
440 Sacred Music. [April^ 
 
 scarcely to retain any measure of interest, save that which is 
 derived from antiquity. Such persons, in the nature of the cir- 
 cumstances, must either exercise a controlling influence upon 
 those around them, or retire altogether from this important field 
 of cultivation. In either case, their course has a tendency which 
 is exceedingly disastrous, especially as the influence of their 
 example is seen to descend through all ranks in society. 
 
 Such a course of instruction as we have here been exposing 
 has been extensively pursued, even in Christian families. But 
 it is evidently wrong. It is as if our children were to be so 
 exclusively trained to the fascinations of light reading, as to 
 unfit them for the profitable perusal of the Holy Scriptures. 
 We say, again, the most important objects to which music can 
 be applied, are those of spiritual worship and religious edifica- 
 tion. These appliances of the art will never be promoted 
 through secular cultivation. They require specific instructions 
 and practice. The devotional claims of the art are not met in 
 the usual instructions for the parlor. The church must have a 
 system of cultivation of her own, and one which is specifically 
 adapted to her own circumstances. Such a system will never 
 spring up spontaneously. It will never be established by the 
 musical profession as such. It must be planted and nurtured by 
 her own care, and maintained by her own activity and perse- 
 verance. When she arises to build with her own hands, and 
 with purposes and aflfections fully consecrated, the cause will be 
 seen to revive and flourish. Till then, it will continue to 
 languish even in the midst of seeming prosperity. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. XII 
 
 No. XXIII. 
 
 Art. I. Writings of Martin 
 Luther. By Professor C. E. 
 Stowe, D. D., of Lane Semin- 
 ary, Cincinnati. - - 1 
 
 Art. II. The Works of 
 Samuel Parr, LL. D., Re- 
 viewed. By Rev Calvin E. 
 Park, WaterVille, Me. - 39 
 
 Art. III. The Ideal of a Per- 
 fect Pulpit Discourse. By 
 Professor Henry N. Day, ' 
 
 Western Reserve College, i 
 Hudson, Ohio. - - 85 j 
 
 Art. IV. Natural History 
 OF Man in his Spiritual ! 
 Relations. By Professor 
 Samuel Adams, Illinois Col- \ 
 
 lege, 111. - - - 111 1 
 
 Art.V. Extremes OF Credu- j 
 lity and SKEPTicisai IN His- j 
 TORY. By Professor E. D. San- { 
 born, Dartmouth College, | 
 N. H. - - - 131 I 
 
 Art. VI. Exposition of Mat- 
 thew, vii. 6. By Rev. E. 
 Ballantine, Prince Edward 
 Va. - - 
 
 Art. vii. Coleridge's View 
 OF Atonement. By Rev, 
 Lemuel Grosvenor. - 
 
 Art. vii. Essays on the Mor- 
 al Susceptibilities, Moral 
 Action, and Moral Char- 
 acter. - - - - 189 
 
 Art. IX. The American Col- 
 porteur System. By Pro- 
 fessor J. M. Sturtevant, Illi- 
 nois College. - - 214 
 
 Art. X. Critical Notices. 
 
 -158 
 
 177 
 
 1. Prof. Woolsey's Goraias of 
 
 Plato, - - ^ - i>43 
 
 2. Blunt's Posthumous Ser- 
 
 mons, - - - 246 
 
 3. Dick's Lectures on the 
 
 Acts, - - - 247 
 
 4. Winslow's Christian Doc- 
 
 trines, - - - 248 
 
 5. Boardman's Apostolical 
 
 Succession, - - 24<'-i 
 
 6. Barstow's Biblical Dic- 
 
 tionary, - - 24!J 
 
 7. Spring's Obligations of the 
 
 World to the Bible, - 250 
 
 8. Sears's Ciceronian, - 250 
 
 9. Smith's Book that will suit 
 
 you, - - - 250 
 
 10. Goodrich's Pictorial His- 
 
 tory of the United 
 States, - - 251 
 
 11. Grimshawe's Memoir of 
 
 Leigh Richmond, - 251 
 
 12. Mrs. Ellis's Mothers of 
 
 England, - - 252 
 
 13. Bradley's Sermons, - 252 
 
 14. Wisner's Prelacy and 
 
 Parity, - - 252 
 
 15. Doddridge's Family Ex- 
 
 positor, - - 253 
 
 16. Rupp's History of Relig- 
 
 ious Denominations, 253 
 
 17. Hyponoia, - - 254 
 
 18. Crosby's Xenophon'sAn- 
 
 basis, - - - 255 
 
 19. Crosby's Greek Gram- 
 
 mar, - - - 255 
 
 Art. XL Literary Intelli- 
 gence - 256 
 
Contents. 
 
 IVo. XXIV 
 
 Art. I. The Principles of 1. 
 
 Presbyterianism, and Rea- 
 sons FOR Upholding them. 2. 
 By C. E. Stowe, D. D., Prof. 
 Bib. Literature, Lane Semin- 3. 
 ary, Cincinnati - - 257 
 
 Art. n. Evidence from Na- 4. 
 
 TLRE FOR THE IMMORTALITY 5. 
 
 OF THE Soul. By Rev. T. 
 
 M. Post, Prof, in Illinois Col- 6. 
 
 lege. - - - 294 I 
 
 Art. III. Review of Car- 7. 
 
 lyle's Past and Present. I 
 
 By Prof J. T. Smith of New- 8. 
 
 ton Theo. Institution, Mass. 310 
 
 Art. IV. The Natural His- 9. 
 
 TORY OF Man in his Spirit- 
 ual Relations. (Continued 10 
 from 130.) By Samuel Ad- 
 ams, M. D. Prof, of Cliemis- i 11. 
 try and Natural History, Illi- 
 nois College. - - 353 12. 
 
 Art. V. The Works of Jona- 
 than Edwards Reviewed. 13. 
 By Enoch Pond, D. D. Prof, 
 in Theo. Seminary, Bangor, 14. 
 Me. - - - -373 15. 
 
 Art. VI. South's Sermons Re- 
 viewed. By Prof. Shepherd, 16. 
 D. D. Bangor, Me. - 392 17. 
 
 Art. VII. Divine Agency 18. 
 
 and Government, together 19. 
 
 with Human Agency and 20. 
 
 Freedom. By Rev. Leonard 21. 
 
 Woods, D. D. Andover, 
 Mass. - - . 410 22. 
 
 Art.VHI. Sketches in Gre- 23. 
 
 4.IAN Piiii.osopHY. Bv Rev. 24. 
 
 William S. Tyler, Prof in 
 Amherst College, Ma.ss. 425 25. 
 
 Art. IX. Dominici Diodati, 2G. 
 
 DE Christo Guak f. Loquen- 
 TE ExERciTATio. Translatrd ^' 
 
 by O.T.Dohhiii.D. D. of Ex- 
 eter, Eng. (Continued from p. Art 
 222, Vol. XI.) - - .455 
 
 Art, X. Ckitical Notice* 
 
 Charlotte Elizabeth's 
 
 Works, - - 476 
 
 Foster's Essays from the 
 
 Eclectic Review, - 477 
 Gurley's Life and Elo- 
 quence of Lamed, 477 
 Knowles's Elocutionist, 478 
 Tappan's Elements of 
 
 Logic, - - 478 
 
 Howe's Theological Edu- 
 cation, - . 47^) 
 Old Humphrey's Country 
 
 Strolls, - . 479 
 
 Burns's Christian Frag- 
 ments, - - 480 
 Smith's History of Mis- 
 sions, - - - 480 
 Tyler's Memoir of Net- 
 
 'tleton, - - - 480 
 
 Durbin's Observations in 
 
 Europe, - - 481 
 
 Kahner's Greek Gram- 
 
 - 48-2 
 
 mar, 
 
 Anthon's Greek Gram 
 mar, 
 
 Keith's Land of Israel, 
 
 Schiller's Poems and Bal 
 lads, 
 
 Adams's Peter, - 
 
 GrecnhiU's Ezekiel, 
 
 Burrough's Hosea, 
 
 Manton's James, 
 
 Jenkyn's Judo, - 
 
 Daille's Philippians 
 Coliossians, - 
 
 Bush's Hierophant, 
 
 »' Valloy of Vision, 486 
 " Notes on Joshua 
 and Judges, - - 487 
 
 Bush's Daniel, - - 487 
 
 Biiird's Religion in Amer- 
 ica, - - .488 
 
 Additional Notices, - 488 
 
 XI. Literary Intelli- 
 gence '49S 
 
 483 
 483 
 
 -484 
 -484 
 -484 
 -484 
 -484 
 -484 
 and 
 -484 
 
 -4a-s