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Bible Encyclopedias
Psalmody, Christian.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or Those who refuse to accept the use of hymns in public worship interpret as sacred songs only the Psalms of David, and restrict the term to the singing of metrical versions of the Psalms to short, simple airs. They do this on the ground that psalm-singing alone was practiced in Jewish worship, and that among the earliest Christians the only sacred songs were the Psalms. Psalmody, thus interpreted, means the singing of metrical versions of the Psalms to short, simple airs.
The service of the primitive Christian Church usually began with reading, or with the singing of psalms. The charge of Pliny the Younger against the Christians was that they sang psalms to Christ "quasi Deo." No authentic record, however, exists of the kind of melodies sung to the psalms by those ancient Christians, nor are we to understand that their psalmody was performed in one course at the opening of the service, but rather that they afforded a most agreeable and delightfil introduction to the service, through which they were interspersed, probably very much as hymns are in modern Christian service. Nor were the Psalms the only sacred songs employed in the service of the early Church. (See HYMNOLOGY); (See MUSIC); (See POETRY).
Psalmody was always esteemed a considerable part of devotion in the Christian Church. The service of the early Church usually opened with psalmody; but the author of the Apostolical Constitutions prescribes first the reading of the Old Test., and then the Psalms. The service was usually performed in the standing posture; and as to the manner of pronunciation, the plain song was sometimes used, being a gentle inflection of the voice, not much different from reading, like the chant in cathedrals; at other times more artificial compositions were used, like our anthems. As to the persons concerned in singing, sometimes a single person sang alone, but the most ancient and general practice of the Church was for the whole assembly to unite with one heart and voice in celebrating the praises of God. After a time alternate psalmody was introduced, when the congregation, dividing themselves into two parts, repeated the psalms by courses, verse for verse, one in response to another, and not, as formerly, all together. The mode of singing all together was called symphony, while the alternate mode was termed antiphony, and in the West responsonia, the singing by responsals. This latter manner of conducting the psalmody originated in the Eastern Church, and is attributed to bishop Ignatius of Antioch, who flourished in the early part of the 2d century. It passed into the Western in the time of Ambrose, bishop of Milan. But in a short time antiphonal (q.v.) singing became the general practice of the whole Church, and the ecclesiastical historian Socrates informs us that the emperor Theodosius the Younger and his sisters were accustomed to sing alternate hymns together every morning in the royal palace. Augustine was deeply affected on hearing the Armbrosian Chant at Milan, and describes his feelings in these words: "The voices flowed in at my ears, truth was distilled into my heart, and the affection of piety overflowed in sweet tears of joy." Eusebius tells us that Ambro.se brought his famous melodies to Milan from Antioch.
These Ambrosian melodies, and the mode of their performance by canonical singers, continued in the Western Church till the time of Gregory the Great, who was devotedly zealous in the cultivation of sacred music, having been the first to introduce singing-schools at Rome. Gregory separated the chanters from the clerical order, and exchanged the Ambrosian Chant for a style of sinuging named, after himself, the Gregorian Chant (q.v.), besides introducing musical notation by Roman letters. It seems to be a point fully established that antiphonal singing, and, as Sir John Hawkins considers it, the commencement of Church music, originated in the churches of the East, particularly those of Antioch, Cuesarea, and Constantinople. The Greek fathers, Basil and Chrysostom, were the original instructors of the choral service in their respective churches. From the East Ambrose carried it to Milan, whence it was transferred to Rome, and afterwards passed into France, Germany, and Britain. Pope Damasus ordained the alternate singing of the Psalms, along with the Gloia Patri and Hallelujah; in A.D. 384, Siricius introduced the Authem; in A.D. 507, Symmachus appointed the Gloria in Excelsis to be sung; and in A.D. 690 the Gregorian Chant was brought into use. When Gregory, in A.D. 620, sent his chant into Britain, such was the opposition manifested to its introduction into the Church that 1200 of the clergy fell in the tumult which ensued; and it was not until fifty years after, when pope Vitalian sent Theodore the Greek to fill the vacant see of Canterbury, that the British clergy were prevailed upon to admit the cathedral service in accordance with the Romish ritual. Besides the psalms, which had been used from the earliest times, and short doxologies and hymns consisting of verses from the Holy Scriptures, spiritual songs, especially those from Ambrose of Milan and Hilary of Poitiers, came to be used in public worship in the Western Church. The Te Deum, often styled "the Song of St. Ambrose." is generally supposed to have been composed jointly by him and St. Augustine early in the 4th century, though archbishop Usher ascribes it to Nicetius, and supposes it not to have been composed till about A.D. 500.
Considerable opposition, it is true, was manifested to the introduction of such mere human compositions into divine worship, but the unobjectionable purity of their sentiments led to their adoption by many churches. The complaint, however, began to be raised that Church music had deviated from its ancient simplicity. It was especially objected that secular music, or an imitation of the light airs of the theatre, was introduced in the devotions of the Church. It was also objected that more regard was had to the sweetness of the composition than to the sense and meaning; thereby pleasing the ear, without raising the affections of the soul. Thus the Egyptian abbot Pambo, in the 4th century, inveighed against the introduction of heathen melodies into the psalmody of the Church. About this time Church music began to be cultivated more according to rule. In addition to the Psalter and canonical singers, Church choristers were appointed, who sang sometimes alone, sometimes illterchangeably with the choirs of the congregation. Inn the 4th century the custom began to be introduced into some churches of having a single person lead the psalmody, who began the verse, and the people joined him in the close. (See ACROSTICS); (See HYPOPSALMA).
This individual was called the phonascus or precentor, and he is mentioned by Athanasius as existing in his time in the Church of Alexandria. But difficulties and abuses arose from the growing neglect of musical cultivation; and, with a view of restoring public decency and order, the Council of Laodicea, in the year 363, considered it necessary to forbid the laity to sing in church at all, except in certain simple chants of a poputlar description. One principal reason was probably the adoption by the Arians of hymnology as a means of spreading their heresy. At first the difficulty had been overcome by providing similar compositions for the orthodox. Augustine himself made a psalm of many parts, in imitation of the 119th, to preserve his people from the errors of the Donatists. Hilary and Ambrose likewise made many hymns, which were sung in their respective churches. (A complete collection of all the ancient hymns, etc., in use in the different services of the Romish Church has been published by Hermann Adalbert Daniel, entitled Thesaurus Hymnologicus, etc. [Halle, 1841 sq.].)
Down to the Reformation, the music of the Church was thus pretty much surrendered to the clergy and trained musicians, and there were obstacles besides the mere ordinances of the Church. The words of the songs were in Latin. a tongue foreign to the people. The music was of a nature so elaborately complex that none could take part in it unless they had studied music as a science. Yet psalmody vas not entirely lost during the dark ages. The study of sacred music received peculiar attention in the 6th century, schools for instruction in this important art having been established and patronized by Gregory the Great, under whom they obtained great celebrity. From these schools originated the famous Gregorian Chant, which the choir and people sang in unison. Such schools rapidly increased in number, and at length became common in various parts of Europe, particularly in France and Germany. The prior, or principal, of these schools was held in high estimat ion, and possessed extensive information. In the 8th century pope Adrian, in return for the services which he had rendered to Charlemagne in making him emperor of the West, stipulated for the introduction of the Gregorian Chant into the Gallic Church; and the emperor, having paid a visit to Rome, where he kept Easter with the pope, received from the hands of his holiness the Roman Antiphonary, which he promised to introduce into his dominions. About the end of this century all opposition to cathedral music ceased, and for several centuries thereafter Church music uunderwent little or no change in the Church of Rome. It is a remarkable fact, however, that from the 8th till the middle of the 13th century, not only was it considered a necessary part of clerical education to understand the principles of harmony and the rudiments of singing, but the clergy were generally proficients both in vocal and instrumental music.
In the Eastern Church, where sacred music, as we have seen, had its origin, there arose in the 8th century a remarkable man, John of Damascus (q.v.), who was not only a noted theologian, but a most accomplished musician. On account of his great skill in the art of vocal music, he was usually styled Melodos. To this noted master of music the Eastern Church is indebted for those beautiful airs to which the Psalms of David are sung in our day. The Greek word ψάλλω is applied among the Greeks of modern times exclusively to sacred music, which in the Eastern Church has never been any other than vocal, instrumental music being unknown in that Church, as it was in the primitive Church. Sir John Hawkins, following the Romish writers in his erudite work on the History of Music, makes pope Vitalian, in A.D. 660, the first who introduced organs into churches. But students of ecclesiastical archaeology are generally agreed that instrumental music was not used in churches till a much later dale; for Thomas Aquinas, A.D. 1250, has these remarkable words: "Our Church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to Judaize." From this passage we are surely warranted in concluding that there was no ecclesiastical use of organs in the time of Aquinas. It is alleged that Marinus Sanutus, who lived about A.D. 1290, was the first that brought the use of wind-organs into churches, and hence he received the name of Torcellus. In the East, the organ was in use in the emperor's courts, probably from the time of Julian, but never has either the organ or any other instrument been employed in public worship in Eastern churches; nor is mention of instrumental music found in all their liturgies, ancient or modern. Towards the time of the Reformation, a general partiality for sacred music prevailed throughout Europe, owing, as is generally supposed, to the encouragement which pope Leo X gave to the cultivation of art. It is no doubt true that Leo was himself a skilful musician, and attached a high importance to the art as lending interest, solemnity, and effect to the devotional services of the Romish Church. But to no single ildividual can be traced the prevailing love for sacred music in the 16th century, for, besides Leo X, we find Charles V in Germany, Francis I in France, and Henry VIII in England, all countenancing sacred music, and treating musicians at their court with peculiar favor.
At the Reformation a greater part of the services of the Romish Church was sung to musical notes, and on the occasion of great festivals the choral service was performed with great pomp by a numerous choir of men and boys. That abuses of the most flagrant kind had found their way into this department of Romish worship is beyond a doubt, as the Council of Trent found it necessary to issue a decree on the subject, in which they plainly state that in the celebration of the mass, hymns, sbme of a profane and others of a lascivious nature, had crept into the service, and given great scandal to professors of the truth. By this decree the council. while it arranged the choral service on a proper footing, freeing it from all extraneous matter, gave it also a sanction which it had hitherto wanted. From this time the Church of Rome began to display that profound veneration for choral music which she has continued to manifest down to the present day.
The Reformers, observing the excessive attention paid to musical services, endeavored to return to the plainness of apostolic times. There had previously been repeated efforts at such a transformation. "The Albigenses, during the hottest season of persecution, are stated to have solaced themselves, in the very prospect of death, with singing the psalms and hymns of their Church. Psalmody was cherished by the disciples of Wycliffe. The Bohemian Brethren published a hymnbook with musical notes, from which it appears that the melodies they used originated in the chants to which the ancient Latin hymns of the Western Church were sung" (Conder, The Poet of the Sanctuary, p. 6). That psalmody was cultivated by the persecuted ancient Vaudois is evident from the fact that a large manuscript collection of their psalms and hymns is preserved in the library of Geneva (Monastier, Hist. de Eylise Vaudoise, i, 124). But it was the Reformation in the 16th century which restored to the people their right to participate in this primitive and edifying part of public worship. Psalm- singing was taken up by the Reformers, first for private devotion, and soon as a part of the service of the Church, Luther and Calvin restoring to the people their share in the musical part of public worship, and furnishing them with the means of performing it. From the time that psalm-singing was adopted by the Reformers, it was discountenanced by the Roman Catholics, and soon came to be regarded as a badge of Protestantism.
Metrical versions of the Psalms of David were executed in the principal vernacular languages of Europe; and some of the venerable Reformers are recorded as having applied themselves to the study of music in order that they might be enabled to compose plain and solemn tunes in which all would be able to join. Luther was peculiarly qualified for providing the first psalmody of the Reformation. Not only was he a great poet and musician, but he was full of fervid spiritual life. His hymlnology, and that of his coadjutors Halls Sachs, Michael Weiss, Johann Kugelmann, Johann Schop, Johann Crtiger, Paul Speratus, Justus Jonas, Nicholas Decius, and other contemporary divines and Reformers — were characterized and illustrated by some dozen magnificent chorals, which excited great enthusiasm. But psalmody, in the more modern sense, began in the 16th century, when Clement Marot, the court-poet of Francis I of France, translated fifty-two of the Psalms into French verse, dedicating them both to his royal master — whom he likened to the Hebrew psalmist — and to the ladies of France. The sacred songbook, on its first appearance, not being accompanied by music, it became the practice to sing the psalms to favorite tunes-often those of popular ballads, and for a considerable time psalm-singing became a favorite fashion among the gay courtiers of Francis. Marot's collection was continued and concluded by Theodore Beza, whose psalms had the advantage of being set to music, Beza having in this the assistance of Calvin, who engaged the best composers of the day to unite his sacred songs with beautiful and simple airs of a devotional character. Luther and Calvin differed, however, in their ideal of psalmody: the former was favorable to harmony in parts, while the latter confined himself to the bare, unaccompanied melody. In 1529 Luther published his first Hymn-book for the Congregation, which was printed by Joseph Klug in Wittenberg, whence it was also called the Klug'sche. This collection contained most of Luther's hymns, which may be read in an English translation in Luther as a hymnist (by the Rev. B. Pick, Phila. 1875).
Prior to Luther, the Moravian Brethren had published a collection of hymns (in 1504) compiled by their archbishop, Lucas — the first example of a hymn-book constructed of original compositions in the vernacular to be found in any Western nation which had once owned the supremacy of Rome. Some of its hymns, composed in the Bohemian and German languages, are of older date than the Reformation, and were highly commended by Luther himself for their scriptural and devotional character. In the renewed Church of the Brethren psalms and hymns continue to form an integral part of every religious service. Count Zinzendorf, who eminently contributed to its revival in 1722, was himself a Christian poet of no common order. The German hymn-book in general use among the churches of the Brethren was completed in 1778 by bishop Gregor, and has passed through numerous editions: it contains many hymns derived from the Lutheran Church, and some even from the primitive Christian Church. Some of the best hymns in this collection have been translated into English verse, nand, with the addition of a number of English hymns, constitute the hymn-book now in use among the congregations of the Brethren in this country. The latest edition, comprising 1260 hymns, is entitled Liturgy and Hymns of the Protestant Church of the Unitas Frairum, or United Brethren (Lond. 1849, 8vo).
In the Reformed Church, sacred songs were limited to the Psalms. As early as 1542 the La Forme des Prieres et Chantz ecclesiastiques ques avec la Maniere, etc., by Marot, was published. This collection contained only twenty-five psalms, to which Theodore Beza afterwards added the remaining psalms. To abridge the time devoted to singing was an object of their concern, when they could not banish it from their assemblies; and the Helvetic Confession contains a censure on the Gregorian Chant, and a commendation of its rejection by many of the Protestant churches. (See D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature [Lond. 1858], ii, 474.) The first edition of the entire book of Psalms in verse appeared in France in 1561, with the royal privilege, and 10,000 copies were immediately dispersed. These were speedily set to music, and were generally sung in the Reformed churches of France, Geneva, and French Switzerland, notwithstanding their condemnation by the college of the Sorbonne.
Some expressions having become obsolete, the task of retouching them was undertaken, first by Valentine Convart, the first secretary of the French Academy, and by one of the elders of the church at Charenton; and afterwards by the pastors of Geneva, who revised their undertaking, and almost recast the work of Marot and Beza. So dear, however, was the memory of these first two poets of the French Reformation that it was found necessary to preserve the very number of their stanzas and the quantity of syllables of their verses, and the ancient music of the 16th century is to this day adapted to the singing of the revised and corrected psalms (Musee des Protestans Celebres, vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 11, 12). Of late years the Protestant churches in France have paid much attention to the improvement of their psalmody. To the metrical version of Marot and Beza thev have added collections of hymns, with music, for various occasions. The French version of Marot and Beza was translated into Dutch metre by Peter Dathen, pastor of the first Reformed church at Frankfort-on-the-Main, about the year 1560, and adapted to the French tunes and measure. A new Flemish metrical version of the Psalms was executed by Philip de Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde. A Bohemian version by Stryx, said to be of high merit, was published in 1590; and a Polish version by Bernard Woiewodka, of Cracow, was printed at Brecsz, in Lithuania, about the year 1565, under the anspices of prince Radzivil (Bayle, Dictionnaire, par Des Maizeaux, 4:124; Milner, Life of Dr. Isaac Watts, p. 350, note). What Marot and Beza were to the Reformed Church of France and French Switzerland, Lobwasser was to the Reformed Church of Germany, German Switzerland, and Holland. None of the strictly Calvinistic communities have a hymn-book dating back to the Reformation. David's Psalter was the first hymn-book of the Reformed or Genevan Church. The book of Psalms became the only hymn-book of the Reformed churches in France, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Germany, and Scotland, "adapted to grave and solemn music, in metrical translations, whose one aim and glory were to render into measure which could be sung the very words of the old Hebrew psalms."
England, in some measure a place of refuge, where both forms of the Reformation lived tranquilly side by side, but also a border land where both met and contended, was given the treasures of psalmody at the moment of her embracing the new doctrines. Probably in 1538, and certainly before 1539, the venerable confessor Myles Coverdale, bishop of Exeter, during the reign of king Edward VI, published a metrical version of thirteen Goostly Psalmes and Spirituall Songes drawn out of the Holy Scripture. The first verse of each psalm is accompanied by musical notes, which evidently show that they were designed to be sung (Coverdale's Remains, p. 533). The next attempt to versify the Psalms in English was made by Thomas Sternhold, a native of Hampshire, groom of the robes to king Henry VIII and to king Edward VI, who published nineteen psalms, most probably in 1549. This translation was at first discountenanced by many of the clergy, who looked upon it as done in opposition to the practice of chanting the psalms in the cathedrals. It was increased to thirtyseven in 1551, with seven additional psalms translated by John Hopkins; to eighty- seven, most probably in 1561, by Sternhold and others; and in 1563 was published the entire book of Psalms, translated by Sternhold, Hopkins, and others. This version seems to have been authoritatively introduced into the service of the Reformed Church of England, being sanctioned both by the crown and convocation; and it soon became exceedingly popular.
Vocal psalmody was soon after introduced into the church service, the choral mode of singing being still retained in cathedrals and collegiate churches, and the liturgic hymns being retained in the Prayer-book. Public singing of psalms by the whole congregation was begun in the month of September, 1559, at the parish church of St. Antholin, in the city of London, whence it spread first into the neighboring churches, and from them into distant towns. Bishop Jewel, in a letter to Peter Martyr, dated March 5, 1560, says: "You may sometimes see at Paul's Cross, after the service, six thousand persons, old and young, of both sexes, all singing together and praising God" (Zurich Letters, p. 71). Although several metrical versions of the Psalms were published with the royal license, by archbishop Parker (1560), Henry Dod (1603), George Wither (1623), King James 1 (1631), and George Sandys (1631), the "old version" of Sternhold and Hopkins continued to be used in the churches until after the Restoration, notwithstanding the efforts made, during the rebellion, to recommend the introduction and adoption of the metrical versions of Barton and Rous. The version of Sternhold and Hopkins fell into disuse after the publication of A New Version of the Psalms of David, fitted to the Tunes in Churches, by Nahum Tate (poet-lautreate under William III and Anne) and Dr. Nicholas Brady (Lond. 1696 [2d ed. 1698], 8vo).
This version, less literal in its renderings than its predecessor, and somewhat commonplace as regards poetical character, was introduced to the public under the sanction of an order in council issued by king William III, of no legal force or authority whatever since his decease, and permitting it to be used "in all such churches and chapels and congregations as think fit to receive the same." In 1703, it being found necessary to have a supplement containing "the usual hymns, Creed, Lord's Prayer, etc., with the Church tunes, Messrs. Tate and Brady obtained a similar order in council for its adoption in such churches, etc., as should think fit to receive the same." Although the "new version," as it is now commonly termed, encountered much animadversion and opposition at its first publication, it is at present used in most churches and chapels in England and Ireland, as well as in the chapels of the Episcopal communion in Scotland and in the British colonies. This extensive use of the new version may be ascribed to its intelligibility as a whole, tame as the largest portion of it confessedly is, and to the fact that, almost ever since its first publication, the copyright property has been vested in the Stationers' Company, by whom, until of late years, it has almost exclusively been published. Modern hymns, selected according to the taste and at the will of the incumbent, have to a large extent taken in recent times the place of metrical psalms in the Church of England.
Of the psalm tunes which came into use, some have been attributed to Claude Goudimel, Claude Le Jeune, and Guillaume Franc, and a few owe their origin to Luther. The well-known 100th Psalm is an adaptation of Gregorian phrases by Guillaume Franc. The first important collection of psalm tunes for four voices published in England was made by Thomas Ravenscroft, Mus. Bac., and appeared in 1621; it was entitled "The whole Booke of Psalms, etc., composed into four parts by sundry authors, to such several tunes as have been and are usually sung in England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands." In this collection were included contributions by Tallls, Morley, Dowland, and all the great masters of the day, as well as by Ravenscroft himself, who contributed the tunes St. David's, Bangor, and Canterbury. The name of John Milton, father of the poet, appears as composer of the tunes York and Norwich. According to the then prevalent usage, the subject, or air, was given to the tenor voice. This custom was first departed from in the Whole Book of Psalms, in Three Parts, published in 1671, compiled and arranged by John Playford whom Sir J. Hawkins calls the "father of modern psalmody" — where we have the more proper practice, which has since obtained, of making the melody the soprano part. Croft, Courteville, Cary, the Bachs, and Handel have since that time contributed to the psalmody in use in Britain.
In 1603 was printed a Welsh translation of the Psalms, made by William Myddleton, a celebrated poet and navigator. Another version appeared about the commencement of the 17th century, from the pen of another eminent Welsh poet, Edmund Prys, archdeacon of Merioneth. A revised edition of this version, by the Rev. Peter Williams, is now in use throughout the principality of Wales. An entire version of the Psalms in the Erse, or native Irish language, made by the Rev. Dr. M'Leod, the Rev. F. H. Beamish, Mr. Thaddeus Connellan, and Mr. David Murphy, was published at London in 1836; and some portions of the Psalms have been translated into the Mohawk language by an unknown author (London, 1787, and Hamilton, Toronto, 1839), and into the language of the Munceys, a native tribe of North Americans, by the Rev. Richard Flood, a missionary to them from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
Admirably as most of the psalms are adapted to general use in public worship, it was yet felt, in the English churches, that some other metrical expressions of those astonishing hopes and consoling promises which the new dispensation has given to man in the N.T. would not be altogether inappropriate. The great German Reformer had written hymns, andl many of the other Continental divines of the revived faith in Christ had done likewise. Yet no English People's Hymn-book was brought out until the closing years of the 18th century, i.e. none that was placed on cottage tables beside the Bible, and none for use when Christians met and chanted beside the grave, although they had the Te Deume and Magnificat and the Psalms. Bishop Maltby published A Selection of Psalms and Hymns before his elevation to the episcopate. Various selections were made and published by various individuals, principally (as it appears) since the year 1770, and these selections are derived from Dr. Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David in the Language of the New Testament (1707), and from his Hymns (1719); the Hymns of the Rev. Dr. Doddridge; those of the Rev. Messrs. John and Charles Wesley; the Olney Hymns, composed by William Cowper and John Newton; and the sacred compositions dispersed through the works of the British poets of the 18th century.
The Wesleys, however — so it seems — were the first who really gave a People's Hymn-book to England, unless that of Dr. Watts, published about the beginning of the 18th century (in 1709), may be called so. "To Dr. Watts," says a modern biographer, "must be assigned the praise of beginning, in our language, a class of productions which have taken a decided hold upon the universal religious mind. On this account Christian worshippers of every denomination, and of every English-speaking land, owe him an incalculable debt of gratitude. Mason, Baxter, and others had preceded Watts as hymn- writers; but their hymns were not used in public worship. Prejudice prevented the use of anything beyond the Psalms, and those not yet in their Christian rendering; but Watts made the Christian hymn part of modern public worship." As a supplement to Dr. Watts's hymns, Dr. Doddridge published a collection entitled Hymns Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures (1755). After these singers came the two Wesleys, whose hymns are sung up to this day, and John Newton and Cowper, who produced the Olney Hymn-book.
Of the state of psalmody among the Puritans at the close of the 16th, and in the former part of the 17th century, we have no certain information. During the commonwealth, William Barton published a metrical version in 1644, reprinted in 1645 with the license of the Protector Cromwell. This version was received with much favor, and appears to have retained its popularity for many years. In 1646, Francis Rous, the Presbyterian provost of Eton College, published his version of the psalms, sanctioned by the imprimatur of the House of Commons, in pursuance of the recommendation of the Westminster assembly of divines. This version was subsequently revised by William Barton for the optional use of churches in England, but it never became popular. But the greatest improvement in psalmody, not merely among Protestant dissenters, but among all English congregations, was effected by the learned and Rev. Dr. Isaac Watts. For a just appreciation of the value of his publication the reader is necessarily referred to Mr. Conder's Poet of the Sanctuary, p. 48-105, in which work will be found notices of some eminent versifiers of psalms and hymns, both Episcopalian and Nonconformist, who preceded Dr. Watts. The best compositions of Dr. Watts, and of his learned and pious friend the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, are found in every selection of psalms and hynns which has been published since the year 1770. All the great bodies of dissenters from the Church of England now have denominational hymn-books, containing the best versions or imitations of the Psalms of David, together with hymns selected from the most eminent modern devotional poets.
A curious controversy on psalmody arose among the dissenters in the end of the 17th century. Whether singing in public worship had been partially discontinued during the times of persecution to avoid informers, or whether the miserable manner in which it was performed gave persons a distaste tor it, it appears that. in 1691, Mr. Benjamin Keach published a tract entitled The Breach Repaired in God's Worship; or, Psalms, Hymns, etc., proved to be a Holy Ordinance of Jesus Christ. To us it may seem strange that such a point should be disputed; but Mr. Keach was obliged to labor earnestly, and with a great deal of prudence and caution, to obtain the consent of his people to sing a hymn at the conclusion of the Lord's Supper. After six years more, they agreed to sing on the thanksgiving-days; but it required still fourteen years more befomre he could persuade them to sing every Lord's-day, and then it was only after the last prayer. that those who chose might withdraw without joining in it! Nor tdid even this satisfy these scrupulous consciences: for, after all, a separation took place, and the inharmonious seceders formed a new church in May's Pond, where it was above twenty years longer before singing the praises of God could be endured. It is difficult at this period to believe it; but Mr. Ivimey quotes Mr. Crosby as saying that Mr. Keach's was the first church in which psalm- singing was introduced. This remark, however, must probably be confined to the Baptist churches. The Presbyterians, it seems. were not quite so unmusical; for the Directory of the Westminster divines distinctly stated that "it is the duty of Christians to praise God publicly by singing of psalms together in the congregation." And besides the old Scotch Psalms, Dr. John Patrick, of the Charter-house, made a version which was in very general use among dissenters, Presbyterians, and Independents before it was superseded by the far superior compositions of Dr. Watts. These Psalms, however, like those of the English and Scotch Establishment. were drawled out in notes of equal length, without accent or variety. Even the introduction of the triple-timed tunes, probably about the time of Dr. Watts's psalms, gave also great offence to some people, because it marked the accent of the measure. Old Mr. Thomas Bradbury used to call this time "a long leg and a short one." The beautiful compositions of Dr. Watts, the Wesleys, and others produced a revolution in modern psalmody. Better versions of the Psalms, and many excellent collections of hymns, are now in use, and may be considered as highly important gifts bestowed upon the nmodern Church of God.
In Scotland, the early Reformers, while they banished instrumental music from churches, paid great attention to singing. In John Knox's Psalter, arranged for use in churches, the metrical psalms are set to music in harmony of four parts. Several early translations of the Psalms were produced in North Britain, but that of Sternhold and Hopkins was used in worship from 1564 down to the middle of the 17th century. In 1632 an attempt made by Charles I to supersede it by king James's version was more resolutely and decidedly opposed than in England. During the Commonwealth, the commission of the General Assembly, in pursuance of a reference made to them in August, 1649, issued on the 23d of November following their decision in favor of the revised version of Francis Rous, a member of Cromwell's council, which Parliament had in vain endeavored to bring into general use in Elngland. It was adopted in the main to be used as the only authorized metrical version of the Psalms for the Kirk of Scotland, not only in congregations, but also in families.
Though somewhat rough and uncouth, it is sometimes expressive and forcible, and perhaps nearer the original than any other metrical translation of the Psalms. A few paraphrases and hymns have since been added, by authority of the General Assembly, and form together the psalmody in use in Presbyterian worship in Scotland. In 1706 the assembly commended the Scripture songs of Mr. Patrick Sympson for use in private families; and to prepare them for public use the act was renewed in the following year, and in 1708 the commission was authorized to compare the remarks of presbyteries oln these songs. Thus matters passed on for years. In 1742 the assembly anew expressed a wish for an addition to the psalmody, and in 1751 forty-five paraphrases had been selected. In 1781, after many delays, a new and fuller collection was made, twenty-two being added to the previous forty-five selections. This collection, though never formally sanctioned by the assembly, is that now in use and printed along with the Psalms in Scottish Bibles. Some of the paraphrases have an Arminian tinge. In 1787 a committee of the General Assembly, duly empowered, published a selection of Paraphrases in Verse of several Passages of Scripture... to be sung in Churches. It retained, in substance, the translations which had been published in 1745, under the authority of the General Assembly, and which had been in use in several churches; and a considerable number of new paraphrases were added, chiefly from the psalms or hymns of Drs. Watts, Doddridge, and Blacklock, and Mr. Logan. In 1781 a faithful and beautiful version of the psalmody of the Church of Scotland, in the Gaelic language, was made by the Rev. John Smith, by whom it was revised and published in 1783. From 1807 to 1822 the subject of a revision of the metrical psalms was before every assembly. Sir Walter Scott, when applied to, was wisely against the project; "for the Psalms," said he, "often possessed a rude sort of majesty, which woull be ill exchanged for mere elegance." In 1860 an addition to a collection of paraphrases was published by the General Assembly. The Relief Synod published a hymn-book for their churches in 1794, and enlarged it in 1832.
The Burgher branch of the Secession had, in 1748, requested Ralph Erskine, the anthor of the Gospel Sonnets, to undertake the duty of enlarging the psalmody, but the proposal led to no result. The United Presbyterian Church, after some years' preparation, published, in 1851, a hymn-book for the use of their churches. The most of the paraphrases are incorporated into it. In addition to what is stated in the previous portion of this article about psalmody in Scotland, it may be mentioned that there was published at the period of the Reformation a Compendious Booke of Godly and Spiritual Songs. Many of these are satires on the Romish clergy, and many are profane songs (prophaine sangis) metamorphosed. The Romish clergy published a canon against this book-such was its popularityand the fifth Parliament of queen Mary passed an act against such rhymes.
The first song of praise to Almighty God in the English language, on our New-England coast, was raised by the Pilgrim fathers when they landed on Plymouth Rock. Cold, ice-bound, without a roof over their heads, they remembered their first Sabbath-day to keep it holy — "10 of December, on the Sabbath day, wee rested," is the simple and impressive record of their journal.
"Amid the storm they sang,
And the stars heard, and the sea,
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
With the anthem of the free."
As the first book ever printed with movable metal types was the Bible, so, as if to keep up the sacred parallel on this continent, the first book printed here was a portion of the inspired volume "done into metre." The first press was put up at Cambridge in 1639, by Stephen Day. His first book was The Psalms in Metre, faithfully translated for the use and edification of the saints in public and private, especially in New England (printed at Cambridge in 1640). This version was made from the Hebrew by Thomas Welde, of Roxbury; Richard Mather, of Dorchester; and John Eliot, the Apostle of the Indians. They were a committee appointed by the Congregational or Independent churches as early as 1636. In their preface they say, "We have respected rather a plain translation than to smoothe our verses with the sweetness of any paraphrase, and so have attended to conscience rather than to elegance, and fidelity rather than poetry, in translating Hebrew words into English language and David's poetry into English metre." Three hundred acres of land were granted to Stephen Day, "being the first that set up printing." Eliot's Indian Bible, in the Nipmuck language, was printed at Cambridge in 1663, the whole of the type being set up by an Indian, and the Psalms "done in common metre" — of which the first verse from the 19th Psalm may suffice as a specimen —
"Kesuk kukootumusheanumon God wussosumoonk Mamahehekesnk wumatuhkon Wutatna kausnonk."
In 1718 Dr. Cotton Mather issued his Psalterium Americanum; the Book of Psalms in a translation exactly conformed unto the original, but all in blank verse, fitted unto tunes commonly used in our churches. From this curious book we extract a few lines, as printed:
"Psalms 22. — A PSALM OF DAVID.
"1. My Shepherd is the ETERNAL God I shall not be in [any] want:
"2. In pastures of a tender grass He [ever] makes me to lie down: To waters of tranquilities He gently carries me [along];
"3. My feeble and my wandering soul He [kindly] does fetch back again; In the plain paths of righteousness He does lead [and guide] me along; Because of the regard he has [ever] unto his glorious Name."
In an Admonition concerning the Tunes, Dr. Mather states that "the director of psalmody need only say. ‘ Sing with the black letter,' or ‘ Sing without the black letter,' and the tune will be sufficiently directed" (see Belcher, Historical Sketches of Hymns and Hymn-writers, p. 47, 48 — a work which contains much interesting information on the whole subject of Church psalmody, hymnology, and music). These and other primitive efforts to furnish an American psalmody and hymnal were not followed with success. Between the years 1755and 1757 the version of the Psalms of 1640 was carefully revised by the Rev. Thomas Prince, M.A., and published in 1758. In 1783 Mr. Joel Barlow, an American statesman and poet, published a corrected and enlarged edition of Dr. Watts's version of the Psalms, and a collection of hymns, with the recommendation of the General Assembly of the Congregational Ministers of Connecticut, at whose request the work had been undertaken, Many of the psalms were altered, several were written anew, and several, which had been omitted by Dr. Watts, were supplied. This collection was in general use in that state until the bad character of the author (who died a wretched infidel) brought them into disrepute; and in the year 1800, the Rev. Timothy Dwight, D.D., president of Yale College, published a revised edition of Dr. Watts's version of the Psalms (in which he versified upwards of twenty psalms omitted by Watts), with the approbation of the General Assembly of Ministers in the state of Connecticut, at whose request it had originally been undertaken. This edition, with the contributions of Dr. Dwight, has never been adopted by the Congregationalists of this country. Many of the leading denominations in the United States of America now have their own separate psalm- and hymn-books.
In 1789 the new version of the Psalms by Messrs. Tate and Brady was adopted entire by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with the addition of a few hymns. Since the year 1826 a collection of 212 hymns has been in use under the authority of the General Convention of that Church, composed of the House of Bishops and of clerical and lay delegates; and since October, 1832, under the same authority, 124 selections of entire psalms, or of portions of psalms, from the new version (with certain necessary alterations or corrections, and occasionally with the substitution of a better version) has been in use in all the churches of that communion.
The constitution of the Reformed Church in America declares that "No psalms or hymns may be publicly sung in the Reformed (Dutch) churches but such as are approved and recommended by the General Synod." The manifest reason of this prohibition is to be found in the vital relation that subsists between the psalmody and the theology of that Church. This is further illustrated by a rule of its General Synod which forbids the issue of any edition of the psalms and hymns of this Church without the Confession of Faith, the Catechisms, and the Liturgy. The history of the hymnology of this denomination, which dates back to the period of the Reformation, makes an interesting chapter of the general subject.
From an elaborate report made to the General Synod of 1869 by the committee which prepared the "Hymns of the Church," we condense a brief narrative: "The Church Orders ratified by the National Synod of Dordrecht (A.D. 1618- 19), which are still ‘ recognised' as containing the distinctive and fundamental principles of our Church government, declare that ‘ the one hundred and fifty psalms of David, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Twelve Articles of the Christian faith, the songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon, versified only, shall be sung in public worship.' The churches are left at liberty to adopt or omit that entitled O thou, who art our Father, God! All others are prohibited. This usage, prevailing in the Netherlands, was transferred to this country. Several copies of the psalm- books which the fathers brought with them are in the hands of the committee." Thev are invariably bound up with the Bible, or the New Testament at least, the Catechism, and Liturgy. These Psalms in Dutch are the version of Peter Dathe, the eminent Biblical scholar and critic, by whom they were translated; however, not from the original, but from the French. This was the first book in use in the Reformed Church in America. It contains, besides the Psalms, the Ten Commandments, the Song of Zacharias, the Song of the Virgin Mary, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of the Christian faith (translated from the German by Jan Uytenhoven), the Morning Prayer, the Evening Prayer, the Prayer before Sermon, Prayer before Eating, Prayer after Eating, the Evening Prayer entitled Christe qui Lux es et Dies, and a translation by Abraham Van der Meer, from the Greek Bible, of the 151st Psalm of David. Every word of these psalms and creeds and prayers is set to music of a simple recitative character, in which all might join, by Cornelius De Leeuw.
This book was in use in all the Dutch churches in this country, until the consistory of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the city of New York found it necessary to have diville service performed in the English language; and on Nov. 9, 1767, approved and recommended for the use of their Church and schools an English psalm-book, published by their order, "which is greatly indebted to that of Dr. Brady and Mr. Tate, some of the psalms being transcribed verbatim from their version, and others altered so as to fit them to the music used in the Dutch Church" (prefatory note). This book contains, besides the Psalms of David, fifteen pages of "hymns" — viz. the Ten Commandments, the Song of Zacharias, the Song of the Virgin Mary, the Song of Simeon, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer — all set to the simple music in which all the people joined, so that the compiler could truthfully say, "A great part of divine worship consists in harmonious singing." This first book in English was the second book in use in our churches.
The "Articles of Union," adopted in 1771, make no mention of psalmody, but agree to "abide in all things" by the regulations of the Synod of Dort, hereinbefore quoted. In 1773 a new version of the psalms and hymns was compiled and adopted in the Netherlands, and was soon introduced into some of the Dutch churches in America, constituting the third book thus used. It differs from the preceding chiefly in the higher critical character of the psalms. In 1787 the General Synod appointed a committee to compile a psalm-book "out of other collections of English psalms in repute and received in the Reformed churches; no congregation, however, to be obliged thereto where that of the New York consistory is in use." Additional instructions were given the next year to print "some well- composed spiritual hymns in connection with the psalms." After approval by the Synod of 1789, this book "was speedily published." It contains, besides the Psalms of David, a century of hymns, of which "1 to 52 are suited to the Heidelberg Catechism, 53 to 73 are adapted to the holy ordinance of the Lord's Supper, and Hymn 74, to the end, on miscellaneous subjects." Among these are such titles as "Christmas," "The Song of the Angels," "Resurrection," "Ascension," "Whitsuntide," "New Year." etc. This book, prepared by order of the General Synod, being the fourth book used in their churches, is without music, as have been all subsequent books until this time. This selection continued in use for full a quarter of a century, and is still an admirable one.
In 1812, on petition of the Classis of New York, the General Synod requested the Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston to prepare an improved and enlarged selection of psalms and hymns. This was reported to the Synod of 1813, and by its order was "forthwith introduced into all our churches." Its use was recommended also "to all families and individuals in place of the book hitherto in use." No radical change has been made in the psalmody of the Reformed Church from that day to this — the fifth book sanctioned in the churches. It embraced 273 more hymns than the former collection.. Additions, however, were made, in 1831, of 172 hymns, and published as Book II. Rev. Dr. Thomas De Witt was chairman of the committee which prepared it. This was the sixth book. In 1843 a book of Sabbath-school and Social Hymns, 331 in number, was published by order of the Synod. In 1845-46 a committee, of which Rev. Dr. Isaac Ferris was chairman, prepared, by authority of the Synod, a new arrangement of psalms and hymns, embracing 342 additional selections. This was soon published, and constituted the seventh book thus used in the Reformed Church in America — containing, in addition to the psalms, 788 hymns. An edition with music has been published within three or four years past, under the title of The Book of Praise. In 1862 the Fulton Street Hymn-book, which is used in the celebrated daily noon prayer-meeting which bears the name of that street, and numbering 326 hymns, was published, and "recommended to the churches" by the Synod.
In this chronological sketch no reference has been made to books in the French and German languages; but so long ago as 1792 the Synod approved and recommended, in the French language, the psalms and hymns compiled by Theodore de Beza and La Marot; and in the German language, the psalms and hymns, published at Marburg and Amsterdam, used in the Reformed churches in Germany, in the Netherlands, and Pennsyvlvania. In October, 1852, a valuable and large collection of hymns in the German language was printed by order of the General Synod, for use in the German churches of this denomination. It was compiled by the late Rev. John C. Guldin, of New York, Rev. Joseph F. Berg, D.D., and Rev. Abraham Berky. Since then a German Hymn-book for Sunday-schools, with music, has been issued. The General Synod of 1869 sanctioned a new volume, entitled Hymns of' the Church, with tunes, which is now coming in use in many congregations. The full history of the preparation of this elegant volume is given in the Report of the Synod. In many respects it is the most admirable collection of hymns for ipublic worship now in use among Protestant denominations. It numbers 1007 hymns, together with many chants, sentences, etc. The music, which is designed to promote congregational singing, is of a very high order. The wide range of topics, the rich selection from the most celebrated devotional lyrics of all ages, and its fine adaptation to the great purpose of the praises of God, entitle it to a foremost place among modern collections. The committee who made the compilation were Rev. John B. Thompson, Rev. Ashbel G. Vermilye, D.D., Rev. Alexander R. Thompson, D.D., with whom was associated, as a prominent co-laborer, the Rev. Zachary Eddy, D.D. This book and the previous one are now both in use in the Reformed Church in America. It has also been introduced into a number of churches of other denominations.
The hymn-books of the various other Christian denominations embrace a large proportion of the psalms and hymns which have become the property of the Church universal, and of these it is necessary only to give the titles, which we subjoin in a list of all hymn-books. But there are hymns and hymnals characteristic of the particular doctrines, ordinances, and spirit of the Methodists so distinctive in these respects that we append a history of their hymn-books, recognising thereby the general assertion that their hymns and tunes have been among the greatest instrumentalities of their immense successes.
The origin of the first collection of hymns in use among the Methodists of this country cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. In 1773 one of Wesley's publications, divided into three books — 1, Hymns and Spiritual Song of Solomon 2, Psalms and Hymns; 3, Redemption Hymns (16th ed. Bristol) — was reprinted by Isaac Collins, in Burlington, N. J. At the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784, Wesley's abridgment of the Book of Common Prayer, with a "Collection of Psalms and Hymns" appended, was adopted by the new communion. It was not, however, long employed. There is extant a copy of the Pocket Hymn-book (9th ed. Phila. 1788). This contains 250 hymns. We may infer from the number of Methodists in the country that the first edition may have been published about 1785 or 1786. There is also an edition "revised and improved," copyrighted in 1802 by Ezekiel Cooper. This contains 320 hymns. In 1808 a supplement was added by bishop Asbury, containing 337 hymns, the whole being published in two books. This was revised under the supervision of Nathan Bangs in the year 1820. To this again a supplement was added in 1836. The General Conference of 1848 appointed a committee to carefully revise the then existing book, and to "judiciously multiply the number of hymns." Their work was completed, and approved by the Book Committee, the editors of the Book Concern, and finally by the bishops, by whom it was commended to the Church in May, 1849. A revision of this hymn-book was undertaken in 1876 by order of that year's General Conference, and it is completed at our writing (1878). The Hymnal, so it is entitled, is to be the sole book containing songs of praise to be used hereafter in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, after the separation, in 1846 ordered the preparation of a collection specially designed for its members, which was in some respects a decided improvement on the book of 1820 with supplement. The various smaller bodies of Methodists have employed books prepared by themselves.
During the last twenty years nearly every religious organization has revised its "book of praise," and we append a list of these standard collections used in America and England:
A. ENGLAND.
1. Baptist. — Psalms and Hymns for Public, Social, and Private Worship (1857).
The New Hymn-book, published under the direction of the General Baptist Association (1851).
Our Own Hymn-book, compiled by C. H. Spurgeon.
2. Church of England. — The Year of Praise, edited by Dean Alford (1867).
Christian Psalmody by E. Bickersteth (1833).
Psalms and Hymns, by E. H. Bickersteth (1858; 6th ed. 1867). Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship, by Burgess and Money (10th ed. 1866).
The Hymnal, by Chope (1858).
Psalms and Hymns, by W. J. Hall (1836); sometimes called the "Mitre" Hymn-book.
A Church Psalter and Hymnal, by Harland (1855, 1867). A Selection of Psalms and Hymns, by Kemble (1853). The Church Psalter and Hymn-book, by W. Mercer (1864). The People's Hymnal (1867). The Sarum Hymnal, by Nelson, Woodford, and Dayman (1868). The Choral Book for England (1865).
3. Congregational. — The Hymn-book, by A. Reed (1841).
The Church and Home Metrical Psalter and Hymnal, by W. Windie.
Psalms, Hymns, and Passages of Scripture for Christian Worship, compiled by the Congregational Ministers of Leeds (1853).
The New Congregation al Hymn-book, compiled by a Committee of the Congregational Union (1859). [This is one of the most comprehensive and excellent of modern English collections. It was compiled by a competent committee in London, who were occupied from 1855 to 1859 in its preparation. They met frequently, and had the assistance of numerous ministers and others in all parts of the country. It includes 1000 of the best psalms and hymns, of nearly 200 writers of almost every country and religious denomination, and of various ages of the world, from the time of David to our own. It was prepared upon the broadest basis of Christian catholicity, and the sale of nearly a million copies already evinces its usefulness and acceptability to the worshipping assemblies in English speaking countries.]
Methodist. — Hymns for Divine Worship, compiled for the Use of the Methodist New Connection (1865).
A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, by J. Wesley, with a Supplement (1831). The Wesleyan Methodist Hymn-book, by J. Everett (185O).
5. Presb yterian. — Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship for the Presbyterian Church in England (1867).
6. Miscellaneous. — Hymns for Christian Worship, by the Religious Tract Society (1866).
Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship, by the Society for Promoting Christian Kuowledge.
Hymnologia Christiana, or Psalms and Hymns, by B. H. Kennedy (1863).
B. AMERICA.
1. Baptist. — Baptist Praise-book, by Fuller, Levy, Phelps, Fish, etc. Songs for the Sanctuary. The Psalmist, by Baron Stow and S. F. Smith, with supplement by Richard Fuller and J. B. Jeter.
2. Congregational. — Songs for the Sanctuary. Plymouth Collection, by H.W. Beecher.
3. Lutheran. — A Collection of Hymns, and a Liturgy, for the Use of the Evangelical Lutheran Churches (1865). The Church-book.
4. Methodist. — Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1878).
5. Moravian. — Liturgy and Hymns for the Use of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren, or Moravians (1872).
6. Presbyterian. — Songs for the Sanctuary. Church Hymn-book, by E. F. Hatfield. Hymns and Songs of Praise, by Hitchcock and others. Presbyterian Hymnal official] (1874).
7. Protestant Epicopal. — Hymnal, according to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Hymns, Ancient and Modern (1869). Hymns for Church and Home, compiled by Burgess, Muhlenberg, Howe, Coxe, land Wharton.
8. Undenominational. — Hymns of the Church, by Thompson, Vermilye, and Eddy. The use of this book is required in all congregations of the Reformed Church in America. C. GERMAN HYMN-BOOKS.
Germany is very rich in hymn-books, to enumerate which would fill pages. Each state, each province, has its own hymn-book. The following may be mentioned among the most complete collections at present extant, viz.: 1, The Geistlicher Liederschatz, containing 2020 hymns (Berl. 1832, Svo); 2, Archdeacon Knapp's Evangelischen Liederschatz, fur Kirche und Haus, containing 3572 hymns (Stuttgard, 1837, 2 vols. Svo); and, 3, The chevalier Christian Carl Josias Bunsen's Allgemeines Evangelisches Gesang und Gebet Buch (2d ed. Hamb. 1846, 8vo). This work is deservedly held in the highest estimation in Germany. Besides a selection of 440 of the choicest hymns of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, it contains a table of lessons from the Old and New Tests. for the whole of the ecclesiastical year, a series of formularies, and a collection of prayers aadapted to ordinary public worship, to the festivals celebrated by the universal Christian Church, and to sacramental and other occasions. The following are the hymn-books used in this country in the different denominations:
1. Baptist. — Glaubensstimme der Gemeine des Herrn (Hamburg, 1860).
2. Evangelical Association. — Gesangbuch der evangelischen Gemeinschaft (Cleveland, 1877).
3. Lutheran. — Das gemeinschaftliche Gesangbuch. Lutherisches Gesaunbuch.
4. Methodist. — Deulsches Gesangbuch der Bisch. Methodisten-Kirche (Cincinnati).
5. Moravian. — Gesalligbnch zumn Gebrauch der evangel. Bruedergemeineni (Bethlehem, Pa.).
6. Reformed and German Presbyterian. — Deutsches Gesangbuch, von Ph. Schaff. This is one of the best German hymn-books in this country.
During the American Civil War (1861-65) many new patriotic and Christian songs resounded through the camps of the contending armies. The religious services, the meetings for prayer, the labors of chaplains and army mis
These files are public domain.
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Psalmody, Christian.'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/psalmody-christian.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
