FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
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 3b yJa.st ccnd L lxcscnl (z/ondiiion. 
 
 WITH NOTES 
 (Critical and Explanatory), 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES BOX. 
 
 " Walk about Zion, and go round about her ; tell the towers 
 thereof; mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces ; that 
 ye may tell it to the generation following."— Psalm xlviii., 
 12 and 13. 
 
 bonbon : 
 WILLIAM REEVES, 185, FLEET STREET, 
 
 AND OF ALL BOOK AND MUSIC-SELLERS. 
 1884. 
 
THOMAS DANKS, 
 
 PRINTER, CRANK COURT, FLEET STREET, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface ....... 1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs — Re- 
 lative Merits of Poetry and Music . 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Rise and Progress of the Psalter — Intro- 
 duction of Hymn Books . . .21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Books of Psalms and Hymns ... 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Church Music in the Metropolis — Intro- 
 duction of the Organ .... 66 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Westminster Abbey — Its Past and Present 
 
 Musical Services — Chapels Royal . 88 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Temple Church, St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 
 The Charterhouse and Inns of Court, &c. 1 0-"> 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 City Churches 122 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Churches outside the City . . .170 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Psalm Chant — Plain, Figurative, and 
 
 Canticle . . . . . .197 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Psalmody — Its Antiquity and Introduction 
 
 — Early English Composers . . 201* 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Anthem and Choral Services . . 228 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Organ 243 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 57, For "New Metre Hymnal" read Mitre. 
 „ 105, For " Organ of the Temple" read Origin. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 'HATEVER may be the thought entertained 
 respecting the health and condition of our 
 Metropolitan churches by sedate and quiet 
 supporters of the same, or the broader ideas 
 of the more pronounced and outspoken, certain is it that 
 within a circle of half an hour's time-distance from St. 
 Paul's Cathedral there are hundreds of churches in which 
 public worship is performed, at least one day in seven, 
 to attentive congregations — many of them very large. 
 Doubtless there may be a numerous class of persons who, 
 from that kind of ignorance which is the negation of all 
 moral virtues, demur in toto to this preliminary state- 
 ment as a coloured fib. But there is another, quite the 
 opposite in point of education and social standing, 
 almost as incredulous with regard to the aspect of the 
 seventh day in the City. Blinded by prejudice, or having 
 eyes directed solely to one object, viz., material wealth, 
 their best energies, both of body and mine!, are directed 
 to '' improvements " so called ; and, whether upon the 
 surface of the city or below it, if a church — no matter 
 how venerable for associations or admirable for structure 
 — stands in the way, it is declared useless, and doomed to 
 removal. Another section of the community, though 
 professing religious ideas, has but little faith in the 
 stability of the Church of England itself, and, conse- 
 quently, cannot admit of progress in any shape. Never- 
 theless there are tens of thousands who from experience 
 
 A 
 
ii Preface. 
 
 know better. Notwithstanding the many shades of 
 opinion now existing with regard to strength or weakness, 
 its growth, at all events, is far more rapid than that of 
 any other section of the Christian community. Historians 
 differ in opinion, sometimes widely on trifles, but 
 valuable facts are stable. Sooner or later they reveal 
 their influence and proclaim their power. A single truth 
 may be endowed with sufficient potency to go the round 
 of the universe, or walk the circles of the heart ; useful 
 whether in the boundless sphere or the narrow. How 
 often has a mere touch from the pencil of truth changed 
 the whole complexion of a misty picture. Whether this- 
 essay may assist such an end remains to be seen. 
 
 The services in the City are certainly not so uniform as 
 maybe desired. This is owing to the latitude claimed by 
 the Ordinary, the character of various parishes, and the 
 changeable surroundings of a district. It is often re- 
 marked that scarcely any two neighbouring churches use 
 the same psalm or hymn-book, or adopt precisely the same 
 order of service. In some instances it is regarded as re- 
 mote. There is too much of truth in this averment, 
 and the enemies of the Church endeavour to make capital 
 out of incongruities when they run short of other 
 material. 
 
 So long as human nature is what it is, such a stupendous 
 institution as the Church of England must, like all other 
 material things, get out of order, through a deficiency of 
 care and watchfulness. For neglects of any kind the 
 acknowledged custodians must expect to be censured ; 
 neither ought they to look for quarter from the host of 
 foes by which they are surrounded. There is nothing 
 new in attacks from without, but less danger is to be 
 apprehended here than from false friends within . The 
 solid, majestic citadel, that for ages has repelled the- 
 
Preface. ill 
 
 pitiless visitations of shot and shell, may be shaken to its 
 very foundation by sap and mine, and these apparently 
 silent operations are what all true lovers of the Church in 
 the present day have most to guard against. 
 
 With the varieties of ritual, however, the poetry and 
 music of the Church form a very considerable ingredient, 
 and it is to this portion of it that the subjoined pages are 
 chiefly if not wholly devoted. So great has been the 
 advance of music in general during the last half century 
 that its claims on religious services could not be with- 
 stood. If anything, the Church ought to lead the way of 
 improvement. The " arte divine " was conferred on man 
 by his Maker to praise Him, and, according to the 
 faculties possessed, man is bound to exercise and mature 
 them, i.e., if he can comprehend the dignity and value 
 of his privileges, and the responsibilities attendant upon 
 neglect. As a matter of course, the diversities of ritual, 
 already alluded to, carry with them a diversified pro- 
 gramme of music. In some instances this preponderates,, 
 and in others it seems to struggle for the barest existence. 
 Among the causes assigned for these differences are 
 pleaded the conflicting views of those entrusted with 
 Church management on one hand, and on the other the 
 want of material support. Some churches can main- 
 tain highly efficient choirs, while too many go in for 
 number rather than ability. Better this than none at all. 
 The time has passed for either the old or new version of 
 the psalms in metre, and the hideous interpretation of 
 them on instruments, fitting rather for the parade or 
 orchestra than places of public worship. One instrument 
 is now appointed to lead, and all the worshippers are in- 
 vited to follow. 
 
 It is not intended to enter upon an elaborate disquisi- 
 tion here respecting the merits of any particular theory 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 of music adopted in the various services, as some of them 
 are far too elaborate to be easily grasped by the general 
 reader. For success in church worship the cultivation of 
 congregational singing cannot be too much enjoined. 
 King David regarded " Praise in the congregation " 
 as one of the strongest bulwarks of Zion. It is so still. 
 No one can over-estimate a power which, like this, is 
 difficult to conceive and grasp. Oftentimes it operates 
 silently as the dew upon the mown grass, leaving never- 
 theless indelible traces of its influence. In some cases it 
 asserts a force quite alien to the notions of the destroyer 
 of edifices, specially dedicated to the service of the Most 
 High. The potency of Praise can frequently be witnessed 
 in the service itself. Prayer may be audible or silent, 
 •without manifest emotion. The preacher may expend 
 a large amount of theological scholarship and subtle 
 reasoning upon the unravelment of some mysterious 
 text in the inspired volume, without leaving a thought to 
 etir the chambers of the listener's soul. But the recital 
 of a melodic psalm, a quickening hymn, or a really spiritual 
 song is often endued with such an electric power that the 
 world lying within is upheaved at its entrance. Poor 
 people, as well as rich, have souls for music, and can 
 appreciate it if afforded at the right opportunity. The 
 gleaners for the treasury know that their efforts are not 
 altogether sensational, as some folk would make believe. 
 With the heart open, the purse is not sealed, and hence 
 the Church receives some necessary support for its main- 
 tenance. This is neither a fancy sketch nor a thing un- 
 common, seeing that it is one of the things for which 
 song and verse were intended, praise its fruition. 
 
 Probably there is no city under the sun capable of pre- 
 senting so severe a contrast of bustle and stillness, of 
 noise and quietude, of hurry and leisure, as the City of 
 
Preface. v 
 
 London between the sixth day of the week and tho 
 seventh, or, conversely, between the seventh and the 
 first. It must be witnessed to be realized. But what a 
 glorious sight does a summer Sunday morning present to 
 a visitor from the surrounding neighbourhood or else- 
 where. How easily and undisturbed may he " walk about 
 Zion," and what glorious objects arrest his attention in 
 the shape of lofty " towers," upon whose summits the 
 rays of the sun seem to fasten. More than this, how 
 solemn and sublime are the deep tones of the organ, 
 heard at short distances; and, above all, the jubilant 
 voices of multitudes assembled to keep holiday. If 
 praise is not one of the strongest bulwarks of the Church,, 
 the writer hereof has missed his path. But he feels con- 
 fident, the more carefully the service of song is promoted 
 in the sanctuary the stronger will be it3 bulwarks. As 
 every ascription of praise to the great Creator has a 
 recording angel, every congregation should strive to 
 emulate each other in the soul- inspiring practice of sacred 
 song. For this, among other reasons, the remarks in the 
 subjoined pages are embodied for "the generations- 
 following." 
 
 The City is approached through the now imaginary 
 gates of that renowned relic of antiquity, the " Temple ;"' 
 thence to the most colossal structure of the modern, 
 ecclesiastic, situate at the top of Ludgate Hill. Wondrous 
 pile, indeed, is that dedicated to St. Paul ! towering far 
 above any other of its kind in the kingdom, and looking 
 down, as it were, upon a prolific family of churches 
 settled within sound of its own deep-toned service bell. 
 None of these have been unheeded. 
 
 For the sake of condensation, and the avoidance of a 
 ponderous volume, which would defeat the motive for 
 which it was written, the orbit of the " Metropolis " has 
 
"vi Preface. 
 
 of necessity been extremely limited. Only here and 
 there a church outside the City could be selected, and 
 -this chiefly on account of some peculiarity of ritual, 
 or historic fame. The Abbey has been chosen as a 
 leading object, out of respect to its antiquity. Other 
 places of worship, honoured by age or possessing an 
 individuality of character, are next noticed — variety suffi- 
 cient, perhaps, to portray every lineament worthy of note 
 in an undefinable complexion. 
 
 One thing the reader is kindly requested to bear in 
 mind, viz., that the following pages have been written in 
 order to correct the many absurd misstatements respect- 
 ing the real condition of music in our churches Now. 
 To carry out this, visits have been made to all the 
 churches in the City, and a considerable number ' ' over 
 the border." Results are given in chapters specially 
 devoted thereto. A mere glance at the contents table 
 will show that the records in question date from the 
 Reformation, and are brought down to the present time 
 with as much brevity as prominent events will fairly 
 admit , of. Had any such work as this professes to be 
 appeared hitherto, the volume now produced would not 
 have been written, printed, or published under the title of 
 " Church Music in the Metropolis," or, in fact, any 
 other. "Would it were worthier ! 
 
 Camberwell, February 10th, 1884. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. 
 
 YorK Grace* may note, from tyme to tyme, 
 
 That some doth undertake 
 Upon the Psalms to write in ryme, 
 
 The verse plasaunt to make : 
 Have thought it good now to recyte 
 
 The stories of the Actes f 
 Even of the twelve, as Luke doth wryte, 
 
 Of all their worthy factes. — 
 Unto the list I do not ad, 
 
 Nor nothing take awaye, 
 And though my style be gros and bad, 
 
 The truth perceyve ye may. — 
 My callynge is anothe waye, 
 
 Your Grace shall herein fynde 
 My notes set forth to synge or playe, 
 
 To recreate the mynde. 
 
 Cristofer Tye, doctor in Jfusyke, 1553. 
 
 The prior claim of Poetry — State of Literature previous 
 to the time of Caxton — Meaning and definitions of 
 the words "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs" — 
 The Songs and Music of William Tans'ur — Relative 
 merits of Poetry and Music — Psalm-singing in the 3rd 
 and 4th Centuries — The Reformation and its effects 
 upon Church worship. 
 
 jr? SSUMING the aphorism that "music is the 
 
 JlJ^I handmaid of poetry " to be as true as it is 
 
 <*£^±. trite, nothing can be fairer than to give the 
 
 latter priority of notice even in cases where both 
 
 * Edward VI. t First 14 Chapters. 
 
8 Psalms, Hymns, and 
 
 are closely intertwined. The birth of poetry — coeval 
 with creation — manifested itself in Eden ; thence 
 through all the cycles of time down to the present day. 
 It has formed so material' a feature in the interchange 
 of thought and sentiment of man, that language itself 
 would became inane without it. Not that music 
 lacks the badge of antiquity, seeing when the founda- 
 tions of the earth were laid, " The morning stars sang 
 together," says the patriarch Job ; and the service of 
 song to the Creator has been continued ever since, 
 and will continue till the unresting journey of the 
 earth shall by the Almighty's fiat be brought to a 
 standstill. 
 
 With respect to poetry and music, the order is sug- 
 gestive enough to the narrowest capacity, although in 
 these days of rapid locomotion things often assume 
 odd features through using the wrong handle, and 
 thus beginning at the wrong end. Haste often dis- 
 places reflection. Even literature is pursued with too 
 much hurry and fret. Hence obscurity usurps the 
 domain of clearness, and confusion of order. 
 
 To come, however, into closer quarters with the 
 subject under review, it may be well to refer to the 
 state of literature in this country before Caxton and 
 the printing press were heard of. The great wave of 
 barbarism spread over England during the Middle 
 Ages was not congenial to the development of know- 
 ledge ; in fact, except to a few, the mists and sha- 
 
Spiritual Songs. 9* 
 
 clows of ignorance covered the nation as with a funereal 
 pall. The fearful restraints, even of thought, by a. 
 ruling of the Catholic priesthood, reduced every men- 
 tal effort to their crushing control. No sooner, how- 
 ever, was literature relieved of its swaddling bands, 
 and thought enlarged into a shape of expression, than 
 the taste for knowledge grew with amazing rapidity.. 
 The poetic element asserted a position in a variety of 
 forms, rudimentary and unrhythmical certainly, but 
 possessing withal the germs of vitality. The Psalms 
 of David afforded a fine opportunity for the practice 
 of changing blank verse into measure, and thus they 
 soon became a rich treasury of knowledge, and the 
 fount of instruction for those who wished to draw 
 water from such a well. 
 
 Before proceeding farther it may be judicious to 
 examine the meaning of the word "Psalm." Nearly all 
 our lexicographers trace it from the Greek psallo, which 
 signifies to touch sweetly, because with the voice was 
 joined the sound of some musical instrument — or " a 
 song on some holy subject." 
 
 Now, as this word and its plural are mentioned 
 about fifteen times in the Old and New Testaments. 
 under various circumstances, Scripture readers will 
 be justified in asking whether these definitions are not 
 too narrow. 
 
 Not much deep thought is needed in reading the- 
 son of Jesse's enduring book to discover that some are- 
 
10 Psalms, Hymns, and 
 
 based on mournful themes ; others jubilant. Some are 
 composed in token of thankfulness, others breathe 
 complaint. Some are prophetic, others assume the 
 character of prayer, and no inconsiderable number 
 glow with praise and thanksgiving. In proof thereof 
 let the following texts be examined. 
 
 " Then David delivered first this Psalm," 1 Chron. 
 xvi. 
 
 11 Take a Psalm and bring hither the timbrel," Psalm 
 Ixxxi. 2. 
 
 "How is it 1 ? . . every one of you hath a Psalm," 
 1 Cor. xiv. 26. 
 
 The Levites placed Jeshua and his brethren over 
 the Psalms of thanksgiving, Neh. xii. 8. 
 
 " Make a joyful noise to Him with Psalms," Psalm 
 xcv. 2. 
 
 " David himself saith in the book of Psalms," Luke 
 xx. 42. 
 
 " All things must be fulfilled which were written 
 in the Psalms concerning Me," Luke xxiv. 44. 
 
 " Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns," 
 Eph.v. 19. 
 
 " Admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns," 
 Col. iii. 16. 
 
 " Is any merry ? let him sing Psalms," James 
 v. 23. 
 
 ' It is evident that the Psalm preceded the music 
 with which it was accompanied. This may be seen 
 
Spiritual Songs. H 
 
 from the headings given to the 4th, 5th, 9th, and 
 12th. The Hebrew words there chosen are by some 
 considered as instruments of music, or first words of 
 some song, or to denote the subject of the Psalm. 
 Thus, Maschil always denotes instruction(Psalm xxxii. ). 
 Michtam, the precious or golden nature of the Psalm. 
 ISTeginoth signifies a harp of eight strings (Psalms iv. 
 and lxi.). Nehiloth, wind instruments (Psalm v.). 
 Shiggaion, to be sung with a diversity of tunes. 
 Mahalath, the name of a tune or instrument, <fcc. &c. 
 Whether the titles of the Psalms be of Divine au- 
 thority is a matter of opinion among the learned in 
 such matters. With them let it rest. 
 
 Among the writers in the book of Psalms, King 
 David claims a prominent position. Considering the 
 age in which he lived he was also a musician of emi- 
 nence, and in all probability adapted melodies to some 
 of his own compositions. Nothing is, however, de- 
 finitely known on this subject. As to the " measure," 
 the same silence is observable as in the case of his 
 mother, whose name and lineage is a blank in Jewish 
 history, although his father comes in for a full share 
 of notice. Of his early training in literature all is 
 conjecture ; nevertheless, he was born a poet, and his 
 prose is universally acknowledged to be of so solid 
 and sublime a nature that it will stand the test of 
 ages upon ages till Time itself expires. 
 
 The word Hymn is derived from the Greek hymnos, 
 
12 Psalms, Hymns, and 
 
 a religious song or ode — a spiritual song or psalm. 
 Among native poets it is regarded pretty much in the 
 same light. Spenser calls it " an encomiastic song, or 
 song of adoration to some superior being." Milton 
 goes a little farther and defines it as " praise with 
 song ; worship with hymns." Such definitions would 
 not satisfy St. Augustine, who, asking himself what 
 a hymn means, answers the question thus, " Hymns 
 are the praises of God with song— hymns are songs 
 containing the praise of God. If there be praise and 
 it be not God's praise, it is not a hymn. If there be 
 praise and that God's praise, and it be not sung, it is 
 not a hymn. To constitute a hymn, then, it is neces- 
 sary that there be these three things — praise, the 
 praise of God, and song." This opinion, coming from 
 so profound a theologian in an age when metrical 
 hymnody in the Western churches is said to have be- 
 gun, embodies much that is entertained upon the sub- 
 ject at the present time by Christians who are thought- 
 ful as well as devout. Not a word is mentioned 
 respecting hymns in the pages of the Old Testa- 
 ment; four times only in the New, and in two of 
 these the marginal reading substitutes psalm for 
 hymn.* 
 
 Some writers trace the origin of the hymn to 
 heathen nations who used it in praise of their false 
 
 * See Matthew xxvi. 30, and Mark xiv. 26. 
 
Spiritual Songs. 13 
 
 deities. Afterwards it was introduced both into the 
 Jewish and Christian churches, and regarded as a 
 synonym to the words, "song, canticle, or psalm." 
 Others broadly assert that the hymn sung by Christ 
 and His disciples after having supped for the last 
 time, was one of the psalms the Jews used to sing 
 after they had eaten the Passover. These hypotheses 
 must be taken for what they are worth, which pro- 
 bably, to the thinking mind, are not much. 
 
 Little, if any, opportunity is afforded at the present 
 day of judging the merits, either in a literary or poetic 
 sense, the hymn of a remote past. David, though dead, 
 yet speaks for himself in the Psalm, but where is the 
 hymn or the author of one, his parallel 1 
 
 Some writers on the subject maintain the difference 
 between psalms and hymns to be simply this. A 
 psalm was anciently set to instrumental accompani- 
 ment (Psalm lxxxi. 2), while the self-same composition 
 without this aid was the primitive definition of a 
 hymn. By degrees the word Psalm became appropri- 
 ated for respectful distinction's sake to the inspired 
 songs of David and others recorded in Scripture, 
 while succeeding pieces formed on these elevated 
 models, but written from time to time as occasion 
 served by inferior believers, obtained the appellation of 
 hymns. 
 
 The Spiritual Songs or Odes, mentioned by St. Paul, 
 have also been regarded in the light of human com- 
 
14 Psalms, Hymns, and 
 
 positions, merely such as those of Prudentius, Beza, 
 Grotius, Witsius, Vida, and many others, whose devout 
 productions may be denominated "Odes or Songs" 
 at large because they admit of much latitude and 
 variety, and often fraught with doctrine, exhortation, 
 and instruction in righteousness. 
 
 In Queen Elizabeth's " Instruction to the Clergy, 
 (1559), the following passage occurs. "For the com- 
 forting of such as delight in music, it may be per- 
 mitted that in the beginning or in the end of Common 
 Prayer, either at morning or evening, there may be 
 sung an hymn, or such-like song, to the praise of Al- 
 mighty God, in the best melody and music that may 
 be conveniently devised ; having respect that the 
 sentence of the hymn may be understood and per- 
 ceived." * 
 
 Spiritual Songs are those whose elements are 
 spiritual, illustrious, noble, and divine, in contradis- 
 tinction to the earthly, false, fulsome, and lascivious,, 
 called, "The song of fools." The Jews had songs 
 sung almost the whole night of their most solemn 
 feasts, especially on the first night of the Passover. -j- 
 Specimens of spirited and spiritual songs may be 
 readily perceived in the pages of the Old Testament, 
 and others of a plaintive cast are not difficult to disr 
 cover. 
 
 * See Sparrow's Collection, 
 t See Isaiah xxx. 29. 
 
Spiritual Songs. 15 
 
 One of the grandest specimens of early Hebrew 
 song is that assigned to Miriam after she had wit- 
 nessed the cleavage of the Red Sea, so that the mighty 
 host of liberated slaves might pass dry-shod between 
 the lofty walls, till every hoof had escaped the 
 Egyptian pursuer. Nor did her song cease with 
 strains of deliverance, nay, but with a change of key 
 necessitated by the dramatic overthrow of Pharaoh and 
 his host, she continued even after their complete ex- 
 tinction. The firmament never before reverberated with 
 such demonstrations of delight from mortal voice, and 
 probably never will again. The song of Deborah and 
 Barak is another triumphant spiritual poem, conse- 
 quent upon the defeat of Sisera. Among the Hebrews 
 the Canticles are held in high esteem as spiritual songs. 
 They open with, " The song of songs, which is Solo- 
 mon's." In structure their form is dramatic, and 
 somewhat resembles those pieces which the Greeks 
 caUEpithalamia. They are intended to represent the 
 Bridegroom and His Bride ; friends and companions. 
 These songs have been sadly travestied by persons pre- 
 tending poetic gifts and musical science, yet destitute 
 of both, and, what is still worse, the meddling with a 
 subject of great delicacy without half understanding 
 either purport or meaning. It may seem somewhat 
 hard to believe that men of learning should have so 
 mistaken their vocation. Yet such has occurred, and 
 the wonder is not diminished that mere poetasters. 
 
16 Psalms, Hymns, and 
 
 should follow in the track. One instance may be 
 •cited where these songs of Solomon were put into 
 metre and set to music by the same hand. 
 
 This was William Tans'ur, of Barnes in Surrey, 
 born towards the close of the seventeenth century. 
 He appears to have been so partial to Solomon that 
 lie put the whole book of Proverbs into verse and 
 music too. Being highly satisfied with the perform- 
 ance, he essayed the " songs as a companion to his 
 £rst effort." He challenges his critics thus, — 
 
 Audita utraque parte judica. 
 
 Hear with both ears, and then judge. 
 
 He also entitles his book, " Heaven on Earth, or the 
 Beauty of Holiness." To these he adds hymns, an- 
 thems and canons composed in two, three, or four 
 musical parts, " according to the most approved rules." 
 After advancing freely on the road of self-praise he 
 is crowned at the top of the hill by an encomiast in 
 "the following strain. 
 
 Music is now to full perfection come, 
 And all that were before, are now out-done ; 
 Thy harmony, O Tans'ur, doth invite, 
 Thy verse divine, doth give a heavenly light. 
 Thou sacred knowledge doth to us impart, 
 Thy music fills the ear, and verse the heart. 
 When both are joyned into concert sweet, 
 Then heav'nly harmony is made compleat. 
 Thy works when heard, do every soul inspire, 
 
Spiritual Sony 8. 17 
 
 To imitate on earth a heavenly choir. 
 
 Thy works, O Tans'ur, have tbee rais'd to fame, 
 
 And purchas'd have a never-dying name. 
 
 May fortune thee with happiness attend, 
 
 Thee safely aid, and grace thy soul defend ; 
 
 May'st thou be crown'd in heav'n ; with angels sing 
 
 Sweet hallelujahs to the Heavenly Ivixg. Amen. 
 
 It is thought that some of this composer's skeleton- 
 looking tunes have served the purpose of adapters as 
 models ; if so, perchance they may be living at the 
 present day in some unrecognised guise ; with respect 
 to his verse, however, there does not appear to have 
 been a shred worthy of preservation. Sic transit 
 gloria, &c. 
 
 Now, as psalm, hymn, and song are the founda- 
 tions on which praise is built, it is clear that music 
 stands in the second place, and poetry the first. The 
 reason must be obvious — poetry is the most accurate 
 interpreter of music, and not music of poetry. With- 
 out such an auxiliary, the best music heard for the 
 first time might be said to be meaning something, 
 without saying what. It might incline the heart to 
 sensibility, but language would be necessary to im- 
 prove that sensibility into a real emotion by fixing 
 the fancy upon some definite and affecting ideas. This 
 theory, propounded by many able writers in the past, 
 is endorsed by the thoughtful and discriminating now ; 
 notwithstanding the seeming advance of musical 
 
 B 
 
18 Psalms, Hymns, and 
 
 science over poetic gifts. The metaphysical schools 
 of Germany have tried hard and long to make music 
 its own interpreter, but the outside world don't see it. 
 Why 1 The finest instrumental symphony is merely 
 an oration, delivered perhaps with the strictest pro- 
 priety, but in an unknown tongue ; it may affect the 
 listener for a while, but it conveys no determinate 
 feeling. He may be alarmed, soothed, or melted, but 
 very imperfectly, because he knows not why. Let a 
 singer with a soul take up some air in the composition 
 and apply words to it. What then 1 He translates 
 the oration into an understood language ; all uncer- 
 tainty vanishes ; the fancy is filled with determinate 
 ideas, and determinate emotions take possession of the 
 heart. But to effect this the language ought in some 
 degree to possess a poetic kindling, and this was far 
 from being the case in the early stages of the Re- 
 formed Church, which, in fact, had no real poetry at 
 all — music was in the ascendant, and words had to be 
 fitted thereto, consequently some of the sublimest 
 thoughts of an inspired psalmist were tortured into 
 rhymes and versifications of the most pitiable kind, 
 and clothed in apparel as contemptible as ridiculous. 
 The attempts of such men as Sir Thomas Wyatt and 
 the Earl of Surrey to put David into a new dress 
 failed most signally. They were both gifted with a taste 
 for poetry, but not qualified to grapple successfully 
 with a subject which pointed to a state of things en- 
 
Spiritual Songs. 19 
 
 tirely out of the orbit of their experience. Learning 
 was at a very low ebb when the burly autocrat, Henry 
 VIII., turned the existing church inside out and up- 
 side down. Poets were to be counted by the fingers 
 on the hand, and even rhymsters were not abundant. 
 Hence men of scant education and not very lofty 
 social standings were of necessity called to meet a 
 want which heretofore had not existed. The ground 
 had certainly been prepared by German Reformers to 
 some extent, but the soil in which the seed was to be 
 cast was not equally genial. Xor was the style of 
 Marot, the Frenchman, at all in accord with the 
 sterner notions of men who fell in with the severe 
 ritual now introduced by a nation just enfranchised 
 and indoctrinated with new principles of religious 
 worship. 
 
 Lest it should be supposed that psalm-singing had 
 no previous footing in England, it is only necessary 
 to refer to Eusebius, who says that the Christians, as 
 far back as the second century, sung psalms in praise 
 of Christ and the Deity, and were accompanied with 
 instruments. In the time of Justin the Martyr these 
 helps were forbidden, and he commends singing alone, 
 because "psalms with organs and cymbals are fitter 
 to please children than to instruct the church." In 
 the third century psalm-singing pure and simple is 
 frequently mentioned. Arius was complained of as 
 " a perverter of this ordinance." He composed light 
 
20 Psalms, Hymns, d-c. 
 
 frothy tunes to please trifling people. " His music 
 was admired, but it hurt the church." St. Augustine 
 in the next century regarded it scarcely less than a 
 crime "in certain heretics, that they sung hymns 
 composed by human wit." It is pretty certain that 
 the primitive Christians in all their worship cultivated 
 the practice of psalm-singing, but the precise form of 
 psalm and character of the music is a matter of con- 
 jecture. Without groping through the darkness of the 
 Middle Ages for subjects of interest the labour of 
 which would not pay for the candle, it may be as well 
 to leap over dynasties until internecine strife culmi- 
 nates on the field at Bosworth. Here the flickering 
 rays of a new state of things may be regarded as dimly 
 visible. By degrees they were developed, and in the 
 year 1534 Henry VIII. had an Act passed for the 
 abolition of the Pope's power in England. From this 
 may be dated the Reformation, and subsequently the 
 singing of David's Psalms in metre verse. 
 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Rise and Progress of the Psalter. 
 
 And oft conducted by historic truth, 
 
 We tread the long extent of backward time. 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 Success of Varied Psalm Poets in the Early Stages of the 
 Reformation — Thomas Sternhold — His Translation of 
 51 Psalms — Publication of the Same — John Hopkins 
 and his Contribution of 58 — Robert Wisdome and his. 
 alarm of the Pope, etc. — William Whyttingham — His 
 Contribution of the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, 
 Lord's Prayer, and Psalms — Thomas Norton and his 
 27 Psalms — Clement Marot, the French Versifier — 
 George Sandys ; his Psalms, Paraphrase on Job, &c. — 
 Edmund Spenser — Archbishop Parker and his Book 
 of Psalms — William Hunnis and his " Certayne 
 Psalms " — Sir William Forrest and his Fifty Psalms — - 
 New Version of the Psalms by Tate and Brady — Sup- 
 plementary Hymns thereto— The Version of Isaac 
 Watts — Introduction of Hymn Books into the Church 
 — Their Varieties and General Adoption. 
 
 T\HERE are few things concerning which the 
 worship of the Church of England has been 
 more foolishly twitted by thoughtless adver- 
 saries than its early metrical version of the Psalms. 
 
22 Rise and Progress 
 
 It has braved the scoffs and jests of many a genera- 
 tion, and has profited so much by the persecution that 
 at the present day this settled constitution can boast 
 of a literature for the service of its worshippers far 
 exceeding that of any Protestant church in the whole 
 world. The paraphrasing of the Psalms attracted the 
 attention of Wyatt and Surrey in the early part of 
 the sixteenth century. But as both these scholars 
 and poets lived in an age antecedent to that when the 
 Reformation in England became an accomplished fact, 
 their effusions were not adapted to the new order of 
 things designed by the Prayer-book. A necessity 
 arose for metre verse. Doubtlessly many tried their 
 hands and afflicted their brains in the endeavour to 
 establish a song-book of some sort to meet the restless 
 demand. Men's minds needed culture now more than 
 at any ^previous period of English history. It was a 
 kind of new creation, but the means of culture were 
 out of all proportion to the requirements, and the best 
 productions in that crude age of literature are re- 
 garded now as little else than metrical curiosities. 
 Nevertheless, here and there one contained the germs 
 of multiplying thought. Cynics too often fail to al- 
 low sufficient leniency in the matter of time and cir- 
 cumstance j they look too closely at ugliness without 
 duly thinking that there is scarcely an object or pro- 
 duction of man from which some beauty in form or 
 wisdom in thought cannot be eliminated, how un- 
 
of the Psalter. 23 
 
 favourably soever it may be contrasted. Had the 
 plough used by Adam in turning over his native 
 earth, survived the Deluge and been placed by the 
 side of the polished machinery now used for a similar 
 purpose, how rude and insignificant would it appear 
 in the eyes of the inconsiderate. Not so to others 
 capable of perceiving that the thought embalmed in 
 the wooden structure has never been allowed to die, 
 but rather to be perpetuated in material capable of 
 severer purposes in agriculture than primeval man had 
 any necessity to grapple with. 
 
 Henry VIII. left few bequests to mankind in 
 the shape of sacred poets, and when the time came 
 for the services of such folk they emerged from un- 
 expected quarters. There was no Clement Marot 
 about the Court, as there happened to be in the time 
 of Francis the First of France. This young man, 
 though of lax morality, proved to be quite an adept in 
 the art of versification. It suited his purpose to re- 
 nounce ballads, fables, epigrams — translations from 
 Ovid and Petrarch — madrigals, rondeaus, etc., for 
 which he had been famous. Instead thereof, he put 
 David's Psalms into French rhymes, and dedicated 
 them to the ladies, or Les Dames de France, whom he 
 had so often before addressed in the tenderest of pas- 
 sion or compliment. They were frequently adopted 
 as a rational species of domestic merriment, and were 
 the common accompaniments of the fiddle. Often the 
 
24 Rise and Progress 
 
 nobility at Court would select a psalm and have it 
 fitted to a ballad of his own choosing. The success 
 of Marot's undertaking proved so great that the 
 printers were unable for some time to keep pace with 
 the demand. Such was the start of turning David's 
 Hebrew into French verse. 
 
 Although the founder of the English Psalter differed 
 but little in social status, both having been employed 
 about the courts of their respective sovereigns, yet 
 there existed a great difference in the abilities of 
 Thomas Sternhold and Clement Marot. The former 
 was of a serious turn of mind, ardently attached to 
 the principles of the Reformation, and a hater of the 
 ballads so much indulged in by courtiers. The latter 
 had achieved his great reputation in quite another 
 way. Sternhold hoped to check many indecencies by 
 a metrical version of the Psalms, and he arranged and 
 published fifty-one not long previous to his death in 
 1549, under the following title, "All such Psalms of 
 David as Thomas Sternholde, late grome of the Kinge's 
 Maiestyes robes, did in his lyfe tyme drawe into 
 Englyshe metre." * 
 
 Little is known of John Hopkins, who assisted in 
 the consolidation of the Psalter with fifty-eight trans- 
 lations — this word "translations" Thomas Warton 
 adopts in his account of the matter. Hopkins is said 
 
 * Of this number there are not more than five repeated at 
 the present day. 
 
of the Psalter. 25 
 
 to have been a clergyman and schoolmaster of Suffolk. 
 Whatever his degree of learning and acquisitions of 
 taste, his poetic abilities do not rank very high. 
 Plenty of scope was afforded for the development 
 thereof if possessed. His choice of measure, like that 
 of Sternhold, was not fortunate to begin with ; Alex- 
 andrine verse being the least approach to the parallel 
 of Hebraism. Strype says that Sternhold composed 
 several psalms at first for his own solace, for he sat 
 and sung them to his organ — "Which music King 
 Edward VI. hearing, was much delighted with 
 them, which occasioned his dedication of them to the 
 said King." 
 
 Helpers were yet wanted for the completion of the 
 Psalter. Among those who came forward was one 
 Robert Wisdome, a Protestant fugitive in the reign 
 of Mary, but who had been nominated to an Irish 
 Bishopric in the reign of Edward VI. His contribu- 
 tions were not many, probably not more than half-a- 
 dozen, among which, however, is the 104th. They 
 appear under the signature W. K. He exposed him- 
 self to a great deal of ridicule on account of his ex- 
 pressed fears both of Mahomet and the Pope. He 
 was buried at Carfax, in the city of Oxford. Dr. 
 Corbet — a great wit and poet of some pretensions 
 (Bishop of Norwich) who lived a century later — had 
 the character of a satirist also attributed to him. He 
 is reported to say, " To read the metre stuff of Tom 
 
"26 Rise and Progress 
 
 Sternhold and Jack Hopkins is nearly as much as I 
 can bear, but as for Bill Wisdome I can't stand him 
 at all." If this be so the following apostrophe written 
 by Corbet may be accounted for. 
 
 " Thou once a body, now but air, 
 Arch-Botcher of a Psalm or Prayer, 
 
 From Carfax come, 
 And patch us up a Zealous Lay 
 With an old evtr-and-fer-aye, 
 Or, all-avd-some. 
 
 Or such a spirit lend me, 
 
 As may an Hymn down send me 
 
 To purge my brain : 
 Then, Robin, look behind thee, 
 Lest Turk or Pope do find thee, 
 
 And go to bed again." 
 
 Doubtlessly the best contributor among the 
 " others " spoken of was William Whyttingham, Dean 
 of Durham. During the reign of Mary, this eccle- 
 siastic was an exile, and, while at Geneva, he em- 
 braced the doctrines of Calvin and Knox. He was, 
 says Warton, a man of pure faith and unflinching 
 zeal, to winch he possessed a knowledge of music, 
 and had a taste for poetry. To a man in his position, 
 at such a time, these gifts were of great importance. 
 He added freely to the Psalm list, among which the 
 100th, and the long extending 1 19th. He also versified 
 the Decalogue and Nicene, Apostolic, and Athanasian 
 €reeds, The Lord's Prayer, Te Deum, etc. "It was 
 
of the Psalter. 27 
 
 his policy," says Warton, " to accommodate as much 
 as possible every part of the service to the psalmodic 
 tone, and to clothe the whole liturgy in the garb of 
 Geneva." These compositions were sung in his 
 church at Durham, under his own directions. His 
 translations are distinguished by the initials W. "VV. 
 
 Less than thirty were now required to complete 
 the list. Towards this number Thomas Norton 
 supplied twenty-seven. Norton (Archicarnifex) was 
 regarded as a persecutor as well as a writer. He was 
 a barrister by profession, born at Sharpenhoe, (Bed- 
 fordshire), in 1532, and died in 1584. His transla- 
 tions are signified by the letter 1ST. It is not certain 
 to whom the letters T. C. really belong. One John 
 Mardiley, clerk of the King's Mint, Southwark, 
 translated twenty-four Psalms about the year 1550, 
 but none of them were admitted into SternholcVs 
 collection. 
 
 The entire version of the Psalms was not finished 
 till the year 1562, when it was attached, for the first 
 time, to the " Book of Common Prayer," and entitled, 
 " The Whole Booke of Psalmes collected into English 
 metre, by T. Sternhold, J. Hopkins, and others, con- 
 ferred with the Ebrue, with apt notes to sing them 
 withall." 
 
 These " apt notes " consisted of about forty tunes 
 of one part only, and in one unisonous key, remark- 
 able for a certain uniform strain of sombre gravity, 
 
28 Rise and Progress 
 
 and applied to all the Psalms as the stanza might 
 allow. They were supposed to belong to the list of 
 melodies attributed to French and German musicians, 
 and, in all probability, the famous " Old Hundredth n 
 formed part. In fact, some writers roundly assert 
 that this Psalm can be traced to Goudimel and Le 
 Jeune, the early composers to Marot's Psalms. This 
 is a matter which will be referred to again further on. 
 When first launched into the sea of letters — cer- 
 tain before long to meet with many a billow of tem- 
 pestuous strife — few, if any, of the friends of the 
 Reformation possessed of education or literary influ- 
 ence, were disposed to criticise very severely the 
 poetic medley which the world were invited to look 
 into. Nor were they disposed to ridicule its contents 
 or wrangle about its awkward phrases. It had to be 
 explained, for the masses could neither read nor write. 
 Hitherto language was generally accompanied with 
 restraint ; thought and speech were fetter-bound, 
 consequently the merits of this " new thing " required 
 to be evolved by processes much too slow to be under- 
 stood by tyros of the present day. A book of Psalms 
 undoubtedly produced commotion, not perhaps un- 
 mixed with bewilderment, as to their general merits 
 and utility. Time was needed to test their validity 
 and adaptation to the wants of an enfranchised, but 
 extremely illiterate nation. It is not intended here 
 to laud these early versifiers beyond the efforts they 
 
of the Psalter. 29 
 
 unquestionably put forth to do their best Their on- 
 kindest critics admit their energy it they deny their 
 
 skill. Very few even of the ascetic class can re- 
 strain an occasional smile at the grotesque phraseology 
 with which their ideas were clad. But there was no help 
 for it. They had no classic models to copy ; their 
 work was new to everybody ; their subject, in many 
 cases, a vast deal too delicate for unpractised hands ; 
 the language at command far too weak to convey the 
 sentiments scattered so richly about David's prose 
 into fixed spaces ; in fact, the lofty imagery of the 
 Hebrew King was altogether beyond the conception 
 and grasp of mere versifiers. The ideas enunciated, 
 and the language attending them, will always be 
 objects of curiosity and inspection, subject to un- 
 charitable criticism and deficient thought. The 
 "emendations" to which they were subject during 
 the first century of their existence were not always 
 improvements, and, like many other kinds of literary 
 cobbling, the patches destroyed the figure of the 
 thing to be mended entirely. Not unfrequently 
 Sternhold and Hopkins were ill-used men, because, 
 being in their graves, they could not retort upon their 
 commentators. Among the more conscientious of 
 this class was King James the First of England. This 
 monarch, it is well known, had no small opinion of 
 his own poetic abilities, and, among other things, had 
 a " go " at the Old Version. Considering the great 
 
30 Rise and Progress 
 
 widths of circumstance and scholarship, the monarch 
 did not equally transcend the schoolmaster. Ex- 
 ample : Psalm xxiv. 12. 
 
 " Why doost with drawe thy hand abacke 
 And hide it in tby lappe ? 
 
 plucke it out and be not slack 
 
 To give thy foes a rappe." — Hopkins. 
 
 " Why dost thou thus withdraw thy hand, 
 Even thy right hand restraine ? 
 Out of tby bosom for our good 
 Drawe backe the same againe." — King James. 
 
 In pretty much the same fashion Sternhold gets 
 handled by many who ridicule him for his " meeter 
 stuff." There always have been artisans of that class 
 who, in mending one hole, make two ; and there are 
 others who are willing to award merit where none is 
 deserved. Two examples : — 
 
 " So I suppress and wound my foes 
 That they can rise no more ; 
 For at my feet they fall down flat, 
 
 1 strike them all so sore." — Sternhold. 
 
 " So I suppress and wound my foes 
 That they can rise no more ; 
 For underneath my feet they fall, 
 I wound them all so sore." — King James. 
 
 The following stanzas have been lauded for their 
 poetic excellence, but the reader will find, by refer- 
 ence to Psalm xviii. 9, 10, that they are almost 
 the entire contexture of the prose transferred un- 
 
of the Psalter. 31 
 
 broken, and without transposition, allowing for the 
 small deviations necessarily occasioned by the metre 
 and rhyme : — 
 
 " The Lord descended from above 
 And bowde the heavens high, 
 And underneath His feet He cast 
 The darknesse of the skie. 
 
 On Cherubs and on Cherubims 
 
 Full roiallie He rode ; 
 And on the winges of all the windes 
 
 Came flying all abrode." 
 
 It will be seen from the last edition of this Psalm, 
 that the improver substituted the adjective " mighty" 
 for "all the," — a trifle more euphonious, and that is 
 all. Thomas Ward, in his poetical essay on " Eng- 
 land's Reformation," written nearly two centuries 
 ago, selects a few passages from the early editions of 
 the Psalter, and quotes them unfairly, and with all 
 the contempt and acrimony of a vindictive literary 
 savage and a fierce priest. These early versifiers 
 were what they were intended to be by the priesthood 
 to whose charge the education of the people had been 
 entrusted. They little dreamt that such folk would 
 prove powerful instruments in the service of a Re- 
 formed church. There was not the finish and en- 
 chantment of Clement Marot in their versification, it 
 is true, yet far more of serious thought and propriety. 
 Hence the French poet was shelved, while his less 
 
32 Rise and Progress 
 
 ambitious brethren on this side of the Channel are 
 still spoken of, and occasionally made use of also. 
 If their verses are neither sung nor recited as formerly, 
 they serve as specimens of a struggle for poetic life 
 •when the Reformation needed help in the service of 
 song, and when there were but few helpers. No 
 generous critic can for a moment dissociate the cir- 
 cumstances by which an author is surrounded and the 
 production of his pen. 
 
 As literary effusions merely, the rough and jagged 
 versifications of Hopkins and his coadjutors can no 
 more be compared with the culture and refinements of 
 a Cowley or a Pope, than the gnarled and crooked 
 stick cut from the forest can bear to be placed side by 
 side with the straight and polished one. 
 
 Ridicule at times may serve a good purpose. 
 Human ambition often receives an impulse from 
 failure and brings latent power into play. In the 
 sixteenth century there were, as now, plenty of per- 
 sons whose imaginations led them to strange dances. 
 There were men, too, quite of a different stamp j men 
 of great ability. Some of these turned their attention 
 to the service of song. To them the versification 
 then in use appeared little else than early steps in the 
 right direction. Take, for instance, the paraphrasing 
 of King David by George Sandys. Here was a 
 scholar of great piety, and very considerable power as 
 a poet. His Psalms xxi. and xcii. are no mean speci- 
 
of the Psalter. 33 
 
 mens. So, too, xcix. Kos. cxxvii. and cxxxiii. have 
 also been regarded with especial favour, although not 
 much known to the present generation. His para- 
 phrase on the book of Job, and translations of Solo- 
 mon's Song, require to be thoughtfully read to be 
 rightly appreciated. He died in 1644. In the same 
 century Edmund Spenser put his hand to psalm writ- 
 ing. The reader may be assured of his competency 
 for the task, though quite unable to judge of his work, 
 as the copy was lost by his servant who preceded him 
 on his journey from Ireland to England in the year 
 1598. 
 
 Archbishop Parker, the most renowned ecclesiastic 
 of the age, also shaped the Psalms into verse during 
 his religious exile. He finished his task in 1577, and 
 printed a few years after with this title, "The whole 
 Psalter translated into English metre, which con- 
 tayneth an hundred and fifty Psalmes. The first Quin- 
 quagene — Quoniam omnis terrce deus^^sallite sapienter. 
 Imprinted at London by John Daye, dwelling over at 
 Aldersgate, beneath Saint Martyn's. Cum privilegio 
 per decennium." 
 
 This book was never published. Why 1 was a 
 matter of speculation at the time, and has frequently 
 t>een questioned since. The Prelate had doubtlessly 
 a motive for withholding. According to his preface, 
 it was printed to show the efficacy of the Psalms in 
 metre, and in which he directs an audible mode of 
 
34 Rise and Progress 
 
 congregational singing. It is supposed that he sup- 
 pressed it because he saw that the practice had been 
 abused to the purposes of fanaticism, and adopted by 
 the Puritans in contradistinction to the national wor- 
 ship. Another reason given is, it would not accord 
 with the nature and dignity of his office in the Church. 
 Both are historical conjectures, and may be taken for 
 what they are worth. The Archbishop had his reasons 
 no doubt, but what they were matters not a straw to 
 the men of this generation. In the reign of Charles 
 I., Dr. John Wilson (companion to the King) wrote a 
 Psalter, denominated " Psalter Carolinum." He died 
 in 1673. 
 
 Few persons in the present day could be found 
 hardy enough to question the taste and judgment of 
 George Herbert as a religious poet. Yet none of his 
 writings go the length of stigmatizing Sternhold and 
 Hopkins. Albeit in his"] clerical capacity they must 
 have been continually before him. Kor does he ap- 
 pear to have versified more than one Psalm (xxiii.), 
 and although the accomplished scholar and the true 
 poet may be readily seen in this, he makes no strain 
 to outdo his prototype. Of writers who began the 
 task of versification and were not able to complete 
 their undertakings, a long list might easily be ad- 
 duced if any useful purpose resulted therefrom. One 
 William Hunnis, chapel-master to Elizabeth, selected 
 a few out of the hundred and fifty Psalms, and put 
 
of the Psalter. 35 
 
 them into tolerably fair rhymes, hut as they had not 
 the good fortune to be bound up with Sternholcl and 
 others, they soon were lost to public service. They 
 were printed in 1550 with this title, "Certayne 
 Psalmes chosen out of the Psalter of David, and 
 drawen f urth into Englyshe metre by William Hunnis, 
 servant to the rhyt honourable syr William Harberd, 
 Knight. Newly collected and imprinted." Mention 
 also is made by Warton and others of Sir William 
 Forrest, who translated fifty Psalms, and dedicated 
 them to the Duke of Somerset, when Protector to- 
 Edward VI., in 1551. 
 
 With respect to chronology the translations of 
 George Sandys are of more recent date, as he dedi- 
 cates them to Charles I. in the following form. " To the 
 best of men, and most excellent of princes, Charles, by 
 the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and 
 Ireland, Lord of the four seas ; of Virginia, the vast 
 territories adjoining and dispersed islands of the 
 Western ocean ; the zealous defender." Sandys did 
 did not live to witness the terrible fate of this monarch,, 
 nor much of the distractions, both in Church and State, 
 consequent upon fierce puritanical uprisings, and the 
 temporary rule of a Commonwealth. When order 
 was restored and the rightful ruler of the kingdom 
 came into possession, many reforms were needed. 
 The whole realm had been flooded with a literature 
 adapted to the turbulent disposition of the age, and 
 
36 Rise and Progress 
 
 the Church had to smart severely from the persecutor's 
 rage. The Psalm-book supplied mirth for drunken 
 singers and ridicule for the semi-witted. The incon- 
 gruous character of the Psalter — for so it appeared in 
 the eyes of intelligent people — could not escape sharp 
 criticism ; there was much in its diction to excite 
 feelings opposite to those entertained by the strictly 
 pious portion of the community. The attempts made 
 from time to time to remove blemishes pointed to the 
 necessity of a total reconstruction of the book itself. 
 It had outrun the span of its vitality. A century 
 had rolled away since the entire version was first 
 issued by John Day, and the tinkering by "various 
 hands " had served rather to sharpen deformities 
 than to hide defects. Moreover, it was growing a 
 busy age in respect to enlightenment — John Milton 
 was no common poet — and the dressing up of anti- 
 quated rhymes in the garb of a modern phraseology 
 appeared in the same light as a plain Gothic edifice 
 stripped of its antique signatures. As a further plea 
 for discontinuance it was urged that the Psalter never 
 received any royal approbation or parliamentary sanc- 
 tion, although it is said in the title page that they are 
 set forth and allowed to be sung in all churches, of 
 all the people together, before and after evening 
 prayer, and also before and after sermons, and more- 
 over in private houses for their godly solace and com- 
 fort, laying apart all ungodly songs and ballads, which 
 
of the Psalter. 37 
 
 tend only to the encouraging of vice and the corrupt- 
 ing of youth. 
 
 Here it may be well to say that the tree of Non- 
 conformity had struck its roots deeply into the 
 national soil ; yea. more, its branches were rapidly 
 extending from the centre to the boundaries of the 
 island. Strong in preachers and not weak in poets. 
 Foremost of these stood Isaac Watts, who put the 
 whole of the Psalms into improved verse. It was not 
 likely that the clergy of the Church would part with 
 the Psalter, which had been the guide and companion 
 of a life, without making some effort to retain its 
 place. One eminent divine made a collection of 
 Psalms, and adapted them for every Sunday in the 
 year. Most of these had explanatory headings. In 
 speaking of the abandonment of Sternhold and Hop- 
 kins, he complains of the introduction of hymns of 
 questionable religious merit. He says, " Our people 
 had long lost sight of the meaning of the Psalms, 
 when vital religion among us began to decay. It was 
 a gradual decay, and went on till at last there was a 
 general complaint against the Psalter. The wits 
 ridiculed it ; the profane blasphemed it. Good men 
 did not defend it. By degrees it fell into such con- 
 tempt that people were ready to receive anything in 
 its room which looked rational and was poetic. Find- 
 ing the Church in this position, the hymn-makers 
 were allowed to thrust out the Psalms to make way 
 
38 Rise and Progress 
 
 for their own compositions, of which they supplied 
 collection upon collection, appendix added to ap- 
 pendix, and advanced to such a degree that the 
 Psalm-Book became obsolete." The same divine 
 further remarks, " I have no quarrel with Dr. Watts, 
 or any living or dead versifier. I do not wish to have 
 all their poems burnt. I speak not of private people 
 or private singing. My concern is with the Church 
 and its public service. Why should any hymn-maker 
 take precedence of the Holy Ghost and thrust him 
 entirely out of the Church, insomuch that the rhymes 
 of a man are magnified above the Word of God, to the 
 annihilating of it in many congregations 1 At the 
 Reformation they were put into metre in several 
 languages. The same was done in our old version, 
 which remained in use until it was very much cor- 
 rected after the restoration of Charles II. Notwith- 
 ctanding all that has been said of the early versifiers, 
 one thing is clear, they had a scrupulous regard 
 for Scripture, and adhered so closely to it as to prefer 
 the sense of it to mere versification. Not always 
 smooth, certainly, and only here and there brilliant. 
 Moreover, it comes nearer the sense of the original 
 than any other except the Scotch." The thin end of 
 the Hymn-Book wedge may here be clearly seen. 
 
 When, from the moribund condition of the Psalter, 
 the " necessity " for a new version forced itself upon 
 the attention of those in authority, Nicholas Brady, a 
 
of the Psalter. 39 
 
 Doctor in Divinity, and JSahum Tate, a poet of tolerable 
 ability, were selected for the task. This they entered 
 upon under far more favourable circumstances than 
 Sternhold and Hopkins. Their styles of composi- 
 tion were not extravagantly wide, and as they lived 
 in a more enlightened and poetic age than that of the 
 Reformation, they endeavoured to bring up their 
 translations to the requirements thereof. They also 
 kept their eyes open to the importance of good 
 Psalm-singing, for they announced at the outset 
 that " these Psalms are fitted to the tunes sung in 
 churches." Directions attended these fittings, thus : 
 " All Psalms of this version in the common measure 
 of eights and sixes — that is, where the first and third 
 lines of the single stanza consist of eight syllables 
 each, the second and fourth lines of six syllables each, 
 may be sung to any of the most useful tunes, viz., 
 York tune, Windsor tune, St. David's, Litchfield, 
 Canterbury, Martyrs, St. Mary's alias Hackney, St. 
 Ann's tune, &c. The Psalms in this version of four 
 lines in a single stanza, and eight syllables on a line, 
 if Psalms of praise or cheerfulness may properly be 
 sung as the Old Hundredth Psalm, or to the tune of 
 the Old Hundred and Twenty-fifth Psalm, second 
 metre. The penitential or mournful psalms in the 
 same measure may be sung as the Old Fifty-first 
 Psalm." Other directions were specified for those 
 psalms of a somewhat peculiar measure, and with 
 
40 Rise and Progress 
 
 which the new version is far more liberally sprinkled 
 than the old. Writers on Church history have been 
 far more reticent about the progress and success of 
 the new version than of the old. The issues of the 
 former were probably slow, and not exciting. After 
 the 150 had been completed they were bound up with 
 the old version, and are still to be seen thus united, 
 not only in the folio editions of the Prayer-Book, but 
 others of a smaller size. Dr. Brady died in 1726. 
 He was born at Bandon, in the County of Cork, 
 in 1659, and educated there till he was twelve 
 years of age. He was thence sent to Westminster 
 School, became a king's scholar, and subsequently a' 
 student of Christ College, Oxford. Four years after- 
 wards he went to Dublin, and took his degrees of 
 B.A. and M.A. in that university. He held prefer- 
 ments in Ireland, and while on a visit to England a 
 diploma of D.D. was conveyed to him. Eventually 
 he gave up his Irish appointments, and settled in 
 England. He was elected minister of St. Catherine 
 Cree (Leadenhall Street), and lecturer at St. Michael 
 (Wood Street). Later on he obtained the Rectory of 
 Richmond, as well as that of Clapham, both of which 
 he held at the time of his death. In addition to six 
 volumes of Sermons he translated the .ZEneids of 
 Virgil, and wrote a tragedy acted at Drury Lane, 
 1692, an Ode for Cecilia's Day, and other poems. 
 Dr. Busby admired his youthful progress, but Swift 
 
of the Psalter. 41 
 
 ridiculed his psalm-writing in his " Remarks on Gibbs." 
 Nahum Tate died eleven years previously. During 
 their lifetime there was a great rage for rhyming. 
 Hence the publication of " poems on several occasions," 
 or by " various hands," abounded. Psalms and hymns 
 cropped up from every quarter. Some of these pro- 
 ductions were used on special occasions. But the 
 phrenzy for imitating Watts gave prominence both 
 to the psalms and hymns of the Nonconformist poet, 
 whose real excellences dimmed to a great extent all 
 pre-existing versifications. Among the clergy of the 
 Church occasionally the pen of a ready writer dis- 
 played itself after the fashion of Christopher Pitt, &c. 
 Nor was this faculty Avanting among the Dissenting' 
 clergy.- Hence by the twofold force of psalm and 
 hymn the new version began to totter, though not 
 quite to its fall. In this way, too, by slow degrees 
 the Hymn-Book unattached to the Psalter obtained a 
 footing in the services of the English Church, and in 
 the course of a quarter of a century nearly displaced it 
 altogether. At the present day these books have so 
 multiplied that they may lay claim to notice in a 
 special chapter. 
 
 James Montgomery, the poet, in speaking of Stern- 
 hold and Hopkins, says their Psalms have the merit of 
 a faithful adherence to the original, but it is the re- 
 semblance which the dead bears to the living. A few 
 nervous or pathetic stanzas may be found here and 
 
42 Rise and Progress 
 
 there, for it was impossible in so long an adventure to 
 escape falling into a better way now and then. Nearly 
 as inanimate, though a little more refined, are the* 
 Psalms of Brady and Tate, which were honoured by 
 the Royal authority to be sung in those churches which 
 were disposed to receive them. But they only par- 
 tially superseded their forerunners, many people pre- 
 ferring the rude simplicity of the one, to the neutral 
 propriety of the other.* Yet there are among these 
 several passages of considerable worth, such as one 
 could wish all the rest had been. 
 
 " Translations of the Psalms " appear to have been 
 a tempting subject for versifiers possessing more than 
 ordinary poetic gifts. Among such might be named 
 Sir John Blackmore. In the long catalogue of his 
 works there is recorded " A new version of the Book 
 of Psalms." They were severely criticised at the time 
 under the title of an " Address to England's Arch- 
 poet." Blackmore had previously written " Creation " 
 and " a paraphrase on the book of Job." 
 
 * In a quarto edition of the " Book of Common Prayer," still 
 used at St. Olave Jewry, the version of Sternbold and Hopkins 
 is bound up with the Psalms ; date, 1746. So that 200 years 
 after death both lived in their versifications. 
 
 In the Church of St. Mildred, Bread Street, Cheapside, the 
 Prayer Book had Tate and Brady bound up with it as late 
 as 1857, and the Hymn Book was not introduced till more 
 than twenty years after. 
 
of the Psalter. 43 
 
 " Then took bis Muse at once, and dipt her 
 Full in the middle of the Scripture — 
 What wonders then the man grown old did, 
 Sternhold himself he out- Sternholded ; 
 Made David seem so mad and freakish, 
 All thought him thus what thought King Achish." * 
 
 Another version, by the Rev. James Merrick of 
 Oxford, failed to obtain the King's license for use in 
 the churches. " It is only wonderful," says Montgomery, 
 " that the privilege should ever have been sought on 
 the recommendation of men of learning and taste in 
 behalf of a work of such immeasurable verbiage as 
 these paraphrases exhibit." Yet Merrick was an elegant 
 scholar and no mean poet. A versifier of the Psalms 
 certainly, but not a successful one. Many modern 
 compilers have nevertheless made very free with him. 
 
 Respecting the number of fugitive pieces they may 
 be fitly described by the word " legion." These, as 
 wild flowers by the wayside, were often collected into 
 posies ; the good were retained, and some possessing 
 special vitality were nurtured, admired, and had their 
 names recorded. Magazines had their "poets' corner," 
 which often found a snug recess for translations of the 
 
 * Blackmore, it should be remembered, was a staunch advocate 
 for the Church and its principles. He often had to contend 
 against the infidelity of the age in which he lived, especially 
 when it appeared under gaudy and deluding colours. Bad men 
 hated him, and bad pens ridiculed him, but Mr. Addison thought 
 anuch of him. See Spectator, No. 337. 
 
44 Rise and Progress, <L-c. 
 
 Psalter. Volumes, little as well as large, abounded ; 
 and prior to the entry of the year 1800, the Rev. Mr. 
 Turner composed and published a new version of the 
 Psalms when he was an octogenarian. 
 
 In the year 1824 Dr. Mant, Bishop of Down and 
 Connor, published a metrical version of " The Book of 
 Psalms with Notes." As a commentator, this prelate 
 obtained considerable distinction. His poetical effu- 
 sions, however, do not possess any great hold upon the 
 general memory, and " Mant's version" is seldom re 1 
 ferred to. 
 
 One would suppose from the various handlings of 
 the Psalms from Sternhold's time till now, that fur- 
 ther manipulations would offer no temptation to the 
 most polished and affluent versifier. This does not 
 appear to be the case, as a lawyer of eminence, with a 
 literary title to boot, has just published " a new 
 metrical translation of the Psalter." Some of his 
 critics point with a stern finger to Watts as his model 
 without any probable chance of superseding the old 
 Nonconformist D.D. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Books of Psalms and Hymns. 
 
 A spark of native fire 
 
 Excels whatever learning can acquire. 
 
 Sir William Temple, (1G50). 
 
 Words that but dazzle at the sight, 
 Are born of earth, and die with time ; 
 
 While those endued with heavenly light 
 Are solid, pure, serene, sublime. Anon. 
 
 A Book of Church Hymns — A Collection of Hymns of the 
 Authorized Version — A Manual of Parochial Psalmody — 
 A Selection of Psalms and Hymns (Kemble) — A Selection 
 of Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship (Cotterill) 
 — Church and Home Psalmody — Church Hymnal — 
 Church Psalter and Hymn Book — Church Hymns — 
 Common Praise — Hymns Ancient and Modern — Hymns 
 for the Church of England — Hymns for the Church on 
 Earth — Hymnal Companion — Hymnal Noted — Introits 
 and Anthems — Parochial Psalmody — Psalms and Hymns 
 for the Church of England — Psalms and Hymns 
 Adapted to the Service of the Church of England — 
 Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship — The Book of 
 Psalms with Notes — The Christian Psalmist — The 
 Church and Home Metrical Psalter and Hymnal — 
 The Hymnary : — A Book of Church Song — The New 
 Metre Hymnal, Adapted to the Service of the Church. 
 
 The Christian Psalmist, or Hymns selected and 
 original. By James Montgomery. 
 The number of selected hymns in this book of 456 
 pages is 461 ; original, just 100. From the time the 
 
46 Books of Psalms 
 
 preface was written (1825) to the death of the editor 
 and author, no less than seven large editions of these 
 psalms and hymns had been issued. When the char- 
 acter and quality of these poetical effusions are con- 
 sidered, no one will wonder at the ready application 
 of them by compilers of books thirsting for a name 
 and acquiring it at a cheap rate. In proof hereof let 
 doubters read " The Christian Psalmist " first, and the 
 many other works of a kindred nature afterwards. 
 
 A Manual of Parochial Psalmody. By the Rev. 
 Thomas Hart well Horne, B.D., Rector of the 
 united parishes of St. Edmund the King and 
 Martyr, and St. Nicholas Aeons, Lombard Street. 
 London : Longmans & Co. 1829. 
 Although little is known or heard of this book at 
 the present day, it had a " run " for full thirty years, 
 during which period forty editions were issued. Pro- 
 bably this success may be attributed to the paucity of 
 competitors in the race of church hymn rivalry. One 
 thing is certain, there was a demand for the article 
 and Parochial Psalmody had got the start. It had 
 also a Primate for its backer. The example, however, 
 of adapting the poems of Nonconformists, and of cut- 
 ting and patching the old psalms, generally to their 
 disfigurement, has been followed in too many instances 
 by far, without apology or compunction. This Manual 
 abounds with maimed verses the very reverse of im- 
 
and Hymns. 47 
 
 provements. Perhaps Mr. Home thought otherwise. 
 In a portion of the preface he says, " Of the numerous 
 collections of psalms and hymns which are already 
 extant, many are designed for the use of particular 
 congregations, and altogether exclude the legal or 
 authorised metrical versions of the Psalms ; while the 
 size and price of others necessarily place them beyond 
 the acquisition of the poor, and some contain pieces 
 which are applicable only to the circumstances of the 
 devout Christian in retirement ; not to congregations. 
 The hymns contained in this publication comprise 
 most of those which, from their intrinsic merit, are to 
 be found in every collection of note (including the 
 best in the supplement to the New Version), and to 
 these are added many others from various sources, 
 British and Anglo-American. They are all strictly 
 congregational, and they relate to the various festivals 
 of the Christian Church." Again, "A table has been 
 subjoined explaining the nature of the various metres, 
 and referring the psalms or hymns to the most appro- 
 priate tunes, expressly arranged for this Manual by 
 Mr. Thomas Henshaw, late sub-organist of his Ma- 
 jesty's Chapel Royal, St. James', &c., who has retained 
 many of our finest old church melodies which have 
 been so long familiar to the ear and delightful to the 
 minds of devout worshippers. He has also added 
 several modern and deservedly popular tunes of dis- 
 tinguished foreign masters in sacred music, the whole 
 
■48 Books of Psalms 
 
 of which are so arranged as to unite simplicity in style 
 with facility of execution." 
 
 Thus much then for this Manual of Parochial 
 Psalmody, and although once so sturdy and apparently 
 long-lived, it is not spoken of now in the church 
 which had Mr. Home so many years as its rector. 
 
 A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public 
 Worship. By the Rev. Thomas Cotterill. 
 This book made its first appearance in the early 
 part of the present century, and ran through twenty- 
 six editions. It consists of 220 pages, including 
 Doxologies, and sixteen index pages of first lines and 
 appropriate tunes. London : T. Cadell, Strand. 
 
 Church and Home Psalmody : Comprising the Spirit 
 of the Psalter ; the Collects in Verse ; Hymns 
 
 ; suggested by the Gospels for the day throughout 
 the year, and Original Hymns. By the Rev. T. 
 
 J. JUDKIN, M.A. 
 
 Here is a book of 800 pages, which the author thus 
 describes : — " I wish it to be distinctly understood that 
 I have had two objects in view — one embracing the 
 service of the temple, and the other the exercise of the 
 family and the closet, which double purpose will ac- 
 count for the size into which my book has swollen. I 
 have not enriched the work with the productions of 
 others, exquisite for beauty as these may be, partly 
 •on account of the injury I should be doing to a poet's 
 
and Hymns. 49 
 
 reputation by curtailing his compositions ; in com- 
 pliance with the rule I have laid down, of allowing no 
 psalm or hymn to exceed the compass of four verses 
 (that being the very extent of repetition which any 
 tune will bear), and partly because I am anxious to 
 ascertain, as a son of the Church, how far I could 
 supply from my own resources the nutriment which 
 her members may want, leaving it to others of a 
 "bolder wing and a wider range to cull more richly 
 from the same field ; that thus, through my example, 
 her own labouring bees might gather honey for her 
 own hive without pilfering from the stores of 
 another." Fifth edition. London : Hatchard & Son, 
 Piccadilly. 1839. 
 
 Hymnal Noted. Published under the sanction of the 
 Ecclesiological (late Cambridge Camden) Society, 
 by Xovello & Co. 1851. 
 This book has a twofold construction : the first 
 part is fitted to ancient melodies, and the second con- 
 tains additional hymns for the sake of greater fulness 
 and variety. These two parts are combined in the 
 complete edition, in the proper sequence for the whole 
 course of the Church's year. The editor has availed 
 himself of the Salisbury Hymnal and Antiphonary 
 very freely in the selection of his melodies. 
 
 Psalms and Hymns adapted to the Services of the 
 Church of England. By the Rev. W. J. Hall. 
 
 D 
 
50 Books of Psalms 
 
 The editor of this collection says, "His leading 
 object has been to select those portions of every Psalm 
 which best illustrate its general subject, and are cal- 
 culated to be practically useful, with such hymns as 
 may commend themselves both to the educated and 
 unlettered Christian." Portions of four verses only are 
 chosen, except where the unity of the subject re- 
 quired an addition. To each is prefixed a descriptive 
 heading, and the name of an appropriate tune. This 
 book is published in 8vo, 18mo, 24mo, 32mo, and 
 48mo. To the octavo edition four indexes are added. 
 London : F. & J. Eivington. 1854. 
 
 These Psalms and Hymns were published in another 
 form by Joseph Surman, Exeter Hall, viz., a Music 
 Book and Psalm and Hymn Book combined in one. 
 About 200 of the best tunes are herein so constructed 
 and bound up, as to fit the metre of any words in the 
 collection. London : Longman & Co. 
 
 A Selection of Psalms and Hymns, arranged for the 
 
 public services of the Church of England, by the 
 
 Rev. Charles Kemble, M.A., Rector of Bath. 
 
 This is a voluminous affair of more than 500 pages, 
 
 independent of index and reference tables. It 
 
 bears no date, but 1854 would not be far out of 
 
 reckoning. A choice of appropriate tunes is prefixed 
 
 to each psalm or hymn where a choice existed at the 
 
 date of publication and was available. Dr. Wes- 
 
and Hymns. 51 
 
 ley, the organist of Gloucester Cathedral, had the 
 arrangement of the tunes. The price of the book 
 varies from one shilling to twelve. 
 
 Another edition was issued in 1873, to which 
 Mr. Kemble wrote the following preface. 
 
 "During the twenty years that have passed since 
 the publication of my ' Selection of Psalms and Hymns, 
 arranged for the public services of the Church of 
 England,' a great change has taken place in public 
 opinion on the subject of Hymnody. A metrical ver- 
 sion of the Psalms is no longer deemed essential to a 
 Church Hymnal. A higher style of poetry, and a 
 warmer tone of devotion than was once judged re- 
 verent, are now demanded ; while four stanzas are 
 no longer the limit within which hymns must be con- 
 fined. Under these circumstances, a careful revision 
 of the book was urged upon me. But it soon became 
 apparent that no mere revision of, or addition to, the 
 old book would meet the case. The construction of 
 an entirely new book was found necessary. Hence 
 the present volume. Its doctrinal character will be 
 found identical with that of the former selection y 
 while in the following respects it will be found su- 
 perior : — the poetic standard is higher, and less abbre- 
 viation of the hymns occurs. Very many new hymns 
 are added, and special sections for Mission Services, 
 for Children, and for Private Use, are provided. 
 
 " Out of the treasury of Christian poetry, things new 
 
52 Books of Psalms 
 
 and old have been brought; and now to God's blessing 
 is commended this effort to assist His people, when, 
 assembled in His house, they seek to worship Him in 
 the beauty of holiness. 
 
 " CHARLES KEMBLE. 
 " Bath, Oct, 1873." 
 
 The Church and Home Metrical Psalter and Hymnal, 
 containing nearly 600 Psalms and Hymns, adapted 
 for Congregational and Family Use ; Edited by the 
 Rev. William Windle, M.A., Rector of St. 
 Stephen, Wallbrook. 
 
 Observe. — There are two editions of this book, 
 one with and the other without music. London : 
 Routledge & Sons. 1862. 
 In the preface hereto, the editor deems it necessary 
 to state that a work bearing a similar title to this was 
 issued by the publishers nearly three years ago. "It is 
 at their request that he has simply undertaken to 
 remodel that book with a special regard to the re- 
 quirements of his own congregation. The book is for 
 Church and Home Use, and the editor believes that 
 the contents will be found in harmony with the teach- 
 ing of Holy Scripture and the Articles of the Church. 
 A collection of 600 psalms and hymns may surely 
 be regarded as sufficient for every purpose. The size 
 is not inconvenient, nor the price high. For the selec- 
 tion of the tunes and the adaptation of hymns to 
 
and Hymns. 53 
 
 them, the editor is mainly responsible ; while for the 
 harmony the able assistance of Mr. Cooper has been 
 obtained. They will, it is confidently hoped, com- 
 mend themselves to all who appreciate good music in 
 the church and in the family, and will be found ade- 
 quate to the requirements which the present improved 
 taste for sacred music of a classical character happily 
 demands. They have been selected from the best 
 sources, both ancient and modern, excellence being 
 aimed at rather than novelty. There is also a good 
 collection of Chants, Responses and Doxologies. ,> 
 Furthermore, it is worthy of note that the paging and 
 general index exhibit a large amount of well ex- 
 pended thought and care in the process of complete- 
 ness. 
 
 The Church Psalter and Hymn Book, comprising the 
 Psalter, or Psalms of David, together with the 
 Canticles pointed for chanting, 510 metrical 
 hymns, six Sanctuses, and nine Responses to the 
 Commandments. The whole united to appro- 
 priate Chants and Tunes for the use of Congrega- 
 tions and Families, by the Rev. William Mercer, 
 Incumbent of St. George's, Sheffield. All the 
 harmonies revised by John Goss, Esq., composer 
 to Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, and organist of 
 St. Paul's Cathedral. London : published by 
 Nisbet & Co., 21, Berners Street, and Cramer 
 & Co., 201, Regent Street. 1861. 
 
£>4 Boohs of Psalms 
 
 The Hymnary, A book of Church Song. A very 
 rich and rare collection, embodied in 624 pages. 
 Published by Novello & Co. 1872. 
 
 Extract from the Preface : — 
 
 "The Editors of the Hymnary believe that no 
 Collection of Hymns can be considered perfect or final 
 or worthy of exclusive adoption by the Church, so long 
 as devout men continue to pour out in humble worship 
 fresh gifts of song and music before the feet of the 
 Incarnate Lord. They have attempted, in the present 
 compilation, to supply some practical wants in all ex- 
 isting hymn-books, which have been felt by them- 
 selves, and by many others who have communicated 
 with them. Their work is the result of more than 
 twenty years of hymnological study ; one of them 
 having been the compiler of one Hymnal, and joint- 
 editor of another, which attained no mean circulation ; 
 the other, one of the original editors of the * Hymnal 
 SToted.' 
 
 " The special features of the Hymnary are as fol- 
 lows : — More than ninety hymns are provided for the 
 Days of the Week. A larger variety of hymns than 
 usual is appropriated to each of the Church's Seasons. 
 Each Festival of the Apostles and Evangelists, as well 
 as the Festivals of the Purification and Annunciation, 
 has its proper hymn or hymns. The translations 
 from the Sarum and other Sequences are, with a few 
 exceptions, entirely new. These are valuable, as em- 
 
and Hymns. 55 
 
 bodying in exact theological language the several 
 aspects of the cardinal truth of the Incarnation." 
 Psalms and Hymns for the Church of England. By 
 the Rev. W. J. Irons, D.D. Pp. 200. Lon- 
 don: Longman & Co. 1874. 
 
 As there is something special in this book, it would 
 be better to let the author explain himself. He says : — 
 
 " A few of these hymns have been known in various 
 'Collections' throughout the Church; the writer 
 granted the use of them whenever he has been asked 
 to do so, and nearly all are sung in the Church of St. 
 Mary Woolnoth, most of them having been written 
 for that and the other parishes where, during the last 
 thirty years, he has had the happiness to minister. 
 Some psalms, mingled with the hymns, are from a 
 volume of manuscript translations from the Hebrew. 
 This partial introduction here may tend to chasten 
 our modern tone by the solemn ethos of the ancient 
 dispensation ever dear to the Church. It may be 
 some explanation of their very literal character to 
 add that the volume of translated Psalms thus re- 
 ferred to is intended rather to be exegetical, and 
 will, when completed, present, in double pages and 
 columns — 1st, the Hebrew, arranged in parallels; 
 2nd, a metrical English version, line by line ; 3rd, 
 a Targum, or Historical " interpretation," and a Gloss, 
 in a Spiritual sense, from the Fathers. 
 
 " The present is the only authorized edition of the 
 
56 Books of Psalms 
 
 writer's hymns and translations hitherto completed. 
 Some have been inserted (obviously unintended for 
 congregational use) as suggestive of devotions for 
 special occasions. Among these may be mentioned 
 the six on the Transfiguration (185—190). The 
 service for the Festival (August 6) having been unac- 
 countably lost among us, the Transfiguration of our 
 Lord has been deprived perhaps somewhat of the 
 prominence which its connection with the Incarnation 
 would naturally claim, and these hymns may be & 
 help to reflection on the whole sacred mystery. So, 
 also, the Hymn 95 on Hexaemeron may be instanced 
 as having its own use, and a personal Meditation (123) 
 entitled ' Desire after God.' 
 
 "W.J. I. 
 "St. Mary Woolnoth, Lent, 1875." 
 
 Hymns Ancient and Modem, for use in the services of 
 the Church, with Appendix. London : Clowes & 
 Son, Charing Cross. 
 
 This is a volume containing 386 hymns, several of 
 which are original and copyright. Index to first line. 
 
 Note. — Is it not a pity that many of the "ancient" 
 ones were not left in the finished manner of their 
 respective authors 1 Very few modern hymnists have 
 obtained such heights and depths in poetic writing as 
 to justify a tampering with Isaac Watts, Charles 
 Wesley, William Cowper, etc. 
 
and Hymns. 57 
 
 There is also an edition of these hymns with ac- 
 companying tunes compiled and arranged under the 
 musical editorship of William Henry Monk, organist 
 and director of the choir at King's College, London. 
 Novello & Co. 
 
 Hymns for the Church of England. 
 
 These are 226 in number, and like the majority of 
 similar collections are drawn freely from the store- 
 houses of Watts, Wesley and other Nonconformist 
 divines and poets. The compiler of the book says, 
 " The best endeavours have been used to make the 
 form accord entirely with the Bible and Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer." London : Longman & Co. 1874. 
 
 The New Metre Hymnal, adapted to the Services 
 of the Church of England. Rivington, London, 
 Oxford and Cambridge. 
 In this volume there are 202 hymns selected by the 
 Rev. William John Hall, rector of St. Clement, East- 
 cheap, and Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral. Respecting 
 the merits of the book he says, " There are in the 
 English language about one hundred hymns of the 
 highest merit — hymns animated by a noble devotion, 
 full of true poetic feeling and expression, and patient 
 of an exact and complete criticism. A considerable 
 portion of these will be found in this selection. Other 
 hymns of less worth are included in it because neces- 
 sary to the plan of the book. Hymns are of three 
 
58 Books of Psalms 
 
 kinds ; objective, subjective, and descriptive. The first 
 alone are truly and properly hymns, being occupied 
 solely with the praise of Almighty God; but with the 
 example of the Psalms of David we may surely make 
 free use also of hymns which give utterance to the 
 passions and emotions of the human heart, and of 
 those which describe the beauties of nature, or some 
 striking event in sacred history. Here will be found 
 specimens of all three kinds of hymns, a due propor- 
 tion being, it is believed, preserved between them. 
 
 " More than 200 tunes, selected with great care and 
 admirably adapted for congregational singing, are also 
 furnished in the hope that the work may recommend 
 itself to those who are careful for the sense of what 
 they sing, and may conduce to the worthy perform- 
 ance of praise to Almighty God." 
 
 Church Hymns. A new Selection of Hymns for 
 Church use, containing 592 Hymns. 
 This sub-title hardly explains the precise character 
 of the book, which lays claim to upwards of eighty 
 contributors, some of great eminence in the Church, 
 and others altogether unknown in the circle of poets. 
 The Tract Committee, who are the professed editors, 
 say " they have spared no effort to discover the 
 owners of all copyright hymns, but have found so 
 much difficulty that they desire to offer their apologies 
 to any who have been inadvertently overlooked." In 
 
and Hymns. 59 
 
 order to give these hymns further completeness, a 
 selection of tunes, suitable thereto, has been entrusted 
 to Mr. A. Sullivan. There are several editions of the 
 hymns without music, and a copy may be purchased 
 from threepence in limp cloth, to three shillings in paste 
 grain roan with gilt edges. 
 
 Published by the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge. 
 
 Church Hymnal. A Book of Hymns for the use of 
 the Church of England and Ireland. Bell A: 
 Daldy. 1874. 
 There is no preface to this book, or clue to the editor 
 of it. The selection of hymns (about 250) displays a 
 sound knowledge of its fitness for the purposes in- 
 tended. Several psalms are introduced by way of 
 supplement. 
 
 Common Praise. Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 
 for service in the Church of England. 1881. 
 Published by the Church of England Book 
 Society. 
 Ko less than 823 poems, great and small, are col- 
 lected in this modern publication. 
 
 Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship. 
 
 Upwards of 300 idyls, choice in quality, and 
 thoroughly fitted for the purpose set forth, are em- 
 bodied in this volume. To meet the circumstances 
 of the very poor, a copy can be obtained for twopence- 
 
60 Boohs of Psalms 
 
 Others, who are " well-to-do," may invest a crown 
 in a handsomer-looking book. Nor is this all, for 
 those who sing by notes and wish for appropriate 
 tunes withal can be accommodated at a moderate 
 price. 
 
 A Book of Church Hymns. Published by G. P. 
 Meaden, Clapham, 1864. 
 It is called a " New Edition," and purports to 
 be a collection for the use of St. Saviour's, Holy 
 Trinity, and St. James' Churches, Clapham, Surrey. 
 The name of the editor does not appear upon the 
 title-page, or elsewhere. 
 
 Intr oils and Anthems, for the use of the Service of the 
 Church. 
 This book of 374 pages differs so little from other 
 collections of Psalms and Hymns, that it barely sus- 
 tains the mention of its title. London : Clowes & Son. 
 
 A Collection of Psalms of the Authorized Version. 
 
 Out of this collection the Chevalier Neukomm selec- 
 ted twenty, to which he composed music in the form of 
 choral hymns with an organ accompaniment. These 
 are antiphonal in form, so that the choirs may respond 
 to each other according to the ancient Hebrew mode 
 of singing the Psalms — " a mode," says the composer, 
 "which is based upon the construction of the Psalms 
 themselves." Coming from such a musician as 
 Neukomm, one might be inclined to think that the 
 
and Hymns. 61 
 
 *' setting " of these Psalms would be far too erudite 
 and crude for general use. Not so. They abound 
 with variety of expression, have a devotional effect, 
 and are as fitted for a congregation as they are for a 
 trained choir. 
 
 The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common 
 Prayer. 
 
 Here are 403 general and supplementary hymns, 
 beside Doxologies, all well fitted to the comprehensive 
 framework of Church Services. Many valuable hymns 
 and translations are gathered together, affording suffi- 
 cient variety to dispense with the incumbrance of 
 books seldom or never used. Moreover, its adaptation 
 in a pecuniary sense to the wants and means of every 
 class of church-going people may be imagined from the 
 forms of issue, which will enable a purchaser with a 
 penny to possess a copy, while others of vaster means 
 may have an annotated edition which resembles an 
 encyclopaedia of hymn poetry, church music, and 
 authorship. London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, 
 and Rivington. 1876. 
 
 There are several editions of this work, varying in 
 price from one shilling to fifteen. 
 
 Parochial Psalmody. Consisting of 142 Ancient and 
 Modern Psalms and Hymn Tunes, forty-five 
 Chants, &c. By John Goss. Also 257 Cathedral 
 
62 Books of Psalms 
 
 Chants, Ancient and Modern, with an accompani- 
 ment for the organ or pianoforte, and instruc- 
 tions for properly adapting the words of the 
 Psalter to the Chant. 
 It is hardly just to proceed farther without 
 mention of the " Olney Hymns," — the precursors of 
 the large array of Psalm and Hymn-books now in use. 
 Tate, Brady, and Merrick were in their graves when 
 the Rev. John Newton (Cardiphonia) and William 
 Cowper set about composing a volume of hymns for 
 the parish of Olney, where both at one time resided. 
 The beauty of these hymns was not long bounded by 
 the county of Bucks. ; they found their way into maga- 
 zines, and other publications provided with a " poets' 
 corner," in such a questionable way that Mr. Newton 
 was compelled to announce the pretended authors had 
 no other share in them beyond that of transcribers. 
 No doubt when Mr. Newton left the curacy of Olney 
 for the rectorship of St. Mary Woolnoth, London, the 
 Hymns accompanied him and were used to some extent 
 up to the period of his death in 1807. In fact, most 
 of the early compilers of Psalms and Hymns for 
 the service of the Church supply abundant testimony 
 of a careful research among Newton and Cowper's 
 pages. 
 
 Without quoting collections not so much known as 
 the foregoing, enough has been advanced to show how 
 complete is the divorcement between the Psalter 
 
and Hymns. 63 
 
 bound up with the Prayer Book, and the metrical 
 verses in separate volumes. The supply of hymns is 
 now far in excess of needs, and the reason is too 
 obvious to require explanation, for, in the opinion of 
 many, the manufacture of a hymn is a mere mechani- 
 cal arrangement of syllables, not the now of soul. 
 Looking, however, at the origin of the Psalter, when 
 honest Fuller says, " Sternhold and Hopkins found 
 their work afterwards met with some frowns in the 
 faces of great clergymen," and looking at the present 
 condition of Psalmody, the Church of England has 
 much reason to take heart, and smile at the sneers of 
 an outside world, unable to understand the difficulties 
 besetting a great task, and unwilling to patronise and 
 appreciate the important ends in view. 
 
 Just by way of postscript, it may be well to state, 
 that among the twenty specimens of hymn books here 
 given, few indeed are really entitled to the claim of 
 originality. In some shape or other they belong to a 
 family of " collectors," with here and there just suffi- 
 cient distinctiveness of feature to be recognised by a 
 name. The idea of an appendix to the Scotch Psalter 
 manifested itself early in the present century. This 
 culminated in " Translations and Paraphrases in Yerse 
 of several passages of Sacred Scripture." The addenda 
 consists of seventy-two pieces, chiefly by unmentioned 
 authors, yet bearing a strong native resemblance to 
 the Psalter to which they are appended. Subsequent 
 
64 Books of Psalms 
 
 to this — say fifty years ago — a volume was published 
 under the title of " Hymns adapted to public worship, 
 intended as a supplement to the Psalmody of the 
 Church of Scotland, and including additional transla- 
 tions and paraphrases of Scripture." In the preface 
 hereto, it is stated that many of the hymns are known 
 to the congregation, and found to be useful for public 
 worship. A fact easily explained, seeing they are 
 culled not merely from Scotch poets, but from the 
 vaster stores of Watts, Wesley, and Cowper. Each 
 hymn has a heading characteristic of subject, and a 
 copious index relating to the same. Also a table of 
 first lines and other important ones, so that the reader 
 is spared a great deal of perplexing search. 
 
 It is thus seen that a good pattern was set by these 
 productions of the Scotch Church — one that has been 
 useful in directing others who aim to exalt the service 
 of song by enlarging the stores of solid, practical, and 
 truly poetic church literature. 
 
 The Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, in the early part of 
 the present century, wrote or edited a book entitled, 
 11 The Spirit of the Psalms." It contains several good 
 poems which collectors have not overlooked. 
 
 Seldom — very seldom, are quantity and quality of 
 collected poems to be met with in equal ratios. In 
 the great number here given the divergence is 
 strikingly manifest. It would not be straying far 
 from the truth to say that many of the items are 
 
and Hymns. 65 
 
 absolutely devoid of a particle of true poetry, and not 
 a few are the products of " adapters," who in the 
 endeavour to climb the heights, fathom the depths, or 
 walk the spreadings of revelation over the same ground, 
 have given no evidence of foresight in exploring fresh 
 tracks, — scarcely in fact a thought of sufficient 
 attraction to enchain the listener's ear among an array 
 of words and phrases which consume time to glance at, 
 and exhaust patience to survey. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Church Music in the Metropolis. 
 
 Music, religious heats inspires, 
 
 It wakes the soul and lifts it high, 
 
 And wings it with sublime desires, 
 
 And fits it to bespeak the Deity. 
 
 The Almighty listens to a tuneful tongue, 
 
 And seems well pleased and courted with a song ; 
 
 Soft moving sounds and heavenly airs 
 
 Give force to every word, and recommend our prayers. 
 
 Addison. 
 
 Metropolis defined — Its Population — Religious Sects — 
 Church Music at the Reformation — Psalm Composers — 
 Introduction of the Organ — The Revolution and its 
 disastrous effects upon Church Music — The Restoration 
 — Destruction of City Churches by fire — Their Recon- 
 struction — Foreign Organ-builders invited to London — 
 Playford's Essay on the State of Church Music — His 
 Psalm-book — Bishop Home's idea of Instrumental 
 Music in the Church — Bishop Porteus on Church Music 
 — Rev. C. J. Latrobe also — Dean Vincent — State of 
 Church Music at the close of the 18th Century — Neces- 
 sity for improvement — The Harmonium. 
 
 T\HE " METROPOLIS." What is to be under- 
 stood by it 1 ? Geographical boundaries do 
 not always admit of easy definitions; nay, 
 they are sometimes very perplexing, and open up wide 
 
Church Music in the Metropolis. 67 
 
 fields for discussion. How now is the word " metro- 
 polis " to be defined, which is put as a synonym for 
 London 1 Certainly not as it was under the sway of 
 the Roman Csesar, the Saxon Alfred, the Norman 
 William, the 8th Henry, or George the First. Since 
 the time even of the latter, taking the City for its 
 head, it has been sprawling in every direction, until 
 small towns and large villages — once at a distance — 
 are seemingly engulphed, and if this spreading-out 
 goes on at the same rate during the next century as 
 it has done in the past, the word metropolis will have 
 outlived its original signification. At the beginning 
 of the nineteenth century London was made to consist 
 of three principal divisions — viz., the City, West- 
 minster, and Southwark. "The latter," says an ac- 
 credited historian, "is in the county of Surrey, 
 anciently an entire morass." It has only one main 
 street. "The City," its familiar phrase, means the 
 trading of the town extending, with slight variations, 
 from Charing Cross to the meridian of the Monument 
 or the Tower ; but, locally speaking, it is confined by 
 a circle the radius of which would reach about half-a- 
 mile round St. Paul's Church. The walls of the 
 ancient city included a space — now in the middle of 
 the metropolis — about one mile and a half in length 
 and rather more than half-a-mile in breadth. The 
 population within the " Bills of Mortality (established 
 in 1562), and which included a circle of eight 
 
68 Church Music 
 
 miles round St. Paul's, was returned in 1802 at 
 1,050,000." 
 
 From these scant statistics a vivid imagination may 
 find plenty of material for conjecture, without any 
 severe mental straining. 
 
 The improved method of numbering the people, 
 more recently in use, throws some light upon the 
 actual condition of society in a religious sense. In 
 the general census of 1851 the population of London 
 was returned at 2,362,236. Of this number, on a 
 given Sunday, 504,914 attended religious worship, 
 comprising 276,885 members of the Church of 
 England, 186,321 Protestant Dissenters, 36,334 
 Roman Catholics, and 5,374 of various other 
 bodies* Although the census of 1861 was not 
 tabulated with similarly denominational strictness, 
 the official document revealed an extraordinary 
 rate of progress both with reference to the amaz- 
 ing increase of population and the consequent 
 demand for residential accommodation. Another 
 decade elapsed, the pressure increased, and keeps 
 increasing so rapidly that at the present time 
 London, so called, is estimated in round numbers at 
 4,000,000. Episcopal London is now the county of 
 Middlesex, which, small as is its area, comprises one- 
 ninth of the population of England and Wales, and is 
 becoming a county of streets and houses. 
 
 * Tunes, January 7th, 1854. 
 
in the Metropolis. 69 
 
 Another definition of London at the commence- 
 ment of the present century may perhaps help to con- 
 vey a yet clearer notion of its breadth and magnitude. 
 "What is called the < Bills of Mortality' include 146 
 parishes, i.e., 97 within the walls of the City, 16 
 without the walls, 23 out-parishes in Middlesex 
 and Surrey, and 10 in the city and liberties of West- 
 minster." Here, again, the old definition falls far 
 short of the present actual magnitude of the metro- 
 polis, which every year requires a fresh mapping, so 
 incessant is its march at all points of the compass, 
 converting country lanes into streets and covering 
 gardens, orchards, and pastures with wood, stone and 
 brick. 
 
 This change of seeming solitude into that of the 
 " busy hum of men," suggests the idea of a corres- 
 ponding number of new churches. As these distant 
 suburbs are not resorted to for the most part by the 
 wealthy, but by classes who have little to spend be- 
 yond that necessary for the pressing wants of life, 
 they are, so to speak, missionised by the Church, and 
 then suitable temples are erected for the services of 
 ; the same. At the present time there are upwards of 
 900 London churches, and several others are in 
 course of completion. Thus much, then, in explana- 
 tion of the word " Metropolis." 
 
 Very few events in English history exercised the 
 pen of the historian of the sixteenth century more 
 
70 Church Music 
 
 actively than that of the Reformation. Even trivi- 
 alities were frequently elaborated into matters of 
 great moment, and trifles light as air often made to 
 assume a gravity as ludicrous as they were unimport- 
 ant. What the music of the Church was in the early 
 stages of its new career little indeed is known. The 
 mass of the people, uneducated as they were, could 
 not proceed beyond a psalm, nor even grasp this till 
 one was composed and learned. Outside the Cathe- 
 dral the singing must have been of a very simple and 
 primitive sort — merely a psalm tune without instru- 
 mental aid. The organ was a thing to be gazed at — 
 spoken of, rather than heard, or, if heard, to be the 
 cause of wonder. Probably more has been written 
 about the organ of this period, than the music it was 
 designed to assist. Conjecture, too, frequently sup- 
 plied the place of fact. Hence, what one author 
 boldly asserted was frequently denied by another, and 
 not unfrequently compoundings of truth and error 
 were effected by modifying the statements of each. 
 If the condition of society be thought of, the advance 
 made in psalm-singing during the first quarter of a 
 century from the Reformation must have been a bold 
 and vigorous one. Necessity produced composers of 
 tunes and adapters likewise. Then, as now, it re- 
 quired but little effort to sing a psalm, especially if 
 the powers of soul and body were resolved upon the 
 attainment. It is said that in some of the London 
 
in the Metropolis. 71 
 
 churches, Este's collection of psalm tunes (1592) was 
 to be found in every pew, and was in general use. 
 If this be so, musical notation had reached a general 
 acquirement, i.e., to the extent of psalmody. About 
 the same period another set of psalm tunes made its 
 appearance with the announcement, " set chiefly for 
 instruments," without specifying the instruments best 
 adapted. 
 
 Dr. William Cave, two centuries ago, in his " Lives 
 of the Apostles," refers to the singing of psalms and 
 hymns among the Primitive Christians as " a consider- 
 able part of the Divine worship, and more immediately 
 serviceable for celebrating the honour of God, and 
 lifting up the minds of men to divine and heavenly 
 raptures." 
 
 In 1599, Richard Alison, one of the ten composers 
 appointed to " adapt the Psalms to music," announces 
 his publication thus, " The Psalmes of David in meter, 
 the plaine song being the common tunne to be sung 
 or plaid upon the lute, orpharyon, citterne or base 
 viol, severally or altogether .... for the use of such 
 as are of mean skill, and whose leysure least serveth 
 to practise." London: 1599. Folio. 
 
 About twenty years afterward appeared, "The 
 whole Booke of Psalmes with the Hymnes Evangeli- 
 call, and Songs Spiritual, composed in four parts by 
 sundry authors to such severall tunes as have beene 
 and are usually sung in England, Scotland, Wales, 
 
72 Church Music 
 
 Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands ; never 
 as yet before in one volume published. Newly cor- 
 rected and enlarged by Tho. Ravenscroft, Bachelar of 
 Musicke." It contains ninety-eight tunes, of which 
 fifty-five are in the minor key. 
 
 Henry Lawes set the novel metres of George Sandys 
 to original airs with a thorough bass for voice or in- 
 struments. He also published, " Choice Psalms put 
 into Musicke for three voices." Date 1648. Twenty 
 years later an amended edition of Ravenscroft ap- 
 peared under the editorship of John Playford. The 
 " Psalms and Hymns in Solemn Musicke of foure parts 
 on the common tunes to the Psalms in metre used in 
 Parish Churches," known as Play ford's, were issued 
 in 1671. Also "six hymns for one voyce to the 
 organ." Folio. 
 
 It may be easily imagined from the foregoing state- 
 ments that musical science had to struggle for ages 
 before it could lay claim to " form " as now regarded. 
 Doubtless the singing was with much spirit though 
 deficient in understanding. Musicians, too, even of a 
 moderate type, were very varied in character. Some 
 suitable instrument was felt to be needed. By slow 
 degrees the organ, humble in structure, found a way 
 into the church, yet not without opposition and mis- 
 givings on the part of the severely orthodox reformers, 
 who regarded it as a relic of Roman Catholic worship, 
 and because the organ was, as they said, planned or 
 
in the Metropolis. 7S 
 
 built by ecclesiastics. This puritanical spirit, which 
 had long been " nursed to keep it warm," displayed 
 itself in a very marked manner in the year 1644, when 
 an ordinance was passed in the House of Lords, es- 
 tablishing a new form of Divine worship, in which no 
 music was to be allowed, but plain psalm-singing — 
 that no organs should be suffered to remain in the 
 churches — that choral books should be torn, and that 
 the cathedral service should be totally abolished. 
 Some idea of the devastation which ensued may be 
 gathered from a book published in 1647, entitled 
 " The Country's Complaint, recounting the sad events 
 of this unparalleled war." 
 
 " At Westminster the soldiers of Westborne and 
 Caewood's companies were quartered in the Abby 
 Church, where they brake down the rayl about the 
 altar, and burnt it in the place where it stood ; they 
 brake downe the organs and pawned the pipes at 
 severall ale-houses for pots of ale. They put on some 
 of the singing-men's surplices, and in contempt of that 
 canonicall habite, ran up and down the church ; he 
 that ware the surplice was the hare, the rest were the 
 hounds." This, however, was a mild freak, when 
 compared with others in different parts of the king- 
 dom, sad to say. 
 
 " At that time there was no king in Israel, and 
 every man did that which was right in his own eyes."* 
 
 * Judges xvii. 6. 
 
74 Church Music 
 
 Happily the reign of destruction closed on the 
 Restoration of the Stuart dynasty to the English 
 throne, but the losses sustained by years of misrule 
 required a generation to restore. Nor was this suffi- 
 cient with respect to London, for what the despoiler 
 left the fire consumed. Ecclesiastical historians re- 
 late with terrible exactness what rapid havoc the 
 flaming intruder made among churches of every form 
 and size. It " licked them up as dust in the 
 streets." Of the ninety-eight parish churches within 
 the walls of the city, eighty-five were burnt down, and 
 thirteen unburnt ; fifty-three were rebuilt, and thirty- 
 five united to other parishes. The fire consumed just 
 as many parish churches as there were hours from its 
 breaking out to its extinction ! Strange, yet true. 
 
 A new city arose on the ruins thereof, but not as 
 by the wand of a magician. Nor until the reign of 
 Anne did the rebuilding of churches present many 
 features of progress. As a matter of course, music 
 made but little stride ; although in some cases great 
 exertions were manifest to keep pace with necessity. 
 For instance, the organ in St. Paul's Cathedral, which 
 cost £2,000, was formally opened on the 2nd of 
 December, 1697, although the Cathedral itself was 
 not entirely finished till 1715. Other instances of a 
 similar character might be cited were it necessary. 
 Dr. Burney says " the difficulty of procuring organs 
 upon short notice seems to have been greater than 
 
in the Metropolis. 75 
 
 either performers, or music to perform." It was as- 
 certained, however, that some of the old ecclesiastical 
 instruments had been sold to private persons, and 
 others but partially destroyed. These were obtained 
 and patched up till better times came. Nearly half 
 a century elapsed from the Restoration before many of 
 our city churches were supplied, and, to effect this, organ- 
 builders from Germany were invited to settle in Lon- 
 don; foremost among whom were the renowned 
 Bernhard Schmidt and Renatus Harris, who were 
 previously to some extent known in London by their 
 works as well as by name. 
 
 As Dr. Burney speaks more of the numerical force 
 of organists than of their ability to operate properly 
 upon the organ, he left others to express their 
 opinions respecting the same. Some of these were 
 ludicrous enough, although all revealed some element 
 of mean curiosity, if not of bad musical taste. The 
 following is doubtless truthful, and reflects the age : — 
 
 " Many of our church musicians being related to 
 the theatre, have introduced into their voluntaries a 
 sort of music quite foreign to the design of church 
 services, to the great prejudice of well-disposed people. 
 These fingering gentlemen should be informed that 
 they ought to suit their airs to the place and business, 
 and that the musician is obliged to keep to the text 
 as much as the preacher. For want of this, I have 
 found by experience, a great deal of mischief ; for 
 
76 Church Music 
 
 when the preacher has often, with great piety and art 
 enough, handled his subject, and the judicious clerk 
 has with utmost diligence culled out two staves proper 
 to the discourse, and I have found in myself and in 
 the rest of the pew good thoughts and dispositions, 
 they have been all in a moment dissipated by a merry 
 jig from the organ-loft."* 
 
 Owing to the wild statements of many ephemeral 
 writers on the subject of Church music during its 
 early periods, it is quite refreshing to fall upon such 
 a man as John Playford, born in 1613, and died at 
 the ripe age of eighty. He lived during the reigns of 
 five monarchs, and through the rule of a Common- 
 wealth. He was essentially a musician, and a pro- 
 minent one, considering the time in which he lived. 
 For the general rectitude of his life he was honoured 
 with the appellation of " Honest John Playford." 
 Although the rage of fanaticism might and did deface 
 sacred edifices, destroy organs, burn "prick song- 
 books," and wed frivolous melodies to solemn words, 
 it could not stamp out the recollection of the solid 
 and appropriate psalm, nor quench the desire of in- 
 creasing the number. Playford had to regret that the 
 national vicissitudes had damaged the music of the 
 Church, and on this account he set about an amend- 
 ment. He says : " In our late forefathers' days (upon 
 the restoration of our Church in its primitive purity 
 
 * Spectator, March 28, 1712. 
 
in the Metropolis. 77 
 
 ■and discipline) it was that some holy and godly men 
 brought the present use and manner of singing psalms 
 into the public service of our Church, following herein 
 the examples of the Reformed churches in France and 
 Germany. But time and long use hath much abated 
 the wonted reverence and estimation it had for about 
 100 years after this Establishment." He then goes 
 on to speak of his own designs thus, " I have composed 
 all the musical tunes in three parts, viz., cantus, 
 medius, and bassus. The Church tune is placed in 
 the treble part, which is the cantus, with the bass 
 under it, as most proper to go in voice and instrument 
 together, according to Holy David's prescription 
 (Psalm cxliv. 9). And since many of our churches 
 are lately furnished with organs, it will also be useful 
 for the organist ; and likewise for such students in 
 the Universities as shall practise song to sing to a 
 lute or viol." Now as this book continued fresh issues 
 up to nearly the middle of the eighteenth century, its 
 popularity and intrinsic worth may be judged of 
 thereby. Playforcl was brought up in London as a 
 music publisher. Tate, the Poet Laureate, wrote an 
 elegy on his death, which Purcell set to music. 
 
 The eloquent and elegant Bishop Atterbury, re- 
 marking on the state of Church music in his day (1713- 
 1722), endorses Playford's view of it, and says, " There 
 is no better method of combating the mischievous 
 effects flowing from the abuse of music than by apply- 
 
78 Church Music 
 
 ing it to its true and proper use. If the men of the 
 world rejoice in the object of their adoration, let the 
 children of Zion be joyful in their King." Bishop 
 Home supports the propriety of instruments to aid 
 the voice, and says when the beloved disciple was in 
 spirit admitted into the celestial choir he not only 
 heard them singing hymns of praise, but he also 
 heard the "voice of harpers harping upon their 
 harps." He then asks "why that which saints are 
 represented as doing in heaven, should not be done, 
 according to their skill and ability, by saints upon 
 earth 1 or why instrumental music should be abolished 
 as a legal ceremony, and vocal music, which was as 
 much so, should be retained 3 Can any good reason 
 for this be assigned 1 " 
 
 Dr. Porteus, Bishop of London, in a charge to the 
 clergy of his division (1790) said, "There is a point 
 to which I would beg leave to call your serious at- 
 tention, and that is the improvement of our parochial 
 psalmody. This most pleasing and affecting part of 
 Divine Service is now (through a large part of the 
 kingdom at least) rendered almost totally useless to 
 the Church of England, where, on the contrary, one 
 should expect to find it in its highest state of perfec- 
 tion. But from this it is a great distance indeed. In 
 country parishes this is generally engrossed by a select 
 band of singers, who have been taught by some itiner- 
 ant master to sing in the worst manner a most 
 
in the Metropolis. 79 
 
 wretched set of psalm tunes in three or four parts, so 
 complex, so difficult, and so totally devoid of true 
 harmony, that it is altogether impossible for any of 
 the congregation to take part with them ; who, there- 
 fore, sit absorbed in silent admiration, or total inat- 
 tention, without considering themselves in any degree 
 concerned in what is going forward. In London and 
 a great part of. Westminster this business is in a great 
 measure confined to the charity children, who, though 
 they exert their little abilities to sing their Maker's 
 praises in the best manner they can, yet for want of 
 right instruction to modulate their voices properly, 
 almost constantly strain them to so high a pitch 
 as to disgust and offend the ear and repel, instead of 
 raising, the devout affections of the hearers ; and it is 
 generally a contest between them and the organ 
 which shall be the loudest and give most pain to the 
 ear." 
 
 Doubtlessly many of the objections to instruments 
 in the church gallery at the periods referred to, arose 
 from the unfitness for the service itself, and the in- 
 competency of the performers to handle them as they 
 ought. Where choirs thus formed did not exist the 
 pitch pipe and strong-lunged precentor were the lead- 
 ing agents. Nor was the effort of this functionary of 
 a very distressing nature, as a couple of psalms 
 generally constituted the musical programme of either 
 a morning or evening service. 
 
•80 Church Jfusic 
 
 The Rev. C. J. Latrobe did much by his composi- 
 tions as well as by his writings to improve the charac- 
 ter of sacred music towards the close of the last 
 century. In all his compositions he has shown the 
 great and important use to which music should be 
 applied. His taste was grounded upon the simple 
 yet majestic modulations and the rich harmonies 
 which characterize the psalmody of the Lutheran and 
 Moravian churches. During a long residence in Lon- 
 don at a time when the organ was becoming the only 
 instrument, and the singing as yet cold and tame, Mr. 
 Latrobe's writings led to the correction of neglects 
 and abuses, which stood in the way of progress. No 
 great difficulty was ever experienced in finding- 
 organists, but it was not quite so easy to obtain 
 in one and the same person a musician qualified for 
 the important and diversified duties attached to the 
 office. Often the shortcomings of the organist were 
 traceable to the tyranny and hard-fistedness of the 
 clergy, and this sin of his brethren received but scant 
 mercy from his pen. Latrobe's " Selection of Sacred 
 Music," first published in 1806, is still a book alluded 
 to with respect and treasured with care. 
 
 Cowper, though the friend and companion of the 
 Rev. John Newton, was at times unsparing in his 
 lash with the clergy. In one of his moods he finds 
 fault because "a pastor of renown,"* closes his Sunday 
 
 * " Progress of Error," line 24. 
 
in the Metropolis. 81 
 
 at home with exercises upon the harpsichord, and 
 infers therefrom that his flock have leave to dance 
 down the sun. Admitting, as the poet does, that 
 priests have "cares," what better antidote than "to 
 quaver and semiquaver them away 1 " 
 
 Both friends and foes of the Church have left on 
 record statements of its drowsy condition before and 
 at this period of ecclesiastical history. Extreme 
 bitterness and painful regrets are among their strik- 
 ing characteristics. 'Tis quite true, "while men slept 
 the enemy came." Cowper said also, 
 
 " The priest whose office is with zeal sincere, 
 To watch the fountain and preserve it clear, 
 Carelessly nods and sleeps upon the brink, 
 While others poison what the flock should drink." * 
 
 The musical portions of an ordinary Sunday service 
 were in the majority of cases of a very dreamy cast. 
 Few city churches were without organs — some of 
 stupendous magnitude and capabilities, but in far too 
 many cases there was lacking a competent performer 
 upon them. The reason for this is not a problem 
 requiring much mathematical knowledge to solve. 
 Old Thomas Mace once stupidly said, "Anybody 
 who can pulse a psalm tune is good enough for an 
 
 51 Practically this elegant poet knew little of the world; he was 
 a recluse, and in matters of religion sensitive to a painful 
 degree. 
 
 F 
 
82 Church Music 
 
 organist." Hence interest, economy, and ignorance 
 combined, assisted too frequently in placing a performer 
 at an instrument upon which he was totally dis* 
 qualified to operate. 'Tis true there was usually the 
 form of a trial, but no man of position and ability 
 would "go in " where the issue was predetermined, 
 and if otherwise the salary altogether out of propor- 
 tion to the service rendered. By degrees choirs fell 
 away, and children in the livery of charity attire oc- 
 cupied places previously filled by a large admixture of 
 adults. Low salary and next to no talent stood in 
 the way of the equitable and praiseworthy. Hence 
 church music became a by-Avord, and psalm-singing 
 too frequently a jest. In some churches where the 
 organist had advanced beyond the Mace qualification, 
 the psalms were garnished with preludes and inter- 
 ludes, but at very few places did the singing possess 
 the vitality so essential an ingredient to successful 
 public worship. Some aver that it was not a musical 
 age, and that the clergy were the least musical of the 
 age. Be this as it may, the clergy came in for a large 
 share of blame for the degraded state into which 
 this part of the service had fallen. In some cases 
 artful adaptations of operatic airs found a way into 
 the church on account of their prettiness, and the 
 sacred was at times allied to the frivolous, and the 
 holy to the impure. No wonder that by degrees the 
 character of true psalmody became tainted, and the 
 
in the Metropolis. 83 
 
 most inspiriting portion of the English church wor- 
 ship degraded. Be it observed, the organist was not 
 the only person to he blamed for this. He, in all 
 probability, had to discharge the bidding of others. 
 There were those he did not dare offend, and others 
 he would be proud to please even at the cost of higher 
 obligations and more important ends. 
 
 Dr. Yincent, Dean of Westminster, (died 1815), in 
 his considerations on parochial music says, " The use 
 of music is to rouse and animate the affections, to 
 warm the heart, to relieve lassitude and luke-warm- 
 ness in devotion ; to carry our praise, adoration, and 
 thankfulness to the throne of grace, and to exhibit a 
 service upon earth conformable to the ministry of 
 angels in heaven." The Dean then proceeds to re- 
 mark with concern, " That part of our duty is per- 
 formed in such a manner that it is an object of dis- 
 gust, instead of being a rational delight and edification."' 
 This he attributed to the indolence or backwardness 
 of the congregation, "which restrains them from joining- 
 in this part of the service, and has introduced a 
 remedy worse than the evil. I should imagine the 
 clergy in general lament the existence of a select band 
 in the gallery, whether composed of untaught children 
 straining their little voices out of tune, or of a rustic 
 party singing without voice or knowledge of music." 
 
 Notwithstanding the reproaches of ecclesiastics, 
 high in authority, and other guardians of the interests- 
 
84 Church Music 
 
 of the Church, the musical caravan moved with a 
 laggard pace. Here and there a few fitful attempts 
 were made to jog along, but indifferently at best. 
 Outside, the shafts of criticism, in ridiculous forms, 
 were continually flying abroad, some with an aim and 
 some without. Thus wrong parties were often assailed, 
 wrong motives charged, and wrong methods adopted 
 for the furtherance of a long desired and much needed 
 improvement. 
 
 But the time for all such trifling was drawing to a 
 close. Its knell was sounded by divisions in the 
 Church itself. Split into parties by ritualistic prac- 
 tices, each turned to music as a most important bul- 
 wark, and in a very short time this power manifested 
 itself to a surprising extent. Both vocal and instru- 
 mental talent were sought out. The handful of meal 
 soon began to leaven the lump. In all great changes, 
 however, dangers will creep in, and unless watched 
 soon multiply. Just so in this case. Music here and 
 there was carried beyond its proper limits for a Church 
 of England service in far too many instances, while in 
 others held with a tighter rein, yet exhibited a too 
 frequent tendency to aim at the grandiose rather than 
 the simple and more serviceable. Clergymen of the 
 old school looked upon the surpliced choir and anthem 
 books as intruders, and the singing-desks more the 
 object of attraction than the pulpit. But the deeply 
 thoughtful portion of churchmen who regard music 
 
in the Metropolis. 85 
 
 as an assistant less than a principal, discovered the 
 greatest force of all to lie in congregational singing. 
 Large numbers of people go to church confessedly to 
 have their ears charmed by professional vocalists. 
 These, however, are unstable, and the Church finds in 
 such very shadowy supporters. Now-a-days the 
 elements of music are understood by the multitude, 
 children are taught to sing as part of a national school 
 education, and the way by which these advantages are 
 furthered is the extra attention necessary for part- 
 singing in the service of the sanctuary. This is am- 
 ply repaid by the solid help it affords the Church, and 
 'tis to this as a bulwark the clergy of the present day 
 are evidently directing their thoughts and energies. 
 " Let us not sleep as do others," is an exhortation 
 calculated to stimulate all who wish to keep well a- 
 head in the race of usefulness, and if the object of 
 pursuit be beyond reach of attainment, the labour is. 
 not entirely lost. This may be witnessed in many ways. 
 The extraordinary advance in church building during 
 the last thirty years in the metropolis and its neigh- 
 bourhood has no precedent in history. At one time 
 the consecration service of a new church was an 
 " event." Now it is an affair of such frequency as to 
 excite little, if any, surprise. Nevertheless very few 
 of these sacred edifices have been reared without 
 much thought and effort. As a matter of course, the 
 musical services necessary were not lost sight of, from 
 
$6 Church Music 
 
 the date of the foundation-stone to the completion of 
 the building. In many cases, however, the means for 
 purchase of an organ could not be compassed. What 
 then 1 There could be no return to the instrumental 
 aids of bygone days, when such a helpmate as that of 
 which the harmonium is capable was unknown. Here 
 was the help needed, if not for permanence, invaluable 
 under stress of circumstances and its applicability for 
 the music of the church. After all that has been 
 s aid and written in favour of the Harmonium as an 
 adjunct to the vocal services of the Church, it can 
 only be regarded as a substitute for, not a rival of, 
 the organ. Its very genius and construction must 
 ■ever keep it far below the level of its renowned proto- 
 type. Many persons think otherwise. The harmo- 
 nium by its cheapness steps into the place that os- 
 tensibly belongs to the organ simply because the latter 
 defies the resources in hand. Various indeed have 
 been, and still are, the attempts to enlarge, contract, 
 adapt, and simplify the king of instruments so as to 
 meet the requirements of the age, and not a few have 
 been successful ; notwithstanding this, let it be 
 understood that no amount of skill and ingenuity 
 •exercised in the disposition of costly materials can 
 •ever make cheap that which requires a great outlay 
 to produce. As a matter of finance an organ is some- 
 times a weighty affair, demanding consideration ; an 
 harmonium is disposed of briefly, notwithstanding its 
 
in the Metropolis. 87 
 
 capability of essential service. Many churches 
 possessed of organs are furnished with an harmonium 
 also, for the purpose of psalm and chant practice. 
 Thus both wealthy and poor congregations are bene- 
 fited by this unobtrusive and cheap instrument. 
 Moreover, in these days, when the branching tree of 
 musical knowledge is rapidly extending itself and 
 taking deep root, no difficulty need be apprehended in 
 procuring competent performers for the purposes re- 
 quired. Those sickly sentimentalists who demur to 
 female performers on the organ can surely have no 
 such qualms respecting the harmonium ; if so, they 
 are more the objects of pity than of censure. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Westminster Abbey : Its Past and Present 
 Musical Services. 
 
 " Where music dwells 
 Lingering and wandering on as loth to die, 
 Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof 
 That they were born for immortality." 
 
 YVOHDSWORTH. 
 
 Early notice of the Abbey as Thorny Island — Erection of 
 the first Temple, which Sebert overthrew and built 
 another — Early mention of Church Music — Flourishing 
 condition of the Christian Church until plundered by 
 the Danes — A New Pile erected at Westminster under 
 the direction of Edward the Confessor — Great altera- 
 tions made by Henry III. — Henry VII. 's Chapel 
 added to the Abbey — Henry VIII. erects it into a 
 Bishopric, but Mary restores the Abbot — Elizabeth 
 converts it into a Collegiate Church — Development of 
 Music during the Tudor Dynasty — Great changes con- 
 sequent upon the Reformation — Great Composers — The 
 Organ and Choir — New Organ — Daily Services — Fune- 
 ral and Special Services. 
 
 C\ICERO, in writing to Atticus respecting the 
 invasion of Britain, says, "It is universally 
 ' known that not a scruple of silver is to be 
 found in the whole island, nor are there hopes of any 
 
Westminster Abbey, <L-c. 89 
 
 acquisition, except slaves, among whom I suppose you 
 will not expect to find either musicians or men of 
 learning." This broad idea is not, however, free from 
 error ; for among the Pagans there must have existed 
 men of considerable enlightenment in matters of 
 science, as their ruined temples show ; but of their 
 skill in music it must be owned the present generation 
 know about as much to-day as the Roman orator did 
 nearly 2,000 years ago. While some writers have 
 attempted to palliate Druidical worship, others have 
 enlarged upon the horrors of the music which accom- 
 panied the sacrifice of human beings, without attempt- 
 ing; a clear idea of what the music consisted. On the 
 extermination of the Druid, there followed what was 
 called the "planting of the cross." This was accom- 
 panied with shocking cruelties. Concerning the erec- 
 tion of early temples for Christian worship, ecclesiastical 
 writers seem to have been but scantily acquainted, 
 and all that is known respecting the site of West- 
 minster Abbey is furnished by one Flete, a monk, who 
 describes it as a " terrible place," overrun with thorns, 
 and called "Thorny Island." Another writer says 
 that King Lucius, on his conversion from Paganism 
 to Christianity, built a temple there. Then a long 
 array of ages has to be accounted for, with events of 
 some kind. Speculation comes to the rescue, and the 
 void is filled up with improbable fiction, and ill- 
 founded conjecture, calculated only, it would seem, 
 
90 Westminster Abbey ; its Past 
 
 to amuse those pleased with fabulous narrations, 
 among which the story of St. Peter's visit from heaven 
 in the character of a patron saint was as conspicuous 
 as it was silly. 
 
 Another historian converts the building into a 
 " Temple of Apollo," which Sebert, King of the East 
 Saxons, overthrew, and erected on the site a Christian 
 temple. 
 
 Here it is necessary to observe that Sebert was the 
 iirst Christian king of the East Saxons, and in his 
 reign, about the year 610, the first church that was 
 over built in London rose in honour of St. Paul by 
 the direction of Ethelbert, King of Kent. Two years 
 afterward the Abbey Church at Westminster was 
 built by order of Sebert. After his death his three 
 sons re-established Paganism, and this produced con- 
 fusion which lasted many years. Music had some- 
 how gained a footing in the church, for it is stated 
 that Heddi, a monk of Canterbury — patronised by 
 Wilfred, Bishop of Hexham — was "eminent for his 
 skill in church music." He died in 720. And again, 
 "Acca, successor to Wilfred, wrote theological treatises 
 and was skilled in the science of church music," 
 which was then extremely fashionable. Furthermore 
 it is said of Bede, called the Venerable, that he not 
 only wrote on theological subjects, his more immediate 
 province, but also on grammar, arithmetic, astronomy, 
 natural philosophy, history and music. 
 
and Present Musical Services. 91 
 
 On the dissolution of the Heptarchy in 827, it was 
 thought that the union of the Church under one 
 temporal ruler would be a national benefit. The 
 event did not deviate from these expectations. But 
 the nourishing state of the Church was impaired by 
 the invasion of the Danes, who were Pagans, and who 
 not only made a practice of plundering and burning 
 churches and monasteries, but committed the most 
 inhuman acts of cruelty on the clergy, many of whom 
 they massacred with barbarous triumph. When Ed- 
 ward the Confessor came to the throne (1042), in com- 
 pliance with the interpretation of a dream, he 
 erected a new pile at Westminster, and endowed it. 
 Henry III., less than two centuries after, pulled 
 down the greater part of it. The present edifice 
 is in a great degree the pile he rebuilt. Henry 
 VII. built the chapel which bears his name, and is 
 contiguous to the Abbey, at the expense of fourteen 
 thousand pounds money of his reign (1500). His 
 son Henry VIII. erected the Abbey into a Bishopric, 
 which continued about nine years. The Abbot was 
 restored by Queen Mary, but in the following reign 
 this foundation was dissolved, and Elizabeth made 
 it a collegiate church of a dean and twelve pre- 
 bendaries. 
 
 Barren indeed are the nights of centuries respecting 
 the events of the Abbey generally ; but as regards the 
 state of its musical performances historians of all kinds 
 
92 Westminster Abbey: its Past 
 
 are provokingly silent.* Little is known of Cathedral 
 music during the Plantagenet, Lancaster or York dynT 
 asties. It develops itself freely in the House of Tudor, 
 and records — sufficiently dependable for reference and 
 quotation — abound. From that time to the present 
 its grand and mighty career has not suffered through 
 want of composers, and for which all generations of 
 Cathedral music-lovers ought to admit a debt of grati- 
 tude. 
 
 The Reformation not only changed the character 
 of religious worship, but it had to supply a want here- 
 tofore not existing. Singing was to be forthwith re- 
 garded as an essential element in the new order of 
 things, and, in a variety of forms, the human voice was 
 to be attuned to praise. Christopher Tye had to adapt 
 himself to the changing accidents of Church music 
 which existed during four reigns. Farrant, Marbeck, 
 and Tallis died in 1585, the 27th year of Elizabeth's 
 reign. Bird (properly spelt Byrde) died in 1623, and 
 Orlando Gibbons two years afterwards (James I. and 
 Charles I. respectively); Humphrey Pelham 1674, 
 Michael Wise 1687, and Purcell 1695 (Charles II., and 
 
 * A large map of London and its vicinity may be seen in the 
 Chapter House, Westminster, dated 1565. In this the " minster 
 west" is quite out of town, and has anything but a cheery look 
 about it. So that nearly 1,000 years must have passed away 
 without improvements at all commensurate with such a lapse of 
 time. 
 
and Present Musical Services. 93 
 
 William and Mary respectively) ; Dr. Blow 1708, and 
 Dr. Croft nearly twenty years later (Anne and George 
 I.); Dr. Maurice Greene 1755 (George II.); Dr. Boyce 
 1779, and Dr. Cooke 1793 (George III.). 
 
 To these, if necessary, might be added a long list 
 gifted with the inventive faculty, either as singers, 
 composers, or organists, whose names posterity will 
 not " willingly let die." Nor must it be said that 
 the sapling planted in the reign of a queen 300 years 
 ago exhibits the slightest symptoms of decay in the 
 reign of another queen, not an atom less illustrious 
 than the daughter of Henry VIII. In fact the growth 
 has become so vast and sturdy, that it attracts the 
 attention of the whole world of Protestant worshippers. 
 Nor this alone, for composers gifted with anything 
 like musical capacity are unceasingly emulative to 
 add to its gigantic proportions, if only a branch, a 
 twig, or even a leaf. 
 
 Millions of people now living might, perhaps with 
 truth, say they have seen Westminster Abbey, and 
 yet what an insignificant proportion can bear testi- 
 mony to what they have witnessed, over and above 
 the " curiosities " in this stupendous temple, and even 
 these in so hasty a manner as to leave on the mind 
 little more than a misty notion of their character and 
 objects. It can hardly be denied, however, there is 
 one thing that attracts the attention of, so to speak, 
 all who come within the reach of its influence, viz., 
 
94 Westminster Abbey: its Past 
 
 the choral portion of the service daily performed, and 
 who have the faintest appreciation of sacred music. 
 Notwithstanding the grand array of composers' names 
 fastened to the walls of the building, to indicate how 
 from age to age they have contributed to the services 
 anthems and psalmody which awaken the echoes of 
 this hallowed temple, the thoughtful visitor is more 
 forcibly impressed with the awe-inspiring truth, " He 
 being dead yet speaketh." 
 
 The organ was originally built in 1730 by Schneider 
 and Jordan. During the time that Dr. Cooke was 
 organist, the instrument was enlarged, and in the 
 year 1828 considerable alterations and additions were 
 made. Twenty years later it was entirely recon- 
 structed and divided, the great organ being placed 
 on the south side of the screen, and the swell on 
 the north, the choir organ over the doorway leading 
 from the nave into the choir. The thirty-two feet 
 pedal diapasons were laid horizontally along the 
 screen, and the claviers put cross-wise behind the 
 choir organ. Some of the old pedal pipes were made 
 available in reconstructing the instrument, which 
 contained thirty-two sounding stops. 
 
 Another important change occurred about the year 
 1864, when the Pneumatic action was applied, and 
 the instrument tuned to equal temperament. Within 
 seven years, six stops were added to the solo organ, 
 viz. : — Open Diapason, Tuba Mirabilis, Bourdon, 
 
and Present Musical Services. 95 
 
 Orchestral Oboe, Harmonic Flute, and Vox Humana. 
 It is now being re-erected at the two extremities of 
 the screen, having been completely rebuilt and en- 
 larged by Messrs. W. Hill and Son, so that, when 
 finished, it may be regarded, in nearly all respects, a 
 new instrument, retaining only the thirty -two feet 
 pedal pipes, and others made originally either by 
 Messrs. Hill or Schneider. In completeness of me- 
 chanical contrivances of all kinds, it will have few, if 
 any, rivals in this country. The organist will be 
 seated at a separate console in the centre of the 
 screen, from which he can, with ease, obtain a view 
 of his choir below, while the various organs are dis- 
 tributed in different places north and south of him, 
 but so arranged that he can hear the full effect of 
 each manual to great advantage. All connections 
 between the console and the sound-boards, as regards 
 draw-stops, manuals, and pedals, are by means of 
 tubular pneumatic action. 
 
 There are eight reservoirs in immediate connection 
 with the sound-boards, receiving wind at various 
 pressures from the main bellows, situated in a vault 
 in the cloisters, and driven by a gas engine. The air 
 from these bellows is conveyed into the Abbey by 
 three iron pipes, passing under ground, and extend- 
 ing to a distance of about sixty feet. 
 
 The topmost canopies of the cases north and south 
 will, when complete, reach to the triforium of the 
 
96 
 
 Westminster Abbey : its Past 
 
 church ; for the present no cases will be provided, 
 the Chapter having expended all available funds upon 
 the mechanism and pipes, while several private in- 
 dividuals have also most generously contributed con- 
 siderable sums with a like object. 
 
 The following is the scheme of stops as now carried 
 out : — 
 
 GREAT ORGAN, CC to 
 
 A. 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 18 Lieblich Gedacht 
 
 ... 8 
 
 1 Double Open Diapa- 
 
 
 19 Principal 
 
 ... 4 
 
 son 
 
 16 
 
 20 Nason Flute ... 
 
 ... 4 
 
 2 Open Diapason, No. 1 
 
 3 Open Diapason, No. 2 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 21 Harmonic Gemsborn 2 
 
 22 Suahe Flute 4 
 
 4 Open Diapason, No. 3 
 SHohlFlute 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 23 Bassoon 
 
 24 Cor Anglais ... 
 
 ... 16 
 
 ... 8 
 
 6 Principal 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 7 Harmonic Flute 
 
 8 Twelfth 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 SWELL ORGAN, CC 
 
 TO A. 
 
 9 Fifteenth 
 
 2 
 
 25 Double Diapason 
 
 ... 16 
 
 10 Mixture, 4 ranks 
 
 — 
 
 25 Open Diapason 
 27 Dulciana 
 
 ... 8 
 ... 8 
 
 Reed Sound-board 
 
 
 28 Salicional 
 
 ... 8 
 
 (heavier pressure of win 
 
 d). 
 
 29 Vox Angelica ... 
 
 ... 8 
 
 11 Double Trumpet ... 
 
 16 
 
 30 Stopped Diapason 
 
 ... 8 
 
 12 Posaune 
 
 8 
 
 31 Dulcet 
 
 ... 4 
 
 13 Clarion 
 
 4 
 
 32 Principal 
 
 ... 4 
 
 CHOIR ORGAN, CC to 
 
 A. 
 
 33 Fifteenth 
 
 34 Mixture, 3 ranks 
 
 2 
 
 14 Bourdon 
 
 16 
 
 35 Double Trumpet 
 
 ... 16 
 
 15 Open Diapason 
 
 8 
 
 36 Cornopean 
 
 ... 8 
 
 16 Dulciana 
 
 8 
 
 37 Oboe 
 
 ... 8 
 
 17 Keraulophon 
 
 8 
 
 38 Clarion 
 
 ... 4 
 
and Present Musical Services. 
 
 97 
 
 SOLO ORGAN, CC to 
 
 A. 
 
 51 Principal 
 
 8 
 
 39 Gamba 
 
 8 
 
 52 Violoncello 
 
 8 
 
 40RohrFlote 
 
 8 
 
 53 Bass Flute 
 
 8 
 
 41 Lieblich Flute 
 
 4 
 
 Reed Souxd-boards 
 
 
 42 Harmonic Flute 
 
 4 
 
 (heavier wind). 
 
 
 In a Swell Box. 
 
 
 54 Contra Posaune 
 
 
 43 Orchestral Oboe 
 
 8 
 
 metal 
 
 32* 
 
 44 Clarinet 
 
 8 
 
 55 Posaune 
 
 16 
 
 45 Vox Humana 
 
 8 
 
 56 Trumpet 
 
 8 
 
 Tuba Sound-board 
 
 
 Couplers. 
 
 
 (heavy wind). 
 
 
 57 Great to Pedal. 
 
 
 46 Tuba Mirabilis 
 
 8 
 
 58 Swell to PedaL 
 
 
 PEDAL ORGAN, CCCC 
 
 59 Choir to Pedal. 
 
 
 TO F. 
 
 
 60 Solo to Pedal. 
 
 
 47 Double Open Diapa- 
 
 
 61 Ditto, 8ve. 
 
 
 son, wood 
 
 32 
 
 62 Swell to Great. 
 
 
 48 Open Diapason, wood 
 
 16 
 
 63 Swell to Choir. 
 
 
 49 Open Diapason, metal 16 
 
 64 Solo to Great. 
 
 
 50 Bourdon 
 
 16 
 
 65 Swell 8ve. 
 
 
 The full choir consists of 30 persons, viz., 12 men 
 and 18 boys, but this complement is present on Sun- 
 days only or extraordinary occasions. 
 
 There are two choral services daily throughout the 
 year, viz., at 10 in the morning and at 3 in the after- 
 noon. Matins on week days at 8.30 are not choral. 
 On Sundays there is generally sung a hymn from the 
 Ancient and Modern collection, in which the congre- 
 gation are invited to join. 
 
 * There are but two other organs in England which contain 
 a thirty-two feet pedal reed of metal, these being the instru- 
 ments at Sheffield Town Hall, and at Regent's Park (lately the 
 property of Mr. N. J. Holmes). 
 
98 Westminster Abbey: its Past 
 
 Among the " events " of a rarer character, but in 
 which the musical resources of the Abbey are largely- 
 drawn upon, may be mentioned the crowning of a 
 monarch, and the burial of illustrious men. The 
 former happily occurs so seldom, that the pen of one 
 and the same historian has but a faint opportunity of 
 describing it. Death, however, is always busy among 
 the great as among the small. The funeral services 
 vary but little, except in the " solemn grandeur " of 
 the vast attendances, and special characteristics of 
 the deceased, to which some slight departure from the 
 ordinary programme may lead. For instance, on the 
 occasion of the funeral of Charles Darwin (April 26, 
 1882), the organist, Dr. Bridge, composed an anthem — 
 as he doubtlessly thought — applicable to the peculiari- 
 ties of the deceased. This being the case, Purcell, 
 Spohr, or Handel had to give place. Just as the 
 Westminster clock struck twelve, the Abbey choristers 
 began to move along the nave into the choir singing, 
 "I am the resurrection and the life," to Croft and 
 Purcell's music. After the usual lesson came the 
 Ninetieth Psalm, chanted to T. Purcell in G minor. 
 Then followed llie anthem. As the coffin was borne 
 back into the north aisle of the nave, Beethoven's 
 " Marche Funebra " was played, and when at the grave 
 the choir sang, "Man that is born of a woman," 
 (Croft), " Thou knowest, Lord," (H. Purcell), and, 
 " I heard a voice from heaven," (Croft). Being de- 
 
and Present Musical Services. 99 
 
 posited in its last resting-place, came a portion of 
 Handel's funeral service, "His body is buried in 
 peace, but his name liveth evermore." The return of 
 the procession was accompanied by the " Dead March 
 in Saul." 
 
 During the spring and summer months evening 
 services are provided in the nave. On the occasions 
 of a very popular preacher the whole space is often 
 inconveniently crowded, but nearly all are largely at- 
 tended. The music differs but little from that of an 
 ordinary cathedral service, except that the power and 
 grandeur of multitudinous chant and song are more 
 fully realised, and as a consequence more sensibly im- 
 pressed upon the minds of all who come within the 
 range of so hallowing an influence. Example : — 
 
 SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE IN THE 
 NAVE. 
 
 Third Sunday after Trinity, June 25th, 1882. 
 
 Responses Plain Song. 
 
 Psalm 119, Verses 89-10-1-to Chant 34 Crotch. 
 
 Magnificat -\ 
 
 ^ -p. > Arnold in A, 
 
 IS UNC DlMITTIS j 
 
 After Third Collect. 
 
 Anthem ... " Saviour of the World " ... Goss. 
 
 (From the " Order for the Visitation of the Sick") 
 " Saviour of the World, who by Thy Cross and 
 
100 Westminster Abbey: its Past 
 
 Precious Blood hast redeemed us, Save us, and Help 
 us, we humbly beseech Thee, Lord." 
 
 Before Sermon. 
 Hymn No. 9 St. Peter (Page 32). 
 
 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 
 
 In a believer's ear ! 
 It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, 
 
 And drives away his fear, etc. 
 
 After Sermon. 
 
 Hymn No. 1 8 Eventide (Page 42). 
 
 Abide with me, fast falls the eventide ; 
 The darkness deepens ; Lord, with me abide ; 
 When other helpers fail and comforts flee, 
 Help of the helpless ! O abide with me ! etc. 
 
 Nearly 2,000 persons were present. 
 
 Chapel Royal, Savoy. 
 
 This was formerly the chapel of the Hospital of St. 
 John the Baptist in the Savoy, a palace so called 
 Tmilt in 1245, by Peter, Earl of Savoy and Richmond, 
 uncle to Eleanor, wife to King Henry III. It is now a 
 precinct, or parish church, and called, but improperly, 
 St. Mary-le-Savoy. At the Restoration of Charles II. 
 the meetings of the commissioners for the revision 
 of the Liturgy took place in the Savoy; twelve bishops 
 appearing for the Established Church, and Calamy, 
 Baxter, Reynolds, and others for the Presbyterians. 
 
and Present Musical Services. 101 
 
 This was called " The Savoy Conference," and under 
 that name is matter of English history. Fuller was 
 at this time Lecturer at the Savoy, and Cowley a 
 candidate for the office of blaster. 
 
 The living, which is in the gift of the Crown, is now 
 valued at about £300 per annum. Owing to great 
 alterations within a few years past, the resident 
 population of St. Mary is limited, but there is generally 
 a crowded attendance at the chapel. By her Majesty's 
 command the weekly offertory has taken the place of 
 pew rents, and the income thus raised is responsible 
 for the choir and other schools ; also for the relief of 
 poor families living within the precinct in times of 
 sickness and distress. All the sittings in the chapel 
 are appropriated at the discretion of the chaplain. 
 During the Queen's pleasure every inhabitant of the 
 precinct is, however, allowed the use of a sitting. 
 The musical services are changeable, and bear but a 
 faint resemblance at the present day to those adopted 
 at other chapels of a kindred character. For example 
 take the third Sunday evening in Lent (1883). A 
 surpliced choir of eighteen voices. Prayers partly 
 read and partly intoned. Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, 
 and Psalms chanted, in octaves, if such can be called 
 chanting. Hymn after third collect; at close of 
 prayers and during the offertory octaves again. The 
 Hymnary, " a book of church song," used on the first 
 and third occasions, and the Queen's book on the 
 
102 Westminster Abbey: its Past 
 
 second. The morning services are characterised by 
 something like choral variety, and of course with 
 increased interest to worshippers who admire good old 
 church harmonies. 
 
 Chapel Royal, \Yiiiteiiall. 
 
 Originally this was a banqueting-house, designed by 
 Inigo Jones; a double cube exactly, being 111 feet long, 
 fifty-five feet six inches high, and fifty-five feet six 
 inches wide. The ceiling is lined with pictures on can- 
 vas, representing the apotheosis of James L, painted by 
 Rubens, for which he received £3,000. This banquet- 
 ing house was converted into a chapel in the reign of 
 George I., and re-altered as at present seen, between 
 1830 and '57, by Sir Robert Smirke. It has never 
 been consecrated. Service is performed regularly 
 twice every Sunday, though not strictly after the 
 Abbey or Cathedral fashion. The choir consists of 
 eighteen voices. The organ, originally built by Father 
 Schmidt, still retains some of the wooden pipes. Since 
 .his day it has undergone many improvements. It 
 now contains four manuals and thirty-three sounding 
 stops. Pedal pipes FFF up, with choir organ in 
 front of the gallery. 
 
 Once a year a special service takes place here, viz., 
 on Maundy Thursday, when the Sovereign's elee- 
 mosynary bounty is distributed to poor aged men and 
 women. As the form of this service varies but little, one 
 
and Present Musical Services. 103 
 
 example may serve (1883). After the absolution, &c, 
 the 41st Psalm — Grand Chant. First lesson, 25th chap- 
 ter of St. Matthew, from 14th to 31st verses. First 
 Anthem, 41st Psalm, "Blessed is he that considereth 
 the poor and needy" (Xares). Distribution of money 
 to each woman ; to each man shoes and stockings. 
 Second Anthem (a prayer), " Hide not Thy face from 
 us, Lord" (Farrant). Distribution of woollen and 
 linen clothes. Third Anthem, " Lord, grant the 
 Queen a long life ; " adapted from the Gist Psalm, 6th 
 and 7th verses, and the 132nd Psalm, 18th verse 
 (Nares). Distribution of purses. Second lesson, 
 25th chapter of Matthew, from 31st verse to the 
 end. Fourth Anthem, " Who is this that cometh 
 from EdomV composed to 1st and 16th verses,- 
 63rd chapter of Isaiah, and 9th verse of Matthew, 
 21st chapter (Arnold). Then follow two prayers 
 composed for the occasion, the prayer for the Queen, 
 and so on to the end. It is hardly necessary to say 
 that the banqueting room at "White-hall on a Poyal 
 Maundy, is not only well furnished with guests, but 
 crowded to its utmost capacity by others anxious to 
 witness the ceremony and hear the singing. 
 
 Kote. — Considerable improvements have been made 
 during the present year, resulting in the accommoda- 
 tion of 800 persons ; one half of the seats are free 
 to the public. The choir has been brought from the 
 gallery into the centre of the chapel. The musical 
 
104 Westminster Abbey, <£-c. 
 
 portion of the service is now so adapted for congrega- 
 tional singing, that the visitor can lift up his voice 
 with the choir to advantage. 
 
 Chapel Royal, St. James'. 
 
 The Sunday morning services here belong to the 
 class called " fully choral," and the lay vicars of the 
 Abbey and St. Paul's are usually engaged in the per- 
 formance. The organ was a present from his Majesty, 
 William the Fourth, and contains thirty sounding 
 stops. 
 
 King's College Chapel. 
 
 Sunday morning, November 13, 1881. Prayers in- 
 toned. A surpliced choir of twenty voices. Versicles- 
 (Tallis) ; Te Deum and Benedictus (Services) ; Psalms 
 chanted ; Anthem, " God is a Spirit ; " Hymn at close 
 of prayers. Musical responses to Decalogue varied. 
 Nicene Creed (Marbeck). Ancient and Modern Hymn, 
 book used. Sir R. Baker's Psalter. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Temple Church ; St. Paul's Cathedral ; 
 The Charterhouse and Inns op Court. 
 
 " those bricky towers, 
 
 The which on Thames' broad aged back doe ride, 
 "Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers, 
 There whilom wont the Templar Knights to bide, 
 Till they decayed through pride." 
 
 Spenser (1590). 
 
 " Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault 
 The pealing anthem swells the note of praise." 
 
 Gray (1760). 
 
 Organ of the Temple —Dissolution ef the Order of Knights 
 Templars — Transfer to the Students of Common Law — 
 Decay through length of time and subsequent Restora- 
 tion — The Master of the Temple — The Choir and Organ 
 — Lenten Services. 
 
 T\HE " Temple " takes its name from the 
 Knights Templars, called Crusaders, and who 
 about the year 1118 formed themselves into 
 a military body at Jerusalem, and guarded the roads 
 for the safety of pilgrims. In time the Order became 
 very powerful. In the thirteenth century they fre- 
 
106 The Temple Church. 
 
 quently entertained the King, the Pope's Nuncio, 
 foreign ambassadors, and other personages of note and 
 consequence. On the dissolution of the Order of 
 Knights Templars, the Temple was granted to the 
 Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. These 
 transferred it to the students of the common laws of 
 England, in the possession of whom and their succes- 
 sors it has ever since remained. It is now divided 
 into two societies, known as the Inner and Middle 
 Temple, and the church belongs in common to both. 
 This edifice took a long time to construct. The 
 Round Tower (transition Norman work) was finished 
 in 1185, while the choir (pure early English) is dated 
 1240. 
 
 Centuries rolled away without more alterations in 
 the construction of the church than the gradual decays 
 incident to time necessitated. Eventually a great deal 
 had to be done in the way of restoration and alterations 
 too. In the course of three years, dating from 1839, 
 it was stated that nearly £78,000 were expended 
 upon the choir alone. The monuments to several dis- 
 tinguished men, architecturally out of keeping, were 
 removed from the arcades and compartments in which 
 they were first erected, and placed in the triforium. 
 Since the reign of Henry VIII. the superior clergy- 
 man of this church is called the Master of the Temple J 
 he is constituted such by letters patent from the 
 sovereign, and without institution or induction. The 
 
The Temple Chur-ch. 107 
 
 learned and judicious Hooker was for six years Master 
 of the Temple — " a place," says Izaak Walton, " which 
 he accepted rather than desired." The musical ser- 
 vice of the Temple differs slightly from that of the 
 Abbey, unless perhaps that it is a little more 
 ornate. 
 
 A surpliced choir of twenty are trained to a pitch 
 of great efficiency and correctness, from the simple 
 monotone, to the pointing of the Psalter — the diversi- 
 fied strains of the Jubilate, Te Deum, &c, up to the 
 grander proportions of the more varied and awe-in- 
 spiring anthem. The hymns, in which the con- 
 gregation are requested to join, are "Ancient and 
 Modern." 
 
 • Respecting the organ, a great deal has been written 
 and said. It was built by Father Smith, in 1687. 
 Its peculiarity consists in regard to the number of 
 Sounds contained in the octave, viz., fourteen. A 
 writer in the "Christian Remembrancer" of 1833, 
 says it possesses an A flat and a D sharp quite distinct 
 from the notes G sharp and E flat. The general 
 temperament of the instrument is the same as that 
 of most English instruments — unequal ; but the real 
 beauty of the quarter tones is discoverable by play- 
 ing in the key of E and A flat, where, in consequence 
 of the thirds being so true, we have that perfection 
 which cannot be met with in common organs. It 
 gives, also, a peculiar brilliancy to the key of A and 
 
108 The Temple Church. 
 
 E in three and four sharps. These quarter tones are 
 produced by the ordinary G sharp and E flat keys 
 oeing divided, crossways, in the middle ; the back 
 halves of which rise as much above the front portions 
 as do the latter above the naturals. The old manuals 
 had black naturals, and white short keys ; but they 
 were removed a long time ago for a new key-board. 
 More recently the instrument has undergone a 
 thorough overhauling, and is now tuned to equal 
 temperament. 
 
 In the Lenten season there is usually a service one 
 evening in the week. The music is adapted to the 
 occasion, and thoroughly performed. 
 
 The oft repeated story about Father Smith and 
 Harris, rival organ builders, may be thus condensed. 
 " Both were anxious to supply the Temple with an in- 
 strument of ' quality.' Smith (Schmydt) obtained 
 the services of Blow and Purcell to display the merits 
 of his instrument, while Harris employed one Baptiste 
 Draghi, organist to Queen Catherine, ' to touch his 
 organ.' Nearly twelve months were expended in 
 these trials. Strange to say the matter was ultimately 
 left to the decision of the notorious Judge Jefferies 
 who awarded the palm to Smith." The savans of the 
 time considered the decision sound. Smith excelled 
 in the foundation stops, while Harris surpassed him 
 in reeds. 
 
St. Paul's Cathedral. 109 
 
 St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy, 
 
 Sphere-born harmonious sisters, voice and verse, 
 
 Wed your divine sounds, and mix'd power employ, 
 
 Dead things with inbreath'd sense able to pierce, 
 
 And to our high-raised phantasy present 
 
 That undisturbed song of pure consent, 
 
 Ay sung before the sapphir-colour'd throne, 
 
 To Him that sits thereon. 
 
 With saintly shout, and solemn jubilee, 
 
 Where the bright Seraphim in burning row 
 
 Their loud uplifted angel-trumpets blow, 
 
 And the cherubic host in thousand quires 
 
 Touch their immortal harps of golden wires, 
 
 With those just spirits that wear victorious palms, 
 
 Hymns devout and holy psalms 
 
 Singing everlastingly ; 
 
 That we on earth with undiscording voice, 
 
 May rightly answer that melodious noise. 
 
 Milton. 
 
 The first Bishop's See — Destruction of Old St. Paul's by 
 fire — Present Structure and the interference with 
 "Wren's original designs — The "Box of Whistles" — 
 Removal of the Organ — Its enlargements and alterations 
 — Daily Services at St. Paul's ; with and without 
 Music — Sunday Services— Numerical extent of the 
 Choir and character of the Music adopted— Special 
 Services — Dedication Festival — The London Church 
 Choir Association — The London Gregorian Choral 
 Society — Sion College Choral — Spohr's "Last Judg- 
 ment" — Bach's "Passion Week Music" — Sunday 
 Evening Services — The " Music of the Bell." 
 
 After Ethelbert, King of Kent, had founded the 
 first Christian Church in London on the spot w T here 
 St. Paul's Cathedral now stands, St. Augustine ap-~ 
 
110 St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 pointed Mellitus, a missionary, Bishop of the See, a.d. 
 610. This is the first instalment relating to the 
 management of ecclesiastic matters in the metropolis 
 placed on the historic page. "What kind of erection 
 this early temple was, neither artisan nor poet has 
 condescended to reveal. Nor is it a matter now worth 
 inquiring into. Many learned treatises have been 
 written about " Old St. Paul's," and not a few beauti- 
 ful drawings of its exterior are preserved to this day. 
 Like many other churches, it fell a prey to the fiery 
 element which nearly devoured the city itself, rather 
 more than 200 years ago. The first stone of the present 
 noble structure — designed by Sir Christopher Wren — 
 was laid on the 21st of June, 1675, and the highest 
 stone of the lanthorn in 1710. It was reared under 
 one and the same architect ; the same mason, (Mr. 
 Street), and while one prelate — Dr. Henry Compton — 
 filled the See. In justice, however, to Sir Christopher 
 Wren, it should be observed that his original designs 
 were sadly interfered with, and thus this grand edifice 
 exhibits many blemishes and defects which cannot 
 now be overcome. On this subject, however, so much 
 has been written and said, that it is quite unnecessary 
 to dilate upon the matter in these pages, which pur- 
 port chiefly to notice the services of the Cathedral in 
 the musical department thereof. 
 
 One thing, however, ought not to be kept silent, viz., 
 the grief expressed by Wren when a gallery was erected, 
 
St. Paul's Cathedral. Ill 
 
 at the entrance of the choir for the purpose of sup- 
 porting what he indignantly called "a box of whistles," 
 meaning the organ. This obstruction to an uninter- 
 rupted view of the whole length of the building has 
 been removed within the last quarter of a century. 
 The organ was built by Father Smith, in 1697. At 
 the beginning of the present century the pitch, which 
 had till then been very high, was lowered a semitone. 
 In 1826 very considerable enlargements and alterations 
 were effected, and twenty years later the whole of the 
 available room in the case was occupied by a new 
 swell. Since then there have been other improve- 
 ments, both as regards the capacities of the instrument 
 and the mechanical contrivances for supplying it with 
 wind. 
 
 There are three daily services at St. Paul's through- 
 out the year, — one at eight o'clock, a communion, 
 and on Saints' days a celebration also at a quarter 
 past 7 o'clock in the crypt chapel. These are without 
 music. On all days having an epistle and gospel 
 there is a full musical service at 10 o'clock, afternoon 
 4 o'clock. The Sunday morning service commences 
 at half -past 10 o'clock, and usually occupies two hours : 
 fully choral. The ordinary attendance in choir com- 
 prises twelve men and twenty-four or thirty boys. 
 On Sundays eighteen men and about thirty-six boys. 
 The Cathedral Psalter is used for pointing the Psalms, 
 and St. Paul's Cathedral chant book furnishes the 
 notation. 
 
112 St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 Over and above this regular supply of music for 
 the worshippers at the Cathedral, there are meetings 
 and performances of an extraordinary character. In 
 the year 1873 a " Dedication Festival" was promoted 
 on St. Paul's Day, and from that time to the present 
 it has been continued. The music of Mendelssohn in 
 his oratorio of that name is performed instead of the 
 anthem, and is accompanied by a band in addition to 
 the organ. 
 
 On a recent occasion the orchestra consisted of 
 eight first violins, six second, six viola, six violoncello, 
 six double bass, two bassoon, one double bassoon. Flute 
 two, oboe two, clarinet two, horn five, trumpet two, 
 trombone three, drum one. The solos were sung by the 
 boys and gentlemen of the Cathedral choir, assisted 
 by 200 amateurs in the choruses. ]STor is this the 
 only musical demonstration on a grand scale. The 
 vast area of the dome, nave and transepts of this 
 majestic temple is turned to admirable account by 
 such gatherings as the Festival of the Sons of the 
 Clergy, The London Church Choir Association, The 
 London Gregorian Choral, The ^Sion College Choral, 
 and the like. At the last festival of the Guild of the 
 Holy Standard — a military guild — the choral portions 
 of the service were sung by members of the London 
 Gregorian Association. The orchestra employed on 
 this occasion was selected from the band of the Cold- 
 stream Guards, and comprised four trumpets, four 
 
St Paul's Cathedral 113 
 
 trombones, two clarinets, two bassoons, # and four 
 drums. 
 
 Dr. Simpson, the Succentor of St. Paul's, in a re- 
 cent report of musical services at the Cathedral, 
 draws attention to the season of Advent when Spohr's 
 " Last Judgment " is performed at a special evening 
 service. This sublime and solemn composition, though 
 fitted up with the most elaborate and finished orchestral 
 accompaniments, is usually left to Dr. Stainer and the 
 organ. With a musician and an executant of so much 
 ability, the absence of an orchestra is scarcely felt. 
 On Tuesday in Holy Week, Bach's Passion music is 
 regularly performed. This is generally preceded by 
 the Miserere, chanted alternately by priest and choir, 
 to an arrangement of Tonus fiegalis, and the latter 
 part of the Commination Office. A double orchestra, 
 in 1882, comprising ten first and eight second violins, 
 six viola, seven violoncelli, seven double bass, four 
 flutes, and eight oboes. So rapidly has this work by 
 Bach grown of late in favour, that on the 4th of 
 April, many persons anxious to secure seats kept pos- 
 session of them for hours before the performance com- 
 menced, and at seven o'clock the only seats available 
 were those improvised on the stone floor, close to the 
 walls, which many females were glad to accept from 
 fear of physical exhaustion. Although the choir only 
 was reserved, there was no such thing as comfortable 
 standing room from one extremity of the building to 
 
 n 
 
114 St. PauVs Cathedral 
 
 the other for late comers. Yet, in spite of such incon- 
 venience, the quiet, reverend demeanour of the congre- 
 gation must have been highly satisfactory to those 
 who desire that these great services should not be 
 mere occasions for musical display, but rather offer- 
 ings of the heart to Him by whose inspiration men 
 found out musical tunes, and recited verses, in 
 writing. 
 
 Of the value of choral associations for the further- 
 ance of church music, it is hardly possible to speak 
 too highly. Nor can anything be more cheering than 
 to see our Cathedral doors open wide to admit of their 
 varied performances. Surely by such gatherings is 
 not only the church benefited, but the Cathedrals are 
 popularized and utilized ; and, what is more important 
 still, unity of song leads to unity of religious feeling, 
 and the Church is strengthened and edified through 
 the agency of multitudinous song. For the further- 
 ance also of good music in Cathedrals and parish 
 churches, some persons have suggested an enquiry into 
 the condition of the ancient " Song Scole," primarily 
 a Cathedral foundation for the training of choristers. 
 In this, it is argued, music ought to take the place 
 that science occupies in others, and should be the 
 speciality of the institution. If Cathedral schools 
 were well organized, i.e., with special reference to their 
 primary objects — the sons of clergymen, professional 
 men and teachers, possessing a good voice and marked 
 
St. Paul's Cathedral. 115 
 
 musical capacity, might be sent to some University 
 and pass through a course qualifying them alike for 
 general studies and the cultivation of their special 
 gift. On taking their degree, if their voices continued, 
 they might return to the Cathedral as inmates of the 
 theological college, and members of the choir, until 
 ready for ordination. It is sheer folly to close both 
 eye and ear to the advances and demands for large im- 
 provements in the musical services of the church. All 
 candidates for Holy Orders are not gifted with good 
 voices even for reading, much less with taste for music. 
 Stronger, then, is the reason why those possessing the 
 ordinary qualification supplemented with sound 
 musical training, and blessed by nature with a voice 
 rich in its inflections, should be enlisted into the ser- 
 vices of the church. At any rate, the subject is worth 
 being ventilated ; no harm can come from it, and some 
 good may. 
 
 Another item, of not one whit less importance than 
 those referred to, is the Sunday evening services. 
 These have become, from small beginnings, the greatest 
 gatherings in the Metropolis. The one drawback is, 
 they are too vast for the reach of the preacher's voice 
 to the ears of thousands. The chant and hymn may 
 be comprehended through the combining influence of 
 the organ. The service is usually that of the ordinary 
 afternoon, with the exception of the anthem after the 
 third collect. For this, a hymn is substituted, in 
 
116 St. Paul's Cathedral 
 
 which the congregation are earnestly requested to 
 join. Another hymn precedes the sermon, and at the 
 close the vast assembly are again invited to sing. The 
 hymns usually chosen are from the "Ancient and 
 Modern collection," but in order to avoid incon- 
 venience, they are printed on a slip of paper and freely 
 distributed. It is hardly possible to conceive the real 
 grandeur of multitudinous song when the heart of 
 such a congregation is well attuned to praise, clothed 
 in language and music they both understand and 
 appreciate. Monarchs and'mighty men ere now have 
 been melted to tears by the chorusing of charity chil- 
 dren under the capacious dome of St. Paul, and may 
 not the influence be as potential, and the effect 
 heightened rather, when the psalm or hymn is 
 voiced by young men and [maidens, old men and 
 children ? 
 
 The worthy and pious George Herbert died many 
 years before a stone of the present cathedral was 
 hewn. His love for the psalm and temple worship 
 was as ecstatic as it was sincere. Church music in his 
 day belonged to the primitive and rudimentary class, 
 and yet a psalm would stir his soul to its inmost 
 recesses. If the following Antiphon could be written 
 under the circumstances of his time, what might not 
 have been the force of thought and language on such 
 an occasion as a Sunday evening service under the 
 dome of St. Paul? 
 
St. PauVs Cathedral 117 
 
 Clio. Let all the world in every corner sing, 
 
 My God and King ! 
 Ver. The heavens are not too high, 
 His praise may thither fly ; 
 The earth is not too low, 
 His praises there may grow. 
 Cho. Let all the world in every corner sing, 
 
 My God and King ! 
 Ver. The Church with Psalms must shout, 
 No door can keep them out ; 
 But, above all, the heart 
 Must bear the longest part. 
 Cno. Let all the world in every corner sing, 
 
 My God and King ! 
 
 Other week-day services than those previously men- 
 tioned are gradually obtaining a place in the " cur- 
 riculum " at St. Paul's. A modern one is the Church 
 of England Temperance Society. The service in April 
 last was rendered by the choir of " the association of 
 lay helpers for the diocese of London," under the direc- 
 tion of Dr. Martin, the sub-organist. It commenced 
 with a long processional hymn, aided by brass instru- 
 ments. The congregation was not only large, but able 
 to appreciate the service, (fully choral), and with the 
 exception of the anthem — which was too long and too 
 elaborate for such a meeting — joined heartily in the 
 six pieces adapted to general assemblies. 
 
 A service still more modern, and one that will never 
 be repeated, occurred on the 3rd of June, 1882. This 
 
118 St. PauVs Cathedral. 
 
 was the "Dedication of Great Paul," i.e., the Great 
 Bell. The clergy of the cathedral, attended by the 
 choir, proceeded to the triforium, a corridor above 
 the south aisle of the nave, from which there is, at 
 right angles to its length, a direct entrance to the 
 bell-tower about midway of its height, on a. level with 
 the top of the landing of the first stairs. From this 
 corridor the winding-stairs in the wall ascend to the 
 bell-chamber. Here was a congregation of nearly 
 100 — including several ladies — admitted by invitation. 
 The Psalms 130, De Profundis ; 67, Deus Misereatur; 
 29, J fferte Domino, and 150, Laudate Domino, having 
 been sung, and the Lord's Prayer repeated by the con- 
 gregation kneeling, the dedication was made by several 
 prayers. At their termination, the choir sang Hymn 
 314 (Ancient and Modern), " When morning gilds the 
 skies." The collect for St. Paul's Day was then read, 
 and the service ended with the usual benediction. The 
 great bell, pulled by ten stalwart men, boomed through 
 the tower doorway, and vibrated through the corridor, 
 to the evident satisfaction of the critical listeners of 
 its tones ; the modulations of its upper partials, 
 B flat, E flat, and G, being audible. Out-of-doors the 
 like gratification was expressed by the populace of 
 " the music of the bell." 
 
Charterhouse. 119 
 
 Charterhouse. 
 
 Among the benevolent institutions with which the 
 Metropolis abounds, there is, perhaps, not one so 
 unique as this, or carried out more fully in accord 
 with the purposes and designs of its founder. The 
 chapel in which the religious services are performed 
 is a portion of what was once a priory of Carthusian 
 monks. About 250 years ago Thomas Sutton pur- 
 chased the whole estate from Thomas Howard, Earl of 
 Suffolk, and converted it into "an hospital chapel and 
 school-house," for the free education of forty poor 
 boys and for the sustenance of eighty ancient gentle- 
 men, captains, and others brought to distress by ship- 
 wrecks, wounds, or other reverses of fortune. Lord 
 Bacon calls this " a triple good," and Fuller, " a 
 masterpiece of Protestant English charity." The 
 schools have furnished the world with a great number 
 of illustrious and useful men. Sutton was a model 
 merchant, and his vast wealth was obtained by the 
 most praiseworthy means. He commanded a bark 
 called "The Sutton," as a volunteer against the 
 Spanish Armada, and in a letter of marque he 
 took a Spanish prize worth £20,000. He en- 
 dowed the hospitals and schools with fifteen manors 
 and other lands to the value at that time of £4,490 
 
120 Gray's Inn Chapel. 
 
 per annum. In 1854 this rental reached £28,968, and 
 at the present time it has advanced with much greater 
 strides. Sutton died in December, 1611, at the age 
 of seventy-nine. His body was embalmed, and kept 
 in his own house till the following May, when it was 
 deposited with great pomp in Christ Church, whence 
 it was again removed on the shoulders of the poor to 
 the chapel in his own hospital, where it still remains. 
 His figure, in a gown, lies recumbent on the tomb ; 
 on each side is a man in armour erect, and above, a 
 preacher, addressing a full congregation. 
 
 The musical services in the chapel vary but little 
 from Sunday morning to Sunday morning throughout 
 the year. There is a choir of ten male voices, in- 
 cluding two adult. The prayers, psalms, responses, 
 and Aniens are read. Venite, Te Deum, and Bene- 
 dictus chanted. Hymn after Third Collect, and hymn 
 at close of prayers. Gloria before the Gospel chanted. 
 Short organ voluntary previous to sermon. " Psalms 
 and Hymns for Public Service " used. 
 
 Gray's Inn Chapel. 
 
 Sunday morning, August 5th, 1883. Prayers read. 
 Surpliced choir of seven voices. Venite, Te Deum r 
 Psalms, and Jubilate chanted. Musical responses to 
 the Yersicles, also to the Decalogue. Hymn after 
 Third Collect, and previous to sermon. Ancient and 
 Modern Hymn Book used. 
 
Lincoln's Inn Chapel. 121 
 
 Lincoln's Inn Chapel. 
 
 The alterations recently made in the chapel of this 
 "Inn of Court" seem to have so transformed its cha- 
 racter and appearance that a regular attendant upon 
 its Sunday services of ten years ago would scarcely 
 recognize the old chapel. It was originally built by 
 Inigo Jones, and consecrated on Ascension Day, in 
 the year 1623. Dr. Donne preached the opening ser- 
 mon. The music during the service does not ap- 
 pear to have attracted much attention, as no notice 
 is recorded of it. On Ascension Day of the year 
 (1883) the re-opening sermon was preached by the 
 Archbishop of York, who from 1858 to 1861 held the 
 appointment of preacher to the Honourable Society of 
 Lincoln's Inn. The music selected for the occasion 
 was well chosen, and conducted with equal efficiency. 
 Without attempting to disparage any other similar 
 institution, it would not be going wide of the truth to 
 say that the musical services in this chapel — taking 
 into account their relative strength — are not sur- 
 passed in finish and effect either in hymn, anthem, or 
 chant, the latter especially. The choir numbers 
 eighteen voices, of which twelve are boys. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 City Churches. 
 
 Praise is in all her gates. 
 
 Cowper. 
 
 Ye fretted pinnacles, ye fanes sublime, 
 Ye towers that wear the mossy vest of time, 
 Ye massy piles of old munificence, 
 At once the pride of learning and defence, 
 Ye temples dim where pious duty pays 
 Your holy hymns of ever echoing praise, 
 Hail! 
 
 "Warton. 
 
 IN this section the reader is presented with an 
 epitome of Church music practised at the pre- 
 sent day in the City. The statements given 
 have been arrived at by an independent path of in- 
 vestigation, and will bear the test of challenge, no 
 matter how close and severe. All the City churches 
 have been visited by the writer hereof, some more 
 than once, and in fact every other mentioned. These 
 not on special occasions merely, when the services are 
 often drest out of their ordinary guise, but as they 
 uniformly consist. Statistics very rarely come up to 
 the standard of lively reading ; they have their uses 
 nevertheless, as " foundation stones " on which solid 
 superstructures may be built. To the meditative 
 
City Churches. 123 
 
 mind they often educe trains of thought which, in 
 some form, produce beneficial results. Long standing 
 ills, whether of omission or commission, are not usually 
 remedied by restricted silence. They require to be 
 looked full in the face, talked of, and judiciously at- 
 tacked. Compared with any other sect in the Chris- 
 tian community the Church of England presents the 
 most marvellous variety in respect to public worship. 
 Especially so in the musical portion thereof. This is 
 no new utterance. Calm observers naturally inquire 
 into the reason of so much diversity. In some cases 
 it has to be sought, while in others it is obvious 
 enough. Thirty years ago the clergy, as a body, were 
 mercilessly attacked as being totally ignorant of music 
 and as obstructives in the path of its progress in the 
 Church. Such an indictment cannot stand now. The 
 poverty of a parish or district is often pleaded for its 
 low degree in the scale, the neglect of those in 
 authority, or the positive dislike by many of local 
 influence to venture too far from ancient usages, or 
 too fast towards a seductive ritual, in which music 
 is allowed to be one of its most powerful and charming 
 constituents. Then there is that hindrance to a solid 
 growth which arises from jealousy between the prac- 
 tical musician and the office-bearer, the one contend- 
 ing as indispensable for that which the other regards 
 as of no account. Hence often a great commotion 
 about trifles. 
 
124 City Churches. 
 
 " Ocean into tempest wrought, 
 
 To waft a feather, or to drown a fly." 
 
 Without unity of purpose and benignity of feeling 
 among all concerned in the promotion of a solemn 
 service, it cannot much astonish if the sincere wor- 
 shipper is perplexed, and the unstable one becomes a 
 victim to misgivings. Better far to dispense with 
 " harmony not understood," than allow it to reign 
 where serious mischief has chance for a moment of 
 taking root. 
 
 Some of the choirs are trained to a high point of 
 efficiency, and require a considerable sum for main- 
 tenance. Many are the ways contrived to effect this 
 where the determination exists. As a rule the sur- 
 plicing of choirs is under the direction of the minister 
 and office-bearers of the church, but the musical ar- 
 rangements are controlled by the organist and choir- 
 master. This surplicing, though not universal, is 
 gradually coming into favour. It may be well to 
 observe that when prayers " intoned " are mentioned, 
 such service includes generally a portion of the music 
 noted by Tallis. When " read " there is scarcely 
 any chanting beyond the Venite, <fcc. In some cases 
 where there is a trained choir, it occasionally happens 
 the minister reads and the choir intone. This has a 
 very discordant effect upon the congregation, who are 
 undecided which plan to adopt. The population of 
 the varied parishes and the value of the livings have 
 
City Churches. 125 
 
 been taken from Crockford's Clerical Directory of 
 1882. 
 
 All Hallows, Barking. — Sunday morning, Jan- 
 nary 8th, 1882. Prayers read, Psalms also read, 
 but Glorias chanted. Venite, Te Deuin, and Jubilate 
 chanted. Hymn at the close of prayers. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue. Hymn previous to ser- 
 mon. No choir, but the congregation sustained the 
 singing portion of the service admirably. Two clergy- 
 men were engaged, both of whom were favoured with 
 musical voices, and trained withal for effective read- 
 ing. " Psalms and Hymns for the Use of the Church of 
 England" used. Population, 1,065. Gross income 
 £2,000. 
 
 Sunday evening, September 1st, 1882. Prayers 
 and Psalms read. A non-professional choir of nine 
 female and three male voices. Magnificat and Nunc 
 Dimittis chanted. Hymn after third Collect, and at 
 close of prayers. 
 
 All Hallows, Lombard Street. — Easter Sunday, 
 1882. Prayers read. A choir of sixteen voices, male 
 and female adults. Te Deum and Benedictus (ser- 
 vices), Versicles read, responses chanted. Anthem 
 after third collect. Hymn at close of prayers. Res- 
 ponses to Commandments intoned Doxologies sung. 
 Hymn previous to sermon. A fair attendance, not a 
 large one ; considering that the parishes of St. Benet 
 
126 City Churches. 
 
 and St. Leonard are incorporated with All Hallows, 
 making a total population of 465. Gross income 
 £900. 
 
 During the Advent season of 1881, four short 
 services with sermons took place on Friday evenings. 
 These were accompanied with special music selected 
 from the works of Mendelssohn. Thus, on the 2nd of 
 December, " Praise Jehovah ; " 9th, " Lift thine eyes " 
 and "He watching;" 16th, "Trust in the Lord, " and 
 "Judge me, O God;" 23rd, Psalm, "As the hart pants," 
 &c. The choir of All Hallows was materially strength- 
 ened for these occasions. 
 
 All Hallows, London Wall. — Sunday morning, 
 February 12th, 1882. Prayers and Psalms read— 
 Venite, Te Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn at 
 the close of prayers. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Hymn previous to sermon. 
 
 The choir — consisting entirely of School Board boys 
 stationed about the organ — outnumbered the congre- 
 gation in the proportion of four to one. Thus seven 
 adult females and two males — boys thirty-eight. 
 "Hymns for the Service of the Church" used. 
 Population of the parish 535. Income £1,700, and 
 House ! 
 
 All Hallows the Great. — Sunday morning, 
 December 18th, 1881. Prayers read. No choir. 
 Psalms read. Venite, Te Deum and Benedictus 
 
City Churches. 127 
 
 chanted. Hymns at the close of third collect and 
 conclusion of prayers. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Gloria before gospel chanted, and Sursum 
 Corda after. Hymn previous to sermon. Although 
 the singing on the whole was hearty, it fell short of 
 the advance now being made in church congregations. 
 " Hymnal Companion " used. All Hallows the " Less " 
 is joined to the " Great," making a population of 256. 
 Gross income £520. 
 
 Christ Church, Newgate Street. — Sunday morn- 
 ing, May 14th, 1882. Prayers read. Responses in- 
 toned. Yersicles likewise. Psalms, Yenite, Te Deum, 
 and Jubilate chanted. Hymns after third collect and 
 close of prayers. No Litany. Musical responses to 
 Commandments. Hymn at close of Communion Ser- 
 vice. No sermon. New rector read the thirty-nine 
 Articles. Church Psalter and Hymn-book used. 
 
 Note. — By far the greater portion of the worship- 
 pers consisted of Christ Church scholars, or "Blue 
 Coat boys." These put plenty of volume into the sing- 
 ing, which was purely of a congregational stamp. As 
 the chants and hymns were easy and well selected, 
 everybody could join in them, and there must have 
 been very few who did not. The organ, which was 
 built in 1690, and remodelled in 1835, justly ranks as 
 one of the largest and finest in the City of London. 
 
 Holy Trinity, Minories. — Sunday morning, March 
 
128 City Churches. 
 
 19th, 1882. Prayers and Psalms read. Venite, Te 
 Deum and Benedictus chanted, Creed intoned. Versi- 
 cles read, but responses thereto chanted after the order 
 of Goss. Hymn followed third collect. Litany read, 
 and responded to in imitation of Tallis. Hymn at the 
 close of prayers. Musical responses to the Command- 
 ments. Nicene Creed intoned with a rumbling organ 
 accompaniment. Doxologies before and after Gospel 
 chanted. " Hymns Ancient and Modern " used. 
 
 The congregation consisted of ten persons, viz., six 
 elderly male adults and four female. In the organ 
 gallery were six very young women, great girls in fact. 
 These formed the choir, and they exerted themselves 
 without faltering, but a large portion of the music 
 assigned them was quite ineffective from the absence 
 of male voices. Population nearly 400. Gross income 
 £298. 
 
 Holy Trinity, Gough Square. — Sunday evening, 
 March 19th, 1882. Service commenced with a hymn 
 from the Church Hymn Book. Prayers imperfectly 
 intoned. Psalms, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 chanted. Hymn after third collect. Hymn previous 
 to sermon, and hymn during the offertory. Surpliced 
 choir of sixteen voices. The congregation, who nearly 
 filled the church, joined heartily in the singing through- 
 out the service. Population 2,700. Net income £340. 
 
 Note. — The difference in the services of these 
 
City Churches. 129 
 
 churches called by the same name, could only be appre- 
 ciated by a person who, like the writer hereof, paid a 
 personal visit to each. In the morning the singing 
 was utterly out of character with the condition of the 
 church and its worshippers, while in the evening it 
 was exactly fitted thereto. The former chilled ; the 
 latter imparted a glow of holy delight. 
 
 Holy Trinity, Gray's Inn Road. — Sunday morn- 
 ing, March 12th, 1882. First portion of prayers read : 
 second intoned. Yenite and Psalms chanted. Te 
 Deum (Hopkins' Service in G) ; Anthem, " Turn Thy 
 face from my sin " (Atwood) ; Yersicles and Litany 
 (after Tallis). No Communion service. Hymn before 
 sermon, and hymn during the offertory. A surpliced 
 choir of twenty-four voices. " Church Hymns " used. 
 Singing congregational, very hearty and well attuned. 
 Out voluntary, " Let their celestial concerts all unite." 
 Population, 10,043. Gross income, £300. 
 
 St. Alban, \Yood Street, with St. Olave.— Sunday 
 evening, January 22nd, 1882. Prayers read. A sur- 
 pliced choir of twenty voices. Psalms chanted. Mag- 
 nificat and Nunc Dimittis (Services) ; Yersicles (partly 
 Tallis) ; Hymn after third Collect, at close of prayers, 
 and conclusion of sermon. " Hymnal Companion " 
 used. 
 
 Note. — The singing throughout was well sustained, 
 and afforded a striking contrast to the music of the 
 
130 City Churches. 
 
 morning at St. Olave, Hart Street, especially when the 
 proportion — or rather disproportion — of means is con- 
 sidered ; for the living in Wood Street, with a popu- 
 lation of about 400, is estimated in the gross at .£330, 
 whilst that in Hart Street realizes more than six times 
 as much. 
 
 St. Alpiiage, London Wall. — Lent Lecture, 
 Friday evening, February 24th, 1882. Hymn at the 
 commencement. A choir of four adult male and 
 four adult female voices. Litany read by minister, 
 but responded to in the style of Tallis. Prayers read ; 
 Aniens chanted. Hymn previous to sermon, and hymn 
 at the close. "Ancient and Modern" collection used. 
 The attendance was a very limited one for a popula- 
 tion of 274. Gross income, £925. 
 
 Sunday evening, May 28th, 1882. A long and un- 
 interesting organ prelude. Prayers read. A profes- 
 sional choir of four male and four female voices. 
 Versicles after Tallis. Psalms chanted. Magnificat 
 and Nunc Dimittis (services) ; Anthem after third 
 Collect. Hymn at close of prayers, and hymn 
 after sermon. Although the minister intoned nothing, 
 all the responses were, in effect, by no means 
 pleasing. 
 
 Sunday morning, July 22nd, 1883. Prayers read; 
 Responses intoned ; Aniens chanted ; Musical re- 
 sponses to the Decalogue. Hymn after third collect, 
 
City Churches. 131 
 
 previous to sermon, and at the conclusion of it. 
 The choir consisted of three male and three female 
 
 St. Andrew, Holborn. — Sunday evening, January 
 18th, 1882. Prayers partially intoned. A surpliced 
 choir of thirty-two voices. Magnificat, Cantate 
 Domino, and Deus Misereatur chanted. Yersicles par- 
 tially Tallis. Hymns after third Collect, at the close 
 of prayers, and conclusion of sermon. " Psalms and 
 Hymns for the Service of the Church of England " 
 used. The congregation — a large one — joined heartily 
 in the singing throughout. The Charity children con- 
 tributed a fair share thereto, and with respect to time 
 and tune sang with commendable correctness. Popula- 
 tion of the parish, 6,703. Gross income, £900 and 
 house. 
 
 St. Andrew XJndershaft. — Sunday morning 
 December 25th, 1881. Prayers intoned. A choir of 
 twenty voices. Yenite, Psalms, and Jubilate chanted. 
 Te Deum, service (Dykes) ; Anthem, " Behold, I bring 
 you good tidings " (Goss) ; Hymn previous to Commu- 
 nion service, and one at the close. In the evening, at the- 
 same church in Leadenhall Street, the service began with 
 the Christmas Hymn, "Hark ! the herald angels sing."'" 
 Psalms chanted. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 (Gauntlett in F) ; Anthem, " Let us go even now to- 
 Bethlehem " (Hopkins) ; Hymn previous to sermon,. 
 
132 City Churches. 
 
 and another during the offertory. Then followed four 
 carols for choir alone. These terminated with the 
 Hallelujah Chorus. " Ancient and Modern Hymns " 
 used. Connected with St. Andrew Undershaft is 
 the parish of St. Mary Axe. The population is esti- 
 mated at 300, and the gross income ,£2,375. 
 
 St. Ann, Blackfriars. — Sunday morning, Decem- 
 ber 25th, 1881. Prayers read. No choir excepting 
 a large number of children in the organ-loft. Venite 
 and Benedictus chanted. Te Deum (Jackson's service 
 in F). Hymn at the close of third Collect, and 
 Christmas hymn previous to sermon sung heartily by 
 the congregation. " Psalms and Hymns for Public 
 Worship " used. Connected with St. Ann is the 
 parish of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe. Population, 
 1,732. Gross income, £260 and house. 
 
 St. Augustine with St. Faith.— Sunday evening, 
 March 5th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliced choir of 
 twenty-four voices. Psalms chanted. Magnificat (Smart 
 in G). Anthem, "Have mercy upon me, O God," 
 (Calkin). Hymn before sermon, and hymn at 
 its close. "The Hymnary, a Book of Church 
 Song," used. Joint population, 716. Gross income, 
 £300. 
 
 St. Augustine.— Sunday evening, August 13th, 
 1882. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of sixteen 
 voices. Psalms chanted. Magnificat and Nunc 
 
City Churches. 133 
 
 Dimittis (services). Anthem after third Collect. 
 Hymn previous to sermon, and hymn at the close 
 thereof. 
 
 St. Bartholomew, Moor Lane, Cripplegate. — 
 Hospital Sunday morning, June 11th, 1882. Prayers 
 intoned. A surpliced choir of sixteen voices. Yenite, 
 Te Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Psalms chanted in 
 choral unison, but the Glorias according to score. 
 Hymn at the end of the third Collect. No Litany. 
 Musical responses to the Decalogue. Nicene Creed, 
 (Goss). Musical accompaniments to the celebration 
 of the Eucharist. Hymn at the close. " Church Hymnal" 
 used. Population, 2,637. Net income, £250. The 
 congregation on the morning in question was con- 
 siderably less than fifty in number. 
 
 St. Bartholomew tiie Great, Smithfield. — March 
 5th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Psalms read, Glorias 
 chanted. Yenite and Benedictus chanted. Yersicles 
 after Tallis. Hymn after third Collect. Litany in- 
 toned, but Tallis imitated in the responses. Hymn 
 previous to Communion service. [Responses to the 
 Decalogue chanted. Hymn at the close of prayers. 
 The choir consisted of twenty school children who 
 made good use of their voices. They were, however, 
 overcharged with work, specially of that kind which 
 required more delicacy of treatment than they had 
 
134 City Churches. 
 
 any idea of. " Ancient and Modern" Hymn Book used. 
 Population, 3,114. Gross income, £700. 
 
 St. Bartholomew the Less. — Sunday morning, 
 July 16 th, 1882. Prayers read. No choir. Eight 
 youths took the lead in singing. Yenite, Psalms, To 
 Deum and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third 
 Collect, and at the close of prayers. " Ancient and 
 Modern " Hymn Book used. Congregation consisted 
 chiefly of persons connected with the hospital, and 
 undischarged patients of the same. 
 
 St. Bartholomew, Gray's Inn Road. — Sunday 
 •evening, June 11th, 1882. Prayers read. Non-pro- 
 fessional choir of twelve voices, chiefly female. 
 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymns after 
 third Collect, before the sermon, and during the 
 offertory. " Hymnal Companion " used. The singing 
 was purely of a congregational cast, but a little too 
 forcible on the part of the twelve voices in the 
 gallery. Population of the parish of St. Bartholomew 
 (Holbom), 5,518. Net income, £300 and house. 
 
 St. Benet, Paul's Wharf. — This is a Welsh Church 
 formerly situated at Ely Place, Holborn. The ser- 
 vices are in exact conformity with those of the Church 
 
 England, as by law established. Few persons 
 would discover any difference except in the reading of 
 the lessons and the language of the sermon. The 
 Welsh sing heartily and keep well together. On 
 
City Churches. 135 
 
 Sunday evenings the services are invariably well 
 sustained. It is the only church of its kind in Lon- 
 don. 
 
 St. Botolph, Aldersgate. — First Sunday in Lent, 
 Evening, 1882. Prayers well intoned. Surpliced choir 
 of twenty-four voices. Psalms chanted. Magnificat and 
 Nunc Dimittis (Services). Anthem after Third Collect. 
 Hymn before sermon, and hymn at its close. "Ancient 
 and Modern " Book used. Congregation — tolerably 
 large — sang with great spirit. Population, 4,744. 
 Gross income, £390 and house. 
 
 St. Botolph, Aldgate. — Sunday morning, Decem- 
 ber 11th, 1881. Prayers partly intoned. A choir 
 very strong in trebles, with a few professional adults. 
 Versicles (after Tallis). Venite, Psalms, and Jubilate 
 chanted. Te Deum (Service by Nares). Litany 
 chanted. Musical responses to Decalogue. Hymn 
 previous to sermon. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn- 
 Book used. Population, 8,433. Net income, £300. 
 
 Rogation Sunday, April 28th, 1883. Morning. 
 Prayers intoned. Venite, Psalms, and Jubilate 
 chanted. Te Deum (service). Anthem after third 
 collect. Hymn at close of prayers, and hymn previous 
 to sermon. Musical responses to the Decalogue. 
 
 St. Botolph, Bishopsgate Street. — Sunday morn- 
 ing, November 27th, 1881. Prayers intoned. A 
 surpliced choir of twenty-four voices. Versicles 
 
136 City Churches. 
 
 (Tallis). Venite, Psalms and Benedicite chanted. 
 Anthem, "Blow ye the trumpet" (Leslie). Hymn 
 at the close of prayers. Musical responses to the 
 Decalogue. Nicene Creed, accompanied with Mar- 
 beck's music. Hymn previous to sermon. Popula- 
 tion, 6,107. Gross income, £1,700. 
 
 Sunday Evening, October 15th, 1882. Harvest- 
 Festival. A surpliced choir of twenty-four voices. 
 Prayers intoned. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 chanted. Anthem after third Collect, " Ye shall 
 dwell in the land" (Stainer). Hymn previous to- 
 sermon, and hymn during the offertory. 
 
 Note. — The congregation was so large that 
 sittings in the lower part of the church were not 
 easily to be obtained. Probably the flowers and 
 fruits with which the church was decorated, in honour 
 of the "Lord of the harvest," were not an unat- 
 tractive feature. 
 
 Sunday morning, August 12th, 1883. Prayers in- 
 toned. Venite, Te Deum and Psalms chanted. Anthem.", 
 after third collect. This preceded the sermon. Hymn 
 at the close. Musical responses to Litany. Prayers, 
 resumed. Hymn at the close. "Ancient and Modern" 
 hymn-book used. 
 
 St. Bride, Fleet Street. — Sunday morning,. 
 January 29th, 1882. No part of the service intoned. 
 Psalms read, but the Glorias chanted. No choir ex* 
 
City Churches. 137" 
 
 cept a goodly array of charity children, who sur- 
 rounded the organ, and sang Boyce's Te Deum in A 
 and the same composer's Jubilate. Three hymns, 
 specially selected for this anniversary in aid of a 
 parochial institution, followed. These were all the 
 vocalisms in which the congregation — an unusually 
 large one — had an opportunity of expressing praise. 
 The visit of the Lord Mayor and other city magnates 
 was an attracting element, and a popular preacher 
 another. Population, 2,787. Gross income, £451. 
 
 St. Catherine Coleman, Fenchurch Street. — 
 Sunday morning, February 5th, 1882. Prayers 
 read. Psalms also. Ko choir, excepting six 
 parish children, with strong voices, who chanted the 
 Venite, Te Deum, and Jubilate. Hymn at the close 
 of prayers. Musical responses to the Decalogue. 
 Hymn previous to sermon. " Church Hymns " used. 
 The congregation consisted of fifteen adults, including 
 office-bearers, and fifteen children. Population, 317. 
 Income, £1,000, with house. 
 
 Sunday Morning, February 24th, 1884. Prayers 
 read. A surpliced choir of sixteen voices. Venite 
 and Jubilate chanted. Te Deum (service). Hymn 
 after third collect and at close of prayers. Musical 
 responses to Decalogue. Dead March in " Saul " and 
 two hymns in connection with a funeral service. 
 
 St. Clement, Eastcheap. — Sunday evening, 
 
138 City Churches. 
 
 February 5th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliccd 
 choir of twenty-two voices. Psalms chanted. Mag- 
 nificat and Nunc Dimittis (Nares' services). Anthem, 
 " The Lord gave the word," " How beautiful are the 
 feet," and "Their sound is gone out" (Handel). 
 Hymn previous to sermon, and another at the close. 
 The " New Mitre Hymnal " used. Service well at- 
 tended, and the worshippers joined heartily in the 
 congregational department of praise. Population, 
 with St. Martin-Orgar, 323. Gross income, £232. 
 
 Sunday Evening, March 4th, 1883. The usual ser- 
 vice was slightly changed, to make room for Spohr's 
 oratorio, "The Last Judgment." The choir was 
 materially strengthened for the occasion, and the 
 church was full to overflowing. 
 
 Note. — During the Lenten season the Jliserere is 
 sung every Wednesday at 1.15 p.m. ; followed by a 
 snort lecture. 
 
 St. Dunstan in the East. — First Sunday in Lent, 
 1882. Morning Prayers read, but Amens chanted. 
 Psalms also read, Glorias chanted. Yenite, Te Deum, 
 and Jubilate chanted. Musical responses to versicles. 
 Litany read, but responses by Tall is. Hymn at 
 close of prayers. Responses to commandments 
 chanted. " Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship" 
 used. The choir (professional) consisted of three 
 male and five female voices. Only sixteen persons 
 formed the congregation, viz., eight males, six females 
 
City Churches. 139 
 
 and two boys. Population, 669. Gross income, 
 £556. 
 
 Xote. — But for the assurance, "Where two or 
 three are gathered together in My name, there am I," 
 the service on this occasion would have been in some 
 respects painful. A beautiful church, well fitted-up ; 
 supplied with a good preacher, and good singing, yet 
 only twenty-eight souls within the walls on a fine 
 Sunday in Lent. The sunlight streaming through the 
 tinted windows over a large space of pews entirely 
 empty, revealed a sight to cause sorrow to the least- 
 reflecting mind, and grief to the deep-thinking. 
 
 St. Dunstan, Fleet Street. — Sunday evening, 
 December 11th, 1881. Prayers read. Choir composed 
 chiefly of local talent. Cantate, Psalms, and Deus 
 Misereatur chanted. Hymn after third Collect, at the 
 close of prayers, and during the offertory. " Hymnal 
 Companion" used. Population of St. Dunstan, 2,316. 
 Gross income, £500. 
 
 St. Edmund the King, Lombard Street. — Sunday 
 evening, April 25th, 1882. Prayers intoned. A sur- 
 pliced choir of eighteen voices. These, without the aid 
 of organ — which had, by some undiscovered means, 
 got out of order — went through the service appointed 
 for them in a very artistic manner. The anthem was 
 not attempted. But the most striking portion of the 
 
140 City Churches. 
 
 musical service was that in which the congregation 
 could take part, viz., the hymns. Two were announced 
 previous to sermon, and one during the offertory. In 
 each and every case it may be truly stated, " sung 
 with spirit and understanding also." "Ancient and 
 Modern " book used. 
 
 The organ, said to have been built originally by 
 Harris in 1695, was entirely reconstructed in 1833. 
 It is the first instrument that had a swell descending- 
 so low as GG. It has a fourth manual, which acts 
 either on the pedal pipes, or the great or choir organs. 
 
 Sunday evening, November 26th, 1882. A surpliced 
 choir of twenty voices commenced the service with a 
 processional hymn. Prayers intoned. Responses 
 (Tallis) ; Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Services) ; 
 Psalms, Gregorian Chant. Anthem, "I was glad," &c. 
 Hymn at close of prayers, and hymn during the 
 offertory ; after which, another processional hymn. 
 " Pilgrims of the night." A full congregation joined 
 heartily in the singing apportioned thereto. 
 
 Sunday Evening, February 18th, 1883. Prayers 
 intoned. Magnificat, Psalms and Nunc Dimittis 
 chanted. Hymn after third Collect, previous to ser- 
 mon, and at the close of it during the offertory. Then 
 followed a long Litany, in which a treble solo verse 
 was alternated by the choir and congregation through- 
 out. 
 
City Churches. 141 
 
 Note. — It will be seen from the three services speci- 
 fied at this church, that the musical arrangements have 
 undergone considerable change within a short time, 
 and are now more congregational in their character. 
 
 St. Ethelburga. — Sunday morning, March 26th, 
 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliced choir of fifteen 
 voices. Here the singing and order of the service 
 was so dissimilar to any other, that it would be diffi- 
 cult for a stranger without a guide-book to give a fair 
 account of the proceedings. They neither be- 
 longed exclusively to the Church of England nor the 
 Church of Home, but were perplexingly compounded 
 of both, with other ingredients added. "When the 
 summoning bell ceased tolling at eleven o'clock, the 
 congregation was composed of seven persons, but during 
 the morning, this number was nearly trebled. The 
 Communion service was a somewhat elaborate affair, 
 but three only of the congregation " drew near " to 
 partake of the sacred emblems. Two hymns from the 
 " Ancient and Modern " book effected a slight relief 
 to the overpowering weight of other music, far more 
 chromatic than pleasing. The building wore a dim, 
 dingy and damp aspect, and the two tall lighted candles 
 placed on the altar presented a sickly appearance 
 when an occasional streak of sunlight };>ierced the 
 windows. The population of St. Ethelburga is 
 registered at 315, while the gross income of the living 
 is £1,060 ! 
 
142 City Churches. 
 
 St. George, Botolph Lane. — Sunday morning, 
 April 23rd, 1882. Prayers and Psalms read. Venite 
 and Te Deum chanted. Hymn after third Collect. 
 Responses to Commandments, Doxologies and Nicene 
 Creed chanted. Hymn previous to sermon. " Ancient 
 and Modern " book used. 
 
 Note. — With the exception of the minister, his 
 clerk, organist and pew-opener, the choir consisted of 
 poor boys and girls, apparently belonging to the con- 
 joint parishes of St. George and St. Botolph. The 
 congregation, so called, consisted of one old lady, and 
 the writer hereof. Strange and sorrowful sight 
 indeed, for, according to recent returns, the popula- 
 tion of these two parishes is recorded at 316. Now 
 it did not transpire that any of these children — up- 
 wards of forty in number — were orphans. Where 
 then were their parents on this bright spring morning % 
 Both boys and girls sang heartily, many of them from 
 music books, and so well in tune, as to show that great 
 care and perseverance had been expended on their 
 training. The net income of the living is £380 per 
 annum, with house. 
 
 St. George the Martyr, Holborx. — Sunday 
 morning, September 3rd, 1882. Prayers intoned. 
 Surpliced choir of twenty voices. Venite, Benedictus 
 and Psalms chanted. Te Deum (service), Responses 
 varied from Tallis. Hymn after third Collect, also at 
 
City Churches. 143 
 
 close of prayers. Prayer of St. Chrysostom intoned 
 audibly by the congregation. Musical responses to 
 the Decalogue. Hymn during the offertory. A large 
 congregation supported the vocal parts of the musical 
 service heartily. " Church Hymns" used. The popu- 
 lation of St. George the Martyr is estimated at up- 
 wards of 7,000. Income, £400, and house. 
 
 St. Giles, Cripplegate. — Sunday morning, Novem- 
 ber 6th, 1881. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir 
 of twenty voices. Versicles sung. Venite and Psalms 
 chanted. Te Deum and Jubilate (Jackson's Services 
 in F). Hymns after third collect and previous to 
 Communion service. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Nicene Creed sung to Marbeck's music. On 
 the part of the congregation the singing was hearty 
 and well in tune. Population, 6,257. Gross income, 
 £1,200. 
 
 Sunday Evening, September 17th, 1882. Prayers 
 partly read and partly intoned. Surpliced choir of 
 twenty-four voices. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 (services). Anthem after third collect, and hymn at 
 close of prayers. The time occupied in arriving at 
 this portion of the service was seventy-five minutes, 
 chiefly owing to the length of the programme for choir 
 alone. Hymn after sermon, "Ancient and Modern " 
 hymn-book used. 
 
 St. Helen, Bishopsgate. — Whit Sunday morning, 
 
144 City Churches. 
 
 May 28th, 1882. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir 
 of thirteen voices, who commenced the service with 
 an appropriate hymn. Yersicles (Tallis). Venite 
 chanted. Te Deum (service). Jubilate, chant in 
 unison, or, more properly speaking, octaves. Anthem 
 after third collect. Athanasian Creed chanted. 
 Hymn at close of prayers. Musical responses to the 
 Decalogue. Nicene Creed (Goss). Musical accom- 
 paniment to the Sacrament. The population of St. 
 Helen with St. Martin Outwich is estimated at 558. 
 Oross income, .£340. 
 
 St. John Zachary, Aldersgate Street. — Sunday 
 evening, February 12th, 1882. Prayers and Psalms 
 read. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymns 
 after third collect, before and at the close of sermon. 
 The congregation consisted chiefly of children belong- 
 ing to the St. Ann's Foundation-school. " Ancient 
 and Modern" hymn-book used. Population, 127. 
 Income, <£265. 
 
 Katharine-Cree with St. James', Aldgate. — Sun- 
 day evening, May 14th, 1882. Prayers read. Re- 
 sponses intoned. Choir of eighteen voices. Magnifi- 
 cat and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Psalms read, Glorias 
 chanted. Versicles read, Responses chanted. Hymns 
 after third collect, at the close of prayers, and at the 
 conclusion of sermon. Numerically speaking, a good 
 ■congregation, who joined heartily in the singing. 
 
City Churches. 145 
 
 Population of these conjoint parishes estimated at 
 rather more than 2,000. Net income, £580. " Com- 
 mon Praise " hymn-book used. 
 
 During the Advent season the musical services of 
 this church culminated in devoting the evening of 
 Thursday, December 22nd, to the performance of a 
 selection from the "Messiah." In doing this the 
 choir of St. Katharine had assistance from neigh- 
 bouring parishes. Mr. Davis presided at the organ. 
 No other instrument was engaged. Two appropriate 
 hymns were also selected, in the singing of which the 
 congregation, a very large one, were invited to join. 
 They did so. This is the church memorable in ec- 
 clesiastical history for the impious behaviour of 
 Laud, in the reign of Charles I., who, as Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, insisted on the suspension of the 
 accustomed service in a church recently built by 
 the parishioners, and the introduction of practices 
 altogether objectionable. On approaching the west 
 door of the church on a set occasion, a chorus of 
 voices organised for the purpose, shouted loudly, 
 " Open, open, ye everlasting doors, that the King of 
 Glory may come in." All the doors immediately flew 
 open — the bishop then entered and pronounced the 
 building and the ground holy. After this he went 
 through a course of proceedings utterly disgusting to 
 an age inimical to such farces under the name of a 
 holy religion. 
 
 K 
 
146 City Churches. 
 
 The Lion Sermon, Monday October 16th, 1882, 
 — A sermon has been preached annually for more 
 than 200 years in this church, to commemorate 
 the deliverance of one Sir John Gayer from a 
 lion which he met while travelling in Arabia. 
 Being unarmed and alone he fell on his knees 
 in prayer, when the lion looked at him and 
 walked off. Sir John afterwards occupied the 
 office of Lord Mayor. He left funds sufficient to 
 keep this marvellous travelling " event " in remem- 
 brance for ever. The musical service on the last 
 occasion was not so effective as Dr. Whittemore's ser- 
 mon. The prayers read, and the responses intoned, 
 were confusing. Two Psalms were chanted. Magni- 
 ficat and Nunc Dimittis (services Stainer in F). 
 Anthem after third collect. Hundredth Psalm before 
 sermon sung in unison, i.e., octaves. Hymn during 
 the offertory for the " Choir Fund." 
 
 St. Lawrence, Jewry. — Sunday evening, December 
 18th, 1881. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of 
 more than thirty voices. Versicles (Tallis). Magnificat 
 and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymn after third collect, 
 previous to sermon, and during the offertory. A large 
 congregation. " Hymns Ancient and Modern " used. 
 The population of St. Lawrence is about 300, and the 
 gross income £690. 
 
 Lenten Services, Thursday evening, March 30th, 
 
City Churches. 147 
 
 1882. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of twenty- 
 four voices. Psalms, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis 
 chanted. Hymn before lecture and hymn at its close. 
 This was the order of the whole services. 
 
 Sunday morning, March 11th, 1883. Prayers read. 
 A surpliced choir of twenty-eight voices. Venite, 
 Psalms, Benedicite, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn 
 after third collect and hymn at close of prayers. 
 Musical responses to the Decalogue. Marbeck's 
 melody to Nicene Creed. 
 
 St. Luke, Old Street. — Sunday morning, Decem- 
 ber 16th, 1883. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir 
 of twenty-four voices. Venite, Psalms, and Benedic- 
 tus chanted. Hymn after third collect and at close of 
 prayers. " Church Hymns" used. Musical responses 
 to the Decalogue and Nicene Creed chanted. Musical 
 sentences during the offertory. 
 
 Note. — The singing throughout the service was of 
 a congregational cast, hearty and well supported by a 
 powerful organ and a Mus. Doc. as organist. 
 
 St. Magnus, London Bridge. — Sunday evening, 
 April 2nd, 1882. Prayers and Versicles read. Psalms 
 chanted. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (services, 
 Goss in E). Anthem after third collect, " Hosannah 
 to the Son of David," (Gibbons). Hymn before ser- 
 mon and hymn after. " Church Psalter and Hymn- 
 
148 City Churches. 
 
 book " used. Scarcely any of the "Aniens " were audible 
 during the service, either from the clerk or congrega- 
 tion. The difference, however, between the musical 
 provisions of St. Magnus in the evening and St. Olave 
 in the morning of one and the same day was indeed 
 striking. Instead of the seven half-educated charity 
 boys, were seven singers thoroughly fitted for their 
 duties. Not only were the services and anthem per- 
 formed with artistic ability, but the hymns were sung 
 as they deserved to be, with taste, feeling, and effect. 
 The congregation joined heartily in this praise wor- 
 ship. The "out" voluntary displayed a masterly 
 handling of a magnificent instrument. Population of 
 St. Magnus, 659. Gross income, ,£353 and house. 
 
 First Sunday in Lent. Morning, February 11th, 
 1883. Prayers read. Psalms also read. Glorias 
 chanted. Opening anthem, "I will arise." Venite 
 and Jubilate chanted. Te Deum (Goss in F). Hymn 
 after Litany, and hymn before sermon. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue. Choir of six voices in 
 the organ gallery. 
 
 Sunday morning, November 18th, 1883. Prayers, 
 Psalms, Versicles, and Aniens read throughout. A 
 choir of four male and two female voices (professional). 
 Yenite, Te Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn at 
 close of prayers, and hymn previous to sermon. Musi- 
 cal responses, in a subdued tone, to the Decalogue. 
 
City Churches. 149 
 
 St. Margaret's, Lothbury. — Sunday morning, 
 September 25th, 1881. Prayers and Litany intoned. 
 Venite, Te Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Versicles 
 (Tallis). Short Sanctus previous to Communion ser- 
 vice. Musical responses to Commandments. Two 
 hymns sung at intervals previous to sermon. Amens 
 chanted or intoned. Trained choir of twelve boys 
 and six men in vestments. Short organ voluntary 
 at the commencement of service, and another at the 
 close. " Hymnal Companion" used. 
 
 Sunday evening, November 5th, 1882. Prayers 
 intoned. A surpliced choir of sixteen voices. Psalms, 
 Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymn after 
 third collect, at close of prayers, and after the sermon.. 
 The entire service occupied seventy minutes, including 
 the "out voluntary." 
 
 St. Margaret Pattens, Rood Lane. — Tenth 
 Sunday after Trinity, July 29th, 1883. The 
 first portion of the double service commenced 
 at 10.30 a.m., and occupied three-quarters of an 
 hour. Hymn No. 35, " Ancient and Modern," 
 was the only one sung meantime. A pause 
 of fiteen minutes ensued, when the choir, con- 
 sisting of nearly thirty voices, and the clergy re- 
 entered. A hymn sung in octaves by choir alone 
 preceded the Decalogue, read by minister with his 
 back to the congregation. The responses were a some- 
 
150 City Churches. 
 
 what complex affair, as they required the stick of a 
 musical conductor. The Credo was, in fact, far too 
 elaborate a composition for any but trained voices, 
 so that the congregation had to stand still and listen. 
 After the sermon came a treble solo from the "Messiah," 
 which, with a chorus, formed the staple ceremony 
 of musical worship at the above-named church on the 
 morning in question. Numerically speaking, the 
 congregation was upon a par with the choir. 
 
 Sunday evening, January 2nd. Prayers intoned. A 
 surpliced choir of twenty-four voices. Psalms chanted. 
 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (services, Gadsby in C). 
 Hymns after third collect, previous to sermon and 
 during the offertory. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn- 
 book used. 
 
 St. Martin, Ludgate. — Trinity Sunday Morning 
 Service. Prayers read. Amens intoned or chanted. 
 A choir of four male and four female voices. Re- 
 sponses to versicles (Tallis). Venite, Te Deum, and 
 Jubilate chanted. Athanasian Creed and Litany read 
 by minister, and alternately intoned or chanted by 
 choir. Hymn at the close of prayers. Communion 
 service partly intoned and partly read. Musical re- 
 sponses to the Decalogue. Hymn previous to sermon, 
 which lasted fifteen minutes. The congregation num- 
 bered eighteen adults and one child. Population of 
 St. Martin, 300. Income, £272. 
 
City CI lurches. 151 
 
 Previous to the Benediction the choir sang the fol- 
 lowing pieces, which occupied three-quarters of an 
 hour. Chorus, " To Thee, great God " (Rossini) ; solo 
 and chorus, " Sound an alarm " and " We hear " 
 (Handel) ; duet, " The Angel " (Hughes) ; solo, 
 " Honour and arms " (Handel) ; solo, " I dreamt I 
 was in heaven " (Costa) ; solo and chorus, " Let the 
 bright seraphim " and " Let their celestial concerts all 
 unite " (Handel). There were also two organ move- 
 ments. The church on this occasion was nearly 
 filled, chiefly by young persons, who joined heartily in 
 the chants and hymns. Unlike the great majority of 
 meetings for public worship, there were very few grey 
 beards present, and not an individual " bald with 
 age." In fact the services here are showy, and at- 
 tract the inexperienced. The parish of St. Gabriel 
 is attached to St. Margaret Pattens. Conjoint popu- 
 lation, 229 : gross income, £833, and house. 
 
 St. Mary Abchurch. — Sunday morning, Oct. 2nd, 
 1881. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of eighteen 
 voices. Versicles (Tallis). Venite chanted. Psalms 
 also chanted. Te Deum, and Benedictus (services). 
 Hymn after third collect, and at the close of prayers. 
 Musical responses to Litany and the Decalogue. Mean- 
 ingless organ accompaniment to the Nicene Creed. 
 "Church Hymns " used. Congregation too small to pro- 
 duce any sensible effect upon the professional singing. 
 
152 City Churches. 
 
 Population of St. Mary Abchurch with St. Lawrence 
 Pountney, 322. Gross income, £256. 
 
 St. Mary Aldermary. — Sunday morning, Septem- 
 ber 18th, 1881. Prayers read. A choir of young 
 women and boys. Jubilate, Te Deum, and Psalms 
 chanted. Hymn after third collect, at the close of 
 prayers, and previous to sermon. Singing well- 
 sustained by the congregation. " Hymnal Com- 
 panion " used. Organ power in excess of the 
 requisites of the service, and the space of the 
 building. 
 
 Note. — To this parish are united those of St. 
 Thomas Ap., St. Antholin, and St. John the Baptist 
 upon Walbrook. Population, 437. Gross income, 
 .£800, and house. 
 
 Sunday evening, October 8th, 1882. Prayers read. 
 A choir exceeding twenty voices, composed mainly of 
 trebles, male and female. The greater portion of the 
 musical service was confined to the organist and choir. 
 Thus, it began with the well-known duet from Judas 
 Maccabeus, " lovely peace," as an instrumental solo. 
 Cantate Domino and Deus Misereatur (services). 
 After the third collect an anthem. The psalms and 
 amens were chanted. One hymn before the sermon 
 and another during the offertory gave the large congre- 
 gation a fair opportunity of lifting their voices in 
 praise. To the devout worshipper this was by far the 
 
City Churches. 153 
 
 better part of the musical programme. All seemed 
 to sing with spirit and understanding too. " Hymnal 
 Companion " used. Previous to the Benediction, the 
 choir essayed Haydn's grandest chorus in '"'Creation," 
 known as " The heavens are telling." This perform- 
 ance contrasted unfavourably with the previous con- 
 gregational hymn, from a deficiency of vocal weight 
 and volume, and for which organ power appeared to 
 be little else than an apology. The " out voluntary" 
 was a grand march. 
 
 St. Mary Alderman-bury. — Quinquagesima Sun- 
 day morning, February 19th, 1882. Prayers intoned. 
 A surpliced choir of fourteen voices. Psalms, Venite, 
 and Benedictus chanted. Te Deum (service, Allen in 
 D). Litany and other responses, after Tallis. Hymn 
 at close of prayers. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Kyrie (Thorne in C). Doxology (Tallis, 
 No. 3). Hymn previous to sermon. "Hymns Ancient 
 and Modern " used. The congregation numbered 
 forty. At evensong, the Psalms, Magnificat, and Nunc 
 Dimittis were chanted. Hymns at close of third 
 collect, before sermon and after. Population, 308. 
 Gross income, £250. 
 
 St. Mary-le-Bow, Ciieapside. — Sunday evening, 
 March 26th, 1882. Prayers feebly intoned. Re- 
 sponses more decided. Psalms chanted. Magnificat 
 
154 City Churches. 
 
 and Nunc Dimittis (services). Anthem after 
 third collect, comprising chorus, " Behold the Lamb 
 of God." Solo, "He was despised," and chorus, 
 <e Surely He hath borne our griefs," from the 
 " Messiah." Hymn previous to sermon, and hymn 
 during the offertory. " Hymnal Companion " used. 
 Choir consisted of four male and five female voices. 
 
 Note.- — -This renowned temple, situate in the heart 
 of the city, has been recently repaired and beautified. 
 A more convenient place for the Sunday worshipper 
 cannot be desired. Four parishes are united with St. 
 Mary, with a population of more than 400. The at- 
 tendance on the evening in question is very suggestive 
 of the spiritual condition of these five parishes. A 
 beautiful church, with a congregation of only twenty- 
 five, composed of thirteen adult females, four males, 
 five children, and three attendants. The singing was 
 too much with the choir, who, with the exception of 
 one voice, were inadequate to the necessities of the 
 anthem. Gross income, £758. 
 
 St. Mary-at-Hill. — Monday evening, January 
 30th, 1882. Anniversary service. Prayers intoned. 
 A surpliced choir of twelve voices. Psalms chanted. 
 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (services, Failing in C). 
 Versicles not purely Tallis. Hymn before sermon, 
 and hymn during the offertory. " Ancient and 
 Modern " Hymn-book used. A lengthy " out volun- 
 
City Churches. 155 
 
 tary." The population of St. Mary with St. Andrew- 
 Hubbard amounts to about 600. Gross income, 
 £420, and house. 
 
 Sunday morning, February 3rd, 1883. Prayers in- 
 toned. A surpliced choir of eighteen voices. Psalms 
 chanted. Venite and Te Deum (services). Hymn 
 after third collect and at close of prayers. Litany 
 chanted to Tallis. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Nicene Creed as harmonized by Goss. The 
 congregation consisted of nineteen adults and 
 seven children. 
 
 Note. — When a short time ago the subject of 
 alterations in this church was brought under the 
 notice of Lord Penzance, it was stated that the 
 annual cost of the choir was about £600. If this be 
 so, they cannot complain of being, as amateurs, under- 
 paid. 
 
 St. Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street. — Sunday 
 evening, June 18th, 1882. Prayers intoned. No 
 choir. Psalms intoned, but Glorias chanted. Magni- 
 ficat and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymns after third 
 collect, before and after sermon. "Ancient and 
 Modern " Hymn-book used. The united parishes of 
 St. Mary Magdalene and St. Gregory by St. Paul, in 
 a recent census, were returned at 1,250 persons. On 
 the evening in question the congregation numbered 
 
156 City Churches. 
 
 less than forty, of which fifteen were apparently 
 school children. Gross income, £240. 
 
 St. Mary Woolnoth. — Sunday evening, March 
 12th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Magnificat, Nunc 
 Diniittis, and Psalms chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect, and hymn before sermon. A surpliced choir 
 of eight treble voices and four adult. The service 
 began with a congregation of ten persons, which in- 
 creased to eighteen. There were about the same 
 number of charity children. " Psalms and Hymns 
 for the Church, by the Rev. W. J. Irons, D.D., Rec- 
 tor " used. The population of St. Mary Woolnoth 
 and St. Mary Woodchurch together is estimated at 
 320. Gross income, £266 and house. 
 
 Fifth Sunday in Lent, 1883, Evening. Prayers 
 intoned. A surpliced choir of twelve voices, to which 
 were added three female. Magnificat, Psalms, and 
 Nunc Dimittis chanted. Anthem, "Behold the 
 Lamb of God" (Messiah). Hymn previous to ser- 
 mon, and at its close. The " Miserere mei Deus," with 
 Redhead's musical notation, was sung, all kneeling ; 
 the custom adopted in the Commination service. 
 
 Sunday morning, September 9th, 1883. Prayers 
 intoned. A surpliced choir of twelve voices. Venite, 
 Te Deum, Benedictus, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn 
 after third collect, at close of prayers and during the 
 offertory. Musical responses to the Decalogue, and 
 
City Churches. 157 
 
 Marbeck's rendering of the Nicene Creed. Yersicles 
 and responses to the Litany by Tallis. " Psalms and 
 Hymns for the Church " used. 
 
 St. Matthew, Friday Street, Ciieapside. — Sun- 
 day morning, January 15th, 1882. Prayers intoned. 
 Surpliced choir of sixteen voices. Venite, Te Deum, 
 and Benedictus chanted. Versicles (Tallis). Hymn 
 at the close of prayers. Musical responses to the 
 Decalogue, Doxologies. Hymn previous to sermon. 
 " Hymnal Companion " used. 
 
 ■ Note. — As this church (since pulled down) is a 
 small one, and the organ, when " full on," very 
 powerful, the chromatic commentary upon one in- 
 toned note, made it difficult at times to ascertain 
 what part of the Belief, or Lord's Prayer, the 
 worshipper was actually reciting. 
 
 St. Michael Bassishaw. — Sunday morning. May 
 21st, 1882. Prayers, Psalms, Litany, and Com- 
 munion service read. Venite and Te Deum chanted. 
 Hymn at the close of prayers, and hymn previous to 
 sermon. No choir except six youths stationed in a 
 gallery near the organ. The congregation consisted 
 of 17 persons, viz., six males and eleven females, or 
 about one-twentieth of the population (357) according 
 to a recent census. Gross income, £229. " Church 
 Psalter and Hymn Book " used. 
 
 St. Michael, Cornhill. — Sunday evening, June 
 
1-38 City Churches. 
 
 19th, 1881. Hospital Sunday. Amen intoned by 
 choir of eighteen voices previous to the processional, 
 taken up by the organ. Prayers read, but intoned 
 by choir and congregation. So also the Versicles. 
 Psalms chanted. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 (Hopkins in F), choir alone. Anthem after third 
 collect, " When the ear heard Him," &c. (Handel). 
 Hymn at close of prayers, and another during the 
 offertory. " Church Psalms " used. Population of St. 
 Michael, 205. Gross income, £925 and house. 
 
 Note. — As a rule the musical arrangements at St. 
 Michael's commend themselves highly to lovers of the 
 English Church, and admirers of the form of worship 
 prescribed by the Prayer-Book. Here is an excel- 
 lent choir, a proficient organist, and good congrega- 
 tional singing. In fact every facility is afforded for 
 the latter by the liberal distribution of books suited 
 to the attainments of each and all in the sublime 
 service of song. 
 
 The organ is probably the only one in a city church 
 supplied at present with the apparatus of electricity. 
 The key-board is erected apart from the body of the 
 instrument, i.e., it is divided by the choir ; and, from 
 the nature of the machinery, very careful attention is 
 required. It is also provided with pneumatic action, 
 so that the most rapid passages may be executed with 
 the greatest dexterity and ease. 
 
 St. Michael, Qukeniiitiie. — Sunday morning, 
 
City Churches. 159 
 
 January 1st, 1882. Not a word intoned by minister, 
 but a great many by the choir, which consisted of 
 five boys in surplices. Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus, 
 and Psalms chanted. Versicles and responses to 
 Litany after Tallis. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue (Mendelssohn). Two " Hymns for the Church 
 of England " were sung previous to sermon. The con- 
 gregation consisted of thirty-five individuals. Of this 
 number twenty-three were children. As the church 
 is not large, and very resonant, the small choir proved 
 amply sufficient, seeing that their voices were fresh, 
 free, and strong. Population of St. Michael with 
 St. James and Holy Trinity, 848. Gross income, 
 £650. 
 
 St. Michael, Wood Street. — Sunday evening, 
 January 8th, 1882. Prayers intoned. A professional 
 choir of three male and three female voices. Psalms, 
 Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis chanted. Versicles 
 (Tallis). Hymn after third collect, before sermon, 
 and at its close — all appropriate to the Epiphany 
 season. The singers, organist, and office-bearers 
 formed the greater part of the worshippers, who num- 
 bered but eighteen in all. " Ancient and Modern " 
 Hymn-book used. The population of St. Michael 
 with St. Mary Staining is put down at 372. Gross 
 income, £260, with house. 
 
 St. Mildred, Bread Street. — Sunday morning, 
 
160 City Churches. 
 
 April 30th, 1882. Prayers and Psalms read. Re- 
 sponses intoned. A surpliced choir of twelve voices. 
 Venite, Te Deum, and Benedictus chanted. Anthem 
 after third collect. Versicles by Tallis. Hymn at 
 the close of prayers. Musical responses to Command- 
 ments — the last without organ accompaniment. 
 Doxology before and after the Gospel. Hymn pre- 
 vious to sermon. 
 
 Note. — The congregation was a very small one, viz., 
 seven adult females and five males. No children. 
 The population of the two parishes here conjoined is 
 certainly not large, viz., ninety-nine persons, all told. 
 Gross income, £287. Until recently the New Version 
 of the Psalms, known as Brady and Tate, had been 
 in use. It has at length given way to the " Ancient 
 and Modern" Hymn-book. 
 
 Sunday morning, November 11th, 1883. Prayers 
 read. A surpliced choir of twelve voices (also two 
 female voices). Venite, Te Deum, and Benedictus 
 chanted. Anthem after third collect ; hymn at close 
 of prayers, and previous to sermon. Musical re- 
 sponses to Decalogue. Congregation ten in number. 
 
 St. Nicholas-Cole-Abbey. — Sunday morning, June 
 18th, 1882. Prayers and Psalms read. No choir. 
 Hymn at close of prayers, and hymn previous to 
 sermon. A short voluntary in, and out, was all the 
 organist had else to play. Neither chant, Kyrie, nor 
 
City Churches. 161 
 
 Amen formed an item in the musical programme. 
 " Church Psalter and Hymn-book " used. The popu- 
 lation of St. Nicholas with the united parishes of St. 
 Mary Somerset and St. Mary Mounthaw is estimated 
 at 1,100. If this be so, the congregation on the morn- 
 ing in question was indeed small in number, viz., 
 fourteen, composed of nine females and five males, all 
 adults. Gross income, £416. 
 
 Sunday Morning, February 3rd, 1884. Prayers in- 
 toned. Yenite, Psalms, and Te Deum chanted. 
 Hymn at close of prayers, and hymn previous to ad- 
 ministration of the Sacrament. " Church Hymns " 
 used. 
 
 Note. — The church was nearly full, and the congre- 
 gation joined heartily in the vocal portion of the ser- 
 vice. The choir consisted of eight male and six 
 female voices. 
 
 St. Olave, Hart Street, Mark Laxe.— Sunday 
 morning, January 22nd, 1882. Prayers read. A 
 surpliced choir of eight boys and tw T o men. Venite, 
 Te Deum, and Benedictus chanted. Psalms intoned, 
 Glorias chanted. Hymn after third collect, and hymn 
 at close of prayers. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue, and hymn previous to sermon. Hymn-book 
 used bore the title of " Introits and Anthems for the 
 use of the services of the Church." 
 
 Sunday, March 4th, 1883. A surpliced choir of 
 twelve voices. Prayers read, and Psalms also. Venite, 
 
 L 
 
162 City Churches. 
 
 Te Deum, and Benedicite chanted. Hymn after 
 third collect. Litany intoned. Hymn at close of 
 prayers. Musical responses to the Decalogue. Hymn 
 previous to sermon. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn- 
 book used. 
 
 Note. — Connected with the parish of St. Olave is 
 that of All Hallows-Staining, making a population of 
 GOG. Of this number eighty were present on the 
 morning in question. Gross income, £2,050, and 
 house ! 
 
 St. Olave, Jewry. — Sunday morning, April 2nd, 
 1882. Prayers read. No choir; unless seven poor 
 boys may be regarded as such. Venite, Te Deum, 
 and Jubilate chanted. Psalms read. Glorias chanted. 
 Hymn after third collect. Musical responses to Com- 
 mandments. Hymn before sermon. " Hymnal Com- 
 panion " used. 
 
 The congregation consisted of six adult females, 
 two males, and one girl. With St. Olave are incor- 
 porated the parishes of St. Mary-Colechurch, St. Mil- 
 dred (Poultry), and St. Martin Pomeroy. The popu- 
 lations recently estimated run thus — St. Olave, 121 ; 
 St. Mary-Colechurch, 97; St. Mildred, 121; and St. 
 Martin Pomeroy, 179; total, 520. Income, £500. 
 The extremely thin attendance on the morning 
 in question may be accounted for to some extent 
 by the visit of the Lord Mayor, &c, in state 
 at a church close by. The singing boys rushed 
 
City Churcltcs. 163 
 
 out of St. Olave just as the text was announced, 
 in order to obtain a good view of the "raree 
 show." 
 
 Sunday Evening, October 28th, 1883. This was a 
 " Harvest Festival," and the church was filled with 
 an attentive congregation. The supply of music ex- 
 ceeded the ordinary run of Thanksgiving services. 
 For instance, a long organ prelude, then a hymn. 
 Prayers intoned. Psalms, Magnificat, and Nunc 
 Dimittis chanted. Introit and hymn after third 
 collect. Hymn at close of prayers. Hymn during 
 the offertory. After this a Thanksgiving Anthem by 
 a surpliced choir of fourteen voices, and finally 
 another harvest hymn. The service occupied nearly 
 two hours, and the congregation " stayed it out." 
 " Hymns Ancient and Modern " used. 
 
 St. Peter-le-Poer. — Sunday morning, October 
 16th, 1881. Prayers intoned. A choir of eight 
 voices. Versicles by Tallis. Yenite, Psalms, Te 
 Deum, and Benedictus chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect and at the close of prayers. Musical responses 
 to Litany and Communion service. Kicene Creed 
 (Goss). " Ancient and Modern " Hymn Book used. 
 In the evening Farrant's anthem, " Lord, for Thy 
 tender mercies' sake," was added to the ordinary 
 musical items. The population of St. Peter with St. 
 Benet is put down at 613. Cross income, £1,000. 
 
164 City Churches. 
 
 St. Peter-upon-Cornhill. — Sunday morning, Octo- 
 ber 9 tli, 1881. Harvest Festival. Prayers intoned. 
 A choir of twelve voices. Versicles (Tallis). Te 
 Deurn, a very changeable chant. Benedictus chanted. 
 Hymn after third collect, at the close of prayers, 
 previous to sermon, and during the offertory. The 
 congregation joined heartily in the service of song, 
 the last portion of it especially. " Hymns Ancient 
 and Modern " used, and the Rev. Sir Frederick Gore 
 Ouseley's " pointing " of the Psalms adopted. The 
 " out voluntary " was of a curious combination, viz., 
 " The heavens are telling " (appropriate), and " Baal, 
 we cry to thee " (?) Population, 418. Net income, 
 <£250 and house. During Lent there is a special 
 service every Friday evening. The Miserere is sung 
 kneeling. This with two hymns and a good organ 
 performance are the chief musical features. 
 
 Note. — The organ was originally built in 1681, by 
 Father Smith, at a cost of £210. It underwent a 
 thorough remodelling in 1840 by Hill. Many of 
 Smith's wooden pipes were retained and incorporated 
 with the new work. It now contains forty sounding 
 stops, and is considered one of the best instruments 
 in the metropolis. Mendelssohn so regarded it after 
 a testing personal performance during his last visit to 
 England. 
 
 St. Peter, Saffron Hill. — Sunday morning, June 
 25th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliced choir of 
 
City Churches. 165 
 
 eighteen voices. Jubilate, Psalms, and Te Deum 
 chanted. Litany intoned throughout. Musical res- 
 ponses to the Decalogue. Hymn after third collect, 
 at the close of prayers, and previous to sermon. 
 " Hymnal Companion " used. A large portion of the 
 congregation consisted of children and young persons, 
 who joined to the best of their ability in the service 
 of song. Population, 7,100. Gross income, £300 
 and house. 
 
 St. Sepulchre, Newgate Street. — Sunday even- 
 ing, December 4th, 1881. Prayers intoned. A choir of 
 eighteen male and six female voices. Magnificat and 
 Nunc Dimittis (services). Anthem after third 
 collect. Solo, " But who may abide ; " Chorus, "And 
 He shall purify " (Handel). Advent hymn sung in 
 unison previous to sermon, and hymn, " Abide with 
 me," at the close of it. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn 
 Book used. While the last hymn was being sung 
 the congregation increased surprisingly, in order to 
 hear a supplemental service of music on the organ. 
 
 Note. — Among the recent alterations, which ex- 
 tended over a year to complete, the organ was removed 
 from the gallery into a bay on the north side of the 
 church. It was originally built by Harris in 1670. 
 In 1730 it underwent an extensive repair. Eighty 
 years after it was extended, and " long octaves " 
 made in the bass. In 1835 further improvements 
 took place. From that time to the present so much 
 
166 City CI turches. 
 
 attention has been given to the old structure, that it 
 is regarded as one of the most magnificent instruments 
 of the organ class to be found in the metropolis. 
 Population of St. Sepulchre, 6,589. Gross income, 
 .£677. 
 
 Sunday Morning, August 27th, 1882. Prayers in- 
 toned. A choir of sixteen voices. Te Deuni and 
 Jubilate (services). Psalms chanted. Responses and 
 Litany (Tallis). Musical Responses to the Decalogue. 
 Nicene Creed, musical. Hymn after third collect 
 and previous to sermon. Singing well sustained 
 both by choir and congregation. 
 
 St. Stephen, Coleman Street. — Sunday evening, 
 February 19th, 1882. Prayers read. Psalms also. 
 Glorias chanted. No choir. Hymns after third col- 
 lect, before sermon, and at its close. A large congre- 
 gation sustained the singing -well throughout the 
 service. " Hymnal Companion " used. The organ, 
 built by Avery in 1778, contains twenty-one sounding 
 stops. Population of St. Stephen returned as 2,674. 
 Gross income, £570. 
 
 St. Stephen, Wallbrook. — Sunday morning, 
 December 4th, 1881. Prayers read. A small choir 
 of male and female voices. Yenite, Psalms, Te Deum 
 and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third collect, and 
 at the close of prayers. Responses to the Decalogue 
 chanted. Hymn previous to sermon. " The Church 
 
City Churches. 167 
 
 and Home Metrical Psalter and Hymnal" used. The 
 population of St. Stephen with St. Benet is reckoned 
 at 179. Gross income, £615. 
 
 Sunday Evening, October 1st, 1882. Prayers read, 
 but responses intoned. A choir of six voices (two 
 male and four female). Psalms, Magnificat, and 
 Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymn after third collect 
 and at close of prayers. Short organ interlude pre- 
 vious to sermon, and hymn at conclusion thereof. 
 
 St. Swithin, Cannon Street. — Sunday morning, 
 May 7th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliced choir 
 of twelve voices. Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus, and 
 Psalms chanted. Hymn after third collect. Litany 
 intoned, after Tallis. Hymn at the close of prayers. 
 Musical responses to Commandments. Marbeck's 
 music to Nicene Creed. Hymn previous to sermon. 
 " Ancient and Modern " Hymn-book used. 
 
 Note. — The congregation consisted of seventeen 
 persons, viz., eight female adults, four male, and five 
 children. Population of St. Swithin with St. Mary 
 Bothaw, 346. Gross income, £450. 
 
 St. Thomas, Liberty of the Polls, Chancery 
 Lane. — Sunday morning, July 9th, 1882. Prayers 
 read. Surpliced choir of nine voices. Yenite, Psalms, 
 Te Deum, and Benedictus chanted. Creed and Res- 
 ponses intoned. Hymn after third collect, before 
 sermon, and at its close. Musical responses to the 
 
168 City Churches. 
 
 Decalogue. " Church Hymns " used. The congrega- 
 tion consisted of ten adults and a youth. Endow- 
 ment, £160 per annum. 
 
 St. Thomas, Charterhouse. — Sunday morning, 
 October 8th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliced 
 choir of twenty-six voices. Venite, Psalms, Te Deum, 
 (changeable), and Benedictus chanted. Hymn after 
 third collect, and hymn during the offertory. " An- 
 cient and Modern " Hymn-book used. A large pro- 
 portion of the congregation consisted of school 
 children and teachers, who doubtlessly patronized the 
 singing to the best of their ability. !S"et income, 
 <£500, and house. Population, 5,6-18. 
 
 St. Vedast, Foster Lane. — Sunday evening, Sep- 
 tember 10th, 1882. It may be remembered that this 
 church, built in 1697, was recently closed for nearly 
 three years, in consequence of ritualistic practices, 
 which the ecclesiastical authorities condemned. On 
 the first Sunday morning of September the steeple 
 bells announced a re-opening of the doors. Not the 
 faintest shadow of the objected forms was perceptible 
 throughout the service, though a remarkable one. The 
 solid resolve for the future management of St. Yedast 
 was likewise perceptible enough on the second Sunday. 
 Example : In the evening, prayers intoned. A sur- 
 pliced choir of fourteen voices. Psalms, Magnificat, 
 Nunc Dimittis, and responses chanted. Hymn after 
 
City Churches. 169 
 
 third collect, previous to sermon, and at the close of 
 the same (no offertory). The hymns were well 
 chosen, and the congregation joined heartily in the 
 singing of them. "Ancient and Modern" Hymn- 
 book used. To the parish of St. Yedast is united 
 that of St. Michael-le-Querne. According to a recent 
 census the joint population is 295. Xet income, 
 .€300. 
 
 Sunday Morning, September 24, 1882. Prayers in- 
 toned. Surpliced choir of sixteen voices. Canticles, 
 Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus, and Psalms chanted. 
 Hymn after third collect, and hymn at close of 
 prayers. Musical responses to the Decalogue. Litany 
 as noted by Tallis. Short organ interlude previous to 
 sermon. In the evening the musical service was 
 quite in accord with that mentioned a fortnight pre- 
 viously. 
 
 Mercers' Chapel, Ciieapside. — Sunday evening, 
 Xovember 27th, 1881. Introductory Advent Hymn. 
 Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of eighteen 
 voices. Psalms, Magnificat, and Cantate Domino 
 chanted. Hymn after third collect, and another pre- 
 vious to sermon, or rather Address to familiar faces 
 assembled to welcome each other on the re-opening of 
 the chapel. Hymn at the close. This was followed 
 by a chanting of the Te Deum and a grand Handel 
 chorus on the organ. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Churches outside the City. 
 
 1 Thither the tribes go up,' &c. 
 
 Psalm cxxii. 4. 
 
 The cheerful Sabbath bells, wherever heard, 
 Strike pleasant on the sense, most like the voice 
 Of one, who from the far-off hills proclaims 
 Tidings of good to Zion. 
 
 Charles Lamb. 
 
 Toll at the hour of prime, 
 
 Matin and vesper chime, 
 Loved old bells from the steeple high ; 
 
 Rolling like holy waves, 
 
 Over the lowly graves, 
 Floating up, prayer-thought, into the sky. 
 
 Attributed to Bishop Mant. 
 
 St. Anne's, Soho. — Sunday morning, April 8th, 
 1883. Prayers intoned. Surpliced choir of forty 
 voices. Te Deurn and Jubilate (services in E by 
 Barnby). Psalms chanted. Anthem, "Hear ye, 
 Israel, and be not afraid " (Mendelssohn). Hymn at 
 close of prayers. The " Hymnary " used. Musical re- 
 sponses to the Decalogue. Nicene Creed chanted. 
 Offertory sentences at close of sermon. Population of 
 the parish, 11,600. Gross income, £800, subject to 
 deductions. 
 
Churches outside the City. 171 
 
 St. Andrew, Wells Street, Maryleeoxe. — Sixth 
 Sunday after Trinity, 1882. At this place there are 
 no less than six services every Sabbath day of the 
 year. These are specified either as a " Celebration " 
 or " Evensong." The first commences at eight o'clock 
 in the morning, and the last at seven in the evening. 
 Of these the principal celebration at 11.15 resembles 
 very closely the usual church services in the metro- 
 polis which begin a quarter of an hour earlier. 
 Prayers intoned. Psalms chanted. A surpliced 
 choir of twenty-five voices (highly efficient). Te 
 Deum and Jubilate (services in B flat, Calkin). 
 Anthem, " Exulta Sion " (Pergolese). Kyrie, Sanctus, 
 and Gloria in G (Cherubim). Hymn during the 
 offertory. At Evensong prayers intoned, Psalms 
 chanted ; Magnificat and iNunc Dimittis (services in 
 B flat, Docker). Anthem, " God is a Spirit " (Bennett). 
 Hymn during the offertory. The opportunities afforded 
 for congregational singing were heartily responded to 
 by a large assembly, although the sexes were par- 
 titioned off. Population of St. Andrew, 5,143. Gross 
 income of the vicarage, £290 per annum. Patrons, 
 the Crown, and Bishop of London alternately. 
 
 All Saints, Margaret Street, Marylebone. — 
 Sunday evening, April 16th, 1882. The services of 
 this church differ so materially from those or- 
 dinarily conducted in the Church of England that 
 they require to be somewhat more minutely described. 
 
172 Churches outside the City. 
 
 " All Saints " is, regarded as a structure, one of the 
 most original and sumptuous Gothic churches in the 
 Metropolis. Its size is not great, nor its external 
 appearance, of variegated brick, specially attractive ; 
 but the internal fittings are very striking and sug- 
 gestive. The roof rises seventy-five feet, the piers 
 are of polished granite, and the capitals of white 
 alabaster, admirably carved. The low choir screen is 
 also of alabaster ; the font and baptistry is of marble, 
 and nearly all the internal solid decorations are like- 
 wise of marble, chiefly British. On the east-end wall 
 there are paintings of the Nativity, Crucifixion, the 
 Saviour, the Virgin, and the twelve Apostles, in 
 fresco, by Dyer. These are in compartments. The 
 windows are richly painted. Nearly eight years were 
 occupied in completing the building, which is said to 
 have cost £60,000. On the evening in question the 
 service commenced with a long and elaborate perform- 
 ance on the organ. When this terminated, or nearly 
 so, the clergy and choristers emerged from the vestry, 
 preceded by the bearer of a cross, and two with 
 banners, who grouped themselves in positions facing 
 the altar, on which two colossal candles were lighted. 
 A hymn was then announced and a procession formed, 
 during which the hymn was sung. This over, the 
 ordinary evening prayers were intoned. Aniens and 
 versicles chanted. The Psalms, Gregorian. The Mag- 
 nificat and Nunc Dimittis of a very florid and spark- 
 
Churches outside the City. 173 
 
 ling character. Versicles as before, by Tallis. After 
 the third collect came the Anthem, "Thou didst 
 not leave," and " Worthy the Lamb " (Messiah). Pre- 
 vious to sermon, the Easter hymn made the lofty roof 
 resound, so heartily did the crowded congregation 
 contribute to its harmonies. Another popular hymn 
 during the offertory received similar support. This, 
 however, was supplemented by a chorus, "Hallelujah," 
 for choir and organ only. The organist had little rest 
 during the entire service, and he appeared quite as 
 vigorous at the close as at the commencement, for the 
 outgoing voluntary served — if no other purpose — to 
 show what a command the performer had over an in- 
 strument capable by its compass and quality of pro- 
 ducing mighty effects. 
 
 All Souls, Langiiam Place, Marylebone. — 
 Sunday evening, July 9th, 1882. Prayers read. A 
 .surpliced choir of twenty-four voices. Kot a note in- 
 toned throughout the service. Magnificat, Psalms, 
 and ^Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect, before sermon, and during the offertory. The 
 congregation — a very large one— joined so heartily 
 both in chant and hymn, and sang so veil in tune, 
 that it was delightful to hear. "Church Hymns" 
 used. Population of All Souls, 14,811. Gross in- 
 come, £700. 
 
 Bedford Chapel, Bloomsbury. — Sunday evening, 
 
17 J: Churches outside the City. 
 
 May 27th, 1883. Prayers partly intoned. Surpliced 
 choir of sixteen voices. Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, 
 and Psalms chanted. No Glorias to any, but Aniens 
 substituted. Hymn after third collect, before sermon, 
 and during the offertory. A book — without preface 
 or editorial remarks — entitled "Christian Hymns" 
 used. 
 
 Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair. — Good Friday, April 
 11th, 1884. Prayers intoned throughout. A surpliced 
 choir of fourteen voices. Yenite, Te Deum, and 
 Jubilate chanted. During the service four hymns 
 were sung from a pamphlet entitled, " The Story of 
 the Cross." These comprised twenty-six short stanzas, 
 attributed to the late Rev. E. Monro, the last four 
 sung kneeling. Net income, £400. 
 
 Camden Church, Camberwell. — Sunday morning, 
 November 5th, 1882. Prayers and Psalms read (ad- 
 mirably). No set choir. Venite chanted. Te Deum 
 (Jackson in F). Hymn after third collect, and hymn 
 at close of prayers. No music during the Communion 
 Service, except the Glorias before the Gospel. A 
 short organ interlude previous to sermon. 
 
 Note. — In no church of eminence outside the City 
 has there been less change of ritual during the last 
 forty years than at Camden, and yet there is not one 
 that maintains a firmer standing in the estimation of 
 the old church-goer. The congregation arc not merely 
 
C liv. relies outside the City. 175 
 
 invited to sing, but they really do sing with an 
 earnestness of soul that requires no professional aid 
 except the organ to keep the music up to its proper 
 pitch. Notwithstanding the ridicule often cast upon 
 " Jackson in F," it did not appear to be a contemptible 
 composition with this large congregation of wor- 
 shippers, who, seeming to understand the composer's 
 design, strove to bring out his meaning. The revised 
 edition of the late Rev. Charles Kemble's " Selection 
 of Psalms and Hymns for the Public Service " was the 
 Hymn-book used. Population of the Camden district, 
 7,000. Gross income, £1,186, including pew rents. 
 
 First Sunday Evening in Advent, 1882, Prayers 
 and Psalms read. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 chanted. Hymns after third collect, at close of 
 prayers, and at conclusion of the sermon. 
 
 Christ Church, Spitalfields. — Sunday morning, 
 September 11th, 1881. Prayers read. Venite and 
 Psalms chanted. Te Deum and Jubilate (services). 
 Hymn after third collect and at close of prayers. 
 Musical responses to the Decalogue. Sentences from 
 the Communion Service sung during the offertory. 
 The singing throughout was very hearty, but some of 
 the music chosen taxed the capabilities of the singers 
 somewhat severely. The tendency also to display the 
 fortissimo properties of the organ was too frequent. 
 " Hymnal Companion" used. Population, 16,383. 
 (Iross income, £400, and house. 
 
176 Churches outside the City. 
 
 Sunday Morning, October21st, 1883. Prayers partly 
 intoned. A choir of twenty voices. Venite, Te Deum, 
 and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third collect, and 
 previous to sermon. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. 
 
 Note, — The Spitalfields organ has the reputation of 
 "being one of the finest-toned in the Metropolis. It 
 was originally built in 1730 for ,£600 — not half its 
 value. Nearly a century elapsed before it underwent 
 any repair worthy of mention. After the fire in the 
 steeple of the church, in 1837, this valuable instru- 
 ment was found to have suffered great damage by 
 water. Since then it has been enlarged, and now 
 contains forty-five sounding stops, distributed [among 
 three manuals and pedal. As a novelty the swell is 
 placed in a wall contiguous. 
 
 Christ Church, North Brixton. — Wednesday 
 evening, October 19th, 1881. The whole service read, 
 except the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, which were 
 chanted. Two hymns were sung previous to the ser- 
 mon, and one at the close of it. This order of the 
 week-day service here differs very slightly from that 
 of Sunday evenings generally. "Hymnal Companion" 
 used. Good congregational singing. Gross income, 
 ,£700. Population, 6,988. 
 
 Christmas Day, 1883. Hymn. A choir of twelve 
 voices (male and female). Prayers and responses 
 
Churches outside the City. 177 
 
 read. Psalms also read, but Glorias chanted. Venite 
 and Te Deum chanted. Anthem after third collect. 
 Hymn at close of prayers. Sanctus before the Gospel. 
 Hymn previous to sermon. 
 
 Nota — The congregation (as usual a large one) sang 
 well and heartily, but, with the exception of the pro- 
 fessional voices clustered about the organ, there was 
 scarcely any audible departure from the melody of the 
 hymn tunes selected. 
 
 St. Clement Danes. — Sunday evening, April 15th, 
 1883. Processional hymn. A surpliced choir of 
 twenty voices. Prayers partly intoned. Magnificat 
 and Nunc Dinrittis (services). Psalms chanted. 
 Anthem after third collect. Hymn previous to ser- 
 mon and during the offertory. Also a processional 
 after the Benediction. " Church Hymns " used. 
 Population, 11,503. Gross income, .£600, and 
 house. 
 
 Hanover Chapel, Regent Street. — Sunday even- 
 ing, May 7th, 1882. Prayers intoned. Surpliced 
 choir of eighteen voices. Psalms chanted. Magnificat 
 and Nunc Dimittis (services). Hymn after third 
 collect, previous to sermon , and during the offertory. 
 "Ancient and Modern " Book used. 
 
 Holy Trinity, Clapiiam. — Sunday evening, April 
 8th, 1883. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of six- 
 teen voices. Psalms chanted. Magnificat and Nunc 
 
 M 
 
178 Churches outside the City. 
 
 Dimittis (services). Hymn after third collect, at close 
 of prayers, and during the offertory. The congregation 
 — a very large one — chanted with great precision, and 
 sang the hymns both with spirit and understanding. 
 
 St. George the Martyr, Borough. — Sunday 
 morning, December 23rd, 1883. Prayers read. 
 Amens chanted. A choir of eight female and four 
 male voices. Venite, Psalms, and Te Deum chanted. 
 Versicles (Tallis). Hymn at close of prayers, after 
 the Communion service, and during the offertory. 
 " Church Psalter" used. Musical responses to Deca- 
 logue, and Sanctus before the Gospel. Gross income 
 of the living, £560. Population of the parish, 
 18,500. 
 
 Note. — The singing throughout the service in 
 question was both general and hearty. 
 
 St. Giles, Camberwell. — Sunday morning, March 
 16th, 1884. Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of 
 more than twenty voices. Jubilate, Te Deum, Psalms, 
 and Benedictus chanted. Hymn after third collect, 
 at close of prayers, and during the offertory after ser- 
 mon. No Litany. "Ancient and Modern " Hymn- 
 book used. A large congregation, and the singing 
 throughout, though not boisterous, was fairly sus- 
 tained. The parish of St. Giles, according to a recent 
 census contains about 16,000 inhabitants. Net in- 
 come of the living, £1,300, and house. 
 
Churches outside the City. 179 
 
 St. George, Bloomsbury. — Sunday morning, July 
 30th, 1882. Prayers read. Surpliced choir of twenty 
 voices. Venite, Te Deum, Psalms and Benedictus 
 chanted. Litany read, with the musical responses of 
 Tallis. Hymn at close of prayers. Aniens chanted 
 throughout. Musical responses to the Decalogue. 
 Hymn previous to sermon. Musical selections from 
 the Communion service, by choir alone, during the 
 offertory. A large congregation joined heartily in 
 the vocal portion of the service. " Church Hymn- 
 Book " used. The admixture of the polyphonic with 
 the monotone, especially in the Creeds, seemed to 
 point to the policy of adopting some decided style of 
 response, in order to preserve the solemnity of its 
 character. The parish of St. George had, according 
 to recent surveys, a population of 17,300. Income of 
 the living, £600, and house. 
 
 St. George, Hanover Square. — This is one of the 
 fifty new churches built after the Fire, but it was not 
 consecrated till early in the eighteenth century.. 
 Among other objects of special interest connected 
 with the structure are three painted windows, dating 
 about 1520, brought from Mechlin, and purchased by 
 subscription, representing a Tree of Jesse. Although 
 this church is regarded as the most fashionable in the 
 Metropolis, especially for marriages, its services par- 
 take in no degree of the fashionable and ambiguous 
 
180 Churches outside the City. 
 
 character of too many in that locality and elsewhere. 
 The ceremonials at St. George differ but slightly from 
 those of the last generation, for example : — Sunday 
 evening, April 30th. Prayers and versicles read. 
 Psalms and Amens chanted. Also Magnificat and 
 Nunc Dimittis. Hymn after third collect, and hymn 
 previous to sermon. Hymn during the offertory. 
 The singing in all these cases was hearty and congre- 
 gational, the music solid and easy, and although a 
 few voices, male and female, in close proximity to the 
 organ, appeared to take the lead, they were not over- 
 powering, as the large congregation seemed to partici- 
 pate with spirit in this vocal portion of the service. 
 " Church Hymns " sung. The organ, originally built 
 by Gerard Smith, but subsequently altered and re- 
 paired, contains twenty-one stops, besides accessory 
 movements. On Wedding-days it is " the chief 
 musician." 
 
 Sunday Evening, April 29th, 1883. Prayers read. 
 Magnificat, Psalms, and Nunc Dimittis chanted. 
 'Hymn after third collect, previous to sermon, and 
 during the offertory. In each and every portion of 
 the musical service the congregation manifested both 
 fervour and judgment. 
 
 St. George's Chapel, Albemarle Street. — 
 Sunday morning, April 22nd, 1883. Prayers read. 
 Responses intoned. A choir of four adult voices, one 
 
Churches outside the City. 181 
 
 male and three female — all of great strength. Yenite, 
 Psalms, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect, during the offertory, and previous to sermon. 
 Musical responses to Decalogue. A very confusing 
 organ accompaniment to the Nicene Creed. " Church 
 Hymns " used. 
 
 St. Giles-ix-tiie-Fields. — Easter Day, morning, 
 March 25th, 1883. Prayers read. A surpliced choir 
 of twenty voices. Yenite, Psalms, and Jubilate 
 chanted. Te Deum (service). Athanasian Creed in- 
 toned. No Litany. Two hymns previous to sermon. 
 " Church Hymns " used. Musical responses to the 
 Decalogue, and Communion sentences chanted during 
 the offertory. Congregation estimated at 800. 
 
 St. George-ix-the-East. — Sunday morning, Novem- 
 ber 26th, 1882. Prayers partly read and partly intoned. 
 Amateur choir of twenty-five voices. Jubilate, 
 Psalms, and Te Deum chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect, and at close of prayers. Musical responses to 
 the Decalogue. Gloria chanted. Hymn during the 
 offertory. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn-book 
 used. Population, 8,066. Net income, £280, and 
 house. 
 
 Note. — Considering the largeness of the population, 
 the number of adults present on the morning in ques- 
 tion was very small. The singing was well sustained 
 by the congregation throughout the service, and al- 
 
182 Churches outside the City. 
 
 though no printed music-books were apparent among 
 the choir, it was evident that a great deal of care had 
 been exercised in their musical training, seeing they 
 performed their task as effectively as in many other 
 places of greater musical pretensions may from time to 
 time be heard. 
 
 St. John the Baptist, Clerkenwell. — Sunday 
 evening, June 4th, 1882. Prayers read. A surpliced 
 choir of fourteen voices. Psalms, Magnificat and 
 Nunc Dimittis chanted. Hymns " Ancient and 
 Modern " after third collect, previous to sermon, and 
 during the offertory. A processional hymn concluded 
 the service. The congregation consisted largely of 
 young persons and children, who appeared to have 
 undergone a certain amount of musical training, but 
 who, like young recruits, require a methodical drill. 
 The music selected for the service was certainly heavy, 
 and did not show off the voices to the best advantage. 
 Population, 4,001. Net income, £267, and house. 
 
 St. James's, Clerkenwell. — Re-opening of church, 
 Friday morning, October 13th, 1882. Hundredth 
 Psalm (old version). Prayers read, but responses 
 partly intoned and partly chanted. Venite, Psalms, 
 and Jubilate chanted. Te Deum (service). Anthem 
 after third collect, " O taste and see " (Goss). Hymn 
 previous to sermon, and hymn "Ancient and 
 Modern " during the offertory. The Lord Mayor and 
 
Churches outside the City. 183 
 
 Sheriffs attended the re-opening in state, and the Rev. 
 Canon Duckworth preached to a congregation that 
 crammed the building to its utmost capacity. The 
 hymn-singing was of a very enthusiastic character, 
 and, for so large a gathering, well in tune. 
 
 St. John the Evangelist, Westminster. — Trinity 
 Sunday morning, May 20th, 1883. Hymn. Prayers 
 read. No choir. Venite, Te Deum, Psalms, and 
 Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third collect and at 
 the close of prayers. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Hymn previous to sermon. "Ancient and 
 Modern " Hymn-book used. The singing throughout 
 the service was of the congregational type, and very 
 well sustained. Population, 10,859. Gross income, 
 ,£280, and house. 
 
 St. James, Piccadilly. — It has been said that, 
 so far as architecture is concerned, in this church 
 " extremes meet." The exterior is of red brick, with 
 stone quoins, and of a mean and ugly aspect ; while 
 the interior is light, airy, elegant, and, in fact, a master- 
 piece of a great master. The beautiful foliage over 
 the altar is the work of Grinling Gibbons. The 
 church was completed just 200 years ago, and almost 
 immediately after, the organ, built by Renatus Harris, 
 was presented by Queen Mary, having been before "in 
 ye Greate Chappell at Whitehall, which heretofore ye 
 Papists possessed." In 1852 an entirely new inside 
 
184 Churches outside the City. 
 
 was put to the instrument, with the exception of a 
 fine metal stopped diapason, and the front open 
 diapason, which are retained. The handsome old case 
 is also preserved. There are now thirty-six sounding- 
 stops distributed among three manuals and pedal. 
 The services differ so little from those of Hanover 
 Square as not to need special mention. Population, 
 11,472. Gross income, £1,150, and house. 
 
 St. Leonard's, Shoreditch. — Sunday morning, 
 November 4th, 1883. Prayers partly intoned. A 
 surpliced choir of twenty-four voices. Yenite, Psalms, 
 Te Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Responses some- 
 what in the style of Tallis. Hymn after third collect, 
 previous to sermon, and during the offertory. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue, and Marbeck's rendering 
 of the Nicene Creed. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn- 
 book used. 
 
 Sunday Evening, October 29th, 1882. Prayers in- 
 toned. Surpliced choir of twenty-two voices. Psalms 
 chanted. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (services). 
 Hymns after third collect, previous to sermon, and 
 during the offertory. Revised edition of " Ancient 
 and Modern " Hymn-book used. Population of St. 
 Leonard, 13,106. Net income, £472. 
 
 Note. — Considering the large number of residents 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of the church and 
 the efficient manner in which the services are usually 
 
Churches outside the City. 185 
 
 performed, the adult attendance on the evening in 
 question was out of proportion small. Xo lack of 
 children ; some of them very noisy. 
 
 St. Mary, Newington. — Holy Thursday, May 
 3rd, 1883. Evening. Prayers intoned. Surpliced 
 choir of twenty-six voices. Psalms chanted. Magni- 
 ficat and Kunc Dimittis (services). Anthem after 
 third collect. Hymn at close of prayers, and hymn 
 during the offertory. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn- 
 book used. Population of St. Mary, 9,777. Ket 
 income, £ 1,600 and house. 
 
 St. Margaret, Westminster. — Sunday morning, 
 July 24th, 1881. Prayers read. A surpliced choir 
 of twenty-four voices. Psalms read. Te Deum and 
 Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third collect. Litany 
 read. Hymn at the conclusion of prayers. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue. Hymn previous to ser- 
 mon. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn-book used. 
 Memorial sermon on the death of Dean Stanley. A 
 large congregation. The population of St. Margaret, 
 as recently stated, is 5,032. Gross income, £500, and 
 house. 
 
 St. Mary, Eectory, Lambeth. — Sunday morning, 
 June 19th, 1881. Prayers read. Psalms also read 
 throughout. Te Deum sung very imperfectly. Hymn 
 after third collect. Litany read. Hymn at the close 
 of morning prayer. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 
186 Churches outside the City. 
 
 logue. Hymn r previous to sermon, and musical re- 
 sponses during the offertory. "Hymnal Companion" 
 used. It ought to be observed, although the monotone 
 was not practised during any part of the service, the 
 reading throughout was of a highly finished stamp, 
 and very effective withal. The music certainly was 
 not of a very advanced type, but it appeared to suit 
 the congregation, who joined heartily in the hymns. 
 His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury took for his 
 text, " Luke the Physician," it being Hospital Sunday. 
 The gross income of the parish is a large one, viz., 
 .£1,560, and house, but the population is large also, 
 viz., 13,723, a more than ordinary proportion of 
 whom belong to the humble classes. 
 
 Sunday Morning, March 23rd, 1884. Prayers read. 
 A native choir of male and female voices. Venite 
 and Jubilate chanted. Psalms read. Te Deum 
 (service). Five hymns were sung during the service, 
 which was special, owing to the induction of a new 
 rector. 
 
 St. Martin-in-the-Fields. — August 21st, 1881. 
 Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of twenty-four 
 voices. Venite and Psalms chanted. Te Deum sung 
 in unison by choir and congregation. Benedictus 
 chanted. Hymn after third collect, and at the close 
 of prayers. Musical responses to the Decalogue, and 
 Marbeck's accompaniment to the Nicene Creed, by 
 choir alone. Hymn during the offertory. 
 
Churches outside the City. 187 
 
 On Monday Evening, September 26th, a " Memorial 
 Service" on the death of President Garfield took 
 place. The choir was strengthened for the occasion. 
 Appropriate chants and hymns were selected, and for 
 the Anthem, " The trumpet shall sound " (Handel). 
 The church was crowded to overflowing, and the 
 Dead March in " Saul " closed the service. 
 
 During the Lenten season there were services every 
 "Wednesday evening. On these occasions Prayers and 
 Psalms were read. Surpliced choir of twenty voices. 
 Magnificat and Kunc Dimittis chanted. Hymn 
 previous to sermon and hymn after, (all kneeling). 
 
 Sunday Morning, August 20th, 1882. Prayers 
 partly intoned. Surpliced choir of sixteen voices. 
 Venite, Te Deum, and Benedictus chanted in unisons 
 or octaves. Hymn after third collect, at close of 
 prayers, and during the offertory. Harmonized re- 
 sponses to the Decalogue. The Nicene Creed as 
 arranged by Goss. " Church Hymns " used. Plenty 
 of singing, but dreamy, and for the most part in- 
 effective. 
 
 St. Maryleboxe. — Sunday morning, September 
 17th, 1882. Prayers read. Yenite, Psalms, Te Deum, 
 Jubilate and Aniens chanted. Hymn at close of 
 prayers, and hymn before sermon. Musical responses 
 to the Decalogue. The choir, so to speak, consisted 
 of twelve girls, equally divided by the organ. These 
 
188 Churches outside the City. 
 
 were supported by a few male voices. The church 
 was nearly filled, and the congregation joined heartily 
 in the music selected for the service. " Church Psalter 
 and Hymn-book " used. The population of this parish 
 is estimated at 25,000. Gross income, £1,270. 
 
 St. Mary, Whitechapel. — Sunday morning, 
 February 25th, 1883. Prayers read. Venite, Bene- 
 dicite, Jubilate, and Psalms chanted. A choir of 
 thirty-two voices. Hymn after third collect, at close 
 of prayers, and conclusion of sermon. Musical re- 
 sponses to the Decalogue. "Hymnal Companion" 
 used. 
 
 Note. — This newly-built church — consequent upon 
 the destruction of the pre-existing one by fire — is not 
 only capacious, but admirably adapted to the condi- 
 tion of the neighbourhood. As on the morning in 
 question, so on every Sunday throughout the year, the 
 attendances are, as a rule, remarkably good. The 
 singing is quite of a congregational cast, hearty 
 and well-sustained. Gross income, <£500, and house. 
 The population of the parish of St. Mary rather 
 above 15,000. 
 
 St. Matthew, Denmark Hill. — Sunday morning, 
 October 14th, 1883. Prayers and Psalms read. A 
 surpliced choir of sixteen voices. Venite, Te 
 Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect, at close of prayers, and previous to sermon. 
 
Churches outside the City. 189 
 
 "Church Hymns" used. Musical responses to the Deca- 
 logue. Singing throughout well sustained by a large 
 congregation. Gross income, £740. Population, 
 4,051. 
 
 St. Olave, Soutiiwark. — Sunday morning, June 
 16th,1883. Prayers intoned. Surpliced choir of twenty- 
 six voices. Yenite, Psalms, Te Deum, and Jubilate 
 chanted. Hymn after third collect, at the close of 
 prayers, before sermon, and during the offertory. 
 " Ancient and Modern " Hymn-book used. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue, and Doxology after the 
 Gospel. Population of St. Olave, 3,780. Gross in- 
 come, £628, and house. 
 
 St. Pancras. — Palm Sunday, morning service, 
 1884. Prayers and Psalms read. No choir. Yenite, Te 
 Deum, and Benedicite, omnia opera, chanted. Hymn 
 after third collect, at close of prayers, and previous to 
 sermon. Musical responses to Decalogue, and Doxo- 
 logies before and after Gospel. " Hymnal Companion" 
 used. 
 
 Note. — St. Pancras church, which occupied three 
 years in building, was completed in 1822, at a cost of 
 £76,679 7s. 8d. Yery recently about £5,000 have 
 been expended in repairs and "touching-up." One 
 would imagine from this, that the musical services 
 here belong to the high type. Not so, however ; they 
 are "simple to simplicity." The congregations are 
 
190 Churches outside the City. 
 
 always large, the singing well in tune from every part 
 of the sacrecl edifice. A few children in charity attire 
 placed beside the organ, and tolerably well-trained, 
 keep the melody prominent enough to guide the con- 
 gregation. It is said that the effort of a few in- 
 fluential parishioners to establish a surpliced choir was 
 crushed in the bud, the great bulk preferring to "let 
 well alone." Population, 17,201. Gross income, 
 £1,200. 
 
 Old St. Pancras. — This, among other notable 
 events in its ancient history, is spoken of as the last 
 church in the Metropolis at which the Poman Catholic 
 service, pure and simple, was performed. Of late years 
 the now unpretending edifice has been repaired, and 
 the service is conducted upon nearly the same lines as 
 its more stupendous namesake in the Euston Poad. 
 
 St. Paul, Clapham. — Sunday morning, May 6th, 
 1883. Prayers read. No choir. Venite, Psalms, 
 Te Deum, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after third 
 collect, and hymn previous to sermon. "Hymnal 
 Companion " used. A large congregation. The sing- 
 ing throughout the service was general and hearty. 
 Population of St. Paul, 5,025. Income from pew 
 rents, £300. 
 
 St. Paul, Great Portland Street. — Sunday 
 morning, June 10th, 1883. Prayers intoned. Sur- 
 
Churches outside the City. 191 
 
 pliced choir of sixteen voices. Venite and Psalms 
 
 chanted. Te Deum and Jubilate (services). Hymn 
 
 after third collect and at close of prayers. Litany 
 (Tallis). No Communion service. 
 
 St. Paul, Deptford. — Sunday morning, January 
 13th, 1884. Prayers, Responses, and Aniens intoned. 
 A surpliced choir of thirty voices. Venite, Psalms, 
 and Jubilate chanted. Te Deum (service). Hymn 
 after third collect and at close of prayers. Musi- 
 cal responses to the Decalogue. Sanctus before 
 and after Gospel. Hymn during offertory. " Ancient 
 and Modern " Hymn-book used. Gross income 
 of the living, £500, and house. Population of the 
 parish, 17,000. 
 
 St. Philip, Regent Street. — Sunday morning, 
 July 23rd, 1882. Prayers read. Responses intoned. 
 Surpliced choir of twenty voices. Venite, Psalms, and 
 Jubilate chanted. Te Deum (service). Hymn after 
 third collect and at close of prayers. Musical re- 
 sponses to the Decalogue. Nicene Creed chanted. 
 Choral selections from Communion service during the 
 offertory. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn-book 
 used. 
 
 St. Peter, Eaton Square. — Sunday evening, May 
 21st, 1882. Processional hymn by a surpliced choir 
 of thirty voices. Prayers intoned. Versicles (Tallis). 
 
192 Churches outside the City. 
 
 Psalms chanted. Magnificat (service by Elvey), 
 Nunc Dimittis (Croft). Anthem after third collect, 
 " But Thou didst not leave," and chorus, " Lift up 
 your heads" (Handel). Hymn previous to sermon, 
 and hymn during the offertory. " Ancient and 
 Modern " Hymn-book used. 
 
 This large church was crowded, and the singing on 
 the part of the congregation was well sustained. A 
 grand performance on the organ lengthened the stay 
 of many after the Benediction was pronounced. 
 
 St. Paul, Covent Garden. — Sunday morning, 
 April 15th, 1883. Prayers read throughout. Venite, 
 Te Deum, Psalms, and Benedictus chanted. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue. Two hymns previous to 
 sermon, and one during the offertory. "Church 
 Hymns" used. The choir consisted of six treble 
 voices and three adult. Quite enough for a resonant 
 Ibuilding, not half filled with worshippers. Population, 
 4,376. Gross income, £500 and house. 
 
 St. Stephen, Westminster. — Sunday morning, 
 October 29th, 1882. Prayers intoned. A choir of 
 twenty-six voices. Venite, Psalms, Te Deum, and 
 Benedicite, omnia opera, chanted. Hymn at the 
 close of prayers. Decalogue read. Responses, musi- 
 cal. Gloria (Goss). Short organ interlude previous 
 to sermon. Hymn during the offertory. "Church 
 Hymns " sung. 
 
Churches outside the City. 193 
 
 ZS"ote. — This church, situated in Rochester Row, 
 Tothill Fields, was erected at the sole expense of the 
 present Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1849. It is a 
 beautiful specimen of modern Gothic. The tower, 
 however, interferes with the harmony of the building 
 inside, but the details are in excellent keeping with 
 the structure as a whole. All the seats are free, as the 
 ordinary attendants at St. Stephen's belong not to the 
 wealthy class. The altar-cloth was presented by the 
 " Great Duke of Wellington,'' on the completion of 
 the building. A short time since the population of 
 this district was estimated beyond 7,000. It cannot 
 be said that the musical portion of Sunday services 
 here is in the general of a very ambitious character, 
 yet it could easily be improved to the benefit of con- 
 gregational singing. Xet income, £500, and house. 
 
 St. Saviour, Soutiiwark. — After Westminster 
 Abbey, it is said, "St. Saviour contains the finest 
 specimens of Early English in the Metropolis." For- 
 merly it was known as the Church of St. Mary 
 Overy, and was first erected into a parish church 
 by Henry VIII. , in 1540. Nothing, however, re- 
 mains of the old church but the choir and the Lady 
 Chapel. In the time of Mary, the Lady Chapel was 
 used as a consistorial court. Efforts are now being 
 made to revert to the old name, St. Mary Overy, but 
 for what beneficial purpose it is not clear. It had a 
 meaning formerly which cannot be applied now. In 
 
194 Churches outside the City. 
 
 the old map of London, before referred to, at the 
 Chapter House, Westminster, this priory stood at the 
 foot of the only bridge across the Thames, and a very 
 conspicuous object it was, as everything at the back 
 bore the appearance of a marshy outspread, with 
 scarce a house or a tree to relieve its sameness. 
 Matters are wonderfully altered now. The same 
 church, however, holds an important position among 
 the hundreds with which the metropolis is surrounded. 
 The organ was built in 1703; the great and 
 choir had originally "short octaves GG." In 1818 
 these were converted into " long octaves," and the 
 organ considerably enlarged. Since then repeated 
 alterations have occurred, and the magnificent old case 
 exchanged for one designed by the architect of. the 
 building. In 1841 the organ was removed from its 
 previous position between the transepts to the west 
 end of the new nave, just then rebuilt on the site of 
 the old one. It contains twenty-eight sounding stops. 
 The musical service of the church just now is of a very 
 undecided character. St. Saviour has no choir, but 
 a picked band of boys lead, so to speak, the singing. 
 Example : Sunday morning, September 3rd, 1882. 
 Prayers read. Yenite, Psalms, and Te Deum chanted. 
 Responses, an admixture of reading and monotone. 
 Versicles " collated from ancient usages." Hymn at 
 the close of third collect and before sermon. Musical 
 responses to the Decalogue. " Hymnal Companion " 
 
Churches outside the Cit;J. 195 
 
 used. The singing throughout was boisterous, and 
 gave evidence that the singing-master has got some- 
 thing to do before St. Saviour's Church becomes a 
 pro-cathedral. 
 
 The Foundling Hospital. — The services at this 
 excellent institution, both in form and effect, vary but 
 little from " year's end to year's end." Nowhere in 
 England can such a large body of boys and girls be 
 seen and heard to sing in chorus so welL Their train- 
 ing is evident, and the ease and correctness with which 
 they take up and sustain their parts in a chorus — not 
 always easy — cannot fail to strike the attentive 
 listener with admiration and surprise. Six profes- 
 sional soloists, a good organ — built by Bevington, 
 with forty-nine sounding stops — and a first-class per- 
 former on the instrument, is a sufficient guarantee 
 respecting the Sunday music at this place. The 
 prayers are usually read ; the Te Deum, Jubilate, 
 Nunc Dimittis, &c, are sung to services the Psalms 
 and responses chanted, and the hymns fitted to 
 tunes suitable for the congregation. The title of the 
 book used is, " Hymns and Anthems for the Foundling 
 Hospital" (pp. 250). 
 
 Greenwich with St. Mary. — Sunday morning, 
 
 March 30th, 1884. Prayers read, responses intoned. 
 
 A surpliced choir of twenty- four voices. Venite, Te 
 
 Deum, Psalms, and Jubilate chanted. Hymn after 
 
 third collect, at close of prayers, and previous to 
 
196 Churches outside lite City. 
 
 sermon. Musical responses to Decalogue. Musical 
 sentences by choir alone during the offertory. All the 
 hymns and chants being simple and appropriate, the 
 congregation — a very large one — maintained the vocal 
 portion of the service throughout with effect. "Ancient 
 and Modern " Hymn-book used. Population of the 
 joint parishes, 10,110. Net income, £700, and house. 
 
 Holy Trinity, Marylebone.— Sunday morning, 
 September 23rd, 1883. Prayers and Psalms read. 
 ^No professional choir. Venite, Te Deum, and Jubilate 
 chanted. Hymn after third collect, at close of prayers, 
 previous to sermon, and at its conclusion. " Church 
 Hymns " used. The only music at the Communion 
 service was the Gloria before the Gospel. The sing- 
 ing throughout the morning was uniformly general, 
 and well sustained by a large congregation. Gross 
 income of the living, £1,030, and house. Population 
 of the parish rather more than 14,000. 
 
 Whitehall. — Sunday morning, August 13th, 1882. 
 Prayers intoned. A surpliced choir of twelve voices. 
 "Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus, and Psalms chanted. 
 Hymn after third collect, at close of prayers, and be- 
 fore sermon. Litany responses in monotone, with a 
 muttering organ accompaniment. Both the Apostolic 
 and Nicene Creeds treated in a similar fashion. In 
 each case the organ was, to the worshipper's ear, an 
 intruder. Appropriate musical responses to the 
 Decalogue. " Ancient and Modern " Hymn-book used. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 The Psalm Chant. 
 
 When Music heavenly Maid was young, 
 
 First fear his hand,' its skill to try, 
 Amidst the chords bewilder'd laid, 
 And back recoil'd, he knew not why 
 Ev'n at the sound himself had made. 
 
 Collins, 1750. 
 
 Proper Mode of Using Psalms — Defective Methods of 
 Chanting — Frivolous Objections to the Use of the 
 Chant — Its Suitability to English Church Worship — 
 Its Construction and Character — Sir F. Gore Ouseley's 
 System — Authors of the Anglican Chant — Double 
 Chants Condemned — Rhythm — St. Paul's Cathedral 
 and Westminster Abbey Chants Contrasted — Dr. 
 Stephen Elvey's Theory of Chanting. 
 
 1 
 
 MOXG the many advances in the music of the 
 Church it would be strange indeed if more 
 accurate ideas of the character and value of 
 the psalm chant than those of bygone days were not 
 continually unfolding themselves. At present, how- 
 
198 The Psalm Chant, 
 
 ever, there are large spaces open for cultivation of a 
 rudimentary kind, and still larger for bringing up 
 church congregations to represent fitly this important 
 part of public worship. People are, happily, finding out 
 that the proper mode of using psalms is to sing them, 
 and that to talk of reading psalms is just as ridiculous 
 as to talk of reading songs. The great impediment at 
 present existing is the defective alliance between the 
 words and the music, sometimes arising from bad 
 pointing, and sometimes from a careless, not to say 
 malignant, perverseness of imperfectly educated 
 choirs in dwelling upon a trivial syllable, and then 
 crowding a long and important .word into a single 
 note. Singing of this kind cannot fail to sound 
 irreverent, and hence many serious and devoted per- 
 sons have conceived a prejudice against chanting of 
 every description. It is well, however, to know, 
 when this, the Church's peculiar song, is properly per- 
 formed, their objections vanish, and the chant ap- 
 pears in its true character of a reverent recitation, 
 relieved by short phrases of melody. 
 
 comes with large claims upon the national wor- 
 shipper. It is suited to the English language, to the 
 English character and taste, to the English Church 
 service, and to English churches. It is semi-rhythmi- 
 cal, and is composed essentially of seven bars of 
 simple harmonized melody, divided into two parts by 
 •double bar, which corresponds with the colon in the 
 
The Psalm Chant. 199- 
 
 middle of every verse in the Psalms " pointed for 
 chanting." The first note of each portion of the chant 
 is of indefinite length, giving simply the pitch of the 
 notes, on which are distinctly recited so much of each 
 verse of the psalms as are not appropriated to the re- 
 maining bars. These last are sung in strict time, and 
 ■contain two notes each, except the concluding bar of 
 •each division, which contains, but one note. In the 
 rhythmical portions of the chant it is desirable to have 
 but one note to each syllable, and one syllable to each 
 note. As this cannot always be done without sacri- 
 -ficing sense to sound, various plans have been devised 
 to accommodate the non-rhythmical words to the 
 rhythmical notes. But, like putting round pegs into 
 square holes, the attempts at accommodation have 
 been about as successful. 
 
 Sir F. G. Ouseley, the present Professor of Music at 
 the University of Oxford, says : " In every system 
 one great principle of chanting should be observed. 
 It is this : to make the Psalms intelligible, without 
 detriment to the choral effect, it is desirable to recite 
 on the first, or reciting note, slowly and deliberately, 
 minding the stops and the accents of the words as in 
 good elocution. Coming to the rhythmical portion of 
 the chant a tolerably brisk pace should be adopted, so 
 as to bring the speech of the syllabic utterance as near 
 as possible to the uniformity in the various parts of 
 the chant. It is, therefore, a sad departure from this 
 
i 
 200 The Psalm Chant 
 
 great principle, and sadly subversive of the sense of 
 the words, to gabble over the recitation, as is too often 
 done, and then drawl through the inflected bars as 
 though they were a dirge unconnected with what went 
 before." 
 
 Whatever the doubts and mysteries clustering about 
 the origin and nationality of psalm tunes, there can be 
 no doubt respecting the authors of the Anglican chant. 
 Thomas Tallis and Richard Farrant were essentially 
 English composers of church music, and their chants 
 have always been regarded as models of style and fit- 
 ness. They were contemporaneous, and both died in 
 the year 1585. The examples of each, given in almost 
 every chant-book, will be sufficient to corroborate 
 what is here stated respecting them. 
 
 For many years after their death very few com- 
 posers of psalm chants made their appearance. Pel- 
 ham Humphreys, who died in 1674, at the age of 
 twenty-seven, had the good fortune of obtaining the 
 appellative " grand " to a changeable chant, and it is 
 so dignified at this day, notwithstanding the legion 
 which find their way into printed collections. The 
 beauty and simplicity which characterize the early 
 masters suffer not in the smallest degree by contact 
 with the more ostentatious double chant, many of 
 which contain an undue admixture of the ornate style, 
 and, consequently, are less fitted for so important a 
 part of a solemn public service, in which the entire 
 
The Psalm Chant. 201 
 
 congregation are invited to join, but are frequently 
 shy in attempting music, for them too crooked, if not 
 too classic. Moreover, double chants have been con- 
 demned, not merely from their having originated in a 
 blunder, but because they are utterly opposed to the 
 parallelism of the Hebrew poetry, and, consequently, 
 interfere with the sense of the Psalter. 
 
 Dr. Crotch, Mr. Atwood, and a few others, have 
 displayed considerable ingenuity in the construction of 
 chants, " Recte in Retro." Here and there one pre- 
 ponderates with octaves, and Mr. Havergal has 
 written one in double counterpoint. All this looks 
 large, and sounds grandly to refined musical culture, 
 but, to another set of tastes and feelings, the charm 
 of the whole thing vanishes upon consideration of 
 its questionable aptitude for a solemn religious 
 service. 
 
 pSTote. — Although the learned Oxford Professor 
 condemned the composition of double chants, he is 
 charged with " doubling the double." A quadruple 
 chant, though not exactly a new invention, is regarded 
 as a novelty, and is sought after by some choristers 
 who at times like to travel out of the beaten track. 
 It is, as its name implies, the single chant twice 
 doubled, and is fitted to psalm verses, or the Te 
 Deum, in the ratios of four, eight, twelve, &c. The 
 rhythm and phrasing are the same as in the double 
 chant, but include a greater variety of melody. In 
 
202 The Psalm Chant. 
 
 fact it somewhat resembles the hymn tunes of eight- 
 line measure. Quadruple counterpoint may be de- 
 fined as a composition in four parts, which follow 
 each other in unbroken succession.] 
 
 A great deal of learned talk has been expended 
 upon the strict meaning of the word " Rhythm." No 
 less an authority than Plato defines it as "the order 
 of movement," and the greatest English intellectual 
 lion of the last century interprets the meaning to be, 
 "proportion applied to any motion whatever ; " but 
 Dr. Johnson was not a very musical man, or he might 
 have said, in music it is that measure which results 
 from the equal combination of time with the dif- 
 ference of movements, whether rapid or slow. In 
 other words, rhythm is musical punctuation and little 
 else. 
 
 Somewhere about the middle of the present century, 
 Mr. Goss, then organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, pub- 
 lished a book of 270 cathedral chants — ancient and 
 modern — in score, with an accompaniment for the 
 organ or pianoforte ; and instructions for properly 
 adapting the words of the Psalter to the chant. Sub- 
 sequently a committee, so to speak, of thoroughly 
 qualified persons discussed the matter fully, and the 
 result was "The Westminster Abbey Chant Book," 
 which now is regarded as a model work upon the 
 subject, yet not up to the standard of perfection. 
 
 Many years previous hereto the psalm chant had 
 
The Psalm Chant 203 
 
 engaged the deepest thought and attention of Dr. 
 Stephen Elvey, Organist and Choragus of the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford. His method of pointing the 
 Psalms, though possessed of novelties, hard at first to 
 sanction, went to the very root of the subject, and 
 grappled with difficulties not easy to be overcome, for, 
 let some writers say what they will, there are diffi- 
 culties still remaining, and likely to remain. When 
 it is considered that there are 2,496 verses in the 
 Psalms, each containing two parts, and that a con- 
 siderable number of these present more or less diffi- 
 culty, surprise will not be felt at the trouble and 
 thought necessary to decide in so many cases where a 
 hair would turn the scale and avoid inconsistency 
 between the several decisions. As an illustration of 
 this, there is one verse capable of being pointed in 
 eight different ways. The only way for setting the 
 Psalms well for chanting, says the Doctor, would be 
 to " alter the translation with a special view to 
 this object." Many persons who have not the 
 courage to look difficulties in the face, pretend they 
 belong to the imaginary class, and dismiss the matter 
 with wondrous ease and brevity, e.g., " The Psalter 
 has been so pointed that it may be read with pleasure, 
 as well as sung with ease." If this be so, many clever 
 musicians and eminently great scholars have expended 
 a considerable portion of their lifetime without a pro- 
 portionate reward for their labours. Mr. Turle, in 
 
204 The Psalm Chant 
 
 his preface to the " Psalter and Canticles " published 
 by the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge (1865), says: "With regard to the pointing of 
 the words of the Psalms, so perplexing a variety has 
 arisen, from existing pointed Psalters having been 
 arranged upon no definite principle, that it seemed 
 advisable to recur to at once, and carry out con- 
 sistently and uniformly, the old and original principle 
 laid down by Dr. Boyce in his ' Cathedral Music ' 
 (vol. i., p. 2). He, nevertheless, agrees with Dr. 
 Elvey, that to point the Psalter for the purposes of 
 chanting is an undertaking of extreme difficulty and 
 delicacy. Not only is a thorough appreciation of the 
 spirit and emphasis of the words among the necessary 
 requirements, but, at the same time, a knowledge of 
 the nature and accents of the chants to be used 
 quite as indispensable, as well as that familiarity with 
 the best methods of setting w r ords to music which 
 none but a practised musician possesses, and the most 
 refined niceness of taste." 
 
 Furthermore, from the number of attempts by 
 " various hands " to render the Psalms both in- 
 telligible and effective in a musical sense, many 
 have been led to suppose that the task is surrounded 
 with extreme difficulties. Admirable scholars in 
 ecclesiastical matters have at different times endea- 
 voured to reduce pointing to a perfect system ; but 
 failure in this respect is proved by theories widely 
 
The Psalm Chant. 205 
 
 different, and with about the same amount of success. 
 In fact, no two theorists upon the subject are quite 
 agreed as to what may be regarded by the ordinary 
 intellect as the principle on which they are based, 
 although in the main they all pronounce good elocution 
 to be the model. This, it must be admitted, is but a 
 vague definition. Unfortunately the examples of 
 what might even pass muster for good elocution are 
 extremely rare in metropolitan pulpits. Ko one who 
 has attended the various English cathedral services as 
 a careful observer of this portion thereof, can but 
 have noticed a material difference in the pointing of 
 the Psalms. 
 
 Not many years since the subject was thoroughly 
 discussed by some of the most competent authorities in 
 London. Asa result " The Church Psalter " — the joint 
 production of the Pev. William Mercer and Mr. John 
 Goss, in 1860— gave place to the " Cathedral Psalter," 
 which was "pointed for chanting" by the Precentor 
 and a minor canon of Westminster, in conjunction 
 with the organists of "Westminster and St. Paul's. A 
 lay vicar also assisted in the arrangement. They 
 started with two very simple definitions, viz., recita- 
 tion and accented syllables. The recitation is very 
 properly insisted upon as being outside the chant, and 
 may be of any length, but on reaching the accented 
 syllable, and beginning with it, the music of the chant 
 commences in strict time, the upright strokes (in the 
 
206 The Plain Chant. 
 
 book) corresponding to the bars. Then follow a, 
 series of laws, with — as usual in every didactic work 
 — exceptions. As a whole, the system of pointing, as 
 here adopted, is considered by competent judges to be 
 the nearest approach to perfection yet discovered, or 
 at least practised in public worship. Another very 
 important feature is the attention paid to the lights 
 and shades which the different musical signs in 
 use indicate, from pp to ff, as well as in points 
 requiring more than the ordinary distinct accent. Thus 
 much, then, with reference to pointing. 
 
 The Plain Chant. 
 It is not quite so easy to trace the origin of this as 
 of the psalm chant. All writers who have devoted 
 any strict attention to the subject pronounce its great 
 antiquity. Some assert that it was brought from 
 Antioch by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, towards 
 the close of the fourth century. Others claim it as 
 the choral melody of the ancient Christians, derived 
 from the remains of the Grecian Melopora. The chief 
 peculiarity is its unrhythmical structure. It is not 
 so much a setting of words to music as an adaptation 
 of music to words. There are still some remains of 
 it in Italy, or, at least, what is considered as such ; 
 although competent judges, who have heard both the 
 G-regori&n and Ambrosian chants, failed to distinguish 
 any difference. The song of St. Ambrose, or — as the 
 
The Plain Chant 207 
 
 Prayer-book has it — the hymn called Te Deum 
 Laudamus is generally supposed to have been his 
 composition, although others attribute it to St. 
 Augustine. Neither one nor the other is entitled to 
 a greater part in it than a simple, melodic, and rudi- 
 mentary production. St. Gregory, in the sixth cen- 
 tury, is said to have improved the Ambrosian chant 
 by the addition of four plagal modes, and in various 
 other ways. After which it was called canto fermo, 
 or the established chant. Then came the canto 
 Jiymato, but this was soon abolished. Rousseau con- 
 siders what still remains of the canto fermo, although 
 differing from modem music, to possess a sufficient 
 degree of beauty and variety to interest an intelligent 
 hearer whose mind is free from prejudice, and sup- 
 poses it to have been originally fine until spoiled by 
 the unscientific ignorance of the illiterate primitive 
 Christians, who knew nothing of music, and sung the 
 prose of Scripture and a barbarous kind of verse 
 worse than prose, regardless either of rhythm or 
 cadence, until they rendered their melodies unmeaning 
 and ridiculous." 
 
 Padre Martini describes it as a monotonous succes- 
 sion of unisons and octaves, either in C major or its re- 
 lative minor. This was in the early ages of the Church, 
 but for a considerable period prior to the time of 
 Guido (a.d. 900), it was little else than a series of 
 consecutive fourths and fifths in notes of equal value. 
 
208 The Plain Chant. 
 
 The chant of the present day is a mixture of air and 
 recitation. It is true music, as it includes melody 
 and harmony, and extends over a large portion of 
 both morning and evening services. It is used for the 
 Preces,Versicles, Responses, Litany, Suffrages, Sursum 
 Corda, and the Aniens after the prayers, col- 
 lects, itc. 
 
 The figurative chant moved upon the plain chant, 
 thereby forming a subject for itself in a variety of 
 ways, chiefly in the canon or fugata style, even to the 
 preparation and resolution of discords. It was for- 
 bidden by Pope John XXII., on account of what he 
 considered its licentiousness, and in time it fell into 
 such disrepute that the Council of Trent was upon the 
 point of suppressing all music in churches, and Pope 
 Marcellus II. had come to the resolution wholly to 
 abolish it and restore the Gregorian chant in its room, 
 had it not been reformed by Palestrina about the year 
 1554. 
 
 The Canticle chants, as well as some others, are 
 rendered changeable according to the character of the 
 subject with which they are associated. The transi- 
 tion is from the major to the minor, or vice versa. 
 Sometimes, however, another chant is substituted, but 
 this change is attended with confusion other than with 
 skilled choirs. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Psalmody. 
 
 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, &c, 
 
 1 Chron. xvi., 9. 
 
 Delight in heavenly dwellers move ; 
 And since they cannot envy, love : 
 When they from this, our earthly sphere 
 Their own celestial music hear. 
 
 George Sandys, (1640). 
 
 Antiquity of Psalm Singing — Its praiseworthy character 
 — Fitness of Music to Words — Introduction of Psalm 
 Tunes to England — Early English Composers — Blythe- 
 man, Byrde, Tye, and Tallis— Epitaph on Tallis — 
 Pathetic Melodies and Patchy Compositions — Basis of 
 Early Psalmody — Practice of giving Names to Tunes — 
 Arrangers and Adapters— Abundance of English and 
 American Hymn Tunes contrasted — Edifying practice 
 of Psalm singing — Necessity of care — The Omnipotence 
 of Melody in Church Music. 
 
 FSALM singing is a portion of the history of the 
 Reformation — of that great religious revolu- 
 tion which separated for ever into two unequal 
 divisions the great establishment of Christianity. Its 
 origin, however, goes, much farther back than the Re- 
 
 o 
 
210 Psalmody. 
 
 formation, yea, to the times of the earliest apostles. 
 No less an authority than Archbishop Seeker speaks 
 of the practice of constant singing as a part of their 
 worship, a practice, too, in which the whole congrega- 
 tion joined. St. Jerome, in his seventeenth epistle to 
 Marcellus, says : "In Christian villages little else is to 
 be heard but Psalms ; for which way soever you turn 
 yourself, either you have the ploughman at his plough 
 singing Hallelujahs, the weary brewer refreshing him- 
 self with a psahn, or the vine-dresser chanting forth 
 somewhat of David's." Although these events occurred 
 long ago, Psalm singing has been adopted in this 
 country not very dissimilar many a time since, as 
 would seem, instinctively. Everybody is more or less 
 of a musician, though he or she knows it not. Singing 
 was part of the preparatory Pythagorean discipline. 
 Chrysostom observes : " God has joined music with 
 worship, that we might with cheerfulness and readi- 
 ness of mind express His praise in sacred hymns. " 
 Bishop Home says, " The heart may be weaned from 
 everything base and mean, and elevated to everything- 
 excellent and praiseworthy, by the service of song." 
 Psalmody, however simple, to be performed aright 
 must be done skilfully. It has its principles and lawsu- 
 it is a thing to be taught and learnt, to be cultivated 
 and improved, to be enriched by knowledge, purified 
 by taste, and perfected by practice-. The simplest, 
 plain, sound psalm tunes, sung by a body of pious and 
 
Psalmody. 211 
 
 instructed persons with taste, feeling, and practical 
 skill, would not only produce the richest musical 
 effect, but through this might become eminently and 
 effectively instruments of instructive and sanctifying 
 impressions. It is quite possible for the mass of a 
 congregation, in all senses, to " sing with the spirit 
 and the understanding also," for, as before observed, 
 everybody is more or less of a musician, though he or 
 she knows it not. In singing of the psalms, said the 
 late Dr. Cumming, " the whole congregation should 
 be one grand choir, each member so taking his part, 
 that there should be four leaders instead of one," 
 i.e. , they should be welded into one. 
 
 In order to effect this, the music chosen ought to 
 be thoroughly fitted to the words — melodious, easy, 
 solid and sublime. Imperfectly instructed masses, 
 need a precentor with a baton, but such an instru- 
 ment would but ill accord with the unobtrusive cha- 
 racter of a solemn worship. Tunes, therefore, delicate 
 in structure, and needing tints of colour for their 
 intended development, are not adapted for the uses of 
 a large congregation, how well soever they might 
 serve in the family circle. All will admit that 
 prophecy is a dangerous expenditure of the intellect, 
 but it requires no great stretch of foresight to pro- 
 nounce as general the use of a music-book as of a 
 psalter or prayer-book. The time is not far distant, 
 when England, a sa nation, shall delete the stain of in- 
 
212 Psalmody. 
 
 difference in that department of musical science which 
 has the supreme claim upon it, viz., " Praise in the 
 sanctuary." 
 
 Our early versifiers were doubtlessly supplied with 
 tunes from Germany. Beza himself states this in 
 a formal document, dated November 25th, 1552. Mr. 
 Havergal, in his history of the Old Hundredth, says 
 that Guillaume Franc composed the music to Stern- 
 hold's words, and that it may be found in the Geneva 
 edition of the English Psalter, dated 1561. A great 
 deal of learned as well as silly talk has been expended 
 upon this not very important matter. John 
 Douland has been accredited with the composition, 
 but his share in it extends no farther than the modifi- 
 cation of the tune by the use of bars, thus rendering 
 each strain more symmetrical. From the examples 
 
 Adaptation or Composition of the Old Hun- 
 dredth, ATTRIBUTED TO GUILLAUME FRANC, 
 
 1563. It was called a French Tune. 
 
 Mb-jk-— 
 
 
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 jnt_ip — 
 
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 -aH»- 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 "=1= 
 
 
 <s<— 
 
 -*$- 
 
 — <o 
 
 
 
 
 r3~ 
 
 J 
 
Psalmody. 213 
 
 John Doulaxd's Modification', which he after- 
 wards Harmonized. 
 
 ar , 
 
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 ninn 
 
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 given in old books it will be seen that the quickest 
 common time in ancient music was adopted. Its 
 character, a large C with a perpendicular stroke 
 drawn through it, is still retained, but the style is 
 quite obsolete. The words in the old version are of a 
 jubilant character, and doubtlessly they were sung 
 much quicker than they now are. 
 
 At what period bars were invented is unknown. 
 Mention is made of them as early as 1574, in Adrian 
 le Roy's book on the Tablature, but they were not in 
 general use for many years after. There are none in 
 Barnard's "Cathedral Music," published in 1641, but 
 in the airs and dialogues of Henry Lawes, published 
 in 1653, they are found throughout. It is, however, 
 generally believed that, prior to this, bars were used 
 to divide off a section or a period. 
 
 Did the design and scope of this work allow the 
 pen of the biographer to be exercised, what a bright 
 array of things noteworthy would present itself. 
 
214 Psalmody. 
 
 True it is, that among the very early composers of 
 church music the horizon appears dimly lit. Blithe- 
 man and Tye are, to men of the present generation, 
 barely visible, and even Farrant only noticed occa- 
 sionally. Such, however, cannot be said of Tallis. 
 He is now what he was 300 years ago, the polestar in 
 his particular orbit, and never likely to be eclipsed. 
 Marbeck, who first adjusted the melody of the 
 cathedral service to English words, owed much of his 
 fame to the harmonization of Tallis. But the most 
 wonderful display of harmonical ability may be seen 
 in his song of forty parts. This stupendous, though 
 perhaps Gothic specimen of human labour and intel- 
 lect is, so to speak, carried on in alternate flight, pur- 
 suit, and attack of choral union to the end, when the 
 polyphonic phenomenon is terminated by twelve bars 
 of universal chorus, in quadragintessimal harmony. 
 
 The rage — so to speak — " for adapting " Tallis to 
 the services of the church, displays itself in such a 
 variety of forms, that it is often difficult to determine 
 exactly what portion, unless analysed, really belongs 
 to him. Probably no composer of church music has 
 had 'such a run of patronage as " The old Master." 
 Unlike the gradual decline and final extinction of the 
 great majority even of great compositions, those of 
 Tallis point the other way. Nor is this seeming 
 anomaly hard to be accounted for. His music is an 
 inspiration, and so thoroughly adapted to the subject 
 
Psalmody. 215 
 
 and language with which it is yoked — so dissimilar to 
 any other — that it is " ever fresh, ever new," as one 
 generation after another affirms by the delight mani- 
 fested in hearing, or taking part in the same.* 
 
 The Rev. John Strype, in his continuation of 
 " Stow's Survey," says he found in the chancel of 
 Greenwich old church a brass plate, on which the fol- 
 lowing epitaph was engraved in Gothic letters. As it 
 is a very beautiful embodiment of history and truth 
 respecting this venerable musician, no apology is 
 needed for the space it here occupies. 
 
 Enterred here doth ly a worthy wyght, 
 
 Who for long time in musick bore the bell ; 
 
 His name to show was Thomas Tallis hyght, 
 
 In honest vertuous lyff he dyd excell. 
 
 He served long tjme in ehappel with grete prayse, 
 
 Fower sovereygnes reignes (a thing not often seene ;) 
 
 I mean King Henry and prince Edward's dayes, 
 
 Quene Maire, and Elizabeth our quene. 
 
 He maryed was, though children he had none, 
 
 And lyv'd in love full three and thirty yeres 
 
 With loyal spowse, whose name yclept wa3 Jone, 
 
 Who here entombed him company now bears. 
 
 As he dyd lyve, so also dyd he dy, 
 
 In myld and quyet sort, O happy man ! 
 
 To God ful oft for mercy dyd he cry, 
 
 Wherefore he lyves, let Deth do what he can. 
 
 * Novello has published Tallis in such an intelligible form, 
 and at a cost so trifling, that the merest tyro, able to run a few 
 paces in the path of musical notation, may read and understand 
 him without the undergo of any severe mental distressings. 
 
216 Psalmody. 
 
 Among the early psalm composers of note, William 
 Byrde ought not to be overlooked, although a psalm 
 tune with his name attached is rarely to be met with. 
 Dr. Burney classes him with the foremost musicians 
 of his time. In 1588, Byrde published his first 
 production to English words, under the title of 
 " Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, of 
 five parts." At the back of this title he gives 
 "Reasons briefly set downe by th' Auctor to per- 
 suade everyone to learn to sing." His reasoning is as. 
 conclusive now as it was 300 years ago : for example ; 
 " There is not any musicke of instruments whatso- 
 ever comparable to that which is made of the voyces 
 of men, where the voyces are good, and the same 
 well sorted and ordered. The better the voyce is, 
 the meeter it is to honour and serve God therewith ; 
 and the voyce of man is chiefly to be employed to 
 that end — Omnis sjriritus laudet Dominium. 
 
 Since singing is so good a thing, 
 
 I wish all men would learn to sing." 
 
 Bishop Jewell, writing to Peter Martyr (Pro- 
 testant Reformer), in 1560, says, "Not only the 
 churches in the neighbourhood, but the towns far 
 distant, began to vie with each other in the same 
 practice. You may now sometimes see at St. Paul's 
 Cross, after the service, 6,000 people, old and young, 
 of both sexes, all singing together, and praising God." 
 
Psalmody. 2 IT 
 
 Sir John Hawkins, two centuries later, observes,. 
 " The time is hardly beyond the reach of some per- 
 sons living, when Psalmody was considered a de- 
 lightful exercise, and that a passenger on Sunday 
 evening, from St. Paul's to Aldgate, would have 
 heard the family in most houses on his way occu- 
 pied in singing psalms." 
 
 Like many other compositions that possess an es- 
 tablished popularity, the Old Hundredth has not 
 escaped much and cruel torture at the hands of dull 
 anatomists and unskilful surgeons ; their pulling to 
 pieces and resetting have in many instances left but 
 a shaky impression of what the old psalm looked like 
 when it • was clothed with the harmonies of 
 Douland. There are very few collections of tunes 
 worthy the name that omit the "Old Hundredth," 
 and there are as few that resemble each other, except, 
 perhaps, in pitching them in the key of A major. One 
 of these adapters justifies the adoption of turning 
 things inside out and upside down, in the prefatory 
 address of his book : — " In the Church of England, 
 the model for composing a psalm tune was formed 
 about the time of the Reformation, and is still 
 adhered to with very few exceptions. But its style 
 is so antiquated and monotonous, that cultivated 
 genius and refined taste have become satiated with its 
 dulness and insipidity. The model itself, however 
 pleasing it might have been in those days, will be 
 
218 Psalmody. 
 
 found to be little else than a succession of chords with- 
 out any reference whatever to melody or pathos, and 
 any musical composition, however ingenious in point 
 of theoretical construction, without these requisites 
 will never win the uncultivated ear. In this system 
 the composers of our church psalmody have so con- 
 stantly persevered, that they have either conceived it 
 impossible to improve this model, or that they have 
 never given the subject one moment's reflection." 
 
 Now this criticism is only correct in part, and that 
 a very small part. It could easily be shown that 
 some of the early tunes were of French origin, formed 
 upon a model differing materially from that of the 
 German. It could be shown too, that the English 
 model varied considerably, and that psalm composers 
 sprang up from unexpected quarters. In 1579, John 
 Day published " The Psalms of David in English 
 metre with notes in four parts." In a subsequent 
 edition, he says, the " highest part singeth the melody 
 or tune" which in all other psalters was given to the 
 tenor, or part next the bass. In 1585, " Musicke of 
 five and six parts made upon the common tunes used 
 in singing of the psalmes, by John Cosyn," was printed 
 by John Wolfe. About ten years afterwards " A 
 collection of church tunes set chiefly for instruments, 
 in which the air has the highest part," was published 
 by Mr. Allison, a musician of some note. This was 
 a large volume, and met with so much success, that 
 
Psalmody. 219 
 
 within five years a reprint was needed. But the 
 greatest luminary of the age was Thomas Ravenscroft. 
 He seems to have spared no pains in collecting the 
 choicest tunes of the best composers, and had them 
 properly arranged in four parts. After this came 
 Playford's collection, which maintained a long stand- 
 ing, both on account of the variety and fitness of 
 music to verse. 
 
 Since the middle of the eighteenth century, com- 
 posers and harmonizers of psalm tunes have appeared 
 in such numerical force, that they would far exceed the 
 list of Homer's ships, and not a few of these com- 
 posers, so called, constructed their musical production 
 upon models that the ancient writers would be 
 ashamed to own, and modern ones would not care to 
 possess. The plan proposed by the aforesaid critic 
 for pathetic singing is radically bad, and the inter- 
 weaving of pathetic melodies of the great masters 
 with the ordinary score of a psalm tune has been tried 
 again and again, but without any success. The reason 
 is obvious. It is not too much to say that the Passion 
 music of the Messiah, and other pathetic solos of the 
 great masters, would fail altogether of their intended 
 purpose were they not entrusted to artists of the 
 highest attainments. Moreover, as they were con- 
 structed for no other purpose and position than they 
 are assigned to, and found, violence is offered to design 
 by the transfer of it to compositions altogether out 
 
220 Psalmody. 
 
 of keeping. Handel wrote very few psalrn or hymn 
 tunes, although in the various collections extant he is 
 fathered with many. Some disclaim his paternity 
 of the 104th, and not without reason. Be this 
 as it may, no one in his musical senses will pro- 
 nounce the composition as " antiquated, dull, or 
 insipid," for it is really a miracle of freshness, vitality, 
 and pathos combined, — whether Handel or Croft. 
 Doubtlessly German chorales formed the bases of 
 many an early psalm tune, and in some old books 
 this is acknowledged. When the time came for 
 native talent to pronounce itself, the initials of the 
 composer were generally affixed — thus, T. R. repre- 
 sented Thomas Ravenscroft ; T. T., Thomas Tallis ; 
 T. M., Thomas Morley ; J. M., John Milton, father 
 of the poet ; J. D., John Douland, &c, &c. This 
 plan was adopted by the writers of the Psalter, as 
 may be seen by reference to the Psalms at the end 
 of the Prayer-book. Here it may not be amiss to 
 observe that the initials in both instances are fre- 
 quently stated to be not strictly correct ; those given 
 to Douland as the author of the Hundredth Psalm 
 can refer only to his harmonizing it. Goudimel made 
 a similar claim. There are no less than three, also, 
 who claim the honour of versifying the psalm itself. 
 The initials J. H., for John Hopkins, are affixed 
 to it in the Prayer-book, but Thomas Warton — no 
 mean authority — goes a little out of his way to state 
 
Psalmody. 221 
 
 in a foot-note that the "Hundredth Psalm was trans- 
 lated by William Whyttingham."* In the " Hymnal 
 Companion," however — a modern publication — the 
 name of Kethe is accredited with it. Who shall 
 decide when doctors disagree % After all — 
 
 "Differing judgments serve but to declare 
 That truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where. " 
 
 The practice of giving names to tunes appears to 
 have originated with Andro Hart and others, in the 
 Scotch Psalter. Ravenscroft adopted it, and after- 
 wards the great majority of composers followed suit. 
 A sharp searching for the names of popular saints, 
 great men, and remarkable places, became almost 
 necessary on account of the continual issues. At the 
 present clay the same tune may be met with under 
 different aliases or change of key. The temptation of 
 a name produced a phrenzy among tyros in the 
 musical art possessed of high imaginative nights, but 
 untutored in the science of harmony. As a result, 
 combinations of sounds were often substituted which 
 could not be found in any theoretical scale of music 
 whatever. 
 
 A similar desire of seeing their names in print 
 brought a host of arrangers and adapters into notice. 
 Some of these entertained an idea that choice pieces 
 from the works of the great masters might be worked 
 
 * See " History of English Poetry," vol. iii„ p. 168. 
 
222 Psalmody. 
 
 up into beautiful psalin tunes, forgetting that operatic 
 music, in purpose and construction, has little, if any, 
 affinity to that in which a congregation of small vocal 
 acquirements are invited to take part. Forgetting, 
 too, that the choice pieces selected are made what 
 they are by singers of the highest order of intelligence 
 and voice, and cannot, moreover, be dissociated from 
 the position intended by the composer without detri- 
 ment of meaning, especially where they are con- 
 structed with the idea of breadth and freedom, these 
 choice pieces can ill endure the Procrustean mode 
 necessarily adopted by any arranger. A good psalm 
 tune is of as much value now as in the days of Ravens- 
 croft. Tens of thousands have been composed since ; 
 they are extant, but not sung. Their influence is 
 nought ; sapless, inanimate, and destitute of life as 
 a valley of dry bones. It may be urged that the 
 increased number of hymns introduced to the churches 
 of the metropolis especially, are of peculiar measures. 
 Just so. To meet this, however, there is now an abun- 
 dance of real musical talent, possessed by men quite 
 capable of composing fit music to any singable mea- 
 sure, and who would neither disgrace themselves nor 
 their subject in the operation.* 
 
 * A great outcry was made ratber more than a quarter of a 
 century ago concerning the reprehensible mode of attaching- 
 trashy music to words altogether out of character thereto. See 
 Rev. John Jebb, on " The Choral Service of the Church." 
 
Psalmody. 223 
 
 There is a tendency among a few patrons and 
 supporters of church music to underrate modern pro- 
 ductions, and to adhere somewhat rigidly to all that 
 has the stamp of age upon it. This is hardly wise* 
 A great deal that suited the services of the Church a 
 century ago has given place to change of time and 
 altered circumstances. It has been remarked by an 
 eminent authority and close observer of matters akin 
 to this, " St. Ambrose and St. Gregory were musical 
 reformers, and if we would follow their example, and 
 do honour to their zeal and discrimination, we should, 
 like them, choose the best music we can find, not re- 
 taining anything inferior because it is old, but, like 
 them, accommodating the music of the Church to the 
 requirements of our own times and the musical know- 
 ledge and taste of the people of the present century, 
 only keeping one end in view, i.e., the devotion of the 
 best we can find to God's glory and the good of His 
 Church." 
 
 AVhen mention is made of the abundance of hymns 
 of English production, with native music wedded 
 thereto, surprise is naturally excited. But England 
 plays a secondary part with America. Twenty years 
 ago the Americans published a volume containing 
 
 The practice is not quite extinguished now, but it is to be 
 hoped that, with a growing taste for the correct thing, the 
 practice so much complained of then will be numbered among 
 forgotten things. 
 
224 Psalmody. 
 
 1,290 psalms and hymns, adapted to more than 400 
 tunes, of forty-five different metres. Since then the 
 rate of progress has increased to an unexpected ex- 
 tent. Sometimes a word of caution on the subject 
 is enunciated from the pulpit. Take one instance : 
 " God has always used the potent aid of the hymn in 
 proclaiming His own attributes and applying the 
 mighty truths of redemption. The Psalms were the 
 inspired and spiritual songs of the great congregation 
 that gathered in and about the peerless temple ; and 
 during all the ages since, they have kept alive, by the 
 most easy and pleasant of methods, true ideas of God 
 and His relations to men. In view, therefore, of the 
 inspiring and teaching agency of song, we ought to 
 be especially careful in regard to the thoughts incor- 
 porated into the hymns of the Church and Sabbath- 
 school. These will mould the theology of the future, 
 and, if correct, ought all the more to be enjoined in 
 "by the entire congregation of worshippers." 
 
 In the Essay on Psalmody inentioned elsewhere, 
 the author, speaking of church music in the early 
 part of the eighteenth century, says : " We have 
 many good psalm tunes, excellently composed for pub- 
 lic worship. These should be studied in order to 
 avoid the tedious drawling manner in use in most of 
 our churches, which gives offence to worldly people 
 and makes the ordinance dull and heavy to believers. 
 Both psalm and tune ought to accord in character. 
 
Psalmody. 225 
 
 Singing is among us very much neglected, and, when 
 used, it is too often done in so irreverent a manner that 
 the end of the institution is not attained. It is a Divine 
 ordinance. God commanded psalms to he sung for 
 mutual edification. It was to be the service of the 
 whole church. All were to join, whereas, among us, 
 it is performed by some few, and they are sometimes 
 set by themselves in a singing gallery, or in a corner 
 of the church, where they sing to be admired for their 
 fine voices, and others to hear them for entertainment. 
 This is a vile prostitution of church music, and con- 
 trary to the letter and the spirit of the Old as well as 
 the Xew Testament. The first sacred song on record 
 was sung by Moses and the children of Israel, hi 
 which Miriam and all the women joined in chorus; 
 and in the New the children of the Jews avIio could, 
 with their understanding, sung Hosannah to the Son 
 of David. When the ark was being brought up to 
 the city of David, he and all Israel played before God 
 with all their might, and with singing. 
 
 Too little care, however, is shown in these days 
 with regard to propriety. You may sing, and yet 
 greatly abuse this holy ordinance. There are many 
 singers in the church who take no pains either to 
 keep the tune or follow in time, and who thereby 
 think it of no consequence how the praises of the 
 Most High are sung. Solomon differed much from 
 these. He thought it a great perfection in praising 
 
 p 
 
226 Psalmody. 
 
 God, that among the many thousands of voices and 
 instruments which were sounding forth His praise, 
 there was not a single discord to be heard. The 
 Scripture has taken notice of it. They all gave 
 one sound.* Another record of the past runs thus : — 
 "There are many in our congregations who think 
 they sing the best when they sing the loudest. 
 You may see them often strain themselves with 
 shouting till their faces be as red as scarlet. The 
 worst singers commonly offend this way. A bad, 
 coarse voice, quite out of tune, is to be heard above 
 all, and will take the lead in the congregation, and 
 whenever a number of such meet together in their 
 shouting humour, they put all into confusion; they 
 drown the musical voices of good singers; they 
 offend the outward people; and, as they do no 
 good to themselves, they defeat the ends of 
 singing." 
 
 The omnipotence of music albeit does not consist 
 in chords, however learned they may be, or effective 
 in their rendering, but in melody. Chords remain 
 behind — song makes the circuit of the universe. Na 
 amount of musical learning will atone for the absence 
 of the melodic element. Hence, the thousands of 
 tunes not worth the paper they occupy. There are 
 certain psalm tunes, says Mrs. Chapone, which, with 
 
 * See 2 Chron. y. 13. 
 
Psalmody. 227 
 
 little merit as technical performances, are able to 
 excite in the mind a great degree of devotional 
 ecstacy. Those of the 100th and 104th are the most 
 popular music in England, and they are no less 
 adapted to excite a spirit of piety and lift the soul to 
 heaven, than to soothe the ear by their simple melody. 
 Dr. Crotch was as cordial as any musician of his 
 time in the support of psalmody that possessed a rich 
 melody, but he set his face like a flint against the 
 thrusting of novelties into the service of the Church 
 which reminded him of the parade, the concert-room, 
 or the theatre. He had occasion to fear it and he 
 spoke out. He regarded the practice wrong in its 
 entirety. Since his day others have protested loudly 
 against the innovation, but, truth to speak, a great 
 deal of tinsel, aye, rubbish of this kind still holds 
 possession of a wrong place. Herbert says, "A verse 
 may find him who a sermon flies." Very likely, 
 yet, after all, the street-corner shoutings and the wild 
 march choruses of Salvation Armies, good enough in 
 their way, are not equally adapted to the more quiet 
 temple worshipper where there is an abundance of 
 music admirably calculated to warm the heart in 
 praise to Him who is deservedly the object of it. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Anthem and Choral Services. 
 
 Through gorgeous windows shoue the sun aslant, 
 Brimming the church with gold and purple mist, 
 Meet atmosphere to bosom that rich chant, 
 "Where fifty voices in one strand did twist 
 Their varicoloured tones, and left no want 
 To the delighted soul, which sank abyss'd 
 In the warm music cloud, while, far below, 
 The organ heaved its surges to and fro. 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 Invention of the Anthem — Its Introduction into the 
 Reformed Church — Early Composers — Subsequent ones 
 — Number and variety of Anthems performed in one 
 year at St. Paul's Cathedral — Adaptation of Great 
 Works — Injury resulting therefrom both to the Science 
 of Music and the Sacredness of Anthem Service — 
 Contemptible effusions — Musical Scholarship indis- 
 pensable in Composing fit Anthems for Parish Choirs, 
 &c. — Origin of the Introit. 
 
 ■ mention of the word "Anthem" is made 
 either in the Old or New Testament.* 
 *L Socrates says Ignatius was the inventor of the 
 anthem among the Greeks, and St. Ambrose among 
 the Latins. It was first introduced in the Reformed 
 
 * Derived probably from the Italian, anthema, but more 
 properly from the Greek, anthymnos, a hymn or divine song. 
 
The Anthem and Choral Services. 229 
 
 Church of England service at the beginning of 
 Elizabeth's reign, and was defined "a hymn per- 
 formed iii two parts by the opposite members of 
 a choir." Without doubt the anthem presents the 
 widest field in which a musician may display his 
 powers. The subject is generally taken from Scripture, 
 and although every artistic development is admissible, 
 the successful composer must always have regard to 
 sublimity : it may be full, or verse slow, fast, grave, 
 penitential, or jubilant ; but it must be sublime to be 
 good, and will be good in proportion as it is sub- 
 lime. 
 
 Warton says, " Before the middle of the reign of 
 Elizabeth, at the time when the more ornamental and 
 intricate music was wanted in our service, Dr. Tye 
 concurred with the celebrated Tallis and a few others 
 in setting several anthems, which are not only justly 
 supposed to retain much of the original strain of our 
 ancient choral melody before the Reformation, but in 
 respect of harmony, expression, contrivance, and 
 general effect, are allowed to be perfect models of the 
 genuine ecclesiastic style." Fuller states that Tye 
 was the chief restorer of the loss which the music of 
 the Church had sustained by the destruction of the 
 monasteries. 
 
 John Marbeck, who wrote "The Lives of the 
 Saints," was a composer of church music, which Tallis 
 enriched. He, in fact, composed a new Litany, and 
 
230 The Anthem and 
 
 improved the simpler modulation of Marbeck's Suf- 
 frages, Kyries after the Commandments, and other 
 versicles. There was a rapidly increasing desire ex- 
 hibited by composers of church music to work up to, 
 and establish the anthem, which it would seem to 
 have become a necessity from its claim in the ser- 
 vices of the church, thus, " In choirs and places where 
 they sing, here followeth the anthem." 
 
 Among the early composers of anthems, whose 
 works are still performed in Cathedral and other ser- 
 vices, may be mentioned Byrde, Tallis, Dr. Bull, 
 Taverner, and a few others. Dr. Aldrich, who was a 
 great admirer and collector of the works of Byrde, 
 adapted most of his compositions that were originally 
 set to parts of the Romish service in Latin to English 
 words for our cathedrals. " Bow thine ear, Lord," 
 is regarded as a magnificent example of harmony, and 
 is taken from his sacred songs, published in 1589. 
 Dr. Tudway's collection, in the British Museum, con- 
 tains a whole service by Byrde in D minor, with 
 responses, and two anthems. 
 
 Supposing Byrde to have been the progenitor of 
 anthem writers, he has bequeathed to posterity a family 
 of which the whole earth may be proud. During 
 the space of one year, i.e., from Easter, 1880, to 1881, 
 the anthems of no less than eighty different composers 
 were sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, independently of 
 special services. The names of these composers are 
 
Choral Services. 231 
 
 really worth preserving : — Aldrich, Allen, Alwyn, Att- 
 wood, Bach, Barrett, Bamby, Battishill, Beethoven, 
 Benedict, Bennett, Boyce, Brahms, Bridge, Callcott, 
 Calkin, Chainpneys, Cramer, Croft, Crotch, DeLacy, 
 Elvey, Eyre, Farrant, Field, Ford, Frost, Gadsby, 
 Garrett, Gibbons, Gibbs, Greatorex, Goss, Gounod, 
 Graun, Greene, Handel, Hauptmann, Haydn, Hayes 
 (P.), Hayes ("W.), Hiller, Himmel, Hopkins, Hoyte, 
 Humphreys, Jackson (W., of Exeter), Jekyll, Lloyd, 
 Macfarren, Martin, Mendelssohn, Miller, Monk, 
 Mozart, aSTares, ISTaumann, Kayler, Ouseley, Page, 
 Pergolesi, Pole, Pooley, Powell (Baden), Prout, 
 Purcell, Rogers, Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Smart, 
 Smith (Montem), Somerset (Lord Henry), Spohr, 
 Stainer, Statham, Steggall, Stewart, Stroud, Sullivan, 
 Tallis, Thorne, Tinney, Tours, Turle, AValmisley, 
 Weldon, AVesley, and Wise. 
 
 Here is material for gratifying reflection to every 
 one who really wishes to see the music of the Church 
 in a healthy and progressive state. These eighty 
 composers, who have been fitly represented in one 
 place within the limits of twelve months, are but a 
 chapter in the general biography. Every cathedral, 
 both at home and abroad, has its library of favourite 
 anthems, and every collegiate institution, its com- 
 poser of local repute. 
 
 Upon holidays and special seasons of the English 
 Church, there are what may be called " Introits," or 
 
232 The Anthem and 
 
 short anthems. The texts selected are usually from the 
 Bible and Prayer-book, and the music appropriated 
 thereto is generally of easy attainment by persons hav- 
 ing any pretensions even to the elements of " the arte 
 divine." Instances may be adduced where beautiful 
 compositions, by old masters — not of the sacred type 
 — have been fitted to Biblical texts or paraphrases 
 thereon with surprising effect. 
 
 There are other adaptations from the great masters 
 which produce effects of a different kind, notably the 
 obstreperous overture to " Artaxerxes," with its super- 
 abundance of shakes, screaming octaves, and unisons,, 
 "for the use of cathedrals and country choirs." Then 
 there is " Plead Thou my cause," an adaptation from 
 one of Mozart's masses ; condemned by many as 
 unecclesiastic as any pretentious composition of the 
 kind can well be. Most people will admit that, 
 in writing for a cathedral or country choir, the pen 
 of the author travels upon very different lines. It is 
 one thing to give shape to the ideas of a glowing 
 imagination, and quite a different thing to fashion the 
 effusions of another so as to bring them either up, or 
 down, to the standard of some necessary requirement. 
 The process of transmutation, however skilful, will, 
 nevertheless, be sure to a certain extent to reveal the 
 properties of the material operated upon to some dis- 
 advantage. It may, or it may not be true, that 
 England possesses no composers of cathedral music 
 
Choral Services. 233 
 
 now at all to be compared to those of a century or 
 two ago. But if so be that the genius of a Purcell, 
 Blow, Green, and a few others, is all but extinct, the 
 greater is the reason that what little lives should be 
 stimulated and encouraged. It may be fanned into a 
 flame, it may flicker or it may glow, it may be short- 
 lived or it may be enduring. Under any circum- 
 stances, it must prove far more useful to man if 
 pointing continually in the direction of true worship, 
 and a still more acceptable sacrifice to God, than the 
 offering of " strange fire." 
 
 The two examples here cited are as nothing in point 
 of absurdity and misapplication to the mountain 
 heaps of positive rubbish issued in the early part of 
 the present century, both for the use of Church and 
 dissenting choirs. Some of these were " composed " 
 to hymns not always of a rhythmical order, and others 
 manufactured from odds and ends of ephemeral operas, 
 &c. Thus a man possessing a little musical ingenuity, 
 co-acting with a dealer in the outspread of musical 
 notes, both vocal and instrumental, could manage 
 to float anything in the way of an anthem, especially 
 if he measured the taste and abilities of that section 
 of the musical fraternity to whom they were pro- 
 fessedly dedicated. Such tunes as these are now, it 
 is to be hoped, entirely of the past. Surely if the 
 boasted progress of musical advancement in the 
 Church possess but a modicum of solidity, the works 
 
234 The Anthem and 
 
 of really great masters will, ere long, be turned out 
 of their dusty archives and stir up the talent of the 
 day to copy them as models of the age and worthy 
 the service for which such music was designed. Even 
 good selections from great sacred works may then be 
 displaced for the legitimate anthem, specially com- 
 posed or revived. Compositions for single voices are 
 much weakened when dissociated from an oratorio 
 towards which they form probably but a small yet 
 very effective part. Nor are they properly under- 
 stood by a congregation when thus represented. 
 The anthem is constructed upon principles of its own, 
 and ought, therefore, to be abided by. It is not 
 merely the alliance of sounds and syllables, but a 
 symmetrical structure, in which musical scholarship 
 reveals itself to the thoughtful seeker. 
 
 Looking at the mighty strides in music generally 
 thus far during the reign of Victoria, the advance in 
 Church changes has been a remarkable one, not only 
 in the metropolis but in comparatively obscure towns 
 and villages throughout England. The anthem is 
 rarely now restricted to a self-elected body of 
 musicians indifferently voiced, and worse qualified as 
 exponents of instruments with the barest affinities to 
 each other, often making the psalm painful to hear 
 and the anthem unendurable. Where, in the attempt 
 to mend such matters, an organ has not been always 
 within the means of purchase, the humble harmonium 
 
Choral Services. 235 
 
 has proved a wonderful benefit. By the help of 
 this instrument a small hand of properly trained 
 voices have been able to sing psalms well, chant 
 with ease, and, by the exercise of close care and at- 
 tention, surmount the difficulties naturally belonging 
 to the loftier construction of the anthem. To meet 
 this state of things, compositions of a much simpler 
 character than those used at cathedrals must be re- 
 sorted to. This want has not eluded the notice of 
 musicians eminent in the modern school of Church 
 music. As a matter of course, these lack in a great 
 degree the depth and ingenuity of the old cathedral 
 masters, owing to the smaller scope afforded and the 
 weaker means of development. Yet, on the whole, 
 they serve the purposes intended, and point, if pro- 
 perly regarded, in the right direction to the path of 
 progress. 
 
 Another word or two may not be amiss with re- 
 ference to these short anthems termed "Introits." 
 In the first Liturgy of Edward VI., printed at Wor- 
 cester in 1549, it was directed that a psalm should be 
 said or sung at the end of Morning Prayer and before 
 the Communion Service. From being sung while the 
 officiating minister made his entrance within the rails 
 of the Communion table, it was called Introitus or In- 
 troit. The Rev. Charles Wheatley, in his illustrations 
 of the Book of Common Prayer, about 1730, says : 
 41 The Introits were omitted in the second edition of 
 
236 The Anthem and 
 
 King Edward VI. 's Liturgy, though no reason can 
 be assigned for such omission ; for they were of great 
 antiquity in the Christian Church, and were taken 
 into Divine service before the time of Jerome." 
 
 Choral Services. — Evening. 
 
 In some favoured districts the service is called 
 " fully choral," which may be epitomized thus : — An 
 opening voluntary, introduced by a processional for 
 the choir. Then come the opening prayers, intoned 
 by the minister. These are followed by the " Lord's 
 Prayer," intoned by minister and people. The 
 minister intones, " Lord, open Thou our lips;" and 
 is answered by choir and people, "And our mouth 
 shall shew forth Thy praise." Minister intones, " O 
 God, make speed to save us;" answered as before. 
 Then follows the Gloria, after which the minister in- 
 tones, " Praise ye the Lord ; " and is answered by the 
 people, " The Lord's name be praised." Next comes 
 the chanting of the prose psalms by the choir and 
 people, organ accompaniment. The Magnificat is 
 generally an important feature, musically considered, 
 and is confined to the choir. This is one of the so- 
 called " services " before alluded to. The Cantate 
 Domino, " Nunc Dimittis," or " Deus Misereatur " 
 follow. The Creed is intoned by all, the 
 blessing by the minister alone. The " Lord's 
 Prayer," intoned by all. The versicles intoned 
 
Choral Services. 237 
 
 by the minister, but responded to by the people 
 in simple harmonies. Next follow three collects, 
 to which, as before, all the Aniens are chanted by 
 choir and people. Here comes in the Anthem, which 
 is limited to the organist and choir. This is succeeded 
 by the usual petitions and Benediction, to all of 
 which the Aniens are intoned by choir and people. 
 A hymn precedes the sermon, and another hymn 
 is sung at the close of it, during which the 
 offertory is taken. With this the vocal portion of 
 the service may be said to close. A voluntary accom- 
 panies the processional, and the " fully choral " service 
 terminates. 
 
 Services. 
 
 By this is meant the Canticles, Kyrie, Nicene 
 Creed, the Sanctus, the Gloria in Excelsis, &c. These 
 are composed of regular, formal pieces, admitting all 
 the resources of harmony and counterpoint. Nearly 
 all the pens of our distinguished Church musicians, 
 from Tallis downward, have been exercised in this 
 class of composition, and in some instances with re- 
 markable success. It has been frequently stated that 
 the Te Deum and Jubilate of Purcell display the in- 
 genuity and science of a great master more fully than 
 any other production of his for the Church. It was 
 constantly performed at St. Paul's on the Feast of the 
 Sons of the Clergy from the decease of the author in 
 
238 The Anthem and 
 
 1695 till the year 1713, when Handel's Te Deum for 
 the Peace of Utrecht was produced by order of Queen 
 Anne. From this period till 1743 they seem to have 
 been performed alternately. The proper execution of 
 these English services requires the aid of a well-trained 
 choir, and are altogether unsuited to places where 
 such choirs do not exist. It is said that Mendelssohn, 
 brought up as he was, the disciple of a foreign school, 
 was so struck with the propriety and excellence of 
 our Anglican cathedral service, that he wrote one 
 himself obviously in imitation of our national style.* 
 Neither Beethoven nor Mozart had a similar oppor- 
 tunity of being struck by a service which afforded 
 Mendelssohn so much delight. Both, however, con- 
 tributed to it, though not to any extent considering 
 the breadth and depth of their musical abilities. 
 
 A tolerably correct idea of the quality of these ser- 
 vices, from a general point of view, may be estimated 
 upon a perusal of the number continually being issued 
 from the musical press. 
 
 In some churches, where the tendency to advanced 
 ritualism is fostered, the Communion service — 
 whether morning or evening — has a musical accom- 
 paniment. The minister intones, and the Aniens are 
 chanted by the celebrants and the choir. So, also, the 
 Sursum Corda, Sanctus, and Gloria in Excelsis. There 
 has never been any lack of Sanctus composers from 
 
 * See To Deum and Jubilate in A. 
 
Choral Services. 239 
 
 the time of Marbeck, but this ancient musician stands 
 out prominently among English contributors to the 
 Gloria. 
 
 Versicles and Responses. 
 
 The design of Responses is to keep alive the atten- 
 tion and quicken the devotion of the worshippers, for 
 as they have a share in portions of the service as it 
 proceeds, they must be prepared for their turn. If 
 the minister were left to do all, the congregation 
 might haply grow unconcerned. In the ancient 
 Jewish Church, prayers and praises were taken by 
 courses, and in all the old Christian Liturgies short 
 sentences in imitation thereof being introduced were 
 called Responses. The two early versicles in the 
 Prayer-book of the present clay, with their responses, 
 are of a penitential character, taken from the Psalms 
 of David, and fenced in with the Gloria Patri. Next 
 they assume the garb of Praise, and at length resolve 
 into the form of devout supplication. 
 
 The Monotone. 
 
 " Then shall be said or sung," is a sentence fre- 
 quently to be met with in the services of the Church, 
 and anyone who reads may understand its meaning. 
 All our grammarians define the verb to say, " to 
 speak, to utter in words, to tell in any manner." 
 To sing, " to form the voice to melody, to articulate 
 
240 The Anthem and 
 
 musically," &c. Now it has been a much debated 
 question whether intoning of the certain portions of 
 the service referred to is either one thing or the 
 other, viz., reading or singing. What is usually called 
 the monotone is, as the word itself suggests, a single 
 musical sound. It is used in the collects and exhor- 
 tations by the minister alone, and by the congregation 
 also in the general confession, creeds, and Lord's 
 Prayer. It consists in the sustentation of the voice 
 at one unvarying pitch while on that note, the words 
 are articulated as clearly and distinctly as possible. 
 Persons accustomed to the use of it prefer this one 
 note to the polyphonic method, but a long time is re- 
 quired in becoming familiar with its use by those 
 accustomed to the old way of talking or singing. 
 Hence the great amount of objection to it by many 
 congregations. When well done, a very devotional 
 effect is produced, but, in the hands of a defective 
 reader, or one affected with a small and by no means 
 agreeable voice and other physical defects, the very 
 reverse occurs. After all, it is only the revival of a 
 custom that has existed for ages, but the great spread 
 it is now making outside our cathedrals and the im- 
 perfect manner in which it is too often performed, 
 naturally enough thrusts itself with greater promi- 
 nence before the public, who, as supporters of the 
 Church of England, claim the right to scrutinize the 
 musical portions of its service, and express an opinion 
 
Choral Services. 241 
 
 accordingly. The argument of some that, because a 
 reader has a bad voice and is not a good elocutionist, 
 he should be made to intone his reading, is quite un- 
 tenable, for if he cannot perform one part well, it is 
 not likely he will manage two parts better ; and the 
 monotone includes both reading and singing. A very 
 eminent authority on the subject of the monotone 
 once remarked in public : "As far as it can be said to 
 come under the head of music at all, it may be classed 
 as music of a sublime style, for I believe every one 
 who has heard it really well performed, and has been 
 sufficiently accustomed to it to judge fully of its 
 merits, will agree with me in attributing a solemnity 
 of effect surprisingly calculated to inspire devotion 
 and elevate the mind." 
 
 This elevation of mind is frequently impaired by 
 the introduction of a running accompaniment on the 
 organ, especially during the recital of the Lord's 
 Prayer and the Creeds. If there be one thing more 
 than another on which the whole mind of the wor- 
 shipper should be bent, it certainly ought to be the 
 creed, confession, and prayer, in the which he, with 
 the minister and the whole congregation, joins. If 
 his worship be sincere, he needs no artificial embel- 
 lishments ; and a huge organ, breathing out just such 
 music as may suggest itself to the fancy or whim of 
 the player thereon, produces an effect upon the 
 generality of listeners the very reverse of devotional. 
 
 Q 
 
242 The Anthem and Choral Services. 
 
 With unskilled but ambitious performers, these ac- 
 companiments have a distressing effect on the ears of 
 cultivated musicians and persons of taste, for to their 
 thinking, frolics of this kind with the machinery of a 
 noble instrument are often quite as much adapted 
 to the multiplication table as the creeds — nay, more. 
 The superiority of the monotone is made apparent 
 when it so happens that a minister unaccustomed to 
 it has to supply the place of one who is, and in a con- 
 gregation also accustomed thereto. The minister 
 reads, and often in so doing makes tolerable use of 
 the scale of notation, and is responded to with one 
 note only. The advantage to a cultivated ear is, in 
 such case, always on the side of the monotone. 
 Furthermore, the monotone, though it does not admit 
 of inflection, is capable of an approach to expression 
 when entrusted to a thoroughly competent intoner. 
 
 Note. — Nearly all the churches of the Metropolis 
 are provided with printed forms specifying their par- 
 ticular Sunday service of music. The great majority 
 are posted in or near the vestibule. In some cases 
 they are distributed about the church itself. This is 
 a great convenience. The programme at the Temple 
 and Inns of Court is made out for a month, with the 
 injunction, " Not to be taken away." On account of 
 "daily service" at the the Abbey, the notice paper is 
 somewhat copious, but interesting and useful to all 
 who attend and admire the service. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Organ. 
 
 But oh ! what art can teach 
 
 What human voice can reach 
 
 The sacred organ's praise ! 
 
 Notes inspiring holy lore 
 
 Notes that wing their heavenly way 
 
 To mend the choirs above. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Its Dignified Appearance in the Church — Its Antiquity — 
 Biblical notice of the Organ — Subsequent mention of 
 its Origin and Characteristics — Introduction of the 
 Instrument into England — Fate of Organs during the 
 Revolution — Paucity of English Builders at the Restor- 
 ation — Foreign Builders invited to England — Father 
 Schmidt, Harris, and others — Their varied Instruments 
 — English Composers and Players — Rapid increase of 
 English Builders — Great Improvements — Dr. Burney's 
 Notice of Foreign Organs — Pepys' Account of an Organ 
 at Hackney — City Churches supplied — Present array of 
 Organists in England, and their great Influence as a 
 Bulwark of the Church. 
 
 >^¥^\HOSE who visit sacred edifices merely to 
 
 gratify a vacant curiosity — and there are 
 
 d|L many such — turn their attention, it may be, 
 
 to the cold sculptures about the walls, the fanciful 
 
 and expensive ornamentation of the chancel, the 
 
244 The Organ. 
 
 carved work of the reredos, or the "dim religious 
 light" shed all round through painted windows. 
 Each and every one according to his taste. But 
 rarely, if ever, does it happen with stray visitors to 
 overlook among the furniture of the building that 
 " thing of life," the king of instruments, usually ele- 
 vated upon a throne of its own. With such a look 
 and stature, it is far too imposing an object to be 
 merely glanced at. How cheering and dignified its 
 aspect, and how remote its ancestry ! When con- 
 templating the brevity of recorded facts in ante- 
 diluvian history, extending over a period exceeding 
 2,000 years, mention of the organ its builder, or 
 exponent, is enough to confirm the vaguest idea respect- 
 ing its importance and use. Jubal was not the only 
 operator upon the instrument, such as it was, but the 
 father of a generation of organists, such as they were. 
 Conjecture runs wild as to the construction of the 
 instrument or the character of the music educed 
 therefrom. Notwithstanding much laborious research, 
 Tooth are enveloped in mystery, arising in some mea- 
 sure from the senses in which the word itself was 
 understood. 
 
 Surprise has often been occasioned at the absence 
 of any further reference to the organ for upwards of 
 2,000 years from Jubal's time. In the book of Job 
 a passage runs thus : " They rejoice at the sound of 
 the organ," and another, "My organ is turned 
 
The Organ. 245 
 
 into the voice of them that weep." In the 
 150th Psalm, ''Praise Him with stringed instru- 
 ments and organs." These are the only instances, 
 either in the Old or Xew Testament, where any men- 
 tion is made of the organ. 
 
 At a much later period of the world's history the 
 organ is presented with an understandable definition, 
 i.e., when it is traced, or supposed to be traced, to the 
 Syrinx, or Pan's pipe, made of reeds. It is well 
 known that these were acted upon by the force of 
 water, while in others the application of bellows is 
 mentioned. Although the earliest descriptions ap- 
 pear to belong to the hydraulicon, or clypsedra, of 
 which Ctesibus was the discoverer about a.c. 220, yet 
 it seems natural to suppose that the pneumatic organ 
 was the prior invention. An epigram by the 
 Emperor Julian, about the year a. D. 360, first quoted 
 by Ducange from the Anthology (Lib. 1, cap. 86), 
 describes one which greatly resembles the present 
 pneumatic organ. St. Jerome mentions one that had 
 twelve pairs of bellows and fifteen pipes, and was 
 heard at the distance of a mile. He speaks also of 
 another, at Jerusalem, which was heard at the Mount 
 of Olives. Both statements have been much ques- 
 tioned. Pope Yitalianus is generally allowed to have 
 been the first who introduced the organ into the ser- 
 vice of the Romish Church. Bede makes no mention 
 of organs in his account of church ceremonies. In 
 
246 The Organ. 
 
 the time of Charlemagne, organs were brought from 
 Greece into "Western Europe. In 826 a Venetian 
 presbyter, named Georgius, visited the court of Louis 
 de Debonnaire, and built an organ at Aix on the 
 hydraulic principle, and was regarded in Germany as 
 * 'the father of the art of organ building." 
 
 They were by no means uncommon in England 
 in the reign of Edgar, as Dunstan is said to have 
 "given an organ, surpassing in size and compass 
 those of the Continent, to the Abbey of Malmes- 
 bury." In 951 Elf eg, Bishop of Winchester, pro- 
 cured one for his cathedral, having twenty-six pairs 
 of bellows and requiring seventy men to fill it with 
 wind. It had but ten keys, with forty pipes for each 
 key. It must not, however, be supposed that the 
 number of their notes bore any proportion to that of 
 their pipes, for even so low down as the twelfth 
 century their scale did not exceed two octaves and 
 even before that it had no semitones. The keys, 
 varying from six to nine inches in breadth, were 
 pressed down by the fist. It was not till the fifteenth 
 century that both hands were used in playing. The 
 addition of pedals by Bernhard, a German, was a 
 great advance ; so, also, the introduction of stops by 
 his countrymen. The names of the early builders of 
 note nearly all relate to Germany. 
 
 Scarcely any particulars are recorded respecting 
 the organs of this country from the period of the 
 
The Organ. 247 
 
 Reformation down to the time of Charles I. Cam- 
 den mentions one at Wrexham, which Fuller describes 
 as possessing pipes of gold. It shared the general 
 fate of organs in 1641. During the reign of 
 the Puritans, organs were considered as a remnant 
 of heathenism — an appendage of episcopacy. A 
 crusade was therefore determined upon, which ended 
 in the extirpation of nearly the whole race of organ 
 builders, and organs too, for in 1660 there were only 
 four English builders left, and but two organs. In 
 fact during this unfortunate epoch not only were the 
 organs sold for next to nothing, or destroyed right 
 out, but the service-books perished in the flames ; so 
 that at the restoration of choral services, everything 
 necessary for a fit performance had to be sought. 
 This led to the return of foreign artists, among whom 
 as notables were Bernard Schmidt — commonly called 
 "Father Smith" — and his two nephews, with the 
 elder Harris and his son Renatus. In course of time 
 a spirit of fierce rivalry sprung up between Smith 
 and Harris. Dr. Burney cites an instance of this 
 kind (vol. ii., p. 437) : " Each had erected an organ in 
 the Temple church, for trial."* Harris's organ, 
 after rejection at the Temple, was divided ; part of it 
 being erected at St. Andrew's, Holborn, and part in 
 Christ Church (Dublin), which was afterwards re- 
 
 * See page 108. 
 
'248 The Organ. 
 
 moved to Wolverhampton. His other instruments 
 of note erected in London were placed at St. Mary 
 Axe, St. Bride, and St. Lawrence. One erected at 
 Doncaster, in 1739, contained two trumpets and a 
 clarion stop throughout the whole compass of the great 
 organ. The celebrated Mr. Stanley, in speaking of 
 the excellence of these stops, observed that each pipe 
 was worth its weight in silver. To the aforenamed 
 builders succeeded Schreider, Smith's son-in-law, who 
 erected the organ at St. Martin-in-the-Fields — a 
 present from King George I., as churchwarden — 
 Bridge, Byfield, Jordan, Snetzler, and, at a later 
 period, Green, Gray, Avery, Elliot, England, Plight, 
 Nicholls — here it may be prudent to stop, for the 
 muster-roll of the present day is so long, that, without 
 much danger of drifting into hyperbole, it may 
 be said the number at the Restoration has so 
 multiplied that now it is nearer four hundred than 
 four. 
 
 Considering the forces both of mind and mechanism 
 brought into operation upon the revival of organ 
 building, little, if any, surprise need be occasioned at 
 the varied forms which a vigorous fancy might assume 
 and a sounder imagination suggest among the com- 
 munity of builders and musicians. Amongst the 
 latter class, men of solid genius arose, who directed 
 their attention towards the apparent capabilities of 
 the instrument, imagined but unsolved. Such com- 
 
The Organ. 249 
 
 posers as Bach and Handel, for instance, paid little 
 regard to mechanical difficulties standing in the way 
 to a solution of their ideas. There they were, em- 
 bodied in arbitrary characters called notes, &c, which 
 it was the duty of the organist to interpret. Hard 
 task at first, doubtlessly. As the mechanism of the 
 instrument advanced, so the difficulties diminished ; 
 only, however, as yet, in proportion to the musical 
 ability and perseverance of the operator upon cla vials 
 and pedals. Nor even here could he stop, for a great 
 mind was needed to thread the way through a laby- 
 rinth of thoughts, so as to give them form and beauty. 
 In course of time that which seemed once insur- 
 mountable was regarded in the light of an achieve- 
 ment. The mountain became a plain, and the "next 
 to impossible " yielded to talent that was real, and 
 the spirit of enterprise that would brook no bands, 
 and a determination that difficulties failed to appal 
 or quench. 
 
 Architects of organs who went in for fanciful 
 designs had abundant scope for whims which lived 
 their day — often a short one — but others, embracing 
 useful notions and aiming withal at the grandiose 
 and enduring, acquired great fame by their assistance 
 in thus furthering the lofty forms of art enunciated 
 by the composer's pen. 
 
 Dr. Burney, in his " Musical Tour," makes mention 
 of the celebrated organ at Haarlem, built in 1738, at 
 
250 The Organ. 
 
 the cost of £10,000. It has sixty stops, twelve pairs 
 of bellows, and nearly 5,000 pipes, eight of which are 
 sixteen feet, and two thirty-two feet in height. The 
 exterior is 108 feet high and fifty feet broad. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Latrobe speaks of an organ in the 
 cathedral of Seville, containing 100 stops, 5,300 pipes, 
 and seven pairs of bellows, so constructed that they 
 can fill the instrument with wind in fifteen seconds. 
 
 The organ of St. Peter and St. Paul, in Upper 
 Lusatia, took six years in building, and was conse- 
 crated by a solemn service. It has eighty-two stops, 
 fifty-seven of which are whole stops, and 3,270 pipes ; 
 522 of these are metal. The towers in front show 
 nearly 300 polished metal pipes, the largest of which, 
 F, in the pedals is twenty-four feet long ; there are 
 two octaves of pedals ; the lowest note, C, is from a 
 pipe thirty-two feet in length. There are seven others 
 of sixteen feet. It has three rows of keys and twelve 
 pairs of bellows. 
 
 It may be well to note, for the information of the 
 general reader, that an eight feet open pipe produces 
 a sound agreeing with the lowest C upon the 
 violoncello ; therefore, a sixteen feet represents the 
 octave below, and the thirty-two feet pipe two octaves 
 below that note or four octaves below the middle C 
 of the pianoforte. 
 
 Speaking of St. Michael's organ, at Hamburg, Dr. 
 Burney lays stress upon the completeness of the in- 
 
The Organ. 251 
 
 strum ent. He says it has sixty-seven stops, contain- 
 ing nine pipes of sixteen feet, and three of thirty- 
 two feet, four rows of keys and ten pairs of bellows, 
 extending from double double C to F in altissimo. 
 The flute stop is composed of as many real flutes as 
 there are notes. The old church organ at Amsterdam, 
 built many years after, has the same number of stops, 
 but it requires the pressure of two pounds to put down 
 the keys. The cathedral organ at Tours possesses 
 immense power. It has five rows of keys and 
 thirteen pairs of bellows. St. Peter's church, Berlin, 
 was to have been the largest in the world, consisting 
 of 1 50 stops, six rows of keys, beside pedals, but was 
 not finished. Mr. Latrobe attributes much of the 
 excellence in the art of music to the great use the 
 Germans make of the organ, whilst the cheapness of 
 materials and labour enable them to multiply large 
 instruments at a small expense. In proof of this, 
 an organ was built for the church of St. Catherine, at 
 Magdeburg, containing twenty-nine stops and seven 
 pipes of sixteen feet, at the cost of £450 sterling. 
 None of those who attempted loftiness of structure 
 could overtop the cathedral organ at Ulm, built in 
 1734, for the gallery and ornaments were 150 feet in 
 height. Such an erection, even in St. Paul's, would 
 be regarded with wonderment ; but, supposing it 
 placed in Monument Yard, it would become one of 
 "the sights of London." 
 
252 The Organ. 
 
 When the great number of churches still existing 
 in the City is considered — not one without an organ — 
 the difficulty of compressing their varied charac- 
 teristics into a few lines must be obvious to every- 
 body. When, too, the frequent changes they undergo 
 to keep pace with what is deemed the requirements 
 of a progressive age is taken into account, difficulties 
 thicken. Moreover, these changes often assume forms 
 so novel as to require a language of their own and 
 a lexicon to make them understood by the general 
 public. Such being the case, the idea has been 
 abandoned, and a few short notes substituted, in rela- 
 tion to instruments of some peculiar quality, or pos- 
 sessing some solid historical interest. So rapidly does 
 one change travel upon the heels of another in the 
 construction of organs, that the weak in faith might 
 be half inclined to doubt the dictum of Solomon, 
 " There is nothing new under the sun," although the 
 strides of improvement are so frequent as to excite 
 little, or, at the best, a brief surprise. 
 
 The days of Pepys are past. In the year 1660 
 this renowned gossiper says : "To Whitehall Chapel, 
 where I got in with ease by going before the Lord 
 Chancellor, with Mr. Kips. Here I heard very good 
 musique, the first time that I ever remember to have 
 heard the organs and singing men in surplices in my 
 life." Seven years afterwards he says : " To Hackney, 
 and here I was told that at their church they have a 
 
The Organ. 253 
 
 fair pair of organs, which play while the people sing, 
 which I am mighty glad of, wishing the like at our 
 church at London, and would give £50 towards it." 
 A few days later : ' ; To Hackney church. That 
 which I went chiefly to see was the young ladies of 
 the schools, whereof there is great store, very pretty ; 
 and also the organ, which is handsome, and tunes the 
 psalms and plays with the people, which is mighty 
 pretty, and makes me mighty earnest to have a pair 
 at our church, having almost a mind to give them a 
 pair, if they would settle a maintenance upon them 
 for it."* 
 
 "What a lesson do these quaint memoranda teach 
 the men of this generation. How slightly prized are 
 the opportunities sown broadcast for meeting with so 
 rich and beneficial an enjoyment ; one, too, within 
 the compass of the poorest individual. Xo pilgrimage 
 is now needed, even to the distance of Hackney, to be 
 enchanted by the tones of an organ ; they can be 
 heard, at least, in fifty places on a Sabbath day, 
 within the radiation of a mile from St. Paul's church- 
 yard, and yet what multitudes turn a deaf ear to 
 their solemn and invigorating strains. Xo just com- 
 
 * Pepys was born in 1632. Died 1703, and was buried in St. 
 Olave's Church, Hart Street. In the month of April, 1884, a 
 memorial in honour of Pepys was unveiled at St. Olave. It 
 consists of a handsome slab in alabaster on which the effigy is 
 carved in high relief. Erected by public subscription. 
 
254 The Organ. 
 
 parison can be instituted between the organ and per- 
 former thereon of Pepys' time and those of the 
 present day. 
 
 Excepting Germany, the world has produced no 
 nation of organists transcending those now scattered 
 about England ; the metropolis can produce a grand 
 array, and the City its share — great among the great. 
 As in every profession there are degrees of attain- 
 ment, so in music. But the humbler positions are 
 not a whit less worthy of regard than those esteemed 
 of greater importance, if so be that the duties thereunto 
 belonging are discharged with earnestness, fidelity, 
 and care. The true musician loves his vocation, and 
 he throws heart and soul into his work. In no 
 department of his art does he feel of more importance 
 than in the service of the sanctuary. Here he rises 
 to the height of spiritual enjoyment, especially when 
 he hears his congregation endeavouring to emulate 
 him in the gladdening strains of some heart-stirring 
 hymn or melodious chant. The design of instrument 
 and voice are thus consummated, and the injunction 
 is carried out in earnest, " Let everything that hath 
 breath praise the Lord," while the declaration of the 
 Hebrew king is gloriously re-echoed, 
 
 "Thou, God, art praised ix Zion." 
 

II