psychic force rather than the Holy Spirit's power that produced these temporary results? But far above such elements of power, heartfelt congregational singing will bring genuine spiritual forces to bear upon the unsaved that will bring them at least vague apprehensions of desirable spiritual things and generate in them genuinely religious impulses that lead them to God.

Unless a hymn shall manifest at least two if not all of these lines of power, success has been missed, no matter how artistic the music, or how general the participation. But how many of the hymns sung in our public services would bear having these tests applied?

It is not only necessary that the minister himself have an adequate idea of the value of good congregational singing. He should pass that appreciation on to his people. He must impress them that participation is a duty, one that is urged in the Bible quite as much as prayer. To be songless is as bad as to be prayerless. Both rob God of a recognition due Him for what He is in Himself and what He is to us.

There is nothing like example in urging a duty. The preacher who sings himself will lead his people to sing. If he studies his sermon notes or runs over his announcements or looks over the congregation, his real estimate of the value of the exercise is too evident to be disguised.

Wesley insisted that his preachers should preach upon the privilege and duty of congregational singing from time to time. I know of no better introduction to a reform in congregational singing than an earnest discourse that will not only declare the duty, but give the reasons for it, and the spirit and the way in which it should be performed. The minister should urge it privately as well as publicly, by passing allusion and occasional com

ment, as well as by formal discourse. This is all the more necessary that the development of the critical attitude among cultivated people is leading them to underrate their vocal powers and their pride prompts them to refrain from public singing.

I

II

THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF HYMNS

F it is worth while for a theological student to study

the effective delivery of sermons, it would seem al

most equally worth his while to study the actual use of hymns in public service. It is generally assumed that any one can announce a hymn and arrange for its singing, and the result is that probably the least successful work of ninety-nine out of a hundred ministers is their preparation for the song service of the church. I well remember one minister who would baldly announce the number and then turn round and stand looking at the choir and organist until they were prepared to sing the

The awkwardness and helplessness of the man invariably produced a most unfortunate effect upon the congregation. Another minister I knew announced the number and read the first line. It made no difference whether the first line made sense or not, he never read any further. It was his mechanical and invariable form, and it never occurred to him that there was anything else to be done. The hymn was perfunctorily used by him as a traditionally necessary part of the service with which he had little or nothing to do, and which had no relation to the needs or objects he had in view for that service. It may be that he and a great many others like him look upon the whole musical service as a merely formal adjunct without any spiritual object or aim. The unpardonableness of an aimless sermon need not be empha

sized, but why should it be easier to forgive a pastor for being aimless in his use of hymns?

At this point let me drop a word of warning against the unintelligent omission of verses. Some ministers invariably restrict the number to be sung to three or four. If there are five verses, they invariably omit the fourth, or invariably announce, "We will sing the first three verses," no matter what the development of thought may be. One of the most painful manifestations of ministerial thoughtlessness and indifference to the congregation's share of the service is this brutal mutilation of the hymns.

A great many people deprecate the minister's reading of the hymns. They think that it is so much time lost, and that it keeps them from their Sunday dinner by just so many minutes as the reading requires; but that is because so few ministers are able to read hymns with any degree of impressiveness or reality. Perhaps half the ministers who read them leave no desirable impression whatever as the result, for the reading has been without even a thoughtful sense of the meaning of the hymn, much less of its emotional force. To allow one's voice to fall at the end of every line, or to make a habit of having a rising inflection at the end of each first line and a falling at the end of each second, without variation, is so vile from an elocutionary standpoint that one cannot wonder that the general congregation prefers its omission.

On the other hand, if the minister's mind and heart are profoundly awake to the thought and feeling of the hymn that is to be used, if the minister has a definite purpose which he wishes to realize through the singing of that hymn, if the whole song service is thoroughly vital and earnest, he cannot help but read the hymn in such a way as to impress and interest his people. One need not be

a well trained elocutionist to do this. The genuine feeling will develop a natural elocution and will even neutralize faulty habits and mannerisms of reading that would otherwise make it unendurable.

The fact that the hymn is a familiar one may be only an additional reason for reading it instead of being, as is usually supposed, an imperative reason for omitting its reading. As coins long in circulation often lose their superscription, these familiar words often lose their meaning and reality by constant use, and these may be restored by intelligent and emotional reading. I would not advise a mere habit of reading a hymn through. The situation, the purpose in view, the character of the service and the time allotted to it, even the preacher's own passing mood, all are factors that need to be considered.

As already suggested, the chief weakness in our song service is in its perfunctoriness. Like counterfeit money in the contribution box, there is no genuineness in it. People sing the most devout and spiritual hymns with absolute indifference, with apparently no sense of their meaning, and certainly with no appropriation to themselves of the experiences expressed. What is needed to make our song service what it ought to be, is the revitalization of these hymns. In announcing his hymns Spurgeon generally made some remark: "This hymn is full of joy, let's sing it with all our hearts." "Dear friends, the devil sometimes makes you lag half a note behind the leader. Just try if you can't prevail over him to-night and keep proper time." One of Wesley's rules regarding singing was "Often stop short when the words are given out and ask the people Now do you know what you said last? Did you speak no more than you felt?'"