DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure %gom THE COLERIDGE COLLECTION Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://archive.org/details/wordoncathedraloOObowl A WORD CATHEDRAL-ORATORIOS, CLERGY-MAGISTRATES, ADDRESSED TO LORD MOUNTCASHEL. " A word in season, how good is it-" — Solomon. BY THE REV. W. L. BOWLES, Canon Residentiary of Sarum, LATE STEWARD OF THE GLOUCESTER MUSIC MEETING, AND ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S JUSTICES OF PEACE FOR THE COUNTY OF WILTS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1830. Just published, by the same Author, "THE LIFE OF BISHOP KEN, CONTAINING " a Practical" and Historical " View of Puritanism, compared with Real Christianity."* * See title to Mr. Wilberforce's work. MINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET. 3187 U/ CATHEDRAL ORATORIOS, AMD CLERGY MAGISTRATES. My Lord, In what I shall have the honour of submitting to your Lordship's consideration, respecting a subject so important as the reformation of the Church of which I am a member, I shall studiously avoid the subject of the Irish Esta- blishment, being little acquainted with any of the circumstances which affect that Sister Church, further than what has appeared in your Lordship's correspondence with the Bishop of Ferns. In that correspondence I, and all who have read it, must have observed — whether some of the charges may be just or not — an anxious desire in your Lordship, not only to reform and revise that Church according to your Lordship's views of " real piety ;" but they must have observed, moreover, that in the a. "33 04,5 ardour of this great undertaking, like another Church reformer, Hudibras, " in his stirrups, gazing portentous round," your Lordship ex- tends your survey across the Irish Channel, while from the conclave of Cork, certain objects of horror appear magnified to your vision in the Church over the water, which demand more especially your pious attention. As these objects, both in your letters to the Bishop of Ferns, and in your late speech in Parliament, re- flecting on "us miserable sinners'' the English Clergy, are now pointed out in a more especial manner, deeply affecting those who, like myself, have the honour of bearing his Majesty's com- mission, and those who may, like me also, with- out thinking the least harm, have given their attendance, perhaps once in three years, at those Cathedral-meetings, which your Lordship is pleased to term a *' kind of Opera," I shall confine my observations to these crying sins in the English Church, which, with other abomina- tions, have particularly attracted your notice, as exciting horror in the " truly pious" mind of your Lordship. Respecting these two prominent sins, what if, hardened in impenitence — at a time of life when it will not be long before I must give my account to another Judge— I do not fear to say to you, my Lord, and all the " really pious" in the three kingdoms — " habes confitentem reum," and not only so, but proudly confitentem, my Lord; confitentem, that, though a clergymen, I bear his Majesty's commission as justice of the peace; confitentem, that, if it were not for the perils of the long journey, notwithstanding your Lordship's ana- thema, I should be in front of one of the galleries at the next " opera" on the opera day in York Cathedral ! That your Lordship will turn up your eyes, at the thought of such hardihood in impiety, I have no doubt ; but as I have read, in a certain Book, not perhaps so familiar to you as some human comments on it, "judge not, and ye shall not be judged," totally indifferent how your Lordship shall judge in this matter, I shall proceed to offer some further remarks on what you have so lately in Parliament frankly told us, requires especial reformation in the Church of England, both respecting spiritual transgres- sions, and other sins equally offensive, if not so prominent- All the observations I deem it necessary to make on your correspondence with your Right Reverend opponent, are, that it seems, whilst we give you the fullest credit for your profes- sion of Christian Faith, you have been less studious to manifest with your zeal, that part of the Christian code which requires truth and charity ; and that, whilst you separate, the Chris- 6 tian community into the " worldly-minded" and " really pious," you have been less definite than becomes such a judge, ex cathedra, in marking who these " really pious," and who these " worldly- minded" are; a definition the more important, because, upon Protestant grounds, what may appear to your Lordship " really pious/' may ap- , pear to me neither more or less than puritanical cant — not Christianity : on the other hand, what your Lordship pronounces " worldly-minded/* if we may judge from the two instances you have brought forward, as " marks of the beast" in the Church of England — I think not only not evil, but good. I am prepared, therefore, to defend, both as a Christian clergyman and a magistrate, these points of attack, leaving the Church to be re- formed as it may ; but permit me here to observe, that it argues, among all the vices of the age, some- thing in favour of the reviled national Church, when, with such a disposition to mark and exag- gerate her public offences, your Lordship is con- tented to fix on those, which appear to me esti- mated, by reason or Scripture, no offences at all ; unless, in a Protestant country, we must submit to your Lordship as Pope, and your Synod in Cork, as an inquisitorial and infallible Con- clave. As I have taken the liberty of recommend- ing to your Lordship a little " knowledge, as well as zeal," and a little charity as well as faith, and some little attention to truth with your broad accusations ; so I think it would not be amiss, since the Protestant religion renounces all infalli- bility, except in the " word of God," or what can be proven thereby," if not only your Lordship, but those of your " really pious " school, instead of pronouncing dictatorially what was " real Chris- tianity," were contented to pronounce what " real Christianity" was, according to their views ! This small distinction would be of infinite service to charity; for the Scotch Covenanters pronounced the " Solemn League and Covenant," condemning ungodly organs, as your Lordship condemns Cathedral Operas — " real Christi- anity •.' , instead of calling it John Knox's " real Christianity." A story is told, which your Lordship may class with what you " have heard " about " the parson- foxhunter, after church service, appointing at the communion-table the place where the hounds should cast off' the next morning;" which story, if it has no better basis than your Lordship's, has, better moral. A u really pious" sister, of the Church of John Knox, tore half the leaves of her Bible out, in holy indignation, because those leaves contained the word " Lord ;" that word having been pol- luted, as applied to the profane prelates. I transcribe also, to show how different are the views in different professors of " real piety," an extract from a publication of a " really pious" dis- ciple of John Knox, in the times of Charles the 1st. * Not only is it necessary to resist the king by force, in defence of the l Solemn League and Co- venant,' but also to resist King and Parliament, when they pervert the right ways of the Lord, and hinder the work of reformation ! The crying sins of the land, which we confess with sorrow before the Lord, are, that the graceless prelates and curates, (ministers of the Episcopal Church,) are not hung up before the sun ! " I do not set these passages before your Lord- ship, to show that I have the least idea that you would manifest your "real piety" by "hanging up,"' if it were in your power, those who attend the profane " operas" called oratorios, in the front of the desecrated cathedral, " before the sun ;" but to show, as I have done more at large in a Life of an English Bishop,* that when we reject an infallible pope, how much more important to (t real Christianity" it is, to despise the dicta of an infalli- ble puritan. Let us first agree in what " real Christianity " consists ; for, highly as I estimate the Christian character Mr. Wilberforce, I think he himself would have evinced more of the spirit * Life of Bishop Ken, just published by Mr. Murray. 9 of " real Christianity," if, instead of calling his book " A Practical View, &c. compared with real Christianity ," he had said, " compared with his ideas of real Christianity ! " * I have, with your Lordship's speech in Par- liament, before me, premised thus much, omit- ting every thing that relates to the Sister Church, in Ireland, the first object of your reforming solicitude : nor is it my intention, as far as respects the Church of England, to remonstrate and bristle against any sober unprejudiced views of amendment, which the the unbiassed wisdom of the Legislature, or its own members, might think expedient, pro- vided it be commenced in a spirit far different from that exhibited by your Lordship. I shall now proceed to the most material of those ac- cusations which you, in the face of a reflecting nation, have brought as crying offences against the English establishment. I shall, in the first place, take your own words, at least such as are given to you by the public papers, not venturing to assign the specific ex- pressions to your Lordship, but satisfied with the substance of the sentiment. The chief parts of tangible offence are, first, the profane " Cathe- dral Opera," which I call " Sacred Oratorios f and * Wilberforce's " Practical View, &c. compared with real Christianity." C 10 secondly, the clergy, under any circumstances, act- ing as Magistrates, concerning which heinous sin your Lordship seems to exhibit as little knowledge of the spirit of the English law, as of the Gospel! Think of a man calling himself a Christian, con- demning first from " hearsay," and then advancing as proof what he " has heard" * First, then, to prove how much the Church of England requires reformation, let us hear what it pleases your Lordship's piety to pronounce of that " kind of Opera," exhibited in our venerable cathedrals. "Was there not something of profane usage, 11 your Lordship asks, in converting the sacred edi- fices of religion into a kind of opera ? " I ask, in return, is there not something unchristian in this monstrous perversion ? on the contrary, who but those nominal Christians, who " strain at gnats and swallow camels," does not experience the highest and purest devotional feelingjm hearing the sublime strains of the Messiah, and other sacred Oratorios, in their most appropriate place ? But how disingenuous is the use of the term, " a kind of opera !" What ! is the oratorio of the * I suppose it comes from as "good authority" as that anec- dote, told by Mr. Attvvood in the House of Commons, that a Clergyman received a cut of mutton for a " baptismal fee," when the first Clergyman he met might have told him, there " is no baptismal fee ! " 11 Messiah, the whole of which consists of words from the Scriptures, set to strains as sublime as ever drew tears of devotional purity, performed in a cathedral, H. something like an opera ?" Let us now just alter the terms, which are em- ployed to give a false colouring, and see how this mighty sin shrinks to nothing. Instead of some- thing " like an opera," say, " not in the least like an opera ;" for " in an opera" there are dancing girls, who reel about like painted tops, and mid- night lights blaze on voluptuous forms. But look at the scene that presents itself on coming into a venerable cathedral on the morning of an oratorio, when fifteen hundred or two thousand persons are assembled, with no feelings, generally speaking, connected with the world of vanity without ; such, I am sure, have been my own feelings, and I must learn " real piety" from Lord Mountcashel before I judge others. Let a puritanic inquisition pretend to inspect the heart ; here at least are no incentives to sin or sinful thoughts. The female part of the audience ap- pear with looks and attire as modest, as at church on Sunday. The principal singers in the orchestra are all in costume, elegant, but modest, with looks that harmonize with the sacred occasion. Pause— the voice is heard, "Comfort ye, my people;" a 12 tearful intensencss of silence reigns through two thousand people ; Hark, " fire mingled with the hail " resounds from the choral orchestra ; every bosom thrills ; and on how many lids is a tear of virtuous and holy sympathy, when Tears, such as tender fathers shed, is heard, and where is there a father's heart which does not beat with more sympathetic and more holy affection ? Let the depraved censurer go to this " opera," to furnish him with hypocritical invectives ; but let those who have no such feelings in their heart turn with disdain from such drivel- ling declamations of affected godliness. Eut let us see how a few alterations, as I have said, in the expressions, would represent this abo- mination in a very different light. Suppose we leave out " something like an opera," for, at the time, the place, the scene, the characters are nothing " like an opera" and then let me describe the effect of such music in such a place. The performance is, as I have said, from scripture words, or words on a sacred, not a secular, subject. The strains accompanying these words are devo- tional, sublime, or affecting. An oratorio then may be defined sacred music, on a sacred subject - — in a sacred place, and for purposes of the purest benevolence : and shall we cant and preach of 13 the sin and wickedness of " hired performers" when the benevolent purpose cannot be effected, and the heart-elevating strains heard, in this most hallowed place, without them ? What ! when the " world is bursting with sin and sorrow,'' are such assemblies, so accompanied with the purest and best feelings, to be decried as sinful, because a disingenuous bigot chooses, ex cathedra, to denounce them ! The attendance on a musical performance of this kind, to say nothing of devotional interest in the strains, can have no sinful associations, un- less the heart is more than commonly depraved. That any evil in the open day could be com- mitted in such a place, none will be so impu- dent as to assert — he must be thoughtless, not to say depraved, into whose heart one profane thought could enter, and he must be far more depraved, in imagination, like those who say they cannot be present at a dance without improper thoughts, who could imagine the existence of such a thought in others ! Such are the differ- ence of feelings. Let those who think otherwise avoid such contaminations, if, in their view, they are contaminations, but we who are conscious of no such feelings, may smile or scorn such fulminating fanaticism ! As to the general " Pa- ganism " of the nation, in not yet gloomily turning from all recreations, your Lordship's ideas of 14 " true piety" seem akin to those of the Presby- terian knight, of whom we have spoken, when he approached the " Pagan procession," which is thus facetiously described : " Then Hudibras, fist, face, and hand, Made signs for silence, which obtained, ' What means,' quoth he, * this Devil's procession, With men of orthodox profession ? Tis ethnic and idolatrous, From Heathenism derived to us. Are rags of superstitious fustian, Fit to be used in Gospel sunshine ? An Oratorio is precisely described, according to Hudibras primus — " It is an anti-Christian Opera!" Does his Lordship reject all the amusements of life? certainly he would not go to a wicked play, I opine, or an " opera" so called — but I cannot avoid asking myself, has this "really pious" nobleman ever witnessed himself the pagan per- formance in a cathedral by which those sacred edifices are so much desecrated ? The greatest master of human passions, in poetry, who has ever called forth the most intense sympathies of our nature, in one of his exquisite comedies, excites some laughable (I fear you will think "profane") associations. 15 Has your Lordship ever ventured to open a volume of compositions, by so vile a sinner as one William Shakspeare ? nay, my Lord, I would not have you suppose for a moment that I could allude to any passage that might seem to reflect on some of the " really pious," such as the thrilling lines in King Lear: ** Tremble, thou wretch, Thou hypocrite, thou simular of virtue, Who hast within thee undivulged crimes Unwhipp'd of Justice." But as I have no doubt your Lordship belongs to a society established for the especial purpose of " converting the Jews," I venture to inform you, that the said Shakspeare has held up this most un- christian character, the Jew, in so effective a manner, that we may affirm no Christian, after reading it or seeing it acted, will ever be "converted to a Jew," whether the society of which I have spoken, without meaning any thing disrespectful, succeed, or not, in converting a Jew, to a Christian ! In this drama, which is called "the Merchant of Venice," among the characters are, Shyhchj the Jew. Launcelot, a clown, servant to the Jew ; and there is also a personage represented, called 16 Solarino, who describes two kind of persons, the merry and the serious : " Some that will evermore peep through their eyes. And laugh, like parrots, at a bag-piper ; And others of such vinegar aspect, That they'll not shew their teeth in way of smile, Though Nestor swore the jest were laughable." Such was a certain William Prynne, whose ideas of cathedral music were something akin to your Lordship's idea of " a kind of Opera in our sacred edifices ;" for, he says, " the choristers in a Cathe- dral sing a treble like hogs," meaning, I suppose, in the saturnine Presbyterian's vocabulary, hogs pro porculis, " little pigs ! " But my reason for venturing to call your atten- tion to this exquisite drama of this reprobate William Shakspeare, is, because the thought oc- curred to me, that if by accident you should have heard any part of the Messiah, to the ivords of which I presume you would not object, you, my Lord, might be — (I can scarce bring myself, tarn puris auribus, to quote the passage,) in the serio-comic situation of a person, on whom the effects of music are there represented. " The parrot laughing at a bag-piper," is a pleasant image ; but a more serious effect, according to the same authority, is often produced by some strains in some hearers ! The Jew himself says, 17 speaking of the different " humours" of different men — " Some men there are love not a gaping pig." (It is a Jew speaks, my Lord, not an English Rector ! ) C( Some men there are love not a gaping pig, Some that are mad, if they behold a cat ; And others, when the bagpipes sings i' th* nose, Cannot contain their for affection ! Activ. — Scene 1. I must refer my curious readers to the passage, and, lest it should offend your Lordship, I have left the blank to be filled up by imagination ; but, in sober and solemn seriousness, when I read your Lordship's denunciation of the " kind of Opera" in our " Cathedrals," I could not help — it was the passing thought of the moment — imagining such strains might have similar effects on your Lordship, as those which the Jew has described somewhat coarsely, I must confess, but not the less naturally! Nor, indeed can I otherwise account for this horror of horrors which your Lordship expresses towards an Oratorio,* which is performed in a * A prelate, of his Lordship's views of piety, " I have heard," has refused, this year, the Cathedral of Winchester to a pur- pose so profane as an Oratorio. D 18 sacred place, and the music of which, thpugh with " hired musicians," is for charitable and most benevolent purposes. The ungodly associations, so familiar to your Lordship's thoughts, of " hired musicians, money- takers? never occurred to me, I must confess ; and now, when, by way of making an Oratorio It is remarkable that there were just seven bishops sent to the Tower, for not obeying King James II. ; and seven who, on a late occasion, gave their votes in direct opposition to the views then entertained by the seven prelates sent to the Tower for opposing Popery. No one would condemn another for acting according to the dictates of his conscience, and the best of his understanding : But this bishop told his clergy "he had sought the Lord on his knees to direct him !" This is all mighty well ; but, unfortu- nately, when the ministry were considered hostile to the Catholic claims, he did vote in unison with the supposed feelings of his "Very noble and approved good master." After their decision was known, the "really pious" prelate " I have heard," " sought the Lord upon his knees." When his episcopal charge was published, nothing appeared of his " seeking the Lord," to enable him to judge whether he ought not to change his mind ! And this conscientious prelate shuts his cathedral doors againsi " profane Oratorios," " having sought the Lord," I presume. But I can and will tell him that, when the " kind of piety" which condemns Oratorios, regains its full power, as in the days of Charles the First, he may be obliged to " seek the Lord to direct him," how he shall bear adversity, a& wclj as prosperity. 19 seem unfit for "pious" ears, your Lordship, with all your power of ridicule, places these profane as- sociations before me, I think of the man who deems the sublime strains of Handel profane, with un- mitigable contempt, let his piety be what it may. Without, however, inquiring into the nature of your Lordship's feelings on such occasions, I shall declare, at least, those feelings which have accom- panied me through life, without a thought of transgression, from youth to age. When these affecting and most sublime strains of devotional music roll through the aisles, I have no words or thoughts of " hired musicians," * or idolatrous Jiddle-siicJcs ; and I pity those who have. I ought not to have forgotten, that in the play, to which I have alluded, besides " the Jew" there is " Jessica" his daughter, and a fair maiden, called Portia. I have no doubt you think this play even more "profane'" than an Oratorio in a Cathedral ; I shall therefore set before you one passage, the senti- ments of which perhaps even your Lordship might not think " impious." * As to the profanation of " hired musicians" in a Cathedral, probably your Lordship cannot play on any musical instrument so well as myself, and I know not how the Messiah, or any other Oratorio in a Cathedral, or elsewhere, could be performed except by " hired musicians." I would refer to some eloquent observa- tions of a prelate, to whose piety no one would object, the late Bishop Home, the commentator on the Psalms, on this subject.- 20 Portia. The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth a9 the gentle rain from Heaven Upon the place beneath j it is twice bless'd j It blesseth him that gives and him that takes : Tis mightiest in the mightiest j it becomes The throned Monarch better than his crown. His sceptre shews the force of temporal power. The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings : But mercy is above this sceptred sway, It is enthroned in the heart of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's, When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice by thy plea, consider this, — That in the cause of justice none of us Should have salvation : we do pray for mercy, And that same prayer should teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. Now, my Lord, may I ask how you like Portia's preaching ? Thus you see I am not only so hardened in sin as to attend Cathedral Oratorios, but to take a sermon from a play. I well know how unregenerate he must be thought who can quote Shakspeare. But pray, my Lord, did not St. Paul, in the sublime chapter on the Resurrec- tion of the Dead, quote Menander, which is enough to show he was not of the school of Prynne ? And does your Lordship suppose Menander ever wrote anything half so sublime, or beautiful, as these lines 21 of Shakspeare ? No — and I will tell you-, there is nothing so evangelical in all the sermons of Toplady, Hawkins, and their whole host put together. I have spoken of such feelings as I believe are experienced for the most part by hearers of Oratorios in Cathedrals. I will now, for a little relief, tell you a short story. I was entered at Oxford not long before the Commemoration of Handel was celebrated at Westminster Abbey, when such a vast assembly, in so venerable a place, was collected to hear choral and devotional music performed by such an or- chestra as none had before seen collected. I had never been in London, and, on this extra- ordinary occasion, though my finances, as a young student, said " No ;" my enthusiasm said " Yes." I had no other means of going to London, than travellingall night, for the first time in my life, on the outside of a stage-coach. Terrific was the thought ; but I wassointentontheideaof hearingthe Messiah in Westminster Abbey, that at ten o'clock at night I found myself perched on the roof of Coster's coach, from the Angel, proceeding with the twang of the horn at a tremendous pace over Magdalen Bridge. By degrees my alarm wore off; we trotted along, in a still moon-light night, rapidly and delightfully * A Greek writer of plays. What can a Puritan say to this ? Was not St. Paul '* a real Christian ?" c 2°2 through Henley — ascended the hill, and so on to Maidenhead, when I became overpowered by a disposition to sleep, momentarily sleeping, and momentarily awakened, and shuddering lest I should fall, I pinched my eye-lids, and fell asleep in the very act of pinching them, and in this horrible state of alternate involuntary sleep, and alternate waking in terror, I continued till near the dawning. For the first time, and on an occasion to me so interesting, I entered the metro- polis. My eyes were involuntarily turned to the towers, which, from Piccadilly, were pointed out as the towers of Westminster. I saw the flag floating in the grey morning atmosphere, and heard the distant peal. I arrived at the Bedford coffee-house, Covent- garden, about nine o'clock in the morning. Young men then wore their hair clubbed behind, and filled with powder and pomatum, in an appendage which was called " a pig-tall" my Lord. As soon as possible, after some refreshment, I sent for the friseur de l'Hotel. It seemed as if- I were arrived at the mansion of the muses, for the different bed rooms were marked with the names of Melpomene, Clio, Thalia, &c. Clio was allotted to me; but le void, the friseur! Willing on such an occasion to shew I was not a mere academical bumpkin, I told him my hair must be dressed quite in the mode j the conse- 23 quence of which order was, I had a whole pound of pomatum, with layers of powder worked into my metropolitan pig-tail, (" vanity of vanities," saith the preacher!) and so tightly was the graceful appendage stuck to my poll, that I could scarcely shut my eyes, much less move my head. I had already purchased my ticket for the first per- formance at the Abbey ; which was to commence in about three quarters of an hour. Having had no rest, I thought I would lie down for some little time, but as my hair was en queue I lay on my back, lest any part of my curls in front should be discomposed. I held my ticket in one hand, and for fear of dozing told the waiter to be sure to call me, (as I had travelled all night from Oxford,) in time for the music at the Abbey, which he engaged to do. I woke, as I thought, soon after, and supposing it must be time to go, rang the bell. The waiter appeared, " What o'clock is it ? " "A quarter past seven ! " which was four hours after the music was over, for which I came so far at the risk of my life. Be sure, I was there early enough the next day, and then for the first time I heard, not knowing there was such a composition in the world, the "Funeral Anthem," composed by Handel, and sung at the burial of Queen Caroline ; " When the ear heard her, then it blessed her, <24 and when the eye saw her, it gave witness of her." I was so affected I could scarce restrain the utterance of my feelings; but when the music and the words, " Her body is buried in peace," were given, the tears rushed into my eyes, and to this moment, now I am grey with age, and till my " body is buried in peace," I can never forget the effect. You may be an inspector of men's bosoms, and tell me these feelings were merely physical ; be they what they will, I am sure they were as pure as your Lordship's purest feelings, when your Lordship " sits under" the most evangelical of preachers. While in the act of writing these desultory ob- servations in my way to town, at Salt-Hill, I first heard the tidings of the King's life being de- spaired of, and I repeated involuntarily — " When the ear heard him, then it blessed him I" May it be long before a grateful nation shall sigh, " His body is buried in peace !" As to the Messiah, performed at the theatres, with playhouse associations, with playhouse deco- rations, and mixed with such songs as " Sally in 25 our Alley," it is impossible that anything can be more offensive. And even in Hanover Square Rooms its performance seems incongruous ; but when in a sacred edifice, raised to resound from day to day, the praises of God, those sublime and appropriate strains are heard, the puritanical con- demnation appears to me a far greater sin than the performance — and the performance in the cause of charity, most appropriate, most affecting, and most devotional. Let me add, that the most sublime strains, which the earth ever heard, could not be heard at all with appropriate effect, but in such sacred edi- fices. So far is an Oratorio remote from a " hind of Opera!" And now, my Lord, if I may hope to have gained a moment's attention, I will treat you with a small sketch of an Oratorio, being some lines written on hearing one of these ts hind of Operas" in Gloucester Cathedral. The dead might seem to listen ! oh ! again, Beneath the dim roof, solemnly, Where round, in dust, the mighty lie, Amid the shrines and tombs of this high fane, Swell the long notes of praise, till Piety — The tear of adoration in her eye. Upraised — forget the coil of mortal strife, The tumult and the sounds of life, Seeming as if she heard alone, The host of angels ever hymning round the throne. £ 26 2. Chorus — Israel in Egypt. Now louder rolls the pealing harmony, " Shout— for the Lord hath triumphed gloriously ! " " Sing to the Lord, for he, u Rider and horse has cast into the sea! " Oratorio of Israel in Egypt. The strain is ceas'd , and through the arches grey, The choral jubilate dies away. Air — Caradori. 3. Look ! listen ! for she rises, in whose mem, A radiant smile, as scarce of earth, is seen, And hers an angel's song, " Oh, bright and fair, " Take me, take me to your care ! " Listen again, what rapture swells the voice ! The solemn fane, Rolls back the strain, " Oh 1 daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice." Messiah. Ah ! doorn'd from all she lov'd on earth to part, A tender sadness visits grief's lone heart, And one, one tear-drop glistens, While with a sigh, she listens : " Brighter scenes I see seek above, In the realms Of peace and love." Jsphtha. 27 4. Air— Miss Stephens. *? I know that my Redeemer liveth ! " hush !■ — Cold-hearted Pharisee, where is thy blush ? The tear is on her cheek — a daughter's tear, She thinks on her poor father's distant bier j * That father, who in life's eventful spring Once smil'd, and wept, and smil'd to hear her sing. She thinks upon that father ! but again Angels in heaven seem listening to the strain, And join the hymn, of mortals, as they sing — " Oh, grave, where is thy victory ! oh, death, where is thy sting ? " Hallelujah Chorus in the Messiah. Hark ! the long aisles roll back the choral strain ; " For ever and for ever he shall reign ! " '' For ever ! " hark the empyrean rings ! " For ever ! " Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Hallelujah. Let it be remembered, that of all the arts of man, music is the only one associated in our minds with the pure joys and happiness of heaven. Well, my Lord, have I in vain endeavoured to exorcise the spirit of your " really pious" Purita- * A most affecting incident, to which I was a witness. Poor Miss Stephens, when she stood up to sing this affecting strain, was overcome from the feelings of the moment, it being the first time she had sung in public since the death of her father. 28 nism ? Alas! I fear " Maschal, chief musician" of David could not do it. Have the rising fumes of incipient fanaticism passed away ? or, is old orthodox Sternhold and Hopkins, or, rather, some of the modern methodistical hymns more in unison with your " pious feelings," than such verses of the Church of England bard, who thinks he can be a Christian, and yet feel no offence to God or man in attending a sacred Oratorio. An highly-gifted author, long distinguished for his amiable disposition and virtuous life, in the unthinking gaiety of youth wrote some lyrics, on which, for purity and chasteness, many pious hymns would be a libel ! A certain ealvinistic divine,* who, like many others, mistook puritanism for ' * real Christianity" wrote some pious hymns. One of them begins as follows — '« Oh ! grant me children, or I die, Was once the lovesick Rachael's cry." And so on, in the same spirit. In another hymn, in the same book, sung by the same con- * Who left the owner of the advowson of Aldwinkle in North- amptonshire, to whom in honour he ought to have resigned the possession, to rot in a jail. At this living the pious Doctor never, resided, preferring the " cure of souls" at an " elect" chapel, Bath, where these and several other godly hymns of the kind were sung to the edification of the elect brothers and sisters. 29 gregation, the sighing evangelical penitent lady is piously described as — " Hiding her blushing face upon her Saviour's breast ? " This is the concluding line of one of those " really pious" hymns in a precious publication once belonging to the " elect lady," the sister of the celebrated John Wilkes, and which book I have seen. There is a hymn also in a book, which I have seen, for I could not have believed it otherwise, called " Matrimony." I have not" heard of it." I have seen this composition in a hymn-book, in a chapel once belonging to the new Jerusalemites, in Lisle-street. I cannot pollute my page with it. These hymns, my Lord, are perhaps more to your taste than those " kind of operas" called Oratorios. Such compositions of sanctified sen- sualists are sung in many " sacred edifices," to such tunes as " when Bibo thought fit from the world to retreat ! ! " Chanting the Psalms in our Cathe- drals, the most ancient custom, derived from the example of the inspired author of the Psalms himself is, in the patois of Puritanism, " Sing- song!" The same mode of criticising may be applied with as much success to the psalms in the Bible! What do those pious abhorrers of the solemn and beautiful Church Service, such as I heard it 30 in Westminster Abbey on Sunday, the 16th of May, think of " David's complaint in sickness." Psalm 6.) " To the chief musician on Neginoth?" or the psalm in which " David prayeth," &c. «' A Shiggaion of David which he sang unto the Lord," &c. Psalm 7th, et cetera. Daring Infidelity is not a greater enemy to religion than this loathsome Puritanism, which resembles Piety in feature and character much as Hogarth's Lady-saint resembles Titian's Ma- donna; or the visage of the Reverend Thomas Scott in the shop windows, the St. John of Ra- phael I and in my opinion those who comment the plain Word of the God of heaven into Cal- vinism, are greater enemies to pure religion than Carlisle the open infidel; indeed, this is the chief cause why there are ever Carlisles at all. Along with these hymn books, and other godly similar tracts, it might sometimes be as well if the Society for Suppression of Vice were to employ some reverend Paul Pry, to examine the bottom of the basket of those who sell evangelical works. One miscreant, under " The Dairyman's Daughter," and other tracts of that description, concealed the more edi- fying Moll Flanders; and, under this, pictures and publications too infamous to be thought of, which he was observed selling to a crowd of chil- dren. On being brought before the magistrate — 31 he said " He only sold those things to enable him to bring up a large family in the/ear of the Lord!!"— Police Reports for Feb. 1830. From these observations on profane Oratorios, I proceed to speak of the second great abomi- nation as to which the Church of England wants reformation, namely, Clergymen being in the Commission of the Peace as acting Magistrates. Now, perhaps, it is known to you, my Lord, that the same outcry was raised in the reign of Charles the First, and when the " Puritan," in the Church-reforming Parliament, gained the upper hand, an ordinance was issued for burning witches, selling Dean and Chapter lands, and that