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 JtK 20 1937 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 ^'-tL 
 
 A Brief History of Psalmody. * 
 
 By Rev. Henry Beets. 
 
 1 
 
 Psalmody before the Reformation. 
 
 By Psalmody we uiiderstand the use of 
 the book of Psalms in divine worship 
 Psalmody as such has an interesting and 
 somewhat changeful history It began its 
 career, of course, in the Holy Land, among 
 the Chosen People of Grod. As David and 
 A-saph and Heman and Ethan and the 
 others who wrote our 1.50 Psahns. had 
 composed their sacred hymns, moved by 
 the Holy Spirit, they placed them, un- 
 doubtedly intD the hands of the heads of 
 the choir of singers and musicians formed 
 of Levites, to whom the song service of 
 the ancient tabernacle and temple had 
 been entrusted. Some of these Psalms 
 were sung on appointed days. Ps. '^4 for 
 instance was sung regularly every first 
 day of the week, commemorating the crea- 
 tion of the world, because the Psalm made 
 mention of the earth and the fulness there- 
 of. The second day of the week Ps. 48 
 was sung on account of an appropriate 
 passage in it, reminding of the work of 
 the second day of creation. And so with 
 the following days, on which Psalms ^2, 
 94, 81 and 93 were sung respectively. The 
 ninety-second Psalm of course was regu- 
 larly sung each sabbath day It bears the 
 title: ' A Psalm or Song fcr the Sabbath 
 Day." On the great feasts of the Jews: 
 Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacle many 
 Psalms were sung of course, and most, if 
 
 *) Our Connection with the present 
 Joint Committee on a Uniform Version 
 of the Psalms in meter led us to make 
 something of a study of the above sub- 
 ject. Thinking it might be of some in- 
 terest to our people, who still love the 
 Psalms above all other songs, we humbly 
 submit these sketches. H. B. 
 
 3c: 
 
 3: 
 
 not all of them, were sung statedly. The 
 so-called Hallel Psalms f. i were used 
 regularly when the feast of the Passover 
 was celebrated. These are Ps. 113 118 in- 
 clusive. It is claimed these were also 
 used on the other great feasts. Since all 
 the people of Israel took part in the annu- 
 al feasts they wonld naturally learn to 
 sing the Psalms alsj And they s.mg them 
 on diiferenb occasions. When marc".U:ig 
 to battle the Psalms were empl ived (Cf. 
 2 Chron. 20 : 2i, 28.) When, after the 
 return from captivity, syn-iga.^aes were 
 opened everywhere. psi.lmsin,2,in:;^ received 
 a great impetus, as it became part of the 
 exercises in them. And we can reidilv 
 surmize that the homes of the pious Israel- 
 ites resounded at the beginning and close 
 of the day with the swer^t strains of 
 Psalmody as a mornivjgand eve:jing sacri- 
 fice. At burials Psalms were chanted 
 mournfully and slowly. At festiv-.^ p:-o- 
 cessions of the people the sacred sDngs 
 were employed joyfully, as we learn from 
 the book of Maccabeei. It se^ms even 
 that a number of Psalms were composed 
 especially for the use of the laity as it 
 marched toward Jerusalem to attend the 
 great feasts: the songs of Degrees. (Ps. 120 
 -134.) Such are the beginnings of the his- 
 tory of Psalmody. 
 
 When the Church of the New Testament 
 Dispensation was established, psalmsing- 
 ing very naturally became part of the wor- 
 ship in church and family. All of the 
 Jews were Psalm singers. Th© sacred 
 hymns of David had become so endeared 
 to them on account of past memories and 
 experiences that it was a matter of course 
 that they would continue to use them. 
 And the more since they were full of all 
 manner of prophecies concerning the 
 Christ of God, who had become their 
 
 Savior and Portioa. Hence we hear the 
 rry 
 
42 
 
 TflE BA^>TE:n()F TlllTrtl. 
 
 N.T. ip^ak plainly of Psalmody. Eph. 5 5 ig 
 contains Paul's injunction of "speaking 
 one to another in Psalms and hymns and 
 spiritual songs, singing and making melo- 
 dy with your heart to the Lord." Coll. 
 S : 16 is quite similar In James 5:13 we 
 read "Is any merry ? let him sing psalms." 
 1 Cor. 14 : 15 reads, literally translated: 
 "I will psalm with the spirit and I will 
 psalm with the understanding." All this 
 points very plainly to the custom of psalm- 
 singing in the primitive Chnrch. There 
 is, besides, scarcely any doubt whatever 
 that the so called "hymn", our Savior and 
 his Apostles sang after the Passover (Matt. 
 20 : 30) was nothing but a Psalm, most 
 likely Ps. 118, usually sung at the close of 
 the celebration of this Sacrament. Th at 
 the name "hymn" is employed here is be- 
 cause of the influence of the Greek trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures— the Septuagint. 
 This had given the name of "hymns" to 
 some of the Psalms (6, 54. 55), and it seems 
 the name was sometimes loosely applied 
 to all of them, We find e. g. Josephus 
 telling us that David composed songs and 
 hymns unto God — referring of course to 
 the Psalms. And the Apostolic Constitu- 
 tions, still plainer, speak of the the Psalms 
 as hymns. One of its passages reads: "Let 
 another sing the hymtts of David and let 
 the people repeat the concluding line." 
 This last quotation is another plain proof 
 of the custom of Psalm singing in the 
 early Church. 
 
 Coming to the end of the second cen- 
 tury after Christ we have the teottmony 
 of Tertullian as to Psalmody. "The 
 Scriptures are read and Psalms sung", he 
 says, speaking of the African churches. 
 Jerome, in the 4th century, tells us that 
 Psalms were used by the christians of his 
 days And something similar is stated by 
 Eusebius of Caesarea and Chrysostom, the 
 well known preacher. (f407.) And these 
 
 songs of David were not alone used in 
 Churches, but in family worship as well 
 As early as the third century — and who 
 knows since how long? ,— the sixty-third 
 Psalm had become the morning hymn in 
 many a home, and Ps. 141 the evening; 
 song. And even outside of tha home 
 psalms were employed. Jerome tells us 
 concerning the inhabitants of Palestine 
 where he lived: "You could not go into 
 the fields but you might hear the plow- 
 man at his hallelujahs and the vinedres- 
 ser chanting the Psalms of David." The 
 Apostolical Constitutions already men- 
 tioned, inform us that, "the women, the 
 children, and humblest workmen could 
 repeat all the Psalms of David; they 
 chanted them at home and abroad." At 
 funerals also the psalms were r«gularly 
 employed, notably Ps, 116. 
 
 Of course it is well known that other 
 hymns were also introduced into the 
 church. Some believe as early as the 
 days of St. Paul, explaining the "hymns 
 and spiritual songs" of Eph. 5 : 10 the re- 
 fer to human compositions; altho commen- 
 tators of note hold these words to refer to 
 titles of some of the O. T. Psalms. (Cf. 
 Ps. 22 : 4; 145 : 1; 30 : 1; 48 : 1 et al) which 
 to us seems very probable. Moreover 
 N. T. history as far as it is con- 
 tained in the canonical books, does not 
 show any trace neither of the composition 
 nor of the introduction of hymns 
 
 But, whatsoever be the truth about the 
 days of- the Apostles, this is certain that 
 Pliny in his wellknown epistle to emperor 
 Trajan, written about 112 A. D., imforms 
 us that the christians he had arrested ack- 
 nowledged that they sang "a hymn unto 
 Christ, as to a god." And soon after men 
 like the martyr Athenogenes and the 
 Egyptian bishop Nepos, opened the end- 
 less list of hymn writers extending to the 
 present day in ever increasing numbers 
 
THE BANNER OP TRUTH. 
 
 43 
 
 But the Psalms of David seem to have re- 
 tained their place of honor throuoghut the 
 early centuries of the church of Christ* 
 For this we have the testimonies of men 
 like Athanasius, Ambrose and Augustine- 
 as well as many other data. And not alone 
 is this true of the Catholic Church. But 
 the Nestorians, Abyssenians, Copts, Arme- 
 nians and Maronites sang Psalms, and are 
 singing them, in some cases exclusively-, 
 unto the present day 
 
 During the Middle Ages uninspired 
 s-^ngs largely took the prominent place 
 the Psalms held continually during the 
 earlier centuries. And the priestly choirs, 
 fostered especially by the popes of Rome, 
 deprived the congregations from their 
 ancient privilege of singing the praise of 
 God in public worship. But the Psalter 
 was still used. Especially in the monas- 
 teries which arose in those dark ages in 
 such untold numbers. The monks sang 
 David's Psalms continually in their cha- 
 pels and cells. And often at their labors, 
 and while wandering about. Even in the 
 middle of the night the Psalms were chant- 
 ed regularly In those days of religious 
 extravagancies there arose even what was 
 fitly called "perpetual Psalmody.' Relays 
 of monks would at all hours of the day 
 and the night, year after year, unceasing- 
 ly, chant the Songs of David. History 
 tells us that there was one order of monks 
 called the Graziers, who led an exclusively 
 out-of-doors life, performing their psalm- 
 singing in the fields and upon the moun- 
 tains. They would sing and pray until 
 meal time and then interrupt that Psalm- 
 ody only for a brief season by cutting 
 grass for their food! In some monasteries 
 monks were compelled to sing the whole 
 Psalter, or part of it — as punishment for 
 transgressing the rules of the brotherhood. 
 There was a time that the entire book of 
 
 Psalms was sung a great number of times 
 to merit special favorr= of the Almighty! 
 We read of one monk who during the 
 forty days Lent had sung the entire Psal- 
 ter two hundred times! Yea. there is a 
 statement that one of the most zeahms in- 
 habitants of the cloisters, St. Dominic the 
 Cuirassier, in twenty -four hours went 
 twelve times through I he whole Psal er, 
 accompanying his singing with continual 
 flogging of his body. This wonderful 
 work of his was said to be equal to the 
 punishment of over sixty one years in 
 Purgatory 
 
 There was at least one occassion in 
 which the luiy was also allowed to sing 
 Psalms. That was during the so-cuUed pro- 
 cessions around the churches and along the 
 boundaries of the parishes. While the priest 
 carried all sorts of banners. bells and lights, 
 the people were permitted to follow, singing 
 the Psalms of David as well as other songs. 
 Sin:^ing like this also took place during 
 the many pilgrimages made to holy places 
 during these centuries. At the time of 
 theCrusades the rank and file had still more 
 liberty and opportunity to engage in 
 Psalmody. Time and again some of the 
 Psalms were chanted while the motley 
 hosts marched onward toward the holy 
 city, or while they stormed the towns of 
 the moslem foes. It is stated specifically 
 that when Jeruzalem was taken in 1099 
 the valiant crusades marched to the 
 church of the Resurrection repeating 
 Psalms. 
 
 The Psalms sung by these Crusaders 
 were in the language of the Church of 
 those days, the old Latin or Italic. Aliho 
 very likely some chanted them in their 
 own dialects. For during the middle 
 ages more than one translation of the 
 Psalter had been made in the lans:uages 
 of Western and Northern Europe. Ab early 
 as the ninth century Otfrid, a Benedictine 
 
44 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 monk, had coraposed a metrical version 
 of the Psalms in German. 
 
 In the tenth century Notker, the famous 
 monk of St. Gall translated the Psalms 
 into the Old German that monks who 
 were unacquainted with Latin, might un- 
 derstand what they sang. In the next 
 century an unknown author wrote a 
 Norman French version of David's songs. 
 To the twelfth century has been ascribed 
 the first Anglo Saxon metrical version 
 of the Psalms likewise by an unkown 
 poet. 
 
 But whatsoever use was made of Psalm- 
 ody in Midiaeval times by Roman Catho- 
 lics, this was surpassed by far by that 
 wonderful company of Reformed people 
 before the Reformation, the Waldenses. 
 They possessed a translation of the Psalms 
 in French and used it very frequently. 
 
 At work and at play, in home and in 
 church the ancient Psalms were sung with 
 new vigor and faith. They were committed 
 to memory and sang without books, to the 
 astonishment of all who heard them. So 
 noted were these Godfearing people for 
 their Psalmody that when any one was 
 found singing Psalms, this was taken for 
 a good proof that he belonged to the 
 Waldenses. The followers of the great 
 forerunner of the Reformation, John 
 Wiclif undoubtedly made use of the 
 Psalms also, possibly of the English version 
 mentioned above. And of the Hussites 
 ofBohemia it is stated with certainty they, 
 at least some Psalms, were emploved by 
 them in their wor.-hip. 
 
 -f -f > 
 
 Providence. 
 
 Providence, or God's superintendence 
 over all created beings may be divided into 
 two classes: (1) General, or that exercised 
 ever all creatures. (2) Particular, as shown 
 
 in God's special care of His own elect and 
 chosen people. We read that God ''maketh 
 His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, 
 and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
 unjust." How many mercies which we 
 daily receive may be classed under the 
 term "general providence"— the raiment we 
 wear, the food we eat, and the very air we 
 breathe. Many mercies which it is im- 
 possible to do without, we are continually 
 receiving, and yet how often do we forget 
 to thank our God for them Yet there are 
 those who are being supported in life and 
 kept in existence by the mercy of God who 
 dare to deny His being. We sometimes 
 wonder at this, but let us examine our own 
 hearts, and remember how often we mur- 
 mur and complain, although receiving so 
 many bounties from God's hand; and oh 
 that we may be stirred up to thankfulness 
 and exclaim, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, 
 and forget not all His benefits" ! Not only 
 does God care for human beings, but He 
 also provides for the beasts of the field and 
 the fowls of the air, and clothes the lilies 
 of the field, and He says to His people, 
 "Therefore, take no thought, saying. What 
 shall we eat? or. What shall we drink? or, 
 Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For 
 after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) 
 for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye 
 have need of all these things." We must not 
 infer from this that we are to sit down and 
 idly fold our arms, for God always meant 
 that we should use proper means, but let 
 us ever remember that He alone can bless 
 those means, and never let -'us ascribe any 
 praise to ourselves, for all our talents are 
 but lent to us for a time. What is meant 
 by "take no thought" is, no over-anxious 
 thought. We are not to put temporal be- 
 fore spiritual concerns. 
 
 In Psalm civ. there isa beautiful account 
 of God's providence as shown in nature, 
 and in the book of Job, chapters xxxviii 
 
THE 15AKNEU OF TRUTH. 
 
 51 
 
 tate upon it? It is important to see all 
 that He has revealed of Himself in it; hence 
 we muut come to the Bible to know God» 
 and to Christ, to know all the excellency of 
 God: so shall we see the Pather*s everlast- 
 ing love to us, and the delight the Son had 
 in paying our debt. When the mind is 
 thus drawn out of the soul is filled with 
 Joy and comfort. Have you experienced 
 this? Do you know something of it?— if 
 you do, you will be desirous to cultivate it, 
 and to shovv forth His praises in your life 
 and temper. If any man love God, he will 
 love his brother also (see 1 John iv. 20). 
 *"Above all these things put on charity, 
 which is the bond of perfectness," i.e.^ 
 ties all the graces together, so that there is 
 a splendour about those who practice these 
 things above those who do not. It is the 
 very fault the World ^.nds with Christians 
 that there is so much strife and quarrelling 
 amongst them. Brethren, these things 
 ought not so to be. 
 
 Lastly, the Aposlle says. "And let the 
 peace of God rule in your hearts," &c. By 
 the peace of God we are to understand that 
 which connects God and His people to- 
 gether; and they are all connected into one 
 by Christ's blood, There is, then, a con- 
 n-ective power in this word peace — it is 
 this which drives away every f^ar in the 
 mind. Oh, brethren, religion is not a 
 notion of the head, it is not a number of 
 principles floating in the mind, but it is a 
 reality; it is the most important fact that 
 has ever been accomplished, viz., Ihat 
 Christ has redeemed His people from their 
 sins — it is that which gives the assurance 
 that our sins are forgiven. Ask yourselves 
 the question, Am I quite prepared to say 
 that God hath forgiven me all my sins? 
 and, if not, why are you not prepared to 
 say so? The Apostle speaks strongly on 
 this point: "Examine yourselves, whether 
 ye be in the faith; prove your own selves 
 
 Know ye not your own selve.s, how that 
 Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be repro- 
 bates?'* (2 Cor. xiii. 5.) So that religion 
 consists in the knowledge of God's love to 
 us; and I would not say much for the re- 
 ligion of the mouth only, for one which 
 does not make a person mamly desirous to 
 glorify God. There may be a great know- 
 ledge of the things of salvation without 
 any answering practical effect; but, if it be 
 the religion of the heart, there will be a 
 corresponding effect in the life and temper. 
 Now, is there anything so important as the 
 knowledge of the forgiveness of our sins^ 
 "The peace of God," how are we to obtain 
 it? God is called the God of Peace, Christ, 
 the Prince of Peace, and the Holy Ghost 
 speaks peace to the heart, so that it flows 
 from each Person in the Trinity. 
 
 But some of you may say. After all, I 
 am not among the subjects of these bles- 
 sings. I see no evidence of it in my life 
 and temper. I am often anxious about it. 
 but cannot feel I am one of God's children. 
 It is a mercy for you to argue thus, be- 
 cause it shows you have a real desire for 
 the knowledge of God. But ask yoursel- 
 ves. Have we been diligent in the study of 
 God's Word? have we been constant in 
 attending on ordinances? in improving 
 every opportunity that offers for spiritual 
 benefit? and you will say you have «o^. I 
 am privileged to preach the Gospel to you. 
 but religion is quite as important to you 
 as to me. Now. how are these blessings to 
 be obtained? In a commonplace manner: 
 by the use of means. You may attend to 
 your worldly business — and so you 
 ought — but let tfie concevn of your soul 
 hold the primary importance. 
 
 "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts 
 to which also are ye called in one body: 
 and be ye thankful" (Col. iii. loV Ah. 
 brethren, we are so called by God, from 
 ev.^rlasting by Christ, who is continually 
 
m^ baj^ner of fKtjfii. 
 
 speaking to our hearts, and by the Holy 
 Ghost, who sanctifies us. Now we are to 
 be thankful for these things, to ponder 
 them over^ and the Apostle shows us in the 
 following verse (IG) how we are to attain 
 these graces of which he has been speaking 
 and how we may obtain that blessedness 
 and stayedness of spirit which is so desir- 
 able. -^^^/r^/ffo^ /rfini a sermon by Revi Ji 
 Prosser^ M. A. 
 
 ^ 4 ^ 
 
 A Brief History of Psalmody. 
 
 By Rev. Henry Beets, 
 II 
 I'talmo^y »ince the F^fof mafiori on 
 the European Continent. 
 
 When the bright and glorious day of the 
 Meformation banished the spiritual dark- 
 ness of mediaeval times in the Old World, 
 it also brought honor and extensive use to 
 the ancient songs of David and the other 
 Old Testament saints^ As in many other 
 things, Luther was also the pioneer in this 
 respect. It is true^ before him, partly con- 
 temporaneously, a few had tried to versify 
 a few Psalms in German Spengler had 
 done this with Ps. 127; Agricola with Ps. 
 117 and 2, and Hans Sachs with Ps. 19, 11, 
 13 and 15. But their achievements might 
 be called "rhymes", they were not poetry. 
 Luther however, poet as he was by the 
 grace of God, made poetry of the ancient 
 lays of Israel. His volume of 36 spiritual 
 songs, published 1524, contained, besides 
 translations of Latin hymns, and original 
 songs, a small nuniber of Psalms; They 
 Were more paraphrases than metrical ver- 
 sions, that is ti'ue^ they were the Psalms of 
 the old in the dress of thei ^few Testament; 
 but in essence they were the Psalms of 
 Israel. His well known hymn; "Bin feste 
 Burg ist unser Got", is at heart Ps. 46. 
 Some Other Psalms thus paraphrased were 
 Ps. 12, 14, 87, 97, 124, 128 and 130. Luther 
 
 lived to see his version of the Psalms ei'eed 
 ingly popular. They were sung by all 
 classes and everywhere. The battlefields 
 resounded, and the woods reverberated 
 with them, and they were echoed by the 
 hills and mountain sides They were 
 translated into different languages of 
 Europe and helped much to spread the doc- 
 trines of the Reformation. "Luther's 
 hymns and songs'^ wrote Adam Conzenius^ 
 a Jesuit/ "have drawn more souls out of 
 the Catholic Church, than all his other 
 writings combined!" What a pity Luther' 
 did not translate the entire Psalter! He 
 was able to do it! What a treasure the 
 churches of theReformation would have had 
 in it! As it iSj the paraphrases of Luther 
 alone represent well might the entire Psal-- 
 ter in the German Lutheran hymnbooks. 
 The vast majority of songs used by that 
 great Church are man-made, uninspired^ 
 Compositions, splendid in many ways, it 
 is true, but stil no peers to the songs of 
 David and of Asaph! Luther and the 
 Lutheran Church never fully grasped the 
 unique, the surpassing, the eternal value 
 of the book of Psalms! 
 
 The proper I'eali/ation of the worth of 
 sacred Psalmody was perceived first by the 
 great leader of the other branch of the 
 Reformation :/<7/z« (jalvin. That man of 
 God with his wonderful insight into the 
 depth and breadth of true religion also pef-- 
 ceived plainly4 and plainer than any one 
 before him^ that the book of Psalms was to 
 be the hymnal of the Church thruout the 
 ages. Not that Calvin desired to exclude! 
 all othei' compositions; he favored the ver- 
 sification of different prose portions of the 
 Bible. But the Psalter was to be the book 
 of public praise. As he wrote in 1542 "I 
 agree with Augustine: when we sing 
 Psalms, then alone are we certain that God 
 puts the words into our mouth, as if He 
 
THE BANNER oF TRUTH> 
 
 himself sang in us to glorify him.'* And 
 Calvin succeeded in introducing,thePs.ilms. 
 First of all in Strasburg whither he went 
 after he was banished out of Geneva. Cal- 
 vin came to that German city in September 
 
 1538 as pastrr of the French Protestant 
 church there. And in November of that 
 same year his congregation had begun to 
 sing the songs of David in French meter. 
 At first twelve Psalms were used, doubt- 
 less written copies. The next year how 
 ever no less than 18 Psalms were printed. 
 Whence did Calvin get his versified psalms? 
 Twelve of the Psalms of this book— the 
 first Reformed. Psalter published — were 
 written by one of the courtiers of the king 
 of France. This courtier was Clement Mar ot, 
 born '496, (?) died 1544. Marot was a born 
 pott. Tired of the vain and erotic ciiarac- 
 ter of the songs of his days he had been 
 charmed by the beauty and strength of the 
 P.salms of David as translated into French 
 by Vatable. He bad attempted to versify 
 twelve of them, viz. Psalms 1, 2, 30, 15, 
 19, 32. 91, 103, 114. 130, 137 and 143, and 
 had succeeded remarkably well. His ver- 
 sion became exceedingly popular. All the 
 aristocratic world of France, including the 
 king, sang the Psalms of Marot. The mas- 
 ses followed. For the time being Psalm- 
 singing became the rage in all France. 
 
 Now, Calvin, in some way, became ac- 
 quainted with thpse few Psalms of Marot. 
 He recognised their value and utilized 
 them straightway in his congregational 
 worship. But, we stated above, Calvin in 
 
 1539 published eighteen Psalms, wheras 
 Marot's had only versified twelve so far 
 Whence did he get the other six ? They 
 were Calvin's own productions. He felt 
 however that they were very much inferior 
 to Maroi's version and rejoiced when he 
 was able in later issues to replace them 
 with those of the French poet. In 1541 
 Calvin vvas recalled to Geneva. Forthwith 
 
 he introduced his Psalter there also The 
 next year brought Marot himself to that 
 same city. Being suspected of hersey the 
 French poet fled to Geneva and Calvin 
 made use of his talent to such an extent 
 that in 1543 he could publish a collection 
 of 49 Psalms. Marot alas, did not complete 
 the versification of the Psalter. Fearing 
 men more than God he did not remain 
 loyal to the Reformed faith. But the Lord 
 had raised up another man in his place: 
 Theodore Beza, the famous Theologian' 
 (1519-1605.) He completed the versifica* 
 tion of the Psalms in meter, in imitation 
 of Marot The entire Psalter was pub- 
 lished in I562v Beza's Psalms were in- 
 ferior to Marot's in poetical value, aUho 
 not as much as some hostile critics have 
 tried to prove. And God blessed this 
 French Psalter to a remarkable degree. It 
 w^as used by French Protestant churches 
 everywhere until the end of the I7th cen' 
 tury. They were the much beloved songs 
 of the Huguenots thruout their eventful 
 history. They were their battle hymns — 
 especially the 68th Psalm — their songs of 
 comfort, their funeral dirges. They in' 
 spired them time and again to perform 
 wonderful deeds of daring, and of majestic 
 faith! 
 
 After a lapse of a century and a half 
 however the version of Marot and Beza be- 
 came unsatisfac:ory. Conrart and de la 
 Bastide at length became authors of a 
 revised version, which, proving satisfac- 
 tory to the authorities in Genera, was pub- 
 lished in 1695. It was quite generally 
 adopted by French speaking churches 
 every where,aUhoquite a number continued 
 to use the old version. In course of time 
 however this new version shared in the 
 fate of the old: it became unsatisfactory. 
 And thru the influence of the increasing 
 liberalism among the descendants of the 
 Huguenots psalmsinging in genera, lost its 
 
54 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 attractions. The French Reformed church- 
 es at present, with a few exceptions annong 
 the Waldenses and elsewhere, use but a 
 selection of Psalms, embodied in their 
 hymnal "Recueil de Cantiques." Sad 
 index it seems to us, of the decline of the 
 Huguenot ChurchesI The Psalmody of 
 Marot and Beza is not significant for the 
 French churches alone however. They 
 exerted a marked influence on other ver- 
 sions of Reformed denominations. Among 
 these on the Psalms of the Reformed 
 Church of Germany Ambrosius Lobzvasser, 
 professor of juris prudence in Koningsberg 
 in 1573 published a version in German, 
 modeled after the Genevan Psalms. This 
 Psalter, altho lacking in poetical /alue, was 
 used for a long time by the Reformed 
 Churches in Germany and also by German 
 speaking congregations in Switzerland. 
 There was a time, during the 17th cen- 
 tury, that it virtually crowded the unin- 
 spired Songs out of the German Reformed 
 Church. The rise of Pietism and Rational- 
 ism however changed this again and at 
 present the German Reformed^Churches 
 everywhere are very much like the Luth- 
 eran denominations: hymns are sung nearly 
 exclusively. In Switzerland no one sings 
 Psalms any more. Of the nine cantonal 
 hymnals in use there, only one contains a 
 few of Israel's sacred songs. 
 
 There are however still a number of Gor- 
 man churches in Germany iind America 
 whj give a place of honor to the Psalter 
 The Reformed churches of East Friesland, 
 in the province of Hanover, have a very 
 poetical version of nearly the entire book 
 of Psalms which they use together with 
 about 300 hymns. But the Old Reformed 
 Churches of East Friesland and Bentheim 
 use the Psalms exclusively in divine wor- 
 ship. They employ a version published in 
 1793 by Rev Matthias Jorissen.. Jorissen 
 was a native German, born in 17H9, died 
 
 1823. He belonged to the Netherland Re- 
 formed Church and for the space of nearly 
 forty years he ministered to the GeFman 
 members and adherents of this Church in 
 the Hague. His version is in a New Testa- 
 ment spirit and follows the Dutch version 
 of 1774 quite closely. Jorissen's Psalms 
 are also in use by a number of churches in 
 the Rhine Province, and by the German 
 speaking congregations of the Chr. Re- 
 formed Church in North America. Passing 
 from Germany northward, we notice that 
 the Scandinavian churches follow quite 
 closely the lead of the German Lutheran 
 Church in the preponderanct^ of hymns. 
 We read of only one attempt to versify the 
 Psalter. It was made b^ Torstenius Johan 
 nis, a musician of the Swedish King Charles 
 IX. But his work closely following Marot, 
 was never used. In Poland \s\).^tQ Calvi- 
 nism flourished during a brief p^^riod, an 
 imitation of Marot was published in 1.563. 
 It was made by Bernard Woieivodka of Cra- 
 cow. The neighboring country of Russia 
 also received a version of the Psalter. It 
 appeared in 1G23 in Wilna, under the title 
 "Psalms sung in Churches " But it seems 
 it was never used to any extent. In Hungary 
 Psalmody prospered far more. As early 
 as 1608 a Hungarian version, modeled after 
 Marot's was printed at Hanau. To the 
 present day the Hungarian Calvinists, 
 numbering over two million people, are 
 Ps.ilmsingers, Altho not exclusively, for 
 in Hungary as well as in Bohemia, hymns 
 are bound up with ttie Psalter. But the 
 ancient songs of David, we are glad to 
 notice, are preferred very much in both 
 these countries To which we may add 
 incidentally that the Hungarians sing 
 their Psalms very slowly, drawing out 
 each syllable as long as their vocal organs 
 permit. Surpassing therefore even the 
 Dutch, so proverbially slow in theirpublic 
 praise. 
 
THK BANN15R OP TRUTH. 
 
 55 
 
 This leads us to a brief sketcli of the 
 history of Psalmody in the NetheAands and 
 its colonies. The first Holhmd version of 
 part of the Psalter in meter appeared in 
 1540. It was the collections of **Souter 
 L i e d e k e n s'* (Psalter Songs) of William 
 Van Zuylen Van Nyevelt. It followed the 
 prose version of the Psalms as found in the 
 Vulgate, the liible in Latin used by the 
 Roman Catholic Church. The tunes in it 
 were those of the popular airs of the day. 
 Van Zuylen published his songs to coun- 
 teract the singing of the erotic and some- 
 times very vulgar ditties Current at that 
 time. He succeeded somewhat in this. 
 But the Lord used this volume especially to 
 spread the principles of the Reformation 
 among the masses. 
 
 As these principles were grasped more 
 and more however, the Protestants of the 
 Netherlands began to object to these 
 "S o u t e r L i e d (• k e n s" on account of 
 their worldly tunes. Three new versions 
 in meter now appeared, accompanied by 
 more suitable music. The first of these 
 was made by Jan Utenhove, elder of the 
 Dutch refugee church in London, worship- 
 ping in the venerable building in Austin 
 Friars used by a Holland congregation to 
 the present day. In 1548 Utenhove first 
 published 10 and afterward 25 Psalms in 
 Holland meter; Other issues, constantly 
 enlarged, followed. In 1561 the entirt 
 Psalter of Utenhove appeared in London 
 by Jan Daye. The title was: '' De Psalmen 
 Davidis in Nederlandischer Satii^-sryme door 
 Jan Utenhove, van Ghentt/' This version 
 was used a number of years by the Dutch 
 Churches in England, and also in Flanders, 
 until Datheen's Psalter took its place. 
 Even in London itself the latter version 
 was adopted finally in 1580. 
 
 In 1565 another Dutch metrical version 
 appeared. Its author was Lucas de Heere, 
 born in 153-4 in Ghent. It followed the 
 
 Vulgate and was never popular. Partly 
 because it contained only 37 Psalms. 
 
 The really popular version was published 
 in 1566. It followed, both in meter and 
 music, the French Psalms of Marot. It 
 was made by the wellknown and remark- 
 able Peter Dathenus, (born 1531, died 1590.) 
 This fiery and eloquent man had a very 
 checkered career He rendered ihe Re- 
 formed Church of the Netherlands invalue- 
 able services in its early days of struggle 
 and resistance unto blood. The first edi- 
 tion of his Psalter, containing all the 
 Psalms bore the long title: ''Die Psalmen, 
 Des Konijicklijken Propheten Davids en de 
 ander Lofgesangen, iii'i den Francoysen dichte 
 ghemaecht door Clement Marot en de Theodore 
 Bese, in Nederlandische spraecke oVergeset door 
 Petrum Datkemim. It was printed it says 
 at the end of the volume, "in Heydelberghe 
 by Michiel Chiraet, Anno MDLXVI." As 
 mentioned in the title it contained, as iup- 
 plement, a few spiritual songs, viz. the so 
 called Nunc Dimittis, the magnificat and 
 Benedictus, besides a rhymed version of 
 the Apostle's creed and Lord's prayer — iu 
 the main the same which are found to the 
 present day in the back of the Dutch 
 Psalter. This version of Ualhenus was 
 popular from the start. It was used dur- 
 ing the Eighty years' war with Spain, and 
 thruout the golden age of the Dutch repub- 
 lic. It was used everywhere in the colon- 
 ies founded by the Netherlanders in South 
 and North America, in South and East 
 Africa, in the East Indies, yea whereever 
 the Dutch flag ever floated on land and sea. 
 It took a wonderful hold of Dutch minds 
 and hearts and retained it universally for 
 over two centuries. And even then some 
 preferred and a few do prefer and use it. 
 to the present day. Still the version is far 
 from perfect. Its rhyme is often uncouth 
 and wretched. It followed the French 
 Continued on page 58. 
 
5« 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 The Banner of Truth. 
 
 A magazine devoted to the spread of Bible 
 Truth. Published monthly at Paterson, N. J. 
 bj order of the Classis of Hackensack, under 
 the gupervision of the Publication Committee 
 consisting of Revs. J. C. Voorhis, S. I. Vander- 
 beek, and J. A. Westervelt, 
 
 TEKMS : 
 
 Yearly in advance - - 75c. 
 
 In clubs of five or more to one address 60c. 
 if not in advance - - $1.00 
 
 Sinojle copies - - - 10c. 
 
 All subscriptions and communications should 
 De sent to Rev J. A, Westervelt, Corresponding 
 Editor and Treasurer, 50 N. First St., Pater- 
 son, N. J. 
 
 Signs of the times. 
 
 The Apostle speaking with respect 
 to the principles which embody pure 
 and undefiled religion, makes a dis- 
 tinction between the form and the 
 power: and not only so, but urges the 
 improvement of the principles for the 
 betterment of the individual, and tlie 
 glory and honor of God. To de- 
 monstrate his own attitude, the apos- 
 tle tells us he was determined to 
 know none other than Jesus Christ 
 and him crucified. This suggests to 
 us that there was a cause proceeding 
 from the facts of Christ's attitude to 
 the world, that caused the open 
 clamour for his life. If there had 
 not existed in the life of Christ a 
 condemning element, the race and 
 malice of the Jews had never existed. 
 But the very fact that the religious 
 principles held by the ancient church 
 was called in question, excited the 
 indignation of the Jews, and recog- 
 nising the fact that the power which 
 Christ exercised by word and act 
 
 threatened the superstructure of 
 their formal pretensions of divine 
 worship. 
 
 Christ tells us the nature of his 
 mission in the world did not consist 
 in making a confederacy with exis- 
 ting evils, but in a Regeneration of 
 the individual, making him a new 
 creature, bringing him not only into 
 a formal relation with his God, but 
 imparting unto him the influence of 
 the Holy Spirit, at which time they 
 should receive power. This is a de 
 monstrated fact in the thousands 
 converted and added to the Church. 
 
 It is evident when we look about 
 us that instead of finding an open 
 hostility between truth and error, 
 there exists in its stead an elfort 
 to reconcile all the differences which 
 exist by the simple admission that 
 it is a fact that we have our different 
 opinions, hence for the sake of peace 
 we will agree to differ Xow this 
 sign of our times while it may ap- 
 pear most generous on the part of 
 those w^ho endorse it. does it agree 
 with Christ's true attitude? He de- 
 clares that he did not come to send 
 peace on earth (Math. 10 : 34. While 
 he advocated the things that belong 
 to tliy peace Luk. 19 • 4:2. The ori- 
 gin of he term ''Protestant church", 
 if sve understand the history of its 
 origin, proceeded from the fact that 
 certain evils existed that demanded a 
 seperation from its communion. The 
 fact is emphasized '-hen we consider 
 the various bodies that exi^t and are 
 termed Christian. And especially at 
 the present signs forcing themselves 
 upon our attention, we are compelled 
 to inquire has the Roman Catholic 
 Church changed? Or has tiie Prote- 
 stant Church changed? Have we re- 
 nounced the verdict of our fatriers as 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 57 
 
 to the doctrines entertained by that 
 body? Or have they renounced, the 
 doctrines which caused the sad 
 conditions which provoked so much 
 suffering and bloodshed? We have 
 not heard of their change as to their 
 principles. Then one of the signs of 
 the times is this^ that the principles 
 as a matter of importance to a proper 
 fellowship in any true federation is 
 being lost sight of in our day. 
 
 We are not reasoning for contro 
 versies and dissensions. Bu' we wish 
 to inquire if the signs of our times 
 bespeak sincerity on our part to 
 the things which we profess to 
 be ieve? And if we are not sincere in 
 our declarations as to truth profes- 
 sed, will we escape the charge which 
 God's word declares? Math. 16:3. 
 
 Again what are the signs respect- 
 ing the Church as it respects the 
 social conditions of the world? In the 
 time when Christ was upon earth He 
 opened the book of Isaiah and found 
 the place where it is written, ^'The 
 spirit of the Lord is up )n me because 
 he hath anointed me to preach the 
 Gospel to the poor; he hatti sent 
 me to heal the brokenhearted, to 
 preach deliverance to the captives, 
 and recover ing of sight 'o the blind 
 to set at liberty them that are bound, 
 to preach the acceptable year of 
 the Lord ••' The attitude of Christ 
 as a teacher proclaims the immense 
 value he set upon the individual soul. 
 He was a shepherd seeking out the 
 lost sheep, and bearing them in his 
 arms to tlie fold. The woman sweeps 
 the house until she finds the lost 
 piece. The relation of the Churcli 
 appears from ore point of view if we 
 take the signs of our times, to be a 
 partaker with the world through its 
 members in all its follies. The world 
 
 has its theaters, dances, card parties 
 and innumerable other means of enter- 
 tainments. And while the professed 
 Church has not attained the perfec- 
 tion which the world has, she appears 
 to be doing the best she can to imi- 
 tate the world, and to show her ap 
 preciation of this world's sport and 
 pleasures. To a. certain extent she 
 has been handicaped by reason of 
 members posessing means which she 
 did not wish to loose by turning 
 them awfiy from her communion. W^e 
 are glad to say at this time that 
 while in sorrow of heart we see so 
 much apostasy in our day, that there 
 are others who maintain the needs 
 of separati n from he world, and 
 discover the needs of such import- 
 ance that they willingly refrain from 
 the very appearance of evil. 
 
 These are signs in our times, dear 
 readers, which should lead us to 
 personal examination, and lead us 
 to inquire into the trend of our 
 lives. Xeed we say that the signs 
 should alarm us? Are the prevalent 
 signs a mark of Christian advance- 
 ment, or, are they an evidence that 
 to a very great extent, that which 
 is called Christianity is simply form 
 destitute of power to renew either 
 the heart or the life of the individual? 
 Brethren these things ought not to 
 be so. The principles of revealed 
 religion will not permit of it, even if 
 the principles of men will. It is 
 the old story which the world has 
 rejected from the earliest period of 
 its existence, and we dare not change 
 our attitude with respect to the 
 conditions, the alarming conditions, 
 which from all the external siiifns 
 of our days, threaten the existence 
 of a pure Church in the world. 
 We are aware of the fact that this 
 
sg 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 by some is termed Foggisra. But 
 the question still remains, who is on 
 the Lord's side? 
 
 > > ^ 
 
 A brief History of Psalmody. 
 
 Continued from page 55. 
 version more than the Hebrew original. 
 Realizing this an attempt was made to re- 
 place it with a better version. Author of 
 this was the noble Mamix of St. Al4egonde, 
 the close friend of William the Silent, a 
 very gifted and learned as well as pious 
 man. His Psalter in meter, following the 
 Hebrew, was published in 1580. It is far 
 superior in poetry and accuracy to the work 
 of Dathenus. Unfortunately all attempts 
 to introduce it into the Netherland Church 
 failed dismally. Beholding that even this 
 excellent version could not take the place 
 of Dathenus' Psalms, various talented men 
 tried to improve these more or less. But no 
 matter what was suggested — it was unsuc- 
 cessful. At last however the beloved 
 version was dethroned. In Jan. 1773 in 
 the Maurice House in the Hague, nine 
 Dutch ministers and two representatives 
 of the States General met as a committee 
 appointed by the government, to prepare a 
 :new version. It succeeded in doing so, 
 selecting it out of three different versions 
 published respectively by Hendrik Ghysen 
 (1686), by the Society "-Laus Deo, Salus 
 Popidor {Vl^V) and by /. .^. F^^i", (1763.) 
 The first copies left the press Sept. 1774. 
 Newyear's day 1775 they were taken into 
 use by the Reformed Churches of the 
 Netherlands everywhere, in villages and 
 -cities. 
 
 This new version is very excellent in 
 many ways There is true poetry in it It 
 is very smooth and easily learned by heart. 
 The spirit of the New Testament is in it in 
 such a way as to render the Psalter very 
 appropriate for use in our days as well as 
 
 during the Old Testament dispensation. 
 It renders "hymns" well nigh, if not wholly 
 superfluous. Yet it is far from having the 
 incongruity of the paraphrasing of Watts- 
 Not that the Dutch version is perfect It 
 has flaws. But to our mind it is a nearly 
 ideal New Testament version of the Old 
 Testament Psalms. Should we ever get an 
 English version equalling ifin smoothness, 
 poetry and N. T. flavor — we would thank 
 God and advocate its use very strongly. 
 The Holland Psalter of 1774 rapidly found 
 its way in Dutch churches outside of Hol- 
 land as well as in that country itself. The 
 Dutch Reformed Church of America made 
 some use of it. To the present day it is 
 the only book of public praise used by the 
 Holland speaking congregations of that 
 Church. The Christian Reformed church- 
 es in America which employ the Dutch in 
 their services, love it heartily and use it 
 exclusively, The Dutch Reformed Church 
 in South Africa still clings to it, altho using 
 a number of hymns besides. The Reformed 
 Church in South Africa is like the Chris- 
 tian Reformed Church in NorthAmerica in 
 singing its Psalms alone. The Holland 
 Churches in the West and East Indies em- 
 ploy this Psalter in their worship. In the 
 Netherlands it is used universally by all 
 Reformed denominations. Tho not ex- 
 clusively, for the Netherland Reformed 
 Church sings hymns as well as Psalms. 
 There is every prospect that the version 
 will be employed by Holland Reformed 
 people every where for many, many de. 
 cades to come. There is not one sign to 
 the contrary, bless God! Yet, not all Cal- 
 vinistic churches in Holland use the ver- 
 sion of 1773. A few independent congre. 
 gations. some hyper-calvinistic, still sing 
 the Psalms of Dathenus. They are found 
 mostly in the province of Zc^aland. One 
 solitary congregation in North America 
 follows their example, 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 67 
 
 The forgiveness of sins is another blessing 
 this Prince givos. Now, Iho forgiveness of 
 sins IS to be preached in His name, by all 
 His sent servants; for God works by and 
 with His Word, ilutt His elect, v/hom He 
 convinces of sin by His most Holy Spirit 
 in the day of His power, might hear and 
 receive this joyful sound, and walk in the 
 light of His countenance. Unless a poor 
 condemned sinner hath an evidence that 
 his sins are forgiven, he must needs 
 go on heavily; for fear (slavish fear) hath 
 torment; and no burden is so heavy as guilt 
 and sin upon a man This will make him 
 bow down, but not in humility, rather in 
 despondency; and if ever he be made to 
 rejoice, it is by repentance being brought 
 to his heart, even the forgiveness of sins, 
 according to the riches of G.jd's grace. As 
 the Holy Ghost says. "Heaviness in the 
 heart of man maketh it stoop; but a good 
 word was spolven by Christ to Mary when 
 He was in this world, visibly, unto whom 
 He said, "Thy sins are forgiven." The 
 same, in substance, He had said by the 
 mouth of Isaiah seven hundred years 
 before — "I have blotted out as a thick 
 cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud 
 thy sins" (Isa xliv. 22). Surely, if ever 
 Jesus speaks a good word to a sinner's heart, 
 it is when He proclaims liberty to that 
 poor captive soul— ''Go, thou poor condem- 
 ned sinner, and pray to Jesus Christ." Won- 
 derful have been the effects of this course, 
 as many liave testified, and many others 
 could, if called upon so to do. Art thcu 
 one of the rebellious? Remember, this 
 Prince and Saviour is ascended on high; 
 "yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord 
 God might dwell among them" (Psa. 
 Ixviii. 18). 
 
 "Hail ! Prince of Peace, the sinn"r's All ! 
 Low at Thy footstool let me fall; 
 Oh, may my soul Thy name adore 
 
 When sins anrl sorrow are no more ! 
 'Keep Thnu alive my faith and hope, 
 And bear my sinking spirits up; 
 Help me to wield the shield of faith. 
 And triumph both in life and death. 
 
 SH. F. 
 
 A Brief History of Psalmody. 
 
 By Rev. Henry Beets, 
 
 III 
 
 English and Scotch Psalmody. 
 
 The first Anglo-Saxon metrical version 
 of the Psalms which has come down to us, 
 is thought to have been made in the 
 twelfth century. Its author is unknown. 
 A copy of it is preserved in the Corpus 
 Christi College library in Cambridge, Eng. 
 Revised copies are found in the British 
 Museum. Nothing is known of the extent 
 to which this Psalter has been used. 
 Equally little is known of the version 
 which the followers of John Wickliff used 
 — the so-called Lollards — altho it is 
 quite certain that they employed psalms to 
 some extent as they went about on their 
 singing and preaching tours. As the light 
 of the Reformation dawned upon England 
 Psalmody came in use there as well as 
 well as everywhere on the European con- 
 tinent. The earliest versification of the 
 Psalms into English metre in the century 
 of the Reformation was prepared by the 
 wellknown and very diligent Reformer 
 Miles Coverdale (148G-1568). His motive in 
 versifying the Psalms was exactly like that 
 of van Zuylen in preparing his Souter 
 L i e d e k e n s, (p. 55 Oct. Banner), viz 
 that they might take the place of the vul- 
 gar baliads of the day which were sung by 
 high and low of the English people Co- 
 verdale published his book, containing 
 thirteen Psalms, in 1539, under the title: 
 '"Ghostly Psalvis and Spiritual Sciij^s 
 
68 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 Drawn out of the Holy Scriptures/' The 
 tunes were like those of the popular songs 
 of the time. Alas, Coverdale's purpose, un- 
 like van Zuylen — was not attained. Hen- 
 ry Vni forbade the people to possess it. 
 During the reign of Henry's successor, the 
 Godfearing, Edward VI, so well known as 
 a champion of the Reformation, a number 
 of versified Psalms were published. It is 
 said the princess,later Queen Elizabeth, was 
 the first one to follow Coverdale. Her ver- 
 sion of the fourteenth Psalm was printed 
 in 1548. William Hunnis, gentleman of the 
 chapel under Edward YI versified the 
 •even penitential Psalms, very soon after- 
 ward. He issued them under the peculiar 
 title ''Seven Sobs of a Sorrowful Soul for 
 Sin:' In 1549 Sir Thomas ^a// published 
 another version in meter of the penitential 
 Psalms. During ihe course of that same 
 year no less than three other versifications 
 of the Psalms appeared. Sir Thomas Smith 
 secretary to the king, published eleven 
 Psalms in English Meter. 
 
 A larger book was ihe one entitled; 
 '''Psalter oj David, newely translated into En- 
 glish fnetre in such sorte that it may be more 
 decently and with more delygte of the minde 
 be reade and songe of all men. Translated and 
 imprinted by Robert Crowley. This was the 
 first issue that contained all the Psalms. 
 But it did not come into general use, The 
 same year, 1549, was the year 
 ,of a publication destined to be- 
 come much more popular. It was the 
 .little volume called: ''All such Psalms of 
 X)avid as Thomas Sternhold did in his lifetime 
 drazue into English metre.:^ It was published 
 by E. Whitchurch. Sternhold served as 
 master of the robes of bjth Henry VIII 
 and Edward VI. He was a staunch sup- 
 port of the Reformation and a Goclfearing 
 man. He died the year his Psalms were 
 issued. His volume was prepared to 
 serve as substitute for the popular ditties 
 
 of his time — again like Coverdale— and 
 *his time more successful. Sternhold's book 
 contained only a selection of the Psalms, 
 variously given as 51, 44, 40 and 37 in 
 number. 
 
 Id 1551 there appeared an edition wUich 
 contained 37 Psalms of Sternhold, to which 
 were added 7 Psalms versified by John 
 Hopkins, 'minister at Suffolk This 
 book was taken up by Scotch refu. 
 gees on the European continent. They 
 changed it somewhat to make it conform 
 more to the Hebrew and added 7 Psalms 
 versified by Whittingham, one of their 
 pastors. A tune was attached to each of 
 these Psalms. In 1561 a volume was pu- 
 blished in Geneva containing 87 Psalms. 
 Of these 37 were by Sternhold, 7 by Hop- 
 kins, 16 by Whittingham,3 by a certain Pu- 
 lain and 25 by William Kethe,a native of 
 Scotland. As a supplement it contained a 
 number of spiritual songs. 
 
 Finally, in 1563, the entire Psalter of 
 150 Psalms was published. It was entit- 
 led: The whole Boke of Psalms collected into 
 English metre by Thomas Sternhold, J Hop- 
 kins and others; conferred with the Ebrue, 
 with apt notes to sing t/wm with all. Imp- 
 rinted at London by John Day.'' This volume 
 came into general use in the English 
 churches Not immadiately, it is true, 
 because the prose Psalter continued to be 
 chanted for a longtime yet in the establis- 
 hed Church. But. altho slowly at first, 
 it became popular at length During the 
 reign of Queen Elizabath's successor. 
 James I. no less than sixty diflferent edi 
 tions of the Psalms of Sternhold and Hop- 
 kins appeared. It continued in England 
 almost to the time of the Restoration. 
 Even to the present day it is employe 1 in 
 some country parishes of England and 
 Ireland Sternhold and Hopkins Psa'ms 
 are usually spoken of astho "Old Version." 
 Many have sneered at its rugged and 
 
THE BANNER OP TRUTH. 
 
 69 
 
 uncouth expressions. John Wesley called 
 it "scandalous doggerel," and it must be 
 admitted, its poetry is very poor, judged 
 by literary standards of today. One re- 
 deeming feature however is possessed by 
 it: faithful adherence to the original, and 
 that means a good deal. 
 
 After the Old Version had become 
 popular, a great number of attempts were 
 made to give the Church better versifica- 
 tions of all or some of the Psalms. It is 
 said that no less than one hund- 
 red and fifty persons versified 
 smaller or larger parts of the 
 Psalter before the close of the seventeenth 
 century Among them are men as well 
 know as archbishop Parker, Lord Bacon, 
 John Milton and Richard Baxter. But 
 all of these attemps were futile 
 
 A century and a half however after 
 the Old Version had baen published, there 
 appeared a volume entitled. "^ new Ver- 
 sion of the Psalm of David, fitted to tunes 
 used in Churehes." (London, 1696). And 
 this volume would at last succeed in de- 
 throning the Old Version. This new ver- 
 sion was prepared by Nahum Tate, born 
 in Dublin 1652, died 1715, for some time 
 poet laureate of England, and Rev. Nicho- 
 las Brady, born in Ireland, 1659, died 
 1726, a clergyman of the Established 
 Church. 
 
 Tate is supposed to have been the better 
 poet of the two. Tate and Brady's Psalms 
 are far smoother than those of the Old 
 Version. They contain some fairly poeti- 
 cal portions. But as a whole their versi- 
 fication is tame and monotonous. Some 
 spoke disparagingly of its "inflated 
 verbosity". The authors were so fortu 
 nate as to obtain the sanction of the reig- 
 ning monarch (William III) for its use in 
 in the Episcopal Church Many critics 
 objected to it. The masses were loath to 
 part with the Old Version with which 
 
 they had become so familiar But not- 
 withstanding this Tate and Brady's Psal- 
 ter at last took the place of the old and is 
 now used in most of the Episcopal Chur- 
 ches of England, Scotland, Ireland and 
 the British Colonies. It is known 
 to this day as the "New Version." 
 Not many years after the 
 
 adoption of the New Version there arose 
 in England a poet of no mean ability who 
 was to exert a great influence on the 
 Psalmody of nearly all English speaking 
 Churches. This poet was Isaac Watts, an 
 independent minister, born at Southampton 
 1674, died 1748. Watts, when a young 
 man, had come to dislike the Psalms 
 sung in the meetinghouse where he atten- 
 ded, on account of their poor poetry. 
 Complaining about this to his father he 
 was told to try what he could do to mend 
 the matter. Watts tried. His effort was 
 praised And in the year 1719 he wafe 
 able to publish his versification of all of 
 the Psalms, together with a large number 
 of hymns. Watts did not simply versify 
 the Psalms. He remodelled them. As he 
 himself wrote to Cotton Mather: "It is 
 not a translation of David I pretend, but 
 an imitation of him so nearly in Christian 
 hymns, that the Jewish Psalmist may 
 plainly appear, yet leave his Judaism 
 behind.'' And Watts carried out his plan. 
 He never hesitated to read into the Hebrew 
 Psalms their New Testament exegesis. 
 He substituted everywhere the gospel for 
 the law. Where the Psalmist speaks of 
 sacrifices of bullocks. Watts speaks of the 
 sacrifice of Christ. Does the Psalmi.^t 
 speak of fear, Watts of faith and love. 
 The Psalms of Watts contain very beau- 
 tiful portions. As a rule they are spiritual 
 and edifying. They have been a source 
 of comfort to millions. Their popularity 
 among the Independents in the United 
 Kingdom was phenomenal A few are 
 
70 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 used to this day in nearly all English 
 speaking Churches. Yet. it must be con- 
 fessed that Watts' rendering cf the O. T. 
 Psalms, cannot escape the charge of in- 
 congruity. He . took too much liberty 
 with the inspired songs of Zion. 
 
 A history of Psalmody would be very 
 incomplete indeed, without mentioning 
 Psalm singing among those who are often 
 called the Psalmsingers of English spea- 
 king people - the Presbyterians of Scotland, 
 Therefore we close our present article 
 with a sketch of Psalmody among them. 
 
 The Scotch Reformed people began with 
 Psalmsinging at a very early date. Their 
 first metrical Psalms were composed by 
 John and Robert Wedderburn, two brothers, 
 living in the City of Dundee. On this 
 account their Psalms are usually known 
 as "Dundee Psalms." It seems they pub- 
 lished twenty different Psalms, They 
 were sung to the tunes employed at the 
 time by the Dutch and French refugee 
 churches on the continent. There are 
 indications that some or all of these 
 Psalms were in use among the Scotch 
 as early as 1544. 
 
 When the version of Sternhold and 
 Hopkins appeared the congregations in 
 Scotland began to supplement their Dun- 
 dee Psalms with these. 
 
 And when the Genevan volume of 87 
 Psalms was published in 1561 (see above), 
 this was immediately adopted by the 
 Scotch Church. The Dundee Psalms were 
 abolished. The same year the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scot 
 land resolved to prepare a 
 
 volume of the Psalms for its own use. This 
 was published in 1564 with the title; 
 "The form of prayers and ministration of 
 the sacraments etc, used in the English 
 Church of Geneva, approved and received 
 by the Church of Scotland, vrhereunto 
 that was in the former Bookes are added 
 
 sondrie other prayers, with the whole 
 Psalms of David in English metre." This 
 new Psalter contained the J^7 Psalms of 
 the Genevan edition of l561. some Psalms 
 versified by Robert Pont and John Craig 
 and a number of new versifications of 
 John Hopkins All of these however had 
 been altered to suit the taste of the Scotch 
 assembly. Not alone words and lines but 
 whole verses had been changed consider- 
 ably. This Scotch Psalter of 1564 contin 
 ued in undisputed use in Scotland for 
 an entire century. It was published tins* 
 and again both in Scotland and in Hol- 
 land. 
 
 But after a century the Scotch version 
 was to share in the fate of all the other 
 versions dating from the early d^iys of the 
 Reformation. We read that Robert Pont 
 mentioned above, was appointed as early 
 as 1601 to revise the Scotch Psalter. But 
 nothing came of this. King Jasues I, a poet 
 as well as a theologian, soon afterward 
 personally began the work of revising the 
 Psalms. By the time of his death (1625, he 
 had versified no less than 31 Psalms King 
 James' version was revised and complet- 
 ed by William Alexander and published in 
 1631. It became known as the ''Royal 
 Psalter." Some of its portions speak well 
 for the poetical ability of the mon- 
 arch. His soil. Charles I, made repeated 
 attempts to substitute the Royal Psalter 
 for the version of the Scotch Assembly. 
 But it was all in vain. The people clung 
 tenaciously to the old Psalter. Until— as 
 we said — a century after its publication- 
 
 The version to take its place is usually 
 known as Rous' version. Francis Rous 
 was born in Cornwall in 1579 and died in 
 1658, He was a scholarly man, several 
 times a member of Parliament. God fear- 
 ing and zealous for the truth of the Re- 
 formation He first published his version 
 of the Psalms in 1641 and again in 164t. 
 
l^HE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 71 
 
 tt bore the title 'The Psalms of David 
 in English meeter, set forth by Francis 
 Rouse''. This latter volume was laid be- 
 fore the famous Westminster Assemblies 
 of divines which was convened by order 
 of Parliament, and solemnly opened July 
 1. 1643. 
 
 This assembly adopted the version of 
 Rous. Principally because it was *'so clos- 
 ely framed according to the original text" 
 But before it was put into the hands of 
 the churches it was thoroly revised. Not 
 alone by a committee of the Westminster 
 Assembly which labored on it for about 
 two years, but also by committees appoin- 
 ted by Scotch Presbyteries andAssemblies. 
 Seven years in all were spent in revising 
 and correcting Rous' Psalms, and they 
 were modified to such a degree that even 
 Rous himself would have had difficulty 
 in recognizing his own work. It had 
 rirtually become a compilation from the 
 ▼ersions of Sternhold and Hopkins, king 
 .Tames* and others, as well as from the ver 
 aion of Rous At last it was printed in 
 Edinburgh in 1650, with the title: "The 
 Psalms of David in meeter: newly transla- 
 ted and diligently compared wiih the 
 original text and former translations; 
 more plain, smooth and agreeable to the 
 text than any heretofore. Allowed by the 
 Authority of the General assembly of the 
 Kirk of Scotland and appointed to be sung 
 in Congregations and Families." It was 
 gradually introduced in Scotland until it 
 came in universal use there. The Presby- 
 terians and Independents in England did 
 not adopt it as generally as the Scotch 
 had hoped, yet it was extensively adopted 
 among them Even some Baptists em- 
 ployed them in their worship, yea the 
 Unitarians of Ulster, in Ireluid. In the 
 British colonies the version of Rous wa« 
 likewise received with approbation by all 
 Presbyterian bodies and many other Dis- 
 
 senters. For over two centuries it contin- 
 ued in authorized use among the dissenting 
 Churches of Scotland and Ireland. And 
 
 rightly so. Rous' version has many merits. 
 Chief among them is its strict adherence to 
 the words of inspired Scripture. Besides, 
 it has many very happy renderings of the 
 original and some really poetie portions. 
 But it must also be admitted that very 
 many of the expressions are awkard. And 
 that its rhyme is often very imperfect and 
 sometimes even wretched when looked at 
 from a poetical standpoint. Many of its 
 terms are antiquated. Altogether, a new, 
 version, up to the standards of our days, is 
 urgently needed. Otherwise Psalm singing 
 will suffer irreparable damage. Even now 
 it is fast loosing its hold among the 
 Scotch, so favorably known for their 
 staunch adherence to Psalmody. In all 
 the large denominations of Scotland 
 hymns are being sung today and since ma- 
 ny a day. 
 
 ^ >► ^ 
 
 A Brief History of Psalmody. 
 
 By Rer. Henry Beetf. 
 IV. 
 Psalmody in North America. 
 
 When the first Protestant settlers of 
 North America who cared anything for 
 God and his worship, came to this country 
 they naturally took along the Psalters or 
 Hymnals they had used in their home 
 churches. The colonists of Virginia and 
 its neighboring settlements therefore who 
 belonged to the Established Church of 
 England, first employed the '-Old Version" 
 of Sternhold and Hopkins, ("Banner", Nov. 
 p. 68). The Dutch of N^rv Yerk and AV-r 
 //Tj^rv sani: the praises of God out of th^ 
 version of Dnthenus, (Banner, p. .■).•■>.) The 
 
86 
 
 THE BANNER OP TRUTH 
 
 Huguenols who settled in the Carolinas and 
 elsewhere, used the Psalms of Marot 
 (Banner, p 53.) The Germans of Pennsyl- 
 vania, employed the versions of the Luthe- 
 ran or Reformed Churches to which they 
 belonged. And the Presbyterians who 
 settled in the lait named colony and other 
 places clung loyally to the Psalters then 
 used by their brethren in Scotland, Ireland 
 or England. But a notable exception to 
 this was formed by the first settlers of New 
 England, the Puritans. For these did not 
 usd the versions employed in the land of 
 their fathers. They brought to America 
 an entirely different version. A version 
 made inHolland and adopted by them while 
 in Holland, where the first of rhem had 
 gone in 1608. The author of this was the 
 wellknown Henry Ainsworth, born 
 in Lancashire, England in 1560, died in 
 Amsterdam about 1623. He. was a God 
 fearing man, a scholar of note and pastor 
 of the Independent or Brownist Church in 
 Amsterdam until his death. His version 
 was published first in the latter city in the 
 year 1612. The title was; ''The Book of 
 Psalms published both in prose and metre. 
 With annotation, opening the tvords and sen- 
 tences by conference with other Scriptures.'''' 
 Ainsworth had versified the Psalmns out 
 of the original Hebrew. He has also turn, 
 ed them into prose and set thi^ version next 
 to the other, to be easily compared Some- 
 thing like the Dutch Psalm books still 
 have. Short notes were added to explain 
 hard words and phrases. This book con- 
 tained music as well as the words. As the 
 author stated: '"the singing notes I have 
 most taken from the English Psalms, when 
 they will fit the measure of the verse; and 
 for the other long verses I have taken (for 
 the most part) the gravest and easiest 
 tunes of the French and Dutch Psalmes" 
 •'The music was printed in the lozenge or 
 diamond-shaped notes, without bars, and 
 
 was in the German choral style."*) 
 
 AinsworLh's version was gladly received 
 by the Independents in Holland. And 
 when the "Pilgrims" left that hospitable 
 country they took '*a neat edition" of it 
 along to the New World. For over twenty 
 years after the landing in Plymouth this 
 Psalter comprised the whole Psalmody of 
 the New England Puritans, and, along 
 with those of other versions, it continued 
 in use in some parts until the close of the 
 seventeenth century. Ainsworth's Psal-r.s 
 have been severely criticized for lack of 
 taste and poetic merit. And certainly 
 much of this criticism was just according 
 to present standards These however are 
 not to be used in judging poetry of nearly 
 three certuries ago. This certainly can be 
 said of the version now considered: it aimed 
 to adhere strictly to the sacred text. And 
 this was one of the main features desired 
 As a sample of the style of Ainsworth's 
 Psalms we insert his rendering of 
 Psalm 1. t) 
 
 "O blessed man that doth not in 
 
 The wicked's counsel! walk; 
 Nor stand in sinners' way; nor sit 
 
 In seat of scorn ful-/*:-/-^ 
 
 But setteth in Jehovah's law 
 
 His pleasureful delight; 
 And in his law doth meditate 
 
 By day and eke by night. 
 
 And he shall be, like as a tree 
 
 By water brooks planted; 
 Which in his time shall give his fruit 
 
 His leaf eke shall not fade. 
 
 And whatsoever he shall doe 
 
 It prosp'rously shall thri /e 
 Not so the wicked; but as chaff 
 
 Wnich winde awav doth-drive. 
 
 *) See Longfellow's Courtship of Miles 
 Standish, Part III. 
 
 f) This Psalm we copy from the valu- 
 able work "Davids' Hai-p in Song and Story 
 by J. W. Clokey, D. D. now of Tr^y, O. 
 We are very much indebted to this treatise. 
 Its main fault lies in the scant treatment 
 it accords to the Psalmody on the European 
 continent, especially that in the Nether- 
 lands 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 81 
 
 Therefore the wicked shall not in 
 The jiidgen:ient stand upright' 
 
 And in the assembly of the just 
 Not any sinful — xvight. 
 
 For, of the just, Jehovah he 
 
 Acknowledgeth the way: 
 And way ot the upgracious 
 
 Shall utterly -decay." 
 
 But Ainsworth's version Was not satis- 
 factory to all Puritans, mainly because it 
 was not as literal a rendering as some de- 
 sired. They thought God ought to be 
 praised in public worship, as much as pes- 
 sible, in. the very words of Scripture. Con- 
 sequently, about 1639 some of the chief 
 divines of New England, among whom 
 were the wellknown John Eliott of Rox- 
 bury, and Richard Mather of Dorchester, 
 Mass., took each of them a portion of the 
 Psalms to be versified as literal as possible. 
 The result of these labors was ''The Bay 
 Psabnbook'\ published in 1640 in Cam- 
 bridge, Mass., the first book printed in 
 British America.*) It bore the title: 
 ^' The Psalms in metre. Faithfully translated 
 for the use, Edification and Comforts of 
 Saints, in public and private, especiatly in N'ew 
 England:' 
 
 This Bay Psalmbook, also called the 
 '■'New England Version* was afterward 
 somewhat "revised and refined" by Presi- 
 dent Dunster of Harvard College, assisted 
 by Richard Lyon, This version was issued 
 in 1650. "For over one hundred years, 
 this revised Bay Psalmbook passed 
 through edition after edition without any 
 alteration whatever. It met with favor, 
 not only in New England, but in the old 
 country as well. Numerous editions of it 
 were published in England and Scotland. 
 It was the first printed American book. Its 
 uncouth ruggedness surpassed, the old ver- 
 sion of Sternhold and Hopkin.s. Indeed its 
 poetry was simply wretched in numerous 
 
 •) CI. "Literary Digest", Aug. 1, 1908. 
 p 134. 
 
 places. The quantity of the lines varied 
 greatly, some containing more and some 
 fewer syllables then the metre required. 
 This fault was remedied by contracting or 
 lengthening a word as the case called for. 
 The word nation was sung e. g. was con- 
 taining three or even four syllables. "In 
 the city" was contracted to: "P th' city" 
 etc- We give two brief quotations as 
 samples of the wretched "poetry" the Bay 
 Psalmbook contained: 
 
 'The Lord's song sing can wee? being 
 
 In stranger's land, then let 
 Loose her skill my riirht hand if I 
 
 Jerusalem forget." [Ps. 137.) 
 
 "The earth Jehovah's is, 
 
 And the fulnosse of it: 
 The habitable world, and they 
 
 That there upon doe sit." [Ps. 24.] 
 
 The only reason why such a version could 
 be adopted, tolerated and loved was be- 
 eause it was as liberal a rendering as the 
 Puritans had never had before. And, as 
 we said, this was what they considered the 
 chief desideratum. When the authors were 
 reprimanded for their unpoetic rendering 
 of their version, they would say: "God's 
 altar needs not our polishing, for we have 
 respected rather a plain translation than 
 to smoothe our verses with the sweetness 
 of any paraphrases, and so have attend- 
 ed to conscience rather than elegance." 
 
 And yet the tender conscience of 
 of those who insisted upon singing "the 
 Lord's songs of prayse according to his 
 own wille", were not fully satisfied. The 
 Rev. John Cotton wrote a tract to prove 
 that the singing of literal Psalms was a 
 godly exercise. And Cotton Mather in 
 1718 published \\\s''' Psalterium Americanuvi" 
 or "The Book of Psalms in a translation 
 exactly conformed unto the Original, but 
 all in blank verse fitted unto thetunes com- 
 monly used in the Church." He did not 
 want to injure the conformity to the orisiin- 
 7V be Continued on paee 5)0. 
 
88 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 The Banner of Truth. 
 
 A magazine devoted to the spread of Bible 
 Truth. Publi.shed monthly at Paterson, N. J. 
 by order of the Classis of Hackensack, under 
 the supervision of the Publication Committee 
 ooDsisting of Kevs. J. C. Voorhis, S. I. Vander- 
 b©ek, and J. A. Westervelt. 
 
 TEU.>IS : 
 
 Yearly in advance - - 7oc. 
 
 In clubs of five or more to one address COc. 
 if not in advance - - $1.00 
 
 ding-le copies - - - lOc. 
 
 All subscriptions and communications should 
 t>e sent to Bev. J. A. Westervelt, Corresponding 
 Editor and Treasurer, 50 N. First St., Pater- 
 son, N. J. 
 
 Announcement to our Subscribers 
 and Friends. 
 
 The Banner of Truth was first 
 issued in the year of our Lord 1866. 
 The privilege to publish such a monthly 
 was requested of Synod by the Rev. J. 
 Y. De Baun, and under his guidance it 
 was issued and proved a help and com- 
 fort to the Church scattered abroad for 
 many years. The first number presen- 
 ted as its prospectus the following : — 
 
 Unto the Church of God in her 
 militant state. 
 
 "To them that are sanctified in Christ 
 Jesus, called to be saints, with all that 
 in every place call upon the name of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and 
 ours." 
 
 Dearly beloved : We propose in the 
 fear of God, and with humble depen- 
 dence upon the Divine blessing, to com- 
 mence the publication of a Religious 
 Periodical monthly, to be called The 
 Banner of Truth, designed to estab- 
 lish, confirm and build up the heritage 
 
 of the Lord in the most precious funda- 
 mental truths of the Gospel, to show 
 what fruit those truths bear in those 
 who receive them in love, and what a 
 true Godly experience is, as distinguis- 
 hed from the merely common operations 
 of the Spirit in many who have a name 
 to live and are dead. 
 
 We have been moved hereunto by 
 the consideration that those truths, 
 once esteemed as the foundation of all 
 True Religion, are being sadly under- 
 mined, and their Glory eclipsed by spe- 
 cious errors in doctrine and practice in 
 these days of formality, these perilous 
 times. 
 
 Against the floods of Socinian, Ar- 
 minian, Hopkinsian, Antinomian, and 
 such like errors, for their names and 
 forms are Legion — we propose to 
 raise a Standard : "When the enemy 
 comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the 
 Lord shall lift up a standard against 
 him," Isai59:19, lest all be swept 
 away by it, and this should be so. For 
 if the foundations be destroyed, what 
 can the righteous do." Psa. 11 :3. 
 
 Laboring to maintain the Truth in its 
 Purity, Savour, and Unction, will then 
 be our earnest endeavour. 
 
 We propose to take as our standards, 
 first — the Bible, then The Heidelberg 
 Catechism, the confession of Faith, and 
 the Heads of doctrine established by 
 the Synod of Dort, &c. With such 
 approved authors, whose writings have 
 ever by the pious been considered safe 
 guides in exposition and illustration, we 
 shall quote from such authors as Owen, 
 Flavel, Toplady, Brakel, &c., of the 
 purer days of the ReformedChurch : and 
 also from time to time select sermons of 
 t.iose faithfu] men whose praise is still in 
 the churches. We shall also endeavor 
 to pfive the news of the churches, as 
 
THR BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 89 
 
 may be interesting and important ; so 
 that all who feel an enterest in the 
 things pertaining to Zion, may know of 
 the dealings of the Most High, in provi- 
 dence and grace with us. 
 
 With a deep feeling of our unfitness 
 for the work, yet with earnest desire to 
 further the Master's cause, and main- 
 tain the truths we love, and with ardent 
 prayer for his blessing, we remain 
 yours to serve, with such as we have, 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 The Editor who wrote the above was, 
 as you know, the late Rev. J. Y. De- 
 Baun who continued the only editor for 
 eleven years. In 1877 Brother DeBaun 
 relinquished the control of the Banner 
 to the Classis, and since it has been 
 published under the auspices of the Pub- 
 lication Comittee of the Classis of Hac- 
 kensack. 
 
 Since our union with the Western 
 branch of the Church there has arisen 
 a growing needs for English literature. 
 Some brethren suggested that the times 
 demanded a larger publication, more 
 frequently issued, and to embrace more 
 departments of Church work. 
 
 By a resolution of the last session of 
 the Classis of Hackensack, it was deci- 
 ded that the Publication Committee be 
 empowered to assign the financial and 
 others interests of the Banner of Truth 
 to a stock company, if such company 
 was formed, with the previso that our 
 Church news should be published and 
 that the present subscribers be protec- 
 ted. As such a company has been or- 
 ganized by some brethren of the 
 Churches both East and West, the Ban- 
 ner will therefore be under a new man- 
 agement in the future. Beginning with 
 January 1904 the Banner will be issued 
 semi-monthly and changed somewhat in 
 appearance. But as a new apparel 
 
 does not change the character of the 
 person, so we believe that the Banner 
 clothed in a more beautiful dress will not 
 change the character of its teachings^ 
 The Banner will continue to be strictly 
 Calvinistic and in entire agreement 
 with the doctrinal standards of our 
 church. Hitherto the Banner volume 
 began each year with the July number, 
 but it is the intention of the new com- 
 pany to begin a new series with the 
 January number and make the Banner 
 year begin and end with the Calendar 
 year. The subscription price for the 
 semi-monthly will be one dollar per 
 year in advance. But the Publication 
 Committee would call the attention of 
 the readers of the Banner to the follow- 
 ing proposal of the new management, 
 viz. the present subscribers of the Ban- 
 ner, by forwarding 50c to the treasurer 
 of the Banner of Truth, can have it 
 sent to them to the close of the year 
 1904. The new management are all 
 interested in the welfare of the Chris- 
 tian Reformed Church and we hope 
 their efforts to make the Banner more 
 useful and attractive will be approved 
 by the subscribers. It is the desire of 
 the undersigned that the friends of the 
 Church both East and West will use 
 their influence to make the new under- 
 taking a success, and with God's bles- 
 sing may it be helpful in spreading the 
 truth far and wide. 
 
 Finally we would ask all subscribers 
 who are in arrears to forward their 
 subscriptions at once so that we can 
 give as complete a report as possible 
 to the new treasurer which we want to 
 do about Dec. 15th. The name of the 
 new treasurer will be given in the next 
 issue. J. C. Voorhis, 
 
 S. I. Vanderbeek, 
 J. A. Westervelt. 
 
00 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH, 
 
 A Brief History of the Psalmody. 
 
 Continued from page 87. 
 
 Oal '-for the clink of Rhyme." The Psalms 
 of Cotton Mather were in common meter. 
 Some however were so arranged that Long 
 Meter tunes could be sung to them. This 
 was done very ingenuously by the 
 insertion of two syllables in black letters 
 n the second and fourth lines. Here is a 
 sample of this- 
 
 Psalm CXVI. 
 
 "!' am full of Love: It is because 
 
 [Of this] that the Eternal God 
 Hath hearkened now unto my voice 
 
 [And hath] my supplications heard. 
 Because that he hath unto me 
 
 [Kindly] inclined his gracious ear, 
 Therefore upon him will I call 
 
 While I have days [of life.]" 
 
 But Mather's version, however valuable 
 in some respects, did not find favor with 
 the churches. Certainly not on account 
 of its literalness. But perhaps partly be- 
 c.iuse of its intricate arrangement. Above 
 all because it was published without music. 
 
 It seems that soon after this craving for 
 as literal a rendering as possible, a reaction 
 set in among the New England church 
 people. A very easily understood reaction 
 From one extreme they fell into another. 
 The Psalms as versified by Isaac Watts 
 (Banner, p. 69) because the rage in the 
 latter part of the eighteenth century. The 
 General Congregational Association of 
 Connecticut requested the poet Barlow to 
 revise these Psalms. In 1785 the improved 
 edition was published. Some Psalms, not 
 versified by Watts, were added. This 
 edition was largely adopted in New England 
 and its use was also allowed by the Synod 
 of the Presbyterian Church of 1787. Soon 
 after, the Association mentioned above 
 requested Dr. Timothy Dwight to revise 
 the Psalms of Watts once more. He 
 began the work about 1797 and succeeded 
 in producing a version adopted not alone 
 by the Congregationalists but also by the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterians, 
 (1802). Dr. Dwight had added to his 
 Psalms a number of hymns selected from 
 various authors. These were alio adopted. 
 And they proved to be something like the 
 Trojan Horse of ancient history. Slowly 
 
 but surely the hymns, once introduced, be' 
 gan to crowd out the old Psalms. The 
 Psalms were not near as "elegant ' and 
 '"evangelical" as tiie hymns, and conse- 
 quently were sung less and less. Different 
 attempts were made to produce really 
 poetic renderings of the songs of David. 
 Some, notably the versifications of Prof. 
 Abner Jones, were really meritorious pro- 
 ductions. But the fight for Psalmody Was 
 a loosing fight. At present the Congrega- 
 tional Churches of the United States are 
 hymnsinging churches iu the commonly 
 accepted meaning of that phrase. Only a 
 very few renderings of certain Psalms are 
 found among the many hundreds of hymns 
 used by them. 
 
 The same can be said of the Baptist de- 
 dominations of our land. A slow transition 
 from Psalmody to Hymnody. The various 
 Methodist churches in the United Slates 
 were hymnsinging nearly from the begin- 
 ning. The influence of theWesleys and their 
 poetical gifts was largely the cause ol tiiis. 
 
 The history of Psalmody in the Presby- 
 terian Church in America — often called the 
 Northern Presb Church is largely like 
 that of the Congregational denomination. 
 Also a slow but certain change from Psalms 
 to hymns. During the colonial period 
 the various congregations composing 
 the Presbyterian Church, used the 
 Psalms. Some sang Rous, some Sternhold 
 and Hopkins, some the New Version of 
 Tate and Brady, a considerable number 
 used the Bay Psalmbook — a wide diversity 
 but all were Psalmsinging churches. After 
 the American Revolution a change set in. 
 The younger element, with more refined 
 notions of poetry and music, began to be 
 dissatisfied with the current versions. 
 Soon the dissatisfaction developed into dis- 
 like. Now, if the church authorities had 
 only tried to prepare a better version at 
 this juncture. But no, conservatism of a 
 wrong nature kept them from doing so. 
 The inevitable result was that a number of 
 progressive sessions in the largest congrega- 
 tions took the matter in their o^vn hand, 
 and without seeking the approbation of 
 the highest churchcourts, the version of 
 Watts was introduced Manv a bitter and 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 91 
 
 unseemly fight now took place in several 
 churches between the conservatives and 
 progressives. Hut slowly and surely the 
 newer version became victorious In 1802 
 permission were granted by the assembly 
 to use the revised version of Dr Watts' 
 Psalms as prepared by Dr. Dvvight With 
 these Psalms the 263 hymns attached by 
 Dr. Dwight also found admittance. Their 
 use was "allowed in such congregations 
 as may think it expedient to use them in 
 public and social worship." For over half 
 a century the book of Psalms, now occupied 
 a place of equality with the uninspired 
 hymns. But Psalms were sung less and less, 
 hymns were given out more and more. 
 Then the Psalms were deprived of their 
 distinctive place in the Pesbyterian book 
 of praise. Wh^n, in 1874 Dr, Duryea's 
 hymnal was sanctioned by the General 
 Assembly there were a number of Psalms 
 in it — it is true But mixed up with 
 the 972 "sacred songs" it contained and 
 all called hymns. This is still the case 
 with various "Hymnaries" and "Hymnals" 
 employed by this important body of chur- 
 ches. It is to ail intents and in every way 
 a hymn singing denomination. 
 
 The same story is virtually that of the 
 Dutch Reformed Church of America. Before 
 the Revolution, the Holland Psalms of 
 Dathenus and, to a limited extent, the new- 
 version of 1774 (Banner, p 58) vras used. 
 After the Revolution hymns found en- 
 trance. Their introduction must largely 
 be laid to the charge of the well known Dr. 
 J. H. Livingstone often called the "father" 
 of the Dutch Church. To quote from a 
 "Brief notice," written by Dr. Stron*: 
 Stated Clerk of Synod, prefixed to the 
 ^'' Psalms and Hymns" of 1847: "After the 
 period of the American Revolution, when 
 it was found necessary to introduce English 
 singing, the Rev. Dr. Livingstone compiled 
 a book of Psalms and Hymns in the English 
 language, which was published with the 
 express approbjitiyn and recommendation 
 of the vxeneral Synod, in the year 1780. 
 This boi)k continued in use in the churches 
 until 1812 when ..Synod ... requested 
 the Ref. Prof. Livingstone to make the 
 selection of Psalms and Hymns agreeable 
 to the views then expressed, and appointed 
 
 a committee to whom the same should be 
 submitted for their examination and ap- 
 proval. At the session of the Synod, held 
 in October 1813, this committee reported 
 in favour of the selection, and the Synod 
 accordingly adopted it.... In the year 
 1830 the General Synod deemed it expedient 
 that an additional number of hymns should 
 be added to those contained in the book 
 then in use. and accordingly a committee 
 was appointed to make a selection, on a 
 variety of subjects, with the view to consti- 
 tute a second book of hymns. At the next 
 session of the Synod, this committee report- 
 ed a selection of 172 additional hymns, 
 which were approved, ordered to be pu- 
 blished as a second book of hymns and 
 authorized to be used in all the churches.'' 
 Soon after this (IS-iS) a "Social and Sab- 
 bath School Hymn booiv" was approved by 
 the Synod. In 1847 a new volume of 
 '^ Psalms and Hymns,'" from whose preface 
 we Just quoted, was issued by authority of 
 Synod. In this book the Psalier still re- 
 tains its place of honor in the first part of 
 the book. But — o sign of the tendency! 
 — no less than 7S8 hymns are found in the 
 same volume! Since then, the Psalter 
 has lost even this place and, as in the ether 
 churches we mentioned, a few Psalms are 
 found scattered in the various "Hymnaries 
 of the Reformed Dutch Church. The Hol- 
 land speaking part of it alone forms an 
 exception, since it still uses nothing but 
 Psalms in its regular worship. But in 
 meetings of the Young People the "Gospel 
 Hymns" and other books of Songs are used 
 nearly exclusively. Soon, Psalmsinging in 
 this Church will be a thing of the past! 
 The history of Psalmody in the Presb. 
 Church in the U. S. (the Southern Presb. 
 Church) is very much like that of precee- 
 ding ones. \\\ 1861, soon after its secession 
 the Northern Church, the General Assem- 
 bly appointed a committee "to revise and 
 prepare for use of our Church a suitable 
 Hymnbook". The work of this com. was ap- 
 proved in 1866 and published as the"Psalms 
 and Hymns." Two other Books were com- 
 mended later viz "Psalms and Hymns and 
 Spiritual Songs" and "Hymns of the Ages" 
 In 1898 the General Assembly appointed 
 another committee to prepare "a Hymn- 
 book that will meet the demands of our 
 
92 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 Church, the product of her own life and 
 effort." As a result "The new Psalms and 
 Hvmns" appeared in 1901. Its title is 
 somewhat misleading however. The Psalms 
 do not ojcupy the place of honor in|it whish 
 the title would lead us to expect. There are 
 about 100 selections of 64 Psalms in this 
 volume, most of these are of Watts. And 
 they are incorporated as hyms among its 
 715 hymns in the book. Were it not for 
 an "Index of Psalms" in the front it would 
 be quiie diificult to see why the book 
 shoull ihcorporate the name "Psalms" in 
 its tiUp at ail 
 
 Batter by far away in this respect is 
 ^'' The Presbyterian Book ef Praise'^ of the 
 Canada Presbyterian Church. That mij^ht 
 very justly preserve the historic title 
 "Psalms and Hymns" because it still re- 
 tains the Psalms in their place of honor, 
 se mrate and in front. Before 1881 the 
 Canadian Church made use of all manners 
 of Psalters and Hymnals — about 15 dif- 
 ferent kinds in all. Some congregations 
 ussd Rous, others the Scottish Paraphrases 
 and Hymns; some the (Scotch) United 
 Presbyterian Hymnal etc. etc. Realizing 
 the unsatisfactory nature of this multi- 
 formity, steps veere taken to prepare a 
 nevT b')ok. As a result " The Pres. Book of 
 P aise" already mentioned, was published 
 in 1897. It consists of two parts. The 
 first contains 121 selections from the Psal- 
 ter, the second part numbers 609 hymns. 
 This volume seems to be an excellent one 
 in many respects and we do not wonder 
 that it is fast coming into universal use in 
 the Canadian Church. 
 
 We have seen so far how nearly all 
 American Churches are largely or nearly 
 exclusively hymnsinging denominations. 
 We are glad to state however that there 
 is an encouraging number of exceptions. 
 These exceptions are formed by the so- 
 called Presbyterian "Seceder Churches'' 
 of our land. In fact, they use the Psalter 
 exclusively in their public worship. Who 
 are those denominations? They are the 
 Reformed Presbyterian Churches (Synod 
 and General Synod) the Associate Re- 
 formed Synod of the South, the Associate 
 Church and the United Presbjterian 
 Church, As the people forming there 
 
 denominations are largely of Scotch de- 
 scent, Scotch Psalmody has been their 
 from the beginning. Many of them con 
 sider it sinful to use anything but Psalms 
 in public worship. Their highest church 
 courts not only excluded all hymns but 
 also the paraphrases or rhymed portions 
 of a few scripture passages appended to 
 many Psalters since the days of Calvin. 
 And by legislation and discipline they 
 have zealously procured uniformity and 
 prevented innovation in the matter of 
 Psalmsinging. The Reformed Presbyterian 
 and Associate Churches to the present day 
 use Rous and nothing beside. The United 
 Presbyterian denomination, formed in 185S, 
 at first used Rous likewise. But in 1873, 
 after years of labor and overturning, a 
 revised edition of the old book was pub- 
 lished and introduced. Added to this 
 were many new renderings of the most 
 important psalms. The poetic and mu- 
 sical value of this work were considered 
 very satisfactory. However, the issue of 
 1872 did not continue in use very long. In 
 1884 the General Assembly directed the 
 Board of Publication to have the Psalter 
 revised once more. A committee com- 
 posed of Dr. W. J. Robinson, D. D., D. S. 
 Thompson, Jas. W. Collins, R S. Robb 
 and John White succeeded, after much 
 labor, in publishing a new version in 1887. 
 It contained very many second and a few 
 third versions. Some of these are decided- 
 ly, even very decidedly, better, than the 
 old renderings placed alongside of them- 
 Four hundred different tunes, many of 
 them very excellent, accompany the 
 Psalms. On some pages two tunes are 
 found. The book proves to be very satis- 
 factory. There are however two features 
 of the volume which call loudly for im- 
 provement. The one is the presence of a 
 number of old renderings which are clearly 
 antiquated, and sometimes very unpoetic- 
 al, yea, suggestive of doggerel They 
 were retained principally to please the 
 older generations of church members 
 wedded to the older versions. This mediat- 
 ing policy it seems to us, ought to come 
 to a close as unsatisfactory to both sides. 
 The second feature requiring emendation 
 is, it seoms to us. elimination of all second 
 and certainly all third versioni. This is 
 
THE BANNER OF TRIJTH, 
 
 fi3 
 
 often times bewildering to the novice who 
 uses the b.-)ok, It createa uncertainty in 
 the mind as to what is really the meaning 
 of certain phrases of these psalms. And it 
 prevents memorizing, so desirable for 
 young and old. 
 
 It was this new U. P. Psalter, then still 
 in process of publication, which Oct. 1888, 
 was formally adopted by resolution of the 
 Classis of Hackensack — dow part of the 
 Christian Reformed Church — as the Book 
 of Praise of the True Reformed Protestant 
 Dutch Church. This Classis, Oct. 1884, 
 "in view of the deficiency of books and 
 defectiveness of our Psalmody"'; had ap- 
 pointed a committee to submit a plan for 
 a new Psalter. The committee consisted 
 of Revs J. Y. De Baun G. A. Haring and 
 Jl. Van Houten. At the session of Oct. 
 1886 the committee was ready to report. 
 It bad chosen the U- P Psalter "after 
 careful examination and comparison" of 
 other versions. Its report met with uni- 
 versal approbation. The Revs. S. I. Van 
 der Beek, J. C. Voorhis and J. A. Wester- 
 velt were added to the committee which 
 was authorized to have 2000 copies print- 
 ed. Finally, at the session of Oct. 1887 
 this committee reported that "the new 
 Psalm and Hymnbook" was completed and 
 placed in the hands of the stated clerk, 
 who by that time had sold over 700 vol- 
 umes. The committee therefore had 
 accomplished at last what had been en- 
 trusted to a similar body appointed as far 
 back as 1826, but which had failed to do 
 its duty through various reasons. During 
 all the intervening years the True Dutch 
 Church of necessity had made use of the 
 Psalter ofLivingston and his first selection 
 of hymns, mentioned above The commit- 
 tee whose work was accepted finally had 
 also selected and "rearranged" fifty two 
 hymns, in several parts, to suit the 52 
 Lord's Days of the Heidelberg Catechism. 
 They were added as an appendix, partly 
 because the people, so accustomed to sing- 
 ing some hymns, would have been very 
 loathe to do without them altogether. But 
 partly, and we hope principally, because 
 acknowledgement was taken of the very 
 evident fact that many earnest children of 
 the Lord have a craving after at least a 
 few sacred songs in which ihe Savior, his 
 
 work, his benefits, the Triune God, the 
 Church and its Sacraments, could be men- 
 tioned in plain New Testament phrase. 
 As such, we believe, our .'52 hymns really 
 fill a gap. And they have been used and 
 are used to the present day by all our 
 English speaking churches with a good 
 deal of edification. This is the case the 
 more because the hymns which have been 
 selected are strictly orthodox, are in the 
 main quite poetical and have the right 
 ring to them. However, wethinkanum' 
 ber of them could be s'afely left out with- 
 out doing real harm either to the com- 
 pleteness of the selection, or to its poetical 
 excellence. And God forbid that our 
 hymns should ever become anything more 
 in our Church than an "appendix " 
 
 Michigan Notes. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Brink has declined the call 
 extented to him by the Board of Heathen 
 Missions, to be missionary among the Zu- 
 ni Indians 
 
 Rev. W. D. Van der Werp of the bMfth 
 Ave. Ghr. Refd. Church, Grand Rapids, 
 Mich, has been troubled of late by "cler- 
 gyman's sore throat" in aggrevated form 
 so that he was unable to preach for two 
 or three sabbaths. We are glad to know 
 however he is recovering and could ad- 
 minister the Word again during one ser- 
 vice, on Nov. 23. 
 
 The Oakdale Park congregation, Grand 
 Rapids, was shocked on Nov. 15 by the 
 announcement that its pastor. Rev, H. M- 
 Van der Ploeg, had accepted the call ex 
 tended to him the second time by the 
 church of Lafayette Ind. Dec. C bro van 
 der Ploeg will deliver his farewell sermon. 
 The next sabbath, Dec. 13, he expects to be 
 installed in his new charge. We understand 
 Rev. Henry Beets his brother-in law will 
 cotjduct the installation service and preach 
 the sermon. We are very sorry to see the 
 brother leave the Grand Rapids church 
 
 Rev. J. Groen declining the call of the 
 Central ave. Church, Holland. Mich, the 
 Rev. L. Veltkamp has been chosen to 
 assume the pastorate of this large congre- 
 gation. 
 
 We notice in 'De Wachter" < hat Miss 
 
94 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 Nellie Noordhoff, our missionary teacher 
 in the new mission station Rehoboth, near 
 Gallup, N. M. is endeavoring to get a num- 
 ber of Indian boys and girls, to start a 
 little boarding school. This certainly is a 
 very good move. Something very neces- 
 sary. The children we reach in the govern- 
 ment boardingschcols come and go. It is 
 a floating population. And we cannot 
 indoctrinate them as much as we would 
 like. The government could not allow 
 such. To have schools of our own is high- 
 ly de=iirable therefore. And will certainly 
 prove a success, with the blessing of the 
 Lord. Other denominations have reaped 
 good harvests of such efforts. Of course, 
 to run a boardingschool is a costly affair 
 We understand the expense will be borne 
 largely if not wholly, by different Sabbath 
 schools. This latter will certainly create 
 a good deal of enthusiasm among the 
 youth of these schools. 
 
 Mrs. Rev. H. Fryling of Fort Defiance, 
 Ariz, has been ill with a severe attack of 
 typhoid fever. We do hope and pray she 
 will recover 
 
 At the last meeting of the Classis of 
 Grand Rapids. West, it was decided to 
 cooperate with the classis of Grand Rapids 
 East to call a home missionary for Grand 
 Rapids and environs, to labor among the 
 neglected and churchless people which 
 cannot be reached by the regular minis- 
 try. Many a door seem to be open to our 
 denomination. May the proper man be 
 chosen soon and the precious and neces- 
 sary work prospered. 
 
 At the meeting of the Classis Grand 
 Rapids West it was decided also to start 
 a movement to petition the town authori- 
 ties to enforce the Sunday laws of the 
 city in a better manner. Sabbath desecra- 
 tion is constantly growing in Grand iiapids. 
 Formerly no theater nor saloon was open 
 on Sabbath. Now several playhouses per- 
 form regularly on Sunday and it is said 
 saloons do a tlitiviiig business on (bat 
 day. May the committee be zealous and 
 sucessful. 
 
 There is room for improvement of Grand 
 Rapids morals. A few days ago the for- 
 mer mayor and some 15 or 16 alderman 
 were arrested and brought into court, 
 
 charged with accepting bribes, ranging 
 from $2,500 to $3000. The charges seem 
 to be pretty well founded. 
 
 Melie Stoke, Jr: 
 
 The Illogical Character 
 Christian Science. 
 
 of 
 
 Christian Science demands of the sub- 
 j\-ct to believe there is no such thing as 
 material existence or substance and hold that 
 it is only a fiction, the result of imagina- 
 tion. We would naturally suppose this 
 was too gross to be embraced by any, of 
 •ven moderate intelligence. But when 
 we view the error or illusion in its vari- 
 ous inroads it makes upon the articles of 
 our Catholic Christian faith, the sufferings 
 of Jesus was only mental, he did not suf- 
 fer in body and soul, it converts the solemn 
 tragic events of Gethsemane and Calvary 
 into a phantasm. When Jesus after his 
 resurrection saw his bewildered disciples 
 filled with scepticism and unbelief, he 
 said, (Luke 24 : 39.) "Behold my hands 
 and my feet; that it is I myself, handle 
 me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and 
 bones, as ye see me have." 
 
 Those who believe in this new cult, hold 
 that Mrs. Eddy is as much inspired in 
 writing her Science and Health, as was 
 Mathew, Paul, and the Prophets, and 
 that with the close of Bible revelation, 
 inspiration and miracles have not ceased. 
 This explains why that in a Christian 
 Science Church the sayings of John, 
 Matthew and Christ are on one side of the 
 church and the sayings of Mrs. Eddy are 
 on the other side of the church It is held 
 that if Mrs. Eddy's teaching was fully 
 embraced, the vast everyday mortality 
 would not be, and the text ' it is appointed 
 unto man once to die. and after death the 
 judgment", would be proven fa^se. If 
 the apostle Paul had been taught by Mrs. 
 Eady, be would not have needed to pray 
 thrice that the affliction might be removed 
 for under her treatment his thorn in the 
 flesh would have disappeared. Is not this 
 a presumption bordering on the profane ? 
 Who is Mrs. Eddy, that is so venerated 
 that many will walk miles to even catch a 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH 
 
 7^ 
 
 St James Version and the Revised 
 Version, the titles are correctly given. 
 While it is not so essential, yet we 
 ought to study to be correct in our 
 division of scripture. 
 
 > -f > 
 
 What Shall The Harvest be? 
 
 The subject for this evening is. What 
 shall the harvest be? It is in the form of a 
 question, and for its correct solution, 
 I shall refer you to the infallible Word 
 of God. Harvest, literally with the husband 
 man, is a gathering or ingathering of the 
 fruit of the field and is always a joyous 
 season especially so, if the crops are abund- 
 ant. But in the sense in which this ques- 
 tion comes to us tonight "What shall the 
 harvest be? Well, it will be according to 
 the seed sown. ]Sow there cannot be a 
 harvest time without a preceding seedtime. 
 "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall 
 he also reap". Like produces like. "Men 
 do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of 
 thistles", But to be more explicit. All of 
 our life time is a sowing time — every day, 
 every hour, every sabbath, every appointed 
 means of grace, including the Prayer meet- 
 ing, yes, the much neglected Prayer Meet- 
 ing. Sowing and reaping is like cause and 
 effect. I know we cannot effect our souls 
 salvation, but we can be found where God 
 appoints to hear.Are there those, (and there 
 are,) who persistently absent themselves 
 from the House of God? Do you know 
 what the effect of that will be? "He that 
 wandereth out of the way of understanding 
 shall remain in the congregation of the 
 dead". A dreadful harvest indeed. Are 
 there those (May I hope they are not 
 within the hearing of my voice) who bestow 
 more time and care looking in the mirror 
 than in the Bible? "He that soweth to the 
 flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, but 
 
 he that soweth to the Spirit shall of th*? 
 Spirit reap life everlasting". 1 have in my 
 mind a young man whom I knew well in 
 his life time, who, when he was grown, 
 formed dissolute associations, contracted 
 consumption and died, unrepentant, whos? 
 frantic cries to his mother in the death 
 hour were heart rending in the extreme. 
 Very sad to comtemplate but the harvest 
 must be according to the sowing. Such an 
 end naturally follows such a life. Now 
 with regard to keeping the Sabbath, tis 
 true we are unable to keep any of the 
 commandments perfectly, but if we are in 
 our right minds it will be our sincere desire 
 and constant strife to do so, and our ina- 
 bility will be our sorrow. Let me quote 
 to you from the 58th chapter of Isaiah. "If 
 thou turn away the foot from the sabbath, 
 from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, 
 and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of 
 the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor Him, 
 not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine 
 own pleasure, nor speaking thine own 
 words. Then shalt thou delight thyself 
 in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride 
 upon the high places of the earth, and feed 
 thee with the heritage of Jacob ihy father, 
 for the mouth ot the Lord hath spoken it." 
 A blessed sowingp, a glorious harvest. We 
 may learn that a sowing time is a time of 
 activity. The sower went forth to sow. 
 He didn't sit in the house to ;do it. The 
 injunction of the Apostle is. "Be watchful 
 be vigilant." Gospel preachers especially 
 are sowers, and their time and strength are 
 spent in the work. But how often must 
 they complain "Master we have toiled all 
 night and have taken nothing". But such 
 sowing must receive the fructifying influ- 
 ence of the Holy Spirit or there will be no 
 increase For all of us there is a proper 
 way to sow to insure the harvest. Tostart 
 right we should not go out into the business 
 of the day whether sabbath or week with- 
 
T4 
 
 THE BANNER OF TkUTH 
 
 out first going on our knees and thanking 
 €Jod for his kind preserving care over us 
 through the past night and begging 
 His guidance and Jprotection throughout 
 the day. I must here say I know of signal 
 answers to such petitions. The harvest of 
 iouls began at the Creation and has contin- 
 ued and inceased until the present when 
 fch« grim reaper Death is daily, hourly 
 gathering his thousands. Some to everlast- 
 ing happiness and many to shame and ever- 
 lasting contempt, and when these heavens 
 are rolled together as a scroll and the ele- 
 ments melt with fervent heat, then the 
 harvest is the end of the world and the 
 reapers are the angels, and it shall be 
 proven that whatsoever a man soweth that 
 shall he also reap. 
 
 L. J. B. 
 
 The Gospel. 
 
 The Gospel ministry, is the most im- 
 portant and responsible oflSce to which 
 men can be chosen in life. It is of more im- 
 portance and its responsibility and obliga- 
 tions greater than the President of the 
 United States. What can be, or what is 
 there here upon this Earth that is of more 
 importance to mankind than the preached 
 Gospel? The Gospel of Christ, that teach- 
 es us the duties and obligations we owe to 
 God, to ourselves, and oar fellow man. 
 Nothing but the Gospel of Christ can 
 direct us with unerring certainty to the 
 rewards in life, and punishment in a day 
 of judgement. What a great blessing that 
 the Bible has been given to u« as a lamp 
 to our feet and a light in our pathway 
 while passing through the darkness of this 
 world, and that we have the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ preached to us. Although 
 many have received the Gospel by faith, 
 and accepted it as the man of their coun- 
 
 sel, others have rejected the calls and 
 wooings of mercy, and have become more 
 hardened in sin, and by their continued 
 neglect of the preached Gospel, have trea* 
 suredupunto themselves wrath against 
 the day of wrath. It may be asked what 
 is the Gospel? It is a rerelation of mercy 
 to sinfull dying man. It is a gra- 
 cious declaration from Heaven, of 
 salvation from the wrath which is 
 to come. The Gospel is expressive of 
 the way in which the door oi mercy is 
 opened to the guilty sinner. God in his 
 infinite goodness, longsuffering. mercy and 
 forbearance, has made known to fallen 
 mankind, .this plan of Salvation in which 
 Jesus Christ his only begotten son is reveal- 
 ed to us in the Gospel as the way. the 
 truth and the life. Had not Christ 
 appeared in this sinful world in the form 
 of a servant (he who knew no sin) substitu- 
 ted himself in the guilty sinner's place, to 
 suffer, bleed and die the ignominious death 
 upon the Cross, had he not risen triump- 
 hant from the grave and ascended into 
 Heaven, fallen man would have lived 
 and died in dispair without hope. But 
 Christ having made the atonement for sin 
 and brought in an everlasting righteous- 
 ness, which was acceptable to God the 
 Father.commissioned his Apostles to preach 
 the Doctrines of the Cross, and to warn 
 sinners of their lost estate and condition 
 by nature, and exhort^ them to believe in 
 him and repent of their sins. And we learn 
 that the Apostles went forth in the autho- 
 rity of their Divine Master, and boldly and 
 faithfuly preached Christ and him crucified 
 to a World lying in wickedness. And from 
 Scripture we learn, the Apostles not only 
 taught the evil nature of sin, and opened 
 the great mysteries of redemption. But 
 they also preached in a clear convincing 
 manner, the everlasting torments of the 
 impenitent. — A doctrine hard for 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 75 
 
 for many to receive in this day 
 — and the unspeiikablc glories and 
 blessfdncvss reserved in heaven for the 
 Children of God. They where not afraid 
 to speak of the enmiry and deep rooted 
 depravity of the human Heart, and the 
 absolute necessity of theHoly Spirit's influ- 
 ence, to eradicate that deep rooted enmity 
 of sin They not only warned mankind of 
 the evil nature of sin, but also assured them 
 of the ability and willingness of Christ 
 to save unto the uttermost, all them that 
 come unto God by him. Has he not said, 
 '*Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
 heavy laden (a call) and I will give you rest 
 (a promise.) The Saviour has told us. *'I 
 am the way, the truth and life. No man 
 comtth unto theFather,but (mark the word 
 but) by, me. Script ire alone teaches us that 
 he is the key to open the door of mercy 
 through which we must enteriif our pray- 
 ers shall be heard and accepted by the 
 Father, for there is no other name — 
 although we may have many — under hea- 
 ven given among men whereby sinners 
 can. and will be saved. The preaching 
 which we especially need in this day is 
 the plain Spiritual truths, which were 
 preached by the Apostles, preaching 
 which comes from the heart of the minis- 
 ter to the heart of his hearers Continue to 
 us such preaching in our pulpits, turn aside 
 from the philosophers, essayists, and ethi- 
 cal orators which speak from the head, 
 and not the heart. Seek for the ministe- 
 ring servants like Paul who desirea to 
 know nothing among men, but Christ and 
 him crucified, and who was not ashamed, 
 although meeting with much opposition 
 and persecution, to preach the whole Gos- 
 pel whether men would accept or reject, 
 the calls and wooings of the Gospel truths. 
 May it not truly be said, that many are 
 living unconcerned as to what they hear. 
 How neglectfull are we to weigh it with 
 
 the scales of God's Word to test its Spiri- 
 tual truths. The choice we are called 
 upon to make is not for this life, but for 
 eternity. And as we learn from Scripture 
 the office of the Ministry is the most 
 important and responsible of all callings, 
 being of divine appointment, sent as mei- 
 sengers by God to man, and if faithful 
 like the apostles they must declare the 
 whole Gospel however painfull the truths 
 may be, which they are called upon to 
 deliver, although man may be unwil- 
 ling to receive them. 
 
 If they withhold from the people any part 
 of the Gospel, and in consequence sinners 
 continue in ignorance of Spiritual truths 
 and impenitent, the blood of ihose who 
 eventually perish in their sins, shall lie at 
 their ioor. But if a minister faithfully 
 preach the Gospel truths as it in Jesus, h« 
 is free from the blood of those who perish 
 in their sins. Their blood will be upon 
 their own souls. And if the Gospel is of 
 such vital importance to mankind, is it 
 not a solemn thought, that if we will not 
 obey the Gospel, but continue to reject the 
 counsel of God's Word, we do it at the peril 
 of our soul, having had the light of the 
 Gospel, and yet living and dying in sin. 
 H p. Uemarkst. 
 
 When I feel a desire to be active for the 
 Lord, it becomes me to be sensible that he 
 does not need me, that I can do nothing 
 without him, and what I do will be all in 
 vain unless in the Lord. To be active, 
 to be dependent, and lo be nothing; is very 
 becoming and very comely in those who 
 are nothing without him. — T Charles. 
 
 Before you go to the University of Elec- 
 tion you must go to the Grammer School 
 of Faith and Repentance. — Cecil. 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 CHURCH NEWS 
 
 Michigan Notes. 
 
 The American speaking church of our 
 denomination, recently organized in Mus- 
 kegon, Mich., is doing very well. The 
 building in which they worship for the 
 present belonging to a Danish congregation 
 is crowded every Lord's day The Sabbath 
 school numbers 60 scholars. The founda- 
 tion has been laid for a new church home 
 of their own. We rejoice in this. 
 
 The second church of Englewood, Chi- 
 cago, 111., also English speaking and of 
 recent date; is likewise progressing. Lots 
 are purchased and a church building will 
 be erected on them before long. It is esti- 
 mated to cost about $6000. Attempts will 
 be made very soon to call a minister of 
 their own. We admire the energy and 
 self sacrificing zeal our Englewood brethren 
 and sisters display and pray the Lord may 
 prosper them. 
 
 Rev. J. Groen, pastor of the East Street 
 Chr. Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, 
 has been called to the pastorate of the Cen- 
 tral ave. Church of Holland, Mich., to suc- 
 ceed Rev. Van Hoogen. 
 
 Our good brother Rev. J. Bolt was instal- 
 led as pastor of the church of Cleveland, 
 West Side, on Oct. 25. Cand. Nagel on the 
 same date was inducted into the oflice of 
 pastor of the congregation on the East Side. 
 Rev, J. Groen officiated on both occasions. 
 We trust our young brethren will be a 
 blessing to Cleveland and further the cause 
 of Americanization wisely and well. 
 
 I. Der Reformierte Bote", or Reformed 
 Messenger is, as many of the readers of 
 '' The Banner'' ^wo^N, the German monthly 
 of our Church. It is published at Pella, la. 
 In its October issue. Rev. W. R Smidt of 
 Wellsburg, la. writes an interesting account 
 of a mission festival he attended. In the 
 
 course of his letter brother Smidt speak.s of 
 the desirability and necessity of a German 
 Seminary of our Church in the West. ''If 
 we", he states, "if we had only one profes- 
 sor with half a dozen God fearing siudents, 
 they could be very useful in the present and 
 would be such more and more in the fu- 
 ture. We entertain the hope that our 
 Classis (East Priesland) will submit some 
 such proposition to our Synod". We give 
 this item at present simply as a news item. 
 Perhaps later on comment may follow. At 
 any raie, let us say, this is a very signifi- 
 cant paragraph. 
 
 The little German congregation of George, 
 la. recently welcomed a pastor of its own, 
 Rev. Niehaus, who was called from Ger- 
 many to serve this church as a successor of 
 Rev. J. Gulker. Brother Gulker is at pres- 
 ent laboring on the Pacific coast, as one of 
 our home missionaries. We are sorry to 
 hear that his esteemable wife is somewhat 
 invalid 
 
 The new edifice the Alpine Ave con- 
 gregation is erecting is slowly nearing its 
 completion. Still it will take a couple of 
 months yet we are informed, before it can 
 be occupied. It promises to be a very fine 
 building. 
 
 Rev. J Manni well known in the East 
 was installed as pastor of the Church of 
 Collendoorn or East Saugatuck on Oct. 18' 
 Rev. J. Post performed the work of instal- 
 lation. Bro. Manni's last charge was the' 
 Third Church of Muskegon, Mich. 
 
 Cheering news comes to us from the 
 church of Northwest street, Kalamazoo, 
 Mich. During the ministrations of its two 
 preceding pastors, who both left to join the 
 Reformed Church, the work somehow did 
 not prosper as well as it might. But since 
 Rev. J. Keizer has been settled over it, the 
 congregation rejoice in the manifold bless- 
 ings of the Lord and is continually strength- 
 ened. 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 77 
 
 The Rev. F. Fortuin, one of the pastors 
 alluded to above, has retraced his steps 
 and come back to our Church At present 
 he is pastor of the congregation of Hull, 
 la., succeeding our venerable brother Rev. 
 W. Greve. Brother Fortuin has written a 
 book on his '-Return to the Chr. Reformed 
 Church." It contains his regrets for hav- 
 ing left our denomination, and especially 
 does it contain a number of serious charges 
 against the doctrine and government of the 
 Reformed Church. It would be worth 
 while to discuss this book more fully, but 
 at present lack of time prevents it. 
 
 Melis Stoke Jr. 
 
 The Fourteenth Street Christian Ref d 
 Church of Holland, Mich, have had a new 
 pipe organ put in their house of worship. 
 It is built of quartered oak, surmounted 
 by gilt pipes suitably decorated, and is a 
 fitting addition to their pretty Church 
 which was dedicated the 18th of last Fe- 
 bruary. The formal installation of this 
 handsome instrument took place on Sept. 
 30th on which occasion the large assembly 
 present were favored with several pleasing 
 selections rendered by Prof. C N. Col- 
 well of Grand Rapids The pastor Rev. 
 D. R. Drukker made some interesting re- 
 marks, acknowledging the blessings that 
 had been bestowed by God upon this new 
 congregation, which in so short a time has 
 been enabled to erect a new house of 
 worship and secure so fine an organ. 
 After sum singing by the choir and a 
 quartet, the services were closed with the 
 whole congregation singing the doxology. 
 
 Report of The Classis of 
 sack. 
 
 Hacken= 
 
 Classis met in regular session in Hacken- 
 sack N. J, on October 20 ih. The Classical 
 sermon »vas preached by Rev. E. O Van 
 
 Duyne from the text Deut. 32 : 9. 10. 
 
 At the conclusion of the service the busi- 
 ness session was opened by the retiring 
 president Rev. J. A. Westervelt. Eight 
 ministers and eleven elders were present. 
 Rev. G. A. Haring was elected president 
 and Rev. J. A. Westervelt for Clerk pro 
 tem. For Committee on supplies Rev. K. 
 Poppen and elders J. C. Van Saun and J, 
 S. Westervelt were appointed. For com- 
 mittee on minutes Rev. J. F. Van Houten 
 and elders J. P. Christie and H. P. Dema- 
 rest. The treasurer of Classis reported a 
 balance on hand of $204,13. The Finance 
 commitee reported the account correct and 
 recommended the same rates of assess- 
 ment for the ensuing six months. Each 
 congregation was also asked to take a spe- 
 cial collection beside their regular assess- 
 ment, and send the same to the Classical 
 treasurer before the next Spring session for 
 the purpose of meeting our indebtedness to 
 the Theological School. The delegate from 
 Monsey expressed their gratitude for the 
 aid received from Classis and requested 
 the balance not drawn by them to be placed 
 to their credit on their back debt. This 
 was granted. The Committee to report on 
 the elegibility of ministers without charge 
 reported as follows — "We find on page 
 68 art. 63 that all the ministers, with an elder 
 from every congregation, within a particu- 
 lar district are members of a classical as- 
 sembly. This has been literally construed 
 by classis ever since its existence and we 
 find noihins- on the minutes to change 
 this interpretation nor practice. In regard 
 U) Manuals a new one was published in the 
 Holland language in 1897. Hut your com- 
 mittee find that by the articles or condi- 
 tions of union this can have no effect on 
 our present Church Manual as those condi- 
 tions state that the internal difference of 
 the classis of Hackensack from the Holland 
 Christian Ref. Church shall not be di.siur- 
 
f8 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH 
 
 bed." On the acceptance of this report 
 Rev. J. N. Trompen informed the Chissis 
 of his intention to appeal to the next 
 Synod. A recess for one hour and a half 
 was then taken for lunch. In the after- 
 noon the publication connmittee reported 
 and their report was accepted. An impor- 
 tant part of their report was the recbm- 
 mendation of a chan^^e in The Banner of 
 Truth whereby its field of usefullness 
 might be enlarged. It was proposed that a 
 stock company be formed, and if this be 
 accomplished, it was requested that the 
 Classis assign to this company the Banner 
 of Truth with all its interest and respon- 
 sibilities. After some discussion it was re- 
 solved. "Thai the report of the Publica- 
 tion Com. on the Banner oi Truth be ac- 
 cepted, and the recommendation granted 
 with the understanding that the Classis of 
 Hackensack continue to have the privilege 
 of publishing her proceedings and reports." 
 The Supply committee presented a partial 
 report which was accepted, ordered 
 to be printed and the committee 
 directed to complete its report and have 
 the same published. A paper from Pro- 
 fessor A. J. Rooks in regard to the raising 
 of an endowment fund of $25,000 for the 
 founding and supporting a college to . be 
 known as the John Calvin junior college 
 was read and received and a resolution pas- 
 sed authorizing the circulation of subscrip- 
 tion lists for this purpose among the diffe- 
 rent congregations, and the same to be 
 returned to the stated Clerk who should 
 forward them to the proper parties. 
 
 Rev. A. P. Pearson superintendent, of the 
 colored widows and orphans home and in- 
 dustrial training school of Nashville, Tenn. 
 was then permitted to speak in the interest 
 of his school. On motion it was resolved 
 that he send the Secretary of Classis a 
 brief statement of his cause and the same 
 be printed in the Banner, with the recom- 
 
 mendation that if any feel willing to aid 
 said cause that they send their contribution 
 through the Clerk Pro tern, R^v. J. A. 
 Westervelt. 
 
 A young man by the name of Mr. D. B. 
 Yan Horn presented himself to the classis 
 and desired to be received as a student. 
 He was advised to study under a private 
 tutor until the next regular session when 
 his application will be further considered. 
 Permission was asked by one congregation 
 to erase the name of a baptized member. 
 The mission work in this classis was consi- 
 dered and it was resolved to refer the same 
 to the Synodical Board Domestic Missions. 
 Revs. G. A. Haring, J. C Voorhis 
 and J. A. Westervelt and elders 
 James Christie, Jacob Bakelaar, Thomas 
 Qua and B. Breen were re elected as 
 Trustees. It was resolved that future as- 
 sesments be made in accordance with the 
 statistics of the New year book A resolu- 
 tion was passed to have the classical ser- 
 mon printed. A vote of thanks was ex- 
 tended for the kind entertainment given by 
 the Ladies ot theHackensack congregation. 
 After the reading of minutes Clasgis ad- 
 journed to meet at Passaic on the third 
 Tue.sday of April next and that the sermon 
 be preached by Rev. J N. Trompen Prim, 
 or Rev. J. F. Van Houten Secundus. 
 
 Englewood items. 
 
 During the month of October, the various 
 services of the Christian Reformed Church 
 were conducted by Rev. John Webinga. 
 The good will between preacher and con- 
 gregation grew from sabbath lo sabbath, 
 while better Church attendance and ef- 
 fectinnate leaves taking must have been 
 very encouraging to Rev. Webinga. He 
 left on Monday, Oct. 26. for his home in 
 Holland Michigan. 
 
 The conffre£ration is glad to know that 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 59 
 
 The argument of Faith. 
 
 The principal truth urged in the Gospel 
 is the doctrine of faith, and the condition 
 of man respecting it as a principle possess- 
 ed of saving qualities. 
 
 That there is, and has ever been a tend- 
 ency in man towards unbelief is the posi- 
 tive declaration of God in his word. And 
 in the absence of faith; he is seeking out 
 many inventions to sustain a hope within 
 himself against the conditions to which 
 he admits he is exposed. The world is 
 filled with false sentiments respecting 
 true religion These sentiments are the 
 products of man's wisdom— whether they 
 originate in the Idolator, or in the soul 
 who draws near to God with his lips, 
 while his heart is far from him. 
 
 To have faith in God naturally supposes 
 that such a soul will embrace his word, 
 for how can a man believe when he calls 
 in question the word of God? The faith 
 that repudiates any part of God's revealed 
 truths makes uncertain any part which 
 such a soul is inclined to accept. For 
 instance a faith that repudiates punish- 
 ment for sin, which is soplainly declared 
 by our Lord in his teachings, can certainly 
 have little assurance of the blessedness 
 promised'the godly. That is, if our faith 
 rejects the idea of eternal punisment for 
 sin, it must also reject the word of God as 
 a whole, because it then ceases to be a 
 tdngible ground of faith 
 
 On the other hand faith that embraces 
 God's most holy word discovers not alone 
 what an evil thing sin is, but it discovers 
 help laid upon the arm of God for the sin- 
 ner's deliverance, and creates a desire in 
 his heart to show true thankfulness of 
 God for such a deliverance. It cannot be 
 otherwise. A soul that receives a favour 
 from his fellow mortal experiences this 
 
 sentiment towards his benefactor. This is 
 the manner in which the Church presents 
 this truth, Again such a faith is singular 
 in its character, because it dares not ques- 
 tion Revelation, while it is compelled to 
 question itself, from the very fact that it 
 finds so mvch in itself that is inconsis- 
 tent with God's teachings, and has a ten- 
 dency to produce sorrow of heart because 
 of indwelling evil. It is the very fact 
 that a man believes God's word that pro- 
 duces this sorrow in the heart of man. 
 
 Again where true faith in God's word 
 truly exists there will be little excuse for 
 sin. Such a soul will judge itself and 
 condemn itself, and feeling himself a sin- 
 ner before God will plead for pardon and 
 will realize that pardon alone can bring 
 comfort, and remove distress. Well, this 
 is just what God's word teaches, that the 
 soul cannot be justified by the deeds of the 
 law, because all his deeds are imperfect, 
 and come short of the glory of God. But 
 true faith finds something to be thankful 
 for. It finds that there is forgiveness with 
 God. and though his case is made despe- 
 rate through sin, that help is laid upon 
 the Son of God. and that he is able to save 
 unto the uttermost all them that come 
 unto the Father by him. This is where 
 faith, and hope must join hands Until 
 faith agrees with what God has spoken, 
 it is only a creature faith and displeasing 
 to God because it has dared to repudiate 
 God's word, and to exalt itself above God 
 in determining just how much of God's 
 word is to be believed; and how much is 
 to be rejected by them There can be no 
 question to the fact, that an unbroken 
 sinner, is an unbelieving sinner. And 
 unless we are truly believers in the fact, 
 that our sins are the cause of our 
 separation from God, we will not be in- 
 clined to seek for. or hope in, the merits of 
 Christ's atoning sacrifice. 
 
60 
 
 THE BANNER OP TRUTH 
 
 Now Faith as a principle relies upon 
 God's promise. Their sins, though like 
 scarlet, may be removed and will be can- 
 celed, and blotted out that come unto God 
 through Jesus Christ, because his blood 
 cleanses from all sin, and that his grace 
 i« suflSlcient for him in all bis needs, and 
 will work in him both to will and do of 
 God's good pleasure. 
 
 Such a faith ascribes nothing to the 
 creature but his sins, and hopes for noth- 
 ing in creature merit. It is compelled to 
 part with all its former hopes to rest alone 
 upon the arm of Christ for peace, joy and 
 comfort. The argument for faith is, that 
 chief of sinners are saved by grace, that 
 there is an abundant hope, set before us in 
 the gosple through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 while the sentiment that questions this 
 truth, is compelled to rely upon their own 
 resources for comfort and happiness. 
 
 There are many inventions which man 
 has discovered, but none of them will span 
 the bridgeless river to which ^ we are hast- 
 ening. God has in mercy discovered a 
 way, but if we will reject his word — we 
 will die in our sins. S I. V. 
 
 > > > 
 
 Psalmody Committee meeting. 
 
 The Joint Committee for preparing a 
 uniform version of the Inspired Psalms 
 ia Metre held their tenth meeting at Sil- 
 ver Bay, N. Y. from Sept. 9th to the 16th. 
 Thirteen delegates were present represen- 
 ting eight churches, as follows— two from 
 the Presbyterian Church, three from the 
 Canada Presbyterian Church, three from 
 the Reformed Presbyterian Charch Gene- 
 ral Synod, one from the Associate Presby. 
 t2rian church, one from theUnited Pres. 
 terian Church, one from the Reformed 
 church, and one from the Christian Re- 
 formed Church. Three sessions were 
 held each day, during which the fir«t 
 
 thirty-four psalms of the Bible were re- 
 vised and adopted, and also a second 
 version of Psalms 1, 19 and 23 The next 
 meeting of the committee will be next 
 April in Philadelphia, and it is hoped that 
 the revision will then be completed. The 
 General Assemblies or Synods of the 
 several Churches will be notified and re- 
 quested to appoint committees to examine 
 the work when finished. 
 
 Murder Accomplices. 
 
 What a great responsibility rests with 
 the principal powers of Europe? for by 
 their grace, Turkey remains on the map 
 of Europe, a menace to modern civiliza- 
 tion and Christianity. A most appaling 
 spectacle is witnessed in Macenonia where 
 the unspeakable Turk is slaughtering de- 
 fenceless men, women and children, and 
 the christian (?) powers are looking on 
 with complacence. Alas! what mockery, 
 what shame, can it be that the righteous 
 God will not be avenged on these so called 
 christian nations? For certainly the blood 
 shed in Macedonia will rest Upon England, 
 Germany and Russia. But why are they 
 silent? Near and jealousy, least by the 
 just punishment of the Turk, either of 
 these great powers might gain the advant- 
 age, and so the statue quo, is the present 
 rule. 
 
 > > ^ 
 
 The Disciple of Jesus. 
 
 Translated from the German. 
 The greatest proof of love which can be 
 felt for a fellow-creature is exhibited in 
 anxious desire for his happiness in time 
 and eternity. A worthy minister, named 
 Fruhauf, who laboured for upwards of 
 thirty years in Ilolstein, of whom the 
 following interesting circumstance is nar- 
 
THE BANNER oE TRUTH. 
 
 61 
 
 fatdd, Was remarkably. filled, even to over- 
 flowiDg, with this genuine love towards his 
 fellow-creatures. 
 
 This devoted disciple of Jesus was ac- 
 customed in his walks to pray aloud, 
 both for himself and others, and on this 
 account chose lonely and unfrequented 
 by-paths, as being convenient for thus 
 holding intercourse with his Savoun It 
 was to him an elevating thought that 
 God's kingdom flourished over all the 
 earth, and that the will of God should one 
 day be don© upon this earth as it is in heav- 
 en. Most of the meadows and fields in 
 the neighborhood of Holstein are surround- 
 ed by hedges, the entrance consisting of 
 a door, somewhat similar to a turnpike 
 gate. One of these meadows had long been 
 used by the inhabitants of Holstein as a 
 thoroughfare) and the owner, a neighbour- 
 ring peasant, determined no longer to 
 permit this> resorted to physical force as 
 the most effectual means of preserving his 
 ground from intruders. Accordingly, 
 about the time of the usual stroll of the 
 Holsteiners, he concealed himsef behind 
 the hedge, armed with a cudgel. 
 
 He had not thus lain long in wait, when 
 the gate opened, and the worthy pastor 
 Fruhauf entered the meadow alone. All 
 Nvas still, save the voice of nature; the 
 birds twittered in the leafy hedges, as if 
 praising the God who preserved them; the 
 gurgling of the near stream seemed to his 
 ears to speak of a beneficent Creator, and, 
 together with the rural landscape appear 
 ed to make a deep impression on him. 
 Raising his eyes toward heaven^ and fold- 
 ing his hands, he entered the meadow 
 praying, and distinctly spoke these words: 
 — 'O Thou bounteous God, Father in heav- 
 en, bless the owner of this lovely spot! 
 Manifest to him the drawings of Thy Holy 
 Spirit. Give him to feel the love of the 
 Father in His Son Christ Jesus who died 
 
 for sinnersv Grant to him the pardon of 
 his sins. Yes, loving Saviour, grant that 
 he may, by virtue of Thy death, obtain an 
 entrance into Thy kingdom of joy, where 
 he may, with us. Thy redeemed onee. 
 praise Thy holy name." Not a word of 
 the hearfelt prayer of the hoary-headed 
 divine escaped the peasant, who lay in 
 wait with his cudgel while he was thus 
 pleaded for. Letting his weapon fall, and 
 scarce knowing what had happened, he 
 fell upon his knees, and there remained 
 for some time. When he afose, he waS 
 about to hasten after the man, but he had 
 long since passed on, ahd the same stillness 
 reigned in the meadow. Lost in thought, 
 he turned towards home, where his wife, 
 aware of his previous determination, met 
 him. 
 
 "Well, have you caught any one?*' 
 
 "Oh, dear v/ife,''said he, tears stream- 
 ing down his cheeks, "there was one, but 
 he caught me.'' 
 
 "Caught you! how so? Surely you Could 
 defend yourself.'* 
 
 "Yes, yes, but he was stronger than L 
 for he had wholly different weapons. Lis- 
 ten: late in the afternoon there passed 
 some one through my meadow; but be 
 offered for me the most heartfelt prayer I 
 ever heard in my life. He seized me like 
 the arms of a giant, threw me on my knees 
 before God, and made me feel that I am a 
 desperate sinner. And more; listen again. 
 To-morrow I will go to the pa tor in Hoi 
 stein, and ask him how I can become like 
 the old man who passed through the mea- 
 dow; and you shall go with me.' 
 
 When the pe.i»ant arrived the next 
 morning, he was still more surprised to 
 see in the mini.<?ter, Fruhauf, the same old 
 man who had so earnestly prayed for him 
 the preceding day. This is the man of 
 God himself, exclaimed he to his wife, 
 'who prayed for you and me." Bidding 
 
(J^ 
 
 THE BAKNER OF TRiJTH. 
 
 them both be seated, the pastor then heard 
 how God had answered his prayer for his 
 neighbour, which, in the fulness of his 
 love towards himi he hath breathed forth. 
 The man was truly awakened; and the 
 circumstances made such an impression on 
 his wife thet she was constrained attend 
 with her husband the ministry of the lov- 
 ing old pastor. In after days, both had 
 cause to bless God for His mercy in 
 arranging that singular prayer-meeting, 
 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Church or World, 
 
 Is il not true that the line of distinction 
 between these two bodies is almost lost 
 sight of in this day? Yet to one of them 
 we must and do belong. We must bear in 
 mind that in Scripture the distinction is 
 plainly revealed It is there shown that 
 the Church is a congregation, a society of 
 men called of God by the Gospel out of 
 the world that lieth in wickedness into the 
 faith, fellowship^ obedience and worship of 
 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They 
 are called a particular body of men that 
 meet together to profess, worship and serve 
 the Lord Christ. And then again we learn 
 that in tlie assembly are rulers who meet 
 not in man's but in Christ's name and 
 authority, to execute his laws and govern 
 his people in a congregation, a much neg- 
 lected duty in this day. 
 
 'Te should ever remember that in every 
 age or generation Jesus Christ is the 
 Church's Foundation and Head. The 
 Word of God is a binding rule of authority 
 and direction, to his glory and salvation of 
 men. Only those who by faith are united 
 to his person and sanctified by his indwel- 
 ling Spirit are his true disciples or follow- 
 ers — nut as today, all men are his disciples. 
 
 The marks and evidences of a saint are 
 those vvho worship God in the spirit, — not 
 flesh— actuated by the Holy Spirit, having 
 
 no confidence in the flesh nor in their OWtl 
 righteousness for acceptance, but plead 
 the merits and righteousness of Christ aS 
 the ground of their hop;. They have 
 become new creatures in Christ Jesus Thp 
 Veil of unbelief has been removed from 
 their eyes, and by the power of divine 
 graces they have turned to the Lord. The 
 Word of God is no longer a sealed book but 
 has become a Lamp unto their feet and 
 alight unto their pathway. 
 
 Unless the Spirit of revelation be made 
 known unto us Christ cannot be effectuallj' 
 or savingl}^ Unown. When Peter made 
 confession of his faith in Christ as the Son 
 of the living God, our Lord said unto him. 
 "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjuna, for 
 flesh and blood hath not revealed it into 
 unto thee, but my Father which is in Hea- 
 ven." It is only by the grace of God, that 
 we are what we are— a hard doctrine to bo-= 
 lieve in this day, Christ's people are his 
 by the gift of the Father Christ in ad- 
 dressing his Father says. "Thine they 
 were, and thou gavest them me," again, 
 "Behold I, and tlia children ^Vhich thou 
 hast given me," 
 
 Many tell us it is almost impossible to 
 draw the line of distinction between the 
 Church and World. It is true; there arc 
 black sheep in nearly every fold. How was 
 it when Christ was here upon earth? There 
 were twelve disciples, yet even among that 
 number there was a Judas. And is it not 
 equally true that there are parents, the 
 one of the Church, the other of the world? 
 and is it not a lamentable truth that of- 
 ten the children will follow after the foot- 
 steps of the one of the world? How much 
 concern and alarm has it caused many 
 a parent for the spiritual welfare and salva- 
 tion of their souls? And why is it that 
 there is so little concern for the Church? 
 Is the Bible at fault? do you deny it to be 
 ihe inspired Word of God? Do you hiy the 
 
THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 3? 
 
 al reason and human judgment can grasp 
 it can not be truo. Matt. 13:11. "He 
 answered and said unto them, because il is 
 given unto you to icnow the mysteries of 
 the kingdom of heaven but to 
 them it is not given." 1 Cor. 2 : 14. 
 "But the natural man receiveth 
 not the things of the Spirit of God; for they 
 are foolishness unto him, neither can he 
 know them, because they are spiritually 
 discerned." Jesus also tells us Matt. 11 :35 
 "that it is hid from the wise and prudent 
 and revealed unto babes." 
 
 As to following the creeds, he declares it 
 is not right. If the creed is in agreement 
 with God's word why is it not right ? Let 
 us stand by the inspired word, which when 
 rightly interpreted wil not contradict itself 
 and present a beautiful harmony in a God 
 honoring creed. In ignorance of God's 
 plan for the recovery of the world from sin 
 and its consequences. In following the prima- 
 ry meaning of the greek word Ecclesia, 
 it means called out. The church is dis- 
 tinct from the world. Nowhere can we 
 find by the greatest stretch of exegesis, 
 that the Bible or the God of the Bible, 
 ever intended that all the world wo ild be 
 saved, John 15 : 18, 19: "If the world hate 
 you, ye know that it hated me before it 
 hated you. If ye were of the world, the 
 world would love his own; but because 
 ye are not of the world, but I have 
 chosen you out of the world, therefore the 
 world hateth you. John 15 : 16, "Ye have 
 not chosen me but I have chosen you. 
 
 In explanation of the chart is- 
 sued by the Watchman of Chicago, in 
 which is shown the multitudes in the 
 darkness of heathendom and but a small 
 proportion of the inhabitants of the earth 
 who are truly Christian, he coments 
 thus, {Page 1 8,) "We can not believe that 
 God's j;r eat plan of salvation was even intend- 
 ed to be, er ever will be such a failure."' 
 
 God's plan of salvation will not fail, John 
 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me, 
 shall come to me; and him that cometh to 
 me I will in no wise cast out." The church 
 the body of Christ, will be a perfect body; 
 every member of that mystical body will 
 be perfect. And the Gentiles (Heathen) 
 shall come to thy light. Isa. 60 : 2, 3. 
 This prophecy was fulfilled in the times 
 of the ingathering of the gentiles, when the 
 Jews were cut off for a season, in the ac- 
 complishing of God's plan, until the ful- 
 ness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, 
 then Israel shall be restored to God's favor 
 again, so all Israel shall be baved, the true 
 Israel of God who shall form a part of the 
 elect Church redeemed by Christ, which 
 shall be gathered out of every nation, lang- 
 uage, tongue and people. 
 
 Page 23. Then by degrees there came into 
 existence a special class called "■ the clergy" Eph. 
 4 : II, 12 "And he gave some apostles, and 
 some prophets; and some evangelist; and 
 some pastors and teachers; For the perfect- 
 ing of the saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, for the edifying of the body of 
 Christ; (the church). Rom. 10 : 14, 15. 
 How then shall they call on him in whom 
 they have not believed? and how shall they 
 believe in him of whom they have not 
 heard? And how shall they hear without 
 a preacher ? And how shall they preach 
 except they be sent? as it is written, How 
 beautiful are the feet of them that preach 
 the gospel of peace, and bring good tidings 
 of good things? Now while he may reflect 
 upon this special class, they are those who 
 are called of God as was Aaron, and no man 
 taketh this honor to himself. 
 
 Again on page 23, ^'God raised up bold 
 champions for his word in the titnes of the re- 
 formation such as Luther, Z7vingh\ Afrlaii- 
 than. M'ycliffe., K'nox aud othfrs " True, 
 but none of ih^se lield to second prob-Ation, 
 nor universal salvation: nor dj;! th»y -appeal 
 
40 
 
 THE BANNER OF TRUTH. 
 
 The Banner of Truth. 
 
 JL magazine devoted to the spread of Bible 
 Truth. Published monthly at Paterson, N. J. 
 by order of the Classis of Hackensack, under 
 the supervision of the Publication Committee 
 coafeisting of Eevs. J. C. Yoorhis, S. I. Vander- 
 b©sk, and J. A. Westervelt. 
 
 TEKVIS: 
 
 Venrly in advance - - 75c. 
 
 In clubs of five or more to one address 60c. 
 if not in advance - - $1.00 
 
 Sing-le copies - - - lOc; 
 
 All subscriptions and communications sliould 
 De sent to Rev. J. A. Westervelt. Correspondincr 
 Editor and Treasurer, 50 N. First St., Pater- 
 son, N. J. 
 
 Kicking against the pricks. 
 
 The tendency is to broaden the 
 mental conception and interpretation 
 of Scripture, and to so modify the 
 old confessions that they shall be 
 more pleasin/ to the modern profes- 
 sing church. But many of the mod- 
 ifications may be answered, as the 
 Lord answered Saul; "it is hard for 
 thee to kick against the pricks '' 
 
 Take the article on elect infants. 
 Xow if all are saved, how can we re- 
 concile all of tlie covenant assurances 
 to believing parents, if the children 
 of unbelievers are all elect? We im- 
 mediately find it hard to kick against 
 that prick of truth. When do elect 
 infants loose their election? At what 
 age? when do they become responsi- 
 ble? And if the modern charity con- 
 cludes all as elect, why not include 
 all the vast nations and generations 
 of heathendom who have died with- 
 out a knowledge of the true God? 
 Then there is another of God's pricks, 
 
 if the heathen without the gospel are 
 al elect, why should we spend vast 
 treasure to make them non elect? 
 The word of God stands like a so'id 
 square with bayonets of truth brist- 
 ling on every side, and repelling all 
 assaults, and may all of the modern 
 sentimentalists like Saul of Tarsus, 
 have their eyes opened and find 
 '4t is hard to kick against the pricks '* 
 
 Roman Catholic inequalty. 
 
 While the qualifying term shows 
 the absurdity of the claim, and con- 
 tradiction of the primary, meaning 
 of the term catholic, in these times 
 of the world wide interest shown in 
 the election of a successor to Leo 
 XIII, where is the justice, or least 
 idea of right ai'ising from the rules 
 of representation? Italy v\^ith her 
 thirty million catholic adherents is 
 represented in the present Cardma's 
 conclave, by 37 Italian Cardinals 
 while the entire Roman Catholic 
 v/orld outside of Italy with their 
 200,000,000 adherents are having only 
 26 cardinals to represent them in the 
 conclave. Italy with her 30,000,000 
 has 37 cardinals. North America with 
 her 58,000,000, has but 3 Cardinals. 
 The injustice and inequality is clear- 
 ly seen. Why is it that there is no 
 protest, no rebellion, no outcry? Be 
 cause the making and unmaking of 
 Cardinals is in the hands of an in 
 fallible (?) Pope (?) and the mass of 
 the adherents of the Eoman Catholic 
 church ara blind followers of a despo- 
 tic Hierarchy, and we have a secular 
 press of fawning cowards who are 
 bowing the knee to secure the favor 
 of a large Roman Catholic following. 
 
'(mmB