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 134 Music. A Tractate on Church Music, being an ex- 
 tract from the Rev. Mr. Peirce's Vindication of the 
 Dissenters. 8vo, half roan, uncut. 
 
 London: Privately printed, 1786 
 Dedicated to Drs. Chauncy and Clark of Boston. A MS. note 
 says, " Printed by the direction of Mr. B. H. for the purpose of 
 sending to Boston where he actually sent a number * * * instead of 
 granting the request of ^500 for an organ * * * " The pamphlet 
 is a bitter attack on instrumental church music. 
 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 plvisim 
 ■actio* 
 
 sec. 
 
 boo"] 
 
On the other hand James Pierce of Exeter, whose Arian 
 leanings were not yet suspected, held the strictest views in 
 the way of confining Church Song to the inspired Psalms, 
 discontinuing even the use of the doxology. In his Vindi- 
 ciae fratrum dissentientium in Anglia 21 he argued for the 
 use of "plain tunes", and, strenuously, against the employ- 
 ment of instrumental music. Pierce's attitude toward hymns 
 was exceptional rather than characteristic of the Presby- 
 terianism of the time ; and it is quite likely that any who 
 shared in it may have sought an Old Testament Psalmody 
 as a refuge from rising Christological perplexities. 
 21 London, 1710. In English, as A Vindication of the Dissenters, 
 London, 1717. In 1786 Mr. Brand Hollis reprinted from it A Tractate 
 on Music (London), for distribution in the First Church of Boston, 
 with a view to meeting the movement to procure an organ for that 
 church. 
 
f.^J, 
 
 
 TRACTATE 
 
 O N 
 
 CHURCH MUSIC; 
 
 BEING AN EXTRACT FROM THE 
 REVEREND AND LEARNED MR. PEIRCE's 
 VINDICATION OF THE DISSENTERS. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION SHINES BRIGHTEST IN 
 
 ITS OWN DRESS; AND TO PAINT IT, IS EUT TO 
 
 DEEORM IT. 
 
 DR. NICHOLAS DEFENCE OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 LONDON: MDCCLXXXVL 
 
THIS TRACTATE 
 
 O N 
 
 CHURCH MUSIC, 
 IS INSCRIBED 
 
 T 
 
 THE REVEREND DOCTOR CHAUNCY 
 
 AND 
 
 THE REVEREND MR. JOHN CLARK, 
 THE MINISTERS; 
 
 A N D T O 
 
 THE SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE 
 
 FIRST CONGREGATIONAL DISSENTING CHURCH 
 
 IN BOSTON IN AMERICA. 
 
 <Y*<hi*.M£ *»«.*£- 2& %Js^ /?% rait) &»~€&U> 
 
R A C T A T E 
 
 O N 
 
 CHURCH MUSIC. 
 
 THE fubjecl: before us may be refolved 
 into a queflion, which, fimple and uncom- 
 pounded, is no other than, whether it be 
 fit and proper to introduce the ufe of in- 
 ftrumental mufic into the public worfhip 
 of almighty God, as being able to excite 
 in us devout and fpiritual affections ? 
 . Plain finging is univerfally admitted to 
 be, at once, capable both of raifing and 
 improving fentiments of raitonal piety and 
 devotion ; and is commanded in the new 
 Teftament. Where the heart and under- 
 ftanding are fo intimately interefted, like 
 every other united adt of praife, it is cal- 
 culated 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 culated to produce a good effect. But the 
 addition of inftrumental mufic fhouid feem 
 more calculated to divert and diffipate the 
 pious affections of a reafonable fervice, than 
 to fix them upon their proper objects. And 
 if exprefs authority be pleaded in its be- 
 half, fuch authority fhouid be proved by 
 other evidences than a general command 
 concerning finging. It is not enough, to 
 fay, that mufical inftruments are able to 
 ftir and cheer our minds -, for it is not law- 
 ful for us to bring into ufe fuch things, of 
 our own heads, into God's worfhip. Who 
 knows not, that wine has the like virtue, 
 to cheer men's minds, and warm their af- 
 fections ? And yet it is unlawful to ufe it 
 in the worfhip of God, except where it is 
 commanded, in the Lord's fupper. Vain 
 therefore are thefe and fuch like allegations 
 upon this head. And unlefs it can be 
 proved, that our minds are carried toward 
 fpiritual and heavenly things, by fome hid- 
 den virtue that nature has given to thefe 
 mufical inftruments, or by a certain divine 
 grace accompanying them, as God's own 
 inftitutions ; there is really nothing faid 
 
 to the purpofe. 
 
 The 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 The jews indeed ufed mufic in their 
 worfhip, becaufe God had commanded 
 them fo to do, as the fcripture moll ex- 
 prefsly teftifies. And he fet the Levites in 
 the houfe of the Lord, with cymbals, with 
 pfalteries, and with harps, according to the 
 commandment of David, and of Gad the 
 kings feer y and Nathan the prophet ; for fo 
 was the commandment of the Lord by his 
 prophets*. God had forbidden the Jews 
 to bring any thing into his worfhip, of 
 their own head. Hence he not only (hewed 
 to Mofes the pattern of the tabernacle, 
 and of all the utenfils thereof: but when 
 the temple was to be built at Jerufalem, he 
 (hewed to David, by his fpirit, both the 
 form of it, and all the inflruments to be 
 ufed in it No man, therefore, will won- 
 der that our bleiTed Saviour, who reproves 
 all fuperftitious rites and innovations which 
 he found introduced into that church, 
 flionld fay not a word againfl mufic ; fince 
 
 it 
 
 * 2 Chron. xxlx. 25. See alfo Exod. xxv. 9, 40. 
 xxvi. 30. xxvii. 8. Numb. viii. 4. Deut. iv. 2. v. 32. 
 xii. 32. Jofh. i. 7. 1 Chron. xxviii. 11 — ig. compare 
 alfo 1 Chron. viii. 13, 14. and xxx. 12. 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 it was exprefsly appointed by God himfelf, 
 and on that very account, could not be 
 reckoned a fuperftitious rite, or an inno- 
 vation introduced into that church. But 
 it does not hence follow, that he would 
 have it continued in that evangelical wor- 
 ship which he appointed. Nor is it diffi- 
 cult to give a good reafon for this differ- 
 ence between the ufe of mufical inftru- 
 ments, and the practice of plain congrega- 
 tional finging. For, if both thefe were 
 anciently numbered among the jewifh cere- 
 monies, neither of them ought to' be ufed 
 as fuch, under the chriftian covenant. One, 
 therefore, mould be rejected as a jewifh 
 ceremony ; the other retained as the insti- 
 tution of Chrift. And certainly a man 
 muft be blind, who does not fee, that 
 trumpets, harps, and fuch like mufical in- 
 ftruments, belonged to the pomp and cere- 
 mony of the jewifh worfhip. But all thefe 
 things are abrogated, together with the 
 law that appointed the worfhip ; unlefs any 
 of them appear to have been fince injoined 
 by fome particular command. 
 
 It has been faid that the very firft wor- 
 fhip in the chriftian affemblies was per- 
 formed 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 formed in the antiphonal way of finging, 
 /. e. by finging by turns, or in parts ; and 
 for the authority for this practice, we are 
 generally referred to Pliny the younger*. 
 The paffage, however, which is referred to, 
 on this occafion, would never have been 
 thought fufficient for the purpofe, for which 
 it has been introduced, if it had not been 
 read with a ftrong prejudice. 
 
 Of all the critics, who have commented 
 on that epiftle of Pliny, Catanaeus, an 
 italian papift, is the only man who took 
 notice of this way of finging, though they 
 are not wont to omit any thing relating to 
 the cuftoms of the ancients. The words 
 dicere fecurn invicem, mean no more than to 
 Jing together-, or as Voffius explains them, 
 Pliny's meaning is, that the prieft was 
 not the only perfon who fang ; but others 
 finging alfo, they ftirred up one another. 
 " Whence Tertullian, in his Apology, c. 39. 
 " after he had fpoken of their love feafts, 
 " adds 5 After we have wafoed our hands, 
 " and the candles are lighted, every one is 
 I' defired to Jing to God in the midjl of the 
 
 " company 
 
 * Plin. Ep. xcvii. 1. x. 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 4e company, according as he is able, either out 
 " of the holy fcriptures, or fomewhat of his 
 " own compofing" Nay, Tertullian, in 
 another place in the fame Apology, gives 
 an account of chriftian folemnities, from 
 this paffage of Pliny ; but fays not a word 
 of finging by turns or in parts. " We 
 find," fays he, " it has been forbidden 
 " to make a fearch after us. For when 
 " Plinius fecundus was governor of a pro- 
 " vince, and had condemned fome, and 
 €e made others comply, being difturbed by 
 " the great multitude of the christians, 
 " he confulted the emperor Trajan ; ac- 
 *.* quainting him, that befides an obfti- 
 iC nate averfion to Sacrificing, he could 
 " difcover nothing concerning the myf- 
 " teries (de facramentis] but that they 
 " held affemblies before day, to fing to 
 " Chrift as to God*." Where, by the 
 by, Pliny feems to have miftaken a hymn 
 in praife of Chrift, for one dire&ly ad- 
 dreffed to him, 
 
 It has , been further faid that the An- 
 tip hone, or chaunting of the Pfalms by 
 
 turns, 
 
 % Tertullian $. 2, 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 turns, is taken notice of by Socrates, as a 
 very early practice of the eaftern churches ; 
 for he makes Ignatius to be author of it. — - 
 But that muft be a rare caufe, that needs 
 fuch fabulous ftories to defend it. Socrates 
 himfelf owns, that he tells this ftory upon 
 a common report, which we all know 
 is little to be credited in fuch matters : 
 and perhaps he himfelf did not believe it, 
 for thus he concludes his relation, — " Such 
 " is the report concerning thefe antipho- 
 " nal hymns." — And further, if this ftory 
 has any truth in it, how came it to pafs, 
 that it mould never be mentioned in the 
 lean: by Ignatius, in his epiftles, — by the 
 writer of the account of his martyrdom, 
 or by any other author before Socrates ? — ■ 
 But to Socrates may be oppofcd Theo- 
 doret, an ancient w r riter, and as good a 
 witnefs, who tells us, that Flavianus and 
 Diodorus were the firft authors of this 
 ufage. " Thefe;" fays he, " firft divided 
 V the choirs into two parts, and taught 
 " the ringing David's pfalms by turns. 
 " Which being firft begun at Antioch, 
 £? foon fpread itfelf through the whole 
 
 " world." 
 
( io ) 
 
 " world*." Now this happened about 
 the middle of the fourth century. But, 
 further, though Socrates is defervedly 
 thought a very ufeful writer, yet he can- 
 not deferve much credit, when he gives 
 an account of feveral of the miracles and 
 vifions of the ancients ; efpecially when 
 we confider that he has inferted into ~his 
 hiftory, the wretched fable, of Helena's 
 finding Chrift's crofs, as though it de- 
 fended to be believed -f-. Now if what 
 he relates of Helena is not to be credited, 
 much lefs is what he tells us of Ignatius, 
 who lived at a much greater diftance from 
 his own time. — -In what great danger muft 
 religious worfhip be, if it is to be ordered 
 according to fuch uncertain vifions ! 
 
 Bafil indeed zealoufly defends this mode 
 of finging in his epiftle to the clergy of 
 Neocejarea, who were much offended at 
 the bringing in of this ufage, but does 
 not deny that the ancient manner of 
 finging had been altered in his church J. 
 
 Further, 
 
 * Ecclef. Hid. lib. ii. c. 24. f !*>• lib « »• c - '7« 
 
 J Epift. 63. 
 
( u ) 
 
 Further, not only the clergy of Neo- 
 cefarea, but Augufline alfo, judged this 
 ufage not to have been very laudable and 
 pious. " The pleafing my flefh," fays 
 he, " which I mould not fuffer to weaken 
 " my mind often deceives me, while my 
 " fenfe does not fo accompany my reafon, 
 " as patiently to follow it; but endea- 
 u vours to outrun and lead it, though 
 " it is only to be minded for the fake 
 " of the other. And fo in thefe things 
 " I fin, not perceiving it, though I per- 
 ** ceive it afterwards. Sometimes, while I 
 « c guard exceflively againft this deceit, I 
 u err through too great feverityj but 
 ** this is very feldom. So that I wifh 
 u all the nice finging of David's Pfalms 
 " were removed from mine, and the 
 " church's hearing : and that feems fafer 
 " to me, which I remember I have been 
 " often told of Athanalius the bifhop of 
 gt Alexandria, who made the reader of the 
 " pfalm found it with fo little alteration 
 " of his voice, that he was more like a 
 
 " perfon 
 
( « ) 
 
 " perfon delivering a fpeech than ringing*." 
 Nor do the words of Jerom much 
 favor this novel method of finging. " We 
 4€ mud therefore ling and make melody, 
 9€ and praife the Lord, rather with the 
 " heart, than the voice. For this is 
 *' what is here faid $— -Jinging and making 
 " melody in your heart to the Lord. Let 
 €( young men mind this ; let them mind 
 " it, whofe office is to fing in the church. 
 tc We muft fing to God, not with the 
 €€ voice, but the heart. They are not 
 " artfully to fupple their jaws, and their 
 " throat, after the manner of the tra- 
 " gedians, that theatrical notes and fongs 
 " mould be heard in the church; but 
 " they are to praife God with fear, with 
 st good works, and the knowledge of the 
 " fcriptures. If a man has an unpleafant 
 " voice, if he has good works, he is a 
 " fweet ringer in God's ears. Let the 
 g€ fervant of Chrift fo fing, that not the 
 " voice of the finger, but the thing fung 
 cc may pleafe; that the evil fpirit, that 
 
 " vya$ 
 
 *' Confef. lib. x. c* 33. 
 
<i 
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 was in Saul, may be cafl out of thofc, 
 " who in like manner are poffefTed by 
 '* him ; and not be let into thofe, who 
 " have turned the houfe of God into a 
 iC ftage."* — But what would Jerom have 
 faid, if he had been prefent at fuch mo- 
 dern finging as is ufed in fome places in 
 our days ? 
 
 Further, the thirty two commiffioners, 
 appointed by king Edward VI. who were 
 the moft eminent perfons in the nation, 
 both in divinity and law, found fault 
 with this manner of finging, and advifed 
 the laying it afide. Hear what they fay 
 themfelves : — " In reading chapters, and 
 finging pfalms, minifters and clergymen 
 muit think of this diligently ; that God 
 is not only to be praifed by them, but 
 " that others are to be brought to perform 
 " the fame worfhip, by their counfel and 
 " example. Wherefore let them pro- 
 u nounce their words diftindtly, and let 
 tc their finging be clear and eafy, that 
 " every thing may be understood by the 
 l< auditors.' So that 'tis our pleafure, that 
 
 the 
 
 * In Eph. v. 19. 
 
 <c 
 
 a 
 
( H ) 
 
 " the quavering, operofe mufic, which 
 " is called figured, fhould be wholly laid 
 ** afide; fince it often makes fuch a noife 
 «' in the ears of the people, that they 
 €i can't underiland what is faid *." 
 
 Thefe obfervations on artificial finging,. 
 are no more than a natural introduction to 
 others upon church mufic. 
 
 The ufe of mufical inftruments, in the 
 chriftian church, receives no countenance 
 from antiquity. It is attefted by all an- 
 cient writers, with one confent, that they 
 were not ufed in the primitive times. 
 Hence they figuratively explain all the 
 places of the old Teftament, which fpeak 
 of mufical inftruments, as might eafily be 
 fhewn by a thoufand teftimonies, out of 
 Clement of Alexandria, Bafil, Ambrofe, 
 Jerom, Auguftine, Chryfoftom, and many 
 others. And, indeed, one can hardly for- 
 bear laughing, when we meet with fome 
 of their allegorical interpretations : thus 
 an inflrument with ten firings, according 
 to them, fignifies the ten commandments, 
 v. f as 
 
 * Reform. Leg. Ecclef. tit. De Div. OiEc. c, 5. 
 
( '5 ) 
 
 as the unknown author of the commentary 
 upon the Pfalms, among Jerom's works, 
 often explains it*. But the pleafanteft fan- 
 cy is the explication of thofe words; praife 
 him <with Jiringed injlruments and organs -f\ 
 cc That the guts being twifled by reafon 
 <c of abftinence from food, and fo all 
 t€ carrjal defires being fubdued, men are 
 *' found fit for the kingdom of God, 
 " to ling his praifes." Chryfoftom talks 
 more handfomely : " As the jews praifed 
 " God," fays he, " with all kinds of in- 
 " ftruments; fo we are commanded to 
 " praife him with all the members of 
 " our bodies, our eyes, &c J." And Cle- 
 ment of Alexandria talks much to the fame 
 purpofe §. 
 
 Befides, the ancients thought it unlaw- 
 ful to ufe thofe inflruments in God's wor- 
 fhip. Thus the unknown author of a 
 treatife, among Juftin Martyr's works : 
 
 §>uef. " If fongs are invented by unbe- 
 " lievers with a defign of deceiving, and 
 " were appointed for thofe under the law, 
 
 " be- 
 
 * In Pfalm xxxii. 2. xliii. 4, &c. f Pf» cl. 4. 
 
 % In Pf. cl. § Paedag. lib. ii. c. 4. 
 
«< 
 
 €( 
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 becaufe of the childifhnefs of their minds ; 
 why do they, who have received the 
 perfedt inftru&ions of grace, which are 
 moil contrary to the forefaid cuftoms, 
 " never thelefs ling in the churches, juft as 
 " they did, who were children under the 
 " law?" 
 
 • Anfw. " Plain finging is not childifh, 
 €e but only the finging. with lifelefs organs, 
 f* with dancing and cymbals, &c. whence 
 •' the ufe of fuch inftruments, and other 
 " things fit for children is laid afide, and 
 ** plain finging only retained*/' 
 
 Chryfoftom feems to have been of the fame 
 mind, to have thought the ufe of fuch 
 inftruments was rather allowed the jews 
 in consideration of their weaknefs, than 
 prefcribed and commanded, -f- But that he 
 was miftaken, and that mufical inftruments 
 were not only allowed the Jews, as he and 
 Ifidorus of Pelufium thought, but were 
 prefcribed by God, appears from the paf- 
 fages of the old Teftament before referred 
 to. 
 
 Clement 
 
 * Refp. ad orthodox. Q; 1 07.. f In Pfal. cl. 
 
( «7 ) 
 
 Clement thought thefe things fitter for 
 beafts, than for men *. And though Bafil 
 highly commends, and ftiffiy defends the 
 way of finging by turns ; yet he thought 
 mufical inftruments unprofitable and hurt- 
 ful. He calls them, " the inventions of 
 <c Jubal of the race of Cain" And, a little 
 after, he thus expreifes himfelf : " Laban 
 " was a lover of the harp, and of mufic, 
 " with which he would have fent away 
 4< Jacob : If thou hadfi told me," faid he, 
 f« / would have fent thee away with mirth f 
 <e and mufical inftruments, and an harp. 
 t€ But the patriarch avoided that mufic, as 
 " being a thing that would hinder his 
 H regarding the works of the Lord, and 
 " his confidering the works of his hands-)*." 
 And a little before he fays thus : " In fuch 
 " vain arts, as the playing upon the harp, 
 " or pipe, or dancing, as foon as the ac- 
 €t tion ceafes, the work itfelf vanifhes. 
 " So that really, according to the Apoftle's 
 " exprefllon, — the end of thefe things is 
 ** deflruftion of true piety J." 
 
 Ifidore 
 
 * Paedag. lib. ii. c. 4. p. 163* 
 
 t Comment, in If. c. v p. 956, 957. 
 
 % T bid. p. 955. 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 Ifidorc of Pelufium, before mentioned, 
 and who lived fince Bafil, held, mufic w^s 
 allowed the jews by God, in a way of con-* 
 defcenfion to their childifhnefs : u If God," 
 fays he, " bore with bloody facrifices be- 
 " caufe of men's childifhnefs at that time ; 
 " why fhould you wonder, he bore with 
 *' the mufic of an harp and a pfaltery *." 
 
 Nay, there are fome ecclefiaftical officers 
 in the church of England, who, for their 
 very profeffion and employment, would 
 have been kept from the comrriunion of 
 the church, except they defifted from it. 
 So we are informed by the Apoftolical 
 Conftitutions : " If any come to the mys- 
 " tery of godlinefs, being a player upon a 
 *' pipe, a lute, or an harp; let him leave 
 off or be rejected *f\" 
 
 From what has been faid, it appears, 
 that no mufical inftruments were ufed in 
 the pure times of the church. The prac- 
 tice became antichriftian, before they were 
 received. Bellarmine himfelf does not de- 
 ny, they were late brought into the church. 
 
 The 
 
 * Epifl. lib, ii. ep. 176. f L> b « viii. c. 32. 
 
( '9 ) 
 
 " The fecond ceremony," fays he, ** arc 
 U the mufical inflruments, which began 
 " to be ufed in the fervice of the church, 
 *' in the time of Pope Vitalian, about 
 " the year 660, as Platina relates out of 
 " the Pontifical ; or, as Aimonius rather 
 €€ thinks, lib. iv. De gejlis Francorum, c. 
 " 114. after the year 820, in the time of 
 €€ Lewis the pious -f." 
 
 Proteftants are not difpofed to deny that 
 the church of Rome was become antichrif- 
 tian, when they were firft brought in; 
 even though we mould allow Bellarmine's 
 firft date of them to be the true one. But 
 a member of smy part of the reformed 
 church, may well be afhamed of that an- 
 tiquity, which does not exceed the rife of 
 antichrift. Neverthelefs, it is pretty clear 
 that both Bellarmine's dates are falfe, and 
 that the ufe of inflrumental mufic, in the 
 worfhip of God, is much later than either 
 of thofe accounts allow. For as to Platina, 
 he feems to fufpect the truth of vdiat he 
 wrote; " Vitalian, ,> fays he, " being care- 
 ful 
 
 * Pe MifTa, lib. ii. c. 15. 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 fr ful about the worfhip of God, made an 
 " ecclefiaftical rule, and ordered the fing- 
 " ing, with the addition (as fome think) 
 " of organs*/' — Again, Bellarmine's Ai- 
 monius is not the true Aimonius. For (as 
 Dr. Cave fays) Aimonius of Fleury, who 
 wrote De gejlis Francorum, flourifhed about 
 the year 1000; and his hiftory which be- 
 gins at the deftruction of Troy, is brought 
 down as far as the coronation of king Pipin, 
 or to the year 752. For the events which 
 are mentioned after that, and make up the 
 latter part of the fourth and the whole of 
 the fifth book, is the continuation of the 
 hiftory by another hand -f. 
 
 Further, that thefe inftruments were not 
 ufed in God's worfhip, in Thomas Aqui- 
 nas's time, that is, about the year 125c, 
 he himfelf is witnefs. " In the old law/' 
 fays he, " God was praifed both with 
 " mufical inftruments and human voices, 
 " according to that pfalm (xxxiii) Praife 
 " the Lord with harpy fmg unto him with 
 -" the pfaltery, and an injiriment of ten 
 
 << firings. 
 
 * In Vital. t Hift- Liter- p. 597. 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 "firings. But the church does not ufe 
 " mufical inftruments to praife God, left 
 " fhe fhould feem to judaize. Therefore 
 " by a parity of reafon, fhe fhould not ufe 
 " finging*." 
 
 But Thomas anfwers : " As to this ob- 
 " jeclion, we muft fay, as the philofoper, 
 " {Lib. iii. Polit.) that pipes are not to 
 " be ufed for teaching, nor any artificial 
 <c inftruments, as the harp, or the like ; 
 " but whatever will make the hearers good 
 I* men. For thefe mufical inftruments 
 " rather delight the mind, than form it to 
 " any good diifpofifcion. But under the 
 " old Teftament fuch inftruments were 
 *? ufed, partly becaufe the people w r ere hard- 
 " er and more carnal ; upon which ac- 
 " count they were to be ftirred up by thefe 
 " inftruments, as likewife by earthly pro- 
 U mifes ; and partly becaufe thefe bodily 
 " inftruments were typical of fomething." 
 — Upon which place cardinal Cajetan gives 
 us this comment : M It is to be obferved, 
 " the church did not ufe organs in Thomas's 
 H time. Whence, even to this day, the 
 
 " church 
 
 * Secunda queftio. art. 4. & concluf. 4. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 " church of Rome does not ufe them in 
 " the pope's prefence. And truly it will 
 (C appear, that mufical inftruments are not 
 " to be fufFered in the ecclefiaftical offices 
 u we meet together to perform, for the 
 " fake of receiving internal inftru&ion from 
 " God 5 and fo much the rather are they 
 " to be excluded, becaufe God's internal 
 " difcipline exceeds all human difciplines, 
 •* which rejected thefe kind of inftru- 
 *• ments*." 
 
 To thefe teftimonies of the late ufe of 
 organs in churches, may be added others, 
 which though they vary a little, generally 
 agree to the late date of their introduction 
 into public worfhip. — Marinus Sanatus, 
 who lived about the year 1290, is faid by 
 Bingham, to have firft brought the ufe of 
 them into churches -f. However it appears 
 from the teftimony of Gervas, the monk of 
 Canterbury, who flouriihed about the year 
 1200, that organs were introduced more 
 than one hundred years before this time : 
 in his defcription of Lanfranc's church, as 
 
 it 
 
 * Cit. HofFm. Lex. voce rntfica* 
 
 f Antiq. of the chriftian cli. vol. i. p. 314. fol. edit. 
 
( 2 3 ) 
 
 it was before the fire in 1 174, he has thefe 
 words " Crux auflralis fupra fornicem or- 
 " gana gefare folebat *." 
 
 If the practice of fome foreign churches 
 be objected here, in order to countenance 
 this novelty. It may be anfwered, that 
 44 they are laid afide by moft of the re- 
 41 formed churches; nor would they be 
 " retained among the lutherans, unlefs 
 44 they had forfaken their own Luther; 
 " who, by the confeffion of Echard, reck- 
 44 oned organs among the enjigns of Baal. 
 44 That they ftill continue in fome of the 
 44 dutch churches, is againft the minds of 
 44 the paftors. For in the national fynod 
 4 J at Middleburg, in the year 1581, and 
 " the fynod of Holland, and Zealand, in 
 44 the year 1594, it was refolved, That 
 44 they would endeavour to obtain of the ma- 
 V giftrate the laying afide of organs y and the 
 44 fnging with them in the churches, even 
 44 out of the time of worjhip, either before or 
 44 after fermons. So far are thofe fynods 
 44 from bearing with them in the w r orfhip 
 44 itfelf -J-," 
 
 The 
 
 * Decern. Scriptores, p. 1293. iin. 25. 
 •j- Hickman's Apology, p. 139. 
 
( H ) 
 
 The church of England had formerly no 
 very good opinion of thefe mufical inftru- 
 ments ; as will appear from her Homilies : 
 " Laftly, fay they, God ? s vengeance hath 
 <e been, and is daily provoked, becaufe much 
 €< wicked people pafs nothing to refort unto 
 ic the church ; either for that they are fo 
 •' fore blinded, that they underftand nothing 
 u of God or godlinefs, and care net with 
 " devilifh malice to offend their neigh- 
 " hours ; or elfe for that they fee the church 
 " altogether fcoured of fuch gay gazing 
 f 4 fights, as their grofs phantafie was greatly 
 f c delighted with ; becaufe they fee the falfe 
 " religion abandoned, and the true re- 
 ff flored, which feemeth an unfavory thing 
 f to their unfavory tajlc, as may appear by 
 €i this that a woman faid to her neigh - 
 *i bour : Alas ! gofTip, what fhall we now 
 " do at church, fince all taints are taken 
 <( away; fince all the goodly fights we 
 " were wont to have are gone; fince we 
 « cannot hear the like piping, finging, 
 (( chaunting, arid playing upon the organs 
 " that we could before ? But, dearly be- 
 V loved, we ought greatly to rejoice and 
 f c give Qod thanks., that our churches are 
 
 ff delivered 
 
( 2 5 ) 
 
 M delivered out of all thofe things, which 
 " difpleafed God fo fore, and filthily de- 
 " filed his holy houfe, and his place of 
 " prayer*." 
 
 A great number of the clergy in the firft 
 convocation of queen Elizabeth in 1562, 
 earneftly laboured to have organs, and that 
 pompous theatrical way of finging laid afide, 
 and miffed the carrying it only by one vote. 
 And in this, archbifhop Parker concurred 
 with them, or at leatt did not oppofe them. 
 
 And it is a memorable fadt that when 
 fubfcription to the canons of the fynod of 
 Dort was required from fchool matters, and 
 even from organifts, fome rcfufed to fign 
 them. An organift, in contempt of the 
 canons, and as a proof that he feparated the 
 confent of his mind for the mufic of his 
 inftrument, — declared that if they were fet 
 to mufic, he would play them upon the 
 occafion, but that he could not fubfcribe 
 them with a good confidence*." 
 
 We 
 
 * Homily of the place and time of prayer, part 2. fo, 
 edit. p. 231. f Brandt Hift. of Ref. abridged, v. ii. 
 
 P-S63- 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 We may add even the teftimonies of Pa- 
 plfts againft the pra&ice of finging in parts, 
 and ufing mufical inftruments in churches. 
 
 Polydore Virgil having taken notice of 
 Auguftine's diflike of that way of finging 
 ifc his time, he thus proceeds : M But in 
 " our time it feems much lefs ufeful to 
 f€ the commonwealth, now our fingers 
 44 make fuch a noife in our churches, that 
 if nothing can be heard befide the found 
 ft of the voice : and they who come there 
 ft (that is all that are in the city) are fatis- 
 cc fied with the concert of rnufic, which 
 " their ears itch for, and never mind the 
 *' fenfe of the words. So that we are 
 44 come to that pafs, that in the opinion of 
 w the common people, the whole affair of 
 " religious worfhip is lodged in thefe fing- 
 *' ers ; although, generally fpeaking, there 
 " is no fort of men more loofe or wicked : 
 " and yet a good part of the people run to 
 " church, as to a theatre, to hear them 
 ** brawl : they hire and encourage them ; 
 €t and look upon them alone as ornaments 
 « to the houfe of God. Wherefore, 
 4i without doubt, it would be for the in- 
 
 " tereft 
 
( *7 ) 
 44 tereft of religion, either to caft thefe 
 €t jackdaws out of the churches; orelfe to 
 46 teach them when they fing, they mould 
 '• do it rather in the manner of reading, 
 " than bawling ; as Auftine fays Athanafius 
 44 ordered." * 
 
 Next hear the judgment of Erafmus. 
 " Let a man, (fays he) be more covetous 
 " than Craflus, more foul-mouthed than 
 44 Zoilus, he fhall be reckoned a pious man, 
 44 if he fings thofe prayers well, though 
 €S he underftands nothing of them. But 
 •' what, I befeech you, muft they think of 
 44 Chrift, who can believe he is delighted 
 44 with fuch a noife of mens voices ? Not 
 *• content with this, we have brought into 
 44 our churches a certain operofe and thea- 
 *' trical mufic ; fuch a confufed diforderly 
 " chattering of fome words, as I hardly 
 " think was ever heard in any of the Gre- 
 " cian or Roman theatres. The church 
 44 rings with the noife of trumpets, pipes, 
 44 dulcimers ; and human voices ftrive to 
 " bear their part with them. — Men run to 
 
 " church 
 
 * De Invent. Rer. lib. vi. c. 2. p. 379. 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 " church 2$ to a theatre, to have their ears 
 €C tickled. And for this end organ-makers 
 are hired with great falaries, and a com- 
 pany of boys, who v/afte all their time 
 in learning thefe whining tones. Pray 
 now compute how many poor people in 
 great extremity might be maintained by 
 the falaries of thofe fingers." * 
 Laftly, Lindanus fays, — " who will 
 compare the mufic of this prefent age, 
 "with that which was formerly ufed ? 
 " Whatever is fung now, fignifies little 
 •* for informing the people -, which 'tis 
 ** certain the ancients always defigned." -f- 
 
 * In i Cor. xiv. 19. f Panopl. lib. iv. c. 78. 
 
 Postscript, 
 
( 2 9 ) 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 THE editor having received from the 
 reverend Dr. Price and the reverend Dr. 
 Kippis, their approbation of the fentiment 
 and defign of the foregoing traftate, to- 
 gether with leave to publifh their commu- 
 nications, he is happy to add fuch re- 
 fpeftable teftimony in favour of his attempt 
 to preferve the fimplicity of public worfhip. 
 And he is the more defirous of fubjoining 
 the opinions of thefe gentlemen, becaufe 
 he knows the deferved efteem with which 
 their names are regarded in America, and 
 that if any thing can add honor and efteem 
 to the name of Pjeirce among the body of 
 rational proteftant diflenters, it is the con- 
 currence of a Price and a Kippis. 
 
 Extradl 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Extradt of a letter from the reverend 
 Dr. Price, dated April — 1786 
 
 * c I have read thefe extracts from the 
 excellent Mr. Peirce's Vindication of the 
 Dijfenters with much fatisfadtion. I can- 
 not but ftrongly difapprove inftrumental 
 mufic in churches. It is a deviation from 
 the fimplicity of chriftian worfhip which 
 has a dangerous tendency and may termi- 
 nate in all the fopperies of popery." 
 
 Extract of a letter from the reverend 
 Dr. Kippis, dated May 5. 1786. 
 
 " I have read with attention the Trac- 
 tate on church mufic, taken from Mr. 
 Peirce's Vindication of the Diflenters> and en- 
 tirely agree in opinion with the ingenious 
 and learned author. The ufe of inftru- 
 mental mufic in 'chriftian worfhip has no 
 foundation in the new Teftament, which 
 is the ftandard of our faith and practice, 
 
 If 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 If once we depart from this ftandard, 
 there will be no end to innovations. An 
 opening will be laid to the introduction 
 of one fuperftition after another, till the 
 fimplicity and purity of the gofpel fervice 
 are wholly loft. Every thing, therefore, 
 which tends to divert men from a ra- 
 tional inward devotion to external pomp 
 and ceremony ought to be difcouraged as 
 much as poffible. ,, 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 I i, . be formed of a people, by their 
 at may, genial^ be orm 
 bips Ifi t be fimple and mode* then y 
 
 f it be f 11 of folemnity and P om P , then they 
 
 ::;;;,;; i — «, - — *- **> 
 
 t and obftinatffl 
 
 , nfie ur lc Chevalier de ^> 
 
 Colonel of the regiment of Guienne- 
 
 Served in aLkxca during the War 
 
 on publick Happmcfs 
 
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