& 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 — 
 
 Section ^3 / J 
 
 A 
 
V 
 
£ 
 
, 
 
■ «*. ■ * • I*-* 
 
 s\ 
 
A* OX OUT 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE BOOK OF PSALMS, 
 
 IN 
 
 jFftoc ^Letters; 
 
 ADDRESSED 
 TO THE FRIENDS OF UNION IN THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 THIRD EDITIOX. 
 
 vi M>. WITH SOME CORRECTIONS, FROM THIS 
 SECOND EDITION. IMPROVED J 
 
 TOGETHER 
 
 With Anhnadversunu upon Dr. Ely's Review of tin 
 Edition. 
 
 BY GILBERT MOIASTER, A. 
 
 • Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word." — J 
 
 • All scripture is given by inspiration of God. and is profitable."— /' 
 
 • But in vain do they worship me. teaching for doctri 
 
 mandments of men." — Messiah. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 BLISHED AND SOLD BY DAVIT B< 
 
 249, Market-Sti 
 
 1821. 
 
A. D. 1821. David Hogan, of the said district, hath deposited in this 
 ! title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in 
 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit: 
 
 BE TT REMEMBERED, that on the fifth day of March, in the 
 forty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, 
 
 A. D. 1821 I"'"--''' TJ/-».w»»» sxf +Un mlA J{.. « m t *w* 10.41. Anr*~<-li-^.A I* +U1^ 
 
 office the t 
 
 the words following, to wit: 
 
 An Apology for the Book of Psalms, in five Letters ; addressed to the 
 
 Friends of Union in the Church of God. Second edition, improved. 
 
 Together with Animadversions upon Dr. Ely's Review of the fir I 
 
 edition. By Gilbert M'Master, A. M. 
 < ; Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word." — Uaial 
 " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable." — Pea 
 " But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the command 
 
 ments of men." — Messiah. 
 
 In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, intituled, 
 u An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
 maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
 during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to the act, entitled. 
 K An act supplementary to an act, entitled, " An act for the encourage 
 ment of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and bookt, 
 <o the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein 
 mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing . 
 engraving, and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 D. CALDWELL, 
 Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsj '. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 This edition of the ' Apology for the Book oj 
 Psalm*, is enlarged by some Notes, and a number 
 to the Appendix. To have further enlarged the 
 work, would have been easy; but the author's aim 
 has been to call the attention of Christians to the 
 subject, and to suggest matter of reflection, rather 
 than to furnish them with a lengthened discussion. 
 or to enter himself far into controversy. 
 
 From controversy he is constitutionally averse, 
 and a lengthened discussion is unnecessary. The 
 question at issue is simple, — divine institution, on 
 the one side or the other. The less it is confounded 
 with other inquiries, the better. There is no doubt. 
 indeed, of the final triumph of the cause which the 
 6 Apology ' pleads : God is engaged to glorify his 
 own word, and he will do it. The simple fact, 
 that no public advocate of a "human psalm 
 has yet appeared, who has not been compelled to 
 employ the language of reproach against - 
 portion of the inspired Psalms, when attended to. 
 will produce its proper effect upon serious and en- 
 lightened minds ; — and that every thing like a full 
 and fair version of the •• Book of Psalms," has been 
 supplanted, in the psalmody of so many phurches, 
 !• 
 
Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 by a confessedly erroneous Psalm Book, composed 
 by one incontestibly hostile to the deity of Christ, 
 must touch the sensibility of reflecting Christians. 
 Upon this point, the General Assembly appear to 
 manifest some honest misgivings. In that body 
 are many members, both too great and too good, 
 not to feel the inconsistency. They do feel it, and 
 will ultimately retrace their steps. An indication 
 of this we have in the late appointment of a com- 
 mittee to revise their Psalm Book. 
 
 The author would only add, that whatever effect 
 his < Apology' may have had, or may yet have, fa- 
 vourable to a Scripture Psalmody, he ascribes it 
 much more to the inquiring spirit, and growing 
 candour, of our day, than to any merit in the work 
 itself. The friends of the cause he pleads, are not 
 inclined to court opposition; but, though the author 
 may decline entering the field of contest again, 
 should any thing of weight be offered on the other 
 side, it will no doubt be met in the spirit of candour 
 and of firmness. Inconclusive reasoning, when 
 seen, he will readily abandon ; and to correct mis- 
 statements, if any he may have unconsciously made, 
 will afford him unfeigned pleasure. 
 
 DUANESBURGH, N. Y 
 
 JYor. 1820. 
 
NOTICE 
 
 TO THE THIRD EDITION 
 
 Other avocations do not permit the author to 
 revise the style, or improve the argument of the 
 i Apology for the Psalms? Justice, too, to the 
 patrons of former editions, forbids him to enlarge 
 this. No material alterations, therefore, or im- 
 portant additions, are made. The small Note in 
 page 175, is the chief. 
 
 Duanesburgh, June, 1821. 
 
UOXT^XTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 i/very power of man should be devoted to the service of God 
 — Importance of Psalmody — Difference of opinion on the 
 subject — Division of the church — Importance of union — 
 Proposal of accommodation— Hopes of success — Mistakes 
 corrected — Mention to the subject requested. P. 13 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 ANCIENT HISTORY OF PSALMODY. 
 
 Remarks — Character of the age of the Fathers — Latta's 
 historical statements — True history of Psalmody in the 
 early ages — Pliny — Tertullian — Jerom e — Cyril — Augus- 
 tine — Cassian — Chrysostom — Apostolic Constitutions — 
 Remarks P. 31 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 MODERN HISTORY OF PSALMODY. 
 
 Sum mary remarks — Walde nses — Wickliffe — Huss — Luther 
 — Calvin — Church of England — Scotland — Watts — Ame- 
 rican Churches — Congregationalists — Presbyterians — As- 
 sociate — Associate Reformed — Reformed Presbytermns — 
 Sentiments and practice of— Reflections. ... P. 55 
 
CON! 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 REASONS FOB RETAINING THE BOOK OF 
 PS \L.MS. 
 
 Subject stated — Versions — Argument* — Divine institution — 
 Suitableness of matter — Excellence — Human compositions 
 not appointed — Bad arguments — Evil tendency of pre- 
 ferring human to inspired songs — Summary. . P. 75 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Scriptvrt our only rule — Col. iii. 16. considered — Dei 
 answered — Jjfew mercies require a new song — Book of 
 Psahiis abrogated — Cannot be sung in truth — May sing as 
 well as pray in our own words — Book of Psalms obscure 
 — Inadequate — Modem hymns more favourable to revival- 
 — More elegant in diction — Ji'atts had as good a right to 
 viakc Psalms rs David F. 120 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. — .inimadvcrsiojis on Dr. Ely's Review, . P 
 
 No. II. — Dr. Watts' Opinions, 191 
 
 No. III. — Mode of Singing. 1<H 
 
 No. IV. — The Creed of thv Advocates of a Hum 
 Psalmody, eis deduced from 'heir W\ 
 
LETTER I, 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Every power of man should be devoted to the service j 
 God — Importance of Psalmody — Difference of opinio, i 
 on the subject — Division of the church — Importance of 
 union — Proposal of accommodation — Hopes of success — 
 ^Mistakes corrected — Attention to the subject requested. 
 
 Dear Brethren, 
 
 EVERY subject which relates to the peace 
 of the church, the institutions of God, or the 
 exercise of the saint, must be interesting to 
 you. Psalmody, in its matter and forms has 
 always claimed, and deservedly obtained, no 
 small share of Christian attention. 
 
 Ever}' faculty of man should be consecrated 
 to the service of his Creator. In the promo- 
 tion of the divine glory, and in the advance- 
 ment of personal holiness, all the principles 
 of our nature, by a mutual influence, ought 
 to co-operate. Man's powers of intellect, the 
 sensibilities of his heart, and the capacity of 
 expressing these sensibilities in appropriate- 
 strains of melody, are laid in requisition by 
 our holy religion. Psalmody, employed in 
 the spirit of its institution, is peculiarly cal- 
 culated to engage the heart, and to call forth 
 
14 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 an elevated devotion. In no other act of so- 
 cial religion, is an opportunity afforded for 
 so much unanimity, in actual and congre- 
 gated expression of devout sentiment ; and 
 it is more than probable, no other part of in- 
 stituted worship is so well adapted to inter- 
 weave sentiment with every fibre of the heart 
 of man* 
 
 " There is in souls a sympathy with sounds ; 
 Some chord in unison with what we hear 
 Is touchM within us, and the heart replies."* 
 
 Who has not felt the melting influence of 
 the soft strains of well-conducted music? And 
 how powerful the martial band operates, by 
 inspiring with courage, is well known to the 
 warrior in the day of battle. When sentiment 
 is accompanied with the fascination of music, 
 it requires no common effort, even when the 
 principle is disavowed, to break the charm. t 
 This suggests to us the importance of proper 
 matter for the psalmody of the church of 
 God ; it urges the necessity of circumspec- 
 tion, to guard against the introduction of in- 
 correct sentiment, or of crude and superficial 
 opinions, in the sacred songs we employ. 
 How often error is thus introduced into the 
 mind of man, and blasphemy shed before the 
 throne of the Eternal, need not now be told. 
 
 * Cowper. 
 
 t Let me, said Judge Hale, be ballad-maker for a na- 
 ion, and I care not who are legislators. 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER \g 
 
 The celebration of God*s praise, in suitable 
 .^ongs, is one of his own institutions. It is 
 his appointment that his people l come before 
 his presence with thanksgiving, and make a 
 joyf 111 noise unto him with psalms.' Hear a 
 New Testament injunction : fc Is any merry I 
 let him sing psalms.' The practice was exem- 
 plified bv two illustrious heralds of the cross, 
 Paul and Silas ; and that in circumstances 
 very unfavourable to the exercise ; it was at 
 midnight, and when confined in the dungeon, 
 at Philippi. In his own practice, our Re- 
 deemer himself gave his sanction to the social 
 singing of praise, as an ordinance divinely ap- 
 pointed. After the institution of the euc/taristic 
 feast, he and his disciples i sung an hymn:' one 
 of those comprised in the hillel, that is, those 
 psalms from the 113th to the 1 1 8th inclusive. 
 
 This part of our worship is confessedly 
 important. Its importance is manifested by 
 the time dev oted to it in our solemn assemblies ; 
 by the disputes agitated respecting it in seve- 
 ral sections of the church ; and by the care 
 which God has taken to furnish his worship- 
 pers with a system of songs ; songs indited by 
 his Spirit, and remarkably adapted to the 
 condition of the subjects of his grace, in their 
 progress through life. The present brief, and, 
 it is hoped, candid investigation of the sub- 
 ject, is justified by these considerations, as 
 well as by the fact, that opposing opinions 
 respecting it, divide, at this day, in practice. 
 
IQ INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 not a few of the Saviour's friends ; opinions 
 and practices, maintained respecting this 
 portion of our sacred services, that constitute 
 one of those numerous exciting causes, that 
 have aroused into warring factions, so many 
 branches of the church of God. 
 
 This state of things is not as it should be. 
 The church of the Redeemer is really one : — 
 that she is not visibly one, is the sin, as well as 
 the affliction of her members. Without just 
 cause, no division or separation, in this holy 
 corporation, should receive the countenance 
 of any friend of God, or advocate of Zion's 
 peace. No practice, no maxim, calculated 
 to wmind the sensibilities of the meanest 
 among the children of grace, unless en- 
 forced by divine authority, should be in- 
 dulged ; for to wound the sensibilities is to 
 alienate the heart, and, if not to affect the 
 conscience, certainly to enlist the passions. 
 The natural result of irritated passions is se- 
 paration and a state of hostility. 
 
 Practices long indulged become familiar, 
 and, in their associations, not unfrequently 
 venerable. In religion, habit often connects 
 its expedient forms with its divinely appointed 
 institutions ; and, except the mind be more 
 than usually versed in the science of abstrac- 
 tion, a change in the one is not unlikely to 
 lead to an infringement of the other. He un- 
 derstands but little of the constitution of man, 
 or but slightly regards the interests of society, 
 
INTRODUCTORY LEI TKK j y 
 
 who, with the wanton hand of rashness, would 
 expunge the convenient institutes, which have 
 long given body to opinion, and order to 
 practice. The friend of peace, and the patron 
 of order, will therefore treat with delicacy 
 those forms that are recommended by ancient 
 usage. A departure from this course can onlj 
 be justified by a full and w r ell-founded convic- 
 tion, that such forms are either essentially 
 wrong, or, from certain circumstances, per- 
 nicious in their effects. This caution must still 
 be greater, when we go beyond forms, to the 
 substantial of religion ; to the matter of that 
 worship which God himself has ordained to 
 be offered before his throne. 
 
 In the psalmody of the church, there is, in- 
 deed, as in other social institutions, conve- 
 nient forms, in which, according to circum- 
 stances^ variety may be innocently practis- 
 ed ; but there is also something in it cVf po- 
 sitive, divine appointment, with which no man 
 may interfere. The matter must be evan- 
 gelical. In this we must hearken attentively 
 to the voice of the Lord ; and take heed lest 
 our fear tow r ard him be taught by f he precepts 
 of men. Our spiritual song must be that which 
 God approves. 
 
 That good men entertain different senti- 
 ments, as respects the application of the gene- 
 ral truth now stated, is readily admitted. One 
 believes he may, w r ith divine approbation, in 
 public worship, emplc / the effusions of the 
 2* 
 
18 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 pious muse, which are marked by no special 
 di s conformity to the sacred oracles. Another 
 fetls his conscience bound, exclusively, to the 
 use of those songs which God has given by 
 the inspiration of his Spirit; which his church 
 has used ; and which he believes was designed 
 for the saints in the public, social worship of 
 the church. These songs are found in the 
 pages of the book of God. 
 
 It is not now intended to discuss the merits 
 of this question. My object in this letter is to 
 find a point where the jarring parties may 
 meet in concord ; where they may ungird their 
 armour, forget their animosities, and unite 
 for a while in a song of praise to God their 
 Saviour. In this age of Bible triumphs, and 
 catholic liberality, I cannot think the desired 
 point is difficult to be found. May not both 
 parties meet, in the use of those songs, indited 
 under the inspiration of God ? In the use of 
 those songs, presented in the most correct ver- 
 sion to be found, could any complain of in- 
 roads on tenderness of conscience, or the puri- 
 ty of worship? No. Methinks I hear both with 
 ecstasy exclaim : " In the use of these songs 
 we can cordially unite. They are the words 
 of God ; and they are sweet to our taste." 
 
 But is this response an illusion of fancy, or 
 is it a reality ? I trust it is the deliberate and 
 practical sentiment of every friend of the book 
 of God. Acting upon it, in the present in- 
 stance, would be attended by the happiest 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER. \ Q 
 
 consequences. The more that Christians are 
 conversant with these songs, the more their 
 fulness will be seen ; and the more familiar 
 they become with their matter, its adaptation 
 to the purposes of sacred praise will more ob- 
 viously appear. Why then rend in pieces the 
 body of Christ? Is not the propriety of the 
 contrary practice, the use of hymns of human 
 composition, doubted by numbers who are 
 seriously devout ? Is it not opposed, by not 
 a few, in different ecclesiastical connexions, 
 w T ho, in talent, information and fidelity, are 
 not inferior to the chief of those from whom 
 they differ ? Is there, by such a measure, any 
 end to be gained, of sufficient value to coun- 
 terbalance the loss of one bond of union in 
 the family of Christ ? Let this be seriously 
 pondered. 
 
 But granting, for a moment, that the ad- 
 mission of hymns of human structure, instead 
 of inspired songs, is in itself allowable, this 
 inquiry, and it is an important one, offers it- 
 self to our minds : Is it expedient ? Let us at- 
 tend to the language of Paul : ' Take heed, 
 lest by any means this liberty of yours become 
 a stumbling block to them that are weak.* 
 When ye sin so against the brethren, and 
 wound their weak conscience, ve sin against 
 
 r A stumbling block. — How become a stumbling block, 
 in the case before us ? Ry inducing them to think and as- 
 sert, that the use of scripture psalmsis calculated to make 
 heresy triumph, spoil devotion, andnaturullt* lead the 
 
20 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 Christ.' He loves his body. Its humblest 
 members he regards with kind affection. ' He 
 that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his 
 eye/ 
 
 As friends of Zion's peace I address you on 
 this subject; and again, I repeat the question: 
 Why, in a matter of doubtful disputation, to 
 say the least of it, rend the church of Christ ? 
 Consider, ye friends of godliness, the great 
 importance of union in the household of faith. 
 Seriously reflect on the fearful consequences 
 of disunion among those who love the Lord, 
 and who ought, with cordiality, to love one 
 another. To effect this harmony, the Father 
 of mercies purposed to shed abroad his love 
 in his people's hearts ; to accomplish it, the 
 Son of God humbled himself, and became 
 obedient unto death ; to unite those living 
 stones ihat composed the building of mercy, 
 he shed his precious blood ; to effect the same 
 end, he appears, as our intercessor, within the 
 vail ; his prayer, now, as formerly on earth, 
 is, that those who are given him may be one. 
 In answer to his intercessory prayer, and in 
 pursuance of the same design of grace, the 
 Holy Ghost descends into his church. The 
 whole tendency of his operation is, to bring 
 the subjects of his grace into one ; not only 
 
 worshipper to sing his own malignant execrations against 
 his own personal enemies ; and to think he did God ser- 
 vice by breatliing out revenge ! These are the weak onts a 
 and this is the stumbling in the case of psalmody. 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 21 
 
 gards their connexion with Jesus, as their 
 living head, but also as respects their princi- 
 ples, dispositions, hopes and practice. 
 
 Among the professed disciples of the Re- 
 deemer, diversity of views, and difference of 
 practice, do indeed prevail ; but let each of 
 them be assured, that no just ground of these 
 proceeds from the Spirit of God. So far as 
 they are actuated by him, the disciples of 
 Christ, in sentiments and pursuits, are the 
 same. He, though acting in different sub- 
 jects, and under different circumstances, is 
 never at variance with himself. This fact, 
 taken in connexion with existing animosities 
 among the avowed friends of religion, affords 
 no flattering assurance to the present age, of 
 a great measure of the Spirit's influence being 
 enjoyed. I am, indeed, aware, that there is 
 much talk of union ; and that schemes are 
 devised, no doubt with the best designs, for 
 its extension : but you likewise know, that 
 there is really very little of it in the church. 
 That there should be more, is readily con- 
 fessed. That means more efficient for its at- 
 tainment must be employed, all but the most 
 superficial thinkers do admit. Too much, we 
 have reason to fear, is attempted on this sub- 
 ject by one effort ; and that one not well di- 
 rected. Under the influence of a thoughtless 
 impulse, early opinions, ancient prejudices 
 and confirmed habits, may for a moment be 
 forgotten ; but that impulse once gone, that 
 
22 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 moment past, they will return in all their wont- 
 ed force. So far as contending parties unite 
 on principle, — and for an unprincipled union, 
 no man of enlightened piety will plead, — it 
 must be effected by deliberation, and a precise 
 inspection of the ground on which they meet. 
 Is it not, then, worth while to enquire, how 
 ,far the subject of psalmody, at this day, in 
 our country, tends to divide the church of God, 
 c which he has purchased with his own blood ?' 
 And to whatever extent it may produce an 
 effect so unhappy, should not the most effec- 
 tual remedy be speedily applied ? Let none 
 say, that this is oniy one point, in which some 
 sections of the great community of Christians 
 disagree. Though it be but one point, it is 
 a very important one. And is not a single 
 point of union, fairly gained, of much conse- 
 quence ? The more numerous the points of 
 contact, in principle and in practice, the more 
 strong is the spiritual edifice of the house of 
 God. The man who has observed with at- 
 tention the progress of religious contentions, 
 knows well, that discord in a single article, 
 tends to alienate the minds of the parties at 
 issue upon others, more than would otherwise 
 be the case. And he knows but little of the 
 principles of the human mind, who needs to 
 be informed, that concession in one point at 
 issue, prepares to mitigate the demands in 
 others that are litigated. Should not then, 
 as far as proper, the experiment be made in 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 23 
 
 this case ? Should it succeed, how noble 
 would be the triumph over the unaccommo- 
 dating, and arrogant spirit of party ! more 
 worthy of memorial, than those victories that 
 are recorded in the blood of thousands. 4 He 
 that ruleth his spirit, is better than he that 
 taketh a city.' 
 
 Admit, for a moment, that it is a narrow 
 prejudice which makes some more than hesi- 
 tate to use, in solemn acts of worship, a hymn 
 of human composure ; still it must be grant- 
 ed, that their preference of a scripture song, 
 is not marked by what deserves the name of 
 crime. It corrupts no ordinance of God. 
 You, indeed, may not perceive any just cause 
 for our scrupulosity ; but you can have no ob- 
 jection to join in our devotions. We have, 
 however, objections against uniting in yours ; 
 objections which a high-handed practice is 
 not calculated to obviate, in a manner which 
 reflecting Christians can approve. 
 
 In moments of devout reflection, the man 
 of piety will approve of that course, which, 
 on proper ground, most effectually tends to 
 unite the followers of the Lamb. Whatever 
 in his conduct has a contrary tendency, will, 
 one day, call up the bitterest regret. Why, 
 then, in the use of a freedom, (if such it be) 
 certainly not necessary to your spiritual 
 growth, banish from our solemn assemblies 
 any who loves the Redeemer's name ? Or, 
 if there, why impose on him the hard altema- 
 
24 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 tive, of wounding his own mind, or of keep- 
 ing silence, in this interesting part of social 
 devotion. This would be, with a witness, to 
 destroy the harmony of Zion. Rather let us 
 endeavour to ' keep the unity of the Spirit in 
 the bond of peace.'* If the exclusion of mo- 
 dern hymns, and the restoration of inspired 
 songs, be the price of union, among any of the 
 friends of the Redeemer, let that price with- 
 out delay be given. I plead for this, as one 
 important step toward a permanent accommo- 
 dation of differences among the Christians of 
 our country. 
 
 Will you then, can you, ye friends of con- 
 cord, refuse this ? While in the name of God 
 you plead for union, while you adduce from 
 the gospel page, and urge with an eloquence 
 almost more than human, those holy motives, 
 so well adapted to sooth to repose every tur- 
 bulent emotion of the mind, and to enlist all 
 the better affections of the heart upon your 
 side, — dareyou, with all these accents of peace 
 on your lips, refuse this offer ? Will you, in 
 place thereof, professedly light a torch at the 
 
 * Eph. iv. 3. — Is not this scripture frequently misun- 
 derstood and incorrectly applied ? Unity and peace are 
 chimed over without regarding their characteristics. 
 " By the unity of the Spirit, we are to understand not 
 only a spiritual unity, but also a unity of sentiments, de- 
 sires, and affections, such as is worthy of and springs 
 from the Spirit of God." — Clarke. 
 
 Union in falsehoods and contradictions, is not intend- 
 ed bv the apostle. 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 25 
 
 sacred fire of the altar of God, and, carrying 
 it in your hand, kindle in his temple a de- 
 structive flame? will you kindle a flame, which 
 consumes the bonds of peace, of love, and all 
 that is cheering to the heart, leaving to the 
 view the cheerless prospect of desolations? 
 For, when angry passions take the place of 
 holy zeal, confusion that of order, or form 
 that of life, ichabod, the glory is departed, 
 may be inscribed on the doors of our sanctu- 
 aries. That an unaccommodating spirit, pro- 
 ductive of such consequences, prevails at this 
 day, I cannot easily persuade myself to be- 
 lieve. I shall therefore continue to hope, 
 that no measure consistent with the purity 
 and order of the church, shall be left untried, 
 to accelerate among her sons a happy una- 
 nimity. A brief review of opinions and prac- 
 tices, ancient and modern, on the subject of 
 psalmody, may be interesting to some; and, 
 it is believed, will be subservient to the pro- 
 posed end, — uniformity in this part of sacred 
 worship, and an approximation towards that 
 oneness, so desirable in the church of God. 
 
 This oneness, it is too well known, cannot 
 now be found. In purity, in consistency, in 
 firmness, and in elevation of character, the 
 churches generally, for more than a hundred 
 and fifty years past, have been losing ground. 
 To be more than convinced of this unpleasant 
 fact, the mind has only to glance at their 
 >ry. They are broken into fragments. 
 
2Q INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 And even in those sections that profess union, 
 the cohesive principle acts with a feeble in- 
 fluence on their constituent parts. Their 
 principles, their forms and matter of worship, 
 are discordant. This is remarkably the case 
 in that interesting service, which, of all others 
 on earth, most resembles the employment of 
 those perfect spirits who, in unison, strike the 
 .harp of glory before the throne of God. Cast 
 your eyes over the several churches ; listen 
 to their song : It is the confusion of Babel ! 
 What thoughtful Christian has not felt and 
 deplored this evil ? Amidst all this accumu- 
 lation of modern hymns, under which our 
 presses and our shelves are groaning, and the 
 public mind confounded, no rallying point 
 can be found, where the redeemed of the Lord 
 may unite in public praise. — But the thought 
 is painful ; let it, at present, be no further 
 pursued. 
 
 It is, nevertheless, a cheering reflection, 
 that the articles of faith on which the sections 
 of the spiritual empire of our Lord, most re- 
 mote from each other, agree, are very nume- 
 rous and very important ; and in the pros- 
 perity of that empire of which they are fellow 
 citizens, they have a common interest. That 
 there are jarring views among them, on a few 
 important points, is matter of poignant sor- 
 row ; for, in their number, there is no mind 
 so perverted, as to rejoice in the divisions of 
 Zion : no heart so hard, as not to reler 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 27 
 
 the signs of alienated affections among her 
 sons. Defective in duty must he also be es- 
 teemed, who, in his proper place, attempts not 
 to heal those wounds, and to harmonize those 
 affections. Success in such an undertaking 
 is not hopeless. These relentings, these nu- 
 merous and important points of agreement, 
 the common interest of saints in the progress 
 of truth and peace, give assurance of an ulti- 
 mate triumph. 
 
 Let not, then, the infidel rejoice in our un- 
 happy discords. He and his companions, too, 
 have their wars; and they maintain them with- 
 out a heart. The sons of Zion are friends to 
 truth ; children of the same family, they touch 
 with freedom each others mistakes, they re- 
 prove with an affectionate heart, and love as 
 brethren still. They well understand the 
 worth of that compliment, which is couched 
 under a manly appeal to consistency on a 
 point at issue. Differences can never be re- 
 moved unless they occupy a share of thought, 
 and find a place in free and meek discussion. 
 Discussion, to rise above chicanery, must be 
 plain ; to be useful, it must be meek. The re- 
 sult of an opinion is not always seen by its 
 advocate ; and when disavowed, though it be- 
 long to his system, should not be imputed to 
 the man. And, for that liberality which, un- 
 der the shield of venerated names, would save 
 from exposure sentiments or practices of evil 
 tendency, I know you are not the advocates. 
 
28 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 Regardless, then, of the charge of bigotry , — 
 a vulgar term, ill defined, and successively- 
 applied to all on this side the realms of abso- 
 lute skepticism, and from which I shall be 
 freed by your award ; as well as from the im- 
 putation of violating the laws of charity, a 
 lovely term and lovelier grace ; a term how- 
 ever, which, from lack of knowledge of its 
 import, is often pressed into many an unholy 
 service, uncongenial with its nature, — I pro- 
 ceed in my discussion, after adverting to an 
 idea, a mistaken idea indeed, but one which in 
 some circles is used with considerable ad- 
 dress, and not without effect. It is this ; that 
 the regard shown to the subject advocated 
 in these sheets, is a prejudice, originating in 
 foreign attachments, and is fostered by trans- 
 atlantic partialities. You, brethren, know this 
 to be a mistake ; and through you it may be 
 well to correct it. 
 
 To say, indeed, that you and I do not che- 
 rish, with kind respect, the memory of the 
 Calvins and the Bezas, the Luthers and the 
 Melancthons, of continental Europe, would 
 betray ungrateful affectation. To disavow a 
 veneration for the Wickliffes, the Knoxes, 
 Buchanans, Wishearts, Cranmers, Ruther- 
 fords, Renwicks, and Owens, of Great Bri- 
 tain, would be to falsify some of the best affec- 
 tions of our hearts! And as long as the union 
 of pre-eminent talent with piety of the first or- 
 der, shall be venerable in the estimate of 
 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER, 29 
 
 man, so long shall homage be rendered to the 
 Westminster divines, and their memory be 
 kindly cherished, and their labours duly priz- 
 ed. And notwithstanding the slander and the 
 infamy which an ungracious policy has attach- 
 ed to the Emerald Isle, our hearts refuse to 
 disregard the memory or the works of her 
 Ushers and her Boyles, her Berkleys, her Le- 
 laiKis and Magees. But still we demand credit 
 for our tenderest affections being cisatlantic ; 
 and certainly so far as we have national parti- 
 ality, it is of American growth. While we 
 would duly estimate foreign genius, literature 
 and piety, and give them credit for our drafts 
 upon their stores, it is not with less heart that 
 we recognize the luminaries of America. It 
 is with a just pride we can boast our Mathers 
 and our Edwardses, with a constellation of 
 others, whose beams not only dissipate the 
 gloom of our wilderness, but add to the splen- 
 dour of European light: Yet still, our faith 
 and our devotions must not be subjected to 
 any, nor to all of these ; before the authority 
 of Heaven, and of that alone, in matters of 
 religion, are we permitted to bow. 
 
 But after all, it is hard to see how^ the pre- 
 ference of psalms given by the inspiration of 
 God, to the productions of an English poet, 
 can be, even apparently^ placed to the account 
 of foreign partiality. Let the idea of a local 
 religion, whether European or American, be 
 far from our minds. The religion of the 
 
v30 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 Bible is adapted to every province of God's 
 empire in this world. Instead, then, of Ame- 
 ricanizing religion, as some idly talk, or ac- 
 commodating its substance and its forms to 
 every impulse of popular prejudice, let it be 
 our care and our endeavour, in our respec- 
 tive departments, that the national character 
 be stamped with the image of the lively ora- 
 cles of the God of truth. 
 
 Trusting, brethren, that among the very 
 numerous, and greatly important objects, 
 which solicit your attention, and occupy your 
 time, some interval of leisure and of serious- 
 ness will permit the subject of these letters to 
 come before you: and when such a season 
 shall occur, not to these letters, for that is not 
 hoped, but to their subject^ do I beg your res- 
 pectful attention. And, whatever may be the 
 consequence of your inquiry, we know, that 
 on this point, no discrepant opinion shall be 
 permitted to break in upon the charities of 
 social life. Those charities we feel, and their 
 exercise is enjoined by our blessed religion. 
 This exercise, while we deplore sentiments 
 of unhappy tendency, and condemn practices 
 which we cannot approve, teaches us to ad- 
 mit the evidence of motives that mitigate 
 their criminality, and to rejoice in the virtues 
 that recommend the man. 
 
31 
 LETTER II. 
 
 ANCIENT HISTORY OF PSALMODY. 
 
 Remarks — Character of the age of the Fathers — Laita % .~ 
 historical statements — True history of Psalmody in the 
 early ages — Pliny — Tertullian — Jerome — Cyril — Au» 
 gmtine — Cassian — Chrysostom — Apostolic Constitutions 
 — Remarks.. 
 
 Dear Brethren, 
 
 WHEN engaged in the field of controver- 
 sy, every weapon that seems to promise aid 
 in bringing the contest to a successful issue, 
 is grasped with eagerness by the contending 
 parties. Hence, in matters of public dispute, 
 the combatants are disposed to magnify the 
 numbers that give countenance to their cause ; 
 forgetting that " the word of God is our all- 
 sufficient rule, and not the sentiments of any 
 number of fallible men : so that in fact they 
 have sometimes been found right, who have 
 seemed not only to have all the world, but al- 
 most all the church against t&emJ 1 * 
 
 In matters of dispute, the antiquitv of an 
 opinion or practice, is frequently deemed of 
 weight in conducting to a proper decision. — 
 The wisdom of ancient times must be rever- 
 
 * Dr. Scott. 
 
32 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 ed. In the concerns of religion, there is, with 
 some, a charm in antiquity not easily broken. 
 With ancient usage we are prone to associate 
 the infallibility of the Apostolic age, and, gra- 
 tuitously, deem the fathers of a distant time 
 more pious, as well as better acquainted with 
 the practice which was regulated by inspira- 
 tion, than the men of modern days. I shall 
 detract nothing from that reputation which 
 the days of the Fathers can justly claim. It 
 will however be found, with many of the an- 
 cients, what is true of not a few of our mo- 
 dern friends, that as our acquaintance ad- 
 vances, our veneration diminishes. 
 
 The truth is, fifty years after the death of 
 the apostles had scarcely passed by, when the 
 church they had planted with so much puri- 
 ty, and fostered with so much care, exhibit- 
 ed an aspect very different from what it did 
 before. The historian Hegesippus, of the se- 
 cond century, pronounced the virgin purity 
 of the church to have been confined to the 
 Apostolic age. Jerome, of the fourth century, 
 testifies, that " the primitive churches were 
 tainted with gross errors, even while the apos- 
 tles were alive, and the Saviour's blood yet 
 warm in Judea." In the following periods 
 the depravity increased : their picture is 
 drawn in dark colours. " There was no cha- 
 rity in works, no discipline in manners." The 
 practice of such periods can go but a little 
 way, in settling controversies respecting di- 
 
OF PSALMODY. 33 
 
 vine institutions. For satisfaction, as to the 
 appointments of God, we must rest, not on 
 the practice of the Fathers, but on the dic- 
 tates of inspired truth. Keeping this in re- 
 collection, it may nevertheless be interesting 
 to ascertain their modes and matter of wor- 
 ship. And as a pompous, and at first sight, 
 imposing display, of research into the anci- 
 ent practice of the church, on the subject of 
 psalmody, has been made by some of those 
 who treat with little decorum certain parts 
 of the word of God, it may not be inexpedi- 
 ent to inquire, how far their representation 
 of that practice is entitled to our confidence. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. James L,ATTA,late of Ches- 
 nut Level, Pennsylvania, appeared as the 
 chief champion, in the latter part of the last 
 century, for a new system of sacred songs, 
 and also the most confident enemy of the 
 Scripture Psalms. Some copyists of the Doc- 
 tor, such as Messrs. Freeman and Baird, 
 of inferior standing in the Presbyterian 
 church, have since appeared in the same 
 cause. As these lag behind their original, in 
 every thing but in virulence against the inspi- 
 red songs of Zion, they shall now occupy but 
 little of our time : Our attention shall chiefly 
 be directed to the conclusions of Dr. Latta. 
 
 The results of his historical investigation 
 may be reduced to two positions : First, 
 That evangelical hymns, of human composi- 
 tion, constituted the whole matter of the 
 
34 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 church's psalmody for the first three centu- 
 ries ; and, Secondly, That the Book of Psalms 
 was not introduced into the Christian church, 
 as the matter of her praise, till error and he- 
 resy, to which it was subservient, boldly at- 
 tempted, in the fourth century, to veil the 
 divine glories of the Redeemer.* 
 
 But how does this author, and his succes- 
 sors in the same work, substantiate these po- 
 sitions ? The first historical proof is drawn 
 from Pliny's letter to Trajan, in which the 
 emperor is informed, among other things, that 
 the Christians, assembled on a certain day, 
 " sung a hymn to Christ as to God."t Now, 
 if not disposed to play upon mere words, 
 would not every man of common sense per- 
 ceive, that if those Christians sung the 45th 
 Psalm, they must literally have addressed 
 Christ as God ? Compare verses 1 — 9, with 
 Heb. i. 8, 9. and this will be evident. Or, 
 had they sung a portion of the 102d Psalm, 
 would it not have been a song to Christ as to 
 God ? I do not know what our modern hijm- 
 
 * Latta's Discourse, pp. 76 — 78. Ed. 4. 
 
 f Plusy the younger, was born at Como, in Italy, A. 
 D. 62; and died A. D. 113. He was proconsul, inBythi- 
 nia, under Trajan the Roman emperor ; and was for a 
 time engaged in carrying into effect the imperial edicts 
 against the Christians. His correspondence on the sub- 
 ject, with the emperor, took place in A. D. 103. He is 
 celebrated as a fine writer, and an eloquent lawyer. Ilis 
 testimonial of the Christian character, being that of an 
 enemy, is worth a great deal 
 
OF PSALMODY. 35 
 
 nologists would think of these ; but certain I 
 am, the apostle Paul did believe them, as 
 well as main others, to be odes to Christ. 
 The reader of the first and second chapters 
 of the epistle to the Hebrews, will, too, be sa- 
 tisfied of this.* The onlv ground of quibble 
 is on the term hymn, the usual version of car- 
 men, which is the word used by Pliny. Now 
 the veriest novice in the Latin language 
 knows, that airmen is a word of general signi- 
 fication, applicable to any poetic, and even to 
 prosaic composition. t This is the reasoning 
 of these gentlemen : Plinv savs,the Christians 
 of his day sung, or rehearsed, (dicere,) a poetic 
 composition to Christ, as to God ; therefore 
 they did not sing the Scripture songs, but 
 hymns of human composure ! What child, 
 that has been taught to read the Bible, and is 
 instructed in the rudiments of Christianity 
 
 * The fact is remarkable, that the apostle, in conduct- 
 ing his argument in favour of the personal glories and 
 mediatorial exaltation of Messiah, against the false views 
 of his countrymen, illustrates and confirms it by the au- 
 thority of the Book of Psalms. In every ode of that sa- 
 cred collection to which he turned, lie found the Son of 
 God, the Saviour of man, dispensing the blessings of his 
 kingdom. If the Spirit of God taught an apostle to find 
 his Redeemer there, b\ what spirit are they instructed, 
 who say he is not to be found in those Psalms : that their 
 use is not honourable to his cause ; " it deprives him of 
 divine honour f"± — Believe not every spirit. 
 % Latta's Discourse, p. 77. 
 [armen — u Any set form of words, whether in prose 
 or verse; as, .munis crat. !y Liv. 1. 26. — 
 
36 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 would not reason better than such doctors ? 
 He could say, if they sung the 45th, 47th, 
 68th, &c. Psalms, (and why might they not 
 have sung them ?) they would have sung to 
 Christ, as to God. The Christians of that 
 age were not ignorant of this. Iren&us, who 
 was instructed by a disciple of the apostle 
 John, in proving the deity of Jesus Christ 
 urged the testimony of the 45th Psalm.* 
 And the facts related by Pliny he learnt from 
 Christians, or those who had been professedly 
 such, upon their examination at his bar ; and 
 not from an inspection of their psalm book. 
 
 The Doctor next has recourse to the de- 
 ductions of Basnage from Tertullian.^ Let 
 us hear the testimony of this Father ? It is 
 this ; that it was the practice, in certain com- 
 panies, for individuals to be called forth in 
 the midst of them, to praise God in songs, 
 either from the Scriptures^ or of their own 
 composition. You will remark, that Tertul- 
 lian is not speaking of the ordinary, united 
 singing in the church, as a stated institution 
 of God ; but of a particular practice, in some 
 
 * Milner. 
 
 | Tertullian flourished toward the close of the second, 
 and beginning of the third centuries. He was a native of 
 Carthage, educated a lawyer, and ultimately became a 
 distinguished presbyter. He was a man of superior ta- 
 lents, but of severe manners; inclined to superstition. 
 He was the chief Latin writer, of the second cent' 1 
 *.he cause of Christianitv. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 37 
 
 places, attended to by individuals — Quisque 
 provocatur in medium. Again, these indi- 
 viduals, according to their respective talent, 
 drew their songs, either from the sacred icri> 
 tings, or their own resources — De script uris 
 Sanctis, vel proprio ingenio.* 
 
 Let us now see the spirit of this reasoning. 
 Tertullian relates the practice of certain indi- 
 viduals, as allowed by some meetings for so- 
 cial entertainment; therefore, Tertullian re- 
 lates an ordinance of God, for the stated and 
 united worship of his people ! for, if not stated 
 public worship, it makes nothing for Dr. L. 
 And, again, because those individuals, on 
 those occasions, drew their songs, either from 
 the Saiptnres or their own ingenuity ; there- 
 fore, Scripture songs were not then in use ; but 
 hymns of human composition alone ! — Such 
 are the premises, and such are the conclusions. 
 
 He next introduces Origen, a contempo- 
 rary of Tertullian, exhorting the people u to 
 strive by their hymns, by their psalms, by their 
 spiritual songs, that they might obtain the vie- 
 
 * Si honesta causa est convivii, reliquum ordinem discip- 
 line xstimatequi sit, de religionis officio. Nihil vilitatis, 
 nihil immodestix admittit. Non priusdiscumbitur, quam 
 oratio ad Deum praegustetur. Editur quantum esurientes 
 cupiunt: bibitur quantum pudicis est utile, lta saturantur, 
 lit qui meminerint etiam per noctem adorandum Deum 
 sibi esse. Ita fabulantur, ut qui sciant Dominum audire 
 postaquammanualem etlumina, utquisque de scripturis 
 Sanctis vel de proprio ingenio potest, provocatur in mc- 
 dhim Peo canere.— Terfoi. Jpo!, Op^a, p. : 
 4 
 
38 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 tory through our Lord Jesus Christ" And 
 then, in correspondence with his usual laws of 
 logic, concludes, that hymns of human compo- 
 sition were used, in the psalmody of the 
 church, in the days of that Father, to the ex- 
 clusion of the Book of Psalms. This was 
 Dr. Latta's hypothesis, and at all hazards he 
 would argue for it. In this he is followed 
 very closely by his copyists. — Origen obvi- 
 ously alludes to the apostolic language, Col. 
 iii. 16. Is it too much to demand of our 
 friends who reason thus, some proof of the 
 existence and public use, in the age of the 
 apostles, of such hymns as they contend for ? 
 Of this, which should first be settled, it seems 
 they never think. 
 
 When he meets with the Fathers of the 
 fourth century, he succeeds no betier : yet he 
 writes without fear, and sets at defiance the 
 legitimate laws of reasoning. He finds hi 
 Eusebius, that hymns had been written at t e 
 beginning, in honour of Christ, and then very 
 logically infers, that songs of human composi- 
 tion were exclusively used in the church of 
 God. It is an argument of the same character 
 with the following : The friends of the Re- 
 formation, in the sixteenth century, composed 
 sacred songs in behalf of truth, which were 
 privately read and sung, for the instruction 
 of the people ;* therefore the Reformation 
 ., .. _ 
 
 * M f die's Knox, p. 416. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 59 
 
 churches, in their public worship, sung no- 
 thing but such compositions. This is bad 
 reasoning, very bad to be sure, but it is the 
 reasoning of Dr. Latta, and of Messrs. Free* 
 man ami Baird. 
 
 A similar argument, with no little parade, 
 is drawn from the case of I'milus of Samosciia, 
 at Antioch. That heretic had abolished the 
 use of the Psalms which were sung there to 
 the glory of Christ, whose Godhead he de- 
 nied, and appointed hymns to be publicly 
 sung in his own praise. For these impieties 
 he was degraded from the sacred office. These 
 are the naked facts ; and what, think you, is 
 the inference from them i That the church 
 used, exclusively, hymns of human composi- 
 tion ! — But why pursue the subject I Such 
 reasoning rises not to the dignity of a sophism. 
 Such perversions of historical record, only 
 tend to shake our confidence in human testi- 
 mony. Should such reasoning be admitted 
 as legitimate in our courts of justice, who 
 would not tremble for the safety of his per- 
 son and rights I For other reasons than the 
 safety of their literary fame, it is trusted, that 
 these productions of Latta, Freeman, and 
 Baird, were the hasty effusions of the rash- 
 ness of youth, and thoughtless compositions 
 of dotage, rather than the matured conclu- 
 sions of manly minds. 
 
 But how do these writers succeed in esta- 
 blishing the position, that the Book of Psalms 
 
40 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 had no place in the public worship of the 
 church, till, under the influence of heresy, in 
 the fourth century, it obtained an introduc- 
 tion ? Read their pages : The only proof 
 offered, is the assertion, that human compo- 
 sures, exclusively, were used ; and this asser- 
 tion is supported by such reasoning as we 
 have heard. If a begging of the question, 
 followed up by confident assertion, and very 
 loose declamation, be admitted as proof, then, 
 but not otherwise, have they established the 
 point. Let us now very briefly attend to a true 
 and plain statement of facts on this subject. 
 Of the practice in the Apostolic age there 
 can be little doubt. The Saviour, while yet 
 with his disciples, set them an example, from 
 which they were not likely to depart — The 
 hillel was sung by him and them. The pro- 
 selytes from the house of Israel, usually con- 
 stituted the nucleus of every church. This 
 the Acts of the Apostles abundantly prove. 
 These converts were peculiarly attached to 
 their ancient forms, and to the sacred books 
 which were so familiar to their minds. Had 
 it been proposed to exclude their inspired 
 songs from their assemblies, and to substitute 
 others of human device in their place, the 
 whole church would have been convulsed. 
 On this point, however, there was no dispute 
 between the Jewish and the Gentile Christian. 
 The singing of the inspired songs of Zion 
 constituted no part of the yoke of bondage. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 41 
 
 In the expressions of their holy joy, they 
 #ere commanded to c sing psalms.' The uni- 
 form silence on this subject, the calm in the 
 church respecting it, is proof, that all united 
 in the use of Scripture songs. The appeals 
 of the Son of God himself, to the Book of 
 Psalms, in proof of his glory, was too recent 
 to be forgotten — the very frequent appeals of 
 his apostles to these holy hymns, in exhibi- 
 tion of his character, too deeply impressed his 
 church, to permit any dispute upon the point. 
 It was not then known, that their use u flat- 
 tened devotion — made worship dull — dark- 
 ened the views of God the Saviour, and 
 tended to make heresy triumphant." No, 
 no ; the Book of Psalms was then understood, 
 and its power was felt by the church. All that 
 has ever appeared in opposition to this is idle 
 rant ; proving nothing, but that profound ig- 
 norance, or extreme disregard of the Bible 
 system, governed the pens of the writers. If 
 there were other than inspired songs used 
 in the psalmody of the church, during that 
 age, let some of them be produced, or indu- 
 bitable evidence of their existence be made 
 appear. This has not yet been done. 
 
 With the first century, the last of the apos- 
 tles died. The church, in the second age, 
 was less pure than in the former. What was 
 her practice, as to psalmody, in the second 
 century ? She used songs of human composi- 
 tion, exclusively, say the patrons of innova- 
 4? 
 
42 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 tion. We have seen a sample of their proof. 
 Let us, however, inquire for ourselves. What- 
 ever was the apostolic practice, was most 
 likely to be that of the orthodox, in the pe- 
 riod of which we speak. Pliny's letter as- 
 sures us, that psalmody was a part of stated 
 public worship. His expression intimates, 
 that their mode was that of the Jews — dicere 
 secnm invicem — to sing alternately. The re- 
 marks before made will lead us to see, that if 
 the Bythinian Christians brought in the an- 
 cient mode, the ancient inspired song was 
 much more likely to be retained. That song 
 recognized Christ as God. Iren^us, after the 
 example of Paul, defended the divinity of 
 Jesus by the forty-fifth Psalm. According to 
 the same, and other examples no less high, he 
 could have argued the same point from many 
 more. That the songs, then, which they used, 
 were those found in the book of God, is an 
 assumption better supported, than the hypo- 
 thesis of those who take the other side. 
 
 Tertullian intimates, that psalmody was a 
 part of the ordinary worship of the church 
 in his day. He expressly mentions the fact, 
 that in the African church, the 133d Psalm 
 was uniformly used, at the administration of 
 the Lord's supper. Nor does he compliment 
 those who only used it at that solemnity.* It 
 
 * Hoc tupsallerenon facile nosti, nisi quo tempore cum 
 eompluribus ccenas.— Tertul. de Jejwu Op. 552. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 43 
 
 is a novel mode of reasoning, to conclude 
 from this, that no other of the Psalms were 
 sung at the sacramental solemnity ; and no 
 less arbitrary to assert, that none other of that 
 sacred collection was sung by the church.* 
 We here have proof, that on the most solemn 
 occasion of the church's service, the Book of 
 Psalms was employed in the second century ; 
 and why not on common occasions i We 
 have no proof that in the stated worship of 
 the church, any other collection was ustid, or 
 divinely authorized. To assert it, is not to 
 act the part of an enlightened instructer. 
 
 We now approach the third century. The 
 state of the church was not better in this, than 
 in the last age. The testimony of history fur- 
 nishes little light on the practice of this period, 
 as it respects psalmody. This is the less to 
 be regretted, as we must, after all, have re- 
 course to a ' more sure word of prophecy.' 
 Irenaeus, Tertullian,and others, of the preced- 
 ing century, flourished in the beginningof this. 
 The practice of the last, for ought that appears 
 to the contrary, was the practice of this. 
 
 Of the practice of the fourth century we 
 know more. Its writers were more numerous, 
 and more reputable, than those of the third. — 
 
 * The above is the mode of reasoning adopted by the 
 friends of a human psalmody. Try it upon the following 
 fact : Reformed Presbyterians and Seceders uniformly 
 sing, on sacramental occasions, the 45th Psalm. AVould 
 this fact authorize an historian to state, that they reject- 
 ed from their psalmody all the rest ? 
 
 
44 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 Jerome, of Palestine, u whose learned and zeal- 
 ous labours will hand down," says Moshiem, 
 "his name with honour to the latest pos- 
 terity," informs us, that the 31st and 45th 
 Psalms were sung at the administration of 
 the Lord's supper ; as was the 133d Psalm, in 
 the second century, according to Tertullian. 
 In this Jerome is supported by Cyril of Jeru- 
 salem, his contemporary.* Augustine, who in 
 talent and piety was not surpassed by any in 
 his age, testifies to the use of the Book of 
 Psalms, in the psalmody of the church. It 
 was used by himself in his own church ; and, 
 as a thing in course, on one occasion he men- 
 tions the singing of the 65th Psalm. t That 
 this Father, who was deeply versed in the ex- 
 perience of vital godliness, did not think that 
 these songs tended u to flatten devotion," ap- 
 pears from his Confessions. It is remarkable 
 how those pathetic addresses are replenished 
 with the language of the Book of Psalms. 
 With pleasure did he remember how, in early 
 life, God taught him by that unequalled sys- 
 tem of experimental godliness which it unfolds. 
 " I read," says he, u with pleasure the Psalms 
 of David : the hymns and songs of thy church 
 moved my soul intensely ; thy truth was dis- 
 tilled by them into my heart ; the flame of 
 piety was kindled, and my tears flowed for 
 joy."! These hymns and songs, as appears 
 from the following book, were no other than 
 
 Catech. 
 
 f Serm. 10. 
 
 * Conf. B. 9. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 45 
 
 those of the Book of Psalms. He relates 
 now, what took place at Milan, under the mi- 
 nistry of Ambrose, where he says : M This 
 practice of singing had been of no long stand- 
 ing. It began about the year when Justina 
 persecuted Ambrose."* It is to this Mosheim 
 adverts, when he incorrectly states, that Da- 
 vid's Psalms were introduced among the 
 hymns of the church.t Before this time there 
 was no psalmody in the west. Again, when 
 Augustine speaks of the effects of sacred mu- 
 sic, he owns, " that the infirmity of nature may 
 be assisted in devotion by psalmody — When 
 I remember my tears of affection, at my con- 
 version under the melody of thy church, with 
 which I am still affected, I acknowledge the 
 utility of the custom." These Psalms he was 
 prepared to vindicate against their revilers, 
 as well as to use them in his church. " One 
 Hilary," says he, u took ever}' opportunity of 
 loading with malicious censures the custom — 
 that hymns from the Book of Psalms, should 
 be sung at the altar. In obedience to the 
 commands of my brethren I answered him."! 
 a The Donatists, too," a fiery sect of enthusi- 
 asts, " reproached the orthodox," as the same 
 venerable Father informs us, § u because they 
 6ung with sobriety the divine songs of the 
 proph-ts, while they (the Donatists) inflamed 
 
 * Milner. * See Calv. Inst. B. 3. chap. 20. 
 
 t Vol. I. 385. § Epist. 119. Tom, 2. 
 
1%^. 
 
 46 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 their minds with the poetic effusions of hu- 
 man genius." His estimate of this book may- 
 be learned from the fact, that, in his last sick- 
 ness, he had David's penitential Psalms in- 
 scribed upon the wall of his chamber.* 
 
 •Athanasius of Alexandria, the correct, bold 
 and suffering witness for orthodoxy, employ- 
 ed the Psalms of David in his church. For 
 this we have the testimony of Augustine. 
 When speaking of the abuse of sacred music, 
 he adds : " Sometimes I could wish all the me- 
 lody of David's Psalms were removed from 
 my ears and those of the church ; and think it 
 safer to imitate the plan of Athanasius, bishop 
 of Alexandria, who directed a method of re- 
 peating the Psalms, more resembling pro- 
 nunciation than music."t 
 
 That Ambrose used the Book of Psalms 
 is proved by the same testimony. Augustine 
 was himself, for a time, a member of the 
 church in Milan. Thence it spread into all 
 the churches of the west. " The people, says 
 the historian, were much delighted, their zeal 
 ' for the doctrine of the Trinity was inflamed," 
 &c. The universality of the practice is evinc- 
 ed by the testimony of Jerome, already men- 
 tioned. " You could not," he says, " go into 
 the fields but you might hear the ploughman 
 at his hallelujahs, and the vinedresser chant- 
 ing the Psalms of Bavid." 
 
 * Milner. f Conf. B. 10. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 47 
 
 In the Apostolic Constitutions* we learn, 
 that u the women, the children, and humblest 
 mechanics, could repeat all the Psalms of 
 David ; they chanted them at home and 
 abroad ; they made them the exercises of their 
 piety and the refreshment of their minds. 
 Thus they had answers ready to oppose temp- 
 tation, and were always prepared to pray to 
 God, and to praise him, in any circumstance, 
 in a form of kis own inditing." 
 
 The testimony of Chrysostom, the eloquent 
 patriarch of Constantinople,who flourished in 
 this age, is full in point. He was no enemy 
 to the Godhead of Christ. He ranked high 
 among the orthodox divines of his day. " All 
 Christians," says this first of sacred orators, f 
 u employ themselves in David's Psalms more 
 frequently than in any other part of the Old 
 or New Testament. The grace of the Holy 
 Ghost hath so ordered it, that they should be 
 recited and sung night and day. In the 
 church's vigils, the first, the midst, the last, 
 are David's Psalms. In the morning David's 
 Psalms are sought for ; and David is the first, 
 
 * Lib. 2. C. 57. The collection of regulations, known 
 under the name of the "Apostolical Constitutions," made* 
 its appearance in the fourth century. Though we may 
 justly dispute its apostolical origin, it may be admitted 
 of sufficient authority, as far as it indicates the customs 
 of the third, and following century. We see its testimo ■ 
 ny respecting the use of the Book of Psalrni, 
 
 f Horn. 6. on Penitence. 
 
48 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 the midst, and the last. At funeral solemni- 
 ties, the first, the midst, and the last, is David. 
 Many who know not a letter can say David's 
 Psalms by heart. In private houses where the 
 virgins spin — in the monasteries — in the de- 
 serts, where men converse with God, — the 
 first, the midst, and the last is David. In the 
 night, when men are asleep, he wakes them 
 up to sing ; and collecting the servants of 
 God into angelic troops, turns earth into hea- 
 ven, and of men makes angels, chanting Da- 
 vid's Psalms." 
 
 Whatever may be the reputation of Cassian, 
 as to literary attainments, his testimony in 
 matters of fact is not liable to exception. He 
 wrote in the fifth century. In vindicating the 
 religious order, with which he was connected, 
 he observes* — " The elders have not changed 
 the ancient custom of singing psalms. The 
 devotions are performed in the same order as 
 formerly. The hymns which it had been the 
 custom to sing at the close of the night vigils, 
 namely, Psalms 50th, 62d, 89th, 148th, &c. 
 are the same hymns which are sung at this 
 day." Could the singing of the Book of 
 Psalms, had it been a novel practice at that 
 time, have been called an ancient custom? 
 Why conclude, when the term hymn is found 
 in the writings of the Fathers, that a song of 
 human inditing is intended, when we find that 
 
 * Llb.iii. cap. 6. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 49 
 
 the Psalms of Scripture, are by them denomi- 
 nated hymns ? But of this anon. 
 
 One word more respecting the introduc- 
 tion of the Book of Psalms, into the Christian 
 church. The author, whose non sequiturs fill 
 so many pages, roundly asserts, that it had 
 no place there, in the first three centuries ; 
 and, that, under Arian influence, it was intro- 
 duced and supported in the fourth and fol- 
 lowing centuries. These round and un- 
 founded assertions, are fully contradicted 
 by the testimony of Tertullian, of Jerome, 
 of Cyril, of Augustine, of Chrysostom, of 
 Cassian, and of the Apostolic Constitutions. 
 According to all of these, the songs of Scrip- 
 ture, from the beginning, were employed in 
 the psalmody of the church : nor does it ap- 
 pear, that, at any time, the Arians were the 
 friends, either of their introduction, or of their 
 continuance. That Paulus, at Antioch, had 
 hymns sung in his own praise, is admitted; 
 and, that, in other places, the orthodox and 
 the Arians separated in singing the Psalms, 
 because the latter would have odes conform- 
 able to their heresy, is fully known. But as 
 I am aware of no inspired psalm, that is con- 
 formable to the denial of the Saviour's deity, 
 I presume they sought their hymns from some 
 other source than the Book of Psalms. Tell 
 us, what inspired psalm was suitable to the 
 praise of Paulus, and to the celebration of 
 his here^v ? 
 
 i 
 
50 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 But were not the Psalms of David first 
 brought into use in the Christian church, by 
 Flavian and Diodore, at Antioch ? So Dr. 
 Latta and his coadjutors affirmed ; but with 
 the same disregard of authority, as is mani- 
 fest in most of their other historical reports. 
 The truth is, the manner of singing, and not 
 the matter sung, is the subject of record, in 
 respect of the church of Antioch, at that time. 
 The notice of the matter of psalmody is only 
 incidental, but, on that account, not the less 
 important. 
 
 Suidas* on the word XOP02, chorus, in- 
 forms us, that " The choirs of churches were, 
 in the time of Flavian, of Antioch, between 
 A. D. 337 and 404, divided into parts, who 
 sung the Psalms of David alternately : a 
 practice which commenced at Antioch, and 
 thence extended into all parts of the Chris- 
 tian world." Observe, it was not the ringing 
 of David's Psalms that is then said to have 
 commenced, but the manner of singing them. 
 And Flavian, and Diodore, were not Arians, 
 who, according to Dr. Latta, and his friends, 
 were the only patrons of the Scripture psal- 
 mody, but the orthodox opposers of Leon tius, 
 the Arian bishop of that city.f " These pro- 
 visions, says Bingham, were designed to re- 
 
 * Lexicon. 
 
 f Hooker carries up the practice of singing, alternate- 
 ly, ihe Psalms of David, to the days of Ignatius, the dis- 
 ciple and friend of the apostles. — Eccles, Po-it. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 51 
 
 store and revive the ancient psalmody, b) re- 
 ducing it to its primitive harmony and per- 
 fection.''* There is not the remotest intima- 
 tion of any change or innovation, as respect- 
 ed the matter of their sacred song.f 
 
 The foregoing statements show, that the 
 celebration of the praises of God, in the com- 
 positions of inspiration, obtained in Greece, 
 Asia, and Africa, from the beginning ; but 
 that it was uniformly, and universally prac- 
 tised in the churches in western Europe, is not 
 so clear. On the authority of Augustine, Cal- 
 vin;); thinks that psalmody was not general 
 there before the time of Ambrose, bishop oi 
 Milan, who, under the persecution of the 
 Arians, introduced it into that church ; 
 whence it spread into others, in the regions ot 
 the west. This fact accounts, in a satisfactory 
 manner, for the representation of Mosheim, 
 and others, that, in this age, the Psalms of 
 David were first introduced as the matter of 
 the church's song. In most of those churches 
 they had hitherto, from obvious causes, been 
 generally destitute of this part of public wor- 
 ship. That was not an age of Bible Socie- 
 
 * Antiq. of the Church. 
 
 f Julian the Apostate, while at Antioch, about A. D. 
 381, was offended with the psalmody of the church, and 
 actually punished the Christians there for singing the 
 68th and 97th Psalms.— JUitncr. * 
 
 \ Inst it. Lib. 3, Cap 
 
52 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 ties. Copies of the Scriptures were rare, and 
 a Psalm Book not to be had. The defect 
 was supplied as the Bible was translated in- 
 to the vernacular tongues. 
 
 The subject has, in all ages of the church, 
 claimed her attention ; and whatever unau- 
 thorized and restless, or vain individuals 
 might affect, it never was the deliberate opi- 
 nion of any, capable of consistent reflection, 
 that her songs should, without limitation, be 
 the spontaneous effusions of heated affections. 
 The decisions ofthe council of Laodicea, in 
 A. D. 364, and the second at Braga, in Spain, 
 early in the 7th century, prove the contrary. 
 The former decreed, that no unauthorized 
 psalms should be used in the church ; the lat- 
 ter prohibited all except those of divine in- 
 spiration. These facts, together with Augus- 
 tine's reply to the revilingsof Hilary, and the 
 practice of the orthodox in his day, notwith- 
 standing the reproaches ofthe raving Dona- 
 tists, speak a language very different from 
 that of the gentlemen whose representations 
 are now under review. 
 
 It nevertheless may be admitted, without 
 injury to our cause, that in those days of evil, 
 when clerical ambition and ecclesiastical pro- 
 fligacy appeared with such unblushing effron- 
 tery, advantage was taken ofthe commotions 
 of the times, to introduce, by every mean, the 
 conflicting corruptions of doctrine, order, and 
 worship. And it would be strange, if the 
 
Oi PSALMODY. 53 
 
 United charms of poetry and music, were not 
 laid in requisition to further their designs. I 
 admit the probability of hymns of human 
 composure being numerous ; and that they 
 were frequently used in public worship, we 
 need not doubt. That many of them were 
 intended to honour, and as many others both 
 calculated and intended to dishonour, the Re- 
 deemer of men, neither the opinions of the 
 times, nor the characters of the prime actors 
 ol those days, forbid us to suppose. 
 
 But when all this is granted, I assert, 
 without apprehension of any well-supported 
 contradiction, that there is no ground to be- 
 lieve, that inspired songs were not used, from, 
 the beginning, in the church of God ; or that 
 uninspired hymns were exclusively adopted, 
 or at all adopted with divine approbation. It 
 is a specimen of bad reasoning to conclude, 
 that because such hymns were admitted by 
 worshipping assemblies, the admission was of 
 divine institution.* Of no fairer character is 
 
 * The Episcopalian, in vindicating his views of Eccle- 
 siastical order, draws largely upon the practice of the 
 second, third, and fourth centuries. The argument from 
 this practice, is not satisfactory to the Presbyterian,- yet 
 it is remarkable how superior the Episcopal argument 
 from this source, in favour of his form of church govern- 
 ment, is to that of the Presbyterian, in favour of a human 
 psalmody. That the worth" of the argument can be un- 
 derstood in the one case, and not in the other, is an in- 
 stance, among many others; of the imperfection of the 
 human mind, and admonishes us to beware of a favour- 
 ite hvpotbesis. 
 
 5* 
 
54 ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 the conclusion, that the admission of these 
 proves the unfitness and rejection of David's 
 inspired odes. He must also be hard pushed 
 for an argument, who must conclude, that be- 
 cause Arians opposed the psalms that were 
 sung in honour of Christ, the orthodox did 
 not retain those indited by the Spirit of God ; 
 as though these might not be the same. And 
 I pray I may never make that candour and 
 liberality my model, which more than inti- 
 mates, that all who are opposed to the use of 
 uninspired hymns, must be hostile to the doc- 
 trine of the divinity of Jesus, Nor can I ad- 
 mire that reverence of the word of God, 
 which charges the use of any portion of it 
 with dishonouring the Saviour of men.* The 
 candid and enlightened Christian, has not so 
 learned Christ. 
 
 The object with which I set out, is yet in 
 view. I contemplate, in these pages, an at- 
 tempt to unite the devout members of the vi- 
 sible church. Many of you, in the mean 
 time, are practically dividing them. You ex- 
 clude a divine, and prefer a human psalmody. 
 Does your cause demand such a defence, as 
 has now been reviewed ? If so, it is full 
 time you should abandon it ; for it is a bad 
 one. Can arguments of a better character, 
 in defence of your hymns and imitations, not 
 be produced ? <Tf not, will you still pertina- 
 
 . _^_ 
 
 * Latta's Discourse, pp. 48. 77, 
 
OF PSALMODY. 55 
 
 ciously continu a practice so insupportable, 
 notwithstanding, too, its long train of un- 
 happy consequences I Nay ; c We hope bet- 
 ter things of vou, and things that accompa- 
 ny salvation ; though we thus speak.' 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 MODERN HISTORY OF PSALMODY. 
 
 SitTTunary remarks — Tf'aldenses — Wickliffe — Huss — Luther 
 — Cahin — Church of England — Scotland — Jf 'aits — 
 American Churches — Congregationalists — Presbyterians 
 — Associate — Associate Reformed — Reformed Presbyte- 
 rians — Sentiments and practice of — Refections. 
 
 Dear Brethren, 
 
 IT appears from the records of the early 
 periods of the church, that Christians, in their 
 public assemblies, praised God in the lan- 
 guage of Scripture songs. It also appears, 
 that the term hymn was applied to David's 
 Psalms. We have also seen, that though psal- 
 mody was universal in the Eastern churches 
 from the beginning ; yet it was not general in 
 those of the west before the fourth century. 
 In that age, it likewise appears to have been 
 the practice of certain heretics, to reproach 
 the orthodox, for singing with sobriety the 
 
56 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 divine songs of inspiration, preferring to 
 them the inflammatory compositions of their 
 own invention. We now turn to the history 
 of psalmody in later times. 
 
 In the middle ages, the ages too of moral 
 gloom and terrible superstition, the purest 
 section of the church of God, was found in 
 the valleys of Piedmont. Among the Wal- 
 denses were found the simplicity of the apos- 
 tolic order, and the purity of evangelical wor- 
 ship. They sung, u 'mid Alpine cliffs," the 
 Psalms of Scripture. And long before the 
 Reformation dawned on Europe, they sung 
 them in metre. " The Albigenses, in 1210, 
 were metre psalm-singers." The morning- 
 star of the Reformation used them. Wick- 
 liffe is blamed by some, for singing metre 
 psalms. John Huss, in the fifteenth, as Wick- 
 liffe had done in the fourteenth century,* sung 
 the Psalms in verse. These were not friends, 
 either to Papal domination, or to Arian 
 hercsy.f 
 
 * Smith's Prim. Psal. p. 270. 
 
 j When the dark and cruel reign of Antichrist com- 
 menced, those who held the faith, worship, and order of 
 the gospel, were found in the valleys of Piedmont. In the 
 middle ages, as at this day, they suffered indescribable 
 persecutions from the hands of" the son of perdition." 
 No history is more interesting than theirs. In those ages 
 when darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness all 
 other people, the Vauchis, as Thuanus, who was their 
 enemy, relates, " could all read and write. They were ac- 
 quainted with French so far as was needful for under- 
 
OF PSALMODY. 57 
 
 But what was tht course pursued at the 
 Reformation ; that period when God, in re- 
 markable providences, descended to free the 
 human mind from chains, and his church 
 from bondage I Hie reformers celebrated the 
 praise of their Redeemer ; and they did so in 
 the use of Scripture songs. Luther, as early 
 as the year 1525, published a metre version 
 of the Psalms. In the same year, at Augs- 
 burgh, was published a poetic translation of 
 the whole Book, by another hand. 
 
 In the year 1543, under the auspices of 
 Calvin, fifty of the Psalms, translated into 
 verse by Marmot, a refugee from papal per- 
 secution, were printed at Geneva. Marmot 
 died shortly after this, and Bcxa, the devout, 
 learned and polished companion of Calvin, 
 versified the remainder. The whole book, 
 thus versified, was in a few years published, 
 
 standing- the Bible, and the singing of Psalms."* It was 
 required of those who were to be ordained to the minis- 
 try, along with other Scriptures, to commit to memory 
 "the writings of David." Numbers of those, who, under 
 the persecution of the Duke of Savo\ , A. D. 1686, sought 
 a refuge in the Swiss cantons, three years after, returned 
 under their pastor, Arnaud, who was also their martial 
 chief. Having overcome Uieir enemies, and regained 
 their native valleys, " at the church of Guigon they en- 
 gaged in worship, sang the 74th Psalm, and their colonel 
 and pastor, Arn<md> preached on the 129th Psalm. "f 
 Thus we see the Psalms of David were sung, by the 
 best of men, in every age. 
 
 v Milner. 
 t Mem. of Walritnses, by a Clergyman of the Church of England. 
 
58 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 Such was the demand then for the Book of 
 Psalms, that the press was unable to meet it. 
 In A. D. 1553, the use of it was interdicted 
 by a bull from Rome. The Protestants of 
 that day did not perceive that it dulled their 
 worship; nor did the perverters of the 
 church's faith hope to derive any benefit to 
 their cause from its use. It was devoutly sung 
 by the reformers, and buiiesqued by the papists. 
 In England the friends of reform were also 
 the friends of the Bible Psalms. For their 
 use, several of them were turned into metre by 
 Wyatt and others ; but a full version was not 
 obtained till after the accession of Elizabeth. 
 The year 1562 presented that by Sternhold y 
 Hopkins, Cox, Norton, &c. This was used 
 in the Church of England, till superseded by 
 the more imperfect version of Tate and Bra- 
 dy* in A. D. 1696. The Puritans of Eng- 
 land, in A. D. 1562, contended, among other 
 things, for reform in the Psalmody of the 
 
 * This innovation was not effected without a struggle. 
 Hear on this the testimony of a man, who, in taste and 
 criticism, had no superior — " It was a change much for 
 the worse, when the pedantry of 'pretenders to taste in lite- 
 rary composition, thrust out this excellent translation 
 (Sternhold and Hopkins') from many of our churches, 
 to make room for what still goes by the name of the 
 new version, that of Tate and Brady. The innovation, 
 when it was first attempted, was opposed, though in the 
 end unsuccessfully, by the soundest divines^ the most ac- 
 complished scholars, and the men of the truest taste, at that 
 time in the seat of authority in the Church of England. 
 
OF PSALMODY. 59 
 
 church. They proposed " That the Psalms 
 should be sung distinctly by the vi hole con- 
 gregation." Some of the reformers in that 
 kingdom, amidst the commotions of the 
 times, it seems, for a little, hesitated, as to the 
 propriety of psalmody in the church : this ap- 
 pears from one of Latimer's orders, in A. D. 
 1537, when bishop of Worcester. The same 
 thing is intimated in a protestation of some 
 of the clergy, in the previous year, within the 
 province of Canterbury.* But none who ad- 
 mitted the propriety of singing, ever doubted 
 the evangelical character of inspired songs, 
 or refused to employ them in sacred praise. 
 This is a refinement of modern evangelizers. 
 In the Scottish Church, the re formers, from 
 the first, practised psalmody. It is said they 
 sung the Book of Psalms in prose ; the form, 
 perhaps, in which it should still be used. Be- 
 fore A. D. 1546, there is no authentic account 
 of any use of metred Psalms in that church ; 
 but both before, and after that period, in one 
 form or another, the Book of Psalms was 
 uniformly employed in their congregations. f 
 
 It will be an alteration still more for the worse, if both 
 these versions should be made to give place to another 
 of later date, departing still farther from the strict letter 
 of the text, and compensating its ivant of accuracy by no- 
 thing more than the meretricious ornaments of modern 
 poetry." — Up, Iforsley's Pref to his version. 
 
 * Prim. Psal. 
 
 f In A.D. 1556, versified psalms were commonly sung 
 m their assemblies. The whole Hook of Psalms, howe- 
 
60 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 In 1649, the General Assembly at Edin- 
 burgh, adopted the version which she still 
 uses. The ground- work of this was laid by 
 Sir Thomas Rouse, who is represented as a 
 man of piety. It was recommended to the 
 attention of the Assembly of Divines at West- 
 minster. Under their correcting hand, in the 
 course of several years, it was improved. It 
 was then forwarded to the north, and was, by 
 the supreme judicatory of theScottishChurch, 
 committed to committees for revision. Years 
 were by them employed in comparing it with 
 the original Hebrew, and in attempting to 
 carry as much as possible of the spirit of the 
 primitive composition, into the translation.* 
 And, the man of literature and taste, who 
 shall carefully examine the subject, it is be- 
 lieved, will admit, that they admirably suc- 
 ceeded. Like the version of the Bible, this 
 of the Psalms, is not remarkable for elegance 
 of diction ; but it is remarkably literal. To 
 present the Book of Psalms in its native sim- 
 plicity, beauties, and force, was the aim of 
 the Westminster divines, as well as of the 
 Assembly at Edinburgh. To the man of 
 God, to the child of grace, and man of legi- 
 timate taste, these characteristics must be a 
 
 ver, was not put into measure before 1559 ;f from which 
 period, a version, first published at Geneva, was autho- 
 rized, till superseded by that stiH used in the Church of 
 Scotland. 
 
 t M'Crie's Life of Kcox, p. 4! J. 
 
 * Acts of Assembly, pp. 353. 428. 479 
 
OF PSALMODV. (jl 
 
 recommendation.* In the American churches, 
 this version was extensively used ; and in all 
 the Pre*Jj>vterian churches of the southern 
 and middle states, till a recent period, none 
 other was admitted. 
 
 * The testimony of Dr. Ridgdy 9 \i\ liis system of divinity, 
 is not only decidedly in favour of the Hook of Psalms be- 
 ing suitable for the praises of the New Testament church; 
 but albo for the use of the Scottish version. He gives it 
 the preference above every other. Boswell, the friend of 
 Johnson, who gave stability to our language, was a man 
 of talent and of taste : he, too, gives his testimony in fa- 
 vour of this version, as the best extant. 
 
 Take his own words : " The phrase, ' vexing thoughts,' 
 is, I think, very expressive. It has been familiar to me 
 from my childhood ; it is to be found in the 'Psalms in 
 .' used in the churches of Scotland, Psal. xliii. 5. 
 
 Why art thou 'hen cast down my soul ? 
 
 what should discourage th»-»* ? 
 And why with vexing thought! art thou 
 
 Disquieted in me .' 
 
 Some allowance must no doubt be made for early pre- 
 possessions. But at a maturer period of life, after looking; 
 at various metrical versions of the Psalms. I am well sa- 
 tisfied that the version used in Scotland, is, upon the 
 v. hole, the best j and that it is vain to think of having a 
 better. It has in general a simplicity, and unction of sa- 
 cred poesv ; and in many parts its transfusion is admira- 
 ble."— Lift of Dr. Johnson, vol. 2. p. 282. 
 
 The justly celebrated Rev. William Romaine, likewise, 
 gives his testimony to the excellence of this version. I 
 shall gratify my reader with a few extracts from his Essay 
 on Psalmody, a work which very lately came to my hand. 
 " Stcrnhold and Hopkins,'* he observes, "had a scru- 
 pulous regard for the very words of Scripture — the ver- 
 sification is not always smooth — but what is a thousand 
 more valuable, it is generally the sentiment of the 
 Holy Spirit. This should silence every objection — it is the 
 -~vr'd of Cod. This version comeb nearer the original than 
 6 
 
g2 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 Early in the last century, Dr. Watts, in 
 England, published his Imitation of some of 
 David's Psalms, accompanied with other 
 hymns. These he introduced to public no- 
 tice by prefaces, containing a bitter libel 
 against the original songs of Zion. The days 
 of Puritanic zeal had then passed away. 
 The licentious and unprincipled reigns of the 
 second Charles and James, had given a shock 
 to the morals and to the piety of the nation, 
 under the influence of which they languished, 
 and were ready to expire. The principles of 
 infidelity had extended to every department 
 of the social body, and were, in both church 
 and state, more extensively embraced than is 
 generally admitted. Comparatively few of 
 Zion's most conspicuous sons escaped the 
 contagion of a maddening philosophy, which, 
 in its phrenzy. more openly, at a succeeding 
 period, expressed the idle hope of universally 
 desolating the heritage of God. At such a 
 time, it is not strange, that an indulgent ear 
 should be given to unhallowed suggestions 
 against any portion of the word of God ; and 
 especially when recommended by the im- 
 posing pretensions to superior liberality. In 
 
 any I have seen, except the Scoich, which I have mada 
 use of when it appeared to me better expressed than the 
 English. Here is every tiling great, and noble, and di- 
 vine, although not in Dr. Watts' way or style. It is not 
 — as good old Mr. Hall used to call it, JVatts 3 jingle"—- 
 Jiemahte's Wtirkg. voti 8. p. 339. 
 
UV PSALMODY. Q3 
 
 the days of martyrdom for reading the word 
 of God, it was not deemed unsuitable, in songs 
 of prake, to employ the language of the Holy 
 GhostW But other times succeeded, when re- 
 ligious sentiments of another cast, and piety 
 of another tone were countenanced.* It was 
 found that the use of Scripture songs " flat- 
 tened devotion, awakened regret, and touched 
 all the springs of uneasiness in the worship- 
 per's breast/'f Such were the sentiments, 
 and such was the language of Dr. Watts. 
 
 The Imitation of the Psalms by Dr. Watts, 
 and his hymns, recommended by the senti- 
 ments of his prefaces, found their way across 
 the Atlantic, and gradually obtained footing 
 in the Congregational churches of New Eng- 
 land. As these advanced, the Scripture songs 
 retired, and with them no small share of the 
 orthodox principles, the theological intelli- 
 gence, and the holy practice, that had previ- 
 ously distinguished the Puritans of our coun- 
 try, the descendants of the Pilgrims. 
 
 The Synod of New- York and Philadelphia, 
 
 * " Human compositions are preferred to divine. 
 Man's poetry is exalted above the poetry of the Holy- 
 Ghost. — The word of man has got a preference in the 
 church above the word of God. — It is not difficult to ac- 
 count for this strange practice. Our people had lost sight 
 of the meaning of the Psalms. The\ did not see their re- 
 ■•:• Christ. This happened when vital religion 
 began to decay among us, more than a century ago." 
 . 8. p. 521, 
 
 t Br. Wi 
 
(34 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 now the General Assembly of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, had continued to employ the 
 Scripture Psalms, and in that version used in 
 the Church of Scotland. A majority of their 
 people, it is believed, were favourable to that 
 version. Their connexion with the Congre- 
 gationalists of New England, contributed to 
 recommend to their attention the Imitation of 
 Dr. Watts, as improved by Mr. Barlow. It 
 was at length adopted by the supreme judica- 
 tory of this church : and thus, for the first 
 time, a judicial sanction was given to that 
 composure, declaring it more fit for Christian 
 worship than a correct version of inspired 
 Psalms ! The decision was not received very 
 cordially by many of her members. Violent 
 animosities, bitterness of spirit, schisms and 
 divisions, were, for a time, the most promi- 
 nent consequences of the measure. 
 
 Other denominations of Christians, when 
 they saw the most numerous, and most influ- 
 ential body of professors in the United States, 
 abandon the songs of inspiration, practically 
 declaring them unfit for Christian lips, took 
 the alarm. They considered the language of 
 Dr. Watts on this subject, to be impious. 
 His arguments in favour of his own compo- 
 sitions, were viewed as invectives against an 
 important portion of the word of God. Hence, 
 in their public ministrations, they testified 
 against the ground he had taken, and the 
 very unhappy language he had used, as well 
 
Of PSALMODY. 55 
 
 l gainst those who had entered into his 
 
 s, by the adoption of his productions, in 
 place of the Book of Psalms ; while they vin- 
 dicated the integrity of the oracles of truth, 
 holding them all to be profitable for ■ instruc- 
 tion in righteousness.' — The press, too, was 
 enlisted in the contest, and judicial deeds, 
 warning against, and forbidding the use of 
 those innovations, were passed. The Asso- 
 ciate, the Associate Reformed, and Reformed 
 Presbyterian churches, were all conspicuous 
 in defence of inspired psalms and hymns, as 
 suitable to the worship of the church of God. 
 It is profitable, though not always pleasant, 
 to mark the origin, progress, and change of 
 opinions, and their correspondent practices. 
 How often, alas ! is the declaration of princi- 
 ples and order, the offspring, not of deep laid 
 
 iction, but of transient circumstances. 
 
 professions of public bodies afford but 
 little security for the course the individuals 
 composing them will pursue. We Well re- 
 member the time when one of these churches, 
 the Associate Reformed, zealously declared, 
 ;ind repeatedly sanctioned deeds, in opposi- 
 tion to the introduction of human composures 
 in the worship of God. Watts 1 Imitation and 
 hymns were in view, when, in a judicial act, 
 this church, after a panegyric on the Book of 
 
 ns, declared — "Nor shall any compo- 
 rely human, be sung in any of the 
 ■ Reformed churches/' It was, in- 
 I 
 
Q5 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 deed, by some of the members of that church, 
 as well as by others, suspected that the words, 
 merely human, were calculated, if not intended 
 to cover a retreat from this ground at some 
 convenient time. But the suspicion was 
 deemed ungenerous, and the expression of it 
 was branded with the charge of slander. The 
 dubious terms were explained, so as to miti- 
 gate the fears of the scrupulous. The ami- 
 able Mr. Hemphill, in his explanation of what 
 is a merely human composure, fully takes in 
 all such as the poetic works of Dr. Watts. 
 He concludes his remarks in these w r ords : 
 " We prefer a translation of these divine 
 songs, (the Scripture Psalms) to human com- 
 posures, however excellent." In this, there 
 is no doubt, Mr. Hemphill was sincere. Sus- 
 picions existed, however, that all of his bre- 
 thren were not equally so. Whether these 
 suspicions were well or ill founded, is not for 
 us to say. Subsequent events w T ill not, per- 
 haps, justify them. Human conduct is much 
 influenced by circumstances ; and purity of 
 intention may be consistent with contradic- 
 tory acts. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of those churches, 
 where the compositions of Dr. Watts were 
 adopted, and produced dissatisfaction, the 
 Associate Reformed ministers were not scru- 
 pulous in keeping alive the discontents that 
 existed. It is no impeachment of their mo- 
 tives, when it is stated as a fact, that they pro- 
 
Of PSALMODY, Q7 
 
 discontents. Sep; From 
 
 former connexions, on the ground of psal- 
 mody, was encouraged ; and, by such as se- 
 parated, their churches, in various parts of 
 the continent, were enlarged, and some almost 
 wholly formed. The accession of the Rev. 
 Mr. Kankin, and multitudes of private mem- 
 bers, from the Presbyterian Church, is still 
 fresh in our recollection. But, in the mean 
 time, some of the brethren, when occasionally 
 called to direct the public worship in the con- 
 gregations of another connexion, used, with- 
 out hesitation, the Imitation of the Psalms. 
 
 This was thought, by many, not to com- 
 port with that candour, and regard to con- 
 sistency, which should characterize the move- 
 ments of that ministry which had, by so many 
 pledges, invited public confidence to repose in 
 its stability. To denounce, in public deeds, 
 as will-worship, the use of all such compo- 
 sures as the hymns of Dr. Watts ; to employ 
 this as an instrument of rending churches, 
 and of breaking up former connexions ; while, 
 in other places, they practised what had been 
 publicly denounced as a corruption of reli- 
 gious worship, and acted upon as a sufficient 
 ground of separation in ecclesiastical com- 
 munion, was deemed by not a few, who pro- 
 bably did not sufficiently qualify the severity 
 of their conclusions by the mitigations of cha- 
 rity, not easily reconciieable with candour. 
 
6Q MODERN HISTORY 
 
 In their session of May, 1816, their Gene- 
 ral Synod passed an act, admitting into their 
 churches the psalm book of the Reformed 
 Dutch Church, according to its last revision* 
 This measure set aside their former act on this 
 subject. Their resolution runs in the follow- 
 ing terms : " Resolved, That the version of the 
 Book of Psalms, in the Old Testament, re- 
 cently prepared for the use of the Reformed 
 Dutch Church in America, be permitted to 
 be used," &c. Now, to a person unacquaint- 
 ed with the real matter of fact, it would appear 
 from this, that the Reformed Dutch Church 
 had recently prepared a version of the Book 
 of Psalms. Nothing, however, can be farther 
 from the truth. All that the committee of that 
 church was authorized to do in the matter, 
 was, to make an u improved and enlarged" 
 selection of psalms and hymns. The com- 
 mittee fulfilled their appointment, by giving 
 their psalm book a character more remote 
 from the u Book of Psalms, in the Old Testa- 
 ment," than was the one which they formerly 
 used. The truth is, it is a selection chiefly 
 from Watts, and embraces a practical recog- 
 nition of the very unwarrantable sentiments of 
 the Doctor, respecting the Book of Psalms. 
 For instance, to his twenty-four lines, in place 
 of the whole 109th Psalm, as well as to other 
 changes and omissions, a sanction is thus 
 given. To go thus far, these sons of the ve- 
 
or psalmody. 59 
 
 nerable Church of Holland, had to violate the 
 principles of her constitution.* The Asso- 
 ciate Reformed brethren have adopted this 
 selection, and, shall we say, unwittingly pre- 
 sented it to their people as a recent version of 
 the Book of Psalms, in the Old Testament I 
 Since these brethren are now persuaded that 
 they were, on this subject, formerly in the 
 wrong ; and being now satisfied that their 
 congregations would be more edified by using 
 a mutilated imitation of the Psalms, than 
 by the Psalms themselves ; and seeing they 
 act upon this, would it not have been more 
 manly, at once, to have declared in favour 
 of the compositions of Dr. Watts ? If the 
 rejection of inspired songs was the price of 
 extended union, and the adoption of their 
 rivals its destined bond, we would suppose 
 this course of openness more eligible, than 
 that which is pursued. That they, in this bu- 
 siness, a business which will long be deplored, 
 aimed at the extension of fraternal commu- 
 nion, and the edification of Zion, charity in- 
 duces us to suppose ; for the hypothesis of 
 playing a double game with the scrupulosity 
 of their own people, and the immobility of 
 the Holland Church, is refuted, we would 
 hope, not only by a liberal construction of 
 conduct, but also by the character of those 
 whose agency carried the measure. 
 
 * SceConstit. of the Reformed Dutch Church, Art. 69. 
 
70 MODERN HISTORY 
 
 It is nevertheless painful to have confidence 
 met by disappointment. The course pursued 
 by the Associate Reformed Church has not 
 been marked by any great degree of consis- 
 tency. Her decisions and her counter deci- 
 sions, her constitution and discordant admi- 
 nistration, do not authorize that confidence, 
 which the personal respectability of her min- 
 istry would seem to invite. I would not im- 
 peach her motives of action ; because, in a 
 future expose, she may vindicate them as cor- 
 rect. I will not therefore assert, that she, as 
 a distinct Christian society, was formed on 
 the principle of expediency; nor will I say, that 
 in her various changes she has acted merely 
 on this principle, for, by itself, it is a paltry 
 one. Charity forbids severity of animadver- 
 sion, and whatever may be the result, can- 
 dour and liberality instruct us to hope, that 
 it will not only be overruled for general good, 
 but will also develope the purest motives to 
 have actuated those gentlemen who have ap- 
 peared conspicuous, in the origin and pro- 
 gress of these measures. But, however well 
 meant, the measure respecting psalmody is a 
 bad one. It is at once an abandonment of a 
 divine institution, a desertion of those who 
 plead for it, and the violation of a solemn 
 pledge to the contrary. For this we should 
 weep in secret.* 
 
 * Upon the subject of Psalmody and Catholic Commu- 
 nion, the members oi the Associate JRrformedClmrch have 
 
uj PSALMODY. 7| 
 
 From an impartial review of the church's 
 history, ancient and modern, we are autho- 
 rized to infer, that in every age her psalmody 
 emhraced the Book of Psalms. Without any 
 prejudice to their cause, who are the advo- 
 cates of Zion's songs, it may be, and is ad- 
 mitted, that human composures existed, and 
 in some sections of the Christian common- 
 wealth had a place beside inspired compo- 
 sures. But their existence and use neither 
 prove, nor disprove, a divine appointment. 
 That fact must be settled by other evidence 
 than the practice of either ancient or modern 
 days. 
 
 That the Book of Psalms, in whole or in 
 part, was unfit for Christian praise, was a 
 discovery left to be made, in the light of con- 
 tending systems, political, moral, and reli- 
 gious, in the eighteenth century. Ancient 
 piety, I think, would not have listened with 
 patience to be told, that the words of inspi- 
 ration u darkened our views of God the Savi- 
 our, tended to make heresy triumphant," and 
 that David was unfit to appear in the sanctu- 
 ary, till converted into a Christian by such a 
 man as Dr. Watts. Hid we no information 
 
 divided : the people, and a majority of the ministers of 
 the west and the south, profess to abide by their stan- 
 dards, as settled in 1799. Those toward the norh form- 
 ed, in 1820, a confederacy with the Presbyterians of the 
 General Assembly, which, in 1821, has issued in a com- 
 plete union of the Supreme Judicatories of the two bo- 
 dies. The General Synod of the Associate Reformed 
 Church is now extinct. 
 
72 MODEHN HISTORY 
 
 on the subject but what the Doctor's prefaces 
 supply, we should be tempted to inquire, whe- 
 ther he was indeed friendly to our religion, or 
 whether he was an enemy in disguise. We 
 have read u Christianity as old as the Cre- 
 ation ;" an imposing title, covering a bold at- 
 tack upon divine revelation. An Imitation of 
 a portion of David'sPsalms, accompanied by 
 a libel against the rest, by Dr. Watts, pro- 
 mises little more than the insidious publica- 
 tion of Mr. Tindal. And certainly if there 
 be, as is more than intimated by the Doctor 
 and his friends, a contradiction between the 
 word of God in the Old Testament, and the 
 word of God in the New Testament, both 
 must fall. The force on the one side would 
 then be equal to that on the other. Forces 
 equal and contrary, effect their mutual de- 
 struction. At this rate, we have no divine 
 revelation. So the deist has said ; and, as 
 often as he has said it, his assertion has been 
 refuted. And though the Imitator of the 
 Psalms has furnished premises for a similar 
 conclusion, we will not believe him ; for we 
 know his premises are false, and the conclu- 
 sions, we trust, he did not himself believe. 
 Nay, though he asserted the existence of a 
 contradiction,* it was not, we wish to believe, 
 a settled article of his creed. 
 
 * " Psal,, Lxix. 26 — 28. is so contrary to the new corn- 
 raandmetit of fori 
 
©F PSALMODY. 7- 
 
 The Imitator proposed to convert David, 
 the sweet singer of Israel, into a Christian. ' 
 The Psalms, such of them at least as he 
 thought worthy of imitation, must be made 
 to speak a language, which, according to the 
 t mtr of David, the Holy Ghost did not 
 make them speak. Still, however, reformed 
 as David was, he was unfit for the sanctua- 
 ries of America. The Imitation and hymns 
 of Dr. Watts were adapted to the British mo- 
 narchy ; America had, happily, become both 
 independent and republican. The reformer 
 must be reformed. Those compositions 
 which superseded the hymns of inspiration, 
 must, after our revolution, be " adapted to 
 the Christian worship in the United States," 
 — and Joel Barlow, Esq. performs the impor- 
 tant work. 
 
 In these days of tumult and commotion, 
 there is nothing wonderful. Astonishing 
 events pass in succession so close, that time 
 is not given them to impress the mind. The 
 commotion will, however, subside, and the 
 tumult will be stilled. What is now permitted 
 to pass by, without remark, will fill the men 
 of a future age with surprise. When they 
 shall have admitted, in its full bearing, the 
 truth, that God is not affected by political 
 changes, and that the revolutions of empires 
 do not authorize a change in the appointments 
 
 - Watts' Pref. p. 1^ 
 
74 MODEHN HISTORY, &c. 
 
 of Christ ; it may perhaps seem strange to 
 them, that many pious men deemed that the 
 Christian worship, on the other side of the 
 Atlantic, might be something different from 
 what it was in the United States ; or that our 
 worship, when independent States, ought to 
 he changed from what it was when we were 
 dependent colonies. They will readily per- 
 ceive, that, on the principle which would jus- 
 tify the hypothesis, no two individuals could 
 ever unite in the use of the same psalm ; be- 
 cause it is not likely that their circumstances 
 would ever be precisely the same. If what 
 marry of our eastern friends have said of Mr, 
 Barlow be correct, that he was an infidel, it 
 may too, perhaps, sound strange, that he was 
 employed to furnish them with evangelical 
 songs for their solemn praise.* But in human 
 life there are moments of inexplicable infatu- 
 ation. How else account for the strange 
 course pursued, in reference to psalmody, by 
 men of such elevated standing as the Ameri- 
 can churches can claim as their own ? Such 
 events, with a distinct and solemn voice, urge 
 upon our attention the divine injunctions — 
 4 Be not high-minded, but fear' — and i lean 
 not unto thine own understanding.' 
 
 * I would not be understood to assert, that Mr. Bar- 
 low was an infidel. He may have been so, but I have 
 not evidence to justify me in saying it ; many, however, 
 who employ his revision of the Imitation of the Psalms, 
 have professed to believe that he was, at leant, no friend. 
 to Christianity. 
 
75 
 LETT Eli IV. 
 
 REASONS FOR RETAINING THE 
 BOOK OF PSALMS. 
 
 ■Subject stated — Version* — Arguments — Divine institution 
 — Suitableness of matter — Excellence — Human composi- 
 tions not appointed — Bad arguments — Evil tendency q( 
 preferring human to inspired songs — Simun I 
 
 Dear Brethren, 
 
 IN this letter I propose a brief discussion 
 of the following question : Ought the Book of 
 J'salms to be used still, in the public psalmody 
 of the church? On the determination of this 
 question, the issue of the controversy depends. 
 The matter in debate should not be con- 
 founded with others, that may be but v^rv re- 
 motely or incidentally connected with it. 
 
 The inquiry, then, is not, whether it be 
 lawful to use, in the praises of God, any othei 
 inspired song, besides what are found in the 
 Book of Psalms ? This, so far as I know, 
 has never been a matter of contention.* Nor 
 
 * This subject came before the General Assembly of 
 the Scottish Church, in 1647, 1648. 1686, and befbrc'the 
 Associate (Burgher) Synod, in 17 i". 7 These bodies ap- 
 pear to have fully admitted the lawfulness of using, in 
 psalmod\ , any Scripture song. But they approved not ot 
 t Acfs of Assembly— Rev. R. Ersldne's Works, vol. JO. 
 
^ REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 is it any matter of dispute, in the present in- 
 stance, whatrersio?i of the inspired songs shall 
 be used. The question at issue is — Shall we 
 have any fair and full version of this divine 
 Book, as the matter of our praise ? Those 
 on the one side expressly take the affirmative, 
 and say, Let us have the best version ; and, 
 if practicable, let us have a better than any 
 now extant. On the other side, this has been 
 as explicitly refused. The Book of Psalms 
 is actually excluded from thepsalmody of their 
 churches. That against which we remonstrate, 
 is the expulsion of the Book of Psalms by an 
 imitation ; the exclusion of the spiritual songs 
 of inspiration, by adopting the collected volumes 
 of hymns which are not inspired. 
 
 I offer only a word more respecting ver- 
 sions. I have said, the dispute is not about 
 versions ; this should be kept in recollection. 
 Let us have that which justly merits the name 
 
 loose paraphrases. Their caution, and long" exclusive use 
 of the Book of Psalms, show that they deemed it suffi- 
 cient ; and that any thing beyond it, was rather an allow- 
 able indulgence, than an indispensable privilege. 
 
 Upon the merits of this question 1 give no opinion. 
 Whatever may be said of its lawfulness, we know it is 
 ■not expedient, to seek the matter of our psalmody be- 
 yond the Book of Psalms. There is a sufficiency. It is 
 selected by the Spirit of God, and by the church's Head 
 given for thispurpose. True religion has never progress- 
 ed where it has been departed from. Were my opinion 
 asked, I would say — Study, understand, digest, ii&e -well, 
 the Book Psalms; and, it is more than probable, you will 
 be content. 
 
i hi; book of psalms. 77 
 
 of a version, and the contest shall end. We 
 ought, indeed, to select the best. We believe 
 that used in the Church of Scotland, in the As- 
 sociate and Reformed Presbyterian Churches, 
 is the best. We do not say it is perfect ; it is 
 susceptible of improvement, as the version of 
 our Bible is ; but we have none better ; we 
 have no other one so good. If the genius of 
 the original, the language of the Spirit of 
 God, simplicity of diction, energy of thought, 
 striking imagery and transforming sentiment, 
 be recommendations,-itis believed this trans- 
 lation has them, in a degree to which no other 
 one, in verse, in our language can lay claim.. 
 We know, indeed, other compositions, the 
 verbiage of which glides more smoothly along. 
 And, to those who pay a greater deference to 
 sound than to sentiment, it is not doubted 
 such will afford more pleasure.' But the man 
 of mind, the scholar of cultivated taste, the 
 Christian of exalted piety, will, when left to 
 the decision of their own judgment, unite in 
 the preference of sense to sound, of body to 
 shadow, and of the word of God to that of 
 man. In more cases than that of psalmody, 
 the corruption of religious taste, from a rage 
 of innovation, a spirit of easy accommoda- 
 tion, neutrality of mind, or causes of equally 
 unworthy character, is lamented by not a few. 
 But of this enough. I proceed to state and 
 vindicate the following position : — 
 
 A CORRECT VERSION OF THE WHOLE BOOK 
 
"78 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 of Psalms should be employed in the 
 psalmody of the church of christ. 
 
 I vindicate this assertion, on the ground of 
 divine appointment — on the ground of the 
 suitableness of this Book — of its superior ex- 
 cellence above all human composures — of the 
 uncertainty of the divine permission of such 
 human composures — of the unsatisfactory 
 nature of the arguments used to recommend 
 them — and the dangerous consequences of 
 their introduction into the public worship of 
 the church. 
 
 Divine appointment is my first reason for 
 the continued use of the Book of Psalms, in 
 the praises offered to God in Zion. The com- 
 positions of this Book were given for this 
 purpose. They were inscribed to the master 
 of song in the sanctuary ; and even the most 
 personal meditations of the inspired Psalmist 
 were so addressed. They were actually em- 
 ployed in the church of God, with his ap- 
 probation ; and were suitable for the service 
 of praise. Their form, their nature, and their 
 designation, unite in pointing out their use. 
 I do not rest the proof of the divine institu- 
 tion of these sacred odes, as the matter of the 
 church's psalmody, on the simple fact of a 
 reforming king of Judah commanding that 
 they should be employed.* I add to that evi- 
 dence the facts, that in the days of inspiration 
 
 * 2 Chron. xxix. 30. 
 
THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 79 
 
 and prophecy, these divine compositions were 
 so used ; that their name and composition in- 
 timate that to have been their appropriate use ; 
 and, that their matter, and their structure, ren- 
 der them fit for this service of the tabernacle 
 of God, under everj- dispensation of his grace. 
 That the hymn sung by our Lord and his dis- 
 ciples, after the institution of the eucharistic 
 supper, was a portion of that part of the Book 
 of Psalms, called the Hill el by the Jews, and 
 which they usually sung at the paschal so- 
 lemnity, is admitted as more than probable, 
 by all, except those individuals who may have 
 some private purpose to uphold bv its denial.' 
 That in the Book of Psalms there are ty- 
 pical allusions to the usages of the Old Tes- 
 tament, no more unfits it for Christian wor- 
 ship, than did the New Testament language 
 of many of the Psalms render them unfit for 
 the devotions of the Israelites ; or than New 
 
 * " As to the hymn itself, we know from the universal 
 consent of Jewish antiquity, that it was composed of 
 Psalms 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, and 118, termed by the 
 Jews halel, from half.lu-jah, the first word in Psalm 
 113th. These six psalms were always sung at every pas- 
 chal solemnity. They sung- this great hillel on account 
 of the five great benefits referred to in it ; viz. 1. The 
 exodus from Egypt. 2. The miraculous division of the 
 Red Sea. 3. The promulgation of the law. 4. The re- 
 surrection of the dead. 5. The passion of Messiah." 
 — Clarice 9 s J\*ote on .Mat. xxvi, 30. 
 
 See also Ravanelli Biblioth. under, the word hymnw. 
 Lightfoot says on this subject, " He who could have in- 
 spired everv disciple to have been a David — sings the 
 Psalms of David."— Works, vol. 2. p. 1160. 
 
80 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 Testament allusions to ancient rites, prove it 
 unsuitable for a Christian directory, Obj ec- 
 tions against the continued use of inspired 
 songs, on this ground, indicate such a defec- 
 tive degree of information, as should not be 
 hastily imputed, even to those who possess 
 but very common facilities for Christian in- 
 struction. 
 
 For the use of these songs, we have New 
 Testament authority. Its inspired writers 
 recognize this sacred collection of inspired 
 hymns, under the name of the Book of Psalms.* 
 Under this name, we do not know that they 
 acknowledged any other. If they did, where 
 is it now ? Listen to an apostolic command : 
 Is any merry? let him sing psalms, t Had the 
 saints of those days, as doubtless they did, 
 expressed the sacred gladness of their hearts, 
 in singing one of David's Psalms, would that 
 have been an act of obedience, or of disobe- 
 dience ? At this day none will, I presume, 
 have the hardihood to say, by doing so they 
 would have sinned against the glory of the 
 New Testament. The act would have been 
 one of obedience. Then it is confessed, that 
 the singing of the Book of Psalms is an insti- 
 tution, even under the present dispensation, 
 of divine authority. 
 
 To one consideration more, under this 
 head, we should carefully attend. It is this : 
 
 * Luke xx. 42. Sc xxiv. 44. Acts i. 20. f James v. 1"'. 
 
Tin: dook or psalms. 81 
 
 the whole word of God is adapted to general 
 
 edification ; but to profit by it, its several jk 
 must be specially applied to the particular ends 
 for which they art given. The commands, 
 the promises, the examples, of Scripture, for 
 instance, are all instructive, generally ; but in 
 addition to this, each of these has its specific 
 use. Now the well instructed saint will ap- 
 pl\ these several portions, according to their 
 intent! >n. Not to employ them particularly, 
 in addition to a general utility, for the special 
 purposes for which they are given, would be 
 to misuse them ; it would be, to say the least, 
 criminally to neglect them. 
 
 The application of the remark just made, 
 is plain. The Book of Psalms was given as a 
 part of that revelation which is profitable for 
 instruction ; but it was, especially, given to 
 the church as the matter of her psalmody ; 
 riot as a model, which she might imitate at 
 pleasure, and substitute the imitation in place 
 of the original, but as songs to be used in the 
 exercise of praise: and they were accordingly 
 so employed. Whatever use, then, we may 
 make of them otherwise, if we set them aside, 
 and do not apply them to this specific pur- 
 pose, we must be chargeable with neglecting 
 them, in that for which God has more parti- 
 cularly given them. To this point I request 
 the attention of such as may honour this let- 
 ter with a reading. To take away from its ap- 
 pointed use, any portion of sacred Scripture, 
 
g2 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 is tantamount to taking it from the Bible of 
 God. 
 
 The singing of praise, publicly, is a duty. 
 It is not an extemporary exercise ; it requires 
 a form of psalmody. God has provided for 
 this. His Spirit has dictated a great variety 
 of songs — and collected into one Book, for the 
 use of the church, those he judged proper. 
 The question then is, Shall we reject' that 
 which God has provided, and prefer our own 
 effusions ; or receive his ? Turn it as you will, 
 this is really the inquiry. In this collection 
 are to be found psalms, and hymns, and spi- 
 ritual songs/* We are expressly commanded 
 to sing these, Col. iii. 16. I request the ob- 
 jector, for once, not to quibble; and, again, / 
 demand evidence of the existence, in the Apos- 
 tolic age, of any other psalms, and hymns, 
 and spiritual songs, than those contained 
 in Scripture. The proof of negatives devolves 
 not on me. To demand it, is unfair. 
 
 That these inspired compositions once oc- 
 cupied a place in the church of God, by di- 
 vine appointment, as suitable matter of her 
 
 _ 
 
 * A reference to Trommius' Concordance of the Sep- 
 tuagint, under the word'Tfivsa, Hymneo, frill amply prove, 
 that compositions corresponding to the hymn, and song, 
 of the Greek Testament, are abundant in the Book of 
 Psalms. Indeed the Greek version of the Psalms has 
 only to be opened, and their titles prove this ; and the 
 Greek version of the Old Testament was generally used 
 in the Apostolic age. . 
 
THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 83 
 
 psalmody, will not now be seriously denied. 
 The church, in all ages, is one. Whatever 
 institutes she has once received, from the 
 hand of her Lord, she is bound to observe, 
 until he shall free her from the obligation, 
 or, bv an act of his authority, deprive her of 
 the privilege. But, in what page of the New 
 Testament has the church's Head abrogated 
 the use of her inspired hymns ? or forbidden 
 her children the consolations they so often 
 found, in chanting them to his praise ? The 
 point is too obvious for further pursuit. I can- 
 not bring my mind to reason it lower. The 
 consistent Christian will at once admit — The 
 Book of Psalms, in the church's psalmody, 
 had the sanction of divine authority ; that 
 sanction has never been disannulled; there- 
 fore, its use, as such, is yet of God's appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 * « Dnine institution cannot be pleaded with any plausi- 
 bility, either from Scripture or reason, "says Dr. L. (Disc, 
 p. 77.) — " I have proved," says Mr. Freeman, «« that we 
 have no authority, divine nor human, for singing David's 
 Psalms — they should not be used as a system of psalmo- 
 dy." — P. 20. Pray, what evidence is requisite to esta- 
 blish an appointment as divine ? How prove the divine 
 right of church government ? How prove the divine ap- 
 pointment of infant baptism ? Ah ! how thoughtlessly 
 men will talk and write. And yet Mr. F. admits, that some 
 of David's Psalms may be used. Yes, even without ap- 
 pointment, divine or human; and that, notwithstanding 
 rtion, that no one of these Psalms leads to God, 
 through Christ ! (P. 6, et alibi.) This shows a gospel spi- 
 rit with a witness. Worship without divine appointment' 
 worship, as a deist, a God oat of Chris! ! Wond< 
 concession ' 
 
34 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 The' adaptation of the Book or 
 Psalms to the purposes of sacred 
 praise, furnishes me with a second argument 
 for its continuance. Have we beheld the 
 glory of God ? Are we desirous of cele- 
 brating his perfections, that are so illustriously 
 displayed, in his creative, and providential 
 works ? This inspired Book presents us with 
 a suitable song : ' By the word of the Lord 
 were the heavens made, and all the host of 
 them by the breathing of his mouth. He 
 gathereth the waters of the sea together as an 
 heap : he layeth up the depth in store-houses 
 — He spake and it was done, he commanded 
 and it stood fast. The heavens declare the 
 glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth 
 his handy work. Day unto day uttereth 
 speech, and night unto night teacheth know- 
 ledge,'* he. And how inimitably fine the 
 descriptions of Divine Providence are, in the 
 104th and 107th, and other Psalms, need not 
 be told to the man of taste and piety. 
 
 Would we sing the frailty and sorrows of 
 man ? His frailties are described with a mas- 
 ter's hand : \ His days are as grass : as a 
 flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the 
 wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the 
 place thereof shall know it no more. Man is 
 like to vanity ; his days are as a shadow that 
 passeth away.'f His woes are delineated 
 
 * Ps. xxxiii. and xix. 
 
 t See Psalms xc. cHi. clx. 33. exliv. 4, 
 
I in: HOOK OF PSALMS. 85 
 
 with the pen of sorrow. In Zion's elegiac 
 . flow such tears of affliction as the weep- 
 
 inir muse of Greece or Rome could never 
 shed. The penitent sows in tears; those team 
 are represented ai \i\< bread and his drink; 
 they are precious in the si^Iit of God; he re- 
 cords their number in his book, and collects 
 them in his bottle.* And never were senti- 
 ments of deep distress, couched in language 
 at once so tender and so emphatic, as in the 
 8Sth Psalm. The griefs of a public spirit 
 are expressed with eloquence divine. Read, 
 as a specimen of this, the 79th of this sacred 
 collection, and then turn to the 137th, where 
 an unparalleled groupe of the tenderest senti- 
 ments, and most affecting imagery, will be 
 found. ' By the rivers of Babylon, there we 
 sat down: yea, we wept, when we remem- 
 bered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the 
 willows in the midst thereof.' 
 
 Would we, in the song we sing to God, di- 
 late on the graces of the Spirit, and on their 
 varied actings f would we sing the humbling, 
 and the elevating exercises of the saint? 
 These are themes which enter largely into 
 the composition, and constitute no small share 
 of the beauty, of our Bible Psalms. They 
 have, too, this advantage above others; they 
 are delineated with infallible correctness. 
 
 Is it our wish to embrace in our song, the 
 
 * Ps. lri. S. lxxx. 5. & exxvj 5 
 
'66 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 distinguishing blessings of salvation ? These 
 are found in our divine odes. The grace of 
 God in election,* in redemption,! in pardon,J 
 in communion,^ is sung in these inspired 
 verses. Here, likewise, the saint finds as- 
 surance of safety in the vale of death, and of 
 victory over the grave, together with the en- 
 joyment of eternal life. |J These, and their 
 kindred blessings, give form and vitality to 
 the whole system of Scripture songs. 
 
 Do the sufferings of the Son of God, by 
 which he purchased his church, and his 
 triumph over the powers of death, occupy 
 our attention? Do we wish to make these 
 the subject of our praise? Where are they 
 sung in strains so melting, or in notes of such 
 elevated sentiment, and expressive diction, as 
 in the Book of Psalms? There we find the 
 language he selected, when, suspended upon 
 the cross, he suffered for us the Father's 
 wrath : ' My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me? — Into thine hand I commit my 
 spirit.1T There, too, we have his triumphal 
 song: ' God is gone up with a shout — Thou 
 hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity 
 captive : thou hast received gifts for men ; 
 yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord 
 God might dwell among them. 5 ** Would we 
 
 * Ps. Ixv. 4. § Ps. xxvii. 4. 
 
 t Ps. xxxix. 22. &, cxxx. 7, 8. || Ps. xxiii. & xvi. 
 $ Ps. xxxii, 1, 2. Sl ciii. 3. II Ps. xxii. 1. &. xxxi. 5. 
 
 ** Ps. lxviii. 18, 
 
THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 81 
 
 sing his victorious march, in the spread of his 
 
 >el? All the language, in which it is de- 
 scribed, is flat, compared with that which the 
 Holy Ghost employs : ' Gird thy sword upon 
 thy thigh, O most Mighty, with thy glory and 
 thy majesty, And in thy majesty ride pros- 
 perously, because of truth, and meekness, and 
 righteousness — Say among the heathen, that 
 the Lord reigneth — The Lord hath made 
 known his salvation: his righteousness hath 
 he openly shewed — All the ends of the earth 
 have seen the salvation of our God. 5 * — 
 Would we sing the awful scenes at the close 
 of time ? ' Our God shall come, and shall 
 not keep silence; a fire shall devour before 
 him, and it shall be very tempestuous round 
 about him. He shall call to the heavens from 
 above, and to the earth, that he may judge his 
 people. — God is judge himself/ Then to his 
 saints will he 'shew the path of life: in his 
 presence is fulness of joy; at his right hand 
 are pleasures for evermore.' Then too ' the 
 wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the 
 nations that forget God.'f Thus, there is no 
 attribute of Jehovah which is not celebrated; 
 no gift of grace which is not confessed, no 
 devout emotion of the heart which is not de- 
 scribed, nor achievement of the Saviour which 
 is not sung, in the impressive language of the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 xlv. 3, 4. xcvi. 10. k xrviii. -J. 3. &c. 
 t Ps. 1. h xvi. ccix. 
 
88 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 I know, indeed, it has been said, that the 
 preacher feels regret, in being confined to in- 
 spired Psalms ; that, after he had delivered a 
 gospel sermon, he could find no song by 
 which he ^ould, with propriety, close the so- 
 lemnities of the day. May we not venture to 
 express our suspicion respecting those who 
 talk at this rate, that their acquaintance with 
 the Scripture songs must be shamefully super- 
 ficial; or, that they preach another gospel, 
 than that of the blessed God. For certain it 
 is, that thousands, in different ages, have, 
 with great faithfulness, ability, and success, 
 preached the Gospel of Christ, without feel- 
 ing any difficulty, in selecting a Scripture 
 Psalm appropriate to the occasion. 
 
 I am not so fortunate as to remember any 
 specifications on this subject. The declara- 
 tions, it is believed, are general; and so cal- 
 culated to cover a defective information, or 
 something not quite so excusable. We shall 
 rest this point, till gentlemen of candour spe- 
 cify the particulars in which the Scripture 
 Psalms are either defective in matter suitable 
 for Christian psalmody, or contain matter un- 
 suitable to the purpose of evangelical worship. 
 Only let them be careful, not to occupy a 
 ground that would exclude all social praise 
 from the sanctuary of God. It is to be sus- 
 pected, that complaints of this stamp, origi- 
 nate not from defect, or what is unfit in scrip- 
 ture songs, but from a vitiated taste in spiritual 
 
THE BOOK of psa£ms« 39 
 
 ihings. It requires more than unsupported 
 
 i lion, or mere declamation, to satisfy the 
 
 mind of him who wishes to give a reason of 
 
 his hope, that the songs of inspiration are not 
 
 fit, as to matter, or not ample, as to variety, 
 for all the pin al praise. It 
 
 is pity indeed, that any Christian should be 
 found, who does not prefer the infallible dic- 
 tates of the Spirit of grace, to the imperfect, 
 however well intended, effusions of fallible men. 
 
 Take, then, this inspired Book: it com 
 the balm of consolation to the afflicted heart, 
 directs the emotions of the child of grace, 
 teaches a due estimate of a world of sin and 
 sorrow, cherishes a living hope in a living 
 Redeemer, and furnishes a guide and support 
 for that faith by which the Christian lives. 
 Here you find concentrated the light of in- 
 spired truth, whence its beams ray out on the 
 night of time — It pours a flood of day oi; 
 vale of death, dissipating it^ doom, banishing 
 its terrors, and giving a joyous prospect of 
 the happy regions that lie beyond. Study the 
 other pa«xe^ of the Book of God. Let the 
 word of Christ dwell in you richly — a know- 
 ledge of it will enable you to understand and 
 to apply this sacred manual of inspired song: 
 but exchange it not for the shallow poetry of 
 erring man. This leads me to 
 
 My third argument: The superior ex- 
 cellence of Inspired Psalms. It is not 
 my design to derogate from the merit of any 
 
90 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 man's productions. Claim for them all the 
 respect you justly can; still they are human. 
 The structure is the work of man, and must 
 be imperfect. The sentiment must be com- 
 paratively feeble, the views narrow, and the 
 thought shallow. Will not the effect be pro- 
 portionably superficial? the effect cannot be 
 more perfect than its cause. Is it not like- 
 wise to be expected, that man's moral imper- 
 fections will tinge his fairest works? But 
 how highly elevated above all this, is the 
 character of the living word of God, in 
 Zion's inspired songs! There we find un- 
 spotted purity; the holiness of God trans- 
 cribed. In those compositions is depth of 
 thought, fulness of meaning, and an energy, 
 which evinces their divine original. It is not 
 merely the lighter powers of the mind that 
 these address, nor the transient affections of 
 the heart which they awaken. The harp, the 
 organ, the well-modulated voice, are all ade- 
 quate to the production of such effects. The 
 i i 
 
 language of inspiration does more. It seizes 
 the mind, arrests the understanding, subju- 
 gates the will, purifies the conscience, elevates 
 and regulates the affections, and transforms 
 into its own image, the whole man. Who 
 dare venture to assert these things of the best 
 productions of uninspired men? 
 
 The Christian will not forget, that the Book 
 of Psalms was dictated by the Spirit of God, 
 and contains verv remarkable exhibitions of 
 
THE HOOK OF P9 MM-. 91 
 
 his diversified operations on the human heart, 
 in the various circumstances in which he 
 places, or finds the saint. And, if he say he 
 esteems more highly the Psalms, which are the 
 production of the Spirit that sanctifies him, 
 than he does the imperfect works of feeble 
 man, — let not his more liberal neighbour, 
 who professes to see no difference between 
 them, or, perhaps, who prefers the latter, 
 brand his character with the odious appella- 
 tion of bigot. The preference of the one, 
 may have more of the semblance of modern 
 liberality ; that of the other, has not less of 
 the character of ancient piety. I hold myself 
 justified in choosing the best version of in- 
 spired compositions, rather than the most per- 
 fect effusions of uninspired man." 
 
 There is not indubitable evidence of 
 
 THE PROPRIETY OF USING HUMAN COMPO- 
 SURES IN THE PSALMODY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 This is my fourth reason. And I hesitate 
 more, when I uniformly see the admission of 
 such, exclude those of the Spirit's inditing. 
 W e should not venture, if a pure offering 
 
 Milton, whose genius, it is somewhere said, u might 
 have harmoniously mingled with the angels that an- 
 nounced the Messiah to be come."' makes one of the de- 
 vices of Satan against the Saviour, an attempt to turn his 
 attention to 
 
 " JEolian charm?, and Dorian lyric od< 
 
 rather than to the hymns, and psalms, and Hebrew songs, 
 of inspiration. And the language by which he represents 
 the Redeemer repelling the assault, is applicable, not only 
 to the productions of the Grecian muse, but to all human 
 
92 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 be in our power, to present to God one of a 
 doubtful character. The denunciations of 
 divine displeasure against those who do so, 
 should not be forgotten.* We are sure the 
 language of inspiration, furnished us by God 
 himself, will not be unacceptable in our offer- 
 ings to him. But are we certain, after our 
 rejection of his, that our own will find, be- 
 fore him, a gracious acceptance? When God 
 furnishes us with words for a special purpose, 
 let us prefer them to all others. In so doing 
 we shall honour him. The Redeemer of souls, 
 at a most interesting crisis of his mediation, 
 poured forth the addresses of his heart in the 
 language of the Book of Psalms. 
 
 With that which is doubtful, in the worship 
 of God, we should not venture. He pro- 
 nounces himself a jealous God. I know, in- 
 deed, that the thoughtless temerity of the 
 spirit of innovation, is not likely to be de- 
 
 composures, when put in competition with the word of 
 God : 
 
 '• Remove their swelling epithets, thick laid 
 As varnish on a harlot's cheek; the rest, 
 Thin sown with aught of profit or delight, 
 Will far he found unworthy to compare 
 With S ion's songs, to all true tastes excelling, 
 
 Where God is praised aright 
 
 Such are from God inspired." — Par. Reg. B. 4. 
 
 He needs to be but slightly acquainted with the hymn 
 books of the day, to perceive an affected air of familiarity, 
 in addressing, or in speaking of, the Redeemer of men; 
 which is as inconsistent with the dignity of worship, as 
 with reverence. It is the cant of enthusiasm, which is 
 equally abhorrent to good sense, and devout feeling. 
 
 Mai. i. 14 
 
THE ROOK OF I'- W.M-. 93 
 
 d in its progress, by fear of divine dis- 
 robation: 
 
 ' ; For tool< rush in where angels fear to tread." 
 
 There is usually, in such cases, the prevalence 
 of some powerful passion, th<* boistgrousness 
 of whose rage drowns, for the time, the sug- 
 gestions of caution, and, not im frequently, 
 the authoritative voice of God himseH*. Until 
 the storm -hall have subsided, and the charm 
 of novelty ceased to captivate, it i? vain to 
 hope, that attention will be seriously turned 
 to ;» diligent comparison of such courses with 
 the word of God. There is, notw ithstanding, 
 entertained a confident hope, that the time in 
 which impious license has been taken with the 
 Book of Psalms, has nearlv expired. Whether 
 there be danger of a corruption of worship, 
 in the instance before us, or a ground of 
 charge for taking away any portion of the 
 w ord of God from its appointed use, deserves 
 the careful inquiry of all concerned. 
 
 The Holy One of Israel has < icin t d his 
 institutions with a solemnity, whi< p] thibits 
 profane intrusion. The whole lin )f his 
 mountain is most holy. Hear what ' e says, 
 and lay it to heart: ' What thing soever 1 
 command you, observe to do it: tin 
 not add thereto, nor diminish from i:.* Add 
 thou not unto his words, lest he reprove 
 and thou be found a liar.f This people d 
 
 * Deut. xii. 32. t Prov. sxx. 6 
 
94 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 near me with their mouth, and with their lips 
 do honour me, but have removed their heart 
 far from me, and their fear toward me is 
 taught by the precept of men.* But in vain 
 do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the 
 commandments of men.f Why are ye sub- 
 ject to ordinances, after the commandments 
 and doctrines of menr'J Whatever show of 
 wisdom there may be in such, the church's 
 Head pronounces it will-worship, and disho- 
 nourable to God, as well as dangerous to us: 
 for, saith ' the Root and Offspring of David, 
 the bright and morning Star — I testify unto 
 every man that heareth the words of the pro- 
 phecy of this book, If any man shall add 
 unto these things, God shall add unto him the 
 plagues that are written in this book: And if 
 any man shall take away from the words of 
 the book of this prophecy, God shall take 
 away his part out of the book of life, and out 
 of the holy city, and from the things that are 
 written in this book.'^ 
 
 These scriptures, impressively, teach the 
 danger of encroachment on the instituted 
 ordinances of God. From them, and other 
 portions which speak a similar language, we 
 learn, that in matters of religious worship, it 
 is not sufficient authority for a practice, that 
 it is not expressly forbidden. The worship- 
 
 Msa. xxix. 13. J Col. ii. 20—22. 
 
 I Matt. xv. 9. §Rev. xxii. 16. 18, 19. 
 
THE BOOK or PS \LM fti 9fl 
 
 bould hi prepared to answer, in a satis- 
 r, should God propose to bim 
 question, Who hath required this at 
 hand! It will not be satisfactory to say, 
 
 " The Lord has not explicitly prohibited such 
 observances." — Were this plea of justifica- 
 tion admissible, Rome might add rites in- 
 numerable to her already cumbrous load, and, 
 at the bar of God, stand acquitted in her im- 
 pious impositions. Jehovah's prohibitory law- 
 is express; Thou shalt not add thereto, nor 
 diminish from it* 
 
 On this subject, we have more than mere 
 verbal prohibitions. To succeeding ages, 
 God has set up actual monuments of instruc- 
 tion, and of warning. The fact of Xadab and 
 Abihu is full in point. In their character, 
 there does not appear to have been any inten- 
 tional opposition to the institutions of God. 
 Thoughtlessly, perhaps, they brought, instead 
 of the sacred fire from the altar, common fire 
 from the hearth. This appears to have been 
 a very trivial deviation from the appointed 
 order; but it was a deviation; and God, by an 
 alarming- stroke, taught Israel that he would 
 be sanctified in them that approached to wor- 
 ship him, by a punctilious regard to ever) 
 part of his institutions. j The death ofUzz.\J 
 impresses on the mind a similar lesson. The 
 apparent smallness of the deviation, and purity 
 
 Dcut. xii. 32. t Lev, x. 1—3. i 2 Sum. vi. 6. 7 
 
96 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 of intention, never, in the sight of God, con- 
 secrated an invasion of his prerogative, the 
 exclusive right of settling the matter and the 
 forms of his own worship. Uzza was pious, 
 and being actuated by a very laudable mo- 
 tive, the safety of the ark of God, he took 
 hold of it. But this was not required of him, 
 and his life was forfeited by his devout teme- 
 rity. God is still the same; strange fire, and 
 the intrusion of an unhallowed hand upon his 
 ark, are as offensive now r , as formerly they 
 were. His glory he will not give to another.* 
 Whether are those who use the Scripture 
 Psalms, or those who employ our multiplied 
 hymn books, in the worship of God, most in 
 danger, in the case of psalmody, of unwarrant- 
 able innovation? Let this be a question, not 
 of disputation, but of conscientious inquiry. 
 
 Upon no rite, institution, or truth, will the 
 enlightened Christian lay an undue weight; 
 but he will try to give each that importance 
 which it deserves. In the present state of 
 man, forms are as necessary to the public ex- 
 pression of the devotions of the heart, as are 
 the body and its members to the soul, in the 
 actions of life. The question then is, shall 
 we take forms of our own device, or, shall 
 we be contented with what God has given? 
 Moses was faithful in all his house. He acted 
 according to prescription, and ventured not 
 
 * I?a. xlii. 8. 
 
THK BOOK OF P> ILM9« 97 
 
 to add, or to diminish. The singing of the 
 Mmighty's praise, in compositions of inspi- 
 ration, is an appointment of God; the doing 
 so, in human composures, is not a divine or- 
 dinance. It has not been, it cannot, be proved 
 to be God's institution. Hear, then, the pro- 
 hibition, and apply it, Touch not the unclean 
 Hung. 
 
 THE ARC.l MENTS EMPLOYED TO SET ASIDE 
 
 the Book of Psalms, from its place in 
 the psalmody of the ihl'rch, are not 
 s unsatisfactory, but frequently 
 impious. This is my fifth reason for the 
 continued use of Scripture songs. Bad argu- 
 ments are presumptive proof, that the cause 
 they subserve is not good. When a style of 
 >ning, inconsistent with due reverence for 
 the sacred writings, is uniformly adopted to 
 recommend a measure, we ought to doubt the 
 propriety of that measure. For a hundred 
 years past, have the advocates of a new psal- 
 mody spoken a language, in vindicating it, 
 which is afflictive to hear. What say you, 
 Brethren, of the cause, intellect, and moral 
 feeling, of those who could speak, and write, 
 in the manner stated below ?* It will be re- 
 
 * ,; Our psalmody — cloth not only fiat our devotion, but 
 too often awakens our regret, and touches all the springs 
 of uneasiness within us. I have been long convinced, that 
 one great occasion of this evil arises from the matter and 
 words to which we confine all our songs. Some of them 
 are almost opposite to the spirit of the gospel : — Hence it 
 to pass, that when spiritual affections are excited 
 
 
98 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 collected, that when Dr. Watts wrote the pre- 
 face to his hymns, the Book of Psalms wa- 
 used in the churches. 
 
 within us, and our souls are raised a little above this earth 
 — we are checked on a sudden in our ascent towards heaven, 
 by some expressions that are — fit only to be sung in the 
 worldly sanctuary. When we are just entering into an 
 evangelic frame — the — line — which the clerk parcels out 
 unto us, hath something- in it so extremely Jewish and 
 cloudy, that it darkens our sight of God the Saviour. Thus, 
 by keeping too close to David in the house of God, the 
 vail of Moses is thrown over our hearts. While we are 
 kindling into divine love — some dreadful curse against 
 men is proposed to our lips ; as, Ps. lxix. 26 — 28.; which 
 is so contrary to the new commandment of loving our ene- 
 mies. — Some sentences of the Psalmist — may compose our 
 spirits to seriousness, — but we meet with a following line — 
 that breaks off our song in the midst; our consciences are 
 affrighted, lest we should speak a falsehood unto God: thus 
 the powers of our souls are shocked on a sudden, and our 
 spirits ruffed — it almost always spoils the devotion — Our 
 lips speak nothing but the heart of David. Thus our hearts 
 are, as it were, forbid the pursuit of the song, and then 
 the harmony and the worship grow dull of necessity. Many 
 ministers, and many private Christians, have long groaned 
 under this inconvenience — there are a thousand lines in it 
 — the Book of Psalms — which were not made for a church 
 in our days to assume as its own. — I should rejoice to see — 
 David converted into a Christian : but because I cannot per- 
 suade others to attempt this glorious work, I have suffered 
 myself to be persuaded to begin it. : '* Having finished the 
 Imitation of the Psalms, by which he proposed to convert 
 David into a Christian, the Doctor says, " If an author s 
 opinion may be taken, he esteems it the greatest work that 
 ever he has published, or ever hopes to do, for the i 
 the church* 
 
 • There are many hundred verses in that book, (of Psalm-) 
 which a Christian cannot properly assume in singing 
 Ps. lxviii. 13. 16. and lxxxiv. 3."o7— •• Ps. i: 
 
 ; 
 
1 HE BOOK 01 PSALMS. 99 
 
 Upon the sentiments quoted in the margin, 
 1 shall make but little comment. Did they 
 not live in the writings of the authors, and, 
 
 Ps. cix. '•• o f\ ' of ' ■ •«! : . thai \h> y hardT 
 the ton Uower of the blej 
 
 " By that tim< Christian psalmody — 
 
 the composure cj d hardly be called inspired or divim f — I 
 could nev< r n< rsuade myself that tlie best way to raise a 
 devout frame in plain Christ i bring n hag or 
 
 caplainj into bur and let him lead, and dictate 
 
 orship in kit off royalty, or in the long 
 of a field of battle. ,": " I Iiave collected and disposed the 
 most useful verses of this Psalm, (119th. See the note be- 
 fore it in the Imitation) — But the verses are much trans- 
 posed, to attain some degree of connexion.'" — Such were 
 the sentiments, and such is the language of Dr. Watts, 
 concerning the Book of Psalms. Hear another advo- 
 cate of human inventions : 
 
 " If we were to adhere strictly to the Old Testament 
 psalmody, we cannot he said to do any thins: in the name, 
 of the Lord Jesus, much less to irive thanks unto God and 
 the Father, by him. No mention is therein made of the 
 Father as a distinct and special object of our devotion, nor 
 of the Son. as being the appointed way of our acc< 
 him.vj — Whether th< se Psalms, (menitoncd^ 1 Cor.xh 
 were the effect of previous study and inspiration united, or 
 of immediati e certainly not designed 
 
 to inspire them (the converts to the gospel) icilh 
 ration\\ and respect for the Psalms of David.'T ' ; Any 
 person — will quickly perceive how remote psaJms and 
 hymns, formed upon it (the orrhodox Nicene creed) would 
 
 om the — doctrine of the Old Testament " *■ > 
 I think it (the introduction of the Psalms of David into the 
 
 ■ay on Psalmodv, Works. Vol. 7. pp.7, 8. 
 
 he Imitation, Works, Vol. 7. p. 24. 
 
 • v. bo ku ire I me, <-aiu the persecutor Sateminus, u which 
 itus replied — All the scripture that is in- 
 lilner. The maityrs then revered the Pa 
 David. 
 
 ILatta, .n.5i. 
 
100 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 alas ! constitute the animating principle of 
 that rage for " the meretricious ornaments" 
 of a shallow poetry, which has nearly ba- 
 nished an Inspired Psalm Book from the 
 church of God, I would not have permitted 
 them a place in my pages. You, brethren, 
 friends of the Bible, and advocates of its re- 
 putation, would not patiently listen to those 
 slanders, by which it is misrepresented. Yet, 
 indelicate, and — can you find a softer epithet 
 
 Christian church) was very honourable to the cause of 
 Christ. — It deprived him of — divine honour — It deprived 
 the asserters of his deity of all opportunity of bearing tes- 
 timony to it in that part of their worship — It decided 
 clearly in favour of that tenet of Arianism, that divine 
 worship was to be paid only to the Father, arid so had a 
 direct tendency — to make heresy triumphant!!!" u This 
 usage spread — and it is no wonder that it spread speedily 
 and extensively in the fourth century, an age devoted to 
 Arianism."* The pages of this writer are crowded with 
 much more to the same purpose. Listen to another — 
 
 " About this time (fourth century) the Psalms of David 
 were first introduced. — They were brought in by Jbians, 
 and not by orthodox Christians — spread extensively — The 
 principal reason was, because this century became devoted 
 to Arianism. "f And, repeats another, whose pages are far 
 below criticism, and who would not have been noticed 
 here, were it not for the company in which he is found — 
 " By recommending the Psalms of David — their minds 
 might be gradually led from the doctrine of a divine Sa- 
 viour — The Psalms of David were properly suited to such 
 a perversion of truth."; — Such is the style in which all the 
 public advocates of modern hymns have spoken of the 
 Book cf inspired Psalms, from Dr. Watts, in the beginning 
 of the eighteenth century, down to the author at Newark, 
 Ohio, in 1816. 
 
 v Latta. p. 77. \ Freeman, p. 15, : Baird, p. St. 
 
I 111. BOOK OF PS \L\I-. 10) 
 
 than impious? — if you can, use it. arid I re- 
 tain, and repeat — inddicati as are these rhap- 
 sodic-. the\ enter into the special pleadimJfc' 
 by which Dr. Watts introduced to noticejjr 
 productions, and by which the friends of his 
 scheme have supported it. 
 
 Yes. Dr. Watts, with all the imposing forms 
 of his sanctity, -poke as we have heard of his 
 own and of inspired compositions. With his 
 piety f have nothing- to do. 1 hope it will be 
 found, that he was really devout, and, that 
 like others of the redeemed, he, through the 
 blood of the cross, was pardoned and ac- 
 cepted, by that God, of whose word he so 
 lightly spoke. Most willingly would I seek 
 an apology for his modesty, and his reverence 
 of God. But where is it to be found? Shall 
 we have recourse to bodily infirmities, or, to 
 that mental imbecility, from w Inch so few par- 
 takers of frail humanity are exempt? In that 
 state of intellect, in which a man can per- 
 suade himself, that he is metamorphosed into 
 a tea-pot, he may, perhaps, innocently ima- 
 gine, that the compositions of his pen are 
 more divinely excellent than those of inspired 
 prophets. But while this admission of charity 
 shields his motives, it condemns the madi 
 of his project. I cannot, however, be per- 
 suaded to extend the admission so far as to 
 allow, that those multitudes who have entered 
 into the views of the good Doctor, were 
 illy under the influence of hypochondriacal 
 9* 
 
102 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 affections. And, if they were, would it not 
 
 be accommodating their caprice too far, to 
 
 db jifcdulge them, without animadversion, to 
 
 \ ^fcish from her solemn praise the inspired 
 
 hymns of Zion? # 
 
 Are you prepared to admit, that, " if we 
 adhere to the Book of Psalms, we cannot be 
 said to do any thing in the name of the Re^ 
 deemer?" Did, then, a strict adherence to 
 the doctrines of this book, which so abun- 
 dantly testifies of Christ, lead the worshipper 
 to an absolute God — a consuming fire? Was 
 not Messiah, since the fall of man, the only 
 way to the Father? ' Call now, if there be 
 any that will answer thee; and to which of 
 the saints wilt thou turn ?'* Who of them 
 was ever, in person or in worship, accepted 
 through any name but that of Christ ?f Did 
 they not, under every economy, contemplate 
 him as wounded for their transgressions^ In 
 their sacrificed victims, devout worshippers, 
 by faith, beheld Messiah, the Christ, cut off, 
 but not for himself !J 
 
 It is remarkable with what front these 
 writers could, in various forms, repeat, that 
 " there is no distinct mention of the Father, 
 in the Book of Psalms, as a distinct and spe- 
 cial object of devotion." Had an aversion 
 to this Book prevented them from reading 
 
 * Job v. 1. t Acts iv. 12, 
 
 I Isa. liii, 5. Dan. ix. 26. Ps. xl. 6, 7. 
 
;ok Of PS ULMS, IOJ 
 
 the second Psalm ? Who is it that says, Thou 
 my Son? And to whom is the address 
 
 wader Yes, yes; the doctrine of the Tri- 
 nity was well known to the approved wor- 
 shippers of God, from the iir>t, and is verj 
 distinctly exhibited in many a Psalm.* And 
 was, as these advocates say, " the Son, as the 
 way to the father, unknown to the and 
 saint^r"' We hope the time is rapidly passing 
 away when such things shall be believed. 
 Enoch, a cotemporary with Adam, prophe- 
 sied of the Saviourf — Abraham saw his day, 
 and was gladj — Job spoke of his Redeemer, 
 whom he knew, with the precision of a New 
 Testament writer^ — Moses esteemed the re- 
 proach of Christ greater riches than the trea- 
 sures of Egypt|| — David describes him, in hi; 
 sufferings, in his exaltation, and in his dispen- 
 sations, in these divine songs. ^ which, I f 
 an unhappy prejudice has pre vented some 
 masters in our Israel 'from understanding. 
 And yet, wonderful to tell, these saints I 
 nothing of this personage, as the way to the 
 Father! Did these writers understand I 
 Confession which they subscribed; and were 
 they sincere, when they professed to believe 
 its articles, and vowed to teach its doctrines 1 
 This document teaches, that "The justi: 
 
 . Btft, 45th, oUx. 110th, *cc. 
 Jude 14. § Job \i\. 25- 
 
 : John viii. 56. |l Heb, xi. 26. 
 
 Ps. xxii. Ixy^i 
 
104 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 tion of believers under the Old Testament was, 
 in all respects, one and the same with the jus- 
 tification of believers under the New Testa- 
 ment* This symbol, in the same chapter, 
 teaches, that " Faith, receiving and resting 
 upon Christ and his righteousness, is the alone 
 instrument of justification." But, when a 
 point is to be gained, subscriptions, vows, 
 consistency, and truth, all in unison, oppose, 
 too frequently, but a feeble obstacle to the 
 unhallowed passions of imperfect man. 
 
 How bitterly is it to be lamented, that mi- 
 nisters of the word of God should vituperate 
 a most interesting portion of that word! 
 Holding it forth, as depriving the Son of God 
 of divine honour — directly tending to make he- 
 resy triumphant — as favourable to Arianism, 
 and as properly suited to such a perversion of 
 truth! By such vituperation, the Imitation 
 and hymns of Dr. Watts have been forced 
 upon the unwary; and, so far as a defence of 
 the usurpation is undertaken, it is made by 
 the same weapons. Say, ye who fear God, 
 and tremble at his word, is not the cause a 
 desperate one, that — I will not say requires, 
 but, that tolerates, such support? To be told 
 all this, to hear it repeated, and to see it pre- 
 sented in varied forms, by men occupying the 
 place of ministers in the church of the Lord, 
 and eulogized by others, and remain un- 
 
 * Conf. of the Presby. Church, chap. xi. 
 
}. BOOl OF »'- IL1 
 
 moved, would argue a 
 
 ii no virt ! wish to 
 
 characterized, h 
 would call forth a well-tempered ind '. 
 
 place of indignation, 
 and ■ ; ' in the I iffliction. 
 
 These sentiments, indeed, appear to carry 
 >nd the regions whi aken 
 
 saint- v. that, when I read 
 
 them, 1 elf on the con tin I 
 
 infidelity, Has ti >ken 
 
 more reproachfully of the Book of P< 
 
 which I now review ) The 
 opinions are so often repeated, turned up in 
 so many forms, and appear in so main con- 
 nexion-, that we are forbidden to ascribe them 
 to a I . an oversight in composi- 
 
 tion. Is it not their direct tendency to cor- 
 rupt the mind, and shake the public faith 
 the inspired page? If. indeed, any portion of 
 the Book of Psalms have such tendencies as 
 have been ascribed to it, ought it not to be 
 torn from our Bibles, and excluded from our 
 churches: Tell me, is it not dangerous to 
 . as well as to sing, those port a rip- 
 
 . that " darken our sigltt of God the Sa- 
 viour: — that tend to <rive heresy a triumph, 
 and that were properly suited to a perversion 
 of truth r Was it well done to imit 
 a book: [f the original be so da 
 can the Imitation be safe : By what I 
 shall we know those portions of the war, 
 
106 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 God, that have such evil tendency, from those 
 parts that are still profitable? And how ac- 
 count for the fatal omission of the great Pro- 
 phet of the church, and of his inspired mes- 
 sengers, in never hinting to us these dangers 
 from the use of the Book of Psalms? These 
 perplexing questions crowd upon us — They 
 should have been obviated by those Evangeli- 
 cal Illuminati, who have cast such a shade of 
 doubt on this venerable book, which prophets 
 composed, which apostles admired, and which 
 saints in every age have most devoutly sung. 
 That such sentiments were indulged, among 
 any of the professed disciples of Christianity, 
 even in the heat of angry controversy, can be 
 accounted for only by the fact already men-':; 
 tioned, — the progress of infidelity. The pe- 
 riod when the opinions of Watts were broach- 
 ed, was the age in which the publications of 
 Herbert, Shaftsbury, and Bolingbroke, came 
 abroad, recommended by the fascinations of 
 wit, of eloquence, and a pretension to lofty 
 thought. From causes already mentioned, it 
 was the age, too, of extinguished zeal, and lit- 
 tle scriptural religion. The flood-gates of in- 
 fidelity were raised, the torrent increased, and, 
 in its impetuous course, carried public opinion 
 along. Its deadly waters washed our shores. 
 Untaught to confide in ourselves, and to draw 
 upon our own resources, we depended as much 
 on Europe for the opinions we should enter- 
 tain, as for the robes we should wear. Poli- 
 
I E BOOK OF PS iLMS. 107 
 
 revolution- unsettle the public mind, lead 
 annexions unknown before, and afford fa- 
 cilities for the active apostles of error to ac- 
 complish their designs. The history of our 
 s, and of our country, amply verifies tin- 
 remark. 
 
 When the controversy of which we now 
 treat, was lirst agitated in this country, the 
 Imposing port assumed by infidelity may u 
 well remembered, while as a monster it stalked 
 our streets. That was the "Age of Reason." 
 The public ear was familiarized to the sup- 
 posed contradictions of the word of God, 
 But now that these tumultuous waters are as- 
 suaged, that the reign of infidelity has ended, 
 and that we live in the age of Bibles, when 
 v one seems ready to atone for the wan- 
 derings of other years, I cannot persuade 
 
 If that, upon serious reflection, the real 
 friend of the word of God, will suffer an\ 
 portion of it to remain under the unblessed 
 charge of " checking us in our ascent to hea- 
 ven — darkening our views of God the Savi- 
 our, or of directly tending to make heresj 
 triumphant!" Let them, then — it is devoutly 
 hoped they will — restore the Book of Psalms 
 to its legitimate place in the solemnities of the 
 saictuarv. While such declarations, as those 
 we have noticed, stand prominently on record 
 again-t this sacred Book, let us not give it 
 up, lest we be understood to give them the sanc- 
 
 of our approbation. Let it be retained 
 
108 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 where it is, and be brought back where it is 
 not, till something more satisfactory than ani- 
 mated declamation, shall be adduced against 
 it; and till the Spirit of inspiration, in his 
 future efforts, shall have surpassed in excel- 
 lence what he has already done. 
 
 To induce to this, at the present day, it is 
 not necessary to dilate on the testimony of 
 New Testament writers, in favour of the evan- 
 gelical character of the Book of Psalms. A 
 reference to what has already been said, is 
 deemed sufficient; and, were human authority 
 deemed requisite, we might produce that of 
 the whole church of God in former times : for, 
 in no age of her existence, except that of i 
 Infidel reason, did any of her sons venture J 
 to speak in the style on which we have ani- I 
 madverted. The testimony of a few moderns 
 of reputation, from among many others no 
 less respectable, may not be deemed imper- 
 tinent. 
 
 The first I adduce, is that of the late Dr. | 
 Home. " David's invaluable Psalms/' says 
 he, u convey those comforts to others which 
 they afforded to himself. — They present reli- 
 gion to us in the most engaging dress; com- 
 municating truths to us which philosophy 
 could never investigate, in a style which 
 poetry can never equal. Indited under the 
 influence of Him, to whom all hearts art 
 known, and all events foreknown, the\ 
 -mankind in all situations. — He who hath 
 
THE BOOK OF P3ALI 109 
 
 i their excellencies will desire to taste 
 in, and he \\ ho tastes them often 
 
 will relish them best.''* Much more Inth the 
 Doctor finely spoken to the same purpose. 
 
 My next witness is Dr. Scott, a man who 
 feels, as well as writes of the "Force of Truth." 
 — "There i- nothing, says thifi excellent 
 man, u in true religion, doctrinal, experi- 
 mental and practical, hut will present itself 
 to our attention while we meditate upon the 
 Psalms. And hardly an occasion of praise 
 and thanksgiving can be conceived, to which 
 some portion of them, faithfully rendered in 
 poetical versions, may not be applied with 
 peculiar enemy and propriety: and indeed 
 the Christian's use of them in the closet, and 
 the minister's in the pulpit, will generally in- 
 crease with the growing eocperience of the 
 ■r of true religion in their own hearts." j 
 
 1 next adduce the sentiments of the Rev. 
 Robert Davidson, D. D. late professor in, and 
 for a time at the head of, Dickinson College. 
 He was a reputable minister of the Presby- 
 terian church. " Do Christians," inquires 
 the Doctor, " feel it their duty to celebrate 
 the attributes of the adorable Jehovah, and to 
 praise him for his wonderful works of crea- 
 tion, providence, and redemption f — Do they 
 delight to dwell on the precious promises of 
 God to men, especially the promises of life 
 
 ■ Prel\ to his Comment, t Scott's Pref. to the Psalms. 
 10 
 
110 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 and salvation through a Redeemer? — Do they 
 wish to repeat hymns that express in a lively 
 manner all the various affections of a pious 
 mind, in all the different circumstances of 
 life, — in scenes of trouble and in scenes of 
 joy.' — What can be better adapted to all 
 these purposes than the Book of Psalms, — 
 the production of the pens of inspired pro- 
 phets of ancient times? Had the author been 
 disposed to omit any of this most valuable 
 collection, he would not have known where 
 to begin. "* But quotations of this de- 
 scription would be endless. I add only 
 another : 
 
 " Of all the books of the Old Testament," 
 says Dr. Horsley, " the Book of Psahn> is 
 the most universally read; but, I fear, as 
 little as any understood. This cannot be 
 ascribed to any extraordinary obscurity of 
 these sacred songs; for of all the prophetic 
 parts of the Scriptures they are certainly the 
 most perspicuous. But it is owing, partly, I 
 fear, to some dullness of the faculties of the I 
 natural man upon spiritual subjects. — There is 
 not a page of this Book of Psalms in which* 
 the pious reader will not find his Saviour, if he 
 reads with a view of finding him; and it was 
 but a just encomium of it that came from the 
 pen of one of the early Fathers, that it is a 
 complete system of divinity for the use and 
 
 ■ Pref. to his version of the Psalm- 
 
IHE BOOK OF PSALMS. I I 1 
 
 edification of the common people of the 
 Christian church/'* 
 
 It is cheering to find men of solid erudi- 
 tion, of refined taste, and deep-toned piety, in 
 different countries, and of different communi- 
 ties, unite in asserting the excellence of this 
 portion of the sacred volume, which novices 
 in literature and godly experience affect to 
 despise. And whether these sentiments of a 
 Home, of a Horsley, of a Scott, of a David- 
 son, and others of a similar cast; or those of 
 W atts, Latta, and their coadjutors, exhibit 
 most of the spirit of enlightened devotion, 
 may be safely left to the friends of the Bible 
 to decide. 
 
 But before leaving this subject, a word of 
 apology may be deemed necessary, for drag- 
 ging the foibles of eminent men to light, and 
 disturbing the ashes of the dead, by exposing 
 their, mistakes before the world. 1 can reply- 
 to suggestions of this kind, with sincerity, that 
 \ it is not the pleasure derived from such expo- 
 sure that induces to the attempt. When ac- 
 companied with no evil consequence, I cheer- 
 fully recognize the obligation of the adage; 
 I De mortuis nihil, nisi bonum.j The obliga- 
 tion to a similar delicacy, toward the living, 
 is as readily confessed. But if the dead, by 
 their works, continue to vitiate the purity of 
 divine worship, and to disturb the peace of 
 
 Rp Horslev's Prof \ Speak no evil of the i 
 
112 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 the church of God, let them bear the blame. 
 And if, by the ill-advised kindness of sur- 
 viving friends, those men and their works be 
 dragged from their obscurities, and be ob^ 
 truded on public attention, let the forfeiture 
 be paid by those officious friends.* 
 
 Those men, on whose sentiments I have 
 animadverted, succeeded, by their composi- 
 tions, in excluding the songs of inspiration 
 from the psalmody of the church. It is my . 
 wish those songs should be restored. I am 1 
 therefore justifiable in calling public attention 
 to those reasons that recommended a measure 
 which I believe to be improper ; and in ex- 
 posing that impious banter, which, in an age ] 
 
 * After reading Dr Lattas Discourse on Psalmody, and«j 
 not a little surprised at its sentiments and reasoning, upon 
 turning- to the Christian's Magazine, my surprise wcis ac- 
 companied by pain, to find that the learned and orthodox 
 editors of that respectable work, devoted their pages to 
 eulogize that gentleman, not only as a man, and a scho!ar r 
 but as a divine; and/ as if to make it more consph. 
 in a marginal note, to adduce his " Discourse on Psalmo- 
 dy," as a specimen of his talent, in justification o: 
 eulogy. No less painful is it to find such a work receive j 
 the high commendation of such a man as the 1 
 and excellent Professor at Princeton, in his Life of Dr. « 
 Rodgers. It is hoped none of these gentlemen were really 
 acquainted with the true character of that work; but rest- 
 ing upon what they considered the character of their 
 friend, unwittingly transferred the reputation of the man 
 to his book. Their testimony may be employed, in a fu- 
 ture day, to give currency to the very exceptionable 
 of that Discourse. To correct the evil is a duty th. 
 to themselves, to the church of God. and to the ca- 
 truth. 
 
111!. B0< A -. I 13 
 
 of infidelity, was too I id effecting 
 
 a practical preference of the word of man to 
 that of God. I trust my attempt shall not be 
 j^n vain. My appeal is made to Christian 
 consistency; and it is made in a day a 
 markable for liberal exertions to circulate the 
 word of God, as a late period was for undis- 
 guised opposition to the authenticity and di- 
 vine inspiration of that blessed hook. 
 
 Will not, then, the genuine friend of the 
 Bible arise; and in manly, in evangelical, 
 consistency, declare to the world, and to the 
 church of God, that he does not believe any 
 portion of the lively oracles of the God of 
 truth, " has a tendency to make heresy tri- 
 umphant,*' or " that it checks us in our as- 
 cent toward heaven, throws the vail of Moses 
 over our hearts, darkens our sight of God 
 the Saviour, and is opposite to the spirit of 
 the gospel." It is time to awake from the 
 slumber of a mere accommodating policy, 
 and to tell the world, these are opinions you 
 do not hold. Convince us, then, that you 
 are sincere. Recall the Book of Psalms 
 from its exile, and restore it to its pristine 
 honours. This will be an act of magnani- 
 mous policy, worthy the age of Bibles; an 
 act which the Spirit of God will approve, and 
 in which the church on earth and saints in 
 heaven will rejoice. 
 
 The evil consequences of supplying 
 
 THE PLACE OF ScilIPTURE PSALMS, WITH 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 human compositions, furnish a sixth reason 
 against it. I am forbidden by my prescribed 
 limits, to expand the subject much farther. 
 It requires, however, but little reflection to 
 perceive the danger. The consequences are 
 indeed extensively felt; and, if the practice 
 be continued, they have not yet reached their 
 bounds. 
 
 The Book of Psalms has been undervalued. 
 A language, better fitting the lips of deists 
 than of Christians, has been countenanced; 
 and the church of the Redeemer, rent enough 
 before, has been still more divided by the 
 measure now opposed. The preference of a 
 human to a divine Book of Psalms, has led 
 to the maintenance of opinions respecting the 
 dispensation and exercise of grace, under the 
 Old Testament, totally at variance with truth, 
 and contradictory to the public standards of 
 the Reformation churches. It has forced the 
 advocates of that preference to assume a po- 
 sition, that deprives the church of God at 
 large of his word, as the ground of faith, ex- 
 cept those of her members who may be 
 learned in the original tongues, in which the 
 Scriptures were first written. For, if as faith- 
 ful a version of the Bible as can be obtained, 
 has no claim to be called the Word of God, 
 as some suppose, then the faith of the great 
 majority of saints, in every age, has been 
 built on a sandy foundation, the word of man. 
 And, finally, the measure opens wide the door 
 
i Mr. BOOK OF PS ILMS. 1 15 
 
 for introducing, and propagate 
 
 The fact, that hymns of human composition, 
 admitted into the psalmody of the church, 
 tend to the corruption of religion, is scarcely 
 
 deniable. Admit them once, where shall we 
 stop: Every fanciful scribbler who may be 
 permitted to ascend a pulpit, and whose in- 
 flated vanity induces the belief that he i- a 
 pott, will urge the use of his hymn-, " the 
 spontaneous effusions of his affections," com- 
 posed, as he may imagine, in adaptation to 
 his discourse. Then, instead of a few fe- 
 males, on a particular day, like Paulas of 
 Samosata, he may hear the whole choir, from 
 day to day, sing his, in place of the praises 
 of God. 
 
 Examine the hymn books of the respective 
 communities, which have laid aside the Bible 
 Psalm-, and you will find their peculiar tenets 
 interwoven with their song. According to 
 present sentiments and practice, it is generally 
 in the power of every minister, to adopt into 
 his congregation what hymn books he may 
 deem meet; and thus employ, if unsound in 
 principle, a powerful mean o{ seduction from 
 the path of truth. With what heart, with 
 what kind of faith, can the worshipper, in 
 such a state of things, enter the house of God f 
 At this day, in many churches, there is no 
 certainty in what collection your song of 
 praise shall be found: whether it shall be 
 
116 REASCtaS FOR RETAINING 
 
 strictly Calvinistic in sentiment, or replete 
 with all the horrors, and all the nonsense, of 
 the high-toned Hopkinsian school ; whether, 
 in it, these shall be qualified by an admixture 
 of more truth, or whether it shall be a mere 
 evanescent effusion, depends on circumstances 
 the most uncertain, to the majority of wor- 
 shippers. This is an unhappy state of things: 
 for it a remedy should be speedily sought. 
 
 It would be worth while to spend some la- 
 bour to ascertain what has been actually done 
 in this way to corrupt religious opinion. The 
 inquirer should go back to a date more an- 
 cient than the present age. As respects our 
 own country, it is peculiarly interesting. It 
 has been said, that " the city of God pre- 
 sented no street of purer gold than the New 
 England church." It is now a desolation. 
 The rude bowlings of the worst of heresy, i^ 
 the music at its head. How is the gold be- 
 come dim! Had the sentiments of Dr. Watts, 
 on the doctrine of the Trinity, and his un- 
 hallowed language respecting the Book of 
 Psalms, any influence in opening the door for 
 Socinianism ? The Doctor's system was a 
 compound of Sabellianism, Arianism, and 
 Socinianism. His system not only denies the 
 eternal Sonship of Jesus Christ, but also his 
 deity, as he is a person distinct from the Fa- 
 ther. The acute and profound President 
 wards has, in a number of arguments, refuted 
 this heresv of Dr. Watts, and at the same time 
 
THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 117 
 
 shown, tlmt it destroys a belief in the scrip- 
 tural doctrine of the Trinity. According lo 
 Watts' hypothesis, it is a trinity of n 
 
 united in one individual person, and not of 
 persons in one essence.* 
 
 Did Dr. Watts attempt, directly or indi- 
 rectly, to transfuse his peculiar views on this 
 subject into his religious poetry? Some think 
 he introduced it, not very indirectly, into his 
 Imitation of the Psalms. Considering the 
 strong propensity of man to propagate his 
 sentiments, it would indeed be strange, if he 
 did not attempt it. It is a fact, not admitting 
 of doubt, that where his compositions were 
 first, and have been longest used, in the psal- 
 mody of the church, Socinianism has made 
 the most extensive progress. Error has its 
 power as well as truth, and like it presses to 
 consistency. Dr. Watts rejected the Bible 
 doctrine of the Trinity; he cannot be sup- 
 posed, intentionally, to contradict his settled 
 principles, in any of his poetic compositions. 
 His Imitation and hymns, with all their per- 
 fections and imperfections, were adopted in 
 the psalmody of many churches, to the ex- 
 clusion of Scripture songs: among those 
 churches the Socinian heresies have exten- 
 siyely spread. — What is the connexion in 
 New England, between these composures of 
 Dr. Watts, and the existing opposition to or- 
 thodox doctrine? I leave this question to be 
 
 * See Appendix, No. 2 
 
118 REASONS FOR RETAINING 
 
 answered by them, whom it more immediately 
 concerns. Whatever others may imagine, to 
 me it seems deserving of attention.* God 
 once said of Ephrairn, He is joined to his idols, 
 let him alone. In avenging sin, he frequently 
 punishes spiritual crime with spiritual plagues. 
 ' My people would not hearken to my voice; 
 and Israel would none of me. So I gave them 
 up to their own hearts' lusts ; and they walked 
 in their own counsels. 'j* 
 
 * The progress of error is gradual, and often the 
 avowed friends of truth prepare the way for heresy. The 
 present extensive denial of the eternal Sons/iip of Jesus 
 Christ, is to be viewed in this light. Destroy the faith of 
 the church in the eternity of his filiation, and she will 
 soon deny the eternity of his person. The metaphysical 
 acumen of most professors, will not enable them to dis- 
 tinguish between sonship and personality. The standards 
 of the Presbyterian churches teach, that " the Son is eter- 
 nally begotten of the Father/' and that the personal pro- 
 perty of the Son is, to be begotten of the Father. De- 
 stroy the personal properly and you destroy the person. If 
 the personal property be not eternal, the person is not 
 eternal. Establish the former, and the latter will follow 
 of course. To bear down the doctrine of the Saviours 
 eternal filiation, the weight of the influence at Andover is 
 directed. The names of Drs. Morse, Emmons, and Grif- 
 fin, stand conspicuously recorded, as avowed enemies of 
 the truth, on this point. They mean not to deny the di- 
 vinity of their Redeemer: yet their principle leads that 
 way ; and, we have reason to fear, their disciples will be 
 more consistently wrong than themselves. The door for 
 the admission and spread of Socinianism, among the 
 churches, is rapidly and widely opening. Of this many 
 good men are not aware. See recommendations of a work 
 of the Rev. Ethan Smith, of Hopkinton, N. H. on the Cfta- 
 racier of Jesus Christ, and the Trinity. 
 
 t Ps. lxxxi. 11,12 
 
rHE BOOK OF PS ILMS. 1 19 
 
 Those, brethren, area summary of the rea- 
 sons by which I justify the continued use of 
 inspired songs, in the psalmody of the church, 
 
 in preference to human composures, however 
 excellent. We have seen that they were given 
 to the church of God by his own authority, 
 and were used with his approbation. The 
 Redeemer, and his inspired messengers, in- 
 stead of abrogating their use, did, by nume- 
 rous circumstances, whose language is not 
 easily misunderstood, recommend them to our 
 respect and pious veneration. — The matter of 
 these songs is divine, and admirably adapted 
 to the purpose of evangelical praise — They 
 are better than the best compositions of unin- 
 spired men; they are the word of God, — and 
 have been always dear to the saints. — The 
 proprietv of using hymns of human compo- 
 sure, in the sanctuary of God, to say the least, 
 is doubtful. The most prominent advocate- 
 of such hymns, in recommending them, and 
 in vindicating their claims, have spoken re- 
 proachfully of an important portion of the 
 sacred Word. The tendency of their admis- 
 sion, too, is most unpropitious to the purity 
 of religion, and the peace of the house of 
 God. 
 
120 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 * 
 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Scripture our only rule — Col. iii. 16. considered — Demands 
 answered — New mercies require a new song — Book 
 of Psalms abrogated — Cannot be sung in truth — May 
 sing as well as pray in our own words — Book of Psalms 
 obscure — Inadequate — Modern hymns more favourable to 
 revivals — More elegant in diction — Watts had as good a 
 right to make Psalms as David. 
 
 Dear Brethren, 
 
 THAT " the Scriptures of the Old and 
 New Testaments are the only rule to direct us 
 how we may glorify God, and enjoy him for 
 ever," is an article of the Protestant creed. — 
 In matters of faith and religious worship, to 
 the law and to the testimony, our appeal is 
 made. By the decision of the Holy Ghost, 
 speaking in and by the Scriptures, is the claim 
 of the Book of Psalms sustained, to its place 
 in the psalmody of our Zion. This is enough; 
 it matters little what ingenuity may be dis- 
 played in order to set aside that decision; 
 upon it the faith of the Christian should re- 
 pose. Those who contend for its banish- 
 ment, and the adoption of its rivals, can be 
 justified only by " passages of Scripture which 
 contain direct precept, plain undoubted ex- 
 
OfiJEC I [ONS CONSIDERED. 121 
 
 ; or at least some established principle, 
 from which their conclusion necessarily [lows 
 
 — We cannot be contented with gratuitous 
 assumptions, or ingenious analogies, which 
 have nothing to support them but human au- 
 thority. We must have a warrant, decided 
 and clear: a warrant which would be indubi- 
 table and satisfactory, if all books, excepting: 
 the Bible, were banished from the church."* 
 Such is the demand; such are the sentiments 
 of a fine writer, when contending against the 
 claims of Episcopacy. I adopt them as mine 
 when contending against the substitution of a 
 human for an inspired system of religious 
 -onus. And I shall be satisfied with an ex- 
 command of God, with an approved 
 example, or with a conclusion which necessa- 
 rily flows from an established principle, au- 
 thorizing such substitution. But with less, 
 no w ell-directed conscience can rest. Sophis- 
 try however acute, and pretension however 
 arrogant, will not be satisfactory.! Whether 
 
 • Miller's Letters. 
 
 t It is affirmed, that in Col. iii. 16. and in the parallel 
 eriptures, we have indubitable evidence of the divine right 
 <<f psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, of human compo- 
 sure. The word of Chris!, that is. according to a very 
 lame exposition, the gospel, or writings of the New Tes- 
 tament, exclusively, must dwell in us richly, and that with 
 a reference to our mutual improvement; which is effected, 
 by teaching one another, in the singing of psalms, hymns, 
 and spiritual songs ; which compositions not being found 
 in the Old, must be drawn from, and formed according to 
 the doctrines of the gospel, found in the New Testament 
 11 
 
122 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 a human system of psalms has a higher claim 
 than these can give, is now the subject of in- 
 quiry. 
 
 for there alone. l the word of Christ,' which is to consti- 
 tute the great matter of these compositions, is to be found, 
 being expressly distinguished by the apostle, in writing to 
 the Hebrews, from all former revelations." 
 
 To these assertions I make the following replies : — You 
 will justify me in remarking, in the first place, that it is 
 not true, that the "word of Christ,' or the gospel, is con- 
 fined, exclusively, to the writings of the New Testament. 
 One who well understood what the gospel was, informs us, 
 that it was preached unto Abraham ;f and that, to the 
 Antediluvians the righteousness of faith, of which Noah 
 was both an heir and a preacher, was made known. To 
 them Christ by his Spirit preached in the day of forbear- 
 ance, though now they occupy the place of imprisoned 
 spirits. •: If the Spirit of Christ preached to them, one 
 would reasonably conclude, they enjoyed the revelation of 
 ihe word of Christ. We are also certified, that the gospel 
 was preached to the Israelites in the wilderness. — Unto ui 
 was the gospel preached as well as unto them.§ How could 
 these writers presume to assert, that ;i where the apostle 
 writes immediately to the Jews themselves, he expressly 
 distinguishes the word of Christ from all former revela- 
 tions, made by Moses and the prophets" — " distinguishes 
 the gospel from all the revelations of the divine will, in 
 the Old Testament," — when that apostle informs those ver\ 
 people, and in that same epistle, that the gospel, in " the 
 revelation of the divine will in the Old Testament.'* was 
 preached to their fathers ? May not a suspicion, without 
 illiberally, exist, that men who write and talk at this rate, 
 are novices in the knowledge of what the gospel is ? But. 
 in every age of the church, teachers have been found, un 
 derstanding neither what they said, nor whereof they af- 
 firmed. 
 
 My second remark is this : — It is gratuitous to assert, 
 that in the Old Testament scriptures, psah?is, hymns, and 
 
 * See Latta, pp. 10—23. et alibi. t Gal. iii. 8. 
 
 J Heb. xi. 7. and 1 Pet. iii. 18—20. 2 Pet. ii. 5. § Heb. iv. 2. 
 
QBJEC ! IONS I ONSIDERED, I I I 
 
 The following very extraordinary demands 
 ire made of the friends of Scripture Psalms 
 in the church's worship; and it seems to 
 
 found. This is a pitiful plaj 
 
 \ liirir moi i the pari of some, and 
 
 a little more modesty on thai <-j other-, teaching them not 
 
 i on human ignorance, would induce them 
 
 to be ashamed of such paltry trick-. (Set a following note 
 
 My third remark is on the text, Col. iii. 1«V — It appears 
 <>th misunderstood and misapplied. Duties highh 
 
 tut. and the manner of performing them, are on- 
 joined. They are three. — An intimate and extensive ac- 
 quaintance with the doctrine of Christ : Let the word of 
 Christ dwell in you richly — Wisely promoting- each others 
 
 ition: In all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one 
 another — Praising God. with proper dispositions of heart, 
 in the use of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs / 
 psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, sinning with G 
 in your heart to the Lord. The celebration of the divine 
 
 tions, in suitable songs, wisely teaching and admo- 
 nishing one another, are duties demanded by God : and 
 that to discharge these duties aright, requires an extensive 
 acquaintance with the inspired page, our apostle teaches. 
 Christian readily acknowledge- : but the scripture 
 under consideration, neither requires the members of the 
 church to commence hym n- makers, nor authorizes the use 
 of such, in the church, when made. Psalms, and hymns, 
 and spiritual songs, are. indeed, to be sung; but whether 
 
 must be inspired, or may be uninspired, whether 
 from the Old. or from the New Testament, we must learn 
 from other portions of the sacred volume. On these points 
 this text is silent. The attempt to justify the expulsion of 
 the Book of Psalms, and the introduction of uninspired 
 \\\ mns, from these injunctions of the sacred writer, argiies 
 a remarkable perversity of intellect, not excused, even by 
 the unhappy punctuation of our version. I have said, un- 
 happy punctuation : for " through bad pointing this verse 
 
 very intelligible; the several members of it should 
 be distinguished thus : Let the doctrine of Christ dwell 
 richly among you : teaching and admonishing each at': 
 
124 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 admitted, that if these demands were satis- 
 fied, the claims of inspired songs would be at 
 least probable. We shall hear the demands, 
 examine them with candour, and satisfy them 
 if possible. 
 
 To maintain, it is said, the claim of the 
 Scripture Psalms, it should be shown that 
 the ivord of Christ, of which the apostle speaks, 
 Col. iii. 16. was so peculiarly restricted to 
 the Psalms of David, as to exclude from being 
 any part of that word, what was spoken by 
 himself and his apostles; — that it is usual for 
 the apostle Paul to call the Psalms of David, 
 psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; — that our 
 instructions, in these psalms and hymns, 
 should be drawn, not from the discourses of 
 the Saviour and his apostles, but from the 
 Old Testament Psalms; — and that the whole 
 worship of the Old Testament, songs of praise 
 included, was expressly offered up to the Fa- 
 ther, through Christ. But these things can 
 never be proved. The very reverse of them 
 is the truth.* 
 
 all wisdom; singing with grace in your hearts unto the 
 Lord, in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. — This arrange- 
 ment the original will not only bear, but it absolutely re- 
 quires it, and is not sense without it/'f Still, it must be 
 seen, that no pointing, however bad, can give any coun- 
 tenance to a human, in preference to an inspired system 
 of psalms. — Whether the argument upon which 1 have 
 animadverted, merits a better character than - ; gratuitous 
 assumption, " I leave to my reader to decide. 
 T Vide Dr. Clarke's note on the place. 
 * Latta's Discourse. Pref. pp. 6, 7. 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. I 26 
 
 Such arc the bulwarks by which the ene- 
 mies of our sacred songs defend themselves. 
 
 To the tir>t of the above demands, I reply, 
 that the restriction of the word of Christ, ex- 
 clusively, to any part of divine revelation, is 
 no article of our creed. As the Redeemer is 
 the Prophet and Teacher of his church, and 
 the Light of the world, we consider the whole 
 discovery of the divine will to man, to be 
 made by him.* The Spirit of the Lord spake 
 by me,\ said the inspired minstrel of Israel, 
 when about to leave the sanctuary below, and 
 join in the gong of the church of the first-born 
 above. The Holy Ghost spake by the month 
 of David,l says an apostle of Jesus. The 
 Holy Ghost, who spoke by David and other 
 inspired messengers of old, was the Spirit of 
 Chris t — Th e Sp irit of Ch rist wh ich was in 
 7/ ' // / — ' be fo reh a ad the s vffe r ings of 
 
 Christ, and the glory that should follow. § He 
 who dictated the whole canon of Scripture, is 
 the Spirit of Christ ; and the sacred volume 
 is the Saviour's word. The inspiring Spirit 
 dwelt in the church's Head; be actuated the 
 prophets, he inspired the apostles; in ail it> 
 -. he acted under the economy of grace; 
 at the head of that economy, in tlios 
 stood the Son of God, as our .Mediator; his 
 revelation in our Bible. It is the word 
 
 ■I >hn 1 18. fccts i. 16. 
 
 Sam xxiii. 2. ; Pet. i. 11 
 
 11* " 
 
126 OBJECTIONS COxXSIDERED. 
 
 of Christ, Let all who deny this take their 
 future stand, at least with the semi-infidels of 
 our day, and on that ground they shall be 
 met. The songs of Scripture, whether found 
 in the Old or in the New Testament, are the 
 word of Christ. That this should be de- 
 nied by any who have subscribed the follow- 
 ing declaration, which every minister of the 
 Presbyterian church has done, is only ano- 
 ther, yet lamentable instance of the incon- 
 sistency of man: " Christ executeth the office 
 of a prophet, in his revealing to the church, 
 in all ages, by his Spirit and word, in divers 
 ways of administration, the whole will of 
 God."* — This supports what I have advanced, 
 while it contradicts that on which 1 animad- 
 vert. 
 
 I reply to the second demand, that it is fair 
 in us, if psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, be 
 really found in the Bible, to conclude, that the 
 apostle intended them, rather than the imper- 
 fect effusions of well-designing men. Now, 
 let the objectors tell us the specific qualities 
 by which these compositions are distinguished, 
 and we shall present them with specimens of 
 each in the Book of Psalms. Or, if they 
 please, a reference to the original denomina- 
 tions of these songs, might probably afford 
 satisfactory information.! It is not pleasant 
 
 * Larger Cat. Q. 43. 
 
 t Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. — KareJy has it 
 beeil found, that writers have presumed more on the igno- 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED, I 27 
 
 >ll arguments, of the description now un- 
 der consideration, by an appropriate name. 
 The reply to the third requisition in the 
 
 and credulity <>i their readers, than in the confi< 
 with which it i- assumed, that when the Scripture makes 
 mention of hymns and spiritual songs, human composures, 
 and not those of divine inspiration, must be intended. 
 These teachers should have shown, that anion? the songs 
 of the Bible, none corresponding to the denomination of 
 Jiymns, and spiritual songs, could be found. A more sum- 
 mary mode has been adopted; simple assertion, which, if 
 ii<»t sot . is undoubtedly more i 
 
 Although, in the exposition of these terms, among- re- 
 putable writers, there are some faint shades of difference; 
 yet all unite in opposition to the idea, that a hymn, and 
 spiritual soul:, must mean uninspired compositions. It 
 may be gratifying to my reader to have the sentiments of 
 of literary reputation, on the subject. 
 
 Hear, in the tir>t place, the sentiments of Calvin: ; * A 
 - he) is that species of composition, in the sing- 
 in? of which, a musical instrument besides the tongue was 
 employed. — Hymns are songs of praise, sung either with 
 a voi< i low. — Spiritual songs are such psalms 
 
 not only praises, but also exhortations, and 
 other arguments. 
 
 Mr. Brown of Haddington, says. sl When psalms, hymns, 
 and spiritual tongs, are mentioned together, psalms may 
 denote such as were sung on instruments; hymns, such as 
 contain only matter of praise; and sjiiritual songs, such 
 as contain doctrines, history, and prophecy, for men's in- 
 struction, "f 
 
 Dr. Lowth observes, that i: the Greek translators might 
 properly have given the title of Hymns to the Book 
 of Psalms, as that word agrees much more exactly with 
 the Hebrew till. CD'SnP, tehillim, than that which they 
 have adopted."} As specimens of the id y Ilium, or hymn, 
 of the Hebrew poetry, he selects Psalms T>, 104 
 106, 107, 136, and 139— On the Hebrew word, THT, shir, 
 and the Greek word, r.AH, ode, the Doctor also remarks : 
 
 * Comment, on the Epistles p. 708. '♦Diet, of the Bible. 
 
 : Lectures on Sacred Poetry, p. -102. 
 
128 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 objection, requiring us to show, " that our in- 
 structions in these songs, should be drawn ex- 
 clusively from the Old Testament Psalms" — 
 is, in part, anticipated. I only remark fur- 
 ther, that the whole word of God is profit- 
 able ; the more extensive and correct our ac- 
 quaintance with it is, the better will we be 
 furnished for every good work. Let the word 
 of Christy whether found in the one Testa- 
 ment or in the other, dwell richly in us, and 
 our teaching and admonitions will be better 
 directed, and of course more efficient; and the 
 better will we be qualified, too, to sing with 
 
 
 " Both these words have exactly the same power and sig- 
 nification.'' (if*, ode. which Ave render by the word song, 
 is that employed by the apostle, Col. iii. 16. As speci- 
 mens of the Hebrew ode, or song, he refers to Psalms 2, 
 3, 77, 91, 133, and others. In the O^Snfi? tehilum, and 
 tZT,TBfj shirim, of the Hebrews, Dr. Lowth could readily 
 find the hymn and song; though men of more noisy pre- 
 tensions could discover neither the one nor the other. 
 
 Dr. Blair, when treating of the different denominations 
 of odes, observes: " First, sacred odes; hymns addressed 
 to God, or composed on religious subjects. Of this nature 
 are the Psalms of David, which exhibit to us this species 
 of lyric poetry, in its highest degree of perfection. * 
 Again, says he, "Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, were the 
 chief directors of the music ; and from the titles of some 
 Psalms, it Mould appear that they were also eminent com- 
 posers of hymns, or sacred poems."\ He further says — 
 ' ; The sacred poetry is distinguished by the highest beau- 
 lies of strong, concise, bold, and figurative expression.'' — 
 To disrelish its imagery is indeed u the effect of false de- 
 licacy." — " The style oi the poetical books of the Old 
 Testament is, beyond the style of all other poetical works, 
 fervid, bold, and animated. — It is the burst of inspiration. 
 * Lecl. on Rhet. voL 2. p. 272. I Ibid. p. 809. 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED 129 
 
 the understanding. Were the men who em- 
 ploy this style of objection, better acquainted 
 with the lessons of the inspired volume, we 
 should not hear from them language so very 
 unguarded. 
 
 To the fourth demand I answer, that the 
 whole warship of the ehureh of God, sinee the 
 revelation of the first promise of mercy to 
 man, has been conducted through the media- 
 tion of Jesus Christ. The church of God, in 
 every aire, is one; the covenant of grace is 
 one; the Mediator is one; and to the church 
 of old he was as really revealed, as he is to 
 the church at this day; and was, by her be- 
 lieving members, as really confided in for sal- 
 vation, as by the saints of New T Testament 
 times. The object of worship has always 
 
 The whole Book of Psalms is to be considered as a col- 
 lection of sacred <V 
 
 May not the Hebrew distinction of the sacred songs, cor- 
 respond with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs? ; — I'Snn, 
 tehii.lim, praises — the title of the Book of Psalms, which, 
 as Dr.Lowth observes, might be properly translated hym-VS. 
 CD^1D:*D, mSMORiMj poems: " A poem is called in He- 
 brew, riBDIDj mizmor. as Ps. iii. 1. — It is thus called in 
 reference to the verse and number." pw gfr shirim, 
 Psalms 120, 121, £ce. Here are Hebrew denomi- 
 nations of the sacred poetry, exactly corresponding to the 
 hymns, poems, or psalms and songs, of the New Testament. 
 Why they are designated spiritual, is easy to know from 
 their contents. The subject matter is spiritual: the gi.nv 
 and works of God, the graces and exercises of the *oui. 
 But on this subject, among men of sense, whose minds are 
 i ior to the littleness of a trick, there is no dispute. 
 * Lect. on lihet. vol. 2, pp. 302 — 311. 
 
ISO OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 been the same, and the great medium of ac- 
 cess, the Son of God, as Redeemer, has like- 
 wise been the same. — There is not salvation 
 in any other. How then can it be denied, 
 that the " Old Testament worship was con- 
 ducted in the name of the Lord Jesus" — or, 
 in truth be said — " the very reverse appears 
 to be the truth" — and then assert — " the Old 
 Testament church had no access to God, but 
 through priests and sacrifices?"* With the 
 same degree of truth may it be said, that the 
 New Testament church has no access to God, 
 but through ministers, and sacraments, 8cc. 
 The ordinances of worship, under the old and 
 new dispensations, are indeed not precisely 
 the same; but whatever the rites of worship 
 were, or now are, the medium of acceptance 
 has been, and will ever be, the same. This 
 was not unknown to the Israelitish saint. He 
 was taught, that sacrifice and offering God did 
 not desire; these were at all times shown to 
 be inadequate to the display of Jehovah's 
 grace and glory — The pious Jew understood 
 his Saviour's voice, when he proclaimed 
 8 Lo! I come: in the volume of the book it 
 is written of me; I delight to do thy will, O 
 my God."ff 
 
 * Latta, Pref. p. 7. t Ps. xl. 6, 7, 8. Heb. x. 5—9. 
 
 t Hear, on this subject, the language and doctrine of all 
 the Presbyterian churches : " Religious worship is to be 
 given to God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; — and. s\u< >■ 
 the fall, not without a Mediator : nor in the mediation of 
 
OBJ I .« !i<»N- . ONSIDERED. 131 
 
 Whether or not the sentiments couched in, 
 .iikI expressed by, the language of the objec- 
 tion, be worth} of Christian regard, I leave to 
 the Christian to decide; confident in the mean 
 time, that in the moment of seriods Reflection, 
 he will not contend, that the word of Christ 
 
 xclttsively, restricted to the writing 
 the .\rw Testament; that Psalms, and Hymns, 
 and Spiritual Songs, are not to be found in 
 the volume of inspiration; that the apostle en- 
 joins it on all, or on any, of the members of 
 the church, to commence hymn maker- for 
 her public worship ; or, that there was <omc 
 other way of access to God, for Old Testa- 
 ment saints, than by his Son as Mediator." 
 
 • ther. but c»< Christ alonf.'i Those who subscribe 
 this •• form of .sound words," ought to understand it; and 
 
 standing it. they ought not to contradict it. The at- 
 tempt to puzzle for a moment, an opponent, will not jus- 
 tify iu in teaching that there hat been, for tinner*, a way 
 of access to Cod, beside Jesu^ Christ ; and. more 
 cially when it is considered, that such doctrine contra- 
 il do \< r\ courtly manner, both tin* express word 
 of God, and the symbol to which we have pledged our 
 vow. 
 
 t Conf. of Faith, chap. 21. ] 2. 
 
 9 Before I dismiss this subject, 1 would once more call 
 ■der's attention to this point, on which the advocates 
 of our tittle hymn books expend do small portion of their 
 Breath. It is thus expressed by Mr. Freeman : ; ' There is 
 no Psalm of David, in which we are directed to'approach 
 God in the duty of praise and thanksgiving, for the pecu- 
 liar blessings of the gospel, in the name of Jesus Chi 
 What arc the peculiar blessing's of the gospel ': Are the\ 
 not the redemption of the soul, a new heart, pardon of 
 t Freeman's Discourse, p. 0. and I.atta'- Pref y>- " 
 
132 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Arguments of the following description, cover 
 the pages of the opposers of our Bible songs: 
 " Under every dispensation of God, new fa- 
 vours have demanded, and obtained a new song 
 of praise; as in the case of Israel at the Red 
 sea; that of Deborah and Barak, of David 
 and the prophets, under the Old Testament ; 
 and under the New Testament, the instances 
 of Zecharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and 
 
 sin, communion with God, and assurance of a blessed im- 
 mortality ? He must indeed be very slightly acquainted 
 with the Book of Psalms, who cannot find these subjects 
 in its pages. It may be worth while to ask some of our 
 friends, who chime so frequently and so long on the words, 
 " offering praise in the name of Christ" what they pre- 
 cisely intend by the expression? Is it, that from a sense 
 of our unworthiness, and out of gratitude to God for all 
 his benefits, we approach his throne through the mediation 
 of the Saviour : and viewing that Saviour, as placed at the 
 head of the economy of salvation, out of regard to his 
 authority, receive and observe his institutions ; thus exer- 
 cising, in all our deportment, an habitual reliance upon 
 him for acceptance, before the Father, as he sustains the 
 claims of the Godhead ? Views and exercises such as 
 these, run through, and constitute the spirit of the Book 
 of Psalms. Nothing less would be consistent with the sys- 
 tem of grace ; the Holy Ghost, who operated upon the 
 hearts of the subjects of grace, and indited those spiritual 
 songs, understood well the scheme of mercy ; and on no 
 other scheme could he direct them to God. But will it be 
 contended, that the express words and letters, constituting 
 the sounds, in the name of Jesus, or, for Christ's sake, are 
 necessary to evangelical songs of praise ? How many, I 
 demand, of those imitations and hymns, which have suc- 
 ceeded in banishing the inspired Psalms, because of this 
 supposed defect, have supplied it ? Count the number, 
 and tell us how many ; then atone for the quibble by nt 
 least a secret blush of crenerous shame. 
 
OBJ - I ONSIDEREfr 133 
 
 A ana, are all in point. The special provi- 
 
 :d over them, authorized a 
 
 ial song. Wc must follow their exam- 
 
 or be destitute of appropriate matter of 
 
 Thus they declaim, and they call it 
 
 argument But will it bear examination: 1 
 
 submit the following remarks. 
 
 According to the spirit of this objection, sit 
 every new favour demands a new song, a 
 psalm, whether of divine or human composi- 
 tion, can be only once appropriately used. 
 Tills, however, our objecting friends do not 
 act upon themselves: for they use the same 
 hymn oitener than once; though no two cir- 
 cumstances be precisely the same. Consis- 
 tency, on the principle of the exception, would 
 lead to the preclusion of a pvdm or hymn 
 book altogether. Every day brings its new 
 mercies, and of course should bring its new 
 song. Nay, every individual has his special 
 favours, and should produce his special hymn! 
 But disorderly as Zion now is, still more dis- 
 orderly would her assemblies be. were our 
 brethren consistent with themselves. 
 
 The objectors should prove, that such ex- 
 ions of devout sensibility, as those of 
 Zarharias, .Mary, Sec. were intended to be in- 
 troduced as models, according to which our 
 New Testament Zion should, in future times, 
 be supplied with sacred songs. This has 
 been said, and with confidence too; but it has 
 not been proved. No person doubts that ara- 
 12 
 
134 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 titude is due, on the reception of divine mer- 
 cies, or that this devout feeling should be 
 suitably expressed ; but certainly this proves 
 nothing for a human system, or collection of 
 songs in our public praise. Again observe, 
 that 
 
 Those who composed the public songs of 
 Zion, were not only inspired, but also were 
 under the special influence of the Spirit of 
 inspiration, in that service. Their composi- 
 tions were, accordingly, not only embodied 
 with the sacred Scriptures, but were also dis- 
 tinctly collected into a Book of Psalms. When 
 our modest brethren shall have substantiated 
 their claims to similar qualifications and ap- ■ 
 pointments, it will be soon enough for us to 
 confess the legitimacy of their productions to 
 a place beside, or above the Scripture songs. 
 I demand a proof from the word of God, that, 
 with divine approbation, a hymn of human 
 composure was, under any dispensation of 
 grace, admitted into the psalmody of the 
 church. Let the friends of innovation esta- 
 blish this, or tell us how they will free them- 
 selves from the charge of being advocates of 
 will-worship. Again, it is thus objected: 
 
 " The Scripture Psalms are abrogated: they 
 were adapted to the ceremonial rites, and so 
 intimately connected with, and founded on 
 them, that they have no being beyond the ce- 
 remonial institutions themselves. The fact, 
 that the Old Testament church had a form of 
 
•r.KLh. ISB 
 
 psalmody adapted to her state, proves that we 
 should have one suitable to the condition of 
 the New Testament dispensation," 
 
 This objection, as Dr. Ridgely shows us in 
 bis System of Divinity, sets aside the reading 
 of the Hook of Psalms in our (lav: for If it be 
 unfit for u 5 it, it is rib less sd to Had 
 
 it. There i- no essential difference between 
 the dispositions of mind requisite to reading 
 and si The same ends are. substantially. 
 
 to be sought by one and the other. Nay, 
 every part of Scripture, whether of Old or 
 New Testament, that alludes to the peculiar 
 forms of Israelitish worship, must be ex- 
 punged as unprofitable. Jesus as the Lamb 
 of God, and as the bread of life: Christ as 
 our passovcr, sacrificed for u>: as our High 
 Priest, having entered within the vail : and 
 the representation of our devotions, as living 
 sacjifces offered to ©ocj, must all be blotted 
 out; because, between them and ancient rite- 
 there is a connexion; or, because they allude 
 to modes, that, formally, are practised no 
 more. Whate* er havoc this would make in 
 the Book of God, it would be consistent with 
 the spirit of the objection.* 
 
 'ouofh not a Baxterian, yet with pleasure I confess 
 the Rev. Mr. Baxter, in talent, industry, liberality of sen- 
 timent, and piety, had lew to equal him. [n bis Ca 
 Conscience, he proposes this question : " Is it lawful T 
 
 i our assemblies:" He replies in the af- 
 firmative, and assigns tour reasons for the assertion. He 
 conch i [f it be lawful to sing psali 
 
136 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 It would not be improper to inquire, what 
 was the connexion between these sacred songs 
 and the Mosaic rites? and, what is the relation 
 between the New Testament representations 
 of the whole system of grace, and the autho- 
 rized practices of the Jewish church ? The 
 result of such inquiry would show, that the 
 worship of that church contemplated the 
 Eternal Deity as the object of devotion; 
 a Mediator, as making atonement for sin, the 
 way of approaching this object; the piety of 
 the heart, expressed in forms divinely pre- 
 scribed, the only acceptable service; and, that 
 to those forms the Scripture songs refer, chief- 
 ly, as the ln^ans of exhibiting these funda- 
 mental principles of real godliness. These are 
 the great principles presented to man, in the 
 writings of the New Testament; and, between 
 their description in the one Testament, and de- 
 lineation in the other, there exists a remark- 
 able correspondence. They are two blazes 
 of moral splendour combined, shedding their 
 
 our own, or our neighbour's making, much more of God's 
 making, by his Spirit in his prophets." He then states 
 the objection which has, with so little thought, been iirued 
 so often since: " They are not suitable to all our cases, 
 nor to all the assembly." To this he replies in three re- 
 marks, of such solidity as must be felt by every candid 
 mind; and dismisses the subject in these words : " The 
 sectarian objections against singing David's Psalms, are 
 so frivolous, that I will not tire the reader with any more."' 
 Mr. Baxter was no bigot : in some speculations he was 
 indeed mistaken; but for truth he was a sufferer, and its 
 power, in the life of godliness, he w-\\ understood 
 
i». 131 
 
 united beam on the extended 53 stem 1 
 
 • I could not be 50 fairly and impressivelj 
 _'jt of any one of them, should 
 the other be < Ktinguished. The plan 
 
 Both T- sf im< nts embrace the - 
 I principles of celigion : the Old as well 
 a> the New, testifies of Jesus.* It was of the 
 writings of Moses and the prophet- he spoke 
 when be ch thi Script* y tes- 
 
 \f me. How deeply mus( we deplore, 
 that any disciple of the Saviour should at- 
 tempt to invalidal stimony, or extin- 
 guish this light! Can you. ye friend- of the 
 Redeemer, devise no better way to serve your 
 Lord: What but an insupportable cau^e could 
 require such reasoning as tl lie church 
 of God in former times had n of psal- 
 mody given by divine >n, adapted to 
 her circumstances; but it is v that we- 
 'd have a system oi adapted to the 
 present circumstances or the church; there- 
 lore — what? — every poet has a right to mak« 
 uninspired hymns lor the use of the church!" 
 This is really the argument: but who 
 ceivc y it is a bad one ? The premises 
 do not authorize the conclusion. 
 
 The truth is, the Old Testament Psalm- 
 are perl* able to our dispensation. 
 God and his perfections are ihe same : the 
 ad exercises of the - substan- 
 
 1 hn v. 39. 
 
138 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 tially the same at all times; the description 
 and expression of these, by the Spirit of God, 
 we prefer to the paintings of uninspired men. 
 If unsuitable, what pity that neither Jesus nor 
 his apostles, at any time, gave the most dis- 
 tant hint of this fact; nor did they, so far a^ 
 we know, attempt to supply the defect. Again, 
 it is affirmed, that 
 
 " We cannot sing these Psalms ivithov.t con- 
 tradiction and falsehood; for they describe not 
 our case. We cannot sing in truth, that we 
 will offer burnt-offerings ; nor call upon one 
 another, in our song, to employ the harp and 
 the cymbal; while such offerings are not to be 
 made, and such instruments not to be em* 
 ployed. — What have we to do with the deli- 
 verances of Israel, the victories of David, 
 and the worship at Jerusalem ?" 
 
 Verily this objection, like the rest, makes 
 sweeping work. Have the objectors forgot- 
 ten, that all scripture is profitable? But the 
 whole of the above argument is exception- 
 able ; because, as has been shown, we may 
 sing of what is not precisely our own case, 
 otherwise all congregated singing must cease. 
 In an assembly of a thousand persons, how 
 many of that thousand are in circumstances, 
 internal and external, exactly the same ? — 
 Comparatively few. What does the argument 
 lead to in such a case? That every one must 
 bring a psalm and a doctrine suitable, as he 
 supposes, to his own case. Then, indeed, 
 
UEC i IOJNS ( 0NS1DERED* 139 
 
 we would 6nd a practice corresponding with 
 the sentiments of our objecting brethren; but, 
 at the same time, a practice condemned by 
 apostolic rebuke — % How is it tl i^ji, brethren. 
 when ye come together, everj one of you hath 
 dm? 1 Tor our instruction we may sing 
 the experience of other-, though that be not 
 precisely our own. Thus the congregation of 
 Israel sung the deliverance of their lather-, 
 and the experience 1 of their inspired Psalmists, 
 in ages alter the existence of those events. In 
 the spirit of modern objection it might have 
 been impertinently inquired at our Lord, in 
 the days of his sorrow, and at those too with 
 whom he united in the solemnities of worship, 
 what they had to do with the victories ofDa- 
 vid, the deliverance from Egypt, the division 
 of the sea. and the movements of the moun- 
 tain.-. Messiah, however, united in those songs : 
 in singing them, he did not suspect any around 
 for charging him with uttering a falsehood to 
 his God, or practising" a contradiction. The 
 sentiments of the objection are inadmissible, 
 
 Because they destroy correct views of the 
 church of God, and tend to contract the hearts 
 of her member.-. The church of Jesus is one 
 ancient and extended as-ociation. She is an 
 im m o ri al m o red pe rso a . E very friend o f God , 
 no matter how remote the a<je in which he 
 lived, is confessed a member of this illustrious 
 society. Every dispensation of goodness, 
 V act of mercy to the humblest of her 
 
140 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 members, she recollects with gratitude. The 
 victories they achieved, the blessings they ob- 
 tained, the consolations bestowed upon them, 
 and the means of their acquisition, she loves 
 to recount, and, with pious emotion, blesses 
 her God, in the use of those inspired songs 
 in which they are recorded. Let the bigot, 
 and the cold-blooded votary of selfishness, con- 
 tract their views, and narrow their hearts to 
 the little circles in which they move ; but let 
 no generous son of Zion act such an ungrate- 
 ful part. The religion of his Bible is equally 
 favourable to enlargement of intellect, and 
 expansion of aftection. Let him understand 
 it well ; and the sympathies of his heart will 
 beat in unison with the joys and sorrows of 
 the saint, whether he find him in the Arabian 
 desart, on the sacred mountains of Israel, or 
 under the willows by the rivers of Babylon. 
 In the providences of former times, he will re- 
 cognize a bearing on the existence, the faith, 
 the consolations, the hopes, and the practice 
 of the church, in succeeding days; and, pas- 
 sing strange would it be indeed, if, in such a 
 case, his heart should remain unmoved, and 
 his lips be sealed in silence. And in what 
 language would his heart desire to expre— h 
 sensibilities, but in that of the Holy Ghost ? 
 
 But the objection is unfounded : for the 
 dispensations to the church, in the days of old, 
 were the dispensation of Messiah. He who 
 ascended on high, after his humiliation, was at 
 
OBJEt 1 ion- CONSIDERED. I l\ 
 
 mount Sinai before it.- : I!« i it was who is 
 ■acterized as t of Jehovah's 
 
 snicr, that sav , and a 
 
 them all the days of old.-\ From the fall of 
 man, the Son of God, as Mediator, has been 
 the actual administrator of divine providence. 
 pis hand is visible in all that concerned, or 
 . his church. Though we do 
 not bring, literally, a burnt-offering from the 
 fold, or from the stall, yet we may, and surely 
 Ought to bring before God, a fervent zeal, and 
 an ardent love; and, in the exercise of an 
 unfeigned faith, every believer really br 
 before his God, the blood of that ineffably 
 valuable victim, to which the devout worship- 
 per was referred, by the sacrificial rites of 
 Moses; and without reliance on which, he did 
 not hope for acceptance. Since faith was first 
 found on earth, these evangelical sentiment> 
 were well understood: hence God inquired, 
 1 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the 
 blood of goats?' He tautrht his people, that 
 he would not ' be pleased with thousands of 
 rams, nor with ten thousand rivers of oil.' 
 Thus instructed, the penitent prophet could, 
 while pouring forth the tears of grief, sing, 
 6 Thou deiightest not in burnt-offering.' as 
 any atonement for sin. Could the Israelite, 
 -without falsehood and contradiction, 
 the-! 1 , and similar lines to God: With as 
 
 * Ps. Uviii. 17, 18. Eph. W. > - I^a. lxiii. 9 
 
142 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 easy an exposition, and as true an accommo- 
 dation, can we sing, that we will come into his 
 house, and bring an offering with us.* 
 
 * The truth is. no Christian over felt his devotion em- 
 barrassed by such a phraseology. When intendimr to 
 cavil, or to cover a retreat, to oiler such objections may 
 serve a temporary purpose ; but withal it is still below a 
 man of sense, and much more unworthy a man of piety. 
 Equally trivial is the exception, respecting the mention of 
 the musical instruments of the temple worship. Though 
 we do not employ the cymbal or the harp, in chanting our 
 solemn song, the naming of them is neither impertinent nor 
 vain. The ancient use of such instruments instructs us, 
 that in celebrating the praises of God, we should call forth 
 the voice of melody, as expressive of affections well attuned 
 to the delightful exercise. And may not the Christian as 
 consistently sing these portions of holy song as the Jew 
 did in his synagog-ue, where an instrument of music was 
 not employed ; or as the Israelite in his dwelling, who ne- 
 ver owned an organ, and whose hand never touched the 
 strings of a harp ? And, at any rate, this objection comes 
 with no very great degree of consistency, from our Pres- 
 byterian friends, who direct the music of their beloved 
 hymns with the bass viol and German flute. Nay, though 
 they possess no harp, and recognize no altar, yet their 
 imitation of the 43d Psalm teaches the worshipper to sing, 
 
 Before thine altar, Lord, 
 
 My harp and song- shall sound 
 
 The glories of thy word. 
 
 Comparatively few of the Psalms of inspiration speak in 
 the typical language of the Old Testament institutions ; 
 and that language, in those few, by no means renders them 
 obscure to the Christian, who is duly conversant with his 
 Bible. The truth is, " the writers of the New Testament 
 wrote in the idiom of the synagogue."! The phraseology 
 is that of the Israelitish nation, clothed in Greek words. 
 " The figure in the Psalms is that which is peculiar to the 
 Hebrew language, in which the figure gives its meaning 
 with as much peispicuity as the plainest speech.'.}: 
 t Campbell. \ Horsli j 
 
OBJE< riONS ( ONSIDERED. 1 13 
 
 Tl. indeed, must be verj bad. fthere 
 
 rmined advocates cannot find something 
 
 y. That what has no great plausibility, 
 
 will often succeed in persuading a previously 
 
 inclined mind, has been long remarked; and 
 tlir remark will probably find an illustration 
 in the remaining arguments, which I shall 
 briefly re\ 
 
 It N asked, " S in prayer, employ 
 
 our own compositions, why not do the some in 
 
 our songs of praise?"' 1 reply: Because the 
 
 -imilar. Prayer and praise are 
 
 ict ordinances. There is not the same 
 
 ssity for a liturgy of prayer, that there is 
 stem of sacred songs: we can have 
 
 d prayer without a prescribed form, but 
 nil! singing of prasie. Again, God has 
 
 seen meet to appoint, at any time, for the 
 stated usd of his church, a book of pray* rs ; 
 but lie hi in inspired Book of Psalms, 
 
 Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. And, last- 
 ly, observe, that the Lord has promised hi^ 
 Spirit, as the Spirit ot' supplications, to help 
 the infirmities of his sanctified ones, who nei- 
 
 know how to pray, nor for what to pray, 
 as they ought; but on the page of inspiration 
 there is no promise of aid from his Spirit, in 
 the composition of a book of hymns, for the 
 public service of his church. This seem> to 
 intimate, that to such a work he proposed not 
 
 ill any of her -on-. These three remarks 
 
144 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 satisfy me upon the subject — What shall sa- 
 tisfy those who adopt the other side of the 
 question, is not for me to decide. 
 
 The supposed obscurity oftheBook of Psalms, 
 is alleged as a reason for the preference of the 
 modem hymn book. In this argument there 
 is undoubtedly some truth ; yet it proves but 
 little. The hymn book of the modern poet, 
 however swelled it may be, has infinitely less 
 meaning than the Book of Psalms; it requires 
 less intellect and industry to enter into its spi- 
 rit; less acquaintance with the truths, provi- 
 dence, and grace of God, to understand it; 
 and much less perfection to come up to its de-^ 
 mauds, than do the songs of inspiration. But 
 this argument goes much too far. Whatever 
 force it has in setting aside the Book of Psalms, 
 from its primary use, will operate no less 
 powerfully against the whole Bible. One of 
 our modern evangelizers might, perhaps, be 
 found capable of furnishing the world with a 
 system of divinity, theoretical and practical, 
 much more easily understood than the writ- 
 ings of the Old and New Testaments; and, 
 probably, by employing an ambiguous phra- 
 seology, and " a charitable latitude" of mean- 
 ing, there might be little, if any thing, found 
 in it contrary to the word of truth. What 
 would be thought of substituting such a sys- 
 tem in place of the Bible? This would, as in 
 the case, of the Book of Psalm-, supersede all 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 1 V) 
 
 the labours of exposition. Mr. Freeman* dis- 
 approves of lecturing upon an inspired Psalm, 
 in order to >in^ it with understanding.! He 
 prefers those " psalms which carry the expli- 
 cation in themselves." " This explication is 
 given," lit* says, ' k in the version (Imitation:) 
 of Dr. Watts." If, then, an imitation of the 
 Bible, of more easy comprehension than the 
 Bible itself, can be found, why not adopt it 
 in place of that mysterious and inspired book ? 
 If the above reason has any weight, it would 
 lead the man who consistently pursues it, to 
 the result now stated. J 
 
 " Discourse, p. 23. 
 
 t Some ministers employ a portion of the Sabbath in 
 expounding a part of the Book of Psalms ; not because 
 they suppose that book to be peculiarly obscure, or difficult 
 of understanding ; but because it is peculiarly devotional, 
 and so specially suited to the services of the Lord's day. 
 
 \ It discovers no small degree of shallowness to argue, 
 as do Messrs; Freeman, Baird, and others, that to sing a 
 paraphrase is preferable to singing an inspired song, after 
 making upon it an expository lecture. The lecturer or 
 paraphrast, whether he communicates his exposition from 
 the pulpit or the press, may err, may mistake the spirit of 
 the text, may only communicate a part of its meaning; 
 and at best can only profess to aid in understanding it. 
 [> it not then better still to retain the text? It is uncor- 
 rupt, Ntill retains its spirit and plenitude of meaning, and, 
 from it. the saint will derive what no exposition can give. 
 What is now said might be exemplified from every page 
 of Watts" Imitation. Take, for instance, Psalm xlv. y. 
 j Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of 
 Dphir. This is the text. It is the word of God. Here 
 ^rottish metre version of these words: 
 Upon thy ri^ht hand did the queen 
 In 2"<jM of Ophir stand. 
 
 13 
 
146 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 We know, indeed, that our brethren who 
 use and vindicate the use of the Imitation of 
 the Psalms, and other hymns, would shrink 
 from such a conclusion. Why, then, do they 
 embrace premises from which that conclusion 
 
 Those who confess the prose to be the language of the 
 Holy Ghost, will not deny the metre to be equally sacred. 
 Let us now see the version and exposition of Dr. Watts — 
 
 At his right hand our eyes behold 
 The queen, arrayed in purest gold: 
 The zcorld admires her heavenly dress, 
 Her robes of joy and righteousness. 
 
 Now, although the ideas of the text are not fully given 
 in the two first lines, and what are given are but feebly 
 expressed, yet they are not so exceptionable as the two 
 last lilies, which labour under the very great inconvenient* 
 of being untrue; for the world, as distinguished from the 
 church, never admired her heavenly dress, her robe of joy 
 and righteousness. It is her dress, her robe of righteous- 
 ness and holy joy, that have made the church an object of 
 hatred and derision to the world. The world hateth you, 
 is the testimony of the faithful witness, John xv. 19. and 
 xvii. 14. Those who are described as haters of the light, 
 as not submitting to God's righteousness, but as enemies of 
 all righteousness, are certainly not likely to admire these 
 
 in the church; Rom. x. 3. Acts xiii. 10. Of a similar 
 
 character are the following lines : 
 
 A soul oppress'd with sin's desert, 
 
 My God will ne'er despise. 
 
 The cases of Cain, Judas ; and all the trembling devils of 
 hell, falsify this assertion. It is retained in many copies, 
 though expunged out of some. It is calculated to foster a 
 false hope. 
 
 Again, examine Ps. li. 4. ' Against thee, thee only, have 
 I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; that thou mightest 
 be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou 
 judgest.' 
 
 'Gainst thee, thee only have I sinn'd, 
 
 In thy sight done this ill; 
 That when'thou speak'st thou may 5 st be just. 
 And clear in judging still. * Scotti: 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 147 
 
 would necessarily How? I am indeed afraid, 
 that the fact on which this objection is found- 
 ed, ignorance, of the Bible, has a very extensive 
 influence, in the banishment of inspired odes 
 from the psalmody of the church. And, like 
 
 Shouldst thou condemn m* soul to Ae//, 
 
 And crush my flesh to dust, 
 Heaven would app wt thy tengeance well, 
 
 And earth must own it just. 
 
 Traits. 
 
 The Imitation is not n version. It is not even an attempt 
 at one. The sentiment is not authorized by the Psalm, 
 nor by any other portion of Scripture that represents the 
 approved confession of a penitent. Never did the Holy 
 Ghost instruct the heart, or life, of a believing penitent, 
 Confessing sin and pleading for pardon, to contradict his 
 declarations in the inspired page. Yet the words and sen- 
 timent of the Imitation are in direct contradiction to the 
 word of God, in such a case; and are only fit for the lips 
 of one in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity; for, 
 ' If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive 
 
 us our sins,' 1 John i. 9. Once more, consult Ps. xcviii. 
 
 2. i The Lord hath made known his salvation.' 
 
 The Lord God his salvation 
 Hath caused to he known — 
 
 S-'ottisk Version. 
 He comes to make his Messing- flow 
 Far as the ciirse is found. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 Is the language of the Imitation here, the language of 
 the text, or of any other Scripture? Did the Saviour, in- 
 deed, intend to make his blessing " flow us far as the curse 
 is found?" The curse is found upon all devils, and wicked 
 men universally: Shall his blessing, then, without excep- 
 tion, reach them all ? Or is a smooth line of poetry, 
 though containing a false doctrine, of more importance 
 than the truth of God's word ! So much for the possi- 
 bility of an erroneous exposition. 
 
 Let us next advert to the possibility of mistaking the 
 spirit of the inspired song. Take as an example, Psalm 
 lxxxix. r». ' For who in the heaven can be compared unto 
 the Lord : who among the sons of the mighty can be 
 likened unto the Lord ; ' 
 
148 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 most expedients, we may be pretty certain, 
 that instead of remedying, the preference of 
 an imitation will increase the evil. Books, 
 whose scope is to conduct their reader to 
 the lively oracles of truth, may be useful ; but 
 those intended to supersede the appointed use 
 of any portion of the word of God, must be 
 of dangerous tendency. 
 
 We have just turned from an argument, 
 pleading the ignorance of New Testament 
 worshippers, as a reason for setting aside the 
 Book of Psalms as the matter of the church's 
 
 For who in heaven with the Lord 
 
 May once himself compare? 
 Who is like God among the sons 
 
 Of those that mighty are ? 
 
 Scottish Version. 
 There's none of all my sons above 
 So much my image or my love ; 
 Celestial powers thy subjects are, 
 Then what can earth to thee compare ? 
 Watts. 
 
 The text is the worshipper's confession of Jehovah's su- 
 preme perfection. This is the spirit of it. But what is the 
 comment, as given in the Imitation? Not the inspired 
 language of the devout man, who does homage to his 
 Maker ; but the language of the Father to the Son, is the 
 gloss ! This is not the meaning of the text. 
 
 Once more, let us attend to the 16th verse of the same 
 Psalm ; ' And in thy righteousness shall they be exalted/ 
 
 And in thy righteousness shall they 
 Exalted be on high. 
 
 Scottish Version. 
 His righteousness exalts their hope. 
 Watts. 
 
 The idea in the imitation, is inadequate to the text. The 
 exaltation of the person, is much more than the elevation 
 of an affection of his mind. But in the imitation is none 
 «,f that massy thought, and rich luxuriance of meaning, 
 which distinguish our inspired songs. 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 149 
 
 song; we now meet another of an opposite 
 cast. " Christian attainments, it seems, are of 
 an order too high to he suited with th<> sober 
 compositions of inspired men." How vain is 
 man! How easily the soothing accents of flat- 
 tery induce to self-deception ! Tell us, ye 
 trumpeters of your own graces, what are those 
 attainments, and those exercises of grace, 
 which the Spirit of your Redeemer has not 
 descrihed with infallible accuracy in the Book 
 of God? — yea, even in the Book of Psalms? 
 Till you find some not there described, we 
 beg you to excuse a few of- your fellow pil- 
 grims in the journey of life, if they suspect 
 your boasted acquisitions to be the illusions 
 of the twilight of a partially instructed mind. 
 We cannot highly admire that humility ', 
 which induced the author of the Imitation 
 of the Psalms to set himself before all the 
 prophets of the Israelitish church,* as to qua- 
 lifications, for furnishing us with a system of 
 evangelical psalms. To remedy such bloat- 
 ings of self-complacency, a more intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the spirit which breathes in 
 
 Nor is the attempt (of making a new psalm book) 
 glorious, or presuming; for, in respect of clear evan- 
 gelic knowledge, the least in the kingdom of heart n is 
 r than all the Jewish prophets." — Watts' Pref. p. <5. 
 There is a sense in which the New Testament ministry 
 is superior to that of the Old Testament ; — that w hich to 
 the one was matter of promise, is to the other matter of 
 fact. But was Dr. W. as well qualified to make a book of 
 Psalms, as were David and other prophets ? The Doctor 
 has intimated that he was better qualified, and his friend^ 
 
 13* 
 
150 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED* 
 
 the scripture song, may with confidence be 
 recommended. 
 
 As an argument for human composures in 
 our psalmody, we find it further urged, that 
 " Old Testament songs are defective, and that the 
 New Testament forms are few" If the poetic 
 compositions of the New Testament be very 
 limited, instead of taking the fact as an argu- 
 ment to justify the practice contended for, I 
 would rather understand it as an admonition 
 to us, to confine ourselves to those portions of 
 the Book of God, that, from their structure, 
 evidently appear intended for the purpose of 
 psalmody. If he who has the residue of the 
 Spirit, enlarged not the number of our sacred 
 hymns, when finishing the canon of revela- 
 tion, and settling, finally, the constitution of 
 his church, we should proceed to the task with 
 cautious steps. We should have his command. 
 Let us, then, turn to the holy volume; and, 
 before we fill his sanctuary with our own effu- 
 sions, let the stores of inspiration be exhausted. 
 
 But, again, it is contended, that " The 
 imitation, and the hymns of modern date, are 
 better calculated to arouse, to warm, and ele- 
 vate the affections, than are the productions of 
 
 agree with him ; for they take his, and reject and vilify 
 that of the others. We must nevertheless demur; because 
 we know, that to supply a system of Psalms, David — and 
 others — were inspired. We do not believe this of Dr. W 
 U requires the madness of this enthusiasm to go only a lit- 
 tle farther, and we shall have the whole Old Testament 
 rejected, in order to substitute the superior illusions of 
 some modern illuminali. 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 151 
 
 inspiration" So I know it has been said, 
 and no doubt thought; but it is only hypo- 
 thesis, or something worse; and by what evi- 
 dence is the hypothesis supported? Aflec- 
 tioiis may be awakened, and the passions 
 thrown into tumult, where no piety exists. 
 About religion there may be much elevation 
 of heart, and yet no genuine devotion. In- 
 attention to this fact has proved as auspicious 
 to the progress of a raging enthusiasm, as it 
 has been unpropitious to the cause of the re- 
 ligion of the Bible. That the lighter prin- 
 ciples of our constitution may be more rea- 
 dily excited, and animal feeling more easily 
 cast into commotion, by the flippant verbiage 
 of man, than by the more deep and solemn de- 
 lineations of the Holy Ghost, is not hard of 
 belief. So Augustine informs us, that " the 
 Donatists inflamed their minds with human 
 composition-, and reproached the orthodox 
 for singing, with sobriety, the divine songs of 
 the prophets." — The character of that warmth 
 which is produced by the words of man, ra- 
 ther than from the appointed use of those of 
 God, is a just object of suspicion, and its con- 
 sequences of dread. ' Behold, all ye that 
 kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about 
 with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, 
 and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This 
 shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down 
 in sorrow.** 
 
 f-ai;ih 1. 11. 
 
152 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 If an elevated devotion consist in an ex- 
 ercise of heart corresponding to the glories 
 of the divine character, as these are dis- 
 played in the face of Jesus, and to our re- 
 lation to him, as saved sinners, it may very 
 reasonably be questioned, whether the pro- 
 ductions of human ingenuity be better adapted 
 to it, than the words of God. Conjecture is 
 no more admissible in true religion, than in 
 genuine science; and, when admitted, is no 
 less pernicious in the former, than it is injuri- 
 ous to the latter. 
 
 Much has been ascribed to the influence of 
 pious hymns, of human composition, in the 
 religious movements of our days. But before 
 any valid conclusion can be drawn from this. 
 in their favour, two points must previously be 
 settled: The first is, the character of these 
 movements. Should what is most prominent 
 in these excitements be of doubtful charac- 
 ter, or, perhaps, condemnable at the bar of 
 inspired truth, little commendation would be 
 due to that influence by which they are ef- 
 fected. The next point to be ascertained, is, 
 supposing the character of these movements 
 sustained, as really gracious, was this charac- 
 ter derived from the use of those hymns ? or, 
 did it proceed from the use of other means, 
 divinely appointed, to effect a work of grace ? 
 Until the friends of modern hymn books shall 
 have satisfactorily settled these inquiries, 
 which are certainly fair ones, others will hold 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 153 
 
 themselves excused in not giving that credit 
 to the hypothesi for h is no more than hy- 
 pothesis — which it< advocates claim. 
 
 It is most notorious, that those excitements 
 called revivals of religion, which make the 
 greatest noise, are effected where the most per- 
 nicious errors are habitually taught. That 
 these, and modern hymns, have a great share 
 in the production of those noisy but short- 
 lived agitations, need not be doubted. Israel's 
 worship of the golden calf, was marked by a 
 greater excitement, than the usual and ap- 
 proved worship of Jehovah. A visit to those 
 favoured districts of revival, a few months af- 
 ter a magazine description, or ecclesiastical 
 report has been given of the multitudes con- 
 verted, would cast a shade of doubt, generally, 
 on those fine narratives. And the man who 
 considers, that the embracing of truth, turn- 
 ing to God through a crucified and exalted Sa- 
 viour, and living a life of practical godliness, 
 are the best proofs of real conversion, wishes, 
 sincerely, that things were published as they 
 really are, and that our country furnished one 
 journal, which would venture to tell all the 
 truth. 
 
 Tne idea that the songs of inspiration are 
 inadequate to the elevation of modern devo- 
 tio , demands another remark. When we 
 lo k to the Christian heroes of the Reforma- 
 tion ; w hen we review the intellectual pre- 
 eminence of those champions for truth, who 
 
154 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries; — 
 when we consider the ardour of their piety, 
 and the fervour of their enlightened zeal; the 
 firmness of their character, and the magni- 
 tude of their achievements ; and compare 
 with these the frivolity, the indifference to 
 truth, the thoughtless rage for innovation, 
 that characterized the ecclesiastics of the 
 eighteenth century, — the comparison is as 
 humbling to the character of the latter, as it 
 is honourable to the former. Yet among 
 those highly favoured men of God, whose de- 
 votion was *of the loftiest kind, and whose 
 deeds of valour, in the cause of God and 
 man, are immortal; — whose experience in the 
 life of godliness was deep and substantial, 
 while their dangers were great and their suf- 
 ferings extreme; — among the thousands of 
 those martyrs, divinely ennobled as they were, 
 not one was found to imagine, that the in- 
 spired Psalms were of a character too flat for 
 his piety, unsuitable to a gospel day, or unfit 
 for the various conditions of the Christian 
 life. Such imaginations were unknown in 
 those days, when God was seen among men, 
 dispensing, in measures unusually large, the 
 gifts of his Spirit. Complaints of the ob- 
 scurity of the inspired page were left to ex- 
 ercise the blinded votaries of the Romish 
 church ; and, to regret their flatness, was a 
 suitable employment for the raving devotees 
 of John of Leyden. Robert Barclay, Isaac 
 
OB.ILC riONS CONSIDERED. 155 
 
 W aits, John Wesley, and their devotees, en- 
 
 ed in the same unholy work. Can the 
 
 blessing of Heaven pest on such a course? 
 
 Hear the opinion of the evangelical Romaine. 
 " Experience," says lie, "demonstrates, that 
 God does bless the Milling of Psalms in the 
 church, and does not bless the singing of 
 men's hymns." — " You may bring your poems 
 into the church, and may be vastly delighted 
 with performing them: so is the vainest crea- 
 ture at the opera. The pleasure, in both cases, 
 arises from the same cause. — But there can be 
 no more spiritual edification in the one than 
 in the other ; because neither of them is the 
 ordinance of God."* 
 
 It is again contended, that " Thepoetic com- 
 positions in general use, particularly those of 
 Dr. JVatis, are more elegant in diction, and in 
 sentiment more evangelical, than is any literal 
 version of the Bible Psalms; and therefore de- 
 mand a preference." Into the literary merits 
 of these compositions, it is at present beside 
 my design to inquire. Should all that is 
 claimed for the orthodoxy of their sentiments, 
 the correctness of their figures, and the ele- 
 gance of their diction be admitted, still they 
 are but the productions of human ingenuity. 
 They are not even imperfect versions; the best 
 of them rise no higher than partial imitation*. 
 Whatever prettiness may belong to them, I 
 
 ' Work*, vol. 8. 
 
156 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 must prefer the words of inspiration, even in 
 a version of the humblest pretensions. 
 
 But this supposed excellence belongs not 
 to the Compositions of Dr. Watts. The fact, 
 that so much labour has been employed upon 
 the Imitation of the Psalms, proves the force 
 of the conviction, that it was imperfect. This 
 imperfection extended to the sentiment as well 
 as to the phraseology.* 
 
 The idea of these compositions being of a 
 character more evangelical than a literal ver- 
 sion of an inspired Psalm, shall now claim no 
 farther notice. To hear the assertion from 
 the reputed friends of the Bible, is an omen 
 of no good. 
 
 With full as much confidence, as candour, 
 it is asserted that, Dr. Watts had as good 
 a right to make, or translate psalms, as Mr. 
 
 * We know, indeed, that to intimate this is unsafe, even 
 in men of eminence. The character of the late Dr. 
 Dwight, as a man of literature and taste, is deservedly 
 high in our country ; yet such was the strength of the tor- 
 rent of public opinion amongst us. in favour of the Imita- 
 tion , errors and all, that even the President of Yale Col- 
 lege dared to correct only a fart of these. Dr. Watts, he 
 says " was not distinguished as a correct writer" Thus, 
 still the imperfections of the work are proclaimed. — These 
 are not denied by such of its friends as are capable of 
 judging in the case. Criticism is therefore precluded. 
 Were these imperfections confined to style or composition, 
 the matter would be of comparatively small importance ; 
 but they extend to the expression of erroneous sentiments, 
 unwarrantable omissions and change of subject; to de- 
 rangement of inspired order, rejection of scriptural me- 
 taphors, as well as to violations of the canons of compo- 
 sition 
 
OBJECTIONS considered; 157 
 
 Rouse. The equality of the right is not de- 
 nied; but the assertion is calculated to deceive 
 the unthinking. It assumes the fact, that the 
 production of Watts is a version, which is not 
 true. It was designed as a substitute for every 
 fair translation; and one of its excellencies 
 i> said to be its remoteness from the original. 
 That called Rouse's paraphrase, is intended 
 as, and really is, a fair version; though not 
 so perfect as to preclude improvement. Let 
 it, however, be kept in mind, that a greater 
 departure from the thought and language of 
 the Holy Ghost, would constitute no part of 
 this improvement. It must be again repeated, 
 that the contest is not between version and 
 version; but between translation and imitation; 
 between inspired songs and those of human 
 insure. The assertion of the disputer is 
 this: Dr. Watts had as good a right to imi- 
 tate the Book of Psalms, as Mr. Rouse had 
 to translate it; and we have the same right to 
 employ, in the worship of God, the imitation, 
 that others have to use the translation. The 
 argument is of the same species as this : The 
 British divines, in the reign of James I. made 
 a version of the Bible; therefore, Ethan Allen 
 had as good a right to make his Bible; and 
 those who choose it, have as good a right to 
 employ it, as others have to use the transla- 
 tion, for the rule of their faith and manners! 
 Tiie value of the argument, thus applied ; 
 every Christian can appreciate. 
 14 
 
158 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Upon the declaration, so frequently made, 
 that Dr. Watts had as good a right to furnish 
 us with a book of psalms, as had the inspired 
 prophet David, I make no additional remarks* 
 The causes which have led to such an asser- 
 tion must be deplored, and the consequences 
 must be feared. The existence of such a sen- 
 timent among professors at this day, is suffi- 
 cient to justify the present attempt to turn 
 your attention to the subject. Let the mem- 
 bers of every church be told, let them be 
 made to understand, that no production of 
 the human mind, however high its rank, can 
 compare with any page of the inspired vo- 
 lume. 
 
 There is one objection which, were it not 
 so frequently adduced, for the sake of the ob- 
 jectors I would willingly conceal — It is sub- 
 stantially expressed by. Dr. W. : "Some Psalms 
 are so full of cursings, that they hardly become 
 the tongue of a follower of the blessed Jesus!!!" 
 
 The objectors certainly forget, that these 
 Psalms were given by the inspiration of the 
 Holy Ghost. Those usually specified as ob- 
 jectionable, are expressly quoted by the apos- 
 tle Peter, as the words of the divine Spirit.* 
 May not then a follower of the blessed Sa- 
 viour use those words, which the Holy Spirit 
 of that Saviour has dictated for his instruc- 
 tion? — Might it not be well for the objectors 
 
 Acts i. 16. 20. Ps. lxix. 25. k cix. 8. 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED 159 
 
 to pause, and consider irhether such I 
 
 as they employ, approaches not towards a 
 blaspheming of that Spirit, who, through the 
 instrumentality of his Word, sanctifies the 
 soul : But this objection proceeds from a 
 view of the Divine character — God is 
 is v. ell as merciful ; and he instructs his 
 church to ' sing both of mercy and judg- 
 ment.'*f 
 
 But to notice every cavil would be endless, 
 as it would be useless. Collateral subjects of 
 disputation I purposely avoid, that the main 
 one may, as much as possible, be brought 
 unembarrassed, and fairly before my reader. 
 How far I have succeeded in a lucid state- 
 ment of my subject, shall be left to others 
 to decide. I can only say, that I intended 
 well. But whatever may be thought of me 
 or my work, I am not without confidence, 
 that a scriptural psalmody shall ultimately 
 prevail. Public opinion is fluctuating ; and 
 mere party spirit will, in time, yield to the 
 dictates of divine authority. The period is 
 coming when men will believe, with an ele- 
 
 - P*. ci. 1. 
 
 t God has threatened bis and his people s implacable 
 enemies with ruin. This overthrow is a promise to his 
 church ; and every time she prays, Thy will be done, she 
 really employs the lansruasre which is said to be unfit for a 
 follower of the blessed Jesus. God's Spirit never dictated, 
 or approved of private personal vengeance; but he teaches 
 to pray tor the accomplishment of every promise, and to 
 approve of the decision- of unwavering justice 
 
160 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 gant writer of the last age, that " when mor- 
 tals converse with their Creator, they cannot 
 do it in so proper a style as in that of the 
 Holy Scriptures."* The ascendancy of the 
 Bible, at this day, gives ground of assurance, 
 that we have not to look through the vista of 
 ages, to see its triumph completed. Its triumph 
 is at hand. Yet I am not insensible of the 
 points from which opposition to a reform may 
 be expected. Where men of high standing 
 have pledged themselves, the usual share of 
 integrity that falls to the citizens of Zion, is 
 not always sufficient to induce a retraction of 
 incorrect sentiment, and a retracing of their 
 devious steps. Those too, who, having bro- 
 ken their pledge to a plan of correct order 
 and worship, and being destitute of character 
 or principle, are set afloat on the tumultuous 
 sea of conflicting opinions, without compass 
 or helm, and having an eye to no definite 
 haven, are the characters from whom a scrip- 
 tural psalmody has most to fear. 
 
 Still I am not without hope, that among 
 those who now T employ an imitation of sacred 
 songs, instead of the inspired odes them- 
 selves, many, rising above the little spirit of 
 faction, and asserting an independency of 
 party names, will lift the voice in a testimony 
 against the reproach attempted to be cast on 
 the Book of Psalms. Such will bear in mind, 
 
 • Spectator, Vol. 6. No. 405. 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 16) 
 
 that the contest is not for Old Testament, in 
 preference to Nem Testament, doctrine unci 
 language. They will recognize the impression 
 
 of the Holy Ghost, upon the language and 
 doctrine of both the Testaments ; and they 
 will prefer that which God hath given, to any 
 thinir that man would substitute in its place. 
 A moment's thought will show them, that the 
 Book of Psalms is " the Bible in miniature;" 
 precisely what an evangelical Psalm Book 
 should be, that is, a compressed exhibition of 
 Jehovah's character, grace, and providence; 
 of man's state, experience, and prospects. 
 They will not be amused by the idle rant, of 
 some Scripture songs being incapable of per- 
 sonal application to the precise case of the 
 individual; for they are taught by that Spirit, 
 who is their Sanctifier and Comforter, that 
 ; all Scripture is profitable for instruction.' 
 This instruction in righteousness they can de- 
 rive from inspired delineations of the perfec- 
 tions, works, and grace of God ; and from 
 similar descriptions of the experience of the 
 elder children of their heavenly Father, who 
 have travelled before them the paths of sor- 
 row, of holy joy, and of life. To them, 
 after all the specious declamation, which 
 no bearing on it, shall have been heard, the 
 question will still recur: Whether are more 
 excellent, those sacred ' psalms, and hymns, 
 and spiritual songs,' recommended by their 
 inspiration, and by the experience of the chil- 
 14* 
 
 
162 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 dren of grace, in every age; or those neces- 
 sarily defective effusions, which can claim 
 no higher origin than the ingenuity of man I 
 This is, indeed, the question. May I not hope 
 that it will receive a candid consideration ? 
 
 Plain as it is, and important as it is deemed 
 to be, the hope of an immediate and univer- 
 sal change, is not authorized by the charac- 
 ter of this age. The activity of our time is, 
 indeed, imposing, and in it there is much to 
 praise; but the most conspicuous portion of 
 it, requires little of that self-denial which dis- 
 tinguishes true religion ; and, alas ! that cha- 
 rity whose pretensions are highest, rejoices 
 but little in the truth. The semblance of 
 love, the treacherous salutation, may betray 
 the truth ; and without suspecting it, an ill- 
 directed zeal, about something pertaining to 
 religion, may, in its associations, recommend 
 the most fatal error. And where is the man 
 whose guards are so skilfully placed, as to be 
 out of danger from the enemy at every point? 
 This consideration instructs us, not in a fool- 
 ish, self gratulation, but in an humble vigi- 
 lance. 
 
 While, therefore, we should guard against 
 the impostures of that empty charity, whose 
 gifts are so few; and not be deceived by that 
 love of noisy pretensions, which never gives 
 of its own; we should, with equal care, keep 
 a watchful eye on that orthodoxy, and that 
 -zeal, which are separated from obedience to 
 
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED, 163 
 
 God, and good-will to man. There max be 
 a cold-blooded orthodoxy of opinion, that has 
 no alliance \n ith the living truth of Jesus : and 
 there may be a consuming zeal for pames and 
 forms, that sits enthroned in an unfeeling 
 heart. That soundness of mind, and expan- 
 sion of affection, which are the offspring of 
 the transforming grace of God, are equidis- 
 tant from each of these extremes. With this 
 mind, and this affection, should the Christian 
 enter the field of controversy. By these will 
 he be saved from that tameness that disquali- 
 fies to vindicate, with becoming spirit, the 
 cause of righteousness ; and from that cruelty 
 which betrays a callous heart. 
 
 That this safe and middle way has been un- 
 deviatingly pursued in these paeres, the writer 
 will not venture to affirm. Any deviations 
 from it, however, which he may discover, will 
 furnish matter of sincere regret; for his cause 
 authorizes nothing but what combines all that 
 is manly, with whatever is divine. In this 
 discussion, personal animosity can have no 
 place: to the unkind emotions of our imper- 
 fect nature, there is no temptation. What- 
 ever of frowning aspect may have appeared 
 upon his page, is altogether on a public 
 ground; and, it is believed, a style of remark 
 still more severe than any employed, would 
 have been justified by the sentiments which 
 have passed in review. But asperity of re- 
 mark, however well merited, can only be 
 
164 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 pleasant to the heartless censor : to recognize 
 the worth of talent, to honour distinguished 
 virtue, to rejoice in the testimonials of unaf- 
 fected piety, wherever found, are employ- 
 ments much more congenial with the habitual 
 temper of a well-constructed mind. In such 
 exercises, it is hoped, we shall often find ad- 
 vantage united with pleasure. And although 
 we must now contemplate our sky still dark- 
 ened with thick clouds of lamentable mis- 
 takes; yet the morning of a brighter day to 
 the church of God, than she has long enjoyed, 
 we hope is about to dawn. May the rising 
 glories of that long-wished-for day, speedily 
 bless our world : then the promise shall be 
 fully realized — Thy watchmen shall lift up the 
 voice; with the voice together shall they sing: 
 for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord 
 shall bring again Zion. — With affectionate 
 regard, dear Brethren, 
 
 I bid you farewell. 
 
 GILBERT M'MASTER. 
 
 October, 1818. 
 
A PPBNDIX. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 ANIMADVERSIONS ON DR EJLTS REVIEW, 
 
 Vol. II. No. 4. 
 
 IT was the intention of the Author of the 
 - Apology for tie Book of Psalms f to have left 
 it to make its w ay through the world, without any 
 additional aid From him against its enemies ; and 
 from that purpose he departs with some reluctance. 
 So far was he from contemplating any further reply 
 to objections, that had it been decorous, he would 
 have appended Dr. Ely's Review to the second 
 edition of the ' Apology.' The cause of the ' Apo- 
 logy' would not have suffered by such an appendix. 
 Upon this subject nothing is more desirable than 
 candid inquiry; and it is sincerely wished that the 
 strength of each side was really known. 
 
 Dr. E. has honoured the i Apology' with a notice 
 sufficiently large ; and, at the same time, has made 
 some concessions of great importance to the cause 
 of truth. From an inconsiderable man, such con- 
 cessions would indeed pass for little; but such is 
 not the Doctor. His attainments are much beyond 
 what are generally found in the clergy of our day ; 
 his zeal is laudably ardent, and his liberality much 
 too extensive for a consistent partisan. There is 
 a tone of sentiment, with a correctness of system 
 and phraseology in general, pervading the Doctor's 
 productions, rarely found, and found only among 
 the unfashionable disciples of the Genera and West- 
 minster school. He often discovers, too, a fearle>s- 
 
166 APPENDIX. 
 
 ness in attacking error, worthy of the ancient days 
 of what we prudent moderns would call " honest 
 indiscretion/' For such a man the author must 
 feel respect; and toward him willingly cherishes 
 the kind affections. The Doctor has indeed be- 
 come the advocate of a bad cause; and so far as 
 he has identified himself with that cause, he is justly 
 exposed to the animadversions due to it. But so 
 far as the claims of truth will permit, we are dis- 
 posed to extend indulgence both to the advocate 
 and his cause. 
 
 Dr. E., on the subject of psalmody, has made 
 some very important concessions — concessions 
 which none upon that side of the question had 
 been candid enough* to make before him. And if 
 we find in his pages any thing that may be justly 
 construed into a contradiction, or retraction of 
 what had been conceded, it will only prove what 
 is not infrequent, that a writer has not always his 
 whole subject before him. From the Doctor we 
 duly appreciate the following concessions : — 
 
 1. " That a literal translation of all the Psalms may be 
 made, which might be sung in every Christian church ; 
 and that it would be undesirable, and inexpedient, (why 
 not unlawful ?) to banish the Book of inspired Psalms from 
 our system of psalmody. Never would we, (says the Doc- 
 tor,) willingly see the Psalms of David supplanted." — 
 P. 370. 
 
 2. " It would delight us to obtain a sort of blank verse 
 translation of the Book of Psalms, in which there should 
 be found the spirit of the inspired penmen.*' — P. 370. 
 
 3. " Dr. Watts and others have written many unguard- 
 ed sentences concerning David and some of the Psalms, 
 of which we disapprove as sincerely as Mr. M'M. can do.' 
 —P. 371. 
 
 4. " It should never be said, even figuratively, that there 
 is occasion for the efforts of Dr. Watts to convert David 
 into a Christian.'' — P. 371. 
 
 
. j. 167 
 
 Psalms. hymru,BXkd spiritual aongf, arc to be tend 
 in th( I dm*. "— P. 
 
 Xhe superior i ta Uem ' psalms, h : , 
 
 n r any human compositions, m 
 
 likewise admitted. — P. 391. 
 
 7 It is aoncaded, that while the New England chut i 
 
 ion of the Psalms, they were sound in 
 doctrine: thai in i me, among same, Watts was 
 
 not heretical enough, and wai I ; and that it i- 
 
 a fact, not admitting of doubt, that where W atts 1 < ompo- 
 bHhhui frere tir-t. and have been longest used, In the psal- 
 mody of the church, Socinianism has made the mo* 
 ss.* — Pp. 393-4. 
 
 8. " That some of the writings of Dr. Watts Were hos- 
 tile to the r< al deity of Christ, and the doctrine of tin 
 nity, is iiico/itcstiblc." — P. 394. 
 
 9. That Rouse's version u cannot be charged with ant 
 unscriptural doctrine." — P. 403. 
 
 1<». That Watts 1 Imitation and hymns, are in some in- 
 a unscripturaL — P. 403. 
 
 These concessions at once sweep away many a 
 topic of animated declamation, against the perfec- 
 tion of the Book of Psalms. They will produce 
 their proper effect; for when from the lips and pen 
 of Dr. Ely, it shall be understood, that a literal and 
 sound version of the Book of Psalms has been sup- 
 planted by an erroneous book of hymns, composed 
 by a man hostile to the doctrine of the real deity 
 of Christ, and of the Trinity, — the plain Christian, 
 who has no object of ecclesiastical ambition to 
 serve, save that of honouring his Maker in the ob- 
 servance of his institutions, will not long hesitate 
 where to seek his religious songs. His preference 
 will speak with a voice which must be heard in the 
 highest courts of the church; while, in accordance 
 
 * Dr. E. admits the facts above stated: — with what success he at- 
 ts to set aside the inference, will be inquired into in its prope 
 place. 
 
168 APPENDIX. 
 
 with that voice, the theologian of extended views, 
 of consistent and independent mind, from a con- 
 sideration of the whole ground, the origin, progress 
 and effects of these innovations, will exclaim — 
 
 Aliquis latet error 
 
 Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes.* 
 
 But a more particular glance at this part of the 
 Review may not be improper. Dr. E. seems much 
 surprised at the title of these Letters — ' An Apology 
 for the Book of Psalms;' and in an exclamatory 
 inquiry, asks, " Who can need an apology for that 
 divinely inspired book ?" It is replied: All those 
 need an apology for that inspired book, who read 
 and believe the prefaces of Dr. Watts, and the pro- 
 ductions of Dr. Latta, Messrs. Freeman, Baird, &c. 
 Let not Dr. E. be surprised; he is himself sum- 
 moned as a witness for this necessity, and he tes- 
 tifies, " That Dr. Watts, and others, have written 
 many unguarded sentences concerning David and 
 some of the Psalms." As those have written, so 
 others have read, believed, and spoken many un- 
 guarded sentences against David and the Psalms. 
 Now, as neither Dr. E. nor any of his brethren 
 had vindicated David and the Psalms against these 
 many unguarded sentences, of which he says he 
 sincerely disapproves, why be surprised that I 
 should attempt their defence ? why be offended that 
 I gave my publication the appellation of a defence? 
 
 The Doctor protests repeatedly against any in- 
 sinuation, leading to the belief, that those who pre- 
 fer the hymns of Dr. W\, or of any other, are 
 chargeable with adding to or taking from the word 
 of God. He attempts to sustain his protest by al- 
 
 * " Something- deceitful lies here concealed — Whatever it K I fear 
 it — An enemy is to he dreaded even when he seems kind* : 
 
\o. i. 169 
 
 jr, they do not "pretend tlmt their stanzas 
 divinely inspired, and ought to In' received as a 
 pan o\ the divine oracles" — Nor do they attempt 
 51 the Book of Psalms, or any part of it, out 
 of the sacred volume. — P. 369. No^, it seems 
 thing i< — than an attempt to introduce Watts' 
 hymns into the Bible, or an actual casting of the 
 Book o'i Psalms out of the sacred volume, would 
 justify the insinuation protested against, and ex- 
 pose to the danger of the plagues wshten against 
 those who should add to or take away from the 
 word of (Uh\. So far as there is a corruption of 
 ordinance of God, by human inventions, or a 
 setting aside of any portion of the divine word from 
 irs peculiar use, — so far there is really an addition, 
 and diminution, prohibited in the word of God. — 
 Dr. E."s protest cannot change the nature of things; 
 ill his fearless confidence excuse him, in ofter- 
 ing to his Maker the torn and the lame, — mangled 
 fragments of the Book of Psalms, and the feeble 
 productions of human wit. mingled with the turpi- 
 tude of moral corruption. 
 
 The Doctor, in his remarks upon the first Letter 
 of the • Apology.' lays the author under lasting ob- 
 ligations to him, for his well-meant instructions on 
 the import of the word offence, as used in Scripture. 
 He tells us, that it means *• a stumbling-block, 
 something which occasions one to commit sin.* ? 
 The import of the term, however, was previously 
 known, and the scripture, 1 Cor. viii. 9. 1:2. was 
 quoted with a view to that acceptation of the phrase, 
 stumbling-block. As it appears I have not been 
 understood, I must now be more explicit. 
 
 I had long witnessed the eftect of Watts' Psalms, 
 and the reasons by which the use of them was 
 
170 APPENDIX. 
 
 urged, upon the minds and language of professors. 
 They uniformly uttered many unguarded sentences 
 against David and the Psalms. Some of the Psalms 
 were said to be u so full of cursings, that they hard- 
 ly became the tongue of a follower of the blessed 
 Jesus/'" — the use of them calculated u to make he- 
 • resiff triumphant/' &c. : — with much more to the 
 same effect. That liberty which uniformly produces 
 such effects, I still think should be cautiously used, 
 if used at all. That such are the effects of it, is in- 
 disputable. Matter of fact proves, that the substi- 
 tution of hymns of human composition, in place of 
 those given by inspiration, has been indeed a 
 stumbling-block, over which many have fallen into 
 blasphemy. 
 
 To the proffered indulgence of Dr. E. in pp. 
 372-4, the smaller Presbyterian denominations 
 undoubtedly owe much, considering the compara- 
 tive weight of numbers in the General Assembly, 
 which, in the Doctor's logic, seems to carry no 
 small share of demonstrative force. Very liberally, 
 and in courtly style, he says, " Come and unite 
 with us in every thing else; and you may sing 
 Rouse for aye" Indeed! how very kind! Per- 
 mit us to subscribe a self-contradictory Constitu- 
 tion ; allow us to unite with them — with whom ? — 
 in what? With Dr. E., or his semi-socinifUi breth- 
 ren? Unite in maintaining orthodoxy, or hetero- 
 doxy? No matter which; only unite, and sing what 
 you please, and preach what you please, and be- 
 lieve what you please. No doubt, however, of the 
 Doctor's kind intention. Such imion, on our part, 
 would prove us free from those very inconvenient 
 bonds, viz. " Covenants, Testimonies, and the pride 
 of consi^tencv," from which he. in his threat bene vo- 
 
NO. T. 171 
 
 lencc, so earnestly wishes us Emancipated, (p. b 
 and in his own freedom, from which he speaks with 
 so much complacency. Thank you. Doctor: whet) 
 tired of " consistency," we know where to go. 
 
 In bis strictures upon the second Letter of the 
 
 1 Apology* Dr. K. remarks: " In his appeal to the 
 
 Fathers. Dr. Latta certainly has the advanti. 
 all his opponents.''" — P. 377. When Dr. E. pro- 
 nounced this sentence, had he consulted these Fa- 
 thers upon the subject? If he had, did he wait to 
 inquire why the appeal was made to the Fathers 
 by Dr. 1,. and his opponents? This, certainly, the 
 reviewer neglected to do. In this he must be set 
 right. Dr. Latta had appealed to the Fathers in 
 proof of his positions, that the Psalms of David 
 were not used in the psalmody of the church at all, 
 during the three first centuries ; and that, in the fourth 
 century, they were first introduced under Arian influ- 
 ence. We aj) peal to the same authority, not to prove, 
 as Dr. E. intimates, that nothing else beside scripture 
 songs were sung — for this is not the matter in dis- 
 pute — but that Dr. L. is incorrect, in attempting to 
 maintain, that hymns of human composition were 
 exclusively used in the three first centuries ; and 
 that Scripture Psalms were not in use before the 
 fourth century, and then by Arians only. This is 
 the matter at issue: and Dr. E. says that Dr. L. 
 eertainhj has the advantage of all his opponents ! 
 No man who understands the subject, and retains 
 the image of candour, could srive the sanction of 
 his name to the positions of Dr. L. In this in- 
 stance, from the hasty decision of a too bus) re- 
 viewer, I appeal to men who think before they 
 speak, and understand before they judge. 
 
 In the same page, Dr. E. states, that " several 
 
172 APPENDIX. 
 
 passages adduced by Dr. Latta from the Fathers, 
 testify, that the early Christians sung, not the Psalms 
 sung by the Hebrews, in the temple and synagogue, 
 but hymns of praise directly addressed to Christ 
 by name."' 
 
 The reply to this statement is brief: the whole 
 is untrue. No such passages are adduced by Dr. 
 L. from the Fathers; no such testimony is given 
 by the Fathers whom Dr. L. consulted. And for 
 the truth of this assertion I appeal with confidence 
 to the candour and integrity of Dr. E. himself, 
 when he shall have examined the subject. 
 
 But is it not certain, from Pliny's letter to Tra- 
 jan, that hymns of human composition were eoc- 
 clusively used in the psalmody of the primitive 
 Christians? So it has been contended; but it will 
 be remembered, that Pliny was not one of the 
 Christian Fathers. His testimony was, that the 
 Christians of his day " sung a song to Christ as to a 
 god." — It is alleged in the • Apology,- (p. 28.*) that 
 if they sung, among many others, the 45th and 102d 
 Psalms, they would have sung a song to Christ as 
 to God. Dr. E. admits this to be true, and allows 
 that Paul knew this; and we know it. But, says 
 the Doctor, very profoundly to be sure, " it is an 
 inference quite too far fetched for Pliny." — P. 3J7- 
 Granted. It is not to be doubted that Pliny was as 
 ill acquainted with the Book of Psalms, and as lit- 
 tle qualified to find in it the Saviour, as those Chris- 
 tian doctors who so senselessly repeat, that " none 
 of the Psalms of the Old Testament expressly men- 
 tion the name of Christ. " But Pliny is not found 
 drawing inferences from the Book of Psaims. He 
 
 gent edition. 
 
no. i. 178 
 
 
 reports the information he had obtained from for- 
 mer professors pf Christianity, who, though free 
 from - tlit i pride of consistency/ 3 might neverthe- 
 less be correct in this statement at hi- bar. To 
 suppose tin 4 Christians of that day uninstructed in 
 the Old Testament delineations of Messiah, would 
 be to suppose, that those who forsook all to follow 
 him, ireless about his character, and as 
 
 ignorant of his Deity, as many of the thoughtless 
 professors of our times. Such was not the ease. 
 
 We must not pass unnoticed the canon of Scrip- 
 ture interpretation, adopted by Dr. E, : u What the 
 Bible does not forbid, it permits. This is a pecu- 
 liar attribute of divine law." — P. 378. Upon this 
 ground alone can the advocates of a human psal- 
 mody stand. It is believed Dr. E. is the first of 
 those advocates who has ventured to avow it. Try 
 it then, and see if the Doctor has courage to follow 
 it out. Try it upon purgatory. That there is a 
 heaven of eternal felicity, and a hell of endless wo, 
 is not denied: the Bible teaches so; but where does 
 it say, there is not a third place? — What of prayer 
 for the dead? " What the Bible does not forbid, it 
 permits ;'" where does it forbid this? — "What the 
 Bible does not forbid, it permits:*' but the Bible 
 forbids not the midwife to baptize the new-born in- 
 fant; therefore she may do it. — So may Dr. E. 
 reason to prove the mingling of the baptismal water 
 with salt and spittle, to be proper; the use of the 
 cross in baptism : bowing at the communion ; vows 
 of celibac}-; the endless train of fasts and feasts: 
 in a word, all the trumpery of Rome. Does not 
 the Doctor know, that this canon of his is the great 
 bulwark of Romish imposition ? Take it away, 
 and the whole system of her superstition falls to the 
 
1 KM)I\. 
 
 ground. Is he unacquainted with the fact, that 
 under this canon of his, the Fathers of New Eng- 
 land suffered so grievously at Britain's hand r If 
 this canon be indeed legitimate, then, to separate 
 from the church of Rome on account of her rites, 
 is sheer schism. 
 
 Acknowledging this canon as u a peculiar attri- 
 bute of divine law," it would be amusing to find 
 Dr. E. in the hands of such a man as Cardinal 
 Bellarmhie, disputing about the number of the 
 sacraments, and twenty other things equally un- 
 founded. And, perhaps, were he to take this ground 
 with some of the witty sons of St. Patrick, in Ins 
 own city, and undertake to disprove their doctrine 
 of auricular confession, penance, extreme un *ion, 
 &c. it might drive him to another canon, which 
 would more uniformly conduct him in the way of 
 safety. Has the Doctor forgotten, that he solemnly 
 vowed to the following declarations : — " The word 
 of God is the onbj rule 10 direct us how we may 
 glorify him — The second commandment forbiddetii 
 the worshipping of God in any appointed 
 
 in his word — The acceptable way of worshipping 
 the true God is instituted by himself, and 
 by his revealed will, that he )t be wor- 
 
 shipped according to the imaginations and device ? 
 of men."' But, " what the Bible does not forbid, it 
 permits. This is a peculiar attri 
 says Dr. E. " What things soever I command you, 
 observe to do it: thou si ''thereto, nor 
 
 diminish from it," says God. Which we o 
 to believe and <>hey, judge ye. After all, it 
 improbable that Dr. E. takes both sides : his Con- 
 
 " Hem. xi i 
 
NO. I. 1 7.') 
 
 fenQD of Faith, and Bible, when disputing with a 
 Roman Catholic; and his Popish canon, when in 
 argument with Reformed Presbyterians and 
 
 rs. The Doctor lias intimated to -us his free- 
 dom from " the pride o\ COfiSlstttti v ;"" and in his 
 adoption of this canon, we have additional proof of 
 his power in making contrasts. 
 
 On this subject 1 adopt the old Protestant, which 
 is the Bible, ground; and reject as irrational* anti- 
 scriptural) and antiehristiaiu both Dr. K.\s canon* 
 of interpretation, and his frequent demand of proof 
 for negative articles. The posit i\e side is sufficient 
 for me: and it necessarily nvolves the negative. 
 What God authorizes in hjgavorship, we are bound 
 to do: what he does n6t.4equire. we must reject, 
 and for this very reason, that it is not required. 
 Thou snalt not add thereto. It is hoped Dr. E. 
 will not again trifle tint*. I now proceed to his 
 critique on Letter III. 
 
 The Doctor's observations upon this Letter are 
 of little interest. J I us an extract from 
 
 wart's Collections?' in which the term para- 
 phrase is applied to the version of the Book of 
 Psalms still used in the Church of Scotland. He 
 is welcome to all he can glean from this; and we 
 shall listen to his display of skill in language, while 
 ssures us, that a paraphrase is not a transla- 
 tion ! That the General Assembly of the Church of 
 
 itally mistaken in the position he takes. He >• 
 have had in his eve that principle of our national constitution, v hich 
 
 . er not delegated by Cheni 
 
 Fernment. ["he people are viewed a-; the im- 
 
 ithority to the government*, and upon what they 
 
 I licir public servants must not encroach, bid God 
 
 v. in virtue of power delegated from his creatures, then. ar.<: 
 
 would Dr. E.'s ass rtion be correct The contrary po- 
 
 - true: In morals ana religion, what Liod has not authorized 
 
 y not do. The Doctor's metaphysics, as well as his theology. 
 
 should have saved him from such a blunder. 
 
176 APPENDIX. 
 
 Scotland, or their Commission, 170 years ago. 
 chose the word paraphrase, in their adopting act, 
 proves but little. The title of the metrical version, 
 as fixed by them, shows they considered it to be a 
 translation. Dr. E/s assertion to the contrary not- 
 withstanding. And probably at that time it was 
 not known that the words paraphrase, and trans- 
 lation, were so different in meaning as modern lin- 
 guists prove them to be. Drowning men will catch 
 at straws. 
 
 One remark more. In Dr. E.'s quotation, (p. 
 381,) he misrepresents both Mr. Freeman's senti- 
 ments, and matter of fact. To one unacquainted 
 with the subject, it would appear from that quo- 
 tation, that the same Assembly of the Church of 
 Scotland which adopted the version of the Psalms, 
 " also published and recommended a number of 
 poems from Watts." Watts was not born for many 
 years after the adoption of that version of the 
 Psalms. It is hoped this was an oversight, and 
 not a trick of our good brother. 
 
 The Doctor, in the course of his remarks, seems 
 much perplexed, because, instead of the Book of 
 Psalms, or Scripture songs, I had not proposed the 
 defence of Rouse's version, or employed myself in 
 the proof of something that needs no proof. A 
 contest about any particular version of Scripture 
 songs, had been explicitly and repeatedly dis- 
 claimed; nor had any opposition been shown to 
 the introduction of any inspired song, into the 
 psalmody of the church. No one species of trans- 
 lation was plead for, to the exclusion of others. 
 All contended for, was, that a full and fair version 
 of the Book of Psalms should be found in the psal- 
 mody of the church, to the exclusion of hymns of 
 
. i. 177 
 
 human invention. Yel Dr. E., whether I will 01 
 not, will have the • Apology' to be no more than a 
 defence o\ Rouse's poetry ! Were it so, he should 
 have found his task more easy than it has p] 
 to h»\ Tin- Doctor knows it is much more 
 to declaim about rough poetry, than to prove a hu- 
 man invention to he a divine institution. 
 
 I am perfectly agreed that the Doctor's remarks 
 on my first argument, should remain in all their 
 force. When the reader shall have compared his 
 admissions and retractions, his quotations, contra- 
 dictions, and demands of proof for negatives, from 
 p. 3S1 to 390, he will probably he satisfied, with- 
 out spending longer time in attempting to ascertain 
 what the Doctor means. He appears, indeed, to 
 bold, that Jehovah did not authorize the Book of 
 Psalms to he sung 1 in the church, in any age! — that 
 these Psalms, in Hebrew, are suited to the purpose 
 of public sin 21112: — that God has given no English 
 version, either to read or sing — that we need a 
 book of prayers just as much as a Book of Psalms, 
 and that God ffave the one no more than the other ! 
 How much we are indebted to the Doctor for all 
 this information, may not be easily told. Thought- 
 less assertion, and mere talk, require not to be fol- 
 lowed. -My argument remains untouched. 
 
 My second argument is substantially admitted — 
 u The adaptation of the Book of Psalms to the 
 purpose of sacred praise.'' The Doctor talks in- 
 deed of suitable explanation, as necessary to this 
 adaptation. I really do not understand him here. 
 If he mean that we should understand the Psalms, 
 he is correct; but our ignorance of their import, 
 however it may unfit us for a profitable use of them, 
 by no means unfits them for the purpose of psal- 
 
178 APPENDIX. 
 
 mody. To obtain this understanding of these sa- 
 cred odes, i let the word of Christ dwell in you 
 richly/ that they may be read with profit, and sung 
 with knowledge. Ignorance in reading them, is 
 no more allowable than in singing them. 
 
 The Doctor's admission of the third argument of 
 the ' Apology,' ought to settle the dispute : " The 
 superior excellence of inspired songs over any Jvur 
 man compositions" is conceded. Why then not 
 use them in preference to such human composi- 
 tions ? Cursed be the deceiver who hath in his 
 flock a male^ and voweth, and sacrifceth unto the 
 Lord a corrupt thing. To no individual do 1 
 apply this malediction : it, however, demands of us 
 circumspection, that to it we expose not ourselves. 
 From the consequences of this concession, Dr. E. 
 seems desirous of turning aside ; and therefore in- 
 troduces some, no doubt very pertinent, remarks, 
 respecting other inspired poetry beside the Book 
 of Psalms ; the difficulty of rendering Hebrew poe- 
 try into English poetry; and informs us, that our 
 translations are not the work of inspiration ! Sage 
 discoveries, — very necessary to be communicated 
 to Seceders and Reformed Presbyterians ! 
 
 Upon my fourth argument the Doctor says, he 
 and his brethren " have satisfactory evidence of 
 the propriety of using human psalmody in the 
 church. " This I am not disposed to doubt ; but 
 it proves nothing against my argument. They 
 may find it convenient to be satisfied with verv 
 little evidence. And with the Doctor's antiehris- 
 tian laic of exposition, which he here applies again, 
 with what superstitious rites, with what impositions 
 upon the church, might he not be satisfied! His 
 appeal to the songs of angels, and even to saints 
 
Nd i. 179 
 
 under extraordinary circumstances, and a special 
 afflatus of the inspiring Spirit. i< without weight 
 against my argument. Nor will the Doctoral <uu- 
 prove much for his cause. 
 
 rthing h«S heen adduced to invalidate my fifth 
 and sixth arguments. The Doctor's remarks ra- 
 ther establish mine, with the exception of his at- 
 tempt to soften the view taken of the probable in- 
 fluence of Watts" compositions, in fostering h< 
 in New England. Dr. E. supposes the progress of 
 heresy there 4 might as well he ascribed to the u spi- 
 rit of civil liberty."* or to ** a college," as to the pro- 
 ductions of Dr. Watts. To this it will be time 
 enough to reply, when Dr. E. shall have persuaded 
 any intelligent man. that national independence, 
 and a college, are as likely to promote error, as a 
 confessedly erroneous Psalm Book, composed by 
 one confessedly hostile to the " real deity of Christ, 
 and the doctrine of the Trinity. r 
 
 The Doctor sees tit to pass over the fifth Letter 
 of the • Apology,' unnoticed. Had he attended to 
 this, it might have saved him the trouble of writing 
 some pages : but he was anxious to vindicate the 
 reputation of Dr. Watts. Dr. Latta. and Mr. Free- 
 man. In his course I follow him ; and should be 
 dad indeed to find that I had mistaken the import 
 of their writings. His statement bears, that I have 
 misrepresented them — that their opinions are not 
 such as are stated in the ' ApologJ .' 
 
 I have again examined the subject, and if Dr. E. 
 did so. cannot help suspecting a warfare between 
 his head and his heart, while he penned this part 
 of his Review. Dr. K. has admitted, in a former 
 . that Dr. Watts and others have written many 
 unguarded sentences concerning David and some 
 
180 APPENDIX. 
 
 q{ the Psalms. This is the general concession; 
 but the Doctor gives no specifications of those 
 " many unguarded sentences." I have stated some 
 of them. Dr. E. takes up the defence of Dr. W. 
 and others, — and what is the result ? Why, that the 
 i Apology' has misrepresented these writers. Now, 
 Dr. E., whither hath thy candour fled ? Accord- 
 ing to the Doctor's pleading, all that Watts faulted, 
 was the translation; such as dividing, in some 
 words, the ultimate syllable lion, into two, for sake 
 of measure. " It is," says Dr. E., " some such 
 mode as this of singing, that Watts asserted < doth 
 not only flat our devotion, but too often awaken 
 our regret, and touches all the springs of uneasi- 
 ness within us.' He never said that the words of 
 inspiration, or the original songs of Zion did this." 
 — P. 396. My dear Doctor, is this just so as you 
 say? Then, indeed, I have wronged Dr. W.; 
 and, what is more unpardonable, so have you i 
 You have affirmed, that " Dr. W. and others have 
 written many unguarded sentences concerning the 
 Psalms, of which you sincerely disapprove." — P. 
 371. Yet really we can see nothing unguarded, 
 concerning either David or the Psalms, in objecting 
 to such a syllabic division, as a violation of the 
 laws of English prosody. Surely the Doctor does 
 not disapprove sincerely of criticising what has 
 proved so disgusting to himself. It seems how- 
 ever, that Dr. E. is content to rank himself among 
 the slanderers of the poetic Watts, rather than ad- 
 mit he meant any more than a little criticism on 
 the bad prosody of some versifiers of the Psalms ! 
 How enviable the place of a Quarterly Theologi- 
 cal Reviewer! He can contradict truths, and war 
 against himself, and still be an honourable man ? 
 
NO. 1. 181 
 
 I iii- conduct <»j Brother E. looks something like 
 
 disinterested benevolence, — a willingness to suffer 
 *>r the good of the whole, 
 
 Now for the truth of the matter: Why did Dr. 
 \\ r . fault the versions then in use? Was it because 
 they n i i> represented the original songs of Scrip- 
 ture ? Was it because they were unfaithful versions? 
 <>r because some of their lines did not exactly cor- 
 respond with poetic feet? No, no; Dr. E. knows 
 were not the faults ascribed to them by Dr. W. 
 We shall hear these reasons as stated by Dr. W. 
 himself. It is a the matter — almost opposite to the 
 spirit of the gospel — something so extremely Jewish 
 and cloudy, that it darkens our sight of God the 
 Saviour — By keeping too close to David, in the 
 house of God, the vail of Moses is thrown over our 
 ts — some dreadful curse against men is pro- 
 posed to our lips, as Ps. lxix. 26 — 28.; which is so 
 contrary to the new commandment of loving our 
 enemies — Our lips speak nothing but the heart of 
 David — Psalms lxix. and cix. are so full of curs- 
 ings, that they hardly become the tongue of a fol- 
 lower of the blessed Jesus — By that time they are 
 fitted for Christian psalmody, the composure can 
 hardly be called inspired or divine"* 
 
 Thus we see it was neither a faithless version, 
 nor bad poetry, that Dr. W. faulted; but keeping 
 too close to David, speaking nothing but his heart, 
 and using what is inspired or divine : for the in- 
 spired and divine character of the Psalms must be 
 nearly, if not altogether destroyed, before they are 
 fit for Christian psalmody!!! How Dr. E. can 
 reconcile to his native candour, or to the high 
 
 * See Apology, pp. 100, 101.— Present edition, pp. 97—100. 
 
 16 
 
182 APPENDIX. 
 
 character of a fair reviewer, this part of his Journal- 
 is for him. not me, to determine. 
 
 When Dr. E. affirms, that Dr. W. never spoke 
 thus of •• the words of inspiration, or the original 
 songs of Zion." it is hoped he intends no quibble 
 on the words, inspiration and original. Hebrew 
 words, and songs in the Hebrew language, consti- 
 tute not the subject of discussion ; but faithful 
 translations of these songs. And be it known to 
 Dr. E., that Dr. Watts so spoke of the words of 
 inspiration, and of the original songs of Zion, in 
 such translations : and to such language Dr. E. 
 refers when he says, " Dr. W. and others have 
 written many unguarded sentences concerning Da- 
 vid and the Psalms, of which we sincerely disap- 
 prove.*' I suspect, indeed, ere this, unless the 
 Doctor be more " heated by the fires of party spi- 
 rit," than is usual even for party men, he has ex- 
 perienced some unpleasant twitchings of both can- 
 dour and conscience, for the part he has acted in 
 defence of his favourite psalmist of Southampton. 
 
 But what of Mr. Freeman? Have I not misre- 
 presented him? So my good friend Dr. E. says. 
 But we have seen, in more instances than one, that 
 the Doctor is, at least, capable of misapprehension. 
 I had quoted Mr. F. as saying, " We have no au- 
 thority, divine nor human, for singing David's 
 Psalms — they should not be used;" omitting the 
 words, as a system of psalmody. This is the 
 whole ground of charge against me here. It is ob- 
 vious the matter in dispute is, whether the Psalms, 
 as a book or system, that is, the whole of the Book 
 of Psalms should be used in the psalmody of the 
 church. Mr. F. had taken the negative, and I the 
 positive side. I state explicitly, in the note from 
 
no. i. 188 
 
 which Dr. E. quotes, that Mr. F. allowed the iim 
 of some oi the Psalms. This is all Mr. F. contends 
 
 for: and all that Dr. E, ran claim for him. Win re- 
 in, then, have I misrepresented Mr. F.? Certainl} 
 
 in nothing. The intention of that note was to ex- 
 pose the absurdity o\ Mr. F. in usini: some of those 
 Psalms in the worship oi (iod, for which he said 
 there was no authority, divine nor human. Dr. E. 
 
 can now help Mr. F, to an authority, borrowed 
 from Rome, indeed, but no matter: it is at least 
 human authority; it is not forbidden. 
 
 Whether I have misrepresented the sentiments 
 of Dr. Latta. or of others, or thought too meanly 
 of their reasoning, must be left to others to decide. 
 I confess for myself, I have never read, in the So- 
 cinian attacks upon the authority of Scripture, and 
 not often in deistical writings, language more 
 strongly impious than what 1 find in these writers 
 against the Book of Psalms. And I have not yet 
 imbibed so much " of party fire/' as to declaim 
 against Dr. Priestley for faulting the reasoning of 
 the apostle Paul, and justify Doctors Watts and 
 Latta, and others, in reviling the Book of Psalms. 
 As respects their reasoning, 1 have rarely met with 
 any thing, hearing the name, so contemptible. That 
 they all have spoken many things in commenda- 
 tion of" that divinely inspired book." is matter of 
 fact: and it is likewise matter o( fact, equally no- 
 torious, that every public advocate o\ a human 
 psalmody, from John of Leyden down to Dr. E., 
 has written, at least respecting some parts of ir. in 
 a style unblessed. The productions of these painters 
 are indeed " monstrous caricatures." \mong those 
 features of loveliness which they often draw, they 
 place some form of horror, from which the mind of 
 moral sensibility seeks speedily to escape. 
 
184 APPENDIX, 
 
 With two or three brief remarks, 1 shall disn 
 these animadversions, already imduly prolon 
 " Public singing," says Dr. E., " is an act of s 
 worship: and every singer should adopt each line 
 as his own. It is no more lawful to tell lies in our 
 psalms, than in our social prayers."'" — P. 39?. Yet 
 he says, with usual consistency on this subject, 
 u A Christian congregation may sing historical 
 cantos, 7 ' p. 401 — which, of course, they cannot alL 
 " adopt as their own.' 7 If a worshipper sings a 
 literal version of Ps. xxii. 1, &c. ' My God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me?' &c. the Doctor, 
 after the worthy example of his predecessors, as- 
 sures us, he is " literally uttering lies concerning 
 himself." — P. 402. And to prevent this, he ought, 
 like u Dr. Watts, by a little history taken from the 
 New Testament," to modify and explain the subject. 
 The reader will remark, that this Psalm was in- 
 scribed " To the chief musician." It was sent to 
 the tabernacle, literally, as composed by the in- 
 spired Psalmist $ for there was then no New Tes- 
 tament, from which " a little history" could be 
 taken to illustrate it ; nor any Dr. Watts to improve 
 what the Spirit of God had done. Yet the congre- 
 gation of the Lord sung it, literally, as it was. 
 Assume it as their own they could not ; and, upon 
 Dr. E*s position, what is the inference? Why, that 
 they " literally uttered lies concerning themselves" 
 Row pitiable the condition of those Israelites ! 
 Obliged to utter lies before God — dbsit blasphemia 
 — in the use of that song which God's Spirit in- 
 dited, and inscribed for their use ! But the folly 
 of these positions is sufficiently exposed elsewhere ; 
 and therefore I leave them, only remarking, that 
 the worshipper who understands the true import of 
 these Psalms, who derives from them that spiritual 
 
w. i. 185 
 
 instruction which they contain, and sings them un- 
 der the direction of that Spirit who indited them, 
 will not apprehend any danger of " uttering false- 
 hood/' much less of '* telling Yws" to hi> Maker. 
 
 Dr. E. (p. 397?) gives us a specimen of his talent 
 as an expositor, and another example of his can- 
 dour as a critic. He says, " Rouse represents Je- 
 hovah as asking, [Ps. cviii.] in ver. JO, 11, * O who 
 is he will bring me to the city fortified ?' " &c. ; and 
 adds in way of comment, u We apprehend David 
 becomes the speaker at the beginning of fliese in- 
 terrogations.*' It happens unfortunately for Dr. E. 
 upon this subject, that he deals very liberally in 
 misapprehensions. Examine this portion of the 
 Psalms, and it will be found, that Rouse gives no 
 idea but what is justified, both by the original 
 and by the prose version; and there is no change 
 of person from verse 7 to 12, or rather, there is no 
 change of person from the beginning to the end of 
 the Psalm. But this is the advantage of having 
 the Psalms so modified, as " to contain the expo- 
 sition in themselves l" 
 
 Vs the criticisms of Dr. E. on the poetical taste 
 of those who advocate a scripture psalmody, have 
 little bearing upon the subject — and had they more, 
 some of them are in such a style as to preclude re- 
 ply — I willingly leave him to " the detection of 
 poetical beauties," in the hymns of Dr. \V. ; and 
 to edify the church with the chaste and elegant 
 effusions of his own muse.* Nor shall we detain 
 
 " Dr. L. has some pretensions to tl^ reputation of a poet. The last 
 production of his mu-e that has mel my eye. i> a hymn, comp >?ed on 
 i of a visit of the u Osage Mission Family,-' to Philadelphia, 
 and sun^ at one of their -public meetings in April last. The man who 
 is capable of composingr and pouring forth upon the v.orM >uc!i 
 is doubtless entitled t<> -rin upon u Rouse," and to sneer at ail 
 
186 APPENDIX. 
 
 to weigh the respective claims of poetic merit in 
 the Imitation and version of the Book of Psalms. 
 This is not our business. Dr. E. is welcome to all 
 he can make of the " smooth, easy, and natural 
 versification of Watts: 7 ' but he should recollect. 
 that he has confessed the product? on to be errone- 
 ous. It seems, however, in this instance, xhe Doc- 
 tor takes his stand among those critics whose 
 
 u praise is still. — the style i- excellent: 
 
 The sense they humbly lake upon coiifc 
 
 iC After all."" says Dr. E., u the instances in 
 which erroneous sentiments are expressed in Watts 3 
 Psalms and Hymns, are few, and might b*' easily 
 corrected. Until they are, every minister and 
 people are at liberty to avoid singing any part 
 which they deem exceptionable : for God has com- 
 manded 7/s to sing, and restricted our songs only 
 by the injunction to do every thing in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus. A form of psalmody he has not 
 required us to observe any more than a form in 
 every prayer which we offer." — P. 405. Thus 
 Dr. E. consoles himself with the fact, that the er- 
 rors in sentiment, of his Psalm Book, are not nu- 
 merous — informs us they may be used 01 not — that 
 there is no restriction, as to truth or error, in our 
 song, except to sing in the name of the Lord Jesus : 
 And once more he assures us, a form of psalmody 
 is no more requisite than a form of prayers ! This 
 is really so much in the style of nonsense, that it 
 should piobably be exempted from the charge of 
 wickedness. 
 
 poetical habits have been formed by the taste of Rouse." The . 
 feeling, and fmt taste, too, must be admired, which induced 
 
 ly to prefer that hymn to the 9t : th, 93th, and other Psali 
 'a version ! 
 
 Bavktm non edit, amet txacar 
 
n,). i. 187 
 
 On< more from Dr. K. mu>t be not* 
 
 which was likely to bo forgotten. Speaking of Ps. 
 lxix. > — 28. which Dr. Watts had adduced as an 
 
 ♦ -xample of contradiction to the gospel spirit, Dr. E. 
 affirms — •• One would naturally, from the use of a 
 simple translation of the verses, be led to sing his 
 own malignant execrations against his own per- 
 sonal enemies, and to think he was doing God ser- 
 vice by breathing out revenge /" — P. 399. As- 
 tonishing ! •• a simple translation." that is, a pun . 
 //pounded translation of the word of God, 
 would naturally lead one to sing his own malig- 
 nant execrations, and to breathe out revenge/ — 
 This. Christian, is too much indeed. God keep 
 you and me from espousing that cause which drags 
 all its public advocates to such blasphemy. Dr. E., 
 the devout, the ardent and able advocate of ortho- 
 doxy, the e;ood man, and the acute metaphysician, 
 in advocating the Psalms of Watts, is compelled to 
 sear his lips by profanity, and to blot his page with 
 the language of infidelity ! What clouds, what 
 wrath, hang over that dreadful system ! After all 
 this, I confess I have little heart to accompany the 
 Doctor any further in his progress of psalmodic 
 discussion. I hope to lind him soon in some pur- 
 suit, more congenial with the Bible, and the usual 
 tenour of his own dispositions. He has heedlessly 
 become the champion of a cause which none has 
 managed well, and which he certainly does not un- 
 derstand. Let, then, its future advocates be found 
 among worse men, who have less to lose : for the 
 farther it is followed, the more desperate it will be- 
 come, and the more deeply will it sink with its ad- 
 herents before an inquiring and Christian public. 
 In paning. Dr. E. may be assured, that instead of 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 inducing us to look unfavourably upon him and his 
 friends, in their stand for truth and evangelical 
 order, and the real revival of godliness, our " tes- 
 timonies and covenants, and our pride of consis- 
 tency/' are to him and them the surest pledge of 
 our cordial co-operation. We rejoice in the triumphs 
 of true religion, wherever seen; and our fervent 
 and constant prayer is, that through the instrumen- 
 tality of his servants, our common Lord would 
 speedily give to his own cause an ascendency, uni- 
 versal as it would be blessed. But it must be re- 
 collected by our brethren, that our motto is — 
 
 ** Still pleas'd to praise, yet not afraid to blame/' 
 
 We cannot indeed but remark the weening solici- 
 tude of Dr. E., that the several churches, attached 
 to a Scripture psalmody, should amalgamate with 
 the General Assembly. Than union among breth- 
 ren, there is nothing more lovely, or more desira- 
 ble; if we except religious truth and purity. With- 
 out these, however, no union can be happy in it- 
 self, nor salutary in its results. Experience should 
 have taught Dr. E., (for on the subject he has had 
 many a lesson,) that of discordant principles then 1 
 can be no amalgamation : they will still be like 
 the iron and miry clay, in the prophetic vision. — 
 Should the jarring parties now upon the field, unite, 
 each holding its distinctive principles and opposing 
 practices, would they be really more united than 
 they are ? Would they love truth or one another 
 more ? Certainly not. What then should be gained ? 
 NotMng at all. Of how little value are those aims 
 and exertions, which are directed to a mere nominal 
 union among professors; when compared with those 
 which are directed to combine the energies of the 
 good, the consistent and the enterprising, — inde- 
 
 
189 
 
 jlesand mere party \ 
 — under the influence of evangelical truth, purity 
 the purpose of rearing the goodly 
 
 painful to gee Christian 
 ministers, :urch shall 
 
 up from those errors and corruptions, which 
 so greatly enfeeble her powers and mar her beauty, 
 their eyes upon a General Assembly, and 
 D amalgamation of other bodies with that 
 ibly, as their highest wish and only aim! 
 rv a?e. however, has had its hobby, upon 
 which some conspicuous individual has been mount- 
 ed; while the crowd of smaller men have been 
 employed, for his pleasure, in pushing it along. 
 The amalgamation of discordant principles into 
 one system, has been the stalking-horse of aspiring 
 minds, and sometimes of good men, in different 
 periods. A.M31 as, lon^f ago, made him- 
 
 self a name by his attempt to amalgamate the op- 
 posing elements of the Gentile philosophy, and im- 
 pure idolatries, with the sublime doctrines and holy- 
 institutes of the Saviour of men. A similar attempt 
 was made, and with similar effects upon true re- 
 ligion, by Marcellixus, in the following age. At 
 a later day, others endeavoured to revive the work. 
 The aims and endeavours of Calixtus. in the 17th 
 century, to unite the v. Lutherans, and 
 
 Roman CathoU 11 as the attempt of the 
 
 amiable Melanctho.v. to unite the Greek and 
 Protestant churches, are well known: and with 
 iiow little success, need not now be told. It mat- 
 not whence error and corruption originate; 
 whether amone . Roman Catholics, or de- 
 
 generate P : their nature is still the same. 
 
 They cannot amalgamate with the truths and ordi- 
 
190 APPENDIX. 
 
 nances of Jesus Christ. To attempt it, is vain; 
 and should it succeed, it would be pernicious. It 
 might give extension to a name, gratify a paltry 
 vanity, and, for a time, afford an unhallowed calm; 
 but such heterogeneous associations never have, 
 and never can, promote the high purposes of truth 
 and order. Yet " this design carries with it so fair 
 and pleadable a pretence, that those who are once 
 engaged in it, are apt to think that they, alone, 
 are the true lovers of Christianity — the only sober 
 and indifferent persons^ to umpire all the differ- 
 ences in the world, in a few propositions which 
 they have framed. — No experience of endless dis- 
 appointments, and of increasing new differences — 
 of forming new parties, of reviving old animosities 
 — will discourage them in their design. — But this 
 I say, whether men will hear, or forbear, there is 
 but one way of effecting this blessed work — of re- 
 conciliation among Christians — and this way is, 
 that all churches should endeavour to reduce them- 
 selves unto the primitive pattern"* t 
 
 * Owen on the Spirit. 
 
 f Should Dr. E., or any friend of a human psalmody, resume the 
 subject, it is hoped he will be explicit in stating his opinion on the 
 subjects of the following queries, as, in their mode of speaking of 
 them there is great ambiguity. 
 
 1. How may we ascertain an institution to be of divine authority, or 
 otherwise ? 
 
 2. Is the common English version of the sacred Scriptures, upon 
 tbe whole, to be viewed as the word of God ? and, if not, upon what 
 does the faith of the unlearned rest? 
 
 3. Why must Scripture songs, when sung, be assumed as expressing 
 our own sentiments and experience, and when read not be so assumed ? 
 
 4. Why does a particular circumstance, giving occasion to au in- 
 spired song, unfit it for social, public singing, any more than for social, 
 public reading ? 
 
 5. Why must an inspired psalm, when sung, be personally assumed, 
 and an uninspired hymn not ? 
 
 6. Why is that which is trv.e^-when read, a lie when sung? 
 
 7. What would be a correct and comprehensive definition of will- 
 worship? 
 
191 
 No. fi. 
 
 DR. WATTS' OPINIONS. 
 
 I '• 117) 
 
 WHAT were the opinions of Dr. Watts on the 
 subject of the Trinity, and persoii ot' Jesns Christ? 
 It would be pleasant, indeed, could we find him 
 among the sound divines of England; but there, 
 it is believed, his works will not allow him to be 
 placed. An examination of these will prove him 
 to have embraced a compound of Xoetianism. So- 
 bellianism. Arianism, and Soci7iianism. He was 
 not of a spirit implicitly to follow any one leader. 
 If any be disposed to distinguish between the^;r«c- 
 tical faith o\ his heart, and the speculative articles 
 of his creed. 1 have no objection. Believing, how- 
 ever, as 1 do, that God has not constituted us arbi- 
 ters of the state of men, I have only to do with the 
 latter — upon the former it is not mine to decide. 
 The Doctor's sentiments concerning the Redeemer, 
 will be found in his ;i Discourses on the Glory of 
 Christ." The edition now before me is that of 
 L746, but a little more than a year before the au- 
 thor's death — There you will find him zealously 
 maintaining, that the human soul of Christ, created 
 before all worlds, is the Lord from heaven, spoken 
 of 1 Cor. xv. 47.* — That in the image of this pre- 
 existent spirit, Adam was created — That the son- 
 ship of Christ, belongs, exclusively, to his human 
 soult — That the covenant of redemption was not 
 
 * Pp. 175. 176 - P. 303 
 
192 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 made with a person who was the Father's equaK 
 but with this created spirit.* Such are some of 
 the views, which this author supposes would make 
 the Bible more defensible. His opinions on the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, may be gathered from the 
 following address to God. 
 
 " Dear and blessed God, hadst thou been pleased, in 
 any one plain scripture, to have informed me which of the 
 different opinions about the holy Trinity, among the eon- 
 tending parties of Christians, had been true, thou know t si 
 with how much real satisfaction, and joy, my unbiassed 
 heart would have opened itself to receive and embrace 
 the divine discovery. Hadst thou told me plainly, in any 
 single text, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, an 
 three real distinct persons in thy divine nature, I had never 
 suffered myself to be bewildered in so many doubts, nor 
 embarrassed with so many strong fears of assenting to 
 the mere inventions of men, instead of divine doctrine; 
 but I should have humbly and immediately accepted thy 
 words, so far as it was possible for me to understand them, 
 as the only rule of my faith. Or, hadst thou been pleased 
 so to express and include this proposition in the several- 
 scattered parts of thy book, from whence my reason and 
 conscience might with care find out, and with certainty 
 infer this doctrine, J should have joyfully employed all 
 my reasoning powers, with their utmost skill and activity, 
 to have found out this inference, and engrafted it into my 
 soul. 
 
 — Holy Father, — how can such weak creatures ever take 
 in so strange, so difficult, and so abstruse a doctrine as this? 
 And can this strange and perplexing notion of three real 
 persons, going to make up one true God, be so necessary 
 and so important a part of that Christian doctrine, which, 
 in the Old Testament, and the New, is represented as 
 so plain and so easv, even to the meanest understanding r" 
 — Watts' Works, vol. 7. pp. 476—7. Leeds Ed. 
 
 Let us advert again to the manner in which his 
 writings have been understood by eminent divines, 
 
 * Pp. 180.225. 
 
no. ii. 193 
 
 in different countries, and of various religious per- 
 suasions. Dr. Doddridge was his friend, his com- 
 •!). admira . jrapher. He was capable 
 
 of entering into the views, and certainly cannot be 
 suspected of a disposition t<» mi srepr e s ent tin 
 thnenta of Dr. Watts. I refer the reader, then, to 
 the statements of Dr. Doddridge on this subject — 
 
 • For as much as — there is such a change and humili- 
 ation asserted concerning Christ, as could not properly be 
 
 «1 concerning an eternal and immutable bei. 
 such, there is reason to believe that Christ had, before his 
 incarnation, a created or derived nature, which would admit 
 of such a change." — Watts Diss, on the Trin No. 3. Works, 
 vol. 6. pp. 51S — 54. (See Doddr. vol. 2. p. I 
 
 Dr Watts maintained One Supreme God, 
 dwelling- in the human nature of Christ, which he supposes 
 to have existed the first of all creatures ; and speaks of the 
 divine Logos, as the tcisdom of God, and the Holy Spirit 
 as the divine power, or the influence and effect of it : which 
 ft is a scriptural person, i.e. spoken of figuratively 
 m Scripture, under personal characters." — Watts' Diss. >"o. 
 7 Works, vol. o. p. 639.— (Sec Doddr. vol. 2. p. 19 
 
 He also referred Christ's being the only begotten Son of 
 God. " to his being the promised Messiah, or to his extra- 
 ordinary conception, and exaltation to his kingdom as 
 
 Medffctor. — (Sec Doddr. vol. 2. p 
 
 ♦ 
 
 President Edwards urges fourteen distinct argu- 
 ments against the hypothesis of Dr. Watts, con- 
 cerning Jesus Christ. He has this remark — •• Ac- 
 cording to what seems to be Dr. Wans' scheme, 
 the Son of God is no distinct divine person from 
 That his son, the late Dr. Edwards, 
 I the subject in a similar light, is more than 
 
 a the fact, that he transcribed 
 .^nts of his venerable father, fur the | 
 
194 APPENDIX. 
 
 The same conclusion may be drawn in respect oi 
 Dr. Erskine, of Edinburgh, from the interest he 
 took in the publication of these Essays of the Pre- 
 sident of Nassau Hall ; and from the special notice 
 which he takes of that part of them, containing 
 the refutation of the scheme of Dr. W. 
 
 In the same light are these writings of Dr. W. 
 understood by the venerable Dr. Anderson.* u He 
 taught," says Dr. A. " that the Holy Spirit is not 
 a person really distinct from the Father, but the 
 divine power — that there are no real distinct per- 
 sons in the Godhead. 77 In a similar point of view 
 is the subject contemplated by the Rev. James R. 
 Willson, in his very interesting u History of opi- 
 nions on the Atonement." Hear the confession of 
 another — It is that of Dr. Ely. " We cannot 
 deny," says Dr. E. "that Dr. Watts' treatise — has 
 wrought much mischief — It was the book which 
 first turned the head of the Rev. John Shermant 
 — we wish the pernicious consequences of that 
 treatise had terminated here.}" 
 
 In the same page} we are informed, that Mr. 
 Allison, late chaplain to Congress, last January, 
 preached the heresy to our representatives, and 
 gave Dr. W. as the author of the doctrine. 
 
 Thus, with Noetus and Sabellius, the Doctor 
 maintained a certain union to subsist between the 
 
 * Vindicia? Cantus Dom. p. 73. 
 
 t Mr. Sherman became a violent Socinian, and wrote a book t9 
 prove that the Saviour was only a man. Dr. W.'s book seduced him. 
 
 + Review, No. 2, p. 221. Dr. Ely admits Dr. W. to have been a Sa~ 
 bellian; yet Dr. E. recommends his Works, "errors notwithstanding"," 
 in a style which we were not prepared to expect. The author of the 
 t< Contrast" should not have given his name to circulate the coi 
 heresies of W. But these Works, and his recommendation, now go 
 hand in hand in the production of " much mischief." 
 
m). ii. 196 
 
 man Christ, and the divine nature, or some portion 
 of it — With frit/s he maintained, th;it the Son of 
 God i> a super-atigelic en af tire formed Ik 
 
 the foundation of the world, and employed in the 
 creation of all things — Vnd with the Socinians, 
 that the Holy Ghost is not a distinct person; but 
 the divine power, or its effect ! Such were the 
 opinions of Dr. W., written and left on record by 
 himself; and thus have these opinions been under- 
 stood by Doddridge, the two Edwardses, Erskine, 
 Anderson, W i Ikon, Ely, &c. And it is notorious, 
 that every Socinian. who has read his works, claims 
 him as of that school. His solemn address admits 
 of no explanation. If ever man is serious in the 
 expression of his sentiments, it is when he ad- 
 dresses God ; and, if ever he expresses those sen- 
 timents with precision, it is when he writes them. 
 Dr. W. has done both — He ventured to tell his 
 Maker, that the doctrine of three real persons in 
 the Godhead, is a strange and perplexing notion, 
 which we cannot receive ; and which is not even 
 inferrible from the whole contents of the Book of 
 God ! 
 
 The truth is, " comparatively few divines of any 
 class, — at the darkened period in which Dr. W. 
 lived and wrote, held out the glimmering lamp of 
 sound evangelical instruction. ,? * Giving too much 
 way to the gambols of imagination, it " occasionally 
 earned him out (say his friends) into moral and 
 sentimental excursions, beyond the usual limits of 
 plain evangelical truth.*" — And, according to the 
 rian of the English dissenters,! from these ex- 
 cursions it was no easy task to bring him back. 
 
 * Christ \ Ibid. : Bogue. 
 
196 APPENDIX. 
 
 Childishly fond of something new, over the crea- 
 tures of his fancy he doated with an overweening 
 affection; not because they were legitimate, but 
 because they were his own. 
 
 It is not a little strange, that a doubt suggested 
 as to the orthodoxy of Dr. W. should, in certain 
 quarters, produce so much sensibility. Why not 
 contend with equal zeal, for the soundness of Ro- 
 binson and Priestley? No man will hesitate to 
 place Robinson, the author of the Village Sermons, 
 and Watts, in the same rank as to orthodoxy. — 
 The same Robinson, the author of Ecclesiastical 
 Researches, and Priestley, the historian of Early 
 Opinions, were fellow labourers in the same cause 
 of heresy — Why then separate Watts, Robinson, 
 and Priestley ? They were all learned and amiable 
 men ; and all equally mistaken in the first princi- 
 ples of true religion — the object and medium of 
 worship. But Watts gave a book of Psalms to 
 orthodox churches! — To establish the orthodoxy 
 of Dr. W. is impossible. — The man who attempts 
 it must have no common share of confidence in 
 himself. 
 
191 
 
 No. IIT. 
 
 MODE OF SINGING. 
 
 r\ psalmody the music should be solemn and 
 simple. Perhaps there might be a general reform 
 effected in it by the banishment of every difficult 
 tune, and the adoption of a manner better calcu- 
 lated to engage the attention to the sentiment, ra- 
 ther than to the sound. Would not the chanting 
 of the Psalms in prose, be more congenial with the 
 nature of sacred worship, than the modish art, 
 which, almost universally, is at war with the en- 
 gagement of the mind and the heart ? I have said, 
 chanting the Psalms in prose; not that I am dis- 
 pleased with a measured version ; for if the trans- 
 lation be fair, whether it be in prose or verse, it is 
 equally the word of God. The Westminster Di- 
 rectory enjoins it on the whole consecration to 
 unite in this service, and to sing directly on, except 
 in a given case. The spirit of that injunction has 
 the sanction of good sense. One very general 
 practice, however, cannot be reprobated in terms 
 too strong; that of an entire congregation, say of 
 a thousand, or fifteen hundred persons, resigning 
 the whole of this part of worship to a dozen or two, 
 usually of the most trifling characters ; for the choir 
 demands no qualification but a well-tuned voice." 
 The whole attention is obviously devoted to the 
 music. The notes of the tune frequently occupy 
 the place of the Psalm Book! And this farce is 
 countenanced by ministers of religion — this outrage 
 on devotion, and insult against the God of heaven, 
 is called religious worship ! 
 
198 
 
 No. IV. 
 THE CREED 
 
 Of the Advocates of a Human Psalmody, as deduced 
 from their Writings: 
 
 I. WE believe and profess, that divine institu- 
 tion cannot be pleaded for the use of the Book of 
 Psalms in the church of God. — Latta, p. 77- 
 Freeman, p. 20. 
 
 II. That the introduction of the Book of Psalms 
 into the psalmody of the church, was an innova- 
 tion, unauthorized, except by Arians, to the ex- 
 clusion of an evangelical psalmody. — Latta, p. 77. 
 
 III. That the language and doctrine of the Old 
 Testament are very remote from an evangelical 
 creed, such as that agreed upon by the council of 
 Nice. — Ibid. pp. 50, 51. 
 
 IV. That the word of Christ is icholly, to the 
 exclusion of all the Old Testament scriptures, con- 
 fined to the writings of the New Testament. — 
 Ibid. pp. 20. 29- Freeman, p. 4. 
 
 V. That the Father, as a distinct object of wor- 
 ship, and the Son as the way of access to him, are 
 wholly unknown to the Old Testament : that the 
 worship of that dispensation was not presented 
 through the Mediator. — Latta, p. 29. and Pref. 
 p. 7. 
 
 VI. That the use of the Book of Psalms, in the 
 church's worship, decides clearly in favour of Ari- 
 anism, and directly tends to make heresy triumph- 
 ant. — Ibid. p. 77. Freeman, pp. 14, 15. 
 
no. i\. 199 
 
 \ II. Thai *• the Psalms of David wen* properly 
 suited to a designed perversion of truth , under the 
 specious argument of divine authority," to lead the 
 mind " from the doctrine of a divine Saviour." — 
 Waird. p. 81. 
 
 VIII. That the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
 was not designed to inspire converts to the Gospel 
 with vine rat inn and respect for the Psalms of 
 David. — Latta. p. 42. 
 
 1\. That the matter and words of the Scripture 
 songs flatten our devotion, awaken our regret, and 
 touch all the springs of uneasiness within us. — 
 Watts' Pre/, pp. 3, 4. 
 
 X. That they contain such dreadful curses against 
 men, as to make them contrary to the spirit of the 
 gospel. — Ibid. pp. 4, 5. 
 
 XI. That the use of these songs of inspiration, 
 checks us in our ascent toward heaven, throws the 
 vail of Moses over our hearts, darkens our views 
 of God the Saviour, and dulls our worship of mere 
 necessity. — Ibid. 
 
 XII. That their use shocks the soul, ruffles the 
 spirit, spoils the devotion, and affrights the con- 
 science, lest, in employing the language of inspira- 
 tion, we speak a falsehood unto God. — Ibid. p. 5. 
 
 XIII. That to sing many of the Bible Psalms, 
 implies a contradiction, and cannot be done with- 
 out falsehood. — Freeman^ p. 18. Baird, p. 43. 
 
 XIV. That every Christian, possessing a poeti- 
 cal talent, is more capable, and as much authorized, 
 to make a system of Psalms for the use of the 
 church, as were any of the inspired prophets — 
 Nay, the spontaneous effusions of the Christian 
 poet are preferable to the set compositions of in- 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 spired bards. — Latta, pp. 23. 96. Bawd, p. 82. 
 Watts' Pref p. 6. 
 
 XV. That several parts of the inspired songs, 
 as of the 119th Psalm, are of little use; the mat- 
 ter so confused and incongruous, that it requires 
 much labour and transposition to obtain some de- 
 gree of consistency. — lVatts J Note, 119th P. 
 
 XVI. That the odes of Horace, and Psalms of 
 David, in their manner of composure, spirit, and 
 force, are much alike ; and equally capable, by the 
 pen of a Christian poet, of such transformation, as 
 would make them suitable for Christian worship ! 
 — Uveitis* Ron. of Time. Works, vol. 7. p. 433. 
 
 This is a specimen of the spirit that pervades 
 the arguments for a human, in place of an inspired 
 system of Psalms. These sentiments, held forth 
 by masters in Israel, must have produced, and still 
 continue to produce, a most unhappy effect. 
 
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