Sacred Lyrics, Or Select Hymns

y S£r>^J&ru><X&^<-^nutsrts. (jj* I * /rt^c^^&y. SACRED iA RICS: OR sialic mir&tsroe PARTICULARLY ADAPTED TO REVIVALS OF RELIGION AND INTENDED AS A SUPPLEMENT TO WATTS. BY NATHAN S. S. BEMAN, 11 Praise thy God, O Zion."—Psalmist. TROY. I N. TUTTLE, PRIITTER, 225 RIVER-STREET. 1832, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year I 1832, by Nathan S. S. Beman, in the Clerk's Office of the Court of the Northern District of the State of New-York. PREFACE The object of this publication is to furnish a suitable Collection of Sacred Songs for the use of Evening Lectures, Inquiry and Prayer Meetings, and other small Religious Circles, which are attend- ed witri so much interest at the present day. In making this compilation, the Author has had special reference to those seasons of God's mercy which are de- nominated Revivals of Religion. If it is true, as has been frequently remarked, thatrevivals,both with regard to their com- mencement and their progress, depend much on the character of preaching , it may be safely affirmed, that they are not much less affected by the character IV PREFACE. of singing. In too many instances, these blessed seasons have been brought into something like disrepute, and a bad religious taste has been formed, and, per- haps, false hopes inspired and cherished by the use of Hymns destitute of lyric character, and, at the same time, er- roneous in sentiment. Another evil nearly allied to the one just named, and generally associated with it, is the in- troduction of tunes into religious worship whose associations are entirely secular, if not profane, and whose tenden- cy is to inspire any other feelings rather than those of devotion. That Hymns which have no claim to lyric spirit should generally be accompanied by Music of an insipid character, is just what might be expected, even if experience and ob- servation had not loudly proclaimed the fact. It is not the wish of the author to pass PREFACE. V any censure on the many compilations of Hymns now before the Christian public ; but it becomes his duty, in this connec- tion, to state some of the reasons which have influenced his own mind, in adding another book to the long list already in existence. The least offensive mode in which this can be done, will be to give a brief exposition of the leading principles, which he has endeavoured to keep in view, in making this selection. A bare outline is all that will be given, at present, reserving to another time and place, a more full defence of the principles themselves. 1 . The Author has intended to admit into this selection those Hymns only, which are composed on subjects of a lyrical character. That lyric poetry has a province peculiar to itself—that it moves in a sphere exclusively its own—and that its subjects are limited^ there can be no VI PREFACE. room for dispute. This poetry is to be sung—and when poetry and music are combined, we have in this combination, a vehicle the most refined and ethereal, for the expression of strong emotion. But the subjects of emotion are comparative- ly few ; and there are hundreds of Hymns in the English language, that can never be sung to any good effect, because their subjects are not within the sphere of lyric poetry. They can, from their very nature, neither inspire emotion, nor be- come the vehicle of emotion already inspired. They are rather sermons than " spiritual songs." 2. Another object has been to present in this little volume, those hymns only which possess some lyrical merit in their execution. If the province of lyric poetry is to inspire and express religious emotion, then no hymn can answer the true purposes of christian worship, that does not possess a — PREFACE. Vll peculiar character of its own. Not only its subject, but its execution must be lyric Its language must be simple—its ima- ges striking—its figures unincumbered its sentences short—its structure free from all ambiguity—and its stanzas, and even lines, express, as far as possible, acomplete idea. Heroics, whether mock or real, can never be sung. The same may be said of every thing which partakes of the character of bombast. A hymn, whether it respects God, ourselves, or our fel- lows, should be the effusion of a full heart, and that heart melted and dis- solved by just such emotions as suit the condition described, or the occasion for which it is intended. 3. A Hymn ought to possess unity of object. One grand impression ought to be aimed at in such a composition ; and likewise in its performance in singing. It ought to be remembered that Hymns Vlll PREFACE. are divided into stanzas, and that each of these stanzas are generally sung to the same tune. If some regard is not had to this fact in their structure, the object of singing, is, in a great measure, lost: and the moving and melting powers of poetry and music can never be successfully united. Nothing is more common than to find embraced in the same hymn, all the varieties of sentiment and emotion which belong to the entire province of lyric poetry ; and it not unfrequently happens that the same part of the tune is appro- priated, in one stanza, to words that describe the triumphs of hope, and in another, to words that describe the agonies of despair. This incongruity is rarely, if ever, witnessed in the composition and performance of secular music ; but it is a matter of ordinary occurrence, in the songs employed in the worship of God. Indeed, many christians and even min- PREFACE. IX isters seem never to have asked themselves the question whether it is proper to sing of holiness and sin, life and death, Christ and Belial, heaven and hell, in the same strains ! There are but two ways to remedy this evil,—one is, to have all hymns of a complex character set to music adapted to the different sentiments and emotions, or to re- duce these hymns to greater unity of de- sign. The former course has been ta- ken, in a few instances, by composers of music ; the latter has been adopted in this compilation. 4> Another object of this little volume, is to furnish hymns, particularly for revivals of religion, which shall be free from unscriptural sentiments. It is read- ily admitted that lyric and didactic poetry are very different things ; but still every sentiment embodied in a hymn, ought to be the simple and unadultera- X PREFACE. ted truth of the Bible. But is this the fact, in relation to many of the hymns embodied in the popular selections now in use ? Let any reader who believes in the doctrine of total depravity, and who believes that the sinner continues in his rebellion against God, till he yields to the terms of the gospel—examine those hymns which are usually arranged the general head of under Conviction ; and then answer for himself. A large portion of those hymns represent the sinner, when merely arrested by the truth, and under the strivings of the Spir- it, and before conversion, as desiring to love God, and seeking earnestly to find Jesus Christ, and bewailing the calamities rather than the sinfulness of his condition. ;" " " Oh ! that I could at last submit that I could repent." The legiti- mate effect of such sentiments, especially when enforced by the powers of mu- PEEFACE. XI sic, is to lead the sinner to lose sight of his guilt, and thus to destroy his con- victions. Many spurious conversions, may, no doubt, be fairly traced to singing of this character, in times of deep and pungent feeling. 5. The Hymns, in this collection, are presented in suitable length for singing. Many of them are very short. In some instances, this is the effect of rejecting those stanzas which are destitute of lyric merit ; and in others, of excluding those which destroy unity of purpose or object. Some hymns are reduced, by the appli- cation of these principles, to two and many to three stanzas. But this is no evil. We often need short hymns of a striking character; and particularly for prayer meetings, and at the close of evening lectures. Long hymns and long prayers are death to the spirit of a revival. About four stanzas of Long — Xll PREFACE. Metre, and from four to six of Common and Short Metres, may be considered a suitable length for a song of praise in so- cial worship. In metres of a brisker movement, the addition of one or two stanzas more, may not be improper. The same indulgence may be granted in fa- vour of hymns of a peculiar character, and when used on special occasions. But a grand practical principle is singing must be short, or its effect will be lost. 6. The Author of this collection has determined, from the beginning, to have it comprise but few hymns. One rea- son, is, a great number is not needed, especially for the purposes which are intended to be answered by this volume. A good hymn does not lose its power of exciting interest by its frequent use. In- deed a certain degree of familiarity with its language and structure is almost indis- pensable in order to insure its full effect PREFACE, Xlll in kindling the devotions of a public congregation.

Load more