of his learned and pious friend the Rev. Dr. Doddridge. are found in every selection of psalms and hymns which has been published since the year 1770. All the great 3 from the Church of England now have denominational hymn-books, containing the best
rsions or i - if the Psalms of David, together
with hymns selected from the most eminent modem devotional
A curi • rsy on psalmody arose among the
- in the end of the 17th century. Whether - _ gin public worship had been partially discontin- ued during the times of persecution to avoid informers, or whether the miserable manner in which it was per-
distaste for it, it appears that. in 1691, Mr. Benjamin Reach published a tract entitled
. Psalms. Hymns, etc.. proved to be a Holy Ordinance of Jesus - it may seem strange that such a ' point should be disputed: but Mr. Reach was to labor earnestly, and with a great deal of prudence ' and caution, to obtain the consent of his people to sing a hymn at the conclusion of the Lord's Supper. After six years more, they agr s the thanhagiv-
: but it required still fourteen years more be- fore he could persuade them to si>;ur every Lord's-day, and then it was only after the last prayer, that those who chose might withdraw without joining in it '. Nor did even this satisfy these scrupulous consen after all. a separation took place, and the inharmo-
eders formed a new church in Maj sT where it was above twenty years longer before singing . 1 could be endured. It is difficult at 1 to believe it ; but Mr. Ivimey q
- saying that Mr. Reach's wa* the first church in which psalm-sincjiiiL; was introduced. This remark.
be confined to the Baptist rian*. it seems, were not quite so unmusical: for the Directory of the Westminster istinctly stated that -it is the duty of Chris- God publicly by singing of psalms to- gether in the congregation.'' And besides the old I t. John Patrick, of the Charter-house. I made a version which was in very general use among !
terians. and I was superseded by the far superior compositions of Dr. however, like those of the Eng- lish and - ishment, were drawled out in notes of equal length, without accent or variety. Even
the introduction of the triple -timed tunes, probably about the time of Dr. Watts's psalms, gave also trreat offence to some people, because it marked the accent of the measure. Old Mr. Thomas Bradbury used to call this time "a long leg and a short one." The beautiful compositions of Dr. Watts, the Wesleys, and others pro- -• volution in modern psalmody. Better ver- sions of the Psalms, and many excellent coll. hymns, are now in use, and may be considered as high- ly important gifts bestowed upon the modern Church
In Scotland, the early Reformers, while they banished instrumental music from churches, paid great attention to singing. In John Knox's Psalter, arranged for use in churches, the metrical psalms are set to music in har- mony of four parts. Several early translations of the Psalms were produced in North Britain, but that of Stemhold and Hopkins was used in worship fn m 1564 down to the middle of the 17th century. In 1632 an attempt made by Charles I to supersede it by king James's version i lutely and decidedly op-
posed than in England. During the Commonwealth, the commission of the General Assembly, in pursuance of a reference male to them in August. 1649, .- the 23d of November following their decision in favor of the revised version of Francis Rous, a m< mber of Crom- well's council, which Parliament had in vain endeavored to bring into general use in England. It was adopted in the main to be used as the only authorized metrical version of the Psalms for the Rirk of Scotland, not only in congregations, but also in families. Thi ugh s what rough and uncouth, it is sometimes expressive and forcible, and perhaps nearer the original than any other metrical translation of the Psalms. A few paraphrases and hymns have since been added, by authority of the General Assembly, and form together the psalmody in use in Presbyterian worship in Scotland. In 1706 the assembly commended the Scripture songs of Mr. Patrick Sympson for use in private families: and t them for public use the act was renewed in the follow- ing year, and in 1708 the commission was authorized to compare the remarks of presbyteries on tb< - Thus matters pass .r<. In 174-.' t
bly anew expressed a wish for an addition to the psal- mody, and in 1751 forty-five paraphrases had been se-
1 . 1781, after many delays, a new and fuller collection was made, twenty-two being added to the previous forty-rive selections. This collection, though never formally sanctioned by the assembly, is that now in use and [printed along with the Psalms in S Bibles. Some of the paraphrases have an Arminian tinge. In 17*7 a committee of the General Assembly, duly empowered, published a selection of Paraphrases
if several Passages of Scripture . . . t in Churches. It retained, in substance, the translations which had been published in 1745. under the authority of the General Assembly, and which had been in use in several churches: and a considerable number of new paraphrases were added, chiefly from the psalms or hymns of Drs. Watts, Doddridge, and Blacklock, and Mr. Logan. In 17*1 a faithful and beautiful version of the psalmody of the Church of Scotland, in the Gaelic lan- guage, was made by the Rev. John Smith, by whom it d and published in IT- . - 7 to 1822