ALSO, A NEW AND COPIOUS INDEX OF SUBJECTS. WITH SUPPLEMENT. PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, 1334 CHESTNUT STREET. NEW YORK: IVISON & PHINNEY, 321 BROADWAY. CHICAGO: 8. C. GRIGGS & CO....DETROIT: RAYMOND & SELLECK....CINCINNATI: MOORE, ENTERED, ace ɔrding to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, BY MARK H. NEWMAN & CO.. In the Clerk's Qfice of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ne Vol. ACTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. AT the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, May, 1840, the subject of Church Psalmody was referred to a Committee, which Committee, in the year 1842, unanimously agreed to approve and recommend the CHURCH PSALMIST as being, in their judgment, the best adapted to the worship of God in our age and country. As such, it was commended to the Christian public, and especially to all the churches under the care of the Assembly. This Report was approved by the General Assembly of 1843, and the CHURCH PSALMIST recommended to the churches. At the meeting of the General Assembly held in New York, May, 1856, it was resolved: "In order to preserve uniformity in Church Psalmody, that the Publication Committee be authorized to negotiate with the compilers and publishers of the CHURCH PSALMIST, and to purchase that book, if this can be done on reasonable terms." At the meeting of Assembly in Cleveland, 1857, the Assembly, recognising, with gratitude to God, the securing to the possession of the Assembly a Book of Psalmody which they can call their own, unanimously recommended to the pastors and churches that they use all reasonable diligence in promoting uniformity by the introduction of this book. (RECAP) 59-13 7 420744 PREFACE. THE object of this volume is to furnish the Churches with a complete COLLECTION OF SACRED SONGS for public worship: and in presenting such a work, when so many, aiming at the same end, are already in circulation, we seem to be called upon to state some reasons which have 'nfluenced us in this undertaking, and which may have some weight with others. The least offensive mode in which this can be done, will be to give a brief exposition of the principles which have been kept in view in its execution. An outline is all that will be given; -for more than this, however much it may be demanded, or however rich in thought or replete with practical wisdom, would be hardly ever read. A PREFACE is generally deemed a very dull and unattractive part of a Book, so much so, that if an author had some profound secrets which he wished to record, and yet preserve in deep obscurity, he might be advised, as it regards most readers, to commit them to the safekeeping of these neglected pages. And yet some persons read a Preface, and for the benefit of such this one is written. The subjects of LYRIC POETRY and PSLALMODY are intimately and inseparably connected, and it is in vain to expect one to exist in a high state of perfection without the other; or for either to attain distinguished excellence without cultivation. It must be acknowledged, that ministers and churches have not studied this subject with that attention which it claims, nor even in relative proportion when compared with other grave matters pertaining to the worship of God. Singing often falls far below every other part of the services of the sanctuary, from the want of both sympathy and knowledge, on the part of the Church. Little is known on the subject, and little is felt in relation to it. But this is a state as unwise as it is criminal. It is a matter of vast and vital importance, that all who desire that the public institutions of religion may make the best impression and secure their highest results, and especially ministers of the gospel, should understand what Sacred Songs are adapted to social worship, |