the pulpit breathe the gentle language of instruction, persuasion and encouragement, till the public conscience is well enlightened; let singing-schools be religiously conducted; and let influential members of the church become meek advisers and participators in the exercises, and look to God for a blessing. Such a course will be attended with ultimate success. Only let information be given, and let the leading members of a church become active cultivators, under the prevalence of a truly Christian spirit, and all will be well. Music in such cases becomes a sweet harmonizer of the affections. Jealousies and differences in taste and discrepancies of opinion soon disappear; and, under the influence of religious motives and feelings, the singers become united as a band of brethren, and cheerfully yield themselves to the judicious, mild direction of those who have authority in the church. Such a result will not always immediately appear, especially when there has been previous mismanagement; but we believe it has seldom failed when there has been a becoming measure of perseverance. The experiment will at least be a safe one; while there will be neither safety nor success without it. Let the pastor and the members of the church thus assume their proper responsibilities; and singers in the end will be as easily guided as any class of people. A truly Christian spirit will prove irresistible. It will overcome every obstacle, and lead to the happiest consequences. To the absence of such a spirit is chiefly to be attributed the difficulties which so often arise in the ranks of cultivation.

But not to enlarge on the methods of operation. We have seen that there is sufficient need of effort in the way of reform; and that the work is not impracticable. All that is required by the existing aspect of things, CAN BE DONE. The Songs of Zion can be fully redeemed from existing abuses, and rendered acceptable in His sight. All are interested in such a result; and must share in the responsibility. All as individuals are bound to praise God in the best possible manner. The duty is just as universal as are the obligations to love and gratitude; and amidst the endless diversity of talent there is something that every one can do. God proposes to be glorified in the offerings of praise. Who shall dare to rob him of this glory? And is it no crime to be negligent and heartless in the performance of such a duty? Is it nothing that the offerings of praise often become an offence to God-a vain oblation-an unmeaning service—a system even of solemn mockery? All this, as we have

seen, can be prevented; and the methods of operation are before us. Let no one wait for the impetus of public sentiment; but let all awake to the claims of personal responsibility.

And shall not the praises of God ascend from every closet and from every family altar? Shall not the rising generation all be taught to sing? Shall not schools be better sustained and conducted as well as more numerously attended? Shall not the pulpit give instruction, and those who have influence and authority in the churches awake to duty? Or have love and gratitude no longer any claims upon us? Or has it come to pass that there is nothing so transcendently beautiful and glorious in the divine perfections, as to demand a purer sacrifice of praise? So thought not the men of old, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost: "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;"-"God is greatly to be feared in the assemblies of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all that come before him." Angels worship him, with vailed faces in the lowest prostration, though filled with the highest raptures of heaven. And while with such affections they cry, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts,"" Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty," "Who shall not fear thee and glorify thy name !". "Amen, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever," shall the same hallowed and exalted themes be uttered by the church militant, in a listless, discordant, irreverent manner, or at best be made the favorite subjects for musical enjoyment or profe sional display? It must not be. Love and gratitude forbid it. The glory of God and the good of his people forbid it. Yet thus it will be, as heretofore, unless Christians awake to effort. There is no other possible alternative. Habitual neglect is universally punished with barrenness; and the principle is as important to individuals as to communities, and as applicable to musical enjoyment as to devotional spirituality. The men who consent to employ their gifts to the best advantage, and they alone, may expect, by the blessing of God, to find acceptance in the songs of praise.

But God is wont to smile upon the right observance of his own institutions. Already he has gone before us in the distribution of his heavenly favors. Religious singing-schools have been places of precious interest; and revivals of religion have been promoted by their instrumentality. Larger blessings of a like nature are yet in store. Who then will not improve, to the

SECOND SERIES, VOL. VII. NO. II.

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374 The Principles and Claims of Devotional Music. [APRIL,

utmost, the talent which has been given him for the express purpose of promoting the praise and glory of God?

We have presented only the claims of duty. We might speak of the many advantages of music as a fine art, notwithstanding its occasional liabilities to abuse. We might speak of the beneficial influence of music upon our higher seminaries of learning, and of its importance to an educated ministry. And especially might we speak of devotional song, as a rich source of enjoyment. It is a precious privilege to be permitted to celebrate the praises of God. It is the very employment of angels. It is heaven begun below. It affords a most delightful foretaste of the endless felicities above. Why should the sons and daughters of adoption wait until they arrive at the very threshold of heaven before they begin the celestial employment ?

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There is one class of readers who are ready to shrink from the full responsibility of this employment. Though they respect religion, they make no pretensions to real spirituality, but have always regarded themselves as supplying the mere machinery, the beautiful mechanism of holy song. Shall the lips of these at once be sealed? No-no. Let every one that breathes forth the notes of praise. Every living soul is called upon“Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise ye the Lord." Let every voice be tuned and put into requisition. We love to see the dear youth, and those of riper age, flocking to the religious singing-school. Many may there learn their lost condition, and find joy and peace in believing. Still the individuals who refuse to employ holy affections while engaged in the work of praise, must remember that God looks upon the heart, and that a heartless offering, whether in praise or prayer, can never be accepted. Let them prepare to come into his presence with heart and voice, with the spirit and the understanding: and thus coming he will smile upon them with the visitations of his grace.

But who are they that should be foremost in the ranks of improvement? Who shall stand up in the places of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun-in the places of the prophets and apostles and martyrs and reformers, to lead in the praises of Zion? The disciples of the blessed Redeemer, so proverbial in these modern days for their delinquency, are bound, by every consideration of love and gratitude, to be foremost in showing forth "the praise of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light." They above all others should be

leaders in the hallowed enterprise. Their children should be the earliest to lisp hosannas to the Son of David. The closet, the family altar, the social circle, the religious singing-school, the house of God, should all bear testimony to the beauty, the frequency, and the fervor of their offerings of praise.

The time is not distant when the glory of the Lord shall fill the whole earth; when the rocks and the hills and the valleys and the islands and the depths of the sea shall reverberate with the songs of holy joy. How delightful the thought! What a lively picture will such a scene afford of that place where the pure rivers of pleasure are forever flowing from the throne of God! There praise is an employment that shall never end. How pure, how sweet, how hallowed, how transporting must be the anthems of the blessed inhabitants above! Let us so cultivate the praises of God below, as to be prepared at length to unite in the universal, endless songs of heaven.

ARTICLE V.

AUGUSTINE AS A SACRED ORATOR.

By Rev. O. A. Taylor, Manchester, Mass.

THE following article, drawn up in substance several years since, at the suggestion of Dr. Porter, late President of Andover Theological Seminary, is an extract from a larger work, originally intended to contain a brief history of the pulpit from the beginning of the Christian church to the present time. It was to have for its basis a similar work by John William Schmid,* formerly professor of theology at Jena, with such alterations and additions as the case might seem to demand, to constitute substantially, however, an independent production. As much has been already said in previous numbers of the Repository, respecting the life and education of Augustine, it has been

* J. W. Schmid was born in 1744, and died 1798. His work is entitled, "Anleitung zum populären Kanzelvortrag. 3te Ausg. 3 Theile. Th. III. herausgeg. von C. C. E. Schmid," Prof. of Phil. at the same place, who was born in 1761, and died in 1812. It was the third part of the preceding work which was proposed as the basis of this history.

thought best to omit the most that I had written on this part of the subject.*

Augustine is ranked among the most distinguished of the Fathers of the western church, and claims our particular attention as one of her most pious and eloquent preachers. He was born under the reign of Constantius, at Tagaste, a small town of Numidia in Africa, Nov. 13th, A. D. 357. Both of his parents were anxious to have him acquire skill in the liberal arts, but each from different motives. His father, who was a heathen, until near the close of life, had in view his promotion in the world; his mother, who was a very pious woman, his usefulness in the church, and the cause of true religion.

Under such circumstances, Augustine's education received, of course, every attention. His mother began to labor for his spiritual good in his very infancy, teaching him to pray, and endeavoring, with ceaseless assiduity, to imbue his mind and heart with the principles of Christianity. His father, for the accomplishment of his object, early sent him to a public school, at Madaura, near by; and, indeed, though not rich, as long as he lived, took great pains with his son's education. After the father's death, which occurred in Augustine's 17th year, the mother, buoyed up with hopes of the conversion and future usefulness of her child in the church of God, endeavored to complete what her husband had commenced.

Augustine early evinced strong powers of mind, a retentive memory, and great susceptibility of emotion. To the lighter kinds of Roman literature he soon became enthusiastically attached, particularly to the poets. He never read Virgil's account of the death of Dido, without tears. In his trials of skill with his companions, he usually excelled; and for his literary essays he often obtained the plaudits of his hearers, so that he was called a lad of promising genius. Nor did the increase of years belie the promise of his youth, in this particular. In other respects, however, the mother had every thing to quench her ardor. To all kinds of severe disciplinary study, her son was utterly averse.

* In addition to Schmid, as above referred to, the following authorities have been consulted: Augustini Opp., studio Benedict. Cong. St. Maur., Ant. 1700-3; Schröckh's christ. Kirchengeschichte; Du Pin's Hist. of Eccl. Writers, translated from the French; Cave's Scriptorum Eccl. Historia; Butler's Lives; Milner's History of the Church of Christ; Mosheim; etc.