the subjects were important, and nothing better on them could be found; and partly because, though not well adapted to public worship generally, they might be useful on special occasions, or for families and individuals. On some important topics, it may be asked why so few pieces have been inserted. The reply must be, that on such topics. all have been inserted, which could be found, that seemed worthy of a place. Not one hymn, in all respects good, on any useful topic, has been designedly omitted. If it is asked why so large a portion of the pieces are so short, the reply is similar-that all of each piece was inserted that seemed worth inserting; and it was not thought worth while to print poor stanzas for the sake of increasing their number. Besides, four and five stanzas are, in ordinary cases, as much as can be sung with ease or profit. Singing, of all the exercises of public worship, should least be protracted so as to become wearisome, as it necessarily must be, when six or eight stanzas are given out. In the arrangement, it was thought best, for various reasons," to preserve the psalms separate, as has been done heretofore, in the books most commonly used. In the index of subjects, the psalms are arranged under the appropriate heads with the hymns. The several parts of each psalm have been arranged according to their metre, and are numbered on continuously throughout, in the most simple manner. In arranging the hymns, those heads were selected which, it was thought, would most easily cover the whole ground, and run into each other the least. They follow each other in what seemed the most natural order. The hymns, under each of the general and subordinate heads, are intended to be so arranged, that, while they are read in course, the mind shall be steadily advancing in the subject. The arrangement is certainly imperfect; yet, probably, few who examine it will see so many imperfections in it as they saw who made it. It is doubtful whether, while hymns possess so little unity, any such arrangement can be adopted, as that many hymns may not, with about equal propriety, be placed under any one of two or three different heads. In the index of subjects here, they are so placed. The number of tunes from which the selection has been made is limited, and such have been chosen as are not only appropriate in their general spirit and movement, but whose accent and pauses correspond with those of the several stanzas to be sung. Often, the tune prefixed merely indicates the class of tunes to be used. Others would be equally appropriate. Different choirs, or different circumstances, may render it expedient to use different tunes. Judgment should be exercised, and time, place, occasion, &c. should be consulted. To indicate, to some extent, the manner of performance, those marks for musical expression have been used which are commonly employed in music-books, and with which choirs are generally acquainted, rather than any arbitrary signs. fortissimo, crescendo, diminuendo, swell, inverted swell, dol dolce, Aff affetuoso, ་ ་ staccato, Len lentando, .... loud. very loud. increasing, louder and louder. gradually becoming slower and softer to the used at the beginning of a line, to contradict any mark of musical expression which has gone before it. In the middle of a line, or at the end, it signifies a pause, longer or shorter, according to the judgment of the performer. The marks for musical expression have been prefixed, in general, with reference to the tunes named. The same psalm or hymn, sung to a different tune, might often require some variation of the expression. After all which can be done, directions for musical expression must be merely hints, by which the general character of the expression to be given is indicated. The various kinds and degrees of the emotions to be expressed, requiring a corresponding variation of the manner of performance, are so numerous, and so complicated in their nature, that only a ready susceptibility of emotion, joined to good taste and judgment, and careful attention to the subject, can secure a correct manner of singing. In the index to the first lines, as well as in that to the subjects, the psalms and hymns are brought together without distinction, and the reference is uniformly to the page. In the latter index, the different subjects are not inserted under words arbitrarily selected, and placed in alphabetical order, but under the principal and subordinate topics of the arrangement in the book, thus bringing all the psalms and hymns on the same or kindred topics near each other in the index, so as to be easily found. This is believed to be the most convenient plan for such an index. With these remarks and explanations, this work, on which the compilers have bestowed much time and labor, and in which they have found much pleasure, is now given to the churches for their use. Boston, August, 1831. LOWELL MASON, INDEX OF FIRST LINES. .......... Page. 448 ABOVE these heavens' created rounds All-glorious God, what hymns of praise...................... ..Steele. 420 .Epis. Coll. 278 ..Scott. 477 All hail the great Immanuel's name...................Duncan. 315 All ...... 473 .Methodist Coll. 259 All ye nations, praise the Lord......................................................... Wrangham. 198 ye, who feel distressed for sin.................Pratt's Coll. 359 All ye that love the Lord, rejoice.. All ye, who serve the Lord with fear. All yesterday is gone.. ........... Watts. 245 Wrangham. 72 ............................... Pratt's Coll. 365 Almighty Father, God of grace...................Pratt's Coll. 370 Almighty Father, gracious Lord....................... Steele. 533 Almighty Father of mankind Almighty God, eternal Lord... Almighty Lord, before thy throne Almighty Maker, God.... ..Logan. 512 ....Pratt's Coll. 456 .Epis. Coll. 531 98 ............................................................... Watts. 563 Almighty Maker of my frame...........................Steele. Almighty Ruler of the skies................................................... Almighty Spirit, now behold. Watts. 47 ......Pratt's Coll. 468 Along the banks where Babel's current flows............Barlow. 229 Am I a soldier of the cross............................................ Among th' assemblies of the great.............................................. Watts. 145 ..Watts. 152 ........ Watts. 372 .Kelly. 421 .Doddridge. 391 And can mine eyes without a tear ?..............Heginbotham. 322 And can my heart aspire so high?.. ...........................................Steele. 390 And did the holy and the just? ..Steele. 301 And dost thou say, 'Ask what thou wilt'?.............Newton. 405 And must this body die?... ........................................... Watts. 518 And now another week begins. ...Kelly. 446 And now, my soul, another year............Montgomery's Coll. 550 And shall I sit alone?..... And shall not Jesus hear?......................................................Newton. 488 Angels, roll the rock away.............................. ....Gibbons. 310 ...... Watts. 57 Another six days' work is done...................................... ......... Stennett. 447 ........Pratt's Coll. 474 Arise, great God, and let thy grace................Pratt's Coll. 472 62 Arise, my gracious God.. ................................................. Watts. Arise, O Lord, lift up thine hand..... .... Watts. 222 Arm of the Lord, awake, awake...........H. F. Burder's Coll. 471 ....Beddome. 470 As pants the hart for cooling streams.......... Tate and Brady. 101 ...Hammond. 3:3 Awake, awake each sluggish soul.. ......................................Pratt's Coll. 511 ..Pratt's Coll. 324 Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve................Doddridge. 418 Awake, my soul, to sound his praise.. Awake, our drowsy souls.... Awake, our souls,-away, our fears... ..Barlow. 192 ..Scott. 449 BE joyful in God, all ye lands of the earth...........Epis. Coll. 569 Watts. 120 Be thou, O God, exalted high............................................ Tate and Brady. 119 Before the heavens were spread abroad.. Begin, my soul, th' exalted lay........... Behold his wondrous grace..... Behold how the Lord... Watts. 176 ............ Watts. 291 ..........Pratt's Coll. 224 Behold, my soul, the narrow bound................. Doddridge. 548 Behold the glories of the Lamb ..........Haskins. 307 ......... Watts. 287 Behold the heathen waits to know....................... Voke. 481 Behold the morning sun............................... Watts. 69 Behold the sure foundation stone....................... Watts. 201 Behold us, Lord, with humble fear.... Beneath our feet and o'er our head.. Page. Pratt's Coll. 45 ........ Watts. 317 ... Watts. 388 ... Watts. 181 .........Bratt. St. Coll. 223 Blest are the souls, who hear and know..... ...... Watts. 157 .......... Cennick. 414 ...................... Blest be the Lord,-the God of love...... Blest be the Lord, who heard my prayer...............Dwight. 85 Blest be the tie that biuds.. Blest be thou, O God of Israel............................ Blest Comforter divine.. Blest day when our ascended Lord............ Blest is the man, who shuns the place.. ..Fawcett. 412 ..................................... Watts. 90 Blest is the man, whom thou, O Lord............... Watts. 37 Blest Jesus,-when my soaring thoughts..........Heginbotham. 329 Blest morning, whose first dawning rays.. Watts. 310 ...Pratt's Coll. 100 Blest work-the youthful mind to win.............Pratt's Coll. 504 ..Pratt's Coll. 442 Breathe, Holy Spirit, from above.................Pratt's Coll. 348 Bright and joyful is the morn... Bright King of glory, dreadful God.................... Bright Source of everlasting love.... Broad is the road that leads to death... .....Montgomery. 290 Boden. 537 .Pratt's Coll. 324 .... Watts. 351 ....... Watts. 279 .....C. Wesley. 307 ...... .Pratt's Coll. 326 Christ, the Lord, is risen to-day. Our triumphant..Pratt's Coll. 311 ...H. F. Burder's Coll. 346 ........... Watts 281 .. Watts. 357 ...Reed's Coll. 439 ...Pratt's Coil. 324 |