viii
PREFACE.
country. It could not have been reduced without banishing much that was really excellent. It will be found, moreover, upon trial, that the capabilities of a congregation in this department of the service are almost unlimited, when once they have caught the true style; and I may be pardoned if I venture to observe, that those of my brethren who restrict the psalmody of their Churches to a very limited number of chants and tunes, from the fear of their people being unequal to a larger number, are in unwitting error upon this point. It is proved by experience that the periodical recurrence of the same tune, however good, at very brief intervals, is obstructive of congregational singing. The tune, in process of time, loses its freshness, and palls upon the ear, and the people become weary of the perpetual repetition. A compiler of psalm- tunes is bound to provide a sufficiency, not for a short time, but for all times.
THE HARMONIES.
These have been adopted from the most trustworthy and unimpeachable sources. A few others, as in Eisenach, Halle,& c., which have been simplified from Sebastian Bach, may appear at the first sight difficult; but the difficulty is only in appearance, as the motion of the parts is natural and easy. That there may be no apprehension on the score of accuracy, the Compiler has pleasure in adding that the whole of the Harmonies throughout the entire work have been rigidly revised, and, whenever necessary, corrected and re- arranged, by John Goss, Esq., Composer to Her Majesty's Chapels Royal, and Organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. The task could not have been confided to safer or abler hands, and the skill and care which Mr. Goss has brought to it merit my warmest commendation. And it is encouraging to me in my labours for the promotion of a good object, that Mr. Goss authorizes me to add, that the selection itself of Tunes and Chants has his entire approbation. My best thanks are also due to the Rev. W. H. Havergal, Rector of St. Nicholas and Canon of Worcester,