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prostrate condition of our psalmody. In some of our Churches the chant or tune is never heard; in others it is confined to the clerk or choir; from others Me­trical Hymns are violently ejected; whilst again, in others where they are welcomed as an important auxiliary to congregational praise, they are too often allied to a class of melodies which never can per­manently carry the sympathies of the people, or effectu­ally draw out the choral powers of a congregation. This comparative neglect of such an important arm of divine service is a source of unspeakable weakness to the Church amongst the masses." The common tune," well and adequately rendered, is relished by the educated as well as the uneducated ear: but to the poor it is essential, and no form of worship will ever be attractive without it. If they find no vent for their feelings in a channel like this within the Church, they will wander in search for it without. Everywhere we hear the complaint that the poor do not appear in any large number at our Churches, and especially in our large towns. Cannot one reason for this be found in the torpor which too often pervades her services? The rich do not sing, the poor dare not, whilst those who resolutely make the effort soon find their voices grow tremulous from being solitary in the work of praise. The plain, practical truth is, the poor have neither the time, ability, nor inclination to examine the numerous and elaborate treatises which have been written to vindicate the Church's claims to their hom­age and affection; but an earnest, impressive, and de­votional worship they can understand: it is an argu­ment which lies quite within their comprehension and feeling. Let the services of the Church be as distin­guished by their warmth and vitality as they are by their majesty; let every one lift up his voice in the congregational song and response, and not be afraid; and this, united with the other influences of faithful teaching from the pulpit and diligent visitation in the parish, will, with God's blessing, do more to recover and attach the alienated masses of our population to her courts, than a thousand arguments which appeal mere.

PREFACE.