times, sombre and shadowy as they were, how much more should it be so now-yes now that the Sun of righteousness has risen up, to thin away the shadows of the morning, and to shine so cheeringly over our heads with healing in his wings. it is acknowledged, as a general principle, that the abuse of a good thing is no argument against the use of it; and why should so good a thing as music be excluded from the sweep of this principle? That which is holy may be given unto dogs, but it is holy still; or pearls may be cast before swine, but they are pearls still; and however far the taste for melody, or power of making it, may be made the prostitute of depravity, that is no reason why Christian men should cease to rescue it from the impious degradation, or be slack in restoring it to the elevation which he who gave it has assigned to it. But there is more here. Men have perverted the gift of understanding, as well as the gift of music, and, indeed, it is the prior perversion of the former which has led them to pervert the latter; and how do we Christians reason from this perversion? Do we say we should avoid thinking, or think but very sparingly? No, but we take the fact of such perversion, so extensive and so ruinous, as a very cogent subsidiary argument, for the assiduous cultivation of our understanding, in the light and by the rules which He who gave it has prescribed to it. Thus we deal with the higher gift, in order to secure the use of it; and why should not the lower, which comes from the hand of the same Divinity, be dealt with in the same way? In not a few of our Scottish congregations there is a deficiency of sacred music, and an aversion to progress in it which are not easily overcome. Among the victims of this aversion, the impression is more or less prevalent, that, at least in the general, music and frivolity are little else than two names for the same thing, and, of course, that while a few of its varieties may be admitted into the house of God, to conciliate the young and the inconsiderate, yet anything like particular attention to it is beneath the gravity of riper years. This unfortunate state of mind may, in some degree, be traced to a salutary dread of that tendency to put song in the place of sermon, and ceremony in the place of substance, which prevailed so much in the days of our Popery; but there can be no doubt that it has been deepened and perpetuated, in no small degree, by the open and unblushing desecration of music, in the midst of which they have been brought up. They have seen the very best of it flung away upon chivalry, or romance, or war, or political partizanship, or the casualties of courtship, or the freaks and oddities of eccentricity, or even upon But some may be disposed to say 'it is drunken carousal, or the foulest and most not to music that we object, nor yet to loathsome of human sensualties. These music well sustained, but to those extravathings they have seen, and continue to see, gances connected with it, which, in our in almost every direction to which they opinion, are not suited to the worship of turn their eyes; and looking at them, they God, with the incessant introduction of have been led, by a process of which they such novelties, as put it beyond the power are scarcely conscious, to slide into the of any ordinary congregation to join in the opinion that music is in itself a carnal song.' Now, as to the first part of this thing that to be fond of it is to be, at objection, it is at once admitted, that there least, a fool, if not something worse than are pieces of music now and then, but not a fool, and, of course, that no more than a often, brought into the house of God which tame, aye, and a timorous, approximation are not suited to his service, and that all to it should ever be associated with the such pieces should be carefully excluded. services of religion. But these persons But, on the other hand, it ought to be reare mistaken-they are greatly mistaken-membered that this is a question of taste and by a little candid consideration, some, although not all of them, might be cured of their mistake; for although mere wranglers may be found among them, who think it backsliding to be convinced, yet, to a great extent, they are sincere, right-hearted, and devout. Yes, they are mistaken, but their mistake is, in many cases, the result of position, rather than of obtuseness, and all they require is to be reasoned with, not by those who sneer out their logic, but by those who have heart as well as head, and whose respect for the sacredness of Christian worship they feel to be on a par with their own. It is true that music has been shamefully misused; about this they are in no mistake; but aye, and of sanctified taste-about which men who are equally devout, and equally concerned about the decorum of public worship, may be expected to differ. They who have skill in music, and a rather lively relish for it, are sure to form a different opinion from those who have but little of either; and the question, who are likeliest to be right? admits of but one answer; for, other things being equal, it is knowledge which rectifies judgment, here as in every thing else. The best informed are the most convinced, that a far greater variety of song ought to be found in the service of God, than others are apt to suppose; and to form our estimate from the meagre specimen of either variety or execution, which is fixed and stereotyped in not a few of our Scottish congregations, were to come very far short of the mark. Still it is in this way that-not to speak of the captious, whose point of honour is never to be pleased-well conditioned godly persons, the dupes of a limited use and wont, are frequently misled. They not only conclude, from the little that they know or have seen, but hold tenaciously by the conclusion, as if there were nothing beyond it; whereas, had their range of vision been wider, their conclusion would have widened along with it, bringing no detriment, but positive aid, to the fervour of their piety. No doubt, there is such a thing as the music of rant and frivolityif music it may be called-which ever ought to be sternly excluded from the precincts of the sanctuary; but beyond this, and far above it, there are congenial varieties, of which, by judicious selection, Christians may avail themselves, as their appropriate auxiliaries, in singing the joys or sorrows of their hearts, or more directly the praises of their God. Then, as to the remaining part of the objection, which relates more immediately to what are called new tunes, there may be errors here, as well as in the former ease. New tunes may be introduced, with a taste so bad, or a frequency so reckless, as to deserve the severest reprehension. But here also there is an exclusiveness, and a readiness to take offence, which the best judges in matters of melody, being at the same time the most devout, are constrained to condemn. There is room for the introduction of new tunes into many of our congregations, as well as for giving more effect to those already introducedthere is large room for both; for why should we draw the praises of our God, and enter with spirit into the feats of a warrior?-and to plead more novelty, as a bar in our way, were to sanction the principle which puts an extinguisher upon all improvement whatsoever. Wherever there is improvement, there is change; and wherever there is change, there is something new, whether in the affairs of earth or of heaven. But still the question recurs, 'is it right, or can it be right, to introduce tunes, however eligible in themselves, which none but a small minority of a worshipping people are qualified to sing? And the answer is, that in the abstract it is not right, but should be carefully avoided, so far as circumstances will permit; while yet, with a very few exceptions, these same tunes must either be introduced in this way, or never introduced at all; for this plain reason, that a large majority of professing Christians are not only deficient in sacred music, but choose to remain so, even where the means of improvement in it are gratuitously provided for them, and pressed on their acceptance. They think it above, or beneath, or beyond them, to take up their heads with such a thing; and the little they know of it has been picked up, not in a school or a class, where its rules are explained and exemplified-not, in short, by separate training of any kind whatever-but in the social worship of the family, or in the house of God. This is the true account of the matter; it has been so for ages; and with what grace can they to whom it applies blame the introduction of tunes which they cannot sing? Do they not owe to the thing they complain of, much of their own attainment, slender as it is? and have they not necessiated, by their culpable remissness, the very evil which with their lips they condemn? The few tunes which they can sing were once new to them; and where, in nine cases perhaps out of every ten, did they learn to sing them? In the worship of the family or in that of the church. This they know full well; or if they think they do not, memory will very easily bring it up to their minds; and they needed its aid to rectify or to moderate the excess of their present opinions. It is far from being intended, by these remarks, to palliate the recklessness already referred to; but they ought to be taken into account, and impartially pondered, by those who are sometimes the readiest to raise their outcry against an evil which they themselves have, in part, created. The person who obstinately refuses to prepare himself for a due extension of the Church's melodies should, in all conscience, be the last to complain of a progress which leaves him behind. After all, the introduction into Christian worship, of now and then a piece of music, which but a few can sing is, although a real, yet not so great an evil, as it is sometimes taken to be. It were easy to fret in silence, or to talk loudly about desecration; but it is better to bind our judgment down to the exact amount of merit or demerit. If a tune has been judiciously selected, and is suited to its theme, and is well sung by but a few, the worshipper who cannot sing it-if he has an ear for music-may even at the first derive devotional aid from it in no small degree, by simply giving his mind up to the sentiment, as the melody brings it along; till by and by his voice, without an effort, falls in with the other voices, and so the evil is at an end. Again, if the worshipper has little ear for music, or perhaps none at all, it is not easy to see how his devotions can be either aided or disturbed, by any one piece of it, more than by another. How often does it happen in ordinary life, that a person sitting dumb and listening to a song whose music is new to him, derives from that music, new though it be, a much deeper feeling of the sentiment of the song than he could have had without it? So is it with the songs of Zion; for the action of music on our springs of emotion is the same in its principle, whether we apply it to things which are common, or to things which are sacred. There can be no doubt that, in the songs of Zion, all should join who can join, and all learn who can learn; but it does not follow that the benefit is limited to those who actually take up the song. This was never intended, and perhaps is seldom realized. The song of a large Christian assembly is far more effective in lifting up the heart to God than that of a more contracted circle; and why? because there, there are a greater number of the godly, who, by means of vocal symphony, are found to act and re-act upon one another. But still there may be some of them who muse and praise in silence, aided not a little by the voices of their brethren; because, while they can enjoy music, and feel its moving influence, they are in providence denied the power of putting it in practice. The whole question about new tunes, then, in the present state of many a congregation, just comes to this; they must be occasionally introduced where but a few can sing them, unless an arrest is to be put upon progress, in one of the finest accessaries to the exercise of Christian piety; and the annoyance given, when they are introduced, is not by any means so great as they who most need them would have others to believe. Scottish Presbyterian song; yet it were too much to say that we are altogether free from it. There are among us who are verging towards it, although happily but few, who prefer the melody to the matter of our song-who would shun to sing 'Messiah's eulogy,' were it not 'for Handel's sake'-and whose zeal for music is a thing so exclusive-so little seasoned with sense or grace-as to furnish the opponents of temperate progress with the most formidable of all their weapons. Yes, there are such persons, more or less connected even with Scottish Christian congregations-persons whose lives give but scanty evidence of their power of appreciating spiritual song-and when these find their way, as they sometimes may do, to be leaders of our music, in the desk or in the pew, the incongruity would be positively less, whatever custom may say to the contrary, did we see them displaced by the harp or the timbrel. In the one case, we should at least know what we have-it would stand before us undisguised; but in the other, we are haunted by the painful suspicion, if not stung by the positive conviction, that the hearts of those who lead us on give the lie to their lips. It is not to the mere devotee of song, but to those whose godliness leads them to song, that we are to look for the thing we desiderate-to the men who know what music is, and who, while they like it well, for the pleasure which it ministers, yet like it far more because of its most felicitous tendency to elevate thought, and to animate devotion. Let them take up the subject at the impulse of their godliness; but let them move on slowly and patiently, according to the circumstances in which they are placed; not doubting that, in due time, God will give them success, in rescuing his gift from neglect and desecration, and raising it up by progressive advances to the highest and holiest of all the uses for which it was at first bestowed. BIBLICAL STUDIES. D. Y. There is, however, a radical point, which is of course assumed, in all that has been said, and which must ever have precedence in all our attempts at improvement in the song of our worshipping assemblies. In order to be accepted, it must take its rise, not merely from the heart, but from a sanctified heart-from a heart which is right with God, and sound in his statutes. He is a spirit, they that worship him,' in song or in sentiment, in word or in deed, must worship him in spirit and in truth.' Music, however pure, or decorously executed, or however sound or scriptural, in the thoughts it expresses, is at the best but a secondary matter. It has its place-a high place-a place much higher than is often assigned to it in the exercises of de- IN these verses we have a reference to votion-but let it be kept in that place, changes that have formerly taken place on and on no account raised above it. It is the surface of the globe. That reference may not worship, but the instrument of wor- either be to the deluge of Noah, or to the ship; it is not piety, but the handmaid of separation of the dry land from the sea, piety; and to raise the handmaid to the which took place on the third day of creachair of her mistress were to bring an tion. Modern science informs us that idol in between us and the God we profess these are but specimens of many similar to adore. Be it so, and it is so that this changes which occurred in the past history idolatry is not the reigning error of our of the world which we inhabit. More than PSALM CIV., VERSES 5-9.-THE PAST No. III. once the earth has been covered with the deep, as with a garment; more than once have the waters stood above the mountains. The greater part of the rocks which form the crust of the globe have been formed at the bottom of the sea, and in many cases have been subjected to repeated upheaval and sinking. They have been deposited in a soft state at the bottom of oceans and lakes, have been gradually consolidated, and have, by the action of volcanic causes, been raised to the surface, and become the abode of plants and animals. When we examine the rocks of which the crust of the earth is composed, we find that they are divisible into two great classes. There are some which we find occurring in irregularly shaped masses, and there are others which are formed of layers or strata. The former are called igneous rocks, the latter aqueous sedimentary or stratified, and are so called because their strata have apparently been deposited as sediment in water. These stratified rocks contain the remains of plants and animals imbedded in them, and, in some instances, display the footprints of various animals which have passed over them while they were yet in a soft state. From a careful consideration of these circumstances, geologists have come to the conclusion that this earth must have existed for untold ages before man became its inhabitant. heavens and the earth, and the time when this world began to be prepared for the habitation of man. There are a few passages in the Bible which, though they affirm nothing definitely respecting the age of the earth, do yet perfectly agree with the supposition of its extreme antiquity. Of this nature are such passages as the following:-' Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth;' and,' Before the mountains were brought forth, or even thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' In saying, therefore, that the earth existed long before the creation of man, we affirm what is inperfect harmony with such texts as these, and what is not contradicted by the narrative in Genesis. The doctrine of modern geology respecting the antiquity of the earth is not a mere supposition; it rests upon sufficient evidence. The proof of it is obtained from the nature of the stratified rocks. These, as we have said, bear the appearance of having been deposited as sediment in water, and from their vast thickness unnumbered ages must have been required for their formation. They contain the remains of plants and animals, the vast proportion of which are now extinct; and as those in the lower differ from those in the upper formations, it is inferred that we have in them the remains of races which successively peopled the globe. To regard all these varied appearances as 'lusus naturæ is highly irrational and absurd. Undoubt edly, God could have created the world such as we see it; but to maintain that he has done so, in the face of all the facts which science has brought to light, is to surrender our minds to prejudice rather than to reason-is to take a path which leads to very dangerous consequences. When we see in these rocks the delicate marking left by the frouds of the fern,— the stump of the tree erect, with its roots still left in its native soil, the perfectly preserved shell of the mollusc, the fish with its fins and its scales,-the bones of the reptile, or of the mammal, sometimes broken, sometimes entire, it is impossible for us to do otherwise than believe that these are the remains of plants which grew, and of animals which lived on this earth, in former ages. No one who has examined the rocks for himself has ever come to an opposite conclusion. The result of scientific investigation is directly contrary to the views which were formerly held on the subject of creation, and to the opinions which are still entertained by not a few. It will be necessary for us therefore to look at the matter a little more minutely, and to show that the doctrines of modern geology are not opposed to the Word of God. The first chapter of Genesis has commonly been regarded as teaching that the universe sprang from nothing, and was fashioned such as we now behold it, within the space of six days. But when we consider the narrative attentively, there is nothing in it to compel us to adopt this interpretation; on the contrary, it leaves us at perfect liberty to suppose that a period indefinitely long may have elapsed from the original creation of matter to the first of these six days. It will be observed, that the narrative of each day's work begins with the expression, and God said, so that the account of what took place on the first day commences Regarding then these fossils as the rewith the third verse. Besides, the second mains of once living organisms, we proverse may with equal propriety be trans-ceed to inquire when they were deposited lated thus: Afterwards the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.' Untold ages may therefore have elapsed between the period of the original creation of the 6 in their present situations. Very little consideration will serve to show that the flood of Noah is insufficient to account for the phenomena which present themselves to our notice. If water containing sedi ment is allowed to settle, the largest and heaviest particles fall first to the bottom, and the smallest and lightest are deposited last of all. If therefore the strata of the earth's crust were deposited from any one flood, such as that of Noah, we should find that the lower series of rocks were composed of the coarse and heavier particles, and that the upper were composed of the finer. This, however, is not the case. The fossils, too which these strata contain are arranged with remarkable regularity. Each formation has its own peculiar fossils, the species which prevail in the upper rocks never being found in the lower, and vice versa. We are therefore forced to conclude that the present strata were not deposited by the deluge. It may be asked, however, might they not be formed during the period which intervened between the creation and the flood? We answer, No. The immense thickness of the strata must be borne in mind-not less than ten miles -and it will at once appear incredible that this enormous mass of rock could have been deposited in the comparatively short period mentioned. Besides, if we adopt this view, we must believe that in the 1600 or 2200 years that followed the creation of man, new forms of vegetable and animal existence were successively created, to be successively entombed in the rocks, while the remains of man himself were singularly preserved from such a fate. We are therefore constrained to refer the foundation of the crust of the globe to a period anterior to the creation of man, and to adopt the geological doctrine of the immense antiquity of the globe. A. H., C. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. . WILLIAM KIDSTON, D.D. In resuming the Sketch of the venerable Dr Kidston, we may remark that he was indeed a faithful friend, a generous benefactor, a most obliging acquaintance, and a prudent counsellor. He was a faithful friend. Once a friend, he continued such till death. Some of his brethren who are dead, and some who live, could tell of his fidelity to them in administering reproof, in a tone and manner so peculiar to himself, that no offence could be taken. He was a generous benefactor-a man of few words indeed, which might dispose some to think him cold and uninterested; but while others were expressing sympathy, Dr Kidston was away among his friends exerting his influence to 'do good and to communicate.' Not a few ministers' widows and orphans will rise at ‘that day' to call him blessed. I never knew a man who, in this walk of practical benevolence, did more and said less. Indeed, I sometimes have been tempted to think that he took a pleasure in having the right thing done in such a way as to make it a puzzle to others to discover the doer thereof. In these and other respects I think the character of Dr Kidston is sketched in the 15th Psalm. He was a most obliging acquaintance. Here he excelled, so much so, that his family were sometimes tempted to grudge to the public and to the Church the great amount of time and trouble which he took to be serviceable. Numerous instances of this present themselves to my memory at this moment, but I must refrain; suffice it to say, that in all this he was perfectly disinterested. It arose from no vain motive-from no wish to be thanked-from no wish to get influence. He did it all from pure liking to kindly deeds, and had his reward in full, from simply being permitted to act an obliging part. Hundreds live who shared his unostentatious but delightful hospitality, and who will never forget either the value of his services or the kindliness of the manner in which they were performed. On this subject I cannot allow myself to speak of the instances in which, while a fatherless boy at college here, he acted to the speaker the part of a father and a counsellor. But the decency of common gratitude justifies this much. In a word, he was a prudent counsellor. Many asked his advice, and many took it; and few, I presume, ever repented doing so. would be going too far to say that his advice was uniformly judicious-he was a fallible man, even as others; but upon the whole, his judgment had very much of the character of common sense-an ingredient which seldom fails to give currency and win agreement to friendly propositions and cautions. No doubt Dr Kidston had his imperfections, just like other people; but I am sure you do not wish me to dwell upon them here. None knew these faults better or deplored them more than he did. Perhaps one of them was, what by many will be deemed a virtue, his lowly estimate of himself in matters that commanded for him public respect and private gratitude, and his severe judgments against himself in those infirmities of his nature, which made repentance and confession prominent exercises in his private and secret devotions. But let us bury all the short-comings of the man in his recent grave, and remember only the uprightness, the integrity, the benevolence, and the piety of his walk among the children of men. This much I will say, that for the last fifteen years I have been very much in his society, and have known him in many of the outgoings and incomings of his pil It |