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A59892 A sermon preach'd at St. Paul's Cathedral, November 22, 1699 being the anniversary meeting of the Lovers of Musick / by W. Sherlock ... Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707. 1699 (1699) Wing S3363; ESTC R4275 10,370 31

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Soul and Spirit but a Compound Creature consisting of Soul and Body And while our Souls are Vitally united to Bodies they receive most of their Passions from them at least feel the most Strong and Vigorous Motions from those Impressions which our Senses make And Sight it self does not more variously affect our Minds than Hearing does Words and Sounds have very powerful Charms and give as quick a turn to our Thoughts and Passions as Sight it self and not only Words but even a Diversity of Sounds are fitted by Nature to Express and to Excite very different Passions Love Joy Admiration Desire Fear Sorrow Indignation Revenge give some distinguishing Notes and Accents to the very Voice which no Art but Nature Teaches and which betrays the Passion without speaking a Word And such different Notes will also as forcibly imprint such Passions on our Minds as they naturally represent and that many times whether we will or no which is a great secret in Nature and shows an unaccountable Sympathy between Sounds and Passions which are by turns the Natural Effects and Causes of each other and there needs no other Proof what the Natural Power of Musick must be to Raise and to Calm our Passions And the Experience of all Mankind tells us that thus it is When the Composer knows how to fit Notes to Passions which the Knowledge of Human Nature not the meer proportion of Sounds must teach him Without this a Fine Piece of Musick is like a Company of Fine Words put together without any great Sense or Meaning they make a Fine Sound and that is all Now if there be a Natural Sympathy and Mutual Causality between Sounds and Passions there is no doubt but True Devotional Musick will Excite or Heighten our Devotional Passions as we daily see and complain that Wanton and Amorous Aires are apt to kindle Wanton Fires For Nature will act like it self whether you apply it to Good or to Bad Purposes If there be no force in Musick to give a Good or Bad Tincture to the Mind Why do any men complain of Wanton Songs They may then blame the Poet but neither the Composer nor Singer For the Musick it seems does no hurt if there be Why do they Condemn Church-Musick which will have as good an influence upon a Devout Mind as the other has a Bad One Why then should any Man think Musick improper for the Worship of God It is a Natural Power though improved by Art as most other Natural Powers are and all Natural Powers are made for the Worship and Service of God as far as they are capable of serving him which Musick is in a very high Degree if it have such a Natural Power over our Passions as to Increase and Actuate though it can't Create Devotion Both Poetry and Musick were Originally used to Celebrate the Praises of God lost their Glory when they descended to meaner Subjects but were Prophaned by a Prostitution to mens Lusts and Vices The first Account we have of Singing is the Song of Moses Exod. 15. when God had made the Children of Israel to pass through the Red-Sea on dry Ground and had Drowned the AEgyptians and we can't have a more Ancient Account than this which is the most Ancient History in the World And throughout the Old Testament both Vocal and Instrumental Musick was not only used in the Worship of God but this was the Chief if not the only Use of it This is acknowledged by all but some will not allow it to be a Pattern for Christian Worship They reckon Musick among the Ceremonies of the Iewish Law sitted to the Carnal State of that People and Abrogated with the other Legal Ceremonies by the more perfect Dispensation of the Gospel which requires a more Spiritual Worship But a few Words will shew how unreasonable this Pretence is The Song of Moses and Miriam was before the giving of the Law and therefore no part of it and though this is the first time we Read of Singing there is no Reason to think That this was the first beginning of it We Read of no Institution of Singing though we do of Singers that Singing seems as Ancient and Natural as Publick Worship But suppose Singing had been part of the Mosaical Law the Gospel of our Saviour Abrogates nothing of that Law but such Types as receive their Accomplishment in Christ or such Appendant Ceremonies as were meer Signs and Figures of an Evangelical Righteousness But what is Singing a Type of any more than Speaking For it is only a more Harmonious and Emphatical way of Speaking and I see no Reason Why men may not reject Vocal Prayer as well as Vocal Musick because they were both used by the Iews Whatever Objections are now made against Church-Musick which I have not now Time particularly to Examine were as good Objections in David's Time as they are now and yet then Prophets Composed Hymns and Prophets set the Tunes for so the Chief Musicians to whom David directs his Psalms as the Titles of some of them Express were Prophets as well as Musicians and methinks Men should speak more favourably of such Practices as were under the Direction and Government of Inspired men In the Vision of the Prophet Isaiah 6 Ch. 1 2 3 v. The Scraphims are represented crying one to another Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of his Glory This is acknowledged to be a great Example of Antiphonal Singing in which One Answers another But then they say this plainly refers to the Ancient Temple-Worship and must not be admitted a Precedent for Christian Practice But if the Temple-Worship be a fit Precedent for the Worship of Angels Why may it not be a Precedent for the Worship of Christians Whose Worship as Pure and Spiritual as it is falls vastly short of Angelical Worship But do not the Angels then thus Worship God in Heaven This would be a New Objection against our Liturgy never thought of before which in the Te Deum teaches us to Sing To Thee all Angels cry aloud the heavens and all the powers therein To Thee Cherubin and Seraphin continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory And if the Angels thus Sing in Heaven surely the Precedent is not unworthy of the Christian Church on Earth The like Representation we meet with of the Four Beasts and Twenty four Elders Rev. 4. And the same Answer is given to it That the Images in the Apocalyptick Visions are fetched from the Law and not from the Gospel But whence soever these Images were Originally taken this Book was Directed to the Christian Churches and therefore was a Rule and Precedent for them It all along describes the State of the Christian not of the Iewish Church and therefore their Worship too And if we look into the Fifth Chapter we shall find these Four Beasts and Twenty Four Elders were