_Il Penseroso._
Ill.u.s.tration: Icklesham Church
THE ORGAN-CHAMBER.
"And so, Harry, my boy, you have really made up your mind to be a chorister?" said Mr. Ambrose to old Matthew"s grandson, one Sunday morning.
"Yes, if you please, sir," was his reply. "Grandfather says he should like me to be one."
"And you wish it yourself, do you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very well. You are a well-conducted boy, and G.o.d has given you a good musical voice, so we shall be very pleased to have you amongst us. But you must never forget that there is not only a high honour, but also a very solemn responsibility connected with the office of a chorister.
Always remember, then, that you are in a very especial way _G.o.d"s servant_, that His eye is upon you, and that He will expect you to do your duty in the _very best way you possibly can_. You must _sing and give praise with the best member that you have_[163]--that is, you must devote to G.o.d"s praise and glory the very best service you can render.
You are a little boy to talk to about setting a good example to a congregation, composed for the most part of persons so much older than yourself, but yet that is one of your chief duties. When you are in the choir, the eyes of all the congregation are upon you, and they should not only _hear_ you singing as well as you can, and so be led themselves to join heartily in the musical parts of the service, but also _at all other times_ they should _see_ you reverent and devout in your conduct; and be sure, my boy, this good and serious behaviour of yours will have its influence upon others, though perhaps they may be hardly conscious of it. Now there is enough in this to make you very serious, but yet the thought that G.o.d permits you in your young years thus to help in promoting His glory, and to be such a blessing to your fellow-creatures, should make you very happy and very thankful to Him." ...
Before the commencement of the Morning Prayers little Harry was solemnly admitted a member of the choir. The ceremony was a very simple, but yet a very solemn one. On this occasion the usual order of entering the church was reversed. Mr. Ambrose came first, then the eight senior members of the choir, then the seven boy choristers, and last came Harry. All wore their surplices except Harry, and he carried his new little surplice on his arm. During the procession solemn music was played on the organ. As soon as it ceased, all knelt down to say their private prayers, Harry kneeling on a cushion prepared for him at the entrance to the chancel. It was the custom at St. Catherine"s for all the congregation to stand up when the priest and choir entered; which custom, besides being a mark of respect for His presence to whom they were about to dedicate their worship and service, had this advantage--that it induced all to say their private prayers at the same time, and thus avoided much confusion; it tended also to prepare the mind _at once_ to enter into the spirit of the _public_ service.
After a short pause, Mr. Ambrose read a portion of the third chapter of the first book of Samuel. He then addressed Harry in these words:--
"Henry, before I proceed to admit you a member of the choir of this church, you must promise, before G.o.d and this congregation, that in the solemn office on which you are about to enter, you will always strive above all things to promote His glory. Do you so promise?"
Little Harry, in a timid, trembling voice, answered, "I do so promise."
The Vicar and choir then sang, alternately, the following sentences:--
_Priest._--"Our help is in the name of the Lord;"
_Choir._--"Who made heaven and earth."
_P._--"O Lord, bless and keep this Thy servant;"
_C._--"Who putteth his trust in Thee."
_P._--"Accept his service in this Thy House;"
_C._--"And make the voice of Thy praise to be glorious."
_P._--"Lord, hear our prayer;"
_C._--"And let our crying come unto Thee."
Mr. Ambrose then read these verses:--
"And it came to pa.s.s, when the priests were come out of the holy place--also the Levites, which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:--it came even to pa.s.s as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of G.o.d[164]."
The choir then sang, "Glory be to Thee, O G.o.d," during which time the senior choir boy led little Harry into the middle of the choir, where he knelt down on a cushion prepared for him.
Mr. Ambrose then said this prayer: "O most merciful Father, before whom "Samuel ministered, being a child, girded with a linen ephod," give, we pray Thee, to this Thy youthful servant such gifts as shall enable him to sing Thy praise, and promote Thy glory in this Thy Temple, and grace to worship Thee acceptably in the beauty of holiness, and to adorn the doctrine of Christ his Saviour in all things. Amen."
Harry then stood up, and as Mr. Ambrose placed on him his little surplice, he said,--
"Henry, I robe you in this surplice in token that you are now set apart to be a chorister, and, together with those around you, to a.s.sist in the high and glorious work of leading the praises of G.o.d in this church: let the whiteness of this robe always remind you of that purity which should mark the service you here offer up to G.o.d. I pray you never, either here or elsewhere, to disgrace this robe of your solemn office. What you sing with your lips believe in your heart, and what you believe in your heart fulfil in your life; and may G.o.d so bless and protect you, that when this life is ended, you may join that angel choir who in robes of white sing before the Throne, "Glory to G.o.d and to the Lamb for ever and ever." Amen."
The new chorister then took his place in the choir, whilst the organ almost thundered the following chorus, in which all joined:--
"O Great and Mighty G.o.d, with angels and archangels we laud and magnify Thy glorious name. Amen."
The usual morning service then proceeded. Many eyes were fixed on the earnest, thoughtful little face that appeared for the first time in the choir; and with not a little pardonable pride did old Matthew watch the hearty efforts of his grandson to fulfil the promise he had just made.
It had long been a custom for the Vicar and Mr. Mendles, the organist, to partake of a late meal at the Hall when their Sunday duties were ended; and on this Sunday evening the Squire accompanied them home from church.
"Our little friend," said he, "will be quite an acquisition to the choir; he has a very sweet voice."
"Yes, he has," replied the Vicar; "and what is of no less importance, he is sure to conduct himself well. But, for that matter, I have no reason to complain of any one of our choir; for, thanks to Mr. Mendles, and to their own sense of propriety, I don"t believe there is a better conducted choir in any parish than ours."
"That is very much owing to your allowing no men to be there who are not communicants."
"That"s a good rule, no doubt, and accounts, perhaps, more than any thing for their reverent behaviour. You well know, Mr. Mendles, there was little reverence enough once."
"The great difficulty," said Mr. Mendles, "is to persuade the choir that they should sing to G.o.d, _with_ the congregation, not _to_ the congregation. I strive both to learn myself, and to teach them, that our singing should be _worship_, not the mere exhibition of _talent_, and that we ought to rejoice when the congregation _join in_, not when they only _listen to_ our hymns and chants. I believe we have now learnt the lesson, and are the happier for it."
"And we all feel the benefit of that lesson too," said the Vicar, "for whereas formerly nothing but flashy tunes which enabled them to show off their own talent would please the choir, we have now, thank G.o.d, a solemn and devotional character in the music of our liturgical services, and a joyful gladness in the music of our hymns--equally far removed from levity and from mournfulness--which, with our praises and our prayers, seem to float up our very souls to heaven."
"I think we must attribute the success of our musical services in some measure to the new position of the organ, must we not, Mr. Mendles?"
said the Squire.
"Most certainly. There can be no doubt that the most convenient position for the organ-chamber is either on the north or south side of the chancel; or, if the organ is divided, on both sides. It is a misfortune that, as organs were but little known when most of our old churches were erected[165], we find no fitting place provided for them in the original structure. There is, however, no excuse for our modern architects who are guilty of such an omission; and it is a matter of surprise to me that they do not make the organ-chamber a feature of more prominence and greater beauty, both externally and internally, than they are accustomed to do."
"True," said the Squire; "specially as in our days the organ is regarded as all but a necessity in every church. Certainly, there is no musical instrument so suitable for congregational worship, for whilst it represents all kinds of music, it exactly realizes the description given in the account of the dedication of the temple which Mr. Ambrose read this morning, and brings together the cymbals and the psalteries and the harps, and the trumpeters and the singers "_as one_."
"It is a curious fact--is it not, sir?--that whereas the presence of organs in our churches used to be the source of great offence to Dissenters in this country, and has recently been the subject of much dispute among Presbyterian Dissenters, yet you can now hardly find a Dissenting meeting-house of any size but can boast of its organ, and often a very good one too. Let us hope, Mr. Vicar, that ere long they, may become reconciled also to other things in our Church which now they may regard with the same horror with which they once looked upon the church organ."
_CHAPTER XXVI_
THE VESTRY
"Let all things be done decently and in order."