| Citation |
NECO.723.011
18-25 Mar 1723:11,12 (86)
Good master Janus. I beseech you take pity upon your
country readers, and give us a little of your advice. We
are so exceedingly troubled with the spirit of singing
Psalms by rule, as they call it, that we are afraid the new
singers will bring in Popery upon us before we are aware of
it. Truly, I have a great jealousy, that if we once begin
to sing by rule, the next thing will be to pray by rule, and
preach by rule; we must have the Common Prayer. Forsooth,
and then comes Popery. I have been inform'd by an ancient
Gentleman who dwells at Connecticut, that our forefathers
came over to New-England because they could not in
conscience join with their brethren in this new way of
singing. and I know a very honest man in the country, who
has travell'd pretty much in the world, and been on board a
man of war ten years, who says, that all prick'd tunes came
from Rome, except those we have in our Psalm-Books, which
are the only Protestant tunes fit for Christians to sing. I
think this is enough to set any Christian man against this
new upstart way of singing; but yet many of our people are
so in love with it, that I don't know where they'll stop,
for they begin now to find fault with our Version of Psalms,
and would bring in that of Tate and Brady, which some of us
never heard of before. Pray, Sir, give me your opinion of
this matter, and you will oblige Your humble servant,
Ephraim Rotewell. Brantrey, March 20. 1722.
Cheer up, Mr. Rotewell! There's no danger of Popery yet.
The argument of the gentleman that dwells in Connecticut,
and that of the honest man who has travell'd so much on
board a man of war, will confound all the Roman Catholick
singers in the country, especially if we keep close to our
own versions of the Psalms, which is sure Bulwark against
Popery.
But O these lines of Nic. and Nahum!
May no one sing or ever say 'um.
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