Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The First Ecclesiastical Society in Hartford, 1670-1903: An Address by Williston Walker on the Occasion of Transfer of Its Property to the First Church of Christ in Hartford, March 19, 1903
But this building proved inadequate for the growing needs of the congregation, and in 1831-32 the present Lecture - Room was obtained. To it the parlors in which so many of our even ing meetings are held were added in 1875. Nor has it been in the study of the wants of the congregation alone that the Society has always shown a generous interest. The improvement of its property and its surroundings have been increasingly its con cern, as illustrated conspicuously of recent years in the reno vation of Gold Street. Our Ecclesiastical Society has had a conspicuous part in the development of the musical services of the Church. Its interest in church music began early. New England thought at the time of its organization opposed the use in public worship of any but versified portions of Holy Writ. The uninspired hymn was rejected, and the absence of books in which the tunes were printed led to singing by memory, or rote as it was called, with the result that such local modifications were made in music that the same tune was often scarcely recognizable as used in adjacent parishes. The best that Cotton Mather could say of the singing of New England in his day was that it was noi worse than what is [heard] in many other parts of the World. But the early eighteenth century saw an effort for reform, and this region of Connecticut was agitated (1727-1732) over singing by rote or by rule. To some it seemed as if the introduction of the tune-book would be but the first step in a process the logical completion of which would be the introduction of the prayer-book and the imposition of the Liturgy which the found ers of New England thought themselves to have escaped by crossing the Atlantic; but our Society had no such fears, though it moved with its customary caution. On June 20, 1733, it voted that, after three months' practice by such members of the congregation as inclined to sing by rule, the new methodshould be tried until the annual meeting of December, and then a further vote should be taken on the propriety of its continu ance. The innovation proved its permanent value. So, too, the uninspired hymn, which had conquered its place in the esteem of our churches by reason of the poetic genius with which Isaac Watts expressed the aspirations, hopes and praises of Christian people, found its place in our public worship through the vote of the Ecclesiastical Society. In 1756, it expressed its judgment that Dr. Watts' Psalms may be sung in the Congregation at the time of Divine Worship at least half ye time. Nearly three-quarters of a century later, the Society countenanced another musical innovation, admitting the organ which early New England usage had rejected. In 1822, a small instrument was installed by voluntary subscription; but this organ proved inadequate and was replaced, in 1833, by one purchased by the Society by a tax on the polls and ratable estates of the inhabitants of the Society and it, in turn, gave way, by gift, to the present organ, in 1883, after half a century of useful service. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
