CHANT BOOK: A SELECTION OF Psalms and Hymns from Holy Scripture. ARRANGED AND POINTED FOR CHANTING. BY THOS. HARTLEY FAIRHURST, BLACKBURN. "Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee." THIRD EDITION. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER-ROW. LEEDS: J. HAMER, 7, BRIGGATE. BLACKBURN: D. THORNBER, Congregations taking quantities of this Work can be supplied by applying to the Publishers, or direct to the Author, 3, Cross Street, St. Peter's, Blackburn. [ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. ] "If Chanting has been irreverently performed, so has Psalmody : if it is in use by the Catholics, so is Preaching; if it is right to sing Scriptural truths in metrical verses of man's composing, it cannot be wrong to sing those truths in the very words of Inspiration." Newman Hall, B.A. PREFACE. THE Chant, or 'Plain song,' was derived by the early Christians from the Jewish Church. In Chanting, therefore, we revert to the most ancient form of praise, and celebrate the greatness and goodness of God in strains which David and Asaph employed in the service of the sanctuary. As an aid to devotion, and because it enables Christians to sing the very words of Scripture, Chanting is commended to the reader. We do well in adopting the devout Hymns which godly men have provided for Christian worshippers; but we do still better in retaining the Psalms which "holy men of God" wrote "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Chanting is the only music that is adapted to these Divinely-inspired compositions; and it is on this ground mainly that success is wished to the Compiler of this little book, in his wise endeavour to revive and extend the practice of singing the "Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs" which are found in the Holy Scriptures. C. W. |