38 ADVERTISEMENT. First, Let as many as can do it bring psalm -books with them, and look on the words while they sing, so far as to make the sense complete. Secondly, Let the clerk read the whole psalm over aloud before he begins to parcel out the lines, that the people may have some notion of what they sing ; and not be forced to drag on heavily through eight tedious syllables without any mean, ing, till the next line come to give the sense of them. It were to be wished also, that see might not dwell so long upon every single note, and, produce the syllabics to such a tiresome extent with a constant uni- formity of time, which disgraces the music, and puts the congregátion quite out of breath in singing five or six stanzas; Whereas if the method of singing were but reformed to a greater speed in pronunciation, we might often enjoy the pleasure of a longer psalm with less expence of time and breath; and our psalmody would be more agreeable to that of the ancient churches, more intelli- gible to others, and more delightful to ourselves. DECEMaEa 1, 171f.
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