BETTER HYMNS WANTED.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 712, 11 January 1910, Page 6

BETTER HYMNS WANTED.

: ' An organist,,. writing' to : one ;; of ■■ the Church. newspapers,, puts his - finger. upon what he, regards, as - a,. weak spot-in -the Church services of to-day,. namely; the- . absence of really -modern,. manly, hymns— ; hymns . that combine a. lofty, - sane; religious sentiment, with .a loyal patriotism to King and country, or that-. inculcate a high standard of duty aha 6ervico to one's fellowmen in ordinary .daily life. "Most of the hymns; we sing," he .'remarks, "are not 'only an: insult-to one's intelligence, but ' are ,a deeoer: insult :to the. All-wise Divinity to whom, we are supposed to be offering up, these' ..very hymns'as anact of worship" , This correspondent gives a specimen of a' hymn snng. in' a church. situated. in a denselypopulated , working-class neighbourhood, and declares that' it- could not have: appealed to some fifty or sixty young fellows: between* tho ages of sixteen and twenty-one • who were present, most' of, them belonging to, swimming, football, and other sports clubs. Remarking that this- particular hjTnn 'was both botanically and geographically incorrect, he proceeds:—"Nor r were.' the , : other- hymns much-better, consisting as they did -of a string of doctrinal _ platitudes or . objectless doggerel, teaching-tor, tho most part that ■ our miserable fife ■in this wicked, sin-soaked world must, bo toiled through somehow, in the: ultimate hope' of the good' time, hereafter. At a time when the ■young m6h of ■ this country, are orwaking to a : ssnso of 'their duties as citizens of tho greatest Empire the: world has,ever known, and a' splendid sense of- loyalty and. true, patriotism is manifesting itself, .there is. a great, and very real need of suitable' hymns for men's services, church parades,.and^jnrilar f gatherings,"- .