Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser

Correspondence. THE SALVATION ARMY. To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Dear Sir,—Whilst being an advocate for open-air 11 preaching, I think the action of the Salvation Army is strongly to be deprecated, and if they are not care- tui their own actions will be their own rum. The forward Movement have for some months been meet- ing in Andrews' Lesser Hall, and previous to their alternoon and evening services the leaders have con- ducted meetings in the open-air close by the hall. At one time, evidently out of a spirit of opposition, the Army attempted to hold services whilst the Move ment sevices were proceeding, opposite the old Post umce, and this at a time when the latter had no band, the result being that the terrific beating of the Army drum made it almost impossible for the others to pro- Ceed yet they gallantly held their ground, and at last the Army desisted. Cb Sunday last, however, that spirit of opposition on the part of the Army appeared to reasserted itself, and for upwards of half -an-hour, op- posite Mr Cornwell's shop, there was an incessant row being made by tlx, balid-music it cannot be called because of th fearful discords made by the players of the different instfutnentsintheirevidentde- sire to drown the voices of those who were preaching I 'Christ a hnnlred and fifty yards away. The motto of the Army appears to be "destroy the Forward Move- ment at any price," instead of "Christ, and Him crucified It is for certain that the one whom they profess to serve does not look down with approval upon this spirit of opposition, and it is also certain that the people of Penarth will not aid efforts of this fcind The Army have been left with a broad field wherein to work, and, I say it kindly, they have no business to actii* a spirit of opposition to any o her section of Christ's followers. I heard one of the Move- ment say, 11 If Christ is with us, and He is stronger than the powers of Satan and all those who may be against us, we have nothing to fear. We are work. ing in His name and for His glory, and He will bless our efforts. Let the Army adept similar principles, and their efforts will be owned and blessed of God, but He will never permit the efforts of cne section of His kingdom to destroy the work of another. Yours truly, OBSERVER. To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Dear Sir,—I am sure that for the sake of justice, if for no other reason, you will let me have a small space in your valuaMe paper to protest against the unwarrantable action of the Salvation Army in holding their open-air services last Sunday evening so near to the stand occupied by the Foward Movement. That many on lcoksrs were disgusted, not even the members of the Army themselves. I think, can deny, after the attitude of the people around them, in leav- ing them for the Movement. No possible excuse can the Army offer for this public show of opposition. The Movement always oc- cupies the same stand, it being just outside their hall, and, unlike the Army, do not go from place to place occupying different ground almost every Sunday. It would not, perhaps, have been so bad if they had been the other side of the road, a place they often occupy of a week-night. But to go where they did, in full sight of the Movement, and where they could be of most annoyance, it would appear, is altogether too conspicuous and noticeable to everyone, and clearly shows the feeling possessed by the Army towards their" brethren." I do not hesitate to say that the Gospel under such circumstances cannot possibly be preached from the heart, but is only an empty utterance of words from the lips, This people know, and therefore lend not their ears to what may be said. If the Salvation Army wish to prosper and make themselves a power for good in Penartb, they must carry on their work in a different manner to this. There is plenty of room here to do all the work they can manage without stopping to show animosity and ill-feeling to other sections of the religious Church. "Let brotherly love continue*' is a motto they might adopt with advantage. Let us hope that perfect good- will and unanimity will now reign between these two bodies. Perhaps we shall have the pleasure of seeing them uniting once now and again soon. Yours truly. JUSTICE- CONGREGATIONAL SINGING. I To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Sir,- I read with much interest your article on congregational singing which appeared in the Chronicle last week, and as you so kindly offered your columns for the discussion of the question, I venture to ex- press my approval of the proposition to establish a united musical festival for Penarth Nonconformist choirs. I should 'ike to hav < embraced the Church choirs as well, but the music in one is somewhat dif- ferent to that in the other, although I tbiuk it would be to the advantage of the Church choirs if they would unite in a similar manner. There can be no disputing the fact that the singing in moat of our Noncon- formist Churches is slovenly, and is not the attraction and help in worship that it should be? Prom in- quiries I have been led to believe that few of our choirs meet for the study of music, or even for prac- tice, only when something special is to take place, I whereas to keep the singing in an efficient state constant practice is required. I would suggest, in order to discuss the advisability of a musical festival, the call- ing together of the leadsrs of the various choiry in the town, and others who may be interested, when the views of each other could be obtained, and then, if thought advisable by them, that a union be formed, conductor and other officers elected, and rehearsals commenced not later than the beginning of Septem- ber. To start earlier I do not think would be wise, for young people are attracted by the summer weather, and like their walks. I am, Yours faithfully. A MEMBER OF A CHOIR. To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Sir,-In glancing through the last i:osue of your valuable paper I was greatly pleased to find you I drawing the attention of all readers to the above sub- ject. Whilst fully agreeing with you that the sing- I ing in the various chapels is not what it ought to be, but, on the contrary, is very imperfect indeed, I am not sure that by forming the various choirs into a union, with the object of holding an annual festival, will bring the singing up to its proper level. True, much good has been done in this way in the musical world, where properly trained and skilled choirs have been concerned; but is it not a fact that in all cases wh.es e the attempt has been made with the untrained singers t s proved a missrable failure. It is,perhaps, possible for one of our leading musicians, even with the un- trained singers, on a festival day to convey to them his ideas, form and expression in the various hvmns; but is not that to the majority-artificial and mechani- cal, la,ting only for the day ? And why ? Because the bm ding he tried to erect is placed on an unpre- pared foundation, the singers not being acquainted even with the rudimentary part of music. Now, sir, the question for us to consider is, where do we stand as choirs in this respect ? Is it not safe to say that the majority of our singers are in that unfortunate condition ? Many of them are not able to distinguish between a volume of sound and a pure musical tone." They do not know the difference between a major and minor chord or interval; they do not understand the difference between a strong-, medium, or weak accent; and as for management of breath, which is one of the principal things even in hymn singing, are sadly wanting. Many of them cannot through force of habit sing more than from three to four pulses consecutively without taking breath, and even then in the middle of a verbal or musical phrase or sentence, and those are but a portion of the elementary part of music. Now, sir, under these circumstances, would it not be better for the different conductors to meet together and form some system of teaching the elementary part at leastto the different choir members in the district ? It W°^3 i be the la7iDS" of a foundation oa which we could hope to build a more beautiful edifice. After thus obtaining a good foundation, your suggestion would be of great service. We should then hope to have true worshipful and soul singing in the sanctuary, but until then, in my humble opinion, the suggestion is premature. Apologising for taking up so much of your valuable paper, Yours, etc., VERITAS.-