s both a natural and a rational expression
of devotional feeling. The negroes never indulge in it when, for any
reason, they feel downhearted or sad at their meetings. The shout is a
simple outburst and manifestation of religious fervor--a 'rejoicing in
the Lord'--making a 'joyful noise unto the God of their salvation.'

The words of the shout songs are a singular medley of things sacred and
profane, and are the natural outgrowth of the imperfect and fragmentary
knowledge of the Scriptures which the negroes have picked up. The
substitution for these crude productions of appropriate hymns, would
remove from the shout that which is now the chief objection to it in
intelligent minds, and would make of the dance, to which the negroes are
so much attached, a useful auxiliary in their religious culture. The
tunes to which these songs are sung, are some of them weird and
wild--'barbaric madrigals'--while others are sweet and impressive
melodies. The most striking of their barbaric airs it would be
impossible to write out, but many of their more common melodies are
easily caught upon being heard a few times. This music of the negro
shout opens a new and rich field of melody--a mine in which there is
much rough quartz, but also many veins of sparkling ore.

What, for example, could be more animated, and at the same time more
expressive of the thought conveyed in the verse than the following
chorus?--the introduction to which is a sort of recitative or chant:

[music notation]

I'd a like to die as a Jesus die, An' he die wid a freely good will, He

[music notation]

lay in de grabe, An' he stretchy out he arms, O, Lord, remember me.

CHORUS. _Lively._

[music notation]

O, Lord, remember me, Do, Lord, remember me; Re-

[music notation]

member me when de year rolls round, O, Lord, remember me.

The words of the chant are evidently a very childlike expression of the
wish to die with the same good will and spirit of forgiveness which were
manifested in the Saviour's death.

Of a very different character is the following verse, sung to the same
recitative:

'O, Death he is a little man,
He goes from do' to do',
He kill some soul, an he wounded some,
An' he lef' some soul for to pray.'

A most striking contrast between the recitative and chorus, is presented
in the following:

RECITATIVE (_Sung to one note like a chant, with a cadence at the
end_):-