In 1785 the choir was
allowed "to sing once on the Lord's Day without reading by the Deacon." In
five years the Rowley singers were wholly victorious, and "lining out" the
psalm was entirely discontinued.
In 1770, dissatisfaction at the singing in the church was rife in
Wilbraham, and a vote was taken to see whether the town would be willing
to have singing four times at each service; and it was voted to "take into
consideration the Broken State of this Town with regard to singing on the
Sabbath Day." Special and bitter objection was made against the leader
beating time so ostentatiously. A list of singers was made and a
singing-master appointed. The deacon was allowed to lead and line and beat
time in the forenoon, while the new school was to have control in the
afternoon; and "whoever leads the singing shall be at liberty to use the
motion of his hand while singing for the space of three months only." It is
needless to state who came off victorious in the end. The deacon left as a
parting shot a request to "make Inquiry into the conduct of those who call
themselves the Singers in this town."
In Worcester, in 1779, a resolution adopted at the town meeting was "that
the mode of singing in the congregation here be without reading the psalms
line by line." "The Sabbath succeeding the adoption of this resolution,
after the hymn had been read by the minister, the aged and venerable Deacon
Chamberlain, unwilling to abandon the custom of his fathers and his own
honorable prerogative, rose and read the first line according to his usual
practice.
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