Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1856-04-25
ORIGINAL T. SIS A y 5
Communicated for the Lewisburg Chronicle.



"wedded to immortal verse" From the
time when "the morning stars sang toge-
ther, and all the sons of God shouted for
ioy,' until the present hour, melody and
song have been potent agents in infuenc
ing man to deeds of virtue, as well as to
degrade and brutalize his nature. There
is the gentle, the soothing. the melting,
the persuasive air, which tranqulizes,
which convnces, which charms, which
leads US then there is tho enrapturing, the
stirring, the maddening note, which arou-
ses US to deeds of activity, of high-toncd
honor, and of dauntlessness. Words be-
come so allied to music, that they can
never be separated the music will recall
the words, the words will recall the music
The "Marseilles Hymn although set to
the most gentle and peace breathing words
the language could furnish, can never be
aught to the Frenchman but clarion blast
to arise and battle fer liberty and for glory.
'YaukOo Doodle will always have droll
twang, even when sung to Temperance
HYMN by a conveniicle of demure deacons.
when maTshalIrd the nightly plain,7
sung in "Bonnie DOOM" has plaintive
effect, foreign TO the nature Of the poetry.
sOld Dan Tucker is cold Dan Tucker"
the world over, and "too late for any
other fate.
There is, in very decd, an awful power
in association and although some wise
acre has said, "he did not know whv the
Devil should have all the good tunes, yet
there is, upon careful thought, manifest
propriety in ''giving the Devil his due of
music a. uau all othe, effects Ain
and words-however good they may be
which have been his by usage from time
immemorial, and which are "sacred to his
memory" should be yielded up "to his
exclusive use and be-hoof for ever" On
the contrary, those airs and poetical arti-
cles, which, by the same process, have be.
come dedicated to moral and religious
uses, should be consecrated to such pur-
poses, and not perverted by trlflng and
everyday and everywhere and constant and
irreverent use On this account, scripture
quotations, PAROLES, and many other pleas
antries INDUCED in by well meaning men,
are often injurious in their influences, and
do violence to sacred and useful associa-
tions.
John Quincy Adams, to his lates. day,
used that simple form of prayer at even
ing, taught him by his mother, commen-
cling,
snow lay me down to sleep" &C.
The very act renewed all his reverence for
the example and preccpts of that excellent
woman, to whom he owned his mental
training as well as his existence. The
influence of that prayer, repeated day by
day, and acting through "the old man
eloquent upon the world, who can tell?
The vcnerated preacher of the Gospel,
who "would not use fiddle, because it
always inclined him to dance, ,and renewed
follies he would like to forget" was a good
Judge of human nature, and of the law of
association.
Recently, I was an unwilling participant
in most incongruous mingling of the sa'
cred and the secular, (not to say profauc) y
where the serious associations of cher
ished house of worship were rudely Jared
by the Introduction of theatrical and ball
room airs. | know that in our Savior's
day the holy Temple itself had become
market house and exchange place, but He
drave out those who were thus employed,
evidently teaching that places dedicated to
the worship of Almighty God, should have
all its uses to accord with and not do vio-
lence to that design. Buying and selling
were in themselves not unlawful, but they
were scandalous sins when transacted in
that place. In our day, much care and
expense are incurred in erecting houses
where Jehovah is to be worshiped, and to
'beautify the place of His sanctuary" In
those houses, Sabbath by Sabbath,we hear
proclaimed the necessity of being regener-
atcd in the temper and spirit of our souls
of being dead to the fesh-and of nop
conformity to the fashions and the amuse-
ments of the world. But, on the occasion
referred to, the music was not harmonious
with the place. In my view, it would
nullify the good effect of half dozen
ordinary sermons. 1t tre-vivified other and
not better days, and places where anything
but the Bible was taught. l could say for
myself and companions, that, involuntarly,
"Our fingers keep tune and toes keep time
Nothing seemed to be surer than that a
dance was maturing all over the house.
And, indeed, would it have been any more
a sin to have had that congregation taken
a few turns in dancing in that house Of
worship, than for them to be invited and
persuaded so to do by music which had
T that diroc, apI vns,t,r, ,n0,opoo2 l. ~