American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-05-04
Jr THE AMERICAN CITIZEN.
Stray Thoughts on Paper;
Some Words About Music.

" The man that hath not music IN his Soni,
AMI is not moved by the concord of sweet sounds /
Is fit for treason. stratagems and spoils."
"AspaSia, he who loves not music,
is beast of one species, and he
who overloves it, is a beast of anoth
er, whose brain is smaller than a
nightengale's, and his heart than
that of a liZard.'
That music exercises a most pow
erful dominion over the heart and
senses, none have denied since the
days of old, when the sweet Singer
of Israel, exercised the Evil Spirit
from the demon haunted Saul. 1t
would be pleasant task to trace to
it's primeval source that River of
Music which, now swelled to
mighty tide, spreads its strains
through every quarter of the world.
We are SO accustomed to connect
music with sacred feeling, that we
cannot conceive of the heather ma
tons presuming to lay hands on the
harp and Tyre, and no distinct men
ton is made OF a heather cultivat-
ing music until the days of Nebuch-
adnezzar, when are heard the songs
of the captive Jews as they wept
and sang by the waters of Babylon.
Little could Philip of Macedon have
known of this divine art, when, hav
ing heard his son sing at a feast,
said, Art thou not asha med to sing
so well." Music" says Aristotle,
sis seldom considered as a serious
engagement. and is rarely practiced
but as recreative pastime, or a
natural expansion of social merri-
ment." The writer of this sentence
could have known little, indeed, of
that blending of the dirge-nOte and
the song of Festival, which gives
ecstacy to our joy and melts our very
pleasure into tears of pain. But
now the rude and faltering accents
of the heather nations have all died
away before the strong voice of the
Church, when she spread her pro-
tecting wings and caused her own
service to be adorned and enriched
by the swelling tones of the organ.
Music exercises a most enrolling
influence on our moral nature, REIN
ing the sentiments and eXalting the
character. Who can adequately es-
innate the purifying influence it ex-
erts over us9 There is nothing like
the concord of sweet sounds to move
the heart to noble deeds and lofty
daring. Music appeals directly to
the intellect and sentiments. Poe
try and OratOry address these with
the same, or, perhaps, superior force;
but they turn to them IN succession.
Music takes possession of both i'll
tho same instant and by storm. We
cannot help believing that the power
to appreciate music is an especial
gift of God shall we not say, one of
the nOblest vOuchsafed to man /?
There are hours when we strive in
vain for utterance of the conceptions
and aspirations of the soul ; there is
no language to convey our thoughts.
1t is then that we have recourse to
music. Divinest of all arts and deep
est of all mysteries, it eXalts us
above this poor life, and we catch a
departing CLEAN of higher destiny.
For the ideas, feelings, sentiments
common to all, there is but one uni
versal language, one idiOm ; that
language, that idiom, is Music and
it pervades all nature. 1t is the
link, the mystic tie, that connects us
with every created being and pro-
claims us all as proceeding from one
Almighty source. From the low
mulrmur of the breeze, so sweet and
plaintive, to the grand chorus of the
spheres, SO solemn and majestic,
there is perpetually ascending to
the Great Father a hymn of praise
and 9ladneSs-an anthem pure and
thrilling. Hearken to this music,
and it will teach us to lead better
and hOlier lives: to erect ourselves
above ourselves. 1t whispers to us
in the soothing words of Fenelon,
when he calls upon us, De LASER
fare celni qui .tdit tOui." This is the
grand secret known to them of old,
which has enabled so many noble
heroes to retain that singleness of
heart. that noble tranquility, which
seems something more than human,
amid the gloomy visions which pass
so often through this lower world.
Yes, the virtue which begins and
ends in obedience to the will of God.
This it is which enables us to view
the world and its changes with tran
guilty; enables us to soothe our i'm
a@inatiOn and warm our picty with
the thought that ends in perfect
truth and justice, and with the one
desire, :. De ldiser .Jdire ceini qui
fat tGul.'
There is a very touching little i'll
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