The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-09-07
SERMON.
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DY IRVING A sEABLEs.

sohss' Will Sruce III youi ncait5' uu'o tho
Lord-Col. ill.,, 16.
Music stands among the oldest of the
fine arts. In the fourth chapter of Gene.
ses we read I: Jubal was the father
of such as handle the harp and the organ.
Music formed very important part in
the worship of the Jews. David had
singers. The advent of Christ, was
hailed by angelic song
/. Music has a soul-inspiring effect
upon the discouraged or despondent. At
Waterloo Napoleon saw that his High.
landers were retreating. Those were
his tried heroes, aud, riding rapidly for
ward TO ascertain the cause of their
flight, he found that the music had stop
ped. He ordered the musicians to sound
the bugle aud fife and drum once more
The strains that followed sent an cleo
trio thrill through the ranks that now
marched on to victory. When crossing
the Alps the French soldiers frequently
became respondent They had to carry
the heavy cannon up over almost impass.
able sleeps One day when they were
nearly persuaded to give up in despair,
Napoleon turned to his musicians and
said, Play a charge" As the notes
sounded through the mountain passes,
the tired troops took fresh courage, put
their shoulders again to the ponderous
wheels, and the cannon go on and on
over height upon height, until they land
at last in triumph upon the plains of
Italy. During the rebellions; at the battle
of Fort Gibson, an entire brigade of
rebel soldiers made an attack upon enc
of our regiments. Greatly overpowered,
the union troops wavered a moment,
then broke and ran. At this juncture
one of the color bearers stopped, held
aloft the flag, and started the song
" The Battle Cry of Freedom" Every
man in the ranks knew that, and soldier
after soldier took up the strain until all
along the line the song rose high above
the din of battle. The retreat was
changed into victory. When the war
begun the government sought to econo-
mise by reducing the number of musi
clans, but the generals wrote on to
Washington. Don't take away our
music" In Christian warfare the soul.
inspiring influence of music can not
be over.estimated. A singing church is
not apt to backslide. Who can esti.
mate the power of Sankey's song of
invitation
2 Music has a very pacifying infu
ence upon the human heart. When
Saul was possessed of an evil spirit, the
harp of David relieved him. A man
said to me that when his wife began to
scold he began to whistle, and the effect
was sublime 1t is said that DR.. Kane's
men in the Arctic regions would have at
one time started a mutiny were it not
for an old fiddle that one of them had
and could play on.
3. Music impresses itself almost in.
delibly upon the memory. Two child
ren were once stolen by the Indians.
Years after a number of white children
were recaptured from the Indians, and
the mother of these two was requested
to come and see if she could identify
them from among all this pumber. She
found two whom she thought were her
long-l children. She talked to them
about old times, relating incident after
incident of their early childhood, but
they remembered none of these things.
About to leave in despair, she sung one
of the sweet songs that she used to sing
to them in the evening hours, and their
faces Immediately kindle with vague re-
membrauce of childhoods days and
they cry mother" The song was re
membered when all else seemed forgotten.
Some of the early legislators wrote their
laws in verse and the people learned to
sing them.
4. Music is to many the natural
way of expressing some of the most ter.
der emotions of the heart. In 1772
John Fawcett was pastor of small
but devoted congregation in England.
Though he were greatly beloved they
were poor and barely able to support
him He was invited to labor for a
wealthy church in London. He preach
ed his farewell sermon to his little flock.
On the day appointed for him to move
hisscongregation came to help him load
his goods into the waiting wagons. This
task is ended. Himself and wife are in
the carriage. But as the people fock
about him to shake bands and bid him
good-by they weap and show SO much
real affection for him that be says
Dear friends, | cannot leave you. Such
friendship as this is worth more to me
than AL of Londons wealth The goods
are unloaded. The pastor returns TO hi:
study, and, under the inspiration of that
hour, composes the hymn
Blest be be that tie binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
A x,ounr loJr Jouohtar of yar,, -; n \