Connecticut western news., 1890-09-10
OF MUSIC IN HEAVEN.
THE TOPIC OF DR. T. DE WITT
 TALMAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON.

THE TOPIC OF DR. T. DE WITT TALMAGE.'s SUNDAY SERMON. A Wonderful Discourse, Imbued with Living Faith in the Glories That Will Be Celebrated in the Home of the Blest in the Lambs New Song.
 BROOKLYN, Sept. 7.-Dr Talmage's sermon for today was glowing descrip- tion of the melodies of the Celestial land. His text was, "And they sang new song" Rev. V, 9. Following is the sermon:
 Nearly all the cities of Europe and America have conservatories of music and associations whose object it is, by voice and instrument, to advance the art of sweet sounds. On Thursday nights Exeter hall of London used to resound with the music of first class performers, who gave their services gratuitously to the masses, who came in with free tickets and huzzaed at the entertainment. At Berlin, at il o'clock daily, the military band, with sixty or hundred instruments discourses at the royal opera house for the people. On Easter Sunday in Dresden the boom of cannon and the ringing of bells bring multitudes to the churches to listen to the organ peals and the exciting sounds of trumpet and drum. When the great fair day of Leipsic comes the bands of music from far and near gather in the street and
 bewilder the ear with incessant playing of flute and horn, violin and bassoon. At Dusseldorf, once year, the lovers of music assemble and for three or four days wait upon the great singing festivals and shout at the close of the choruses, and greet the successful com petitors as the prizes are distributed cups and vases of silver and gold. All our American cities at times resound
 with orchestra and oratorio. Those who can sing well or play skillfully up on instruments are greeted with vocifera tion and garlanded by excited admirers. THE ECsTATIC DELIGHTS OF MUSIC There are many whose most ecstatic delight is to be found in melodies, and all the splendor of celestial gates, and
 all the lusciousness of twelve man. ner of fruits, and all the rush of floods from under the throne of God would not make a heaven for them if there
 were no great and transporting harmo
 nies. Passing along our streets in the hour of worship you hear the voice of sacred melody, although you do not enter the building And passing along the streets of heaven we hear from the temple of God and the Lamb the breaking forth of magnificent jubilate. We may not yet enter in among the
 favored throng, but God will not deny
 us the pleasure of standing a while on
 the outside to hear. John listened to
 it great while ago, and s'they sang a
 new song."
 Let none aspire to that blessed place
 who have no love for this exercise,
 for although it is many ages since the thrones were set and the harps were strung there has been no cessation in the song, excepting once for about
 thirty minutes, and judging from the
 glorious things now transpiring in Gods
 world, and the ever accommodating tri-
 umps of the Messiah, that was the last
 half hour that heaven will ever be
 silent.
 Mark the fact that this was new
 song Sometimes I have in church
 been foated away upon some great
 choral, in which all our people seemed
 to mingle their voices, and I have in the glow of my emotions said: 'Surely
 this is music good enough for heaven"
 Indeed do not believe that 'Luther's
 Hymn," or Coronation" or "Old
 Hundred" or Mount Pisgah" would
 sound ill if spoken by sainted lips
 or thrummed from seraphic harps.
 There are many of our fathers
 and mothers in glory who would
 be slow to shut heavens gate
 against these old time harmonies. But
 this, we are told, is a new song. Some
 of our greatest anthems and chorals
 are compositions from other tunes-the
 sweetest parts of them gatheredup into
 the harmony; and I have sometimes
 though that this thew song" may be
 partly made up of sweet strains of
 earthly music mingled in eternal
 choral. But it will, after all, be new
 song. This do know, that in sweet
 ness and power it will be something that ear never heard. All the skill of the oldest harpers of heaven will be
 flung into it. All the love of Gods heart will ring from it. In it's cadences
 the floods will clap their hands, and it
 will drop with the sunlight of everlast- ing day and breathe with odors from
 the blossoms of the tree of life. "A
 new song"-just made for heaven.
 HOW THE GREAT COMPOSERS WROTE.
 Many earthly songs are written by composers just for the purpose of mak
 ing tune, and the land is flooded with note books in which really valuable tunes are the exception. But once in while man is wrought up by some great spectacle, or moved by some ter rible agony, or transported by some ex- quisite gladness, and he sits down to
 write tune or a hymn, in which every note or every word is spark dropped
 from the forge of his own burning emo tions. So Mendelssohn wrote, and so Beethoven and so Charles Wesley. Cowper, depressed with misfortunes
 until almost insane, resolved on sui
 eide, and asked the cab driver to take
 him to a certain place where he ex-
 pected to destroy his own life. The cab driver lost his way, and Cowper
 began to think of his sin and went
 back to his home and sat down and wrote: