Connecticut western news., 1890-10-22


 money in trying to make the road passa- ble. Down and downl till we saw the white tents pitched for us by our mule teers amid the ruins of ancient Jericho, which fell at the sound of poor music played on a ''ram's horn," that ancient instrument which, taken from the head of the leader of the flock of sheep, is perforated and prepared to be fingered by the musical performer, and blown upon when pressed to the lips. As in another. sermon I have fully described that scene, will only say that every day for seven days the ministers of re- lgion went round the city of Jericho blowing upon those rams horns, and on the seventh day, without the roll of war chariot, or the stroke of cata- putt, or the swing of ballista, crash crash crash! went the walls of that magnificent capital.
 On the evening of Dec. 6 we walked amid, the brick and mortar of that shattered city, and I said to myself All this done by poor music blest of God; for it was not a harp or flute or clapping cymbal or an organ played, at the sound of which the city surrendered to destruction, but a rude instrument making rude music blest of God, to the demolition of that wicked place which had for centuries def1ed the Almighty And I said, if all this was by the blessing of God on poor music, what lnightier things could be done by the blessing of God on good music, skillful music, Gospel music. If all the good that has already been done by music were subtracted from the world, I believe three -fourths of it's religion would be gone. The lulla- bys of mothers which keep sounding on, though the. lips that sang them forty years ago became ashes; the old hymns in log cabin churches and coun- try meeting houses, and psalms in Rouse's version in Scotch kirks; the anthem in English cathedrals; the roll of organs that will never let Handel or Haydn or Beethoven die; the thrum. of harps, the sweep of the bow across bass viols, the song of Sabbath schools storming the heavens, the doxology of great assemblages- s-why, thousand Jerichos of sin have by them all been brought down.
 THE POWER OF MUSIC
 Seated by the warmth of our camp fires that evening of Dec. 6, amid the bricks and debris of Jericho, and think ing what poor music has done, and what mightier things could be accom- plished by the blessings of God on good music, said to myself: Ministers have been doing grand work, and sermons have been blessed, but would it not be we'll for us to put more emphasis on music? Oh, for a campaign of "Old Hundredl" Oh, for a brigade of Mount Pisgahs Oh, for a cavalry charge of "Coronations!' Oh, for an army of An tiochs and St. Martins and Arielsl Oh, for enough orchestral batons lifted to marshal all nationsl As Jericho was surrounded by poor music for seven days, and was conquered, so let our earth be surrounded seven days by good gospel music, and the round
 
 a vail of opposition, not a throne of tyranny, not a palace of sin, not an en- terprise of unrighteousness could stand the mighty throb of such atmospheric pulsation Music! It sounded at the laying of creations corner stone when the morning stars sang together. Mu- sic! It will be the last reverberation when the archangels trumpet shall wake the dead Music! Let it's full power be now tested to comfort and bless and arouse and save.
 While our evening meal is being pre- moment to the Fountain of Elisha" :" the one into which the prophet threw the salt because the waters were poi sonous and bitter, and lol they be- came sweet and healthy, and ever since, with gurgle and laughter, they have rushed down the hill and leaped from the rocks, the only cheerful ob- ject in all that region being these wa ters.
 Now on this plain of Jericho the sun is setting, making the mountains look like balustrades and battlements of amber and maroon and gold; and the moon, just above the crests, seems to be window of heaven through which immortals might be looking down upon the scene. Three Arabs as watchmen sit beside the camp fire at the door of my tent, their low conversation in strange language all night long a sooth- ing rather than an interruption. had a dream that night never to be forgot ten, that dream amid the complete ruins of Jericho. It's past grandeur re- turned, and I saw the city as it was when Mark Antony gave it to Cleo patra and Herod bought it from her. And I heard the hoofs of it's swift steeds, and the rumbling of it's chariots and the shouts of excited spectators in it's amphitheatre.
 LOVELY REGION.
 And there was white marble amid green groves of palm and balsam; cold stone warmed with sculptured foliage; hard pillars cut into soft lace; Iliads and Odysseys in granite; basalt jet as the night, mounted by carbuncle fam ing as the morning; upholstery dyed as though dipped in the blood of battle fields; robes incrusted with diamonds; mosaics white as sea foam flashed on by auroras; gayeties which the sun saw by day rivaled by revels the moon saw by night; blasphemy built against the sky; ceilings stellar as the mid night heavens; grandeurs turreted, archivolted and intercolumnar; wicked ness so appalling that established vocab- ulary fails, and we must make an ad jective and call it Herodic.