The Brookhaven leader., 1891-10-01
I,ALMAGE's SERMON. !
A Discourse on the Use of Music In
the Church.
what Music Does for Humanity and
Chrlstianity-A Powerful Factor In
the Dissemination of the
Gospel

rev. Il. DeNlJb lainaRe ucuVeTeu
the following discourse on the occasion
of the dedication of the new organ in
the Brooklyn Tabernacle, taking Tor
his text:
His brothers namo was Jubal: he was the
father of all such as handle the harp and
organ.-Genesis w.. 81.
Lamech had two boys-the one a
herisman and the other a musician.
Jubal, the younger son, was the first
organ builder. He started the first
sound that rolled from the wondrous In
strument which has had so much to do
with the worship of the ages. But
what improvement has been made I'M
der the hands of organ builders such as
Bernhard, Sebastian Bach, and George
Hogarth and Joseph Booth and Thomas
Robjohn, clear on down to George and
Edward Jardine of our own day. / do
not wonder that, when the first full or
gan that we read of as given in 757 by
an emperor of the east, to a king of
France. sounded forth its full grandeur
a woman fell into a delirium from
which her reason was never restored.
The majesty of great organ skillfully
played is almost too much for human
Endurance, but how much the instru-
ment has done in the reinforcement of
Divine service it will take all time
and all eternity to celebrate.
Last April when we dedicated
the church to the service of
Almighty God our organ was not more
than half done. 1t has now come so
near completion that this morning
preached sermon dedicatory of this
mighty throne of sacred sound. 1t
grects the eve as well as the ear. Be-
hold this mountain of anthems! This
forest of hOsannahs! It's history is pc
culiar The late Mr.. Geo. Jardine re-
Gently made a tour of the organs of
Europe. lie gathered up in his port
folio an account of all the exccllences
of the removed instruments of music on
the other side of the Atlantic and all
the new improvements, and brought
back that portfolio to America, declar-
ing that Brooklyn Tabernacle should
have the full advantage of all he had
obtained, and although he did not live
TO carry out his idea, his son, Mr.. Ed
ward Jardine, has introduced into this
organ all those improvements and
grandeurs, and while you hear this
organ you hear all that is notable
in the organs of Lucerne and
Fribourg, and Harlem, and st. Paul,
and Westminster abbey, and other
great organs that have enraptured the
world. In it are banked up more har-
monies than ! can describe, and all for
God and the lighting of the soul toward
Him. Its four banks of keys, its one
hundred and ten stops and appliances,
its four thousand five hundred and ten
pipes, it's chime of thirty-seven bells, its
cathedral diapason, and pedal double
dapason, its song trumpet and night
horn and vox huma ma, all, all, we dedi-
cate to God and the soul. 1t will, /
believe, under the Divine blessing lead
uncounted thousands into the kingdom.
It's wedding marches, its thanksgiving
anthems, its requiems Will sound af ter
all the voices that follow it to-day
shall have sung their last song To
God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Ghost we dedicate it.
There has been much discussion as to
where music was born. think that at
the beginning, when the morning stars
sang together, and all the suns of God
shouted for joy, that the earth heard
the echo. The cloud on which the an
gels stood to celebrate the creation,
was the birthplace of song. Inani-
mate nature is full of Gods stringed
and wind instruments. Silence itself
perfect silence-is only musical rest
in Gods great anthem of worship.
Wind among the leaves, insects hum
ming in the summer air, the rush OF
billow upon beach, the ocean far out
sounding its everlasting psalm, the bob
olink on the edge of the forest; sthe
quail whistling up from the grass, are
music. On Blackwells island heard,
coming from window of the lunatic
asylum, a very sweet song. 1t was
sung by one who had lost her reason,
and have come to believe that even
the deranged and disordered elements
of nature make music to our ear, if we
only had acuteness enough to listen. /
suppose that even the sounds of nature
that are discordant and repulsive make
harmony in Gods ear. You know that
you may come SO near an orchestra
that the sounds are painful instead of
pleasurable; and l think we stand so
near devastating storm and whirlwind,
we can not hear that which makes to
Gods ear and the ear of the spirits
above us, music as complete as it is
tremendous.
The day of Judgment, which will be
a day of uproar and tumult, / suppose
will bring no dissonance to the ears of
those who can calmly listen; although
it be as when some great performer is
executing boisterous piece of music
he sometimes breaks down the instru-
ment on which he plays, so it may be
on that last day that the grand march
of God, played by the fingers of thunders
and earthquake, and confagration, may
break down the world upon which the
music is executed. Not only is mani
mate nature full of music, but God has
wonderfully organized the human
voice. SO that in the plainest throat and
lungs there are fourteen direct muscles
which can make sixteen thousand diff
ferent sounds, and there are thirty in
direct muscles which can make, it is es-
timated, more than one hundred and
seventy-three million of sounds. Now,
/ say, when God has so constructed the
human voice, and when He has filed
the whole earth with harmony, and
when He recognized it in the ancient
temple, have a right to come to the
conclusion that God loved music.
/ propose this morning in setting
anart this organ for sacred use to sneak