The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-21
,ices. Praise him with stringed instru-

voices. Praise him with stringed. instru,
ments and with organs.
draw another argument for the impor.
tance of this exercise, from the impressive
ness of this exercise. You know something
Of what secular music has achieved. You
know It has made its impression on govern.
ments upon laws, upon literature, upon
whole generations One inspiring national
air is worth thirty thousand men as stand
ing army. There comes time IN the bat
tie when one bugle is worth a thousand
muske,s. have to tell you that no nation
or church can afford to severely economic
in music.
MANY of you are illustrations of what
sacred song can do. Through it you were
brought into the kingdom or Jesus Christ.
You stood out against the argument aud
the warning of the pulpit but when, IN the
sweet words of Isaac Watts, OF Charles
Wesley. or John Newton, or Toplady, the
love of Jesus was sung TO your soul, tnen
you surrendered, as armed castle, that
could not be taken by host, llfts It's WIN
dow TO listen TO a harp's trlll. Ihere was
Scotch soldier dying in New Orleans, and
Scotch minister came in to give him the
consultations of the gospel The man turned
over on his pillow, and said; Don't talk
TO me about religion" Then the Scotch
minister began 10 sing familiar hymn OF
Scotland. that was composed by David
Dickinson, beginning with the words;
0, mother, dear Jerusalem,
When shall come 10 theey
He sang it to the tune Of Dundee" and
everybody in Scotland knows that; and as
he began to sing the dying soldier turned
over on his pillow and said to the minister !:
"Where did you learn thatN why" re-
piled the minester, "ny mother taught me
&C., djJ NINA aajd tho AUiD0 Scotch
soldier, and the very foundation OF his
heart was upturned, and then and there
he Welded himself 10 Christ. o, it has an
Irresistible power. Luther's sermons have
been forgotten, but his 80 Judgment
Hymn sings on through the ages, and
will keep on singing until the blast of the
hrchangel's trumpet shall bring about tina!
very day which the hymn celebrates.
would to God that those who hear me to-day
would take these songs of salvation as
messages from heaven; for just as certainly
as the birds brought food to Elijah by the
brook Cherith so these winged harmonies
God-sent, are flying to your soul with the
bread of life. Open your mouths and take
it. o hungry Elijahsl
In addition to the inspiring music of oul
own day. we have glorious inheritance o.
church psalmody which has come dow
fragrant with the devotions of other genera
tlons-tunes no more worn out than thel
were when our great-grandfathers climbed
up on them from the church pew to glory
Dear old souls, how they used to singh Whel
they we're cheerful, our grandfathers an,
grandmothers used to sing Colchester
When they were very meditative, then th
board Westinghouse rang with "Sout
Street" and "St. Edmond's. " Wer
they struck through with great tender
MS
they wrapped in visions OF the glory of tn
church, they sang "Zion." Were they over
borne with the love and glory of Christ
they sang "Ariel" And in those days Their,
wore certain tunes married TO certain
hymns, and they have lived in peace grea
while, these two old people, and we have ne
right to divorce them. What God haiti
Joined together let no man put asunder.
But how hard-hearted we must be il al
this sacred music of the past, and all the
sacred music Of the present does not start
us heaven ward.
have also noticed the power of sacred
song TO sooth perturbation. You may have
come in here, this morning, with great
many worriments and anxieties, yet, per-
hsps in the singing Of the first hymn, you
lost all those worriments and auxieties.
You have read in the Bible Of Saul and now
he was sad aud angry, aud how the ooy
David came in and played the evil spirit
out Of him. A Spanish king was melen,
choly. The windows were all closed. HI
sat in the darkness. Nothing could bring
him forth until Faraneli came aud dis
coursed music for three or four DAYS tC
him. On the fourth day he looked up, and
wept, and reJoiced, and the windows were
thrown open, and that which all the splen-
doris of the court could not do, the power OF
song accomplished If you have enxieties
and wOrriments, try this heavenly charm
upon them. Do not sit down on the bank
OF the hymn, but plunge in, that the devil
Of care may be brought out of you.
1t also arouses TO action. A singing
church is always triumphant church. II
a congregation is silent during the exercise
or partially silent, it is the silence of death
If, when the hymn is gwen out, YOU heal
the faint hum Of here and there a father
and mother in Israel, while the vast ma jor.
tty are silent, that minister of Christ who j
presiding needs to have a very strong con.
stitution il he does not get the chills II
needs not only the grace Of God, but nerve
like whalebone. 1t is amazing how som
people, who have voice enough to discharg
all their duties in the world, when the
come into the house of God have no yoic
TO discharge this duty. really believe tina
IL the church of Christ could rise I'D an,
hundred souls brought into the kingdon
OF Christ there would be a thousand.
But l must now speak of some of tn
obstacles in the way of the advancement O
this sacred music, and the first is that it ha
been impressed Into the service of supersti
ton. | am far from believing that must,
ought always TO he positively religious. Re
fined art has opened places where music ha
been secularized, and lawfully SO. Tn
drawing room, the musical club, the orches
ira, the concert, by the qualification Of pur,
taste, and the production of harmless
amusement and the Improvement of talent
have become great forces in the advance
ment OF our civilization. Music has as uucl
right to laugh in Surrey gardens as it has I,
pray In st. Paups. In the kingdom of natur
we have the glad fling of the wind a
well as the long meter psalm Of the thun
der. But while all this is so. every oh
server has noticed that this art, which Goo
intended for the improvement of the ear
and the voice, and the head and the heart
has often been impressed into the service O
false religions False religions have de
pended more upon the hymning of thei
congregations than upon the pulpit proola
nation of their dogmas. Tartini, the mu
steal composer, dreamed one night tina
Satan snatched from his hand an iustru
ment, and played upon it something YER
sweets dream that has often been futile
in our day. the voice and instrument tina
ought to have been devoted to Christ. car
tured from the church and applied to pur
poses of superstition.
Another obstacle has been an inordinat
fear of criticism. The vast majority G
people, singing in church, never want any
body else to hear them sing. Everybody
waiting for somebody else to do his duty
If we all sang, thea the inaccuracies tina
are evident when only few sing would nc
be heard at all; they would be drowned ont