The Bossier banner., 1891-11-26
MUSIC IN THE CHURCH.
Discourse by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage in Brooklyn.
The Use of Music, Both Vocal and Instru
mental as an Adjunct to the WOr-
ship of GOd-Its Human
izing Influence.

the following discourse apropOs of the
use of music as an adjunct to public
worship, taking for his text:
His brothers name was Jubal; he was the
father of all such as handle the harp and
an.-GenesIs iv., 81.
Lamech had two boys-the one a
herdsman aand the other 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 un-
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 Jardins of our own day. I 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
indurance, but how much the instru-
ment has done in tho 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 a sermon dedicatory of this
mighty throne of sacred sound. 1t
Rreets 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 tour of the organs of
Europe. He gathered up in his port
folio an account of all the eXcellences
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 arc 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, it's one
hundred and ten stops and appliances,
it's four thousand five hundred and ten
pipes, its chime of thirty-seven bells, its
cathedral diapason, and pedal double
diapason, its song trumpet and night
horn and vox humana, 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, it's thanksgiving
anthems, it's requiems will sound af tel
all the voices that follow il 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 a window of the lunatic
asylum, 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 calraly listen; although
1t 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
ofGod, played by the fingers of thunders
and earthquake, and confagration, may
break down the world upon which the
music is executed. Not only is inani-
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-
fimatRd more than ono b,,pd,ad ,,5