Democratic messenger., 1893-07-01

kind Of song which, like the song Of birds,
is divinely fashioned. Songs Of pardon.
Solgs of divine comfort. Songs of wor-
ship. Songs In the night" like those
which David and job mentioned. Songs
full of faith and tenderness and prayer
like those which the Christian mother
sings over the sick cradle. Songs OF
n broken heart being healed. Songs
Of the dying flashed upon by opening
portals of amethyst. Songs like that which
Paul commended to the Colossians when
he said. 'Admonish one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. !"
Songs like Moses sang after the tragedy OF
the Red sea. Songs like Deborah and Barak
at the overthrow Of Sisera. Songs like
Isaiah heard the redeemed sing AS they
came To Zion. Oh. God, teach us that kind
of song which thou only canst teach and
help us to sing it on earth and sing it in
heaven. II was the highest result of sweet
sound when under the playing of Paganini
one auditor exclaimed reverently, "Oh.
Godi' and another sobbctl out. ''Oh. Christ"
THE SONGS OF HOPE.
Fur; rr. ! remark in regard To the song
OF birds that it is trustful and without any
fear Of what may yet come. Will you tell
me how il is possible for that wren. that
sparrow. that chickadee. to sing so sweetly
when they may any time he pounced on by n
hawk and torn wing from wing! There are
cruel bcaks in thicket and in sky ready to
slay the song birds. Herods on the wing
Modocs of the sky. Assassins armed with
iron claw Murderers OF song fosting up
and down the heavens. How can the birds
sing amid such perils. Besides that, how
Is the bird sure to get its food! Mil
lions Of birds have been starved. Yet ii
sings in the dawn without any certainty
OF breakfast or dinner or supper. Would
Il not be better to gather its food for the
day before vocaiizing: Besides that. the
hunters nre abroad. Bang! goes gun in
one direction. Bang, goes a gun in an
other direction. The song will attract the
shot and add To the peril. Besides that,
yonder is n thundcrcloud, and there may
be hurricane and hail to he let loose. and
what then will become Of you, the poor
warbler, Besides that, winter will come,
and IL may bc smitten down before il gets
to the tropics. Have you never seen the
snow strcwn with the birds hclated in their
migrationt The titmOuse mingles its voice
with the snowstorms as Emerson describes
the little thing no found in tempcstuous
January:
Here this atom In full breath
Iiurling defiance ut vast DEATH
This scrap Of valor Just for play
Fronts the north wind In waistcoat gray.
For every bird thousand perils and dis
asters lowering and sweeping round and
round. Yet there il sings. and il Is "A trust
full song. The bird tha; hGs II the hardest
sings the sweetest. The lark from the
shape Of her claws may net perch on IA tree.
In the grass her nest IL exposed to every
hoof that passes. Onc Of the poorest shell
ters Of all the earth is the lark's nest. II
she sing mt all. you will expect her to rem
der the saddcst Of threnoslles. No, no
she sings exul;ingly an hour without n
pause and mounting 5000 feet without los
Ing note. Would God va all might learn
the lesson. Whatever perils, whatever be-
reavements, whatever trials are yet to
come, sing-sing with all your heart and
sing with all your lungs. II you wait until
all the hawks OF trouble have folded their
wings and all the hunters of hate have un-
loaded their guns and all the hurricanes Of
disaster have spent their fury, you will
never sing at all. David. the pursued OF
Absalonl. and the betrayed of Ahithophel.
aud the depleted Of sores that ran in the
night" presents us the hest songs OF the
Bible. John Milton. not able to see his
hand before his face sings for us the most
famous poem of all literature. and some Of
the most cheerful people ! have ever met
have been Christian people under physical
or domestic or public torment The songs
of Charles Wesley which we now calmly
sing in church were composed by him b0-
tween mols
THE VOICES OF MANY MOODS.
Further, in the sky galleries there are
songs adapted 10 all moods The meadow
lark is mournful, and the goldtinch joy
ous, and the grosbcIk prolonged of note.
But the libretto of nature is voluminous.
Are YOU sipl, YOU can hear from the bowers
the echo of your grief. Are YOU glad, you
can hear an echo of your happiness. Are
you thoughtful, You can hear that which
will plunge you into deeper profound. Are
you weary. You may catch "a rcstful air. So
the songs of birds are administrative in all
circumstances. And we would do well to
have hymnology for all changes Of condi-
tion. You may sing your woes into peace
and rouse your jh's into greater attitudes.
Upon every condition Of body and soul let
us try the power of song. The multitude
nous utterances Of grove and orchard and
garden and forest suggest most delightful
possibilities.
SONGS OF FAMILY LIFE.
Further, | notice that the song IL birds is
a family song Even those of the feat hered
throng which have no song Mt all make
what utteranccs they do in sounds of their
own family of birds. The hoot of the owl,
the clatter of the magpic. the crow of the
chanticleer, the drumming of the grouse,
the laugh Of the loon in the Adirondacks, the
cackl L. of the hen. the scream Of the eagle, the
croak of the raven. are sounds belonging
to each particular family, but when you
come to those which have real songs, how
suggestive that il is always "a family song.
All the skylarks. all the nightingales, all
the goldfinchcs, all the black birds. all the
cuckoOs. prefer the song of their own fami-
ly and never sing anything else.
So the most deeply impressive songs we
ever sing are family songs. They have
come down from generation To generation.
You were sung to sleep in your infancy and
childhood by songs that will sing in your
soul forever. Where was IL, my brother or
sister. that You heard the family song-on
the banks of the Ohio. or the Alabama, or
the Androscoggin, or the Connecticut. or
the Tweed. or the Thames or the Raritan.
That song at cventde, when you were
tired out indeed too tired to sleep, and
you cried with leg ache, and you were
rocked and sung to sl.ep-you hear it now,
the soft voice from sweet lips, She as tired,
perhaps more tired than ,"u hut she
rocked and you slumbcrcd. oh. those fam
lily songs,
The songs that father sang that mother
sang, that sisters and brothers sang. They
bcj on us to-day with "A reminisccnce that
Nils the throat as well as the heart with
emotion. In our house in my childhood it
was always a religious song do not
think that the old folks knew anything but
religious songs. At any rate ] never heard
them sing anything else IL was Jesus,
Lover Of My Soul or Rock Of Ages" ar
There Is Fountain Filled With Blood"
or MARY TO the Saviour's Tomb" Mot othcrs,
he careful what you sing your children To
sleep with. Let il he nothing frivolous or
silly Better have In il something of Christ
and heaven. Better have in il something
that will help that boy 10 years from now