The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-05-17

by harp Asclepiades swayed rebellious
multitudes by harp.
After the battle of Yorktown, when a
| musician was to suffer amputation, and be-
fore the days of anRsthetics, the wounded
artist called for musical instrument and
lost not n note during the 40 minutes Of
Gmputation. Filippo Palma, the great mu.
stefan, confronted by an angry creditor
played so enchantingly before him that the
creditor forgave the debt and gave the debt
or 10 guineas more to appease other cred
itors. An eminent physician of olden time
contended (of course, carrying our theory
too far that all ailments OF the world could
be cured by music. The medical journals
never report their recoveries by this mode
! But in what twilight hour has many "A
saint of God solaced heartache with a
hymn hummed or sung or Played jerome
of Prague sang while burning at the stake
Over what keys Of piano or organ conso-
| lation has walked Yea, in church one
hymn has rolled peace over thousand of
the worried, perplexed and agonized. While
there are hymns and tunes ready for the
/ iubilant, there is n rich hymnology for the
suifering-"Naomi'' and "Eventide" and
Autumn Leaves" and Come, Ye Discon-
solate," and whole portfolios and hbrettos
of tears set TO music.
All the wonderful triumphs Of surgery
/ and all the new modes of successful treat
ment of physical and mental disorders are
/ discussed in medical conventions and spread
| abroad in medical books, and it is high
| time that some of the millions Of souls that
have been medicated by music, vocal and
7 instrumental, let the world know what
| power there is in sweet sound, whether roll
ing from lip or leaping from frightened
chord or ascending from ivory key. Music
/ is a universal language. At the foot of the
/ Tower of Babel language was split into
1 fragments never to be again put together
/ but one thing was not hurt, and that is
music, and it is the same all the world over
Last summer in Russia Mt "a watering
j place we were greeted as we entered a great
! auditorium which was filled with thousands
of Russians, whose language could not I'M
/ derstund any more than they could under
/ stand mine. But after the grand band had,
out of compliment TO us, played our two
/ great American airs ! stepped on the plat
/ form and said 10 the bandmaster Russian
airl Russian airr' and then he tapped with
! his baton on the music rack, and with n
splendor and majesty Of power that almost
made us quail the full band poured forth
their national anthem They understood our
American music and we understood their
Russian music. IL is universal language
| should not wonder if in the day Of judy
ment it should be found out that more
souls have been saved by music than bv
+ preaching ! should not wonder if, out Of
the IA GOO ransomed souls that John fore
saw before the throne of God, at least 1870,
600 had been saved by sweet song. Why
does not the church on earth take the
hint? Heaven is the great musical center
Ofthe universe the place of doXologies and
trumpets and harps, and in preparation for
that place we ought 10 make more ofmusic
on earth
The band of music at Waterloo played
the retreat of the Forty-second Highland
ers back TO their places, and sacred music
has returned many faltering host Of God
into the Christian conflict with much de
termination and dash as Tennyson's six
Hundred" Who can tell what has been
accomplished by Charles Wesley's 5,OaO
hymns, or by the congregational singing of
+ his time which could be heard two miles
oT2 When my dear friend bio Lewis
(gOne TO rest all too SOON conductedacam-
paign against drunkenness at the west, and
murshaled thousands of the noblest women
of the land in that magnificent campaign
ard whole neighborhoods and villages and
cities shut mp their grog shops, do you
know the chief weapon used? II was the
song:
Nearer. my God. to thee.
Nearer TO thee.
They sang IL ct the door of hundreds If
liquor saloons which had been open for
years, and either at the first charge of the
campaign or the second the saloon shut up
At the first verse Of Nearer, AIy God. to
Thee" the liquor dealers laughed; ut the
second verse they looked solemn; at the
! . IL.
+ fourth verse they got down on their knees
/ You say they opened their saloons again.
Yes, some Of them did. But it is great
thing to have hell shut up if only for "A
week Give full swing to good gospel
/ hymn, and it would take the whole world
for God!
But when in my text / see Saul declining
this medicine of rhythm and cadence and
actually hurting javelin at the heart of
David, the harpist, bethink myself of the
fact that sin would like to kill sacred music.
We are not told what tune David was play
ing on the harp that day, but from the
character of the man we know it was not
crazy madrigal, or senseless ditty, or
sweep of strings suggestive of the melO-
drama, but elevated music, God given mu-
sic inspired music religious music, whole
heaven OF it encamped under harp string.
No wonder that wicked Saul hated it and
could not abidethe sound and with all his
might hurled an instrument of death at it.
know there are styles of music that sin
admires, and you hear it as you pass the
casino or the dance hall, and the devil has
stolen most of the fiddles, though am glad
the Ole Bulls have snatched up the charmed
strings from their dissertation; but it is n
fact that sin has a javelin for sacred sounds.
In many churches the javelin of criticism
has killed the music javelin flung from
organ loft or from adjoining pew of the
supersensitive. SauPs jayelin aimed at
Davids harp Thousands Of people so
afraid they may not sing scientifically they
will not sing at all or sing with such low
tone that no one hears them.
In many church the javelin of criticism
has crippled the harp of worship. If satan
could silence all the Sunday school songs
and the hymns Of Christian worship he
would gain his greatest achievement. When
the millennial song shall rise land it is be-
ing made ready, there will be such roll
Of voices, such concentrated power of
stringed and wind instruments, such males
", such unanimity, such continental and
hemisphere and planetary reclamation.
that it will be impossible to know where
earth stops and heaven begins Roll on,
roll in, roll up, thou millennial harmony
See also in my subject a rejected oppor
tunity Of revenge. Why did not David
pick up Saul's javelin and hurl it back
againS David had a skillful arm. He
demonstrated on another occasion he could
.~folI eli I'D h.. Iar-o arf1x