Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1895-09-12

Washington to a neigh boring town
and was prepared to send the first
message he asked Christian girl
to dictate it. With wisdom born
perhaps of a momentary inspira-
ton she wrote, Behold what God
hath wrought"
This sentiment was expressed in
the first cablegram also, when
Cyrus w. Field after many futile
attempts succeeded in laying a
cable across the ocean and the first
message was to be transmitted he
sent through the waters the words
that had been caught from angels
lips. words that were sung by the
hierarchy of Heaven as part of
the natal anthem of Him who
Joined Heaven and earth together.
"Glory to God in the highest, on
earth peace and good will to men. F"
How appropriate that these
words should be used in the first
communication from nation to ma
tion, for in their original import
they seem to be nothing less than
a telegraphic communication from
Heaven to earth, bringing to us the
fraternal greeting of the skies in
the beautiful words, "On earth
peace and good will to men,"
| desire now to call your atten-
tian to the effects of Christianity
upon the aesthetic culture of the
world, that kind of culture that ad-
vances the fine arts, that deals
more directly with the human soul,
that refnes the spirit and prepares
the votaries not only for the higher
and better associations of this life
but-when its spirit is fully re-
ceived-for the better associations
of the life to come, for Christianity
is the soul of aesthetic culture.
This may be very easily demon
strated by a simple reference TO
the greatest works of those who
have achieved the greatest success
in this kind of culture.
Among the aesthetic arts We may
mention music, painting, architec-
ture and poetry. In each of these
the greatest success has been
achieved by men who in the pro-
duct;on of their best were inspired
by religion.
To establish this we have but to
mention the fact that Hadyn's
masterpiece is his Creation"
Mozart's his Requiem" Beeth-
ovens his "Mount of Olives"
Schneider's his "Deluge," Spohr's
his "Last Judgment" Crotche's
his Palestine" Benefits his
"Woman of Samaria," in all of
which these great authors were
elevated to the zenith of their fame
by the inspiration of religion
The same is true of painters and
painting. Raphael gained his
greatest distinction by painting
the TRANSPORTATION of Christ"
and his Cartoon of Christ and his
Apostles. Rembrandt by paint
ing the Marriage of Sampson"
and "Christ Healing the Sick. +"
Three of the greatest modern pic
lures are Munchasy's "Christ Be-
fore Plate" Millet's "Angelus"
and Murilla's Ascension" These
are not mere accidents or coinci-
dences, but they are demonstra-
tons of the superior aesthetic pow
er of our holy religion. The great
est pieces of architecture in the
world are the wonderful cathedrals
that have been erected directly in
honor of Christ's name; so init
mately do they connect devotion
and architecture that one has de-
nominated them ''prayers frozen
into stone." The great temple at
Milan is so beautiful that it may be
very appropriately called an archi-
tectural flower garden, as some one
has called it ''fower garden in
stone."
Equally apparent is the effect of
religion on poets and poetry. The
greatest poets have done their best
work under its inspiration. We
easily discover this inspiration in
Dante's "Inferno" and ''Purga-
tory and Paradise" Millions
paradise Lost" Tennyson's
"In Memoriam, Bryant's
4" Thanatopsis, " Longfellow's
1.-Two Angels" Whittier's Drift
wood Fire" and Lowell's "After
the Burial" Even men whose
rule it was to stear clear of religion
sometimes caught its inspiration.
and then it was they did their best
work. Lord Byron wrote much
that was fine, but perhaps the best
thing he ever wrote is the following
stanza, which was so directly in
spired by religion there is no
mistaking its source:
Love is indeed light from Heaven,
| with Angels shared by Allah given;
A spark Of that immortal fire
To hft from earth our low desire.
A ray flight who formed tie whole,
A glory circiing round the soul,
Devotion watts the mind above,
And Heaven itself descends in love-"
Wadsworth, one of the greatest
poets of modern times, was so
thoroughly convinced that all true
poetry was inspired by religion he
roundly asserted: There can be
no poetry in skepticism. 1t can
not be born of doubt or a mere
negative" 1t must be conceived
in the matrix of religious faith and
born of religious enthusiasm. For
this reason he had great respect
for such authors as Homer, whose
real poetry was born of the mythol-
ogy into which he himself had
been born and bred, and he ex-
pressed his preference for the old
pagan poets over the productions