The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-09-26
THE PSALMS.
Beauty and Poetry of the Bible.

The following extract is taken from
an address delivered by Hon. x. +.
Dick, July 9th, 1859, and published in
the University Magazine. 1t was
handed us by Mr.. Il. a. Bullock:
There il no poetry like the Psalms.
They have a living beauty and depth OF
pathos which can never be exceiieo, ana
will always wake the highest and hottest
harmonies OF the human heart. They
are indeed immortal The Illiad and
ODYSSEY. the Aenead and Odes OF Horace,
the Divina Commedia and Paradise Lost,
are as immortal as human language,
but when they perish the Psalms will be
sung by the angels in Paradise, Tor they
are the Songs Of God.
For more than thousand years they
we're the Joy Of Zion-the glory OF Jeru-
saem-and how grandlv did they rise In
the magnificent temple service to the
sound OF psaitry and harp, swept by the
hands OF kOrali's tuneful sons. They
fred the genius OF the ancient prophets as
they poured forth their rhapsOdles to re-
beiliOus Israel and disObedlent Judah.
They pladdened the solitude of the simple
Hebrew shepherd as he led his fOcks
through s'the green pastures and beside
tbe still waters OF his Heaven blest
home, and the dark-eyed daughters OF
Zion knew no sweeter ninstrelsy than
that which the Royal Minstrel sung:
They called up sweet memories ana
bright hopes in the sad heart OF the
captive Israelite, as weeping he sat by
the dark waters Of Babel and tuned his
pIaintiye harp to sing one OF the loved
songs of his father-land.
When the great Macedonian onqueror
came sweeping like Bosom OF destruc-
ton over the decayng empires OF the
East, these sacred songs were soon trans
lated into the beautifully poetic Ian
guage of Greece and were scattered
like precious gems over all the ma
tons of the Orient. They were the
admiration of the disbelieving Cen
tile, and reused the patriotic pride OF the
exIed Jew in the land OF the Ptollmies,
among the classic groves OF Greece, and
amid the proud palaces OF the Seven
billed cities of the Tiber. The Psalms
often engaged the thoughts of Christ and
His Apostles as they held holy converse
in the wilderness and on the mountains
of JuJea. and while wandering through
the blooming and fruitful valley OF the
Jordan, and while resting upon the calm
| bosom OF Gennesaret, as it slept beneath
the star-lit skies of Galilee. They were
the cradle songs which soothed the infant
church of Christ. They were the Nesper
HYMNS of the poor Waldenses in the
| quiet valley OF the beautiful Piedmont.
They kinded the enthusiasm of the chiv-
alric crusader as he pressed forward amid
| the arrows of the pestilence and storm
of battle, to the rescue OF the Holy Land.
They were the war notes OF the bold Re
former while he reused Europe from the
spiritual lethargy and defed the pealing
thunders of the Vatican i'll wild and
thrilling cadences they echoed from the
plens and caverns of Scotland, where the
stern Covcnanter, fearing naught but
God was preparing to die for thefreedom
| OF his faith, they were the farewell strains
| of the Pilgrim Fathers, as they left their
| kindred and country and IN holy rapture
| they rose amid the whistling gale from
the deck of the Mayfower as hebreasted
| the pillows OF the stormy Atlantic, and
they broke the stiffness of the American
| wilderness and hallOwed the land OF our
fathers Like the chOiring OF the Cheru-
BIN they foated along the bloody Can
gos, and triumphantly did they swell
from trusting hearts which quailed not
at the martyrs cry OF agony and the
Srpoy's vengeful shout. The Psalms
u
the frozen North, where the aurora bore
nilis is cleaning; in the.far distant isles
oi the Southern seas, where the evergreen
woodlands bud and blossom beneath the
pathway OF the sun. Like angel visi-
| tnnts, with glad music on their wings
| they have entered the stately homes OF
the great and the humble cottages OF the
poor and ilIumined with q heavenly ra-
diance the fading eye of the dying saint.
They have nerved the heart of the suffer-
ing captive hero in his lonely dungeon
and sustained the fanting martyr at the
| fiery stake. The Psalms have been
| translated into more than one hundred
| different languages They have added
| beauty and glory to all Christian litera-
| ture and they are the pure and holy
| fountains from which the great bards
| of modern times have drunk their
| waters of inspiration which made
| them immortal and given to their
| genius the magic touch that thrills
| with ecstacy the mystic strings OF
the human heart Wherever the foot
of civilized man has trod, these
olden songs have gone with their conso-
| lation and Joy, and although they have
passed through the revolution and
changes of more than three thousand
years they have the same vitality and
freshness now as when they gushed from
the iervid hearts of the old Hebrew bards
among the hills and valleys OF the Prom
Used Land.
Thanks be unto Him who rules the des-
TIMES OF the world that the time will
come when these songs OF Zion shall be
heard in every land and every tongue
shall sing their praises to lsraels God.