The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-11-05

Of contention that we climb ont through
the heavens and baptize one Of tho other
planets with the spirit Of battle and call
1t Mars. after tho god Of war. And we
give to tho eighth sign Of The zodiac the
name Of the scorpion, creature which
is chiefly celebrated for its deadly sting.
But, after all, these symbols are express
i've Of the way'nation feels toward ma.
tion. Discord wide as the continent and
bridging the seas.
Creation Grcans.
suppose you have noticed how
warmly in love dry goods stores are with
other dry goods stores, and how highly
grocerymen think Of the sugars Of the
grocerymen on the same street. And in
what n eulogistio way allopathic and
homeopathic doctors speak of each other,
and how ministers will sometimes put
ministers ON that beautiful cooking in
strument which the English call a spit
AIN iron roller with spikes ON it--and
turned by crank before hot fire, and
then IL the minister being roasted cries
out against 1t the men who are turning
him say: "Husb, my brotherl We are
turning this spit for the glory Of God
and the good of your soul, and you must
be quiet while we close the service with .
Biest bc tho tie that binds
Our hearts In Christian love.
The earth is diametered and circum.
ferenced with discord. and tho music
that was rendered at the laying Of the
worlds cornerstone, when the morning
stars sang together. IL not heard now.
And though here and there, from this
and that part of society. and from this
and that part of the earth, there comes
up thrilling solo of love, or warblo
of worship, or sweet duet Of patience,
they are drowned out by q discord that
shakes the earth.
| Paul says, "The whole creation groan-
eth" And while the nightingale, and
/ tho woodlark, and the canary, and tho
/ plovpr sometimes sing so swcetly that
their notes have been written out in
! musical notation, and it is found that
tho cuckoo sings in tho key Of ID, and
! that the cormorant is "a basso in tho
| winged choir, yet sportsman's gun aud
/ the autumnal blast often leave them
ruflled and bleeding or dead in meadow
or forest Paul was right, for the groan
in nature browns out the prima donnas
/ Of the sky.
Tartini. the great musical composer,
dreamed one night that ho made con-
/ tract with satan. the latter to be ever
! in the composers service. But ono night
he handed to satan u violin, OH which
Diabolus played such sweet music that
the composer was awakened by the emo
/ tion and tried to reproduce the sounds.
and therefrom was written Tartini's
most famous piece, "Tho DEVILS So
nata." dream ingenious, but faulty, for
/ all melody descends from heaven. and
/ only discords ascend from hell. All
hatreds, feuds, controversies, backbit-
| ings and revenges are tho DEVIL sonata.
are diabolic fugue, are demoniao phan-
tasy, are grand march or doom, are al
legro Of perdition.
The Ear of Bach.
But IL in this world things in general
are out Of tune to our frail ear, how
much more 30 to beings angelic aud de-
ificl 1t takes q skilled artist to fully ap-
preciate disagreement Of sound. Many
have no capacity to detect IA defect of
musical execution, and, though there
were in ono bar as many offenses against
harmony as could crowd in between the
lower Of the bass and the higher q OF
the soprano it would give them no dis
comfort, while on the forehead Of the
educated artist beads of perspration
would stand out rs result Of the har-
rowing dissonance. While All amateur
was performing on piano and had just
struck the wrong chord, John Sebastian
Bach, the immortal composer. entered
the room, and tho amateur rose in en-
/ barrassmont, and Bach rushed past the
host, who stepped forward TO greet him,
and, before tho keyboard had topped
vibrating, put his adroit hand upon the
keys and changed the painful inharmony
into glorious cadence. Then Bach TUNED
and gavo SALVATION to the host.
But the worst of all discord il moral
discord. If society and tho world are
painfully discordant TO imperfect man,
what must they be to perfect God'
People try to define what sin is. II seems
TO me that sin is getting out OF harmony
with God, disagreement with his holi-
ness, with his purity, with his love, with
his commands, our will clashing with
his will, the finite dashing against the in
finite, the frail against the puissant, the
created against the creator. II a thousand
musicians, with flute and cornet-a.pis-
ton and trumpet and violoncello, tho
hautboy and trombone and all the wind
and stringed instruments that every
gathered in Dusseldorf jubilee, should
resolve that they would play out of
tune and put concord to the rack and
make the place wild with shriolIing and
grating and rasping sounds, they could
not make such pandemonium as that
which RACES in sinful soul when God
listens TO the play Of its Thoughts, pas
sions and emotion-discord, lifelong
discord. maddening discord.