Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-11-07
A PERFECT HARMONY
REr. DR.. TALMAGE DRAWS A LESSON
FROM MUSIC.

| REV DR.. TAlMAGE DRAWS LEooClS
FROM MUSIC.
He Takes "rho Chant of the Stars" FOR
the Subject of II Sermon of Great Beauty
and Powcr-Thc Final Harmony.
WASHINGTON, Nov 1.-The musical
resources Of all nations seem drawn
upon by DR.. Talmuge in this sermon
to illustrate most practical truth. His
subject was "Tho Chant of tho Stars "
and the text Job xxxviii, 6, 7. "Who
laid the cornerstone thereof, when the
morning stars sang togethcr?'
We have all seen the ceremony at the
laying of the cornerstone of church,
asylum or Masonic temple. Into tho
hollow of the stone were placed scrolls
of history and important documents, to
be suggestive if, 100 or 200 years after,
tho building should be destroyed by fire
or torn down. We remember the silver
trowel or iron hammer that smote the
square piece of granite into sanctlty.
We remember some venerable man who
presided welding tho trowol or ham
mer. We remember also the music MS
the choir stood on the scattered stones
and timber of the building about to be
constructed. The leaves of the notebooks
futtered in tho wind and were turned
over with u great rustling, and we re-
member how the bass, baritone, tenor,
contralto and soprano voices commln-
gled They had for many days been re-
hearsing the special programme that 1t
might DO worthy of the cornerstone lay-
ing.
Laying the Cornerstone.
In my text tho poet of Uz calls US to
a grandcr cercmony-thc laying of tho
foundation of this great temple or
world. The cornerstone was Il block OF
light and the trowel was of celestial
crystal. All about and on the cmbank-
mcnts Of clouds stood the angelic choris-
tiers unrolling their librettos of overture
and other worlds clapped shining GYM
balls while the ceremony went on, and
God, the Architect, by stroke of light aft
er stroke of light, dedicated this great
cathedral of a world, with mountains
Tor pillars, and sky for frescoed ceiling,
and Towering fields for a floor, and sun
rise and midnight aurora for upholstery.
WHO laid the cornerstone thereof, when
the morning stars sang together"
The fact is that the whole universe
was complete cadence, an unbroken
dithvramh, musical portfolio Tho
great sheet of immensity had been spread
out. and written on it were the stars.
the smaller of them minims, the larger
of them sustained notes. The metcors
marked tho staccato passages, the whole
heavens Il gamut with all sounds, III
donations, modulations, the space be-
tween tho worlds musical interval,
trembling of stellar light Il quavcr, tho
thunder q bass clef. the wind among
trees q trcblo clef That is the way God
made all things perfect harmony.
But one day harp string snapped Ill
the great orchestra. One day voice
sounded out Of tune. One day discord,
harsh and terrific, grated upon the glo-
rious antiphon. 1t WAS sin that made
the dissonancc, and that harsh discorG
has been sounding through the centuries.
All the work of Christians and philan-
thlopists and reformcrs of all ages is to
stop that discord and get all things back
into the perfect harmony which was
heard at the laying of the cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together.
Before I get through, if l am divinely
helped, will mako it plain that sin is
discord and righteousness harmony.
That i'll general things are out of tune
is as plain as to musicians car Is the
unhappy clash of clarinet and bassoon
in an orchestral rendering.
Out of Tune.
The worlds health out Of tune; weak
lungs and tho atmosphere in collision,
disordered eye and MONDAY light in
quarrel, rheumatic limb and damp
weather in struggle, neuralgias and
pneumonias and consumptions and cpl
lepsies in flocks sweep upon neighbor-
hoods and cities Where you find ono
person with sound throat and keen eye
sight and alert ear and easy respiration
and regular pulsation and supple limb
and primo digestion and steady nerves,
YOU find q hundred who have to be very
careful because this OF that or the other
physical function is disordered.
The human intellect out of tune; tho
Judgment wrongly swerved, or the
memory leaky or tho will weak, or tho
temper infammable, the well balanced
mind exceptional.
! Domestic life out of tune, only here
and there conjugal outbreak of incom-
patibility of temper through the divorce
courts, or q filial outbreak about ia
Their will through the surrogate s court,
or a case of wife beating or husband
poisoning through the criminal courts,
but thousands of families with June
outside and January within.
Society out of tune; labor and capital
their hands Oh each others throat ;
spirit of caste keeping those down III
the social scale who are struggling to
get up and putting those who are up in
! anxiety lest they have to come down.
No wonder the old pianoforte of society
is all out of tune, when hypocrisy and
lying and subterfuge and double dealing
and sycophancy and charlatanism and
revenge have for 5000 years been bang
ing away at tho keys and stamping the
pedals.
On all sides there is shipwreck of
harmonies. Nations in discord without
realizing it. So wrong is the feeling OF
nation for nation that symbols chosen
are fierce and destructive. In this coun-
try, where our skies are full of robins
and doves and morning larks, we have
our national symbol, the fierce and filthy
| ;rI no fof1r6 in