Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-10-05

uHN O"o Oh pOASSIOAAttNS "AOu5hI N"S
in FURNISHED metal, down even to the
tongs and shutters made out of pure
gold, everything was as complete as
the God-directed architect could make
1t. 1t seemed as If vision from
heaven had alighted on the mountains.
The day for dedication came. Tradl-
ton says that there were in and around
about the temple on that day two hun
dred thousand silver trumpets, forty
thousand harps, forty thousand TIM
brels, and two hundred thousand sing
ers: so that all modern demonstrations
at Dusseldorf or Boston seem nothing
compared with that. AS this great
sound surged up amid the precious
stones of the temple, it must have
seemed like the River of Life dashlng
against the amethyst of the wall or
heaven. The sound arose, and God, as
If to show that he was we'll pleased with
the music which his children make in
all ages. dropped into the midst Of the
temple a cloud Of glory so overpower-
ing that the officiating priests were
obliged to stop in the midst of the SER
vices.
There has been much discussion as
to where music was born. ] think that
at the beginning; when the morning
stars sang together and all the sons of
God shouted for joy" that the earth
heard the echo. The cloud on which
the angel stood to celebrate the crea-
ton was the birthplace of song. The
20 no ;r,t, MI
many keys of celestial pearl, on which
Gods fingers play the music of the
spheres. Inanimate nature is full Of
Gods stringed and wind instruments.
Silence itself-perfect silence-is only
a musical rest in Gods great anthem
OF worship. Wind among the leaves,
insect humming in the summer air, the
rush of billow upon beach, the ocean
far out sounding its everlasting psalm,
the bobolink on the edge of the forest,
the quail whistling up from the grass,
are music. While visiting Blackwell S
Island, heard, coming from a window
OF the lunatic asylum, very sweet
song 1t was sung by one who had
lost her reason, and l have come to be-
lieve that even the deranged and disor-
dered elements of nature would make
music to our ear, If we only had acute
ness enough to listen. | suppose that
even the sounds in nature that are dis
cordant and repulsive make harmony
in Gods ear You know that you may
come so near to an orchestra that the
sounds are painful instead of pleasur-
L.. nj
devastating storm and frightful whirl.
wind we cannot hear that which makes
TO Gods ear and the ear Of the spirits
above us a music as complete as it is
tremendous.
| propose to speak about sacred mu-
sic, first showing you it's importance
and then stating some of the obstacles
TO its advancement.
draw the first argument for the inn
portance of sacred music from the fact
that God commanded it. Through
Paul he tells us to admonish one an
other to psalms and hymns and spiritu.
al songs; through David he cries out:
"Sing We to God. all we kingdoms of the
earth" And there are hundreds oil
other passages / might name, proving
that it is as much mans duty to sing
as it is his duty to pray. Indeed.
think there are more commands in the
Bible to sing than there are to pray
God not only asks for the human voice
but for the instruments of music He
asks for the cymbal and the harp and
the trumpet. And l suppose that in
the last days of the church the harp
the Lutte, the trumpet, and all the in.
struments of music that have give.
their chief aid to the theater and b2c
chanal, will be brought by their mas.
tiers and laid down at the feet of Chris
and then sounded in the church's tri
umph on her way from suffering into
glory. praise we the Lord" Praist
him with your voices. Praise hin
with stringed instruments and Will
organs.
| draw another argument for the i'm
portance of this exercise from the i'm
pressiveness of the exercise. Yol
know something of what secular mu
sic has achieved. You know it ha
made It's impression upon governments
upon laws, upon literature, upon Who'll
generations. One inspiring natona
ar is worth thirty thousand men as
standing army. There comes time il
the battle when one bugle is worth
thousand muskets. In the earlier par
of our civil war the government pro
posed to economic in bands Of music
and many of them were sent home, blu
the generals in the army sent word t
washington: You are making a yer
great mistake. We are falling bac
land falling back. We have not enoug
music" / have to tell you that N
nation or church can afford to severed
economic in music.
Why should we rob the programme
of worldly gaiety when we have S
many appropriate songs and tune
composed in our own day, as we'll a
that magnificent inheritance of churc
psalmody which has come down fra
grant witch the devotions OF other ger
erations-tunes no more worn out tina
when our great-grandfathers climbe
up on them from the church pew