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

and they have lived in peace a great
while, these two old people, and we
have no right to divorce them. Born
as we have been amid this great wealth
OF church music, augmented by the
compositions of artists in our day, we
ought not to be tempted out of the
sphere of Christian harmony, and try
to seek unconsecrated sounds. 1t is
absurd for millionaire to steal.
Many of you are illustrations of what
a sacred song can do. Through it you
were brought into the kingdom of Jesus
Christ. You stood out against the warn
ing and the argument of the pulpit, but
when. in the sweet words of Charles
Wesley or John Newton or Toplady, the
love of Jesus was sung TO your soul,
then you surrendered, as an armed cas-
tie that could not be taken by host,
lifts its windows to listen 10 harp's
trill.
But | must now speak of some of the
obstacles in the way of the advance
ment of this sacred music and the first
is that it has been impressed into the
service Of Satan. / am far from belieV-
ing that music ought always to be posi-
lively religious Refined art has open
ed places where music has been secu-
larized, and lawfully so. The drawing
room, the concert. by the qualification
Of pure taste anG the production of
harmless amusement and the improve
ment of talent. have become very
forces in the advancement of our civil
ization. Music has as much right TO
laugh in Surrey Gardens as it has to
pray in st. Pauls. In the kingdom
Of nature we have the glad fling Of
the wind as well as the long-meter
psalm Of the thunder. But while all
this is so, every observer has noticed
that this art, which God intended for
the Improvement of the ear, and the
voice, and the head, and the heart, has
often been impressed into the service
OF error. Tartini, the musical COM
poser, dreamed one night that Satan
snatched from his hand an instrument
and played upon it something very
sweet-a dream that has often been
fulfilled in our day, the voice and the
instruments that ought to have been
devoted to Christ, captured from the
church and applied to the purposes OF
SIM
Another obstacle has been an inordi-
nate fear of criticism. The vast ma
jority of people singing in church new
er want anybody else to hear them
sing. Everybody is waiting for some
body else to do his duty. If we all
sang then the inaccuracies that are
evident when only a few sang would
be drowned out. God asks you to do
as we'll as you can, and then if you get
the wrong pitch or keep wrong time
he will forgive any deficiency of the
ear and .mperfection of the voices.
Angels will not laugh if you should
lose your place in the musical scale or
come in at the close a bar behind.
There are three schools of singing, /
am told-the German school, the Ital-
ian school, and the French school of
singing. Now, | would like TO add a
fourth school, and that is the school
of Christ. The voice of a contrite,
broken heart, although it may not be
able to stand human criticism, makes
better music in Gods ear than the most
artistic performance when the heart is
wanting. God calls on the beasts, on
the cattle, on the dragons, to praise
him, and we ought not to be behind the
cattle and the dragons.
Another obstacle in the advancement
of this art has been the erroneous no
ton that this part Of the service could
be conducted by delegation. Churches
have said, 20, what an easy time we
shall have. The minister will do the
preaching, and the choir will do the
singing, and we will have nothing to
do" And you know as we'll as | that
there are a great multitude of churches
all through this land where the people
are not expected to sing. The whole
work is done by delegation of four or
six or ten persons, and the audience
are silent. In such church in SYRIA
| cuse, an old elder persisted in sing
ing, and so the choir appointed com
mittee to 90 and ask the elder il he
would not stop. You know that in
many churches the choir are expected
| TO do all the singing, and the great
mass Of the people are expected to
be silent. and il you utter your voice
Won are interfering. In that church
they stand the four, with opera-g glasses
dangling at their side. singing Rock
! of Ages. Cleft for Me-" with the same
spirit that. the night before on the
| stage they took their part in the
/ Grand Duchess or Don Giovanni.
My Christian friends, have we right
to delegate to others the discharge o.
this duty which God demands of us
/ Suppose that four wood-thrushes pro-
pose to do all the singing some bright
day, when the woods are ringing will
bird voices. 1t is decided that foul
wood thrushes shall do all of the sing
ing of the forest. Let all other voices
keep silent. How beautifully the fou
warble! 1t is really fine music. Blu
how long will you keep the forest still
Why, Christ went come into that fer
est and look up, as he looked through
the olives, and he would wave his han'
and say, Let everything that hau
breath praise the Lord" and, keepin;
time with the stroke of lnnumerabl
wings, there would be five THOUSAND