Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-09-01


speaks Of man being in tune with the
Infinite" Man in himself may be SO
distracted by sin as to he like a dis
cord in music. His voice in nature
may he so discordant by reason of his
corrupt condition rs to rend the ear
as does the shrill cry of the vcnder on
the street. But when his nature is
redeemed his voice falls into its right
place in the song of creation and Of
Moses and the lamb and becomes har-
monors and meiodious. by the sweet
voices of the woods blending in per
pctual harmonies can you not catch
the meaning Of my text when King
Solomon declares God hath made and
will continue to make according to the
laws of music everything beautiful
| in its timc;"
Thought Expressed In soupd.
| The symmctr1es OF straight lines and
| curves in sculpture and architecture
also form nnaiogies for mans spiritual
beauty. Wandering among the famous
buildings Of Europe, | find that, arch-
tccturally. n great building has n sym
metrical unity. just as n perfect statue
is Chiseled after the physical forma
tons OF perfect man. Many years
ago there was cyhnmed from the
buried ruins of old Rome n marble
leg. broken from off one of tho statues
of old. That broken fragment is still
preserved in the Vatican. Michael An
gelo. as n sculptor used TO study that
I loo l,. ln a hn 1.., IA
| and the year. "becausc," said the great
italian master, II consider that piece
of stone the most perfect formation of
physical anatomy ever carved 10y the
chisel Of man" SO symmctrcally per
feet may the lines and the curves of
Il great group Of stAtuary be that
when you look at some of the best OK
ampes Of sculpture in the Louvre, the
Vatican or the British museum the
| figures almost seem as though their
lungs are breathing and their lips are
ready to speak.
! Now. the symmetrical laws observed
in true sculpture are also found 70 OK
| list in true architecture. \ great build
or like Christopher Wren did not start
in to erect ST. Paul's cathedral AZ hap
| hazard. Every part Of the walls. the
dome and the capStone were carefully
and harmoniously designed and prop
erly proportonpd before one spade
Of dirt was dug out Of the heart Of
mother earth to eNCavate the cellars of
London's architectural pride And the
wonderful part Of the maSterfully de
signed buildings of Europe is how dc
ccptivc they are as To their size when
first seen by the human eye. When
/ one secs the dome or st. Peters Mt
Rome lifting itself toward the skies. or
the spires OF the Cologne cathedral
Hike the uplifted forcflnger of an ora
4 Tor pointing heaVcnward. or tho roof
/ II the Milan cathedral leOpled with
myrinds OF saints and apostles carved
in stone. the lengths and the brcadths
and the heights Of those structures
rarely impress the tourist at first
Why? Because all are in perfect sym
nctricai proportion a truly great
building is 'multitudes OF stones ar
ranged in unity" II Is thought ex-
pressed In stone. as a painting Is
thought expressed in colors, or as mu-
sic is thought expressed in sound
Now. rs true architecture is beautiful
thought expressed in the curves and
lines Of the roof and the walls and the
foundation stones Of u building. |
would 20 one step further in my sub.
SeCt | would say to the designers OF
the great EpiscopalAn cathedral now
being built i'm New Yorl; city: oh
architects. Of what material are You
building these walls? Where are to he
found the mighty beams TO hold up
yondcr roof" Then these architects
take me down into the quarries. and
nmd the dust and the dirt see the
mighty rocks being heWod ont. Then
they take me to the fouudrics whore
the steel beams are being nodded
Then they take me ont into the forests
whore the great tree trunks ere being
dragged to the sawmils. Then they
say: "Oh. preacher. we are making
this beautiful Cathedral of st John the
Divine out of such materials as these
All these rocks and steel beams anC
tree trunks. IA multitude of different
elements shall blend together in beau
1ful architectural unity" Then | turf
10 the architects and say "Oh. design
crs. if You can make yondcr stone beau
tiful by placing il in symmetrical har
mony with other stones. cannot my
Lord and my God make redeemed mat
beautiful when he becomes part Of
the heavenly temple by union witt
Jesus Christ? For ! saw no tempt,
therein for the Lord God Almighty anC
the Lamb are the temple of it, AZ tn,
apostle says. 'Ye also as living stone,
are built UP n spiritual house Is tn
one achievement from an earthly stand
point any more wonderful than thu
second achievement from heavenl,
Standpoint" Yes. SEQ today. by tn
beautiful in architecture, analogue
that show that God has made and Coo
Is now making and will continue Il
make redeemed man beautiful in hi
time.
Let us loiter for n little while in III,
poets corner" of Westminster abbey
AS we listen the sweet bardS OF Tn,
English language seem to lift th"i
heads from their pillows of dust and
b,Ain to sing. and we find mans spir
iuiil beauty in the Hnalocies of poetry
ms we'll ms in painting and music anC
sculpture and architecture. For a
painting is rhythm in color and music