Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-09-03

Ralph Waldo Trine means when he
speaks of man being In tune with the
infinite" Man in himself may be so
distracted by sin as to be like a dis
cord In music. His voice In nature
may be so discordant by reason OF his
corrupt condition as to rend the ear
as does the shrlll cry Of the vender 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-
monious and melodious. BY the sweet
voices Of the woods blending in per
petual 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 timer
Thought Expressed In Sound.
The symmetries Of straight lines and
curves in sculpture and architecture
also form analogies for mans spiritual
beauty. Wandering among the famous
buildings OF Europe, l find that, archi-
tecturally, a great building has a SYM
metrical unity, just as perfect statue
is chiselsd after the physical forma-
tions OF a perfect man. Many years
ago there was exhumed from the
buried ruins Of old Rome a marble
les. broken from off one Of the statues
Of old. That broken fragment Is still
preserved in the Vatican. Michael An
gslo, as a sculptor, used to study that
leg by the day, the week, the month
and the year, because" said the great
Italian master, 81 consider thnt piece
Of stone the most perfect formation Of
physical anatomy ever carved by the
chisel of man." SO symmetrlcally per-
feet may the lines and the curves of
great group Of statuary be that
when you look at some Of the best eX-
amples 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, Tic llmCkiiNai ld W . ODoOA 'tN
In true sculpture are also found to ex-
ist in true architecture. A great build
er like Christopher Wren did not start
| in to erect St Paul's cathedral at hap
hazard Every part Of the walls, the
dome and the capstone were carefully
and harmoniously designed and prop
erly proportioned before one spadeful
of dirt was dug out Of the heart OF
mother earth to excavate the cellars Of
London's architectural pride. And the
wonderful part Of the masterfully de-
signed buildings Of Europe Is how de-
ceptive they are as to their size when
first seen by the human eye. When
one sees the dome Of st. Peters at
Rome lifting itself toward the skies, or
the spires Of the Cologne cathedral
like the uplifted forshnger of an ora
tor pointing heavenward, or the roof
| of the Milan cathedral peOpled with
myriads Of saints and apostles carved
| In stone. the lengths and the breadths
and the heights of those structures
rarely impress the tourist at first.
Why? Because all are In perfect SYM
mstrical proportion. A truly great
| building Is "multitudes Of stones ar
ranged in unity" 1t Is thought ex-
pressed In stone, as painting Is
thought expressed In colors. or as mu-
sic is thought expressed In sound.
Now, as true architecture Is beautiful
thought expressed in the curves and
| lines Of the roof and the walls and the
foundation stones Of building,
would 20 one step further In my sub
ject. l would say to the designers Of
the great Episcopalian cathedral now
being built in New York city: "Oh,
architects, Of what material are you
building these walls? Where are to be
found the mighty beams to hold up
yonder roof? Then these architects
take me down into the quarrles, and
amid the dust and the dirt l see the
mighty rocks being hewed out. Then
they take me to the foundries where
the steel beams are being nodded.
Then they take me out into the forests
where the great tree trunks are being
dragged to the sawmills. Then they
say: ooh, preacher, we are making
this beautiful Cathedral Of st. John the
Divine out of such materials as these.
All these rocks and steel beams and
tree trunks. a multitude Of different
elements, shall blend together In beau
tiful architectural unity" Then | turn
to the architects and say: "Oh design
ers, IL you can make yonder stone beau
tiful by placing 1t in symmetrical har-
mony with other stones, cannot my
Lord and my God make redeemed man
beautiful when he becomes part OF
the heavenly temple by union with
Jesus Christ? For L saw no temple
therein, for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of It, AS the
apostle says, 'Yo also as living stones
are built up a spiritual house. Is the
one achievement from an earthly stand,
point any moro wonderful than the
second achievement from heavenly
standpointr' Yes. see today, by the
beautiful In architecture, analogies
that show that God has made and God
is now making and will continue to
make redeemed man beautiful in his
time.
Let us loiter for little while In the
poets corner" Of Westminster abbey.
As we listen the sweet bards OF the
English language seem to lift their
heads from their pillows Of dust and
begin to sing, and we And mans spir-
itusl beauty In the analogies OF poetry
~ well as In painting and music and
sculpture and architecture. For as
painting is rhythm in color and music
is rhythm in sound and sculpture and
architecture are rhythm In stone, 80
poetry is rhythm in words. Aye, poetry
is more than mere rhythm. An Eng