Milford chronicle., 1904-09-02


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, great building has a sym
metrical unity, just as a perfect statue
is chiseled after the physical forma-
tions of a perfect man. Many years
ago there was eXhumed from the
buried ruins Of old Rome a marble
leg. broken from off one of the statues
of old. That broken fragment is still
preserved in the Vatican. Michael An
gelo, as a sculptor, used to study that
and the year. because" said the great
Italian master. Il consider that piece
Of stone the most perfect formation of
physical anatomy ever carved by tie
chisel of man." So symmetrically 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, the symmetrical laws observed
in true sculpture are also found to ex-
list 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
Londons 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 ut
Rome lifting itself toward the skies, OF
the spires of the Cologne cathedral
like the uplifted fOrefnger 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
metrical proportion. A truly great
building is 'multitudes Of stones ar
ranged in unity" It is thought ex-
pressed in stone, as a 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 a building, l
would go one step further in my sub
iect. 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 quarries, 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: "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 and
tree trunks, a multitude Of different
elements, shall blend together in beau
tiful architectural unity" Then 1 turn
to the architects and say: "Oh, design
ers, If you can make yonder stone beau
tiful by placing it 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 Christi For 4 saw no temple
therein, for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple Of it, As the
apostle says, 'Ye also as living stones
are built up a spiritual house. Is the
one achievement from an earthly stand
point any more wonderful than the
second achievement from a heavenly