Cherokee scout. [volume] (Murphy, N.C.) 188?-1961, 1906-04-03
TIE Pull 5d
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
BISHOP BURGESS.
Buhlsut Chnseh Stasiei

memorial organ, q gift to the church
Z Ihe bishop spoke On Church Music.
The text WAS from Psalm xcfV:0. at
that planted the ear. shall He not henri
He that formed the eve, shall H6 no
see3s Bishop Burgess said during hil
sermon.
This organ; which we dedicate to
4 DAY, to the glory Of God, has beer
placed here in memory De one who wai
faithful and devoted wbrshiper ii
this church, George Parker, There Ii
q peculiar Appropriateness III the eift
n for church music appealed to him with
Il an especial power. 10 make this part
/ Of our worship worthy Of our church's
traditions, to make its ritual, when
ritual Of some kind was necessary
seemIy and historic, he was willing I'd
! sacrifice hts time, his money, his
/ strength It has seemed to me thai
It would not be out Of place for me to
speak to yOu to-day Of church music
and to trace Its historylso that we may
be better able to estimate the value Of
! what must always be an adjunct to the
i service, the handmade, not the mis-
tress, Of worship.
The Bible never seeks to prove the
existence of God. The prophets, poets,
philosophers, historians OF the Old sI'eE.
lament as well as the Apostles and
! Evangelists Of the new, everywhere as
sumo the Being and Personality Of
God. They do not argue for this posi-.
4 ti0n. They simply claim It as their
\ right. Only the fool, and ke only lin.
der his breath, can deny the existence
Of God But ii any argument is limited
at, It is rather this argument from de-
sign, which is to-day, after all, the adj
vance OF modern science, considered
the most cogent Of them all and which
is struck off at white heat, as it were,
in this glowing sentence Of the Psalm
list, He that planted the ear, shall He
not hear? He that formed the eye,
shall He not seer" The writer may not
have known, perhaps, as much Of
human anatomy and Of the physiology
Of the brain ais Professor James, he
may not have been as cognizant OF the
delicate structure Of the eye and ear
as one of our modern specialists, but
the marvels and the beauty were be-
fore his mind In all their power when
he wrote those words. 1t Is an argu-
Inent which the fool alone can set
aside, that such things do not come by
| chance and that iii the Supreme Being
| something corresponding to hearing
and seeing exists, that the music which
delights the ear Of man Is known to
God. and the glow Of the sunset, the
sweet nnfethomable beauty Of the
world, of the stars and of the flowers
have their existence primarily for God.
The Mortified philosopher may call out
"anthropomorphism,n but for my part
l do not fear that as much as the inn
personality OF pantheism or material.
ism. If 1t is true, as Professor Sholer
| says, that the naturalist has a right
to- conclude that the universe is under
the control Of power In ways like unto
the mind Of man then surely we have
a right to believe that all our art, our
music, our architecture our palntings
and sculpture are heard or seen by God
and are pleasing OF unpleasing to Him
according as they are or are not found
ed upon the principles Of truth. Let us
not argue about this. Let US assume II
now as we speak Of church music.
We can watch their ways with our
microscope, but we dare not assert that
they do not hear commands and live
Iii 4 world Of the source Of which we
know nothing. so with the universe
We can plow the heavens with the
telescope, but we know not that what
we call the music Of the spheres has nc
existence and that it Is only poets
fancy which asserts that the heavens,
the stars and the planets accompany
the sons of God In their praise Of the
Father in Heaven.
In all civilizednations believe music
has always had some connection with
religion. The Greeks had no doubt
carried It, as they did every art they
touched, to a high grade Of excellence.
In Plato we find music is constant
source Of illustration, In those days,
as In these, they had the mere fitlsl
clan. who prided himself on his ear
and lost the poetry and the meaning
OF the art. ''The musicians" one OF
the characters says bitterly, "put their
ears in the place Of their minds
Eyes" replied Glaucon, II like to SEE
them laying their ears alongside OF
their neighbors' faces, some saying,
That's new note Others declaring
that the two notes are the same" But
for Plato music had a deeper signl6-
canoe and in one single sentence be
brings out its connection with morals,
simplicity In music" be says, twas
the parent Of temperance In the soul"
truth which we need to remember
today as never before.
But to the Hebrews the art was ga.
cred. Miriam with her timbais and
her dances accompanied her song Of
victory. The majestic rhythm Of the
Psalms were blended, no doubt, with
an equally majestic music. When the
people were carried away into captIy-
fly their conquer0rs wanted to hear
them sing their beautiful national airs.
But the young voices refused to am
swer How can we sing the Lords |
songs In q strange land3p Browning
has dramatized the scene, but the peo- |
pie must have been naturally musical |
when the shepherd lad could come with
his harp and drive away the worst
melancholy from the heart Of the trou-
bIed monarch.
doubt not that or Lord loved the
music Of the Temple ana that one
happy moment In Holy Week was
when the children OF the Temple, pre-.
sumably the boys who sang this daily
service, cried out In homage to their
prophet, H0sanna to the Son OF DaVfdlI
The history OF early church service
IL obscure, but at The beginning OF the
seventh century Gregory the Great, the
Bishop Of Rome, created q new era /
and probably a reform IN the art BY
fH&ts1 mir, q xvitaf xzsnc IroAsass a. 49, 1
Greg0rian tones br nodes have not
technical knowledge enough to assert
this was original with him 81
he revived an older method. |
but certain It Is that the Gfofofian I
style. e may use euch 6 term. has
become tIIe model Of all the best en1
strongest ecclesiastical music N'isIEzE
Roman ol 4nf||esH.
Bnt during The Middle Ages corfuns
lion nal Set III Of 50 serious 4 nature
Ehat we find the Scottish pufIians and
Die Pones Of Rome alike toademnIak /
IS +.