Ent!
One of these days America is going to be the musical center of the
world.When that day is fully come, and men sit down to write about
it, I hope they won't forget to give due credit to the reed organ,
Stephen Foster, and the Sabbath-school.The reed organ had a lot
to do with musical culture.It is much decried now by people that
prefer a piano that hasn't been tuned for four years; but the reed
organ will come into its own some day, don't forget.Without it
the Sabbath-school could not have been.Anybody that would have a
piano in a Sabbath-school ought to be prosecuted.
When music, heavenly maid, was just coming to after that awful lick
the Puritans hit her, the first sign of returning life was that
people began to tire of the ten or a dozen tunes to which our
great-grandfathers droned and snuffled all their hymns.In those
days there was raised up a man named Stephen Foster, who "heard in
his soul the music of wonderful melodies," and we have been singing
them ever since - "'Way Down upon the Swanee Ribber," and "Old
Kentucky Home," and "Nellie Gray," and the rest.Then Bradbury and
Philip Phillips and many more of them began to write exactly the
same kind of tunes for sacred words.They were just the thing for
the Sabbath-school, but they were more, much more.
You know that when a fellow gets so he can shave himself without
cutting half his lip off, when it takes him half an hour to get the
part in his hair to suit him, when he gets in the way of shining
his shoes and has a pretty taste in neckties, he doesn't want to bawl
the air of a piece like the old stick-in-the-muds up in the Amen
corner or in Mr. Parker's class.He wants to sing bass.Air is
too high for him anyhow unless he sings it with a hog noise.Oh,
you get out!You do, too, know what a "hog noise" is.You want to
let on you've always lived in town.Likely story if you never heard
anybody in the hog-pasture with a basket of nubbins calling, "Peeg!
Peeg!Boo-eel Booee!"A man's voice breaks into falsetto on the
"Boo-ee!"Well, anyhow, such a young man as I am telling you of
would be ashamed to sing with a hog noise.He wants to sing bass.
Now the regular hymn-tunes change the bass as often as they change
the soprano, and if you go fumbling about for the note, by the time
you get it right it is wrong, because the tune has gone on and left
you.The Sabbath-school songs had the young man Absalom distinctly
in view.They made the bass the same all through the measure, and
all the changes were strictly on the do, sol and fa basis.As far
as the other notes in the scale were concerned, the young man
Absalom need not bother his head with them.With do, sol and fa he
could sing through the whole book from cover to cover as good as
anybody.
When people find out what fun it is to sing by note, it is only a
step to the "Messiah," two blocks up and turn to the right, as you
might say.After that, it is only going ahead till you get to
"Vogner."Yes, and many's the day you called the hogs.Don't tell
me.
Once a month on Sunday evenings there were Sabbath-school concerts.
The young ones sat in the front seats, ten or twelve in a pew.
"Now, ren," said the superintendent, "I want you all to sing
loud and show the folks how nice you can sing.Page 65.Sixty-fi'th
page, 'Scatter Seeds of Kindness.'Now, all sing out now."We
licked our thumbs and scuffled through the book till we found the
place.We scowled at it, and stuck out our mouths at it, and
shrieked at it, and bawled at it, and did the very best we knew to
give an imitation of two hundred little pigs all grabbed by the hind
leg at once.That was what made folks call it a concert.
There were addresses to the dear ren by persons that teetered
on their toes and dimpled their cheeks in dried-apple smiles as us.
Some complain that they do not know how to talk to ren and
keep them interested.Oh, pshaw!Simple as A B C.Once you learn
the trick you can talk to the little folks for an hour and a half
on "Banking as Related to National Finance," and keep them on the
quiver of excitement.Ask questions.And to be sure that they give
the right answers (a very important thing) remember this: When you
wish them to say "Yes, sir," end your question with "Don't they?" or
"isn't it?"When you wish them to say "No, sir," end your question
with "Do they?" or "Is it?"When you wish them to choose between
two answers, mention first the one they mustn't take, then pause,
look archly at them, and mention the one they must take.Thus:
Q.- Now, dear ren, I wonder if you can tell me where the sun
rises.In the north, doesn't it ?
A.- Yes, sir.
Q.- Yes, you are right.In the north.And because it rises in
the north every afternoon at three, how do we walk about?On our
feet, do we?
A.- No, sir.
Q.- No.Of course not.Then how is it we do walk about? On
our ears or - (now the look) on our noses?
A.- On our noses.
This method, if carefully and systematically employed, was never
known to fail.It is called the Socratic method.
The most interesting feature of the monthly Sabbath-school concert
is universally conceded to be the treasurer's report..