Songs That Live 1493 



whole life. We carry them with us upon our journey. We sing them in the forest. 

 The workman follows the plow with sacred songs. Children catch them, and singing 

 only for the joy it gives them now, are yet laying up for all their life food of the sweetest 

 joy. Such tunes give new harmony and sweetness even to the hymns which float upon 

 their current. And when some celestial hymn of Wesley or of the scarcely less than 

 inspired Watts, is wafted upon such music, the soul is lifted up above all its ailments 

 and rises into the very presence of God, with joys no longer unspeakable, though full 

 of glory. In selecting music, we should not allow any fastidiousness of taste to set 

 aside the lessons of experience. A tune which has always interested a congregation, 

 which inspires the young, and lends to enthusiasm a fit expression, ought not to be set 

 aside because it does not follow the reigning fashion or conform to the whims of technical 

 science. There is such a thing as Pharisaism in music. Tunes may be faulty in 

 structure, and yet convey a full-hearted current that will sweep out of the way the 

 worthless, heartless trash whose only merit is a literal correctness. When a tune has 

 been found to do good work, it should be used for what it does and can do. 



The third is from Dr. P. P. Claxton, chief of the United States Bureau 

 of Education: 



Whatever has at any time appealed to the best emotions and moved the heart of 

 a people must have for their children and their children's children, political, historical, 

 and cultural value. This is especially true of folk tales and folk songs. 



The fourth is from Frances E. Willard, " a national defender of the 

 Nation's homes ": 



In the spring of 1863 two great armies encamped on either side of the Rappahannock 

 River, one in blue and the other in gray. One evening as twilight fell, the bands of 

 music on the Union side began to play their martial music, The 5iar spangled Banner 

 and Rally Round the Flag; and that challenge of music was taken up by those 

 upon the other side, who responded with The Bonnie Blue Flag and Away Down 

 South in Dixie. It was borne in upon the soul of a single soldier in one of those army 

 bands to begin a sweeter and more tender air, and slowly, as he played it, they joined 

 in a sort of chorus of all the instruments upon the Union side, until finally a great and 

 mighty tide of harmony swelled up and down our army — Home, Sweet Home. 

 When they had finished there was no challenge yonder, for every band upon that farther 

 shore had taken up the lovely air, so attuned to all that is holiest and dearest, and one 

 grand chorus of the two great hosts went up to God. When they had finished, from 

 the boys in gray came a challenge, " Three cheers for home! " and as they went resound- 

 ing through the skies from both sides of the river, " something upon the soldiers' cheeks 

 washed off the stains of powder." 



The fifth is by Mary Anderson, a great actress and a noble mother: 



Listen to a bit of advice from a woman who has been as young as any of you, who 

 is a mother now, and who would have thanked somebody if she had said the same to 

 her at your age. If you have a voice, whether remarkable for strength or sweetness, 

 or neither, strive to cultivate it. A woman who cannot sing is as a flower without per- 

 fume. I do not mean you must sing scales and trills by the hour; these notions have 

 left me long ago. Learn operatic wonders, if you like, only be sure to learn them 

 correctly ; but they are easily forgotten, rest assured. Learn a hundred or more beautiful 

 little ballads. Not the kind that take a town by storm and die out in one season, 

 but real songs that never grow old, whose tunes are melody, and whose words are 

 poetry. The years are coming when you will find that your joy and your love, your 

 modesty and your pride, blend more sweetly as you sing Annie Laurie or Within a 

 Mile of Edinboro' Town than in executing the most wonderful gymnastics with your 

 vocal organs. In sorrow, too, some such song, with all the sweet memories of the past 

 cHnging about its tender notes, will call forth tears to ease an aching heart. And there 

 may come a time when a weary little head lies on its mother's bosom; little eyelids 

 are drooping, twilight is drawing about her — too early for a lamp, too early for any 



