In all ages there has come to noble-hearted men and women some knowledge of the eternal harmony, lifting them above the discords of sense. They have not been limited to the membership of one religion, far less to that of any one sect. Wherever there has been a humble heart, a noble mind, an unselfish purpose, good has come to dwell. The ancient Greek poets caught some melodies from the music of the spheres; and Shakespeare wrote of the stars:—
There's not the smallest orb which thou
behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins.
That power to catch the concords of reality is what constitutes true genius; it has inspired the noblest efforts of poet and philosopher, statesman and scientist, preacher and pedagogue. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit," said Jesus. The human mind, in its intense narrowness, would always attempt to confine the spirit of God within the limits of a priesthood, a nation, or a religion; indeed, it has a tendency to dub as atheist or anti-christian any one who shows a deeper knowledge than it possesses. One with attentive ear may hear the heavenly music sounding in the best work of men of a! times and creeds, though marred in part by imperfections of the instrument.
