'Having every one of them harps'--'and they _sung_ a new song'--in which
are to join 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea'--'and the number of them
was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.'
(Revelation, chap, v.)
* * * * *
While Angelo linked the fiery tones in rhythmed laws, Zophiel sketched
with glowing pen the joys of virtue, the glories of the intellect, and
the pleasures, pains, raptures, woes, and loves of the heart. The deeds
of heroes were sung in Epic; Dramas, Elegies, and Lyrics syllabled the
inner life; men listened to the ennobling strains, and became _freemen_
as they heard. The intermingling flow of high thought and melodious
measures elevated and soothed the soul, and love for, and faith in,
humanity, were awakened and nourished by the true Poet.
Jemschid wrought with brush and pencil, until the canvas imaged his
loved skies and mountains, glowed with the noble deeds of men, and
pictured that spiritual force which strangely characterizes and mingles
with the ethereal grace of woman's fragile form.
Through the artists, life grew into loveliness, for all was idealized,
and the scattered and hidden beauties of the universe were brought to
light. The plan of creation is far too vast to be embraced in its
complex unity by the finite: it is the province of art to divide,
condense, concentrate, reunite, and rearrange the vast materials in
smaller frames, but the new work must always be a _whole_. Angelo
aroused and excited the emotions of the soul, which Zophiel analyzed and
described in words most eloquent; while Jemschid made clearer to his
brethren that Beauty of creation which is an ever visible proof of the
love of God. His portraits illumined the walls of the bereaved, keeping
fresh for them the images of the loved and lost. Historical pictures
enlarged the mind of his people, keeping before it the high deeds of its
children and stimulating to noble prowess. His landscapes warmed the
dingy city homes, bringing even there the blue sky, the clouds, the
streams, the forests, the mountains, moss, and flowers.
Men became happier and better, for the Brothers, in showing the
_universal Beauty_, awakened the _universal Love_.
For the true essence of man, made in the image of God, is also Love!
* * * * *
The artists turned not from the rose-cheek of
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