Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1860-05-26
NU MBER IL.
OLD HUNDRED.

AUNO62Os
In rustic church opposite, while We wTitss
a company Of wOrshipers are singing the old
hymn
"Be Thou, God, exalted highl"
The air is, also, the immortal "Old Hun
drcd.'
If it be true that Luther composed that tuncs
and il the worship Of mortals is carried on the
wings of angels to heaven, how often has he
heard the declaration, "They are singing Old
Hundred now. II -----...-.--.- .. -
The solemn strain carried us back to the
times Of the rcformers-Luther and his devot-
cd band He doubtless was the first to strike
the grand old chords in the public sanctuary
Of his own Germany.
From his stentOran lungs they rolled, vi.
brating, not through vaulted cathedral rOOfss
but along grander arch, the eternal heavens.
! He wrought into each note his own sublime
inith and stamped it with that faiths immor-
tality. Hence it cannot die! Neither men
nor angels will let it pass into Oblivion.
The blue.cyed girls Of old "fadcr land"
sung these same strains with oil the enthusi-
asm of n new and holer religion They had
been bound down to priests prayer'book and
rosary They had raised adoring eyes to tho
Spanglcd imagc of the Virgin, and bent un'
blushingly before the carved semblance OF the
. CNNlOur OI SIUHVTS. lucy UuU hUClt a. Suo
dark confessional, and placing their lips to its
.cunningly wrought portals, told the choicest
aud most sinful emotions Of their hearts into
the cars of the father confessor, whom some
times they feared more than they feared God.
But Luther, in the face Of the fathers, had
thrown down his rosary and refused to &C.
knowledge any intcrcessOr save Christ lilo
had, as it werr nailed his anathama over the
openings Of the confessional. Luther had
laughed to Scorn the holy relics, pretended mir
acleS, and saving power Of the priesthood, and
with daring, burning clOqncnce denounced
their scnsuality and their idolatry. First, the
mother heard, and then the maids-they went
to listen, and remained to pray; aye, and to-
sing with throbbing hearts and fearful eyes
"Pruisc God, from whom all blessings How."
Can you find tomb in the land where sealed
lips lay that have not sung that tune! lfthcy
were gray old men they had heard or sung
"Old Hundred" Sinner and saint have Joined
with the endless congregations, where 1t has,
with and without the appealing organ, sound
cd on the sacred air.
The dear little children, looking with won.
dering eyes on this strange world, have lisped
it. The sweet young girl, whose tombstone
told Of sixteen summers, she whose pure and
innocent face haunted you with its mild beau
, w lONNu OlN auu 40 ouS ouuB Ate
closed her eyes and seemed communing with
the angels who were soon to claim her. He
whose manhood was devoted to the service Of
God. aud who with faltcring feet assembled the
pulpit steps with the white hand placed over
his lab0riny brcast, loved "Old uundred."-
And though sometimes his lips only move,
away down in the heart, so soon to cease its
thrObS, the holy melody was sounding. The
dear white headed father, with his trenulous
voice, how he loved "Old Hundred" Doyo
: see him now, sitting in the venerable arm
chair, his hands crossed over the top Of his
cane, his silvery locks floating off from his
hallowcd temples, and tear stealing down his
furrOwed cheeks, as the noble strains ring out.
DO you hear that thin, quivering, ialtering
sound, now bursting forth, now listened for al
most in vainy II you do not, We do; and
from such lips. hallowcd by fourscore years.
service in the masters cause, "Old Hundred"
sounds, indeed, a sacred melody.
You may fill your church choirs with Sab.
bath prma donas whose daring notes emulate
the Stceple and cost almost as much, but give
us the spirit stirring tones Of the Lutheran
hymn sung by old and young together. Mar
tyrs have halowed it; it has gone up from the
beds Of the saints. The old churches, where
generation after generation has worshiped,
and where many scores Of the dear dead have
been carried and laid before the same altar,
where they gave themselves to God, seem to
breathe of "Old Hundred" from vestibule to
tower top-thc very air is haunted with it's
spirits
: Think moment Of the assembled company
} who have at different times and in different
places, joined in the familiar tune! Throng
: upon throng-thc strong, the timid, the gen.
tie, the brave, the beautiful, the rapt faces all
beaming with the inspiration Of the heavenly
sounds.
"Old Hundred" king Of the sacred band
Of sacred airs Never shall our ears grow
weary Of hearing, or our tongues Of singing
thee And when We get to Heaven, who
knows but what the first triumphal strain that
welcomes us, may be
) "Be Thou, o God. exalted high"