Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-08-09
The Telephone at a Death-Bed.
N. Y. Independent.

N. Y. Independent.
When Rev. DR.. E. G. Brooks, late dis
tinguished clergyman of Philadelphia, wa
lying near death, his doctor, J. w. White
obtained a telephone to divert him in hi
constant agony. On taking the telephon
to his house, DR.. Brooks, was found s
weak and SO distressed in his breathin
that the physician was reluctant to try it
but the sick man insisted on the attempt
The wires were arranged between the sicl
. man and the dning-rOom, down stairs
DIR. White proceeds: when all was ar
ranged, however, to the best of my ability
placed one of the mouth pieces in hi
hand and told hlm [ would 60 down an(
test it, and if the necessary conditions hac
been met he could hear my voice; but that
he would have to ask some one else to re
ply, as he was too weak to attempt it
Taking the mouth-piece at the other end
of the line, I repeated. The Lord reign
eth; let the earth rejoice; let the multi
tude Of the isles be glad thereof.
''To my utter astonishment,, instantly
came the response; Clouds and darkness
are around about Him, Righteousness and
Judgement are the habitatien of His
throne
[ ut was the voice of DR.. Brooks, the tones
clear and distinct, the information and en-
phasis perfect. I was amazed. But mo-
ment before, had left him apparently too
weak and too much oppressed to speak
above whisper. was fairly startled.
could not be mistaken; but 1 could hardly
believe the testimony of my ear. Irepeat-
ed: % come let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the Lord our maker
"Once more, and as promptly as in a
church service, the Doctors voice respon-
ded: For He is our GOO, and we are the
people Of His pasture and the sheep of his
hand"
II then repeated a verse from that grand
old hymn of Pierpoat;
'sNot now on Zion's height alone
Thy favored Worshipper may dwell;
Nor where at sutry noon Thy Son
Sat weary by the patriarch's well.'
And just as though it had been arranged
before hand, as promptly as though set
form were being followed, the voice from
that bed of sickness took up the strain:
''.From every place below the skies
The grateful song, the fervent prayer;
The incense OF the heart may rise
10 Heaven and find acceptance there.
next quoted the first verse of the ia
miliar hymn:
'Oh! for a faith that will not shrink,
Though pressed by every foe
That will not tremb!e
And the doctor responded, quoting the last
verse of the same hymn:
'"sLord give us faith as t.is
And then whate er may come,
Well taste cen here the hallowed bliss
OF an eternal home!
II was anxious that the DOCTORS
strength, which was but weakness, should
not be too far taxed, and suggested that he
had better allow some one else to speak for
him. But he responded zone thing MORE"
and then, in slow, measured, distinct ut
terance 1.-THE tone of triumph unmistaka-
ble.) he repeated the jubilant testimony of
Paul: The sting of death is sin; and the
strength of sin is the law But thanks be
to God, who giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ
ga strange and solemn sensation stole
over me. A few minutes before / had left
DR.. Brooks sick unto death;' so weak, so
so distressed; laboring for
breath; talking in disjointed utterances;
but recently reused, as I had been told.
from asinking spell, which was feared would
have been his last. And now, in tones as
clear, as distinct, as well enunciated as I
ever heard from him in his pulpit when in
health. and yet minimized by that strange,
weird, thrilling, telephone modification
preserving all that is characteristic in the
speech of an individual and at the same
time giving the impression of almost inf
mite distance--came the triumphant exc]a
nation: "Thanks be to God, who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ ;
II could but fancy that, during my alb
sence from his bedside, the silver cord had
been loosed, the golden bowl broken, and
that the exultant Thanks be to God =
was the outbust of the freed spirit. And
when / returned to his room and found
him still in the flesh, felt like one who
unexpectedly meets him whom he had
thought dead"