The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-06-01

into silence or half silence the lips from
which it would have spread abroad to
bless neighborhoods and cities, and
then mount the wide-open heavens
Give the long-meter doxology the full
support of Christendom, and those four
lines would take the whole earth for
God.
A British man-of-war, lying of .
foreign coast. heard voice singing
that doxology and immediately guessed,
and guessed Alright, that there was
an Englishman in captivity to the
and in the small
boats the sailors rowed 10 shore aud
burst into a guard-house and set the
captive free. don't know what tune
the trumpets Of resurrection shall play,
but it may be doxology which is now
sounding across Christendom. How
much more hearty we would be in our
songs, and how easily we could realize
that nearly all our hymns have q stir
ring history. That glorious hymn,
Stand up for Jesus" was suggested by
the last words of Dudley Tying, who was
dying from having his right arm torn
off BY a neutrality-suspicious.. That hymn,
"What Friend We Have in Jesus"
heard through a telephone, converted
an obdurate soul, 'Shall We Gather at
the River?" was o hymn first sung in
our Brooklyn Prospect park, at the
children's May anniversary, and
then started to encircle the world.
"Where is My Wandering Boy To
night?" is song that has saved hundreds
of dissipated young men. Tom, tho
drummer-boy in the army, was found
crying, and an officer asked him what
was the matter. ''Oh," he said, II had
a dream last night. Ny sister died ten
years ago, and my mother was never
herself again, and she died soon after.
Last night l dreamed l was killed in
battle, and that mother and sister came
down to meet me-" After the next bat
tie was over some one crossing the field
heard voice that he recognized ~ the
voice of Tom, the drummer-boy, sing
ing "Jesus, Lover OF My Soul" But at
the end Of the first verse the voice be-
came very feeble, and at the end Of the
second verse it stopped, and they went
up and found Tom, the drummer-boy,
leaning against stump, and dead.
That hymn 20 for Thousand
Tongues to Sing" was suggested Ia
Charles Wesley by Peter Boiler, who,
after his conversion, said: Il had bet
ter keep silent about it." NO." said
Wesley, III you had ton thousand
tongues you had better use them fol
Christ"
While much Of the modern music is q
religious doggerel, consecrated nom
sense, sacred imbecility, would like
to see some great musician Of our time
lift the baton and marshal Luther'i
Judgment Hymn" Yarmouth,
Dundee" Ariel" "Battle-street'
"Uxbride," "Preyel's Hymn" "Har
we'll" "Antioch,s mount Pisgah" and
Coronation" with few regiments Of
mighty tunes made in our own time
and storm Asia, Africa and America fol
the kingdom of God. But the first thing
to do is to drgSa out the dumb devil 81
the text from all the churches.
Do not, however, let us lose ourselves
in generalities. Not one of VI but hai
had our lives sometimes touched by the
evil spirit of the text-this awful dumb
devil. We had just one opportunity o.
saying Christian word that might
have led man or woman into Christ
tan life. The opportunity was fairly
put before us.
The word Of invitation or consolation
or warning came to the inside gate Of
the mouth, but there it halted. Some
hindering power locked the jaws to
gether SO that they did not open
The tongue lay fat and still in the
bottom of the mouth, as though struck
with paralysis We were mute. Though
God had given us the physiological ap
paratus for speech, and our lungs were
filed with air which, by the command
Of our will, could have made the laryn
geal muscles move and the vocal organs
vibrate, we were wickedly and fatally
silent. For all time and eternity we
missed our chance. Or it was prayer
meeting, and the service was thrown
open for prayer and remarks, and there
was dead halt--everything silent al
graveyard at midnight; indeed
it was a graveyard and midnight
An embarrassing pause took place
that put wet blanket on all the meet
ing. Men, bold enough on business, ex
change or in worldly circles, shut theil
eyes as though they were praying il
silence, but they were not praying a
all, they were busy hoping some
body else would do this duty. TIL,
women flushed under the awful paus,
and made their fans more rapidly fut
ter. Some brother, with no cold
coughed, by that sound trying to fill ny
the time, and the meeting was slain
But what killed it?--the dumb devil
This is the way account for the fac
that the stupidest places on earth an
some prayer meetings. l do not see how
a man keeps any grace If he regularly
attends them. They are spiritual re
frigerators. Religion kept on ice. How
many of us have lost occasions Of use
fulness. In sculptor's studio stood ,
figure of the god of Opportunity. TIL,
sculptor had made the hair fall dowr
over the face of the statue so rs to com
pletely cover it, and there were M
wings to the feet. When asked why h,
thus represented Opportunity, the sculp
tor answered: "The face of the statu,
is thus covered up because we do recog
nize Opportunity when it comes, ant
the wings to the feet show that Oppor
tunity is swiftly gone"