The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-03-17

DR. Bennett, in a very interesting pri-

DR.. Bennett, in a very interesting pri-
vate letter, says:
when boy my dream was to de-
vote my life to my pen, but an educa-
ton was the first object, hard thing
for one to gain unaided. Before
knew enough to teach L began teach
ing. | was about eighteen, and sensi-
tive as a girl. My book qualifications
were meager. / had plenty of pupils
much older than myself 1 had never
looked in the algebra-to study it
Could teach algebra came the ques-
ton from these. oh, yes! But let US
wait a week before we organize n
class That night l. walked eight
miles to the nearest village and bought
an algebra Thereafter four o'clock of
the winter mornings l was at the
lonely country schoolhouse studying
algebra by the light of 'tallow dip
kerosene not having then been in
vented. l took my class through the
booll-and they never knew the secret.
That is about the way l have worked
all my life. When was younger l de-
sired To publish volume OF poems, but
never had the money to do it. Thus |
escaped the critics and probably con-
served my reputation.
''Eou inquire about The Sweet BY
and By AS to how it was born,
only know the eXternals, as given here
with. There are phases of the life of
the soul that are profoundly, sweetly
real, but unseen-lil1e the scent of
rose. We may watch the unfolding of
a rosebud, but we cannot lxnow-not
yet-the primal fact behind the visible
miracle nor the alchemy of God that
works in the fact. | have often been
drawn from bed by dear demon who
cried: Write! Writer / have-on one
occasion-written nine hymns in a sin
gle night, but never came anything to
me just as did Sweet by and BY Yes,
l have heard it sung in many places
and under many circumstanceS-but
Someway, under no circumstances that
were inappropriate. 1t oftenest gives
comfort at the grave. 1t is the funeral
hymn of free masonry-the higher
orders-in America l have received
many a letter from the mourning that
made my heart very tender and hum
bic. Well, the universal heart of hu-
manlty loves to think of and sing of Il
sweet, blessed reunion with those who
have laid down the burden of earth
life-whether it can demonstrate it or
not. 1t is the atavism of the soul to the
type of its primal innocence and com
munion with God.
Would you like TO hear how the lit
tie hymn sounds in Chinese? a New
York journal published it in the Chi
ncse characters and an interlineal
translation, which, l suppose, is
authentic. | will transcribe the first
verse:
There's a land that is fairer than day,
JOY hin gwock VOW yut Jaw wah me shaw,
And by faith we can see il afar,
Vow sun dock gwa Chi nong yin bong geen,
For tho Father waits over the way,
Foo che yum hoy hen boon gong jib gaw,
To prepare q dwelling place there.
Gwy boi chocy gin die Iuck we on goey.
'.In the sweet by and by
Dow how 10y dock wing gong,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore,
Go Chi dan hit JOY chop wah Inc shaw.
In the sweet by and by,
Dow how 10y dock wing gong,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.
Go chidan bit JOY chop wah me shaw"
The author of The Sweet BY ana
BY" pays this beautiful tribute to his
excellent wife:
The only home hours a doctor has
are the cveningS-and he is not sure of
them. The sweet silence of solitude,
when fancy or feeling would find eX-
preston in rhythm, Is not for him,
lcastvavs, | never find it Only my
Sweetheart knows when to be gra-
ciOas, and if she observes that when
am writing | do not carry the lines to
the right-hand verge of the sheet and
leave lines blank by fours and by
eights-then all is silent, as if each
were occupying position at the nadir
a
that is solitude enough, in all con
science! Yet | know that all the time an
occasional glance, love lit, comes me-
ward from Just across the writing ta-
BILE. and from the same locality there
vibrates into my being the tender mag
netism of a sympathetic heart, and l
am within the area of an appreciative,
helpful intellect. She is my best
helper, because of her sympathy-and
because she is my best critic"
Perhaps the thousands who have
sung. prayed or chanted the melody of
the hymn-song win take a new pleas
ure in its sweet strains through learn
ing something of the home and life
history of its author. a copy of the
verses in my possession, penned for me
bv the author, reveal a chirography as
dainty as the Italian hand of past
era, and quite consistent with the ideal
character of "A poet-Mrs. NJ. L. Rayne,
in Detroit Free Press