The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-11-06
SOMERSET, PA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER g. 1895

of the stanza, intending to wayiay him
and head him off on the second. Vain
hope. They did not know his Po"-r-
ofendurance. He drew but one long
deep breath Ak the end of the closing
line, and went right on with the next
verse, developing cumulative power
with the exhilaration of his work, un-
til he wound up the long hymn with n
long drawn hallOo that sounded like u
cross between a war-whoop and a halle
lujah. One by one the silent choir sat
down as that tuneless hymn progress
ed, but the congregation, although not
venturing to assist" stood by most
nobly while Deacon Standfast Justify
sang his first and last solo in that
church. | believe he never sang again;
not even in chorus.
After that break, however, all went
fairly well for several weeks, maybe a
month. Then the congregation stood
up at eight O'Clock one Sunday night
and sang,
"once more, my sOui. the rising day
Salutes thy waking eyes"
And once the morning service opened
with the hymn,
'Lord, dismiss Us with thy blessing"
But a not more than one singer in a
hundred, perhaps, sings hymn with
any thought of its meaning, simply
considering the words ~ rather useless
necessities, merely put in TO vOcalize
the music, the incongruity of the Sc
lections did not strike more than three
or four people beside the preacher, and
they We're not present. Bat the sun
day morning following that, the lead
er came to the preacher before service,
with a troubled face and said:
Look here, Mr.. Seekpeaee, this will
never do at ALL"
'Well, what Is the matter now?'
"Why," said the leader, ''this open
ing hymn. Ii is:
Brother thou vast mild and lovely,
Gentle a. the summer breeze;
Pleasant as the air Of evening
When il floats among tLr trees"
Now, there has been but one death in
this church in the past six weeks, and
that was old Dodd Swearinger, who
got so mad yesterday while he was
beating his horse with a pick handle
that he fell down in a fit and died in
two minutes-a man with the worst
temper in the State of Illinois. We
can't sing that, Mr.. Seekpeaee."
The preacher melted at the sight OF
the leaders appealing face. He smiled
a pleasant smile that might have had
two shades of meaning in il. He may
have been pleased To meet man who
recognized the fact that a hymn with
out appropriate words Is about as virile
and strong as a human body without Il
skeleton. Or he may have been pleas
ed about something else. Anyhow, he
smiled without permitting gleam of
triumph to shine across his face. He
said, VERY well, - and selected hymns
for morning and evening service.
There was never again the shadow
OF trouble between the choir and the
pulpit in that church. Other leaders
cane and went The choir changed,
a choirs do; changing voices drove
out the boys who sang soprano or alto
saprano-we used to call it ''tribble,"
didn't we? Marriage closed the mouths
Of the girls vino womanlike, appeared
u consider it solemn, religious duty
to forget their music" and ''never
touch the piano after the first baby
was born. Bassos and tenors came
and went. But - long as that preach
er was pastor the choir in that church
sang the hymns appointed them, aud
K was generally understood, although
nothing was ever said about it, that the
head of that church was on its should
ers, and not on the neck OF a music
rack stand.-Ldlies' Home Journal.