Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-10-31

heard how hts pastor had been treat
| ed. He declared that 1t should never
happen so again. He reached town late
saturday night and had heard only
about the war. He knew nothing of
the declaration of peace, or, rather,
knew nothing of the armistice of six
months.
So, when the first hymn was given
out, the choir made that pause of
little minute futtering it's wings and
smoothing its plumage before it broke
into song. The silence smote upon the
heart of Deacon Standfast, still rank
ling with a sense of the indignity put
upon his beloved pastor. He arose to
his feet, drew up his muscular figure
until he doomed up like Saul among his
brethren-"from his shoulders and up
ward higher than any of the people
filled his lungs, and in mighty voice
that had echoed over the surging backs
of many horned herd on the storm
swept prairies, a resourding shout Of
far-reaching cadences that was quail
fled to paralyze stampeded steer irto
forgetfulness of the terror that was
driving him into frenzy. he "raised the
tune" Alas, for the service of the sane
tuary, out of that strength came forth
no sweetness, for Deacon Standfast
could not distinguish funeral dirge
from college yell. And he roared off
the first verse of that hymn by himself.
But he was enough. He needed no
reinforcement. With open mouths,
dumb with amazement, that choir
stood in it's silent place waiting for him
to reach the end of the stanza, intend
ing to waylay him and head him off on
the second. Vain hope! They did not
know his powers of endurance. He
drew but one long, deep breath at the
end of the closing line and went right
on with the next verse, developing
cumulative power with the exhilaia-
ton of his work, until he wound up the
long hymn with a long-drawn halloo
that sounded like cross between war
whoop and hallelujah. One by one
the silent choir sat down as that tune
less hymn progressed, but the con9re-
gntion, although not venturing TO "as-
sist," stood by most nobly while Dea-
con Standfast Justify sarg his first and
last solo in that church. I believe he
never sang again; not even in chorus.
After that break, however, all went
fairly well for several weeks, maybe
month. Then the congregation stood
up at eight o'clock one Sunday night
and sang:
Once more, my, soul, the rising day
Salutes thy waking eyes"
And once the morning service opened
with the hymn:
Lord dismiss us with thy blessing"
But as not more than one singer in a
hundred, perhaps, sings hymn with
any thought of it's meaning, simply con-
sidering the words as rather useless
necessities, merely put in to vocalize
the music, the incongruity of the Sc
lection did not strike more than three
or four people beside the preacher,
! and they were not present. But the
Sunday morning following that the
leader came to the preacher before serv-
ice, with troubled face and said:
Look here, Mr.. Seekpeace, this will
never do at ALL"
"Well, what is the matter now?"
why" said the leader, ''this opening
hymn. 1t is:
"' Brother, thou vast mild and lovely,
Gentle as the summer breeze;
Pleasant as the air of evening
When IT HoatS among the 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 the other day while he was
beating his horse with pick handle
that he fell down in fit and died in
two minutes-a man with the worst
temper in the state of Illinois. We
can't sing that, Mr.. Seekpeace."
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 it. He may
have been pleased to meet man who
recognized the fact that hymn with
out appropriate words is about as virile
and strong as human body without
a skeleton. Or he may have been
pleased about something else. Any
how, he smiled without permitting a
CLEAN of triumph to shine across his
face. He said: Every WE'LL" and Sc
lected hymns for morning and evening
service.
There was never again the shadow
of trouble between the choir and the
pulpit of that church. Other leaders
came and went. The choir changed,
as choirs do; changing voices drove out
the boys who sang soprano or alto
soprano-we used to call it "trible,"
didn't we? Marriage closed the mouths
of the girls, who, womanlille, appeared
to consider it solemn, religious duty
to forget their music" after the first
baby was born. Bassos and tenors
came and went. But so long as that
preacher was pastor the choir in that
church sang the hymns appointed them,
and it was generally understood, al
though nothing was ever said about it,
that the head of that church was on it's
shoulders, and not on the neck of a
nusic-rack stand.-Ladies' HomeJ Jour
nal.
90 ~ 80