CHAPTER XIV

EASTER WITH THE HYMNAL

A portion of Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, is indicated as being the favorite resting-place of Dr. Isaac Watts. A writer paid an early morning visit to this location on a beautiful summer day. Fastened to a tree there was found a piece of paper on which there was written the following verse:

"There is a land of pure delight Where saints immortal dwell, Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain."

Underneath were the words:

"Dr. Watts now enjoys what he then wrote."

--_The British Weekly._

A touching incident in connection with the death of Woodrow Wilson concerns the manner in which the news of his passing came to his friend and admirer Roland Hayes, the great American Negro singer, at the time he was giving a series of concerts in Boston. In the midst of his program Hayes raised his hand for silence and said, "I have just learned of the passing of a great soul and I'm going to sing something for a memorial to him." And then he sang "I Am Goin' Home" with a theme from the "New World Symphony," in an arrangement by William A. Fisher:

"Goin' home, goin' home, I'm jes' goin' home; It's not far, jes' close by, through an open door. Work all done, care laid by, Gwine to fear no more."

--_Home Quarterly._

Easter Song of a Centenarian

Living in two centuries and in two countries, the Rev. Timothy Edwards enjoyed some unusual experiences. He loved both to preach and to sing. Born in England, he reached the United States before 1870, and was assigned to a circuit in Michigan, as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. But because of throat trouble, he was compelled to leave his ministerial work in 1876.

He then became editor of a small paper, and likewise a student of law. Later he was admitted to the bar. After a few years, however, he was able to re-enter the ministry, and served churches in northern Michigan until, in 1895, he was superannuated.

When he observed his ninetieth birthday, he preached in the Methodist Church at Washington, Michigan, and said: "I will not speak in this church again until I am one hundred years old"--and he did not. But on April 1, 1934, celebrating his 100th birthday he once more preached in the same church.

Midway in the sermon his congregation was delighted when the aged Christian, one of God's singing saints, voiced his experience in sacred song. It was one he long had loved:

"My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, For Thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou, If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."

It was Easter Sunday, and the centenarian could look forward to an ageless life beyond the present. Hence he could sing:

"In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright; I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."

The veteran preacher made that Easter Sunday memorable to his congregation, and led them to see how happy a Christian can be when he reaches the age of one hundred.

Easter in New Guinea

Sunrise in New Guinea in 1943 made Easter morning memorable for Lt. John McDaniel Slocum, whose home was in Oswego, Oregon. Earlier he had dropped out of the freshman class at Oregon State College to enlist in the service of his country. By Easter, 1943, he was a second lieutenant in the infantry, and was in charge of a reconnaissance party of twelve men in New Guinea. These men had been away from their base for many weeks, and were living on powdered milk and canned stew. The letter which he wrote to his mother at Eastertide was a significant one. Said he:

"All my men and myself were having a big gabfest last night, and the fact that Easter was today was mentioned. Not too much was said and the subject was dropped.... But for some reason I woke up at 5:30 and I just had an impulse to go out to our hill which overlooks the ocean, and hold myself a little sunrise service.... Every man in camp was there!... We sang several hymns. Some natives (Christians) joined us, and we sang some more.

"As the sky turned pink we all were quiet. As the sun came up someone started to sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' and as the sun rose over the mighty blue Pacific our voices, with a background of natives humming, reached out across that sea to tell all of you at home that all was well....

"Then one of the boys took out a Bible and asked me to read something from it.... As I glanced at the opened page there was the Lord's Prayer. I read it through very quietly once, and then we all said it in unison.

"Then, with a glance at the rising sun, we all returned to camp."

What an unforgettable Easter for those young Americans! Fighting for their native land on far-distant shores, yet "at the dawn's early light" on Easter morning they could sing their song of patriotic hope:

"And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

Eastertide Hymn at an Easter Funeral

They sang, they all sang, at the funeral of Mrs. Grace Beaven in Rochester, N. Y., on Easter Monday, in 1938. She would have liked that, for she was a lover of music. In her girlhood days she journeyed from her far-away home in Tacoma, Washington, to New York City that she might pursue a course in music. Completing her course, she returned to her home community, and became choir director in the First Baptist Church. Soon she became the bride of a young Baptist minister, served with him in the pastorate, and then shared his responsible life when he, the Rev. Dr. Albert W. Beaven, became the president of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School.

"She lived radiantly and gallantly to the end," testified her husband, who confessed that he had asked for himself the privilege of conducting her funeral service. Clear and strong was his voice as, entering the Lake Avenue Baptist, Rochester, he read the great words of affirmation from the Scripture, "I am the resurrection and the life." The standing congregation then sang the triumphant Easter song of Charles Wesley:

"Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!"

The bereaved family sang with the congregation. The song on the lips came from their hearts, whatever tears may have been in their eyes. A thousand voices united with theirs in singing:

"Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia."

"This hymn by Charles Wesley ... has long been accepted as the best English Easter Hymn" was the positive statement made by W. T. Stead. Unquestionably it is also sung more frequently than any other selection in our American churches on Easter Sunday. The author once went through the published Easter Sunday morning programs of twenty-nine churches of various denominations of a city near his home at that time. This hymn appeared in all but three of the programs, and mostly it was the opening selection. Poetic language asks the question:

"Where's thy victory, boasting grave?"

Then it gives the assuring reply:

"Love's redeeming work is done Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!"

Friday, July 23, 1742, John Wesley was with his beloved mother. "Her look was calm and serene," said he, "and her eyes fixed upward, while we commended her soul to God. Soon the soul was set at liberty. There was no struggle. Those present then stood round the bed, and fulfilled her last request, uttered a little while before she lost her speech, 'Children, as soon as I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God.'"

The passion-tide and an Easter message is summed up in the undying words of one of the singing sons of that honored mother which the family and friends of Grace Beaven sang on that Easter Monday soon after, being released from suffering, she joined the great multitude of the singing company in the celestial city.

What other hymn has such a triumphant climax?

"Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!"

Mother's Hymn at Eventide

A little girl would clutch her mother's hand and the two would go through the tall grass of an English meadow to a stile. There they both loved to stand to watch the sunset. Just when the last crimson streak was dying in the west, the mother would sing, in her rich Welsh voice:

"Forever with the Lord! Amen, so let it be; Life from the dead is in that word, 'Tis immortality."

The manner in which the woman greeted the passing of the day left a memory with the young daughter which the latter carried with her through the years, and brought with her when she came to America. "Sing, kitten," the mother would sometimes exclaim. Then, with faces still set westward, the daughter would chirp with her little voice, and the two would sing:

"Here in the body pent, Absent from Him I roam, Yet nightly pitch my moving tent A day's march nearer home."

The girl was still young when her mother reached

"The bright inheritance of saints, Jerusalem above;"

but she carried with her the memory of being led into a room where she saw her father kneeling by the bed, with his face hidden in his hands. The clergyman was there administering Holy Communion; also present was the family physician. An older sister was sobbing.

Rushing to the bedside, the child gazed at the bright, beloved face of her mother. She was smiling. Her lips began to move. Beatrice Plumb, who once told this story about her mother and herself, said that even before she put her ear close to her mother, she knew that the latter was singing their eventide hymn.

Opening her eyes, the mother faintly whispered, "Sing, Kitten!" Once more, the last time together, mother and little daughter were singing their old sunset song:

"Forever with the Lord! Amen so let it be; Life from the dead is in that word, 'Tis immortality."

Carved on the mother's tombstone, and cherished in the daughter's memory, were the words:

"Forever with the Lord!"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

While the writer consulted many books, the following list includes those to which reference was most frequently made. The name of the author appears in the text, and the quotations may mostly be found by referring to the author's discussion of that particular hymn.

An extensive bibliography of the subject may be found in the work of McCutchan.

Boyd, Charles Arthur, _Stories of Hymns for Creative Living_, The Judson Press.

Covert, William Chalmers, and Laufer, Calvin Weiss, _Handbook to the Hymnal_, Presbyterian Board of Christian Education.

Gillman, Frederick John, _The Evolution of the English Hymn_, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.

Lorenz, Edmund S., _Practical Hymn Studies_, Fleming H. Revell.

McCutchan, Robert Guy, _Our Hymnody_, The Methodist Book Concern.

Moffatt, James, _Handbook to the Church Hymnary_, Oxford University Press.

Nutter, Charles S., _Hymn Studies_, Phillips & Hunt.

Nutter, Charles S., and Tillett, Wilbur F., _The Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church_, The Methodist Book Concern.

Pratt, John Barnes, _Present Day Hymns and Why They Were Written_, A. S. Barnes and Company.

Robinson, Charles Seymour, _Annotations Upon Popular Hymns_, Hunt and Eaton.

Sankey, Ira D., _My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns_, Harper & Brothers.

Sheppard, W. J. L., _Great Hymns and Their Stories_, The Religious Tract Society, London.

Smith, H. Augustine, _Lyric Religion_, The Century Co.

Stead, W. T., _Hymns That Have Helped_, Doubleday and McClure Co.

Stevenson, G. J., _The Methodist Hymn Book Illustrated_, S. W. Partridge & Co., London.

Telford, John, _The New Methodist Hymn Book Illustrated_, Epworth Press, London.

Washburn, Charles C., _Hymn Interpretations_, Cokesbury Press.

Wiseman, F. Luke, _Charles Wesley_, The Abingdon Press.

INDEX OF HYMNS

A Abide with me: fast falls the eventide 53, 60, 77 Above the hills of time the cross is gleaming 122 A charge to keep I have 80 All hail the power of Jesus' name 32 At even, ere the sun was set 35 A mighty fortress is our God 44, 97 "Are ye able," said the Master 75 Art thou weary, art thou laden 37 Ask ye what great thing I know 121 Awake, awake to love and work 26 Away in a manger, no crib for a bed 90, 120

B Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side 62 Blessed Master, I have promised 83 Brightest and Best of the sons of the morning 117

C Christ is made the sure foundation 36 Christ the Lord is risen today 131 Christ, whose glory fills the skies 30 Come! Peace of God, and dwell again on earth 15 Come, let us anew our journey pursue 20 Come, let us join our friends above 66 Come Thou Fount of every blessing 40 Crown Him with many crowns 126

D Day is dying in the west 33

E Eternal Father, strong to save 53

F Faith of our fathers! living still 54, 62 For ever with the Lord 133 For the beauty of the earth 105

G God of our fathers, known of old 102 God is working His purpose out 56 God moves in a mysterious way 73 Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah 49

H Hark, hark, my soul! angelic songs are swelling 34 He shall give His angels charge 48 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty 29, 33, 37 How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord 55, 63 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 47

I I come to the garden alone 54 I love Thy kingdom, Lord 68 I need Thee every hour 43 In the cross of Christ I glory 125

J Jerusalem the golden 39 Jesus bids us shine 85 Jesus, Lover of my soul 57, 58, 80 Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me 81

L Lord, I want to be a Christian 88 Love came down at Christmas 115 Low in the grave He lay 92

M Mid all the traffic of the ways 64 Mine eyes have seen 93, 99 My country, 'tis of thee 57, 106 My God, I am Thine 73 My Jesus, I love Thee 128

N Nearer, my God, to Thee 38, 53, 56 New every morning is the love 28 Now the day is over 32, 85 Now the laborer's task is o'er 54

O O beautiful for spacious skies 57, 95 O come, all ye faithful 118 O God, our help in ages past 56, 97 O Jesus, I have promised 39 O little town of Bethlehem 116 O Master, let me walk with Thee 55 On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross 53 Onward, Christian soldiers 18, 53, 99 O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light 14, 56, 92, 93, 101, 129

P Praise God, from whom all blessings flow 113 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven 59, 108

R Rise up, O men of God 20 Rock of Ages, cleft for me 44, 96

S Silent night, holy night 91, 116

T Tell me the old, old story 41 The day is slowly wending 16 The Church's one foundation 39, 123 The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord 110 The Maker of the sun and moon 115 The shepherds had an angel 115 The Son of God goes forth to war 37, 69 The strife is o'er 69 There is a land of pure delight 127 There is no sorrow, Lord, too light 50 There's a Friend for little children 39 There were ninety and nine that safely lay 45 'Tis the promise of God, full salvation to give 72

W We love the place, O God 111 What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought 71 When I survey the wondrous cross 46 With all my heart, I'll do my part 59

Transcriber's Notes

--Retained copyright information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.