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October 4,1911 ] THE
The impact a man makes upon the world is
proportionate to his self-sacrifice. No life becomes
influential until it begins to cost.
The way of the cross is the way to success.
?United Presbyterian.
THE HYMN THAT SUNG ITSELF.
ivn interesting story 01 now uuaiey jsuck was
seized by the divine power of a hymn, and produced
fitting music for its one and only performance,
is told in an exchange. The relater
of the incident is Rev. George B. Spalding, who
was a pastor in Hartford, Conn., in the early
days of Dudley Buck's career there as an organist.
In Dr. Spalding's church was a most
"notable group of singing men and singing women,"
and "he was their minister, their very
soul, and ours also." The writer calls this "an instance
of his surpassing genius," and writes:
"From my study window I heard the organ
as Buck was practicing in the church just
across the street. I went in for the purpose
of getting his choice of music for a hymn which
T wished sung on the next day at which there
was to be the sacramental service. The hymn
was set to no tune in the book. It had stir
red me greatly as I came upon it m my preparation
for the Sunday. I handed it to the organist
; I watched his face as he read it over. Its
tremenduous dramatic power seized and held
him from the beginning to the close. He had
never before met with it- Not many of you
readers have ever seen it. It runs thus:
Not the crowd whose cries assailed Him,
Nor the hands that rudely nailed Him,
Slew Him on the cursed tree;
Ours the sin from heaven that called Him,
Ours the sun whose burden galled Him
In the sad Gethsemane.
For our sins, of glory emptied,
TTp wns fnstincr lnrip nnd fpmntprl
He was slain on Calvary;
Yet He for His murderers pleaded;
Lord, by us that prayer is needed,
We have pierced, yet trust in Thee.
In our wealth and tribulation,
By thy precious cross and passion,
By Thy blood and agony,
By Thy glorious resurrection,
By Thy Holy Ghost's protection,
Make us thine eternally.
"As Buck read on, his face gathered into a
very agony. Neither of us spoke for a time.
'There is no tune,' I said, 'for such a hymn.'
'No,' he replied, 'but I will have one.' 'And
the choir?' I asked. 'They will be all ready,"
he answered.
"The Sunday morning came. The Holy sacrament
was observed. Then I read the hymn
i a- j.1 i! mi n. a i ai.
siowiy xo me uougregauun. xne nnsi ureain
of the great organ under its master's touch
was like the prelude of an awful tragedy, and
as the choir caught the hymn inspired hy the
full meaning of every word, the whole scene of
the fierce Jerusalem, and the sad Gethsemane,
and the cruel Calvary hurst upon the congregation.
filling them with very terror. The organ
itself seemed affrighted. And then with
the closing stanza organ and choir surged into
one wailing cry of penitence and heseeching, as
the sobhing pleading voice of the soprano soared
upward, breaking at last as against the very
throne of God. If ever pastor and people worshipped,
if ever human souls confessed and
praved and won forgiveness, it was then and
there. We were transported and transfigured
nnder the power of music which is sovereign
when out of its soul it poors itself into the
souls of hearers.
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
Then it is that music is neither science nor art,
but the spirit which is the breath of the Almighty.
Then it is that heaven moves down in- .
to the souls of men and eternity begins.
"I asked Buck, as others did, for the composition
of that music. He promised it and
A J1 ' 1
ineu 10 reproauce it, duts ne never couia ao it
It was born of God. It was the spirit of God,
and like the wind, '"We hear the voice thereof
but know not whence it cometh or whither it
goeth.''?Literary Digest.
COME AND SEE.
BY THE REV. W. H. JORDAN.
Here is a personal invitation to become acquainted
with the personal Christ. Come and
see where I dwell He says to the men who are
approaching Him. They went and saw where
He dwelt. Did you and I have such a desire to
know Him, and to know where He dwells?
Listen! "Thus saith the high and lofty One
mat liinaDitetn riiernny, wnose name is lioly;
T dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive
the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart
of the contrite ones. ""We will come and make
our abode with those who make room for us
He will come in and sup with us and we with
Him. Come and see where He dwells. It is in
the secret place of the most High. One thing
have I desired and that will I seek after, that T
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life. "Why? First, to behold the beauty
of the Lord; second, to do just what Jesus invited
us to do. Come and see?to inquire in His
temple.
But the command cannot be obeyed in a moment,
any more than a child could grasp all the
course of study. "Come and see" doesn't mean
a glimpse, it means a look, a gaze, a study. You
see today, hut you will see more tomorrow. We
want to see how He dwells with us in prosperity.
in poverty, and adversity, in sickness and trial,
in youth and in old age. Yes, and all heaven is
before us. Eternity is none too long to reveal
the glory of God and of his dwelling place. Come
and see, come early, come now, for you have not
a moment to waste. There is so much to see.
Though you are hut a little child, come and see.
He will show you. Come and see though you are
as a brainy giant; come, for He can interest and
utilize all your mental power. Come and see.
Stop speculating and investigate. Stop objecting,
and come and see. "Don't judge with insufficient
evidence. Come and see. Nathaniel was
an honest skeptic, hut when Philip said, Come
and see, he had, as an honest man, to investigate
for himself and to weigh the offered evidence.
Come and see whether Christianity, which has
such a lowly origin, is not, after all, the truth.
The Nathaniels will not stand long against the
beginnings, though they he a babe, a manger, a
few obscure shepherds, a midnight flight into
Egypt, a rejected teacher, a crucified Jew. Search
the Scriptures whether these things are so.
Not only did Jesus say "Come and see," and
Philip invite Nathaniel, but the woman of Samaria
hurried back to the street loafers of the
village at the noon hour, exclaiming, "Come and
see a man who told me all things that ever I
did!" So the Word was spread, and a whole
village was aroused to investigate, and they who
went to scoff were led to pray until many had
accepted Jesus as Messiah and Saviour.
Come and see, for Christ may be infinitely
more to you and me than to thousands who
thronged ITim on the dusty road- Come and see.
At first you may see but a Jew, then a teacher,
then a prophet, then a Saviour, your own
Saviour. Come and see ITim as Tie pleads with
men, as Tie teaches, as He suffers, as Tie dies upon
0 T BL (941) 5
Calvary. Man, if there is a spark of love in the
heart, that scene at Calvary must stir your deepest
soul. Come and see, for Calvary is God's
measure of Love. Only Love like that could
force Ilim to the Cross. Come and see, for He
dies for you. Then come to the empty tomb,
lie died for us and rose again for our Justification.
No longer do we see the dead Christ, but
the risen, living, working Christ, now all glorified,
as He walks among the seven golden Candlesticks.
Come and see. The Christ working, ruling, interceding,
at the throne today. Come and see,
for He says He will come again. Come and see,
for He says, Father I will that those whom
Thou hast given Me may be with Me where I am
that they may behold my glory. Come and see
what the Word says about Him. This wonderful
T^nnlr wifV? fV?n nf 4-V*/\ TTaUt C!v%^4- ? ?
?uu U1U Ul. UUC 11U1J upillt Will give
you a wonderful vision of Jesus. Don't miss the
opportunity, but accept His gracious call today.
He will show you what you are, what you may
be?like Him, for you shall see Him as He is.
And what a change it will work in your everyday
life, for every man that hath this hope in
Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.?
New York Observer.
WHO IS DRIVING?
We often think we are succeeding by our own
foresight or skill. Hence we are keeping a keen
lookout, and employing all our wisdom; but
sometimes the control of a mightier hand and
a wiser intelligence is so manifest that we cannot
fail to see and to acknowledge it. Who that
believes in God and in his providence cannot
recall instances in which he has been guided
by a wisdom not his own, and been vouchsafed
deliverances which he could not have achieved?
A father and his little son were once riding
along a familiar road with a gentle horse. To
gratify his child the father placed the reins in
his hand, but at the same time, unseen, retained
his own hold on them. As they rode on, they
saw approaching them, at terrific speed, a runaway
team. The danger was great and imminent.
But the father guided his horse so that a collision
was avoided, and the danger escaped.
When all was over, the little son looked up to
his father, and with choked utteranc? said, "I
Xl 1- 1 T ?
uiuugm, 1 was driving; but I wasn't, was I,
papa?"
So often does the child of God, when some
peril has been escaped, or some deliverance has
been vouchsafed in ways unforseen and unthought
of, have occasion to say, "Father, I
thought I was driving, but I wasn't." O, it is, it
is blessed to feel that the reins are in the hands
of One mightier and wiser than we are. And it
is blessed, on the eve of some signal deliverance,
to look into the face of our Father and say,
"Thou hast done it. Thy hands held the reins."
?Rev. Wm. Lamson, in Watchman.
ALL RIGHT.
Little Mabel's mother was dead. While papa
was away snc nad no companion but her governess
and the servants. Her father often told
her not. to admit to the house any person with
whom she was not acquainted.
One wintry day a poor ill-dressed woman stopped
at the door and asked permission to warm
herself by the kitchen fire. "But my papa
doesn't know you." The woman was shivering
with cold, -and the rain and sleet dropped from
her thin wraps. A bright idea soon entered
the child's head. "Do you know Jesus" Tears
started to the poor woman's eyes, and she began
to tell liow kind the Saviour had been to
lior *4 Wa1 1 i-? T ?
..v-.., ij. wiow >esufl, you may come
in; for papa knows Him, and I'm sure he won't
care."?Selected.