Pacific Christian messenger., February 07, 1879, Page 2, Image 2

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PACIFIC CHRISTIAN MESSENGER, FRIDAY, FEB. 7, 1879,
perhaps the unwritten testimony of
thousands of faithful women all over
our land) shows that the worship is
NVMBEB VI.
not the ruling desire in the hearts of
many Disciples, throughout the XX est
Jiear Bro. Stanley :
I do not remember where I leit off especially, but simply “ belong to the
in my last communication. XX by I .church ” If in each community where
«uspended I know. My dear wife has they live the brethren would meet and
been ill for two months, and danger­ pray and worship as Jesus appoints
ously so during one month. I had no and give what instruction they could
heart to write about our happy life in give, we could hope for churches estab­
Tasmania. Besides, I have been in lished throughout the West and South.
her place in the slass-room, at,Chris­ It was this steadfastness in the Apost­
tian College, Columbia Mo., since Oct. les doctrine on the part of a young
7th. • With teaching, waiting, watch­ brother and his wife and a sister that
ing, and occasional preaching my time gave rise to the church in Tasmania,
and heart have been fully engaged. I aside from which I have no idea that
am now relieved of anxiety as Mrs. it would have been at all. I can have
Carr has recovered ; and the regular but little sympathy with that whin­
appearance of the P: C. M essenger re­ ing cry, “ We have no preacher that
minds me of my promise to Bro. Porter comes from among the Disciples scat­
and you, that I would give a detailed tered abroad. If they should say " We
account of my labors in Tasmania. have little faith ” they might tell more
Your readers may have grown weary of the truth.
•of these details, possibly, still I am
Annie Herbert.
disposed to go on a Ijttle further, and
I crave their indulgence.
In the spring of 1871 a young lady
In less than a year’s labor we hod from Western New York was so­
gathered one hundred as devout and journing at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin,
- -faithful Disciples as it was ever iriy whither she had gone to recover from
happiness to know. They had cov­ the effects of long illness. It was a
enanted with the Lord and with one late, cold season, and chill mists settled
another to receive and teach the truth down day after day upon the beauti­
in the love of it. We rented a build­ ful lakes La Belle and Fowler, bor­
ing on Collins Street, Hobart Town, dering the town. Such an atmos­
formerly used as a store house. XX e phere could ‘hardly be cheerful and
cleared out the rubbish, papered the inspiring to any one, much less to an
walls seated it, and put in a baptistery. invalid hungry for the sunshine of
There were three brethren experienced, health, and yet one morning it some­
ship-builders and bless me, if they how gave expression to a song that
didn’t build the baptistery ship fash­ all might sing with blessing:
ion and corked it tight. It was one
Wh« the Mist« Have Rolled Away.
of the best I ever saw. XXre felt that When the mists hare rolled in splendor
- we had a home, though it was a rented
From the beauty of the hills,
one. XX’e felt that we-could live' And the sunshine, warm and tender,
Falls in kisses on the rills.
That life was joy and peace, and full
We
may read Love’s shining letter
of work. On Lord’s day morning at-
In the rainbow of the spray ;
ten
was paid to the young in We shall know each other better.
te. < i .. the Scriptures and, then the
When the mists have cleared away.
-, came to worship. From the
We shall know as we are known.
• be
Nevermore to walk alone,
ig we had no preaching on
b- >
. day mornings' but -a flow of In the dawning of the morning,
L
When the mists have rolled away.
■Oili uid a heavenly feast as we gather-
ed
»mid the emblematic loaf and If we err in human blindness, ;
And forget that we are dost ;
cup Brethren appointed to the work If we miss the law of kindness,
presided over the meetings in order.
When we struggle to be just :
The prayers and hymns, Scripture Snowy wings of peace shall cover
All the anguish of to-day,
readings and exhortations were, it
When
the weary watch is over,
seemed to me, from the hearts of those
And the mists have cleared away,
faithful men and women. I tpoke to
We shall know, as we are known.
them sometimes on these occasions,
Nevermore to walk alone.
but the rule was for them to conduct In the dawning of the morning,
When the mists have rolled away.
their own meetings, and for me to
enjoy with them the “ holy commun­ When the silver mists have veiled us,
From the faces of our own,
ion.” My time for speaking (preach­
ing) was at night. And special effort Oft we deem their love has failed ns,
And we tread our path alone ;
was made to secure the attendance of
We should see them near and truly,
the uncoaverted to hear the Gospel.
We should trust them day by day.
This feature is prominent among the Neither love nor blame nnduly,
Disciples in Australia, New Zealand,
If the mists were cleared away,
We shall know as we are known,
Tasmania aad in Great Britain,I great­
Nevermore
to walk alone,
ly admired, and devoutly wish it were
In the dawning of the morning,
characteristic of Christians in America.
When the mists have rolled away.
This everlasting preaching on all oc­
When the mists have risen above ns,
casions of the meeting of the brethren
As our Father knows His own.
has well nigh killed many ehurches Face to face with those that love us.
Among us. Iaa printing house I saw
We shall know as we are known ;
,
a chromo representing a deaf man Love, beyond the orient meadows
Floats the golden fringe of day ;
borne away to burial, and over him
Heart to heart we’ll bide the shadows,
in large letter* the words: " This man
Till the mists have cleared away,
was talked to death.” Some of our
We shall knew ae we ace known,
churches are in this same condition,
Nevermore to walk alone,
*• talked to death.” The preacher does When the Day oi Light is dawning,
And the mists have rolled away.
all the praying (and «ay* " Amen f to
The song may Ijp said almost to
his own prayers), all the preaching and
teaching and when be can be he is de­ have sung itself, at the first. “I
pended ¿2 'todötEe“ singing üêô'Tfô <®«!8liì W ffflÜdllMTg ’IfJlMt W ö ;
church then tolerates hi* preaching if
he does it well: if not, hie services are
not continued. But I did not start
out to write about the evils in our
American churches, I meant simply to
emphasize the good feature ia Austral­
ian, New Zealand and Tasmanian
churches, that of living not on the
preacher nor off of the preacher, but
living, preacher or no preacher. I
know churches in Missouri and Ken­
tucky who carry out the Apostolic
teaching and meet for worship on the
first day of the week and those
churches are alive. I think any church
will die without it, sooner or later.
The testimony of Sister Merriman in
the C. M essenger of Dec. 21st (and
i
the writer
afterward declared,
“ though my hostess was exceedingly
anxious about me, fearing it would
make me worse.” Sent soon to the
Golden Age, this poem found ready
favor with that journal, was published
at oaee, and began going the news­
paper rounds. James G. Clark saw
it, married it to melody, and it was
issued in sheet music form a few
months later. Two other composers
have since set it to music, but Mr.
Clark’s is the only authorized version.
As sung by him, with quartette
chorus, it is very popular.
"When the Mists have Rolled
Away," is to-day one of the most
familiar waif* extant, and ha* dona
more than any other of her poems to
make Annie Herbert known to lover*
of verse. It haa the true lyric flow,
and is ample witness for the author’s
fine poetic gift. Only less familiar,
and not less admirable for its lyric
sweetness is the following, which
never had an authentic publication
except as sheet music and copy­
righted, by Lee A Walker, of Phila­
delphia :
Where the Shadow Falleth Never.
Along the silver summer sea
We saw the white sails drifting,
And sunset glories silently
Their golden heights were lifting.
My love sang low as sank the glow
Across the homeward river ;
“ The day may die, but you and I
Will live and love forever.”
We shall live and love forever,
Where the shadow falleth never :
. The song may die, but you and I
Will live and love forever.
Sweet day that died in sunset light,
Sweet song that failed for sweetness,
Sweet soul that rose beyond my sight
To bathe in heaven's completeness.
The song rings still, I hear it thrill
Across death’s solemn river :
“ The day may die, but you and I
Will live and love forever.”
This was put forth in the form
mentioned, about the same time that
the preceding song appeared, and how
it became a waif is not clear. But
the Boston True Flag appropriated
it, five or six years ago, and later it
was printed in the New York Tri­
bune, slightly changed, and under title
of “ Forever and Ever,” signed V. Ed-
garton. An editorial acknowledge­
ment of its actual authorship, subse­
quently made amends for glaring
theft.
Annie Herbert’s baptismal name is
Annie Elvira Hubbart, which in
choosing a nom de plume, she but
abbreviated and euphonized. * She
was bom in Leon, Cattaraugus county,
N. Y., and that place has been her
home until within a year or two past.
Her father, who died eighteen months
ago, at the ripe age of eighty-one, was
a farmer of Revolutionary stock, and
himself served in the war of 1812.
Possessed of an eager desire after
knowledge, she could and did early
seek to apply the knowledge gained,
and had scarcely graduated from the
little log school house, as a learner
there, when jshe began teaching dis­
trict school.
She war then but
fifteen years old, ambitious and studi­
ous. She worked hard, determined
by self-help to make up the lack of
better opportunities. Steadily making
her way to higher positions a# an in­
structor, she was anticipating a Col­
lege Course, with all its benefits and
disciplines, and had the appointment
to a scholarship at Cornell, when ill
health brought its bitter disappoint­
ments. Forbidden to teach more, or
to attempt severe study, she reluctant­
ly gave up cherished plans, and for a
time accepted invalidism and leisure,
with but occasional diversions of her
pen.
Successful writers of verse usually
begin young. The first rhjftqes of
Annie Herbert, whieh she preserved,
were penned in her fourteenth year.
Her first published poem appeared in
the Waverleg Magazine— that roomy,
uncomplaining nest of callow muses
—and the first money she received,
as compensation for poetical contribu­
tions, came unsolicited from the
z—- /,
But the beautiful song of my birdie was Wearily thinking when all shall be over,
White plumes returning and battle-
•till,
. cloud fled,
And over the lip* of my blossom
The dimples lay white as the froet on the If her b^Joved lie* under the clover,
He will come home—in the list of the-
rill,
dead.
When a spirit sang low to my spirit at
Margaret, Margaret,
will:
Gleams the grim parapet
He carries the lamb* in Hi* bosom.”
Thick with the names that shall number
There is never a lamb from love’s sorrow­
the slain:
ful fold
God be a shield to thee, when they com*
But wanders in fields that are vernal,
silently
And never a bird hid away from the cold ’
Whitening the land from the'Alps ¡to the
But blooms in the summer eternal ;
Main !
When, storm* sweep the hill* and the
Dreaming Frau Margaret, look to the
night gathers deep,
. rivers
I think of my Paradise blossom, .
Flashing the sunlight from billow* of
And hear the same song for the weary
steel !
that weep ;
“The weakest are safest, for over the Far through Ardennes how the battle-line
quivers !
steep,
Hear the artillery—peal upon peal !
He carries the lambs in His bosom.”
Every trustful, hoping soul will Forward thy chivalry, Empire of gltfry,
Charge for the guns at the Capitol gate 1
read with a sweet feeling of appropri­
Save tLe bright city that trembles in
ation these cheering stanzas, written
story,
specially for the author’s mother in Hung like a pearl, in the balance of fate.
Margaret, Margaret,
her old age, and entitled
Moonbeams with silver fret
The Rift or the Rock.
Helmet
and
plume ’neath the citadel wall;.
In the rift of the rock He has covered my
While on the distant air, hark I how the
head,
,.) bugles blare!
When the tempest was wild in the
“ Germany ! Germany !” sounds the re-
.
desolate land,
call.
Through a pathway uncertain my steps He
has led,
Despite impaired health when
And I felt in the darkness the touch of hopes of self-improvement
were
His hand
brightest, and the subsequent ne-
Leading on, leading over the slippery
cessity of turning attention to prac­
steep.
Where came but the ochoinggsound of tical duties that were not always
agreeable, Annie Herbert has never
the shock,
And, clear through the sorrowful moan of relinquished her strong purpose to do
the deep,
and to achieve in the line of her
The singing of birds in the rift of the
tastes and gifts. “ All things come to
rock.
In the rift of the rock He ha* sheltered my
•oul
. <
When at noonday the toilers grew faint
in the heat ;
Where the desert rolled far like a limitless
scroll,
Cool waters leaped up at the touch of His
feet.
And the flowers that lay with pale lips to
the sod
Bloom softly and fair from a holier
stock ;
Winged home by the winds to the moun­
tains of God,
■ They bloom evermore in the rift of the
rock.
•
In the rift of the rook Thou wilt cover me
still,
When the glow of the sunset i* low in
the sky,
When the forms of the reapers are dim on
tha.hill,
And the song dies away, and the end
draweth nigh ;
It will be but a dream of the ladder of
light,
And heaven dawning near without terror
or shock,
For the angels descending by day and by
night,
Will open a door through the rift of the
rock.
Annie Herbert writes with such
spirit and grace when she does write,
that it would seem as if she waited
for^special inspiration, and did not
takC up her pen unless strongly
moved. She may be, and we suspect
is, a rapid writer, but not prolific. It
is evident that she bestows much care
upon all her verse. There is about
some of it a free rhythmical swing
and ring, which to the unpractieed
implies easy production'; but an ex­
perienced versifier knows well enough
what painstaking labor it costs. One
stanza from "King of the Clover’’
will hint of this.
Away and away over crimsoning meadow*
A jubilee breaks through the ohorus of
June,
The purple-eyed lilac* lean out from their
shadow*,
. MtWMlUit heart to the rollicking,
tune :
" Hail bonny brown rover 1 orowned King
of, the Clover !
We have missed you and mourned you,
and time’s on the wing ;
But witu breeze* and bobolink* up in
the morning
My soul follow* sunward, dull destiny
■oorning,
To ring like a poet and live like a king.”
have found place in the New York
Tribune, the Christian Union, the
Golden Age, and the Cengregation-
alist, with here and there a stray one
in other columns.
Annie Hubbart* thought is ever
religiously inclined, and much of her’
verse has reference to Christian faith
and experience. The following, from
In these lines from " Frau Mar­
tde Congregationaliflt, has bees* set to garet,” there are even more delicate
music by James R. Murray and touches, followed by a sweep of
others:
rhythm splendidly chivalrous:
He Carries the Lamb« la Hi« B omir ,
Faithful Frau Margaret, loving and tender.
A sweet golden head had forgotten life'»
Thrill* her light touch through the
way,
horror* of war, ’
Asleep on it* pillow of rose*,
Cheering the heart* that would die to
Wee hand* shotting close a* if weary of
defend her,
pisy,
Cuirassier, guardsman, end gallant
Like bode which the summer disclose* :
hussar;
him who waits,” is one of her beliefs.
In a private note, written to us last
summer, she briefly referred to some
of her experiences, and said: " My
life has been one long struggle, but
there’s a bright side to the picture.
The mists are lifting from the hills
to-day, and the outlook is broader,
clearer.”
When a child, she liked particularly
" to speak pieces,” as the school phrase
used to term it. Of late years she
hail made careful study of Elocution,
under the best tutelage, with a view
to professional Readings. Within the
last few' months she has often ap­
peared before the public, giving
varied programmes, but mainly ren­
dering poems from her own pen. A
favorite among her elocutionary
efforts-is “ Mulligan’s Gospel,” which
she originally contributed to the
Christian Union.— Condensed from
newspaper poets in American Rural'
Home.
The Value of the Old Testament.
Let me caution you against under­
rating any portion of the Holy-
Scripture.«
The Psalms are beautiful, thè Gos­
pels and Epistles are rich and in­
structive, but they are only parts of
the word of God.
Never allow yourselves to speak or'
f
think disparagingly of the Old Testa-
f
ment. It is as much the word of God*
as the New. It had not been re­
vealed, but that God saw it was ne­
cessary-for our humanity. Ita ne­
cessity is not merely historical, pro­
phetical, or explanatory, but there are- I
rich veins of truth cropping out amidi /
its local histories, and even its darkest /
narratives, like the veins of gold and
silver amid the rugged quartz of the
mountains, that will amply repay and
enrich the devoted searcher.
May I illustrate by an incident
from my own reading and experience £
I was a Bible reader from my child.-
hood, and I remember that very early
I was surprised that so many evil
things were written about the best
men; that the portrait* of some of
them, though commanding as a whole,
were drawn with exceedingly dark
colors. There were even passages
which, it seemed to me might as well
have been omitted. It did not seem
to me that they added either to the
glory of God, or to the real instruc­
tion or edification of humanity.
When I asked my teachers why they
were there I was answered, it was to
j
show the truthfulness and impartiality
of the 'divine writer*; that if they