Then Linus rose and said, ‘Let us kneel and thank God in prayer that He has suffered an Apostle of His Son to visit us, and then we will join in a common hymn.’ When the simple prayer was over they united their voices in that earliest Christian hymn which has been happily preserved for us by Clement of Alexandria. They began in accents soft and sweet and low-- ‘Shepherd of sheep that own Their Master on the throne, Stir up Thy children weak With guileless lips to speak, In hymn and song, Thy praise, Guide of their infant ways.’ Then the strain swelled louder-- ‘O King of saints, O Lord, Mighty, all-conquering Word; Son of the highest God, Wielding His wisdom’s rod; Our stay when cares annoy, Giver of endless joy; Of all our mortal race Saviour, of boundless grace, O Jesus, hear!’[57] They knelt down once more, and the strain of thanksgiving rose among them, with no confusion in its blended utterance, as they responded to the words of their bishop. And when the voices ceased Nereus, the slave of Pudens, said, after a brief pause, ‘O that John of Bethsaida would tell us first of that Resurrection whereof he is one of the appointed witnesses!’ John rose, and gave them the narrative which long years after he embodied in his Gospel. He told them of the startling words of Mary of Magdala on that first glad Easter morning; and how he himself and Peter ran together to the empty tomb, ere yet they knew the Scripture that He must rise again from the dead. He told them of the vision of angels which appeared in the tomb to Mary, and how Jesus had spoken to her in the garden. He told of the appearance to the Ten, and the words of peace; and again, on the next Sunday, to the Eleven, when He convinced the doubting Thomas, and bade him to be not faithless, but believing. He told them of the appearance on the shore of the misty silver sea, and of His last behest to Simon Peter; and he corrected the false impression as to what had been said concerning himself, which had not been, as had been mistakenly reported, that he should not die, but ‘If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?’ And as he spoke these words, in a voice which rose like a divine melody, the attention grew more and more rapt, and, as he ended, the awful, penetrating, thrilling sound of the tongue began to be heard. But John checked it by a gentle lifting of his hand, and Linus said, ‘Let the spirits of the prophets be subject to the prophets. Let us rather hear the witness of the Lord.’ Then Hermas, slave of Pedanius Secundus, the City Prætor, rose, and asked, ‘What meant the Lord by those words, “that he tarry _till I come_”? When should be the day of His coming?’