The Man from Glengarry: A Tale of the OttawaConnor, Ralph
History
The Man from Glengarry: A Tale of the Ottawa
Connor, Ralph
Canada -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction; Christian fiction; Glengarry (Ont.) -- Fiction
The singing was a distinct feature of the Bible class. There was nothing
like it, not only in the other services of the congregation, but in
any congregation in the whole county. The young people that formed that
Bible class have long since grown into old men and women, but the echoes
of that singing still reverberate through the chambers of their hearts
when they stand up to sing certain tunes or certain Psalms. Once a week,
through the long winter, they used to meet and sing to John “Aleck's”
sounding beat for two or three hours. They learned to sing, not only the
old psalm tunes but psalm tunes never heard in the congregation before,
as also hymns and anthems. The anthems and hymns were, of course, never
used in public worship. They were reserved for the sacred concert which
John “Aleck” gave once a year. It was in the Bible class that he and his
fellow enthusiasts found opportunity to sing their new Psalm tunes, with
now and then a hymn. When John “Aleck,” a handsome, broad-shouldered,
six-footer, stood up and bit his tuning-fork to catch the pitch, the
people straightened up in their seats and prepared to follow his lead.
And after his great resonant voice had rolled out the first few notes
of the tune, they caught him up with a vigor and enthusiasm that carried
him along, and inspired him to his mightiest efforts. Wonderful singing
it was, full toned, rhythmical and well balanced.
With characteristic courage, the minister's wife had chosen Paul's
Epistle to the Romans for the subject of study, and to-night the
lesson was the redoubtable ninth chapter, that arsenal for Calvinistic
champions. First the verses were repeated by the class in concert, and
the members vied with each other in making this a perfect exercise, then
the teaching of the chapter was set forth in simple, lucid speech. The
last half hour was devoted to the discussion of questions, raised either
by the teacher or by any member of the class. To-night the class was
slow in asking questions. They were face to face with the tremendous
Pauline Doctrine of Sovereignty. It was significant that by Macdonald
Dubh, his brother, and the other older and more experienced members of
the class, the doctrine was regarded as absolutely inevitable and
was accepted without question, while by Yankee and Ranald and all the
younger members of the class, it was rejected with fierce resentment.
The older men had been taught by the experience of long and bitter
years, that above all their strength, however mighty, a power,
resistless and often inscrutable, determined their lives. The younger
men, their hearts beating with conscious power and freedom, resented
this control, or accepting it, refused to assume the responsibility for
the outcome of their lives. It was the old, old strife, the insoluble
mystery; and the minister's wife, far from making light of it, allowed
its full weight to press in upon the members of her class, and wisely
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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