England -- Fiction; Imaginary wars and battles -- Fiction
And at that the great organ spoke, and the choir of sailors, soldiers,
and nurses led the singing of the National Anthem. The first bar was
sung by the choir alone, but by the time the third bar was reached
thousands among the standing congregation were singing with them, and
the volume of sound was most impressive. I think that a good many people
besides myself found this solemn singing of the Anthem, from its first
line to its last, something of a revelation. It made "God Save the King"
a real prayer instead of a musical intimation that hats might be felt
for and carriages ordered. It struck a note which the Canadian preachers
desired to strike. They began with a National Hymn which was a prayer
for King and Country. The people were at first startled, and then
pleased, and then stirred by a departure from all customs known to them.
And that this should be so was, I apprehend, the deliberate intention of
the Canadian preachers.
Still George Stairs knelt at his end of the bare table.
As the last note of the organ accompaniment died away, Arthur Reynolds
stepped to the front.
"Will you all pray, please?" he said. He closed his eyes and extended
one hand.
I cannot tell you what simple magic the man used. I know those were his
words. But the compelling appeal in them was most remarkable. There was
something childlike about his simple request. I do not think any one
could have scoffed at the man. After a minute's silence, he prayed
aloud, and this is what he said:
"Father in Heaven, give us strength to understand our duty and to do it.
Thou knowest that two of the least among Thy servants have crossed the
sea to give a Message to their kinsmen in England. Our kinsmen are a
great and proud people, and we, as Thou knowest, are but very simple
men. But our Message is from Thee, and with Thee all things are
possible. Father, have pity upon our weakness to-day. Open to us the
hearts of even the proudest and the greatest of our kinsmen. Do not let
them scorn us. And, O Father of all men, gentle and simple, breathe Thou
upon us that we may have a strength not of ourselves; a power worthy of
the Message we bring, which shall make its truth to shine so that none
may mistake it. For Christ's sake. Amen."
Arthur Reynolds resumed his seat, and a great Australian singer, a
_prima donna_ of world-wide repute, stepped forward very simply and sang
as a solo the hymn beginning:
Church of the Living God,
Pillar and ground of truth,
Keep the old paths the fathers trod
In thy illumined youth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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