Song of the Man with the Wooden Leg
“Adah Vachell of Bristol” is the story of a brave, gifted, delicate lady who devoted her life to the blind, deaf, crippled poor of the city of Bristol. Her contact with the maimed and halt was made in the ceaseless round of slum visitation, dens of filth and want, sometimes revealing a brave endeavor to triumph over adverse conditions.
A guild was formed with a startling motto, Lætus sorte mea, “Happy is my lot.” Indissolubly linked with it was the tug of war hymn, “The Son of God Goes Forth to War.” “I can picture him so well, sitting close to the fire ... the wooden leg stretched out, his rough rugged old face softened as he sang in husky voice:
‘Who best can drink his cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears his cross below,
He follows in his train.’”
Here is a story of a famous hymn which was