[6] Forward.
“O send thy light forth and thy truth;
Let them be guides to me,
And bring me to thine holy hill,
Ev’n where thy dwellings be.”
READIN’ THE LINE.
George was unmarried, and lived by himself. He was in the constant practice of making worship aloud and alone, reading each verse singly and then singing it. He, without waiting for Mr. Barrie “giein’ out” the psalm, and as if quite forgetful of his presence, started to sing it to the tune called “Bedford,” which the audience very heartily joined in. At the close of the first verse George held up one hand to secure silence, and repeated in singing tone on one key the next verse,—what my older readers will remember as “reading the line,”—which was then sung, and so on to the end of the psalm. George was then proceeding to close his eyes for the prayer, after having made a slight bow to Mr. Barrie; but Mr. Barrie said, “Lead our devotions, if you please, Mr. Brown;” and the old man did this so as to make every heart thrill, and many strong men sob, and all the women cry. I was too much agitated to be able to carry away much. I am sorry to confess that the bit I can best recall is not the most impressive and solemn part, but rather a bit memorable for its quaintness as a specimen of the prayers of the earlier days of the old worthies: “That all who on the coming Sabbath assemble in the courts of Thy house may be delivered from formality, and legality, and carnality, purged from the leaven of malice and wickedness, and prepared according to the preparation of the sanctuary; ... and that all Thy sent servants may be ministers of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man, and may be as the he-goats before the flocks.”
Mr. Barrie pronounced the benediction, but the audience seemed unwilling to break up. At length old George stepped forward and shook Mr. Barrie’s hand, wishing him “the blessing of him that was separated from his brethren.” This proved contagious: every one shook hands with Mr. Barrie; even Bell, who had been trying to keep herself concealed during the meeting, forgot her reserve, and although she broke down immediately after, and sobbed bitterly, she kept saying between the sobs, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance;—the bush burning but not consumed;—the five loaves and the two small fishes.”
As she went out, old George Brown was at her side, and everybody that could get near him was shaking his horny hands. He had overheard Bell saying, “It is good for us to be here.” George knew Bell well, and taking her hand he said, “Yes, Bell, ’deed is’t. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadab.” Then looking heavenwards: “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies—or, as it’s in the margin, Mahanaim, the place where the angels met Jacob on his way back to Canaan, and Jacob said, ‘This is God’s host, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.’”
One subject filled every heart on the way homewards. There was little said; they mused, and the fire burned.