POWER OF A HYMN | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 28, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 13.

POWER OF A HYMN.

THIRTY men, red-eyed and disheveled, lined up before a judge in a San Francisco police court. It was the regular morning crowd of “drunks and disorderlies.” Some were old and hardened. Some still hung their heads in shame. Just as the momentary disorder attending the bringing in of the prisoners quieted down, a strange thing happened. A strong, clear voice from below began singing,

“Last night I lay a-sleeping, There came a dream so fair.”

Last night—it had been for them all a nightmare or a drunken stupor. The song was such a contrast to the horrible fact that no one could fail of a sudden shock at the thought the song suggested.

“I stood in old Jerusalem, Beside the temple there,”

The song went on. The judge had paused and made a quiet inquiry. A former member of a famous opera company, known all over the country, was waiting trial for forgery. It was he who was singing in his cell. Meantime the song went on and every man in the line showed emotion. It was impossible to proceed with the business of the court, yet the judge gave no order to stop the song. The police sergeant, after an effort to keep the men in line, stepped back and waited with the rest. The song moved on to its climax.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, sing for the night is o’er, Hosanna in the highest, hosanna for evermore.”

In an ecstasy the last words rang out and then there was silence. The judge looked into the faces of the men before him. Every man was touched by the song; not one in whom some better impulse was not stirred. He did not call the cases singly—a kind word of advice, and he dismissed them all. No man was fined or sentenced to the work-house that morning. The song had done more good than punishment could have accomplished.—Educational Messenger.