Grand Haven Daily Tribune November 16, 1903
The Chapel by the Brook.
—
By David Fletcher Hunton.
—
I am thinking of that chapel,
Builded in the long ago;
How it nestled in an orchard,
By the laughing Brook below;
Once I loved that place of worship,
For ‘twas always neat and clean;
And I thought some presence holy
Smiled upon that charming scene.
I remember how the song-birds
Sung in those old apple-trees;
How the hollyhocks, and daisies,
Swayed there in the summer breeze;
Aye! and I can well remember,
How I angled in that stream,
For the gamy, speckled beauties,
When young life was but a dream!
Promptly, on each Sabbath morning,
I went to that house of prayer,
To attend the Sunday meetings,
And recite my verses there;
Many times I had two hundred,
That from mem’ry I could say;
Most of them have been remembered
From that date until today.
The country people all around
Came in throngs to worship there;
“Elder Baker,” preached the sermons,
And, “Aunt Vashti,” led in prayer!
With what pleasure I remember
The old fashioned Hymns they sung;
How that “York,” and “Coronation”
In that little Chapel rung.
How the grand old “Rock of Ages”
Rang those modest walls along;
While the congregation wondered
At the beauty of the song!
How “Silver Street,” and old “Dundee,”
Were there rendered by the choir;—
“Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,”
“With all thy quickening fire!”
And when they sung that precious Hymn,
“Jesus, Lover of My Soul,”
How the dear old Chapel echoed,
“While the nearer waters roll;”
Oft in fancy, I shall here it,
“’Till the storm of life is past;”
And I’ll breathe the sweet petition,
“OH! RECEIVE MY SOUL AT LAST!”
How I wonder if those singers,
Have through portals dark and dim;
All gone on to be with Jesus,
Since the singing of that Hymn!
I recall that great awakening,
That occurred in ’43;
When the “Millerite” excitement,
Swept this land from sea to sea!
I remember of their meetings,
And their extra “means of grace;”
Of Miller’s “Charts,” and wild appeals,
In that little country place;
O, what prayers and exhortations!
O, what startling Hymns they sung!
What frantic shouts, and cries to Heaven,
In that little Chapel rung!
Though my day of life is fading,
‘Till its sunset slopes I see;
Mem’ries, rich and sweetly tender,
Of those days now come to me!
And I wonder, if up yonder,
All the mem’ries we hold dear;
Will in lovely blissful Eden,
Charm us there, as they do here!
Grand Haven, Mich.
November, A. D. 1903