Soon he went on.

“Ah! but they should have heard my father talking here by night, under the stars.  It was here upon these hills where the royal shepherd used to sing, that his tongue was loosed and he spoke wonderful words.  So it was that night, fifty years ago.  I remember it as if it were yesterday.  My father sat in this very niche, where I am sitting now; James and Hosea were on either side of him.  I was lying at their feet, as you now lie at mine.  Their faces kindled and the tremor of deep feeling was in their voices as they talked together; and the other two had lingered here three or four hours after the sun had set.  It was not a moonlit night like this, but all the stars were out and all the winds were still.

“Suddenly I saw my father rise to his feet.  Then the other men sprang up, with astonishment and wonder upon their faces.  It had grown light all at once, lighter than the brightest moon; and as I turned my face in the direction in which the others were looking, I saw, standing there upon that level place, a figure majestic and beautiful beyond all the power of words to tell.”

“Were you not afraid, grandfather?”

“Indeed, I was, my boy.  My heart stopped beating.  The others were standing, but I had no power to rise.  I lay there motionless upon the earth.  My eyes were fixed upon that wonderful face; upon those clear, shining eyes; upon that brow that seemed to beam with the purity of the soul within.  It was not a smile with which that face was lighted.  It was something too noble and exalted to call by that name.  It was a look that told of power and peace, of joy and triumph.”

“Did you know that it was an angel?”

“I knew not anything.  I only knew that what I saw was glorious, too glorious for mortal eyes to look upon.  Yet, while I gazed, and in far less time than I have now taken to tell you of what I saw, the terribleness of the look began to disappear, the sweetness and grace of the soul shone forth, and I had almost ceased to tremble before the angel opened his mouth.  And when he spoke, his voice, clearer than any trumpet and sweeter than any lute, charmed away all my fears.”

“‘Be not afraid’ he said, ’for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.  For there is born to you this day, in the City of David, a Savior, which is Messiah, the King.  And this is the sign unto you.  Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’

“Oh! that voice, my boy!  It makes my heart beat now to remember its sweetness.  It seemed to carry these words into our innermost hearts; to print them on our memory, so that we never could forget one syllable of what he said.  And then, before we had time to make reply, he turned aside a little and lifted his face toward heaven, and, in a tone far louder than that in which he had spoken to us, but yet so sweet that it did not startle us at all, came forth from his lips the first strain of the great song: