Scripture Verse

Introduction

Anecdote

This hymn was sug­gest­ed by an in­ci­dent which oc­curred dur­ing a tent meet­ing con­duct­ed by the au­thor. One ev­en­ing the front seat was oc­cu­pied by a par­ty of young la­dies and gen­tle­men. One of the young men be­came an­xious about his soul and was per­son­al­ly in­vit­ed by the au­thor to ac­cept Christ. When about to rise, one of the young la­dies gave him a sig­nif­i­cant touch with her foot. This caused him to set­tle back, laugh­ing­ly shake his head and say, not to­night.

On their way home that night they de­ri­sive­ly re-en­act­ed the sol­emn scenes of the meet­ing. One played the preach­er, one the sing­er and the oth­ers would rise up for pray­er, weep, and then laugh­ing­ly say, not to­night. A stump caused the car­ri­age to up­set. The hors­es be­came fright­ened and ran away. The young man who be­came anx­ious about his soul but said, not to­night was killed.

Peter Bil­horn