[William Keele] continued to preach even to a very advanced age; but at length his strength gave way from the effects of a chronic kidney affection to which he had long been subject. When he felt that he was nearing the end of life, he requested his brethren and friends to hold religious service at his house. Accordingly, at night, many of his neighbors gathered at his house, and endeavored to console him in his severe affliction, as he desired. It was on this memorable night that he sung his last song.
During the religious services he requested some of those present to start a song; but, owing to grief, they were not prompt in doing so; he then started the song himself, which is known by the first line “Am I a soldier of the cross?” and sung it through with a clear and melodious voice. When the religious services were over, and the congregation was about to disperse, it was noticed that he manifested symptoms of death. Thereupon his neighbors gathered around his bedside and, with great grief, watched his mortality sink under the hand of death, when his soul made its lofty flight into the realms of eternity.
The Rev. William Keele was born on the 17th of January, 1781, and died on the 17th of February, 1861. He was a little more than eighty years old when he died…
Life of Rev.
William Keele, John D. Ewell, pp. 75-76
With the above story in mind, I wrote the
following tune and named it Keele.
Keele,
a tune by R. L. Vaughn.
Isaac Watts originally included this hymn text (called
“Holy Fortitude”) with a sermon on 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Watch ye, stand fast
in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” The hymn is often paired with the
tune Arlington, and
perhaps that is the tune with which William Keele sang it in his dying
hours. Ortonville by
Thomas Hastings is another tune that readily accompanies this hymn by Watts.
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own his cause,
Or blush to speak his name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flow’ry beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure, I must fight, if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord!
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy word.
Thy saints, in all this glorious war,
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar
And seize it with their eye.
6. When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all thine armies shine,
In robes of vict’ry through the skies,
The glory shall be thine.
