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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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do about it but just stay there serenely.

Then the funeral service began. It was led by a local pastor, the pastor of that church. The Chaplain of the House of Representatives and the Chaplain of the Senate were also there. Each of them felt called upon to play a part in this matter. The pastor of the local church had to play a part. It was the funeral in Jasper. Will Bankhead was being brought to the church he went to. It seemed to me that nobody else should have been there at all. The local pastor should have conducted the service as he saw fit, and that was that. The local pastor was good. If he'd been left to himself, without this other competition, I think that he would have been tolerable. At least he read the Twenty Third Psalm, and some other passage of the Scripture, which are usually read at funerals and are suitable. There was singing somewhere. It wasn't Gladys Swarthout singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” at any rate. I forget what hymn they sang, but they perhaps sang, “Jesus, Lover of my soul.” It was a good Methodist hymn that was appropriate as an expression of religion and religious faith at a funeral. That was all right. The pastor's reading of the Scriptures was all right. The pastor read a short prayer.





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