Life and times of Rev. J.D. Anthony : an autobiography, with a few original sermons

LIFE AND. TIMES
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
WITH A FEW ORIGINAL SERMONS-
ATLANTA, GA. : C. V. BYRD, PRINTER.
1896.

CONTENTS.
.inge.
BJRTH AND CHILDHOOD. ............................ 7 KKMOVAL TO THE CHEROKEE NATION ................ 14 FACTS AND ANECDOTES .... ........................ 22 PIONEERING EXPERIENCES .......................... 28 A CHANGE TO CIVILIZATION ........................ 33 CALLED TO PREACH ................................ 39 OFF TO MY FIRST FIELD OF LABOR ..... ............ 43 SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL SUPPORT ................. 51 . INCIDENTS OF MY FIRST YEARS WORK .............. 58 MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ............... ..... 66 MY FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE .................... 70 PREACHER IN CHARGE. ............................. 79 IN THE LOCAL RANKS .............................. 86 ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT ........ .................. 97 IN FULL HARNESS ONCE MORE ..................... no SANDERSVILLE MY WORK. FOR 1863 .... .... - ... .... 126 TRANSFER TO THE NORTH GEORGIA CONFERENCE. .... . 158 TRANSFER TO TPIE MOBILE CONFERENCE ....... ...... 173 MY WORK IN ALABAMA .... ........................ 177 IN GEORGIA AGAIN ................................ 210 REGULAR. WORK RESUMED ........ ................. 228 DANGERS POINTED OUT ............................ 240 HOLINESS, OR CHRISTIAN PERFECTION ....... ....... .245 ALL SHOULD HAVE SOMETHING To Do ............. .250 DONT RAISE THE STANDARD Too HIGH .... .........254 OUR LIVING PREACHERS ,.,,,,,. ................... 259

PREFACE.
In the evening of a busy life I have snatched some moments in which to pen the following autobiographical narrative. The task was assumed rather for the purpose of gratifying many of my friends, old and new, than from motives of self-appreciation or a belief that the career here sketched has any special claim upon the attention of the general reader. It is possible that a perusal of these pages may afford some entertainment, and even profit, to those interested in the story of Methodist effort in Georgia. It may be, also, that among the incidents of over half a century, I have jotted down a few things that will prove at least of passing interest to those who may not consider themselves directly concerned in the affairs of Methodism.
In the writing of this autobiography there has been no attempt at rhetorical style. The story is a simple recital, in plain and homely phrase, of the endeavors, the adven tures, the trials and the experiences of an unworthy servant of the Most High one who, from early boyhood, has realized that he was divinely called to exert himself, however humbly, in the work of rescuing perishing sinners and making them partakers, through Christ Jesus, of the joys of righteousness. And it is with profound thankful ness to Almighty God that I find myself able to record, in this book, so many instances in which the power of His Spirit has rested upon and wonderfully blessed my labors as an humble itinerant preacher.
The daily life of the old-time circuit preacher was full of incident. He was compelled to make long, fatiguing
: "" : " journeys on horsebaeir-to" pr^ach-...at from twenty to thirty

different churches once and frequently twice a day on

as many consecutive days; to contend with all manner of

unforeseen difficulties and annoyances, and to risk health

and even life itself, in the punctual and conscientious per

formance of his duty. Ou the other hand, he -was the

constant recipient of hearty, brotherly hospitality and

assistance from both friend and stranger; was encouraged

and uplifted by the tender sympathy and fervent prayers

of faithful Christian men and devoted Christian women ;

and, above all, was buoyed up and strengthened by the

frequent outpourings of the Spirit upon his ministrations,

every fresh harvesting of souls for glory acting as a holy

impetus to renewed efforts in the Masters Cause.

A large portion of the volume is devoted to a descrip

tion of this old-time itinerant life as I found it, and I feel

that I may say, -without rendering myself liable to the

charge of vanity or conceit, that the anecdotes and

reminiscences with which this part abounds will be

perused with interest, not only by those who remember

the doings of the good old days, but by members of the

rising generation, to whom much of my story will be

entirely new.

Those sections of the autobiography which deal with

my pioneer childhood life among the Indians of Alabama

and with my labors, experiences and friendships since the

inter-state war will likewise, I venture to hope, furnish

pleasant reading to my many friends, whether in the " sere

and yellow leaf " or the bloom of adolescence.

In conclusion, if the perusal of the story of my life

shall but impress one man or one woman with the belief

that he who puts his trust in the promises of God and

strives to " Quench not the Spirit," is sure of happiness

here and hereafter, I shall be amply compensated for the

writing thereof.

J. D. A.

Statesboro, Ga., September 23, 1896.

LIFE AND TIMES
REV. J. D. ANTHONY.
CHAPTER I. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. I was born in Abbeville County, South Carolina, Octo ber I2th, 1825, in what was then known as the " Longcane Creek" neighborhood, which community (as I have been informed) was at that time composed largely of im migrants from Ireland and their descendants. My aunt used to tell me in my childhood that the fact that I was born among the Irish accounted largely for my being so fond of Irish potatoes and so full of fun and good hurnor; and, she would add, "troublesome mischief." I will not attempt to criticise her philosophy. I always thought she should enjoy her opinion. My father, Rev. Whitfield Anthony, was born in Abbe ville District, South Carolina, November I4th, 1802. He was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church when I was born. My mother was the daughter of Thomas Miller and his wife Margaret, nee Brown. My mothers Christian name was Lucinda. She was a native of the same county and State as my father. She was what might truly be termed a " shouting Methodist" from my earli-

8

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

cst recollection to the close of her earthly pilgrimage in deed, she died shouting.
My grandfather Joel was a, son of Captain John An thony, of North Carolina, and served under his father dur ing the revolutionary struggle of the Thirteen Colonies for independence. He and my paternal grandmother were married during the war. She was born and reared in South Carolina, not many miles from where the town of Spartanburg now stands, but perhaps nearer the " Cowpens" battleground, the two places, as I am informed, being about ten miles apart.
In my childhood my grandmother often kept me in tensely interested by relating incidents and her personal experiences during that fearful struggle. Her maiden name was Broughton. Her father and brothers were in the army. She was the eldest daughter. The farm work, so necessary to the support of the family, devolved upon her. The family owned no horse, but were fortunate in the possession of an ox which she successfully converted into a useful plough horse,, thereby filling the garner with plenty. She was at work on the farm when the battle of the " Cowpens " was in progress. She said the sound of the musketry filled her with a burning desire to be a par ticipant in the struggle, and when the cannon began to belch forth their thunders the earth seemed to tremble be neath her feet. Later in the day her heart was made to rejoice at the sight of the British "red-coat" soldiery, ac companied by their more cruel and hated allies, the Tories, passing near her in full retreat. She knew at sight General Greene and Colonel Morgan, and was personally acquainted with and much admired the "swamp fox," General Francis Marion. She said, " These were all great men. "Your grand father was a good soldier and his father was a brave officer, but the country under God owes more to General Wash ington than to any other man." Then after a pause :

BIRTH AND CI-IIT^DIIOOD,

9

"These were great and good men, but the Lord Jesus is greater than all. I spun my wedding dress by moonlight in the garden after working hard every day. I then dyed, sizedj spooled, wove, cut and made ir, myself. I am glad, dear child, that you live in a better day. There are no British and Tories to fight now; but the devil, the world and the flesh are all fighting against us. But General Jesus, who is so much greater than General Washington, com mands his soldiers, and we all ought to be good soldiers in His army. Grandma wishes her boy Jimmie to be a good soldier for Jesus, and I believe you will be ; I pray for you every day. When you get to be a man I believe God will call you to preach the gospel. If He does, be faithful, and God will help you to do good."
From the moment of this ever memorable prophetic talk to the day of her death, which occurred when I was nearly nineteen years of age, she held that rny lifes work, under God, would be found in the Methodist itiner ancy. So it has been. My good mother concurred in grandmothers views and faith as to the future line of her first-born sons operations. How much their prayers and faith had ,to" do with my call into the ministry eternity alone can reveal.
I was literally brought up in a religious atmosphere. The Sabbath was ever properly observed ; all labor that possibly could be done on Saturday was so done; no cooking except making a pot of coffee ; the sound of an ax was never heard around the premises on the Lords da.y. The morning and evening prayers, preceded by a Scripture les son and a hymn of praise to God, came with the beginning and close of every day in the year. Often have I in childhood (when there "would be company of a religious character with the family) known the evening or night de votions continue to a late hour. Who of the present day witnesses such occurrences ?

IO

LTFK AN13 TOIICS OF REV. \. T), ANTHONY.

LEARNING MY A. B. C.
This occurred one beautiful spring Sabbath morning. My mother, though without any literary culture, never having been taught even the alphabet, wished to patronize the Sunday-school which had been started at old Ebenezer church, in Anderson County, S. C., near which church my father had bought a farm and settled his family. So on this sweet Sabbath morning mother dressed her little children and led us to the church a half-mile away. The Sunday-school was to be followed by the weekly old-fash ioned Methodist class-meeting. The school was opened with prayers and then the teachers took charge of their classes. I looked around and decided that all had some thing" to do except myself. I felt lonesome and thought that I had been ignored. I did not then, nor do I to this day like to be entirely ignored. Who does ?
There happened to be another person in the house v/ho had a kindred feeling. This was George Welsh, a man about forty years of age, who kept Obars mill over on Bear Creek. His clothes were well filled with meal dust from his hat to his shoes. As "kindred suffering makes us wondrous kind," Mr. Welsh seemed to single me out for his companion in solitude. So picking up one of Dillsworths old blue-backed spelling-books he came and took me by the hand, saying, ** Come with rne, red head, and let me larn you your letters." I was always anxious to learn, so I went with him and became his willing pupil. He opened the book at the alphabet and began: "That ar first letter is A ; I say thats A! " I grunted assent. "Oh," he said, "thats a grunt haint no word at all! Dont say it anymore !" After a second admonition from my teacher I quit the unspellable grunt indeed, have rarely used it from that day to this. So much for early training.

Ol^J-TIME .SCHOOL EXPERIENCES.

S3

My teacher went on, "Big A, little a ; big B, little b/ describing each letter in his own. peculiar style, until he reached the last one. Said he, * Some folks call that ar letter zed, but that arnot right ; its right name ar itssard^ and do you be sure to always call it izzartl."
He carried rne np and down the line for nearly two hours, by which time I had about mastered the alphabet from A to izzarcl.
It would be quite amusing to a company of young people at the present time for a teacher to give a class the name "Lizzie" to spell, and hear one begin thus : "L-iizzard (Liz) izzard-1-e (Lizzie.)
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE: IN AN OLD FIKLD SCHOOL.
This school was taught by a red-mouthed, whiskeydrinking Irishman named Breckenridge ; and, by the way, that name has had no charm for my ear from that day to the present. Perhaps this is the result of the tyranny of that old pedagogue. He seemed to think that the only medium of communication of thought or fact to the juve nile mind was through the back by the application of a hickory switch or a birch rod, varying from five to seven feet in length, manipulated by his own strong hands. It seemed, too, that he was of the opinion that the mind had a kind ofsemi-location in the palm of the right hand at least that member came in for almost an equal share of tuition, for his efforts were divided between the use of the rod to the back and the ferule to the palm of the right hand. I really do not believe he was partial to either, for while I have had that matter under consideration for over sixty years, I am not fully prepared to say whether my hand or back received the larger amount of his assiduous cultivation. My hand was often blistered. My back often bled until my shirt was stained "with blood. I am quite sure my back was never allowed to heal before another

lesson of equal force was most willingly imparted by him. I have often seen the old teacher become so anxious to ad vance the whole school that, without a moments warning, he would arise from his old split-bottom chair and inflict from two to five stripes upon every pupils back as they were seated on the benches. It mattered not whether they were idle or at their studies, each pupil came in for a share. Then, blowing like a porpoise, he would return to his seat. The mystery to my mind is* how sensible parents could submit to such treatment of their children, yet they certainly did allow It. No pupil v/as permitted to "tell tales out of school." When a child was asked, on returning home at night, if he had had a "thrashing1" that day, an af firmative answer was expected to be followed by a parental castigation. Hence, as a fa.lseh.ood or a whipping had to be forthcoming, and the former did not demand immediate punishment, it was generally preferred. I have dwelt at some length on this point in order to show the reader how thankful he or she should, be for the wonderful advance made in the space of sixty years.
THE MAGIC TT.NDSR. BOX.
As a reward for being good, obedient, and Industrious, I v/as permitted, a few days after completing my tenth year, to accompany ray father and. others to Augusts, Ga,, whither they went to rcarket their cotton, a distance of nearly one hundred miles.
The pleasure of camping, eating and sleeping near a iog-heap fire \vas full of Interest to me. The scenes along the road large farms, good -dwellings, etc.. were carefully noted. Especially was my attention attracted by a pet fox; I had never seen one before. But the thing of greatest interest to me was the property of an old Dutchman named Metts, who chanced to fall in with us on the second day from home. On the preceding evening one of

THE MAGIC TINDIiK BOX.

13

the party mounted a horse, wrapping around his neck and shoulders a wagon whip, the butt end of which was loaded with lead,, perhaps a pound of the metal was sewed up in the butt of that whip. Away the messenger rode to a farm house to sectire a "chunk of fire," that is, a burning stick of wood with fire on one end. The whip was to protect himself from the attack of the farmers dogs. On select ing our camping place, Mr. Metts having become one of our party? that gentleman addressed the company thus '

Our suspense v/as relieved when he drew from an in

side pocket of his vest a nice, smooth, round box resem

bling the old-fashioned shaving-box. Removing the lid,

he placed the box en the ground. It was filled with ,

thine " T n

" *'

vor no price act i^j. I felt in my boyish heart that if I owned one half the
globe I would freely give it in exchange for that wonderful improvement in the mode of starting a fire. The friction match was then unknown, I am decidedly of the opinion that the invention of the parlor match is of greater utility to the larger number of cur race than any other in the vast catalogue of inventions of the nineteenth century. So

14

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV, J. D. ANTHONY.

think all old people who "were compelled to go to a neigh bors for "seed of fire" in the cold rain and snow sixty years ago. The first friction match I ever saw was called the "Lucifer" match. I think it was properly named, for it smelled strongly of sulphur. Science has brought the match to perfection.

CHAPTER II.
REMOVAL TO THE CHEROKEE NATION. (Now NORTH
ALABAMA.)
Shortly after our return from Augusta with the wagons many of our household goods were sold or given away. What could be carried was stowed away in the wagons. In November, 1835, we bade adieu to friends and left the old homestead never to look upon it again.
JLate in the afternoon of our first days travel we were joined, as we rolled on, by my maternal grandparents and several other members of their family, the party thus num bering forty or fifty souls. After crossing the Chattahoochee River we began to come In contact with Cherokee Indians, the first of that race I had ever seen. I was pleas antly impressed with the manly, well developed forms of the males. Their dresss too, was a striking feature. Every man and boy wore a calico blouse or shirt that reached a little below the hip, and a cloth extending above and under the shirt and downward a few inches. Their legs were bare, their feet covered with soleless shoes of buckskin, tightly laced around and reaching above the ankle. Most
of these soleless shoes, named by our party "moccasins," were beautifully finished off in the highest style of Indian

REMOVING TO THE CHEROKEE NATION.

15

art by the skillful hands of their squaws (women.) The ornamentations consisted of representations of animals, serpents, etc., all wrought with needle and thread and al ternating with small glass beads of different colors.
Most of the bucks (men) carried guns. The women did not appear to as good advantage as did the men. All, young and old, wore blankets which almost hid them from view. Each mother, by an arrangement never fully un derstood by me, safely carried her papoose (baby) in a fold or wrap of the blanket, on the upper part of her back. The feet of the women, like those of the men, were protected by the buckskin or soleless shoes.
Both sexes, without exception, had black eyes and very black hair. They were generally cheerful, their faces wearing a constant smile. They were not over-talkative, and when they addressed us or talked among themselves we, of course, were totally ignorant of what they said. I very soon learned, however, that they used certain guttural sounds or grunts that very clearly signified approval, and others of exactly the opposite character. I learned a great deal of these copper colored, or, as they are generally termed "red" men, both as to their characteristics and their language, and will have more to say of them in a future chapter.
Our whips continued to pop and our wheels to roll. Late one evening a camping place was selected among the Allatoona hills, I suppose about six or eight miles south of the present beautiful and flourishing town of Cartersville, Georgia. The rugged, rocky hills around our camp gave it rather a lonesome, out-of-the-world look. My grand mother, after an exhaustive survey of the surroundings, said to my father : " Whitfield, what do you reckon God made this awful, ugly place for?" His brief reply was: "To fill up a space and hold the world together. 1 * " I guess thats so," rejoined my grandmother, " for it surely, surely

i6

AND TIMES OF REV. J. D, ANTHONY.

cant be good for anything else." I really most heartily concurred in the opinion expressed.
When, twelve years later, on my way to my first circuit, I passed that very same lonely spot, I found a railroad running through it and a depot occupying the center of our old camp. Verily, God has a wise purpose in all that He does, and as truly mans brain, fertilized by the gospel, is bringing the high down and elevating the low, making the crooked straight and utilising the waste places.
We reached our destination about the first of Decem ber, 1835. Father bought a "claim," that is, a cabin and a few acres of deadened timber fenced in. Here the wagons were unloaded, and all hands went to work to better our condition,
But few whites were to be found in all that vast wilder ness. The Indians were numerous but friendly. The for est abounded with game ; deer went in droves like sheep ; turkeys and squirrels were plentiful, and the rivers and creeks teemed with fish. There in the south bend of the beautiful Coosa river, about eight or ten miles west of the line that divides Georgia and Alabama, in what is now Cherokee county, Alabama, we hoped we had found an al most Edenic home. But, alas, " The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee."

INDIAN HOSTILITIES.
Shortly after settling down in our new abode, about fifteen hundred Creek or Muscogee Indians left their old homes in middle and lower Alabama and established them selves on Spring Creek, five or six miles from our settle ment. This tribe was then at war with the whites, the chief seat of hostilities being the territory now mainly em braced in the counties of Alabama lying west of Colum bus, Georgia. They claimed to be opposed to war, and said they wisned to be on friendly terms with the whites. This

PREPARING FOR THE INDIANS.

57

declaration, however true at the beginning of the trouble,
did not ultimately hold good. In a short time these Indi ans grew sullen and avoided their white neighbors. Later
they put on the war paint and engaged in the war dance.
They were preparing* to begin the awful work of extermi
nating the pale-faces. This, of course, necessitated a de
fensive attitude on our part. The whites were few in number and separated, as a rule,
by distances of from one to six and even ten miles. Kvery
cabin was put on a war footing. The board doors were
strengthened by cross-bars and so fortified that they could
not be easily broken, down. Port-holes were arranged so
that the besieged could shoot at the advancing foe, no
matter from what point of the compass he approached.
The old-fashioned fiint-and-steel-lock rifle was kept loaded
ana well greased, the flint well trimmed, the touch hole
open and with powder in the pan of the frizzen, so that the
gun would be sure to fire ; and the axes were all brought in at night. In a word, every family was determined to de
fend home, property and life to the last extremity. A gun
fired after sundown, at any hour of the night, was to be
a warning to ail who heard it. Such alarms? from one
cause or another, were of frequent occurrence. Each one
was a signal for the fleeing of the family to the canebrake or some other place of concealment.
The mosquitos were fearfully annoying; rattlesnakes and other deadly serpents were numerous, I even then thought that there was almost as much danger in running from the Indians as in meeting them in conflict. We had improvised forts to which all would occasionally retreat. The new ground fields had to be tilled, and if the Indians did not kill us we would certainly suffer for bread, the staff of life. We were somewhat in the position of David when he was left to select from the three awful modes of punishment with which he was threatened *in a great strait."

IS

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

AN ANXIOUS TIME,
For months we were in constant dread ; the bark of a dog, the hooting of an owl, and the night song of the whippoorwill were alike sufficient to awake us from our sleep. We knew that the wily Indian could successfully imitate the voices of these or any other animal or fowl, and often by this means deceived his victims. Our sleep was robbed of its refreshing powers. Our dreams were of the bullet, tomahawk and seal ping-knife. These dreams have followed me through life. Often in my nightly vis ions I see the stealthy approach of the murderous Indians, hear the war whoop, and find myself preparing for the mortal combat. Less than three months preceding this writing I dreamed that the Indians were noiselessly ap proaching our cabin, which stood at the edge of the canebrake. Somehow I had kept pace with the progress of the times, and in my sleep found myself in possession of a modern repeating rifle. I felt emboldened, told the family to remain indoors, took my stand by the side of a large oak, and with eye on the creeping enemy said to myself, " Ill kill sixteen of you." Just then I awoke and felt thankful that it was but a dream. Near sixty years have sped their night .since those dangers environed us. All of our family then living, except myself, have passed on to the spirit world. Those Indian foes have doubtless gone
over to the happy hunting grounds, or to that place termed by the Cherokees "Kaskanozwz," by which they meant a place of torment, corresponding to our idea of the place termed hell.
How indelibly early impressions fix themselves upon the mind and memory ! Herein parents may learn a lesson.
A POW-WOW DEPARTURE OF THE INDIANS.
Finally, by sending runners in all directions for a dis tance of fifty miles, the whites got together a body of

A FOW-WOW.

19

one hundred and fifty or two hundred men, all well armed with flint-and-st eel-lock guns, who surrounded the Indian town and demanded a "pow-wow," or consultation. This having convened, it v/as agreed that the Indians should not molest the whites, and in ninety days, or if possible in ten moons, should be ready to give themselves up to the United States authorities and go West, Upon this agree ment their chief, Polecat, and my father, who was placed in command of the army of the whites, took the "calumet and smoked together the pipe of peace.
Both sides kept the terms of the treaty in good faith. At the expiration of the time agreed upon, the United States authorities, through a certain General Nelson, com manding an armed soldiery of thirty odd men with three army wagons, took the Indians in charge and started to a point on the Tennessee River, whence, it was understood, they were to be taken by boat on towards their future home in Arkansas. The old Indian women showed that they belonged to the same sex as their white sisters. Most of them carried articles necessary to the convenience of their families, I remember two very old squaws each of whom bore a large pot on her back, for future use.
The Indian, like the Negro, loves his dog. I, with other boys, followed the departing savages a.n'd their escort to the ferry at which they crossed the Coosa River. While I was glad indeed to see the last of the enemy, yet the profanity of the general in command and his heartless treatment of the Indians filled me with pity. He allowed the white men who were following the train to stand on the river bank, and while the Indians were swimming across the river, which they nearly all did their children of both sexes of from five years old and their dogs swim ming near them those unprincipled white men kept up a fusillade upon the swimming dogs. The Indians remon strated, but the general uttered no -word of reproof.

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

Fifteen years later I was in the town of Calhoun, Gor don County, Ga. On that day there was a performanceof ceremonies in connection with, the erection of a monu ment in honor of the same General Nelson, who had died some time before in that county. Considerable interest was manifested in the exercises, and I was called upon as a minister of the gospel to open the services with prayer and deliver an address eulogistic of the deceased officer. I refused to do either, and another minister present officiated. He had not witnessed the scene at the ferry.

THE CHEROKEES.
The Cherokee Indians, who were in all respects supe rior to the Creeks, maintained friendly relations with the whites up to the date of leaving their old homes for their new ones, where most of the red men of this section were finally located by the Government. Some few Cherokces had good farms, well supplied with the ordinary, farming utensils, and owned horses, cattle and hogs. Most of this class, however, were of mixed white and Indian blood. Some of the full-bloods and most of the half-breeds were pretty well educated in the branches of learning that were tatight in our English literary schools. An educated Indian, George Guess, invented a Cherokee alphabet and began to teach his tribe the principles of their native language. Quite a number of them were Christians. The missiona ries had not labored in vain among them. They sang, prayed and preached in their own tongue, holding that it was wrong to worship God in an unknown tongue. I at tended two camp-meetings where the Indians outnumbered the whites by almost two to one. While they used their own language in their worship, no one could fail to notice that when a Cherokee got a good, clear case of conversion, or a full baptism of the Holy Ghost, he was almost sure to shout " Glory!" The shotiter, perhaps, did not knoivv a

THE CHKKOKKES.

21

word of English, yet " Glory " would be his first exclama tion. Then generally would follow, " Glory ! glory! yekowak r--so much resembling the shout of a happy soul who praises God in our own vernacular, " Glory! glory to Je hovah I" Though but a boy I could but conclude that "glory " must be a word of heavenly origin, designed to be uttered in its true sense only by souls washed in the blood of the Lamb on earth and glorified beings who sur round the throne on high.
AN INDIAN PREACHER ORIGIN OP THE RED MEN,
I suppose I should be justified in speaking briefly of an old Indian Methodist local preacher who, when a young man, was converted under the ministrations of a missionary, He was often at our humble home, earnestly desired to learn all he possibly could of the English language, and had a still greater anxiety to know more of the Bible and the gospel plan of salvation. My father being a minister of the gospel and ever willing to help the Indian brother preacher, did all in his power on those lines.
I think that certain facts learned from this good old In dian may be profitably noted here. I gathered from him, first: That the Cherokee Indians had not been for many generations in possession of the western portion of their territory ; that they had gained it by a war of extermina tion with a tribe which he termed the "Black Indians/ and that he had lost his right arm in a battle with Indians of yet another tribe.
Secondly: That the Indians inhabiting North America were the descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Their religious customs, especially the " green corn dance, 1 or the offering of the first fruits of their lands, together with the great similarity in the names applied by both an cient Jew and modern Indian to the "Great Spirit," etc,, led him to believe that they were descended from Jacob. My father concurred in this opinion.

22

I.IFE AND TTM"ES Ol7 REV, J. D. A. NTH ON V.

Our dogs killed a large coon while this good old Indian was on one of his visits to our home. He told me that the Cherokee name of the animal was ** Olio." Some years afterward, when I began the study of Latin, I found that the same name was applied by the ancient Latins to the coon. Is there not here food for thought ? May not these nations in the long ago have been neighbors ? How else can we account for the foregoing facts ?

CHAPTER III.
FACTS AND ANECDOTES.
While we were ensconced in the fort for the purpose of protecting ourselves against the Indians, many things of interest to my childish mind occurred. Among them was a conversation between two old gentlemen, Thomas Miller and Joseph Downy, natives of South Carolina. These venerable men had been fast friends in their younger days, and now, well stricken in years, they delighted, as most elderly people do, to talk of the events of their earlier lives. I always enjoyed listening to their recitals of oldtime happenings.
One night, after their recollections of physical com bats, fist-and-cuff fights, etc., had apparently been ex hausted, Mr. Downy said to his old friend : " Tom, do you remember the time the rainbow was seen at night ?* Mr. Miller replied, " Oh, yes, I remember it well." Then with a shake of the head, he added, " I dont like rainbows in the night. I always fear some disaster, though the poet said :
*A rainbow at night is the sailors delight; A rainbow in the morning is the sailors warning."
** That is beautiful poetry," I thought; " it has a double jingle." While I was digesting this exquisite, doubly rhyth. mic quotation, my reverie was suddenly broken by Mr. D.

FACTS AND ANECDOTES.

23

remarking, " That rainbow was seen the same year as the forty days rain in May."
The thunder that awoke me was the shock produced on my mind by the declaration that there had been forty days rain in one month, and that month the calm and gen tle May. Mr. M. replied, " Yes, I believe it was." I fell asleep that night wondering how it could rain for forty days in a month that never had more than thirty-one days in it. Believe me, kind reader, when I tell you that the sixty years that have intervened between the hour when I first heard of forty days in May and the present time have not enabled me to discover how there could have been forty days rain in one month, even though it were the soulinspiring, love-making month of May.
THE MOTHERS WISH.
On one of our hurried retreats to a place of safety an occasion of great alarm- our party numbered perhaps forty or jifty, including a few men, several women, and many children, all making our way through a canebrake on foot, along a dim path that had been opened by parting the tall canes and hacking them near the ground with an ax. The cut cane often wounded our bare feet severely. The order was to march in silence, but this was a most difficult com mand for an urchin to obey, especially when his feet or toes were first cut by the sharply hacked cane. Some of the little fellows had sobbed rather loudly by reason of this rough marching. At length a tow-headed boy of ten or a dozen years, with a stentorian voice, a very large mouth, and a still larger foot, stepped on a sha.rp cane stump. My, my, what a scream he emitted ! All his vocal powers were brought into requisition. "Oh, lordy, lordy !" he shouted, " Im killed, Im killed ! Im done dead ! My foot is cut, split wide open from one eand to tother eand, and Im killed! Im done double dead." By the time he had

24

1.IFR AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTUONV.

reached this stage of his elcg-ant outc-y ; hii mother had come up, as I supposed to administer consolation, which she did in the following maternal and consoling manner : S( Shut your big mouth, John, you dratted fool The Ingins can hear you five hundred miles, an theyll come an kill us all " These soothing words did not seem to mollify the boys pain, strange as it may appear. I thought by the effect produced that they must have touched some tender chord, for the lad raised his musical voice at least two octaves higher, as he repeated his former exclamations. This really seemed to reach the tap-root of the mothers feelings, to "which she gave vent in voice quite as strong as her dutiful son possessed, thus proceeding to pour oil on the troubled waters: with a slap of her right hand full in his mouth, which bled copiously from the blow, she yelled : " Drot you ; hush, I say ! I wish to God the Ingins would come right now an knock your brains out an kill you teetotally dead; for youre a nateral born fool anyhow !" John ceased his screaming and began cry ing lustily.
I thought, " Well, if you wish the Indians to kill your boy, why are you and your children running with the rest of us to keep from being killed ?" Nor do I yet see why ; can you ? "And if your boys screams can be heard five hundred miles/ may yours not be heard as far ?" Again, I thought that John was very likely akin to his mother, and was only illustrating the law of heredity, or that he was a very apt pupil, and was displaying his attainments in the maternal school. This opinion is yet unchanged,
UNSURPASSED HOSPITALITY.
The above related incident occurred, as stated, as we were making our way through a canebrake. After traveling about one mile we reached a settlers cabin. The settlers name was Cartwright. I do not know which of the States

FACTS AND ANECDOTF.S.

25

of our grand Republic had the honor cf his nativity. He had reared a pole cabin sixteen by eighteen feet, "chinked the cracks," and made it comfortable for his little family. He had also built rail pens to stable his horse and cow, these animals comprising his entire stock. Further, he had cleared up two or three acres of rich carsebrake lands, fenced them in and cultivated them well. His corn was tall ; each stalk bore from two to four ears, and all was in the full roasting-ear state.
It was about 9 p. M. when our company reached his humble home, Mr. Cartwright had retired for the night, having no knowledge of the late excitement. On being informed he speedily arose, dressed himself and gave us
a warm welcome, saying, " Let the women, girls and little children occupy the house ; we men and the boys will take our chances on the outside."
He collected some ash logs, piled and fired them, and then addressed the mingled mass of humanity thus : "Well, friends, Im glad to see you. All I have is at your com
mand. We have nothing to eat but roasting ears, but have plenty of them. Now, all of you just pull, shuck, roast and eat all you wish. They are as free to you as running water. Help yourselves."
The men and boys promptly obeyed the command. All
were hungry, not having eaten anything since early morn ing. We roasted and ate corn, dividing with the women and children. At a late hour we found our downy beds of repose upon the bosom of mother Earth, with the starry heavens for a covering. We slept sweetly. It seemed but a little time before Phcebus rode up the Eastern sky and flooded the face of nature with the bright light of day, call
ing to us to awake from slumber and .go to husking and roasting corn for our morning meal ; and at it we went.
The good mistress of the humble cabin began to milk
her fine, fat cow, and soon had a medium-sized pail more

26

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

than half full of the precious fluid, which was so anxiously awaited by all the little ones. She addressed her cowship by the appropriate and euphonious name of " Speck." While she was milking her husband stood near by with his trusty rifle in his hand. As she finished milking she said, " Dont shoot till I get into the house. He watched until she entered the cabin, and then, taking deadly aim between "Specks" eyes, he fired. She fell. All who could as sisted in skinning and preparing the beef. When the meat was ready for use, Mr. Cartwright said, " All help your selves. Y"ou can cut and broil on the fire; wife will cook what she can in the pot for the little ones. Weve got no salt to put on it, but friends, roasting ears and beef, even without salt, beats nothing to eat all hollow ; and it is as free as running water." I concurred in the opinion that beef and corn "beat nothing to eat," and carried out my faith by my works.
To this day I think of this poor mans liberality, his wonderful generosity ; and while I have since been the re cipient of the kindness of thousands, I still put Mr. Cartwright on the most exalted throne of true hospitality.

DIIT NOT WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN VIA NORTH CAROLINA.
Apparently the most religious man we found in the Cherokee Nation was a Mr. MeA., who had gone to the Nation when quite a young man, and had married an In dian squaw. He and his Cherokee wife had been blest with a large family of children, most of whom had reached adult age. The old gentleman had cleared up a large farm, had a comfortable dwelling and good outbuildings, and in a word; was a successful farmer, "living at home and boarding at the same place." He had been converted under the preaching of a Methodist missionary and had joined the church. He could sing, pray and shout louder than any other white man or Indian in the Nation.

FACTS AND ANECDOTES.

27

Mr. McAs acquaintances of both races and among "the balance of mankind" had all confidence in his religious and moral worth. One night in mid-winter be had a dream that produced a terrible effect upon him. He leaped from his bed and ran out at the door in his sleeping robes, bareheaded and barefooted. The snow, from two to four inches deep, covered the face of the earth. He made rapid flight for a cave located in a mountain a mile or more from his dwelling, and hid himself in a cleft within.
His married sons, who lived not far distant, were, with some of their nearest neighbors, speedily notified of his strange and sudden exit from the house. The family were greatly excited. The sons and neighbors began the search with lighted torches. They easily tracked him through the snow to the mouth of the cave, but no further. Their loud and pathetic calls received no response. A partial search of the cave was made, but without results. Day light came. All attempts to find the missing man -and search was made in all directions proved a failure. Again the cave was explored and he was found hidden away in a cleft, much nearer dead than alive. Clothing, wraps, etc., were brought, stimulants were administered, and finally the old gentleman was able to give the following expla nation :
"More than forty years ago I killed a man in a mortal skrimmage in North Carolina. I thought I was justified in killing him, for it was to kill or be killed. I skipped, came to the Nation and married, and have lived here ever since. I do believe the good Lord has pardoned all my sins. Last night I dreamed they had come to take me back to hang me. I was sure they were by my bedside. I did what I have often thought I would do, I ran to the cave and hid."
A thoughtless youth, who had previously entertained an exalted opinion of the old mans piety, said : "Well, Mr

! K.r. V, j. i"\ AXTHON Y.
McA., it I \vas ss good a man as I think you are I would not be afraid to die. I would only get to heaven quicker."
" Oh, yes, 3 Mr, McA. replied, " thats all right. Gods forgiven me and Ill go to heaven when I die, but I dont want when I start to have to go through North Carolina ; for I dont know whether North Carolina has forgiven me or not. If not, I might have to go to heaven not only through North Carolina, but maybe at the end of a rope."
I suppose he was correct in his taste. Im sure he did not go through the Old North State, for when the Indians were carried to Arkansas he and all his went with them.
These experiences of more than half a century ago for ever satisfied my thirst for new or frontier countries. The inconveniences that we met with ; the hardships we had to bear "to go to Armstrongs mill," as the process was termed by the people of that day, viz., to grate ears of corn on a tin grater, and sometimes lose at one stroke the larger portion of a thumb or finger nail ; then, in winter., to have to shell and put your corn in a mortar and stand for hours beating it with a pestle until it reached the meal state ; to work yourself almost to death for the privilege of living upon the coarsest fare and then secure barely enough to keep soul and body together, and to be shut "off from all educational and social and largely from religious advan tages these and niany other annoyances and inconvenien ces fully reconciled me to a more civilized condition, of life.
My father was a minister of the gospel and soon built a log hut which we called " the church," yet I have seen more than a dozen guns stacked around an oak tree in }he church yard while the sermon was being preached and

PIONEERING EXPERIENCES,

2Q

have seen men shoot and kill deer on their way home from church on Sunday.
As a general rule the first settlers in all new countries are adventurers, many of them refugees from justice. It developed, when the Indians v/ere carried west, that many of the whites whom we found on our arrival went with them. Couples who lived together as man and wife, some of them raising large families of children when the on ward march of civilization lifted the veil it was discovered that one or the other, and in some cases both the man and the woman, had left a living consort behind.
THK TRAMl TKACJ-IER.
V/e had no schools worthy the name. Xrue, some seedy tramp would occasionally turn up who would propose to take a school for a term of four or six v/eeks, scarcely ever for a longer time. He was generally out of money and the motive for his offer to teach was to raise a few dollars to get away upon. Most of these seedy pedagogues were utterly disqualified for the T/erk of a teacher. I remember one in particular who boasted, much of his superior abili ties. Our ever-smiling and. good-natured though illiterate neighbor, Mr. V., addressed the pedagogue thus : "Well, we dont need a feller to teach who has a mighty heap o larnin. We cant lam our children to do more nor spell good an read good, an write sorae an cipher some. I think spellm is the most importa.ntest part o larnin. Are you a good speller ?" " Oh, yes ; I can spell anything from the point of a needle to an anchor of a ship. If you dont believe it try me."
Old Mr. V. replied : " I aint much of a speller, but I larnc to spell some words, right specially the things thats good to eat, spell coffee !" The tramp began, "K-a-u-g-h, p-h-y, coffee." "Well, well," said Mr. V., "lies got larnin shore, for hes spelled it without usiiV a letter that belongs

30

LIFB AND TIMES OF REV. j. D. ANTHONY.

to it. Hell do; dont want ter ax any more questions." So he was given the school, but it turned out that he had no knowledge of orthography, nor indeed, of anything else that he proposed to teach, and was an ignoramus in the superlative degree. I remember he wrote this line for me to copy : " Thae rile uv thrae purplaxes mae," which when rendered into English means, * The rule of three perplexes me.* Such was the character of most of the four to six weeks teachers we had in that new country.
SICKNESS.
After five or six years the timber that had fallen before the woodmans axe began to decay. The branches and tops of the fallen trees were felled just outside the clear ing, the greater portion into stagnant and running water. Then followed more sickness than I have ever . wit nessed among an equal population ; deaths occurred in al most every family; in some families the majority suc cumbed to the deadly malaria. Of one family of eleven, nine died. It was impossible to dispose of the corpses in due time, there not being well people enough to bury the dead, to say nothing of nursing the sick.
My father and myself were the only members of our large family who were able to keep up. Late one after noon father returned from a short visit to an old preacher who was in a dying condition. He sent me to wait on the old gentleman ; instructed me as to what I must do in case he died straighten his limbs, close his eyes, and fold his hands on his breast. The old mans family consisted of his aged wife and an old bachelor son. He also owned about twenty negroes. The whites were all down with sickness in one room, the negroes in two cabins in the yard. Every negro was sick in bed.
The groans of the dying man and the suffering aged wife; the wild ravings of the sick bachelor; the calls for

PIONEERING- EXPERIENCES.

31

water by the sick negroes, all combined to make an im pression on my mind that rolling years have never been able to efface. This was a severe test to the nerves of a boy of thirteen years ; but truly, the boy watcher was an angel of mercy that night to the suffering ones.
THE LOSS OF AN EYE.
On the 4th of July, 1839, about 2 P. M., I lost my right eye by the explosion of a powder horn containing one-half pound of powder. My father, accompanied by rny mother, had gone that day to our young county seat, five miles dis tant, to deliver a Fourth of July oration. At that period the Fourth was universally observed as a holiday. All were away from home except myself and two sisters, aged re spectively nine and eleven years ; I -was thirteen. I owned two hound puppies ; they were smart and promised to de velop into good hunting dogs, but each of them had a very sad weakness, viz., a decided liking for raw eggs. In a word, they were "suckegg puppies," and thus guilty of what is, in the eyes of all good housewives, an unpar donable habit. My mother was no exception, in this mat ter, to her sisters. She very distinctly gave rne to under stand that eggs must be forthcoming or my puppies would have to die. One of my uncles informed me that I could easily break the young hounds from, this detestable habit by placing an egg in powder and touching off the latter just as the dog took the egg in his mouth. This was what I was engaged in when the terrible explosion occurred. I had very successfully burned one of the puppies and was preparing to treat the other to a similar dose. I never have known just how the fire and powder came in contact, and
I suppose never shall. I think that probably a small coal of fire was left on the ground after the first experiment. I remember that I took the stopper from, the horn and turned the latter so as to pour the powder on the ground.

32

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV, J. D. ANTHONY.

Then, in a moment, I knew nothing. When I came to my self I was lying1 at least twenty paces from where I was standing when the explosion occurred. My clothes were all on fire, my hair singed off, my face, hands, arras and feet badly burned. I had to tear all my clothing off to keep from burning to death. My right eye was gone, and as subsequently ascertained, the eyeball pierced by a piece of the horn, which had passed through it and far back into my head behind the eye. Weeks and months passed be fore I was allowed to go out into the air without having my good eye protected from the glare of the sun. There has not been an hour since that I have been entirely free from pain in the right side of my head. I suppose the fearful shock caused by the explosion and the terrible burns I ex perienced are the assignable causes of my suffering. Yet I thank God that it is as well with me as it is, I have been blessed ever since with one good eye and can see a distant object better than most persons who have two eyes. I do not believe the theory that the strength of the lost eye goes into the other ; there is no sense in this. There is no strength in a dead or blind eye to go any where= I account for the strength of the remaining eye upon the principle of a well established law of nature, viz., that of activity or use, which ever holds good in the mental and moral universe.

CHAPTER V.
A CHANGK TO CIVILIZATION.
In the autumn of 1843 my father and his family left Alabama and located upon a good farm which he had bought. It was situated in Vanns Valleys Fioyd County, Georgia, eight and one half miles south-west of Rome. Here we had the advantages of good society, churches and schools. I was seventeen years old at the time of our re moval to Georgia. My services were much needed on the farm, yet during the next four years I was enabled to at tend school about eight months only one month the first year and near seven months when in my twentieth year.
I had ever been studious at home, snatching every spare moment to read some good book, or to apply myself to the study of the Knglish grammar, arithmetic, geogra phy, natural philosophy, logic, rhetoric, etc. So during my last seven months at school I devoted my attention main ly to the study of Latin, and during the last two months to acquiring Greek. The hardships of my former active life coupled with intense study, broke me down in health. I became dyspeptic and emaciated, and got into such a low physical state that our family physician advised me not to look into a book for the next six months. This was a ter rible trial to me, as I desired, above all things earthly, to store my mind with useful knowledge.
AN UPWARD STRUGGLE.
From childhood to this date I have had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. What I have learned has been ac quired at the expense of intense application amid unfavor
able surroundings. In addition to the poor educational

34

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

advantages vouchsafed to me from my tenth to my eighteenth year, to the injury sustained by the loss of an eye and the terrible shock to my nervous system caused by the explosion of the powder, and the physical suffer ings that have followed, I have had to yield to the constant demand upon me to fill the pulpit regularly, and the imper ative claims upon the father of eleven children to rear, feed, clothe and educate.
In looking back over the past, apart from the constant help vouchsafed by the great Head of the Church I can not see how I have succeeded as well as I have. In poverty, in times of drought, in peace, and during the four years of war through which we were called to pass, we lacked for none of the necessaries of life. Our table has always been supplied, if not with the luxuries, certainly with the substantial of this existence. My family and I will ever testify to the unceasing presence and blessings of Him who said, ee &Q ye into all the world and preach my gospel to every creature," and "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
CHANGE OF PURPOSE BEGINNING OF RELIGIOUS LIFE.
The impression that my lifes work was designed by the author of my being to be in the line of the Christian min istry was nrmly fixed in my mind from the time of my ear liest recollection.
Often in the midst of boyish sports some unseen hand seemed to hold up before my mental or spiritual eye the photograph of the true minister, and at the same moment an inaudible voice whispered m unmistakable accents, "This is the true picture of what your future life should be j prepare for the great work before you." Frequently, amid hilarity and mirth, this picture, like Banquos ghost, would rise up before me and refuse to down, changing the mirthful laugh into a heartfelt sigh.

A CHANGE TO CIVILIZATION.

35

Now, when three score and ten years have sped their flight, in retrospecting the past I am constrained to say that my call to the ministry of the gospel of the Lord Jesus, like that of Samuel to the priestly office, began in child hood. It impressed its divine authority so deeply in my very being that from my earliest years I would hold among the little ones of my own age religious meetings, give out hymns, pray, preach, and conduct prayer and class meet ings, after the mariner of the older people whom I had
seen engaged in these exercises. My mother, as I now think, was in error in forbidding
me to hold such services. She feared the probability of my turning these childrens meetings into levity and there by causing a decrease m my reverence for sacred things. In this I am sure she was mistaken. I can remember to this day my earnestness of heart and soul, and am certain that I felt as much enthusiasm as I have experienced ac any time since. I was only giving vent to my heartfelt convictions. After my schoolboy days began, timidity, shame, or some such feeling, caused me to stifle all reli gious emotions and demonstrations. The truth is that I was always full of life, enjoyed fun, was fond of playing off jokes on rny associates, and would join with hearty zest
in a side-splitting laugh.
FROLICS AND FRAILTIES CONVERSION----" WILD OATS."
At an early period I was described as ** a mischievous, bad boy." This description was untrue. I never played a trick on a boy that would injure him in any way. I have spent many an hour devising fun, or the means of perpe trating a j oke on some one, but for no other purpose than to have a good laugh even if it had to be at my own expense. True, at a later period, from evil association (I pen it with regret) I got into the habit of using profane language.
In my thirteenth year, I am sure, I was converted. I

36

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. T) a ANTHONY.

lived in keeping with my church obligations for nearly one year. I needed sympathy and instruction. The opinion seemed to obtain generally among older church members that young people could not be religious until they had passed that period in life when (to employ a phrase so much in use in that da}) they had got through "sowing wild oats." What a fatal blunder !
I proposed to my mother that when father was away from home I should hold the morning and evening prayers. Imagine, if you can, my surprise when my good mother replied, " Well, Jeemes, I think you are too young to do that ; wait until you get older." This was enough to put a fatal stop to all efforts in that line. We organized a young mens and boys prayer meeting, in which I was oc casionally leader, and I always led in prayer when called on.
My call to the ministry became more vivid. I shall ever regret my apostacy, which occurred a little later. Had I been surrounded with the proper influences and helps I believe I would have entered the ministry at the close of my sixteenth year. How much sin, with its terri ble effects, I should have escaped! Who can tell how much more good I might have accomplished ?

MY SORE TRIAL AND MY FALL.
My fall came about in this way : In the summer I started to school to a man who had no moral character. Not a single youth or young man in the school claimed membership in any church. They were a graceless, god less set, often spoke lightly of the Bible and religion, and took great delight in ridiculing my church relations. They applied epithets to me that were hard to bear, but I en dured all manfully for a season, arid studied plans to win them to Christ.
One morning I carried two large, luscious muskraelons and hid them near the school house. At the afternoon

A CHANGE TO CIVILIZATION.

37

recess I invited the boys and the teacher to partake of them, and all accepted the invitation. I asked one of my worst enemies to carve the melons and distribute them among the party, which he did very nicely. Every one joined in praising my act of kindness, and all agreed that the melons were very fine.
Just as all parties finished eating, a young man of twentv three years of age, and who had been foremost in heaping abuse on rny religion, cut a piece of the rind from which he had eaten the melon, stuck the point of his
knife in the back of the rind, hawked and spat upon it, and stooping, dipped rind and spittle in the sand; then ris ing, he stuck the dirt and spittle to rny mouth.
Quick as the lightnings flash I struck at the aggressor with all my might. He jumped back as I struck ; the old teacher grabbed me, and my assailant ran off. I had not grace sufficient for the trial. Finding that I could not get
satisfaction by a fight, and feeling that the teacher was, to say the least, an accessory after the fact, ere I was aware of it I poured out some fearful oaths upon him. Turning upon my peisecutors I addressed them about as follows: " You boys have tried me in every way possible. You have abused rne ; called me by all the names you could think of. Still I determined to do and live right." Then to the teacher : ** Sir, if you had been a man, you would not have allowed these boys to treat me as they have done. But, sir ! I learn that you ran away from Carolina to save your ears, which would have been cut off by the law of that State for swearing a lie ! Now, one and all, please understand that I am no longer a member of the church.
Ill write the class leader to scratch my name from the roll. And any of you who may so desire can get a fight just when you wish it, -whether teacher or pupil ! "
I went into the school house and wrote accordingly. I thought I would try to live and do right. This was a

38

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

fatal blunder. I ought to have gone to the church, con fessed my profanity, and held on to my membership. Never to this day have I felt that I did wrong in resent ing the nasty insult, but the profane language, of course, was \vrong.
I will only add that from that moment the boys let me alone as regards abuse. They found that I would defend myself ; but, oh ! what a victory the devil gained !
EVIL DAYS RESTORATION.
By degrees I drifted away from duty until I seldom went to church. I did many things I ought not to have done. In a word, I became exceedingly sinful. I tried to disbelieve the Bible, read every infidel production I could lay my hand on, and would occasionally manage to get into an argument with some member of the church so as to try my hand at repeating the so-called arguments I had read in the infidel writings ; but never could I at heart believe anything but that the Bible was the Book of God. My conscience would lash me sorely for every such attempt.
At a camp-meeting held seven and one-half miles west of Rome, in the upper part of Vanns Valley, on the night of the I2th of October, 1844, about nine oclock, I knelt as an humble penitent at the altar. The hand of old father Winn, a local preacher, was on my head, and he pointed me, in words that came from his heart, to the blood of the Son of God as a full propitiation for all sin. Just as he finished the quotation of the gospel by John, third chapter and sixteenth verse, " That whosoever believeth on Him," I cried, "I can, I do believe." I did believe^ and in that moment God for Christs sake pardoned allt not a part, but all of my former sin not even leaving the "root of sin " of which we hear much in these days. I have never doubted the genuineness and thoroughness of the work done by the Holy Spirit in my heart in that hour. I be-

CALLED TO PREACH.

39

Heve this is the character of all true conversions. What the good Lord does, He does well. He saves all, In the hour of true regeneration, to the uttermost, leaving the heart empty of sin, washed in the blood and. made pure in the sight of God, Then being placed under the domina tion of grace, what remains to be done is to "grow in grace," not grow (( into grace," as some so foolishly hold. Having been brought into the grace or favor of God by the Holy Ghost, through faith in the Son of God; all sin being1 pardoned ; the sinner having been washed In the blood then, by conformity to the requirements of Gods word, all such " grow in grace" and make progress in the divine life. There is therefore no need of a second initia tory blessing. Consecration to God, the act of the regen erate soul that has already been cleansed by the blood, is in its sphere perfect. Kept by divine power, the soul is ready for work and development in time, and ready also for heaven when God calls from labor here to refreshment above.

CHAPTER VI.
CALLED TO PKEACH.
This grand work of reclamation from all my backslidings occurred on the night of my nineteenth birthday. With this glorious change of heart came also the unmis takable call to preach the gospel. More than a dozen of my associates started on the religious life at the same meeting. We formed ourselves into a band or society for mutual help, each binding himself to tell the other plainly of anything wrong that might be seen in him. We held weekly prayer meetings which were of incalculable benefit to us all. The pastor, Rev. George Bright, appointed rue a class leader, in connection with an aged, pious old man,

40

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

Uncle Charley Knowles. As recorded in another chapter,
I started to school to prepare myself for future usefulness.
Till*; LAW AND THE GOSPEL.
At our first annual examination I delivered an original address upon the importance of the formation of character, and also took prominent parts in dialogues, etc, I pos sessed, naturally, the histrionic or imitative gift. Dr. H, V. M. Miller, Judge A. R. Wright and Col. Warren Akin, who were present during the two days o those exercises, decided that I ought to study law. They proposed to as sist me in the completion of my literary studies and then help me through a regular law course. I accepted, thus doing violence to my convictions of duty, but endeavored to make a compromise with conscience by resolving to ob tain a license to preach the gospel as well as one to practice law; and while the law would be my real profession, I could do great good by preaching during the sessions of the courts and at all other times when an opening should present Itself, I was on this line for a few months. "Man proposes, but God disposes." Cowper says :
" God moves in a mysterious way, His -wonders to perform."
While fully entertaining this purpose I went one day on business to Romo, our county seat. Walking up Broad street, I chanced to look diagonally across to the other side, and saw four " limbs of the law " sitting on the four corners of a large old saddle box* which had been turned bottom-side-up in the shade at the rear end of a drinking saloon. They were young men, and presented a seedy and forlorn appearance. All four of them were "night-hawks" drinking young men. I knew all of them at sight. I stood and looked on for some minutes, and thought to myself, "I might fall from grace and be like unto one of these." Then and there I decided that I would no longer parley. I set^

CALLED TO PREACH,

4"!

tied the question at once and forever resolved to be obe dient to the divine call, and so stated, to my father on my return home that afternoon.
APPLICATION FOR LICENSE TO PREACH.
At the fourth Quarterly Conference of the old "Cassville and Rome Circuit," held in Rome October 24th, 1846, R. J. Cowart, preacher in charge, and J. C. B. Quillian, junior preacher, the church at "which I held membership, Mt. Zion, five miles south-west of Rome, having on the previ ous Wednesday unanimously recommended me as a suita ble person to be licensed to preach,- ray. application was presented by the preacher in charge. The circuit em braced all that territory now included in the counties of Floyd and Bartow, consequently there was always pres ent a large number of delegates. My recollection is that there were in these two counties, at that time, between twenty and thirty local preachers ; then the other officers of the church ran up the number of members of the Con ference to a very large figure- perhaps at least one hun dred. I think there must have been forty, if not fifty, del egates present "when my application for license to preacn was presented. Russel Reiieau was Presiding Elder a strong man in every sense of the word. He had come to the Georgia Conference with the territory retroceded to Georgia from the Kolston Conference. He began the pub lication of a weekly political paper in Rome, his brother, Jesse, being the ostensible editor. Ke also published for a year or two in Rome a small paper called The Methodist. His business ventures involved him in debt. He located, taught school for a. few years, then went to Arkansas, reentered the itinerancy and died there a few years later.
After a pretty thorough examination upon the doctrines of the Bible, discipline, and the primary branches of an English education, I was duly licensed to preach the gos-

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

pel, according to the rules and regulations of the M. E. Church, South, I was also recommended by this Quar terly Conference for admission into the old Georgia Con ference, which met, I believe, at Covington, Georgia, be ginning about the 2Oth of December, and lasting until the first of January.
It was not at that time necessary for an applicant to at tend the session of the Annual Conference. He was rep resented by the preacher in charge, the Presiding Elder, or any other member who might chance to be acquainted with him. I do not know that there were any more mis takes made then, in receiving members, than now when the entrance door is so strongly guarded.

" PROGRESS BACKWARDS."
One thing I am sure of, viz., that many who were ad mitted then and made first-class preachers, and did great good in their day and generation, would not stand the ghost of a chance of being received into the traveling connection now. I feel confident that this scribe could not have passed the strongly guarded oztter door, to say nothing of the more strongly guarded inner door. I must confess that the present, as I think, too great literary requirements fill me with alarm. Such men as J. W. Glenn, W. J. Parks, Drs, Jesse and Isaac Boring, Samuel Anthony, and a host of others would have been driven back from the outer door and compelled to seek membership in some other church, or fail to obey the divine call.
What of Bishops Andrew, Bascom and Marvin ? These men would have been lost to Methodism if our present standard requirements had faced them at the entrance to the pulpit. It occurs to me that, as water seeks its level, so men of shallow mind and without natural gifts would soon fall out of the itinerant ranks ; but men of gifts, with Gods grace in their hearts, will rise superior to defec-

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43

tive literary attainments and make themselves workmen that need not be ashamed. On the other hand, all the lit erary attainments possible of acquisition by a man, minus grace and natural giftss will never make him successful. Hence I fear that our recent advance in literary require ments is progress backwards.
I am aware that I risk much criticism by thus express ing my views on this important point. Be it so ; I must be conscientious in my utterances. Let the authorities of our Church pause, reflect, go slow.

CHAPTER VII.
OFF TO My FIRST FIELD OF LABOR.
On the morning of January igth, 1847, I left the pa rental roof with the prayers of my father and mother for Gods guidance of me, and for the showering of heavens richest blessings upon the head, heart, and labors of their first-born son. The parting -was trying to my feelings, as \vell as to those of the other members of our family, I had never been from home more than a week or two at a time, and I was the first of a family of eleven to leave it. The tears of the loved ones flowed freely. The cries and earnest begging of the smaller children, " Brother Jim, please dont go an leave us," were only counterbalanced by the assurances of my mother, whose parting words have echoed down the long years that have passed since that heart-trying hour. She said : ** Go, my son ; go preach the gospel of our blessed Lord Jesus, and always, when you rise before a congregation to preach Jesus and the resur rection, remember that a mothers prayers are ascending for Gods blessing upon your efforts." Then imprinting a

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LIFS AND TIMES OF REV, J. D. ANTHONY.

kiss upon my lips and another upon my right cheek, she bade me God speed, and I mounted my horse. The sad dlebags upon ray saddle contained my earthly fortune, consisting of a change of raiment, Bible, hymn book, Dis cipline, Wesleys Sermons, Fletchers Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense, Coevals Bible Dictionary and Cobbs-Walker Pocket Dictionary, I was comfortably clothed in a warm suit of nice j cans, a good over coat, and a pair of leggings. I had also a good umbrella, and a few dollars to pay my way to my circuit.
The parting scenes, especially my mothers assurance of prayer for my success,, followed me through that dayyea, on and on to the present hour! While she lived I ever felt, as I rose before a congregation, that mother was praying for her boy. And now that she has been dead and in heaven for many years, I ever feel, as I stand as a mouth for God, that mother, though "dead, yet speaketh," yet prayeth for her boy preacher! Good words and deeds live forever!
A DRUNKEN COMPANION.
One of my school-mates, who had relatives living with in the bounds of my new field of labor, determined to ac company me. This I did not know until the day before I left home. I was glad at the time to learn that I was to have company, though I afterwards deeply regretted hav ing him as a fellow traveler, for he was the victim of a fearful habit. During the afternoon of the first days travel we met some wagons. He halted and I rode en, After some minutes he overtook me. Imagine my sur prise "when I found that he was not only partially under the influence of liquor, but that he had also procured a flask full of the accursed stuff. By the end of the day he was thoroughly intoxicated. Fortunately we were to pass the night with a relative of his, and the family knew of

ON MY FIRST CIRCUIT.

45

their young kinsmans weakness. He promised both them and me that he would abandon the use of all intoxicants, and upon this pledge I agreed to allow him to accompany me to our journeys end.
But oh ! the weakness of humanity, especially in one who has contracted the drink habit. We had not gone five miles when we passed a wayside log cabin where, resting on a board fastened to the side of the house, were a red apple, a ginger cake and a flask of whiskey. This was an advertisement that all those articles could be bought there. My companion halted. I begged him to pass on,but no; the whiskey he must have, and. he purchased it, I left him and rode on rapidly. The snow was falling, the wind blow ing almost a gale. After traveling some miles I heard him calling, " Stop, for Gods sake, stop ! I am almost dead ! " I halted, and sure enough, when, he came up he was very nearly frozen stiff. His liquor was dying- out, and he suf fered much more than I did, who had not touched a drop. We had to halt at the next house, which also was the home of a relative of his mother. He behaved all right during the remainder of our journey.
This young man afterwards studied medicine and also became a local preacher. He was a. man of ability. I learned that during the war he was chief surgeon in one of the Alabama divisions of the army, and that he again fell into the drink habitj and subsequently died unlamented.
MORE WHISKEY.
On the third day after leaving home I reached Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, which was one of the twenty-six places at which I, as junior on that large circuit, was to preach. I was directed to the home of one of the leading laymen, a Brother Maltbie. He was a good man and de voted to the interests of the Church. I had no plan of the work and did not know where to find or how to communi-

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

cate with the senior preacher. Brother Maltbie suggested that I go on towards Gainesvllle, Hail County, which he knew to be in my sphere of work and -where he thought I would strike the "run of the appointments" this side of Gainesville. In this he was correct. I spent the night with Brother Benjamin Porter, who next morning accom panied me to Old Liberty Chapel,, at which church he said he knew the appointment stood for the next Wednesday at eleven A. M. This also proved to be correct. On the previous day and night there had been a log-rolling and quilting at old Brother H.s Brother B. was a son-in-law of old Brother H.s, and hes with many others, spent the night with his father-in-law, and, ast he weather was very cold, they determined to remain uiidl the preaching hour. The thermometer falling very low, all hands at the log rolling had indulged freely in whiskey furnished by Brother H. We found only a few men at the church on our arri val, but soon the jolly crowd came up. Brother B. was nat urally very talkative, so he came right up, and offering me
his hand, said: " Well, I guess this here is our young preacher Oh,
look a-here ! Whats the matter ? I see you haint got but one eye. How come you to git that eye put out ?"
I answered : " By the explosion of a powder-horn." "Well, Ill swa ! thats bad ; but I see youve got one goodn. Boys, Ill bet this here boy can preach; jist look at his good eye. Whats your name ?" I told him. "Well, I want to intercluce you to my step-son, hes our class-leader. Theo, this heres our young preacher whats your name?" I told him again. I decided that Brother B. was not the only man present
who was under the influence of spirituous liquors. I did not think our class-leader entirely free= I really believe that Brother Porter and I were the only men present who were unaffected by intoxicants. As to the ladies who

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4J

spent the night at Brother Hs, I say nothing. I thought that those brethren felt that because their church was called "Liberty," they were at liberty to indulge ad libitum in whatever their taste might demand.
I went into the church,, read a Psalm, commented a few minutes, prayed, published an appointment for my senior on that day two weeks, and took the liberty to refuse all invitations to dine with any of them that day. Exercising my liberty, I went back with Brother Porter.
Later in the year, getting better acquainted with these people, I entertained a better opinion of them. I think they were generally sober, except when Father H. and his good wife had a log-rolling and quilting. Then, as the liquor flowed freely, it would not do to bank on any of them, especially Brother B.
TRIBULATIONS OF A YOUNG PREACHER.
I went on to the churches at which my appointments demanded my presence on the Thursday and Friday fol lowing. Cold and unpleasant weather, together with the report that the preacher had not been heard from, caused me to have an audience of one man only on each of these days. I had not received the written plan, nor did I for nearly a month later. Nevertheless I had got the line and could easily follow it out, for there was an appointment for every day in the week, and all that was necessary was to inquire the way to the next church and go forward day af ter day.
Reaching Midway Church on Saturday, I found a large congregation and two venerable old preachers, Revs. Hosea Camp and Jonathan Betts, both useful ministers. The former had quite a reputation for scholarship and preach ing abilitya the latter as a successful revivalist.
I realized my incompetency; a sense of my inexperi ence caused me to dread the attempt to preach before

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

them. However, I commenced. As soon as I announced my text, Father Camp, who had taken his seat in front of the pulpit, opened his Bible and turned to the text. Then, as I would quote a passage of Scripture, he would turn to it. This was too much for me. I "brushed" it for ten or fifteen minutes, and sat down. Old Father Betts concluded the services. Both these old preachers asked me home with them, but I had promised to spend the evening and night with a lay member, which I did.
Sunday came. It was a lovely day, and the congrega tion was very large. The two old preachers were on hand, and, to add to my embarrassment, a distant relative, Rev. Amslem Anthony, a minister in the Primitive or ** Hard shell " Baptist Church. He had come to see and hear his young- kinsman preach. The load was too heavy. I plainly told those old brethren that I could not, and would not, at tempt to preach. Finding me so fully set in my determi nation, Father Camp agreed to preach, and delivered a fine discourse. I contrasted my feeble effort of the day before with his very superior sermon, and decided that I would start for my fathers house next morning. It was the hour of supreme trial with me. I went"back horne with the same brother and his good wife with whom I had stopped the night before. They saw that I was depressed, and did all in their power to encourage me, but alas, I was too deep In the pit for them to help me out.
SEEKING GUIDANCE.
After dinner, I took a long walk, and reached the sum mit of a high hill. Old fields stretched out before me, I think I may safely say for a mile and a half in every di rection. I am satisfied that no human being1 was within a mile of me. Although I had fully made up my mind to start for home next morning, it occurred to me that it would be well to spend some time in prayer in that silent

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49

spot, and this I did. The burden of rny prayer was that the good Lord would give me courage to go back, face my parents and friends and tell them that although I had fully believed that I was called to the work of the ministry, I
now found I was mistaken ; then to help me hold up my head and be a useful man in some other sphere of Chris tian life. Instead of feeling better, I seemed to grow worse. After spending an hour or two in praying as above described, it flashed upon my mind that I might be pray ing on the wrong line. I then prayed, f ~ Good Lord, show me my duty. If it is Thy will that I should preach the
gospel, I am willing to do my best ; yea, Lord, am willing
to be a failure every day of my life if such is my duty and Thy will."

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM ON HIGH.
In a moment the clouds were driven from my sky. I arose from my knees rejoicing in the consciousness of Gods blessing upon me, and as fully convinced that it was my duty to spend my life in the Christian ministry, as I was of my personal existence. Nor have I for one moment, from that hour to this, doubted my divine call. I went back to the brothers house full of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit took hold of him and his wife, and we had a good little meeting,
Next morning, instead of starting for home, I turned my horses head towards the church of the Monday appoint ment, and on my arrival there preached with liberty. The next day found me at the church where Dr. Jesse Boring and bis brothers had their membership in their younger days the church that recommended Jesse, Isaac and Thomas Boring to the Quarterly Conference for license to preach. A good congregation had assembled. Just after I had seated myself in the pulpit, an old gray-haired gen tleman rode up in front of the door on a pony. Another

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. IJ. ANTHONY,

old man lifted him off, set his feet on the floor of the church, helped him to stand erect, and then handing him two hickory walking-sticks, said, " Father, you go on to your seat ; Ill hitch the pony."
The small old man came tottering along upon his sticks until he got opposite the pulpit, then dropping them upon the floor, he fell on his knees and began to pray. Soon I heard him say, " Good Lord, bless the boy preacher. Help him to preach to-day. Give us a good meeting and make the boy a good and useful preacher, for Christs sake, Amen," He rose from his knees. I felt that I had grown, in answer to the good mans prayer, a head and shoulders taller. I began the services. I learned afterward that I forgot to announce the book, chapter and verse where my text could be found, but I had "liberty." God blessed the effort. We had many shouts of victory all over the house. Old Father Glower, for that was the aged brothers name,
he had been a soldier in the Revolutionary war of 76, a traveling class-leader on the Carvosso plan, and a li censed exhorter for many, many years, received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Although ninety odd years old, he did not need the assistance of sticks or other hu man aid ; he leaped over the backs of the seats, and ran all over the house, shaking hands, shouting, and praising God. No one would have judged either from his voice or his actions thac he was over fifty years old. The Spirit of God gives us life and liberty !
When the services closed, this old father in Israel came to me and said, " Bud, you must go home with me; I live with my son John, just down there, in sight of the church. I gladly accepted the invitation, feeling confident that his company would prove a benediction to me, which it cer tainly did. I spent the afternoon and night in his room.

CHAPTER VIII.
SPIRITUAL AND TBMTORAL, Su 11
At one time Father Glower had been terribly opposed to Methodism, and especially to Methodist preachers, hav ing heard so much, said against them. His wife, "Nancy, had gone on a week day, when he was absent from home on business, to hear 0212 of those hated Methodists preach, and was soundly converted and joined the Church, She went home rejoicing In the love of God, and told her husband, "Daniel," what God had done for her. He flew into a passion, cursed the Methodists, and swore he would not live with Nancy another day if she did not quit them.
She told him plainly that while she loved him and wished to live with him as long as they both should live, yet the blessed- Lord had done so much for her that she could not deny Him, and with trembling voice and tearful eyes she begged him to give his heart to God. This made matters worse. To use his own language, li The dumb devil took possession of me."
When bedtime arrived, Nancy knelt down and prayed. He could hear her whispering supplication in his behalf. He said, " I heard Nancy say, Oh, blessed !Lord, do give Daniel a new heart, Thou knowest I love my husband. Do, Lord,, change Daniel so that I may not have to separate from him and still serve Thee. Then .Nancy got into the bed, and I had to get in by her side or sit up all night, for we had but one bed. I sat up for some hours, and I could hear Nancy still praying for me. The dumb devil had me. I wouldnt say a word. After a long while I decided to go to bed, but I determined to get as far from Nancy as I could. I turned my back to her and lay on the railing,

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

but I could not sleep a wink. Nancy kept on praying. After a while I felt mighty bad, and I kept feeling worse and worse. At last I got up, and says I, Nancy, I feel mighty bad; I believe Im going to die. Nancy jumped out of bed and said, mighty sweet, Daniel, my dear husband, what can I do for you? I said, Nancy, can you pray? She said, Oh, yes, Daniel, I can pray and am praying for you. I said, Nancy, get down on your knees and pray for me, for I believe Ill soon be in hell ! And really, I felt that was just where I ought to be.

FATHER GLOWERS CONVERSION.
"Nancy said, Daniel, the dumb devil has got out of you, and the Lord Jesus can take all the other devils and all sin out of your heart. I said, Do pray Him to do it, right now, or Ill be lost in a minute ! She said, You pray and ask God to give you a new heart, and He will do it. I said, Well, Ill try. and you do your best for me ! So Nancy and I both prayed, and right then and there all the devils were turned out of my heart, and all sin too, and from that day to this Ive been going heavenward, shout ing and praising God. Ive been up, and Ive been down, but bless God, I am up now, and almost home. Why, Bud, Im in Beulah. I can hear the birds of Paradise singing, and all the time I see the celestial city and the glory world by the eye of faith. Yes, and Nancy left me and the children many years ago, but I see her now, beckoning me home ! "
He would shout awhile and then give me his experi ences in his past religious life, then shout again. Thus the whole night was spent. I felt all that night that I was nearer heaven than ever before. I left next morning greatly strengthened in all religious senses. I may truth fully say that the fifty years that have passed since that memorable night have not effaced the image of that vener-

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33

able saint, nor has the strength imparted by Father Glower failed. For many years this good man had been asked to relate his experience and the details of his conversion at camp-meetings and in large worshiping assemblages. I shall speak of this holy man of God in another chapter.
In the morning at n oclock I filled my appointment at the next church. From that hour to the close of the year 1847 I was, under Gods blessing, able to meet and fill all my regular appointments.
After the lapse of several weeks I met, for tbe first time, my senior colleague, Rev. Jesse W. Carroll, \vl\o made some slight changes in the plan of the work, so as to allow of his spending two days in the month with his fam ily, who resided in Newton County, more than thirty miles from the nearest appointment in our work.

OLD-TIME CIRCUIT WORK.
There were twenty-six regular churches, every one to be attended by each of us once in every twenty-eight days. From some cause, or for some reason which I never have understood, all circuit work seemed to be under the influ ence of the moon, or, at any rate, no regard was paid to solar divisions of time. In those days there were three, four and six weeks circuits. If there was only one preacher, he made his round in the prescribed three, four or six weeks ; if t wo preachers were appointed to the same cir cuit, each one made the full round in the prescribed time. Thus, when there were two preachers, each church had preaching, on four weeks circuits, every two weeks, and the preacher would announce at the close of the regular service, " My colleague will be here this day two weeks." Hence* every fifth Sunday made a change in the Sunday appointments all around the work. I learned from the older members that this had been the rule observed by the itinerants from time immemorial. This plan, of course,

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. IX ANTHONY.

often caused our Sunday appointments to come in contact with, the arrangements of other denominations in the same communities. A few years later the filling of appoint merits on the first, second, third and fourth Sundays, andof the week day appointments on given days between the first and second Sundays, and so on through the month, was adopted, and this worked much better. About the same time began the reduction in the number of churches in the different charges; 1 must say none too soon for the good of the preacher and the welfare of the Church. Those large circuits soon wore down the strongest constitution. A large per cent, of the preachers who entered the traveling connection died or broke down in health in a few years.
"QUARTERAGE" AND OTHER MINISTERIAL REMUNERATION.
Then the obligation to support the ministry was di vided between GO many churches that but few felt its weight. I verily believe that many of our members thought that the word "quarterage" meant the division of a dollar into four quarters, one of which was to be handed to the preacher or steward each quarter of the Conference year. At any rate, many of our strongest men strongest I mean in a financial sense practiced that method of supporting the ministry. Yea; their name was legion. But few paid as much as one dollar per quarter to the minis ters support. The traveling- expenses were the first thing called at the Quarterly Meetings after the call of the churches, and the seicral answers were recorded. The presiding eider was first requested to give the pro ratct of his traveling expenses to that particular charge, then the senior preacher, then the junior preacher. These amounts were first paid out of the money on hand. What was left was divided among the claimants. A married man was entitled to receive one hundred dollars for himself, one

SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL SUPPORT.

55

hundred for his wife, and a small amount for each of his children under sixteen years of age. A single man was only allowed one hundred dollars. The stewards were ex pected to make an assessment for the table expenses of a man with a family, and this was often very meagre. The following was the assessment on rny circuit for the year 1847: For the Presiding Elder, forty dollars; for the senior preacher, -self, wife and grown daughter tzvo /iundred dollars quarterage, and one hundred dollars for table expenses; for the j uuior preacher, one hundred dollars. These assessments were added together and the total di vided among our twenty-six churches.

CONCERNING DONATIONS,
Owing to many sweeping revivals in the churches dur ing the year, the popularity of the Presiding Klder, my cousin, Rev. Samuel Anthony and the gracious presence of the Holy Spirit which rested upon the labors of. the coworkers with the jimior preacher (for the senior held no protracted meetings), the stewards were able to pay eighty-two cents on the dollar. Each preacher, however, was called upon at every Quarterly Meeting to state how much he had received in donations. I was often puzzled to know how to answer this question. I received perhaps a half dozen pairs of suspenders and at least thirty pairs of socks during that year. Some of the good sisters would say, on presenting them, " Dont report this." Others would say, " Ive no money ; this is all I can do." One thought her pair of socks worth twenty-five cents; another would assess the value of hers at fifty cents. Perhaps you would have thought the former preferable to the latter, but all must ueeds be c< reported."
The sisters seemed to sympathize with me, as I had no wife to knit or sew for me especially the more elderly of the unmarried sisters.

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LIFE AND TIMES OF RKV. J. D. ANTHONY.

My old senior had a rare fund of inquisitiveness, and at all times kept his blank book and pencil convenient. He faithfully recorded every garment given me ; also the washing and ironing, and even the patching of a garment done for me. I never knew a man more faithful in any line of business than was my clear old senior in ferreting out every little thing done for or contributed to his junior, He seemed inclined to teach me the art, or science, of tracing up and faithfully recording every item. Especially liberal was he in assessing, in dollars and cents, the amounts to be allowed for every thing done for me in any way, from the sewing of a patch on my trousers at twenty-five cents, to the gift from Sister B. of a home-spun, home-woven, home-cut and home-made shirt at t"wo dollars and twenty cents. This faithful old chronicler would, at each Quar terly Meeting, call me aside and say :
" Now, Jimmie, there is nothing like being correct in giving in the things thats been given to you, and it pleases folks above all things else to show your liberality by put ting a high price upon what they donate to you. It proves that you appreciate their gifts. Ive got the following ar ticles thats been given to you since the last Quarterly Meeting, and Ive put the following prices on em." Then, after reading seriatim the list of prices allowed, he wox.ild add, "Now, Jimmie, give me all the balance thats been given to you, and lets fix all up right," He was not a fast calculator, but a very anxious one.
AN " EQUALIZING
After the second admonition 1 learned to be very care ful to make full returns to Uncle Jesse C., but finding that he had no returns to make of donations to himself, I made bold to inquire why things always stood thusly. His re ply was, ** Oh, you see Ive got a wife and daughter who fix all these things for me. Youve got none; and you see.

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Jimmie, I draw out of the money on liquid two dollars to your one. Now, you see the things the sisters have given you this quarter corne to twelve dollars, eighteen and threefourth, cents ; so the stewards will have to pay me t-wentyfour dollars, thirty-seven and a-kalf cents before you can draw a cent; so you see, this is an equalizing system."
"Well," said I, "if thats it, I shall be compelled to get married to hold my own/* Xo which, he assented, ad ding, " It wont do any good for you to marry this year, for the assessments are done made and cant be undone."
Nevertheless I determined that, if the Bishop appointed me as junior on another circuit under Uncle Jesse, he should do so upon a basis of equality as far as finance and assessment were concerned. I governed myself accord ingly that is, I married at the close of the years work.
BY WAV OF EXPLANATION.
Perhaps the reader rnay think that the contents of the last few pages constitute somewhat of a digression from a historical line. My answer is that it is not my purpose to give every occurrence in my life in its exact chronological order. My main object is to record that which will be likely to prove of benefit and interest to my readers. I may there fore often use an incident or a fact by way of contrasting the present and the past as Bill Arp would say, to show that "things are not as they used to was," -holding firmly to the theory that the Church, civilization, and, in a word, all things appertaining to the upbuilding of human useful ness and happiness, are co-operating, working together, for the good of humanity, the glory of the great Head of the Church, and the final triumph of the Kingdom of Christ.

CHAPTER IX,
INCIDENTS OF MY FIRST YEARS WORK.
I went forward, filling my appointments regularly. My circuit embraced, all of Gwinnett County and all of Hall south of the Chattaheoch.ee. Taking all the near cuts known s,s "bridle paths/* my route covered two hun dred and fifty miles, I had tried to preach but once be fore reaching my assigned field of labor. That effort was made at what was known as the " Brandon Church," then in Cass, now in Bartow County, Ga. My text was He brews, iv:9. The burden of my message, together with my sense of personal weakness, almost overcame me. The Lord helped me, and although my sermon was only about twenty-five minutes In length, we had the baptism of the Holy Ghost upon preacher and people. The endorsement of my divine call on that occasion gave me strength for future work.
CHRISTIAN AID SOME CO-LABORERS.
I had many fathers and mothers and good brothers and sisters with me in my work. The kindly treatment which I received from them was of great advantage and encour agement to me.
I wish to mention a few of those good people, who, though dead, still live in my memory. There were Joshua Bradford and wife, Dr. Jarnes Hamilton and wife, old Uncle Jimmie "Williams and family, Brother Malone and family, the three Brogdons, Joseph Brandon, Brother Maltbie, Judge Winn, Judge Hutching, and many others in Gwin nett. At Gainesville, Dr. Banks, Ephraim Johnson, Bro. Carzort, the Lows, and others. Within the bounds of my

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59

work in Hall I recall the Sirnmonses, who were numerous, Col. Gill, Martin Graham, Rev. Burrei Wells, and a host of others who rise up like oases in the wilderness of the past.
MY BUSY LIFE A BEDRIDDEN SAINT.
My headquarters were in the saddle during that first year. I not only filled, the regular appointments at the churches, but did a great deal of preaching at night, and often in the middle of the afternoon, in private houses, under brush arbors, in shady forests, and at schoolhouses. I was expected to visit the sick, to advise them and pray for them, to preach in the rooms of all the bedridden, and to bury the dead.
There was a good Christian young lady who expected a sermon in her room on every round. She was a sufferer from spinal trouble, had been confined to her bed for some years, and continued to be bedridden for, I believe, eighteen years. She was always full of faith and the Holy Ghost always cheerful and happy. I never preached in her presence without realizing that Gods blessing rested upon my effort, upon myself, and upon all present.
One of the greatest revivals I ever witnessed, began at an appointment for this ladys benefit some years subse quent to the time of which I now write. Of this I may speak in its appropriate place.
This ripe Christian young womans name was Lucretia Douglass. She was the daughter of a mother in Israel, the widow of the saintly Jones Douglass. She had a brother, Dr. Tilman Douglass, who was for many years a member of the old Georgia Conference, and afterward lo cated and spent the remainder of his life as a local preacher as well as in the practice of medicine.
At a later date Miss Lucretia wrote a book entitled, " Grace for Kvery Trial." I believe she is yet living.

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My opportunities for reading and the preparation of sermons were, as a matter of course, confined to the hours spent by me on horseback in traveling from point to point f and to the time during which my tallow candle \vould give light after I retired for rest at night. Beginning the years work as I did, without previous preparation either in read ing or making sermons, and averaging for the year two sermons per day, I had but little time left to devote to the studies allotted to me by the authorities of the Church, and in which I was to stand a pretty rigid examination at the next session of our Annual Conference.
HARVEST OF SOULS AT NEW HOPE SISTER BRADFORDS
SERMON.
Early in August the Spirit was present in such power at an eleven oclock service at New Hope church, in Gwinnett County, that I felt it to be my duty to remain and preach again at night. At the night service there-was so powerful a work in the congregation that Uncle Joshua Bradford thought I ought to remain and. preach on Menday. I thought so too.
At the close of the eleven oclock services on Tuesday, Uncle Joshua announced that there had been, since Sunday noon, thirty-three conversions^ and he added, "AH the material has been worked up, but, as our young preacher is here and can preach again to-night, and by starting a little before day and riding hard can reach his appointment by preaching time, well have preaching again to-night."
Uncle Joshua was a licensed exhorter, and at a later date was licensed to preach. I felt that Uncle Joshua was truly an oracle that what he did not know about religious meetings was not worth knowing. I fully intended to do as he suggested, and close the services that night.
That night Uncle Joshuas wife surely experienced a

INCIDENTS OF MY FIRST YEARS WORK.

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wonderful baptism of the Holy Spirit, She was entirely ignorant of letters, did not know one letter of the alpha bet from another, and was naturally timid and reserved. It really appeared to be a heavy task for her to ask a guest at her own table if he would have a second cup of coffee. But on this night all timidity and reserve vanished like a vapor before the rising sun. She shouted aloud the praise of God, and exhorted the audience in the most eloquent strains to accept salvation now. I stopped preaching,, and said :
"My sister, you can beat me preaching ; go ahead, and I will be a willing hearer."
Go ahead she did. I have heard m&ri^ grand sermons yea, most of the popular preachers of our day, but can truly say that I have never heard hrbr sermon surpassed for power. Her appeals were eloquent and irresistible. There were seventeen sky-blue, clear-cut conversions in less than thirty minutes after tbift good woman began her first public exhortation. All seventeen were added to the Church in that hour.
I asked "Uncle Josh" if I should close the meeting. His reply was, "No ; oh3 nt>, God -will furnish material/ And so He did. The meet ; ig continued until the Sunday following. When we closed we found that seventy-seven had been added to the Church during the week. There were over one hundred conversions. As is the case gener ally, quite a number attached themselves to other branches of the Church.
Meeting this good sister some years after, I inquired whether she had preached any more sermons of the type of that Tuesday night sermon. Her reply was, "No, I have never felt called to the undertaking of such work since." I told her I felt that that effort alone would deck her crown of rejoicing in. heaven with many stars.
How much has been lost to the Church by brethren

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

and sisters quenching the Spirit can never be known until the full revelation is made in that great day for which all other days were made.
THE UNPREPARED SERMON CONVERSION OF AN INFIDEL,
A very wonderful conversion occurred at the same church at my next regular appointment there. Having preached all my prepared sermons during previous meetings, I determined to have a new one ready for that occasion. I selected a text from Isaiah, and studied it well. It was Sunday morning. I had to ride eighteen miles, and as I rode on I went over rny sermon mentally. I felt sure that I could deliver it just as I had planned it.
I had to cross a bridge that spanned the Alcovy River and ascend a hill before arriving at the church. As I crossed the river I reached, mentally, the end of my ser mon. A few yards further travel brought me in full view of the cVirch and a vast congregation. The people had come out " horse, foo,, snd dragoons." My prepared ad dress vanished from rny mind like the " baseless fabric of a vision."
What could I do ? I had nothing to fall back upon. It appeared to me to be " a ground hog case," that or noth ing. With saddlebags on rny arm I entered the church and proceeded to the pulpit. On looking over the house, I saw that, though it was a large framed one, the ladies only could be seated. The men and boys, by scores and hundreds, were on the outside, and it was impossible to seat them. If we should go out into the grove, all would have to listen to the sermon standing. I said, * Uncle Josh, what shall we do ?" He replied, " Preach in the house."
I selected my hymns to suit the text I had studied, hoping that my sermon would return to my mind. We sang and prayed. I read the second hymn, and had to

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line it out. When I had read the two last lines I took up my Bible, which I had opened at my text in Isaiah, closed it, sat down, and prayed thus: "Good Lord, help me;
give me a text." I in some way opened the Book in the gospel by
Matthew. My eye fell upon these words : "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." Something seemed to say, *< This is your text for this hour." I said, mentally, "Well, first, a character is introduced Noah ; second, a fact declared, viz., certain circumstances existed in his day ; third, another character presented, the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus ; fourth, another fact de clared, viz., that similar circumstances are to mark His day. viz., the general judgment day." This occurred as rapidly as my mind could act. By the time I had thus an alyzed the text the lines had been sung and repeated. I arose, read the text, and began preaching. As I progressed the whole field rose up before me, clear as noonday. I had never before preached with equal power. Indeed, the Lord seemed to provide me with words as fast as I could utter them. I soon found that God was moving not only all who were in the house, but also the masses on the
outside. There was a man standing on the outside of the house,
directly in front of the door, who had long professed infi del principles. He had criticised the services during our recent protracted meeting. This, I had been informed, had been his custom for years past. I suppose I had been preaching thirty-five or forty minutes, when he screamed
at the top of his voice : "I am a lost man! My damnation is just! I have
stifled conscience and done much harm ! I ought to be
damned!" Seeing that he was trembling from head to foot, I
called him by name. Said I, "No, Mr. B., you need not be

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lost; Christ Jesus died for you., and His blood avails for all. Come to Jesus and be saved now."
He replied, "Ill come, Ill come ! " He came rushing into the house. Half way down the aisle he fell at full length, with a thud* upon the floor, and cried with a loud voice :
* For Gods sake, pray for me ! Let everybody pray for me !"
Of course the sermon was ended, Christians gathered around him. There were shouts of victory all over the house and outside as well. These shouts were mingled with the cries of penitents: " Lord have mercy!" and "What shall I do ?" etc.
In a few moments Mr. B. jumped to his feet and began praising God, exclaiming : " Saved ! Saved from the wrath of God ! Saved from a hell that I justly deserved !" Then addressing me, he said : " Will you have me in the Church ?" I opened the door and we took him and several others into the Church that very hour. Mr. B. lived a consistent Christian life and died in the faith some years Iatei\
THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT.
I have ever regarded that sermon as the gift of inspira tion. Let no preacher depend u.pon the inspiration of the Spirit for his sermons. Let every one study well each sermon; the Spirit will shed light on the sacred page.
It is, nevertheless, the duty of every preacher to read, study, and try to bring forth things new and old from heavens storehouse. Then if the Holy Spirit removes his stakes or shrouds his mental or spiritual horizon in gloom, let him follow the Spirits leading and fear no evil. We make mistakes, but the Divine Paraclete never.
FIVE HUNDRED ADDED FATHER CLOWER*S THRILLING
STORY.
We had several other revivals that year at different points. We also had six camp-meetings at as many camp-

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65

grounds. There were over five hundred additions to the Church, and the membership was strengthened and built up in the faith.
On the second Sunday in August, at the three oclock service at the Lawrenceville carnp-ground, Rev. Anderson Ray preached from the third chapter of Ephesians, the I4th to 2ist verses inclusive. Great power rested upon the preacher and the word preached.
That ripe old saint, Daniel Glower, was seated on the straw in the altar. He was filled with the Holy Ghost. Although nearly a hundred years old, he jumped to his feet, ran up in the pulpit, threw his arms around the preachers neck, praised God for a few moments, and then, addressing the large audience, said :
" Sixty years ago} about this time of the year, I was traveling on horseback and about dark stopped, to tarry till morning", with this man Anderson Rays father and family. At bedtime I said, Sir, I am in the habit of hold ing family prayer before going1 to bed, IDo you object ? He replied, No ; pray if you want to. I said, Give me your Bible. Weve got none/ said he. I then talked to him and his wife about having no Bible and no religion, and they raising a family, too. I then got down and prayed, got up and talked. I could not sing. I talked, and got down and prayed again, and again. By and by Mrs. Ray was converted, and then the old man, and after awhile one of the girls, then another and another of nine children got the blessing, and -we all rejoiced together.
" I said at lastj My brother., all your children are blessed, I believe. He answered, *Yes, all but our baby boy, little Anderson. Where is he ?* 1 asked. Xhere, sitting on the hob of the chimney/ said he. Come here, bud/ said I, and he came. I took him up in my arms and said,Bud, Jesus loves you; cant you love him, too? The little fel low replied, *On, yes, I love Jesus, and He loves mep too."

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Then Brother Ray shouted, " Yes, thank God, I was converted In your arms sixty years ago ; and bless God, it has made me happy every day and every hour from that time to this."
I have never witnessed an incident that produced a bet ter eiTect.
We pass on -.vitbout chronicling many incidents that occurred during lliis year.

CHAPTER X.
MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
About the first of November I decided that God had declared a great truth when He said, " It is not good for man to be alone ;" and I had ever thought and still believe tliat the Apostle James preached sound doctrine when he demanded that we shotild show cur faith by our works. I proceeded to put my faith into practice.
Just after I had taken my text at Zoar church, at 11 A. M. on the 4th Sunday In October, 1847, a young lady with whom I had but a slight acquaintance walked into the church with herbrother and took her seat. As she did so I decided, as by a mental lightning flash, to offer her my hand and heart at the first opportunity. I must confess that that determination and the Impression upon which it was founded, somehow, or somehow else, caused rny thoughts to become rather befogged. In" old Methodistic parlance, I got te In the b""-sh ;" but I did get through the services,
It transpire^.- ftbat the young ladys father had sent a message by her ior me to accompany her home, as he wished to see and talk with me. Of course my accommodatinp" nature would not allow me to refuse.

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67

I always held, with "Poor Richard," that t What is worth doing, is worth doing well;" and again, the same sensible man said, "Time is money." Acting on these convictions, I told the young lady all that was in my heart on that line, and asked her to become my wife. She, in keeping with the manner of her sex,, asked for a little time for reflection. Of course I was too much of a gentleman to refuse this. I told her, "All right, Ill give you until to morrow morning, but must have an answer then ! "
So we talked on other topics for the balance of the eight miles, I suppose we had gone a half mile from the church when I began to make the proposal of marriage, and I think that probably we, or rather I, conversed on that important subject while we rode a mile perhaps a mile and a half. We were both on horseback.
Next morning, like a man of business, as I wished her to believe me to be, I called for her answer, and after a little parleying on her part relative to the suddenness of the proposition, I received, to my extreme joy, an answer in the affirmative.
I bade her goodbye, with the understanding that I was to return in two weeks and ask her fathers consent. I also added, ic We must be married four weeks from to morrow, as I shall finish my years work just four weeks from this day." Her reply was, " We can -fix the time when you return, to ask pas consent." I mounted my horse, and went on my way rejoicing. At the appointed time I was on hand, and had a few words with Miss Emily as to the certainty of the consummation of the nuptials on the twenty-third, to which arrangementshe consented.

GETTING PAPAS CONSENT.
Next morning I saw the old gentleman walking towards his horse lot. I hailed him. just as he reached the end of a building In which he had stored a large quantity of apples

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LIFK AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

As I approached he unlocked and opened the door of the apple housej stepped in, and invited me to enter and help myself to as many apples as I desired. He then pointed out to me the different varieties that he had grown. Just as he reached the " Father Abraham" variety, and began to dilate on its peculiar merits, I suddenly put a stop to his talk by saying: " Yes, yes, Brother Baugh ; your apples are all good, very good; and no doubt those that bear the name of Abraham are superior. But, my dear brother, I have to ride eighteen miles before preaching time, and I wish to make my business known to you. Vour daughter ancl I have an agreement to be married on the twentythird, and wish your consent."
He looked towards the North-east for a few moments, and then said, "I never make or break matches for my children. If you and she are suited, it is all right with me." Pausing a little, he added, " But which one is it ? I have two grown daughters, and I have never seen you pay ing any special attention to either."
* "Well, then," I replied, laughing, " as you have given your consent, of course I can take either."
He also laughed heartily as he rejoined, " Yes, you have me there; take your choice."
I answered, "All right; I prefer Miss Emily." I then bade Miss Emily goodbye, with the understand ing that I was not to return until the time appointed for our marriage.
A SARTORIAL SURPRISE.
On the previous round old Sister Rivers, the mother of our beloved brother, Rev, W. P. Rivers, the poet of the North Georgia Conference, had requested rne to accom pany her to Mr. Gs, whom she had caused to take my meas ure for a full suit. This was, naturally, pleasing to me, but imagine my delight when, on my arrival at Gainesvtlle

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69

I was presented by that mother in Israel -with a splendid suit, by far the finest I have ever owned cloth coat, cash mere pants, satin-silk vest, enough underwear to last me for two years ; and also with another full suit, not so mag nificent as the above described, but more durable. I was informed that the full list of presents, including fine boots, hat, etc., cost the donors near one hundred dollars. How timely these useful and handsome gifts !
I finished my years work on that large circuit on Mon day, November 22tl, 1847.
On the evening of the 23d, I was united in marriage with Emily, daughter of William and Elizabeth Baugh, Rev. J. H. Ewing officiating. No woman was ever better wife to a man. She proved a helpmate indeed. For nine teen years and six months she not only walked by my side in the paths of multitudinous duties, but also,, Enoch-like, " walked with God, and was not," for God took her to Himself.
A few days after our marriage my young wife and I started, by private conveyance, on a journey of something over one hundred miles, in order to pay a visit to my parents and family. After a delightful reception and a few days most pleasant sojourn with relatives and friends, we proceeded on our return journey, my wife bound for her parental home and I for Madison, Georgia, the seat of our Annual Conference, which was to convene during the week of Christmas, 1847.
We were accompanied for the first day and a half by Rev. Wiley G. Parks, who was to leave his horse and saddle at Allatoona and take the train on to Madison.
Brother Parks and another gentleman were riding ahead of us, when, about the middle of the afternoon, we reached the bridge that spanned the Euharlee Creek. It was a new structure, as yet unprovided with baluster or railing. A new saw mill was located a few yards above. I suppose

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

Brother Parks and his traveling friend had gone two-thirds of the distance across the bridge when the sawyer let the water onto the driving wheel, starting the old-fashioned sash saw. The noise made so badly scared Brother Parks horse as to cause him to jump from the bridge. The rider made a frantic effort to leap from the saddle and catch on the bridge, with the result that he followed his horse, head foremost, a distance of twenty or twenty-five feet. Brother Parks head came in contact with the sharp edge of a slab, which peeled the flesh from his skull a length of, perhaps, three or four inches. It was a narrow escape from death. His head bled profusely. For a short time he seemed to be insensible to his injuries. His horses shoulder was dislocated and the bone below the shoulder broken. We secured another horse for the injured preacher, left his wounded steed, and went on. Many weeks passed before Brother Parks head entirely healed. The horse never recovered. This was one of the most frightful occurrences I ever witnessed.

CHAPTER XI.
MY FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE.
After reaching the home of rny father-in-law, and leav ing my wife with her people, I, in company with a very highly educated Canadian named Craven, who had taught school the previous year in Lawrenceville, and had been recommended by our Quarterly Conference as a suitable person to be admitted into the traveling connection, set out on horseback to make the distance of thirty-five miles to Madison, the seat of our Annual Conference. Craven had never traveled ten miles on horseback in his life, and I

MY FIRST ANNUAL, CONFERENCE.

?I

could not persuade him to go faster than a slow walk. Con sequently, darkness overtook us fifteen miles short of our destination, and we stopped to spend the night.
A s> IIARDSHBLL."
I soon learned from our landlord that he was a Primi tive Baptist. After supper I asked my Canadian brother to take a walk with me. While out, I said to him, "This man, you see, is a Hardshell Baptist." He was puzzled by the term " Hardshell," and made many inquiries in ref erence to it and to him to whom I had applied it. I ex plained that the better course was to say nothing to our landlord about masons, temperance, Sunday-schools, or family prayers. Said I, " If you do, he may not wish to keep us the balance of the night,, and, if he should, he will make us pay a big bill to-morrow morning." " Forewarned, forearmed," I thought.
To my extreme mortification, Craven went back into the house and acted contrary to every suggestion that I had made. He talked of Sunday-schools, missionary en terprises, of the fearful evils of dram-drinking, etc. The landlord told him that he had no use for Sunday-schools, missions, or temperance organizations ; that his granddaddy "fit" in the Revolution for our liberties, and that he should certainly drink when he felt like it ; that the Missionary Baptists were a mean set of scamps, who had tried to steal the name of " The Baptist Church " from the true Baptists ; that they were no better than et these here shouting Methodists;" and that he had no use for the one nor the "tother."
My irrepressible traveling companion did his best to convert the old brother to his way of thinking on these Im portant points, but to no purpose. Wishing to avoid fur ther collision between these two giants in the intellectual and polemic fields, I suggested that it was bedtime, and

/2

LIKE AND TIMES OF KEV. J. D. ANTHONY.

that I wished to retire ; whereupon my traveling companion remarked :
"What! before prayers ? No, sir; I never go to bed without holding family prayers. When I stop where there is a family I always pray for them." Our landlord made no reply. I said, * I never do unless they wish it."
Looking directly into the face of the man of the house, Brother Craven asked, " Will you let me pray for you and your family ? " The old gentleman replied, * I dont care anything about your prayin for us, but, of course, if you want to you kin do as you please." The young parson re quested a Bible, and was informed that it was at the mar ried daughters house. He then asked if I had one in my saddlebags. I said I had one, but that it would trouble me to get it out. " Mine is so large and heavy," said he, " that I left it at my room, but I have a hymn book."
He brought forth the hymn book, selected his hymn, and read :
" The day is past and gone, The evening- shades appear."
He read on to the last line. Then he began to read out two lines at a time. He could not sing a tune, nor could I; but there he stood, reading out two lines at a time and waiting for the singing which was not forthcoming then reading again to the close of the hymn. Next, he knelt and prayed, in a good high key, for at least fifteen minutes. The entire family kept their seats during his long prayer.
RELIGIOUS IMPRUDENCE FINANCIAL RESULT.
Next morning I called for the bill. "Three dollars !" quoth the landlord, adding, " If you hadnt been with this tother man I wouldnt charged you but seventy-five cents; but this fellers talkin* and prayin is too bad ; he had ought to pay us for listeninto him." I could not dispute the

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point he made, so I handed over the three dollars, and we mounted our horses and rode away. My reverend friend could not see but that I ought to pay one half the bill and he the other. I submitted without protest, though I could not see why I should be taxed on account of my compan ions want of common sense, or, to put it more mildly, his imprudence.
AN ABOLITIONIST.
I found that Brother Craven was a rank abolitionist. He hated the slave-holder. He was, however, by reason of superior education, fine preaching ability, and apparent piety admitted into the traveling connection, and ap pointed to the Fort Gaines circuit. He wrote me, after completing his first round, thus :
" I have sixteen churches ; have been around and preached at all of them ; generally had good congregations. The smallest consisted of one man, who came in just as I was ready to take my text."
His opinions of the sin of slave-holding soon became known. In a few weeks he left for Canada or some other distant point, and, so far as this scribe knows, has never been seen or heard from in Georgia since. His last note to me ran thus :
" Dear Brother : I arn threatened with violence ; yea, with a coat of tar and feathers. I will leave in a few hours for I know not where. Will write you later."
The time for that writing, it would seem, has not yet arrived. As before stated, I have not heard from him to date.
I have devoted some space to Rev. Mr. Craven, hoping this statement of facts concerning him may not be unin teresting to the reader and may prove beneficial to younger brethren. This young man, perhaps twenty-eight years old, a graduate of an institution of learning, well read, a fluent speaker, was yet a crank. His crankiness overbal-

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. /. D, ANTHONY.

anced all his gifts and graces, and finally destroyed even the possibility of his usefulness at least in the Southern States.
HORSEBACK VS. IRON HORSE.
On our arrival at the seat of the Conference we were met by the preacher in charge, who sent me to the excel lent home of Brother Alfred Shav/, who had agreed to care for four preachers and to feed four horses.
I am of opinion that four out of five of the delegates to that Conference came on horseback, some of the brethren having ridden one hundred and fifty and others, perhaps, two hundred miles. Some adopted this mode of travel to save money. A number of the delegates had never trav eled on a railway, and were afraid to risk their lives by so dangerous a mode of transit. I remember a conversa tion between old Uncle David Lowrey, who lived, I believe, in Walker County, and Uncle Jesse Peacock, of Wilkerson County, both of whom had traveled from their homes on horseback. Uncle JLowrey said :
" Brother Peacock, how did you corne to Conference ?" Uncle P, " On Horseback." Uncle L,. ** So did I, and I always expect to. I will never risk my life on one of those death traps." Uncle P. "Well, Brother, I dont know that there is much more danger on the train than on horseback. Some times the gentlest horse will prove refractory and throw and kill his best friend, his own master. I believe under Gods blessing we are as safe in one place as another." Uncle L. " Yes, I spose so, but I feel much safer on old Roans back than I would on one of them whirligigs."
A GODLY AND LEARNED ASSEMBLAGE,
Bishop James O. Andrews opened the Conference at the appointed hour- There was present a body of men whose equals in intelligence, learning, oratory, and true

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piety I had never seen, and whose superiors in these re spects I have never looked upon even to this day. Among them were Dr. Lovick Pierce, and. later in the session, that prince of orators and sweet-spirited son of his, Bishop George F. Pierce ; Alien Turner, W. J. Parks, John W. Glenn, Samuel Anthony, Noah Smith, Dr. Jesse Boring and his brother Isaac, F. D. ILowery, Miller H. White, John W. Knight, Russell Retieau, R. J. Cowart, and many others who were giants in their day.
Among the visiting brethren was the wonderfully gifted and very eccentric William G. Brownlow, of Ten nessee. The memorable controversy between Brownlow and Dr. F. A. Ross, of the Presbyterian Church, was in full blast. Brownlow, on being Introduced to the Conference, blushed, to my surprise, like a maiden in her teens. A man whose writings were so full of genuine pugnacity would naturally be supposed to present an appearance and to be characterized by manners altogether different to that which was observable in the Brownlow standing before us. We may speak of him again in another chapter. I think that nineteen out of every twenty persons whom Brownlow met subscribed for the " Brownlow-Ross Controversy," which was published monthly in pamphlet form.
GOING THROUGH TUB EXAMINATION MILL.
Our class of twenty-three met at 7 p. M. Wednesday to pass our examinations in the ordinary branches of an En glish education, to be tested as to our knowledge of Fletchers Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense and of one hundred and twenty-six of Wesleys Sermons, complete in four volumes, and to show what we could do in the way of written composition.
I should be delighted to have a list of the names of those who formed that class. Some fell out of the ranks, year by year ; a number changed their locations, and others died

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in the faith. So far as I know, only three of the class are in the land of the living1, viz : Dr. Eustis Speer, now in the local ranks, Dr. Thomas Pierce, of the North Georgia., Conference, and myself.
Revs. Jacob Dansforth and Josiah Lewis, Sr., were the members of the committee on examination who were present. Brother Lewis examined us on the theological portions of our studies ; Brother Dansforth on the literary branches.
An amusing incident occurred while the former was questioning us on the doctrines of the Bible, tie asked a member of the class if he could demonstrate the possibility of apostacy by giving a proof text from both the Old and the New Testaments. The young brother quoted from Ezekiel, thirty-third chapter: " If a righteous man turn away /rom his righteousness," etc. Brother Lewis replied, "Do you know that our Calvinistlc brethren hold that the right eousness here spoken of is self-righteousness ? "
The young brother had never heard of any one holding such an opinion, and answered : " Well, sir, if that is the case, the poor fellow is in a devil of a- fix ; if he holds on to self-righteousness he is damned for it, and if he turns away from it he is damned."
He was surprised at the roar of laughter occasioned by his explanation, and earnestly asked to be told what it was that was wrong, for to his mind the subject was as clear as a sunbeam. Some one quoted to him what was regarded as the objectionable part of his exposition, viz : his saying that the poor fellow would be in <f a devil of a fix."
" Oh, no, " said he, " I surely did not say that. I only meant that the devil would be sure to get him, according to that theory, whether he held on to or turned from his self-rihteousness.
Brother Lewis explained : " We understand you ; your logic i:e right, but you might improve your rhetoric a little."

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I presume no intelligent Methodist ever forgets the im pressions made on his mind by what he sees and hears at the first Annual Conference he attends. There was a charge of immorality brought against Rev, R. R. Rush ing. Dr. Jesse Boring was the prosecutor. The charge came from Columbus, and the accused was found guilty and expelled from the ministry and the Church. This was the first trial of a minister of the gospel I ever witnessed, and I rejoice that I am able to say, after the lapse of fifty years, that there have only been (if my memory serves me rightly) three convictions in both Georgia Conferences on charges of immorality. The aggregate of the two Con ferences, I feel quite sure, would reach, in the fifty years, one thousand names, perhaps more. This is surely a good showing for the purity and piety of cur ministry.
I believe this was among the latest Christmas Confer ences held in Georgia, if. indeed, it was not the last.
When the appointments were announced I was read out to the Gainesville circuit, with no assistant preacher. Rev. H. P. Pitchford was Presiding Elder.
I omitted to mention in the proper place the names of three of our ablest and. best men, viz., Caleb W. Key, father of Bishop Joseph S, Key ; Dr. Alexander Means, and Judge A. B. Long-street. Judge Longstrect was, prior to his conversion and call to the ministry, a successful law yer, and had worn the ermine. He turned his back on all secularities and devoted the remainder of his life to the ministry and the educational interests of the Church. He was the author of that unique book, " Georgia Scenes." Much of his time was spent In writing on theological sub jects writings not designed to appear in print until after his death. All these valuable manuscripts were destroyed by fire shortly after he died.
Bishop Andrews, during the session of the Conference, appointed Judge L,ongstreet to deliver a lecture to the

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D, ANTHONY,

young preachers upon (i The proper way to read hymns, Scripture lessons," etc., giving the Judge full latitude, which, as the sequel proved, was all the better for bins. At the appointed time the Judge began his lecture. In a few words and by a few examples he showed us how to read hymns, whereto throw emphasis, etc.; then in two or three minutes more, how a text of Scripture, as a founda tion for a sermon, "should be read. At length he seemed to have exhausted the subject. Finally he said: "My young brethren, the best guide to the proper reading of both hymns and texts is yotir own good common sense. If you have this essential, but 1 must say very rare gift* y u w^l read both your hymns and texts correctly. But if you do not possess this important commodity, all I could say, were I to stand here an age, would not give it you." He then closed his remarks.
The older brethren said the Judge was "in the brush." The younger ones felt disappointed, and thought they had gained but little, if anything, by the lecture. The Bishop said, " I hope the young brethren will act oil Brother Longstreets suggestions/ " How?" I wondered. "If we have good common sense we shall, of course, read properly. If not, what ? He has given no light to those deficient in common sense ! "
I believe thai, afte*" looking at this subject for fortynine years, the greatest benefit derived by me from the Judges eloquent effort was in the reflection that if men of learning and renown get "into the brush," make failures and still survive, we little fellows ought not to give up the ghost when we make a **bti-st" Krorn this thought I have often drawn comfort. We ma}^ truly, hope that some good may come out of our most signal failures, or what seem to us to be failures. It is none of our business how.

CHAPTER XII.
PREACHER IN CHARGE.
At the close of the Conference I returned to my fatherin-laws, and in a few days my wife and I were on our way to Gainesville, our field of labor for the-year of grace 1848.
I had eleven preaching places, and it was my duty to make the full round every two "weeks. Hence I had to preach morning and night in Gainesville every other Sun day, to divide the other two Sundays between two other churches,, and to preach at least once every two weeks at each of the churches. Now the Gainesville circuit, for 1848, was the upper portion of the ground I had traveled in 1847, so that, having used all my prepared sermons in that part of my field of labor, I had to begin de novo.
INCREASE IN MY LABORS.
Many of those who heard me at the country churches would come into town to .hear me on Sunday. My work therefore involved a heavier demand upon me, by far, than a station would have done, and I determined to devote every moment possible to study and the preparation of sermons. I was often up until twelve and even two oclock at night. I robbed myself of much of the rest and sleep to which nature was entitled, but succeeded in meet ing all demands upon me until the latter part of May.
I will now, before recording the particulars of the breaking down of my health, speak of some persons and matters of interest.
THE SOLILOQUIZING DOCTOR.
Here lived Dr. Banks, the most popular surgeon in Georgia, who had accumulated a fine property by the prac-

SO

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J.. D. ANTHONY.

tice of his profession. The doctor was a devoted member of our church. He was addicted to the habit of talking to himself when alone.
I remember, one night, stepping into the street from the house where I had taken tea. I heard Dr. Banks voice, as I thought. He was apparently coming down the street and talking with two or three ether gentlemen. I was under the impression that there were three, if not fours distinct voices, I halted at the gate and awaited the arrival of the doctor and his companions, and was aston ished, when I found that he was alone. Said I, "Doctor, where are the gentlemen with whom I heard you talking ? " He seemed surprised, and assured me that he had been alone from his own gate to that point. I told him that I had certainly heard an animated conversation between parties having different voices. He replied, " I often catch myself talking with and to myself ; perhaps it is because I have no one else to talk with ; and then, my young brother, I feel free to take liberties with Doctor Banks that I dare not take with others."
The explanation was thoroughly satisfactory, and we went on together to the church, talking upon the necessity of a sweeping- revival in the community. And I presume that this was the subject upon which the doctor was talk ing with his imaginary friends.
AN INTERRUPTED PRAYER.
Some years previous to my forming the doctors ac quaintance, there lived, in tbe same beautiful town, that most wonderful wit. Judge Underwood. The following anecdote was told to mo by an eye-and-car witness of un doubted veracity. Banks was a democrat, Underwood an old-line whig. The two could not agree, it seemed, on any subject. The judge was a. member of the Methodist Church, to which the doctors wife also belonged.

FREACHHR IN CHARGE.

Si

During a revival Doctor Banks was converted and joined the church. At a prayer-meeting next morning, in obedience to an old Methodist custom, the leader called on tue doctor to lead in prayer. The judge was present. The doctor was embarrassed and could not get a start off for some moments. Then he began thus:
" Am I a soldier of the Gross, A Lollower of th.e Lamb ? "
Just as the doctor finished the last sentence, Under\vood raised his head from where he had bowed for prayer, saying, "No, Doctor Banks ; no, you are neither, to my certain knowledge." Underwood then bowed his head, and Banks proceeded as best, he could.
AN ORIGINAL.
Hon. Joseph Dunnagan? "The Walking- Constitution/ 5 Methodist exhorter,, etc., lived within a few miles of Gainesvillej and held his church membership at that place. No one who ever met the Hon. Joseph could forget him. There never was but one Joe Dunnagan. He was raised in the humble walks of life, was favored with but a meagre schooling, and had to labor for his daily bread ; yet he mastered the difficulties that stood in the way of his ac quiring a useful education. He was one of the best read men of his day, had the Constitutions of the State of Geor gia and the United States at his tongues end, was elected to any ofiice to which he aspired, frequently represented his county in the legislature, and was repeatedly elected from the three counties forming his senatorial district. No man was willing to oppose ** Uncle Joe " in a race for any office.
Uncle Joe was a very peculiar man. He could not carry a tune so singers declared 3^et the * Psalm hoister" had to be in a very great hurry or Uncle Joe would get ahead of him in starting the mu^k:! lie had a way of throwing-

82

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

his right hand to his right ear holding it so as to form a semicircle around the auricular orifice I suppose to con vey to his own sense of hearing the different intonations of his voice. He -would sing, and, if he raised the tune, was apt before going very far to find himself singing a solo. That is to say, all others would cease trying, and he would sing on to the end. Many amusing1 anecdotes were told at his expense; for example the following:
When he was first elected to represent his county in. the Legislature he went to Milledgeville, then the capitol of the State, clad in a homespun suit. He had even tanned
the leather of which his shoes were made, and cut, sewed, and pegged them. They were brown in color. He made his arrangement for board with the landlord, was assigned to a room, and retired for the night.
Next morning he was not at the breakfast table. The
landlord sent up a boy to to inquire as to the cause of his absence. Mr. D. told the boy to ask his master to come to his room as he wished to see him. As soon as the pro prietor appeared, Mr. D. said : " Sir, I am an honest man, and hope you are too. I dont wish to injure you or your house; but, sir, my shoes are missing. I fear one of your servants has stolen them !"
The proprietor summoned the colored waiters to the room and informed them that Mr. D.s shoes were missing. The boot-black picked up a pair of shoes, remarking- at the same time, " Dese, rnassa, am his shoes." Whereupon Uncle Joe replied, "You are lying, sir ; yon are lying!
These shoes are black ; mine are a beautiful yallcr ! " The landlord explained that the boy had blacked the shoes in accordance with a rule of the house. Mr. D. protested, "Well, sir, I dont want my shoes blacked anymore. I
shall never feel right until they become yaHe? again !" I do not know how much truth there is in this anecdote,
but was informed that Uncle Joe made many votes among

PREACHER IN CHARGE.

83

his rural constituents by telling the above story at his own ^xpense during his electioneering tours.
Uncle Joe finally quit politics and went to California, where he dug gold for a time. It was said that he made considerable money. Later he went to Pikes Peak on a similar errand. I have been informed that, long since his death, a considerable amount of money, which he had probably buried, was unearthed 011 some part of his old farm. The honorable Joseph Dunnagan was a man of wonderful endowments, honest, high-toned, and a true Christian gen tleman. Hall county will long cherish his memory.
SAM JONES* GRANDFATHER. -
During my first year on this work I met the Rev. Rob ert L, Edwards, the minister who officiated when my parents dedicated me in infancy, by baptism, to God and the Church. I had often heard my father and mother speak of Robert L. Edwards as a-wonderful maw- I heard him preach several times during the autumn of 847.
This sainted man was the maternal .grandfather of Rev. Sam. P. Jones, the world-famous e^?,p.gelist. His distin guished grandson possesses som^ of his characteristics. It is said that circumstances alte<" conditions. Certainly the surroundings of men have mach to do with their de velopment, fame, etc-
A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK.
The following incident occurred m my presence and will show that Sam is a chip off the old block. At a campmeeting at Warsaw camp-ground, in the autumn of 1847, a large number of preachers were present. There had been much good preaching, bat the desired effects were not forthcoming.
The trumpet had sounded 1 or the night services at the arbor, on Saturday evening. The preachers, in conformity with a custom that then universally obtained at camp-meet-

84

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

ings, had knelt in their tent and spent a few moments in prayer for the Divine presence at the approaching hours services.
Father Edwards was a first-class revivalist. It was his opinion that Saturday night was the pivotal point in the services of a camp-meeting. I must confess that my ob servation and experience of meetings of that class lead me to the conclusion that the good old brother was correct. A successful meeting en Saturday night is usually fol lowed by a scries of good meetings to the close.
"GIVE EM HELL!"
All the preachers had left the tent and were on their way to the arbor. Father Edwards, who always believed in being on hand in due time, was leading the procession. Pie halted, and turned facing us, saying, t! Stop, brethren, stop! Tell me who is to preach to-night." "Brother JDavidson \VIlHam sort," someone replied. Then, facing Brother William son, " Brother, what are you going to preach about ?" * I thought I would take a text In Isaiah, 48 : 18," said WHliamson. Old Brother Edwards requested the preacher to quote his text, which he did : "Then had Thy peace been as a river and Thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." (i Pooh, pooh !" exclaimed Edwards, " That wont do at all, at all. Give *em hell, brother, give em hell / Thats what they need ! I tell you, you must give em hell / "
Brother Willlarnson was not a man who could shoot without taking a rest; so he preached on "peace as a river/ etc. it was a very pretty, smooth sermon of about thirty niinutes. When, lie had finished, old Brother Dunnagart, according to previous arrangement, arose to con clude the services. As previously stated, Brother T). was only a licensed exhorter, but, owing to his wonderful pop ularity as n member o the State Senate and his many gifts

PREACHER IN CHAKGK.

8g

and virtues, he was frequently put forward on important occasions. The old senator got tip, eulogized the sermon in beautiful language, and began to talk about the assizes in England, and the vast numbers that attended on such occasions, etc.
Old Brother Edwards was seated in the altar. He rose up, groaned in spirit, struck a bee-line for the pulpit, and placed his right hand on the old senators breast, at the same time saying, " Brother, I dont care anything about the assizes of England. These people are sinners, sir ; big sinners, on their way to hell! and if you wont tell them about where .they are going, sit down, and let me tell them all about it ! "
" I was going on," explained the old senator, "to tell them about the greater assizes of the general judgment day ; but, my brother, I will give place to you. I know you can do better than I can." And he took his seat.
AN EFFECTIVE APPKAT-,
Brother Edwards was a man of great power, and pos sessed a peculiar gift of painting the terrors of the law. He showed up the sins of the people in their true colors, and in the plainest terms, and then drew, in appalling hues, a most fearful picture of the torments of the damned. When he invited the unsaved to the altar, they came in crowds. This moved the church^ and the meeting lasted all night. Cries, mingled with shouts of converts, and the happy hallelujahs of Christians, continued to be heard until the sun, full-orbed, rode up Into the heavens. Truly, Sam Jones inherits his grandfathers traits of char acter.
THE CONVERTKD BAR-KKEPER.
I wish to speak of Rev. H. H, Porter, who, in the early part of 1846, was engaged in running a barroom in Gainesville, but was soundly converted during the summer of

86

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

that year. On the morning of his conversion he knocked the heads out of his whiskey barrels and kegs, then pro ceeded to break to pieces his decanters, and continued the work until he had destroyed his entire bar outfit. He then went to the church, told the congregation what he had done, and asked to be admitted into the church. He en gaged in his former occupation of boot and shoe making and also began to labor for the Church, was licensed to preach, and spent some years in the eld Georgia Conference. Finally he located and spent the remainder of his valuable life in North Georgia. Had Brother Porter been con verted in early life and possessed of the advantages of even a common English education, he would have been a tower of strength in Methodism, though few were more useful than he, notwithstanding his disadvantages.

CHAPTER XIII.
IN THE LOCAL RANKS-
In May 1848 my health utterly failed me. I had to give up my work. My wife and I went to her fathers and remained until October. I then determined to withdraw from the traveling connection and settle upon a little farm which I owned in the county of Floycl, seven miles below Rome, in the upper part of Vanns Valley. By the first of November we were settled in our new home. My wife was seriously ill during the greater part of the next year.
I worked on my farm during the week and preached at some church almost every Sunday. The next few pages will be confined to the time spent by me in the local ranks.
After farming for two years, I decided to sell out every thing connected with my agricultural interests and to put

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87

all the capital I could control into the mercantile business. A friend, a former schoolmate, and I bought a stock of goods and opened up at "Lavenders" old stand, later known as " The McGuire Stand," eleven miles northeast of Rome.
My partner never succeeded In raising the money which he was to put into the business ; hence the capital that I furnished was all we had to operate on. Our credit was good, and we bought and sold between eleven and twelve thousand dollars worth of goods within the space of twelve months.
The year 1851, in consequence of long drought, yielded but a short crop. We had sold largely on time, and our collections were short. My partner left me and went in search of a new home. I suppose he found it, as, so far as I know, he has never returned. I sold off everything I pos sessed that I could convert into money, and applied the proceeds to the payment of the firms indebtedness.
During the next year I taught school, collected what I could on the old debts, succeeded, in two or three years, in paying one hundred cents on the dollar, and once more experienced the blessedness of being able to say, " I owe no man a dollar."
I held notes and open accounts on my former custom ers for three or four thousand dollars, and could not keep from thinking, daily and hourly, of my kindness to them and the confidence I had previously reposed in many of them. I knew that some, at least, could have paid me if they would. Many of my delinquent customers were members of the different Christian churches. I never did like to look long at a time on the dark side of any picture.
BURNING UP MY TROUBLES.
One night in mid-winter I had spent some hours in go ing over, in mind, as I had often done before the list of

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LIFK AND TIMES OF REV. J. D, ANTHONY.

those who had withheld from me that which justly belonged to me, indulging feelings of disappointment, loss of confi dence, etc. A new thought struck me, viz., to burn to ashes all that class of troubles. There was a fine bed of live oak and hickory coals in the fire-place ; so I quietly arose from bed, took day-book, cash-book and ledger, also my bundle of notes and all other documentary evidences of indebtedness to me, and laid them on the live coals. The papers soon blazed up and ignited the books.
Just at this juncture my wife awoke, and, seeing me assisting the fire to consume the books, ran to the fire place and tried to rescue the ledger, declaring at the same time that I had gone crazy. I gently pulled her back, say ing, " No, wife, no. I am not crazy ; I am only burning up my troubles." So it proved, in so far at least as those troubles that grew out of that particular source were con cerned. I assure you, kind reader, that, although forty odd years have passed since that cremation took place, I have not spent two consecutive minutes thinking on those debts. Further, I assure you that those kind-hearted friends have never disturbed me by calling to settle, either in-whole or in part, I gained much by freeing my mind from that intolerable burden, and sure am I that I did not lose one cent by that bonfire.
THE BACKSLIDERS REQUEST.
During the month of May, 1851, a man by the name of White rode up to the door of our business house and in quired for me. Oil my making myself known to him, he addressed me as follows :
"Well, sir, I hear you are a Methodist preacher. My name is Canada White. I live over on Johns Creek, in whats known as Johns Valley. We are all goin to the devil as fast as we can go. We cuss and drink liquor, and get drunk. We fiddle and we dance, and do all kinds of

IN THK LOCAL RANKS,

89

devilment. 1 used to be a Methodist where I came from. I was a class leader and a steward in the church ; but, sir, Im backslid. I get drunk a ad cuss and swear like the rest of em, and I want to do better, and I want all the rest to do better ; and I come to see you and try to get you to go over and preach at our school.house. Well build a pulpit and fix benches for seats if youll give us some preachinV
The appeal was too much, for me to resist ; so after getting a full waybill, I gave him an appointment for the second Saturday and Sunday in July following. He left me seemingly rejoicing at the success of his errand.
When the appointed Saturday came I mounted rny horse, and, following the waybill he had given me, reached the school-house a few minutes before eleven A. M. I saw a congregation of perhaps a hundred females, but only one man, beside myself, was on the ground, and that man was not my friend White. This solitary gentleman, however, came up, introduced himself to me, and explained the ab sence of the male population. Said he, "This is justices court day up at Kveretts Court Ground, about four miles away." It appeared that a case was up for trial a case of hog stealing, in which every man in the neighborhood was interested either as a party to the trial, or as juror or as witness.
CONFLICTING COUNSEL.
My informant invited me to go home with him after preaching, arid added, "Now, parson, Im no church mem ber ; I cant help you in the services, but Ill give you a piece of advice. Dont announce any services for to-night, for all the boys will come back drunk, and it wont be safe for you to attempt to preach."
I decided to act on the advice given, stepped into the house, went through with the services, announced preach ing for the next day at eleven A. M., and pronounced the benediction, A lady approached me, saying, (( I am Canada

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

Whites wife. My old man was the one who went after you to get you to preach here. He had to go to court to day, and told me to take you home with me and take care of you and tell }^ou to be sure to preach here to-night, and that he and all the boys would be here to hear you."
I replied that I had promised to spend the evening and night with Mr. C., who had invited me before services.
"All right," she replied, "but I think you ought to preach for us to-night." I felt that this seemingly reason able request should be granted, and in a loud voice I an nounced services at "candle-light" that night. I went home with my friend whose advice I had ignored. He seemed greatly distressed, and said that he had strong fears for mv personal safety. Somehow I could not enter into sympathy with his fears. .As the evening wore away his dread of violence to me seemed to increase, though mine did not. When the time arrived to start, I said, " Let us go ; that Is, if you are not afraid to go v/ith me. If you are, I certainly will go alone."
He said he would go. When we got within a half mile of the appointed place we could hear the profanity of the men who were returning from the court-ground.
"Do you hear that?" asked my friend. "Oh, yes," said I, " but we will go on and see -what we shall see."
AN ALCOHOLIZED " PSALM-HOISTER."
We soon reached the school house. My friend White came up to where we were hitching our horses, brothered me, and assured me that I should be protected. I saw at once that he was under the influence of liquor. His shirt sleeves were rolled up nearly to his shoulders, and his sus penders were tied around his waist. "Let us go in and begin the services/* said I, and in we three went.
I read my first hymn. White pitched and carried the tune ; and, by the way, he did it well. I asked the congre-

IN THE LOCAL, RANKS.

91

gation to kneel and join me in prayer. White indorsed my supplications by loud " amsns" and many deep and seem ingly pious groans. I read my second hymn and called for some one to raise the tune. White raised and carried it? so far as I was capable of judging, all right. I announced my text, second chapter of Paul to the Hebre^vs : * How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? "
I began my sermon and White began indorsing me. The house was packed "with hearers. There were perhaps a dozen on the outside who kept up a conversation among themselves in a very loud tone. One fellow took his posi tion a few feet from the door, near the wall, looking at me from between the logs. He would peep at me a minute or so, turn to his companions, and say, " Listen, boys, listen ; thats the truth, Ill sivar it is." This he repeated every minute or two.

" STICK A PEG DOWN THERE."

I noticed that my friend White, my "psalm-hoister" and

voluntary protector, would, turn his eyes toward the out

side speaker with a shake of his head that was significant.

I went on as though nothing had happened. I saw clearly

that White was troubled, and that a row would probably

occur if I should seem to notice the fellow or what he was

saying, I hoped he would soon cease the annoyance ; but

in this I was mistaken. He continued to call the attention

of the boys to what I said, and to indorse my utterances,

for I suppose ten minutes. Then he suddenly changed his

tactics, and began to curse the preacher and the preaching.

My friend White could stand it no longer. He arose

from his seat and said :

"Brother, you stick a peg down there until I give this

a

thrashing "

Suiting his action to his words, he bolted out of the house. The interrupter retreated in a hurry ; White pur-

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. O. ANTHONY.

sued hi in for some distance down the road, but finding that



the fellow was the faster runner, he picked up a heavy rock,

or chunk, and threw it after him, shouting: " Go,

you, and stay away until you larn how to behave yourself,

:

before you go agin whar peoples worshiping Almighty

|

God ! " White then returned,

I

I obeyed the command to " stick a peg down," that is,

1

I kept my standing position in the pulpit. The congrega

tion sat motionless ; it seemed that one could have heard a

pin fall on the floor. The silence remained unbroken un

til White returned to the house. Facing me, he said,

" You can go on now, brother ; you wont be interrupted

any more." He took his seat, and all went smoothly on to

the close of the services. Services were afterwards held

at that point without let or hindrance.

Thirty years later I had an appointment to preach in

Sugar Valley, eight or ten miles distant from the location

of the above described scene. Quite a delegation came

over the mountain to see and hear the man "who "stuck

clown the peg," while White cleared the deck of graceless

intruders. They informed me that a large framed church

covered the spot where I stood when ordered to "stick

down the peg," and that about two hundred members wor

shiped there statedly.

On inquiring after my friend White, I was informed

that he regarded it his duty to protect the preacher as long

as he remained in that neighborhood, and compelled all to

be orderly at the worship of God ; but that although he had

joined the church several times, yet when he left Georgia

for Texas he was out of the Church and a confirmed

drunkard. Alas! the demon of intemperance had too se

curely bound the poor fellow with the iron chain of habit.

THE BLACKSMITHS INVITATION.

During the summer and autumn of 1850 I was employed

IN THE LOCAL RANKS,

93

by the Presiding Elder, Rev. A. T. Mann, as assistant to Rev. J. H. Ewing on the Cassville circuit, which embraced all of the county of Cass, now Bart aw. We were engaged in protracted meetings from July until November. Many were converted and added to the Church. My recollection is that there were over six hundred additions to the Church during that time,
An old Baptist brother, a blacksmith, whose name was Smith, lived in Kingston. I called at his shop one days while passing, to have a little job done in his line. He in quired of me whether or not I was a preacher. I informed him that I was a Methodist preacher. He then told me that he was a member of the Baptist Church ; that he was among the first to locate in that town ; that he had heard no preaching in a long while ; that no one had ever at tempted to preach there ; that he had urged two ministers of his own denomination to preach in town, but they were afraid to attempt it, as they were both small men and both growing old.
" Now," said he, * you are a young man, big and strong", and dont look like you would be easily scared. I would be much, pleased if you would preach for us. "We have no house to worship in, but Ill fix all that if you will give us an appointment for preaching. If I can do nothing else, I can fix for services in my dwelling-house."
I then and there arranged to begin a meeting on a cer tain Friday in July, and to run it for ten days. I secured the services of two other young preachers ID wing ancl Dickey. The former could tip the beam at 240 pounds. the latter at 210 pounds, and I at 235 pounds.
At the appointed time the trio met at the residence of our good old brother Smith, who kindly cared for us and our horses. He informed me that he had secured a house to worship in, and that he had in person arranged the seats to accommodate the congregation. " I dont know

94

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

how you will like it," he said. " It is a large store-house in which the owners did a large grocery business. The firm broke, and the house and all its contents were levied on. The sheriff has kindly consented to our using the house to worship in. He has moved all the goods to an other point, except eleven barrels of whiskey, which we have rolled and piled up behind the counter, and the way I have it arranged youll have to stand behind the counter to preach and use the counter for a book-board. This is the best I could do under the circumstances."
I assured him that I appreciated his efforts and rejoiced in his success^ and that if the staves and barrel-heads were kept between the whiskey and the people, no harm would
ensue. I led off by preaching the first sermon, in which I tried
to depict sin and its consequences in their true colors. A very large old man, who, I suppose, was over three score and ten years of age, sat just in front of me. He seemed, although well filled with whiskey, to regard it as a duty to heartily indorse all that I said. This he did by nodding his head, and occasionally by a verbal response. Quite a number of others were largely under the influence of the intoxicating fluid, but nevertheless gave me a respectful hearing.
At the close of the service my corpulent old friend came up and slapped me in a friendly way on the shoulders at the same time encouraging me thus : ** IVty young friend, you made the bark fly like h I to-night, but thats all right; just give it to em, its just what they deserve ! "
Our meeting continued to grow in interest at every service. My two brother preachers had to leave me about the middle of the week. I decided to continue until the Sunday night following. Hence the first religious meet ing ever held in that town lasted ten days and nights. When I closed we had a Methodist Church of thirty-four

IN THE LOCAL RANKS.

95

members, and something over four hundred dollars in cash and good subscriptions with which to build a church.
HOLDING MEETINGS UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
The present beautiful little city of Cartersville was then a village of three or four hundred inhabitants. A new framed church had recently been built I think, perhaps, on the very lot upon which the large brick church now stands. As in all new railroad towns, many were there who cared nothing for churches and religion. One of this class, while the Rev. J. H. Ewing was preaching one night, spoke out loud enough to be heard all over the house, ** Mr. Preacher, you are preaching a lie, and you know it!" This threw Brother Kwing off his balance, and he called for the sheriff or bailiff, but no one responded to his call. He then ordered the interrupter to leave the house, which the fellow did, but in a very disorderly mariner. Ewing lost his temper, and it looked for a minute or two as if it would be impossible to prevent the breaking up of the services in a tumult. I arose and said, (( Let us all pray," and led off in prayer. Soon everything was quiet, but to all human appearance it was a lost hour.
The next night it fell to my lot to fill the pulpit. I took for my text: " We shall all stand before the judg ment seat of Christ." All were quiet and orderly until I began to describe the Judge descending, accompanied by the angels ; the dead coming forth from their tombs ; the great white throne ; the Judge seated upon it j the cloud, bearing the world of man, moving upward to meet the Judge in the air ; the inhabitants of three worlds congre gating around the judgment seat. A man in. the rear por tion of the house called out : " Shut up ! You ought to be prosecuted for scaring the people to death ! Tis a burning shame to scare people in any such way ! "
I replied, lt Sir, I am preaching Gods word, nothing but

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.
, sir, the recording angel has writ-

n go crazy ! And out he went, while I proceeded with my sermon. After this we had no further trouble. The meet ing resulted well,

SUCCESS AND FAILURE WITH THE SAME TEXT,

At Feltons Cr-osa-roads we held a meeting of great in

terest. Quite a number of preachers were present, it fell

to my lot to preach on Saturday night of that meeting, and

I was iTiovc-xl to take the text from which I preached at

New Hope In Gwirmette County the details of which ser

mon were given in a former chapter^-viz., "As the days of

Noah were so shall also the corning of the Son of Man be."

The Lord helped me in large measure. I would be glad if

I could give Dr. Keltons testimony to the power of Gods

Spirit upon that, congregation, as he was present and has

often testified to the wonderful manner in which the Di

vine power was there manifested. Fie still lives.

As I had not pprreeaaccheed on that ssuubejecct in some years,

and the Holy Spirit had so signally blessed my two efforts

with that text, it occurred, to me that I ought to use it

oftenerr.

Acttiirng on this conviction, just one week Jarer I read

e OUt the distant

sS3a.miu<e^ from

tFt.ewe.x-li=tto, nbuie-ifis.oi,i.r"ew-. haa.ecW roeJniIig^irhw eagjd^aettum isojeinjd.

eanbjvoyuust, tt-hHiirHt.yy !m1JiJ1le(JsS it last. And, be

hold* I took It s departed from it, and never more found it,

at least on that occasion. It was surely the most complete

failure of my life. I then clearly learned that it would not

do to depend alone upon a text or a studied sermon for

success in the Lords work. Surely the power of preach-

ing is of the Spirit of God. Trury, we poor preachers can

do nothing without the presence and help of God.

CHAPTER XIV.
ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT.
During the latter part of the year 1852, at the solicita tion of Rev. James B. Payne, Presiding Elder of the Rome District, I consented to labor as a supply for the year 1853. Immediately after the adjournment of the Annual Confer ence, the Presiding Elder sent me the plan of the Dalton circuit. This v/as a large work, extending in length from Sugar Valley to Red Clay. It embraced all of Whitfield County, a portion of Gordon, and one church in Walker County. That unique character, Dick Watters, was my junior.
To accomplish this task it was necessary for me to move my family to Dalton, which was the most central point in the circuit. There was no parsonage. I could not get a house in the town proper, but found one in a suburban village then known as " Dutchtown," it having been built up by German immigrants. There were living in that part of the town, however, several families of native Americans, enough to form a good neighborhood. Al though the house I rented was built of logs, it was com fortable and afforded sufficient accommodation for my little family, and also room for company.
I suffered much during the year with vertigo, and was not able to fill all my appointments regularly. I filled all that I possibly could, but was fully convinced by the years experiment that I was not able to do full itinerant work the work, above all others, I most sincerely desired
to devote my life to. We had many good meetings during the year, and a

gS

LIFE AND TIMES OF KEV. J. D, ANTHONY.

large ingathering to the Church. The meeting that yielded the greatest results was the one held in Dalton.
DISCIPLINING A CONGREGATION.
I was discouraged by the two local preachers who lived in that town, viz., Levi Brotherton and C. B. Wellborn, who assured me that there was no use in trying to run a protracted meeting there ; that it had been tried often with out result ; that it would be a waste of time and strength, etc, I found, too, that most of the membership held the same views.
I also discovered that my predecessors had contributed to the forming of a rule of which I could not approve, viz., the waiting for the people to assemble, as much as an hour after the proper time for beginning the services. I re solved to break this objectionable rule, and to conform to our Discipline by beginning on time. I publicly an nounced that I would thenceforward begin services fifteen minutes alter the ringing of the second bell, and asked all to govern themselves accordingly.
The next Sabbath there were but few present when I began. I went on as though all v/ere in their seats. They kept coming in until the close of the service. At night I had the same experience. At both services, before pro nouncing the benediction, I assured the congregation that I should begin on time, and again urged all to be on hand. Some persisted in being late for a few \veeks, but event ually it would have been difficult to have found a more punctual congregation anywhere. I felt that this was a victory.
A LONG MEETING----GLORIOUS RESULTS.
In the month of July we began our series of protracted services, holding prayer meetings in the day and preaching at night. We ran on for some weeks without decided re sults, but at length the Spirit triumphed. The meeting

ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT.

99

continued for ninety-six nights consecutively, with preach ing at eleven A. M. each Saturday and Sunday, and a public prayer service every day of the ninety-six. Only three sermons were preached in rny pulpit by other brethren during this long meeting. The Lord abundantly blessed our labors. There were scores of conversions. Many of our converts went to other Churches. There were one hundred and fifteen added to our Church in Dalton.
THREE NOTABLE CONVERTS.
During these services, three, who afterwards became
ministers of the gospel, were converted, viz., T. T. Chris tian, T. J. Pope, and W. H. Fernerdon. Pope joined the Holston Conference, did faithful work for many years, and was superannuated. Of Fernerdon I only know that he went to the Virginia Conference. How long he lived or what good he accomplished is known to God. As to the Rev. T. T. Christian, his useful career is known to Georgia Methodism from the seaboard to the mountains. His con version was " clear-cut and sky-blue." Prior thereto and at the time of its happening he edited and published the only paper then existing in Whitfield County, or in the eight surrounding counties. He was a man of courage and indomitable will, and was honorable in all his business transactions. He had married a good Christian woman at a time when he cared but little for those things. He was liberal in his support of the Church in which he had been reared and to which his good wife belonged.
Julius Ccesar did not possess a braver or Napoleon the First a more unconquerable spirit than did the young ed itor. His natural intrepidity, coupled with his habits and associations, frequently brought him into collision with men of desperate character. No number of antagonists, however well armed, could deter him. Many were the fights in which he formed the one line of battle, while his

IOO

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. _f. D, ANTHONY.

antagonists would, perhaps, number more than a dozen, yet he never came off second best.
On my way to prayer services one afternoon I saw Tom and a lawyer, a regular chum of his, seated upon the back steps of a store, seemingly deeply engaged in conversation. It occurred to me that it was my duty to turn aside and in vite them to accompany me to church. I walked in front of where they were sitting, and, reaching forth my hands, placed one on the shoulder of each, at the same time say ing : "Boys, you are both clever fellows, and have gifts which, if properly used, will make you useful men. Vou have both served the devil faithfully, and you find him a hard master one who gives but poor pay. Each of you has a good Christian wife. You ought to do better ; come, go with me to the prayer meeting."
Christian, addressing his companion, said: "Lets go, Bill." Bill hesitated, objecting, "Oh, I cant go."
I replied, " Yes you can ; come on, boys." With a gen tle pull on my part, they both arose. Walking abreast, we went on and into the church. I stopped at the altar, they walked on down the aisle and seated themselves about the middle of the house. I proceeded with the services. At the proper time I invited penitents to the altar ; then went to where Tom and his friend were sitting and urged them to accompany me there. Again Tom said: " Lets go, Bill," to which, a moment or two later, Bill consented.
TOM CHRISTIANS CONVERSION.
At the close of the first prayer the lawyer arose from his knees, went to his seat, picked up his hat and went out at the back door. Christian remained upon his knees and showed signs of deep earnestness. We remained with him until near night, I then suggested to him the propriety of going home for supper and getting ready for the night services.

ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT.
He arose, saying, ** You go on home, Ill go to myself." I hurried home, and as soon as possible was on my way back to the church. When leaving the main street for that which led to the church, I heard some one shouting in a loud voice. Soon I was accosted by a crowd of church goers : (( E)o you know that Tom Christian has been con verted ?" Said I, "No, I did not." "Yes," said a brother, " when he left the church this afternoon, he went out to wards the foot of the mountain and got religion. And hes got it, too, for he came shouting into town, and is going from house to house, from drinking saloon to drinking sa loon, shouting and preaching to the boys. Oh, Im so glad." I went into the church, got through with the introduc tory services, took my text, and was about half way through with my sermon, when our young convert entered, walked down the aisle, and facing me, said: "Brother Anthony, I feel like I want to say something to the boys." Said I, " Go it, Tom, I am sure you can beat me, go ahead." Go ahead he did, and in five minutes the altar was crowded. A large number were converted that night. Next day he said to me, * Ive got to preach, and Ive got to go at it at once, too."
CHRISTIAN ENTERS THE MINISTRY.
Under the law at that time the preacher in charge could give any brother, whom he might deem likely to be useful in that line, a license to exhort. So I, as pastor in charge, wrote him a license to " exercise his gifts and graces as an exhorter."
At our next Quarterly Conference T. T. Christian was regularly licensed to preach and recommended to the Georgia Annual Conference. He was accepted, and from that day to this has been actively engaged in the work of the ministry, filling the most important stations and dis tricts in his Conference. He is now assistant .editor and business manager of the Wesleyan i

IO2

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D, ANTHONY.

Before closing this narrative I wish to try to convey a lesson. It will be remembered that the young aiid talented lawyer who went with Christian to the altar, left the house at the close of the first prayer. So far as I can learn, never afterwards did he give any demonstration of interest in his souls salvation. It has been said, and I think truthfully, " There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Ever since that hour I have looked upon that altar scene as being the point of flood-tide in th.e lives of those two young men. In that crisis, Christian made the wise choice, the young lawyer chose the other road. On inquiry, I was informed that the latter long since filled an untimely grave.
His companion has been a blessing in his day and gen eration. He has raised a large family, all of whom arc members of the Church in which they were reared. Two of them are identified with the South Georgia Conference, viz., Rev. T. M. Christian, who is prominent in the front rank of our younger preachers, and a daughter, the excel lent wife of Rev. J. H. Mather.
A NEVKR-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN SCENE.
One sultry evening in August, 1853, just after sundown, two boys of about ten or twelve years of age came to my house with a request that I would go immediately to the home of a Mr. H., and pray for a woman who, they said, had been shot and was in a dying condition.
Mr. H. was originally from Germany. Pie was a man of none too exalted a reputation, and lived in the most dis reputable part of town. I felt unwilling to go alone. It was but little oat of my way to go by the store where my two local preachers did business ; so I determined to re quest them to accompany me. Both insisted that it was my duty to see the unfortunate woman and talk and pray with her, but neither was willing to accompany me.

ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT.

IO3

Finally I succeeded in getting a layman to go with me. By the time we reached the residence of Mr. H., it was
night. The little dwelling was crowded with females who were recognized as fallen women. There was a large number of men, of the baser sort, in the yard. As we ap proached they made way for us.
On entering we found old man H. sitting near the fire place. Notwithstanding the extreme heat of the weather, a little fire was burning upon the hearth. He held a pistol in his hand, and was using profane language at a fearful rate. All present seemed to be in fear that he would fire off his deadly weapon. Brother N. and I approached the bed, upon which lay a woman with a very large wound in her neck, near the windpipe. The wound appeared as large as a twenty-five cent silver piece, and blood constantly flowed from it. Bed and pillow were literally soaked with blood, and the vital fluid also ran off in a small stream on the floor, for two or three feet.
As I came near, I said, "You seem to be badly hurt, madam. Please tell me how this came about."
On hearing me speak, * Old Dutchy," as the boys called Mr. H., arose from his chair, and although full of whiskey, was soon by my side. Throwing his arm around my neck, he exclaimed, " Mr. breacher, me sen for you to come and bray me vornans veil." Then, addressing all in the room, " Git you down git you down, while this briest bray me vomans veil! Git down me say, git down ! " He was obeyed ; all knelt. Then, pulling me down, he said, " Now, Mr. breacher, you bray me vornans veil ! By this time he had me on my knees, and was holding one arm around my neck. There was nothing left for me but to obeyhis command. I began praying as best I could un der the circumstances, he, despite my every effort to pre vent it, rubbing his whiskey-stenched face against my cheek, and keeping up all the while a continuous volume

IO4

LIFE AND TIMKS OF REV. J. D, ANTHONY.

of shouto and ejaculations, such as, "Zooks, me so habby," " Der Lord and dig briest make me vomans veil/ etc.
The extreme heat, the sight and smell of the blood, so near me, the close hug and whiskey-breath of " Old Dutchy," all conspired to make me fearfully sick at my stomach. I soon said "Amen," and, with a mighty ef fort, rose to my feet. I then asked the brother who ac companied me to take the old fellow out of the house. Brother J. 1ST. asked him to go out, saying that he wished to see him, on business. As soon thereafter as possible I again addressed the poor woman : * Madam, please tell me how you came to get this fearful wound/
She looked me in the face for a minute, before uttering a word, and then said, " Tell me, thou man of God, do you think this -wound is necessarily mortal ? Must I die ? "
I replied, "Madam, to all human, appearance, death is inevitable."
After pausing for a few moments, she continued, " Well, sir, I have a request to make of you, which I pray you to grant me. There is nothing wrong, I assure you, in the request that I shall make, and you can grant it without any compromise of conscience. Will you grant me this dying request ? "
I replied, " Upon the conditions you specify I will grant it " and bade her proceed.
"I wish," said she, "to make a full confession of my past life to you, and the request is that if I die you write all that I tell you to my father, but if I survive you will never let him know anything of me or anything I reveal to you." I accepted the terms, and she proceeded, I think, in exactly the following words :
A SAD, SAD STORY.
"Well, sir, my real name is A. W . I was born
about ten miles from C., Tennessee. My fathers name is

ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT.

10$

j. \v . He is in fine circumstances, has a large planta tion and owns over thirty negroes. His home is one of el egance and plenty. I had every educational advantage that it was possible for him to give. I finished my educa tion in a first-class seminary, after -which I went home as pure as an angel in virtue and innocence.
" Not long afterward, I was wooed for my heart and hand, and my heart was won. I loved strongly, but not wisely. The man I adored proved unworthy of my affec tions. Under the most solemn pledges of undying love and eternal constancy he accomplished my ruin. Alas, virtue once lost is lost forever !
" My betrayer abandoned me and left me in a ruined condition. I made a full confession to my father, hoping he would pity and forgive his fallen child. He flew into a. terrible rage, and bade me leave home never to return. He drove me away without giving me time to get a change of raiment. I left the home of my childhood on foot and without one cent of money. I came to C., our county seaU and went to the railroad depot. The train was about ready to leave for this place. I took a seat in the car, and the train started. When the conductor came around I told him that I was homeless and moneyless, and begged him to bring me to this place. He was a kind-hearted man, and assured me that, although he would have to pay my . fare to tT^e railroad authorities, he would comply with my request.
"On arriving here, I went to several of the best fami lies in town and offered to take a servants place. My pur pose was to lead a pure life, and, if possible, wipe out the past by right living. I was turned away from every door. I was compelled to have food and shelter, but could get neither among the respectable classes. At last, in my de spair, I turned to these people who stand around me. They took me in, treated me kindly and nursed me while sick.

IO6

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. E. ANTHONY.

I then thought of making another effort to get a home as servant in a good family; but my little baby boy stood be tween me and access to good families. I was forced to re main here ; but I lived an unspotted life. When my little boy was three years old, Mr. H., the man who owns this house, lost his wife. He, too, was left with a -little boy. He came to me and proposed that, if I would care for his child and take charge of his household affairs,, I and my boy should want for nothing. Seeing no other hope I accepted his offer the only choice except an abandoned life. If I meet God in judgment this night I will say I have lived an upright life since coming here. Gods Book will show all things. Eternity will reveal to you and to all the truth of this statement. I am a poor outcast, and yet my heart thirsts for virtue.
"Now, as to my wound, Mr. H. was drunk this evening, as he often is. He rammed two balls into his pistol, and was about to shoot a woman who lives near by. I tried to prevent it. Somehow the pistol went off, and both balls entered here," pointing to the "wound in her neck, " I sup pose they parted somewhere, as there are two holes in the back of my neck. I reckon we should regard the shoot ing as an accident. I dont think Mr. H. would have hurt me intentionally.
"Now, sir, I have told you all. If I die, write to my father ; but if I recover, dont let him know anything of me or my troubles. Oh, that my father had but forgiven me ! He drove me away his unfortunate child ! Oh, sir, it is human to err ! Alas, heart-crushing pangs and bitter tears cannot undo the past ! Sir, if ever you meet a poor? erring1 girl, who, like me, loved too well, oh! urge her pa rents to forgive her and keep her at home. Had mine done so, I had not been in this awful condition to-night !
* Sir, I have done. Pray for me again before you go ; pray that if I die now, I may be washed in the blood of the

ON THE DALTON CIRCUIT.

IO/

Lamb and numbered with the saints in light ; that if it is Gods will that I should recover, I may soon, under His providence, be placed where I can lead a more useful life,"
I knelt and prayed, in all the earnestness of my soul, that the Lord would grant what I regarded as her dying request, and left for rny home,
Never in rny life have I experienced such feelings as those with which this interview filled my heart. The bright, lovely scenes of her innocent childhood she the loved and petted child of her parents ; the educational ad vantages vouchsafed to her ; the rainbow of hope that spanned the horizon of her future ; the young, pure heart won by an unworthy man, whose diabolical nature doubt less reveled in his victory and her downfall ; the fact that, while his poor victim was doomed to degradation and want, he could move in the highest circle of refined society ; that, had her father only taken a proper view of his duty to his erring child, she, too, might under the power of the Gospel of the Son of God, have been restored to happiness and a better life!
With these thoughts revolving in my mind, I fell asleep ; but from that hour to this, the scene I have de scribed has remained vividly in my memory. I never saw the poor woman again. She, however, recovered ; but of her after life I know nothing.

During the next five years I taught school ; two years near Villanow, Georgia, and three in Kloycl County, near where Plainville is now located.
I preached as much as my health and surroundings would allow. Glorious revivals swept through both schools, embracing very nearly all my pupils. During the two years at the former place my roll of pupils reached to over one hundred, and I was compelled to have an assistant.

IO8

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

Two of my pupils who were blessed in the revival in the school became ministers of the gospel, viz., Rev. W. T. Hamilton, of the North Georgia Conference, and Henry Pope, now in Arkansas. Another of my pupils in that sehool has several times represented his State in the U. S. Congress. Many others have filled positions of honor, and, so far as I know, all have made good citi zens. If any one of them has ever proved a failure, or a blight to society, I have never learned the fact.
The above statements are true, in the main, of all the schools taught by me. I have recorded these facts be cause I feel it is proper that they should be made known. If we but do our duty, and teach by precept and example, whether in the pulpit or in the pew, as pastors or teachers, the good Lord will take care of the results.
I often felt, while physically unable to do the work of an itinerant Methodist preacher, that, had I worlds at my command, I would willingly have parted with them all if thereby I could but have regained sufficient health to reenter my loved employment of a full itinerant work.
In retrospecting those years spent by me in teaching1, and preaching as a local preacher, I clearly see that I was not thrown into a barren field of labor. No ; verily those were fruitful fields I
LOCAL PREACHERS.
My experience during those years taught me to vener ate those good men known as local preachers, who labor to support themselves and families, and yet do noble work for God and the Church. I am pained when I hear a word said against them or their work. Among them I have found intellectual giants such men as Dr. Felton, Dr. H. V. M, Miller, Godfrey, Dr. Rawls, of Alabama, and many others sufficiently endowed to have filled any position in Church or State.

LOCAL PREACHERS.

IOQ

A mighty host among them are men of deep piety and thorough consecration, whose crowns of rejoicing will cor uscate with stars when central suns shall cease to shine and moons shall wax and wane no more !
It will be a fearful day for Methodism, should it ever come, when we no longer have local preachers. I wish to bear my testimony to the value of the labors of these good men. I have ever found them, as a class, ready to co operate with the itinerants, when proper opportunity was afforded them. In all the fields of labor assigned to me during my ministerial life they have been, almost without exception, zealous to work with me in all my plans for the advancement of the interests of God and the Church. I will venture a thought or two more on this important line. They, in common with all others, feel that they have cer tain inalienable rights that should be respected. They naturally think that their labors, which they perform with out financial reward, should be recognized by the pastor whom the economy of our Church places over them. They recognize the duty and subordination that the discipline of the Church places them under. They know it is the duty of the pastor to call them together in the early part of the year for consultation as to the amount of work they are able or willing to perform.
They know they have a right to be heard in that meet ing for consultation. How often do pastors neglect to call these meetings ! Of course the local preacher feels the pastor has snubbed him by this neglect, and does very lit tle preaching during the year. Again, when the local preacher assists his pastor in revivals, in writing up the re sults is it not simple justice for the pastor to mention his local brothers name, and use the plural pronoun ive, in stead of the egotistical personal pronoun I?
Let the itinerant treat his local preachers as brethren in the ministry, and follow the directions in the Discipline.

CHAPTER XV.
IN FULL HARNESS ONCE MOKE.
During the year 1859 the numerous demands made up on me to preach here and there kept me under heavier pressure than would have fallen to my lot by virtue of any appointment that the Bishop could have given me. I felt that my health was sufficiently restored to warrant my re turn to the regular itinerant work. I applied at the ses sion of the old Georgia Conference, held in the city of Rome, in November, 1859, and was accepted.
I was licensed to preach in the same town on October 24th, 1846; and, as before stated, at the ensuing Annual Conference was appointed as junior preacher on the Lawrenceville circuit. At the Rome Conference I was read out as preacher In charge to the same circuit, with Robert H. Rodgers as my junior.
This compelled me to move my family a distance of one hundred miles. I owned a good home and productive farm. I found it necessary to sell all my possessions. After the sale I settled all my business affairs, and found myself still the possessor of several hundred dollars in cash.
MY WIFE STRICKEN WITH SICKNESS.
The weather was extremely cold and the earth mantled with snow. Through exposure to the cold my wife suf fered a severe attack of pneumonia from which, although she lived for some years, she never recovered. When the pneumonia passed away, she was left prostrate by general rheumatism. This becoming chronic, she was thenceforth an invalid, and unable the greater portion of her remain ing life to walk a step or even to feed herself. Doubtless

IN FULL HARNESS ONCE MORE.

Ill

many good women have lost their lives in the same way. The pastor must be at his post of duty by a given time. The wife and little ones must needs leave a comfortable home, be exposed to the weather in going to the new resi dence, which, when reached, may not prove as comfortable as the one they have left.
My own health remained good. The circuit embraced all the Methodist churches in Gwinnett county. We had nineteen organized churches and quite a number of way side preaching places.
MUTTERINGS CO? WAR.
This was a year of intense political excitement. The leaven that presently put the whole political body in this great Republic in a ferment was working in all parts of our country. All thoughtful people saw that a war between the States was probable, and the hot-headed clamored for the secession of the Southern States from the Union. The prudent and thoughtful desired a more conservative course, and hoped, seemingly against hope, for a continu ance of the reign of peace.
In spite of all disturbing causes, we had a successful year religiously. My recollection is that we had near five hundred additions to the Church.
The Annual Conference for 1860 was held in Novem ber in the city of Augusta. By this time the war cloud was intensely dark. South Carolina, I believe, had already seceded from the Union, and Georgia and other States soon followed.
ON THE SUMMERVILLE CIRCUIT.
I was appointed to the Summerville circuit. As soon as possible after the adjournment of Conference, I re moved my family to Summerville. The parsonage was ready for our reception. In many respects this was the most desirable \vork I ever served. The stewards met a

112

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

short time after our arrival, and made every arrangement possible for our comfort and convenience. After finishing this work they called me before them, and the chairman addressed me substantially as follows :
" We wish you to devote your entire time to your min isterial duties. We have arranged for all your supplies, even to the delivery and cutting of your fire and stove wood. Brother D, P. Bass, who lives in front of the par sonage door, will supply all your demands. When you need any money call on him; he will keep your family pro vided "with everything they may need. We wish to relieve you of all care, so that you can give your whole time to the "work of the ministry."
They carried out this program to the letter in all respects, during the two years of my service there. I have never met another such board of stewards as that! Old Brother Sharpe, of Broomtown, Robert Jones, of Oak Grove, James Sturdivant, Brothers Lowe and Bass, of Summerville, Sirnmons, Hill, Hamilton, Hicks and others. Most of them have "crossed over the river and are rest ing under the shade of the trees." I expect soon to meet them in that better world !
The war began in earnest in July of my first year at Summerville, yet the piety of the Church kept up to a healthy state, and many were added to our numbers.
THE ARBITRAMENT OF THE SWORD.
Several companies of volunteers were raised for three years, or during the war, in that (Chattooga) county. The war was upon us. Only one alternative was left to us to make ready for the defense of property, borne, liberty and life. Those who had been most in favor of exhausting every possible effort to maintain peace, and to remain in the Federal Union, seeing that all must now be left to the arbitrament of the sword, were among the first to buckle

IN FULL HARNESS ONCE MORE.

113

on the armor of war and march to the front. Among them were a goodly number of men whose heads were adorned with gray hairs. The good women of the South were, if possible, more patriotic than some of their husbands, sons and brothers.
HEROISM OF SOUTHERN WOMEN.
The old fashioned spinning wheel, reel, cotton cards and weaving looms were brought out and put to active use. Our noble women said to their husbands, sons and broth ers : " Go to the front and we will go to the fields. We will put ourselves on double duty." They faithfully per formed all that they promised. Their courage staggered not at defeat, and was strengthened by every victory. It is yet a problem in my mind whether if our male popula tion had fully risen to the spirit of self-denial that ani mated our Southern womanhood whether the combined world could have conquered us to this day!
Our men were brave. They proved their devotion to the cause of home and country by four years of privation. After suffering for lack of proper food and comfortable clothing, they met a foe of superior numbers, better fed, clad and armed than they, with a valor unsurpassed in the history of mankind, and encrimsoned the hills and plains of a hundred battle fields with their blood. Yet our women never gave up the struggle until the last gun was fired, . and the star of hope had sunk to rise no more !
We turn, for a time at least, from the contemplation of war, to speak of some other matters which we trust will interest the reader.
DEATH OF A LITTLE CHRISTIAN GIRL.
In the second year of our pastorate of this charge, just after we had pronounced the benediction at the close of a weekday service at one of our churches, Dr. Hamilton, who was a local preacher as well as a physician, drove up

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and addressed me : "Brother Anthony, I wish you to go with me to the house you see Dcyo.id that plantation arid look upon the nsost complete triumph of the Christian religion that I have ever witnessed. Hurry up, or we may be too late."
We drove around the plantation and were soon at the designated hou^c. The husband and father was seated on the doorstep -a large, strong mars, yet so overcome by the fact that h^s only child, a little daughter of seven summer, was dying, and above all by the angelic talk of the little Christiaiij who war, then passing over to the better land, that his powerful frame quivered like an aspen leaf. He was so absorbed in his own heart anguish that he seemed unconscious of our approach, or cur passing him on our way into the house. The mother, with streaming eyes* stood by the bedside of the little angel girL catching every word that fell from her childs lips. The room was wellnigh filled with sympathising friends.
As we approached the sickbed, the chik! s looking her mother in the face, said: "Mania, dont cry, it snakes me feel GO bad. Mama, 1 hate to leave you and papa, and I hate to leave the Sunday-school; but God calls, and I must go. But, mr.ma dear, dont cry any more, God will coma for you and papa before km ST."

A moment or two later I thought I saw that peculiar pallor which spreads over the huniari -face at the instant when the soul seems to leave the body. She ceased to breathe. 1 said, "Doctor, she is dead, is she not ?" Ke nodded affirmatively. A little v/liile later she breathed again. Her eyes opened, full-orbed, A heavenly radi ance lighted up her face. ,Che 2:<cI^Jmed, in what seemed to me an almost seraphic voice : -O, mania ; you wont cry any more. I think they have a Sunday-school over there,

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for I hear them singing * Beautiful River.1" and it wont be long until you and papa come over, and then well all be together, and well all sing * Beautiful River." Then the little one ceased, at once, to suffer and to live. She was not, for God had taken her pure little spirit to himself.
My own faith was greatly strengthened by this tri umphant, happy death. I have used her dying testimony in the pulpit and in addressing Sunday-schools oftener than all other death-bed testimonies witnessed by me in the fifty years of my ministry.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM DROWNING.
The following adventure occurred I think in July or Au gust, 1862. I was on my way to the parsonage, from a church known as the "South Carolina Church," where I preached monthly on the Saturday before each second Sunday. I was accompanied by Brother 13. P. Bass, one of my stewards and also a valuable local preacher. When we came near the Chattooga river, which we had to cross by lording, and which in the forenoon was not more than eighteen inches or two feet in depth, we met "a brother in black," whose countenance, voice and words demon strated that he was in a state of great excitement. " Massas," cried he, "you bof turn back right here dis berry minnit; cause I jis now been down clar to de ribber fod, and while I stan dar I hear de roah up dat way. I look, and, rnassas, I swar to God de muddy water come right erlong on de top er de clar water, up dis high," placing his hand upon his breast.
Brother Bass said " O, you are lying; thats all of that. Cuffy replied, " Well massa, youll see now when you git dar." We soon descended the bank of the river a.nd were at the waters edge. Sure enough, the water was muddy and moving at a rapid rate. Brother Bass was riding a tall

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mule. He put spurs to his steed, saying, "follow me;
well make it." My horse followed, and before I reached
the middle of the river the water ran over the dash-board
and seat of my buggy. A moment later my horse groaned,
gave up the struggle and sank under water. The force of the current carried him down stream, and I found myself
heading in the same direction. I knew that every yard I
went in that direction would carry me into deeper water. I grasped the handles of my valise and sprang from the
buggy, to find, when my feet struck bottom, that the water
was up to my chin and moving with such force as to carry
me down the current. Kvery time I moved one of my feet to make a step toward the bank I was borne downward by
the torrent. Fence rails, logs etc., were flying by me,
forced on irresistibly. I knew that if one struck me in its rapid flight, the blow would prove fatal.
It was a moment of supreme peril. I called on Brother Bass to ride his mule to me and assist me in getting out.
He did so, holding out to me one end of his walking cane.
We started for the bank, I moved on pretty well as long as the mule broke the force of the current from me, but
the moment the mule turned in line for the bank the \vater struck me with such power that Bass hold on the cane
gave way. By the time he got out and could again force his mule back to me despite every effort to hold my po sition the strong current had carried me back to the point at which I made my first start for the bank.
Our second effort was successful, and I reached the
land. Never was I more thankful for deliverance from danger. My horse, after rising to the surface, swam and was carried by the current down stream for near two hun dred yards, and struck the bank where it was almost per
pendicular. He had got the driving reins so tightened around his legs he would surely have drowned had not an old gentleman been providentially near when he reached the bank.

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Truly the great God directs arid rules in the minutest details of the interests of those who put their trust in him. Owing to a little turn in the course of the river, the cur rent was not so strong, and a whiteoak sapling grew out of the bank above the water mark. The old gentleman slipped down this sapling until he reached the root; then, sitting astride, he reached the horses head, and by hold ing on to the bit and rein kept him from drowning until a friend, who could swim, I could not plunged in, cut the harness, and succeeded in getting the poor quadruped out. After the flood had subsideds my buggy, which had been driven against the bank, was secured.
I think I may truly say I have never had a narrower escape from death. The sudden rise in the river had been caused by a cloud-burst, or, as some call it, a water-spout, which had fallen out the night before some thirty or forty miles up stream.
TIIK PRAYER OF FAITH ANSWERED.
As I reached the parsonage gate on my return from my last appointment for the Conference year, my wife said : " Dont get out of your buggy. Mrs. Dr. B. is thought to be dying. She has sent for you three times today." I drove on to my friend and brothers house. Dr. B. and wife were members of the Baptist church.
On reaching the door I was met by Dr. J., who was a member of my charge. He said, " You ought not to go into the room where the patient is. One of her lungs is entirely gone and the other more than half consumed by the galloping consumption, and the least excitement may prove fatal." Just then the husband, Dr. B., came to me, saying, " I am so glad you have come. My poor wife wishes to see you so much ; come right in." Dr. J. objected but Dr. B L insisted. * Brother Anthony shall come in. We have done all we can, and now well leave the case with Brother Anthony and the Great Physician."

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The good woman was so much reduced that no one, regarding her case from a human standpoint, could have had any well-founded hope of her recovery. After talking with her awhile I concluded that she was temporarily under a cloud of spiritual doubt, and so expressed myself to her.
"She replied, "No sir; O no. I know I have never experienced a change of heart. I am a sinner, unsaved. Pray God to save me now."
We knelt around her bedside, I led in prayer. I earn estly besought the good Lord to spare her life if consist ent with his will, but whether she lived or died, to bless her soul then and there with a glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost.
I felt that I had an anwer to my prayer. After utter ing the amen, I said, before rising from my knees, "Sister B., youll get well. I feel that I have a distinct answer to prayer to that end. Yes, God will raise you up from this bed of sickness, spare yon to husband and children, and to work in his cause for years to come."
Before I had finished as above, she, with a face all aglow with a divine radiance, exclaimed, "Yes, O yes! and best of all my poor soul is filled with Gods love. My sins are all forgiven all blotted out. Glory to God ! Blessed Savior, Thou hast heard and answered prayer. The Bless ed Savior has saved me saves me now," etc.. etc.
I left her rejoicing, feeling as confident of her recovery to health and a long life of Christian usefulness as I did of my personal existence. I believe that the glorious bap tism of the Holy Spirit which she received, as fully con vinced all present of the certainty of her restoration to life and health, as if an audible voice from heaven had pro claimed the fact.
In keeping with previous plans, I left next morning, before day. for Macon, the seat of the approaching Annual

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Conference, at which I was read out.to the Sandersville work. I had to hasten back borne, wind up all my business affairs and make arrangements to move my afflicted wife over four hundred miles, about forty of which had to be made by private conveyance before we could reach, the railway. I learned, that Sister B. was rapidly regaining her hcalthj but could not, under the pressure, find time to visit her.
Time rolled on. The war proceeded to its close. Seven years later, one morning about nine oclock, while I was seated in the piazza of the parsonage at Gumming, Geor gia, I saw a two-horse carriage drive up opposite the front door. The driver halted his team at our gate. T 3 of course, started out to receive our visitors. Bsfore reaching the gate, a large, rosy cheeked, fine looking specimen of per fect health, in the person of a lady whose face was wreathed in smiles, addressed me : *' Well, Brother Anthony, Im sure you wont recognize me, so Ill tell you at once that I am Mrs t Dr. B. You and I have not met since you knelt by my sick bed with my husband, children ar>d others, in Summerville, Chattooga county, and prayed for me, and got such a direct answer to prayer. I have earnestly de sired to meet you, and to tell you that I feel sura that God spared rny life, and raised me up to perfect health in answer"to your prayer and faith, I am to meet rny hus band and other members of our family tonight at M., pre paratory to a start for California, our future home. I have been on a visit to friends some distance above, and learned that you were here, and feared that if I failed to see you now -we perhaps would never meet again on earth. I have driven ten miles off my line of travel on purpose to meet you and tell you how much Is often lost by want of faith. Brother, all things are possible to those who believe. I felt that I was due you this much, and hope this visit may
strengthen your faith. No, oh no; I cannot get out or

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LIFE AND TIMES OF KEV. J. D. ANTHONY.

spend more time. I wish I could spend more time with you and your family. I must go. Farewell, dear brother; should we never meet again on earth, well meet in that better world where prayer is swallowed up in praise. Adieu, adieu !"
The driver drove on. I frequently felt constrained dur ing her statements as above, to praise God audibly. I have ever thanked God for that short visit from that good wo man. She and I have never met since that hour. She and her husband went to California, and after some years re turned to Georgia,
Some years back I met the husband, Dr. B./at a town on the Air Line railroad. He recognized me through the window of the car, hailed me and spoke to me of his wifes recovery in answer to prayer. As the train moved off he said, "I wish to tell you Brother Anthony, that I am not only an M. D. s but a preacher of the Gospel also trying to do good to the souls and bodies of men."
ONE OF THE I5EST OF MEN.
While there were many good, consecrated men, and a large number of pious, useful women within the bounds of the Summerville circuit, I wish to speak specially of one of each sex-
" Uncle Berry Strange," as he was familiarly called, was surely one of the most exemplary and useful men that I have met in life. He never rose higher than class leader and steward in the Church, but these two offices he most assuredly magnified by an undying consecration to duty. He was always at the post of duty and always in the spirit. It was not in the power of surrounding circumstances to dampen his zeal. Always wearing a smile upon his face he had constant communion with God. His church nec essarily partook of his hopeful, cheerful spirit, and better still, of his deep, unaffected piety. His scat at the house

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of God, or at his Quarterly Conference was never vacant when he was able to attend. He reared a large family. All his children joined the Church and were picas in child hood. One of his sons became a minister of the Gospel, traveled several years in the old Georgia Conference, then located and spent the remainder of his useful life as local preacher,
A grandson of Uncle Berry, a son of Rev. > L. D. Strange, viz., Col. H. 13. Strange, is a useful member of the church and an active member of the official board of the charge I am serving1 at the present writing, viz., the Statesboro station.
ONE OF THE BEST OF WOMEN.
The good sister I wish to mention is the sainted mother of our worthy brother, the Rev. Jos. P. Wardlaw, a mem ber of the South Georgia Conference. This good woman was surely one of the most faithful, consistent Christians that I ever met ; sweet spirited, always cheerful, abound ing in all good works. She was the mother of a large family of children, all of whom she dedicated to the service of God. I was never in her company without realizing that my faith in God and our holy Christianity was strength ened thereby, I am sure that if any one of her children had failed in the past, or may in the future fail to live a useful life, the circumstance cannot be charged to any derelic tion of maternal duty on her part. She was truly a mother in Israel. I have never known a son who, in feature, ex pression of countenance, and I think in disposition of mind, taste etc., resembled his maternal parent more than does the Rev, J. P. Wardlaw his sainted mother!
A BRAVE MAN WHO WAS A COWARD.
In a company of volunteers that enlisted for the war during the latter part of the year 1862, there was one who was regarded as the bravest man in that section of the

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county. No number of men could deter him from enter ing the ring in a fist and cuff fight. He was a large, strong, active fellow, possessed of wonderful physical power, and had acquired the title of the " bravest of the brave," It was often said that Abe K. was a stranger to fear.
Mr. JC. was quite a humorist, fond of making a display of wit. The day the company was mustered into service he amused the crowd by telling them what he proposed to do. He would, he said, leave his company upon the out skirts of the city of Washington, go alone to the White House, take "Old Abe" by the nape of the neck, march him down to Georgia, and put him to splitting rails out of red elm timber, and so forth.
Many persons entertained so exalted an opinion of Mr. K.s bravery as to express confidence in the carrying out of his threats.
The company went to the front and had been there but a short time when a fierce battle was fought. It was the first engagement of that kind that Mr. K. had participated in. He became panic-stricken at the first fire, ran like a wild buck, and never halted until he reached the city o Richmond. After the battle was over his comrades so jibed him that he became desperate. He told them that he could not account for his behavior, but assured them that he most earnestly desired another opportunity to demonstrate his native bravery. The opportunity was soon vouchsafed to him. Again he bolted ranks and ran for life. Before the courtmartial he confessed that he was mistaken in himself, and that he could not stand the fire. He begged for and obtained a position as wagon master, which kept him from the front.
Mr. K.s experience was in keeping with that of most men of his type. The testimony from the front proved that the best soldiers were those who were quiet and peace able men at home.

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MR. H.S UNIVERSALISM.
Mr. H. was a merchant at Trion Factory, which place was in the bounds of my circuit. His wife was a member of my charge. I had been told that Mr. H. claimed to be lieve in the doctrines held by that class who call them selves " Universalists; " that is that all men, irrespective of moral worth and character, will be housed in heaven in the end; in short that there is no place of future punish ment, such as the orthodox term Hell hence, as there is no other destination for disembodied souls, they must nec essarily go to Heaven.
Mr. H. usually accompanied his wife to church, and was a pretty constant attendant upon rny preaching. He often invited me to partake of his hospitality, and I fre quently accepted. He was a gentleman in manners, and what the world would call a very clever fellow.
A DISCUSSION ON HELL.
I preached my last sermon at the church, near his home, on a week day. His wife and children were on hand to hear my valedictory. My friend H. strongly ap pealed to me to go home with his family and take dinner, stating also that he very much desired to see me. I ac cepted. At the dinner table he requested me to accom pany him to his store, which I did. After entering he said: "Well, Mr. Anthony, I regret that your time is out on our circuit. I like you as a man, esteem you as a gen tleman, in a word, admire you in everything but your relig ion. That hell fire you preach about is false. There is no hell."
I replied, "Let me tell you that you are mistaken in your statement. Vou have more faith in my religion and in the truth of my preaching than you have in me."
" No sir/ he rejoined, " I am not mistaken. I like you

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and hold you in high esteem, but I dont believe one word about a hell."
Said I, "You are mistaken; and Ill make you acknowl edge it before I leave you."
"That is impossible," he answered.
" Let me tell you an anecdote," I urged : " Some years back there was a preacher who held that there is no hellHe had kept up an appointment in a school-house in a small town in North Georgia for some months. Like all men who antagonize the orthodoxy, he made incessant war upon those who preach future punishment, argued that there is no such place as hell, and so forth.
"There was only one person in that community who believed the theory held by this preacher. The latters clothes began to look rather seedy. His friend in the vilage notified the congregation that he would take up a pub lic collection at the next preaching, to be expended in providing the preacher a new suit of clothes. The mis chievous boys and others, not appreciating the preaching they had heard, prepared themselves to throw in liber ally.
"The friend of the preacher, at the close of the ser mon, told the congregation that he wished to raise enough, then and there, to purchase a suit for the brother, who, as you see/ said he, * needs them badly. Now, said he to the preacher, *you sing From Greenlands Icy Mountains, while I take up the collection. The preacher sang and his friend passed the hat. The liberal-hearted carrier of the hat dropped a whole ten-cent piece into it. All the others threw in old buttons, horse-shoe nails and such things. The collection finished, the hat was placed on the table in front of the singing parson. The song closed, the preacher looked into the hat, fingered out the dime, put it into his vest pocket, and then, after assuring himself that there

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were no more coins In the hat, proceeded to address his audience as follows:
" * Well, my congregation, I have been preaching to you for a year that there is no hell. I really believed what I preached to you at that time, but I have changed my mind. If there is not a hell, Ill swear there ought to be one for such fellows as you/
" Now," said I, " Mr. H., you told me that there is a man living up the river who had treated you very badly, You said he had acted so adroitly that you could not get at him by the law of the land. Now, if you are honest in your opinion of Mr. C., you could not feel well, I should think, to be a close neighbor to hina, even in heaven."
"Hush, yes," responded Mr. H., "old C. will land in hell where he belongs; there ought to be a hell for such folks, and I guess there is. I wish to give you something as a remembrance. Here, select a fine hat." I did as he desired, and we bade each other adieu, with many warm wishes for each others future welfare.
I have recorded the above for the purpose of placing it in the possession of the reader, so that he may be able to put to flight such antagonists without attempting1 an argu ment, which is time lost with suoh men.

CHAPTER XVI.
SANDERS VILLE MY WORK FOR. 1863.
Through the mercies of a kind Providence, I got my sorely afflicted wife and little children through the forty miles by private conveyance, without difficulty, took the train, reached our destination, Sandersville, on Saturday before the second Sunday in December, 1862, and filled my pulpit morning and night of the last named day, thus beginning my years work two weeks in advance of the calendar year.
This portion of Georgia had been, up to this date, com paratively free from the real horrors of war, and indeed continued so for two years longer. True, many companies had been raised, and had gone to the front. Many from that neighborhood had died in the hospitals; others had been killed in battle, and most of the dead had been brought home for burial; but the foot of the foe had not pressed the soil of that portion of Georgia no march ing and counter marching of armies, no taking of provis ions from the house and paying for in scrip, or taking horses by pressing them into service. In all these respects we were much favored in our new home. Having left a station where this sort of depredation was of almost daily occurrence, we enjoyed the change to the fullest extent. The appointing powers kept us in that field until the close of hostilities.
REVIVAL BLESSINGS A NOTABLE RECRUIT.
Notwithstanding the fearful throes of war through which we were incessantly passing, the church had a good measure of prosperity. We were blessed with gracious

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revivals at all our churches. There were eight churches in Washington county, and one in Baldwin Montpelier, which church is within four miles of Milled geville. The work embraced these nine churches.
Although very nearly all the white males between the ages of 16 and 50 were in the army, yet many came home on furlough, and our increase in membership ranged from two hundred to three hundred per annum to the close of the war. Quite a number who developed into great use fulness joined the church during the war. Among them thai: grand worker in the temperance cause, Hon. C. R. Pringle, now President of the State Prohibition.Society, who doubtless has done more to free the Empire State of the South from the curse of intemperance than any other man in the Slate, and whose influence for good has been felt on all educational, moral and religious lines. He con nected himself with our church in Sandcrsville at a revival meeting held during the darkest period of the conflict, and has continued his useful career unswerved by surroundings.

THE MOST LtBERAL MAN.
Nine miles east of Sandersville on a splendid farm on which was located an excellent grist and flouring mill, lived Brother Joseph Hines, by far the biggest-souled and most liberal-hearted man I ever met. His farm and mills were literally run for the benefit of the Church, and to feed and help poor widows and orphans and the wives and children of the soldiers in the army. His mills, barns, meat-house and purse, were open at all hours of the day and night to all worthy applicants. Wagons, carts and buggies came pouring into them, not only from the county in which he lived, but also from adjoining counties. This good man was one of my circuit stewards. He kept my cribs supplied with corn and fodder for my horse. He fur nished, also, all the rneal and flour, and much of the meat

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and lard consumed in my family four consecutive years. He often reached the parsonage before sun-rise, having driven nine miles, and then, after taking breakfast with me, has driven me from twelve to sixteen miles before preaching time. After my sermon he would give the clear est and most argumentative talks upon the duty of Chris tian liberality that I ever listened to. He was successful in raising money for all the enterprises of the Church. Then he would drive rue back home, take tea with us, drive to his own home, and be ready for business next morning. In addition to the before-mentioned donations to the par sonage and church, he paid annually from $300 to $500 in cash to the ministry, and to swell the collections required by the Annual Conference.
GOOD SECURITY.
On one occasion I felt that I ought to talk to this good brother on what I regarded as his too great liberality. I knew that he had been imposed upon by people who were fully able to pay him for the meat, floar etc., which he had freely given them. So I said:
"Brother Jo, I feel that I have a duty to perform this morning a duty which I suppose few ministers of the Gos pel are called upon to perform; certainly the first of the kind that I have met with in life. 5
"All right," said he, "what is it?" I proceeded, giving facts as above indicated, and wind ing up by telling him that I feared he was "wronging his family and himself; that he ought to be more careful in ascertaining the real necessities of those he helped. He looked me full in the face for a minute, then said* with much earnestness of soul: "Now hear me, my dear brother. The first ten dollars I ever made in my life I got it for a months hard work on a farm. I was a poor orphan boy, in my teens. I got my money and went to a

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camp-meeting. The preacher took up a collection. When the hat came to me I turned my pocket wrong side out, and threw in the ten dollars to the missionary cause. A young friend sitting by my side cursed me for a fool for throwing in all I had, I told him that the preacher said that giving to a good cause is lending to the Lord, and that I was willing to risk the security. Well, sir, the good Lord opened the way, and in one week I made righteously forty dollars. That, my brother, has been my experience from that day to this. The good Lord has given me man ifold. The only thing I fear is that, having found that it pays me so well to give to the poor, I sometime fear that I ma}r be actuated by selfish motives.
"Now," continued this good man, "let me give you some advice. Never again, while you live, preach this doctrine to a living human- being. We are all too selfish ah need preaching to on Christian liberality. As to being imposed upon by unworthy people, that is none of our bus iness. If we do our duty the Lord will take care of results."
I have acted on his advice. The truth is, I have met no one since whom I have thought in danger of being too liberal. But, alas, alas, thousands have I met who were in great danger of eternal loss, for want of a truly liberal Christian spirit.
This generous man left only one son, viz., Judge J. K.. Hines, now of Atlanta. I think he possesses many of his
sainted fathers noble characteristics. The two daughters who survive him, viz., Mrs. Judge Fish, of Americus, and Mrs. Col. Jordan, of Sandersville, have the reputation of being noble Christian women. Surely the wise mans proverb, viz., " There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth," was verified in this good mans life and experience. Notwithstanding his boundless liberality, he steadily in creased in this worlds goods, and in true spiritual enjoy ment.

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When the Angel of Death came for him, he gave no pre monition, but suddenly called the good brother from his useful labors on earth to the joys of Heaven. Doubtless many, to whose wants he had ministered, were ready to receive him into the everlasting habitation.
WRY I DID NOT GO TO THE FRONT.
Perhaps it would be well for me to say here, that I was offered a chaplaincy in each of three regiments, and in one battalion of artillery. Owing, however, to my wifes help less physical condition, I felt it to be my duty to remain at home and take care of and help her. I also realized the great necessity of the pastorate to those at home; espe cially did the poor good women need the counsel and the prayers of the pastor. Many of them lost husbands, others sons. The burying- of the dead, going to the army to carry food and clothing, visiting the sick, etc., etc., occu pied all the pastors time.
MINISTERS AND MILITARY SERVICE.
I will record here the results of my observations with reference to those ministers who regarded it as their duty to go to the front, either as privates or officers. A fatality seemed to attend a greater part of them; especially was this true of those who accepted the position of captain major or colonel. I do not recall a single instance in which the preacher who took up arms was not killed or wounded, or did not fall from grace !
This was not the experience of chaplains for while some of these were wounded and a few killed, most of them returned home after the war unscathed.
Does not this teach a lesson ? Our weapons are not carnal.
The fearful war through which we were passing, grew more and more terrible in its effects upon all the interests of our people. The continued call for men to go to the

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front gradually reduced the white male population, at home mainly, to men over fifty years of age and boys under sixteen.
True, there was a large army, so to speak, engaged as enrolling officers, marshals, etc., whose business it was to see that all except themselves and the few permitted by law to stay at home, were rushed to the front. Practicing physicians, ministers of the Gospel in charge of churches, scnool teachers and overseers in charge of twenty or more hands, were exempt from army service.
The reduction of the male population at home, irt many respects, crippled the operations of the church. Yet every faithful pastor had his hands full yea, all he pos sibly could do.
I remained on my assigned fields of labor during those awful years of heartrending grief and dreadful carnage. I can truthfully affirm that those foui years demanded and received at my hands more labor than double that length of time before or since. The bereaved were to be visited and comforted, the sick nursed and the dead buried. At one of my churches in \Vashington county, Bayspringr I did not for two years preach any other than funeral ser mons sometimes two or more in one sermon. Long journeys were to be made by the pastor, to the armies at different points, sometimes to be the bearer of articles of food, clothing, etc., at others to accompany the wife or mother of some sick or dying husband or son. This scribe has never, in his long ministerial life, seen a time or come in contact with any combination of circumstances, when a faithful pastor and true minister of the Gospel might not find work for the Master sufficient to employ all his time, talent and energies employment, too, that would result in good to his flock and to his own soul.
Yet we find some whose experience, judging from the course they pursue, must be quite different. The pastors

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work, to my mind, is of such importance and magnitude as to preclude the possibility of leisure or rest on this side of the river of death !
Atlanta had fallen into the hands of the invading foe. General Sherman was on his almost uninterrupted " march to the sea." Governor Brown had, with his state officers, abandoned Milledgeville, then the capital of Georgia. The enemy took possession without opposition. The Federals, on leaving Milledgeville, blew up the magazine, the report of which was distinctly heard and the shock unmistakably felt by us in Sandersville, twenty-seven miles distant !
All kinds of rumors of the cruelty and vandalism of the approaching army preceded its advance.
Our town authorities called a meeting of all the white males. This meeting was presided over by Judge Hook. The best course to pursue, was the subject of discussion. It was resolved that the proper plan would be, for a com mittee of citizens to meet the army and turn over the town to the tender mercies of the commanding general, but when the chairman began to name the committee he was informed by each man, as his name was called, that that particular committeernan had decided to take his horse, or horses, etc., and go to the woods, to save himself and his horses if possible ! Finally rny name was called. I informed his honor that I had decided to remain with my invalid wife and helpless children. Perhaps I should say, that it was not sheer bravery nor foolhardy daring that caused me to come to this conclusion, but the fact that my poor wife was unable to feed herself or turn herself in bed. Then I also had a precious daughter just budding into womanhood, and others, helpless little children. I decided that it was my duty to remain with them, protect and care for them as far as possible, and, if need be, die for or with them, which decision I have never regretted!

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On stating my purpose to his honor, Judge Hook, he appointed me a committee of one to meet General Sherman, and, having fixed up the necessary papers to show that I represented the towns wishes, they left me and three old men and one of the descendants of Abraham, a Mr, H., the sole male population among the whites. A few hours later a portion of the Confederate cavalry, under General Wheeler, came into town. They went out that afternoon and met the advance cavalry of the enemy, had a skirmish, three miles from town, captured the unlucky number of thirteen, brought them into town and camped on a vacant lot with the prisoners, near the parsonage. These prisoners were under the care of Captain Harlow, with whom I was at one time intimately acquainted in North Georgia, Early next morning I went out to Cap tain H.s camp and found all in a hurry to leave. All the prisoners had disappeared during the night except one, a lieutenant of cavalry, who was badly wounded in the left forearm. Both bones were broken by a mime ball. On inquiry, I learned that the twelve who were not wounded
had been sent off during the night. I asked the Captain what they were going to do with the wounded man, and was informed by him in those words : "Well shoot him, as soon as we get out of town." Finding that this was
almost certain to be the fate of the poor man, I began to plead for his life, and finally, after the poor fellow had been placed in the ambulance, the surgeon, with an oath, told
me to take him. The wounded man sprang from the wagon and came to me. I conducted him into the parson age. Just at that moment Dr. S., an old gentleman and a
practicing physician, passed my door, came in and re moved the bandage and tried to relieve the mans suffer,
ings. About the same moment Wheelers Cavalry formed in line, about 2,000 strong, near the parsonage, fired and

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galloped away. In a minute or two more the Yankee in fantry fired. The deadly missiles flew thick. The parson age was struck in several places. I and family and the wounded Yankee were not hit by any of the flying shots. In a moment or two more the Yankees were as thick as blackbirds in and around the house. As soon as the Yan kee soldiers entered, the wounded man told his friends not to allow me or mine or anything we had to be injured. He sent for his colonel of cavalry3 who soon came in, placed a guard around the house and protected my family from all insult and injury. It was soon spread pretty ex tensively over the army that there was a rebel Methodist
preacher who had remained at home and, better still, this rebel preacher had saved the life of a wounded enemy. A large number of their officers and privates came to see me and professed faith in a religion that prompted such a deed. Among them an old chaplain in one of the West ern regiments, came and talked with me for some time. He said his name was Thomas A. Morris. I remarked that he had the name of a former Methodist bishop. He replied, " Yes, he was my cousin and we were both named for the same man." This incident taught me clearly that it always pays to do right. I never thought of benefit ac cruing to me. I was actuated entirely by what I regarded as Christian and philanthropic principles. The good Lord blessed that act to the good of myself and family indeed, to the interests of our town,
I certainly would have carried out the instructions given me by the citizens* meeting and turned over all to the tender care of General Sherman had opportunity been given, but, as may be seen in the foregoing statements, there was no opportunity afforded. The unexpected early advance of the Federals, the hasty fire of the Confed erates, then their instant flight and the immediate occupa tion of the town by the Federals, the confusion and noise

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caused by the knocking clown of fences, out-houses and, indeed, every obstacle in the way of the advancing army, together with the cries of the alarmed women and chil dren, the shouts and oaths of the Federals, etc., all united to demand and keep me in my house for two or three hours.
Late in the afternoon I was informed by the general who commanded the division of cavalry to which my guest, the wounded lieutenant, belonged and who, by the way, had come with the surgeon to carry the injured man. to their camp hospital that General Sherman had issued an order to reduce the town to ashes next morning at sun rise. The Federals had remained in and around town all day and were to move forward next morning, firing the town as they left. This general of cavalry- suggested that I go to General Shermans headquarters and intercede in behalf of the town. Said he, ** Your house wont be burned because you saved Lieutenant Deason." He con tinued, " From what you tell me, General Sherman is wrongly informed. He has been told that it was the citi zens of the town who fired on us."
I parted with the wounded man. He earnestly grasped my hand, assuring me that he would ever hold me in grateful remembrance. Said he, " If I live until this cruel war is over youll hear from me." I presume he died from the effects of his wound, and was probably buried somewhere between that point and Savannah otherwise, I am persuaded I would have beard from him. He belonged to an Illinois regiment.
This general of cavalry sent me as a guide and escort one of his subaltern officers, who conducted me to near General Shermans headquarters, "We met the General a hundred yards or more from his tent, Jn company with two of his generals, viz., Logan and Davis. The guide

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saluted the General and introduced me to him as "the Rebel parson who had saved one of our men from being shot."
THE INTERVIEW,
I then showed him my credentials as a minister of the Gospel. He looked over them and replied that he knew nothing1 about such matters. I explained that I only used them to show him that I was really a minister of the Gospel in the Methodist Kpiscopal Church, South. I then handed him the papers given me by the authorities of our town meeting, turning over to him a muchly surrendered town! On reading these he replied, "Why did you not hand me this before we reached the town ? I would have marched my men through town and nothing should nave been injured." I explained to him the utter impossibility of delivering the papers then. I continued, "General, I have been informed by some of your men that you have issued an order to burn our town tomorrow morning. Is this true ?" He replied, " Yes, it is true." Said I, " " Have you burned all the towns and villages in your rear?" He replied, "No, I have not." "Then," said I, "why treat us more severely than others?" The reply was, "I have been informed that it was your citizens that fired or> my men." I replied, "Well, General, I must say, sir, that your information is untrue, false not one word of truth in the statement. I certainly know whereof I speak. There are only, beside myself, four adult white males in town. Three of the others are old men. All our males left before you came. They were gone, sir, hours before your advance came into town." I never had a man
to look so long and so intently into my face. I determined to keep my eye on his. He was evidently trying to read me through and through. I was trying to see if I could
find a tender spot in his heart. I began to fear that it was

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a fruitless attempt. I then drew a picture of the terrible hardships to which the poor innocent women and children would be reduced. Said I, " General, no man can divine the fortunes of war. Suppose, while you are here march ing through Georgia, that a body of our cavalry should go to the town or city where your family is and burn your dwellings and turn your helpless ones out, without food or shelter, to come in contact with the pelting storms and freezing blasts of winter." To this he replied, "There is no danger of that. General Thomas will take care of Hood, General Grant is in Lees front and Ill take Savannah a-nd Charleston by a flank movement. Then, when I move tip in Lees rear, Grant in his front, what will become of Lee ? You preachers ought to be out preaching peace and submission to the best government In the world." I felt our chances truly were slim. I gave the "grand hailing sign of distress" used by Master Masons when all else fails, "without using the accompany ing words, and with all my powers made the final appeal. Said I, " My dear sir, we preachers down South let poli tics alone. We preach Christ Jesus and the Gospel of peace, and leave to Caesar the things of state. Besides, it would cost me or any other preacher his life to preach as you suggest now. Moreover, General, I have heard it said, tis not best to shout until one gets out of the woods/ The fortunes of war may yet place you and your splendid army in the hands of those whom you seek to conquer, but, sir, tis not my business now to discuss these questions. I am here, General, to plead for the shelters over the heads of these innocent women and chil dren, whose husbands and fathers-are either in the field or have fallen in battle. Your soldiers have already taken all we have to eat. Now, if you burn our houses, what can save these people fiorn starvation and death? This, sir, is my final appeal! "

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY,

THE ORDER REVOKED,
What effect my Masonic appeal may have had, I cant say, nor whether any one of the three or all three were Masons, only this I do know: the trio held a short con versation in an undertone; then General Sherman said: "Sir, upon your assurance that your citizens did not fire on my men, I will revoke the order to burn the town, but will burn these two public Buildings," viz., the court house and jail I thanked him, saying, " I can say no more if you think that the burning of those buildings will promote your cause. Since you spare our dwellings I ask no more," and left him.
Early next morning the army began the forward move ment. About the same time the court house and jail were fired. In the stillness of early morning their flames shot far up into the heavens, especially the former. All the inmates of the jail were set at liberty. Other buildings near the jail caught fire from the failing sparks. It was with great difficulty that the buildings were prevented from burning down. Had it not been that we were helped by an Irish Federal, who kindly gave valuable aid, all that portion of town would have been reduced to ashes.
ADDED WOES.
If possible, it was a worse trial to our little city to stand the consequences of the next twenty-four hours than the twenty-four that the Federal army was with us.
The report came in, soon after the rear of the army left, that the negroes, together with stragglers from the army, were following, taking what the Yankees had left, murdering all indiscriminately and burning everything before them ! We had no one to send forward to reconnoiter, inspect and bring back a true report. The buried guns were dug up. The five men of us armed ourselves and also the ten and twelve year old boys and formed our-

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selves into a little army. Somewhere between a dozen and twenty guns of different kinds were made ready for action. We patrolled the streets and watched for the approaching enemy through the entire night. Our con stant watching gave a degree of quiet to the minds of the women and children, who surely needed rest. Next morn ing we learned that some negroes had shot a man by the name of Strange and had also burned his dwelling. This shooting and burning occurred twelve or fifteen miles from town. This was the foundation out of which all the alarm ing reports had grown. It was a trying night to us all. I had not slept any for two nights previous.
MR. HAPP AND THE FEDERALS,
Mr. Purcus Happ, a former merchant and one of our best citizens, remained at home with his family. He was an Israelite, both by descent and faith. He did not feel that it was necessary for him to leave his home. He was not fighting the Federals, was born in the old world hence he felt that he and his would be safe in the hands of the Federals.
It was told the Yankees by someone I suppose likely, by somebody who was of the colored persuasion that Mr. Happ had, at his own expense, equipped a company for the Confederate service- Mr. H. had a large amount of cotton on hand. This the Federals threatened to burn. In this extremity Mr. H. sent for me. He introduced me to the Federals as " our pastor, one that everybody loves and all know will tell the truth. Let him tell you all about me." Then, addressing me, he said, " They are try ing to make me a terrible Rebel." I said, "Gentlemen, Mr. Happ, as you can readily perceive, was born in the old world. He is a good citizen, was opposed to secession, but with all the rest of us he had to go with his adopted State. Being a foreigner by birth, he was closely watched

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by his neighbors. It became him to be liberal. Had he not been he would have been branded as an enemy. He has done nothing more than either of you would have done, situated as he was. I hope that you will not burn his cotton. Near all the earnings of his life are in that cotton."
They listened to me attentively and then ordered a guard to be placed around him and his property.
MR. HAPP AND THE CONFEDERATES-
A few days afterward Mr, H. sent for me again. Cir cumstances had changed this time. It was Furgersons Confederate Cavalry that had him. They were about to not only burn his cotton, but also hang him, as a Federal sympathizer. Mr. H. introduced me to them in about the same manner he did to the Federals. Said I, "Gentle men, Mr. Happ is one of our best citizens high-toned, honorable and liberal. He has done as much for our Southern cause as any man in this county. He has a hard time of it. The Yankees, a few days since, were about to punish him for his friendship to our cause. Now you are about to hang him and destroy his property for the oppo site cause. This is all wrong. Loose him and let him go." A tic! so they did.
I feel sure that I never had a truer friend than was Mr. Happ. Fie often afterwards told me that he owed his life and his property to my true friendship. When the war closed he had a large amount of cotton on hand, which be converted into gold at a high price. This capital, under his fine business qualifications, continued to grow. Since his death his son, Mr. M. Happ, now of Macon, Georgia, has continued to increase in worldly prosperity.
QUESTIONABLE LIBERALITY.
During the stay of the Federals, after having taken all our people had on the line of eatables, they became quite

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liberal. They sent a piece of beef to, I suppose, every family in town. Perhaps they felt that they could afford to do so, as the cattle from which the beef was taken was the property of our citizens. Liberality is a commend able virtue and was appreciated by us in this particular instance!
A GLOOMY TIME.
It was a dark hour. Many had to go to the camps that the Federals had just vacated to pick up pieces of meat, potatoes, etc. Most of these scraps were but the leavings of what the enemy had taken from our citizens. Hungry people can enjoy coarse food. Hunger is said to be the richest sauce!
We all felt, as our country had been devastated over a space forty miles in width, reaching all the way from Atlanta to Savannah, that the ghost of famine would haunt the habitations of all alike. True, we all had to live hard subsist on the coarsest and simplest fare yet I did not learn of any actual suffering, even among the poorest of the poor.
* Tis said, " Kindred sufferings cause us to feel won drous kind." Our people seemed to forget all former dis tinctions and all met upon the plane of humanity and true Christianity. All denominational bigotry was buried for the time Jew and Gentile, Christians of all persuasions, all, all met on one common level! It is said, tf TIs an ili wind that blows good to none." I felt at home among aL our people preached in very nearly all the churches oi all denominations in our county. It was a foretaste of the millenial glory that is yet to come !
I do most devoutly pray the Great Head of the Church to hasten the glad, happy hour when all strife, bigotry, yea, sin in all its varied shapes, shall be banished from our earth! when good will toward all mankind shall abound

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and true peace be the universal heritage of our race!
COSTLY TREATMENT.
During the winter and early spring of 1865, I put my invalid wife under the treatment of an old Frenchman, just from New Orleans, who claimed to be an "eminent physician," a "specialist," who had fled from, that city when it fell Into the hands of the Federals under the com mand of the notorious General " Spoon" Butler. This old doctor claimed to be a specialist for all chronic com plaints, especially rheumatism. He proposed, if I would pay his board bill and pay him one hundred dollars per month, to restore my wife to perfect and permanent health in two months. At the end of three months he had succeeded in causing me to pay out six hundred and fifty dollars, but alas! my poor wife was no better! He suc ceeded, however, in getting her to believe, and me to hope, that if she could use the sulphur water at Suwannee Springs, Florida, she might be restored to health. During the month of April, 1865, I fixed up an outfit consisting of a two-horse carriage, in which I stored away two hundred pounds of flour and about the same amount of bacon hams, upon top of which a good bed was placed and upon it my invalid wife; then a one-horse wagon driven by one of my little sons, in which was stored provisions, bedding, etc., and an old servant woman, who was to nurse rnv invalid wife during her stay at the Springs.
THE START FOR FLORIDA.
There was a long journey of over two hundred and fifty miles to be made before reaching the healing waters ! Johnstons army had, a few days previous, surrendered. The country was full of soldiers on their return homeward. Many of them had taken time by the forelock and left before either Johnston or Lee had surrendered. The President of the Confederacy had left Richmond, accom-

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panied by a regiment of cavalry, and was then in Georgia. The Federal cavalry was in pursuit and on hot trail. I had gone seventy-five or eighty miles from home and had reached the Ocmulgee River, near old Jacksonville, in Telfair county. The ferryman told us that the river swamps were full of deserters from the Confederate army; that they had been guilty of many acts of violence; that the Yankees were both before and behind us trying to arrest Jeff. Davis, who, he affirmed, was not ten miles from that spot. "At this very hour," said he, " I am of the opinion that you are Jeff. Davis. They say he has but one eye and I see that you have lost one of your eyes."
I answered, " Yes, I have but one eye, but I am not Jeff, Davis. I suppose he has lost an eye, but, sir, he is a much older man than I am and is not half as good looking! "
Because my -wife had to be lifted into and out of her chair, the ferryman decided that she, perhaps, was the fleeing President in female attire. She, however, in a few words convinced him that she was but a poor afflicted woman and not President Davis.
THE TRIALS OF A NIGHT.
It was deep dark when we got all on the south side of the river. We had to travel two miles through the river swamp before we could reach the high lands. The roads had not been worked during the past four years; trees had fallen across the roads; the lagoons were deep; the mud was fearful. In the darkness of the night it was im possible to keep in the road. We soon plunged into a deep, stiff mud, in which it seemed impossible for the horses to pull the carriage, I gave my faithful lead horse the word to pull, which he did, with such force as to break the singletree. There we were, bogged down, with the certainty before us that the night must be spent in or near

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that deep bog. We only had one dozen friction matches, and had no prospect of getting more when these were ex hausted. A light must be had, a candle lighted ; then a fire to make a cup of coffee for the invalid wife and a dense smoke was certainly necessary to keep the innumerable mosquitoes from almost literally devouring us.
No one who is without experience can form a correct idea of the difficulty attending the building of a fire out of such material as can be had In a river swamp. After a long trial, by the aid of the abundant moss which hung in festoons wrapped around limbs broken from a fallen and half dead tree., we succeeded in starting a fire.
The bellowing- of an alligator, the first sound of music of that character we ever heard, which came from a lagoon near by, together with the effect of the fearful tales told us of the wicked deserters who, it was affirmed, filled the swamps, united in making the night rather a memorable one with our little party. We, however, were uninjured by alligators, deserters or the Bederals.
DISENTANGLED THE SPRINGS NEW FRIENDS.
Next morning we repaired as best we could our broken singletree, started again, got out of the swamp and were
soon informed of the capture of President Davis near Irwinsville, only a few miles distant from our camp in the river swamp.
After many experiences of various kinds we arrived at the Springs. I spent a few days there, and arranged for board for my wife and her old servant, I met with Rev. Simon Peter Richardson and Rev. F. A. Branch, both of them members of the Florida Conference. I formed the acquaintance of these two good brothers and learned to
love them, which esteem has grown in strength as the years have flown by.

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THE RETURN SLOW MAIL SERVICE.
My son and I started on the return journey to our home in Sandersville, which we reached in safety, after experi encing many privations and hardships.
I did not hear one word or receive one line from my wife from the time I bade her good-bye on the morning of May 12th, 1865, until the latter part of September. Only the evening before I started to Florida to bring her back to our home, did I receive a bundle of letters, written me at different periods during our absence from each other. They all came in a package from the Yankee post at Hawkinsville. We had no mail facilities and had to trust to the Yankees, who were stationed at different points in the Southern States, to convey our letters. She was more fortunate. The Yankee officers at Sandersville were more faithful in forwarding my mail than those were to whom she committed hers.
I have often thought of the fearful risks that journey to Florida required indeed, both the spring and autumn trips required risk and exposure to danger and peril to life and property, and the long separation from my wife, in her helpless condition, all combined to make it the most fear ful strain upon my courage and affections of any experi ence in life.
A UNIQUE KPISODE.
I will now relate an experience I had on my first return trip which I have often been called on to narrate.
We camped on Friday night one mile south of the now prosperous town of Douglass, the county site of Coffee. I have truthfully said of that town that it had, at that time, as inhabitants "neither men, women nor children." There was really only one man livir-g- in the town at the close of the war. That man was Dr. B., who was a wid ower. He had no children. The only female inhabitant

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was a negro woman, who acted in the capacity of cook for the Doctor. I camped for the night, as stated, one mile south of the town, near the house of a widow lady. Next morning early Dr. B. came to inquire of the widow whether or not she had seen or knew anything of the whereabouts of his cook, who had, on the day previous, taken Scotch leave, hence, the Doctor was the only in habitant of the town on that date. The Doctor gave me specific directions to the home of an old Bro. H., who lived near the "Gravel Hill" church. Said he, "This is Saturday. There is a Methodist quarterly meeting there
today and tomorrow. You can reach there long before night and it will be a good place for you to rest over until Monday, as you inform me that you do not wish to travel on Sunday. I would advise you to put up with Mr. H."
Little son and I drove on slowly, for our teams were jaded. On nearing the house of Bro. H. we discovered a heavy cloud, which threatened to overtake us before we could reach his dwelling. We drove as rapidly as possible, and reached his gate before the cloud came up.
As we nearecl the house we saw the old gentleman pacing the piazza, looking with interest at the swiftly ap proaching cloud. I hailed him thus, " My friend, I wish to tarry with you until morning." He replied, * Well, sir, you cant do it, for the soldiers and vagaboncs have eat me out of house and home. You go on to the next house. You can get to stay there." I replied, "Well, sir, I arn neither a soldier nor a vagabond. I claim to be a gentle man and a clever fellow; besides, sir, if I were to go on to the next house they might tell me to come back here. You see that cloud is almost here, I only ask to be allowed to put my horses under shelter in your lot. I have feed for them. I also have some old grub that has been cooked for a week. We have some quiJts upon which my little boy and I can sleep. L,et us put our horses in

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your lot, and let us make our quilts down in your piazza. These favors wont cost you anything and will be a great accommodation to us. Come now, old friend, say YES, and let us try to get things all to rights before the rain comes." His reply was, "Well, I reckon if you want to, youll have to." -Well," said I, "I want to." My little son and I soon had everything under shelter, but not until after the rain had given us a considerable sprinkling. I tried to make myself agreeable to the old man, but, alas! he had too often suffered from " soldiers and vagabones." He did not prove communicative. He had learned from me where my home was; also, that I was on-my way thither; that I had left my wife at Suwannee Springs, etc.
When the call to supper came, he and the company of young folk mainly young ladies went on to supper. Son and I were not invited to participate. My son had been sick in the past from chills and fever. The sprinkling we got in putting up the horses, together with the continued rains, brought on a chill. Upon the return of the family from the dining room, I said, " Old friend, I only requested that you allow me and little son to sleep on the piazza, but my son has a chill on him and if youll consent I will make down our pallet in this large room where you are all sitting." His reply was, "Well, I reckon if you want to youll have to." I said, "Thank you, sir, I certainly want to," and governed myself accordingly. So son and I went early to bed. Of course I could but listen to the conver
sation. I learned that there were to be three sermons at the church next day. At nine the first sermon was to be
preached by a Brother JVIorrison; at eleven by the pre siding elder, Rev. W. H. Thomas; at three a sermon by a
preacher from the other side of the river, a Mr. Sent ell. I should state here that at that time there were twenty-six
counties in Georgia included in the Florida Conference.

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The Ocmulgee river was the boundary line at this point between that and the old Georgia Conference. Thomas was the presiding elder in that district of the Florida Con ference and Morrison was the preacher in charge of the circuit in which I was to spend that night.
Next morning son and I tried to make our breakfast on our musty bread and mouldy boiled ham, which, after a little roasting over the coals in the chimney, were some what calculated to stay our appetites. We had given our stock all the feed we had for them that morning, so when the old gentlemen came in from his good, warm breakfast, I said, "Old friend, will you please sell me a few oats to feed my horses on today?" His reply was, "No, I wont let you have nary oat. I told you last night that I was eat out of house and home." "Well," said I, "may my horses rest in your lot today?" He said, " I think, sir, you ought to go on today towards your home." I replied that I was afraid to try it. He eagerly inquired, "Why?" I said, "Well, old friend, I have a mighty good old mama, and she always told me that it was wrong to work or travel on Sunday, and Im afraid if I try it Ill have bad luck." He replied, " Pooh ! pooh ! taint no more harm to go home Sunday nor tis to go any other day. When Im off from home on Sunday, if Im in a wagon I drives torcls home;
if Im riding I rides; if Im walking I walks." " Oh, yes," said I, "thats the way you do, but are you sure you are right ? As I told you, Ive got a mighty good old rnama,
and she never told me a lie and she says it is very wrong, and that folks who break the Sabbath will have bad luck and she got her ideas out of an old book she calls the
Bible. She says thats Gods Book; and, old friend, I tried to travel one Sunday. I had my wife and our two
little children and an old aunt. All of us were in a car riage, and, sir, in a place where nobody would have

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thought of such a thing, my carriage turned over, hurt my wife, my old aunt like to have been killed, the baby and all of us got hurt and then I thought of what mama said about traveling on Sunday, and now, old friend, just let my horses stay in your lot and Ill go with you all to your meeting I heard you talking about last night." He replied, "Well, I reckon if you want to youll have to, but if I were in your place Id go tords home."
" Yes, yes, I believe you would, but I tell you, Im afraid to try it. What sort of a meeting is it you have near you here ? " His reply was, " It is a quarterly meet ing." Said I, "A quarterly meeting? What sort of a meeting is that?" Said he, "Well, I dont know. Thats what the Methodises call it." Said I, "Quarter that means one-fourth part of a thing, dont it ? Do they only hold four a year ? " " Oh, yes," said he, " they have meet ings here every month, but thats what the Methodises calls this kind of meetings." " Oh," said I, "its the Methodists, is it ? Well, I think they are a rather peculiar people, anyway, so Ill stay here and go with you and well see how they do."
In due time we all went to the church, which was near by. I noticed that all the family and the guests of the family preferred to let me and my little boy gang to our selves. As we neared the church the three preachers drove up together. J. E. Sentell belonged to my Confer ence and was only there on a visit. Of course Brother Sentell recognized and introduced me to the two brothers ot the Florida Conference, viz., Thomas and Morrison. In spite of all remonstrance I "was compelled to fill the pulpit at the eleven oclock service.
When I went into the pulpit the young ladies and misses who had spent the over-night at Mr. H.s, who doubtless looked upon me as being some poor outcast, be gan to whisper in an audible tone, " Hes going into the

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pulpitj " The good old brother at whose house I had tar ried the night before, with eyes and mouth wide open, looked on in utter amazement. The good Lord helped me in preaching1 and blessed the church in large measure!
At the close of the sermon old Bro. H. came up to me and said : " Why didnt you tell me you were a preacher ? " Said I, " My good brother, you should have remembered what the Bible tells you, to Entertain strangers, for some thereby have entertained angels/" Said he, "You must go back with me to dinner, and you can have oats for your stock as long as youll stay, if its a month and you must forgive me, will you ?" I replied, " Yes, with all my heart; and Ill go with you to dinner, too." I have sel dom told, and will not now write, all that the old brother said to his aged wife, who had remained at home to pre pare dinner. Let it suffice to say that he declared his purpose to never treat another stranger in that way. He also expressed a high appreciation of my sermon.
I have never felt it in my heart to blame the old gen tleman for his want of courtesy to me. He lived on a public highway and had doubtless suffered much from having to feed and help soldiers, and vagabonds, too. Hos pitality, after suffering long, may become impatient. I hope to meet Bro. H. in the better world.

A BASKET CAMP-MEETING.
During the summer I decided that I would hold a bas ket camp-meeting. I mean by this, to hold a meeting, let all who could, go, and stretch cloth tents and remain on the ground and all who preferred, to go back and forth carrying their baskets well-filled with provisions for the inner man. I appointed a day for all hands to meet me, at the Harris church, five miles north of Sandersville, with axes and other implements of labor, to begin the work of erecting a large brush arbor. There was a beau-

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tiful oak forest near the church, in the midst of which I proposed to erect the arbor, put up a pulpit, erect free stands, etc., etc. There "was much water/* enough to meet all purposes for man and beast. I dont know so well about water for immersion purposes, I somehow imagined it was a second Enon, "much water," as before stated, sufficient to meet all demands except for immer sion. Wonder if this was not the case at old Enon ? Water sufficient to slake the thirst of man and beast and, if need be, sprinkle ten thousand people but none to im merse in ! You see, we cannot prevent these mental sug gestions. It is possible that some others might have had different mental operations !
At the appointed time I and one other white man and three persons of the colored persuasion met and com menced the work. We continued it from day to day until all was completed according to rny mental pattern.
A STRIKING INCIDENT.
I had written to Bishop Pierce, whose home was in the adjoining county of Hancock, to please come down and bring a camp-meeting supply of preachers with him. At the appointed time the people were on hand in large num bers. Also, our popular Saintly, and eloquent Bishop Pierce, who brought with him that intellectual, learned and logical preacher, Doctor W. J. Sasnett, who preached his last sermon at eleven oclock on Sunday from the text, St. Johns Gospel, third chapter and sixteenth verse. He left the meeting, went home, took his bed and in a few days passed to his home in Heaven !
The Bishop also brought with him the quaint, forceful and eloquent preacher, John W. Knight, who some years later closed his earthly career in the asylum for the insane at Milledgeville. Also, that sweet-spirited, cheerful and faithfu preacher, Benjamin Breecllove. The meeting re-

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suited in great good. The church was strengthened and built up in the faith ; many sinners were converted from the error of their way and brought into the fold of Christ Jesus.
AN AGREEABLE SURPRISE.
Without any previous intimation to me, the Bishop on Sunday told the large congregation that they ought to raise one thousand dollars for their pastor, who had built that arbor and had gotten up that meeting-, whose invalid wife was then in Florida at the Springs. In ten minutes seven hundred and fifty dollars in cash was laid on the table and the other two hundred and fifty dollars were pledged in subscriptions. Col. J. N. Gilmore, now of San dersville, Bro. Joe Hines and several others laid fifty dol lars each on the table.
TO FLORIDA AGAIN ONE WEAK. WOMANS WORK.
This was timely for my interests, as I expected to, and did, go in a few days to Florida to bring my dear wife home. Of course I had her board and other bills to pay. I record, for the benefit of others, and in justice to the memory of my invalid wife, the fact that she had gotten up a class of a number of young ladies at the Springs, and taught them to weave and make various articles of jewelry out of hair taken from the heads of lady friends. She lacked only a few dollars of paying all her expenses. This will appear more remarkable when you remember that she was unable to walk a step, to turn herself in bed, or even feed herself when the food was placed by her bedside. In this connection I will state that, although I found her gen eral health much improved, her shrunken muscles and en larged joints were not benefited by the use of those heal ing waters. She believed to the day of her death that, had she gone" there two years sooner, she would have experi enced a radical cure. She lived nearly two years after her

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return home. Be it stated further that, during those two years of physical suffering, she got Major Newman, now ordinary of Washington county, then in the mercantile business in Sandersville, to order her, first and last, several hundred dollars worth of gold ornaments fastening clasps, etc., etc. to be used in the manufacture of the various kinds of hair work which she superintended, such as watch guards, necklaces, breast pins, etc., and actually cleared, above all expenses, near six hundred dollars in a space of less than two years ! The old adage is, "Where there is a will, there is a way." There is much truth in it.
MY EDITORSHIP,
During the latter part of the year 1865 and on through 1866 and the greater part of 1867^ Col. Gilmore employed me to edit his -paper, The Central Georgian, paying me, for the first few months, seventy-five dollars per month and, later, one hundred dollars per month. This was a great favor to me, and I am persuaded that my services paid the Colonel a good profit especially in the year 1866. I was appointed Presiding Elder on the Sandersville District, which embraced Washington and Baldwin counties, in part, on the east side of the Central railroad, and all the territory lying west of that railroad from Gordon, twenty miles south of Macon, to the Ocmulgee river; thence down said river to its junction with the Oconee; thence down the Altamaha to Darien ; thence along the coast to the Central railroad ; thence up the railroad to the county line of Washington. This was a large territory. There was not a single newspaper published besides Col. Gilmores paper, The Central Georgian, in my entire district. I ran up the subscription list to several thousand and also secured the official patronage of all the counties in my district. My recollection is that the actual income of our paper for the year 1866 was near eight thousand dollars.

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I wish here to assert that in my comparatively long life I have never had dealings with a more perfect gentleman. He is high-toned, honest and big-souled. May his last days be his best clays, and his sun set amid the golden tints of a cloudless sky !
GOOD FRIENDS AND TRUE.
I am under obligations lasting" as eternity to many of my old friends who then resided in Sandersville and in different parts of old Washington county. I have never lived among a better people. I regarded them, almost without exception, as my true friends. Friendships born into being amid the horrors, deprivations and sufferings of a long, bloody war are bound to be as lasting as life itself. There the earthly remains of the wife of my younger days will repose, in the Sandersville Cemetery, until the great awaking morning and from thence ascend to her celestial home in her resurrected and glorified body.
THE PASSING OF A SAINT.
On the morning of the iSth of May, 1867, after, as her doctors affirmed, having been for three days and nights in the valley of the shadow of death, she passed across the little rivulet of death had suffered the last pain of body and heart and shouted, for the first time, "Home at last! Home forever more ! "
It was right and proper that a true Christian life which had been attended by such excruciating pain, so long protracted, should be honored with a brief sojourn in Beulah-lancl! She certainly was in that blissful interme diate state for many hours. She said often, "I see into Heaven, I see father, mother and many other dear friends there and our two precious little children, and they beckon me over. I can almost touch their beckoning hands. Tell me, my dear husband, why cant I hear them speak ? Oh, Heaven is so much nearer to this world than

SANDERSVILLE A YEARS WORK.
I ever thought ! " She actually called the names of some with whom we had been acquainted that we had not teamed had passed over the river of death. Said I, "My dear, I think those parties are still living." She said, " No, they are in Heaven. I see them and recognize them be yond all doubt." On inquiry later, I found that both those dear friends had passed through deaths iron gate and she knew that they had passed through the golden gates into the Celestial City. On the iSth of May, iS6/T faith was swallowed up in realization and hope in fruition died ! During her last hours she requested that Bishop Pierce should preach her funeral sermon from the sixth verse of the twelfth chapter of Hebrews : " Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."
Said she : " I will be buried next Sunday. Just one week later, at the District Conference, Bishop Pierce can preach my funeral from that text. I wish him to preach the sermon not because he is a Bishop, but because he always seemed to sympathize so much -with me in my afflictions, and then he is, I think, such a good man, and I hope the good Lord will bless the sermon to the good of the living. It can do me no good, for Ill be in Heaven the last battle fought and the glorious victory won." She requested Dr. Smith, one of her physicians, to administer the sacrament of the Lords Supper to her with her hus band and children, and all of us promised to meet her in Heaven.
Her requests were all carried out as far as possible. The Bishops sermon was the grandest effort I ever heard from his eloquent lips. Said he : "This is surely the most triumphant death that it has ever been my privilege to funeralize surely none could possibly be more trium phant !" Her promise to be my guardian angel I believe she is carrying out. I often feel she is by my side.

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ON THE SANDERSVII.LE CIRCUIT.
The good Lord blessed my labors in the district through the entire year, 1866. My wifes condition became so serious during that year that I felt it my duty to ask the Presiding Bishop to please release me from district ivork, that I might be able to spend more time by her bedside. I was appointed for the year 1867 to the Sandcrsville circuit, which embraced all our churches in the county. I could leave home in the morning1 and drive to any of my churches and return home by nightfall. I have often watched by her bedside through the whole night, without getting one moments sleep, then drove sixteen miles to Bay Spring, preach, stop by the wayside for dinner, drive on to Piney Mount, nine miles distant, preach in the afternoon, then eight miles home, preach at night and then perhaps not get the privilege of closing my eyes in sleep during the night. A good constitution and the grace of God carried me through all those labors and sore trials.
THE LAST GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
The Conference of 1866 was an important and memor able one. It was the occasion in which Bishop McTyeire first presided over a Georgia conference, and was also the last session of the old Georgia Conference. By the action of the preceding general conference, the twenty-six counties of Georgia, which had hitherto been embraced in the Florida Conference, were retrocedecl to the Georgia Conference upon condition that the State of Georgia be divided into two annual conferences, otherwise those counties were to remain in the Florida Conference. Those preachers who had been assigned to fields of labor in those twenty-six counties were at liberty to claim their membership in the Florida, or come with that territory into the South Georgia Conference.

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THE DEBATE.
There was much debate on the Conference floor, which consumed the greater portion of two days. It seemed that the brethren were almost a unit with regard to con stituting the two Conferences, but the trouble lay in agreeing upon the dividing line. It was simply wonderful to see how widely good men differed in their judgment at that session, the last of the old Georgia Conference.
There were thirteen districts, consequently there were thirteen presiding elders present. At a night session of the cabinet, Bishop McTyeire, who, by the way, was one of the best presiding officers that ever presided over a Con ference, and who was beyond all doubt the best character reader that I have ever met, although this was his first visit to our Conference as a Bishop and as he informed me, years after, the second annual Conference that he presided over, yet he had mentally weighed and thor oughly diagnosed the character of every member of our Conference.
Tb.e Bishop said: " Brethren, I am satisfied of the wisdom of the action of the General Conference in author izing the formation of the two Annual Conferences in the State of Georgia. I think there is but little opposi tion, if, indeed, any, yet the brethren on the Conference floor differ so widely with regard to where the line should be run that unless you presiding elders agres here among yourselves, there will be a, failure of agreement, and thus the matter will fall to the ground. Hence, I suggest that, first of all, you presiding elders agree upon the line. All of you be conservative, go before the Conference and tell them you have agreed, announce the line upon which you have agreed, and the brethren will accept it."
AN AGREEMENT REACHED.
John \V. Glenii was the acknowledged leader of the

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Northern portion of the old Conference and Samuel Anthony of the Southern. Glenn arose and offered a line that would have given two-thirds of the territory to the North Georgia Conference. Anthony arose indignant at the unequal proposal and offered what he thought would be the proper line of division, which was really as unjust to the North Georgia as Glenns was to the South. I have often thought if we had had authority to run the two lines suggested by these two great and good men, that we could have had three Annual Conferences of about an equal number of square miles in each. But, alas, we were only authorized to constitute two. Our business Bishop then urged that some of the brethren offer an intermediate line which was really run just about midway between the two originally suggested. The eleven other presiding elders all agreed and then the two combatants gracefully grounded arms and we were a unit.
Next morning the" Conference adopted the line agreed upon by the IMshop and presiding elders, my recollection is, without a dissenting voice, which line has been and still is the acknowledged line between the two Confer ences.

CHAPTER XVII.
TRANSFER TO THE NORTH GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
In November, 1867, the North Georgia Conference convened in the city of Atlanta. I and every member of my family had for weeks been suffering1 from chills and fever. On Thursday afternoon of the Atlanta Conference I decided that for our health I ought to transfer to the North Georgia Conference. I took the night train and reached Atlanta early Friday morning. I went to the Metropolitan Hotel for breakfast ; found Bishop Pierce at

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the breakfast table. He was the presiding bishop at the Conference. I had a short talk with him. I told him I wished to transfer and gave my reasons for desiring such a course, viz., the health of myself and family, which I thought demanded such a change. Said I : " Bishop, please send me where we can get mountain water and pure air." He promised to comply with my wish. I took the train and returned home the same day.
ON THE GUMMING CIRCUIT.
At the close of the Conference I was read out to the Gumming circuit, which filled the bill to perfection. I had Forsyth and a good portion of Dawson county in rny four weeks circuit. Here I found many good and true co-laborers in the work of the Lord. A better people I never served. Their houses, hands, purses and hearts were literally at my command. I served this work through the years 1868-1869. Among the good people I will mention the following: Col. H. P. Bell, Robert and Marion Eakes, James Hughes, Uncle Buck Williams, Calvin Johnson, James Bishop and Miles Puckett. All of them were local preachers and all heartily co-operated with me in the good work of building up the church.
There was. however, a serious trouble to be met and overcome. After the war closed a considerable number of our members, both lay and clerical, left the Southern Methodist church and went, politically and religiously, with the Methodist Episcopal Church. This was not to wondered at when we remember that the South, at the close of the war, was financiall} impoverished and to some extent our churches were demoralized, especially in the wake of the victorious armies of our successful foes. The preachers of Northern Methodism had taken possession of our churches. They had their thousands of dollars to support the ministers that they employed in

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these so-called mission fields! They made offers to sup port many of our ministers upon the simple condition of uniting with their church, and pleaded that the doctrines and polity of the churches were the same; indeed, did actually affirm that the Northern was the "Mother Church," "the old Methodist Church," etc.
It has required a considerable amount of charity for me to reconcile the course pursued by them with their claim to be followers of the ever-truthful and ever-patient and suffering Jesus !
It has always appeared to me, if you cut an apple or melon into two equal parts, that it would be quite diffi cult to tell which were the older half, or the possibility of one of those halves actually being the real mother of the other, which grew simultaneously from the same stem ! Or, to run a partition from wall to wall, thus cutting the original building into two rooms, how one could claim to be the original house and repudiate the other half of the building, which was builcled into the same house at the same time ! Reader, can you see how such a claim can be sustained by logic, fact or truth ? Yet I had this very state of affairs to contend with on the Cumming charge. It did not require a great while to regain possession of all our churches, and the greater part of our members who had left us returned, and in a few months we were under full headway. We had large additions to our numbers during 1868 and a large increase in 1869.
THE CHALLENGE.
I .will relate a little incident that occurred in the early summer of 68. Xlae Northern M. E. presiding elder who had charge of his wing of Methodism in that part of North Georgia, finding that we had succeeded in bringing back nearly all who had previously been members and were also gaining additions from the world, wrote me a

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challenge to meet him and publicly discuss the points at issue between the two churches. I could not see that any good could possibly result from such a discussion. After a little reflection and a little consultation \vith a good brother, I called upon old Uncle Edmund Kellogg, who, although a full-blooded descendant of pure African par entage, and had been a slave up to the emancipation proclamation, -was nevertheless a full-blooded Methodist. He belonged to the same church to which his good Chris tian master belonged. He had no use for any man or anything that antagonized what " Marse George" held toWhen the greater part of our colored members left us to enter into other organizations, Kdmund said: "They can all go that wants to, but I stays with Marse George ; our old church is good enough for roe,"
A FRIENDLY HELPING HAND.
I called on Edmund and read him Mr. F.s challenge for a public debate. " Now," said I, " Edmund, I have plenty of work for the Lord to require all my time. What do you think will be the best course to pursue ? "
"Why, Massa, just turn him over to me. I feels that I is as good as he is, for he used to belong to our church and has left us and gone over to de Yankees, an he done it to git money. You musnt nasty your hands with him. I cant write. If somebody will do de writin as I tells em, if you say so I will take him up and give him all de public bate he wants."
That was exactly the course I wished the matter to take. A suitable pensrnan was found, and Edmund, by a little assistance, had the acceptance put in good style. He informed Mr. F. that he had been shown a written challenge directed to the pastor of the church to which he (Edmund) belonged, that his pastor was engaged in the work of the Lord and must not come down from his high

and holy work, but that he (Edmund) felt that he was the equal, to say the least of it, of the challenging party, and that as Mr. F. had left the selection of the date and place for the public discussion, that he (Edmund) hereby accepts said challenge and he would name the court house in the town of Gumming- as the place and the fourth Mon day in August at 9 A, M. as the time; that Mr. F. should lead off In one hours talk, and that he (Edmund) would would follow in reply in an equal space of time, and that the public discussion should continue from day to day until one or the other of the disputants was vanquished from the field. He added that in order to prevent mis representation and all possibility of misunderstanding", that he (Edmund) had had several copies of both Mr. F.s challenge and his (Edmunds) acceptance sent to some of the leading- citizens in those neighborhoods where Mr. F. officiated ; that he hoped for an early response from Mr. F., etc.
Strange as it may appear to some, Mr. F. never replied 1 Edmund said, : " I thought Mr. F. was spoilin for a fight, but it seems he is not much anxious." Be it recorded here that Edmund fired the last shot in that battle, and assuredly spiked Mr. F.s gun. Edmunds popu larity was established; our Southern people held him in high esteem. .At a camp-meeting not long after the above occurrence, I was informed that the whites gave him a nice suit of clothes and a purse well-filled with silver coin.
OUTLAWS AT CAMP-MEETING.
Camp~meetir?gs were held in 1868 and 1869 at the old Lumpkin camp ground.; which is now within the territorial limits of JOawson county, but which, at the time of my pastorate on the Cu ram ing work, was under my charge. We had at the meeting held August, 1868, a large number cf strong preachers, among" them Rev. G. J. Pierce, J. B.

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Godfrey and George Yarbrough. Great good was accom plished. There was but little violation of the laws of propriety.
At the meeting held here in August, 1869, we had a larger number of popular preachers than in the preceding year. \Ve had present this year, among others, Dr. \V. P. Harrison and Dr. A. G. Haygood. I feel free to say that I never attended a meeting where grander or more efficient preaching was delivered to any congregation. We also had to contend with a gang of outlaws, who gave considerable trouble. The gang was composed of young men led on by a few desperadoes who had been guilty of many acts of violence. They had generally selected as victims of their spleen quite aged people or those from whom they expected no serious defense. They had seriously injured an old gentleman and his wife only a fewdays before the meeting. It was stated and generally believed that they had been more cruel to the helpless in certain portions of that mountain region than the deserters from the armies or even the lawless bush whackers. The clan -was known as the " Taylor Clan" because three or four brothers of that name led on and gave shape to the operations of their followers.
On Saturday night of the meeting a white preacher was appointed to preach to the colored people in the church which stood perhaps over one hundred yards from the upper line of the camp ground. These wild, wicked young fellows threw stones with such force and in such
quantities that the preacher and his colored congregation all left the house and fled to the camp ground for protec tion. When Sunday came, so badly had these outlaws
acted that no female, or even a boy of ten or twelve years, felt safe in going to the spring for a bucket of water.
Hence, the men alone dared go on such an errand.

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An old class leader, I suppose sixty-five or seventy years old, reached his tent with a couple of buckets of water and placed them on his watershelf. The clan, perhaps twenty or mores were near by and walked up, and by turns took a few sips of water from the dipper, then threw the remainder on the grass. The old gentleman told them to go to the spring to get their drinking water. They paid no attention to what he said, but continued until they had emptied both buckets, which the old brother said they did within the space of three minutes. The old brother said nothing further. He took his buckets, went and returned with them refilled. As soon as he put the buckets" down they made a rush to repeat what they had done a few moments before. The good old brothers patience gave "way. He picked up an old hickory frame sitting chair. As the first one approached the old man struck the offender such a blow that it felled him to the earth. Then the second and the third and, if my memory serves me properly, the fourth was knocked down. The outlaws drew pistols and made threats, but did not fire upon the good old man. L,ong before dark it was generally understood that the Taylor crowd proposed to make night hideous and to have things their own way. They swore that there should be no preaching that night for the negroes. We had as fully determined that there should be. Bro. Augustus Bell, who still lives, was act ing sheriff. He was requested to take a force of picked men and, at all hazards, protect the preacher and the negro congregation, which he did.
REMOVED FROM AUTHORITY.
Although I had been in charge of that work for two years and was virtually in charge of that meeting; and although there were preachers who had done but little, if any, preaching during the meeting, yet, in the face of

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all this, I was informed by my good Brother Haygood, late in the evening, that the preachers had held a council and had unanimously decided to take the reins from my hands and, further, that I must preach on Sunday night, on the "Noahac flood."
I went to the preachers tent and begged with all my powers for a revocation of the edict, but to no avail. Dr. Harrison, who had preached at n A. M., gave it as his opinion that there were ten thousand people on the ground. A very large per cent, of these were present at night.
A THRILLING MOMENT.
I was compelled to obey the fiat. The good Lord helped me. It was the opinion of many that there were at least one hundred conversions that night. The blessed work went on until next morning. One prominent citizen who was converted that night, a Mr. Black, was accident ally killed the next Sabbath day. "Saved as by the skin of the teeth ! " Just as I finished my sermon and invited the anxious to the altar, I saw the sheriff, Brother Bell, and his men coming in a straight line towards the arbor. I knew then that the services for our colored friends had closed and, as I had heard no sound of fire arms, felt con fident that the sheriff had been successful in preserving the peace at his end of the line. A moment later I saw the outlaws, more in number than the sheriffs force, filing In from the northwest corner of the encampment ! I saw at a glance that the lines of the two approaching col umns would converge about the center of the arbor on the side occupied by the ladies.
Dr., afterwards Bishop, Haygood, I never knew why, but have always believed, by a Divine impression only a moment or two before I saw the outlaws advancing, shouted to me in a loud voice, " You stay up there where

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you are, Jirn, and manage the forces. \Ve will take care of the interests down here."
A DIVINE IMPULSE.
As soon as I saw that the sheriff and his posse would meet the outlaws so near the arbor, knowing that both the parties were armed, I felt that serious consequences were inevitable, unless the good Lord interceded. I felt divinely impelled to rush to the point where they would meet. I acted on the impression. I have never been able to understand how I succeeded in pressing my way through that dense crowd and yet make good time. Just as I reached the sheriff, Dr. Williams, " Uncle Buck," as he was affectionately called a man who was an utter stranger to fear, placed himself in front of the foremost of the Taylor gang, and, pushing up his right sleeve, said, "Now, sir, stand back, or Ill knock you clown !" Placing my hand on his shoulder, I said, " Uncle Buck, hold! Dont be so rash." Then, addressing the wild young fel lows, I said, (< My young friends, I have been young myself and know that young people dont take time to think. Boys, there is something good in you all if you will only try to bring it out. I am a friend to each one of you. True, I dont know you all by name, but you are all the subjects of Gods love." Then this thought earne into rny mind and I gave expression to it : "Boys, I am certain you all would like to hear a good, rich anecdote, one that you will never forget while you live. I do wish I had some place to stand. You see, boys, I am used to talking to folks from the pulpit."
Uncle Buck replied, "Brother Anthony, there is a long bench back there a few steps. Vou can stand on it."
Said I, "All right. Come on, boys, and let me tell you the anecdote." When we got to the bench I selected two that I thought were likely the roughest among them and

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requested each to please take a seat astride the bench and hold it steady. They instantly complied. Then I stepped on the bench and said :
"Gentlemen, if you please, I wish to not only tell you a rich anecdote, but also to preach you a short sermon, just fifteen minutes long. Which will you take first ? "
I addressed myself to the young fellows who had caused the trouble. One of them replied, " Suit yourself as to that." Uncle Buck spoke out, " Give us the sermon first, and then the anecdote."
THE SERMON.
Said I, "All right. Now, boys, several of you have each a watch. Look and see what time it is and when the fifteen minutes end, raise your hand and if I have not fin ished my sermon Ill stop immediately." Soma of them, at least, complied. "My text youll find in the fourth chapter of the prophesy of Arnos, twelfth verse: Pre pare to meet thy God. "
I first noticed the fact declared there is a God. Second, the fact declared that there will be a meeting with God all of us will stand before His judgment seat. Third, the fact that God calls upon us to make prepar ation to meet Him is evidence as clear as a sunbeam that we are not, in our natural state, prepared for that meeting it appealed to the inward consciousness, which con demns you, tells you that you are not prepared for that meeting. Fourth, the preparation to be made, viz., to determine, by Gods help, to quit sinning; to turn to our Lord Jesus Christ with repentant hearts for past evils, and with humble trust in His ability to deliver us from the guilt of our sins. This God accepts and then we are, by the effi cacy of the atonement made by Christ, changed by the Holy Ghost and made ready for that meeting. Then I

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dwelt briefly upon the results of having made preparation, arid, finally, the awful consequences of failing to make it ! The Holy Spirit carried these truths home to the hearts and consciences of those wicked young men. I requested all present who felt a desire to "make preparation to meet God "now, to kneel at the bench on which I stood. I verily believe the last one of them knelt! I then called on Uncle Buck to lead in prayer, which he did in wonder ful power. He prayed long and loud. I could hear sobs and cries for mercy coming from many of those who knelt at our improvised altar. When Uncle Buck cried, " amen," I said, * Let us continue in prayer." I then called on a young brother, named Tumlins to continue the prayer, which he did, with great power. Before the young brother closed several professed to have found peace in believing. We continued, then, in song, prayer and exhortation until near midnight. We then opened the doors of the church. Nine of those disturbers of the peace joined the church!
SPIRITUAL PREFERABLE TO CARNAL "WEAPONS.
I had preached two sermons that night, besides much talk by way of exhortation, etc. True, the second sermon was only fifteen minutes long, but, altogether, these in cessant labors had exhausted my physical powers.
I said, "Brethren, I must rest." I left our new preach ing place and altar and started for the tent, to rest. As I left, Bro. " Gus" Belle, the sheriff, came to me, saying, "Here, Brother Anthony- take my fine, silver-mounted pistol. I have no use for it. I see the * Gospel bow is worth a thousand pistols." Said I, "No, Brother Gus; I have no use for the pistol, either. Let us ever use the Gospel bow and the Divine quiver."
This was the last scene in the drama of outlawry in that part of Georgia. At least, it was the end so far as those young men were concerned. I am due the boys that

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anecdote, but assure them I am ready to pay on demand.
HELPERS IN THE CAUSE.
Before closing this chapter I wish to record the names of some of the good and faithful laymen who stood by their pastor and labored to promote the interests of the Church of God, most of whom have ere this crossed the river and are now resting under the shade of the trees of Paradise:
At Gumming Brothers Fred Moore, Gramlin, A. W. Johnson, Henry Kellogg, A. C. McAfee, J. O. James and the Bros. Simms.
At Ebenezer The saintly George Kellogg, Jones Douglass, the Mashburns, and others.
At Mt. Zion Willis Winn, the sons of " Uncle Buck" Williams, the Morgans and Woodliffs.
At New Hope " Gus" Belle, Brother Moony, the Westbrooks and others.
At the Lumpkin camp ground Brother Stephens, Prince, and others.
At Dawsonville John C. Richardson and quite a host of other good brethren.
At the other churches in the northeastern and northern part of the work The big-souled John Hockinhnll and his son, the Doctor; the Bros. Barrett; Bro. John F. Harrison and family; Brother Martin; the Bros. Holbrook; old Father Thompson, and others.
Space would fail me to mention all the names of the good brethren and sisters to whom I preached and with whom I labored and whom I loved.
REV. LEMUEL Q. ALLEN.
He died during the latter part of the summer of 1868. He was my predecessor on that work, but was unable to preach the greater portion of the previous year. I have two reasons for introducing his name here. First, because

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his name is worthy of a lasting embalming upon the pages of the history of Georgia Methodism, He was faithful to all trusts committed to him. He was also a very useful preacher. None of his friends claimed for him extraordi nary analytical or oratorical powers. His faithfulness and unquenchable zeal for the cause of the Master, together with his native wit and his warm, genial nature, which united to make him a most agreeable companion* consti tuted his chief characteristics.
A TERRIBLE MISFORTUNE.
Brother Alien was an almost incessant smoker of the pipe. He told me that about the latter part of March, i867> during a cool, windy spell of weather, there came a small break in the skin near the middle of his under lip; that he was confident that the nicotine from his pipe-stem poisoned the raw place in his lip: it began to inflame; that an old doctor of the female persuasion pronounced it a cancer, and proposed to cure his lip by killing the cancer. She used heroic remedies. The result was the rapid destruction of the flesh that covered his chin. He later came across another cancer doctress, who condemned the treatment of doctress number one. He immediately placed himself under her treatment. Her treatment only contributed to the more rapid development of the deadly malady.
In seventeen months after the slight break in his lip, the entire surface of his face on the right side, extending down his neck until his collar bone was exposed, had been consumed, and death ensued.
One of the saddest days of my life was the one I spent in carrying him from the parsonage at Gumming to the little home he purchased near the Lumpkin camp ground.
A QUACKS SINISTER WORK.
He reached the parsonage the over-evening by stage

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coach from Atlanta. He had gone to Augusta, Georgia, in obedience to a published advertisement sent out by a specialist, who claimed to be able to cure that fatal malady, cancer, in any and all of its shapes. He had to pay the fee of one hundred dollars in advance. This irresponsible quack, to be sure, gave him an obligation to refund, in case of failure to cure. Alien grew worse daily.
The professors in the Medical College, at Augusta, held a consultation and resolved to see and tell Bro. A. that all hopes of recovery, and life itself, were vain. Doc tor Eve was the messenger sent. He dealt faithfully with Brother Alien ; told him his doctor was a quack and was only hastening his death; that he could not live six weeks. He told him to go home and arrange his business to die.
Bro. A. acted oil Doctor Eves suggestion. He called on the quack specialist to refund his money, which said quack refused to do. Whereupon Alien told him that his good wife and little children would need the money, and that he (Alien) would have it, if it required the taking of the life of said quack. Said quack still hesitated to return his money. Alien then said, " Sir, I will have the money or your life! These good doctors of Augusta tell me that I cant live six weeks. They cant try and hang me in that time, so I run no risk. I have nothing at stake. You can take your choice, and youve got to do it here and now!"
The quack saw that the chances were against him. He replied, " You, a minister of the Gospel, -would not take the life of a fellow-man, would you ? "
" Yes," replied Alien, " I would be doing Gods service and would stop you from swindling people out of their money and murdering people with your quack nostrums; and, sir, I will not parley longer. Hand over or take the consequences!" It is needless to say, he "handed over."
I had the foregoing from Bro. A. himself. As we rode on towards his little home he talked alternately of his

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blissful hopes for the better world and of his distress of mind at the thought of leaving his loved ones.
When we drew near the church at the camp ground, said he, " Brother Jim, drive up near the church. There ! stop here. Now, I wish you to see that I am buried be tween these two postoak trees. J love Masonry. Please see that I am buried with Masonic honors. Also, I wish you to have my coffin, containing my body, placed in the altar under the arbor there, and then I wish you to preach rny funeral sermon from either one of the following texts of Scripture," quoting a passage from the Old and one from the New Testament Scriptures.
Said I, "I would prefer that you select definitely." He replied, " I have no choice between the two. Select for yourself between them." I visited him only once more before his departure. He was still happy and strong in the faith. In the early twi light, a few days after, a messenger bore the intelli gence that Bro. A. had been freed from his sufferings, that the dark-winged angel had borne his blood-washed soul to its home above. I hastened to the place that he had selected for his interment. Everything was carried out according to his expressed wishes.
AN UNEXPECTED REQUEST.
By far the largest Masonic procession I ever witnessed participated in the funeral ceremonies. A vast concourse of people had assembled and were seated under the arbor. The corpse was placed in the altar. The Masons had per formed the ritualistic services to the point where the offic iating minister should begin the sermon. Just as I was in the act of rising to announce the text, the heart-crushed widow touched my arm and said, " Mr. Alien told me yes terday to tell you to be sure and use the text from the New Testament," and took her seat.

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Alas ! for me, I had prepared my sermon from the one In the Old Testament! There I was no time for reflec tion ! I turned to the text designated by the widow, read it and, without saying a word about my new troubles, preached to the best of my ability. I hope to realize in the great day that all this was but by the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Now I wish to emphasize one fact, viz., that Brother Alien believed that his life was sacrificed by putting him self under the treatment of unskilled people, whose reme dies, in all probability, converted a curable sore into an incurable cancer I This is not the only case that has come under my observation, in which death has been hastened, if not caused, by the use of quack remedies. A hint to the wise is sufficient. Let quacks fearfully alone 1

CHAPTER XVIII.
TRANSFER TO THE MOBILE CONFERENCE.
My aged father and mother had suffered much during the war by being in the track of the armies. It was really hurtful to the interests of the farmer to fall into the hands of the Southern armies. His horses were often taken. So with regard to his hogs, sheep and cattle. Of course, he was remunerated by having a piece of paper handed him, upon which was written the obligation of the Confederate government to pay value received at a later date! which, as we all now know, was worth no more than a piece of wrapping paper of the same size.
When the Federals carne, they were less ceremonious and not half so polite. They offered nothing by way of remuneration. My father decided to " sell out, lock, stock and barrel," which he did, and was paid in hand in Con-

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federate bills. He then left his family at the old home stead in rSTorth Georgia, went over into Jefferson county, Alabama, and was fortunate enough to make a purchase of a pretty good body of land, upon which was located a grist and saw mill, one-half interest in which he bought. He succeeded in investing the greater portion of his Con federate money in lands and other good property, but, alas! he had only been a few weeks in his new home be fore the Federal cavalry were upon him. They took very nearly all the supplies he had laid in for the year. Also, one or two of his best horses. After this he had no trouble by the visits of either army.
Soon after the close of the war my parents began urging me to transfer to the conference in which they then lived. Subsequently, on visiting them, I yielded to their persuasions and bought my fathers interest in tn*e mills and a portion of the land he had purchased, paying him a large price in good money for the property pur chased. This I did because, first of all, I desired to help my aged parents.; secondly, I thought I was making a good investment. I did not decide to make the transfer from Georgia to Alabama until about the close of the year 1869.
REMOVAL TO ALABAMA.
About the middle of November, 1869, my family and I left Gumming, Georgia, for our new home in Jefferson county, Alabama. We stored our goods and chattels in a two-horse wagon. We then used a one-horse wagon and a buggy to carry the family and such articles as could be carried in that way.
We reached our destination without accident, and all in good health, in due time. All hands went to work to build up our new home. Through the winter months we built all necessary outbuildings and cleared up additional

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cultivable lands. During the spring and summer we re built the* mill dam, repaired and improved the mill pro perty and had our little farming interests carried on suc cessfully.
THE START FOR THE CONFERENCE.
The Mobile Conference, to which I desired to transfer, met about the last of November or first of December in the city of Selma, Alabama.
In company with the ever-genial J. G. Gurley, I started in my buggy for Mcntevallo, "which "was forty-odd miles distant, at -which point we proposed to leave the horse and buggy until our return, as we were to take the train there.
The excessive rains raised the water courses. There were few bridges. Near night, in crossing a swollen creek, we both got pretty well soaked with water. The wind was blowing almost a gale. The ground was frozen. We decided to stop and spend the night at the first farm house we might reach, but after reaching it we changed our minds and decided that we would stop for the night at the first house at which we could obtain permission to do so ! We had met with positive refusal and thus it con tinued, until we felt that we were in great danger of freez ing to death.
TRIAL AND TRIBULATION.
We agreed to alternate in hailing and supplicating per mission to tarry for the night. Bro. G. would say, "Friend, here are two poor Methodist preachers with wet clothes and they frozen to us. Will you please let us stay with you until morning ? " " No," was the reply in every case. I suspected that we were not in a locality peculiarly friendly to Methodist preachers. I would appeal to them on the score of humanity, but with no better success.
Another house was now reached. Bro, G. hailed and stated that two poor Methodist preachers were almost

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frozen and wished to stay with him "all night." "No, you cant," was the reply. *Well," said Bro. G., "please give us a chunk of fire and let us camp by the roadside. We can stand it no longer!" "No use of that," said the gentleman. "Come in and spend the balance of the night with me. You cant spend the night, for a part of it is gone. Im a Methodist myself." Said Gurley, "Sir, take my hat. You have me. Thank God that we have found a man with a soul in him at last !"
\Ve enjoyed his warm fires, good supper and nice, clean beds.
That was a fearful experience. When we counted up we found that we had traveled about twelve miles in our wet and frozen clothing, over a very rough and muddy road. I hope that the kind reader may never have such an experience during life. I cannot think of that fearful night without feeling a cold tremor run over me.
THE DESTINATION ACCOMPLISHED.
On reaching Selma, the seat of the conference, I was sent to one of the best homes I ever had at an annual con ference, viz., that of Colonel Rosser, who was a brother of that great and good man, Doctor Leroy Rosser, of the Virginia Conference. Here I met, for the first time, Dr. J. C. Keener, afterward Bishop Keener. He was then in the vigor of his manhood. He preached three able ser mons during the session of the Conference.
I also met Dr. Archselus Mitchell, who, I believe, still lives, in extreme age. Also, Dr. McCarta; and Dr. Murrah, the compeer of Bishop Wightman, both hav ing entered the old South Carolina Conference at the same time, and both had traveled the circuit in which my parents lived, in my childhood. Also, Dr. Mangum, J. M. Boland and many other great and good and noble men.

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The venerable Bishop Payne presided at that Confer ence. I had never met him before. His subject for his Sunday mornings sermon was "the temptation of our Lord." The old Bishops mind seemed to act slowly. Some of the brethren began to hang their heads. Some, in undertone, -would whisper audibly, " Failure ! " After a few minutes he rose grandly to the sublime. He soared like a careering eagle. It was a sublime effort.
At the close of the Conference I was read out to " Elyton and Crumleys Chapel." Elyton was the county site of Jefferson county. Here I was to preach three Sundays in the month and one Sunday at the Chapel, which was a very strong country church.
In the immediately following chapters I will speak of my connection for six years with our Alabama brethren, which I feel sure will not be objectionable to my Georgia readers and will be appreciated by my Alabama friends.

CHAPTER XIX.
MY WORK IN ALABAMA.
In the last chapter I stated my transfer to the Mobile Conference and my appointment to the Elyton charge. My family lived in our little home at the " Falls of Vil lage," twelve miles distant from Elyton and within five miles of the Chapel, my country church.
There was n"o very decided revival power manifest during the year, except at the camp-meeting held at the Chapel.
In the latter part of September our Elyton people be came so much excited over the prospect of the realization of fabulous fortunes, that it was next to an impossibility to call their thoughts even for one short hour to things of a

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spiritual character. The fact that "our town was situated in the middle of Jones Valley, the dividing line between the iron and coal beds, not more than two miles from the center of town, the iron beds on the one side and the coal beds on the other and the further fact that the South & North railroad surveyed through the Geace gap on the south and running in a straight line for Nashville and the North, ran directly through the center of town ; also, the fact that another railroad had been surveyed from Chatta
nooga, Tennessee, to Meridian, Mississippi, crossing the South and North railroad near the center of town, there fore, THE city of all Southern cities must necessarily grow up in that valley, having its center at the crossing of the
two railroads in Hlyton ! The glory of the coming magic city, was the topic of all conversation of both sexes on every occasion. Sunday, alas ! was no exception to this rule, Many were the prophetic dreams of the future
glory and renown of our Klyton!

CASTLES IN THE ATR.
One gentleman actually committed his dream of the coming prestige of Kryton to the printing press. The dreamers beautiful vision extended over a period of two centuries ahead- He saw Klyton first the capital of the State; then, after a few years, the capital of this, the greatest republic that the sun of Heaven ever shone upon, with a population far exceeding that of the city of London, the people all millionaires, and all the pristine glories of the original Kden restored to the " City of the Valley !"
The result was that land owners put their property at fabulous prices. One thousand dollars per front foot on all main streets and business avenues was considered *cheap, cheap dirt cheap!" No remonstrance or sug gestion of a possibility that these high prices might cause the management of the two roads to agree upon another

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location for the crossing, would make any impression upon real estate owners.
THE CASTLES DEMOLISHED.
Sure enough, it soon developed that they had " killed the goose that laid the golden egg!" The railroad men bought a large old plantation at low figures and placed the crossing just two miles above our town ! Down went the prices of Klyton real estate.
Two years later the young city of Birmingham claimed eight to ten thousand inhabitants. The county site was moved from Elyton to Birmingham and property in our town could be bought at very low prices.
The reader can draw the lesson from the foregoing statements without further explanation.
A NEW FIELD OF LABOR.
In November of the year 1870, the itinerant Methodist preachers who had traveled within the territorial limits of the northern half of the State of Alabama, met, in pursu ance of a law passed at the preceding General Conference, to organize those portions of the territory formerly occu pied by the Montgomery, Mobile, Tennessee, and a small part of the Mississippi Conferences, into the North Ala bama Conference.
This Conference met in the city of Gadsden. Bishops Payne and McTyeire presided. The session was har monious and spiritual. The brethren, though, in the main, personally unacquainted with those who previously be longed to other than their own annual conference, sweetly flowed together and formed one of the strongest and best conferences in the connection.
At the close of the Conference I was read out pre siding elder on the Tuscaloosa district, which, at that time, was considered, at least in some respects, the best in

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the Conference. I served this district three years con secutively.
Tuscaloosa had at one time been the capital of the State. The State University was there; it is still there. There were three or four other colleges located here, in cluding the Methodist and Baptist Female, and, if my memory is correct, an Hpiscopal and Roman Catholic school. Tuscaloosa was, and still is, a city of colleges.
The district, at that time, had to be traveled by pri vate conveyance. Its territory reached from the west line of Jefferson county to the Mississippi line and from the southern boundary of the Conference to the dividing lines of Walker, Fayette and Marion counties.
I found much missionary territory within the bounds of my district. I tried to preach in all places destitute of the Gospel, and did everything I could to have my preach ers occupy all vacant grounds, and thank God for the suc cess that crowned our efforts. At the end of my third year on that district we were able to report all available lands under a healthful state of cultivation.
I had on this district, as I have had on all the districts assigned me, good, loyal preachers, who entered with heart and soul into all my plans and efforts to advance the interests of the Church. My local preachers, too, were good, useful men.
The public roads were fearfully neglected, scarcely ever worked. There were, comparatively speaking, few bridges. I often had to travel long distances up the banks of streams before I could find a fordable point and then, as likely as not, found myself in swimming water. I often jeopardized my life. Twice I came near being drowned, once in the " Big Warrior " and once in the " Little War rior." At almost any point on the Sipsey river it was dangerous to attempt crossing during the wet season with-

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out a guide. The Luxapalila river, also, was often swollen and difficult to cross. There are three creeks bearing the following names, respectively : " Paradise," " Purgatory," and " Hellscreek." These streams bore the picturesque names on the maps of the original land survey. I have been informed that the names were be stowed by the man who first surveyed the lands after our government came in possession, by purchase from the Indians.
I was informed by an intelligent old citizen that the surveyors got into the swamps of the largest of these three streams, They found that it was boggy, the mud cover ing quicksands. I am also told that to this day a man may stand on the roots of a tree growing in this swamp, jump up a few inches and when his feet strike the roots or turf from which he sprang, he can see the mud and water shake for many yards around.
The story is that the surveyors got into this swamp, and while one of them was standing on the turf held up by the roots of a beech tree cut with his knife in the bark of the tree, "This is hell." After getting to camp the principal surveyor was drawing his map of survey and asked, "Boys, what name shall we give to this creek?" The answer was in the words cut on the beech. The sur veyor wrote accordingly.
Further up the country they came to a beautiful little stream, that meandered gently through a sequestered val ley, its banks decked with fragrant flowers. The birds were trilling their tender lays, and all Nature seemed in tune. One said, "This is Paradise!" So the surveyor wrote, "Paradise Creek."
Some miles above, another ugly, boggy stream was en countered. All agreed that it was not quite as bad as the first creek. Believing in the intermediate state, they named this " Purgatory."

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An amusing incident occurred, as I was informed, at a session of the old Alabama Conference. Brother J. G. Gurley had traveled the preceding year the Yorkville circuit, which lay in the section of country through which the aforesaid creek ran, Bro. G. was asked, " Where is the work situated you traveled the past year, what coun ties ?" His reply was, "In Sanford and Marion, reaching from Hells Creek, taking in Paradise and Purgatory, and running up to Philadelphia." This was all literally true, his lower boundary reaching to that creek, his upper church, a few miles below Pikeville, was named Phila delphia.
HE .PAID THE PREACHER TO DO HIS PRAYING.
Col. H., a prominent lawyer and who represented his district several terms in the National Congress, was a member of my church at Hlyton, and was also a member of my board of stewards. He was a talented man, an able lawyer, and a stump steaker who could hold his own with any antagonist.
As there were several local preachers who held their membership at that church, I suppose the year had wellnigh sped one-half its flight before there was a necessity for me to call on the Colonel to lead in the closing prayer. Imagine, if you can, my surprise, when I requested him to lead, to hear him say, * Pray yourself; I pay you to do my praying." I said, "Please lead the prayer; I am very tired, and while it would be an accommodation, to me, it is as much your duty to pray as it is mine." He again replied, "I pay you to do my praying, I shall not try." Nor did he try.
I, that day as I had often done before, took dinner at his hospitable home. At the dinner table, he adverted to my having called on him to lead in prayer. He said, " Now let me say, once for all, never call on me again, for

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I cant pray in public. Ive got no talent in that direction. My wife here and you, too, would hang your heads in shame if I were to make the attempt. I shall never do it." " Well," said I, " I am glad it is you who makes the statement that you have not sense enough to lead a public prayer, for I am sure had I made it, both you and your wife would have had your heads up and I would have to get away in a hurry ! Now, is this not a pretty statement when God gave you intellect sufficient to make pleas at the bar, haranguing your fellow citizens for hours, and, as you verily believe, gave you sufficient talent to represent this great district in the United States Congress, but failed to give you, according to your declaration, sense enough to lead in a public prayer, sense enough to ask Gods blessings upon you and upon poor, dying, sinful creatures. Why, do you suppose, did He fail to give this, the most important of all graces, and then command you as well as all others to pray ?" I dont suppose that he has to this day lead in public prayer.
A PROFANE LAWYER.
There lived in my district an educated, popular and successful lawyer, but he was said to be the most profane man in the county. I learned that his father in his day was guilty of this terrible practice, that the habit had grown with the Colonels growth and strengthened with his strength. In all other respects he was strictly moral. He attended church and was always liberal in supporting the interests of the church. I had often been in his com pany and had never heard him even border on profanity. Just after the railroad from Chattanooga had been com pleted to Tuscaloosa, it transpired that Col. M. and I took the train at the latter point for Birming-ham. The con tractor had hastened the road through because he was to receive seventeen thousand dollars per mile from the

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State provided he reached certain points within certain proscribed limits. This caused the erection of temporary trestles and bridges, which indeed, to all human appear ances, were exceedingly dangerous to pass over. Col. M. and I were occupying the same seat, and had entered into an interesting conversation when we found ourselves on one of those trembling trestles. The cars swayed to and fro. Col. M, stopped short almost in the middle of a sentence. Nor did he utter a word, notwithstanding I made several attempts to draw out the remainder of the sentence, until we had reached the firm road bed, which was perhaps near one mile from where he cut short the sentence. Then, after drawing in a long breath, he said, "I suppose you think strange of my not talking. I could not, the danger was too great. I was praying to the good Lord to protect and carry me safely over." I feared that he was only jesting and treating a sacred subject lightly. I said : "Colonel, dont talk that way. You surely never pray. You are said to be the most profane man in your county; that is bad enough without treating the glorious privilege of prayer contemptuously." Said he: * God forbid ! I, sir, am a praying man in all dangers ; I pray when I lay down to sleep, I pray when my folks are sick, I pray every day and night of my life." "Well," said I, "how can you pray to God, and then take His name in vain ?" He replied : "A man is a fool who takes Gods name in vain. It is a foolish habit I got into in my boy hood. I always ask God to forgive me. Im doing all I can to quit the habit. I want to go to Heaven when I die."
I thought, "Well, if Col. M. prays, surely all men do try to pray in perilous times at least. He was honest enough to confess it. Some are not."
ACROSS THE SIPSEY.
I will record the following, though at the expense of

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my clerical appearance. In the months of January and February of my first year on the Tuscaloosa district, I had to spend about one month west of the Sipsey river. I was advised by friends.who knew the character of the Sipsey swamp and the muddy and almost unpassable roads, to leave my buggy on the east side of this terrible streamand to make my journey on horseback. A good brother kindly furnished me with a tall, strong mule, good saddle, etc. Owing to my spinal troubles I had not traveled in that way for many years. My instructions were, first, "Dont try to cross the Sipsey without a guide;" second, "Stick to your mules back and hell carry you through."
I was fortunate, in my westward trip, in falling in com pany with an old citizen who had spent his life along the banks of the Sipsey, and lived on the first high lands be yond. He led me safely through, gave me a good, warm dinner and promised to guide me over on my return trip. This clever man kept a hotel and ran a store and a farm.
I went on, but oh, the mud the mud I had to en counter ! I almost fear that you will doubt the truth of my statement when I tell you that I saw many -wagons bogged down to the axle and some of them absolutely abandoned ! And a strange part of the story is, that fully as many bogged going down hill as going up ! I was in formed that such things were of frequent occurrence, especially during a wet winter.

A HUMOROUS OCCURRENCE.
The incident I wish to relate occurred on my return trip. \Vhen I reached the home of my former guide, who had so kindly proposed to conduct me again through the Sipsey swamp, he pointed to two men about ready to mount their horses at the edge of the swamp, near fifty yards away, saying, " Those two men are old citizens. Both live on the other side of the river. They know the

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swamp well and could carry you over even in the night."
I thanked him and rode up to my prospective guides. Said I, " Gentlemen, Mr. S. informs me that you are in the act of starting across the swamp, and, as Im a stran ger, I will be pleased to follow in your rear."
I discovered by this time that both were largely under the influence of liquor, one more so than the other. They quickly consented for me to follow them, adding, " Well take you safely to the other side." Then, scanning me from head to foot, one of them said, "Well, mister, Sheppard has got the best liquor you ever tasted. Let us go back and get another good drink before we go. Stranger, youll pay for the drinks, wont you ? "
Said I, " Men, you have already been drinking freely. Now, I suggest that we all go on without any more drinks. Then well all have more money in the morning. Our wives and children will love us better if we go home to them sober. Our heads wont ache half so bad and well all feel better tomorrow. I move that you both mount your horses and let us go forward."
One of them, addressing the other, said, " Well, Ill bet hes been somewhere." Then, to me, "Haint you, mister?" Said I, "Yes, I surely have. You get up and let us all go somewhere now." They agreed and we started across the dismal swamp.
One of them, especially, seemed anxious to find out more about me. I did not give satisfactory answers to his questions until after we had passed the more dangerous lagoons and reached a point where we could ride beside each other.
Then my loquacious friend decided to find out all about the stranger. Said he, " Where are you going to spend the night ?" I answered, " I expect to spend the night with Mr. C. T."

MY WORK IN ALABAMA.

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* Oh yes, you are a tanner. I guess Mr. T, has a tanyard." " No, sir, I am not a tanner by trade."
"Oh, I see now; you are are a boot and shoe, maker." " No, sir, I am not a boot and shoe maker."
"Well, I guess you are a school teacher." "No, sir, I am no school teacher."
"Oh, Ive got it now. I guess you are a doctor and you are doctorin* folks. Ive hearn a new doctor is over there somers." " No, sir, I am not a physician."
"Well, stranger, haint you a lawyer ? " " No, sir, I am not a lawyer.
" Maybe, then, you are a sewing machine or a lightning rod man." "No, sir, I am not selling sewing machines or lightning rods,"
" Well, mister, Ill give it up. I cant tell what you are ! I wish you would tell us." Said I, " Well, if I were to tell you the truth about myself, I doubt whether you would believe me."
Said he, "Oh, yes, we will. I know from your looks youll tell the truth." "Well, then, Ill tell you. I am a Methodist preacher."
" A preacher! A preacher! Well, some say as how they can tell a preacher -whenever they see one, but, sir," looking at me a full minute before going further, " but, sir, Ill be honest with you. If Id been appinted to take my gun and sent into the Sipsey to kill the first preacher what come through, stranger, let me tell you: Ill be hanged if you would a-been in any danger of bein shot, for I never would a-took you for a preacher. So, you see, we cant tell, can we, stranger?
"I like the Methodises, though, arid I joined once for six months- thats the way they done when I was a young man. Took em on probation, they call it. Well, you see, I got drunk in about a month and they dropped me. Now, Mr, Preacher, corne over whar we live. We

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

call our place ( Buncombe. We all need preachin wont you come down some time ? "
By this time we had reached the high lands on the east side of the Sipsey. I thanked my guides for having conducted me safely through the swamp, and went on my way thinking that perhaps, if I could only present a more clerical appearance, I might pass through the world to better advantage. A few months later I decided that probably my physical appearance, while not so clerical, was nevertheless an indemnity against attacks from certain parties who have more respect for physical power than for an ecclesiastical demeanor.
BETHEL CAMP GROUND.
I will briefly sketch the incident mentioned. At the Bethel camp ground, which is twenty miles north of Tuscaloosa, we held camp-meetings the three years I served that district, in the latter part of the month of September. At the first one that I attended, on Sat urday afternoon quite a number of young men came up from the city and brought with them spirituous liquors in sufficient quantities to affect the greater part of them to the point of serai-intoxication. None of them would have been pronounced drunk, but they were hilarious and their conduct showed that their object in coming was to have a jolly good time.
THK CITY BOYS.
I sat behind the preacher in the pulpit and took in the situation. When the sermon ended and penitents were called, I noticed that the city gents grouped on the right side of the arbor. I arranged to slip out of the pulpit and requested a preacher to watch and when I reached the city boys to call to prayer and to request a certain brother to lead in the altar and also to call upon me to lead on the outside, which he did.

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Said I, " Boys, the preacher has called on me to pray out here, so all of you kneel down just where you stand." Some knelt at the first call ; others hesitated. I said, " Boys, you must all kneel down with me and let me pray for you." I soon had them all on their knees and then I prayed most earnestly for convicting power, etc. At the close of the prayer some were deeply affected. These we got into the altar. The rest fled and that was the end of all objectionable conduct on their part that night.
UNINTENTIONAL EAVESDROPPING.
The next day, Sunday, I was to preach a sermon in memory of the best layman in my district, who had died a short time previous. I went out into a dense forest, liter ally covered with oak and hickory undergrowth. I found a suitable place and lay down upon my back, resting my head against a tree. Here I began the preparation of my sermon for the eleven oclock service.
I had been there only a few minutes when I heard con versation going on Vjetween some young men, who were coming towards me. They approached within fifteen or twenty steps of my position, and halted by the side of an old log. I soon learned from their conversation that they were a part of the crowd of city boys for whom I had prayed the over-night. One, who appeared to be their leader, said, "Well, boys, I believe this log is our commis sary. I think this is the place where we hid our * Black Betty bottles." "Yes, thats it," replied another. "But," said one of them, * I am afraid that old one-eyed elder, Antney, will see and catch up with us if we take a drink. If he has but one eye, he can see the best of any man I ever saw and if he sees us hell expose us publicly and get after us and make us all get down and then hell pray for us." Said another, ** I had no notion of getting down when he told us to kneel." "Nor I," said another. "I

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

thought Id knock him down, but somehow I couldnt. ^Then I thought Id cuss him, but I couldnt make my
mouth go off." "So it was with me," was the reply of another. Ob
served another, "Jack, it was a good thing that none of us didnt strike or cuss him, for I never heard a man pray like he did. Hes done got some of the boys cryin and prayin and I swar if hed kept on live minutes more hed a-got the last one of us into religion and into church."
""Ves, I dont know but that he would," said one of them. He added, " I was scared of him. At another point I was afraid to say anything for fear hed knock some of us down. He dont look like a preacher to me. He looks more like a grocery bully than he does a preacher." Another replied, "Yes, and he is a bully, too. Id as leave be kicked by a mule as to be struck by him."
They then pulled their bottles from the hollow log and imbibed freely, after which they retraced their steps to the camp ground.
Robert Burns' couplet came to my mind with force " O, wad some powr the giftie gio us To see oursels as itliers seo ua ! "
I wondered if anyone ever before had taken me for a fighting man ! I had never dreamed that I presented my self to the eye of anyone in that light. Then, thought I, in all misfortunes some advantage lies ; perhaps, after all, my over-size, which ha.s so often given me trouble by com pelling me to have my clothing made to order, was a bless ing in disguise perhaps had prevented others from putting my courage to the test and thereby demonstrating a want of what the world calls bravery !
I knew that they were ignorant of my presence. The undergrowth cut off all possibility of their seeing me. I could only see then] from their knees down, I saw their hands and the bottles as they took the latter from the log.

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19!

The next meeting being a memorial service, I, of course, said nothing publicly of their conduct and, as they left for the city that afternoon, I suppose they are ignor t to this day of my hearing their opinion of me.

ASIATIC CHOI-ERA !

In the summer of my third year on the Tuscaloosa dis

trict, at the urgent request of many friends in the city of

Birmingham, I gave an appointment to address the people

of that city on "The Kvils of Intemperance." I made the

journey in my buggy to the * Magic City." On the way I

was repeatedly told that the people of the city were dying

at a rapid rate from Asiatic chol^a, but could not believe

the report- I had read the newspapers carefully; they

contained nothing a"bout the fatal disease being in that

locality.

In less than an hour after my arrival, which was at ten

oclock A. M., I received startling ocular evidence of the

truth of the rumors. I saw hearses bearing four corpses

each to the cemetery! In the space of five hours I

counted.no less than seventeen.

^

A physician passed the company with whom I was en

gaged in conversation. One of our party asked the doctor,

"How is the cholera on the other side of tbe railroad?"

He replied, ( Five have died over there in the last two

hours," About twenty minutes later someone, in passing,

remarked that Dr. A. had the cholera. One of our party

replied, "Oh, no; he passed here a few minutes ago and

seemed to be in good health.^ The first speaker said,

" Come here and see for yourselves." We stepped out

into the avenue near the man, who continued, "Look up

there. See him in his bed ? " Sure enough, there lay the

Doctor upon his bed in an upper story of the building, and

four men were rubbing his limbs. In less than an hour

the Doctor was dead !

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

I was informed that there were over five hundred deaths in the city in the space of two weeks, and perhaps that number or more who left the city to get away from the fearful contagion, died within a few hours after leav ing. These deaths occurred in almost every section of county that could be reached by the railroad leaving the city, ranging in distance from twenty to two hundred miles.
Property dropped down to almost any amount that a purchaser would offer. It required two years for the young city to regain the prosperity it had before the chol era made its appearance. Since that time it has grown to be the rival of Atlanta, Georgia.
I spent the night with a friend on the outskirts of the city. Of course I did not deliver rny lecture on "The Evils of Intemperance." The city authorities issued an order that day prohibiting all public gatherings. They also ordered that no more funeral bells should be rung, etc.
ATTACKED BY CHOLERA.
I left next mourning for "the Falls of Village" where my son William and his little family resided. My aged parents also lived near by. I had driven about ten of the twelve miles I had to make before reaching my destina tion. I was suddenly attacked by the fatal disease. A moments experience leaves no room for doubt as to the real character and certainty of the attack. I knezu that I was a victim of that awful plague ! I feared that I would succumb to its rapid progress before I could reach my children and parents, although I only had two miles to drive, with a good horse. Through indescribable suffer ing, under the blessing of the good Lord, I succeeded in reaching my sons home. I told the family that I was suffering from an attack of cholera. They helped me from my buggy to bed, and did all they could to relieve me,

MY WORK IN ALABAMA.

193

assisted by my aged father and mother. I asked if they had a supply of spirits of turpentine, and was informed, that they had nearly one gallon. Said I, " Give me ten or twelve drops in a sup of water and repeat it, after I vomit, and keep it up as long as the vomiting continues. Also apply it externally as often as necessity requires."
This treatment was adhered to, although prescribed by myself! To it, under the blessing of God, I owe my re covery ! So said every doctor who learned of the treat ment and who had experience with the dread malady.
I was informed that over ninety per cent, of those who were attacked by that most fatal disease died. They died within spaces ranging from twenty minutes to twenty-four hours.
My son went with all possible speed to the city for a physician. They had all they could do to attend calls in the city. I had two special friends among the city doc tors, however. Son went to one of them. He said, " Yes, Ill go and see your father; but, really, I dont think well find him alive." The doctor was making preparation to start when he was suddenly stricken by the fearful malady. He breathed his last soon after.
My son went to my other special friend, who started with him to come to my relief. They had gone but a little distance when he cried in agony, " Ive got the cholera. too!" and hastened back to his home. This doctor was one among the few who recovered.
MY RECOVERY.
My son returned home without a doctor. Next day he, too, was suddenly seized by the disease, buts under the spirits of turpentine remedy, soon recovered. My attack lasted twenty-six hours. The excruciating suffering left me almost as suddenly as it came upon roe. One week later I stepped on a pair of scales arid found that I had

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

fallen off seventy-five pounds / I feel confident, could I have been weighed an hour after my pain ceased, that the scales would have shown a decrease of one hundred pounds from my former weight.
MY DEATH REPORTED,
Someone, I know not whom, on the day after my attack, in telegraphing the list of mortality during the preceding twenty-four hours, incorporated my name. The news of the death of " Rev. J. D. Anthony, Presiding Elder on the Tuscaloosa District," soon reached every part of rny field of labor. All my good brethren in charge of the various stations, circuits and missions held memorial services. My recollection is that there were no less than sixteen memorial services held by rny brethren within, the bounds of my district! Of course I was ignorant of all this. I arranged to be hauled home to rny family, who occupied the district parsonage at Jasper, Ala., three or four weeks later.
A camp meeting was held at the Perry camp ground," near the Mississippi line. Though quite weak, I decided to attend this meeting. My wife accompanied me. The distance was considerable and had to be made by private conveyance. We did not reach our destination until the second day of the .meeting.
The brother who filled the pulpit at the eleven oclock service was in the midst of his sermon. The road we trav eled brought us directly to the door of the preachers tent. Here we left our horse and buggy, and, after resting a few minutes, decided to walk up to the arbor. No one had. seen us. -- The line of tents hid us from the congregation. As we approached I saw that some strange or uncommon feeling was exhibiting itself in the gaze and conduct of the congregation. I walked up into the pulpit and took my seat. The brother who was preaching stopped short and

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195

turned and looked upon me. Someone spoke out, " He is not dead!" Another responded, " If so, he has risen again !"
A panic state of mind seemed to permeate all present. The services ceased. A general handshaking, with thanks to God for having spared my life, was entered upon. The cause was manifest. Those people had heard that I was dead ! Most of them had joined in services that had been held in respect to my memory. Most of those preachers had delivered sermons eulogizing my supposed worth and usefulness to the Church, which, as they thought, had been cut short by the ruthless hand of death. I had been in formed that my death was currently reported, but did not know the extent or the results produced until the scenes before me told all.
I suffered from the effects of the cholera for two years following. In fact, I may say that the paralyzing effects produced upon my digestive organs will likely follow me to my grave.
At the end of that Conference year our Annual Con ference met in Talladega, Ala. I was appointed Presiding Elder to the Birmingham District. I was also elected a delegate to the next General Conference, which was held in Louisville, K.y.
AN UNSKLFISH PROPOSAL,.
I attended the session of the General Conference. The drinking of the strong lime water used by the people of Louisville had a bad effect upon my general health. Our saintly Bishop Marvin, who had official oversight of our Conference for that yea,r, bade me on rny return home to take my family and go where I could drink freestone water and not preach a sermon or lead a public service for the next three months. At the same time he said, "It will require a journey of over one thousand miles for me

IQ6

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

to do so, but if you will obey me I will take the trip and attend your District Conference and do all in my power to help you."
He said, " lie that fights and runs away, may live to fight another day. You are comparatively a young man and may live to do much good. Ive talked with the phy sician who is treating you here. If you go on with your work in your present condition you will die soon. Hence my anxiety for the prescribed rest."
I promised and strictly obeyed his command. Bishop Marvin also complied with his promise.
AT OAK GROVE.
The preceding District Conference selected Oak Grove church as the place for holding that Conference. This church is located a few miles above Birmingham, in the midst of a densely populated community. The attendance was large. Bishop Marvin was on hand in due time, full of zeal and of the Holy Ghost. He did good work on all lines. His preaching was fully up to his own standard, which is saying a great deal. He has had no superior in the current century.
An incident occurred while he was with us at that meeting, though trivial in its nature, which, upon the principle that " straws show the way the wind blows," should be recorded. The Bishop, with myself and some other brethren, were domiciled with Colonel Wilson, whose elegant home was three miles from the church. Dr. Lynn and myself had gone together in a buggy from Jasper, Ala. The brethren assigned to Colonel Wilson had their own means of transportation. The Bishop was dependent upon the Colonel for conveyance.
At the breakfast table on the morning that the Confer ence was to open, Colonel Wilson said, "Bishop, I have arranged for you to go to and from the church in the car-

MY WORK IN ALABAMA.

197

nage with my wife and daughters." The Bishop replied, "Can you not fix me up with horse and saddle? I prefer this mode of travel. I am at home on horseback. Besides, it will give me a little opportunity for thought. I shall be obliged if you can thus arrange." The Colonel replied, " Ves, I can do so easily enough."
In due time Dr. L. and myself were in our buggy and on our way to the church. Bishop M. rode on a hundred or two yards ahead of us. In passing through a long lane, when, we had gone perhaps half its length, we noticed that the Bishop had halted. He turned and rode back until he was within speaking distance. He said, "Brethren, there is a dead dog up the lane. I thought perhaps your horse might take a fright and hurt one or both of you. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, you know." I thanked him .33- his kindness. He turned and rode on.
After time for a little reflection, said I, " Doctor, what percentage of mankind would have acted as the Bishop has ii this case?" His reply was, "Not one in a million, I v/as just thinking on that line. I am sure I would have sparred my horse and rode on. I should not have thought of any other course."
This little act of that grand preacher is a key that unlocks his inner life and shows the true man.
DISSKNSION IN THE RANKS,
My preachers made fine reports at the Conference, which v/as held that year at Huntsville, on all lines except ministerial support, which -was below par.
A serious trouble crept into the church at Gadsden near the close of the year, which threatened every interest of that body. The church was nearly evenly divided between the (;wo parties, which sprang into being after I had held the fourth Quarterly Conference. Of the causes that led to this unfortunate state of affairs and of the active partici-

ig8

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY,

pants in the two contending parties, I think best not to speak. Many things were done that should not have been done and much was said that should never have been saidSome of those people still live. Many have gone to the spirit world. I will only say that the leading spirits of both these parties went before Bishop Doggett and urged him to appoint me to the Gadsden station, saying that I could heal the breach in one word. No other man would satisfy the demand. They also came to me, making the same argument. I yielded and was appointed to the Gadsclen station for the year 1875.
THE ELEMENTS REUNITED.
It was a most difficult task, the performance of which required a large amount of patience, Christian forbearance* unceasing perseverance and incessant prayer for the Divine guidance. One of the original parties to the diffi culty, filled with undying hatred and possessed of talent and a zeal worthy of a better cause, brought all his powers into exercise to prevent the healing of the wounds that had been made. Thanks be to God, by the Divine blessiirg we held the Church together and, to a large extent, united the alienated elements, so that, from that time to this, we are informed, there has been no further trouble resulting from the terrible state of affairs I was sent to heal.
Towards the close of that year I decided to transfer back to the South Georgia Conference.
A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL.
Before carrying my narrative back to Georgia, I wish to speak of an original character in point of wit. He had few equals for poetic imagery and was scarcely, if ever, surpassed. A very striking feature of his make-up was found in his detestation of any hint at his age. No old maid was ever more sensitive on this matter. The fact

MV WORK IN ALABAMA.

IQ9

was so widely known that no one who regarded the old gentlemans feelings would dare tread on this enchanted ground. This old brother was venerable and patriarchal in appearance. In his younger days he had been a mission ary to the Choctaw Indians, when their national bound aries were mainly confined to what is now embraced in the northern half of the state of Mississippi. After spend ing a few years as missionary, he married and made his home alternately in Columbus, Mississippi, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
He labored efficiently as a local preacher that is, when the spirit moved him. So far as I know, he may be still living and trying to keep his age a secret to the bal ance of mankind. He was known as " Rev. Martin Simms."
A STRANGE PACT.
We all know it is said that the fair sex like to get pos session of secrets, especially one the owner wishes to be kept in his own bosom; and it must be admitted that, while they would like to know the ages of all others, many of them have a wonderful talent which exhibits itself in either cutting off a few years from the real date or adroitly leaving you to guess for yourself. I also find that there are those among the sterner sex who have a considerable amount of curiosity with regard to the ages of others and a rare knack of managing their own to suit themselves. By way of illustration, thirty, forty and fifty years ago I knew men who were from two to ten years my seniors, but now, according to their counting,.! am from two to fifteen years older than they ! Really, this looks strange to me. How the same evolutions of our common Mother Karth will annually add another year to my life, and has kept on until I am sorely affected by "Anno Domini," and favor others, born before me, by dropping a year, now and

2OO

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY,

then, from their calendar, until they have become my juniors ! is something I cannot explain. Kind reader, if at any time in the future you find yourself able to solve this mystery, please drop me a note explanatory.
Rev. Martin Simms had agreed to take a seat with me in my buggy and go with me on a six weeks trip. On the day before we started, at the tea table, around which quite a number of our city ladies were seated, the fact that " Uncle Martin " was to travel with me for some weeks, was mentioned. This proposition was made to me, all the ladies present agreeing: " Bro. Anthony, if youll find Uncle Martins age on this trip and will tell us, we will make you a present of the finest suit of clothes, all com plete, that can be bought in Tuscaloosa."
I agreed to try. I knew it would never do to let him understand that I wished to know his age, so I began by asking him, after we had been out a few days, how old he was when licensed to preach. He unhesitatingly an swered, "Twenty-six."
Some days later I asked by what Quarterly Conference and who was Presiding Elder at the time. He replied, "I was licensed by the District Conference at Catawba. It was the law then for the District Conference to license."
"Yes," said I, " that was a bad law. The Quarterly Conference is the proper body to do that work. I believe it only lasted four years and was then repealed. I remem ber hearing my father say he had to travel about one hun dred and fifty miles to be licensed. He lived in South Carolina and had to go over into Georgia to his District Conference. I believe that law existed from 1820 to 1824." He answered in the affirmative. Said I, " In which of those four years were you licensed?" He replied, "The second."
Some days after, I asked him if he believed there was

MY WORK. IN ALABAMA.

2OI

anything in the opinion held by some that each verse in a certain chapter of Proverbs told the fortune and destiny of persons born on a day corresponding with the number of the verses, from one to thirty-one. He replied that he had often heard people speak of that chapter as indicative of fortune, but had so little faith in it that he had never looked at his verse. Said I, " What verse is it and what month?" He answered, "March 14."
I knew then that I could arrive exactly at the day of his birth. Of course I said nothing of it at the time.
One night, during the camp-meeting at Andrew Chapel, in Pickens county, quite an aged negress received a bap tism of the Holy Ghost. She got very happy and went the round of the tents shouting and praising God. She entered the preachers tent and came around to each preacher, exhorting all to "preach de Word 1" etc. At length she approached Uncle Martin, saying, " God bless dis ol* brudder! Why, Brudder Simms, you is er mighty ol man ! You come to my ol massas when I was a little bit of a gal an I members you, an* I members you preach to us at ol massas church. I is mighty ol* myself. I spec it hab been bout seventy year since I fus hear you preach."
Uncle Martin could stand it no longer. He replied tartly, "No, its no such thing. You are older than I am. Go long, I dont want to hear any more of your non sense." The old aunty left. All present enjoyed the scene immensely, except Uncle Martjn and the poor old aunty, whose ardor cooled down immediately.
A SURPRISED MAN.
On our return trip, when nearing the city, I said, " Uncle Martin, dont you wish me to tell you the day you were born ? " Said he, " You cant do it." I replied, " Let us see. Ill say you were born on March 14, 1796."

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LIFK AND TIMES OF RKV. J. O, ANTI-TONY.

I never saw any one more surprised. Said he, <s How on earth did you find out ? I never told anyone my age in my life. Neither one of my wives ever knew my age. People are all fools about my age. I never did tell anyone. How did you find it out ? "
I then went over my questions and his answers, which had been scattered over a month, showed him how I put this and that together and arrived at my conclusions, and said, " I am to be paid for it. I am to get a fine suit of clothes as soon as I tell certain good ladies."
I never heard such pleading as he gave for me to keep the secret to myself until he died; then he wished me to preach his memorial or funeral sermon, write his obituary, and thus give the world the long-sought secret. I will only add that I felt constrained to grant his request, hence I lost my fine suit of clothes!
A SPLENDID SERMON.
I was only able to induce him to preach one time on our long round of services. I shall never forget that ser mon. The text was, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."
" Proposition first, The man was a fool because he tried to satisfy his soul with the products of his farm.
"Secondly, because he got rich. Few men get rich by farming. Hence^ he was a rascal; he must have gotten a good portion of his property by cheating, defrauding, etc.
"Thirdly, he was a fool because he pulled down good barns, sound timbers, thereby losing largely in good ma terial, and bought new out of which to build greater only for a show.
" Fourthly, his folly reached the climax when he called on his soul to feast upon corn, oats, wheat and * cotton,* with which his barns were filled.
"He was taken suddenly and violently ill. All the doc-

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tors in Jerusalem were called m consultation, and who ever heard of doctors in consultation that did not make a bill that would cover at least one-third of the estate ? He died and went to hell and left the young widow crying like her heart would break, many others shedding crocodile tears by way of sympathy !
"The funeral expenses were prodigious. The finest coffin was bought. All the horses and chariots in Jerusa lem were in the funeral procession. This bill was eleven hundred and thirty-seven dollars, thirty-seven and a half cents. The priest had to be well paid for his eloquent funeral oration, sending him to Heaven, while his soul was in hell ! The undertakers bill was heavy, the ordinary made large money from the estate and the administrators, lawyers, etc., etc., all had to be paid.
FATE OF THE FOOI/S WIFE.
" A fa-so-la-do-ra-la singing teacher, with a cultivated mustache and hair parted in the middle of his little head, came along, laden with the rich perfumes of a thousand flowers, and courted and married the weeping, disconsolate widow! He thought he had married rich, but when all expenses were paid and the false accounts sworn to before Justice Smith, over on Cedar Creek, were settled, the new groom found that he had the woman who had been the dead mans wife, together with the five orphan children, whom he was compelled to support, and nothing else. The various claims had absorbed all the property. The rich fools wife and children belonged to fhe singing teacher, who had nothing upon which to rely for their support ex cept the teaching of singing schools. The rich fool was in hell."
Uncle Martin wound up by asking, "Was he not a fool? Was his wife any wiser than he? Is it not likely that many more lost their souls by over-charges, false

2O4

LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

swearing, etc.? Is it not likely, toos that all these other fools followed this rich fool to the bad world ? "
A GREAT MISFORTUNE.
During my second year on the Tuscaloosa district a waterspout fell out upon the head waters of the large creek on which our mills were located. The oldest inhab itant had never seen that stream so high by many feet, The entire property was destroyed in one short hour. Mills, lumber, wheat and corn were all swept away. Our loss was over four thousand dollars. We attempted to in demnify it, in part, by rebuilding. We spent twelve hun dred dollars. We did not know it, but so it was the days of the value of water power had passed. The steam en gine soon relegated water power to the shades of oblivion.
Some years after, I sold land and mills for the pitiful sum of three hundred dollars ! I came to the conclusion, after this experience, that itinerant Methodist preachers should not invest in anything earthly, outside of a home for the family. All preachers, if possible, should have a home to which, in case of disability or the death of the preacher, the family may go and be at home.
I presume I may as well say here that the result of my experience and observation is, that it is best for all travel ing Methodist preachers not to engage in any kind of secular business, if it is at all possible to avoid it. Those who have been men of one work have gone ahead, faith fully performing thS1 labor assigned by the authorities of the Church, have developed greater strength in the pulpit, and been more acceptable to the people of their charges, and I have yet to find the one who has thus labored, trust ing in God, who has lacked for the necessaries of life. They are often led in a way they had not known. Oftener the needed help has come in almost a miraculous way
yet it came \

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Of all men, the preacher should be an economist. Of all women, the preachers wife should study how to econo mize. For the want of this I have often known preachers to find themselves almost hopelessly in debt. This should never be. The ministry all suffer, to a greater or less ex tent, from the few who become involved in debt. The cause suffers. Those who are careless or reckless on this point sooner or later strike the wall, drop out, are forced to locate, etc. The Church, especially our boards of stew ards, should feel, too, that much of this responsibility rests upon their shoulders. They make the assessments at what they believe the preacher should have for his support, and then often fail to put forth proper effort to raise the amount. The preacher expects to be paid in full and often falls twenty to fifty per cent, behind. Then, of course, he cannot liquidate his indebtedness.
I have known those very members and stewards who were responsible for the preachers deficit, to speak loud est in condemnation of his failure to pay his indebtedness. Oh, shame, where is thy blush ?

STRONG MEN IN THE CAUSE.
I have stated heretofore that the North Alabama preachers were a strong body of men. The organization compared favorably with any of its sister conferences. From the Tennessee Division there were Joel W. and Moses L. Whitten, together with some younger men of the same name; Bro. Stephenson Davis, Dr, Golem an Driskel, John A. Thompson, Bro. Mabry and others.
Among those formerly in one or the other of the Ala bama Conferences were Dr. Oliver, Kirk Curri, the Nicholsons. West, Duncan, James Cox, McCoy, and a large number who have since developed into strong men, as Newman, Hawkins, and, later, Hosmer, Glasgow, Miller. Dr. Hamilton also transferred and filled the Tuscaloosa

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station for two years. He was a strong and consecrated man.
McCoy was the most remarkable, In many respects, among- that large body of men. He belonged to a band of bushwhackers which operated in Missouri in the interest of the South, When the war closed he had not fully at tained to manhood. He and the members of his band were declared outlaws. He lost his horse in some way. He was homeless, moneyless, hungry and, as he thought, friendless. He was alone, tramping somewhere, he knew not where. He was worn down in body and broken in spirit. He had seated himself by the highway near Guntersville, Alabama.
Brother Cox was a poor man in this worlds goods, a member of the Conference, but his little, impoverished circuit being unable to support his family, he was en gaged in teaching a small country school. He came along and found the young stranger weeping by the roadside. He inquired his name and the cause of his trouble. Young McCoy told him all.

A GOOD MANS ACT IS BLESSED TO THE CAUSE.
Brother Cox said, " Well, young man, come home with me. "We are poor and have a poor home, but well share it with you. Our home shall be your home." The young man accepted the generous offer. Next day he went with the preacher to the school cabin and began learning to spell, read and write, etc. He went in all perhaps three months. During this time he was powerfully converted and immediately began praying and exhorting in public. He was soon licensed to preach, and then admitted into the traveling connection at the organization of the North Alabama Conference in Gadsden, November, 1870.
No man in our connection ever grew faster in popu larity with the people or in power in the pulpit than did

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young McCoy. He rapidly went from circuit to station and on to district work; then filled the position of Agent for Greensboro College ; then editor of the able Advocate, which was, and still is, the organ of that large and influen tial Conference. He led the delegation to the General Conference.
He was the most remarkable man in his powers of elocution I ever saw. Also remarkable for his chaste, accurate rhetoric. H e scarcely, if ever, made a gram matical blunder. Fluent in speech, graceful in diction, eloquent in delivery, while the gentle light of consecration shone through every word, his equal as a preacher is sel dom found and his superiors are rare indeed. The cause was much the gainer by his life.
Dr. A. S. Andrews, President of the Greensboro Col lege, of which Dr. Me Coy was then the Agent, said to me, " Dr, McCoy is the most wonderful man I ever met, He knows nothing of grammar, yet never makes a mistake, either in speaking or writing. He is an eloquent and grand man." Inscrutable are the ways of Providence. This brilliant and useful man was mowed down by the scythe of death ere he had reached the meridian of life"
NORTH ALABAMA HALLOWED GROUND.
There are many reasons for my loving North Alabama and the brethren and people of that Conference. Within its limits I spent seven years of my boyhood. Later, six years of active itinerant life six years in the vigor of my manhood. I was, so to spea.kf a charter member at the organization of this Conference. A son-in-law-of decided promise, who was rapidly forging his way to the front rank of usefulness and position, after six years of faithful ser vice "fell at his post" and sleeps in death in its soil. I refer to Rev. O. W. Samples. My sainted father, after sixty years of active ministerial life, fell asleep in Jesus

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and was laid beside my sainted mother, who had preceded him a few years to her home in Heaven. They sleep in Jesus side by side in the cemetery on that high hill at the Falls of Village," in Jefferson county. Near them two brothers, three sisters and many other relatives repose. Only a few nisles distant my maternal grandfather, my uncles, Rev. John. "V. and his brother Jesse, and a host of relatives are quietly awaiting the trumpets sound at old Crumleys Chapel. In these two peaceful cities of the dead and at many other points within the limits of that Conference other relatives and many beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord await the resurrection morning. Then, a first cousin, J. T. Miller, and a nephew, J. S. Glasgow, both of whom live in the warm affections of my heart and for whom I did all in my power to fit and help to useful ness and for whom I daily pray, are now active members of that Conference.
My only living sister, many of the children of my de parted brothers and sisters after the flesh and a mighty host of friends still abide there and are useful members of the church of my choice. It would afford me great pleas ure to name many itinerant and local preachers; also a host of the good laymen and Christian women who have been co-laborers with me in the work of the Lord Jesus. Also, many of my loved blood relatives who now live, and I suppose will finish their work on earth, within the terri torial limits of that Conference. But space would fail me.
I trust their names are written in the Book of Life and I hope to meet them in that better world.
MY SANDS OF LIFE ARE FLOWING SWIFT.
I have a strong .desire to meet the good brethren of that Conference, which is as "dear to me as the apple of my eye," once more in an Annual Conference, but fear I shall never have the pleasure. I am drawing very near the

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close of the fiftieth year of my ministry and the seventyfirst mile-post on the journey of life is in sight.
Dear brethren of the North Alabama Conference: Let us shake hands in hope, bid each other a sweet Chris tian adieu and pledge anew to press on and halt not, until we meet in the sweet bye and bye!
TRANSFER TO SOUTH GEORGIA CONFERENCE.
At the session of the North Alabama Conference for the year 1875, which was held in Birmingham in the latter part of November, I transferred to the South Georgia Conference.
Bishop Marvin was presiding-. With a sad heart I bade my good brethren adieu. I thought the condition of my lungs demanded a change to a milder and dryer climate. My financial condition demanded a change. Although I had made some money in the purchase of an outfit, run ning and selling of a newspaper, The Mountain Eagle, at Jasper, yet I had not regained the heavy loss sustained in the destruction of my mill property. A friend at Sandersville, Mr. Holt, offered me a good salary to edit his paper, The Herald and Georgian, My old friends urged me to return to Georgia and promised to do all in their power to have me appointed to the Sandersville charge. I thought that by this arrangement I could soon perhaps in one or two years, at the outside free myself of all financial em barrassment, and then give the balance of my life to my ministerial duties. I consented.

1
CHAPTER XX.
IN GEORGIA AGAIN.
After all my plans had been perfected, Mr. Holt, the owner of the press, etc., died. The representatives of his estate wished me still to control the office and run the paper for twelve months. They would then have to sell the property publicly at administrators sale. I accepted the proposition, ran the paper and was also appointed, at the session of the Conference held at Americus, to the Sandersville and Tennille charge, which I served during the years 1876 and 1877.
It was a source of mutual pleasure to pastor and flock to be united again in those relations that had been so pleasant in the dark days of woe and bloodshed which so sorely tried the hearts and friendships of our suffering people.
At the beginning of my pastorate for the year 1876, there was not an organized church nor a house of worship at Tennille. We worshiped in the academy. During the year the church was formally organized. Our protracted services at both churches resulted in intensifying the piety of the members. There were also a goodly number of additions.
My own health and that of my family continued good until August of the second year upon this very pleasant charge. In this month I was stricken down with what my physician pronounced " typho-malarial fever." My physician was my old true and often-tried friend and able practitioner, Doctor Brantley. He has spent his long and useful life in the county of his nativity, Messing the peo ple by his successful practice among them.

IN GEORGIA AGAIN.
This was the severest spell of sickness I ever had, the attack of cholera excepted. I certainly came to the mar gin of the valley of death. My good doctor called Dr. Hatch in consultation. They regarded my case as very critical* After I had been confined to my bed for over two weeks, one Saturday, near midnight, I felt that I was passing to the spirit world! I seemed to be standing on the bank of a cold, dark stream. The damp, icy-cold emanations from the stream seemed to be settling upon my mortal frame, chilling my nervous system to the brain and my blood vessels to the heart, the sources of warmth, vitality and life itself. Yet I felt no pain. All my anxiety to live seemed to have forsaken me. In the earlier stages of my illness the thought of leaving my poor* and almost helpless family caused a strong desire for speedy restoration to health. I could not bear the thought of leaving them homeless and moneyless.
IN BEULAH-LAND.
As I seemed to draw nearer the spicit world my anxiety for life proportionately diminished. I felt that my faith in God, not only with regard to my personal trfumph over death and an abundant entrance into Heaven, with all its bliss and glorious realities, but also in the verity of my Heavenly Fathers care for the widow and orphans of His servant, would most assuredly be realized.
All the blessed promises were transmuted into happy assurances. I felt really anxious to be "absent from the body and present with the Lord." I had not, seemingly, stood upon the brink of this turbid stream many moments before I was informed by a voice from the farther side of the chilly waters, which voice I at once recognized as the one Divine, saying, " This is the Jordan of death the boundary line between Time and Eternity, between Earth and Heaven !"

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In a moment I looked toward the point from whence the voice seemed to proceed. I was thrilled with inde scribable ecstasy. I saw that the Jordan of death, which I had ever regarded as of vast width and of forbidding and frightful aspect, was quite a narrow stream, the earth side only with a dark border; on this side only the icy-damp mists could be felt or exist. On the other all was bright, radiant, beautiful. The gentle, mellow light beaming from the eternal orb of day drove all gloom and mist from the other shore. Then oh, blissful discovery ! Heaven and earth are in close proximity ! Not a long flight, through space in which we pass sun, moon and stars, then through pearly gates and on and on up broad avenues to the eternal throne and the house not made with hands!
A GLORIOUS FACT.
We have but to cross the little River of Death and lo, we enter Heaven ! But a moments passage over the river and we shout, "Home at last!" Scarce do our friends, with tearful eyes, cry, " He is dead!" when the out stretched hands of loved ones gone before grasp ours and they shout us welcome to the bliss of Heaven !
As I looked across the rivulet and on up the beautiful incline, I saw and instantly recognized the wife of my youth, who had gone to Heaven from that same parsonage a little over eight years before. By her side stood our two little sons, Robert and Julius, both of whom had been torn from us by the ruthless hand of Death the one after spending only a few days with us and the other a little over one short year. While I recognized these precious ones, yet I was conscious that they had grown in that spirit world to mature stature.
The moment I beheld and recognized them they began beckoning me over. Thus, every time .JE^Ejipked toward them, for four and twenty hours, witH smiling, loving

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faces and beckoning hands, they gave expression to the joy my near approach to them and their heavenly home gave them. These delightful visions began about the hour of twelve on Saturday night and continued despite the surrounding darkness of the night. The rising and shining of the sun through a cloudless day did not affect in any way the beatific visions I had of that heavenly world!
I was perfectly conscious of all my surroundings in deed, it seemed that my senses of sight and hearing be came far more acute than ever before. I heard the songs of praise to God in the church, which is located near the parsonage. I could also hear the prayers that were raised to God for my recovery. I could hear people in and around the parsonage and on the street near by announc ing the fact, * Brother Anthony is dying ! "
Late in the afternoon I heard a lady say, " Surely Brother Anthony will get well. Kverybody is praying for him! The children are praying God to spare his life. Even little M. W., a Catholic, has been counting her beads and asking God to restore him to health,"
This statement cheered my heart. I felt that if adult Christians and little children felt such interest in me, surely my life had not been an utter failure. However, I felt anxious to go over and be at rest in that better land.
" ALL ABOARD FOR THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM ! "
The day passed. My visions of the happy beyond grew brighter, if possible, as the hours of night passed. About midnight, I suppose, I seemed to have gradually and yet imperceptibly gotten into the chilly waters of the dark river until they reached my heart. Not a pain did I feel. There was great difficulty in breathing and a strong desire to cross the river and meet the loved ones whose hands incessantly beckoned me over. At this juncture

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something resembling a boat reached my left side. A voice said, " All aboard for the heavenly Jerusalem!" This was repeated three times. At the first announce ment I joyously leaped into the boat. Then, looking toward the other shore, I moved forward to the boats front. My loved ones on the other side gave increased evidence of joy at the prospect of a happy reunion. They smiled more happily and beckoned more rapidly.
The boat left the earth side for the heavenly one. It seemed that every thought of the mind and every desire of the heart met an instantaneous response. I had, for the last twenty-four hours, been gazing upon the jasper walls, the beautiful architecture of those splendid man sions, the streets paved with gold, the innumerable happy beings, all arrayed in their shining habiliments.

THE LIGHT OF AGES ILLUMINES HEAVEN.
As we crossed over I found the boat was filled with passengers. I was informed, "These are the souls of the just who are passing over to the heavenly Jerusalem." As I looked upon the gently sloping ascent from the River of Death up the- broad street that leads to the palace, I saw the River of the Water of Life and the Tree of Life on either side, the river running in the center of this beau tiful street. A gentle, mellow light flooded all the city. The thought came, "From whence does it proceed?" I looked up, but saw no sun above the city. The voice that had before responded to every desire for knowledge re plied, repeating clearly three times, "They have no need of the sun, for the Lord God Himself giveth them light."
I seemed within a few feet of the landing on the heav enly side. My wife and children and a host of friends moved forward to meet me. Just then I heard my name called by many voices. I looked to the right of where, in a moment, I felt sure I would step on the eternal shore

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and saw a large number of happy beings. They were wel coming me to the joys of Heaven ! I was informed by the same instructive voice that these were persons who had been led to Christ by my ministry. The voice further stated, "Many of these you knew not, nor could you until now. They heard the "Word preached by you, were led to the Cross and are now in Heaven." To learn that I had been instrumental in saving souls in my public ministry and had no knowledge of the fact until just as I entered Heaven, filled my soul with an indescribable joy. Though unable to articulate above a whisper, I exclaimed, "Glory, glory be to God ! " My second wife and eldest daughter, Mrs. H. A. Renfroe, were bending over me. I distinctly heard daughter say, " Pa is shouting glory to God."
"GO BACK! GO BACK!"
A moment later the voice said to me, " Go back ! Go back! Go back to earth again ! Your work is not yet complete. Go back and stand in thy lot, do thy work and at the end Ill call for thee." In a moment my boat turned, when seemingly I was within a rod of where I ex pected to step on the golden sands of the eternal shore. I felt disappointed, yet perfectly resigned to the will of God. I turned my eyes for the last time toward my Emily and our glorified little ones. They and others who had been beckoning me over, reversed palms and waved me back to earth and a life of further labor and trial. I have not seen them since, but will again at no distant day and will then pass over and be ever with them and present with the Lord!
TO EARTH AGAIN.
It seemed but a moment until I felt myself in my room and on my sick-bed. I was unable to speak, even in a whisper, for some minutes. I then said, " My work is not done. Ill recover, get well and work for Jesus!" My

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articulation was so low and so imperfect that I could not make them understand me, A little later I said, " I wont die now. God has told me so." They understood this and rejoiced greatly. I felt as confident then that I would again be restored to health and preach again as I am sure at this writing that I got well and resumed my labors in the Vineyard of the Lord !

MY PHYSICIAN PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.
Next morning, when Dr. Brantley came into my room, I saw his countenance brighten. He expected to find me dead. He said, " What a change has taken place ! " Said I, "Doctor, I cant tell you all now, but I am to get well, and preach the Gospel again." Said he, "Yes, yes, youll get well again." I said, " I know it, for God has told me so." Said he, "As soon as you get better or well enough, I wish to bring my wife around and you must tell us all." I agreed.
In a few days he and his good Christian wife came and I gave an account of the visions as above described. He insisted that as soon as I was able I should tell it to my congregation, which I did a few weeks later, taking as my text, "The Transfiguration of our Lord," I have referred to it seldom in the pulpit since, and then, I believe, only when some friend who had heard of my happy experience requested me to give it publicly. I knew that some socalled scientists would philosophize and try to explain it upon scientific principles. Again, I feared that some might think I considered myself favored more highly than others. The good people of Sandersville will testify to my extreme illness and the recital of my visions as here tofore narrated. Doctor Brantley will also indorse the fact of my sudden turn for health and of my telling him as above recited, as he is living yet.
I have neverhad a doubt of the Divine nature of these

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scenes and my faith was greatly strengthened thereby.
A MERCIFUL BAPTISM.
I have ever regarded the foregoing experience as a baptism preparatory to a fiery ordeal through which I was called to pass in a short time after. As no good could possibly result to myself or anyone else from the narra tion of that severe trial, and, as it grew out of matters of a business and worldly character, I pass it in silence, leav ing the occurrence entirely in the hands of Him, who is too wise to err, too good to do wrong.
At the close of my two years pastorate in Sandersville and Tennille, I was appointed to the Washington circuit by the Conference held that year at Talbotton. This cir cuit embraced all the churches in the southern and west* ern portions of the county. I had previously purchased an outfit for a paper; I started and ran it until the latter part of the year 1878, when I sold out.
During the summer of that year I decided to try to build an arbor, get people to build tents and thus estab lish a camp ground at the meeting house known as " Deep, step" church, situated on a creek of this name. I met with much opposition. I had hoped to have the full and hearty co-operation of all, I suppose few, if any, enter prises calculated to do good have been carried to a success ful issue without opposition, to a greater or less extent.
I became personally responsible to the contractor for the payment of the money necessary to the building and finishing of the arbor and depended upon a public collec tion on Sunday at the eleven oclock, service. The collec tion fell a little over fifty dollars short, so I pocketed the loss, feeling that I had that amount of stock invested where it would, in the world to come, pay a handsome divi dend. I believe that camp-meetings have^been held there annually from that date to this.

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Having arranged my business matters so as to be ready to go to any part of the Conference where the appointing power might deem best, I reported to the presiding Bishop accordingly and was read out as Presiding Klder on the Dublin district for the year 1879, which position I filled for four years consecutively. This is the limit under our law to district and pastoral work appointments. The law is a wise one. Every preacher is appointed annually to a field of labor and may be re-appointed, provided he a:id his peo ple desire it, especially the people, (for often the pastor is not consulted,) for a term of four yoars consecutively. Then he must be assigned another field. At a later date he may be returned to the same charge. This Itinurani System, that requires all preachers, upon entering the traveling connection, to go wherever the appointing powers may, in their Godly judgment, assign them, freer, Methodism from much trouble experienced by our sister denominations, whose economy arranges for each separate church to call its own pastor, which condition I have often known to result in bitter feeling between the pastoral candidates. I have also known schisms or divisions pro duced in the church thereby that were hard to heal.
REMOVAL TO SPRING HILL.
During my first year on the Dublin district I removed my -family to Spring Hill, Montgomery county. I selected this point because our District High School was located here. My children could therefore have good educational advantages and be at home with their mother while I was necessarily absent, which was the greater part of the tir:u-. At a later day we purchased some lands, built a home and cleared a small farm.
This was the home of the family for a number of years. From an extensive experience in different lines of busi ness, entered upon to aid in increasing the income to meet

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the demands of a large family, I find that the farm is most congenial with the duties of the ministry. It involves less conflict with the interests of the business world, and consequently impairs the preachers usefulness in a smaller degree. Yet, under the economy of our organism, it is better for the itinerant preacher to he a man of one work. Hence, our advice to all Itinerant Methodist preachers is, Stick to your ministerial and pastoral work! You then will have head, hands and heart full of important duties, which will occupy all your time. Do tins then look to the Great Head of the Church for all supplies, temporal and spiritual, and, verily, "thou shalt be fed!"
During my first term of four years on this district I found it necessary to look well after the interests of the Church along the line of railroad that extends from Bruns wick to Macon. Really, there was not a sufficiently large and respectable house of worship along this line of road between the two points specified. The simple truth is there was not a building that the people called by the name of "church" between Cochran and Jesup,a distance of one hundred and ten miles, except the old log building at Lumber City, which was on the eve of falling to the ground. The houses of worship at Cochran and Jesup were too small to accommodate the congregations. Both were cheaply and poorly constructed.
At many of the young, growing towns along this rail road, which ran through a rapidly developing section of South Georgia, there was no building in which the people could meet to worship other than a county court house or an academy or school house.
I felt that my first duty was to form all I could get to unite at these points, into organized churches; then pro ceed to build the best meeting houses possible at all points on that railroad.

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At the end of the first year a beautiful church at East man was dedicated by Bishop Pierce. Of it he said, "This is a gem and is but an augury of the future development of Wiregrass Georgia." It was built mainly through the enterprise and liberality oE John W. Griffin, -whose un timely end cast a gloom over the development of that sec tion of Georgia. He alone paid over two thousand dollars toward the*erection and completion of this splendid church building. His reward shall be abundant.
MiT LABORS GitACIOUSLY Ef.ESSKD.
Atjnany other points commodious and elegant houses of worship were also in rapid process of completion.
At the termination of this quadrennium we had good churches at Chauncey, McRae, McVille (now Scotland), Lumber City, Hazlehurst, Graham, Baxley and Pine Grove. And during the next four years at Odum, Towns, Dempsey, Empire and other places.
The spirit of church building also obtained in the country neighborhoods. Comfortable churches are now found in nearly every community all over the territory embraced in that district then, which is now divided into four Presiding Elders districts.
Among these elegant churches we may mention the large one at Spring Hill, which will easily seat over six hundred people. Also, the beautiful camp-meeting arbor standing near this church, which will seat twenty-five hun dred to three thousand people. Again, the well-finished church at Shiloh, built mainly by Hon. Walter T. MeAr thur, at a cost to him of two thousand, five hundred dol lars. No section of Georgia has better houses of worship than the territory incorporated within the limits of the district presided over by myself from 1879 to 1882.
There were also a goodly number of parsonages built during this time at Eastman, McRae, Spring Hill,

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Graham, Baxley, Jesup, Jacksonville, Mt. Vernon and Eureka. Cochran and Jesup have each since built better parsonages and their houses of worship would be credit able to larger towns. At that time we had no church at Dublin. Now they have an elegant church and parsonage.
We built a good church and parsonage at Wrightsvillc during this quadrenmurti.
The entire territory, the year previous to my appoint ment there, was aided by the mission fund. My prede cessor, Rev. T. B. Lanier, one of our best and most faith ful men, received only two hundred and seventy-five dol lars from the district toward his support.

WONDERFUL CHANGES.
I regret that I have not the correct data at hand to enable me to give here the value of church property, num ber of members and amount paid for all church purposes in the district at that time, I am of opinion that the total value of church property would only have reached a few thousand dollars. I have just examined the minutes of our last Conference, 1895. I have looked over the different charges embraced in the old Dublin district) now in part found in the Dublin, McRae, Cordele and Brunswick dis tricts. I find that the value of church property, as reported at our last annual session, held at Fort Valley, aggregates the sum of $136,452,
Neither Brunswick nor any of the older towns were, at that time, in the Dublin district. It contained the terri tory now in the McRae and Dublin districts and Darien, Jesup, Hinesville, Taylors Creek and Jonesville, which are now in the Brunswick district, and Crisp and Douglass, of the Valdosta district. I feel safe in saying that the aggre gate of property did not amount to $30,000. Therefore, the increase in the value of church property in this terri tory since the beginning of the year 1879 has gone beyond

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one hundred thousand dollars ! This is a wonderful devel opment in the space of seventeen years.
MIRACULOUS METAMORPHOSIS.
I do not remember the exact figures of the mem bership in this large field at the beginning of the year 1879, My recollection is that it was less than three thous and. Now the minutes show an actual membership in the charges then in the Dublin district of fifteen thousand^ one hundred and fourteen^ a neat gain of over twelve thousand. Possibly my memory is at fault, how ever, I will conceed that there were as many as five thousand members within the territorial limits of the old Dublin district as I found it in the beginning of the year of our Lord, 1879.
I find, by adding together the amounts paid last year, 1895, for the support of presiding elders and preachers in charge on the various works then embraced in my district, that it aggregates the sura of $17,094.43. The whole terri tory In the year 1878 paid for the services of the Presiding Elder only two hundred and seventy-five dollars. In 1895 two thousand, six hundred and twenty-three dollars and thirty-five cents was paid for support of Presiding Elder.
Who can look upon the foregoing figures and fail to see that the onward march of Methodism hi this territory has been wonderful ? Can any other portion of our progress ive Methodism furnish a parallel ?
NO SELFISH CREDIT.
Let no one for a moment imagine that I claim these grand results as the product of my labors. Nay, I only did what I could to lead and help as worthy a corps of able, faithful brethren as ever operated together in the work of the Lord of the Harvest. God gave the increase. To Him alone be all glory, now, henceforth and evermore! Of course, the influx of population had Its effect. The big-souled class of men who engaged in the mill and tur-

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pentine business, by their upright lives and large liberality, aided much in advancing the material, educational and religious interests of this portion of our Conference.
Such men as Lemuel Johnson, Council, Grady, Sessoms and others might be mentioned as types of the above desirable class.
The largest attendance of delegates at a District Con ference I ever saw was at the one held in August, 1879, at Kazlehurst, One hundred and twenty-eight delegates were present on the first day and ethers came in later.
During my many years of service in the Presiding Eldership, but twice has the pleasure been mine of having a Bishop with me at a District Conference. The first was Bishop Payne, at Tuscaloosa. The other was Bishop Pierce, at Mt. Vcrnon, in August of the second year of my first quadrennimn on this district.
Dr., afterwards Bishop, Key was also present with us on the latter occasion. The venerable Bishop was unable to preach, but presided over our deliberations with great profit to us all,
AN UNEXPECTED HONOK,
My third Quarterly Conference for the Mt. Vernon circuit was hold in the afternoon of Saturday of our Dis trict Conference. As my son Bascom was before the Quarterly Conference for license to preach, I requested Bishop Pierce to preside in my stead, which he readily consented to do. Ke carried my son through the regular course of examination. At the close of the Quarterly Con ference he said to me, " I will write and sign up the license for Bascom." He did it that afternoon.
I was surprised, when he handed it to me, to find that he had signed the license thus: "G. F, Pierce, for J. D. Anthony, P. E." When I asked him why he had taken a subordinate official position to that he had assigned to me,

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his reply was, " No other course would have been legal." Perhaps he was right.
I have often thought of a conversation that passed between us alter the Conference closed, on our way back to Spring Kill, We were traveling in a buggy. We had reached the summit of a gently ascending slope, when he said, "Stop a moment," Then, waving his hand to the left, "Would that not be a beautiful pi ace to build a homo? Anthony, would you like to know what is my idea of a real happy life?" I replied in the affirmative.
THE BISHOPS IDEAL ROME.
"Well," said he, "I often grow tired of the buzz and din of city life often grow weary of being in company, and wish for some lonely, retired place that I could call home, and ever since I first traveled through the pine forests of Wiregrass Georgia I have thought the mild atmosphere and variety of crops produced here, together with what I see must be the future of this portion of Geor gia, make it an ideal section. I have thought I would like to have me a nice pecled-pole, double-log cabin on some knoll like this, with a good well of water in the yard. Then the necessary out-buikUiigs for stock, a young orchard of select fruits and a good little one-horse farm opened and properly stocked. Then to bring my family to my pinewoods home and here spend the remainder of my life in quiet retirement. Now drive on."
How simple the requirements of a true, happy home for this grand man! Yet I knew he would never he able to realize it. His duties as a chief officer of the Church would not allow him to rest until he passed over the River to repose under the shade of the Tree of Life I
THE FLEETING PHANTOM, CONTENTMENT.
Then this thought came into my mind: Multiplied hundreds of preachers earnestly desire to attain unto the

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exalted position which this great and good man occupies, and of which he grows weary ! And, again, there are thousands of people in Wiregrass Georgia who have just such a home as he has described as his ideal of a happy one, and yet they are not happy. They wish a better house, with more orchards and fields !
Then the question came to me with force: Are there really any who are perfectly satisfied with their surround ings and possessions ? The answer came with equal directness : No, none truly happy on earth. There is no real, abiding happiness for us until we reach that better land, where every desire is gratified, every wish met, and the words " wish" and " desire" are blotted from the vocabulary !
This was the last visit of the sainted Bishop to that part of Georgia. I met him at a few Annual Conferences afterward. The strange disease that hushed his eloquent voice in the pulpit, tonsilitis, terminated his useful career a few years later.

ON THE WAVCROSS DISTRICT.
At the end of rny four years on this district, the name of which was changed at the conclusion of the second year to the "Eastman" district, I was appointed to the Waycross district. The Conference at which I was appointed to this district, was held at Cuthbert and pre sided over by that most wonderful pulpit orator, Bishop Kavanaugh. It was his last visit to our Conference. He went from us to the Florida Conference, which was the last he presided over. He died a few months later. He was rapidly giving1 way to the infirmities of age. While sitting in his chair in the cabinet he often fell asleep for a moment or two, then would, by a mighty effort, arouse himself, and frequently, by his ready wit, almost make you feel glad that he fell asleep, as it gave such opportunity

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for using innocent and amusing wit. When he stood before us on Sunday morning in the pulpit, he seemed truly a Sampson with full-grown locks a lion in posses sion of all his powers. Bishop Kavanaughs powers of oratory were of a high order, and, together with a book he wrote against the errors of Romanism, gave him the posi tion he held in trie church. As a pulpit orator he had but few equals.

MEASLES. TVPHO-MALARIA.
After the close of the Conference at Cuthbert, I re
turned home and made preparation to move my family to Waycross. At this point the District had built a large, comfortable parsonage under the management of my predecessor, Rev. John M. Marshall, assisted by our ven erable superannuate who lives in that city, Rev. W. H. Thomas, who has ever been held by these good people in highest veneration. Not only is this true of the citizens of Waycross, but also by all who know this old soldier of the Cross. We reached the parsonage in due time, but were much annoyed, by the wrecks of delay in the arrival of the household goods. As there is an end to all things earthly, so there did come a time when our goods came to hand. Shortly after this, every member of my family except my wife and myself were prostrated by measles. After the measles began to disappear and before any one of the nieasle patients got well, typho-malaria developed. Our youngest daughter and baby boy both were soon seriously ill. One after another was stricken down. The elder Dr. Folks and his son, Dr. Frank, were our physicians. They were faithful; did all they could to relieve our sick. The good people of our young city assisted us in every way possible. Their acts of kindness will never be forgotten by us. Early in May the physi cians advised me to move my family to some new point,

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thinking a change would be beneficial. They had capital doubts with regard to the two youngest being able to stand the fatigue of moving thought the little girl, at least, would likely die on the train,
BACK TO SPRING HILL.
I decided if a move was necessary, that it would be better to move back to our little home at Spring Hill. Through the blessings of God, we all got to our home without the loss of a member. Although the sickness of my family prevented me from filling an appointment from the first of April until the first of September, yet the good (Lord spared our lives and the good people of the district kept up my salary. The expense of the double move, buying medicine, and other necessary incidentals, added to two heavy doctor bills, embarrassed me after I removed to Spring Hill. Be it said, rio other doctors made any bills against me. These two are the only physicians born on American soil that ever made bills against me since I have been a preacher. I feel that it is due the good men of that profession that I make this statement: they are a noble-hearted class of men. My expenses, caused by the two moves and long protracted sickness, amounted to over $1,200. The liberal donations from friends all over the State, together with what my District paid me, enabled me to meet all expenses. My own health was badly impaired by the constant watching and continued anxiety over my children.

CHAPTER XXI.
REGULAR WORK RESUMED.
I closed the last chapter with the recital of the long protracted sickness of my family and the effect produced iipon my own health by the continued loss of sleep and constant anxiety, which continued from the first of Feb ruary until the last of August.
When the health of the family began to improve, my own health gradually grew better. After having lost over two whole rounds on the district, I was able to fill all the appointments on the fourth round. The faithful work done by the pastors in the district, assisted by the local preachers and hearty co-operation of the laity, enabled the pastors and myself to carry up a good report on all lines to the Annual Conference.
At this Conference I was reappointed to the Waycross district. I decided to reside at Spring Hill, the home of the family, that year. The church at Waycross had asked to be made into a station, with which request the Bishop readily complied. Rev. L,. A. Dorsey, now a prominent member of the North Alabama, then a member of the South Georgia Conference, was appointed to the young station. He did a faithful years work.
The district parsonage for that district was then, as now, located at Waycross. According to the law govern ing in such cases, the parsonage was the property of the Presiding Elder. As I had decided to keep my family at our home in Spring Hill, I freely gave the use of the par sonage to the young station, which was quite a help to them, as it saved them the price they would have had to
pay for a parsonage.

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This year was without any striking incident within the bounds of the district, except the inauguration of a campmeeting at Homerville, the capital of Clinch county.
CAMP-MEETING AT HOMERVILLE.
At this point that big-souled, liberal-hearted Christian gentleman, R. B, Reppard, had built a large tabernacle for the purpose of holding Sunday school jubilees and other religious meetings, and had made the deed in fee simple to our church. I felt that we should put this valuable prop erty to additional religious uses and, believing that a campmeeting would result in good, I consulted with other brethren dnd appointed a time for the meeting, which, by the way, was the first held in that part of Georgia. I believe these meetings have been held there annually from that date to this.
BRILLIANT, BUT UNFORTUNATE.
At this camp-meeting I met for the first time that tal ented, wonderful young preacher, Rev. McK. F. McCook. He preached five sermons of great power at this meeting. At the ensuing Annual Conference he transferred from the Florida to our Conference. After doing six years of able, faithful work in three different fields of labor, his health failed and he was placed upon the superannuated list. It was unfortunate for him that the field of political journalism was open. With a broken-down constitution, he entered heart and soul into his new business and soon made many political enemies among his old true and tried friends. With his ardent nature such a result was inevi table. He could do nothing without throwing his whole soul into it. He belonged to a family in which pulmonary trouble was hereditary. Unfortunately, in his young man hood days he had been a victim to the drink habit. I sup pose this fact was unknown to his physicians, who prescribed the daily use of spirituous liquors. This proved

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to be a giant, who bound him in fetters which, in his feeble and dying condition, he was unable to break.
I verily believe this intellectual and most wonderfully gifted young man enjoyed constant communion with God during his active ministry, which was signally blessed by the Great Head of the Church. His life should be a warning to all. He went into politics. He was wrongly advised to use as a medicine that which had caused a prior fall. At the same time that never-failing disease, pulmo nary consumption, was hurrying him to the tomb. These united for his death, and the two former caused his spirit ual sun to sink behind a cloud.
I was his Presiding Elder while he was on the Bruns wick station. I loved him as a son and I have every reason to believe he esteemed me as a father. He died in the city of his birth. His career was short, but brilliant. Oh, that his sun had sunk behind the hills without a cloud ! I can but hope that his trembling hand of faith retouched the blood-stained Cross in death; and that we shall meet in that better land !
GOOD BRETHREN AMONG THE LAITY.
There were many good laymen in this district. Among them I may mention : At St. Marys, old Brother Thomas D. Hawkins, the Bros. Tompkins and Bro. Wright; at Camden, Captain Robert King; at Brunswick, Bro. Harvey, Judge Dillon, Father and Mother Osgood, Bro. Colson and .Father Dart; at Waycross, Bro. William Duten, the Bros. Brett, Bro. Lastinger, Bro. J. W. Strickland, Major Spence, and a mighty host of others. That venerable patriarch, Rev. W. H. Thomas, then, as now, made his home at this place.
NEW DISTRICT.----ODD EXPERIENCE.
During the Conference held at the close of that year in Savannah, an additional district was made out of the terri-

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tory embraced in the Dublin and Waycross districts. The new, or third, one was called the Brunswick district. I was appointed to this district four years consecutively.
On this district I had an experience paralleled by that of few, if any, Methodist itinerant preachers. I was Pre siding- Elder on a part of this territory six years consecu tively ! Brunswick, Blackshear and Jesup were in the Waycross district during the two years I was on that work. "When the new district was formed these appoint ments were placed in it. Hence, upon that portion of the work I presided six years in succession !
GOOD PROGRESS.
Dating this quadrennium we had continued growth on all lines. Many new churches were built and most of them were large and finished up in good style. Each year we had large additions to the membership. The financial interests grew annually. The spirituality of the church kept pace with all other lines of development.
This period also witnessed the erection of the large, elegant arbor at Spring Hill, and the camp-meetings held at that point before the late war, were reinaugurated. Here the annual Feast of Tabernacles has been held to date and will continue to be celebrated here, I hope, for many years to come.
THE " SUSTENTATION FUND."
At the end of my four years on this district it was determined to put an agent in the field to raise a fund to be known as the <( Susterftation Fund." Under the con stitution and regulations adopted by the Annual Confer ence, it was proposed to make an effort to raise, if pos sible, one hundred thousand dollars, which was to be safely invested and the annual interest applied to the relief of disabled itinerant preachers, the worn-out, or that class known as superannuated, preachers; and also

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

the widows and orphaned children of deceased preachers. I was appointed to this agency, which position I held
two years consecutively. It was my duty to travel over the Conference, preach and lecture on the importance of raising such a fund and appeal to the liberality of our people for contributions. I had hardly started on the work when opposition to the enterprise began to develop. A thing most difficult of comprehension is the fact that this opposition began, continued and ended with a few of our preachers, the majority of whom were agents repre senting other interests of the church, who seemed to think that donations to my agency would militate against their financial success. This supposition was without real foundation.
MY CAUSE UPHELD BY CONFERENCE.
As unnatural as this opposition appeared to me, I bore it in silence. Owing to sickness I was unable to attend the Conference held at the close of that year in Americus. Here the opposition made a fight against my agency. Also, against the enterprise itself. The fight was headed by a talented young preacher, seconded by others. They were literally swept away by an overwhelming vote.
I felt then that success was certain, as surely all loyal preachers would stand by the action of our Conference. Imagine, if you can, my surprise when, shortly after the adjournment of that body, the columns of our own church organ, The Wesleyan, were opened to the very parties who, at Conference, had opposed the continuation of the agency.
In the face of an overwhelming adverse voie at the Conference, issue after issue of our Conference organ con tained attacks upon the work to which I was assigned by the proper authorities of the Church.
This was too much for any minister of our Church to bear. In all my travels I never met one of either sex who

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did not most heartily indorse the enterprise that I was appointed to represent. After the opposition by these preachers became so manifest, some said, " I thought the * Sustentation * enterprise a good one, but I see the preachers, or, at least, some of them, oppose it hence, I feel averse to contributing to a thing they dont wish."
FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL.
I found myself handicapped and determined, at the end of the second year, to ask to be relieved. I certainly had succeeded well, especially when we consider the opposition from a few preachers and, worse still, that our Conference organ was the medium of attack! True, I was not per sonally attacked, but my work was injured much. During the two years I had secured, in good notes and cash, between sixteen and seventeen thousand dollars. Had my brethren upheld me and our church organ stood by the action of the Annual Conference, I feel free to say the fund would have been secured and its blessings broadcast among the needy and deserving ones for whom it was desired.
RETRIBUTION.
I feel that I should state this fact : The members of the family of the leader in that fight against this righteous cause were the first "who would likely have been bene ficiaries, as he was the first of the then living members of the Conference to die !
The money on hand when I was relieved from the agency was turned over to the relief fund. The notes died a natural death. Of course, when the organization to which the notes were made payable ceased to exist, the obligation to pay also ceased.
At this Conference I was again appointed to the Eastman district, the one in which my little home was located. I served this work until the close of the quadrennium.

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Development and progress crowned the combined efforts of the Presiding Elder, pastors and a working church.
AN ADVISORY MEETING. RESULTS.
In the early spring of the first year an advisory meeting of the pastors was called, to be held at Lumber City. At this meeting the importance of the cause of education seemed divinely impressed upon the mind of every pastor present. The necessity of a school of high grade, under the control of our church, to meet the demands of the rapidly developing territory in our district, was much felt. Pursuant to an agreement among all persons present, the Chair appointed a committee to canvass the district for subscriptions. The location for the school was to be selected by the District Conference, which was to meet some three months later in the town of McRae, Telfair county.
The Conference, by a large majority, voted its location upon a beautiful eminence equi-distant between McRae and Helena Junction, the railroad depots of the two places being one mile apart. The Presiding Elder appointed Rev. W. A. Huckabee agent. A full board of trustees was elected and work was soon begun on a splendid brick edifice. In January of the following year the first term of the " South Georgia College" opened in the old town academy and such other buildings as could be obtained. The trustees elected Rev. W. A. Huckabee president. They also secured a good corps of teachers.
The building, at this writing, is nearing completion. The College building has been used for the last three years. Some of the large, elegant rooms were not finished up. The chapel, which will comfortably hold several hun dred people, is being completed. This structure would be creditable to any city in Georgia. The school has already accomplished a vast amount of good, in that it has fur-

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nished the means of education to a large number of young men and women, boys and girls who were not able to secure it elsewhere.
This young college now has a full curriculum, with a complete supply of competent teachers. A bright future is before it.
The name of this district was changed, while the boundaries remained nearly the same, to -the "McRae" district. When my quadrennium ended, at the Conference of 1894 I was read out to the Mt. Vernon charge for the year 1895. I thought, at the time, that if I had been con sulted as the retiring Presiding Elder from that district, the Bishop presiding would not have made this appoint ment. This courtesy, from former precedents, I felt that I had a right to expect.

A DELICATE SITUATION.
My reasons for thinking I should not have gone to that work were based upon the fact that, near the close of the preceding year, as Presiding Elder it became rny duty to appoint a committee to investigate certain rumors in gen eral circulation very damaging to the character of the preacher then in charge of that work. I had to preside in the trial of investigation. I was compelled to rule on several points of law and the validity of certain testimony. These facts, when taken in connection with the intensely excited state of the public mind, especially in the southern part of the Mt. Vernon work, I felt positively demanded a preacher who had not been connected in any way with the trial of investigation. While all my rulings were sus tained by the Bishop, I still thought that it would have been better to put a new man on that work.
I ascertained that some of the leading officials of this charge had petitioned the Bishop to send me there. From this or some other cause I was appointed to that charge.

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I went and did the hardest years work of my life. I held the church together and added a respectable number to the membership. In the great day I hope to find that my labors were not in vain.
A GRATIFYING FACT.
It is a source of pleasure to me to be able to say that, in my comparatively long life, up to the last session of our Annual Conference I have never, in any way, tried to influence my appointment to any class of work or to any special place. On entering the itinerant connection I took a solemn obligation to go where the appointing powers should, in their Godly judgment, decide for me to go, I have ever believed that God, in answer to the prayers of the brethren whose duty it is, under God, to make these appointments, with the united prayers of the whole Church, graciously prevents the making of many mis takes. Should a mistake occur, God so abundantly over rules and blesses it that it becomes a providence. It has been my constant desire to regard my appointments as from the Lord.
At our last Annual Conference I was informed by a good brother, a member of the Cabinet, that there was a probability of my being placed on a large district that had, to a great extent, to be traveled by private convey ance. I feared that my health, at my advanced age, would not enable me to do the work and, as I was to leave on Sat urday of the Conference for Columbus to attend to some business, I decided to write the presiding Bishop a note and also one to my Presiding Elder, which I did. In both I .expressed a desire for a lighter work. This was granted me. From that day to this I have* regretted the writing of those notes. At the time I felt that I was justified in so doing by the honest fears I entertained of my ability to do the work of so large a field. Now I cannot say what I

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could at the close of the forty-ninth year of my ministry. Yet, perhaps, a large majority of my readers would say I acted properly in the matter.

I

AN IDEAL CHARGE.

At the close of our last Conference I was read out to the Statesboro station. I could not have been better suited by being sent to any other charge in the Confer ence, the size of the work is so well adapted to my condi tion. There are many charges with a larger membership, but none more mindful of the wants of the pastor and his family. It is a spiritual church, \Ve have .had a continu ous revival through the year. We have a larger number of members of both sexes who will pray and talk in public than any church of which I have knowledge. We have larger congregations, according to membership and popu lation, than at any other point in my acquaintance.
While our people are not millionaires, they are liberal and pay their pastor a good salary. They are Methodists and, as such, are ready to respond liberally to all the finan cial interests of the Church. I will specify no one by name. I still live among and serve them as their pastor.
This is a fine county, agriculturally considered. States boro has never been on a boom, yet, in the last ten years, has developed into one of the best business towns in lower Georgia.
Our surroundings are of the most pleasant character. Our Presiding Elder, Rev. O. -A, Thrower, is a sweetspirited, conscientious and consecrated man. He looks after all the interests of the Church. Although this is his first year in district work, he has demonstrated, both in the pulpit and the chair, that he is the right man in the right place.
My good people seem to look upon me as a father, ever ready to co-operate with me in all good works; yea, like

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true, loving children, who are ever watchful and anticipative of paternal wish and want. We are literally a large family, occupying; separate apartments, yet all meeting tog-ether and all perfectly at home in the family room in the fathers house the church, which is our Fathers house.
The current year is rapidly approaching- its close. I hope for the accomplishment of much good during the few weeks that are to intervene between this writing and the meeting of our Annual Conference. We have had fiftythree additions to the church from January first to Sep tember first. .
A REFLECTIVE GLANCE.
On the twelfth day of next month, October, if I live to see it, I will have reached the point marked by the seventy-first mile post on the journey to the spirit land. The twenty-fourth day of the same month will place the date of my license to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus just fifty years, a half century, in the past. How rapidly time flies and bears us all away! Of the large class of twenty-three who were admitted during Christmas week of the year 1846, only three remain on this side the River of Death, viz., Dr. Thomas Pierce, still in active service in the North Georgia Conference; Dr. Eustice Spear, who located some years since, but is still blessing- the Church by his able pulpit ministrations in the local sphere; and this scribe.
I have now finished a running sketch of my past life. I know it is very imperfectly done. I have endeavored to note those experiences, scenes and facts that I hoped might be interesting to the reader and, more especially, would, in some way, redound in good to others. I have been importuned by many good arid intelligent people of both sexes for years past to write an autobiographical

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sketch of my life, which, by the way, has been rather out of the ordinary, at least in some respects. My boyhood experience among the Indians and consequent contact with frontier life: i the crude, uncultivated society, the odd superstitions, maxims and practices of the people, among whom many of the most amusing and laughable in cidents occurred that were surely ever witnessed by any one, this was unusual. When I began writing, as these would come in the regular line of narration, I decided it would be better not to write and publish at least a portion of them. This is also true of many incidents, occurrences,
etc., of a later date. I feel sure that some will be disappointed at not finding
in these pages incidents and anecdotes that they have heard me relate. My answer is, I doubted the propriety of their publication, hence the absence of such records.
CRITICISM.
Job says, "Oh, that mine adversary had written a book." These words, indited by the author of the most ancient of all the books in the sacred Scriptures, have often confronted me since I began writing my book. An adversary can find much to criticise in the best production
of the ablest author. It is not the criticism of an adversary that I dread,
however, but of certain of my brethren, they of the house hold of our common faith ! To all such I would humbly say: First, look back and bear in mind the fact that my educational advantages in early life were quite limited; and, secondly, that mine has been a life of incessant labor
I have had almost no leisure. The thought has often come to me that, in all probability, my physical appear ance caused the powers that be to lay upon my shoulders burdens heavier than they are wont to bestow on most of my brethren. This I am sure of: the hardest hours to

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preach at camp and other large meetings and tasks most difficult of accomplishment have ever fallen to my lot!
Finally, dear brethren, "do not view me or my produc" tion with a critics eye." Remember, I do not claim extraordinary gifts either as writer or speaker certainly not the former. Outside of a few years in the editorial chair, I have had no experience as a writer.
I will add, should any one be disposed to extreme criti cism he will please direct it in some channel where it may do good. Remember the old adage, " You cant set old heads on young shoulders; neither can you place young, teachable heads on old shoulders." Therefore, your labor would be lost on me! If I can succeed in stimulating the faith of the good and thereby cause one step of advance along the line of Christian progress I will have accom plished much.

CHAPTER XXII.
DANGERS POINTED OUT.
I wish to direct attention to certain dangers to which our Church is exposed.
A duty devolving upon parents is to carefully point out to those who are dearer to them than life itself the dan gers to their success and prosperity. Their experience in the past, they feel, better qualifies them to judge the future, and their love for their offspring prompts them to point out all dangers, either supposed or real. I suppose a kindred desire is felt by aged Christians, especially min isters of the Gospel. At least, I feel it to be my duty to call the earnest, prayerful attention of my younger breth ren to certain facts which may, I fear, unless properly guarded against, or over-ruled by the Great Head of the

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Church, result, at no distant day, in harm to the Church. Among the existing threatening causes to our beloved
Church, I will first mention what is called the Evangelistic work of our day. Many good and heretofore successful ministers in the regular work have decided to leave the Itinerant System, in which they have developed into use fulness, and go into a kind of work not (up to date) pro vided for in our heretofore most successful system for the evangelization of the world !
EVIDENTLY HONEST.
These good brethren tell us that they are "inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost" to this specific work. Now, it is clear to my mind that they are certainly so called or they are mistaken. Their former lives and previous suc cess in the ministry forbid any other conclusion. They believe they are called of God to this special line of work. No one doubts the prior call into the itinerant work. That question was asked on their entrance to this work and emphatically answered in the affirmative. They surely believed they were called of God when they entered that work.
Now, when these same brethren are called by the same Spirit that called them into the Itinerancy, to quit that work and go into another which has not been provided for by the organism of our Church, it surely argues that either these brethren are mistaken in this second call, or it is time that such legislation should be had on the part of our General Conference as would meet the emergencies of the case. I am not prepared to answer the question : Which of the two is the proper solution of the matter?
I am fully satisfied of the honesty of these brethren, and cannot nor will I denounce them. I am wellassured that Sam. P. Jones, formerly of the North Geor gia, and John B. Culpepper, of the South Georgia Confer-

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ence, Drs. Carradine, Goclby and many others were fully persuaded that it was their duty to do full evangelistic \vork as regularly as they did when they were filling appointments given them while members of their respec tive Annual Conferences. Doubtless their work has been blessed in a proportionate degree in their new fields of labor.
That there is danger of a serious nature to the Church from this source we can all readily perceive. The number of those who give a portion and of those who give their whole time to this work, is increasing at a wonderful rate. They are so numerous now that meetings could be held by them in almost every circuit, station and mission in our entire connection; and the cry is, * Still they corne !"
Up to this date there has been but little friction between the regular ministers and these brother evangel ists. So far these "brethren with a tent" have seldom gone where they were not invited. Sometimes it has so happened that the pastors did not wish the services of these brethren, while a portion, perhaps a majority, of the membership did.
I seem to look through the telescope and see in the near future the number of these dear brethren called into the evangelistic ivork, increase until they out-number the regular itinerants ! Suppose my telescopic vision is mag nified to more than double what it will be at the end of ten or twenty years, even then the number will be very large.
In order to enter the regular itinerancy a certain course of study has to be mastered. This coiirse of study grows more and more rig*id. Many young preachers fail to pass. No previous requisition is made of those who wish to enter the evangelistic work save the Divine call to it. This fact alone is sufficient to warrant an undue proportion in this

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department of ministerial work. Every man who enters this work may be thoroughly satisfied with his Divine call, and he may be a good, consecrated Christian man. But he and his family have to be supported from some source. Moving upon the Scriptural declaration that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," he will naturally look to the people to whom he has preached and among whom he has labored in spiritual things, for that support.
A SAD INSTANCE.
At the same time the regular preacher who has been sent to that field of labor, will look to the same people for his support. Under our present economy, the regular pastor has every legal and righteous claim upon them. I knew a case of friction to occur in this way. The pastor, who had ever been faithful to all trusts committed to him, was, to a large extent, supplanted in the affections of his people and thus reduced to a state of absolute want. He was compelled to sell bis horse and buggy to meet impera tive demands upon him. The evangelist who thus sup planted the pastor in the estimation of his people, proved to be a bad ysa, a very corrupt man !
We have many good and able ministers now engaged in evangelistic work, such as Jones and Culpepper, for merly active members of the North and South Georgia Conferences, who arc instrumental in bringing thousands annually to Christ and into the Church. Yet these brothers have no friction with the regular pastorate. They never will. Their good sense and solid piety will forever forbid arid effectually prevent all trouble on that line.
While this is true of the better class of evangelists, all must admit that there are some of an opposite character. As we have seen, there is danger, at least from the indiscreet, of serious friction.
The question, What: is the proper course to be pursued

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to prevent harm to the Church and at the same time, if possible, furnish useful employment to all who inwardly feel moved by the Holy Ghost to preach the Gospel under the banner of our beloved Methodism ? is one fraught with incalculable interest.
I find many good, though, I think, inconsiderate men who say, in substance, "Drive them from the field! Cut every ligament that binds them to Methodism ! " etc., etc. To my mind, this would be rash and suicidal. Had our brethren in England been a little more conservative and given the Rev. Mr. Booth and those who thought as he did, work of the character that they felt themselves called to do, that vast multitude of Christian men and women,
found in nearly all lands beneath the sun, known as the "Salvation Army," would today have been numbered with the Wesleyan Methodists !
I believe that our General Conference, which is our only law-making power, at its next session should prayer fully look into this branch of work, which is now almost entirely carried on by preachers holding their authority to preach the Gospel from our Church, and arrange for evan gelistic work under the supervision of our bishops. In this way improper persons could be kept out of that sphere of labar and the true and useful placed where they would have the protection and indorsement of the Church. Then the friction now produced between the regular pas torate and the evangelists would be at an end.
But, some say, we have no law covering such work ! Well, what of that ? Let there be suitable laws enacted to meet the emergency ! This has been the course pursued
by our Church in all her past history. The glory of Meth odism has been that, while her articles of faith and general rules have been unaltered, the polity has ever been flexible and easily adjusted to its demands.

CHAPTER XXIII.
HOLINESS, OR CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.
I presume that there is not a member in any branch of Methodism but who believes in Scriptural holiness. There are, of course, and have ever been, differences of opinion with regard to the -modus operandi.
All careful readers of Mr. Wesleys views know that his own mind was never definitely settled as to whether it is simultaneous with the work of regeneration and is a part and parcel of that work carried on by a continued growth in the Christian virtues and graces, or a separate work, which is wrought by the Holy Spirit subsequent to regeneration.
I know that my mind was kept in an unsettled state on this particular point for two years. These were the first and second years of my Christian ministry. The course of study prescribed for undergraduates in the ministry em braced all four volumes of Mr. Wesleys printed sermons, containing, if my memory serves me correctly, one hundred and twenty-six sermons. These sermons were, with the ordinary branches of an English education, Fletchers Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense, and the Bible, in reference to doctrine, placed in the first years course of study.
In the second year " Fletcher on Christian Perfection," together with Mr. Wesleys teachings on that doctrine* formed a part of the course. I found that both of these great men absolutely subscribed to the doctrine of Chris tian perfection, but on the above point were themselves at sea. Both presented arguments that would now cause the reader to think they believed that holiness was but the

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outgrowth of the work of regeneration. Perhaps the para graph following would cause the reader to say, " No, it is a separate work and is, therefore, a second work of grace, and independent of all preceding operations of the Spirit! "
Then I began to reason thus: Who is Mr. Wesley and who is Mr. Fletcher ? Were they inspired men ? Did they write their views as dictated by the Holy Spirit? Of course the answer was in the negative. If the Holy Ghost had dictated there would have been no confusion in their utterances. They were but men. Hence, the only true standard by which this and all other doctrines and teach ings of Christianity can be settled, is the Bible. This alone can be a true and sufficient rule for our faith and practice. From that day to this I have given no heed to the opinions of my fellow-men upon this question.

THE PROBLEM SOLVi:!).
I then, with Bible in hand and earnest prayer to God to lead rne into the true light upon this important doctrine of our blessed Christianity, was soon enabled to settle the question to my hearts satisfaction and have never been troubled on the matter from that hour to this!
It is also clear that this question has from the organiza tion of Methodism given more or less trouble to the Chtirch. This is demonstrated by the qxiestions asked and the answers given at the annual convocations of the min istry during the life of Mr. Wesley. For the last fifty years the subject has waxed and waned with more or less intensity. I suppose it will so continue for years to come.
The old adage, " Let us agree to disagree," would be a safe rule of action on this point. It would prevent much friction and be promotive of brotherly love
My own opinion on this doctrine may be defined in a few words. I believe that the Lord Jesus tasted death for all mankind; that when he cried, in death, " It is fin-

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ished!" the demands of the Jaw violated by our progeni tors, were fully met we were redeemed from the Aclamic curse ; that no one has ever been, or will hereafter be, damned for Adams sin ; that when the Holy Spirit, whose function it is to apply the efficacy of the atonement, makes the application, all sin is pardoned the newly regenerated soul is absolutely freed from all past sin, both original and personal; that there is no more reason for a second spiritual birth than there is for a second natural birth! All men are borne but once into natural life, after which birth it is only necessary to observe the laws of Nature food, clothing, exercise, etc. to grow to maturity. So in the spiritual. Having been born into the family of God, life is imparted. Then, by the use of spirit ual pabulum, discharge of Christian duty, the child Chris tian grows to the full stature of a man of God !
The Bible terms, " sanctification," "perfection/ "con secration," and all kindred expressions, find their proper place in the life and development of Christian character.
ON TO CHRISTIAN PERFECTION !
I have held that this difference of opinion among our membership should be lost sight of and all urge forward to full Christian perfection.
I feel that I should be derelict in duty to stop here and not give the result of rny observations during the past.
I am compelled to say that many of those who hold the "residue of sin after regeneration," which necessitates a second spiritual birth, have, as I think, developed the fol lowing marks of having fallen below the proper standard:
First. They become clanni sh. I mean to say j ust what that old proverb expresses, "Birds of a feather flock together." At camp-meetings and other religious gather ings they are generally grouped together, conversing among themselves, preferring, seemingly, to eschew the

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company of all who do not subscribe to their peculiar views. This fact has often provoked the remark from lookers-on, "These people seem to think themselves better than others !"
IT MAKES HOBBYISTS.
Second. In some way it causes the preachers who hold to that theory to become hobbyists. They seem to be so wedded to their favorite dogma that let one of them select what text of Scripture he may, " Lo, he brings forth the second blessing!" I knew a good brother of that school to go into a community where there had never been preaching by our denomination and but little by any other. It was said that in a congregation of two or three hundred there were not oiie dozen who had ever professed faith in Christ. Yet this good brother, I was informed, began, con tinued and ended his two weeks labors at that place in preaching the second blessing ! One would have thought that the nature and effects of sin and the atonement for sin, repentance toward God, faith in the Lord Jesus and the grand doctrine taught by our Lord to Nicodemus, would have been more in place than preaching the second blessing to those who had never possessed, perhaps never heard of, the first blessing !
ONE-IDEA PREACHERS.
Third. As I have had abundant opportunity to ascer tain, the people grow wearied yea, absolutely disgusted with the preacher who emphasizes one idea alone! Words like the following have often been forced upon me by as good people as can be found in our communion: "BroAnthony, you are our Presiding Elder. I feel it to be my duty to say to you that I love Bro. B., our pastor, and I believe him to be a good man, but, sir, he preaches us all to the Devil except those who have the second blessing'! I believe in sanctification, but, sir, I see that our pastor is

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losing his grip on the people. The church is in a worse fix than it has been for years. We must have a change another year." I never expect to fill the position of Pre siding Elder again ! This I know from past experience: more than one-half of the class of preachers I am describ ing lose their power with the rank and file of the church before the Conference year has sped one-half its flight! Not more than one in ten of them is wanted by the people for a second year. In my long years on districts I have never known one "who was desired for the third year. If so, it never came to my knowledge.
If other Presiding Elders whose experience has paral leled that of this scribe, would speak out, the foregoing statements would doubtless be much strengthened.
Then, I have seen published articles denouncing the appointing powers for punishing these brethren by chang ing them to other fields of labor, when it was impossible for the Bishop to return them !
CHRISTIAN CHARITY LACKING.
Fourth. The greater part of these brethren show a want of charity toward their brethren who believe in the fullness of salvation, which begins in regeneration and goes on to perfection. They are ready to denounce from the pulpit all who do not claim the experience which they hold. The logic of this may be summed up thus : "All others are rushing down the awful incline to perdition !"
I have never heard any preacher so anathematize the second blessing brethren. Is there not here a manifest want of Christian charity on the part of the brethren who so fearfully denounce those who cannot see as they see ?
THE RESULT OF THE SECOND BLESSING.
Hence, I am forced to the conclusion that the things complained of must be the result of the second blessing theory! I am glad to be able to say that there are excep-

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tions to this rule such men as our lamented 33ro. A. J. Jarrell and some others.
Such are the facts. Now, what is the remedy? I do not believe that it lies within the domain of legislation. I verily believe that holy living will effectually banish all want of charity, restore fraternal feeling and re-enthrone brotherly confidence and love. Let all talk less about theory and preach and practice consecration to God !
Then the charity that hopeth all things, endureth all things, will have her perfect work. This would hide a multitude of faults and heal the wound that its opposite has produced.
I can certify to these facts and am alone responsible for the opinions set forth in this chapter. I feel that I have only done my duty in expressing them.

CHAPTER XXIV.
ALL SHOULD HAVE SOMETHING To Do.
The above heading is a self-evident truth. Activity is a very necessary condition to our being.
There can be no permanent health of either body or mind, and certainly no valuable development of either, in a continuous state of desuetude. The failure to bring into use the God-given powers vouchsafed to our membership is a sufficient cause of their lack of development and the resultant deadness of many churches in all denominations of Protestant Christendom.
In a ministry of fifty years I have never met a lifeless or powerless church where the members, male and female, old and young, were put to work in spheres suited to their several capacities. He is a wise pastor who takes this view and acts upon his convictions.
This fact holds good among the ministry as well as the

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laity. The preacher who preaches only at periods of long intervals will dwarf as a minister of the Gospel, The arm with which the blacksmith swings and throws the hammer will be larger and possessed of far more strength than the other arm, not so used. Thoughtful minds of the past have attributed the wonderfully superior preaching power of our fathers in Methodism to the fact of their almost un ceasing occupancy of the pulpit.

A GREAT MISTAKE.
I have often thought that our Presiding Elders and other brethren who have in hand the control, and direction of the order of business, of our District and Annual Con ferences make a fearful mistake when they put all the work of a Conference on a few brethren simply because they have been tried and found "worthy and well qualified," while perhaps there are scores present just as able, though their powers are untested. The result is, the brethren who have been tried and found capable are worked nearly to death! I regard this as a great wrong to both the tried and the untried. It is unfair to condemn a man and brand him incompetent before he has had opportunity to demon strate either his fitness or unfitncss for any duty; and it is equally unjust to murder a man by over-work because he has shown his ability to do a reasonable amount of good service ! I know of no greater infliction of almost un bearable punishment than to require a man by nature endowed with Heaven-born activities, engaged for months past in church work, to sit for hours and give undivided attention to the business routine of a Conference, either District or Annual, and hear the ideas and observe the spread-eagle nights of certain brethren, who regard them selves, though self-constituted, the custodians of the <c Ark and Shekinah " of the Church !
The thought has often thrust itself upon me that some

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good brethren good in the sense of a warm heart and genial disposition- have, by nature, a preponderance of " brass " over brain. In the midst of their lofty demonstra tion of superior gifts and graces I have felt an almost irresistible desire to utter the prayer of the Scotch rustic poet :
"O, wad some powr ttie g;iftie g;ie us To see oursels as ithers see us I"
I say, to be compelled to sit thus hour after hour and have nothing to do but listen, with now and then a vote for yea or nay, is a torture to my mind of no ordinary char acter ! What I have said in reference to the impudence of certain brethren possessed of an unquenchable desire to let the balance of mankind know of their superior (?) gifts and graces, is not intended to reflect upon those brethren who, from a conscientious sense of duty, are always awake to the interests of the Church and are often upon the floor, combatting the wrong and advocating the right. Such men are of incalculable worth to the Church.

A VOLUNTEER OFFICIAL.
I will relate an anecdote which will throw light on the subject in hand. At the session of the old Georgia Con ference held in Augusta during the month of November, 1860, that venerable, clear-headed veteran, Rev. William J. Parks, was present. He seemed to feel it an indispensable duty to fully and freely give his views upon all matters that came before the body. Indeed, of him I have heard it said, " Uncle Billy occupies the floor at least two-thirds of all our Conference sessions."
The incident occurred on Friday, which, I believe, was the tenth and closing day of the session. As usual, the brethren were restless and anxious for adjournment and "Uncle Billy " seemed equally anxious to do his full quota of talking. Bishop Pierce arose with a genial smile upon

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his face and that peculiar twinkle of the eye so expressive and characteristic, and said, "If Brother Parks will allow me a moment, I will relate a little incident of recent occurrence. A very refined and intelligent lady said to me last evening, Bishop, is not that tall, dark-complected old gentleman who is so incessantly talking to your Con ference, what the solicitor-general is to the courts of our country ? I suppose he has to prepare all the cases and prosecute them in your Conference as does the solicitorgeneral in the law courts of the land ?
** My reply was that we have no such officer, yet Brother Parks voluntarily performs such functions most faithfully." This short talk of the Bishop brought " Uncle Billy" to his seat and the Conference to the point of an involuntary cheer.
EVERY ONE SHOULD BE EMPLOYED.
My text is, "All should have something to do." While this exact verbiage may not be found in the Bible, the teachings of that Book of books, together with the experi ence of the past, unite in proclaiming, " All should have something to do !" I verily believe that all our churches would become vital forces for greater good if our pastors would thoughtfully and prayerfully go to work on this line and give every one something to do. Our Church author ities are fully awake to the importance of this great truth and have systematized plans which, if properly carried out, will give profitable employment to all our membership, male and female, old and young yea, work for the whole household, from the gray-haired down to the little toddler!
I also wish to forcibly impress the importance of giving all our ministers and laymen work at our Annual and Dis trict Conferences. This will cause every one to feel a deeper interest in the work of our Conferences. It will develop into usefulness many who would otherwise be like

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the unseen, uncultivated flower that "wastes its fragrance on the desert air."
The utterances above are the result of observation and thought on these lines for the last fifty years. I offer them, hoping" that they may find a lodgment in younger minds and be fruitful of future good to the Church.

CHAPTER XXV.
DONT RAISK THE STANDARD Too HIGH.
There is another danger to which I would now direct attention. It was mentioned incidentally at some length in a former chapter, but I feel that duty demands a more extended notice. I refer to the growing demand for a com pliance with a high educational standard of applicants for license to preach and admission into the Itinerancy.
The real danger from this source, to my mind, lies not so much in the letter or spirit of the ]aw as in the latitudinous construction that may be, and often is, placed upon it by those who hold in hand its application. The law requires "An approved examination by a committee of three, appointed by the Presiding Eider, on the subject of doctrines and discipline, and giving satisfactory evidence of his knowledge of the ordinary branches of an English education."
I regard these as reasonable requirements. Surely no man should be licensed to preach in any Church who is not in accord with the doctrines of that Church ! It is equally important that he be in harmony with the rules and regulations and subscribe to its discipline. In this pro gressive age it is also necessary that the applicant should have knowledge of " the ordinary tranches of an English education." The educational requirement in this law has been defined and accepted as " Spelling, Reading,

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Writing, Geography, Arithmetic and Knglish Grammar." The applicant should not be expected to demonstrate a
thorottgk knowledge of these branches. There are few* even among teachers of literary schools, who can spell every word correctly that may be given in an hours test. I have heard men who have spent years in institutions of learning, declare that there are few thorough grammarians, even among those who are classed with the educated !
POWERS PRE-EMPTED.
Many brethren are so constituted that the pressure of excitement will put them in such a state of mind that they cannot answer correctly a question "which, under ordinary circumstances, would have met a correct response without hesitation ! I feel free to say that the committees appointed to examine both for license by the District Conference and admission into the traveling connection, often labor under a mistaken view as to the prerogatives of the duties assigned them. I have known committees to seem to regard it as their duty not only to ascertain if the applicant was in harmony with the Church in doctrine and discipline and had knowledge of the ordinary branches of an English education, but also to say whether he was a fit subject to be licensed to preach or to be admitted into the traveling connection.
I can give a case exactly in point. Some years ago there was a good brother who earnestly desired to enter the traveling" connection. I had employed him for three or four years as supply on some very hard fields of labor and he had done successful work. He had made repeated attempts to enter the itinerant ranks, a work for which he had shown himself well qualified. The previous committees had reported against his admission on the ground that they could not pass favorably upon his examination. I thought this very strange in view of the fact that the brother had

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passed examinations in more than one county before the board of education and received a license of good grade as a teacher and had taught several schools to the satisfaction of his patrons.
As I felt a deep interest in the brothers success I determined to have a talk with the chairman of the com mittee and ascertain the cause of failure. So, near the hour for the committee to complete its examination, I called the chairman from the room for a minutes talk.
Said I, " Brother, I wish to ask, will you be able to pass Brother P. on this examination ?"
His reply was, "No, I think it would be best not." Said I, " It is passing strange to me that a man who has stood examinations before county boards and taught suc cessfully for years cant pass before our committee."
THE CAUSE REVEALED AND JUSTICE DONE.
"Oh," said he, "so far as his education is concerned, that is all right, but he is near middle life and has a considerable family and we dont think he ought to be
litted." Said I, My dear brother, that is none of your busi ness ! You only have to report on the examination, as prescribed by law. The Conference has to settle all other questions. So, if his examination is creditable, pass him." This they did and the Conference admitted the brother, who has been, and still is, a valuable member. I mention this instance to show that serious harm is liabe to result from such committees taking upon them selves the duties that devolve upon the Conferences, both District and Annual. My opinion is that the law, as it now stands, takes from the Conferences rights that formerly belonged to it and places those powers in the hands of committees who may, from an improper conception of their functions,

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work harm to good men and thereby to the Church. The operations of this law for the last two or three decades clearly demonstrate the fact that many good men, for the want of proper attainments In literature or for a lack of self-confidence, have bean lost to the Church!
THE BEST ON EARTH.
I fully subscribe to the opinion entertained by that great, wise and good man, Bishop George F. Pierce, who considered the Methodist Itinerant System the best training and also the best theological school on earth ! It has proven so in the past. It has taken hundreds yea, thousands of pious, uncultivated young men and devel oped them into not only first-class preachers, but also into the very best educated, most scholarly men in the Church. I instance Dr. T. O. Summers and our own Dr. W. P. Harrison. Neither of these grand men, when they entered our traveling connection, had more than the rudiments of a thorough education.
The world has never in any age or in any department of life produced men. of superior ability as public speakers logicians and orators to the wonderful array of men in the last generation of Methodist ministers, such as Bishops Andrew, Bascom, ICavanaugh and Marvin, Dr. Lovick Pierce, Dr. Jesse Boring1, his brother Isaac, \V. E. Munsey and the quaint J. \V. K.mg~ht, of whom Bishop Pierce once said, "I have heard John Knight preach sermons that I have never heard surpassed by any man and equaled by but few, if any ! "
There are strong reasons for saying that if these grand men had lived in this generation, perhaps not one of them could ha,ve passed the Committee on Examination for license or admission and therefore would none of them have been licensed to preach. Hence, their labors would have been lost to the Church and world !

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Some of my good brethren may pronounce me a " back number," old fogy or pessimist. If so, I will uncomplain ingly bear the soft impeachment. 1 have been pained to see a growing disposition for some years past to so raise the educational standard as to reduce in fearful ratio both the number licensed to preach and those admitted Into the Conference.
A RIGHT DIVINE.
As a denomination, we hold that it is the prerogative of the Great Head of the Church to call men into the min istry also into the traveling- connection. Now, if this be true, have we a right to say to these men called of God, " Nay ! " Or, "Tarry ye at Jericho until your beard be grown ? "
I know that we are living* in a progressive age an age when people travel by steam and fly 011 the wings of electricity. The world moves ! So must we ! I hold that a man called of God to preach the Gospel of our blessed Lord, filled with the Holy Ghost and. a burning zeal for the salvation of souls, will, if permitted by the Church, apply himself most assiduously to a full preparation to meet all demands upon him, and will soon develop into " a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." Under our law, if he fails to grow sufficient]}- in knowledge to come up with the prescribed course of study, he will most assuredly fall by the wayside !
A SYSTEM OP" TRIAL.
To all intents and purposes, ours is a system of trial. If, after admission, the candidate fails to come up with the prescribed course of study for four years consecutively, then, by his demonstration of inefficiency, he falls back into the local ranks; and, If his inefficiency is apparent here, he dies a ministerial death !
Here, as in all other departments of human interest,

OUR I-IVING PREACHERS.

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activity and close application to duty is necessary to existence itself.
All interests, divine, spiritual and personal, demand that he should press forward to usefulness. We think he should have an opportunity to demonstrate both his Divine call and his native gifts. Dont keep him back if he has a " knowledge of the ordinary branches of an English educa tion," even if that knowledge is not as perfect as that possessed by some others of a more favored class.
My dear brethren, I insist that this subject demands a careful consideration. Think prayerfully, dont hastily jump to a conclusion. Please prayerfully look into the possibilities of the harm that may be done to good men called of God into the ministry, who only have an ordinary knowledge of the elementary branches of an English edu cation, by refusing to give them an opportunity to demon strate that call. It may cause much loss to the Church.

CHAPTER XXVI.
OUR LIVING PREACHERS.
I feel that I would like to say a few words about my elderly brethren, especially those of my own Conference. I am aware of the delicacy of such an undertaking. I am fully aware, too, of the fact that all men have their weak points and defects are found in the most perfect characters. Were I to feel that I entertained any unkind feelings toward any one of my brethren I would most certainly refrain from writing a word on this line. Feeling that I love all of them and knowing that I would not, for any consideration, impair the usefulness of any minister of the Gospel, I am glad that I can say many good things of these men called of God into the ministry. I will speak

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only of their virtues, thereby hoping to aid them in their high and holy work. I will speak mainly, perhaps only, of those who have borne the heat and burden of the day, and with whom I have labored side by side. I would like to perpetuate the memory and virtues of many whose lives and labors have ended, such as the saintly Samuel An thony, the meek and gentle J. M. Marshall, the able and scholarly Dr. J. O. A. Clark, and many others who, so to speak, fell in battle while we stood shoulder to shoulder with face to the foe. Their labors on earth are ended, and their works will follow them.
DR. J. W. HINTON.
I will first mention the name of Dr. J. W. Hinton. He is scholarly, a profound thinker, an able writer and an eloquent preacher. One has to become intimately ac quainted with him to know and properly appreciate him. Had he entered the arena of politics he would have become a statesman of wide reputation. In the cabinet, he is beyond all doubt the most transparent man I ever met in that department. He is artless, guileless, honest. He, like myself, has gone beyond his three score and ten, yet, however, possesses all the activities of his mental powers with a good degree of physical activity. My prayer to God is to lengthen out his useful career for years to come.
JOHN B. MGEJIEE, D. D.
John B. McGehee, D. D., is a man of extraordinary mental power, had fine educational advantages and can read human nature as most men read plain printed matter. Had he entered the field of politics in early life he could have swayed the populace at will and filled any position from the representative of a county in the State Legisla ture to Governor of the State, perhaps President of the nation. He, in his God-called avocation, is unsurpassed in the power he wields in his Conference,

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DR. J. O. BRANCH.
Dr. J. O. Branch is an orator by nature, and has culti vated his God-given powers until he stands among the first of pulpit orators of our day. He is also a good Presiding Elder and looks after all the interests of his preachers and people.
REV. A. M. W1NN.
Rev. Alexander M. Winn has been, the greater part of his long, useful life, assigned to station work, but he has also done district work. On the district, as well as in his station work, he has ever been faithful and efficient. He has been denominated, " the St. John of our Conference."
REV. G. G. N. MDONELL.
Rev. George G. N. McDonell has filled well-nigh all our most important stations, and has spent many years on districts. He is yet in the meridian of his manhood, and is now Presiding Elder on the Columbus district. He led his delegation to the last General Conference.
REV. P. A. BRANCH.
Rev. F. A. Branch has for some years past been ap pointed to district work. He is an able and eloquent preacher and a good Presiding Elder. He has few supe riors in the pulpit.
REV. E. H. MGEHEE.
Rev. E. H. McGehee has done much station work and successfully discharged the duties of district work for many years. He looks after all the interests of th e Church. He is a popular, useful and forcible preacher and a good Presiding Elder.
REV. J. O. A. COOK.
Rev. J. O. A- Cook has filled nearly all our most im portant stations, and also served districts some years. He

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is now Presiding Elder on the Thomasville district; he is a popular preacher and makes an excellent Presiding Elder. He is yet in manhoods mid-day.
REV. P. S. TWITTY.
Rev, P. S. Twitty has done good station work. He filled the position of President of Andrew Female College and presided over districts for some years. He is an able preacher, a deep thinker, and, being yet in the strength of manhood, the Church has reason to expect much valuable service from him.
REV. HARRISON STUBBS.
Rev. Harrison Stubbs spent his early manhood in the local ministry and did much valuable work while sustain ing that relation to the Church. He was appointed to a district at the end of his fourth year in the Conference and is now passing his fourth year in the Presiding Elder ship. He is a splendid preacher and makes a good Pre siding Elder.

REV. O. A. THROWER.
Rev. O. A. Thrower, who came to us a few years ago from North Georgia, has done faithful work in all charges committed to his care. At our last Annual Conference he was appointed Presiding Elder to the Dublin district. Of him and his adaptation to district work I spoke in a former chapter.
RECENT SUCCESSFUL PRESIDING ELDERS.
I have thus far briefly spoken of those who are now filling the office of Presiding Elder and of a few of those who have in the past occupied this important position in our Conference. Revs. W. C. Lovett, C. E. Dowman, K. Keid, R. L. Wiggins and J. P. Wardlaw have recently suc cessfully filled terms of from two to three years each on district work and all have demonstrated marked ability in

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263

that department of ministerial labor. Each one is now doing good station work.
REV. GEO. C. CLARK,
It behooves me now to speak of my venerable brother, Rev. Geo, C. Clark, who entered the traveling connection at the Conference for 1845 and has been actively engaged, and an efficient laborer, from that day to this. His nat ural endowments are far above the average. He is, to use a common expression, a " self-made man." By intense application and entire consecration to his Heaven-ordained work, he forged his way to great usefulness. He has served many districts and filled a large number of impor tant appointments in the line of station work. He is the oldest member of the South Georgia Conference on the effective list. (Since I wrote the above the Great Head of the Church has called Brother Clark to his reward.)
TRULY VENERABLE BRETHREN.
I have the highest veneration for our superannuated brethren. These good brethren have borne the heat and burden of the day and are now in the cool twilight, nearing fair Beulah-land. Far away at first they hear tender strains of music sweet; ah, tis now becoming clear hap piness, oh, joy complete! Paradise is now so near Para dise with bliss replete ! Heavens beauties now appear, and their ones belovd they meet !
Oh, why such aversion to leaving the ranks of the active ministry and passing on to join the worthy band of waiting veterans ? I am to this margin come and, unless speedily called to lay my armor by and report to Head quarters at once, I must soon be numbered with this hon ored band. May I be ever ready for either call! I love with an exalted love all these truly venerable men. I have been thrown in intimate relation with many of these dear brethren. I instance Revs. J. J. Giles, L,. B. Payne, John

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LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. J. D. ANTHONY.

W. Burke, Dr. T. B. Lanier and " Uncle" Thomas. These good men have been a tower of strength in their
day. Their work is done. I would like to speak of all the brethren in the Confer
ence, but space would fail me and perhaps no good would be accomplished by so doing. I will only add that our brethren in manhoods high noon are all, I verily believe, good and true men. They are sowing a harvest that will be reaped with rejoicing in the great day. There are many among them who may never know, experimentally, any thing outside of circuit work, yet are capable of filling any position in our Conference .
I look with pardonable pride upon our young men. What a variety of talent! Quite a number of them are destined to places in the front rank as pulpit orators. Others have fine legislative and executive ability. May the good Lord abundantly bless them ! May they live consecrated Christian lives!
I would say to my elderly brethren that we leave the work and interests of the Church in strong hands. I have no fears for the future glory and final triumph of our Zion. True, "the workmen fall, but the -work will go on.f "

TITLES.
METHODISM ........ ............ .................. 5 ELIJAHS CHALLENGE AND TRIUMPH ................. 28 THK GENERAL JUDGMENT ........................... 45
TlTE H.JGHWAY OF HOLINESS ........................ 59
THE CHOICK OF MOSES ......... ................... 73 SERMON TO YOUNG TOADIES ......................... 88 THE PRODIGAL SON ................................ 101 THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD ................114 DANIEL IN THE LIONS DEN ........ ...... .......... 125

METHODISM.
" Unto Him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesust throughout all ages, world 'without end. Amen."--EPH. 3d Chap., 2ist v.
The English word Church corresponds in meaning with the Greek word " Ecclesia, " which was anciently applied to any assemblage of persons, met for the transaction of business of any kind. In process of time the term was exclusively applied to congregations met in the interests of religion, and subsequently to all who worshiped the true God. It is now more especially applied to the believers in, and worshipers of, the Lord Jesus Christ. All who be lieve in Him as the worlds redeemer and conform their lives to the requirements of His laws are members of His Church.
The Church of God is the same in all ages of the world. Members of Gods Church in the morning of time, and on through the intervening ages to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, were brought into the Church by the exer cise of faith in the efficacy of a coming1 atonement. Those who have lived since, and those who now live, have been inducted into His Church by faith in the vicarious blood of the crucified Son of God. Peters confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," is the foundation tipon which the Church of God rests. Upon this firm foun dation the Church has stood through the ages past, not withstanding the rage of wicked men and devils, and now bids defiance to the " gates of hell. "
While the Church is of Divine origin, yet there never was a time when God formally organized it. Religion,

though inseparably connected with the Church, is never theless distinct from it. Religion is personal in its charac ter ; the Church general. Religion has reference to the faith, piety and devotion of individuals ; the Church em braces in its arms, in one grand, universal whole, all the truly pious in Heaven above and on the earth beneath.
God, in mans creation, so constituted him as to make the existence of the Church a positive necessity. Man, though the noblest of Gods creation beneath the sun, is, so far as the accomplishment of grand enterprises are con cerned, comparatively helpless. In order to enable him to meet the grand design of his creation, both in time and eternity, his Creator wisely and deeply implanted the social principle. His very nature sighs, pines and loudly demands association. He is created for society. It is as natural for him to seek society as it is to eat and drink. He who shuns society makes war upon his own nature. Man, by obeying the behests of his nature, has formed associations with his fellow-niun, and thereby communities, towns, cities, railroads, manufacturing interests, etc., etc., have sprung into existence ; grand accomplishments have been achieved. Without association, every worldly interest would wither, fade and die.
This social principle is equally as necessary to the suc cess of moral and religious enterprises as it is to any other. The recluse, or hermit, in his retirement fails to meet both the demands of society and his own nature, robs God, wrongs society, does violence to his social nature, and brings ruin upon himself.
It is generally conceded that there is no special form of government for the Church laid down in the Holy Scrip tures. The reason is obvious. God, in creating man a moral agent, left him free in civil matters to adopt for his State government either the rnonarchial, democratic or any

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7

other form of government that the times and circumstances surrounding might require. The great fundamental prin ciples of law, God both wrote on his heart and thundered in his ear. The manner of applying these laws he left man to devise as circumstances might demand; hence the variety of forms of civil government. The same is true with regard to Church government. The Head of the Church requires holiness of heart and life in its memberSj activity in their labors of love, energetic effort for the sal vation of souls,,and the expulsion from their body of those who bring reproach upon the cause; but as to the manner of receiving, trying and expelling members, and the further details of Church government, the sacred book is silent. The Church, in its wisdom, must select the best mode to attain the desired end. It is apparent, then, that those who unchurch others for not governing themselves by the views that they entertain of Church government, are to be blamed for requiring that which God himself does not re quire.
There is no Scripture for the opinion enterlined b_y some that any member of the Church, 110 difference how high in rank, by any wieatis can transmit his personal vir tues or communicate any Divine grace. It is Gods prerog ative to call men to the ministry. This He does irrespect ive of the authority of the Church or its ministry; there fore, Mr. Wesley was correct in saying, " Apostolic suc cession is a fable that no man can prove." God has a Church in the world, and will have to the end of time j its "name is legion." It is not the Protestant Episcopal, Roman,
Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational or Methodist, but in all these and in other denominations not mentioned, and
doubtless many whose names are not recorded on any Church roll, but who have been grafted into the "goodly
olive tree," and thereby have partaken of the fatness and

8

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fullness of Christ, All who are truly regenerated belong to the Church of God.
The object of the present discourse is .to show that Methodism is a part and parcel of the Church of Christ. This we propose to do by applying the tests of the true Church of Christ Jesus to our organization:
1. A true Church is full of true charity, and is marked with a Catholicity of sentiment; has a liberal regard for all true Christians of all names and climes. Moses rebuked Joshua for an illiberal spirit. The Saviour condemned exclusiveness in plain terms, and always exhibited a liberal spirit. How different the example of many of his pro fessed followers in the present day, who ostracise and un church all who do not subscribe to their tenets of faith, or conform to their rituals. True religion is pure love. It needs no argument to prove that sectarian bigotry and exclusiveness are not born of love and are not consistent with it. They come of pride and party selfishness, and are " of the earth, earthy. " They are from beneath, and are marks of the beast and false prophets. Methodism, from the beginning, has been opposed to bigotry and favorable to a large-hearted charity. A writer of another denomina tion says, "Methodism has always been a standing protest, or rather persuasion, against bigotry. " This is true testi mony. AVe do not claim to be the Church of Christ, but a part of it; not the " olive tree, " but as grafted into the olive tree and partaking, with others, of the root and fatness of the olive tree; not the vine itself, but a branch of the vine.
2. The second mark of a true Church is holiness of heart and life. A wicked Church cannot be the Church of Christ. There may have been a point in the history of that Church when it was acknowledged by Him, but cer tainly it is not His now. This, alas, has been too often applicable to Churches. " Remember, therefore, from

SERMONS.
whence thou art fallen, and repent and do thy first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy can" dlestick out of its place except thou repent, " A corrupt Church necessarily ceases to be the Church of Christ, fof " what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness* and what communion hath light with darkness, and what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel, and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? For ye are the temple of God* as God hath said. I will dwell in them and walk in thern ( and I wjjl be their God and they shall be my people ; where* fore, come out from among them, and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daugh ters, saith the Lord Almighty. " No Church has ever given such prominence in her creed, literature, preaching and conduct to the doctrine of holiness as the Methodist Church. Our battle-cry and the inscription on our banners is " Holiness to the Lord." Watson says, "The two great pillars upon which Wesleyan Methodism rests is universal love and universal holiness. " The eloquent Dr. Chalmers, though a Presbyterian, declares Methodism to be " Chris tianity in earnest." The world and cold-hearted profess ors have said that we are righteoxis overmuch. Methodism, then, has these characteristics of a true Church.
THE GREAT COMMISSION.
3. Our blessed Lord, in giving the great commission, added : " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. " His presence implies power and influence given in view of the work, and it secures religious comfort and joy, for it is given in view of sore trials. His presence, bless God, is felt within, in communion with the " Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit, " The love of God is " shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. " This

IO

SERMONS,

presence is felt by others in the solemn influence of wor ship and the power of preaching. Methodists profess to have this sacred presence to have the witness of the Spirit, and to feel this love in the soul; to have the con sciousness of Gods abiding presence with them. Our worship is deeply impressive, and while engaged in it " our hearts burn within us. " Where is the Church that can at all compare with us in the freedom and heartiness, warmth and earnestness of worship and preaching and confidence of acceptance -with God ? Our death-bed testimonies are glorious. God is with us. We, therefore, have this import ant mark of a true Church.

THE GRAND MISSION.
4. The conversion of souls and the complete evangeli zation of the world is the grand mission, and calls forth every energy of the true Church of God. Where is the Church that has so zealously preached the doctrine of re pentance and faith in order to the conversion and justifi cation of souls, as has the Methodist Church ? What Church, under the blessing of God, has been so successful in winning souls to Jesus ? What Church has made so many sacrifices to carry the Gospel to the poor ? Method ism has opened her arms and embraced hundreds of thous ands, yea, millions of the poor, both in the Old and New World. In response to the question: Do the poor have the Gospel ? ten thousand times ten thousand voices re spond, " The Methodists have preached unto us. " Are souls converted under the preaching of the Methodist min istry ? Go number the millions who have been awakened from sin and brought to God by the preaching of the Wesleys and their successors. First number those who have left the Church on earth and have gone to the Church in Heaven. Thousands of them left the world with triumphant shouts, and entered Heaven amid the welcomes of Gods

SERMONS.
sacramental hosts. Then register the names of the living millions now in our com mi; n ion; then go to other denomi nations, ask their ministers arscl members where they were converted. The result will astonish you. This mark this never-failing mark of a true Church, stands out prom inently to the gaze of admiring angels, wondering men and astonished devils. Methodism is, therefore, of the Church of God.
THE CH1I-D OF PROVIDENCE.
5, Methodism i.= the child, of Providence, brought into being, fostered and nurtured into maturity by Him who sees the end from the beginning; whose purposes and plans are laid in wisdom. Methodism never had its origin in the minds of the Weslcys and their co-laborers. They never dreamed of the effects chat would follow their unas suming labors. They felt thc-;v" own need of inward holi ness j they sought and obtained the blessing; they preached to others a heartfelt and experimental religion. They preached no new doctrines, but presented the old with a zeal and power unheard of by the people of their day. God approved. The awakening, converting and sanctifying spirit of God attended their ministry. Souls were converted in large numbers wherever these faithful ministers went. In order to provide for the spiritual wants of these newly converted souls, Mr. Wes ley formed them into socie ties and appointed one of th^ir number as leader. He taught them to meet weekly and hold religious services. He also provided a. financial system that would meet the demands of their respective societies. In order that there might be no discord, and that harmony of spirit and unity of effort might prevail, he appointed a time for these lead ers to meet at a suitable point and consult in reference to the various interests oi the several societies. Here every thing passed the most scrutinizing review. These quar-

12

SERMONS.

terly convocations soon became a part of the essential or ganism of Methodism. Thus the Class and Quarterly Meetings were brought into being. As the work spread and societies increased, Quarterly Conferences were multi plied, until it was necessary to call the representatives .of these different Quarterly Conferences together for general consultation. In the meantime, Mr. Wesley had licensed men. of undoubted piety to preach, and, as there were not a sufficient number of ministers to serve all the Churches organized, he gave to each of these helpers, as they were called, a number of Churches to which he was to preach, exercise discipline, and attend to all other pastoral duties. In order that the preacher might be able to visit all the Churches committed to his pastoral oversight, it became necessary to visit and preach to many of them in the week. It was found necessary, in order to the proper dis^ tribution of the preachers, and further, that all the inter ests of all the societies might be properly provided for, to hold annual meetings. These \vere called by the simple, unpretentious name of " Annual Conferences,"
A SEPARATE ORGANIZATION.
Mr. Wesley, on account of his superior legislative ability and peculiar success in preaching, and the fact that the great revival sprung- up more directly under his than any other mans preaching, was regarded as the father and superintendent of the Church. He presided at their con ferences. He never dreamed of a separate organization. His object was to spread t( holiness over the land" and pro mote the piety of the Church of England, of which he was a member. God was in their work, providentially over ruling their every movement to the end of a separate or ganization that should be the repository of the true faith, and at the same time demonstrate the power of the Gospel to raise man to a higher plane of usefulness and happiness.

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13

Gods unmistakable seal of approbation, resting upon the self-sacrificing labors of the Wesleys and their co-laborers, fired the zeal of other churches and resulted in our dis tinctive.organism. The holy fires burned in their bones ; their lives were reduced to a perfect system. They lived and labored by method. This fact, known and read by all men, resulted in their being called in derision, " Method ists. " They accepted it as sent of God.
THE HAND OF GOD.
Who is so blind as not to see the hand of God in all these wonderful developments and unparaleled results ? These Providential developments were made manifest at a time when the religion of Christ was well-nigh dead in the established Church; when infidelity was openly defying. Christianity, while such gigantic intellects as Hobbs, Hume, Bolingbroke and Gibbon were appearing, or had just appeared, as the advocates of infidelity. Natural re ligion had become the substance of declamation from the pulpit. Across the channel, the strongholds of the Refor mation were yielding to Deistical theology. The F"rench philosophers were spreading moral contagion over Europe. Just at this time God, through human instrumentality, raised up the Methodist Church, planted and established it for the promotion of the best interests of His kingdom on earth. Not only was the organization of the Methodist Church the work of Providence, but also its system of gov ernment, its itinerancy, and every other distinctive fea ture, is specially and emphatically the result of Providen tialplanning and blessing. Methodism is, therefore, a part of the Church of Christ His in organism and develop ment.
We now propose to notice briefly its doctrines, sacra ments, polity, arid future destiny. In doctrine we hold, in common with all other Protestant Christians, that the

14

SSRMONS.

Bible contains everything necessary to mans faith and practice in religion ; that God created man for His own glory and in His own image ; that man sinned, felly lost his first estate, and exposed himself to eternal death ; that the eternal Logos, or Word, moved with divine compassion, clothed himself "with humanity, led a suffering life and died an ignominious death to redeem "that which was lost;" that he rose for our justification ; that repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ will bring us into that regenerated and justified state into which the Holy Spirit brings all true believers ; that the blood of Jesus will cleanse from all sin and make us meet for Heaven. We also believe in the general judgment, and that the right eous will inherit eternal life, and that the wicked will be eternally punished for their sin and rebellion against God. We also believe in the resurrection of the body from the grave, and that our mortal bodies shall put on immortality, and soul and body united will dwell forever in Heaven, and that the bodies or flesh of sinners will be resurrected to eternal death.
We reject those decrees that fatalists tell us were made before time began, for ** Gods praise and glory," which they inform us predestined some to eternal life and others to eternal death. We reject this horrible dogma, first, be cause Gods Word does not teach it nor even countenance it, and secondly, because it is dishonoring to God. We hold, as in Adam all died, so m Christ all were redeemed ; that through faith in the atoning blood the sinner may not only be delivered from his sins, but be eternally crowned in Heaven, not by or through an imaginary decree " be tween the Father and Son before time began. " "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world."

TWO SACRAMENTS.
We also hold that there are but two sacraments in the

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15

Church, viz. : Baptism and the Lords Supper, and that, as God Himself commanded Abraham to bring his children into the Church at eight days of age, and in view of the fact that God and His Church are the same in all ages, and further, as we have no account of the abrogation of that divine law, but, on the contrary, the example of our blessed Lord in taking the little children in His arms and blessing them, and also His declaration, " of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. " With these evidences of Heavens approval and in keeping with the noblest pulsations of our nature, we bring our little ones into the Church, dedicate them to God in holy baptism, and rejoice in the blessed truth that there is room in the Church of God on earth, and in His Kingdom above, for us and our children. Thank God for family religion. Thank God for a Church that recog nizes infant Church membership. We, therefore, hold to and practice infant baptism. Faith in God and not bap tism, is the prerequisite to partaking of the Lords Supper. A.11 who exercise a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the worlds redeemer and their own personal Saviour, have a right to a place at the Lords table. No Church or body of ecclesiastics have any right to prescribe any prerequisite or raise any objection to, or in any wise prevent any of Gods children from obeying the command, "Do this in remembrance of me. " If this is true, then it follows that those who proscribe any portion of Gods children, there by hindering or preventing them from approaching the table of the Lord, assume a fearful responsibility, and will be held to a strict account by the great Head of the Church.
NO FORM LAID DOWN.
While we hold that there is no form of government laid down in the Word of God for the Church, yet, as our Church is the child of Providence, in its government as

i6

SERMONS.

well as organism and mission, it follows that our form of Church government is in keeping with the Divine pattern; yea, the Divine pattern itself, God, gave us our form of government through a series of providences unequalled in the past history of^the world.
TWO ORDERS.
We hold that there are but two orders in the ministry, viz, : Deacon and Presbyter, or Bishop, the two latter being one and the same. We hold that every Presbyter, or Elder, is a true " Episcopos, " or Bishop; that those whom we elect, for the sake of convenience, to superintend the gen eral interests of the Church and to preside at our Annual and General Conferences, are not in reality superior in the ministry to their brethren. They are only par excellence with them. The duties assigned to a Presbyter, who is elevated to the office of a Bishop, requires the making of greater sacrifices, to travel more extensively, preach more sermons, and to be more abundant in labor than their brethren who stand side by side with them as Elders or Presbyters in the Church of Gocl. Our Bishops are of us, and are promoted by us, and are responsible to us for their conduct and labors. They can make no laws, have no voice, cast no vote in any of our Conferences, can be tried and expelled without the right of appeal the only case of the kind among Methodists. Our Bishops, however, with out exception, have been holy men, devoted to the interests of the Church and the cause of God. It is a cause of grati tude to God that no Methodist Bishop has ever disgraced his office, or brought reproach upon his own good name.
There is no passage of Scripture that requires the Church to sit in judgment upon the religious experience of an applicant for Church membership. Faith in God and the efficacy of the atonement made by the Son of God and a desire to flee the wrath to come, are the requirements to

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17

Church membership and admittance iuto eternal life. We receive all such into our Church. They have but to say to us, " I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Bible is the Book of God, and I desire to flee the wrath to come and am willing; to conform to the rules and regula tions of the Church. " To all such we throw our doors v-ride open, and say, welcome to all the benefits of the Church and House of God. We then try to aid them in every way possible, to e! work out their salvation with fear and trembling, " to trust in God, read his Word and meet religious obligation and urge their way on to greater heights of holiness and usefulness.
We would not institute invidious comparisons, but sim ply assert a fact, viz., that there are as few unconverted members in our Church according to the number of mem bership as can be found in any other Christian communion'
LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE.
Our members enjoy liberty of conscience, yet we have no trouble with false dogmas. There is great unity in the doctrinal views and practice of our members. No liberty of conscience is abridged, no ecclesiastical tyranny in our organism, all our requirements are those only made by God Himself. Our members have a right to a fair and impartial trial by their brethren; laymen are tried by lay men, ministers by ministers, official members are responsi ble for their official conduct to their brethren of the same official standing in the Church. No preacher can expell a member of his charge until a committee, or the entire Church of which the accused is a member, finds him guilty of a crime forbidden in the Word of God. Any member who has been tried and expelled has the right of appeal to a higher court, and, in case of dissatisfaction with the administration of the law, he can carry his appeal to the Stipreme Court of the Church. The reception, trial and

IS

SERMONS.

appeal laws of our Church are based precisely upon the same principles and are conducted in the same manner as are cases in the Civil Courts of the United States, It would be pleasing to us, and perhaps profitable to our hearts, to dwell longer upon the government of our Church and show the striking resemblance between it and the gov ernment that Washington, Jefferson and our noble revolu tionary sires bequeathed to us and our posterity, but time forbids.

OUR DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC.
We now proceed to speak of our grand, distinguishing characteristic, viz. : Our itinerant system. Providence, in shaping and giving Methodism its organism, gave us the itinerant system, which, since the days of the Apostles, has been peculiar to Methodism. Mr. Wesley, as we have seen, formed, under God, this system ere he was aware of it. It became an integral part and was indispensable to carrying on the Heaven-assigned work. At once it became the distinctive feature of Methodist economy.
Mr. Wesley, as we have seen, arranged to have all his "helpers," preachers, actively engaged in the work; they visited the several churches within their bounds at statca times. It was necessary for the official members of the different charges to meet together at least once a quarter, to consult in reference to the various interests of the Church ; then, in order that there might be no jar in the body or friction in the machinery, it was found necessary for all these helpers or preachers to meet once a year. This annual meeting was found to be an admirable time to examine into the "gifts and graces" of the preachers, and to arrange the plan for the labors for the ensuing year. The proceedings of these meetings were preserved, and soon formed the Book of Discipline. The meeting itself was called by the unpretentious name of " Annual Conference."

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19

In this way Providence gave the Methodists their admira ble system of itinerancy, which has been so successfully wielded by them for more than a century and a quarterMr. WesJey accepted it assent from God. He looked into the Sacred Scriptures and found that Samuel traveled a circuit, to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and returned to Ramah.
A GLORIOUS EXAMPLE.
The blessed Jesus was Himself a traveling preacherThe prophets traveled and preached a coming Christ. When the Saviour sent out the seventy he sent them two and two. When our risen Lord commissioned the twelve and their successors, he commanded them to travel and preach as they went; they were to go into all the world, and preach to every creature. They went forth on their extensive circuits. Paul and Barnabas were both traveling Bishops or Presiding Elders, with districts covering a whole continent.
Every candid reader of the New Testament must admit that whatever excellence other plans may have, this is the primitive and Apostolic plan. There doubtless were many located ministers in the primitive Church, and we, with thankful and grateful hearts, rejoice in the fact that our local preachers have been instrumental in accomplishing a vast amount of good. They are a tower of strength to our noble cause they are a noble band of noble ministers; may their numbers be increased an hundred fold.
Every one at all acquainted with Methodism is con strained to admit that our itinerancy is our Samson, with full-grown locks. The secret of our strength lies in our Itinerant system. \Ve admire it for the following reasons: ist. It is Scriptural and Apostolic, 2d. Because God, in his Providence, gave it to us. It is the boon of Methodism, the gift of Heaven to us ; and 3d, it comports with the

2O

SERMONS.

design of the Christian religion. Not like Judaism, a local system, Christianity is aggressive, and is destined to be universal. It is essentially missionary in its character and ^mture. The itinerant system is the best missionary sys. tem the world ever saw. 4th. It has an inestimable influence on the ministry itself. It is a grand, heroic sys tem of training, which the greatest military captains might applaud. How many raw, uneducated boys have by this system been developed into men of gigantic moral and intellectual proportions ministers, whose praise is in all the churches, and whose reputation is world wide, and lasting as time itself ? We may mention the names of Bishops Andrew, Bascom, Marvin, and the " old man eloquent," Dr. Lovick Pierce, and hundreds of others, both in Europe and America, whose sterling worth has been brought into active usefulness by this system, who other wise might have lived and died in obscurity. What a school I The studies are nature, man, and the Bible. This school far surpasses literary colleges and theological semi naries.
We like it, again, because it is a system of hardships that will drive the insincere and shallow-hearted from the field. This system offers no beds of down or shades of repose, no mansions of palatial grandeur, no coffers filled with gold and silver, no togaed royalty, or worldly renown. It bids its votaries leave home, kindred and earthly fortune and worldly prospects all behind, to bury all worldly ambi tion, and to look to those honors that God alone can give, and to seek those treasures that Heaven alone can bestow. If need be, to be "little and unknown, loved and prized by God alone." They are to find rest, but not until they have "crossed the river and rest under the shade of the trees."
Most itinerants can sing with our own poet:
" No foot of land do I possess,

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21

No cottage in thib wilderness; A poor, wayfaring- man,
I lodg-e awhile in tents below, And gladly wander to and fro,
Till I my Canaan gain."
This our system requires at our hands. For more than a century and a quarter these heroic men of God have been more abundant in labors than any other class of men on earth. One of our Bishops crossed the Alleghanies sixty times* penetrated the wilderness, traveled on horseback two hundred and seventy thousand miles over the worst roads, and often where there was no road at all, many times lying on the cold earth for a bed, his saddle-bags for a pil low and the heavens for his covering, exposed to the attacks of the wild beasts and still more savage attacks of the wilder Indians ; wading through mud, swimming rivers, he went forth en his grand mission until he had ordained over four thousand ministers^ and preached not less than sixteen thousand, four hundred sermons. Did not Elilahs chariot and the horsemen of Israel come for this faithful servant of Gocl ?
Mr. Wesley preached forty thousand sermons, traveled two hundred and twenty thousand miles, and gave all he had to charitable purposes, which amounted in the aggre gate to $150,000.00. Bishop McKendry often lay out alone at night, cooked his own supper, prayed to and sang praises to God, then wrapping himself in his cloak, using his sad dle for a pillow, with angels for his body guard, slept sweetly through the night. Remember the experience of poor Nowlen, who, after swimming in mid-winter, a tribu tary of the mighty Mississippi, froze to death; he met the monster on his knees and conquered the last foe. Those who found him, cold and stiff in death, said there was an indescribable, heavenly smile upon his face! It is a sys tem of sacrifice, yet, thank God, it is also one of triumph !

22

SERMONS.

We admire it for the additional reason that it distribbutes the talent of the Church over the entire field. No other system can claim equality with the Itinerant in this respect. Every part of our Itinerant field has equal claim upon best talent. Our best preachers are often found laboring on our poorest circuits and missions. Our system of a " wheel within a wheel," yea, of wheels within wheels, rolls and distributes our preachers from the center to the circumferenc of our Connection. How admirable this plan ! How admirably it works! We have many a Boanerges whose electric shocks prostrate whole audiences, and whose thun der, full of divinity, calls forth vast armies, from among
the dry bones of the valley, to battle for the cause of God and humanity. We also have logicians who wield most successfully the Gospel battle-axe against infidelity ; whose strokes drive the huge monster bleeding from the field of contest into his infernal kennel, and send horror into the ranks of the doomed. We also have men who preach things in exhortation; it is their province to woo, win and build up the Church. Others again who are peculiarly adopted to teaching. They are particularly useful among the young. We have Pauls. Apollos and Cephas, and our admirable system distributes these various talents to every point of our Methodist field.
ITINERANCY UBIQUITOUS.
We claim for the itinerancy that it affords an advantage in the fact that our preacher can serve a plurality of churches. It is often the case that our preacher is found in charge of from one dozen to twenty churches. In this way one thousand of our preachers will do the work of ten thousand upon any other system now known to the Chris tian world. This system enables Methodism to keep pace with the tide of emigration. Where can you go, or whither fly on this continent, to get beyond the reach of the Itiner-

SKR.MONS,

23

ant Methodist preachers voice ? It is said that near a half century ago a South Carolina lady heard, for the first time, a Methodist preacher. She was converted and joined the then despised sect. Her husband became an noyed on learning that his wife had become a Methodist. He sold out and moved to the wilds of Alabama, selected a place and pitched his tent with the view of a final settle ment. He had not been there long before he saw a man on horseback with saddlebags approaching his tent. He watched the approach with intense interest ; the horseman addressed him, "How are yous sir? I see you are about to become a settler here; lam glad to see you; I am a Methodist Itinerant Missionary, hunting up the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This was too much for the new comer. Nest morning he was walking toward the setting sun, determined not to halt until lie got beyond the reach of a Methodist Itinerant. He crossed the Mississippi, and again selected a site for a home. He had not been there a week before a man with, all the appearance of an Itiner ant Missionary visited his camp, and informed him that he, too, was an " Itinerant Missionary" looking after the "lost sheep of Israel." This was too much for the refugee from Methodism. He cried outa " Sir, I surrender. I left Caro lina and came to Alabama to get away from the Methodist preachers. I had not been in Alabama long before one of them found me there. I left and came here, and lo, here you are. Light, sir, and make yourself at home with us." It was not long before he was happily converted and united with the Methodist Church, and lived and died a useful member. There are other advantages belonging to our peculiar system, but we forbear.
THK "EFFECT OK IMAGINATION.
In reference to objections urged against our Church and its peculiar system, we have to say that they exist

24

SERMONS.

more in the imagination of our enemies than in the reality of our experience.
The clergy can never oppress the laity, for the reason that the support of the former comes through the hands of the latter. The two classes are dependent the one upon the other, the Church upon the ministry for the *e Word," and the ministry upon the Church for their "bread." The constitutional guarantee in the book of Discipline, together with the introduction of lay representation into all our deliberative, legislative and executive departments, guar antees every right to the laity.
THK RIGHTS OF THE CLERGY.
What shall we say of the self-sacrificing ministry ? What about their rights ? Are they not the servants of the Church, and do they not devote all their time, talents, substance and energies to the interests of the Church ? Have they not, then, a right to expect from the hands of the Church protection of reputation, co-operation in the work and enterprises of the Church, and last, but by no means least, does not the Church owe them and their dependent ones an ample support ? Do they always receive from the Church these Heaven-ordained rights ? Are there not many who speak lightly, and often injuriously, of the minister and his labors ? Is not the name of those who withhold from the support of the ministry " legion ?" There are many of our brethren of this Conference who have families, who do not receive during a whole year, in every thing that is paid, given and extorted, as much as two hun dred dollars a year. Out of this scant sum the table and wardrobe are to be supplied, books for the preacher and his children are to be bought, tuition bills, medical bills, etc., etc., to be met. Yet there are some who tell us that Methodist preachers are poor financiers. We hurl the im putation into the teeth of our calumniators wit?i scorn.

SERMONS.

25

Show us any body of men who equal our ministers in economic financiering. Where are they ? Echo responds, where are they ?
We desire, in the last place, to point to our past success, and claim it as an augury for the future. The Methodist movement has been a grand success from its origin to the present. In piety, its membership, from the beginning, has never been surpassed. Their religious lives, so system atically methodic, made a wonderful impression for good upon all the religious denominations of that day, and im pressed the world with the importance, truth and power of the Gospel. The effect was the improvement in piety of the religious sects of that day, and a general awakening of sinners and a glorious revival, that swept over Europe and America, and is still sweeping on in resistless force, widen ing, deepening and extending, and is destined to con tinue until, like a tidal wave, it shall have swept from Kast to West, and from pole to pole, washing sin and impurity from the earth.

AN ARRAY OF TALENT.
When we look at the array of talent that was gathered into the Methodist Church in the morning of its existence, we are constrained to cry out, "Behold, what great things the Lord hath done for us ! " John Wesley, the greatest of ecclesiastical legislators; Whitfield, the most extraordinary pulpit orator; Charles Wesley, the best of sacred poets ; FJetcher, the most profound of polemics ; Coke, the great leader of modern missionary enterprise ; Asbury, the most laborious of Bishops; Clark, the most learned, and Benson, the most practical of Commentators, and a host of others of less fame, yet abundant in useful labors; men, at the same time, successfully engaged in the great work on both sides of the Atlantic. Their united labors were abund antly blessed by the Great Head of the Church, and, thank

26

SERMONS.

God, are still being blessed. True, these worthy laborers have been called to their reward. " The workmen have fallen, but the work goes on. : Multiplied millions have gone from the Methodist Church on earth to the Church triumphant in glory. What Mr. Wesley said in reference to the death-bed testimony of our earlier members is still true: "Our people die well."
Our ministry compares favorably to-day with the clergy of any sister sect in learning, piety and ministerial ability. May I not assert for pulpit ability and success in soul-sav ing, that the Methodist ministry stand in the front ranks ?
Among the membership in the different branches of the Methodist family are found the most scientific among the scientists of the world ; legislators, senators, congress men and presidents, professional men, merchants, mechan ics and millionaires. Female purity, in all its loveliness and beauty, the aged and the yourig, the humble poor, thank God, we have in wonderfully preponderating numbers.
The actual membership in the different branches of Methodism in the United States alone now number over three -millions, thus more than doubling the members of the next strongest denomination in the land. It is estimated that at least one-third oi the population of the United States are under the influence of the Methodist Church and min istry.
Thus you see that Methodism controls the religious sentiment of one-third of the population of this great republic of fifty millions. Methodism is also strong in British America, aiul is the strongest denomination, out side of the Established Church, in Great Britain, and is found in strong demonstrative power in all parts of Pro testant Europe, is heard in China, and in the halls of Montezurna. Our missionaries are now upon many of the far-off isles of the sea. If Methodists are only true to their

SERMONS.

27

church-work, the machinery as it has been handed down to them, as ^t is> not seek to make changes, or to be more like others ; not seek to mend, but to keep our rules ; it is good enough as it is. Let us banish every desire for new rules and new legislation ; hold to the old Methodist ship -it will land us in the heavenly harbor. Let us pursue this course, and the day is not far distant when our most cherished plans for the evangelization of the world will be realized.
Our zeal should, even now, look forward to the time when Methodist Itinerants shall travel the wilds of Africa and the deserts of Arabia, and shout for joy along the Andes and Himalaya. This may be called enthusiasm. Be it so. It is not beyond the power or the promise of the gospel. It is but the enthusiasm that inflamed the Proph ets and bled on the cross for our redemption. Good men are now looking at the aspects of the moral and political heavens with eagerness and fresh hopes. In all lands effectual doors are being opened. A special Providence seems to be controlling the course of civil events. The political arena of Popery is broken, and the crescent of the false Prophet but gleams upon the horizon. The morning of the latter day glory is dawning ; the final battle is at hand. Our denomination has an important part to perform. Let us be faithful, and the next generation will record with delight the proceedings of the General Conference of the Methodist Church in Arabia, in India and China, and the Annual Conferences of each of the isles of the seas. Then the world-redeemed and disenthralled from sin will appear in more then Edenic beauty. Angels and the sanctified of Heaven shall proclaim a world saved by the blood of the Lamb! Earths millions will respond, * Arnen ; the Lord, Christ, reigns without a rival," May the good Lord speed that happy hour,

ELIJAH'S
Challenge and Triumph.
" And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How," long- halt yz bet-ween trvo opinions ? If JLord be Goci,foll^-,v ffiin ; but if Baal, then folloiv him. And the people ansivered him not a *ivord"--\. KINGS xviii. 21.
The experience of men, through the ages past, clearly demonstrates the truth of the declaration of holy writ, " Wnen the wicked rule the laud mourns."
There Is, perhaps, no clearer case on record than" that of the reign of the wicked Ahab and his more wicked queen, Jezebel.
Ahabs life was full of foolish blunders, and crowded with acts of violence and bloodshed.
The first and most fatal blunder of his life was the pass ing by all the fair daughters of his native land, and going to a distant and idolatrous nation
TO FINE) A WIFE,
a queen to share the honors of his throne, and the joys and sorrows of his life.
I suppose he acted upon the supposition that " distance lends enchantment to the view."
Dazed by the glitter of the Zidonian court, captivated by the beautiful face, faultless form, and bewitching smile of the young queen, Jezebel, he sought the heart and hand of the fair idolatress. He was successful in securing the hand but failed to win the heart. Many in the present day commit the same fatal mistake. Men of brain and culture, losing sight of the importance of congeniality in tempera-

SERMONS.

3Gj

rnent, purity, and piety of heart, and every other ingredient essential to the make-up of a worthy and desirable partner for life, are infatuated by a bewitching smile, charming manners, fluent conversational powers, a thorough acquaint ance with all the late light literature of the day, or the fact that she may ba an heiress at the death of some distant relative in the Old World ; but generally said relative, alas, holds on to these mortal shores so long that the estate is never realized by the expectant heiress ! Occasionally you will find one who is controlled by that old and long since exploded theory that blood never deteriorates. Thousands, like Ahab, secure hands who never secure hearts.
THE FAIR SEX,
however, is much more liable to suffer at this point than the so-called lords of creation.
The dandy, or dude, with hair parted in the middle of his little and poorly filled head, wearing high-heel boots, tight-fitting1 pants, ** exquisite" necktie, cultivated mustache, lovely" kids, in which he twirls a useless rattan, and his whole attire filled with the spices and rich odors of a thous and isles, is too often the successful competitor in the matrimonial race. Many worthy, but, alas ! weak-minded young ladies are thus duped. The trouble with these socalled young men is, they have neither head nor heart. The hand is all that the poor girl can boast of having won. It would have been far better for her to have gone to a clothing merchant and paid him a large price for his " dum my," clothed in richest attire, set it up in her parlor, and ever after address it as " My dear husband, my precious love," etc., than to have wed such a mortal biped. She would have gained largely in the matter of support, the dif ference being in favor of the " dummy." I ask pardon for this seeming digression. The lesson will, I hope, prove profitable, at least to some.

30

SERMONS.

Shortly after their marriage, Jezebel began to assert her power over her weak-minded husband, and succeeded in not only causing him to serve her god, but also to perse cute and despise the religion of his fathers, and even to put to death the Prophets of Israel. There is no matter of equal importance in matrimonial alliance to thorough agree ment in religious opinion. Disagreement here will likely result disastrously to future happiness. She succeeded in causing him to be among his sex what she was among her own the most wicked and heartless in all the earth. The sins of the throne brought down the wrath of God upon Israel and all the interests of the people.
When the Lord of all worlds, and of all nations of our world, determines that forbearance is no longer a virtue, he can punish the guilty in a thousand different ways. The issues of life and death are in his hand, The laws which control the material, mental and moral universe are manipulated by him as perfectly as the engine is controlled by the engineer,
I can not look with indifference upon our own country. I am solicitous for the welfare and future of our native land. I feel, with the poet, that
"We are living, we are dwelling; la a grand and awful time,
In an a:/e on ages telling. To "be living is sublime. :
The possibilities and dangers of this grand and glorious republic ought to command the best activities in the line of philanthropy and Christianity of every citizen of these United States. The God of our forefathers was with them, and has btien with us, their children, in calm and storm. Our progress, as a.nation, has been onward, upward, until we stand to-day in the front rank in the family of the na tions of the earth. We are as yet in our youthful bloom. The dews of the morning are upon the locks of our young

SERMONS.

31

Samson, While all this is true, the dangers that environ us, danger from promiscuous immigration, the whiskey ring, the constant violation of the Sabbath and growing disregard of the holy day, hydra-headed infidelity, nihilism, the growing wealth, fabulous fortunes made in a day, ami wonderful capacities of this rapidly developing country, are sufficient to awaken the kneenest Interest ami most earnest solicitude of every true patriot.
li The mills of the gods grind fine."
The God of Israel sent Elijah to Ahab with the procla mation, " There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." As soon as Elijah had met obli gation to duty with Ahab, another command was to be obeyed, viz, : to fly eastward. Here, beside a brook which furnished him with water, he received his bread from the beak of the swift-winged raven, which sent daily to Heavens commissary, faith fully returning with the was food necessary to the sustenance of Gods trusting servant. Did man ever hove so wonderful a servant ? In Ahabs country the heavens became as brass. The windows are shut. No dew, no rain; vegetation withers, fades, dies. Fields are parched. Vineyards bear no fruit. The beasts of the field and forest are dying. The wild bird and domestic fowl with open beak and hanging wing are succumbing to hun ger and dying with heat. The ghost of want stands gazing Into every habitation. The wail of suffering, and cry for bread is borne on every passing breeze. The haughty king and wicked queen, instead of humbling themselves before God, are swearing vengeance against Gods prophet, offering a large reward for his head, sending wicked and heartless men into all surrounding countries, who, like kneen-scented blood-hounds, follow every trail, penetrate every jungle, enter every dark cavern, skulk around the corners of crowded streets of populous cities, ever search ing, but in vain, for the man of God.

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SERMONS.

This wonderful preservation of Elijah demonstrates that, under Gods protecting Hand, " man is immortal till
his work is done." When the brook dried, the raven ceased to bring Eli
jahs daily food. The guiding Spirit sent him to the home of a poor widow. This strange providence proved a mutual blessing to both. The prophet arrived just as the barrel of meal and cruse of oil were being exhausted. -The," man of God miraculously kept up the supply as long as, it was needed. She, in turn, prepared his meals, and, when death claimed the widows only son, Elijah called his soul back from the spirit world, and restored him to his happy mother.
At the proper time, when the people of Israel, from suffering, had reached the point where they could receive the truth, and be cured of idolatry, Godj who, in the lan guage of the poet, *moves in a mysterious way, His won ders to perform," said to His faithful servant Elijah, " Go to Ahab and say unto him what I bid thee." I have often thought that the history of the past affords no parallel in the exhibition of moral heroism with that demonstrated by Elijah in obeying this command. L,ife is sweet to all. He knew that Ahab had exhausted all his resources in trying to take his life. How natural it would have been for him to have said, * Nay, my Lord, send by another. Fie seeketh my life ; if I go into his presence he will surely slay me." Not one word on this line.
ELIJAHS JOURNEY.
Methinks I see the aged servant of God as the Divine command falls upon his ear, with youthful elasticity spring to his feet, examine the fastenings of his sandalss bind his flowing robe closer to his person with his prophetic girdle, snatch up his staff, bid the widow and her son a hasty farewell, turn his face, as the needle to the pole,

SERMONS.

33

toward Israels capital ; with form erect he starts in the name of his God to obey the Divine command. Onward he goes I now ascending the loftest mountains ; now de scending its steep declivities. Now passing; over the dry, rocky bed where once a majestic river ran. What evi dences of the power of Divine wrath meets him at every step of this long and perilous journey; parched fields, -withered vegetation, panting, dying animals, and the wail of suffering coming out of every human habitation i
OBADIAHS HESITATION AND ELIJAHS OATH.
In the language of men, " it so happened " one day that Ahab said to his steward, Obadiah, <f Let us go out to all low places where there were once brooks, springs, and fountains of water, and let us carefully search if we may happily find grass to keep our horses and mules alive; you go one way, I another, and we will meet at certain points." It also happened on the same day, that Elijah, moving on in the line of duty, met Obadiah, the kings steward, who, on recognizing the man of God, was overwhelmed with astonishment, and rilled with alarm for his safety. Elijah inquired where Ahab might be found. Being informed that he was nearby, searching for water and grass, just over a neighboring hill, he declared his purpose to see him. Obadiah, with honesty of heart and purpose, besought his venerable friend not to think of such a course ; reminding him of his former service of the God of Israel. Then, with the hope of inducing the prophet to return to his hiding place, he said, " As the lord liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my Lord hath not sent to seek thee, and when they said, he is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation that they found thee not; and now thou sayest, Go tell thy Lord, behold, Elijah is here ; and it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee, I know not where. Then,

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when I have delivered your message to Ahab, and he find you not, he will slay rne. Pardon me, sir; please. I have feared the Lord from my youth up. Why, sir, -when Jeze bel was putting the prophets to death, I took fifty and hid them in a cave, and fifty more and hid them in another cave, and the -whole hundred received from my hand both bread and water. Spare me, oh, spare me this hazardous duty." After Obadiah closed this eloquent appeal, Elijah, raising his eyes heavenward, said, " As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to-day."
This is enough. Obadiah believed the word of Gods aged servant. He now has both his word and his oath. He puts spurs to his steed and flies over the space between where he leaves Elijah and finds bis regal master. As he gets in speaking distance, I hear his voice proclaim, " Mas ter, old man Elijah, the old prophet of Israel, is over here on the next hill." "What, old Elijah over there ? Oh, no, Obadiah, you are mistaken; it is clearly a case of mistaken identity. Elijah is no fool; he knows that I have, for the last three years, been seeking an opportunity to cut off his head. Oh, no, it cant be Elijah!"
" Nay, my lord, I am not mistaken. He looks the same now as when I was a child. He wears the same long, old striped gown ; has the same snowy locks and long, flowing beard ; and I could swear to the same old leathern belt around his waist, and his old Jacob staff, and his voice and figure. Why, you know he is no common man, he is so tall, so large. O, sir, no mistake; it is Elijah; and he said, I will show myself to Ahab to-day. Now, ride with me to see him, and know for yourself."
" Well, if you know it to be Elijah, why did you not cut off his.head, and bring it to me, and secure the reward offered?"

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35

"Why, sir, 1 could not. There seemed to be an omnip otent force about him, something that filled me with awe and fear. The very words of his lips went to my heart. I could not have harmed him if I would ; and I dont believe that you will hurt a hair of his head."
Ahab and Obadiah rode to where the prophet stood. When they came within speaking distance, the wicked king exhibited the depravity of his heart in his first articu lation :
"Art thou he that troubleth Israel ? " Equivalent to saying, " "You are the cause of all the judgments of Heaven sent on Isreal," How contemptible in that guilty wretch ! Unfortunately there are those who act in a like manner in our day. When guilty of sin or folly, from childhood to extreme age, they lay all blame at anothers feet. Consciousness of innocence inspires a holy booldness in Elijah, who, looking the haughty tyrant in the face, replies, * I have not troubled Israel," then, in thun der tones, "but thou and thy fathers house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalam.

ELIJAH CHALLENGES AHAB.
"I propose now to settle this question, that it be settled forever. Gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grove, four hundred, which eat at Jezebels table."
The proposition was so fair that even Ahab could not refuse its acceptance. Accordingly the prophets of Baal, and of the grove, and all Israel were, by royal edict, called to meet on a given day upon Mount Carmel.
The appointed day arrives. The sun rises in a cloud less sky. Let us take our stand upon the loftiest point of the beautiful plateau which crowns the mount. I see liv-

36

SERMONS.

ing masses of moving humanity pressing through the moun tain pass there, and others there, and there ; and look ! the whole valley in every direction is filled, and all are moving in this direction. Yonder I see the royal chariot, and in the front and rear the kings body-guard. See, avast number of men, finely dressed, begirt around the waist with golden, and golden lace forms the regalia about their neck. and breast. Who are they ? See, they march like men trained in military tactics. They are marching four deep ', the column counts two. hundred and twelve, with two ven erable chieftains in front. This added together makes eight hundred and fifty. Oh, these are the prophets of Baal and the grove. The vast multitude filing into the valley below is simply "all Israel." We seem to stand upon the objective point toward which the royal chariot, the army of prophets, and the countless hosts of Israel are moving. See, they come ! they come! ! The mountain slopes are crowded, and far out in the vale below they spread. The royal procession has halted near us.
" HOW LONG HALT YE BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS ? "
The glittering array of the prophets of Baal, with triumphant tread, march around and form in hollow square. They, too, halt. For a moment silence reigns. All eyes seem to be in search of some object. Who, or what is it ? Look ; toward the western pass I see a stalwart form. Far above the ordinary height. Far above the average size of man. He has a long, flowing beard and snowy locks. I judge him to be a man of three score and ten years. Yet his step is firm, form erect, with staff in hand, a long, flow ing striped toga begirt with a leathern girdle. See, he too ascends the mountain ; he comes toward where we stand. I hear in suppressed voice from a thousand lips, Tis Elijah, tis Elijah! Poor, lone old man; wonder where he slept last night ? Where did he, if at all, get his

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37

breakfast, or is he in the midst of another forty days fast ? He is near us! How humble, yet how confident his expression of countenance. Onward he moves to our front; he halts, looks around upon the ocean of up-turned faces. Silence reigns supreme. Old Elijahs erect frame seems to take on additional stature. He breaks the silence. Oh, what a voice! Every ear in that vast throng distinctly and understandingly hears each articula tion. Hear him. " How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him ; but: if Baal, then follow him." He pauses a moment:, but no reply. I suppose with some, there was a little of the fear of God left, but they feared the wrath of the idolatrous court more. I suppose with all there was lack of moral courage to brook popular opposition. What an effect this has had upon religious sentiment and life through ages past ; and, alas, still has.
THE CHALLENGE DISTINCTLY STATED.
Then said Klijah, " I, even I, only remain a prophet of the Lord. All my brethren have been slain; but Baals prophets are many. Let them therefore give us two bullocks, and "let them choose one for themselves, and erect an altar to their .god, put on wood, only put no fire under, and then call on their god; and I will prepare my bullock and erect my altar to the God of Israel, and will call on the name of the Lord ; and the God that answers by fire, let him be God."
The people now respond, "It is well spoken." But hold a moment, Elijah, I am your friend. Let me sug gest, had you not better choose some other element in nature ? You know they worship the god of fire, who, they suppose, dwells in the sun, the source of all heat and fire. Call down water instead, Elijah responds : " The God whom I serve controls all the forces of nature rolfs

38

SERMONS.

the sun, the bright orb of day, in the palm of His hand. Nay, let the answer be by fire." Now addressing his opponents:
" Choose your bullock, and proceed. I give you from nine this morning until three this afternoon. If your god fails to answer, I will then call upon the name of the Lord."
The prophets of Baal go to work, preparations are soon complete, altar finished, -wood in its place, bullock dressed and laid on. At nine they begin their ceremonies, turn their faces toward the sun, call loudly, "Baal, O, Baal, come down with fire." They move in circles, calling loudly, gesticulating wildly. The sun, heedless of their vociferous appeals, rides on in his fiery chariot. It is an interesting and an amusing scene. It is near high twelve; Elijahs work is progressing finely. For a moment he gives attention to the wild ceremonies of his opponents. His eye twinkles; he says, "Cry aloud, for he is a god! either he is talking, or is out in the chase, pursuing the bounding buck, or fleeing hare ; or perhaps he is asleep, and needs to be waked from his slumbers. That is it call louder." They cut themselves with lancets, leap on their sacrifice, mingle their blood with the blood of the slain bullock. They are frantic; they act like madmen; their cries are almost sufficient to make the multitude deaf for life. " Baal, Baal ; O, Baal; help, help ! quickly ; our time is well-nigh gone ; O, help, help!" Their pow ers are exhausted. The sun on the dial plate marks the hour of three p. M.
ELIJAHS TRIUMPH BEGINS.
Elijah steps to the front and says: "You have had six hours wherein to call down fire from Baal; step aside." Now, addressing the people, he says : * Come near unto me." And the people drew nigh. " You see I have

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39

erected my altar out of twelve stones that were once in an altar dedicated to the God of Israel. These stones repre sent the twelve tribes of Israel. Upon the altar I have laid the wood, and upon the wood my bullock. I wish to put beyond all possibility the supposition of deception or trick. See, I have digged a trench round about; fill these four barrels with water and pour them on. Do it a second time. It is done. Do it a third. You see now,, the altar, sacrifice, and all are covered with water. No chance for
fire there/
ELIJAHS FAITH REWARDED.
Elijah, my esteemed friend, it looks as though you have cut off your last chance of success. There is no fire on earth, nor, I suppose, in the sun itself, that can con sume that sacrifice swimming in -water. But he heeds me not. Now he moves nearer to his altar. Folding his hands across his breast he turns his calm face heaven ward ; his lips move; he prays. All hear his prayer: " Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word." Will God hear ? Will He answer the prayer of this venerable man ? He prays on, '< Hear me, O, Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again." All eyes are turned heavenward. The sun is in his course westward. In mid-heaven I see what appears to be a bright, shining orb. Has a new sun made its appearance to-day, to take its place in the family of worlds in our solar system ? Nay, I see it is decenclirig; it scin tillates, burns, shoots forth fiery shafts in every direction. It comes nearer. Has a world flown its orbit, caught on fire, and is being consumed ? Will we not all be destroyed ? I see, though, as it descends it focalizes; one sharp, burn-

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ing tongue points toward us. With lightning speed it approaches. There, the point of the fiery tongue touches Elijahs altar. It fires ; it burns ; a cloud of smoke ascends, a thick vapor comes forth filling the heavens and hiding the sun. Strange phenomenon ; the water is gone; the sacrifice consumed. The wood vanishes into smoke, the rocks burn, the very earth is on fire, but goes out. The work is done, Gods power seen, and Elijah is tri umphant. The laws of nature assume their normal force, and nature smiles again in beauty. The people now, with a voice of thunder, shout, "The Lord He is God, the Lord He is God ! "
THE GODLY SWORD.
Again we hear the voice of Gods victorious prophet, "Take the prophets of Baal, bring them down to the brook Kashon." See in the right hand of Elijah the gleaming sword. He slays a prophet of Baal, then another, and another. The fatal work continues until the last one loses bis head !
Now Elijah, with the tread of a giant, ascends the mountain, Ahab is looking on with fearful interest. People are beginning to melt away. One by one they disappear. Elijah reaches his chosen spot. See, he bows himself to the earth, his face in his hands, the back of his hands in the dust. He prays, " Now, Lord, let the rains descend upon the earth, that the evidence that Thou dost reign may be complete.* He raises his head and inquires of his servant, whom he has placed upon the loftiest point and bade to stand with his face toward the sea, "What do you see?" He shakes his head and replies, "Nothing." Again and again he bows his head and prays and inquires. The seventh time the servant replies, "Yes, master, I see a cloud about tne size of your hand." " That will clo, come down." He examines his sandals,

SKRMONS.

*

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and draws his girdle closer around him, hastens to the king, bids him drive his chariot with all speed. The heartless monarch lets the old man go on foot. God strengthens him. See ! ha runs before the chariot, and literally outruns the royal steeds. He keeps in advance, and runs 011 to the gates of Jezreel. Here he halts, after
THE MOST REMARKABLE 13AYs WORK. ON RECORD.
We know not how far he walked this morning. He climbed Mount Carmel to its apex and descended twice, built his altar, piled his wood, slew his bullock, called down fire from Heaven, slew eight hundred and fifty false prophets, prayed seven additional prayers, brought from Heaven a deluge of rain, outran the horses and chariot of Ahab in a fifteen mile race, and, after all this, was denied an hours rest, was compelled to flee for his life, travel all night, and for hours after. Surely, if living in the line of duty would bring immunity from suffering and want, this remarkable man, and unparalleled days work, would have brought it.
The remaining portion of his life was divided between active duties, fleeing from enemies, and exposure to wind, heat and cold ; yet his life was full of evidence of Gods undying love and never-ceasing care.
Time rolls on, Elijah works on. suffers on, until his task is done, traveling liJs circuit of four appointmentSj going- on foot. At the proper time the order is issued in Heaven: "Take the best chariot, the fleetest horses, and the best charioteer, go down to earth, to the land of Israel, and bring home my faithful servant, Elijah. Let him have one long, sweet ride. Drive carefully as you pass wheeling orbs and flying spheres. Bring him safely, soul and body." I hear Enoch strike a new note of praise to God. "He is my full brother."
Klijah has premonition of his coming honor, but cant

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get away from his corning- successor in the prophetic office. He goes here and there, but Elisha follows. At length he hears the tread of the celestial steeds, and the roll of heavenly chariot wheels. I.o the chariot, horses and driver are all ablaxe with celestial fire. They come coward where the aged prophet stands. The driver pulls reins, and halts by Elijahs side. I see he extends his hands, takes hold on Elijahs, and says, "Step in. I have come for you. The Master says you have walked long enough ; well ride home." Elijah is lifted and seated in the fiery chariot. The driver starts on his return trip. As they ascend Elijah remembers that he will have no use for his mantle in Heaven, as one of nobler texture awaits him there. He pulls it from his shoulder and throws it from the chariot. By the force of moral gravitation it falls on the shoulders of Elisha, where it will rest honor ably and usefully. Heaven, with all its glories, does not cause its inhabitants to forget loved ones behind.
ELIJAHS HONORS.
What a grand and glorious exit from time, from the pangs of hunger, from all foes; exempt from pains of death, more highly honored than any of Gods prophets ! The honors conferred upon victorious warriors pale and dwindle into insignificance when compared to his carried bodily into Heaven. What a shout of welcome must have greeted him as the chariot rolled up the broad streets of the Celestial City ! Centuries after, he was permitted to return to earth, and to stand on a more honored mount than even that of Mount Carmel. He stands on the mount of transfiguration, the representative of the prophetic dispensation, and talks with Moses, the worlds great law-giver, and with Gods eternal Son, the worlds Redeemer, and then rides back in the chariot " cloud of most excellent glory,"

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Should I be so fortunate as to get to Heaven, I pro pose to ask Elijah which he regards the more glorious occasion, his ride to Heaven in a "chariot of fire," or the one in the "cloud of glory."
Elijahs God still reigns supreme. He still answers by fire. That Holy Spirit, -which was symbolized by the fire which came down in answer to Elijahs prayer, comes down in answer to the prayers of Gods children now, consumes their sacrifices, purifies their hearts, and makes them meet for Heaven.
We, like Elijah, may often be opposed by foes, may suffer in body and soul, but still Gods protecting "aegis" is over us, and His wise, but often inscrutable, Providence will all prove to have been for our good and His glory. " Deliverance will come." The hour is corning when, our work done, the God of Elijah will send his charioteers. They will have to drive us through the dark vale, and through the iron gates of death, but the journey will be safe. Our loved ones will escort us through upon their golden pinions. They will bear us above sun, moon and stars, pass through the gates into the city, and we will ever be at home, present with our Lord, and angels, and
saints to all eternity !

The General Judgment.
"For -we shall all stand before the jztdgment-seat of Christ" ROMANS xiv., 10.
The awfully solemn truth announced in my text is one in which all mankind of all ages, conditions and positions in life are equally interested. Neither age nor sex, affiuence nor poverty, knowledge nor ignorance can exhonerate any from compliance with the inexorable decree : " We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ! " The king from his throne, the beggar from his hovel, the bride and groom from the hymeneal altar, teachers and pupils, sage senators and eloquent orators, parents and children all of every age and clime, from Adam and Kve to the latest of their posterity, "shall stand before the judgmentseat of Christ! "
It has been truthfully said that " Reason and revelation are twin sisters." What reason says should be, revelation proclaims shall be. Let us, then, carefully heed the voice of reason.
Reason says a general judgment is necessary to the proper understanding of Gods dealings with the children of men. His providences are often dark and inscrutable. Frequently the ungodly seem to prosper in all their un dertakings ; j udging from their oft-repeated successes, they possess the Philosophers Stone, all they touch is transmuted into gold ! Excelsior is written upon all their enterprises. They flourish like the green bay tree. They often oppress the poor and needy. They are alike un moved by the appeal of the hungry, the wail of the widow and the cry of the orphan. They riot in luxury and give

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loose rein to their depraved passions. God is not in their thoughts. In fact, they say in their hearts, "There is no God !"
And, again, we often find the most pious and conse crated deep clown in povertys vale, laboring day and night in order to keep the ghost of want from the door. Blight and mildew fall upon their fields. Their business plans and calculations are swept as with a besom. They and their families suffer in body and mind as others do; yea, often become helpless invalids for life. Many of them die while upon the threshold of usefulness, while others whose very being proves a curse to everything that is "lovely and pure, live to old age!
It is impossible for finite beings to comprehend the goodness and love of God in His providential dealings with His loving, trusting children, as He metes out to them, seemingly, such a preponderating1 amount of evil. Hence, the necessity of a general Judgment Day, in which the Book of Providence shall be opened and read, and ap proved by angels, men and devils !
HUMAN LAWS INATJKQU ATE.
Reason proclaims the inadequacy of human laws to mete out justice. It demands that the Great Law-Giver and Executive of the Universe should, in the presence of all intelligences under lav/, expose and convict the wrong. So corrupt and imperfect is man that often, in courts of so-called justice, the innocent are punished, while the guilty go free ! Many violations of law occur where no human witness has knowledge of or can testify to the guilt of the perpetrator. The assassin thrusts the dagger to the heart or shoots the ball through the brain of his victim, and, so far as the courts of earth are concerned, the murderer goes unpunished. But He who fills im mensity, whose Eye, at the same moment, sweeps every

46

SKRMONB.

part of the universe, was present an eye-witness to the crime! The justice and stability of His government demand the assembling together of all the subjects of law and the passing In panoramic review of all violations of law and the full administration of justice in every case, in the presence of an approving universe.
JEHOVAH MAKES NO ERRORS.
Again, God makes no mistakes. All His works are done in wisdom. He sees the end from the beginning. Every gift and endowment bestowed upon man is designed to make him better, to qualify him for usefulness on earth and then a home in Heaven.
There is an inward monitor a still, small voice ever whispering in the inner ear of all mankind, ** Thou art born to die, and after this the judgment." This is of Divine implantation it is the voice of God, designed to keep the awfully solemn truth that "we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ !" ever prominently before our eyes.
MAN A DUAL BEING.
Man is a dual being, possessing a physical and a spiritual nature. The soul tabernacles for a time in the body. The soul is the motive power, the body but the vehicle through which it acts. Both are the subjects alike of the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this life we serve God or Satan with both in unison. The feet bear the body and soul to the house of God, and the knees bow, while the tongue and lips pour forth the earnest desire of the soul to God in fervent prayer.
We are to be judged in the great day according to the deeds done in the body. This life is but the vestibule to the great temple of being. It is the trial state. There is " No work or device in the grave." Our destiny for weal or woe will issue upon the course we pursue in this life.

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A little hence and all who now in bodies live will have passed to "that bourne from whence no traveler returns." Our bodies will return to the dust from whence they came and our spirits to the God who gave them. The soul of , the righteous will enter at once upon a state of ineffable happiness; the body which the soul inhabited and which, in unison with the now beatified spirit, labored and suf fered in the service of God, sleeps in the grave, rapidly decomposing and returning to its mother dust. The soul, in the Paradise of God, is incomplete and must so remain until the body, under the power of the Gospel, is resur rected and the two are reunited. Hence, there is a posi tive necessity for the resurrection of the dead. And, as the Holy Scriptures declare that all are to be judged according to the deeds done in the body, it is clear that the resurrection of the dead and the general judgment will occur at one and the same time.
REASON AND REVELATION AGREE.
What reason says should be, revelation says shall be. More than fifteen hundred years before the advent of our Lord, Job said, " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : And though after my skin 'worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : "
David says, in the first Psalm, "The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous."
Daniel says, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
Again, Daniel, the Prophet, gives a graphic description of the Judge and of the last and greatest of all days. He says, " I beheld, till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow,

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and the hair of His head like the pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame and His wheels as burning fireA fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him : thousand thousands ministered unto Him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the Judgment was set, and books were opened."
THE SAVIOURS WORDS.
Our blessed Saviour says, " When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory : And before Him shall be gathered all nations : And He shall sep arate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats,"
As the bright cloud upon which the Lord Jesus rode to Heaven after His glorious resurrection, was ascending, His disconsolate followers were cheered by these consoling words, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven."
St. Paul says, "For we shall all appear before the judg ment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
St. John well-nigh winds up the sacred canon with that wonderful, awe-inspiring description of the Judgment Day, recorded in the twentieth chapter of his Book of Revela tion: "I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from Whose face earth and Heaven fled away and there was found no place for them.
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened: And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life: And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the

SKRMOXS,

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books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
The voice of both reason and revelation unite in pro claiming, "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ."
Time has been defined as "A fragment of Eternity, broken off at both ends." At what particular period time shall cease to be is known only to the Divine Mind. God assures us, in His Word, that the end of time and the gen eral judgment shall occur at the same period. Our Saviour sayeth, " Of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in Heaven." Again, he says, "Therefore, be ye also ready : for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh."

MANS IGNORANCE FOR THE BEST.
He who holds the destinies of the universe in His Hand has, for a wise purpose, kept the time fixed in His own Mind from both angels and men. Why He has kept this secret from angels is known to Himself. Why He should have kept it from mankind seems obvious to me. If the generations who lived far back in the ages past could have known that the wheels of time would roll on until the year of grace, nineteen hundred, the truth of the gen eral judgment would have had little, if any, effect upon them. If the people who now live were assured that the end of time would take place at the hour of midnight on the last day of the nineteenth century, what effect would it produce ? Would it not put an end at once to all the pursuits of life so necessary to the well-being of our race all agricultural, mechanical, mercantile and educational pursuits? Chaos, confusion all manner of disorder would prevail! The scenes that followed the teachings of

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Miller in New England in 1844 would become general. Let the curious whose over-weening anxiety causes
them to try to find this secret unknown to the angels in Heaven, cease their fruitless inquiries as to the time, and take heed to the Saviours command, "Be ye also ready to go out and meet the Bridegroom when He comes,"
THE MEETING POINT.
Where will the Judge and the Adamic race meet ? St. Paul furnishes the answer to this question: " For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the corning of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
It is therefore clear that this, the greatest of all events, will take place at some point in the air, perhaps in space mid-way between Heaven and earth at some point upon which the wreck of worlds will, though in full view, have no effect I
THE AWFUL PROGRAMME.
The Bible alone furnishes us with the programme to be pursued. We are taught that when the time fixed in the Divine Mind shall arrive, an archangel will be com missioned to stop the wheels of time. He, with greater velocity than the lightnings flash, will descend and, placing one foot upon the solid ground and the other upon the oceans wave, shall swear by Him that liveth forever that time shall be no more! In a moment the earth is arrested in its orbit! For the first time since the Eternal Logos threw it in blazing beauty from His creative Hand

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and bade it obey His fiat to make its annual and diurna evolutions, it becomes still!
I turn my eyes heavenward. Lo, the sun, like a blush ing maiden, draws a veil over his face ! Some mysterious power has refracted and swept the descending solar rays from the face of all the worlds in his vast system !
Lo, the moon has lost her silvery sheen. She is trans muted into a globe of blood ! Behold, the myriad worlds, bright and shining through the ages past, are now rayless, trembling as though waiting to obey the final fiat for the universal rush to the v/reck of matter and crush of spheres ! All space, as well as all worlds, seems to be seized with a mortal woe !
A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW.
Let us, for a moment, step back and look upon the world of man just prior to the descent of the angel, whose visit produced such wonderful changes in the earth, sky and material heavens!
An hour before, everything was moving on as through the ages past. The honest laboring classes were engaged in their daily avocations. The plowman was driving his ploughshare, the mechanic and smith were at their daily labors, the merchant behind his counter, the accountant at his books, the lawyer preparing his brief or consulting Blackstone, the physician diagnosing and prescribing for his patient, the miser counting and recounting his gold, and the giddy and gay assembled in the halls of mirth, dancing away the last hour of time. Gamblers, within secluded rooms, are playing cards and betting on their last games. The debauchee is studying, planning for the destruction of innocence and virtue. The lewd are pan dering to their fallen passions and vainly trying to gratify their insatiable lusts.
The infidel is hunting up objections to Moses and the

52
Prophets, Christ and the Apostles! The unbelieving are asking for the signs of the coining of the Son of Man. The ministers of Christ are studying the HolyScriptures, preparing their sermons of warning and invitation. The pious are weeping over the sins of the people and earn estly praying for the salvation of souls.
The oath of the descending angel and the death of time arrest instantly all crime, all labor, all pursuits. All eyes are fixed upon the changed aspects of material nature, All, as though petrified, stand, awaiting the next step in the awful programme!
THE KNELL OF EARTHLY DOOM.
A moment later I hear the command given to another archangel, "Go, sound the trump! Sound it long and loud ! Sound it until the dead of all ages awake to life. Bid the living and the dead to meet the Judge in the air."
Gabriel grasps the trumpet prepared ages since for this occasion. As he descends he gives forth blast after blast. The sound is heard in Heaven, earth and hell. The trumpet is tongue-toned with articulate command: "Awake, ye generations under ground ! Awake, ye dead of all ages! Ye disembodied souls, come from Heaven and hell ! Go to where the bodies you were separated from at death have slept in the dust to this hour! Ye bodies once in human form, once the habitation of immor tal spirits, long since dissolved to dust, awake! awake! and come forth to meet the Judge! "
WICKED WOEFUL, RIGHTEOUS REJOICING.
What scenes ensue ! The blast of the trumpet is movng the inhabitants of three worlds. Those who were living at the death of time, overwhelmed with astonish ment, now realize that the great day, for which all other days were made, has surely come I The unprepared are crying, "Oh, ye rocks and mountains, fall on U3 and hide

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us, for the great day of Gods wrath. Is come, and we are not able to stand ! "
Hark, I hear music ! Tie the voice of song. Tis the righteous among the living ! They sing, " Lo, the Bride groom cometh i Our lamps are trimmed and burning. We are ready to go up to meet Him."
RESURRECTION UNIVERSAL.
Behold the effect produced by the sound of the trumpet upon the dead! The whole face of the earth is being rent. Well-nigh every square yard contains, in part or whole, the dust once incorporated in some human form. L.ook, the great pyramids of Egypt fell just then ! I see; they contained some portions of dust, though now in the form of bricks, once contained in human bodies. Stately mansions fall antl crumble into dtist for the same reason. In the fields, where once we drove the plow, and in the streets of crowded cities, in desert places and virgin for ests, I see the Indian, white man and negro coming forth. They slept m death side by side and knew it not!
ADAM AND EVE ARISE.
Turn your eyes to the vast cemeteries of the old world. At Rome we see the eloquent senators, the conquering generals, the plebeians, the Goths, Vandals and Romans awaking to the judgment, side by side. At Athens the statesman and gladiator gaze upon each other in silent wonder. At Jerusalem kings, queens, prophets, apostles, persecutors and martyrs at the same moment shake the dust of the grave from their resurrected bodies. A moment since, two persons of faultless form rose from the dust and took their stand upon a lofty eminence, from which the eye can sweep the earths surface and view the resurrection scene. They are Adam and Eve, who have been permitted to occupy this lofty position that they may witness the awakening of their entire family from the

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sleep of the night of death, as they come forth from the chambers of the dead !
HELLS HIDEOUS HOST.
Hark ! What horrid groans, what wicked imprecations fall upon the ear! From whence come they ? As we turn our eyes in that direction we behold an innumerable host, of frightful appearance, black with despair, trembling, vainly desiring to hide themselves away. An irresistible power forces them on. As they come nearer to earth they separate, each hastening to his destined spot. Who are they ? These are the disembodied souls of all who have died out of Christ through all the ages past. The trumpet of God has called them back to earth for the reunion of soul and body, preparatory to the final judgment. At the graves mouth I hear the rising body of the unjust and unsaved say to the approaching soul, "Oh, my wicked, ruined soul, why, oh, why did you not remain under the fires of Gods wrath alone, and let me sleep an eternal sleep ? Annihilation is better far than eternal existence under the curse of God!" The union of the souls and bodies of the ungodly is forced is but the work of a moment.
HEAVENS HAPPY HABITANTS.
Look heavenward ! a countless host, all arrayed in garments of white! A rainbow of glory environs the brow of each. Seraphic smiles wreathe each face. They sing! They sing! " Bright morning, sweet morning, glorious resurrection morning! Let us all sing and shout together ! This is the morning in which the Lion of the tribe of Judah breaks the seal of death 1" These are the souls of Gods children. They have been in their Paradise home and are coming to earth to be reunited with the bodies in which they suffered and toiled in the service of God. This reunion is necessary to the general judgment

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and the full enjoyment of the bliss of life in Heaven. As these happy souls come near the graves mouth I
hear the body, as it comes forth, say, "Oh, precious soul, where hast thou been so long, while corruption, earth and worms have been my companions?" The soul replies, "Oh, my precious redeemed body, whilst thou slept in the grave I have been enjoying the pleasures of Heaven ! This is the resurrection morning. I am come that we, united, may be ever present with the Lord!" The joyful union of the souls and bodies of the righteous is consummated,
ALL AGES ALIVE AGAIN.
Now all who have ever lived from the infant of an hour to the aged Methuselah live again. All graves are vacated all seas, oceans and inland waters, all lands have given up the dead which were in them. All, of all nation alities, of all the ages past live again !
I see a bright cloud, dense and vast, descending. I know not from whence it comes. It may have served through the ages past as the canopy that spans the celes tial temple. It comes down to earth and mysteriously gets beneath the feet of the resurrected world of man.
CRIMSON COMES THE CHARIOT.
While this cloud descends, I hear a sound as the roll of chariot wheels. Look upward. " Behold, the Ancient of Days is seated on His throne, His garments as white as snow, the hair of His head as the pure wool, His throne like the fiery flame and the wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issues and comes forth before." The holy angels, the elder sons of God, who shouted together in creations morn, accompany Him,
For the first time Heavens inhabitants leave their blissful home. Only for a little space, however to accom pany the King of Glory and witness the judgment scenes.
Beelzebub, the prince of pandemonium, and the fallen

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angels leave, for a short space, their dark abode. They, too, are to witness the judgment.
RIGHTEOUS RECORD OF REMEMBRANCE.
The chariot, the throne, the Judge, with His shining retinue, still descend. The cloud, laden with the entire Adamic family, moves upward. The chariot and cloud meet in mid-air, and lo, the Judge of the quick and the dead is face to face with the world of man! Angels and devils are all in full view. The books are opened and the judgment begins, As the Book of Remembrance is opened before the Judge, the life the thoughts, words and acts of every soul that stands before the great white throne, is found recorded within. The truth of these records is read in every face. Angels, men and devils pronounce the records true.
THE LOVELY LAW OF LIKE TO LIKE.
Another book I see. It is the Book of the Law. It has a familiar appearance. In fact, it reminds me of the old family Bible that lay on the stand ! the book that my sainted mother so dearly loved. Verily, it is the same! I read, in golden letters, "The Holy Bible." This vast assembly is to be judged awarded or condemned by this book ! Vet another book. I see it is the Book of Life the family record of our Father, God I The law of affinity brings like to like. The righteous, by this grand law, are filing to the right of the Judge. The good of all ages and nationalities are congregated there. Among them I see patriarchs, prophets, apostles and all true Christians, infants, idiots and the honest heathen. The vile, the fallen, the depraved, the unregenerate, together with all rejecters of the Gospel, are filing to the left.
An angel is commanded to go forth and draw the sep arating line divide the righteous from the wicked as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. As he obeys

SJERMONS.

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the command he passes between, the pastor and some of his flock, between husband and wife, between father and son, mother and daughter. God forbid that he should pass between and separate me and my flock, me and my wife, me and my child, and between you and yours !
The order is speedily executed. The angel returns and says, " It is done as Thou didst command."
SENTENCE SPOKEN.
Now the Judge passes sentence. To those on the left He says, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlastingfire, prepared for the devil and his angels. You had the Bible, but read it not. You had the Gospel preached unto you, but you heeded not. These shall go away into ever lasting punishment. Fly wide, ye gates of perdition! Stand aside, ye fallen angels and demons doomed, and let these Gospel-slighters, who have trampled the blood of atonement under their unhallowed feet, take precedence! Let them sink to the deepest profound of the nethermost abyss! Then, ye demons, fall in line, go to and suffer evermore the torments of your own dear-bought hell!" The command is obeyed. The Omnipotent Hand shuts and bolts the door of doom! The Raven of Despair spreads her dark wings over this dismal gulf and croaks and will ever cry, * Lost, lost, to all eternity lost! "
Let us view the closing scene. Again we hear the voice of the Judge. How different the language: " Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Fly wide, ye everlasting gates ! Ye eternal doors, be ye lift up, and let My redeemed enter in! Ye elder sons, who shouted together in creations morn, stand aside and let my younger children, who have come through great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, pass in first and take their places

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nearest the throne. Then ye angelic hosts bring up the pompous rear."
The chariot is reversed and moves upward and back to its original position. The redeemed follow, singing, sweetly singing, "O, Death, where is thy sting? Boastinggrave, "where is thy victory ?" Death, dragged at the wheels of the chariot of the victorious Conqueror, died a few moments ago ! The grave, having lost its victim, is wiped from being.
Again they sing, "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ !" The angelic and sacramental hosts are all at Home, to be ever present with the Lord !
Their bliss, like a noontide of glory, shall forever roll on to nobler and grander heights !
"Time is rrone, the judgment past, the righteous saved, the wicked damned, and Gods eternal government approved,"

THE
Highway of Holiness.
" And an highway shall be there, and a zvay, and it shall be called the -way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the zvayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ran somed of the Lord shall return, and- come to Zion 'with songs andeverlasttng Joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrozu and sighing shall flee away.'*-- ISAIAH xxxv., 8-ro,
Isaiah, the Prophet, whose name means " Salvation of Jehovah," and who styles himself the son of Amos, began prophesying seven hundred and sixty-five years before Christ, under the reign of King Uzziah, and continued through the reigns of Jothara, Ahaz and Hezekiah, for the space of near sixty years. He is supposed to have been sawn asunder early in the reign of Manassah!
His style is at once sublime, forcible and ornamental. In his sentiments he is elevated and majestic; in his imagery, elegant, grand.
He especially predicts the advent, life, tragic death and glorious resurrection of our Lord; the establishment, increase and glory of the Gospel Kingdom !
The Prophet seems to see a vast concourse of eager, anxious people, who are moving toward every point of the compass some ascending mountain peaks, others rushing

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into dense jungles, others leaping wildly into deep bogs and some falling headlong over dizzy precipices! They cry, " Where is the lost, the precious treasure ? This is the vale of sorrow and of death. We search for happiness and immortality. Where, oh, where can the desired boon be found ?" Their hearts are frozen with the chill of death as the reverberating echoes of their own voices answer, " Where ? "
PITY FROM ON HIGH.
The Prophet, with melting heart and tearful eye, views the fearful scene. He now turns his eyes heavenward. He joyfully beholds. One upon whose arm is written, "Omnipotence," yet In whose eye is the tear of sympathy and in whose heart is boundless love for these poor wan derers. He whose creative fiat broke the stillness of eternity, again commands, " Let there be an highway cast up through the wilderness of earth. Let all intervening hills and mountains cleave asunder. Let the low places be elevated all separating streams and gulfs, even the Jordan of Death, be bridged : be removed, all obstacles from this highway ! Let it be a plain way, a safe way. Let it be an elevated highway the way of holiness ,f "
ISAIAHS GLORIOUS MESSAGE.
Isaiah recognizes the speaker as the Prince of Heaven the King of Glory ! He cries to the poor wanderers, " Halt a moment! Come hither. Hear ye ! There is to be opened up an highway! Cease your fruitless searching for that which cannot be found in this great Sahara. Come to this highway, get upon it, travel it and lo, you will find that for which you search 1 That which was lost in Eden can only be regained in Paradise ! This highway will lead thither. You can then easily ascend its summit and travel it to the New Jerusalem !"
I thank God that there is now an highway, and a way

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whereby all mankind may have access to it, and all can travel upon it. Let UG notice.
Highways are distinguished from other ways, first, by the fact that they are ordered by the authority of law; second, they are opened by the same authority; third, they are kept open by the same strong arm. Where these three characteristics meet they constitute an highway.
TIfE mGHBST AUTHORITY.
I maintain that this highway was ordered by the highest authority in the universe. It was ordered through the fiat-of the Supreme King of kings ind Lord of lords! " There shall be an highway beginning at the gate of Eden forfeited ; it shall run from thence through every zone, continent a/id island of earth. It shall run over every hill top and mountain peak. Let it engirdle all lands and waters. Let it be accessible to all mankind, both on land and water. It shall remain intact while sun, moon and stars shall shine. When the period fixed for the wreck of matter and crush of worlds shall come, earths redeemed shall find this highway opened all the way to their celestial home! This shall be called the highway of holiness. It shall be a safe way. No lion or ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall be a plain way. The wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein : It shall bring the pilgrim away from sorrow and sighing and lead him to where joy and gladness shall be his eternal portion ! "
It was opened by the same authority and power that ordered it. Doubtless all the angelic hosts, when the order for the highway was announced in Heaven, came forward and said, " Here are we, Father; send us to assist in opening up this highway. We love our fallen brotherman. We rejoice that there Js to be an highway for him. He may then come and dwell with us, and with us unite

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in doing Thy will, and with us sing sweet anthems of praise through endless ages."
I see the Creator of all worlds and of all intelligences as He steps forth and says, " Here I am, Father; send me. Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Thy will, O, my God : yea, Thy law is within my heart."
THE GLORIOUS WORK COMPLETED.
The Father accepts. The heavenly hosts acquiesce. The Eternal Word, the worlds Redeemer, undertakes the wondrous work. There are none with Him. He treads the wine press alone. None seem to realize that He has begun the work until He cries in death, " It is finished! "
I see the intervening hills and mountains cleave asunder. Lo, instantly the highway is seen cast up> elevated from beginning to finish ! The last bridge is complete. He goes down into the grave. Blind demons and wicked men say, "The highway is a failure. He who came to open it up is dead and buried!"
On the third morning after His tragic death, in the midst of hells jubilation, the divine nature and human soul of the God-man returns to the sepulchre. The divine nature breaks the Roman seal and hurls the cap-stone as a mote in the air: then the divine nature and man-soul re-enter the dead body. The heart pulsates, the eyes open and 3o, the dead is alive!
" He rose for our justification ! " It was the crowning work the completion of this highway. In a moment ail mist and gloom is lifted. The angelic hosts, congregated at the upper terminus, raise the jubilant shout, "The high way of holiness is complete! and there is a way from every mans habitation to the highway. All honor and glory to Him who opened the highway ! "
We have seen that this highway was ordered by

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authority and opened by law. Now has it the third claim ? viz., is it kept open by the same power? I answer most emphatically in the affirmative !

INEFFECTUAL OPPOSITION.
Ten Roman emperors consecutively endeavored to block up this highway with the craniums and bones of the murdered martyrs. They attempted to destroy it by build ing consuming fires upon its lofty center. Every instru ment of torture that the ingenuity of wicked men and devils could invent have been brought to bear upon those who traveled upon this highway, to deter and drive them from it, that they might proclaim, "This highway is no longer opened to Zions pilgrims!" Infidels have attempted to block it up with their sickly productions.
The Roman emperors have gone to the grave. Their opposition died with them. The persecutors of a later date, together with their instruments of torture, have been relegated to the shade of oblivion. The vast array of intellectual giants who, through the centuries past, have endeavored with all the powers of learning and science to prove the highway false, after a brief space of ineffectual antagonism, went down to their graves unhonored and unsung. Their writings, in the main, have been buried with them. The highway of holiness today is open not an obstacle in the travelers way!
The young "convert, as he places his foot upon this highway, by the eye of faith looks up the bright incline and shouts, "The highway! The highway is open not a pebble or other impediment between me and the City of the New Jerusalem !"
The Omnipotent Hand, as the weavers shuttle that passes through the web, moves up and down this highway f hurling back the missiles of the enemy, protecting and ever keeping it uninjured and will preserve it in perfect

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tact until the last traveler to Zion boimcl,sbal! have placed both feet upon the golden streets of the Celestial City !
This is, therefore, an highway ordered, opened and kept open by God Himself!
Its name : " It shall be called the way of holiness." A highway usually receives its name from, first, the party who secured its opening; or, second, from some notable person, company or army who traveled over it ; or, third, the place to which it leads.
APPROPRIATELY NAMED.
I assume that this highway is appropriately named from all these considerations.
As we have seen, it is the holy Lord of Hosts who devised it. The plan originated in His own Mind and was brought into perfection of pattern before he ordered its opening. It is therefore appropriately named "the way of holiness," because its author is holy yea, the very source of holiness !
I hold that it is also properly named because of those who travel upon it. This is the way the holy prophets, apostles, martyrs and saints of all ages went. "The kings highway of holiness that leads from banishment." Our sainted parents and mighty host of kindred and friends who have passed on to the better land, traveled over it. Multiplied millions are upon this glorious highway today. There are more upon it now than at any period of the past. And yet there is room upon its summit for millions more! Although it is a straight and narrow way, it is broad enough for all mankind to walk abreast!
All who are upon it have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The regenerating powers of the Holy Spirit made them the children of God, placed their feet upon the highway and turned their faces heavenward. They have holy desires, hold holy conversations and sing holy

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songs as they march the holy way to their holy home in the Holy City ! I do not claim for them angelic perfec tion, nor absolute freedom from the imperfections of humanity, yet they are relatively holy and are ever desiring to become more and more like God.

THE ONLY HOJ,Y CITY,
It is therefore clear that it is appropriately named be cause of the holiness of its author and also of the charac ter of those who travel upon it. I now inquire, Will this hold good with regard to the place to which it leads ? A very large per cent, of the highways of earth receive their names from, the place at which they terminate. In every county in this great republic there are many ways leading to the county seat. These all bear the name of the town to which they lead. None of these lead the traveler to a holy town or city ! The towns and cities in all lands are too often found to be the centers of vice and sin of every type. In the larger cities very nearly every law of God and man is violated almost every four and twenty hours of the three hundred and sixty-five days in the year ! Many, I think, commit a fatal blunder when they leave the quiet and comparative freedom from temptation of rural life and go, Lot-like, into the whirl and din of city life to rear the family. There is no holy town or city on earth ! The ancient city of Jerusalem was styled "The Holy City." It was so called because the Ark and Shekinah of God were deposited there ; also, because the holy prophets saw in the city the adumbration of the future glory and perfection of the Christian Church, and a type of the heavenly Jerusalem, that City whose architect and builder is God!
Sin, in all its shapes, existed in ancient Jerusalem. Such was its enormity that the judgments of Heaven were visited upon the city in the form of famine, pestilence and

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war. The sins of the people resulted in the destruction of the city and the repeated carrying away of the inhabit ants into miserable captivity.
There is only one holy city. It is not to be found on this globe. It is located beyond the rivulet that marks the boundary between this land of sorrow, suffering1 and death and the land of joy, gladness and life eternal ! It is the City of God the metropolis of Heaven ! This is the Holy City. No sin has ever existed here never can.

ENTIRELY HOLY.
It is the Home of the King of Glory. Upon His brow and upon His crown and vesture is written in blazing capi tals the word, " Holiness." Upon His throne, upon the twelve manner of precious stones of which the walls are builded yea: every stone in the paved streets upon the arches, upon every mansion, upon the angelic forehead and upon the brows of the sacramental hosts I see, "Holiness to the Lord." The chorus of the choir is, "Holiness to the Lord." All the inhabitants are holy. Their employments are holy. This is, therefore, the Holy City !
To this city the highway leads. Therefore, it is appro priately called "the highway of holiness."
This highway has other characteristics that I wish to notice. It is a SAFE WAY.
No one can enjoy life who is in constant dread of the realization of some threatened danger. One traveling through a section of country infested with ravenous beasts the panther, the tiger or lion cannot possibly feel safe to recline in sleep, or even quietly sit down to eat the food necessary to sustain life. He knows not at what moment he may be torn in pieces and become food for those fero cious beasts ! Or one passing over a highway along which many travelers in the past have been slain by highwaymen.

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He is restless. - His eye is sweeping the hills and slopes, trying to penetrate the dark hiding places where an assas sin might secrete himself. He is alarmed by the breaking of a twig, the rustling of a leaf !

NO GENUINE PEACE OR PLEASURE.
There can be no real enjoyment or happiness in the absence of felt security from danger and harm. Hence, the assured fact that this highway is a safe 'way is one of its most commendable features. " No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon: it shall not be found there."
The arch adversary of the soul, the devil, is compared to the lion which, in an unexpected moment, leaps upon his victim. The fallen angels who followed him in his rebellion against God and with him were driven from Heaven, possess much power in common with their evil leader. They are filled with hatred to God and man ever ready to do all in their power to insult the former and destroy the latter !
While it is true that these evil beings ** throng the air and darken heaven" and are ever present on land and water, yet there are two places to which they cannot go. One is, upon this highway the other is Heaven above ! We are safe in this life only upon its lofty summit. No traveler dare take the risk to come clown ! We must keep upon the middle of the way. No demon can leap to its lofty level.
The immortal dreamer who, for twelve years, from his throne in Bedford Jail, kept his eye upon this highway of holiness and could, at all hours, see the pilgrims from their entry upon it to the final step into the Holy City, tells us that on one occasion, while looking upon a pilgrim with admiration at the alacrity with which he moved along the shining way, he heard a voice crying, " Halt,

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pilgrim, halt! Behold, lions are in the way ! Retreat for your life!" The pilgrim halted a moment and, looking up the way, saw two huge lions in the distance, whose heads seemed to come together in the middle of the high way. The voice again cried, "Dont you see they are in your front ? Their heads meet on the center of your way. Behold their sharp teeth ! Dont you hear their growl ? Retreat for your life! Fly! fly, or you are lost forever! "
He heard the pilgrim reply, "This is said to be a safe way. The lions do seem to be on the way. I must examine my waybill." Drawing his Bible from his bosom, for he always kept it near his heart, he opened at the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. His eye fell on the ninth verse and he read aloud : " No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon : it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there."
FAITH CLEARS DOUBT.
He closed the book and shouted, "There is no lion there, nor ravenous beast : it shall not be found there and I am redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God! Its my right to -walk here and Ill go forward!" So saying, he rushed along until he reached the point where the lions seemed to be on the highway. Here he halted for a time and raised his voice in praise to God ! He found that the lions were chained; that they had gone the full length of their tether and were keeping a frightful appearance, but could not harm the pilgrim.
Here he stood and rejoiced that no lion or beast could harm the pilgrim while upon this highway. Again he shouted, " No lion shall be there !" and went on his way rejoicing.
The final characteristic of this way is that it is a PLAIN WAY. The text tells us that "the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein."

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No standard of intellectual endowment or mental cul ture is demanded as a pre-requisite to becoming a traveler upon this highway. It is designed for the use of all man kind the rich and poor, the learned and illiterate; those who possess one talent as well as those to whom five were committed!
NO HIGHER EVIDENCE.
To the eye of the traveler there is, perhaps, no higher evidence of the enlightenment and progress of the people of a country than a good condition of its public roads. Where he finds them in good order and properly posted at every fork, he at once pronounces the citizens of that community public-spirited and law-abiding. The laws of our country demand that all thoroughfares shall be posted with sign-boards, to show the traveler whither all diverg ing roads lead.
This is the oldest highway of which I have knowledge. As we have seen, its construction was carried forward to completion. It is posted all the way. All ways which lead from the highway are properly posted. The way faring man can clearly read the names of the points to which they lead.
Each traveler is furnished with a guide-book. It is a correct waybill!
THREE DIVERGING WAYS.
There are three broad and much-traveled ways which, in turn, may entice the traveler to come down and enter upon them.
The first is the wide way of sensual delights. Flowers bloom upon its borders. It runs through enchanting for ests. The birds of pleasure pour forth their bewitching notes. Multitudes of the thoughtless rush wildly down its fearful incline. As I look on this ever-widening way, I see innumerable hecatombs of the skeletons of those who

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ventured upon it! Had those unfortunate ones only looked well at the Christians waybill, they would have read, "There is a way that seerneth right unto a man ; but the end thereof are the ways of death."
Another of these devious ways, I see, is paved with gold. Gems- rubies and pearls seem heaped into moun tainous piles. This is labeled, "The way to wealth." MilHons have perished here in trying to secure the tempt ing boon ! Had they examined the waybill, they would have read, "Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire."
The third is, "The way to worldly honors." This, too, has led innumerable hosts to moral wreck and eternal ruin. Had they but examined their Heaven-given waybill, they would have read, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added. Seek those honors that cometh from above." Those who seek for earthly glory and worldlv renown find, when too late, that they are but as the bubble upon the waters sur face that thev have followed an ignis Jattius!
AN KARTHLY ILLUSTRATION.
When I was a child my father promised me, upon con dition of my being a good and industrious boy, that I should have the privilege of going with him and others, who would accompany the wagons that were to convey his cotton crop to the city of Augusta, which was his market town, near one hundred miles distant. I did all in the , power of a little fellow to comply with his terms, and suc ceeded ! When the appointed time came the wagons were loaded, the teams hitched and we took the way that led from the paternal home to the highway, about a half mile distant. Having traveled the by-way, we entered upon

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the highway, then faced toward, the point of destination and continued to travel until the journey was completed.
I noticed that the further we advanced, the plainer and broader became the highway. All public roads that left our way, on either side, were posted the finger board pointing toward the destination; then, in large, plain let ters, the name of the place to which that way led.
This experience of my childhood has, to rny mind, thrown light upon this text. No man is naturally born into being upon this highway, but, like that from my paternal home, there is a way from the habitations of all men into this highway ! It only requires two mighty steps to pass him over the by-way into the highway namely, repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus ! These steps taken, he finds himself upon the highway, his face set Zionward. Then, as he urges his course for ward, the way becomes broader and plainer until he, like Banyans pilgrim, discovers himself in "Beulah." When his vision of the city becomes enrapturing, the music of the sacramental choir ravishes his soul! Here he would willingly remain for a season. I have conversed with happy pilgrims who declared that they were then, and had been for hours, sweetly tarrying in Beulah . They could see the Eternal City and the beckoning hands of loved ones, welcoming them to their home over there!
A WEARY PEDESTRIAN.
I seem to see a way-worn traveler, who has well-nigh completed his journey. He is reaching the celestial side of Beulah. Only one more step and he will place his foot on the golden street. Angelic bands and sainted kindred rush forward to greet him. The Divine Hand holds the golden crown above his head. Just as he is making the final step, alas ! he disappears from view ! Is he lost ? Is he gone forever? No; a moment later he comes again to

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view ! As he rises, the crown is placed upon his brow and he shouts. " Home at last! " All Heaven resounds, " Wel come, brother, welcome! to share with us the privileges and undying bliss of our home in Heaven!" I see now that when he disappeared from ray view, he had only stepped down a moment to leave his mortality. He left it in what the world terms the grave, but it is simply the ante-room to the temple of immortality!
In the last verse of the text the Prophet seems to see Israel returning from the Babylonian captivity. In their seventy years of bondage they had experienced indescrib able sorrow, and had heaved sighs innumerable. They had literally baptized Babylon with their tears! When the edict, proclaimed by King Cyrus, that the captives might return to their native land, their joy knew no bounds. They ceased to sigh and cry, they shouted praises to God as they journeyed homeward; and when they reached the land of their nativity, and looked again upon the graves of their sires and rebuilt their homes and altars, they forgot the sorrows and sighings of captivity, and joy and gladness reigned supreme!
What a forcible representation of the happy exchange made by the Christian when he leaves this world of labor, disappointment, bereavement, suffering and death, and passes on to his home in Heaven and at once enters the place where everything be sees, hears, touches or experi ences, increases his bliss. Where the inexhaustible sources of happiness unceasingly pour into the soul, Where he realizes that his journey is ended; the last battle fought; the last trial experienced; that he is to go no more out; is to forever dwell with his sainted kindred and associate with the pure and the good and, better still, to be ever present with the Lord !

THE CHOICE OF MOSES.
" By faith Moses, when he was come to years> refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction ^vith the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater richts than the treasures in Kgypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." HEBREWS xi.. 24-26.
The subject of the Apostle Paul in this chapter is faith. He defines this fundamental grace, and then asserts its importance by affirming, "without faith, it is impossible to please God." He then demonstrates the possibility of possessing it in this life and, by it, overcoming all obstacles in the way of a boJy, useful life on earth conquer all our spiritual enemies and, finally, death itself, and thus pass through the pearly gates into the Eternal City and find ourselves evermore at Home, ever present with the Lord !
Among the vast array of ancient worthies enumerated by the Apostle, he mentions Moses, who, as we shall see, wrought wonders : and also the faith of his parents, which enabled them to keep him concealed for three months from the hand of the executioner.
To rny mind, the record of the faith of these parents has a deeper meaning than the superficial reader is apt to catch. The words, "They saw that he was a proper child," convey more than that the child was perfect in form and feature. Doubtless the little one was perfect in respect to both, with a cranium that the phrenologist would have pronounced first-class. I have often wondered, if there had been defects, would they not have been hidden

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to the eyes of those loving parents ? The old adage is, "Every crow thinks her own the blackest." This is a wise provision, ordained of God for a noble purpose.
My opinion is, that these parents truly, fully believed the promise of God to Abraham, that his seed should inherit the promised land. They knew that the posterity of their patriarchal father was then in Egyptian bondage; that, in order to the possession of that land, God must raise up one to deliver them from bondage and, under God, lead them back to their promised inheritance. I must be allowed to believe that their faith pointed to their new-born child as the "proper child," under God, to accomplish this great work !
A MOTHERS SOLICITUDE.
Who can limit a mothers love for her child ? or what her inventive genius can achieve for its deliverance from danger ? Often, in my imagination, have I seen that mother, as she left her babe in hiding and hurriedly passed down to the bank of the Nile, upon which rushes grew from seven to ten feet in height. She cuts one after another near the root until she has a sufficient quantity to meet her purpose. Then she pares off the rough exterior of one after another until this work is also complete. Then she dexterously plaits and weaves them into a little boat, just large enough to hold her precious treasure. * She daubs it within and without with the bituminous slime that she finds in abundance along the margin of the Nile. The sun of Heaven completes the work by drying and cementing, making the little barque impervious to the water. Then, arranging the little bed and pillow and smoothing out every wrinkle, she kisses her babe and lays him tenderly within.
Raising her eyes to Heaven^ she prays, " O, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, protect my precious babe !

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for he is a proper child, given by Thee to me. I commit him, O God, to Thy care and keeping. Forbid that the wicked decree of Pharaoh should slay him! May not crocodile, serpent or beast harm him!" Securely mooring the little craft, she pushes it out among the rushes into the water. Then, placing her daughter where she can keep her eye on the little ark, the mother hastens to her humble home.
Truly, "God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform." The young queen, divinely directed, accom panied by her maidens, espied the curiously wrought little boat, and, as her maidens pulled it to land, she lifted the covering. Behold, a living child looked into her face! She said, "Moses" that is, "I have drawn him from the water" which name he has borne to this day.
The child wept. There is said to be eloquence in a tear. Add to this the cry of the child, which made a direct appeal to the heart of the young queen. It caused her to proclaim, " My father shall not slay this pretty little Hebrew child. I will adopt him as my own !"

A HAPPY MOTHER.
The sister of the infant, having found that the young queens purpose was to protect and adopt him, thus making him her own son, she tenderly inquired, " Seeing the babe is an Hebrew, would you not like that I call you a wet nurse ?" The queen readily gave her consent. The young maiden ran joyfully to the home of the mother and, as rapidly as possible, told her of the queens having dis covered the babe and, best of all, "Mama, she says she is going to adopt little brother as her own child and told me to call an Hebrew nurse and I came for you!"
I suppose no mother ever went on an errand more swiftly and joyously than did that mother! Her happi ness was complete when the young queen said to her,

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" Take this child, nurse, feed, care for and keep him until he is five years old," the usual length of time that the wet nurse had charge of a child. " Then bring him to me. Vou shall be paid your wages as you may call for them."
During these five years the parents so carefully taught him the fundamental doctrines of the true religion so deeply imbedded them in his child-being that the influ ence of an idolatrous nation, the paganism incorporated in Kgyptian learning, the glittering paraphernalia of the richest, most sensual court on earth failed to obliterate them and resulted in developing one of the grandest char acters of ancient or modern times !
Many parents seem to look upon the first few years of human life as being of little importance. Others, more thoughtful, fix the time for the formation, of character between the seventh and fifteenth years of age; others, from the tenth to the eighteenth.
EARLY YEARS OF VAST IMPORTANCE.
Here is a case, clear as demonstration, that the first five years of life are of vast importance! May I not claim that the writer of the Pentateuch, the worlds great law-giver he with whom God, in the midst of the vivid lightnings and deep-toned thunders, talked face to face and to whom he gave the tables of the law was but the development, under Gods blessing, of the parental teach ing and training given between his birth and the end of his fifth year ?
The child, Moses, upon entering his sixth year, was transferred from the humble home of his natural mother to the palatial, royal home of his adopted queen-mother.
He was then surrounded with all the comforts of a splendid home and had every educational advantage that Egypt could afford, which country, at that time, stood in

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the front rank In the arts and sciences. The paintings, hieroglyphics and other works of art that have come down to us, have never been, equaled for perfection of detail and beauty of finish.
When Saint Stephen affirms that " Moses was learned In all the wisdom of the Egyptians," he places him at once in the foremost file of the learned and wise men of the world !
He had ever)- advantage necessary to the study and proper understanding1 of the science of government. Pie met ministers plenipotentiary and other representative men from every nation known to Egyptian civilization, He had access to the library of the court. For thirty-five years he had these exalted educational advantages.
MOSES DlVINKt,Y QUALIFIED FOR HIS WORK.
When God has a great purpose to accomplish through human agency, He always has the right man at the right time and in the proper place. The very superior physical and mental powers with which he was endowed, the won derfully strange providences through which he passed and the educational opportunities afforded, prepared Moses to become the great legislator which he was.
It was also necessary that he should go through a phy sical training a process of developing and hardening his muscles to prepare him. to lead Israel through a travel of forty years in a rough, barren land.
Hence, when he was forty years old he was providen tially led a.\va.y from the palace and the ease and luxuries of Egypt to spend the next forty years of his life among the Midian mountains. These forty years were occupied in watching the flocks of Jethro. From the lofty mountain peaks he gazed into the heavens, measuring the magni tude of shining worlds and climbing up Natures ladder to Natures G-ocl !

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Our text informs us that the change in the life of Moses from the glittering paraphernalia of the court to wilder ness life, was the result of a choice made by faith that is, that Moses was a moral agent. He had the power of voli tion. He chose between the riches, power and glory of Egypt and Gods poor, despised people; that this choice was made by faith; that he " esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt!" His faith swept through coming centuries. He saw Israel established in the promised land, and the shepherd king as he extended her borders and strengthened his kingdom; then Davids wise son in all his glory ! Then his faith took in the establishment of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and its final triumph. His choice was made. He chose affliction with Gods people and the reproach of Christ hence, his willing submission to privation and want.

THE FLAMING BUSH.
Near the end of the forty years of his pastoral life, God appeared to him in a flaming bush. The bush burned, but was not consumed. Moses turned aside to investigate. The Divine voice came forth from the fiery bush: " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
This burning bush was typical of the Israelites in Egyptian bondage though long oppressed, they were not destroyed ! The command was then given him, " Come thou, therefore, and I will send thee to Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel out of Egypt." Tremblingly, he hesitated, until God said, "Cer tainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee when thou hast brought forth the people, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. I am that I am, who art the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and hath sent thee. Go call the elders of Egypt together. Tell them I

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will deliver them from their bondage. Bid Pharaoh let them depart in peace." Moses obeyed the command. After the performance of ten wonderful miracles, the wicked king consented to Moses proposition. Israel departed.
DESTRUCTION OBVIOUSLY CERTAIN.
Scarce had they gotten under good headway when the fickle ruler of Egypt determined to pursue and bring them back into slavery. He, with his pursuing army, overtook them at a point where escape seemed impossible. In front of the camp for the night, lay twelve miles of water. Mountains on their right and left the Egyptian horsemen and chariots in the rear! Destruction seemed inevitable !
In this extremity the God of Israel, true to His prom ise, came to their relief. He sent down a cloud a most mysterious cloud! On one side it sent forth darkness of more than midnight intensity. This side was turned toward the Egyptians.
The other side emitted a clear light, close of kin to that of day, towards Israels three and one-half millions as they lay encamped in this fearful position ! The great " I am " caused a strong wind to blow across the expanse of water before them. This wind was commissioned to cleave the waters asunder from the surface to the lowest depths, and to congeal the waters on either side of the opening channel; then to continue blowing until every obstacle to the travelers foot in the channel thus opened had been blown hence and the new highway become dry as the arid desert! When the winds had obeyed the Divine fiat, the command was given, "Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward."
MIRACLE AFTER MIRACLE.
At this juncture, the angel of the Lord which went before Israel, and also the pillar of cloud, went from their

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front to their rear, the two forming an impenetrable bar rier to the advance of Israels pursuers. The cloud, turn ing1 its dark side to the Kgyptiaris, shrouded them in dark ness that could be felt! Moses led his host on dry ground through the midst of the sea, the congealed waters forming a solid wall on either side. When Israel had reached the farther shore, the angel and cloud returned to their front.
The Kgyptians beheld the dry road-bed through the sea and the Israelites on the farther shore and at once prepared to pursue them. It seems that they were greatly hindered. The wheels of their chariots came off. They could make but slow progress. David tells us in the sev enty-seventh Psalm that a fearful storm also beat upon them. He says, "The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound : thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was In the heaven : the lightning light ened the world: the earth trembled and shook."
While the Egyptians were in the midst of the sea, the storm beating heavily upon them, God bade Moses to stretch forth his hand over the sea. In a moment the law of gravitation was liberated. The Divine hand was removed and the waters flowed in, instantly overwhelming the Egyptians ! Israel was freed from fear of further pursuit!
Moses and his people shouted and sang praise to God for their miraculous deliverance. Fifty days after leaving Egypt, they encamped at the base of Mount Sinai.
MOSES SIGNALLY HONORED.
Moses ascended the summit. God came down in the rnidst of the dark cloud that enveloped its apex, from which vivid lightnings flashed and deep-toned thunders rolled. Here God gave to Moses the law! With His hand He smoothed the stone and upon it, with His own finger, wrote the Ten Commandments and placed them in Moses hand ! No man ever had so near approach to God

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on earth or such demonstration of the Divine favor as did His venerable servant, Moses, upon Mount Sinai.
For near forty years more this good man stood between a wicked and forgetful people and a long-suffering God! He was often sorely tried, but proved faithful in the dis charge of every duty, and ever stood between his weak and sinning brethren and the God against whom they sinned.
He was indeed an admirable character ever faithful to God and to the people whom he was sent to lead to their promised Inheritance ! In battle he proved himself a leader and warrior of the highest order. In every position he was called to fill he was faithful in all relations of life a model worthy of universal imitation.
He was guilty of the exhibition of impatience on only one occasion when he smote the rock out of which flowed the stream of living water necessary to the preservation of the lives of Gods chosen people. It was in compliance with the Divine command, yet when he struck the rock, he said, " Hear ye now, ye rebels! Must we fetch you water out of this rock ? "
The Lord said unto Moses, "Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore, ye shall not bring this congregation unto the land which I have given them." What a fearful punish ment for this one indiscretion !
How careful we should be not to entertain a spirit of impatience for even one moment ! In the language of Charles Wesleys hymn :
" How, then, ought I on earth to live, "While God prolongs the kind reprieve. And props this house of clay? My sole concern, my single care, To watch., and tremble, and prepare Against that fatal day !"

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When the forty years of wandering drew to a close, Moses, whose life had been divided into three equal divis ions forty years in Egypt, forty a shepherd in the land of the Midianites and forty in leading the Israelites in their wanderings finds himself, with all Israel, on the plains of Moab, at the base of Mount Nebo.

MOSES* VALEDICTORY.

He is now one hundred and twenty years of age. His

people are to soon pass over to possess the promised land.

He knows from Gods own declaration that he will not be permitted to lead them thither. He also knows that the

time of his departure is at hand. He earnestly desires to deliver his valedictory to his people. His feelings toward

Israel are those of a dying father to his children. He

wishes to give them his dying charge. They are assem

bled around him. He repeats the laws that their God has

enacted for their government and recounts the numerous demonstrations of Gods favor toward them.
He endeavors to stimulate their faith. He tells them that they are soon to pass over and possess the land which the God of Abraham promised to give him for a posses

sion for his posterity. He urges them to faithfulness and

obedience to God. He tells them that if they are faithful

God will never forsake them ; that if disobedient they will

be driven out of that goodly land and scattered among

other nations !



His valedictory was listened to with intense interest by

the people. Doubtless there were few, if any, dry eyes in

that vast assemblage.

THE MOST SUBLIME ADDRESS OF PARTING.
This was the grandest valedictory ever delivered by a retiring leader of a people. Washingtons was one that reflected credit upon his head and heart, but it dwindles into insignificance when compared to that delivered by

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Moses to the three and one-half millions of Israel! No dying father ever gave to his children a charge half so sublime!
His valedictory finished his dying song, swan-like, the sweetest he ever sang his life-work complete, a minutes silence ensues. He bows his head and waves his hand, thus bidding all a final farewell !
He now turns his back upon wife, children and a peo ple dearer to him than life itself. He fixes his eye upon Pisgahs lofty peak and begins the ascent of Nebos steeps. Now I hear a wail as of a funeral dirge, sung in most sol emn strain. It is but the expression of the pent-up, heartcrushing grief of this mighty throng. Moses seems to hear it not he certainly heeds it not.
Every eye on all the plain follows that venerable form. He continues to ascend. His tall, aged form seems to grow less and less now, seemingly, not larger than that of a small school boy. He advances. He has reached the mountains summit. He moves forward and is now scarcely discernible. He passes beyond the range of vis ion he is lost to their view !
A WONDERFUL VIEW.
We follow him. He ascends Pisgahs loftiest point. His eye sweeps the land of Canaan. He looks upon the cedars of Lebanon, the plain of Esdraslon. He sees the Jordan to the east like a silver thread, marking the eastern boundary. He looks upon the blue waters of the Mediter ranean. He sees the lofty peaks of Tabor, Hermon, Carmel, Ebal and Gerrizim. The hanging clusters of the luscious grapes of Eschel are clearly seen. He "views the land oer" and thanks God that he has been favored with a sight of the future home of His chosen people.
Above all, he looks toward Nazareth, the place of the birth of the worlds Redeemer; to the scenes of His active

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ministry; to Golgotha, where He was to meet the demands of the violated law and redeem a world. From his lofty position he employs the prophetic lens through which he gazed eighty years before, when he had such views of the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus and its future glory as to enable him to "choose affliction with the peo ple of God, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt."
MOSES LAST WORDS.
Me thinks I hear him say, " Now let Thy servant depart in peace." Look heavenward. See! Legions of the angelic hosts are bending over Heavens battlements, look ing with intense interest toward Pisgah, eager for the command to bring that faithful servant of God Home!
The command is given, "Go bring the immortal spirit of Moses Home! " The allotted number fly at the word of command.
The dark angel, Death, now begins his work. He is commanded to perform it in the gentlest manner. He touches lightly the vital chord that has held soul and body together for one hundred and twenty years. One of the thousand strings of that silver chord is broken. In an instant it is untwisted the soul is released from the body. That moment the angelic escort arrives, takes possession of the emancipated spirit and swiftly con veys it to its heavenly home!
THE GRAVE OF MYSTERY.
Ere this celestial escort leaves the body from which the soul was so recently separated, they are commanded to take the corpse and bury it where the inhab itants of earth shall never be able to find the grave, so as to forever preclude the possibility of hero-worship at his tomb. The angels become at once pall-bearers, gravediggers and funeral conductors !

So successfully did they carry out the orders given in Heaven, that no one, during the long centuries interven ing, has been able to locate the place!
Some years ago I met with a poetic description of the burial of Moses. It is by Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander and would alone be sufficient to immortalize the name of this gifted woman and sublime poetess. She was the wife of the pastor of Strabane, Ireland.
THE BURIAL OF MOSES.
By Nebos lonely mountain, On this side Jordans wave,
In a vale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely grave :
But no man dug that sepulcher, And no man saw it eer ;
For the angels of God upturned the sod. And laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth ;
But MO man heard the tramping, Or saw the train go forth.
Noiselessly as the daylig-ht Conies when the nig-ht is done,
And the crimson streak on oceans cheek Grows into the great sun ;
Noiselessly as the spring-time Her crown of verdure "weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves,
So, without sound of music, Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountains crown The great procession swept.
Perchance the bald old eagie, On gray Beth-peors height,
Out of his rocky eyrie, Looked on the wondrous sight;
P*rchanc the lion stalking

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SERMONS.

Still shuns that hallowed spot : For beast and bird have seen and heard
That which man knoweth not.
L*ut when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war,
With arms reversed, and muffled drum. Follow the funeral car ;
They show the banners taken, They tell his battles won,
And after him lead his masterless steed. While peals the minute-gun.
Amid the noblest of the land Men lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honored place, With costly marble drest,
In the great minster transept, Where lights like glories fall,
And the choir sing-s, and the organ rings Along the emblazoned wall.
This was the truest warrior That ever buckled sword ;
This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word ;
And never earths philosopher Traced with his golden pen
On the deathless page, truths half so sage As he wrote down for men.
And had he not higvh honor ? The hill-side for his pall;
To lie in state while angels wait "With stars for tapers tall;
And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes, Over his bier to -wave ;
And Gods own Hand, in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave,
In that strange grave, without a name, Whence his uncofnnod clay
Shall break again O wondrotis thought! Before the judgment-day,
And atand with glory wrapped around,

9KRMONB.

$7

On the hills lie never trod, And speak of the strife, that won our life,
"With the incarnate Son of God.
O lonely grave in Moabs land ! O dark Beta-peers hill !
Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still.
God hath His mysteries of grace, "Ways that we can not tell :
He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep Of him He loved so well.
The important question is, Did Moses make a wise choice? I answer emphatically in the affirmative! The former glory of Egypt passed away with her Pharaohs. The crown that rested upon the royal heads of that once mighty empire cannot be found. Ichabod is written upon her palaces and even upon her pyramids !
Moses, as we have seen, had the presence and favor of God while he lived. He was honored more highly in his burial than any one of his race. He was not only buried by angels, but was escorted by them to his coronation ! The King of kings and the Lord of lords placed the crown upon his royal brow amid the plaudits of Heavens count less millions! I seem to catch their song, "Welcome, Moses, welcome to a crown ! He who refused the crown of Egypt is welcome to the crown immortal! Egypt dies, her crowns perish, but Moses crowned shall live and reign evermore!" That crown is brighter and more glorious than when first placed upon his victorious head!
"The splendid, crown which Moses sought Still beams upon his brow,
That crown, with peerless glories bright, Which shall new lustre boast,
When victors wreaths and monarchs g-smn Shall blend in common dust,"

SERMON
TO
YOUNG LADIES.
(Preached at Statesboro, <3a., evening; of February 18th, 1836.)
" That our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished, after the similitude of a palace "-- PSALMS cxxxxiv., 12.
I also read as a text the sixth verse of the sixteenth chapter of Mark: "And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me."
I have selected the first passage of Scripture because it suggests the idea of a bxiilding which rests upon a firm foundation on "corner stones;" also that of finish and beauty, "polished after the similitude of a palace."
Without a solid foundation no superstructure can be safely built. It certainly cannot stand when winds and storms beat upon it. Neither can any be desirable or at tractive without beauty of finish.
This is also true as to character especially female char acter. Hence the propriety of this prayer of Israels sweet singer, "That our daughters may be as corner-stones, pol ished after the similitude of a palace." This is the prayer of all true parents all Christians and philanthropists.
The second text, uttered by our Lord, declares a good work done by a woman. She was the sister of Lazarus, whom He had recently raised from the dead and restored to his sisters, who so much needed his strong arm to lean upon.
The incident occurred while the Lord sat at meat at the table of Simon, who was probably a relative of the family

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and who, it is supposed, had been cured of leprosy by the Great Physician, and doubtless felt greatly honored to have his benefactor and his friend, Lazarus, at his table.
While Martha, the elder sister, led in the t duties of hostess, Mary, the younger sister, broke the seal of a box or bottle of costly ointment of spikenard, costing, in our coin, nearly fifty dollars, and poured it upon the Saviours head ; and then, according to St. John, poured a portion upon His feet and wiped them with the hair of her head, thus giving expression to her loving gratitude. This act was highly appreciated by our Lord, but some one pres ent St. John says it was Judas Iscariot raised an objec tion, declaring that it was a useless waste. He said it should have been sold and the money given to the poor not that he cared for the poor, but that he might handle the money ! Perhaps, too, he wished to find fault with the act performed by a woman.
NOT ALL DEAD.
I must say that all the Judas Iscariots did not die when this one subsequently hung himself! There are those in our day who are ready to object to every effort made by good women to elevate the race and promote the glory of God. The Lord rebuked Judas and commended Mary, saying, "She hath wrought a good work.*
"This is my anointing, or embalming, for my burial, which you will soon witness," he added. "Verily, I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of as a memorial of her."
Hence, we learn that woman may not only be strong in her mental and moral make-up polished and refined, re flecting true womanly virtues and the highest standard of character but she may also perform good works, such as shall live while sun, moon and stars their courses run! I

9O

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hold that the characteristics set forth in the two passages of Scripture read and briefly expounded are absolutely necessary to bring woman to the standard God designed in giving her being, and is attainable by all to a greater or less degree.
Having found the true standard, let us look first at the difficulties in the way to the desired state; and, secondly, how she may overcome them and obtain the desired boon.
THE FIRST DIFFICULTY.
The first difficulty I notice is the old, unfounded preju dice against the acknowledgement of her mental equality with the male sex. Of course this prejudice mainly exists with the opposite sex.
In her creation God evidently designed that she should be a help-meet to her liege lord; and, that this relation might be of the most tender and affectionate nature, He took a rib from near Adams heart and made woman from it.
Adam was made of the dust of the earth, Eve from one of Adams ribs ; hence, she was a second creation, or the product of a second work on the same material. In this I find a sufficient reason for her superior susceptibility and her beauty and attractiveness, but none for her being in tellectually or morally inferior.
At an early period man began to claim superiority and hold lordly sway over her because she lacked physical power. As the race degenerated, woman fell lower and lower in the scale until she became the "hewer of wood and bearer of burdens;" and, finally, an article of merchan dise. Y"ea, in some heathen lands they even denied to her an immortality, or existence beyond her present earthly hell!
Today, in all the Mohammedan and pagan lands, the multiplied millions of helpless females are hopeless !
The Christian religion has redeemed woman- lifted her

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to the position that God designed in her creation ! Her emancipation has been slow, even in Christian lands; yet, thank God, in all Christian countries woman has at last been restored to her primeval position the partner of her husbands joys and sharer of his sorrows: she walks by his side, his help-mate and his guardian angel!
However, there are some in Christendom -who prefer the heathen idea of womans inferiority !

THE SECOND DIFFICULTY.
The second difficulty at least in the way of some is vanity. They thoughtlessly fail to see their true interest; they are content with making1 a show. They prefer orna menting the body to cultivating the mind. They prefer the pleasures of following the fashion and shining in society to the seeking of those Christian virtues and graces, which are the most valuable of all treasures !
Now to the surmounting* of the obstacles: I notice, first, that fixity of purpose a determination to succeed is absolutely necessary to the attainment of true, noble and refined womanhood. Many girls give up the struggle for success without making proper effort. You hear expressions like these : "Oh, I cant learn this lesson," "I cant succeed in that study," etc. To all such I would say, Dont forget the old adage, ** Cant never accomplishes anything ; Ill Try has wrought wonders." Let your motto be, "Ill try ; I will I must I can succeed!" Then success is certain. I think some young ladies are injured by a spirit of envy. Because fortune has not smiled on them as upon others, they become discouraged and fail to put forth their best efforts. "If I were situated as Miss A. or Miss B., I would try, and might succeed." Let me remind you, dear girls, that the Bible tells us "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong."

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SERMONS.

Your duty is to " Act well your part; therein all honor lies." What I would say to your brothers on this line I would say to you. Push forward ; go on ; reach the top of the stairway "there is always room up-stairs."
The formation of proper habits Is as necessary for the well-being of girls as it is for that of their brothers. It has been said that " we are the creatures of habit." Most persons form habits in their youth which control their after life. Of all people, girls should be most careful in the formation of character, which is but the aggregate of the habits of life.
How careful she should be to never allow a frown upon her face. She should avoid forming the habit of "pouting the lip." She should learn to speak sweetly under all cir cumstances. Cultivate every facial and vocal and personal grace ; then cultivate the habit of observing certain hours for literary study, for the reading of Gods Word and offer ing of private prayer.
No better advice could be offered you than that given by a wise man to the ycraug : " Reduce your life to sys tem. Have s, place for everything, and everything in its place ; a time to do everything and do it on time."
Above all, go to God for the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. Know Him personally in His sin-pardoning, soul-saving power. Take His revealed Word for your secret counsel. Not only become a member of the church, but an active worker.
In this way alone can you become useful and ornamen tal members of the church and society. I fear that few of you have a proper view of the possibilities lying before you.
THE DAIRYMANS DAUGHTER.
Remember the poor dairymans daughter who, though poor in worldly goods, was rich in faith and abundant good

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works, and doubtless accomplished great good in her liraited sphere while she lived. After her death her pastor wrote her life, which little book has doubtless accomplished more good than any book of its kind ever published. It is still read and will be, perhaps, for years to come, with good results to the reader. " She, being dead, yet speaketh."
I now call your attention to the life and good, work that lies before you. I hold with St. Paul that " Marriage is honorable among all men." Of course he uses the term " men " in its generic sense. Hence, that marriage is honorable alike to both sexes, because equal in interest.
There is no step taken in life fraught with more inter est to the contracting parties, yet thousands of both sexes take no obligation with less consideration ! IJ ast observa tion has convinced me that woman is often deceived and becomes a sufferer by being unequally yoked with her lifepartner. This may result from her ignorance of the cor ruption of the human heart, together with the innate con sciousness of the purity of her own intentions and her own spotless life. She has not learned that "All that glitters is not gold."
Again, I fear that the ladies, in general, place too much stress upon appearances what they are pleased to denom inate "good looks."

AN INSTANCE IN POINT.
I remember the circumstance that first led me to this conclusion: During the autumn of 1859, I was seated in the parlor of one of the most intelligent, refined and re ligious families of North Georgia, in company with an other minister of the Gospel and quite a number of sen sible ladies.
A new book, "Methodist Pulpit, South," was brought in for exhibition by one of the young ladies of the house. In the book there were twenty-odd sermons, preached by

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as many eminent ministers of the Gospel. The photo graphic likeness of nearly every contributing preacher ap peared in connection with his sermon.
The book was opened by a lady occupying a central po sition in the group of about a dozen. Those ladies began, continued and ended their investigation of the contents of the boo!-: by a critical scrutiny of the picture of each one of the preachers, most of whom were advanced in years. If they had ever been "good" or "fine" looking, they had lost their beauty.
I noted expressions like the following falling from the lips of the entire group : " Oh, hes horrid ! " " Well, he is ugly!" "He dont look well." "leather hard-fa.vored."
V/hen they reached one who was not stricken with years, such expressions as these were heard: "Oh, isnt he fine looking ! " " He is real handsome," etc., etc.
A VALUABLE LESSON.
I waited until their investigations and criticisms were ended, and said, ** Ladies, you have taught me a valuable lesson one that is brand-new," They wished me to tell them what it was. I said, "It is, that you have clearly pointed out to rny mind the sole cause of most of womans woes. In looking at the pictures of these venerable men of God, called by Him to preach the Gospel, not one of you has said a word about intellectual appearance, or any other mark of qualification for the work of the ministry. All that you have said is in reference to good looks.
"I believe, ladies, that you have pointed out the real cause of the major portion of womans woes. It is, that fine appearances and good looks are your standard."
Some of the elderly among them indorsed my diagnosis. Let me say to you, young ladies, that often a corrupt heart is hid behind a face wreathed in smiles, and a trifling vagabond may be clad in the finest clothing.

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I wish also to say, that often beneath an uncouth ex terior like the richest diamond, which is found beneath the roughest coating may be discovered the true man.
Young ladies, permit me to assure you that a smiling face, a spendid physique and attractive manners should, if considered at all, be only secondary. It is the mind, the heart, that go to make the true man.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
The following questions, if settled affirmatively, will guide you aright in this most important matter: Is he of a good family ? Is he high-toned, honorable, moral ? la he industrious and economical. ? Has he business qualifi cations ? Above all, I,s he free from the Ijquor habit ? Is he religious? If so, do his religious views agree with my own ? It is better that his views and your own har monize, even to the denomination with, which you propose to worship. On this point I will not insist.
I think a fatal mistake is often made by the contracting parties in thevover-estimate of the perfection and the at tractive qualities possessed, each "by the other) No matter how beautiful or how well cultivated a young" lady may be, 1 feel constrained to inform you that she is not an angel nothing more than a woman, and, as such, has many im perfections,
Young ladies, let me forewarn you : You will not find perfection in the man of your choice. He is but a man, and full of imperfections !
WOMANS TRUE SPHERE.
I wish now to inquire, \Vhere is womans true sphere ? I answer, Not where heathen male supremacy places her, in the position of a serf, a slave. No, never! Nor where the blatant advocate of " womans rights " would place her on the rostrum as the advocate of political creeds, or beside the roughs and toughs from the dens of vice at the

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ballot-box! Nor with sword in hand, like Joan of Arc, to lead an army to the ensanguined battle-field.
I rejoice to know that we live in a day when there are many avenues open to her to a legitimate business, par excellence, with her brothers, and in which she may earn an honest living. She admirably nils the bill in the school room, and stands pre-eminent as a teacher of music She is at home behind the counter, and is most successful in making large sales of merchandise, especially in articles wanted by her sex. She is at home with the typewriter and in telegraphy. She transcends all competitors in the parlor, and, above all, in the home. Indeed, no home is complete without her angelic presence and Heavenordained ministrations.
In the room of the sick she is an angel of mercy. " Wo man was last at the cross andy?w^ at the sepuleker."
She nurses the sick tendcriy. By her words of en couragement she inspires hope in the bosom of the sufferer. She is the last to leave the dying, and when the spirit has left the body, she gently closes the eyes of the dead. Then she turns to the bereaved. While her face is suffused with sympathetic tears, and the rainbow of hope immortal is seen in each one that drops, she preaches Jesus and the resurrection !
WIFE AND MOTHER.
It is as wife and mother that she is most at ease and appears to best advantage. No man can be truly happy without a good wife. Solomon says her price her value is above that of rubies. She shares the joys and suc cesses of her husband, and gently and silently bears the larger portion of his sorrows and burdens.
Some say that woman never comes to a conclusion by logical processes. If not, it seems to me that she, quick as the lightnings flash, reaches proper conclusions on all

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moral questions. She seems to possess prescience ! Ill does it go with the husband, son or brother who heeds not the warnings given by wife, mother or sister. He should pause, reflect, and act with discretion.
WOMANS WORK IN THE CHURCH.
Let us now look at womans work in the Church of God. There has been a great deal said in reference to certain statements made by St. Paul in regard to women speaking in public assemblies.
Some years since I went to a certain town in. Georgia in which, a short time previous, there had been a revival of great power. A large number had been added to the membership and the church much revived. Good, women had been actively engaged in the work and their labors greatly blessed.
A PROPOSITION REFUSED.
Shortly after rny arrival one of the bearded lords of creation called upon me and said, * f I am glad you are here and s,re going to preach to-night. I wish you to preach from the twelfth verse of the second chapter of the First Book of Timothy, which reads, ' I suffer not a wo man to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but-to be in silence." Said I, "You are mistaken in the man if you wish me to preach against womans work in the church."
"Well," said he, "Paul says suffer it not." "Yes," said I, "he said he did not suffer it. Perhaps there were special reasons why he had not so allowed in the localities where he then was; and, again, St. Paul does not say he was inspired to write that to Timothy. In his letter to the church at Corinth, while speaking along this line, he tells us he does not write by inspiration on that subject, but simply gives his personal views. My brother, I wish to inquire, did God bless the labors of those women ? "

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He replied, "Yes, it seemed to me that their work \vas blessed more than the sermons of the preachers."
"Well," said I, "that settles it. I shall preach to them to go ahead and work as long1 as God owns and blesses their labors."
There were prophetesses under the Mosaic ar-rl Prophetic dispensations and deaconesses in the early Christian Church. I feel safe in saying that opposition to womans work helped to bring about that period known in the history of the Church a? "the dark age," a period when the spirit of God well-nigh departed from the Church.
The wonderful progress made by the Church during the last half century has largely disenthralled woman and brought her useful powers into operation, which has re dounded wonderfully to the Masters glorious cause.
Woman now moves in the front rank of all church work. She is found, Bible in hand and with a heart full of the love of souls, in all missionary fields.
MRS. BOOTH MISS WILLASD.
Look at Mrs. Booth in the work of evangelization. She marches by the side of her husband as the two lead the Salvation Army, composed of soldiers of both sexes, true and tried, around the world ! They have visited almost every nation on the globe and left their impress for good.
I also call your attention to Miss Frances \V;llard, at the head of that mighty host of good women from all civ ilized lands, known as the "White jR-ibbon .Army. They are; fighting to liberate the homes of their sex from the blight, the curse of intoxicating liquor.
Look at the seven thousand, five hundred Deaconesses of Germany They go into the dark abodes of the fallen of their sex, rescuing the inmates from ruin. They build homes for the pauper population of their native land. They put the Bible in the hands of the poor and the outcasts.

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The Protestant Epscop-l Church has indorsed tli^ labors of these noble women and now has them at work all over England.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, by enactment, ia the year 1888, authorized the organization of the Order of Deaconesses. They now have holies for the -poor and fallen in most of the large cities in the Nortbera States. This enterprise, in a few years, v/iil reach all the cities >TI the civilized world !
The "Womens Christian Association also had its origin in the year iSSS. In two years they reported sixty-three associations, and the good work goes on, with increasing momentum.
WOMANS MISSIONARY VVORK.
The womans missionary work also demands thought ful consideration. The Womans Missionary Society in our church has raised large sums of money every year since its organization.
The women are now sustaining missionaries of their own sex in all our mission fields. Our talented, educated and consecrated Laura Haygood is pushing mission work forward in China. Georgia has a goodly number of godly women in the field now.
The woman missionary alone has access to the Eastern harems and the Flindoo women. "Women have proven to be the most successful missionary teachers and doctors.
It is clear that heathen women and children, can only be reached and. brought to Christ through the instrumen tality of Christian women.
As I survey the field, I see a vast array, composed of both sexes, marching on to the battle and final triumph !
The world of man is soon to be v,--on to our Hord. Wo man will share largely in the glory and lead in the song of triumph !

SKRMONS.
In conclusion, my young sisters, let me urge you to consecrate yourselves to God and the work of the church. I assure you that your work for the Lord will not be in vain. You will certainly reap a golden harvest in due season if you faint not.
A word to those of you, my sisters, who have attained to riper years. I most earnestly entreat you to go to work in your respective spheres. Do the work that is nearest you in the line of duty. Do it to the best of your ability. The good Lord -will open doors of usefulness to you. Come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty ! Let all press forward to higher attainments in the divine life. Your efforts will be crowned with success. Verily, the Lord of Hosts will be with you!
Will He desert a helping hand-- A willing- lieait and mind
That seeks to aid His working band, Nor with His Spirit bind ?
' The Lord of Hosts is good and great-- He pities all below :
And welcomes to a happy fate Those who with Him wcmld go."

THE PRODIGAL SON.
" 1'willarise and go to my father"--LUKE xv., 18. My text is selected from one of our Lords most strik ing and beautiful parables. It brings clearly before us the sacred relation of father and son. It appeals at once to both parental and filial affection. All the parables used by the great Teacher are apt and forcible. This, as well as many others, seems to have been taken from real life. Let us regard it as genuine history. I fancy that I see the homestead. It is a suburban location, with fields and enclosed pasture in the rear of the old, farm-like residence, which has adjacent all buildings necessary to successful farm life. In the fields we see the promising growing crops; in the pastures the grazing herds and flocks. The poultry-yard is well supplied \vith domes tic fowls; the barns and garners are well stored with the previous crops. Industry, economy and thrift dwell in harmony and unite in making this an attractive home. We are introduced to only two children. Both are sons. The elder has been taught to go to his daily labor with the hired servants. The younger is the pet of the family and has all his wishes and whims gratified. He goes to the fields when he wishes and leaves when he chooses. So with regard to acquiring an education. He soon grows weary of dis ciplinary restraint. He finds himself unpopular with his fellow-pupils. He becomes more neglectful of his studies. He finally decides that his teacher is a "very partial teacher," but is prejudiced against him. He decides to quit school. He has had "his way" all his life, and these fond,

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loving parents let him have his way again and thereby they have sealed his ruin !
Who ever knew "the pet" of a family to be worth anything to Church or State ? Is there a woman who can be happy as the wife of a man who was the petted son of weak, indulgent parents? She can never please him. If she could call all the ang-els in Kea^en to her assistance, they -would find themselves, like the poor wife, unabJe to please him !
A FOOLS SOLILOQUY.
No wonder that a youth who has had his every whim gratified, and been allowed to do as he chose, should soon become weary of home life! Hear him, "The idea of a young man who is as fine-looking as I am, and who has the talent that I have, staying around an old farm home. What ! Such a j-oung- man as I to be expected to here) the sheep, pen the calves, feed the pigs and do farm work! Hu ! No, indeed ! Then the old man and the old woman think they know so much more than I do ! You see, they dont wish me to go clown town at night, where there is a lot of things to be seen and learned, specially at the drinking saloon, where the people meet and take a social glass. Then to hear the funny expressions of men from half to full drunk. : some so foolish and yet so funny. And then the games that are played euchre, poker, and all such. Then to go to meet the fast ones of the fair sex, and a thousand other things I might enjoy and really have enjoyed, but had to He to old Gov. and the old woman -tell them I went to prayer-meeting or to hear ai lecture, or some other tale I have to hatch up, just to keep old governor from giving me a lecture, or seeing the old woman cry.
"Thats the way with old men. They think because they have lived a long while they must needs tell us boys

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Finally I succeeded in getting a layman to go with me. By the time we reached the residence of Mr. H., it was
night. The little dwelling was crowded "with females who were recognized as fallen women. There was a large number of men, of the baser sort, in the yard. As we ap proached they made way for us,
On entering we found old man H. sitting near the fire place. Notwithstanding the extreme heat of the weather, a little fire was burning upon the hearth. He held a pistol in his hand, and was using profane language at a fearful rate. All present seemed to be in fear that he would fire off his deadly weapon. Brother N. and I approached the bed, upon which lay a woman with a very large wound in her neck, near the windpipe. The wound appeared as large as a twenty-five cent silver piece, and blood constantly flowed from it. Bed and pillow were literally soaked with blood, and the vital fluid also ran off in a small stream on the floor, for two or three feet.
As I came near, I said, "You seem to be badly hurt, madam. Please tell me how this came about."
On hearing nie speak, " Old Dutchy," as the boys called Mr. H., arose from his chair, and although full of whiskey, was soon by my side. Throwing his arm around my neck, he exclaimed, "Mr, breacher, me sen for you to come and bray me vomans veil," Then, addressing all in the room, " Git you down git you down, while this briest bray me vomans veil! Git down me say, git down ! " He was obeyed ; all knelt. Then, pulling me down, he said, * Now, Mr. breacher, you bray me vomans veil ! By this time he had me on my knees, and was holding one arm around my neck. There was nothing left for me but to obeyhis command. I began praying as best I could un der the circumstances, he, despite my every effort to pre vent it, rubbing his whiskey-stenched face against my cheek, and keeping up all the while a continuous volume

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the young son had a right to make the demand. If so, I am sure it was never sanctioned by the God they professed to serve. It was a foolish and dangerous law and should never have been enacted.
Let the cause have been what it may, the father assented and gave unto him a good portion of his living.
The old adage is, "Come easy, go easy" that is, the money gotten without proper exertion, will soon be squan dered.
In imagination I follow this young man. First he lays out a good sum in fine clothing and such ornaments as suit his fancy. He desires to have it said that he is the most finely dressed of all the young men around he must outshine them ! Then he buys the finest chariot that can be purchased in the market and the costliest pair of prancing., showy steeds. All his outfit must be first-class!
ALL ABOARD FOR RUIN !
All things being in readiness, he bids adieu to asso ciates and acquaintances. I imagine I see his splendid equipage in front of the old homestead. His gold, silver and other valuables are deposited in his chariot.
The father bids his son farewell. He adds, "Do right, and may God be \vith you!" The mother throws her arms around his neck and prints maternal kiss after kiss upon his cheek. In sobbing accents she says, "My dar ling son, serve God, do your duty, and remember that you will ever have a mothers prayers !"
His cheeks are dry. Selfishness personified ! So great is his anxiety to get away from the little parental restraint that has been thrown around him and to have "a good time," he actually forgets to shed a tear!
He steps into his chariot and drives away at a rapid gait. Dont he make a great show? As he reaches the last summit from which he can command a view of his old

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home and the scene of his nativity, he hurriedly surveys them and says : " When I look upon these surround ings again, it will be when I have gotten in possession of sufficient wealth to buy out all the property that lies within the range of my vision I"
He drives on and on until he reaches a point he thinks sufficiently far from home that the old folks and acquaint ances will never hear of the loose and abandoned life he proposes to live.
HE BEGINS HIS DOWNWARD CAREER.
He says to himself, * Here I will spend a season and enjoy life." He puts up at the most fashionable and costly public house. He calls for the most costly articles of diet and drinks the finest wines. He visits the resorts of the most fashionable society and soon becomes acquainted with those known in modern parlance as gamblers. He knows where every immoral resort is located yea, even the lowest dives and dens of vice are frequented by him !
It is soon noised abroad that a very wealthy young gen tleman from Judea is in the city. The members of the u upper ten " are anxious to form his acquaintance. Those who indulge in the intoxicating beverage seek to meet him at all public drinking resorts. He is not only rich, but exceedingly liberal ; he treats all who meet him at these places.
His new male acquaintances laud his liberality and gen tlemanly characteristics to the skies. The ladies, both young and more elderly for ladies, you know, never grow old (?) all wish to make his acquaintance, the younger with the hope of making a good impression upon him, and thereby forming a matrimonial alliance; and the more elderly that they may assist their marriageable daughters in catching the man who is said by all to be such a "good catch."

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Surely no stranger ever became so universally popular in so short a time !
There is an old adage that runs thus, "A fool and his money soon part." Another closely allied with it reads, "Willful waste makes wofui want."
Both are clearly illustrated in this young mans ex perience. He is the first to find that his money is ex hausted. His desire to keep up appearances demands that he resort to some artifice to raise money. All at once he discovers that his pair of fine horses do not suit him, neither does his chariot. He therefore only wishes to dis pose of them to replace them with a finer pair and a more costly vehicle, so he says. He finds a purchaser, but is compelled to sell at a reduced figure. He now has money sufficient to enable him to run his former schedule for a short period indeed, very short /
When this is exhausted, his watch and other valuables, one after another, are sold, or deposited with the pawn broker for small sums of money.
SHELTERLESS, MONEYLESS, FRIENDLESS.
He now finds himself not only out of money, but also out of anything to raise money with. His board bills, wine bills and other demands press him. He finds himself ejected from the hotel and from the society that once courted his favor. Even the boon companions who made him believe (while he had money) that they almost adored him, now shun him. The very men who received across their counters a good portion of the money so lavishly spent, in return for the deadly intoxicating fluid with which he so freely treated his so-called friends, now curse him and, with a kick, drive him from their doors.
No door is open for his reception, no table spread to appease his hunger, no one to speak a kind word no wo man in any walk of life, high or low, now smiles upon him.

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Poor fellow! Houseless, moneyless paid, friendless! His case seems desperate. Some decisive course must be adopted. What will he do ?
One would think that it would be better for him to re turn to his fathers house. From this suggestion he shrinks with horror. He says, " No, never ! What! I go back on foot, my money gone ? Thus face my father and mother, rny old associates and the people who have known, me all rny life ? I go back thus humiliated ? No ! I would prefer death to such an experience ! I cannot remain here, though. The fellows whom I once thought rny friends and who declared I was the best fellow on earth, now pass me on the street without giving a recognizing glance. I am weak, weary, suffering for food and rest, but no one will extend to rne either aid or sympathy, I cannot dig to beg I am ashamed.
RETURNING FORTUNES WILL, O' THE WISP.
"Well, there is only one course left to me. That is, to go further. Ill turn my back toward my fathers house and my face toward a distant country. I will travel on, hoping something may turn up to favor me in my terrible condition.
"Above all, I do hope that I will not meet with any who may carry back the news of my wretched condition to my native land."
He starts he knows not whither, but presses onward. Alas ! alas ! this is but the experience of all who rush headlong into sin of any kind. They are unwilling to re turn while the distance is comparatively short. They go further and further away from all true sources of help and reclamation. The famine that has spread its deadly influence over all that land has cut off all possibility of honorable employ ment for the young man. Besides, his seedy appearance

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and the unmistakable traces of debauchery rise like a stone wall between him and honest employment. Finally he is offered a position as swine-herd. In the eye of a Jew no employment can be lower or more debasing; but hunger knows no law, and want, in a fallen soul, no bound !
See him, as he enters upon his new employment, taking his position among the grunting hogs and squealing pigs 3 Now climbing the corab tree, shaking the hanging horn like pods fiora the limbs, while the hogs greedily feed upon the falling seeds; now, descending the tree, he attempts to satisfy his hunger with this poor food. His attempt proves a failure. I see him as he seats himself at the root of the tree. In a moment his rnind goes back to the home and scenes of his childhood. He remembers how mother smoothed his pillow and tucked the cover around his little form in childhood; and that she always had something nice and sweet to satisfy his hunger. He remembers the table at the old homestead that was always well supplied with the necessaries, and many of the luxuries, of life.
HE RESOLVES TO RETURN.
The images of father, mother, brother and sister, and even the hired servants, rise up before his minds eye. He sees them as in the days of yore. He sees them seated at the table eating. He hears their happy, cheerful laugh. He hears them singing merry songs while engaged in their daily labors. Then he says, " All are happy at home, and there is plenty there. Lo, I perish with hunger! But I cannot go back. What! meet my old associates and ac quaintances in my present condition ? No, I must not think of that. My! what a fool Ive been! I had money given me by my father, left home in fine style, and said if ever I returned it would be as a millionaire! I spent my money in riotous living. The vile men and lewd women upon whom I spent my fortuuef when my money was gone,

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laughed me to derision and called me a fool 1 It seems that every step I have taken in the direction I have gone has not only carried me farther from home and those who used to love me, but also more deeply into degradation and want. Should I go farther matters will grow worse. If I remain here I shall surely perish. The pulp and bean from these corab trees cant sustain life. Oh, if I only had one square meal from mothers table! Father always has plenty. I am ashamed to think of returning. I know that, father and mother were ever ready to forgive my short comings, but this has been such a grievous wrong such a fall! I must not tarry here longer. If I do I shall surely die. Well, I am resolved to make the trial. Let me see : what shall I say to father when he sees me in this terrible plight ? Will he drive me from his door? I hope he will not. He has a tender heart. I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants. Yea, I will arise and make the start this very moment."
A LESSON.
Let us pause a moment to learn a lesson here. Such is the result of sin that, like an opiate long continued, it affects the body, all moral sensibility is deadened, reason itself becomes paralyzed or dethroned, and the poor subject is absolutely in a demented condition. He wanders away farther and farther from God and his own best interests. Like a madman, he fancies that he can find the lost boon of happiness by following the ignus fatuus of his own deranged creation.
This was the case of the young prodigal. He had not for a moment been in a condition to exercise the powers of reason from the time he got the consent of his mind to leave his fathers house until seated at the root of that

tree, surrounded by the swine. Then, amid the keen pangs of hunger,, reason remounted her throne and asserted her dominion. Kappily he now heeds her voice and obeys her mandate. We leave him to his cogitations.
As he moves forward, we see him halt by the wayside to rest his weary limbs for a few moments; then rushing forward as fast as his strength will permit. When night spreads her sable curtain over the face of Nature, he lies down by the wayside to recuperate his physical powers in sleep. I seera to see his lips move. I hear him say, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against thee." Then his lips are sealed for a moment. Again they move. He cries, "Why, mother dear, I feared " Again he is silent.
Time passes on. The poor prodigal continues to travel. He now says to himself, * If I can only keep able to travel, by this time to-morrow I hope I may be able to reach the old homestead, and I will say " Let us leave the young man to travel alone the next few hours. I_et us go to the old homestead.
THE PRESCIENT DREAM.
It is a cloudless do.y. The elder son and the servants are in the fields. Everything- moves as in the past. The aged father and mother are seated in their old arm chairs in the family sittiiig room. There is a window on each side of the old-fashioned chimney, from which each has a full view of the road by which the long-lost boy traveled when they last looked upon bis form. They both seem to be lost in deep thcug-ht. The old lady breaks the silence. She says, " Old man, I have strange feelings to-day. I had a dream last night. I know you dont believe in dreams. Neither do I, but this dream made a deep impression on my mind and I cant shake it off. I dreamed that our long-lost boy, Joseph, came home. I thought he came on

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foot, his clothes all tattered and torn. He came down the long lane from yonder hill-top, limping as he walked. We ran to meet him., and how happy I thought we were to see him alive again ; and, somehow, I cant keep from, looking for him to come just as I saw him in my dream."
The old gentleman replies, " No, I dont believe in dreams, but I seem to have had a kind of presentiment, too. I feel, from some cause, that our boy will soon be here, and, like you, I cant keep from looking up the lane, hoping to see him."
"YONDER HE IS !"
Silence again ensues. Some minutes pass. I see the wife and mother as she gazes up the open avenue. She removes her spectacles from her eyes and rubs the glasses well with the end of her apron ; then, readjusting them, she takes another look. She rises to her feet, looks again and exclaims, "Yes, old man, yonder he is! That is our son. Im sure it is he !"
The old man looks too, and says, " Maybe so ; but that looks to me like a tramp "
She replies, "Yes, but that is just as I saw him in my dream !"
She starts to run to meet him. The old father also rushes out and up the avenue. They run with all possible speed. They seem to have forgotten that they are old and stricken in years. The father outruns the mother in the race. The poor, unfortunate son recognizes both in the distance. When his father comes within speaking dis tance, he endeavors to recall the confession and appeal he resolved upon while sitting at the root of that tree sur rounded by the hogs. In tremulous tones he begins, " Father, I have sinned against Heaven and "
At this moment the father embraces him and lavishes kiss after kiss upon his lips and weather-beaten cheek. He

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resumes, determinedly, "I say, fathei, I have sinned " Now the mother reaches them and throws her arms
around the necks of father and son. She, too, kisses him as a mother only can.
The son weeps. She takes hold of a lock of his hair, twisting it in her fingers. She says, "My poor, darling boy; he is so emaciated ! " Then, stooping, she even kisses his wounded feet. "My poor, darling child!" Ah, the mother love is speaking !
Again the son begins, " Father, I have sinned " The father cuts short his confession by addressing the servants who have followed, "Go, bring forth the best robe and put it on him ! Take off these rags and tatters! I say, bring forth the best robe and put it on him I" "Father, I say I have sinned " The father again heeds not the confession, but says, " Servants, hear again : Bring the ring of honor and put it on his finger !" Again the son begins, " I say, father " " Here, Jacob, my servant, bring shoes for his feet these poor, bruised feet! " The mother says, " I will wash and anoint these poor feet." The father continues, "Not only bring the best robe, ring and shoes, but go also, Reuben, and kill the fatted calf. Prepare a great feast. Let others go and invite in the neighbors and friends. Tell them to bring their instruments of music. Hurry up the feast. Hasten in the friends. Tell them that our son, who was dead, is alive again ! He was lost and is found!" The son is soon in the best robe, a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. The fatted calf is slain and the feast made ready. It is enjoyed by all. The music begins and all are filled with joy and gladness!
THE FATHER OF ALL MANKIND.
Our blessed Lord uses this natural illustration to show

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to the world of sinners that the great God of Heaven sus tains the relationship of Father to ail mankind; that parental love, which is the strongest and noblest love known to man, is adumbrative of the more exalted and more enduring love of God, the Father, to the children of man; that although, like the poor, foolish prodigal son in the parable, they may go away from God and all that is lovely, pure and good yea, may plunge into sin of the deepest dye yet the paternal love of God will follow them through their prodigal course ! He is ever anxious for the sinner to return; ever ready to meet arid embrace him and, in pity, kiss away his sin and sorrow; to wash away, in blood Divine, every guilty stain; to clothe him in the gar ment of salvation, which is Heavens best robe, and put the ring of honor upon his finger ; to elevate him to the position of Gods adopted son ; and to put the preparation of the Gospel of Peace upon his feet! The fatted calf has been slain and the feast prepared. It is ready and waiting for the repenting, returning sinner !
The rejoicing at the feast in the house of the father of the returned prodigal, is typical of the joy that is felt in the family of God, the Father, both among those who live upon earth and those who dwell in Heaven, at the conver sion of the sinner from the error of his way!
What an incentive to the sinner to retrace his steps and come to God ! He may thereby not only save his soul, but cause gladness among all the inhabitants of Heaven and among all the good of earth ! Again, this truth should bring forth all the powers of the Church in the most earnest endeavors to bring the wanderers home to God !

THE
Transfiguration of Our JLord.
" And He ivas transfigured before tJisai" IVL-vriii ix., 2. When the wonderful and soul-inspiring incident of which rny texJ; narrates the most important part, occurred, our Lord had, well-nigh completed His active ministry. The tragic scenes through which He xvas to pass inorder to finish the work of redemption, were at the door! j.-Ie desired to con firm the faith, of His followers and prepare them, for the coming trial. Pie selected Peter, James and John to accompany Him to the summit of a mountain upon which He wished to spend the night. He purposed to reveal His true nature and Godhead to these picked disciples - that they, at: the proper time, might testify to their brethren tiie wonderful tilings they had witnessed and thus strengthen them in the d&y of trial. Perhaps the sun had disappeared behind the western hills when the Master left his other disciples for a few hours and, with Peter, James and John, began the ascent of, probably, Mount Hermon.. The twilight had probably disappeared and the sable curtain of night was spread over the face of Nature ei-2 they reached, the place where the Lord designed to tarry for the night, Leaving KTiu three companions at a. suitable place, ITe passed on. some paces iatther. He kneeled upon the earth and began an agonizing prayer. The fearful struggle through which he knew he must soon pass weighed heavily upon Him. While He prayed the three disciples fell asleep.

They were soon awakened by the effects of a supernat ural light, which illumined the mountain top with more than noon-day brilliancy! They also heard a conversation, every word of which thrilled their very being!
T.HE TRANSFIGURATION.
As they turned their eyes toward where they had seen the Master kneel, they discovered that His person and "ahnent had undergone a wonderful change. His gar ment was white as snow and flashed forth His indwelling Divinity. With the transfigured Lord there stood two celestial visitors, whom they instantly recognized as Moses and Klias! They heard these visitors talk with Him of the demise which He was soon to realize at Jerusalem/ They saw a bright cloud, upon which these celestials, perhaps, rode on their visit to the Lord Jesus. They beard a voice proclaim in unmistakable accents, "This is iVly beloved Son; hear Him."
The three disciples ware rilled with an indescribable ecstasy. The impetuous Peter cried out, "Master, it is good for us to be here ; let us make three tabernacles ; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias!"
The word "transfigure" literally means "going "beyond the ordinary figure or appearance." Of this the Lord Jesus gave a clear illustration in that wonderful experience on the mountain top.
I desire to draw some lessons from this thrilling inci dent in the life and experience of our blessed Lord.
Firsf, we learn the necessity of prayer. If the Lord Jesus found it necessary to pray often yea, to spend hours, and frequently whole nights, in prayer while He held in reserve Omnipotence itself; while He could call to His aid all the heavenly hosts, at His fiat bring to His aid all the forces pent up in Nature, holding in His hand the issues of life and death the keys to Heaven and hell: if

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He found it necessary thus to pray, oh? tell me, is not the necessity for poor, sinful, dying man, without any reserve force outside the mercies of God, under unceasing neces sity to pray? Yea, should he not absolutely live in con stant touch with the Mercy Seat?
We learn, secondly, that prayer is efficacious. It was while our Lord was engaged in prayer to the Father that the "cloud of most excellent glory" removed from the dome of the celestial temple and came down to envelop the summit of the mountain, and attest the divinity and glory of the praying Son of God ! Moses and Elijah came to strengthen Him for His coming ordeal in answer to His prayer. And it was in answer to His prayer that the Fathers Voice proclaimed Him His beloved Son !
All Christians know the worth of prayer. We were converted, born into the family of God, in answer to prayer. All the baptisms of the Holy Spirit, all our spiritual strength preparation both for doing and suffer ing the will of God carne in answer to the prayer of faith. The poet says:
"Yet who tiiat knows the worth of prayer But wishes to be often there r "
Montgomery sings :
"Prayer is the Christians vital breath, The Christians native air ;
His watchword at the gates of death ; He enters Heaven with prayer."
We also learn that the law of God must be preserved inviolate. The mission of the Lord into this world was to redeem man from under the curse of the law violated in Eden. Hvery demand of that law had to be met. The fiery sentence, * The soul that sinneth shall die!" had gone forth. All mankind had sinned and fallen under the condemnation of death in the first transgression by our

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federal heads, Adam and Kve, In whom all their posterity foil sernmally.
This sentence demanded execution. The demands of justice must be met before God could justify the sinner.
To meet this law and satisfy its inexorable demands, v/as assigned the Eternal Word, the Creator of all things, who left the throne and glory which He had with the Father, and came to earth to die the just for the unjust! - and thus to bring the offender, man, into a state of reconciliation with the offended God, thereby placing him on salvable ground,
MOSES ENCOURAGING WORDS.
Moses was the representative of the Law, the worlds great law-giver. Hence, the propriety of his visit to the Lord at the transfiguration scene. I have thought that Peter, James and John must have heard Moses say, " O, Thou King of kings, the worlds Redeemer and Prince of Glory! the hour is at hand when. You are to meet, singlehanded, the demands of that law which says, * Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins. Be strong and courageous. The lion of hell will roar, the bulls of Bashon bellow. All the powers of darkness will unite against Thee, yet Thine own Arm shall bring deliv erance ! The cup Thou shalt drink is bitter, but when Thou shalt see of the travail of Thy Soul, Thou shalt be satisfied !"
The promise made in Eden, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head," was the key-note of the prophets. Prophet after prophet, from the height of the prophetic mount, foresaw the advent, life, suffering and tragis death of the Lord Jesus.
As Moses was the fit representative of the Law, so Elijah was of the prophets. He was the prince of all ancient seers. As the representative of those who foretold

Christs propitiatory death n.nd the glory that should follow, it was propef that he, its whom all the Messianic rays of prophecy centered, should stand with Moses, the representative of Law, upon the Mount of Transfiguration
" And speak of the strife that ;voii our life With the incarnate Son of God."
When I get to Heaven, I propose to request both Mos-23 and ."Elijah to please repeat to me the conversation that passed between them and the Lord Jesus upon the Mount of Transfiguration.!
Let us note the effect produced upon those who wit nessed the incidents. The impetuous Peter, as he and his two friends looked upon, the thrilling scene, beheld a won drous change come over the appearance of the seamless garment worn by their Master. The lirne dust of Judea iiacl disappeared. The garment was white and glistening", white as snow, and His face shone as the sun!
They looked upon the faces of Moses and Elijah, heard them speak and recognized them. The "cloud of most excellent glory" enveloped them. Heaven seemed to have descended to the mountain top. They were filled and thrilled with the divine manifestations. Just as Peter ended his impulsive proposition, the Voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son; hear Him."
EVER PRESENT TO BLESS AND SAVE.
To this day, when God manifests His saving power by blessing believers, convicting and converting sinners; when the house of God, or other place where His people have met, is filled with the Divine presence; when a divine halo seems to envelop the place, and we feel that we inhale a heavenly atmosphere then we would echo Peters cry, "Let us abide here, for it is good to be here!" These manifestations can, and will, ever be realized ! When the

Church draws nigh to God, He will ever be present to bless and save!
We also learn that the soul at death does not, as some assert, fall into a deep sleep, from which it will not awake until the trump of God announces the resurrection day.
Moses died on Nebo. A company of angels took pos session of his body to give it an honored burial. Another corps of celestials bore his immortal spirit to the God who gave it, where, so far as we know, he remained in a soul state until called to leave his heavenly home to view the transfiguration of the King of Glory, upon the mountains summit,
It is clear that the disembodied soul not only exists, but can, and does, act independently of the body. Here we have evidence plain and unmistakable that Moses talked with Jesus of His rapidly approaching demise. Therefore, we are authorized to believe that our sainted dead talk, sing and shout the praise of God in unison with the heavenly hosts yes., more ; that they are, beyond all doubt, recognizable.
Then they must have form and feature! May we not be allowed to fondly cherish the impressions we had in our childhood ? We then thought of our beloved dead as beinghappy in Heaven as having form and features as we saw them on earth, only they had put on a diviner beauty and a heavenly perfection !
A PREPARATION FOR DEATH.
We may also regard this wonderful experience of our blessed L,ord as a baptism to; or preparation for, death. By it He was strengthened and enabled to drink the bitter cup to its very dregs.
We must remember that the JLord Jesus possessed both the human and the divine natUTc in perfection. As God, lie knew what lay befoiC Him ; He knew that His

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enemies would soon, through the weakness and wickedness of Judas, have Him betrayed, pass Him through a mock trial and condemn Him to death the ignominious death of the Roman cross!- that His immediate followers would forsake Him and leave Him to tread the wine press alone; that of the people there should be none with Him; that He would have to bear the cross, with its shame, alone; that all the demons in pandemonium would array them selves against Him ; that as He, the Redeemer of the world of man, bore the sins of all, the world, the flesh and the devil would combine their forces against Him; that He alone must meet the awful demands of the violated Law bear the sins of all upon His own shoulders. He also knew that without the shedding of His blood there could be no remission of sins.
While He knew all this, and while He loved man as God alone could love, yet, as man, He dreaded the cup He had to drink the pangs necessary to the redemption of the race of man ! His man-nature needed the visitation of the representatives of the Law and the Prophets, as well as the wonderful displays of the Fathers presence and approval.
We take it that every step in this grand programme, and every attending circumstance, was designed to prepare Him for what awaited Him; and, secondly, to enable the eye-witnesses to strengthen the faith and confirm the hope of the infant Church, which would be needed after the Son of Man was raised from the dead.
HIS GRACE SUFFICIENT.
The Great Head of the Church assures us that His grace shall be sufficient for us. I risk nothing in affirming that God prepares His people to meet and pass success fully through every providence He may visit upon them !
This not only holds good in reference to the varied

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troubles of life, but also in that supreme trial denomi nated death! Nothing but the grace of God can prepare
us for that dreadful ordeal! We also learn from this lesson that there is a deep
interest in man felt in Heaven, not only by God, but by these who once lived on the earth and have passed frem its sorrows arid conflicts to their home in the glorious beyond. Here are two holy men, who lived in different ages of the past, who most clearly demonstrated their interest in the affairs of this world and the future welfare and happiness of our race. They willingly left their loved employ in Heaven and descended to the Mount of Trans figuration to demonstrate that fact. I rejoice to know that the Bible tells us the inhabitants of Heaven the created angels and the spirits of the just made perfect "are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation."
It is pleasing to know that, while the hosts of demons and evil spirits under the control of the prince of dark ness, unite for our overthrow, the triune God, who has at His command the angelic legions and the innumerable hosts of disembodied spirits, sends us aid in every hour of need. They often turn aside dangers seen and unseen by us. They minister unto us in a thousand ways.
Charles Wesley says of the e\il spirits, "They throng the air and darken heaven," Again, he sings :
"Which of the petty kings of earth Can "boast a guard like ours
Encircled from our second birtb. "With all the heavenly powers ?
"Angels, whereer we go, attend Our steps whateer betide,
With watchful care their charge defend,
And evil turn aside.
"Their .inst.mjne.ntal aid unknown

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They clay and night supply ; And, free from fear, we lay us down,
Thougii Satans host be nig-h.
"And when ottr spiiits we resign, On outstretched wings they bear,
And lodge us in the arms Divine, And leave us ever there."
As Elijah was translated carried soul and body to Heaven and came to the Mount of Transfiguration in his dual glorified state ; and as Moses died on Nebo and was only present in his soul state, does not the absence of the body in which he suffered in the service of God for one hundred and twenty years, demand the resurrection of his body ? And, if the resurrection of the body of Moses is necessary to his equality with Elijah and complete happi ness in Heaven, it follows that the bodies of Gods saints should be raised from the dead!
The final lesson that we learn from this glorious trans figuration of our Lord is the certainty of the recognition of the sainted dead! What teaching of the Bible affords more comfort to the Christian bereaved by death of loved ones? The idea that those who know and love each other on earth may stand side by side in Heaven without mutual recognition that husband and wife or parent and child shall not know each other there is too cold and heartless for my acceptance! I learn from St. Paul that we shall know in Heaven as we are known.
I can but subscribe to the view of Dr. John Hall. His wife queried, "Johnny, do you think we will know each other in Heaven?" He replied, "Jennie, do we not know each other here?" She answered affirmatively. "Then/* said he, "Jennie, do you think going to Heaven will make fools of us?" She replied, "I had net thought of that." She retired perfectly satisfied with the Doctors statement of the case.

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The little child is able to recognize the mothers voice and gentle touch at a very tender age. The small toddler knows the father as far as his vision can reach and runs to meet him and receive his caresses.
Some years since, a son, after a long absence, resolved to visit the parental home. He reached it at a late hour of the night. He attempted to change his voice and asked to be permitted to spend the remainder of the night under their roof. The aged mother leaped from her bed and rushed to the door to meet her son. She recognized him despite his changed voice !
Again, I cannot for a moment believe that those who are so unfortunate as to be consigned to eternal exile from God, are wiser in the world of woe than are the inhabitants of Heaven in their blessed abode! In the parable used by our Saviour of the rich man and Lazarus, He represents the rich man as lifting up his eyes in hell and, although tormented with unquenchable names, seeing and recognizing Lazarus, whom he looked upon last at his gate in great affliction. His recognition was so clear that he called him by name. He also recognized Abraham, whom he had never seen !
Peter, James and John recognized Moses and Elijah, neither of whom they had ever looked upon before, for both had been citizens of the New Jerusalem for centuries. By the divine illumination of the Lords person, giving them a glimpse of His true appearance when seated upon His regal throne and the amount of the heavenly glories there manifest, they were enabled to recognize both Israels great legislator and the grandest man of the prophetic age
It seems clear to my mind that this fact is a sufficient warrant that we shall not only recognize our own sainted loved ones there, but the saints of all past ages!
In that world where knowledge is perfect, I do not

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believe that a newcomer will need some sainted being to go with him and introduce him to the inhabitants. It" I am so fortunate as to reach that g-Iorious sphere, I believe that I will know every one I meet, whether a created angel or a redeemed spirit! I think that any other view of that blessed state Is too low to receive the indorsement of our God.
I commend this most thrilling experience of our Lord to the reader, together with the many important lessons it teaches, with the earnest hope that they may lead him to a life of prayer and a deeper consecration to the service of God and that these lessons may be a consolation to him in the hour of trial and bereavement.
' Oh, who otui well dolitie thiss preoioiis thing: -J Prayer : relief of woe and gaude to joy 1
The only way to reach our blessed King-, The only road to bliss without alloy .
TJie Christians -potent shield against the worldThe mighty force that speeds Ms upward pace :
Satans dread, minions swift are downward hurled The Christian "by it wins the heavenly race ! "

DANIEL
IN THE LIONS' DEN.
! And ivhcn he came to the den hs cried ivith ft faincntable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel^ O, Daniel^ servant of the living God, is thy God, iv/wm ihou servest continually, able to deliver then from t/ie lions?" DANIEL vi., 20.
The life of Daniel teaches many important lessons. He was taken captive, in company with fifty thousand of the best and most cultured inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea, by Nebuchadnezzar and cairied to Babylon, in Chalclea. These captives were selected from the best families. Especially were those of royal blood included. Daniel is said to have been of the tribe of Judah. Josephus says that he was a descendant of Zedekiah, who was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem. He naturally possessed superior mental and physical powers. Together with these natural gifts, he had the advantage of proper religious training and culture in childhood and youth. Doubtless he had been liberally educated in the schools of the day at least, for one of his tender years. His captivity is supposed to have begun somewhere between the twelfth and eighteenth years of his age From the combination of his natural gifts and his attainments was developed one of the most admirable characters found in either sacred or profane history. On his arrival at Babylon, becavise of royal blood, fine

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physique and superior mental powers, he, with three youth ful companions, was chosen to go through a long course of tutelage, preparatory to becoming a servant in King Nebuchadnezzars palace.
In this early experience of his captive life, he demon strated that firmness and solidity of mind and conscien tious religious scruples which characterized nim through a life that spanned near one hundred years.
As the result of early training in the Mosaic law, he believed it wrong to eat the flesh of swine. He was also a Naxarene; he would not drink wine. It is probable that he had not only been taught the evil effects of the use of intoxicating drinks, but had also taken the solemn obliga tion administered to the young of that day, to taste not and handle not the deadly beverage.
CONSCIENCE AND THE RIGHT?
Hence, when confronted by a temptation which not only appealed to the appetite, but also bore the prestige of royal sanction, acting upon the convictions of duty, he plead eloquently and successfully for conscience and the right!
We may regard this as the pivotal point in his life. Had he yielded here Babylon would probably have never known of the true God, nor would he have been elevated from a serfdom to a throne. Nor would we have had the book of the prophecies of Daniel.
Thousands who have been reared in Christian homes and taught to "Look not upon the wine when it is red," quickly stifle conscience when asked to take a "social" glass and yield. They soon find themselves under the domination of the drink habit. A large majority of those who reach this point fill drunkards graves ere they attain the meridian of life !
Daniels firmness in this trial saved him and his three

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young friends. The God of Israel was well pleased. He took the young hero by the hand and led him on, under a series of manifest providences, to positions of usefulness, honor and trust, and lengthened out his life to a green eld age.
God says, by the mouth of Isaiah, ** I will bring the blind by away that they knew not; I will lead them in paths they have riot known : I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, arid not forsake them." Again, He says, " My ways are not as your ways."
THE POWER B1U-IIND THE THRONK.
In the providential leading of His servant, as simple a thing as a dream was used to bring" Daniel suddenly into great power! He exercised a wonderful influence over three Babylonian kings, and, though old aucl gray-headed when Cyrus placed Darius upon the same throne, now known as that of the Medo-Persian Empire, he was placed at the head of all the rulers over one hundred and twenty provinces. He was literally "the power behind the throne, greater than the throne ! "
The purity of his heart and motives and his righteous administration of the interests of State caused the good people to honor and reverence him. Yet these very char acteristics, added to the fact that his life was a constant rebuke to the political demagogues of his day, caused them to determine to effect his deposition from office, cvets at the sacrifice of his valuable life. I suppose man kind has manifested the same fallen and depraved disposi tion continuously since the creation. IVTost assuredly this depravity was shown by the " ins " and " outs " of Daniels time.
I hold that this is the first political convention on record ! It was called by the enemies of this; venerable

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man of God! True, they did not call it by that name, but it was really nothing more nor less.
The presidents and princes, together with their aiders and abettors, \vere called to meet at a certain time and place. The true cause for the call was kept in the back ground.
I have often, in imagination, attended that meeting". One of the most cunning and shrewd was called to the chair, who opened the convention by informing all present that the object of the meeting was the furtherance of the best interests of the kingdom, and especially to look after the welfare of the dear people! Would it not have been a great blessing to the world of man if this had been the last as well as the first time that such hypocrisy and false hood had been practiced under the specious pretext of looking after the interests of the people and good govern ment ? Alas ! alas ! they have been held by the thousands in our country and in our day and ostensibly for the same purpose ! The avowed purpose is often yea, very often ! no more true in modern political meetings than it was in that called by the enemies of Daniel, five hundred and thirty-eight years before the Christian era!
THE SPECIOUS PLEAS OF THE DEMAGOGUE.
At this meeting, after the purely formal proceedings are over, I see one of fine appearance and imposing man ners rise to his feet. His voice is smooth and musical. After addressing- the Chair, he continues, " Presidents, governors, princes and noblemen : I wish to say that, to my mind and I speak after long deliberation and almost incessant thought and most serious reflection, for I regard this, beyond all disputation, a matter of vital interest to the welfare of our country and government! I wish to say that I feel that I have ferreted out the cause of all real ground of complaint! I must confess to you, my

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fellow-nobleman, that I state my opinion on this vital question with much hesitation. I fear that some, at least, will be surprised when I state that the trouble all comes from one man who stands high in office and is in great favor with the king. I mean Daniel, the Hebrew, who came here a captive and has held office under the reign of three different kings, and exercised more power than any man in the kingdom. He wears a chain of gold about his neck, with other insignia of office and honor. We must away with him! Gentlemen, there is this fact I wish to state : it will be impossible to pick any flaw in his private or official life, but I think I can suggest a plan, if you will concur, that will enable us to get rid of him. It is this ; Let us approach the king and shout, Live forever ! and then work upon him by pouring in upon him a large amount of flattery I have noticed that he is quite suscep tible and thus secure from him a decree that none of his subjects shall, for the space of thirty days, make any peti tion to any god or man, and we will be sure to entrap Daniel. We all know that when the hour for his devotions is marked on the dial, he will leave the court and company and business and go to his rooms to send petitions to his God."
They go to the king and adjure him to live forever. Then they begin the use of the subtle art of flattery. They tell him that his superiority will be made prominent by his signing such decree. The poor old fellow is caught in their net.
MILLIONS RUINED BY FLATTERY.
Alas, millions have been injured yea, ruined by flat tery since that day ! All of both sexes are approachable on this line. If the flatterer understands human nature and goes at his work sensibly, he will seldom fail to make more or less impression. Of course there are millions who

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carmot be moved to do a rash or wrong act by such means, but the flattery has touched the chord of vanity.
A larger number of the fair sex have been injured from this, perhaps, than from any other one cause. Oh, ye fair daughters of Eve, beware of the tongue of the flatterer, for " at last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder!" Darius, the king, accepted the suggestion and affixed the great seal of State. Lo, it is a decree! And, according to the constitution of the Medes and Persians, it can never be altered !
These political demagogues were filled with a fiendish delight. They went to work to prepare the den of lions, a mode of punishment hitherto unknown, even among the most savage nations, and also to catch Daniel in his earnest supplications to the God of his fathers. The latter was easily accomplished. It was only necessary to place a witness or two in some convenient hiding-place suffi ciently near to hear his prayers- to catch his petitions to the God of Israel. These eavesdroppers did not have to wait long.
GOD FIRST, KING AND COUNTRY SECOND.
Daniel knew that the decree had gone forth. Undaunted by the malignity of his foes or the royal decree, with fixedness of purpose and eager eye, he watches the shadow on the suns dial plate. When the moment arrived for his devotions he, as he had done before, arose from his official chair and said to the ministers plenipotentiary and all others attendant upon the court, "Gentlemen, you will please excuse me until I pay my devotions to my God. My duty to God first^ to my king, country and fellowmen secondly." He bows his head respectfully to the court and hastens to hiy retreat for prayer.
The window of his room, through which he has so often looked toward Jerusalem, is, as before, unclosed. He

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kneels^ with his face toward the alters erected by his fathers in the land of his nativity. I hear him say, " O> Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, look upon Thy servant in compassion. Strengthen him in this hour of trial. Prepare him for the fiery ordeal that awaits him. Thine enemies, O Lord, my God, have combined against Tby servant. Deliver him as Thou didst Thy servants, Sbadrach, Meshach and Abednego, if consistent with Thy will. Arid, above all. get to Thyself glory in this "heathen land." His prayer ended, he returns to the discharge of official duties.
The plans of his enemies being now complete, Daniel finds himself a prisoner at the bar of so-called justice, charged with having willfully and knowingly violated the latest decree of the royal court.
The king finds, when too late, that he has been entrapped by his flattering officers and courtiers. He loves Daniel and knows his worth. H.e feels that the loss of this venerable man of God will be to him as the loss of his right arm. He does all in his power to prevent the execution of the penalty. Alas, his labors avail nothing !
ALL GEHENNA REJOICING.
The agents of the plot for Daniels destruction rejoice at the seeming certainty of success. I think I hear a snout coming up from that dark world of woe, inhabited by fallen angels transformed into demons full of hate to God and man. They feel that 3Da.tiisls destruction is assured. I find that they, like men, cannot penetrate the future. That shout shows their malignity and demon strates their ignorance of GOGS purposes and power.
The sun in the western sky is rapidly approaching the horizon. The kings attention is called by some of the prosecuting party to the fact that the taivs of Medo Persia are not only unalterable, but require the execution of all

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penalties before the setting of the sun on the day of con viction I
The king- has exhausted all his resources. Further attempts, he sees, will be futile. With tearful eye and tremulous voice, he addresses Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee." Then he bids him an affectionate farewell.
Alternate hope and fear follow each other m rapid suc cession. He remembers the deliverance granted by Israels God to Daniels three friends, from the smelting fiery fur nace, and hope whispers, "His God can deliver him from the ferocious lions." Then he remembers that the lion is king of quadrupeds, has great power and is fearless, relent less. ** My friend is old? well stricken in years. What can he do in the midst of a den of such destructive beasts ?" Then fear has the mastery for a time.
We leave the king in his palace, to mental perturbation, and to the sting of a guilty conscience. As we turn to follow the venerable man of G-od to his seemingly certain doom, I hear the unhappy monarch cry, "Alas, alas, tis I who am responsible for rny friends destruction ! Had I not listened to the flattering tongues of those wicked plot ters had I not signed so foolish a decree, my friend Daniel would not have been given as a prey to the lions!"
The command is given and the march begins to the lions deri, which had been prepared at a suitable point perhaps within the walls of Babylon by excavating to a proper depth, then, with brick arid cement, strongly walled in jug shape, until the surface of the earth was reached, leaving an opening" sufficiently large to admit and pass the body of a lion. The desired number, secured, perhaps, from some neighboring menagerie, had been placed within and a suitable stone utilized for a covering to the entrance. The pit was deep. No lion could leap to its summit.

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Let us follow the moving mass of curious humanity, as it pushes toward the point of destination.
THE MARCH TO THE DEN.
Daniel exhibits neither the effect of age or fear of the terrible trial to which he is marching. There is no twitching of the muscles of the face, no faltering step In his march. I think I see his lips move in prayer to God, As they move along I hear some of the baser sort, manip ulated by those political demagogues who planned Daniels destruction, speak contemptuously of the hated captive from Judah, who has so long been in royal favor.
I see the poor the widows and orphans who have been the recipients of thousands of charities from Daniels benevolent hand. I see a widow -with a half dozen of her children grouped around her. She says, "My precious child 1 en, look for the last time upon the best friend we have had since your fathers death ! That man has been so good, so kind to us ! He has helped to feed us and hundreds more who, like us, are poor and needy. Let us follow on and see the last of this man of God. Oh, how could any be so wricked as to wish his death ? Children, let us pray that Daniels God may deliver him from the lions!" The mothers prayer is repeated in broken, childjsh accents by her little ones and is heard in Heaven!
The sun is now just above that line in the western sky in crossing which we say he is setting. The sentence must be speedily executed. Those upon whom the duty devolves of placing the condemned man in the den of Hons, have gathered around him. The stone is removed from the mouth of the den. As I look in I see the lions eyes. In the gloom of the pit they appear as balls of fire. Their hungry mouths open wide. Look! they are leaping upvvard, eager to meet the descending prey ! How terri fying the sight of their sharp teeth and unsheathed claws!

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I hear them growl! The thought of going into such a place of coming in contact with such enemies, is sufficient to cause the bravest to quail and flee the danger!
While the beneficiaries of Daniels charities shed the tear of sympathy and his enemies are filled with fiendish delight, Daniel apparently feels less concern for the final issue than any one in the assemblage. He knows in whom he trusts and feels perfectly resigned to the will of G< d. He knows the lions cannot harm him should God see fit to deliver him from them. It will be the cause of promoting Gods glory if he should be preserved. Death will be eternal gain!

DOWN IN THE DREADFUL DEN.

The command is given, "Cast him into the den of

lionsi " He is lifted above the mouth of the den by strong

men. I see one has placed beneath his shoulders and

around his, body a strong cord. That was merciful!

They let him down gently instead of hurling him headlong

to the bottom of the pit. L,ook ! The lions are springing,

leaping up, to meet him as he descends ! Farewell, Dan

iel, farewell forever! His head passes beneath the mouth

of the den he is lost to view! Just then, I thought I

heard the sound of rustling wings ! A radiant illumina

tion, as of the lightnings flash, darted vividly before my

eyes and disappeared in the darkness of the den,. Did an

angel pass ?

The order is obeyed to replace the stone. By the

royal edict, it is sealed with the kings signet and that of

his lords, to meet the demand of that iniquitous law.

i

The king spent the most miserable night of his life.

Minutes seemed hours in length, the night an age! His

conscience threw her lash heavily upon him and thrust her

sting deep into his guilty heart! Me thinks I see his

queen as she approaches her soul-stricken lord. She holds

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in her delicate hand a goblet of the purest wine and says, " O, king, live forever! Drink this glass of soul-exhilarating wine and drive all care and sorrow from thy heart." He replies, "Nay, my queen, nay! How can I drink wine and grow merry while my good friend, the servant of the true God, is in the lions den ? I fear, I hope but, oh, my pre cious queen, away with the wine. Leave me alone in my sorrow!"
Perhaps at the suggestion of the queen, the musicians were called. " O, king, live forever! Thou dost know that music hath great power. Let us sing and play upon these various instruments of music and cheer thy heart and drive all thy sorrows far from thee." The unhappy king replies, " Nay. how can I be cheered by music while Daniel is in the den of lians ? If living, he hears only the purring or threatening growls of the lions ; and oh, per haps, is even now being rent and torn by them ! No music for me to-night ! "
Neither is there sleep or rest of body or mind during that long night of torture I He has turned his eyes east ward scores of times to see if he could discover the morn ing star, the harbinger of approaching day, or any gray tints forecasting the light of the long coming morrow.
There has to be an end to all things earthly, so there came, at last, an end to that night, which was a type to him of the night of endless torture reserved for the impen itent !
He leaves his palace in the early twilight and walks hastily toward the den of lions. As he goes, I read his thoughts. He still oscillates between hope and despair. He says to himself, "I know that the God whom Daniel serves is a mighty God. He has granted his people won drous deliverances from all manner of peril. I hope He may have preserved Daniel ; yet I know, too, that lions

have great power. They are ferocious. Those lions had been half-starved, too, to make their appetites more keen. I fear I cant help fearing that he was torn in pieces ere he reached the bottom of the den ! "
"TIS DANIELS VOICE,"
The king is now within a few paces of the den. He halts a moment. He says, "If I hear them growl I shall know it is all over with Daniel! They will then be con tending among themselves for the last limb or uncrushed bone of his noble body!" He can hear the pulsations of his own heart, but no sound comes from the den ! He steps, steps, listens, again and again. He has reached the mouth of the den. Mustering all his forces he breaks the silence. His voice is like the wail of lamentation. He cries, " Oh, Daniel. " He pauses a moment and then pro ceeds, " Servant of the living* God ! " Again he pauses for a breath and listens for some response from within the den. " Is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions ?" As he stands in breathless sus pense, he hears and recognizes the voice of Daniel, com ing up from the den, "O, king, live forever!" He cries joyfully, "Tis Daniels voice . >
** O, king, live forever! Live thine allotted time on earth, then with God eternally! My God sent His angel from Heaven. Just as my head passed the mouth of the den a bright celestial being in shining raiment passed be neath me. Didst thou not bear the rustling of his wings, or see the heavenly radiance of his face as he descended beneath me ? With one hand he gently let rne down. With the other he tapped the lions into submission. Then he closed and sealed their mouths and palsied their strong arms. Then my heavenly visitor bade me be seated upon the back of one lion and he seated himself upon another. Here we spent the night in conversation upon the good-

ness, mercy, love and power of God and the employment of the inhabitants of Heaven. I asked him about the geog raphy of the heavenly Canaan ; of the beauteous walls and pearly gates of the New Jerusalem ; of the Tree of Life and of its ambrosial fruits; of the song of Moses and the Lamb ! And thus, O, king, we spent the happiest night by far that has ever fallen to my lot! My visitor remained until you called to me from the mouth of the den. Then, assuring me that the lions could not harm me, he left for his home in Heaven. King, I declare to you that this den has been Heaven to me ! "
The king commands, ** Lift Dziniel from the den !" When he stepped forth before the king, not a scratch upon his person or a rent in his apparel could be found ! Did not some one inquire just then of Daniel if he were not an hungered after spending a long night in such a place? Klse why did he reply, " I have been fed by my visitor upon the food that angels eat ?"
THE TABLES TUKNRD,
The king commands them to bring Daniels accusers, the authors of the den of lions for destruction of doomed criminals. "Cast them into the pit they prepared for Daniel and in which Daniels God protected him and from which his God has delivered him. Cast in those wicked men ! See if any angel comes to their relief ! " See ! They arc torn in pieces as fast as they are thrown in ! No angel or celestial being cornes to their relief! Truly, * the wicked have fallen into the pit which they digged for another and have been caught in their own snare."
I thank God that we live in an age when it is impossi ble for the servants of God to be literally cast into a den of lions ! We can worship God under our own vine and fig tree. None dare molest us or threaten us ! Vet, the world, flesh and devil are still arrayed against us. Beel-

133

SERMONS.

zebub, the prince of darkness, has the same power to tempt has access to resources equally as formidable as in any age of the past. The world of man is as corrupt and de praved as ever. Our fallen natures are as far from origi nal righteousness as were the antediluvians, or the inhabit ants of Babylon !
There is a severe ordeal through which we must all pass. All who live to-day are under that fearful sentence: " Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return."
Death has been said to be the honest hour. It is also, an hour of supreme trial! To leave home, employment and loved ones behind, to close our eyes upon all things terres trial : who can define the pain ? And to enter upon an eternity of being unknown to us, and, above ail, to meet that God who gave us our life, and against Whom we have so often sinned, and from His righteous lips receive our sentence of weal or woe !
Severe as this trial is, to those who, like Daniel, have "served God continually," it is but the hour of deliverance deliverance from all suffering of both body and soul; deliverance from the dominion and power of the tempter; from all worry, care! It is the hour of extreme anxiety the hour when the same God who sent the delivering angel to the lions den, will send a celestial guard, not only to drive back the foes of the dying saint, but to guide his flight from earth to Heaven ! To the Christian " Death is the gate to endless j.oy ! "
If we serve God as faithfully and continually as Dauie) did, we shall realize that
" Jesus can make a dying- bed Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on His breast we lean out- Itead
And breathe our life out eweetly there."

IF A MAN DIE, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?
i(Y LEON HANLON.
Creations scheme my heart would fain divine, And see if light upon this life of mine Can be diffused by thoughts reflective ray, Or whether all my ends are those of clay. Is man a creature of a single day A single day of life and th.es away To the dark tomb, to rest in final dust : Despite his humble hope and faithful trust y However good his heart ov wide his fame However wise his mind or great his name, To sink when years h;ire marked his mortal end. Into the grave and with, the earth to blend ? The moving force within his flesh alive "When its abode is dead, does it survive y The aspirations onoe indulged, the eye So wont to proudly gaze the azure sky, And dwell on beauties far in ethers bound, While sights of wondrous fairness all around I>elight his inward being- termed the soul : The grave to be of these the only g-ou] V To end in common mother earth his all His hopes, his fears, his loves in. mortal thrall ?
The leaves descend in showers, one and ail, When comes the time for them to earth to fall : The flowers wither, fade and sadly die When Autumn sounds ita warning whistling cry, But are they dead the leaves forevermore ? The flowers ever gone to time before ? Ah, no ! When wintry days at last are past. When shrieks the wind its parting spiteful blast, They slowly reappear : the leaves as green As ever glinted their effulgent sheen ; The flowers have their former pretty dress TTnehanged except for added loveliness !
And so my heart believes ibis with man In beautiful creations noble plan !