The Press.
London, England, 1858-10-02 00:00:00

THE PItE S S, OCTOBER 2, 1858

strait fur the mob, and they wheeled and fled in every
direction ; but we secured about thirty prisoners, marched
them off to u vacant tent, and put them under guard till
Monday morning, when they were ►ried, and every man
was fined to the utmost limits of the law. The aggregate
amount of fines and costs was near three hundred dollars.
They tined my old drunken magistrate twenty dollar:, and
returned him to court, and he was cashiered of his odice.
It frequently happened that the ground was
strewed with the fallen, though from a very dif-
ferent cause. On that same Sunday evening a
goodly instance of this strange phenomenon
occurred :

The encampment was lighted up, the trumpet blown,
rose in the stand, and required every soul to leave the
tents and come into the congregation. 'there was a general
rush to the stand. I requested the brethren, if ever they
prayed in all their lives, to pray now. My voice was
strong and clear, and my preaching was more of an ether-
union land encouragement than anything else. My text
was, " The gates of hell shall not prevail." In ahout
thirty minutes the power of God fell on the congregation
in such a manlier as ii seldom seen; the people fell in
every dirt (Aloe, right and left, front and rear. It was sup•
posed that not less than three hundred fell like dead men
in mighty battle; and there was no need of calling
mourners, for they were strewed all over the eamp•ground;
I.md wai!ings went up to heaven from sinners for mercy,
and a ganerul shout trom Christians, so that the noise was
heard afar off.

Sonic time after this Peter addressed a Baptist
meeting with great effect, notwithstanding the
rudeness of the minister's daughter, Betsy, who
would jump on the seats and laugh when any
one fell under the power of God," profanely
describing it as "a Methodist fit." She was
destined, however, to see the error of her ways.
Peter was "closing up" his sermon and pressing
it home with all his might, when " the power of
" God suddenly was displayed, and sinners fell
" by scores through all the assembly" :

We had no need of a mourner's bench. It was supposed
that several hundred fell in live minutes; sinners turned
pale; some ran into the woods, some tried to get away
and fell in the attempt; some shouted aloud for joy;
among the rest my Baptist pr,:acher's daughter, whom we
have called Betsy. As I went through the assembly I
came across Betsy, who had fallen to the earth, and was
pr.tying at a 'nighty rate. When I came to her, she said
to me—" 0, do pray for me ; I ..m afraid I am lost and
damned for ever !" I said to her, " Betsy, get up; yon
have only got a Methodist tit" (wing her former lan-
guage); hut she roared the louder two or three times. I
bid her get up, raying to her, "You are playing the hypo-
crite, and have only got a Methodist tit. Get up, Betsy."
But assure you she was past getting up.

Poor Betsy " wrestled and prayed all night.
" Next morning, about sunrise, the Lord in a
" powerful manner converted her. She rose and
" went over the camp-ground like a top."

A still more remarkable conversion was that
of a gentleman near llopkinsville, who had
threatened to horsewhip the redoubtable Peter
for obtaining so much influence over his wife
and daughters. The eldest of the latter warned
the preacher of her father's designs, but he
replied that he was " wide awake and duly
sober"

I said to her, " It is not the old big devil that is in your
father ; it must be a little weakly, sickly, devil that has
taken possession of him, cud I do not think that it will be
a hard job to cost him out. Now," said I, "it God takes
hold of your father and shakes him over hell a little while,
and he smells brimstone right strong if there was a
ship•luad oh these little sickly devils in him, they would be
driven out just as easy as a tornado would drive the regi-
ments of musquitoes from around and about those stagnant
ponds in the country. Cheer up, sister; I believe God will
give me your father before we return."
And so it came to pass :

On Sunday night, when such a tremendous power fell on
the congregaion, and my gang of rowdies fell by dozens on
the right and left, my special persecutor fell suddenly, as
if a rtlle•ball had been shot through his heart. He lay
powerless, and seemed cramped all over, till next morning;
and about sunrise he began to come to. With a smile on
his countenance, he then sprang up, and bounded all over
the campground, with swelling shouts of glory and victory,
that almost seemed to shake the encampment. This was
a glorious time for his daughter; she came leaping and
skipping to me, and shouted out that those little mean
and sickly devils were cast out of her father. He joined
the Church, went home, and for days the 'sillily did little
else but sing, pray, and shout the high praises of

In the winter of 1812 a severe earthquake took
place, and many thought the day of
.judgment
had arrived. Among these were " old Brother
" Valentine Cook, of very precious memory, with
" his witi: Tabitha "

He and wife were in bed when the earth began to shake
and tremble. He sprang out of bed, threw open the door,
and began to shout, and started with nothing on but his
night-clothes. He steered his course east, shouting every
step, saying, " My Jesus is coming." His wife took after
him, and at the top of her voice cried out, " 0, Mr. Cook,
don't leave me." " 0 Tabby," said he, " my Jesus is
coming, and I cannot wait for you ;" and on he went, shout-

ing nt every jump, "My Jesus is coming; I can't wait for
you, Tabby."
This earthquake produced "a mighty shaking
" among the drybones, and a blessed revival
" broke out," and many reprobates being con-
victed of their former levities became Methodists
and died " shining and shouting Christians."
The Baptists appear to have been less moral and
abstemious than the professors of Mr. Cartwright's
creed, and even their preachers occasionally in-
dulged to excess in fermented liquors. One of
them, though a very popular man, at a court
time in Springfield, Tennessee, drank "the health
" of the company in what he called the health
" the Devil drank to a dead hog—Boo !"
Perhaps not one of Peter's victories was more
decisive than the one he gained over a regular
scold, who described herself as one-half alligator
and the other half snapping-turtle. The means
adopted for her cure were rather physical than
spiritual, for they consisted simply in her being
forcibly ejected out of her husband's cabin and
kept in the open air till she promised submission
and joined her family in prayer. Peter himself
speaks of this achievement as " one of the hardest
" cases I ever saw on this earth."

Let it not be imagined, however, for one moment
that we do not fully appreciate the inestimable
good that, has been wrought by such sincere,
earnest, and simple-minded men as Peter Cart-
wright and his colleagues. Their, style of
preaching, ludicrous in our eyes, was no doubt
well suited to the rough, ignorant, unspiritual
audiences to whom they (addressed themselves.
Nor can too much praise be given to these
zealous pioneers of the Gospel for their marvel-
lous courage, endurance, and self-denial. Their
lives were spent in wandering:over thinly-peopled
and almost unknown districts. Hunger, fatigue,
and thirst were their daily companions. Con-
stantly in peril from Indians and from still more
brutal white men, and exposed to all kinds of
violence, annoyances, and discomfort, uncheered
by any prospect of riches for themselves or their
families they nevertheless persevered in doing
what they regarded as their highest duty, content
to look for their reward in an approving conscience
and the sure hope of eternal happiness hereafter.
Such men as these are worthy of respect and
admiration, though we fail to repress a good-
humoured smile at their oddities of speech and
manner.