The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-11-26

i with sIiken drapery5 and bed1gnt Win gems
shrioked as # a knife were at work among iheic
/ heart strings. e
/ Again be changed the theme, and sketched the.
/ Joys Of a righteous death-itg faith, its hope tg
/ winged raptures, and what beaphfui angels attend
Che liberated spirit 10 its starry honie-Vith such
/ force IRE and evident belief that al eyes were
/ raised towards heaven, the entire congregation
started to their feet 70 hail the vision Of angels
at which the finger b the preacher seemed % be
pointed elevated as It was on high to the fun length
/ Of his arm.
/ He then made a call for mourlers ihto the altar
/ and five hundred many Of them until that pignt
indels, rushed forward and prosiFated themselves
/ on their knees The meeting was continued Tor
/ two weeks, and more than thousand converts
were added 20 the church, From that time the
| success Of Peter Cartwright was unparalleied, and
/ the fact Is chiefly due 10 his inimitabls wit and
mastery eloquence that Methodsm is now the. pre-
/ v3iling religion in Illineis
/ In what ,college did he graduate Surely =
must have required mighty alma mater 70 de-
/ velope such SON.
| You are than half right, my COED ques-.
/ toner. Peter Cartwright, like most preachers Of
his sect received his education IN the great Asi-
| perSak univefsity-the same that produced Homer,
| Plato Shakespeare, Moses, Mendeissohn, Frank
l lin--that weaver Of garlands from the hghtniag's
/ wing--W ashngton, and Patrick Henry High up
\ on the highest mountain top deep down IN the
lowest valleys, far out away the rolling bHlow,
there he studied and toiled together, in the most
glorious Of all schoos-the free school Of selfcul-
| tpTe - :" But did he graduate? Aye, and ma
lures hand wrote his diploma with pencil Of
living light, and stamped it with seal Of fre--the
/ immortal FIRE OF true genius
Cartwright became an itinerant at eighteen, with
no Learning from books, save what he derived from
| the pages Of his Bible and collection Of nymHs-
Year after year he continued to travel the wild cir
cults Of the frontier, earning annually but hum
dred dollarsfOF Iabors painful those Of a slave
| at the ear But his vocation afforded him
eeLent Opportunity for meditation, and even read
| ing. In his long journeys tom one appointment
70 another, he alone, with nothing around hiEn
but woods and waters, birds, trees, mountains, sun,
moon and stars. These-he might and did ponder
| we'll Aye, he did more: he bought him books Of
literature and science, and poEed over them as he
rode along with an ardor and patient perseverance,
| snch as perhaps was never Witnessed within the
stone walls Of a college. Thus he mastered mathe-
MATES, logic, physics law and several languages
| ancient and modern Oh believe me-bslieVe all
| human hIstory--theFe is no teacher Ike the stu
| dents own hafd-workng intellect, urged on to ac-
| ton and guided in its efforts by the omnIpotence
| Of an uncomfortable will
4 But why did not this Western prodigy achieve
| tor himsei a more extensive FenoWnE Why did
he not climb 10 the loftiest stations in the church.
/ If this narrative be true, be ought before now to
have been a bishop, at the least"
The statement Of few facts viii solve the prob
| lem. Let it be remembered then that the Methn-
dist Episcopal Church is a hierarchy, in which the
| dspensation Of clerical houors rests exclusively
with the Bishops and General Conference Of itin-
Grants, where the laity and local preachers are
! unrepresented, and consequently have voice.
Hence, in that sect popularity eioquence, and other
snowy qualities, have never been found sufficient
passports to the pre-eminent distinctions Of author
ity and office, bat often to the reverse. The Bish-
ops gown must be won by steady, austere devo-
tion not by Brilliant oratorv profound and varied
learning. On this perilous rock Peter Cartwright's
lofty.vesse was shivered into the atoms Of hope
/ less wreck. He made Prstensions to superior
saaesty, noEas it manifested in his conduct and
he'll r,9F.
y indeed ne vas distinguished for one very uncleri-
e cal peeulary-c onhatveness in the supeTatiye de-
a gree; HIS battles, though always apparently on
lie the defensive, were numerous as those 81 az
Iy celebrated Bowie. The only difference Law n tis
e that Bowie fought with deadly weapons. while
r Cartwright used but his enormous fist, which was
to as elective however, in the speedy settlement Of
le behgerent issues any knife or pistol ever forged
out of steel Let the reader judge from the follow
sr | ing aneedote.
lie At the camp meeting held at Alton in the autumn
/ OF 1888, the wOrshippers were ANNOYED BY set Of
e desperadoes from St Louis under the control OF
MIKE Fink, notorious bully, the triumphant hero
:. OF countless fights in Of which he had ever
J. yet met an equal or second. These coarse,
drunken rutfians carried it with a high hand--out.
d ragged the men and insuted the women 50 as 70
e threaten the dissolution of all pous exercises and
Eet sueh was the terror the Of their leader,
runs inspired, that not individual could BE-
4 found brave enough to face his proves.
a! last, one day when Cartwright assembled the
~ AiNie A1A All the the outskirts
OF the encampment raised veil so Cea femme - IN
drown utterly every other sound CartvvTight's
dark eyes shot lightning He deposited bis
BIBLE drew his coat, and remarked aloud" Wait
! | a lew minutes, my brethren, while 20 and make
J the devil pray"
He then proceeded, with smile on his Inns IN
the focus OF the tumult and addressed the chief
bully. Mr.. Fink have come to make you pray.''
The desperadOraked back the tangled festoons.of
his blood-red hair, arched his huge brows with 4
comeal expression, and Eeplied-" By gollv. IA
iotke to see you do it, old snorteri"
p" Very well, said Cartwright, "WiIIthese gen
tiemen' yoyr courteous friends, agree not to show
Il " IL course they will. They're rale grit. and
wont do nothing but the clean thing they WON'T
u Teioined Fink, Indignantly
: Are You ready ?n-asked Cartwright
Ready as a race boss with a light rider - nm.
sweIed Fink squarng his Ponderous person for the
combat.
: But the bully spoke too soon; for scarcely had
the words lett his lips when Cartwright made 4
prodigous bound toward his anita gonist andaecor,
panied 1t with quick shooting punch Of his heron
lean hst which fell crushing on the others chin
and hurled him to the earth like lead Then even
ms intoxicated comrades, filled with involuntary adj
: miration at the feat, gave cheer.
I But Fink was up in moment, and rushed uror
= his enemy exclaIning- That warn't done an
$ 50 1t warn ~ He aimed furious stroke. which
d Cartwright parted with his left hand and yrnsn
ing his throat with the right crushed him down a.
Il TIC h,iu oeeh an INFANT INK struggled.
ed, and writhed the dust but all 10 no 1,urposs
Tor those strong muscular fingers held his windppe
as in the jaws fan iron vice When he began r.
a turn purple in the face, and ceased 70 resist f,ss
2 wright slaeksned his hold, and inquired win
| you pray now ~
) =" doesn't know did word how?' gasped
Fink. stsU
: Repeat after me, commanded CartvyrigBt
1 ell, i'll must, must, answered Finn s,bs
case you're the devil"
The preacher then said over The Lords nr,,,.-
line by line, and the conquered bully resbop5e 4,
: the same way when the victor permitted Nm -
D rise, AT this contamination the rovdies fb1is
: ed three boiserous cheers Fink SHOOT 60
wright hand warmly, declaring" Bvpollv ,o,,sr,
some beans in bar fight. rdrather ID VA =,
old he in the dog-days, You can pass In AS -
crowd Of nose-smashers, blast your picter - AZ
+ forwards Finks party behaved with exemplarv ~
e corum, and Cartwright resumed his Bible AMI mi
7 pit. anu pull
I a thousand other incidents, equally tsrti,l.. ,l
ludiorous, are related Cartvriabts adysnt,,-.
both IN Kentucky and Illinois MANY III tbsr, -
/ probably 6etons, but those genuine alone e ,I
eoted, would be sufficient 70 stock az Least t,, ~
IS umes OF romantic reality WI
: such was the Joeose preacher, and his b,,sl
g teaches us the mighty influence Of eirc,,,s,, ~
u F Hh H