Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1855-09-01

: has humor, "but," he has not much logic
Much OF this kind of twaddle is sheer fudge.
and something worse Peter Cartwright is not
mere man OF humOr but of genuine sagacity !;
woe be TO hlm that attempts to circumvent him
IN debate. If some of his short sayings were
Invested OF their humor, and spoken by grave
man, they would pass for unique utteranceS Of
wisdom as they are, they pass for pertinent
JokeS-happy hits. Peter Cartwright is a
Doctor OF Divinity" Good old George Pick
erlng, when asked once if the Methodists had
any Doctors of Divinity, replied, No, sir we
don't need them our divinity has not yet be-
come sick"
Those healthful days seem, however. to have
passed, if we may judge from the ample provi-
slons made for theological medication among
US nowadays Some college in the West
deemed Peter Cartwright too knowing in the
Materla Medica, or too skilful with the scalpel,
to die untitled, and therefore, dubbed him d.
ID. We know not that he pretends to ency-
clopedic erudtion, or is more skful than some
other doctors we are acquainted with in the
! learned languages-a knowledge of which is
usually pre-suppOsed in giving that title the
only learned quotation we ever heard from him
was III respect to matter of business, which
seemed to be beyond the reach Of his brethren
1t was, said he, ." in sWampus non-comatibus" ;"
. The learned doctors around him smiled verv
! coGnizaRtly, as they usually do at college com
mcncements, when Latin phrase is quoted
which, though unnntelligibIe to the vulgar
J thron9, Is always remarkably striking to
/ them
4 IS feilow-sojdier iu the West, james B
Finley, gives the following further account OF
bin, Of which we gave au extract once, but
nov give it fully =
. Immense was Tie gathering at the Metho-
djst cGmp-groand near Springfield On the sec
ond Sunday Of September 1892 powerful
magnet had attracted TINS great mass of peo-
pie from their homes in many c0uutics a hun
drcd miles round The new presiding elder
late arrival from Kentucky, an orator of wide |
spread, wonderful renown, it was known, would
thunder on that day. The prestige of his fame
had lightened before him, and hence the uni
versal eageruess to listen to one concerning
whom rumOr's trumpet-tonsue discoursed so
loudly
Morning broke in the azure east, bright
and beautiful as a dream of heaven but the
cX-prodIgy had not made his advent. Eleven
O'Clock came-the regular hour OF the detona-
ton OF the heavy gun of orthodoXy-and still |
there was no news Of the clerical lion 4 com |
mon clrcn.t preacher took his place; and sensi- |
biz OF tha popuiar disappointment, increased it |
by mOutHn., a miserable failure The yeXed |
and restless crowd began to dSperse, when an
event happened to excite afrcsh their curiosity |
and concentrate them again denSer than ever |
\ messenger rushed TO the pulpit in hot haste, |
and presented a note, which was Immediately |
read out to prevent the people from scattering. |
The following is literal copy OF that singular |
epistle =
g" DEAR Brethren The devil has founder |
/ Ell my horse, which will dctain me from reach |
ing your tabernacle till evening might have
performed the journey on foot but | could |
not leave poor Paul especially as he has ne
yer left Peter Horses have no souls to save. |
and, therefore, it is all the more the duty of
/ Christians to take care of their bodies. Watch |
and pray, and don't let the devil get among YOU
on the sly before candlc-ight, when | shall be
at my post. Your brother
PETER CARTWRIGHT"
AT length the day closed The purple cur
tain of night fell over the earth from the dark |
ening sky Gods golden fire flashed out in |
heaven, and men below knded their watch |
fires The encampment, village of snowy |
tents, was Illuminated with a brilliancy that |
caused every leaf to shine and sparkle as if all !
the trees were FURNISHED with phosphorescent |
iiame. 1t was like a theatre. 1t was a thea
tre III the open air, Oh the green sward, be-
meath the starry blue, incomparably more pic
tureSque and gorgeous than any stage scenery,
prepared within walls of brick or marble, where
the elite of cities throng to feast their eyes on
beauty and their ears on music.
Presently form arose in the pulpit, and !
commenced giving out a hymn, preliminary to
the main exercises, and every eye became rivet-
tn fhn Of IL
some one said of Burke, a single flash of the
gaZerS vision was enough to reveal the extra
ordinary man, although in the present case. it |
must, for the sake of truth, be acknowledged |
that the first impression was ambiguous, if not
enigmaticai and disagreeable Fl figure was |
tail, burly, massive, and seemed even more gi- |
gantic than the reality from the crowning foil |
age of luxuriant, coalblack hair, wreathed into
long, curling ringlets. Add head that look
ed as large as a haf-bushel beetIing broWS,
rough and craggy as fragmentary granite, if
radIated at the base by eyes of dark fire |
small and twinkling like diamonds in sea-
they were diamonds Of the soul, shining in a !
mcasurelGSS sea Of humor-a swarthy com
plexlon, as if embrowncd by southern sun !
rlch, rosy lips, always slightly parted, as wear
ing perpetual smile and you have a life |
ike portrait Of the far-tamed backw0Od. prea- |
cher
Though heard il all, from the text to the
amen, | am forced 10 despair Of any attempt to
convey an accurate idea of either the substance
or manner Of the sermon which followed There
are different sorts Of Sermons--the argumen-
tavy, the dogmatic, the postulary, the persua-
sive, the punitive, the combative, in orthodox
blows and knocks" the logical, and the poetic;
but this specimen belonged to none Of these
categories. 1t was SUI generis, and of a new
species. a
% He began with q loud and beautifully mo-