The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-07-24
of the faithful2 Didn't he have three hundred


Servants, perhaps; but not slaves /" said
father Dickson, I" for they all bore arms. For
my part, think that the buying, selling, and
is sin in the sight of God"
SWELL, now, father Dickson, wouldn't have
thought you had read your Bible to so little
purpose a. thatl / wouldn't believe it What
do you say to Moses
" de led ont whole army of fugitive slaves
through the Red Sea-" said father Dickson.
Well, tell you, now," said father Bonnie,
" If the buying, selling, or holding, of slave,
for the sake of gain, is, as you say, sin, then
three fourths of all the Episcopalians, Metho-
dists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, in the slave
States of the Union, are of the DEVIL"
- think it is sin, Notwithstanding" said
father Dickson, quietly.
Well, but doesn't Moses say, expressly, 'Ye
shall buy of the heather round about you ?'
"There's into him" said Georgia trader,
who. having csmped with cofis of negroes
IN the neighborhood, had come up to camp
meeting.
Gall those things" said father Dickson, "be-
long to the old covenant, which Paul says was
annuled for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof and have nothing to do with US, who
have risen with Chist. We have got past Mount
Sinai and the wilderness, and have come unto
Mount Zion ; and ought to seek the things that
are above, where Christ sitteth."
I" say, brother" said another of the minis
tiers, tapping him on the shoulder, sits time
for the preaching to begin. You can finish
your discussion some other time. Come, father
Bonnie, come forward, here, and strike up the
hymn"
Father Bonnie accordingly stepped to the
front of the stand, and with him another min!
lister, of equal height and breadth of frame,
and, standing with their hats on, they uplifted,
In stentorian voices, the following hymn:
Brethren, don't you hear The sound,
The ma rial trumpet now is blowing;
Men i'll order listing round
And soldiers TO the standard lowingn
AS the sound of the hymn rolled through the;
aisles and arches of the wood, the heads of diff
ferent groups, who had been engaged in con.
versation, were observed turning toward the
stand, and voices from every part of the camp,
ground took up the air, as. suiting the action
to the words, they began flowing to the place
of preaching. The hymn went on, keeping up
the same martial images:
"Rounty offered, life and peace;
TO every soldier this ia given,
When the tolls OF life shall cease,
A mansion bright prepared in heaven"
AS the throng passed up, and came crowd.
ing from the distant aisles of the wood, the
singers seemed to exert themselves to throw q
wilder vehemence into the song, stretching out
their arms and reckoning eagerly. They went
on singing:
''You ne"d not fear; the cause is good
Let who will 10 the aspire
In this cause the martyrs bled,
And shouted victory in The FIRE.
"In this cause let's follow on
And SOON we'll tell the pleasing story,
How by faith we won the crown,
And fought our way 10 life and glory.
go, ye rebels come and list
The officers ruiting;
Why will you in sin persist.
Or waste your lime in vain dsputing!
"All excuses vain;
For, If you do not sue for favor,
Down you'll sink TO endless pain,
And bear the wrath Of God forever"
There ia always something awful in the voice
of the multitude. 1t would seem as if the breath
that crowd breathed out together, in moments
OF enthusiasm, carried with it portion of the
dread and mystery of their own immortal ns-
tures. The whole area before the pulpit, and
in the distant aisles of the forest, became one
vast, aurging sea of sopnd, as negroes and
whites, slaves and freemen, saints and sinners,
Shareholders, slave hunters, slave traders min
listers, elders, and laymen, alike Joined in' the
pulses of that mighty song. A flood of electri.
cal excitement seemed to rise with it, as, with
voice of many waters, the rude chant weIt
on:
clark! the victors singing l9ud
Emanuels chariGt- whees rumblmg;
Mourners weeping through the crowd,
And Satan's kingdom down is tumbling"