Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1857-08-28
From the Indiana Daily Journal.
Early Indiana Trials.
REmrMscEScEs BY HON. o. II. SMITH.
IrrsERASr PREACHERS.

i should be false 70 the history ol
Early Indiana were to pass by in
silence the itinerant Methodistpreach
ers who contributed so much TO the
establishment of good order, quiet
intelligence, morality and religion
among the first settlers, and without
intending to give offence TO others,
venture the remark, that early Indi'
ana, nay, more, Indiana to day, owes
more to the itinerant Methodist
preachers than to all other religious
denominations combined. Their sys.
tenn carried their churches into every
settlement, and where two or three
were gathered together, there was q
Methodist preacher or exhortcr in the
midst. They were at the bed side ol
the dying man, on their knees, and at
the grave their voices were heard in
songs of praise. Other denominations
waited for the people to come up from
the wilderness to worship, while the
itinerant Methodist preacher mount
ed his horse, and sought out their
cabins in the woods, held his meetings
there, carrying the Gospel, and leav-
ing the Bible and Hymn Book as he
went. The woods were not settled
without much sickness, many deaths
and great suffering among the people.
OF course we were too sparsely settled,
and our towns too small, to be hesub-
jects of such awful epidemics as visit
cd New Orleans in the year 1853, the
last time the yellow fever made its
appearance in that devoted city; when
the,waters Of the Ohio and Mississippi
had almost forsaken their channels,
when at intervals only there might
be seen a solitary steamer, loaded to
the guards, with passengers leaving
the city, and slowly vending her way
up the crooked channels Of the rivers,
leaving thousands of citizens behind
to perish; when the hum of business
ceased, and nothing was heard in the
streets but the sound Of the lonely
hearses slowly and solemnly bearing
to the grave the silent dead; when the
levees were deserted and Commerce
had spread her sails for happier ports;
and when Nations sympathy ming
led with her cries of woe. While we
had none of these awful visitations,
there were few families that were not
laid upon the bed of sickness and
death in some member. Connersvillc
was so sickly that / was advised by
my friends to leave it and fly for my
life. Indianapolis was no better, in
deed its reputation was still worse,
and the whole country was in the
hands of the physicians and nurses.
LORENZO DOW.
In the year 1919 l was one of a con-
gregaticn assembled in the woods
back of Rising Sun, anxiously await
ing the arrival of Lorenzo Dow
Time passed away, we had all become
impatient when in the distance we
saw him approaching at a rapid rate
through the trees on his pacing pony.
He rode up to the log on which Twas
sitting, threw the rains over the neck
of the pony and stepped upon the log,
took off his hat, his hair parted in the
middle of his head and flowing on
either side to his shoulders, his beard
resting on his breast. In a minute
at the top of his voice he said: "Be-
hold, / come quickly and my reward
is with me-" Ny subject is rcpen-
tance. We sing, "while the lamp
holds out to burn, the vilest sinner
may return" That idea has done
much harm and should be received
with many grains ofallowance. There
are cases where it would be easier for
q camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for q man to repent unto
salvation. Let me meillustrate Do you
suppose thatthe man among you who
went out last fall to kill deer, and
bear for winter meat, and instead
killed his neighbor's hogs, salted them
down and is now living on the meat,
can repent while it is yet unpaid for?
| tell you nay. Except he restores
a Just compensation his attempt at re-
pentancc will bethe basest hypocrisy.
Except ye repent, truly We shall all
likewise perish" Down he stepped,
mounted his pony, and in few min
utcs was moving on through the woods
at rapid pace to meet another APP
pointment.
SKETCHES OF PREACHERS IN EARLY IN
DIANA.
l may be excused for naming some
of the itinerant Methodist preachers
of early times, to whom alluded in
the commencement Of this sketch
James Jones, Augustus Jocelyn, John
p. Durbin, James Conwcll, John Har-
dy, Aaron Wood, James Havens, Eli
jah Whitten, John Morrow, Father
Silvey, John Strange, and Allen
Wiley. 1 had the pleasure of fire.
quently hearing all these eminent
preachers. John Strange had bril-
liant imagination, and was splendid
preacher. Sometimes thought him
a little too "high" in his thoughts for
the audience he was addressing. lie
would talk of the "zigzag forked
lightnings playing through the con.
cave vaults Of heaven" and again Of
''the cherubim and the flaming words
guarding the paradise of God" i
loved to hear him.
Mr.. Jocelyn was, at times, one oi
the ablest sermonizers of the age
AT others, he would lose the text, and
forget his entire discourse i saw
him at one time at Centerville' stand
ing silent before the congregation, hil
eyes gazing at vacancy. ''I am los
the text and the subject have lef
me-" and down he sat. A hymn wai
sung, the meeting was closed, and tn,
congregation retired. On one occa
sion he was preaching at Connersville
was sitting just before him. III
seemed to preach long. Ibecame un
easy about the fire in my Office
| could not fall uhu Tho momenf a.