Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1857-04-23
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PULPIT GRAVITY.

A minister was preaching TO large con
pregation in one of the Southern States, or
the certainty of future judgment In the
gallery sat a colored girl with white chilc
in her arms, which she was dancing up ant
down with commendable effort, to make baby
observe the proprieties Of the place. The
preacher was too much interested in his sub
iect to notice the occasional noise of the in
FAINT; and at the right point in his discourse
threw himself into an interesting attitude
as though he suddenly heard the first note
of the trump of doom, and looking toward:
that pal of the church where the girl with
the baby in her arms was sitting, he asked
in low, deep voice:
"What is that I hear?"
Before he recovered from the oratorica
pause, so as to answer his own question, the
colored girl responded, in mortified tone oi
voice, but loud enough to catch the ears Of
the entire congregation
i dom no sa, l spec it is dis here chile
but, indeed, sa, I has been doin' all [ could
to keep him from 'sturbin' you
1t is easy to imagine that this unexpected
rejoindcr took the tragic out of the preacher
in the shortesttime imaginable, and that the
solemnity of that judgment day sermon was
not little diminished by the event.
Another instance, equally coufounding tt
the minister, happened, we believe, in Rich
mond, Va. A large congregation had as
sembled to hear strangerof some notoriety
Soon after he had introduced his subject,
the cry of Fire fire = in the street very
much disturbed the congregation, any many
were about to retire, when an elderly lay
brother rose and said:
If the congregation will be composed, l
will step out and sec if there is any fire near
and report
The congregation became composed, and
the minister proceeded. Taking advantage
of the occurrence, he called attention to
fire that would consume the world-a fire
that would burn forever in the lake that is
bottomless; and had just concluded SEN
tence of terrible import, and not without
manifest impression on his audience, when a
voice from the other end of the church, as
if in fiat denial of all he had said, bawled
out:
ITS talsc ala,m'
The effect was ludicrous in the extreme.
The old man had returned; but his inoppor'
tune response spoiled the force Of the elo'
quent appeal from the pulpit, and even the
preacher could scarce refrain from joining
in the universal smile that passed over the
congregation.
Rev. Mr.. S. was preaching in one of the
Methodist Episcopal churches in this city
and there was in attendance a good old Meth
odist brother, very much given to response
Sometimes those responses were not exactly
appropriate, but they were always we'll meant
The preacher, usually lucid, was rather per
plexoa and felt it himself. He laborec
through his first part, and then said:
Brethren, 1 have now reached the con
clusion of my first point!
THANK God.' piously calculated the ole
man, who sat before him prof undly inter
ested; the unexpected response and the sug
gestivc power of it, so confused the preacher
that it was with difficulty he could rally
himself to continuance of his discourse.
Methodist (Bah.) Protestant