The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-02-18
Anecdotes Of Western Pioneer.

Mr.. p, was remarkable for his
trust in God in all the affairs Of this life.
and bis strong leaning to the old Puritan
sentiment, particular .taith IN proyer--
Some circumstances in the lifo Of this man
would seem to prove that in special and
rare cases the particular mercies sought for
may be granted.
% removing from his native country to
the West, Mr.. P and some others
made purchase of land and paid the
money. 1t was soon discovered that the
seller was not tho owner, and consequently
that the title was worthless, and the money
lost. Mr.. P.'s loss was greater than he
could well bear. The other purchasers had
recourse to law, and advised him also to
"employ COUNSEL Il have read in the
Bible of wonderful Counsellor" was the
faint reply, sand my application shall be to
him. He thereupon made i; a matter Of
earnest and repeated prayer; not, wo pre-
sumo for specific restitution Of the noney
but that by some rrov;dcn,;al interference.
this serious loss m;ght be mad. M TO him
or that be might be duly reconci!ei to il
and eventually none the worst for it. The
prospect of Il sryc;fic answer WAS very
small, for the man who Obtained the n,,ror
had adsconded both from the neshborhoo,I
and from his family. But as Mr.. p
was passing near this mans house some.
time after, chill running up to him beg.
god him to come in. As he d;l so, s,l.c
wife handed him the Identical bag wh;c..
contained the identical dollars, explaining
the strange action in these wcrds:
When my husband wen. away, hc
charged me to give this money to you, for.
said he, Tn afraid the man vii! pray me T.,
DEATH"
Thus Mr.. P.'s wish was gained The.
others, 1t is said, never got anything.
Another instance, more minute aal
therefore more to the point, We TAX: from
one OF his letters. Mr.. p was at ~,
time poor student OF divinity, and Lis
course of study having greatly lcssenc,i hi,
means OF living, he regarded with mor,.;ra
ton bis napless worn.out hat not fit to an
pear at Presbytcrv. But as it was of suffi
c'ent Importance to give him concern. !,
was tit subject for prayer, and SO he writes
10 his vile as follows -" In retirement for
special prayer yesterday, The Lord let ne
IL
talk f"m'liarly with him abou, many things.
particularly about hat and he made will.
'ng'y to 60 Presbytery with my old one.
came away with pleasant hope, and wei!
pleased with his government, and this day
there was one bought for guinea, sent to
me present By a. L."
A schoo! master may with al! dignity
pray for the prosperity of his school; and
he may make mention of the lost knife.
without which he cannot mend the cl,ildren's
pens. "For want Of n mai! tho shoe was
lost, for want of shoe the horse was cr;,,.
pied the messenger was DELAYED. aud Ih,.
city obliged to surrender" 1t was back
woods settlement, and his the oniy Den.
knife in it; if the knife was not found the.
pens could not be made, the writing mus;
stop, and the school must break up. Mr..
P carried his trouble to the accrs.
toned place, and spread it out in plain
terms last resource, for it had been
hunted up and down to no purpose.
Truly all the searching in the world will not
ind it, for it lies buried under the winters
snow, along some road or bride path, drop.
pea hrst and showed on afterwards. What
thereupon happened might indeed have
happened without prayer, and it might not.
AS he was riding along, the ho,.c's hcot;
lifting up cake Of snow, turned up some
thing else while slight jingle. It was en-
answer to his requests.
This same Mr.. P. the man Of nravcr
was also remarkable Tor fcarcs,ness in
doing what he judged to be duty. One an,
eodotes among many which might be tod,
Will suf1ce. AS regularly appointed dis
tr'butor of the Bible along the landings Of
"ee'e'n clty, ne was OF course subjected
70 much expense, and as his own means
were limited. he was obliged to make coIlec
.!ons where ne could to dcfray the charges.
~ such cause, then in its infancy in the
west ne felt as if he had claim on any
citizen who could spare dollar. In one
OF these collecting rounds he was met by
an acquaintance, who salutcd him thus:
swell, father P, what errsud ara
you on to-dayf"
m going to the man who keeps store
over there, to get dollar for my Bible distri-
butioni'
why, certainly you would not 90 to
'ocn man as that; an open infidel, and
scoherg; you'll not get cent from him7"