The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1860-06-08
From Chambers EdinIargh Joarnat.
Pre- &C hing in the Far West.


aud deaf men to fill the station of Boots
at our inns, has not seldom i'm bued blind
persons with a passion for travel. Over
the last class, the Rev. William Henry
Milburn, of the United States, may GER
tainly, claim present pre- eminence. Hsis
not, indeed, altogether sightless; the right
eye retains the smallest possible trauspa-
rent spot not much larger than Plus
point, in the corner of the pupil, through
which the light may make It's way
g though to make this fraction Of an eve
available, it is necessary to use shade
above tie eye, md to place the middle
finger of the right hand beneath it, thus
forming sort Of artificial pupil, allowing
only the due quantity Of light to enter"
Nevertheless, since, before his accident
(Which was occasioned by an oyster-sheli
thrown by school companion,) he had
fortunately learned to read, he became,
under these disadvantsgeous circumstan-
ces, greedy devourer of books, and an
accomplished student of ths university Of
Illinois; an 0iaa n5atsr which may boast,
with truth, of the rare virtue of never hay
ing conferred the title OF d. d. on any un-
worthy object, inasmuch as throughout it.
tiye-and-s"ehty years existence, it has
never had occasion to coofor il at all.
The Milburns we're driven Philadelphia
by commercial shipwreck, in 1897, and of
course found the capital of the Far West
to be great deal cheaper place to live in.
Some ofth aborigines, however, complain
ed, it seems, Of its prices, low as .hey were,
and were thus, in Mr.. Milburn's hearing,
reproyed by female eg5-seller; What /!
do ye s'Poss cur hens are gwine to strain
themselves a-laying eggs, at three cents a
dozen? Lsy 'sm yourselves, ana see how
you'd like the price" Although, indeed,
be could not see very well, the author Of
Ten Tears of0 Pfeacter-i./5 had powers
o. obieryation greater than those Of most
men with perfect eyes, and suffered abso
lutte! y nothing to escape his ears. Having
embraced the profession Of preacher in
the Wesleyan Methodist connection he was
appointed TO the Winchester circuit, con
sisting Of some55thirity preaching places
some Of them chape!s, more Of them lJg
schoUl-housas, most Of them private dwell
ings-at al average of some ten miles
apart. lie had to preach a sermon day,
ani make his three-huLdred milo round
thirteen times year. Thus he got &C
quainted with almost every man, woman
and child within his beat, and ha | a school
opened to him for studying human nature
which hs would scarcely have found else
where. That privilege, however, seems
to have formed his principal reward, since
of pecuniary recompense he had only four
hundred dollars per annum. We do not
wonder that with such miserable stipend
young man in the same position as him
self-a "hel per" in the ministrv-was
once convicted at quar- :erly Conference
OF the practice of swapping horses" in
order to make both ends meet. All the
charges against this juvenile preacher
were Enthusiastically rebuf}eI. " First,
that he could not preach second that he
was attentive to all she girls around the
circuit; and third, sha: ho was constantly
engaged in swapping horses. In defend
ing himself he stated, first, that be knew
as we'll rs any of them, that he could not
preach, and he was sure il did not trouble
them as much as It did him; second, that
they nesd not be alarmed about his atten-
tion to the girls, for he would not think of
marrying the daughter ofany man present;
and third, as to trading horses, what else
was lie to do! they paid him nothing, and
lie had no other way of making money
enough to buy his clothes.'
rHba aisniptipa Of .kia
is rather rough when compared with that
of Oxford and Cambridge, and the method
of imparting the art of sxtempore preach
ing seems somewhat analogous to that of
teaching our dogsto swim. The neophyte
was "chucked in" and 10 land himself
himself how he could in this fashion
"William exhortr' cried the presiding
elder quite Unexpectedly, one meeting
night, to our young author who had never
before opened his mouth in public. 81
had no resource but to stand up, frighten-
ed as [ was almost to death, behind nv
split bottomed chair, in lieu of pulpit. in
front of the huge fire place, and attempt to
speak by the light of the smoudering EN-.
bers, and one or two candles fast sinking
to their sockets, to the crowd Of hunters
and farmsrs filing the cabin, who gsped
and stared at paid, beardle.s boy. OF
course, words we're few, and ideas fewer,
and on resuming my seat, I had tie un-
comfortable impression that that congre-
CATION had listened to about as poor dis
course as ever was delivered. Such was
my first attempt at preaching"
The bishops Of thls community, al
though much respected, seem to obtain by
no means an answering obedience from
their subordiuates. One Of these was ex-
pl aiming to his diocesan tha. he practiced
medicine (Which had been mads ground
of complaint against him) only for the
good of his flock. "Eow, Mr.. Bishop,
you know we are commanded TO do good
to the bodies o. well as TO the souls of
men If were travelling in region
were the doctors were scarce, and were to
find & man in bad spell Of bilious fever,
ye know / would thrown him into a
sweat. and then give him a dose Of lobelia
or thoroughwort"-
"No, sir" interrupted the bishopra;hcr
haughtiIy; "no, brother. do not know
and what is mora, do not care what you
would DO"
avery well, sir, very well" re'orted
the other; ven have as good a right to
H.. -! IL. a foC1 &C ,Dv otbar man.