Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-06-06

O ~ IAAS "OhioA
and within a week deserted he
in the most unaccountable mar
ner. Drunkenness, gluttony, an
: profanity were also charged, an
r with the assurance that the fact
3 were SO notorious and open, a
, scarcely to demand investigation
, Brother j sat as immova
BILE and imperturbable as statue
When the aged minister conclu
ded, he arose and shocked tn,
congregation with an expression
of the grossest profanity, coupled
with the somewhat ludicrous an
nouncement that he would start
a camp of his own in the oppo
site grove, and preach at 8 o'clock
P. NJ, taking for his text the short
est verse in the Bible.
After this announcement, he
stalked out, and the meeting at
once took the necessary action to
erase his name from the list of
members of the association.
That afternoon, curiosity indu-
ced me to form one of the large
crowd of hearers who attended
the opening of J-'s scamp
meeting" During the interval
between services, | had heard
much discussion in regard to his
strange doings, and had heard SO
many exciting stories of his re-
cent conduct, as to be forced to
the conclusion that he was insane.
[ had limited this belief to the
landlord, who had replied to it
by saying: 'Jist you wait till
you hear that critter preach, and
| reckon you'll never call him
crazy again"
On arrivingat the grove selected
by j for his meeting, found a
large but Heterogeneous crowd in
attendance. They seemed to be
composed of the toughest and
most hardened portion of S.,
with now and then a respectable
looking man, drawn there, like
myself, by curiosity.
j soon arrived, and at once
opened his services by singing,
with voice | have never heard
surpassed, even among profession
al singers, selection from q hymn
book then in use. After singing,
he offered a prayer. 1t was a
wonderful prayer, not marked
with any attempt at rhetorical
display, but full of fervor, and
breathing a spirit of unfaltering
trust.
At the conclusion of his prayer
he announced his text to be the thir-
ty-ffth verse Of the eleventh chap
ter of John "Jesus wept." The
introduction consisted of des-
cription of the village Of Bethany
and its adjacent country. He des-
cribed, with the rare power of
description, the vineyards and the
vine clad cottages surrounding the
town the customs of the people ;
and painted the scene where Laz-
arus, falling sick, is attended by
his devoted sisters. The wailing
of the bereaved Jewish maidens,
when their brother lay before
them an inanimate corpse, was
portrayed in the most vivid and
affecting manner, drawing tears
from many an eye. From this he
passed to the custom of coincidence
after the death Of a Jew, and point
ed to the life of the long-bearded
and grave old Israelites, who came
to visit and offer coincidence to the
grief-stricken sisters.
He paused and stood silent and
pointed for a moment, as if to
call attention to some object in the
distance. All eyes were turned
in the direction of his finger
"There!" he cried, "do you see
them? 1t is the blessed Jesus,
surrounded by the Twelve, who
are approaching over yon hill"
And here commenced a description
of each that seemed a very dream |
of poetry, it was so full of beauty
and poetic imagery. One by one
the Twelve were described until
you could have recognized them at |
a glance from his wonderful des-
cription. He, last of all, des-
cribed our Saviour, and here his
description was brilliant beyond |
words, surprising in eloquence
anything to which l have ever
listened. He described minutely |