The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-05-20

., PIONEER METHODIST PREACHERS
VI Interesting Reminiseences Of Bishe
4 Asbufy, GeOrEe Roberts, Jaco
kr1her. nilly Alhberds and ofhe
= From Lamps, Pitchers and Trump
!, cts, recent work by Edwin Raxto
v Hood, an English writer, we make th
If following extracts:
g The Methodist pulpit of the Unite
d States is not one whit less interesting
y rather more so, think-than our OWL
Had not DIR. Sprague brought tOgethe
e such an interesting variety of biOgra
s ply and anecdote in his A5,n0Is of til
u AHericda Methodist R,lpk, we shoul,
: have hoped that the subject would hav
: brought from DIR. Stevens fourth vol
ume; and still there is room; and from
| his pen it could only be most pleasan
reading. - =
J For very wonderful is the story Of til.
l lamp and pitchers in many of the darl
}, places Of that great continent-the va
rled region of the United States-tht
? lives of bishops, not addressed as "My
Lord" wearing no episcopal title Of
dignity, having no splendid palace, nG
, magnificent cathedral, no snug diocese
no princely income. Scholars, men Ol
: genius, like Asbury, separating them.
selves from all the comforts and con.
veniences of life, for sixty dollars a
year, with travelling equipage, not ol
, q chariot and four, but of saddle-bags
and one; plunging into the wilderness
to seek for lost sheep, preaching in
} barns, on stumps Of trees, in log huts,
in illimitable woods, in the household
forest, by blazed trees in deep prairies
foundering through swamps, swim
ming vast rivers, drenched by pitiless
rains, scOrched by suns, bitten by frosts
and driving SHOWS. From some of
these places they wrote for preacher: /:
BE sure and send us agood swimmer,
there was considerable wonder as to
I what this could mean, until it turned
out that the district was full of bridge
less streams, and the last minister had
been drowned because he could not
swim. Sometimes the travelling preach
er or bishop found himself among hos
tile Indians in the solitude of the for
est he knew their track and trail /; ut
night he heard their yell, and unex-
pectedly found himself in the neigh
! borhoOd of their campfire and the
crack of the Indian rifle. The intrepid
and heroic preacher urged his way
over the mountains and through val
leys, stirring the community, wher-
ever he came, with hymn and sermon;
reaching the villages and little settle
ments dotting the country, amidst ex-
4 tensive wildernesses, for the most part
the undisturbed abode of the wolf and
the panther. Neither the cold nor
storms of winter, nor the abuse he re-
ceiVed from wicked men, could weaken
his energy or impede his progress. If
the horse was not in the way, then Of
ten the saddle-bags had to be carried
over the shOnlder, and he travelled on
foot. At times there were no saddlebag..
George" said Bishop Asbury to
George Roberts-"George, where are
your clothes ~ ~ 4
Bishop, they are on my back On
receiving my appointment at your
hand. sir, am not compelled TO re-
turn to my circuit for my clothes, but
am ready at q moments warning, to
go whithersoever you direct.n al
His son, DIR. Roberts, says: ~ have
in my possession the needle and thread
case which was his constant compan-
ion. If his clothes, from any unex-
pected cause, needed attention, he was
in the habit of turning aside into some
retired spot for the purpose of taking
them Oft and mending Them" In the
lives of Romish Saints-St. Francis or
st. Dominic-these would be thought
picturesque and wonderful relics.
Sometimes the preacher, TN the depth
of the prarie, came upon a band of
white heathens. Thus Richard Motley,
one of those good and great men, dis
covered the track Of an emigrant fami-
ly, and followed it. :.
"Whatn said the man who MAS |
leading it into the wilderness, "a Meth |
Odist preacher! Iquit Virginia to be
out of the way of them, but in my set !
tlement i'm Georgia I thought I should /
be beyond their reach. There they !
were, and they got my wife and daugh- |
ter into their church. Then / come |
here to ChOctaw Corner, find a good |
piece of land, feel sure that shall have
some peace from the preachers, and /
here is one before have unloaded my |
wagOn"'
"My friend" said Motley, '.if you go
TO heaven, you'll find Methodist preach
ers there; and if you 60 to hell, Pm
afraid you'll find some there; and you
see how it is in this world. I'd advise
You to come TO terms with God, and
then you'll be at peace with us"
Sometimes they died in the wilder
ness, and "nO man knew the place of
their sepulchre." Months, and some
times years elapsed before it was known
they had gone to their reward. These
men have been called the graduates of
Brush College, Fellows of Swamp Uni
verify.
"How is it you have mo Doctor of
Divinity::" said one to the fine old Ja-
cob Kruber, a preacher of this order.
"Our Divinity is not sick, and does
not need doctoring," said the old man.
A witty, satirical old creature, this
Kruber-able, learned, sarcastic, and
eloquent. He lived during the days
of the Revolution in America, and be-
ing called on to pray OH some great
public occasion, he delivered himself
of the following petition:
20 Lord, have mercy on the SOver-
eigns of Europe; convert their souls;
give them short lives and happy deaths;
take them to heaven, and let us have
no more of them"
Sometimes the bitter got bitten
When he lived at Lewiston he came
frequently into contact with a Catholic
priest, not much behind him i'm the use
of edged TOOLS. He met the priest one
day not as usual, on horseback, but
trudging OH foot. Said Kruber:
Where's your horse? why don't
you ride?"
"Oh," said the other, rather testify,
"the beasts dead"
dead well, l suppose he is in pur-
gatory?" s5s-sr
Nay, the wretched creature turned
Methodist just before he died, and went
straight to hell.'
Old kruber was greatly averse to
read sermons, for even in those days
there was readers of sermons in the pull
pit. Once youthful Congregational
minister read before him; Jacob also
had to follow the young imam in preach
ing, and it was expected he would give
the young brother thrust for the use
of his notes. He finished, however,
without saying word that looked to-
ward the manuscript; but in his con-
cluding prayer he uttered these strange
petitions: "Lord, bless the young man
who has read to us to-day: lethis heart
be as soft as his head, and then he Will
do us some good"
"HOw do you make your preachers"
was once said to one of these fine old
preachers of the woods. tt't
"Why, we old ones tell the young
ones all We know, and they try to tell
the people all they can, and they keep
OH trying til they can-that,s our col
la,vp - (lnp WAS iSkpt.v |