The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-01-15
Che Circuit 4ider:
A TALE OF THE HEROIC AGE.
By EDWARD EGGLEsToN,
AuthOy Of" The Hoosiev School. Mas
ter,"" End Of the World" etc.
from the Christian Union.l
-ZSaidh.
beginners of a better time,
And glorying In their vows
-Ieanysos.'s "Iolvts Of the King"

Whatever is incredible in this
story is true. A tale of the heroic
age it is. For not among the Hebrew
prophets, nor among the knights
that sat at Arthur's Table Round,
nor among the rugged ironsides who
followed Cromwell, was there truez
heroism than in the romantic life. oi
the early Western adventures -hun-
ter, warrior, settler and preacher.
The tale ! have to tell will seem
strange to those who know little OF
the social life OF the West at, the be-
ginning Of this century. These sharp
contrasts Of corn huskings and camp
meetings, OF wild revels followed by
wild reviyais; these contacts Of high
waymen and preacher; this neelonge
of picturesque simplicity, grotesque
hulnor and savage ferocity, of aban-
doned wickedness and austere piety,
can hardly seem real to those who
know the country now. But the
books of biography and reminiscence
which preserve the memory of that
time, more than justify whatever is
marvellous in the following tale.
Living, in early boyhood, on the
very ground where my grandfather-
brave old Indian-f n-fighter!-had de-
Tended his family in a 'block-house'
built in wilderness by his own
hands, ! grew up, familiar with this
strange wild life. At the age when
other children hear fables and fairy
stories, my childish fancy was filled
with traditions of conflicts with wild
beasts, Indians and highwaymen. In
stead Of imaginary giant-killers, chill
dren then heard OF real lndian-slay-
ers; instead Of Blue Boards, we had
Murrel! and his robbers; instead of
Little Red Riding Hoods wolf, we
were regaled with the daring adven-
lures OF the generation before us, in
conflict with wild beasts, on the very
road We travelled to school. In many
households the old customs still held
sway; the wool was carded, spun,
dyed, woven, cut and made up in the
house; the corn -shucking, wood
chopping, quilting, apple peeling and
country shoe-down' had not yet fallen
into disuse.
In true picture Of this life, neither
the Indian nor the hunter is the CEN
ter-piece, but the circuit-rider. More
than any one else, the early circuit
preachers brought order out of this
chaos. In no other class was the real
heroic element SO finely displayed.
How do l remember the forms and
weather beaten visages of the old
preachers, whose constitutions had
conquered starvation and exposure
who had survived swamps, aligators,
Indians, highway robbers and bilious
fevers! How was my boyish soul
tickled with their funny anecdotes Of
rude experience-how was my imag-
ination wrought upon by the recital
Of their hair-breadth escapes! How
was my heart set afre by their con-
tagious religious enthusiasm, so that
at eighteen years Of age | bestrode
the saddle-bags myself, and laid upon
feeble frame the heavy burden OF
emulating their tolls! Surely have
q right to celebrate thenisaice they
came SO near being the death of me.
1t is not possible to write of this
heroic race Of men without enthusi-
asm. But nothing has been further
from my mind than the glorifying o.
q sect. III we're capable of sec.
tartan pride, l should not come upon
the platform Of CHRISTIAN UNION
to display it. Much as ! have
laughed at every sort Of grotesquerie
could not treat the early religious
life Of the West otherwise than with
the most cordial sympathy and ad
miration. And yet this is not re
lligious novel; in the ordinary sense
one in which all the bad people arr
as bad .s they can be, and oil thu
good people little better than they
can be. l have not even asked my
self what may be the moral Th'
story Of any true life is healthful i
only the writer will tell it simply
keeping impertinent preachment 0
his own out Of the way.
| Doubtless ! shall hopelessly dam
age myself with some good people b,
confessing in the start that, from tn
the first chapter to the last, this is
love-story. But it is not my fault
Il was God who made love 50 uni
versalt that no picture Of human if
can be complete where love is lei
out. sst.~