The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-01-18

head was covered with very heavy, thick
bushy hair, and it was white as wool
which added very much to the pic
turesqueness of his appearance. AS ]
looked in at the door, ] thought l never
saw more striking figure. he straight
ened himself up, but said nothing until
just as we appeared at the door, when.he
greeted us with:
"Walk in, gentlemen"
He then spoke to his grandchild to
give us some chairs. The meeting was,
I saw, little awkward, and. he looked
very sharply at us, a much as to say,
" You are here, but for what / don't
know; make known your business .
Mr. Webster's first salutation was
"This is Mr., Colby, Mr.. John Colby,
is it not %
That Is nay name, sir was The. re-
ply.
a suppose you don't know me, said
Mr.. Webster.
No, sir, l don't know you; and [
should like to know how you know me. "
az have seen you before, Mr.. Colby, -
replied Mr. Webster.
Seen me beforel" said he "pray,
when and where p
Have you no recollection of me -
asked Mr.. Webster.
"No sir, not the slightest" !" and he
looked by Mr. Webster toward me, as if
trying to remember if he had seen me.
Mr.. Webster remarked =
''I think you never saw this gentle
man before but you have seen me-"
Colby put the question again, when
and where
You married my Oldest sister" re-
piled Mr. Webster, calling her by name
q think it was Susannah).
'I married your oldest sister ~ ex-
claimed Colby " who are yeu ?"
"I am little Dan " was the reply.
II certainly would be impossible to
describe the expression of wonder, aston
nent, and half-incredulity that came
over Colby's face.
You Daniel Webster!' said he and
he sarted to rise from his chair. As he
did ., he stammered out some words of
surprBe. &C Is it possible that this is the
little lack lad that used to ride the
horse to water? Wen, l cannot realize
lit
Mr.. Webster approached him. They
embraced each other; and both wept
as it possible" said Mr. Colby, when
the embarrassment of the first shock of
recognition was past, that you have
come up here to see me Is this Daniel
Why, why" said he, I cannot believe
my senses. Now. sit down. am glad,
oh, am so glad to see you, Daniel
never expected to see you again. Idon't
know what to say. l am so glad" he
went on, that my life has been spared
that might see you. Why, Daniel,
icetU NAOOAAs ; - A.
all ways; sometimes some members of
the family come and tell us about you
and the newspapers tell us a great deal
about you, too. Your name seems to
be constantly in the newspapers. They
say that you are a great man, that you
are a famous man and you can't tell
how delighted l am when 1 hear such |
things. But, Daniel, the time IS short,
you won't stay here long,-I want to |
ask you one important question. You |
may be a great man; are you good |
man Are you a Christian man Do you
love the lord Jesus Christ That is the /
only question that is worth asking or
answering. Are you Christian You
know, Daniel, what have been: have |
been one of the wickedest Of men. Your |
poor sister, who is now in heaven, knows |
that. But the spirit of Christ and of |
Almighty God has come down and |
plucked me as brand from the ever
lasting burning. l am here now, a !
to his grace. Oh, Daniel, |
would not give what is contained within |
the covers of this book for all the honors |
that have been conferred. upon men from
the creation of the world until now. For |
what good would it do? 1t is all nothing,
and less than nothing, if you are not
Christian, if you are not repentant. If |
you do not love the Lord Jesus Christ, |
in sincerity and truth, all your worldly
honors will sink to utter nothingness.
Are youa Christian? Do you love Christ?
You have not answered me-"
All this was said in the most earnest
= j o.-o,, ,-obor,an+ yooDpar
John Colby" replied Mr.. Webster,
+" you have asked me a very important
question, and one which should not be
answered lightly. intend to give you
an answer, and one that is truthful, or /
won't give you any. 1 hope that ] am
a Christian. l profess to be Christian.
But, while l say that, | wish to add
I say it with shame and confusion of
face,-that l am not such Christian as
wish | were. have lived in the world,
surrounded by its honors and its tempta
tiens and l am afraid, John Colby,
that l am not so good a Christian as |
ought to be- I am afraid have not
your faith and your hopes but still, |
hope and trust that l am Christian,
and that the same grace which has con-
verted you, and made you an heir of sal
walton, will do the same for me. trust
in; and / also trust, John Colby,-and it
won't be long before our summons will
come,-that we shall meet in a better
world, and meet those who have gone be-
fore us, whom we knew, and who trusted
in that same divine, free grace. 1t won't
be long. You cannot tell, John Colby,
how much delight it gave me to hear OF
your conversion. The hearing of that is
what hiss led me here to-day. | came
here to see with my own eyes, and hear
with my own ears the story from a man
that I know and remember well. What
a wicked man you used to be :"
90 Daniel l'' exclaimed John Colby,
''you don't remember how wicked was;
how ungrateful l was; how un-
thankful l was / never cared
for God; 1 was worse than the
heathen Living in a Christian land,
with the light shining all around me, and
the blessings of Sabbath teachings every
boro obo4,+ mo xuas vr0rsa +ban q