Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-03-13

Said object was freely discussed, but
without the least nnanimity, for a
time, almost as many different OBJ
jects being alleged as there were IA
ces in the company. Prayer meet
ing, class-meeting, reading club and
various other purposes of meeting
were offered and discussed, among
which it was stated that serious
charges were to be preferred against
the pastor, and that his case must
needs undergo investigation; where
upon Esq. Caldwell suggested that
some of them thought Bro. Barbee
needed regulating. John West with
great emphasis declared himself for
the defense, but said that he had
come to go over the Sunday-school
lesson, and that he was ready to go
into that work at once. Then fol-
lowed discussion of what had been
the subject of last Sundays lesson,
interrupting which, slight noise
was heard in the corner of the room.
Conversation ceased. All eyes were
turned in that direction, to behold
Esq. Caldwell rising with his usual
and very becoming dignity, as if to
pour oil upon the troubled waters
stating the real object of the meet
ing, which was to present Rev. J.
d. Barbee with a fine gold watch,
which had been secured mainly
through the Instrumentality of Mr..
Jay Jackson. He, not member
of the Church, but a regular attend
ant upon. Mr.. Barbee's ministry,
had discovered that he had no
watch, and determined to make an
appeal to few friends, to which
liberal responses were made, and
with no trouble the amount was Sc
cured, the watch purchased and
paid for, and Esq. Caldwell was Sc
lected to present it, which he did in
the following happy style:
Brother Bar6ee: | have been Sc
lected q don't know WHY to bring
one of those charges against you.
TJohn West: "I'm for the de
fense."1 / don't know whether /
shall be able to make a speech or
not. 1 am laboring under peculiar
embarrassment. / am unable to ac-
count for this, for l know / am in
the midst of my friends. 1 thought
before | got up to speak that l had
pretty good ideas. But 1 am scared.
/ can feel my heart beating now.
1t has always been the case with
me that when / arose in public my
ideas would get lower, but l shall
do the best / can.
Bro. Barbee, what / intend to
say is for you. Since you were APP
pointed by the powers that be, four
months ago, to take charge of the
Methodist Church in GAINESVILLE,
your department as Christian gen.
tleman and heightened Methodist
has been of that character
that you have won the love and af-
fiction of all those with whom you
have been associated. And since
you have been here, the eyes of the
world and the Church, and especial
ly of the world, have been watch
ing you closely, and some of us have
concluded that you needed watch
ing.
The watching you need, how
ever, is of different nature, and |
this is the object of our meeting to-
night.
1t has been discovered by some
of your very dear friends that you
had NO watch, and they have inn
posed upon me the duty of present
ing you with one as a very small !
token of the high esteem, kindly re-
gard, and the sincere love and affec- |
ton they bear for you.
feel that / want to say to you,
and / think you ought to know,
that the prime mover in securing |
for this present, |
though a friend of yours and a
member of your congregation, is
not a member of the Church; and [
think when tell you this, you will |
doubly appreciate it for this very |
reason.
Take this watch, then, as a me-
mortal of the warmest love of your |
personal friends. Wear it and reg
llate it, and may you be regulated |
by it. May you never be late, but |
always in your place at the proper |
time. And may you never be so
as to run ahead of the |
time. Nor may you ever be te-
1iOus or too protracted in your SER
vices, so as to weary your congre- |
CATION; but may you ever be adj
by this watch to quit at
the proper time.
In behalf of your true friends, l
now present it to you.
The watch was then handed to
Bro. Barbee, after which Mr.. Cald-
well remarked further: II also
now present you with a beautiful
silk and bead guard mounted with
gold. This is from your friend, Mr..
RIFT Jackson.
Mr.. Barbee then responded as fol-
lows:
DsOt1teF .OtAtCttCCtt :. AllOW lllS ~ /
say to you, and, through you, to
these brethren and friends present, /
that / am quite overwhelmed by /
this expression of kindness. Were |
possessed of an orators tongue, / |
would Gull all the most beautiful /
flowers from the parterre of elo- |
Iuence and strew them at your feet. |
'But | am a plain, blunt man, and I
speak right on" therefore / can on
" say, / thank you for this token
Of friendship and brotherly love. 1t 4
Is appreciated for its intrinsic value, !
but more because it is friendships /
and most of all because the /
is mainly due to the
spirit and active agency /
Of gentleman, who, though he is /
a member Of my congregation and /
a subject of my ministry, is not a
in any church.
This little token is a symbolic \
gift. 1 perceive ii is a chronometer
"a tinle-BledSlfTeT-a by this fact,
il suggests that our stay upon the /
earth is temporary; therefore we |
should set our affections on things /
above, not upon things which are
on the earth. 1t is circular in its |
form, and thus being without an |
end, il suggests the endless dura- |