Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-05-14
the answer to it, and which an put

the answer TO III, ana Wnlcn all put
together made this:
"The benfits which in this life do
either accompany or flow from JUS
LITIGATION, adoption and santification
are peace of conscience, joy i'm the
Holy Ghost, increase of grace and
perseverance therein to the endr |
thought the child was the greatest
wonder l had ever seen in all my
life. She tuck il right through, too
without baIkin' or misSin' the first
word. And she spoke SO sweet and
she looked so like little angel, that
before l knowed it the tears was Il
runnin' down my cheek as big *
~huckshot. l've e the day when
| could have mauld and split Il
thouSan' rails quicker aud easter
than could larnt that thing and
said il off like she did.
NOW, my brethren, that child
didn't understand or know the
meanin' of one word % that. 1t
put me up to all 4 knew to take il
in myself. But just let that PEGS
byterian young sun grow up, and
every word OF that catechism will
come back to her, and her charac-
ter will stiffen up under it, and she
will have the backbone of the mat
ter in her for life.
Now, | can't put things into my
children that way. Nothing don't
stay somehow. Its like drivin' a
nail into a rotten log"
This last remark l never forgot.
For thirty years afterward, rs |
would stand at the blackboard try
ing TO fix rules and principles in the
mind of a dull pupil, this remark
would come back to me with its
peculiar pertinacy.
81 tell you, my BRETHREN" he
continued, ''if our children had a
little more catechism and The Pres
byterians a little less, il would be
better for both.
"Then we don't pray in our fam
lilies like they do. | know their
prayers are mighty long, and they
pray all over creation /; but after all
it's the right way. It's better than
prayin' too little.
snow my mother and father were
good BaptistS, and raised their chill
dren to be honest and industrious,
but l never heard one of them pray
in my life, and l was most a grown
man before | ever prayed a prayer
myself, and it was on this wise.
"There was a big meethn' over in
Gilbert county, and l knoWed apret-
ty gal over there that | wanted to
90 and see. So | borrowed a little
| Jersey Wagin, which was stilish in
them days, and went Over to her
home and stayed all night and en-
gagged her to ride TO m9etin' next
day, which was Sunday"
ave went and had a glorious
time, and | might as well say right
here that she was afterwards my
wife, but a comm bomeI met with
Il powerful accident that I've never
got over TO this day. As l was ii
comm down a steep hill, some part
of the gearin' give way and let me
and the wagon on my c%reetur'S
heels; and bein' young and skeery
and not much used to wheels, she
kicked and tore from one side OF the
road to the other until l was pitched
headfOremOst as much as ten foot
into a deep gully, and it's a miracle
of mercy that my neck wasn't broke
on the spot"
"EXpectin' to be killed every
mint, L thought | ought to ask the
Lord for mercy. But AS | had new
er prayed in my life, L couldn't
think of the first thing to say but a
blessin' my father used to say be-
fore eatin' when we had company,
which was this Lord make us
thankful for what we are about to
receive
Snow, my brethren, do you spose
any Presbyterian raised boy was
eVeriput to such Il strait as that fora
prayer? No, he would have pray
ed for himself and gone off after the
Jews and heathcns whilst / was a
huntin' up and a gettin' off that
blesSin'."