Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-05-14
A GEORGIA SERMON.
A Baptist HrOther Gives his OPIn-
ion about the PresbytcrIans.

A Baptist urOther Gives his OpIn-
ion about the PresbytcrIans.
A lady correspondent of the In
dependent gives a sketch of a SER
mon she heard in Georgia nearly
half a-century ago. from which we
give an extract:
The preacher was apparently
about fifty years of age, large, mus
cular and we'll propOrlioned. On
entering the pulpit, he took off his
coat and hung il on nail behind
him, then opened his collar and
Wristbands, and wiped the prespi-
ration from his face, neck, and
hands. He was clad in striped cot
ton homespun, and his shirt was
of the same material. He had traV-
eled several miles that morning,
and seemed almost overcome by
the heat. But the brethren sung Il
couple OF hymns while he was fan
ming and cooling off, and when he
rose he looked comfortable and
good natured.
He had preached there once or
twice before, but to the most of the
audience he a a stranger. Hence
he thought it necessary to announce
himself which he did us "Old Club
Az Davis, from Severn county, a
half hard and halfsOft shell Baptist"
81 have given myself that name,
said he, because / believe the Lord
elected me from all eternity, to go
ahead in the backwOOds and grub
out u path and blaze the way for
ntham M,nRn A., E,lla. An A.
thickSst Of it is cut away, a good
warm Methodist brother will come
along and take my trail and make
things a little smoother and Il good
deal wiser. And after all the I'M
der brush is cleared out, and the
owls and wolves are skeered back,
and Mathematics il killed off, a
Presbyterian brother, i'm black
hrOad-clOth and white craVat, will
come along and cry for decency and
order. And they'll both do good in
their sphere. / don't despise a larnt
man, even If he don't dress and
think as | do. You couldn't pay
me enough to wear broad-clOth,
summer nor winter, and you could
not pay a Presbyterian brother
CliOuSh w ~ "ltliOul IL III Jug
days.
God don't make us all alike my
brethren, but every man has his
own sphere. When God has a place
to MI, lie makes a man and puts
him in il. When He wanted Gen.
Jackson, He made him and set him
to fightin' lnjuns and the English;
when he wanted George Whitfield,
He made him for to blow the Cos
pei trumpet as no other man ever
blOwed il, and when He wanted old
Club-AX-Davis, He made him and
set him to grubbin' in the back
woods.
But my shell isn't so hard but ]
can see good pints in everybody;
and as for the Presbyterians, they
are a long way ahead of us Baptists
and MethOdists i'm some things.
They raise their children better than
any people on the face of the earth.
Only IA few days ago n Methodist
class leader said to me: "BrOther
Club-AX, | was born a Methodist, |
WAS raised a Methodist, and by the
grace of God | hope 10 die n Method
list; but thank God, / got IL Presby-
terrain wife to raise my children. .
"And l believe, my brethren if
the Lord should open the way for
me to marry agin, I'd try my best
to find Il Presbyterian woman, and
run my chances of bTeakin' her in
to the saVin' doctrines of feet wash
in and immersion afterwards"
Just at this point he was inter-
wUuWN-al hvv fNnun GnANfn1 hAUV,sln kAnk
had been continually running up
and down the pulpit stairs. One
of them jumped upon the seat and
began to gnaw his coat tail, in which
was something he had brought
along for his lunch.
He turned slowly around and
took him by the ear and tail and
threw him out the window behind
him, as easily as if it had been Il
young kitten. The other took
warning and got out as rapidly as
possible, though not without howl
ing and yelping as if it had been
half killed.
lie then turned to the audience
and said, smilingly: 'St Paul eX-
horted the brethren to beware of
dogs / wonder what he would do
il he were in my place this morn
Ing? IL appears like | am compass
ell about with dogs, as David says
ile was"
He had scarcely commenced
preaching again before there was a
squealing and kicking among the
mules and horses that were tied to
treeS Gloss by. He put his head out
of the window and said: mo harm
done my brethren. Just a crittur
with IA side saddle on has broken
loose. Will some brother head the
animal? for no sister can walk home
this hot day"
Quiet being restored, he contin-
ued:
"Well, my brethren, 1 will now
try to say what | allowed to about
the PreSbyterians. As | said be-
fore, they raise their children Il heap
better than we do. They behave
better in church and keep Sunday
better, and read the Bible, and
learn the catechism better than ours
do. declare, my brethren, their
children are larnt that WeStmim-
ster catechism by the time they be-
gin TO talk plain.
at amt three weeks since | was
out cattle-huntin', for two of my
yearlins had strayed of-and l stop
ped in at old brother Hardey's, on
Rund creek and took dinner. He
is a deacon in the Presbyterian
church over thar. Well, as shure
as L stand here, my brethren, sister
Hardey had her little gal a stanin'
right before her with toes just even
with the crack of the floor, and her
hands were a hangin' down by her
side, and her mouth turned up like
chicken, when it drinks, and she
was putting this question to her out
o. that catechism:
what are the benefits which in
this life do eitheraccOmpany or flow
from justification, adoption and
SanctificatiOn?
IfNow the question itself was
enough to break the child down.
But then she began to say that
question all over (fOr that's the way
= uyas in the bOOk) and then hitch